To Raneaux's understanding, as she passed over the darts,
the man she had been conversing with was now most likely a master poisoner. The
reason he had not reacted violently to her and Umbra was possibly due to the
fact, she believed, that he could kill them all quickly, quietly and efficiently
without much effort on his part. She tried to communicate her fear to Danton
but she had never mentally linked with him and her desperate gaze never met his
eyes. Instead, Danton was solely focused on the poisoner. He introduced himself
as a colleague of Raneaux's but was corrected by the gentleman. He told Danton
he was not her co-worker. In fact he knew exactly who he was, Danton Scalar of
House Ethis. He mentioned that Isadora
had told him many things about Danton, although she had not mentioned his visit
to Thaemor. Danton was taken aback by his immediate recognition and sternly
looked down at Raneaux, who avoided his looks of disapproval. The man thanked
Raneaux for her honesty and told Danton that she had used up the excuse of
operating on a patient to explain his bloodstained robes. Raneaux shrunk into
her chair.
Danton was indeed going to use the excuse but realised that
Raneaux had not had his upbringing and did not fully comprehend the delicate
nature of the truth. He presumed since she had told the poisoner of certain
details, she had told him of Moma. He said to man that she worked for him
although not in the capacity she may or may not have mentioned. She had been
found in Darkperch as a vagrant and employed as a sentry of sorts to guard his
own interests. Danton had business with Moma and it had worked in his favour. She
had fallen for a trap he had set and had
managed to kill her. The poisoner bit his lip and opened his eyes a little,
raising his brow. He was impressed that Danton had managed to even get close to
her, let alone kill her. He explained
that had tried many times to gather samples to create some sort of protection
against her, but he had never even gotten close to her. He considered this fact
for a moment or two before needing evidence. If he had killed Moma and not her
clone, then the scythe she had wielded would be functional, rather than a mere
copy. Danton swallowed uncomfortably, trying to carefully hide his deception. The
poisoner wanted Danton to go collect the scythe himself as proof of Moma's
death but instead Danton told Raneaux to go. In his mind, if things were turn
against them, it would be better that she and Xera remained safe outside, while
he and Umbra fought off the poisoner.
Danton looked down at the table next to the poisoner and
noticed the alchemy equipment on the and said that he may have something of
interest. He apologised profusely if
Raneaux had been rude and asked for his name while he brought out a vial of
blood. He replied that he was known as Coe and that he had not expected someone
from House Ethis to show civility and decorum. Danton said that he was not like
his sister and without hesitation threw the vial of Cursed Qui blood at Coe in
hopes to poison him. To his dismay he saw Coe wipe the blood off his face with
a handkerchief from his breast pocket while he tutted. He told him that Danton and
whoever he was working with, now only had one chance left. Danton was about to
freefall back into a panicked state but there was something recognisable within
Coe. A similar desire to live without restriction, to live a lifestyle suitable
to his interests and intrinsically valuing all forms of drugs. A few minutes
passed as Coe observed Umbra and turned back towards analysing the Khatt-Nipp.
From pursed lips and narrow eyes a compliment was given. The quality of the
drug was better than Isadora's and Coe wanted the recipe. Danton said that he knew
he was better than Isadora although, as he showed Coe his eyes, he needed a
more potent form of Nastrond.
A slow understanding between the two had developed and
Danton needed to tip the scales in his favour. His heart was now set on
employing Coe as his own. The poisoner said that he was a mercenary of sorts
who followed the trail of money and not empty promises. He had worked for
Isadora, but that was due to her wealth which he assumed had come from her
brother and siphoned from the royal treasury. He also said that he was not here
under her orders, in fact Moma had employed him as a third party to make sure
the transaction was to take place without a hitch. If he was to abandon his
post Danton needed something substantial. He released that Raneaux had not
returned and told Coe that he needed to send the mutant out to retrieve
something far greater than the Scythe, the head of Moma. Coe was now intrigued, he wasn't interested in
the scythe she wielded but her flesh to experiment on and even though Danton
maybe only offering a clone, it may be close enough to create something that
could kill the original.
Within a couple of minutes of Umbra leaving he had returned
stained with blood with Moma's head wrapped in layers of strips of bed sheet.
He had not protested to decapitating her, in fact the summers breeze he heard
in his mind made him care far less about anything he was doing. A blissful
smile had never left his face from the moment he left, to the moment he
returned. Within moments of the head being unveiled, Coe set to work taking
samples almost oblivious to Danton and Umbra's existence. He did however mutter
under his breath that the subject had been tainted, but it was something he
could work with, pleased with the fact that Nastrond had affected her so violently.
The fangs that had Danton had grown now protruded out of him gum line and his
eyes narrowed and flickered with a second set of clear eyelids. He had captured
his prey.
After the samples had been taken Coe agreed to work with
Danton although he needed protection from her, her followers, and those that
were part of her group. He offered a device that separated into three distinct
modules that created an alarm field, or so he had been told but he had more to
offer. He shouted for Xera to come in
and after a few awkward seconds Xera shuffled in keeping his eyes close to the
ground. However as he turned the corner into the main hall he was rushed upon
by Coe. He shook his hand vigorously and was almost out of breath as he talked.
Streams of compliments of brilliance, ingenuity and the numbers of dead now
because of him poured out. Xera looked up confused and dazed, he had been
expecting for the man to have killed him, not idolizing him. Danton noticed
that Coe had seemed to have turned a child idolising a Hawk-Eye from Auspar.
Coe wanted to know how Xera had come up with such an ingenious, untraceable and
deadly toxin as the Blue Famine.
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