[IC] The Dark Carnival

[Minarawr]

Mina opened her eyes and glared at the crow that landed in front of her. The blasted beast annoyed the crap out of her, almost creeping around like this and teasing her. The balls of bone she had made lowered a bit and swirled around her body. 'I'm not a "Sweet Pie", Shadow.' she stated coldly. 'And you can hardly say anybody in this place is human. Mortimer is the least human, just saying.' she stated.
'So what are you doing here anyway.' she said, closing her eyes again and making the balls float higher again.

[Mortimer]

Shadow was about to speak when all of a sudden a shadow appeared behind him and Mortimer stood from it, his massive height towering Mina. The moment Shadow stood on Mortimer shoulder, his personality and mind went back to being the normal and obedient pet who would do anything for its' master. "Mina....Your show will start in about half an hour. Since you are one of our newest...workers...here, I must ask you...are you enjoying this place?" Shadow asked. Mortimer glared at the gorgeous and really beautiful girl through his glasses, knowing never on earth would he have a chance with such a celestial being.

[Minarawr]

Mina glanced at the shadow, a cold feeling washing over her and announcing Mortimer's arrival. She got on her feet as he, through Shadow, announced her show would start in half an hour. She "called" her bones back and they slipped back into her skin, vanishing into her existing bones. 'As far as the situation allows me to enjoy a carnival, I am enjoying this place.' she stated, after weighing her thoughts a bit.
'The performances are fun to do, that is something I have to admit. I just don't seem to fit in with everybody here.' she stated. Mortimer probably knew what she meant by that. Her fellow artists weren't exactly the best people to hang out with.

[Mortimer]

Mortimer nodded. It good to have people enjoying the actual Carnival itself, and not just feeling like prisoners because they owe Hag for the wish they asked for. When he spoke about not fitting with the others, he shook his head and for the first time he spoke. His voice was really shy and stuttering. (If you want to hear the voice, I'll leave a video in the OOC). "I...I understand so, Ms. Mina. I understand...how y-you feel a-about it. It's wierd...to i-interact with others when they scared of you to death. I...I am n-not necessary e-evil...I just do my master's bidding...which is to protect the Carnival...and make it a b-better place." Slowly, Mortimer turned around and walked to the exit, not wanting to bother her anymore. Shadow was speaking this time, and Mina had been the first and only person, with the exception of his best friend Hag to hear his own voice. "Remember about your show in half an hour."

[Minarawr]

Mina looked up again, this time with a surprised look on her face, when instead of Shadow's usual, taunting voice she heard a shy stutter next to her. Mortimer's voice was one she had never heard before. It seemed nobody had heard it before, actually. She suddenly felt a whole lot less cold around Mortimer, now that his frightening demeanor was lessened by having a voice to place by his appearance.
'Eh.., yes, yes sir.' she stated, trying to regain her composer after that development. She made her way to her trailer and started to get changed into her show-clothes.

[Mortimer]

Mortimer nodded and looked at the gorgeous knife thrower just one last time. Her beauty reminded him of her deceased wife, but not in a sad way. In fact, he was atonished she could be so gorgeous. He quickly shook it off his head and disappeared in a shadow out of sight. Mortimer wasn't evil at all, his intimating looks and powers made him look like a frightening monster, but he was simply obeying what his boss had charged him to do.

[Myst]

Every word he spoke was like a slap. Then he left her in the darkness, in the silence.
The silence was deafening.
Covering her ears she rocked back and forth. Sobs echoed from her. She clenched her teeth against the hunger.
She refused to feed on souls. She would not be a monster.
Finally, with a scream of frustration, she could handle it no longer. She needed to feed.

Outside there were people wandering around the carnival. So many people. The souls called to her. Esme hid inside one of the tents away from the people and the temptation.
Tears and sobs came from her broken heart. Not only had he killed her, her brother had turned her into a monster.
"Hello?" a male voice called. It was a young man coming in her direction. Her tears were drawing him in. "Is someone there? Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"No..." she whispered. "Don't come..."
"Are you alright?" the voice was closer.
"Go away... please... go away..."
A light shined on her. A young man stood there. "Miss? What is wrong?"
"Please," Esme begged, pleading through her sobs. "Go away."
"Let me help you," he said, coming closer and reaching a hand towards her.
"No!" she screamed but it was too late. The hunger took over. She couldn't stop herself. She grabbed his face and started inhaling. The young man gasped and choked as the beautiful ghost sucked his soul from his body. He turned grey, then white, his skin became cold and brittle, his cheeks sinking in, his eyes rolling back in his head.
When she finally released him his corpse fell backwards, landing like an empty corn husk on the ground.
Esme fell back onto the ground, scooting back away from the body. Tucked back behind a pile of thick rope and supplies, Esme covered her mouth to attempt to stifle her sobs.

[Mortimer]

Mortimer could sense the feeling of someoen dying around, and so he went to the tetn Esme was being fed from the human. He watched everything, he watched how his friend had turned his sister into a monster. The one sister that had given everything to meet her brother. Mortimer stepped inside and looked at the body. He raised his hand and the body was sucked into a shadow and down into the earth. "Killing people like that is wrong, Esme. You shouldn't do it like that. But given you have been recently transformed, I don't doubt you are still feeling hungry. You want to come with us so we can give you more souls?" Shadow asked and extended his wings, then cawed (yes, that's the definition of the sound Crows make), waiting for an answer.

[Myst]

Esme looked up to see the tall man with the crow. Her body waved from very transparent to barely transparent.
"I didn't mean to," she sobbed, fresh tears coming. "I told him to stay away. I told him..." she wrapped her arms around her legs. "I don't want to be like this. I hate this. I hate it! I'm a monster and he doesn't care! He doesn't even know my name! He didn't even ask!"
She struggled to contain her tears, to stop crying. If only the pain would stop...
"It hurts," she told him, her voice calmer now but still shaking. Her hands pressed against her chest. "It hurts. I'm a ghost. Why does it hurt?"

It took her a few more minutes to get to her feet, still shaking. "What do I do? Please, tell me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do."
Esme felt lost. All of her focus had been on finding her brother and now that she had... she didn't know what to do next. It was obvious her brother didn't care enough to guide her in this new life he had condemned her to.
Well, afterlife...

[Mortimer]

Mortimer looked at her and a shadow engulfed them, making them disappear and reappear back again in Hag's office, with Hag facing the window in front of her. Mortimer and Shadow where nowhere to be found now, though. "I'm...I'm...sorry....sister. I never meant to cause...you...any pain. Even though...the words I speak may sound fake, and my proves it of course...I'm really saying it to you. I am really sorry for having done this to you, but you have to understand, sis. I did this for you own...good. I don't want anyone out there to touch my precious and beautiful sister. I don't want anyone to hurt you or even lay a hand on your delicate skin. I...sister...Before I even take a bigger step forward...may I ask what your name is?" The way he spoke was so elegant and formal, not mad at all, and it could be seen when he removed his mask and looked at her. His daggers where now behind his back, on his hips. He was going to help her with everything he had, mostly...because he had a forbidden crush on her.

[Minarawr]

Mina reached her trailer, slipping inside. She felt a bit better about being here now, even if it was a little bit. Not everybody was as disturbing as she thought and even better; one of the people she found most disturbing turned out to be quite nice.
She quickly got dressed in a tight black set of pants with a matching corset and high heeled boots. She slipped her tail through a hole in the back of her pants and flicked it a bit. She liked doing her show, even though she was new at it. People often saw it as an illusionists show as well as knife throwing. Her tail was part of the illusion, people always thought it was some kind of trick or plastic tail. The moves she performed, like making her knives float around her, also made it look like some kind of magic show. People seemed to enjoy it a lot and that made her feel better about being here. She prepared her knives and put on some make-up before walking out of her trailer and towards the ring.

[Myst]

Esme couldn't believe her ears. What had happened to make him change so abruptly? His mask was gone and she could see his actual face.
"But you said," she started and her voice cracked a little, so she cleared her throat to try again. "You said that you didn't care about anyone but you. You killed me. Crushed my heart without a second thought. How am I supposed to believe you now?"
She looked away, wishing desperately that he wasn't lying. If she let him in and he broke her heart again, she might not survive it.
He asked her name. She supposed he needed to know that much.
"Esmeralda," she answered in a low voice. "It means Emerald. Some have called me Esme for short. What is your name... brother?" she ventured tentatively, like an animal that had been hit and was afraid of being hit again. If he suddenly had a mood swing and reverted back to his bastard self she didn't want to be within striking range.
"Did you know about me at all?" she asked minutes later. "I only learned of you five months ago. I have been trying to find you ever since."

[Mortimer]

Hag looked away angrily and sighed. He was angry at himself. "I know what I said...you know much anger..fury...deception...despair have I accumulated through these years? They split you from me long time ago. Almost 20 years. And I bet you don't remember me. They didn't want me near you because I was a bad influence. I was always interested in the black arts, and I was an evil person. When they took away the person I cherished the most...I broke down. And that is why I killed you. I had a mixture of feelings, and I didn't want you to age and turn old. I want you to stay the same forever, with me. By my side." His words were absolutely sincere, and his eyes were watering a bit, and that's when he put his mask back on.

"Hag's the name. Hagger is the full one. 20 years is a long time to remember a name I heard once in my life. I used to call you 'sis' like most brothers do. Now...please, give me your hand," he told her and extended his right hand, which was covered with his gloves and a golden ring with an odd and trasparent red ruby that seemed to have a small universe inside it. He just hoped she trusted him.

[Myst]

Bad influence? That made Esme want to laugh. She actually smiled faintly for the first time since she'd arrived.
"It didn't do any good," she told him. "I grew up following and practicing dark magic. They tried to stop me, to change me, but I fought back."
She listened to his reasons for killing her, but didn't understand. "But... if I will not age anymore, what about you? Do I have to watch you die?" she asked. If he truly did care about her, if she drew close to him, how would she endure seeing him grow old and die.
He offered her his hand. If she was a ghost, could she touch him? She had touched the man she had killed, but she had been unable to control herself.
Hesitantly briefly, she slowly reached out and took his hand, expecting her hand to go through his.
But it didn't. His hand felt solid in her own. Once she came into contact with him her transparency disappeared and she was whole again. She gasped and looked at him in surprise. She let go and became transparent again. She took his hand once more, looking at him and squeezing tight.
"Brother..." she whispered, emotion overtaking her once again but this time happiness. "Brother!" she exclaimed and did what she had been longing for for so long. She hugged him tightly.
"I.. I killed someone," she confided in him. "I didn't mean to. I couldn't control myself. Please, please help me."

[Mortimer]

Hag looked at her as she tried to touch his hand. It seemed like she was having lots of problems controlling herself, but when he felt her hand, he also smiled. It was amazing to feel the one person he had met years ago was now a mature girl who was touching him. But then she hugged him and he lost it. He hugged her back and laid his head on her shoulder for an instant before looking back up at her. He lifted his mask a bit and inhaled deeply, then kissed her lips with so much love and emotion one could not describe. They could feel the love, the intense love he felt for her and how much he cared for her. After a few seconds, he pulled back and put his mask back on. "I love you, sis. I've always loved you. I didn't recognize you when I saw you...so the wish you made has been the most important one in my life." Then, he thought about what she said about having killed a man. "The reason I asked for your hand was this..." He took her hand and put the same ring he had, but in a purple colour. "This rings contain an unlimited ammount of souls. They are tortured souls, rings haunted and cursed by Mortimer himself to give him, me and you inmortal life and not having to feed on souls the whole time. That's why I can't age...but nevertheless, it's like I'm dead."

[Minarawr]

Mina locked her trailer while tying her hair up in a high ponytail. Her hair was so long that it still reached her hips, even when she tied it up. Some gentle strings of hair fell along the sides of her face, too short to tie up.
On her way to the show she suddenly spotted Mortimer again. She paused a bit, thinking, before walking over to the man and his crow. 'Ehm, Mortimer?' she asked, tapping him on the shoulder lightly, her tail flicking a bit.
'Would you like to come watch my show?' she asked, her voice a bit soft. Despite the fact she didn't find him as frightening as before, he was still quite intimidating.

[Mortimer]

Mortimer turned around only to find the gorgeous worker she had seen before. It was none other than the wonderful Mina. "Yes, I would love to witness your marvelous acting in your show," Shadow spoke for Mortimer, who was still really shy to speak with his actual voice to the one girl he thought was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. "I am quite sure I will not waste my time seeing such a talented girl throwing his knives...then you can have a feast on those souls watching you..." Shadow added before cowing and moving his wings.

[Minarawr]

Mina smiled as Mortimer wanted to come watch her show. 'Well, I wouldn't say marvelous. I haven't been doing it for so long, so it can always be improved.' she said.
She shrugged a bit at the mention of souls, though she had to admit she was already working up an appetite. She looked at the tent before smiling again. 'Well I have to go to the ring. I'll see you in the crowd somewhere.' she said, waving and making her way over quickly.

[Mortimer]

Mortimer nodded and walked to the where the crowd was slowly starting to fill the place. He managed to find a seat by the middle, but his crow, his huge top hat and his height made him the most evident guest in the public. People looked at him and then looked back at the stage, waiting for Mina's acting. Mortimer couldn't wait to watch her perform.

[Casterlyrock]

Kodama put chance down from his back and nodded "you heard the lady you will all get to see my snake" kodama closed his eyes the crowd watching when the skin around his snake tattoo cracked and split a red and black cobra rose from his shoulder blade and coiled around his arm as it slithered out of his skin

"Woah what a rush, ladies and gentlemen I give you my sinister snake" the crowd as impressed clapping as they watched the snake bite and coil around kodama arm drawing blood the clapps died and people started to get freaked out "who wants to touch him....don't worry he won't bite" kodama laughed watching his own blood drip from the snakes mouth