LIBRIS - Protecting Happy Ever After

Discussion in 'Role Play' started by ManOrAstroMan, Aug 10, 2016.

  1. ManOrAstroMan

    ManOrAstroMan Magical Space Detective Contributor

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    Humbert tried to hide his grimace. He was hoping to ease the pair of them into this meeting. "Dr Fringella Feiss, meet Agent Ella Schmidt. She will be part of our field team."
     
  2. AnonyMouse

    AnonyMouse Contributor Contributor

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    "I know," Feiss said with a sly smile as her eyes locked on the woman and did not stray from her, even though her next words were clearly spoken to Fenric. "I knew she was there all along. Wanted to see how long she'd wait. Longer than the minimum necessary to be considered 'polite,' but not long enough to be antisocial. Interesting. My disgnosis: she doesn't play well with others either... or maybe she does, and there's some reason she was hesitant to approach us... no, not 'us,' just me... she addressed you directly. Hmmm..." Her clear green eyes studied the woman for a moment. "Like oil and water, we are. Now why might that be...?"

    And then she snapped her fingers. "Aha! Sailboats! It has something to do with sailboats," Feiss said, straightening her glasses victoriously. "This requires further investigation. Take me to my laboratory... I do get a laboratory, yes?" Her train of thought derailed mere feet from the station platform. Such a pity.
     
  3. halisme

    halisme Contributor Contributor

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    "Quite the opposite." She replied, facing Feiss with a cold look of detachment. "We, or our other parts at least would mix well, more like fire and powder. Just I'm not fond of explosions. As for others, it depends how stupid they are and choice of phrasing." She continued, before facing the wolf. "As I said, when are we leaving. Just being around her gives me the urge to start making deals that others will regret, and I'm not exactly itching to cause a boom in the undertaking industry."
     
  4. ManOrAstroMan

    ManOrAstroMan Magical Space Detective Contributor

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    Grimace. "Should you require access to a laboratory, I'm sure we can get the proper clearance," he said. "If you two follow me, you can acquaint yourselves with the rest of the team. I have a feeling our fifth team member is already here."
     
  5. Erik-the-Enchanter!

    Erik-the-Enchanter! Banned Contributor

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    Jessamine smiled politely at Jacob and pranced away from him, deciding to give him some room. She could feel that her constant dialogue was getting on his nerves, but she couldn't help it. She was excited! They were about to embark on a brand new adventure! Possibly the greatest adventure of her life. How could Jacob be so calm and...well...boring? Jessamine knew not everyone was as bubbly and excitable as she was, but this dude was a whole new level of chill.

    Maybe he's depressed?
    Jessamine's brain immediately started working to formulate ways she could help guide him to his happily ever after. He sure did seem attached to the nice assistant lady in his office. Maybe I could...

    No! Stop it!
    Jessamine shook her head and leaned dramatically against a wall, staring up at the ceiling. You're not here for him, remember? You're here for the mission, whatever the hell it may be. She smiled a sad kind of smile and hugged herself, gently rocking back and forth. Always trying to help others, aren't you, Jess? Even the people that can't stand your guts and don't even take the time to get to know you and throw you aside the moment they get what they want from you. And where has it gotten you, Jess? Nowhere. Your brother is so blissfully in love with Cindy that you barely ever see him. Your parents think you're a huge failure because you travel around the world like a gypsy and they don't think you're doing anything with your life.

    But what else did she expect? When do you ever hear about the Good Witch or the Enchantress or the Fairy Godmother getting a happily ever after? Their only purpose is to help others and then fade quietly into the background. Never to be seen again.

    Jessamine suddenly jumped into action, taking out her phone and playing Gypsy by Stevie Nicks again. She sat the phone on the table and started twirling in place, her shawl and her dress and her long, long hair whipping around her. The faster she twirled, the higher she levitated, until she was five feet off the floor. "Twirl away your troubles!" she sang in a beautiful falsetto. "Twirl them all away! Put them in a box to look at another day!"
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2016
  6. Domino355

    Domino355 Senior Member

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    So the beutiful woman left, Jacob realised. Well, that was a relief. Probably thought he was boring, and well, who can blame her. He was never really the converstional guy, the party boy, or any of that. Always the worker, average joe type of guy, with super powers, of course.
    So now he qill have to wait. He was never good with free time, give him a task and make him happy for the day. He made himself his second cup of coffee and waited.
     
  7. ManOrAstroMan

    ManOrAstroMan Magical Space Detective Contributor

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    Humbert led Feiss and Schmidt up to the field offices, and introduced them to Jacob. He looked about, expecting Jessamine to have already arrived, but Fairy Godmothers always had their own timetables. "Jacob, have you seen a woman come through here? Long hair, looks like she should be playing a tambourine?"
     
  8. AnonyMouse

    AnonyMouse Contributor Contributor

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    Feiss followed Fenric and the other woman to the field offices. She occasionally lagging behind and, once or twice, actually wandered off and peeked behind some of the closed doors they passed along the way. She just had to know what’s in there!

    When they finally arrived, Humbert introduced them to Jacob Rabinowitz, who seemed awfully mellow for someone on his second cup of coffee. Oh, coffee! Humbert was still introducing them when Feiss veered off and went to the coffee maker, as if they weren’t even there. She didn’t mean to be rude, but… c’mon... coffee. COFFEE!! Do I need a reason?

    “You mean Jessamine?” Feiss said, when Humbert inquired about their fifth teammate. “Oh, she’s in the lounge across the hall, entertaining our male employees, though she seems rather overdressed, if you don’t mind me saying so.” She took a long sip of her coffee. “At least, that’s what I think she’s doing. If not, she’s gone quite mad.” Another sip. “Trust me, I’m a doctor. I would know.”
     
  9. Erik-the-Enchanter!

    Erik-the-Enchanter! Banned Contributor

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    Jessamine caught the end of Feiss's sentence as she breezed back into the room, her shawl wrapped snugly around her torso. "Oh, I'm not mad!" Jessamine chirped, flashing a dazzling smile. "Excited? Yes. Nervous? Yes. But never mad. I don't think I can even get mad..." Suddenly, she froze in place and cocked her head to the side. "Wait...you mean 'mad' as in 'insane', don't you? Ahahaha!" She let out a peal of joyous laughter that made all the colors in the room glow brighter and three neon-pink butterflies appeared and flew in dizzying circles around her head.

    "You're such a joker!" Jessamine gasped breathlessly, wiping away an imaginary tear. The butterflies stopped flying and poofed out of existence in a shower of magical sparkles.

    Suddenly, Jessamine's "fairy godmother senses" started ring-a-dinging. She turned sharply to Ella, the girl lurking behind the group, the one with a dark aura. This girl was definitely in need of guidance and protection. Maybe Jessamine could help her? Did she need sparkly magic shoes? Or maybe she needed a fancy dress and a golden carriage? No, no, no, none of that felt right. What was this girl's deal?

    Jessamine levitated in front of Ella and reached to hold her hands. "Are you okay?" she asked in a deeply concerned tone.
     
  10. halisme

    halisme Contributor Contributor

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    "Currently suffering from some violent urges, but nothing I can't put up with." She replied, her hand wrapping around her pistol. Ella was partially joking. She did find this woman's sudden focus on her annoying. As if she was innately suffering from something. While it was true she despised her powers, she disliked being pitied because of them.

    She turned to Fenric, raising a brow slightly. "So, am I going to find out what we're doing? Or can I at least get a larger caliber gun so that, when I do snap, it only takes one bullet instead of three."

    She scanned the rest of the room, taking note of everyone else, most of whom she'd never seen before and felt remarkably apathetic towards.
     
  11. ManOrAstroMan

    ManOrAstroMan Magical Space Detective Contributor

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    Humbert surveyed the group, wondering who he'd pissed off. "Jacob, would you care to share what you've found?"
     
  12. Domino355

    Domino355 Senior Member

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    Jacob looked up when he heard three pairs of footsteps coming up. Fenrir was back with, god forbid, two more women. One was pale and quiet, keeping to the back. She didn't look all that remarkable, but she had something about her that sucked attention towards her, almost as much as Jessamine. A sort of promise, fulfillment of dreams. Jacob, who knew where his dreams lay, and their consequences, forced himself to look away from her.
    The other was even more off-putting. She had a look in her eyes, something wasn't right with her. And the way she answered for him where Jessamine was. It was chilling.
    When Humbeet asked him to speak, Jacob was taken aback. That was something he was completely unused to. He muttered a bit. What's wrong with you!?
    "Well, I work at Dispatch, you see. Umm, we monitor the media, police reports, the like, looking for literary incursions. Now... the past month we had a lot of deaths from accidents, nothing you will hear about, no change in the death statistics of the States. But all these deaths were MEs, from seemingly harmless stories. Three Musicians, Helpful Little Elves, the like. The increase is like, three hundred percent. So that's what I think we will be investigating. Whether someone is purposely targeting these stories."
     
  13. ManOrAstroMan

    ManOrAstroMan Magical Space Detective Contributor

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    Humbert nodded. "Three hundred percent," he repeated. "And in our business, there are no consequences. Especially not with numbers like that. Rabinowitz saw the pattern and reported it."
    Fenric walked to the whiteboard and began listing out names and tale types in columns. "These died in apparent accidents, while these were definitely foul play but seemed random. And this is just in our jurisdiction, in the last year."
    They were very long lists, and it was a bit scary to see them lined up. He was about to say something else, when Director Putnam walked in.
    "Fenric, Dispatch just got another report," he said, handing over a paper. "This time it was one of ours."
    Fenric's dark brows shot up and he scanned the page. His ears tried to flatten back. He looked up. "Okay, team," he said, "into the van."
     
  14. Erik-the-Enchanter!

    Erik-the-Enchanter! Banned Contributor

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    When Jessamine saw Ella's gun, her eyes widened and she giggled nervously while moon-walking away from her. Whoa now, never met a damsel in distress that carried a gun before, Jessamine thought to herself. So, she's definitely not a Dorothy or a Sleeping Beauty or a Cinderella. I should've known with that dark aura of hers. She's obviously something else entirely.

    Jessamine was distracted when Humbert started speaking and then Jacob filled them in on the situation. She listened intently, nervously biting her full bottom lip. Her fairy godmother senses were ringing off the charts. Every cell in her body screamed for her to DO SOMETHING. But how could she save all those MEs on her own? She was just one good witch with a penchant for fringe, ruffles and shawls. Duh, Jess, you don't have to do it alone, you've got this whole team of people to help you. Jessamine rolled her shoulders back and nodded, getting into "happily ever after" mode. She had done this dozens of times before and she could do it again. Saving MEs was her only purpose in life.

    "Let's do this," Jessamine said as she marched out the door. When she passed by Feiss, she looped her arm through hers and tried to pull her along with her. "C'mon, girlfriend, we got peeps to save!"
     
    Last edited: Aug 29, 2016
  15. Domino355

    Domino355 Senior Member

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    Jacob bounded after Jess silently. He hoped that the mission will go smoothly, that soon enough and with as little violence as possible he will return to his dull safe job at Dispatch. Not that he was scared or anything, he will fight for that team and risk his life. Without question. And that was what worried him. Violence was his trigger, and the more he used it, even as self defence, especially as self defence, the further down the path he will fall, to the end of his story.
     
  16. halisme

    halisme Contributor Contributor

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    Ella made sure she was in the front seat, refusing to sit next to or talk to anyone she didn't have to. Particularly Feiss and Jessamine. The first was because she had the feeling something would go wrong. The second was because Ella didn't get along with optimistic people very well. After a few years of being directly responsible for peoples' death, and knowing that all of them were easily avoidable in that if people had done as she told them, cynicism and skepticism had been bred into her.
     
  17. AnonyMouse

    AnonyMouse Contributor Contributor

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    Feiss was staring blankly at the whiteboard as Fenric continued to add names and numbers. So much data, so little time. There was a glassy look in her bright green eyes, as if she wasn't just looking at the writing, but through it, seeing something far, far beyond the walls of this room. Even after he was done speaking, she was still standing there, with the thousand-yard stare, like an old war vet who'd seen far too much, although in her case it wasn't war and violence that had scarred her, but everything. She'd seen it all.

    And then that stupid girl came along and snapped her out of it. As quickly as it'd come, it was gone. Feiss smiled the carefree smile of someone whose head was as empty as a bucket with no bottom. "Yes, let's go, let's go," she said, clapping he hands gleefully. She barely managed to set down her empty coffee mug on a passing table as she was hauled out the door, her black heels clattering on the linoleum floors.

    "Van, van, van, to the van... you think he'll let me drive?" she said as she found her feet and began walking beside Jessamine. "I'm still adjusting to this whole 'right side of the road' thing, but I'm a fast learner."
     
  18. Erik-the-Enchanter!

    Erik-the-Enchanter! Banned Contributor

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    "Oh, um...probably not," Jessamine replied to Feiss, smiling politely. "You need a driver's ID to drive. But maybe I can teach you one day?" She immediately regretted offering to teach Feiss to drive. This girl looked like a handful. Jessamine had to force herself not to ask what kind of ME she was. Was Feiss possibly a Scarecrow? That would explain why she couldn't seem to focus on one thing for long.

    Okay, I've never gotten someone a brain before, but I think I know a Wizard in New York City, Jessamine thought to herself, keeping a friendly smile on her face. He's pretty busy these days, though. Last I heard he was making technologically advanced dresses for Lady Gaga, but if I can get Feiss to kill a witch, maybe he'll grant us an audience.

    "Are you a Scarecrow?" Jessamine blurted out before she could stop herself.
     
  19. AnonyMouse

    AnonyMouse Contributor Contributor

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    Feiss laughed. “Oh, how quaint,” she said, still giggling between each syllable. “You actually think you can teach me, as if there’s something you know that I don’t? How amusing.”

    She slipped her arm free of Jessamine’s and looped it over her shoulder, pulling her in close as if they were old friends. “Darling, I know how to drive. Stick or automatic. Left-hand-drive or -right. Upshift, downshift, heel-toe, rev match, drift or grip, turbocharged or naturally-aspirated, understeer or oversteer, car, truck, and everything in between. There is nothing I don’t know.”

    She laughed again and hugged Jessamine close. “So, no, dear, I’m not the scarecrow. I've more brains than you can bear,” Feiss whispered into her ear. “I’m the tornado. I drop houses on witches… sometimes the good ones.” That last part almost sounded apologetic. And, like the tornado, sometimes I just can’t help but make a mess of things.
     
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  20. Domino355

    Domino355 Senior Member

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    Jacob listened to the conversation between Feiss and Jess. That insane woman was freaking him out. Alot. Why bring her with us? Then again, why bring me with us?
    "I could drive," Jacob offered, realizing that the situation was getting out of hand. It would also be a good idea not to cramm him behind with all the others. He was known to take more than two seats no problem.
     
  21. ManOrAstroMan

    ManOrAstroMan Magical Space Detective Contributor

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    Humbert tried not to growl as he led his team to the garage for one of the agency's panel vans. "Jacob, you drive," he said, and gave him the address. He took up more space than Jacob, but Humbert felt like someone needed to act as a buffer between the rest of his team.
    The back of the van was stocked with the standard equipment most field teams would need--forensic tools, handcuffs, a stockpile of one-shot spell items crafted by LIBRIS' Q Branch, surveillance equipment, a portable potions kit, and, of course, a copy of the Index. It was highly abbreviated, as the full text was too big to carry, and Bags of Holding were tougher to come by than one would think.
    Humbert made sure everyone had their glamoured ID badges, granting them access to the crime scene. They did technically have superiority here, but as most people didn't know they existed, occasional subterfuge was necessary.
    "Now, obviously, we don't know for sure what we're going to find,",Humbert said, "but, based on this report, it's not going to be pretty. Some of you may have met Dr Reynard Redmond, but for those of you who haven't, he's a psychiatrist who works with LIBRIS and specializes in treating ME's."
     
  22. Domino355

    Domino355 Senior Member

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    Jacob nodded, and took the keys. He started the van, and started driving in silence towards the address Humbert gave him. The traffic wasn't, bad at this hour, and he was sure they could reach their destination pretty quickly.
    When Humbert mentioned Dr Redmond Jacob grimanced a little. He remembered his appointments with the doctor, the first month or so after his activation. He didn't like to remember that time, when the world seemed to collapse around him.
    "Is this Dr Redmond going to be at the crime scene?" he asked.
     
  23. ManOrAstroMan

    ManOrAstroMan Magical Space Detective Contributor

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    Humbert lowered his lenses, yellow eyes meeting Jacob's in the mirror. "I should think so," he said. "He's the victim."
     
  24. AnonyMouse

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    "Redmond," Feiss mused. She almost sounded sad. "I've never met him, but I know of him. I wonder how Doctor Nielson is taking it. He really looked up to that man."

    What she really meant was, under different circumstances, Redmond could've been her psychiatrist instead of Nielson. What then? Would she feel anger, sadness, the urge to avenge his death? Currently, she felt nothing. His death was just another fact, another data point in that vast cesspool of knowledge churning in her head.

    "Excuse me," she said, poking Humbert on the shoulder. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Hey... I just want to say, if you need to stick your head out of the window, go for it. I won't judge." She leaned back, as if she was satisfied , but soon leaned in again and added, "pleeeease do it. I want to do it too, but I'm afraid they'll think me daft if I go first."
     
  25. Erik-the-Enchanter!

    Erik-the-Enchanter! Banned Contributor

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    Jessamine forced herself to keep smiling at Feiss, even though she couldn't keep the suspicion and fear out of her almond-shaped eyes. This girl wasn't a damsel at all. She was formidable...possibly unstable. Jessamine wasn't scared for herself as much as she was scared for the other members of the team. If Feiss turned on them (and you never knew when the crazy ones were going to snap) there was no telling what kind of damage she could do. But still, Jessamine could sense that Feiss had some redeeming qualities. She didn't want to hurt anyone.

    At least not right this minute, Jessamine thought to herself. I'll keep a special eye on her, just in case.

    When they got to the van, Jessamine hopped in the passenger seat and immediately hooked her phone into the stereo system and started scrolling through her playlist. "Here's a good song for the start of a mission," she chirped merrily. She tapped her phone and Edge of Seventeen played from the speakers, the rhythmic electric guitar filling the vehicle. "Just like a white-winged dove, singin' a song, sounds like she's singin', ooh ooh oooh!" Jessamine sang along with Stevie, smiling from ear to ear.
     

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