ℂℴvᴇᴎ: hell on vangare ⊰closed ⊱

[Okami Wolfen]

♪ ♫ ♩ ♬ ♭

We were the ones who weren't afraid
We were the broken hearted
We were the scars that wouldn't fade away
How did we let go
how did we forget that we don't have to hide
We won't believe the lies again
We won't be paralyzed

Oº°‘¨ ¨‘°ºO Oº°‘¨ ¨‘°ºO Oº°‘¨ ¨‘°ºO Oº°‘¨ ¨‘°ºO Oº°‘¨ ¨‘°ºO Oº°‘¨ ¨‘°ºO

This was the main reason why Axtin stayed away from the coven's territory. Of course the only one she's ever gone near was Fang but she wasn't a threat to anyone. The only one she looked to kill was with her in the holding cell. All three of them had to give up their weapons, thus that gave away Axtin's job description really. She'd most likely understand if she was the one kept in this filthy place longer with all the sharp dagger, smoke bombs, and garrote on her. This coven probably thought she was after to kill someone residing in it, which wasn't her idea at all. But the three had sat in here quiet for a while till this so called High Priest came down and just started bursting out with questions. Axtin just minded her own business, trying to think of a way to get out of this cage. She'd use her magic, though she assumed they had some type of barrier around the cell to cause them not to use it.

Axtin could hear Gur's and the High Priest's conversation, Gur talking about how something he had held tainted magic inside it. Whatever they talked about the Priest was interested in it for sure, Axtin only cared of getting out. It felt like the walls were closing in on her, she couldn't handle small areas for too long as she got claustrophobic. It wasn't till a unnerving noise that broke her own thoughts as her crystal blue eyes glanced over to Gur and Naito. Something wasn't right for sure, Axtin could feel it deep down to her bones. Whatever Gur had told her about that demon, or whatever it was he called it, on their month of travel to this place; wanted out. "Stop, Naito. You don't know what you're doing." Gur had shouted. The noise stopped now, though Axtin could feel a very dark presence within the immediate area.

Naito's voice had changed, something was definitely not right about him. 'Did this demon Gur talked about, take a hold of Naito. He did say check out my new meat sack.' The raven haired assassin thought to herself. Heavy footsteps came down the stairs and she heard a woman also shout at the High Priest. From the way this woman had approached the High Priest, she assumed she could be the High Priestess of this Coven. The woman was rather beautiful. Her long green hair and her mix-matched eyes. She was the complete opposite of the Priest. His dark hair and scruffy chin. He dressed rather unusual than other people she has meet. He seemed, very formal in his attire much different than that of his "counterpart" as she could say. Axtin didn't exactly know how Coven's worked their rankings. All she knew about was what Seraphina had told her, when she was apart of Granate.

Just then a sickening, ripping sound came through her ears as her eyes glanced at Chi who had also been in this cell. The large woman had been very quiet, Axtin was able to get a bit of strange vibe from her as well. But it seemed to hold mostly anger, it was a unsettling to the archer so she wished Chi was unconscious again. Though, seeing blood spew out of her neck and lower back made Axtin crinkle her nose to the smell of iron. So much came out but what happened next made Axtin jump out of her skin. This entire time the ogre woman had been shouting, though the assassin tried to ignore it. Now she understood why the woman did so, Chi's entire form seemed to change. A hulking six foot being charged at the bars where Naito was standing, now sat on his a** in almost horror at what he was seeing.

Axtin unknowingly pressed herself up against the back of the cell as much as she could to try and get away from this....monster. It didn't sound like Chi and sure as hell didn't act like Chi. Axtin just looked from the corner with wide eyes at the woman. What the hell was going on, what did she travel with for the past month? Both of them held a demon inside them, but she never gave it two thoughts that the demons were this powerful. The mighty archer and assassin, now stood cowardly against the stone corner. She was defenseless if Chi were to attack her, Axtin's weapons had been taken. The raven haired girl was not good at close combat. At this very moment, she was like a mouse cornered by a cat. No escaping no matter how much she trembled. 'I'm gonna die here if Chi isn't under control...I can't die, I have a bounty to finish. But, from the month of traveling with Gur, Chi and Nova. I've come to the conclusion that Gur isn't all bad like Reginald had described him to be. Gur was on a mission, a mission to help himself and his wife from this evil that Reginald sealed within both of them. Reginald should be the one I kill. Not Gur. I need to speak with him, I need to inform Gur why I'm here, what my mission is. I cannot kill someone, that has shown me the good within them. I can't.' Her mind raced.

When would she be able to speak with Gur, Chi would most likely be with him. And if she changed like she did now, Axtin would be torn down to nothing. She couldn't believe, for the first time since Vero was around her, Axtin was absolutely petrified.

Oº°‘¨ ¨‘°ºO Oº°‘¨ ¨‘°ºO Oº°‘¨ ¨‘°ºO Oº°‘¨ ¨‘°ºO Oº°‘¨ ¨‘°ºO Oº°‘¨ ¨‘°ºO

We were the tears that passion cried
We were the sacrifice
We were the flame that wouldn't die inside
How did we go wrong
We will not forget
We will not be left behind
We won't give up the fight again
We won't be denied
Who We Are :: Red.

♫Mood:: Annoyed -> S****ing her pants
♪Location:: Holding Cells Under the Elder Tree
♬With:: Gur, Chi, Sker, Naito, Kozue
❖@Everyone:: If there is anything I need to edit, please let me know^^ I edited about Axtin feeling Kozue's power (as she isn't supposed do do that XD)

[bacchanalia bat]

I'M A HUMAN,


"You saw your mother, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"...No."

It had been three days after the emergency initiation ceremony, during which Keket had no wish to focus on anything other than healing her current ailment. She didn't know why she chose Diana as her flavor of the week; but, if she were being honest, her harsh words and aggressive demeanor reminded her of the mother she had once held so dear. Her heart swelled with hope when she began to speak, only to fall upon hearing a tone so soothing and light. Raising her head to meet Diana's gaze, she sniffled and gave a look of utter confusion. She didn't understand the amiability in her eyes. Keket wanted criticism, judgement, authority. In her stricken state of mind, she had come running to Diana with the hope that she would be receiving the aforementioned treatment. However, in her confusion, the wails of lost spirits began to ebb. Shaking like a leaf, she let go of the women's leg and sat on the floor in mock dejection at her forced removal. Being grabbed by the shoulders brought her into a dizzying sense of reality, but the look on Diana's face was what really brought her back. As she spoke, Keket felt a burst of cold air on her neck. Brianna stood next to her in defiance, despite the other spirits having taken their leave after Keket blocked them out with Diana's strong voice. With her rigid posture she communicated that, in any mood or place, the spirit of the young girl was the last one that she wanted to see. "You're being silly," she whispered to the blonde mage. Undeterred, Keket stilled her breathing until Diana rose and asked if she was recovered with a raised brow.

Giving a slow nod, Keket took the helping hand offered to her, subtly elbowing Brianna away from her as she stood. Ironically, the candidate that the ghost had rooted for became a knight. Out of the initiates that had shown up, she was, at most, content with the selection; however, on the flip side, she was very pleased to see the initiate that she had fought being carried out of the arena by a few of his companions. Apparently, they didn't have the good sense to bandage the wound on his cheek, as it was still secreting drops of blood that fell to the ground and stained the grass red. In her opinion, it would prove to be productive later on to reminiscence on how that same blood also stained the front of her favorite frock. Diana's guiding hand prevented her from observing the man's mutilated form any longer, much to her disappointment. When they arrived at the festival, Keket slipped out from under the Veshtun's watchful gaze and towards the winding alleyways that led to her ramshackle home. As a child, she had lived in something with much more glamour and charm, but she had always hated just how sparkly her father's lavish home was. Besides, it wasn't like she spent much time at home anyways. Aside from herself, Marissa was the only one that occupied the space inside those small four walls. Originally, she had lived with her father and Keket's stepmother; but, after seeing the state that her older sister lived in, Marissa had insisted on moving in and taking care of the house, and Keket, she always added under her breath. Her cheerful smile was the first thing that greeted her when she entered the house, which quickly dropped to a frown of concern. "You're covered in blood!" Marissa had a tendency to over exaggerate things that were in her immediate proximity. For instance, when she had tripped and sprained her ankle once as a child, she had gone running to their shared father and burst into tears, insisting that she was dying of some incurable ailment. Which was rather ironic, considering she had gone into the medical field. Keket liked to think that event in the past was what had fueled her sisters desire to heal, rather than some sappy sentiment about saving others.

After pleading with the blonde for all of ten minutes, Marissa managed to get her into a bath and scrubbed her clean while Keket recounted the fight that had gone down during the initiation ceremony. To say that she was shocked would be nothing short of an understatement. Keket regarded her with wide, innocent eyes until her sister turned her back, where they then turned to looks of utter boredom. Quite frankly, her sister bored her. She refused to acknowledge the carnage and bloodshed that Keket often participated in, placing faith in the belief that her sister was a cherub that just happened to have a penchant for necromancy. It would be impossible for Keket to garner entertainment from feigning innocence in front of the younger mage. Though, despite her resistance against Marissa's affection, she did enjoy being waited on hand and food as if she were actually a child.

Throughout the rest of the day, Keket could hear her mumbling things about seeing the High Priest, and how she seemed to think that he was working her to death. "You shouldn't talk about him like that," she interjected her sisters one-sided conversation. Replying in words that she couldn't hear, Marissa snuggled down into her chair and left Keket to return to her wandering around the house.

x x - T i m e s k i p / 3 D a y s - x x

Early morning dew clung to the flowers and trees scattered aimlessly around the graveyard. Bittersweet tragedies rang from the mouths of spirits confined to their graves. Some were able to escape the dirt that held them fast, or they hadn't been placed in a grave at all. Unfortunately, most of her friends couldn't leave the gates of the graveyard or even the perimeters of their own graves. "You shouldn't feel sorry for them," the voice of her favorite spirit, simply called Pace, broke her observations of these poor spirit. "That one over there, the wizened old man?" He pointed to an elderly spirit across the way from them who was hunched over and using his gravestone for support. "He threw a rock at me. It didn't hurt, obviously, but he gave me a look that made me wish I could kill him." Unbeknownst to Pace, he had been the one who snapped the old mans neck and put him in his grave. The story was quite complex, according to the man himself, but he had spilled the beans to her when Pace wasn't within hearing distance. Pace had never been tried, but justice had a funny sense of humor. On his way to trade his goods in the market, he had been murdrered by rogue bandits and lowered into a grave directly across from the man he killed.

"I don't feel sorry for them, or you," she replied smoothly.

He looked at her quizzically, her statement having rung the bells of curiosity. "What do you feel?" Keket knew that Pace didn't remember how to feel, and she couldn't say that she knew how either. "Nothing. I haven't felt anything for a long time." Truthfully, it had been a long time since she felt anything but the rushing adrenaline of a kill or the terrifying sensation of being overwhelmed by the voices of spirits. "It's all your fault!" She nudged him playfully, causing his transparent form to topple off of the gravestone that they both sat on. Her lips trembled in amusement as he flailed on the ground like a turtle on its back. It was no small feat for him to get up, considering that his spine had been crushed when he was beat to death. Before he could get a word in edgewise, she hopped off of the stone and walked up to him, grasping his cold, dead hands in hers. "Do you want to go on an adventure with me? I'm sure I've got another mission coming up soon!" Pace shook his head sadly, removing his hands from her grasp and taking a step closer to his grave. "I can't leave the graveyard, remember?" Nodding as the memory returned to her, she gave a sad half-smile. "You could take Marie, she's still in that lake, and she can leave." She shook her head out of stubbornness. If she was going to take any spirit on a mission with her, she wanted it to be Pace!

"Marie smells like fish. I hate fish."

x x - T i m e s k i p / 3 H o u r s - x x

She had spent all of the morning at the graveyard, and, if the day went as planned, she wanted to stay there until the sun went down. At night, the spirits would tell her stories about the things they saw people doing where they thought nobody could see them. Most of it was gossip, and Keket got a kick out of it, especially when a name she recognized came up. The endless stories and inscriptions on graves never bored her, but today seemed different. While others got chills in a place like this, Keket loved it. However, today she felt something change in the graveyards atmosphere. It was almost as if the balance between life and death had been usurped. She stopped in her tracks, listening to the eerie quietness and searching for the source of the disturbance. Only moments later, a slender form flashed across her vision and into her personal space. "Keket!" The spirit shouted, shaking her by the shoulders and screaming her name over and over. Once the mage was able to collect her racing thoughts and gather just who was in front of her, she used two hands to push her off and run in the other direction. Much to her horror, the spirit began to chase her. "Keket, don't run from your mother!" The ghost of her mother was wailing now, her skirts bundled up in her fists as she chased after her daughter. Keket ran faster, forcing herself to exceed the speed that she could keep constantly during a battle. The sudden effort caused her to breath harder, but she didn't care.

As she came up to a tall tree with skeleton branches, she was forced to plant her heels into the ground and fall face-first into the ground. When she scrambled to a sitting position and looked for her mother, she felt her breath hitch as the ghost came closer. "Why would you run from me? I only want the best for you." Blood was dripping from her wrists, her neck, her torso, every place that her mother could have thought to cut when she didn't want to live anymore. The red drops stained her dress, spreading into crimson blotches as she refused to meet the spirits eyes. With a wail, she disappeared, taking her blood with her, but leaving behind the trauma of Keket's childhood. That, unlike bloodstains, could never be erased. She clutched her stomach, feeling it heave as she took deep breaths and forced back tears. Crying was not an option, absolutely not! She could still feel her heart racing and her eyes were wide with terror and utter, hysterical confusion. They had burned her and thrown her ashes into a dark cave, spitting on the rocks and never looking back. How her mother had found her way back to the Fang coven, she had no idea. Against her will, she sucked in a deep gasp of air and stared straight ahead as it came out in rasps.

Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned and directed a harsh glare in the direction of the mystic with multi-colored hair; or, more specifically, Ten Ten, as she liked to call him. The two had met after the initiation ceremony, and she befriended him with the intention of using him for his tall frame. She knew from experience that a piggy back ride was best when on the back of a tall person. "I'm fine, leave me alone!" She snapped, crossing her arms across her chest and returning to what seemed an eternal process of gathering herself up from the choking grasps of violent spirits. Despite her blunt attitude, Trystan still sat beside her; and, without her request, began to sing. His voice was something on its own, but the tune and sound was something she didn't recognize. She assumed it was foreign, and the distraction and calm atmosphere it provided allowed her to neglect the terrifying encounter she had just suffered through. When he finished, she untangled herself from her own arms and stood. "Thank you, Ten Ten." Keket was never much for gratitude, so a thank you from her was rare and something that ought to be treasured. Without much more to say, she left the same way that she had entered, waving goodbye to Pace on her way out. She would wait a few weeks before returning to this graveyard, until she was sure that her mother no longer haunted its grounds.

When she returned home, Marissa was there to greet her as usual, commenting on how she was home awfully early and if she was sure that she didn't have anything else to do. However, when she saw the remnants of terror still floating around in Keket's eyes, she immediately grew concerned. "Was it a spirit?" A nod was all she received.

"You saw your mother, didn't you?" Somehow she knew, in some way, her cheerful, optimistic sister was close enough to her that she could guess the origin of her trauma on the first try.

"Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"...No." With that, she parted from her sisters worrisome fretting and made her way to the bedroom that they shared. It was barely afternoon, yet she was exhausted.

x x - T i m e s k i p / 1 W e e k - x x

The week had progressed rather slowly, almost as if the clouds in the sky and the air around them had come to a stop. For the most part, she spent her time walking around the coven or going into the forest to train her skeleton soldiers. Whenever she brought them out inside the coven, someone always gave her a weird look. She would return it with a rude gesture or a pfffbttt with her tongue stuck out, but it was easier to just move outside. However, the High Priest had given her the honor of slaughtering the Granate Knight they had captured recently. Apparently, torturing him for information had proved to be useless, and, in that same fashion, he was useless to them. She made her way to the dungeons with a gleeful skip in her steps, swinging her bone at her side and whistling (or at least attempting to) a happy tune. When she finally burst through the doors and into the Knight's cell, she felt laughter bubbling up from her stomach and out through her mouth. "Oh you're handsome!" She struck him in the chest with the wicked edge of her boomerang, eliciting a delightful scream from his skinny throat. "Too bad I'm going to slice you up into jagged pieces, the ladies won't swoon over you anymore!" She went through with her promise, cutting and slicing his delicate skin until he passed out from the pain, where she would then sit and wait patiently until he woke up to start again. The slab of flesh that was sent to the High Priestess over in Granate was sliced off somewhere between his second and third bouts of unconsciousness. With a knife produced from a hidden pocket in her dress, she carved the words: With love, Keket Gillian, on the underside of the slab. She didn't finish him off when he screamed for mercy, she let him bleed and scream until the pain was too much and he passed out for the last time. Once she was sure that he was dead, she stripped the messy flesh off of the bones of his legs and arms and took them for her own collection. She wiped the knife and the blades of her boomerang on his matted white hair, indulging in her handiwork that was, quite plainly, strewn across the floor in literal bits and pieces. The warden that came in to check on her nearly upchucked at the sight. Giggling at his weak stomach, she instructed him to take the rest to her dear friend No Name and took her leave.

x x - T i m e s k i p / 1 w e e k - x x

Keket had witnessed every fight, conversation, and questionably intimate gesture between Nilin and Diana for a week now. Truthfully, they were unaware that she had tagged along on this little adventure and her spying was just a tad inappropriate, but she had just gotten so bored! Getting away from Marissa hadn't been difficult, but following the two women undetected was a challenge unlike any other. She had hung back far enough to be unable to detect, keeping to the shadows and connecting herself with any spirits that were nearby. They were willing enough, considering most of them hadn't seen a living person in a century or two. At night, she curled up in a covert hiding spot and slept among twigs and small animals.

The day that the two left, Keket had been sent back to bed early in the morning by Marissa, who claimed that she looked 'feverish.' For a while, she had been compliant, willing to play the part of the sick little sister who need constant care. However, the act eventually grew tiring and she bided her time until Marissa took her afternoon nap. Once that event occurred, Keket untangled herself from her sisters arms and padded quietly to the kitchen area of the house. Her sister had already prepared sandwiches and drinks for lunch that day, which she packed into a bag along with her favorite knife, spare clothes, and a book she stole from Marissa's bookcase. The back said something about romance and adventure between two rivals, but she planned on skipping the romance part, as nothing made her want to lose her lunch more than a cheesy romance novel. At the time, she hadn't known about the secret mission that Nilin and Diana had started. She was just planning to lurk in the forest for a few days, enough time to get her sister into a panic and allow her some time to break free from her suffocating motherly nature. It had been pure chance that she happened to spot the pair exiting through the gates in the middle of the night.

Speaking of mothers, her eavesdropping had resulted in her finding out that Nilin was one; which, when she really thought about it, wasn't much of a surprise. Keket wasn't big on motherly love, so finding out that the High Priestess and Dee Dee had gone out on this mission to find Nilin's son just seemed as cheesy as the romance novel she had stolen from Marissa.

She would have kept herself hidden during the entire mission if it wasn't for the lack of food in her pack and her stomachs growls of protest. Of course, she wasn't below hunting wild game for dinner, but she had convinced herself that the animals cries of death would alert the two to her presence. The blonde mage hadn't eaten in two days, but she had survived longer. A few days without food wouldn't bring her down, though she knew it would make her weak, and weakness wasn't an option as they were approaching enemy territory. The two had started a particularly intense argument, in which harsh words were exchanged and a sharp crack! sounded throughout the forest. From the tree branch she stood on, Keket watched with morbid intrigue, wondering if this would turn into a full brawl. Much to her disappointment, or relief, depending on how Dee Dee was in her book that day, the two came to some sort of mutual ground and moved on. Breaking out into a clever smirk, she jumped from one tree branch to the next, landing in such a way that the leaves on the tree were barely rustled. She clung to the trunk, nearly kicking herself in excitement as she drew a single bone from the bag around her neck. Tossing it down onto the ground, she watched it settle into the dust before lifting her chin in a commanding fashion. A small dog rose from the bone and began circling around Nilin and Diana, wagging its tail excitedly and jumping up on the two.

"Dee Dee!" She called out her nickname, running to the edge before jumping off. The fall was exhilarating, and she let out a laugh as she felt her heart plummet down into her chest. Her landing was as equally graceful as the ones up in the trees, where she touched down in a crouched position and rose up to face the two. "Why'd you try to leave without me? You hurt my feelings," The skeleton dog jumped into her arms, nuzzling her neck as she stroked its head affectionately. She turned her big brown eyes on Diana, fixing her with a pout as she waited for her response. Of course, she would address the High Priestess with the highest respect after she received some attention from Diana, but only then. She hadn't spoken as much with her as she had the High Priest, so they were still strangers to each other.

tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab I COME WITH KNIVES.


HP: 100/100 | MP: 100/100
Feeling: Excited, hungry.
Company: Diana, Nilin
Location: Enemy Territory /hisssss.



Unedited Sky




Chailya of Water

[Rocker Virus]

HP(100%)
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MP(100%)
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tab tab The past few days had been a relatively long one, filled with snide comments from the leather bound buddy Reginald practically had glued to his hand. But it was to be expected, as was the constant nagging about this body retrieval mission. On the plus side, Ash did have an entire arsenal of stories. Everything from places he’s been to creatures he’s researched and slain. Something’s were fascinating, others dull and mind-numbing. But you had to hand it to the book man, for someone trapped as he was for so long, he still managed to get a lot done. Even if a majority of it was by trickery or the hands of dolors. Well, what gooey little nubs they had to call hands.

tab tab Surely Reginald was victim to the murmuring perversions brought on by the site of several of the coven’s members regardless of form. Only showing no one was safe. Though with Reginald’s age barely casting a shadow on his own, he hardly knew the dry spell Ash was suffering from. Somewhere within the confines of the high priests quarters say a list that the binder bound binder stayed up all night compiling. With no need for sleep, and constantly being drug around by Reginald, he didn’t have many options. During his time within the walls, he’d been able to make what almost appeared as a bucket list. Though it consisted of some of life’s most common aspects. Names such as ‘Nilin’, ‘Simone’, ‘Keket’, and ‘Gabby’ even appeared, some more than others, along with locations where he could get a good meal and other basics. Ashleigh was… well he was excited. His research wasn’t complete, but if he was correct he was only one ingredient away from being able to return to a fleshy form.

tab tab Oh the things Ash had planned, the list when on and on. Though food wasn’t all that he had his eyes set on. He had a few lingering relationships in the wings that a fleshy form might bring back from the far reaches his parents left them in. It was weird, potentially the most unique c**k block ever attempted. Randgris and himself were rather intimate before his curse, though things never… made it that far. Maybe, had he not been turned into a pile of paper. Hell, she might not try accidentally maiming him if things worked out. Though Anzu was another story. Almost the exact opposite. Their intimacy began and ended with his leather bound form. But they had grown rather close over the years together, who knows, things might happen. ‘Now that I think about it…’ Ash noticed something, his previous ‘relationships’ nearly all involved some sort of wings… “ANZU…” It hit him, the last time he seen her she’d been blasted by the Pyromancer who was attacking the Library. After a deep breath he assured himself she had to be fine. After all she made it past his defenses, and stood up against Randgris when she first found her way to him. That and she had the dolors to help her out.

tab tab The dolors, that was going to be fun. They spent countless hours wandering the country side, gathering everything they could carry back. Unfortunately that meant EVERYTHING, Ash was a god in their eyes and they would bring back anything they could for him to find them worthy. From books to paintings, though most were pointless, burnt or tossed out. But the dolors also brought back what could have been Excalibur, though it didn’t recognize the papery form as worthy to pull it from said stone that they brought back with it. And a hammer of such immense weight, Ash personally labeled it Mjolnir. Though he was unable to move it, and worse, unable to find the dolor who seemed to have found it and brought it to him. Needless to say there was going to be an extensive amount of sorting to do once he returned.

tab tab Even though Ash new plain as day who he’d be traveling with, his mind hadn’t thought much of it despite the looks he’d been getting since the ceremony. That one until one venture away from the hardcover prison as he roamed adjacent halls of his holder. Upon returning, the paper man found a much smoother touch gripping his spine rather tightly. Cooing for a moment at the almost feminine sensation. The steely eyes looking up in hopes of seeing the busty figure of the covens Priestess. But instead was greeted with his handler for the travels, ‘consolation prize I guess’. Clearing his throat, more as a way to get his attention, the voice spoke, rather softly, and strangely void of arrogance. “So, you know, back when we first met…” The leather bound prison struggled a little as the pages tried freeing themselves. “It wasn’t anything personal. Just, I was trying to rile someone up. You know, knock the book out of that brats hands.” The metal orbs shifted around with an audible scraping of metal on metal. “Stretch my legs, maybe kill a few people. After all, the last person who got their hands on me didn’t plan on sparing me the time of day to request a body, they’d rather off me just to get their hands on Arianlord.” Coughing slightly before continuing. “I mean, Fang is lucky I’m so sick of this book, after having to sit in it for nearly a Millennia, that I’m just handing it over. Hundreds have died trying to get their hands on what’s in here you know.” Ash continued babbling on for a while, completely forgetting his apology to the male and instead back to ranting and raving about those who made it into his library, how he killed them or made deals with them.

tab tab It wasn’t long before the group had assembled, provision packed and ready to move out. Ash lingered about Gabryel, hands free, and not offering much help. Selfish and ignorant if nothing less. Fluttering about, already jabbering on. The first directions, “TOWADS ZHU” because you know, everyone loves Zhu. And before the thoughts of transportation hit any of their minds, he already began with the story telling, starting with. “The first time I was in Zhu.” The story continued dragging on to how much smaller the cities were, how much nicer the people were. Honestly, Ash and Arianlord were probably the cause of the extreme hatred of magic users to skyrocket.

tab tab Every landmark they passed gave them another story to listen to. Some more interesting than others, though some obviously elaborated and embellished. People such as his right hand, Calen, instead the story of the mountain top battle with a dragon for its lung featured him. “Then I drove my hand into the gash in the monsters chest. I could feel that sore he called a heart still beating as he roared in agony and terror. Crushing his organ between my own fingers, forcing every ounce of air from his lung before ripping it clear out.” Interesting story none the less, had the group known well enough what he was truly capable of and how he conducted all of his fights, such feats were far above him.

tab tab Their nights were short and their days were long. Ash understood their need for sleep, but the excitement of a human form once more and the need to keep from being found once they reached Zhu territory cut their time short. Without his own need to sleep, he found himself impatiently waiting as the three enjoyed their rest. Though after a few hours their tents would collapse on them or loud noise like pans being slammed together would force them up. ”Good since the lot of you are looking all lively now, how about we continue this venture?” The same line nearly every morning. That was if you could call it morning yet. Often Tryst was forced to carry a counterpart who was reluctant to get up with the rest of them.

tab tab What seemed like an eternity had passed, but a specific land mark seemed to put a spring in the paper man’s step. A clear sign they were close. “I do hope we are void of any Nyctophobia” his steps took himself into the air as he hovered over to a rather small cavernous like entrance. “Please enjoy the last of this daylight, for upon entering these walls, darkness will be our only ally.” Though he wished them to enjoy the sunlight, they were quickly rushed into the caves. Not more than a few steps in the sounds of growls and thuds of heavy feet could be heard. “Oh joy, they are still alive.” The ever so faint silhouette of their guide quickly veered towards the wall. “This way.” Leading the group into a narrow passage, sanctuary to watch a large shadow pass by. “To warn you, there’s nearly an entire ecosystem of creatures in these caves. However, following me can keep you from winding up as their next meal. Narrow passages and sharp corners can be all the difference in keeping your limbs attached and you walking out alive, or you turning into a giant lizards chew toy.”

tab tab With that his head snapped up to the opening. “Let’s keep moving.” With that he shifted forwards again. With complete darkness, how long they traveled could only be guessed. Tired legs and eye lids begging them to stop. But the constant sound of a carnivorous mosh pit around them not giving them that luxury. Quickly cutting from side to side in the maze like cave system. Jagged pathways and corners angling so sharp one nearly had to turn on their heels to make their way down the narrow pathways. While this seemed unneeded, it proved its purpose as a large reptile found itself stuck trying to round a corner while chasing them.

tab tab Alas, when it seemed like all was lost and the group was going to be stuck in darkness forever. A light in the distance made itself known. “Looks like someone knocked a bit too hard” Their safeguard was gone, leaving only one last dead sprint. Thought hot in their ankles were several residents of the caves. One of which held footsteps loud enough rumble the roof over their heads. Breaking the darkness gave the members of Fang a safe haven. The creature however was more adamant on getting its meal than the rest. And at that moment, a large creature swooped down. Black feather and talons battled with thick fur and claws. The muscular front end of the creature that sought the group out as food turned tail, and the slender hind quarters vanished into the shadows once more.

tab tab The bird like creature landed and slowly turned to examine the group before shrieking loud enough to cross disorient a dragon. Then charged them with intent to kill so visible in its eyes one may have been able to watch their own death in them alone. The paper man however reformed between them. Without raising a hand the beast stopped before him, and with a flutter of wings the beast vanished, in its wake was a smaller form, clad in wings like a gown. “Awsshleigh, yoou’ve returned.” Quickly as if gliding on air, she circled around him before looking to the others. “Yoou’ve brought coompany.” Her accent, exotic, and her way of talking was smooth, letting her words linger in the stale air.

tab tab “Yes yes, I know. And no, you can’t eat these ones.” He rushed as he didn’t bother keeping eyes on her, instead looking over his own collection. “I’ll explain everything later. But these… people are here to help.” Swiftly moving past them he examined further. “The lot of you can gawk and explore my collection later. Rainbow Dash, you’re big and strong. Get the cauldron from back there and drag it over to us over there.” He stated, pointed to where he’d hoped his body resided. “Anzu, I need the blood of my father, and find me the tears of a colossus, and the Ashes of a phoenix.” With that she was gone in a flurry of feathers once more. Ash took a hold of Gabryel’s hair like a reign. “Come, moments from now and you’re no longer my leg man.” Ash reached into his coat and pulled out a metal token, only it had an embossed crest of Granate, something his father had given him ages ago. "Looks like I don't need my Key anymore." With that, he tossed it over his shoulder and continued.

tab tab Though moments after rounding a large book case, scorch marks lined the wall, a large tome like structure, was cracked. The paper man’s eyes grew wide as he rushed from the male’s side, and as though it weighted nothing Ash forced the stone slab aside and dove in. “FUUUUUCK!!!!!” The scream echoed throughout the chambers, followed by several more. Eventually silence fell over leaving nothing but the fading echoes. Soon after mumbling No’s could be heard, repeatedly as if rhythmic. It was soon drowned out by the ear piercing shriek of the cast iron cauldron being drug over to them.

tab tab Inside the tome sat atop a pile of ash, was Ashleigh himself, holding the charred corpse of his former self, the vessel that would offer him freedom. The missions was all for a lost cause, there was no body to return to, there was no freedom from the scriptures. Had Ash been able to produce tears, an ocean would have flooded the group out of the archives by now.

[while the decay]

HP: ▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌ {100%} || MP: ▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌ {100%}

LOCATION: || Holding Cell tab tab tab COMPANY: || Naito, Kozue, Axtin, Gur, and Chi tab tab tab MOOD: || Dafuq is this?


✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

Mav, apparently, would rest when he was dead. The announcement that High Priestess Garnet had perished escalated whatever problems that House Granate were dealing with. The conversations that followed were lost in the white noise of Mav trying to process what had happened. Eventually he paid his respects to everyone, especially the newly promoted High Priestess, and walked Larus home. “I suppose that my time away has been suspended until further notice? It is fine, I am not one that enjoys using my time trivially.” He paused. “Though if I was as sick as you are right now, I would probably not feel guilty taking a day or two away. Please get some rest, Lord Cervantes. It won’t do anyone any good for you to look like this, especially not in front of the High Priestess.” Little did Mav know how much they would all need each other in the coming months.

High Priestess Garnet’s funeral was a somber affair that was streaked with moments of pure beauty. It suited her, Mav thought. He didn’t stay for its entirety. There was work to do, and no matter the amount of grief—the deceased could never appreciate it. As he said before, he didn’t enjoy using his time trivially.
After Kozue’s mentioning of High Priest Naito’s rather slapdash actions of late, Mav had been doing his best to keep an eye on him between his regular duties. It became obvious that Naito was slipping. There was something wrong with the High Priest. Mav didn’t know him personally, and he did understand that sometimes his actions were sloppy, but they seemed more so than usual. This was mirrored in Kozue’s reactions to Naito’s job. Mav didn’t mention this to anyone. He didn’t have the power to point fingers at the High Priest. He would leave that to Kozue and the higher members of Granate.
Working with Larus was as stimulating as one could imagine. His partner was the sort that wrapped his emotions so tightly around him that it was a near impenetrable armor. Mav teased him, but to no avail. Then again his teases lacked the air of flippancy that usually followed light hearted banter. Instead they were pointed and sometimes a bit harsh. He never stabbed at where Larus hurt the most though, just as his partner never did the same to him. There was an understanding there. The past was buried because it was hard to live with it exhumed.

Mav didn’t stay sequestered in Lynx’s actions the entire time, sometimes he found himself poking and prodding about the coven. Larus had said he needed to branch out and meet others. Unfortunately the more interesting members seemed as transient as the wind. He only caught snippets of conversation and intrigue. That being said, he seemed to share more than one conversation with the one called Tarien. The first moment Mav met her, it was awkward. He had probably looked away at the sight of her wings, and later stared at his own in pure jealousy. If only they were good for something, he thought, instead of just sitting on my back like some mockery of what I could have been, but am not. Those feelings ebbed away though as he got to know her, and appreciated her interesting nature. If only more people were that open, then again Tarien was far from ‘people.’

Yet, like all good things, this came to an end as well. Reports began to come in about House Granate’s losses. Mav watched as Kozue shouldered them one by one by one, until they came too much. He had always distanced himself from wearing his emotions so easily, but he couldn’t watch as Kozue grieved at the loss of her fellow coven members—no, at the loss of her friends. With little coercion he was able to get her back to her home residence, and to her sister. Sometimes it was easy to work through grief, it kept your mind off of the sadness. But there was a time where the grief became too much, and the only way that you could purge it was by doing what your body knew how to: cry.
Mav didn’t know Celeste very well, but it was his understanding that her arms were the ones that Kozue needed at that moment. So he delivered her to the Stettner’s residence. Celeste looked at him and thanked him. There were words behind his lips that he wanted to say, but instead he responded in his usual manner.
"Do not thank me, Lady Stettner. This, too, is my duty. Be well, both of you." Mav then went home and stared out the window for a long time. Until the wind became too cold and the night a bit too dark. And then maybe he, too, cried.
The vacancies left by those deaths were filled, orders were given, and within a short time everything regulated. Mav continued to work with Lynx. His attitude seemed unaffected by that night, but maybe—just maybe—his eyes were a little softer to the High Priestess.

Huxley took to the air in a hurried flutter. Mav noticed, as of late, that the hawk had taken an odd gravitation towards Lis’Marie. He tried to remind his feathered friend that they were of two different species, and Huxley lacked the ability of human chatter. He had once considered investing in an enchantment for Huxley, but there was always the worry he would be too old to adapt to it. Or maybe Mav worried his companion would not be what he thought, a familiar soul.
Mav nodded at Kozue, her face pinched in a severe degree of worry. He went to inquire about what had her flustered this morning when she was pulled away by a transmission on her aliquam. Maybe that was for the best, he didn’t enjoy having to dodge around the minefield that was more bad news.
Kozue immediately broke into a run. Mav followed her, confused and worried at the same time. She spoke to Lis’Marie about her premonition for the day. Mav bit his lip at her words. Kozue seemed to have a second sense for these things. So he was not surprised when they ended up at the infirmary, Nova bedridden.
“Oh,” Mav said. He didn’t want to think about how Larus would take this news. The poor man’s relationship with his son had always been a sore point, and it would only be made worse by Nova’s current condition.
And then Nova resigned as a knight.
Mav frowned. What was happening to the Granate Coven?
Kozue took it in stride though and stated that she had someone in mind for the position. At least there was that. And he pondered who it was before she announced the (un)lucky candidate. Mav was taken aback by her announcement of his promotion. His brows rose, Huxley squawked, and immediately the warlock felt put upon—correction, the knight felt put upon.
“I, well,” Mav began. “I suppose we shall speak about this later.” Now was not the time to question her decision.
Lis’Marie seemed amused at whatever Huxley had said. Mav shot the hawk a look.
“I agree,” Mav said to Kozue. “We need to make sure that he isn’t going to put others into danger. Though I don’t know how I feel about being the High Priest’s babysitter. But I suppose it can’t be helped, though I draw the line at changing his diaper.”

He fell in line after Kozue. Their pace became more rapid as they came to the holding cells. Mav’s gut wrenched the moment that Kozue threw the door open. Huxley let out a startled squawk, fluttered, and landed on wall sconce behind Mav. That was fine, he wasn’t imbued with any magic protections—and Mav would never forgive himself if something happened to Huxley.
Kozue screamed after Naito. Unfortunately it was too late to do anything. The events that happened afterwards were out of their hands. Mav’s abilities and experiences gave him no expertise in the type of magic that was going on here. Demons and possessions were out of his scope. Why couldn’t people just be in need of tracking and hunting down? He could handle hand-to-hand combat better than he could massive magical surges and non-corporeal beings. Well, scratch that, one decided to become corporeal right in that moment.
Mav’s breath hitched in his throat as the horned woman became far more than what she was. The holding cell was literally filled with her and the bodies that were in her way were pushed from her form. “By the old gods, she is ugly.” Probably not the most professional nor helpful thing to say, but Mav was not one to ever mirror his emotions with the proper words. And currently his emotions were skittering about like headless chickens. Fortunately he had enough composure not to buckle under that mental stress.
“High Priestess, your abjuration magic!” Mav had to yell in the tumult of these current events. He had no protection against the smothering aura of the massive she-beast or the possessed Naito. Usually he avoided confrontations of this stature, nature, size, and proximity. Oh, he was so out of his element.


✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

OUT OF CHARACTER: || Phew! I hope I didn't miss anything.

[IILovelyAmarathII]

~~~Four weeks ago~~~
Tides were turning so much for the younger sister of the Stettener clan. It was as if she was around the age of twenty-one again and first taking up the mantel as a young knight. Those bittersweet memories of being a young knight had crept up to her during all four weeks of this long, long, and very busy month.About four weeks ago, she was at a banquet she could never forget. They celebrated Granate's small hope of turning the tides. They had brought Simone Mesa back, and made an Allicance with the half-gaints.

Furthermore, Celeste had a very interesting chat with, the very amusing and intriguing Lady Dragoness called Tarien. Celeste asked her many questions, in which all the back and forth answers lead her to one answer. The answer of possibly finding the last key, the deep possibility of the location of the Tigus was hidden somewhere in a Library. A Library of all places? She was expecting something more vast or foreign, but nonetheless she had made it make sense in that mind of hers. Libraries after all were places that many collections of data and information filled within many different types of books.

Celeste, wanted to find her sister, the high priestess and tell her about it until she heard the heart tearing news. Celeste knew of their original high priestess Garnet Andradite was terribly ill from a unknown sickness, but her passing is what sealed her sister's fate. Celeste wasn't surprised, but was even more saddened than anything when hearing the most dreadful news. Thus, it had became more of an eye opener for Celeste, as Kozue inevitability filled her spot. To her out of the two sisters, Kozue was the more masterful when it came to hiding her raw emotions, but Celeste had such a strong emotional connection towards Kozue, it was hard for Kozue to hide it in front of her as much as she tried. Celeste could see through that graceful doll-like exterior and that soft smile she always put on. She had the feeling that she would be slowly falling apart. In which Celeste had to be ready for. Celeste knew that she had to be the stronger one in the end. For the both of them.

The day of the of High Priestess Garnet's funeral was a memory that would be so etched in her mind , she wouldn't be able to forget it for the world. Unlike being the usual ball of energy that she normally was, Celeste reverted to her stone-face features that only the ones close to her knew about. The tenseness and incredible focus within her during this time helped her block out much of the sorrow and pain that was gathering all around her. The solider within her wanted to stand tall. Stand tall for those that were suffering in grief.

The bright pink eyed woman silently watched the forest come to life in all the things former High Priestess Garnet loved. Only a soft solemn smile was able to grace the woman's lips as she watched all of Garnet's favorite flowers bloom and take shape in the forest. When the eulogies were done, before she helped carry the casket down, Celeste paid her own tribute to the former High Priestess. The only thing she could offer was the traditional Civok army farewell march. Taking a soft bow, she followed in unison with Kendall, Naito, and Ulrick, and many others who helped them lower Garnet's casket down into the hole by the Elder tree.

~~~Three weeks ago~~~
In this week she spend the majority of it in her Estate thinking deeply to herself. Like a Hawk, Celeste watched Kozue's mannerisms and double checked up on her every so often. Every morning , before dawn and before Her sister, the new and official High Priestess, before a day's events she would bring her sister breakfast in bed along with her favorite tea. The one thing that Celeste did not want for her sister was to be ill, and she also wanted her to take these few spare moments to help her recharge before big beginnings of each day.

On one of these special events, Kozue allowed her to accompany her to meet with Prince Alecion. The Prince was surprised to see her in Granate at first. They had exchange few words, but She had let Kozue then take over and her and the council had discussed many upcoming plans for Granate.

One of Celeste's most valued and favorite days of this month was Favor's birthday. It was the one day that kept her pushing forward. Celeste wanted to give the little girl the world and on this day she did just about that. Kendall had reminded her the day before, and she told him not to worry about a thing, that she'll have everything ready for her. After having accompanying Kozue to her usual morning tea, the older of the two sisters was in a happier mood just to see her younger sister in over zealous state.

Celeste made a homemade chocolate cake and dusted off a piece that was truly one of her most valuables to her. She thought that someday when little Favor was older that she would be able to use this. After Kendall was done with warden duties, she met with him and Favor carrying a chocolate cake and box adored in gold in silver which carried what Celeste knew as Alecon's gift.

Celeste and Kendall sung "Happy Birthday" in unison in which Favored applaud to happily and blew out her candles. When Favor had unwrapped her father's gift she was quite overjoyed to see it was a carved fox made by himself personally to go with her little carved horse. Celeste was quite impressed by the intricate details. She felt slightly guilty that she wasn't as crafty as he was. The two stared at her in curiousness wanting to figure what her gift was.

The box was covered in a silk covering, in which she used to hide it. She sat with Favor and slowly started to reveal what it was. Celeste had the box in her hands and told her that it was a gift that she could use all of her life, but she had to be the one to open it because it would be a little dangerous for the small child to open by herself. When slowly pulling off the top and revealing a sword that glittered in the light. Favor gasped and asked where she had gotten the sword.



Celeste explained to the both of them that originally it was a gift from Prince Alecion Direclaw, through much of her military service as a general and wining countless battles for Civok. Celeste also explained that a long sword wasn't sufficient in her style of swordsmanship. She wanted such a wonderful gift to be put to good use and that someday when Favor was older while using magic, Celeste liked the idea of the young child becoming a exceptional swordsman, in which she told Kendall that she was confident in his abilities as a swordsmen that he would be able to successfully teach her the art of the sword.

Kendall had felt honored to know that his daughter received such a admiral gift. The man with very few words was even more speechless and was shocked by such a big surprise that all he could was smile and sign to Celeste : "I promise I will teach her to use it the way such a fine sword deserves." The woman gave him a smile back and closed the box. She handed the box to the blonde haired warden and had let Kendall safely placed her gift in a safe place in his house. When Retiring for the day, Celeste was able to sleep comfortably and happy knowing that she was able to make the one's she loved like family smile.


~~~Two weeks ago~~~
While Her sister was off in meetings or the like, Celeste spent the majority of the first week tending to the house and training for any upcoming mission that she would be assigned to, if any at all. She had hopes of going to this mysterious library and hope to discuss it with her sister, but she could never find a good time. As Kozue, the council, and Lycan prince discussed many strategies and history of all three of the royal families. Celeste wasn't really interested into join her sister in these meeting because not only it wasn't in her place to, but she knew a deep majority of the information because of her military service in Civok.

The remaining week and a half, insisted that she would help Kozue review much of the paper work that she had to do, but Kozue politely rejected her help when it came to the paperwork. She constantly explained to Celeste that she will be fine, and not to worry so much about her. Celeste then thought it was a great idea to pay visits her close friend Minerva, Mordred, Lady Dragoness Tarien and Cress as well . Celeste spent a two days visiting the new couple and played catch up with the both of them.

Another two days had passed and while she was was walking in the forest in direction of Tarien's home in the forest, and she caught Tarien in her dragon form sleeping or what it looked liked to be sleeping. In truth Tarien was just basking in the sun enjoying the warmth of that the Amerile forest had to offer. Keeping her distance, she began to slowly turn back not wishing to wake up a dragon. But, inevitability The dragoness was already awake and just pretended to be asleep just to see what the Stettener woman would do. Tarien had stopped her in her tracks and Celeste then realized that dragoness had pulled a trick on her out of her amusement.

During her visit with Tarien, the Dragoness had apologized for ruining the dress she had given her for the banquet. She also had thanked her for her hospitality and kindness towards her and out of reparation Tarien happily made her new armor of her own. The armor was crafted with both creation magic of the dragoness as was forged together with hammer and her own hands. The armor had fit Celeste like a glove. Celeste was very impressed and bestowed upon her many thanks. When visiting Cress, they had deep conversation and she challenged him to a brief sparing match.

Towards the end of the mouth, was when it really took a toll on the two sisters. Both emotionally and physically. The news of very bitter deaths of both mystic Joanna Pope and Knight Remington Tsuru brought about much distraught to both of the Stettner sisters.
The night when Mav brought her sister back to the Stettener estate, automatically Celeste had forcefully dragged her sister downward into her arms. Like a mother cradling her own child She cradled her sister as her sorrowful wails and tears hit her shoulders. Looking upward at the six foot tall dark skinned man with eyes as dark as night all she could mutter out was a simple " Thank you"
Mav's facial expression was very flat, and his words very short and to the point. Not wanting to see the high priestess in her grief any longer, his eyes simply moved away from Celeste's pink ones and said in formal like manner. "Do not thank me, Lady Stettner. This, too, is my duty. Be well, both of you." Then he excused himself, letting Celeste handle the rest.

Celeste carried her up to her room and brought her tea, staying awake with her consoling her, and comforting her until she fell asleep. A great soldier can only stay strong for so long. Celeste did the best she could not letting out her negative emotions most of the time as she liked to keep them private and to herself. Celeste had this bad habit of bottling up the negative emotions and thus this took a deep toll on her. Celeste did not sleep this very night as her rage and wraith boiled up within her. Having to see her sister breakdown for the first time in such a long while, having to see her suffer at a time like this, brought up a great rage within her and gave her a great desperation to bring about havoc anyone with alliance with Fang, or Fang members themselves.

Her magic that was manifested in her was boiling up so sporadically her mana escaped her bring about loud squalls of wind around the coven grounds and in the Amerile forest. The squalls stopped in coven grounds as she tried to get a better hold on her magic. Celeste felt the urge to escape into the forest and in which she let out her emotions of rage through her magic. In which brought about a small wind storm in the Amerile forest and this lead to many leaves falling off of some trees.

The windstorm slowly stopped in her peak of exhausting her mana, the younger Stettner woman fell into ground crying her tears of her own sorrow. In the mist of this happening during the night a familiar warden not being able to sleep had found her laying asleep in the forest covered in blanket of leaves.With much concern, he was very curious as to why the woman was out here to begin with, he also did wonder if it was her that caused such a noisy windstorm within the forest. Seeing her all bundled up in the leaves from the trees, he shook his head and gave a soft sigh. Not wanting to wake up the sleeping woman, he bent down and tucked her into his arms and carried her out of the forest. A feeling of warmth and being in someone's arms had slowly awoke the woman. As they reached her home, Amber eyes looked into the bright pink ones as she looked up at him. He said softly almost whispering. "You'll catch something if you stay out here all night..."

~~~ Two days before present day~~~
The next morning felt like a dream as Celeste overslept most of the morning. Rubbing her head she had very unusual headache that wouldn't go away. The last thing she remembered was Kendall carrying her back home. Was he really just there...or was that a dream...let's hope it was a dream... She thought regretfully. Celeste felt a bit of embarrassment tuckered in her chest and moved all the way up to her face. She practically groaned in her pillow like a teenager. Mentally shouting " I don't wanna get up.....!"

Though there wasn't much time to spear, and thus she forced herself up out of her bed. Later on that day, Kozue discussed to her sister who were the knights for Granate and revealed Celeste's mission. Kozue also did mention that she had a surprise for her sister, and this really confused her. Kozue said that Tarien wasn't the only one that would be accompanying her, and that it was a member of the Coven she knew all so well. When Celeste kept nagging at her to tell her who it was all Kozue did was give a warm smile and said "You'll see." Celeste completely grumbled like a child not getting her way, but the mission she was about embark on had made the old war veteran excited, and like a child going out for a candy run, she went out to Amerile forest to prepare herself.

She had spend the rest of the day preparing for her mission as well as preparing three potions she would take with her in small tiny vitals. She made two of the exuberance potion in which she thought it would be very beneficial to her and the mysterious unknown person that was accompanying her and Tarien. The last potion was what she was known for. The drunkard. She didn't know how handy it would be, but if anything, during a battle, she would have enough luck to force it down any enemy's throat. During the evening, she manged to drop by Kendall's and Favor's house, having one last conversation with both of them, and saying her goodbye to the both of them. Or SO she thought.

~~~ The Morning of Goodbye~~~
Celeste was up by the crack of dawn, in the living area of the Estate, sitting in a wooden rocking chair, and with her bare feet propped up shining her beloved Claire. She hummed a tune, and mused away at the time she spent taking care of her sword. She was in a very good mood today and was full of excitement. After seeing Claire sparkle, she went back into her room to find the undergarments she would wear under her armor. She found the small bag that contained the potions with in them and strapped them on under waist. Lastly, she put the armor that Tarien had made for her, and couldn't help, but grin at the fact of how good she looked. She felt decades younger. She braided her hair into one single braid to get the majority out of it her face.
She exited the room and grabbed Claire from the glass table that was in the living room and attached the sword on her back. As She made her way out and into the coven grounds, she watched the sun rise in all of it's beauty. The different shades of yellow and orange blending, just made her take in the morning just a little longer. When upon arriving in the direction out of the coven she not one, but two figures standing there. Two blondes, both of them that happened to be waiting for her. Her eyes squinting at the sight. Celeste became quite perplexed on who she was seeing.

Of course the first person she made out first with her corn blonde hair and petite figure was Tarien, and on the other side of Tarien, she squinted again to make sure she wasn't seeing things. With his height compared to hers, and the distictive white blonde hair of his, she knew who it was. As she walked close to them, She had the most confused expression on her face, but it turned slowly into a bright smile. So my eyes weren't lying to me. She mentally expressed.
She bowed to the both of them. With a hint of coyness in her voice she looked back at the amber eyed man saying "Would you looky here? Goddess, my sister musta have been worried about me, especially if she sent you to accompany us."

Although she knew very well that this was indeed the 'suprise' Kozue was talking about. A few moments later their high priestess had bid them farewell. She hugged Kozue close before leaving and muttered out the words
"The darkness that Granate has seen so far, shall be meet by a bright light, and Myself and everyone a part of us will foresee that this light will keep on shining on." The phase was very metaphoric because not only was looking for the write words to say before leaving, but She wanted to give her sister some reassurance that she could count on her. Releasing her sister's Embrace, she gestured to Tarien and Kendall saying "Lead the way"

~~ Present day~~~
Upon traveling by flight most of the trip. (Thanks to Tarien) Thankfully with out Celeste trying hard not grab every damn cloud she seen, they had made it safely at their location. Before going underground, After Stretching her feet and legs and getting used to the ground again, she felt around her waistline, and pulled out a vital that looked had a liquid that looked was of a maroon color and tossed over to Kendall.

"Drink that. It's a potion specifically made for raising your stamina levels. The favor has a similar taste of tea. It usually stay in your system up to six hours" Celeste then puled another vial out of the same type of potion and gulped the liquid into her mouth. She felt a increase of her own energy starting to form and felt more alert. Looking back at the petite woman, she gestured to her saying "Lady Tarien, I'm sure you have more knowledge on this place than we do, please Lead the way."





☪ Location: Ancent Libary ☪ With: Herself, Kendall, and Tarien ☪ Mood: Serious/Calm

☪Outfit : new armor

Hairstyle : braids
☪ Her Sword: Claire ☪ HP:100 MP:100/EN :100

☪ Theme : Dark Side -Kelly Clarkson






Notes/Occ: Ok, I don't have time today to do the coding,so here is the raw writing. I will work on coding later on tonight after work! Please Enjoy reading!

KokoTheBoss

LadyTarien

Magical Girl Kippy

[Unedited Sky]

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After the shame, came the anger, funny how that worked, how one can get so angry after being caught up in their own lie, but at this point it wasn't that Diana was angry at Nilin, it was more that she was angry at herself as cliche as that sounded. But it was the truth, she was angry at herself, because yet again she had failed herself.

Everyday she vowed that she wouldn't let it get too her, she wouldn't let the fact that she was here with Nilin again get to her, that she wouldn't let the fact that Nilin was no longer hers, get to her. She vowed that she wouldn't react to anything Nilin did to her, she wouldn't become angry and above all she wouldn't show weakness, she wouldn't let Nilin know how she truly felt, and every ******** day she broke that promise to herself, she cracked, she showed Nilin how much control she really had over her. She showed her weakness, she got angry every day, she was always so angry, always so irritated and she hated living like this. Countless times she had attempted to leave, wanting to get away from this stupid torture she had subjected herself too and everyday she somehow talked herself out of doing so, staying for reasons that were beyond her, staying when she knew how much it hurt her to do so. It was like her body wanted Nilin, and was stuck to her like a magnet even when her brain wanted her to do nothing but run. A truly pathetic way to live. A month of this was enough to drive anyone mad. But she would suck it up as she had been for the past month, suck it up and move on, which she intended to do, which Nilin seemed to be allowed her to do, she was just going to take deep breaths, let her anger pass, forget about this conversation and move on.

But her movements were halted by a....thing. It might have been a dog, or at least it might have been intended to be a dog, the bone like creature was canine in structure at least, but it only took half a glance to see that the creature was fabricated, skeletons didn't just hop up and start circling people, unless they were being controlled, and the only one's foolish enough to dare pull such a prank had to be from House of Fang, because if they weren't Diana would gut them, she was in the mood to do just that. Until.

"Dee Dee!"

That always caused Diana to cringe, that cursed name, Nilin was laughing at her again and Diana glared at her flat out, her anger from moments before fueling the murderous gaze in her eyes, before she turned them away to lock her gaze on Keket, as the girl leaped from a tree from which she had been perched landing before them and taking the excited skeletal dog into her arms. It seemed Diana's sudden departure had been displeasing to the girl. It had hurt her feelings. Right now, Diana didn't care, had Keket showed up earlier Diana may have shown some compassion, she might have even apologized, after all she didn't dislike the girl and had in fact been thinking about her not too long ago. But right now, Diana wasn't int he mood to play babysitter. "Go. Home." Diana whispered, her voice belayed how testy she was feeling as she clenched her fist glaring at a pouting Keket. "I don't have time to play games with you, and I didn't sign up for baby sitting you today, I don't care about your feelings or those ghost floating around your head. Turn around, and go back. Now." Nilin for her part watched on silently as Diana addressed Keket, she hadn't known the woman to lash out at others in her anger, but it had been over 25 years, things changed, Nilin thought to reprimand Diana a bit, not liking this bad habit of hers, but she thought better of it, DIana would probably lose it if Nilin said something to her now, and that wouldn't do, besides it was interesting watching the two interact. Keket seemed to respond well too abuse, at least int he verbal form so maybe this was just Diana's way of greeting the girl? Though Nilin highly doubted, at the ceremony Diana had appeared almost motherly in her handling of Keket it had been cute too watch. Now. Diana looked as though she wanted to wring the girls neck.

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Location ☽ Cardonate tab tab tab Company ☽ Nilin, Keket tab tab tab Mood ☽ Irritated

✚✚✚✚✚✚✚✚✚✚ [HP:100%] tab tab tab XXXXXXXXXX [EN/MP: 100%]

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[Priestess of Athena]

Xt
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The past month had been a long, but productive one. The feast had gone on for hours, a few new initiates had consumed enough alcohol that wardens had to assist them back to their new quarters. Just barracks for now, true housing would become available as they proved themselves and were given the option to earn a home or build one themselves. Reginald was surprised that he and Naraku talked for a considerable amount of time. They had a reasonably enjoyable conversation, despite Naraku’s occasional distraction by attractive female flesh. Reginald was above such distractions. But the two did have numerous laughs before Reginald excused himself to deal with paperwork for the new initiates. He spent the rest of that day finalizing the documents that included the names and known powers of the new members as well as any other information that had been gleaned. The sounds of revelry were long gone by the time he went to sleep.

The following month went by in a blurry flow of events. Naturally there was some time every day devoted to overseeing Coven repairs and situating their new members. One by one the coven enchanters created personal aliquams for them, somewhat an unofficial marker that they were truly part of Fang now. The first order of business Reginald personally had attended to was the interrogation of the knight Remi. The man was beaten, mentally tortured with illusions, and every other horror imagined was performed on him to glean information about Granate. When Reginald was satisfied with what he had gained and the knight’s mind and body broken, he called in Keket. The woman-child gleefully set upon the man, and his death was not a kind one. She barely managed to refrain from destroying the part of the face that Reginald requested be left intact. The pieces of the body were then placed in a box that was brought by ship to the coast near Granate. Items left in there would make it clear who exactly had done this. Reginald hoped they noticed most of the wounds were performed while the man lived.

In between torture sessions Reginald had talked to Gabby and Trystan along with the chatterbox of a book. They had discussed in detail the ritual necessary to transplant the man’s soul from the book to his body, and Reginald had refused to let the group leave until Gabby and Trystan could both recite the exact steps needed back to him without the book’s help. The hardest part of that was actually getting the book to not start spouting off the ritual himself. No wonder Ash been shoved in the damn thing. But eventually the two were ready. He met with them in the entrance to headquarters and had them go through the instructions again, from finding the library to the ritual. He’d left the book in his study to ensure they could speak for themselves given the book’s inability to contain itself.

Reginald was a bit hesitant to only sent two members on this mission, but with the war going on a smaller group was needed. He gave them both bands that had appearance illusions on them, making their faces appear to be like those of Zhu’s citizens and hiding that unnaturally bright hair that marked them as magic touched. He made sure Trystan’s contained an extra enchantment that protected it from that interesting power of his. Next he placed medallions around their necks and told them to hide them within the folds of their clothing. “Should anything go wrong, call into the coven. These are tagged to our teleportation mages, and will teleport all of you and anything you are holding back to the coven when they call it. Here’s a third for Ashleigh’s body once he is freed. These crystals are not easy come by, let alone the massive amount of time and energy that must then be put into them to turn them into these tag medallions, so do not lose them.” His steel eyes met the other two men’s squarely, with a little extra glare tossed in for Gabryel. “Gabryel, I am going to give the book to you. You are not to let it out of your possession, even after the ritual. Do not trust this Ashleigh either, he was locked away in this book for a reason. And, well, I would not be surprised that being stuck in an incorporeal body with such limited movement has eroded some of his sanity.” The group headed up the stairs and went to Reginald’s study. He unlocked the door to a loud metal clanging noise. They came in to find the decorative statue pushed to the ground and a few pages Reginald had left on his desk tossed around the room. Seeing them appear, the book man grinned hugely. He sighed. “Well I’d say that confirms that theory.” The High Priest picked the book off the desk and handed it to Gabryel. “Have a good journey.” He said with a sickly sweet smile to the easily irritated mage. The glare Gabryel gave him in reply was possibly the most sever he’d ever gotten from the mage. And that was saying something. The group departed and Reginald couldn’t help but let out a little sigh of relief that the paper man was gone. It had been a week of nonstop chatter in his ear. He called for servants to come clean up the mess. None of the pages were sensitive material, he didn’t trust the mage yet after all, so he left the clean up to the servants. As he kept an eye on them to ensure they didn’t steal any of the fine gold items and gems he possessed, he fed his snakes. He couldn’t help but grin as the mice squealed in fear and misery.

The next day he had gone to check on his knight Luna and see how that head injury was treating her. To his surprise, her aliquam showed she was not on coven grounds. Considering she still seemed a bit off the past couple times he’d been able to have brief conversations with her, that was a bit troubling. She should be resting and returning to her full capacity as a knight. He asked the new gate wardens if they had seen her, and they replied that she was seen departing on her mission with Gabryel and Trystan. Reginald nodded. “Thank you warden, I’m glad she felt up to the journey after all.” Well it wasn’t a bad thing that there would be a knight on that mission… but he still worried about her. And it was odd for her to disobey Reginald. And he’d only given disguises for Trystan and Gabryel, as well as only three tagging medallions. He didn’t have the time to go after her though, the group would just have to fend for themselves.

For the rest of the month, he toiled along with other coven mages to strengthen the rift’s illusion magic and worked with newly appointed warden chief to create better defenses and get their wardens into better shape since they had failed so epically when Granate had appeared. He also oversaw the removal of the few captured half-giants, it was decided it was too risky that Granate might use them against Fang again and so the beasts were put down. When he wasn’t doing these tasks or attending to paperwork, he was often among the population of Fang. Firing them up against their enemies and assisting in their projects for the coven where he could. He also held training sessions with Marcus when Reginald had enough spare time and energy. There was nothing he could do for the lad’s loss in power, which was simply something that he would get back as he aged again. But he helped the teen relearn the control he’d lost, and a couple forgotten tricks with fire magic. Reginald ensured the lad would have what it took to survive should he end up in a magical battle.

There was one day he ordered no one to disturb him, rather than oversee coven repairs, and he stayed in his room the majority of the day with anger radiating out of him. Nilin was gone. Not surprisingly her shadow was gone too. There was no way the woman had snuck Nilin out of here against her will without anyone knowing, no Nilin would have had to be involved to get past the new patrols without being seen. Had she gone after that young stranger? The one who did have an uncanny resemblance to her, and was veshtun to boot? Reginald hoped not. To try and find one lone soul in the whole continent of Vangare, especially one who might be with their enemy… a foolish mission. He did try to contact her multiple times, but no response was given. Nilin was a headstrong, passionate creature. There would be no changing her mind, the best option was to let her go on whatever course this was and make sure there was no backlash in the coven. The next day he was calmer and knew what to do, calling the coven together in town square for an announcement. He had also realized Keket had followed her new idol, and he quickly announced to the coven that their High Priestess was on a covert mission with the other two and could not be contacted while she was away. And then distracted them from questions by suggesting new enchantments that could be placed as alarms throughout the coven, to go off should anyone without a Fang aliquam go through the vicinity. Soon enough all the enchanter mages were arguing over how to develop such enchantments, and everyone else scattered rather than deal with their yattering.

Finally a full month after the initiation, everything was done. The repairs were finished, new construction of dwellings was beginning for the initiates, and the wardens and defenses were strong. Perhaps their overall strength was less than before, with so many of the older wardens lost, but this time they were prepared. And preparation was a far better tool than plain old strength. But a little more wouldn’t hurt the High Priest mused as he dipped the crystal end of his staff into the water. The blood red crystal seemed to glow in the water, and the water around it began to show red as well. He held the staff there for a while with a small smile.

He’d dismissed the wardens who were assigned to his protection detail, he wanted to be alone with the river and the light echoes of the cave he had told them. They’d seemed unsure, new members to the wardens ranks, and unsure whether to obey their new leader or Reginald. Reginald quickly made it clear that his orders were the ones that were to be followed. He looked at the water that was gently flowing across the dark rock, splashing lightly as the water began to pick up speed for its dramatic plunge over the Cliffside. Barely detectable red lines drifted with the water now, oozing more than flowing, and taking on the color of old, dried blood with an unnatural blue and every other color known to man occasionally flickering out under the tendril’s surfaces. As the water picked up speed, the tendrils dissipated from view, completely absorbed by the water. Reginald removed his staff and left the river bank.

He walked over to the edge of the cliff that headquarters sat upon, overlooking the coven town below. The signs of destruction had been removed, and a few buildings were left uncompleted. Magic did make construction go so much faster. A commotion sounded on the hill, wardens were asking a woman to halt and she was not complying. Hmm not a safe move, he remembered Gur killing a man when he tried to charge up the hill and refused to relinquish his sword. Of course Gur was a bit more bloodthirsty than these new soldiers. That would change with time of course.

The woman in question came into view, and was revealed to be Keket’s half-sister Marissa. What odd behavior for the witch, she was normally sweet and passive to her sister’s murderous intent and aggressiveness. It also explained the warden’s not being too forceful with her, a couple older ones knew her well enough to know this behavior was unusual and she wasn’t the kind to attempt to harm the Priest. He turned with a smile, wondering what was causing this change in attitude. “Hello Marissa, it’s been a while.”

His friendliness was brushed off by the worried sister, who despite being the younger of the two, was probably more of a mother than a sister for Keket. Though she was gasping a bit from running up the hill, she still had enough breath to yell at the High Priest. “Keket’s gone off on a mission, but she’s still sick! Oh why did you let her fight, it just made her sicker, poor darling.” Reginald’s right eyebrow slowly rose up his forehead with every word.

“Excuse me my dear? You really shouldn’t be yelling at your High Priest. But moving on from that little lesson in manners, we must be talking about different Kekets. The one I know has the persona of an adorable little girl, until she decides to get blood thirsty and happily beats to death whomever I give permission to. Clearly you’ve never experienced that sweet smile that grows on her face when the blood is splattering all over her. On a real child you’d think I had given her some of her favorite candy or some other wondrous gift. But as we both know, she is not a child. Now who is this weak, little Keket you are referring to?”

The woman’s mouth dropped open for a bit, quivering as she fought off those images of the sister she’d fixed in her head as a poor child in constant need of love and care. Her lip raised and took a determined line as she refused to believe what Reginald was saying. “I’m thinking of the Keket who calls for me when she has a nightmare in the middle of the night, the one who still likes her sandwiches cut into shapes!” She crossed her arms, determined to convince the High Priest that he was wrong about the girl. The High Priest sighed, it was hard to change someone’s opinion of a person when they’d worked so hard to view that person as someone they weren’t.

“Marissa, dear, I understand your concern. But it is misplaced. Yes Keket is a bit mentally unsound, you have her gift and your shared father to thank for that. That same gift is what makes her strong, and that treatment your father tortured with her made her a bloodthirsty killer. Something that serves her well on missions, but gives her certain needs that I have to make sure are filled. In fact she is responsible for turning the Granate knight we had imprisoned in our dungeons for a week into bloody pieces. Now she is with the High Priestess and the woman Diana that she has decided to make her new safety blanket. She will be fine, she will slaughter our enemies, and she will hop back through your doorway shortly after with the blood cleaned off and her hair unkept and demanding from you those cute little cut sandwiches. And you will continue to treat her like the child you view her as. But I, I know and accept what she really is. It’s time you did as well.”

The woman had listened to his whole speech with slightly widened eyes, but kept that determined stance of her chin. After he finished there was a pause of silence as she digested the information. Then she thrust her head high and stated. “My sister looked after me when I was younger, and I have done the same for her for twenty years. You don’t know her like I do.” She abruptly turned and walked away, high shoulders hiding the look of sorrow that had now over taken her face. Reginald watched her go a moment and then shook his head. Her self-delusions were not his concern. Making sure everything fell into place was. Though in truth he had never sent Keket on that mission, he wasn’t going to tell the sister that. Let everyone think everything was happening as it was meant to.

He hand touched the aliquam attached to his arm by the shiny metal band there. It glowed purple as he spoke into it. First the assassin. “Axtin, I hired you because you were told to be quite good at your job. Yet I have yet to receive Gur’s head on a platter. I don’t care about explanations. I want results. Provide them or I'll hire more adequate assassins, and your name will be the second on their list.” His aliquam went dark for a moment and flared again. “When you get the chance dear Vivian, an update if you please.” That would probably make the girl happy. And finally, his dear counterpart. "Nilin I would greatly appreciate a response this time. If you tell me what was so important for you to leave the coven without talking to me first, perhaps I can help.” If he helped her get whatever this foolish trip over with, than she would return and be ready to assist him with the summoning, without her additional strength the ritual would be much harder to complete. He returned to the cliff and resumed taking in the view of his coven.




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§: TOP OF THE WATERFALL x §: ALONE x §: WHAT A BUSY MONTH
々MP々100%x ☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀
々HP々100% ☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀

OOC: =

[Saturn Midnight]

HP 100/100xxxxxxxxxxx
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A lot had happened in the past month and it had shaken Ulrick's world beyond comprehension. However, putting it that way was more than a little cliche.

Firstly, Garnet had passed away just before Simone and himself had made it to her room. The scene had left him feeling hollow and frozen to the spot as he looked away from Oskar Cervantes to Simone who, after several moments, let out the most awful cry he had ever heard. Oskar left the room quietly, closing the door behind him, before Ulrick came close behind Simone, staring into the face of his former High Priestess. He observed the sheen of sweat over the pale skin, yet there was a noticeably absence of frown lines, or notches between her delicate brows. She had passed over peacefully thanks to Oskar, but far from willingly with the cold sweat mingled with Simone's tears.

He felt tears form in his eyes as he pictured his mother when he had freed her, only to break into pieces right before him and Remi. Ulrick's mother would be saved; Tarien had promised him that, but here Simone was finding about one loss and now another one she was just too late...to be there for.

Suddenly he wrapped his arms around Simone's waist from behind, resting his head on top of hers' as she wept. He partly blamed himself for wanting to protect Simone from reality; from wanting to keep her from knowing about her mother being ill. If he had told her immediately, maybe they would have been able to at least see each other one last time...

He wanted to apologize to Simone, but knew she wouldn't accept it, nor want any sympathy. All he could do was be there for her, and eventually she let her mother down on the bed. She turned to look him in the eyes, and he just realized then that he could feel the tears that stained his cheeks as he looked at her swimming deep blue eyes. She looked hopeless and defeated, and his emerald eyes narrowed as Tarien came into the room...

++++

Secondly...there was another funeral added to the rest. Upon receiving intel of Remi arriving dead and branded by Fang...Ulrick had come to his partner's side with wide eyes that refused to believe what they were seeing. The High Priestess had seen the look immediately convert to crazy, and as soon as she called for the guards to push the knight back, he let out a cry synonymous to that of a howl of pain and fury as eyes laid daggers upon that wretched seal of the wolves. He flung the two guards that grabbed his arms as if they were ants, and ran to Remi's body as another four guards hurried to carry his small body away.

"REMI!" he howled with tears filling his eyes.

Just as Kozue looked like she would intervene, with speed he shouldn't have been capable of, Ulrick pricked his own finger deeply so that blood flowed out onto the floor. He drew a seal in the air, in the direction of Remi's body, making the liquid glow bright red, as he whispered an incantation, then yelled, "TRANSFER SCORE! BLOOD OF BRETHREN!"

A flash of light hit Remi's body, and the seal came into the air a dark crimson color to form the emblem of the wolf, baring its fangs at Ulrick and diving into the metal mage's chest. The impact caused Ulrick to fly backward through a wall, and onto the floor.

The black seal of Fang seared onto the metal mage's chest, and his emerald eyes widened, barely seeing Simone who had been there the entire time.

His eyes widened and became a projector before all those present; playing back Remi's last moments...

+++

Thirdly...Ulrick's mother had finally been saved with the help of Tarien and Simone so that Tarien would not be so weakened after the ritual. It happened at her grave site with all of the VanHaden's present to witness the crystals that would form back together, into Mrs. VanHaden. It had been the only thing to be happy about after all the deaths Granate mourned...except that his mother became ill as well, naturally. Being a spirit with a broken vessel for so many weeks had been too much for her, but Tarien assured him that it would only be temporary...(Details to be clarified later)

+++

As for Mallik, it seemed that by taking on the Fang seal, Tarien could not get rid of him without removing the mark. Ulrick refused to have Mallik released, which of course pissed the fire dragon off. However, the metal mage had created a seal upon the Dragonblade to help restrain Mallik from taking over Ulrick's body. The blade was in a safe place within the VanHaden mansion, and Ulrick would have to renew the seal every few weeks so that he could keep control...

+++

...Nothing really had turned out right.

For Granate, it seemed like their successful rescue mission was all but forgotten.
The only thing that kept him going was the revenge he sought for Remi...and all their fallen comrades. When Kozue decided to send him as a bodyguard for diplomatic negotiations with Maizen, it certainly pissed him off, but he could say nothing since the Priestess considered him unstable and not fit even with a month past to be involved with finding the last key and protecting it with his life. Ulrick had taken a deep breath, and left the council room after the arrangements were made.

He had taken the time to drink up his problems away at a tavern in the neighboring city, where Simone had joined him. He felt that in the past month she was there for him almost, if not more, than he was there for her. They drank like good old chums, and cried a bit but with grins and rosy cheeks from the beer. Ulrick felt like a wimp the whole time. He really had felt and looked weak and pathetic with all that had happened, even more so with the fake courageous look on his face.

In order to counter his weaknesses, he trained hard and sometimes with Simone as she learned to hone her new powers from Tarien. Ulrick and Simone had made a deadly match, and even thought up some tag-team moves; some of which he had used with Remington, as Remi had been the more agile one...

+++

Now, there Ulrick was smirking as the Prince of Civok insulted Simone quite carelessly, yet not seeming to mean any offense to the tan-skinned, newly promoted knight. However, Ulrick himself would save a smart comment for later. Right now, there was danger below as an elven warrior spotted them, and the earth shook beneath their feet as more were coming- as if the whole army had been on stand-by, anticipating their arrival. [********] he thought.

However, he remembered what the Prince said with unbelievably high hopes that they might be listened to if they reached the main entrance to the castle.Since they were very close to the gates, Ulrick moved behind their group with his staff held at the ready, mentally calculating the best weapon for him to use for the situation.

"Everyone move to the gate," he said urgently, "and Simone, help me guard the rear" he ordered.

Ulrick knew Ember's earth magic would work best to slow the soldiers' advance with all the vines and brush strewn about. However, getting rid of obstacles before the gate was their top priority. Hopefully the prince would be right about the Maizen royals listening to him, despite all the raucous...


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Location: Maizen, Outside Tetrach with Simone, Ember, Alecion...
Mood/State: Determined
Appearance: [This]
Current Weapon Staff- Looks like it is cracked all over (see weapons section of profile for more details).
Theme Song: NEW Thirteen Times the Strength- A Silent Film

(( A very very crappy summary post. Ta-daaaa!~ XP If it needs to be edited, let me know. Also some details were not included for a reason. x3 ))

[Satellite O Love]

After all this, Gabryel sincerely hoped that some sort of punitive underworld existed so that Reginald could be cursed to go to it. Sadly, his own, native religion didn’t really adhere to the idea of meaningful life after death in the first place. To hear the Priestess tell it, they were already living in the ultimate paradise and their souls will forever travel in the cycle until they are fit to become one with the power of their god. It was ill-defined at best and, in Gabryel’s opinion, a ridiculous way to get out of having to actually think about what happens in the event of the world-ending. The alternative for all who leave the cradle of Aseran civilization (and Ziiya’s protection) is to be doomed to wander the human plane forever, without rest, without direction, and without the love of their god or family.

Basically, what Gabryel was going through right now. Okay, so he technically wasn’t “lost” since others were in charge of the route, but that was really the only part of this horrific journey that wasn’t similar to the Aseran idea of misery. The lack of rest was definitely present, as was the wandering and the general knowledge that he was completely unloved. The nagging and the constant barrage of historical facts so boring that he was almost asleep all over again (or else so outrageous that he had to give his paper-bound companion a side-eye) were only an added bonus. Ashleigh had attempted to apologize for his somewhat-forgotten insults to Gabryel at Zhu (he mostly remembered the evisceration and the stubborn frown of the hypocritical mage when he flashed back to that), but any clemency that may have bought him with the Aseran mage was soon forgotten by the fifth day straight of talking about inane details no one could possibly care about concerning the landscape from a thousand years ago.

No way was he going to carry around the parchment annoyance twenty-four hours a day like a child clutching a beloved pet, so Gabryel had wisely invested in a belted contraption he wore around his hips to carry the damn thing. The book itself was turned outward (naturally), so that he wouldn’t risk Ashleigh biting his a**, and he also made sure not to cinch the tome closed so that the male in question could hover annoyingly close to the group (usually him) at all times. Of course, despite his best efforts, he found himself having to walk around with the book in his hands on numerous occasions. The reason? Gabryel knew that Reginald was serious (and smug, so smug that it had taken Gabryel every ounce of maturity he had in him to not accidentally stop on the other man’s foot as he took the tome in the first place) about his being entrusted with Ashleigh’s current prison and that, in essence, made the redheaded paperman his lifeline. It meant that he couldn't be without the thing, even for the sake of his own sanity. Poor Gabryel even had to sleep holding the book when they were camping out in nature for fear that something or someone might come upon him unawares.

It was probably his constant proximity to Ashleigh that made him lose patience more quickly than he usually might; about the third day into their lovely little excursion, Gabryel was already contemplating tossing the book off a cliff and telling Reginald that they encountered “unforeseen problems.” Of course, that would get him killed (and his skin given to Luna despite his noble wishes), so Gabryel had to bite his tongue and find the special place in his head where he could tune out the loud, boisterous voice of Ashleigh. Now and then he would trade barbs with the book-man just to keep himself from going completely insane, but Ashleigh was insatiable when it came to the sound of his own voice, so Gabryel (impossibly) found himself quieter than usual.

Unsurprisingly, Luna caught up with their group only four days out. Gabryel couldn’t help but smile at her opening remark about how she’d thought she had left in plenty of time to catch them up in a day since it was Gabby who was traveling, but Ash’s dread pace had caught them all by surprise and she’d had to predict their path and put Manny through his paces to join the group. He’d only shaken his head and offered her the honor of carrying the book since she was the trustworthy, loyal Knight of the group (and he was just some nobody who was accompanying even less of a nobody in Fang). Luna outright refused and so Gabryel had no choice but to remain the unwitting victim of many of Ashleigh’s strange impulses (moreso than the others in the group considering Trystan’s destructive abilities and Luna’s natural affinity for fire magic as discovered when, bored beyond belief, she attempted to give Manny a flaming mane of hair). The most common bit of annoyance was when Ashleigh would unexpectedly grab at the long strands of Gabryel’s hair and tug while making a nickering sound to indicate he wanted the purple-eyed mage to walk faster. That move usually earned him a sharp elbow to his papery approximation of an abdomen and a promise from Gabryel that if he kept it up, he would trap him in his own book for a few hours till he found his patience again. There was no doubt that the mage would make good on that threat if Ashleigh pushed him.

Luna was in surprisingly good spirits, perhaps because she was better at tuning things out. Luna’s internal self changed more gradually than her outward appearance. Gabryel was surprisingly pleased by her memory of Fang returning, but he had mixed feelings about Luna remembering what Asere was like. It had been so long since he’d really given much thought to the village itself and the suffocating structure there. Luna seemed more nostalgic for it than him, possibly because she couldn’t yet remember why she had left. She was still technically recovering; though her wounds had long since healed, her memory was another story. Ashleigh’s trying insistence that they get as little rest as possible in the interest of obtaining his new body for him meant that she was missing out on the sleep required for her mind to continue to process her past. As a result, it wasn’t at all uncommon to see Trystan carrying her while she napped, head pressed against his shoulder while he face was obscured by a curtain of her hair to block out light (and sound, mostly sound). Gabryel couldn’t help but feel it was good for Trystan to be around someone else who held at least semi-fond memories of their homeland. Gabryel still avoided talking about it to the point that he didn’t even ask questions about his own family. Still, it wasn’t hard for Luna or Trystan to coax Gabryel into speaking their native language (as he oftentimes fell to doing so without even realizing it).

Gabryel’s feelings toward Trystan were far more complicated than the mix of anxiety and enjoyment he drew from his interactions with Luna (not to mention the strange sort of amusement he felt when she remembered another one of their exploits at Fang and recanted it to him from her rather skewed perspective). Trystan was one of a very small list of people from his past in Asere that Gabryel thought of often, so he was unsurprisingly overjoyed to have beaten the odds and reunited. His issue was moving past everything he had missed and trying to reconcile the little kid he’d considered to be a combination of a little brother and a friend with the (seemingly) stoic adult he was now traveling with. His worries were in vain as it quickly became apparent that, no matter his age and height, Trystan was Trystan; undeniably loyal, easily tricked into blushing, ready with a smile, and adorably (inescapably) responsible.

The special illusion trinket that Reginald had made specifically for Trystan was also throwing him off a bit. Most native Zhu citizens had dark hair and eyes, thus it was a little jarring to see his trusted companion’s features altered and his normally vibrant red-and-blue-tipped hair dark as his own. Trystan smoothly resumed his usual position as Gabryel’s friend and impromptu guide to the point that it almost felt like they hadn’t completely missed a decade of interaction. The first day that Gabryel wandered away from the group in search of water (to Ashleigh’s great dismay), Trystan found him almost instantly and said he’d been making a circle around their campsite for about twenty minutes. Then, embarrassingly enough, the few days Gabryel had a difficult time getting up (and instead of caving to Ashleigh’s not-so-kind request that they get up and go, he’d merely clutched the book tightly to his chest till the redhead shut up), he’d awaken to find he was being carried much like Luna on the days she lazed around using Trystan rather than Manny has her carriage.

These sluggish mornings were odd. Gabryel would never be terribly fond of the dawn, but he usually didn’t have much trouble waking up, even before the sun was up. It was concerning that, at times, he would find it difficult to release himself from sleep’s unexpectedly tight bonds. He was sure it concerned Trystan to, judging by the way his brow drew together until he realized Gabryel was back to normal. Every now and then, a bedmate would mention it to Gabryel, stating that he was utterly impossible to rouse some nights no matter what they did to him (an admission that ended in tears for them), and that he would mumble in a nonsensical tongue, almost like a chant. He was pretty sure it was just Aseran, but Gabryel was unsure of what that type of sleep meant, just that as he’d gotten older, the incidents became slightly more common. Luckily, it only happened twice while they were traveling across the continent on Reginald’s accursed mission.

One thing that Gabryel certainly did not miss out on was Trystan’s birthday. He was surprised at how close it had been once the mage had collected his bearings and really took scope of the path that lay before them and their likelihood of getting there with any degree of swiftness. They would invariably be traveling during the anniversary of Trystan’s birth – his first birthday since they were both teenagers. Gabryel remembered that one fondly. He’d left shortly after Trystan’s 15th celebration (if it could be called that – Aserans were not, by nature, big on celebrating the beginning of a new cycle once a child was beyond a certain age), but on the day of, he’d managed to sneak away from his usual lessons to await his friend in their forest haunt (he’d found it after only two hours of looking). Upon tasting the apple-tart tingle of Trystan’s mana on his tongue, Gabryel had hidden himself in some nearby shrubbery to ambush his friend upon entry into the clearing. For being such a skinny thing, Trystan was always uncommonly sturdy. He had barely moved even when set upon by the (*coughalreadygrown*) Gabryel. The amethyst-eyed mage did his usual task of smothering the top of Trystan’s glowing head with kisses before delivering a final, decisive one, to his forehead. It was a tradition started when the apprentice Artisan turned eight and, bearing his usual, calm expression, had told Gabryel that his father considered this age a milestone so he would no longer get a birthday kiss from the elder Sylas. Gabryel, being 10 and well beyond bunking tradition for the sake of it, had replied that was “silly,” and so proceeded to give his friend an attack of kisses from the top of his head to the tip of his nose. Perhaps he really was too old for such a childish show of affection at 15, but Gabryel hadn’t really cared. Trystan, always a trooper, endured it and though he seemed to be at war with himself, he eventually gave his friend his usual grin.

There was no way he would miss reminding Trystan of their ridiculous childhood traditions, but the question was how? Luna wouldn’t ever let him live it down, and he couldn’t imagine what Ashleigh would say. Though getting away temporarily from the young lady in their midst wasn’t too difficult, the issue was that the red-head bound to the book was required to always be in Gabryel’s possession. So he thought, and eventually came up with a somewhat surreptitious solution. On the morning of, just as Ashleigh caved in his temporary sleeping-space, he pretended to be sluggish and sleepy to the point that Trystan had enough of shaking him and just picked up the whole Aeran bundle to resume their march. He then waited until Ashleigh was busy regaling an unwilling Luna with another improbable tale before he’d yawned, wrapped his arms around Trystan like he was still half asleep, and delivered one decisive kiss to the center of his forehead. They’d locked eyes briefly, Trystan’s own wide as he obviously was attempting to figure out if Gabryel’s move was intentional or not. The Aeran hand opened his own (falsely brown) to reflect his friend’s look, gave him a pat on the head, and wished him happy birthday.

He was speechless in response, which was unusual in reaction to Gabryel, but it was a good thing. Though the shock had given way to a contented sort of expression that made Gabryel's stomach flutter nervously, he chalked it up to nostalgia. The purple-eyed Aseran was so pleased that he jovially mocked Ashleigh’s usual tone and asked him a million questions about his stories (checking for consistency) for the rest of the day.

--------------

Luckily, they were all more than clever enough to weave their way around the battlefields of Zhu on this second trip to the country that Gabryel most definitely had not wanted to make. The clothes and disguises certainly helped – he got a few looks from locals for being dressed in finer clothes than their own, but that was explained well enough by their faux merchant status (of a higher order than a simple peddler). Ashleigh became more and more restless and, irritatingly enough, prodded his handler with greater insistence than ever the closer they got to his library. The book-bound man had warned them ahead of time that his library was located underground, which only made sense or else it would have been found and ravaged years before.

Despite his usual annoyance at being used as an armrest for the tall redhead (again, interrupted by his elbow to an easily caved-in, papery chest), Gabryel found excitement and dread unfurling within himself in equal measures. Excitement because this mission was nearly over, but he had his reservations about what that really entailed in the long run; not to mention his growing anxiety about the state of his own mind while he was in Fang. It was an observation that Gabryel had made over the short years he’d resided in the outer court – given his tendency to get completely lost and wander the landscape for weeks on end, it soon became habit for him to feel irritable and surprisingly apathetic about goings-on in the Fang Coven (particularly ones of a violent nature) only to recall these events with untold horror after he’d been away and cleared his head for days on end. But things were nearing some sort of conclusion, so he supposed he was mostly glad.

He certainly wasn’t for the utter darkness that met them as they entered the cave. Luna refrained from using her fire magic in the name of stealth and with Ashleigh’s assurance that he knew precisely where he was going. Gabryel stumbled about more than usual, earning him a near-perpetual hand on his shoulder from his childhood friend. He grasped Luna’s forearm with his other hand to make sure that she was nearby as well, and the group proceeded together.

When light finally entered his awareness, Gabby sighed and pressed his fingernails against the spine of the book he had been embracing with the arm not currently attached to Luna’s arm. “Was all this subterfuge really necessary? I could have fallen and broken your charming little spine in two about fifty times back there. Please don’t tell me there’s going to be some terrifying monster waiting just ahea…"

He sighed as he was cut off by the beating of wings as said monster uproariously descended from parts unknown with the vile intention of eating Luna or himself. Gabryel felt Trystan’s hand tighten on his shoulder, but the intensity was soon broken by Ashleigh’s form as he threw himself between the winged creature and the Fang party. It ended more quickly than it started as the feral creature immediately changed to a feathered, humanoid figure and spoke to Ashleigh in a tone so blunt that Gabryel couldn’t bite back a smile. He’d only known a handful of summoners during his time as they weren’t all that common, but they usually kept up a fairly harmonious relationship with their creatures. Perhaps it was because many of them chose stupidly loyal, unintelligent beings as opposed to monstrosities that could take human form and had apparent sentience, but there was something endlessly amusing about the ancient mage being regarded so casually by his own guardian. He regarded her with the same nonchalance and reassured them by extension (in a way that wasn’t reassuring at all) that she couldn’t eat the three Aserans in their midst.

“That had better not mean ‘for now,’ Ashleigh,” Gabryel chided, pressing his hand down on the cover of his constant companion over the past three weeks. He bit back a retort at the strange nickname (one of many), the redhead had given to Trystan in favor of annoyance at having his hair pulled yet again. “Keep pulling and you may rattle my brain and wound me beyond repair. I’d hate to forget to properly assist you in the ceremony to return you to your body... He broke off as he really thought about his feelings when the mission was over."Admittedly, it will be a complete relief to finish this. I will be far fonder of this book once it cannot speak.“

He was also fairly curious about the wealth of ancient knowledge available in the Library, but Gabryel somehow doubted he would get to partake in any of it. Ashleigh may have been simple-minded in his goal, but he was too unstable mentally for Gabryel to ever fully trust him. Despite the joking tone he’d used to comment on the redhead’s reassurance they wouldn’t be fed to his summon, Gabryel couldn’t rule that possibility out completely. He doubted Ashleigh was one for benevolence unless the transition to his body suddenly meant he gained compassion as well as the ability to properly feel again in the physical sense. They also had to return to Fang as soon as possible if for no other reason than he wanted to be rid of the book where it could rest safely amidst a bed of vipers.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he barely noticed Ashleigh leave his side to drift toward a cracked bit of scenery nearby. Gabryel couldn’t help but hear his loud exclamation followed by a series of nos that bored on frightening as his tone warbled with unrestrained sorrow. Gabryel sighed and pushed his dark fringe out of his eyes (he’d finally become somewhat accustomed to not seeing purple in his peripheral vision) and walked over to where Ashleigh mournfully sat atop a pile of the substance that shared his nickname.

Gabryel's gazed moved to the pile of what was apparently human remains long since decayed and turned to dust, then to the cracked tomb that had held them. No need for explanations there. He crossed his arms around the book and sighed again, this time with weariness, “I suppose it would be too much to ask for nothing to go wrong. I think I’m right in assuming that’s your body. Was your body. So do you have some other plan? Another vessel perhaps?” Ashleigh was such a hoarder that it seemed like a real possibility.

Location: Ashleigh's Library


Mood: Uneasy


Company: Trystan, Luna, Ashleigh, Anzu.


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OOC:Here is the general idea of the outfit Gabby has been wearing to “blend in” at Zhu. He’s using the
enchantment given by Regi because a month of sustaining an illusion is no fun for him. His hair obviously loses its visible gradient under the spell (so just black) and his eyes are changed from conspicuously purple to brown like his twin’s.

General Notes: Gabby’s no fool. Though Reginald values coven members in terms of keeping up their numbers, his particular dislike for Gabby would likely mean the Aseran’s death if he managed to lose the Roman Scriptures. Though he’s irritated with Ash’s non-stop chatter, he will do his duty (and is actually more understanding of it than he lets on. He’s certainly considered the fact that being trapped for a thousand years would make anyone crazy).

Gabby’s impression of Trystan is simply his own experience. I doubt everyone would find it easy to make Trystan smile and blush, for one.

Regarding his temperament close to or away from Fang : Gabby doesn’t know specifically what it is about Fang that affects him, but he is fairly certain it’s some kind if magical tampering. As yet, he has no proof, but it makes him very uneasy. This actually explains why he was reserved but still fairly blasé about Marcus killing a bunch of technically innocent Zhu citizens and, in retrospect, after being cleansed of a million other things (including his own magic for a time) in Zhu’s delightful prison system, he is horrified by it.

[Peacock Catastrophe]

+++✲ ██████ -
｡｡｡ This kitty is cursed ｡｡+++
+++ ⇘ ───────────────────── ⋙Sidekick (Nilin's Brother)
Location⋮Fang HQ+++Currently With⋮ Reginald +++OOC⋮---

+ HP: 100% ++++ MP: 100% +++

+++ In an instant, an entire month had gone by and the Veshtun had made himself at home within the confines of Fang HQ. While traveling in and out of the headquarters was a hassle, it didn't necessarily confine him inside, and he was often out hunting for things. Whether it be women to spend the night with, or fish/mice for his occasional cat tendencies. The fish ended up usually going back with him and being wasted in some smelly, prank of sorts. Most often, it was against his new pal Reginald. He had been graced with the opportunity to get to know him a bit more at the celebration a month ago, and since then Naraku was almost always a thorn in his side. Probably also a giant pain in the a** to the dark haired woman who was often reveling in the attention of the high priest. She seemed to like him a lot, and Reginald himself seemed to get along with her. But the silver haired man never said a word towards her, despite his love of women. Something about her just kind of seemed off. Or maybe it was the fact that she seemed so infatuated with Regi, that he didn't bother thinking she was a possible target. She was however one of the new inducted Knights, and sometimes had business to do with Reginald, and Naraku would find himself locked out of his quarters for a time being while official coven orders were being given. But as soon as the olive-toned man was back out of his room, Naraku was right there at his side like a cat looking for attention.

+++ The little girl was another odd thing at first. She actually seemed more like Reginald's shadow and gave the impression that she was favored by the High Priest. It didn't bother the male however, but it did take some time to get used to her. After that, it was as if nurturing desires were itching to come out. He had missed the chance to have fun with Nilin while she grew up, and part of that bothered him. So was it necessarily that wrong to want to toss this young girl into the air and catch her, or carry her around on his shoulders? Well, maybe it was a little creepy, and that is exactly why Naraku kept to himself whenever something concerned Keket. She, just like Vivianne, also had duties within the coven and would often be pulled aside to obtain orders. Ah, what a tragedy. To have such a young thing be mixed up in all this chaos.

meow~skip~

+++ If it weren't for his heightened senses, the wandering male would perhas look like a bloodhound sniffing along to find it target. Or maybe his "cat sense" was just an excuse when it came to him wandering the halls of the coven. His good old cat nap had caused him to lose track of his new buddy, and now that he was awake and ready to play, he was on the hunt. He felt no need to ask for the High Priests' whereabouts, even as he found himself in the same hallway two, three, or more times. Naraku would find him eventually.... maybe. Howerver, despite his reoccuring misfortunes, he wasn't losing face, and in fact found it entertaining. It was like a game of cat and mouse, him being the cat and Regi being the mouse. But that thought didn't have to be mentioned to anyone...

+++ "Nilin I would greatly appreciate a response this time. If you tell me what was so important for you to leave the coven without talking to me first, perhaps I can help.” The sound of muffled speech peeked around the corner and Naraku knew exactly who had found. A giant grin instantly exploded across the male's face as he rushed forth to the waterfall top to meet with the man. "No wonder it was so difficult to find you! Who knew you'd be hanging up in a place like this!" he spoke loudly, yet casually. And the next thing he knew, Naraku was on the flood. He wondered at first what had happened, But as soon as the overwhelming tingling in his legs made it's presence, he knew what had happened. Those damn legs of his had given out. "Yeesh, what a pain." he muttered. Turning himself around, Naraku moved into a sitting position before looking back to his company. "I do apologize for my disgrace. This happens every so often, and is something I cannot control." As if he really needed to make an apology, but he felt a bit foolish for haven fallen out of nowhere for no reason.

+++ Slowly standing back up, Naraku frowned at the disability of his legs and knowing that he couldn't tell whether or not his muscles were holding up. If they weren't, he would simply fall back down, but if they were, he would be good to go. "With so many people constantly around, it was hard to strike you as a solitary man." the male went on to brush himself off. "Would you mind if I joined you?" Yet another unneccesary thing to spit out of his mouth. He hadn't ever asked before, and had instead just done whatever he felt like. But maybe the other man would look over it andn ot even notice.

"WHAT GREATER GIFT THAN THE LOVE OF A CAT.”

｡｡

Priestess of Athena

[Grrrr the Gur]

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Sker Mesa
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“Deep breathes” thought Sker to herself. Gur did not get vaporized by a demon. He would not get his fool head ripped off by the Chi/Chikara combo that had bent steel bars like they were taffy. Taffy left in the sun.

This was the first time she’d seen Chikara fully projected; back in the Titanfall inn, she’d gotten a sense of him but it had been misty and, given the circumstances, not that terrifying. An angry Ogre was a sight you wanted to see at least once in your life. From a distance. A very, very long distance. From the opposite side of Vangare seemed about right

Those thoughts were not helping her anxiety, and her anxiety would pop her back into her body, and she had the feeling that would be a one way trip, given that Alf had had to literally kill her… temporarily, she hoped… to free up her soul the last time the two ended up sharing the same space. So it was time to take deep breathes, be calm. It was all going to be fine. Fine, fine, fine. She felt the universe start to stutter and WILLED it to be still, and focusing on that helped a bit and things settled down again.

Gur looked at the green haired woman that had broken into the room as things when to hell and she could feel him immediately leaping to the same conclusion she did; no one told the high priest to stop but the high priestess. Which was a little confusing; everyone in Fang knew the general descriptions of the four knights and priest and priestess of Granate, and Naito… well, what had been Naito… looked like Naito but this did not look like Garnet.

Gur's defection from House Fang had yet to reach House Granate and while Gur did not recognize her as High Priestess Garnet, the green haired female surely recognized him as Knight Gur of House Fang. A cautious and suspicious look crossed her visage as she held out her staff in front of her. "I do not believe a Fang Knight would stupidly cross enemy territory without an ulterior motive. You've done something with our High Priest and bring an ogre into our home!"

Gur gave her his most courtly bow and said “High Priestess, thank you for your timely intervention…”

“NOW, GUR” bellowed the Ogre, “I WANT YOU RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.”

Gur looked a little pained. “and I sincerely apologize for this, but I have some… family issues to discuss with my wife. As I hope you know since you tried to stop him, Naito’s … mmmmm…. condition is due to things that were completely outside my control, and if you would be so kind as to give me a few moments, I swear I will do my best to answer any questions you would care to ask.”

The green haired woman glanced at the Ogre, glanced at Gur, glanced back at the Ogre, looked back at the man standing behind her, looked back at Gur. Which Sker found a little funny because Axtin was, based on all the sneaky weapons she’d been forced to cough up, clearly some kind of assassin. And wasn’t getting a second glance.

“NOW, GUR!” bellowed the Ogre again.

Ok, maybe not that strange, thought Sker.

"“Your … wife?” asked the green haired woman. Gur nodded.

Definitely not that strange, though Sker.

The green haired woman looked a little at a loss for words and finally waved some kind of permission to Gur to go ahead.

Gur sighed, bowed to the high priestess again, squared his shoulders, and walked over to Chikara. “Chikara. Good to see you again.” Sker could feel Chi through the bond and felt how pissed Chi was and started to actually relax a bit. This was good old standard heart-on-your-sleeve pissed off Chi, not big-a**-unknown-ogre combo with unknown motivations Chi. Which meant that Chi would tear into Gur but eventually would forgive him for whatever had raised her ire this time. Which meant, hopefully, the Ogre was not going to kill his… son in law? Sker didn’t have the remotest idea how to categorize the relationship. Spirit Son Ogre Bonded In Law? She shook her non-existent head. Whatever.

It looked like the Ogre was winding up for a tirade, or about to spit nails, when Chi said “Chikara, I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you back. But you don’t get to kick the s**t out of my husband until I’m done with him, understand?”

Chikara paused with his mouth open, then shut it looking a little stunned. “Husband?” he said.

Chi turned to Gur and Sker could see the anger burning in her eyes and wondered if maybe, just maybe, Gur would be better off with the Ogre. Gur looked like he was thinking the same thing, and through the bond, she knew he was thinking the same thing. But he did the mental equivalent of squaring his shoulders, gave Chi his warmest smile, and said “yes, sweetheart?”

“Don’t you sweetheart me, it’s Chikara to you, you… you… you pompous a**!” shouted Chi.

Sker could see and feel Gur trying to figure out what was setting Chi off, could feel him try to get something through the bond, but as usual Chi was pretty much flat out in one dimension and that dimension was anger. Gur trying to pull something from the bond added a degree or two to the temperature of that red hot blaze.

“I’m talking about you letting Naito get turned into a demon so you can SHOWBOAT again by getting all sacrificy and I’m-a-human-shield and all that crap!” said Chi.

Gur blinked, then gave the green haired woman, who had stopped whatever she was doing to the demon to look at them with a raised eyebrow, a weak grin. “Just my wife’s sense of humor” said Gur. The green haired woman did not look convinced but she turned back to the task at hand.

“Sweethe…. Chikara, don’t be unreasonable, you know I couldn’t have known that Naito didn’t know that the demon knew that the kiloqualm would allow him to take over …. Naito” said Gur after a pause to make sure he had all the “knows” and “knews” in the right place.

Chi, forgetting she was still in Ogre mode, punched Gur in the chest with a finger, which was enough to lift him off the floor and send him staggering back a half dozen steps. Sker felt the pain through the bond and, while it wasn’t as bad as her broken ribs, it was pretty bad and Gur had the breath knocked out of him. Then it was Sker’s turn to pause… what broken ribs? She didn’t even have ribs.

In the meantime, Gur had managed to breath in, finally, in one giant rasping intake, and he said, “Chi, sweetheart, please, no demon armor any more, remember?”

The green haired woman and her darker male companion were starring again and Gur gave them another weak grin and a thumbs up sign to say everything was under control. The two Granatians looked at other, shrugged, and went back to de-demonizing.

Sker felt Chi flash to concern, then assessing the damage through the bond and knowing Gur was going to have a nasty bruise but no lasting damage, flipped back to flame-on mode, but this time the anger was dulled a bit. “Sorry,” Chi said, almost meaning it, “but you deserved it. Dammit Gur, this is a two way street. You don’t want to live without me, I don’t want to live without you. You think I’m some kind of damsel in distress? That I can’t handle some demon with the mana of a high priest and enough chaos magic to vaporize a good sized building?”

Gur was smarter than Sker gave him credit for because he just gave Chi an attentive look and didn’t even try to answer that.

“We’re partners, Gur, we are in this together. So next time, before you get all noble because I’m in danger, well, try to think about me before you think about me” said Chi.

More points to Gur, because Sker could feel him struggle with that a bit and he finally just said, “yes, sweetheart.” And Chi could feel through the bond as well as she could that, while it might be a slightly confused apology, it was an apology.

Chi turned to Sker and said “and he COULD TOO have done something besides getting between me and Naito. Stop taking his side.” Sker must have been broadcasting. But Sker could feel Chi's anger was rapidly cooling, and Chi turned back to Gur and said “I am sorry about poking you in the chest.”

Chikara had been remarkably quiet thus far but, with the conversation winding down, finally broke in. “Do I get to rip his head off now?”

Chi responded "No. You'll have to excuse him, he's a bit of an idiot, but he means well. Please forgive this idiot husband of mine."

Gur said "I am right here" a little weakly and Chi gave him a “do you want to get eaten, or don't you?” kind of look and Gur shut up.

Chikara said, clearly speaking to himself, “I think I have some catching up to do.”

[Koko the Boss]

Phantoms of days past lingered within the ' The Oratory' as evidenced by the wax candles lighting up upon their arrival. No matter how hard Virgil and Vivian tried putting out the flames, they simply lit up again. Vivian deduced that some sort of spell must have been placed on the candles to automatically light up when a physical body entered the prayer room. It was eerie to say the least, but what else could it be? Ghosts and spirits, now that was Keket territory. Little shrimp needed to be disposed of one day for hanging around Lord Valerius as often as she did. Good thing she clung to Nilin's shadow and on another bright side Granate took back its whore, the blue eyed mage took too much of High Priest Reginald's attention. Being chosen as Knight made her world a brighter place to live in, she was one step closer to being 'worthy' of Lord Valerius' wife. The days following the tournament a month ago took her for a spin. As she was out during her Knightly duties, Val was being harassed by their eldest half-sister, Opal Cidthrope. Vivian volunteered to teleport the worm to the center of the Zhu Kingdom but Valentine opted to torture Opal's pride at the family dinner table. The twins enjoyed playing with their prey but Valentine had much more patience than his other half. Vivian had not laughed that hard since they sent Adelaide and Josephine to the grave. Although their pranks on Svenja did give her butterflies. The blue haired Knight endured a series of unfortunate accidents with a source she frustratingly couldn't pin point. Serves her right for interfering with the twins' plans!

Vivian stretched out her arms and yawned, they awaited Valentine's signal for the most opportune moment to finish off the Maizen leaders and the runt they called a Prince, or more specifically their new King. The Ramsioaken brat had been asleep up until recently, a wrench in their plans to dissolve the Ramsioaken bloodline. Virgil was made aware of these inner plottings and actions played out by the twins as ordered by the High Priest but something told Vivian that he wasn't so pleased with their approach. Afterall he had a history with Maizen's system but whatever reservations he had were kept in that arrogant brain of his. Red eyes darted over to the back of Virgil's head, she scowled at his presence before perusing through the room they were situated in. The Oratory was a room tailored for the royal family to sit and pray to their nature gods and godesses while The Chapel was open to the public or whoever happened to be wandering around the underground castle. Vivian had to give it to these elven snobs, building an underground castle that jutted out over a cliff was strategically crafted. Anyone incompetent enough to leave a sour taste in their mouths could simply be tossed off the balconies and into the raging river below. The blueprint of the castle and schedule of its members took a week to jot down. Luckily for them, Valentine had already spent two weeks in disguise as " Lord Silvanus " with the help of High Priest Reginald's illusion potions. This only proved the unmatched and unprecedented abilities of her beloved High Priest and made her adore him even more.

The dark haired mage began to pace, her heart rate escalating at the thought of being reunited with her twin. They had been apart for far too long causing at least three tantrums with Virgil throughout their mission. He even questioned her if she could finish the job without breaking out into a fit of tears and slashing at anything in her immediate radius. Vivian promised to be better but she knew the longer she stayed away from her twin, the more these outbreaks would occur. She never relayed the truth to Virgil and he didn't bother to ask. It got worse, the female Knight cried herself to sleep for the past couple days, holding herself and mumbling for Valentine's embrace in her dreams. Knight Virgil surely witnessed her vulnerable state whenever he took the shift to stay awake but had not disclosed his knowledge to her. In fact they barely spoke throughout their journey, any snide remark cultivated by her hung in the air and only once produced a smirk from the red head. It was blatant to see the two did not enjoy eachother's presence which is why Vivian had fun reaching over and grabbing the Knight's muscular gluteus maximus when she teleported them to Tetrarch just to get on his nerves. It wasn't hard to do, she simply pictured Virgil to be Reginald and swoopy - swoop - swift grope. Now Vivian was so close to laying eyes on her golden haired other half, it put her on edge and took all her will power not to throw another tantrum inside the room.

To diverge her thoughts away from her twin, Vivian picked at an angelic looking figurine made of flowers and thorns when the door swung open. A bundle of pink hair, pointed ears and brown eyes gazed upon Vivian and Virgil. Struck by shock, the servant girl allowed the wooden door to close behind her. The locket necklace across Vivian's chest glowed as Reginald's voice seeped through, “When you get the chance dear Vivian, an update if you please.” A look of recognition crossed the elven servant's face which produced a sneer from Vivian.

Without any second thoughts, the mage teleported behind the elven girl who must not have been older than twelve. A whirl of red eyes targeted the child, the edges of her katar pressed against her neck as her free hand clamped over her mouth. "Make a sound and I promise it will be the last you make, dearie," Vivian hushed the child before making eye contact with Virgil. "Oh don't look at me like that Knight Mallick. She's seen more than enough--woopsies," she giggled jubilantly as blood sprayed around the room from the long gash on the elven girl's throat.

"I'm just having a little fun while we wait for my brother's signal, nothing wrong with that." Vivian chirped as she projected a wicked smile at the red head. She hummed a tune played by Valentine on the piano while hauling up the elven girl's body like cattle and flopping her over one of the wooden chairs. Vivian reached out for the angelic figurine and yanked out a row of thorns that pierced her own skin. She twitched at the pain but continued to wrap the girl's head with the thorns to create a crown. "Look, I've made a mini Reginald doll, isn't she adorable?" Her laughter died down as footsteps approached The Oratory.

"Did you hear that?" A voice echoed from the other side of the door.

Vivian readied herself to ambush the unknown castle guards but more hurried footsteps vibrated along the floor. "Quick, to the front gate. The prince of Civok is reported to be there with some mages. He's talking about some treaty. Everyone's ordered to head out there!" A passing by voice shouted and acted as a catalyst for the rest of the unknown figures to trample away.

Vivian chuckled and wrapped a bloody hand around her aliquam and focused her mana to activate it, " Valentine is with the Ramioaken runt and some nobles in a meeting, we're waiting for his signal, my lord." She nodded at Virgil, indicating for him to aliquam Reginald too if he wanted to toss in his own input.

__________________________________
__________________________________
▇ ▇ ▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
↷H E A L T H : 99%▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
⇡ M AN A: 98%▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
⇣ M US I C: Taking this one to the grave
↪ Ｃ O M P A N Y : Virgil
﹝ ↓ L O Ｃ A T I O N : Castle in Tetrarch
__________________________________
__________________________________

⋤Ｏｕｔ.Ｏｆ.ＣｈａｒａＣｔeｒ⋥
↷ Any sense of tactical logic has been thrown out the window with Vivian after suffering multiple days apart from her twin, hence the quick slaughter of the elven servant girl without thinking of the consequences. Virgil and Vivian were only lucky that Alecion and company arrived at the front gates or else Maizen officials would be on to them.

↷ Vivi Dialogue: ▇▇▇ #A40000

Tigerx81

YOUR TURN!

[IILovelyAmarathII]

-x-x-x Four Weeks ago-x-x-x
The month of events for the raven haired mage had him one busy, busy man. During the banquet he was quite surprised that the turquoise haired woman did in fact share the same feelings for him as well. To much of his knowledge she was weary at first even entertaining a romantic relationship with him. He couldn't blame her, in fact he understood more than anything. Despite their efforts Ember and himself made during the mission to see the prince, the war between the three kingdoms was still raging on. Although, Mordred didn't feel like it was all a lost. He tried his best to assure Minerva, that when it came between them that he would stop at nothing to protect her.

During the ending of April was when there was a announcement made of the passing of the former high priestess Garnet Andradite. At first Mordred was confused because he assumed that Lady Kozue was the high priestess at the time, but quickly learned later on that she was temporary until now. Unlike, the older Coven members who knew High Priestess Garnet Mordred wasn't as devastated as the other coven members were. On the day of the funeral, he accompanied Minerva, to show respect toward previous high priestess. Hearing out all of the Eulogies, and watching Celeste who was a former general of Civok gracefully do the Civok army Farewell march, was where he started to feel touched and emotional. He impulsively grabbed on to Minerva's hand and tightened his grip.

His mind remembering back when she was in her injured condition. He didn't want imagine losing her. Ever. Death for him was a experience he did not enjoy. Thoughts of Marcus crossed his mind during this time, but he knew there wouldn't be a way to see him. Even if he tried. There was too much going on, and He wasn't willing to risk everything he loved now. At end of the funeral, returning home alone just bothered the violet eyed mage. Eventually, he was able to convince Minevra to let him spend time with her at her home, because he didn't know if he was going to get another chance to see her. The night was a special one for the couple as they fell asleep in each others arms sleeping peacefully.

Later, in the few next days Mordred visited with New and official high priestess Kozue, in which he relayed all the details that happened during his mission with Ember, and how Ember went with Prince Alecion of Civok as a delegate for Granate. He then presented Kozue with the letter from Prince Alecion, as she put it with her paperwork and scheduled a meeting with council and the Prince. He also apologized for leading on any type of flirtations towards her, because her appearance reminded him of Minerva and went about explaining his and her relationship.


-x-x-x Three Weeks ago-x-x-x
While waiting to accompany High Priestess Kozue to the meeting Mordred decided to take his time catching up with some of coven members. While walking through the coven grounds, a very interesting reunion was bestowed on to the raven haired vesthun. The Man stopped his walking in a brief shock seeing from a far a dark skinned man talking to Lord Cervantes, Nova's father. Mordred didn't have a chance to formally speak to Lord Cervantes, but got to speak very few words with his son. Mordred was still fairly new to the coven, but He knew one thing he couldn't brush away the instinct that was telling him that was indeed Alistair standing in front of him from a far. He completely made a soft mutter to himself saying "Is that really him?". Walking up close to the men, he bowed respectfully to the both of them. "Greetings, Lord Cervantes, I do apologize for interrupting your private conversation with your company standing right beside you, but I was caught off guard." He looked back the dark skin man, recognizing his features instantly. "Alistair...umm is it really you? "

He asked kind of confused. While Mavericks stared at a piece of paper, he said on to Lord Cervantes "my, my there are the worst sort of mistakes in this paper. So much for having any conclusive evidence." Upon hearing his name, he turned and looked at Mordred. "Most just call me Mavericks, Mav for short. Though the latter is only allowed for friends, or people who are belligerent in annoying me."

The conversation broke in silence, and the dark haired man with cerulean eyes stepped away from Mav to give him and Mordred space. Lord Cervante's eyes then proceeded to give the man a good look over to identify who he was. Cervantes then said to raven haired vesthun. "No need to apologize, we were not discussing anything that couldn't be interrupted. Judging by what you said just now, I assume you know Mister Mavericks?"

Mordred awkwardly said "Yes, I did at one point." Looking back at the man, the one he knew as Alistar, he bowed his head apologetically saying "I meant no disrespect Mister Mavericks, I just knew you from before." This qued Mav's understanding and He turned back to his work. The dark skinned man with bright blue eyes said on to him "Lets speak of this some other time, without prying ears around. And by that, I mean Larus. He is only two feet away, and I am not in the mood to reminisce in his proximity. He doesn't give me the same courtesy." Mav then smiled with his back turned slightly away from Mordred. "Glad to see your misfortunes didn't affect you poorly."

Mordred, gave both of the men a nod of goodbye. After the short lived reunion that happened during the week, and in the same week the violet eyed mage had also paid a visit with a very familiar swordsman named Cress. Mordred met Cress a few years ago, when he was on a ship taking trading goods back to Mazien at the time when Mazien and Civok were on good terms as Allies. Mordred was very enthusiastic to see the swordsman again and his talking sword companion. They spoke about many things especially Cress's reasons for ending up in Granate in the first place.

At the end of the week Mordred decided to venture into the forest to pick out some cooking herbs. He had planned to treat Minerva to dinner at least once a week, and he loved always seeing her smile. While out and about in the forest he heard very beautiful sounding singing. It almost reminded him of a bird chirping. While carrying the herbs, he decided to follow the singing to figure out where it was coming from. It was coming from a younger looking lad with dirty blonde hair. Momentarily , Mordred striked a conversation with the lad named Systrien. Who was fair new to the coven as well. Mordred complemented him on his singing, and offered acquaintanceship with the young lad. Also during this week, he had finally accompanied Kozue with the meeting with Prince Alecion it was very tense. He listened as the high priestess, the council, and the prince discussed several things considering the war and the alliance.


-x-x-x Two weeks ago-x-x-x
When upon hearing orders of the high priestess about his mission, he decided to take upon himself to gather the three other members that was on his group and have individual one on one training sessions with them. The first member he gathered of course was Minerva. He knew her very well when came to her hand signals, she still kept the same ones from the military. They even created a couple new one with rain and lighting. He found ways to work his water magic in with her lighting magic. Also, he found both Systrien and Cress and had many sparring matches with them both, as well teaching the both of them his hand signals and Minerva's hand signals and the magical rain and lighting signal. Mordred tried his best to make sure everyone was seasoned for the up coming mission.


-x-x-x Present Time-x-x-x
When arriving in the zhu, the group was very cautious. They took the look of Zhu citizens to have a easier time of getting through the boarders. Upon reaching the Fortress of Arnock, the group had to think of a plan quickly. In which consisted of Minerva snapping the necks of four Zhu soldiers so they can change into their uniforms. In which brought out the sadist side of Mordred and he enjoyed watching every moment of the Zhu bastards suffer.
The plan was that Mordred, Cress, and Systrien were going to change into the uniform while Minerva pretend to be a hurt Zhu citizen. While walking, Mordred with his graceful tongue carefully talked his way through several of the Zhu patrols.

When getting closer to the fort Minerva the watchmen posted on the top of the walls. The turquoise haired female looked back at her male companions, particularly her gaze met Mordred's gaze as she asked
"Anyone have any ideas on how to get in?

Mordred looked to Systrien and Cress. Mordred knew after sparring with Systrien he eventually was able to learn about his other form as a raven. He whispered. "Systrien. This where your powers as a raven would come in handy. Please, guide Minerva into the fort. Cress, you will stay with me and will hide and wait out her until we get a signal back from Minerva or Systrien. "



HP: 100 MP: 100 Location: Fortress of Arnock Mood: Alert/Serious With: Minerva,Systrien,Cress Theme : Enemies-Shinedown
His Outfit : Zhu Military uniform
Hairstyle : ponytail bun



Current NPCS:
Babysloth: BabySloth (Mordred's pet : NPC)

Notes : Baby Sloth was left with Shii the Barkeep in Civok. (See previous posts on Ember and Mordred Mission.) Zhu uniforms is under the his outfit section.
















KokoTheBoss


Peacock Catastrophe


StardustDrifter


The Dream Warden

[bacchanalia bat]

One hundred years in the past

"I have loved you far longer than her!" A priceless glass vase shattered against the wall, its jagged fragments reflecting the raw anger in the eleven girls face. He could see hatred in her countenance, but he had no clue as to its origins. "Brenna-" he started, only to be put down by her fierce glare. Seth was trembling, almost petrified by the savagery of those hateful eyes. Noticing his lack of garments, he brought the sheets of his bed around himself. She had, after all, burst in on him while he was sleeping. Knowing that someone other than his personal servant had seen him in such an exposed state brought a flush of color to his cheeks. Composing himself, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and gave his childhood friend his full attention. "You used to say my name so endearingly, but now you say it as if we are strangers." Brenna had her skirts bundled up in her hands, almost as if she intended to use the cloth as a weapon against him. Her lips were set in a firm pout, and her blonde hair was a tangled mess. "And now I find out that you, my prince, are engaged to Zoë? Do you mean to mock me?" Instead of the eloquent, graceful style that usually befitted her, Brenna spoke between rasping cries and a loud tone of voice that sounded strange coming from the petite elf. "I-I didn't think that you would be so upset," he stammered. "The marriage is arranged," it wasn't often that Brenna acted so rash, but he knew that such simple words would do little to calm her. However, he couldn't offer much more than words.

"Do you love her?" Her lips quivered with anger now as she made her way to his bedside. Startled by the question, he opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it for fear of her furious ire. "Do you?" She prompted once more, unrelenting in her desire for answers. Looking directly into her eyes was paralyzing, so he turned his gaze onto the intricately patterned blankets. "I-I don't know, we haven't known each other for long." Unfortunately, his answer only provoked her anger further. However, it also seemed to create a look of frustrated determination in her eyes, and that was what scared him the most. "Seth," her voice was calm, tricking him into believing that the storm had ceased. Brenna placed her hands on his face as he turned his head to look up at her, holding him in place and keeping unwavering eye contact. "You remember when you told me about your curse, yes? Well, I'm going to use that against you now, and I hope you know that it was out of love." A sad smile crossed her face, as if she was blaming this entire incident on his actions. "I'm better for you than that unrefined b***h." Leaning in, she stole what would have been his first kiss, had Zoë not already stolen it in secret. When he resisted, she released him and muttered the words "I wish you would betray your betrothed," before continuing her deceitful act. As a result of the curse, he was forced to comply.

Only moments later, footsteps were heard outside of the Prince's room. Brenna smiled around the kiss, knowing just who it was. Zoë, bearing a tray of various breakfast foods, opened the door with a smile and a gleeful glint in her baby blue eyes. "Seth, I brought you breakfast to commemorate our-" the tray fell to the floor with a crash, and Zoë stood as still as a statue with a look of anguish etched across her face. Brenna straightened up and turned to face her, faking surprise at her sudden appearance. "Brenna! I'm sorry, this isn't what it looks like!" She raised her hands in surrender, her lower lip trembling in mock fear. "He kissed me, and I didn't know what to do!" Turning back towards Seth, she crouched and picked up her handkerchief from where it had fallen on the ground, giving him an enchanting look and a wink as she did so. Subtlety had always been her speciality, he remembered that now. The curse didn't allow him to defend himself or even open his mouth to try and console the stricken Zoë. With the handkerchief in hand, Brenna shook it out and dabbed at her eyes dramatically. "I-I," Zoë stuttered, her gaze shifting from Seth to Brenna and finally down at the ground. "I wish you would sleep for a century, I never want to see your face again!" Almost instantly, the look of sorrow disappeared from Brenna's face and was replaced with one of horror. The young elf she had deceived ran off in a crying fit, leaving her with the Prince, who had collapsed against his pillows in the same position that she had found him in when she burst into the room. "Seth...?" She called quietly, reaching for his sleeping form and shaking him. "Seth, wake up!" Thinking for a moment, her hands fluttered in front of her face as she grasped the seriousness of the situation. "I wish you would wake up!" The command was nearly a screech, but, despite it all, the prince remained asleep.

Without any ulterior solution, Brenna ran out the room and caught up with Zoë, cornering her and pinning her up against the wall. "Don't you understand what you've done, you ignorant sow?! We'll be killed for this!" She would have killed the girl herself right then and there if it wasn't for the pounding footsteps of guards, attracted upstairs by the shouts and desiring to check on the prince. Releasing Zoë, she grabbed her by the arm and ran in the opposite direction, fleeing from the castle and the life that she had always known. The two spent hours aimlessly wandering Tetrarch before Brenna grew frustrated, dragging her unwilling companion into an alley and beating her to death with a stone. Unfortunately, this, along with a charge of harming the Prince, was what put her in the Mazien prisons. As for the Prince himself, the King and Queen gathered up a powerful group of enchanters from across the three kingdoms to create a glass coffin to sustain the life of their son. The coffin was placed in a secret room below the castles ground floor, constantly watched by a guard of the King and Queen's choosing. Only one key to the room was given out, and it was placed in the faithful hands of the Prince's personal servant, Bartimus.

x x - T i m e s k i p / 1 0 0 Y e a r s - x x

His body felt heavy, almost leaden. At first, his eyes refused to open, and he wanted to succumb to the hazy sensation and return to a dreamless sleep. However, a prevalent tugging sensation forced his eyes open. In front of his face, he could make out a blurry shape sitting on top of a translucent surface. Feeling slowly began to return to his body, starting out with his toes and making its way up to his legs and arms. When it took a ridiculous amount of time just to be able to wiggle his big toe, he began to panic. His mouth opened part way, allowing his deep, quick breaths to emerge and set off a panic attack. Seth's eyes moved rapidly, looking at the walls that contained him within the clear box and the space beyond. Eventually, the blurry shapes on top of the coffin and around the room became flowers, chairs, and paintings of his family. His hands were folded on top of his chest in a respectful fashion, and his clothes were immaculate. In fact, everything around him was arranged in a fashion that demanded respect. Memories had slowly begun to leak into his mind, reminding him of who he was and the scenario that had brought him to be lying in a glass coffin. His name was Seth, and he was the only child of King and Queen Ramsioaken, or was he? A painting directly above him caught his attention. It depicted his mother and father, but an unfamiliar girl sat between them. From what he could tell, she looked lost, as if she didn't know where she belonged.

Moving his mouth was simple enough, and forming the words were also fairly easy, but he couldn't get himself to make the noise that allowed the words to be heard. Help me, was what he had meant to say, he was sure of it. Starting with small movements, he shakily removed his hands from atop his stomach and attempted to push on the glass above him. Unfortunately, he was unable to push it for more than a second before his limbs collapsed and his own hand hit him in the face. Wincing at the sudden pain, he moved his hand a bit and allowed it to fall limply at his side. He couldn't recall a time where he had ever felt more helpless, and it was utterly frustrating. On the brink of tears, he let out a shrill cry that scratched his throat and rebounded around the walls of the coffin.

All of a sudden, a figure stood above his coffin. He hadn't heard the sound of a door opening, but when he craned his head upward, he could see the wall opposite the room and a curious servant peeking in. The figure, who he quickly recognized as Bartimus, shooed the servant away, and removed the glass top from the coffin. A choked laugh bubbled out of the prince as he gazed into the eyes of his servant. He had never been happier to see the wizened old elf. "You haven't aged a day, your highness." The walls of the coffin came down until he was lying on a flat surface. With gentle hands, Bartimus eased him up into a sitting position, stopping whenever his tense muscles cried out in pain. As if he were a child again, Seth was guided through a series of stretches until he could utilize his arms and legs completely. Although, as he soon learned, this didn't apply to walking. When he tried to get up off of the table, his feet came out from under him and he fell into the arms of Bartimus. "Your highness, don't push yourself too hard just yet." Seth nodded slowly, trembling as he clung to his servant for dear life. With his assistance, the prince managed to exit the room via a combination of hopping, limping, and dragging his limbs while hanging his head in defeat. Eventually, he found his feet and was able to walk on his own, though he needed a helping hand or two when going up the staircase.

Bartimus lead him into the large dining area and sat him down at the head. Noticing his placement, Seth looked up at him with concern, attempting to communicate that this chair was reserved for his father. Sensing his discomfort and keeping quite calm about it, his servant gave a teasing smile. "I wouldn't want to risk bumping your frail body into the corners of the table, your highness." Before Seth could cry or pout at him for his comment, he vanished from his side and off into the hall. Puzzled, the prince observed his retreating form and examined the room around him simultaneously. Not much of the decor had been changed, much to his surprise. The elegant architecture looked just as it had when he was a child. It wasn't long before he heard the sound of hurried footsteps down the hall, coming closer and increasing in speed. He hardly uttered an 'eep' noise before he felt a pair of arms around him, hugging him and holding him tightly. The scent of vanilla hit his nose, and he realized with a guttural cry that it was his mother, Queen Shagote. He clung to her, allowing himself to weep as she smoothed down his hair and nearly suffocated him with her embrace. She was murmuring something that he couldn't understand or comprehend with the way that she spoke so quickly between sobs of relief. A hand thumped down on his back, and he concluded that the touch was from his father, King Elm. The two had never been particularly close as he always had his duties as King to attend to, but he had been there whenever Seth needed him. When the excitement of their reunion had worn off, they chose a seat on either side of him and faced him with grim eyes. "You had a sister," his mother started. "Her name was Adelaide. Just like you, she was taken away from us for a long time, and even after she returned we were not happy. She was killed only a short time after coming home." At the mention of his sister, his mothers eyes got sad, which, in turn, caused Seth to feel the same. She continued on to reiterate the major events that Seth had missed, including the half-giant rebellion, the Florah Village massacre, and the war between the three kingdoms.

When his mother began to look tired, his father sent her back to bed and concluded the discussion himself. "Everything we just told you is absolute truth, Seth. We are at war, and we must protect our own. Do you understand?" After he nodded shakily, his father smiled, a rare thing to see, and stood up from his chair. "Welcome back," were the final words he heard for the night. Unable to rest his mind or body, Seth retreated to the library, where he began to write down everything that his parents had told him, as well as any history he could find in the library about the century that he had missed.

x x - T i m e s k i p / O n e D a y - x x

Seth could hardly contain his excitement when he joined his family for breakfast the next morning. They told him every detail about the war efforts, from the soldiers to the reaction of the general public. As he scarfed down his meal, he nodded along eagerly and wrote down everything they were saying into his journal. While he enjoyed gathering information, the best part of the event was getting to spend time with his parents. Before he took his little nap, they had never stopped to look at his accomplishments, instead focusing on their own duties and allowing a tutor to teach him everything that he needed to know as a young prince. However, this wasn't saying that they were bad parents, but he would have enjoyed having them more involved in his life.

"Are you spending all your time in the library?" His mother asked, staring at him from across the table. Placing down his utensils, Seth finished the food that was in his mouth and returned her gaze. He had to remind himself to speak slowly, as his mind had a tendency to work faster than he could speak, thus resulting in him tripping over his words or skipping over an entire thought. "Oh yes!" he replied happily. "There's an abundance of new books and poems that haven't been thoroughly examined. I plan to document and organize them all by date and historical importance." Smiling at her sons ingenuity, Queen Shagote gave a wave of her hand, signaling for him to go on. His eyes became clouded with deep thought as he chose a story to recount. "There was one with a splendid blue and green cover. It's an autobiography about an old trader who passed through Florah Village shortly before the tragic massacre. In fact, there's actually hundreds of stories just like his, but most of them are false, or have parts added that are not found in the historical script." As soon as he had begun his little project, he had managed to procure documents containing a written account of recent events. Considering that only a single night had passed since he awoke, his parents considered the feat quite impressive.

Eventually, their conversation ceased and Seth rose to depart to the library. Bartimus came to collect his dishes, and he bowed to his mother and father before exiting the room. However, he had hardly taken a stride into the hall before he heard a crash and a scream - no, two, three screams. One of them was his own as he turned and was met with a scene that would forever be seared into his memory. His mother, father, and Bartimus lying facedown in puddles of their own blood. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the assassin, wearing the distinctive color and design that the Zhu kingdom issued to its clothing. "G-Gua-" he choked out, running towards the body of his mother and taking her into his arms. "GUARDS!" This time his voice mingled with a scream, a sob, and an overwhelming sense of horror as he pulled his hands back and found them covered with his mothers blood. When the guards rushed into the room, swords drawn, he pointed in the direction that the assassin had gone and resumed his hysterical sobbing.

The only thing running through his mind was WHY? Why him? Why now? Why his family? He wanted to give up, and he felt that it would be okay if he gave up. Bartimus was dead, the man that had advised him throughout his entire life, tied his shoelaces, buttoned his shirts, and made all of his meals was dead. He could have sworn that someone picked him up and carried him back to his room, but he didn't feel it. Later, he was told that he refused to be taken away from his mother and fought against the guard that had come to retrieve the bodies, even going so far as to push him away and crawl back to her corpse.

x x - T i m e s k i p - x x

Seth didn't know what was worse, knowing that his parents were dead or feeling that they were still alive. He was reminded of his father every time he sat down in his study, and of his mother when he looked out the window overhanging the cliffside. She had always come here when she was feeling stressed, saying that looking down at the river reminded her how she wanted to rule, like a flowing river, constant in its path and carving its way to new heights. Looking at it now, he thought that she would have been disappointed. The water level had dropped significantly, exposing more of the rock and sediment left behind by the rushing rapids. In fact, now that he was looking properly, he noticed that a lot of things about the kingdom had changed. For better or for worse, he hadn't decided yet. His parents funeral had been intricately planned and he was sure that it was a beautiful ceremony commemorating their life, rule, and bravery in death, but he had been too busy fighting back his tears. As for Bartimus, he made sure that his servant received a modest funeral, just like he had told Seth he wanted all that time ago. He was buried under his favorite tree in the castle courtyard and yellow flowers, his favorite kind, were placed on top of his grave regularly.

He had spent three days convincing skeptical nobles of his bloodline, taking care of the war efforts behind the scenes, and conducting the general business of a would-be King. As of the present, he had not been crowned, but it was inferred among most of the people that he was the impromptu King until a coronation ceremony could be held. During his free time, he sat in the Oratory. No prayers were uttered, no gods were screamed at or questioned, he just sat, trying to find the strength to avoid breaking out in tears as a result of not having nearly enough time to grieve. He told himself that he could grieve after the war was over, if he harbored the loss for that long.

Today, instead of the Oratory, he sat in the conference room surrounded by nobles. Due to the strain that the war put on the higher classes, he found that his distant relatives, very distant relatives, were beginning to pop up in these sort of meetings. One of those relatives was Lord Silvanus, whose name reminded him of a sniveling child. Ironically, that was what he had been when the eyes of those who needed his leadership were turned away. Unable to find any valuable information on the Lord, Seth was stuck accepting that Silvanus was, as he claimed, distantly related to the prince. Some may have considered it a risky move, but he didn't have time to deal with the authenticity of his council when his kingdom was at war.

"Perhaps we should tax the people and garner more funds for the war efforts," one of them chimed in. Seth shook his head, clearing his throat and turning the eyes of the nobles around him. "T-The." Ever since his parents death, he'd found himself stuttering when he spoke, and it was a hassle to keep under control under conditions where he needed to be professional. "There's no point in funding the war efforts if we take the money our people need to survive. If the capital were to be attacked, and the people starved, our efforts would be for naught. Additionally, t-there will be no need to use our weapons excessively if we use the environment to our advantage. We will not take parents from their families u-unless we can guarantee their safe return, meaning that meticulous planning will be needed before making a move. W-We need to have a backup for the backup, and leave no stone unturned when searching for a weakness in the enemy lines." He finished his statement quickly, reaching out for his wine glass and taking a sip to calm himself. Without his command, his hands were shaking. He licked his lips, resisting from gagging against the too-sweet taste of the wine. Despite having drank it multiple times through his life, he could never stand it. The nobles seemed impressed with his statement, though a few snickered at his stuttering. As if assuring himself that he was doing just fine, he nodded and smoothed down his hair.

He could sense that a noble across from him wished to speak of, and Seth liked to think that he would have had a human servant not spilled wine all over his robes. Fluttering his hands in a panic, he assured the servant that it was a mistake anyone could have made before summoning Bartimus' replacement, Theo, to his side. "P-Please bring us some towels, and, ah, more wine." He requested, grimacing a bit at the thought of downing more of the drink. With a huff, the noble glared across the table at Seth, causing him to grimace even further. He hated it when people stared at him.

Before Theo could return with the requested items, a guard burst through the door with several unfamiliar figures trailing behind him. "Your highness!" He bellowed, strutting over to where Seth sat and gesturing to the group behind him. Curious, he tried to look past the guard, identifying the first figure as the one-eyed Lycan prince form Civok. Instantly, the color drained from his face as his readings came to mind. According to the accounts and his parents, the Civok Kingdom was responsible for the massacre in Florah village. Five people stood behind the prince, but the one who stood out the most to him was the black-haired elf. Was she one of his people, or was she with this group here? The guard broke his curious reverie with a cough, bringing his attention back to the matter at hand. "The Civok Prince requests an emergency audience with your highness." He announced, a tone that could almost be called disgust dripping from his voice. Blinking slowly, Seth straightened in his chair and attempted to stand, but knocked his knees against the table and sat again. He didn't know what the Civok Prince wanted with him, and despite his desire for an audience with the prince alone, he would certainly have a guard posted outside. "E-Excuse me, I will return shortly." Pushing out his chair, he stood, properly this time, and exited the room. The guard followed behind him, gesturing for the Civok Prince and his companions to do the same. Upon leaving, he bumped into Theo, who he instructed to keep the guests happy and report to his study once they were satisfied.

As they approached the study that he inherited from his father, he stopped short in front of the door. "Excuse the mess, I haven't had time to clean up." Opening the door, Seth entered and took a seat behind the large oak desk that dominated the room. Stacks of papers decorated the furniture around the room, organized in piles that seemed random, but they made perfect sense to him. Of course, the confidential information was stowed away in more secretive locations. Noticing a pile of papers stacked inconspicuously on the chair in front of the desk, he jumped up and snatched them up before offering the chair to Alecion. Setting them on a blank space on his desk, he sat down once again and fidgeted for a few moments before settling. "What do you have to s-say to me that can't be said in front of my people?" He asked the Prince, cursing himself for stuttering at such an inopportune moment. The guard posted outside the closed door made him feel a little less terrified at the prospect of having the enemy in his study, but it didn't do anything to ebb the furious beating of his heart or the shake in his hands.





HP: 100/100| MP: 100/100
Feeling: Nervous, grief-ridden.
Company: Prince Alecion
Location: Study
"Speaking Color."
OOC: What a nerd.


Koko the Boss


Satellite O Love


Saturn Midnight


Okami_Lone_Wolf


The Fae Consort

[Peacock Catastrophe]

+++ Mordred had confessed his romantic feelings for her, which nearly shocked the turquoise haired woman. The military and battle feilds were a hard place to find someone to love, much less fall in love. But it seemed that it was during the time he cared for her injured self when he had fallen for her. He was also claiming their had been a few since then that he had come to like, but it seemed her miraculous appearance as a coven member had ignited his old feelings and left others behind. It was all nice and wonderful to know his feelings, and as much as Minerva was happy to jump him, was it even safe to walk into a romantic relationship within the coven? They were still at war with Fang, and many other things were going wrong in the world, so how could they know one wouldn't leave one day and not come back? To be left heartbroken at any given point was a scary thing. But wasn't the military almost the same way?

⇐A few weeks later⇒

+++ It had been a month since Minerva had accepted Mordred's feelings, even returning the same feelings, and things were now buslting at a quick pace. War had full out been declared between the three kingdoms, and a small team of mages from Granate had been gathered to go and rescue civilians from a Zhu fortress under Prince Alecions orders. It would have been nice to meet the man face to face after all these years, it would have been a rather nice reunion between Alec, Mordred, and herself. Perhaps even Celeste. They had all been a valuable part of the military, and all held great bonds with one another. But the group was on a tight agenda, and neither side had time to set aside for a heartfelt reunion. With the group consisting of only a new face named Cress, Systrien, Mordred and herself. The background both she and Mordred held from the military seemed like a good choice for this mission, and the red-headed male seemed rather skillful with the giant blade of his, but as for Systrien, she didn't know too much about him. However, they were a team and would certainly make things work. Saving those civilians and getting them home was their first priority.

⇐A few weeks later⇒

+++ Zhu was a difficult place to be, especially during a war. If it wasn't hard enough to get by without using magic in the first place, it would be even more difficult now. Everyone was so on edge, and probably suspected just about everyone of possibly be the enemy, and in the case for Zhu, both enemies were magic holders. So the rescue group had to be extra cautious. If they could, their magic should probably be the last thing they use, and she was sure to warn her allies of that. As for her, not using magic wouldn't be much of a problem since she had always been more of a hands on fighter. She could snap necks and crack skulls, even make grown men scream like little school girls. And it may have been a habit to mess around with her opponents.

+++ In the distance, the targeted fort loomed over all those below, as it's stone walls rose high into the sky. Even at such a distance, Minerva could see watchmen posted on the top of the walls. Which was why the group of mages would have to stay back quite a distance so they would not be spitted. They needed a plan, and a way to see the inside structure and layout. It would be a death trap to go in without knowing where the innocent civilians were being held, and where the forts' troops stationed. That's when something off to the side caught her attention. It was a group of Zhu soldiers; probably soldiers from the fort that had been sent out to scout the nearby area for enemies or more captives. But it was something the female suddenly had to pounce on. "Got 'em." she whispered with a smirk as the four guards neared the hiding spot. The four soldiers were totally unaware of them, and they wouldn't have much of a chance to call for reinforcements when Minerva leaped out at them.

+++ The first one went down easily and suffered a quick twist of his head and body, instantly killing him the moment his neck snapped. As the first one went down, the other three were already starting to prepare themselves, all while forgetting to call out to the fortress. It was lucky for them, but not so good for the war-tuned soldiers. Then the next one came charging with sword drawn, and in a single, elegant move, Minerva knocked the sword out of his hands with her own, pushed herself up into the air with the help of the man's shoulder. Wrapping her legs around the man's shoulders, the female smirked once more as the other two dared to fight her off their allies shoulders. But it was to late, with another quick twist, the man below her slumped to the ground, and the female landed safely on her feet. The fate of the remaining two men was rather similar to the two that had already been dealt with, and not even five minutes had passed by the time the fourth man's body hit the ground. Heaving two of the bodies over each of her shoulders, the turquoise-haired woman turned and moved back to her group, dragging the other two by the collar of their clothing.

+++ Back with her team, Minerva dropped the four bodies, and dusted herself off before she looked at her companions with a rather serious expression. "Anyone have any ideas on how to get in? she spoke in a slightly hushed manner. Who knew how good the forts' hearing was or how well their voices carried. Hopefully one of them had an idea. But even as she thought for an answer herself, she suddenly came up with something that she would probably offer up as a last option. But it was a reliable way to get inside and to scope things out further.

+++ "Systrien. This where your powers as a raven would come in handy. Please, guide Minerva into the fort. Cress, you will stay with me and will hide and wait out here until we get a signal back from Minerva or Systrien. " And there was that, which was fine. Goodthinking on Mordred's part.

+++ Looking over to the blonde man, Minerva wondered if he was alright with the plan. Hopefully a single raven flying in the air wasn't suspicious and would be left alone. "I guess I'll approach the gates acting as an injured person seeking help and shelter. If they are holding innocent civilians, I don't think they will freely let me in. I may be tossed in with the rest of the hostages." she mentioned thoughtfully. But hey, she was working with a bunch of men, surely at least one of them could save her if it was needed. Reaching down, Minerva took hold of one of the sowrds still tucked into a belt sheeth of a soldier, pulled it from it's protection and stared at the shining blade. If she was going to play the role of an injured person, she might as well make it look more believable. There was no doubt any one of her comrades were going to give her crap about this, especially Mordred. Before any of the three could catch on to what she was doing, Minerva quickly made two slices in one of her arms. They weren't deep. but they were good enough to produce a mess on her sleeve.

+++ Dropping the sword, the woman looked at the trio and smiled. "You guys ready?"

Whereabouts - ≈ - Zhu Fortress - | - Mordred, Cress, and Systrien- ≈ - Company

HP
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

MP
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

IILovelyAmarathII

Stardust Drifter

The Dream Warden