tampered | Ongoing

Current Mood: anxious

Ongoing

When; Thursday night
Rating; PG-13 for the shady-ness that is the Underworld
Characters; Christine

velated_v
Summary; V and Karen accompany Christine to the Underworld in search of Gustav Daae. Will they find him?
Log;

Christine fetched her cloak, nervous about whom she was going to attempt to find. Her father....she missed him so much throughout the years. He was all that she had, and when he passed away when she was young, her world lost its sun. It did not mean as much as it had when she had been there to tell her stories, comfort her, and play the violin.

Not until Erik came into her life, and things just seemed to take its course. Now we was to be wed to him, and she wanted her father to be there to walk her down the aisle. He was long dead and gone when she married Raoul, but she accepted it reluctantly. But now...she was in the City. The City was full of endless possibilities, and one of those was that Gustav Daae was here, in the Underworld, she was sure. He was dead after all.

She tied a small pouch of silver francs to her waist, just in case any sort of payment is needed. She waited at the doors of the Opera House for Karen and V to arrive, and then they would all go on their way.

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Just beyond the steps to the opera house, a manhole cover in the street flipped neatly upwards, then landed with a slight clatter.

After a moment, A black hat emerged, followed by the familiar Fawkes' mask as V hauled himself up onto the street.
Generally he preffered to walk from the tube station to destinations within the city proper, but with the activities of the tunnel horrors of late, he felt had begun making a daily examination of the tracks, and tunnels were infested.

Thankfully the south line ( which ran under the Opera House) was clear today, and deciding it impractical to return to the station when he was directly beneath his evening destination, he came by a more unconventional means.

Enhanced strength made pushing the heavy metal cover back into place no trouble, and after a quick dusting of his sleeves, cloak, and hat, he approached the steps.

"Good evening, Ms. Daae," he said while removing his hat in a courtly bow, "Have I arrived early?"

Karen was especially intent on protecting those in her charge now. After she'd heard about what had happened to Scarab, it only 'fueled her fire', so to speak. She also had a soft spot in her heart for the sincerity of Christine's actions, so really she would have been happy to accompany her even if she didn't need protection.

And in the back of her mind, as she pulled on a simple black jacket to button up over her white dress, she wondered if that boy would be there... Kazuki. She had not seen him in this part of the City, but there was a chance he could be in the Underworld.

Taking a deep breath, she dabbed just a dot of lily perfume behind each ear before standing and leaving her room. Her high heels clipped against the floor as she walked to the entrance, spotting Christine waiting there and just in time to hear the one called V greet her. She recognized him vaguely.

A very verbose one.

"Ah, how embarrassing. I hope you're early, since anything else would mean that I'm late. And I live in the same building as her." Karen teased as she came to a stop, smiling to Christine and nodding to V.

Christine smiled as V arrived, giving him a curtsy as was custom. 'Thank you for joining me, monsieur, she said, feeling much better about their task as her companions joined her.

She turned at the sound of Karen's voice and laughed at her comment. 'No, not at all! Thank you for coming with me,' Christine said. 'I am truly grateful. I do not know what we will find there, or if he even is here in the City, but...I would be a terrible daughter if I did not at least try to find my father.

'You know the City better than I do,' she said to V. 'Will you lead the way?'

He made another bow to the recently arrived Karen.

"Madam."

Then addressed Christine agian;

" I am afraid no one may know the city well. It is far too protean to have the good manners to keep to a regular layout.", he said with a mild shrug, " The tube station is not far from here, however I do not know what you intend to do once we arrive in the Underworld?"

Karen rested a hand on her hip, one head tilted to the side as she thought. It was true that the City never stayed consistent, but it seemed that if there was a person to know it best, it would be V. At least from what she had seen through other people's journals and topics of conversation. He was so well informed, that out of the three of them, he really ought to lead the way.

She was simply playing the part of the bodyguard. She did wonder if V could fight, though. He seemed to carry himself very well. The mask was curious, but it wasn't her place to ask.

"Well, while normally spreading out would give us a better chance of finding her father, we don't have a clue as to what he looks like. This could take all night, really, to cover all that ground... But I really have nothing better to do, short of filing my nails and pretending to act useful."

'My father is a violinist,' Christine explained. 'All we need do is find a tavern or some sort, with violin music. Simple as that. It is the City's night life, from what I understand, so he should be playing his violin.'

She gave her companion's reassured smiles. 'I'd know my father's playing anywhere. To the tube station it is, then.' Giggling in pleasure at Karen's comment, she turned to the young woman. 'You remind me so much of my friend Meg....she was such a fiesty young ballerina! Didn't care who heard what she said or what anyone thought...she always spoke her mind.'

They started down the steps, and Christine felt happy. It was nice, being with friends. She hadn't done this in ages; the women who were married to Raoul's friends usually avoided her and she didn't get along with them. Although her previous marriage was wonderful, she was quite lonely at times.

V nodded, and chose to keep his reservations about finding this man in the seedier clubs, and dens-of-ill-repute that made up the bulk of the Underworld to himself.
If Miss Daae felt there was a chance at finding her father there, who was he to say differently?

V had been within the city long enough to have picked up the trick of navigating through it's ever-changing streets and buildings.
The key was to think only of your destination, not the means in getting there, and then to simply follow where your feet led.

Quite sooner than expected the subway station was in view.

"Wait here for a moment, ladies. The horrors do not usually stray this close to the main line, but they have been unusually active of late. Best to allow me to check."

Without waiting for argument, he descended the steps and made a quick scan of the platform. Nothing close, but when he looked down the tracks, he could see movement further off.

Returning quickly, V checked his pocketwatch ( and in the process unconsciously flashed the six steel daggers he wore at his waist).

"The train shall be along any moment. It is highly doubtful we will be accosted in the meantime."

He returned the watch, and gestured toward the steps.

" Stay within the light, and there should be no danger."

Karen had to chuckle at that observation. Well, it was true that she wasn't as reserved as some ladies... Especially most Japanese ladies. "Oh, honey, in my line of work, it's necessary to be a little rough around the edges. 'Fiesty' is a new one, though. I'll take that as a compliment." Of course, she had been talking about a 'career' different than this, but didn't even think of how that might be perceived.

She was silent as V scouted the area, observing with a raised eyebrow as he checked a pocket watch. So he knew how to fight. His courteous nature really did remind her of a certain someone...

With a chuckle, she tucked her hair behind an ear and stepped onto the platform with Christine. "And here I thought -I- was the bodyguard."

Christine's eyebrows shot up in surprise as she glimpsed the knives carefully concealed by V's coat. Well, we certainly are going to be safe, she thought, She appraised Evey's choice in suitor, and she was sure that they would remain happy together. She wondered for a moment if they had planned a future together just as she and Erik had done, but decided not to ask. Those sort of things were private, and she was in no place to inquire about them.

Christine descended the steps, followed by Karen. There was no one in the subway, and the cold fluorescent lights cast an eerie glow on the darkened tunnels. She knew monsters lurked there in the black shadows, and unconsciously pulled her cloak closer to herself around her shoulders, the memory of the Pyramid Head creature flitting through her mind for a moment. It was interrupted by the sound of the subway train's headlights emerging from the darkness and coming to a screeching halt at the platform.

The doors hissed open, and a man dressed in rags of a conductor's uniform emerged from the train. His hair was thin and fading, and his skin clung to a body that was slowly rotting away. He smiled at their small group, and she glimpsed bits of rotting musle and bone here and there where the skin had decayed. He gave a flourishing bow towards Christine and Karen, tipping his hat towards V in greeting. He held one skeletal hand out for the payment for their journey.

Christine fumbled at the pouch at her waist, and pulled out three silver francs. The man inspected them curiously, and gave a satisfied smile, tucking them into his pocket, and gesturing for them to board the subway. As Christine passed him onto the train, she read the conductor's nametag: Hello, My Name Is Charon.

Charon, she thought. How fitting. The train was old, and yellowing seats hugged the sides near the windows. Christine took a seat, her eyes drifting to the neon blinking letters which read 'Welcome to the Underworld'. She glanced at her companions. 'Thank you for coming with me.'

V was well aquainted with Charon, as they were neighbors of sorts, and in returned the conductor's courtesy by doffing his own wide-brimmed hat.

He had been about to dissuade Ms. Daae from paying his fare, but in a rare moment of inattention, she had already done so.
Ah well, He supposed he could use his pass for the return trip.

Ms. Daae fount a seat, but V prefferred to stand...far too many unsettling memories of being in subway cars...
He wrapped gloved fingers around the handrail above him instead.

'Thank you for coming with me.'

"Think nothing of it, Madam. I still feel I must make amends for being so disasterously tardy during your unfortunate encounter with the fiend." He replied.

" And besides, Evey would never forgive me if I let you wander into the underworld unnacomapanied"
The last self-deprecating statement was meant to remove any sting from his previous ommision of guilt, and V used Fawkes' grinning visage to full effect in an attempt to make Christine laugh.

((OOC: Sorry for the delay!))

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