The Midnight Sun

The small little golem looked over at the inanimate skeleton of his master. Mr. Reese had been sitting there for an awfully long while, not moving a bone. The amulet in his pocket began to glow once more, signifying someone's attempt to communicate. It received no response.

The golem knew that using Mr. Reese's network was impossible for one such as him, but there was still terribly overdue information floating around. After a few moments of pondering, a rusty lightbulb flickered into being atop his head. He snatched a pen and pad of paper from atop the desk. He had never used a pen before, but he had seen the masses use them, and the knowledge came quickly.

Artemis is busily organizing the patrons who wish to fight, checking their inventory of weapons and discussing defensive tactics. Noticing Naoki's approach, she waves another bouncer over to continue her work.

Breaking from the group with quick, efficient steps, she meets Naoki halfway. "Madame, we need to do something about that hole in the roof," she begins with no fanfare. "If demons get inside, they're going to tear through those patrons like a knife through butter." To emphasize her point, she gestures at a man insisting to her temporary replacement, at a volume produced only by alcohol, that he requires no weapon but his two hands.

Hearing the sounds of battle increase outside and seeing that the Imps don't seem to be attacking the Midnight Sun, Grandma decided she best assist the city before it was too late. She headed toward the door, motioning Bupae to follow.

"I would appreciate your assistance, although if you don't wish to give it, that's fine as well. It seems we won't be needed here anymore, but unless the monster out there is stopped, we soon won't have anything left to defend.

<Exits to Western Fortificatons>

"It is far too dangerous for a conventional construction team, and we don't have any mages on site with the skill set to help patch the hole more quickly." Artemis grimaced. "I suppose we'll have to let it lie for now."

As Naoki heads for the stairs, Artemis catches her attention, and makes a subtle gesture with her hand, her middle finger and thumb touching each other. Operate under stage two alert.

Artemis takes the lead as the duo walks up the stairs, her right hand hovering near the hem of her jacket. They approach the door of Reese's office - or where the door would have been, if it hadn't been ripped from its hinges.

In an instant, Artemis's hands are filled with a pair of nasty-looking impact tonfas, which she holds at the ready as she approaches the door. A gesture to Naoki sees the catgirl staying well back from the entrance, in such a position that Artemis would catch the eye of any intruders before her.

Inside, the office is largely undisturbed, except for the remains of the door and the resultant disarray. The papers on the desk are only slightly ruffled, and the glass orb remains intact. Reese lies in his chair, head lolling back limply.

"Reese? Reese, can you hear me?" Artemis interrogates, in an urgent tone.

Cautiously, Naoki follows Artemis up the stairs, and into Resee's office. When she spots Resse, her mouth forms into a small circle.

"Oh my."

As Kate thunders up the stairs, Naoki's ears flatten against her head, and she positions herself behind Artemis, who has turned to face the door, tonfas in hand.

As Kate shows her face, Naoki exhales, and her tail goes vertical.

"Hello, Kate. Good to see that you're.. well. That's what we came up here to find out. The short answer, as I understand, is yes. There is fighting in the streets, there's something hostile down in Hasdrubal's lair, and... well, you can see Mr. Cresno here."

Madame Naoki looks around the room again, and takes a closer look at Mr. Cresno.

 His suit was still clean, free of any holes. His bones were intact, but not floating in a way that would suggest that he had control of them. The pins on the wall-map were stale, the one labeled 'Naoki' was still at the Citidel. Whatever had incapacitated Mr. Cresno had both the strength to blow the door down, magically or otherwise, and the ability to do... this to him. Naoki wasn't terribly well versed on animate skeletons, and Reese hadn't really gone into what made him tick.
It was impossible to determine, given the information, what Cresno's status was, beyond 'not responding', or who had been here. The investigation must continue.

Madame Naoki addressed Kate again, with a soothing tone of voice.
"I have it under control, though. Resee here is probably fine, and the army is out in force to deal with the demons. I've placed The Midnight Sun under lockdown. With the exception of the hole in the roof, everything is sealed. I think that we should go back downstairs, and see what's going on with Hasdrubal before proceeding further."

As Naoki watched, the pin labeled 'Hasdrubal' rolled down a discarded sheet of paper, bounced off a broken quill, and clinked against an empty bottle, before landing at the bottom of the waste bin with a soft 'tink'.

A cold silence grips the room, as the implications of this simple action sink in. Naoki's calm, commanding presence falters. Her tail drops back down, twitching side to side. She takes heavy steps over to the basket, and looks down at the pin.

It looks back at her silently, rolling on the slightly tilted surface.

"He... must have... taken off..."
No, that doesn't work. Hasdrubal's family artifact was his face-plate, and that never came off. The gem actually had to be embedded into it while Hasdrubal was wearing it, a procedure that Hasdrubal enjoyed more than he probably should have. To remove or destroy the gem, Hasdrubal's whole head would have to be destroyed.

Madame Naoki recovers her presence. There was no point in getting emotional just yet.
"There's probably some sort of problem with the scrying system, seeing as how Mr. Cresno is disabled. We should go see for ourselves."

"Not so fast, mate. Sorry for what? You're saying some awfully suspicious stuff. Tell me what you're referring to, or I won't let you leave. "

He looked at the man once the door, feeling the presence of him rather unsettling. He looked around from his place under the door frame, seeing the other doors being boarded up and locked. He looked back towards the man.

"So just going into the den of sin filth my soul? How unpleasant....as for being forever untainted, I don't believe that to be entirely true. Seems to be a bit to much at less. Anyways, my goddess is forgiving, she underetnsd the risks of sending her children, her warriors, down to this and any other world. We know of the risks and we accept them, knowing whatever we do, she will still love us and all who serve her."

He stepped away from the lair, feeling the heat of the flames he caused on his back, even from here.

"As for wanting to cleanse my soul, I much rather you not, for both our sake. Though for yours much more. For seeing my soul, for seeing my true form, may cause for some bad after effects for you. So be weary when trying to look into my soul, or have your eyes melted, which would be the least of your worries at that point in time. Your choice."

He walked towards the bar, the Windows and doors boarded and locked up. He thought he felt something during his strife, but dismissed it.

"May I inquire why you guys seem to be locked up and barricaded inside here?"

The reverberations of Erik's knocking rumble through the building, causing the splinters of Mr. Cresno's door to shudder on the floor. Another silence falls. Naoki glances between Kate and Artemis. Kate seemed calmer than she was before, but Artemis was even more on edge.

"Well. Artemis, how about you go have a peek downstairs, and see what that was. We will head across the hall to my office, and wait there for your return. If you'd like to exercise your own judgment and deal with whatever it is, please don't hesitate on my account."

Assuming no complaints are made, Madame Naoki steps quietly across the hall to her office door, opens it, and heads inside, holding the door for Kate to follow.