There were many other people Prometheus would have preferred to have been paired with. Varithorn is his long time friend and they work well together, Lia seems amendable and kind, Rijin seemed nice enough even if he is from Midoku, even Garus who annoyed him more than all others would have provided him with more entertainment. Instead he was paired with Qrow, someone he may not have believed to be his last choice in the beginning but it had become abundantly clear that it was now.
"Another drink my…prince? Is your title correct?" A woman asked, holding an expensive bottle of brandy in front of Prometheus.
"Well…" Prometheus started.
"He would love another! The prince of Xerxes is rather parched," Qrow interjected. In response to Qrow saying this the plethora of courtesans and other unpleasant people around Prometheus laughed fake enough to make it almost feel real. The woman poured Prometheus some brandy into his cup on the table and held out her hand. Prometheus had gotten used to this by around his 5th glass, he pulled out a gold coin and handed it to the woman to which she responded by plopping down on his lap and trying to force him to drink it. Prometheus was not entertained.
Qrow leaned his head down next to Prometheus, "lighten up you should be enjoying this!"
"I should be!" Prometheus said, hopping up a bit from his seat. The woman on his lap jumped up in turn, looking a bit offended, but Prometheus could care less at this point. "Why are we doing the exact thing that they told us not to do!"
"Prometheus trust me this is the best option," Qrow said quietly to Prometheus.
"How?" Prometheus jumped out of his seat now angrily, it was one thing for all of this to happen but another thing entirely to not be told why it was happening. Prometheus did not enjoy being used as a puppet. "How is this helping?" Prometheus said a little more insistent.
Qrow looked around for a moment and seemed to stare off into a less populated corner of the room. "Come with me," Qrow said, gesturing towards the corner. He turned back to the people who were flaunting over Prometheus. "Sorry to disappoint, the prince needs a moment to…reorient himself! Give us but a moment." The people looked disappointed but did not say anything to complain as Prometheus was pulled quickly, and forcefully to the corner.
"Would you please just go along with things for once!" Qrow said quietly but forcefully at Prometheus.
"You have not given me a reason why! To me it just seems you enjoy seeing me embarrass myself in front of…prostitutes!" Prometheus said. Brothels and other forms of prostitution are illegal in Xerxes, this whole affair was foreign and uncomfortable to him on many different levels.
"Listen, I understand why you are uncomfortable but do me a favor," Qrow said. Prometheus listened despite everything inside him telling him otherwise. "Look around the room, what do you notice?"
Prometheus looked around the room. He saw a lot of seduction and drinking, especially, "a lot of drunk people trying to buy courtesans?" Prometheus answered.
"Look harder," Qrow replied. Prometheus gave the room an honest look. His original summation was true but on his second time looking around the room he noticed a few other things. One, everyone was very relaxed; it was as if everyone felt comfortable in this environment. Two, everyone seemed very loose and lipped; when he had walked into the building one of the first things he heard was a man sharing some seething gossip about the owner of the local tavern. As Prometheus looked around the room, he could hear courtesans and patrons alike gossiping to their heart's content.
"Everyone is being very…open," Prometheus said uncomfortably.
"Exactly!" Qrow said he hit Prometheus on the chest excitedly which only agitated him more. "We have been looking at this place all wrong, we thought it was just a house of debauchery but really it is a breeding ground for gossip! If there is something strange or wrong that happened to the leader of this blessing…" Qrow started.
"Then they would be talking about it here I see…but why am I spending a bunch of money?" Prometheus said inquisitively.
"They need to see that you are a high roller. If we walked in and started asking about the leader of this country, we would most likely be ostracized rather than getting the information we need. We have to show that we are one of them," Qrow explained.
Prometheus was starting to understand a little bit better. "So we are trying to gather information…but why me?" Prometheus asked.
"Of the two of us which is more adept at collecting information," Qrow said, "your job is to get information from the crowd around you. My goal is to try and hear if there are any other conversations that pertain to the leader of the blessing without being noticed."
"Qrow," Prometheus said, "I can't believe I am about to say this but this is actually a good plan. The only issue is I am not really the best at talking to people."
"I know, that is why I revealed that you are a prince. With your looks and your status it does not matter what you say, they just want your money and they will say whatever they need to get it." Qrow said. Prometheus realized this was going to be a very expensive night for him but surprisingly he agreed with Qrow. He did not understand what Qrow meant by looks, but he did understand that money was the primary incentive tonight.
"So what should we do now?" Prometheus asked.
"I am going to start heading around the area listening into what is going on discreetly, you just try to spend enough money to get them to start spilling gossip to keep the money coming," Qrow said.
"Ok then take this," Prometheus reached into his bag and pulled out a small metal device and handed it to Qrow. It had exposed wiring and a few small runes around a small button in the middle.
"What is this?" Qrow said, turning it over in his hand.
"A spell storage device," Prometheus answered, "it has a teleportation spell stored in it but it can only be used once. If you find yourself in a significant amount of danger, press the button and think of where you want to go and it will take you in the direction of that place."
"In that direction? What does that mean?" Qrow asked, examining the device in his hand.
"Well it doesn't have unlimited range. If you are trying to go from inside a building to outside that is fine; but if you are trying to go back to Fearsh it would take you about a half-day's journey in that direction but not all the way there," Prometheus said.
"A half-day…you mean it would drop me in the ocean???" Qrow asked.
"Only if you were trying to head towards Fearsh! Getting back to the ship it should be fine!" Prometheus shrugged.
"I hope you are right…just focus on trying to swoon those people over there. If you learn anything let me know on the ramble rock ok?" Qrow said. Prometheus nodded. With that Qrow looked around and then in the blink of an eye, vanished. Prometheus looked around stunned but could not see Qrow anywhere in the room.
He took a deep breath, blowing it out as quickly as it came in, "swoon them…got it." Prometheus said. He began to strut back to the table and sat in his chair with a large oomph. All the people who had been around hurried to him as soon as he came back.
"Is everything ok my prince?" One of the courtesans asked.
"Everything is fine…" Prometheus said nervously gulping, "other than the fact that I need another drink!" He reached into his bag and pulled out ten silver coins and slammed them on the table loud enough for it to be heard throughout the entire building. Prometheus thought he was being too forceful but the patrons around him all laughed as if it was the most hysterical thing they had ever heard.
"Of course my prince," the courtesan, a tall elvish woman with piercing green eyes wearing a long flowy and ornate robe, snapped her fingers and called for a drink to be brought to the table. A second later a magnificent bottle of wine was presented to Prometheus. "Only the finest for you Prince Prometheus, on the house," she said. Prometheus went to grab a glass but then remembered he needed to be a high roller.
"Nonsense! I do not require a hand out," Prometheus took 2 gold coins and slammed them on the table once again. This caused an uproar of reverlous laughter from the people around Prometheus. This chain of events continued on for quite a while. Prometheus would finish a drink or give them to someone else then demand proudly for another, the people around him would laugh heartily, steadily more and more people came to surround the table he was sitting at forming a rather large crowd. The most frustrating thing was that in that time Prometheus had not learned anything of true significance. He learned about some affairs going on, a couple of suspected spies from Midoku, drama among different noblemen, but nothing that screamed 'suspicion'. It was exhausting, Prometheus barely liked people anyway so to have almost 30 of them flaunting all over him was a tiresome affair. Prometheus was fortunate enough to have a spell that kept him from feeling the effects of alcohol but that is not to say he still did not question how much alcohol he was drinking. The thoughts began to set in; is this worth it? What is Qrow doing? How much have you drunk so far? Things seemed to proceed as normal as Prometheus continued to get lost in thought but then suddenly the crowd around him became silent.
Oh no, Prometheus thought to himself. He assumed that he had become too lost in thought he had said something out loud or had become too boring for them to want to accompany him anymore. He stood up quickly.
"What is this?" He said extravagantly, "why did the drinks stop flowing? I thought we were having a good time?"
"Apologies," a mature woman's voice said, "it is my fault, your majesty."
Prometheus turned around to see a tall woman bowing to him. She had long legs and long straight blonde hair, she had an extravagant hairpiece in and as well as incredibly detailed makeup. She was attractive, beyond attractive really, even Prometheus who gave very little thought to attraction could not help but be stunned by her. She had a very innocent looking face yet there was a sternness to her that screamed maturity.
"It is…no issue at all…you are…?" Prometheus asked.
"Lisandra," she answered, coming up from her bow, "Oiran of this brothel."
Oiran? Prometheus thought. He was unfamiliar with this word. He could only assume it held some sort of renown but he did not know what. Was the owner? The manager? A leader of sorts?
"You are the Oiran?" Prometheus said, "then it is a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine," she said with a smile, "a man of your renown should not have to be down here, would you mind joining me upstairs?" She said. As she said this she snapped her fingers and a wisp of pink light came from the snap. The drinks and everything else on the table rearranged themselves back into a proper order making it look as if the table had not been used at all.
A mage, Prometheus thought. "I could definitely use a change of scenery," Prometheus said standing up. Lisandra bowed and began to walk towards the far side of the room that had the lifts. Prometheus made sure to trail behind a bit and pulled out his ramble rock.
"Qrow," he said quietly, "some woman just came and is taking me upstairs!"
"You paid for a courtesans?? Prometheus I'm surprised!" Qrow replied.
"Absolutely not!" He said louder than he should have. Lisandra started to turn around to which Prometheus quickly hid the rock. He put on a frown and stared around the room, pretending to be displeased with what he saw, it was the only thing that made sense with what he said. Lisandra turned back around and continued to walk.
"Then what?" Qrow responded.
"I don't know. She called herself the 'Oiran' of the place," Prometheus said.
Uproarious triumphant yet somewhat quiet laughter came from the rock, "my plan worked! She is the head courtesan of the brothel!" Qrow said, "if she came to get you that means we are in."
"So all of that money spending was in order to get to a higher level," Prometheus said.
"Exactly, we needed to be recognized as high rollers but stupid enough to spend loads of money so we would be suspected," Qrow answered, "just follow her and observe everything you see, I gotta…" and with that the voice cut out.
"Oh Qrow," Prometheus said. He sped up a little to reach Lisandra as they caught up to the lift. She looked at the druid to the side of the lift and handed him a gold coin, similar to the one he got from the dock keeper, but this one had the letters "LES" printed on it instead of a cherry blossom.
"The steeple if you do not mind," she said. The druid nodded and happily pocketed the coin. He set himself a strong stance and began to pull at the air around him, green tattoos all along his arm began to glow simulating what looked like cherry blossoms falling from a tree. The vines retracted with his motions causing the stone lift to rest peacefully on the ground floor.
Lisandra gestured for Prometheus to get in, "after you your majesty," she said bowing slightly. Prometheus had a sense that he could not trust her, but he found himself having a hard time expressing distrust, each word she said felt so sweet and lovely, it would have devastated him to refuse her. He got onto the lift with Lisandra following quickly behind. A moment later the druid did the opposite motion to the one he had done before, pushing his hands forward against the air. This time the lift began to rise at a steady rate as vines grew and sprang forth underneath the lift.
"Amazing," Prometheus said.
"Indeed, the lifts lead everywhere within the structure and the druids are the only ones who can control the lifts going up and down. Makes this place very safe," Lisandra replied.
"How do the lifts operate when the druids are not there?" Prometheus asks.
"Simple," she responded, "they are always there."
"That's impossible, they have to leave at some point," Prometheus said. Lisandra did not reply this time and instead simply smiled. He got the feeling that when she said they are always there, she meant it. A chill ran down Prometheus's spine. The lift began to slow down as it reached the top of the pagoda; the steeple. Prometheus found himself in a room that was very clearly the pinnacle of the structure. Instead of there being a balcony, the entire room was an open space that had been designed to not let people see in from the bottom unlike the other floors. The scene here versus downstairs were very different from each other. There were a couple of tables with wealthy looking individuals playing dice games of some kind with massive amounts of coins on their tables. A large bar situated itself in the center of the room as well as an exquisite lounge area that surrounded the bar with many different humans and humanoid creatures talking with different women and men that walked around the room. The main point of interest however were the adjacent rooms that connected to the larger room. The whole area was set up in a large circle with rice paper walls and sliding doors that lead to other rooms along the circle. Prometheus could not see what was happening in these rooms, but he could hear much laughter (as well as other things) going on inside of them.
"I truly am sorry you had to be down with the commoners for so long, if we had known of your arrival we would have come to you sooner," Lisandra said.
"It is alright, although they are very droll I will say," Prometheus replied. He thought back to the last three days he spent on the Desert Winds partying with "commoners" and the jubilance they had, he much preferred it to the quiet contempt that radiates throughout this room.
"I do not doubt it. Why don't I get you another drink?" She said, and walked over towards the bar. Prometheus looked around the room trying to take everything in, if this truly was the place he was supposed to be then he needed to gather as much intel as he could. He reached into his bag and grabbed two little round metallic balls.
"Listen and report," he said quietly. A small rune appeared on the balls glowing blue light. Although the spheres looked to be without crease or crevice, a small amount of blue light showed through lines that appeared across them for a moment. Prometheus dropped them and in a flash the balls whizzed to different parts of the room with a tinge of blue light. Prometheus pulled out a pair of circular bifocals and placed them in his face, the tint of the shades covered his eyes so that to the world it looked like any other pair of glasses;but on the inside he could see so much more. He could see the lines in which his devices traveled upon and could direct their movements, as well as listen in on what they saw and heard. All he needed was a quick flick of his gaze and he could direct any device he controlled within the room.
"For you," Lisandra said, handing him a drink. Prometheus was startled a little bit as he accepted the drink from her, he had not noticed her approach.
"Thank you," Prometheus replied, regaining his composure. "So what is this place? This is my first time in the blessing of love." Prometheus said to make small talk. He had practiced many times with different servants and members of his team the art of controlling his devices while making small talk, and it finally came in handy. He and Lisandra carried on some sort of conversation about the brothel and the festival, while Prometheus truly focused on the task at hand. He led the spheres to two different sides of the room and had them go from table to table, listening in on the conversation from underneath. With the two devices working in tandem, he could cover the whole room in a snap, he smiled at his own efficiency.
The first device stopped under a table of aristocrats from Niepe playing cards. "How much longer do we have to wait?" One of the nobles said in a hushed manner.Prometheus was intrigued.
"Not much longer," another said, "Midokens are not known for lasting super long."
Prometheus quickly realized this conversation was not of interest to him. So he moved on. To his disappointment each conversation he listened in on was not anything that was helpful to his mission. Each of the high rollers was more worried about gossip and bragging about their own personal status, the conversations were filled with vain; it reminded Prometheus of home. He had seen it on more than one occasion, the overwhelming pride, the people of Xerxes were not exactly known to be humble. Every one of them believed they had the greatest thing to offer the world, the greatest mind, the greatest understanding of Arcana. Prometheus could admit that sometimes he found himself falling into that vein as well, the pride, but he had never forced it on others. Prometheus never wants to boast about himself nor never hold himself in higher esteem. And even if he wanted to, his scars always reminded him of his place. The people in this room may have been the nobles and higher affiliates of other nations, people like him, but he felt more disgusted in their presence than he did around any of the courtesans.
"Lord Adrakon!" Lisandro said, raising Prometheus from his stupor.
"Adrakon?" Prometheus said surprised. He looked over to see a large dragonoid figure walking towards them. He wore simple leather armor but had tribal etchings across the armor. His scales a light bronze color with a scar that rendered one of his eyes closed shut. He wore a shawl over his neck covered in crimson and beige, the colors of Prometheus's house.
"Lisandra…Prometheus…" he said in a gravelly voice filled with disdain. Prometheus gritted his teeth.
"Adrakon, why are you in the blessing of love?" Prometheus asked sharply.
"For the festival," he replied, "and to be your escort, did the dauntless not tell you?" That was a lie. Prometheus's mother had been rather insistent about Adrakon coming with him but Prometheus had refused profusely. He was his mothers personal guard, there was no reason for him to come along.
"I do not need nor want you here," Prometheus said angrily. He had trouble containing himself. The more he talked to Adrakon the more he felt his scars ache, the more he remembered the pain he had inflicted upon him at his mothers ruling. He loathed him.
"Nonsense, you know not what you want, come I have prepared a room for us," Adrakon said. He forcefully put his hand on Prometheus's back and started to usher him towards a room. Prometheus felt powerless to stop him, his fear accumulating inside him, he knew the consequences of disobeying. Lisandra followed behind them most of the way but before she could enter the room with them Adrakon shut the door on her. The two of them were in a room with a small table, some tatami mats, and some tapestries that laid along the wall. Two servants in Druidic robes stood on either side of the room monitoring the two of them.
"Now this is a bit better," Adrakon said, going towards the table. His hulking figure dwarfed the small piece of furniture yet he still rested himself upon it as if it would adequately hold his weight, "sit," he said forcefully.
Prometheus shuffled over and sat down to the side of him, helpless. "Do not play games, why are you here?" Prometheus asked.
"You rejected me and my help and yet you truly wonder why I am here?? What is your game Prometheus?" He asked. Prometheus sat confused.
"Of course I rejected you, I have people I trust more than you to keep me safe on this journey," Prometheus replied.
Adrakon laughed. He opened his mouth as if he was prepared to speak but nothing came out. His eyes were elsewhere, focused on the door. Prometheus turned around and noticed that the silhouette of Lisandra was still visible through the door. She stood for a moment, a longer moment than probably necessary, then left so that her silhouette could no longer be seen.
"Check your devices and make sure she can no longer hear us," Adrakon said.
"Adrakon that is not…" Prometheus began.
"Prometheus just do it," He said more forcefully. He peered into his glasses and moved the balls around the room outside. He heard Lisandra's voice talking to a group of patrons elsewhere in the room.
"She is with another table on the far side of the room," He replied.
Adrakon sighed, "I needed to get you away from that woman, every word she says is a threat. You should take care when talking to her, you might find yourself in a situation you might not want to be in…or maybe you do?"
The words Adrakon said were strange, he sounded like himself but he did not carry himself the same way. He had never been the type to tell Prometheus to watch out or to bring him from harm, he was the type to throw him over the deep end and watch him burn. Concern was not an emotion he knew Adrakon possessed.
"You have changed on your travels, but I still do not trust you," Prometheus said.
"And I do not trust you, what does that have to do with anything?" Adrakon replied. The confusion never ended, maybe he was playing some sort of game with Prometheus but if he was it was a game that he did not know the rules of. Adrakon's eyes began to glow a slight grayish black color and almost in a mirage his hulking figure began to fade. His bronze scales disappeared, his armor and his demeanor disappeared; they all faded like mist. As the vapor finally dissipated what stood in place of Adrakon was not a hulking dragonoid, but the tall lanky visage of Qrow.