tampered | Log; ongoing

Log; ongoing

When; September 10
Rating; PG
Characters; Firo Prochainezo (

seventy_years)
Summary; Firo may have been cockblocked by the gestapo, but they made up for it by throwing him in the same cell as Ennis. Well, they have plenty of time to talk now...
Log;

Ennis had quickly come to realize that struggling was useless and only served to tighten their hold on her, but what she didn't understand was why they hadn't stopped after capturing her--why had they brought him along too? Something had been said about them being arrested for their crimes, and she could accept that if it was only herself being hauled off, but he had appeared nothing but ignorant of the horrible chain of events that had begun in 1711, and she could not believe a person like him could be responsible for anything nearly as heinous as the crimes she had committed and those she had done nothing to prevent...

She had pieced together a theory of why and how she had been taken here from Manhattan, but it seemed all but shattered now. This associate of Maiza Avaro--a person she had assumed had learned her identity and had intended to stop her--had no knowledge of who or what she was and had only sought to return an item she had lost. And if it had been Maiza Avaro who had sent these four to capture her, for what reason would he have his homunculi arrest a friend in the process? Why would he have been taken to this city to begin with? Ennis simply did not know what to believe anymore.

The button was still secure, held tight in the palm of her hand. She hadn't had time to put it in a pocket before the four humanoid constructs had arrived, and right now it was the only truth in this place that she could cling to. The person that had been arrested alongside her--a person associated with the man her master wanted to kill most out of all men on Earth--was someone that she could no longer regard as an enemy.

She refused to lose it again. Even when she was thrown heavily against the wall of the cell--a measure to prevent her from having enough time to get up and escape before she was locked inside--she did not uncurl her fingers to lessen the impact with her open palm. It was only after her small scrapes and forming bruises had mended that she sat up and looked at the small golden button in her hand--a small piece of one of her few possessions--and then turned her head to regard the one who had gone through so much trouble to bring it back to her. It seemed that they would be sharing a cell for the time being.

There were a great number of things for them to discuss, and as far as she could tell, no shortage of time to explain herself.

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"Hey!"

That was all he could utter out as those weird-looking guys shoved him inside the cell, his back slamming against the wall next to the girl. He uttered out a grunt as the pain shot up his spine and quickly got up on both feet, but the steel bars had already slammed shut just as he pushed himself up.

Whoa, they were fast!

He ran to the cell door, laid both hands on the bars, and called out: "At least tell us why you're arrestin' us!"

As if they'd get some sort of explanation from those guys.

And as expected, they didn't. But it was worth a try.

As he took a peek outside he noticed the guards closely patrolling the area—he could take them on, but getting out of the cell in the first place was another matter entirely. He turned his attention to his hands tested the strength of the bars by pulling them in opposite directions. They didn't budge. Not that he expected anything else. He leaned away from the bars and started to scrutinize the cell, looking for openings or anything else that could help them escape, but it seemed pretty solid from where he was standing.

Frowning, he turned to face the girl in the cell with him and leaned back against the steel bars. "Well, looks like we're outta luck."

She watched quietly as he called out to the guards in demand for answers, followed with an inspection of the bars. To be honest, Ennis doubted from the start that escaping would be that easy, and, really, where were they going to go even if they did escape? She'd lost count of how many levels down they had been taken, and from what she'd seen, every floor had been crawling with guards. They would need a plan to get out of the building even if the opportunity to escape from the cell presented itself...

Still sitting by the wall where she had fallen, Ennis found that she could not look him in the eye when gave up and turned around to talk to her. It was her fault that he was here. If she had fought alongside him rather than stop him, they might have been able to win by working together, or at least fight them off long enough to get away. She picked up the button and carefully secured it in one of her jacket's inside pockets, and watched as the skin of her palm filled in the indent it had left behind.

"I'm sorry. I did not expect them to capture you along with me."

He blinked and wondered for a moment if she really didn't like looking at him, or if she was just shy or something. That's too bad; he wanted to talk to her more, or at least get her to tell him her name—even if he had already learned of it from Luck. It was still different if he heard her giving it to him herself, after all. But at least she got her button back! was his thought as she pocketed it.

The question she then raised confused him and reminded him of the other similar things she said as they got caught by those weird things.

"Huh? Why'd they want to capture you, anyway?" He still couldn't think of anything she could have possibly done to have some strange not-really-human guys go after her, but he was willing to listen to whatever she had to say.

Ennis thought about it for a moment. She had thought she knew the answer to that question, but after everything that had happened since her arrival in this strange city, it was becoming increasingly hard to make sense out of everything. Yet... the longer she remained here, the more likely it became that she wouldn't live long enough to return to Manhattan, so she decided that she may as well answer his questions to the best of her ability.

"I had assumed that they were sent by Maiza Avaro, but since they apprehended you as well, it seems that was not the case." But if it wasn't him, then who could it have possibly been? None of the other surviving alchemists should have had the knowledge required to summon the demon, and only a being of that power should have the ability to do something like bring her to this strange city so suddenly and without her even realizing what had happened...

But, for now, she was curious as to how he would react to hearing the name of his acquaintance. Swallowing her shame, Ennis looked up to see if it was true that he was completely ignorant of the struggle between the alchemists that still continued after over two hundred years. Did he really know nothing of it?

Another blink. Maiza? Seriously? While he wouldn't doubt Maiza's decisions when it came to matters like these, he really didn't believe that Maiza would go get someone to pick this girl up, and with those weird not-really-humans, no less.

He chuckled. "Well, sorry to disappoint ya, miss, but the Martillo Family doesn't really have those kinds of weird fellas at our disposal. I don't even know what those things were."

There's a pause as he thought about what she said, putting both hands in his pockets out of habit. As he did, he noticed that what he thought had been a broken bone when the four guys dragged him and this girl to the Prison had been completely healed (that was pretty neat!). Curiously, he added:

"And why would Maiza want to get you, anyway?"

So he really didn't know... Actually, thinking about it, she knew very little about the alchemist as well, other than the knowledge she had received about the events on board the Advena Avis, and what Szilard had told her just a few hours before: that Maiza Avaro hated immortality and would sooner destroy the wine than share it. It seemed that her master's impression was correct if Maiza hadn't even shared his story with the people around him. And to keep that secret while working in what sounded like some sort of criminal organization... How had he managed to hide the fact that he never aged and his injuries would heal almost instantly?

Her eyes were drawn to his hands as they disappeared into his pockets, and remembered the rough treatment he had endured earlier. He didn't seem to show any signs of injury, so he was likely hiding it from her. If it were not so unlikely that Maiza would have shared the liquor with him, she would have suspected he was immortal.

Ennis quietly considered his question for a moment before answering, "It is a long story if you are prepared to hear it... It began over two hundred years ago..." She trailed off for a moment before continuing with, "If your arms need any attention, they should be looked at first." She could still hear him crying out in pain. A broken bone was the worst case scenario, and she knew enough about injuries to know that they needed to be tended to as quickly as possible.

A curious look was on his face as he observed her. She looked deep in thought, as if troubled by something, and he didn't really know what to say to cheer her up. Maybe he should wait for her to talk; it's not as if they're in a hurry, being stuck in this cell and all. And as much as it was inconvenient for both of them to be trapped here, he admitted to himself that maybe it wasn't entirely that bad. He really wanted to get to know her more. Sure, it would have been better if they had met under different circumstances, but hey, he'll take what he can get.

And so he was both happy and relieved when she finally spoke up.

"Huh?" He took one hand out of his pocket and bent his arm by the elbow. He was sure this was the one he had broken a while ago, but it seemed perfectly fine now. "I'm alright! See?"

He put his hand back in his pocket and turned his attention back to her. "I think listening to your story's more important, though. So let's hear it."

[OOC: fffff this took forever. xD; I was hoping to catch you on AIM before going to bed so I could ask, but I guess here is fine too... Anyway! While I was typing out this tag, I started getting concerned that I was going on the verge of fourth-walling you with this huge infodump, so if there's anything that you would rather I leave out, please let me know! ^^;]

Her eyes widened a little as she watched him move his arm with a natural ease, and when she quickly looked up to his face, was unable to detect even the slightest hint of a wince. Their captors had been far from gentle, and at the very least his shoulders ought to have been sore due to how harshly they had pulled his arms behind his back. She was instantly suspicious, and it showed on her face. The Maiza Avaro her master knew had lived over two hundred years ago, so there was a good chance that his views had changed. Had he granted others immortality without their knowledge...? Or... was it possible that Isaac and Miria had shared the bottles they had taken without realizing what it was?

...But those questions could be set aside for now, especially considering the amount of incorrect conclusions she had already come to today. If he wanted to hear the story, and wouldn't regret hearing that story, there was no reason for her to keep it from him. There was nothing either of them could do about it while they were in this cell, and the battle would probably already be long over by the time they were able to return to New York.

She took a moment to organize her thoughts and after carefully setting her face with a neutral expression, spoke in a detached tone. "Two hundred years ago, in the year 1711, a group of alchemists were traveling across the Atlantic on board a ship. One of these alchemists, a man named Maiza Avaro, was able to summon a demon and asked him for the secret of immortality. The demon responded by providing him with a liquor that would grant immortality to anyone who drank it, and there was more than enough for everyone on board, but only Maiza received the knowledge to recreate it.

"It was not until everyone had drank from it that they learned the details; the most important being that there was only one remaining way they could die if there came the day that they were no longer interested in living. But only immortals could use this method to kill other immortals, and in the process, the surviving immortal would receive all the knowledge and memories of the one who died.

"Not long after, Maiza announced to the others that he would not be sharing the knowledge to recreate the liquor... Most of the alchemists accepted his decision, but one of them was deeply angered. He valued knowledge over all things, and to have that information deliberately kept from him was insulting...

"Master Szilard began to 'eat' the alchemists on board the ship, taking their knowledge as his own. It was a convenient method for him to gather knowledge quickly and without much trouble... He was even able to 'eat' Maiza's younger brother, who had received half of his older brother's knowledge of the recipe... but before he could 'eat' Maiza himself, the remaining alchemists were able to trap Master Szilard and throw him into the sea. The surviving alchemists continued on to New York before going their separate ways... and Master Szilard has pursued them all ever since."

Firo blinked. 1711? That was a really long time ago. Maiza must be pretty old, then!

But what she said seemed to make sense now that he found out about this immortality thing, after his arm got chopped off and reattached in the City. Luck had tried to explain it to him, but hers was a lot more detailed; something about alchemists and liquors and eating each other—it confused him, and his brows drew down in deep concentration as he tried his best to understand as much information as possible. He knew he wasn't really the brightest of the lot, but that much he needed to do anyway, both for Maiza, who seemed to be not only immortal but had a lot more problems than he realized, and for her, who made a lot of effort to explain it to someone like him.

And then he noticed he had been staring at her for quite a while.

"H-Hey so," he started, in order to divert attention from his suddenly heated face, "I didn't really get everythin' you just told me, but are you sayin' that Maiza's in trouble with this old man Szilard?"

[OOC: ahaha, it's okay! I figured you were pretty busy, and, lol, I am so envious that you have a job where you can roleplay in-between work! XD Also, Firo why are you so cute ;o;]

She had been keeping a close eye on his expressions in order to continue gauging his reactions, and from what she saw, it appeared that he was more confused than anything. She couldn't exactly blame him, though, considering it was the first time he would have heard of such things, and the story itself was so ridiculous that she half expected him to think she was just making it all up. Never mind the fact that they had just been dragged to prison by four noticeably non-human beings, or their presence in this strange city to begin with...

She was unsure of his response, though. While he did admit he hadn't been able to follow everything she'd said, Ennis didn't know what to make of the redness in his face. Was he angry? Well, it would make sense, as she had just finished explaining that there was someone who wished to kill one of his acquaintances... "Ah, yes..." she replied. "Master Szilard wants to kill him more than anyone else..."

Ennis was uncomfortable with the thought that he would soon realize that she was revealing herself as his enemy, but it was worse to not explain it and risk another situation where he would defend her again without understanding the danger she posed to one of his friends. Her guilt was already too much to bear without shouldering that as well.

At the moment she confirmed it, the look in his eyes changed; in moments like these, he can also be dangerous.

"Then that old man's not gonna get what he wants." He didn't know what this Szilard was capable of doing, but no one was going to mess with Maiza or any of the Martillos. They were the closest thing he had to a real family. He would die for them if he needed to.

But then he blinked, and the dangerous look disappeared from his face. "Hey... So how'd you know about all this, anyway? Not that I'm doubtin' your story or anything, but you seem to know a lot about Maiza and that old man and all this talk about Immortality."

If he was mad before, she could only imagine what was going through his head now, but she couldn't just sit there quietly without warning him of the danger...

"If you fight him, it is likely that you will only lose your life for nothing... He has spent the last two hundred years granting immortality to the strong only so he could consume them and claim their abilities. Master Szilard is a very formidable opponent..."

And then, just like that, he returned to his previous disposition so quickly that it took her a moment to answer his question, and when she did, she appeared to become increasingly subdued with every word. "In a sense... I am a part of Master Szilard. An extension of his will."

He clenched his fists tightly, but his hands still remained in his pockets. "That might be true, but I'm not gonna just ignore him, especially if he's plannin' to mess with Maiza."

And at her second statement, he blinked in confusion. Okay, now he was pretty sure that even a genius would have trouble understanding what she had just said. How could anyone be something like that? "A part of that Szilard guy? Seriously?"

What could she do? If he'd already made up his mind to protect Maiza Avaro to the point of willingly surrendering his life, there was likely nothing she could do to convince him otherwise... especially when she couldn't help but consider it an admirable trait. One that she certainly lacked...

Rather then dwell upon that, it was easier to focus on answering his questions. "By consuming the other alchemists, Master Szilard learned of homunculi--artificially created life. Rather than being born naturally, he created me by combining his cells with those of a young woman he had abducted. Normally, Master Szilard's cells would have returned to his body, but they did not because he used the incomplete liquor as a culture fluid, and I was successfully grown in the laboratory until I reached the physical age of my 'mother'. After that, Master Szilard's immortality was successfully ingrained in my body, and the end result was that he could share his knowledge with me at his leisure... and he can also separate the female portions of my cells from his immortal portions at will."

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