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 Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 12:36 pm
Hearing a faint knocking noise, Jericho looked up wearily to see who was visiting. When he saw Malodore at the door, he jumped up to his feet. He knew that it had been searching for Riley, so maybe it had gotten some sign of where she was.
"Mal!" he exclaimed while making his way over. Taking note of the slings, he frowned somewhat. It would probably be a little longer before those healed fully. But that aside, it seemed that it was in relative good health.
"Any sign of her yet?" he asked, sounding hopeful.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 1:26 pm
Malodore was somewhat touched by the patchwork's concern - Christof had been extremely helpful during every phase of recovery thus far - but it had better things to do now than laying in its bed worrying. "No sign of her, I fear. I sent Fedele out in every direction, and nothing.... ah, Fedele being a new pet of mine, a most clever crow," it added, for Barth's benefit. As it spoke, its tail lashed back and forth, betraying its anxiety.
It had intended to ask whether they had any news, but... well. Jericho would have hardly inquired if he had possessed some new knowledge. "She could not possibly be in there, could she?" It tilted its head at the shared wall between Riley's room and Barth's. "If she were... if she were dead, you would surely have felt that, yes?" Its gaze was directly on Jericho now. Malodore and Riley might love each other deeply, but the bonds they had were not quite as literal as those between Riley and Jericho, rider and dragon.
... and it needed him to tell it that she was alive, if nothing else. Desperately.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:20 pm
Christof wasn't quite sure what Malodore was talking about, Jericho being able to sense Riley's well being, or what that meant, but he shuffled back with an anxious look at his- well, Barth's- workbench. "I-am-sure-she-is-fine," He signed, hoping malodore had been studying the sign language at least, and if not, he made sure Barth could see his hands. "Mistress-is-strong-and-competent. Would-tell-us-if-it-was-something-serious." The fact even Malodore didn't know what was up, and the Dragon was so upset put him even more on edge... but Mistress wouldn't have left her Igor in the dark if it was something serious, right?
Maybe not.
In the grand scheme of things, even if she had been pleased with him as of late, he still was rather low on the chain of command ladder. Where Igors belonged, he supposed.
With a helpless shrug, he moved back to his bench and his distracting busy-work.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:38 pm
"If she was dead, her Contracts would expire," Barth said in a sleepy sort of automatic way, then stirred awake again, realizing what he had just said. "Err...At least, that's what I've been told. I can't say from experience. ...I'd appreciate if you didn't spread that around, actually."
Barth cleared his throat. Cheezbooger hopped down from his lap.
"In any case. If anyone in this room is Contracted, that individual or individuals would know. Probably."
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:43 pm
Glancing back towards Barth for the moment, Jericho nodded and looked back at Mal.
"I'd know yeah... but Christof would have too," he said. He was aware that the igor had been marked by his friend. The dragon was fairly certain that aside from the bond, the marks would disappear and they'd both find out one way or another.
"She's... she's strong. I don't know what's going on right now but we can say that she's still alive," he sighed, "But I'm.. pretty certain she's in her room. We just.. can't get in there."
Short of busting down the door, but he was still reluctant to do that right now.
"I just wish she would give us some sign of what was going on," he groaned.
Fussing around, he grabbed his phone again, trying to see if he could contact her. A few days ago his calls had been going straight to voicemail. today was no different.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:52 pm
Malodore sighed, frustrated. It wanted to ask stupid questions, like if they'd knocked or tried the window or even alerted the faculty, but it was quite sure all those avenues had already been thoroughly exhausted. Really, it wanted to break down the door right now... "I just don't know why she wouldn't have contacted us if she..." Its voice trailed off. Maybe she was angry at it? For some reason it hadn't yet figured out? Or perhaps she was angry at all of them, or...
A horrible thought intruded on its consciousness. "You don't suppose... The memory wipe...?" it asked, slowly, hoping very much that it was wrong.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:16 pm
There was a clattering of dropped tools and parts as Christof glanced up from the engine-in-progress, brows furrowed. Memory wipe? He glanced quickly from Jericho to Malodore and back again before quietly, but not so subtly unbuttoning his shirt to check the red mark on his chest.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:37 pm
"Memory wipe?" Barth repeated aloud.
That was new. Nothing he could think about in context of Riley and those terms made sense. He did not, however, know much regarding Riley's personal life. Or how she functioned. Or even, really, what she was.
He was familiar with a lot of demon types. Avarice, of course. Imps. Succubus. Your standard variety came equipped with claws, horns, wings, and a tail (he was personally 2/5) or resembled an animal (dogs, foxes, crows). He had never encountered something like Riley. ...And she excelled. She had money, power, strength, and the need to win every challenge, to be the top, the best. And the stamina to do it. But he wasn't familiar with her family, or species. It was a lot of something, out of...nothing. A blank.
His interest was admittedly piqued.
"How do you mean?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:50 pm
Unlike with Christof and Barth, the mention of a memory wipe brought on a look of dread to Jericho's face. His complexion paled at the very thought of it.
"D-don't say that... she wouldn't do it... We made her not do that last time..." He said, feeling incredibly uncomfortable now. Shifting his wings, he stared over at the neighboring wall. Why would she have wanted a memory wipe anyway?
Hearing the question on what Mal meant, the dragon lowered his head a little more and grimaced. It almost looked like he was on the fringe of seriously freaking out right about now.
"The... Mindflayers.. they have this process where they can basically wipe out the memories of one of their own kind. Well... it's.. not like amnesia. When it happens, the individuals 'keep' the memories but it's just.. stored in a way, like it's the memory of someone else. L-like... if we were to watch the movie about someone's life. A-as a result, they sever any sort of... personal connections they have.. The emotions towards another.. gone."
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:56 pm
"... Severing personal connections." Malodore drooped in sudden relief. "No... no. Surely, if she had done that to herself, it would have done something to Jericho's bond. It goes both ways, does it not?"
Still, the adrenaline jolt had been highly unpleasant. It gave Barth a somewhat sheepish look. "My apologies, for barging in like this. It is kind of you to offer your home."
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 10:06 pm
Christof had never heard of anything like that, she had never mentioned it to him.
She didn't trust him enough, he supposed. Didn't want to bother the simple Igor with heavy, life-changing things. Didn't-
No no no, he shook the thoughts from his mind, shoving his stool away from the bench to limp frantically past Malodore towards the door. In all their days of babysitting Jericho, he had not bat an eye towards Riley's apartment. But this new development seemed to have sparked something terrified in him, and he had gone running, mentally crying out as he all but clawed at Riley's door out in the hallway, giving sad, muffled anxious noises the whole while.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:16 am
"It's no trouble," Barth said to Malodore, taking some time to process the new information. Although now the atmosphere was becoming...panicked. Christof bolted out into the hallway, and Jericho looked ready to explode.
"Now- wait, even if it was something like that, she'd still have things to attend to here. Her classes. Clubs. ....The Council race, and so on. She'd still be up and about. Christof, there's no need for that."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:29 am
Taking in a few deep breaths, Jericho was trying to calm himself down. He heard Christof panicking in the hallway, and it was taking a fair amount of willpower to not run and join him.
Biting his lip for the moment, he turned towards Malodore.
"I'm... not completely sure about it really... but.. let's hope that'd be the case," he said, looking a little flighty.
"L-last time she came to me to discuss it. She.. would have done something like that again..I think.. I hope..." he murmured.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:59 am
"It isn't. Listen." Barth rested his chin in his hand.
" She has intentionally bolted the door and blocked the window. The decision was a conscious one."
He looked at the wall that separated the two rooms.
"And if you intend to follow her into more dire situations than the Fitness Club provides, trust is imperative. She can't operate if those who are closest to her can't trust her decisions. Even if that decision is...for the moment, inscrutable."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 11:07 am
Gritting his teeth, Jericho took in another breath before slowly relaxing himself.
"Right... right... We just.. need to wait," he muttered.
-----
Two whole weeks.
Two weeks, Jericho had been camping out at Barth's room. Two weeks since anyone has last heard anything of Riley. The dragon was more or less a complete mess now as each day went by with his hopes diminishing more and more.
Loafing on the sofa, staring at the ceiling, he was just wasting time as he waited there.
But then his phone suddenly went off.
Jumping at the sound, he went and checked. Immediately, his golden eyes widened as he saw who it was from.
"Riley!" he exclaimed before looking towards the others, "Guys! I just got a text from Riley!"
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