Pyre wrote a letter quietly, there was no address.

I write this letter as a call for help. A call to the ancients, to ask my ancestors to help me on my search for the Baurai, our eternal enemy, they have hidden themselves away from our eyes. I fear they may be preparing to kill us, conjuring up an end battle, after centuries of secret battles and an eternal war, they may be close to finishing their goal. I call on the Aurelle ancestors to descend from their home in the stars and help us lay vengeance on our enemies when the day comes. May our magic wipe their bodies from existence, may this war end and may our families finally dissolve and live on in a normal existence. Not one constantly caught up in an ancient turmoil. I wish for a new sunrise, one different from yesterday, it has felt like 1,000 years since the sun set. I wish to see the sun again.

Sincerely,
Pyre.

Pyre picked the note up and lit it with a match and held it out the window. Holding it till the last second when he released and the hot air pulled it into the sky as the fire tore the paper to ash. Pyre then turned back to his desk where a request sat. He read it over, it was from Bella Missandra, the lady who ran the bath house. He smiled, she was a nice lady. He had met her once or twice when he had actually gone to the bath house to take a bath and not to beat up street thugs. He grabbed the request and walked out the door and down the stairs. The lady who was at the desk this morning smiled, her face was pale and she had brown hair, she looked like she may have been  40, likely with children. She smiled goodbye and pyre waved to her as he walked out the door.

The walk to the bath house was short and it didn't take him long to get up there. Once inside he conversed with the secretary for a moment, she fiddled with her hair before Bella came out and gave a stifled laugh. "Janice, if you're going to flirt with every wizard you see you're going to end up pregnant." Bella said. Janice blushed and turned back down to her journal. Bella turned her attention to Pyre, " You must be one of the kind wizards here to set up an ambush to get that peeping tom. He's been terrorizing my customers recently and I'm here to make everyone feel comfortable, but he is ruining the safest place ever created. And so, he needs to be punished." She said fiercely. Pyre nodded, "I think I can help, Someone like him deserves a bit of a roughing up." Pyre said. Bella nodded. "Good, he is known to be found in the bath at the end of the hall, I wish you well." She said sweetly.

500/2000

The bath at the end of the hall was wide, and the tub was a styled to look like you were wading into a beach, plenty of fake shrubbery and signs hung on the wall to disguise someone, and keep them hidden from view. Pyre smiled, this would be simple. He pulled himself up into the rafters of the bath house and into a shadow caused by the lack of the light. There was not much of anything for awhile. And then finally, there was a bit of shuffling. Some more, and then a sigh. Pyre squinted, he couldn't see anything. The man must have gotten here early to be hidden when the women got here. He'd be very surprised when no woman showed up.

Time moved slowly for a little bit, and Pyre had not figure out where the peeping tom was yet. But all he needed was the man to say one word, hell if he just sneezed again the man would expose himself. But no, the peeping tom was incredibly quiet, that lucky bastard. Pyre checked the clock on the wall, it was about fourteen minutes past opening time. He assumed a exasperated sigh would be coming soon.

Another fifteen minutes past and Pyre was getting tired of this. Then, as if a star saw his sadness from the sky, the peeping tom said a few simple words, "What the hell?" He asked. BOOM! The peeping tom was hidden in a far corner behind a clump of trees, this would be easy. Pyre made his way quietly across the rafters until he was right above the man. The peeping tom had blue hair and wore gray clothes. There was a perfect opening in the trees for Pyre to land on top of the man. And with a quiet woosh, Pyre slipped off the rafter. The man glanced up and saw a man dressed in combat gear fly down from the ceiling. The peeping tom let out a terrible howl as Pyre landed on the mans shoulders, which let out a terrible pop. The Tom fell over allowing pyre to jump off him. The tom tumbled for a moment before snatching a rock and charging at Pyre, tackling him and straddling him, trying to bash him with a rock. But Pyre grabbed the rock and quickly knocked him in the face with it. The tom keeled over and cradled his broken nose, and likely dislocated shoulder. "You are pathetic." Pyre said giving the Peeping TOm a distasteful look. At that moment Janice and Bella opened the door and marched in. Bella clapped, "Janice! Go call Sargent Gallaway, We caught our peeping tom!" She said. Janice left and Bella gave Pyre a hug. "Thank you so much darling, this--tom has been quite annoying." She said. Bella leaned down so she was eye-level with the man, "You are a sadistic coward." She growled. She stood up, straightened out her dress. And gave the man a swift kick to the ribs.

1000/2000

Sargent Gallaway cuffed the Peeping Tom and tossed him harshly into the wooden carriage. He'd face a little bit of prison time and if he was ever seen near the bath house again he'd likely be severely punished. Not only by the rune knights, but some of the female wizards might find when he turns a corner, and that's a dangerous group to cross.

Bella grabbed Pyre by the hand, "Please, darling, come in. You can have a private bath, the whole place is empty so you can have any room you want." Bella said kindly. Pyre smiled, "That would be lovely Bella." Pyre said, kissing Bella's hand. Bella giggled and waved her hand, "The women must die for you Pyre." She said. Pyre laughed and followed her inside. She snapped her fingers and ordered Janice to set up a bath in one of their private rooms and fill it with the "special Herbs" Janice nodded and unlocked a special box and pulled out a single, bright red lily. She waved for Pyre to follow. Bella kissed Pyre on the cheek and waved goodbye. Janice showed him into the room, she crushed up the lily in her hand. It turned into dust with ease. She tossed it into the water and left. Pyre stripped and slid quietly into water. He relaxed and leaned his head on the side of the bath. It was so nice being away from the stress of life. Whatever was in this bath seemed to seep into his skin. It felt, reviving. Its sent was also amazing, it was like a whole bouquet was being waved around the room filling it with its floral smells. Pyre smiled and ducked underwater, then back up. He enjoyed the smell and the feeling of water on his face. He sat there for a long time.

Pyre did not know how long he had sat in the bath until he realized that the bath had gotten cold so he stood up, dried off, brushed himself off and left. Janice was no longer at the desk, her shift must have ended. THe sun was setting when he left. The street lights were turning on and people were heading home from work. Pyre felt on top of the world at this moment, he had never felt better. It wasn't likely to get worse really. So he smiled and walked quietly home, enjoying all the beautiful sights. It was nice to finally be relaxed. He had been so stressed recently, to the point where he physically couldn't take it anymore. And this was a good way for him to just get over that and enjoy ever bit of the day that he could since he was typically beside himself with angst by the time he finished his day. It was just nice, normally he had dealt with the worst of people and he wouldn't have gotten closer to finding out where the Baurai were. He stopped himself. He was getting into a spiral.

The inn door was wide open when he returned. This was terribly dangerous. HIs nerves went on high alert, he didn't like this. When he stepped inside all the lights were off. He called out, "Hello? Vermillia?" He called. Vermillia was the owner and he had become worried now. There was a crash from the kitchen and Pyre rushed in there. He let out a gasp when he got there. Bright red blood had splattered the walls and Vermilia's Husband, Ander lay crumpled on the floor. A large hole was in the middle of his chest. Pyre leaned down and closed the man's eyes. He then reached over and grabbed a kitchen knife. He was silent now, he knew that someone had been here and could possibly still be here. He'd have to find Vermillia without calling her. He continued to walk through the inn, searching for her. All the other rooms were empty, which was odd. The couple who ran the inn only had about ten rooms, but five of them had been taken when Pyre had arrived, had they all left?

When Pyre finally reached his room he noticed the door was ajar. He prepared to attack someone. As he swung the door open he noticed a body slouching over the bed. His sheets were stained red with Vermillia's blood. The window slammed shut, Pyre darted to the window and saw a man fall to the ground and begin to run. Pyre kicked out the window and tumbled to the ground after the hooded man. Pyre used his speed and chased after the vicious killer. The man was fast as well, Pyre leaned into his speed, his feet slapping the ground, Pyre wandered if he had the expertise to throw and hit the man with the knife he had brought along with him in the chase. Pyre decided it was worth a shot. He dialed back his arm and swung the knife at the man. It landed with a thunk. Burrowing itself into the meaty, lower part of his back. THe man fell over and yelled. Pyre caught up and smashed his foot down on the mans back, "WHY THE HELL DID YOU KILL THEM?"Pyre howled. The man groaned. Pyre grabbed the hilt of the knife and gave it a twist. The man screamed. Based on where it landed, it probably severed one of his intestines, possibly a kidney. "You're going to die if you don't tell me why you did it and who told you to do it?" Pyre asked. THe man clenched his teeth, "I was enlisted by someone, go to a tavern called Hades' Crib. Look for a group of young and powerful women. They'll have your answers, but be warned they won't hand them over easily." He said. Pyre smiled. "Thank you." He said. Pyre pulled the knife out and dragged him to a nurses station. IT wasn't likely he would survive. But if he did, it was a sign from the stars he should live.

2000/2000