Synthorian
Member
Seen
5 yrs ago
Lucien
The Tamer Angel looked up at him with fear filled eyes as he stood above her. His sword was stabbed through her shoulder, pinning her to the ground, and she glanced quickly to about her looking for allies. “There’s no one to help you. Your pet demons are dead. The Battle Angel with you is dead. The Musician who joined you is dead.” Lucien bared his teeth in what barely passed as a grin. “You’re all alone. It’s just you and me.” The copse he had chosen to fight against his pursuers had unfortunately contained a camped Musician who had heard he was in the area, and was planning on executing the Renegade Angel. What was supposed to be a structured defense turned into another struggle for survival. The battle had left the area ravaged. Small craters dotted the ruined landscape and most of the trees had been reduced to stumps. Lucien’s armor was covered in blood, bits of gore, and was rent and broken in several places. There was a headless Angel corpse, still clutching her blade, leaning against one of the few trees still standing. Demon limbs and gore were scattered everywhere, and a human lay slumped over his violin, his throat slashed.
Pushing his blade down to the hilt into her shoulder and the ground, drawing a cry of pain, he stepped back. “Don’t go anywhere just yet. I have a job for you. But first…” Lucian picked up the Battle Angel’s head, gently placing it next to her body. Quickly, occasionally glancing over to where the Tamer was to make sure the Angel hadn’t tried to escape, he built a small funeral pyre and placed the Battle Angel’s body on it. Carefully, almost tenderly, he arranged it with the sword on her chest and both hands grasping the hilt. Her head was placed so that only a close look would show the decapitation. Then he walked over to the Musician’s still smoldering fire and picked up half a dozen burning coals and put them in the pyre. Any burns they caused were immediately healed. As the corpse began to burn, he returned to the trapped Angel.
The Tamer looked distinctly uncomfortable and on the verge of panic, and for more than just the madman above her and the sword in her shoulder, Lucien knew. Her wings were pinned beneath her, and for someone who has lived most of their life with them, feeling them trapped was one of the least calming things that could happen. Lucien sympathized. If she hadn’t been trying to kill him not a few minutes ago, he would have let her up. As it was, he leaned down close to her, mindful that she still could move her hands. “I want you to deliver a message to the Cowards, the Council as they pathetically call themselves. Tell them I’m coming. Tell them there is no where they can hide, no where that is safe from me. And tell the rest of the Angels that I’ll only kill those who try to defend them. I’ll even let them put me on trial and execute me after I’ve exterminated the Cowards.” He yanked the sword out of her shoulder, drawing another scream. “Go! Before I change my mind and decide to write the message in your blood!”
Scrambling to her feet and practically springing away, she unsteadily took flight, flapped her wings twice, and then was gone. Almost as soon as she left, Lucien’s knees buckled and he threw up, spewing black liquid all over the ground. His eyes looked blood shot, only all the veins were black instead of red. They pulsed for a few seconds as he threw up, then retreated away from his iris once more. Lucien slowly picked himself up. “Not yet. They’re not dead. Not yet.” He snarled. Looking back at the burning corpse of the Battle Angel, regret and anguish crossed his features. Then he locked them away behind an iron door of hate, rage, and the desire for vengeance. He would mourn and regret his sins when they all lay dead at his feet.
The Tamer Angel looked up at him with fear filled eyes as he stood above her. His sword was stabbed through her shoulder, pinning her to the ground, and she glanced quickly to about her looking for allies. “There’s no one to help you. Your pet demons are dead. The Battle Angel with you is dead. The Musician who joined you is dead.” Lucien bared his teeth in what barely passed as a grin. “You’re all alone. It’s just you and me.” The copse he had chosen to fight against his pursuers had unfortunately contained a camped Musician who had heard he was in the area, and was planning on executing the Renegade Angel. What was supposed to be a structured defense turned into another struggle for survival. The battle had left the area ravaged. Small craters dotted the ruined landscape and most of the trees had been reduced to stumps. Lucien’s armor was covered in blood, bits of gore, and was rent and broken in several places. There was a headless Angel corpse, still clutching her blade, leaning against one of the few trees still standing. Demon limbs and gore were scattered everywhere, and a human lay slumped over his violin, his throat slashed.
Pushing his blade down to the hilt into her shoulder and the ground, drawing a cry of pain, he stepped back. “Don’t go anywhere just yet. I have a job for you. But first…” Lucian picked up the Battle Angel’s head, gently placing it next to her body. Quickly, occasionally glancing over to where the Tamer was to make sure the Angel hadn’t tried to escape, he built a small funeral pyre and placed the Battle Angel’s body on it. Carefully, almost tenderly, he arranged it with the sword on her chest and both hands grasping the hilt. Her head was placed so that only a close look would show the decapitation. Then he walked over to the Musician’s still smoldering fire and picked up half a dozen burning coals and put them in the pyre. Any burns they caused were immediately healed. As the corpse began to burn, he returned to the trapped Angel.
The Tamer looked distinctly uncomfortable and on the verge of panic, and for more than just the madman above her and the sword in her shoulder, Lucien knew. Her wings were pinned beneath her, and for someone who has lived most of their life with them, feeling them trapped was one of the least calming things that could happen. Lucien sympathized. If she hadn’t been trying to kill him not a few minutes ago, he would have let her up. As it was, he leaned down close to her, mindful that she still could move her hands. “I want you to deliver a message to the Cowards, the Council as they pathetically call themselves. Tell them I’m coming. Tell them there is no where they can hide, no where that is safe from me. And tell the rest of the Angels that I’ll only kill those who try to defend them. I’ll even let them put me on trial and execute me after I’ve exterminated the Cowards.” He yanked the sword out of her shoulder, drawing another scream. “Go! Before I change my mind and decide to write the message in your blood!”
Scrambling to her feet and practically springing away, she unsteadily took flight, flapped her wings twice, and then was gone. Almost as soon as she left, Lucien’s knees buckled and he threw up, spewing black liquid all over the ground. His eyes looked blood shot, only all the veins were black instead of red. They pulsed for a few seconds as he threw up, then retreated away from his iris once more. Lucien slowly picked himself up. “Not yet. They’re not dead. Not yet.” He snarled. Looking back at the burning corpse of the Battle Angel, regret and anguish crossed his features. Then he locked them away behind an iron door of hate, rage, and the desire for vengeance. He would mourn and regret his sins when they all lay dead at his feet.
Themerlinhawk Aegis Kai Doru
Member
Seen
3 yrs ago
Lazarus
The window stood open and Irish rain splattered on the sill forming a puddle beneath the window. Air smelling of the Atlantic blew through the window ruffling the pages of the books scattered across a desk with an arm chair sitting escew from the table. Loose parchment scattered across the floor like autumn leaves caught in a gale rolled and cavorted across the marble floored room under an oak table which stood laden with a breakfast of toast, jam, and tea which had long since gone cold from disinterest from the man who stood with pursed lips facing a half done portrait of a young woman. A brush hung unattended from one hand as paint dripped unnoticed on the floor. The mans eyes focused on the portrait though anyone who could have looked into them would have known he was not staring at the portrait so much as at the woman who he held in his minds eye trying painfully to remember every detail, every curve and line. The way her eyes crinkled at the corners when she smiled and the dimpled that went along with it. The mane of fiery red hair that spilled over her shoulder in ringlets.
A piece of the parchment in its roll was plastered up against his bare foot on the left side as it waved in the cold wet wind from the window. The rain had been insesent for almost three full weeks now. Blown in off the Atlantic the cold drug its ragged fingers into the man’s bones trying to wrench them free of his body, but the sensation seemed to be lost on him as he was lost in another time and another place.
The fire in the workspace had long since guttered to coals but the man had yet to pay it any head as he had been wrapped up in the painting for the better part of three hours working with an mania that bespoke his mental state when genius gripped him. The painting to the casual observer would have appeared to be an almost life like rendition of woman in it. Anyone who could see magic would have been able to tell that the man was folding strands of essence into the painting, stands of beauty, grace and lust. All the more to impart the feeling of being in the presence of the subject to the observer. If one had looked even closer into the stands being woven into the painting the threads of pain, and love were woven just below the surface of lust while joy and sorrow were intertwined with the beauty and grace. The painting was not simply a work of a masterful painter but it was also a work of magical beauty designed to impart the feelings of the painter towards the subject directly into the observer if they cared to gaze long enough.
The man himself was of an unassuming height with long hair confined in a ponytail, jeans frayed at the bottom from years of service to a man who rarely purchased new clothes. A too big T-shirt hung on his oh so average frame with a scarf carelessly wrapped around his neck. The only ward against the cold wind from the window. To most people the man would have appeared rather scrawny however a closer inspection of him would reveal wiry muscles that sat just beneath the surface of his skin. Closer inspection of his hands would reveal calluses many of which could be explained by the half finished sculpture of a massive bear in one corner of the room, or even the guitar and violin which wrested on stands near the guttering fire. However many of the calluses were a swordsman’s calluses, the saber and rapier resting in one corner attested to this however still others could not be explained without the knowledge of the Wing Chun dummy and accompanying punching bag in a room several floors down.
With a sigh the man finally wiped his brush on a towel stained with paints and turned rolling out the kinks in his shoulders before pulling the arm chair over and flopping into it in a rather undignified manner. A puff of dust accompanied his impact as he scooped up the cup of cold tea. Without paying the temperature mind he gulped down a profuse amount before making a face at the tea and setting it back on the table. The man bit his lip in concentration as he continued to bore holes in the painting with his stare. With a final agitated sigh he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. The spark was gone, he’d lost it and the project would have to wait for another day before he could finish it properly.
While most would have written this man off as an eccentric manic genius had they know who he actual was they would have given pause. As much of an artist as he was, as great of a swordsman or martial artist as he was he was something else above all else. This strange, slightly ragged man was the Warlock known as Lazarus, one of the most powerful and skilled human practitioners currently alive.
Lazarus stood and stretched looking at the grandfather clock pushed into a corner with his bookshelves. “Dear lord is it really that far on in the day? Where could Mary have gotten off to?”
The window stood open and Irish rain splattered on the sill forming a puddle beneath the window. Air smelling of the Atlantic blew through the window ruffling the pages of the books scattered across a desk with an arm chair sitting escew from the table. Loose parchment scattered across the floor like autumn leaves caught in a gale rolled and cavorted across the marble floored room under an oak table which stood laden with a breakfast of toast, jam, and tea which had long since gone cold from disinterest from the man who stood with pursed lips facing a half done portrait of a young woman. A brush hung unattended from one hand as paint dripped unnoticed on the floor. The mans eyes focused on the portrait though anyone who could have looked into them would have known he was not staring at the portrait so much as at the woman who he held in his minds eye trying painfully to remember every detail, every curve and line. The way her eyes crinkled at the corners when she smiled and the dimpled that went along with it. The mane of fiery red hair that spilled over her shoulder in ringlets.
A piece of the parchment in its roll was plastered up against his bare foot on the left side as it waved in the cold wet wind from the window. The rain had been insesent for almost three full weeks now. Blown in off the Atlantic the cold drug its ragged fingers into the man’s bones trying to wrench them free of his body, but the sensation seemed to be lost on him as he was lost in another time and another place.
The fire in the workspace had long since guttered to coals but the man had yet to pay it any head as he had been wrapped up in the painting for the better part of three hours working with an mania that bespoke his mental state when genius gripped him. The painting to the casual observer would have appeared to be an almost life like rendition of woman in it. Anyone who could see magic would have been able to tell that the man was folding strands of essence into the painting, stands of beauty, grace and lust. All the more to impart the feeling of being in the presence of the subject to the observer. If one had looked even closer into the stands being woven into the painting the threads of pain, and love were woven just below the surface of lust while joy and sorrow were intertwined with the beauty and grace. The painting was not simply a work of a masterful painter but it was also a work of magical beauty designed to impart the feelings of the painter towards the subject directly into the observer if they cared to gaze long enough.
The man himself was of an unassuming height with long hair confined in a ponytail, jeans frayed at the bottom from years of service to a man who rarely purchased new clothes. A too big T-shirt hung on his oh so average frame with a scarf carelessly wrapped around his neck. The only ward against the cold wind from the window. To most people the man would have appeared rather scrawny however a closer inspection of him would reveal wiry muscles that sat just beneath the surface of his skin. Closer inspection of his hands would reveal calluses many of which could be explained by the half finished sculpture of a massive bear in one corner of the room, or even the guitar and violin which wrested on stands near the guttering fire. However many of the calluses were a swordsman’s calluses, the saber and rapier resting in one corner attested to this however still others could not be explained without the knowledge of the Wing Chun dummy and accompanying punching bag in a room several floors down.
With a sigh the man finally wiped his brush on a towel stained with paints and turned rolling out the kinks in his shoulders before pulling the arm chair over and flopping into it in a rather undignified manner. A puff of dust accompanied his impact as he scooped up the cup of cold tea. Without paying the temperature mind he gulped down a profuse amount before making a face at the tea and setting it back on the table. The man bit his lip in concentration as he continued to bore holes in the painting with his stare. With a final agitated sigh he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. The spark was gone, he’d lost it and the project would have to wait for another day before he could finish it properly.
While most would have written this man off as an eccentric manic genius had they know who he actual was they would have given pause. As much of an artist as he was, as great of a swordsman or martial artist as he was he was something else above all else. This strange, slightly ragged man was the Warlock known as Lazarus, one of the most powerful and skilled human practitioners currently alive.
Lazarus stood and stretched looking at the grandfather clock pushed into a corner with his bookshelves. “Dear lord is it really that far on in the day? Where could Mary have gotten off to?”
Mary
Mary was currently trying to keep herself from falling to pieces. Or at least, keep the rest of her from falling to pieces. She was sitting with her back to the wall, eyes tightly shut, tear streaks on her cheeks, knees drawn as close as she could get them to her chest, arms wrapped around them. She was saying something repeatedly under her breath, like a chant. “Shut up, shut up, shut up…” A fencing blade was laying a few feet away from her, where she had dropped it. She had just been practicing the forms Lazarus, when he wasn’t on one of his mad ‘don’t bother me’ stints, had taught her. While she was doing the repetitive task that she admittedly should have been concentrating on more, her mind wandered. She remembered that a friend had once accidentally stabbed himself through the foot because he hadn’t been paying attention to where he dropped his fencing sword. For about half a minute, she smiled at the memory of him embarrassedly explaining it while she visited him in the hospital. Then she remembered that he was dead. Everyone she knew from the old world was dead. Especially her parents.
Tears had immediately rushed to her eyes and she dropped her rapier, nearly repeating her friend’s mistake. A choked sob escaped her. If that had been all, she would have been fine. She would have eventually regained control over herself and picked up the rapier. She would have returned to the repetitive fencing forms with a will, if only to have an excuse to forget things. But her unwanted guest had to comment. It Had to make its presence known. It had to talk. It had to try and offer assurance. If it’s any consolation, they likely died quickly. Mary screamed. Not in fear, or surprise. No, this was a scream of pure frustration. “I’ve fucking told you,” If anyone was still alive who knew Mary for a while, the fact that she was swearing would have revealed a great deal about her mindset. Mary never swore. Not even when her patience ended. Lazarus certainly knew this. “to shut up and leave me alone. I don’t want anything to do with your ideas, your conversations, or your therapy sessions! In fact, I would much prefer that you pretended to not exist! That way, at least, I can imagine you’re nothing more than a reoccurring nightmare!”
Now Mary- It never got a chance to complete its sentence. Mary screamed at it, “Shut up! Then she broke down. All of the repressed emotions from waking up in the ruins of your home and realizing two hundred years had passed, from realizing the only person that might still be alive that you knew was a vampire who had repeatedly threatened to kill you. She broke down and sobbed. It continued to try and comfort her, but failed, succeeding in only making her take up her chant. She hadn’t asked for this. She hadn’t asked to be kidnapped, for her parents to be killed because she ran away, to be dragged into a world that she had always distantly regarded and at times thought of as fake. But here she was and the scars on her body refused to let her believe, if only for a moment, that it had all been a dream. She had been in hell that much her body told her. But she couldn’t remember any of it. It certainly remembered the ordeals her body went through. But she wasn’t going to actually initiate a conversation with it. That would require her to acknowledge that her life had been taken away from her and perverted. That would require her to acknowledge that she was more than just a college student, dragged into a world she had nothing to do with. That would require her to acknowledge that she belonged in this world. This world of monsters and horrors. And she would never do that.
So, she sat there. Eyes squeezed shut, arms locked around her legs, knees pressed against her chest, chanting under her breath.
Mary was currently trying to keep herself from falling to pieces. Or at least, keep the rest of her from falling to pieces. She was sitting with her back to the wall, eyes tightly shut, tear streaks on her cheeks, knees drawn as close as she could get them to her chest, arms wrapped around them. She was saying something repeatedly under her breath, like a chant. “Shut up, shut up, shut up…” A fencing blade was laying a few feet away from her, where she had dropped it. She had just been practicing the forms Lazarus, when he wasn’t on one of his mad ‘don’t bother me’ stints, had taught her. While she was doing the repetitive task that she admittedly should have been concentrating on more, her mind wandered. She remembered that a friend had once accidentally stabbed himself through the foot because he hadn’t been paying attention to where he dropped his fencing sword. For about half a minute, she smiled at the memory of him embarrassedly explaining it while she visited him in the hospital. Then she remembered that he was dead. Everyone she knew from the old world was dead. Especially her parents.
Tears had immediately rushed to her eyes and she dropped her rapier, nearly repeating her friend’s mistake. A choked sob escaped her. If that had been all, she would have been fine. She would have eventually regained control over herself and picked up the rapier. She would have returned to the repetitive fencing forms with a will, if only to have an excuse to forget things. But her unwanted guest had to comment. It Had to make its presence known. It had to talk. It had to try and offer assurance. If it’s any consolation, they likely died quickly. Mary screamed. Not in fear, or surprise. No, this was a scream of pure frustration. “I’ve fucking told you,” If anyone was still alive who knew Mary for a while, the fact that she was swearing would have revealed a great deal about her mindset. Mary never swore. Not even when her patience ended. Lazarus certainly knew this. “to shut up and leave me alone. I don’t want anything to do with your ideas, your conversations, or your therapy sessions! In fact, I would much prefer that you pretended to not exist! That way, at least, I can imagine you’re nothing more than a reoccurring nightmare!”
Now Mary- It never got a chance to complete its sentence. Mary screamed at it, “Shut up! Then she broke down. All of the repressed emotions from waking up in the ruins of your home and realizing two hundred years had passed, from realizing the only person that might still be alive that you knew was a vampire who had repeatedly threatened to kill you. She broke down and sobbed. It continued to try and comfort her, but failed, succeeding in only making her take up her chant. She hadn’t asked for this. She hadn’t asked to be kidnapped, for her parents to be killed because she ran away, to be dragged into a world that she had always distantly regarded and at times thought of as fake. But here she was and the scars on her body refused to let her believe, if only for a moment, that it had all been a dream. She had been in hell that much her body told her. But she couldn’t remember any of it. It certainly remembered the ordeals her body went through. But she wasn’t going to actually initiate a conversation with it. That would require her to acknowledge that her life had been taken away from her and perverted. That would require her to acknowledge that she was more than just a college student, dragged into a world she had nothing to do with. That would require her to acknowledge that she belonged in this world. This world of monsters and horrors. And she would never do that.
So, she sat there. Eyes squeezed shut, arms locked around her legs, knees pressed against her chest, chanting under her breath.
Fallenreaper ღ~Lil' Emotional Cocktail~ღ
Member
Seen
3 hrs ago
Despite the time of day outside, Emmet’s room was shrouded in darkness. To farther complicate things…his mind was bored.
Several candles were scattered throughout the room. Most of them were centered upon the bedside table, illuminating the space enough for him to examine his choice of decorations from where he laid on his belly, covered by a sheet from the waist down. He noted his skin was paler than normal in the ill light as his head twisted about his shoulder, surveyed the apartment’s given space and warped image. Pale light and shadows danced in a playful measure across the room’s furnishings (a medium dresser beside the doorway, a basic box bed, and finally two small, round side tables beside it) then sank into the crevasses and created vague shapes. Some were bizarre, disfigured even while others were perfect outlines; their partly hidden forms gave the room a creepy aura to him. Despite his age, Emmet was surprised to feel a flicker of unease raise the hairs on his neck for only a moment. Then he quickly squashed his childish reaction in order to continue his survey towards the only window within. It was pointless really since his job was mostly done in the dark after all. The drapes, smelling of stale cigar smoke and mold, held tightly together and covered the grimy glass inside from curious eyes. Beyond it, he knew, was the crumbling fire escape outside where it traveled down to the alley below, a horizontal platform poorly bolted to the brick wall of each apartment. In his opinion it looked more to be literally a death trap instead of a safe exit, defeating the purpose it was put there. Years of rust layering the bars and bolts to the rattling ladder missing the odd step here or there. He had little doubt one day it would simply become nothing more than red dust.
Sudden movement caught Emmet’s attention, followed by the door’s protesting creak. It turned away him from his thoughts and musings, interested to know the source. His head twisted farther back and his elbow pushed underneath his chest, his body had been lying upon his bed the whole time, propping him higher as he craned behind his shoulder to spot the dark silhouette in the doorway. A tall and lean figure, male with thin jagged lines raced up and down the outline padded in. His dreadlocks cling to his face, highlighted by the candle he held close and guiding his way toward Emmet, paused to set his candle among the rest. He was shirtless with only a dark pair of pants to cover below his waist. His arms crossed over his chest while his eyes roamed over Emmet's multiple scars and indentations stained by brownish blood from once fresh wounds. Juan’s white smile stood out in the shadows clearly showing he enjoyed Emmet’s predicament.
“I see you’ve made yourself comfortable.”
Emmet face frowned. Slowly he lowered his body back to its original position, his arms folded under his chin to become a pillow for his head and answered in an irritated fashion. “Let’s just get this over with, Juan. I’m not in the mood for your flirting today.”
Juan merely chuckled, amused by Emmet’s acid tone which caused the man’s frown to deepen. Paying little mind to Emmet’s annoyance, Juan leaned in, his voice gentle and velvet, to whisper into the man’s ear. “Impatient, aren’t we? Come on Emmet, you have to love this. I know I do.”
Emmet’s eyes narrowed upon the demon, fighting the needed to crawl away as much as he would’ve liked to. Some things were impossible to do by himself and though he hated the facts, he needed Juan’s help. He felt Juan pat his shoulder, making him flinch, and then his eyes followed Juan until the darker skinned demon pulled out of his vision. The bed’s weight shifted around to the side and then settled upon his hips, Juan’s figure straddling Emmet to prevent him from thrashing too much. Emmet took a deep breath and realization his chance to run was gone settled in. Gently Juan’s fingers tightened about his shoulder, black nails dug deeply into the skin making Emmet’s heart turn into stone. It became heavy and still, the thing dropped from his chest and sank into his middle where it twisted into knots, over and over. Its sound echoed within his hollow head. Each deafening thump filled his ears with blood, worry, and adrenaline swirling into an utter mess at its center. Goosebumps peaked up where Juan held a firm grasp, making Emmet remember how terrifyingly strong Juan could be when he put his mind to it.
“I’ll be gentle. However, you might want to brace yourself and relax. It always hurt the first time.” As Juan warned Emmet, his grip tightened alongside it.
Then- before Emmet reply to stop it or otherwise- he began.
Red hot pain flooded Emmet’s body. It licked up his body, raced through his veins, and sent his teeth to bite down abruptly. A rustic, coppery taste filled his mouth. He had bitten his tongue, he knew, but didn’t know how badly he damaged it. His face scrunched up in agony as Juan’s hand pushed him farther into the mattress to hold him still. To muffle his torment, Emmet pressed his mouth deeper into the meat of his arms where his silent yells vibrated off its surface, muffled any sound they might’ve made. Instinctively, forgetting Juan’s words of caution, his body tightened which rippled throughout his spine causing him to jerk. Then everything went ridged, stiffened like a board against his will. Moments turned into hours, but when they were blissfully over, Emmet felt a relief wash over him and shuddered into a sweaty heap back onto the bed’s embrace.
His exhausted eyes shifted to the side where he spotted Juan stirring. A small clink came when the demon hands rose over the side table and tossed the sewer imp’s jagged tooth into the ashtray. Emmet’s lungs decided to work once more, inhaling in shaky breaths, in and out, when Juan sat back upon his hips. A warm sensation of what he knew was blood trailed alongside his lower back and to his side. Sweat seemed to add to the sting, a salt to his wounds, as Emmet’s head pressed into his arms for comfort.
Juan’s mused voice broke his relief, his body once more rested over the hips. “I hope I wasn’t too much to handle, I did say I would be gentle.”
“Shut the hell up Juan,” came Emmet’s bitter answer, raising his head upright, “and get off.”
“Awwww…and I was very much enjoying myself. Should I kiss it and make it all better?” Juan asked, sounding almost excited by the thoughts, and slowly made to lean down over the injury.
“Hell No!” Emmet twisted around, his arms raised to shove Juan off while he scooted towards the bed edge in an attempt to place distance between them.
His body managed to wiggle out from under before he reached and flipped on the lamp, nearly blinded himself in the process. He blinked a bit while he pulled away the sheet tangled around his legs, revealed him in his boxers. It was because blood was such a pain in the ass to wash out in suit pants, including the tedious explanations to the curious questions. The alternative was Darius’s assigned drycleaner and that was expensive as hell itself, even for a man who didn’t ask questions, and besides Emmet preferred to avoid reminders of who tugged his leash. A sound caused him to glance at the ashtray. Triggered by the intense light change, the imp tooth released a dark fluid which sizzle the remaining blood with a soft hiss. It was a reminder of why the candles were necessary. Their light was softer and the imp’s venom didn’t react so badly to it, a fact if it was still in, he likely would’ve been twisting in seizures while his body burned inside out. Not a pleasant thought. It sent a shiver down Emmet's back, covered in sweat, dirt and now fresh blood.
Juan was sitting on the bed corner. He had folded up his right leg underneath him, his eyes alight in teasing, ignoring Emmet’s shudder. After a moment or two, he spoke in a particular sweetness that would’ve made a sugar addict high or die of an overdose. “You were tense, I just wanted to help.”
Emmet rolled his eyes. The comment sounded innocent enough, but he had a feeling Juan won’t hesitate if he swung that way. He followed his eye roll with a groaned but said nothing. Instead, he was already blowing out the various melting candles then putting them away, his still wound inflamed from its recent extraction. He edged towards the dresser where he knew he needed to get a shower, bandaged, and dressed before Zi arrived. His hand tilted the digital clock from its face plant to check the time.
Juan, ignoring Emmet’s reaction, continued while he pulled his dreads out of his eyes, watching intently. “Might want to get cleaned up before Zi, wasn’t that her name, arrives? In what, a little under an hour?”
Emmet kept his silence. As far as he was concerned the parasite on his bed didn’t exist right now. The only sounds he made were the continued loud thumps of candles, their thick forms being hastily tossed back into their drawers and discarded. It didn’t help he didn’t want to discuss Zi with Juan, and instead occupied himself with the single chore. When his bare feet approached the shredded remains of his top, an over coat and rest of his belongings, he jerked back then looked down. Sighing, he bent down a moment to retrieve his gun and dagger, then finally side swiped the rest into the corner near the dresser’s other side on his way to deal with the rest of the candles. He aimed to dress more casual for Zi then his work clothes though he would have to contact Darius to replace the shirt, shredded into many ribbons alongside his overcoat beyond repair. He made sure the clothes were out of sight, somewhere where Olivia would never see until he burned them. He didn’t feel like explaining to his sister how the blood had gotten there or the fact not all of it was his when she visited later. It wasn’t often he picked her up and today, he didn’t want anything to ruin it.
“You realize, by ignoring me, you’re bleeding all over the room?” Juan took on a rare seriousness.
It caused Emmet to freeze in his tracks as he heard the mattress creak from Juan’s moving weight, the demon’s feet headed towards him. Closer, closer the steps came until they stopped behind him. He felt a slight sting when Juan’s hand was placed at the side of his wound, examining it, causing a fresh wave of misery to creep into his flesh as the demon’s words spoke. “Nasty…Well, get a shower and let me bandage that up or you’ll bleed into your shirt. Can’t have that, now can we?”
“Can’t you just burn it closed?” Emmet blurted out and didn’t turn, noting the weight of his weapons in one hand. He tried to ignore the sensation that his flesh was three sizes too small for him while inwardly he recoiling at the idea Juan was suggesting.
“Not with that imp saliva still in the wound. I risk closing bigger arteries and then you’ll just decay from the inside out. I don’t think Darius would love me crippling or even killing his star boy, now would he?” Juan said, an edge of laughter at Emmet’s question like an adult chiding a child’s stupid question.
Emmet casted Juan a spiteful look then let his shoulders slack in defeat. As much as he wanted to overlook Juan’s wisdom under perverted goals, the demon was right when he needed the help. He could shower, clean up and try, but he would fail firmly wrapping the bandages about his torso. He attempted to once. The result was sloppy enough it started to fall off not shortly after which defeated the purpose. Leaning his head forward, Emmet’s free hand rose to ruffle the hair line along his neck for a bit. Finally he answered, through gritted teeth.
“Fine…I’ll get clean up and let you bandage it. But!” Emmet added hastily holding up his free hand, his eyes jerked back to spot Juan’s mouth about to reply. “I’m showering alone and I mean it. Else you’ll find yourself sent through a wall by our bathroom’s tile.”
With that said Emmet snatched up a black shirt, pair of jeans and boxers on his way out, pushing open the door then slammed it shut behind him. He continued to walk down the hallway which connected it, the living room and the bathroom until he disappeared into the latter. Once he shut the door close, the lock made a sound click.
Themerlinhawk Aegis Kai Doru
Member
Seen
3 yrs ago
Lazarus
The faint clatter from down stairs and faint shout located his ward however Lazarus frowned at the sound. Normally he wouldn’t have given it any thought. Lazarus suspected Mary was practicing forms however the fact that he had distinctly caught part of a word associated with a swear word, and an american one at that, got his attention. Perhaps he had let himself get too wrapped up in this work this time. When he had found Mary in the ruins of Loom he had been shocked. After all of the research he had done, all the scouring the globe and hunting down clues he had finally found Loom. It had been real and that was where he had found Mary, in amongst the rumble. Which had not been what he had been looking for but it had been fate. Lazarus took the spiral stairs two at a time as he descended towards the practice room. That day it had seemed like the world was giving him another chance to right his wrongs. The girl was someone who needed to be protected and cared for. If Lazarus was correct, given the results of his examination of the girl she was over two hundred years old, really she was only a few years younger than him but he suspected she had no recollection of the last two hundred years. Lazarus frowned again, and then there was that THING in her psyche, a presence which he suspected was related to the taint of demon essence he sensed in connection to her. Mary had been so quick to rush to him when he found her and there was no way he was going to do anything other than take her in. She was too vulnerable to be left in Loom and given her lack of any training in….well frankly anything really. Lazarus had taken her in, however it had been a rough ride. Mary really required more of Lazarus attention than he’d been giving and it needed to change. The two of them were the only ones living in Finch’s Loft and while it had never bothered him it was clearly starting to effect Mary.
Lazarus’ bare feet padded down the steps and he poked his head around the corner peering in the training room blinking like an owl. Mary was curled up against the wall saying something under her breath with tears streaking her face. Lazarus’ heart melted, he’d been away too long wrapped up in the past while he was clearly needed in the present. It was time for a change.
With a few quick steps he was across the room. Gently pushing the sword away from Mary so he didn’t have to worry about accidentally injuring himself. Kneeling Lazarus gently gathered Mary into his arms. “What is wrong sweet girl?” concern emanated from Lazarus and he got the feeling that Mary had not hurt herself so much as...come mentally face to face with something she would have rather not thought about. “I’m sorry I got wrapped up in my...work” Lazarus sighed out the last word. In truth he’d all but forgotten Mary while he’d been painting, he hadn’t meant to do it but then again he rarely meant to do lots of things that inevitably hurt people. It had been his curse for a long time. On a sudden hunch Lazarus tugged gently at Mary’s conscious mind trying to offer it some of the protection of his own warded mind. Lazarus had a few theories about what the other entity in Mary’s psyche was but he was hardly ready to risk removing it as it could potentially harm Mary. Lazarus hoped his own mental wards might be able to block out the feeling of the presence in Mary’s mind. If Lazarus was correct and it was infact intelligent and capable of communication his ward should cause any type of communication from the presence to turn into easy ignorable background noise. Lazarus doubted his wards could do much more than give Mary a momentary reprieve but he suspect that was what she really needed.
“Talk to me. What happened? I’m sorry I’ve been busy. What’s wrong?” Lazarus held Mary gently.
The faint clatter from down stairs and faint shout located his ward however Lazarus frowned at the sound. Normally he wouldn’t have given it any thought. Lazarus suspected Mary was practicing forms however the fact that he had distinctly caught part of a word associated with a swear word, and an american one at that, got his attention. Perhaps he had let himself get too wrapped up in this work this time. When he had found Mary in the ruins of Loom he had been shocked. After all of the research he had done, all the scouring the globe and hunting down clues he had finally found Loom. It had been real and that was where he had found Mary, in amongst the rumble. Which had not been what he had been looking for but it had been fate. Lazarus took the spiral stairs two at a time as he descended towards the practice room. That day it had seemed like the world was giving him another chance to right his wrongs. The girl was someone who needed to be protected and cared for. If Lazarus was correct, given the results of his examination of the girl she was over two hundred years old, really she was only a few years younger than him but he suspected she had no recollection of the last two hundred years. Lazarus frowned again, and then there was that THING in her psyche, a presence which he suspected was related to the taint of demon essence he sensed in connection to her. Mary had been so quick to rush to him when he found her and there was no way he was going to do anything other than take her in. She was too vulnerable to be left in Loom and given her lack of any training in….well frankly anything really. Lazarus had taken her in, however it had been a rough ride. Mary really required more of Lazarus attention than he’d been giving and it needed to change. The two of them were the only ones living in Finch’s Loft and while it had never bothered him it was clearly starting to effect Mary.
Lazarus’ bare feet padded down the steps and he poked his head around the corner peering in the training room blinking like an owl. Mary was curled up against the wall saying something under her breath with tears streaking her face. Lazarus’ heart melted, he’d been away too long wrapped up in the past while he was clearly needed in the present. It was time for a change.
With a few quick steps he was across the room. Gently pushing the sword away from Mary so he didn’t have to worry about accidentally injuring himself. Kneeling Lazarus gently gathered Mary into his arms. “What is wrong sweet girl?” concern emanated from Lazarus and he got the feeling that Mary had not hurt herself so much as...come mentally face to face with something she would have rather not thought about. “I’m sorry I got wrapped up in my...work” Lazarus sighed out the last word. In truth he’d all but forgotten Mary while he’d been painting, he hadn’t meant to do it but then again he rarely meant to do lots of things that inevitably hurt people. It had been his curse for a long time. On a sudden hunch Lazarus tugged gently at Mary’s conscious mind trying to offer it some of the protection of his own warded mind. Lazarus had a few theories about what the other entity in Mary’s psyche was but he was hardly ready to risk removing it as it could potentially harm Mary. Lazarus hoped his own mental wards might be able to block out the feeling of the presence in Mary’s mind. If Lazarus was correct and it was infact intelligent and capable of communication his ward should cause any type of communication from the presence to turn into easy ignorable background noise. Lazarus doubted his wards could do much more than give Mary a momentary reprieve but he suspect that was what she really needed.
“Talk to me. What happened? I’m sorry I’ve been busy. What’s wrong?” Lazarus held Mary gently.
Mary
The Abyss kept trying to get her to calm down and talk to it, and she kept ignoring it. If she just kept ignoring it, maybe it would get her message and leave her alone. She didn’t notice Lazarus arriving, and barely noticed being hugged by him. It was still talking. She had to drown it out. When she felt a tugging at her mind, she initially panicked and drew herself tighter into a ball. It was trying to draw her into her own mind again, trying to get her to play that stupid game it liked so much. She wouldn’t do it. That would mean it had won and she was willing to feel anything less than hate for it. After a few minutes, however, she realized that whatever was tugging on her mind felt different than the parasite in her head. It only took a hopeful guess to connect the tugging to Lazarus. Cautiously, she allowed her mind to be pulled wherever the tugging wanted. Hopefully this wasn’t just a trap from it to force her to look at it, to talk to it.
Immediately she sighed in relief, it’s voice nothing more than an ignorable buzz. She relaxed, and registered what Lazarus was saying. At first, she didn’t reply, keeping her eyes shut and gathering her thoughts. When she spoke it was quietly, tentatively. “Imagine driving to visit your parents one minute, and then being dragged kicking and screaming into a world of nightmares and monsters the next. Imagine that because you were chosen for no apparent reason and dragged into this world, and because you didn’t go quietly, your parents were killed. Imagine that you’re so weak that you didn’t draw strength from that, you just broke. Imagine that you’re so weak that other people have to fight your battles for you. Imagine that you don’t have the willpower to resist fake visions of terror. Imagine that you’ve been possessed by something calling itself the Abyss not once, but twice. Imagine that when you think your safe, you think your getting away from that world, the door to freedom is slammed into your face, all you remember is eyes of madness, and then blackness. Two hundred years pass, and when you wake up, your birth place is nothing more than a pile of ruins, everyone you know is dead, and you still have something inside of you. Now you can stop imagining.” She drew a deep breath, and then looked up at him.
“But I can’t. I can’t stop imagining because everything that I just told you to imagine is what I am. I am weak.” She could still hear Mairyell’s howled insult. Still be stung by the truth of it. “I am still possessed by something. I was put to sleep with the world of monsters being separate from the normal world. When I wake up, I find that they have merged. I don’t belong in this world. I don’t belong in a world where angels and demons fight, where humans can throw lightning bolts, cause earthquakes and raise the dead. I belong in the old world. The world where everyone I knew is dead. Where everyone who would have survived in this world, everyone who would have wanted to be in this world, more than me is dead. I’m too weak to survive in this world. I should be dead, but I’m still alive.” Mary was aware that she was pretty much babbling at this point, but she kept going. I got my parents killed. I’m probably going to get you killed to! Because whoever put this thing inside of me isn’t dead. I’m not that lucky. And they’re going come for me again and you should just leave me before I get you killed to!” She closed her eyes again because she could feel the tears coming. She didn’t want to watch this man die. She didn’t want to be the cause of another death, another series of screams.
The Abyss kept trying to get her to calm down and talk to it, and she kept ignoring it. If she just kept ignoring it, maybe it would get her message and leave her alone. She didn’t notice Lazarus arriving, and barely noticed being hugged by him. It was still talking. She had to drown it out. When she felt a tugging at her mind, she initially panicked and drew herself tighter into a ball. It was trying to draw her into her own mind again, trying to get her to play that stupid game it liked so much. She wouldn’t do it. That would mean it had won and she was willing to feel anything less than hate for it. After a few minutes, however, she realized that whatever was tugging on her mind felt different than the parasite in her head. It only took a hopeful guess to connect the tugging to Lazarus. Cautiously, she allowed her mind to be pulled wherever the tugging wanted. Hopefully this wasn’t just a trap from it to force her to look at it, to talk to it.
Immediately she sighed in relief, it’s voice nothing more than an ignorable buzz. She relaxed, and registered what Lazarus was saying. At first, she didn’t reply, keeping her eyes shut and gathering her thoughts. When she spoke it was quietly, tentatively. “Imagine driving to visit your parents one minute, and then being dragged kicking and screaming into a world of nightmares and monsters the next. Imagine that because you were chosen for no apparent reason and dragged into this world, and because you didn’t go quietly, your parents were killed. Imagine that you’re so weak that you didn’t draw strength from that, you just broke. Imagine that you’re so weak that other people have to fight your battles for you. Imagine that you don’t have the willpower to resist fake visions of terror. Imagine that you’ve been possessed by something calling itself the Abyss not once, but twice. Imagine that when you think your safe, you think your getting away from that world, the door to freedom is slammed into your face, all you remember is eyes of madness, and then blackness. Two hundred years pass, and when you wake up, your birth place is nothing more than a pile of ruins, everyone you know is dead, and you still have something inside of you. Now you can stop imagining.” She drew a deep breath, and then looked up at him.
“But I can’t. I can’t stop imagining because everything that I just told you to imagine is what I am. I am weak.” She could still hear Mairyell’s howled insult. Still be stung by the truth of it. “I am still possessed by something. I was put to sleep with the world of monsters being separate from the normal world. When I wake up, I find that they have merged. I don’t belong in this world. I don’t belong in a world where angels and demons fight, where humans can throw lightning bolts, cause earthquakes and raise the dead. I belong in the old world. The world where everyone I knew is dead. Where everyone who would have survived in this world, everyone who would have wanted to be in this world, more than me is dead. I’m too weak to survive in this world. I should be dead, but I’m still alive.” Mary was aware that she was pretty much babbling at this point, but she kept going. I got my parents killed. I’m probably going to get you killed to! Because whoever put this thing inside of me isn’t dead. I’m not that lucky. And they’re going come for me again and you should just leave me before I get you killed to!” She closed her eyes again because she could feel the tears coming. She didn’t want to watch this man die. She didn’t want to be the cause of another death, another series of screams.
Fallenreaper ღ~Lil' Emotional Cocktail~ღ
Member
Seen
3 hrs ago
Emmet was submerged, his shirtless torso dipped completely into a large glass tank overfilled past the brim with water. The gloved hands of three men, two humans and another demon, held him firmly there. His lungs burned desperately for air causing him to buck and jerk himself free. It was merely a waste of energy as the men were far stronger than his twenty year old body had been at the time, namely after two days of starving in utter darkness in a filthy hole in the ground. Their fingers wrapped tightly whenever he moved until their grasp was hard enough to leave more bruises behind. Then he heard the hollow thumps of Darius’s footsteps which approached the small group. Emmet’s panic surged through him, redoubling his efforts for freedom. Beyond the distorted water’s surface, he saw the kitsune’s face peer overhead. In his hands was an obscured dark creature, it’s lengthy and thick body wrapped about the extended glove ends which also covered Darius’s arms. Protecting him. He didn’t wear his suit but had on just a plain white button shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, not willing to allow another to step in for his role as teacher in this painful lesson. To Emmet, this was evidence Darius chose to do his own dirty work from time to time. Most often it felt his favorite student was none other than Emmet himself.
“Tsk, tsk. I have to say, I’m disappointed in your tactics. Oh well, consider this your lesson and a warning.” Darius voice took on a tone like a parent chiding a troublesome child. Without farther words, he dropped the eel into the water.
A current jolted through Emmet’s bare body the moment the animal’s thick body brushed him, his mouth opened in a bubbled cry. Air rushed from his lungs as water came in to replace it, choking him. His skeleton felt the fire burn within his flesh and his muscles spasm then clamped in on itself tightly. He couldn’t control the seizures that licked up and down his body, his senses darkened and dimmed in his water prison.
Emmet slammed his hand against the shower wall. A tingling, painful and blissfully real, raced through the contact point and up his arm. Golden hair plastered to his skull and dripped droplets from their tips, one by one. His fist hand settled in place, letting hot water pour over his body. The stream twisted and warped about him as if to protect and hide him from the outside world, something it could only do until the heated water ran out. Too bad its magic didn’t include the memories. The jaded past pressed at his closed eyes unable to block out the chill inside. That was only one of the many scars left behind in his life time. It gave him a reason to consider carefully each failure, unsuccessful escape and attempted murder he tried in the years which followed against Darius. And the reasons he had stopped altogether when they went wrong. Thankfully he was the one to suffer it all, his sister blissfully unaware and somehow, some way he would keep it that way for the rest of her life. His throat constricted when he considered Olivia could possibly have to endure such events one day. Reflexively his fingers dug farther into his palms until he could feel the skin being pierced and blood swelled from the wounds. It farther tinted his emotions, swirling him into darkness where there was little escape.
Faintly he wished all his memories would simply wash down the drain like the red tinted water and vanish from his mind just as quickly. Sadly, it was wishful thinking. He pressed his head upon the tile to steady his shivering body while the image was purged from his thoughts. He was foolish enough to think he could’ve outrun Darius’s grasp and escape unscratched. No…instead he ended up humiliated, starved, beaten, and electrocuted that day which compared to the future punishments, was easy to survive. He shook his head then twisted the water off before he reached around for his towel and hopped out. The effort had nearly brought him to his knees when the pain erupted through his back, lighting him on fire.
“Fuck…” Emmet whispered in a harsh curse.
His balance faltered, his hand hastily jerked outright and sought to balance himself. It was a desperate ploy to stay upright. The whole world seemed to tilt away from him causing his arm to crumble and give, his body slowly slouched against the smooth wall until everything stopped spinning. Somehow, not completely aware how, he had managed to prop himself against the hard wall where his knees became rests for his arms. It was hard not to just curl into a ball right there on the floor. Sometime along the way his stomach was hell bent on churning up what remained of his last meal, some fast food, until it came rushing up again. Within a few minutes, the violent turning in his middle had settled into a sour lump and the floor appeared to cease its wild bucking. Thankful he didn’t need to shout for Juan, he just sat there. He didn’t have much strength to deal with Juan’s flirts in this state or prevent him from sneaking a feel so he aimed not to invite the chance. Emmet had pushed his head backwards where he looked over at his clothes sitting on the toilet’s closed lid. He found it amusing he had just recent started to remember to put the seat down when Zi started to come over, maybe a result from having a female around more often than every other weekend with his sister. His was lucky Juan chose to avoid the apartment during Olivia’s visits because he lied enough as it was to her.
His courage seemed to have fled, a smart thing in the back of his mind, as he fought the fear at the idea of trying to stand. He inhaled cleansing breaths for several seconds before he forced himself back onto his feet. Emmet waited until the flood of blood rushing into his brain had stopped, his world once more set right and his strength returned out of pure stubbornness.
It took longer to get dress but Emmet finally finished slipping on his jeans then using the door frame, edged his way out. His voice was weak when he shouted. “Juan… I need a little help.”
It didn’t the demon anymore then second to appear. Still in his former attire, he stepped in close and took Emmet’s arm with surprising gentleness from the frame over his shoulder, taking most of Emmet’s weight. “You shouldn’t have bled all over the place. I told you that you lost too much blood! Never listen to me, do you hot stuff? Hope Zi likes the undead look.”
“Juan just fucking put me on the bed and get the kit. I don’t want Zi seeing me like this.”
“And you think the fact you can barely stand will go unnoticed?”
“Juan.” Emmet growled, his eyes lids heavy.
“Just saying, it’s likely we didn’t get all the venom out before the operation. A simple flush of your system and fresh blood will have you sorted out in a bit.” Juan gave his medical observation. Out of habit, his shoulder repositioned itself under his load causing Emmet’s face to crunch in pain from the movement. Juan looked like he was about to slink into a corner at Emmet’s reaction but was held firmly in place by the tightened grip. “Though you realize, you might have to cancel the date now. As well as someone else will have to pick up Olivia.”
Emmet’s expression was a heated glare at the demon as he was settled upon the bed. Juan, on the other hand, seemed have a smile linger on his lips at the suggestion before he pulled away. In moments Emmet watched Juan duck down to reach the boxes under the bed, his hand tugged one marked with a red cross then clicked it open. Wasting little time, he set aside an assortment of things: salve, two bandage rolls, tape, two clear thin tubes, a bag filled with a salt and water solution, and some butterfly needles into a neat pile. Then he turned to Emmet, his hand tied off the upper arm while he looked for an ideal vein. Emmet felt the first needle being inserted into him as Juan slipped a steel hook into the bag end, finishing up when he placed the item at a higher level to let gravity do its work. He placed the rest on the bedside table and headed into the kitchen. Emmet heard silence until the sound of the fridge opened then closed; his eyes caught Juan return with a red bag in hand, whistling a pleasant melody. Emmet knew it was from his emergency stash, harvested bit by bit over the years at Juan’s suggestion. It made going to an ER an absolute last option when a job went badly. There was also plasma stored in the same place within the fridge, hidden inside a lower, right drawer. The only bad part in the whole apartment was that there was only one place to keep everything cold. So after years of keeping his soda near several hanging blood bags he had filled, Emmet’s stomach had learned a measure of tolerance he never realize could be achieved.
Juan’s exotic cooking also helped in that area too.
There was a knock at the door once Juan had finished attaching the blood bag and positing it next to the IV bag. The sound made both boys turn their head, Emmet with anxiety and Juan merely curious. Without delaying for another knock, Juan motioned for Emmet, much to his annoyance, to stay lying on his stomach. Cautiously the demon moved toward the front door, his hand readied itself with a dim red glow while he twisted the knob and edged it open. All at once his stiff posture relaxed abruptly when he saw who it was.
GM
Wind Wild A sprinkle of Weird
Member
Seen
1 yr ago
Once again it was the first of September. Once she would have ignored the fact as unimportant. Now, she was looking forward to it. Now the date was a memorable one.
It was the welcoming ceremony for the new students at Master Melody's. Today a few dozen young people would embrace the duty of protecting the world from whoever wanted to bring chaos and ruin to it. And even though the new students were only replacing old losses, the occasion was festive never the less. And so, just like a true Living, Hazumi had prepared for celebration. Her dress was a white canvas stained with every colour of the spectrum and in her simmering hair the essence the of all living things was weaved into ethereal flowers.
While the staff took turns to introduce the students to the Academy's rules and regulations, Hazumi waited patiently next to the principal. Then, when the time was right, she stepped forward and approached the new students. Moving slowly down the row she asked each their name and reached out to take their hands and touch their open palms. As their hands touched, Hazumi let her power seep into them and bind their souls. As she removed her hand the new Musician was left with a shiny fragment of the Essence of the World. The cycle was completed. The Instruments of the fallen were given a new master and the scars were forgotten.
With each new Instrument that was given Hazumi felt a piece in of her rip but the feeling was pleasant. It made her emotions stronger, her excitement bigger. It made her more human. As she reached the final student her heart was already fluttering with anticipation. And then, when every last student held their designated Instrument, the ceremony reached its peak.
The principal, Lily Quarin, stood and parted her lips. And what escaped them wasn't a speech, but a song instead. And as the sitren's voice rose, it beckoned everyone to follow. Students, both old and new, felt compelled to play, sing, and dance and they did, all at once.
At first what came out was a sea of chaos, waves of noise competing and clashing against each other. But soon enough the competition died down and harmony settled into the room and into the students' hearts. Slowly order was born and and the melodies eased beside each other into a beautiful singular. That was when
Hazumi's heel hit the marble and she started dancing, drunk on the melody of a thousand souls. Beneath her light steps sprouted impossible flowers and they grew and glowed with a vibrant warmth. The flowers in her hair split into petals that fluttered behind her before finally bursting into a flock of ghost-like butterflies that scattered across the ball room.
It was in the heat of the dance when Hazumi’s senses finally realised there was one student she hadn't welcomed yet. Her tempo never slowing, her eyes immediately found the unassuming boy who had received his Instrument a long time ago.
She knew that she should stop... but couldn't bring herself to. So she flew past him, grabbing his hand and dragging him into a fast dance.
"I see you've finally made it! Welcome to Master Melody’s, Timore!" She laughed cheerfully and spun him around.
Celaira Lore Mistress
Member
Seen
1 yr ago
With Crow's attention taken by some negotiations and his...talents not currently in need, the bright eyed nightwalker skipped down a crowded sidewalk in the middle of the day. "What to do, what to do, who to chew, hum de dum de," he sung as his eyes darted to and fro between the various beings in the crowd. "All so scrumptious. Some pretty, others made of atoms," he paused, glancing at a particularly reflective set of windows and spying a woman and her child across the street from him. A set of cars, a van or two, and various vehicles blocked the path of his physical vision for short durations. Eyes darting to a second locale, he noted the changing of the lights, a "walk," sign lighting up white just in time for his arrival. "Yes yes yes," he said, filled with glee as he dashed to the light and crossed the street. Many onlookers stared after him, some were jostled by his passing and called after him in disgruntled annoyance. "Hey, watch where you're going!"
He ignored them, running till he was in an alley and around its corner where he ran into a group of thugs and a rather weak demon. The demon was on the ground in its native form, it was an imp of some sort he ventured, and the humans were kicking and insulting it. As he came into their range of sight the humans looked over at him, one putting his foot on the throat of the imp before it could escape.
"Hell you looking at!?" He shook his head, closing his eyes and smiling gleefully, "Nothing sirs, just taking a shortcut!~ I'll be on my way and the authorities will be none the wiser," the thugs narrowed their eyes, looking between eachother before letting him pass. Bowing his head and walking past them, one of them noticed that the stranger's fingers were crossed...a moment too late.
"Slice~," two arms fell off, spattering blood all over the other three humans, and over the imp who squealed and then lapped it up hungrily. "Hahahaha," the man laughed, whilst the two thugs stared in awed shock at their bleeding friend. One of them pulled out a gun and shot it at the passerby, his face screwed up in anger, "Fucking bastard!"
Looking down at his shoulder where the bullet had lodged itself, he crumpled to his knees and clutched the wound, calling out in pain. The thug walked over slowly, shooting him in his other shoulder and then in both thighs as he got close enough. "That's right, fuck him up James, I'll take care of Srale," the other thug ripped off his shirt and wrapped it around the wounds to try and quell the bleeding a bit, before he winced at picking up his friend's arms. The man had gone into shock and so he took him into his arms, and began carrying him out of the alley. When the armed man, James was his name, got near enough to the one he'd shot to see his face, he shot three more times, but this time...out of fear.
"Fu-..." there was a loud cackling laugh and then the sound of flesh being cut could be heard. The would-be victim rose, the bullets hitting the ground with soft metallic clangs. The one carrying his friend didn't even look back, instead he sprinted around the corner and out of sight, after which he turned to look over his shoulder.
When he turned back around he ran into a brick wall. He almost toppled over, and certainly dropped his friend Srale. When he turned around he saw another brick wall. He was closed in. "Wha...what the fuck!? I know this wasn't...these weren't here before," he glanced between the two structures, then looked to the ground for something to throw. He found a few pebbles and threw them against the walls. A pebble went through the wall in front of him, so he stepped towards it and pressed his hand to it. It went through.
Following this he turned around again, this time to retrieve Srale, only to see the open street. "Confused yet?"
He whirled around and saw...a dog with a sombrero on its head. "I...I'm out of here," he went and picked his friend up and ran out onto the sidewalk, calling for help and someone to get an ambulance. The dog barked after him till he was out of sight, at which point a grin curved across its face and it morphed into shadows, flowed upwards, and reformed into the man who promptly began dying of laughter. Turning away and going back around the corner, Falair, the Madhatter, laid eyes on the imp, who was quite confused as well. The reason for the demon's confusion were fifteen mirror images standing all around him and mimicking his every move. When Falair walked by, the imp took no notice, as if he couldn't see him...because he couldn't. As such the nightwalker, a smirk placed on his face, sped up into a jog before prancing into the air and then right up the wall of a building as if gravity had no meaning. Reaching the roof Falair peered around, his bright golden eyes seeking a child. "Where is the little tyke..." he thought aloud, his body warping slightly to manifest a tophat, cane, and suit. He blinked twice, and then winked thrice before noticing something out of place. "I forgot it again didn't I?" You sure did Falair, he then nodded his head at his internal narrator and a monocle appeared around one of his eyes. "There we are!" Well don't you look spiffy!? "Is that really a necessary quandary?" I don't know... "Precisely."
Having made some form of peace with himself, or someone else, Falair promptly walked off the roof and across the air, roughly two stories above the sidewalk. He continued to do so as he searched for the tyke. Hum, he thought before he began doing just that, an eerie tune coming from his lips. He'd lost his train of thought again, perhaps someone would help him find it.
Strange iridescent blue eyes gleamed with interest as the scent of blood--particularly Human blood--reached the porcelain doll's nose. It wasn't but a mile away, and so, with curiosity guiding her, the doll-like girl began to gravitate toward shadows. In an alley way beside a particular coffee shop, she leaned against the wall. Her body began to lose its colors, turned from vibrant, to grayscale as she melted within the shadow of the alley.
Her body reformed in the mass of shadows, blue eyes scanning for a source of light. Suddenly, an all encompassing laughter filled her ears, and a soundless shriek left her mouth. She started to run through the mass in which she had entrenched herself, stumbling toward a source of light. The shapes on the other side of the opening were distorted due to her fear, and so she didn't know what she was getting into as she practically leapt through the gap.
The girl flew free from the opening a few feet before dropping on to her stomach... in mid air, she hadn't noticed yet, but she was levitating. "O-ow..." She whined a little, her waist length brown hair shadowing the upper half of her body before she started to lift herself off of the ground. She started to look around a moment, and noticed a strange man in a tophat and monicle had been behind her... Right where she had come through the shadows. Her head tilted to the side as she inhaled deeply... Nightwalker.
"...Hello?" She mumbled, fidgeting a little. She examined the nightwalker internally, admittedly confused by the sheer sight of him. The girl had come to Loom to find someone who might've seen her brother. Mairyell Kasio. Sanguine.
Someone had to know where he was....
Aeris just couldn't deal with another 200 years of being virtually alone.
When Aeris ran out of his body and into thin air where she started levitating, the hatter was twirling his cane gleefully. Stopping for a moment, Falair squinted in front of him, and then his eye sockets, with their eyes in tow, swiveled around to the back of his head, his hair melting somewhat, as the eyes lodged themselves in the back of his 'skull' to gaze at the little doll who had just decided to come out of him. "Well isn't that curious," he stated, the rest of his body swiveling so that the eyes moved back into their rightful place on his body.
"Now what is a pretty little doll such as yourself doing? Jumping out of shadows and all that. It's rather rude you know! I ought to give you a spanking, but I won't. Instead," he acted as if he was fishing in his pockets, after which point he pulled out a fish...locket. Bet you really thought I'd pull out a fish though, he thought to...someone before he hopped towards her, knelt in midair, and made to hand her the locket. "It's made from pure nothing!" If she touched the locket it would dissolve into shadows, after which point he would jump back and laugh gleefully.
At this point people had begun looking into the air to see what all the ruckus was above them. He looked back down and waved before something came to his mind. "Those fellows are gawking at you, reminds me of a bunch of starving doggies." He nodded his head and then tipped his hat to her before turning around and splitting into three identical copies, which did the same dance as they continued to walk. He was enjoying himself, why yes I am! he thought to no one in particular.
Aeris' stomach lurched when the nightwalker before her did something obscene with his eyes. Holy shit... She thought to herself, wincing a little. When he started to speak directly to her, she just stared at him. Had he just called her a doll? What the hell? And then he mentioned something about spanking her causing an involuntary growl to leave her lips.
She watched as he dug into his pockets for something, and came closer to her. It took her a moment, but she was able to fight the urge to lunge at him. When she saw the locket she looked up at him, her eyebrow arched in confusion. She reached out to take it for but a moment, and it dissipated into nothing, leading to him beginning to cackle. It was at this point that she rose from her knees, keeping her eyes on him at all times as she did so.
She still hadn't noticed she was levitating.
If Szayeis were here, he'd undoubtedly be disappointed in her lack of attention to her surroundings.
However, when she began to hear people, below them, and he mentioned something about hungry dogs, she looked down. Her face turned a bright shade of red as she used shadows to darken the underside of her skirt enough where they couldn't see beneath it anymore. She lowered her head in shame, but as he turned around to leave she looked up again.
"H-hey! Wait! Have you seen a vampire that goes by the nickname Sanguine?" She called after him, hoping he would stop.
The three Falair's stopped, one turned fully around, smiling broadly, another turned halfway and tapped its chin thoughtfully, while the third turned around continuously for no apparent reason. "Well," three identical voices said in unison, "Sanguine sounds familiar," The one tapping its chin glanced at the spinning one, "What do you think?" The spinning one did not reply, but just kept spinning. He then turned to his other self and reiterated his query, this time there was a response.
"I don't know, perhaps Crow would know?" The chin tapping one nodded and then became two massive mouths which devoured the other two and then recomposed themselves into the same top-hatted, monocle and suit wearing body. "Why? Are you looking for him? I've heard he's rather scarce. Traveling and whathaveyou. Still, Crow might know." Falair shrugged and took to staring at the sun, a slightly hateful look coming into his eyes before he shook his head, looked away, and grew multiple eyes on his body to look all over the place. He was occupying himself. He didn't like being bored.
Aeris watched in confusion as all three.... things reacted in such different ways. She didn't really know what to do except stand there dumbfounded until he started to speak.
When he mentioned someone named Crow, her eyes flashed purple a little bit before turning back to their bright sapphire blue.
"Yes, I am looking for him. All I know right now is that he was last seen headed to this city." She responded softly as shadows began to dance about her body. "Would you mind taking me to this... Crow person? I'd love to know if he actually does know anything."
Falair nodded, his yellow eyes brightening to a golden hue and gaining a strange luster. "Oooooh? You want to see Mr. Wispy then? Ah, come come!" he turned around and vanished, before reappearing as he realized it might be better not to travel through shadows. "I'm sure he'll be delighted to see you, you are a friend yes? Of course you are. Crow doesn't have enemies, he's too lazy for all that." He was talking to himself again, No I'm not, shut up, he quarreled to no avail.
Finally deciding he beckoned and then began to jog across the air, expecting her to follow him.
"W-wispy...?" Aeris couldn't help but snicker at the name that the nightwalker had called this "Crow" person. When he vanished, she shivered a little bit at the thought of going back into the shadows after such a short time.
However, it was only a moment before he was back. When the inquiry was raised on whether she was a friend or not, she wasn't really sure how to respond, and so, as with the rest of this conversation she was left tilting her head in confusion.
When he began to jog across the air, she followed after him calmly, making a concerted effort to keep the shadows that she had placed below her skirt in place.
"is there anything I should know before I meet this person?" The little Kasio questioned, her dark hair blowing out behind her due to a gust of wind, causing her sapphire eyes to become completely visible, their eerie glow brightening for a moment.
Falair shook his head, he really didn't think there'd be any reason to tell her anything about Crow. The man was always mouthing off at him that it was bad to reveal information to strangers, particularly if they could be enemies. He didn't really listen to most of those lectures, but he remembered that much, so he silently led her towards a large office building. He knew Crow was there retrieving some payments and having a meeting. Negotiations he had called them...something like that. "Oh I'm sure you'll love him, he's such a calm person. Though in my opinion he's a bit dull," the nightwalker did not clarify whether or not he meant that Crow was stupid or if he meant he was boring.
Then something came to mind and he spun on his heel, reappearing three feet from the girl. "Don't mention that crows aren't clever. Last time I did that he got his feathers all ruffled up and started squawking up a storm. It was actually rather comical," he chuckled a bit, his serious demeanor fading rapidly before it was brought back up. He then backed away, spun again, and was back where he'd been before, jogging. His clothing had changed to a purple and red pinstriped suit with diagonal lines. His shoes were black dress shoes, there was a buster sword strapped across his back, and he wore a sombrero. His hair was also rather long now. Nodding his head, he thought he'd done a good thing just now, hopefully Crow would appreciate all his hardwork. I mean, he hadn't even killed anyone this tim- wait...no those guys in the alley would be fine. None of their wounds were fatal.
He had forgotten that humans easily bled out. He did that sometimes.
Often actually.
Yeah...Falair is kind of absentminded.
Aeris sighed internally. What had she gotten herself into this time? Over the past 200 years she'd done almost nothing except search for her brother through any rumor she could track down. When she wasn't doing that, she was brushing up on different fighting techniques, and now had roughly 3 styles of martial arts under her belt. She wasn't helpless anymore, that was for sure. Something she would be proud to display to Mairyell when they finally caught up to each other. For now though, she would focus on finding him for the most part. She'd tried hard not to get involved with the affairs of the world thus far, though she couldn't say the same about people. She'd made friends in her 200 years. Both Human and not. Though she had mourned the Humans who had died, she'd never wish her curse on them. Even had one beg her to turn them. Yeah, no.
The porcelain doll of a girl continued to follow after the nightwalker, lost in her own thoughts. She was forever stuck in the body of a 20 year old girl who would never grow old... never die. Vaguely it crossed her mind what her brother would think when he saw her, alive. Undead, really, but alive nonetheless.
That thought quickly left her mind though, as she had a naive fantasy to keep daydreaming about. That was one thing about her that hadn't changed over these two centuries. She was still rather naive. Childlike in mind, but not in knowledge. Simply put, she was deliberately deluding herself to be the girl that her brother had known, and not who she actually was. She didn't want him to hate her, and deep down that's what she thought would happen if they really met. He would cast her out.
For most of the jog, little Kasio had been on autopilot, she hadn't even heard him mention Crow's calm demeanor. However, when he stopped in front of her, she bumped into him and was forced to pay attention. What she heard made the solemn mask she had on crack with a smirk. "I'll keep that in mind." She spoke softly, a laugh in the undertones of her voice as she finally noticed where they were headed. What met her eyes filled her with an immense sense of foreboding. It was Kasio Corp. Rebuilt and stronger than ever.
"Fuck." She breathed out the word with disgust, but continued to jog behind the nightwalker cautiously.
At least their old man was dead, right?
Right?
As they reached the building's door, Falair stopped, thinking for a moment as he tapped the end of his cane gently against the cement. "You better wait here," without giving her time to have a choice in the matter, the nightwalker vanished completely.
Reappearing on the table in a meeting room on the third floor of the Kasio Corp building, Falair's body initially looked like a whirling vortex of darkness, before it solidified and reformatted itself into something more socially acceptable. Nonetheless the occupants of the room all wore rather shocked or surprised expression. Two or three had fallen back from their chairs, and more than one bodyguard had drawn a weapon to aim at the demon.
There was only one individual, a man who sat at the foot of the table, that had remained calm upon the appearance of Falair. "I apologize for this interruption," the raven haired man said quietly, respectfully, as he pushed his chair back, stood, and helped several of the official looking individuals back into their chairs. The woman who sat at the head of the table, unlike the officials who the indifferent man was helping out, did not appear very appreciative of the disturbance. "What is all this about, Crow, why were we interrupted and who is this buffoon of a demon," the woman snapped, her fangs bared. Having finished assisting those who had fallen, Crow turned his eyes to meet the woman's, his gaze totally devoid of any enjoyment of the situation, spoke. "That buffoon is Loom's Madhatter. Falair Ver Akan sa'eyeis, Ms. Kasio." The woman's eyes almost widened in shock, and for a moment Crow could see fear on her face, before the ice cold sheath that she was known for slid back over her emotions, hiding her vulnerabilities.
It was too bad he'd already seen through her...hours ago. Turning his head to Falair, Crow spoke again, "What is it, Falair, I'm quite busy as I'm sure you knew when you decided to port yourself in here, unannounced." Falair would have winced if he had any form of empathy. He didn't. "There's a girl inquiring about you, Crow," Falair stated in his same, somewhat high pitched, comical tone. If Falair hadn't saved him several times and been useful in several hundred others, Crow would have gotten rid of him then and there. However, like every other time Falair caused him problems, he couldn't do much about him, except sate him, and then adapt to suit. "She can wait, this is more important," Falair's smile dulled and very briefly the thought of slaughtering every human in the room passed through his mind, before it was washed over by many more amusing ideas.
"Fine, fine, I'll give you this one, Mr. Wispy, we'll wait in the lobby at your leisure," there was a devilish grin on Falair's face before he vanished, leaving his friend with the now aggravated CEO of Kasio Corp, and several snickering officials of the board. Crow simply sighed and walked back to his seat at the foot of the table where he gracefully sat down once more. "Apologies, Ms. Kasio. Unfortunately I cannot exactly control my friend, he does what he wants when he wants to, to whom he wishes to," he shrugged and immediately noted the look in her eyes as he did. He was a threat now, again rather. Before Falair had interrupted them, Crow had managed to convince Kasio corp to back him and his group, but now all he had to do was make sure that deal was in place once more. When it was, he'd have them intimidated and he'd have them at his back. For once he silently thanked Falair, for unwittingly he had somewhat humanized him, and also benefited him though he was sure the nightwalker had not meant to.
"Shall we continue?" The woman was silent for a long time before she nodded and began to go over the details of their arrangement. It was basically that they would provide him with an allotted amount of resources, and in return he would not infringe upon their areas of control. When she finished, he pretended to look thoughtful before he responded, "If we share our territories we will both benefit in the long run, Ms. Kasio." She opened her mouth to refute him, but he held up a finger. For a moment she looked as if she were about to snap at him again, but before she could her eyes looked over his face where she saw the subtlest smile she'd ever viewed before. "In return I'm willing to offer you the services of Falair and my...compatriots, for any less than civil jobs you might want carried out. As long as they don't go outside certain parameters." Her mouth shut and she settled back into her seat, thinking.
"It will benefit you, though I'm sure you already knew that. You are a very intelligent woman, Ms. Kasio." He said, his charm showing just barely before a look of boredom returned to his features and he picked at his finger nails. To her and her colleagues, especially her colleagues, he needed to appear primarily as some foolish gangster. It was a ruse of course, but it was a successful one for most of the chairman and women of the board were practically leaking disdain as they avoided looking at him.
Ms. Kasio however had no such reservations and so she looked up and nodded. "Very well, you have your deal. The documents will be signed tomorrow, 9:25 AM, sharp. If you're not here, we're done doing business." He nodded, rose from his seat, and bowed respectfully. "Thank you for your time Ms. Kasio, I'll leave you to your business and take my leave." He nodded to the others and then exited the room. As the door closed behind him, he heard Ms. Kasio release a deep sigh of relief and then gently rest her head against the table. The chairmen and women looked at her confused, some murmured amongst themselves, and outside Crow smiled smugly and then made his way through the cubicles of the office building till he found himself in a bathroom.
Once there he vanished into a shadow and reappeared in a bathroom on the fourth floor. All the while he kept in the blind spots of the building's cameras. Finally he exited the bathroom, finding himself in the lobby, where he searched for Falair. Or rather, looked for the most out of place person in the room. That was generally the best way to find the shapeshifting bastard.
While Crow had finished up with the oh so lofty humans, Falair reappeared before Aeris and then beckoned her into the office building til they found a place to sit. After that point he'd do so, hoping she would make herself comfortable. He however, would remain somewhat in motion, the surface of his skin writhing and shuddering as if little waves and ripples went over it. He was occupying himself while they waited. He mustn't get bored. Crow had always warned him against that, though he had no idea why. He never remembered being bored in the past, so why was it a problem now? Shrugging, he eventually noticed Crow enter the lobby, exiting a bathroom to do so. Waiting for his friend to notice them, Falair made sure his outfit was adorned with bright colors, his purple pinstriped suit becoming awash with rainbow stripes to draw attention. It was the best way to let Crow know he was there.
Aeris fidgeted uncomfortably in the air as she watched the nightwalker vanish into thin air. At least he hadn't made her come with him. A few moments after he had departed, she lowered herself to the concrete running her hands through her dark brown locks, pulling them up into a ponytail, where her bangs parted over her right eye, covering it.
No one would recognize her, it'd been 200 years. So, why was she so uncomfortable?
As she pondered the thought, trying to figure out what was wrong with her, Falair returned to get her, and she followed after him silently. As they entered the building a strange feeling of nausea caused her stomach to lurch a bit. She shook her head trying to stop the swimming sensation she was starting to feel, and sat down beside Falair. Evidently they were to wait for whomever here in the lobby.
The minutes ticked by, and the increasing nausea and dread little Kasio was feeling began to worsen. She even tried to watch what the nightwalker beside her was doing with his skin, but that only served to make the feeling worse.
By the time he changed what his clothes looked like, she was leaning over in her seat, face in her hands. "Hey..." She paused, realizing that she didn't know this nightwalker's name. "Uh, what is your name, anyway? You've been helping me out and we haven't even introduced ourselves." Talking seemed to alleviate some of the feeling, but it was still there for some reason, like a monster was just going to jump out of no where and eat her. "My name is Aeris, by the way." She paused, about to tell him her last name, but thought better of it, and stayed silent as she awaited his answer.
She really hated this building. This reminder of the life even before she had met Cael, before she and Mai had struck out on their own.
A past so distant she had almost forgotten it.
That wasn't allowed, evidently.
"Mmm?" Falair said, as his head turned so he could see her properly. "Moi? Hahaha, I'm Falair. Granted, that's not my whole name, that's much longer. Urgh, I always forget. Crow said it just a moment ago," he ran his hand over his head, causing it to phase right through his top hat before returning back to its position on his lap. "Falair Ver Aka-... Falair Ver Akan?" He shook his head and tried again before another voice spoke out, a calmer one, a gentler one. "Falair Ver Akan Sa'eyeis," Crow stated before looking over to the girl, Aeris she'd said her name was. "That's a very pretty name, young lady. Now, what is it you require of me madam?" He was dressed in a suit, black and white, though it had no tie, and its shoulders were not blocky. Instead it appeared more naturally cut, smoother. There was a pleased look in Crow's eyes, though it was not because of Aeris' presence. Then again, it was a useful expression to have, it made him appear more gentlemanly, not that he wasn't already fairly good in terms of manners and such things.
Falair seemed to nod in comprehension, his face still oddly screwed up in confusion regarding his own name as if he were unsure of why he hadn't been able to remember it.
Iridescent blue eyes looked up as another person interjected, answering the question for Falair, as he couldn't do so himself it seemed. Her head tilted to the side when she heard Sa'eyeis, and almost jumped, thinking he had actually said Szayeis. A little bit of fear passing over her face coupled with a few other emotions before she settled on a serene smile. "What an intriguing name."
The doll's smile warmed as she received a compliment on her name. "Thank you, my mother gave it to me."
Little Kasio sat up, straightening her posture so that she didn't seem like a lump. Her legs crossed one over the other as she met Crow's eyes calmly. "I was wondering if you knew about a Chimeric vampire that goes by the name Sanguine. I'm looking for him. Any information you have, or could find would be greatly appreciated." Absentmindedly she began to curl her hair around her finger as if trying to tease him, when she was actually just using it as an excuse to do something other than stare at him so she didn't have to focus on the building she was in.
"I'm aware that he travels a lot, and I've found no one really ever has accurate information on him. It's bothersome. I've spent a lot of energy, money, and time trying to track him down." As she told Crow all this, there was an evident pout on her face, much like that of a little girl whose toy was taken away. Or whose brother wouldn't play with her.
"Can you help me, Crow?" Her voice was silk as she asked, her eyes flashing a little bit of purple.
She was getting a little hungry.
Listening intently, Crow nodded at the appropriate times and once she finished, her question posed, he pulled up one of the chairs and sat down in it, thinking for a long moment, eventually relaxing into the chair as he pondered the possibilities of this job. "What form of payment are you looking to offer for my services?" He asked, always the businessman. However, before she could answer he shook his head, "No no, where are my manners. First off, madam, yes I can in fact help you. I can tell you off the bat that you are right to think he is here in Loom, because he is. He arrived recently...but I remember hearing reports that he'd left again. It didn't seem like he went far."
That was where he stopped and turned his eyes back to her, "Anymore than that and you'll need to give me at least a few hours. However, my intuition tells me that he'll be coming back into the city. He tends to linger in a place for a few days at the very least." He waited for her response, he wanted to see how she reacted, it'd dictate how he handled her.
Aeris listened intently to the man before her, when she started to answer his payment question, he stopped her. She looked at him inquisitively as she listened to what he had to say. His words caused the sapphire of her eyes to brighten to a sky blue, indicating she was extremely happy, if the wide smile she bore didn't tell him that already.
"If you could find out exactly where he is, I would be grateful," She spoke in response to his inquiry about her wanting more information. "Also, please just call me Aeris, I don't really like formality. It makes me rather... uncomfortable."
"I have a few off shore accounts as well as a few rather high up associates, I can pay you monetarily, or with favors, your choice, Crow." She almost purred, a musical tone in her voice. Little Kasio had done a lot of work in her 200 years of life, and had amassed quite a fortune, even with all the information brokers she'd had to pay for information about her own brother.
Nodding and smiling slightly, Crow sat back up and stretched out his hand for her to shake. "I can likely get a bit more info. I can also notify you that he went in the direction of Jiggerbark mountain, not sure why anyone would go that way. Damned desolate and there's no one out that way. Regardless, I can contact you when I know he's back in town and do my best to ascertain his location." He made sure not to say he would track him down, it sounded too...violent or at least hostile. He was happy with her reaction, in more ways than one, plus it seemed this chick was loaded however, he'd make a point not to stop her because she was more than she seemed. The woman was emanating a rather powerful essence, and it seemed that this essence was more than just demonic, it was human as well, which meant she was some kind of chimera.
He wasn't yet sure what kind though, but perhaps he'd find out in time. Still, it'd be smart to stay on her good side, he concluded.
When he reached out his hand, she grasped it gently and shook it to confirm their deal. "Mm... Jiggerbark? Sounds familiar. Outside Thorpe, right?" She asked, still smiling warmly. When he mentioned getting in contact she blinked, "Oh! Here, let me give you the number you can reach me at." She looked around for a moment before finding a pad of paper and a pen on a table in the corner. Absently, she used shadows to bring it to her and started jotting down her cellphone number as if what just happened was the most normal thing in the world.
In truth, she hadn't even realized she'd done it.
She tore the sheet of paper off the pad and handed it to the man in front of her, her handwriting exquisitely neat.
"I am going to head out to Jiggerbark tonight to see if I can catch up to him, though with the luck I've had, he'll probably be back here again." She chuckled a little, and stood, curtsying. "Thank you for all the help you've given me today, Crow, and I hope will give me in the future as well. I have a feeling I'll be needing your help again some time soon." She spoke softly patiently waiting for his response before heading for the door.
If she was heading out to the mountains, she would need to get something to eat. Soon.
As she completed his handshake he made an imprint of her essence as he did with all his clients. Granted, he still took the piece of paper, thanking her with a light smile before he watched her rise and show her gratitude with a curtsy. "Very well...Aeris," he said, sounding as if he was getting used to saying her name before he nodded to himself and looked back to her. "Yes, near Thorpe," he said making sure not to intrude by asking her how she'd get there. Instead he simply nodded and then spoke once more, politely as per his usual, "I hope you have a...mostly uneventful trip. Traveling can be dangerous at times so...be safe."
Aeris' smile widened a little at his seeming concern. "I appreciate the sentiment. I'll do my best not to get into too much trouble." With that said she curtsied to him once again and looked to Falair. "You've been rather quiet, Falair, thank you for all your help as well, I hope we can meet again soon!" She flashed him a warm and friendly smile before waving to them both as she happily dashed out of the doorway, her hoodie materializing over her torso as the automatic doors closed behind her.
Once she was far enough away from the building, she leapt into the air, shadows forming on her back into the shape of two fairly large black, batlike wings that sent her rocketing into the sky just above the city.
Oh, hot damn did it feel good to be flying again.
With a gleeful smile, she started on her trek toward Jiggerbark mountain, she would search for food on her way there.
Startled out of his stupor, Falair's eyes lit up and he looked at her. It took a moment but a smile spread across his face and he nodded. However, before he could fully return she was out the door, prancing happily. "Have a good trip!" he said, several moments late before realizing she couldn't hear him. Crow shook his head and stood up, putting the chair back in its rightful place. "She's already gone Falair," the nightwalker seemed to nod and frown before rising as well. The two then headed out the door, one a bit confused, and the other quite pleased with his day so far. He'd settled one big client, and gained another smaller one. His day was going well so far, with any luck he'd land a few more jobs.
Falair on the other hand was more concerned with the fact that he hadn't remembered his name. Well, at least he wasn't bored, the nightwalker finally surmised before dismissing the thought entirely and putting some pep in his step. Perhaps he'd go on a walk later. Those always proved eventful.
Meanwhile the conference room back on the third floor of the Kasio Corp building had cleared out and Ms. Kasio, the CEO of the aforementioned company, was sitting at her desk, hands clasped together and shades drawn on all her windows. There was a distinct frown laid across her face as she stared down at the documents that she and Crow were to adorn with their signatures. It bothered her. She felt like he'd tricked her, but she wasn't sure how. She'd have to keep her eye on him, but for now he was a useful individual so she would have to make sure to monopolize that fact. The signing was still tomorrow anyways, she had till then to change her mind, though she probably wouldn't. With the document put out of mind, she slipped it into a folder and then into a drawer, before returning to her work.
What she didn't know was that she would be signing the document with more than a simple signature of ink, instead she'd be signing with a pen which pulled a small amount of essence into its ink and engraved it on the paper, immortalizing her part of the contract. Crow on the other hand would not be signing with this pen, and so he'd be able to break contract more or less whenever he wanted to. So it was not that the deal was unfair to her or her company, but rather Crow himself had a few more cards than she realized, and sadly she'd have no idea till it was too late and he'd seized all her, and by extension, Kasio corp's assets. It was truly a devious ploy.
Too bad she'd never catch on. Poor poor girl. It seemed no one had ever told her not to deal with the devil.
Oh well~
yoshua171 The Loremaster
Member
Seen
16 hrs ago
The Vault Door slammed closed behind Solus with an earthly bang, sealing itself again. Any light that was emitted through it was now gone. Leaving the Chimera and his companion in pitch black darkness. The flames in Solus' eyes grew brighter, dimly lighting the room they were in with a dull green hue. Four doors, similar to the main one, lay ahead of them, each labeled above with concrete signs, with words written in old language that Mairyell would not recognize, but Solus definetly would. Restoring power was a priority, so Solus headed towards the door on the far left. "This way..."
Solus placed his cut palm on the door, and just like with the last one, its symbols and sigils lit up, its stone rings twisting as it unlocked. It slid open to reveal a long, dark hallway. Beyond, an eerie darkness.
Shaking his head slightly, his eyes already perfectly adjusted to what others would find pitch darkness, Mairyell glanced at the doors an then to Solus. He moved and beckoned him, and so Mairyell followed, wondering just what the hunter kept down here that it required such rigorous amounts of security. Then again, he supposed he'd find out.... Walking into the door as Solus did, Mairyell's senses began to alert him of all kinds of rather bizarre essences. They were all vague and hazy at best, but he could still detect their strangeness despite their hazy nature. It was like a myriad of things were blocking them somehow. "So...what exactly do you keep down here?" He asked, an eyebrow raising slightly, not that Solus could even see him properly in this darkness.
"Anomalies. God's imperfections. Creatures that shouldn't exist. Anomalious Artifacts. Etcetera and Etcetera... I even have a tiny self sustaining black hole in here somewhere." What Solus meant by all that, was that this... facility... was built to contain the strange things that came to be through nature, science or arcane. Things of a godly nature, but not made by Aaurus' own hands. Things that could bring about the Apocalypse if held by the wrong being. He continued down the hall, taking careful steps as his eyes acted as a candle light.
"I see..." the vampire responded, sound a bit incredulous. Though, if Solus wasn't messing with him, which he probably wasn't, then that begged the question of just how many such artifacts existed here. It sure felt like an awful lot, and he was fairly certain he was only sensing a very small fraction of the things. "Well, seems like quite the collection. This something of a hobby?" A smirk had rested itself on his features, though he was plainly just being snarky and thus not at all serious in his questioning. Glancing around, and away from Solus' back, he surveyed their surroundings, which seemed to be stone walls and ceilings for the moment. The green light from Solus' eyes gave the place an eerie appearance, which he figured was probably rather fitting considering what was held here.
Then, as if to further prove his point, Mairyell began to notice the essence signatures in their direct vicinity. He'd been so distracted, and in the dark (aha) that he hadn't initially noticed them. "Um...there are things in here with us, aren't there?" Mairyell glanced to the side, noting the shape of a few seemingly out of place objects. "Wait...is that a door to a cardboard box?" There was an amused and incredulous tone to Mairyell's voice as he said it. However, oddly, he noticed that there seemed to be quite the complex apparatus holding the thing. Raising an eyebrow, he stopped, practically staring through the door, which in a way he was.
Solus passed the door a few paces as he carried on, completely missing what Mairyell said, only for his brain to snap him out of his focused trance. "Oh... uh..." He walked back over to his companion, joining in staring though the port hole in the door. "Oh that... I never even got a chance to make up a name for that bloody thing. But yes. It's a cardboard box."
Frowning, Mairyell glanced at Solus, and then back through the port hole. "Why exactly is something as mundane as that in here?" His frown deepened and he momentarily questioned Solus' sanity. He then rethought that and shook his head a bit, remembering that in terms of norms he wasn't exactly without fault either, far from it actually. "Where'd you even find this thing?" He questioned once more, looking to Solus for answers.
"Found it in a sewer. Was following a lead on sewer monsters spewing out of the Loom shitter en masse. That was their origin. It's basically a monster spawner. Everything that comes out is always different. It's like a chocolate egg, you don't know what you're gonna get. How it works... I don't really know. Didn't put much time into a studying it. But about every thirty minutes a twisted abomination comes out." Solus then chuckled to himself. "If the Fleshshaper was still around he'd kill to get this thing. But that contraption in there keeps it closed. If the thing the box makes doesn't come out, the box dissolves it and uses the materials to make a new one. The box is easy to contain. But it's the abominations that are dangerous."
Nodding a bit, Mairyell shook his head, "That had to be a bit strange to come across, though knowing you, it might have been standard procedure at that point." Turning away from the room, Mairyell gestured for Solus to continue on, and he followed. "How many things have you collected over the years anyways? I mean, this place feels huge. I can't even get a good grasp on its size with my senses, which is saying something."
"The place is 200 floors that go deep into the mountain. It has multiple entrances that are well hidden all around Mt. Jigger. As far as how many things I have here?" Solus let out a strained sigh as he tried to fathom the amount of things he had here. "Probably in the thousands. Some I found. Some I purchased." There were several more doors ahead before the end of the corridor was in sight.
Nodding in response, a small smile came over the vampire's face as the passed another door. He glanced into it, seeing a pitch dark room. His eyes didn't pick up any physical objects or the like in the location, but his essence-based senses noticed a strange fluctuating oscillation therein. It was almost like the inside of the room was...filled with sound and nothing else. Yet there was plainly essence inside of the enclosure, it was certainly an odd occurrence, that was for sure. Then, as he took his eyes off of the port he saw something from his peripheral vision, and glanced back again, to see a set of 12 eyes peering out from the room, causing him to move away from it, and for a moment, form his claws. He quickly regained his composure and let them retract as he stared back at the glowing eyes. For a moment he thought he heard a cacophony of voices screaming at him, only for his eyes to narrow and his mind be shut off from outside influence, something he'd learned to do after one two many encounters with a certain nightwalker.
Appearing to notice this shift in mentality, the eyes multiplied and began to vary in color. The essence inside the room seemed to intensify its oscillation before Mairyell promptly shut his eyes and gestured at Solus before turning away. "This place does nothing for my nerves," he stated, rubbing his eyes and glancing back for a moment only to see that the eyes were gone. Shaking his head he decided to walk alongside Solus, rather than behind him, he kept getting distracted. "Btw, what was in that empty looking chamber a few doors back?" He was referring to the one where he'd seen the eyes.
"Lost Souls. That's all you need to know..." Solus seemed almost sad as he said that.
"Oh..." he decided not to ask any further questions, even though he was curious as hell. Still, while he felt curious, he also had a sense of unease after seeing whatever that had been. A sense of wrongness had pervaded it and he felt especially nauseous. He actually had to stop for a moment to catch his breath. It wasn't like him to be squemish, but this was plainly something different. "Ugh, wish I'd never looked in there," he shuddered and did his best to clear his head again.
"You're lucky you haven't seen their father yet. Just looking at him would have turned you inside out... Literally."
"Disgusting," he stated, sounding a bit like he was gagging for a moment before the sensation finally began to fade. "That wasn't just one thing in there..." he shook his head, "...that's for sure." Shuddering again, but less this time, he took his hand off the wall and grabbed Solus' arm, the same one he'd cut earlier. He lightly poked the cut and drew a bit of the blood out, which was promptly absorbed into his skin, after which he looked considerably better. "Sorry," he stated a bit apologetically before letting him go and walking ahead a bit.
Solus squeezed his bleeding hand shut and continued. "It's fine." The two passed a few more doors before reaching an elevator, right at the end of the hall. He pushed the call button and the doors slid open with a hiss. They both stepped in, and Solus inspected all the floor buttons on the panel, all from -0 to -199. "Shit..." The man breathed out as the doors automatically closed. "I don't remember what floor the Power Core was on..."
Opening his mouth slightly, Mairyell leaned against the back of the elevator, looking up at the ceiling for a long moment before he swiftly hit Solus in the arm. "You seriously had us come all the way to the elevator without thinking about that? Ugh, you piece of work," shaking his head, Mairyell glared at the buttons a moment. "What kind of power source we talking? Electrical? Magical? Both?" He seemed a bit annoyed by the hunter's blunder, but nonetheless he might be able to find it if he knew what he was looking for. Still, 200 floors was quite something to search in.
Solus focused heavily on his memories of the last time he was here, ignoring Mairyell entirely. A number came to mind. Ninety-nine. It made sense. With the core being slap bang in the middle, it evenly distributed power throughout the whole facility. His thumb hit -99, and the elevator jerked as it took the last of the emergency power that was left. "This is going to be a one-way trip if I got the wrong floor. It just took the last bit of power..." He stepped back and leaned against the back wall
There was something of a deadpan expression on the vampire's features, but he decided to say nothing, instead he closed his eyes and reminisced as the elevator took them down to the floor that hopefully held the generator. It was weird to think he'd live 200 years now, strange to think that he'd more or less outlived everyone he'd once known, with only a few exceptions. Granted, he hadn't lead a very lavish life, even considering his travels and the like. One could say that he had met a lot of people, but didn't really get to know most of them. Sighing a bit, his sister's face flashed in his mind a moment, causing him to furrow his brow and open his eyes. He didn't like remembering her, while she had always brought him comfort and happiness when she had been alive, remembering her and that she was no longer with him, did just the opposite.
"Let's hope that it's there then," Mairyell said, almost as if he was distracting himself, rather than making conversation.
The elevator stopped and pinged, letting its occupants know that they had arrived. The doors slipped open and they both stepped out. They were presented with a large blast door. Nothing unusual about it, though it did seem to be of a military specification. "Yes... This is it." Solus noted as his memories flashed images of this very door. On the right, was an alphanumerical keypad. With numbers and all the alphabetic letters of the English language. Millions of different possible passwords. Solus just hoped he remembered.
Looking over the door, a question came to mind and Mairyell looked to Solus, who seemed to be attempting to remember the passcode. "How did you build this place?"
"The original facility was an underground military complex that was built to... well, contain something... It was later when something went wrong and the facility was abandoned, shut off and forgotten about. It was a few decades later when a Protected Demon bought the land as a nice getaway from the troubles of the world, and he was unfortunate enough to uncover this place. And then I took over, and with a lot of favors from the Illuminati, when I used to work for them, I built this small Pandora's Box." He keyed in what appeared to be an entire sentence, and the door suddenly hissed and slowly began to open. "They were willing to invest an entire blank cheque just to see the thing buried under here contained..."
"And what exactly is it that is being contained...aside from the other things you've gathered?" He watched the door open, listening as he did so.
"We'll pass through there soon anyway. It's... just better if I show you." He walked through the gap the door made and was presented by what appeared to be a control room, and a massive bulletproof window, showing what appeared to be a a Black Sphere, with milliones of cables, big and small, plugged into it. The walls surrounding it were strange and impracticle in their design, covered in tubes and appeared to be sculptures of human body parts. Not actual body parts, just scultures. It was like a massive piece of abstract art. "The Power Core." Solus stated. "There it is." He stepped over the control panel, that seemed, alien in design. It had no buttons, just holes for pushing fingers into, hundreds of them.
"Very well," Mairyell stated incredulously as he began humming something to himself. As they entered the control room, he noticed the strange architecture, and even alien nature of the technology. There was an inquisitive look on his face now, and a certain curiousity in his eyes. Still, he was wary of the place now as, in some ways, he held a certain respect for it, as it obviously contained some of the most potentially dangerous creatures and objects on surface, or perhaps in all three realms, though Heaven was hardly a contender at this point. Looking through the window, Mairyell beheld the massive black orb. He wasn't sure if the cables suspended it, fed from it, both, or had some other purpose all together. However, what he was sure of was that the thing was magnificent, in its own right. It was not only huge, but it had a certain majesty to it, plus the thing powered the whole facility, which was quite massive as he'd come to realize. "Well, I suppose the generator would have to be something of that size to power this place," one thing he wondered, was if this was also the thing that the Illuminati had sought to isolate at all costs. If so, what exactly was it and why in the hell would they still use it to power the very facility that kept it contained?
"Behold Demonic Technology at it's finest. It's a Soul Sphere. Uses Essence as an infinite source of energy. But with it, comes a cost, or a benefit, depending on a person's perspective. Sentience." Solus began pushing his fingers into seemingly random holes, tiny mechanisms within the panel clicked, whirled and buzzed. One by one, the cables removed themselves like snakes with hiss as the Sphere slowly began to spin. Two 1 meter thick rods, one from the ceiling and another from the floor, just as abstract and misshapen as the rest of the chamber, raised towards the Sphere, nearing each of its poles. Eventually they stopped just short as arcs of lighting began to spark from the Sphere towards them. The lights, suddenly started to come on. Vault Systems booting. Stated a booming voice within both minds inside the control room.
Having shielded his mind earlier, Mairyell was caught off guard as his mental defenses were circumvented by the voice, causing him to shudder for a moment before regaining his composure. "Um..." he started, but shook his head, watching the massive sphere begin to spin. "Well, it's certainly impressive...and sentient too? Weird, a sentient object. I haven't seen too many of those before. I'm guessing the Illuminati helped you with this thing too?" He continued to watch it, intrigued by the patterns of essence he was sensing.
"Actually the Blood Reavers built this. A gift for me, if you will. They called the old power station inefficient and two weeks later this thing is floating above my house." The Chimera grasped something that appeared to be a weird looking microphone and spoke into it. "Status..."
There was a pause for a few moments. And then... Systems through floors -0 to -199 are nominal...
Solus let out a repressed sigh of relief. Then he spoke again. "Alpha Chamber status..."
Another pause. Alpha Chamber nominal. Subject has shown increased activity... Solus narrowed his eyes at that. "Right..."
Mairyell raised an eyebrow, a small smirk on his lips. "A gift aye...seems you had plenty of friends in high places, so to speak." When the system replied the second time Mairyell's smirk shrunk and disappeared. "Alpha chamber?" He queried.
"The thing that everyone was so desperate to contain is housed there." Solus turned on his heal and headed back towards the elevator. Pushing the call button, stepping in and pushing the button for the -199th floor.
"Ah.... I hope it's not the father of those things I saw earlier." Mairyell said as he followed Solus dutifully.
"Well... Actually..." Solus left that thought hang in the air.
Left hanging, Mairyell just shook his head and sighed, "If you have no intention of telling me, then you shouldn't have even brought it up." The vampire then closed his eyes, which had briefly become slightly red from annoyance. While Solus was essentially his only friend, he was certainly no easy man to get along with, especially in moments like these. He was generally rather troublesome, though so was he, which he had long come to terms with. So it wasn't so bad, rather, it was fairly fitting that they be compatriots, considering their strangeness. As the elevator took them the rest of the way down, Mairyell contemplated what exactly could be so feared by an organization like the Illuminati while simultaneously trying not to think about the 12 eyes he had seen earlier...and the possibility of viewing their 'father'.
Eventually, the elevator arrived at the bottom and pinged just like before. Its doors slid open to reveal a well lit metal corridor. It was long and eerily silent as Solus stepped out of the elevator, the echoes of his footsteps only making the atmosphere worse. Solus didn't seem as confident as he was earlier. He appeared uneasy, and was constantly looking at the walls rather than watching where he was going, as if inspecting them for something.
Frowning slightly at Solus as they descended, noticing his gradual decrease in confidence. Mairyell could have cut the tension with his claws as thick as it was getting. Nonetheless, the vampire followed after Solus, noting the echoes of the corridor and trying not to become unnerved himself, despite his companion's obviously worrying behavior. So, after a few moments he asked a question, "What has you so worked up?" There was even a tinge of worry in his own voice as he asked the hunter.
"Sometimes its influence escapes the Chamber and corrupts the hallways. If I see any evidence of that, it means we have a huge problem." Solus continued walking, his pace gradually slowing as they got closer to the metal door at the end labeled; Alpha. Eventually they reached it.
The door itself was a high steel block with electromagnetic locks. To its right, rested a biometric scanner. A port to scan an eye, a panel to scan a hand, and a microphone. Solus stepped up to the security system and began the process, placing his head close to the port, aligning his right eye to it. After a couple of seconds it let out a low ping and the hand scanner lit up. The Chimera placed his undamaged hand onto it, and let it do it's thing. "Why the hell did I hide my gear down here...?" Solus asked himself quietly as he waited. The device pinged again. The old hunter sighed to himself and spoke into the microphone. "Beyond..."
The door clanged as the magnets keeping it closed deactivated. Solus placed his palm on the metal and pushed. The metal slab of a door creeked wildly, screaming after 200 years of abandonment. The man stepped in, and waited for Mairyell to follow.
Staying close behind Mairyell's instincts and the small amount of paranoia he was feeling, caused small droplets of blood to bead like sweat over his hands, hardening slowly into his claws. While he did notice them, he decided to keep them active rather than retract them entirely. One could never be too careful, especially in a place such as this. "Well, doesn't seem there were any signs, then we should be fine right?" He asked, walking up beside Solus and following him closely.
"Not necessarily..." Replied the man as both he and Mairyell were greeted by a room with what appeared to be a sealed window, covered by somekind of blast panel, and two more doors, one on the left and the other on the right. Below the window was a desk with a few buttons and a closed black box. Solus approached the desk and placed his hand on the box, pulling the lock open with his thumb and lifting the lid. Within, was a pair of rusty rings.
Mairyell grumbled a bit as Solus replied. When they came to the black box and Solus unlocked it, he raised an eyebrow as he stared at the rings, wondering what they were. However, he'd tired of asking questions, so instead he simply remained silent, waiting for Solus so they could get this whole ordeal over with.
Solus pulled one of the rings out of the box and put it on his ring finger. Flexing his hand, he simply stated. "Put the other one on."
"Mmm..right," Mairyell said simply, reaching into the box and putting the ring on his right ring finger. He wasn't sure what it was for, but Solus likely knew best and would continue to until they left this accursed place. "What now?"
"You wanted to see this thing... so here goes..." The Chimera reached for a lever on the control panel and pulled it down. The blast panel that blocked the view of the window began to rise, only to groan to a halt after moving a mere centimeter. "Argh... It's jammed." He pushed the lever back up, with the blast panel lowering back down by that measly one centimeter. "Looks like you will get a good look at it first hand..." And with that statement, he walked towards the door on the left.
The corner of his mouth moved into a small frown as the nausea from before returned for the briefest of moments. He pushed it down and followed Solus, his eyes glancing sidelong at the blast panel before returning to the hunter. Catching up, Mairyell didn't speak, unsure if his voice would fail him as they approached the door. There was an ominous feeling about it all, that was for sure. Still, he'd have to see it through now, he supposed. No use turning back now.
Solus pushed a big red button beside the door, warning klaxons went off as the door slowly opened, and the Chimera already knew what they meant. "Whatever you do, do not use your powers here, their blood is... a lot more infectious than yours... You don't have a ranged weapon of any kind, do you?"
Mairyell's frown deepened and then his eyes narrowed somewhat. "I have Brisn, but that's still magic. Though it doesn't invovle my blood at all," he said simply, his bloodforged claws retracting via the pores of his skin. He considered that it also wasn't exactly a ranged weapon.
Synthorian: Solus quietly groaned. "A shame..." He stepped through the doorway, beyond of which, was a staircase to the right that lead to a much larger door, a hanger door, to be exact. He went down the stairs in twos, before reaching the blast door and punching in a code into the keypad beside. So many damn codes, it was a surprise Solus remembered them all. The door rose slowly, but was strangely silent as it moved. Behind it, a rays of green light beamed towards the pair's feet, and a black, goopy soot leaked towards them.
One of his eyes twitching slightly at Solus' comment, Mairyell made a note to not use any of his abilities, non-blood, or otherwise. He trusted Solus at least that much. However, without his blood or Brisn Mairyell had to resort to his pure physical superiority, so that might be...interesting. He grumbled under his breath a bit and then Solus opened the door. There was an eerie green light and a disgusting sooty substance beyond, and he didn't like what he sensed either.
It was so sickening that he decided to intentionally drown a portion of the feeling out. Nonetheless, he followed, or simply watched, depending on what was to happen next.
By now the door has fully opened and Solus stepped in, with Mairyell quickly following. As quickly as they stepped, Solus raised his hand towards the door, and a strange green chain flew out of his sleeve, grabbing the bottom of the door and pulling it closed in a blink of an eye. Yet despite that, the door did not groan, of make any mechanical sound, or even a bang when it crashed to the ground.
They were in a massive room, big enough to store a jumbo jet inside. It was covered entirely in the strange black soot. It was dripping down the walls and from the ceiling. There was no clean spot to be seen. In the dead center of the room, was a green ball of light... no... a rip, a tear in the universe, just floating there. "Don't make any sudden movements, and don't make too much noise." Solus said quietly as he gestured towards the corners of the room. In the corners, sat humanoids, covered in the same black tar, with what appeared to be tendrils and teeth all over their bodies. They sat in fetal positions, gently rocking back and forth. And they whispered in twisted, gurgling voices the same words over and over. The Beyond.
Feeling another wave wash through him, Mairyell took a deep breath and fended it off as he continued to follow Solus. The rift however, or at least looking at it, made him somewhat more nauseous. He just hoped it wasn't going to get any worse, but he doubted it....
Solus took careful steps towards the Breach in the center of the room, making sure he did not make too much noise. Sound tended to echo here. Slowly the duo approached the rift, and as they got closer, the vision of what was Beyond was clearer. It was at its clearest when both Nekro and Sanguine stood inches away from it. Beyond the Breach, was an infinite wasteland, with a single, massive mountain in the distance. Surrounding it, were thousands of the same creatures as the ones in the corners of the room, sitting on their knees with their arms stretched out towards the peak of the distant mountain in worship. At the peak of the mountain, there was something there, but it was too far away to tell just what it was.
Mairyell's senses were not liking any of this, and while getting nearer to the Rift didn't make him feel more sick, it did increase the sense of dread that had gradually been building up since they entered the room. He wasn't exactly looking forwards to this. Hopefully Solus would answer some questions later, but for now he would keep his mouth shut and watch his step.
"My 65 year old self was a dumbass for hiding my stuff in there..." Solus muttered to himself right before he raised his leg and pushed it though the rift, stepping into a world far beyond his and Mairyell's comprehension. A world so far away yet so close.
His own foot stepping into the rift, Mairyell entered...and then collapsed. The pain was overwhelming and the psychic pressure even worse. It felt like his body was being imploded and ripped apart at the same time. Every nerve in his body was sending pain to his brain, and every muscle screamed for release. Still, after several moments of the agony, he found himself able to begin getting back up. There was sweat running over him and he noticed that his hunger was rising from within him. His Brisn didn't work here, it seemed, and that was not a good thing, not in the least.
Glancing at Solus, and then around, he clenched his teeth. He would punch the hunter later, for now he needed to get out of this place as fast as possible before his senses killed him for walking into a situation that so strongly reeked of danger and fatal consequence.
"You alright...?" Solus asked quietly.
The vampire twitched and glared at him, balling up his fist a bit and shaking it slightly. He then looked away, "I'll be fine, but let's not linger, this place is...wrong." He then fell silent.
"Right..." Replied the Nekro, noticing the Vampire's struggles. He had to hurry before the Vampire got a little too hungry. He continued with care, avoiding the creatures that surrounded him and his companion, keeping his mouth shut. Eventually, after a tense and lengthy amount of time tip-toeing, the two eventually reached the base of the mountain. Solus craned his head back to look up towards the peak. All the way up at the top, was a large black sphere that continuously shifted and changed in size.
Only allowing his eyes to linger on the orb for several moments at a time, Mairyell felt his stomach churning, more from nausea than from hunger. "Ugh..." he muttered, looking away from the thing for a final time. He didn't know what this place was, but he knew he didn't like it. This was for sure. He wanted to ask what the thing was, but he would rather wait, perhaps there was a better place. "I presume you're going to tell me what's going on at some point?"The vampire whispered even as his senses dulled considerably so they wouldn't drive him mad from the sensations of the place.
"Just a little further. Gotta climb that mountain..." And with that statement, Solus began the trek up. The mountain itself wasn't as steep as it looked. Only the power of their thighs was needed to reach their destination, which was a metal door, oddly placed in a cubby hole in the side of the mountain.
Not at all perturbed by the door's appearance, or the fact that it didn't really belong here, Mairyell followed Solus up to it, not feeling tired in the slightest...just hungry. With any luck the effects of this place's essence would be somewhat dulled behind that door, if he were at least that lucky.
"We're here..." Nekro stepped up to the door, and keyed in its code, which seemed abnormally long. The door opened, silently, just like the blast door back on the Surface World, and Solus stepped in with Mairyell in tow. The door closed behind them, and the lights began to come on one by one, revealing a massive room the size of an expensive penthouse apartment, its walls covered in neatly placed weapons. Guns from a time long passed, and a time yet to come.
A sigh of relief exiting his lungs as the door silently closed, Mairyell let himself collapse onto one of the lazyboy chairs before looking around. He felt his Brisn activate somewhat here, and also the effects of the surrounding location become dampened slightly. Once he'd regained his wits, Mairyell looked to Solus and spoke, "Well, what exactly is this place? what are those things, and...what was that black orb?" As he waited for Solus to respond as he glanced around at the various types of weaponry in the place. All long range, but some quite odd...things he'd never seen before, which was saying something since he'd been all around the world in the last 200 or so years. It was also a strange place to keep your weaponry, that was for sure.
"Ugh..." Solus grunted to himself in thought as he too, took a seat on an old rickety chair. "Hard to explain what this realm is..." He scratched his head for a moment. "It's a prison of sorts, built by someone to contain that... uh... orb, that you saw. The orb is... um..." Solus froze for a moment, taking some time to think.
A prison...they'd built a prison around this thing, but why he wondered. Shaking his head, he waited for Solus continue.
Solus sighed as he looked towards Mairyell. "Look. How specific do you want me to be?" He asked. "Because, this place is quite hard for me to explain."
The vampire frowned slightly and glanced away, as if looking through the walls of the room and at the orb again. Shivering a bit he looked back, "I'd love to tell you, but I've no idea myself." Sighing he shook his head and glanced around the room. "All I know is this place feels excessively...wrong. I feel like there's a better word for it, but I can't recall it at the moment," sighing he remembered how quiet Solus had made sure to be on their way here and so decided to query him on that instead, maybe it'd lead somewhere. "Why exactly did we have to be so quiet on the way here anyways?"
Solus leaned back in his chair, which forced it to creek. "The beings down there don't like the noise. You see... they are 5th dimentional beings. They see every moment of every day, from both the past and the future, and multiple timelines, all at the same time. They need silence to observe, to watch, and comprehend. Otherwise you distract them. And they don't like being distracted..."
"What...exactly happens if you distract them?" Mairyell asked, seeming slightly disturbed by the thought. The things didn't exactly look too...friendly.
"They chase you, till the end of time until you are either one of them, or torn to shreds at their feet..." Nekro replied.
"Oh," he said, looking not at all pleased by the hunter's response. "That's certainly not a way I'd like to spend the rest of eternity," he shook himself and then considered something. "So, what of that orb? What's the link between it and those...things? They seem quite enamored with it."
"Ascended, or enlightened, would be better words. They looked upon it and became what they are. Their body was forced to change almost instantaneously to compensate for what they saw. They believe that their bodily changes are a gift. I think anyway. One can't really converse with those things."
"I guess not," he said almost solemnly, this place bothered him more now. For awhile he sat quietly, considering it all. The whole place was...Eldritch. That was the only word that seemed to fit. He wasn't sure what else to say even though he still felt like he had a poor grasp of the place and its inhabitants.
"Anything else? We don't really have a lot of time here..."[/B] Asked Solus.
Mairyell shrugged, "Maybe later, I rather get out of here than have you explain what this horrible place is while we're still in it." He rose from his seat, glancing around. He figured he ought to procure a weapon or two.
"Right then..." Solus got out of his seat and moved towards the end of the room, clattering some stuff around as he began to search for something.
While Solus searched, Mairyell picked up what looked like a Maledictory Eagle, though a newer version of the one that he remembered Solus wielding all those years ago. Smiling he found a holster and fastened it to his belt. The thing might be useful at some point, perhaps he'd keep it. Glancing about he saw an odd disk shaped object and picked it up, calling back to Solus, "Hey, hell's this,"he asked rather bluntly.
A chain reaction of guns falling off their hooks echoed through the room as Solus hit his head on something. "Damn!" He breathed out as he turned to Mairyell and took a look at what the Vampire was holding. "Oh... that's a Black Hole Grenade." He turned back around and continued his search.
"So throw it far away and it'll activate. Get too close and i'll be collateral, got it," he found an over the shoulder strap and fastened the thing to his back before glancing around to see if he wanted anything else. Tilting his head slightly as he looked over a set of rather futuristic looking handguns, Mairyell picked one up and gestured at Solus again, "and this one?"
Solus returned out of a side room that Mairyell may not have noticed before, dressed for the occasion in his old trench coat. On his back was a massive drum, in his left hand he held a large duffle bag, probably filled with weapons, while on his right was an enormous 20mm Gatling Cannon, a loaded belt of shells ran all the way back to the drum. "That is a Gatling pistol. 2400 rpm. Sure you can handle it?" He gestured towards the three barreled pistol with his bag.
Mairyell glanced at it and then back at Solus, smirking, "Damn right I can handle it," he found a holster and then promptly fitted the Gatling pistol into it. "I presume you're ready then?" He said, smiling ever so slightly despite the hunger that still built inside him. The faster they were out of here, the better.
"Yeah... let's bounce..." Nekro replied with an undertone of dread. He stepped up to the door, and opened it. He stepped through, and began his trek back. However, as Mairyell stepped out, a voice, dark, yet sweet, echoed in his mind. Your illness...
The moment his mind was intruded upon he stopped walking, standing stock still several feet behind Solus. He wasn't sure if he'd heard that properly, but regardless his defenses were now as up and on high alert as they could be. After he felt secure in those he followed after Solus, catching up with him and walking just barely behind him, "I just heard something..." he whispered to the hunter.
Your hunger... The voice continued. Solus was completely oblivious to it, as it was only audible in Mairyell's mind. "Heard what?" Asked the Chimera.
"A voice..." he said, glancing at Solus with a look that spoke volumes more than those two words. He was worried and while it was apparent in his eyes, the rest of his face was serious, showing how much he was concentrating. He had heard it again despite his efforts so rather than attempt to bar it from his mind, which appeared to be impossible, the vampire instead steeled his nerves and began taking deep breaths so as to focus himself even more. He made sure not to respond to the voice, that might just allow it another way in, so to speak.
You can end it... It wasn't letting up. This time, Solus turned to Mairyell. "A voice...?"
The moment Solus looked at him he'd notice Mairyell's eye twitch, for it had spoken again. He took another deep breath and then exhaled just as slowly...quietly. "Yes, in my mind," he heard his stomach rumble a bit and his bloodcore ached slightly. Twitching again the vampire began to allow the blood in his core to spread through his body, feeding him with the blood he'd typically save for combat. "We need to get out of...fast," he was confident that he could ignore it for that long, but it seemed to be playing on some of his weaknesses. Weaknesses that he had dismissed hundreds of years ago. It'd take the thing a bit more effort than that to manipulate him.
"We can't move too quickly, just hold out." Solus said as he looked out towards the orb, and continued walking again. You have to do but one thing...
He nodded at Solus and continued trekking, his breaths deep and his mind focused. When it spoke again he almost wanted to growl, but he repressed the urge, knowing that any sound might provoke one of the orb's disciples.
The image of a syringe with a purple fluid appeared vividly in Mairyell's. A cure... Find it... The Breach back to Progaia was now in sight. Only just a few minutes longer.
Gritting his teeth, Mairyell saw the breach and for a moment his head swam before he regained his bearings. Though he never once stopped moving behind Solus, he didn't think he could afford to. Whatever that voice was, the fact that he could hear it was not a good sign.
If you do not... Your hunger will end you... The voice stopped, having relayed its message, its advice, just before Mairyell stepped through the Breach, returning to the soot covered room.
A shiver ran through his body as they stepped through the breach and the voice was cut off from him. He said nothing, noticing that his hands were shaking slightly. He clenched his fists to stop the shaking and followed Solus back out the blast doors of the sooty chamber.
The doors shut behind them as they reached the metal stairs. Solus sighed to himself, glad that he was finally out of there. He glanced at his vampire companion, noticing that his hands were on the verge of discharging laser beams. "You alright...?"
When he heard the doors shut, he leaned against the wall and let out all the air in his lungs before breathing in again and finally looking to Solus, his shoulders having slumped. It was a relief to feel Brisn running through his body again, a relief from the hunger that had plagued and tortured him for so many years, the hunger that he'd thought he had learned to control. He shook his head a bit, looking away. "I'm...alive and sane," he said, partially avoiding the question. He increased the amount of Brisn that he was channeling through himself, amplifying its potency so that it calmed his nerves as well as his hunger. He then glanced at Solus' hands, noticing his complete lack of a ring.
His arm rose up so he could look at the ring, which he did for a long moment before talking. "What is this for exactly? Because if it was supposed to ward off whatever was really past that breach, I don't think it did its damn job as well as it should have," there was far more than annoyance in his voice, there was fear. He hadn't felt fear in a long time, not real fear. Not since he'd lost his sister.
"The ring creates an Illusion of the Beyond..." Solus began. "If you saw it for what it truly was, what the being truly was, you would have become like those creatures, in mere moments. The transformation is... excruciatingly painful..."
He nodded, "Well at least it did that much, though I'm almost certain that whatever I heard just now was this being you speak of. I don't know what the hell else it could be." He shook his head, pushing off the wall and standing up fully again. "Also, if that's what the ring does, then how is it that you're not currently worshiping that Abominable thing at the foot of the mountain right now?"
Solus was about to go up the stairs when Mairyell asked him that. He stopped. "Exmortis, my inner demon, has more answers than I do..."
Mairyell sighed, following him up the stairs. "Of course he does. Let me guess, we can't talk to him can we?" Despite the relief of being out of that place, he was in something of a foul mood, he really hated it when things invaded his mind, especially when there was nothing he could do about it.
"Maybe one day you will..." And with that, he continue up the stairs
Raising an eyebrow at that, Mairyell shook his head, essentially dismissing the whole topic. He followed Solus, but at a more brisk pace than before, this place was starting to get on his nerves. There were simply too many things in the place that reminded him of Szayeis and his...predicament, if you could call it that. Though he'd rather the demon just die, preferably by his own hand. Regardless, he hoped they'd be out of this place sooner than later.
The rest of the rise back to the surface was in silence for after their ordeal, there was nothing else to say.
Fallenreaper ღ~Lil' Emotional Cocktail~ღ
Member
Seen
3 hrs ago
Juan opened the door. In the background his hand was raised and engulfed by the fire upon his fingers, licking them in a greedy but subtle movement. When he saw Zi, his eyes blinked once in surprised then quickly stashed it away recovering his smug air. Waving his hand a bit, he doused the fire on his hand, and then leaned into the doorway for a moment. His arms crossed over his chest while he smirked.
“Oh, it’s just you. You’re here early. Well, come in. I was just finishing with Emmet but if you want, we can make it a team event.” Juan teased. He left the door open and turned on his heel back towards Emmet’s bedroom, clearly enjoying his threesome comment. “You can have the front, I rather like the back myself, sweetheart.”
Emmet’s (Emmet’s, not Emmet and Juan’s, because she refused to acknowledge the demon as Emmet’s official roommate) apartment was a peculiar place that definitely took some getting used to. She still remembered the first time she’d come and taken a look around what could be best described as a typical bachelor’s den… only made worse by the fact that there wasn’t only one bachelor inhabiting it. Even at first glance the essence imprints of quite a few individuals stood out, mostly demons, and surely more than Emmet knew about. Not a good first impression of Juan.
And then, there was the Creep Box, or what some might loosely consider a fridge. Oh, that demonic contraption! They had just settled down on the sofa and started talking when her senses penetrated the insulation and picked up the presence of almost pure essence stored within. The sensation came to her as a shock that cut her off mid-sentence and made her stutter like never before in her life. It wasn’t that she wasn’t used to danger and psychopaths but some part of her was truly amazed at seeing Emmet as one of them. Of course, that might have been the remains of Iris Wallace’s memories interfering with her own, but the technicalities made no difference. So as she awkwardly tried to continue talking and not look terribly suspicious, her extended essence-minions explored the contents of the Creep Box. The buzz of panic was already settling nicely in her stomach and her mind was simultaneously imagining Emmet in all kinds of compromising ways – from the most innocent starving demon to a perverted and twisted human with a knack for little babies.
It was hypocritical when you think about how at some point she herself had been much like a cannibal, but hey, it’s always different when someone else is doing it.
It felt like eternity until she finally realised it was his own blood that was stored in the fridge, for one reason or another. And the two automatically clicked when her confused mind took into account the demonic presence scattered about. From that point on, Zi had lived with the unshakable belief that Darius wasn’t the only one abusing her friend in various ways, but his own “room-mate” was asking for a blood tax.
It made her sick. And when Juan turned out to be the one to open the door and made some vile comment, she let part of her emotions flood her face in a gloriously dishonest smile. She knew she should keep her dignity and her mouth shut but some things were stronger than reason.
“Thank you, honey, but when it comes to the bedroom, me and Emmet like to devote ourselves fully to each other. I think you’d be more of a bother than help.” She retorted as she followed. Reaching the bedroom and seeing Emmet sprawled on the bed put Juan’s comment in a different perspective and made Zi want to quite literally slap her forehead with shame. “Keep your dignity and your mouth shut” – well, maybe next time she’d actually listen to her own advice before making a complete fool out of herself.
“What the hell have you done to yourself?” She questioned accusatory moving in to trace gentle fingers over Emmet’s wounds. She really hoped, for the sake of avoiding having to bite his head off, that there were no traces of Juan’s essence in those wounds.
Emmet decided Juan reminded him of the cat who devoured the bird and got away with it. The demon’s expression was a little too pleased with Zi’s reaction rather than insulted, a fact he had come to expect since the two were first introduced to each other. Then again, he rarely ever remembered any serious emotions shown by Juan in all the time he knew him. A fact farther enforced when Juan chuckled at Zi’s sarcasm. Gently Juan reached out for one of the bags, the blood red one, and checked it from bag to tube all over for any unsatisfactory flaws. Once the bag had passed his test, Juan eased himself against the nearby wall in a similar fashion as he did in the door framer earlier. Emmet’s eyes rose to meet Juan’s, anxiety jolted through his flesh where the demon merely waited and watched intently. His long fingers drummed on his chin patiently.
The shadow of Zi’s shape darted just outside Emmet’s vision. Its sudden appearance and his focus engross in figuring out Juan’s motives, despite hearing her voice at the door, caused him to nearly jump out his skin. Then he immediately regretted it. Again, a fresh wave of agony swept through his body and forced it to become ridged in stiff pain. His hands took fistful of his mattress as Zi’s words caught his attention, followed by her fingers gently probing the open wounds. A new warmth and wetness seemed to rise to the surface as blood oozed across the small of his back.
Before Emmet could put together an explanation, Juan’s answer spared him the trouble. “A sewer imp demon bit him. To be honest, I’m a little jealous. If I had known Emmet like it rough, I would’ve been more than happy to offer.”
Emmet gritted his teeth at Juan, who naturally just smiled in reply.
Zi was just lifting an outraged glare at Juan as he spoke his part. That made the rude words forming at the tip of her tongue melt out into an annoyed hiss. That did explain the remains of Juan’s essence in the fresh wounds and would beg for a thanks rather than a curse. But she wasn’t going to give him gratitude.
“Well.” She said. “That’s good then. At least it’s out now.” She said, ignoring Juan’s comment and his contribution to the whole thing. As far as she was concerned, all the banks attached to Emmet at the moment could just as well have materialized here out of thin air. “Don’t worry. You’ll get better soon.” She promised Emmet with a smile and got up to get her coat from the chair beside the bed. Reaching into the depths of her inner pockets she fished out a small vial full of what one could consider just air. Opening it, however, would let Juan immediately smell the scent of feathers and vanilla. Zi threw him a cautious glance, obviously wishing he’d remove himself from the room and quickly returned her eyes on the vial. She reached in and when she brought her finger up there was a small droplet of pure essence hanging off the tip of her fingernail. What would have been invisible to most, to her it seemed like a beautiful rainbow-coloured soap-bubble. It would have made her smile if she didn’t need to concentrate. Lowering her finger carefully over Emmet’s back she let it slip into his wounds and dissolve there like a tear in water. Emmet felt the warmth of the essence drip into his wound and spread out through his body like the heat of a fire spreads through a frozen man’s bones. It eased his pain and cleared his head almost entirely. It was the essence of a Miracle angel, the pure magnificence of the creatures most often dubbed to be able to perform impossible deeds. And while most of their powers she knew to be just for show, there was a grain of truth to them as well. It didn’t matter that the healing properties of Miracle angels’ essence were part their own, and part the awakened power of essence of whatever it touched. What was important was that it worked.
Bottling the vial up and putting it safely away in her pocket, Zi glanced at Juan again, trying not to show her nervousness about having let him see a part of her secret. She had acted impulsively, swayed to be reckless by Emmet’s condition and could only hope that the demon was either stupid enough to realize the implications of what she’d done, or arrogant enough to not give it a second thought.
“Are you feeling better now?” She leaned in to whisper in Emmet’s ear, her voice all honey and care. “I was told by a Miracle Angel that this would help almost any pain.”
Listening to Zi’s words turn into a hiss, Emmet’s hardened features soften a bit. It seemed misery enjoyed company. Not that he minded, in fact because it was Zi who had made the old saying seem that much sweeter.
During Zi’s and Juan’s little battle of wills, he had somewhat gotten comfortable being spread out on the bed, the pain dampened by his stillness. He was enjoying Zi’s handling of Juan when he caught her words and promptly turned his head towards her, his expression confused. Already she was retreating back to her coat, her hand slipped in to retrieve what looked like an empty vial and returned back to his side. Emmet snuck Juan a look but instead of receiving a shrug, the demon seemed engross by the item in Zi’s hand. Juan’s eyes narrowed until his face showed that something important had dawned on him the moment it opened. Wordless and ignoring Zi’s worried glance, the demon made his exit faster than Emmet thought possible. In moments Juan had padded his way out of the bedroom, vanishing from sight into what Emmet guessed was the kitchen.
The reaction to what Emmet assumed was an empty bottle caused him to twist his head farther around, trying to give Zi a questionable look, before he spotted her finger reach into it. She stirred it a bit as if she was herding invisible liquid then removed it from the bottle. Carefully, Zi held it with utter care and applied it to his back. The sensation was as immediate as was the healing. A warm, gentle glow seemed to sink into his very core at first. It sought purchase and anchored there, gathering energy before it started to spread a feathery light touch across his skin. In reaction to the unexpected rather than pain, his fingers balled up into fists taking a bit of the sheet with them. Slowly he edged his hand to relax when he realized there was no pain. Lost in the glorious fire spreading through his veins, Emmet closed his eyes and lowered his head upon his arms. His mind’s focus was solely on the feeling and he let himself sink in it, a soft groan betrayed his pleasure.
He had barely noticed Juan’s arrival back into the room after Zi had sealed her bottle of ‘air’. The demon had two coke cans in his right hand while his left held the neck of a beer and a rolled up adult magazine. On the cover was not so bashful man in his early twenties, straddling a motorcycle and completely naked saved for the handles keeping him modest. Still amazed by the miracle’s energy, Emmet managed to see Zi’s eyes drift in Juan’s direction. It wasn’t hard to realize she was tense but the reason evaded him, like smoke through his fingers, to the reason why. In response, Juan only flashed a smile which seemed to show a slight smugness to it. A fact, Emmet thought, made it seem like Juan knew more than him or aimed make her nervous. Either way his instincts didn’t like it.
His shudder was interrupted by Zi’s head leaning in. Her warm, gentle breath filled his ear and shifted strands of his blond hair. The effect was almost instant when it overpowered his mind’s ability to think. It was for a second he was grateful she couldn’t read minds. Most of his thoughts he believed were spawned from the closeness and likely fact he was half naked, acutely aware of her gentle and caring tone. Damn, he almost felt guilty when he enjoyed it. Almost. His heart couldn’t help but thump a little faster than normal while he just slowly nodded, his eyes fixed on hers. Emmet couldn’t help wondering if her lips were as soft as they looked.
Ignoring their whispering conversation, Juan thumped one can on the bedside table while he tossed the other one carelessly towards Zi’s lap. Without thinking Emmet’s body had edged over the bed end, his arm reached out and hand caught the can before it hit her. He overlooked the impact’s sting on his palm, its tingles strengthened rapidly then dulled. When he set the coke on the floor, Emmet’s head followed Juan’s form stroll to the far wall where he plopped down.
His hands raised the magazine to read but his voice spoke, lazy and uncared for his carelessness. “You know, you keep spoiling him like that and he’ll never learn.”
Thanks to her work in the bar, Zi had gotten used to an array of attention from the opposite (and sometimes sane) sex and it hardly ever bothered her. Emmet's stare was another story. His eyes fixed on hers made her heart beat faster and it surely showed on her cheeks as well. For a moment she was torn between the urge to hide her face in embarrassment and leaning in closer.
Of course, she had forgotten about the demon. Of course, he hadn't forgotten about her, which he signalled by attempting to break her skull with a flying Coke can. Despite Emmet's rescue Zi glared at the demon with all the aggression a well - dressed 25 year old girl could muster. Jan'sexpression told her it wasn't much. Furthermorethe grin he'd sent her earlier (and that her mind had conveniently forgotten about, thanks to Emmet) surely meant he wasn't adverse to the idea of picking a fight with her. Something she didn't really want to get into right now.
But with Emmet so quiet and Juan so demonstratively obnoxious it was hard to ignore him sitting at the far side of the room. His comment about her spoiling Emmet was the last drop and her mouth snapped back before she could think twice.
"You mind jerking off in another room?" She growled and realised only a moment too late how bad that sounded from the mouth of the lady she was trying to be. She covered her mouth and blushed again, this time for another reason entirely. Throwing a glance at Emmet she apologize through gritted teeth and tried to get out of the situation (aka the appartment) before any more damage is done. "Are you almost ready to go, Emmet?"
Emmet’s eyes widened at Zi, a mixture of awe and surprise. At first, he wasn’t sure if he heard her right but slowly, he knew it wasn’t his imagination as the realization sank in. His head had snapped in her direction, his glaring at Juan and any choice words dried up fast by Zi’s quick remark. Instead Emmet’s golden eyes just stared harder, trying to pierce through some invisible veil which hid a secret he wanted to see. It was a look that edged farther into curiosity now then surprise. It was broken when he saw Juan move in reply.
The demon’s head pulled above the magazine’s top edge. His hand lowered it down to settle upon his out stretched leg while the other was propped up, his back pressed against the wall where it sank into the slight chill. Shortly he turned his dark face to eye her, a single brow arched in question over her little outburst and a delighted smirk fixed in place. Juan released the grip of his one hands from the book edge in order to lay it upon his uphold knee. His foot tapped a bit, the toes furled and unfurled against the heavily stained carpet where he watched her like a cat did a cornered mouse. A slight glow to his hungry eyes.
“My, my. Kitty got claws, doesn’t she? Wonder if she ever used them on you, hot stuff?” Juan asked with mocking curiosity. “Not that it would easy to tell of course.”
“Can it, Juan.” Emmet said his tone dead serious. “Yeah, let’s get Olivia. Just give me a moment to put on a shirt, can’t go out like it. She’s likely wondering where the hell I’m at anyway.”
Buying time for Zi to gather her composure, his attention to the dresser and pulled off the bed towards it. He started to look through the piled up shirts on the top. His hands ruffled through each haphazardly tossed one, discreetly lifted the odd one for a brief note of freshness, before he moved to another. Juan on the other hand appeared unfazed by Emmet’s rudeness or the fact he was nearly stepping on top of the demon. Mainly the only sign he gave that he heard him was Juan’s shoulders shrugged while he pulled his head back down to read his magazine once again. For a moment, Emmet hoped he would stay that way as Emmet started to shift his arms through the day old shirt. Luckily it had only slightly smell of liquor, faded now, and managed to avert his eyes from Zi’s direction during his dressing. The bad part was, the whole time he had trouble trying to ignore how cute she looked while slightly red. Damn it, when will his hormones get under control?
It was now, Juan decided to speak. “I wouldn’t bother. I already called Darius and told you weren’t able to pick her up.”
Emmet stopped in his tracks.
“What? You did what? When the hell did you do that?”
Emmet felt his face redden when Juan casted him a unconcerned look, for a second breaking from the article only to drift back down after seeing his expression bearing down over the demon. Closer and closer, Emmet lowered himself down to one knee with his other hand braced against the wall until he was inches from the demon’s dreadlocks. He didn’t bother to control his voice, lowering his volume to a soft growl with a dangerous tone. Emmet knew Juan wouldn’t dare hurt him. Not unless he wanted Darius to nail him to a park bench, split him from chest to groin, then while he was alive feed his innards to lowly imps like an old man did with crumbles for pigeons. Starting with the top and working down.
“Again, did I hear you right?”
“Yeah. You heard me,” Juan spoke in a calm, cool voice, “I did it on the kitchen phone before returning with the cokes. That was why I went in there in the first place. You weren’t in a condition to really pick her up. Darius said Hank was already finishing up with a drop off in the area and would swing by to pick her up on the way back. Simple, now sit down. By the time you get there, she’ll already be at Darius’s.”
Emmet’s hand retracted from the wall, immediately made it into a fist then slammed the side into the wall. His mind filled with the notion to slam his still balled up fist right upside Juan’s head yet he knew it wouldn’t make him feel better. Instead, he would end up with a broken hand, a past experience he already dealt with once in his stupidity and didn’t need again. Fighting to calm down, Emmet barely noticed the little red dot which skirted through one of the curtain’s larger holes. It darted and danced over his surface as both Juan’s and Emmet’s eyes realized at the same time what its source was.
Themerlinhawk Aegis Kai Doru
Member
Seen
3 yrs ago
Lazarus’ heart melted for the second time that day. Mary had been snatched from her home and she needed something resembling normalcy and he was not giving it to her. Maybe this was a good time to broach a topic he’d be casually ignoring for about two weeks ever since The Letter had come. Internally Lazarus rolled his eyes. I mean really he hadn’t taught a history class in almost...he stopped for a second in his mental rant to do the math before the part of his mind that drove him from one project to another screamed “Boring!” and he dropped figuring out how long it had been since he’d taught a history lesson.
Lazarus felt something stir deep in his mind and he smashed it flatter than a bug. The suggestion that something could kill him made the small cackling mad voice in the back of his mind that, the thing that made him such a vicious Necromancer, started laughing maniacally. After he’d squished the voice he mentally jumped up and down on it five or six more times before its flattened gooey corpse receded into the darker corners of his unconscious mind.
“I can’t even begin to imagine what you’ve been through Mary and I am so sorry that all these things have happened to you, but you are still alive and now you aren’t alone. You have me….more or less” he frowned because he knew he’d been rather. Absent. “Look, I don’t think there is anything else for you here.” He gestured at Finch’s Loft. “Don’t worry I’m not about to throw you out or anything” the left corner of Lazarus mouth pricked up into the beginning of a smile. With a shift he slid so he was sitting next to Mary and put his arm around her. For a second his bare feet caught his attention as he wiggled his toes his mind finally realised he had no shoes on and filled the lack of shoes somewhere near the bottom his list of things to do. “So. You and I have a unique opportunity” Lazarus used his fingers to throw some quotes around the unique in the sentence. The gesture to anyone who had been around long enough would have immediately dated Lazarus to the particular era it was from. “Master Melody’s Academy has offered me a Professorship. Which believe it or not I can actually handle. I was a Doctor of Archeology once upon a time.” Lazarus’ eyes were a thousand miles away and two hundred years ago as he remembered his time at Trinity. “But now they don’t just want me to teach Archeology, History and Anthropology. They want me to teach the musicians magic. Turns out even the musicians can learn magic after they have taken up their instrument. Which I think is fascinating in it of itself…” Lazarus realised he was rambling. “The point is, I think this would be good for the two of us. You can go to school at the academy, make new friends, try and get some semblance of a normal life back. I know it’s not perfect but I don’t think this place is doing you any favors.” Lazarus looked at her “You don’t even have to take on an instrument, I’ll be there the whole time. Hell you don’t even have to take anyone else's classes if you don’t want. If I say yes the Academy will jump to agree with my terms. If you’re interested we can leave as early as tomorrow. I think the semester has just started so we should be fine. I think I can live if you’re my only student this semester if the other students don’t quite appreciate my brilliance.” Lazarus smiled and winked at Mary, what he meant was that his eccentricity was often off putting but he figured she could use a joke to keep her from falling into the black depression she was currently on the verge of. Lazarus could feel the sadness for her losses crawling through her mind, it was nothing like the other THING in there with her but it was there none the less. However it was something he could do something about. With an effort he dragged his memories of the woman in his painting up to the surface and pulled out the emotional calm he’d felt when he was with her and gently let the soft white glow of the emotion seep into Mary’s mind. While currently he might not be able to remove the entity rooted in her mind he could at least combat it. If there was one place he was strongest it was in the vaults of his own mind and that was where he held Mary’s conscious. Safe behind the defenses of an unfathomable genius.
“I’m not leaving you Mary. You’re safe with me and if someone tries to harm you. Well lets just say they are in for the surprise of their lives” He smiled reassuringly at her. “Now how about it? Interested in going back to school?”
Lazarus felt something stir deep in his mind and he smashed it flatter than a bug. The suggestion that something could kill him made the small cackling mad voice in the back of his mind that, the thing that made him such a vicious Necromancer, started laughing maniacally. After he’d squished the voice he mentally jumped up and down on it five or six more times before its flattened gooey corpse receded into the darker corners of his unconscious mind.
“I can’t even begin to imagine what you’ve been through Mary and I am so sorry that all these things have happened to you, but you are still alive and now you aren’t alone. You have me….more or less” he frowned because he knew he’d been rather. Absent. “Look, I don’t think there is anything else for you here.” He gestured at Finch’s Loft. “Don’t worry I’m not about to throw you out or anything” the left corner of Lazarus mouth pricked up into the beginning of a smile. With a shift he slid so he was sitting next to Mary and put his arm around her. For a second his bare feet caught his attention as he wiggled his toes his mind finally realised he had no shoes on and filled the lack of shoes somewhere near the bottom his list of things to do. “So. You and I have a unique opportunity” Lazarus used his fingers to throw some quotes around the unique in the sentence. The gesture to anyone who had been around long enough would have immediately dated Lazarus to the particular era it was from. “Master Melody’s Academy has offered me a Professorship. Which believe it or not I can actually handle. I was a Doctor of Archeology once upon a time.” Lazarus’ eyes were a thousand miles away and two hundred years ago as he remembered his time at Trinity. “But now they don’t just want me to teach Archeology, History and Anthropology. They want me to teach the musicians magic. Turns out even the musicians can learn magic after they have taken up their instrument. Which I think is fascinating in it of itself…” Lazarus realised he was rambling. “The point is, I think this would be good for the two of us. You can go to school at the academy, make new friends, try and get some semblance of a normal life back. I know it’s not perfect but I don’t think this place is doing you any favors.” Lazarus looked at her “You don’t even have to take on an instrument, I’ll be there the whole time. Hell you don’t even have to take anyone else's classes if you don’t want. If I say yes the Academy will jump to agree with my terms. If you’re interested we can leave as early as tomorrow. I think the semester has just started so we should be fine. I think I can live if you’re my only student this semester if the other students don’t quite appreciate my brilliance.” Lazarus smiled and winked at Mary, what he meant was that his eccentricity was often off putting but he figured she could use a joke to keep her from falling into the black depression she was currently on the verge of. Lazarus could feel the sadness for her losses crawling through her mind, it was nothing like the other THING in there with her but it was there none the less. However it was something he could do something about. With an effort he dragged his memories of the woman in his painting up to the surface and pulled out the emotional calm he’d felt when he was with her and gently let the soft white glow of the emotion seep into Mary’s mind. While currently he might not be able to remove the entity rooted in her mind he could at least combat it. If there was one place he was strongest it was in the vaults of his own mind and that was where he held Mary’s conscious. Safe behind the defenses of an unfathomable genius.
“I’m not leaving you Mary. You’re safe with me and if someone tries to harm you. Well lets just say they are in for the surprise of their lives” He smiled reassuringly at her. “Now how about it? Interested in going back to school?”
Themerlinhawk Aegis Kai Doru
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Olivia and unwanted company
The outside of the Kenan Private Girl’s School looked to be an ancient castle structure. Its walls were made from aged stone, grimed from times and weather worn, which protected its precious students despite its grand life. Surrounding the main building was a large wall. It stood over several meters beyond the reach of the average six foot man with black iron pike heads that prevented over curious people from climbing over it, trespassing into the lush gardens and well-kept lawn below. Throughout most the grounds were winding paths made from cobble stones and traced by flowering bushes that turned into a variety of places, going from the outside swimming ponds and student gardens, from the dormitories to the tennis courts where sounds of a game’s on goings could be heard. It near the railed gates with the twin gargoyles glaring towards the outside where Olivia stood, pressed against the damp surface and in an inattentive expression watched the older girls volley the florescent tennis ball back and forth. It had stopped raining hours ago but the ground was still saturated heavily with water that it felt like a thick blanket all around.
Naturally Olivia was dressed in the plain school uniform provided, the crisp white blouse, matching plaid neck tie hung tightly against her throat and knee high skirt and ended in black dress shoes. Her socks, discreetly hidden ankles, didn’t quite follow the dress code. Instead of the pure white, they were bright red dotted by orange kittens. It was this unseen secret she was staring at when she bowed her head and waited patiently for someone to come for her. Her toes tapped against the darkened sidewalk before she tossed her red head upright, her bright brown eyes noticed the groundskeeper’s bent over figure shuffling his way to the gates. Gingerly she pushed away from the wall and started to shorten the distance between them while she held tightly to the satchel’s strap across her narrow chest. Immediately she watched the elderly man’s crowfeet tighten into a smile when she drew near then spoke, kindly.
“Guid weather the’day, Ms. Olivia. Ah take it ye waitin’ on yoor brither to pick ye up?”
“Yes, Mr. Findley. He’s a little late which is usual.” Olivia admitted her voice filled with concern at the abnormal situation. Usually her brother was very prompt in his time for her and an unsettling knot borrowed itself deeply within her middle at his absence. She soon slowed her pace until she was walking easily beside Mr. Findley, his legs stiff and ridge from both work and years weighted upon them. For as long as she could remember, he had been a part of the staff like many of his family’s generations to the school. She found it rather curious why anyone would like to continue a legacy as old as that but was careful not to mistakenly insult him over it.
“Ah sure he’ll turn up, lass.” He said to soothe over her worry and halted at the gate. Cautiously he retrieved his numerous keys from his dirty pale blue overhauls, then scanned for the one to open the lock. He paused in the middle of his motion before he turned to Olivia, his wiry white eyebrow lifted in question. “You sure you want to stand outside? Ah could talk to the head mistress and we could have a dorm bed all made up for the night.”
Olivia shook her head, the small amount of flowers within her hair shifted loose a bit. “That’s alright. I’m sure he’ll be along shortly and besides, if I’m not out there then he’s bound to get worried.”
“Ah don’t like you being left out here alone. It’s not exactly safe..”
“It won’t be for long, besides I have a cell. If I need to, I’ll call Uncle Darius. He’ll come get me.”
Mr. Findley was quiet for a moment, either to absorb her assurances or deciding to stand alongside her, Olivia wasn’t sure, until he answered back. “I sure hope yoors brither gets here soon. If you need me, just ring the bell and Ah will come running back, alright?”
Olivia smiled. “Of course.”
“Stay safe.” He opened the door for Olivia to rush outside. In her hasty steps, splashes of water to drench his pant legs causing her to stop and look at the damage her rush had caused.
“Oops, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“Tis alright, lass. Just remember what Ah said.” His last words as he shut the gates, his figure vanished down the cobble path back to the warmth and dry institution’s shelter.
Once out, Olivia bit her lip until she watched the man’s figure become completely obscured. Where was her brother?
For a few minutes, the sound of the tennis ball being hit back and forth was the most prevalent noise in the area. Then, not far away, a gun went off. Several moments later, a new sound appeared, rapidly approaching. Someone walking through the puddles of water towards Olivia. The woman, looked distinctly out of place as she walked towards Olivia. Aside from the obvious, she had an expression of wistfulness and grief, as if she longed for something, but thinking of it brought bad memories up. Regardless, she stopped next to Olivia and looked down at the girl. Both of her swords were sheathed on her back. “I used to be a teacher once. Back when earth was just earth, and we didn’t have to deal with the petty rivalry between the feathered freaks and the monsters with the maturity of children. Back when ‘The Surface’ belonged primarily to us, and they kept their disgusting noses out of our business. I taught children about your age. History, to be exact. Oh, how most of them hated that class. ‘The events of the past have no effect on the future’ they would say.” The woman blinked, and shook her head as if to clear it. “I’m sorry, where are my manners? My name is Ashley. I was sent to pick you up, and ensure by any means necessary that nothing was to happen to you.”
She smiled at Olivia. It was friendly in a maniacal way.
“But before we go, what do you think of history? Do you agree with my deceased students? The events of the past have no effect on the future?” Plop. A red liquid had dropped from one of Ashley’s swords into a puddle of rain water it was over. The former teacher’s head snapped towards the sound, and then cocked to the side, as if puzzled by this development. As it slowly dissipated throughout the puddle, she said “Hmm. I must have not cleaned my blade properly. One must always have a clean blade. The less well used a weapon looks, the more likely people are to underestimate you. But anyways,” she turned her attention back to Olivia. “ Do you agree, or disagree?”
Olivia leaned against the wall. The back of her jacket had dampened until she could feel it through her shirt, followed by a small chill up and down her spine as her chin settled firmly on her chest. Her eyes continued to stare, unfocused, at her sock’s secret with her bag, a dark pick and red satchel nearby. Already the bag’s bottom was darkening by the water it absorbed through the demi fabric. Likely drenching her gym clothes and other items not shielded in containers. The girl sighed, a mix of worry and irritation. Again she tried to chase the budding signs of her shivering with a positive thought Emmet would be here any moment and they would be off soon, heading somewhere warm hopefully. Olivia continued to let this thought shove the sensation something was wrong deep down inside herself. Emmet was rarely, if ever, late on his visits.
Her attention was snatched when she heard a loud, distant pop then footsteps towards her direction. Instinctively she jerked her eyes to see a figure approach. Halfway, more out of habit then realizing it, Olivia had bent down to snatch up her bag before she paused in mid motion. Ahead of her, boots eating away the distance and scattering water from puddles, was a woman she didn’t recognize. A complete stranger.
It shouldn’t have bothered her much, men, women, and even young children passed by the Academy on their daily lives. Yet the woman caught her eye easily with her solemn expression and soon, came to a stop right beside her. Immediately Olivia stood straighter, her bag forgotten for a moment, to face the woman who had started to address her. She scanned and absorbed the facials, from the short dark hair and blue lipstick to the torn state of her curve fitting clothing. Even the two swords sheathed on her back were eyed where the handles peered over her slender shoulders. There was nothing Olivia, as she predicted she wouldn’t, could find familiar at all about the woman looking down on her.
At first, she spoke to Olivia as if the young girl’s confused expression didn’t exist or went unnoticed. Mention about being a teacher then drifted to demons, angels, and how humans lived before they had arrived on earth. However that was impossible she had existed back then. She would be too old and dead, unable to breathe easy let alone wield the pair of swords upon her back like some pack animal. The stranger blinked then seemed to clear out the fog in her head, her attention focused to what now seemed to be the present. She introduced herself and then said something that made Olivia’s gut twist, coiling in on itself until she couldn’t ignore it. That smile only worsened the intense fear she felt, shown through slight trembling. Brother…where are you when I needed you?!?
The last straw, the very final thing which caused her to take a step into retreating was the blood that dripped from the sword. It meant the woman had killed quite recently. The unlucky victim likely laying out somewhere dying slowly from a fatal wound, her head raced with a number of scenes, each more gruesome then the last until Olivia felt she couldn’t take it anymore. Every single one fueled by her own wild and panicked imagination.
Thump… “Think, Olivia."
It was a small, helpless voice that tried to override her fluttering heart. Instinct, the word seemed to pop out of nowhere and was foreign to her at first. Bit by bit, it started to make sense while it continued to fight the losing battle against her fear, the very thing which rooted her to the spot.
….Ba-thump…”She’ll kill you if you don’t!”
She couldn’t. Olivia felt as if her mind had stopped cold instead follow the small, little voice’s demands. Not a thought, no matter how much it screamed at her, came to the surface and her eyes merely widened in fright at the blood dripping from the sword. More than anything, she wanted her brother who’s face hovered in her mind’s eye. At the sight of it, the voice made one last and desperate attempt to forced her reaction.
Ba-bump…."THINK DAMN, YOU! RUN, DO SOMETHING!”
She felt her foot move backwards, the hold of her fear’s spell fading painfully slowly with each new one. However, whatever sense of the situation Olivia had left knew it wouldn’t go unnoticed for long and something about the woman’s words, the ones ‘I was sent to pick you up, and ensure by any means necessary that nothing was to happen to you’ made her think the crazy woman wasn’t going to just let her slip away. For some reason, likely fear and panic, she over looked the key words about ensuring no harm was to happen to her. Then again, the woman and herself might have two complete different meanings when it came to safe. A fact Olivia didn’t want to discover.
Her eyes narrowed on the woman’s question about history affecting the future. There was only one way to buy time and a head start, something she hated because it required her to think to a higher degree then a flight or fight reflex. It needed brain power she couldn’t seem to muster up for the task. Every fiber inside her wanted to dash for the gate, rattle it until Mr. Findley came and dart straight into the school’s safe boundaries. Only then could she calm down, free of the murderess before her, safely having the iron gates separating them. Right now, she had force herself to focus on making this through alive. The thick lump in her throat was swallowed hard before she tried to form the words within her uncooperative mind.
“Y-y-yes. It does, it’s a hard to argue w-when I’ve seen…seen it t-too often.” Olivia knew her words were coming too slow, her panic and want to flee showed clearly in her body. It betrayed her intentions far too easily and her instincts were screaming at her to stop it. But she couldn’t, merely hope her next words would distract the woman enough. Pray really. “Right now… I-I-I know wh-wh-ho didn’t send you and that’s enough.”
Without any more words, Olivia felt the bars upon her back as she twisted about and rattled the gate bars. She screamed loudly for aid while her hand slammed down on the buzzer, a loud ding like a church bell rang out. “MR. FINDLEY! Mr. Findley!”
Hearing the bell and her shout of alarm, Mr. Findley’s aged head turned into her direction. His eyes were widened in shock as his old body began to rush towards the gate in a pace beyond his aged body’s ability. She knew, despite her rash action, he wouldn’t make it. The gardener was still too far off and couldn’t close the gap soon enough. A sense of dread filled when she realized far too late, she didn’t think he would stand well against this mad woman.
Her smile turned slightly less manic at Olivia’s words. “Good. Few people realize how much the past affects the future. Now, time to-“ Ashley sighed as the girl called for help, and the aged man began running towards them. “You shouldn’t have done that, child.” She reached out and clamped a hand, gently, on Olivia’s arm. Naturally, the girl struggled. In the fight to keep her grip without actually hurting Olivia, one of the girl’s gloves came off, and her exposed hand caught on Ashley’s necklace. Immediately the girl slackened and went limp, her eyes glazing over. Ashley paused, keeping Olivia up, and looked at the girl in concern. She didn’t seem to have passed out, her eyes were open, but she wasn’t exactly in the present time either. “Olivia?” Ashley asked, gently shaking the girl’s shoulder. Nothing. Olivia was seeing something from not so long ago.
There he was. Sir had been right. There would be someone sent by this ‘Darius’ to pick up the girl. Well, that wouldn’t do at all, would it? She drew a sword from her back and stepped in front of him. The man was clearly armed, and his hand immediately went towards his gun when he saw her step in front of him with a drawn sword. He hesitated just short of pulling it out. His mistake. Before he could say anything, Ashley ran at him. His eyes widened in surprise, and he began pulling on his weapon. Too late. Too slow. To give him credit, he actually got the gun out before her sword went through his neck. She yanked it out, blood spraying everywhere. The gun went off in a reflexive tightening of the finger, and then he fell over. Ashley wiped her sword off on the man’s back, missing a drop, before returning the sword to it’s sheathe on her back. Now to go get the girl.
The vision blurred, and then turned to a dark interior. A building of some kind, long gone to ruin. The only light source came from one of it’s occupants. Where the red light didn’t reach, there was only shadows of unknowable depths. What sounded like water dripped from somewhere to the left of her as she looked up at him. She was careful to keep her gaze from staring directly into his eyes, staring at his chest. His voice alternated between high and low, between male and feminine, rough and smooth, with complete and utter randomness. “Yes, this, ‘Darius’ will do nicely. He likes to play children’s games, pretending to have power. Well, let’s see if he really does. Olivia is apparently the sister of his favorite pawn, and his hold over her. Or at least, that’s what James tells me he’s learned from his…questioning. Bring me the girl. If James is right, it’ll be a way to force Mary to come back, or force people to bring her back. If James is wrong…well, we might just see if I can repeat what happened with Mary. Though, I doubt it.” He turned his gaze towards the sound of the dripping, and she sighed in relief before following his look. Hanging from the wall was the corpse of another girl, her long black hair covering her face, and her naked breasts, but not the damage to her body. It was still dripping blood from fresh wounds, pooling beneath her feet, while old ones had long scabbed over and looked infected even from here. Bones could be seen sticking out, gleaming in the red light. “She expired last night. Fifth one in as many days. I’m afraid that Mary appears to be a fluke. Luck. I have to have her back to figure out just what made her so…receptive to the Abyss. The feathered fools of Heaven and the cowards of Hell won’t get their punishment from only one of her walking around.” He returned the gaze to her, and she dropped her own quickly. “You have my orders. Bring the girl. Let no harm come to her. Kill anyone who tries to stop you.”
She nodded her acquiescence. “Yes Sir.”
Olivia was going into seizures, and the old man had finally reached the gate, so Ashley gently put the girl down, removing her hand from the necklace. Turning towards Findley as he ran at her, she smiled sadly. He was pushing himself beyond his body’s limits to save this girl. She admired that. She remembered a time when she would have done the same for her students. She felt no pleasure when she stepped to the side and quickly forward, grabbed his shoulder, and drove a knee into Findley’s chest and ribs as hard as she could. It lifted him off the ground, but she kept him from getting away. His fragile sternum and ribs shattered like glass, doubtlessly puncturing his lungs and every other important organ. He fell to his knees, blood coming up as he puked. Gently, almost tenderly, Ashley stepped behind him, and grabbed his head. “You’ve earned your rest. Take it, and rest easy knowing I will protect her.” Then she snapped his neck. As the body fell to the ground, she looked to see Olivia running for her life. Running was a loose term, as the puddles and her mindless panic both served to make her stumble and fall repeatedly. Ashley sighed again, and then followed after the girl, walking fast enough to keep up, but not running after her.
The girl hadn’t noticed she had managed to stand upright until her eyes met Mr. Findley’s for the final time. Moments ticked painfully slow allowing her to see the silent pleads, fear and sorrow in his face. Blood dribbled down his chin leaving an image which would haunt her for a long time. Guilt swelled in her chest, a faded attempt to suffocate her, as a violent sound snapped her out of her shock. It all happened so fast and never had she tried to save him, just a silent witness to it. After that, Olivia knew she killed him. It was all her fault. If she hadn’t called him then Mr. Findley would still…Olivia’s thoughts trailed off, but the snapping of the old grounds keeper’s neck continued its echoes within her ears and shortly, her guilt gave away to fear once more.
Her fear was what made the choice for her.
“Get away from me… “ She whispered it then repeated it in a scream. “GET AWAY FROM ME!”
She ran.
Her feet slammed into the pavement, the ripples strong and her knees too wobbly to support her weight for very long. Olivia managed one step only to come crash into the pavement where she kept running, now scrambled to all fours. It would likely leave a bruised her knee throbbed in protest, but didn’t slow her down much. She ignored the pain that tried to hinder her. Hands became curved like claws and tore to give her more ground, likely nails bleeding in her frantic escape. Dampness spread when her knee slapped the puddle, soaking through the thin material and soaked her to the bones leaving a chill behind.
Olivia continued on for what felt like ages, yet it likely had only been a few minutes. Still dazed by her talent’s effects, it seemed like the memories she received had used a sledge hammer to penetrate her skill and enter her brain. It was throbbing with no sign of mercy which only made it harder to focus on keeping a straight path. She swayed like a city drunk side to side, falling often onto the pavement where she kept going. It was her own fault. It had been years since she last allowed it to be used and now she was paying the price, the last regret likely she would ever have. Exhaustion had started to catch up now. Her arms and legs seemed to be weighted down by the muck and water stuck to her clothes, slowing her down. Each breath had heavily settled in her chest where it failed to help her and instead felt like there was nothing inside her chest. Her bones were filled by needling pain with each step, but she couldn’t stop. Not after what had happened.
Unlike her, her legs trembled and unsteady, the woman’s steps hounded in her wake at barely a jog. Like a scavenger, Ashley seemed to wait for Olivia to collapse and what panicked her worse was the fact the woman didn’t have to wait long. She can’t stop now. Despite her inward pleads, her will had started to falter.
She had been yelling the whole time and it didn’t take long for her throat to become raw, her voice hoarse now. It seemed no one was around or able to hear her. Not a soul in sight. Her adrenaline had faded and now her mind noted the aches which told her where she was bruised, unable to ignore it anymore. It was now, her mind tried to make sense of the memories she received. Most of it was still a jumbled mess in her shock, making it impossible to complete understand it. Dizziness settled into her head followed by blurring vision, her hand jerked out to touch the nearest wall and force herself upright again. She made one last effort to escape and poured all her reserved energy into her legs, finally managed to stand by some miracle. Not sure how long she could stay standing, Olivia pushed herself off the wall and made a final dash to the alley’s other end.
Thump!
Olivia hit the pavement hard. Her breath was knocked out from under her while pain needled across her arm, pinned under her in her fall. She let out a small, pitiful whimper before she rolled upon her side. Water farther soaked through her clothes and caused her to shiver. Her eyes lowered to see her arm cradled closely to her middle, unable to move it without wanting to scream. Olivia bit her lip to stop the sound at its source before she glanced backwards. Any chance to catch her breath failed at that moment. Her eyes widened at the slouched figure of Hank, the man Ashley had killed earlier, with his collar bloodied by a hole in his neck. His blonde hair was wavy and short, plastered to his forehead from the short rain. His large, thick arms hung loosely at his sides with palms facing the sky while his gun -the very object she tripped over- had been sent towards Ashley’s approaching figure.
New fear clawed its way into her body and gave it a dim energy. She used her uninjured arm to drag herself backwards, determined to get away before she felt something large and heavy stop her. The wall. Unable to move anymore, Olivia’s mind sharpened while her body became like lead. She noticed she had lost a shoe in the chase but didn’t care while she looked into Ashley’s face, her figure drew nearer and nearer with unhurried steps now. The features blurred together not a great comfort for her in the end, if anything it made Olivia feel more helpless and weak. Emmet, please help me brother. Where are you?
“W-why does he want her so bad? Enough to kidnap me? Enough t-t-to kill them…” Olivia screamed in a hysterical voice, slightly crying in her words, unable to do much of anything else. “None of my family knows this Mary person! Just leave me alone!”
Ashley followed Olivia at a safe distance, carrying the forgotten school bag. If she tried to take the girl now, she would doubtlessly injure herself further by trying to resist. So she followed and waited, keeping an eye out for anyone else who wanted to interfere. It pained her to see Olivia hurting herself so much, in desperate fear of her, but she couldn’t approach yet. Still too much fight left in the girl, even if she was rapidly losing steam. Luckily for Ashley, no one seemed to be out and about in the aftermath of the rain. Or at least, no one who was cared for the screams of a young girl. A twisted smile crossed Ashley’s features. Now if that doesn’t say that they have changed us, I don’t know what does. She thought. She recognized where they were headed, and sighed again. Olivia wasn’t going to like what she found if she continued at this rate. One of Olivia’s shoes came off, and Ashley picked it up without missing a beat. They couldn’t afford to stop to get the girl new shoes. Not when Darius realized Olivia had been taken. She tried to call out and warn Olivia where she was headed, when she started to run towards the corpse of Darius’ man, but it was too late. Ashley winced as Olivia collided with the ground again, and slowed to a walk.
When Olivia was finally trapped against the wall, she slowed even further, until she fell to her knees in front of Olivia. Before Ashley could begin to see what Olivia had done to herself, she screamed her question. Ashley paused, tilting her head as she looked at the girl. “Now how do you know about that?” She shrugged, explaining as she examined Olivia for any major injuries. “You’ve made a mess of yourself…Mary is the vessel for Sir’s solution to the Angels and the Demons. As I’m sure you know they have a fixed set of souls that get recycled every time one of them dies. Sir’s solution is to stop the cycle. The Abyss, which is in Mary, consumes their souls before they can go through the cycle. One less Angel or Demon to be reborn, one less problem for the Surface world.” She gently, carefully, reached for Olivia’s injured arm and examined it. Tsking, she said, “We’re going to have to immobilize this until I’m sure it’s nothing serious.”
Spider like webbing began to shoot out of her mouth, and she deftly wrapped the stuff around Olivia’s arm until a make shift caste was on it, preventing her from moving it overly much. “I’ll fix the rest of you later. Right now, we need to start heading to Loom. Or, the ruins of Loom at least.” She gathered Olivia into her arms, careful to avoid putting the girl’s hand on her necklace again, and set off at a sprint, the world blurring around them as she used her unnatural speed to it’s full ability. Whoever this Darius was, she didn’t want to be in the city when he found out Olivia was gone. That would have just been a bigger mess than necessary for her to clean up.
Olivia was too tired to fight anymore. Not that she didn't want to but after all the running and screaming, her body felt just like a torn up rag doll. All she could do was flinch when her skin crawled as the woman emitted thick, gooey thread from her mouth and spat it upon her arm. She felt it start to harden rapidly leaving it immobilized. Her eyes began to become heavy with the need to recover the spent energy, despite her will to stay awake. In moments, the wind of Ashley's movements and speed breezewd by her form while darkness floated her away... her last thoughts were of her brother followed by the deep sorrow she might never see him again.
Nervous. So nervous. The fluttering in her stomach worsened the closer she got to Thorpe.
Aeris' heart was beating faster than a hummingbird's wings as thoughts about what could happen flooded her mind. What if she found him? What would he do? Was he still the same as 200 years ago? Was that even possible? What would he think? How much could he have changed in the last two centuries?
The whirring of her mind continued even as she passed over Thorpe, unintentionally pushing herself faster and faster. It was beginning to take a lot of focus to continue flying.
Calm down. The two words were curt and simple from a familiar female voice penetrating her mind.
Lisara.
But, but-- Aeris' thought was interrupted quickly.
No. Enough. Focus on him later. There was a warning growl that accompanied the words, causing Aeris to sigh.
All right, fine. With that, the voice in her head went silent.
Almost out of Thorpe's "air space", Little Kasio looked down at the small town. There was a rush of adrenaline that shot through her when she flew, and especially when she could see what she was flying over. Everything was so small... she could rule the world from up here.
A small giggle passed her lips as she did two flips in the air, pulling her wings close into her back so that she seemed to dive bomb toward the ground, only to open them and pull up at the last second. The reverse momentum she had gained from doing so sent her skyrocketing upward just as she was reaching Mt. Jigger. She straightened herself in the air, almost as if she were simply standing in the sky, her wings beating slowly to keep her airborne.
The blue-eyed vampire stared at the mountain for a few moments, taking in its size before looking at its peaks. It was covered in snow. And she was wearing a dress. "Great." The girl muttered to herself as she wove shadows around her legs to form relatively insulated leggings. She stared at the mountain for another few moments, its dense forests causing her to pout a little, how was she supposed to find anything from the air?
A huff started her descent toward the middle of the mountain, no way in hell was she walking up the entire thing.
Once on the ground, Aeris inhaled and pulled her hoodie closer to her, zipping it closed, and pulling the hood over her head. The horns on the top of the hood weighed it down a little, pushing it down over her eyes a little more than she liked, but they wouldn't really be hidden considering they were iridescent. After adjusting all of her garments, she inhaled again, and blinked.
Strange. She thought, to herself, breathing in again.
Nope. There was no mistaking it. There was a familiar scent in the air on this mountain, but she wasn't entirely sure who it was. It didn't really smell the way she thought Mai would, but then, the last time she saw him she was Human and didn't have the exaggerated senses she did now.
It didn't smell Human though, that was for sure.
Following the scent, Aeris began her trek up the mountain, weaving carefully through trees. The fog of her breath quickened the higher up she got, as it would have if she were human. Oxygen difference, and all that.
The closer to the top she got, the grumpier she became. Where the fuck was this person?
It was cold.
Really, fucking cold.
The scent she followed didn't let her down though, she found where it was coming from after wandering around for a while: A flora covered Mansion.
"Well, someone didn't take much care of their home..." Aeris mumbled to herself staring at the large house.
She'd almost forgotten how cold she was.
The Vault door slammed closed behind Solus and his, possibly temporary companion, Mairyell. "Well..." Solus began. "That was an experience." One that Mairyell will not soon forget anyway. He wondered what was going through the Vampire's head right now. Solus revealing not only the current, more pressing situation, but also a place that's horrifying enough to bring gods to their knees.
"Yeah, and I'm sure as hell glad it's over," the vampire stated, glancing around. He looked behind him, noting the door's closure, and then unhinged the gate on all his senses rather slowly for the next 10 seconds till he was back to his normal sensory abilities. A sigh of relief was then released from his mouth, he was glad to be out of that place, and glad not to have to suppress his senses anymore. It was very likely that no matter the need he would not go into that Vault again at any point unless it was absolutely necessary for him to do so for some reason. At present he could not fathom how or why that would come about, and he hoped it never would.
Shaking himself, Mairyell began to ascend the stairs out of the basement of Solus' mansion. He wanted be just a bit further away from the Vault, though he knew that he could never be quite as far away from it as he'd like...sadly. "So Solus, what's next on your bucket-list of shit to do? I hope it has nothing to do with anomalous things of any nature. If I am correct, perhaps I ca-..." he stopped mid-sentence and sniffed the air.
"Someone's here," he narrowed his eyes which briefly shone red before turning back to a stable purple. "Who the hell else knows about this place..." he said, thinking aloud, he wasn't in the mood for anymore bullshit, he'd had enough of that for one day.
"I have been away for two hundred years... anyone could have found this old ruin in that time." The essence that radiated from outside felt familiar, though Solus had sensed many familiar essences since his return, so that mere fact didn't really matter. Perhaps it was someone else seeking Solus, just like Mairyell did. Or maybe, seeking his hidden riches. "Feels like a surface demon..."
Aeris teetered back and forth from heel to toe staring at the mansion. The girl was debating on just bursting in, instead, however, she made her way slowly to the door, simply knocking on it.
"Hello?" Her voice chirped softly, the timidity in it blatantly obvious to anyone listening.
Mairyell frowned slightly, "I suppose that's true enough...what should we do about it?" He was feeling out the essence and while it was ever so vaguely familiar he didn't think much of it. Though it did feel sufficiently strong, "Probably a vampire," he smelled the air, "or...a chimera of some kind?" He shook his head a bit, dismissing it. "Should we let it in, or what?"
"Not just yet..." Solus said as he carefully listened with every sense he had.
Aeris paused looking around for a moment, inhaling. The scent was definitely here... but who was it? She closed her eyes for a moment and thought back... A strange man in a trench coat flashed across her closed eyelids and she opened them gasping a bit, "Solus, maybe? That was his name right...?" She muttered to herself, walking from the door to the side of the house, thinking she saw something for a moment. When she didn't find anything, she returned to the front door, having not strayed far from it in the first place.
Glancing to Solus and watching him...sense, Mairyell finally sighed, looking annoyed before he stalked towards the door. "Screw this, I've been listening to you for the past..." he stopped, realizing he had no idea how long they'd been in there. His eye twitched as for once he wished he had a watch. "Whatever," he walked to the door with the intention of opening it, unless Solus did something to stop him. "I'm sure the two of us are enough to deal with it if it's a threa-..." if Solus hadn't stopped him by now he'd have tried to open the door only to be interrupted mid-sentence by the fact that the door would not budge. Looking at its essence Mairyell gritted his teeth, turned around and glared through Solus.
"I've mentioned that I hate you sometimes right? Yeah, I'm sure I have..." Mairyell grumbled and walked past Solus, intentionally bumping into him out of irritation as he went to the back door. Before he disappeared from sight he yelled back, "...and I swear to Aaurus, if you fucking open that front door while I'm gone I will skin your chimeric ass." Mairyell then disappeared from the hallway and after a few moments Solus would hear Mairyell kick the broken back door out of his way.
Solus smirked as his and Mairyell's shoulders rubbed. Oh, I'm opening it alright.... He walked up to the door and placed his wounded hand on it, letting it take a small dab of his drying blood. Just like the door to the Vault, its rings began to turn. The essence that he could feel beyond it, was thicker now, and much easier to recognize. "It's that girl..." Then, the door opened, revealing a young female vampire, standing there, seemingly lost.
Aeris' eyes fell on the hunter before her, a nervous smile shown through the shadows surrounding her face. Little Kasio removed her hood, letting her dark locks fall around her back. "H-hi... Solus..?" Aeris mumbled, looking around when she saw a shadow slither quickly across the ground.
Mairyell could feel Solus open that damned door, so his pace quickened to reach the edge of the mansion before he got annoyed with that, formed his wings from his back, and slammed them downwards through the air, sending him straight upwards after which he angled off a bit so he'd end up arcing over the mansion. He noted the figure of the woman at their door before he plummeted from the sky and nearly slammed into the ground before flapping his wings once to dramatically slow his descent.
He did not appear pleased as he landed and his blood red wings first folded behind his back and then almost appeared to be absorbed by his body.
Aeris blinked as a rush of air caught her, holding her skirt down she found herself staring at some person that severely resembled Mairyell. Is that... "M-Mai...?" Aeris voice cracked a bit as she stared at him for a moment, and then looked at Solus again, if she wasn't lost before, now she definitely was.
"You know him, Aeris?" Solus said stoically, finally recognizing her. She joined him on his way out of the Western Realm after his botched and rather pathetic attempt at reaching the Citadel some 180 years ago.
Mairyell dusted himself off and began looking up as he heard his sister's name.
"Yeah... Pretty sure that's my big brother..." The vampire murmured, her eyes locking back on Mairyell. For a moment, the blue glow about them intensified, and then dimmed back to normal.
He froze for a moment as he heard the words 'big brother,' before he continued the motion and met with the eyes of a ghost. A ghost that Solus could also see and recognized for some reason. He stood there, frozen in place, unable to entirely process what was going on. It was like his surroundings became a grey scale, and then were altogether forgotten, his vision tunneling before him. His mouth opened and closed several times before his eye twitched and he clapped his hands onto his cheeks and shook his head.
When Aeris was still standing several feet in front of him after that he took a tentative step forward, a look of complete disbelief on his face. "What..." he said, thinking aloud, his mind barely functioning. It had to be an illusion, every other time he'd seen her that'd been what it was, an illusion that only he could see. However, now Solus could see it too. Could they both be hallucinating?
I mean they had just been through the vault...stress could cause hallucinations, right?
Yeah he didn't know what the fuck was going on.
"I remember you telling me you had a brother." Solus said as he turned to Mairyell. "You only missed him by 5 minutes when we met..."
"And then for another 180 years..." The girl muttered a little bitterly to herself. However, before she realized it, she had begun moving, running, actually. She didn't even realize what was happening until she was already hugging the elder vampire, her face buried in his chest. God dammit.... God, fucking dammit.
His arms remained somewhat open as she ran into him and then wrapped her arms around him, clutching at the back of his shirt like he'd disappear. He looked at Solus and for a moment he felt part of him want to hit the hunter for having never said anything. Then he realized that it's not like he'd ever told Solus the name of his sister. "What the hell," he said out loud, his arms almost instinctively wrapping back around her after a moment or two had passed. However, while his body knew what to do, his mind did not. He had long since stopped thinking of himself as a brother, not only had he thought himself unworthy of the title, but he had figured that his little sister was long dead, something he now regretted somewhat.
He knew it had been necessary for him to remain sane and in control. To remain emotionally stable, but now...he didn't know what to say. How to react, or how to treat her. It was too sudden. So he tried to trust his brotherly instincts, instincts that he had buried a long time ago. "W-...welcome back?" he said, a slight question in his voice, he had obviously not come to grips with reality just yet.
Aeris looked up at her brother, very obviously trying not to cry. The fuck. She hated crying. Always had. She was both happy and sad, though, and her brain wasn't sure how to process the emotions. "I... uhm.. Yeah, back... that's a good way to put it, I think..." After a moment, she finally relinquished her grip on him, and stepped back. "I... I'm sorry, this must be one hell of a shock, huh?"
Aaurus knows what he thought actually happened to me... she thought somberly.
As she tried to draw away he didn't let her. He didn't know why, but he wouldn't let go. After an additional moment of speechlessness he hugged her tightly and...kissed the top of her head after which point he let her go and took a step back. "I need to sit down..." he looked at Solus' mansion, but he really didn't want to go back into it, even if it was just the Vault that he didn't like. He needed to process this, and he didn't think he could quite do that standing up.
The doll nuzzled her brother's chest when he wouldn't let her go, hugging him again when he clung to her. When he finally let her go with a kiss atop her head, she turned to look around, only to see Solus wasn't standing at the door anymore. "I... what?" She looked back at Mai with a confused expression as if he could answer a question she hadn't even asked.
He shook his head, bringing a hand up to rub one of his temples. He could feel a headache coming on, but nonetheless he took a whiff of the air and noted Solus' essence nearby. He wondered where he'd wandered off to, but he didn't entirely care at the moment, though he knew he owed the man a swift hit to the stomach. "He's nearby, can't have wandered too far...ugh," he continued to rub his head despite knowing that doing so would not alleviate his headache.
Little Kasio watched as Mairyell rubbed his temples and smiled warmly. "Would he mind if we went in and sat down?" She questioned calmly, staving off tremulous emotions of her own.
"I doubt it, but it's just as bad inside as it is out here, not that I care much," he said sounding only a bit against the idea. He knew he needed to take a seat, despite not wanting to go back into that accursed house.
Aeris took her brother's arm gently and pulled him toward the door, letting go when she was inside the house herself. She looked around cautiously and then found a comfortable enough chair to sit in, waiting for Mairyell.
Before she sat down he spoke, "Make sure it's stable before you sit in it, the majority of this stuff hasn't been taken care of for at least as long as we've been apart," He then proceeded to sit down on a couch, one of the less...moldy looking ones.
Aeris nodded pushing on the chair with a little more strength than her sitting in it would be. It seemed stable enough, so she sat down, crossing her legs one over the other, her hands resting loosely on her thigh.
While the two siblings had their titillatingly touching reunion, Solus sneaked off into the old garage. The place was even more of a mess than the house. The roof had collapsed right in the middle, rubble and fine plaster covering what appeared to be a large car, hidden underneath a thick sheet of plastic. The shelves had fallen off the walls, and the tools were scattered along the edges. The floor itself had overgrown with thick weeds.
The faint feeling of guilt washed over Solus' being. Abandoning this place was hard, but returning to it was much harder. Just seeing the aftermath alone was enough to convince him of that. With a sigh, he stepped over weeds towards the old vehicle. He doubted it would be in any decent shape, especially after the amount of time it's been sitting here. He hoped, that the least he had to do was some restoration, and that it wasn't a write off. But even then it was probably a false hope.
That hope stayed in his mind as he began to remove the concrete and rusted, broken steel re-bar off the top of the old Mustang.
The porcelain doll fidgeted in her seat, not really sure what to do or say. The silence was palpable.
She hated it.
The shadows covering her legs wove themselves off and into the various dark corners of the dilapidated building, while she simply stared from her brother to the floor.
"So..." the reappointed big brother began, breaking the painful silence, "...What's up?" There was a distinctly awkward feeling in the room.
Aeris blinked, and then out of no where just... laughed. An uncontrollable sort of laughter. "What... what the fuck are we doing? Seriously, Mai. We're not strangers, we're blood. Why can't we just talk?" She questioned him, still sort of laughing at the awkwardness between them.
Mairyell chuckled a bit, and while the tension melted away somewhat, he retained the awkward expression on his face as he looked up at her. He looked almost...apologetic, but not quite. He was hunched over a bit now, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped. "I-..." he shook his head, he couldn't say that he'd thought she was dead, he just couldn't bring himself to. So instead he just shook his head and laughed at himself. He felt kind of pathetic for some reason. It was a bit unfamiliar, but at the same time he remembered the feeling well.
He'd often felt that way, but that had been 200 years ago and this was now. "Aeris, it's been 200 or so years since I last saw you. We're blood, but people change.... I've changed," he looked up at her, his eyes having been aimed at the ground initially. A small smile formed on his lips, a gentle smile, something he did not often wear. "I can't treat you like I did then...things are different now, but I'll do my best to...adapt," he almost met her eyes before looking away, he couldn't look her in the eyes yet.
Aeris stared at her brother, calmly observing his movements and words. Watching in a similar manner to how Szayeis had once watched her when he was teaching her how to use Brisn... Or when he turned her. "Heh..." She scoffed a bit, "I wish I could say I hadn't changed, because then I could have some semblance of normalcy, but life just isn't that lucky." Absently, her hands found their way through her hair, and she looked away.
Much like the brother she had once had, the little sister she had once been was gone. It was really time she faced up to that. She couldn't expect rainbows and sunshine, that wasn't fair to either of them. "Oh, the web we weave..." She murmured softly, resting her eyes upon him once more. "No matter how much you changed Mai, you'll always be my big brother. Just... don't forget that, yeah?"
The vampire nodded a bit, "Yeah..." for a moment he almost let the conversation fade back into silence, but then he followed up with, "Though it's hard to forget with that face," he smirked a bit, appearing to jeer slightly before laughing a bit and standing up. They'd have to just take things slowly, he figured. After all, it was just a matter of finding their new normal rather than abandoning the concept overall. Taking in a breath he then exhaled deeply and smiled at her before nodding at the door. "Should find Solus, not sure about you, but I may still have some business with him," in truth he just didn't want to be inside the mansion for too long, though he wasn't exactly lying when he said there might be more business to take care of.
A small smirk crossed Aeris' lips, "Oh, you got jokes, huh?" She snickered a little following him in standing. "No, I don't think I have anymore business with him, but I don't particularly wanna leave just yet." She smiled softly at him, consciously making an effort not to use shadows in front of him. When she looked at him for a moment, she began to notice something both of them had more or less been ignoring. Their Brisn was resonating slightly. It was faint, but she could feel it strengthening a bit the longer they were in proximity to each other.
Feeling the soothing warmth of Brisn on his skin he became aware of the occurrence as well, raising his hand to look at the blue energy before glancing at Aeris. "Well, that's neat," he then shrugged and began walking out of the room before he turned and smirked at her. "Oh, I've got jokes like you wouldn't believe," he winked and then continued on, likely with her in tow.
Smiling wider, Aeris wove some Brisn through the air as her brother looked at his own blue aura. "Yeah, s'pretty cool." She muttered a bit, forming a ball of the energy to play with as she started to follow him out of the room. When he stopped, she bumped into his back and looked up only to laugh at the words that came out of his mouth. "Oh, really now? You should share, I wanna laugh too!" she joked, making various shapes with the energy ball she was playing with as they walked.
With his back turned, he rolled his eyes, yeah, she really still was his little sister. With that settled he headed out of the mansion and tracked Solus towards wherever the hell he'd wandered off to. As he was trudging through the snow covered ground, which Mairyell found annoying despite the fact that he didn't feel cold in the least. At this point his blood basically kept him warm, it was an odd process that he didn't entirely understand. He didn't really care either.
Eventually the two happened upon a dilapidated looking structure, maybe a garage? "Well, Solus is in there," he gestured before putting the hand back into his pocket.
She could feel the eye roll her brother did as they walked, and couldn't help but giggle. Luckily for her when they went back outside, the resonance of their Brisn kept her sufficiently warm. Even then, Aeris slightly levitated off the ground, if only to not impede her own movement. As they reached the structure in which Solus' scent was coming from, she slid something around Mai's neck.
A crystalline blue necklace, completely comprised of the element they both wielded. She smiled softly, floating beside him.
Almost grabbing her hand as she slid the necklace on, Mairyell calmed his reflexes, which had become quite honed since their separation, and glanced down at it. "Did you make this?" He realized how silly the question was, but decided to ask it anyways. It was more rhetorical than anything. Smiling a bit he turned part way and ruffled her hair, "Thanks," he hoped she didn't recoil when he did that. He had done it more out of habit than anything, even if that habit was now 200 years old, one simply could not beat the brother out of someone, not even if that person was time.
Aeris smiled as he asked a question that didn't really need an answer. When he reached out to ruffle her hair, she lowered herself a little out of the air and laughed. "Mmmhmm." She murmured, hugging him again, letting go after only a moment.
"Y'know.." She spoke after a few moments of silence, "I find it funny we both know the same hunter. Though, it seems you're more friendly with him than I." Her eyes flickered purple a bit before returning to their blue hue as she stared at the garage.
"Yeah, you know what's even funnier?" He asked, with a look of wry amusement on his face.
"No, what?" She questioned him curiously, looking at him with her head tilted.
"The fact that I met him about...10 minutes after Szayeis took you, and then he encountered you 5 minutes after I'd left the Western realm. We were trying to rescue you by the way," he stared at her with a look said that he did not entirely appreciate reality's sense of humor in this instance.
Aeris laughed softly, pecking her brother on the cheek. "All's well that ends well?" She said with a slight shrug. She wanted to talk to him about what happened to her, but that opportunity would come in time, time that was definitely not right now.
Smiling a bit and then quickly looking away when she kissed his cheek, Mairyell walked towards what he was fairly certain was a garage and entered quietly. He knew he couldn't get the jump on someone like Solus, but he sure would love to punch the shit out of him for opening that damned door. As he entered, the Mustang from the time that he'd first met Solus came into view. It wasn't exactly in the best shape. "I hope you don't expect this thing to actually work. I mean, it's probably covered in at least 100 or so years of rust." His tone was amused, but similarly unsympathetic.
"Tech nowadays does wonders for things like that, Mai." Aeris said as she slid into the building behind him, staring at the wreck of a car. "I'm sure that was one hell of a vehicle in its prime though."
"Oh, you can say that again. When I met him he slammed it right into a werewolf, not even a dent. Don't even get me started on the drift that he did either." He shook his head a bit, glancing to Solus, interested as to what his response might be, if any.
"I don't expect it to work... No..." Solus said out of the driver's seat of the car, all its doors open. "Just assessing the amount of work it will need. And it's a lot..." He grumbled something unintelligible to himself as he stepped out of the car and moved over to the other end of the room toward the boot of the car. He placed his hand on the handle and pulled. Nothing. Probably locked... He pulled out the key he had in his pocket, and pushed it into the lock. The lock turned, unlocking the boot, and Solus pulled again. Nothing. The Chimera pulled again the handle a third time, harder, causing the back of the car to lift up slightly. Nothing. "Oh, come on!" Clearly, it was rusted shut.
He nodded, happy with that response. Solus still had some measure of sense about him, despite the house of horrors he kept in his basement. "Good," Taking to leaning against one of the walls, Mairyell watched with mild amusement as Solus attempted to open the trunk of the car. "You seem to be having trouble Solus. Do simple things give you trouble despite the amount of time you've had to get them right?" The vampire was smirking over at the hunter before he winked at his sister and waited to continue after the man's response.
Solus completely ignored the smartass as he placed his right foot on the steel plate for a back bumper, and this time, pulled the handle of the boot with some serious, unseen strength. The metal hinges began to buckle and the rust that glued the boot door began to crack. Suddenly, the trunk door was completely ripped off. Solus tossed it aside like trash. "Don't need that anyway..." Within the trunk, was a large metal canister. The Chimera placed his hands on either side of the vehicle's back side and tipped it from left to right a few times. Fluid slushed around within. "Hmm. Still has fuel..."
Aeris watched as the hunter tore off the door to the trunk of his car, wincing a little. She didn't know what the car originally looked like, but she did enjoy cars to some extent, and to see one being dismantled, well... she felt bad. When she heard the sloshing of the the fuel in the tank, her head tilted. "I'd have figured it would have dissipated or something. That's pretty cool." She muttered to herself, moving to stand directly beside Mairyell.
"Fuel doesn't evaporate, especially up here. It's too thick... It also has a sell by date of 3 months. It's 199 years and 9 months out of date, so it's useless. I'll have to drain this thing down to a vacuum..." Solus replied absentmindedly, staring at the half full fuel tank.
Mairyell chuckled at Solus when he was ignored, caring little if the man responded. He listened absentmindedly, his mind drifting to matters of sustenance for a while. He still needed to replenish the blood he'd lost from his trip through the Beyond....
Little Kasio looked from her brother to Solus, and then around the dilapidated building. Her mind wandered to and fro between topics, ideas, and food. "Hey Solus?" She spoke softly, her eyes on the hole in the ceiling. "Do you happen to have any demon blood around here?" She asked, her eyes coming to rest on the hunter calmly, an incline to her head causing her hair to fall away from her right eye.
"The blood that was here is dried up and undrinkable now..." Solus stared directly into Aeris' eyes. "Welcome to the House of Grim..."
His mind distracted by his thoughts of feeding, Mairyell only realized what the conversation was about when he heard Solus use the word 'blood,' causing him to look up. "Hmm?" He then glanced at Aeris, looking at her for a very long moment. "Demon blood..." he said a bit suspiciously.
"Mm?" Aeris mumbled looking at Mairyell confused for a moment. "What? It's all I've ever had, and all I'm willing to drink." She spoke as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She forgot for a moment who she was talking to. When she realized what she had said she covered her mouth, and turned her head away so she didn't have to look at him. Oops.
Something clicked on the vampire's mind as his sister said that. "Well," he said, his eyes twitching as he looked away, masking his anger with a smile, "...there's another question I don't have to ask." He exhaled long and deep before taking air back in and speaking to Solus, holding the anger from his tone almost as well as he was from his face. "Anything I should stick around to help you with Solus? Considering what you told me that is," he asked, trying to distract himself somewhat. In actuality he wanted to collapse the building they were currently in, which was obviously a terrible idea regardless of how strong or durable the other two were. In terms of his question, he was referring to Szayeis, which didn't help his anger one bit.
"...Sorry Mai..." Aeris whispered through her still covered mouth, keeping her eyes on the floor.
"Actually... There is..." Solus said, stepping away from the trunk of the car towards Mairyell. "Find an essence fragment named Zi, and bring her here. She is absolutely necessary to our success. If she dies... Well... you know what happens..." The Chimera let that sink in.
Aeris blinked, looking at Solus, curious about what he was talking about. She didn't ask, though, in part because she didn't want to say something else stupid in front of her already emotionally tremulous brother, and in part because she didn't think he'd tell her anything.
SO IT HAD begun, along with the little petty endings of most bitter fates. The preordained reunion flowed somewhat awkwardly, but such trivialities did not matter to him. Time was of the essence of this world, and they lacked it woefully; they all did, and never truly spent it wisely. Solus Grim... Mairyell Kasio... Aeris Kasio... It was their time now, and ITZAL SLYRE, the reaper of cultivated souls, was so very keen to allot it to them in his grand scheme of little subplots.
This should be fun...
Almost immediately as the young vampiress blinked, the House of Grim began to change; the mold retreated; plants faded away; the state of disrepair that was prevalent throughout the halls, doors, and walls began to reverse back to a finer time. The present day shifted little, the sun continuing to shine brilliantly upon the now fully restored house. But inside, the lights were on, and shadows fled to nooks and crannies, between ankles and backsides.
It almost seemed as though time itself was being rewound. But it wasn't. For that would be a most absurd (and unfortunate) event.
The illusive transformation that took place before the trio required very little time, perhaps leaving them with an eerie sense of stupor and anxiety. No sooner had their senses taken up the changes could the odd sounds of little pitter patter of tiny feet also be heard. A young 8-year-old boy, followed by a younger girl and boy, raced into the garage, mischievous grins leading their faces. They sought shelter behind where the Mustang had disappeared, which had been replaced by a suitably larger vehicle, one meant for a family. The source of voices, soft at first but then growing in volume, danced about the halls, and entered Solus Grim: father of four.
Like the little ones, this Solus paid no attention to Mairyell or Aeris, let alone the real version who was present. His voice once again inquired after the kids, a playful smirk on his warped (but smoother) visage. He almost seemed more human, but the scars of his past lingered. It would seem that he was in the middle of a game of hide-and-go-seek. He sauntered past Solus, his shoulder lightly phasing through him and leaving the real Solus with a heightened sense of warmth. Almost as soon as he maneuvered slowly around vehicle, his children ambushed him with hugs, kisses, and delightful squeals.
So much uncultivated innocence, it could make one gag.
A different voice, softer still and strong yet feminine, alerted Solus, the wee ones still trying to pin him to the floor. Jumping up to his feet and carrying all three kids (ushering in surprised little gasps), he started walking towards the door, once again, passing through the real Solus but also blocking his view of the womanly figure in the doorway, her belly slightly large and expecting.
But the illusion of Solus swept past him and in that spot right in front of the real Solus, was Slyre. And the illusion vanished just as Solus might see Rina's face clearly.
"Oh, what could have been..." the grim reaper droned, almost sadly.
Hunched over, Slyre stood at a much greater height than all three little gods. One might reckon him to be about 10 feet tall, broad shouldered (which faced Solus head on, almost with confrontational interest), and smelled exactly like poison and toxic slime, with a faint trace of a woman's perfume. From toe to head were the details of finely woven black boots, covered by a flowing robe with dark purple fabric, crimson trims, and white lettering adorning the material. An ornamental matching belt girdled Slyre, as did his large folded up collar. It seemed like the white lettering design became more extravagant closer to the head... and the face. The hooded, overshadowed eyes.
But his chin, barely seen even in the darkness of the garage, hovered just a foot above (and away) from the Necromaster's skull.
Slyre's voice croaked again, leaving not a true moment to respond. "Two hundred years, Solus Grim... and what do you really have to show for it. Hmm?"
His hooded face turned slightly towards Mairyell and Aeris to his right, though his unseen eyes weren't necessarily sizing them up. "Other than such dismal company," he added snidely.
The image of the illusion remained in Solus' mind for a few minor moments. His face remained unchanged as he replayed it all in his old and shattered mind. In the end it didn't matter. It was a future he never expected to live up to. Death has always been his path, with that rictus grin, waiting for him at the end. He had grown accustomed to being surrounded by misery that such happy illusions made him feel sick in his stomach. Such families were pathetic, weak, holding on to the illusion of a false hope. The evil that lived deep within him loved this weakness, fed from it. And his human side cared little for such trivialities.
So the illusion didn't truly faze him, just surprised him by its sudden appearance. It was a life that disgusted him, one he never wanted to experience. His only purpose was his work, and there was no better place to be than one that was surrounded by death.
Solus looked up at the Reaper, completely ignorant to what he truly was, and a smartass smirk appeared on his destroyed face. "Nothing... I achieved absolutely nothing..."
Slyre tilted his head back towards Solus, his rictus grin spreading like a rash. "Oh, really? I suppose then that you chronicle everything, too? Because nothing seems unlikely," he stated deceptively, letting slip a wee hint that he recorded everything and, in this case, jested at Solus's sense of appreciation towards his (lack) of achievements.
Aeris stared between the... thing? And the hunter. An eyebrow arched in confusion. She wasn't really sure how to react to the situation, and thus, remained mostly silent. Mostly, because she inhaled, as if she were about to speak, and then stopped, not finding the right words.
"Oh, don't hold back on my account, girl," Slyre retorted, and stood a little straighter (but not quite all the way). The added height shifted the shadows and light in the room, as though they were melded to the growing tension in the room.
"You might just miss another one hundred and eighty years," he added with a chuckle, his hooded gaze resting on Mairyell.
There was a small hiss as Aeris exhaled the breath she had taken in through her teeth, but she continued to remain silent, her eyes moving from the hooded creature to her brother.
"Oh, that's cute," Slyre whispered, clearly amused. "No wonder the Babysitter took on another child to molest. I find that surprising."
He turned back to Solus and crossed his arms, his runic robe sleeves slipping over each other. "On the contrary, Solus, you actually did achieve something that is rather... priceless."
Slyre paused for a moment before quickly lowering his arms and clasping his hands. His voice rose suddenly, making it echo in the room. "My mercy! ... Ri- ..."
Purposely stopping short of saying her name, the reaper slowly closed his mouth as his perpetually rictal grin returned to grace Solus's mind.
Solus' face still remained the same, but despite that, all kinds of thoughts raged through his mind. Thoughts that he was sure Slyre would hear in someway. "Finish..." He said, his voice low, and weary.
Oh. Predictable. Even Solus was not immune to such things, but of course, he was the one who amused Slyre the most. His unpredictability streak was without peer; everyone else might as well just be sock puppets. Slyre unclasped his hands, holding them behind his back as he tilted his head to his left, almost as if he wasn't sure if he should finish the sentence.
"Hmm... Rina," Slyre murmured, and then proceeded to enunciate carefully. "Ri...na... Al...lice...Gen...noo..."
Slyre inclined his head forward, obviously relishing in what he was doing. His mouth parted slightly, revealing a glimpse of bright red teeth. "I took her away from you, very similar to how Szayeis deprived Mairyell of his yummy little suck-toy here some time ago."
Those bright red teeth, Solus wanted to punch them all out. But that wouldn't get him anywhere. "Oh I remember. That's one thing I never forgot. Though I sometimes wish I did..." Solus' face still remained stoic. This was his silent, seething rage, held in for 200 years. Very few ever got to see that face, and they never lasted for long. "Asking if she is alive would be a stupid questio---"
"--Alive like a plant? Hmm?" Slyre interjected with a chuckle.
Secretly, or perhaps not, Solus was enjoying Slyre's retorts. They would give Solus more reasons to crush this being's skull with his own hands when the time finally came. "You wouldn't have mentioned her otherwise..."
"Oh, but wouldn't I? Judgement without knowing all the facts is the height of foolishness," Slyre shot back, revealing more of those bright red fangs and lightly curling his dark gray fingers at his side.
"Wait, wait, hold on a second... Uhh." Aeris paused a moment, "What even should we call you?" The doll queried almost politely.
Slyre smirked, glancing back at Aeris. "Hehehe... hahaha! Oh, so adorable. I like this one," he lied, completely ignoring her question.
Aeris' eye roll could be felt from across the room, and so, she continued. "Did--"
"Careful now, those things tend to fall out, you know," Slyre chuckled.
She smirked, continuing "--you just basically call The Chimeric Lord a child?"
"Oh, good grief. Look, you whimsical cunt. If you're going to talk with the grown-ups, please do pay attention. And no, the--" Slyre lied, but then turned to Mairyell who seemed to be suffering another case of hemorrhoids.
"Shut up," Mairyell's voice said in a quiet, but undeniably fierce tone. As he said it the room, previously occupied by Slyre, and the other's presence, now held a harsh malice as well. Having already been bothered by the events earlier in his shit of a day, Mairyell was not in a good mood. If finding out about what Szayeis had done to his sister had not been enough, then this surely was.
His fist hit the wall, and when it came away there was a hole in it despite the fact that he had not turned to the wall to hit it, but rather slammed his fist into it. The vampire was gritting his teeth and the blue that typically balanced his eyes at a stable purple appeared as if it had bled out, for there was a glow about him.
A glow that was seeping onto the walls of the garage even as trace amounts of searing red acidic blood dripped from his palms, forming small spheres. His eyes held the same crimson color as the blood that he grasped in his palms. He took in a deep breath and then let it out in not a hiss, but more of a terrible sneer. A smile curved onto his lips as his eyes looked up to the taller being. He wanted to kill it. He hadn't been this pissed since he'd failed to reclaim Aeris, and before that he had only been this angry once, and that time had been when he'd snapped on those shitstain excuses for vampires that had dared pose a threat to beings under his protection. Impressively enough, despite the sheer seething rage, an anger which practically burned him from the inside out, Mairyell managed not to lunge at the figure.
He couldn't read its essence, not the way that he could sense someone else's. In fact all he felt when he tried to detect the being was himself, which made no sense. However, in his state of anger all confusion did was piss him off more. If only he hadn't gone into the vault. Then he wouldn't be so damned hungry right now. Then perhaps the tall figure wouldn't look like a delicious fucking treat, teasing him with its presence.
Solus simply shook his head at the whole affair. "How about you two go outside... Hmm?" Solus asked calmly. "Get some air while I deal---"
"---Ah ah ah, slow down there. Let me clarify a little something..." Slyre grinned, wagging a finger at the enraged little blood god.
"There are no coincidences. Everything from our meeting back to your little 'mishap' of minutes... ooh yes. It was I who engineered that and this, and yes, you may not believe me," he continued, lowering his hand and putting them behind his back as he straightened to his full height.
He loomed over the three, no longer hunching over like some decrepit old giant. Even if they looked up into his face, the foreboding darkness of his hood would not reveal his eyes.
Aeris looked at her brother, her eyes widening a little. Welp. She thought to herself as she looked at Solus when he spoke. "I'll happily get the fuck away from that thing." She spoke candidly.
"--and quite frankly, if you do, you will never see your--" Slyre interrupted and quoted the air "--big brother again."
"Go fuck yourself." She growled, eyes darkening from their bright blue, very, very slowly. She wasn't easily angered, and it took her longer to get there, even as she spat out the three words she said, she wasn't angry, just yet.
"Solus," Mairyell begun, his eyes locked on Slyre even as they became an even darker shade of red. In fact if they got any darker they'd be black. "I'm going to kill it," His claws formed and his blood turned jet black as they did, to which Itzal Slyre laughed with an unabashed roar, his howls of delight ringing the very walls of the garage. "Well, isn't this a bit of fun--"
"--You can try..." Solus said to Mairyell. "I sure as hell did. And I died in every lifetime." Solus folded his arms. "Simmer down... You'll get your chance one day. Just not yet." Solus' words of wisdom, number 1874.
"So quoth the Necromaster," Slyre chuckled, extending his right arm out toward a space on the Kasio twins' left.
"I mean, if he wasn't so antagonistic, I'd be perfectly fine right now." Aeris spoke, only slightly opening her mouth to do so.
"It's give and take, child," he retorted, looking to his right. "For example, do give a glance to your left. The one and only..."
"And I did what to you? To deserve anything you've said?"
"Well, as Solus put it, 'absolutely nothing'... isn't that right, Layna Grace Kasio?" Slyre sneered deliciously.
All so very quietly, the shadows had delved and lights bent in the spot to their left, a good 5-ft away from Aeris and Mairyell, and perhaps twice that length from Solus and Slyre. Wearing nothing but a simple worker's dress and apron, Layna breathed air for the first time in ages, choking on its dustiness as she came to. Forces of power held her in place, but she could clearly see. Her eyes fell on Mairyell first, whom she hadn't seen for decades since their training sessions prior to Loom's occupation by Judas. Then she saw Solus: a person of interest to her husband, Ioi. And then Aeris... my daughter?
It didn't take a genius to figure out who had brought her here. "Oh no..." she rasped lowly, almost not audible. "It is my hour...?"
"Who's Layna Grace," The girl asked, obvious obliviousness written on her face. "Am I supposed to know that name?" The doll looked at the woman, her dimming blue eyes starting to become swallowed by purple hues. She didn't understand. She didn't remember anyone in her family with that name.
"Our mother," Mairyell said through gritted teeth. In an attempt to abide to Solus' words, the words of a man who was perhaps stronger than him, and likely wiser, Mairyell had began to claw at the flesh of his own palm, letting the pain of it mitigate his rage. If someone else had inflicted it then it would have made it worse, but since it was him...well, it helped. It was a meager supplement for blood or being removed from Slyre's presence. He wanted to leave, but he couldn't leave Aeris here, even if she were strong enough to defend herself.
Aeris' eyes immediately reverted, looking at Mai as if she had lost something. Something very important. She looked from the woman who was supposed to be her mother, back to the being who claimed to have caused all the turmoil in their lives. She didn't understand. That's when the shadows began to move. Swirl, writhe, and dance about the room as the girl unwittingly pulled them toward herself. She needed to get out of here. She needed to leave. She didn't care where.
"This is not fair, Slyre. This is my hour? I didn't think--" Layna said softly, glancing back and forth at her children.
"--Ah, ah, yes that's the part, 'didn't think'? I'm glad you understand your foolishness," Slyre interjected and folded his arms.
Solus realized what this was all about as he witnessed Layna Grace Kasio's arrival. His mentioning of Rina. Recreating an illusion of what could have been Solus' future with her. It all fell into place quickly. "You're here to make a deal...." His voice was quiet, as a deep feeling of dread sunk like a stone in his stomach. The being would make them all do something they might one day regret.
"As astute as a constable, that you are, Solus. Oh, how I thought you were about to break your unpredictability streak, but then, lo and behold, you surprise me yet again," Slyre replied deceptively, clapping his hands together as though he was some kind of fan of the Necromaster.
"I was waiting for the right moment, but now things seem to have become interesting enough for those involved, but in case one of you feel like calling my bluff..." he continued, before gesturing to the opposite side of the room from Layna.
The shadows delved again, along with the light that bent about. A metallic object about the size of a small trash can appeared. On top of it was a timer. It was ticking. Down. With about 30 seconds on the clock.
"That is a bomb," the reaper lied, "and not just any bomb... but one personally tailored to remove this pimple of a mountain off of Progaia's left ass cheek."
He turned to them, that rictus smirk ever present. "I have a proposition for all of you, but make one wrong move, and we're all going to Heaven. Wouldn't that just suck something awful? The vacancy of that place just gags me."
Pleased with himself, Slyre took a moment to wait and gauge their responses and reactions. Layna's face had fallen distraught, hanging there with her eyes half-shut and almost given up. She should have never made a deal with the grim reaper to see her children.
Solus simply walked past Slyre, his face had finally changed from its stoic nature to that of curiosity. He stopped beside the device, and began to inspect it carefully, just in case. The first thing he looked at was the timer. It was digital, a panel of an alarm clock, counting down from 30 seconds, now at 26. 6 wires ran from its back and along the large metal cylinder towards what looked like a tacked on circuit box. He easily pried it open, as it wasn't even locked. The box was empty, the 6 wires leading to nothing but thin air.
"Wow..." Solus said in amused astonishment. "A bomb that isn't even a bomb. How jolly of you. You're starting to remind me of the Joker..." The Chimera turned back to the Reaper.
"...Be that as it may, if any of you want to take the risk, be my guest. Anyone?" Slyre replied knowingly.
"You said you liked spending your time wisely. So how about you get to the point, and actually use said time wisely?" Solus stated.
He was done. The moment that the bastard simply made a bomb appear, he was done. Noting the shadows, Mairyell crossed the distance to Aeris, wrapped his arm around her waist, bent his knees, and leaped through the roof, an umbrella of blood dissolving the roof as he flew upwards, his sister in tow. He had failed to protect her from Szayeis, he had failed to rescue her from Szayeis, but he would not fail now. He was tired of that shit. Tired of being someone else's toy. In fact, because of his reaction, he never saw Solus inspect the bomb and prove it a dud, and if Aeris hadn't tried to resist his attempt to extricate her, then neither would she.
Presuming he weren't stopped, Mairyell's wings would spread near the apex of the jump as a silent thought went out to their mother, I'm sorry.
As Mai closed the gap between himself and Aeris, she stared up at him. She was completely lost. When his arm wrapped around her waist, she instinctively clung to his shirt, her eyes falling on their mother as he jumped upward, and began to fly. There was a solitary tear that slid down her cheek as the child part of her, the part of her that would always remember her mother, lost her for the second time. This time, she wouldn't forget.
Layna, as numb as her mind was, could sense what was going on and felt her last moments upon her. She watched her only son flee wisely with her daughter, her quivering eyes trained on them. He didn't look back. A light sigh left her nose at that thought. Good... he doesn't need more scars to carry. Just as the Kasio siblings vanished completely out of sight, Layna's vision toppled. It rolled. The room spun...
She did not feel a thing, even as the last few seconds of her mind perceived her body slumping sideways onto the ground. Her mouth parted, exhaling the final breath.
But something interrupted her vision: a pair of eyes with a black and white pupil each, all aligned. Slyre was reaping her soul, and into him it went.
And Layna died.
Slyre licked his fingers almost greedily, the blood swirling around in his mouth before being swallowed. "You know, if you hadn't been such a stiff, Solus, that might have been better handled," he lied.
"But their exodus means nothing. They were here, they saw me. Whether they want to or not, they will be tied into your fate," he continued, lowering his now cleaned hand.
"And you must ask yourself something: 'Do I want Rina to bear the same fate as Mairyell's mommy?' Hmm?" the reaper prompted rhetorically as his white pupils rested on the dead mother and his black pupils regarded Solus with interest.
"Everyone is tied to my fate in some way. Fate is an interesting thing..." Solus began staring at Mairyell's now deceased mother. What a damn fool, that Mairyell was. Always has been. "There are so many different branches it can take. You just never know where it's gonna take you. So I just close my eyes, and settle in for the ride of a lifetime..." He turned towards Slyre. "About Rina... You wanted to make a deal. So let's get to it."
Slyre's rictus grin spread from ear to ear.
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As they fled from the scene, Mairyell clutched his sister, wrapping his other arm around her, holding her to him protectively. His jaw was locked as his teeth ground back and forth against one another. After maybe five minutes of flying Mairyell was flying over Thorpe and so he dipped down and landed on one of the buildings, sitting down as he landed, and folding his wings into his back once more. "Are...you okay Aeris," he said, sounding worried, but also as if he were holding back. His breathing was a bit heavier than it should've been, and his eyes were flickering between purple and crimson frantically.
He knew he was unstable, but he was determined not to lose control. he still had plenty of blood, but with his anger and panic rearing he needed blood to calm down properly. Man it was like 200 years ago all over again, and it pissed him off a bit. Taking deep breaths, he began to increase the flow of Brisn in his body in an attempt to mitigate some of his hunger for a time. He needed to make sure Aeris was safe and at least somewhat okay before he would feel comfortable leaving to hunt. He briefly considered bringing a demon back for her, though he knew he wouldn't be able to bare watching her eat just yet.
Too much had happened today.
Aeris clung to her brother for dear life, like he would disappear if she let him go. Her face was hidden in his shirt, but her shaking was obvious. She was so confused.
What had just happened? Their mother was dead. There was no way that was actually her. No way. All of her life she had been told that Layna died giving birth to the girl. She'd always blamed herself for that, even if no one else did. She felt like she was the reason their father tried to destroy Mai. Tried to change him into something he wasn't.
By the time they landed, she was hyperventilating.
When Mai spoke to her, she almost didn't hear him over the turmoil in her head. "I..." She sounded and felt like she was going to throw up as she choked on her own words. "...don't know..." Her eyes were dark, the glow in them fading, as her vision began to swim.
"Mai I don't... I don't understand..." She whimpered shaking her head over and over. "I don't... I don't... I don't..." The vampire began repeating the same thing over and over quietly.
Hearing her words he nods and brought her back into his arms. "I...only found most of this out after the fact, but apparently our mother never technically died..." shaking his head, "...at least not when we thought she had." Their closeness was starting to get at him, he wanted to bite her, and it reminded him of all those years ago, probably because it was a very similar situation and he was getting hungrier by the minute. "She was in a death-like coma, her life signs were essentially gone, so well...they wrote it off and buried her. Turns out she was excavated awhile back by some being named Ioi. He...changed her, brought her back, so to speak." He shook his head, stroking her hair comfortingly, knowing how crazy this must've sounded.
He really wished that they hadn't been separated....
Little Kasio's breathing calmed somewhat as her brother told her the story the way he knew it. She clung to him tighter, tears brimming at the edges of her eyes. "So, she's gone?" She paused, fighting the urge to look up at him, her voice as steady as it was going to get in her mindset. "For real this time..?"
"How.. how did you even find out about her?" This time, she couldn't keep herself from looking at him, tears streaming down her face. Tears of confusion, pain, and anger. Her emotions were beyond anything she'd ever felt before. Even when she was with Szayeis.
It was obvious the girl was having a mental break down. Think she'd know how to deal with them by now. What was she supposed to do though? Act like nothing ever fazed her? She'd tried that once. All it did was earn her scars.
Looking at her only briefly before his eyes became distant, looking over her as if into the past. Recalling what had happened he spoke. "Soon after Szayeis...took you, she visited, I suppose you could say," he sighed deeply before continuing. "I trained with her for a year, in an attempt to get strong enough to rescue you from Szayeis' clutches. When we tried we failed and so I went to Solus. I don't know what happened to her after that, but evidently nothing good." He shook his head and clutched at her a bit, "I'm so sorry..." he murmured, feeling almost as much at a loss as she did, but for totally different reasons.
Aeris listened quietly, looking away from him to the ground. She smiled sadly. He'd gotten to meet with her. To be with her. That must've made him happy. It was the only thought that managed to make sense in her skull.
When she heard him say he had tried to save her, she gripped his shirt tighter. He wouldn't have liked the result of that if he had managed it.
After a year of being with Szayeis, she had become completely enthralled with the demon. She wouldn't have left. Even if she, deep down, had wanted to.
Noting her reaction he sighed lightly and laid against the fence, which encircled the top of the building, making sure that anyone attempting to commit suicide would have plenty of trouble climbing the fence. He knew that was what it was for, safety, so no one accidentally fall off, and safety so anyone trying to do such would have a hell of a hard time with it. At the moment though, he was just grateful that it was there for him to lean on as she clung to him. It reminded him of all the times he had protected her back then, when they'd still been young, not that much appeared to have changed on the surface.
They looked the same...and they would continue to look the same until the day they died. For some reason that didn't sit right with him, but he said nothing on that. So they sat there, her in his lap, crying, shaking, and trying to regain herself, and him, leaned against the fence, withholding his intense hunger, and trying not to wallow in his own self pity. He was done with all that.
He was strong now...or so he'd thought. Maybe it was time to reevaluate.
As Mai leaned back, Aeris sat up so that she wasn't basically laying on his chest. Her head still lowered, hands between her thighs, she stared at the ground. She wiped her tears away with her sleeve trying to steel herself so she could look at him. She wanted to tell him what had happened to her, she wanted to be able to lean on him like she had 200 years ago.
But she couldn't. It wasn't fair to do that to him. If she told him now there was no telling what he would do, and she didn't know if she could handle it if he left her again.
The doll's mouth opened, fangs showing as she tried to speak, only to close it again. "Thank you." She finally spoke after a moment, her voice barely audible to human ears, though he likely would have heard it perfectly.
"I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble, big brother." Her voice was still low, but it had changed. It was like she was the Aeris from 200 years ago again. The girl who could do nothing to help her brother with his turmoil, and only seemed to make things worse. The girl who simply wanted the only family she had left to be happy. To be free.
A weak smile crossed his lips as she said those words. "No," he shook his head, "Thank you for not giving up...like I did." He sighed deeply, his eyes closing before he opened them again and looked at her. "Aeris..." he said, a long pause between his words, "...what happened to us?" There was a sad...confused look on his features as he questioned her. He didn't entirely expect an answer, but he had asked anyways, because someone ought to, right?
Aeris smiled softly at Mairyell as he spoke, her eyes a dark almost purple blue. "I don't know what you thought happened to me brother, but it's to be expected. The only reason I didn't give up was because I knew you would never let yourself die." She shook her head, "You've always been a protector. As long as there are people who're in need, I know you'll stay alive." She spoke softly, but with confidence.
The faith she had in her brother was absolute.
When he said her name, her eyes brightened a little. Then he finished his sentence. Her head shook, but the smile on her face remained. "I don't know, Mai.. I wish I did."
"Y'know as much as I'd love to tear his guts out, Szayeis did me a favor," she murmured timidly. "He gave me the one thing I needed to be able to see you again."
His eyes, having appeared sad despite his slight smile, brightened a bit and he even felt tears build up slightly before he embraced her again, this time more tightly before speaking. "Well...I'm glad you're back, and I guess I have to agree with you on that." He drew away after a few moments, scooting closer to the fence before laying against it, this time his back a bit straighter as he gazed up at the sky. "This is a harsh world," he said somewhat absentmindedly, somewhat distracting himself. He knew that someday soon he'd have to face whatever Szayeis had done to his sister other than turning her, but today was not that day...hopefully. He was tired, and he was hungry, and with that in mind he finally stood up and offered her his hand. "I may not like it, but I need to hunt, sis. You know what I am...I know what you are, and now that we know eachother's scent it'll be hard for us to lose one another again." He smirked a bit, feeling just a tad more confident about this all.
He didn't even want to think about who that man had been, not now at least. Perhaps he'd ask Solus later. He wished he could have stayed to hear his mother out, but she was dead...Aeris was more important. She was the last family he had, and he was sure mom would understand.
The vampire smiled when Mairyell hugged her, gratefully hugging him back. She nudged him a little with her cheek as he let go, her eyes brightening to their glowing blue once more. This time, however, they were sharper. She listened intently as he spoke, taking his hand gently. "Mhm." She murmured softly, looking at him a bit embarrassed.
Shadows began to coalesce on Little Kasio's back, forming her wings. She looked away a bit, almost ashamed of them in the presence of her brother. "Hey... Mai?"
"I love you."
Smiling a bit wider, he reached over with his free hand and ruffled her hair after her wings had extended. "I...I love you too, sis," he said, light entering his eyes a bit more before he glanced at the horizon, his own blood red wings forming behind him, dwarfing her's in their size, while he sniffed out their breakfast. "By the way..." he said, stopping a moment when he located what he was searching for, "...race ya!" He then let go of her hand and bound into the air, his wings sending a rush of air down at her, dust eddies rolling across the cement roof around her.
When Mai ruffled her hair, Aeris laughed nuzzling him.
As soon as her brother took off, Aeris was right on his heels, her wings pushing her right up to his side. She leaned so that she was horizontal, and grinned. She wasn't even using her levitation to increase her speed yet.
"What was that?" She said, her smile widening, a giggle escaping her mouth.
Glancing at her, he smirked and the shape of his wings changed drastically, "I said, catch up slow poke!" He then burst forwards, his wings moving in a blur as he also moved upwards and downwards as if he were a dolphin treating water. He was using the motion to speed himself up further, though he was nearly at max speed in this state so if she could go faster than this then he might be in a tad of trouble. He had to admit that this wasn't so bad...maybe he could get used to it.
As her brother sped up, the grin on her face widened. Brother's got some tricks! she thought laughing as she used her levitation to speed herself up to his side. "Hi there! How's being a flying fish?" She laughed, flipping twice in the air.
As they flew Aeris made sure not to completely pass her brother, because he actually knew where he was going, and she didn't. Absently she wondered if she would need to use her trick in order to feed.
Mairyell rolled his eyes, "Well it's damned useful for chasing down particularly pesky demons. I can't levitate like you, Ms. fancy pants," he stuck his tongue out at her before his eye twitched and he glanced down and in front of them several blocks. "This way," he suddenly swerved to the left and under her, diving down towards a building, his wings altering their shape slightly as he did so. They became totally silent, like owl wings, and then he pulled up, landing on the top of a small flat with silent feet. When she landed he'd speak to her plainly, but with slightly muffled volume. "There is a small group of demons down there, planning a robbery. I heard them from up there, this way we won't get any trouble for dealing with them," he said with a slight smirk.
He had become particularly good at finding prey that was criminal in nature. In fact, it even sounded like some of them were Renegades in training and this was their first assignment. Apparently to gather money for something bigger, but who knew...and who cared?
Aeris giggled again, gliding into the turn as her brother instructed her to follow. Discarding her own wings when Mai's changed again, the vampiress levitated in the air next to him, walking cautiously when he landed.
Her smile ever present as he told her what was going on, she silently nodded, putting a finger to her lips. There was evident focus on her face as she closed her eyes, her Brisn intensifying slowly, painfully until her essence showed her as almost completely human.
This hurt. Like hell. She was being seared from the inside out, but it seemed to be working as she heard the renegades start to talk about something above their flat. She smiled, the blue of her eyes so bright it was almost white. As if she were blind.
They're coming. She wrote in the air with Brisn, the only thing she could use right now, trying to keep her pain from being visible.
Nodding, Mairyell waited, using his sense of smell to track their location mentally till he knew they were ascending through the building's interior. He pointed at the door, gesturing before he took flight, silently mind you, and flew over the other half of the roof, where they would be unable to see him once they came out from the door, whereas Aeris would be in plain sight. He figured she had learned a thing or two from Szayeis, her essence certainly felt much stronger than when he had last seen her.
In this harsh world you either learned to protect yourself, or you were snuffed out or made someone else's toy. There was little in between, at least in Mairyell's opinion.
Aeris turned to face the demons as they exited the stairwell, her head tilting. "Who's there?" She questioned, as if she couldn't see them. Her body moved slowly forward, arm outstretched, she waited for them to surround her. "Hello?" She questioned again, her voice raised, "Is anyone there?" She stopped moving, dropping her arm to her side.
When they had encapsulated her, she closed her eyes again, a flaming dome of Brisn shooting up around her, trapping two of the demons inside with her.
She grinned.
The other four demons, immediately realizing the trap, retreated away from the hostile dome and either drew weapons or shifted into their demonic forms. Mairyell, from above and behind them, smirked as several portions of his wings liquefied and then solidified into hardened scales. With a single flap of his wings roughly twenty of the blood scales were hurled towards the demons.
Three of them whirled around and dodged, but one was caught totally unawares, his hearing not all that great, and thus was impaled with several of the scales. He tried to pull at them only to be burned as they liquefied and entered his blood stream, at which point he began to scream. In moments he was on the ground, frothing at the mouth and coughing up blood, his body seizing violently. Mairyell smiled at the other three, "If you stand down this will be far less painful~"
Aeris stared at the two demons trapped in the sphere of flaming Brisn. One of them, not understanding their position transformed into his demon state and tried to pass through the blue fire. He let out a gut wrenching scream as he was incinerated. His friend, however, locked eyes with Aeris and lunged.
Big mistake.
When the demon was a foot or two away, his shadow cast over the vampire, and she smiled softly as his own shadow turned against him. His scream echoed inside the dome as she brought him to his knees. "Shhh..." She whispered in his ear, a gentle smile on her lips. "It'll be all right, I promise~"
With her last word spoken, her fangs became visible, and she dug in.
Mairyell, not paying attention to his sister for the most part, watched as one of the demons took to the air and whipped at him with its tail, which he caught, spinning his body and slamming the demon into his ally who had lunged into the air in hopes of catching him when he was distracted. Both of them were promptly sent into the cement of the roof. The last of them ran for the door, only to find several hardened blood scales in his back, which quickly took care of him. The ones he'd thrown would feel a burning on their flesh as the blood he'd slithered onto them spread, made a wound, and then entered their bodies. After several moments of writhing all four of them were incapacitated. He motioned at them and then clasped his fingers almost shut and pulled towards himself.
His blood having bonded with theirs, he pulled it from their mouths and up towards him, leaving their dried up husks on the roof as he absorbed the sustenance through his skin. He could still taste the essence though, for as it flowed into his blood core he shivered and sighed with relief.
He was full again, and that was a good feeling.
Drifting to the ground, his wings folding into his back as he touched down, Mairyell approached the edge of the Brisn dome and then waited. "Well, that was quite enjoyable," he said as the last of the demons came from the door. He was immediately snared by tendrils of blue blood --blood which was infused with his Brisn. Oddly the brisn did not burn the demon, nor did Mairyell's blood. "You are going to profess for the crimes your fallen brethren committed," Mairyell said, looking at the demon and smiling. "The hell I am, surface scum!" Mairyell chuckled at the demon's retort and walked over to him, forming a claw on one of his fingers.
The demon glanced back and forth between his face and the claw before the vampire was uncomfortably close to him. "Hehe, you seem to think that was a request," Mairyell stabbed the claw straight into the demon's right arm, injected some of his blood, and then withdrew it, the wound sealing up moments afterwards. The demon writhed a bit, struggling against the blood tendrils while Mairyell smiled and nodded. "So this is the deal. You do as I said, or I don't stop that blood from slowly dissolving you atom by delicious atom~" The demon nodded vigorously and so Mairyell let him go, the blood tendrils flowing back to him and vanishing beneath his clothes where he absorbed them. "Oh, and if you were wondering, bub, I can do it long range. There's no where you can run to hide from me either. After all, I can smell your essence a continent away."
Recognition spread across the demon's face. "B-blood hound..." Mairyell sneered, "Sanguine. Mairyell. Get it right." He flicked the demon in the center of his forehead and then turned away from him, walking towards Aeris. As he approached her, his demeanor shifted a bit and his essence calmed down. "So question is, are you coming with me to find Zi?"
Aeris' Brisn dome dropped from around her, her shadows releasing the dust they held. There was a small droplet of blood that fell from her lip, and she wiped it away quickly as Mairyell walked over to her. Her eyes fell on the demon that he had been talking to, and she smiled sweetly at it, before looking back at her brother. "Blood hound? I don't think I've ever heard someone refer to you as that before. S'lame nickname anyway." She spoke calmly, her eyes back to their vivid blue.
Little Kasio checked her phone and cursed a bit, "I have to get to the Academy, I'm pretty sure I've already missed the entrance ceremony, but I might still be able to make it, if I'm lucky." With that her wings had reformed, and she was half way into the air before she looked at Mai again, "Bro, catch up to me later, yeah?" She called to him happily, "We're staying in touch this time!" And with that, she was off, as fast as she could toward Master Melody's.
It was time to meet Hazumi, again.
Smiling and nodding in response, Mairyell glanced in another direction and closed his eyes. After several moments he detected what he was looking for. It was and was not similar to Hazumi's essence. He'd heard of this Zi before and he'd smelled a few people who had met her. There had been traces of her essence on them, and that had been enough. As such, he took off, turning in a different direction than his sister and departing.
It seemed they each had their own missions and he was okay with that.
GM
Wind Wild A sprinkle of Weird
Member
Seen
1 yr ago
After the initial shock Zi groaned. Applying some pressure on Emmet’s chest to try and push him away half-heartedly. She felt annoyed and embarrassed at her carelessness and still couldn't help be flatteted and glad at the young man's closeness. It only annoyed her further and made her push him a bit harder. She couldn't meet his eyes or she didn't know what would happen.
"Why do you let him handle it, I could have! Why do you want to be dependent on him so badly?" She asked, irritation clear in her voice. The words All you need is me formed at the tip of her tongue but she bit them off before they escaped her lips. That was taking it too far. Surely it was the remains of Hazumi’s old feelings in her soul that sprouted such nonsense. She had no reason to feel such a bond to Emmet. If so, then what else in her soul didn't belong to her? Her desire to jump off he roof and pull the sniper's arms off? Her hatred for Juan? Was her affection to Emmet even real?
Her body stilled and her attempts.to push him away even further ceased. Fear reached for her throat and gripped it tight. Suddenly she felt lost, suffocated in a body that didn't belong to her, stuck with fragments of a soul that weren't hers, unsure of who she even was. In an attempt to steady herself she looked up to Emmet’s eyes, looking for answers.
As he opened his mouth to speak she got scared he would say something wrong... so she pulled him close and buried her face in his chest, using the sound of his heartbeat to lead her to calmness.
"I'm sorry. Some thing's wrong with me today. Thank you."
Was she hit?
It was a thought he couldn’t help but think. Like a serpent withering within his head, it sank its fangs deep into his heart and coiled it into a tight squeeze. He felt it constrict and become heavy as his eyes snapped downward. Zi was still pressed against his body despite her attempts to push him away, unwilling to remove himself until he knew enough time had passed for the sniper to be long gone. Or dead. Either way didn’t matter much to him because his shoulder felt like hell had sting him, the pain once dulled was inflamed slightly by Zi’s resistance.
He was relieved at seeing her alright. At least until she snapped at him with high frustration in her voice, mentioning Juan and his dependence on the demon. It caught him off guard for a moment as Emmet’s expression melted from panic to confusion. Where the hell did this come from?
He blinked at her words, partly trying to absorb her meaning and understand her sour mood. He could almost taste her frustration, having been there before, while she took her sour mood out on him. His Terra Skin spell was already fading away while his lips pursed in a frown, letting her wrath continue. Slowly, bit by bit, her pushes had stopped and her body calmed yet he was still irked at being blamed for protecting her. Emmet wouldn’t admit her words caused a pain he couldn’t explain. It was if she cut him with an invisible blade and though she couldn’t see the blood, it still bled out and made his body feel like lead. Mostly it was the irritation at being unable to defend himself that angered him the worse. He didn’t give a rat’s ass if Juan was shot. Not like her. A brief flicker of unease erupted, its origins rather sudden and a mystery, when the possibility of Zi being shot came around. It wasn’t something he enjoyed thinking about, let alone could live with. Somehow he had a feeling she wouldn’t accept that for an explanation. nor would it temper her anger very much.
When she finally looked up and into his eyes, Emmet’s mouth began to form the words. Too bad he never got the chance to get them out. Not that they mattered much when he felt her arms reach out and pull him close, the personal space suddenly gone. Emmet’s eyes widened in surprise but he didn’t jerk away though his common sense should’ve known better. Instead, he found himself joining her with his own arms, equally held closely by him and a willing prisoner against her changing whims. It wasn’t hard to see how her body fit to his own so damn perfectly. Every place where they touched made his skin twitch and blood hotter than before, his heart threatened to roar into higher gear without permission. In miraculous effort, his heart had kept a slow and steady pace within his chest instead of the marathon it wanted so badly.
He inwardly sighed, wondering why women were so complicated. One moment she was irritated with him and now she was apologetic over a few harsh words, thanking him for saving her. For a second he thought himself mad for enjoying this.
Emmet’s eyes darted to the floor where he noticed the bullet, the end now flattened, had fallen near his bare foot. Thankfully he was saved from enduring another hole today. Being a saint was something he really hated, followed in a close second by farther bed rest. No point in finishing his earlier thoughts, Emmet just rested his chin upon Zi’s head, his nose inhaled her scent deeply. Emmet lingered a bit longer before he spoke, softly.
“Personally, I think it’s about time someone got a piece of his ass for a change. I don’t give a rat’s ass if he’s shot or hurt. You on the other hand…” Matter more. Emmet’s mind finished the sentence’s words that vanished in his trail off.
Inwardly he was slightly worried she would pull away if he said them out loud. Unlike some of the women he had been with in the past, Emmet couldn’t read Zi as easily and that fact alone both scared and excited him. Personally, he knew he had the better deal to just stand here with her than chasing some bastard on a roof. In the back of his mind, Emmet knew he shouldn’t let this happen. If Darius discovered he cared about Zi then she would just become another tool to tighten the leash about his neck and the fox would make her suffer for it. After all, unlike his sister, he knew Zi wasn’t exactly fragile. It was a trait he partly wished she didn’t have if just to make Darius think twice about hurting her.
The thought turned his stomach while his throat was made of nothing but solid muscle, thick and sealed tightly until he couldn’t breathe right. Emmet’s body stiffened involuntarily to fight off his fear as he squeezed Zi closer to anchor himself to the present. Not the possible future.
Silently Zi bit her lip and nodded. Feeling guilty and unsure of what to say she just held Emmet and let him hold her in turn. It seemed like to her the assault didn't matter, like all that mattered was his steady heartbeat...
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