The mini bus got them to the safety that they knew. It was open fields for a while, getting off the motor way had it's danger. There was several stops to defend themselves from the predators that eat humans. She never needed to fight for them, plenty of the time the 'adults' handled it. She cared more for when they weren't alert enough or they were to exhausted to be ready. She was never needed and never consider part of the plan. There was still a tension of held back, even from her attached.
She accepted this. She had time to be in her mind. The world out of the windows was a strange hybrid of many worlds. She can smell the mixtures beings. The bleed of the worlds she fixed had lead marks across this universe. The the fractures that were from her broken soul.
Those creatures that are defined by the biggest feature they are just long rolled 'fluff'. Those things are legless rolling bodies with sharp teeth hidden. Those things were the pets of a civilisation of stone souls.
There was the human world - foxes, badgers, deer, squirls and all those normal animals that kids learned in preschool. In contrast there is those lizards that survive wearing corpses for months at time; cat personalities and smart thinkers that do trading.
There is the black vine cords that aren't plants, but a hive mind network of cords. The field of strange flowers that the core is a tree with red fruit eyes and thrones under barren soil. The Clothus are natural now, if animal was understanding enough (they carried that smarts after dying) and lift from abandoned corpses.
There is several different soul systems going at the same time. A soul is now processed completely. Any other world is a system, one way that a soul is polished and thrown to the next world. But here, it never needs to leave this book to be refined. It goes a little like this; solid souls at size of rice grains, inside the living realm, are for insects and other small creatures. If those small grains crossed to the afterlife, they are for the decay of realms (regardless of what layers that maybe; heaven, hell and purgatory have places for recycling).
If the grains are so fine as powder - these are turned into gas forms. These gases made of soul is magic / ether / energy. If solid living stone grows, it becomes core of the greater things; the landmarks made by geology. The liquid souls are a whole arch for human assumed types of afterlife's and rebirth systems. Liquid souls in the living realm tend to be medium sized creatures - humans being the most common. Yet just about everything with a living pulse is more likely a liquid soul. Liquid turns solid upon death; which is why death god reap souls. A scythe can't scoop living souls out of living bodies - normally.
And if you know your science really well; the fourth state of matter. The plasma souls are short active things - A chain lock connection of a density of souls. The reason why cities are 'protected' or aren't counted by death gods the same way. Plasma happens more often for gods; that the energy of connects souls empowers titles gods.
This was all these things that the current matrix of the tomes of this universe has place for. A tome that refined souls like a master, something does so professionally polished. It isn't any wonder why rifts to other tomes come here for help. There is a place for every sort of soul, regardless of type these souls are or 'damages' that would be 'wrong'. The 'wrong' are the ones that benefit and thrive this universe. Those that have command of their sense of soul as self. A rule that not everyone around here has a clue about.
Humanity are now a society of survivalists. Teaching their current times like the recovery from the apocalypse. And in a way it has. But they are already making the work count towards leaving earth for stable new lives in the vacuums of space travel or other world settlements. The cities have recovered and people are use to the monsters, treating them like the normal animals they knew.
Black veins were good bug traps and manageable creatures. The flower fields were being farmed for the meat fruits and made corpse clean up easy. The fluff balls were kept along side cats and dogs - with management and training. Humans just are stubborn adapt predators that continue proving to be the top of the food chain. Out proving the scariest of monsters in this world. Humans continue finding the uses for the creatures that defy science with causal shrugs and making studies that proved that these creatures had biology that made sense. They often sent oath hunters or just hunters, to do dangerous studies and record the fascinations of these freak monsters. Normalizing them into being just creatures in the same sun light, living the same earth and in some truth - made of the same carbon or other period table elements as they knew.
"Back home, thank the gods." Plenty were very enthusiastic to get out of the cramp mini bus. Eager to evade punishment for not being where they should have, being teenagers with some minimal freedom.
"Not so fast." She knew it and didn't bother trying to be sneaky or fast to avoid this. Being the anchor the young group was stuck to face the lecture. She was way to sleepy to be that active to be forcibly moved fast. They survived the lecture.
"She has to be registered." Being the last part of the lecture.
"She is." A very quick reply in more childish argument then the sensible thinking about why she be a issue, "Well, she doesn't need to put out her active ID unless you want strange things to be invited." He pulled her arms up, he looked about a little nervous with the mature part of him catching up. He is convicted to having her here, so the stare is straight forward in confidence trust while she followed to be 'standing' beside him. She had her own opion about their view from others, so she stays on all fours like the creep mutant she is.
She makes herself a light weight enough for someone that young to be moveable property, furthering this was her lack of protest with being handled. His hand just has to rest on her shoulder and it is the unseen leash that. The long staring in the mute wordless arguing, the deep thoughts behind the eyes.
"What can I address you as?" Turning to her, hoping that she could just speak for herself. She did look up and acknowledge that she was spoken to. She did for a tick, nearly speak back. But then she did a tilt, thought against what she would assume. She instead then with trust to her partner, permission to talk what level of crazy would be accepted first. She slow rolled exaggeration with making sure there was an understanding why she has to ask. She uses her right hand to softly uncovers lacking face to her partner. Her hand puts the mask back with fingers that directed about the device collar around her neck. She shoulder shuffled to make the shimmer of crystal that reactive to emotions and energy ambiance, gave a little colour shift. They both seen she has crystal veins. She needed his tell for how much she was allow to relax, say stall setting or not.
"How much is to much to share? Can I be a merchant here? Be a pretend low hunter? Give me a new name or do we use any of my old ones? I am not a human... that has issues about it." She sent to thoughts and he clearly got them. He seen her gestures. He was not even bothered by the lacking face thing. He actually relaxed a degree in knowing she was not a fake version of her. That every little performance was her being real, being cautious and that she relies on his common sense.
"We are going to take it a day at a time..." He says in reply for her and to her, "If you did any of your trading in open ground, you would make the human types afraid. We need the peace trades that brings the safe food supplies in."
She gently nodded at understanding that and lowers slightly smaller. A finger poking about the floor in her mind chaotically dials down about her trading limits. She made her rounds of pondering her creep contacts would be active and sensing what she could be facing to trade around this area. She was being considerate with what exchanges are acceptable. She was already also being leery of what be accepted hunt and material reactions.
"And as for a name. You use what you have to. Yet, if it is just us..." Her Raven didn't need to say that next part in the public domain, "You need a new undertaker name." She nods at that being a good compromise. She got to her last mental checks. Her shadows have already altered her ID settings. She sent mail ink birds, that flew right out from underneath her feet.
"Earth to you two." The leader barked, "I need to talk to you alone." He enforced. Breaking the two men to stop the stand off. Raven lowered his gaze to her, frowns a little worried. He traces her plenty and so she turned him to face her properly.
"I will hunt you down like always, husband." She use multiple limbs at messing about the clothing, gear, casting of repair magic and smoothing his hair back into a neat tie back. She stood taller then him, gave a little nose rub at his head top. She pushing him to leave. Pushed him to be taken away with the youths to whatever they do. She watched right up to a point. Seated on floor, four limbs being point of contact. He stopped looking back at her finally. She got off the floor.
She shifted back to her mock enough human. She sets her posture to being human. She casted magic with ease by gesture and weaving - creating clothing and corset. Tight and real. Cotton came from her shadow and drapes into the heights of fashion. Sharp office fashion that was designer then practical. She plaster the mock face to purpose pore skin. She closed eyes and pulled crystal to be a smart glasses. Yes, the wearable smart technology into the most expensive method of wearing it visible - crystal. Just to really put wealth on display, she puts crystal carved shoes, Cinderella like. Not blue and glowing... no, black matted obsidian stone that appears to be leather if your not looking.
"Right, now that I don't have to appear to be cute for him." She sets her voice to a formal human rhythm. She put plenty of effort in all the tricks of it - breathing with chest movement. The throat head echo with the enclose sound leaving her mouth the right vibration way. The wavelength managed with the lifts and tilts of emotion mimic.
"I will sort out all the proper settings for joining the post. I am an active huntress with plenty of authority. I know the rules, and I am the one the few that enforces them. I am a trusted court worker." She explains to this adult, young man in her eyes but clearly the wise one, "I know the old ways and the new. I recount plenty about the god follower days, and when mages were hidden among society." She traces about the crowds.
"I don't really know much about your past. I don't know what ties you to him." The fella staring to watch if the kids were visible, "But you brought a light in the darkness. He was way to perfect. Always to mature. He never seems relaxed. His smiles normally are preformed." Holds his aching head, "He smiled at you the whole trip back home, a real one. You couldn't fake that relaxed smile, not preformed." He groans, "Please don't hurt him. Don't make it hard for him."
"I will try to not make things hard. I just couldn't promise anything. The things I loved, other then him, aren't around anymore. He is all I have. Being a protective of the last thing I have left to hold. I think you get it."
She wafted and casting healing on the fella. His wound closed, blood reversed back. His not aware of the extent for what she just did to him. He does feel the relief and the no being so light headed in the lack of blood. She took away her hand. There was a thin wound now, not closed and it will scar. She couldn't spend too much.
"Call me Vesper."
"Fitting. The light of a star through the dusk." He sighed in part relief of his head and part in the understanding her respect, seeing she did have humanity that was unlike her lacking human status, "I am going to treat you like a Clothus."
She nods of being fine with that. She would figure out everyone's name. But she will not take what isn't given. She wouldn't have used names on those around her partner. This makes it easier for everyone; they are to cautious to trust her. Afraid of her powers. These rules and assumptions suited her needs and how she works. The fella lowered in rolling in worry, he looked ahead of them to the massive university site that stretched are massive as its own town.
"We are under funded orphanage that makes money in being a training ground." The silence that follows this small bit to put the weigh of his emotions behind it, "We had to taken in those that need to learn control of magic, to prevent the accidents." He shook of this in already wanting a correction, "Not all came here willing. Some have already lost folks because of the lost control. Then there was those not magic mage based types. We had to also take in the dangerous ones, we get funding for reforming them. They are the ones removed from the city limits. We take in those types and turn them into talented oath hunters. Fodder for the outer cities to use as scavengers and monster control. Everyone knows it. They have labels on their ranking; abnormal body adaptions." He must have spotted something and shivered, "Shadow people are a common place here. Not that anyone of them talks. They just stand mute in the shadows watching. I see them always around the backs of those that had it the worst."
"Shadows of the damned are unique souls. Sad souls. There isn't a lot I can tell you. I don't know about this exact group here, but I know them in general." She wafted her left hand and soft spoke in knowing those can hear this conversation, "They are common around tragic happenings to humans. Only humans to my knowledge become them." She studies if the damned around here are to crowded and if they are a problem. She also was making sure that her words didn't hurt them, if her words made any side affect. Damned are collectively attached by the same energy. She couldn't make a good enough assessment with the little she sees now, "Anything else?"
"Given what you are." He crossed his arms with not sure, one hand holds his head as it will still ache from the crash, "You have something different in your biology then humans." An interesting way to side step, "Can you warn us about anyone vulnerable? There aren't enough stable people around these days around here. Not all folks that come here are, well happy backgrounds. Different enough types around here. Conflicts happen." She was getting what he was saying and they are exactly as he said. They are under funded but trying to give tools to those that been society rejects. Give tools to those that had missteps.
"This isn't a promise. There is no contact. No deals." She clarified, "At the end of the day, he matters to me. I know what sort of person he is and what he sticks his business into. I suspected that there be plenty of tangling issues. I will not mean harm, but there isn't like there wouldn't be problems made worse because I stepped in."
The guy looked glad that there was a ground they both shared. He was still afraid of what her true is and what she actually hides about that mock body. Just be counting his graces that she has tells, reasonable morals and that she was attached to the one person that is relied a lot around here. A good anchor to help him, with a dark after taste. She the part that Raven had been missing. Yet there seems a back bite with her, that she going to be the back lash that been missing.
"I have work to do, peace to make if I am going to be settling in. This place has plenty of beings." She walked away, the stone shoes click the floor announcing her arrival. He watched her back, watched those that stared her way. He catalogued that she was real, that she is physical presence that those without gifts can't deny that she is a real being. There was a reactive divide too. This divide needed time to be measured. She walks in rhythmic grace and crowds part from her. She wears a blank business dull forwards stare, that told folks to not mess with her or question her.
This was a campus of large buildings. Massive like five on site dorms. The small out building that has to do with some electric management. There is the old well that has been reopened; sealed when this was an university site but opened when taps were no longer safe. There was massive eating hall with the industrial kitchen attached. There was one massive building that isn't apartments which are the learning classrooms. There is a theatre, student ran cinema, small 'car boot' like square and another detached music department. There was likely hidden spaces in these buildings, but there wasn't age. This was a new site with not many years of being a university, compared to most. Sure there was a lot of these places adapted for the more combat, tactical and practical learning. There wasn't a lot of the religious ties that humanity tends to dreg up in dark times. There is an underbelly.
She stops softly to some signs from the university days, but there was edits that suited the new purpose. The 'teacher's lounge' was covered with a new label - 'Admin and War room'. The area was clean and kept. There wasn't the trash of uni lectures, the plants that been put here are all purpose use. There is plenty of signs of sustaining and use of every square inch. The green spaces between the buildings are kept daily. They clearly do a lot of weeding, pride in keeping the place functional.
This was on the way towards the dorms; but this lower level is converted. All the ground level is massive open space of kiosks or open tables to exchange across. Some spots are booth seats. The centre of the room is a glass area. The actual teacher longue. Yet even that was clearly repurpose.
"Excuse me, is this where I can find the dorm room sorter?" She knocked with her left hand on side of the glass frame into the circle space, "I need to sort out the papers and registering."
A 'staff room' that has become the main war map room. The layout of the campus with little chess pieces that were markers for nests of monsters. There was plenty of on site seasoned hunters and paper pushers in here. These are the folks protecting these grounds and are the final say for letting something like her to be in the safe spaces.
"You should go to the..." the hunter started and froze up, "Ah, well. I can understand why you would come straight to the top. Preventing panic with cutting the middle management."
This hunter can tell she isn't a human and she was a different type of danger that no one would be able to handle. Something like her needs to be here to talk to all of them. This is a voted issue on letting a thing like her in. She doesn't give the schemers around here the preparations to use her for bad things.
"I am a complication but I have respect for morals and rules. Not human but doesn't mean I don't know how it was to be." Hinting she was once, "I will go to the medical isolation if that makes you comfortable."
More heads up from the map and more eyes reading. Assessing. Several used the crystal system to scan her, accessed her current open ID. Her monarch, merchant and her oath hunter's windows were showing but not enough to possess her. Just proof that she is the connection and is the entity behind those titles and powers. There was plenty that see her for what she is at the surface - a mock human pretending to be human. There was a set that know these ranks matter and she is the wealth of her clothing. Those with differing levels of greed are already finding way to get claws in her or control for her goods.
"The application takes many days to assess for long term staying. This is the starting point and the part that gives you a bed that can be done right now." The pretending to be the top approached and back hand throws the 195 page document at her. It landed solid as a slap at her chest, it slides and spills out of order across the floor. Sure she did need to fill it, but it wasn't the application to be done right now. The one she needed would be smaller. It be something like, basic details and who 'owns' her.
"The hell..." And already was someone trying to hack into her credit and try to back search her in the wrong unsafe way. The crystal they used soon heated to the point of burning on contact. Dropped and broke. Crystal never normally does that, it is why its become a relied tech. There was actually four people that did this thing, just right then. All of them just broke their devices.
"Seriously? The merchant for those isn't going to be here for another eleven years." complained to the one cleaning up after the idiots. The admin for the real data checking has seen enough and made hand gesture of approval. That the surface level of her oath ranking was more then enough. The fact she is a merchant and courts walker; put her in a position that suited as a 'teacher' post. If she was human, she would have been hired on the spot and no one would have cared about her background until later.
"My leash is to Raven. A student that is on the program to being a step up. He has a good future in being a wise hunter." She pitched to be here longer, "I am not here to make deals. I am not exchanging souls. I am not a demon and not a Clothus. But you can use the Clothus rules around me. I can hunt and trade when settling is over." She paused, "Can I request to move us to a couples room? At least put me in a room near his."
"What?" a few confused folks. There was plenty that looked between them.
"You made a contract with the kid."
"If it pleases your concepts, sure. We are sort of. It isn't anything like a demon or soul enslavement." She growled with crossing arms, "I am protective of him. He has my banking access. I have his stuff in my storage." She rolled left hand, "I promised the god of Omens to play a part of watching over him." there was plenty of sharp lifts of staring, "Don't get me started on the death order and Undertakers."
" Are you with the divine order?" Asking her. The angel's faction that made contact with humans.
"Heck no." She shook, "Not that you would understand my dislike of them. I am willing to follow the merchant laws to make exchanges with them. I know they need my goods sometimes." that was noted down.
"The shadows finally have someone to talk." Another poses in assuming she was one.
"Translating their strange languages isn't hard. Getting them to talk is a matter of knowing their rules and how fragile things are about them." She tuts in crossing her arms, "I am currently not attached to such society. I do however make exchanges with them too." She poses them silent and another goes to say another option, she pointed her left hand and lips closed, "Before you keep listing through the things you know of and assume. Can I just leave my business card? Not all societies welcome my work. Plenty have a fear of me. There is a very big sway of beings that do respect my grounds. It isn't equality. It is more having truce. I trade. They trade. Smooth. I hunt things, process into goods and I organize the books." She pats about and realized she need to make new ones.
She closed her eyes with focused her inner workings - shadow senses are making them, right then. The wax stamp. The ink. The made paper. The carved new stamp shape that she has settled on for now (well more that she had made a back ups and this one she choose to refine before using it). The ink print stamp on one side. The wax spell craft to bring her attention to whomever breaks it on the other side. She brought out exactly ten newly cooled business cards. She put them on the war map, not in someone's hand or assumed that anyone person was going to take them.
She open her eyes and they all were backed off. Weapons shivering. She pouted unsure what happened when she closed her eyes to sort the business cards with. The area outside the glass lounge was still going about things. A printer was spitting out the small file. A damned clamps the pages with a stapler. The file never made it in her hands to be filled out.
"Thanks for this." The guy she came here with, pen out and already filling the bits, "You going to have to make some talk to his room mate about if you can move in. Although there isn't any spare rooms in the corridor. I am not letting you have a couple rooms, sheesh." He wasn't clued in with the fear. She pats her face and realized. She claws her face back into the placement. He snapped up with looking at her then at these people, "She's a mutant and yes. She doesn't have a face. I didn't get an straight answer about what or how." Back down with the paperwork and sees the cards. He picked on up, flips it about. He stares at the ink side. He likely seen her marks on hunter's stuff. He pockets it, "He should be in combat training. It's pole based skills tonight."
"As in pole like the length of a death god's staff or we talking like a quarter staff that does a job." She asked. He stares blankly in what sort of measuring that was. He shrugs not sure. She shrugs after and walks leaving. Not anyone stops her.
"Those aren't shoes. Those are stone carved art work." Someone simps over her fashion, "Those clothes were hand tailored. No machine work, hand stretching only. And the artist that carved the mock face was great detail until it dusted apart. Most mutants that were ex-humans give up in human traits. She clearly gained each of them back with learning to mimic them."
"Mimic?" someone asked.
"Well she clearly doesn't have a human heart and she didn't actually breath air. But she makes her neck throb like a pulse lives there. She makes small movements to mimic human body responses. She never once stopped making her chest move with breathing, but it didn't move right while she spoke and doesn't perfectly sync them lips with her pretending body language." The person offered their assessment to the room.
"She walks on fours and has a tail. Not that she lets herself be that way around us commoners." he tuts with the finished papers, "She has a soul history with Raven. A previous life deal. Death do you part is clearly not a vow they made." Putting the file to be sorted, "Although. It is nice to see he has someone he can be closed off with. Someone that can tell me his secrets, like how he predicted the ambush and that we needed her to survive it. The fact he convinced her, knew where to find her. It always gets me."
The shook heads and there was now a sudden big talk among. The fact she isn't a human was a big sticking point. Plenty were about to rip the papers up. There was debate about her hunting, food needs and resources that will be spent on another creep. They had a few already and to them, she was going to drain them.
"She's going to be here, regardless of the paperwork. She just being open about it and following our wishes. She could not been human about it, just stalk him through windows and be whatever around the place." that knocked plenty of words out, "I am just saying. She has something that can be reasoned. Unlike some other ones that we already have on staff or attached."
She makes it around back to the signs, and she casts detection magic across the whole area. Her senses touched all the corners of every area that will matter. She used her abyss darkness to leave 'peace' settlements with all creatures across the grounds. This was quicker, her next sets of call cards are attached to each settlement. She used soul reading senses to choose what those gifts were and the ranks that mattered. Plenty of them were afraid of the gift and the cards, but it was the level of stealth that matched her hidden ways. That she wasn't being open invite.
"Again!" Snapped near her partner, she felt her darkness attached to his. She smirks in his stance of him not trying. That he is bored. She chooses the human approach, walking the way to the gym area. She wasn't bothered right even as she smoothed among the watching crowd. There is a set watching that are going to be doing it next year, a set watching for talents and the the instructor that was being frustrated.
"You're letting them rust your skills." she voiced with amused tone, "What if the tall man came after you right now? You would be hung upside down." Raven's body shivered, jolting in knowing exactly her reference, "You know the eye would be green." She furthers and he chuckled about that being exactly right. Everyone around him looked like he was a new man. She pulled out from the watching crowd and stands at his front.
"Make sure you actually use a bamboo pole and not the corpse of the things." She play wafted and made sure. He doesn't give her time and they soon were snap fast sparing. She corrected everything he does wrong, she was a little to forceful at times. She had to restrain herself with knowing his a human... knowing his young.