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 Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:28 am
And the arm, while lacking eyes, or a face seemed to stare right back. It was the sort of stare you get when looking into the eyes of a lion out in the wild. Of course, Maximos was oblivious to this.
No, just one of Walter's old gloves and some medical gauze.
He said, with a smile.
I find if it cant touch, or experience the world first hand it sleeps. So I keep it hidden and asleep as much as possible. Its been three weeks and wound still bleeds though...I doubt it will ever heal, as long as he wishes me to suffer.
The hand twitched once more. Like a beast poked rolling over lazily after it was poked in its sleep.
I was, this my fault, I used a lunoc spell. Lunoc is his magic, I thought I would be safe practicing without the book and he made me pay for my mistake.
He nervously scratched the back of his head again, knowing that a good share of the blame lie in his hands for that one miscalculation.
As for the shadows, that is....a very long story Lucind. A very long story indeed. Dont blame yourself though, I've hardly been the sort to be forth coming about my sorted beginnings.
She felt so warm, a sort of warmth he wasnt used to feeling or seeing. But one he welcomed. Her "Whats wrong", through him off a bit. His eyes widened just a bit, had she read him? He wasnt used to being readable, but there were no shields to hide him. Or maybe his face just gave away that much.
Hmm...
He paused, his eyes scanning over her and then to an empty spot of floor a few feet away where it hovered for a moment before his mismatched glance shifted back.
...you know, that for helping me...for me failing to bend to his will...
He paused, not sure whether or not to actually finish. Hesitation hanging on the edge of his tongue. Before his inner defending nature came glistening forward.
...he will come for you and I.
His tone changed, strengthening, affirming. The old heroic tone of a Maximos long forgotten, re-emerging for just a moment.
But I want you to know, as I live and breath he will not lay a hand on you.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 4:46 pm
It wasn't that she could really feel the alien power being alive in his hand, but her imagination wanted her to believe that the limb had something like a hostile aura. And she hadn't missed it twitching.
Actually, she was curious to see it, his bare hand. But Lucind assumed Maximos wouldn't like her to. She also wondered if it would attack her and couldn't help thinking the image alone to be somewhat comical.
"But maybe it can be...sealed or something for the time being. To deactivate or at least freeze the foreign energy..."
The thought of not being able to do anything bugged her - and inviluntarily, Lucind thought of Vahn and his cursed arm, being the medium for locking away Efreet, eating him up from the inside. How the medical threads used at Yaits Hospital to patch him up had worsened his mental state. How she had come to find the man was counting his days, striving for tying up all loose ends before...
She hadn't read Maximos. But just like before, his face and more so his voice told her more than his words did.
His promise to protect her made her chuckle for the way he said it was plainly cute. Otherwise, she remained quite calm, though. She had taken in what he had said, had understood the seriousness of the matter - but these days she was too tired to worry about troubles that weren't yet calling and standing in front of her door. Or maybe Lucind simply thought that one problem more or less didn't make a difference at the moment.
"Well, during the weeks and months after you'd gone I was waiting for some sort of follow up activity. But since nothing happened...at some point you start forgetting 'bout it."
She shrugged lightly, looking up at him.
"But what could he do now? You said nothing could truly stop him from fleeing his prison. But what other ways are there exactly? I mean, what're we to expect...or fear?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 11:39 pm
Hmm....
Maximos said, that was an interesting suggestion. A seal? He would have placed a seal on himself, but the only seals he knew were Lunoc. And attempting to place a Lunoc seal on his flesh is what ruined his arm to begin with so his options were limited. It was then an idea came to him, something he had never tried before...
...do you know any?
...Asking for help. The issue was that being a part of himself, it hid its strength and essence in him, making the foreign energy not foreign at all. To seal the arm might cost him it, or usage of it. Or of course it could backfire entirely.
He caught her chuckle, and laughed himself. That sort of blind heroism just wasnt a part of his personality anymore. He would fight to defend her, and he would fight until his last breath. But Maximos just wasnt the type to make a speech about it or worry about it until Nocturne was acting obviously, granted at that moment it was usually too late. He smirked though, as she spoke, picking up the small catch he had left in his wording.
Oh no, Lucind I agreed there was nothing that could stop him from trying. But he's been trying for millenia. The only real threat on Gaia are his followers, those misguided by the prospect of power.
Faith the second myth of reality, the faithful are often most hurt by the object of their faith. Though for Nocturne, this went double, he taunted, mislead and abused people like pawns from the shadows to do his bidding. In this case, the memory of a fallen god was nearly as deadly as the god itself.
...but thats enough gloom.
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:40 am
"Ah...this is nothing a Siren could fix, I'm afraid. If it was some kind of brainwashing...possession or the like, that'd be something different..."
She hmm-ed, obviously thinking about another solution.
"There're a few clerical orders we're allied to...I mean...my clan," she added, having some difficulties phrasing it. "Most of them don't practise officially, but if you know whom to talk to they usually give you insight into well protected books or scrolls that hide the knowledge of the respective theurgical tradition - or they simply have a look at the problem themselves, usually not without being paid in one way or another, though."
"Apart from that..."
Lucind thought of the Chimera shamans Sunstrike had been in contact with. After what she had heard of them there was hoping they could handle such problems like a hand leading a life of its own or at least give advice who was able to do so.
"I'll do some research," she smiled at him, then closed her eyes, listening to what he was to say next.
"His buddies, huh?" She let out a deep breath, not in worry but looking all relaxed. "Are they all shadow warriors? - And was that the other reason why you came to see me? I mean, have you already met one of those figures? And how do they know about what's happened? Did they feel him being stuffed back behind the door?"
By then, the woman hadn't reopened her eyes.
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 12:45 pm
Well, it was a worth a try, to be honest Maximos knew nothing about the extent of Lucind's abilities so to have even a little light shed on the matter was most interesting, as was the mention of mention of a secret clerical order. In his experience Maximos had found that the most intriguing things are shrouded in mystery and darkness.
Thank you.
He said with a bright smile. He knew Lucind's word was good. She had after all found the lost Lunoc Spellbook, despite the fruits that book bore the fact that she found it was most impressive, and because of that he felt assured and was able to rest easy and glide onto the next subject at hand.
What is this order called?
His smile returning to his usual casual grin as Lucind questioned him further. It was rather relaxing to see how easily she took all this.
To be honest, I've never met one. Likely not by accident. He has probably kept them abreast to all the parts of the story they need know in order to act on his behalf. Whether or not that includes his defeat at your hands...is a mystery.
This moment, the calmness of it, the lightheartedness, the ability to just open and speak freely with someone close...the way the light caressed him as it passed over his shoulder and cast his shadow long against the floor. Lucind so very close to him, and the calmness of her presence...this moment would be etched in his memory for a very long time...
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:02 pm
"Oh, there's more than one. We've had some business with the Guldorian monks, for example, but they prefer doing great ice wine instead of indulging into ancient magic. Still, their knowledge mustn't be underestimated."
Pictures of how she'd found Kraun in the icy landscape around the monastery appeared in her head.
"Then there's an order called 'Brothers of Silentia' - and well, their name's program: no talking. Not a single word. What a luck we can communicate with them on other ways." She grinned, peeking up at Maximos from time to time. "However, they've been helpful more than once. And not only in times of real crisis or any kind of conflict. It just comes in handy when you're out on a mission and can turn to someone when you run out of shelter...or food.
And then...uhm well, there're a few others but I'd say the most powerful and yet also most problematic befriended order is the 'Finstre Alliance'. They consider themselves to be ordinary priests blessed by their patron deities, following the teachings of Padre Archeus Finstre who's founded the order several hundred years ago. The basic ideological idea of those priests...or I prefer to call them druids, is to be one with nature and its spirits, to listen to what nature tells you, to read it, worship its beauty and superiority and so on and so on.
It is said, however, that the arcane powers the Finstre members are using, or the elemental sources they're tapping in, often evoke quite doubtful results - and that those clans should better be marked as a school of the dark arts.
Many years ago I met one of them and...well, what I saw, what he was like...it was both impressive and utterly disturbing at the same time: the summoning, or co-operation with some sort of ancient earth spirit had given him the ability to synchronize with nature, with flora and fauna. He could tell you, for example, the exact date and second when a bud was going to bloom, that this horse had this and that illness nobody was able to notice, that, on exactly this clearing, a dragon baby had hatched three years ago... And even more crazy was that he couldn't only see nature's spirits but also ley lines, so like, the planet's very own arteries.
But this gift drove him crazy in the end. Even more so, his body and soul weren't made to stand this extreme bond to nature...or Gaia, or however you wanna call it. What I witnessed myself were..well, you can say atavistic fits or attacks. A step-by-step regression, where the connection between him and the earth spirit seemed to bring out his evolutionary roots. He was like...someone used the description 'rampaging beast'. But back then I thought that he didn't even remind me of a wild animal.
I looked at him and felt like looking at the archetype of life. Chaotic, untamed life force.
It killed him in the end. That is, he killed himself, making himself the dinner of a grizzly. In this way, and in a completely ironic and pitiful way, he really became 'one with nature'."
At this point, she would grin apologetically, as if being sorry for her thoughts wandering off like this.
"But still, you can call yourself lucky if the Alliance decides to help you out.
I've also made some contacs in Azum. So I think chances aren't that bad to find a way to get your hand under control...even though I fear it's only going to be over when Nocturne's...heh, can he die at all?"
For a moment she fell silent, absent-mindedly placing a hand on his forearm that lay across her mid and belonged to the bandaged hand, pondering on this and that, when finally two last questions came to her mind.
"I...suppose you can't tell me, but...
Who's your..." Boss? Master? Hell, that sounded too weird. Employer? Haha.
She looked up at him.
"Who are you working for?
And how often are you to carry out those orders?
And...uhm...did you have a choice...?"
Alright. Three last questions.
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 5:07 pm
Maximos listened with utter and complete fascination. He had a hunger in his mind for knowledge and when presented with it, he lapped it up as earnestly as possible. Lucind's occasional glances upwards would reveal the sort of bright innocent smile you might see on a small child when you sit them down for story time.
She would see various looks of amazement, shock, and intrigue as the story continued. For instance, the concept of individuals who are utterly silent at all times astonished him, Maximos was a quite man but to never speak was just not something he could fathom.
She would see shock, when she mentioned anyone being so very in tune with nature. It brought back memory of a very old set of Arian' legends involving "The Hero". Which in turn filled him with a deep sense of nostalgia. And yet in the same vein a creeping sense of pity...that poor man, gifted so very much that he was cursed. Though Maximos was cautious around anyone who entangled themselves willingly with any god.
He looked quizzically, tilting his head to the side as she mentioned "Azum". He had never heard of that place before, though he wouldnt dream of interrupting her to ask. He could see so definitely that Lucind was very well traveled, and knew more people that he ever had. That was a stark difference from himself, he spent most of his days inside his manor reading barely venturing outside. Perhaps that was part of what interested him so much in her, there differences.
Thank you again, I had no idea you had so very many contacts...
He laughed to himself a bit.
...it sort of makes me seem a bit like a hermit...I've lived here on Gaia for almost four years now, and in that time I've never taken the chance to fully explore it. The countless wonders you must have seen...the stories you must have to tell...one day I would lo
He said, meeting her gaze, stealing a moment for his memories before rolling on to answer her question.
We truly do not know, his current powers were born from a "successful" attempt at his life. Many fear what another large scale attack would birth, and so he's been sealed away. Having the majority of existence forget his name has slowed him, but his influence still escapes the door. And such as in my case, when he tried to puppeteer me, those that tap his power whether knowingly or not become part of his "threat".
Again, reminding him of the reason why today he was able to sit in this chair free instead of a mindless puppet. The reason that lay at literally at his feet, gently stroking his arm, sending a series of tingles up and down the burned flesh, bringing a small smirk to his face. In silence, so enjoying her touch he let her ask each of her questions. Finding the answer was all too simple.
Sadly...no...
It was the way he said it, that would tell Lucind that that answer covered all three of her questions. Most importantly because of the rule placed on the information. Much like the old adage, "I could tell you, but I would have to kill you." the information came at too heft a price. While Maximos would never harm her, another would, or several others, never in the open, never in ways she would see or expect. There would be no place to run or hide...there simply was no escaping Death.
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 4:04 am
((Sofa. They're sitting/lying on a sofa *g*))
"Ah..." She frowned lightly, then tried to smile at him, before staring sidewards into the room.
Lucind understood, fully understood that he couldn't tell, that it was probably best for both of them. Still...
She was a bit disappointed. Or just sad. Because it meant that he could vanish any moment - and she wouldn't know were he was or if he'd return.
The Half-Siren inwardly scolded herself for not being able to do nothing but enjoy this moment, these hours. Maybe the current situation of everything around holding its breath, waiting for the next storm to come, the fact that Lucind didn't know if, by getting certain things rolling in Azum, she had initiated a long due re-organization of the Siren world or simply destroyed the last remnants of a 'home' - maybe she could lay blame on these circumstances that she wasn't capable of showing mere gratitude for right this here, being with Maximos, but felt the need to cling to possibilites, wishful thinking, like holding on to a straw.
Little did she know about him. And who was she to have the right to make him stay?
Someone else could be out there waiting for him. Someone he would happily return to.
Maybe he was pitying her...
Maybe the sensation of being close to someone like this, for the first time it seemed, just made him an easy victim and something in her had reacted to it in an instance, smelling prey - just so she had something to hold on to, even though...
Lucind shifted and carefully sat up, her back still touching his thigh and his arm still loosely wrapped around her mid.
Even though she soon would have to return to Azum. Because she had promised. Because she was needed over there.
I guess I'm just scared, she thought. Because I don't know what will be.
I've started a big business, not fully considering all consquences - and now I'm hiding like a little girl who hopes someone would come to hold the stolen cookie jar for me...
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:46 pm
Things were definitely harder like this, he wanted to be open with Lucind, he wanted her to understand. And he wanted the comfort of knowing he could offer her his all.
With every passing moment, he accepted more and more that this was a reality, not the dream it had been in the past. It brought a warmth to his heart that he sorely missed, and wouldnt soon let go. His eyes slide down to meet Lucind's. And he saw it.
It was in the look on her face, the way her eyes both were looked ahead and yet not at the same time. She was thinking, he could almost feel that something threatened the calm. Out of concern, honesty emotion, he spoke.
Is some wrong, Lucind?
It had to be one of the first times he asked that question to anyone, and felt true concern behind it instead of just the sense of morality and duty that empowered him to say what he felt was right. He cared greatly for the half-siren, for Lucind, for her well being, for her happiness. It was a feeling he felt he should remember...but couldnt.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:03 am
"I...," she mumbled, with her back to him.
Muffled voices and laughter could be heard from downstairs.
Dust danced in the sunlight that poured in through the high windows.
She felt his warmth.
Slowly, Lucind shifted weight once more to turn around far enough to face him, and just not far enough to fall off the sofa.
She lifted a hand and first it seemed she wanted to cup his face like she'd done before, but instead, the Half-Siren carefully covered his left eye - and thus silently asked him to look at her with that white eye of his.
What Maximos would see was what had been there when he had had a look at her soul not even an hour ago. But there was more now, much more emotions, new ones and those that Lucind had kept in the background. It was quite a mess, but she preferred showing him how she felt than making an awkward attempt to explain.
So now, he could see it all:
Anger, for she couldn't let things be for now, even though it had felt like she could when he'd laid in his arms.
Confusion about her feelings for him.
The fear she was being too pushy, that a part of her maybe wanted to use him to get some comfort and intimate moments.
Self-contempt that she was still hiding here when certain things, vast changes simply couldn't be prevented anymore - when it was actually better to go for it, face the unevitable...and fight for those who believed in her.
The worry Maximos could leave any moment only to vanish a second time - the question if he was staying out of his own free will or if her being like this kind of worked like moral blackmail.
Hope that those she had left behind in Azum were safe, knowing they were vulnerable at the moment, far more endangered than she herself was.
The wish not to be alone.
The wish to be close to him.
The wish to...
At this moment, Lucind would pull back her hand, blushing lightly and already regretting a bit for letting him see.
Grinning in embarrassment she felt like hiding her face at his shoulder.
"Ah...I'm sorry. I'm usually not that...complicated to handle...at least I think so."
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:25 am
"I..."
He looked in waiting, hanging on her words with blossoming concern. She reached up for him and he expected the worse. The worst of news is always delivered with a sort of touch. Be it a tap on the shoulder to tell a family member, "Maybe you should sit down." Or a careful caress just to say, "I'm sorry I cant." While outside his facial expression didnt change or waver, inside he felt his heart tighten, his lungs prepare to steal his breath for a moment.
And her hand diverted. For anyone else that may seem odd but for Maximos it made perfect sense, she wanted him to see instead of hear it. As her hand gently hand graced against his pale skin he let out a small relaxed breath as the tension faded. And his eye focused, on the swirling soul he saw before him.
He saw firey red anger, contempt, swirling in on its the soul, diving in an out of the mass like a dragon trying in futility to devastate its home and itself. He saw violet drifting through the mass in thin fog of confusion, quandary, doubt. Black clashing against a gently pink, fear trying its best to devour...something, some soft inner part of her workings. The entire image trembled as if it was all being doubted just as it was being felt, it was shaken with concern, with worry. White bubbled through the swirling mass like gently bubbles in champagne popping and spreading slight fields of hope and calm before being swallowed by the rest of the soupy mass. He could see how very much she wanted someone here with here, how she wanted him. And something else...
Just before the image came into clear view her hand slid off his eye, and he saw, as a whole spread out before him, overlapping and intertwining with the soul he had seen just a moment before. His eyes rested on her face, on her eyes threatening to be lost in them, because now, completely, he understood.
There were no magic words to make it alright. His hand gently slid from its resting place around her waist, gracing along the side of her arm sending small tingles up his fingertips, and then finally resting on the side of her face, cupping her cheek in palm with his thumb just a small distance from her lips. He would pause, his eyes in hers breathing in the moment before he spoke.
You have me, through all of it, the best and worst.
His thumb seemed to move of its own accord, embracing the moment, sliding just beneath her lips, across her chin and back.
...where ever darkness falls, I'm watching...listening. You dont have to be alone.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:11 pm
Staring right back, she tilted her head just a tad to nuzzle against the touch and her lips parted ever so slightly as he took in his words.
He meant it.
He really does...
A new wave of peace washed over her - and this time its effect wouldn't wear off that fast again.
"You know, it's not that I'm being ungrateful for what I have," Lucind started calmly.
"I know I've got friends out there - and right here. People trusting and thinking of me. But I've...
I've missed you...so much.
All the time."
She knitted her brows for a moment, astonished as to why she was only realizing now how much it had actually hurt, him being gone. A form of instinctive self-protection, it probably had been something like this.
Time. Yes, they would take their time. But the Half-Siren wouldn't allow their story to be interrupted once more. She wanted to show Maximos this world. Her world. To share her life.
Now it was her leaning in to gently seal his mouth with hers - if he would let her.
One of her hands would come to rest on his waist, the other would lay on her folded legs, while she'd slowly move her lips against his.
Lucind didn't even notice she was faintly shaking.
Finally, she leaned her head against his shoulder.
"After dinner I'll tell you what's happened over the last weeks.
...and have another look at your neck." Lucind looked up to inspect the injured area. Hopefully, the ointment was helping at least a bit.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:38 pm
Even Heaven in all of its bliss and splendor didnt take his memory away from this small cafe, and the woman who owned it. It was never the coffee he missed as much as he did enjoy it, it was the few moments before and after the coffee that he got to share with her. Even in death, he found the sweet taste of a warm drink was all he could do to carry his mind back to those lovely afternoons. And so he could honestly say...
...So have I...
...and feel it truly. It was just as real as she was right here next to him. As her warmth, as the tingle dancing up his thumb and fluttering in his chest as his fingers inched so close to her lip. And his eyes stood locked into the amber pools with which she saw the world. He offered absolutely no resistance as she leaned in, embracing the moment as a whole. No matter what happened, this day would be in his memory eternally. Her touch, her taste, her scent, all fused into one more moment he would never forget.
His hand stayed gently cupped against the side of her face, sliding just a bit farther back, letting her navy blue locks slip through his fingers. He had never felt hand anyones hands even near his waist before, thusly sending a soft tingle up his spine. It only lasted a few seconds, but for the second kiss of his life it was a small eternity.
And after it was done his hand delicately slid from beside her face, sliding down to the sofa below. The idea that she was so comfortable with him, made him in turn feel more comfortable with himself, and with her. And in that he realized how good it felt to have someone feel safe enough to lean on you, physically. He was almost afraid to act, afraid of accidentally ruining a moment he cherished, he responded slowly and calmly, and somewhat blissfully.
I would like that...
Lucind would see a tinge of light bluish green just barely present in the area. Whether the bruise was coming or going, it was hard to tell but at the very least he felt no pain what so ever.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:04 am
Paying the nasty bruise a rueful look Lucind turned around to lie back down on Maximos' knees. No, she would never have a good laugh about that incident in the back streets of Latent. Then again, relishing this moment they were sharing, there was hoping she'd be able to store her ugly mistake in the back of her mind.
"One day, I'd like to know more about you, your past, I mean. Whenever you feel like it. And if you can, that is." She smiled.
"Hmm by the way.." The woman mused. "Are your shadow powers the same, or did you have to give up your share when you were given a body?"
Something else kept on swirling around in Lucind's head:
Maximos had sure been right when had said that, basically, it wouldn't have been the easiest way to walk had one of them decided to give way to any sort of feelings back when the man was more a ghost being than anything else.
And with life being as ever fleeting as it was today, probably Maximos and Lucind had silently decided, uncinsciously perhaps, that it was better the way it was. Nevertheless, the time before they breakout of the Destroyer, little more than two years, had been enough for deep feelings, trust and affection, being nurtured at the bottom of their hearts.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:18 am
One day...
He said, gazing off into the sunset through the window for just a moment. A bright smile spread across his lips as he looked back down at Lucind.
One day, I'll take you there....
It was a very long story, one Maximos had never put to words since he arrived on Gaia. His thoughts however never strayed far from Aria...from home. No matter how many years had passed. He could could think of not better way to tell Lucind, to show her, to help her understand, than to take her through the very streets. To let her sample see Noct Pear juice fresh from the tree! Or to see the long stretched beached of the Shadow Lands and their violet and blue sunset...
He nodded a bit to himself. Yes...he would have to make that happen. In the back of his mind he already began churning away at that "how" of the matter. He would have been lost in a train of thought if Lucind hadnt broken him out of it with her question.
Oh!
He said, looking a bit dazed as he was bumped out of his thought process. His smirked, as the shadows of the couch crawled up around them spelling, "But of course...", in the air above Maximos' head while he grinned in a most wily manner.
I dont know what I'd do without them.
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