Chapter 182: Subject
Ranger
Chapter 182: Subject
By Wanderer D
There was a sense of excitement, a rush of heat from her stomach and up that made her face flush with anticipation and sensual desire.
The clatter and movement around her continued uninterrupted, but her distraction was becoming a bit obvious to her counterpart, who looked at her with worry.
"What is wrong?"
"I'm… just, it's difficult to explain," Jane whispered, forcing herself to keep cutting the carrots as indicated by Laetitia. "I just feel like something is going to happen."
Laetitia herself kept careful control of her own actions, stirring the pot here, flipping the contents of the pan there. "How so? Good? Bad?"
"Oh, goooooood… something good and—" Jane took a deep breath, almost shivering. "Delicious."
"I'll have what she's having!" someone from the back of the kitchen called.
Laetitia pretended to be amused, but her eyes held not a single glint of it. "Get a hold of yourself."
"I-I, yes. I'm sorry I don't know what's going on. Let me-I'll be right back."
Laetitia watched her charge across the kitchen fast, heading for the bathroom, among the knowing looks of quite a few chefs. She shook her head. Their minds were in the gutter already.
"There is something strange here," Luna's familiar voice whispered in the back of her mind. "I sense a trail of magic, but what could be causing it? This wasn't present before."
"Oui. It is most strange… but no one else is acting the same way."
Pouring the contents of the pot into the pan, she quickly stirred the food together, daring to glance around, but other than the earlier amused looks, none of the staff, nor the guards gave any hints of things having gone wrong.
"Alas, I cannot pinpoint the origin of this mysterious magic. Keep your eyes and senses open, Laetitia."
"Oui, princess."
"Where is she?" Bradford asked, pretending that he was not actually sipping his wine. "She should be here."
"I noticed her making her way in the direction of the two guards," Elena said, frowning at the finger food on the small plate she had picked up. She picked up something that looked like a pickle of some sort, studying it for a moment before shrugging and putting it in her mouth. She chewed slowly, considering the flavor, before swallowing. "I haven't seen her since."
"This is not good. She's gone and there's no sign of our—"
"There he is."
Bradford turned around, watching the man walk out of the hallway flanked by the two guards Outrider had mentioned earlier. A bit taller and slimmer, and Liam Wittbecker could have passed for a Thin Man. As it was, the fidgety VIP appeared more nervous than anticipated.
He joined the party, however, greeting and talking with guests as the doors to the house finally closed, with the last few people outside making their way in.
"Package has arrived," he whispered, activating his comm.
"Confirmed," Elena said, right next to him.
"Oui, we are in position," Laetitia said. "But something is strange, Jane is apparently not feeling well."
"Dammit," Bradford cursed under his breath. "Jane?"
"I-I'll be okay, just… I'll be fine. Just give the signal and let's get out of here."
A few minutes earlier…
Sunset's eyes narrowed. She had never met him, but she knew who this was.
The long, white hair, the curling Ram-like horns, the condescending smirk, and red-black eyes. And more importantly, the sister-gem hanging from the alien-alloy chain around his blue-skinned neck.
The red and black armor was simple: covering his chest, shoulders, arms and legs, designed to protect the most obvious parts of the body rather than all of him. He was taller than her, and muscular.
He carried himself with an aristocratic, arrogant air, and yet his voice was shrill. His eyes lacked the single-mindedness and absolute focus of Aria, or madness and intellect behind Sonata's, but she could sense a thirst for power at any cost. And despite all his power, a definitive jealousy and even fear of Sunset's unknown—to him—power.
Oh, he hid it well, but she could almost taste it, and she could certainly see it in his pulse.
He was smarter than other ADVENT soldiers however. He had not tried to read her mind. She considered what to do. Pretend to be on his side? Kill him? Mock him for his fear?
"Where did you steal that from?" Sunset asked, instead. "Is that Adagio's?"
"Ah, my little siren, why would I answer your questions when you haven't even bothered to introduce yourself?"
"Names have power."
The Warlock's eyes narrowed, but he made no threatening gestures. "Indeed. We are at an impasse, however. While I have no problem welcoming here another of your kind—your sisters have been stalwart allies of my order for centuries—I am afraid that I am unwilling to share any type of information with you, unless I know at least, who I am addressing."
Sunset considered her opponent. This was the chance of a lifetime. She crossed her arms. "Fugue."
The Warlock's smile grew. "Fugue," he said, nodding. "An apt name. I am Lord—"
"My lord Warlock!" the door opened and Liam Wittbecker walked in, his thin, skinny frame almost too small for the pin-strip traditional suit he was wearing. "Someone saw a guest slip in here and…" he trailed off, his eyes widening at the standoff across from him. He studied Sunset with a lot less—in fact, completely absent—lust and a growing sense of horror when he saw the gem on her chest. "L-lady siren, I—"
"Leave us," the Warlock growled, his eyes never straying from Sunset.
"Y-yes, of course. I-I didn't know the intruder reported was one of our otherworldly guests. Please excuse me."
Sunset tried not to smile. This place worshiped those like her, who had mastered forbidden magic. Even though the creature across from her was more of a creation of the Elders than a master of magic, she could tell he had dabbled in it. Perhaps through the use of the artifacts outside even.
It was not surprising that a cult such as this one, hidden away from the prying eyes of the masses had been a prime point of contact for their alien overlords: the pictures on the wall spoke of richness and political power.
The books on the bookshelves whispered faded promises of power underneath the trash written in them to scare or dissuade away the uninitiated… even to provide them with a swift end, if they continued their fruitless search without the knowledge needed.
The fact that this creature had once been human, and had not been a victim of the dark secrets in this house was a testament at least to its intellect.
It all gave Sunset goosebumps of anticipation. Here was someone that understood her thirst to prove herself. Her thirst of power. Had she not already made up her mind to kill him, or if she had arrived here instead of at the school grounds, she would be sorely tempted to let him live long enough to teach her what he knew.
It would never surpass her knowledge—she came from a world of magic, after all—but it would certainly be entertaining. It would have also been a very different visit to Equestria had that been the case. She wouldn't have hesitated to learn more of her own magic. If she had known then, what she knew now… even Luna, Cadance and Celestia together wouldn't have been able to stop her.
When her eyes crossed with his, the frown he had developed when they were interrupted faded, and his pale-blue face twisted with a smile. He knew. He understood. She felt the blood magic boiling within her shiver with excitement. This one was powerful, eager for power, strong and ruthless.
Delicious.
"My apologies, my lady Fugue," he said soothingly, "I did not expect an interruption. As I was saying, my name is Lord Tirek."
o.0.o End Chapter 182 o.0.o
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Wait... what?
I am so disappointed I blew my picture two chapters ago, this seems like a far more opportune time to have used it.
9253154
Of course, the magic thief.
Oh, time to start the diableries
9253175
It makes too much sense. Steal it in one world, steal it in another.
Just gotta say congrats on being featured repeatedly and for so long :)
Well, it was theorized it'd be Tirek, so... confirmation. Really, not overly surprising given the role and personality of the Warlock. The horns kind of defined it too, though it was still pretty much a toss up between Sombra and Tirek, but at least Tirek has some sort of personality to build off of, and the whole magic thief angle fits.
Yea... Sunset's going off the reservation, and I don't see a 'good' end for her at this point. Now we see how long it takes for the rest of Xcom to catch on that Sunset's fast approaching the whole 'mad with blood magic'.
Also don't forget that Luna will be force puppeting Laetitia at some point during this mission if the events in Equestria are anything to go by.
Well now, this is quit the change in creator placing indeed.
I was going to say there were two possibilities, but one of them required Mirror access... not possible with how tightly monitored its been.
Crap, she isn't even trying to make a token "that's not you anymore" argument in her head.
Twi might need to bring along an AJ and a Pinky when/if she comes back (provided they really are dead) because Sunset needs to taste the rainbow before she does something she will not allow herself to be forgiven for.
Good name choice.
Also good music.
Edit: That and Little Fugue in G Minor make for a good accompaniment to how I expect this to go, but with some heavy metal thrown in.
Kinda figured it was Tirek once those horns were mentioned.
Also, Sunny's starting to worry me here...
Well it went the route to the smooth talk as per my last comment.
So lord Tirek, eh? I was so sure it was gonna be Sombra, that I neglect the theft of Adagio's gem/magic that is so typical of his counterpart.
Then again, the horns should also have been a give away, but the goat like shape, as well as the blue skin, had lean me at first toward Grogar.
Though the blue skin was due to the Elder's "reward", as seen with Aria, and the horns might just have been some kind of headpiece but, to be fair, Tikek's horns are more ox like.
"her charge cross the kitchen"
"her charge across the kitchen"?
"pretending that he was not actually sipping his wine"
...Why is he doing that?
"was one of otherworldly guests. Please"
Missing word(s)?
Dang I was expecting Sombra
Show of hands, who here thinks Bradford needs to step up and give Sunset “Daddy’s belt” to smack some sense back into her?
I was still viewing Sombra as an outside possibility, mainly because of the blue-grey skin, but Tirek seemed more likely with the high voice and the acquisitive personality.
"Fugue" as a name for Sunset's siren persona is all very well - fits the siren naming theme - and suggests that her mental shift might be reversible. Which is good, because at the moment Sunset seems to be getting rather overwhelmed with the possibilities blood magic offers for her ambition. Sounds like she wants to devour Warlock Tirek for his knowledge
Meanwhile Jane's getting overwhelmed by the sheer sensual experience of the blood magic... 
Well. This can only end happily.
I have this sneaking suspicion that in order to escape the mansion there's gonna be a blood magic orgy used to distract everyone.
Prepare for a bloodbath and a whole lot of Dokka. Well this op is about to go tits up. At least Jane is having a good time.
Hmmm, so it wasn't a complete swap? Interesting...
Fugue huh? Apt.
Didn't see that coming, Lord Tirek eh?
Dammit. Had to prove me wrong.
Huh. Was totally expecting Sombra, but got Tirek. Kinda makes sense with the white hair of the Warlock and how he steals power.
Ram horns? Maybe this really is Grogar and not Sombra or Tirek.
Very sireny choice.
Ahh, there we go.
Someone pick up the phone, 'cause I fukken CALLED IT!
Shouldn't Tirek be red?
9253419
Well, that, and the name also echoes* the "special" relationship she now has with Jane. A relationship which, should she stay bonkers, would be reproducible.
*
Going to have to echo the red/blue confusion. Still, this was one of the top contenders for the position. Now to see how Sunset deals with him. And the remnants of her sanity.
After all, as she said, names have power, and she's just given power to the worst of her. Hopefully this won't end in gallons of assorted bodily fluids and/or fire everywhere.
9253711 9253726 His armor is red. Remember, this Tirek was human before. When the elders created the Chosen their skin was blue.
9253323 Fixed! Thanks!
He's got a reputation as an alcoholic.
9253741
Oh, right
9253726
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA wait were you joking?
9253752
Let's face it, the odds of this ending in fire, blood, and possibly other secretions are at least 2 in 3 at this point.
9253757
If only Angel were there...
Not Sombra, huh? Ok.
dun dun DUNNNNN!
¿Dondé está Scorpan?
Tirek?! Oh, snap! They need a miracle for this!
9253741
Ah, thanks.
...Though possibly a justified reputation, based on that. I mean, drinking while on a mission? Of course, the person he's playing wouldn't have that reason not to drink, but it seems unlikely it's part of the persona if he's pretending he's not doing it.
"Fortunately" for him, this seems unlikely to be the worst example of one of the people on this mission giving into their impulses. By... a lot. Though those other impulses may also involve drinking something...
Okay, Now its time to panic.
9254431
Yes
The main question to me is whether this is this world's Tirek, or whether it's Equestrian Tirek come/sent through the mirror. This is essentially an AU of EGQ 2, which is before Tirek's appearance in the show, so we could have an alternate history where Tirek was banished to Earth instead of confined to Tartarus.
9253227
He could have come through centuries ago, like the Sirens. "your sisters have been stalwart allies of my order for centuries" could mean that eh was around for that whole time, or that he just heads it now.
Fuck, I just binge-read the entire story and now I'm all caught up.
I NEED MORE SUSTENANCE! 
Well... isn't this Delicious *ahem* interesting?
And thus we meet the third of the chosen ... finally ...
wealth, you mean wealth ... I'm not sure that 'richness' is technically wrong ... but it does sound like you're describing a flavour
Hmmm, can't say I didn't figure Tirek. Red and black, desire for power, just general altitude, of not being phased(he was surprised by Twilight having all the Alicorn magic, but wasn't thrown off, if this makes any sense) or having any sort of twitchy character(Discord always cracks jokes, Sombra is a little deranged about crystals, syrens are somewhat sadistic).
Ohhhh that makes sense. Really thought he'd be someone else.
Wait.
Then where's Sombra?
-GM, master of Sombramamba.
Wat... Damn it. A bait an switch. Its not Sombra.
I really thought he was Grogar, oh well.
Well...fuck. Things have gotten worse. I was hoping Sombra. At least he's easier to deal with