New Rome AU (testing out a potential new character)

Iulia was never late for a meeting, but today may just be the day. Hurrying through the streets of New Rome, the young girl bunched her veil in one hand so it would stop flying into her face. Her father would be furious if she missed this. "Sorry! Sorry," she mouthed, elbowing her way through a group of teens. She sprinted up the crowded Via Sacra, and skidded to a halt in front of the Atrium Vestale. Right. This was it. She blew a piece of hair out of her face and knocked on the door.
Nothing.
Iulia knocked again, three times, clear and loud. Finally the door slid aside, revealing a tall woman with a frown. "Yes?"

"I'm Iulia Ulpia Marciana, daughter of Marcus Ulpius Traianus. I have an appointment with the Vestalium Maxima."

The veiled woman checked her iPad, scrolling through it with a fingertip. "Ah yes. Iulia of the Ulpii. But your appointment was at 2 PM? It is now 2:17."

"I know! And I'm sorry." Iulia put her hands behind her back so the trembling wouldn't show. "I am very sorry, I will personally apologize to the Vestalium-"

"That won't be necessary." The woman cut her off. "The chief Vestal is already in her next appointment. Besides, she is not used to waiting on young girls to grace her with their time. Maybe next year, you'll buy a watch." She pointed towards the door. "Until then."

"Wait, no- please!"

But the door had already shut, cutting her out of the house. She could only faintly smell the incense.

"Priapus' underwear!" she shouted, kicking the door. "Let me back in!" People started looking at her, a little kid pointing at her. Great, now she was putting on a show. Turning back sharply, Iulia trudded down the Via Sacra, eager to get out of the crowd. She almost bumped into someone at the corner of a street, but she wasn't in the mood to apologize.

OOC: She's about 18 with fox-red hair and traditional Roman clothing in purple and white.

Fay Dawes stood at the corner of Via Sacra and Augustus Avenue waiting on the 302 bus to actually show up. Between the heavy traffic and even heavier mass of people coming and going from the Via, it would be an impossible task to park a bus without hitting someone — an ironic oversight that lead to several people getting maimed next to Holy Road.

What Dawes did not know is that she would be next.

Kinda.

An angry mass of red hair and Roman robes rocketed around the corner barely missing the road-focused daughter of Pax. Despite not seeing the robed angry-person, the feeling of someone being that close to her and then leaving was enough to provoke a jolting flinch and a “Hey!” as she fell into the stripped pavement of the Augustus Ave./Via Sacra bus stop. She got out of the street as soon as her wits returned, the bus pulling in quick moment after.

The gears in Fay’s mind began to turn.

• Hit and run
  
• At the bus stop
  
• As the bus comes
  
• Somebody wants me dead
  

The 302 bus could wait — an assassin was out to get Fay and she needed to strike before they could attack again. She scanned down Augustus Ave., spotting a red haired person in Roman bathrobes trying to get away at no small pace.

”That’s the one,” Fay said in her head.

“That’s the one.”

Leaving the crowd of confused bus riders, Fay Dawes took down the sidewalk in pursuit of her mystery assassin. There were a good 50 paces between them, but they was fine with Fay. The hunter did not need to know that they had become the hunted.

Iulia was too busy cussing in her head to realize she was being tailed. Gods of Olympus, what will Father say? She grabbed at her hair, staring through the crowd without really seeing it. What was going to happen now? There was no forgiving this. Her father had worked to get her into the Vestal House for ages, talking to the magistrates and senators, donating statues, organizing fancy dinners. And now, in the span of a few short minutes- she'd blown it. Some other girl would get the chance. Probably Lucilla, or Faustina Minor. At the crossing, her feet mechanically took the direction of the Palatine, but then she stopped.

Why should she even go home? Her father was going to pull a full on decimatio! No, no. She should stay outside. Push it back to the very last moment. Yep, sounds like a good idea.

As the hunted stopped, so did the hunter.

Taking cover behind a mailbox, Fay ignored pedestrian glares and spied the assassin from afar. The perpetrator took a pause at the crosswalk, despite the all clear to cross. Whatever was going through their head did not matter to Fay, who was taking to the moment to rummage through her jogger pockets.

A glance back showed that the target was still there, now blocked by the rush of cars. Which was fine now that Fay had her pocket knife multitool with blade at the ready. Of course, there were too many eyes for a strike. She would have to keep on the fox-haired assassin’s tail.

"Are you gonna move or what?"

An angry passer-by shouldered his way past her, making her stumble. Iulia bit back an insult and turned around, walking back the way she'd come. Angrily, she pulled the veil from her hair: there was no point wearing that now.

"Fortuna, if all my sacrifices have meant anything to you, now the time's to prove it," she mouthed.

The assassin had turned around, now heading back toward Fay’s position. Despite only getting a glimpse at them, the assailant looked... strikingly familiar. And the gait was too. And so was their voice...

“Iulia?” Fay thought out loud as the assassin passed her mailbox.

But she and Iulia were chill. They worked on Why The Battles of the Isonzo Were a Mistake: A Retrospective on The Italian Theater of World War One together for MIL 230. They, did, like... things together on the weekends and stuff.

Why would she want to kill me?

The daughter of Pax remained crouched behind her mailbox, too lost in her thoughts to notice Iulia’s movements.

The legacy of Mars gave a start. Did someone just say her name? She turned around, hoping it was no-one from her family.

Fortunately, it wasn't.

"Fay! You scared me. What's up, what are you doing here?" She hastily shoved her veil into her designer bag before Fay started asking questions. She really wasn't in the mood. That being said, this was a welcome distraction - by hanging out with Fay, she'd get off the grid. From there she could figure out the next steps. Eg, which bridge she was gonna sleep under tonight. "Hey, I'm starving. Wanna grab a bite somewhere?"

Fay slowly stood up from her hiding place, now useless with her cover being blown. With raised eyebrows and a half-frown a closed multitool slipped into her M53 jacket’s pocket.

“Hey Iulia,” Fay replied as she looked the legacy over. “You have a place in mind?”

For someone who just tried to kill her, Iulia seemed very collected. Rushed, in a way, but collected. The robes would not be Fay’s first choice for rubbing someone out, but rich Romans were a whole ‘nother breed.