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 Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:19 pm
Darkness Within -- A Previous Life
[ Roleplay with Wren prior to Doran's downfall. ] It was later than normal, but Reyna was closing the shop late as it was. Not that it mattered what time it was; the only thing that mattered was getting what it needed to get done, done.
Loose ends were never to remain loose ends forever, not with him. Doran was hidden completely, no way to see him at all. Any light that shined in his direction, even the light of the moon above, was devoured by the shadows and darkness around him. It was as if his entire being was nothing but shadows for the time being, his body nothing but darkness.
And now he was observing, only observing. The woman who Athan had chosen to look after those that had been locked away. After all, it was best to know what there was to deal with and he was ready to make his move. Throw down his cards, so to speak.
So Doran was there, outside in the shadows that surrounded the shop. If he had been more than just darkness, he might have smirked, but instead, he seemed to radiate dark amusement. How easy it would be to make a move against the woman closing this shop, as well as her 'shadow', but for now?
For now he was waiting. He was patient.
The silver haired woman cursed under her breath as she fumbled with the keys to the shop. She'd gotten so caught up in one of her paintings that she didn't notice what time it was until Mystic pointed it out to her.
"And you do know that the buses don't run this late right?" she grumbled in her Shadow's direction, "Luckily for you, you can just float." She scowled darkly as she shut the door to the shop behind her and then locked it after searching for the right key.
She turned and walked down the street a ways before pausing mid-step. Mystic faded into view and she felt brief waves of curiosity and then worry that mirrored her own. She could have sworn she felt something. It was like a brief, familiar tingle of magic that thrilled down her spine.
This one, this shadow of the woman's was bound to be the eldest one around. If she was the first guardian and this one the first released, he had to be. Doran maintained a good distance from her and Mystic, never coming too close.
He was just observing, studying them and somehow amused at how the bond between them was. With certain spells it was far to easy to see the lines of a bond between her and the shadow. Though Doran couldn't remember, or even know, who this one might have once been, he was amused by a single thought.
If these shadows knew what they rightly were, some would not like the fact that they were bonded as they were to these people. However, Doran was sure of himself, and as it was? These released creatures would never live long enough to even understand themselves and what they could become.
Moving closer, but still unseen, Doran slipped from shadow to shadow, watching this woman. How intriguing she must be, to have been chosen by Athan. But honestly, to him, she didn't look like much. Athan's choices had never been good ones anyway, not to him.
Athan had chosen her for very good reasons -- reasons that Reyna didn't want exposed for various reasons. He had once told her that she had an affinity for darkness. Shadows were simply drawn to her as was dark magic.
She neglected to inform him why that was so, and she'd be damned if she ever truly revealed himself to him. "******** b*****d," she muttered darkly as she tightened her arms about herself and kept walking at a faster pace. She was eager to get home. Her one visible eye ached from the strain of staying up too late and from squinting at a half finished canvas painting.
Mystic hovered closely to her and fidgeted nervously as he skitter from shadow to shadow before simply clinging to her own as though he were simply a small wisp. She didn't have to ask or pry at their bond to know what was up. He'd been acting weird ever since Athan had sprung the news that his old comrade was lurking about in the shadows biding his time.
She glowered darkly at that thought before shivering again as the feeling from before returned. It was stronger this time and with it came the scent of old, very dark magic. Her red eye narrowed and she idly scanned the area, but there was nothing there to be seen and it left her feeling greatly disturbed.
It was brief, maybe even hardly noticed, but for a moment as Reyna passed by a street light, there was the hint of a figure in the shadows that surrounded it. Something similar to a pair of eyes might have even been visible, a deep silvery color, all most grey, and glowing faintly.
But as fast as Doran had let himself be there, barely visible, he was gone from that spot and moving to the next. There was something about this woman, something that told him that she may be more than he realized. Darkness was called to her, it seemed. He could all most feel the tug of it and it was fascinating by it.
Something to think about later on, when his thoughts turned inward and the plans unraveled themselves in his mind. Lingering for a bit longer, though only watching the pair slip farther away from him, Doran amused himself by watching the other shadow.
The way it was so nervous and clinging to the woman's shadow as if it could make him feel better. Mentally chuckling to himself, Doran was only amused. When the time came, there wouldn't be any shadow that would offer solace to any of these 'shadow fiends'.
But for right now, he'd let them think they were safe.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:24 pm
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:29 pm
A Matter of Temptation[ Aftermath continuing after the ending of the 'Something Wicked' plot.. ] "Athan.. lay back down in that bed or I'm going to kick your a**," Reyna hissed from where she sat in an overstuffed arm chair a few feet away from the bed Athan was trying to escape from, "You're in no condition to even be alive much less trying to get up and pretend you can easily walk amongst the rest of the living."
The room was pitch black, something she knew that the man lying in bed would likely be appreciative of since he most likely had one hell of a headache. Truly, he was lucky the damage he'd been dealt hadn't been far worse. Hawk was one hell of a kid. She smirked faintly at that before slowly stretching as she stood from her seat and moved to sit on the edge of the bed near Athan.
"Wh..what happened?" he asked in a low, raspy sort of voice that sounded horribly strained with fatigue and a hint of pain that he seemed to be desperately trying to hide. His eyes glowed dimly in the darkness, something that was a little reassuring to her. He sounded so weak. It was almost saddening to see someone that always seemed so strong, so sure of himself sound like that.
"The spell worked if that's what you're wondering. If it hadn't you wouldn't be here. None of us would still be in existance," she replied simply as she pressed a hand against the man's forehead. He was still overly warm to the touch, though she knew it wasn't really a fever. The symptoms of being exposed to a spell of magic was often times hard to treat even with more magic. "You shouldn't be awake," she whispered in a soft, almost melodic voice, "You need to sleep.."
She grinned as she stood after gently pulling the covers up over the man. It was easy to pull an aura on someone who was already as horribly weakened the way that Athan was -- not that she had plans of exploiting that little ability, but it came in handy when he was trying to resist getting the rest he needed.
She moved back to her chair and continued to keep watch to make sure he didn't die in his sleep. It would be a shame for something like that to happen even after they'd gotten rid of Doran. If he did there was still a chance that some of the younger, weaker Fiends could follow him into death. She frowned at that thought and began to worry, but that worry was pushed aside when Mystic appeared near her side.
He was nearly invisible and impossible to see except for the faint glow of his gem and his jewel tinted eyes. 'He's in no danger of dying now, Reyna. I can promise you that. You are weak as well. Perhaps you should rest. I can keep watch for you.'
Reyna scowled faintly at the mention of being weak, but she didn't bother arguing with him. She knew that he was right. He was bonded directly to her, there was no way he couldn't be wrong. What's more, she felt that steady drain of her energy. She'd expended more than she was used to. "Mm.. alright. Let me know when he wakes again," she murmured as she stood wearily and trudged off towards her own room to sleep off the exhaustion that was weighing her down.
The moment her head hit her pillow she fell into a deep sleep. The strain from the past several weeks had finally come to an end and it left her feeling horribly lethargic. She slept well into the next day until Mystic, true to his word, woke her to inform her that Athan was awake once more.
She padded bleary-eyed into the guest room and sighed wearily as she watched Mystic try to pin the man down to the bed. The fact that he seemed to have enough energy to struggle against the Shadow even a little was impressive considering what he'd gone through not even twenty-four hours ago.
Mystic pulled away from the man who'd gone still at the sight of Reyna standing their in the doorway. The Fiend shot Athan an exasperated sort of look before glancing imploringly towards his Guardian. 'He insists that he's fine. I know better.'
"Yeah? So do I," Reyna gritted out irritably as she moved to sit on the edge of the man's bed the way she had done before she'd gone to bed. "I'm going to assume you're feeling better," she murmured faintly as her hand pressed against his forehead once more. He was still too warm, though. "Mystic," she began quietly as her visible eye narrowed in thought, "Go get him a glass of water, please."
The Shadow disappeared, drifting through one of the walls towards the kitchen to retrieve the water for Athan. He reappeared in the doorway holding a small tray in his dark hands. His shadowed form took on normal human-looking feet as well as he carried the tray into the room and sat it on the bedstand closest to Reyna.
"Here," she murmured as she heled the glass up for Athan who choked on the first swallow he took on his own. He sputtered and pushed the glass away with a pained look on his face before collapsing back down against the mattress.
"Where's the stone?" he grated out in a strained voice, though it didn't sound nearly so weak as it had the first time he'd woken up.
Reyna paled visibly as she realized she hadn't thought much about the stone that they'd used to trap Doran into. She frowned before Mystic spoke up for her, and reassured them that he'd put the stone in a safe place. "Where exactly did you put it?" she asked curiously, a question Athan would no doubt also want an answer to.
'In the drawing room,' he replied as he sent them both an image of the slate tiled room they'd all been in the evening before drawing out the circle that spelled the stone. Clever little Shadow. He'd put the stone in the one place its corrosive magic couldn't possibly manage to escape.
"Good.. it still needs to be sealed. The sooner it's done --"
"It's fine in that room. I'll go check on it later, but you are still much too weak to be up and about! You ought to worry more about your health. You couldn't cast a spell right now if you wanted to, nevermind one strong enough to seal that stone," she informed him briskly even as he glared at her balefully. It wasn't a very threatening look considering his condition. It was more like being hissed at by a kitten who had just discovered its claws.
It only took a few more moments of arguing to tire Athan out. His excuses about needing to get up and cast spells faded away to barely coherent mumbles as he drifted back to sleep. She had a sinking feeling that she was going to have to fight him the entire time that he recovered. Lucky her. He just happened to be in her house. It wasn't like she knew where he lived or anything, not even Mystic knew that.
She sighed and pressed a hand wearily to her face before leaving the man to sleep in peace as she headed towards the kitchen to make something to eat. She ended up cutting a few pieces of fruit and cheese up for Athan. She knew from experience that suffering from an attack via a powerful blow of magic that even the thought of eating something was nauseating.
She idly toyed with the edge of her eyepatch at that thought before setting the food inside the fridge to keep while he slept. At least the fruit and cheese would be lighter and easier on his stomach. "Here's hoping he doesn't throw it up," she grumbled before deciding to go check on the stone in the drawing room.
Reyna stood outside the door for a long moment as though hesitant to venture inside. Fear knotted up in her stomach and she exhaled raggedly before nearly jumping when Mystic appeared at her side. "You scared me!" she accused before drawing in a steadying breath. Her initial fear and tension was probably what drew him there in the first place..
Another deep breath and she opened the door. The stone was sitting there innocently in the middle of the room, pulsating with a dark internal light. She could almost taste the darkness around it in the air. It was like going into a deep, dark cellar. She stood transfixed for a moment before she heard Mystic all but shrieking inside her head trying to get her attention.
"What? What happened?" she asked suddenly as she blinked and drew away from the door to have Mystic slam the door shut behind her.
'Don't go in there again, Reyna. It's magic was calling to you. I felt it pull you away. Let it be until Athan has healed enough to seal it so it cannot harm anyone,' Mystic replied, his tone soft and soothing in a way that eased away the sudden headache that was brought on by his yelling moments ago.
The silver-haired woman paled at the Shadow's words and then frowned darkly. The expression shifted and she smiled faintly as she gazed up at the shadow who was hovering midair looking tense and worried. "Since when have you become so knowledgeable about magic?" she asked with a sort of bemused expression.
A faint flush of color stole across the Shadows cheeks as he drifted down to the ground and stood on his human feet that were as dark as his hands. 'I read all your books. The ones in the library and I.. found the ones in your study.'
"Did you now?" she smiled as she walked away from the room and felt the tension in her neck and shoulders ease the farther away she was from that room and the crystal lurking within. "Perhaps I should see about teaching you a little magic." She smiled again, something bright and fleetingly rare that lit up her face at the waves of excitement and joy that radiated through her bond to the Fiend.
'I'd like that,' Mystic replied as he followed along after his Guardian, excited at the prospect of learning something new.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:31 pm
I'm Still Calling You
[ A nightmare or simply resurfaced memories? A small insight into Athan's mind... ] Blue skies. Warm sunshine. Merely a memory? I can't ever remember. All I know is that I'm sitting on a hillside near my home waiting. I kick my feet as I roll onto my back and watch the clouds drift by with my hands propping my head up slightly. A smile flutters across my face when a shadow drifts across my vision and I see my bestfriend standing there over me with a huge grin plastered on his face.
"Athan! You lazy bum.. bet I can beat you to the bottom of the hill!" Doran smirks broadly.
I roll my eyes before darting up on a quiet peal of laughter when the other boy takes off running without warning. "Cheater! We're supposed to start at the same time!" I call after him as I run down the hill after him, but he's running far too quickly for me to catch up. I frown as I reach the bottom of the hill and Doran is nowhere to be found.
"Where are you hiding?" I call before my frown darkens into lines of worry when I notice the sky darken and swell with rumbling black clouds. Lightening strikes nearby and I jump as flames lick up the side of one tree and before I know it the entire forest before me is engulfed in flames.
Someone laughs behind me and I turn on my heel, startled. Doran is there sitting on a boulder with one knee pulled up to his chest and that same broad smirk on his face. He looks different now -- older, but still familiar. His hair has grown down to his shoulders and his eyes seem so dark. Weren't they blue once?
"We could rule this world together, Athan, just you and I," a voice breathes near my ear. I shiver at the prospect and feel slightly tempted by his words. It sounds so promising. So perfect..
I gasp and shove him away and draw in a shakey breath at the hurt look he gives me. I didn't mean to hurt him. "Doran.. I.."
"I'm sorry it has to be this way, but you've left me no choice, old friend," he says sadly before all but disappearing into a swirl of shadows. Those dark tendrils reach out towards me and I run as fast as I can, but he's always been swifter than me. I gasp for air as he catches up with me and I feel as though I'm suffocating in the darkness that suddenly engulfs me.
"No! Doran, let me go! I'm sorry.. please..!" I gasp before I feel my vision blacken about the edges. He frees me at the last moment and I lay gasping against the cold ground, coughing and sputtering as I try to breathe again...
"I'm sorry," Athan whispered faintly as he tossed restlessly in the bed, tangling the sheets and all but throwing the blankets to the floor to land in a messy heap. "I'm sorry.."
"No need to apologize to me," a familiar voice replied moments later full of amusement and a bit of sarcasm, "I'm not the one haunting your dreams."
His green eyes flickered open, glowing in the darkness of the room. Athan swallowed thickly as he tried to fight off the panic that was still thrilling through him. He could still see the shadows moving about the room, though really he knew it was only Mystic. He tugged faintly at the bond that connected them and he smiled faintly in return when he felt a hesitant nudge back.
Reyna leaned over him after switching on the small lamp near the bedside. "Your fever is breaking I think," she replied softly as she touched his forehead. Her hands were cool and oddly comforting. He was able to hold his glass up on his own this time when she offered him water, something his horribly bruised ego was thankful of.
"Get some sleep, it's late. No more nightmares," she smiled before whispering a few choice words under his breath to send him reeling back into the realm of dreams only this time they were infinately more pleasant and his bright skies never faded to darkness, though when he woke to the darkness of his room he still felt that now familiar pang of panic twist in his chest.
When the silver-haired woman returned to check on him sometime the next day she'd find him propped up in bed with Mystic sitting near his side. He'd convinced the Shadow to allow him at least to sit up on his own after coaxing him into bringing him a few sheets of loose paper to write on and an ink well and pen. He would have settled to have a ball-point pen, but he found his writing was neater when he used traditional ink.
"If you spill that ink I'll kill you," Reyna drawled out in a sleep-fogged voice as she moved to slump in the armchair that she'd seemingly taken up residence in since Athan's little 'mishap' with Doran.
"What? Can't spell out simple ink stains," Athan replied in a sort of dry, sarcastic voice, "For someone so adept at magic, I'd wager a task like that would be easy for you."
"Considering that your buddy decided to rip down half of my wards, I'd rather not risk using unnessecary magic until I have the time and patience to fix them, thank you," she grumbled in irritation. At least his arguing with her meant he was feeling better, even if he had woken in a rather foul mood.
They sat in silence as he continued to write in neatly scrawled out letters on the paper Mystic had brought him. The Fiend sat quietly near his side and watched him write curiously. His words weren't in any language he recognized and he scowled faintly when Athan merely smirked over at him without offering any sort of explanation as to what he was writing in the first place.
'I'm going to go make breakfast,' the Shadow announced upon realizing that his Guardian was contemplating doing that very thing. He was rather proud of the fact that he could cook, even if he didn't eat and couldn't really taste things. He 'borrowed' Reyna's senses when such things became nessecary. It was easy to see how things should be through her gaze.
Athan made no comment to Mystic's sudden desire to leave. He was in no mood for company as it was, and he wished that Reyna would leave him alone as well. He knew he was too weak to teleport to his own home -- which was the only way to reach it. He sighed faintly at that before glancing idly in the girl's direction when he realized she was staring. Her gaze was rather unnerving considering the color of her visible eye. You'd think a demon in a human guise would at least hide a rather unnatural eye color such as that..
"What are you staring at?" he hissed after a few moments more before visibly bristling when Reyna simply smiled.
"You're rather handsome without all the gloom and shadows hiding your face," she replied simply before moving to sit at his bedside. She reached out with one hand to feel along his forehead to gauge his temperature. She growled when the man ducked away from her hands and nearly upset the bottle of ink that was sitting on the tray in his lap.
She grabbed it up and screwed the cap back on before setting it and the rest of his writing supplies on the bedside table. "Hold -still- or I will bind you to this bed," she managed to spit out between clenched teeth.
"But wouldn't that be unnessecary magic?" he replied smoothly in a mocking sort of voice.
She said nothing to that sarcastic remark before reaching towards him again and all but hissing like a cat when he batted her hands away. "Hold still! Or would you rather rot in bed forever? I can make your fever worse you know," she growled. When she touched his forehead she hadn't just been checking for a fever, she also had been casting a small healing spell on him though she'd never admit to it.
"Who'd have thought you'd make such a good bedside nurse," he teased with a broad smirk that reminded her almost too much of the man, if you could have called him such, they had battled not but a couple nights ago.
"Don't call me that," she warned as her visible eye narrowed in irritation and she tensed slightly as though waiting to spring upon him to tear him to shreds. "I've done my best to take care of you despite how unruly you are. You're like a spiteful child!" she admonished, anger still evident in her voice.
"Yes, nurse.."
Without any warning at all the silver-haired woman hauled back and backhanded him sharp enough to send him clutching at his head and wincing at the sudden flare of pain that thrilled through him. "Alright.. alright," he grumbled from where he was leaned over on his side with his hands pressed to his temples, "I might have deserved that.."
"Damn right you did!" Reyna retorted defensively just as Mystic reappeared in the doorway carrying a tray of food for the both of them. She glared stonily at the man before handing him his food on his tray before moving to sit in her chair.
Tension laid heavy in the air, but for the rest of the morning, though Athan avoided testing the woman's patience more than nessecary. She was trying to help him afterall. He ought to be grateful, really. He couldn't explain his actions or his harsh words. He just felt angry, though most of it was self-directed. Doran was gone. He'd put his own life at risk as well as others, and now he was lying in a bed that wasn't his own, and he simply felt.. utterly useless.
'He doesn't truly mean to anger you, Reyna,' called a soothing voice inside her head as she stalked towards the library in an effort to find a book or something to distract her. 'He's hurting,' Mystic went on before falling quiet as he appeared at her side. His eyes fluttered closed and he hovered in front of her for a moment. He looked as though he were listening to something, some unheard conversation that only he could hear. 'Doran was his friend once...'
"Some friend," Reyna replied coldly as she crossed her arms over her chest. Really, she understood what he was going through all too well, but it didn't mean she enjoyed dealing with his attitude. It was like tending to a petulant child. She felt, more than heard, another soothing murmur from her Shadow who trailed after her towards the library.
'His wounds will heal, soon. He will be well again.'
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:33 pm
Awaiting the Awakening
Introducing Isabella Tuuli into the chaos... "Damn you!" Reyna yelled out as she threw a pillow, the closest inanimate object on hand, at Athan who was still residing in her guest bedroom recovering from his injuries that Doran had inflicted upon him. If it weren't for the fact that whenever he got up and actually moved around some he got dizzy and would all but collapse back into the bed, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath should would have thrown his sorry a** out of her house already.
"Woman! I can take care of myself. Leave me be!" he hissed irritably from where he lay haphazardly on his side. He'd tried sneaking past her towards the drawing room where quartz gem was still lying in wait. He'd gotten close enough to open the door but recoiled away from the door and would have fallen if Mystic hadn't caught him.
The fierce amount of magic it radiated infiltrated his senses sharply. He knew how sensitive he truly was to magic, which lent to his strength in the use of magic, but he hadn't realized just how weak he really was still.
Reyna was utterly furious that he'd even stepped one foot out of the room he'd been staying in. If he hadn't been so out of breath after fighting with Mystic to try and enter the drawing room reguardless of how it made him feel sick inside, he would have argued a little more with the woman, but as it was he barely had enough energy to keep his eyes open.
"Do not leave from this room again without one of us to help you!" she growled out between clenched teeth as she fled the room and slammed the door behind her. She stood a few feet away from the door and raised both hands up towards the air, palms facing the direction of the door as she whispered a few choice words to seal the door with a bit of magic. It was a very simple spell she had derived herself to lock the doors of her home -- including the hidden ones that only she, and apparently Mystic since he had rummaged through her study, could see.
'You know he'll be just as angry as you when he realizes you sealed the door, right?' came a horribly amused voice in the back of her head as Mystic materialized next to her floating midair with his legs crossed indian style in front of him.
"Yeah, but he totally deserves it for being an a**," Reyna insisted with a saucy smirk before heading over towards the kitchen to fix herself something to eat for lunch. She hummed under her breath, something that also amused Mystic as he trailed after her as he always did, while she passed through the livingroom before pausing midstep as she caught sight of a cat lounging quite contentedly on her leather couch.
"Oh by the Gods, what are you doing here?" the silverhaired woman groaned as she pressed a hand to her face. "Better yet.. how did you find me..? Wait.. no.. I know.. I know.." she lamented as she ran her hands back through her hair almost frantically. Her wards were horribly damaged. Doran had ripped through them as though they had been constructed by a mere child rather than a knowlegeable practicioner of magic -- and not just a human mage either, one who was born of magic.
'Why are you talking to a cat?' Mystic asked curiously before his multi-colored eyes widened considerably when the cat shuddered and seemingly shed it's fur in favor of human skin. Golden eyes dancing with mirth met his and he felt himself flush under the scrutiny of her gaze.
"My, my, my, Reyna.. you've aquired an interesting pet," the woman all but purred as she tossed her glossy black curls over her shoulder as she stood and stretched her arms over her head as she yawned, tongue curling in a very feline way as she did so. "Mmm.. pretty, too," she smiled brightly as she sauntered past Mystic and laughed when her fingers phased right through him when she reached to ruffle his hair.
"Izzy," Reyna gritted out as she repeated her question from before, "What.. are you doing here?!"
"Oh come on now, sweets, is that any way to talk to an old friend of yours?" Isabella replied with one of those oh so charming smiles of hers. She wrapped an arm about Reyna's shoulders as continued with her on towards the kitchen as though to have a more private conversation with her without Mystic hovering so close. The silverhaired woman decided that she simply wouldn't inform the changeling that she and her Shadow were bonded.
"Well then, here's a better question," Reyna began as she leaned back against the cool metal of her fridge while Izzy hopped up onto the counter opposite her by the sink, "What do you want?"
"Little ol' me? Why I only wanted to come and see you," she teased as she flashed her another one of her toothy grins. She paused as though waiting for another remark from Reyna before pouting when she realized that she wasn't going to get a rise out of the other woman with that remark. What's more, Reyna didn't look all that convinced that's why she was there.
Izzy sighed faintly as she idly ran a hand back through her hair and her demeanor seemed to change completely like flipping to a new page in a book. "I haven't seen you in several decades, girl. I had looked a time or two, but you got me worried when I actually found you. I know you know how to keep a low profile, but I'll have you know you alerted pretty much everyone to kingdom come about your whereabouts, dear heart," she replied smoothly as she hopped off the counter and leaned over against the demon's side.
"You know why that's dangerous, dont'cha?" she purred against Reyna's ear despite how she jerked and flinched away from her touch. Some things never really changed. Not really. "Fix those wards back up quick, darlin."
"I'm aware of the fact that they need fixing and why.. I've just had more pressing matters to attend to. If that's all you came here to say, you can leave now," the silverhaired woman hissed in response as she fisted her hands at her side and resisted the urge to haul off and hit Izzy. The last time that had happened.. well.. things hadn't turned out pretty. Both of them had been a mess of bruises, cuts, and black eyes by the time it was all done and over with.
"Mmm.. c'mon.. let me stay for a couple days. I came all the way to this little backwater world to find you. Let me sleep in your guest room for a few days, and I'll be back on my merry way never to speak a word of your whereabouts," Isabella pleaded sweetly as she absently toyed with a few short locks of hair on the back of Reyna's neck in a way that she knew irritated the demon.
"No. I already have... a guest," she answered curtly as her visible eye narrowed in irritation as she gazed levelly at the changeling that had invaded her home and currently, her personal space, something she was clearly not thrilled about.
"Well fine then! Put me outside like I'm some alleycat rather than your friend," she said innocently as she pulled away from Reyna to admire her red polished nails that looked almost wickedly sharp glinting in the flourescent lights of her modern kitchen. "I can always go runnin' back to tell --"
"You can stay on the couch for a couple of days, but if you go anywhere near the guest room or the drawing room, I swear I will reduce you to a bloody smear, got it?!" Reyna growled as her temper flared. Her red eye fairly glowed, as she glowered over at the other woman who looked all too smug and pleased with herself. She looked like.. well.. a cat.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:35 pm
To Live Once More
Athan gets to meet Miss Isabella... The problem with someone like Isabella Tuuli, was that she occassionally took on the mentality of a child. That didn't nessecarily mean she acted child-like and immature -- it meant that when you told her not to do something she couldn't help but desperately want to do it.
She hovered anxiously outside the guest bedroom that she normally stayed in when she came to visit. One hand pressed against the wood of the door before her eyes widened slightly when she realized it was slightly warm and tingled beneath her fingertips. She smirked broadly as she examined the door a little closer. It was spelled, and Reyna's spells were always tainted by heat and fire.
"Mmm.. who are you hiding away," she purred under her breath as she paused and listened for any signs of Reyna lurking about nearby. She smiled wickedly as she squinted over at the spell through slitted eyes. It was a talent of hers. She could see magic as though it were a tangible thing if she focused on it.
She reached out carefully and with the expertise of a well practiced thief she picked the spell carefully apart but left most of it intact so she could put it back together. Her magic would taint what was there with her own marks, but if she was careful enough Reyna wouldn't notice until she was long gone.
She smiled at that thought before the expression changed to that of shock when the door flew open and she suddenly found herself pinned down against the floor. She gazed up at a rather handsome man with black dreaded hair and glowing green eyes. She could honestly say the only other person she'd ever seen look that angry was Reyna..
Athan blinked and backed away from the girl and stood to his feet when he realized that the woman he'd all but tackled wasn't the one who deserved his anger. "Sorry.. thought you were someone else," he replied smoothly as he helped the girl to her feet.
"Apparently," Izzy replied as she laughed a bit breathlessly before her eyes widened when Reyna came darting around the corner, no doubt alerted by the sudden commotion. The look on her face mirrored the on that had been on Athan's face only moments ago.
"I thought I told you to stay away from this room!" the silver haired woman growled, visibly bristling as she stalked towards Isabella.
"Oh come on Reyna!" Izzy smiled as she reached towards the girl and wrapped her arms about her shoulders despite how the other woman seemed so very close to losing her temper, "I didn't mean any harm. I just wanted to see who it was you were hiding away.. and I gotta say he's pretty cute. I can understand why you're keeping him all to yourself."
"You," Reyna spat as she pried Izzy off of her and shoved her away, "Are a moron." She simply glared when Izzy pouted at her and tried to act cute as though that would simply smooth things over. That wouldn't work on her, and she wasn't falling for it. She opened her mouth to say something else insulting before she realized that Athan was no longer with them.
"That b*****d!" she hissed before taking off running towards the drawing room where she knew he would likely be. She felt Mystic materialized near her side at having sensed the feelings of growing worry inside his Guardian's mind.
She skidded to a stop in front of the room before reeling back at the overwhelming stench of magic that seemed to thicken the air all over the place. She coughed and pressed a hand over her face before swallowing thickly to keep from losing her stomach. Typically she never had any problems with magic, but the gem that had been locked in that room had been so corrosive and Athan's magic was so.. old. That was the only way she could describe it. It was intense and stung at her accute senses and reverbated through her chest in a strange sort of way that she'd only felt a couple of times in her life.
She blinked a couple of times to clear her vision before staggering into the room after taking a couple of deep breaths. "Athan?" she murmured before moving to kneel next to him.
He was sitting there in the middle of the room with the gem clasped in it's hands with familiar looking wisps of shadows surrounded it. The shadows surged and billowed out of his hands as though the gem was trying desperately to free itself from Athan's hands. He sighed and released it into the air to watch it glitter and spin dizzily midair.
Reyna's visible eye widened when she realized exactly what it was he had done. He'd turned the stone that had locked away Doran into a Shadow Fiend! She squinted at the stone curiously and noted that it was a bit darker in color before her gazed turned towards Athan who was staring unblinkingly at the stone.
"He was my friend," he said simply as he reached out towards the wisp before allowing his hand to fall away limply. "I had to let him live again.. but.." he trailed off on a faint chuckle that welled up in his throat into half-dilirious laughter. "He's not himself anymore.. no.. he's someone else now..," he managed between giggles as his shoulders shook with mirth, "He's a she.. fitting really. He was always a melodramatic b***h.."
The silver haired woman gazed over at Athan quizzically before deciding not to press the issue. Athan was clearly not completely lucid. He seemed, drunk and disoriented and it was a bit disturbing to see him as such. She helped him stagger to his feet and sent him back to bed with Mystic's help.
The little wisp followed along and trailed after Athan of its own accord, though seeing it floating about unnerved Reyna like nothing else. The thing had been.. it was.. She let out a shakey breath when she felt a cool hand on her shoulder. She didn't need to turn and see that it was Mystic, nor did she need to turn around to know that Izzy was hovering in the doorway with a stormy sort of expression on her face.
'It's harmless now.. as harmless as.. well.. any Shadow,' Mystic whispered against her mind in a soothing sort of way that made her relax somewhat. The amusement in his voice made her smile. Shadow Fiends harmless. They were living terrors most of the time.
'I resent that remark,' her Shadow teased, making her smile as he tugged her away from Athan's bedside and urged her to go lay down and get some rest. He left her to herself once she had curled down into her bed with a tired yawn. Reyna had been pushing herself much too hard, and Athan's mere presence in her home was wearing on her heavily.
He hovered there in the doorway of her room before turning to find himself staring into golden, feline eyes. He blinked and gazed at her steadily, rather proud that he didn't glance away nervously the way he had done before. 'She's resting,' he whispered to her, something that took her aback for a a brief moment. Reyna hadn't revealed to her that he was capable of speech, even if it was only through telepathic means.
"Right," Izzy replied slowly as she eyed the Shadow curiously, "When she wakes let her know I'm gone. I'm sure she'll be pleased to be rid of one of her house guests. Take care of her."
Mystic merely nodded before finally giving in to his own self-consciousness and glancing away from the changeling. He faded out of view and followed her towards the door to make sure she was indeed leaving.
"I really am leaving!" she called over her shoulder when she paused outside, "Just need to cast a quick spell -- don't worry! It's for protection." She smirked faintly when Mystic faded into view with a rather startled look. He was composed of all sorts of magic. He was easy for her to see. Plus, he carried Reyna's scent on him, something she found to be rather interesting. It wasn't surprising though, considering that they were bonded together and living in the same home.
The Fiend hovered a while longer as though to make sure she wasn't doing anything but exactly what she had claimed to be doing before returning inside. Izzy was strange, and his bonded seemed to dislike her some, but she didn't seem completely untrustworthy. Still, that didn't stop him from going outside to check her little spell once he was certain she was gone.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:36 pm
Enemies and Mediocre Introductions
Wren drops by to check up on everyone... Athan laid on his side, hugging a pillow while he slept in the cool darkness of Reyna's guest bedroom. He'd done a good job at exhausting himself after completing the spell to seal Doran inside the stone entirely. There was no way he could possibly rest and recover if he knew it still needed to be treated. He was paranoid that somehow it might find a way to escape and he'd be too weak to do anything to stop it.
There was no need for him to worry at the moment. The large piece of quartz was now a Fiend. The wisp flittered about his head upon sensing him slowly awakening. He swatted at it half-heartedly before glowing green eyes opened to peer at the gem curiously. He reached out towards it and smiled a bit sadly as it floated just above his palm.
The door opened, sending light cascading into the room and shadows dancing along the walls. The wisp skittered away to hide under the bed where it was still completely dark. "Hey.. you still alive in here?" Reyna asked with a sleepy yawn. She'd all but passed out once her head had hit her pillow the evening before when Mystic had urged her to rest.
".. yeah," Athan answered in a soft, almost raspy voice as he squinted over at the demon. He glanced at the clock on the far wall and then back over towards Reyna. It seemed as though both of them had slept all day.
"Good," she murmured as she stretched and yawned again before grumbling about going to go make something for them to eat.
Wren was probably something akin to a wreck, but that was only because it seemed one event after another was landed upon him. ... except that he hardly looked it when he left the house and he likely wouldn't look it at all for a while. Not until it was night and he needed to sleep once more.
Hawk, however, did look like he felt horrible. The only reason he had even been permitted to come along was that Wren didn't feel up to cleaning up the room he was likely to destroy while trying to pierce wards and get out and back to his bonded. It wouldn't do to have to fix broken things all over again and Wren was tired of counting, but somewhat pleased Hawk was feeling bettter enough to tear a room to pieces.
Still, he let out a scowl at the fiend as he touched his shoulder and they approached Reyna's place. He felt the shock of magic spread out from his shoulder to his spine and do a nice little jig. "Pierce." He grumbled out, only to see Hawk's Eye there for a moment and then completely hidden within his shadow once more. The fiend's eyes were the last thing he saw, a frown on Wren's face afterwards.
... Hawk wouldn't be the same, not after this. Not with those luminescent pale blue eyes that stared at him as if they could see into his soul. Sighing, and raking a hand through his hair, Wren finally reached Reyna's door and knocked on it. His purpose of visiting was really to check up and make sure they were doing fine.
Reyna scowled down at the frying pan of scrambled eggs when she heard the door knock. Mystic materialized next to her and announced that he would go answer the door. She snickered faintly at that, and hoped that if it wasn't someone she knew (and liked), that seeing a ghost-like creature at the door would scare them into leaving.
Mystic actually drifted halfway through the door to see who it was rather than opening it or peeking through the peep hole. 'It's Wren and Hawk,' he whispered against his bonded's mind before letting them inside once he knew Reyna wouldn't mind having their company. He wanted to see them, too -- Hawk especially. He hadn't met him but once and after what'd he'd done during the battle against Doran he was curious as to how he was doing.
"I'm in the kitchen!" Reyna called as she poked her head around the corner briefly to catch sight of her friend and the barest glimpse of Hawk who was hiding in his shadow. "I'm making breakfast for dinner. Slept all damn day," she grumbled as she portioned off all the food she'd made onto two plates, one for her and one for Athan.
"Mystic, could you not do that?" Wren said, after doing his best to NOT jump at the sudden appearance of a fiend half-way through the doorway. Hawk just snickered at him briefly, but kept out of sight once they were inside.
"Would think I would get use to that sort of thing ..." Except he was really just jumpy from the excess energy he was putting into helping Hawk heal some and the fact that some of the energy Hawk was trying to burn off was seeping over to him. With a polite nod towards Mystic, a faint glare over his shoulder towards Hawk, Wren made his way to the kitchen and chuckled when he heard Reyna.
"Breakfast is good for any time of the day ... And dinner is good for breakfast, while I think about it." He arched an eyebrow at Reyna, the expression on his face asking if she wanted him to carry one of the plates. For a moment, be briefly forgot to ask how things were going since ... the battle.
Hawk's Eye might as well been a wisp again, for all that he was clinging to Wren's shadow. At least, Wren thought he was, but really Hawk was poking about the kitchen keeping to the shadows. Though the sudden crackle and pop of the skillet gave away his location, particularly when he took on a more solid form and the crackle jolted right back to him -- more of the energy he still contained.
'Sorry,' was Mystic's reply, though his jeweled eyes glittered with amusement. He peeked over at Hawk who was doing his best to cling to his Guardian's back. Unlike the other two, he could see him just fine. He was a creature of shadow as well, after all. He trailed after him when he went into the kitchen, and his eyes widened in surprised at the visible crackle of energy that went from him to the metal skillet on the stove.
He looked as though he wanted to say something about that or pester him with questions, but he didn't know quite what to say. He hadn't ever really been around any other Fiends. At least not when they were old enough to be able to communicate with him rather than through simple empathy. He often found that form of communication a bit confusing unless it were through his connection with Reyna.
"Mmm.. breakfast is also easy to make," the silver haired woman spoke up as she walked along the hallway with Wren after handing one of the plates to him to carry. "And it's the one meal that Athan never complains about," she told him as she gritted her teeth. She was quite ready for him to be healed and out of her hair. He was driving her up the wall!
The man in question glanced up when he heard voices outside his door. He resisted the urge to grimace when Wren trailed in alongside his 'caretaker.' He decided to not throw any immediate barbs since they were there with food and he was quite hungry.
'He accepts the apology, by the way,' Hawk shared that tidbit of information with Mystic as they headed towards Athan's room, since Wren never said anything back besides a 'hmph'. He turned around, floating backwards as he followed after the two guardians, to lock eye with Mystic. It was oddly eerie how he knew where the other fiend was at, regardless of being blind. For a moment, his gaze falling on Mystic, was critical, as if he was trying to pierce into his very soul to figure something out.
After a moment, he turned back around, fingers brushing along Wren's shoulder. The demon let out a tiny growl at the small static shock and glared towards where he thought Hawk was. "I'm sure Athan could find something to complain about if he wanted to," Wren murmured, following in after Reyna. He was, actually, nice enough to carry the plate over to Athan.
"Just for you, not poisoned or anything," he said lightly, as if teasing.
Actually, it was somewhat interesting how the urge to play around fled from him once Hawk saw Athan in the bed recovering. There was something ... at the edge ofh is mind that he knew he should've recalled, but couldn't ...
For now, his attention was on Athan, no longer letting his gaze drift to Mystic.
Athan scowled darkly over at Wren but accepted his food gratefully despite the stormy look on his face. He was paler than he usually was, though it would've been difficult to know that his skin was normally a little tan what with how he was usually draped head to toe in black material and shadows. "How nice of you to not poison me," he smiled after a taking a couple bites as he stabbed at his food with his fork.
He resisted the urge to add in that he was surprised Reyna hadn't done so already, but he'd been pushing his limits with her as it was. He needed to lay off of her. He could feel Mystic's anxiety and worry for her when he was too tired to keep his guard up. He briefly glanced towards Mystic before his gaze shifted to follow what he was staring at so interestedly.
He hadn't noticed Hawk there immediately. The child Fiend was doing a good job hiding in his Guardian's shadow, though when he met his gaze he felt an odd pang of.. something. He couldn't put a name to it, and in his current state he was too tired to try to. "How are you fairing, Hawk?" he asked after a moment or so. His skin crackled with energy and he could practically see it spilling off of him and into every available source in the room.
He felt as though he owed the boy quite a bit. He'd done more than just saved his life. He'd saved all of those around him that were bonded to Shadow Fiends. It was impressive that a child as young as he had successfully pulled something like that off. Then again, he had likely Seen it coming.
Wren merely smiled at Athan, taking a step back to really get a look at the man while he was healing up. He looked ... so different without the shadows and the never ending black clothing. Then again, Death was suppose to look good, wasn't it? He snickered a bit at the thought, but turned his attention briefly to Hawk who seemed more interested in speaking with Athan than he ever really did with him.
'Charged,' Hawk replied, creeping out of Wren's shadow and a bit more visible than he had been previously. It was easy to see the crackle of energy once he was truly visible. It looked like there were little cracks along his skin, but it was really just excess energy. '... but all things heal with time,' he murmured as an after thought that crossed his mind. Honestly, with him doing what he did, he didn't consider it doing much, just that he had done what was necessary and that was that.
Hawk moved forward, until he it looked like he was partially sitting on the foot of the bed Athan rested in. It was easy to see, for someone trained, that there was a line of healing energy being fed to him from his guardian. Except that at the same time, Hawk was sneaking bits of the excess energy to his bonded. It was one of the few ways he could expend the energy and it not bother him so much.
His head tilted just slightly, himself phasing in and out of a solid form to a more wispy state, and looked towards Athan. More like, he was using Wren's eyes to look at Athan briefly, to see what the other truly looked like after the battle.
Athan didn't look too different than he normally did. His dreaded hair was a bit messy and wasn't tied back neatly the way it normally was, and he was a bit paler than normal. His eyes still glowed the way they had for.. well.. for as long as he could remember. Physically he appeared fine, but when he tried to get up or move around he experienced dizzy spells and usually collapsed just in time for Mystic to catch him before he hit the floor.
He frowned at that thought as he picked at what was left of his food before his eyes widened slightly when Mystic snatched the plate out of his hands and carried it and Reyna's back towards the kitchen. He sighed and leaned back against the pillows that were propping him up as he gazed towards the little Fiend that was setting at the edge of his bed.
"When I manage to get myself home I'm going to find a piece of quartz for you," he told Hawk, "It'll help drain all that extra energy. Unfortunately my largest piece is hiding under the bed." He chuckled quietly when the little wisp fluttered briefly into view as though sensing it was being talked about before skittering back underneath the bed skirt to continue clinging to the shadows there.
"That thing is just creepy," Reyna hissed as she idly toed at the edge of the bed from her chair next to Athan's bedisde. She refrained from commenting further or asking him why he felt it was nessecary to turn it into a Fiend. She already knew why and deep down she knew she couldn't really blame him for wanting to bring his friend back.
'All right,' Hawk replied again, nodding his head slightly, before he sensed the presence of another wisp coming out from hiding. Hawk's attention turned quickly towards it, his hand lifting up and energy dancing between his finger tips as he reached for the wisp, before he just let his hand drop.
It wasn't worth it. The wisp wasn't even the same person it had been, so he couldn't hold it accountable for it's actions in a previous life. As much as ... as he did not like Doran at all. Not with the memories that had surfaced in his mind. '... it'd be helpful,' Hawk finally spoke again, 'but you seem to be doing well yourself.' From what Hawk could sense in Athan's aura, even if the other was still drained and recovering.
"Creepy is an understatement. Got to ... pity whoever gets a hold of that wisp." Wren paused briefly, rolling his eyes at the thought of being pitied for getting Hawk -- but he couldn't imagine things without Hawk as it were. "At least it seems particularly adept at keeping itself hidden."
"I'd be better if I had enough strength to go home," he murmured idly as his eyes slid shut and he leaned his head back before pressing his hands against his temples. His eyes were rather sensitive to the bright light of the room and with so many people in the room, three of which he was bonded to, it was rather taxing to deal with. "You'll have to talk Wren into visiting the shop when I'm well so I can give you the quartz. I have a pendant that was actually mine once that I think would suit your.. condition," he went on as his eyes creaked open just slightly to peer over at the Fiend.
"You'd have more strength if you didn't insist fighting me tooth and nail over everything," Reyna hissed from her chair before folding her arms over her chest as she scowled over at Athan. He wasn't the only one who was feeling drained and irritable. She was not appreciative of having uninvited house guests. Few people could get away with such a thing. Luckily Wren was one of those individuals.
Mystic drifted back into the room through the far wall rather than the door. He caught sight of the wisp briefly peeking out from underneath the bed once more as though it were scared to come out and face all the people that were obviously talking about it. His gaze travelled once again towards Hawk. He was.. interesting.
'... well, besides being stuck somewhere you don't want to be, you seem fine.' There was a faint tinge of amusement to Hawk's words and if he had lips, he might've smiled lightly at Athan. 'It won't be too hard to convince him to take me somewhere, so long as I stop ... shocking him for a bit.' And there might've been a smirk to his words, as he said them. It was ironic, really, the way that he looked like a child and could act like one, but there was a maturity around him now that hadn't been there before.
The battle had changed him.
"Ah, but if he didn't fight tooth and nail, it wouldn't be the same thing." Wren chuckled, leaning back against the wall and trying to not pay attention to Mystic who was passing between them. "Still, got to admit Death over there doesn't look half bad minus all the doom and gloom." The demon let out a low wolf-whistle, winking at Athan slightly.
Hawk's attention immediately went to Wren and he rolled his eyes. 'Grow up,' he muttered, and Wren just stuck his tongue out at the young fiend. After a few more seconds, Hawk turned his attention towards Mystic, feeling the other fiends heavy gaze on him. An eyebrow arched slightly, as if questioning what was on his mind.
Athan scowled darkly at Wren when he commented on his looks. He flushed visibly and ducked his head before crossing his arms over his chest. He was not appreciative of having him comment on his looks. He'd make a mental note to always wear his robes around the demon. He'd rather be called Mr. Death than have Wren of all people flirt with him. It wasn't that he was another guy that bothered him -- it was that it was Wren.
Mystic glanced away nervously from the other Fiend. He wanted to talk to him but he didn't know what to say, really. It was odd being around another of his kind -- one that wasn't a wisp, anyway. It was a new experience for him. He kind of wished he'd gotten to know him before everything had gone down with Doran. Perhaps then, he'd feel more at ease with him. Then again, his tension could very well be due to Athan's presence. He always felt antsy around the man, even when he was a wisp.
'It's nothing. Just curious, I guess,' he finally answered when the other Fiend continued to squint over at him as though trying to see down inside of his very soul. It was a little unnerving, but he'd never voice that out loud.
'Curiousity killed the cat,' Hawk replied easily enough ( the words a phrase he had heard Wren use often enough ), unseeing eyes glinting and the expression on his face changing to where there was a hint of amusement on it. After a moment, taking pity on Mystic for the fact that he likely was unnerving him more than necessary, he tilted his head slightly and asked a question: 'What are you curious about?'
Besides, it distracted him from wanting to shock Wren. Hawk's fingers trailed across the bed covers, the charge causing them to sometimes lift up to meet his fingers, but otherwise that was it. It was an unconscious gesture to eliminate some of the energy, but most of it he was keeping contained. It wouldn't do to let out what he had within him, at all.
"Aw, poor thing. Does Mister Death not like being complimented on his good looks?" Wren smirked, eyes glinting deviously. He likely wouldn't go farther than that, but the mere fact that Athan seemed to be bothered by his commentary was enough to keep him goining.
He'd let up, eventually, or ... well. Hawk would make him, but he didn't know that.
"'Mister Death' wants to be left alone so he can sleep," Athan hissed irritably. He sounded almost like Reyna when she was in a grumpy mood. The girl seemed to be more amused by the antics going on between her friend and the man that was curled up in bed trying to block all of them out. He rolled over onto his side and tugged the blankets up over his head. "Go. Away," came a muffled voice when Reyna joined in on the teasing.
They were his own personal torture demons. It was awful, really. At least the Fiends seemed to behaving themselves for the most part. Though Mystic was inching forward towards the bed and eventually sat near the edge a foot or so away from Hawk. He was a little wary of the other Shadow, but curiosity always got the best of him.
It was something that no Fiend could easily resist. It was a temptation they all faced and usually caved in to when they were young. He was a teenager, though. He shouldn't have been so fascinated by Hawk. Then again, he did sort of long for the company of others like himself. He loved Reyna to death, but he wanted friends, too.
Wren merely snickered, enjoying picking on Athan more than he should've, but it couldn't be helped. Particularly when Reyna joined in and they were both teaming up on him. "Reyna," he sniffed dramatically, "I don't think Athan likes us anymore."
'Of course he doesn't,' Hawk shot at Wren, a sneer visible in his eyes. The demon wondered just when Hawk became so expressive, but he had expressed more in coming here than he had in the past few days. Hawk, however, had turned his attention towards Mystic. One of his hands, he had absently stretched out on the bed and rested against one of Athan's ankles that was under the covers, thus protecting it somewhat from the energy charge.
With his other hand, Hawk was reaching out for Mystic. His hand came into contact with his shoulder, a sudden shock surely hitting the fiend. Hawk didn't care at that moment, his attention focused entirely on something that only he could see. '... you have darkness within you,' the words came out as a quiet whisper against Mystic's mind and he suddenly pulled his hand back, blind eyes staring at the elder shadow.
Mystic was startled by the sudden charge of energy that zapped him and he scooted away from Hawk some before stilling when he felt him whisper against his mind. His eyes widened visibly and he looked sort of stricken. Darkness within him..? His brow furrowed in a sort of uneasy, worried expression. He didn't know what to say to that. All he knew was that it stirred strange feelings within him and he didn't like it at all.
Reyna squinted towards Mystic when his anxious feelings bubbled over to her through their bond. What was wrong with him? She glanced towards Hawk and figured he was just upset over being jolted with energy or something of the like. She brushed her concerned thoughts aside as she moved to stand. "Best let Death sleep so he can heal," she murmured as she trailed out of the room.
"Besides," she went on, "You need to see what that thing did to my drawing room." She led the other demon towards the room where they had all gathered not but a week or so ago. In the middle of the floor where the stone had been was a dark scorch mark on the slate floor that had actually had small fissure line cracks in it as well. "I'm just glad that Mystic thought to put that hunk of quartz in here..."
Hawk's head tilted slightly, his eyelids closing and luminescent eyes no longer visible. 'You'll learn,' he added after a moment, a faint frown on his lips before he shifted on the bed and turned his head towards where he believed Athan to be resting.
He had the oddest urge flicker to the front of his mind, but it was pushed away from his mind as he ignored the tap from Wren to check in on him. He was fine, just ... over charged, really. A mental shock sent at Wren reinforced the statement.
"... damnit," Wren muttered under his breath, rubbing his forehead briefly, before surveying the damaged room. "Hell, that ... s**t. I would be glad to, it looked like it contained it quite a bit." Leaning down, the demon pressed his fingers to the floor.
Athan sighed when the other's left the room. His green eyes seeped open slowly and he peeled back the comforter he'd thrown over his head in a half-hearted attempt to block all the other's out. Hawk was still there. "Tired of stalking your Guardian?" he asked teasingly as he sprawled out on his side before pressing a hand to his face when he noticed that the Smokey Quartz wisp was hovering near his pillow. He wasn't entirely sure he should've turned the thing into a Fiend. Then again, he wasn't sure about a lot of things.
The slate in Reyna's drawing room was brittle and blackened, charred really. It flaked up in spots, particularly in the center where the stone had been sitting. Reyna avoided stepping too close to the spot or touching it. She still vividly remembered the strange pull she had felt from the stone when she'd opened the door. If Mystic hadn't intervened... She shuddered at that thought and brushed it aside. She didn't want to think about what would've happened if he hadn't, nor did she want to risk absorbing any residual magic left over.
"I'm either going to have to find a way to purify that and fix it, or replace the entire floor," she frowned as she hovered near the doorway as though not entirely comfortable passing through the threshold to the room. "Damn.. I should've pestered Izzy about that while she was still here," she murmured absently.
Wren was slightly distracted at moment, merely nodding his head in agreement with Reyna though he really wasn't listening to her. His fingers were still pressed to the floor, and his eyes slid shut for a moment. It was easy to sense the dark energy that still existed in the room and while Wren could feel it pulsating as if to lure one in, he was able to ignore it.
It was just residual, anyway, not so much left now that the stone itself had been contained. "... um," he finally started, shaking his head and blinking his eyes to clear the haze from them, "sorry, was having a look, got a bit caught up." The grin on his face was sheepish. He usually did get caught up when looking into things like that, it was why he only did it places he knew he'd be safe.
"I think, though, I can purify it a bit and put a lid on what I don't." Wren himself was darkly aligned and chaotic, despite a few things about his past. There was only so much he could do, before it hindered rather than help.
'... you'd think he's stalking me,' Hawk replied back to Athan, before nodding his head slightly in agreement. The only reason he had said that was because of the watch Wren was keeping on him. He had to wonder if he would've been able to come along if it wasn't for the healing Wren was slowly pouring through their connection. In a way, he was greatful, in another it meant that he'd be able to pay Wren back in his own way sooner rather than later.
For the most part, Hawk was ignoring the Smokey Quartz. It was better, in the long run, to do so. Least ... Well, least he wrap his fingers around it and see how much of a charge it could take before it would crack. He didn't like it, but all the same he'd leave it be.
Reyna idly ran a hand back through her short cropped hair as she watched her friend lose himself briefly as he looked into the magic that had essentially contaminated her floor. "Yeah.. that'd be helpful. I'd do it myself, but I'd only make things worse," she stated as she squinted irritably over at the black burn mark. With her luck she'd end up making the residual magic that was left over spread rather than containing it if she were to attempt to purify it.
Mystic appeared near her side and remained partially hidden within her shadow. She arched a brow at him curiously and idly reached back to thread her fingers through a lock of his hair until he went transparent and her fingertips simply went right through him. "Heh.. that upset over Hawk zapping you?" she teased with a small smile. Her expression faded a bit around the edges when he simply remained quiet and that uneasy, tense feeling from him sifted over through their bond.
"Mm.. demons are just that way," Athan mumbled tiredly as he batted away the wisp to send it skittering back beneath the bed. He struggled to keep his eyes open as he peered over at Hawk curiously. His presence was oddly comforting in a weird way, though he didn't think much on it. He was too drained to examine such feelings.
"Might want to take a step back then, just in case," Wren spoke a bit louder to Reyna and to Mystic, once he felt the presence of the other in the room as well. His fingers were once again pressed against the floor and he started tracing runes with them slowly. There was a faint blue glow to the runes he was marking, black at the edges of it though it was only the taint of his own magic. Not what he was trying to purify and contain.
He was, for the moment, just warming up and putting up containment wards just in case.
'Irritating? Bothersome?' Hawk offered, the barest hints of amusement in his voice. His eyes slid shut entirely and he stretched out his senses to brush against Athan's. It was reassuring all most to do that, to check on the other and make sure he was healing well. 'You should rest,' he spoke again, softer this time, 'I'll stay for a bit -- keep the demons out of your hair.'
And Smokey as well, which eyed as it disappeared back under the bed. It was better off staying there.
"Okay," Athan breathed as his eyes sifted closed. Within moments he was snoring softly against his pillow he had clutched to his chest. He looked oddly human curled like that as he slept, though the few times Reyna had come in while he was sleeping to make sure he was still alive, she hadn't made a comment about it. She'd determined rather quickly that she'd rather not prod him too much -- at least not while she was stuck alone with him. With Wren around he was fair game.
Currently she was more interested in watching Wren contain the residual magic in her slate floor from a relatively safe distance. She'd edged away almost towards the end of the dark little hallway that led to the room. She could still see him just fine, though she did have to scold Mystic a couple of times when he tried to sneak closer. "You ought to know better," she teased, "Somehow I think you'd be about as appreciative of being zapped by Wren's magic as you were when Hawk got a hold of you."
Hawk might have smiled if he had lips to smile with, instead, there was a faint feel of happiness to his presence, a glint in his eyes that said he was pleased. The young fiend took a more solid form, sitting on the edge of Athan's bed, watching him with unseeing eyes. There was nothing that he could tell of that would cause misfortune for the other, not for a while yet.
It just felt good to sit and stand guard while Athan rested. Hawk could keep the two demons out of his hair, really.
Though Wren couldn't be bothered at the moment to mess with Athan or deal with Hawk. The demon snorted, when he heard his friend commenting on Mystic getting to close. He could contain everything, to make sure the other wouldn't be 'zapped', but as it was, he was trying to focus on the task at hand.
Eventually it looked like there was a pale blue bubble over the area he was trying to purify. It was a matter of drawing in the 'negative energy' and releasing it back pure. The runes that he etched glowed on the ground faintly as he continued the process. His appearance slipped some as he worked on the purification, true features showing through briefly. For a moment, it did look like dark and delicate wings on his back, but they flickered away quickly.
Reyna watched with interest as she caught sight of a brief flash of wings at her friend's back. She resisted the urge to tease him about that. He was indeed her friend, and he was doing her quite a favor by containing and purifying the left over magic that had ruined her floor. Besides, she hardly had room to talk when it came down to true forms. She had wings, too.
That thought made her reach back and scratch as best she could between her shoulder blades as suddenly the skin itched there. She hadn't so much as seen her own wings in.. well.. a really long time. She frowned idly at that before brushing that thought aside once Wren had finished what he was doing and closed off the circle.
"You!" she declared, "Are the best!"
Wren nudged his glasses up, once he was finished and pressed his hand back to the ground. There wasn't much negative force left in the room after he had purified it, but there was a bit left -- the parts of it he couldn't get to. It wasn't much though and through the process he wasn't even aware of letting his seeming slip through.
"... thanks," he responded, with a distracted chuckle. Palm now pressed flat to the ground, he murmured the words to another spell, to contain and bind in what was left. A circle stretched it's way across the ruined floor, lit up briefly once, and then faded away.
"That should do it for you. Whatever's left should be contained, though there isn't much." He tilted his head, looking over his shoulder towards Reyna with a faint smirk. "Nothing that will attract your attention through my warding, at least." He knew the habit of magic and other things being attracted to her and it was better she was protected from the residual magic present. Didn't need to get sucked in or anything of the like.
"You don't perhaps have a spell to get rid of grouchy magic-users that are bumming around in your guest room, would you?" she snickered. She sighed faintly and pressed a hand wearily to her face, fingertips idly tracing around the edge of her eyepatch. "You should have seen him..." she murmured faintly as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorway, "Believe it or not I'm a little worried about him despite the headache his presence in my home gives me.."
She frowned and scowled down at the floor before glancing up when Mystic resumed hiding about in her Shadow. His presence was calm and cool, something she found to be rather comforting. "I'm still a little shocked he turned that thing into a Fiend," she grumbled.
Dusting himself off, Wren pushed himself up off of the ground and stretched a little, before turning his attention to Reyna. "Well I don't think Athan would appreciate if I put a spell on this place that would ... make him not want to be here." The demon smirked, carefully closing off his mind towards Hawk -- if only so he didn't have to hear it from the young fiend when he was poking fun at Athan.
"... but I think I can understand the worry. He looks like he's still recovering, him and Hawk both." Frowning, Wren shook his head and turned around to survey the rest of the room. He ignored the curious poke at his mind from Hawk, letting the fiend think what he would. "More unnerving, I think, would be that it could potentially go to someone in the future. I mean, it was Doran ... and I saw some of the things Hawk let slip." He repressed a shudder. "It's just not a pleasant thought that Doran could come back and cause more problems, if somehow bits of the past resurface.
"And never mind I think Hawk will be less than tolerable towards it's presence, if it bothers him."
Reyna nodded in agreement with a slight frown on her face before turning to head back towards the main part of the house and into the living room. "The entire situation is rather disturbing," she grumbled, "My nerves are shot and I've just about had it."
She plopped herself down on the couch before offering Wren a faint smile. "Sorry I'm not better company," she snickered faintly, "I'm exhausted and you know me and my temper." She idly rubbed at her temples in an attempt to ease the tension that was building there that would undoubtedly manifest itself into a serious headache later on.
Wren followed a short distance behind Reyna, wiping off the palms of his hands against his jeans. "I think ... I'm just faking it." The demon chuckled, raking a hand through his hair and then shaking his head. "I'd rather be sleeping than handling things, but ... no rest for the wicked." His reserves were running on low, particularly since the run in with Doran and the 'torture' demons before that.
"It's all right," he said, waving a hand dismissively at her and claiming a seat across from her. "You probably need rest as much as Athan or Hawk does, but ... things to do and all that." The petite man practically sank into the chair he was in, letting out a sigh. "I'd throw you a line or something, but ... Hawk's got me tapped out." And he meant a little of what healing power he did, as rare as it was. "We can just pick a later date to harass Athan. You know, when he's able to stand up to it," he said with a chuckle, making light of the situation.
"Hehe.. yeah," she snickered as she leaned heavily against one of the pillows that was strewn across the arm of the couch, "He's more fun to torture when he's able to fight back. It's not nearly so fun when he just passes out rather than coming back with a snide comment of his own." She laughed quietly at that and shook her head.
"You'd think he'd know better and just ignore us or something. I think he's secretly an okay guy.. he's just doing a good job at presenting himself as a complete a**," she murmured as she tried to suppress a yawn. She'd just barely woken up when Wren had initially come over. Technically she shouldn't be so tired, but she had to admit that despite her sleeping off and on she hadn't actually rested well.
"You should probably get back to bed, you know," he said with a small chuckle at her sleepy behavior. Granted, even if he was tired himself, he wouldn't let it show at the moment. "But, ... well. You're probably right, but it'd be a cold day in the abyss before I admit openly that Athan could, possibly, be a nice guy." The small demon smirked widely, arms stretching out along the back of his chair.
"I can live with him ignoring us at the moment. If only because I know he likely needs his rest." And Hawk would probably try and zap him if he even showed the slightest sign of being about to latch onto and bother Athan.
"Probably," she replied with a faint smile, visible eye sifting half closed as she stifled a yawn behind one hand. "And I may have said he's alright, but I'll be damned if I ever tell him that," she snickered, "He's too much of a pain in the a** for me to willingly admit that to him."
She fell quiet and idly tugged on her bond to Mystic to see what it was he was up to. The Shadow appeared in the hallway, fidgeting nervously. Hawk had unsettled him, and Athan's presence was wearing on his nerves the same as it was Reyna's.
"Exactly the point," Wren chuckled, reclining back in the chair to get comfortable for a little bit. "I don't think we'd hear the end of it if we let him know we can tolerate him for long periods of time. Need to ... uphold intolerance for Mr. Death." He smirked widely, blue eyes glinting mischievously.
His head tilted to the side, silently sending a wordless question to Hawk's Eye. He didn't get much of a response beside that he was busy guarding Athan from people like himself. Or that was the impression he got. He snickered a bit, shaking his head, before looking back at Reyna. "About how much longer is Athan going to be staying here?" Rather, how much longer was it going to be until he was healed enough he'd head out on his own?
Reyna groaned and pressed her hands to her face. "I don't know," she lamented with a half-hearted chuckle. She sighed as she moved to sit up and gazed tiredly down at the floor as she rested her palms flat on her knees. "He's supposed to be out of here once he's healed entirely. He was doing fine until he went and sealed off the stone and then.. brought it back," she grumbled, "He was at least conscious today. That's.. a step in the right direction... which would eventually lead him out of my house."
"Oh, no, I bet he has a secret plan to only appear out of sorts so he can stay here longer and unnerve you and Mystic until the two of you snap." Wren snorted, rolling his eyes lightly. Not that he truly believed it, no, he knew Athan was in need of healing -- it didn't mean he couldn't say otherwise.
And get a jab from Hawk mentally who caught what he said. "Though, yeah, him conscious is a good thing. So happy he was conscious while I was here to visit, otherwise I'd have been ... ever so sad." There was a brief pout on his face, before it turned into a half-smile. "But bringing that fiend back, it probably took it out of him, what he gained back ..." The demon paused for a moment, picking up on what Hawk's Eye was willingly letting him know. "Think he's asleep right now actually, or so Hawk's Eye is saying."
"Yeah.. it totally sapped his energy. He couldn't even walk afterwards," Reyna replied with a faint scowl. The expression faded somewhat as Mystic tugged affectionately on their bond and murmured something softly about going to make some tea for her. "I think Athan knows his boundaries with me though.. to some extent," she snickered, "I already smacked him upside the head for being an insolent brat.."
She giggled quietly at the memory of that. "You would've been amused by that if you'd been there, I think.."
"Most definitely," he snickered. Even the ... visuals he had of Reyna smacking Athan upside the head were amusing. There was just something enthralling about envisioning his friend thump Athan for acting like a brat. "Still, boundaries are good. I get the feeling though, when he's at his low points, he doesn't hold himself back too well. You know, low tolerance."
His eyes glinted for a moment and he smiled widely. "And mix that with you being the same way and I'm sure it's a volatile mix."
... Hawk could've cared less what his guardian was chatting about with Reyna. He was, for the most part, ignoring his guardian and merely watching Athan. The man looked far more peaceful in sleep, but still troubled even then. Carefully, so as to not accidently zap the man with his excess energy, he lifted up the covers some more to make sure he was properly under them.
"Pretty much," she admitted quietly as she idly ran a hand back through her hair, leaving it in messy spikes, "Our personalities definately clash. I prefer him in small doses."
She fell quiet briefly when Mystic walked back into the room and handed her a cup of tea before eyeing Wren nervously with a faint flush as though he'd just realized he hadn't offered him anything to drink. 'Uhm.. would you like some?' he asked, hoping he didn't seem too rude. He knew that the other demon was one of the few people his bonded was friends with.
"No, actually, I wouldn't," Wren said, with a small smile at Mystic. "Thanks for asking though, but I think I should probably get going. There's things that need to be done." Shaking his head, the demon pushed himself up and walked over to Reyna, resting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it lightly.
"I'm sure Athan will recover soon enough and be out of your hair. Besides, you can all ways just call me and I'll come over to make sure he ... behaves himself." There was a mischievous smirk on his lips and after another slight comforting squeeze to Reyna's shoulder, he let go. "Just get some rest yourself, and you too Mystic. I'm sure playing caretaker is taking it's toll on you too." With another smile on his lips, the demon nodded his head at the Fiend, before wordlessly calling towards his own.
Hawk merely brushed him off. 'Go ahead. I'll follow along eventually,' came the quiet response. The blind Fiend was still sitting on the bed with Athan, still watching the man as he slept, and still intent on staying for a bit longer. It wouldn't hurt for him to stay behind and look after Athan. After all, he knew most wouldn't want to put up behavior while weak like this and ... Hawk knew he could.
... and he wanted to stay, but he knew not why.
Mystic fidgeted quietly in a nervous fashion when Wren declined the offer for tea. He glanced towards the floor before fading out of view and floating through the nearest wall to head towards his own room to hide for a while. Social situations of any sort made him terribly uncomfortable.
Reyna glanced towards where her Shadow had retreated before meeting her friend's gaze with a small smile of her own. "Thanks," she murmured faintly, "You take care, too." She stood to walk him to the door before heading off to her own room. Wren was right. She needed rest, as did Mystic. She could almost feel the tension that was bubbling off of him whenever he was near. It certainly didn't help with her own strain she felt but there wasn't much she could do about it at the moment.
The only thing she could do at the moment was hope that Athan healed up soon and left her be.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:38 pm
Talking to the Darkness
Athan converses with Smokey, much to Reyna's dismay. The silver haired woman visibly twitched as Athan moved to sit at the dining room table with her to eat dinner. The past couple of days had been incredibly stressful to say the least, but the other man finally seemed to be gaining his health back. She was thankful for that since the sooner he was better the sooner he could leave, but he was acting terribly withdrawn. He'd always been quiet and reserved, particularly when they had first met, but now it felt strange for him to simply.. slip back into the old routine of things so to speak.
What's more, that damn wisp was always hovering about his shoulders -- and he'd talk to it. Out loud. She grumbled as she shoved a spoonful of food into her mouth and swallowed it down mechanically as she listened to Athan's side of the conversation with the gem that he'd dubbed 'Smokey.'
"Mmm.. she's not so mean. Not really. She just acts that way," he said as he brushed a few stray lockes of his dreaded hair out of his face between mouthfuls of food. He hummed a low noise in his throat before chuckling quietly at something amusing. "I don't think she'd appreciate that."
Reyna squinted irritably over at the other man and tapped her fingernails restlessly against the metal table top while Mystic hovered anxiously near her side. He could feel her anger rising and her control slipping around the edges. It was a strange, unnerving feeling, but he wasn't too sure there was much of anything he could do to calm her down.
"She is pretty despite the attitude. You're right about that," Athan murmured thoughtfully before wincing when the pretty girl in question hurled her spoon at his head, effectively stopping their conversation as the wisp darted to hide behind his back and food splattered across his face.
"That," he hissed as he wiped at his face with his napkin, "Was rude and disgusting.."
"Rude? RUDE? You were talking about me right in front of me! I'm sitting right here, Athan! This is my house!" she yelled as she stood from her chair and slammed her hands on top of the table. The noise startled the little wisp and sent it skittering down to hide beneath the table in the shadows there. "Have you lost your mind?!" she all but screeched before sitting back down in her chair with a huffy sigh as she pressed her hands to her temples.
She grumbled when Athan tried to retort back with something that.. simply didn't make any sense, though it very well could have been that she had simply stopped listening to whatever it was he was rambling about. She pushed away from her chair once more and stalked off angrily towards her room.
Mystic trailed after her, half afraid to say anything lest he managed to spark her temper as well. He paused outside her bedroom door before drifting through it to catch sight of her pacing restlessly about the room. 'Reyna?' he called tentatively.
"What?" she managed without too much venom in her voice as she sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. She grumbled under her breath and sank down into the chair at her desk to hold her head in her hands. She wanted to help Athan but he was driving her up the wall, and she desperately wanted to just.. escape from it all.
'Maybe you should..'
"Should what?" she murmured faintly as she glanced up to see Mystic hovering there in front of her.
His cool hands reached out towards her and tugged her to her feet and into a hug. Her eyes widened faintly at that sweet gesture before she reluctantly returned it. 'You should escape. Go somewhere else for a while. I can take care of Athan for you.'
She mumbled something in consent and leaned there into his arms. It was strangely comforting. He knew how to read her and seemingly what to say at the right time, though she knew that was all because of their bond. It was nice though, having someone like that in her life. Before Mystic, she'd had no one at all, really.
"Alright," she spoke up, "But are you sure you'll be okay by yourself with him?" She kept pestering him with similar questions and thoughts before the Shadow all but shoved her outside the front door and then locked it behind her. She smiled faintly and shook her head before heading towards town to see about finding something to occupy her attention long enough to distract her from the stress she was having to deal with.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:43 pm
// Smokey Reappears //
... and is apparently bonded to a child. Sam wailed loudly as Reyna bustled into the shop. She'd hoped that she would've calmed some over lunch, but if anything she was crying even more loudly. She swayed side to side as she held the babe, hoping to soothe her some but nothing seemed to be working. Her fever had broken, but she was still terribly cranky and the burn on her arm was still a bit sore. All in all, it left for one cranky baby, but Reyna wasn't about to leave her at home. Even Fragments was acting rather pathetic perched on her should and moping! She simply hoped that Athan decided to stay at home. He'd no doubt complain and she didn't really want to dea--
"What is going on here?" asked the very man she didn't want to see from the door way of the back room.
"Well I couldn't leave her at home," Reyna snapped as she cradled Sam closer despite her feeble protests. Mystic appeared near her side as though to defend her from the other should he choose to complain about the child's cries disrupting the shop.
"Well obviously," Athan snapped right back before he reached to pluck the child from her mother's arms without even asking. "What's wrong with her?"
Reyna gaped over at the man mouth open in a look of faint surprise before it quickly washed away. She hadn't seen much of Athan lately. It was easy to forget that he had a soft spot for Sam.
'Or really capable of feeling anything at all,' Mystic grumbled in a faint shared whisper against his guardian's mind.
She shot him a look to keep him from stirring up trouble before turning her attention back to Athan who'd almost miraculously managed to stop Sam's tears for the time being. Fragments even hopped from her shoulder to his to snuggle up against his neck.
"I.. I.. I actually.. I don't know," she admitted with a bit of trouble before pressing a hand to her face. "It's complicated. She's got a fever, though that keeps spiking. Just today it's gone down and there's a burn on her wrist."
Athan blinked down at Sam who merely stared back up at him with huge, watery green eyes. She gurgled something nonsensical that sounded as though she were chiming in with her mother to tell him just how awful everything was. He smiled gently and stroked the child's soft hair before he placed one hand against her back and murmured something soft into her ear. She smiled sweetly and seemed to visibly relax with a faint mumbled noise.
"... b*****d. How do you always make s**t like that look so damn easy?" Reyna asked a bit hotly. Really. He always managed to show up at her most inconvenient moment and fix things with a snap of his fingers as though it were nothing at all. At least he was helpful.
'Helpful in a way that makes me want to kick his face in,' Mystic chimed up.
"Shhh!" Reyna hissed.
Athan merely smirked as he continued to cradle Sam in his arms.
Mordecai waltzed into Athan's shop, licking the last bits of a pastry off his fingers. "Hmmm... I think this is where Die said they had smashing jewelry." Mor let his eyes wander, which naturally fell on about every behind of everyone in the store. "Hmmmm.... nice."
"Oh Smexy Die!!!" the man in the tophat swung the snake around in his arms, "Don't you just look smashing today! How have you been?" Mor obviously didn't care for what kind of scene he was making, and was thoughly enjoying himself.
"You flatter me so!" Die grinned with a coy sort of look as he looped an arm around Mor's shoulders comfortable. "I have been well, but I'm infinitely better now that I'm in your company," he told him with a smirk as he idly toyed with a lock of the other's hair. Truly, he was just as outrageous as his friend. It was a wonder he managed to survive under the same roof as Reyna.
"Oooh!" He pulled away from Mor to slither over towards one of the glass cases. "Seems Athan got a new shipment of things in!"
"Just yesterday," Reyna spoke up from where she'd settled herself at her desk. She watched the both of them ublinkingly like a hawk ready to swoop down upon them if they made the slightest ill move. "Let me know if you want to take a closer look at any of it."
"You make it hard to not flatter you, my dear," Mor smirked his wicked smile. "Oh, now those are quite exsquisite!" He pressed his face to the glass like a kid in a candy store, "ooOOOooh! look at that one Die! You should try it on!" He pointed to a very large brooch with many stones in it.
"Ma'am! we would like to look at all of these!" Mor motioned to the case. "You know you want to try them on Die-love," he smirked.
Mor turned to the new customers and waived hello before turning his attentions back to the snakeman.
"It is lovely," the medusa replied with a small smile quirking at his painted red lips, "And it is my favorite color!" Red, of course.
Reyna silently made her way over towards the two with a sidelong glance towards Mystic who simply nodded and disappeared from view to check on Sam for her. The glass faded away when she touched it with her palm flat against the surface and she retrieved the brooch from where it lay in it's velvety display. A small smile tugged at her mouth as she pinned the jewelry to his jacket despite her best efforts. Okay. She really did find Charles, or Die as he preferred to be called, a bit entertaining even if she did think him to be rather ridiculous.
"EEE! I love it," he squealed. It was almost dangerously close to being gaudy, but somehow the snake managed to pull it off. Then again, his typical attire was rather over the top anyway so it blended right in.
"It's an variety of red garnets, I believe," she stated matter-of-factly before her gaze traveled slowly away from the medusa and his.. interesting friend. Mystic was plotting something. She kept getting random waves of giddy amusement, and it most definately was not her own.
She strayed from thoughts of trying to figure out what sort of mischief her Shadow was up to when she heard the door jingle and someone say hello. Her visible eye narrowed in a tick of what very well could have been irritation. What did he want? Did he really have to come to this particular shop? She huffed a bit as she realized that those sorts of thoughts would simply get her worked up and that, in the long run, would be a very, very bad thing. A repeat of what happened when she was trapped in the Library wouldn't be good. Particularly since Wren wasn't there to stop her.
Then again. That was an entertaining thought. She moved to say hello, but stopped short. Athan beat her to the other man. Well that was disappointing, particularly as she realized if worse did come to worse, Athan could stop her, too. Damn.
Mor stood there and looked over the snake, he looked very stunning, as always. "That fits you very nicely, my dear. What do you think?" he winked, "It does match your lipstick rather well I might add."
Mor resisted giving Die's bottom a pat for now and turned his attention to Reyna. "Ma'am...," he leaned on the counter, "This piece doesn't have any like.. ghosties and stuff in it does it?"
Pippin grins first at Athan, then converging with Reyna, despite all warning signs to steer clear the woman. They hadn't exactly had the best of times down in that library.. But things of logic like this don't necessarily strike the poor, thick headed man, and he clearly flaunts this.
"Aha, such a day in Gaia as this~" he giggles softly, shuffling aside when Mythos taps on his calf. The Adu shyly slips inside and finds some vacant space where he can have his back against a wall. Not far after, hacking and hissing loudly, his Adu twin scrambles inside. He flashes a row of sharp teeth at everyone, his scrawny tail cracking the air behind him.
Mor scooted a bit closer to Die, one to get a little bit out of harms way of whatever had just come in, and two, as more of an excuse to get closer to his friend.
Die squealed with a start, as he glanced up and saw Mystic fading into view. It scared him every time he did that!
'No. It doesn't,' the Shadow replied with a rather wicked look on his face as he drifted through the wall and the counter Mor was leaning on so that he was very nearly face to face with the man. 'But that one,' he pointed towards Mythos and the rather large gem he held close to him concealed in cloth, 'Most certainly does.'
Reyna's visible eye widened and she paled slightly as she closed the case with a snap of her fingers and padded towards Pippin with quick strides. She glanced from the lime-haired man to Athan who had fallen silent after Mystic spoke up. "Oh no you didn't."
Whether she was accusing Pip or Athan wasn't very clear, but the low growl in her voice sounded threatening one way or another.
Mythos visibly shrinks at the tone of Reyna's voice, cuddling the concealed stone close to his chest. It had been the one true possession that his twin had never successfully been able to claim or destroy, much to Crow's disappointment.
Pippin cocks his head to the side, looking rather silly - so, nothing out of the ordinary. "Say what now?" he says, beaming needlessly.
Mor hugged his squealy partner. "Would you be interested in a walk, sweetness?", he slipped him a kiss on the cheek and slid his credit card behind Die's back to Reyna. "It is such a nice warm night."
Mystic floated over towards the child with a softer, more kind look on his face. He bent down onto his knees so he was eye-level with him. 'And I wonder,' he stated in a calm, quiet voice, 'How this little one managed to get a hold of Smokey.'
"What I want to know is why THIS man," Reyna pointed at Pippin accusingly, "Has a Fie--.. SMOKEY?!" She fell silent and reeled back a step or two before her gaze settled heavily upon Athan who simply looked pale and more than a little confused. She jerked visibly when a plaintive cry rose within the shop. Torn, she paused for only a moment before leaving in an angry flurry to tend to her daughter after gruffly handing Mor's credit card to Athan.
'It's not the man's,' Mystic spoke up, causing Reyna to pause near the doorway, 'She belongs to the child.'
Athan sighed heavily, shook his head, and headed towards the register to ring up Die and Mor's purchase before all but shooing them out the door to lock it behind them. They were going to have some explaining to do, as it was more than a little obvious Pippin hadn't the faintest clue as to what was really going on.
Pippin blinks, giving a blank stare all around. "A FiSmokey?" he laughs uneasily, rubbing the back of his neck. "I.. really don't know what you're talking about, but I can see that you're not in the greatest of moods. I'll drop by for a visit.. some .. other time!"
Crow emits a throaty growl and clumsily tosses himself in front of his brother. Although Mystic poses no threat, the corruption Adu wants nothing more than to stick his nose into his brother's business. He shoots a glare over his shoulder at his brother, who cowers even lower than before, his wings drooping from their momentary pride.
And all the while the precious stone is clutched against his quickly beating heart..
Athan urged Reyna into the back room with a few quiet words as Sam's cries grew louder and Fragments began pawing at the door almost frantically in order to bring someone's attention to his girl. He offered the lime haired man a small smile.
"No need to rush off. And no.. it's uh.. not a FiSmokey.. it's a Fiend," he spoke up. He gestured towards the two Adu. "The smokey quartz stone one of your children has contains .. a soul. It is a Shadow Fiend."
'Like me.' Mystic didn't turn his gaze away from Mythos. Instead, he crept forward despite Crow's presence and merely floated right over him in a ghostly sort of manner. 'No one can take her from you,' he assured in a quiet whisper against the child's mind so only he could hear, 'She'll likely never leave you, either. She wouldn't want to.'
He wasn't completely certain about what he said simply because he knew the soul that was contained within the stone, but he knew without a doubt it would definately be difficult for her to do so. Fiends did quite literally shadow every step their guardian's took and being away from them for any length of time was never easy.
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Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 6:14 am
Hide And Seek It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good ‘... sixteen … fifteen … fourteen …’ The little girl slowly counted down. She stood facing the massive ancient brick wall of the storage cellar which was underneath Maharshi’s parents’ store. Her bare feet were firmly planted on the ground, her red eyes tightly pressed shut. But her pointed ears were twitching, as she was listening in between calling out the numbers.
If it could be referred to as ‘calling’. For she had no mouth to form the words, no voice to speak them but her mental one. Which she was currently trying to do as ‘loudly’ as she could, so that all her friends would ‘hear’ them. And even though it was ‘only’ telepathy, it still sort of tuned out the sounds surrounding her.
In fact her mental voide was loud enough for even the customers in the store above to perceive her countdown, causing them to look about with startled expressions.
“It’s just the children playing hide-and-seek,” Nalini, the store-owner’s wife and Maharshi’s mother softly said, passing around a plate of cut up fresh figs drizzled with honey for her customers to try. “Maharshi’s friends are over. There’s one among them, a little girl, who can only speak with the voice of her mind. That’s what you’re hearing.”
Her customers nodded sagely, calmed and greatly appeased by the sweets, commenting on how hard it would be to find a husband for said girl.
Said ‘girl’ didn’t look so terribly different from the rest of the gang, her skin being close to the color of chai, her hair a deep black and mostly unkempt, though it was adorned with golden beads here and there. Like most of the other children she was wearing a simple, slightly too large tunic which kept slipping off her shoulders times left, times right side. But Mya had insisted she wear something, and the tunic was pretty. Turquoise, like the markings that spiraled up her body, embroidered with threads of gold and silver, and adorned with tiny mirrors.
‘… ten-nine-eight,’ she deliberately sped up her countdown.
“Hey, no fair!” a voice to her back and her left promptly complained.
“Shhhht! Way to give away our hiding place!” another voice shushed, admonishing the first, but not being exactly quiet either.
Smokey, had she possessed the lips to do so, would have smirked if only she could have. Two to be easily found, but it seemed no one else would be falling for the trap. Ah well, after she’d used the trick multiple times, it seemed close to a miracle that anyone would still fall for it even. Of course, the voice which had spoken first had been little Maneet’s, by far the youngest in their group, and the most gullible one. The one who’d shushed him up would be Anjalee, his sister. The siblings always hid together, with Anjalee being the one picking the hiding spots. She was put in charge watching over her younger brother, and was always taking her responsibility Very Seriously – to the point that had Smokey wonder if little Maneet would ever be capable of doing anything on his own.
Maybe, just maybe …
‘… TWO! ONE! Ready or not, here I COME!!’ Smokey’s eyes snapped open, and – for a moment there – it seemed her red irises were glowing in the dim light of the cellar. She headed straight for the HUGE empty barrel which might have contained wine at some time, but now was mostly kept around to impress customers and contain random odds and ends. Cleaning items mostly.
‘Hey there,’ she said, poking her head straight through the wooden saids. ‘Maneet, Anjalee, FOUND YOU!’
“No fair!” Anjalee complained, pointing at her. “You’re cheating!”
Maneet simply stared at Smokey, eyes wide, and then tentatively reached out with his right to poke his index finger against the wood of the barrel. It seemed quite solid. So how did ‘Smoh-khee’ do what she did?
Smokey’s shoulder’s heaved in an inaudible sigh, wishing she wouldn’t get accused of ‘cheating’ quite so often. Fine. There were a number of things she could do that others couldn’t. But then again it was just the same the other way around. She had a feeling of terribly missing out on something whenever sweets were shared and distributed around. She wanted sweets too!
‘Fine then,’ she grumpily declared, withdrawing her head and instead moving around to look through the open end of the barrel just like any other person. ‘FOUND YOU,’ she repeated. It wasn’t really her fault physical objects proved to offer little to no resistance to her?
“Better,” Anjalee relented, but still giving the back of her little brother’s head a little thwap. “It’s your fault we were found first,” she complained. “We’re always found first!”
“But! Smoh-khee was cheating. She was counting too fast!” Maneet complained, clearly feeling treated unfairly.
‘No one ever defined how quickly I was allowed to count,’ Smokey pointed out. ‘If I’m counting too fast, have me start out at fifty instead of thirty.’ Never mind everyone else got to start out at ten. Then again, if she wasn’t the one searching, she was always the one found last. If she was found at all. She usually had to be called out from her hiding place.
So … that kind of evened things out.
Plus, her excellence at hiding kind of made up for the fact that no one ever wanted to play ‘tag’ with her. She was too good at it, it seemed, and had – in no time whatsoever – found herself faced with ALL the children complaining they never wanted to play with her ever again because it was No Fun. Which had deeply disturbed and terrified her. Smokey wanted to belong, to have fun too. She didn’t like feeling like she was being an outcast. So she’d been all to happy to accept the extra rules made up for her to join in in the hide-and-seek games. She only wanted to play!
“So, where did the others go?” Anjalee asked, picking up her little brother and cradling the complaining, struggling boy to her chest.
Smokey shrugged. ‘The usual places, I guess.’
“Fft. Aren’t you supposed to be, like, magical or something?” Anjalee said, looking decidedly disappointed. “Like, don’t you, just, sort of know?”
Smokey shook her head. ‘I don’t.’ And if she did, she probably wouldn’t be permitted to join in on the hide-and-seek games anymore either. ‘I’m not that special, you know? I can go through walls, but I can’t see through them.’ Why did she always end up feeling like she’d had to defend herself for something she didn’t do?!
Just like her dreams … She always woke up from those in silent screams, times thrashing about, times trembling and cold with sweat, feeling as if she’d done something … terrible. Unspeakable. Like there were people out there to get her for what she’d done.
Like the Evil Dark Man.
The Dark Man, she knew, was real. She’d seen him, and he was following her, tracking her. But so far she’d always been swift enough to outrun him. And now she had Mr. Tiger to protect her from him.
She glanced about, searching, her red eyes eventually coming to rest on the familiar sight of the large tabby cat curled up on the stairs to the store above. The feline seemed to be basking in the rays of light falling in through the open trap door, and was lazily licking the tip of its tail. Smokey couldn’t smile, but she raised one of her turquoise patterned hands to wave at him.
The cat seemed to pause for a moment, as if to acknowledge her greeting, before it yawned widely and eventually rested its head upon its paws, the tip of its tail curling up to cover the nose. Nap time.
The storage cellar was of impressive size and consisted of several rooms, so the two girls (the First One found always had to help searching) quickly decided to split up, the game promptly evolving into a contest of sorts about who’d find the most children, as it almost always did.
Despite its size, the cellar was playground of theirs well known and often used, and – just as Smokey had pointed out – most of the children just stuck to their usual hiding places. Like, she knew for sure that Dongmei would be hiding behind the apple crates, because she always did. ‘Found you, Dongmei!’ she called out, peering behind the crate (and careful to not stick her head through it again – she didn’t like being called a cheater!).
“Aw man, how did you find me?!” The short, Asian girl complained.
‘Your pigtails were sticking out,’ Smokey quickly made up, barely able to hide her amusement when ‘Mei promptly started to finger her pigtails which were indeed sticking out at an impressive angle.
“I found Pratash! And Naveed!”
Eep, Anjalee was gaining on her! Probably because she had her little brother to help.
“And Shazad!” Anjalee added only a second later, her voice filled with pride.
Damn her! Smokey looked about frantically. It worked in her favor that the dim light was no hindrance for her eyes, she could see excellently in the dark, so she at least spotted Massoud fairly quickly, as he was simply cowering in the dark shadows of an alcove, and called out his name. Still, when they all gathered at the stairs again eventually, Anjalee had gained a comfortable lead of three.
“Maharshi’s still missing,” Dongmei pointed out. Somewhat amused Smokey noticed she’d sort of re-located her pigtails, they were close to the nape of her neck now.
“It’s close to dinner time,” Shahzad pointed out, holding out her watch. It was pretty, pink with rhinestones and a pattern of kitten paws. And she never got tired of showing it off.
“Maybe …” Anjalee said, but sounding doubtful. The children looked at each other. They couldn’t just go up and ask, Maharshi’s mama might get needlessly worried. She always made such a fuss when her only son got hurt, even if it was only a tiny scratch. Besides, this was his parents’ cellar, it seemed only natural he’d know all the best hiding spots. “Okay, all out search!” The girl decided, clapping her hands. “Everyone search. I don’t want to miss dinner.”
The children searched high and low, after a while starting to call out his name as quietly as they could, telling him he’d won the Hiding and could come out now.
Still no Maharshi.
“What is he thinking?!” Anjalee complained, adding a curse she must have picked from her big brother, the blacksmith. It was a pretty impressive one, causing several of the boys to give her adoring looks, appearing to be quite smitten with her.
It made them look like idiots, Smokey thought, slinking off to take a peek upstairs as she could easily do so without drawing attention to herself. She was like a ninja, Dongmei had once told her, clearly impressed by her skills.
‘He’s not upstairs either,’ Smokey said, returning. ‘And I think … I think he may have taken the cistern key?’
The children exchanged worried glances, some of them even gasping, their gazes inevitably drawn to the wooden door at the far back. It wasn’t overly big, but quite massive, and it was always, always locked – for good reason. The old cistern was behind. It was dangerous to go there. You could drown.
“Then we should tell his parents,” Shazad said hesitantly. She liked Maharshi, and the last thing she wanted was for him to get into trouble with his parents, but … She fidgeted nervously. “Smoh-khee, can’t you go check?”
‘Sure.’ Smokey shrugged. The children were exchanging excited glances and whispers, and the girl noted with horror the boys were now staring admiringly at her. Yuck! And still looking like idiots.
But really, it wasn’t a big deal. She couldn’t possibly drown, as she didn’t even breathe, she could see almost perfectly in the dark, and she could float, though she did a pretty good job … not doing it. As mentioned before, she didn’t like being called a cheater.
“Like a ninja …” Dongmei said with a reverent voice.
‘Ninja’ was quite alright though.
‘Sides, she went exploring underground all the time, it was one of her favorite past times as ordinary locks did little to keep her out. Most of it was boring, musty old tunnels, cisterns and storage rooms, criss-crossed by cable ducts and occasionally connected to the sewers and storm drains. There had been places though she hadn’t been able to enter, as if some unseen force was pushing her away.
She faced the Forbidden Door, giving the massive brass knob a tentative tug. The door swung open almost effortlessly, and silently, its hinges well greased. That was a little disappointing. Maharshi’s doing, probably, as he wouldn’t want for anyone to hear where his special hiding place was. At least he’d not been dumb and locked the door.
It also was comparatively bright beyond the threshold, the cistern being lit by several naked light bulbs, all of them looking fairly antique, and thankfully burning fairly dim. The electric lighting too was a little disappointing, and going by the comments she caught from the boys who peered over her shoulder, they agreed with her. There had to be torches, or oil lamps, or candles! Or these iron basket things with the coals!
“Can you see him?” One of the girls whispered.
‘Mh-mh. It’s all full of columns.’ She had to admit, this is a pretty good hiding place. Tentatively she stepped inside, half phasing through the wall to avoid where the light was brightest at the entrance There were stairs leading down into the crystal clear water. It didn’t look all that deep, maybe reaching up to where she had that flame-like marking, where other people had their belly-button. But when she counted the steps, she quickly realized it had to be a good deal deeper. Tricksy water! Not like she was going to walk into it anyway. It was probably cold. And wet.
There was a makeshift walkway of wooden planks laid out across blocks of stone, about two feet above the water level. It looked quite precarious, with no ropes or anything to hold onto. And, there was an obvious gap, to the far end, with one of the planks drifting on the water surface.
Ahhh, so that was what had happened. Smokey slipped out of her pretty tunic, not wanting it to get wet on top of dirty, and handed it to Dongmei. Ignoring the walkway for now, the young fiend finally gave up her almost human appearance for her more convenient ethereal one, quietly slipping from shadow to shadow. She could hear the excited whispers from the door, among which, she was pretty sure, she caught the expression ‘djinn’ several times. She didn’t like being called that either.
‘Maharshi!’ There he was, cowering on the platform at the other end of the room, looking dripping wet and miserable. He must have fallen in, she realized, feeling sorry for him. He didn’t move, even though he must have heard her.
‘Maharshi,’ she said again, touching down next to the boy. ‘We were looking all over the place for you.’
“Then … this was a really good hiding place, right?” The boy mumbled, still without looking up.
Smokey nodded. ‘Bestest. You won the Hiding. Though, going to a place that’s off limits isn’t really fair.’
“Doing that shadow thing of yours to hide isn’t either,” Maharshi said, finally looking at her through strands of dripping black hair clinging to his face.
Oh.
OH!
So that was what it was about?!
He was still holding a grudge?!
‘You. Are. An. Idiot.’ And with that, she punched him. Hard.
With a surprised yelp Maharshi fell to his back, and quickly scrambled away backwards on all four, until he could go no further. Smokey was still little, but she was also furious the shadows around her deepening and darkening, her hair appearing wilder than usual, and her red eyes almost seeming to glow. For a moment, he found himself honestly scared of her, though he quickly recovered. “WhatthehellwasTHATfor?!” Attack was the best form of defense, after all.
‘Ohhhh, boys!’ Smokey exclaimed, and shot forward to grab the stubborn boy by his ears, drawing her face close to his, her red eyes burning with anger.
‘What that was for?! It’s dangerous here! You could have drowned! And, if it hadn’t been me looking for you, someone else could have drowned too. And, and, and! The lights could have gone out! You’d never have found out again! And your parents would have been really worried and upset!’
“My parents.” Maharshi’s eyes went wide. “Did you tell them?”
‘Nah.’ Smokey let go of him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. ‘Then it would have been your dad punching you. A lot harder.’ Still, she noted with no small satisfaction the boy’s lip was bleeding. ‘Why didn’t you answer when we called for you? When I called for you?’ She didn’t think he’d been able to hear their hushed whispers so deep into the cistern, but he should have heard her voice speaking straight to his mind.
‘Mahash’ gave her a lopsided grin, raising his arms in floppy way to indicate his very wet appearance.
Smokey’s shoulders raised, and after a moment fell, as if she’d been heaving a sigh. ‘Because you fell in?’ she asked, staring at him in disbelief. ‘Right. It’s one of those weird ‘honor’ things.’ She put her hands onto her (non-existing) hips, staring. ‘Well. You still have to go back somehow. You’re wet anyway, so why don’t you swim. You can say the plank fell down after you crossed over, and no one will ever know.
Maharshi gave her a mortified look, paling impressively considering the dark tone of his skin, and mumbled something under his breath which proved to be unintelligible even despite her sharp hearing. ‘What,’ she asked.
“I can’t swim,” Maharshi repeated, glowering at her.
‘What,’ Smokey repeated. She had understood his words this time, she just wanted to hear it again.
“I can’t swim,” the boy relented, but kept his voice low enough for none of the children at the door to overhear. “And my parents will still know I was in here. No way to get that wet otherwise in the cellar …”
Smokey’s shoulders heaved in yet another sigh-of-sorts. Why was it that boys always seemed to needlessly complicate things? ‘Your parents don’t have to know. I could get you some dry things from your room, easily. And put back the key for you when everyone’s busy with dinner. I … I’m not strong enough to put that plank back, but I know someone who can.’ And who, conveniently enough, was also tall enough to do the job and … not drown. She wasn’t sure Mr. Tiger could swim. She was preeeeeetty sure though that he didn’t like water. But he would do what she wanted, if she asked for it. He always did, though Smokey hadn’t quite figured out why. Mya seemed to know, but wasn’t telling, only giving one of her trademark mysterious smirks.
‘So,’ she said. ‘I could drag that plank over here, and you could hold onto it and we could sort of drag-dog-paddle it over? Would that be alright with you?’
‘And,’ she added, quirking a brow, ‘you could always say you slipped and hurt your ankle, and that’s why you couldn’t walk back or something. And tell awesome stories of the Mysterious Door back here to distract from your failure.’
“Mysterious do- Oh?” Mahash glanced over his shoulder, only now realizing his back was resting against wood, not stone. “I wonder what’s beyond there? And if there’s a key?”
‘Key wont help much, seeing it’s nailed shut,’ Smokey pointed out. That being of no real hindrance to her, she simply poked her head through the ancient wood. ‘Another cistern,’ she announced. ‘But dry. There’s rubble, and all sorts of support beams, so it probably isn’t safe. Boring.’ Still, she hadn’t come across it in her explorations, and she thought she’d spotted another door at the far back. Maybe later …
They went with her plan, and – while doing her best to keep the frightened boy distracted - Smokey actually thought Maharshi was being really brave for doing this, even though he couldn’t swim …
That was, up to the point his eyes went wide and he said: “My feet can touch the ground.”
‘... you’re such a moron.’
There was lots of cheering when they made it back, and – Smokey had been quite right in that regard – everyone was way too excited and happy to see Maharshi was back alright to question … anything. She swiftly moved up through ceilings and shadows, gathering garments from Maharshi’s room which looked similar to what he had been wearing (his mother had an eye for detail that was frightening, to her family members at least), and a bunch of towels from the bathroom too.
‘Your mom’s setting up the dinner table,’ the fiend announced upon her return, pressing everything into Maharshi’s hands. ‘Hurry.’
The boy was just barely done changing, when the rather voluptuous form of his mother appeared on the stairs. “Dinner is ready~!” Mama Nalini announced cheerfully, and was instantly rushed by gleeful HUNGRY children. Maharshi dawdled behind, looking back at Smokey who seemed … terribly out of place, all of a sudden, and sad.
Right, she couldn’t eat of course. The joined dinners had to have her feel left out. The bazaar was a happy melting pot of all sorts of different races and cultures, but even here, Smokey seemed out of place. Just … Just what was she?
“The key is somewhere in the pockets,” he said, pointing at his very soaked pair of denims in midst of a wet puddle on the ground. Good thing his mother hadn’t spotted them. “And …” He hesitated. “Thank you. I owe you. I really owe you now. Even if my parents do find out, you did everything you could to save my face, my honor. If there’s anything you want …”
‘Play tag with me,’ Smokey said, almost instantly, her face eager. ‘Next time, make everyone play tag with me.’ No one ever wanted to, because she excelled at it, and could go through walls and everything.
“... okay,” Maharshi said, looking only slightly surprised. He was significantly older than Smokey, older than Shahzad even, so … he had been expecting something different. But Smokey, he guessed, even though being weird and different, and acting surprisingly like an adult at times, was still just what she looked like: A child.
Said child beamed and did, once Mahash had left, an actual cartwheel or two in her excitement. ‘We’re going to play tag!’ She announced, seemingly to no one in particular. She looked about, and eventually crouched down right in front of the larg tabby cat taking a nap on the basement stairs. Smokey only wondered idly just how he’d managed to not get trampled by the horde of hungry urchins passing through. Mr. Tiger just was awesome like that.
‘Mr. Tiger,’ she announced, holding up the very large key she had retrieved from Mahash’s soaked pants, ‘I need your help.’
Lazily the tomcat cracked one eye open, glaring at the gleeful little fiend. As if he had actually any choice in that matter …
Half an hour (and one very soaked tabby cat) later, the plank was back in its place, the key back on its hook, and Mahash’s still dripping wet clothes and towels … on his bed. He certainly deserved some punishment for being so damn inconsiderate, Smokey had decided.
After that, she hovered in the shadows of the kitchen for a little time, her presence going wholly unnoticed. Everyone seemed to have so much fun. Eating. Chatting. Inciting a Food Battle. But … it wasn’t for her. She was different. She couldn’t taste, smell, eat.
Smokey looked upon the cheerful messy crowd for just a little longer, and then simply turned to leave, right through the wall.
A rather large tabby cat, bearing a bright red collar and looking decidedly soaked, gave the wall Smokey had just passed through an indignant glare. Just why … did she keep doing this to him?!
Luckily enough, it was easy to guess just where she was heading.
Home.
Or what she called home nowadays, now that she’d left Mythos.
Smokey’s feet touched down as she fluently shifted from floating to walking, for some odd reason preferring the latter. Only now that she hugged her bare chest with her thin arms realizing that she’d left her tunic with Dongmei. Well, if no where else, the dress would be safe with her. She’d simply tell Mya they’d played dress-up and she’d ended up lending it to the pig-tailed Asian girl.
Mythos …
Time and again Smokey found herself wondering just how her former soul-bond was doing. He’d had a twin, but that twin was mean. She’d wanted to help, but, what with those terrifying nightmares that plagued her almost every night …
She had tried, she really had tried to Make It Stop somehow. But whenever she had those nightmares, they seemed to filter through their bond, invading Mythos’ own dreams like some unstoppable dark and brutal primal force.
Smokey didn’t know how to handle this, these terrifying images she saw seemed to be So Much More than mere dreams at times she found herself simply overwhelmed, unable to derive any meaning from them.
And she was scared.
Really, really scared.
Scared to death.
For Mythos, it had been worse even, driving the poor boy – barely more than an infant back then – close to … breaking. Whenever she’d reached out to their shared bond, after those dreams, Smokey had been able to feel it. The boy’s soul had seemed so fragile as if it was some sort of a very delicate and precious porcelain cup caught in free fall …
And she would be the ground it would shatter upon.
She had not been able to bear that for long, and eventually she had … ‘untied’ the knot which bound their souls, and left. She had been feeling miserable and terribly alone, ever since then, but it had been for the little Thule’s good. Smokey wasn’t even aware that what she had done should have been impossible. No fiend ever just simply ‘left’ the guardian they were soul-bond to. They couldn’t.
She glanced up, not really having paid attention to her surroundings as she headed back to Mya’s place. She knew where it was, solid obstacles in her way were no hindrance, so she simply moved as if on auto-pilot while deep in thought and caught up in retrospection, shifting through shadows here, phasing through a wall there.
So she caught the dark figure blocking her way late, too late, almost.
Dark.
Black.
Deep Dark Black, the Black Man who seemed to have come straight from her nightmares.
He’d found her again.
He always found her.
Smokey stared, her red eyes growing wide with fright and sheer panic, wishing she’d taken greater care to not leave Mr. Tiger behind again by accident.
She emitted a mental ‘sound’ which was half frightened ‘eep!’, half a strangled whine. Then, remembering what she was, and what she could do, she zoomed off as fast as she could, straight through the wall right next to her, and then just kept going at the highest speed possible until she arrived at Mya’s place. There, she burrowed deep into the nest of furs and blankets she’d built for herself on the voodoo witch’s couch.
Safe.
She was safe here.
The Dark Man, she’d found, was frightening, but he also was a lot slower than she.
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Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 1:32 pm
Just testing if Gaia's auto-lock bullshit applies to guild threads as well ...
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