spira_rp | Deep in the bosom of the gentle night

Deep in the bosom of the gentle night

They'd accepted the job.

If Saix was honest, they'd have probably accepted it for less money than they'd be getting. After leaving Gladio and Ignis they'd discussed what sort of price they'd be willing to take, settled on a range, and then, when they'd called Ignis and met up again, gone in high. They'd been haggled down. If their first request had been accepted without question alarm bells would have rung; the task of exploring and mapping Pulse promised to be filled with unknowns, but hunting jobs paid by the danger involved more than the length of time they'd take to complete. If their high offer hadn't been challenged, it would suggest many more dangerous unknowns than they'd been expecting.

The price they came out at was fair, and with the promise of supplies and equipment being provided out of the deep pockets of whoever was funding the expedition, they were getting a pretty nice deal. It wasn't going to be a cushy job, by any means, but the compensation was worth it.

Ignis had contacted them again a few days later with an itinerary, and directions to Lucis. They were given an entry permit for an airship port in Lucis and told they'd be collected from there and taken to Insomnia.

Saix has raised an eyebrow at the name. A little reading had shown Insomnia was the capital city. It sounded like Xemnas had named it, but other than sharing a look with Lea, Saix had kept his mouth shut on the matter.

Lucis hadn't looked like much as they'd flown over it. The co-ordinates they'd been given for the airport were in the middle of rocky scrubland that was mostly sun and desert. It looked as if someone had taken the Westersand and flattened it a little. Paved roads snaked their way across the terrain.

The airport wasn't particularly impressive either. It lacked the grandiosity and bustle of the ones on the mainland, but Saix, Lea, Aerith, and Fang were met by two men in black uniforms that checked their permit and names and told them where to park their ship. There were other ships already parked. One looked like a grand dragon with grasping claws, another was sleek and hypermodern.

Then they were led outside, into the glaring sun, and a black limousine with tinted windows and leather seats. Despite the heat, the air inside the car was cool. If the sight of the terrain and the airport had made Saix question the ability of whoever was funding this trip to cover the costs, the limousine quieted his doubts.

They fell completely silent as the black clad chauffeur drove them through a dustbowl and up to an immense walled city. It was impossible not to stare out of the window as they passed through a checkpoint and traveled over an unbelievably long suspension bridge to another checkpoint. Once inside the wall they saw grasslands and suburbs, and still they drove on until the suburbs gave way to glass and metal buildings, and neon signage, wide roads and traffic lights, and the buildings got taller and shinier until they pulled into a carpark beneath one of the largest buildings.

The limousine's door opened, and another black clad person greeted them. "If you'll follow me," he said, "I'll show you to your suites."

The building turned out to be a hotel. Saix didn't know if there were other visitors or if the entire thing was booked out with hunters Gladio and Ignis had recruited. They were led along plushly carpeted corridors, into a marbled lift, and then to two rooms. Himself and Lea were ushered into the first.

"Count Scientia will be along to welcome you shortly," their guide said. "Make yourselves comfortable."

Saix looked around the room. The window gave a view over the glittering skyline of the city. There was a sofa and a couple of comfortable looking chairs, with a table and television that seemed to serve as a sort of lounge. He opened one door to find a bathroom, with tiled floors, and shower, and bath, and his and hers sinks. Another door gave way to a bedroom, with two double beds, and towels folded into the shape of swans in the centre. Or perhaps they were meant to be dragons?

A third door turned out to connect to Aerith and Fang's room, and was lockable from both sides.

"We should have asked for more money," Saix said, once their concierge was gone.

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Lea couldn't believe how swanky the hotel was.

Considering the two they'd spoken to, Ignis and Gladio, had hired them among other people rough enough to be able to survive an extended stint on a long-abandoned, probably fiend-infested Mist-covered hellhole, they'd certainly spared no expense putting them up in a fancy hotel for the duration of their stay in the city.

He'd seen stiff looking hotel staff at a desk near the entrance and everything he'd walked past looked more expensive and shiny and fancy than anything he'd ever seen before, let alone been close enough to touch.

The carpets felt deep enough to envelop his boots to the ankle and the view across the city was like standing on a tower block above the Dark City, except that he could see specks of movement below that were people, and cars, and not the glowing yellow eyes of myriad Heartless erupting from shadows.

"We should have," he agreed.

He thought they were getting a pretty good deal considering. The money the Lucians were laying out for them was incredible considering what they were paying them to do, but the fact that it was danger money made him slightly wary, not that he didn't think he could handle it.

Jylland felt strange. It was alive, and yet it felt distant from the lifestream that Aerith was accustomed to beneath her feet. The sky seemed to call her even more loudly.

Insomnia reminded her of Midgar, or at least the part of Midgar that had once sat atop the plate. Insomnia was grander, cleaner, bigger even than Midgar had been, but it was just as heavily developed, just as removed from nature. Yet she didn't hate it.

The hotel room hosted the biggest beds Aerith had ever seen, let alone slept in. The carpet was softer than grass beneath her boots. She wanted to get out there and explore the city that buzzed with life all around them. She hoped they got the chance. There'd be shops, and theatres, and restaurants to explore and browse and try. She hoped they'd get the chance.

Opening one of the doors had led her into Lea and Saix's room, which was a perfect mirror of the one she and Fang had been placed in. There was certainly a lot of money being laid out for them. She wondered how many other hunters there would be, and when they'd get to meet them. Had they all been put up in the same hotel?

"Maybe we're being treated to this because we took a lower price," she suggested, with a grin. "I wonder who's paying for all this?" They'd dealt with Ignis, and Gladio, but they hadn't acted as if it was their own money on the line. Unless they had so much of it that negotiating was just quibbling over pocket change, but then why negotiate at all?

"We should ask Count Scientia," Saix replied. The bastard had left that part out of introductions, but it explained the toff-y airs and graces, and the hulking bodyguard. Whoever was paying for it was probably higher up the ladder than Ignis, but the fact they'd sent a noble to do the negotiating made Saix suspicious.

He headed to the window to gaze out over the city. They were high up, but Saix could already see more cars on the roads below than he'd seen on the entirety of the mainland the whole time he'd been on Spira. The place was an Al Bhed's dream, and yet he hadn't spotted any Al Bhed on their journey in.

Lea lamented his lack of long coat. Had he had one, he'd have swept it across the lower part of his face and strode, spider-like, across the plush carpet making jokes about counts in a funny and, unbeknownst to him, Überwaldean accent. As it was, he simply shrugged.

"If he's a Count, it's going to be whoever he answers to, right?" He shrugged. "This is a kingdom... so..."

Fang had followed Aerith through the rooms after taking a moment to stare out of the massive window over the city. She'd never seen a city, not like this one. Rabanastre had been the biggest she'd ever laid eyes on, but she hadn't been the type to go out to cities back when she was younger and life was getting hard with the Mist's slow spread.

She'd lived on the edge of the desert, hunted on the plains and never had any reason to go to Paddra, Haerii and especially the two cities to the far south.

She listened to the conversation on the way through.

The Kingdom of Lucis... which meant the Count, that bespectacled, snobby streak of piss with the massive bodyguard, answered probably directly to...

"The King?" So they were working for the government, were they? That was a new one.

She figured it could also possibly be a queen, but she doubted it, somehow. It wasn't particularly common. She knew little and less about Lucis, but from what little she knew, she could figure that was probably the same as everyone else. Even those two had said, before they left for the country, that it had been isolated almost since it had been established. It was a wonder that they spoke a common language, but then again... it was a wonder she did, when she'd been freed from Crystal. The Goddess did like to provide.

The King was a good guess. Saix wondered how much power the King really had in his Kingdom. There were so many different ways of arranging a government. Was Lucis an absolute monarchy, or was there a government as well? Was there a series of advisors, or a parliament of representatives?

If they sent a toff to meet them they probably had a strong tradition of classism. But Ignis hadn't let on that he was titled, so either he'd done a little more research, or things were a little more complicated.

He grunted. "We definitely should have asked for more money."

"Stop grouching," Aerith said, a note of teasing in her voice. She made her way across the carpet towards the sofa and ran her hand over the material. It felt like leather, cool and soft under her fingers. "If some royal wants to pay our expenses for a while let them. We should enjoy it."

She turned to Lea, a glint of mischief in her eye. "I bet they have room service."

"Maybe the experience of visiting a lost continent will be worth more than mere currency," she said to Saix, haughtily, but ultimately joking.

Money made the world go round. She didn't doubt there were still places like the one she'd grew up in, where trade and barter were an exchange of items and ideas and hard cash was only used with certain people who brought certain goods to them, way out of where they'd usually be, but from what she'd seen and heard so far, it was gil that made the gears move.

And they had been promised rather a lot of it, with expenses on top instead of coming out of their cut. Fuel for the airship, supplies and rations for emergencies even if they'd be expected to live off what they caught, medical provisions, weaponry, ammunition where applicable, clothing, repair kits, survival kits, chocobos and the relevant tack...

"This is pretty cushy though," she pointed out, sweeping her hand around to indicate everything from the lacquered wooden furniture, the leather sofa and armchairs, the deep carpets, the view... "Wonder how long we'll be forced to endure this luxury until we set off."

Lea returns Aerith's look of mischief with one of devilry that befit him.

"You know... I expect they do," he said. "Do you think it's all on their tab or only 'within reason'..?"

It did seem to be all expenses paid, but it was possible that their benefactors might draw the line at fancy bottles of wine or obscure snacks. That would be a shame.

"Well if nobody's told us yet," Aerith posited, a sing-song lilt to her voice and a grin on her face, "they can't be mad. It was a long journey."

And the hotel was very swish. 'Within reason' here was probably a bit different to 'within reason' at somewhere like a standard hunter's inn.

Saix murmured wordlessly in agreement with Fang. It was undoubtedly cushy, and likely expensive. He wasn't sure if it was just that the noble types that were paying for everything couldn't conceive of a more basic lifestyle, or if they were trying to impress. If Lucis was as isolated as they'd been led to believe, it did bring up the question of who used a hotel this fancy on a regular enough basis that they turned a profit. Surely there were cheaper ones that would have been just as comfortable?

"Long enough for them to properly equip us, at the least." They might have a lot of basics, and weapons already, and it was probably easy enough for them to obtain potions, rations, fuel, and so on, but things such as clothing might take a little longer, depending upon how specialised the clothing.

They also hadn't met the others that would be attending yet. With this sort of financial commitment, it was unlikely they were only sending Skite and Ila. How many others clans had Ignis met with?

Ignis knocked on the door to the first of Ila's two suites. Everyone had been assigned rooms in pairs, and where possible they'd kept people together in connecting suites to minimise disturbance in the corridors. Now Ignis was doing the rounds, making sure everyone was comfortable, and broaching certain delicate subjects.

He'd tried his best to get the council to agree that tagging those they'd invited from the lowerworld who bore mist mutations was unnecessary, but certain individuals on the council, many of them long serving, had been adamantly against the notion. He had at least managed to get them to agree to allow their visitors to choose their own rankings, rather than subject them to testing. Testing might cause some of them to leave.

He certainly didn't want to have to broach the subject of measuring the varying power levels of certain of the Arrancar. It would open a can of worms that could jeopardise the whole venture.

He waited for an answer, rather than barging in. They'd had a lengthy journey, after all, and he wouldn't want to walk in on anyone in a state of undress.

Lea looked round at the knock. That, he supposed, was Count Scientia.

It seemed a little weird to him that he hadn't introduced himself as a count, but he figured it made sense. Would a group of rough Mark Hunters have wanted to go on a mission if they'd been petitioned by some random member of a foreign country's gentry? He'd certainly have had more reservations, but even now that he knew... he couldn't say that he was going to change his mind.

After the meeting they'd all asked Fang about what they could expect and although she'd fairly told them that she couldn't be certain, it had been literally centuries since she'd set foot there, long enough for a Kingdom's worth of refugees to establish a city of Lucis's scale and get to this level of modernity... he was still curious to hear the stories. They all had been.

Seeing none of the others leaping to answer the door, he crossed the room to pull it open.

"Long time no see," he said.

"You didn't waste any time," she told Ignis.

He was there so fast Fang could swear that he'd been in the building the whole time, probably watching them get there. She imagined him eyeing the face of a watch, waiting for them to get in and giving them just enough time to put down their things and settle enough to be comfortable with the strange environment before the announced his presence with a knock.

Ignis nodded at Lea as the door was opened, and looked around at the others. "I've been waiting for you," he answered, "you weren't the first to arrive."

He may not have been waiting with a watch, but since most of his business today was concerned with the incoming hunters there was no point in leaving and going elsewhere until they were all safely accounted for.

"May I come in?" he asked.

Saix glanced at Lea. "Can you not enter without permission?" he asked, in a low voice that was no doubt audible to Ignis anyway. That was supposed to be one of the rules anyway.

If Saix was inclined to be unkind, he'd wonder if being unable to see his own reflection might explain Ignis's choice of hairstyle. Not that it was much worse than Lea's.

Aerith pursed her lips and moved forward so she could land an admonishing backhand on Saix's hip. "Stop that," she hissed. Boys could be so embarrassing sometimes.

"Of course you can," she said, more clearly, giving Ignis her brightest smile. "This is a lovely hotel you've set us up in."

"We the last?" She asked, cocking her head to one side.

It didn't matter either way, of course. She had no frame of reference for who was coming, or how many, so she'd be none the wiser whether they were the first or the last or if they'd arrived somewhere in between.

Lea smirked at Saix's comment. At least his thought on the subject of Ignis's apparent title and status wasn't existing alone. Well, they were friends for a reason.

"Are you really a count?" He asked, not being able to stop the question bursting out of his mouth.

Well, he had left it out.

Ignis stepped over the threshold and then looked between Saix, Lea, Aerith, and Fang. He got the distinct impression he was being less than subtly mocked.

"Count Lucis Scientia Ignis," he confirmed, giving a small bow. "Though I don't tend to use the title." He'd appreciate if they didn't either for that exact reason.

He turned his attention to the two ladies, who were at least being reasonable. "You're welcome," he said, to Aerith, before addressing Fang's question. "The others have been arriving over the course of the day. You were the last we were awaiting." Ignis took a couple more steps into the room. "Feel free to make yourselves comfortable. The restaurant downstairs closes at ten, just tell them your room number and the bill will be covered. If you require anything the front desk have been instructed to do what they can to obtain it for you."

He hesitated, his warm smile wavering. "I'd ask you to remain within the hotel at present. It should have all the facilities you might need, including a gym, massage therapists, and swimming pool. We're asking everyone to meet in the conference hall at noon tomorrow so you can be fully briefed on the itinerary." This would be the point at which the awkward questions came, if any were to come. There was also going to be the issue of introducing everyone to each other on the morrow. Some of them may meet in the restaurant beforehand, but with such a disparate group of personalities, some of the introductions may grow tense.

Saix had barely contained his smirk at Lea's question. It had seemed suspect that Ignis had failed to mention it, but perhaps he'd thought they wouldn't take him seriously if they thought he was nobby as well as posh.

His claim that he didn't routinely use the title, and strangely formal sounding name that seemed to go with it, seemed much more suspicious. This was a monarchy, after all. Why wouldn't he use it?

Saix's brow furrowed as Ignis continued. He hadn't particularly wanted to leave the hotel anyway; they'd only just arrived, and settling in and exploring the facilities had been appealing, but now they were being asked not to venture out that was precisely what he wanted to do.

"How many of us are there?" he asked. Perhaps they just wanted to keep track of everyone, and letting ten mainland hunters loose on the city was a good way to lose one or two.

"Lea," Aerith hissed. Sometimes his enthusiastic straight forwardness was cute, and sometimes it made Aerith feel like she was hanging around a pair of toddlers. Saix and Lea made each other worse.

But in a good way.

She listened to Ignis's explanation. It sounded a bit like a script, or a list he'd gone through a few times already. If they were the last to arrive he probably had gone through it a few times.

It made her curious though, and a little suspicious. What was their itinerary? How long before they left for Pulse?

How long did they want them to hang around the hotel?

Lea rather felt that Ignis was stuffy above and beyond the call of duty. Even if that duty was that of a Count. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about being essentially stuck in a hotel in a foreign city, but it was only temporary judging by the 'at present'. Maybe they all had to be present and accounted for before they'd be allowed to go wandering. Perhaps Ignis had to swing by a tourist centre to grab a few maps, who could know?

At least the briefing might be informative.

"Yeah, anyone we should know?" He asked. "Hey, is Clan Skite here too?"

Well, they'd recommended them directly to Ignis, but that didn't mean they were there. It was always worth checking, at least so that he could be ready for when Saix and Yylfordt undoubtedly got into another argument.

Fang quite liked the hotel, but she wasn't sure how long she'd be happy about being cooped up. A day or two was fine, she'd been stuck inside for that long because of driving rain, or other dangerous beasts best left alone, but any longer and she'd start to go stir crazy.

She didn't miss his introduction, though. His city, town or Kingdom of birth followed by his family name and then, at the end, his personal one. That was a tradition of Gran Pulse and, apparently, one that hadn't been lost to time in Lucis. It was how she introduced herself, though not to Ignis as yet. To him, it was just Fang.

Ignis gave a nod at the continued questioning. "Sixteen, so far," he answered, "including yourselves and Skite." They made up the two largest groups within a group, and in total almost half the number of lowerworld attendees.

"I don't expect you've crossed paths with the others," he added. "They're not all hunters like yourselves." He expected some of them moved in different circles, even if said circles were all Khamja related. Still, Ila's inclusion had brought the numbers up nicely.

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