The Promise

[rekindlenpcs]

Who: [npc] Rhea and anyone
Where: The Shrine... and possibly her residence if they stalked her home on the rare occassion she actually went to head to bed.
When: August 1st to the 11th
Summary: Rangar made their presence known to the Guests, the scientists are trying to cover it up to maintain order, and there is a priestess who is apparently trusted by the leader who has no knowledge of the incident. This needs to be remedied.
Warnings: Potential plot spoilers.

[OOC: This is a post for anyone who wishes to pester Rhea after the revelations brought upon by Zeloph on the network. However, ICly the entry has been removed by those who maintain the communications network.]

Comments

1st, evening, her home; GREETINGS MADAM PRIESTESS

[heismymission]

[The Winter Soldier is a patient individual when it comes to watching and waiting. But when it comes to getting to the next step of a mission, he isn't the type to hesitate.

He decides shortly after his conversation with the Rangar leader that he will contact Rhea as soon as possible, and somewhere they won't be overheard. He's done this plenty of times, even if he can't remember it; slip into a safe house or residence and wait for his handler to receive orders or give a report.

After locating her home, he slips in quietly and finds a seat where he waits for her to come across him. Although he's not as intimidating without his combat gear and his metal arm in clear view, he's still a strange man clad in dark colors hiding in the shadows of her private home...]

Sweet baby Jesus--

[rekindlenpcs]

[This was one of the few nights she returned home from her work translating documents from ancient languages to one that others would understand. At first, she doesn't realize that there is someone already inside as she quietly closes the door. However, as she places her tome down and hangs her coat upon a hook by the door, she catches scent of an intruder. One she recognized from her visions of the outside worlds but couldn't place it.

There were many she had come to know, but this one-

...

Upon turning around, she sees a figure in the darkness and nearly jumps at the realization.]

How did you-?

[get in?! She nearly curses the Four as she tries to calm herself.]

:D

[heismymission]

[The man stays as calm as ever once he's spotted, hardly moving an inch. He does, however, incline his head slightly to acknowledge the priestess, watching her from where he sits. He doesn't entirely mean to be intimidating; it's just kind of what he does. At least he's not armed, and Rhea is of course welcome to turn on the lights to make the conversation a little less ominous...

He doesn't consider the aborted question worth answering, instead deciding to get straight to the point. Given that he knows the woman wasn't expecting him, he takes the liberty to speak about it without being asked.]

The Rangar accessed the network two nights ago.

O O;

[rekindlenpcs]

[Rhea doesn't move to flip a switch. Instead she waves a hand, eyes glowing faintly as she does so, and purification candles placed around the room light up. There. Not as ominous, but low enough not to draw too much attention this late at night.]

The Rangar?

[So that's what this and that network entry was about. After all, slander against the scientist was a serious crime to most in this city. However as a learned woman of faith, she cannot help but be suspicious of anything regarding what they considered it slander.]

It has been half a century since I've heard that name. What word do they send?

[heismymission]

[Although the method Rhea uses to light the room is unfamiliar to him, he trusts that she isn't someone he has to worry about as far as violence, so he remains still.

Thanks to his thorough combing of everything open on the post before it was deleted, he's memorized enough information to get at least a partial picture of what's going on.]

They're looking for secrets the scientists are hiding. What they're using the energy for. Zeloph said you could be trusted.

1st-Afternoon at the shrine with a bitty in tow

[callmewhateveryuwant]

That conversation with the man at midnight stirred something inside Yu and while he needed to take the information with a grain of salt, he couldn't ignore a brother's worry. And if Nanako was in the same position, he would fight tooth and nail for her. Waiting until the last minute or when Hell decided to pop out from the ground was out of the question: Rhea needed to hear it today. He talked to Diarmuid about going with since he was there when it all went down (and Yu admitted he did butt in but for a good reason) and from there they went to the shrine where Rhea worked. Except there was one thing out of place: Yu decided to go in his feline form.

Maybe he was a little paranoid but it couldn't hurt to play it safe.

And now they reached their destination, knocking on the door. Or in Yu's case, headbutted it. Knock Knock Rhea, you have guests!

[smallspot]

It's hard. It really is. No, what is hard has nothing to do with this little trip. Diarmuid very much wants to talk to Rhea about her brother. The boy is worried about Zeloph. Sure, he is mysterious and maybe even dangerous, but how very quickly the people in charge took down his post once they found out about it only serves to make Diarmuid more sure that Zeloph is telling the truth.

That...and there is just something about how he had said 'the man he was' used to be her brother. Diarmuid might be young, but even he can tell something is wrong and that is what worries him the most.

But that hard thing? Diarmuid knows the cat beside him is Yu, but that doesn't stop him from wanting to pick the cat up and cuddle him anyway. He loves animals. He just can't help it.

Still, he needs to focus on the task at hand and that, in the end, is what stops him. When they arrive, he knocks on the door as Yu headbutts it just to make sure Rhea hears it.

"Lady Rhea! Can we come in?"

[rekindlenpcs]

Rhea was in the midst of fixing herself some tea when she heard the headbutt of a small feline against her door, and a child's knocking. A part of her wanted to laugh behind her hand, but with the events that she'd observed and the notice of a message on the city network removed she could not find it in her to be more than vaguely amused.

"You may! ...And you realize there is a cat door, don't you?"

Silly grey kitten.

[callmewhateveryuwant]

A normal person would feel embarrassed at that but Yu had his reasons. After hearing her speak, he walked through the cat door and turned back into his human shape. Yes, he's working on his animal form and doing quite well at it.

"Sorry, I feel like asking before entering somewhere first is a better idea."

11th, mid-afternoon, at the shrine

[shadowsgambit]

[She waits for a while, waits to make sure Rhea hasn't been targeted by the government. Waits to make sure they aren't. The network posts vanishing only after the city wakes up tells her the vanishing wasn't Zeloth covering his tracks. Not good.

But when nothing happens, she heads for the shrine, for the first time looking about the whole way for security cameras, especially once she's inside the shrine itself. She knocks on the door of Rhea's little room (office?).]

Rhea?

[rekindlenpcs]

[When she knocks, the door seems to open itself to an office that seems much more empty than it was before. Books were missing on the shelves, and the priestess was placing more in a box for transport.]

Yes-?

[She stands up straight, not wearing most of her usual makeup as she normally wears to hide her own pale red-orange tattoo on her forehead.]

How may I help you, Fortuna?

[shadowsgambit]

[Fortuna looks around at the high walls and ceiling, looking for anything that might be a security camera. Just in case. She'd thought the lack of movement meant all clear, but here Rhea was, packing up...]

Are they after you?

[rekindlenpcs]

Not yet, no. [She answers before motioning for Fortuna to close the door behind her.] However, these books are records I have kept and translated since before the Unleashing. I would rather they not be lost or worse if they should disregard this being sacred soil.

2nd, Noon, Rhea's Home

[earthshards]

[ It hadn't been difficult to find Rhea's personal address. As much as bothering her at her home felt a little awkward, it had to be safer than talking about things at the very public shrine.

He couldn't risk being overheard - not with some of the subject matter he was going to bring up.

With everything he had learned a couple of nights ago, he had taken the time to write some of it down, as well as think up a plausible excuse as to why he would be visiting the priestess. Given the 'gift' he had received not more than a month ago, he had a good excuse.

It was even a true one, to some extent.

So, it was with paperwork in hand and a detailed full mask depicting a red dragon on top of his head that Terra found himself standing in front of Rhea's apartment. He raises his hand, pausing only briefly before he knocks. ]

[rekindlenpcs]

[There is no audible response from inside until the door opens, a priestess very much in casual attire behind it.]

May I help y- Terra?

[Her eyes seem to widen slightly, focusing on the mask on his head. As if aware of it, she stops and opens the door for him to enter. At least he knocked compared to her previous guest.]

Come in, come in.

[earthshards]

[ Rhea without shrine attire? Must be her day off.

He adopts a friendly, if slightly teasing smile and replies.] Sorry for bothering you; I had a few things I was wondering about, and I thought it best to seek the council of one wiser than myself.

[ Taking the invitation and stepping inside, but not without noting the look she's giving the mask on top of his head.

Okay, he'll have to ask about that, too. ]

[rekindlenpcs]

[Definitely her day off, especially as the scent of freshly brewed tea could be smelled from her small open hearth.

Her cheeks go a bit red at that comment.]

I-I wouldn't know about that...

[But she closes the door behind them all the same, making sure it is good and fastened so no one would interrupt them. There was a sense of foreboding in the air of late...]

Tea or coffee?

10th, Evening, Shrine

[arnhaid]

[He's still visiting the shrine off and on. It's quiet there. Out of the way. A good place to think. Or... mope, as Chromia so adamantly put it. But even talking to her seemed... awkward anymore. After their conversation about the memory loss -- things were different.]

[He isn't sure what exactly is going on here. Not by a long shot. That's for bots smarter and more capable of stringing pieces together than he is.]

[So here he is again, sitting against the side of the building, thinking. He'd been so happy to be here -- to see other bots again. But now everything seemed like it was going wrong...]

[It's probably completely by accident that he'll run into anyone.]

[rekindlenpcs]

[It was at about this time that Rhea usually took a break from her work to walk along the the gardens around the shrine. More often than not, it led to her finding the most peculiar of characters. Today, however, was something different.

Holy mother of robots. Though this one had the air of being distraught over something.]

May I help you with something?

[arnhaid]

[His head snaps up, looking more startled and embarrassed than despairing, for the moment. He stands up, heaving himself upright, and fully prepared to move away.]

Sorry... there uh. Wasn't anyone around here. Figured I'd just sit.

[He rubs at the back of his neck.]

This your place?

[rekindlenpcs]

Don't apologize. This is a place of solace for all who enter here.

[She smiles faintly, nodding.]

I am the acting high priestess, so you might say that.

2nd, Afternoon, the shrine

[alley_kit]

[Talking with Diarmuid the day before had decided her. Kit needed to talk to Rhea. The Ragnar trusted her, and more importantly, so did Kit. Besides, she was nice, and, in the absence of Cheetara, the logical person to ask about mysterious happenings.

Tucked into one of her pouches, Kit brought with her the remaining stub of the candle the Ragnar had given her, as well as the Forever Bag, which had mysteriously showed up in her mailbox the next day, with a note in the same kind of writing as the one that had come with the candle. Somehow, the Ragnar must have been able to bring it from Third Earth, and maybe Rhea would know how.

...Plus, it was really cool, and she kinda wanted to show it off to someone who she was fairly certain wouldn't try to take it. The Forever Bag slung over her shoulder, she pushed open the door to the shrine and peeked inside, looking around for Rhea.]

Rhea...?

[rekindlenpcs]

[The person she sees upon opening the door to the shrine, at first, is not Rhea--but rather a young shrine maiden about a few physical years older than Kit. A bit startled from her sweeping the shrine floors, she jumps a bit before turning around.]

O-oh, you are looking for Lady Rhea? [Whoa... so THIS is one of those guests people keep talking about. So cool!] She's inside her office! It's the second door to your left, miss.

[alley_kit]

[Kit came inside the rest of the way, allowing the shrine maiden to see that she had a big furry tail. Nope, definitely not a native. Kit smiled a bit sheepishly.]

Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. And thanks!

[Kit gave her a little wave and heads over to the indicated door, setting the Forever Bag down on the floor for the moment and knocking politely.]

Rhea? Can I talk to you for a minute?

[If Rhea was busy with something she could come back later, but Kit hoped she had time.]

[rekindlenpcs]

It's okay! [The shrine maiden smiles with a tiny wave before going back to their duties.]

[Rhea looks up from her scrolls and tablet, smiling faintly.]

Of course, young one. Please, enter.