escordvi | open 🪶 the world owes me a debt, and i've come to collect.

Who: Benedikta Harman & you.
Status: Open.
Where: All around.
What: Oops, all MANTA stuff. And a not-date with Cid.
Warnings: FFXVI spoilers, foul language, suggestive content. The usual.

🗡️ i. bite-sized blessings

[Apparently, Benedikta's ears are looking quite delectable to one small, pink dragon today. This is why she hates Eltrut—half the time she comes here, no, a majority of the times she comes here, there is always something. A goose, a conning healer who sends her out to do his grocery shopping... Today, it is a small pink dragon that has bitten her ear and tries to do it again. She's attempted to swat it away, walk it off, but no matter how fast she moves, it follows her and nips at her, or finds joy in playing with her hair.

Fool her once, shame on her. Fool her twice—]

You little brat!

[—it's managed to grab at her hair, and it pulls, before swooping away from her grappling hands with a chirp, as if it thinks this is some sort of game!?

Someone please help this woman. Or this dragon. She has yet to hear all about how this thing is meant to be returned to Elah, so if you are looking for said pink dragon, here it is.]

🗡️ ii. a steamy winter heist

[It was the exorbitant prices that drew Benedikta to the job first. The black market was always open, and she was always willing. Call it doing someone else's dirty work, if it put a good sack of coin into her pocket, then who is she to complain? Besides, it's not as if stealing something off a ship in the dead of night was difficult—she's done it dozens of times before.

The fact that it was a special sort of tea was only a bonus, so of course she would pocket some for herself... Maybe a handful. Or maybe a whole crate if she could get away with it.

Now, that is the question, isn't it?]

༄ a. getting to the ship. [Perhaps it is your lucky night and Benedikta is feeling somewhat charitable. Charitable enough that she is willing to use anyone she finds as a decoy while she sneaks in to steal the goods. Of course, she isn't about to say as much, as she stands on the docks and stares out to the merchant ship coming into the shore, its lights blinking against the darkening sky.

She has her pipe between her teeth as she almost always does before a job like this, letting the smoke swirl on her tongue before letting it billow outward.]

So, that there is the ship? [She scoffs.] She is certainly impressive.

[As large as a rich, black-market-selling merchant's ship should be. Which is why she's agreed to a "two-person" job.]

༄ b. caught red-handed. [Or, maybe she wasn't feeling so charitable.

As if being caught matters all that much to her. She's in the middle of making off with a whole crate—and the last one, too; people have been busy—of these tea bags (there must be hundreds of them in here) when she hears footsteps coming. She hardly flinches, if at all, and stands there with it tucked haphazardly under her arm while she stares the other person down with a smile before she tosses her head back.

Yep. You saw right. A whole box.]

Sorry. As they say, the early bird and all. A shame you came all this way only to come out empty-handed, but try again another night.

[There may have been a threat underlining her voice somewhere.]

🗡️ iii. poke 'n prance

[Well, at the very least, being paired up with Benedikta for a challenge like this cannot get any better... or worse than this, depending on who you ask. Having a history of torturing others means that she knows exactly where to put the sword and how much pain it will inflict. After all, when fishing for information, it is best to poke and prod it out of someone, and you can't very well gain much from a dead person, now can you?

Which is why she walks up with her own sword in her hand with all the confidence and arrogance of a pretty peacock, her fingers caressing the sharp edge of her blade, from hilt all the way to its jagged tip.]

Now, pay close attention to where I stick you because we can only do this once. Perhaps twice, if you can withstand it.

[She smiles, so sweet and saccharine and sarcastic.]

So, consider this a valuable lesson.

🗡️ iv. coins of the crescent

[Well. What she thought would be a nice, peaceful ride out to this island to fetch some coins turned out to be... well, everything but. It had been fine for the most part, but as the island came into view through the fog, things had started to tip and tip and tip until everything went fucking tits up.

Not only did the crew start to howl and turn rabid, much like those stupid wolves she can hear in the distance, but so did the captain, and now the ship is wayward on the seas at the behest of the waves. Fortunately, she can use the winds to guide them true, but it will take a little more concentration than what she can afford as she drives her sword into the shoulder of one infected crew that lunges at her with what could only be thought of as a kitten's claws.

Don't worry, that won't kill him, but it will send him reeling to the ground wailing in pain, and she kicks him in the gut to quiet him.

Whoever might be standing near her, she will shout at them with no shortage of rage in her voice as she gives her sword a brandish, the blood spraying from her blade.]

Might anyone spare a moment to take care of them while I attempt to not crash this fucking ship!?

[Must she do everything!?]

🗡️ v. untitled goose bounty 2

[Well, this is certainly not what she was expecting to see when she arrived on Eltrut, or tried to. She'd heard sounds from above across the ship's deck first—the worried shouts of the crew and riftfarers alike. Benedikta had been enjoying the peaceful ride in her cabin aboard the Stormbringer, and had half a mind to ignore the noise and go right back to sleep...

...

Until she hears something else.

The loud, low, rumbling sound of a... honk?

Something visceral shatters through Benedikta's whole body then, forcing her to sit up when the flashbacks of those eight-headed geese attacked her not even a month ago. She rushes to her feet and then out the door, shoving people out of her way as she storms up to the deck where she beholds—]

You've got to be fucking kidding me.

[—an eight-headed(?) goose large enough that it could peck out Eltrut's eye.

Much, much larger than she recalls it being.

And she is pulled out of her reverie only by the sounds of magitech cannons being blasted off.]

I see it's come back for another taste.

🗡️ vi. wildcard

[None of these prompts work for you? Want to do something that isn't from the MANTA board? Feel free to hit up my plotting comment, or via plurk @

crystariums! I'm also around on the game discord, and PM works, too! Also open to texts/bottled messages!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[this is why eizen enjoys working with people like benna. both parties are capable, both are serving their own needs and neither expects anything beyond that. benna can be trusted to do what needs to be done to get the job done and not everyone is able to handle that.

eizen glances around as he starts down the hall.]

Look for anything that just doesn’t make sense.

[realizing that may need a little elaboration, he adds.]

A wall that’s too clean, a floorboard that sounds hollow, a crack where you can feel a draft even though it’s a dead end or--

[speaking of doesn’t fit, his eyes narrow upon catching sight of one such ill-fitting sight. eizen walks over toward a wall in the middle of the hall and folds his arms.]

Like this, for example. It’s well-hidden: stained and dirty like the rest of the wall, cut from the same tree around the same time, fitted tightly, however...

[eizen’s gaze shifts down to the floor. scratches, deep and numerous, litter this area of the floor. said scratches also look to be going right into the wall.]

Scratches left over from dragged cargo that end at a wall.

[She strides right up to said "wall", her magick lighting up the hallway to brighten it with a wash of green.]

So, you are saying this might be a door.

[With a huff and then a little wind that touches Eizen's cheek, she takes a step back.]

There must be a way to open it. A switch or a device. Loose floorboard. And if not... [Her lips curl.] We could always blast our way through and make things more interesting.

[the breeze ends up getting eizen to shift his gaze from the 'wall' and toward benna. his hands casually slip into his pockets as he speaks.]

Depends on how quickly you want to wrap things up.

[which is a lowkey implication that blasting their way through is a completely acceptable option in his opinion.]

Searching around to find a key or mechanism is gonna take a while-- [he turns toward the wall and nudges it softly with his boot.] kicking this down will take a couple seconds.

[why blast when a kick will take this down just as well?]

Be my guest. [She motions to the door.] Your way might draw less attention... if you can get it in a single blow.

[She smirks at him in the dim light of her magick. She might be goading and teasing him just a little... Challenging him to actually manage it with a single kick.]

[it's one of those things where eizen full well knows he's being baited. damn well knows. but he also damn well can't pass up that sort of a taunt, not in this case. those words have the silent implication of realizing the consequences of what kicking down this door will bring but with that air of confidence behind them of being able to handle it, so long as he can put his money where his mouth is. if she's fine with this plan then why not let himself be hooked on the proverbial line?

he grins, said grin brimming with a mix of amusement and confidence.]

Heh. It's not a question of 'if', Benedikta--

[his grin vanishes as he turns back to the door.]

But a question of if we're ready for the consequences.

[that's the only warning he gives before doing exactly as promised. with one well-placed kicked, the door comes flying clear off its hinges. the noise of the kick is loud; the door slamming into the ground and skidding across it is even louder.]

Ha. Impressive.

[He sure did put her money where her mouth is! Benedikta's bark of amused laughter is loud enough that it rings over the loud thud of the door, and with a light flick of her wrist, she sends her aether inside to light up the room momentarily, illuminating it in green light just long enough that they can get a glimpse of what's inside before it fades.]

We've only a few minutes before they get down here, so let's see what we can find.

[The room itself is anything but the dusty little thing that they had found earlier, which means that it's been used recently. There are sheets thrown over what appear to be piles of crates, and with a single blast of wind, she blows most of them off and against the back wall.]

Where to start...

[yup, this is definitely the room they're looking for. between the hidden entrance, the squeaky clean area and all these crates, it's almost certain. eizen approaches the crates. all unmarked. nothing of major difference aside from the sizes.

he purses his lips. ok, they have limited time and gotta work smart.]

They're likely moving this stuff in bulk so don't waste time checking the smaller crates. Ignore any one that looks damaged, too.

[anything larger is a better bet than small. add in the fact it's somewhat fragile and they should have it narrowed down to a handful of crates. it should be in one that fits that bill. that's the logic eizen's going by and logic he hopes is on point.]

You truly are an asset, Eizen. Cidolfus was smart to recruit you.

[She wastes no time in taking a look around, shoving the smaller boxes aside with her foot to get to the larger ones in the back.]

The tea is likely one of the lighter ones too.

[She'll try to pick up one, and give up immediately when it's far too heavy to lift on her own.]

Unless you think we might be able to smuggle some jewels out as well.

[eizen found a big crate to dig through himself. a nudge makes it move easily enough. odds of it being the tea is high. will luck be on his side, however? probably not.]

Depends on how fast we find the target, but I don't see why we can't help ourselves to a little bonus payment for services as fine as our own.

[they're already stealing stuff so why not bring home some extra? logical to him. first thing first: what's in here? time to open this bad boy up and see if their goal is inside. eizen pops the top and it's...... eizen makes a face. white rabbit plushies. a goddamn crate full of them. he'll pick one up and squeeze it. it squeaks almost mockingly at him.]

[She's in the middle of breaking open one of the crates when she hears that squeak...

...

...?

And with an arched brow, Benedikta turns just in time to find Eizen staring at what appears to be a small, plush rabbit with a look that could very well kill it if it could, and if it were a living, breathing thing.]

I did not take you to be the plushed animal sort. Is something the matter?

open 🪶 the world owes me a debt, and i've come to collect.

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