C2- Den of Snakes

The humidity and heat were oppressive, and to a far greater extent than they had been within the borders of the city itself. The thick, interweaved canopy of the rainforest acted like a sort of greenhouse, gathering the heat and trapping it all down there while the giant leaves prevented any escape. The conditions were leaning towards unbearable, and a few beads of sweat formed on the operative's forehead. The black color of her hooded coat only compounded the problem, driving the temperature even further and further as it absorbed additional heat.

Despite this, it was a pleasant consolation that the scenery around the pair was very much so the kind one would see on photographs gathered on a travel website. No later had they walked a few dozen meters away from the city, the dirt trail had been replaced by unaltered nature and the trees had become less dense, allowing for them to walk without too much trouble. Ahead, the path was a very mild uphill with the central section flooded by a stream, wide but shallow of no more than a few centimeters and flanked by large, round and moss-covered stones from which one could hop from and to alongside the water.

Roughly six hundred meters later, the canopy relented and the two girls crossed a short "clearing" where the trees were smaller and thinner, with dozens of small branches extending in all directions, but lower and with smaller, more sparse leaves which allowed the sun to shine through unhindered. Atop those trees, a large number of macaws observed the pair in silence as they passed. The birds were large and their bodies and tails of a bright red, while the wings offered contrasting blue-green feathers. Their beaks, also rather large, as with all parrots, was nearly white, as were the spots around their eyes.

The trek continued in a relative peaceful quietness that would be rather soothing if it were not from the searing heat, broken only by the chirping of distant birds, the croaking of toads and the occasional cries of small predators or groups of primates hiding among the thick branches. Idle chatter was made here and there, but for the most part, Rebeca was focused on making sure to take the right paths in the confusing wilderness of the Amazon while Liese attempted to memorize said paths and to find some landmarks. Although great skyscraper rose from Manaus, the impossibly dense canopy of the rainforest prevented them from being observable in the distance, making it so if things ever went south, she would be quite lost in the middle of one of the most hostile environments in the world...

After several kilometers through the thick and thin of the jungle, the two eventually reached an old cottage of fairly respectable proportions in the midst of the rainforest. It was relatively aged and made of wood, but seemed to still be in acceptable state, although the encroaching vegetation seemed intent on reclaiming it. Dirt and withering asides, the walls were of a light shade of brown that stretched towards the orange, as was often common in tropical areas. The roofing was made of cheap zinc sheets, roughly resembling old-fashioned Spanish C-shaped tiles, which had lost their early glimmer and gone matte.

"Well, there we are. It's a long trek, so for business we actually tend to go by boat." Rebeca broke the relative silence as the two walked closer to the building. She did not seem to be tired at all from all the walking, and no doubt her lighter outfit helped her cope with the ambient heat.

"By boat? I don't exactly see a river nearby, we're pretty deep in-land." Liese inquired, somewhat skeptical at the idea. They had passed by some shallow streams and a flooded swamp or two on the way there, but she couldn't exactly map it all just yet.

"There's a small cabin a bit under a mile to the north, it's on the side of navigable river with a slow current. " Her guide explained readily, seeming to trust the new girl enough not to hesitate. "That's where the boat is, and how we usually get to and back from the city."

"Makes sense, you wouldn't want your main place to be right by the river, other people could stumble upon it by chance and that'd be pretty bad." Liese completed on her own, quickly getting the hang of the whole setup.

"That is correct, secrecy is a must. We cannot afford to draw the attention of undesirable Officios. The 2nd and the 8th are particularly out for blood." A new, more stern voice rose from the veranda in front of the cottage.

Near the entrance, on the veranda, two more girls were seated across a small, wooden round table. The chairs themselves were also old-fashioned and made of light wood, with little else in the way of accommodations. The one whom had spoken up wore a tight dress reaching down to the hips, mixing dark navy blue on the sleeves and midsection while the neck and chest were pristine white. Her eyes, behind half-frame silver-colored glasses, were dark and framed by a straight, mid-back dark blue hair matching her dress. In addition, she wore black stockings and a long, black hunting spear with inset rubies in its tip rested on the wall nearby, at arm's length.

The other one seated with her had a somewhat similar look. She also wore a dress reaching down half-way to the knees, but this one ended in a skirt and was more wide and frilly. Being mostly black with white details and a somewhat open chest, it was complemented by a cutesy hood with mock horns, although it was pulled further back and did not hide her face in any way. Her eyes were of a very deep light blue reaching on teal while her hair, wild and with much volume, was of a long light blue, going down as far as her dress itself did. She, however, had stayed silent, observing quietly while holding on to a long staff built of a black hilt with a strange, alien sort of twisted, sapphire-inset blade at the top, which split off like a small axe but one of the blades further curved and circled.

"Hey, Cecilia. Noemi." Rebeca hailed back with no regards to the serious demeanor of her peer as she walked over and stopped in front of the table before pointing back to Liese. "This is the one, the merc' Florencio recommended." A short pause. "Ashworth and Randall haven't come back yet? I figured they'd be since we took the scenic route."

"They should be returning very shortly." The one hailed as Cecilia, the more stern one who spoke up, responded tersely before standing up herself and taking a few steps forwards, towards the entrance and stairs. She came to a stop in front of the half-German and offered a hand, which was responded to firmly once more. "My name is Cecilia Ramires. Cell leader, Eversor and formerly from the 8th, as are most of us." She spoke quickly and formally before concluding with a somewhat derisive tone "I believe it is time to end the charade now."

 "No point in putting it off any further eh?" Brandt concurred with a wide shrug, and the other two gave Ramires a silent look of questioning. Cruz seemed about to point something out, but changed her mind and remained silent, deciding to merely wait for now.

Liese rose both hands and brought them to the hood of her coat, lowering it a quick tug and revealing features that belonged more on a Witch than on a Human. The vivid purple of her eyes were surrounded by a tar-like black and equally jet black horns adorned her head. They were curved inwards and segmented like some sort of carapace while also having the faint shine of a metallic construct. With another quick tug, she opened her coat and slipped both arms out, tossing it over onto the nearby ramp of the veranda and causing Noemi and Rebeca to recoil back in shock.

Her outfit's back was poked with slits, against which had been pressed some..thing. Unfolding like some sort of accordion with small metallic clicks, this new black construct spread out, revealing a pair of wings that seemed straight out of some kind of mad steampunk creation. Adding further to the inhuman traits, a tail, segmented and metallic just like the horns, was curled around her waist and unfurled, rising up behind her and between the wings menacingly, as if a scorpion's stinger. Underneath the coat she wore a similar outfit to Rebeca, with short shorts and a crop top of black and gray camouflage pattern, but that lasted only for a short moment as a flash of light replaced them with a different outfit.

In its stead, magical fabric formed a pure white jacket with red shoulders and red lines going down the sleeves, which ended in a rather short black skirt. Underneath, black legwear ran up all the way from white and red boots to under her skirt, and likely some more. Finally, the outfit also featured a white peaked cap with a black front. Once the initial shock passed, Rebeca and Noemi began exchanging heated lines in Portuguese, which were no doubt rife with swears and insults.

"Una puta de Mae.... seriously? Fucking seriously, Ramires?" Noemi eventually reported her ire towards the self-proclaimed Cell Leader, spitting the words with venom. The recipient of said venom, however, remained impassible. "You totally knew!"

"She was the best candidate." Cecilia countered flatly with a stern tone that seemed completely unimpressed with her friend's small fit. "Everyone else was a bit too green, too liable to mess up. This one has the experience level of a veteran squad leader, so she was a notch or two above the rest." She concluded as she adjusted her glasses slightly.

"She's not exactly wrong Ceci', we.. can't really trust those bastard half-Witches can we?" Rebeca hazarded with a much more hesitant voice, as it was rather uncomfortable and awkward to backstab the girl she had literally just befriended.

"It is a gamble I made understanding full well what I was getting into. If it backfires, I will assume all responsibility." Cecilia responded with an uncompromising tone and expression, having by now turned back to face the others. The other two girls still seemed unconvinced, but neither of them was hot headed enough to continue this discussion right now. With the topic apparently dropped for the time being, Cecilia turned back to Liese, whom had been remaining silent through it all. "Well then, tell us more about yourself? What Officio were you from? What Rank?"

"The 12th." Liese responded casually, not feeling the need to correct that she was not exactly a run-away like most and instead still answered to an Incubator. Either way, she grinned before continuing with something that she considered a rather funny joke. "I'm a Vanus."

"What? Come on, stop bullshitting us." Rebeca interjected almost immediately, looking very unamused by the answer, in stark contrast to the half-Witch. Noemi and Cecilia also did not seem very pleased, but they made their disapproval known by way of silent staring. It was only normal, after all, the Vanus rank was largely a non-combat rank who specialized in support and logistics, as opposed to the Eversors' skills in close combat and the Vindicare's capabilities in ranged combat.

"No, seriously." Brandt insisted, wide grin shrinking to a more serious expression. "I used to be a Vindicare until they realized I was able to scry into the future. The thought of being stuck in the Librarium all day doing prognostication and nothing else is kind of a really unpleasant one." She concluded with a scratch of her left cheek and a somewhat embarrassed glance to the right.

"Oh.." Rebeca mused, settling down first while Noemi was still skeptical and Cecilia was weighing whether the story was believable enough. "Yeah, that'd be pretty bad for anyone who liked a good fight, but I'm pretty sure there's others who'd jump at the chance to no longer have to risk their lives."

"Oh of course there would be." Liese conceded with a shrug. "But I'm not one of them, I'd feel pretty much like if I was in prison for whatever imaginary crimes." She added before letting out a deep sigh.

"Those would probably be the same ones you committed to end up this way." Noemi interjected in quickly, motioning to the inhuman parts on the Vanus' body with a judging, damning tone which left no doubt at the intent to hurt behind her words.

"Madeira, cease." Cecilia reacted just as quickly to restore some semblance of order. "We're supposed to be working together, keep your venom for our real enemies here." She let out a small sigh as well and shook her head. "Either way, it's past eighteen, so I suggest we all head back inside and unwind. Ashworth and Randall know where to find us."

Noemi seemed to relent at the idea and offered a small, somewhat reluctant nod, while Rebeca stretched her arms and started to make her way inside first, responding dismissively. "Sounds good to me, let's make it all water under the bridge."

Noemi clicked her tongue, but otherwise cooperated, tucking her hands in her dress' pockets and closing the march after Liese whom took the time to pick up her coat before entering.  Once inside, the small group found itself in a rather spacious lobby. Immediately by the entrance were a trio of sofas, with a red leather three-seater in the far corner, flanked by a pair of brown leather two-seaters on its sides and a sizable low table at the center of it all. A number of empty bottles of local cerveza and other discarded trinkets had been abandoned here and there atop of the table, although by large the lobby didn't seem too untidy. It certainly did carry a persistent odor of smoke, which the blonde Vanus could easily tell was not due to the fireplace, itself set in the opposite corner from the red three-seater couch and leaving a fair amount of free space in the middle.

The building itself was not much different inside than outside. Hardwood floors were exposed, with no carpet in sight, and the walls, dotted with large windows, appeared relatively thin. To Brandt's surprise, there appeared to be electricity all the way out there in the middle of the Amazon. She had no idea how it could be produced - or transported - in such a wild, inhospitable area, so she made a mental note to ask later. Despite the presence of lights, though, there did not appear to be any television or computer, and only the bare minimum of appliances could be guessed by scanning for the kitchen.

"You two should introduce yourselves more properly, I will be back soon with the good stuff." Cecilia soon stated, more an order than a suggestion, as she made her way further into the cottage nearly as soon as she had entered.

"Eh, kind of already did, but sure."  Rebeca made a detour by the kitchen to fetch herself a bottle of the aforementioned cerveza before plopping down on the red sofa, on the left corner. Noemi remained silent and went straight for the right corner of the same sofa while Liese opted for the brown sofa on the left side, preferring to remain closer to the one who seemed less intent on trying to kill her through weaponized hate.

"So let's see..." Rebeca began, the words punctuated of the typical sound of the bottle coming uncapped. "I already told my name, and Ceci' already told you I used to be with the 8th, so not much to say. I'm an Eversor, like her, but I can cloak like a Callidus." Cruz kept her explanation short and to the point before taking a long gulp.

"Because she's basically a failed Callidus." Noemi chimed in with an half-joking tone and a shit-eating smirk. The blue-haired girl was leaning back lazily into the corner of the couch, legs resting on the low table. Her words were a bit difficult to appraise for Liese, because while they did not seem to carry any ill will, the other hooded girl, this Noemi, seemed like the type to have a natural predisposition for being hurtful, even without trying to.

"Ah shut up Noemi, you're just mad because I could shank you anytime and none of your fancy weapon training skills would protect you from it." Cruz countered, but did not seem particularly annoyed or disturbed and just took another sip of her beer.

"Weapon training? So you're all Eversors here then, right?" Liese hazarded, tempted by the sight and reaching for her own metallic flask, which she uncapped and took a sip of in turn. The thing was filled with cold vodka and did her much good after the whole trip and ensuing encounter.

"Actually, I'm a Caster Vindicare." Noemi responded with a smug grin. "Noemi Madeira, ex-8th, AKA; "That one staff bitch Eversors hate because they can't land a hit on her", not at your service." Just about as rude as possible of an introduction that was, but there was an element of theatrics to it, and Liese could only laugh. She was tempted to say that she doubted the blue-haired one would be able to escape her guns' sights, but decided not to antagonize her. At least not yet.

"It's a relief to see you have not killed one another yet, good." Cecilia stated with a flawless straight face and expression as she returned to the lobby, making it unclear whether it was supposed to be a joke or if she had really expected that outcome to happen. Either way, she put down a number of small paper rolls on the corner of the low table, between everyone else, and kept one for herself. She seated herself between the other two Brazilian girls on the red leather couch and brought it to her lips, fetching herself a lighter and bringing a quick flame to the tip. Almost immediately, her stern, displeased expression melted away into a more relaxed one.

Soon afterwards, the other two locals did much the same and before long, it was quite easy to identify the smell from earlier. Even Noemi's Bitch Vibes seemed to relent as she took the first puff. "So.... you gonna just stare?" Said blue-haired Vindicare questioned with a skeptical tone in Liese's general direction.

"Hm? Oh, I just never really smoked anything before. Alcohol, plenty, just not.. well... drugs or weed." Liese explained with a rather embarrassed tone, eyes darting away to avoid making direct contact. It was certainly not the kind of things she had expected to feel somewhat inadequate for not doing before, and yet, in the middle of this group where it was such a casual act, it did feel... off.

"Awww come oooon, don't be a prude now." Rebeca objected, nearly pouting as she leaned closer and gave the half-German Vanus a closer look. "You really look like you could use it, to be honest, you kinda seem pretty stressed out."  With a nod to herself, Rebeca picked up one of the joints and offered it over to Liese, whom hesitated still.

"Well, it's kind of normal isn't it? I have to try to make a good impression despite, well, everything." Brandt explained and made a wide gesture to her own body, and all the Witch-like parts adorning it like the physical manifestation of some ancient curse.

"Bah, all the more reason!" Rebeca countered, unimpressed with the explanation, pressing on her verbal assault. "It'll help you bond with us all, and then it'll be a lot easier to get along."

"One of us, yes." Cecilia added in her usual too-straight-to-be-real voice, and Noemi snickered at the display.

"What's... even in this stuff?" Liese asked as she pointed forward, running out of ways to avoid the topic. She had great alcohol resistance, that was undeniable, but this? She had no experience whatsoever with drugs and thus had no certainty she could hold her own. "Just kinda curious."

"Well, there's some common Mari in it, pretty harmless stuff really." Rebeca began, perking up as she thought back on it. "But it's spiked by some.... stuff that our Venenum synthesizes. I'm not too sure what it's supposed to be or how she does it, but it makes it even better, and it's reeeeally killer on the market."

"The good stuff, as I said." Cecilia stated all-too-seriously once more, to Noemi's chuckling delight, before bringing her own joint back to her lips and crossing her arms under her sizable chest.

"Well.. no.. reason not to I guess." Liese surrendered with a veiled tinge of concern, unable to find a good reason to give to avoid it, and being acutely aware that complying would help her gain the trust of the locals. With faint reluctance, she accepted the offered joint and let Rebecca light it for her, before finally bringing it to her lips.

The effect was subtle, but almost immediate from the first fumes, and she relaxed all the way back into the comfort of the leather sofa, blinking twice and looking up towards the ceiling, smoke softly rising from the tip as she kept the joint liplocked.  The world around her started to become more.. calm; the incessant noises, chirps and cries of the jungle becoming increasingly distant with every puff, as if the world had become reduced to the lobby and nothing else. At the same time, she found herself indeed less stressed, and less compelled. She had always kept herself to strict, harsh standards in every way, but the strange mixture made her loosen up somewhat, and made her consider that perhaps, just perhaps, she was being a bit of a stick in the mud by caring this damn much.

"So, how's it?" The short-haired Eversor inquired eventually after an amount of time that the Vanus could frankly not appraise at the time. When she opened her eyes, she had no idea of how long had passed, but the others had moved over to their second joints, and her own was already more than half-consumed.

"Hahaha..." Brandt chuckled a bit sheepishly before rubbing the back of her head, glancing away, then back to meet Cruz's eyes. "Ok, you've.. got me..." She grinned, sheepishly once more, and gave a wide shrug. "This... is pretty damned relaxing..."

"Is that really your first time having any?" Cecilia asked next, with a more mellow tone and expression than was characteristic for her, while Noemi just remained silent, eyes closed and enjoying herself.

Liese was about to respond, but recalled a distant event that made her pause and she remained silent for a few seconds before finally answering. "Actually, I thought so, but not entirely." She chuckled softly before continuing. "I -did- do something kiiiinda really crazy on my first big op outside of Prague."

"Oh? Sounds fun, go on." Rebeca egged her onwards as she leaned forward with a smirk, intent on hearing where 'crazy ideas' were going to go. The other two imitated her soon enough, with a complicit look that left Liese no choice but to lean in as well, as if they were all sharing dirty secrets.

"Ok, so..." The blonde Vanus began before taking another long puff, as if to give herself courage. "You know about that... rumor thing.. that you can do naughty things with another girl's Soul Gem right?"

"What kind of perverted obscenities did you do, you monstrous deviant~" Noemi jested with a toothy grin, but she was no longer showing any true hostility in her words. Her hood had also fell off, and her light blue hair was falling to both sides as she kept leaning forward, glued to the words.

"Well, ok so, bear with me here but... I was like.. "If you can do that kind of things with a Soul Gem... what would happen.. if you did it with a Grief Seed..." right?" Liese slowly eased in the punchline. She was not quite deliberately making all those pauses, but the spiked weed certainly helped her with that.

"Wait.. don't tell me you.. did that.." A half-disbelieving, half-amused, half-concerned Rebeca - that's right, three halves - interjected, leaning back ever so faintly while blinking twice. "Well I guess if anyone'd be crazy enough to do it, it'd be one of you half-Witch bastards."  She concluded, stunned by the audacity, but not quite hostile either despite the harsh words.

"Sure did, and the next thing I knew, everything was funky like I was on proverbial acid." Liese explained with another chuckle and a somewhat nostalgic look, after which a short silence fell onto the group that was letting this new, hilariously abusable information sink in. "Funny thing is.. although I was high as scheisse, that was the first time I started seeing glimpses of scrying at the future... but since I was, of course.. High as shceisse.. then I discarded it all as my imagination."

Laughter rose in the lobby, and the rest of the evening was far more cordial than the initial contact, as well as further roused with a number of beers. The smell of weed permeated every corner of the cottage, but no one minded, as no one was in full possession of their wits for the remainder of the evening and night.