A Love that Crushes like a Mace.

[FinlandiaWhiteEyes]

-"Bheda's my cousin. She looks out for me. Got me a job. Family's important to her. So I help her out when I can. No fee or nothing."

[Mog]

There followed a long, thoughtful pause.

"Bheda." "Kee Amarone... or perhaps wait for Solace."
Achintya, the former of the two to suddenly speak up simultaneously, looked at Luke.
"Really? The thief?"
"She does seem to have a scrap of empathy toward the worse off, certainly something Bheda lacked, at least that's what I thought, heh.
"Or," continued Luke, "finding Solace seems like the safest choice, we've fought side by side before after all."

Achintya drifted back into thought.
"But could you even find her? Although, I wonder if there aren't any perks to giving Solace a present..."
The faerie's eyes glazed over slightly for a moment, before he seemed to shake himself back to sense.
"But that's not the point..."

As one, Luke and Achintya turned to face Talfen.

[Noven]

-"Death and famine upon you all." Talfen sighed, shrugged, and finished. "Let Solace bring us all solace from such things, then. If there's any one person to put any kind of trust into, it would be her, the third party in this. I'm sure we'll fashion... something, to bring her about. Achintya, would you have some all-powerful mating call to summon her?" Talfen jested, knowing there was absolutely nothing there, continuing, "Well, that would only serve to have a stampede of girls coming about. Again, we'll find some way to get her, I'm confident."

[Mog]

Achintya leapt up and smiled. With one smooth motion he reached behind him and pulled the amulet from round the woman's neck with a small snapping noise. He tied a knot in the ends of the material to create a small hole, then slipped it over his neck, where the extra material dangled loosely. He then leaned down and, oddly, flicked the tiara with a gloved finger. A sharp ringing sound for a mere second. Achintya looked at it pensively, before turning to his two allies.
"The beautiful Solace it is then. I can attempt to call her, though receiving the message will be harder than sending it, so I hope your faith is well placed. And I've no doubt we'll need to be careful once both of our new enemies find out what happened here."

Achintya nudged his hat back and forth absent-mindedly, pulling it over his eyes and tapping the floor with his foot.
"I can't contact Solace from here, we'll have to go elsewhere. I saw just the place on our way in, and..."
Here, the small faerie looked up at Chaero with a sunny smile.

"We'll have to kill the fairy. Everyone else too, I'd say, if you want to last as long as possible before we're stabbed in our sleep."

[lukuz13]

-Walking over to one of the very unconscious bandit's bodies, Luke reached down and picked up one of the remaining amulets and held it in his hand curiously.
"What are these things anyway..." He murmured to himself, before shrugging and throwing the chain around his neck, glancing at it again in his palm, before turning back to Achintya when he began to mention killing the others. "Hold on, there's no need to kill the entire band." He insisted, feeling his mind wretch for a moment before continuing. "They're simply pawns, better to be swept to the side instead of out right destroyed. We'd do better to prevent unneeded bloodshed anyway...Or do you not feel yourself perceptive enough to handle it should they find us again?" Luke grinned somewhat to Achintya in a rather obvious, teasing way. "Especially if we want to return the lost sheep to Bheda. I'm sure she misses him."

[Mog]

Achintya looked at Luke a while, his usual meaningless smile plastered to his face.
"It's also risky my dear compatriot, she'll notice the tiara is with us in this bo-"
"... What's to stop her from reading our min-"
"..... Well, we can't help that Chaero heard everything we've just sai-"

Achintya twitched his hat irritably. Looking down, he fell silent for a few seconds. But when he looked up, he was wearing a long, thin smirk.
"Aha... Ahahaha... Ahhaahahaha...
"Cowboy," said the faerie, looking up at Luke, "you are a genius! We go back to Bheda with an altered Chaero and ask for something different, something better..."
Here's the fairy's eyes glinted with some spark of infinite mischief. He began to pace.
"There isn't a librarian worth her salt out there without access to some of the most powerful objects in existence... Yes, ahaha... I knew I'd made the right choice with you two... ahahaaa..."

Achintya straightened his hat once more.
"Alright Cowboy, Leader, step aside, I need to blow a hole in this brilliant idiot's mind!"
Luke and Talfen shared a glance, it was odd and more than a little disconcerting to see the usually calm faerie so... excited.

[FinlandiaWhiteEyes]

-Chaero yelped.
"No! You will not take me! Hom gallech ne'allay fray natila! Hom gallech ne'allay fray natila!"
-The air around Achintya's head began to glow, forming a seal shape. Then it faded, with no effects. The brown faerie's eyes widened. "Hom gallech ne'allay fray natila, hom gallech ne'allay fray natila, hom gallech ne'allay fray natila, hom gallech ne'allay fray natila." His voice got more and more frantic, and the effects of his 'spell' got more and more non-existent, until he was simply muttering nonsense. He slumper forward helplessly, defeated, and the group heard him mutter "damn that Verdelet. Bet he knew it was a dud spell."

-Ten minutes later and the group were tucking the strange, but apparently useful, amulets into their clothing, and shepherding Chaero towards the Seedy Eagle.
"Thanks for saving me. I thought my time was over, and yet I have another chance now. Its good that none died today. Don't need bad press." The mild idiot was chatting happily as the group exchanged looks outside the door of the tavern, before entering. The room was not as crowded as before, mostly because Kee Amarone and her guards were absent. Bheda, however, was present, sat in a bright corner by an exceptionally obnoxious plant. She was smiling cheerily at the other patrons, who were giving her a very wide berth. Her silver eyes snapped to the group as they entered, and she grinned happily.
-"Good. Come join me, fluffball and friends. I'd offer you a drink, but quite frankly, I don't like you that much."

[Mog]

Achintya walked over and sat in the chair opposite (and furthest away from) Bheda and mirrored her smile almost exactly, the other two following behind, Chaero in tow.
"Hello Bheda. Yes? ... Yes, I'll have what she's having.
"..Now, here he is. The most dull, ignorant, boring, nondescript person in this world, as promised. And to think he got the dominant genes."
Achintya loosened the amulet around his neck slightly, with a small cough.
"Annoyingly enough though, we no longer need to see any scholar... turns out we were on a fool's errand even being in this city, mores the pity." Here the faerie shrugged and sighed deeply, before smiling toothily.
"However, I seriously doubt a beauty in your position needs the charity of a humble bunch of travellers."
Achintya picked up the small glass placed before him and took a sip... before subtly spitting it back into the glass and making a tiny 'yuck' sound.

[FinlandiaWhiteEyes]

-The faerie glared at him for a split second, before smiling radiantly. "Dominant genes! Ha, you are so delightfully hilarious, my friend. A fool's errand, you say? Fitting, one might think, for a being with your intellect." Her head dipped to one side. "I wish you could stay for longer, but if you feel you shouldn't have come here at all, then I guess you'l be leaving soon? Pity. " Her smile became even brighter. Then she looked at her cousin.
"Chaero, my dear heart, you had me so worried! My last family, and you got yourself caught by those smelly, rough humans. Come, my dear, sit down." Chaero looked slightly wrong footed, but sat next to Bheda as she indicated. She stroked his brown locks, eyes solemn. "Dear cousin, you worried me so. How much I almost lost..." She shifted herself onto Chaero's lap, straddling him. "How much that trip could have cost me..." She began swaying on his lap, her smile like a star on a clear night as she ground her hips against him.
Her smile like stars on a dark night. "How much it did cost me. How much I have lost." Her smile did not dim, but her voice became harsh and savage. "And now you must pay for that lost, for your mistake." She hugged her cousin lovingly, nuzzling his hair. Then she returned to her seat. Chaero's hands slipped onto the table.
-His head slipped from his neck and hit the floor a second later.

-It was like watching time speed up after a supernova. The smile brightened for a brief moment, then the star died abruptly until only dust remained. The only movement of her lips was the slightest of sneers.
-"I don't take charity, I always pay my debts. What do you want, 'friend'?"

[Mog]

Achintya was looking intently at his drink as if it had some kind of disgusting poison in it.
"...Sorry, Bheda, what did you sa- Ah!"
He did a momentary double-take and then sighed again.
"Oh Bheda, now you're the stupid one as well. Then again, given your little grind there, I'm not all that surprised."
Achintya poured the drink out onto the table with a look of disgust.
"What the hell is in that? Ugh... I used to know a girl who was into that, after the second time it loses all its allure. The dance was still nice though, ever done it professionally?"

Achintya picked up the glass of water handed to him unasked for and swigged deeply. With a refreshed sigh he smiled back at Bheda.
"Well, this big guy wants a sword for his birthday, but I could never condone violence. On my left big Jim here needs a new pair of socks, but I don't want you splurging on our account. So really, apart from that all I can really think of is a book. Y'know, something on magic. Or forging. Or Magic Forging. With light twist tech. Hell, maybe even something on mind-melding steel from will with a void centre.

... Y'know, just any good old tome... really."

[FinlandiaWhiteEyes]

-The faerie gazed at him for a moment, and her expression was unreadable. Then she stood, and walked past the table, before turning and snapping her fingers. Four large volumes appeared on the table. One had the title 'Of Elementals and Their Powers: A Study in the Bones, Blood, Breath and Spark of the World'. The second was entitled: 'From Magic into Matter: Shaping and Making the Arcane'. The third bore the legend: 'Lords of Fire and Air: A Study of Griffins'. The final book did not ripple with magic as the others did. It read simply: 'Indral: A Solemn Warning'.
"One for each of you. You'll figure it out I'm sure. Knowledge is power, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, cryptic warnings." She sneered at Achintya, not giving the others a second glance "If I see you again, which I fear I shall, I hope you're less tiresome." She walked to the door, just as another figure entered.
"There's no magic on them, Kee. Guess they failed, just like everyone else. See you at the next murder!" The faerie left, and Kee Amarone watched her with savage dislike. Her eyes flitted to the group.
"Well? My item?"

[Mog]

Achintya had already flipped open the nearest book, and was reading through its first pages with alarming speed.
"... Item?" he mumbled at some point without really focusing on whoever had spoken.

[FinlandiaWhiteEyes]

-She glared at him. "The Indral tiara!" she all but snarled. "Where IS IT!?" This rage seemed uncharacteristic, as everyone was looking at her with some surprise.

[lukuz13]

-Glancing over the strange books that appeared before them, Luke found himself particularly interested in the last two that appeared, running a finger over the front, before Kee's outburst caught his attention and he turned to her with a small frown.
"Our deepest apologies, but there was no such item, not from what we saw at least. But perhaps you can help the community another way? Such as...community service!" Luke grinned a bit at the last part, his attempt at a joke, though his tone up till then was sincere.

[Noven]

-"I'm sorry, princess, but your tiara is in-" -another warehouse, he would have finished, but knew he could not even follow through with the lie, even if just a jest, and finished lamely instead, "-your tiara is something that we could not hunt out, to give to you." While they may have found it, it was no lie that they were of no intent to hand it back to her. Talfen then grinned, at Luke's response. "Yes indeed, adopt the yellow brick road, clear the litter, raise some money, and like the yellow bricks that look of gold, give the run down area a gold-rush of a sort. I'm sure it'll work out." He grinned half-minded.