Purge B****es, Get Money (Thaloyss)

[Richard Blow]

"A Dhani?" the businessman said with a touch too much delight. "My sententious friend, how did you come across such a rare specimen?" "We met at work." Richard shot back. "She's my partner." "I see... Yes... Let's do business. Shall we retire to another room?" Tavish said silkily. It occured to Richard that despite Thaloyss' race, the man in front of him was more snakelike by leaps and bounds. Richard also noticed that Tavish was inviting him to betray his new partner for a pretty penny- Dhani could easily fetch over a thousand mizas with the right buyer. The Spiritist took a deep breath, strode forward, and practically slammed the letter on the counter. "Yeah. This business." he with uncharacteristic iciness. "You do want your little problem gone, right?" The fat man pursed his lips for a moment, but that was the only sign of disappointment he showed. "Very well." 'It's always five of them." Tavish said wearily as he grabbed a book filled with sketches, names, and talents. "As you got from my letter, attempting to clean the stock does nothing. New ones pop up. I suspect sorcery. What is your professional opinion on the matter?" Richard shrugged in response. "Dunno yet. Could be brain worms from another world. Could just be ghosts. Probably ghosts. Show us inside?" "Of course. Right this way..." As they descended deeper into the Muted Maiden, Richard took the opportunity to mutter dryly in Thaloyss' ear. "What a weasel. Try not to get separated; I got a bad feeling about this." The smell of sweat and blood slowly started to mingle with the dustiness of the mines, muffled moans and screams seeping through the earthen walls. Richard frowned and tried to focus on searching out remains of Soulmist. Tavish was saying something long-winded about the importance of his establishment to the moral health of the city, which made Richard snort a little. It was as they passed a third hallway that he caught a whiff of cold tears. "What's down the left fork?" he asked abruptly, cutting off some other sound bite about providing hopeless girls a means of living. "Oh. That's just some personal rooms..." "Take me- us there." Richard silently cursed himself for the slip- while slightly embarrassing in normal conditions, if he forgot to correct himself and Tavish exploited the opportunity to herd him off, things could go south fast. "Very well?" the entrepreneur said slowly, though a slight twitch of his mouth betrayed his pleasure at progress. The wizard stopped in front of one door leading to a room that seemed to be in use if the sound of cello music and sobbing were any indication. He rubbed his fingers on the handle, and grinned when he rubbed them together and felt icy slick. "I 'suspect' you got a ghostie, Mr. Tavish." Richard said with a satisfied grin. "And it's been here recently." "Really? Where is it now?" he demanded. "Dunno." replied Richard. "Tunnels are twisty and air gets all mixed up. I can tell you where it's been, but I'unno where it's going." "Well... I'm positive the two of you will elucidate it." Tavish said roughly as he dusted his vest off. "If you require me, I will be 'upstairs', if you would. Oh! And stay out of the unrenovated mines if you value safety. Ta!" Richard waited until he was out of earshot, then groaned. "Gods, I had heard about this guy, but being around him..." the wizard looked at Thaloyss with a loose smile, "I'm impressed you didn't rip his arm off. Anyways..." Richard pulled out the waterskin now, and squirted a tablespoon of Soulmist onto his palm. He then proceeded to rub the gel into his hands until it vanished, a faint spark in his normally dull eyes. "Ghosts. Excellent. A'ight, your turn. Hold out your hands. Rub it into them and your shirt. It'll let ya grab ghosts and stop 'em from just walking into you. 'S not foolproof, but it'll do."

[Thaloyss]

Thaloyss had had her fair share of creeps trying to stick their hands up her skirt at The Pig's Foot, but this man gave her the chills just looking at him. Richard was right in saying he was the slimemaster. He was almost too freakish to want to eat, and she honestly felt like turning tail and running away.

Nevertheless, her partner stayed and so did she, if reluctantly. The slaver had suggested they -- he and Richard being 'they' since she was clearly excluded by his tone -- head into another room, but Richard was having none of it. His sudden coldness brought a tiny smile to her face. She was grateful she didn't have to deal with the slaver herself.

The Dhani tagged along behind the Spiritist uncertaintly, casting cautious glances behind them every few ticks. The whole place gave off a weird vibe, one that clashed with her in ways she hadn't expected. She thought it would feel more like her home, like Zinrah, but she was very wrong if the mingling screams of pain and pleasure were anything to go by.

She sneezed from the dust, a sound that was out of place in this den of sin. Her hands went to her arms and she hugged herself, hunching her shoulders. Every step deeper into the whorehouse was a struggle to not whirl around and bolt back to the surface.

"Richard, I do not like it here," she murmured as they passed the 'personal rooms'. She enjoyed stirring up people's deepest fears, not the other way around. A shudder passed through the fidgeting woman and she had half a mind to hold onto her partner's arm, though she managed to keep her hands to herself.

If she was permitted to shift she would feel much better. Having several times the strength of a human was a massive advantage in dangerous settings. Unfortunately they'd halted in front of a room that was producing music of some stringed instrument and the crying of some abused slave, most likely.

Thaloyss could breathe a sigh of relief when the grotesque man departed. "I have had to deal with oness that were ssimilar to him, but... I did not 'rip hiss arm off' as you ssay becausse you ssaid not to and I would not touch him unlesss my life required it. He doess not appeal to me."

She watched the Spiritist's curious little procedure, then held out her hands. The Dhani grimaced at the texture of the Soulmist but rubbed it into her skin and clothes despite her displeasure. She'd probably have to clean her shirt afterwards.

"Yess, at leasst thiss time you do not have to deal with a giant sshapesshifting ssnake woman. You can deal with ghosstss, can you not? I will handle anything that iss corporeal. I like that word, corporeal. It remindss me of the word corpsse."

Her stomach growled again and she gave Richard another pitiful look. "I am going to get food after thiss, yess?" she asked, arms contorting to rub Soulmist onto her back and shoulders.

[Richard Blow]

It would have been deeply amusing to Richard that a woman capable of breaking bones with her bare hands even in her weakest form was afraid, if not for the increasingly predatory glances Tavish was sneaking in her direction; Sunberth was not a place known for its kind treatment of people who looked like they could be taken advantage of. "Loyss here's a real pro, y'know." Richard said assuringly, throwing an arm around the Dhani, and a cautionary glare in Tavish's direction as they followed the Spiritist's nose. "Ripped two dozen men to pieces with her bare hands once. She had a sword, mind; jus' didn't think it was sporting. Right Loyss?" Richard wasn't entirely sure if he was trying to intimidate Tavish or remind Thaloyss that she was a killing machine; he just knew the current climate could get dangerous. Fortunately, soon they were at the offending door handle, and rid of the slaver soon after. "Thanks for not doing that." Richard said with a faint chuckle, "I don't think he would've paid us if he was bleeding out." The Spiritist laughed at Thaloyss' second comment. "Yeah, there's that. Second scariest experience of my life. An' yeah, most ghosts shouldn't be too hard. Just make sure you don't let them get inside you. I'm pretty sure we got a bunch of the suckers possessing people. Now I'm not scared a that; first thing y'learn as a Spiritist is how t'brick yourself if a ghost tries to take over. The stuff you rubbed yourself with will let you touch ghosts, and it'll make your shirt like a brick wall to them, but just the shirt. Y'ever backhanded a phantom before?" he asked with a grin. "Great experience to have." When she asked about food, Richard opened his mouth to talk but was cut off by the door opening. A puffy-eyed ginger in his forties shuffled out and a female voice called over "Oh, you must be next, Miss! Please come in!" The voice belonged to an athletic-looking blonde women with short straight hair, blue eyes and a short-hemmed dress of the same color. She was sitting on a stool in the far corner of the room, her cello was at her side, and she had a syrupy sweet smile on her face. She seemed innocent (and juicy) enough, but Richard couldn't help but feel uneasy. He couldn't describe it, but something smelled off about the room and the woman. He opened his mouth to speak again, but the slave quickly said "I'm sure your friend is fine with waiting outside. It is a private show after all."

[Thaloyss]

Right, I'm a sstone-cold killer... Yeah. Ssure. A sstone-cold killer sspooked by a sslimeball.

Thaloyss was starting to get a headache from the chatty Spiritist. Most of the slang he used she could only guess at. Suckers and bricking and phantoms. "No, I have not 'backhanded' a ghosst before. I have not dealt with ghosstss much. Now be quiet before I sshove you into a wall -- or perhapss through it would be better."

Both of their heads swiveled around to look at the door. Surprisingly enough, it was not the pretty slave who was doing the crying. The Dhani raised an eyebrow at the man who had just been serviced. If all he did was listen to the woman's music, why didn't he go to Brega's? Richard had said something about the Whore being the nice woman in Sunberth, and she inferred that Brega was far kinder to her girls, but this one seemed relatively taken care of. Was she new?

"M- Me?" asked the woman. Surely the slave would've preferred the company of a man, wouldn't she? Thaloyss frowned. No, something was off. Even her pathetic human senses told her so. There was something that was very wrong about the slave. She was too pretty, too innocent, too clean to belong here.

"No," said the Dhani firmly. "No. Whatever I ssee, Richard doess too. I will not be sseparated from him down here." Her hand reached for the Spiritist's arm, closing around his bicep. Should she enter the room or stay outside? They were at the source, right? So they would enter.

Before they walked in, Thaloyss leaned down to Richard's ear. "If sshe iss the problem, I will hold her down. I need you to do it quickly, though. I am feeling rather hungry and she lookss tassty. Do you think eating the posssesssed will rid them of the ghosst?" she questioned.

Using her superior strength she hauled the smaller man into the room behind her, and if the slave protested she would silence her with a sharp 'Sshh!'

[Richard Blow]

"You're welcome for keeping you un-skinned and un-enslaved." Richard snipped back, folding his arms in front of his chest. "I guess they don't teach gratitude in Zinrah." While he wasn't feeling like being awfully helpful when Thaloyss got propositioned, the Dhani was more than strong enough to simply pull him along like a ragdoll. "We'll go kill a torture fetishist later." Richard whispered back as he closed the door. "Oh, I was hoping to trick him after I took you over, but this will work just as well." the slave mock-pouted with a vicious grin. Her expression quickly changed to one of fear as a translucent shade of a brunette woman pulled herself out of the slave's back with a sound somewhere between howling wind and a drain unclogging. The duo could see soulmist swirling like a mini-typhoon at her blurred edges, and her neck was bent at an unnatural angle. The slave she had been occupying immediately screamed and cowered behind her cello, tears streaming down her face. Richard looked at Thaloyss languidly, then said in his most deadpan voice "Let's punch this ho." The 'ho' in question responded by letting out an angry shriek and showcasing a spectral ability Richard had failed to mention: blinking. One moment she was hovering over the stool, the next she was face-to-face with Thaloyss and lunging at her. Fortunately for the Dhani, they had come prepared. Just as the Spiritist had said earlier, the ghost smashed into Thaloyss' shirt as if it was made of concrete, her arms and legs flailing past her blocked torso and phasing through the Dhani's limbs. She regained her composure remarkably quickly, crouching and throwing herself into Richard with an infuriated growl. The ghost vanished inside him without impediment, and the Spiritist's face cracked into a wicked grin... For exactly half a tick. Richard had barely begun to face Thaloyss when his entire body went limp like a noodle and his expression changed to one of shock. Though Thaloyss was in his line of sight, he didn't appear to see her. In Richard's mind, he was sprawled on a bed in the Muted Maiden, vision blurry, arm ablaze with pain from a fracture. A male figure was straddled on top of him, thick fingers around his throat. He clawed vainly at the man's face, and saw that his hand was white and feminine with painted nails. The man's stink filled his nostrils, his throat was on fire, he couldn't breathe... He was on the ground looking at Thaloyss. The ghost had rolled out of him, giving up on trying to possess a Spiritist, and now tried to launch herself at Thaloyss' hips.

[Thaloyss]

Thaloyss nodded at Richard, silently agreeing with him that violence was the best course of action to take in this situation. Unfortunately her silence quickly turned into a surprised yelp as she reared back away from the ghost before her who, thank Siku, hit her shirt like it was a slab of concrete. She made a mental note to thank Richard for the Soulmist later on, since she didn't fancy being possessed at the time.

She'd managed to pull herself together after the initial shock and grabbed at the ghost, but it was already launching itself into her partner. As the incorporeal creature disappeared into the Spiritist the Dhani back up. The hair on her arms stood up and her skin prickled. No, that was just wrong.

She prepared herself for some sort of aggression from the possessed, hands curled loosely into fists. She didn't want to hurt him too badly, even if he did far worse to her. It wasn't his fault. Her muscles tensed as Richard faced her, but he failed to attack her. Instead, his body became limp like an unsupported vine. He appeared to be looking through her, as if she wasn't even there.

"Richard?"

No answer.

Suddenly he was on the ground, looking up at her. The ghost peeled away from his form and leapt at Thaloyss, who was ready for it the moment her partner hit the floor. Her hands darted out and grabbed the spirit by the shoulders, batting her arms aside before they could come in contact with her. She forgot there wasn't Soulmist on her knee until it passed through the ghost's stomach, then gave a sort of shrug and slammed her into the ground.

The constrictor knelt over the pale, writhing girl and held her down. She put a hand around her aggressor's throat and snagged both of the flailing arms in her free hand and held them above the spirit's head. "Richard!" she hissed, "Get up and help me, sstupid mousse!"

[Richard Blow]

As it happened, "slamming" involved the specter phasing into the earth for an instant before rising back out to vainly attempt a counterattack. The formerly possessed slave stopped screaming, having now graduated to crying hysterically. Richard was remarkably quick at recovering, squirting another dollop of Soulmist onto his hand and squatting next to the furious phantom. "Oi, lady ghost." he said with a series of snaps to get her attention. "All that possessing and beating must be wearing you thin. But y'see what I got?" The ghost stopped her struggling to sniff loudly at Richard's hand. "Eh, it's okay." she said sourly before glaring at Thaloyss. "You're lucky your man's a Spiritist, you stupid butch skank." "Don't tempt her to start punching." Richard said lazily. "Y'might put up a good front, but I know you're tired. I can help with that. I also know you were murdered. We might be able t'help with that too." She fell silent for a few ticks, then hissed "Fine. But Soulmist first." "Pinky promise you'll sit and talk?" "Yes..." she said tightly. The Spiritist motioned with his head for Thaloyss to let her go. When she did, the ghost scooped up the Soulmist in Richard's hand, sighing like someone applying soothing water to a burn as it faded into her. "Okay. You ready to talk?" "Sure." The ghost was still cold, but at least she wasn't trying to attack them any more. "I don't remember when I died. None of us do. But we know who killed us. Alone, it could take years to get revenge. Together, we can get 'em all." she grinned angrily. "We already caught Elise's killer. Only four more now. Are you gonna try an' stop us?" Richard shrugged ambivalently, though his brow furrowed as he thought it over. If four more customers died (under his watch, no less), Tavish, ever the stingy bastard, might blame him and Thaloyss and pay less. On the other hand, fighting five ghosts was a bit of a daunting prospect. He looked sleepily at his Dhani deputy. "I'unno... Are we?"

[Thaloyss]

Thaloyss gave a little hiss at the ghost. "Do not tesst me, thing," she growled, but stood and stepped away from her nonetheless at Richard's request. She lurked in the corner with arms folded over her chest. If the ghost made a move towards her partner, she would regret it dearly.

She may have put up her stoic persona again, but she was intrigued by the whole process. Where did the gel go? The ghost had called it Soulmist. What was it, exactly? Something that involved blood, obviously, since Richard had cut his hand open and had asked her for blood earlier.

The poor little ghost whore was having memory problems. How cute. The Dhani inspected her nails with a bored look. "Thiss iss Ssunberth. How do you know they are not dead by now? Could have taken a knife to the ribss... Or they could have been eaten."

"Other than that, I ssupposse we sshould try to help. Getting rid of ghosstss without desstroying them and keeping sslavess alive would keep uss on both Dira'ss and the sslaver'ss good ssidess."

Her hand dropped to her side and she crouched by the ghost. "Sso, little thing, who killed you and your friendss?"

[Richard Blow]

"As long as they're dead." the ghost said coldly. When asked for the names, she frowned and tapped her finger to her lower lip. "None of us know their names. I could recognize his face in a heartbeat, but what good's that gonna do us?" "Are there records on who buys who?" Richard asked thoughtfully. "Well, yeah." she said with an implied "duh." 'How else is Tavish supposed to know who to shake down?" "True that." the Spiritist chuckled. "We can probably figure out who it was by seeing who was with 'em when they died." Richard stood up and rolled his shoulders back. "Welp, let's go get Tavish and his book. What are the other girls' names?" "There's Alice (me), Elise, Angela, Diamond, and Renesme." she rattled off as the three made their way to Tavish's office. In response to the look Richard gave her at the last name, she added "Yes, we think her parents were drunk when they named her too." Richard sighed. "All right, so how long have you all been here?" "About half a season." she replied, "Though Elise has been here for years." "Great. A'ight, let's get this over with." the Spiritist muttered as he knocked on the businessman's door. "Back so soon?" Tavish sighed cheerily, "I didn't thi-" he froze like a rat hearing an owl's shriek, staring in horror at the ghost hooker. "Found 'em. They want blood. They get it, they leave. Names're Alice, Angela, Diamond, Renesme. Yeah, we feel the same way." he said wearily, mirroring the look of "Seriously?" on Tavish's face. "Well, I am unfortunately afraid that I am inculpable of acquiescing your request. If I just gave my clients' sensitive data out willy nilly, no one would ever be able to trust me!" he said toughly, puffing up like an affronted turkey. "Uhuh." Richard drawled, a grim smile slowly stretching across his face. "Loyss dear? Please persuade Mr. Tavish otherwise."

[Thaloyss]

Thaloyss followed her partner and the ghost to the slaver's office. Humans had weird names, that was for sure. Diamond? Really? Why would they name their daughter after a stone? Though she supposed she couldn't be very judgmental. Sessanissasyathaloyss was a bit of a mouthful for the Common tongue.

A savage grin lit up the six-foot-three woman's face when the blood drained from Tavish's. There was a sadistic glint in her eyes. Yes, now there would be justice (and possibly a meal). She may be a murderer, but when someone came back as a ghost they deserve retribution.

"Of coursse, Richard. You talk fancy, Misster Tavissh. Ssadly, fancy talk doess not work on me unlesss it involvess food. You are looking a lot like a meal right now, but my partner has requessted that I do not eat you. Pain? Pain was not out of the quesstion," she said with a giggle.

The Dhani cracked her knuckles and ducked through the door, making her way towards the slaver as she talked. Her broad-shouldered frame combined with her height pushed him back into a corner. She contemplated shifting into her Dhani form, but decided against it since her coils would spill into the hallway and make it difficult for her to move.

The bloodthirsty smile stretched from ear to ear as she grabbed hold of Tavish's shirt collar. Any previous objection to touching the fat man had disappeared by the time she threw him to the ground. She rammed her heel into his gut several times, relishing in the cries that escaped him.

In stark contrast to her previous actions she slowly knelt beside the groaning slaver. "Now, unlesss you want to feel more of that I ssuggesst you give uss the namess of who the girlss were with when they were murdered. If you, for ssome reason, enjoy pain, I will be happy to fulfill your requesstss and break every ssingle finger you have until you give uss the namess. If you lie, I will alsso break your toess."

Thaloyss had moved so she was perched delicately on Tavish's paunch, holding one of his sausage-like fingers in her hands. "I might even ssnack on you. I am very hungry," she said with the tone of someone speaking to a child.