Post by Lone Dancer on Mar 13, 2022 8:11:39 GMT
Electra squirmed slightly in her passenger seat, trying to find the correct position to be somewhat comfortable. The car was old, AC half-broken, windows grimy. You’d think the Bureau would be able to afford better cars with the budget they had but no. There was no music for the ride, merely the road’s bumps and the occasional concerning sound emitted from the car.
A new neighbor had just moved in, and Electra wanted to welcome them after this case was finished. Speaking of cases, she brought herself back into focus, her thoughts now on her job. Some rando was engaging in spellcraft without permission from the Bureau. Russ, her mentor (and the car driver), was heading to the location given to crack down on the punk.
It made Electra think back to the other runts who thought themselves almighty because they could conjure sparks from their fingertips or move pebbles with their mind. She couldn’t help but internally scoff at the display of minor elementalism.
She was swiftly ripped from her thoughts as the car stuttered to a stop in front of a modest house in a somewhat lovely neighborhood.
As Russ and she got out of the car, they made sure to put on their sunglasses. Already the eyes of curious onlookers began to glaze over as they looked in different directions, no longer interested in the duo. Stepping through the pebble pathway to the front door, Electra took note of the basic wards. Just a crude detection and protection combo.
So the punk had some knowledge. Nothing compared to what they could do. Russ neatly broke through with merely a hand wave and opened the thick wooden door. To her surprise, the house smelled pleasant. It was a bit forest-y, but not the more normal sweaty musk magical teens in their apartments—a nice change of pace.
A few lit candles around the place were the origin of the scent. As they stepped through the main hallway, Electra took note of the cleanliness. Russ silently strode forward, heading towards the living room of the house. The outdated box of a tv was off, and there were no signs of a person anywhere.
If it weren’t for the wards, she would’ve thought they got the wrong house.
“I’d say welcome to my house, but you rudely barged in. Not even a knock.” Electra suppressed the urge to jump. Not many were capable of sneaking up on her; she didn’t even detect his presence before now.
Swiveling around, both Russ and her turned to face the man in the doorway where they just came from. First, she took noticed was he was tall. Taller than even Russ, who was 6:7 and a grizzled giant of a man. The second thing was the crimson mask on his face. Smooth and oval, with sapphires for eyes and a broad black grin. He was formally dressed in a blue pinstripe suit.
He was distinctly not a teenager, which was mildly concerning. It’s not often mages go undetected by the Bureau for so long. Russ was the first to regain their composure, only pausing for a second when the man arrived.
“For spell-craft without the Bureau’s permission, you are under arrest for the endangerment of magical society.” Russ pulled out their badge from their coat pocket, flipping it towards the masked man.
“And what authority do they have over me?”
“If you don’t comply, we can make you.” Electra found herself chiming in. The masked man nodded thoughtfully at her statement.
“I see. Well, if that’s the case, then I must ask you kindly to leave. I have no interest in dealing with this supposed Bureau of yours.” The man turned around and made to leave. Electra chuckled to herself as she made to pull out her wand. This was going to be fun.
She stopped chuckling when she couldn’t find her wand. Actually, searching through all her pockets, she couldn’t find anything. And judging by Russ’s grunt, neither could he. Their eyes found themselves attracted to the living room table, which had all their items neatly laid out atop it.
And by all their items, literally, everything that wasn’t their clothes was on the table. Somehow even the badge Russ held was there, despite him never letting go of it. For the first time in a long while, Electra began to feel a slight sense of panic. None of her training prepared her for this.
However, the man was foolish for leaving the items nearby them. As Electra reached for her wand, a hand clasped her shoulder.
“Consider these trinkets as your apology for rudely barging in and then attempting to threaten me. It’s just polite manners.” It was the man’s mistake to get close to Electra. Fueling her arm with magical potency, she whipped around and punched him. However, Russ pulled her back just before her fist landed.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Russ hissed into her ear. He turned to face the man.
“Our apologies; we were not aware we were in the presence of the esteemed Fae.”
“Wait, he’s a nonhuman?” Russ winced as the words ejected themselves unthinkingly from Electra’s mouth. Unfortunately, the Bureau’s heavy ‘nonhuman bad’ teachings were quite ingrained in Electra. Still, her mouth rattled off even more.
“We don’t make deals with monsters. Besides, if you harm us, the Bureau is going to end your sad existence.”
“Ah, the bravado of the young. Always a thing to witness in person.” The nonhuman spoke dryly, no longer touching Electra at this point. Russ rubbed their forehead tiredly.
“We’ll be taking our leave; sorry for bothering you. We hope you accept our apology.”
“What are you doing?!” Electra violently hissed at Russ.
“This fellow could kill us both in a blink, and if he is who I suspect him of being, the Bureau wouldn’t be able to do jack. Now I suggest you shut up before you irritate him.”
The masked nonhuman merely stepped towards the side. Russ dragged the hotheaded Electra alongside him without a word, bringing her back to the car.
The ride was silent as they drove back to HQ; Electra was skulking. Still, Russ was her mentor, and she had to listen to him. They arrived at a porting station soon enough, and after proving their identity to the cleric using their magical fingerprint as they both lost their badges to the masked man, they were on their way.
“Thank you for the report; we’ll be sending higher-level agents to deal with it. We’ll be sending you replacement items for the time being, and we’ll attempt to retrieve your old equipment. And Senior Agent Russ, the man can’t be who say it might be. That person does not exist, and it is best not to acknowledge the myth. I assure you, no one can contend with the Bureau.” The stately older woman tittered on, waving off Russ’s concerns.
Russ merely nodded. They were dismissed after that, and as they headed out the maze that was the Complex and out the doors, Electra couldn’t help herself.
“Who did you think it was anyway?”
“Someone that handed the Council their ass when they tried to beat him down. Egos butthurt, they forbade speaking of him. They mostly succeeded in making people forget his existence and their embarrassing loss. Also known as my great, great, great, great, and a thousand more greats, Grandpapa. My relation with him is why I suspect we even left that house alive.”
Electra merely Mmmed at Russ’s statement, not really believing him. This was probably some sort of hazing ritual. They were at their car soon enough and headed home.
As Electra was dropped off at her house by Russ, she used the spare key under a potted plant to get in, as she lost her original one. She would have to get spares. But first, she had cookies to bake a neighbor to greet. While it was approaching night, it was never too late for cookies. She began to hum herself a song as she got to baking.
Carefully holding the tray of freshly baked goods, she knocked on the green painted door of her neighbor. Despite her tiredness, she prepped her friendly smile. She could hear the footsteps approaching, and she straightened up. Good first impressions mattered after all.
The door handle creaked as it was turned, and the door opened. Electra began her spiel.
“Hi there, I baked cookies-” She cut herself off as she saw who opened the door. An all too familiar crimson masked face gazed down on her.
“Greetings, Miss Electra. A surprise to see you here, I must say.”
A new neighbor had just moved in, and Electra wanted to welcome them after this case was finished. Speaking of cases, she brought herself back into focus, her thoughts now on her job. Some rando was engaging in spellcraft without permission from the Bureau. Russ, her mentor (and the car driver), was heading to the location given to crack down on the punk.
It made Electra think back to the other runts who thought themselves almighty because they could conjure sparks from their fingertips or move pebbles with their mind. She couldn’t help but internally scoff at the display of minor elementalism.
She was swiftly ripped from her thoughts as the car stuttered to a stop in front of a modest house in a somewhat lovely neighborhood.
As Russ and she got out of the car, they made sure to put on their sunglasses. Already the eyes of curious onlookers began to glaze over as they looked in different directions, no longer interested in the duo. Stepping through the pebble pathway to the front door, Electra took note of the basic wards. Just a crude detection and protection combo.
So the punk had some knowledge. Nothing compared to what they could do. Russ neatly broke through with merely a hand wave and opened the thick wooden door. To her surprise, the house smelled pleasant. It was a bit forest-y, but not the more normal sweaty musk magical teens in their apartments—a nice change of pace.
A few lit candles around the place were the origin of the scent. As they stepped through the main hallway, Electra took note of the cleanliness. Russ silently strode forward, heading towards the living room of the house. The outdated box of a tv was off, and there were no signs of a person anywhere.
If it weren’t for the wards, she would’ve thought they got the wrong house.
“I’d say welcome to my house, but you rudely barged in. Not even a knock.” Electra suppressed the urge to jump. Not many were capable of sneaking up on her; she didn’t even detect his presence before now.
Swiveling around, both Russ and her turned to face the man in the doorway where they just came from. First, she took noticed was he was tall. Taller than even Russ, who was 6:7 and a grizzled giant of a man. The second thing was the crimson mask on his face. Smooth and oval, with sapphires for eyes and a broad black grin. He was formally dressed in a blue pinstripe suit.
He was distinctly not a teenager, which was mildly concerning. It’s not often mages go undetected by the Bureau for so long. Russ was the first to regain their composure, only pausing for a second when the man arrived.
“For spell-craft without the Bureau’s permission, you are under arrest for the endangerment of magical society.” Russ pulled out their badge from their coat pocket, flipping it towards the masked man.
“And what authority do they have over me?”
“If you don’t comply, we can make you.” Electra found herself chiming in. The masked man nodded thoughtfully at her statement.
“I see. Well, if that’s the case, then I must ask you kindly to leave. I have no interest in dealing with this supposed Bureau of yours.” The man turned around and made to leave. Electra chuckled to herself as she made to pull out her wand. This was going to be fun.
She stopped chuckling when she couldn’t find her wand. Actually, searching through all her pockets, she couldn’t find anything. And judging by Russ’s grunt, neither could he. Their eyes found themselves attracted to the living room table, which had all their items neatly laid out atop it.
And by all their items, literally, everything that wasn’t their clothes was on the table. Somehow even the badge Russ held was there, despite him never letting go of it. For the first time in a long while, Electra began to feel a slight sense of panic. None of her training prepared her for this.
However, the man was foolish for leaving the items nearby them. As Electra reached for her wand, a hand clasped her shoulder.
“Consider these trinkets as your apology for rudely barging in and then attempting to threaten me. It’s just polite manners.” It was the man’s mistake to get close to Electra. Fueling her arm with magical potency, she whipped around and punched him. However, Russ pulled her back just before her fist landed.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Russ hissed into her ear. He turned to face the man.
“Our apologies; we were not aware we were in the presence of the esteemed Fae.”
“Wait, he’s a nonhuman?” Russ winced as the words ejected themselves unthinkingly from Electra’s mouth. Unfortunately, the Bureau’s heavy ‘nonhuman bad’ teachings were quite ingrained in Electra. Still, her mouth rattled off even more.
“We don’t make deals with monsters. Besides, if you harm us, the Bureau is going to end your sad existence.”
“Ah, the bravado of the young. Always a thing to witness in person.” The nonhuman spoke dryly, no longer touching Electra at this point. Russ rubbed their forehead tiredly.
“We’ll be taking our leave; sorry for bothering you. We hope you accept our apology.”
“What are you doing?!” Electra violently hissed at Russ.
“This fellow could kill us both in a blink, and if he is who I suspect him of being, the Bureau wouldn’t be able to do jack. Now I suggest you shut up before you irritate him.”
The masked nonhuman merely stepped towards the side. Russ dragged the hotheaded Electra alongside him without a word, bringing her back to the car.
The ride was silent as they drove back to HQ; Electra was skulking. Still, Russ was her mentor, and she had to listen to him. They arrived at a porting station soon enough, and after proving their identity to the cleric using their magical fingerprint as they both lost their badges to the masked man, they were on their way.
“Thank you for the report; we’ll be sending higher-level agents to deal with it. We’ll be sending you replacement items for the time being, and we’ll attempt to retrieve your old equipment. And Senior Agent Russ, the man can’t be who say it might be. That person does not exist, and it is best not to acknowledge the myth. I assure you, no one can contend with the Bureau.” The stately older woman tittered on, waving off Russ’s concerns.
Russ merely nodded. They were dismissed after that, and as they headed out the maze that was the Complex and out the doors, Electra couldn’t help herself.
“Who did you think it was anyway?”
“Someone that handed the Council their ass when they tried to beat him down. Egos butthurt, they forbade speaking of him. They mostly succeeded in making people forget his existence and their embarrassing loss. Also known as my great, great, great, great, and a thousand more greats, Grandpapa. My relation with him is why I suspect we even left that house alive.”
Electra merely Mmmed at Russ’s statement, not really believing him. This was probably some sort of hazing ritual. They were at their car soon enough and headed home.
As Electra was dropped off at her house by Russ, she used the spare key under a potted plant to get in, as she lost her original one. She would have to get spares. But first, she had cookies to bake a neighbor to greet. While it was approaching night, it was never too late for cookies. She began to hum herself a song as she got to baking.
***
The door handle creaked as it was turned, and the door opened. Electra began her spiel.
“Hi there, I baked cookies-” She cut herself off as she saw who opened the door. An all too familiar crimson masked face gazed down on her.
“Greetings, Miss Electra. A surprise to see you here, I must say.”