Completed Midnight Circus

[Maranae]

Taking a step back, he leaned against the wall opposite the door. He grinned to himself, for she could certainly not see it. "Mince words? That is not mu business. And your assumption as to the legality of my business is...technically correct, although I do not know about being a 'rotten one'," he replied in a level tone. If she was trying to get under his skin by insulting him, it would prove a fruitless effort on their part. "Of course, one criminal knows another. But that is not what I am here for."

HE took a deep breath, and stilled his senses. Hers were one manner, but his were another. He could feel the chimera quite acutely from here; the creature bled magic of a certain kind, which was of course how he had been capable of finding her in the first place.

"The creature you have with you is a chimera," he said in patient tones. "I am not entirely familiar with the process of creating one, but I am not one who does. I just work for the one who is in that business. She is a construct with a human soul as a base. Added to that is the essence of several animals, some mundane and some magical, all blended together to create something unlike all of the component parts."

"You have probably noticed some oddities about her," he said. "She's lived this long, which mean thaumaturgically she's probably stable, but, well..." He heaved a sigh. "She has killed a few dozen people. She can be quite dangerous. Not that it matters; she is not human, nor is she really sapient in the same way you and I are. She has an owner, and that owner wants her back under his control for continued study and to prevent any further...unfortunate deaths," he said, finishing.

 

[Rania]

“But I like what I found,” the woman mocked. “I don’t think I want to give it back.” That’s not entirely true, but even a thief had more honour than that. Rania wasn’t going to surrender a child, chimera or not, to a strange man in the dark of the night. That was wrong, and the former slave knew better than this.

Still, Charlie’s words did something to unnerve the otherwise cool-headed rogue. What’s a chimera exactly? She wondered and her gaze fell on Maranae. The girl was about as clueless as her self-proclaimed guardian and if it weren’t for her own experience in that matter, Rania might have considered returning her to whom she allegedly belonged to.

But when Rania was a slave, all she wanted was to be set free. Anything’s better than being owned by someone else, but how could she know if it were the same for Maranae? She placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder and crouched down. “Does Mara want to go back to the den?” She asked, always keeping an eye on the door.

Truth be told, Rania didn’t like any of this. And every part of her body told her to run and take Maranae with her. To create a living being for the sake of studying it and doing experiments? That sounded cruel and Rania was positive that there was some place out there for Maranae, somewhere that wasn’t with him.

"Can't her owner just...make themselves a new chimera?"

Not that she encouraged that type of behavior, but Rania felt pushed into a corner.

 

[Maranae]

"What you found is not yours," he replied blandly from beyond the door. "I do not see what you could possibly gain from keeping her," he added.

Her eyes shifted from the door to Rania, green-yellow-green so fast that it was difficult to catch. She cocked a head to one side, recalling back to that dark place. She could recall the scent of alcohol, used on virtually every surface in some parts of it, and the cleanliness of the place..

But she also remember being treated as an animal, caged at night in better quarters than any base animal was, but still a cage. And...and the fighting, the training to be a weapon, as they called her. She couldn't articulate that to Rania, even if she wanted to, but she knew she did not like what it was they were forcing her to be. The spirit of the little girl they had used for their experiment adamantly denied the reality of a living weapon, wanting none of it.

"Mara...does not," she said in a whisper even as the man outside began to speak again. "Mara does not like fighting," she added in a small voice.

"Could they? Probably....only, as I said, it involves a human soul. Or a sapient one, at least; I am not familiar with the process, not enough to answer many questions about it. I can just tell you that it is vanishingly rare to find the materials to make one such as her. She is rare, special and precious."

There was a pause outside, and then a sigh. "All things considered, I am sure that her rightful owner would be willing to pay a generous reward for finding her and keeping her safe. We have been looking for her for over a year."

 

[Rania]

“A conscience.” The rogue spoke with no lack of bite in her voice.

Am I making a mistake? Her eyes darted back and forth between Maranae and the door. The girl was none of her business and the person waiting on the other side kindly offered to take of this situation for her–if she declined, he would most likely become a threat.

A lone wolf at heart, Rania’s usual modus operandi was different and definitely not as poorly planned as this had been and yet, every fiber in her resisted against letting this dubious stranger take Maranae; it didn’t matter to her what she was.

But Maranae had made her choice – and Rania hers.

“I’m sorry, Mara. I don’t like fighting either, but sometimes there’s no other way.” The woman spoke softly and offered the young chimera a weak smile. Then, Rania readied her daggers and inhaled and exhaled sharply. “A human soul?” She shuddered. “With how well you have explained everything, I’m shocked that you feel no amount of pity towards her,” she said.

In the end, life was precious and those who didn’t value it did not deserve it. “She doesn’t want to come with you.” Her shoulders were still tensed, but somehow Rania managed to sound calm and collected regardless. She had trained herself in appearing level-headed at all times, even though she was no such thing. If she could, she would have jumped at that man’s throat a long time ago.

“Tell your Master,” she paused for a moment, reconsidering, “that it’s their fault for giving her a reason to run. Kindness is rewarded with loyalty. Maybe they will learn from their mistakes and do better next time.”

 

[Maranae]

"A conscience is an expensive commodity in certain lines of work," the man replied from outside the room. He had long ago left behind any chance at being able to afford such a thing, and said as much. "I lost my right to such things a long time ago, alas. All I can do is the same as the rest of us - the best I can, given the hand I have been dealt." A pause. "But do not think I do not pity the girl; I do. Her hand was harsher than mine."

Mara stirred uneasily where she sat in a pensive state. She still gave every impression of a predatory cat, ears pricked forward and tail twitching even though she had neither of these things. It was so strong, though. "Fighting is bad," the girl said. "People get hurt, stop moving. They will not wake up when she hits them," she said in an ever smaller voice.

From outside, the man sighed loud enough to be heard through the door. "I have no master," he said simply. "Part of the price for having to sacrifice my own soul, my own conscience, was my freedom. I still have that, at least." He popped up from leaning against the wall opposite their door, straightening his clothes as he did so. "I will inform the the boss about your reluctance to relinquish his property. I doubt he will be happy about it, and I fear I may have to return and be more forceful about it."

He turned to leave, and paused a moment. "For what it is worth, I hope it does not come down to that. But if I must, I must. Nothing personal, you understand." And then he was walking down the hallway, down the stairs.

Mara listened carefully as the man walked away, and looked to Rania. "Is it time to go again?" She asked the dark haired woman, surprisingly aware of the situation.

 

[Rania]

“It’s nothing one can afford without being able to take responsibility.” The thief said quietly. Her line of work was all but ethical and everything she did, she did to survive. Still, the woman never stole from those who had less then her and she never hurt anyone unless she had to, to protect herself. And Rania didn’t kill, lest that death would save some lives.

His words were food for thought and she was surprised by both, how aware Maranae was and how understanding the stranger on the other side of the door seemed to be. There was something bigger happening, another person that Rania knew nothing of–somebody of great importance–was a part of this situation without her knowing.

“Thank you.” Rania lowered her weapons. “And yes, I understand.”

Of course she did, how could she not? Rania had been in the same position many times in the past and even now she fully expected him to burst through the door and take the child by force immediately, without delay. It gave her time to think her next steps through and speak to Maranae about her plans. The chimera still looked all but inhumane to her and Rania never felt the need to bring up her alien species.

Still, what exactly is a chimera? And what was his reason for creating one?

She waited until she could no longer sense his footsteps, then turned to the little redhead. “Maybe,” she said with a sigh and motioned her to sit on the bed. “This problem won’t disappear, I’m afraid. No matter how far Mara runs.” A life of running and hiding, never staying anywhere for long – that’s not something she wished for the girl. “Sometimes,” she added with utmost care. “Sometimes problems disappear when you punch them hard enough.” Rania didn’t oppose violence and sometimes it simply was the solution one needed.

“If you punch that problem hard enough, it will stop moving. And then it can’t follow you anymore.”

 

[Maranae]

"Won't disappear," she agreed, and hopped from where she was to the bed in a single bound. The similarity between her and a cat was uncanny, really. She appeared to struggle with herself for a moment, brow furrowed as she struggled with some thought that was on her mind. Sometimes - frustratingly - concepts and ideas were difficult for her to convey. There was a sense that it was not so, once upon a time. Now, though?

"Mara...does not punch?" She said carefully. "Mara does not want to fight. She...cannot think, not right. Red, it all goes red..." Her brows remained furrowed as she struggled to articulate an idea that was beyond her years, or probably was. How to express that when her blood was finally up, it never stopped at one? A blinding, savage rage took hold of her and she had little control over herself when enraged as such. Worse, she was even stronger and harder to stop then.

"Will Mara have to stop the man?" she asked.

 

[Rania]

Rania hesitated. She was a thief at heart, but she had taken more difficult jobs in the past. There used to be a time when she had worked for others, served as their faithful problem eliminator and although those jobs paid well, they conflicted with her morals.

She would rather entertain a man, spy on them and lie to them than straight out kill them – but sometimes there was no other choice.

The problem lay at hand, although she had no clue how to solve it. Already having developed a soft spot for the little redhead, Rania didn’t think she could simply leave her behind and let her suffer whatever terrible fate was waiting for her on the other side of that door.

“Fine.” Rania sighed. “I will do it one time, only for you. I will take care of the problem, but it won’t be cheap.” At least Maranae would have a better life being in debt to her, rather than those gruesome men. “I suppose there isn’t anything you can tell me about them?” She sighed. Rania was skilled and good at many things, but this task was one she didn’t know she was equal to.

 

[Maranae]

She girl shook her head slowly. She had no idea what Rania meant by something not being cheap, instead focusing on the simple idea expressed: Rania would do something for Mara, would take of the problem. She did not understand it in anything but the most basic of terms. She smiled brightly at Rania, pronounced incisors gleaming in lamp light.

Such naive, innocent hopefulness in those eyes, liquid in the shifting light.

"They are people," she ventured cautiously, not know what it was that Rania wanted to know. "There are many, Mara knows. Many many." If she had known, she could have told Rania that they were well funded, with a seemingly endless supply of resources and manpower available to them. Maybe later, when she was older and more world weary; for now, though, she was still fairly innocent.

"Not very strong," she said after a few moments.

***

"This is not acceptable, and you know it," the nobleman said to the tall figure before him. "You should have taken the girl then and there and been done with it. Or were you concerned about the young lady you claim was with her?"

"The young lady with her, I never laid eyes upon. But you should know by now that I do not operate that way, nor will I." Charlie leaned against the wall beside the door, much as he had for Rania, calm features unruffled by the touch of anger in the others' voice. "In either case, I know how you operate, and so if you want to shed blood to take the chimera, you will need to provide some muscle. I am sure I can handle the woman, but I am not so sure about your pet."

Jerick sneered at that, but nodded. "Of course not. She was hand-crafted to be a machine of death. Its a shame that we could not purge that part of her host soul that appears to be some kind of a pacifist, but the method has proven sound. We just need to find willing hosts instead of ones procured from back-alley dealers, moving forward." He leaned back in his chair. They were in a disused office that the noble owned, quite often used for dirty dealings and things that he did not want directly associated with his name. "Take a few thugs along with you. I am sure David has a few he could spare from other work."

"As you wish," he replied, straightening and adjusting his coat. He could not help but feel a twinge of distaste at this particular contract, but it was hardly the least abhorrent thing he'd forced himself to do. "I will bring the girl back by morning. I assume you want her alive?"

Jerick snorted at the question. "You don't have the stones to be able to kill it, Charlie. Get rid of the woman, though, and see if you can subdue the beast and bring it back to me before it wakes back up. Or you will probably regret it. You know what it can do."

And he did, at that. "As you will it," he said, then left the room, closing the door softly behind himself.

Jerick stared at the door a moment longer, and then stood and left by a different route.

 

[Rania]

Oh, what have I done?

Rania, for what was maybe the hundredth time tonight, nervously ran a hand through the sleek strands of her dark hair. She looked down and caught a glimpse of hopefulness, perhaps even gratitude in Maranae’s eyes and knew then that she had made the right decision for the girl, just not for herself. A few years ago she would have wanted someone to stop and care for her the same way, but no one ever did.

Abandoning Maranae would make her a hypocrite, and Rania Dazeir was no such thing. A thief at heart, but a human first – and not without honor.

Rania’s eyes rapidly scanned the room for something, anything that would help her in this situation. There were her trusty daggers of course, and the poison she had prepared. Some of it was to kill, others would simply put her enemies to sleep, but right now she didn’t know how much time she had – and how well she was prepared.

The information Maranae was offering her was sparse, but better than nothing. She was also surprised to hear her describe the enemies as weak, although it was hard to guess what that meant from the perspective of a chimera. Rania had no way of knowing the true power of the girl and so she went with what she saw: if it looks like a little girl, talks like a little girl, walks like a little girl – it’s probably a little girl.

“I think it’s best if we go, we can’t stay here.” Rania said to Maranae and began packing up a few minor things, all of which could be used to defend herself in one way or another. “Others might get hurt,” she spoke quietly and uttered a sigh. Then, she hushed Maranae out of the door and quickly followed behind. There were a few places where she could hide the girl, but separating didn’t seem like the best idea with how little she knew of the people looking for them.

“If Maranae could go anywhere right now, where would she go?”

 

[Maranae]

"Can't stay," the girl agreed with the raven-haired thief. She moved about now, almost like she was anxious to be outside rather than indoors. If she were asked, she would no more be able to explain the discomfort being indoors gave her than any other complex concept. The cage and all the things that surrounded it were buried deeply in her mind, along with memories from the time that came before that.

She seemed more than willing to slip out into the hallway, dancing about with the boundless energy of youth. "Where would she go? Where would she go?" The girl seemed to sing to herself, terribly and off key but with a sweet voice nonetheless. "Where the wild things go, where the wild things go," she recited, dancing round Rania on her bare feet, heedless of the splintery floor.

"Maranae would go out of place with big houses," she said as they made their way down the stairs. "Where lights are in the skies and no two-legs chase, only four-legs to chase and eat," she added. "People do not...like Mara, get angry with her," she said, then went back to chortling her little tune, singing of the wild lands and the things within them.

 

[Rania]

“Doesn’t seem like you got any issues with that,” said the woman with a quiet mutter. Rania had hoped to enjoy a quiet night in the comfort of her home, but it seemed that this wouldn’t be possible; being hunted by a mob of unknown, dangerous men really took the comfort out of anything.

And still, Maranae was happy all the same. The girl responded to her questions with a gleeful voice, always filled with so much youthful energy and vigor that the black-haired thief almost found it difficult to catch up. Her singing, albeit unpleasant to listen to, brought a smile to Rania’s otherwise stern face.

“Right,” she answered with a nod. “The jungle it is then.” To be frank, she didn’t like the idea of leaving the city, but Rania knew better than most people there was no point in asking for a stranger’s help here – they were foreigners, everyone else had their own problems and certainly wouldn’t lend a helping hand, not even to two women.

A more natural environment, such as the outskirts of the city, were easier to manipulate and it was something Rania was more comfortable with. It was easy to hide within the woods and bring some distance between herself and whoever was approaching. She was good with her bow and her seismic senses were much more applicable to terrain that wasn’t so crowded.

Because of this, Rania would lead Maranae out of the city, somewhere with less people – somewhere where she could see and feel better. Rania couldn’t make much sense about everything else that Maranae was saying, but there was definitely some reason for concern.

With a crooked smile, Rania patted the girl on the shoulder. “If it has two legs, you probably shouldn’t eat it anyways,” she advised the young girl.

“But I’ll make an exception for whoever is coming after us.”

 

[Maranae]

"The jungle, the jungle," Mara agreed, skipping along as happily as a pig in slop.

The way out of the city was straight forward enough; they had not been near the center of it to start with, and so late in the evening there were very few pedestrians about. Aside from the stray individual - who eyed them as warily as they might them - the streets were virtually empty. Windows dark, shutters closed and curtains drawn against the night. It was not silent here, though; the sounds of the city were perhaps muted from their daytime clamor but such places seldom slept.

Out, out into the edges of the city, past patrols of guards that looked at them askance but said nothing. Even moving swiftly, it was likely to take an hour to get out of the city entirely. Even with the girls' swift, efficient movement, even with her uncanny ability to see as clearly by starlight (for neither moon was skyward now).

"Two-legs not for eating," she said as they made their way through the streets. "Mara does not...like it. No matter how hungry," she added honestly. She had a voracious appetite at time - a thing that Rania had no yet encountered - but like all youth she was picky about her food. The notion was odd, when pickiness was basically an unwillingness to eat the flesh of sapient creatures such as herself. "Brown four-legs with bones on head are best," she said. "Very fast, but not fast for Mara! Sometimes not enough food..."

Somewhere, in the darkness behind them, the hunters were moving and following the scent of their quarry. Rania could not know that hiding was strictly out of the playbook in this case.

 

[Rania]

The night fell quickly upon Elbion, the streets had emptied and the thief shivered when a cold breeze brushed against her pale skin. It felt like the longest walk and although there was no one approaching – yet – and she found Maranae’s happy-go-lucky disposition rather contagious, Rania couldn’t help but worry about what awaited them.

Nothing good, she presumed.

There’s not much Rania could do for the girl other than to show her kindness, but the raven haired beauty did not know this. In the end, Maranae’s strengths, her physical attributes and abilities widely outshone the human and if they were to be caught, their fate were in the chimera’s hands – but not her own. Still, Rania was a gentle-hearted woman and although she would die before admitting to this, she couldn’t abandon the little one now. Not ever.

“Right,” the thief agreed with Maranae. “I doubt those taste good. To be honest, I can’t even imagine it. Turkey is much better, like what you had earlier today.” Rania tried her best to ignore the haunting images trying to creep their way into her mind. If Maranae was by any chance a cannibal – or had been in the past – she was glad that the girl hadn’t quite gotten a taste for mankind.

Besides, what she described next was much more to her liking anyways. “A cow? You mean beef?” Rania put on a thoughtful expression. Some cows were indeed brown, with large horns on their head. “But then again, cows aren’t exactly known for their speed. I suppose you mean deers?” Deers were absolutely delicious, they could agree on that one. “They are fast, but not fast enough for my bow and arrow,” the thief added with a smile and nodded along.

Perhaps they could find a deer to enjoy later, when danger was out of the way. Poor Rania didn’t even have a clue about what was coming for her.

 

[Maranae]

"Deer?" She said with the peculiar twist of a question being asked. With no formal education - at least none that could be recalled - everything in the world had been categorized by her in her own special way. Certainly, she had to have been taught something, because her command of the common tongue, while unorthodox, was in no way completely absent. "Deer? Fast brown things with bones on head?"

Regardless of the answer, it had already been filed away. Deer, deer, deer, ran in a litany in her mind, a new thing to learn of. She hoped to come across another this evening, but found it unlikely. They tended to bed down in the evening, unless the moon was up - and it was not, not now.

Instead, the girl fell to humming a nonsense tune as she went along the deserted streets. They had moved beyond the heart of the city, into the quieter residential areas. The farmlands and small copses of trees that dotted the countryside outside Elbion proper were a couple miles away yet, but here the city was much quieter. No lights were on in any of the windows, and even the local guard seem to be absent.

Only the barking of dogs, distant from them, broke the stillness of the night.

And there, standing in the street round the next corner, stood a man in the middle of the road. "I think that you shall go no further until you have returned the girl," he said in a cool and calm voice. It was the first time either of them had laid eyes upon the gentleman that had spoken to them from the other side of a door in an inn not far from here.

Charlie was an imposing figure; he cut lean, but was as tall as most humans ever got. He wore a neat coat and trousers that were well fitted to his frame, but carried no sword. Only a pair of knives at his hips, heavy bladed things that looked more like workman's tools than decoration. In fact, the man had little decoration on him. The coat was black, the trousers as well. He regarded them with dark eyes, hands folded in front of him for all the world like he was in polite company.

"I would really rather not have to get rough with a lady if I do no have to. Adding scars to such a pretty face would be...unfortunate, but necessary if I have to take by force what should be given by right."

Maranae had stopped humming almost as soon as she had seen the fellow in the darkness. Her uncanny hearing had not detected any sound at all of his approach; it was as if he had appeared there by magical means. Too many mysteries presented themselves in this moment, and too many of them had no explanation to speak of. Some instinctive part of the girl's brain led her to shift in behind the thief as though she could hide there. There was no hiding this time, unfortunately.

 

[Rania]

The thief smiled at Mara’s enthusiasm. The little chimera was endearing and, although Rania didn’t want to admit, had grown on her fairly quickly. Her light hearted approach and childlike demeanor took the stress out of the situation, but the woman’s façade was trembling under the uncertainty of it all.

“A deer is an animal and quite delicious,” said Rania with a nod. The girl was occupied with learning new words and the song she was humming, albeit foreign and senseless, felt strangely comforting. Of course that sense of comfort wasn’t going to last very long.

When Rania first saw Charlie, she didn’t reveal a hint of surprise. He looked to be as well dressed as he was mannered and while he towered over her in terms of height, it wasn’t his statue but the weapons he carried that were cause for concern – but she kept calm, like she always did.

Her emerald eyes darted back and forth between Maranae and the dark stranger, just to see what her reaction would be. “I can’t do that, for she is not mine to return.” The thief gave back with a shrug. For once, she hadn’t stolen this girl and she didn’t consider her property by all means. “If she wants to go with you, she can, but you cannot force her. I’m just here to make sure you aren’t unfair.” She was being about as truthful as she could be.

Maranae hid behind the taller female, but there was no hiding from that one.

“Go ahead,” she said to Charlie. “Ask her if she wants to come.”

OOC: I...I have no idea how to handle this guy

 

[Maranae]

"No, I rather think I won't waste my time with such a thing," he replied to her in the same polite tone he had used in every conversation thus far. "She did not wish to before, and she will not now. Her personal preference in this particular matter is not a concern of mine any longer."

"Don't," the girl said from behind Rania, clawed hands gripping her legs perhaps a bit painfully. The claws were as sharp as a cats, after all. "Go away," she said.

Charlie sighed, folding his hands across his chest for all the world as if he were at his ease. "You must, though. Do you want anyone else to get hurt? Perhaps the young lady you are with?" He looked to Rania's eyes with his own impassive ones, and shrugged. "Its all the same to me in the end, but I do not generally prefer needless violence. Forgive me if I have a flare for the dramatic, though."

He snapped his fingers, and a pair of men stepped from the shadows. Which was impossible; there were trees, of course, but there was no way they could have hid from Maranae's keen senses, let alone Rania's peculiar sensitivity. They moved as silently as ghosts, one on either side of the women.

"I would ask one last time that you hand over the chimera before I am forced to take it."