Play@YSDC

Marcus Sabinus's Apartment- Rome, Italia
Mid-evening- March 14, 44 BC

Story and Brook made their way up the stairs of the decrepit tenement building, having followed the directions that Nefertiri had given them. The apartment door on the top floor was made of cheap pine.

Inside his apartment, Marcus Sabinus was just finishing his supper.Night had fallen on Rome, and that was the time for which he lived. Darkness was his friend, enabling him to remain unseen as he plied his tried. His apartment on the top floor of this building was the least expensive, primarily because in the event of a fire it would be hardest to escape alive. There was always the option of climbing out of the window in an emergency, but he had never been that kind of thief. Maybe if he could pull in better money, he could afford a place that wasn't so dangerous.

Marcus was just spending another day at home, awaiting for the night to drop, in order to explore the alleyways surrounding his apartment. Every time spent outside would increase his chances of surviving a painful death in that hazardous and dangerous apartment. His brown cucullus smiled at him as the night dropped and he saw the sunset through his window. His fingers started itching, he could feel the excitement of a dull day leaving and a night full of possibilities being created in its place.

He stood next to the window, laying against the structure, with a crooked smile on his face. "This is sure to be a good night, I can feel it in my bones." he said to himself as he looked at the vast horizon being swallowed by darkness.

As they stand outside the door to the little apartment, Brook looks at Story. "This isn't really too different from the tenement buildings back home. Fire hazards and rats nests....Time doesn't really change, does it...So, do we just knock?" She raises her fist, shrugging, then lightly raps the door four times.

Marcus heard the four light taps on the door and quickly turned his head to its direction. He slowly stepped away from the wall he was leaning on, and started walking to the door. "Well, I wasn't expecting anyone, let's see what surprises me on the other side of that door." he thought with desire.

After slowly opening the door he saw two individuals, one of them was a very young girl. Marcus couldn't help but let out a slight smirk while rolling his eyes. "Good night, did you two get lost? This isn't exactly the safest place in town to be walking around in the middle of the night, you could easily get hurt." He said as he set his eyes on both of them.

Brook shrugs a little. "Not lost, no. We're looking for Marcus. A mutual friend sent us." The sixteen year old looks him up and down. "Are you him?"

Marcus looks to the young one with a cocky smile on his face. "Ha! Look at you, not even a little scared, I like that spirit. Yes, I'm the only one crazy enough to live here, I love a good challenge." he said as he leaned on the door and crossed his arms.

"Who would this mutual friend be?" He asked while raising his left eyebrow, still smiling.

Brook looks around for a moment, then looks back to Story and Marcus. "Perhaps we should talk inside..."

Marcus smiles and turns around, slowly walking inside the apartment. "Come on in, then. The night doesn't wait around." He says as he makes a gesture with his hand over his shoulder, inviting both of them inside.

Having drifted for a few seconds as if his mind was elsewhere, Story momentary beams with pride as he hears Brook take the lead with Marcus. In response to her question he nods and says, "Yes, yes... inside would be nice."

Brook glance around inside, then turn back to Marcus. "Nefertiri suggested you could be of help to us. We're planning to....investigate...a property."

Marcus immediately turns to Brook with surprise after hearing that name, he stayed frozen for two seconds before speaking. "Well, well, well... Yes, she's an old friend, and she's right, I guess you don't have to be an investigator to guess what kind of work I'm best at." He said while letting out a soft laugh at the end.

"If she sent you, I can trust you, let's get into the specifics of this investigation." Marcus said while smiling softly, with a sarcastic tone at the end when mouthing the word "investigation".

Brook nods, and looks to Story before speaking. "Right. There's a senator who won't be home tonight. We'd like to take a look around his villa."

"A senator's house? What an interesting target." He says as he sits on an old chair, creaking as if it was going to break, even though he was thin, this chair was pretty old. He crosses his arms and lays back with his eyes filled with excitement.

"Please tell me more."

Story speaks up, "We believe the Senator may be part of a nefarious cult called the Brotherhood of the Beast, and we seek proof of his connection. All this is on behalf of the Queen of course." He smiles and then continues, "I imagine your fee can be sufficiently covered by what you can carry out of the residency."

Marcus looks at Story with a confused face. "Brotherhood of the Beast? Is that a real thing? It sounds a little silly, specially for a Senator." He said before turning around and heading to the window.

"But I can't say no to such an offer, specially when there's so much potential in such an opportunity, certainly there must be something of interest there. I'm sold, my friends." He said as he looked at the moon through his window, just before turning around again, facing them and giving them a cocky crooked smile.

Brook nods and smiles. "Great, that's settled, then. By the way, he's Story and I'm Brook." She moves towards the door. "Let's go, boys."

"Oh right, I never actually asked your names, how rude of me, nice to meet you." He said while bowing just a little bit.

"Sometimes I get carried away with excitement, let's proceed, shall we?" He then walked to the door and pointed them the way out. His crooked smile shining as always, not hiding his excitement for this unusual task.

Instead of bowing or offering his hand Story merely nods at Marcus and says, "Yes, nice to meet you. Let's be on our way." As they begin to walk out he says to the thief, "If we are caught I trust you will not divulge why we're searching the Senator's house. Secrecy is of the utmost importance."

Story, Brook, and Marcus proceeded out into the darkened streets of the city. Following the directions they had been provided, they soon arrived outside Senator Scaevola's house. Like other houses in this neighborhood, it was surrounded by a high wall broken only by a closed gate in front. There were a couple of storefronts on either side of the gate, but Marcus knew that they were rented out to shopkeepers and did not provide access to the main house. They were closed at this hour as well. No windows faced the street, but there were some that could be seen overlooking an open area in the interior of the house. No lights were visible within, and all was eerily quiet

Marcus sees the wall with patience, this was a really strong fortress, getting into it wouldn't be easy.

"So... This is the place, I've passed through here many times, but I never once thought I'd be trying to get inside." He said with a smile on his face, his eyes cocky and half open as always. The windows then got his attention and he proceeded to walk towards it, just before turning around, facing both of his companions.

"Is this a solo mission, or are you two tagging along?"