Pyrpara was a coastal city that hugged the Seer's Gulf. It reminded Leonel of home. That didn't necessarily mean that he had any intentions of staying for long. Which was why he was scowling, with deep furrows on his brow while Marik pressed his hands together and bowed profusely.
"Please I need your help!"
Marik was trembling with how hard he pressed his hands together. His head lowered, showing off a head of auburn that stuck out from a deep orange bandanna. He was dressed like a merchant with a fashionable silk robe pulled over a dark tunic lined with bright blues. Though he seemed a bit gaudy for these parts of town, Leonel suspected that was merely Marik's oversight. The young man had always been a bit of a peacock when it came to his style of dress.
They were currently huddled within the back of his tiny merchant's stall that he had set up in the marketplace that was situated in a comfortable zone between the slums and the inner city.
It was rather cramped and the low-hanging tent flap was doing little to offset the sweltering humid head propagated from the bright afternoon sun. There was hardly enough room for one person among the littering wares that Marik had scattered about; from pottery to cheap replicas of refined jewelry and even decorative weapons; Marik's stall was very typical of one that called the Pyrpara lower markets home. It was a very well-made guise.
There was a table in the back, with two wooden stools; leaving Illysa to stand next to Julian and Leonel just sat on a random cushion he found lying around. The teenage girl was staring very intently at the small tray of biscuits that Marik left out on the table and Julian was being uncharacteristically quiet with that mirthful glint in his eyes that told of bad news.
It was up to Leonel to stop this before it got too far. "Absolutely not," he hissed, loud enough to make Marik flinch. They had spent two whole weeks looking for this useless guy, and Leonel wasn't going to let himself get roped into his business! Sure, he brought wayward mages like Illysa into the welcoming arms of the Black Lily Alliance, but anything beyond that was out of the question. He wasn't about to entertain any of this nonsense for even a second.
"Now, now," Julian chuckled with that silky tone of his, smirking slyly as he plucked a biscuit out of the tray and handed it over to the drooling Illysa. "You didn't even let the poor man speak, isn't he your friend?"
"I don't need a friend as useless as this one," Leonel spat mercilessly.
Julian laughed, shaking his head. In front of him, Marik had visibly deflated from Leonel's barking words and Julian did in fact feel a tiny bit sorry. "Don't listen to him, just tell us your worries and I'll see what can be done." He decided not to add the fact that he wasn't about to do anything for free but the Doctor has his disarming smile donned. It was more than enough to catch the naive and foolish Marik off-guard.
The young mage perked up, hazel eyes dazzling with hope. Julian almost felt a bit bad for tricking him. Almost, because in truth, he mostly just felt amused.
"Really!? Ah, you're a lifesaver—"
"Julian," Leonel hissed in warning.
Unfortunately for the Inquisitor, Julian had long perfected the art of selective hearing. Leaning over the table he placed his hand over Marik's as though to sell the semblance of empathy even further. "Go on, poor thing, tell us what's wrong."
And so Marik did.
He explained to them that he was stranded in Pyrpara due to a mission by his boss, the leader of the Black Lily Alliance. And he had been stuck in the city for months, uttering unable to make even the slightest progress with his goal. The poor boy was in tears and Illysa almost felt a little bad for him.
"Are we going to help him?" she asked, looking at the two men who had someone become almost an extension of her family to her. There were crumbs on her face that made Leonel scold, instinctive reaching over Julian to brush them off.
"We're not," the Inquisitor snarled, "I don't know what Marik's trying to pull but he's up to no good, I'm sure of it."
"Leonel!" Marik whined loudly, trying to pull a puppy face to seem cute. Of all people that served as Leonel's main contact to the Black Lily Alliance, Julian hadn't expected them to be this… He stared at Marik and looked at his pitiful expression. This pathetic.
Julian hummed, putting on an easy smile, "So what is this mission that your dear master has sent you on? I can't exactly say that I can help you when I'm not even certain what the problem is, right?"
Marik snapped up, eyes wide. "Of course! Come with me, I'll show you!"
…
The roads of Pyrpara are narrow and winding, the city built on a steep hillside. Archways lined the streets and elegant spirals topped off circular towers, giving Pyrpara a unique look that set it apart from central Arcadia. While parts of the city still adhered to the wooden frames and warm stone set walls, those strange yet majestic buildings give Pyrpara an exotic appearance. It was said that an Eastern architect helped in the city planning which remained evident over the ages.
A golden palace overlooked the sprawling streets from atop a hill, where the Duke of Costailles called his home.
But Marik wasn't leading them into the heart of the city, nor was he leading them towards the golden palace.
Instead, they wandered into slums and then further past that, into a patch of wooded land that overlooked the sandy shores.
Luckily, Julian did not have that much difficulty following along the dirt roads. Despite not even sporting a walking stick, he was doing just fine, thanks to his newest invention that now hugged his lame leg tightly.
It was a severe upgrade from his previous Blueiron, and owed many thanks to the sprawling black markets that were accessible in Pyrpara.
The armor clasped around Julian's leg was sleek. It looked like any old leg armor, perhaps with a bit of an Old Age nobility flare. Though it would have been garish if overdone with the spikes and swirling designs, the entire thing was black and did not draw attention to little whirling details. After all, Julian had mostly added those designs for a fun personal flare.
Unlike his last Blueiron Armor, this one did not feature obvious lines of blue veins that trickled through the entire leg. Instead, those veins have been placed on the inside, etched into the backside of the armor with a layer of leather to cover up any escaping light.
When Julian flexed, bits of blue still might escape the folds where the joints were but otherwise, it was a lot more discreet than his last creation.
The central Blue Stone that helped power the Blueiron Armor was placed on the backside of the hip area, a part that could easily be hidden with a belt or loose chemise. Julian was going to use a combination of the two to attract as little attention as possible. He got up and tested the armor.
The Blue Stone needed to power this thing had to be of a high grade. Right now he was making do. But even then the strain on his magecircuits was a lot lighter than before. Julian patted it with satisfaction. Without a high-grade Blue Stone he wasn't able to use the armor as extensively as Leonel would have liked but the armor more than served its purpose in Julian's perspective.
It made the journey that otherwise would have been agonizingly painful into one that was rather pleasant and refreshing. That was if it wasn't for Leonel's nagging voice.
"What are you up to?" Leonel hissed, his face contorting with displeasure as he dogged Julian's heels.
Marik was busy flaunting his knowledge to the wide-eyed and innocent Illysa and Leonel must have found the moment opportune to drill the Doctor about his conduct.
Julian, unfazed, tilted his head to crane at Leonel, "What could I possibly be scheming if I don't even know about the Black Lily Alliance's schemes. From the looks of things they're taking things rather seriously, aren't they?"
In fact, Marik had led them to a quaint little hunting shed that looked recently used but not too conspicuous. "Come inside." He ushered them in. Julian's smile grew and so did Leonel's frown.
Noticing the perpetual glum on his unlikely companion. Julian gave him a jabbing nudge in the ribs, "Just have fun! Don't be such a drag, hm, big guy? Aren't you wasting that vigorous youth of yours being such a stick in the mud?" He laughed, following the two youngsters into the shed.
Leonel hissed in displeasure, "You're the one that needs to take things more seriously—"
He almost walked right into the Doctor, who had stopped short of the entrance.
Using an incantation, Marik revealed a hidden hatch concealed beneath wooden planks. There was an animal fur dragged aside, that was likely there to conceal the secret.
"It's down here," Marik panted, laboring in an attempt to get the hatch to open. Illysa nudged him aside out of impatience and with one huff, she wrenched the latch open.
She raised a questioning brow at the young mage who could only rub his neck sheepishly and shrug. With a hand held out, he summoned a dim mage light and descended down a set of stairs beneath the shed.