Forums » General Roleplay » On the Wings of Freedom: 1x1

The bellhop nodded as he stood near the elevator. He pulled out a small remote device that projected a holographic screen and pressed a few buttons. The room dimmed and the large windows Alexis was looking out of turned into an opaque gray as a projection appeared on the newly formed screen. The room was then flooded with light from the reflection of the bright white screen listing the full menu.

"The controls should be there on the sofa you're sitting on, madame. But because it's late, everything listed under the dinner category is not available. We have shakes, smoothies, sodas, tea, etc. Champagne is available in the fridge, complimentary for choosing the presidential suite."

"What kind is it?" Alexis asked, moving for the fridge immediately.

"I'm... not exactly sure. It's been a while since we had a celebrity stay at our hotel so I haven't given the brand much attention. You are of legal age, right?"

"In my country," Alexis said, pulling out the bottle and reading the label. The bellhop tried to argue against it but Alexis looked at him coldly, forcing him to back down. "Pancakes will be fine for me. Erasai? What will you have?"

Her mouth was nearly hanging open when she looked at the menu. Dinner wasn't an option, but she didn't really care. Food in general was a good thing at the moment. When was the last time she had eaten?

She resisted the urge to just say, 'A little of everything,' and studied the menu for a moment. "Let's see. I'll have some eggs, scrambled, with cheese on them. Some bacon... More then three strips please. French toast... definitely." She was counting on her fingers now, on what all she wanted. "Orange juice, no, a smoothie. That sounded really good. Some form of potatoe, hash, or fried... I don't care. Unless there is some of that, that isn't available?" Was that enough? She definitely felt her eyes were bigger than her stomach, but it was free right?

She turned, looking for the controls that the bellhop had mentioned being on the sofa.

"That's right, madame: it's free for the first night and all of it is available, so knock yourself out. The, uh, button for the control hologram should be on either side of the couch. I'll let the cooks know what you want. If you want more just enter it on the controls. Is there anything else you two would like?" The bellhop asked.

"That'll be all for now," Alexis said, struggling with the cork on the bottle. The young man took the bottle out of her hands and opened it for her. "Er... thanks." The bellhop stood by her for a moment as if waiting for something. Alexis sighed, pulling out the card and tipping him. The bellhop left and Alexis sat on the couch, a glass of champagne in her hand.

"Must be hungry," Alexis commented as she slid down the seat with a sigh, "But... It's free so I don't see why not. Don't get too comfortable, though. We're only here for the night. After... well..." She honestly didn't know what was going to happen after that night. But she sure as hell wasn't going to just part ways.

"Well, I haven't exactly had a chance to eat a good meal ever since out little scene..." Erasai said, huffing. She stopped looking for the control, and looked over to the door that led to the bath. "I need a good bathing." That had been quite a while as well, since she had done that. She turned, rummaging through the wardrobe until she found a white, fluffy robe.

"Let me know when the food gets here," she said to Alexis, disappearing into the bathroom. She started up the water, in the rather large tub. She made sure the water was steamy, before she undressed and slipped in. It was incredibly relaxing, and helped relieve some stress that she had been storing.

"Will do," the blonde said, taking a sip of her drink. Alexis watched her in thought on what to do and as soon as she heard the water running, she flipped open the phone and dialed Zuzu's number.

"Yo, this is Zuzu, who dis?"

"It's me. Alexis."

"'ey, what's up? I got nothing on my side. Started searching around the residential zones from my car. It's fuckin' cold out here and I don't think I'm going to be finding her any time soon unless shes sleeping on the streets. How's your search going?"

Alexis thought about it for a moment as she sipped on the drink. She felt bad leaving the other two like this while she was living the good life in a hotel. "Still searching... I'll let you know."

"Well alright then. Why'd you call?"

"Just... checking up on you."

"A'ight. Just remember. Tomorrow morning we're meeting at the pub. I'll see you there."

The second she hung up, Alexis realized what she was getting into again. The same exact situation that had caused this whole ordeal in the first place. Now the problem rested on how she was going to handle this. She downed her glass and went to the kitchen to pour another as she thought it over. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the bathroom door, swirling the second glass in her hand.

"Erasai?" she called, her voice trembling with uncertainty.

She didn't answer right away. Instead, she sunk her face halfway into the water, and closed her eyes. She was more concerned on the thought of wishing she had put bubbles in the bath. At least the water was hot... The things you take for granted in everyday life. She finally leaned back against the tub, and decided to answer.

"The food is here already? That was fast." She wasn't quite ready to leave the bath, especially when she had no clean clothes to change into. She started fiddling with her hair, and blinked a moment as it nearly reached past her shoulder. 'That's much faster than last time...' she thought to her self.

It took a while for the girl to answer. Any longer and she would've thought something was wrong. "No, not yet. That's not it," Alexis leaned against the bathroom door sliding down to a sitting position as she tried to find a proper way to handle this. "You know I didn't come all the way here by myself, right? There are others that brought me here. You met them last night: Wolfe and Zuzu. The problem is, I'm supposed to bring you to them for, well, you already heard my explanation. I assume you don't want that."

Erasai's eyes narrowed at her words, and though she knew Alexis couldn't see her, she gave a very angry scowl. "Well, at least you can assume correctly." She nearly sunk into the water again, but stopped as the water reached her nose. She recalled the names she had heard, and thought back to that night. It had been dark, and she couldn't really see who Alexis had been with, but she could hear their voices, and one name stuck own in her head more than the other.

"Wolfe... Does he have dark brown hair, nearly back, and emerald green eyes?" she asked, her tone changing just slightly. She was quiet for only a moment after that, and then continued, not letting Alexis answer. "It doesn't matter. It wouldn't change anything if I knew." She drew herself from her bath, and wrapped her robe around herself after drying off a bit.

She opened the door, and was a little surprised to see Alexis sitting right in front of the door. "Well, do you really want to cause another scene? Because if you are, I think I am ready for it."

Erasai was being sarcastic and she anticipated some form of negative reaction. "Yes-" she began to answer her question but was cut off when the other girl shut her up. She chewed on the lip of the glass and almost fell over when the door suddenly opened behind her.

"I'm sure you are, with that bath robe on. Truth is, I don't want to destroy a hotel room nor do I want to put another city in lock down because of it. No I don't want to cause a scene which is why I'm telling you about it first."

She finished the rest of her drink before standing up. "I told them I haven't found you yet. As much as I hate to say it I'll say it again I'm... well... I'm sorry. Take it any way you want I'm leaving it at that. I'm not so sure what to make of what I'm doing, myself. Now are you really done with your bath? Because I believe it was my turn."

Erasai watched her for a long moment, her eyes studying her as if there might be something else that she wasn't being told. But, she couldn't find or think of anything that it might be. So she gave a little 'pfft' when Alexis said it was her turn, and walked by her, doing her best to hide a smile until Alexis couldn't see. She was angry, but for some reason, she found it rather difficult not to smile.

"You need to think about what you are doing then. I don't like being around someone who is indecisive, especially about some this great." She quietly made her way to the kitchen after that.

"Well see, there's a problem," Alexis said as she walked over to grab a bathrobe. "I've come to this country to capture you. If I don't come back with you I get paid nothing. We both have seen what each of us are capable of and I'm aware of my own limits. Yours goes above mine."

She pealed off the sweater just before disappearing into the bathroom herself and started the bathwater. It was warm and steamy from Erasai's occupation, a nice change from the cold bite of the forest, the concrete walls of an abandoned warehouse and the dark streets that she had experienced for that one hell of a day she had. As she waited for the hot water to fill the tub she stripped off the rest of her clothes and tossed it into the washing machine just outside the bath.

Alexis stepped out of the bathroom, covering the front of her body with the bathrobe as she looked over at the kitchen. "So what can a little girl like me do? My comrades are not here, I have no way to contact them and I'm left to associate myself with another mercenary in order to capture you. I don't trust him nor do I trust Zuzu. I know even with their help I cannot stop you without harming you. And that's where the problem arises," she leaned against the doorway, "I don't want to hurt you. In a way I can relate to you. You have no family to run to and... well, my father is beyond my reach since I'm trapped here without a legal passport. And even if I managed to make it back home, unless I had you... well, let's just say more than just my contractor will be mad at me since I'm bound by... several obligations."

Erasai listened in silence, but it seemed her mood had soured again. When Alexis had finished, she waiting just a brief moment before speaking. "So, we really only have two options. Either I can feel sorry for your situation, and give up my freedom and go with you to return to my previous situation, and you can return to yours... or you can, pretty much give up your own freedom, and flee with me. Either way, one of us is going to have to give up something." She leaned against the counter, her eyes narrowing just a bit.

"There are always consequences to the choices we make, Erasai," Alexis said, dropping her gaze, "Some people... have to suffer for the sake of others." She disappeared briefly into the bathroom and shut off the tub which was starting to overflow and returned to the doorway. "What makes you so afraid to go back, anyways? You have PMCs from all around the world after you. What do they do to you back where you came from?"

Erasai pushed herself off the counter, and made her way back into the living room, plopping down on the couch and giving a big sigh. She didn't want to recall what all happened back at the facility. But, if Alexis wanted to know...

"Everyday, since being able to hold a weapon steady, I trained everyday for nearly 10 hours, getting hardly any breaks during my training. I was sent to my cell for punishment, when I didn't complete my tasks, and received no praise for doing something right. But that was all before they began tests, and then the procedures. The injection, and binding of my DNA was the most painful thing I have ever experienced. And I endured it when I was 7 years old. But, you want to know what I will be returning to, right? Forced exercises on live human targets, forced to kill them until I am actually needed for battle. They need me to be ready for combat and killing, and at least 3 times a week, I would execute POWs, and failed informants... and really, whoever else they can find. I don't know about you, but I hate being forced to sin. But the tests... that is the worst of it. Do you know why they want me back so badly? Why they don't just kill me on sight, like they have many other escaped test subjects? I endured constant tests when I am not training; pain endurance, healing processes, sustaining energy... All because my DNA took the engineered DNA completely. I am growing as a weapon. My DNA, my body, is learning, and adapting. And they want to study me, to try and duplicate it. Because, for some reason, no other subject's body will fully accept the DNA. And sometimes that isn't pretty. I once watched a girl's skin melt right off her body. Another boy, exploded because his body couldn't contain the energy that was rapidly stored in him. At least they were the lucky ones..."

Her eyes had closed during her talk, and now she opened them, looking at Alexis again with her golden orbs. "Do I need to explain further? Because I have plenty of more stories to tell." She bit her lip. "What about you? You haven't really told me anything about you... about your situation. All I know is that you work for a mercenary group, and few hints of what is past that."

Alexis listened in silence with a hand over her mouth. She was aware of Erasai possibly being subject to experimentation. But not something as bad as that. Just what exactly they were trying to accomplish by putting her through this? A perfect soldier? Erasai isn't like that, Alexis thought, she's too nice to have any blood on her hands. Alexis wanted to think that but she remembered the kind of power she fought against. The thought alone brought a shiver down her spine and she saw what bringing the girl back to her employers meant. Alexis wrapped the bathrobe around herself and padded over to the couch, sitting next to the girl, her grey eyes meeting Erasai's. Looking into them, however, reminded her of the fearsome power hidden within Erasai and she quickly looked away. "I had no idea," she said softly. "I would've done the same had I been in your position. Now I feel like nothing but a little thorn on your side for following you all over the place."

She paused for a bit, trying to figure out where to start with her story before clearing her throat. "You already know my magic is looked down upon by... well, the world. Dark magic is scene as tainted or demonic. It's not passed down by genetics nor is it learned through study. People just... get it. We still don't know where or how people get it but that's not important. I was only twelve when it happened. My mother was killed during the attack by the Light mages and my father and I were taken prisoner. We weren't just prisoners though. They studied us, or at least the eldest in the families taken prisoner. My father was part of this 'study'. They forced him to use his magic to the best of his abilities. Tested his limits and the extent of our power. Then they beat him. They would pit him against new recruits for the Light Empire's guard where they learn how to fight one of us. They would give him a chance to defend himself but my father was no fighter. Day in and day out he would be stabbed, shot, and whatever else the soldiers had at their disposal... And then they would heal him using their Light magic and stuff him back in our cell. People die in those training camps, even with the healing. I heard they died simply because they just lost the will to live on like that. And watching papa just... lie there in pain in our cell at the end of the day for two years straight," Alexis shook her head, "It wasn't fair. I wanted him to stop. To just let go. But he would tell me 'If I go, you'd be next.' Our luck changed, though. An organize group of PMCs wanting to steal the camp's weapon cache came upon the few of us that were still alive and broke us out of there. The next few years consisted of my father and I trying to find a way to pay off our supposed debt to these PMCs otherwise they threatened to take us back to the Empire. I joined Cecil's mercenary group against my father's wishes in hopes of making quick money. So far, I've been through two campaigns. I was paid for the first but not for the second since we... failed."

She let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "You're my third. They probably think I'm dead which puts papa at risk. If I don't show results soon then he might be taken back to that place... But bringing you back means..." She knew sacrifices had to be made but in the back of her mind she wanted to find some kind of solution that would fix both of their problems. Alexis looked back at Erasai in a silent cry for help in the situation but the look quickly faded as the elevator down the hall dinged, opening to reveal the bellhop wheeling in a cart with the food they ordered. Alexis stood and recomposed herself as she quickly retreated to the bathroom. "I have to go take a bath. Go ahead and start without me."

She listened quietly, wanting to be selfish and think that her situation was much worse, but she couldn't think like that. She was just trying to protect her freedom, while Alexis was doing all thIs for her father as well as herself. She didn't have any family that she cared about, so she could only imagine what that might be like for the girl. And what could she say to that?

But it didn't matter what she might say, since she wouldn't get a chance. The bellhop entered and she stood as Alexis made her way back to the bathroom. She herself turned to the male, pulling her robe just a little tighter around herself.

"You can just leave it there," she said, waving her hand slightly at him. She really hoped he wasn't expecting a tip for that. Even I she wanted to, she didn't have the money for it.

She shut the door behind her and let her robe drop as she carefully stepped into the hot bubble bath, something she quite honestly has been waiting for for a long time. Alexis sank into the bubbles and listened to Erasai as she greeted the bellhop.

"Sure, uh, hope I wasn't interrupting anything important," the bellhop said as he wheeled in the cart over to the large dining table. He set up everything and placed the spoons and forks at their designated spots. He then laid out the candles and lit them before finishing up with laying down another bottle of champagne. "I can't just leave it as is, madame I have to make the food presentable. Is there anything else I can do for you? Being this late most of our services are down but I'll do what I can to help." He stood there, waiting for a tip again, smiling at Erasai.

"Uh," Erasai said, shifting a bit uncomfortably. She bit her lip and averted her eyes from him. What was she suppose to do? She thought it rude to just leave him expecting, and then give him nothing. She cleared her throat, and then looked back to him. "So, she has the money, and I very much lack access to it. But, I would be more than happy to have her tip you once we see you again. I hope that isn't really a problem."

She gave a very uneasy laugh.

"Oh well that's no problem. No problem at all. I'll leave you be then. Good night to you and if there's anything else just give the front desk a ring," he said with a smile. The bellhop wheeled the cart back into the elevator and just like that, he was gone.

"I'm not tipping him," Alexis said in the bath before sinking back into the water. She continued to relax while staring up at the pink ceiling plaster. She wondered where Wolfe was and how Zuzu was fairing out in the cold, dark, night while she was soaking in a warm bubble bath. She felt kind of bad. They weren't going to find Erasai since she was right there with her up at the highest part of a hotel. That meant they'll be searching all night.

She let out her breath when he left, and nearly smirked when Alexis called out. She gave a little shrug, not really caring either way. She made her way over to the food, and sat down. "Yum," she said quietly to herself, as she pulled her plates toward her. She preferred eating while Alexis was in the bathroom, finding it quite uncomfortable eating in front of others.

Gazing up at the large hotel, Wolfe was a little less pleased. He was hungry, tired, and irritated at Alexis. Just what in the hell was she trying to pull? He had nearly lost her in the crowds of people, and now she had taken the target into this hotel... He scowled, hoping that she wasn't trying to pull a fast one on him, and take the experiment in by herself. That definitely was not part of his deal...

The only pleasure he got out of this, was knowing that Zuzu would be out there, still looking. And he wasn't about call him and let him know what was up.