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 Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:45 am
Who: Zul and Pasha
Where: Outside the LabPart 1: Cold Reception Part 2: Icebreaker~ It had been a very long time since Melisande had gone to the Lab. She was nervous, but it was impossible to tell by looking at her. Huge stylish sunglasses hid most of her face, and her curls were covered with a white kerchief. She even wore a long white belted trench, like they did in spy movies when they wanted to be discreet. It wasn’t really returning to the lab that made her nervous, though. Pasha knew it was one of the places that Aki would be keeping an eye on, and the Muse still didn’t want to be found. It was one confrontation that she just wasn’t ready for. Asking Kyou what she needed to ask wouldn’t be easy either, but she’d rather deal with the Doctor than her ex-guardian any day of the week. Pasha tightened the kerchief bow under her chin and rounded the corner of the block. She wasn’t sure what to expect, after having been away for so long, but what the Sigel actually saw would have been last on her list. ”What…what happened?!” A few people in the gathered crowd turned to look at her, and one shook his head. Melisande stopped dead in the center of the street, staring at the spectacle. The Lab was…frozen?!
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Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 10:06 am
It'd taken a day for the news to reach him and another to get back into Gambino. He counted himself lucky that his company had included a very worried and angry 6'4" Italian male, as the intimidation the man had oozed had been enough to get them back to Neil's place with little more than a few sidelong glances. The red-head had been beside himself with worry, imploring Zul with his stoic but frightened grey eyes to do something -- or at least, that's what the Frei had interpreted. Having left the two to make calls and join him later, Zul made his way to the Lab for the first time in months.
Floating down the street, his bright eyes unusually somber, he stared upwards at the ice monument that twisted sky-bound where the Lab used to be. He wouldn't have recognized the building if he hadn't known where it was, as even the footage on TV and the pictures in the newspaper didn't come close to the spectacle he was seeing first hand. Inwardly thankful that Brad and Neil hadn't followed him immediately, he never ceased his forward motion, his eyes trained on the ice-blocked building. What had happened? He didn't recall any essences that would do this, and the Raevans in the tanks couldn't have done it...and if the place was iced over, was Lazarus inside?
Wracking his brain for an answer, the tri-horned demon floated by the disguised Sigel - whom he wouldn't have recognized even if he had seen her - and the group of on-lookers without so much as a backwards glance. His woman was in there, and it wasn't getting any warmer.
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:40 pm
Melisande was stunned by the spectacle. Almost nothing could have jarred her from her shock, but the sudden sight of the horned Raevan did it. A feeling almost as cold as the cocoon of ice settled low into Pasha's stomach. For a moment, a single instinctual moment, she knew this was all Zul's fault.
The unfair feeling passed as soon as it came, chased away by memories of Lucia, smiling and relaxed on the demon's arm. If the Kitten trusted him, her fear was misplaced. Melisande knew this, but it was difficult to make herself move.
The Muse snapped her wings closed, darting after Zul. She didn't get between him and the Lab, but twisted once she was past to face him. Her ribbon snapped and fluttered as Pasha matched his pace, one pale hand raising long enough to slide the huge sunglasses from her face. With wide, frightened blue eyes, the Sigel tried to speak, but her lips parted before the questions could sort themselves out.
After a moment, she found her voice. "Do you...what happened? Is the Doctor...?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:02 pm
He was somewhat surprised to have his immediate vicinity suddenly filled with a flutter of trench coat, the face of his vision obscured by sunglasses and a kerchief. Sky-blue eyes were immediately drawn to the brief flicker of ribbon, which meant the odd roadblock was actually a Raevan! Zul flicked his eyes back to the unfamiliar face, slender brows knitting over his brilliant gaze with mild confusion. Once he saw the fearful blues, however, he knew exactly who he was looking at.
He stared at her in silent surprise, watching her lips shift though they remained wordless. "Melisande," he greeted the Sigel with a dip of his tri-horned head, filling the quiet between them as she gathered her words. Zul took the briefest of moments to admire the get-up, something straight out of a black and white movie, before he gravity of the situation brought him back to reality.
Cocking his head to the side at the disjointed questions, he did not reply immediately, though his face spoke clearly that he did not know what they were up against. After a measured silence, he answered honestly, "They say there's two in there, but they're wrong. There's more." Slowly, his eyes tore away from the Muse and beyond her, resting on the ice castle; just as slowly, his expression began to harden, a dark and unfriendly gesture. "My woman is in there...Laz'rus and Glass-Eyed-Man." Another pause, a heartbeat between. "The Raevans not yet born, any who were unfortunate enough to be visiting..."
The demon swiveled his attention back to Melisande, the hostility draining from his sharp features once his gaze found hers. "I don't know what could have done this. There is no essence that has this power, and as you can see," his hands spread, absent of ice, "I'm out here." He didn't feel the need to defend his innocence, having just come back to Gambino, but it went without saying, in his book.
Zul struggled inwardly for a moment before deciding to cut to the chase. Time seemed to not be on his side. "What are you here for, Melisande?" he queried, floating forward at to her side as though to pass. "You should go home, where it's safe."
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 8:55 pm
"Safe." She repeated the word absently, still floating backwards as she tried to keep pace with Zul. The reason she'd come knotted in her stomach, and she slowed. "I'm here...to ask the Doctor what happened to Zavier. But now something has happened to Kyou, and everyone else."
Her sweet voice was very, very quiet. Pasha finally turned to face the Lab, still drifting along in Zul's wake. "I knew two cold Raevans, a long time ago. They used to be my friends." Her words were soft, but determined. Melisande was all cried out, it seemed. "I'm tired of losing friends. I don't want you to lose your...woman...or Lazarus, or any of the babies!" For some reason, the thought of a Frei, trapped and shivering in its tube, worried her more than the thought of Kyou in peril.
"I'll stay with you, Zul. Don't worry." Her tiny hand reached for him tentatively, fingers brushing his wing. It wasn't safety she was offering, but something more important in the Muse's mind. "You won't be alone."
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 9:12 pm
Though he heard her voice steadily at his pace, he did not turn back to look at her, his eyes seeking every inch of the building that was encased in ice. Going through the front door was almost completely out of the question; not only would it draw too much attention, but most of the throngs of humans would gather there. Zul did not want their health or well being on his head, and thus, he continued to question where he could get in.
The demon saw her hand move to the bone of his wings, the marble-webbed extremities shivering in the slightest though he did not withdraw. He'd made it up in his mind that she was too...too pure, too good for him to get too close too, and touching seemed to be a threat to that. An ugly stain on her otherwise pristine appearance.
Zul's lips curved into the vague shape of a smile, one that did not reach his hardened gaze. "...you're..." Despite all his teachings, words failed him. Chuckling ruefully, he inclined his head and motioned towards the back of the Lab, leading the way he had directed. "There's a balcony that's usually unlocked back there. The awning may have left it...not as thickly encased."
Pausing once he was close enough to the building that he could feel the coldness rolling off of it -- a bad sign, seeing as he could rarely feel temperature to begin with -- he cast his eyes to Melisande once more. "When we're done here, I'll tell you what happened to Zavier. I met him before he died. He asked a favor of me." Rather naive as to if what he was saying was hurtful or not given that he didn't know their relationship; even so, his eyes returned to the frozen Lab, wings spreading. "Who are the two cold Raevans you speak of? The only one I met died in my arms."
Two deaths in one conversation? It couldn't be helping his chances at speaking with the Muse, but if nothing else, Zul was honest.
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 9:38 pm
He wasn't the only one that felt the cold. Melisande withdrew her hand swiftly, and tugged the long coat tighter around her middle. She hadn't known about the balcony, but followed Zul without question. He seemed to know where he was going, and she understood the urgency. Pasha's hands were still pulling the belt of the trench tight when he turned his eyes on her.
Before he died. The casual words snatched the air from her, and her face went blank. She'd known Zavier was gone, but she'd felt him that day, on the wind and in the storm. Never once had it occurred to the Muse that he'd actually, physically died. The idea of him cold or hurt or bleeding or still was unfathomable. The color seemed to drain out of her, and for a moment, it looked as though the Sigel would crumple to the ground.
Melisande pushed against her stomach, willing herself to breathe. The air felt bitterly cold against her lips. "Roux and Lucretia?" She was lightheaded. It felt like someone else was talking. "Roux and I were friends, when I was very young. He was cold to be near, just like Lucretia. But she was...nice. Roux was cold inside." She didn't feel bad saying it, it was just true.
"One of them...is gone?" She had to keep up with Zul, if she was ever going to hear what Zavier made him promise. Pasha licked her lips, and instantly regretted it. "It seems like I had ice cream with Lucretia just a few months ago. And last time I saw Roux...was on a date, with Rivener and his Aki." A date that hadn't ended well at all for any of them, but those memories hurt far less than they used too.
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 9:54 pm
He was, for the most part, utterly oblivious to any damage he may have inflicted upon the hopeful Muse. His eyes did return to her as she began to name names, however, cocking his tri-horned head to the side thoughtfully. "Lucretia. My woman says I was too warm when I picked her up, and she just..." Zul gives pause, and for the first time, he shows the disquiet he feels beneath the surface; his eyes unfocus a little, brows knitting together, the smile he wore fading around the edges. Did he regret killing her? Not really, it was an honest mistake, but to see someone like that fade, someone that was close with his Dayo...
Shaking off the memories, the demon floated back a short ways to hook one wing behind Melisande - he was careful not to touch her, but with the motion, he allowed his warmth to fill the space between them. "Roo, I do not know," he admitted at length, trying to remember why the name was familiar to him. "But he went on a date?" There was a small, brief pause. "With Rivener?
How much was going to come to light with Rivener and his partners, he wondered, as time progressed? Not that Zul was mad -- he'd made a one-sided agreement to Rivener that the Scorpion could see whoever he wanted as long as he came home to him in the end -- but it was certainly a learning experience, keeping up with the broken hearts the dark Sigel left in his wake. Their time to speak of such things would have to wait to be delved in full, however, as the frozen building was not going to thaw on its own anytime soon. It couldn't be Lucretia, she'd been reborn into someone new who couldn't have possibly managed the extremity of this damage...but could it be Roux, a Raevan he'd only heard pass from his woman's lips with mixed signals?
Only one way to find out. Extending one pulsing gloved hand, he indicated the aforementioned balcony, not far off from them and -- surprisingly -- not as thickly coated in the ice as he had surmised. The two had no way of knowing that the reason for this was not as Zul had conjectured, however. "It's there. You'll want to be on the opposite side when I start, though..."
He hadn't anticipated what he'd do up to this point, but it was becoming increasingly clear. He had to infiltrate the Lab and destroy the source of the ice, using all his limited power, no matter what.
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 10:24 pm
For some reason, his warmth didn't seem to help. Pasha arms were still wrapped around herself, and the petals of the delicate flowers at her temples had begun to fall. She didn't understand his story about Lucretia...it seemed like the Demon was talking in riddles, and Pasha didn't have the will to wade through them. The question, though, was easier.
"Yes. I met them there together. I think they were happier alone." She remembered, distantly, how Roux had smiled and tried to hug her. The moment she'd hesitated, his smile had vanished, face going cruel and cold. She hadn't seen him since.
Her chin lifted as he pointed, and the kerchief slid back from her hair. It was as though winter had settled deep into the Sigel, but she didn't shiver. She simply floated with her wings tucked tight, arms over her stomach like it ached. Meli did as instructed, and drifted to the spot Zul indicated. "I'm...sorry I can't help. I'm not very warm, or very strong."
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 10:50 pm
Silent in the face of her own reflective quietness, the Frei did his best to assess just how much damage he was going to have to do to break through the ice. He knew he'd have a limited window of opportunity - whatever made the mess wasn't likely to not know when the fortress was penetrated - and when dealing with magic, he knew damn well to be fast. Going fist-to-fist with Lazarus had taught him that.
Zul chose not to comment on the Roux and Rivener statement, if not only because he did not understand. All he'd heard from Rivener was about Lucia -- so who was this Roux, that his woman knew and that had not been spoken of by his Sigel?
Shaking his head, his wings flapped hard to propel himself to the balcony, the closer proximity to the ice making his skin prickle. He had never felt such a sensation as genuine cold before, the experience foreign and not entirely unpleasant by his count. It was just that this cold was biting, crude and...angry, somehow. Casting his bright eyes to Melisande, he offered up as warm of a smile as he could in the given conditions. "But you are helping," he assured her with an innocent wink. "I'm not alone, after all."
Turning his attention back to the ice, Zul concentrated and felt the magma beginning to pool in his gloved hands - but just as quickly, it began to cool and lose its dangerous lash. The demon reasoned that he wouldn't have time to lob anything strong at the ice, and instead, he pressed his gloved palms against the ice, pushing out the warmth of his body against the wall. There was some give -- minimally so -- and when his palms began to itch from the use of his power, he instead began to soak in the opposing ice as he would absorb his own ice.
The feeling was utterly shocking. The coldness seeped into his very marrow, warring with his essence violently. Shirking back, the Fei expelled the ice -- and blasted a good sized chunk out of the wall.
Zul stared. That was an effective means, but...it was going to cost him dearly. Steeling his expression, he pressed his hands back against the wall, blue eyes briefly flicking downwards to where he knew the Sigel was waiting for him. The demon could not falter now. With a shiver running down his exposed spine, he again began to absorb the foreign ice, numbness seeping into his fingers.
"Melisande," he called, feeling the fragile change in density, "come now -- I don't think we're going to have long to get in." As he watched, he saw the ice knitting, growing, expanding. The castle of ice was trying to rebuild itself.
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 8:24 am
Surprise rippled through Pasha as she watched Zul press his gloved hands to the ice. Surely, it was so cold that he would be stuck fast, like the tips of her fingers when she touched a fresh ice cube! Instead of the Demon giving in to the ice, the ice slowly gave before the Demon, and she drifted higher despite his warning. When he blasted the ice back, Pasha gasped, hands flying up to her face. The tiny bits of freezing shrapnel burned like beestings, but left only pink welts. The brief burst of pain snapped her out of her own sad recollections. Such a demonstration of power was shocking...in truth, the only powers she'd really ever seen demonstrated were Sevvie's! Tucking her wings in tight, Melisande made herself as small as possible and ducked in through the shrinking balcony entrance at his bidding, careful not to touch the edges. Not for the first time, she was glad she didn't have feet. "I'm in!" She used a soft voice, just above a whisper. The Muse didn't wish for her voice to carry, suddenly acutely aware of the noise they'd already made. Pasha waited until Zul was clear of the portal to speak again, her hushed voice wavering. "It's...fixing itself. Doesn't that mean..."Her eyes were wide and blue and frightened. He'd seen the look before, but for the first time, it wasn't him she was scared of. "...that the Lab is still cursed?" She'd assumed all they had to do was get through the ice, and rescue the Doctor and the babies and everything would be alright. But if the ice was still spreading... They'd just buried themselves! ((Part 2: Icebreaker))
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