Qrow shook his head and a few bits of magical dust and vapors fell out of his hair, "I do love this spell but man does it leave behind a lot of dust," Qrow said. In light or recent circumstances, or maybe even just the constant time with each other for multiple days, Prometheus remained unsurprised by this revelation. He had seen the young half-elf disappear into shadows, vanish in the blink of an eye, being able to disguise himself as someone else was the least shocking bit of magic he had. Though the fact that he disguised himself as Adrakon still bothered Prometheus. Very few people knew about Xerxes, and even less had actually been there; the Xerxean people used this animosity to their advantage. Most of the other countries of the world regarded them as savages, primitive in nature, so they saw little reason to spy on them or consider them a threat. Even if some of the other nations were obsessed with conquest they did not seek to have dominion over a desert so many Xerxean got used to the reality of being left to their own devices. For Qrow to not only know about Xerxes but also knew enough to disguise himself as a high ranking official in the court was too much knowledge. If Qrow knew that much there is a chance that he might know more than he is supposed too.
"Why did you choose that disguise?" Prometheus asked.
"What the Drakonvern?" Qrow asked in reply.
"Yes, how did you know of my history with him?" Prometheus said in suspicion.
"To be frank," Qrow said, dusting himself off, "I didn't. At least not until you started asking me questions. I just tried to do my best to play along."
Prometheus was taken aback, "you mean you did not choose Adrakon in order to get to me?"
"It was a happy coincidence. I ran into the Drakonvern while I was trying to make my way to the manager of this brothel's office. I noticed that he had a gold coin like the ones I saw other VIP's using so I took it, then took his visage to get upstairs. I figured this was the best way to get both of us up here so we could actually start investigating," Qrow answered.
"So everything you said…" Prometheus started to say.
"Was a part of the act. I have no idea what your history is with this dude but he seems to be a piece of work. I mean I got weird vibes from your mother during the council meeting but your reaction to this dude confirms it all the more," Qrow said. Prometheus wanted to trust his words, but he couldn't. It was too much of a coincidence, Qrow had to know something but this was not the time nor the place to pry into exactly what it is.
"Well done then Qrow," Prometheus said, "What did you learn from the manager?"
"His name is Goshiki, he is a very debonair and sophisticated man or at least it seemed so from the interaction I had with him. He kept everything close to the vest, he definitely is hiding something but even searching his office did not reveal anything. Although there was one strange thing about him…" Qrow said.
"Other than owning a brothel?" Prometheus asked teasingly.
"Indeed," Qrow replied, rolling his eyes, "he had the number 12 tattooed on his neck."
12 on his neck? Prometheus thought. Tattoos were a point of cultural significance in Xerxes, they were always marked with a meaning of some kind, he had heard of other countries getting tattoos for arcane reasons or for 'recreation' so he could not fully say it had meaning but it did strike him as strange.
"That does not necessarily mean anything, he could just like the number 12, but it is odd," Prometheus replied.
"It could be the number of cats he has," Qrow said, chuckling.
Prometheus tilted his head, "number of cats?"
"The man had cat fur all over his entire office, he must have at least a few cats," Qrow said.
"Regardless, well done Qrow. I take it you have an idea for moving forward?"
"Indeed, and a brilliant idea it is," Qrow said, "the next part of the plan is a two pronged attack to gain information." Qrow said confidently, he had a strong sense of pride about sharing his plan which annoyed Prometheus. It felt like he enjoyed keeping Prometheus in the dark.
"You want one of us to get Lisandra alone, probably me, while the other one you want to gather gossip from the high rollers," Prometheus interrupted. Qrow's mouth hung open slightly agape, putting a slight smirk on Prometheus's face.
"Since when have you been perceptive enough to understand my plan?" Qrow asked.
"It seemed obvious, I thought I would save you the time," Prometheus said even toned but he could not help but be excited. He had seen over the past few days the way that Qrow subtly let show what he thought of Prometheus. While he may not have even realized, he conveyed heavy handedly that he saw Prometheus as…oblivious. He took Prometheus's tinkering and lack of people skills as negligence which could not have been farther from the truth for Prometheus. He saw everything that went on in his ship; from the number of drinks Qrow has each night to the number of times Rijin had been looking at the door to his lab. Prometheus was not negligent, in fact he is incredibly intuitive, but that intuitiveness rarely shows through with Prometheus current level of socializing. In a subtle way, he was able to prove Qrow wrong here. While it may seem minor to him it was a much needed win.
"Well you got it exactly, I figured it would be better for you to talk to Lisandra. She is easy to talk to and she will fawn over you being a prince and all," Qrow said.
He wanted to object but Qrow had a point, "fair enough, how are you going to get information from the high roller?"
"You let me handle that, do not worry my friend," Qrow said, "what are you going to say to Lisandra? You know how to get her alone?"
"A simple 'can we talk in private' should work," Prometheus replied.
"And that is where you may need my guidance," Qrow said, "I have had to entice people to talk with me alone many times, there is a subtle art to the matter."
Prometheus had to admit every facet of his plan had worked so far, he saw no reason as to why this would not work as well. "What did you have in mind then?" Prometheus asked.
"Well the way I see it we have two ways of going about this. The first, you could convince her you wish to pay for her time as you would any other courtesan. Although, with her being the Oiran there is a good chance she will either charge more than we can feasibly pay at the moment or outright refuse," Qrow said.
"I thought you said she would be enamored with a Prince? Why would she refuse if I am the exact clientele she is looking for?" Prometheus asked.
"For the allure," Qrow replied, "if she can refuse you then she can refuse anyone, it would be putting herself on a pedestal. People would be willing to pay a small fortune to have something even a Prince could not have."
Prometheus nodded, he was learning more than he anticipated.
"That leaves us with option 2, the sure thing in my opinion; tell me what have your little devices picked up from scanning the room?" Qrow asked.
Prometheus had forgotten he was wearing his glasses, luckily the conversations they heard were recorded and summarized for him. A Midoken noble had sought refuge in Penzamen for an affair, too scandalous. A Druid from Fearsh had found a way to magically manipulate the color of plants, to dry. A Nielsen ship came into harbor carrying a large amount of cargo, one of the witnesses claims they saw crates filled with warshells.
"Warshells…"Prometheus said out loud.
"What is it?" Qrow asked.
"Apparently a ship from Niepe came into port carrying a shipment of warshells…magically created constructs are illegal in Penzamen, they believe them to be an abomination, or at least that is what I have read," Prometheus replied.
"Hmmm," Qrow thought, "this is a good talking point, if you ask her about it I'm sure it would be hush hush enough to warrant a private conversation."
"To be frank this could just be useful to us in general. Why would Niepe be moving Warshells into Penzamen?" Prometheus asked.
"One step at a time," Qrow answered, "If push comes to shove we can ask our resident Niepean, for now we need to focus on the task at hand. If you can get her alone with a conversation like that, then it can set up for you asking about the missing leader of this Blessing."
The plan was a little bit convoluted, maybe a little rushed, but it was not a bad plan overall. The only problem was that Prometheus was not at all confident with his execution. He had never been tasked with getting information out of someone, it wasn't something he would have ever been asked to do normally. A crippling fear began to set in, his confidence began to fade as the weight of his task hit him. In order to achieve what they needed, he would need to convince someone to talk to him, about secrets no less!
"Qrow," Prometheus began to say, but he stopped himself. How could he admit that he did not know if he could complete this task? That would be like admitting that he was useless to the cause; and he was anything but that. He felt anxiety pressing in on him but he pushed it back. "We better get going," he said through slightly shaken breaths.
"Right, well then" Qrow ran his hand in front of his face then with it a magical glimmer came over him. His image looked like a mirage that turned into Adrakon as soon as Qrow came into focus once again.
"Let us not keep her waiting," he said in Adrakon's voice.
The two stepped out of the room and immediately Qrow left Prometheus's side. His tall dragonoid figure headed towards the bar and started up a conversation just outside of Prometheus's earshot. Prometheus was alone, alone and anxious, but the anxiety was more of a presence then it was a feeling. He took a step forward trying not to frantically look around the room. He turned his head back and forth a few times and wondered if he looked normal while doing it. He did this for a while until it finally felt comfortable but by that point he noticed some of the other patrons had been staring at him; Qrow included.
"Are you alright Prince Prometheus?" One small woman asked.
"I'm alright just…relaxing," he said awkwardly. He caught Qrow's eyes. Qrow gestured his head to the left. Looking that way Prometheus noticed Lisandra talked to some courtesans on the other side of the room.
Alright this is fine, Prometheus thought, just try to get her alone it should be simple from there. But a little voice in his head questioned 'what if it isn't that simple?' A flood of different possibilities and instances came into Prometheus's mind. What if she rejected him fully? What if she laughed at him? What if they got into a room together and she thought he wanted to be pleasured? A spiral of thoughts and emotions swirled around in his head. The room tilted a little bit and Prometheus felt uneasy. He feared he would fall, he feared he might faint, fear began to overcome him. The what ifs became too much.
"My Prince, are you alright?" Lisandra asked. Prometheus had not seen her approach so he was shocked to hear her voice so close.
He slowed his breath a bit, took in a large amount of air and looked at Lisandra with determination. She had a look of concern as Prometheus stared at her. He could only imagine the way she saw him at that moment. He looked like the sweaty peasant trying to ask for the hand of the princess. "So warshells, what is their deal?" Prometheus said. He wanted to slap himself, he knew the words did not come out right but at the moment it was the best he could muster. Although he did hear someone slap themselves, it was Qrow at the bar watching the encounter.
"Warshells? I do not understand…they are strange creatures to be sure…" Lisandra replied.
"Yes, yes…but Niepeans? Warshells?" Prometheus spoke through heavy breaths, "weird." He was atrocious. He had not struggled when he was downstairs mainly because he knew all they wanted was his money, but now he was trying to get something from them, leaving him way out of his depth.
Lisandra rested her hand gently on his back. There was a warmth to her hands. "Follow," she said softly. Prometheus immediately began to follow after her as she led him to one of the rooms on the side. It worked! Somehow; it should not have worked and yet it did. Prometheus couldn't tell whether he should be happy or concerned, it felt almost too easy…or as if she was the one trying to get him alone.
They entered the room and Lisandra helped to sit Prometheus down by the table in the center of the room, it was almost a carbon copy of the other room. While she went to close the door Prometheus thought quickly. He knew that he was in no state to get any information out of her, but he had to figure something out. While she was turned around he reached into his bag and found his silver rod. He tapped a few buttons on it and thought of the spell he wanted to cast
Calm, he thought to himself. A small bit of light showed through the bag and then Prometheus felt a wave of serenity come over him. He felt at peace once again, maybe a little too relaxed but the anxiety and stress dissapeared all the same, he could think clearly once again.
"You mentioned something about Warshells my Prince? That is rather odd they are illegal in Penzamen?" She said in a sweet voice.
"They are and yet Niepeans are bringing them in through the harbor, I wonder what that could be about," Prometheus said much more relaxed, he had enough of a demeanor change that Lisandra was visibly shocked.
"Well you seem to be doing a bit better," she said.
"I just needed a moment to compose myself," he answered.
"Well I'm glad you are composed," she said walking towards the table. She knelt down and began to pour them both a cup of tea from a kettle that had been sat there previously, it was still hot which Prometheus found odd.
"Indeed, though I am surprised at how composed you seem to be," he said, taking a drink of tea; it was like nothing he had ever had before.
"And why would I not be?" She asked.
"I don't know, it just seems like the right thing to say in this instance. Flirting is difficult when you aren't used to doing it," Prometheus said. He paused for a moment; why did he say that?
"I see so you are trying to catch me off guard," she replied, raising and eyebrow and sitting down.
"More like I am trying to get you to answer a different question, this one really doesn't matter to me," he said. Prometheus couldn't stop the words from coming out. He was saying everything he thought without a filter. He needed to stop.
"Then ask away," she said.
Prometheus tried to get up but found he was having trouble doing so. Why couldn't he stand? Why was he speaking so freely? "I want to know if you know anything about the missing leader of the Blessing of Love. Brothels are full of gossip." Prometheus said, spilling his entire plan.
"Ah, how innocent of you. I guess I got all worked up for nothing," she said. She snapped her fingers and a bit of pink light emanated from it for a moment. He felt more like himself, too much like himself, the anxiety began to rush back.
"What did you do to me?" He asked shakily.
"I debuffed you from the potion I put in your tea. Though it looks like I also took away your calming spell, I'm sorry about that," she said nonchalantly.
"You drugged me?" Prometheus said bewildered.
"Don't act surprised," she said, "you should have expected it as a mage yourself. To be honest I didn't know what your intentions were especially after being alone with Adrakon, I figured you were plotting something so I wanted to try it out on you, turns out you are doing some investigating yourself," she said.