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 Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 6:06 pm
__Part 26 (PoD1)
Crow couldn't remember how she had been brought to the room, nor how her clothes and hair had changed. The room was small but immaculately furnished, its black marble surfaces obsessively shined to a mirror-like gleam. The dress she wore was softer than satin, a floating gray material she strongly suspected was made of spiders silk. Her old clothes had vanished, including her beloved pilot's helmet. This alone had caused her frayed nerves to spark her temper, and she had been ripping rows of claw marks through the rich tapestries, richly carved door, and every other thing within her reach.
She was cheerfully singing the lyrics to "Everything Evil" when the door opened and the masked thing entered the room.
"Evolve, Monstar, show me the things that I've never wanted done..." she sang, refusing to acknowledge the thing. A rattling breath behind its gilded mask did little but encourage her to sing louder as she raked her claws down the cloth-of-gold wall hangings.
"Cease your prattling, wretch."
Riiiiiiiiiip.
"And she screamed Claudi-o-o, dear Claudi-o-o, I wish god damn it we'll make it if you believe-"
"Shut your mouth."
"Dear Claudi-mmmmph. Mmmmmph."
Ceasing her shredding, Crow tried to pry her jaw open again. How this jerkwad kept issuing orders she couldn't help but follow was extremely irritating. She sat at the end of her slashed bed and toyed with the down coverlet, glaring at the hateful creature.
The creature's blank mask turned to regard her, the empty black eyeholes reminding her slightly of Osso. But with Osso, it was different. She could tell that the child had a soul behind those empty eyes. With this thing, though...
"Thou shalt attend an audience with thy mistress, slave. Rise and follow me."
Crow rose smoothly, though she was struggling with every ounce of her will to disobey. The creature glided out of the room, and she followed unwillingly, screaming in her mind as she tried to resist.
---
The chamber the creature lead her to was small and slightly unimpressive. Everything was made of the same shining black marble, giving Crow the almost the impression she was walking through a house of mirrors. Her reflection was unfamiliar - her tilted yellow eyes were shaded with kohl, making them long and dark. Her hair had been cut into a sort of slanting bob, tamed at last and its shining jet black plaited with silk ribbons. Her scarification tattoos had been limned with black, making the intricate patterns stand out in the faint silver light. She noticed the low-cut back of her gown, which showed off the spiky finial markings that traced their way down her spine.
"Have you found your accomodations to your liking?"
Crow started and tripped over her gown's trailing hem, falling hard on her knees. The reflection of herself she had been staring at had spoken to her. The mirror-self shimmered and turned hazy, stepping forward and growing darker and taller.
Crow could only continue to scream in her mind.
The woman who stood before her had skin an unearthly dead white, and eyes like black pools that shone brightly when the light hit them. Color did not seem to touch her - her hair, her clothing, even her lips were a stark shade of black.
"Speak, slave."
Crow's jaw unclenched instantly, and she gave a gasp of relief as the pain of it eased. Rubbing her cheeks sourly and wondering if any teeth had cracked, she looked up at the woman coolly.
"Bugger off, you monochromatic b***h."
The masked creature was upon her in the space of a heartbeat. Its gauntleted hand was tight on her throat, choking the life from her.
"Release her, Jeddeth. She knows not what she says."
The choking hand was gone instantly, leaving Crow gasping and coughing on the parquet floor. The woman knelt down and brushed her soft hand against Crow's cheek.
"My poor sweet creature. Has no one told you why you are here?"
Crow glared angrily at the woman, jerking her head away.
"Well, my brother pushed me into a freezing fire of freakin' evil, I've been knocked around, controlled, and my grandfather's World War II pilot's helmet seemed to disappear itself. No, I'm sorta lacking in the explanations!"
Her voice took on its true, inhuman edge as she let her temper get ahold of her. The woman seemed unperturbed, smiling as Crow's voice warped into sounding as though two people were speaking simultaneously. Taking her hand gently and pulling her up off her knees, the woman straightened Crow's gown and gently smudged the kohl marking her left eye with a long, cold finger.
"Come, my sweet child. Walk with me."
It wasn't an order like the kind the masked thing kept giving, but Crow was compelled to follow it anyway. The masked creature made as though to follow, but the woman shook her head.
"Do not follow. The child is safe with me."
Crow followed her like a puppy, unable to quite keep up with the woman's long strides. The woman gave her a startlingly maternal look and slowed, taking her hand and guiding her through the room and into another of the giant black marble halls. For a while, the only sounds were the clicking of the woman's shoes, hidden by her volumous skirts, and Crow's ragged breathing as she recovered from her choking. After fifteen minutes or so, Crow turned to look at the woman.
"What do you want with me?"
The woman stopped walking and gave her a searching look. Crow cringed and looked away - to see her reflected face in those black eyes made her feel cold.
The woman sensed her discomfort and pulled her close, hugging her and stroking her newly cut hair tenderly.
"It pains me to say it, my sweet. Do you truly wish to hear the truth?"
Crow could not help but lean into the woman's embrace. Her own mother had never hugged her...
"Yes," she whispered, her voice caught with inexplicable sadness.
The woman released her, and Crow found herself unwilling to move away. One hand took her firmly by the shoulder, and the other tipped her head up by her chin.
"You are the price paid by your father for the power I gifted him twenty years ago."
Crow blinked and shook herself free of the woman's touch. She felt herself starting to grow angrier and angrier, until rage seemed to blind her.
"I was his barter? For that useless, stupid rock that doesn't even work right?"
The woman nodded. Crow felt her tightly clenched hands uncurl, claws ready to slash anything in reach. After a moment, she covered her face with them and gave a groan of misery, leaning against one of the thick columns and crying bitterly into them.
"That's why they never cared! I'm a payment for his stupid rock!"
---
Crow was still crying when Jeddeth escorted her back to her room. As soon as the door closed and locked behind the creature, Crow stood silently in the middles of her chamber, breathing hard. Wiping away her tears, she tore off the dress to stand in her shift and undershirt. Letting the silken shreds fall off her body, she closed her eyes and screamed, a long, grieving, hollow sound of rage and hatred for the world. It echoed through the long halls, reaching the Throne Chamber where the woman sat silently.
And as the scream reached her ears, all she could do was smile.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 10:38 am
__Part 27 (PoD1)
Julian sat on the soft white sand, watching the surf and trying to keep from throwing up. He hated jumping - the thing that had possessed him had seemed smart enough to take the twenty-eight hour flight into Gaia, and now, with an awful pounding in his head and uncertain stomach, he was starting to wish he had, too.
The beach where Helnila had landed was empty, devoid of any life besides the Sunners and palm lizards. A Sunner looked at Helnila with something close to curiousity before slipping back into the sea, its twelve-foot long snake like body slipping beneath the surf soundlessly.
All things considered, it was sort of nice to be home.
Standing unsteadily and wincing as his stomach gave a protesting groan, he stumbled into Helnila and leaned against her, peering through the portal.
"You guys coming out?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 10:45 am
Ike leaped up and wrapped his arms around Mummy's shoulders, hanging like a rag doll. This place was amazing...absolutely amazing.
"Yeah," Rabid muttered and stepped carefully out onto the sand. She peered around in awe, completely unphased by hte jumping, "You were right. This place is...is...Gods, I dunno. Too bad I had to come here under such circumstances." She approached Julian and looked at him questioningly. Now she was running blind.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 10:56 am
Cole crawled out of Helnila unsteadily, half-shadow and half-corporeal. Obviously, jumping through dimensions hadn't agreed with him. Sadako scuttled after them, dragging herself across the sand until Julian picked her up. He ignored her hisses and glanced at Rabid and Malachi.
"Well, we should get going. I told 'Nila to set us down near the town - we can't ride her in, unfortunately. It's a little bit of a walk through the jungle, maybe twenty minutes or so. C'mon."
Sadako writhed out of his grip and crawled over to Cole, who picked her up and held her by her dress collar in his jaws. Shrugging indifferently and tugging the rags of his shirt over his chest again, he started to trudge through the sand, up towards the lush jungle that bordered the beach. Helnila gave a beep of farewell before disappearing with a sharp crack, splitting reality between dimensions as she jumped away.
--
The path was easy to follow in the jungle, thankfully. It was paved with silver-colored cobblestone, snaking through the trees and easy to see in the patchy sunlight. Animals large and small trudged and flew around them, the quiet afternoon disrupted occasionally by bird and beetlesong.
It was already beginning to irk him.
"So," he said conversationally to Rabid, " you see why me and Crow split? This whole earthly paradise thing's enough to make anyone rip their hair out from boredom."
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:00 am
"Pardon me for saying this," Rabid gave a short, breathy laugh, "but this is a Hell of a lot better than Mei-Vaar. I'm not saying that I wouldn't get bored after a while." Her brain floated back to her ridiculously urban hometown in all of the monochromatic, fear-filled memories it entailed.
Ike dropped from mummy's back and sniffed the air. Something was familiar...but he couldn't quite tell what.
"Evil Julian is okay now?" he asked Evil Julian himself. As of this moment, he wasn't quite so vehement with his hatred.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:15 am
Julian gave a grumble.
"Yeah. I'm okay." he said, slightly irritated. He had a nagging feeling that the whole pushing Crow into a Fire of Death thing wasn't really sitting well with Malachi, though he could hardly blame him.
Looking over at Rabid, he gave a non-commital shrug.
"Nasty things come wrapped up in pretty packages," he said simply.
The twisting path dwindled off a little further up ahead and the mouth of the jungle, slivery sunlight pouring in. Voices raised in laughter and shouting in a foreign language echoed around, along with loud cracks as Vehilii bio-cars jumped to and from unknown destinations.
Crossing his arms over his heart anxiously, Julian motioned for them to follow with a jerk of his head.
"Not too many people speak English around here, so you're gonna have to let me translate for a while until I can get you a proper L.T.J. - uh, Language Translator Jewel. They sell 'em in the city, so you'll have to wait."
Stepping out of the jungle into the golden paved street, Julian began to feel nauseous again.
"Home sweet home," he muttered sourly.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:20 am
Rabid heard him mutter, but acknowledged nothing.
"You couldn't be more right, and I can wait," she agreed, suddenly wishing she'd taken more foreign language classes in high school. She then reached down with all of her maternal worriedness and grabbed Ike's hand.
Still horribly amused by the sights around him, Malachi absentmindedly grasped his mother's hand. He sniffed the air again...what was he smelling?
"Ev--" he thought for a moment, "Julian's gotta find Crow-lady and Len, or Ike will rip out his spleeeeeeeeeeen."
Rabid snerked at her son and followed closely behind Julian. This was going to be bad. She knew it.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:32 am
Julian took Malachi's threat in stride.
"Joke's on you, kiddo. I haven't got a spleen."
He took a certain silly pleasure in the fact that Crow hadn't bothered to tell them the differences between Rijani anatomy with other humans. Walking through the street with his bizarre entourage of a half-rotted dragon, squirrel child, vampire, and a possibly possessed doll that kept hissing at him in some backwards language, he waved amiably to passerby that stared at him.
"First off, I gotta get some new clothes. You too, by the look of it. We're not gonna blend in if you keep wearing outsider's clothes."
Wandering into the first clothing store he found, he gave a sigh. It was a cheap shop, stuffed to the ceiling with rainbow-colored silks and jeweled lacy things meant to snare tourists. Traditional masks lined the walls, trailing ribbons. It was cheap and it hurt his pride a little to wear second rate knock-offs, but there wasn't much else to choose from. Waving a hand absently around, he went to find a decent shirt and mask.
"Pick out anything you guys want. Be sure to get a mask, too - we'll blend in better if no one can tell what we look like."
Cole snuffled around, Sadako still hanging in his jaws. The doll slipped loose from her dress and toddled off to the baby clothes, selecting a trailing black silken gown with scarlet ribbons. Noticing Cole's dubious look, she gave a raspy laugh. The dragon merely rolled its eyes and sidled close to Rabid and Malachi, keeping a sharp eye on the pair as though expecting a pair of socks to jump out and attempt to strangle them.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:42 am
Ike gasped and giggled, "No spleen?! Ike tear out your eyeeeballs!" He continued laughing as he walked behind Mummy, oblivious to the stares he was getting. It was funny to hear someone else say spleen.
"You don't have fangs," Rabid murmured as she wandered through the store, randomly pulling out an oily-black dress, the likes of which she'd only seen in fantasy novels. Sure, it was pretty, but she'd be damned if she was going to take her pants off...wait...
She randomly yanked a couple of attractive masks off the walls and picked up a bloodred shirt for Ike.
She was beginning to think that they wouldn't have Batman in Rijan, and wanted to stay safe.
"Just to warn you," she sidled up behind Julian, "I have no money of any kind. At all. Period." She was beginning to get irritated at the whole 'gotta change' thing.
Ike gazed around in wonderment, and then looked down to pat Cole affectionately.
"Good Cole. Yerra good dragon. Gotta keep the bad peoples away while we find Len."
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:57 am
Comparing prices between a sapphire blue brocaded jacket and an embroidered frock coat, Julian gave a grunt.
"Doesn't matter - I'll take care of it. I use the same amount as the annual yearly income of a Rijani politician as pocket money every week."
Smiling wryly at Malachi, he snorted.
"Well, how d'you know they won't just grow back?"
Finally settling on the frock coat and randomly pulling a snowy shirt off the rack, he dumped his new clothing at the checkout desk. Going to the mask wall and selecting an evil-looking one that matched his bad mood, he threw it like a frisbee onto the counter. Ignoring the cashier's irked expression, he glanced over at the jewelry case. There weren't any L.T.J.'s here that would translate more than a few vital or lewd phrases slurred by alchohol (they were in a bar district vacation town, after all), but he still wanted to get something nice for Rabid as some sort of material apology.
Pointing randomly at an opal necklace, he dug out his wallet and threw a few gold-colored notes onto the counter. The cashier glared at him sullenly and pointed down at the floor. Looking down in confusion, he rolled his eyes in exasperation and grabbed the gown Sadako held up to him in her fingerless hands. Grumbling about possessed toys, he looked over at Rabid.
"You don't have to try it on - the size'll adjust itself once you buy it."
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 12:01 pm
"Nifty," Rabid murmured and handed over the clothes, making a mental note to pay him back somehow when they got back to Gaia. Sure, she'd forgotten that they were rich until Julian reminded her.
"You seem a bit tense," she murmured carefully, "We're going to find them. I know it." She cringed and braced herself for a verbal attack, as she'd gotten so many times before.
"Grow back?" Ike murmured as he bent down to pick up Sadako, "You don't like Julian?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 12:19 pm
Sadako gave a rattling sigh.
"Beware," she said with slight force, blank eyes fixed on Julian.
Julian chose to ignore the doll, giving the not-too-subtly staring cashier a few jewel-carved coins from his wallet's coin pouch. He smiled wearily at Rabid.
"I hope so - she's all I've got. And I want to meet Lenore..."
The woman stuffed the bags into his hand and looked down at Sadako with interest, adjusting the L.T.J. she wore in her earring to accomodate the whispery English. Julian gave her a dirty look and motioned for Sadako to silence herself. The doll hissed, but shut up.
"Sha'alka cisca deh," she said hurriedly to Julian, noticing his look. Bowing from out behind the counter and pointing Rabid and Malachi towards the ladies changing room, she rambled something in Rijani.
"She said that she'll buy your old clothes from you if you don't want 'em," Julian translated stiffly, hoping Rabid wasn't somehow offended by this. "We don't get too many people that aren't from the continent as tourists - overseas clothing's a rarity."
The woman nodded eagerly, fingering the material of Malachi's shirt with greedy fingers. Taking in Malachi's unusual appearance, she added something distinctly shady-sounding in a lower voice to Julian behind her hand. Julian's only reply was a sour look as he seized his bag and made his way to the men's dressing room. The woman looked slightly disappointed and ducked back behind the counter, her eyes lingering on Malachi.
Julian shook his head and shooed Cole and Sadako nearer to Rabid and Malachi.
"Keep an eye on your son," he said in a low, tired voice. "She said she'd buy Malachi too and turn him into a nice hat and jacket set for you if you wanted." He gave the woman a sidelong glance, and nudged Cole even closer to the child.
"What was it you were saying about this place being better?" he said dryly as he entered the stall.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 12:30 pm
Malachi hissed loudly, hearing what Julain'd said. Everything went sharp and he clung to Sadako gently, as if she could protect him.
"I'd love to give up my...dragon-vomitty, baby-diapery, Vampire-sweaty shirt and grease-stained jeans," Rabid whispered to Julian before she ushered Ike into the dressing room.
She changed herself, and then switched Ike's outfit. She spit into his pocket, for good measure.
"Ask her how much she wants for the threads," she murmured as she exited the stall, suddenly realizing that she was wearing a skirt and no pants beneath. Urgh...
Malachi huffed and growled to himself. Jacket? Hat? Wench.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 12:56 pm
Taking their old clothes and balling them together, Julian dropped them unceremoniously onto the counter top. After a few minutes of rapid-fire Rijani haggling, the woman pushed a roll of bills and a few jewel-coins into Julian's hand. Her eyes still lingered on Malachi, especially his long tail. Julian warned her off with a muttered threat in Rijani, and she bowed them out of her shop with a nasty smile.
"Ye gods above, but I hate this place," Julian muttered angrily. He wondered briefly if any other clothiers would take such an interest in Malachi, or maybe even Lenore. Shuddering at the prospect of Lenore being caught and turned into some lady of fashion's hat or stole, he absently stuffed the large roll of bills into Rabid's hand and gave the coins to Malachi, eagerly guiding his companions down out of the town. The outline of a large city was visible on the horizon, a great mass of multicolored glass towers that always reminded him of a Habitrail.
With a long sigh, he jerked his head again and set out on the silver-paved road leading to the city.
---
The sun had nearly set when the city borders came into view. The Great Fence circled the city, blue static energy forming a barrier between the country side and the outskirts of the city.
"Put on your masks," he whispered to Rabid and Malachi as they approached the guard station at the Fence's gate. Sadako, nestled in the clothing bag Cole held in his jaws, disappeared for a moment into the bag's interior before popping out again with a black domino mask over her featureless face. It was so unexpectedly cute Julian couldn't help but laugh, though he instantly regretted it as the sound roused the attention of a Guard.
The Guard emerged from the station, a chrome and ivory robot fashioned into the shape of a Velociraptor.
With guns.
"State thy business." it said, looking at Rabid.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 1:03 pm
Rabid puleld her mask down over her face and placed Malachi's over his, tucking his tail under her arm, seeing as to how he had fallen asleep in her arms. Her mind whirred horribly for a few moments, and her weak constitution showed. It was her frenzy that gave her the idea.
"Aien-dyo! Vashtya nein lai!" she cried out in Vavvian as best she knew how. She pretended to break down and held Malachi close, pray that either the guard's translator...thing wasn't working, or that she hadn't just said there was a monkey in her pants. Getting shot would be bad...or...maybe not. Although her body language statyed frantic, her mouth twisted into a close-lipped smirk.
Go ahead, b*****d, she thought, You just try...
Malachi stirred in his sleep and opened an eye. He only saw a miniscule portion of what was happening before he fell back to sleep, sucking on his thumb.
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