Second Chances [Clem]

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It was an ordinary weekday afternoon in Fiore. Criminals were being apprehended, dangerous magical weapons were being confiscated, and the rate of crime was being widdled down bit by bit. For most people, this probably wasn't what they imagined when they thought about an ordinary weekday afternoon, but for General Suzuki, that was his life.

It had been a while since he enlisted as a Rune Knight. Unlike others, he wasn't motivated by dreams of a safer world and a righteous fist to crush injustice and evil at its core. He didn't have any role models of the state when he was a kid, and he wasn't trying to prove himself either. No, it was something far simpler than that. All that Doppo was interested in was food on his table, a roof over his head, and a comfortable mattress to sleep on so he wouldn't have an aching back when he woke up to rinse and repeat a job he didn't care to do. No one cared about him and he didn't care about anyone else.

Before he enlisted, he was in the Sabertooth guild, actually. Just like the very beginning of his career as a Rune Knight, he was only there to get by, but things changed when he met Hilda Sinclair. She was the esteemed Field Marshall of the Rune Knights now, but before that, Doppo only ever regarded her as his first friend. It seemed a bit cheesy, and Hilda was most likely unaware, but she was his inspiration for making a change. She was the first to approach him kindly and treat him kindly as well, with the reason and understanding of his circumstances that he hadn't seen in such a long time. It was by coincidence that they had fought against Crimson Fang in their attack on Era so long ago, and he only enlisted because Hilda ended up going and the pay just seemed better than what he could've gotten at Sabertooth, but things changed because of that.

The redhead wasn't anyone special in the Rune Knights, but he could no longer coast his way through his job. He had to put the effort in, to try harder, and to start caring about the world around him and the people within it because that was his job now. His duty. In the face of danger and despair, the Rune Knights were the first and strongest bastion against it. They were symbols of safety, science, and hope within Fiore—Doppo had no choice but to get with the program if he wanted to "get by" in the way he had hoped for, though in doing so, it unleashed something within him. The redhead went from this lazy shell of a man who didn't care for the world around him to someone who worked his hardest to make sure the world around him was a safe and prosperous place. Years ago, he wasn't sure if he could sacrifice everything for people he didn't know—he couldn't live up to that idealistic, righteous hope that people had for others and say that if someone could live because of his sacrifice, that he would. But now, he knew he could do it without a second thought. That's who he was now, an officer of the state, and it felt like second nature to put others before himself in the face of even death.

Doppo wasn't a bad man before he found his calling, but he wasn't a great one either. If he hadn't met the Field Marshall that day, where would he be now? It seemed like such a trivial encounter, but if the world and the people around him only ever saw the redhead as a lazy, no-good sorcerer, then who's to say that he wouldn't have continued to live his life believing that himself? It seemed so ridiculous—this butterfly effect sort of thought process—but it was the most trivial of exchanges that changed his life, and he shared that sentiment even for the very people he was told to apprehend. He believed in do-overs and second chances. He believed in rehabilitation for dark mages and criminals, so they may be given the chance to rejoin society and to find something they truly love to do themselves.


Somewhere within the confines of the Rune Knight HQ in Era was a room reinforced with anti-magic walls where a single one-way window could observe the entire space. It wasn't one of their strongest reinforced rooms in the facility, but it was strong enough to resist the friskier attempts at escape. There were cameras that recorded what happened inside and officers standing guard on the outside of two heavy doors. In the middle was a basic metal table, on either side were two ergonomic chairs, and in the very center of the ceiling was a light that illuminated the room brightly. It looked like an interrogation room, really, and it was all prepared for Clementine Alvarez.

The young woman wouldn't have a single cuff on her wrists, but she was locked inside the room with none other than General Suzuki himself, who was comfortably sat on the other chair across the table, reading from an open folder. The two had crossed paths a number of times, though that may have been putting it gently. Truthfully, their relationship was that of several cat-and-mouse chases they've had over the last few months, but Doppo could never seem to catch her until now. After months of trying to apprehend this woman, it all seemed a little unsatisfying when he was informed of the full extent of her crimes.

"History of gang activity, multiple charges of vandalism, theft, destruction of property, resisting arrest, assaulting an officer, and suspicion of being in an illegal guild..." Doppo read off the list in his calm, collected voice before looking up at the woman as if he were looking for confirmation, "...did I get all of that right, Ms. Alvarez?"

Unlike every other encounter before, Doppo seemed a little different now. A little more "put together", if you will, and it wasn't because he shaved his beard. There weren't sleepy pauses in his speech, nor did he lash out in unimaginable rage like he would on other occasions. He started taking prescribed medication for those side effects of his magic, stabilizing his emotional turbulence or lack thereof so that he could feel normal, per se. Honestly, he hadn't felt stability in those regards since he was a young boy when his magic had yet to develop. Ever since then, it was like his personality was either at a zero or a thousand. But now, he could feel that stability begin to redevelop in his body again, and little by little, he was rediscovering who he truly was.

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Clem had fucked up. Royally.

The night before, she’d been working on the biggest piece of graffiti she’d ever done. She’d been on a tagging binge all over the city of Era for a week, but had found a perfect place for her grand finale mural. There was a brand new warehouse in Era and its many expansive walls were the perfect canvas for a grand piece of art. A few days of plotting, watching the security guards and figuring out their schedules, and dreaming up the perfect piece had led to this night. Before starting she’d dealt with the security guards easily. They sat bound in rope and covered in paint in a supply closet nearby.

About halfway through her art, everything had gone haywire. Unbeknownst to Clem, one of the security guards had a hidden iLac that she had failed to confiscate. Somehow with lots of wiggling and help from the other guards, he’d called the Rune Knights emergency number and asked for back up.

Before Clem knew what was happening, she was pressed to the cold ground, grit cutting into her cheek. Several Rune Knights pressed her down with their knees and feet. Her wrists were shoved roughly into magic-subduing handcuffs. The painter was too stunned to attempt escape, taking shallow breaths as reality hit her. Shit. She’d finally been arrested. After years of graffiti and theft, her actions had finally caught up to her in one giant bitch-slap of a night.


So here she was, sitting across from none other than Doppo. Of course the General would be the one here to interrogate her. It almost felt like a walk of shame as Clem had been led to the table. To her, it seemed like she was the loser of a battle who was being paraded around to show off just how badly she had lost. There was no regret for the crimes that had led her here, only the burning humiliation of being caught. The painter glowered moodily in her chair with her arms crossed, unsure how to deal with her feelings of embarrassment and frustration.

Her arrest was inevitable, really, with how many times she and Doppo had crossed paths and how many near-arrests and cat-and-mouse chases had occurred between her and the Rune Knights over the years. She’d always remained just inches out of their grasp. Yet, now that it was a reality, Clem was struck by how shitty detainment felt. Mentally she had been chastising herself for hours about how stupid and careless she got. She’d been arrested before in younger years, but was usually released with a community service order or something of that kind. This time felt different, more serious.

The holding room they were in had magic-suppressing reinforcements. That meant no paint, no pigment, and worst of all, no Magenta. The paint dragon’s missing presence made her head feel unnervingly empty. He’d been there with her since the very first time she used magic. Through every graffiti, every lonely night, every day of trying to get by, Magenta had been a colorful apparition providing comfort, guidance, and being a pain in her ass. Clem could imagine his voice in that ‘I-told-you-so’ tone, telling her she should have been more cautious. The young woman scoffed under her breath.

“Why ya askin’ me, dipshit? It’s on the paper, ain’t it?” Clem replied snarkily after Doppo read off her criminal record. She knew her crimes well but felt like lashing out at the redhead in any way she could. Blue eyes glared from underneath the brim of her cap. She imagined her gaze was a laser burning holes through Doppo, and the thought brought her a moment of dry amusement.

The painter looked the same as when she had been arrested, though a little more rough around the edges from exhaustion. She hadn’t slept well. It was kind of hard to do that in a cell. Her puffy purple jacket, hands, and arms were still covered in flecks and streaks of paint in a myriad of colors. Scuffed skate shoes tapped quietly against the floor, the only movement besides her mouth. Otherwise, Clem was stony, wishing she was a turtle that could retreat into her shell from all this mess.

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Post WC: 708  ◐  Thread WC: 1,842  ◐  Job Info: X  Tagged: @DOPPO  ◐  Music: Broken Bricks  

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"I suppose it is," Doppo pensively glimpsed back down at the folder, unoffended by Claira's quips and namecalling. Strangely enough, Doppo was always sort of difficult to offend, since many of the insults either had no effect on him or completely went over his head. In this regard, being a social dud made him impervious to some of the more hurtful comments people could make, but he ended up misunderstanding people and struggled to make connections with them as a result. Leaning on his armrest, he continued to gaze upon the pages with his calm and collected stare, wearing a look on his face that made it difficult to guess what he was thinking about. "I'm relieved that this is it. We get so many murderers and terrorists nowadays that people like you are actually the minority, and with charges like these, you'll get fined and community service at best and maybe a six-monthish jail sentence with parole at worst. Consider yourself lucky, Ms. Alvarez."

Doppo glanced up from the folder after his last comment, closing and placing it on the table in front of him before leaning forward with his fingers laced and resting before him. It was no secret that the Rune Knights were also the ones who sentenced the criminals they apprehended—they were the "Judge, Jury, and Executioner" of the Magic Council, after all. The mishmash of violent crimes and non-violent ones, no matter how you looked at it, warranted a highly-secure interrogative room like this, though. Perhaps it had something to do with the way the mood changed when Doppo leaned forward, staring at Claira with a look far more prying than before.

"The truth is, I'm not here to talk to you about your vandalism or theft, or the fact that you never replaced my clothes that you ruined. What I really want to know about is that illegal guild that you're in," Doppo paused, his eyes sharpening fractionally as the words cooly fell off his tongue. It was no secret that Claira was a member of Errings Rising, and it was even less of a secret that Errings Rising was one of the most dangerous illegal guilds Fiore had to deal with up to date. They were domestic terrorists that killed dozens in cold blood and left ruin and carnage wherever they went. While the redheaded general felt an almost paternal relief in seeing the written extent of Claira's crimes, he felt a sort of unease in the final one. Truthfully, the Knights didn't know the full extent of an illegal guild member's crimes. The criminal underworld was a dark and mysterious place, and the people who stayed off the grid often made it difficult for their crimes to come to the light as well. Claira appeared to be just a delinquent to Doppo—a ne'er-do-well with a second chance to get her act together—but no one really knew what she had done to get where she is now. "Just to be clear, Ms. Alvarez, I suggest you choose your words wisely. Being part of that guild is serious, and the weight of your real sentencing depends on what you say now."

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Her words seemed to have no effect. Doppo was unreadable, and that made her all the more frustrated. If some sort of verbal hit could land, any sort of reaction to give her a granule of satisfaction that she had control over something and feel she had a toehold of power in this situation. That was the worst part of it all. For Clem, a hot-headed person who easily resorted to fighting, not being able to do anything but fight back with her words was agonizing. Magic was out of the question and if she tried to lunge for Doppo, she’d be on the ground in handcuffs again in seconds. Even her sharp words seemed to bounce right off his protective armor of daftness. She had no control and no upper hand, no fighting ground to stand on. She had nothing.

Though she tried not to show it, Clem was relieved to hear that her criminal record didn’t warrant extensive jail time. With how infuriated Doppo had been the last few times they met, she honestly expected him to inflate the charges to get some sort of revenge. His vicious words towards her at the urban nights festivities led her to believe that he was like that all the time. Someone so angry seemed the type to be vindictive, so she thanked her lucky stars that he hadn’t let personal bias affect how severely she was charged.

Doppo leaned forward and she leaned back slightly in turn. His gaze was piercing, ripping into her as if searching her soul for any wisp of a secret. Clem stared back at him defiantly, her blue eyes dark in the shadow of her hat. Her situation may seem hopeless, but she refused to back down.

A ghost of a smile crossed her lips as he mentioned his ruined clothing. The mental image of his neon pink stained cardigan still amused her to this day. Her expression was gone as quickly as it came when he finished his sentence. The room almost felt as if it had gone cold, the unfamiliar environment suddenly had a hostile edge to it. She and Doppo’s prior encounters had seemed almost lighthearted. Not this.

Silence filled the room for a few minutes. Clem was reminded vividly of the first time she was arrested as a young teen. She’d been caught stealing bread from a bakery called Amilianna’s Cafe. A Rune Knight had caught her, put her in handcuffs, and dragged her down to the nearest outpost. She’d been left in a room much like this one, attached to the bench by her wrist. A brute of a man had come and yelled at her for a while, then she was left for hours in the room. At the time, the silence felt like a weight on her shoulders. The walls seemed to be closing in, the pressure of the situation reducing her to tears.

Clem was not the same now as she was then. Under these scrutinous eyes, she would stand strong. The harshness of life and the streets had hardened her. She’d built strong walls that only a few precious things could break down. The painter tilted her chin up slightly at Doppo. Words would have to be picked carefully, but she was determined to give the Knight a hard time.

“What’s there to know?” Clem couldn’t - and wouldn’t - tell him anything that the Knights wouldn’t already know. Saraphina had taken her under her wing, giving her food and shelter. The queen’s guidance was questionable in its morality, but the painter knew she meant well. Tura had become one of her few friends in the guild. She couldn’t put them in jeopardy by spilling what little she knew.

“I ain’t know much about the guild’s business.” She shrugged. “I just stay in my room most days, ‘cept when I need to get some money or make some art.”

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Post WC: 653 ◐ Thread WC: 3,022 ◐ Job Info: X Tagged: @DOPPO ◐ Music: Backbone

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As expected, Claira didn't seem like she was going to cooperate so easily. It was hard to believe that a member of such an infamous group wouldn't know much about the guild's "business." But that's what interrogations were for, and depending on how Doppo approached it, he could exit this conversation with more answers than questions. Errings Rising wasn't a particularly secretive guild, after all. It was less a matter of uncovering their secrets and more about expanding what little knowledge the Rune Knights truly had about such a high-priority enemy. With General Phacelia having been targeted by their carnage, it felt imperative that Doppo yield helpful results from this exchange.

"I see. Well, you must be very familiar with this room of yours. Tell me more about it," Doppo began again, sitting still in his seat as he watched Claira at the other side of the table. An uncomfortable air settled in the room. The room was so quiet that you could only hear the magical buzz of the light hovering over them, Doppo pausing with each comment just enough for it to feel uncomfortable before he resumed his thought, baby blues staring at his subject like daggers. The room itself felt wastefully spacious and claustrophobic at the same time, with a window overviewing the entire room but neither the redhead nor Claira being able to look back inside. For all she knew, dozens of eyes could have been watching her from all points of view. For many people who found themselves in interrogative rooms like this one, sometimes the unsettling silence of it all made them cave in. "Where is your base of operations located?"

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”’Course I know my own room,” Clem snapped incredulously, her eyes narrowing in confusion. Why would he want to know about her room? There wasn’t much to it that would lend any important information. “It’s got a bed, a mirror, a dresser, my video games, and my paint.” Clem wasn’t the most materialistic person. Though she had enough money to afford nice things for herself that she couldn’t have in the past, she felt more comfortable with a cozy, tidy room.

As much as Clem didn’t want to give information, she didn’t have much of a choice in this situation. Refusal to say anything at all would only make things harder for her. She was backed into a corner and surrounded. Before, her arms had been crossed in front of her as if to create a protective shield from the prying of the Rune Knights. Now, her shoulders held a slight hunch to them. The pressure of the situation and the harsh room put her on edge.

“It’s on a mountain somewhere,” she muttered through her teeth, matching Doppo’s gaze with her own defiant one that revealed nothing but her incredible stubbornness. While Clem was trying to be purposefully obtuse with the answers she gave, this one held truth to it. The guild hall stood tall on the cold Mt. Hakobe. However, she had no clue what the name was. On her first trip up to the foreboding castle, she’d passed a sign in a nearby village. She was certain the name was on there, but at the time, she was completely illiterate. Progress in her reading skills had been made with the help of Saraphina’s servants, but the painter had never cared to go back and read the sign. The mountain’s name had probably been mentioned to her a few times, but it wasn’t a detail she deemed important enough to commit to memory. She knew her way up the mountain by visual memory and a fantastic sense of direction now, not by any sort of written cue.

"Next you'll be askin' my favorite color or some shit," Clem jabbed sarcastically.

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Post WC: 352 ◐ Thread WC: 3651 ◐ Job Info: X Tagged: @DOPPO ◐ Music: Push Through

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"Actually, I was going to ask you to elaborate. We can talk about our favorite colors later on, if you'd like," Doppo replied, the sarcasm going completely unnoticed. His demeanor remained cool and collected, but he seemed sincere in his offer to discuss trivial things like their favorite at a later time. After all, this interrogation wasn't going to be the only thing making up their conversation today, but it was certainly the priority.

In any case, they were on a mountain, were they? Claira was a little vague, so a number of different mountain ranges came to mind when she mentioned it, but at least they had their search narrowed down a bit. It didn't seem like she was the blindly-loyal type, so perhaps her insight was more reliable than someone who was willing to die for their wicked cause, but in the event that she was intentionally misleading them, the information was still valuable. With her being in Rune Knight custody and her future at stake, maybe she was wiser than she appeared and would cooperate as honestly as possible if she ever wanted to escape jail time.

"Which mountains? Is it Mt. Hakobe, or perhaps the Phoenix Mountains?" the redhead looked at her with interest. On second thought, the Phoenix Mountains seemed even more troubling, seeing as a different guild was up there somewhere. There were almost a dozen different mountain ranges within the state, so even though Claira's words had narrowed down their search, it wasn't by too much in the grand scheme of things.

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Clem rolled her eyes and sighed at his literal take on her words. Apparently he wasn’t well versed in sarcasm. “Sure.” Colors were a big part of her life and a passion of hers, so she could probably talk about the subject for hours. Not that she wanted to do that in an interrogation room with Doppo of all people.

The tense young woman threw her hands up in exasperation. Both places he listed sounded familiar, like she had heard them mentioned by a guildmate before, but neither stood out to her. “I dunno man! It’s some giant cold ass mountain, I ain’t got a clue what the name is.” She really didn’t want Doppo to know why she was unable to give him the name. Between being caught, magically suppressed, and stuck in a room with this insufferable Knight to be prodded verbally, the embarrassment of her illiteracy being exposed would probably send her over the edge.

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Post WC: 158 ◐ Thread WC: 4,068 ◐ Job Info: X Tagged: @DOPPO ◐ Music: Link

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It seemed like that was going to be the extent of their conversation as far as location went, and Doppo could only think of Mt. Hakobe when Claira talked about the temperature. It was famous for its extremely cool temperatures and wintry conditions that accompanied it. He knew of settlements that were located at the foot of the mountain, but there weren't a lot of garrisons in that area, so there weren't as many Knights stationed around there as opposed to more densely populated parts of the country. Maybe this was enough information to warrant a search up the mountain? Doppo would have to bring it up when he reported on this interrogation to the Field Marshall and all of the other Generals.

On the other hand, there were topics they had to discuss that were just as important as their location—their identities. There were few terrorist groups that could match the Rune Knights' size, let alone strength, but one couldn't help but be skeptical with how little they truly knew. If they were going to take down this group with as little loss and sacrifice as possible, they had to know what they were working with. An overly cautious man is a fool every day but one, or so it goes.

"Alright, let's move on. Why don't we talk about the guild itself, Ms. Alvarez?" Doppo begun again after a moment of thought, "What are the names of the people leading it? How many of you are there?"

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Clem’s stiff posture relaxed slightly as the topic shifted away from the location. Her arms returned to their crossed position and she slouched in the chair a bit, glaring at the table. Interrogation sucked. Detainment sucked. Everything sucked.

“Sara,” was all Clem said, returning to stubbornly vague answers after her frustrated outburst. There were others that helped the Queen, but she didn’t know them beyond their appearances. There were many guild members she passed in the hallways of the castle that she never learned the names of. Many were odd, even creepy, so she kept away from them if possible.

“There’s a lot. I dunno the number exact.” Another half-truth. Clem had always been better with numbers and mental mapping than she ever had with written words and language. If she pictured all the people she had seen in the castle over her time in Errings Rising, it had to be at least fifteen. Based on the number of rooms she had memorized while walking around, it could easily have been upwards of twenty-five if every room was occupied by at least one mage. That was not information she would give up easily, or at all.

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Post WC: 196 ◐ Thread WC: 4,513 ◐ Job Info: X Tagged: @DOPPO ◐ Music: Hands in the Fire

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Sara? Doppo couldn't recall having heard of someone who went by that name, but that wasn't to say that others couldn't. Even if the redheaded General couldn't connect all of the dots as they were handed to him, at least they were being given to him.

So now they had a name and a general idea of where their base of operations was located, though Doppo couldn't help but suspect that there was more than one person leading Errings Rising. That group was bound by chaos and destruction, so either this "Sara" person united them all with an iron fist or she'd have help from others. Fiorean Guilds commonly had more than one person leading the group, legal and illegal guilds alike, so it wasn't farfetched to assume the same for a guild like this one.

"I see," Doppo shifted in his seat, which was perhaps the greatest noise his body had made since he entered the room, "Some time ago, one of our officers was assaulted by someone in your guild. Before I ask that you visually describe other members, what can you tell us about Sanguine?"

His eyes seemed to become sharper and more prying when the name fell off his tongue. If there was anyone that the Rune Knights were interested in just as much as their leader, it was this "Sanguine" fellow that attacked General Phacelia some time ago. It wasn't a pretty incident, and while Doppo wasn't there at the scene when he was recovered, that was still his mentee and comrade. No matter how much Beaux grew as both an officer and a man, Doppo seemed to take that incident personally. The redhead seemed keen on keeping all of his subordinates alive and as well as possible as long as he was responsible for them, and even as they went up in the ranks, he had the same values. The fact that this case had gone unsolved until now was frustrating enough, and he was going to help get to the bottom of it, and figuring out just who Sanguine is was the first and hardest step to make.

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”Sanguine,” Clem repeated quietly, racking her brain for any memory of that name or who it belonged to. Saraphina had mentioned a Sanguine before, probably during one of their instructing sessions or tea time, both of which the painter usually forgot the majority of. If the name belonged to who she thought it did, that woman hadn’t been around lately. Clem would see her occasionally in passing, but now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen the strange woman for a while. It wasn’t her nature to get up in everyone’s business, so she had no clue the reason Sanguine was gone and didn’t care to ask.

Whatever this woman had done to the Rune Knight Doppo mentioned seemed to be serious. The General’s glare had become so intense that Clem couldn’t meet it anymore. Instead, she stared at her hands, her face still wrought with a spiteful expression. The paint coating her skin was beginning to itch, so she peeled flakes of it off absentmindedly. The table and floor were slowly becoming covered in colorful specks.

“I seen her before. Not in a while. Dunno where she is,” Clem answered with a shrug. Luckily for her, Doppo didn’t seem to be prying her answers for specific details. If this was all he would ask of her, she might be able to get off easily with her vague answers. The young woman was cynical enough to not believe that fully, though. It would be the cherry on top of this shitty sundae of a situation if he backtracked and began hounding her for specifics.

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Post WC: 265 ◐ Thread WC: 5,133 ◐ Job Info: X Tagged: @DOPPO ◐ Music: Mana

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Four. It was the fourth time that Claria said "dunno" or something along those lines of ignorance. It was always these vague answers and general responses that narrowed their search of information if only by a small margin, but with so much at stake, the fruits of this conversation would hardly make up for the loss that happened every second Errings Rising was freely ravaging the country. Finally, they've managed to get one of their members directly in their custody, so was this really the best he could do? Just some mountain and dunno's? Beneath that calm and collected expression of his, Doppo's blood boiled. The General wasn't known for his patience—just his ability to hide his temper until it was too late.

The shrugging, the unpleasant quips, her terrible posture in the seat just across from him—this all meant nothing to her, didn't it? This was all just one big process of trying to get as minimal of a sentence as possible, wasn't it? It didn't matter who she was helping or hurting with this interrogation, just as long as she left it without much skin off of her back, right? Doppo knew that to be true and couldn't blame her too much for it. After all, if he switched shoes for a moment, why would he care about some General of a faction that wants to see him in chains? What stopped him from lying through his teeth in order to get out with just a slap on the wrist? Her behavior was understandable—and he had the capacity to see that—but it wasn't any less infuriating to see it unfold right before his eyes. Doppo wasn't the most socially aware man in the world, but he knew when he wasn't being taken seriously.

It was clear that this gentle approach to this interrogation wasn't yielding the results he had hoped for, so the redheaded General had decided to shift gears. He didn't want to have to use this tactic, but if it meant getting better answers than the ones he received so far, then he was committed to it.

"Amilianna Alvarez, a ten-year-old little girl in the custody of a foster family. I remembered what you said when we were on that island together, so I went ahead and personally met with her and the foster family. She is a very sweet child," Doppo suddenly got up from his chair and walked over to Claira's side of the table, the sound of his shoes tapping against the hard floor filling the silence in between his pauses. He stopped in front of her, placing his hand on the table and the other on the back of her chair, leaning down so close that all they could see were each other's faces, and the look he had on his was unsettling. His eyebrows were raised and his baby blue eyes were wide—he didn't blink and he didn't raise his voice, but his prying expression felt like the final attempt of keeping his patience intact. It was like a thin pane of glass, where the wrong words threatened to shatter it. "Ms. Alvarez, I'm getting the impression that you're not taking this as seriously as I need you to. As far as I'm concerned, I'm standing next to a terrorist of the state, and I can't have someone like that see someone like Amilianna. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe six months with parole isn't as appropriate as I thought. Do you understand? I will personally make sure that you never get to see her again and that she never gets to see you. That's what you want, right?"

Doppo pushed the chair back. Even with Claira sitting on it, he could lean it back enough so only his hand and its back legs were keeping it up. His voice was low and icy, and his baby blues stared at her, unreadable.

"I'll ask again—where is the guild hall, who are your leaders, how many of you are there, and what about Sanguine?"

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To Clem, the world seemed to slow the moment Doppo uttered that name. Amilianna Alvarez. No. Air left her lungs like she had been kicked in the gut full force. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Her pulse roared in her ears, so much so that she didn’t notice Doppo’s approaching footsteps until he was right next to her. “Ammi...” she whispered breathlessly to herself.

He knew where Ammi was. All her years of searching had yielded nothing, no leads, no sightings. The long lost girl was somewhere in Fiore. She was with a foster family. Clem felt the tiniest pang of relief. At least her sister was with a family instead of stuck in the system. What if she forgot me? Clem worried to herself. What if she doesn’t want to see me?

She met Doppo’s gaze as he got up in her face. Blue eyes clashed in an intense staredown. Her expression had changed from a bored glare to something akin to awe and fear.

Clem’s heart dropped to her stomach as he spoke again. Doppo was using Ammi as blackmail, a threat to pry more answers from her. The thought of never seeing her sister again made the painter feel dizzy. No, that can’t happen. I’ll never let that happen. I have to see her again, I have to take care of her. The General had tilted her chair back in his grasp, a literal representation of how much he held control over what happened to her from this moment on. He could return her to solid ground or send her tumbling backwards towards something much worse. It all depended on her now.

The despair of the situation she now faced tore her up inside. She couldn’t not see Ammi again. That was out of the question. Nor could she entirely betray the guild that had been her home for the past few years. What would happen if they found out? She’d surely be killed on the spot, or at least she would be on her own again with a death wish. Clem put her head in her hands, rubbing her forehead in a failed attempt to ward off the headache she felt coming on. Her breathing was shaky and shallow.

Silence filled the near-empty room as Clem’s mind raced. Shit. Doppo had really played a winning hand. She’d let slip how much her sister meant to her back on that island, how much she wished to make things better for her. That information had become her own downfall. All these years of being strong and defiant to the law had been taken down by one fatal shot to her greatest weakness.

“I really ain’t got a clue what the mountain is called,” Clem began, speaking in a quiet, defeated mumble. “Sara - Saraphina - leads us. There’s others but I ain’t met them.” Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke, going against the very nature of loyalty that had been beaten into her in her times in various gangs. Loyalty above all, loyalty until your last breath. It felt so wrong to be speaking right now, but it had to be done. Her chance of seeing Ammi was on the line and that was something so precious she had to preserve it, even if that meant betraying her guild. The spark of defiance within her was dampened greatly, but that didn’t mean she would spill every bit of information she knew. She had her illiteracy and wariness of others to use as a shield to hide some of what she knew.

“There’s around fifteen. Like I said, I kept to myself lots.” Clem took a deep breath. “I ain’t seen Sanguine in a long time. She ain’t been at the guild hall. Somethin’ mighta happened to her but I dunno, honest.” As she thought about it, she remembered several members mentioning that Sanguine was dead. She refused to give that up simply out of spite. That was something she could do at the least to aid Errings Rising. Let the Knights continue their wild goose chase for a woman who didn’t exist anymore.

“Where is she?” Clem glanced back up at Doppo. “Is she happy?” Her chest ached with hope and worry.

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Post WC: 707 ◐ Thread WC: 6,514 ◐ Job Info: X Tagged: @DOPPO ◐ Music: Sirens

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As Doppo gazed deeply into Claira's face as she responded to all of the General's previous questions, it appeared as though this was going to be the extent of their interrogation. Even though his threat of denying access to her younger sibling was effective and she had yielded some valuable information, the redheaded General couldn't help but continue to feel unsatisfied with how little they actually knew. Whether Sanguine was still at large or completely off the grid seemed like a mystery to them both, so it didn't feel like any sort of justice was served for his mentee either. He knew not to get his hopes up too much for these sorts of things, but he couldn't help but feel like a step behind their enemies. It was vexing, but in any case, nothing more could be done today.

With a quiet sigh, Doppo's features seemed to relax and return to their usual indifferent appearance, eyelids drooping as he carefully leaned the chair back down to the ground. When Claira glanced up at him, he glanced back, leaning against the table with his hands gripping the edge. At first, he didn't say anything to respond to Claira's question, only noticing how sincere she was in her concern for her little sister. This was the second time he had felt such sincerity from her, and that realization brought a small smile to his lips and a thoughtful gleam to his unreadable eyes as he looked down at her from his feet.

"As happy as someone could be when living with strangers. She's well fed, has plenty of cute clothes, has a roof over her head and people who care about her helping her out right now. So..." Doppo sighed through his nose, though his smile remained the same. He had visited the Ammi multiple times and met with the family every single visit. On the surface, everything seemed fine. One might be able to say that the girl was better off than ever before, but who could say whether or not Ammi was happy other than Ammi herself? Doppo's gaze seemed to drift as he thought about it. "Ms. Alvarez, regardless of what you'd say or wouldn't say during this interrogation, I would have told you about your sister. I don't believe that you're a bad person, but I still would've told you even if you were. Sometimes us grown-ups get so caught up in our own problems that we don't even think about how our actions affect the people we want to protect the most."

Doppo ended up thinking about his own childhood at this point. Ever since his father left them for another woman, she was never the same. Child support money still came in, but she only ended up using it to fund her bad habits. She became a violent alcoholic, and Doppo's world seemed muted and colorless for years. With the domestic abuse at home, money going down the alcoholism drain, and his magical side effects going untreated, school seemed pointless. Eventually, he dropped out of high school and started working in his hometown of Motor City so he could support both himself and his mother. As soon as he turned eighteen, he left home and ended up joining various guilds and completing odd jobs to make ends meet, though his world still felt colorless and bleak. It wasn't until recently that things began to change for him, and it wasn't until his discovery of Claira and Amilianna that Doppo started recalling his past in such detail. He knew how damaging a broken family could have on someone, so how could he not prevent it when he had the power?

"Ms. Alvarez, I have a hard time connecting with people. I try hard, but I say careless things and can't seem to read a room. When people confide in me, I don't know what the right thing to say is or if I should say anything at all. It takes a long time for me to understand how people are feeling, and sometimes it's hard to understand how I'm feeling myself. I've made wrong choices, but I don't think I'm wrong about this one," Doppo leaned forward without thinking, gingerly placing his gentle, callused hand on Claira's head. He looked at her with that usual unreadable, indifferent face of his. "You're not a bad person, Ms. Alvarez. I've seen bad people, and you're not one of them. You can always get new clothes, a new house, and other things—but you can't replace family, right? That sort of stuff can really devastate someone, and they may not even realize it until much later. I think she needs her big sister, and I think you need her. I don't think that's the wrong choice."

Doppo paused for a moment. He was a soft-spoken man and he knew that. He didn't talk a lot and a lot of what he did talk about was sometimes odd and insensitive, but he couldn't stop himself from at least trying to connect with this woman. It was different than talking to a mass murderer or a child abuser—some people were easier to guide than others, but no one could be helped if no one ever took the opportunity to begin with.

"I can help you, but I can't do anything if you're not willing to make the changes you need to in order to see her, Ms. Alvarez. If you want to see your sister again, you can't remain as you are now," Doppo stopped talking completely after that, waiting for her response. Was she willing to abandon her ways in order to secure a future for both herself and her sister? There was nothing Doppo could do if she held on to her beliefs and whatever amount of loyalty she had to Errings Rising, but he could set her on the right path if she had any interest in her own well being. It felt like the right thing to do.

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Clem felt the tightness in her chest ease a little as Doppo put distance between them once more. The intense pressure she had felt in this cold, harsh room under his intense gaze was beginning to wane, so she felt like she could take a few deeper breaths at last. The badgering of questions had caused her to get defensive, put up a mental and verbal shield to protect her and what she knew. But now her wall had been battered to rubble. She felt weak. Guilt wracked her body at what she had revealed, but Clem tried her best to ignore it.

A wave of relief washed over the woman as Doppo told of Ammi’s situation. She was safe, sheltered, clothed, and fed. That was way better than the horrible situations she was imagining. Going into the system wasn’t exactly a great life for most of the kids who were taken in. Horror stories had circled the streets in her childhood. Several of her friends in youth had escaped foster homes to return to the streets because the treatment was so awful. Of course, some kids exaggerated stories a lot, but she knew there was truth to them. Ammi must have been one of the lucky ones.

Clem watched Doppo speak, her expression unrevealing. As he said that he would have told her about Ammi no matter what kind of person she was, she felt a shred of respect form for him. Despite all the enraged outbursts she’d witnessed from him, he was proving to be a good person with genuine intentions. He seemed to have picked up on how deeply she cared for Ammi and how much she wished to protect her sister.

A quiet, dry laugh escaped her lips as he spoke of his social shortcomings. She had definitely noticed his lack of understanding sarcasm, but as he elaborated, a lot more of his mannerisms and personality made sense. She began to understand he took her words literally, spoke bluntly, and stared with a face that revealed little emotion at all. Doppo was an unusual person, one she would likely never forget.

Before she could do anything, he’d placed a hand on her head. Clem flinched and froze up, hunching her shoulders as her fight or flight response tried to kick in. Usually when people had touched her throughout her life, it was to inflict pain or a message. Her mother’s abuse, getting into fights, initiation into gangs - no matter the source, physical contact had been such a negative thing to her. That was, until Ammi had come into her life. The little girl’s hugs and high fives had given a new meaning to touch, and Clem found that she liked it a lot. Since Ammi had been taken, Clem had started to associate it negatively again. Instances of affection had been few and far between for her in the past few years, she was starved for positive physical touch. This sudden contact with Doppo left her instincts in shambles. Clem noticed her hands were trembling, so she tucked them away at her sides.

“Yeah,” the painter agreed, her mind racing too much to say more. She did need Ammi, that was true. The girl had been her driving force for so many years. Everything she did back in Neutral Grounds was for her sister. It was up to her to give Ammi the life she deserved, better than Clem’s own upbringing. The vibrant little girl was too precious to live on the cruel streets like she had. Clem believed Ammi was a better person than herself. She’d always been so kind, creative, and determined. There was a brighter path for her out there than a life of degeneracy.

But what if Ammi didn’t need her? Clem’s heart dropped at the thought. What if this foster family gave Ammi everything she needed? What would she do then? Clem bit her lip and looked down as the doubting questions seared through her mind. Shut up, shut up, she thought to herself. Ammi needs me and I need her. That’s the way its always been. The iron taste of blood touched her tongue. Her lip was bleeding.

“I know,” Clem snapped, overwhelmed by the situation. The intensity of her thoughts and conflicting emotions caused her to resort to the attitude she was used to presenting. There was a tremble to her voice, hidden beneath the bristly tone. “You don’t gotta lecture me about that, I know.” She continued to look towards the floor, trying to hide her bleeding lip.

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Post WC: 761 ◐ Thread WC: 8,275 ◐ Job Info: X Tagged: @DOPPO ◐ Music: Link

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Seeing Claira like this... why did Doppo feel a smile tug at his lips?  Seeing her sit at that chair, head hanging low and this pensive gloom surrounding her, Doppo shouldn't have a reason to feel this relief, but he did. He had seen so many others just like her find themselves in a cell, locked away from society, or even dead—but it didn't have to be that way. He admired the work he and his colleagues did as officers of the state, but it was always a little disheartening to see these things unfold the way they did. He wanted to help rehabilitate these criminals, these people, but there was nothing he could do if they didn't want to be helped, and so many of them didn't want to reach out for that support.

"Well, let's end the questioning here for today," Doppo walked over to the other side of the table to grab the folder he was leafing through earlier. He pushed his chair in and stood there for a moment as the door to the room opened all of a sudden, two Rune Knights entering with handcuffs. But despite the daunting entrance of his subordinates, Doppo continued to look at Claira with this mild smile on his face—it was kind and gentle. "We'll keep you here with us until you receive your sentencing, and I might call you in for further questioning later on, Ms. Alvarez. After that, I'll work as hard as I can to make sure you can see your sister as your best self."

The Rune Knight quietly put the cuffs on her and waited for her to make her final remarks before being escorted to a cell. Although the redheaded general was glad to have apparently gotten through to Claira, it didn't make the situation of Errings Rising any less dangerous. He'd have to share this intel with the Field Marshall and Director as soon as possible, and then maybe they could make some real change from there.

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