~*~DarkStalker Castle~*~ ((Closed until further notice))

[logic mom]

As the room grew quiet, Morgana slowly opened her eyes to a mute version of her host. She had seen many wolves, and memories she wasn't ready for bombarded her. She looked down and stopped exploring him, feeling defeated by the memories that haunted her when her eyes fell upon a wolf. She whispered softly to him, "You have shown me mercy and kindness. You have offered me a house to stay in, and a home to explore- there are no accurate words that I know that can even begin to describe the beauty I see in this library. But I fear I must go now, I know now that I do not belong here." She blinked away a tear, and strained to smile at her new friend. She turned away from him, collected her things. She stopped at the doorway, turning her head slightly. "I can't thank you enough."

[Bain Darkstalker]

A blue vortex opened up before Bain as he had changed from the wolf form, back to his human form. He walked into it and then appeared behind her and smiled, "I see no problem with you staying, if it is my forms that bother you, I can refrain from using them in your presence. You seek knowledge and have that before you here. You must not run from your past, but face it young one." he smiled and goes to lean against the wall, trying to be cool looking, misjudges the distance and falls face first into it. "I...meant to do that..."

[logic mom]

Morgana look mournfully up at him, wishing he wasn't so kind. His kindness made it hurt more for her to admit her need to leave. "I said nothing of my past. I am allowed to do as I please and face things in the way I know best. I cannot face this right now. I forced myself to face one of the greatest fears of my life, and in-bred fear I never knew I could overcome. But the fear the followed after is more daunting than that. And I cannot forget what I have done." She was unamused by his attempt to distract her from her task, and moved past him. She felt the tears welling in her eyes, and she began to rush along the corridor, her cape billowing behind her.

[Bain Darkstalker]

Bain followed her, "It is your choice to leave, and yes you have done great to overcome a fear of someone as such as me. However what I can not forgive is you just leaving as such, at the least stay the night and sleep on it." he darted forward, cutting her off for the moment. "You said so yourself that you travel to learn, this is just another lesson to learn from." He did make a good argument though he was unsure of it working or not. He had just met her, but had taking a liking to her, someone he could discuss the arts with and possibly someone he could pass some of his skills to.

[logic mom]

Morgana turned from him, refusing to let him see the complete distress she was in. She wiped her face on her cloak quickly, coughing to cover up the choking noise she was about to make. Sobbing was something she did alone, and strangers of all people shouldn't see her at her worst. Taking a few deep breathes, she composed herself to the best of her ability-or at least, made her voice not shake with anger and great sadness. "I walk out because I am ashamed of what I have done. Not in this home that you've created for yourself or other creatures that come around this part of the forest. Ashamed of my past, ashamed of how I couldn't protect... oh his eyes..." She choked at the agonizing memory of the eyes of someone she couldn't save. Couldn't save or wouldn't save? You were far too worried about your forsaken books to give a damn for another being. He was living for Pete sake. How could you let them take him? "I have learned, continue to learn from what I have done. But I'm still haunted and looking at you..." She shook her head. Can't live with the shame, can you? She had been punishing herself of this incident for eighty-five years, and she still hadn't let it go- she still couldn't forgive herself.

[Bain Darkstalker]

"Looking at me? I remind you of someone I take it then. However child, you can not let the past rule your present. I have lived long enough to know that there is nothing you can do to change it. All you can do is live for the future and make sure that history doesn't repeat itself." Bain smiled and looked to her, he was hoping some words of encouragement would help the young warlock and in turn allow her to stay in a safe haven. He thought for a moment and chose his next words wisely, a proper introduction would be best in this moment. "IN all of this I have forgotten one thing. My name is Bain Darkstalker, the proprietor of this establishment, Darkstalker's Castle. It is a safe haven for all of those who wish it, no matter the past all are welcome here. You wish to be able to learn, then use this time here wisely and do not let it go to waste. You are special young one, I can sense great power in you, but with you being controlled by your past you are only being able to use a small fraction. Stay with me for a while and I will help you be free of what clouds your thoughts."

[logic mom]

"Your words are true, but the pain has not lessened since that day. If anything, it has only intensified and worsened. Another reason I have so blatantly avoided your kind- so I didn't have to feel the shame of what I have done, I've hid myself and gotten lost in my work...I will continue to do so until I can face the reality and gravity of my actions." She had composed herself and fallen into her usual state of apathy and objectivity, solely looking to complete her life's mission. "Morgana, if it pleases you." She bowed deeply before him, a sign of reverence and deference in her culture. Her cloak had shifted slightly, showing pieces of her blood-colored wing. As she stood again, they lay hidden in the folds of midnight.

[Bain Darkstalker]

"Then I ask of you Morgana to please tell me what it is you aspire to do and to tell me what it is you hide from. It involved one of my kind?" he was curious now, even more so with the sight of the crimson wing, but he wasn't going to pry into to many things at once. The woman was reaching out to him, even if she didn't realize it and he would be damned if he did not, at the least, try to help her in any way he could.

[logic mom]

Morgana sighed, knowing it was going to be a long night, and that she was going to need a lot of alone time afterward to cope. To cope? She was an extremely cautious one, everyone that attempted to reach out to her she simply couldn't trust. She wished that she could, more than anything, rely on another to care for her, and to be able to find another she could share her life and work with. But her past didn't let her move forward from that, to enable her to have the courage to trust another in any way, for any reason. So sharing any part of her past, especially one of the most painful ones, was going to be a feat in itself. The repercussions of it- the way she felt- was something she knew she wasn't ready for. Because the way she would feel would be something she couldn't comprehend. Human emotions were left behind when she was banished, and to this day, she struggled tirelessly to understand even the simplest cues. "Can we sit in the library with a fire in the hearth? Perhaps that can give me the courage and strength to be honest about my past. A past, I want you to acknowledge and understand, that I have told no one about. So if I cannot continue at any part, you must be patient." She looked up mournfully at him. Part of her wanted him to stop pushing her, but another part of her wanted nothing more than to be free of the chains of her past. And maybe his pushing would free her. If she could just tell him...

[Bain Darkstalker]

Bain looked at her, he body language screamed at him with confused emotions. She seemed at part to tant to tell him, on the other hand, she didnt. Bain thought about not pushing it any further, but if he backed down now, he couldn't help the poor girl who seemed to struggle so as she put it. After hearing her request, Bain nodded and led them back to the library, near the section with the fireplace. He grabbed two large recliner like chairs, both very comfy ones and seated them to face the fire. With a few words and a flick of his wrist, a fire roared to life in the fireplace as he got the tray from the other side of the room so she could have her coffee and a snack if desired.

"This should be suitable enough for us, and I promise you I will listen to all that you will say. If you should falter and not know what to say I will not push it, I will allow it to come out of you at your own pace. I may interject at points though, just to clarify things if thats alright?" He spoke to her calmly as he extended his hand towards the seat that was closer to the flames and sat himself across from her.

[logic mom]

Morgana dropped her head and followed him into the library again. This time, her eyes were dull and her shoulders slumped- she knew there was no escaping this now. Though he was kind, he was stubborn. That stubborn attitude, she presumed, was because of his own past. He was much older than her, had much more experience to take life lessons from. Surely what he is doing is in my best interest. Why else would he vow to be patient and only speak to clarify? She passed the hearth, it flaring and the flames climbing as she clenched her hand beneath her cloak. Sitting where he motioned, she removed her shoes and pulled her legs up toward her chest. Holding herself, she felt a fleeting sense of comfort. She shifted, trying to get comfortable in the chair with her wings crunched together to save space. Morgana looked up at the sage, and her memories flooded her. This sent her emotions crashing over her like a ten foot wave closing in on a surfer and pulling them under. She looked down again, blinking away the tears that began to well in her eyes, and she opened her mouth to speak. She choked out a quiet 'I'm so sorry.' before pulling her glasses off to wipe her face. "I-I'm not sure where to begin."

[Bain Darkstalker]

Bain watched her get comfortable, or at least as well as she could. He then leaned forward, thinking for a moment as he seen how she was tensing up a bit, unsure of how to start with him. He knew she couldn't trust him yet, I mean who would completely trust a stranger right off the bat. "Perhaps you could start from a point where you are comfortable talking about and we can try and work our way into the other stuff?" he smiled, hoping to ease her tension slightly.

[logic mom]

Morgana closed her glasses and put them aside, knowing that she would cry again as she told her story. She nodded and picked at her cuticles, knowing her habit would take over soon. "Well, as I've already told you, I travel this world in search of knowledge. I been away from what I used to call home for ninety years. Since I've arrived, you've looked at me. Your senses have probably told you that I am a halfling- a warlock." She smiled slightly, knowing that there was immense power linked to the race of warlocks and other dark magicians. She touched her distinctly elven ears and lifted one shoulder "Though I am half elf and half demon- general human hybrids are brought into this world. Where I lived for my first ten years they had strict policy against anything that would ruin the 'pure blood' high elf race. If they were hidden and somehow found, the people who hid them would be burned at the stake. They felt this right for some reason, to make an example of those who 'had done wrong'." She sighed softly, her hands slightly scratching at her arms. "My mother refused me, she disowned me by bringing me to the ruler and showing him that I was a halfling. She wanted to save her own life, not even caring that my father loved me and wanted me-even if that meant his ultimate death. They sentenced me to permanent banishment the day of my tenth year. They um..." She swallowed, feeling shame, as if she was the disgrace, not her mother. She unclasped the front of her cloak, hands trembling. As it dropped from her shoulders, her wings bounced slightly open. She got up from her chair, one of her hands sweeping her waist-length crimson waves around so it all rested on her right shoulder, exposing her neck. Morgana kneeled before him, her back facing his direction. A deep brand was on her neck, the family crest of her former kingdom. It was 'healed', from having it so many years-but her skin was still scarred and rough because it was left in the fire longer than usual and pressed into her skin for an agonizing five minutes. "I was only a few days old and my mother never flinched as I cried the entire way through."

[Bain Darkstalker]

Bain sat there, listening to her story so far. She was right that he had picked up on her not being a pure blood, he wasn't sure of the mixture though, at least until he had caught a glimpse of the wings earlier. Bain watched her stand and unveil them in all their glory. They were beautiful crimson wings, he had not seen a demon with wings like these before. It was at that he was certain she was something special, something that could grow into a great power, his curiosity was getting the better of him. He wanted to help her for her own gains and his, he wanted to see her at her peak. As she kneeled down, he inspected the brand that she had, a small chill running down his neck, the spot where he had once been branded burned. "Damn that War..." he had thought to himself.

"That brand, I do not know the symbol, but I do know the pain it can bring. Your mother and your kingdom though... it is an unforgivable act that they have done to you. Banishing you for being a half breed, they can all go to hell for all my concern." a small burst of anger came out with the last part of that sentence. He leaned forward to get a better view on the brand and nodded to himself. "I can remove that if you wish it. Though I also wonder, do you know what of your father? Could he have been looking for you?" He wondered so, because be good for her to have her father, the only one who loved her.

[logic mom]

Morgana bristled as his fingers touched her neck, her wings responding by extending but she forced them to retract. "It is of the kingdom I came from, so that if I ever tried to come back, they would know I was a traitor. I tried to go back once...But it glowed a bright golden and burned the same it did that day." She covered her mouth, trying to control her breathing as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. She laughed softly, but it sounded like a choking noise instead. Magic-it is fine and dandy when they use it, but someone who hasn't even used it or had control over her capabilities is branded and banished with the thing she's banished for..."What hurt the most was that I was her child, and she didn't bat an eye as they marked me. It hurt to know I meant nothing, that she bore me with the attitude that if I wasn't what she wanted, she would drop me like a piece of trash. I was an innocent and they had no problem forsaking me for something that wasn't even of my own accord." Her tone shifted, sounding cold and vengeful. She wiped her face quickly and stood up, crossing the short space back to her chair, where she got comfortable again. She smiled with no warmth in it, just controlled anger and sorrow. "My father was beheaded in front of me the night before my tenth year. Someone, undoubtedly my mother, had sent a rumor around that he was going to start a revolution, that he was fighting to overthrow the king. He was part of the government, and had passionately argued that banishing my kind was absurd, especially if it was something that the individual had no control over. They were tired of hearing him, and didn't want him to start to change the minds of their citizens. He also found out that his wife was having an affair with the ruler, and thought that perhaps I wasn't really his daughter. There simply was no explanation for my mixed genes. Both my parents were pure-blooded high elves, or so they said..." Morgana took a breathe and a sip of coffee, cold now. "He was a nuisance, and no one was going to question it...So they 'disposed' of him in the most painful way possible. In my house, in front of the only person that needed him and loved him the most."