Moving Forward

[Giovanni]

Aaliyah was a natural at thievery. She took to Giovanni's tutelage quickly. That made Giovanni happy at least. He didn't have to waste much time. He learned a lot about her protege.

Aaliyah had been an orphan and clawed her way to wherever she got. She was ambitious and focused working only towards one goal - how she could gain and keep power. She often rode on the coattails of the powerful. It was perhaps the only thing he didn't like about her.

Aaliyah was brilliant, but she had potential for more. She didn't need to ride on anyone's coattails. She could keep and hold power on her own. Giovanni saw it and knew he could use this to his advantage. It would be a mutual partnership.

IN the time he had known her, Giovanni had pursued anymore than a teacher/student relationship. She was very attractive, but there relationship wouldn't ever be romantic. However, they were spending a lot of time together. Surely her current protector was getting jealous. Not that Giovanni cared.

Tonight they were outside the city looking for another mark. It was time to see what she could do.

[Giovanni]

Aaliyah Zevros


Aaliyah couldn't help but be attracted to Giovanni. She wasn't attracted to him in any romantic sense, but he intrigued her greatly. He was a good thief. He was definitely well practiced. His name and accent gave him away as Italian, but she knew very little of his history.

Aaliyah had inquired some about his past, but he said very little. That of course upped the intrigue. Perhaps he did it on purpose, but she didn't care. For the first time in a long time, she felt free. Ibrahim gave her power and Giovanni gave her freedom. What concerned her about Giovanni was the cost. He had in no way sought payment from her.

There was something more about the Italian though. Something she didn't understand. He spoke little of his history, but even so, Aaliyah's intuition told her that he was hiding something deeper than just his past. Aaliyah wanted to find out what it was, but she knew her companion wouldn't answer even if she asked.

Tonight was a test of sorts, she had assumed. Giovanni had taken her outside of the city, and it was her turn to pick a target. She looked for one that would entertain them both. Aaliyah nodded towards a dark house. "What about there?"


Giovanni just smiled and nodded. "Lead the way."

[Giovanni]

Aaliyah moved stealthily towards the house trying to determine whether it was occupied or not. Giovanni followed her lead. The house looked abandoned to him, but that didn't mean it was unoccupied. The girl was smart to think of it.

Having made it to the window, Aaliyah looked in. "Looks empty,"
she said quietly and moved towards the door. The girl tested the handle and it turned quietly.

The pair entered the house and Giovanni's intuition flared. The house was supposedly empty, but yet he sensed something more. He grabbed his power and noticed that Aaliyah felt something too. It was in the way she moved and the way her hand moved towards the weapon Giovanni knew she carried.

It appeared from the kitchen of the house. It was humanoid in shape, but something seemed off. It seemed to have some balance of having corporeal form, but at the same time it didn't. Giovanni had never encountered one, but he had an idea of what it was. And he knew it wasn't human. He also believed he knew how to defeat it.

Giovanni smirked as Aaliyah drew her weapon. At that moment he was proud of his student. The creature had put her on edge, but she wasn't afraid of it.

[Giovanni]

Aaliyah Zevros


Something was wrong. Aaliyah felt it as soon as she entered the house. She couldn't place a finger on it, but she had learned to trust this intuition. Her hand reached for her knife. She didn't draw it, but her hand wrapped around the hilt nonetheless. Her dark eyes searched warily throughout the room.

Then it stepped out. It was the only word that Aaliyah could come up for it. It was shaped like a human, but it lingered in between corporpeal and incorporeal form. Something was wrong with it and Aaliyah didn't like it.

The knife came out immediately and there was fear there, but she kept it under control. Fear wasn't bad if it didn't control you. The creature moved towards her and she readied herself. It had the appearance a man, tall and thin, but Aaliyah didn't think it was. At the same time she had no idea.

Suddenly the room was flooded with light and the creature shrank back, seemingly weaker. Aaliyah chanced a gaze towards her companion. An orb of bright light hovered over his hand and he merely smirked at the creature. Aaliyah smiled too. Giovanni had quite a secret.

[Giovanni]

The creature - confirmed as a djinn by its reaction to the light - recoiled. Giovanni smirked at it. It would die today. Giovanni summoned his power, wrestling it within himself to submission. It would obey him. It always did.

Static electricity filled the room as he gave the power form. Storms came easily to him. He shaped it, turning the orb of light into one of electrical energy. Lightning danced from it as he moved it towards the djinn. The creature moved, trying to hide from the light in the room, but it was too late. The energy connected and the creature writhing in agony. Djinn died just like humans did. It wasn't a difficult fight.

The creature fell with a thud to the floor, its body still smoking from the attack. What had started as a test for his young companion had become a demonstration of his own power. Giovanni turned towards Aaliyah. She had no fear in her eyes. In fact she was smiling. Perhaps she was the missing puzzle piece to his plan. Perhaps she could make this work.