Out and About

"My what?" My head feels like it is spinning and I grip the arms of the chair for support.

"And... And what is favor?" My breath is coming in stuttered pants despite myself.

"So... you want a kiss... for knowledge?" My mind is getting hazy from all this affection and I can feel the other me sliding within my mind. He is so forward that even she seems determined to leave me to my plight.

"I.... I will kiss..." My mouth moved for me as my gaze was stuck on him and his face. "I will kiss."

"With this kiss," I say as my face moves in and steals it from her, "you will never again dream, but you will understand all technology and there will be no language barrier between yourself and those you meet." As my tongue connects with hers, I slide the chip in, forcing her to swallow it. "Don't worry, lassie, the pain will end in a day or three." And with that, my kiosk and myself disappear in a poof of black smoke.

My head perks up, *LIV* I'm terrified, where are the blocks *SHE'S IN TROUBLE.* I take off running in the direction of Kiou's misshapen thoughts.

I cough harshly as I feel the chip slide down my throat. This all so very wrong but before I can take it all back, he's gone. Everything is gone. I gag and cough once more as I stumble backwards towards a wall between stores. Sliding to my knees I clap my hands over my ears trying to stem the sudden chorus of words. A billion people, all speaking at once as one. I try to stop it but it does nothing and before I know it I am sobbing there on the floor.

The voice, the noise, is so great and so sudden that I'm blinded, deafened, pain shooting behind my eyes, spiraling down my spine in a vicious corkscrew. I cry out,my head between my hands, reeling.
"Take it outside, take it outside!" I can barely hear the store proprietor yelping over the pain in my head. "We had a possession last week and she vomited over everything. Bad for the merchandise! Out! Out!" "Bloody....damn....overactive...psychic...menace!" I grit between my teeth, staggering, trying to clear my head of the shout. I shake my head hard,blinking and cursing. "In trouble." I mutter, finally getting my eyes to focus. "Bloody hell."

i sit at the dinner table eating a hot dog and drinking a cup of coffe, i finish the hotdog and put my hand down in my pocket when i notice something new there, i take it out and see that its a locket, i open it and it starts swaying about in the air like a compass, eager to investigate i get my machinegun put on my ill fitting coat and go out for a gander, i walk for quite a while eventually ending up outside the mammon emporium i open the door and go in.

Finally, my head clear, I look up. Lily's staring at me with wide eyes. "I'm okay.Let's go." Quickly, we step out of the store, looking up and down the corridor. I let out a breath of frustration. "I can't believe she wandered off like that. And Kaija too. It's like a Doctor Who episode." Glancing up and down the concourse, and spot a rather familiar figure, a valkeryie woman with a gun over one shoulder. I raise a hand. "Ig-Sori! Over here!"

i sigh and wander over to the others put on an awkward smile and say "soo eh whats up?".

"Kiou's around here somewhere, and she's in trouble. Kaija went running off after her..." I pull the locket from under my shirt. "Kaija." I whisper, and it pulls ahead. "Come on."

i shrug and walk as silent as the too large army issue boots will let me.

I grit my teeth and fight not to be ill as the world spins. The voices are loud and reverberating through me. To some extent I can hear familiar voices but with all the noise, it is hard to hear them properly. I yell for Liv but I can barely hear myself let hear them. "Liv! Kaija! Lily!" My head is splitting but I continue to call out for them regardless.

i hear the shouting and hug myself i quietly ask "so uh whats going on?".

"Trouble." I growl, taking off.
Skidding around a corner, I sprint a few steps, and drop to my knees beside the sobbing girl. "Kiou!" Her head is full of pain, sharp and red as bloodied claws,and something else, something like....lightning?

I cry out and grab at Liv as I feel her near me. "My head.... It's splitting..." The light makeup that Kaija had given me runs down my face freely.

Lily dips and touches Kiou's temple. "Slow down and calm... She's waiting and you're injured," she cautions, looking to Liv for support.

I nod, laying my hands on the girl. I curse softly. "Kiou, who touched you? Did it look human?"

Liv's words are garbled and mixed with all the other words I hear. Focusing, I begin to pick her words out of the chorus. "Yes... He looked human..."

i scratch my head "uh right that narrows it down to most people here".

"Order of the White Heart." I snarl. "Glancours. Damn them all." That damage can only be done by one thing that looks human. And it's all over her. Grey places where the life force is missing from the energy of her body, and her emotions...where I normally see swirling color, there are blank places as if a mouse had taken nibbles out of a watercolor painting. They'll heal in time, and it isn't bad, but the poor girl must be in agony at the moment.
And where is all this lightning coming from?
"What did you pay for?" I ask sharply, infusing my words with the need to pay attention, "Tell me what you paid for." Glancours often offer great and worthwhile gifts in exchange for what they take, which is a part of your emotional self. They consider it fair trade. But if he gave her something dangerous when he took those chunks out of her...damn me. This is my fault. I should have been watching her.
"Kiou, I need to know."