Living on a prayer

Lindia had been waiting for Azeal at quarter to seven in the morning, leaning against her baby girl as she called it. No, it wasn't her precious golden sword that was concealed within her hip pocket. It wasn't her golden ring that she wore as a medal or trophy in a way, that she had the best possible relationship in the world. No, it was the best. It wasn't her pride either. No, it wasn't emotion, it wasn't jewelry and it wasn't a tool. It was a machine, and not just any machine at that: A 2013 ZR1 Corvette Sportscar. It wasn't no model car either, or a simple run of the mill machine, nah...that wasn't her style. Her baby was custom, from the tip of the hood to the exhaust pipes, it was her car, not another like it.

She knew the machine by heart, as several times she would escape to the storage unit she stored it in over in Oakland and work on it, late at night before sneaking back to her barracks in the early morning. Her entire ride sat on four Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires, black as the asphalt. Well enough, she knew they would deliver powerful performance cornering, race-like reflexes, and consistent performance for miles on end, or until she blew a tire. The tires then were each attached to a Brembo Carbon Ceramic Brake, capable of operating at 1,000° Celsius (as hot as molten lava) without warping, not that she would drive on lava, but she may spin her wheels that fast. With a grin across her face, Lindia slid her hand over the Carbon Fiber hood, which included a window above the supercharger for easy viewing and a magnificent incorporation into the unique design.

Now the engine...she thought, grinning as she remembered all the time she had worked to perfect the 6.2-liter LS9 aluminum block V8 equipped with a 4-lobe Eaton Twin Vortices Series supercharger with intercooler, delivering a SAE-certified 638 horsepower at 6500 rpm. The engine employed a lightweight titanium build, and a high-performance dry-sump oil system, to protect vital components under high-g driving conditions....such as street racing which Lindia had quite a passion for. She knew the weight to power ratio too, because her car was made out of high-strength, lightweight materials wherever possible including magnesium and carbon fiber, and an aluminum frame which adds all up to: 5.2pounds per horsepower. Her pale hand traced the custom blue flames that decorated the sides of her vehicle, she had personally designed and painted each flame so it matched up perfectly, every line crisp and clean.

Also attached to the frame, tires, and all round-suspension. She had gotten the standard Magnetic Selective Ride Control, which stiffens suspension capability for twisty roads while providing a more agreeable ride for urban driving. She knew how it worked too! An electromagnetic coil sits inside each damper piston, and when an electrical current is applied, ferrous particles in the shock fluid instantly bond, making the fluid more flow resistant, effectively stiffening the shock’s damping. Therefore, when the electromagnetic field is reduced, the fluid flows more freely, allowing easier suspension movement. Was that all that her car was made of though? Hell no. She turned her head as she heard footsteps from the tunnel and grinned, nodding over to her friend. "Hey!" She called with a chuckle, opening the drivers door and taking a moment to awe the interior:

Lindia had gone with the rich leather fittings on the instrument panel upper, door panel uppers, console cover and sport seat surfaces, and the contrasting stitching in Blue. The seat itself...it was amazing. As Lindia got inside if the car and sat in her seat she couldn't help but purr. The seat design included large thick pillows on the seatback and cushion areas for support, especially in high-performance driving that she favored; microfiber seat inserts complement the new design even further, as does the revised steering wheel featuring model-specific badging and streamlined switch trim. She waited for her ally to join her in the magnificent piece of machinery as she withdrew the key from her jean pocket and pushed it into the slot, turning it and awakening the great and powerful beast. The engine roared to life, and Lindia purred with her baby as she grinned, her hand then going over to glance at her sound system. Now that, was an epic arrangement too. A Bose premium audio system, including nine speakers for improved audio quality, and improved Bose Nd next-generation bass performance make it truly a premium audio experience, for any song that plays. She also had the satellite radio, coast to coast she could get any music she wanted, whenever she wanted, and that was epic for her: although her presets were all rock music. she couldn't just forget one of the final pieces of her wonderful corvette: a heads up display which included a g-force meter. The display appeared on the front windshield as if hovering above the front bumper when she flipped the switch and smirked, watching it flicker to life. Turning to her friend who had gotten into the car, Lindia smiled over at her.

"This is my baby" she grinned as she pulled into reverse and backed up, checking her mirrors as she dd so before moving the shift back to drive and glancing at Azeal. "Up to 205 miles per hour, 0-60 in three seconds. You don't want to race against me in this thing, cause I've got some...surprises" she laughed lightly and directed her attention to the road as a song began to play over the local Bay Area rock channel. Living on a prayer:Bon Jovi.

Spoiler:

Lindia stayed on highway 24 for a few moments, humming along to the classic song as she continued to drive, making a series of turns to get onto one of the many bridges which spanned the San Francisco Bay. This bridge was the new bay bridge, freshly built only a year or so ago, and crossed onto treasure island for a moment before into the dense San Fran. "So..." The blonde spoke at last, turning from the interstate onto market street, and then proceeded just to drive around the crowded streets, staring at them, or the car, or both as she grinned. Lindia was dressed as normal, dark jeans and converse sneakers, with a journey shirt over that. She wore her usual leather cuff and dog-tag necklace, her hair with several emerald streaks within it. "Where do you wanna stop at miss know it all?" She asked, partly teasing, partly insulting her...but not that bad. After all, this was an ally and not a stranger.

Five years. Five long years of being trapped in Camp Jupiter's walls practicing nothing but her fighting. She had a whole wardrobe -- designed by her-- that was most likely out of style.  Azalea stayed up all night, going through dozens of  dresses and cute clothes she had. She awakened her cohort numerous times crying out in rage when something didn't look right. It had got to the point she just had to pray to her mother. Help me find an outfit. Hopefully Venus will hear her daughters cry for help. There was nothing worse then angry child of Venus. Venus herself is a pretty scary goddess, even when she's not upset with mortals praising another mortal because of her beauty (Pysche).  No, Azalea wasn't as scary as her mother when she's mad, but she's pretty damn close.


 The next morning, while everyone got up and went on with their daily routines, Azalea did not. She kept her eyes closed, and stayed in bed. There was no way she would get up and face the madness scattered all over the place. There were mountains of them scattered all over the place. The people of the fourth cohort had fought through piles to get out. Piles of clothes, that is. How could a girl have so much, so many? Different styles  different colors so blindly bright and they were everywhere."Where does she keep all of these clothes!" Azalea with her eyes closed tight heard someone shout along with what sounded like a fight to the death, she finally sat up in her bed to see a younger camper, clawing his way out of a pile of clothes. Horror spread across her face when it began to look like he was losing. She hoped out her bed to help him out and when she did the boy didn't look so happy to be beaten by a pile of clothes. He seemed both embarrassed and upset."Lady, do something with all these clothes, it's a mess!" The boy was still knee-high in clothes. He struggled to get out, kicking a few clothes up in the air.

 "Sorry." Azalea called to him as he stormed out. She clutched the clothes she had just pulled out to help the boy. When she gazed down at the handful of clothes,  something gold seemed to be sticking out in the pile. With her free hand, Azalea picked it out. Immediately she gasped, dropping the rest of the clothes."When did I get this?" She asked herself while holding it up a magnificent dress to look at it better. The gold was formed into a solid one shoulder top of ringlets.  The dress was a stunning white color, almost too stunning if you asked her. A beautiful chinese flower pattern had been stitched on the right side of the dress in the most beautiful gold. A perfect slit formed just at the back of the dress.  The dress had swayed at the bottom in the most princess-like way, Azalea predicted it was way below her knees but just above her feet. It was too perfect of a dress... this had to be her prayer. She had memorized every dress (at least she thought) she had and never saw that one before. Azalea had no clue where it had come from and wouldn't dwell too much on it. The dress was in the pile, it's beautiful and perfect for what was she doing that very day. Oh gods! She had almost forgotten about her trip to San Franscisco with Lindia and it was only an hour before the time they agreed to go!

 Azalea clutched the dress tighter as she grabbed a few other things. She ran out the fourth cohort, running into a few guys from her cohort, charming them into cleaning up the cohort before running to the baths where she had only gotten just a few minutes to soak.  Once she got out, Azalea dried herself off before putting the dress on. It was a perfect fit, and she couldn't help but spin in it a few times like a princess; giggling and smiling. She placed a small amount of makeup on her face and put her long silky purple hair in a ponytail. Lastly, she put on her black wedges and placed her sunglasses on the top of her head.

  She made her way from the bathhouse to the tunnels. She got a few stares and the Lars couldn't help but call out,"If Venus had more daughters who looked like you, I would most likely die in the name of love!" Azalea couldn't really say she got what they were trying to say and didn't respond to it either. She was a little queasy about leaving the Camp. Before entering the tunnel, Azalea took a moment to look back.Is this forbidden? She thought. Lindia did seem like a rebel. Would her actions get the poor girl in trouble. That's for the fates to decide. Azalea  chewed on her lip before she decided to step through the tunnel.Click-click, the heels of her wedges made such a loud noise although she was taking soft steps. Azalea was almost at the end of the tunnel now. When she got there, she was not only greeted by a polite hello but a very nice looking car."Hello." She nodded toward her friend, her eyes began scanning the car."Very nice."


  Azalea followed her friend to her car, opening the passenger door.and slipping it. She was amazed at how soft the seats were, almost like a bed."This is amazing-- you didn't steal the car, did you?" She raised an eyebrow at her friend."Nevermind, don't tell me." She scooted the chair back before leaning back in it and putting her sunglasses on. It almost reminded her of the car her dad once had. The car was smooth as Lindia pulled out, she couldn't help but sighed relieved at how nicely it seems to be going."Street races in China use to be interesting. I remember hearing them zip through my road-" She cut herself short due to the song. Living on a Prayer, she's heard it during the rare occasions when charity events or big social parties took place at a Karaoke. Azalea remembered how her father hated it."It isn't Chinese, so why is it here?" He would complain.

"So?" She returned, looking at her friend before sitting up. Azalea stared out the window, waving and winking at people for her own enjoyment."Where does miss know it all wanna go..." She tapped her chin. She already knew where she needed to go for a brief moment. The night before she didn't look for clothes but talked to her father for the first time and he told her about a small Qing Dynasty, their dynasty, which was taking place in some mansion."Hey! Let's do something hilarious like, show up to an event uninvited." She tried to sound humorous about it."Then maybe afterwards go to the streets, yo!"

Lindia chuckled "why not? I mean it's not everyday you can go and crash a mansion" she smirked and rolled into the street in front of the mansion, away from the wharf and piers and south of the bay a little. "My car is certainly the best of all of these..." She murmured and parked the magnificent machine, pulling the shift into park and easing her foot off the brake. She opened her door and stepped out, smiling as she ran her hand over the surface of her baby and looked around. San Francisco was literally a mountain. There was a legit mountain peak in the middle of all the hills and such that made up the densest city in the United States. "8am. Seriously we are gonna be a shock" she laughed as she looke over at her friend. "You lead, I follow"

OOC: sorry it's short, not long time online

"Yeah..." Azalea awkwardly laughed. When they pulled up in front of a block just full of mansions, she took off her glasses and got out."Well half of them are limos and the other half are those tiny new cars." She forgot what they were called and didn't really care. She began walking up the block until she saw a large sign that read in Chinese, "QING DYNASTY ART". She walked toward the house which had an ancient Chinese palace look to it, there was a man at the entrance with black glasses on."Azalea Azashumee-Washington." She bowed. The man took a look at the list and slid aside to let them in.

There were paintings of the last Empress hung up and pictures of the Qing Dynasty members."Oh look!" She ran over to a display case where two blades sat."These are amazing."

Lindia followed her snide and looked around the gallery, smiling as she saw the expensive exhibits of ancient art. She didn't care much about the tapestries and such, although the blades did catch her eye, even before her new friend pointed them out. They were kantanas. Jade handles and a shining blade, crisp to the sharp edge.

"Nice blades. I could steal them I think, the security for this place is pretty low, I've scanned these type of buildings before" she chuckle in a whisper as she looked over her shoulder.

Azalea laughed a bit."No it's good... although it does belong to my family." She began moving again."The paintings of the Empresses and Emperors all belong on the wall of my home back in China. Actually, China belongs to my family too. If my dynasty was still moving strong... I would be Empress." She sighed."Imagine that... Empress Azalea. I would wear beautiful head pieces and all of China would admire me." Azalea took a seat at a soft plush couch, crossing her legs."What's wherever you're from like?"

She looked over the exhibits and then she heard her ask the question. About her background. Without waiting a moment or hesitating she slammed her elbow into the throat of her friend and pressed her against the wall. "My home? Ive never had a home. My. Place of growing up was hell, it was dark and cold, painful. No one would care if you were dead and half the time I wanted to. But now I'm fine. Just back off a little or I'm gonna have to stab you" she opened her palm to show a knife

Azalea had turn her head for a second to view a beautiful painting. It was in that time she was caught off guard and slammed into the wall. She made a gagging noise as she was pressed against the wall. Did this girl forget who she was? Azalea scowled, lifting her leg and jabbing her heel in Lindia's face and kicking her. Azalea stepped back until she was close enough to a display case."I will respect that." She told the girl truthfully before her eyes turned a dark color. Azalea had a twisted look on her face."You're stabbing NO one. You keep your hands to yourself and use your f*cking words. You must have me me confuse." Azalea stood up tall. People were staring and it had only taken a moment for her to raise her hand and quest them down."I am Azalea, daughter of Aleric and royal descendant and as a higher being then you, you will not touch me." Azalea's words were dark and almost daring.

"You use words; otherwise you'll look like a lesser being. Trash, scum. See these here." She raised her arms."You're in my domain. Do you really want to stab a girl in her familiar area?" She laughed a bit."You hardly know me to be threatening me like that and will not crumble under you, Lindia. Ally or not. Be smart about your choices." Azalea smiled brightly and said something warming to the people in Chinese before turning to her friend."Minerva has blessed my family line with smart thinking and tactics. I'd be the worse enemy you'd make." Azalea started walked aunt the display case which had beautifully crafted fans and weapons."I'm going to give you a second to cool off and think about your stupidity. Think really hard about if you want me as a foe."

Lindia smirked at her, laughing inside of her head as she turned and walked around the gallery. Did she give a f*** what Azeal thought? Hell no. She had no need to think about what she had done, no need to apologize. She slipped her knife back into the cleverly designed hollow in her leather belt and grinned, moving from glass case to glass case, until well, she was out of sight.

Once gone from the sight of Azeal she began to explore the rest of the building, legs bent, ears alert as she checked room and room, saying away from the views of security cameras. What was she looking for exactly? Magic. The weapons had been fine, but what she needed to find was the magical items, and it wasn't long until she found an elevator. Pulling the blade out again she wedged it into the panel of the button and cracked it open, cutting several wires with a quick and surgical precision before turning her attention to the door. Putting her shoulder to the wall and bracing her feet, slowly she managed to open the doors and stared down into the shaft leading below the earth. With a small grin, she jumped, clutching the cables and rappelling herself into the abyss, down to a hidden vault room.

Azalea began chatting away with people like she usually, boasting about her heritage and where she had come from. For awhile she didn't pay attention to her "friend", losing her. She wondered if she was too harsh. Azalea had basically called the girl trash, telling her she was beneathin every shape and form. Azalea soon left the event, heading outside to see if her friend was out there but she was no where to be seen. Azalea head to the car to see if she was there, still no sign though."Where is she? I left my purse in the care." She sighed."And I want to go shopping."

Lindia crept along the vault and punched the guard, swiping the card into the vault and stepping in. Grinning, she swiped as many magical items as she could and started climbing the elevator shaft and back to the main floor. She retried to be normal as she walked and went out to her car. "Hey b*tch empress" she sneered as she pushed past her, placing her bag into the trunk before walking back around the black car and stepping in, allowing her to get in too

Azalea stood by the car, annoyed. She was annoyed until she saw Lindia." Said take a moment not a hike." She scowled at her friend as she called her b*tch empress. Who did she think she was? Azalea took a seat in the car."Where did you get all of that!!" She screamed as she noticed her friend was holding different items."None of it looks safe."

Linda chuckled as she started the engine "iodine it. Just some magics." She told her as she drove through San Francisco towards a shopping center by the water. "Besides, I let you brag about your damn heritage and all, so I took it to myself to explore" she laughed and hit the turbocharger

Azalea held on to something as her friend pulled off."I was not bragging... what do these items even do?" Azalea tried to sit up but they were going to fast."Oh gods, I made a deal with the evil spirits becoming ally's with you."

OOC:sorry for the length.

Linda laughed as she raced through the streets. "Say what you wish, though am I evil? Maybe" she grinned and slammed on her brakes at a stop sign, leaving black marks from her tires into the pavement. When the light turned green she hit the gas again, racing to the piers.

"Evil isn't the right word. You're beyond that." Azalea laughed, smiling a bit. Bit that smile soon faded when Lindia was speeding up and down the streets."I'm going to break my neck. You're going to break my neck." Azalea prayed to her mother, hoping she survived.

Lindia laughed as she turned a right corner. "These seats won't allow you to break your neck. I modified them on the technology used in jet fighters to keep the passenger safe in any condition. Relax, I know this machine as well as a true warrior knows their blade" she grinned and slowed as se pulled into a parking garage across the road from the massive tourist trap of pier 39. Going through the building she whistled a song, another old rock song but this one was not Bon Jovi, it was BTO; otherwise known as Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and the song was perhaps the most notable from said artist: You ain't seen nothing yet. After she parked up on the top floor of the parking garage she turned off the car and faced her friend "ok tourist, lets go hit the shops, alright?" She asked as she laughed.