The Citadel ducts were not designed for an adult Drell to walk upright in, rather they were made for ventilation and for Keepers to navigate the station unseen. Thankfully in the larger tunnels such as this one, Thane only had to stoop to walk relatively comfortably. Makes sense, considering who he was looking for.
He was currently not looking for Isika, rather looking for someone who would hopefully know where she was. Isika's last den was sadly abandoned with no trace of her, or her fellow encombrants, and it had taken quite some time to track down where they had moved. But in the process of asking around the various dens of duct rats, he had picked up some rather disturbing information.
No-one had seen Isika in months.
This was worrying, even if you consider the sheer size of the citadel wards, it's unusual for someone to completely drop off the radar like that. That is, unless the unthinkable had happened. It was unfortunately common for duct rats to become the victim of the Citadels cryptic inner workings, everything from sudden drops, to ventilation fans could claim the unwary child, and no one would ever be the wiser, as the keepers would usually clean them up before they even started to smell.
Despite this very real possibility, Thane was not going to write off his target so easily. Both from his own impressions of the child and her parents testimonies, he was quite certain that Isika was a fairly bright child, not one to fall for the Citadels' various traps for the unwary. Not to mention, last he saw her, she was in very good company.
And it was that good company he was currently seeking, and as he walked into her new den, he spotted her immediately.
It was another duct terminus, often chosen for its roominess and its quick access to the Citadel proper. Various Children of varying species, all standing and sitting around, turning to look in his direction. The one who actually caught his eye was no child at all.
A young Asari woman, barely a maiden, lifted herself up from where she was sitting, and walked purposefully over to where Thane was standing. This was Lintora, one of this wards only 'denmothers'. None of the other rats know how long she has been down here, or even why she is down here, but she functions as a sort of grumpy big sister to most of the younger ones in her little group. Even moonlighting as a dancer in a rather shady establishment called Cloras Den to make sure her rats stay fed and clothed.
But besides that, she has been Thanes go to informant for years, between her army of rats and a variety of friends in low places, even if she doesn't know something, she knows someone who does. And even more relevant then that, She had been Isikas denmother last she had seen her.
Thane stirred himself from his recollections as Lintora stopped in front of him and crossed her arms.
"Hey Krios, so who's the poor bastard who needs to die today?" Lintora said dryly.
"Good evening Lintora. and no one, if things go well. This is a missing person job." Thane said. Not bothering to mince words with the terse Asari.
"Branching out huh?" Lintora asked. "Whatever, no difference to me, who is it?"
"I was actually hoping to find her in your company." Thane said, once more scanning the room, in case he somehow missed her on the first passing, none of the few Asari were his mark though. "Last time I was here there was a young Asari named Isika. Is she still with you?"
Thane noted how Lintora tensed. "Who wants to know?"
"Her parents, she went missing half a year ago. And they got desperate enough to hire an assassin." Thane knew this was going to be a hard sell.
"Funny, you'd think you would hear about something like that on the news." Lintora said with suspicion.
"Apparently the situation is complicated, and that involving the Authorities will make it worse."
Lintora scoffed. "Yeah, I bet."
"I understand your reservations. But as both a professional and as a parent, I feel my judgement is sound. Having met them in person, they have nothing but concern for their missing daughter, and feel nothing but grief at her absence."
"Yeah, and how is Kolyat these days?" Lintora said, but she was clearly deflecting the question.
"Lintora."
Lintora started drumming her fingers on her arm. Thane doesn't remember her doing this before, must be a new habit. For a minute indecision was scrawled on her face, before she sighed, slumping slightly. "Look, I wouldn't normally do this, I don't rat out my rats. But to be honest, I'm feeling pretty concerned too. I haven't seen her in six months."
"She disappeared again?" Thane said.
"I wish." Lintora said. "I know exactly where she went, she just hasn't come back is the trouble."
Thane waited for Lintora to elaborate.
Lintora just rolled her eyes. "Come on, use that impressive drell memory. What happened six months ago?"
"That's not how that works." Thane said, but still he cast his mind back. He was not on the citadel at that time, so whatever Lintora is talking about must be public knowledge-
"Reitaisai." Thane said. "The Alliance new years celebration."
"Isika got tickets for the full festival, saved up ever since it was announced, she even borrowed fifty credits off me when she was short on spending money. But she never came back on the transports afterwards. Trust me, I know." Lintora confirmed. "So either someone kidnapped her at the festival, and managed to bring her back under the nose of both the Alliance, and citadel customs, which seems unlikely, or…"
"She never left Shanxi in the first place." Thane completed the thought.
"Yeah, which means she is knee deep in alliance space, and I have no idea why." Lintora said scowling. "So yeah, I'm pretty nervous, especially considering how much they like Asari over there, which is to say, not at all."
"This… complicates things." Thane said, his mind running through everything he knew about the Alliance.
"I'd imagine, I heard they sent the council a Spectres head in a box for attempting to infiltrate their worlds." Lintora said.
Thane nodded grimly, he's killed spectres before, and he knows it's not easy.
"So what are you gonna do now Krios?" Lintora asked.
"I'll have to give it some thought." Thane said, before handing over a datapad, "Thank you for your help, WIll the normal fee be enough?"
"I should charge extra for this, I still feel dirty." Lintora grumbled, as she transferred the loose credits to her Omnitool. "But I'll settle for just seeing Isika safe, or at the very least sticking it to whatever bastard got her."
"I'll keep that in mind." Thane said, before turning to leave.
"And remind her she owes me fifty credits." Lintora called after him, more out of self assurance than anything.
'The Alliance' Thane thought, as he stooped through the ducts once again.
He had heard all the stories, probably more than Lintora had, he knew that sneaking into Alliance space was tantamount to suicide.
He opened his Omnitool, and did the only thing he could do.
He booked an appointment with Ambassador Scarlet.
Isika stared at the two bullets in her hands, her eye twitching.
They were lumpy, misshapen things, whenever she tried to fix one, the other lost cohesion, if she tried to adjust both at once, it just ended up with two unsatisfactory projectiles, and she didn't even need to fire them to figure out they were weaker then her single bullets.
With an angry growl, she threw her hands into the air, and the projectiles into the roof, and yelled. "How the Hell are you supposed to make a spell!?"
"Hey Ishi, I think she's going native, she just used an alliance swear." Desida said, in her usual spot on the floor.
Ishi ignored the comment, and instead focused on Isika, pausing in her reading to raise her eyebrow. "Is that what you were trying to do?"
"What did it look like I was trying to do?" Isika snapped irritably.
Ishi shrugged. "In all honesty? More bullet exercises."
Isika grumbled, but didn't refute it.
"It's not that unusual," Desida said, "the duel bullet exercise is one of the most basic introductions to spellwork that can be taught."
"Huh, I never did that, I just went right into spellwork." Ishi said, furrowing her brow.
"Well, of course you didn't. Most youkai have an instinctual understanding for basic spellwork, you probably went right into spellcards." Desida said. "Isika on the other hand, has the complete opposite of that."
"Well, sorry for being an Alien." Grumbled Isika.
"So what's giving you so much trouble. I mean I get it's hard for you, but I've never felt you this frustrated before."
"Marisa told me to learn this, but she failed to tell me how." Isika grumbled.
"She what?" Ishi said, her eyebrow once more raised.
"She does this every now and then." Isika said. "She sets a task, and then doesn't tell me how to complete it. Its never been this hard before though."
"That's kinda weird, I mean it's not all that complicated, I could probably tell you." Ishi said, suddenly getting Isika's undivided attention.
"Tell me!" Isika said, suddenly getting in Ishi's face.
"Err, well…" Ishi said, taken back by the enthusiasm.
But Isika was pushed back by Desida's tail and gently separated them. "Calm down girl, and Ishi, you probably shouldn't be teaching her that if Marisa hasn't told her."
"Why not?" Isika grumbled.
"Because Marisa wouldn't do this if she didn't have a reason. She's never had an apprentice before, for all we know this is just her one-on-one teaching style. We really shouldn't interfere."
"You sure it isn't just because you can't be bothered helping?" Ishi said dryly.
Desida shrugged. "You offered, not me. Besides, it's kinda fun watching her struggle."
Isika shot her a dirty look. "Demon."
"Correct."
Isika took a deep breath. Desida was probably right, Marisa was probably going somewhere with this… at least she hoped she was.
Isika's wrist comp beeped once in notification.
"I gotta go, I'm gonna see if Mima is willing to give me any more hints." Isika said, standing up.
She technically didn't have to spend her time in Marisa's study anymore, both Mima and Marisa trust her to work on her own without supervision by now. But while she is being as helpful as Marisa right now, at least she can tell her when she was off track entirely.
"Have fun." Desida said, and Ishi gave her a casual wave, as she turned back to her book.
After Isika left, Ishi casually looked to Desida. "Was that really your reason, just don't tread on Marisa's toes?"
"I owe Marisa a lot, and for my sins I know her better than most around here, at least enough to hazard a guess as to what she's up to." Desida said.
"...and that is?" Ishi said, curious despite herself.
"Sometimes the journey is more important than the destination." was Desida's explanation. "It's just something someone has to learn, if they want to stand next to Marisa."
Ishi gained a thoughtful expression as she stared at nothing in particular. "...Huh, I never would have thought of it like that."
"It is fun watching her struggle though."
Ishi snorted. "You really are a demon."
"Was that ever in doubt?" Desida said, smirking.
Chapter notes:
And thus Thanes quest continues and Isika gets frustrated.
Can anyone figure out what Marisa is trying to teach her?