Pax - The Stone Cube ~ Chyril 27th, Early TT

[Luca di Fabro]

In the centre of Pax, close to the Merchants Hall stands a large stone cube. As with many of the other buildings in the town, it appeared mysteriously overnight. The cube is made out of the same stone as the new walls of the town and is double the height of an average human male. All visible sides are smooth and unbroken, with no signs of doors, entrances or anything else of note. Whether it has some hidden function or is merely a sculpture is unknown.

After Luca had finished his business in the Provost Office, he had been walking around the town to see what it was all about. He had heard stories about the town before, but even the best descriptions faded to the experience of actually walking through the place. As he walked passed all the buildings with his casual laid-back walk, the combinations of wood and stone in the buildings were an amazing sight and made him want to keep on walking, wondering what the next building would be like.

When he arrived at the center of Pax his liquorice stick which he started to chew this morning was only 1,5 inch long now. It actually fell straight out of his mouth as he first layed eyes on the stone cube in the center of the town. Fortunately he was able to catch it with his hand and put the stick back between his teeth where it belonged. He glanced around quickly to see if anyone had noticed him fumbling around. He grinned at his own clumsiness.

Focussing his attention on the stone cube again he approached it with a slow, almost careful pace. He stood in front of it, just looking at the perfectly smooth surface for a couple of burns before he moved again. He reached out with his hand to touch the stone, but he didn't quite. Somehow it felt...strange...to actually touch it. He didn't know why, but for the moment, he didn't feel like touching it. Maybe it's all in my head?? Maybe it's perfectly safe to touch it?? Holding his hand really close to the surface, Luca started to walk around the cube. Man...this is freakin amazing!

When he had walked a full block around the cube he took a couple of steps back, suddenly realizing he was probably looking like a freakin insane guy. He grinned. Who cared anyway..this was just...amazing!

[Ophelia da Yrsa]

When Ophy had left the Provosts office she went back to the Gate with D`arcy so that she might gather her things. She had a strong feeling the Mouthie wanted out of the brothel, and fast. As such, she was more than happy to make sure the young woman was comfortably situated in their new residence before taking off. "I have to explore today. You've got a few days on me in poking around this place. I'll be back later!" She announced before bounding out the door with her guitar slung over her shoulder, hanging casually off her back.

The beaten hard leather case had seen serious wear and tear... even more than the instrument contained within. She'd walked through the streets with the same ambling pace as Luca until finding the Stone Cube just burns before he.

The sight of it was rather unnerving to her as well, but she'd circled it several times curiously taking in the sights of it's pecular and perfectly even sides anyway. Ophelia was on the opposite side of the large cube from Luca as he examined the unusual piece. Her palm pressed against the cold side of the rock where the sun hadn't been shining during the morning marks, taking in the tactile sensation of carved stone.

Running her steely fingers across the flat plane she appeared from around the corner to find herself nearly walking into Luca what with how absorbed she'd been until that flicker. "Oh!" She announced, being somewhat startled by his 'sudden' presence. "Scuse me," Ophy said brightly, a cheeky grin swiftly replacing her shocked expression, her voice melodic as she continued. "Didn't see you. It's amazing, isn't it?" Blue eyes shifted over to look at the side of the rock they both now were infront of. "They say it just appeared.. overnight."

[Guido Cercatoro]

The main square around the stone cube was much quieter this morningtide than it had been the previous day when a large market had covered the whole square. Two soldiers of the Pax Honestus guarded the ruined building from which a number of wounded explorers had been extracted, apparently as a consequence of a tunnel collapse. A young achadiel was standing examining the sword in the stone; two dwarves were conversing in an angry fashion in a corner of the square and a lone, middle aged human sporting a long, woollen cloak stood a few paces away from one side of the cube, his gaze fixed on the structure.

Luca’s visual inspection of the cube simply confirmed that it was, indeed, a featureless stone cube. Placing his hand close to the cube revealed nothing of interest, although, this close to the cube, its immensity was only too apparent. It must have taken considerable effort or power to construct such a huge monument.

Ophelia’s inspection revealed nothing more than Luca’s, although when she pressed her hand against it, the remarkable smoothness of the stone surface was evident. It felt like no stone she had ever touched. Turning one corner of the cube she encountered Luca, apparently engaged in a similar inspection of the stone.

(OOC: let me know if you want full modding here or you are just socialising)

[Luca di Fabro]

OOC: just socializing for now, we'll let you know if we need any moderation. Thanks!

IC:

Luca was fully captivated by the stone cube when Ophelia suddenly almost ran into him. "No problem, signora." He responded with a quick smile as he was still quite distracted, continuing to chew on his liquorice stick. When she asked him a question however, he gave her a better look and realized who she was. She was one of the girls from the Provost office. la musicista!

Within a flicker his attention had almost completely shifted from the cube to Ophelia. His own twinkling eyes looked into hers, which clearly showed the amazement about the cube. A much warmer, almost playful smile appeared on Luca's face as he removed the liquorice stick from his mouth. "Ah yes, 'tis absolutely captivating. I've never seen anything like it!" He looked at the cube, only quickly shift his focus back to her again. "It just appeared overnight? Really? Stupore...So, no one knows who made it?" Again he looked at the cube. Normally he would have been all over the chica, but now, his pure enthusiasm over the cube got the better of him and he reached out with his hand again, almost touching it. "I've been walking around it..but I somehow don't want to touch it..it's just that perfect, you know?" His eyes scanned every inch of the surface, trying to find any imperfections, but they found none. "Has to be magical. No one can make something like this, with this perfection with their hands."

He thought about his father and his brother. They had been working with their hands all their lives, trying to reach perfection with every sword, every piece of armor, every horseshoe they made. They would be utterly stunned by this sight. Luca turned around again to face Ophelia, the excitement clearly visible in his face, he continued his questions. "I guess maybe the better question is..Why did they make it? What's its purpose?"
Suddenly realizing all the questions he was asking, he grinned sheepishly. "Uh..'scuza, signora. I am asking too many crazy questions here."

[Ophelia da Yrsa]

OOC: Thanks, Guido!

IC:

His accent was familar. It almost immediately reminded her of D`arcy. "You're from World's Mouth, aren't you?" She asked excitedly, forgetting for a moment all about the stone cube in favor of finding out more of this new stranger. "Did you just get here? A girl I know just got here from there, too. She was with me this morning at the Provost's office. I saw you when we were leaving."

Slinging her guitar off her shoulder she allowed it to stand upright in it's case to give her shoulders ease from carrying it. With casual disregard Ophelia leaned against the cube, not fearing it as many others had. Atleast, not until Luca made a comment about not even wanting to touch it. Glancing over her shoulder she gave the rock an appraising look, and then turned her attention back to the Mouthie native. "It's not dangerous, it's just a rock." Ophy, if nothing else, was incredibly unschooled in what could be dangerous aside from obvious things like being kicked by one's horse or thirst. Magick and the like were foreign concepts.

She laughed as he apologized for his questions. "Hahah, don't be sorry. It's a strange thing... it wants people to wonder about it. Wouldn't you think?" Her shoulders pressed into the stone, feeling the strong support of it's weight. "You know what I want to do? I want to climb it. I bet that'd get all the guards riled up," she grinned wickedly and looked up the surface of the rock, her head against it tilting until she faced the sky. Her mouth hung open for a moment, contemplating her next words, or perhaps just thinking over the idea of scaling it's fine surface.

Drawing her face back down she smiled again, "Maybe the answers to all of it's secrets are on top, and no one has bothered to look yet." She shrugged losely, as if already dismissing the idea. "I suppose I'd need someone to give me a boost to find out for sure..." Then again, maybe she hadn't given up on it at all.

[Luca di Fabro]

Luca was pleasantly surprised that she had remembered him. That was always a good sign. He grinned and scratched his head. "Si, signora. I guess the accent is pretty obvious. I just arrived this morning." He nodded as he mentioned the other girl "Ah, yes, I saw you two coming out of the office! Quite a guy huh, that Provost." Luca chuckled. "So your friend is from the Mouth too? Que coincidenza! Have you two been here long? I didn't see her at the portal in the mouth when I left."

Luca's eyes widened as he saw Ophelia just casually leaning against the cube. Within a flicker both his hands were up in the air. "Ai chica! A perfect smooth square rock that just appears overnight is no simple rock!" He ran his hands slowly through his hair as he exhaled deeply. His quick reaction was definitely coming straight from the Mouthie blood that ran through his veins. He was passionate. In every aspect.

As nothing happened Luca calmed down, but he still shook his head at the naive posture of the girl. Maybe this was her first time from home or something? He was thinking about it when she described the stone. It wants people to wonder about it.. That was a very good description. He was about to agree with her when she mentioned she wanted to climb it. Luca arched a brow and looked at her for a few flickers without saying anything.

This girl was...strange...but yet, in the way that she smiled and talked. She apparently had no clue what kind of dangers there were in the world. Luca liked that about her. She seemed like fun, good old plain fun. And why not? Life was short enough alread, better make sure to have some fun while you can.Carpe Diem, Amerigo always said.Slowly the playful grin appeared on his face again and he tossed away the last part of his liquorice stick. Walking over, he stood next to her with his back against the cube. Looking into her blue eyes he nodded, the grin still on his face. "Alright, chica. Let's do this." He jumped up and down a couple of times, shaking his head from left to right to loosen his muscles. "Come on, I'll give you a boost. Let's get you up there."

[Ophelia da Yrsa]

"She's been here a few more days than I have. We met at the pub. She's an herbalist and I think maybe a mystic, though she doesn't much claim to be - a mystic that is. She's definately an herbalist." The whole idea of speaking to ghosts or actually using the unseen energies of magick was sort of amazing. It was one of the things she liked about D`arcy. She was very spiritual. Infact, she sort of gave off waves of calm and collectedness. Perhaps that was from her "finishing schools". Oph didn't have any idea what that sort of training might involve.

The bard laughed as soon as Luca's empassioned response began then died down to smaller giggles as she tried to stifle her amusement to his reaction toward her callouse treatment of the unusual stone. "No.. no matter where it came from, or who carved it, it's still a rock." Though, the girl had to admit she hadn't ever seen anything quite like it before. Different rocks in different places... makes perfect sense, she reasoned. For, Trothgard was the only place home to the crystals her papa had been so fond of carving. It would stand to reason that Pax would have it's own.

But, he seemed open to the idea of helping her in her quest to climb ontop of the rock block. Block of rock.. stone home.. lone.. lone stone, a block of rock... It might turn into a piece of a song about Pax. For, Pax was in dire need of music. "Alright, alright.. keep it down," Ophy gave a look around them, surveying those who were in the square. She couldn't seen the gentleman in the long cloak, due to him being on the other side, but it was likely he would hear them if they made too much noise about the little plan. Supressing another giggle she watched as Luca lined himself up more properly to the cube.

"Ok, lace your fingers together," she instructed. Giving one more quick look around she placed her hands on his shoulders and then stopped, "You're not going to drop me, are you?" One light brown brow raised subtly.

[Luca di Fabro]

Luca listened carefully to what she said about her friend from the Mouth. Herbalist and mystic...mmm very interesting. I will have to talk to her/ Of course the conversation quickly changed and Luca found himself leaning with his back against the cube before he knew it, but the information was already stored in his memory.

He shook his head once more as she called it 'still a rock'. Yet she was curious enough to see what was up there. He looked at her as she looked around to see if anyone was watching them. For a flicker he thought about what they would do if someone actually took notice of them. Hmmm....I could always just flatout kiss her. That would make it all seem pretty normal. I'd probably wanna turn around and let her be the one leaning against the rock..would seem more natural...and then just kiss those lips.. His eyes were now fully focussed on her soft red lips.

Her instructions pulled him away from his wandering thoughts, for which he was quite glad, before they went out of control. "Right, right, lacing the fingers!" He replied. He laced his fingers together, turned them around so that the palms were facing away from him and he stretched his arms to crack his knuckles. One they had popped, he placed them in front of him so that Ophelia could step up.

He smiled as she put her hands on his shoulders and looked at him with her raised brow. He looked back, taking his time to get a good look of ever detail of her face before widening his smile. "Only to catch you again, bella"

[Ophelia da Yrsa]

A gentle breeze from the spring rains pulled through the air. The beads in Ophelia's hair jostled against one another in a myriad of sounds ranging from clunking metal to clinking glass. It created it's own sort of music around her all the time. She took comfort in the familiarity of their percussion.

Luca's brief beats via the cracking of his knuckles, however, wasn't sought after. She scrunched up her nose disapprovingly. "My mother told me that doing that ruins your hands," she added with a similarly motherly tone, mostly in mock of the way her mum usually said it, but also in the general interest of passing along maternal wisdom as most were wont to do in similar situations.

He reassured her with a smooth line and she returned it with rolled eyes. Every man in Pax is trying to get into my breeks... Only the word 'bella' escaped her. She kept it in the back of her mind to ask him about later. Now wasn't the time. "If... uhm.. anything happens and I get arrested... take my guitar back to the Gate. I'll find you eventually." Now was a time for action. She lifted her right leg and placed it in the stirrup his hands provided and pushed with it while steadying herself with his shoulders.

Ophelia's body moved with the swiftness and grace of someone used to physical excursions. She balanced precariously on one foot, and righted her body to it's proper height, removing her hands from their somewhat vice-grip on his shoulders so that they pressed palm against the smooth surface of the cube. Steely fingers, calloused from playing her instruments, sought up the front of the statue trying to find purchase on the top edge so that she might pull herself up. "Steady down there," she warned, wondering if he might mind of she were to step on his shoulder.

Her general aim was to get one arm onto the upper portion of the rock. From there she'd have no trouble pulling herself up. Atleast, that's how it would work in theory. So, without questioning whether or not he'd mind, Ophy lifted her dangling left leg so that it was on his shoulder and was quite prepared to give herself the final push necessary from there.

[Guido Cercatoro]

As Ophelia stepped on Luca’s hands, he felt her full weight for a flicker but the woman quickly grabbed his shoulders to spread the load. Moving her palms to the wall, the would-be mountaineer found that she was a couple of feet short of the top which was around double the height of her accomplice. It was not a comfortable position for Luca and he would have only been able to hold her for a few flickers. However, Ophelia swung her trailing leg onto his shoulder and pushed upwards boosting herself sufficiently to reach the top. Unfortunately, the arm that she managed to throw over the top of the wall found no purchase for the top of the cube was as slick and smooth as the sides.

As her arm slipped off the top, the singer caught a glimpse of the roof of the cube. At first glance, it looked exactly the same as the sides - the same stone and the same featureless surface. Whether a closer inspection would reveal anything more interesting remained to be seen.

Luca and Ophelia ended up in a heap on the floor. A tangle of limbs, a few bruises but with more intimate knowledge of each other than had previously been the case. Fortunately, none of the guards in the square had apparently noticed the brief attempt to scale the edifice. However, the cloaked man let out a brief laugh. “I usually have to pay to obtain such entertainment.”

[Ophelia da Yrsa]

Success! Ophelia thought to herself as her body was propelled upwards thanks to the momentum of her ascendence. Her fingers slid along the slick surface and over the upper edge until her arm was over the top. The bard's body hung precariously from the cube, but it wasn't enough. She could feel herself slipping. NO! Grab... onto... something... Scrambling hands slipped over the fascade but gained no purchase. Ophelia fell into memories of her youth when climbing trees as well as the inevitable reminder of gravity that was soon to come.

It didn't feel soon. It felt like she was crashing downward for eternity as her body shifted to weightlessness while the world swimmed around her in a blur that left only the Stone Cube in clear vision. It was as if everything else faded into the obscurity of unimportance with her arms frantically grasping at empty air. From the perspective of someone else, she might appear as quite the comic relief thanks to her flailing appendages and rapid descent, but Ophy just braced for impact.

Before she knew it the jab of some part of Luca was bringing her back to the moment. Crashing into reality with the force of all her weight she made a noise akin to Ooof! as the wind was knocked from her lungs.

Terror filled her mind for the first few flickers during which she was unable to breathe. Words echoed from the bystander, and his loud laughter was a cacaphony of noises as black dots flitted across her eyes, causing her to blink ferousiously, though they didn't go away. It's the spirits! Her mind screamed, thinking they were coming to take her for her boldness in climbing their statue. ICE QUEEN! Save me! A first gulp of air came as her diaphram contracted, bringing her back from the edge of blackout.

The next few intakes brought not only oxygen but clarity as she settled down from her initial response of imminent death. Laughter had continued from the cloaked man, and as the girl gave a look at herself and her new companion she could see why he might find it so humorous. They two were all laced together and extricating from their placement, though not diffucult, did provide Ophy with equalled hilarity. Giggles burst from her, causing her to place her hands on her midsection as she doubled over in laughter at herself and Luca, "Hahahahaha, by the Ice Queen! That didn't work as well as I thought! Hahahaa!" She rolled onto her back and wiggled herself free from their predicament, though the chuckling continued.

[Luca di Fabro]

Luca couldn't help himself and bursted out in laughter as he noticed Ophelia rolling her eyes at his comment. The smile was quickly wiped from his face however when she actually started climbing him. He exhaled as he felt her full weight. He rested his head against the stone to balance himself and to give her legs some room to move.

As she saw the need to warn him to keep it steady, Luca muttered incoherently to himself a variety of Mouthy curses specific to women. Standing there, supporting Ophelia, he remembered this dude, Francisco, who had lived a couple of houses away when Luca was still a kid. Francisco had been a couple of years older than him and he was always telling him about the games he played with the girls, how they were climbing into these abandoned buildings. He was always talking about how sweet it was to have the girl's body so close when she was climbing him. Luca had always wondered about that, but the chance had never presented himself when he had been growing up. Well..he would definitely have a talk with Francisco the next time he would see him. This position ain't comfortable at all, cazzo!.

Fortunately it didn't take her too long to place her free foot on his shoulder and for a flicker, he was actually surprised at her lean movements and he was sure that she was going to make it. He laughed. "There you g.."
And then suddenly he felt her body slipping, pulling his own body out of balance and the next thing he knew, they were sprawled on the street. He too needed a flicker to regain his sense of direction. The look on his face as he looked at Ophelia was full of surprise at first, but then he too bursted out in laughter. "For a flicker I thought you really had it there!" He said as he tried to roll over to get at least a little untangled. He made no attempt to stand up yet, enjoying the moment as they were just laying there.

Wiping some tears from his eyes from the laughter, he took a flicker to catch his breath. "Ohh..that was pretty...sad..we can't even climb a freakin rock together! Hahaha. It was fun though!" With his regular grin he looked at Ophy, still being somewhat of a giggling mess herself.

[Ophelia da Yrsa]

Laugher subsided until she was finally able to respond with a sigh. "I thought I did, too!" She replied. "But I slipped," she said, and looked over toward where the guards had been stationed. "Guess they didn't notice. It looks pretty much the same up there, but.. I had a pretty brief view, so..." She shrugged and continued extricating herself from their entanglement until she could cross her legs beneath her, her elbows resting on her thighs while looking over to the laughing cloaked man who she gave a slightly embarassed smile.

Her posture was relaxed as she stared at the cube. "It's a crazy thing, that block. You know.. I really thought I had myself up there, I wonder if it pushed me off," her eyes widened in a teasing manner toward Luca from his earlier comments about the block. A few snorted chuckles pushed from her nose as she supressed full out laughter at his expense. "I'm Ophelia, by the way," she stuck out her hand for him to shake proper, now that they'd shared such physical closeness. "Figure I might as well introduce myself since I went and used you as a ladder - even if it didn't work." She smiled, and it reached up to her eyes in their flickering blue intensity.

[Luca di Fabro]

Luca managed to sit up on his bum and was now casually leaning against the stone, not even thinking about the possibility of it having freaky magical powers anymore. He gestured at the guards with his hand, waving their expected alertness away. "Meh..I'm not too impressed with the guards here. They seem to be bored a lot, just doing their duty, but not putting in any effort." He might have been too expressive here, showing that he actually had been paying attention to what the guards had been doing. He didn't think too much about it though, it just blurted out.

Luca was listening to what Ophelia was saying, nodding with her in full agreement as she said she really thought she had herself up there. But then she made the "pushing" comment and he knew she was joking around with him. "Ai ai ai, bella! " He smiled, pointing his finger to her. "You are lucky that I'm such a gentleman." If he had known her a little better he would have pounced her and tickled her to death for that comment, but that would be a little too much right now, in the middle of the square. Instead, he grinned and shook her hand. "Luca, or Lucky, as friends call me. And don't blame the ladder if you don't know how to climb. " He gave her a wink, sharing the joy that was clearly visible on Ophelia's face.

[Ophelia da Yrsa]

"Between you and me... I think they don't want to be here," she offered. "Not any more than most the people who got put here without any chance at going anywhere else." She subtly sobered at the thought of it. Peace of Balthasar indeed! Inwardly, she huffed.

A grin was quick to spread across her face again, though, as he pointed out what a gentleman he was. "Mmhmm.. I think a gentleman would've caught be before letting me land on my ass in the dirt," she volleyed in return.

"But it's a pleasure to meet you even if you aren't the perfect gentleman," she shook his hand vigorously with the grip her father had taught her. "Or a good ladder," she giggled.

Pushing herself up off the ground Ophy started brushing the dust off her bottom and her long legs until she was sufficiently satisfied that she'd pass inspection. A well toned arm reached down to grab the strap of her guitar case so that she might sling it over her shoulder again, which she did almost thoughtlessly as her eyes scanned the square, filled with all it's interesting elements. "Have you checked out Pax's other interesting novelty? There's a sword in a stone, too..." One brow raised, her interest in examining all the pecularly parts of the pagan city quite alive now that she'd found a partner in crime.

[Luca di Fabro]

By the Ladie's gold, she's quick with the remarks! I should have guessed it, with her guitar and all.. He thought. "Perfect gentlemen are boring anyway." a playful grin appeared on his face as he quickly glanced over her figure as she stood up. . Fine culo like that should land in the dirt every once in a while

He kept sitting down, just looking at with a grin on his face as she was inspecting herself. It wasn't that he was looking at her in a sensual way now, but he just enjoying watching her movements, her behavior. He had always found a lot of joy in just looking at people and their behavior. When she seemed to be ready to go, he finally stood up, dusting himself off with a quick couple of slaps on his clothes. "Honestly, I had no idea what Pax had for interesting novelties, but I've been seeing all kinds of crazy stuff since I arrived earlier this morning." Crazy...and cute He mused. "A sword in a stone huh? I must say..that's a pretty neat trick." He smiled. "Let's check it out!"

As they started to walk towards the sword he chuckled and poked her in the side, tickling her for just a flicker. "At least you'll probably be able to climb that stone without my help."

[Ophelia da Yrsa]

In the middle of the main square in Pax, a mere few paces away from the Stone Cube, is another strange sight - a sword in a stone. The hilt of the sword is fused into a large rock which is itself fused into the ground.

It is rumoured that the sword was placed there by a great mage who defended the town from a huge fireball that threatened to wreak considerable damage. There are those who claim that the absence of wolves in the town is a direct result of the appearance of the sword.

Their feet carried them from point A to point B quickly, as there was little space between the two strange stone monuments. The arguing pair were of little concern to the beautiful blonde, and she circumvented them with ease.

Luca's quip, as well as playful jab, was returned with 'the look'. Ophelia had practiced 'the look', as it had been passed down from her mother to her - as mothers were wont to do with their daughters. It inlcuded incredulous eyes, raised brows, and an over-all speculative expression meaning to undermine a person's previous comment. Such looks were generally saved for the men in one's life, particular husbands. Seeing as Ophelia didn't have one of those, she was perfectly willing to practice her very own version of the timeless face on the Mouthie drugdealer. Infact, she even went so far as dropping a sigh from her red lips paired with an exasperated: "Boys..." with rolled eyes as they approached their destination.

Once there, her casual body planted itself against the new attraction. "Alright then, Lord lo Smarty-pantalonis," she said with a grin, figuring after hearing a bit that the Mouthy dialect wasn't all that different from her mother's. "Let's see you use some of that machoismo to get the sword free, mm?" She taunted.

[Luca di Fabro]

During the years in Hart's gang and being Amerigo's student, Luca had been through many trainings. One of first had been to talk to as many women as he could. To study their reactions, to see what kind of talk worked and what didn't. Now he would never say he had mastered that skill. Far from it. He still thought that women were pretty much one big mystery. But one thing he had definitely seen was "the look" and he had to admit, Ophy's look was pretty damn good. The sigh and the boys comment might just have been overdoing it though, giving Luca the impression that she didn't fully dislike his gesture. But for now, he wasn't going to pursue it and he just walked on with a smirk on his face.

He laughed as she challenged him to get the sword out of the stone. Clearly, to most people, that was an impossible task. Almost as impossible as getting some form of charm out of the chica. Luca casually walked in a circle around the sword. He Looked at it with the small part of knowledge about swords that he had picked up at his father's shop, He wasn't expecting to really get anything useful out of it though. My father certainly didn't put his swords in a stone..

Once he was standing right in front of Ophelia again he stopped and looked at her. He rubbed his chin as if he was seriously pondering her challenge. Finally he nodded and said: "Alright, bella. I am willing to accept that challenge and get the sword for you. But I will ask one thing in return." He didn't grin, he just smiled a little, no body language that would show any more intentions than just some plain fun. "Have dinner with me and I will get the sword for you." He paused for a flicker before continuing. "You think you can handle this counter challenge?"

[Ophelia da Yrsa]

Bright blue eyes watched Luca as he assessed the rock, as well as it's sword. She followed his movements with her eyes, turning her head when necessary, as he circled yet another piece of Pax. Such interesting pieces they are, too. She couldn't help that as he passed behind her she thought of the cube again, and of giving another go at climbing it. We almost had it last time... I could make it. Her eyes surveyed the cube from here, taking in the smooth sides from this slightly further away distance. Her father would want to carve it, she imagined. Infact... it looked like a rather solid sort of rock, not the weak sort that would be easy to carve. That made it all the more interesting. Her eyes sought out the veins of the stone, trying to take in it's details from here, seeing if it had any natural weak points, as veins often would be. So white... her musings were cut short by Luca's proposition.

Ophelia gave him a more skeptical face, then laughed, thinking he must've been joking. "Are you serious?" She asked incredulously, but she couldn't stop the grin. He liiiiiiikes me, he wants to have dinnnnner. Internal satisfaction at the request painted her cheeks with a slight blush.

"You get that sword and I'll have dinner with you," she agreed. "But I don't think you're going to get it... I'm pretty sure other people have tried to give it a go." Not that she had no faith in the foreigner, but there was still the fact that it seemed pretty properly wedged into the rock. "Now, let's see this, I could use the show," she said with a grin plastered on her Trothgardian features. Although she portrayed how little she thought it possible to remove the weapon, her eyes didn't move from Luca, almost wishing he might have sucess... partly for the dinner, but also because the rock had become an enigma. She could just imagine the faces of those who'd tried before if he managed to free it.

[Luca di Fabro]

A sword in a rock. How could it be completely stuck and yet be so free that someone could pull it out. It was a complete paradox. Yet somehow the sword had to be placed into the rock, so somehow there had to be a way to get it out.

Luca wasn't sure that just pulling it out would be the way, but pulling it out wasn't the real objective here anyway. It was all about having fun. He saw life as one big playground and he was going to play every chance he'd get. He was pretty satisfied that she at least agreed to the dinner..if he pulled out the sword. He figured he was going to need some luck..maybe a whole lot of luck..My dearest Lady, I know this is a very tough roll of the dice, but if you could just add some weight to the dice, I would be Lucky. He thought about an old Mouthie saying, Throw a lucky man in the sea, and he will come up with a fish in his mouth. He grinned. Maybe one day they would turn it into Show a lucky man a sword stuck in stone and he will pull it out like a knife out of the butter.

So there he stood, now right in front of the sword. But he didn't reach for the sword just yet. Instead he looked at Ophelia and he could see that she was enjoying the fact that he was about to do something impossible and would horribly fail. It was time to get her into the game. He shook his head. "It's not gonna work like that, bella. You are expecting me to fail. I can see it in your face. I need you to believe in me." Fortunately this wasn't the first time that he had to maintain a straight face. Otherwise a grin would definitely crack through the seriousness in his look. "I'm serious. As crazy as it sounds, this will only work if you believe in me. Truly believe. Can you do that bella? Can you truly believe that it is possible for me to get this sword out of the stone?"

[Ophelia da Yrsa]

"Psshh.. no I'm not..." She said with the rebellious edge of a young girl saying the opposite merely for the effect of it. The Muchislie native's eyes focussed on Luca, wondering if he was playing a game with her - pulling her leg for an inevitably returned taunt. "Believe you... ok," she started hesitantly, licking her lips and garnering a pre-concentration outlook. Just him having mentioned that he wanted her to believe in him gave her a more positive thought process about the whole thing.

"So how does that work then? Am I to envision you pulling the sword from the stone, or just pray to the Ice Queen that it might happen?" Skepticism still stained her voice, but it was much subtler now, and being rapidly replaced by general interst in what he thought would work. Although Ophelia could be hard headed, and she enjoyed taking charge, she was also unknowledgeable about many things, and she knew that about herself. It made her all the more prone to listen to the advice of others in hopes of learning something.

[Luca di Fabro]

The serious look on his face was really hard to maintain as he saw that Ophelia was taking his bait with amazing ease. The fact that she asked in what way she had to believe in him almost made Luca chuckle. He could also still hear the slight tone of skepticism in her voice. Ahhh see..she's never truly going to believe you can do it.

He started to breath more deeply and he rubbed his hands slowly as if he was really trying to focus on the task at hand. "The thing with praying is that you are putting your faith into your deity in the hope that she will make the sword move. That means that you believe in the power of your deity, but it says nothing about your believe in me." He paused for a moment, still looking straight into her blue eyes. "And true belief does not require any envisioning. You should feel it within every fiber of your body. Every little piece of you should believe that I am about to pull this sword from it's rocky sheathe."

With a slow, determined movement he placed his right hand onto the hilt of the sword. He kept his grip a little loose to demonstrate that the fact that his ability to remove the sword from the stone was not based on any physical power. His eyes were still focused on Ophelia. "So, Ophelia. Do you believe in me?"

[Ophelia da Yrsa]

Ophelia's head tilted slightly to the side, and she blinked thoughtfully at his comment about her faith in her goddess, rather than her faith in him. Makes sense... It did, sort of... in a funny sort of way. For, he was the one trying to move the sword, not the Ice Queen. Why pray to her, then? Plus... Luca wasn't a follower. It was unlikely she'd lend a hand to a man from the Mouth such as himself. He was probably a Dominican. The Ice Queen wouldn't help a Oneist - atleast she didn't think so.

His intense eye-contact caused her to swallow without words, and as he asked whether or not she might believe in him she nodded silently, but excitedly, a smile spreading over those full ruby lips again.

So, she gave a small decisive sigh through her nose as she began her true concentration on Luca stealing the sword. At first she envisioned him pulling the weapon from the rock, but that hadn't been what he wanted, so she switched gears. Instead, she focussed on the moment right then. Just a little tug, that's all she saw as she watched his relaxed arm take up a position to remove the sword. She felt herself willing the sword to come lose at his touch, the feeling surging through her body, starting at her feet and working it's way up.

Electric blue eyes were fixed on the point where rock met metal, looking for the slightest shift, the smallest movement. Move... She inwardly urged. Just wiggled... something.. moooooooove. C'mon. Come lose! And as she continued to think on it, the momentum grew, and it wasn't a game anymore, because she really did want him to pull it free.

[Luca di Fabro]

Luca saw a change in her attitude. It seemed like she was really trying to do something. It meant that his plan was working. Which was a satisfying feeling on itself. It was always good to be reminded that somehow he could still influence people. But now...it was time for his part of the deal. The sword.

As he saw Ophelia really give it her best shot, things changed for him as well. A large part of him somehow didn't want to just fake it all. He felt that he too should give it his best shot. And so he did. He did so not by concentrating on the sword, or on the stone, or any interaction between them. He tried to fully clear his mind. Not to think about anything at all. All there was was the movement of him grabbing the sword and pulling it up in one swift gesture. And even that didn't exist in his mind, there was only that one flicker, nothing else in time and space. There were no what if's, no successes, no failures. He just tried to empty his mind. Everything just was And then he pulled.

[Guido Cercatoro]

Luca’s attempt to grasp the sword was made difficult by the fact that the hilt of the sword was fused into the rock and the blade stood proud. The edges of the sword were sharp and it was, therefore, difficult to take a firm grip without cutting one’s hands. Other myths concerning such swords conveniently had the hilt in the air ready to be grabbed…Pax’s sword, as with much else in the city, was upside down.

The two companions tried to move the sword by the sheer force of their collective wills. Ophelia concentrated hard, willing her new friend to succeed; Luca focused on the sword, emptying his mind of all else. He pulled on the sword. Absolutely nothing happened. The sword remained firmly stuck.

The cloaked man had wandered over from the cube towards the pair. Once again, he burst into laughter. “You really are giving me some amusement. Have this for your troubles.” He flipped a circlet in the direction of the sword. It landed on the side of the rock and then slithered to the ground.

“The sword was fixed there by some mage,” he said in a friendly tone. “I suspect it will take more than brute force and will power to move it. Still, it is good exercise to try.”