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Because I've seen the dark side too. (Semi-closed - See 1st post)


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They soon approached the towering building, the Hall of Flames. Erik saluted the guard at the entrance, "We are here to speak with Captain Monroe, CWU." The guard, a massive Hellsguard recognized the Sargent, but not the girl. He lifted his hand to his pearl, not taking his eyes from Eydis, "Captain.... Sargent Mynhier and a girl to see you. Do I send them up?...... Yes Ma'am." He nodded to Erik then moved his ax, its size easily blocking the door.

 

Through the door they walked the halls. Each door had a sign on it, all but one. Near the end of the maze of a hall was a stairwell. All the way down they traveled, Reaching a single door at the end. Inside the door there was a small well lit reception office. In the center of the office was a small desk maned by a plainsfolk. Framing her was a door on either side of her, one read "Crimson Watch" while the other read "Sultansworn Liaison Office". The little secretary smiled and waved, "Good morning Erik." Erik leaned down low to place his hand on desk, "Good morning Nivivi. How is that puppy doing?" She giggled, "Much better, thank you. I still don't know how you got the drops, they were a fortune." He waved his hand, "No, I have a friend in Frondale's Phrontistery who owed me a favor." She smiled, "Well regardless, I won't forget. The Captain is waiting, you better get in there." Erik laughed and tapped the desk as he lead Eydis into the office.

 

Juliette stood when they walked in, "Sargent. This must be Eydis? Hello, I was looking forward to talking to you. Please, sit." She motioned to some chairs and took one herself. She smiled, "I assume you have been through alot, and I hate to add to it, but I must ask you. What about you would make Imperial soldiers stupid enough to armor up and attack, I'm sorry, a young frightened escort?" She looked to Erik now, "We collected the bodies this morning, well done by the way, but these soldiers were armed.... expertly. Their uniforms were marked with the seal of an elite unit in the Empire, best of the best. And strangest of all.... there was dust on the uniforms, especially the boots, ceruleum dust. Not a common thing."

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Thankfully her pearl had finally stopped tremoring by the time they reached the hall. Shrinking back, Cliodhna took a couple of steps to the side till she was behind Erik; trying to avoid the strong gaze of the huge guard at the front of the building. It was fairly obvious that any normal girl in her position would be fearful of imposing men at this point and this hopefully further cemented a tie to the highlander's already strong desire to protect her. Hiding her face behind Erik's torso, she clutched the back of his coat just tight enough for him to feel it.

 

Once inside, she continued to keep a couple of paces behind as they walked; her gaze flitting in almost every direction, mouth hanging open ever so slightly at the massive size and elegance of the furnishing which would be expected of any person of lower standing seeing something like this for the first time. Cliodhna felt her heart skip a few beats; this was better than being in a sweets shop. Biting the corner of her mouth, she kept a grin from spreading and quickly dropped her gaze to the floor before looking up again and continuing to memorize as much as possible of their trip.

 

Letting her eyes drift over to the door labeled "Crimson Watch" briefly, Cliodhna followed Erik into the office and sat on the edge of her chair gingerly. Keeping her gaze down, she only glanced up at the comment of her newly acquired profession. "I'm sorry ma'am but I'm afraid I don't know why they had all their armor on or what ranking they were. I was only suppose to meet with them and um....p-provide what was needed as earlier specified by my master." Cliodhna suppressed a small shudder, hands twisting the skirt in her lap before continuing. "I wasn't there long before Erik stepped in and rescued me." She paused and looked up quizzically. "Is cerulem dust kinda shiny or have little bits of purple in it?" suppressing a frustrated snort at the woman's earlier comment; of course they were from an elite group, they were suppose to be the one's doing what Cliodhna was in the process of doing right now. Infiltration and intelligence gathering of any and all documents that could be valuable in regards to the ceruleum mines while insuring that there wasn't much knowledge of the Empire's current involvement on their side. Cliodhna leaned forwardly a bit eagerly as if sharing a secret with the older woman. "I had to go with some of the other girls once, they had to travel far north to provide comfort for a bunch of men that were working in some sort of mining camp. We tried to run away but were caught anyway....." She leaned back again, lowering her sadly. "I remember there being a lot of dust with purple and silver colored flakes on the ground when the other girls had me hide in one of the smaller cave openings so I would be spared...the other girls had a lot of injuries before we were forced to return."

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Hearing that Juliette met her eyes with her Sargent for a long moment. No words left, but the conversation was loud and urgent between them. She smiled and asked the girl to wait out in the lobby with Nivivi for a few minutes.

 

As the soundproof door shut she turned to Erik, "You understand what this is don't you?" Erik nodded, "Brazen is the word that comes to mind Ma'am." Juliette sighed as she returned to her desk, "We have few advantages against the Empire, that plant north of Bluefog is by no means a secret, but it is not front page news either. She has been up there, what's worse the Garleans seem to be as well. But I have seen no reports of them, along with the reputation of the Unit who attacked her, it worries me Erik." Erik sat also, taking the chair near the door, "Agreed. They seem to be up to something up there, something critical enough to spend such high priced resources just to silence a girl who has only seen them in passing. Four fully armed men, that is overkill." Captain Monroe leaned back, "Or not.... Its damning enough she saw them, but had that been the issue moving their unit would have been easier and less public, they wanted her silent maybe because they can't move. Most likely all those girls would've been put to the sword when those men finished with them. They are doing something sensitive there and we need to find out what." She stood walking over to her Ghost, "Go to Bluefog, take her with you. Have her show you where they are. Leave her at the camp with the Flame unit there and infiltrate the site. Find out what they are doing and shut it down. That they have gone unnoticed as they have, its safe to assume they are few in numbers. Remove them from my territory Sargent. Remove them in a way that sends a message to those cocky three-eyed bastards to stay out of our yard." Erik stood and saluted the Captain, "Yes Ma'am, at once."

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Catching the long glace between the two, Cliodhna couldn't help but feel a bit smug. "This was going better than expected." She thought, letting the Captain usher her out the door and back into the small lobby. Fixing her attention on the mousey receptionist, she smiled tentatively. "You're..Nivivi right?" Hopefully she could coax some information out of the girl while Erik was distracted with what Cliodhna assumed could only be retaliation plans.

 

"It's must be awfully boring down here....so quiet I mean." She continued, glancing around the room as she spoke. "But they must have you do some paperwork to keep you busy right?" She continued, spying the stacks of badly organized papers on the girl's desk. "It must be really nice to have a job you can be proud of...." Cliodhna added wistfully.

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"You're so lucky to have such blessings in your life; a good family, a proper job and education, but I'm sure it takes hard work and dedication to get where you are as well." Cliodhna added quickly, her intent on keeping Nivivi boasting until something useful dropped from her mouth. "What sort of exciting work?" She added curiously, stealing another glance at the shuffle of papers on the desk in the process.

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Nivivi smiled and giggled, "Well.... just between you and me.... this work is really important. In fact right now we are holding a traitor, here in the Flames Hall." She pointed to the door marked Crimson Watch, "Right behind that door there are so many rooms. He's back there." She scrambled to sit on her desk, to have a better view of the highlander, "I heard he was terrible. Acting as a go between or something with the Garlean Empire. Can you believe that?"

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Letting her green eyes go wide, Cliodhna placed a hand over her moth in surprise and to hide the grin threatening to emerge. "Oh my, that is awful. He must have a black heart to sell out his own country like that." She breathed, leaning closer to the lala. "He's really right behind that door, what keeps him from escaping and causing more trouble?" She shivered a little.

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"So the window must be high up or really small to keep him in, right? And there must be guards, what happens if he does try to escape?" Cliodhna asked. She just needed the lala to answer those last few questions and then she could start working on a way to get to Garrett herself. Once he was taken care of, she'd had to get out while grabbing any useful information she could along the way and disappear for good after the Flame was taken care of. Thinking on what she had to do, Cliodhna's gaze momentarily slipped from Nivivi to the Sultansworn's closed door, following with a minor ping of regret. Why did Erik had to play the hero last night? He would have been able to live a bit longer if he hadn't. Closing her eyes, Cliodhna banished those thoughts for the moment and turned her attention back to Nivivi. "If it's not too forward of me, can I ask how late you work usually? I um, don't have a lot of friends and you seem so nice, I thought we might be able to meet up and chat some more sometimes if that's alright." Blushing shyly as she asked, letting her head tilt down enough to let her blond hair cover her face slightly and hide her eyes as they quickly scanned the face up paperwork that was scattered on the desk.

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Erik left the Captain's office waving at Niviv as he did. He looked at Eydis, "Let us go." he said as he walked out into the main halls. Back into Ul'dah they walked, he thought about the trouble before him. He worried for the young girl, taking her into such danger, even if only to Bluefog, played bad on his mind. But orders were orders, "Eydis, I was asked to take you to the north, so you can point out the place you were. You will be safe I assure you, but it is important so that I may check to be sure there are no other victims." he paused. "We will need to get you some warmer clothes."

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After giving the lala a somewhat chipper wave good-bye; Cliodhna followed Erik out the winding hallways leading back to the streets. Her attention had mainly focused on committing as much of the Flame Hall's layout to memory, possibly entry points and weaknesses in security from what information she had obtained from Nivivi. So focused was her attention in fact, she nearly missed Erik speaking to her and had to stop a moment to process. Stopping dead in her tracks, with a fearful gaze, she tipped her head up to look into Erik's eyes. Here in the light, this was going to be a bit more difficult to keep her facade but still another important point in the mental chess game being played. "I-I won't lie and say that I'm not afraid but," Cliodhna dropped her gaze. "If you need my help, I''ll go." Words barely above a whisper, her hands twisting a gathered bit of the skirt.

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The preparations didn't take very long, before noon, they were on a cart heading north. The cart was drawn by a young chocobo, Erik's bird named Fury. Gifted to him by Juliette when he joined the watch, the chocobo was a few years old now, and Erik had spent that time training him into both a combative partner and a utilitarian companion. The cart itself carried the provisions they would need, food for the three day trip, changes of clothing and warmer clothes, Erik's equipment and the bird's own set of armor. As they passed into the middle of Central Thanalan, the thought that had been bothering Erik had finally come to a head in his mind, "Eydis.... what is your real name?"

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Cliodhna sat on the cart's bench nearly glued to Erik's side. Despite her apparent fear, her feet were still kicking in motion with the cart's movement. She hadn't expected them to move this fast towards Bluefog, this would make things just a bit more complicated on getting back to that cell in the Flame Hall. Her original plan had been to sneak away that night and get to him but this would cause some adjusting. It was obvious as well that his pearl had been taken away for a chance of information if he was smart enough to not talk yet. Biting her bottom lip she kept a frustrated sigh at bay. So lost in thought she hadn't heard Erik at first. "W-what? I gave you my name....." Cliodhna hurriedly spit out a feeble sounding lie, even to hear ears. Not letting her gaze meet his, she knew he had at least caught her on one thing.

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Erik kept his eye's on the road, "I am no detective mind you, I am not but muscle, but I notice something. Your profession would make anyone jumpy when it came to the sound of their own name. Yet at times I or others say "Eydis" you seem as though you do not notice. So that leads to one of three scenarios. One, that is not your real name, two, you are not what you claim, or three, you cannot hear well. I do not yet know if you are lying about what you are, you seem to hear fine, so that only seems to leave your name... So what is your real name?"

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Staring at her lap, Cliodhna's eyes widened at the horror of her obvious mistake. Of course someone of her apparent position wouldn't be so slow to answer when called. Mentally she kicked herself. "The other girls said it would be best to take on another name....It was suppose to help me keep a sense of self, they said." Pausing to catch her breath, Cliodhna decided to take a chance. There was no way Erik was going to let this go and if she gave him another name now; he'd make it a point to try and catch if she were lying again. "...Cliodhna..." She murmured softly. "That's my real name."

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Erik continued to watch the road, smiling as he answered, "Well then, Cliodhna, a pleasure to meet you."

 

As evening closed around them they stopped at the Nanawa Mines. Antlions moved here and there in the distance beyond the cart. Setting down the struts he unhooked his Fury and quickly brushed out his feathers as he unlatched the door to the enclosed cart, "You can sleep in here tonight. It is meant more for storage then it is for sleeping, but I noticed your eyes darting from antlion to antlion. He unrolled a mat and sat down, laying back on Fury after he had laid down. "Just lock it behind you if you like. He and I will keep watch."

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Standing near the cart, Cliodhna watched as the chocobo continued to preen before settling down next to his master. "Thank you...." Cliodhna murmured, suppressing a shiver as she cast a look in a direction of a nearby antlion. They looked like nightmare fodder to her in all honestly and the last thing Cliodhna wanted was a curious one rubbing it's feelers over her face during the night. Clambering into the cart; she laid out a few blankets on one of floor of it and curled up on her side with little intention to sleep. She had to get back to Ul'dah. Though it was a far distance on foot, it hadn't been too far for the bird. She bit her bottom lip in thought, Cliodhna would have to borrow Fury somehow before they got too much further out.

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He and the bird traded, one asleep for a few minutes, the other's eyes and ears open. Forth bell of the morning passed and he stood, hitching the bird to the cart they carried on. No need to wake the girl, they would be in Bluefog in less then an hour and he would be off from there. She was no soldier, and he had had the foresight to go over the map with her before leaving. He had an idea of where he was going. Cian would be waiting in Bluefog when he got there, "This will be easy." he thought as they pulled into the encampment's gates.

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Cliodhna woke with a start. Blearily, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and frowned, The cart was moving. Uttering a soft groan, she sat up and ran a hand through her tangled hair. She had tried to stay up all night in order to get back to Ul'dah but both flame and bird had traded shifts all night; neither one sleeping more than fifteen minutes at a time. So instead, Cliodhna had spent most of the night waiting for a chance that never came and passing out in the early morning hours. Feeling the cart roll to a stop, she opened the back and all but stumbled out.

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As the girl stumbled out, she was caught by the arms of a lancer. Cian smiled at the girl and then to Erik, "Oh my... look at that hair. And just a child, I didn't know you had it in you Erik.... I'm impressed. But you'll get the block for sure for this one, she's tempting to be sure, but pure dungeon-bait my friend. And is it an Ala Migan custom to toss your "toy" in the back of the cart like the supplies? If so we could learn much from you're people Erik." Erik laughed softly, slowly, he seemed very relaxed with this lancer, "Cian.... shut up and help me unload the cart please. I would like to be there before sunrise."

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Glaring and biting back a string of insults, Cliodhna forced a wide-eyed expression of fear and summoned a blush to her cheeks before wrestling out of Cian's arms. Regaining her balance, she skirted around him and behind Erik, once more grabbing the back of his shirt. Clearly this was a friend and most likely another Flame but thankfully he didn't seem that smart if he passed her off so easily for a plaything. "You're going already?" Asking in a soft voice, Cliodhna gripped the fabric just a hair tighter. Inside she was laughing, the time they arrived would make little difference, that mine should have been cleared out of their men ages ago. The two of them would spend all day crawling around in empty mine tunnels with nothing to show for it.

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Cien smiled and all but dropped the girl and helped Erik unload the cart. Once finished, the two stepped into the outpost office and returned moments later clad in this armor, Erik's plate, Cian in chain, both black with gold trim. Erik walked to Cliodhna, the sun still some time from rising, "You must stay in the encampment, you will be safe here. I have told the men here to keep you safe and they will. Its still very early and you must sleep. The men know not to disturb you. Fury will remain here to keep you company if you are unable to sleep, he helps. Otherwise you can rest in the wagon." Cian laughed as he walked by, tapping Erik's shoulder, "Come on dear, the sitters can take care of the baby.... we have a date."

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Perched on the wagon's bench once more; Cliodhna nodded and offered Erik a small, tight smile. "I'll be okay here...Just be careful please, those men are scary." Shivering a bit, she closed her eyes momentarily before regaining her composure and waving the two men off. Once they were out of sight, she ducked into the back of the cart once again. From the looks of it earlier; the guards were mostly asleep at their posts and would be easy to slip by. Smirking to herself, Cliodhna emerged from the wagon, hair tied back tightly and dressed more appropriately for hard travel. "Fury...Pretty bird, nice bird....Come here good boy, we have to take a small trip..." Speaking sweetly to the large animal, fistful gysahl greens held out for him.

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~2 Hours Later~

 

"So let me get this straight..." whispered Cian as he pestered his friend. Taking their positions above the mine, he carried on, "... She isn't your girlfriend?" Erik waved him off, "She is a child, focus will you. Now there must be a venting entrance, we can go in there and......" Cian interrupted, So if she is just a kid.... why are you letting her sleep at your house?" Erik glared, "We do not all think with our dicks Cian. She was in trouble and alone. It was the right thing to do, and it is only until I am sure she is safe. Which she will be once we clear this cave... now will you please get your head in the game." Cian enjoyed ribbing his friend, as did Erik, despite himself, "Well aren't you just a shining example of chivalry. I swear, it must be like someone shitting in your cereal if you don't get to help an old lady cross the street once a day." Erik smiled, "You have no idea... I once contemplated suicide because someone beat me to getting a little girl's kitten out of a tree." Cian laughed, then caught himself, remembering what they were doing, slapping Erik's back, "Ok man, what's our options you think?" Erik looked down on the two soldiers standing watch outside the cave, fully armed, "As I said, there must be a venting shaft, we could enter through there, move through with the up most stealth, and remove the targets safely one by one....... Or we could jump on those two guys and run through like the wrath of the twelve." Cian pretended to be serious for a moment, as though he was considering all the options, Weeeeeeell..... I am hungry and would like to get this done before breakfast. There can't be more then ten counting those two..." Both looked at each other in silence, like boys about to open gifts. In an almost unnatural unison the spoke... "Rush it!" The two soldiers below looked up to the sound just in time to see the armored highlander fall on one with full weight, and the midlander to fall on the other, his spear pointing down.

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