Confrontation

[Oriena]

Well. That was a lot to process. Carmen's expression flickered uncertainly when he admitted to being one of the Ascendants, eyes a little wide as she reconciled that new piece of information with the man sat in front of her. Her reaction deadened flat when he confirmed her worst fear, though; that Oriena had done something to aggravate the cult who had apparently been secretly murdering people like her for years. She shouldn't have expected anything less of Ori - in fact she hadn't. But it was still a blow to hear the truth of it.

"A ship's Captain in Moscow, huh? You're a long way from the coast. I'm sorry about your sister."


The sentiment was genuine, but she frowned and looked away to examine the old fashioned business card, unwilling to linger on the tragedy. Pervaya Iiniya. A private security firm. But his accompanying words moved her attention up back to him. Carmen smiled wryly. "I may not be a magic-user, but I'm not a damsel in distress either. I can look out for myself. I promise you that."


Like Oriena, Carmen had spent her childhood in Moscow's slums, and had fought for every opportunity to claw her way up the ladder to the woman she was today. If she spared a thought to consider it, the same story mirrored in many of Kallisti's staff; the club collected misfits. Ori was a bitch, but she did have a thing for the underdog.

"I was teasing about the debt, before. I'm not going to hold you to anything, Manix, so don't feel like you owe me. I'm serious about that."
She met his eye squarely, resolute in her convictions. "But I won't turn away help either."