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 Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 2:44 pm
Othelia wasn't sure what to make of this beast of a mare. She looked intimidating and made the hairs on Othelia's neck stand on end. Despite this Xelloss bowed before her and she sdidn't speak like an enemy or predator. She spoke more like Lorenna did when reviewing merchandise.
Her tail curled. She seemed to be appraising Othelia's worth like she was merchandise. "I work for Carmine." She said clearly irritated but not fool-hardy enough to make it abundantly clear. "And I'm not a mazoku. I'm kalona." She scowled not liking the unfamiliar word. It sounded like it could be an insult even if she didn't say it like one. "Just a kalona." And that was something she was very proud of. Kalona were great hunters and terrors to the lesser breeds. They ruled the skies as much as they ruled to ground. No matter what this other mare called her she would always be a kalona. A pure kalona and nothing else.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:34 am
And there it was, what Xelloss was looking so sheepish about. He hadn't told the half-mazoku about her heritage yet. It was an interesting choice, though not one that Xellas immediately understood. It was too late now to take back her words. The stunted half-breed would learn of her heritage whether Xelloss liked it or not.
"You are full kalona, this much is true." She looked like she took some pride in that. Good for her. "Kalona is your breed. Mazoku is your race. Do you understand that?" Her eyes never wavered from Othelia. This was a rather unexpected conversation to be having, but they would have it nonetheless.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 12:00 pm
"No." Othelia did not understand. To her breed and race were one and the same. This was true for everyone she met with the exception of this mare and probably Xelloss. Her slitted golden eyes drifted over to him. Based on the looks he was giving she got the feeling that he knew exactly what was going on here. She made a mental note to beat the information out of him later. Did she need to beat him to get it? Probably not. Would she anyway? Of course.
"My mother was a kalona. My father was a kalona with unusual wings but kalona still. Kalona was their breed and race and so it is mine as well. There's no 'mazoku' anywhere in me." She was quickly growing to hate that word insult or not. A word without meaning could easily be any number of unpleasant things, she had learned that from Lorenna.
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 9:44 am
Xelloss recognized that squint Xellas was giving her. It meant that his lord Beastmaster was starting to get impatient. She wasn't very kind when she was impatient, not that she was exceptionally forgiving under normal circumstances. He decided to step in and try to spare her some aggravation. He knew Othelia better. He hoped that meant she would listen to him a little more.
"Mazoku can be considered a sub-breed," he explained. "Not all of us are kalona, but we all are descendants from those that originally served Lord Ruby Eye. You being half-mazoku means that one of your parents probably served him. We can tell because you have similar markings to the rest of us." He used his tail to point at the arcane markings looping around his ankles and then pointed to the ones around hers.
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:12 pm
Othelia turned her focus to Xelloss without letting the giant soquili out of her sight. It wasn't a particularly difficult task to accomplish. Her first impulse was to snap at him when he used that word again. The only things stopping her were the large mare and the fact that an explanation quickly followed. Whether because Xelloss was used to how she processed things or pure luck his words were actually starting to make sense.
According to Xelloss it was really a breed, race or sub-breed at all, at least not as Othelia understood these terms. It was more like a sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-breed or a title. She took a moment to process this information and to examine her markings a little more closely. She had inherited them from her father, she hadn't ever put much thought into them before.
After a long silence she looked back up not sure if she was supposed to say something acknowledging this. Othelia didn't have any words to do so. She found that she only had one thing that she really wanted to say at the moment, "Xelloss...you knew the whole time, didn't you?" There was no hurt in her voice, just the subtle promise of payback.
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 7:42 am
Now she understood. Xelloss was glad that she wasn't the type to fly into hysterics, or a violent rage. Her under-reaction was better in the short run, though he imagined she'd get him for it later. Oh well. He'd deal with that issue when he got to it. "I did know," he admitted with an almost apologetic smile. "I would have told you if it became important... I really would have!"
Xellas watched her servant with a bemused indifference. It wasn't her problem if he was going to have an issue with this kalona later. He dug his own grave there. "Now that that is dealt with, I believe we can move on." She wasn't going to allow this to devolve into some endless back and forth about heritages and parents. "You." Once more she spoke to Othelia. "What is your name? Xelloss has neglected to introduce you."
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:29 pm
Somehow Othelia doubted that and she snorted at Xelloss. Of course, she wasn't sure under what circumstances this knowledge could ever be considered important so perhaps he wasn't lying. It was just that knowing that her father had apparently worked for someone wasn't exactly what Othelia would consider useful information. That didn't mean she wasn't going to wallop Xelloss though. Important or not Othelia didn't like him knowing things about her that she didn't even know.
"I'm Othelia." She said then paused for a moment before making an attempt at a bow of her head. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to bow too. Othelia didn't serve her like Xelloss did but it couldn't hurt to try being respectful even if it felt weird. "And he neglects lots of things..." She added under her breath. Oh yes, she was definitely going to wallop him.
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 8:17 pm
Xellas didn't respond to the half-bow one way or another. She generally didn't waste her efforts in being strict with those that didn't understand their culture. She demanded respect, but could tolerate bungled attempts with the right intentions. If she had much more contact with this mare she would have Xelloss teach her the proper motions to go through when addressing your superior.
"Othelia." She thoughtfully felt the form of the mare's name. It wasn't the name of a mazoku. Whichever parent had named Othelia was her normal one, though that was obvious given that she didn't even know what a mazoku was. It was a sad creature that didn't even know their own identity. She would never fulfill her potential if she didn't even know what that was.
"Have you been traveling with Xelloss long, Othelia?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 7:18 am
Othelia found that to be a complicated question. In terms of her entire life she hadn't even been outside of the cave for a long time. At this point it was around 40% in the light and 60% in the shadow though. Some time before she went in and some time after. She'd known Xelloss for roughly half the time she'd been outside. She supposed 20% of a life could be considered a long time but just because she had known Xelloss didn't mean she had seen him often and it certainly didn't mean she'd been traveling with him.
Othelia frowned. All of this was beginning to hurt her head and she knew this was supposed to be an easy question. She shifted her weight around. "Not really..." She answered letting the words drag on slightly. "We don't travel together much." Othelia hoped that was a good enough answer because she didn't want to have to make an attempt to explain the complexities of her life to someone she still wasn't sure she should trust. It didn't matter if her father was loyal to these mazoku, she hadn't decided if she would be as well or not.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 4:48 pm
Xellas frowned slightly. "If that is the case, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I need to have a talk with my priest and you are an outsider. Kinship isn't enough to invite you into some matters." If Othelia wished to go into her service then Xellas would accept her and allow her to have more privileged information, but not yet. They lived in a world of secrets and secrets did not survive long when spread.
She was quite curious as to what Xelloss had been up to during the years of her absence. She could tell from his expression that there was much that he wished to speak to her of.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 4:56 pm
For a moment Othelia looked like she was going to protest. This mare reminded her a great deal of Lorenna. She was every bit as bossy and cold. The difference was Othelia could kill Lorenna in a heart beat. "Fine." She said turning back around. With a few short steps she was out of the small room and darting her way across the rigged floor. She heard a series a small clicks and the crashing sounds of falling tiles in her wake but she made it back into the darkened hallway without any trouble.
If they wanted to have a private conversation they could have a private conversation, Othelia was going to go look for treasure. With that thought firmly rooted in her mind she carefully made her way back the way she came to investigate some rooms she had passed up earlier. If a tiny room could have some giant mare hidden away then who knew what the others might have.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 5:08 pm
Xelloss wore a cryptic smile as Othelia left the room. She had taken the revelation of her bloodline relatively well, all things considered. She had even managed to speak with Beastmaster without aggravating her. That meeting had gone well, all things considered. Once he caught up with her again he'd probably have to do a little explaining, even if she didn't ask for it. Even he understood that at a certain point, a little truth was deserved. That is... if Beastmaster didn't require his services elsewhere.
Now that it was just the two of them, his demeanor changed. It was a subtle shift but a profound one. His smile was sharper, his look more direct. Here, he didn't have to keep up his guise of innocence and familiarity. He was a mazoku and a monster, nothing akin do those that were not.
"I'm ready for my report, Lord Beastmaster."
"And I'm ready to hear it, General-Priest Xelloss." Though she had not carried him in her body, there was no denying that they were anything other than mother and son. They wore identical expressions of dangerous cunning. It had been too long since they had spoken. There was so much that they needed to catch up on...
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 5:25 pm
Othelia picked a room close to the entrance to examine. There was nothing that glittered in this room even though thin beams of sunlight filtered in and as such there was nothing that Carmine would consider valuable. What kept her interested was the presence of those same arcane marks and faded paintings on the walls.
Mazoku.
That's what those marks meant. Had this been a home of theirs at some point? Her father had been one, had he lived in a place like this before he met her mother? Othelia stepped closer to one of the marks on the wall, a series of lines and loops, and looked at it closely. Had her father stayed with her mother at all? She hadn't thought about her parents in a very long time. Were they even still alive? If they were, had they forgotten her? Was she worth remembering? She clearly wasn't worth enough to be involved in important conversations.
Othelia growled and turned away from the mark she was facing to look at a drawing of a kalona. Kalona, like her, her mother and Xelloss. Maybe Xelloss was more mazoku than kalona though. She frowned deeply. There was too much going on in head. She wasn't used to thinking this much, she was used to acting. If it ran, chase. If it challenged, attack. If it was prey, devour. There was no immediate action to follow something like this and it was beginning to irritate her.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 5:36 pm
"You have done well. For now, leave and return to your previous doings. There will soon be a time that I will have need of you... but it is not now."
With those parting words from Beastmaster, Xelloss left. He had waited so long for this moment of reunion and now it had come and gone. He had his mother's approval and her dismissal. He would have liked to stay at her side for longer but it didn't even occur to him to ask. Mazoku did no favors to other mazoku for the sake of emotions. The things she had told him ran possibilities through is mind. If she had awoken she reasoned that the other four of the five great leaders were awakening as well. It could be years before they all roamed the continent again or they could be already doing so even now. It had been years since the last great effort on either side of their war. Life was about to get much more interesting.
He got through the trapped room with only a few close scrapes and began to look for Othelia. He didn't have to search for long. She was in another room nearby and he cleared his throat loudly to alert her of his presence as he walked in. He decided it was best not to surprise her at the current moment.
"Find something interesting?" he asked, seeing her peering at something on the wall.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 5:47 pm
Her tail lashed out instinctively at the sudden sound from Xelloss. It hit a wall and Othelia hissed sharply in pain before pulling it back gingerly. Perhaps he hadn't been trying to surprise her but he still did. She glowered at him from where she stood by a corner.
"Xelloss." She said finding that it was very easy to make his name sound like a curse. "Is your master gone?" She asked not bothering to answer his question. It wasn't that interesting. Just a doodle. The only interesting things she had found were things that she wished she had found out under different circumstances.
In her time alone she had taken to blaming Xelloss for her current confusion not caring to acknowledge that she would have been just as confused if she had been told earlier. It was just easier on her to have someone to blame right now.
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