Etruscan Plaza

[Cecilia]

~~~ Cecilia ~~~

The hustle and bustle of street-life enveloped the city as Cecilia went for a stroll. She embraced the warm, inviting sun as her heels clicked against the cobble-stone road. She glanced around at the environment, eying the entrepreneurs and their monetary ventures, a few students from the magical academy taking an afternoon to soak in the beautiful day, and regular citizens engaging in the archaic bartering that she heard so much about from her academic studies.

"Ah, it's been so long since I felt this relaxed..." Cecilia thought to herself. She unwrapped her cloak around her book and held it out in the open now--the townspeople unafraid of what she thought as hostile, "I wonder if I should stay here for a while."

Cecilia was meant for greater goal, a career of singing and dancing. Her voice was that of an angel's and her feet moved like wildfire across a ballroom. She was graceful, heavenly and elegant. However, she was required to abandon her talent, her dreams, in order to exact revenge against her family's murderer. As she found herself at the entrance to the shop in the plaza, she stared at the store window for a while, looking at each, specially made tome. Each book held some sort of powerful, dormant power waiting to be used.

"I'm no different than these books," She said to herself, "If only I could just give up."

[Cecilia]

~~~ Cecilia ~~~

Spending more than enough time on the window browsing, she abandoned the fruitless introspection and continued on her walk. Her pace seemed to become faster and before she realized it, she was in an unsavory part of town. A few thieves spotted her from the dark-lit alleyways and followed her around on her walk. Distant from reality, the click of her heels against the cobble-stone road was the only sound that she heard, her mind elsewhere, thinking of dancing and singing.

"'Ey miss, what you go' there?" One thief said with a rugged voice. His voice seemed coarse and uncivilized. However, Cecilia paid no attention to the bold-enough thief to keep walking further into the den of thieves. Now into territory even thieves avoided, Cecilia couldn't help but feel her change of venue to be too overwhelming. A berserker was sitting outside talking with his darling crewmates when he saw this holy woman just trodding along throughout the city.

"Look, it's a lit'l woman. I wonder 'ow much she'll cost. Heh heh," He speculated, now grabbing his rather large, steel axe and following her. He managed to catch up close to her and, now, he just wished to wait for his plan of attack.

"Boss. Boss! You were injured back in our, uh, fight last night. I wouldn't recommend doing this sor' of stuff, y'know?" His meek yet intimidating accomplice suggested. The accomplice was not as surly and barbaric as the berserker but he still possessed that smell of "criminal stink" that they all seem to, or so Cecilia thought.

By this point, it was no surprise that something might pop out of the dilapidated shadows and snatch her, so she prepared by opening to the incantation part of the tome and hope she's ready to let one of those spells just run an enemy through.

"I'm fine, I swear to ye, Vale," The berserker said, keeping his movement slow and quiet--an impressive feat for a man of his size.

"Alright Belk, just be sure not to give her too many scratches this time. I need to go on home and make sure Polk isn't raiding our coffers--again." The accomplice, Vale, responded. Belk nodded to him and continued to track his prey. Meanwhile, Cecilia thought it would be smart to turn around and just backtrack as the slums seemed to go on forever in the direction she was going. As she decided to walk backwards until she found her way on the main road, Belk leaped out from the crate he was hiding by and attacked Cecilia with his brute strength.

"Oh! Unhand me you beast!" She yelled, slapping at his hands. In a sudden burst of enlightenment; however, Cecilia realized she has a magic tome in her hands, "Let go! Lightning!" The ray of light pierced Belk's thick hide and he let go for a moment, checking his pre-existing condition before going to take chase after Cecilia.