The Price of Passage - Part 1

Part 1

What sunlight that made it past the clouds filling the sky gave little real chance of anyone passing the alley by being able to make out anything deeper inside it - and that was probably a good thing. Seeing a shimmering in the air, forming out of nothing before coalescing into a dark-haired woman would have raised some comment, after all.

Pale blue eyes scanned the alley, searching for any sing of anything worthy of notice, but there was only a few bits of trash to be found, shifted here and there by the same slight wind that stirred the cloak hanging from her shoulders. The silent search lasted a few moments more, however, until the apparition nodded to herself in apparent satisfaction... then exploded without warning into bright motes of pinkish light that burned against the alley's dimness.

In the midst of the fast-fading eruption, the woman seemed to still be standing there - except that it wasn't an image any more, but the real thing. She'd just used up far too much of the power she had left to cast her phantasm this far, and even more to swap places with it, crossing the hundreds of miles that had separated them in the blink of an eye. So much power, in fact, that barely a heartbeat passed before she was staggering toward the nearest wall, reaching out a hand to steady herself against it. As it was, the solid stone was barely enough to keep her on her feet...

"Son of a bitch, that hurt..."

It may only have been muttered, but Phrae meant every word of it, shaking her head in an attempt to get it to stop spinning. She'd never tried a jump that long before, and wasn't even totally sure it had been possible. Apparently it was, she thought with some small flicker of amusement, but there was no way in any hell at all that she planned on trying it again.

Unless she really had to, of course. Which was why she'd even tried it this time. It certainly hadn't been for the fun of it - and even if it had, the simple fact she was having to try rather hard not to throw up would have sucked any joy out of the process.

After longer than she cared to think about, her the world stopped its slow, nauseating roll around her, and she felt like she could actually stand unaided. Cautiously, she tested that theory... and was pleased to learn that she was right. She still wasn't totally steady on her feet, true, but she also wasn't on the verge of falling over them if she tried moving.

"Good thing I skipped breakfast," she said softly to herself, taking a careful step or two toward the mouth of the alley. "That would really have made a mess."

And she didn't have time for that. She'd not had time to get here by more sane means, either, which was why she'd tried the bone-headed manoeuvre she'd just somehow pulled off. And thinking of that had her reaching into the satchel that hung off one shoulder, pulling out an intricately carved brass box large enough to fill the palm of her hand. With a quick glance around, reassuring herself that there was nobody anywhere around to see, she brushed a stray strand of hair from her face and lifted the box to her lips, cradling it in both hands as she blew softly across its top.

Nothing happened. Not that she seemed disappointed by this lack of any kind of response to what she'd done. In the weeks since she'd 'acquired' this little article, Phrae had learned a few things about it. One was how to wake it up. Another was that it responded in its own sweet-ass time. Raising her hands up to eye level, she watched... and waited.

Still nothing. So far, it had never taken less than five seconds for something to happen, or more than five minutes. This time, it was just under a single minute before her careful watch spotted motes of light shimmering deep within the box's metal surface. Every shade flickered and swirled, building into a crescendo of light that abruptly just... stopped. Which was exactly what she'd been waiting for.

Lowering her hands, Phrae watched as the top of the box seemed to fold in on itself, revealing the utter blackness that lay within. From somewhere deep inside that void, a dozen or so silvery balls rose into the air and began to circle each other. Faint traces of light spread between them, weaving a complex web in the air, and Phrae found herself, just like always, totally entranced by the display. She had no idea at all how the thing worked, or even how to read the information she knew was being shown to her - but when the balls dropped back into the box, the lid sealing seamlessly behind them and the web of light evaporating as if it had never existed, that knowledge was right there in her mind.

"Shit," she muttered. She was in the right place, sure. Less then three miles from where she had to go. But if she was right, she was in the middle of a pretty large town, and other than the vaguest idea of what she was looking for, she had no clue at all where to go next. And to make things even more fun, she was too drained from her arrival to use any meaningful amount of magic... and had less than twelve hours before what she was after disappeared for a full year.

"Tell you what," she said to the now inert box, "next time, how about finding me an even less convenient one, hmm? Just for kicks."

There was, as expected, no reaction of any sort. With a wry snort, she tucked the box back in its satchel and sighed.

No point wasting time. And none to waste, for that matter, so I'd best get started.

It only took a glance skyward to see the promise of rain soon, and she gathered her cloak more firmly around her as she stepped out of the alley and into the street. From the look of it, the folks moving too and fro along it were just as aware of the sullen clouds above as she was, and from what she could see they seemed intent on getting whatever business they were about over and done with.

Which suited her just fine, really. The less attention anyone paid to her, the less chance something was going to get in her way.

Phrae took a moment or two to try and figure her bearings, and her eyes settled on something that had her lips twitching in a smile. There's always one, she thought to herself. And if it's no help at all, at least I'll be able to get something to eat.

An idea that didn't revolt her stomach as much as it would have done only a short while before.

It took only a minute or so to reach the door of the tavern who's sign she'd spotted, though she found herself a little interrupted on her way when a local, busy with his own thoughts, collided with her. Or maybe it was her that walked into him. The momentary collision was over fast enough that it was hard to be sure, and Phrae offered him an apologetic smile, which he accepted with little more than a sour look her way. It was only after he was a good few yards away that she let herself grin, bouncing the purse she'd lifted in her palm before tucking it out of sight and carrying on toward the tavern door.

And that's that problem dealt with.

Not that she had much of an idea of just how much of the local currency she'd just lifted. It was something that seemed to vary a lot during the course of her wanderings, but she'd picked up a few little ways of covering the fact she often had only the vaguest idea how far what she was able to score would go.

And at least this time, getting herself a bit of coin had been quick and easy. Less fun than at her last stop, maybe, but she couldn't really afford to indulge herself this time. She felt a little spark of disappointment at that, but took some comfort in the knowledge that after she made this connection, she'd have plenty of time to indulge in a little rest and relaxation. She wasn't sure how she knew that, but she'd learned not to worry too much about trivial little details like that.

Walking into the tavern, she was greeted by a cheerful word from a young woman who was setting a jug down on a table as Phrae came in. She nodded back, glancing around at the mostly empty room before giving the girl a questioning look and gesturing at a table.

"Sure," the girl replied with a shrug. "That one, this one... pick whichever place you like." She looked around, sharing a grin with the grizzled old man who she'd just delivered the jug to. "Not like we're rushed."

"That unusual?" Phrae asked, shrugging her cloak off of her shoulders and draping it over the back of a chair. She caught the way the man's gaze sharpened on her, and smiled to herself. Given the way her short, snug top and long skirt hugged her body, she'd have been more surprised if he'd ignored her...

The girl, rolling her eyes at the man's almost-subtle leer, answered Phrae's question with a shrug. "Not really, not at this sort of time. Just a drink, or you want something to eat as well?"

"If you've got something quick and easy, sure."

The girl nodded, and Phrae settled herself in at the table she'd picked. Opening up the purse she'd lifted, she tipped a few coins out of it onto the tabletop and gazed out of the window at the street outside until a cup was set on the table in front of her, along with a plate of assorted breads and cheeses.

"Thanks," she smiled up at the girl, who flicked a glance at the coins. Phrae waved toward them, and took a sip from the cup of wine - whilst making sure she tracked how much coinage disappeared into the girls' pocket to cover what she'd ordered. "Hmm. This is good stuff."

Which it was, actually. It earned her a quick grin, and she let herself sit and concentrate on fuelling up on food for a few minutes. Once that was dealt with, and her stomach had finally settled all the way after her arrival, she sat back and sipped at her wine again as she weighed up how to broach the subject of what she was here for.

"Just passin' through?" the old man asked after a little while, sounding for all the world as if he was simply making conversation to kill time. "Or you here on business?"

And as far as Phrae was concerned, he'd just volunteered himself as her first target. She gave him a grin and a little shrug, running a fingertip around the rim of her cup as she answered him.

"Business," she replied. "Of a sort, at least. I'm looking for something."

"Oh?"

The old man might have seemed little more than politely interested if she'd not caught the way his gaze sharpened for an instant. He hid it fast, though, fast enough that she might have imagined it.

"A place. A temple, in fact. Though not one that is in use."

And that, apart from the idea it was somewhere around here, was the sum total of what the box had chosen to impart. It seemed like it was enough to work with, however, given the way both of the people in the room with her reacted.

Or, more accurately, didn't react. Quite deliberately, too, if she was any judge.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

She kept her tone light, aiming to try and defuse the tension that had suddenly started coming off of the others. The girl was the one who covered it best, busying herself with something or other over by the common room's bar area, but Phrae's attention was still mainly on the man.

Sitting back in his chair, he made no attempt to hide the studying look he gave her. Whatever he saw, it seemed to meet whatever standard he'd set himself, and he huffed out a sour-sounding snort.

"You're one of them Legion types, I'm guessing."

Phrae gave him a tiny smile, sipping at her wine as she let him draw his own conclusions. Given that she had no clue at all what he was talking about, it seemed best to play it that way.

"Hmph. Would have figured a woman had more sense than to join that bunch of crazy bastards."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but we're just as prone to crazy as you gentlemen."

That got her an unhappy grimace from him, then he scooped up his cup and drained it in a single go. "What you're looking for is on the other side of town, about a half mile from here. Nobody local is dumb enough to go nearer than they have to, so you'll not have anyone jogging your arm whilst you do... whatever it is you do."

"I assume I'll be able to spot it when I see it?" she asked evenly.

"None." With that, he put his cup down again with a bit more force than she'd have expected, digging out a couple of coins from his pocket that he tossed onto the table beside it. "I'll be back later, girl. Got to go check on those idiot apprentices, make sure they've not burned the warehouse down."

"Uh, okay..." the serving girl replied, looking more than a little surprised. "But you told me you were-"

She cut off when he sent her a dark look as he got to his feet. Turning a polite, if a little stiff, nod of the head to Phrae, he stumped off out of the door, leaving an almost visible cloud of bad temper in his wake.

"Was it something I said?" Phrae asked lightly after a moment, startling a nervous little giggle from the girl.

"I guess... Well, you know everyone respects the hell out of what the Legion does, the risks you guys take for everyone's benefit, but..."

With a reassuring smile, Phrae nodded as if she knew what was being said. And, to a certain extent, she did. "They'd just rather show that respect from a distance. A safe distance. Can't say I'd blame a person for that, but it does leave you with a little bit of a problem."

"Me?"

If she'd not still been feeling a little off from her arrival, Phrae might have found that nervous squeak rather amusing. As it was, she simply gestured to the chair across the table from her.

"There's only one person left here that can give me any information."

"B-but Garvey already told you where to go to find the place."

"He did, yes. But I couldn't help but notice he was a bit light on any other details. Like just why this temple is avoided..." Her smile thinned, a far more serious glint entering her gaze as she quite deliberately pinned the girl with it. "...and why you seem far less comfortable talking about it than he was."

Eyes darting around the room, the girl was obviously trying to act like there was nothing at all to what had just been said, but whilst Phrae was willing to give her points for effort, the act was about as convincing as a used wagon salesman.

"I- There's not really anything more to tell," the girl managed after a few seconds. "Since the Godswar, all sorts of weird thing have happened in and around temples to those that fell. It's... There's nothing more than that to tell."

Yeah. Right. And I'm a friggin' hamster.

Suppressing the shudder that ran through her at the whole idea of gods fighting, Phrae let her scepticism show, pointing at the the chair across from her and making it abundantly clear that she was not going to accept what she'd just been told. Since it seemed she had some amount of authority, even if it only existed because of other people's mistaken beliefs, she saw little reason not to make use of it.

"Sit. Speak. And start with just why the old man seemed pissed off and nervous, whilst you... Yes, I think embarrassed covers it quite nicely."

Almost as if she'd been caught sneaking about with a boy, in fact. Or something similar. Definitely not the sort of reaction Phrae had seen coming, and one that got her attention even more than ghost stories ever might.

After eyeing the door for a few hopeful moments, the girl's shoulder's slumped and she let out a sigh.

"Shit," she muttered. "I guess you'll find out soon enough anyway. Just... please don't spread it around? Half the girls in town would catch so much hell if it got out."

"I don't plan to share anything I don't have to," Phrae said calmly as she watched the girl come over and, reluctantly, lower herself into the chair. "In fact, if everything goes the way I'd prefer, nobody in this town will ever know I was even here."

That got her a wary look, then a sigh. "I guess that's the best I can hope for, huh. Okay, just... let me tell it, okay? If you want to start tearing my head of for what I've said, then I can't stop you, but at least let me say it."

Lifting her wine to her lips, Phrae sat back, waving a hand in a casual signal for the girl to get right on with that telling. Whatever she was about to hear, she had little doubt it was going to prove... interesting.

Continued in Part 2

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