Summary:Fenris decides to look over the location of the last Dark Elf attack and meets some Pixies Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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There was a disturbance in New York today. Fenris probably felt it and if not, he's heard about it. Which is probably why Zee got a message from him not long ago. She's come straight from Lukes to the roof of the building opposite the bank …. the bank that was destroyed in the fight.
It's dark and there's a breeze ruffling her long dark hair. She'd told Fenris to meet her here.
"Did you want to show me your rubble pile? Because it's very impressive." Fenris says dryly as he arrives out of a Way. "What exactly did they do to deserve that, though? Bad customer service? Interest rates too high? Air Conditioning turned down too low in the lobby?"
Because there's a bank. And it is destroyed. Fenris is mildly amused but only mildly.
It's not completely destroyed. The building is still standing, there's just some load bearing columns and walls that took a beating.
"That's a good question but it's one the Dark Elves will have to answer, they arrived today with Minotaurs and Jotun as shock troops." The mage says. "They took something from a magically sealed vault, too. Did you know that Aspire Financial Inc had those?" It's quiet down there now, the police tape snapping in the breeze.
"According to what one of the elves said to Agent Grey, there are other artifacts they're hunting …"
"No, I did not. But then I do not typically ask after the contents of banks. Not incredibly smart to have that kind of service in with your more public ones. Because contrary to popular myth, creatures like myself will attack in broad daylight."
Fenris regards to ruined building and shakes his head. "Another artifact. I'm starting to take it personally that no one bothered to tell me about these. Or did someone just come through and bury them like a dog buries bones or a squirrel buries nuts?"
"Well it did. And it was well hidden, unless you knew where to look." Zee answers glancing down at the shell of the building. "I thought we might take a look at the scene without having …. others tramping about us." It's an invitation. He might be interested to see what they can find.
As they're talking, there's something moving about down there though.
"They left the box though. I can't help but wonder if they were leaving a message. " There's a faint smile as Fenris sounds so perturbed. "Perhaps you need to have a form they complete."
"As nice as that would be, and as much as I wouldn't mind taking a sniff down around there I fear it's a bit too late, Zee. Look." Fenris points to where he can see motion. It's not surprising that someone else has taken an interest in the ruined bank. The big question is what manner of interest it is. In this town it could be several things.
"Perhaps they didn't have what they needed to open it. Or perhaps it wasn't what they were looking for. Or maybe the box has a tracking spell on it and taking it was ill advised. Magical people are a bit… creative with their booby traps after all. I saw one that would summon a swarm of brownies after exactly six hours unless a specific phrase was spoken when it was picked up."
They were a good snack, the brownies. Whomever made that trap hadn't counted on Fen being willing to just kill a passel of obnoxious house fae.
"Hmmmm… Not unexpected but I wouldn't think it was one of the group that attacked. No, they left the actual box that housed the artifact. It was a wand or a sceptre, I suspect from the size and shape of the container." She confirms.
The movement turns out to be small creatures - pixies by the look - decked out with thimbles for helmets and sewing needles as swords - it's rather amusing really.
They're poking through the rubble and looking around. Talk about obnoxious fae…
They look up towards where Fenris is standing … and seem to be considering running.
Fenris reaches into his pocket and casually pulls out a Twixt. Small Faeries are not unintelligent but they don't have quite the same… piorities then larger beings. And most of them have a pretty significant sweet tooth. He breaks off a section and flips it toward the small swarm of fae.
They might ahve heard about him eating the brownies way back when.
"Fierce warriors." He says gravely to Zee, trying to keep a straight face.
The Twixt does the trick and the pixies draw closer. Zee pulls out a bag of candied corn from the bag she's carrying. "No Pizza?" they ask, watching the pair of them.
"Fierce warriors indeed, Fenris." The mage agrees, shaking her head at the creatures. "No pizza tonight but … maybe … later. What are you doing here, little ones?"
"The dark ones, they came. We … " The leader, at least Zee assumes that's the leader, says. "… wanted to see whether they found what they wanted …"
"I do not just carry pizza. But sometimes I have servants deliver it for those who are very helpful." Fenris smiles. Servants. Well. For some definitions of the word servant. Getting pizza delivered to pixies is far from the strangest thing he's ever done.
"So, the dark ones. Did you see them then? And did they find what they were looking for?" Maybe. They left behind the box, litterbugs.
"You do?" The pixie says, though he looks at Fenris a little suspiciously. "Maybe we can help." It's easy to bargin with at least.
"They got something but whether it's what they wanted, we don't know. We didn't see them but she did." They nod to Zee. "The wormy one and the bitter one came through with others. Others that were chained to them."
"Three things they seek. Maybe they got one - hard to say without seeing what they got."
"Bitter one and wormy one." Perhaps Zee has an idea who those are. Chained to them. Captives or enspelled creatures. That one isn't too hard to parse. But…
"How do you know they seek three things?" Fenris can be pretty sure that they took a scepter though whether it was one that they wanted depends almost entirely on how exotic the acquisition was. But three items? Three of a set? That seems likely. Maybe the pixies will let something important slip here.
"Wormwood and Bitterhand, I believe. Though I'm sure I saw Grendel as well." Zatanna answers.
"Yes, yes. The Wormy and Bitter one. Xun said that." The little pixie answers, plucking at the Twixt in Fenris hand. "We hear things, pixies do. People talk and forget we're around." Of course that probably means they might be able to be quiet enough so people forget they're around.
"Three things to help with the war, they seek."
"Ugh." Is Fenris' response to that. Like he's met them before and he doesn't fancy dealing with them again. "'The War'." Well that's a charming thing to be doing on Fenris' turf. Of course Zee has already told him that there's a potential scheme to take over the kingship of Otherworld so he's not flat footed. But this is apparently a well developed plan at this point.
Fenris breaks off another piece of the twixt. "I might be willing to arrange… regular pizza if someone were to listen around and tell me what they heard on a regular basis."
"I would be surprised if you didn't know of them." Zee murmurs as one of the pixies settles on her shoulder. "Charming fellows if ever I met them. One of them seemed to be quite interested in Loki - but then, I'm sure the trickster has made many friends."
"Mmmhmm, the War. Mal-elf is going to finish what he started." Xun nods and snatches greedily at the piece of the Twixt, wolfing it down in an instance.
"'Za? You will buy us 'Za if … we report to Wolf-God." There's a lot of chittering from behind Xun at that.
"Not the God-Wolf … " and the likes can be heard. They are a little … afraid of the big bad wolf.
"How often would we get 'Za?" Xun asks Fenris boldly.
"Everyone knows of them I am sure." Fenris mutters. "And yes. Loki has made many friends. So many that he no longer needs enemies if you catch my drift." Zatanna surely knows this.
"You could report to Zee instead of me. And she would tell me if you get pizza that week. And every week. Every friday, at sunset. Give or take thirty minutes." Because you know. "The really good thin crust."
That, he's sure, will get them salivating.
"If they're looking for three artifacts and one of them is a scepter, what do you think the set is?" Fenris asked the young mage.
"No! Xun brave. Report to the wolf-god." The little creatures chin tilts proudly. "Xun is warrior." Suuuure he is. "Every Friday when the sun goes down. Thin crust with the works …" Clearly he has his preferences. The offer certainly gets some excited chittering … that's gone a long way to to settling the fae.
Slowly the creatures start to disperse though Xun looks between the pair, frowning at the question.
"I'm not sure, Fenris." Zee answers thoughtfully. "I've been searching our records on such things. There's a lot of information but most of it is … doublespeak. You know, I'm sure how these things go. There are of course, the stories of the gifts of the Tuatha, Spear, Stone, Sword and Cauldron but I've discounted those. Whatever was taken from here, wasn't a sword or a spear."
"That was of course before I knew they were seeking three things, I might be able to reduce my search to just that." Zatanna is rather nerdy when it comes to these things, she rather likes research. There's a glance to Xun, who is listening intently - Zee isn't going to forget he's around.
"What?!" Xun trills and glances between the pair of them.
"Have you heard anything more?" Zee rattles the bag of candy corn.
"Uh. Xun hears many things. Maybe things about a Horn and a Cloak. But things also about a torque and a ring."
"Yes, and many variations on that. But just three?" Fenris is sure if he thought about it he could come up with some candidates for what the set might be. It also might have something to do with Asgard because Malekith always seems to be tangled up with Asgard. Which is… not really something that Fenris likes very much but it is what it is.
"Horn and cloak. Torc and ring…" Fenris turns that over in his head. "Torc and ring could be celtic, but also could be Svartalf…" And with the elves it can go any way.
"I don't suppose, Zee, that you have a way to track any of this?"
There's a short pause and Fenris nods to Xun. "Done and bargained then. You know where I live, I presume."
"Many variations, exactly. Until just now, though, I didn't know the number we were searching for. I can narrow the search but it's still going to be a slog to find out what. Horn … isn't Malekith the leader of the Wild Hunt? That might fit as well…."
The mage shakes her head and gestures "If you want to look around we can, if not, can we walk? I find it helps me think, sometimes."
Xun smiles broadly and nods. "All know where the wolf-god and raven live. So we know where not to tread …"
"Agent Grey from WAND should be able to track what was in the case. If you don't know him, you should. Descendent of the King of Powis who has inherited the power somehow. Decent fellow."
"WAND has some decent fellows but the name doesn't ring an immediate bell." Still, it's possible that they've met and it has just slipped Fenris' mind. "Just let me…"
He walks over to roughly where the wall has been caved in and takes a sniff to see if he can identify anyone. Then, turning, he nods to Zee and indicates that they can walk.
"Well." He says, waving to the pixies whom he knows he'll see again. "What do you think of all that, then?"
Fenris gets the scent of a part dark elf female. A soreceress - the smell of magic is rife. The other scent … is fae. Though Fenris might not be able to determine what type. Then again, he might.
"A loan from MI-13 actually, so it doesn't surprise you don't know him. You might know his ancestors - claims he's descendant of one of Arthurs Knights." Xun flutters off, taking the pack of candy corn with them.
"Make of it? I'm not sure. We knew the Dark Elves were going to move on Otherworld - but why they don't just do it and need these artifacts, I just don't know."
"And I haven't seen hide nor hair from Malekith or his minions since Bridgit gave me her warning …" Zee shakes her head. "Why would you take such a tack, Fenris?"
"Well there are a few things that I can think of…" Fenris says as they move. "For a start they might need the artifacts to impress potential allies. Or it's possible that Malekith doesn't have the numbers or strength to pull off the invasion without help from some mystic turbochargers. Or it's possible that he's hoping to sway people currently on the other side if he looks to be the obvious winner." There's a pause.
"Or it's possible that this isn't actually about invading Otherworld and the entire thing is a ruse." That's a bit of a stretch at this point, he thinks, but given who they're dealing with it's something they need to consider.
"There was an elven sorceress here. Not one I recognize but I would recognize her again if I scented her."
"That's all very mundane, Fenris." Zee smiles directing them down the street and away from the area. "What if … the doors been locked and they can't break through it? It's been … centuries, hasn't it, since they last tried?"
"Sure the Emrys and the others learned their lessons?" Of course, the Celtic gods are not likely to get involved directly, but it's possible they added some weight to the process.
"I'm interested, Fenris. How many sorcerceresses, Elven or not, would recognise by scent? And not just if you 'scented them' again." Oh yes, the magician is teasing.
"A few. Not always for good reasons. Some wanted to tame the beast. Others wanted to be tamed by it." What's the line? Some of them want to use you, some of them want to be used by you.
That's actually not Fenris' favorite music. It's… weird. And that's not what sweet dreams are made of.
"I am not sure of that at all. Gods are very bad at learning their lessons. And sure it could be something esoteric like that but I wouldn't bet on it. Power, and the desire for power, is a very mundane kind of drive no matter who it manifests in."
"Is that so?" Zee laughs at the answer. "I'll remember that and I'm sure a God-Wolf doesn't kiss and tell."
"And some gods are just crazy, right?" The magician sighs as she sobers. "Are you still joining me this week to work through the Shadowcrest records for the Crown? I could do with the extra set of eyes. I've found some oblique references, I think. Whichever of my ancestors took it, they really didn't want it found."
"I really don't." Fenris chuckles. He glances behind them just to make sure that the pixies aren't following. He wants information on them but he really doesn't want anyone else figuring out that trick. Paying pizza to spy on him would be sort of genius after all and the pixies might actually be crazy enough to do it.
"Some of them are yes. Or at least they're not sane in the way mortals understand them. And yes, I would be happy to stop by. Perhaps have a working lunch while we pour over documents." Food always goes over well with Fenris.
"Perhaps they knew this day would come and really didn't want it going back."
"The Shadowcrest cellar is extensive as well, though we don't stock Asgardian ale in there." Zee smiles. "Working lunch it is, my cook is top notch. If you have any preferences … let me know." It's that easy. The magician glances behind her as well. "They aren't following, but we'll have to watch them. You aren't the only one who knows that trick." She murmurs.
"You might be right about my ancestor. I guess we'll find out." If there's one thing that Zee has learned about her family it's to not be surprised by anything.
"Asgardian ale isn't required." Fenris says with an amused tone. He nods slowly to Zee. "I can't have been the only one to think of bribing them for food and it will be difficult to know that they're really on our side. But if they give us good information it'll be worth the pizza."
There's a short pause. "If we could only find out WHICH ancestor was responsible for this that might tell us something. I am guessing though that whomever did this took pains to conceal their identity. I mean, if I were mortal and I pulled off a coup like that, I would."
"I'm sure it isn't but a woman likes to set expectations, Fenris." Zee's being a little cheeky. "Exactly and they came looking for people who can help …" So there's that.
"That might be a better place to start, actually. Maybe. When you come over, I'll have the records available. We can go through tomes of bragging and bravado… "
Some Zatara's have been a little … into themselves.
"Now, are you heading home or can I buy you a drink?" It's late and Zee should get some sleep tonight. It's going to be a busy week for her.
"Brag? Mortal mages? You're always so humble, though…" Fenris laughs. "I am going to wander home eventually yes but if you want to buy me a drink I will not say you nay."
Because hey, booze. It doesn't get him drunk, few things do, but he does enjoy it.
"Where to?"