"Useless." Said a soft, feminine voice, followed by a loud thud as a large book was hurled across the long hallway and clashed with the hard tile flooring, joining a pile of many other undesirable tomes that had met a similar fate. The woman sighed as she lifted herself off her chair and moved away from the large, cluttered desk she was seated at. Although her own private abode, the room she was in was much like a library, bookshelves and desks filled the room with stacks and less than tidy piles of tomes littering almost every spare bit of room. Her slow, steady footsteps echoed throughout the area, with the only other sound filling the room emanating from the slow ticks of a large clock standing next to one of the few reading benches alongside one of the walls.
Stopping herself in front of one of the various bookshelves, the woman ran a finger across the spines of the books she passed as she searched for the one she wanted. Any normal person would have trouble telling any of them apart as visibility was low inside the room. It would be pitch black if not for the various candelabras filling the surfaces of the room along with the faintly gleaming crystal lamps that hung from the stained glass walls. She was soon illuminated by one of the crystals as she neared a shelf against the wall, revealing her dark grey skin and a beautiful face, one quite feminine for a Roegadyn woman. Her long black hair formed into a messy fringe with bright purple streaks matching the purple lipstick she wore and her beaming amethyst-like eyes that complimented her black and purple robes. Given her features and short stature, she would often be confused for a Highlander if not for her pale grey skin.
Her hand came to a stop as she removed a book from the shelf and peered down at the cover. It had no title and didn't appear to be any sort of book you'd find from a merchant, instead it was crudely bound in leather with a large rock-like creature etched on the front. She withdrew back to her desk that was situated at the very back of the room. It was long and made of dark wood with a thick metallic frame along the edges of it, featuring a tall bust in the likeliness of the Primal Bahamut in front of the center giving it a grand and ominous touch.
Returning to her seat, the woman laid the book down in front of her, opening it up and quickly becoming lost in a trance as she began to look through each page intently. That is however until she was interrupted by an unwelcome guest as a tanned, blond Miqo'te placed his head right above the book whilst looking up and grinning cheekily at the woman.
"Helloooooo Paris!" He said gleefully before quickly jumping back as the woman swiftly lifted the heavy book and snapped it shut, trying to catch the man's head with it.
"LARIS! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SNEAKING INTO MY ROOM YOU OVERGROWN RODENT?!" She screamed, her loud voice heavily contrasting her beautiful appearance and usual soft tone.
"Relax, I just came to tell-" His words were suddenly cut off as he quickly dodged to the side to avoid an incoming book that Paris had thrown hastily towards him before moving over to a nearby pile to continue her assault.
"Hey cut it out! I just... came to tell you... that we... have a new me- member who's just rocked up!" Laris managed to finally get out as he had to duck and dodge past each object that was hurled towards him. Paris reeled back her arm ready to attack her target once more before pausing after hearing his words.
"A new member?" She asked, her voice back to its normal soft tone.
The two made their way down to the large main hall near the entrance of the building where several of the Free Company members had gathered to welcome their new colleague. There close to the entrance stood a tall, gorgeous Midlander woman with soft light skin, lush purple coloured lips and black hair with a long purple-streaked fringe which covered half her face. Paris' wide eyes grew even wider as her fists clenched tight, unable to turn her gaze off the woman as confusion and jealousy clouded her mind.
"Come on let's go say hi!" Laris said, tapping Paris on the shoulder as he moved on ahead. The woman ignored him and instead just stood there motionless, staring intensely at what was going on in front of her. The tall, silver haired Hyur in dark formal attire who had let the newcomer inside was the first to greet her.
"I'm glad you could make it Rose, I'm Leo." He introduced, extending his hand towards her as she reached out and shook it with a smile. He let go and peered down at the shy Auri woman who stood staring at the ground beside him. Leo reached down and grabbed her hand gently, smiling at her reassuringly. The Au Ra jumped slightly, looking up at him in shock from the sudden contact before finally turning to Rose.
"I-I'm Juria." She said softly while greeting her with a nod.
"Hey I'm Laris!" The blond Miqo'te blurted out, barging past the two excitedly and extending his hand with a smile. Rose chuckled and shook his hand before turning towards the tall female Roegadyn beside him.
"Well yer a cute one aren't ya? The name's Robin." She greeted whilst winking tauntingly at the Hyuran woman who smiled politely with a slight blush. Rose turned towards a tall male Au Ra with large glasses and Paris suddenly felt her chest burn.
"I'm Gaius, it's nice to me you." He greeted with a smile. Rose didn't greet him any differently than she did the rest of the group yet Paris could feel an uncontrollable surge of rage and indescribable jealousy build up inside of her as the newcomer smiled at Gaius. The Roegadyn pushed past Gaius and reached out for Rose's hand instead.
"Hi I'm Paris, it's a pleasure to meet you!" She said cheerfully through a fake smile, shaking the woman's hand while her death grip almost crushed the poor woman's fingers. Rose almost grimaced in pain but managed to force out a polite smile instead. After the group finished introducing themselves and talked together for a bit Leo led Rose to meet some of the other members and the group soon separated, with Paris returning back to her room.
"I can't believe that woman!" Paris slammed the door behind her as she started talking to herself, an ongoing habit that was near unbreakable at this point.
"Who does she think she is?! First she copies my look and then she starts being cute with MY Gaius? And she's a mage too, talk about a low-life wannabe clone. So she can throw ice and fire around, big deal. It's nothing compared to the curses I can inflict on people and the powerful arcanima I can summon. I'll show both her and Gaius that I'm the prettier and stronger woman and then my precious Gaius will definitely fall in love with me. AND WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS ARE YOU DOING BACK IN MY ROOM?!" She ended with a roar as she saw Laris lying lazily on one of the benches.
"Hiding from Gaius who is angry at me for hiding in his room from Alex who is also angry at me. That food he was cooking was so good though." He answered while calmly rubbing his stomach.
"WELL THEN GO HIDE SOMEWHERE ELSE!" she replied before suddenly pausing. "Actually, if you want to get away from the boys then make yourself useful and go out and find me a vessel for my new summoning ritual. I'll need something lifeless with a humanoid shape and preferably big." She instructed.
"Aww that sounds boring, can't I just hang around here for a while instead?" He asked.
"GO OUT AND DO IT NOW OR I'LL BIND YOU THERE AND BRING BOTH ALEX AND GAIUS STRAIGHT TO YOU!" Paris screamed as the Miqo'te jumped up from the seat.
"Okay okay, one Hyuran lifelike vessel coming right up." Laris reassured her with his hands forward in a soothing gesture as he made his way to the door and exited her room. Paris let out an exhausted sigh and returned to her desk, opening up the large leather-bound book she recovered from the floor and continued from where she was previously interrupted. Much time had passed as Paris had almost reached the last few pages of the tome before Laris finally returned with his hands behind his back and a triumphant smile upon his face.
"I'm guessing you managed not to be a total waste of time?" Paris asked, getting up from her desk and walking towards Laris.
"Of course, I brought the best vessel you'll ever see. Feast your eyes on this!" He said proudly as his lifted the creature hidden behind his back up in front of him in plain site. It was a small, skinny black creature with twig like arms and legs and two large round glowing eyes on it's big bulbous head, dressed in cute plate armour with an over-sized rounded helmet.
"...You brought a Mammet?" She asked bewildered. The machination, still hanging in the air by Laris' hands under it's arms looked around the room for a moment before looking up at Paris and waving it's tiny arm at her.
"Whatever, it'll have to do." Paris sighed as she took the creature from the Miqo'te's grasp and placed it on the floor in front of her desk before casting a spell that created a small thin magical circle around the creature, binding it into position. She made her way to a large storage compartment situated behind her desk and removed as many earth-aspected crystals from one of the draws as she could carry in her arms and spread them along the ground around the Mammet. Once that task was accomplished she turned to the Bahamut bust in front of her desk and placed her hand over it. There was a bright flash as magical wings seemed to spread across from the sides, a strange energy coursing through them.
With that done Paris made her way to the other side and stood up onto her desk like an alter and pulled out her summoning tome she kept concealed within her robe for combat. She began channeling energy from the statue through her tome as she began her ritual.
"Hear me mighty Titan, Lord of Crags! Hear my call and wake yourself unto this vessel in this mortal plane! Heed my demands so that I may crush my enemies beneath your colossal being and bring your earthen fury raining down upon them!" She chanted. The crystals she had prepared began to glow and rise into the air, circling around the Mammet who soon rose from the ground to join them. A great light began to envelop the creature and crystals alike, blinding both Paris and Laris who had been watching the entire ritual before creating a giant burst and caused a shockwave that blew both observers back off there feet and sent countless books and sheets of paper flying around the room.
Paris rose to her feet, coughing violently for a moment before regaining her composure and turning towards where the Mammet once lied. The brief look of excitement on her face quickly faded to disappointment at the sorry sight in front of her. Where she had hoped would stand an large, powerful deity stood a small stone creature. It looked somewhat like Titan but was severely lacking in size and strength. It's small round body was no bigger than the Mammet's and it had large round yellow eyes to match with a small grimacing mouth. She huffed in disappointment before glaring at Laris who was sitting on the ground, not bothering to get back up after being knocked back.
"LARIS YOU MORON THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! I TOLD YOU TO BRING ME A VESSEL NOT A TOY!" She screamed at the Miqo'te mercilessly.
"But I went looking through Gridania and that was the best and cheapest thing I could find." Laris explained as he got up to his feet.
"I DIDN'T COMMAND YOU TO BUY SOME CHEAP JUNK FROM THE CITY MARKET! Now Gaius will never love me..." She ended with a soft sigh, closing her eyes and hanging her head in disappointment.
"Huh, you're actually kinda cute." Laris said as he knelt down in front of the tiny Titan and poked its head. The creature reacted by reeling back its thick arm and slamming its fist into Laris' shin causing him to topple over in pain. Paris looked up and snickered at the sight while the Miqo'te cursed loudly and began arguing with the clockwork creature.
"Well I guess it wasn't a complete waste of time." Paris began talking to herself again. "I mean the incantation actually worked to some degree. So all I need now is a suitable host for the power of a being rivaling that of a Primal and then I'll be able to crush anyone who stands in the way of my love, even that copy-cat hag Rose. I'll finally have Gaius in my arms in no time!" She exclaimed blissfully as she began to daydream. Completely ignoring Paris' mindless chatter, Laris picked the tiny Titan up and held it in his arms as he carried it out of the room.
"Come on little buddy, I'm taking you to go see Alex." He grinned mischievously.