1/28 "There are no strings on me."

Dun would pace forth quietly into the Kurakaiyo dojo, glancing about the confines of the old teachings of Kirai. The kidnapper of the young girl that would grow to be his mentor in martial arts, teaching him things even his hardened fists could not manage merely by opening his eye to the flow.

If she saw what he'd become now....she'd probably kill him. But justice was blind, and some things had to be done. He'd never expected to grow old anyway, but it would not be a life spent withering away on a bench. It had destroyed Dunstan, and it would destroy him too if given a chance.

The jester would glance over to the blonde woman in the shadow, her natural element as he recalled. Yet, even behind the mask she could likely sense a radiance of mirth and amusement as he slowly removed his mask, just for a moment.

"I am glad I found you here, admittedly I haven't spent much time in Osrona recently. Putting plans into motion that could be considered a bit....excessive. Luckily, the city watch does a lot of sitting around most of the time, so they probably haven't even noticed I've been gone. Don't know if I'll ever head back, in truth."

The clown would restore his mask, feeling almost naked without it in truth after the months he'd spent with it never leaving his face. The identity of Dun the Tower required immense commitment, it was a force of chaotic power oft almost beyond Task's control these days.

Nikara found that out the hard way, how far he'd come since Theria had set him free.

"I...have been occupied as a clown. Right hand to a gang of mercenaries in Theria, one of the big three on their council. Excellent platform for stirring up a bit of chaos, pissing off some knights. Dillion and Dragmire's fates were my own machination, I've begun....a new sort of justice I've quite taken a liking to Alyssa. One no longer held back by their snobbery and supercession."
(Dun)
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 She had seen that mask before, years ago, in the Pelleaux manor. Though that was twelve years ago, and Crowley was dead.

Before she could even speak the mask was removed, the face of Task revealed.. where the hell had he been..? The Watch was basically a skeleton crew at this point, not that she truly cared.. not like the Order allowed them to do their jobs.

Silvery hues observing as he spoke, listening to what the Commander, or was it former now..? Had to say. "It's been much of the same." A quick reply before the mask is replaced, the man continuing.

She remembered a time, in the manor of Lady Salis, when he had described the clown as the chaotic force of nature that needed to be stopped.. how far had he fallen to be what he is now?

Likely as far as you have.

"Huh... Can't say I'm mad at either of those, both needed to die, especially the latter." A glance around, as if making sure no others were about. "Though I think we've both done something similar." Not sure if she should dive deeper into that, she falls silent on that subject.

"So what caused this exactly, hm..? You've become the very thing you once swore to destroy."
(Alyssa cos D'Arnette)
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 Dun would begin to chuckle with fervor at that, slapping the black plate of his cuirass with a merry cacophony. Where once saying such things had haunted him deeply, his new grim resolve seems to have made such statements a grand punchline. What better than a monster clown to fight knights, it fit right in with the fairy tales.

"I know that, Alyssa. Long accepted the fact. I've sacrificed my chance at a simple, dutiful life of perfect service and civility. I've made myself what I needed to become to make a difference here in Theria. A place where the air is fresh and free from degradation, where a man's own fists can define him."

The clown would sigh, nostalgically thinking back to his youth in the Osronan parks. How he'd spent the evenings standing sleepily beside Audree, whispering away at all manner of flights of fancy. Perhaps it had been her reclusion when he'd finally begun to slipped. Perhaps it was the fragments of occulticcrystal that still remained in his brain from the adventure of the comet.

"...there are no strings on me anymore, Alyssa. I have found a form of justice that does not drain me day by day in mundanity at my tied hands. As the clown, I am the Tower of the Ardent Shields, I advise one of the three warlords in the right direction. It's a strong position of influence, one easy to rise up in with the right help."

The clown would extend his hand to his watch captain, a woman he now asked to become his aide in a life of mercenary violence and aspirations of justice as a warlord. His palm idly shimmered with mana, a gentle shroud that, soft as a touch, Id had demonstrated to him how to sever and stunt the flow of mana as much as he reinforced and invigored it.

All it had taken was a bit of resolve.

"Join me, and you won't regret it Alyssa. I've never led you astray before."

(Dun)
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 She would listen as the man explained himself, his reasonings. They were similar to her own, although different in a few ways as well. Her mind drifted towards her conversation with Cameo earlier, and what she had to do to further her own goals.

His offer made, a hand extended as mana enshrouded it.

"Hm."

A moment of consideration in her eyes, a soft smile crossing the features of the noble. "I am glad you have found your own freedom, but I think I have found a way to seek my own.. though that doesn't make us enemies." Of course it wouldn't, they surely wanted something similar.

"I want to fix my city, and removing most of the Order is what it will take." Task perhaps knew of the nature of her fighting style, but likely not. Though the lethal energy that radiated from her would say it all.

"Trust in me, and I will trust in you. We can even work together... I just need a clear path through Theria, despitemy status a Noble.." It was something that she may not be much longer if she were found out.

The shadows bound in her tattoos began to crawl and creep up her neck, the intensity of that earlier energy increasing.. She would have to keep it closer than ever to complete Cameo's request should the opportunity arise.
(Alyssa cos D'Arnette)
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 The palm would remain extended to Alyssa as he paced forward, his ethereal blue shroud of mana emanating hauntingly from the depths of his black armor, the holes of his mask. As it streamed about like seamless serpents of mana around his form, his hand would begin to harden with concentrated mana, blackened by the sheer density of it.

"I want to fix my city too, Alyssa. But we both know that won't be done peacefully. The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer as order's martial law maintains an iron grip upon Osrona. I do trust you, or I wouldn't have shown my face."

Dun would nod steadily as he removed a cigar from his cloak with his free hand, leaving the other extended as he placed it lightly between the mouth hole of the mask before taking a long, thoughtful drag from it.

"I have your passage, free and true in spite of your nobility. But it will mean you need to aid me, and assume a visage most...amusing. You see, they do not question the clowns, they fear the energy they manifest. Assume the mask I know you bare as a bearer of the dark fist, and in Theria you will walk easily as one of the Shields, none the wiser of your efforts."

Dun would lightly chuckle, realizing he knew exactly what was necessary to sweeten the offer.

"All you have to do is make those awful puns you do all the time, and your cover as a clown is sold."
(Dun)
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Did Task truly know what lies beneath her flesh..? Or even rode upon the surface of it..? She had been a very chained beast for a long time, a bloodlust bound by both magic and sheer mental fortitude.

What she would be doing for Cameo would already make those ties strenuous, threatening to break those chains entirely, and possibly forever.

His offer still before her.

Was that something she could do..? Something she wanted to do..?

Though what else would give her the shot at those she wanted dead, she couldn't as she was, and she should know that by now. What she would require is a change, and a major one at that.

Though the puns did make the deal sweeter. "As long as it won't interfere with something I'm planning on doing with.... your favorite Lieutenant." Hopefully he caught the drift from there as to what that mean, with Cameo.

"I will accept."

In less than a day her entire life had shifted dramatically, but such change was necessary. Shadows crawled down her flesh, some of the bindings already beginning to strain as her hand was coated in umbral energies.

The raw essence of her darker half.

"Since the Watch and the Order have failed us both, we will make our own Justice." A grin forming on her features. "Our own... Jestice." It begins, her hand reaching to shake his own.
(Alyssa cos D'Arnette)
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 Jestice.

…

Awful. Entirely awful. This was a terrible idea.

Dun would absolutely groan as he heard the pun, his energy dissipating as the hands were shaken, Alyssa brought into the fold of his organization. His machinations in Theria were beginning to prove quite fruitful, and above all amusing. It was a worthy sacrifice to tolerate Alyssa's absolutely lethal puns.

A painful one.

"I've reacquainted with him already, it will not interfere in the slightest. If anything, he's found Theria quite a comfortable destination for vacation."

The clown would nod knowingly, crossing his right, serpentine arm over his left as he took a deep, centering breathe before sighing in relief, folding the pair tightly over the black plate of his cuirass and the crimson wool of his jester's cloak.

"It won't be a simple road, Alyssa, but through the mask you will find freedom. My resolve will not waiver, I will not lead you astray. I'll have you meet with the associates I've assembled into my little...comedy troupe when you're in the city. Orepare your clown identity, and we'll discourse more upon my plans there."

Dun would raise his fist with a nod to Alyssa, offering her a brief two finger salute as he prepared to depart from the dojo to allow her time to change.

"It took losing one eye, and having the other darkened by resentment, hatred, and bitterness, but I finally see clearly Alyssa. Free of my rose tinted glasses. This land is sick, and a bit of laughter will be the cure."
(Dun)
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 She didn't have much more to say, offering a nod to the mention of Cameo. Her own umbral energies slowly fading, the presence of those negative emotions weakening but not fading entirely.

"Hm.. Alright.. I'll work on it as soon as I'm able.. already have a few ideas I think." She did have that veiled hood from those years ago.

Not returning the salute, but he should know her respect was given regardless. As he would turn to leave, "I'll try to make it soon, but I may need time to ajest."

She did it again.

Materials were on hand, it would just take a artificer perhaps..
(Alyssa cos D'Arnette)
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Dun would walk away from the dojo back towards the distant heights of Theria with a true, honest smile on his face, a joke coming to mind that truly perked his mood as his galvanized resolve led him forth into the night. With the two bearers of the kageken, the dark and murderous fist, by his side with Mister Glass and Mister Water, he had plenty of clowns for a good old fashioned circus. He'd cast away his doubt, his fear of the necessary brutality required.

Id's philosophy had been idealistic, beautiful in a perfect world. But Task had learned much since her lessons, and his way understood the reality of things. His justice, warped as it might become with the mantle of the clown, would be absolute. One day he too would need to face penalty for his actions.

His time would come, but there was work to do.