Letters in the Night [job/solo]

Job Details:

Ariella was enjoying a nice evening stroll along the quiet streets of Reim, humming softly to herself as she pondered on her current situation. Figuro had told her that she needed much more practice before he could train her any further in her magical studies. She had considered abandoning her quest to train with the old man and find another, faster trainer, but she was determined to stick with it, for now. In her musings, she was not paying attention to the others in the road and she stumbled into a woman clutching a letter to her chest and looking around nervously. Ari quickly offered apologies, “Oh my, miss, I am so sorry.” The woman waved off her concern and began to wander off again and Ari cocked her head to the side. The woman looked very tense and suspicious of her surroundings, so Ariella gave in to her curiosity. “Is there something I can help you find, ma’am?”

The woman turned blank eyes to her, as though in a haze before shaking her head. “No, I am simply looking for someone and am not quite sure where to locate him.” Ari frowned but looked around. This area of the city was not usually the safest at night, bandits and drunkards were often wandering around, looking for an easy target to steal from or assault. She knew she could not allow this woman to just meander about without some form of protection and it was not like she had anything particularly pressing to do this evening. Her wounds from her previous job had mostly healed, though her ribs were still a bit tender.

“Miss, this area is not the safest area. Would you mind if I walked with you? There is safety in numbers and I would hate if anything happened to you.”

The woman hesitated briefly but nodded in agreement before showing her a crudely drawn map. “The man I am supposed to meet is somewhere around here.”

Ari studied the map before humming softly. “Well, there is the problem. We are about five blocks in the wrong direction. Here, I can help you find him.”

The woman nodded and followed as Ari led them down one street and then the next. As Ari led the odd woman down the third street, she saw a group of men ahead and paused. Trouble tended to travel in numbers, just as much as safety did. The men seemed to be scanning the random citizens before laying eyes on the woman, who clutched the letter tighter to her chest. As though sensing danger, the few people in the streets seemed to disperse and Ari tensed. As one of the men approached, she shook her wand into her hand, thankful she had been careful to bring along her weapon this evening.

The man stopped about eight meters away, eyes lighting up when he saw the letter the woman clutched and shouted back to his cohorts. “Hey boys! Found it!”

When he moved to take another step forward, Ari wasted no time in whispering to the rukh, casting Electric Whip and striking out at the man’s leg. He crumpled to the ground, his leg seizing from the shock as the other four men rushed forward. Ari moved in front of the woman protectively and waited as the men moved unnaturally fast towards them. It took only a fraction of a second for her to direct the rukh into another spell, this time launching forward five small spheres of lightning forward, the Numbing Spheres crashing into each of the men as she directed the balls towards their feet. One of the spheres went wide, but the other four struck their target, each of the men taking a sphere in the leg and falling to the ground. To ensure the men went down and stayed down, Ariella whispered one final command to the rukh, Chain Lightning arcing from the first man to the second, third, and fourth in succession.

The men shuddered and juddered on the ground from the effects of her lightning and she gave a smirk before turning around in concern. With a sigh of relief, the woman seemed to be fine. She was crouched behind a crate near a building, the letter still tightly clasped to her chest. When she realized the men would not be standing up again, she cautiously emerged from her hiding spot and approached Ari, thanking her quietly. Ariella nodded at the woman’s words before she knelt beside the men, searching their pockets out of habit. She pocketed any money she found and then arched her brow at a letter in the pocket of the first man she had struck down. It gave a detailed description of the woman with orders to take the letter from her at all costs and then to discard any evidence of the theft.

As she was standing from her search, an older man came bustling up and Ariella raised her wand in warning. The woman behind her called out to the man in recognition and Ari cautiously lowered her wand slightly, but leaving it in the open in a semi-threatening gesture. The man had paused at the sight of her wand but continued forward when the woman greeted him. He turned to Ari with a broad grin and took off the hat he wore. “Mr. Shaw, pleasure to make your acquaintance. And I thank you for protecting my messenger, young miss!”

Ari nodded slightly and watched in confusion as the woman rushed up to the man, handing him the letter in what seemed like relief, as though the letter had been a massive burden to her physically. Mr. Shaw patter the woman’s shoulder in consolation before turning back to Ari, handing her a small bag of coins. “Again, I thank you. This was a very important document and I appreciate your assistance in ensuring its delivery.”

Ari offered a smile and nod, tucking the bag of coins into the cloak with the money she had pilfered from the men. By the time she looked back up from her task, the man, Mr. Shaw, and the mysterious woman had disappeared without a trace. Ari’s brow furrowed before simply shrugging and going back to her wandering. She could not help but wonder why she felt watched still. The sensation had not left her since her last job, but she tried to brush it off as paranoia and continued on her way. She did not see the small pair of eyes peering at her from a nearby alley.

[Magoi 170/200]
[1092/1000]

Spells Used: