Benedictus Church

Quiad said the closing prayers of the final days mass. Watching the crowd leave through the main doors. He followed after them closely. As the last one was ushered out the church, he locked the doors. Immediately sweeping his priest robes off to reveal some regal looking clothes, something a priest wouldn't be seen in. He then hung the robes onto the door of the confession box, before reaching into his pocket. He took out tobacco and paper and proceeded to make a roll up. As he finished putting the tobacco into it he rolled it and and licked along the side. He then walked across to one of the lit candles, lighting the end of it. He took a deep drag and blew smoke up into the air with a satisfied smile.

Her back lay against the inside of the church door wall, she watched from under a slight hood as the people passed her by, her eyes following their feet and not their faces as they moved. She smiled a touch as some greeted her as they knew her as she finally brushed the hood from her head with a smile on her features. Noticing the door lock, her smile faded into an unamused twist. She laughed though, knowing he was probably getting changed and smoking inside now. Propping her body up from the wall, her fingers tensed into a fist as she knocked upon it. "Locking the door after a service Quiad," she murmured under her breath.

Casting her head over her shoulder, she checked how high the Sun was, before stepping back almost politely and waiting.

He knelt at the edge of a stairs in front of an altar. He hadn't left when Quiad had dismissed the people to return to their homes. He was poised over a step with a small scented lantern releasing the tendril of smoke through the metal vents upon the top of the contraption. Quiad had overlooked him because of the darkness of the Church. Well, that and the control and manipulation of shadows which cloaked him from Quiads sight. However, now he knelt visible, his back to Quiad, and Quiads back to his. Then he heard a knock on the door. He smiled under his hood, the scar tugging his lip up like a puppet master controlled it.

Quiad's head snapped to the door. "Bloody peasants." he said as he plucked the roll up from his mouth, wafting the smoke away from him as he hid it behind his back. He moved to the door slowly, hiding behind it as he opened it a crack so not to reveal his clothes. His eyes then landed on Larina. "Oh." he said as he opened the door properly. "Come in." he said as he gestured inside, placing the roll up back between his lips and taking another drag.

Larina cocked an eyebrow.

"Do you always lock your doors straight after, or is that a new safety precaution, Father?" she lightly mocked as she stepped in beside him. She paused however, noticing the now visible person. Her eyes fell across its figure. "And do you not check your church?" she asked, looking to him from the corner of her swirly eyes, before back across. Her fingers came down to her cloak, popping open the buttons down her front to reveal her clothes underneath, her hood folding down to her shoulder blades. Her nose wrinkled a little at the smell of smoke, but she didn't voice how distasteful it smelt.

He remained on his knees, praying to whatever God was up their, his tone was low, the words unintelligible. Words came across, like God, save, hell, worship. But no more than those, strung together in sentences. Shadows whirled in the tendrils of smoke filling the churches great hall. Finally the mans face now composed, smile gone. He stood.

He was full visible now, his clothes were darkened naturally, but the shadows had dispersed back to their natural forms. He watched them a moment over his shoulder before finally turning, throwing his hood back, his eyes resting on Larina.

Quiad faked laughed as he shut the door behind her, locking it once more. "It's so that I can get a smoke in before any damn peasants-" he began before she interrupted him. "Of course I check the church." he said as he turned around once more. His eyes landing on the kneeling man, a plain expression on his face as he took another drag. He shook his head lightly as he head his prayers. He looked to learn before back to him as he stood up. He blew the smoke out of the corner of his mouth.
He laughed slightly. "Asher, Larina. Larina, Asher." he said pointing between them both as he shook his head. "Now that we all know each other. Reports?"

Larina kept her eyes on Quiad as he spoke. "Obviously," she mused, then turned her attention to the man he was calling Asher. Larina regarded the other man, her hands falling down by her thighs. She kept her eyes steady on his face, before letting her eyes roll back to Quiad. She nodded simply in acknowledgement of the other man. It wasn't exactly protocol to get to know the other Brotherhoods.

Reports huh? Larina sighed, digging her fingers into her cloaks pocket and taking out the parchment that was written on; showing she'd done as asked. "Here," she muttered, shoving it into his hand that didn't contain the smelly cigarettes. She rolled her eyes back to Asher once more briefly, then ahead to Quiad once more, unbuttoning a few more of her cloak buttons so she could move her arms around a little more freely. She wasn't exactly a big church goer, but she prayed when she had to; silent prayers under her lips in times of need.

Asher smiled dryly at her, tipping an imaginary hat. He looked back to Quiad and rose an eyebrow. He watched Larina hand him a parchment. Maybe he should have done that. He sighed, pulled away the heavy cloak he was wearing to reveal a bald mans head strapped to his belt. He unbelted it and tossed it to Quiads feet. He picked up a bag by his foot, and took out another, tossing that next to the bald mans, this time, female, a woman with a worn down face and dirty dark hair, caked in blood and muck.
"The gutterrat went down fighting, nick'd my jaw with her nails."
Their was a short faded cut on his chin to prove that fact, he hated fighting women, they screamed and scratched. He prefer brutal women who knew the way of the sword, or those that just lay down and accept he is and will kill them.
His eyes drifted back to Larina again.
"Invicta?" He asked curiously.

Quiad smiled lightly, moving to sit down after she handed him the parchment. He unfolded it and his eyes scanned over it. "Good.." he said before the head rolled to his feet. His eyes going plain as he glared across to Asher. "You could have written on parchment. But no. That wouldn't be dramatic enough." he said before sighing. "Good." he said as he lowered his gaze to Asher. He looked to the heads on the floor and scanned the last part of the parchment.

Larinas lips tugged up in the corners as he tipped an imaginary hat to her. She cast her eyes back to Quiad as he checked over her work, leaning her weight back on one foot, her hips moving to the side a little. "Mm," she smiled, looking down at the parchment before her eyebrows shot up looking over at Asher. Her smile etched a bit more up her lips as she looked to the heads. Well that was damn proof if she'd ever seen it.

She brushed a hand up and through her thick black hair, moving it out of her eyes to see the faces more clearer and then listened to Quiad. Hearing him get a praise of 'good,' made her laugh under her breath amused at them slightly. However, when Asher addressed her in a sense, she turned her head immediately back to him, twisting a strand of her hair down through her nails.

"Umbra," she replied with a tilt of her head. "Meaning you must be Tenebrae," she replied, deducting if he knew not of her Brotherhood and assumed Invicta when she was in Umbra, there was only one left.

Asher looked to Quiad, "I'm paid to kill, not to write. Perhaps if you wanted parchment written, give this woman my own jobs." His eyes shifted back to her, dull and dry of emotion. He noted her Brotherhood with a mild smile. "That's rather curious." He said to himself, rubbing the scar across his jaw, before tipping his head again. "Of course."
His eyes rested back onto Quiad with a hint of annoyance, he preferred Quiad's father, who mysteriously died.
Perhaps it was a natural death, but Asher suspected it not the truth.
His eyes drifted to the heads, over the dead, then to Quiad once again.
"Payment."

Quiad looked to him seriously. "It would just be a much more cost effect way to.." he began before he sighed. He watched the exchange between them both with a raised eyebrow. He stood himself up slowly. "Payment." he mumbled under his breath. "Clear the heads away at least." he said as he walked over to the confessional box. Opening his side of it and closing it behind him. He opened a floorboard up and pulled out 2 bags of gold, placing the floor board back down as he opened the door.
He threw a bag at Asher's feet before placing the other into Larina's hand.
He sat himself back down once more as he took the last few drags from his roll up.

Larina swiped the gold bag in her hand, looking down to it. She opened the small thing, looked inside once, then looked up once more. "Thankyou," she grinned to Quiad, rolling the bag down and into one of her strapped on pockets that was at her waist, crossing into her thigh. She seemed to have many belts, bands and straps over her body, holding different things, all of which was hidden under material, hidden under a cloak.

She let her eyes wander back to Asher, the mixed colours of silver, white and blue running through, with a thick iris and single fleck of black in her right. "Is it curious?" she asked, but didn't expect a reply. She straightened her body at the realization he was indeed Tenebrae. She'd only met a few from that before.

"Is there anything else you want from me Quiad?" she asked curiously back to the man who was a phony priest. Her eyes dropped to the confessional box and she grinned, just a touch.

Asher glanced to the heads, he wasn't cleaning them up. "I got rid of the bodies, priest. I'm sure you can get rid of a couple of heads." He looked to the coin bag tossed at him, knelt and picked it up before looking to the woman as she spoke.
He didn't respond, didn't see any reason to.
"If that's everything, Quiad."

Quiad grumbled under his breath as he moved over the the alter where he delivered the services. He flicked through a few papers and took them into his hand. "You." he said as he walked over towards Asher. "Are to report to Viv.." he said as he read the papers. "Contracts in that area." he said before moving over to Larina. "As for you.." he said as he flicked through the papers.
His eyebrows came together. "A very peculiar thing." he said as he looked up to her. "A consultation."

Larina looked to Asher from the corner of her eyes. She knew he wouldnt reply and so didnt press the matter of her being in Umbra further, but looked back to Quiad. So he was to report to Vivane, and she... oh.

"A consultation? Over what?" she asked, one eyebrow coming down whilst the other stayed up. She wasn't entirely sure what this could be about, whether it was good or bad. She half wondered if she was in trouble, and felt herself smile at the thought of such. "What have I done?" she sighed, walking over the church boards, listening to the sound they made under her slightly heeled shoes.

A consultation.

How perculiar.

Asher smiled bleakly, he didn't exactly want to go all the way to Essentia. "They have their own assassins that can report to her" He pulled his hood up over his head. "I'm not returning to that frozen lump of land." He looked to Larina, then back to Quiad, interested, but not too much so, this woman seemed a little premature. Lingering a moment with his eyes on Quiad, he snapped around, the cloak lifting before settling as he walked towards the edge. "Get another to travel to the vampires nest. I'd decline."

Quiad looked to Larina lightly. "Over a matter of.. controlling importance." he said as he cleared his throat slightly. "No, no. You've not done anything. It's a consultation with someone who may wish to hire an assassin. He just wanted a consultation with one first. So I thought of you." he said simply. His eyes then landed on Asher. "Well, that's what you're required to do. Report to her. As you so delicately put it." he said with a tilt of his head. He laughed lightly. "But I thought as much." he said as he flicked through the papers once more. He pulled a two sided piece out and held it out to Asher. "In which case, these our your targets." he said, before coughing into his hand lightly.

Larina laughed bluntly. "You're telling me you want me to meet with a customer first? Are you...ugh," she cut herself off from insulting him, though it tweaked. If someone was to meet her who was really a spy or something like that, then went ahead and broadcasted Larina Vastel was an assassin, she'd be in trouble and the Umbra Brotherhood would cast her out so she wouldn't speak of them, through fear of having her tongue cut out her mouth. She shook her head, brushing a hand through her hair. She turned to look at him mildly, her eyes roaming over to Asher.

Shouldn't he have to report to his towns Redemptor? So many thoughts moved through the womans mind as she walked over to one of the benches, sitting herself on the top of it as her legs came down over the edges and onto the floor. Seeing how many targets he had, her eyebrows came up slowly.

Usually, only very well trained assassins, higher than that of Master sometimes too, would get double sided parchement. So he was either a Master or a Dux. Her eyes flickered along the other man, then away to Quiad once more curiously.