[MythicDusk]

She gripped the scrap of paper tight, chewing at her own bottom lip, her amber eye flicked around the somewhat run-down street. She found the apartmenr complex she was looking for and she swallowed hard, dripping the end of her jaw-length bangs that swept down one side of her face, obscuring the right side of her face from view, and she tugged at it softly, not enough to cause any sort of pain, just to keep her grounded in reality. She looked down at herself, straightened the leather jacket which was far, far too hot for the weather, but which was by no means the reason for her sweating. She wiped a hand across her forehead, her bangs being pushed from her face momentarily, showing the bright, icy blue, blinded eye. She let her fingers trail over her markings, the grey tearstain which marked her past, the feyline markins that were ever present, all across her body, marking her true lucain form.

She took a deep, calming breath, thumbing the strap of her satchel, feeling it's soft weight loop around her torso, the bag itself giving a comforting weight against her left hip. She pulled the jacket further around herself and stepped into the complex, shouldering open the door. She was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a fairly clean space, no graffiti to be seen, though there was a general dirt build-up. She looked again at the scrap of paper in her palm. "Third floor, room sixty-six." Akkia murmured to herself, beginning to climb the stairs. She found the room, and she glanced at the scrap of paper again. Yep, there was no mistaking it. 'Ernestine Solomon - Private Investigator and Exorcist'. She read over the sign a few more times before sighting softly. What, exactly was she getting herself in to? She shook those thoughts for her head, this was for her daughter. She knocked forcefully on the door, leaning back slightly and biting her bottom lip, crossing her arms and tappig out an impatient and fearful beat on her leathered arm.

[Mousen]

It had been a quiet few days for Solomon. Things were peaceful, for once. She should have been glad to put her feet up, to have a bit of a rest between cases, especially after everything that had gone on at Lya Point Cathedral. Yet... The boredom was starting to grate. Maybe she needed a hobby. Hah. Sure. 'Ernestine Solomon - Private Investigator, Exorcist and Knitting Enthusiast'. That was all she needed.

Solomon had been sitting with her feet up on her desk when there was a knock at the door. She sat up straight, glancing around the room to see if there was anything that needed to be tidied before she opened the door. It was a small room, taken up by a large desk with a battered looking computer resting on it, a filing cabinet and a few stacks of books. It seemed pretty normal for someone who called themselves an exorcist.

She got up and unlocked the door, opening it a touch. Stood before Akkia was a tall woman, with white blonde hair (although greying at the temples) and cold grey eyes. She was younger than you might first imagine her to be, and her expression, although suspicious softened slightly when she saw who had knocked and the door opened wider. "Hello. I'm Ernestine Solomon, is there anything I can do to help you?"

[MythicDusk]

Her mind had began to wander, and she jumped slightly when the door was opened. She swallowed past the lump in her throat, her visible eye skimming the hard greys of the woman before her. "It's... It's my house, my home. Something's wrong and I was told to come see you." She thrust the scrap of paper forward, as if it would hold up her claim. "Something weird is going on, and if I wasn't scared or if I didn't think it wasn't important, I wouldn't ask." She prattled, fear filling her amber eye as she began to tremble lightly. "But it's my daughter, my Innocence, I'm worried about her. She usually stays with me, but she goes to see her mom quite often, but she wants to come home, and I can't bring her home because it's dangerous." Akkia felt her voice drop into a low, petrified whisper. She would never forgive herself if something happened to Innocence.

[Mousen]

The door swung open completely. That was all Solomon needed to hear, she was convinced into helping this woman. It didn't matter what horror lurked in that house, she was going to get rid of it and make it safe for the young woman and her family.  "Hey, it's okay. It'll work out, I promise you." Her tone of voice was considerably softer than it had been a minute ago and she gave Akkia a rare smile. "Cases like yours are the reason I started up this whole damn business in the first place. It's what I do. Now, come in, sit down, I'll make you a cup of tea and we can talk about your case in more detail."

Solomon stepped backwards, into her office, settling back in the chair behind the desk. "Can I get you a drink? Tea? Coffee? Orange juice?" She couldn't say anything about the quality of the beverages she was offering, but they were there.

[MythicDusk]

Akkia swallowed past the lump in her throat that threatened sobs and she stepped in, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "T-Tea please." She sighed, her shoulders relaxing. She glanced around the small office, seemingly calmed by the woman's kind words. It was men she couldn't stand to be around, but this woman seemed genuine. She seemed to actually care about her family. She'd gone to other people and they just brushed her off, told her that they had bigger problems to deal with. She felt her breath hitch a touch as she began to tremble, all of the stress beginning to make itself known as a choked sob echoed from deep within her chest. She pressed her hands to her mouth as a keening whine echoed from between her teeth unbidden.

[Mousen]

Solomon slipped into the adjacent room, and boiled the kettle, throwing a teabag each into two chipped mugs. She brought Akkia her tea and set it down in front of her. Solomon looked towards her visitor, concern visible on her face. There was anger there, though it was invisible, it wasn't anger at the woman in front of her, but anger at whatever had caused her to be this frightened. Whatever had made her house unsafe. She wasn't just going to run it out now, she was going to kill it. "It'll be okay. You're safe here, and I'm going to make your house safe for you and your family."

Taking her mug of tea in her own hands, she looked towards Akkia. "Why don't you start with something simple. Tell me about yourself and your family. You said you had a daughter...?"

[MythicDusk]

She sniffed, rubbing the back of her hands against her eyes and she nodded. "Yeah, yeah. My daughter, Innie, Innocence, she's only ten. I'm her father, I guess. I mean, I'm the one who drank the elixir." A strained smile pulled at her lips as her muscles began to relax. "I love her, so much. She's my world, my reason to live. I would never fogive myself if she was hurt. I need whatever this is gone, I need to bring my little girl home." Akkia growled, before shaking herself, grabbing the tea that was placed infront of her. "Innie's a wonderful kid. She's got the brightest blue eyes you've ever seen." She hummed, visibly calmed from talking about her daughter. "And she's so clever, too. She started reading at a young age, and she likes to tell me bedtime stories, now." Akkia laughed softly, sipping at the mug. "There isn't really anything special about me." She shrugged nonchalantly, much more relaxed.

[Mousen]

Solomon smiled, glad to find her client more at ease. "She sounds lovely. I bet you're so proud of her. I've always wanted kids, but..." She gestured to four walls around her. "My lifestyle doesn't exactly lend itself to domesticity. " There was something a little wistful about her for a moment or two, but it was gone as soon as it was there.

"I highly doubt that, Miss..." It was at that point Solomon realized she'd never caught her visitor's name. "Okay,  how about you introduce yourself, then tell me as much as you can about what's going on in your home."

[MythicDusk]

Akkia felt her back stiffen and she nodded, swallowing the tea that was in her mouth. "M-My name's Akkia. Akkia Konnawtyst." She breathed, hoping that this woman wasn't hired by the shadow that lingered over her life. "I don't know how to explain it. There's just a consistent feeling of dread, and it's like all of the life has been sucked out. All of the warmth." A chocked sob echoed from the back of her throat. "Innie woke up with bruises all down her arms and across her stomach." She began to curl in on herself, as if it was her who made the bruises. "I'm so scared." She confessed, her shoulders trembling anew.

[Mousen]

She nodded, noting the woman's anxiety over revealing her name and filing it away for later thought. There was a reason Solomon was a private detective too. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Konnawtyst." As she began to explain her situation, Solomon became more concerned. A feeling of dread wasn't too bad, but if it could physically interact with the world, to the point of causing injury then there was going to be something pretty powerful.

The sound of Akkia sobbing disturbed her thoughts, and Solomon immediately berated herself for not seeing to Akkia's mental well-being first. She reached across the desk. "Listen to me. I am going to make your house safe again. No ifs, no buts, when I am finished there, it will be safe for you an your daughter and I will make sure that nothing of this sort can get in again. It'll be all right." She was repeating herself, she knew but didn't really care.

[MythicDusk]

Akkia found herself putting her hand in Solomon's, drawing comfort from the touch. She gave a weak nod, looking up at her, pushing her hair from her face absent-mindedly, she usually played with her hair when she was nervous, she gave a weak smile, her icy blue eye looking up at Solomon unseeingly, brimming with tears whereas her hazy umber spoke of all the thankfulness in her heart. "Thank you. I... I can't really pay right now, but I'll give you as much as I can." Akkia spoke quickly, beginning to search through her pockets for her money.

[Mousen]

Solomon shook her head. "I'm waiving my fee. There's no way I'm going to accept any money off of you, Miss. Konnawtyst." Cases like these were the ones she cared about most, everything else was biding her time until a case like this showed up. Sure, business wasn't exactly booming right now, but she'd just have to manage. She always did. "What time would suit you best? I'll need an hour or two to prepare everything, but I'm assuming you'd like me to take care of things as soon as possible." Suddenly, Solomon was business-like again, possibly to try and distract Akkia from the issue of fees.

[MythicDusk]

Akkia bit back another choked sob. "Thank you so much, and yes. As soon as possible would be amazing." She shook out her hands, trying to calm the trembling in her fingers, batting away tears as she gave a large grin. A grin that was all thankfulness, her teeth shining as tears tracked their slow path down her cheeks. She opened her mouth,m so pill out more gratitudes before she snapped her jaw shut, her brow furrowing as her grin faded a touch, becoming softer. "Do you want me to wait for you? My house can be fairly hard to find." She murmured, looking down at her hands again, her shoulders dropping a touch.

[Mousen]

Oh gosh, if Solomon hadn't been bothered about maintaining her professionalism, if she wasn't careful to never overstep the mark, to respect boundaries as much as she could, she would have swept Akkia up into a hug. At the other woman's words, Solomon blinked and considered her options. "Uhm. If you're house is difficult to find, then sure. I'll try not to keep you too long."

With that, she grabbed her old doctors bag and placed it on the desk. She then started looking for all of the things she might need during the case. There was a good general selection of things, holy water, herbs, a few protective charms, but she only took the most powerful of these. There was to be no messing around this time. This creature was dangerous, she wasn't going to underestimate it. It took her a little bit longer than she thought it might to gather her best materials.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Konnawtyst. I'll be a few more minutes and then we can both leave." She sat down in her chair again, a small silver cross held tightly in her palm. Solomon closed her eyes and seemed to have paused, either in meditation or prayer. She was like this for two or three minutes before she opened her eyes again. "Please, do me a favour, put this on and don't take it off until I've gotten rid of whatever is on your house."

[MythicDusk]

Akkia took the cross and held it gently in her hands, turning the simple cross over and over, feeling the weight of the metal, the chill on her skin and she looked up, her hair falling into her face again, her eyes brokering no room for disagreement. "I won't wear it, but Innie will." She pocketed the cross, her hand dightly fisted around it before she released it, taking a deep, calming breath as she leaned back on the couch, biting her lip to keep back any tears that threatened to spill. "She refused to wait any longer. She wants home now." Akkia whimpered, biting her thumbnail in a nervous tic. "She's gonna be back in a few hours. I'm sorry." Akkia whined, her voice a barest whisper.