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 Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 3:23 pm
Kurt watched every one of them, hate for the males and weariness for the females. One of them, the gold and green angel caught his eye more. Something about her nagged at him but he couldn't place her. Must have been an attacker from one of the times he'd be beaten stupid. There were too many to count.
Lailah was the closet to get glared at, Kurt fumed as he stared at the weapons pointed. "Right, to help." Shifting, one bent wing stretched awkwardly out in Malek's direction to shield him as much as the male could muster. He tried so hard.
Another talked to them and used a particularly nasty weapon, guilt. Dropping his eyes, but not his head, Kurt responded, "I failed the Guardians, my mission was a failure." Guilt dripped the angel's broken body as he struggled with that. The Guardians couldn't be blamed for leaving him there, he had a mission and it failed. Then he couldn't stop the boy from being hurt no matter how hard he worked. Irritating the captives didn't seem to lessen their attacks when they went to the boy.
"You point weapons and claim you are here to help." Bitterness flared in Kurt, a defense to force his eyes back up. The captors couldn't think they had won.
Scoffing at the question from Harveer, Kurt started to come up with alpaca information, normal response to this. With Cria there, deflecting seemed a stronger option. "Days, weeks, years? Time is meaningless." Answers like that typically got violent responses but it was the Guardian's honest truth. He felt like he had been there for years.
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Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 6:26 pm
Lailah had taken a wary step backward when the shetani had started struggling anew. He was going to hurt himself...more...doing that. Ugh, this sort of patient 'negotiator' talk wasn't her line of work. Couldn't they see that the Squires were here to help them? Ungrateful...and after all they'd sacrificed to get here...
Lailah sneered at the blonde angel's comment towards her. How else did he expect to get free? Was she gonna just snap her fingers and magically the ropes would just fall away? Didn't work that way. "Fine then, stay tied up if that's what you want," she grumped back, roughly shoving her blades back into their sheaths.
"Lailah! Stand down!" Eligor barked in irritation, a throbbing beginning between his ears. This situation was spiraling out of control and if they didn't reign it in and get back to the matter at hand...
"Who put you in charge?" Lailah snorted, turning away from the confrontation. She didn't have the time or energy for this nonsense. The longer they stood here, the more that antsy feeling crept up her spine, making her skin crawl. This place was dangerous; the sooner they got out, the better. For all involved.
Grumbling under his breath, the mage turned back to the hostages in time to catch Harveer's comment. They'd all been saying it, but it seemed to flip a switch in his brain. The constant oppressive feeling since they'd first arrived. The growing tensions between them all. It wasn't just fatigue and stress, it was something more, chipping away at them, tearing them apart. It was hard to tell with the feeling of corruption all around them, but Eli focused his tired magical senses on the captive blonde angel, feeling a concentrated element of darkness...
"...they've been here far too long, Harveer. The corruption. It's gotten to them. That's what's wrong with them." Kneeling between Harveer and Alethea, Eligor gathered what magical reserves had managed to return from his brief rest and began focusing on drawing out the corruption. Quietly, he muttered, "Harveer, you and Alethea focus on their physical wounds, I'll work on the corruption." His hands began to glow with Holy Light as he reached out for the hostages, closing his eyes as he focused on his work.
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2017 10:11 pm
The peculiarity about how the captives were behaving had Katya puzzled and speechless for a moment. Surely they should have been relieved that their ordeal was hopefully coming to an end? Instead it was clear that they were reacting with bitterness and dread. Katya's heart sank as she began to wonder just what these souls had been subjected to in the short time since their capture.
What was also becoming clear was that these two were not mentally right- and regardless of what horrors they'd survived, Katya began to suspect it might be a good idea to keep them restrained for the time being. If necessary they might need to be removed from the area by force before some proper first aid could be administered. She put the bandage back into her pack but left it on the ground as she backed away and quietly moved to- of all people- Lailah's side.
The demon kept her voice low enough that only the agitated angel beside her could hear. "I don't feel good about this. We're still exposed out here. We need to be ready to move if a threat appears, and the captives just sitting here make us easy targets if we let them burden us." She took a deep breath. "They don't look too badly hurt, all things considered. We can move them now, to whatever cover we can find, then try to tend to their injuries and see to their spirits and be a little less noticeable while we're at it. As it is..." She stole a concerned glance back at the two still bound captives. "I don't think it would be wise to unbind them." She hadn't addressed just how difficult it would be to move a conscious, unwilling adult, even a bound one. But that was a question for one of the stronger of their number.
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:09 pm
The pale blue one frowned, everything clicking into place as Eli said it. He'd have started to protest, but that was Eli's no nonsense voice. Harveer issued a sharp glare, but didn't protest. Eli was right, they'd been in this wretched place too long.
With a deep breath, he started gathering the light to his hands. Thank The Guardians for training they were gifted. And the extra lessons. He wasn't the most skilled at healing wounds, but this was his task. Even if Eli wasn't in any shape to be cleansing taint. That last attack of his had drained a lot, it had to have. A shudder racked his body as he approached the blonde angel.
"Hold still." His tone matched Eli. No other answers would be accepted. Lailah was watching their backs, if this angel so much as twitched wrong, he was certain they'd be skewered in place. Golden eyes turned to glare at the blonde angel, as his hands reached forward with purpose. He needed to heal those wounds, and it couldn't be done from a distance.
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:34 pm
The teens talked around him, Kurt could glare at the males but had no choice but to look around the females. They loved talking around him, it seemed. Most of it was blab blab sounds in the background.
To be honest, he tuned them out, fuzz in his head. More than anything it was the movement towards his self that brought him back to what was going on. As the blue angel approached, Kurt for all his gruff was trying to pull away. It shamed him to his spirit but he flinched as Harveer reached out to him.
Shifting to allow his back to take the blow that was coming, Kurt tried to shield Malek as much as his binds would allow. "Don't hurt Cria." They talked a game of being there to help, but it was just a game. A different game but he couldn't be fooled all he could do was endure Guardians preserve him.
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 6:03 pm
Harveer raised an eyebrow, looking the blonde one in the eye. "We're not here to hurt you." He stated again, getting irritated at how often he was repeating himself. If he didn't need to heal the angel's wounds, he wouldn't have been kneeling there repeating the same sentence over and over like he was speaking to a child.
A little more roughly than he should've, Harveer placed his hands nearest the wounds he could reach without releasing his patient. The pale teen concentrated, doing his best to heal what could be healed. This wasn't his best skill, but he wasn't terrible at it. He silently thanked The Guardians as he watched an open sore start to knit itself together. It wasn't perfect, but it was a sight better than before.
Eli needed to hurry the hell up with that cleansing... He grumbled to himself, forgetting Eligor had just drained himself almost completely attacking the tower.
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 7:27 pm
The antsy angel sensed her comrade's approach, sparing only a quick glance in her direction to acknowledge her before resuming the quick movements of her eyes, tracking every hint of a sign that might indicate that their luck had run out and they'd been caught. She clenched her fists tightly, then slowly relaxed the muscles while counting to four. Then again.
She considered Katya's words before speaking in an equally low tone. "I don't like it either. We've been here too long, caused too much commotion...we need to be gone. I don't know where to next, but you're right, we're too exposed out here." She glanced back now to the others, still fussing over the captives, who still seemed determined to fight or flee from them. "...we can't let them go right now. Either they'll panic and attack one of us or they'll bolt off into the fortress and get themselves killed. I'd rather this mission not end in such complete failure," she finished on a bitter note.
After a moment, she continued, "I'm no expert, but if anyone would listen to me, I say we take care of the worst of the injuries, make sure they're not going to hurt themselves worse, then we tie 'em up and get them the heck out of here. Get somewhere we can regroup."
Was it too much to expect a little gratitude when you saved someone's life? Apparently so. Attempting to stifle his irritation lest it affect his ability to cleanse, Eligor took a deep breath and tried to focus. "Guardians protect us and lend us your strength, we need your Light in the Darkness," he prayed softly, gathering golden light around his hands as he reached out towards the captives. The corruption was deep, but he began pulling it to the surface, removing all that was dark and twisted, easing the troubled minds of the afflicted.
...only it wasn't enough. He was helping, but....the corruption was so deep and he was already so tired...
Gritting his teeth, the mage pushed deeper into his reserves, the strain beginning to show in his expression. He wasn't about to admit that he was pushing himself too far, nor that he couldn't do this himself. He was too proud to do that. In so many words.
"Prioritize cleansing," he finally muttered between prayers. "We have some first aid supplies," he said, nodding back over his shoulder to where Katya had dropped her pack. "Get them to calm down first, then we can take care of the worst injuries."
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 9:47 pm
Genesis listened to the other conversing as she continued to circle the clearing, looking out for anything that might be coming for them or anything they may have missed in their distractions. She stopped in her tracks when she heard Eli speak of taint, and she glanced over at them.
Her golden eyes narrowed as she studied the kidnapped pae from afar, studying their actions. This place was already so tainted, of course she felt its presence, their words and actions could easily be explained as being unrelated to taint... But with how long they had been here, of course they were afflicted!
Genesis glanced around warily, before joining at Eligor's side. Lailah was right, but they were going to need to cleanse these two pae before they went anywhere... Where would they go? Did they send the pae back to the entrance on their own, or split up and weaken themselves to escort them back, or drag them along with them and risk the liabilities... None of the options seemed feasible. They would have to give up their mission.
Genesis wasn't surprised when Eligor was unsuccessful at cleansing the pae. On top of being in a weakened state, the most they had ever cleansed were minor, mindless creatures. They were still young and their powers not at full potential, it stood to reason that it would be more difficult to cleanse a creature with some cognisance. "Here, let me help." Genesis said as she copied Eligor's motions. She too, was weak from destroying the runes, and wasn't sure she was even enough.
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Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 2:45 pm
The angel didn't relax when Harveer tried to 'reassure him'. Just how many times did they think he'd heard lines like that? Next would follow with the demanding of more information. Or was their game to heal him and leave Cria alone so division would grow? Already that was something he expected of the captures, to keep them apart emotionally so they would turn on each other.
No matter what they claim, he believed in Cria a cria would never betray him.
Flinched tensed muscles started to relax against his will as the healing occurred. It was new, actual healing without any pain? Turning his head he stared at the healing angel working on actually healing. What was the new game?
Then there was the golden light, that he expected to hurt. He was not disappointed. Corruption ran so deep, such a part of him that as it was removed he felt again everything he had gone through, like a sticking tar poison of the corruption seeped up to the surface.
Glimmers of understanding, of recognition surfaced with the feelings. Those glimmers kept him calm, it was the first time since they appeared, the angel didn't glare.
Instead, for those brief moments he looked at the teens again. One of them caught his eye and he spoke to Genesis with a dry mouth, "I know you, the mountain with the swords..." Insidious nature of the forest seemed to settle back in and he looked away from her.
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Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 3:55 pm
Alethea nodded at Harveer when he asked her to help heal. He focused on the talky one, so she went to try and help the one that had stayed silent so far. She approached Malek (not knowing anything about him) and went to one knee. She, like the others, began her task by gathering the golden light in the palm of her hands. She looked at him, trying to measure just how damaged he might be. They had been gone so long, and exposed to something for that time. Not just taint but something else. Had these two been turned and used as bait. It really did feel suspicious.
"Hold still, this will help. It won't hurt at all." She put the palms of hands on the silent pae's arms and waited for a moment to let the golden light expand and do it's job.
"So, what have you been up to?" She asked Malek.
Katya's words penetrated deep and suddenly Alethea was not comfortable in her position. She slowly pulled the light back, noting that it felt like it didn't have as positive results as it should have. But then again, they weren't dealing with normal pae. Taint does crazy things.
She got to her feet and was willing to help carry the wounded pae to a more suitable area, but then she saw Genesis. She was standing next to Eligor helping him. Again.There are other squires she could help, but why him? She huffed, angry again and internally plotting. Genesis is seriously effecting Alethea's ability to be a productive team member. This problem needed solving.
"This is for your safety and ours. We'll get you out of here and back to the city in no time." The one-winged angel attempted to get Malek to stand by pulling up on his rope.
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Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 6:09 pm
Harveer let out a breath he had no idea he was holding in, leaning back. This angel must be a lot more tainted than they realized.. If his best effort didn't really do anything at all, something was wrong. He looked over his shoulder, spotting Genesis next to Eli.
His eyes narrowed in a glare, trying not to think about it. Harveer glanced at Alethea, who was pulling on Cria's binds, trying to drag him elsewhere. Did Lailah say something? Had he missed it? Most likely. Harveer's face pulled into a frown, glaring at his hands. They were no longer glowing, and utterly useless in this instance.
"She's right. This is for your safety, and for ours." He was still frowning, but trying to be as gentle as he could about trying to get the blonde guy to his feet. "Lets stand up, come with us and we'll get you to the city in no time. Cria and you will be perfectly safe." Harveer offered, trying not to think about what they may face trying to get these two safe. He wanted to scream, to yell, punch more things. But they needed to stop and regain energy before continuing. Did they really have time for that? No, they all needed to be moving. They needed to be moving a long time ago.
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Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:50 am
Malek watched the exchange between the teens and Kurt with silent apprehension, his eyes softening from their panicked state to one simply overcome with weariness, bitterness, hatred as he was left to the wayside. That was perhaps the best way to describe how his core being had warped after having spent so long here.
Unlike Kurt, Malek was particularly wary of the females in the room; by now, he associated them with the source of his pain.
Sadistic... manipulative... conceited... callous... They they were.
With words dripping with honey and figures that could appear gentle without effort, their effect when striking were all the worse for it. He wasn't as strong as Kurt, nor was he so great as this 'Cria' of his; he was of less value than the smallest of a rodent's litter, left to die a cruel death at the hands of nature due to their own unfortunate circumstance. But at least they could be rid of their pain, they had such a luxury.
As the one-winged angel approached, Malek's eyes narrowed and his heart-rate began to rise. He knew of only one other with a single angel wing, and while that would not have been an appropriate logistical jump under normal circumstances, these were anything but. For another female to posses even a remotely similar appearance, surely it meant they were colluding together. In the entirety of the time they'd been held, not once had gentleness been tried as the coercion method. Perhaps...
His thoughts slowed, body visibly flinching away and eyes closing shut in anticipation, as the red one kneeled closer and placed her hands upon his skin. They were soft, warm... but this lasted for but a moment before they were pulled away once more.
What had she done?
His body seemed to relax as his eyes opened and he looked back. While he couldn't identify anything in particular different about himself, if felt as if a certain haziness had lessened over his mind, allowing him to think just a bit more clearly. Allowing for more rational thought.
If they were wanting a game, he had a mind to play along.
As Alethea began to pull on his ropes, he resisted her movements, heels pressing against the ground and his weight leaning backwards against the pillar, before looking over to Kurt. His eyes appeared to have a new edge to them as he implored his 'friend' for an opinion with minute changes in facial expression. Given how long they'd been together, he should have been able to understand.
Perhaps if they feigned cooperation, these newbies would let down their guard just long enough for them to get free. It was already apparent that tensions among them were rising, after all. Probably due to the unfamiliar interrogation technique.
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Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 2:29 pm
The weariness never faded yet the level of distrust slowly drifted away on downy feathers. The healing had helped. There was one among them that he just knew he knew. She was from a different time, before all this started. It was just possible they might actually be there to help.
Never let your guard down, that lesson he’d learned way too well. This went double for Cria, Kurt wasn’t so focused on the teens around him that he’d ignored Cria completely. Healing seemed to help and he was almost relaxing. Quick to the defense, Kurt spoke to the one winged female with a measure of almost friendliness certainly a far cry from how he had spoken to the males. “Crai can’t talk.” Just how many times did he have to tell them? Them? Were they them?
Waffling cost him as he watched that same angel tug on Cria’s ropes like was a dog. Kurt resisted same as Cria. With that one act the threads of trust and goodwill the teens had garnered went up violently in flames. This was a trick! Insidious one, took a special kind of twisted cruelty to dangle trust and yank it back. He hoped the yo-yo hurt. “We can’t defend ourselves like this, can’t fight back when attacked!” He charged his words dripping in venom now. Can’t trust, can’t trust!
Cria was right, Kurt did notice, and responded by opening his hand. With his palm towards Malek to indicate wait, calm. “Not our safety, just yours.” They were hypocrites and lower then snakes. All this false kindness only to drag them along like mules. Maybe throwing their logic right back at them could encourage discord? Oh yes fight with your self-right behavior.
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Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 5:17 pm
Lailah's anxiety had continued climbing while they stayed stationary, only beginning to ebb now that she saw the others had latched onto her suggestion that they get moving. Find somewhere to regroup. Finally. She'd moved towards Alethea to help pull the shetani up from the ground when the blond angel's words raised her ire once more. "Well, it's a good thing we're not attacking you then!" she shot back irritably, trying to remind herself again that they weren't in their right minds. It was the corruption.
Hopefully.
Who knew, maybe they were always like this.
Maybe they were always obstinate, ungrateful...
There had been a throbbing pulse in her head for half of this conversation, but suddenly Lailah saw red, figuratively. Clenching her fists, she turned away from Alethea and the shetani and rushed the blonde angel. She wove past Harveer and Eligor deftly, shoving Kurt back against the pillar remains. Her forearm braced against his collarbone, she had to lean in to do so, but she got right into Kurt's face so he couldn't help but look her in the eye. She was furious, but there was something else there as well...something that said that for being only a teenager, those golden eyes had witnessed more than many several times her age.
"This whole mission has been about YOUR safety," she hissed angrily. "Your safety, not ours! And for that, we've watched our comrades fall...brothers and sister, cut down brutally by this despicable place, all for the sake of saving YOU!" Her voice rose in volume as for a moment, she forgot her anxiety regarding their predicament for sake of her anger.
"I'd be tempted to just leave you here to the monsters if that's what you really want...but our mission was to rescue you and get you home safely. I will not fail my mission, especially...especially after such great cost." Had her voice just hitched? In a somber tone, she continued softer again, "Four lives...four...in exchange for you two. Even if it is our job as Squires of the Order of the Light and champions of the Guardians to put our lives on the line to protect their faithful, I'll not sit idly by and watch any more sacrifices be made." She pushed away from the angel and stepped back. "You'd just better be worth it."
Lailah turned and walked calmly away from the angel, but she felt anything but calm. Had she just done that? Just said that? In front of all the others? She didn't let the wall slip, she just didn't. To her credit, she kept her outward expression distant, only taking a deep breath in an obvious effort to release some of the tension. "I'm going to scout ahead," she said in a clipped tone, taking the excuse to slip away from the others for some distance.
Everything happened so fast, Eligor didn't even have time to respond. One moment he'd been knelt, taking a moment to collect himself and try to ignore the growing, throbbing pain in his head while the others tried to get the angel upright...then Lailah happened. And before he could react, she was gone again. His initial response would have been to reprimand her for her behavior, but he'd caught something strange in her tone. She was normally so cold, so distant, yet just now she'd sounded so passionate, speaking of their lost brethren as like to losing siblings. He'd never imagined...
Frowning, Eligor braced one hand against his knee to stand, pushing away the fatigue and pain in the process. "Lailah's right. We have a mission to complete." He looked around at his comrades, meeting several similar golden gazes. Then he reached down for the angel's shoulder. His grip was firm, meant to aid him in standing, but clearly also not taking no for an answer either. "Obviously you don't trust us, but we're not in the position to argue right now. There are far worse things than us prowling this keep," he offered dryly, weariness evident. "So, we have Cria and...what's your name? Might as well have something to call each other, even if it's just to hurl insults."
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Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 5:55 pm
Though not yet at their full capabilities, the young Squires were still far more powerful than any other teenage Pae, blessed with the Guardians' own Holy Light. The corruption in the captives was very strong, very deep-seated, however, and it would take more than one young hero's effort to chase the darkened haze from Kurt and Malek's minds.
With each subsequent attempt to cleanse the poor tormented captives of their corruption, more and more of the darkness would be obliterated by the Light. Kurt and Malek's thoughts would begin to clear, their thoughts untwisting, allowing them to recognize friend from foe once more.
For those eager to leave, the option is open to search their surroundings for a way out. Investigations upward will reveal that though the magical barrier around the captives shimmered and disappeared when the pillar was destroyed, the one overhead remains. Not that that would have helped those without the boon of flight. Attempts to head back the way they came will reveal a pile of rubble blocking the original entrance. For the fortuitous who attempt to dig away the rubble, it will be discovered that the debris was piled up against the invisible barrier beyond. No going that way.
If they search the opposite wall of the garden from the one they entered, another doorway will be found. This one is clear of rubble and any sign of magical barriers. It leads back inside, but within sight is a side alcove. A large room with only one door. Inside, they will find heavy furniture with which they can barricade the door from inside.
If they can make it here with the captives, the Squires will have a safe zone to finish healing and cleansing the rescued pair, as well as taking time to rest and regain their own strength. When Kurt and Malek have come to their own senses once more, the Squires may attempt to ask them questions regarding their captivity and what happened to them.
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