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Strixes Wandering Wolves
Chapter V: Teacher DamianoWhen Pierce came out of the back room, he was laughing with Nile. Only it wasn't just the two of them; he had his arms around a girl a little bit younger than he was. She was clinging to him and wrapping her hair around her finger.Nile was looking at her the same way Pierce was. She must be playing for the same team as us. Which was strange. Everything I read about the amazons said they were biologically programmed to be on the men-loving side. Hell, they even had a sex drive that could rival a teenage boy. The book I read theorized that it was because amazons didn't get pregnant easily, so they mated more to give themselves more chances.When they got back over to us, Pierce hauled me up on his shoulders. "It's official, the Lamplighters have become an Association! The Guild Master approved it. Drinks are on me today!"Everyone in the guild hall cheered and the booze started flowing. Given that I was two years old, I didn't stick around very much longer. W
Strixes Interlude: Alice
Interlude: AliceWhen they pulled into the city, the progenitor watched the building flash by in remembrance. When was the last time she had set foot in this city of sin? Back when she was duking it out with Damien before he decided he wanted to be someone else.She was going to drag Damien out of his masquerade, kicking and screaming if she had to. She couldn't do it without him. Her needs came first, rather he liked it or not. And according to one of her titans, they found him. Of course, they didn't appear to be the only ones who did, but she was confident her court would get to him first.That was in the future, though. For now, she had something she needed in this city. The last time she was in this city, one of her toys had been killed. He failed to kill his family, but he did what she needed him to do.It was a shame that Evelyn Lescheres survived, but she could use the hunter. If only to alleviate some of her boredom."Miss?"Alice turned to the driver. "Yes?""Where do you wa
Strixes Interlude: Yayoi
Interlude: YayoiOne of the benefits of agelessness was the experience. Yayoi had been alive longer than most other people on Artemis and in her time serving Damien's court, she picked up a large set of skills.One such skill was the ability to sniff out the underworld. The criminal elements had a certain smell about them and they were easy enough to find when she caught their scent. Not in a literal manner.When they arrived in Neptune, they planned to keep everything in-house. They didn't need to make connections with the underworld. They were firmly hidden and Damien could have the life he wanted. Even if it was only for one lifetime.Yet things changed. They had been discovered. Yayoi still didn't know how, but she would find out.As for right now, she needed to make contact with the criminal underworld and one of her contacts had set up the meeting. Brandon Durden was a made man in the Arel family. He wasn't one of the bosses, but he was high enough that he could go to meetings.
Strixes Evelyn XVI
Evelyn XVIWhat did those visions mean? What message had Alice hidden in them? She wanted to channel me. A battle of the minds? To see if I could uncover the clues she laid out for me before she completed her little game. Did she have no faith that I'd be able to?Or did Alice just not care? Was this just a game to her? A way for some age-old progenitor to relieve her boredom? Either way, innocent likes were at stake. Whatever she was doing, innocent people weren't going to be spared. That wasn't how she operated. Game or not, she'd play hard."I'm leaving this message for you hunter, a challenge if you will. You see, I think people only have true value when acting on their own individual impulses and desires." No fucking shit. "I've asked a lot of people about their suppressed free will and I've come to facilitate them. In return, the ones I've freed are willing to help me. This message comes to you from a young titan girl who was born laboring in the chains of certain criminals. By
Strixes Evelyn XVII
Evelyn XVIIThe scene was something out of a horror movie. Bodies scattered across the floor of the abandoned building like rag dolls. Before anything, I counted the number of victims in my head. Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, thirteen. There were thirteen bodies, not a single one absent of wounds.All the wounds were on their necks. Bite marks. I didn't need a lab to tell me what the marks were from. I'd bet every last credit in my account that those wounds matched fang markings.Hawkendale and Norima stared at the scene with the disconnected passion that only experience brings. No, they were raised in a lab. They didn't have the right morals instilled in them. This must affect them. Depending on how vicious the scientists were when they were raised, this kind of scene might not be anything out of the ordinary for these two.Hawkendale whistled. "Wow. What happened here?""A party got out of hand, obviously. Don't be such a fool." Norima flicked her hair over her shoulder.She s
Strixes Evelyn XVIII
Evelyn XVIIIWally's Jewelry turned out to be a jewelry shop. Smackdown in the middle of Toyhara Shopping Center, one of the largest malls in Pluto. It wasn't a chain store, but privately owned. Despite that, it was one of the most successful jewelry stores in the city.Toyhara was open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, but Wally's Jewelry closed at seven. By the time we arrived, the store had long since closed. Bars covered the windows, with a Linker scan required to enter."As you can see, the store is closed. The last employees left last night at nine, after transferring credits and cleaning up the store," the security guard said. He knocked on the glass, his reflection grime. "I'm sorry, but no one has come in or out since that final employee. All stores are monitored at all times. If anyone tried to get inside, we would have been alerted.""Thank you, officer."The security guard grunted. "What I'm saying, ma'am, is you don't need to be here. None of you do."His eyes f
Strixes Original Draft
Well today was supposed to be a very important chapter regarding Miyuki, Kobayashi, and Evelyn, but since the program I used to write it decided NOT TO SAVE IT, I have no chapter. I'm going to have to rewrite it, after I write the next three Alaric chapters. I have a twelve hour shift today and I'm going to be leaving in twenty minutes, I can't exactly rewrite it. So I'm going to post this from the original draft of Wandering Wolves instead. It's not canon to the current story.When I get home, maybe I'll invest in Microsoft Word or something. Then I'll work on that rewrite.Chapter IV: FightWe spent the next few days working on mana control. This was a process Buer said and it was going to take time to learn the right control. It was more than turning a valve on and off like that first day. On would be a full blast of water, so to speak, while off was nothing.Buer taught us how to adjust the pressure. How to turn on the valve and get a stream of mana, or a river, or even an ocean.
Strixes Interlude: The Watcher
Interlude: The WatcherThe Watcher had served Alice for decades since the Progenitor saved the Watcher's life. The Watcher was a titan with a power that allowed her to record everything she witnessed. Others could view her recordings in the form of dreams.That was why Alice gave her the title of Watcher.The Watcher hid in the ceiling, staring down at the scene unfolding in the jewelry store. Alice's need for needless cruelty had always eluded her, but it was not The Watcher's place to question her master. Alice had given her everything. She saved her life, so what if recording these little cruelties made The Watcher uncomfortable?The Watcher made sure to capture Evelyn as the strix removed his hat. That was the moment Alice wanted to capture. The moment when her actions would destroy someone else.Alice was a progenitor and she had the power to inflict pain and suffering physically, but she went out of her way to avoid torture. She admitted that such torment had its place, but she