Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » ~Paying The Price~

As Raven would continue staring into the rippling waves of the river bend, she would think long and hard about everything that had happened. About everything that happened since their arrival, and she would just bury her head in her hands. She would be devastated, but she wouldn't be crying. She had cried to much at this point, and upon thinking about it further, she was convinced that Jimmy hated her and feared that he would blame her for his father's death. Given what she had said to him and what had happened at their arrival, feelings of guilt and sadness and regret built up inside her as cracks started forming in the ground around her, and there were even cracks forming in the sky as if it were a flat surface, forming along the clouds directly above her. When she spoke, her voice would almost be devoid of all emotion, as her nerves were shot.

"Who am I kidding.....It's all my fault. They hated magic users, and I....I......I wasn't there for my mother, and I couldn't be there for someone I considered my brother....I ruined any ideals of magic users my mother may have put in Jimmy's head....I wouldn't be surprised if he never wanted to be near me again...why would he want to live with me...I'm just a stranger who came in and ruined his life..."

"Raven...That's not-"

"Don't you tell me it's not true....I ruined that poor kids life..."

She says as the cracks in the ground and the sky get bigger, and the black smoke around her gets thicker and darker. She would start tearing up again, as her eyes lost the emotion and caring in them as her emotional state was going down quite quickly, causing more stress for her mind and causing her demonic form to slowly take over. She would look down at her hands, noticing that her fingertips were black and she just sighed, before her eyes flicked at the water. She would stare at it emotionless, before allowing her body to go deeper and deeper into the water, before eventually she just sunk and became completely submerged in the water. She would stare up at the sky through the distorted image the water caused, and noticed the cracks forming in the sky, but she would just remain submerged, unmoving as she allowed herself to be embraced in the waves. Being in the serenity of the water would stop her transformation from getting any worse for now, as there was nothing or nobody that could bother her while under the water, unless someone came up to her from above and pulled her out and pissed her off. Not to mention that it almost served as a hiding place for her. Perhaps a bit foolish, but like her mother, she felt safest there. While underneath the water, her tears would just blend in to the river, hiding her emotions as well as she just stared up at the sky blankly from underneath the rippling tide.

"I had no purpose, Dear," Audemar said as he caught Lwyence's gaze, "but I did adore someone many years ago, I had purpose for her, my Maria. We wed after only a year and we were together for years and I changed my appearance to mimic aging. I lost her to death," I leaned back that the crown of my head met the wall, "an immortal man can die you know. I just didn't die before her."

Lilim listened to Robin and slowly released his shoulder, letting things play out while she hovered in place and listened to the sounds of her own heart beat. For several minutes she silently muddled over her mothers teachings and why the Lilithian Succubi as a species were by default charged with keeping the human race in check. It was because of humans like Pentre... And Conrad... Because if they were allowed to come into power like this, that exactly this would happen. Lilim had believed her mother wrong, and had refused to become a killer like the rest of her siblings back when she was far younger even than Jimmy.

Lilim felt the unconditional guilt wash over her, and inadvertently began to shed tears all over again. Her tail would lower slowly as her eyes bled down her cheeks and onto the floor. If Pentre was half the knight he was made out to be, he'd notice the first few drops of blood as they hit the ground under Lilim's toes. Just then she'd mutter something inaudible and turn to leave, making no noise as she floated back to the tent flaps, coaxing them open with her hands and leaving nothing but a trail of blood drips in her wake. Storm clouds would appear on the horizon, booming with thunder as they drew closer. Lilim would totally disregard the approaching storm and the cracked sky and began searching around the camp for Haldor, and more specifically, for Elesa.

Elesa would flinch sharply as she hears the thunder, clinging tighter to Haldor and whimpering loudly, clearly spooked by the rumbling of the thunder and moreso by the light of the lightning that came with it. Elesa would cling to Haldor tightly, shaking like a leaf and crying even louder each time a new flash of lightning lit up the sky and another growl of thunder echoed in the distance. It wouldn't be long until Lilim heard Elesa's cries and started their way, though what was Haldor to think of Lilim when he saw her crying tears of her own blood?

"I'm impatient, you see," Audemar spoke, "many years without someone to care for, breaks a heart."

Raven would eventually surface, and the cracks in the sky would continue. She would just stare blankly out in front of her, until eventually her eyes would go black. Crow would try something he had learned awhile back, though she never thought she would be able to use it, since it required a lot of magical energy. And given how distraught Raven was at the moment, it seemed like a perfect time to try it. What Raven needed most right now was a shoulder to cry on, someone to comfort her. And nobody else was coming. This fact alone infuriated Crow and Mason, making them hostile towards almost everyone. Though Crow would put that in the back of her mind for now as she focused all three of their energies into the spell she was about to cast.

"gnillacfo ehtssedog Maria, Igebeeht, etarapesesoht tahtera denibmocdna telmeht teemecaf otecaf!"

After that, both black and white smoke would surround Raven in a whirlwind, and it would envelop her completely. Before long it would vanish, and Crow and Mason would be in the water in front of her, in physical form. Though this would only be a temporary spell, and they both knew it. They would both look at one another, before each of them grab Raven by one of her arms and help her out of the water. Once they set her on the ground, Crow place's her hand on Raven's shoulder and looks at her in the eyes.

"Raven, honey, I'm so sorry for your losses, and I know you feel like your completely alone...Trust me, Mason and I both know what your going through. We lost each other multiple times. You feel like you had this coming. You weren't there for them when they needed you, and now those that you need aren't here for you. But that's not true. At the end of the day, but Mason and I are both here for you. Even if we weren't bound by one body, we would still be here for you. Because your part of our family. We love you, Raven, and were not going anywhere...That's a promise."

Crow says before pulling Raven into a comforting and tight hug that Raven wouldn't be able to get out of. Crow would stroke Raven's head while Mason would get behind Raven and hug her, tightening the embrace. The cracks in the sky and ground would stop, before repairing itself and disappearing as the two of them managed to calm Raven down enough to at least do that. Crow and Mason would be furious at practically everyone else, except a rare few. They had so many emotions going on in their minds and bodies right now, but they had just been yelled at for their emotions, and they were in no mood to have anyone yelling at them again. Not to mention that Raven needed them more than anything right now. They would continue hugging and stroking Raven, anybody who walked up to them would see the three of them separated. Raven would tear up and start bawling her eyes out, burying her head in Crow's shoulders as she sobbed and sobbed, Crow holding Raven even tighter as well as Mason, both of them leaning into Raven in an attempt to cradle her and make her feel safe, secure, and loved.

"It's my fault...all my fault...and I can't even fix it..."

"Shhhhh honey....it's not your fault...."

Lilim hovered into the tent, staring right through Haldor like he wasn't even there. She'd barely flinch as he cleaned up her face, that at the very least allowing him to see that she was not injured, but in fact was crying. Lilim could hide it no longer that when she cried, she shed her own blood. She reaches for Elesa slowly, her hands quaking from her sorrow, "Elesa... Give me... My sister... Haldor... I need her..." she whispers to him.

Elesa would see that something was horribly wrong when Lilim wouldn't stop crying and she wiggles free of Haldor to hug Lilim instead, "Big Sis? Why are you crying?... What happened?..." Elesa asks worriedly.

"I appreciate the kind words, Haldor... Believe me, I do... It's flattering that you feel so strongly for me... Please... travel with Robin and Will and meet me at the gate to Mercia. I'll be there before the night ends. But for now... Please excuse us... I have to find Raven... I'm going to take her and Elesa and the body of Mayor Matthew of Wellspring, and we're burying him next to Lady Poppy. Please... Help Will look after little Jimmy... Won't you?..." she pleads quietly before taking Elesa and moving out of the tent again.

As Lilim exited, Haldor would see Lilim's tail had changed a little. Where once it was pure and creamy white with a soft pink glow to it like the blush of a maidens cheek, it was starting to turn black. Something for sure was wrong if Lilim's tail was not it's usual color, and on top of that, Lilim was still crying, so blood was still oozing down her face.

Lilim would move close to the tall grass as she made her way to Raven, trailing her hand through it and calling several stalks of it to form into a fiberous quilt of sorts, moving off to collect Matthew's body from Merry's party, whom were hunkering down in a hollowed space under the roots of a large oak tree to wait out the thunderstorm that approached. Once Lilim had Elesa and Matthew, she'd move toward Raven, Elesa clinging to Lilim's neck drowsy and scared, the poor child having black rings under her eyes from lack of sleep.

As Lilim came close to Raven, she'd hear Crow and Mason comforting Raven and telling her the events were not her fault, and finally Lilim would speak up again, "They're right, Raven... It's not your fault... It's mine..." Lilim says quietly, looking to the three of them and swaying her tail low to show its changing colors, another crack of lightning going off in the sky and for a split second, if Raven caught it in time, Lilim didn't look like herself.

Elesa would flinch again at the lightning and clung tighter to Lilim, shutting her eyes and crying softly, feeling safe with Lilim and completely unaware of the lightning giving away the horrific sight that Raven surely saw.
During the lightning flash, Lilim's tail looked fully black, she was grinning ear to ear, baring a mouth full of razor sharp needles, her soft hands had her succubus claws fully out and dripping with blood just like her eyes, which themselves were shining a pearcing demonic red, and behind Lilim were the spectral shadows of a pair of pitch black, demonic wings, reaching out into the sky like a pair of horribly disfigured, amphibious, giant hands.

Though the horrific image only lasted for a brief second before Lilim looked like herself again, still crying those tears of blood and hugging Elesa close. Matthew's body followed close behind Lilim, carried on the magic blanket Lilim had just wieved out of the tall grass. "Raven... Crow... Mason... I'm so sorry... I'm truely... Truely sorry I've caused all of this... Please... Come with me back to Lady Poppy's grave... I wish to set things right... Please... Let me take away your darkness... I'll seal it away... Forever..." Lilim says as she hugs Elesa closer, reaching a hand out slowly toward Raven. Another flash of lightning would again show that horrific shadow that Elesa was clinging to, but couldn't see nor feel. At this point it was only Raven, Crow, and Mason that saw what Lilim was starting to become.

Mason and Crow would continue hugging Raven tightly, despite the storm that was headed their way, and they would whisper soft comforting's to her in an attempt to make her feel better. Though when they heard Lilim's voice, Mason and Crow would look towards Lilim who was carrying Elesa. They weren't mad at Elesa. She hadn't done anything to them. Lilim...well, it was complicated. They would both turn to look at Lilim, only to notice her tail was black. They would size Lilim up, their eyes widening as they saw the figure possessing Lilim, and both of them would cling to Raven more tightly as it only lasted a second. Raven wouldn't care, not because she didn't love Lilim. But because at the moment her emotions were so shot down she couldn't care about anything. The only thing's she felt were rage and sadness as her demonic form starting taking over once again.

"Your tail....It's black...."

"What's happening to you..."

They said, throwing each other a worried glance. They didn't know what was happening to Lilim, and they feared that the only way to fight this thing might be to let Raven transform. Slowly, Ravens eyes would go black and her long, shadowy claws would come out as her hair turned white, red stained her lips and her body began shaking as she kept her head lowered to the ground. Crow and Mason would continue hugging her until the spell wore off, which it would do on it's own soon enough. Raven would be shaking almost violently in Crow and Mason's embrace, and the two of them would look at Lilim with narrowed eyes at her request, holding onto Raven firmly before speaking up to her.

"What do you mean "seal it away"? Your insane if you think were going to let you absorb our demonic form into yourself! Besides, it's not even possible. We've tried for YEARS, and nothing's worked..."

"Why do we need to go to Poppy's grave??"

Raven would eventually speak up, her voice deep and growling, even scratchy. She didn't sound like her self, through her voice and her speech.

"Seal what away....this? You can't....It's not possible....Besides...maybe I should just let....it...."

She couldn't even finish her sentence before her wings slowly started sprouting. Crow and Mason would start growing more concerned, and Crow would pull Mason closer to her, whispering in his ear a set of instructions in case things went wrong and he needed to snap the two of them out of their form. She would notice a hand reaching out towards her, and wouldn't move to stop it, but if they saw something they didn't like they were going to do what they had to in order to ensure Raven's safety.

Audemar chuckled quietly as he looked at Lywence, "I met you not even a day ago and you cared to relieve pain and give a reunion to a crotchety old man."

Will looked at Jimmy holding the collar up to him, giving Robin a glare for even giving Jimmy the idea. He crouched down to Jimmy's height and took the collar from his, putting it on the ground. "Listen Jimmy, Just because you have magic doesn't instantly label you a monster. I've seen many men who had no magic at all who were soul-less monsters, 'Pentre being one of them. Magic doesn't make monsters, people make monsters. Monsters use magic to hurt people and get their way through any means necessary. Those who use their magic to help those who can't help themselves, they are the heroes. So yes, I'll train you, but not if you wear the collar." Will told Jimmy.