Night's Children: Acteus Reus
AN: So much for my two week break, huh? What can I say, when my muses hit me, they hit me hard. Oh well, enjoy the chapter! Next one will be out hopefully next week.
Chapter Seven: Familiarity Breeds…
The next week passed by entirely too slow for Imy, since she spent most of it in confinement. Her parents, well mostly her dad, were still rather livid of their only child's actions regarding a certain Tatum McGuire. And until Imy apologized- again- she was grounded indefinitely.
What possibly pissed her off even more was the fact that none of her so called friends had her side in this. Riley especially, as the empath could easily manipulate her parents' anger and allow Imy to go free. When she had asked/pleaded/begged frantically for her best friend to change her dad's perspective, Riley had only sorrowfully shook her head, and mentioned something about an earlier promise Imy had made about Riley no longer having to clean up her messes. Aria and Jimena had even gone as far as to say Imy deserved this, and Tessa had only sighed and hesitantly agreed.
"You did punch the spawn in the face," She had said.
Imy's teeth grit against each other as she lay sprawled on her bed, her hands absently passing back and forth one of those stupid little stress balls her mother had gotten her after 'the incident'. It was only through Art having a one on one conversation with Imy's dad that she was even allowed to go out and practice with the remaining members of Round Table for the show tonight. Thankfully, her dad seemed to hold a soft spot for Imy's current boyfriend, and permitted Imy to help out since the show was to pay for the guys' rent money.
The stress ball dropped to the floor, rolling across the wooden planks and nestling in some arbitrary corner. Imy shifted over on her stomach and screamed into the pillow with total frustration. Having her inner rage abated with the action, she exhaled and tried to see it from her friends' perspective.
She had, on some level, taken advantage of Riley and her powers, she supposed. It was only fair that Riley wouldn't always want to interfere with Imy's life. And perhaps the punch had been a little unwarranted-
Imy cut herself off and scoffed, sitting up. The punch had been totally warranted. She would do it again without a second's thought. Imy wasn't a perfect goddess all of the time, none of them were. It was unfair of Jimena to expect that of her and it was incredibly unfair of Aria, the most reluctant of them all, to be so hypocritical. And why wouldn't her best friend, sister by all but blood, want to help her out of a sticky situation? Selene knew that Imy had bailed Riley's ass out of her almost Cold Fired ceremony a few months ago. Riley owed her. Big time.
Shaking her head, and trying to clear her overwrought thoughts, Imy reluctantly launched herself off of the bed. She had a show to get ready for, and if she was late, Zahi would have her ass.
Yet another propulsion of irritation hit her full force. Zahi, the oldest of the once three boys, seemed a bit domineering and over controlling. He wanted everything perfect, and damn it all his word was total law. Imy rolled her eyes as she rifled through her closet for an outfit. She didn't see why Art put up with the jerk sometimes.
An inward sigh assailed her. She liked Art a lot, maybe even loved him, but he was such a complete wuss sometimes. Zahi walked all over him, and Tatum persisted her advances even though everyone could tell they made him uncomfortable. She knew that one of the reasons why she was dating Art instead of some other guy was for his somewhat teddy bear persona, but would it kill the guy to grow a little backbone sometime?
Her ochre eyes landed on two possible outfits. One was a simple black dress, decently long with a scoop neck and some tartan sewn into the hems. The other was a bit more…provocative. It consisted of a top made with some clingy mesh material, and a shredded red over shirt that barely covered the appropriate bits. The skirt was short enough to require boy shorts underneath.
Imy worried her lip. While she wasn't the most conservative of girls, Riley owned that category hands-down, she also wasn't the type to flaunt every inch of herself either. The second little number clearly did that, for it seemed a bit too showy and ostentatious for the teenaged teleporter. Sighing, Imy started to put the second outfit away-
But her hand stilled, and she paused in contemplation.
She was only young once, right? And she had the right body type to pull it off, so what was the harm done? Hell, it might even muster up some fan boys for Art's band. Her hand quickly switched the hangers, and she started to get ready for tonight, tying a half-rolled red bandana around her neck and smoothing her chaotic hair into a halfway decent style.
OoO
"Damn did you have to teleport into that outfit?" Came Tessa crassly, but with humor, as Imy strode up to the outside of Jimena's apartment building where her fellow goddesses, plus Carlos, were waiting.
Imy smirked, "Looks good though, right?"
Tessa laughed, "Looks great. Besides, who am I to judge on the tightness of clothes?" She made an elaborate swoop of her hand over her own ensemble, a satin backless halter and some dark jeans.
"We get it, you both felt like dressing slutty tonight," Aria said with a huff, "Can we get this over with? We've been here waiting for at least half an hour," She proclaimed with agitation, nervously rubbing her arms in a self-hug.
Imy rolled her eyes, accustomed to Aria's nagging streak, "I'm not that late," She paused, noticing that one of their party was suspiciously absent, "Where's Jimena?"
Carlos, who had been lazily leaning against the brick wall of the building grumbled, "Something came up with that cop." The way he had said 'cop' indicated that it could quickly be replaced with the word 'fungus'.
Imy paused, confusion overtaking her for a brief moment, "Is Jacobson okay?"
"Nothing like that," Came Riley as the shy empath spoke up for the first time that night. She averted her eyes downward, staring at the clasped hands in her lap as she sat on a ledge, her feet absently kicking themselves together.
The only boy of the group snorted, his fingers going into mock air quote mode, "Apparently she felt the urge to 'warn' him." A grimace, "Personally."
Tessa's mouth contorted into a wry expression, "Oh, so that's what they're calling it nowadays-"
"Please, please don't go any further with that," Muttered Carlos sourly, obviously not liking the fact that the stick in the ass cop was getting closer to his mother.
"There's nothing wrong with Jimena wanting some quality, alone, time with everyone's favorite policeman," Tessa said with a wink, "Christ knows that it's about time Jimena got lai-"
"Can you teleport us all to Erebus at once?" Aria butted in quickly, her worry over the upcoming confrontation affecting her attitude and making her a bit short tempered and waspish.
Imy sneered, "Of course," She said dismissively, flapping her hand for emphasis, "Would you just calm down for a damn second? It's not a pressing matter."
Silence overcame the crowd at Imy's little outburst, Aria blinking slowly. She could be an absolute bitch, she knew and accepted that, but it was rare that she provoked Imy into snapping back. That was usually Tessa's alley.
Riley seemed concerned as well, sending a quizzical look to her best friend, "Is something wrong?" She spoke carefully, testing the waters.
"Oh, no. Nothing's wrong. I've just been locked up in a box for a whole week because certain people don't find it necessary to help out." Imy replied with a pointed glare.
Riley's face was still unnervingly blank, not looking affected at all but rather introspective. As freaking always.
Tessa seemed to notice the tension in the air, and cleared her throat awkwardly, "How about we get going?"
Carlos, also waiting for an opportunity to put some distance between himself and the unusually moody teleporter nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, you're going to be late." He prompted.
Imy took a deep breath, before reluctantly assenting. Her eyes fluttered shut, and a white line began to draw itself around the group of Selene's pledges.
"Imy! You didn't even check for witnesses-" Aria protested angrily, but she was cut off as the line rose into the air and the five vanished in a flash of white light.
OoO
Zahi sighed with a mixture of irritation and paranoia as he checked the wristwatch- an article of clothing he was just getting used to owning- for about the millionth time. The girls, Imy and Riley, were late. Whether they were late due to normal or Follower circumstances is what had the bassist on edge as he tried to reign in his patience and agitation. To his side, Art was starting to pace back and forth, a guitar gig bag strapped across his back as he tried to avoid looking out into the crowd of Erebus.
Erebus was a very modish establishment. Since it was a new club, everything was refurnished with ridiculously expensive accessories. The walls were coated in a fresh layer of black paint, the floor as well, and the lights were sparse and sporadic- emphasizing the feelings of chaos and despair within the place. There were three tiers, the bottom being the pit to the area where the dancers were, above that were lavish seating areas, and at the very top were the elite VIP sections that were under heavy guard, no doubt where leaders of both sides would hold their meetings. The stage by itself was impressive, black velvet curtains, newly instated lighting and sound equipment, and some of the most sophisticated gear Zahi had ever experienced.
That didn't take away from the crowd though.
A sea of yellow eyes stared back at Zahi as he glared out into the crowd from the side of the stage. Almost everyone in the establishment were Followers, with the exception of a few stragglers that had wormed their way in. The sensation of darkness was strong and suffocating, and Zahi could feel the old sinister stirrings ignite in his heart again. He was sure his own eyes were the saffron color of the Atrox. It was beyond risky to be playing here, but Art had a point. This was a neutral spot, both sides knew better to instigate territorial rights over either the bounty on his and Art's heads, or that of the Daughters'. The Incinti and the Infidi were constantly at each others' throats, true, but they were aware of the subtle balance of power between them, and the need for a neutral zone was more overpowering than a few subordinates of Selene.
Zahi's eyes slid over to the side, where he scrutinized the band that the girls were meant to investigate.
Absinthe. A four member band that was loyal to the Incinti. The group was using their newfound popularity to lure innocent fans in and steal their hope, and their success rate was unusually high. Currently they were preparing to go on stage, their set was before Round Table's, and so far Zahi had only been able to deduct their names, not wanting to give himself away by prying into their minds.
Wickett, the front man and programmer, was warming up his voice in a corner. The boy appeared to be a typical goth on the outside. His artificially black hair was combed and slicked into a Devil's Lock, and he had black gunk around his eyes that made him look like a severely tormented raccoon. A metal barbell was pierced through the bridge of his nose, as well as two more through the backsides of his wrists. He was reportedly the strongest mind manipulator of the four.
Zahi then stared at the guitarist. It was a boy, but it was hard to tell, and Zahi had heard the bassist refer to him as Nurse. He appeared to be older, but physical appearances were deceiving, and he had an androgynous look to him. He was wearing a midriff mesh shirt with white suspenders that connected to a pair of black boy shorts. Thigh high socks made of the same material as his shirt covered his legs, and his bleach blond hair was pulled into many small spikes that made him seem to be a porcupine.
The once Immortal Follower then evaluated the only girl of the group, the drummer whose name was Uschi. She was a fragile looking girl with half of her head shaved, the rest trailing to her hips. There was a barcode tattoo on her neck and her ears were gauged to the point of looking like they held dinner plates in them. She was supposed to be the best at shape shifting, but Zahi was uncertain.
Finally, came the most physically intimidating of the group. The bassist's name was Mendicant, and he was a two hundred pound man with a shaved head that had an inverted pentagram tattooed on the scalp. A bar was through his nose's septum and his chin sported a metal spike. Mendicant looked like a shaved gorilla, holding a black eye and bloodied knuckles.
As if sensing his stare, the bassist swerved on his heel and locked eyes with the powerful telepath. Zahi refused to be intimidated, even as the brute of a man bared his teeth and snarled. Quickly, Zahi deducted that Mendicant was probably the weakest of the four, with a telepathic ability on par with Art's.
"They're stronger than I expected," Zahi mused out loud silently.
"I know," Art supplied, finally halting his pacing and standing next to him, swinging the guitar bag, which had the initials 'T.H.' scrawled on it with magic marker, off of his shoulder, "Imy and them should have been here by now." He said with a tinge of worriment.
Zahi nodded, a distracted appearance on his face as he continued his observation of the goth band. Nurse also seemed to be sensitive to his scrutiny as he turned to look over his shoulder. As soon as his yellow eyes met Zahi's, he smirked and gave a little wink before turning his attention back to his guitar.
"They're going to be a handful," Zahi exhaled in exasperation, finally turning his attention away from the band and facing Art, "Calm down." He instructed.
Art ran a hand through his messy brown hair, "I would but-" His words fell short as suddenly a brilliant flash of light occurred out of the corner of his eye. He froze, and slowly turned around.
Zahi scowled when he noted the four musicians in the corner turn around towards the source also, "Imy what the hell are you thinking?" He demanded in an angry whisper.
Standing there, obviously having just teleported in, were Imy and an abashed looking Riley. Art's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw what his girlfriend was wearing.
Imy gave a mock salute, "Sorry we're late," She said in a voice that was a bit too upbeat.
"I told her to take the back exit," Riley mumbled apologetically as she shifted from foot to foot.
Zahi quickly swerved to see Absinthe's reaction. The only give away was the hungry look that had acquired within all of their eyes, as well as a sadistic smile spreading across Wickett's face. "Zut," He swore in a repressed manner, glaring at Imy, "That was reckless."
Imy shrugged, "We were running late."
"Um, I like your shirt," Art mumbled, blushing to the point of looking like a tomato, "But are you sure you want to wear it onstage?"
Imy stared at him with round eyes, "Why else would I be wearing it?" She said in a voice that was more coy than usual.
Art fidgeted uncomfortably, "Oh. That's nice then." He mumbled, inwardly going back through all of those relationship books he had gotten at the library after he and Imy had gone out for the first time. Modern men were not supposed to be commanding in the relationship, women had the right to choose. Wait, was that suffrage? How did people in this time say to their girlfriend 'your clothes show things that I don't want certain people seeing'?
"Art, you said you brought a guitar?" Riley questioned, staring at the floundering boy with some concern.
Startled, he jerked out of his mental plan, and gingerly held out the black bag, "This one okay?" He asked hesitantly.
Riley, not seeing the miniscule 'T.H.', took it without any hesitation and quickly brought it out. The model was a little different than she what she was used to handling- a larger semi-hollow, but she hooked the strap around her neck. After trying a few strums, she nodded, "This will be fine. Thank you."
Art smiled, "No problem."
Zahi, however, was still outright glaring at the teleporter who was unraveling her microphone cord. Anger accumulated around him the same way static collected around an area that was about to be struck by lightening. "Imy-" He started, equipped with the correct reproachful tone, but his rant on responsibility and the use of powers was cut off when the stage manager totted up.
The woman who came up was overweight and dressed in a tight pinstripe suit as she walked over to the members of Absinthe. A few words were exchanged, and suddenly five Follower heads swerved to look at the remaining members of Round Table and the two goddesses. Imy gave a cheeky smile and wave, Zahi switched his glare from the immature brunette back to Mendicant, Art inched away slightly, and Riley flat out ignored them.
"They know who we are," Mumbled Art as he dug out some drumsticks from his rear pocket.
Zahi shrugged, "Let them. It can only help us, no one is going to want to pick a fight with an ex Immortal and two goddesses."
Riley turned towards the source of the stares, "Are they-?" She was cut off as the harassed looking stage manager strutted up to the front, announcing into the microphone.
"Absinthe's playing now." She said curtly with absolutely no enthusiasm, before stomping off. Imy and Riley's eyes were widened in shock, compared to Killian this manager was a total bitch.
The stage went dark as the members went to their posts, four pairs of eyes glowing in the darkness. Imy shivered slightly, when she noticed that one pair never moved from her. The vocalist continued to watch them as the lights flashed back on and heavy goth rock started to fill the club. There was almost a magnetic pull as she watched the four, a feeling of entrancement overcame her as she stared, the need to go to their side.
"I don't believe it," Mumbled Riley, as she too seemed preoccupied with the performance from where they watched offstage.
"What?" Zahi snapped slightly, still stewing over Imy's irresponsible entrance.
"They're using empathy."
Zahi turned all of his attention to the reclusive Daughter, "What do you mean?"
Riley shook her head, as if to clear her thoughts, "It must be why they have such a high success rate, they're stimulating the darker emotions in people." She explained analytically.
"Which one?" Art ventured shakily.
Riley inhaled, and her eyes fluttered shut, "The singer. It's not empathy, exactly, but like a weaker copycat of it." Her eyes snapped open, "He's using pure telepathy to twist feelings." Although her words were flat, it was obvious she was surprised by the tinniest of frowns on her face.
Imy's eyes widened, and she scrutinized the band more closely. The lead singer, a gangly looking boy who appeared to be Zahi's age, swerved on his heel from where he was belting out lyrics, and faced the brunette teleporter. His coal black lips twisted into a sultry smile when they locked eyes, and he flexed his index finger in a beckoning motion towards Imy.
She shivered.
Art, standing off to the side, didn't miss the exchange.
OoO
"Can you believe her?" Shouted Aria in agitation as she brushed a rotted banana peel from her shoulder.
Tessa tried incredibly hard to stifle the snort building as she watched the face of disgust Aria made as she removed other bits of garbage off of her, "Well, you were being kind of naggy-"
"So it's okay for her to dump me in garbage?!" She demanded crossly, glaring at her blonde partner in fighting evil.
"Lighten up," Carlos muttered good-naturedly, until he saw the awful ball of rage that was his girlfriend as she glared at him, "I mean, um, you look great in anything?" He ventured quickly to spare himself from grievous bodily harm.
Steaming, Aria tried to brush off her anger and shook her arms loose, "Whatever." She mumbled, still obviously mad but willing to ignore it for now, "Let's get this over with."
"I wish I could play an instrument and get the cush jobs," Tessa whined, "Why do we always have to be the ones with the most dangerous assignments?"
Aria shrugged, "Seniority? Imy and Riley were working by themselves for a long time."
"I hate you and your logic," The blonde grumbled, smoothing her hair down, "Alright, let's go crash a Follower party."
The healer huffed and straightened out her now wrinkled skirt, "Fine. But I'm not letting Imy get away with this," She mumbled, as she started towards the entrance of the club.
Tessa and Carlos shared a knowing smile before they went after her, Carlos threading his fingers in Aria's as they approached the line.
The population of Erebus was a regular melting pot of subculture. Mixed in the line were people dressed like they were going to church, Rastafarians, neohippies, Goths, punkers, clubbers, hardcore kids, and every other walk of life the night had to offer. They all had one thing in common, however, and that was the darkened aura that seemed to cling to them. They weren't all Followers, a few were Initiates, and some others were regular people who had made the unfortunate decision to go to the new club in town for tonight.
Carlos gave a low whistle, "These people are crazy," He muttered to himself, staring at the glistening yellow in the darkness, "Followers?" He ventured, the charge of Eileithyia not very familiar with servants of the Atrox.
Aria nodded, "Remember not to look into their eyes," She warned her boyfriend, as he wrapped an arm around her waist and they took a spot in line.
Tessa huffed as she was left behind, "Just because I'm third wheel does not make me chopped liver," She grumbled, striding after them with a haughty air.
The line moved forward quickly, the bouncer rapidly allowing those worthy to enter and cruelly dismissing those who weren't. When Carlos and Aria strode up he eyed them both warily, sensing that their auras were different from those of regular teenagers, but failing to detect the Atrox's presence about them. In order to create less disruption, the Daughters had tucked their moon amulets safely behind their shirts so they wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb.
"How old are you kids?" He questioned, motioning with a clipboard that didn't actually have any names on it.
Carlos smirked, "Old enough." He said bluntly.
The bouncer eyed them suspiciously, and Tessa decided to intervene. She stood in front of them, her blue eyes glistening golden for a moment, "They're with me." She said cheerily, a seductive grin on her face.
The bouncer's distrustful face fell away, the golden illusion making their otherworldly auras dissipate. He unfastened the black rope with an efficient click, gesturing to the doorway with an elaborate sweep of his meaty hand, "Go on in." He said, a predatory lilt in his smile.
Tessa grinned back, "Thanks."
With that she stormed in like she owned the place, Carlos went after her and Aria eyed her counterpart with hardly concealed shock. Since when could Tessa cast an illusion that required such subtlety? It didn't seem on par with her current capacity for control, and something wasn't adding up. Aria stared at the back of Tessa's golden head in suspicion, what wasn't her fellow Daughter of the Moon telling her? Imy too, for that matter.
"Aria, you there?" Came Carlos, inquisitively rapping a fist against her head for good measure.
Aria sneered, and shoved his hand off, "I'm not a door knocker!" She said in protest.
Carlos grinned, "You spaced out, nervous?" She didn't miss the teasing note in his tone.
Aria bit her lip, "It's nothing." She turned to Tessa, "How do we do this?"
Tessa looked contemplative, "Well, we do have the best people skills out of us four, why don't we just mingle with some underlings, and try to figure out who's the actual threat to us- Incinti or Infidi."
"What if it's both?" Aria said, discomfort apparent in her body language as she wrapped an arm subconsciously around her opposite shoulder.
Tessa shrugged, seeming a bit too carefree for Aria's taste, "Then we have a leg up on the competition, don't we?"
"What exactly am I doing, then?" Carlos interjected, beginning to feel out of the loop.
Tessa laughed, "You have a nice ass, use it." Her eyes scanned the crowd, "That's pretty much what Aria and I will be doing anyway." She began to evaluate all the unattached males in the crowd, "See anyone eyeballing us?"
Carlos's face acquired a sour expression, "I don't think that's a good idea, for either of you-"
"Lighten up, it's nothing serious." Tessa chided, "We're just going to stick to the low powered Initiates."
Aria shook her head, "I agree with Chuck. Tsiro was supposed to be a weak Follower, but he almost overpowered me."
"But then I punched him in the face," Carlos said proudly.
The healer rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes you did." She said saccharinely.
Tessa seemed to weigh this in her mind, "Then you and Carlos stick together, I at least have the power to defend myself." She said in an attempt to bate Aria into one of their numerous verbal spats.
Aria was feeling far too much anxiety about casually chatting up Followers to take any notice to the jab at her abilities, "Can you handle it? Your power isn't exactly reliable." She said.
The blonde sighed, "I know, I know. That's why I'm going to just go with the guys who don't even know telepathy, believe me, there's plenty of them here." Her blue eyes landed on someone off to the side, someone who had been staring at her ever since she had walked in, "In fact, I think I see one now." She winked at Carlos and Aria, "Wish me luck."
"Good luck!" Carlos said supportively, giving an intentionally phony thumbs-up.
Aria's eyebrow twitched slightly as she folded her arms over her chest, "Don't do anything too idiotic."
"I'll leave that to you," Tessa replied snidely, before going over towards a more secluded area of the club.
Aria turned to Carlos, about to ask him something, when the lights dimmed, and the band that had been previously playing, a goth group, ended their set. "I think Imy and Riley are about to go on," She said, staring up at the stage.
As if on cue, the four musicians for the newly reconstituted Round Table sauntered onto stage. It was almost amusing, watching their faces. Riley, as she strapped on a guitar far too big for her, looked like a deer caught in the headlights as she stared out into the crowd, no doubt feeling all of the negative emotion in the air. In the back, Art rolled his shoulders and it was easy to see how uncomfortable he was by how his mouth kept quirking into a nervous grin that looked like it had been fastened to his face with a wrench. Zahi, however, looked perfectly at ease as he plugged in his bass, his handsome features attracting most of the female members of the club as he prepared the microphone for himself to provide backing vocals.
And then there was Imy.
Aria knew that it was perfectly normal for Imy to never get stage fright- she was a born performer, after all. But what was unsettling to the healer was that she looked too comfortable amongst the club infested with Followers. Her posture, her carefree smile, everything about her seemed to signify that she belonged there, that she was totally at home. It was slightly unnerving, as even the greatest of performers would feel a slight bit of unease when singing in front of a crowd full of enemies.
"She's got nerves of steel," Carlos commented appreciatively, obviously not getting the implications.
Aria's amber eyes narrowed almost unnoticeably, "I don't think that's a good thing," She whispered to herself, but Carlos overheard and sent her a quizzical look.
Before he had time to question his girlfriend, Imy was speaking into the microphone.
"I know I'm not who you were expecting," She said easily, "But I hope I do justice to these songs." She paused and grinned playfully, "Let's have some fun, huh?"
Her message was surprisingly greeted with cheers instead of suspicion, and Art began to set the beat with his drumsticks before the loud music started. As soon as they started their songs, bodies began to dance around the couple in accordance to the beat. Carlos grabbed Aria's hand tentatively.
"We can question Followers later, can't we?" He asked with a fake shyness.
Aria gave a false exasperated sigh, "I guess, but you better make it worth my while."
The surfer's eyebrows lifted appreciatively, and the two began to dance, Aria occasionally sending nervous glances to the band onstage. More specifically, to their vocalist.
OoO
Wickett absently pushed aside the long tendril of black hair out of his eyes as he leaned against the wall, stare trained on the band performing to the side. He was quickly joined by three more people, two boys and one girl.
"What do you think?" Asked the gruff voice of Mendicant, addressing the unofficial boss of the group.
Wickett smiled, an unnerving expression, as he gestured with a nod towards the girl singing, "That one."
Mendicant's lip tugged into a frown, "That one what?" He demanded.
The smile spread, "That's the one I want." He paused, a yellow sheen crossing his eyes, "She's a Daughter, and one who's already deeply connected with the dark side." He licked his lips slowly, "She'll be fun."
Uschi, the frail little drummer girl, snorted with disdain, "Why do you get the Daughter, dickhead?" She accused coarsely.
Wickett's face held a vacant aspect to it, as if searching for something far away, "There's two of them," He drawled, "You can have the other one."
Uschi's button-like nose wrinkled in disbelief, "Where is she, then?"
"The shy guitarist," Said Nurse for the first time, his voice holding a lilt that made it seem as if he were constantly laughing about something, "She hides her abilities well, but you can tell if you watch closely for a long enough time."
"I call her then," Mendicant growled.
"Hell no!" Uschi snarled, "You suck at telepathy, there's no way you think you can handle a Daughter!" She spat, "Besides, it's my turn, I never get any fun!"
Mendicant bared his teeth, "Listen here, you little shit, I'm sick of hearing your bitching. You think if you throw a damn tantrum every time something doesn't go your way-"
"Based on your abilities, Uschi wins this round," Wickett reasoned, "Your power's more compatible to the drummer's."
"I don't give a damn, I want to take on the Daughter," Mendicant spat, "She seems interesting." Mendicant paused as he took in the guitarist's features for the first time, "Actually, she looks like-" He voice trailed off when he realized who exactly she looked like. "Damn." He murmured, his previous ire replaced with the standard 'well, shit' tone people got when they underestimated their opponents.
Wickett gave a self-satisfied smirk, "Still want to go after her? Knowing that she's Cassandra's?"
Mendicant, realizing that he was being insulted somehow, gave a snort of derision, "Of course I do."
Uschi glared, "No fair!"
Wickett turned to the only girl of the four, "If you want the Daughter so bad, simply wait until Mendicant makes a total fool of himself."
Uschi gave a rather unpleasant grin, while Mendicant fumed in anger, sick of being his companions' source of amusement and barbs.
Nurse broke the exchange by giggling, "I call Zahi!" He chirped sweetly.
Silence overcame the younger members of the band, Uschi and Mendicant, as they stared at the bassist with disbelief.
"The Zahi?" Uschi mumbled, astonished.
"I don't believe it," Mendicant said off-handedly.
"It's him," Wickett clarified flatly, "You can't feel the power radiating off of him?"
"This is bullshit!" Heaved Uschi, stomping her platform boot against the floor, "You both get Daughters, Nurse gets an Immortal, and I get some weakling? Total bullshit!"
"Watch your language," Wickett admonished, "Besides, if you look around, you'll notice that there are more than just us eyeing the band."
Uschi scoffed, "Yeah, but they're all too chickenshit to do anything about it while we're in a neutral zone. This will be a piece of cake."
The leader of Absinthe shook his head, "Not necessarily," He said slowly, his eyes still hungrily watching the vocalist as she began to wrap up the band's last song, "For tonight, we lay low."
There were a series of muffled protests, before Wickett stared at all of them. With his piercing glare, they all fell silent, knowing that it would be in their best interest to listen to their boss. When he sensed their disappointment, he allowed a slight, toothy smile.
The music stopped, as Round Table finished their set, and Wickett returned his focus to the band that now held all the attention of Erebus.
"Well, there's still no reason why we can't say hello." He allowed, watching as the other three's faces lit up.
OoO
Imy's voice crooned the final note for the song as the music behind her started to fade away. As opposed to The Discards' sound, Round Table was more geared towards psychobily and a generally softer, more mellow tone with a lot less screaming and a lot more melody. Because of this, Imy was finding that her throat was feeling loads better after this show as she subconsciously rubbed around her neck as the lights went off.
"Didn't screw up too badly, did I?" She asked, swerving on her heel to face Zahi, who was removing the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand.
Zahi's eyes narrowed in concentration. Had this been any other night, he would have taken Imy's inquiry as an earnest question, but something was off with her now. There was an energy that seemed to cling to her, a far too precocious tilt in her smile. Was she mocking him?
He chose to ignore her as his stare drifted to Art, who was quickly dismantling his drum kit. The once servus paused to turn around and face his older brother figure. Art's suspicions were apparent in the slight shake of his head, the barely-there stoop in his shoulders. Green eyes glistened with intelligence and concern as they landed on the vocalist who had turned her attention to her best friend. The two boys followed the conversation intently.
"This was pretty fun, The Discards should book a few shows here," Imy said good-naturedly as she rolled her shoulders and prepared to walk off the stage.
Riley sent her an incredulous, 'are you completely insane?' look, "What are you talking about?"
"Erebus, the club's rather nice, I got good vibes from the crowd the whole time we were playing," Imy continued nonchalantly.
Riley's jaw would have dropped, if she hadn't long ago stopped demonstrating full facial expressions, "Imy, those weren't 'good vibes'," The empath muttered, "They were desperate…hungry."
Imy snorted, "Riley, I know feedback better than anyone," She huffed, "Honestly, you have one bad run in with them and you just group everyone together. We're just having fun."
The empath froze, halted by the sheer idiocy in Imy's statement. One bad run in? She had been almost killed by her own mother, subjected to mental torture, crippling emotional blows, losing Trysten, and gaining a hell of a lot of inner scarring through the process. Imy, herself, had been hospitalized and almost handed over to Incinti leaders. Riley shot a frantic look at both Zahi and Art, hoping that they knew what was going on.
Apparently they didn't.
"Imy, are you feeling alright?" Riley hesitantly ventured, "These are Followers. This club belongs to The Atrox." Her monotone dropped a level of intensity, if that were at all possible, "Our sworn enemy who wants nothing more than to see us destroyed."
Imy gave a simple little shrug before sauntering off stage, "Maybe if you weren't so damn afraid of them, you'd be able to see the situation like I can."
Riley's eyes dilated as she watched Imy's retreating back, desperately trying to get a read off of her friend's emotions. She felt her heart plummet when she realized that everything coming from Imy was true, and even worse, that none of it was effected by an outside source.
Art stood up from his drum stool, "I'm going to talk to her," He announced unnecessarily, "She's been acting off all night, it must be something else," He attempted to soothe the distraught girl as he set his drum sticks down and exited off to the side.
Zahi leaned casually against the wall as he eyed the empath, "Didn't like what you saw?" He asked darkly, indicating Riley's previous read.
The girl shook her head, "I thought that maybe, earlier, she was just mad at me but…" She trailed off and sighed despondently, "She's never acted like this before." The placid eyes seemed to suddenly spark with an inner intensity, "Ever."
Zahi stared at Riley for a moment, a calculating sense about him as his eyes darted to the area where Imy and Art had just wandered off to. "I'll be right back." He said calmly, every bit of him about accomplishing business.
Riley just nodded, and soon Zahi was gone and the empath was alone on the stage. A pair of eyes in the shadows had watched the entire exchange with profound interest.
A pair of eyes that immediately zeroed in on the currently defenseless empath.
OoO
Okay, not super mega long, but still more than average! Hooray for barely passing expectations!
Next Up: Tessa gets a bit more than what she bargained for when she chats up a patron, Art straightens Imy out, Riley has a run in with an old…friend, and Zahi has a confrontation with a member of Absinthe.
