Shaking Things Up

"I haven't either. Have you Ava?" Devin asked the woman.

They shook their head. "If you two don't, then I likely wouldn't. Both of you been here longer then I have."

Devin guessed that was fair. "Anyway, Danny has a point." Left unsaid if it was a fight..Tracy wasn't exactly the best fighter with how she was now.

Tracy sighs. She knew when she was out numbered. Picking up Cassia, she sits in the waiting chair "Okay, so first of all, Cassia is from a race called Mamodo and comes from a different world." she starts...

"Every one hundred, or so, years the Mamodo King sends one hundred different, and random, Mamodo to a different world to battle it out to see who's gonna be the next king..." she continues.

She rummages through her bag and pulls out a Strange Book "Each are given a spell book that olds attack or defense spells that can be used a numbered times before needing to rest and if the book is burned, the Mamodo apparently dies." she says, setting Cassia's spell book down so everyone can see.

"Cassia is one of those sent to fight others like her for the title of King on her world and since she's so little, and alone, I've decided that I'll be the one to protect her and get her home safely." she finishes.

"And how will you do that when you can't even defend yourself?" Aki asks. She and her sister showed up a little ways through Tracy's story.

Devin wondered why she had been reluctant to tell them in the first place but it wasn't as important. "We'll figure it out. But you mentioned about King, so if she wins she'd be responsible for a entire people?"

Sending one so small in some fight, much ruling seemed absolutely fucking nuts to him.

Tracy shrugs "I don't. It's a political climate from a completely different world." she says.

Danny nods to the young Mamodo "What about your little friend, there?" he asks.

"Chances are they'll assign a regent to act in her stead, or they may even employ advisors." Chelsea says, having come in a little after Aki and Oka. She sets something on Devin's desk "My hours for the day."

"But isn't that... a bit cruel, to make children fight in such a sick contest?" Oka asks, she was sticking close to her sister

Devin awkwnowledged the young woman when she set something done on the desk, he get to it. "May be to us, but like Tracy said dealing with a different culture and political enviroment. Is it normal to send people close to your age Cassia?"

She shrugs "I don't know. I'm only eight." she says "But, my brother didn't seem to think so when my name was called." she says.

Danny thinks for a bit "It might be a random drawing. When your number comes up, that sort of thing." he says.

"So it's like a lottery, but instead of winning money, you win a trip to a battle royal." Chelsea chims in.

Devin had too little information to really rule anything in particular out and it seemed their guest Cassia, being young was a bit out of the loop as they were. "So you mentioned about some of your kind burning your book, are you linked ti it? Would it hurt you?"

Cassia shrugs "I don't know. Someone said that if your book gets burned, you die." she says in a hushed tone.

Tracy pats her head "Well, true or not, I'm not going to let anyone burn your book." she says with a smile. This also gets a smile from Cassia.

Danny, never wanting to be 'That Guy', but always asks the hard questions "How are you going to protect her, when you can't even protect yourself?" he asks.

"Well, then its a good time to start learning isn't it?" Devin said. "If you want, we can teach you while also keeping Cassia safe. If the are others after her, we'll be there." It still bothered him a lot they sent some little kid in some death battle royale, children were precious in most Noreal cultures.

Tracy shakes her head "We've thought about that and I've come up with a brilliant idea. The best way to win, is to not play at all." she says with a smile "Let those involved fight it out until there's only one is left and it's such a big world, the chances of running into them are so remote." she explains, patting Cassia's head "Plus, it's not like they can sense themselves, so they'll be looking for a very long time." she says with a nod , impressed with herself for this.

Devin wasn't completely convinced, but it could just be all the years of MUrphy's Law being as strong as the laws of gravity in his life that shaped his view a bit. Hope for the best, prepare for the worse. "It's your call since you're taking them in. Still it never hurts to be safe."

Honestly, the smarter thing in his mind was let the Hunters have it, then while they were at HQ, decide who could both take her in that be a good fit, and protect them the best.

Danny was thinking along the same lines "If she's in danger, the responsible thing to do, is call the Hunters and let then know there's an interplanetary battle royal going on that will determine the fate of a different world." he points out "It also would be a good idea to turn the kid's book over to them so they can learn all they can from it."

Tracy scratches the back of her head "Yeah, about that, you see, only one person can read the book, and it happens to be me." she explains "So even If I gave the book to them, they wouldn't learn anything from it."

Chelsea shrugs "Probably should anyway. I mean, for safe keeping if nothing else. Plus, you may want to register her before she's found out by the Scanners." she points out.

Devin nodded a bit. "Gotta agree with her. Besides, if nothing else she said if that book is harmed it harms her right? It be much safer there then most other places it can go to. Plus the whole scanner thing when time comes."

Tracy had to register and didn't want to subject poor Cassia to all those fourms and the interview, plus they would ask about who's gonna watch over her. It would be an absolute mess, but still, she knew they were correct.

Danny walks over to Tracy and Cassia "Come on, kid. We should get this over with as soon as we can. I'll come with you." he offers.

"That's uncharacteristically generous of you." Aki says in a blunt tone.

Danny eyes her "I don't conform to any preconceived ideas that people have of me." he says as he starts out.

Tracy and Cassia jumping up to join him "H-hey, wait up!" she calls after him.

Devin watched them go, they have it handled so no reason or urge to tag along with things. "Well, that's an interesting first for me: having a off worlder child randomly putt in a interplanetary battle royale. If I didn't know any better I'd think they got that idea from somewhere,"

Maybe there was some popular genre of video game that was actually real somewhere.

Aki bops her fist into her palm "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell Tracy that her former boyfriend might pay her a visit." she says "I bet she'll find him a bit more pleasant to be around this time."

Chelsea looks over to Aki "Why? What was wrong with him? Was he ugly or something?" she asks.

Aki shakes her head "No. He is, in fact, quite good looking. He was, however, coated in dark energies that were so foul and evil that it was driving Tracy's instincts to have her keep her distance." she explains "I have since remedied that situation."

Ava wondered what the energy part was about, obviously they hadn't had it before or Tracy wouldn't have been with them once. "Do you know where those energies came from? Though I guess it doesn't matter if its been taken care of."

Aki nods "Yes, I do." she says, but doesn't elaborate on it. Chelsea had an idea, but if Aki, who said she knew but didn't say, was silent, she would be as well.

With no more open cases at the moment, it seems the good folks at the Last Maiden can take it easy for the time being.

((This is a good place to stop and close the thread. Everyone's out and the thread's Closed.))