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 Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 1:38 pm
Who: Vyn, Ethan, Alex & Zul(?).
When: Late afternoon/Evening.
Where: Ethan's penthouse.
Weather: Cloudy outside, very cold inside.
A shudder ran through the man’s body as he sat, hunched, in the corner of the kitchen. He had followed the LAB’s instructions as best he could –considering his entrapment in the kitchen – and had lowered the air conditioning to the lowest possible temperature. The icy gusts of air spewing out of the vents were absolutely ghastly and caused his limbs to ache and his joints to almost audibly creak but it seemed to have done the trick; no longer were there dangerous creaks coming from the closed door or ghastly shrieks from beyond. Vyn was quiet. He had phoned the LAB back as soon as he had received the message and had informed the person at the other end in hushed tones about his predicament. No, he couldn’t go into the LAB to gain the cure for Vyn, yes, he would like Alex to come to him as soon as reasonably possible... He also mentioned that the Italian should proceed with caution when entering. He hoped she would heed that advice.
Thorn was still curled in his lap and Ethan moved one finger to slowly scratch the pug’s black brow. He felt sorry for the creature... Most dogs just had to deal with the occasional harsh word from their owners or at worst a thoughtless kick. So far Thorn’s life had been endangered more than Ethan would like to admit and now the poor scruff was no doubt freezing his tail off whilst trying to comprehend why his loving mistress had been so cruel. “She isn’t herself at the moment.” Ethan whispered, hugging the pet into him for both comfort and to exchange body heat. The dog shivered but responded positively, licking Ethan’s unshaven cheek with a soft pink tongue.
In the lounge Vyn was still hanging in the centre of the room, rune glowing dully. The black root tendrils were no longer the rigid spears that they had been not too long ago... They had drooped and lost their deadly lustre as the temperature had dipped. They were still dangerous and threatening twitches still ran along their length from time to time but they had most certainly lost their ominous edge... Luckily for the plant the cold also had a negative effect on the insects that had been rapidly swarming her – the white carpeted floor around her was littered with tiny greenfly corpses were they had fallen stiff from her frigid skin.
Her mind had cleared somewhat and she did not like the realisations that were rapidly dawning upon her... Over the past week or so she had meandered away from home doing all sorts of virus fuelled activities that now that she was ‘sobering up’ she heinously regretted. She had confused Domelvo for Gage. Kissed Prajna . Fought savagely with Lulu... And when Ethan had taken her back under his protection she had reacted like this.. She wanted her eyes to well up with tears and wash away the shame that she felt, but the virus still kept a vice like grip on her and dictated that roses did not cry at such things...
All she could do was watch through doleful eyes at the mess of the virus that had grown in her life like a vicious and intrusive weed.
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Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 5:40 pm
The truck's engine rumbled and settled as the ignition turned it off, the key slipping into the woman's palm and being pressed into her jacket pocket. Alex looked through the window edged in warm fog towards the building as she unclasped her seatbelt, hoping Ethan was okay. Hoping Vyn was still in her head. "Are you ready?" she asked her charge, the door opening with a faint protest of its cold hinges.
Zul nodded once, his eyes even more vividly blue than usual. The demon had been feasting like a king with the cold weather, the frost and coldness itself being delicious treats to tide him over. It felt wonderful to have the brisk, sharp pang of ice within him rather than the thick, smoldering magma. The Frei let himself out of the truck, the door shutting before he took his place at his woman's side as she approached the complex. "We promised to help her, last we saw her," he commented, his voice a whisper of snow rather than smoke, "I wont let her down."
Alex's heart swelled with pride, but she kept her expression grim, nodding her agreement. "We'll make things right, Zul." She paused at the front door, lifting a bare finger to press in the digits to Ethan's apartment. Her bright green eyes slid again to the Frei, looking at him silently before commenting, "You know she wont be herself, not entirely..."
The demon smiled. It was a tight expression that made his eyes look dark, experience imprinting the touch of knowledge in his features. "We will make things right," he echoed his woman's words, his sentiments spoken in a velvet tone with a hint of razor blades beneath. If he had to fight, if he had to take her wrath, her hatred - he would. They didn't have to be friendly for him to want to see her well again; Zul took responsibility for the sick Raevans, and he, like his woman, would fix the mistake that they'd made.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:52 am
The sound of the lift ascending to the floor alerted both the virus-bound raevan and the shivering trapped human. The latter found a nervous smile on his face. Help had arrived. Alex was here and she would no doubt be equipped to deal with the potentially dangerous rose with a cure in hand: an injection of liquidized hydrogen sulphide. He shuddered at the thought of it. Such a lethally cold concoction would surely kill a human or at least cause severe damage, and yet it was the only way to cure the virus that was apparently causing havoc in his adopted daughter’s body.
It was yet another reminder of just how different the raevans were. It wasn’t as simple as they floated and developed a body gradually over time – no, they had powers, fed off the very elements of nature and evidently they could cause quite a stir in the human community... Quite frankly they were dangerous... His hands curled into loose fists. No. He couldn’t think like that. Vyn did not intend to contract this disease and she certainly wouldn’t want to be the instigator of harm. Every incident where she had caused a stir had been totally accidental and when she was cured she return to that harmless pleasant state.
Vyn’s reaction to the approaching aid was similar mentally – Alex had always been a welcomed and helpful individual in her life the hope that the tanned woman could somehow bring relief to her predicament was warming to the rose. However, physically the virus rebuked the woman. In the cold air the tendrils shuddered and tiny barbs formed along the pitch wires. Her blueing lips were pulled back into a rough grimace and a throaty half growl, half hiss came out. Compared to the reaction that would’ve been produced before the dip in heat this threatening behaviour was timid... But the Italian and company would still have to approach carefully to avoid injury.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:45 pm
The elevator stopped.
The doors swung open to reveal Alex wearing a compact gas-mask over her mouth and nose, donning a jean jacket zipped all the way up. She had been briefed on Vyn's condition and was ready to do battle; fresh air for her and a fabric that would hopefully be harder to tear at, should the Rose Frei attack her. She couldn't rightly imagine the sight that was preparing to greet them, only able to treat it as brambles and thorned-vines, doing the best she could in the absence of proper equipment.
Raevan and Guardian approached Ethan's door, looking miserably at the knob. It hadn't been all that long ago - a year, in fact! - that Vyn had been brought here and told things would be better. She'd have a real life, something to look forward to, a man who would love her unconditionally. And now...
Alex pointed at the door.
Zul extended a single tan digit, letting his woman guide his hand. Once she moved away, he increased the heat of his finger until it threatened to seep with magma. A firm press and his finger cut easily through the wood of the door, soundless and swift; he felt the pressure ease as deadbolt was severed. The molten indent was replaced just as swiftly with ice, the finger removed. The pulsing lights in his garments dimmed to nothing, the glow of his central horn following suit. He nodded to Alex, wordless.
Her fingers then slid into the hole, ignoring the bite of ice and finding the locking mechanism in the door. There was a barely audible click, allowing her to quietly open the door and slip in with the Frei. When he green eyes turned towards the room, it took several moments of blinking and squinting until her eyes adjusted. What she saw would have made her scream, if she wasn't prepared.
She heard Zul exhale in a weak sound beside her, and her heart went to him. This had to be more difficult on the Raevan than it was on her, and that was saying quite a bit.
The Frei felt like he was falling, the way his chest was suddenly hollow. It...hurt, to see the beautiful femme strung up in the room like a broken marionette. He could see the coils and curls of the shadow roots that penetrated almost every part of the once immaculate and modern home, he could see the strange peels of color against her porcelain skin, and worst of all, he could see the dull yellow of her eyes against the darkness of her sclera, a dot of rusting color amongst all the black.
Zul's body temperature plummeted. Taking Alex's sleeve, he began to float into the room, leading the human towards the ensnared Raevan. He would need to be his woman's guide through the shadowed nest, knowing very well that what Vyn had become could be detrimental to the both of them in very real, very final way. He paused long enough to let Alex touch the kitchen door, a barest drum of fingers to let Ethan know they were starting. Without further precautions to be made, the two began their advancement on the shadow fortress of brambles.
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:33 pm
The disturbance at the door sent a shiver of expectation through the vines strung up throughout the living room. The invaders that Vyn had heard ascending in the lift had arrived and by the look of it they were making short work of the door... Her dark eyes observed the red hot finger sliding through the wood, causing a trickle of smoke and steam to rise in the frigid air. The click of the lock was replied to with a rustling of tensing tendrils. They could not move to lance at the door or whoever was going to step through the portal. The cold had numbed the virus enough to dim the amount of power it could easily manipulate, but the intricate strands of thorned blackness would still serve as an intimidating barrier – or so the virus portion of the raevan’s brain seemed to think.
As the mutilated door opened and revealed the sun kissed woman and her demon ward entering Vyn’s face twisted between two contrasting emotions. Zul was infused with the power of ice, that much Vyn could remember from their brief first meeting. The cold ran in his veins almost as fluidly as his actual blood and he could utilise it at the drop of a hat – he had demonstrated his skills in this very room. The pathogen that had taken root inside her hated the cold; her sluggish mind had worked that out now. When the cold breeze had disturbed her and Domelvo, rational thinking had stopped her from thinking he was Gage and similarly when the cold December rain had kissed her skin it had brought momentary clarity to her situation with Prajna. Alex, Zul’s guardian, would be aware of this weakness and she had the right raevan to aid her in helping battle the plague within her. It was those thoughts that brought about the faint smile.
However, the virus seemed to leech off this revelation and was not pleased in the slightest. The smile was swiftly wiped from the flower’s face. The snarl that had been issued earlier hissed out of her mouth again and the brambles filling the room creaked ominously... Could it fight against the bite of the cold and utilise the black strands? If the pair continued forward it would certainly try – keeping its place in the frei host was all that mattered.
Ethan heard the pair’s entrance – Alex’s footsteps were noisy compared to the tense silence that he had been suspended in since he had made his call to the LAB. Hearing her reassuring tap against the door made his hopes rise, she was here and she would obviously do her best to cure his daughter. Taking Thorn in his arms he moved to the door and pressed an eye to the crack in the frame... Alex had Zul with her – leading the way like a brave knight. Ethan had faith in the demon. He had always seemed strong, not only physically, that was obvious even from a quick glance at the crafted muscles, but emotionally too. Even if Ethan had only met him twice, he thought he could judge characters pretty efficiently.
For the first time since being trapped in the kitchen Ethan felt fairly confident that normality could be restored.
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 3:47 am
"Vyn."
There was much held in that single word: sadness, resolution, promise. Seeing the beautiful Frei in such a condition was near painful to the demon, finding it rather unfair that Vyn was in such a position given all that she'd been through. He had told her that he'd do what he could for her, without knowing her; even now, he didn't know her any better and he knew his word stood. Zul promised her with his very presence that he was going to make this right.
Despite the coldness rolling off of his body, his temperature dropped further still. Small specks of ice clung to his face at the corners of his eyes, tiny opaque scales dotting his tanned visage, his skin almost slick with the dull shine of the icy coat. Zul pressed onwards and into the waiting, quivering mass of black brambles, challenging the sickness to stop him. He had conquered it and those who it had infected - it would not stop him now!
The woman behind the demon shivered as the temperature dropped. The unnatural ice coupled with the frigid air from the conditioner in the room made it truly cold, to the point she could nearly see her breath despite the gas mask. Alex wouldn't let a little numbness stop her, least of all when it came to Vyn. With a grim expression, her hand slipped into her jacket to retrieve one of the vials she had brought, clicking the protective nib off the needle's tip. As much as she hated to think it, she didn't discount the possibility of having to act swiftly to distribute the cure accordingly. She only hoped the Rose Frei would forgive her.
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 4:57 am
The tension in the air was heavy and oppressive as the freezing demon moved slowly and deliberately forward. The air surrounding his body seemed to crack and creak as the temperature around him plummeted, the water molecules in the air were forced to an icy standstill – creating a glimmering sheen on his dark skin. It was an impressive sight and most intimidating for the virus within Vyn. The tendrils in close proximity to the frigid being could feel the cold it was producing, it numbed them dreadfully and the thin frost that crept onto the black surface bit into them like a physical wound. A small keening wail left her lips, though her eyes urged Zul onwards. He had spoken her name and she wanted him to do continue forwards even if every inch that he got closer felt like icy needles were performing painful acupuncture on her limbs...
With a snap the pressure in the room broke. Zul had moved forward enough into the nest of the thorns that he could no longer avoid touching one of the spiked vines. When his shoulder scraped the pitch extension two tumultuous things happened. Firstly the virus reacted as violently as it possibly could. Barbs that had been idly quivering extended rapidly into viscous thorns, jabbing at the raevan’s exposed shoulder. However, before the dagger-like developments could maul the Baphomet too badly the intense cold aura he produced took its toll of the tendril. The plant could not stand it... It swelled and burst, the water that flowed in the root-like organ was turned into ice expanding and breaking through the magically crafted cells. Tiny shards of black ice sprayed Zul as the black wire exploded and snapped in two.
Vyn’s body lurched slightly as her support vanished from one of the black wires, but the other took the strain dutifully. The sudden dip in temperature had been too much for both her plant and virus elements and that double weakness had been drastic... Inwardly Vyn gave a tired pained smile. Zul could pretty much advance as he pleased... The virus didn’t stand a chance.
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:50 pm
He knew it had to hurt, both of them. The demon was only dimly aware of the sharp thorns that attacked to rend his skin; indeed, the tan skin parted in small cuts and lashes, but he never bled. His temperature was far too low for his brackish blood to seep out, far too low for his body to heal himself, and so the Frei advanced with open ice-coated wounds, refusing to flinch. It was all numbness to him, and nothing compared to what the Rose had to endure. Zul could take the injury for the insult beset upon Vyn.
His central horn blazed to life as he tilted his head to the side to ward off the shattered splinters of ice, but his eyes did not leave her black-lined ones. He turned his cut shoulder closest to her like some scarred mantle, just in case the other vines had the idea to attack, having enough presence of mind to minimize the damage done. Zul could have grabbed the offensive thorns, could have broken and shattered them one by one to ensure no harm would befall him, but he could not do that to Vyn. He was all too aware that they were a part of her, an extension of her very being, making him very unwilling to engage in battle.
The demon left a path of ice in his wake, frost creeping over the tendril-and-bug-laden floor. Methodically, he pressed beyond each curve of spike-heavy black to reach Vyn, deflecting any other brazen attacks without a bat of an eye, lips pressed in a grim, unyielding line. Slowly, oh so slowly, he found himself before the dark Goddess of brambles, head tilted back to look at her with clear sky-blue eyes. "Vyn," he said her name again, hands lifting but not yet touching, yet still unwilling to harm her himself anymore than his proximity was.
Alex had been behind her charge all the while, hating sending him out like some shield, but she had little choice; Vyn's thorns would have torn her apart if not subdued. She moved next to Zul and looked up to the Rose femme, her stomach twisting at how Vyn was held like some sick sacrifice, a host to a sentient hive. A small bag was withdrawn from her pocket, and from that, an alcohol wipe. "Five seconds," she told both of the Raevans, lifting the swab just beneath the female Frei's bound wrist, "and this will be over." Green eyes flicked towards Vyn's face, her smile soft and apologetic. "This is going to be very cold..."
On the last word, the needle lightly pierced the damaged porcelain skin, the yellow liquid being measured into her system.
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Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:02 am
The dull movements of her saviours made Vyn gloriously happy on the inside, but her exterior became increasingly hostile making her feel positively rotten. Zul and Alex were here, about to administer a cure that the Doctor would’ve toiled hard and long to find, and she was sneering at them, dangling barbed hooks about them hoping to ensnare them and string them up like rabbits in a vicious trap. That train of thought was extra painful as the realisation as to what she had done earlier in her illness appalled her – the rabbit raevan! She had hurt her and killed its companions... As Alex swabbed her pale skin she shuddered, both from self-hate and the virus trying to retract from the hand that would administer its demise.
Obviously as the needle slid through her surface to probe her bloodstream she flinched, that was a natural reaction, but as the Italian woman applied pressure to the device and the yellow liquid was emptied into her the pain of the p***k was blasted into oblivion. Cold was not the right descriptive to use as a warning. Freezing, arctic, glacial were not suitable either - no human descriptive cold sum it up. The temperature of the cure screamed through her system like a howling demon, icy claws raked at her veins and Vyn was sure that frozen gashes must be opening up inside her as the cruel liquid did its work and ripped through her. It continued up her arm till she no longer had a limb, but instead an inanimate yet delicately sculpted lump of ice. Gradually it moved into her chest, painful and crushing it gripped her heart. The beastly frost had her in its grip and seemed to be squeezing the half formed heart, pumping its evil throughout the rest of her body.
Of course the fel pathogen didn’t stand a chance against the voracious temperature decrease and alongside the intense pain an almost equally dreadful clarity removed the numbness of the frei's mind. She could see clearly and feel everything now- The room she had destroyed sunk in, accompanied by an alarming guilt. Alongside the splitting pain of the cure the old wounds inflicted upon her burst into new dimension of agony. Her body’s newly freed response was to fling her head back and shake.
Ethan, still watching from the kitchen door, couldn’t help but feel horribly touched by his daughter’s reaction. The fit didn’t last too long, but it appeared painful none the less. Her eyes had rolled backwards, leaving disturbing wholly black ports. Her arms had clenched up and her fingers locked into painful prongs. Meanwhile the black restraints netted across the room began to mirror the frond that Zul had brushed earlier. The ice rushed through their length and caused them to expand and break with the sudden brittleness. Tiny chips of black splintered over Alex and Zul and Ethan winced, somewhat thankful that it was the incredibly strong woman out there and not him.
When the initial shock to her system resided and the hush chill smothered every fibre Vyn felt utterly drained. In fact, it appeared that way too. The remainder of the green chloroplast that had remained in her skin was slowly seeping away alongside her energy.
“Thank you,” sighed Vyn, floating precariously forwards towards her saviours. Her vision which had been so clear after the injection was dimming – though not in the same hazy manner that the virus had caused, instead it seemed to be going black at the edges of her sight... Confused she gave a slight moan, falling forward down this tunnel of vision, consciousness leaving her somewhere between her groan and the heavy impact with the frigid Zul.
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Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:32 pm
Zul could only watch, now, and it was the hardest part of the whole ordeal. As he watched, he remembered; the feeling of frigid fingers crawling under his skin, dragging him down by the chest until he was falling. He dreamed, or at least, he thought he did...he had a vague memory of a crystalline cavern that opened into an empty stretch of white ice as far as the eye could see. The darkest recess of his mind, where his conscience had been tucked while the virus had its way with him.
But then, his reaction hadn't been this violent, or this pained. The demon's face fell when the Rose threw her head back, hands still remaining at a distance as he'd been instructed, though it was hard. He couldn't wait much longer, he couldn't just sit back and watch all this time! As the black ice thorns exploded, his ice began to draw back into his body; the trail slid up to meet his ribbon, the scales by his eyes melting into his skin, leaving not even a trace of wetness where they'd been. The cold air of the room mingled with his growing heat, stirring small eddies of debris around him and tugging at his hair. And Vyn...
"You're going to sleep," Alex softly said, lifting a hand to wipe her eyes. The spray of broken roots had showered her in their brittle remains; she'd have small cuts on her skin when she was warm again, but it was a small price to pay. A tear slid from one closed eye, and while she could blame it on the chunks that may have struck her green orbs, she knew better. "Don't worry, Vyn...you wont be alone. Sleep, and when you wake up..."
The demon intercepted the falling femme, catching her easily in his warming arms. "You'll be well," he promised the rapidly fading Raevan, "I promise." He ignored the scratch of her thorned halo against his skin, instead looking down into the disarrayed crimson locks with a deep sense of profound sadness. Such agony she had swallowed, such an awareness of herself she must have had even when the virus fought for control! She was strong, of this, he had no doubt. A stubborn rose in the winter. Zul lightly lifted Vyn more into his arms, leaning her head against his shoulder as he dipped to lift her ribbon, carrying her. He turned to find Ethan with his eyes, his expression devoid of his happy-go-lucky smile. "May we stay?" he asked, his voice soft with the hush of ice in his system.
Alex's boots crunched over the remnants of the Rose's extensions as she also moved towards Ethan, unfastening the mask from her face to reveal her small, sad smile. "She's in the equivalent of a coma right now," she explained, tucking the mask around her neck, "and will be for a few hours - maybe longer, by the looks of the struggle she put up." The woman turned her profile to look at Vyn, removing her gloves and extending a hand to touch her fingers to the pale, pale skin of the Frei's arm. "Might be best for her." Sighing from what felt like the tips of her toes, her eyes again returned to Ethan.
"I'll need to take a blood sample when she wakes up, but we can come back if you want some time alone." Her hand lifted from Vyn's arm to motion to the living room. "But if you don't mind some company, I'd be happy to help clean, so maybe...maybe when she wakes up, it can be somewhat normal again." They'd need to open a window to get the smell out, clean up the bugs, put the furniture back where it had been - damaged as it was - but anything to help her recover...
Her lips quirked, and after a moment of looking at the Guardian, she nudged the door out of the way with her elbow and gave Ethan a brief, but gentle hug. "Thank you for being strong, for her - for both of you," Alex remarked softly, withdrawing to give him a grateful smile. "We'll do everything - anything - we can to make this right."
And she meant it.
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 1:09 pm
Ethan, now freed from his kitchen, stumbled forwards a great feeling of hollowness eating up his chest cavity. Vyn was in Zul’s strong young arms – her head was lolling and she had the deathly pale appearance of a corpse. Of course, Alex and Zul knew what they were doing, but now looking at her and recalling the initial thrashing he could help but feel terribly wounded by what his poor daughter had been through. He was her father after all and any parent would find it difficult to stomach their child being put through such suffering. Self doubt and guilt crept into his mind; he should’ve tended to her better, should’ve taken her to the LAB right away... They were thoughts that had been present in previous occurrences where the rose’s condition had taken a drastic negative swerve. His grey eyes met Alex’s. In the past she had been reassuring and he recalled those soothing words; taking on the blame was no good – these crazy things happened to the raevans. Every guardian had to go through it and according to her he had been doing a fine job!
A boldness returning to his step he positioned himself next to the boy with the crystalline eyes. They had both offered their help in returning the apartment back to normal – or as close as reasonably possible. Summoning a determined smile he brushed off their kindness, “I will be fine. But thank you none the less.” She had said that Vyn would be out of action for a while, he could use that time to fix the damage and mull over what had occurred in private. As much as the prospect of company was tempting, it would only bother him having the pair in his presence; his mind would construct fabrications of them judging him even though he knew they would do nothing like that. Yes, it was best for him to deal with this alone – be the strong independent father that Vyn required.
He removed a tangle to hair from his raevan ward’s face before hooking his arms underneath her limp torso, lifting her from Zul’s solid support. “Zul, Alex... I cannot put my gratitude into words,” he choked out; taking a step backwards, foot crunching on some remains of Vyn’s bindings. “Perhaps when you collect her blood sample I will have thought up some way to express my thanks, but until then... Take care and know that you are perhaps the most respected of all the people I have met in my life...” He turned, bowing his head and manoeuvring carefully through the remnants of his once pristine living room... Alex and Zul could see themselves out – putting Vyn safely in her room was his priority.
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