Prima Luce

Trios

@Hokum

This is the master bedroom. The room is a basic design with a wardrobe and chair to the right of the room. The rasher of bacon remains in the air to the left of the room, bobbing in front of a polished timber dresser. There is a window between the dresser and a neatly made bed at the center of the room. The shutters on the window are open to let in the light and a fresh breeze that circulates the room. The dresser supports a mirror, which is no doubt an unlikely luxury for those living in the eastern district of Trios, or anyone in this era. Nevertheless… the mirror is there and a great deal of corrosion about its perimeter depicts its age.

The rasher appears to be waiting for Boris to advance yet again.

Trios

@Hokum

Boris isn’t fast enough. The rasher narrowly escapes his grasp. It speeds off quickly and stops outside the closed door of a bedroom at the end of the hallway. There, it remains suspended in the air while the doorknob seems to turn of its own volition. The door to the bedroom creaks open and the bacon enters.

Trios

@Hokum

The bacon rasher does not answer Boris. It continues to bob in the air, now leaving the lounge room via the far exit. It proceeds through the vestibule past the front door and up the stairwell. Before going farther, it awaits Boris at the landing of the first floor.

Diddly Do

@Dartbored Fairy@Hokum

Pirila continues to lead Mili through the passage. They make haste until arriving at a small open cavern. This is where they stop. Pirila appears agitated for only a short instant while releasing Mili’s hand. She crouches before the child and looks her over as any doting caregiver would do.

"You're safe. Help will be arriving soon."

It is however then that Pirila’s eyes fall upon the wound in Mili’s abdomen. Pirila uses one finger to wipe blood from the edge of the wound. She licks the blood from her finger and releases a soft, gratified moan. She then takes Mili by one shoulder, gently, drawing her face close to the child’s and smiles warmly. There is an… unusual desire clearly present in her stare.

“Did I ever tell you how good you taste?”

Before Mili can react to the understanding that something is oddly out of place, Pirila strikes her at the back of her jaw. The flanking blow of Pirila’s fist would be unexpected, fast, and hard enough to render Mili unconscious.

---

The DGS is in orbit. Their scans of the area detect not only the Bio Signatures of Mili and her abductor beneath the surface of the planet, but also the arrival of another vessel. This vessel also establishes orbit 5000 kilometers away from The DGS. If the DGS is advanced as the Quatis would hope to be, its systems too will register as being scanned.

The DGS receives a message from the other vessel. The message is short. If the crew of the DGS opens their audio to hear it, they will discover the message is spoken by a masculine voice. This person sounds to be advancing in years. His message may be considered ambiguous.

"Mine."

Trios

@Hokum

It is while Boris is eating that a low feminine sigh is heard. Perhaps it can be identified as a young girl sounding annoyed, impatient in her wait. Though the sigh is not loud, it does cause the table Boris is feasting at to tremble. Many of the dishes in the cupboard clatter as they too are effected by the sound. However, it is not until Boris is drawing close to completing his feast that his final rasher of bacon lifts from his plate. It proceeds to float away from him before he has a chance to snatch it back.

The rasher stops in the threshold that leads to the lounge room, bobbing gently in the air as to entice Boris to follow. It continues on, jiggling like a fishing lure and entering the lounge room.

Trios

@Hokum

No sooner did Boris display his fine art, did the woman react, yet not in the way this simpleton of a meathead mind might have expected –

With a sudden jolt, the woman is taken. She is launched across the room backwards at incredible speed and pinned to the wall. There, with her feet no longer touching the ground, her neck appears to be crushed by an unseen hand while her eyeballs bulge, her face turns blue, and blood spills from her eyes, her nose and ears.

After the wait of a shocking moment, the woman’s abdomen then peels open as if done so by a knife that cannot be seen either. Her intestines are pulled forth by an invisible hand. Once disemboweled, the intestines are severed. The end of one section of the intestinal length is then raised and made to write on the wall beside her. These are the bloody words that are written:

relax
let us play
with you

The dead woman and her intestines are then released from bondage and dropped to the floor in a heap.

Boris will need to forgo his breakfast. Perhaps he should learn to read the bloody writing on the wall.

Diddly Do

@Oh no my soup

With a look of nostalgia that would not be viewed while Gillian’s attention is focused elsewhere, Cain replies solemnly.

"Impulsive… No. Hurried… Yes.” Perhaps he was impressed by Gillian’s lack of panic in the face of his power, and therefore wished to share details of his life with her. Probably not. But perhaps he felt obligated to reply, which is also doubtful. Or, perhaps and most likely, he simply cherishes this rare moment wherein someone was willing to listen.

"I have a date...” He tells her, walking towards the wall size window as it inexplicably opens for him, “…with death.”

Stopping at the threshold, Cain moves his eyes to Gillian who can now see him with a turn of her own eyes if she wishes.

He speaks yet again in a voice cryptic as the words that are chosen: “Your son. He knows your love…. So it is with mankind.”

---

@Dartbored Fairy

It is a surprise to Dnias, how this youth can manage to think of the perfect means by which to attempt an escape. He is quickly irate.

Mili will no doubt take the nearest passage out from the cave. This passage is a natural formation that shows the underground cavity’s age. Colloid mineral formations make the floor of the passage not easy to navigate. Stone-like Stalactite’s hang from the roof. In her hasty escape, Mili can hear the sound of crumbling stone behind her, undoubtedly the noise derived from Dnias obliterating the stone monster she had summoned. The sound of fizzling is also heard, that pertaining to the destruction of the fire entities she had also summoned.

Nevertheless, in the wake made of silence, she will not hear Dnias in pursuit. This may fill Mili with a sense of relief. But… had she in fact managed to escape? Was there something she did not count on? Why wasn’t he chasing her? Is there something he knew that she didn’t? Was she simply just heading for greater danger? Danger even he did not wish to face, perhaps? This is an unknown world, after all. These questions would have been natural for any person in her position to consider. All she had now was hope….

It was a hope fulfilled. Up ahead she sees Pirila. Her beloved friend and guardian. The sight of her will, without doubt in Mili’s frantic frame of mind, fill her with a sense relief and salvation. She can see Pirila’s face: What is first an expression of angst desperation and despair, is suddenly overcome with overwhelming relief when she lays her eyes upon Mili.

Calling out in relieved joy, Pirila rushes toward the beloved child with arms outstretched. She clearly cannot wait to arrive, each fraction of a second in anticipation of embrace is expressed with an agonizing longing to once again hold her friend in her arms.

At last, if only after seconds, she embraces Mili, coveting the child in her arms as tears of joy stream down her face.

“I have found you!” She claims, her voice assured, warm and soothing. “I was so worried….” After a moment she releases Mili from her embrace and takes her by the hand to lead her farther down the Passage.

“Come,” She tells her, "I’ve brought some friends. They are waiting for us up ahead. They will take us to safety.”

Diddly Do

@Dartbored Fairy

Dnias was mildly surprised and presented curiosity with an angling of his head when Mili screamed. At that time he attempted to subdue her with a telepathic connection. This subliminal connection is designed to calm a person by way of manipulating dopamine levels and the production of specific peptides in the brain. A procedure that is normally effective unless applied to a person with advanced forms of Telesthesia, Telegnosis, Psychokinetic, or… psychoincarnate abilities. It quickly became clear that this child was gifted with one of these talents, and which one it was became evident in the production of the frail dead that materialized and encroached upon his position.

Dnias is annoyed. He has underestimated his victim. She is not what he thought she was. He wishes only to feast in peace.

Before the dead arrive at his feet he lashes out in rage, slashing the child’s stomach with his knife. Her garment is torn and her stomach has been opened to expose her abdominal lining. As blood spills forth from her wound he turns to his attackers and raises both hands. The knife turns to dust. With a scream of his own the creature’s combust and soon turn to ash.

He turns to the child and pulls back his hood to expose his face. His eyes are dark orbs with a fluid surface like that of black oil.

“Stop!” His deep, gravelly voice is akin to man, yet loud enough to shake the cave, causing dust and fragments of stone to shower down upon them.

---

@Oh no my soup

Cain does not turn to the officers O’Brian. He does not falter, ignoring them. He keeps his attention on Gillian while she assesses the payment rendered, yet he does not have his vessel.

Following several moments of wait, he places one hand upon her desk. From his point of contact, blackened veins spread out like roots of a tree through the very fabric of the material it is made from. Within seconds the desk and all thereon is consumed and turned to dust. All that remains is Gillian, her seat, and the extravagant payment Cain has provided.

“Where is my vessel?”

Diddly Do

@Oh no my soup

Since you put a good deal effort into your post, I feel it may have been a simple oversight on your part, so do not worry. Nevertheless, I thought I should mention your lack of response to my previous post. Was hoping to reply to you and Dartbored Fairy. Will wait a little longer. All good.

Diddly Do

@Oh no my soup

Cain has followed Gillian. He arrives on the opposite side of her desk when she turns to him. He watches her with intense suspicion as she retrieves the catalog from the drawer. He is aware of her deception, it is clear within her eyes, the window to her soul, but does not voice his disapproval for sounding the alarm.

Keeping his eyes fixed on hers, he places his fingertips atop the catalog, caressing it softly in a way that a blind man would read braille. As his hand moves from the catalog to remove a small pouch from his cloak, Cain's pupils dilate while his telepathic response enters Gillian’s mind. The words sound like grating metal piercing her thoughts…

Solon 3000

In the closing of his this act, he drops the small pouch upon her desk. When it lands it spills open, exposing a range of precious, antiquated gold coins. They are undoubtedly of immense value.

“Payment.”

---

@Dartbored Fairy

Was a silent, swift return. Dnias, present once more, focused by the beacon on Mili’s neck, now stands behind Pirila while she strokes the child’s hair.

Such tender, futile love.

There is, however, not a moment to spare. Pirila’s mind is filled with a scream like that of a premonition to Mili’s future pain, yet the child remains on the couch without uttering a word. In the same instant, Pirila is seized from behind and is flung with enormous power across the room. Before Mili is able to react, Dnias is on top of her, shrouding her small body with his. The Vector Pathol on his arm simultaneously expounds a blinding light that envelops the pair, if yet for another instant before they both vanish. All of the above events took place in less than a second. It is over.

Mili has been taken.

---

Mili discovers herself in a cave of an unknown location. The cave is relatively small, damp, and lit by the orange light of crude, freestanding flame torches. Mili is bound and suspended in the air at the center of this cave in a star formation, her arms and legs restrained by rope to the roof and floor. She can view her surroundings. Her one mysterious eye remains covered by a bandage, her normal eye has not been covered.

Dnias is present in this cave and standing before her. He is quiet. He stares at Mili from the depth of his hood. There is a large knife in his right hand.

The marks on Mili’s neck are no longer felt, their effects are dormant for now.