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       #Post#: 283--------------------------------------------------
       Secret Keeper (after Market Shuffle, night, closed)
       By: NPC Date: January 12, 2017, 12:57 am
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       Moments after the Sean incident John had taken off into the
       crowd a grin on his face as he replayed the afternoons adventure
       and the bit of information he'd managed to get. As he walked the
       only question that came to mind was what to do with said bit of
       information, he could of course go straight to the king and
       inform him that the Protector has been found or go to a certain
       dark and dangerous organization and tell them. Both had their
       merits and cons, going to the king would insure the world would
       probably be safe and he might even get a bit of fame and glory
       as the boy who helped save the world. Of course being a boy of
       secrets having the spotlight on him wouldn't help in keeping up
       his somewhat criminal ways. Now were he to go to shadier
       pastures the pay would vary depending on who really wants this
       information and what they'd do with it and who knows what could
       happen. The temperaments of criminals were sometimes hard to
       judge and he didn't fancy getting himself killed if someone
       thought he was lying and or didn't want the word to spread of
       his interesting find. The other thought on his mind was his run
       in with Zion earlier that day. He wondered briefly if the other
       had something important to discuss before they were interrupted
       by his dragon companion.
       John sighed and dragged a tired hand through his hair, it's been
       hours and he still had no clue what he should do. With a sigh he
       found a set of steps to sit on and decided to rest there and
       gather his thoughts. "Fame and glory, but possible loss of being
       anonymous. Maybe a huge pay out but probably gonna get
       murdered." he muttered and thumped his head on the bricks behind
       him. As he sat there he heard two voices float down the streets
       towards him, frowning he ignored them as he kept thinking.
       "...I could say the same of you Priestess. You fled your post
       just as quickly as I did and from what I've gleaned none of the
       knights have found anything either." the roughened voice of the
       man spoke, his irritation apparent at the woman beside him.
       "Fair enough Simon, we both were too hasty to leave, it left us
       without an inside eye to the castle and that is something he
       won't be forgiving any time soon. All I know is we must find the
       target. Though they haven't shown up so i don't know why he's so
       worried. No training, no idea what they must do to save
       everything." the woman spoke, the click of her heels loud on the
       market streets. Eyes closed John suddenly tuned into their
       conversation and quickly became invisible before they could spot
       him "Are they talking about the Protector?! Maybe this is a
       sign!" grinning he waited til they passed before getting up to
       follow. He took a look at his new companions.
       The man, Simon he assumed, had shaggy brown hair, the locks
       falling in front of piercing blue eyes, he wore a light green
       cloak. An odd choice of color to wear while walking the streets
       of Dawn Rift at night, it was sure to attract attention, but the
       sword strapped to the mans side quelled him of any thoughts of
       the man being an easy target. John turned his attention to the
       woman and nearly gasped when he saw who it was. "I know he said
       priestess but I didn't think he meant the head priestess of
       Celestia!" John thought watching the womans silver hair flutter,
       she wasn't dressed in her ceremonial robes, instead she wore a
       tight fitting black outfit. The two continued walking in silence
       for several streets before coming to a stop at the Faded Gray,
       the bar sign was off signalling it had closed for the night but
       the two strode right on in. John hurried in after them before
       the door shut and tucked himself into a corner when he saw more
       people were seated at the bar. Looking around he noted the two
       he followed, a red headed youth, two black haired men that
       looked to be twins, upon closer inspection he noticed their eyes
       were different, and standing behind the bar was a man with light
       green hair. John wondered where Wilson was and why these people
       seemed to be holding a secret meeting in his bar.
       "So kind of you to finally join us, honestly Maziky you could've
       gotten here sooner no one was allowed to eat til you two made
       it." the read head complained, he was leaning back in his chair
       rubbing his bare stomach when it started growling. Maziky rolled
       her eyes "Blaise shut up, it's not my fault you're a glutton.
       Now be quiet so Chronos can speak." she commanded and turned her
       eyes to the green haired man.
       "Be patient Lukas we shall eat soon. Right now I simply wish to
       focus on the fact we have failed in finding the Protector. The
       only good thing in that is while we haven't found them neither
       have the other countries. The world will soon fall into panic
       once the populace begins to truly comprehend that the barrier is
       falling. Now while I enjoy a bit of chaos I still wish to find
       the Protector" Chronos said, his gaze landed on each of them,
       lingering for a few seconds before moving on. As sky blue eyes
       danced across the room they seemed to almost pause on the site
       John was hiding in causing him to hold his breath while a mild
       panic overtook him. Soon though his eyes continued on and John
       relaxed "Who are these guys, I know Maziky is from the castle,
       and I think I remember the red head from the Coronation?" he
       thought and focused.
       Chronos' turned his gaze back to Maziky and Simon "While we did
       not expect miss Mimiru to not be the Protector-" Lukas scoffed
       and Chronos ignored him "It was foolish of you both to abandon
       your posts, we've lost your valuable eyes in the castle and
       political setting. It is upsetting but we must not dwell on it,
       instead we must come up with suitable rewards to entice the city
       to find the Protector. I believe 500 million units would be a
       good starting price for any information." he said, ignoring the
       somewhat confused looks of the group. Chronos stayed silent as
       the group seemed to begin talking among themselves, he tuned
       them out as he kept his gaze steadily on the stained glass.
       From his hiding spot John heard the offered amount and his jaw
       dropped "500 million units and that's....that's just for
       information who knows how much it'd be for knowing legitimately
       who she is" he thought trying to come up with some idea of how
       he'd spend that much money he didn't even consider to ask
       himself why this man seemed to want the Protector. Decision made
       he stepped out from the shadows and dropped his invisibility "I
       have information on the Protector!" he stated, making his gaze
       confident as the five looked at him in shock which soon turned
       to threatening as they each took out their weapons. From behind
       them Chronos smirked inwardly while his eyes remained impassive
       despite the kind smile. "Lower your weapons, this boy means us
       no harm. He has followed us and has now chosen to speak despite
       the danger. I wish to hear his so called information." Chronos
       tilted his head, signalling the other to speak once the rest of
       them sat back down though they looked ready to battle if the boy
       posed any threat. Mentally John steeled himself and straightened
       up "I have met the Protector, she was being attacked by that
       creep Sean. Luckily she had some friends keeping her safe from
       being almost sold off to traders." he explained causing Lukas'
       eyes to widen. "So she's already found some of her Guardians..."
       he thought and felt an almost pang of sadness that he quickly
       smothered down.
       Simon frowned, his eyes narrowing in suspicion "How can we trust
       anything this low life says. If he has been in here spying then
       I bet he's lying to get the cash reward." next to him Maziky
       nodded. The twins gained an excited look "We don't mind
       interrogating him sir, after all nothing brings out truth faster
       than a bit of kindly questioning " the blue eyed twin was nearly
       bouncing in his seat as he spoke. "Silence, I believe this boy,
       is there anything else? After all 500 million is merely the base
       for information of knowing she is alive, a name and description
       warrants much more money." Chronos leaned against the counter,
       his eyes seemingly glowing thanks to the moonlights spilling
       through the glass.
       For what felt like an eternity John stared into Chronos' eyes,
       it felt like the other man was looking straight through him and
       trying to pick apart is brain. Shifting he lost his confident
       gaze and glanced away. "I umm...can give you a name...names I
       guess if you want the names of her friends." he seemed to
       mumble, but his words were easily heard in the quiet room.
       "Descriptions too, but it'll cost! I've got plenty of folks
       willing to pay top money for this sort of information." his
       voice growing stronger as he regained his arrogant posture. From
       his seat Simon seemed ready to unsheathe his sword "How insolent
       of you to demand anything! Scum like you need to learn to keep
       silent when spoken too by their betters." he growled out and
       stood up. John took a step back but continued to stare, not
       willing to back down. The atmosphere was tense as the group
       waited to see who would speak first, after several moments the
       silence was broken by the quiet chuckle of Chronos. "You are
       brave. Simon be seated I will not have our newest friend feel
       threatened while we discuss his payment. All of you retreat
       elsewhere and eat." he commanded and waited for them to follow
       his orders. Once they moved to a table in the back he motioned
       for John to come forward and take a seat.
       John took a seat at the bar, sitting stiffly as he kept glancing
       over at the group who in turn kept looking over at them. "Pay
       them no mind, please tell me your name. I'm Chronos Atlas." he
       said and held his hand out. John shook his head "I"m John
       Black...kinda hard when they all seem ready to kill me on the
       spot." he forced himself to focus on Chronos. "They are just a
       bit protective of our goal. None of them want to see it fail and
       you must understand you've come out of no where and offer us
       information...we'll it does look suspect." his tone was
       apologetic as he spoke but he continued. "Now I can give you the
       500 million units for the bit of info you've provided. But I am
       hoping to sweeten the deal and offer an additional 200 million
       units for her name and description and 70 thousand units if you
       agree to work as my employee." Johns eyes widened once more as
       he calculated the amount being offered before pausing "Wait a
       minute...work for you?! I don't even know who you guys are and I
       tend to do more freelance" he said frowning and shaking his
       head. For a brief moment a dark look entered Chronos' eyes and
       it made John flinch back in surprise, so far the man had been
       pleasant if not a bit creepy but his current expression made
       John realize he might've made a mistake in following those two
       here.
       "My apologies, you just seem like someone who might benefit from
       my employment. After all just because you would work solely for
       me does not mean I'd get in your way were you to continue doing
       other work." Chronos said, his dark look melting away and
       returning to his friendlier look. "Just think all that money
       with hardly any effort on your part while still free to keep
       doing as you wish." he added softly and leaned forward to
       closely look at John. "I think you'll see that my offer is worth
       taking." he leaned back and waited. John let out a soft breath
       and averted his gaze, the offer was tempting if it worked out
       the way he described. He'd be getting paid consistently but free
       to anything else he wished, that and he assumed trying to
       decline would prove to be fatal so best to look at it
       positively. After a few minutes he nodded "Alright, I'm in." he
       looked at Chronos and nodded again causing the older man to
       grin. "Let me introduce you to the others. Everyone pay
       attention we have a new member to our team and I expect you to
       treat him properly and with respect !" a few of them seemed to
       grumble but nodded. "Now then the beautiful woman over there is
       Maziky Molernz the former high priestess of Celetia, next to her
       is Simon a former knight. The man with the blue tie is Kiba and
       the man next to him is his twin brother Tomo, they're known as
       the Arashi Twins and the red headed fellow is Lukas Blaise." as
       he introduced them some nodded in greeting while others, Simon
       mostly, scowled and did nothing. "We are a small group but we go
       by the name CHAOS." Chronos finished and watched the others
       reaction
       As soon as the name left his lips John instantly paled and
       stared in shock "CHAOS...yeah okay cool..." he said nervously
       and knew for sure he'd gone and bit off more than he could chew.
       If the rumors he'd heard about this particular group were true
       then he had no choice but to accept the offer and trying to find
       a way out would prove even more stupid. For now he'd just suck
       it up "Now how about you tell us everything we need to know."
       and with that John slowly nodded and began explaining to the
       group how he came across the new Protector and her Guardians.
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