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[Resident Evil RP] Old World

T

The Silver Muse

Super-Earth
Joined
Jan 18, 2009
Location
PST
Since the death of its most recent proprietor, the Salazar castle was left to the public. With its ancient grounds and architecture, it was natural enough that it would have been a popular site for any visitor or tourist. Considering the things that had occurred there, it was all the more cryptic and thus attractive. A dark beauty. The abominations that had been funded and created there had long since been eliminated or removed, but the rumors and the stories would remain as a permanent stigma. The lives and villages that it had helped to destroy would also haunt the dark palace and its entire rural region for some time to come.

All of those things were reasons for its infamy and immense popularity. The various government parties involved had done their best to quiet the facts and the hearsay, renovating the broken pieces of stone and statue, dragging out the bodies, shooting down the feral dogs. It had finally reached a point where certain people could go in and make the final preparations before it became another tourist attraction. It was all too easy for someone like Ada Wong to make her own entrance through the front door. If anyone asked, she would be another news reporter willing to publicize the place and advertise for it. Her true intentions were hardly so trivial.

It was heard that one Leon S. Kennedy would also be available for interviews, if they would catch him. He had been called back to tell the tale, or stand in as the most knowledgeable security personnel should anything go wrong. Who knew if he would come. Her intentions had not been designed around his visit or for anything else but her own objective. Still, it might have been nice to see him again.

Simple as it was, she needed only to be sure that no one else would ever come across or have a means to recreate the souvenir she had taken away with her. It was an easy mission, if it could even be called that. It might even be considered a waste of her time. Time was a luxury she possessed now, for her visit, and she spent it by browsing the galleria. Even she seemed to possess an appreciation for old art every now and then.

They hadn't returned for each other, but who was to say that they couldn't just happen to run across one another?
 
Ever since returning to the States, Leon had done all he could to try and avoid the media circus that was spewing all sorts of praise and how he had saved the world from certain destruction or whatever it might have been that the Los Illuminados cult had been wanting to set loose upon the world. What he honestly could not get off of his mind was how the the leader of the group, Osmund Saddler wanted to use Ashley Graham as a means of spreading the Las Plagas virus to control everything and everyone back home.

And yet, even after he had returned home and given some much needed time off, it felt as though there was something that he felt that was left unfinished. During the course of his travels through Europe, he had once again encountered a familiar face in the form of Ada Wong, a woman he had thought died in the aftermath of the T-Virus incident back in Raccoon City of about several years ago.

It honestly would not take him long before he had finally packed his bags and passport to once more head back to Europe to find out anything new or anything that he might have missed on his first go-round here.

==============================================================

Upon arrival in Europe, he had heard musings from some of the more affluent townsfolk about how the Salazar Castle was now opened to the public. It honestly irked him that it wasn't torn down considering the nature of the happenings that occurred there several days prior when he was on assignment. However, the last thing he also needed was to deal with any media here as well, for he was honestly done speaking to them about what had happened there. If all else failed, he needed to travel incognito so as not to be interviewed. Either that or deny any comment. After all, no one needed to know a damn thing as to what happened here.

When he came upon the outskirts of the castle, he merely sighed and shook his head when he looked at it. He honestly could not understand as to why they would leave this thing alone after some of the most barbaric things had happened here: The denizens in the village being controlled against their own will, the mutated beings that ran rampant and even running into Jack Krauser as well. But for what, he wondered.

Nevertheless and against his own better judgement, Leon would force himself to step into the renovated castle one more time, his eyes closed and his face bent into slight frustration.
 
With her wasted moments in perusing a piece of new artwork, Ada took a few more measured minutes to decide that there was too much shadow falling amongst the drapery. It was in a depiction of a window looking out into a sunny countryside. If she wanted to see something so droll she could have looked behind her out at the real landscape. That one was gray and unlit but at least it was real, with the portent of a storm coming. Perfect for an old gothic castle. When she did turn from her place to make her way to that said scenery, she noted his arrival. Right on time. He didn't seem particularly happy to be back and she couldn't blame him. The moment he had stepped into the doors, she was certain that the recent officials in charge of running the castle's affairs would be there to assault him.

"Mr. Kennedy, thank you for coming, how was your flight? Would you please wear this?" A middle aged English woman had begun, handing him a name tag and pass and pamplet and walking him down the lobby, a few other assistants in her wake. There was no end to the question she could ask out of pleasantries and courtesies alone. All rhetorical, for she didn't quite pause long enough to wait for answer before going on to another. "Your bedroom is on the third floor, room seven. We've taken the privilege of organizing a few things to make it more guest friendly, you see. When we've dropped off your bags we would love it if you could come by the vintage parlor on floor two for tea if you have the time of course." The interview room, where lights and cameras and people were already and almost always set up. Apparently they were also planning on filming a documentary there about old estates. For him, it was supposed to be a casual affair, with several chairs and old sofas gathered up around the central one. Someone had even made tea and scones.

"Actually," a much calmer voice managed to stop the flurry, coming from behind in their wake. "Mr. Kennedy's presence is requested at the security department. There's been an interesting new development we would like his opinion on. Your interview will wait until later." It wasn't a request.

She was dressed in business attire, cream blouse and trim black suit with dark stockings, to be believable. A small, bright red scarf, was wrapped around her pale throat. She would have blended in with the rest of them well enough, but he would know she was anything but what she oftentimes portrayed herself to be. Ada lingered long enough upon the periphery of the small crowd before the other individuals began to settle down. With a tilt of her head to invite him, she turned to be on her way out again along a different hall.
 
The aggravation factor Leon felt as soon as he stepped inside the castle only jumped a bit when he was then suddenly the center of attention by a few of the employees that worked here. Man... What more do I gotta say to get these people to shut up? He thought in an aggravated manner as he veered his eyes off to the side and frowned a bit in annoyance. The light in this place seemed to only magnify the slight frustration that was beginning to build with his iced-blue irises and the way his body was hardwired to lash out at the next dimwitted SOB that asked him about the happenings in this place clearly denoted that he had just about enough of being a celebrity.

As he continued to get railroaded around by these employees, he was about three one-hundredths of a second away from looking at the British female and telling her what he was really thinking about going to the interview room when he had heard an all too familiar voice speak up, causing him to snap his head in the direction he had heard it come from. When he finally spotted her, Leon's body tensed again, but not with the same unsanctioned irritation as he felt previously.

"Uh... Yeah." Leon spoke before looking to the employee and waved a hand at her. "I'll be alright from here on out." He added as he then followed Ada over to the different hallway, his eyes fixed on the back of her head as the two managed to separate themselves from the frenzy they left behind.
 
He certainly didn’t seem to be very happy, but at least it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been when he was hounded by castle property employees. Ada was a bit surprised herself that they had not stopped her as well to shove a name tag into her hand, too. While she led on to no real point in particular, anywhere quiet and away from the mainstream seemed a good idea. The woman could feel his eyes on her, unwavering the moment he had recognized her voice. It had been a fair amount of time since she had last left him her parting gift. Not nearly as long as the years before that, though.

“Cat got your tongue?” It was somewhat surprising that he had nothing to say to her, most likely because there was simply too many things to say and ask. She had led them back to the gallery and this time went on to go past it. Not as many people cared to drift too far away from the central area unless they were in tourist groups. The fact that there was still security personnel on the grounds meant that there were lingering suspicions for safety. Leon’s invitation and visit would hopefully put an end to the more valid paranoia without stamping out the superstitions and scare factor for paying guests.

“You don’t seem to be very happy about all of this.” She pointed out without looking back to him. The way she was going would eventually lead to stairs, and another way up the floors to his original destination.
 
Leon seemed to just be content with the fact that he was walking in silence behind Ada, but upon hearing her comment and question, he could only look off to the side and gave a bit of a scoff before looking back at her. "Better than having a Ganados trying to rip it out, I can assure you." He answered before placing his hands in the pockets of his dark naval blue jeans and sighed a bit before he continued.

"How can I still be happy when I still got plenty of questions to ask you. For one, you never really answered my question about why you were working with Albert Wesker." Leon added, his brows furrowing slightly as he then followed Ada up the stairs. "Another question I have is why they still left this place still remain after some of the stuff that went down here. I'm not sure if you wondered the same thing, but then again, maybe you did." He concluded.
 
His first was the same question that he asked before. Just like then and now Ada seemed to have no real intent on answering. She didn’t mind shedding some light on the second, as if it weren’t already an obvious answer. “It all comes down to money.” Was the simple answer. The stairway was rustic, some steps uneven. It was dim but a few modern light fixtures had been strung overhead for the average explorer. The candles at the wall were cleaned out from their holders with new white wicks, unlit. One would think that, with all their renovations, they could spare a few more dollars to take care of the smell of must and mildew.

“Not everyone knows exactly what happened here, Leon.” Maybe it was better that way. The media always took precautions to be sure that the average human being didn’t know the whole truth. It had happened with Raccoon City, why not at some remote village in Spain? Who knew how many people had their sights already set on the castle before anything had happened at all?

“How was the flight?” She couldn’t help but to grin as she asked it, opening the door back into the hallway where they had arranged the rooms. Small talk. It felt so uncharacteristic and foreign to her, to them, given the situations they usually met in. She stopped in front of his door, glancing at the luggage that had already arrived and waited besides it.
 
Leon was fairly certain that Ada would answer this way. To be honest, it wasn't exactly a surprise that she was only in it for the money and nothing else. That was normally how had had come to know her as far back as Raccoon City during that hellish nightmare he had to endure alongside Claire Redfield. Leon merely shook his head and scoffed quietly as he followed her up the stairs, finding a few unbalanced steps along the way as he was directed up to the upstairs rooms.

"Yeah. Nobody but you and me, anyway." Leon answered back as he stepped beside the door that led to his assigned room. "As for the flight, it was not that much different ever since I was sent out here several days ago before that island was blown to hell." He added. "I suppose I can give you your overdue kudos for throwing me that specially made rocket launcher that put Saddler out of his misery." He concluded, lowering his head and shaking it from side to side in thought.

"But, I suppose that was in the past. Not much more anyone can do about that." Leon spoke again before going silent while shrugging a shoulder.
 
Maybe somewhere there was a sense of goals and twisted justice within it all. But if Leon was convinced that she was as shallow as the rest of the tourist agencies to put her life on the line for the sake of a few pieces of green paper, it was just as well. It was too complicated to explain it any other way. The only one that could really understand a person was themselves. Though even then… she sometimes couldn’t explain the course of her actions, particularly in places where Leon was concerned.

“Well, maybe you should count yourself lucky then,” Ada commented at the mention of their survival. “You and Ashley Graham.” His mission might have very well been a failure without the strings she pulled. As for Ada, luck could only go so far with the things she did. For her, she needed to stay one step ahead of it all.

“And here I thought you might thank me for the other parting gift I gave you.” Ada smiled as she turned towards him, leaning at the corner of his door frame. How else would he and his charge have escaped the island? “Or did you throw that out already? I thought the blue ribbon suited you.” A single note of light laughter, and she pushed off the wall to be on her way. If he wasn’t going to invite her inside with the key he had been given, she wasn’t going to stick around.

((Referring to the teddy bear keychain here. XD))
 
Leon looked up at Ada when she spoke of him and Ashley as well as to how lucky he might have been, but really, there wasn't much that luck could've done. Luck to him was just what they said about you in a hand of poker with the rest of the guys down at the local corner bar. At least, that was how he felt about the whole concept of it, anyway.

"I'm not gonna lie to you Ada, but sometimes luck doesn't have much to do with what went on during my stay here." He commented with a shrug of his shoulders. "But I suppose you have every right to say that." Leon added, shaking his head once more.

When Ada made the next comment about whether he had the other gift she gave him, Leon's eyebrow twitched for a moment in realization. "That, and the jetski, too." He answered after reaching into his jacket's pocket and pulled it out, the small white teddy bear keychain, adorned with a smaller baby blue ribbon around the neck that had the key to the jetski which led to his and Ashley's escape. "Thanks to you, I had to get a trailer for it if I wanted to head out to the beach." He commented, despite the look on his face didn't show it, the tone he used hinted towards amused sarcasm.
 
She tilted her head at his own given opinion on luck. Maybe their perspectives didn't differ so much after all. She didn't give anymore away than that. It was even possible that he already knew. The man was oftentimes more than she expected, especially considering the first time she had met him in Raccoon City. Who would have ever expected a rookie to make it past his first day, much less the day that the virus broke out, and become the man that he was now.

When he took the small bear out from his pocket, her expression changed, genuinely and pleasantly surprised for the moment. She didn't expect him to hold on to it. Maybe hook it at a rack somewhere at his home during the off chance that he could vacation long enough to visit the beach. Not carry it with him where ever he went, be it back to Europe or anywhere else.

"Never thought I'd see this guy again," Ada smirked, turning the plush bear in her fingers as he held onto it. The jet ski had been something she had managed to acquire from her resources, like the boat and the helicopter, but the bear was all her own. "Anyway," Ada finished, dropping her hand and stepping next to him to go past. "I'll let you get back to your busy schedule."
 
"Actually Ada," Leon said when she thought about slipping past him. "I'm probably gonna be hanging out here for a little while - and by that, I mean keep away from the media circus for as long as I can - before I do go back downstairs. Besides, I believe there's something more you wanna talk about." He added as he replaced the jetski key and mini teddy bear ornament back into his jacket pocket before digging out his room key this time to unlock the door and allow himself entry.

"If you feel like coming in, you can. Besides, if I know you like I think I do, you'll only vanish like a shadow into the night and not see me again for another few years." He joked a little before he stepped inside the room he was assigned. "And if you're wondering as to why I still held onto that keychain you gave me, I decided maybe I needed a good luck charm." He commented again with the same dry wit.
 
She took a few steps before pausing at the invitation that was and wasn't really. Placing a hand at her hip, she thought for a moment to decide and then couldn't help but to glance over her shoulder at his remark with a bemused smile. Well, it wasn't as if she had too much else to do during the day when the place was crawling with civilians and crowds anyway. If there was anything that she might like to inform the US government official of, off the record, now was probably the best time. Secrets in the field weren't exactly nice things to keep, and she already had far too many.

"Don't mind if I do." She conceded, turning to go in after him and bring the door to a quiet close behind her once the luggage was moved inside. "So this is room seven. Much nicer than the niche I was assigned." This one was a large and typical suite, but obviously reserved for special guests. Broken furniture and dust had been cleaned out, along with any blood stains. It was nothing more than a livable, vintage hotel room now. "You're like a celebrity here. But you don't seem to like the attention." He would have had it worse if people were more honest about the Las Plagas, vicious human parasites, everything.

"Any idea of how long you'll be staying this time?" Ada asked as she went to the window, extending out as a seating area in a half circle. She checked the curtains and the view, looking out over the courtyard, though she was really looking for any loose cords.
 
"Of course I don't like the attention. All it's doing is just bringing unwanted attention that I don't want or don't need. Besides, it's bad enough I had to put up with that back home." Leon explained once he was in the room and settled himself down in a chair with a small sigh then crossed one leg over the other and placed his chin in his hand while resting the elbow on the arm.

"As for how long I'll be staying this time, I'm just out here on some personal business, so I got plenty of time on my hands." He added, looking up at Ada as he spoke. "There was also a feeling that I left some stones unturned, most of which begins with you." He concluded.
 
"Your fifteen minutes of fame is running over. It'll fade soon enough." She reassured him. It always did, even for a shadow as great as Umbrella had been. Once she was satisfied with the view, or rather, the fact that no one was out looking in, Ada pulled the curtain closed and walked over to the desk beside his chair.

"What made you so sure that I would be here, too?" There was genuine curiousity. Sometimes she didn't know where she would be assigned from the next day to the next hour, rare as it was. "Or were you hoping that I might have left something else behind for you to find?" She doubted that, if there really was anything left over from the ordeal, it would be very pleasant. Maybe that was something left for the both of them to find.
 
"It's been running over for quite some time, I believe." Leon answered with a shake of his head and a sigh. "The day after I came in through the southern tip of Texas and found by the Coast Guard and National Guard that was stationed there, they all saw me and Ashley pull up on the jetski and instantly thought of us as illegal immigrants before they saw the badge I had." He added, shaking his head again and smirked with a bit of sarcasm behind it.

"As for how I knew you'd be here Ada," Leon answered before giving a shrug of his shoulders then glanced up at her when she came around and settled herself on the desk opposite him. "Well... Let's call it a gut feeling. It hasn't been wrong ever since." He said.
 
“A gut feeling?” Ada echoed, a brow arching. She knew what that was. Instinct. Intuition. But she didn’t believe it was the only thing that had led him back. In a way she had been likewise expecting him, if that was any contribution to the way of their reunions. That may have very well been the greatest part to it actually. It also meant that she was becoming predictable which was dangerous in its own right.

“Were you both really mistaken for illegal immigrants?” She couldn’t help but to come back to, amusement in her tone. She leaned back on the desk, hands braced at the edges. From her place she could watch over and slightly behind or beside him. It kept him in her view but his visibility for her wasn’t quite as clear. “Maybe you both spent too much time here.” The pair of them were as white as a sheet, so she couldn’t help but to find it a bit humorous.
 
"Hmph." Leon answered, shaking his head as he also found the slight bit of humor behind his statement. "Try telling that to them. They wig out over everything." He added, chuckling lightly as he spoke. "What, with the recent terror threats and all that other jargon." He commented as he looked ahead of him when Ada disappeared from his view but stayed within his peripheral vision.

"But back to my 'gut feeling' statement." Leon stated before he aimed his eyes to her once more, seeing her out of the corner of his eyes. "I'm guessing you also had a thought somewhere within the back of your mind that I was gonna be here too. Am I right?" He then asked.
 
As stringent as their borderline rules and regulations were, for any country, it was a shame that they did little good in the face of a professional. Ada herself had slipped in and out of any given region without a trace whenever she needed to. At least they meant well.

“Me? Maybe…” She said lightly, smiling as she stood up to pace conveniently out from his gaze and behind the seat. “I knew it was only a matter of time. Female intuition is a powerful thing.” Her hand touched the upper arm of his chair, fingers smoothing over the wooden edge of the back as she went around to the other side. “There’s some unfinished business left here.” Her hand brushed beside his resting elbow in passing before she gathered it up to cross her arms over her stomach.

“In this castle, I mean.” She grinned and turned to glance back at him where she stopped. “Or did you think I meant us?”
 
"Just as I thought." Leon remarked with another quirk of his eyebrow as he spoke. "The power of intuition is never wrong, whether it's male or female." He added, smiling a little to himself as he watched her circumnavigate around him, lightly touching his resting elbow as Ada passed by before narrowing his eyes slightly in question when she mentioned something about unfinished business. Before he could get the question out, it was answered for him, stating that it involved the castle.

"Hm. How appropriate." He stated simply before shaking his head. "You and I must be thinking the same thing, wondering if there's anything else left here after all of the things that happened here. But then again, who knows? Maybe there's nothing left to pick through except particles of dust." He added.
 
“Let’s hope that’s the case.” Ada replied rather somberly. She didn’t seem to be very enthused about the entire ordeal. “Clean-up work isn’t really my department, but with you around, this might just be a bit more bearable.” She was better working alone in any worthwhile case. Hunting down the specimen, staying out of the limelight, getting into a certain mess only to get out of it with whatever she needed without looking back… That was her specialty. Finishing up any loose ends might as well be menial labor. Had it been her own job to begin with, there would be nothing left to clean up after anyway. The now nonexistent research island was testament to that thoroughness.

“So, what do you say? It’ll be like old times, in a way.” Ada extended her offer. “I’ll let you know if I find anything suspicious if you do the same. Maybe I’ll even help you get rid of the complications again.”
 
The offer Ada presented to him sounded reasonable, considering their strengths. After all, who else would be better suited to work as partners in the shadows better than these two? While Leon provided the grunt work, Ada was known to wander off into the shadows and do her own thing, even providing some unknown assistance along the way. It was the same exact way how the two managed ever since the incident several days ago and way back a few years ago back in Raccoon City.

Nodding at the notion, Leon would then slowly extend a hand out to Ada. "I'll shake on it." He spoke with a small smile. "Furthermore, I'll see if I can do a few things to help you out as well." He added with a quirk of an eyebrow.
 
It seemed as though this would work out rather well. Or so one would hope. As it was, in the here and now at least, there wasn’t anything in particular that she needed to hide or an objective she was after. When it was all said and done and it came time to leave the castle for good it wouldn’t be the same. But that was something she could try to forget come the next assignment.

“Good. This might just work. Meet me in the library on the basement level tonight after light’s out.” Ada took his hand, but rather than shaking it, simply held on to it between them for the moment. Her touch was cool in comparison to his grasp.

“My room is down the hall and to the left, number eighteen.” She informed him as she began to show herself out. “Feel free to visit if you’re looking for a place to hide.” The woman stepped past the open door, glancing back as it closed behind her. “And maybe if you’re bored,” she added with a wink.
 
Perhaps it might not be so bad after all, Leon figured as he felt Ada grip his hand in hers. After all, it wasn't like Ashley was going to be kidnapped again after all the things that had happened previously. But then again, who was to say that there could be something else waiting in the wings for either one of them? After all, odd occurences just seemed to pop up on them from out of nowhere and with quite the frequency, too.

"I'll make sure to keep those in mind." Leon answered with a small chuckle as he watched Ada begin to leave. "You already know where I am, so drop in any time you're bored or you feel like you need something to tell me." He added as he rested his arm down on the arm of the chair he sat in.

Once he was alone - which to some degree he felt wouldn't be for very long, considering the other engagement he had to "attend" to - Leon sat there in the silence of his room shaking his head to himself. "And so it begins..." He muttered to himself idly.
 
What kind of person was she supposed to be, really? Today she was a reporter, a long time ago she was a casual, middle class woman, with an interest in one of Umbrella's employees. There was a time when she didn't even wear red, but that was a long time ago. Ada Wong wasn't designed, so to speak, to be a person who looked out for anyone but herself in her profession. Yet she often found that she was still capable of transient things like attachment, integrity, inexplicable actions. She's had her moments. Some things life couldn't quite predict. She was only human.

Even though the woman had picked that particular word from a few select others, she was still musing over it, wondering if it had been suitable. Nostalgia? It might have been the building and the things she perused therein. It certainly seemed to suit the ambiance. He did bring back more than a few memories. So long as her own mind kept them somewhere in her head (never mind the necessary complications of a heart which Wesker seemed born without), the world would work well enough. She only had to be careful not to surprise him too terribly much with whatever she said. The same went for herself.

That night it began to rain just as anyone had predicted. The Spanish countryside was blotted out by the absence of the moon, making the castle appear and feel as isolated as it truly was. Within the refurbished rooms and lobby, the chandeliers were dimmed and people mulled about to their rooms. Deep into one of the castles studies on the ground floor, Ada looked through the bookshelves by lantern light. She was dressed much more practically, all in sleek black and boots. Most of the books had to do with anatomy, parasitology, science and biology and physics and everything beyond the scope. They weren't very interesting. Instead she was looking for something remotely possible to miss. A book on top of the highest shelf with a special script or map between the pages. A section disguised as a compartment with a key, or a switch behind a row of encyclopedias. People like herself might have believed that they had seen and traversed every bowel and niche there was to creep into, but one could never be too sure.

Her best lead wasn't in anything she browsed through. It was just a sound. A muffled thump against a shelf or behind a wall, maybe beneath the ground. That wasn't the sound of the door opening. She had been comfortable with the barren room she had spoken within, with the American agent, in earlier that day. But that was because she could see everything. She knew it was empty and without bugged wires. It was a different set of circumstances now. If the sound had been Leon or not, she would find out soon enough.

Extinguishing the lantern, Ada picked up the black shadow of metal from the shelf and lost her place amongst the tomes of Spanish history.
 
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