Into The Tainted Waters

Cafe

(Perspective of Charlyse)

I kiss my goodbye and make off in the opposite direction. "Well aren't you two adorable" I hear Hannah say from my shoulder. "How long have you two been together" she asks. "Hmm, i'd say about five years or so" I say to her. "Wow. that's longer than my longest relationship" she says. "How long was that?" I ask. "Three years" she replies. "How old are you anyways?" i ask her curiously. "Ninety-five" she says casually. "Ninety-five!" I say shocked. "Yeah I know, i'm pretty young" she says as if it was normal. "Young?" I ask her. "Yea that's young for a Sentinel, I think Caoimhe is over four hundred" she says.

We continue to walk down the street and talk. "Four hundred? That's crazy!" I exclaim out loud. "Not really, the Speaker is sixteen hundred years old" she says, giving no thought to how ridiculous that number is. "Who's the oldest Sentinel in the city?" I ask wondering how high the numbers can get. "Probably Alexander the Great, he was the one that got called a son of a whore at the Council meeting" she says. "How old is he?" I ask. "Hmmm, around twenty five hundred years" she says. "Wow, that's pretty insane" I say surprised. "I hear his power is actually just Mental Influence, but that he's gotten so good that he can basically control people with his words"

"Hey a coffee shop" Hannah says as she sees a coffee sign. She hops off my shoulder and scurries into the shop ahead of me. I follow her in and see her looking at the menu, sitting on the counter. She seemed to be explaining how she turned into a rodent to the guy behind the counter, because he seemed ever so surprised be the things she was saying. I walk over to the counter and get a clear look at the man. He had a faded swept to the side hipster-like haircut with a bit of scruff on his face.

"Oh hey there, are you with her" he says pointing at Hannah. "Unfortunately" I say to the man. "Hey, I'm standing right here you know!" I hear Hannah squeak. He laughs then asks me "What can I get you two?". "Ah, I'll have a mocha cappuccino with no milk" I say. "I'll have a Vanilla Macchiato, extra milk" Hannah says. "Alright, can i get a name for the beautiful lady" he says with a sly smile. I roll my eyes in my mind and say "Charlyse". "Ah, a fitting name for such a gorgeous girl" he says before totaling the order. "Yea, my fiance thinks so too" I say. The mans face drops as he totals out the order and turns slightly red.

"Alright, that'll be eight Dirua" he says. I turn to Hannah confused on what Dirua is. She explains to me the system that the use and how to use it. I conjure up eight Dirua bills on my hand and pay the man. Hannah and I stand off to the side waiting on our coffee when a man runs into the shop with his palm raised and it glowing blue. "Alright, this is a stick up, nobody move" he yells. He walks to the man over the counter and forces him to put Dirua in his bag. I slowly unholster the revolver at my side and line up his legs with my eyes. He turns around as i raise my gun and fire, splitting open the middle of his left leg and exiting out his right leg.

The man falls to the ground and begins to scream as another customer jumps on top of him and restrains him. "Holy shit, that was close" the man behind the counter says. He comes out with our drinks and our Dirua. "I think you deserve a free order of coffee after that, here" he says giving us our coffee and money. "In fact, come anytime for some free coffee" he says flustered. "Thank you mister" I say walking out of the shop and onto the street.