Around the worlds 1 - A tale of vampires

The woman instantly relaxed, and shook her head. "You'll find none here. Nobody wants to wear them, to show they're not hiding horns. But if you're worried about getting sick because of the sun, I can sell you scarfs to put over your head !" ANd indeed, that was what some people seemed to be doing, men or women alike. Although they were all taking care to show their foreheads completely.

Michela's mouth formed a thin line, her eyes betraying how annoyed she was by learning that not only there were no hats in the market, but IN THE WHOLE DAMN CITY. "... no, I... really needed a hat. Well, goodbye then." She walked away, grumbling, even if she saved the info about the horns in the back of her brain. In that moment she was too pissed.

Neos talked a bit more with the lady though, and it took him some time to get back to Michela. But when he did, he opened an umbrella over her head, and then handed her the handle, with a smile. "Eh. Looks like we asked the wrong question ~"

Michela looked up, surprised at the sudden shadow engulfing her, repairing her from the sun. Then she looked at Neos, a sincere smile on her lips. "Thank you. It was a nice thought." She took the umbrella from his hands. "I guess we did ask the wrong question. Still, though... to have no hats in the whole city..." She mumbled. "Oh! How much do I owe you, for the umbrella?", she asked then, still smiling.

Neos gave her the price straight ahead. As said before, he was a bit short on money. "It's stupid for the hats, though, but... Apparently they really, really fear what they call "vampires" there."

Michela handed him the money right away, nodding. "Yes, so it seems. Did you notice? When I told about the fight this morning, the innkeeper didn't even look at me. And yesterday night he looked really terrified. I can understand it though... after I saw one of those things." She sighed.

Neos nodded. "To be honest, the more I hear about them, the more I want to meet one," he said with a smile, as he looked at her. "How strong are you ? ~"

Michela looked at him, smile widening in a rather feral grin, her fangs showing. "Quite strong~ And not to mention my few special abilities. But well, I don't know how useful those would be against one of those... things." She looked at him curiously. "I'll be honestly, I thought you were going to avoid that kind of stuff as much as you could. But I like this change of attitude ~"

Neos smiled back at her. "Let's just say that I am rather curious about this whole thing. Should we get out in town tonight, then ?"

Michela snickered, playing distractly with her umbrella. "Sounds fine with me. I'm rather curious myself. And let me guess, I'll get the honour to be your bodyguard~?", she added, poking his arm.

"Sort of, yes," he answered with a smile. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm pretty good with magic. But who knows how those creatures could react to it."

"Very well. I could use some movement honestly, it has been a while until I had to fight." Michela hummed, looking at her hand and smiling. "And what do I get back from this?", she asked jokingly, with a playful smile.

"Mmh, let me think. Maybe I could let you drink my blood ?" he offered, quite seriously. "Well, it depends on when you'll feel hungry, of course."

Michela blinked, her eyes large with surprise. Well, she wasn't expecting a serious answer... but she couldn't really find it in her to refuse that offer. "It is generous of you to offer... well, actually I am a bit hungry, it is more than two weeks I don't eat... so uhm, what about this evening, before getting out? So you will be able to eat after, and get your strenght back...?"

Neos smiled. "Alright, then. Let's wander a bit around until then. I'd like to see first if magic is something they're used to here, to see if it's safe using it. Also..." he showed her a big building at the centre of the city. "This is quite intriging. Wanna take a look ?"

Michela observed with curiosity that great building. Maybe it was where authorities stayed? "Yes, let's take a closer look!" She looked at him, tilting her head. "On what do you think you'll try your magic?"

"I don't think I'm going to use this before I gather a few information first. I know people can react... harshly to magic, in some given contexts. Plus..." He pointed at the tall building they were going to. "From my travels, I've learnt to recognize a heavily religious culture when I see one. And this is a cult building. That's the best place to ask." he smiled to her, as they kept walking towards it. And the more they did, the more guards they met on their way.

Michela's eyes widened at that, but she didn't say anything. Not with all those guards around. Religious societies weren't the most welcoming, in her personal experience. She just followed Neos silently, eyeing the guards nervously.

Neos finally took her to what seemed to be a big church. He showed her the statues and idols made of that same green-ish stone, which the guards usually wore as weapons. There were a lot of people going in and out of that place at the same time, so it wouldn't be much of a problem for them to step inside.

Michela looked pretty interested. She wondered how that stone would've felt under her fingers... She had the strange feeling it would've felt warm and smooth. But it wouldn't have been a great idea to just go and feel up idols and sacred statues, so she just followed Neos into the church, her hands in her pockets, her umbrella hanging on her arm. She felt slightly intimidated. "Don't you feel a bit out of place?", she whispered at him, nervously avoiding all the people around her.

Neos held back a laugh. "Yeah, a bit. You ok, though ?" he asked her as he turned to her. "You didn't seem to feel much comfortable with the whole religious thing," he said, as he stopped with her in front of the main entrance.

Michela shrugged lightly, stopping with him. "I'm ok. I just... Don't really appreciate heavily religious societies, or organizations. In the world were I lived there was one, and they brain washed everyone who was so stupid to listen to them. It wasn't easy to live with people that were convinced that my race is the reincarnation of all that is Evil", she laughed a bit. "Hope these people are better."

"Eh, me neither," Neos admitted. "If you don't want to go in, that's fine with me, though. I'm not forcing you."

"Nah, I'm ok. We can go", she said. "But if I see people with hoodies and torches or sacrifical victims chained somewhere, I'm out", she added grinning, preceeding him in going inside.

Neos held back a laugh. "Please, they look like decent people so far," he told her as they stepped inside the building.

And the building itself was huge. There were a lot of tall windows, and any decorations were made of gold and that green stone. All were finely carved, and where mostly showing a woman dressed in drapes, with a symbol on her head. There were many people coming there to see priests, or get objets made of that green stone, as safe-keepers. In the middle of the building, tall circular stairs lead to upper levels. At the sight, Neos whistled.

"Oh, well. Getting my hands on this green stone won't seem so hard after all," he said with a smile.