The rest of the night for Thames passed by without other events. Either Ode's information about Emergents was wrong or the magician he had previously saw continued to beat him. The spell he saw the mage use hung in his mind as the sun rose, replacing the moon, and shining through the smog of Ariao.
He knocked on Ode's door, waiting patiently for him to open it.
Finally, the cheerful magician opened the door, dressed in a nightgown decorated with stars.
Thames jumped at the sight, but quickly collected himself and said, "I got news."
"Oh, do ya!?" He jumped to the side, allowing Thames to enter.
It was exactly the same as Thames' room, but the bed was messier.
Ode closed the door before asking, "What did ya find?"
"One Emergent, Quarter rank at least." He responded, peaking past the blinds of the window.
The streets were busy today; people of different social ranks were roaming with friends or family, shopping, browsing, and enjoying treats.
Ode got changed into loose black pants and a long-sleeved off-white shirt, glancing towards Thames.
"How'd ya deal with it? Seems a bit tricky for ya to deal with!"
He turned towards the now dressed Ode with a serious look on his face.
"Someone beat us here. I think it's one of the Constellations."
Constellations were a new broad idea in the world of magic. It didn't refer to a cluster of stars, but instead a magician. They were either famous, wealthy, powerful, or a combination of the three.
"That would make two then." Ode stated plainly as he approached the window, peaking out next to Thames. "The streets got Gin Viola's handiwork."
Thames grimaced at the thought of him.
Despite never meeting him, Gin Viola quickly gained notoriety following the fall of the Tower Association. He was an unfortunate combination of fame, wealth, and power, and was one of the more well-known Constellations.
Lino was destabilized in part thanks to him, and if he's here in Ariao then we've got work cut out for us...
"Can you handle him, Ode?"
"Obviously! You forget I'm a Constellation too?"
Then there was Ode Yule, leading magician of the New Age, and the first person to be called a Constellation.
"I'll tell Lin and Rubes to turn tail if they spot em... What'd the new one use?"
"I only saw one spell, but they summoned a large javelin."
Ode scratched his chin as he headed out the room. "Focus on 'round the inn. We'll cover the rest!"
Thames quickly left the room as well but went ahead of Ode and headed out of the inn, turning into an alleyway.
After waiting for a short bit, he noticed the other three leave the inn, heading in opposite directions.
Lin was wearing fur brown jacket that was well worn in, black cargo pants, and had a white scarf wrapped around her neck. Her grey skin lacked a certain amount of gold jewelry, but she still had a nose ring and lip piercing. She headed in the direction of the dock, in charge of that as well as the markets and storage areas nearby.
Rubes was wearing a long fabulous purple dress. It was clearly expensive and only amplified the level of grace she had. Her coiled black hair was done up in a low bun and wrapped with a gold ribbon. She also wore a pointed black hat, providing a good amount of shade to her face.
Rubes headed straight, towards where Thames discovered the expensive section of Ariao to be.
Ode headed in the opposite direction of Lin, towards the gate leading to the rest of the continent. He was in charge of making a circle around the city, but also to create preparations for a large battle.
Watching them vanish from his sight, Thames returned to under the sun, his sunken sleepless eyes contrasting against his fair pale skin.
I'll just do my rounds nearby... Maybe introduce myself to a few shops.
Remaining dressed in his heavy black clothes, Thames began to walk along the street, looking into the shops.
As he saw from Ode's room, the streets were busy today. It was Saturday after all, most working-class people got off today. This was also why they had decided to wait to investigate the city since they'd be able to blend in with crowds.
Noticing a shop selling art supplies, he went in.
It had a comforting scent of paint and ink. Although small, the shop carried a surprising amount of paint and paint supplies.
Behind the counter towards the back stood a blueish woman with long pointed ears. Her long hair was a mixture of blue, white, and purple, and was a pretty sight. Her pupils were a beautiful collection of vibrant colors that melted together brilliantly.
She wore a paint splattered shirt and smiled brightly at Thames before saying, "Welcome in!"
"Ah... Are you a painter too?"
She nodded quickly, "You are also then??"
"Yes..."
"Well feel free to browse our stocks! We just got a shipment in, so this is mostly everything we have."
Her voice was like a sweet symphony and continued to draw Thames in, but he only nodded as she finished speaking and went to browse her stocks carefully.
She had many colors of paints that he would've liked, but most he wouldn't have been able to carry them with him in his travels. Not feeling happy with leaving empty handed, he took a thick pencil and brought it to the counter.
"Will that be all?" She asked merrily.
"Yes."
"Four copper bills please!"
He fished into his pocket, taking out his wallet, and setting four copper bills next to the pencil.
"Thanks for your business! Come again soon!"
He nodded, taking the pencil and leaving the shop.
He turned towards it again and read the sign.
'E's Art Corner!' Read the sign in bright colors.
I'm sure I'll be back soon.
He stuck the pencil behind his left ear, moving the feather to inside his jacket.
While the feather would be more useful combat wise, he was able to use the pencil as a casting device. And since it was broad daylight and he'd rather not draw attention, discreetly casting spells with a pencil would last him much longer than drawing a shiny sword.
Feeling satisfied with his shopping trip, he continued down the street, making himself familiar with the surroundings of the inn as the rest of the group surveilled the city.
Without a hit-
BANG!
His thought was quickly cutoff as he heard an explosion towards the gate, the direction Ode went.
"Shit!"