A Dinner for Two (S/Onida/Job)

The familiar sound of heels clicking against pavement echoed through the air as Onida ventured forward. The Cursed Lands weren't her favorite place to frequent, considering it wasn't the most cheery place, but when duty called, duty called. Being a general was a stressful, yet fulfilling business. One she necessarily hadn't been prepared for, but enjoyed nonetheless. Golden hues stared blankly forward as she approached the Sombra's Manor; a quaint little place, though it was a bit unsettling. Lights flickered from inside, but an eerie silence fell over the area. It would seem that the party hadn't begun yet. Either that, or she was far too early. That did seem to happen to her every so often. Being too prompt was better than being late though, she supposed.

Her elaborate purple and black gown fluttered briefly in the wind for a moment as she observed the area. It was quite strange... It wasn't like the blonde woman had been to many parties in her past, or, well, any at all, but she had assumed that there would actually be people. Even if she was early, there had to have been some people that would show up early as well... Sighing deeply, Onida advanced towards the creepy manor, keeping a sharp eye on her surroundings. You could never be too careful in these sorts of places. And she was also supposed to be meeting someone here... Perhaps he hadn't made it here yet. That wouldn't surprise her if it were to be the case. Or he could have been inside already--

rrrrRRRRRRRRRR

The noise had startled her for a brief moment, but her composure soon returned after she had a moment to process what it was. Snoring. Well, that was a sure fire indicator that the man she was meant to be meeting was here. Turning towards the noise, the young woman spotted him, snoozing peacefully on a nearby bench. How was it that he could find a place to nap no matter where he went? A small smirk stretched across Onida's face as she approached him. Instead of seating herself beside the red headed man, she found herself on his lap, facing towards him. Perhaps this was a bit unprofessional of her, since they were on a mission and all, and, well, he was her subordinate, but hell, this wasn't the first time she had made a move on one of her fellow Rune Knights, and it surely wouldn't be the last. Leaning forward, her lips found their way to the pale flesh on his neck, brushing against it softly. "Private Suzuki" She breathed, attempting to grab his attention. If this didn't wake him up, she didn't know what would.

The words the red headed man uttered had shocked the woman quite deeply. Men were all the same in her experience. Easy to manipulate. Easy to seduce. How was it that her advances hadn't worked? Gold eyes glitched briefly, before morphing into a violet color. Perhaps it was because she had been a bit hurt by the rejection, but for some reason, she felt like it might have been for another reason. A frown burrowed it's way across her eyebrows and tugged at her lips. "Excuse me. That was quite rude, I apologize." She grumbled, before removing herself from his lap. Turning away from him, she reached downwards to straighten out her dress. "Let us go. We don't want to keep them waiting." Onida wasn't normally the type of woman to feel shame or embarrassment, but in this case, she could feel a light pink color flooding to her cheeks. She had just made a fool of herself in front of one of her colleagues. If this were to get back to the Field Marshall, she would be mortified. Finally deciding to move on from the awkward encounter, the blonde moved to the door, not looking back.

Reaching a dainty hand forward, she knocked three times on the heavy wooden door. The sharp noises echoed briefly before the area fell back into an almost deafening silence. Not long after, footsteps could be heard.

Tip... Tap... Tip... Tap...

Slowly. Strangely so. It put the young general on edge, her muscles tensing in the event she would need to take action. Moments later, the door opened, and a chipper looking butler stood before them. His suit was neat, and the smile on his face was warm and welcoming. Looking down, she realized that the reason the footsteps were so slow, was because the man had a peg leg. It was an unusual sight, that was for sure, but it wasn't so abnormal that she felt the man was an immediate threat. "Welcome! I assume you are the guests that Lord Sombra invited over for dinner? Oh, how delightful! Come on in, don't be shy!" The man bubbled, moving slightly to the side and gesturing for the two mages to enter. Onida nodded in response, giving her partner a quick side glance before entering cautiously. "Thank you, sir."

"Feel free to make yourselves at home! Take a seat, and I'll bring you some refreshments in just a moment. Lord Sombra is upstairs getting ready, he should be down shortly to join you!"

Tip... Tap... Tip... Tap...

The footsteps echoed through the large hall as the butler began to leave. Deciding to take a moment to look around, Onida noticed something that was slightly off-putting. "Wait... But where are the other-... Guests..."

Before she could finish, he was gone. Along with the tip tap of his steps.

Onida's demeanor had changed from a look of confusion to a look of pure determination as soon as the steps had dissipated. Not only had the man disappeared, but his scent had completely disappeared with him. And now that she thought about it, his scent was already strange to begin with. This wasn't going to be just any ordinary party, now was it? In a way, Onida was disappointed. It would have been quite nice to just unwind for once. Being a general was hard work, and it always seemed like she never had enough time for play. Well... She had plenty of time for seducing men at her workplace... But that was work related... Right? Yeah, that was what she told herself anyways.

The thoughts were jarred out of her head when the silence in the room was suddenly broken by Private Suzuki. Her purple hues widened for a moment, before returning back to their normal size. "Yes. I believe you are correct. The question remains though; why are we the only guests?" Blonde hair swayed from side to side as she turned her head from left to right, trying her best to get a better view of her surroundings. The manor didn't look incredibly suspicious from this room, aside from the minimal lighting and eerie silence. There had to be something hidden deeper within. She had just been about to move to a different area of the room, when her partner stepped closer to her, sending an unusual shiver up her spine as he spoke. His voice was monotone as per usual, but something about his words tugged at her heart. Perhaps he was concerned for her well-being? No, she was just overthinking it! He was obviously just warning her because they were working together. It would be inconvenient for him if she were to be harmed. That was the long and short of it.

"P-Pfft! Of course I won't drink the refreshments, Private! I'm not as much of a fool as I might seem!" She retaliated, a bit of a red shade surfacing to her cheeks. "N-Now then. It would be best if we were to leave this room before the butler even retur-"

"I'm terribly sorry for the wait! The kitchen is just bustling! They are preparing a magnificent meal for the two of you, that you can be sure of!" The butler reappeared, along with the tip tapping of his peg leg. "Now then! Here are those refreshments, as promised! Is there anything else I can get you while you wait?" He asked as he placed the tray full of drinks on a nearby table. "No. That won't be necessary." Onida responded bluntly, keeping her eyes trained sternly on the strange gentleman. "I see... As you wish." Bowing politely, he took his leave, similarly to how he had moments before. Except, this time, the silence that followed his departure didn't last long. A few blood curdling echoed throughout the space. They were faint, but it was obvious that they were coming from deep below them. In a rush, Onida pulled up the sides of her dress so that she wouldn't trip on them. It always seemed that she was wearing the wrong type of clothing whenever funny business came along. "Come along, Private. We need to get going before anyone notices that we're gone." Barking orders as usual, the bossy woman advanced at a jog towards the nearest corridor.

Onida was probably a bit too quick to act, but that fit with her character. She always tended to act first and ask questions later. Doppo's complaints kind of faded into the background as she hurried forward, trying to track where exactly those screams she heard had come from. "Private, did you not hear those screams just a moment ago? They were coming from this direction. There's something wrong here, and it's our job to figure out what it is, is it not?" The stern woman barked, making sure to remind him that they were here for a reason. Sure, the letter they had received wasn't necessarily incriminating in and of itself, but the creepy manor, suspicious butler, and the sudden screams made it evident that they weren't just here for dinner. Perhaps it had been a bit too spontaneous for her to just go running off into a large house that she had never been in before, but it was now or never. They weren't going to get anything done if they had just stayed in the entrance hall. Plus, she wasn't sure if she wanted to meet the Lord of this house just yet.

Hearing another scream, the young woman stopped dead in her tracks, trying her best to locate where it was coming from. It seemed like it was coming from below, but at the same time, it was almost like it was everywhere. "Dammit!" She hissed under her breath. This was going to be more tedious than she had originally thought. Turning towards her partner, she began to speak. "I think there's something below us... We need to find a staircase or... Something! I don't know." The stress was most likely evident in her voice. Even though she dealt with stressful situations almost every day as a general, hearing danger and not being able to confront it seemed to push her over the edge. As she turned back around to begin her search, something caught her eye. Down the corridor stood 5 human-like figures in a row. They stared blankly forward, not saying a word or showing any indication that they were in fact real. Stepping tentatively towards them, Onida squinted her eyes to see them a bit better. Their dead looking eyes were completely black, and their skin was a ghostly white, save for various gashes across their bodies. It was evident that these weren't people, and it was most likely that they weren't friendly either.

"Private, be on guard. These beasts don't seem like they're friendly." Onida warned her fellow knight, even though he probably sensed the dangerous aura about them already. Preparing herself for the inevitable fight, she advanced even closer, reaching a comfortable distance before addressing them. "State your business. Why are you in this place?" No answer came. It was silent for a moment, before one of the spirit-like creatures came forward, it's cold, dead eyes staring dead into Onida's bright violet ones.

Silence...

Just as Onida was about to ask her question once more, the spirit in front of her let out an excruciatingly loud scream, followed by the rest of the ghouls behind it. "Augh!" Onida groaned, as she covered her ears. Taking advantage of the fact that she was taken off guard, the ghoul leaped forward, knocking the general to the ground and throwing itself on top of her. It was surprisingly heavy for a ghostly figure. "Nnngh! P-Private Suzuki! Look out!" She yelled to her comrade, addressing the two ghouls that were now making their way towards him. The two others swarmed around Onida, charging up their magic energy menacingly. She had to act quickly if she wanted to get out of this compromising situation. The ghoul that was on her gargled disgustingly before spitting up what looked to be a poisonous sludge. Onida turned her head just in time to avoid the vile substance, but the floor beside her was not so lucky. It began to erode as soon as the sludge made contact with it. Struggling for a moment, the young woman managed to free her right arm from beneath the creature, and raised it up into the air. "έδαφος!" She screamed desperately. Swiftly after the word left her mouth, the ground around her began to glitch, and soon after, so did the ghouls that were attacking her. Their bodies convulsed and contracted, frayed and glitched until they finally combusted, leaving nothing but their little broken pieces on the ground where they used to be.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Onida laid on the ground for a moment, trying to catch her breath after the attack. She knew that Private Suzuki could handle himself.

Watching as the two ghostly spirits flew, Onida's eyes widened in shock. Was it really that simple? Why did those creatures seem like they were so difficult to handle, when in reality her subordinate was able to handle them in one fell swoop. He didn't even use his magic. Violet eyes turned away in shame. Perhaps her magic was becoming weaker than she had originally expected. Perhaps SHE was becoming weaker as well. It was highly possible that being in this human form 99% of the time was actually draining her energy. Maybe she needed to get some time away... Time where she could be in her true form.

Hearing Doppo's somewhat harsh words, Onida snapped back to reality. It really was time for her to stop having a pity party for herself. If they were going to complete the mission they were given, she needed to get going before more creatures arrived. A stern look molded it's way back onto the blonde woman's face as she hoisted herself back up. The fact that Doppo hadn't offered to help her up hadn't phased her. At this point, she was convinced that she didn't even deserve it. "Yes. Let us continue forward." She grumbled huskily, walking past her fellow knight without another word.

The continued search was silent. Perhaps it was because of Onida's embarrassment, or her stubbornness. It was also entirely possible that it was because of both. But that wasn't the important thing. What was important to the general at the moment was finding the source of that screaming. If anyone was in danger, she needed to save them as quickly as possible. She couldn't let something similar to what happened to her pack happen again. Whether Doppo liked it or not, she was going to make sure these people were safe HER way. Continuing onward, she made sure not to let anything distract her from her mission. The only thing that was irking her was the fact that the hallways had begun to seem quite familiar. Was this manor a labyrinth of sorts? Of course it would be. As if things weren't difficult enough.

Just as she had been about to stop to concoct a plan, Onida heard a squeaking noise that was quite familiar. Bats. There was a small swarm of them headed their way. Lifting her hand, the blonde woman chanted, quietly this time. "άνεμος." Once the simple word was muttered, a glitch-like wind began to swirl towards the flying creatures. It jerked from left to right, seeming to have no set path, until it made it's way towards the group. Swirling all of the creatures within it's grasp, the wind took action, crushing every single one of them until they were nothing but pixels against the wooden floors of the manor. Now wasn't the time to mess with the wolf woman. She may have embarrassed herself once, but it wasn't going to happen twice.

Bringing her hand back down to her side, she looked over to the red headed man who stood beside her. Finally deciding that now was the time to break the silence, she spoke. "As I'm sure you've noticed, this place looks to be some sort of maze. It won't do us much good to just wander around aimlessly." Shifting so that her back rested against a nearby wall, she looked at her partner quizzically. "I think it would be in our best interest to devise a plan of action here. Don't you agree?"