awashlogs | LUPINQUEST 2: REVELATIONS

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LUPINQUEST 2: REVELATIONS

WHO: Lupin and YOU?
WHAT: Stealing gems, stealing unicorn hair, the works.
WHERE: Places where you can steal gems and unicorn hair (and the edge of the woods)
WHEN: July (July 8 for the open prompt)
NOTES: Pre-planned quest prompts will be going in the toplevels, but there is also an open prompt in the body of this post! If you want to do a quest with Lupin, shoot me a PM.

[ Lupin's decided he's recovered enough from being shot three times to get back out there, although his friends may disagree - and that means it's time for him to start doing the jobs Chroma's lined up for him. One of them, of course, is more suited to him than the others. The others, though - or one of the others - are apparently going to be a little more difficult. He'd broken his own rule and gone out into the forest (while injured, no less!) to do a little bit of preliminary investigation, as any good thief should, and now he's come back.

He looks a little disgruntled, in fact. He's at the edge of town, sitting on a bit of rubble and thinking out loud. ]

... Why can't I get anywhere near those unicorns?

[ stealing a hair from a horse should be easy for a thief like him!! ]

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[ Lupin is also wincing when Cairngorm makes that big thump, but there's nothing that can be done about that. At least they're on the ground floor. Hopefully, there aren't any guards in the dungeons running up to come find them.

Around the corner is a small hallway that leads out into an open courtyard - one that is most definitely being patrolled by a number of those squat little monster guards. It's a square room open to the sky, with a set of stairs leading up to a second floor that both encircles the courtyard with a balcony and presumably leads off to the castle's private rooms. Now, who this castle was built for, he has no idea, but there's a good chance another one of those jewels is sitting in someone's room, by his metric.

Also, the guard nearest to the entrance Lupin's peering down definitely heard that thump and is coming their way. Time to act fast. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out something small and round - Minato might recognize it from that time Lupin totally kidnapped him. ]

There's two of them on the ground level and three walking up on the second floor. I'll give us some cover to get in there with this - when that happens, Minato, I need you to distract them with something. Cairn, you jump up to the second floor while they're distracted and knock those guys out. [ a wink. ] Let's get this started.

[ hope they both came up with good plans, because Lupin's throwing his smoke bomb down the corridor without further ado - immediately, it goes off, blasting white plumes of (harmless, but hard to see through) smoke into the corridor and obscuring their entrance into the courtyard, and he leaps up and disappears into it. ]

Edited 2018-07-18 06:15 (UTC)

[It's good that Lupin has some idea of where to go from here, because Minato sure doesn't. He's kind of busy admiring the castle, lips parted as he looks around (whoa, cool....), but when Lupin speaks, he's definitely snapping back to attention.

Like.

As best he can, considering he's Minato. He needs to...distract them. Okay. He can do that, he thinks. Though he really has no idea how large of a distraction Lupin's hoping for here--

Well. He'll just have to adlib. He's always been pretty good at that. Which is a good thing, because then Lupin is just going for it, and Minato fumbles for his Evoker, following suit. Distraction, distraction--

Fire would be a good distraction, but he has no idea if the gas is flammable--so he sticks with summoning his Persona off to one side instead, casting a light spell. The bright light cuts right through the gas, probably blindingly so. It's definitely a distraction, at least.]

[ At least they're used to thinking on their feet-- because between being told suddenly what to do and the.......witchcraft???? That Minato's pulling out, it's all a little overwhelming. So much so that they kind of just stand there dumbly while the other two go off, mouth agape before they reluctantly start to move, belatedly hopping up to the railing on the second floor.

They pull themself over the railing nearest two of the guards, who are rightfully distracted by both the gas and the sudden bright light. Before Cairn even lands, they punch out one of the guards with a resounding crack, the tiny guard passing out cold-- much to the other guard's shock. Thankfully, that werewolf fiasco allowed them to test how much force it takes to just knock a living thing unconscious; contrary to common belief they don't actually want to completely obliterate these thing's skulls.

It's easy to knock out the second one, too-- but that third one that they'd kind of forgotten about in the moment... yeah, it's definitely making a run for the alarm, seeing as both it's friends got knocked out by an extremely suspicious looking shiny person.

Minato and Lupin are free to witness them having to go on a wild goose chase after the third guard, foregoing softening their steps so they can catch up in time. And it takes a second, but they catch the guard by the back of the neck, more or less tackling them to the ground, which likely spells a broken rib or three for the poor guy. Oops. It's out cold soon enough from their weight, so any yell of pain goes stifled. ]

[ in the meantime, Lupin takes advantage of the smoke and Minato's distraction to dispatch the other two guards. True, he's not the violent type - but that doesn't mean he's above knocking a few goblins out to get what he needs. Not making absolutely sure they're out of the picture for a while would be dangerous when he's got Cairn and Minato with him. He's got his jewel-tipped cane in one hand in the blink of an eye, quickly and quietly thwacking each guard precisely on the head from behind like the world's flashiest non-fatal assassin. ]

Sorry. I think some beauty sleep would do you a favor, though.

[ and with that quip, he's taking off up the stairs to check on his favorite gem. He heard that thump, and he's hoping it was a good sign and not a bad one. When he finds them up there laying on top of a guard, he just gives them an amused look. ]

What are you doing? [ well, whatever. time to regroup!! he turns over the railing, calling to the (slowly dissipating) smoke. ] Minato! Up here!

[Obediently, Minato is definitely trotting up the stairs after Lupin and Cairngorm both. He's really not sure he's helping much here, but at least he's like. Not totally wrecking everything.

He'll take that.

Lupin and Cairngorm's date continues...!! I mean. Let's keep infiltrating the castle.]

Which direction next...?

[ They huff when Lupin seems so amused, sitting up and frowning. Can't he see they were trying their best... either way, they're gentle with the guard they just completely crushed, picking it up by the collar and sitting it upright against the wall. Its not in their nature to just kill stuff willy nilly after all. ]

Probably the same direction that the alarm is. [ AKA, the direction the guard was running. They point from where they're kneeling, before standing to their full height. ] Shouldn't the alarm be close to what's being guarded.

[ There's an inquisitive look towards both of them, checking for agreement. ]

Good job, both of you.

[ he has to say that first!! That went just as planned - which is better than can be said for a lot of plans, really. He offers them both an approving smile. ]

Not necessarily. The alarms are usually close to points of entry, in my experience. That said... This time, you're right. I'm pretty sure there are some private rooms down there - just the place to find some precious jewelry.

[ with that, Lupin sets off down the hallway. Not going in through the front door put them much closer to their quarry, at least. The corridor splits into a T, with a series of doors to both sides. ]

Got any hunches?

[ any of these could be right... ]

[Quite frankly, Minato's just along for the ride... he glances at the split, shrugging a little, and ultimately just offers up:]

I like right better than left.

[He 100% made that up just now.

(He's got nothing.)]

What does liking a direction have to do with choosing one...

[ A scold, while they glance in both directions. Of course they also have no idea, but they're trying to put some common sense into the works of this. ]

Lets go a little further down. Only a fool would put something valuable in the easiest to access ones.

[ If Minato says right, then so be it, but that's their two cents on choosing a room. ]

Haha. Right it is, then!

[ if it sounds like Lupin is having fun, it's because he is. With a nod in Cairngorm's direction, too, he sets off down towards the right, going all the way to the third and last door in the hallway. He presses one ear to it, listening for a few moments; then, deciding the coast is clear, he pulls out a lockpick and picks the door open in a remarkably short amount of time. Master thieves, man.

He beckons the two of them over and enters the room. It looks like a bedroom belonging to a woman; there's a large canopied bed occupying most of the area with plush pillows and satin sheets, as well as an ornate dresser and vanity with shelves to spare. Various clothing items are tossed all around the room. Apparently, whoever lives here is kind of a slob. The only light comes from a skylight window up in the ceiling and a few candles burning here and there. ]

All right. Let's get searching. Oh, and be careful opening anything suspicious - wouldn't want something to explode on you.

[... Minato just... quietly mouths the word "explode" to himself, expression puzzled.

Explode...? Explode???

What...

He follows anyway, but that puzzlement remains on his face as he starts to poke through the drawers of the dresser by the bed.

Why would it explode? Why would anything here explode?]

[ They, too, follow Lupin's instructions easily, since this is clearly his profession given how quickly and surely he is going about things. That's a lot more trustworthy to them than all his big talk from before.

Anyway, they decide to set their sights on the vanity, searching the drawers and at first only finding useless stuff like hand mirrors. However, just before pushing the drawers back in, they see the outline of something behind the right drawer, and their first instinct is to take the drawer completely out to get to it. And they do so, without consulting the other two, setting the drawer on top of the vanity before squinting at what looks to be a medium-sized jewelry box, stowed away inside the vanity itself.

There's a keyhole, big enough for Cairn to see a glint that is undeniably from some kind of crystal-- they don't have the cultural knowledge to think that the crystal inside the box could very well be just a fancy ring or something, so they kneel down to peer closer into the vanity, hesitantly reaching out to take the box from where its been stashed. ]

There's something here...

[ They won't try to open it, as per Lupin's warning, but that won't stop them from taking it to try and identify whatever's inside. ]

[ The drawers do not explode, but they also don't contain anything more than (goblin-sized) clothes, and maybe some lady-goblin underpants. Racy.

Cairngorm, on the other hand, might be onto something. Lupin comes to their side when they speak up, reaching out to take the box. ]

Let's see.

[ he opens the box a crack, holding it up very close to his ear to listen for the tell-tale ticking of a trap or other mechanism... but when he doesn't hear anything of the sort, he sets it down on the bed and opens it up for all of them to look at.

It is, indeed, mostly jewelry, but none of it seems to be the crystal they're looking for. Lupin starts taking out various necklaces and rings, all bejeweled to some extent, until the box is empty... but there's a small hole on the bottom of the box, which he notices right away. He slips a small, bent metal hook out of his pockets, sliding it into said hole before pulling - and revealing a false bottom. Underneath that is the crystal they've been looking for...! ]

Score. You might have an eye for these things, Cairngorm.

[Ugh. Goblin underpants. Ick.

Minato's definitely closing that drawer quietly but firmly, turning away from it as soon as Cairngorm indicates that they found something. That is far more important to underpants? Thanks.

So he's definitely just moving that way to peer closer, and... Ooooh...!!]

That's the treasure?

[ While Lupin and Minato are busy ogling the treasure, they're busy looking through what they actually came here for: some jewels they can take back for themself. Completing the quest is great and everything, but they're more interested in the other jewelry that was pulled out, sorting through them for anything that seems close to their own properties. ]

It was just lucky.

[ They're willing to admit they'd have never seen that false bottom in the box and would have just put it back had it not been for Lupin. Either way, they personally don't seem to have any moral issue stealing these rings and necklaces from whoever they belong to, so they take the handful they'd sorted out before standing, giving a quick and shifty glance towards the exit. ]

We can leave now, can't we.

[ Cairngorm says they're just lucky while also going through the extra jewelry and pocketing some of it, SURE. A thief in the making!

Lupin nods at the both of them. ]

This is it. Not much to look at, is it? It must have some other value. Now, as our friend says, it's time to leave.

[ but how to get out quickly and easily... and, more importantly, stylishly?! He'd been mostly concentrating on being fast and efficient so that the two of them wouldn't be in danger, but he's feeling a little more confident at this point. ]

Hmmm... Minato, you don't have any Personas that could carry us, by any chance, do you?

[Hmmm... Minato's definitely moving to the window to judge the distance at that, because there are a lot of things he's used his Personas for, but carrying people out of castles is not one of them.

And yet.

He doesn't really see why not...]

Yeah, I think so. I can only summon one at a time [Like, unless he wants to expire] but it should be able to carry all of us.

[Even Cairngorm, they of the Heavy Rock Weight.]

Are you both ready to leave?

Hold on, what.

[ Uh... that doesn't sound like anything they want to get involved in, and it shows on their face. Clearly they should take the simplest way out, not the flashiest!! (They're a practical party pooper.) Also they're still not sure how they feel about that Persona witchcraft. ]

I'm not doing anything weird. Let's just leave like we came in.

[ he only barely resists the urge to give Cairngorm an encouraging clap on the back. ]

Don't be like that. Retracing our steps could be dangerous - someone probably noticed something was amiss by now. In fact, I'd guess they're heading for this room right this moment.

[ which may be alarming, but Lupin doesn't seem alarmed at all. Instead, they jab a thumb up towards the skylight a good eight or nine feet up in the spacious room. ]

There might be guards on the walls, but I wager there won't be any on the roof. Think you can fit us all through that window if you break it, Cairn?

[ he's finally shortening their name, because it's just too long... ]

[Minato's just willing to roll with whatever, honestly...though there's definitely some irony to a gem of all people opposing to some sort of magic.

Lupin, normal human being: yeah, let's use magic.

Cairngorm: what witchcraft.

He's fine with it, though, nodding along and peacefully waiting to hear what's next on their plan.

ONWARD...?]

[ As Lupin warns, there are definitely people on the way here - that much would become quickly obvious with the sounds of other guards discovering the knocked out ones not too far away. Pinching the bridge of their nose, they eventually just make a sound of aggravation and hurriedly take off their glove, flexing their right hand. ]

This is insane. You better be ready when I break it. [ That's aimed at you, Minato.

Thankfully, there are wooden beams for them to hold onto on the ceiling next to the skylight, which they huff about jumping up to. Once hanging from there, they hardness of the glass against their finger tips, just to be safe, and when they see that their fingers can easily scratch the glass with barely any pressure, they're quick to pull back their arm and swing at the center of the glass pane. Which completely shatters, almost comically easily for how painful an action like that would normally look. Not to mention they look infinitely more bothered about the falling shards of glass and the loud noise than any feeling of pain. ]

[ he is not worried about Cairngorm being hurt by that, considering they are made of solid stone; he and Minato, on the other hand, might have a little more to be concerned about. When the glass shatters, he's quick to pull Minato in towards his chest with one hand, the other grabbing the edge of his cloak to pull it up over the both of them and deflect any wayward shards. ]

All right! Let's get out of here!

[ YOUR TURN, MINATO. ]

[Sugoi, Lupin-san... Minato is unresisting as he's tugged against Lupin there, which is good because he otherwise definitely wasn't sure what to do about that glass... Lupin blocking him that way is a lot preferable to Minato having to dive out of the way.

But.

Right.

Minato just tugs out his Evoker again, nodding.]

Got it.

[As ever? He plants that Evoker to the side of his head and pulls the trigger. This time, it's a new one--! Helel is going to make an appearance, and while he only has two arms, he's still more than large enough to get them all out of there.

Also, wings. Wings are great for flying out of there.

So, up up and away they go!]

[ Oh, maybe his cloak does have a purpose? In this very specific instance??? Before they can think about it too much, though, there's more of Minato's witchcraft taking place...next thing they know, they're getting swept up by that winged thing, letting out a squawk as they're dragged out the opening they made. ]

Agh— don't drop us!!

[ They're very concerned?! They don't want to fall from what they assume will be a very high height as they make their escape, because the game of operation that would ensue after would likely be too difficult to revive them... nonetheless, there's not much they can do than cling to the weird beast that just appeared out of nowhere as they get exponentially more stressed about this way of escape. ]

[ he wasn't expecting Minato to call a literal giant angel to come scoop them up - then again, he isn't sure what he was expecting at all?! All of Minato's Personas have been extremely weird. The Evoker thing is as alarming as ever; to his dismay, he's getting used to it, however, and, much like Cairngorm, he finds getting picked up by Helel the much more alarming part. Unlike Cairngorm, he doesn't squawk.

This is some creative Persona usage.

Once he's made sure all of them are safely on board the angel train - including himself - he glances back down at the castle as they begin to leave it behind. The little troll guards have definitely noticed... but they seem to be having trouble figuring out how to get them now. There's some angry shouting, and one of them throws a pike that misses its mark, harmlessly sailing past Helel's feet. And Lupin is feeling pretty pumped about this. ]

Ha ha ha! Thanks for the second helping, my friends! [ he's calling out to the monsters, not to his companions... ]

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messianic - 2018-08-07 04:41 (UTC) - Expand

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