"The Wilting Rose"
May 25, 2019
100 years Ago : The Empire of the Forsaken Rose -A kingdom on a floating island, surrounded by a protective barrier. The lush green fields and an inexplicable waterfall kept the 2000acres of fields and forests lush and fertile, fish and wildlife abound in the lakes and woods, it seemed a land of plenty, ruled by two women, an immortal Mage who specialized in being a Demon Shaman, and an ancient Methuselah Gangrel vampire. Kali, and Raven had ruled the island for well on a century, welcoming demons and other dark beings to their peaceful sanctuary. However, neither of the women were originally from this realm where the Empire was located, instead they had been thrown there through a magical mishap nearly a hundred years before. As it was the two had learned to adapt and the strange environment, combined with the Mage’s magic, allowed both to become pregnant by their shared lover, a Blood Dragon, also from another realm. For one reason or another, no one ever really found out exactly why, a rather powerful Kinn was drawn to the Empire of the Forsaken Rose. Preaching and demanding that ‘what was rightfully his be returned to him’, speaking of gathering the souls of the profane beings that called the Empire home. Kali and Raven met him at the very gates of the imperial city, denying him access to their lands, people and sanctuary. Then for reasons only he will ever know, he agreed to be sealed into the nearby lake. Much to Kali and Raven’s dismay much later. His profane presence sealed into the lake leeched darkness and evil into the waters, and then the lands, encouraging a great, dark tree to erupt from the surface of the calm waters and grow at an exceptional rate, becoming fully grown in under a weeks time. The lake and land around it began to dye and decay becoming darkly contaminated from the creature’s presence, and the call to other kinn began to emanate from the damned branches of the Kinn Tree. Knowing they didn’t have long, the two rulers put the Empire in lock down and began evacuating it’s citizens. A fight was imminent, and they both knew this to be true. In an effort to be better prepared, the two used magic to accelerate their pregnancies, to have their children before they had to fight this . . thing sealed within the lake. They should have just left, but both were very territorial, and this was their home. Pride is a more deadly sin than either of them knew. Raven’s child did not survive the rapid magical aging, fueling her rage towards the creature that had caused the necessity, Kali on the other hand bore twin girls, Alexia, and Endrea. Mere days passed before the Kinn began to arrive. Kali and Raven had gone down to the lake to assess the situation and supervise the last excursion of their people, guards were evacuating people through the tavern, Kali’s twins among the last to leave, when the Kinn set upon them. The fight did NOT go how either group thought it would, and neither side would likely consider it a ‘win’ or a loss. The last group of evacuees, including the children, were captured, their souls rent from their bodies and formed into a dark crucifix as a sort of punishment, with only a small group, including Endrea, able to escape into a portal to another realm. Kali and Raven put up one hell of a fight, even managing to severely damage Fides, the original kinn to visit the empire, trapping nearly 13,000 of his souls using Soul Sand and starfire. But when the people were trapped into the crucifix, Kali lost her focus. In a fit of rage, she sent Raven through a portal and back to earth where they were originally from. Then she shed all but her most powerful demonic contracts, purifying her body so that she could take up her more divine abilities, calling upon the fires of the sun and stars, she proceeded to fight until her very last. At the last second, she threw herself through a portal, landing somewhere in the universe, broken and weak. The Aftermath – The Empire of the Forsaken Rose – 100 years ago
Sometime during the fight between the rulers of the empire and the Kinn, the Dark crucifix was dropped into the lake. There it sank to the bottom, and over the years, absorbed the evil energy that the Kinn Tree bled into the waters. The lake and land around it became more and more desecrated. The once crystalline waters becoming murky and choked with algae, the white sands of the beach turning dark and the land around them dying and decaying as the evil seeped into the abandoned empire. Slowly over the decades, the buildings decayed, the land became corrupt and dark, overtaking any signs of the once lively civilization. Eventually, all that stood was the dark church. Here a secret was kept in the underground vault, a book of spells so evil that it had no name, referred to only as the Book of Vile Evil. Bound and sealed by Kali, who was now gone, the evil of the tree and the evil of the book itself slowly eroded the seals and bindings that once held the tome docile. Evil from both sources ate into the land, corrupting it until the very island was nothing but a dark splotch floating in the air. The soul stealing spell that had been cast upon the sands of the beach to damage the kinn Fides, remained, littering the shoreline of the small lake. Any and all who tread upon the sands, instantly lost their souls, captured in the tiny, enchanted crystals of sand. Now, the beach lay littered with the bones of the dead, humanoid, demon, animal, everything that touched those sands died nearly instantly, but this served as a protective barrier, and the lake remained undisturbed for nearly 60 years.
During those sixty years, much transpired at the bottom of the lake. Protective barriers of diamond, onyx and stone formed around the crucifix, trapping within them the soul sands that had been stolen from Fides incarnation. The souls within the crucifix were hardly dormant or docile and within the artifact factions had formed. Some supporting Alexis’ and others assaulting her very soul, blaming her mother for their capture. Alexis, though young was able to fight these off, her will to live stronger than their will to destroy her and she eventually dominated them, taking control of the consciousness of the crucifix. With time and effort, the very mud of the lakebed was used to collect the flesh of the dead creatures above and the two compounds were fused magically together to create her first constructed, homunculi body. Using will and magic, Alexis rose from the bottom of the lake, and for the next decade gathered souls and flesh from the living creatures that now called the descrated lands of the Empire 'home'. She spent the next 15 years or so discovering and exploring her mother's 'home'. A keep on the edge of the once imperial city. Here she discovered a great many things. Ways to further strengthen her magic and body, weapons and armors to defend herself, and finally the location of a dark vault, deep within the ruins of the keep itself. It took Alexis another five years or so to find out how to get the damn vault open, and when she did, the sheer evil presence of the Book nearly overwhelmed her. Her dark hands laid upon the flesh bound book brought dark knowledge the which she never expected, and empowered her to an extent that she now gave off the fearful aura of a Lich. The hunger for more dark knowledge invading her mind and corrupting the last bit of 'good' left in her soul. The spells within would only exacerbate the condition, and Alexis would find herself hunting humans for their parts . .as well as their souls to power the dark magics of the book.
Q was out meandering, which was how the vast majority of his time was spent the past few years. Today though he had a particular place in mind to try and find, there was a tale whispered by some of a place encountered long ago, it had quite a history to it, a place where the kinn had set foot, but not conquered. At least not conquered in the tradition definition by their standards. What had caught Q’s attention was that Fides had once been “sealed” here, into a lake, and had lost a sizable number of souls in some conflict with the ruler. The place might have been damn near impossible to find had it not been for one important thing, before having left the place a Kinn tree had taken root, and Q was seeking it out. He sought the souls that Fides had lost, according to the story the souls were like grains of sand on a beach, numbering in the thousands. Q had not decided just what to do with them, when and if he could acquire them. He might keep them for himself, or possibly return them to the Evencar, and gan some favor or boon for the completion of the task, time would tell. As he came across this place he found the a beach, with the tree in plain view, he paused and looked about being slightly weary, though the scenery was quite to his liking, nice dark and profane. He stood in plain sight taking in the place and its ambiance. Q stands thirteen feet in height, usually towering over most people. He has a striking face plate which seems to be made from a black scrying mirror that is cracked, revealing the left side of his face which is nothing but darkness. The face plate seems to grow a modest crown of horns which purveys a sort of bestial nobility. He wears a heavy leather trench coat with a high collar and hood, the pauldrons on the coat are made from a heavy black metal with a soft sheen. His hands are covered by a pair of fine leather gloves and around his waist is a black leather belt, the left side has a small tasset with a gothic silver design carved into it. The belt holds a rather ominous looking lantern on his right hip, the lantern itself is a black chiton and produces a soft eerie purple glow. His legs are covered with fairly loose leather pants that have an abundance of leather straps fastened around his upper thighs. On his feet are a pair of almost standard issue combat boots which he keeps fairly well polished, the main feature setting them apart being regular issue combat boots is the silver Petrean crosses on both sides of the ankles.
Alexis had actually garnered quite the reputation for herself in the few nearby towns. It was kind of hard to keep a presense like her own secret, there wernt too many homicidal frankenstein looking women wandering the world after all. And after her last excursion of procuring some pretty, slightly tanned flesh and a mop of beautiful red hair . .she had made her way back to her 'home'. The vault was always keept closed and warded and locked in secrecy, and only emmited any sort of 'signature' when she opened the door. It wasn't too very far from the lake either, so when she decided to leave for the day, it would not go unnoticed. The Book, her special equipment and other needed items were dropped into a special warded hip satchel that hung over her basic leather leggins and corseted top. With her fresh skin she actually appeared human, except if one looked close enough. Thin, surgically fine stitches ran over her arms and shoulders like 'seams'. Today her task was to gather up more of the souls stolen by the enchanted sands of the lake, even though they were animal souls, they were still useful in powering some of the lesser spells in the book.She moved quietly towards the lake though, her head cocking to one side as she saw the creature standing near the shores, her eyes narrowed as she took cover behind one of the few remaning but desecrated trees, pulling on some of her power to prepare and defend herself if need be.
He stood near the sands, he managed to figure out fairly quickly from the beach littered with corpses both decayed and decaying it would not be a good idea to simply walk across it. He took in a deep breath letting out a sigh of frustration and shook his head. A fair deal of the corpses in the sands were mere beasts, they would have tainted the pool of souls Q was after, and he was not so skilled that he would be able to sift through them, surely there were some areas where the souls were “more potent”, but the fact remained animals would be in the mix no matter where he tried to pull them from, rending the sands would be easy, but he was not about to profane himself with animals, that was far beneath him. He lifted his left hand to his faceplate and slid it over his face slowly as he tilted his head back. He had spent a fair deal of effort in getting here and just leaving would have made the trip a pointless one, which he would not accept. The place seemed fairly desolate from what he could see of it, which was good, he was not in much of a mood for a conflict. *surely there must be something here of worth, aside from the scenery* he mused to himself as he stood staring at the tree now. He played with the concept of getting to the tree itself, that would not be too hard, but he was not sure if there would be anything of worth at the tree. That being what it was his attention turned now to the ruins of this place, even if he could not find anything of material worth it would be an experience to tread these grounds, once proud Kinn had fought here, perhaps this place would hold some artifacts of note or other tell tale signs to add to the stories told of this place. With another sigh and shrug he began to walk through the ruins here, looking into the ruins to see what he could find, if anything.
…..Alexis stood beside the tree watching the creature at the shoreline, curious to see if he was dumb enough to step upon the enchanted sands. The original spell had enchanted only five pounds of sand, and only a very very small portion of that had been ‘used’. The rest of the enchanted sands had dropped to the beach and the grassy area around it, the waters of the lake and even the small island that now supported the kinntree. Luckily the creature was wearing some sort of protective gear upon his feet, elsewise he would likely have been loosing souls little by little with each step he took. In fact, if his garments, shoes, or equipment were made of souls, he would likely be experiencing the loss as there was no way to prevent this particular spell from doing its job, especially with direct contact. But . . who would notice souls disappearing in small amounts? five here . . ten there . . . with each step, or drag of a garment or whatever over the sands hidden on the ground in the grass. Sand was a pesky thing like that. You could never control were it went or ended up and it ALWAYS ended up EVERYWHERE.
…..Now Alexis had no issue with the soul stealing sands, because none of it could touch the source of her own souls, the crucifix hidden and protected, deep within her body. Her body of course being a construct was immune to such silly things as soul stealing sands. She could however, ‘sense’ that this was no normal creature standing on the shores of her birthplace.
…..Alexis leaned against the tree as she watched him, her brows furrowed and darkened eyes narrowed as she tried to decide ‘what’ he was. She could feel the magnitude of many souls but didn’t quite understand it, though, she wondered vaguely if this creature might be one of the “kinn” or “dark creatures” that her mother had written about in one of the entries of the book Alexis now carried with her.
….*surely there must be something here of worth, aside from the scenery* he mused to himself as he stood staring at the tree now.
…..Alexis’ left brow lifted as he finally spoke to himself, he had yet to turn or see her or sense her it seemed, and her curiosity was one of her few weaknesses. She ‘needed’ to know things, many things, many varied and useful things. Her voice would echo over to him, though she did not speak in a physical manner. She had no working vocal cords after all, instead she used telepathy, and if his mind was closed and blocked to such magic’s then they were both crap out of luck.
…..“depends on what your looking for” Her telepathic voice was cold and flat, but it echoed with the telltale signs of many voices speaking in unison. It was not as cohesive as a Kinn, nor as organized. It was more like a crowd speaking all at once, and that was part of what drove most mortals insane.
…..Her head tilted to one side as he turned away from the lake and towards the ruins. She had explored them for years, and had gathered most if not all things of value from them, though what she considered valuable probably varied from what he did, but even so, she wasn’t too worried about him exploring anything except the Keep which she called home. That she would defend to the best of her abilities.
Q’s clothes had prevented the loss of souls from the scattered sands in the grass near the lake, and he had spent some time staring at the tree though the tree itself hid the presence of Alexis. Usually the cross at her core would have given her away immediately, its profanity a thing which would call out to Kinn, though it having been so close to the tree it was impossible for Q to tell she had been there. Her voice though, he did hear that. It wasn't something that had registered though as a separate person, he had mistaken it for the voices of his soul pool. That being what it was he paid it little mind as he began to make his way through the remnants of the city that had been here.
The place was certainly in a ruinous state, though it had not been entirely abandoned altogether, there were tell tale signs of life here and there, looting mostly. It had implied that despite the stories there had indeed been survivors of a sort. Just as to where they were now though was a thing he didn't know, if any of the scavengers were here at the moment he was unaware of them. Most of what had been left was unremarkable, various dishes and clothes. Anything of true use or worth was thoroughly picked over, everything that was left was truly mundane, to include a few skeletal remains. Q mused to himself what the survivors though, what were there stories of the place? Did they tell the same stories, same being a relative term as obviously the point of view was a different one. To them it was most likely a massacre of sorts, maybe “Armageddon”, he could not rightly say what their point of view was. To the kinn the story was one of a conflict, which remained for the most part unresolved. About the only things certain in the story was that they had been here and a great deal of misery and suffering had been visited upon the populace. A part of the story served as a warning, the details entaling the actions of “oblitus canis bellum” and the consequences thereof were a thing which had a tendency to instill a degree of fear. In Q’s mind it was an overzealous reaction of the Kinn that had come. Sure it was understandable, he had nothing to do with it, but given the context he had from the story he more or less understood. He still doubted the legitimacy of it….Fides being sealed into a lake? That wasn’t likely. Surely the Evencar had been here, the kinn tree on the island spoke to that, but as to weather or not it had actually been sealed was up for debate. Q didn’t think there was any means in existence outside from the influence of The Father that could actually bind such a beast as Fides.
He had spent hours going over the town and pondering the people and their stories, piecing together what he could of the truths of the tale from the ruins. The city truly had been picked clean, he found not a single thing that interested him. The only thing left now was the castle, which was probably more the same, but there was a better chance that there would be places here that had been locked. Perhaps that would have kept the looters out, but there was no telling. It had been some time since this had happened, and there had been more than enough time for people to have destroyed doors and picked locks. He let out a huff of frustration as he made his way to the main way which would take him into the castle.
Alexis watched as the …. Being stared at her tree without seeing her, without hearing her, without acknowledging her at all, and frowned. And then she remembered that she was likely still cloaked and invisible to mortal eyes. She was a little forgetful sometimes, but she didn’t think that should have affected the creature across the lake from her. He clearly wasn’t mortal, but then again . . he hadn’t heard her either, so maybe he was just some .. thing . .perhaps a construct like herself? No, no that didn’t make sense, he seemed more . . she wasn’t entirely sure, just . . more.
.
There was a small, hidden sandbar from the tree’s island to the shore, covered in the algae and seaweed and muck that polluted the rest of the lake. Unless one knew it was there, it was impossible to find. Alexis used this sandbar to get to the shore and follow along behind him to the ruins of the city. Her head tilted back and forth curiously as she watched him examine things and then head towards and through the ruins of the imperial city. She wasn’t hiding from him, nor had she made any effort to identify herself either though.
.
As he ducked into one of the buildings closer to the castle, Alexis moved beyond him to her home, the keep. Here she spent some time rechecking her defenses and even scattering a handful of the soul sands around the only two doors to the building itself. They hadn’t seemed to do anything to him before, and she didn’t count on them doing anything now, but it couldn’t hurt either. She knew eventually he would find his way here to the southwest of the main castle ruins. The keep and the Church were the only two buildings that had withstood the test of time and evil. It was here that she would wait for him, herself planted upon an upturned barrel about a hundred feet from the front door of the keep itself.
.
Once he approached, as surely he would, she would speak to him telepathically once more. Perhaps he didn’t have telepathic ability, or perhaps he was crazy and thought her voice had been the voice of imagination in his head. She had no idea, but telepathy was a natural ability for her, and required little to no effort or energy on her part. In preparation for the fact he might NOT be able to hear telepathic communications, she also prepared the spell that would allow her to ‘speak’ more naturally, though she wouldn’t energize it unless she needed to. In the remaining time, she would check her supplies and weapons, and pull a cloak over herself, appearing more ‘normal’ usually settled the mortals she hunted after all.
Reaching the castle Q was a bit more weary. The ruler here in the stories had been able to employ a formidable magic, and the sand he had already run across had proven that bit of the story to be true. He wondered if he might happen across any tomes, or scrolls, something that might make him aware of just how the woman had managed such magics. It was mostly in ruins, a shabby testament of what this place had once been. He chuckled as he came in musing over the phrase “a shadow of its former self”. He did pause for a moment in front of the main entrance, it was a small thing but given the propensity of some to scatter salt to ward off evil the sand managed to catch his eye. His lips pursed as he reached out to push the doors open, they were heavy but it was something he was able to manage, so it was obvious this was not salt. He stood in the doorway for a while, if it was not salt then it was likely sand...probably the same sand from the beach, which was able to steal souls. That made him wonder, who...or what had placed it there and how, making him more cautious of the castle and whatever remained within.
He had not been here long when he picked up on something which caught his attention. It wasn’t something he could see, at least not yet but he felt it. It was faint, which meant likely that it was small, but it was definitely of Kinn, the “energy” such things gave off was not something easily mistaken for something else, and certainly not something a kinn would mistake.the energy of it was too faint to be another kinn, that or it was able to draw in its aura incredibly well. So well in fact he doubted it could be another Kinn, perhaps an artifact, or something that was particularly tainted? This made him stave off his initial impulse to explore the ruins and seek out the source of the energy, it came from him to the south west. His advance was fairly cautious as he still wondered what had placed the sand but he pressed on with sme haste. It was only a matter of minutes until he came across her, a seemingly random woman wrapped in a cloak.
When he caught sight of her he paused his head tilting to the right, *what.in.the.fuck.* was a loud and clear thought in his mind. This woman, who was wrapped in a cloak sitting on a barrel was the source of the energy he felt, and it seemed like she was waiting for him. Given the energy she gave off he couldn't help but wonder if she was, and how long had she been waiting? Now that he was this close he was sure she gave off a kinn energy, but it was corrupted, it wasn’t “pure”. This made him wonder all the more as his head tilted to left, noticing now that she also...had a soul pool, and a fairly considerable one. Again the thought loud and prominent in his mind *whatdafuq?*. Maybe this wasn’t a woman who was waiting, maybe it was a reliquary. It would explain a few things, sometimes people hid artifacts in statues but there did seem to be life to her. That being what it was he approached her slowly and reached for his lanter and lifted it into the air to better light the area, the faint purple glow of the lantern growing in intensity to offer a surprising amount of light as the thousands of souls within it began to dance about excitedly.
Alexis was perfectly capable of sitting completely still for long periods of time. The distinct lack of need to breath allowed her that statue like stillness and came quite in handy when she was removing skins from her victims, her hands perfectly still no shaking allowed for the most precise cuts. But that was neither here nor there as she waited for Q to finally find the Keep. Though the wait allowed her to revel in her last ‘acquisition’, the skin and hair she now wore. The magic that kept everything fresh and free from rot and stench was still upon her and as she waited for him. She worked it so that she became more and more ‘whole’ the stitching and seams slowly disappearing as the parts became part of her construct. An . . absorption of sorts.
.
Hours passed as she waited there on that barrel, one foot propped on the edge of it, with her arms wrapped around it and her chin resting on her knee patiently when he finally came into view. The only movement she offered was to sit up slowly and remove the hood of the cloak, revealing the long beautiful red hair, and bright green eyes. She blinked slowly as she caught his thought of what.in.the.fuck . and smiled darkly, her mind brushed against his again, this time with a little more force than before, she was being polite. She reached up to touch her temple as well, tapping it lightly with her fingers before speaking telepathically to him.
.
Well that’s rude. I am a woman, clearly Her ‘voice’ was touched with sarcasm and irritation, her face frowning out at him.
.
He was indeed correct that she gave off Kinn energy, and even had a soul pool of sorts, but he was quite mistaken on the ‘corrupt’ part. Her cross and the stolen souls in the soul sands as well as the souls she herself had collected, were all actually quite separate. The souls of the kingdom making up her center, her cross could not be added to nor removed from, not by her at least and as such her artifact was ‘pure’. The souls stolen from Fides were separate as well, the sands hidden and protected within the diamond layer of her ‘heart’, these she COULD use, but had barely touched them, and were uncorrupted as well. What he was likely sensing were the souls she had stolen herself, using the sands from the lake and her own powers. This was likely what he was sensing as her soul pool, these were corrupt and unpure, as the souls and energies came from both humanoid and animal, and were her main ‘power source’ for her spells and workings. These souls were also not gathered in a Kinn like way, they were not ‘reeducated’ or touched with darkness like the souls of her cross and heart. These were simply stolen via magic, and used to power the dark works that Alexis had discovered in the Book of Vile Darkness.
.
What brings you to such a dark and desolate place? Don’t you know that this land is cursed? Touched by Darkness? Or have you come to try and cleanse my home? she asked him curiously, her voice echoing with the voices of many.
.
It was not unheard of for a priest or cleric to find their way here, they had even when the Empire was alive and vibrant, always they sought to cleanse the land and the demons that called it home. But after the fall, many had come to try and cleanse the lands, purify them, but none had realized that the Kinn Tree and the presence of the profane book worked against them, and always brought the darkness back. -
It was obvious in the light that she frowned, which made him pause for a moment, statues didn’t usually move. Then before he heard her voice in his head she moved again, he imagined the gesture was to make him aware those voices he had heard earlier were not from his own pool, the voice was hers. His eyes would widen in surprise, though any facial expression he made was obscured by his face plate. He didn’t have any telepathic gift so speak of, but he could hear her, and apparently she could hear him...hear his thoughts. That might be a bit of an issue, he was impressed though she could pick out his thoughts among the thousands he held. She asked him why he was here, and if he knew the lands were “cursed”, “touched by darkness”. He chuckled airly at that thought, to him those things were blessings, not curses. huc venimus, quia a narratur nostri, populus, erat a...bellum, quod locum hic aliquod tempus ante. An notos nostra perdidit aliquid satis pretiosum, et nos putavimus posset invenire eam...vel potius eos. De cognitione, si locus est maledictus, nec non scire, quod, velimus dicere beatus pro, tactus tenebris est gloriosum donum, quod grati. Quod quid sit, non habemus intentione "purgatio" hoc loco(we came here because of a story told by our people, there was a…battle that took place here some time ago. An acquaintance of ours lost something pretty precious, we thought we might be able to find it...or rather them. About knowing if the place was cursed, no we didn't know that, we would call it blessed instead, the touch of darkness is a glorious gift, something to be thankful for. That being what it is we have no intention of “cleansing” this place.) he lifted his other hand and motioned around before continuing.”putamus locum habet potius nice quod aer, admonet domum...nunc, te dicere hoc loco, est in domum tuam? Nee scire aliquid reliquiis, quod proelium, historiam, inquit, hoc loco est ultra decimari, ruinas hoc loco probare satis a frenum de inferno erat visitavit hic...vos superstites...aut hic venit post? Putas, non refert, quantum, fortasse qui lecta super reliquias, aut scire, qui fuerit? Te invenire aliquid "satis"? Si non possemus venire ad aliquod genus....dispositio, ad mercaturam.”(we think the place has a rather nice atmosphere, reminds us of home...now, you say this place, is your home? We weren't aware of any survivors of that battle, story says this place was beyond decimated, the ruins of this place prove quite a bit of hell was visited here...you survived...or came here after? Suppose it doesn’t matter much, maybe your the one who picked over the remnants, or know who has? You find anything “pretty”? If you did we might be able to come to some kind of….arrangement, for a trade.) Q lowered his arms to his side, affixing the lantern to his waist before he began to slowly walk towards the woman. It was a gamble of sorts, he intended to come close enough so that his aura might affect her, maybe greed would kick in and make her eager to come to some kind of deal. There was nothing guaranteeing she had anything he would want, but there was a chance, hell the woman had a soul pool, maybe she had a relic of sorts that held souls, or maybe a book, that would tell him how she, or the people before managed to rend souls from bodies.
Alexis sat quite still as they spoke, it took her a little bit of concentration to translate his latin in her mind. She was fluent, but she had only had rare occassion to actually speak it, and took her a moment to switch 'mindspaces' as it were. "Et Latine loqui, quia est in his partibus rara scientia, et annuntiet mihi: non est hinc." (You speak latin, that is a rare skill in these parts, and tells me you are not from here. ) she replied in her own unaccented Latin. She blinked slowly as she contemplated what he said and the offer he made, not speaking again until he began to move closer to her. Her head tilted to the left curiously and her eyes narrowed as she watched him, though other than that she didn't move. She returned to common though, allowing her concentration to focus on the threat that he could possibly pose instead of fancy language. "You explored the ruins of the city, you passed by many pretty baubles. And at the lake you seemed to be searching for something as well. So . .maybe if you tell me exactly what your looking for, I can help you" She said as she glanced down at the ground, she could 'see' his aura in a way, could feel it as he got closer. "Please stop there" she said as it came within a couple of feet of her barrel, her voice flat and bland as she looked back up at him suspiciously.
After it had received its gifts from the Evencar, Kage had returned to the all encompassing darkness once again, to wander the realms in search of those who would be seen as worthy to join their ranks, however there was a slight tug within the darkness, whispers of an old tale catching it's attention, Kage didn't know a great deal of history when it came to the Kinn, only what that of which the darkness had shared with it. It shifted directions and would follow the whispers as they grew louder into more coherent words, than took the shadows of a rather desolate realm. The battle that unfolded was told through the shadow memories, Kage's eyes adjusting to the oddity of the dual imaging as the event unfolded before it, thankful once again that the All Father had allowed such abilities to remain within it, it certainly made it's job that much easier in the end. It was than Kage picked up on two other beings within the area, returning back to the shadows it followed their energy to the remnants of a structure that appeared to be a keep of sorts. Kage kept it shadows, energy and aura close to itself not to alert the two before it of its presence, even though from their energy he was certain they would be aware of some one or something joining them. For now it would remain silent, and watchful, curious as to how these beings would interact with one another, and what it was that it could learn from both of them.
He was surprised she responded in latin, and understood him, most impressive was the lack of an accent. She squinted at his approach, which made him wonder for a minute if maybe she could see the field of his aura. When she spoke again it was obvious she had seen him looking through the place, and she was right in a way, there had been a few things which might have held some monetary value. He was more surprised she had seen him at the lake, he would wonder about that later though. She asked him to stopped, and for the time being he was obliged to do so. Despite being a Sinner he was not all that fond of combat, he had been around quite some time and involved in a number of the battles in the seraph wars,more than a few battles with dragons, and even fought against elves. Combat was a calling, some would say Q was birthed for the soul purpose of ending lives, but his thirst for blood had been slaked over the eons. She wanted to know what exactly he was looking for, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to just tell her, that might make it a hell of a lot harder to come to an agreement, he wasn’t after things which held monetary value, though in fact what he was after most may well have been quite valuable. Q’s head tilted for a moment as he took note of some one he let out an audible clicking of his tongue making the “tsk” sound. *hiding in the shadows are we?* was a thought, he forgot for a moment the woman could hear his thoughts, he was addressing Kage, though he did not know his name...or his position yet. His words came quickly enough though, and in an attempt to be polite in common, though his accent was a bit thick, almost enough to make him difficult to understand, seldom if ever would he speak this way, he hated common, it was almost vulgar to him. “Well...miss, we are looking forrr….mm” he paused trying to think of proper wording. ”spell books...orrr maybeee” again his mind stalled as he thought of a proper term, “necromantic relics?...things of the dead?” he rolled his hand over a few times hinting he was searching his mind for the common word ”animas”. He had notice the woman dodged answering where she was from, for now though that was something in the back of his mind, he was after something...though he was curious about it, more now that she had dodged the question. To him that meant she was probably hiding something, and secrets..those were valuable too.
Alexis actually shifted on the top of the barrel as she felt a second presence enter the vicinity. It was rare for anyone to come here, let alone two dark presences such as these, and it set her slightly on edge. Were they hunting her? Had the villagers finally gotten up the nerve to contract something dark to try and hunt her down? After all their previously failed attempts in the past, perhaps they had finally had enough of her body snatching and soul stealing to the point they would hire . . what . . demons? No . .these two weren't demons. She frowned as she now perched like a bird on the edge of the barrel, ready to move if the need arose. Her head tipped to the other side as the one before her addressed the new one, and then tried to distract her with more questions. Her hands now rested on her daggers, hidden under her cloak. Her eyes darted about, trying to locate that second presence for a few moments as Q paused to think about how to word his questions. Her brows narrowed and her eyes darkened as she couldn't quite pinpoint the location though, the many souls of each of these beings was throwing her off a bit, similar but not the same as she. Her head snapped back in Q's direction though, frustration and anger coloring her mental voice now. "tell it to come into view or it's not going to like the consequences" she told him, one hand coming into view with a medium sized glass bottle half full of sand. (think coke bottle) The hesitation in Q to describe what he was looking for, caused her to explore a bit deeper into his mind than most would consider polite, though it truly was not an attack, more her curiosity, and frustration that he couldn't word what he wanted. The image of a rosary cross was fuzzy, but made her shut down completely, totally withdrawing from his mind before he could get the idea to search her own. She even switched to speaking physically through her enchanted rock. "Nothing like that here, and I have laid claim to any and all magical supplies I've found in my home" she said, sounding a touch territorial. "which would include books, supplies, weapons, armors, items and anything else enchanted . . .. or that I deem of worth in my studies." yep, she was feeling threatened "Perhaps I might share some of those things with you . . if the price is right, but this conversation is over until your companion shows himself. You want something, I want knowledge that I think you may have. " she offered.
Well the one was definitely Kinn, clear as day by it's appearance alone, the energy that flowed off it spoke even further into that thought, however what was this woman, she had the sense of a kinn but was not, she even had a soul pool, and the attitude of one but still clearly was not Kinn. "We do not hide, we observe and learn." the sounds of thousands of whispers and echoes flowed from the surroundings shadows, even as the woman was determined to pinpoint his exact location Kage was constantly moving around within the shadows, which made it quite a bit more difficult to pinpoint it, however the curiosity of the woman and the thought of meeting yet another brethren did fancy his state of mind at the moment. A swirling cloud of shadows would flow in like that of smoke on a breeze before Kage's frame would take on a semi-solid form, pitch black from head to toe, minus the silver chains and rings that adorn its frame and horns, thick black bones hugged its ribs, hands and lower, and was it standing in bare feet? "So demanding of woman to order us in such a threatening manner, if it weren't for our brethern's interest in you and your 'home' we would be sure to level this area for such rude mannerisms." Kage stood with it arms crossed in front of its chest as it leaned back against a wall, still very much within the shadows.
Q was having a hell of a time watching the womans face she switched expression fairly often for reasons he was unaware, though her frown was obvious enough. She knew another Kinn was here *ahh shit* he thought. Luckily Kage took some initiative and answered her when she demanded he come out. Kage manifested which drew Q’s attention he lifted his head, up and to the side in wonder, he didn't know this one, *someone new...and...important?* He also gave her a bit of attitude in kind and spoke to it being Q’s more inquisitive nature that was saving her an “asswhoopin”. He had forgotten she could read his mind, psychics were something he was familiar with, but he never had any gifts for it, he didn't even have any decent counter, aside from his mind was hidden in thousands, which apparently did not deter the woman. He couldn't even feel her digging around in his head as he fumbled through the common tongue. It did get his attentions and he sarcastically raised his hands in response to her reaching for weapons, it wasn't bloody likely they could hurt him, but then again there were the stories, and who knew where the hell she got those pointy things from. She told him to tell the other to come out, and took out a bottle, filled with sand, he actually laughed aloud at that, a bit presumptuous to give him an order, but, they were more or less in her home, and Q was trying to make a deal with her. He shook his head as he scoffed, “ohh you lie...and to our face no less, and you called us rude? We know..and you know damn well that's a lie woman, see, you can dig in my mind, read my thoughts...but we...we can feel that which is of us, things that are ours..and you definitely have something. Our brother here seems eager to tear the part this place...the little that remains of it, so yhea, you are in the right to feel threatened...we haven't threatened you yet….trying to be friendly, make a deal...a little quid pro quo(this for that). But if you lie to us again… here he motioned to Kage before continuing think we will let him teach you some manners, bring you to heel, make you understand...we...don't have to be nice, generally we take what we want, and really...far as we concerned you’ve just made yourself out as a lying thief. Sometimes those are good traits, but not when you steal from us...not when you lie...to us. So, lets try this again, what do you have...that is ours, THAT is what we are after, and we are not leaving without it. Mind your manners, we can trade. Be a bitch...and well… here he tilted his head at Kage once more, insinuating what might happen.
Alexis didn't move or startle even a little as Kage finally showed himself, somewhat, and leaned against a wall in her peripheral vision. A strange thing happened then, something no normal living creature could accomplish, and her right eye peered off in his direction, while her left stayed trained on Q. Unnervering to say the least, especially since it did not seem to split her focus.
.
"It may be demanding and rude, but your the one that was hiding and spying, so shall I call you cowardly and suspicious?" it wasn't a direct insult, it was quite litterally just a question, though her voice seemed to emanate from her pocket now, and was more 'solid' and singular with the physical manifestation of a voice.
.
"The two of you have come here with hidden purpose, you want something that you cannot or willnot describe, and you gather in numbers against a single entity, its enough to make anyone a bit territorial. Not to mention threatening to bring down my home, can’t you see your kind have done enough damage here already?” she asked Kage, making the assumption that these two were or at least were related to the creatures described by her mother in the Book.
.
“From what I can surmise, that didn’t end too well for the previous visitors” she added darkly and smirked. “or the people that lived here before, but that’s besides the point. I don’t appreciate being threatened when I haven’t even done anything but return to my home.”
.
Her attention was drawn back to Q as he accused her of lying to him about something. The frown deepened as she contemplated his words, she had not lied about anything. Nor was she a theif, not in the manner that he was accusing her of at least.
.
“I’ve not stolen anything that could be considered yours in anyway that I am aware of. If one of your kind left something behind here from over a hundred years ago, you can hardly claim it as your own. Nor can we make a deal of any sort if you can’t or won’t even tell me exactly what it is your looking for. I was willing to deal and possibly trade, but you yourself are making such an act more difficult than need be. Now, as for being nice, neither of us has to be ‘nice’ we can do this the hard way. I assure you, you will never find what you seek if you attack me though, nor would you like the consequences of doing so. I saw your hesitation at the lake, you know what the sands can do. Your boots may protect your feet, but what about your other bits?” she asked him point blank, her face showing curiosity.
.
“then again . .maybe you don’t, we could experiment” she said with a dark smirk growing across her mouth, her tongue lapped out to lick her dry lips, lips that never once moved as she ‘spoke’. She would hold the bottle out towards him and wiggled it a little bit before pulling the thing back towards her, She uncorked it, but then put it back on her belt where it had come from. It was open and ready for use if she needed it, but it was now also being ‘put away’ as a gesture of good faith. The swishing of her cloak would reveal a few of the other items she carried, there were bracers over her forearms and grieves over her legs, a utility like belt that had many pouches and a few vials, along with her bottle. A larger bag was still hidden on her back, but the length of a sword or axe could be seen briefly along with daggers strapped to either thigh. She could clearly take care of herself.
.
She frowned again though, frustrated with the exchange “Look, I just acquired this body and I’d rather it not be damaged so soon, so lets keep this civil. I ask you again, what is it your looking for? There are no rosaries here, except maybe in the church over yonder. But I’ve never seen one. Other than that, ‘what is of your kind’ tells me nothing”
Kage had looked to its brethren kinn and nodded in response to the inquiry about it being new and important, though it wasn’t entirely sure just how important it was really, only having just received the title and mantel. The pitch black endless pools of Kage’s sight watched intently to every movement the woman made as it listened to every word she spoke, tilting its head to the side in curiosity that she truly felt it cared what she called it, further insults and threats were not the path she wanted to take, especially not with one who still rather enjoyed bloodshed and violence, as it played into his sin of choice. “Non curo quid est te elegit, ut vocant, nobis, quicquid iuvat somnus mulier.” (We do not care what it is you chose to call us, whatever helps you sleep woman.) As Kage spoke it stood up from its position within the shadows and dropped its arms to its side before it would begin to make its way across the short distance to stand just off to the side and behind its brethren. Though he spoke in latin, the whispers of the thousands of souls that followed each word would be heard in every language known to him, but the common tongue would be the one that could be heard over all the others. “Autem, nos petere quod si vos volo ut servo hoc civili, vos abstinere a praeterea probra et minas te, nos vere non curo de historia cum absurdus entia, sed certe non cura cum caede est, possibilitas, ut nos ita frui divulgance in huiusmodi peccatis.” (However, we do ask that if you wish to keep this civil, you will refrain from further insults and threats yourself, we truly do not care about history with the grotesque beings, but we certainly do care when bloodshed is a possibility, as we do so enjoy the divulgence in such sins.)
Once he was near Q he would tilt his head, taking in the curiosity that this woman brought to the forefront of his mind, “Surgamus, et erit super nos. Nos vocantur Venandi, Umbra Militaris, tis voluptatem obviam talis monstrum sicut teipsum.” (Let us start over shall we. We are called Venandi, Shade Martial, tis a pleasure to meet such an oddity as yourself.)Kage even offered the woman light bow of it head, and now that it was standing near Q, she would see it held no such things as weapons, hell the only actual clothing it wore were the pants that hugged its waist. Kage was actually being polite, an odd sense all on its own for the being as it truly did not care how the woman would react one way or another, her soul pool alone would make the All Father rather happy, but there were ‘formalities’ to follow now. The shadows that clung to her frame under her cloak allowed him to see what she had hidden at her back, the multiple weapons she held on her person was yet just another curiosity to her, had she been hunted all this time by those within a nearby village, or was she the one hunting, the size of her soul pool was still in question as Kage couldn’t quite get a fix as to how she even had one, even with the consideration that she had just ‘acquired’ this body.
Q noticed the woman’s wandering eye...he wondered about how damn annoying it must be to have things like pupils. It had been forever since he was cursed, bound in flesh, a faint echo of a nightmare to him now. When she addressed Kage this time though with her cockeyed look his brow quirked, the voice was different, and came from her pocket. Kage basically gave the woman a “whatever bitch” as he came to stand behind and beside Q, he gave Kage a nod as he passed. At which point Kage touched on the same sort of spiel Q had with a mind your manners or we will break all your shit inference before giving the woman some manners and a proper introduction and even a very small bow of sorts. Q was just watching their back and forth for a bit, politely waiting his turn, taking note of what Alexis said. *wait hidden purpose, you’re shitting shitting me. I fuking want the Kinn artifact you have, we can sense it we know damn well you have it, and we didn’t call shit, dude just showed up. And you think this is damaged enough, fuck, this was gods damn mercy..hell most Kinn fukkin forgot this place was here, its an ass old story that no one really believes*, again he forgot the woman could read his thoughts, was something he was not used to at all.
When she turned her attention back to him there was a thinly veiled threat, though it might have been an actual question, and to be honest Q didn't actually know. *bitch you throw that at me it will be the last fuking thing you do….SHIT* this time he caught himself, albeit a bit to late. “Look...lady, we’re not sure what your deal is. Our people came here a long time ago, apparently they dropped something. Maybe you don’t know you have it, but you have have, and you have it on you...so we’ve already found it”. He held out his hand as he continued. “Now we are willing to trade, despite that as far as we are concerned its already our, it’s from our people...your people...the people who live here...well, LIVED here it’s obvious what happened there. My people are still around, strong and dominant. This place has been left alone because it was forgotten, “not worth paying attention to”. Now if you wanted to seem me call some people i can do that? And then...well, there not much here but there's still some things around, some of us might find that offensive, might want to erase all of it so it does become just some story.” He paused and pointed a waving lackadaisical finger at her and her equipment, and offered a side glance to Kage before continuing. “We don’t think your toys are going to be of much use, the sand...maybe, maybe not. Figure you’ve got one shot with that at best. Even in the BEST case you get one of us, maybe hurt the other...how do you imagine that will play out? You feel threatened by two of us...imagine a few hundred...or hell, maybe even the boogeyman from the story itself would come back, how’s that strike your fancy? We don’t really want to do that, you just got your body, we aren’t much in the mood for a fight…” He pointed over his shoulder as he continued “This one though, looks eager.” He let out a sigh and put his hand on his hip looking up to the ceiling before bringing his head back down to look at Alexis. “So let’s do this all civil aye? You do have a Kinn artifact, something left by the people that came before, our people, yes WE are Kinn. WE want the artifact back. Do you know what it is...do you know where it is, and finally, what do you want for it in trade?”
Alexis’ eye tracked Kage as he moved back towards the other creature that had arrived before it, her eyes returning to normal and her head turning slightly so that she could see the two of them properly again. She blinked a few times, allowing the adjustment to take place and even shifted slowly so that she was more crouched than perched on her barrel. She moved too smoothly to be human, though she looked like one currently. She also didn’t seem to breath, so there was that to consider as well.
She listened as Kage spoke and then introduced himself before speaking again.
”I am known as Alexis Rose” though that was clearly not her true or magical name. Her head quirked to the left as she focused in on Q again and frowned, she had withdrawn her mind and telepathy to protect her own mind, and so had not heard any of his current thoughts. Though his words were enough to confirm her suspicions.
“So you are of the race that destroyed the Empire a hundred years ago.” She laughed softly, slightly . .deranged . . and happy even. “Your people dropped more than one thing, like that tree at the lake. The corruption that eats the land, the darkness that blesses this whole place”
She shivered then, an odd thing for her to do, seeing as she didn’t move much at all. A feral grin spread across her dark lips. Alexis would roll her eyes if it would do her any good, she had hear everything he said, threatening her again and again and she was actually being cordial.
“Look . . Mister . . whatever your name is, you really suck at this bargaining and trade thing, I don’t think you get it, I don’t care what you do to the remaining people here or the landscape, I really don’t but threatening me is going to get you nowhere. Whether or not you attack me, one I have no blood for you to spill . . Im not mortal, I will regenerate” she said with a shrug “so . . be there one of you or a hundred, I feel like I stand a pretty decent chance. That’s not what I want though. What I want is to meet the darkness that did all this . . the darkness that created …..everything” she stopped herself from divulging too much and blinked.
“I don’t think it was left alone because it wasn’t worth your time, I think it was left alone for other reasons, but that’s beside the point. I’ve been looking for a way to find your kind again. But the only thing I’ve ever found was a halfassed incantation in Latin that was missing way more than it had. As for an artifact, I’d be willing to trade for more information on your kind, but I truly haven’t found anything of the sort. The few things on my person I can account for their origins, weapons and armors made by demons, and an infernal spellbook that was my mother’s none of which I’m willing to trade. You say I have this . . thing on me, but I do not” she said as she rose to her feet on the barrel slowly. She made no sudden moves, but did unclasp her cloak to show him that she wasn’t lying. She had a battle axe and a longsword, along with the larger pack on her back before settling back on the barrel as she was before, crouched and ready to move if she needed to. She very carefully kept herself from thinking of her core though, not wanting a stray thought to give away what she really was.
“Your people bade my mother and her partner to build the church, there most of the darkness gathers, and while I have searched through it, the only thing I can think of that could be of interest to you would be the inverted cross above the pulpit, though it gives off no different energy than anything else within the building”
May 25, 2019
100 years Ago : The Empire of the Forsaken Rose -A kingdom on a floating island, surrounded by a protective barrier. The lush green fields and an inexplicable waterfall kept the 2000acres of fields and forests lush and fertile, fish and wildlife abound in the lakes and woods, it seemed a land of plenty, ruled by two women, an immortal Mage who specialized in being a Demon Shaman, and an ancient Methuselah Gangrel vampire. Kali, and Raven had ruled the island for well on a century, welcoming demons and other dark beings to their peaceful sanctuary. However, neither of the women were originally from this realm where the Empire was located, instead they had been thrown there through a magical mishap nearly a hundred years before. As it was the two had learned to adapt and the strange environment, combined with the Mage’s magic, allowed both to become pregnant by their shared lover, a Blood Dragon, also from another realm. For one reason or another, no one ever really found out exactly why, a rather powerful Kinn was drawn to the Empire of the Forsaken Rose. Preaching and demanding that ‘what was rightfully his be returned to him’, speaking of gathering the souls of the profane beings that called the Empire home. Kali and Raven met him at the very gates of the imperial city, denying him access to their lands, people and sanctuary. Then for reasons only he will ever know, he agreed to be sealed into the nearby lake. Much to Kali and Raven’s dismay much later. His profane presence sealed into the lake leeched darkness and evil into the waters, and then the lands, encouraging a great, dark tree to erupt from the surface of the calm waters and grow at an exceptional rate, becoming fully grown in under a weeks time. The lake and land around it began to dye and decay becoming darkly contaminated from the creature’s presence, and the call to other kinn began to emanate from the damned branches of the Kinn Tree. Knowing they didn’t have long, the two rulers put the Empire in lock down and began evacuating it’s citizens. A fight was imminent, and they both knew this to be true. In an effort to be better prepared, the two used magic to accelerate their pregnancies, to have their children before they had to fight this . . thing sealed within the lake. They should have just left, but both were very territorial, and this was their home. Pride is a more deadly sin than either of them knew. Raven’s child did not survive the rapid magical aging, fueling her rage towards the creature that had caused the necessity, Kali on the other hand bore twin girls, Alexia, and Endrea. Mere days passed before the Kinn began to arrive. Kali and Raven had gone down to the lake to assess the situation and supervise the last excursion of their people, guards were evacuating people through the tavern, Kali’s twins among the last to leave, when the Kinn set upon them. The fight did NOT go how either group thought it would, and neither side would likely consider it a ‘win’ or a loss. The last group of evacuees, including the children, were captured, their souls rent from their bodies and formed into a dark crucifix as a sort of punishment, with only a small group, including Endrea, able to escape into a portal to another realm. Kali and Raven put up one hell of a fight, even managing to severely damage Fides, the original kinn to visit the empire, trapping nearly 13,000 of his souls using Soul Sand and starfire. But when the people were trapped into the crucifix, Kali lost her focus. In a fit of rage, she sent Raven through a portal and back to earth where they were originally from. Then she shed all but her most powerful demonic contracts, purifying her body so that she could take up her more divine abilities, calling upon the fires of the sun and stars, she proceeded to fight until her very last. At the last second, she threw herself through a portal, landing somewhere in the universe, broken and weak. The Aftermath – The Empire of the Forsaken Rose – 100 years ago
Sometime during the fight between the rulers of the empire and the Kinn, the Dark crucifix was dropped into the lake. There it sank to the bottom, and over the years, absorbed the evil energy that the Kinn Tree bled into the waters. The lake and land around it became more and more desecrated. The once crystalline waters becoming murky and choked with algae, the white sands of the beach turning dark and the land around them dying and decaying as the evil seeped into the abandoned empire. Slowly over the decades, the buildings decayed, the land became corrupt and dark, overtaking any signs of the once lively civilization. Eventually, all that stood was the dark church. Here a secret was kept in the underground vault, a book of spells so evil that it had no name, referred to only as the Book of Vile Evil. Bound and sealed by Kali, who was now gone, the evil of the tree and the evil of the book itself slowly eroded the seals and bindings that once held the tome docile. Evil from both sources ate into the land, corrupting it until the very island was nothing but a dark splotch floating in the air. The soul stealing spell that had been cast upon the sands of the beach to damage the kinn Fides, remained, littering the shoreline of the small lake. Any and all who tread upon the sands, instantly lost their souls, captured in the tiny, enchanted crystals of sand. Now, the beach lay littered with the bones of the dead, humanoid, demon, animal, everything that touched those sands died nearly instantly, but this served as a protective barrier, and the lake remained undisturbed for nearly 60 years.
During those sixty years, much transpired at the bottom of the lake. Protective barriers of diamond, onyx and stone formed around the crucifix, trapping within them the soul sands that had been stolen from Fides incarnation. The souls within the crucifix were hardly dormant or docile and within the artifact factions had formed. Some supporting Alexis’ and others assaulting her very soul, blaming her mother for their capture. Alexis, though young was able to fight these off, her will to live stronger than their will to destroy her and she eventually dominated them, taking control of the consciousness of the crucifix. With time and effort, the very mud of the lakebed was used to collect the flesh of the dead creatures above and the two compounds were fused magically together to create her first constructed, homunculi body. Using will and magic, Alexis rose from the bottom of the lake, and for the next decade gathered souls and flesh from the living creatures that now called the descrated lands of the Empire 'home'. She spent the next 15 years or so discovering and exploring her mother's 'home'. A keep on the edge of the once imperial city. Here she discovered a great many things. Ways to further strengthen her magic and body, weapons and armors to defend herself, and finally the location of a dark vault, deep within the ruins of the keep itself. It took Alexis another five years or so to find out how to get the damn vault open, and when she did, the sheer evil presence of the Book nearly overwhelmed her. Her dark hands laid upon the flesh bound book brought dark knowledge the which she never expected, and empowered her to an extent that she now gave off the fearful aura of a Lich. The hunger for more dark knowledge invading her mind and corrupting the last bit of 'good' left in her soul. The spells within would only exacerbate the condition, and Alexis would find herself hunting humans for their parts . .as well as their souls to power the dark magics of the book.
Q was out meandering, which was how the vast majority of his time was spent the past few years. Today though he had a particular place in mind to try and find, there was a tale whispered by some of a place encountered long ago, it had quite a history to it, a place where the kinn had set foot, but not conquered. At least not conquered in the tradition definition by their standards. What had caught Q’s attention was that Fides had once been “sealed” here, into a lake, and had lost a sizable number of souls in some conflict with the ruler. The place might have been damn near impossible to find had it not been for one important thing, before having left the place a Kinn tree had taken root, and Q was seeking it out. He sought the souls that Fides had lost, according to the story the souls were like grains of sand on a beach, numbering in the thousands. Q had not decided just what to do with them, when and if he could acquire them. He might keep them for himself, or possibly return them to the Evencar, and gan some favor or boon for the completion of the task, time would tell. As he came across this place he found the a beach, with the tree in plain view, he paused and looked about being slightly weary, though the scenery was quite to his liking, nice dark and profane. He stood in plain sight taking in the place and its ambiance. Q stands thirteen feet in height, usually towering over most people. He has a striking face plate which seems to be made from a black scrying mirror that is cracked, revealing the left side of his face which is nothing but darkness. The face plate seems to grow a modest crown of horns which purveys a sort of bestial nobility. He wears a heavy leather trench coat with a high collar and hood, the pauldrons on the coat are made from a heavy black metal with a soft sheen. His hands are covered by a pair of fine leather gloves and around his waist is a black leather belt, the left side has a small tasset with a gothic silver design carved into it. The belt holds a rather ominous looking lantern on his right hip, the lantern itself is a black chiton and produces a soft eerie purple glow. His legs are covered with fairly loose leather pants that have an abundance of leather straps fastened around his upper thighs. On his feet are a pair of almost standard issue combat boots which he keeps fairly well polished, the main feature setting them apart being regular issue combat boots is the silver Petrean crosses on both sides of the ankles.
Alexis had actually garnered quite the reputation for herself in the few nearby towns. It was kind of hard to keep a presense like her own secret, there wernt too many homicidal frankenstein looking women wandering the world after all. And after her last excursion of procuring some pretty, slightly tanned flesh and a mop of beautiful red hair . .she had made her way back to her 'home'. The vault was always keept closed and warded and locked in secrecy, and only emmited any sort of 'signature' when she opened the door. It wasn't too very far from the lake either, so when she decided to leave for the day, it would not go unnoticed. The Book, her special equipment and other needed items were dropped into a special warded hip satchel that hung over her basic leather leggins and corseted top. With her fresh skin she actually appeared human, except if one looked close enough. Thin, surgically fine stitches ran over her arms and shoulders like 'seams'. Today her task was to gather up more of the souls stolen by the enchanted sands of the lake, even though they were animal souls, they were still useful in powering some of the lesser spells in the book.She moved quietly towards the lake though, her head cocking to one side as she saw the creature standing near the shores, her eyes narrowed as she took cover behind one of the few remaning but desecrated trees, pulling on some of her power to prepare and defend herself if need be.
He stood near the sands, he managed to figure out fairly quickly from the beach littered with corpses both decayed and decaying it would not be a good idea to simply walk across it. He took in a deep breath letting out a sigh of frustration and shook his head. A fair deal of the corpses in the sands were mere beasts, they would have tainted the pool of souls Q was after, and he was not so skilled that he would be able to sift through them, surely there were some areas where the souls were “more potent”, but the fact remained animals would be in the mix no matter where he tried to pull them from, rending the sands would be easy, but he was not about to profane himself with animals, that was far beneath him. He lifted his left hand to his faceplate and slid it over his face slowly as he tilted his head back. He had spent a fair deal of effort in getting here and just leaving would have made the trip a pointless one, which he would not accept. The place seemed fairly desolate from what he could see of it, which was good, he was not in much of a mood for a conflict. *surely there must be something here of worth, aside from the scenery* he mused to himself as he stood staring at the tree now. He played with the concept of getting to the tree itself, that would not be too hard, but he was not sure if there would be anything of worth at the tree. That being what it was his attention turned now to the ruins of this place, even if he could not find anything of material worth it would be an experience to tread these grounds, once proud Kinn had fought here, perhaps this place would hold some artifacts of note or other tell tale signs to add to the stories told of this place. With another sigh and shrug he began to walk through the ruins here, looking into the ruins to see what he could find, if anything.
…..Alexis stood beside the tree watching the creature at the shoreline, curious to see if he was dumb enough to step upon the enchanted sands. The original spell had enchanted only five pounds of sand, and only a very very small portion of that had been ‘used’. The rest of the enchanted sands had dropped to the beach and the grassy area around it, the waters of the lake and even the small island that now supported the kinntree. Luckily the creature was wearing some sort of protective gear upon his feet, elsewise he would likely have been loosing souls little by little with each step he took. In fact, if his garments, shoes, or equipment were made of souls, he would likely be experiencing the loss as there was no way to prevent this particular spell from doing its job, especially with direct contact. But . . who would notice souls disappearing in small amounts? five here . . ten there . . . with each step, or drag of a garment or whatever over the sands hidden on the ground in the grass. Sand was a pesky thing like that. You could never control were it went or ended up and it ALWAYS ended up EVERYWHERE.
…..Now Alexis had no issue with the soul stealing sands, because none of it could touch the source of her own souls, the crucifix hidden and protected, deep within her body. Her body of course being a construct was immune to such silly things as soul stealing sands. She could however, ‘sense’ that this was no normal creature standing on the shores of her birthplace.
…..Alexis leaned against the tree as she watched him, her brows furrowed and darkened eyes narrowed as she tried to decide ‘what’ he was. She could feel the magnitude of many souls but didn’t quite understand it, though, she wondered vaguely if this creature might be one of the “kinn” or “dark creatures” that her mother had written about in one of the entries of the book Alexis now carried with her.
….*surely there must be something here of worth, aside from the scenery* he mused to himself as he stood staring at the tree now.
…..Alexis’ left brow lifted as he finally spoke to himself, he had yet to turn or see her or sense her it seemed, and her curiosity was one of her few weaknesses. She ‘needed’ to know things, many things, many varied and useful things. Her voice would echo over to him, though she did not speak in a physical manner. She had no working vocal cords after all, instead she used telepathy, and if his mind was closed and blocked to such magic’s then they were both crap out of luck.
…..“depends on what your looking for” Her telepathic voice was cold and flat, but it echoed with the telltale signs of many voices speaking in unison. It was not as cohesive as a Kinn, nor as organized. It was more like a crowd speaking all at once, and that was part of what drove most mortals insane.
…..Her head tilted to one side as he turned away from the lake and towards the ruins. She had explored them for years, and had gathered most if not all things of value from them, though what she considered valuable probably varied from what he did, but even so, she wasn’t too worried about him exploring anything except the Keep which she called home. That she would defend to the best of her abilities.
Q’s clothes had prevented the loss of souls from the scattered sands in the grass near the lake, and he had spent some time staring at the tree though the tree itself hid the presence of Alexis. Usually the cross at her core would have given her away immediately, its profanity a thing which would call out to Kinn, though it having been so close to the tree it was impossible for Q to tell she had been there. Her voice though, he did hear that. It wasn't something that had registered though as a separate person, he had mistaken it for the voices of his soul pool. That being what it was he paid it little mind as he began to make his way through the remnants of the city that had been here.
The place was certainly in a ruinous state, though it had not been entirely abandoned altogether, there were tell tale signs of life here and there, looting mostly. It had implied that despite the stories there had indeed been survivors of a sort. Just as to where they were now though was a thing he didn't know, if any of the scavengers were here at the moment he was unaware of them. Most of what had been left was unremarkable, various dishes and clothes. Anything of true use or worth was thoroughly picked over, everything that was left was truly mundane, to include a few skeletal remains. Q mused to himself what the survivors though, what were there stories of the place? Did they tell the same stories, same being a relative term as obviously the point of view was a different one. To them it was most likely a massacre of sorts, maybe “Armageddon”, he could not rightly say what their point of view was. To the kinn the story was one of a conflict, which remained for the most part unresolved. About the only things certain in the story was that they had been here and a great deal of misery and suffering had been visited upon the populace. A part of the story served as a warning, the details entaling the actions of “oblitus canis bellum” and the consequences thereof were a thing which had a tendency to instill a degree of fear. In Q’s mind it was an overzealous reaction of the Kinn that had come. Sure it was understandable, he had nothing to do with it, but given the context he had from the story he more or less understood. He still doubted the legitimacy of it….Fides being sealed into a lake? That wasn’t likely. Surely the Evencar had been here, the kinn tree on the island spoke to that, but as to weather or not it had actually been sealed was up for debate. Q didn’t think there was any means in existence outside from the influence of The Father that could actually bind such a beast as Fides.
He had spent hours going over the town and pondering the people and their stories, piecing together what he could of the truths of the tale from the ruins. The city truly had been picked clean, he found not a single thing that interested him. The only thing left now was the castle, which was probably more the same, but there was a better chance that there would be places here that had been locked. Perhaps that would have kept the looters out, but there was no telling. It had been some time since this had happened, and there had been more than enough time for people to have destroyed doors and picked locks. He let out a huff of frustration as he made his way to the main way which would take him into the castle.
Alexis watched as the …. Being stared at her tree without seeing her, without hearing her, without acknowledging her at all, and frowned. And then she remembered that she was likely still cloaked and invisible to mortal eyes. She was a little forgetful sometimes, but she didn’t think that should have affected the creature across the lake from her. He clearly wasn’t mortal, but then again . . he hadn’t heard her either, so maybe he was just some .. thing . .perhaps a construct like herself? No, no that didn’t make sense, he seemed more . . she wasn’t entirely sure, just . . more.
.
There was a small, hidden sandbar from the tree’s island to the shore, covered in the algae and seaweed and muck that polluted the rest of the lake. Unless one knew it was there, it was impossible to find. Alexis used this sandbar to get to the shore and follow along behind him to the ruins of the city. Her head tilted back and forth curiously as she watched him examine things and then head towards and through the ruins of the imperial city. She wasn’t hiding from him, nor had she made any effort to identify herself either though.
.
As he ducked into one of the buildings closer to the castle, Alexis moved beyond him to her home, the keep. Here she spent some time rechecking her defenses and even scattering a handful of the soul sands around the only two doors to the building itself. They hadn’t seemed to do anything to him before, and she didn’t count on them doing anything now, but it couldn’t hurt either. She knew eventually he would find his way here to the southwest of the main castle ruins. The keep and the Church were the only two buildings that had withstood the test of time and evil. It was here that she would wait for him, herself planted upon an upturned barrel about a hundred feet from the front door of the keep itself.
.
Once he approached, as surely he would, she would speak to him telepathically once more. Perhaps he didn’t have telepathic ability, or perhaps he was crazy and thought her voice had been the voice of imagination in his head. She had no idea, but telepathy was a natural ability for her, and required little to no effort or energy on her part. In preparation for the fact he might NOT be able to hear telepathic communications, she also prepared the spell that would allow her to ‘speak’ more naturally, though she wouldn’t energize it unless she needed to. In the remaining time, she would check her supplies and weapons, and pull a cloak over herself, appearing more ‘normal’ usually settled the mortals she hunted after all.
Reaching the castle Q was a bit more weary. The ruler here in the stories had been able to employ a formidable magic, and the sand he had already run across had proven that bit of the story to be true. He wondered if he might happen across any tomes, or scrolls, something that might make him aware of just how the woman had managed such magics. It was mostly in ruins, a shabby testament of what this place had once been. He chuckled as he came in musing over the phrase “a shadow of its former self”. He did pause for a moment in front of the main entrance, it was a small thing but given the propensity of some to scatter salt to ward off evil the sand managed to catch his eye. His lips pursed as he reached out to push the doors open, they were heavy but it was something he was able to manage, so it was obvious this was not salt. He stood in the doorway for a while, if it was not salt then it was likely sand...probably the same sand from the beach, which was able to steal souls. That made him wonder, who...or what had placed it there and how, making him more cautious of the castle and whatever remained within.
He had not been here long when he picked up on something which caught his attention. It wasn’t something he could see, at least not yet but he felt it. It was faint, which meant likely that it was small, but it was definitely of Kinn, the “energy” such things gave off was not something easily mistaken for something else, and certainly not something a kinn would mistake.the energy of it was too faint to be another kinn, that or it was able to draw in its aura incredibly well. So well in fact he doubted it could be another Kinn, perhaps an artifact, or something that was particularly tainted? This made him stave off his initial impulse to explore the ruins and seek out the source of the energy, it came from him to the south west. His advance was fairly cautious as he still wondered what had placed the sand but he pressed on with sme haste. It was only a matter of minutes until he came across her, a seemingly random woman wrapped in a cloak.
When he caught sight of her he paused his head tilting to the right, *what.in.the.fuck.* was a loud and clear thought in his mind. This woman, who was wrapped in a cloak sitting on a barrel was the source of the energy he felt, and it seemed like she was waiting for him. Given the energy she gave off he couldn't help but wonder if she was, and how long had she been waiting? Now that he was this close he was sure she gave off a kinn energy, but it was corrupted, it wasn’t “pure”. This made him wonder all the more as his head tilted to left, noticing now that she also...had a soul pool, and a fairly considerable one. Again the thought loud and prominent in his mind *whatdafuq?*. Maybe this wasn’t a woman who was waiting, maybe it was a reliquary. It would explain a few things, sometimes people hid artifacts in statues but there did seem to be life to her. That being what it was he approached her slowly and reached for his lanter and lifted it into the air to better light the area, the faint purple glow of the lantern growing in intensity to offer a surprising amount of light as the thousands of souls within it began to dance about excitedly.
Alexis was perfectly capable of sitting completely still for long periods of time. The distinct lack of need to breath allowed her that statue like stillness and came quite in handy when she was removing skins from her victims, her hands perfectly still no shaking allowed for the most precise cuts. But that was neither here nor there as she waited for Q to finally find the Keep. Though the wait allowed her to revel in her last ‘acquisition’, the skin and hair she now wore. The magic that kept everything fresh and free from rot and stench was still upon her and as she waited for him. She worked it so that she became more and more ‘whole’ the stitching and seams slowly disappearing as the parts became part of her construct. An . . absorption of sorts.
.
Hours passed as she waited there on that barrel, one foot propped on the edge of it, with her arms wrapped around it and her chin resting on her knee patiently when he finally came into view. The only movement she offered was to sit up slowly and remove the hood of the cloak, revealing the long beautiful red hair, and bright green eyes. She blinked slowly as she caught his thought of what.in.the.fuck . and smiled darkly, her mind brushed against his again, this time with a little more force than before, she was being polite. She reached up to touch her temple as well, tapping it lightly with her fingers before speaking telepathically to him.
.
Well that’s rude. I am a woman, clearly Her ‘voice’ was touched with sarcasm and irritation, her face frowning out at him.
.
He was indeed correct that she gave off Kinn energy, and even had a soul pool of sorts, but he was quite mistaken on the ‘corrupt’ part. Her cross and the stolen souls in the soul sands as well as the souls she herself had collected, were all actually quite separate. The souls of the kingdom making up her center, her cross could not be added to nor removed from, not by her at least and as such her artifact was ‘pure’. The souls stolen from Fides were separate as well, the sands hidden and protected within the diamond layer of her ‘heart’, these she COULD use, but had barely touched them, and were uncorrupted as well. What he was likely sensing were the souls she had stolen herself, using the sands from the lake and her own powers. This was likely what he was sensing as her soul pool, these were corrupt and unpure, as the souls and energies came from both humanoid and animal, and were her main ‘power source’ for her spells and workings. These souls were also not gathered in a Kinn like way, they were not ‘reeducated’ or touched with darkness like the souls of her cross and heart. These were simply stolen via magic, and used to power the dark works that Alexis had discovered in the Book of Vile Darkness.
.
What brings you to such a dark and desolate place? Don’t you know that this land is cursed? Touched by Darkness? Or have you come to try and cleanse my home? she asked him curiously, her voice echoing with the voices of many.
.
It was not unheard of for a priest or cleric to find their way here, they had even when the Empire was alive and vibrant, always they sought to cleanse the land and the demons that called it home. But after the fall, many had come to try and cleanse the lands, purify them, but none had realized that the Kinn Tree and the presence of the profane book worked against them, and always brought the darkness back. -
It was obvious in the light that she frowned, which made him pause for a moment, statues didn’t usually move. Then before he heard her voice in his head she moved again, he imagined the gesture was to make him aware those voices he had heard earlier were not from his own pool, the voice was hers. His eyes would widen in surprise, though any facial expression he made was obscured by his face plate. He didn’t have any telepathic gift so speak of, but he could hear her, and apparently she could hear him...hear his thoughts. That might be a bit of an issue, he was impressed though she could pick out his thoughts among the thousands he held. She asked him why he was here, and if he knew the lands were “cursed”, “touched by darkness”. He chuckled airly at that thought, to him those things were blessings, not curses. huc venimus, quia a narratur nostri, populus, erat a...bellum, quod locum hic aliquod tempus ante. An notos nostra perdidit aliquid satis pretiosum, et nos putavimus posset invenire eam...vel potius eos. De cognitione, si locus est maledictus, nec non scire, quod, velimus dicere beatus pro, tactus tenebris est gloriosum donum, quod grati. Quod quid sit, non habemus intentione "purgatio" hoc loco(we came here because of a story told by our people, there was a…battle that took place here some time ago. An acquaintance of ours lost something pretty precious, we thought we might be able to find it...or rather them. About knowing if the place was cursed, no we didn't know that, we would call it blessed instead, the touch of darkness is a glorious gift, something to be thankful for. That being what it is we have no intention of “cleansing” this place.) he lifted his other hand and motioned around before continuing.”putamus locum habet potius nice quod aer, admonet domum...nunc, te dicere hoc loco, est in domum tuam? Nee scire aliquid reliquiis, quod proelium, historiam, inquit, hoc loco est ultra decimari, ruinas hoc loco probare satis a frenum de inferno erat visitavit hic...vos superstites...aut hic venit post? Putas, non refert, quantum, fortasse qui lecta super reliquias, aut scire, qui fuerit? Te invenire aliquid "satis"? Si non possemus venire ad aliquod genus....dispositio, ad mercaturam.”(we think the place has a rather nice atmosphere, reminds us of home...now, you say this place, is your home? We weren't aware of any survivors of that battle, story says this place was beyond decimated, the ruins of this place prove quite a bit of hell was visited here...you survived...or came here after? Suppose it doesn’t matter much, maybe your the one who picked over the remnants, or know who has? You find anything “pretty”? If you did we might be able to come to some kind of….arrangement, for a trade.) Q lowered his arms to his side, affixing the lantern to his waist before he began to slowly walk towards the woman. It was a gamble of sorts, he intended to come close enough so that his aura might affect her, maybe greed would kick in and make her eager to come to some kind of deal. There was nothing guaranteeing she had anything he would want, but there was a chance, hell the woman had a soul pool, maybe she had a relic of sorts that held souls, or maybe a book, that would tell him how she, or the people before managed to rend souls from bodies.
Alexis sat quite still as they spoke, it took her a little bit of concentration to translate his latin in her mind. She was fluent, but she had only had rare occassion to actually speak it, and took her a moment to switch 'mindspaces' as it were. "Et Latine loqui, quia est in his partibus rara scientia, et annuntiet mihi: non est hinc." (You speak latin, that is a rare skill in these parts, and tells me you are not from here. ) she replied in her own unaccented Latin. She blinked slowly as she contemplated what he said and the offer he made, not speaking again until he began to move closer to her. Her head tilted to the left curiously and her eyes narrowed as she watched him, though other than that she didn't move. She returned to common though, allowing her concentration to focus on the threat that he could possibly pose instead of fancy language. "You explored the ruins of the city, you passed by many pretty baubles. And at the lake you seemed to be searching for something as well. So . .maybe if you tell me exactly what your looking for, I can help you" She said as she glanced down at the ground, she could 'see' his aura in a way, could feel it as he got closer. "Please stop there" she said as it came within a couple of feet of her barrel, her voice flat and bland as she looked back up at him suspiciously.
After it had received its gifts from the Evencar, Kage had returned to the all encompassing darkness once again, to wander the realms in search of those who would be seen as worthy to join their ranks, however there was a slight tug within the darkness, whispers of an old tale catching it's attention, Kage didn't know a great deal of history when it came to the Kinn, only what that of which the darkness had shared with it. It shifted directions and would follow the whispers as they grew louder into more coherent words, than took the shadows of a rather desolate realm. The battle that unfolded was told through the shadow memories, Kage's eyes adjusting to the oddity of the dual imaging as the event unfolded before it, thankful once again that the All Father had allowed such abilities to remain within it, it certainly made it's job that much easier in the end. It was than Kage picked up on two other beings within the area, returning back to the shadows it followed their energy to the remnants of a structure that appeared to be a keep of sorts. Kage kept it shadows, energy and aura close to itself not to alert the two before it of its presence, even though from their energy he was certain they would be aware of some one or something joining them. For now it would remain silent, and watchful, curious as to how these beings would interact with one another, and what it was that it could learn from both of them.
He was surprised she responded in latin, and understood him, most impressive was the lack of an accent. She squinted at his approach, which made him wonder for a minute if maybe she could see the field of his aura. When she spoke again it was obvious she had seen him looking through the place, and she was right in a way, there had been a few things which might have held some monetary value. He was more surprised she had seen him at the lake, he would wonder about that later though. She asked him to stopped, and for the time being he was obliged to do so. Despite being a Sinner he was not all that fond of combat, he had been around quite some time and involved in a number of the battles in the seraph wars,more than a few battles with dragons, and even fought against elves. Combat was a calling, some would say Q was birthed for the soul purpose of ending lives, but his thirst for blood had been slaked over the eons. She wanted to know what exactly he was looking for, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to just tell her, that might make it a hell of a lot harder to come to an agreement, he wasn’t after things which held monetary value, though in fact what he was after most may well have been quite valuable. Q’s head tilted for a moment as he took note of some one he let out an audible clicking of his tongue making the “tsk” sound. *hiding in the shadows are we?* was a thought, he forgot for a moment the woman could hear his thoughts, he was addressing Kage, though he did not know his name...or his position yet. His words came quickly enough though, and in an attempt to be polite in common, though his accent was a bit thick, almost enough to make him difficult to understand, seldom if ever would he speak this way, he hated common, it was almost vulgar to him. “Well...miss, we are looking forrr….mm” he paused trying to think of proper wording. ”spell books...orrr maybeee” again his mind stalled as he thought of a proper term, “necromantic relics?...things of the dead?” he rolled his hand over a few times hinting he was searching his mind for the common word ”animas”. He had notice the woman dodged answering where she was from, for now though that was something in the back of his mind, he was after something...though he was curious about it, more now that she had dodged the question. To him that meant she was probably hiding something, and secrets..those were valuable too.
Alexis actually shifted on the top of the barrel as she felt a second presence enter the vicinity. It was rare for anyone to come here, let alone two dark presences such as these, and it set her slightly on edge. Were they hunting her? Had the villagers finally gotten up the nerve to contract something dark to try and hunt her down? After all their previously failed attempts in the past, perhaps they had finally had enough of her body snatching and soul stealing to the point they would hire . . what . . demons? No . .these two weren't demons. She frowned as she now perched like a bird on the edge of the barrel, ready to move if the need arose. Her head tipped to the other side as the one before her addressed the new one, and then tried to distract her with more questions. Her hands now rested on her daggers, hidden under her cloak. Her eyes darted about, trying to locate that second presence for a few moments as Q paused to think about how to word his questions. Her brows narrowed and her eyes darkened as she couldn't quite pinpoint the location though, the many souls of each of these beings was throwing her off a bit, similar but not the same as she. Her head snapped back in Q's direction though, frustration and anger coloring her mental voice now. "tell it to come into view or it's not going to like the consequences" she told him, one hand coming into view with a medium sized glass bottle half full of sand. (think coke bottle) The hesitation in Q to describe what he was looking for, caused her to explore a bit deeper into his mind than most would consider polite, though it truly was not an attack, more her curiosity, and frustration that he couldn't word what he wanted. The image of a rosary cross was fuzzy, but made her shut down completely, totally withdrawing from his mind before he could get the idea to search her own. She even switched to speaking physically through her enchanted rock. "Nothing like that here, and I have laid claim to any and all magical supplies I've found in my home" she said, sounding a touch territorial. "which would include books, supplies, weapons, armors, items and anything else enchanted . . .. or that I deem of worth in my studies." yep, she was feeling threatened "Perhaps I might share some of those things with you . . if the price is right, but this conversation is over until your companion shows himself. You want something, I want knowledge that I think you may have. " she offered.
Well the one was definitely Kinn, clear as day by it's appearance alone, the energy that flowed off it spoke even further into that thought, however what was this woman, she had the sense of a kinn but was not, she even had a soul pool, and the attitude of one but still clearly was not Kinn. "We do not hide, we observe and learn." the sounds of thousands of whispers and echoes flowed from the surroundings shadows, even as the woman was determined to pinpoint his exact location Kage was constantly moving around within the shadows, which made it quite a bit more difficult to pinpoint it, however the curiosity of the woman and the thought of meeting yet another brethren did fancy his state of mind at the moment. A swirling cloud of shadows would flow in like that of smoke on a breeze before Kage's frame would take on a semi-solid form, pitch black from head to toe, minus the silver chains and rings that adorn its frame and horns, thick black bones hugged its ribs, hands and lower, and was it standing in bare feet? "So demanding of woman to order us in such a threatening manner, if it weren't for our brethern's interest in you and your 'home' we would be sure to level this area for such rude mannerisms." Kage stood with it arms crossed in front of its chest as it leaned back against a wall, still very much within the shadows.
Q was having a hell of a time watching the womans face she switched expression fairly often for reasons he was unaware, though her frown was obvious enough. She knew another Kinn was here *ahh shit* he thought. Luckily Kage took some initiative and answered her when she demanded he come out. Kage manifested which drew Q’s attention he lifted his head, up and to the side in wonder, he didn't know this one, *someone new...and...important?* He also gave her a bit of attitude in kind and spoke to it being Q’s more inquisitive nature that was saving her an “asswhoopin”. He had forgotten she could read his mind, psychics were something he was familiar with, but he never had any gifts for it, he didn't even have any decent counter, aside from his mind was hidden in thousands, which apparently did not deter the woman. He couldn't even feel her digging around in his head as he fumbled through the common tongue. It did get his attentions and he sarcastically raised his hands in response to her reaching for weapons, it wasn't bloody likely they could hurt him, but then again there were the stories, and who knew where the hell she got those pointy things from. She told him to tell the other to come out, and took out a bottle, filled with sand, he actually laughed aloud at that, a bit presumptuous to give him an order, but, they were more or less in her home, and Q was trying to make a deal with her. He shook his head as he scoffed, “ohh you lie...and to our face no less, and you called us rude? We know..and you know damn well that's a lie woman, see, you can dig in my mind, read my thoughts...but we...we can feel that which is of us, things that are ours..and you definitely have something. Our brother here seems eager to tear the part this place...the little that remains of it, so yhea, you are in the right to feel threatened...we haven't threatened you yet….trying to be friendly, make a deal...a little quid pro quo(this for that). But if you lie to us again… here he motioned to Kage before continuing think we will let him teach you some manners, bring you to heel, make you understand...we...don't have to be nice, generally we take what we want, and really...far as we concerned you’ve just made yourself out as a lying thief. Sometimes those are good traits, but not when you steal from us...not when you lie...to us. So, lets try this again, what do you have...that is ours, THAT is what we are after, and we are not leaving without it. Mind your manners, we can trade. Be a bitch...and well… here he tilted his head at Kage once more, insinuating what might happen.
Alexis didn't move or startle even a little as Kage finally showed himself, somewhat, and leaned against a wall in her peripheral vision. A strange thing happened then, something no normal living creature could accomplish, and her right eye peered off in his direction, while her left stayed trained on Q. Unnervering to say the least, especially since it did not seem to split her focus.
.
"It may be demanding and rude, but your the one that was hiding and spying, so shall I call you cowardly and suspicious?" it wasn't a direct insult, it was quite litterally just a question, though her voice seemed to emanate from her pocket now, and was more 'solid' and singular with the physical manifestation of a voice.
.
"The two of you have come here with hidden purpose, you want something that you cannot or willnot describe, and you gather in numbers against a single entity, its enough to make anyone a bit territorial. Not to mention threatening to bring down my home, can’t you see your kind have done enough damage here already?” she asked Kage, making the assumption that these two were or at least were related to the creatures described by her mother in the Book.
.
“From what I can surmise, that didn’t end too well for the previous visitors” she added darkly and smirked. “or the people that lived here before, but that’s besides the point. I don’t appreciate being threatened when I haven’t even done anything but return to my home.”
.
Her attention was drawn back to Q as he accused her of lying to him about something. The frown deepened as she contemplated his words, she had not lied about anything. Nor was she a theif, not in the manner that he was accusing her of at least.
.
“I’ve not stolen anything that could be considered yours in anyway that I am aware of. If one of your kind left something behind here from over a hundred years ago, you can hardly claim it as your own. Nor can we make a deal of any sort if you can’t or won’t even tell me exactly what it is your looking for. I was willing to deal and possibly trade, but you yourself are making such an act more difficult than need be. Now, as for being nice, neither of us has to be ‘nice’ we can do this the hard way. I assure you, you will never find what you seek if you attack me though, nor would you like the consequences of doing so. I saw your hesitation at the lake, you know what the sands can do. Your boots may protect your feet, but what about your other bits?” she asked him point blank, her face showing curiosity.
.
“then again . .maybe you don’t, we could experiment” she said with a dark smirk growing across her mouth, her tongue lapped out to lick her dry lips, lips that never once moved as she ‘spoke’. She would hold the bottle out towards him and wiggled it a little bit before pulling the thing back towards her, She uncorked it, but then put it back on her belt where it had come from. It was open and ready for use if she needed it, but it was now also being ‘put away’ as a gesture of good faith. The swishing of her cloak would reveal a few of the other items she carried, there were bracers over her forearms and grieves over her legs, a utility like belt that had many pouches and a few vials, along with her bottle. A larger bag was still hidden on her back, but the length of a sword or axe could be seen briefly along with daggers strapped to either thigh. She could clearly take care of herself.
.
She frowned again though, frustrated with the exchange “Look, I just acquired this body and I’d rather it not be damaged so soon, so lets keep this civil. I ask you again, what is it your looking for? There are no rosaries here, except maybe in the church over yonder. But I’ve never seen one. Other than that, ‘what is of your kind’ tells me nothing”
Kage had looked to its brethren kinn and nodded in response to the inquiry about it being new and important, though it wasn’t entirely sure just how important it was really, only having just received the title and mantel. The pitch black endless pools of Kage’s sight watched intently to every movement the woman made as it listened to every word she spoke, tilting its head to the side in curiosity that she truly felt it cared what she called it, further insults and threats were not the path she wanted to take, especially not with one who still rather enjoyed bloodshed and violence, as it played into his sin of choice. “Non curo quid est te elegit, ut vocant, nobis, quicquid iuvat somnus mulier.” (We do not care what it is you chose to call us, whatever helps you sleep woman.) As Kage spoke it stood up from its position within the shadows and dropped its arms to its side before it would begin to make its way across the short distance to stand just off to the side and behind its brethren. Though he spoke in latin, the whispers of the thousands of souls that followed each word would be heard in every language known to him, but the common tongue would be the one that could be heard over all the others. “Autem, nos petere quod si vos volo ut servo hoc civili, vos abstinere a praeterea probra et minas te, nos vere non curo de historia cum absurdus entia, sed certe non cura cum caede est, possibilitas, ut nos ita frui divulgance in huiusmodi peccatis.” (However, we do ask that if you wish to keep this civil, you will refrain from further insults and threats yourself, we truly do not care about history with the grotesque beings, but we certainly do care when bloodshed is a possibility, as we do so enjoy the divulgence in such sins.)
Once he was near Q he would tilt his head, taking in the curiosity that this woman brought to the forefront of his mind, “Surgamus, et erit super nos. Nos vocantur Venandi, Umbra Militaris, tis voluptatem obviam talis monstrum sicut teipsum.” (Let us start over shall we. We are called Venandi, Shade Martial, tis a pleasure to meet such an oddity as yourself.)Kage even offered the woman light bow of it head, and now that it was standing near Q, she would see it held no such things as weapons, hell the only actual clothing it wore were the pants that hugged its waist. Kage was actually being polite, an odd sense all on its own for the being as it truly did not care how the woman would react one way or another, her soul pool alone would make the All Father rather happy, but there were ‘formalities’ to follow now. The shadows that clung to her frame under her cloak allowed him to see what she had hidden at her back, the multiple weapons she held on her person was yet just another curiosity to her, had she been hunted all this time by those within a nearby village, or was she the one hunting, the size of her soul pool was still in question as Kage couldn’t quite get a fix as to how she even had one, even with the consideration that she had just ‘acquired’ this body.
Q noticed the woman’s wandering eye...he wondered about how damn annoying it must be to have things like pupils. It had been forever since he was cursed, bound in flesh, a faint echo of a nightmare to him now. When she addressed Kage this time though with her cockeyed look his brow quirked, the voice was different, and came from her pocket. Kage basically gave the woman a “whatever bitch” as he came to stand behind and beside Q, he gave Kage a nod as he passed. At which point Kage touched on the same sort of spiel Q had with a mind your manners or we will break all your shit inference before giving the woman some manners and a proper introduction and even a very small bow of sorts. Q was just watching their back and forth for a bit, politely waiting his turn, taking note of what Alexis said. *wait hidden purpose, you’re shitting shitting me. I fuking want the Kinn artifact you have, we can sense it we know damn well you have it, and we didn’t call shit, dude just showed up. And you think this is damaged enough, fuck, this was gods damn mercy..hell most Kinn fukkin forgot this place was here, its an ass old story that no one really believes*, again he forgot the woman could read his thoughts, was something he was not used to at all.
When she turned her attention back to him there was a thinly veiled threat, though it might have been an actual question, and to be honest Q didn't actually know. *bitch you throw that at me it will be the last fuking thing you do….SHIT* this time he caught himself, albeit a bit to late. “Look...lady, we’re not sure what your deal is. Our people came here a long time ago, apparently they dropped something. Maybe you don’t know you have it, but you have have, and you have it on you...so we’ve already found it”. He held out his hand as he continued. “Now we are willing to trade, despite that as far as we are concerned its already our, it’s from our people...your people...the people who live here...well, LIVED here it’s obvious what happened there. My people are still around, strong and dominant. This place has been left alone because it was forgotten, “not worth paying attention to”. Now if you wanted to seem me call some people i can do that? And then...well, there not much here but there's still some things around, some of us might find that offensive, might want to erase all of it so it does become just some story.” He paused and pointed a waving lackadaisical finger at her and her equipment, and offered a side glance to Kage before continuing. “We don’t think your toys are going to be of much use, the sand...maybe, maybe not. Figure you’ve got one shot with that at best. Even in the BEST case you get one of us, maybe hurt the other...how do you imagine that will play out? You feel threatened by two of us...imagine a few hundred...or hell, maybe even the boogeyman from the story itself would come back, how’s that strike your fancy? We don’t really want to do that, you just got your body, we aren’t much in the mood for a fight…” He pointed over his shoulder as he continued “This one though, looks eager.” He let out a sigh and put his hand on his hip looking up to the ceiling before bringing his head back down to look at Alexis. “So let’s do this all civil aye? You do have a Kinn artifact, something left by the people that came before, our people, yes WE are Kinn. WE want the artifact back. Do you know what it is...do you know where it is, and finally, what do you want for it in trade?”
Alexis’ eye tracked Kage as he moved back towards the other creature that had arrived before it, her eyes returning to normal and her head turning slightly so that she could see the two of them properly again. She blinked a few times, allowing the adjustment to take place and even shifted slowly so that she was more crouched than perched on her barrel. She moved too smoothly to be human, though she looked like one currently. She also didn’t seem to breath, so there was that to consider as well.
She listened as Kage spoke and then introduced himself before speaking again.
”I am known as Alexis Rose” though that was clearly not her true or magical name. Her head quirked to the left as she focused in on Q again and frowned, she had withdrawn her mind and telepathy to protect her own mind, and so had not heard any of his current thoughts. Though his words were enough to confirm her suspicions.
“So you are of the race that destroyed the Empire a hundred years ago.” She laughed softly, slightly . .deranged . . and happy even. “Your people dropped more than one thing, like that tree at the lake. The corruption that eats the land, the darkness that blesses this whole place”
She shivered then, an odd thing for her to do, seeing as she didn’t move much at all. A feral grin spread across her dark lips. Alexis would roll her eyes if it would do her any good, she had hear everything he said, threatening her again and again and she was actually being cordial.
“Look . . Mister . . whatever your name is, you really suck at this bargaining and trade thing, I don’t think you get it, I don’t care what you do to the remaining people here or the landscape, I really don’t but threatening me is going to get you nowhere. Whether or not you attack me, one I have no blood for you to spill . . Im not mortal, I will regenerate” she said with a shrug “so . . be there one of you or a hundred, I feel like I stand a pretty decent chance. That’s not what I want though. What I want is to meet the darkness that did all this . . the darkness that created …..everything” she stopped herself from divulging too much and blinked.
“I don’t think it was left alone because it wasn’t worth your time, I think it was left alone for other reasons, but that’s beside the point. I’ve been looking for a way to find your kind again. But the only thing I’ve ever found was a halfassed incantation in Latin that was missing way more than it had. As for an artifact, I’d be willing to trade for more information on your kind, but I truly haven’t found anything of the sort. The few things on my person I can account for their origins, weapons and armors made by demons, and an infernal spellbook that was my mother’s none of which I’m willing to trade. You say I have this . . thing on me, but I do not” she said as she rose to her feet on the barrel slowly. She made no sudden moves, but did unclasp her cloak to show him that she wasn’t lying. She had a battle axe and a longsword, along with the larger pack on her back before settling back on the barrel as she was before, crouched and ready to move if she needed to. She very carefully kept herself from thinking of her core though, not wanting a stray thought to give away what she really was.
“Your people bade my mother and her partner to build the church, there most of the darkness gathers, and while I have searched through it, the only thing I can think of that could be of interest to you would be the inverted cross above the pulpit, though it gives off no different energy than anything else within the building”
Kage’s curiosity grew more and more the longer he listened to the woman, this was honestly his brethren’s dealings, but something about this woman seemed…..familiar, not the fact that he knew the woman or this place, but the sense of searching for answers within the darkness, much like her he had wandered the realms for so long in search of where he belonged, this woman had a step up being within an area where the Kinn had been, the stories and such to guide her, but furthermore she held within her the very same sense he did, maybe even more than she even realized. “Dixisti nuper accepit corpus tuum, tu non a corporis forma prior ad hoc unum, aut sunt in superioribus corporibus insufficiens.” (You said you just recently received your body, did you not have a physical form prior to this one, or were the previous bodies insufficient.) The many whispers and echoes spoke as he stepped forward and around his brethren as he approached the woman, he had seen how the woman reacted to Q’s aura so as an attempt to continue the conversation he kept his reigned in as close to his physical form as he possibly could to keep the effects from the woman.
The pitch black endless black pools of his gaze danced around her frame as he stepped around her and her perch, taking in every sense he could gather about the woman, not for attack purposes but more so to understand her being. “Vos tenere anima piscinam, quae docet vos fuisse colligendis eis pro aliquo tempore, industria, ut videtur, influit off te valde similair ad nostros, et tamen dicis te scire prope nihil, ut ad vitam, scrutans enim magis notitia in quod sumus,” (You hold a soul pool, which tells us you have been collecting them for some time, the energy that seemingly flows off of you is very similair to our own, and yet you say you know near nothing as to our existence, searching for more information on what we are,)He stopped as he came to stand in front of the woman yet again, tilting his head slightly, “Et vos have been vultus in omnibus iniuriam locis, etsi iam novit quid nobis erant, et a quo factum est,, vos iustus non accepit in eo,, sunt aliqua, quae nostri fratres perdidit hic.” (And you have been looking in all the wrong places, even though you already knew what we were, and where we came from, you just haven't accepted the fact, you are the product of what our brethren have lost here.)
It was all beginning to make more sense, her soul pool, her energy, the fact she had only just gotten her body, even right down to the part why she had a soul pool in the first place and why Q could not find the artifact. Kage turned to look back to his brethren with a devilish grin and light chuckle, “Non possumus credere te vidi olim tam similia, etiam nos ipsi sunt neglecti donec quis nostra venit ad ludere. Pitty Umbra videt ante Peccator.” (We cannot believe you looked past such occurrences, even we ourselves were overlooked until one our own came to play. Pitty a Shade sees it before a Sinner.) Kage turned to look back to the woman and held a pitch black hand out towards her, “Patitur, ut videre est in te, praeteritum esse et experitur, ita quod maybe possemus forte melius explicare, quid responsa petis.” (Allow us to see within you, your past existence and experiences so that maybe we might have a better chance to explain what answers you seek)
Kage had stepped forward and began talking before Q had so he waited a bit, listening to what the Shade had to say first, which was not common. Q still was not entirely sure who the shade was, just that he was important. He watched him circle her, taking in what he could as he did so and Q just waited, it seemed Kage was having a bit more luck with the woman then him. Q was more of a “blunt tool” he might have had his fill of combat for the most part, that didn't mean he had the most patience though, and his temper was starting to flare a bit, this “monkey mess” some kind of amalgam or something that stole bodies was to him still one of the monkeys, or at least fashioned after one. Q gave a slow nod of apprehension as Kage mentioned the woman was what she was Because of the Kinn, Q would be damned if he would acknowledge that fact though, not just yet. Stolen goods and a fari dose of dumb luck as far as he was concerned so far. His head did bob as Kage mentioned figuring it out before he did, again Q was not the most astute but Kage did have a point, maybe that's why he was important, had a good head on his shoulders, and a big set of brass balls. Q would let the insolence slide though in the end Kage had a damn good point. Before Alexis had a chance to answer any of Kage's questions Q spoke again,”Alright, miss rose we think you said it was? A name for a name is fair, call me Q, see a fair trade already. he gave a small nod before continuing ” A few things might have been dropped, perfectly plausible. The tree though, that was planted. Now, killing you...think that’s within reach, but you don’t want to fuck up that body, and we’re not really in the mood to fight. So you do have that going for you. But your blood, spilling that, eh...just a secondary thing. We want what you have. You do have an interesting want, but uhm...you see The All Father..., that's a straight hell no. That’s an honor that we don’t even have, and well as it stands right now, we think you have stolen goods...and deny it. Our friend here, seems to think YOU are the stolen goods. So that...that is be a problem. Besides, it’s not even like that’s something we can do. Really though, let’s say we are right and you have stolen goods….would you really want to go before a god, with shit you stole? How do you think that would play out? BUT, we can mayyyybe come to some accord, now, we will not bring you before our father, we can’t, BUT what we might do...you want to know more, you want to see us, learn about us...well, how about we take you to see someone more important than either of us, someone that might...just might grant your wish to see The Father. Figure if any one can do it the king can. Well...as much of a king as we have.” he stopped for a moment and laughed for just a second. ”actually you might know something about the king...he came here once, a long time ago. Planted that tree personally, and is the one that commanded your mother build the church. Now your mom...if we have this right would have been the ruler, makes you a princess in your own right. So we could bring you before the Evencar and not worry too much about getting chewed out, figure royalty and all, a survivor no less...that this one over here thinks is related to us somehow. We don’t personally give a shit, came here to find things that were left behind...well, your left behind, and there is something familiar about you. If the Evencar thinks you’re interesting or can manage to get you to tell it what the deal is and where the pretty things are it might still give us some credit for it. SO….you want to know more, we can arrange that, you want to meet The Father you’ve got about a snowball's chance in hell of that happening but if any one can arrange it the Evencar can. Here's the offer, come along peacefully, and we will take you to meet the most powerful thing we know, it will have the answers to all your questions. You don't even have to give us shit, just come along and get what you want, hows that sound?”
Alexis was actually quite excited for the first time since discovering the dark book that her mother had written in about the Kinn, and it showed in the slight unnatural twitching around her strange eyes. A quick jerk of her head or arms, seemingly uncontrolled spasms. They were rare and far apart, but they were happening. Like her body was being pulled in different directions now. A flinch of her expression as she watched the one known as Kage approach closer. She stood again as he got a bit too close for comfort, the temperature around her dropping from his strange aura. "That's close enough please" her voice echoed from her pocket for sure, there was no mistaking it from this distance. But then Q introduced himself and began speaking before she could answer Kage's questions, her eyes darted between the two of them. She could deal with the arrogance and antagonistic nature of the both of them, though it did vaguely annoy her, but at least she recognized it for what it was now, she was guilty of the same thing, thinking herself above others, resorting to threats to try and scare them into doing what she wanted. She listened carefully, slightly disappointed in what Q was saying, but also carefully hiding her shock that Kage had basically figured out what she was. She realized that other than feeling the temperature drop though, Kage's aura seemed to have no effect on her, and she kept a close eye on him as he circled about her, it made her uncomfortable but she was still too excited to be angry again. "All bodies are insufficient . . but necessary" she told him, attempting to begin to answer their questions. "I've had many over the last century or so" she added. "A soul pool you call it? I'm not sure if that's what I'd call it . .but yes I am a collector of souls. I use them to fuel my magic" she didn't specify exactly what kind of magic, but then she wasn't about to give away all of her secrets, regardless of what they thought she was.
"As for what I know of your kind, only that one of great power arrived here shortly after I was born and was sealed within the lake. There are musings in a journal of what my mother thought your kind to be but they were merely guesses and estimations. So no, other than your kind are part of the true pure darkness, and that your presence can corrupt the very land with that darkness, I know very little. Souls are important to you, that I've gathered obviously, and this artifact that you're looking for. As for accepting what you are, why wouldn't i? There are no entries after the few musings my mother left" there was anger barely suppressed in her voice, there was more, but whenever she spoke of her mother, her tone was colored with anger and hate. She looked to Kage after Q finished speaking of taking her away to meet this Evencar and frowned. "Evencar?" it was her mental voice again, touching both of them accidently, there was some sort of resonance from deep within her that seemed to echo the word over and over again, thousands of times over, she did after all carry a small part of the Evencar's soul pool within her and they seemed to awaken at the voicing of such a title. "Princess or not Q I was left here, alone and without aid for a hundred years" she said, her voice back to emanating from her pocket. "I couldn't care less about the populace that have returned to the lower lands. I was left to rot, and they can do the same, so please do not insult me with such a title. Alexis is all the name I'll ever need. As for going with you to meet this . . leader of yours. I would be happy to, but I truly have nothing stolen. And" she turned her gaze back to Kage "I don't know if I want you to touch me at all . . but I don't see what harm it could really do. I haven't lied to either of you, so whatever truth you seek, I'm sure it'll come out one way or another" she said and held her hand out to the Shade Marshal, squatting down on the barrel again so she was within reach.
-
He listened intently to every word his brethren spoke, knowing full well he pushed at buttons within the Sinner, pushing the boundaries as it were to his own title, he knew he was not above a Sinner, but he certainly had no problem letting them know where he stood either, there was something about this woman that he could not ignore. He had turned his attention back to the woman as she then took her turn in speaking on the matters he had pointed out, her reaction alone to the very title of Evencar was enough for him to know somewhere deep within, she knew of who they spoke of. "Nos sunt, non ad malum tibi, tu captus nostra interest." (We are not out to harm you, you have caught our interest.) he spoke calmly as he gently took her hands in his, the runic marking across the thick black frame seemingly shifted at her touch, "Interesting, es dominatur anima, sed nescio quam dominari illi in vestri lacus." (Interesting, you are the dominant soul, but you do not know how to dominate those within your pool.) The words softly echoed within her mind, just by allowing him the touch gave him the permission he asked for to be allowed to see within, her past and experiences, though he would keep it to just the information related to their race, "Vocant, ex alio ...." (They call out to another ...) He would then turn and look back to his brethren and nod his head lightly towards him, "Vocant, ut Etiam currus se." (They call to the Evencar itself)
-
”quod ita sit,” (so be it). Q only turned his head and gave a quick upward flick of its wrist, this summoned a fairly large ebony door from his own shadow, a doorway into the Umbra. It was nothing overly impressive or ostentatious, but as far as doors went it was a bit more than usual. Q moved to the door and opened it, looking back to his brother and Alexis. ”post te”(after you). He motioned for them to enter, Kage didn’t need to use the door to get into the umbra, he didn’t need to use it to get to the Citadel they were going to either. Alexis however had little choice in the matter, sure there were other ways but in theory this way was the most direct, and led to Fides itself. That being what it was and where it was Fides was of course immediately aware of the portal, and allowed it. The Evencar knew exactly who Kage and Q were, the other though...the Evencar was aware she had something that belonged to it...and once she had entered the door was acutely aware of WHAT she was, but not exactly who, which piqued its interest. The trip through the door was a quick one, but not altogether instantaneous, there was a period of darkness, in which they seemed to be completely still after stepping across the threshold. In those few moments there was nothing but darkness and silence. Reality as it were would fade back in slowly at first, the images of this place were not what one might of thought of a Citadel, this was once a church, that stood in ruins and had been claimed. There were a number of things within it though that clearly identified it as a place of worship to the Kinn, namely the Evencar. It was not perceivable to Alexis but the attention of the Evencar went back and forth briefly between both Q and Kage, they could feel its attentions. Fides was a creature whose powers were never fully disclosed, in those brief few moments it became instantly aware of where they had been and what had happened, Fides was able to read their manifestations as others read books, perhaps it was a side effect of being so ancient, or perhaps it was a gift from the father itself, no Kinn had ever come to question the Evencar about just how it knew what it knew. ” Videmus, qui errat et nostra venator redierunt, deferentes nobis donum fortasse? Miramur, si vel tibi conscius es, quid est vobis attulit ante nos. Nos nosmet ipsos habebat, mirabatur quid esset quod decus... habuimus cogitari posset cadere in manus aliquis fortis...aut stultus. fit, ut jucundum mirari licet, quod debet redire domum suam volitionem, et habet quaestiones dubium?”(We see the one who wanders and our hunter have returned, bringing us a gift perhaps? We wonder if either of you are aware just what it is you have brought before us. We our self had wondered what would become of that trinket... we had thought it might fall into the hands of someone brave...or foolish. it comes as a pleasant surprise though that it should return home of its own volition, and it has questions no doubt?). Fides placed it's tome down on the pulpit before it and moved towards them a few feet coming to the edge of the platform it stood on and motioned for them all to come closer, its attentions were now fully on the woman, though Fides knew better, this was not truly a woman, not in the conventional sense, it had hinted at that much already as it had not said she, no, Fides had instead addressed Alexis as “it”.
…..Alexis flinched slightly as Kage took her hand, his ‘touch’ weeping into her mind and sorting through the memories and experiences searching for who she was or what she had experienced. She had never felt anything of the sort and wondered vaguely, though without true care, if that’s what it felt like when she entered other’s minds. Her mental voice was there though, along with thousands of others, sorted into two different pools. One that was the souls of the empire, the crucifix as it were, those that she herself had dominated to become what she was. And the pool of souls stolen from fides by her mother, which were mostly dormant until Q and Kage had shown up and started talking about the Evencar. Now these souls cried out for their true Master, and the sands that they were trapped in seemed to vibrate around the outer shell of her core. There was no way for them to free themselves, but it caused her a great deal of discomfort, and jarred her focus a bit. Her body shook for a moment, her hands jerking out of Kage’s grip and she growled, a strange thing to do in ones mind, but it took her a few moments to control what was happening to herself, as it had never happened before. Her chest even seemed to be breathing, rising and falling with the pain caused by the outer shell of her core. Once she had control of herself again she rather glared at Kage.
“Yea . .that rather hurt” she told him, her voice once more emanating from the stone in her pocket.
….. It was then that she noticed that Q had summoned a door, one pale brow rose in question as he ushered the two of them through it. She would check her equipment, cork the open bottle of sands, and wrap her cloak back around her before dismounting the barrel. Her body twitched again though as she tried to take her first step, torn between her own pool and that of Fides wanting to go home, and stumbled a bit. IF she could blush in embarrassment she might have, as it was, she simply righted herself and strode forward as if nothing stupid had just occurred.
…..The trip through the door was quick, but frightening, for a moment, in the absolute emptiness of pure darkness and utter silence, she felt as if she had fallen apart, and then . she simply felt as though she were home. It was a strange, settling calmness in the purity of nothing. She almost didn’t want to continue the trip, but the urging of the Evencar’s souls pulled her the rest of the way though the doorway. She grimaced but otherwise accepted the reality as she stepped into the desolate landscape.
….. “I’m sensing a theme” her voice holding a good deal of sarcasm and amusement. She would fall silent as she took in the sight of the Citadel though, the souls within her calling out for home and a sense of pure reverence and awe settled over her as she stepped across the threshold of the building itself.
….. Her diamondlike glittering eyes moving slowly over the interior until they fell upon the creature of the voice she could sometimes hear within the pool of stolen souls. She averted her eyes quickly, realizing what it was that was before her now, and knew that it was speaking of her, though being called an IT didn’t sit well with her, she knew it to be the truth.
…..She watched in awe as the creature known as the Evencar came closer to them, even that small amount, just to the end of the pulpit, excited those 13000 stolen souls, even trapped within the sands, to grow excited and begin to vibrate and pull at her again. She was forced several shaky steps forward, only to fall onto her hands and knees before the pulpit.
….. “HOOOOOOMEEEEEEE” the stolen souls would reverberate within her, her mental voice reaching out to all of them, echoing with the 13,000 voices of the souls trapped in the sands, the souls that WANTED to return to Fides literally trying to rip her apart to do so. Her body began to vibrate, pieces falling away in a grotesque type of disintegration.
….. “Please . . .make it stop!” she would beg both through her own mental voice as well as the physical emanation from her voice stone, her arms wrapped around her upper torso as she seemed to literally begin to fall apart.
A devilish grin played across the pitch black features of his entire frame, never once trying to stop her from retrieving her hand from his grasp as he turned to look back to her, stepping aside to allow her entrance the door, as he did his frame would return the shadows from once they came, knowing exactly where they would be going. Her memories along with the memories shared to him by the shadows himself he was fairly certain how it all played out, however he was interested in seeing the outcome of it all. The fact she was still fleshy was only looked past because she had the right right mind set as the rest of them, flesh is weak.
Emerging from the shadows within the rafters of the citadel, he would remain out of the way of the introductions, allowing the woman the opportunity to get her answers before anything else as was promised by Q, however that was cut short when the fell to her knees and begged for mercy. At the Evencar’s summon he slipped back into the shadows to emerge once again near the platform on which Fides stood, his gaze still on the woman, “Videtur quod furto exigere non sit reversus.” (It would seem that which was stolen demand they be returned) his words were void of any emotion what so ever as he spoke to the woman who curled in on herself. “Nostri fratres meretur hanc fidem.” (Our brethren deserves credit for this one) he spoke to Fides as he lifted his gaze to Q, “Erat eius invenire.” (She was his find.)
Q moved in synch with Kage appearing at Fides side, all three kinn now in front of the woman. Q though it was pretty damn funny the way she staggered forward and fell to her hands and knees before the Evencar. When Alexis staggered forward falling to her hands and knees Fides cocked his head to the left, wondering just what her issue might have been. His gaze shifted to Kage as he spoke of what was happening, and he was right. Fides then offered a nod to Q acknowledging what Kage had said, it was true Q had been the one to find her. Fides was well aware of the souls pulling at the woman, and wondered for a time if they would be able to pull her a part, there was a part of it that wanted to wait and see. Fides face contorted in disgust as she began to fall apart, *disgusting...repugnant...revolting* Fides distaste for flesh was a clear thing in its mind. If Alexss were to try and trespass into Fides mind her being would instead be wrecked with a strange sort of agony, which might well be a new sensation. Her body may well have been immune to pain, her soul and those within her however were likely not the same. Her desperate please would not invoke this though, the cries were not intrusive to the Evencar, through the noise of it was mildly offensive. Fides motioned with its right hand to the woman offering her up as an example as it spoke to both Kage and Q, though it was a redundant thing for it to say. ”Hic est exemplum, etiam carne qua mortuus est, privatus ex vera vita, tamen est a foedis acervum infirmitate.vide nunc, quam etiam post fuerit talis cura parare, conservare....Ut satis est, sicut illud fieri potest, sed in ictu oculi in carne indicium est, facit infirma. Quid tale unquam teneri, ut pretiosa est extra nos. Non est nisi exiguum intellectus, ut non electio, ibi carcerem...tamen, est aliquid maxime foeda. Omnino pugnantia”(here is an example, even flesh which is dead, deprived of true life, still is a disgusting pile of weakness.see now how even after it has taken such care to prepare it, preserve it….make it pretty as it possibly can, in but the blink of an eye the flesh betrays it, makes it weak. Why such a thing could ever be held as precious is beyond us. There is only a modicum of understanding, as they have no choice over there prison...yet still, it is a thing most foul, repugnant to the core.) The Evencar as well as the others were nearly completely unmoved by the pleas, Q however would have a grin from ear to ear. He did mention, and even Kage had seemed to know that this might not go as Alexis had imagined. Fides head tilted now slowly to the left as it watched intent for a moment to watch the woman fall apart. She may have been ignorant of what Q had meant by having stolen good, it wondered now if she understood what he had meant. Q was ignorant of her perception of the souls within the sand, and unaware that at her core she had in a way been made from a Kinn aertifact. Alexis was most likely ignorant hat in taking possession of these things it was to them a form of theft, ignorance of the situation, did nothing to change it, the souls in the sands, were Fides, not hers, the cross which she found herself and those from the kingdom, she may have had more claim to the souls within it, but the crucifix itself again, belonged to the Kinn. with its head still tilted to the left Fides leaned its head back, now “looking down its nose” so to speak at Alexis who had been quite incapacitated by the sands...sand of all things. ”Qui stetit superbus et ferociter tantum momenta praeteritum, satis certa de te et tua virtute fuisse humiliabitur...pronus ante, sicut nos...cum harena. Qui habebat "furto nihil", miramur...tu tamen tenere, quod fallacia, ut veritatem? Aut non est in te veni, ut animadverto vestri stultitia, operor vos animadverto...erit te fateri, quod tu es, et quod sunt..., quia de nobis? Si fateri nos autem considerandum posito ad finem. Nos autem non est accipere quod non est nostra,....et, ut te furati nihil, ergo nihil est, quod nostra. Quamvis non videtur aequum est multum dissentire in te, ut ad veritatem huius. Ut te mutavit animum tuum, et fateor vobis, non quidem habere, quae pertinent ad nos....et notum facere desiderium tuum ad reditum, ut quod est nobis...nos autem accipere eam”(you who stood so proud and defiant only moments past, quite sure of yourself and your prowess have been brought low...prostrate before the like of us...by sand. You who had “stolen nothing”, we wonder...do you still hold that fallacy as truth? Or have you come to realize your folly, do you realize...will you admit, that you are what you are...because of us? If you admit this we shall consider putting an end to it. We will not take that which is not ours….and, as you have stolen nothing, then you have nothing that is ours. Though there seems a fair deal of dissent within you as to the truth of this. Should you have changed your mind, and admit you do indeed have things which belong to us….and make known your desire to return that which is ours...we shall take it back.) Fides now held out its hand, unmoved by her discomfort and waited for her answer.
Q was just standing there in silence listening and watching, almost chuckling to himself. When she had cried out it had attracted a fair deal of attention the the beings that were here, and if she had enough awareness she might notice them beginning to gather, they were behind her though so it may well elude her attention for the most part. It would however be hard to ignore that this place was getting darker as more Kinn and Kinn creatures had begun to gather, wondering what the disturbance was. A number of Turpee had gathered outside, not daring to enter even this Citadel, it was a ruined church but served as a Citadel and as such they were forbidden from entering lest directly summoned to do so. A plethora of “Devil birds had come to perch in the rafters looking down on the scene, a few of which stood out, “familiars” of Kinn that were not present. There were a few others, standing back in the shadows behind her, various greater Kinn, most notable among them another Visser whom took great interest in this event. The most noticeable would have been the “sin angels” that had also gathered, rather impish creatures, with no concern of personal space, aside from Fides. They were scattered throughout this place, one had even landed near Alexis, nearly in arms reach crouching down to look her in the face.
…..If she could blush with embarrassment, she would have. The begging outburst had been driven by the automatic response of one facing their worse phobia. An unelicited outcry of fear, hers of being torn apart by the very sands and souls that were a part of her, in a way. She sat there on her knees, arms wrapped around herself, vibrating slightly from within as the Evencar made a show and tell project out of her.
…..The indignation that grew within her own soulpool at being treated in such a way is what pulled her focus back together. The trembling stopped and she sat there quite still, little bits and chunks of herself splattered all around her on the floor. Curiously enough, there was no blood, she simply had no use for it afterall.
…..Alexis was far too busy pulling her focus back together to be worried about trying to communicate with the dark beings before her. Concentration was key to any mage, and it took constant concentration to hold a construct together, at least the way she was capable of doing so. It wasn’t even that she disagreed with the Evencar about flesh being disgusting, but it was a necessary evil for something like her. She moved slowly then, her disembodied bits being sucked back into her form and ‘melting’ into perfection again, and her hand moved to retrieve the stone from her pocket, holding it up so that it could be heard unmuffled.
Indeed it is disgusting, repugnant, and revolting, but for one such as I with no mobile body of my own, it is a necessary indignation
…..By this time Alexis had also regained control over the vibrating sands, a bit of magic worked within her own form to put them back into a kind of stasis as the Evencar continued to deride her very existence.
Flesh may be weak and disgusting Lord, but for this creature it is more nimble and less cumbersome than stone or other materials. The fine manipulations of its digits and the ability to blend in with the mortals have proven invaluable.
…..Each time she spoke, she was very careful not to interrupt the Evencar. She felt no hate or animosity towards him, or even the others, though Q did annoy the hell out of her with his unnecessary threats. In fact, she was quite happy to be here, even if she was being treated like an object in some sort of kinn lesson. She could feel the darkness of the place, the purity. Though her body didn’t move she was rapt with attention to every work the Evencar spoke, although frustration did grow within her as she was once again accused of stealing something that belonged to them.
I have stolen nothing. That which I have in my possession I found, abandoned at the bottom of the lake and spread over the beach, more than a hundred years afo. I have had every intention of returning it to its rightful owner, which I might add, was not the one that showed up in my home, demanding that I hand over what did not belong to him either. she spoke slowly and clearly, and her words were not tinged with the slightest bit of deception of any kind. It had indeed been her intention to return the sands to their owner, once he had been found.
…..She paused for several seconds, analyzing her words before speaking again and snatching back a small piece of herself that one of the sinn angels was trying to make off with. Her head would finally raise up, her sparkling crystalline eyes glittering in the gloom of the citadel, though not landing any higher than their feet, she knew her place.
As for the other item that your brethren was questioning me about, that is also not stolen, though I was not forthcoming with my knowledge neither did I lie to him. It is not his, and he cannot have it, for I will not turn myself over to him, I AM the object he came looking for, and unlike most inanimate things, I am sentient. Clearly, and would like to not be anyone or anything’s slave or possession. Your kind . . no You Evencar, you are that which created me, surely you know that to be the truth. I also do not wish to be ended, I rather enjoy existing and spreading as much darkness as I can in the realms, it brings me joy”
…..As he held his hand out to her, it evoked a bit of curiosity, surely he was not attempting to help her up, nor being kind in some way, that left only the option of, he wanted something. Considering this whole thing was over the sands within her chest, she had not problem giving them to him.
I shall return the souls trapped within the sands to you Evencar, but It will take a few moments to retrieve and then to free them. Are you willing to let me do so of my own accord? It involves a few spells to free them from myself, and another to destroy the sand crystals to free the souls themselves” She asked him, knowing the magic would take a little while to perform. She was also aware of the thickening darkness that seemed to roll through the citadel as more and more creatures seemed to gather, it had alerted quite a few of the souls within her, but she was seemingly completely focused on those before her. --
Kage simply stood beside the Evencar as he spoke to those who gathered around and to the construct before them, she was an oddity this much was clear, the fact she was literally being torn apart by the very souls that helped keep her in one piece was simply amusing in on itself, how ever he couldn’t help feel the sensation of knowing her struggles. The old memories of his life as a fleshy flashing through his mind, however different they were, they were still rather similar in their own way.
Listening intently to the woman’s words he could hear the truth behind the words, the fact she had refused the knowledge was a bit irritating but still she had every right to keep such things from them, despite the fact they were more than aware of her half truths. The pitch black gaze danced over the other brethren and pets that gathered to watch the spectical of this woman’s berating, a new sense of entertainment seeping into his mind. “Fortasse Etiam cura permitteret nobis liceat videre si est vere digna forma multo magis apta, quod non potest esse?” (Perhaps the Evencar would permit us the chance to see if she is truly worthy of a form far better suited for what she can be?) Kage spoke lowly to the Evencar, keeping his words for the Kinn’s ears alone, still disgusted by the fact she took flesh over anything else to create a form for herself, he did not quite see her as worthy for such a discussion. “Non vult ostendere potentia longe maiora, et audeat dicere, ut dictum est, idem velle, quod nos ipsi contendunt, spargens in tenebris, ut omnes redire ad patrem nostrum.” (She does show a potential for far greater things, and dare we say has shown the same desires that we ourselves strive for, spreading the darkness so that it may all return to our father.)
As he now held the mantle of Shade Marshal, it was part of his position to see the potential within others that were deemed as worthy, hell it was part of his creation to see the potential within the beings that strolled through the darkness as this one did, that and he also rather enjoyed the idea of pushing this one to her full potential. When she offered to returned the souls she had gathered he titled his head in curiosity, why would she be willing to give up that much power, to be seen even weaker than she is now, and to use such methods as spells and such to do so, he did like the idea of watching her wither and scream in agony as Fides would pull the souls back into himself, to see the souls literally tear her apart and leave her in a puddle to pull herself back together once again, a dark devilish grin played across his black lips at the very thought of it.
Fides took note as the construct regained its composure, it even ever so slightly recoiled in disgust as the bits of flesh made its way back and reassimilated itself. Had it not been so repugnant to the Evencar it might have been impressive. Its brows arched ever so slightly as Alexis retrieved the small stone which produced her voice.her words were somewhat pleasing as she too spoke of how repulsive and weak flesh was, though it took exception to her calling it “invaluable”. She had managed to gain herself some credit, not interrupting Fides as it was speaking hinted at manners, a thing it held value for. She had even managed to hold her tongue despite being degraded and openly insulted. The words were not so much meant as a direct insult as spoken fact, even if the supposed facts were only heavily biased opinion there was truth to it nonetheless. It was the point she had made, her perception of thievery which cause a slight pause for thought. In the most basic definition of the term thief she was correct, though Fides had used the term loosely. She had not directly stolen anything, but she had taken possession of things which were not hers, there was a good deal of semantics at this point. The Evencar took great amusement at Alexis willingly humbling herself, again this brought her credit and had earned her a modicum of mercy as far as Fides was concerned. The way in which she conducted herself was gaining her more and more credit, it led Fides to wonder just how much Alexis knew. The Evencar did have a degree of fascination for the construct, in a twisted sort of way it was an altar in Fides mind. Alexis had profaned the crucifix, though in her own way she had endeavored to make it “pretty”. Her want of freedom was understandable, and something most Kinn prized above all other things, but the hidden truth is all things in existence were indeed slaves, in one way or another. And as she spoke of spreading darkness invoked a nod from Fides, it was in agreeance on that aspect. Once she had offered to return the souls through her own methods this piqued the Evencars interest. The cruelty of taking back all that was Kinn within her had been foiled to some extent, if she had agreed Fides had intended to effectively destroy her core, perhaps she had caught on to that, this too had gained her more credit in FIdes eyes. “Si non est in tua potestate, ad facere, tunc videbimus est, hoc scire aliqua dolus non erit finis...Nos finge tibi conscius es hoc.”(if it is within your power to do so then we shall see it, know this any trickery will be your end...we imagine you are aware of this.) As Kage spoke directly with Fides it leaned ever so slightly in his direction though its gaze did not leave Alexis as she set about releasing the souls within the sands. It would also respond in Kind, directly to Kage, its words for him alone. ”Si construere posse redire animas suae voluntatis, tunc si desiderium test pretium eius dicemus patitur. Immo vestrum est officium quaerere dignum...nos autem non inclinatur ad pati carnem gerit in futuro. Si servo quod species vos servabit sordes a nostro conspectu, in garrula vox de simia est offensa satis, non pati in concert cum carnem gerit in futuro sine consequentia. Est, rebellantes, et est reus iniquitates, licet in ignorantia, sed... Sicut tibi dictum est, creatura non videntur habere aliquam meritum, et tam nos, ut nullum cum educandi eam. Nos imaginari in tempore, sub tutela tua veniat ad usum, eius inclinationes iam videtur esse in step cum nostris” (If the construct is able to return the souls of its own volition then if you have a desire to test its worth we shall allow it. Indeed it is your duty to seek out the worthy...however we are not inclined to suffer the flesh it wears in the future. Should it keep that visage you will keep the filth from our sight, the chattering noise of the monkeys is offence enough, we will not suffer it in concert with the flesh it wears in the future without consequence. It is revolting, and has committed a number of offences, albeit in ignorance, however... As you yourself have pointed out the creature does seem to possess some merit, and as such we take no issue with your educating it. We imagine in time under your tutelage it may come to be of use, its inclinations already seem to be in step with our own.)
The gathering that stood as witness to this event remained nearly completely silent, with the exception of the protest from the Sin Angel which Alexis took her flesh back from. The creature offered relatively little resistance but its protest was an obvious one. Her flesh was still easily retrieved from the thing though, as it had no desire to cause a scene or interruption. Q stood in a stoic silence staring Alexis down, shooting her a very hostile look. He did not dare to interject though, to speak out of turn would have invoked a very swift retribution. He knew better than to show his ass in the presence of Fides. He was slightly offended that Fides had not given him a chance to answer Alexis’s accusation though. The truth was he would have failed to do so, but his view of the situation was different. Though he took it as an offence he had in reality been spared, losing an argument with another “lesser being” was a loss to something beneath it, and as such would not have boded well for Q at all.
……Alexis sat very still, as still as only a construct could actually, and listened intently to the conversations happening up on the dais. It wasn’t precisely that she was eavesdropping, but she had exceptional hearing, and was intent not to piss off the Evencar. She knew just from the whispers within her, that he could end her with a thought. She was nowhere near as powerful as her mother had been, and her goal was to get to that point so that she could destroy the woman. Dying now, was not an option.
……Alexis nodded her head after the Evencar told her to do what she needed to release the souls and then went about speaking with the other creature. She would reply when she was sure they were done speaking. She went about pulling her bag off of her back and retrieving a mortar and pestal, carefull not to let the dark aura of her book of spells spill out of the bag before closing it and resecuring it to her back. She would need the mortar and pestle to grind the sand. She glanced around her though, curious and cautious of the Kinn. She did NOT want them to know what she was about to do, it would pose too much of a danger to her at a later point. She could however, cast without the use of words, gestures or components, but this still posed the problem of revealing her core to these . . things. She didn’t think she had much of a choice though.
…….When Fides was finished speaking to the other, she looked up at them again and spoke this time in Latin, since that was clearly their language of choice.
“ne fraudum trahere I habere mea core in harenae lasarpiciferis animabus vestris Evencar, sed revocare perdendum liberare harenam. Si placet animae meae ut ostendat se ostenderet non se animas.”
(no trickery, I will pull from my core the sands that hold your souls Evencar but to return them I must destroy the sand to free them. If you wish I will demonstrate with one of my own souls to show that it will not destroy the souls themselves)
…….Alexis would glance around at the other gathered beings and would have sighed if she could have, instead, she sat up very straight and pressed her hand to her center mass, lower than where a heart should be, but still well above her navel area. Her hand would sink into her own flesh slowly. There was no sign of pain or discomfort as there was none, and even her own worry was hidden. She slowly extracted what appeared to be nothing more than a small boulder from her center mass. It was approximately 7 inches in diameter. Her magic was thick in the room now, even though she had not spoken a spell or moved her hands to indicate she was casting at all.
…… The stone would crack and fall away, ‘leaking’ a good deal of black sands. These were the souls that she had collected herself over the last century, and were the ‘taint’ that the kinn could sense, as they were mixed, both animal and sentient beings alike. Alexis had always been extremely careful to keep what was ‘hers’ separate from what was the Evencars, as well as away from her core, the crucifix. The corrupt sands held a small handful of larger crystal bits, souls she had intentionally taken from her victims, but all of this she let fall to the floor, and used her free hand to use a telekinetic wind to gather them up and into one of her pockets. Surely the Evencar would know the difference between what was his and what was not.
…….With the stone broken away, a smaller, 5inch sphere of perfect diamond now floated in her hand. It however did seem discolored, darkened with the black sands that resided within this protective shell. Deep within the sphere one could see the vague form of the crucifix that was Alexi’s true form. Again, with no words or semantics, the diamond shell seemed to crack, but this time in a geometric pattern. Each honeycombed ‘cell’ had a ‘lid’ of sorts, and these smaller pieces of hexagonal diamond lifted off of the main sphered and the sands would flow out, all 13,000 pieces of it. (its really not that much, about an ounce or so) This sand was different from the previous sand, it was a dark and night, and clearly held an aura of the kinn, a part of the Evencar himself. The sand would float and swirl around the orb of diamond as she closed up the honeycombs and then pressed the diamond orb and cross back into the center mass of her body. The sands then floated around her arm as she held it up to him.
“These are yours Evencar” she told him.
“I will free them if you so desire or relinquish them to you as is” she offered.
……She had switched back to common by mistake as she was feeling that much weaker without the sands trapped within her core, though there was no sign of such weakness visible to the eye nor heard in her voice.
Fides was somewhat fascinated by her..more her actions. She had been nothing more than a trinket originally. Not quite a booby trap, more a monument to the “sins” of that empire and her mother. A reminder of sorts, even if it was one that was somewhat superfluous. That empire had all but been plowed under, it stood in ruins even now some hundred years later. Perhaps at some point the Evencar would send scouts, curious as to the tales told of the place by the populations that were still near there. It almost chuckled as she retrieved a mortar and pestle, she needed tools still, that did confirm a small portion of Fides inner musings of her ability. Ironic though she was able to cast with no audible invocation or gestures yet still required tools, it vaguely reminded the beast of “folk magic”.her concerns of concealment were perhaps a moot point, as the vast majority of the creatures were behind her, they could not see what it was that she was doing. There was only one being here that had dared to move to get a better view of what it was that she was doing, it bore a vague resemblance to the Evencar though it was not even half as grand in its presence.
Fides turned its head far to the left, looking at her from the corner of its eyes as she spoke to it addressing the need to destroy the sands, and not destroying the souls. The look even despite any finer points of expression was still somehow almost a blatantly incredulous look. The Evencar highly doubted her ability to dissolve a soul that ability was incredibly rare. Even Fides itself was not truly capable of destroying a soul...it could break them, shatter them to minuscule shards and scatter them to the winds, but even then fragments remained. IF her senses were astute enough she MIGHT have been able to pick up on a small few fragments that remained of the poor creature that had been known as Scourge which still remained. Her utterance in latin had gained her some credit, though it was neither here nor there as the preference had been made clear enough prior. It was something of a double edged sword, she could speak latin, and had chosen not to previously, it was an unintentional slight against the Evencar, but a slight nonetheless. As she summoned forth the power to crack the stone and release the black sands Fides returned to looking at her fully. She employed a bit of telekinesis to separate the bounty that had been displayed, keeping what was hers to herself. To Fides the difference in souls was as plain as night and day, the others, the ones she kept were bereft of the taint of Kinn, at least so far as having enough taint to be considered as sufficient. The casing of her core caught Fides attention as it was a crude thing in its eyes, though it could still be considered impressive in its own right.
As she held them out as an offering Fides had accepted them as is. The beast let out a small and quiet sound that was a soft and quiet amalgam of a snarl and growl in response to her common tongue...it almost sounded like an aggressive purr. There was no need for her to further exert herself, the Evencar’s suspicions had been confirmed by the small display of hers already. She would have needed to break the sands, which to Fides implied Alexis was not truly capable of employing soul rending, she was however resourceful enough to use the sands her mother had enchanted. As the were suspended in the air Fides waved its hand dismissively which actually effectively wrent the souls from the sands, a simple gesture and the souls were free, returning to the Evencar of their own accord. It said nothing but it was implied the sand was hers, Fides only took that which belonged to it.
“Iniquitates sunt parva...imprudentia, sed sunt iniquitates omnibus idem. Te quidam parva gradus obtulit retributionem, hoc esse quod est, et vos eritis mihi liceat vivere..., ut quantum in te vivere, sed nos postulo magis vos. Nostra venator videtur finge tibi sit usus, et nos nosmet ipsos videre, quod non sine arte. Si vere quaerere, ut ius et iniuria vos feci, et vos subditi sitis te, ut eius vota, perficere, munera quae tibi dantur, perficere eos cum diligentia et vos in tempore etiam praemia pro laboribus. Probare quod quidam usum, et ut in tempore venire ad benedictus, id est opera tua, quae placet hoc. Deficiente hoc nos nocentibus super vos nostra iustitia, et accipere a te, nostro "libram carnis" pro delictis tunc pone te amittere, ut faciam, ut tu...autem faciens, ita et nos caute vos, qui nunc nobis nota, et dum esset inclinatur, ut det vobis aliqua parva misericordia nos imaginari alii sunt, non ita in genere. Quid est dicendum?” (Your transgressions were small...unintentional, but they were transgressions all the same. You have to some small degree offered recompense, this being what it is you shall be allowed to live… as much as you live, however we require more of you. Our hunter seems to imagine you may be of use, and we ourself see that you are not without skill. Should you truly seek to right the wrongs you have done you will submit yourself to his wishes, complete the tasks which you are given, accomplish them with diligence and you may in time even be rewarded for your efforts. Prove that you are of some use and you might in time come to be blessed, it is your action and inactions which will decide this. Failing this we will inflict upon you our own justice and take from you our “pound of flesh” for your transgressions then set you lose to do as you will...however in doing so we caution you that you are now known to us, and while we might be inclined to grant you some small mercy we imagine others are not so kind. What is your answer?
…..Alexis was actually quite capable of soul rending, just not on the mass scale of the Kinn. She would have had to do it one or two at a time, and so crushing the sands were simply that much faster. What would take her many weeks, maybe months to do individually, would take her only a few minutes to do with the mortar and pestle. The spell on the sands was what had allowed her mother to recreate a feat that seemed like mass soul rending to the Kinn. Then again, it was Alexis’s thoughts that the less the Kinn knew of her abilities the better. Self-preservation, after all.
……She sat there quietly though as he took what was rightfully his, and returned the sands to her, a curious thing in her opinion, but done never the less, and then listened to his speech. To be honest, she was a bit confused by her ‘transgressions’ but remembered a passage in the book her mother had written about the Creatures of Darkness being . . .oddly inclined as to offenses. But now the Evencar was still offering her a place with them, to learn and grow stronger. It was of course under threat, but she was learning quite quickly that that simply seemed to be tradition with them, and it was after all her calling to serve the Darkness. She had devoted her short life to doing just such a thing.
……She looked up to the dais, careful not to raise her eyes above their feet and spoke as clearly as she could in her best Latin, for she knew her speech was one offense, had seen the way they all seemed to cringe when she spoke in common.
Nitor, ut serviant in Tenebris. Non auferetur a te, sed ego sum confusa, et volunt ad ius meum iniquitates. Quaeso, quid feci, quod offendit te?
( I strive to serve the Darkness. I will not fail you, but I am confused, and wish to right my transgressions. Please, what have I done that offends you?)
……Alexis was still acutely aware of the creatures around her, even the ones behind her, including the odd copy like creature of the Evencar off to one side. That one had her interest, but she was fully focused on the event unfolding before her. It had not escaped her notice that she had been passed off to the one known as The Hunter, or Kage rather than the one that had discovered her. Her interest and curiosity ran rampant at this point, thankfully no emotion transferred into her voice stone.
The Evencar leaned back and looked down its nose at her as she asked what it was she had done that offended it. It gave a nod before leaning forward and addressing her. ”Tu contumeliam nobis multipliciter, dicemus numerare eos te. Quaestio est, ubi committitur... profanum nostra artificium, enshrining in sordes. Vos compositum, hoc ulterius esse reclamacione et sordes, quae ceciderunt, ex te ante oculos nostros. Veneris ante gloriam, quod nos, et contumeliam nostram aures, cum sonum simiae. Haec vox non etiam a te..fit, sed ex lapide. Te dicunt ignorantia in furtum, in conatu ad absolvit te de culpa.Te stare coram nobis, volens servare secreta. Intra haec atria absens donum pater noster. Denique tuam contumeliam est ignorantia, et ut plurimum. Est remissa, hoc quondam.” (You insult us a number of ways, we shall count them for you. The question is where to start… you profane our artifact, enshrining it in filth. You compound this further be reclaiming the filth which fell from you before our eyes. You come before the glory that are we, and insult our ears with the noise of monkeys. This noise does not even come from yourself..it comes instead from a stone. You claim ignorance on your theft, in an attempt to absolve yourself of the guilt.You stand before us, trying to keep secrets. You enter these halls absent a gift for our father. In short your insult is ignorance and a great deal of it. It is forgiven, this once)
Fides shook its head here a look of revulsion somehow reflected in its eyes. ”Vis facere, et bene ut aufero te a coram nobis cito, nostram misericordiam non est sine suis terminis. Vade nunc, venator veniet ad vos in tempus, semel placuit, quam optimus, ut te dignum nostris temporibus in posterum, cum stare ante nos iterum tibi erit aliquid magis decet. Detur hoc misericordia quondam...nos intelligere totam culpa haec non est tua. In futuro dabitur enim vobis non est misericordia, discere melius tua, locum in nostro mundo, perficere munus datum est tibi. Hoc facite, et tu, ut sit remissa, non magis tibi, ut mereretur praemium.”(You would do well to remove yourself from our presence quickly, our mercy is not without its limits. Go now, the hunter will come for you in time, once it has decided how best to make you worth our time in the future, when you stand before us again you will be something more fitting. You are given this mercy once...we understand the complete guilt of this is not your own. In the future you will be given no mercy, learn better your place in our world, complete the task given to you. Do this and you may be forgiven, do more and you may earn a reward.)
That dark grin played across it’s blackened lips once more, the thought of being given permission to see to this ‘womans’ training, to make her worthy to even stand before it’s brethren once again would be an odd joy to it, one of very few ‘positives’ known to the Hunter. It watched intently on the spell like workings from the woman, curiosity growing as she used neither hand motion nor vocals to create the effects she sought, unlike many others of flesh or even spirit could manage, it simply played into the Hunter’s mind as to make her worthy, though that would be further down the path she chose, if she were to choose this path before her.
Listening to every word spoken between her and the Evencar, Kage’s mind ran wild, thinking of many ways to begin this one’s training, the possibilities only growing further as the Evencar listed off the many insults and transgressions, it was than it knew full well the first of many lessons to come. But then a look of disgust crossed Kage’s features as the woman spoke of ‘striving to serve the darkness’, the thought one would think her services would even be noticed in such a monkey suit as her own, and furthered by the same thought as Fides, using a mere stone to speak to them, to address the children of darkness in such a manner, it was a mere reach in an attempt to impress them.
“Vos dicitis vos conantur, ut serviant Pater noster, et tamen prodico hoc dictum in simia sectam, praeterea, contumelia in tenebris, cum usus est lapis. Vos sunt sensim amittere nostra interest, tamen dicemus, tene te ad illud, si verum est quod dicis, nos plene sperare te esse, multo minus contumelia. Probare hoc est vere viam sequi vis, primum munus est, ut discere proiecerunt tua absurdus simia sectam, inquis, sunt ex Omnibus, Patris auctoritatem, ita probari, accipere magis decet speciem. Non quod difficile est enim unus de tua virtute, nisi forte vis ad oro pro nobis, et habere aliquid, quod offerat in commutationem.” (You say you strive to serve our Father, and yet you preform this statement in a monkey suit, further insulting the darkness with the use of a stone. You are slowly losing our interest, however we shall hold you to your statement, if you what you say is true, we fully expect you to be far less insulting. To prove this is truly the path that you wish to follow, your first task is to learn to cast off your grotesque monkey suit, you say you are a product of the All Father's influence, so prove it, take on a more fitting appearance. It shouldn't be that difficult for one of your prowess, unless of course you wish to beg for our help, and have something to offer in exchange.)
Naturally speaking form it’s point of view, nothing was ever given for free, her curiosity clear to it even despite the lack of emotions through her speaking stone, did she truly think it would offer such a thing as to guide her down this path without wanting something in return? No way in all the hells was it about to do such a thing, no of course not, there was a great deal she had to offer it, but the Hunter was curious to see what it was she would be willing to offer in exchange, what value could she place on such training if she truly did strive to serve the darkness as she claimed. It was her first test in a manner of speaking, but it would keep that part to itself for the time being.
If movement were a natural thing for her, Alexis would have frowned with confusion, bur she listened intently to all that the Evencar said, without so much as a twitch. How was she to serve, if her very body and voice offended the Kinn? How was she to do anything at all as nothing more than an inanimate object? This bothered her greatly, but it was very very clear that she was being told to get out, and so she did, she gathered her unused mortar and pestle and slowly backed out of the Citadel. Her strange, silvery eyes watching the creatures around her, and careful not to touch or bump any of them.
.
Anger flared through her entire being as she was challenged once more, but the emotion was quickly squashed before she did anything other than squeeze the mortar in her hands, the small stone bowl crumbling to dust in her grip as the Hunter addressed her and told her to cast off her body. She was only feet away from the exit, the Evencar had told her to leave, but her new ‘Master’ was telling her to stop and perform some task. The most he got was a blink as she took the last five steps backwards out of the Citadel and down the few steps, her eyes never leaving Kage’s feet. Oh yes, she knew better than to let any emotion get the better of her.
.
From outside of the Citadel, Alexis began to do as she was told, her mortal flesh began to quickly disintegrate, it would catch in an unnatural wind, so that not a single piece of her flesh would ever touch the Citadel of any of the creatures within. As her physical form fell away, she was careful to create and illusory form to replace it. It would appear that she was crumbling like a vampire in the sun only to have a secondary form beneath it. This form was as solid as an illusory form could be, and solid, not transparent. This form had no physical component to it, and as her body disintegrated to her core, she would dissolve the stone and diamond that protected the cross as well. This dark rosary was brought out of her body and clenched tightly in her hand for a moment before she placed it against the base of her ‘throat’ Here it would hang as if hung around a body, though it was more just her telekinesis that held it aloft.
.
The voce stone floated up as well and sat in the hollow of her throat, it echoed softly, and in perfect Latin.
"You know that I can speak directly to you, but would that not be a violation of yourselves? My voice can touch your minds, or my voice can emanate from an object. I have no other choice in the matter as my true form was taken from me as an infant in the Empire of the Forsaken Rose one hundred years ago." And with that, Alexsis would bow and take a few more steps away from the Citadel before turning to walk out into the open area outside, and wonder just how the hell she was going to get home.
(wilting rose FIN)
The pitch black endless black pools of his gaze danced around her frame as he stepped around her and her perch, taking in every sense he could gather about the woman, not for attack purposes but more so to understand her being. “Vos tenere anima piscinam, quae docet vos fuisse colligendis eis pro aliquo tempore, industria, ut videtur, influit off te valde similair ad nostros, et tamen dicis te scire prope nihil, ut ad vitam, scrutans enim magis notitia in quod sumus,” (You hold a soul pool, which tells us you have been collecting them for some time, the energy that seemingly flows off of you is very similair to our own, and yet you say you know near nothing as to our existence, searching for more information on what we are,)He stopped as he came to stand in front of the woman yet again, tilting his head slightly, “Et vos have been vultus in omnibus iniuriam locis, etsi iam novit quid nobis erant, et a quo factum est,, vos iustus non accepit in eo,, sunt aliqua, quae nostri fratres perdidit hic.” (And you have been looking in all the wrong places, even though you already knew what we were, and where we came from, you just haven't accepted the fact, you are the product of what our brethren have lost here.)
It was all beginning to make more sense, her soul pool, her energy, the fact she had only just gotten her body, even right down to the part why she had a soul pool in the first place and why Q could not find the artifact. Kage turned to look back to his brethren with a devilish grin and light chuckle, “Non possumus credere te vidi olim tam similia, etiam nos ipsi sunt neglecti donec quis nostra venit ad ludere. Pitty Umbra videt ante Peccator.” (We cannot believe you looked past such occurrences, even we ourselves were overlooked until one our own came to play. Pitty a Shade sees it before a Sinner.) Kage turned to look back to the woman and held a pitch black hand out towards her, “Patitur, ut videre est in te, praeteritum esse et experitur, ita quod maybe possemus forte melius explicare, quid responsa petis.” (Allow us to see within you, your past existence and experiences so that maybe we might have a better chance to explain what answers you seek)
Kage had stepped forward and began talking before Q had so he waited a bit, listening to what the Shade had to say first, which was not common. Q still was not entirely sure who the shade was, just that he was important. He watched him circle her, taking in what he could as he did so and Q just waited, it seemed Kage was having a bit more luck with the woman then him. Q was more of a “blunt tool” he might have had his fill of combat for the most part, that didn't mean he had the most patience though, and his temper was starting to flare a bit, this “monkey mess” some kind of amalgam or something that stole bodies was to him still one of the monkeys, or at least fashioned after one. Q gave a slow nod of apprehension as Kage mentioned the woman was what she was Because of the Kinn, Q would be damned if he would acknowledge that fact though, not just yet. Stolen goods and a fari dose of dumb luck as far as he was concerned so far. His head did bob as Kage mentioned figuring it out before he did, again Q was not the most astute but Kage did have a point, maybe that's why he was important, had a good head on his shoulders, and a big set of brass balls. Q would let the insolence slide though in the end Kage had a damn good point. Before Alexis had a chance to answer any of Kage's questions Q spoke again,”Alright, miss rose we think you said it was? A name for a name is fair, call me Q, see a fair trade already. he gave a small nod before continuing ” A few things might have been dropped, perfectly plausible. The tree though, that was planted. Now, killing you...think that’s within reach, but you don’t want to fuck up that body, and we’re not really in the mood to fight. So you do have that going for you. But your blood, spilling that, eh...just a secondary thing. We want what you have. You do have an interesting want, but uhm...you see The All Father..., that's a straight hell no. That’s an honor that we don’t even have, and well as it stands right now, we think you have stolen goods...and deny it. Our friend here, seems to think YOU are the stolen goods. So that...that is be a problem. Besides, it’s not even like that’s something we can do. Really though, let’s say we are right and you have stolen goods….would you really want to go before a god, with shit you stole? How do you think that would play out? BUT, we can mayyyybe come to some accord, now, we will not bring you before our father, we can’t, BUT what we might do...you want to know more, you want to see us, learn about us...well, how about we take you to see someone more important than either of us, someone that might...just might grant your wish to see The Father. Figure if any one can do it the king can. Well...as much of a king as we have.” he stopped for a moment and laughed for just a second. ”actually you might know something about the king...he came here once, a long time ago. Planted that tree personally, and is the one that commanded your mother build the church. Now your mom...if we have this right would have been the ruler, makes you a princess in your own right. So we could bring you before the Evencar and not worry too much about getting chewed out, figure royalty and all, a survivor no less...that this one over here thinks is related to us somehow. We don’t personally give a shit, came here to find things that were left behind...well, your left behind, and there is something familiar about you. If the Evencar thinks you’re interesting or can manage to get you to tell it what the deal is and where the pretty things are it might still give us some credit for it. SO….you want to know more, we can arrange that, you want to meet The Father you’ve got about a snowball's chance in hell of that happening but if any one can arrange it the Evencar can. Here's the offer, come along peacefully, and we will take you to meet the most powerful thing we know, it will have the answers to all your questions. You don't even have to give us shit, just come along and get what you want, hows that sound?”
Alexis was actually quite excited for the first time since discovering the dark book that her mother had written in about the Kinn, and it showed in the slight unnatural twitching around her strange eyes. A quick jerk of her head or arms, seemingly uncontrolled spasms. They were rare and far apart, but they were happening. Like her body was being pulled in different directions now. A flinch of her expression as she watched the one known as Kage approach closer. She stood again as he got a bit too close for comfort, the temperature around her dropping from his strange aura. "That's close enough please" her voice echoed from her pocket for sure, there was no mistaking it from this distance. But then Q introduced himself and began speaking before she could answer Kage's questions, her eyes darted between the two of them. She could deal with the arrogance and antagonistic nature of the both of them, though it did vaguely annoy her, but at least she recognized it for what it was now, she was guilty of the same thing, thinking herself above others, resorting to threats to try and scare them into doing what she wanted. She listened carefully, slightly disappointed in what Q was saying, but also carefully hiding her shock that Kage had basically figured out what she was. She realized that other than feeling the temperature drop though, Kage's aura seemed to have no effect on her, and she kept a close eye on him as he circled about her, it made her uncomfortable but she was still too excited to be angry again. "All bodies are insufficient . . but necessary" she told him, attempting to begin to answer their questions. "I've had many over the last century or so" she added. "A soul pool you call it? I'm not sure if that's what I'd call it . .but yes I am a collector of souls. I use them to fuel my magic" she didn't specify exactly what kind of magic, but then she wasn't about to give away all of her secrets, regardless of what they thought she was.
"As for what I know of your kind, only that one of great power arrived here shortly after I was born and was sealed within the lake. There are musings in a journal of what my mother thought your kind to be but they were merely guesses and estimations. So no, other than your kind are part of the true pure darkness, and that your presence can corrupt the very land with that darkness, I know very little. Souls are important to you, that I've gathered obviously, and this artifact that you're looking for. As for accepting what you are, why wouldn't i? There are no entries after the few musings my mother left" there was anger barely suppressed in her voice, there was more, but whenever she spoke of her mother, her tone was colored with anger and hate. She looked to Kage after Q finished speaking of taking her away to meet this Evencar and frowned. "Evencar?" it was her mental voice again, touching both of them accidently, there was some sort of resonance from deep within her that seemed to echo the word over and over again, thousands of times over, she did after all carry a small part of the Evencar's soul pool within her and they seemed to awaken at the voicing of such a title. "Princess or not Q I was left here, alone and without aid for a hundred years" she said, her voice back to emanating from her pocket. "I couldn't care less about the populace that have returned to the lower lands. I was left to rot, and they can do the same, so please do not insult me with such a title. Alexis is all the name I'll ever need. As for going with you to meet this . . leader of yours. I would be happy to, but I truly have nothing stolen. And" she turned her gaze back to Kage "I don't know if I want you to touch me at all . . but I don't see what harm it could really do. I haven't lied to either of you, so whatever truth you seek, I'm sure it'll come out one way or another" she said and held her hand out to the Shade Marshal, squatting down on the barrel again so she was within reach.
-
He listened intently to every word his brethren spoke, knowing full well he pushed at buttons within the Sinner, pushing the boundaries as it were to his own title, he knew he was not above a Sinner, but he certainly had no problem letting them know where he stood either, there was something about this woman that he could not ignore. He had turned his attention back to the woman as she then took her turn in speaking on the matters he had pointed out, her reaction alone to the very title of Evencar was enough for him to know somewhere deep within, she knew of who they spoke of. "Nos sunt, non ad malum tibi, tu captus nostra interest." (We are not out to harm you, you have caught our interest.) he spoke calmly as he gently took her hands in his, the runic marking across the thick black frame seemingly shifted at her touch, "Interesting, es dominatur anima, sed nescio quam dominari illi in vestri lacus." (Interesting, you are the dominant soul, but you do not know how to dominate those within your pool.) The words softly echoed within her mind, just by allowing him the touch gave him the permission he asked for to be allowed to see within, her past and experiences, though he would keep it to just the information related to their race, "Vocant, ex alio ...." (They call out to another ...) He would then turn and look back to his brethren and nod his head lightly towards him, "Vocant, ut Etiam currus se." (They call to the Evencar itself)
-
”quod ita sit,” (so be it). Q only turned his head and gave a quick upward flick of its wrist, this summoned a fairly large ebony door from his own shadow, a doorway into the Umbra. It was nothing overly impressive or ostentatious, but as far as doors went it was a bit more than usual. Q moved to the door and opened it, looking back to his brother and Alexis. ”post te”(after you). He motioned for them to enter, Kage didn’t need to use the door to get into the umbra, he didn’t need to use it to get to the Citadel they were going to either. Alexis however had little choice in the matter, sure there were other ways but in theory this way was the most direct, and led to Fides itself. That being what it was and where it was Fides was of course immediately aware of the portal, and allowed it. The Evencar knew exactly who Kage and Q were, the other though...the Evencar was aware she had something that belonged to it...and once she had entered the door was acutely aware of WHAT she was, but not exactly who, which piqued its interest. The trip through the door was a quick one, but not altogether instantaneous, there was a period of darkness, in which they seemed to be completely still after stepping across the threshold. In those few moments there was nothing but darkness and silence. Reality as it were would fade back in slowly at first, the images of this place were not what one might of thought of a Citadel, this was once a church, that stood in ruins and had been claimed. There were a number of things within it though that clearly identified it as a place of worship to the Kinn, namely the Evencar. It was not perceivable to Alexis but the attention of the Evencar went back and forth briefly between both Q and Kage, they could feel its attentions. Fides was a creature whose powers were never fully disclosed, in those brief few moments it became instantly aware of where they had been and what had happened, Fides was able to read their manifestations as others read books, perhaps it was a side effect of being so ancient, or perhaps it was a gift from the father itself, no Kinn had ever come to question the Evencar about just how it knew what it knew. ” Videmus, qui errat et nostra venator redierunt, deferentes nobis donum fortasse? Miramur, si vel tibi conscius es, quid est vobis attulit ante nos. Nos nosmet ipsos habebat, mirabatur quid esset quod decus... habuimus cogitari posset cadere in manus aliquis fortis...aut stultus. fit, ut jucundum mirari licet, quod debet redire domum suam volitionem, et habet quaestiones dubium?”(We see the one who wanders and our hunter have returned, bringing us a gift perhaps? We wonder if either of you are aware just what it is you have brought before us. We our self had wondered what would become of that trinket... we had thought it might fall into the hands of someone brave...or foolish. it comes as a pleasant surprise though that it should return home of its own volition, and it has questions no doubt?). Fides placed it's tome down on the pulpit before it and moved towards them a few feet coming to the edge of the platform it stood on and motioned for them all to come closer, its attentions were now fully on the woman, though Fides knew better, this was not truly a woman, not in the conventional sense, it had hinted at that much already as it had not said she, no, Fides had instead addressed Alexis as “it”.
…..Alexis flinched slightly as Kage took her hand, his ‘touch’ weeping into her mind and sorting through the memories and experiences searching for who she was or what she had experienced. She had never felt anything of the sort and wondered vaguely, though without true care, if that’s what it felt like when she entered other’s minds. Her mental voice was there though, along with thousands of others, sorted into two different pools. One that was the souls of the empire, the crucifix as it were, those that she herself had dominated to become what she was. And the pool of souls stolen from fides by her mother, which were mostly dormant until Q and Kage had shown up and started talking about the Evencar. Now these souls cried out for their true Master, and the sands that they were trapped in seemed to vibrate around the outer shell of her core. There was no way for them to free themselves, but it caused her a great deal of discomfort, and jarred her focus a bit. Her body shook for a moment, her hands jerking out of Kage’s grip and she growled, a strange thing to do in ones mind, but it took her a few moments to control what was happening to herself, as it had never happened before. Her chest even seemed to be breathing, rising and falling with the pain caused by the outer shell of her core. Once she had control of herself again she rather glared at Kage.
“Yea . .that rather hurt” she told him, her voice once more emanating from the stone in her pocket.
….. It was then that she noticed that Q had summoned a door, one pale brow rose in question as he ushered the two of them through it. She would check her equipment, cork the open bottle of sands, and wrap her cloak back around her before dismounting the barrel. Her body twitched again though as she tried to take her first step, torn between her own pool and that of Fides wanting to go home, and stumbled a bit. IF she could blush in embarrassment she might have, as it was, she simply righted herself and strode forward as if nothing stupid had just occurred.
…..The trip through the door was quick, but frightening, for a moment, in the absolute emptiness of pure darkness and utter silence, she felt as if she had fallen apart, and then . she simply felt as though she were home. It was a strange, settling calmness in the purity of nothing. She almost didn’t want to continue the trip, but the urging of the Evencar’s souls pulled her the rest of the way though the doorway. She grimaced but otherwise accepted the reality as she stepped into the desolate landscape.
….. “I’m sensing a theme” her voice holding a good deal of sarcasm and amusement. She would fall silent as she took in the sight of the Citadel though, the souls within her calling out for home and a sense of pure reverence and awe settled over her as she stepped across the threshold of the building itself.
….. Her diamondlike glittering eyes moving slowly over the interior until they fell upon the creature of the voice she could sometimes hear within the pool of stolen souls. She averted her eyes quickly, realizing what it was that was before her now, and knew that it was speaking of her, though being called an IT didn’t sit well with her, she knew it to be the truth.
…..She watched in awe as the creature known as the Evencar came closer to them, even that small amount, just to the end of the pulpit, excited those 13000 stolen souls, even trapped within the sands, to grow excited and begin to vibrate and pull at her again. She was forced several shaky steps forward, only to fall onto her hands and knees before the pulpit.
….. “HOOOOOOMEEEEEEE” the stolen souls would reverberate within her, her mental voice reaching out to all of them, echoing with the 13,000 voices of the souls trapped in the sands, the souls that WANTED to return to Fides literally trying to rip her apart to do so. Her body began to vibrate, pieces falling away in a grotesque type of disintegration.
….. “Please . . .make it stop!” she would beg both through her own mental voice as well as the physical emanation from her voice stone, her arms wrapped around her upper torso as she seemed to literally begin to fall apart.
A devilish grin played across the pitch black features of his entire frame, never once trying to stop her from retrieving her hand from his grasp as he turned to look back to her, stepping aside to allow her entrance the door, as he did his frame would return the shadows from once they came, knowing exactly where they would be going. Her memories along with the memories shared to him by the shadows himself he was fairly certain how it all played out, however he was interested in seeing the outcome of it all. The fact she was still fleshy was only looked past because she had the right right mind set as the rest of them, flesh is weak.
Emerging from the shadows within the rafters of the citadel, he would remain out of the way of the introductions, allowing the woman the opportunity to get her answers before anything else as was promised by Q, however that was cut short when the fell to her knees and begged for mercy. At the Evencar’s summon he slipped back into the shadows to emerge once again near the platform on which Fides stood, his gaze still on the woman, “Videtur quod furto exigere non sit reversus.” (It would seem that which was stolen demand they be returned) his words were void of any emotion what so ever as he spoke to the woman who curled in on herself. “Nostri fratres meretur hanc fidem.” (Our brethren deserves credit for this one) he spoke to Fides as he lifted his gaze to Q, “Erat eius invenire.” (She was his find.)
Q moved in synch with Kage appearing at Fides side, all three kinn now in front of the woman. Q though it was pretty damn funny the way she staggered forward and fell to her hands and knees before the Evencar. When Alexis staggered forward falling to her hands and knees Fides cocked his head to the left, wondering just what her issue might have been. His gaze shifted to Kage as he spoke of what was happening, and he was right. Fides then offered a nod to Q acknowledging what Kage had said, it was true Q had been the one to find her. Fides was well aware of the souls pulling at the woman, and wondered for a time if they would be able to pull her a part, there was a part of it that wanted to wait and see. Fides face contorted in disgust as she began to fall apart, *disgusting...repugnant...revolting* Fides distaste for flesh was a clear thing in its mind. If Alexss were to try and trespass into Fides mind her being would instead be wrecked with a strange sort of agony, which might well be a new sensation. Her body may well have been immune to pain, her soul and those within her however were likely not the same. Her desperate please would not invoke this though, the cries were not intrusive to the Evencar, through the noise of it was mildly offensive. Fides motioned with its right hand to the woman offering her up as an example as it spoke to both Kage and Q, though it was a redundant thing for it to say. ”Hic est exemplum, etiam carne qua mortuus est, privatus ex vera vita, tamen est a foedis acervum infirmitate.vide nunc, quam etiam post fuerit talis cura parare, conservare....Ut satis est, sicut illud fieri potest, sed in ictu oculi in carne indicium est, facit infirma. Quid tale unquam teneri, ut pretiosa est extra nos. Non est nisi exiguum intellectus, ut non electio, ibi carcerem...tamen, est aliquid maxime foeda. Omnino pugnantia”(here is an example, even flesh which is dead, deprived of true life, still is a disgusting pile of weakness.see now how even after it has taken such care to prepare it, preserve it….make it pretty as it possibly can, in but the blink of an eye the flesh betrays it, makes it weak. Why such a thing could ever be held as precious is beyond us. There is only a modicum of understanding, as they have no choice over there prison...yet still, it is a thing most foul, repugnant to the core.) The Evencar as well as the others were nearly completely unmoved by the pleas, Q however would have a grin from ear to ear. He did mention, and even Kage had seemed to know that this might not go as Alexis had imagined. Fides head tilted now slowly to the left as it watched intent for a moment to watch the woman fall apart. She may have been ignorant of what Q had meant by having stolen good, it wondered now if she understood what he had meant. Q was ignorant of her perception of the souls within the sand, and unaware that at her core she had in a way been made from a Kinn aertifact. Alexis was most likely ignorant hat in taking possession of these things it was to them a form of theft, ignorance of the situation, did nothing to change it, the souls in the sands, were Fides, not hers, the cross which she found herself and those from the kingdom, she may have had more claim to the souls within it, but the crucifix itself again, belonged to the Kinn. with its head still tilted to the left Fides leaned its head back, now “looking down its nose” so to speak at Alexis who had been quite incapacitated by the sands...sand of all things. ”Qui stetit superbus et ferociter tantum momenta praeteritum, satis certa de te et tua virtute fuisse humiliabitur...pronus ante, sicut nos...cum harena. Qui habebat "furto nihil", miramur...tu tamen tenere, quod fallacia, ut veritatem? Aut non est in te veni, ut animadverto vestri stultitia, operor vos animadverto...erit te fateri, quod tu es, et quod sunt..., quia de nobis? Si fateri nos autem considerandum posito ad finem. Nos autem non est accipere quod non est nostra,....et, ut te furati nihil, ergo nihil est, quod nostra. Quamvis non videtur aequum est multum dissentire in te, ut ad veritatem huius. Ut te mutavit animum tuum, et fateor vobis, non quidem habere, quae pertinent ad nos....et notum facere desiderium tuum ad reditum, ut quod est nobis...nos autem accipere eam”(you who stood so proud and defiant only moments past, quite sure of yourself and your prowess have been brought low...prostrate before the like of us...by sand. You who had “stolen nothing”, we wonder...do you still hold that fallacy as truth? Or have you come to realize your folly, do you realize...will you admit, that you are what you are...because of us? If you admit this we shall consider putting an end to it. We will not take that which is not ours….and, as you have stolen nothing, then you have nothing that is ours. Though there seems a fair deal of dissent within you as to the truth of this. Should you have changed your mind, and admit you do indeed have things which belong to us….and make known your desire to return that which is ours...we shall take it back.) Fides now held out its hand, unmoved by her discomfort and waited for her answer.
Q was just standing there in silence listening and watching, almost chuckling to himself. When she had cried out it had attracted a fair deal of attention the the beings that were here, and if she had enough awareness she might notice them beginning to gather, they were behind her though so it may well elude her attention for the most part. It would however be hard to ignore that this place was getting darker as more Kinn and Kinn creatures had begun to gather, wondering what the disturbance was. A number of Turpee had gathered outside, not daring to enter even this Citadel, it was a ruined church but served as a Citadel and as such they were forbidden from entering lest directly summoned to do so. A plethora of “Devil birds had come to perch in the rafters looking down on the scene, a few of which stood out, “familiars” of Kinn that were not present. There were a few others, standing back in the shadows behind her, various greater Kinn, most notable among them another Visser whom took great interest in this event. The most noticeable would have been the “sin angels” that had also gathered, rather impish creatures, with no concern of personal space, aside from Fides. They were scattered throughout this place, one had even landed near Alexis, nearly in arms reach crouching down to look her in the face.
…..If she could blush with embarrassment, she would have. The begging outburst had been driven by the automatic response of one facing their worse phobia. An unelicited outcry of fear, hers of being torn apart by the very sands and souls that were a part of her, in a way. She sat there on her knees, arms wrapped around herself, vibrating slightly from within as the Evencar made a show and tell project out of her.
…..The indignation that grew within her own soulpool at being treated in such a way is what pulled her focus back together. The trembling stopped and she sat there quite still, little bits and chunks of herself splattered all around her on the floor. Curiously enough, there was no blood, she simply had no use for it afterall.
…..Alexis was far too busy pulling her focus back together to be worried about trying to communicate with the dark beings before her. Concentration was key to any mage, and it took constant concentration to hold a construct together, at least the way she was capable of doing so. It wasn’t even that she disagreed with the Evencar about flesh being disgusting, but it was a necessary evil for something like her. She moved slowly then, her disembodied bits being sucked back into her form and ‘melting’ into perfection again, and her hand moved to retrieve the stone from her pocket, holding it up so that it could be heard unmuffled.
Indeed it is disgusting, repugnant, and revolting, but for one such as I with no mobile body of my own, it is a necessary indignation
…..By this time Alexis had also regained control over the vibrating sands, a bit of magic worked within her own form to put them back into a kind of stasis as the Evencar continued to deride her very existence.
Flesh may be weak and disgusting Lord, but for this creature it is more nimble and less cumbersome than stone or other materials. The fine manipulations of its digits and the ability to blend in with the mortals have proven invaluable.
…..Each time she spoke, she was very careful not to interrupt the Evencar. She felt no hate or animosity towards him, or even the others, though Q did annoy the hell out of her with his unnecessary threats. In fact, she was quite happy to be here, even if she was being treated like an object in some sort of kinn lesson. She could feel the darkness of the place, the purity. Though her body didn’t move she was rapt with attention to every work the Evencar spoke, although frustration did grow within her as she was once again accused of stealing something that belonged to them.
I have stolen nothing. That which I have in my possession I found, abandoned at the bottom of the lake and spread over the beach, more than a hundred years afo. I have had every intention of returning it to its rightful owner, which I might add, was not the one that showed up in my home, demanding that I hand over what did not belong to him either. she spoke slowly and clearly, and her words were not tinged with the slightest bit of deception of any kind. It had indeed been her intention to return the sands to their owner, once he had been found.
…..She paused for several seconds, analyzing her words before speaking again and snatching back a small piece of herself that one of the sinn angels was trying to make off with. Her head would finally raise up, her sparkling crystalline eyes glittering in the gloom of the citadel, though not landing any higher than their feet, she knew her place.
As for the other item that your brethren was questioning me about, that is also not stolen, though I was not forthcoming with my knowledge neither did I lie to him. It is not his, and he cannot have it, for I will not turn myself over to him, I AM the object he came looking for, and unlike most inanimate things, I am sentient. Clearly, and would like to not be anyone or anything’s slave or possession. Your kind . . no You Evencar, you are that which created me, surely you know that to be the truth. I also do not wish to be ended, I rather enjoy existing and spreading as much darkness as I can in the realms, it brings me joy”
…..As he held his hand out to her, it evoked a bit of curiosity, surely he was not attempting to help her up, nor being kind in some way, that left only the option of, he wanted something. Considering this whole thing was over the sands within her chest, she had not problem giving them to him.
I shall return the souls trapped within the sands to you Evencar, but It will take a few moments to retrieve and then to free them. Are you willing to let me do so of my own accord? It involves a few spells to free them from myself, and another to destroy the sand crystals to free the souls themselves” She asked him, knowing the magic would take a little while to perform. She was also aware of the thickening darkness that seemed to roll through the citadel as more and more creatures seemed to gather, it had alerted quite a few of the souls within her, but she was seemingly completely focused on those before her. --
Kage simply stood beside the Evencar as he spoke to those who gathered around and to the construct before them, she was an oddity this much was clear, the fact she was literally being torn apart by the very souls that helped keep her in one piece was simply amusing in on itself, how ever he couldn’t help feel the sensation of knowing her struggles. The old memories of his life as a fleshy flashing through his mind, however different they were, they were still rather similar in their own way.
Listening intently to the woman’s words he could hear the truth behind the words, the fact she had refused the knowledge was a bit irritating but still she had every right to keep such things from them, despite the fact they were more than aware of her half truths. The pitch black gaze danced over the other brethren and pets that gathered to watch the spectical of this woman’s berating, a new sense of entertainment seeping into his mind. “Fortasse Etiam cura permitteret nobis liceat videre si est vere digna forma multo magis apta, quod non potest esse?” (Perhaps the Evencar would permit us the chance to see if she is truly worthy of a form far better suited for what she can be?) Kage spoke lowly to the Evencar, keeping his words for the Kinn’s ears alone, still disgusted by the fact she took flesh over anything else to create a form for herself, he did not quite see her as worthy for such a discussion. “Non vult ostendere potentia longe maiora, et audeat dicere, ut dictum est, idem velle, quod nos ipsi contendunt, spargens in tenebris, ut omnes redire ad patrem nostrum.” (She does show a potential for far greater things, and dare we say has shown the same desires that we ourselves strive for, spreading the darkness so that it may all return to our father.)
As he now held the mantle of Shade Marshal, it was part of his position to see the potential within others that were deemed as worthy, hell it was part of his creation to see the potential within the beings that strolled through the darkness as this one did, that and he also rather enjoyed the idea of pushing this one to her full potential. When she offered to returned the souls she had gathered he titled his head in curiosity, why would she be willing to give up that much power, to be seen even weaker than she is now, and to use such methods as spells and such to do so, he did like the idea of watching her wither and scream in agony as Fides would pull the souls back into himself, to see the souls literally tear her apart and leave her in a puddle to pull herself back together once again, a dark devilish grin played across his black lips at the very thought of it.
Fides took note as the construct regained its composure, it even ever so slightly recoiled in disgust as the bits of flesh made its way back and reassimilated itself. Had it not been so repugnant to the Evencar it might have been impressive. Its brows arched ever so slightly as Alexis retrieved the small stone which produced her voice.her words were somewhat pleasing as she too spoke of how repulsive and weak flesh was, though it took exception to her calling it “invaluable”. She had managed to gain herself some credit, not interrupting Fides as it was speaking hinted at manners, a thing it held value for. She had even managed to hold her tongue despite being degraded and openly insulted. The words were not so much meant as a direct insult as spoken fact, even if the supposed facts were only heavily biased opinion there was truth to it nonetheless. It was the point she had made, her perception of thievery which cause a slight pause for thought. In the most basic definition of the term thief she was correct, though Fides had used the term loosely. She had not directly stolen anything, but she had taken possession of things which were not hers, there was a good deal of semantics at this point. The Evencar took great amusement at Alexis willingly humbling herself, again this brought her credit and had earned her a modicum of mercy as far as Fides was concerned. The way in which she conducted herself was gaining her more and more credit, it led Fides to wonder just how much Alexis knew. The Evencar did have a degree of fascination for the construct, in a twisted sort of way it was an altar in Fides mind. Alexis had profaned the crucifix, though in her own way she had endeavored to make it “pretty”. Her want of freedom was understandable, and something most Kinn prized above all other things, but the hidden truth is all things in existence were indeed slaves, in one way or another. And as she spoke of spreading darkness invoked a nod from Fides, it was in agreeance on that aspect. Once she had offered to return the souls through her own methods this piqued the Evencars interest. The cruelty of taking back all that was Kinn within her had been foiled to some extent, if she had agreed Fides had intended to effectively destroy her core, perhaps she had caught on to that, this too had gained her more credit in FIdes eyes. “Si non est in tua potestate, ad facere, tunc videbimus est, hoc scire aliqua dolus non erit finis...Nos finge tibi conscius es hoc.”(if it is within your power to do so then we shall see it, know this any trickery will be your end...we imagine you are aware of this.) As Kage spoke directly with Fides it leaned ever so slightly in his direction though its gaze did not leave Alexis as she set about releasing the souls within the sands. It would also respond in Kind, directly to Kage, its words for him alone. ”Si construere posse redire animas suae voluntatis, tunc si desiderium test pretium eius dicemus patitur. Immo vestrum est officium quaerere dignum...nos autem non inclinatur ad pati carnem gerit in futuro. Si servo quod species vos servabit sordes a nostro conspectu, in garrula vox de simia est offensa satis, non pati in concert cum carnem gerit in futuro sine consequentia. Est, rebellantes, et est reus iniquitates, licet in ignorantia, sed... Sicut tibi dictum est, creatura non videntur habere aliquam meritum, et tam nos, ut nullum cum educandi eam. Nos imaginari in tempore, sub tutela tua veniat ad usum, eius inclinationes iam videtur esse in step cum nostris” (If the construct is able to return the souls of its own volition then if you have a desire to test its worth we shall allow it. Indeed it is your duty to seek out the worthy...however we are not inclined to suffer the flesh it wears in the future. Should it keep that visage you will keep the filth from our sight, the chattering noise of the monkeys is offence enough, we will not suffer it in concert with the flesh it wears in the future without consequence. It is revolting, and has committed a number of offences, albeit in ignorance, however... As you yourself have pointed out the creature does seem to possess some merit, and as such we take no issue with your educating it. We imagine in time under your tutelage it may come to be of use, its inclinations already seem to be in step with our own.)
The gathering that stood as witness to this event remained nearly completely silent, with the exception of the protest from the Sin Angel which Alexis took her flesh back from. The creature offered relatively little resistance but its protest was an obvious one. Her flesh was still easily retrieved from the thing though, as it had no desire to cause a scene or interruption. Q stood in a stoic silence staring Alexis down, shooting her a very hostile look. He did not dare to interject though, to speak out of turn would have invoked a very swift retribution. He knew better than to show his ass in the presence of Fides. He was slightly offended that Fides had not given him a chance to answer Alexis’s accusation though. The truth was he would have failed to do so, but his view of the situation was different. Though he took it as an offence he had in reality been spared, losing an argument with another “lesser being” was a loss to something beneath it, and as such would not have boded well for Q at all.
……Alexis sat very still, as still as only a construct could actually, and listened intently to the conversations happening up on the dais. It wasn’t precisely that she was eavesdropping, but she had exceptional hearing, and was intent not to piss off the Evencar. She knew just from the whispers within her, that he could end her with a thought. She was nowhere near as powerful as her mother had been, and her goal was to get to that point so that she could destroy the woman. Dying now, was not an option.
……Alexis nodded her head after the Evencar told her to do what she needed to release the souls and then went about speaking with the other creature. She would reply when she was sure they were done speaking. She went about pulling her bag off of her back and retrieving a mortar and pestal, carefull not to let the dark aura of her book of spells spill out of the bag before closing it and resecuring it to her back. She would need the mortar and pestle to grind the sand. She glanced around her though, curious and cautious of the Kinn. She did NOT want them to know what she was about to do, it would pose too much of a danger to her at a later point. She could however, cast without the use of words, gestures or components, but this still posed the problem of revealing her core to these . . things. She didn’t think she had much of a choice though.
…….When Fides was finished speaking to the other, she looked up at them again and spoke this time in Latin, since that was clearly their language of choice.
“ne fraudum trahere I habere mea core in harenae lasarpiciferis animabus vestris Evencar, sed revocare perdendum liberare harenam. Si placet animae meae ut ostendat se ostenderet non se animas.”
(no trickery, I will pull from my core the sands that hold your souls Evencar but to return them I must destroy the sand to free them. If you wish I will demonstrate with one of my own souls to show that it will not destroy the souls themselves)
…….Alexis would glance around at the other gathered beings and would have sighed if she could have, instead, she sat up very straight and pressed her hand to her center mass, lower than where a heart should be, but still well above her navel area. Her hand would sink into her own flesh slowly. There was no sign of pain or discomfort as there was none, and even her own worry was hidden. She slowly extracted what appeared to be nothing more than a small boulder from her center mass. It was approximately 7 inches in diameter. Her magic was thick in the room now, even though she had not spoken a spell or moved her hands to indicate she was casting at all.
…… The stone would crack and fall away, ‘leaking’ a good deal of black sands. These were the souls that she had collected herself over the last century, and were the ‘taint’ that the kinn could sense, as they were mixed, both animal and sentient beings alike. Alexis had always been extremely careful to keep what was ‘hers’ separate from what was the Evencars, as well as away from her core, the crucifix. The corrupt sands held a small handful of larger crystal bits, souls she had intentionally taken from her victims, but all of this she let fall to the floor, and used her free hand to use a telekinetic wind to gather them up and into one of her pockets. Surely the Evencar would know the difference between what was his and what was not.
…….With the stone broken away, a smaller, 5inch sphere of perfect diamond now floated in her hand. It however did seem discolored, darkened with the black sands that resided within this protective shell. Deep within the sphere one could see the vague form of the crucifix that was Alexi’s true form. Again, with no words or semantics, the diamond shell seemed to crack, but this time in a geometric pattern. Each honeycombed ‘cell’ had a ‘lid’ of sorts, and these smaller pieces of hexagonal diamond lifted off of the main sphered and the sands would flow out, all 13,000 pieces of it. (its really not that much, about an ounce or so) This sand was different from the previous sand, it was a dark and night, and clearly held an aura of the kinn, a part of the Evencar himself. The sand would float and swirl around the orb of diamond as she closed up the honeycombs and then pressed the diamond orb and cross back into the center mass of her body. The sands then floated around her arm as she held it up to him.
“These are yours Evencar” she told him.
“I will free them if you so desire or relinquish them to you as is” she offered.
……She had switched back to common by mistake as she was feeling that much weaker without the sands trapped within her core, though there was no sign of such weakness visible to the eye nor heard in her voice.
Fides was somewhat fascinated by her..more her actions. She had been nothing more than a trinket originally. Not quite a booby trap, more a monument to the “sins” of that empire and her mother. A reminder of sorts, even if it was one that was somewhat superfluous. That empire had all but been plowed under, it stood in ruins even now some hundred years later. Perhaps at some point the Evencar would send scouts, curious as to the tales told of the place by the populations that were still near there. It almost chuckled as she retrieved a mortar and pestle, she needed tools still, that did confirm a small portion of Fides inner musings of her ability. Ironic though she was able to cast with no audible invocation or gestures yet still required tools, it vaguely reminded the beast of “folk magic”.her concerns of concealment were perhaps a moot point, as the vast majority of the creatures were behind her, they could not see what it was that she was doing. There was only one being here that had dared to move to get a better view of what it was that she was doing, it bore a vague resemblance to the Evencar though it was not even half as grand in its presence.
Fides turned its head far to the left, looking at her from the corner of its eyes as she spoke to it addressing the need to destroy the sands, and not destroying the souls. The look even despite any finer points of expression was still somehow almost a blatantly incredulous look. The Evencar highly doubted her ability to dissolve a soul that ability was incredibly rare. Even Fides itself was not truly capable of destroying a soul...it could break them, shatter them to minuscule shards and scatter them to the winds, but even then fragments remained. IF her senses were astute enough she MIGHT have been able to pick up on a small few fragments that remained of the poor creature that had been known as Scourge which still remained. Her utterance in latin had gained her some credit, though it was neither here nor there as the preference had been made clear enough prior. It was something of a double edged sword, she could speak latin, and had chosen not to previously, it was an unintentional slight against the Evencar, but a slight nonetheless. As she summoned forth the power to crack the stone and release the black sands Fides returned to looking at her fully. She employed a bit of telekinesis to separate the bounty that had been displayed, keeping what was hers to herself. To Fides the difference in souls was as plain as night and day, the others, the ones she kept were bereft of the taint of Kinn, at least so far as having enough taint to be considered as sufficient. The casing of her core caught Fides attention as it was a crude thing in its eyes, though it could still be considered impressive in its own right.
As she held them out as an offering Fides had accepted them as is. The beast let out a small and quiet sound that was a soft and quiet amalgam of a snarl and growl in response to her common tongue...it almost sounded like an aggressive purr. There was no need for her to further exert herself, the Evencar’s suspicions had been confirmed by the small display of hers already. She would have needed to break the sands, which to Fides implied Alexis was not truly capable of employing soul rending, she was however resourceful enough to use the sands her mother had enchanted. As the were suspended in the air Fides waved its hand dismissively which actually effectively wrent the souls from the sands, a simple gesture and the souls were free, returning to the Evencar of their own accord. It said nothing but it was implied the sand was hers, Fides only took that which belonged to it.
“Iniquitates sunt parva...imprudentia, sed sunt iniquitates omnibus idem. Te quidam parva gradus obtulit retributionem, hoc esse quod est, et vos eritis mihi liceat vivere..., ut quantum in te vivere, sed nos postulo magis vos. Nostra venator videtur finge tibi sit usus, et nos nosmet ipsos videre, quod non sine arte. Si vere quaerere, ut ius et iniuria vos feci, et vos subditi sitis te, ut eius vota, perficere, munera quae tibi dantur, perficere eos cum diligentia et vos in tempore etiam praemia pro laboribus. Probare quod quidam usum, et ut in tempore venire ad benedictus, id est opera tua, quae placet hoc. Deficiente hoc nos nocentibus super vos nostra iustitia, et accipere a te, nostro "libram carnis" pro delictis tunc pone te amittere, ut faciam, ut tu...autem faciens, ita et nos caute vos, qui nunc nobis nota, et dum esset inclinatur, ut det vobis aliqua parva misericordia nos imaginari alii sunt, non ita in genere. Quid est dicendum?” (Your transgressions were small...unintentional, but they were transgressions all the same. You have to some small degree offered recompense, this being what it is you shall be allowed to live… as much as you live, however we require more of you. Our hunter seems to imagine you may be of use, and we ourself see that you are not without skill. Should you truly seek to right the wrongs you have done you will submit yourself to his wishes, complete the tasks which you are given, accomplish them with diligence and you may in time even be rewarded for your efforts. Prove that you are of some use and you might in time come to be blessed, it is your action and inactions which will decide this. Failing this we will inflict upon you our own justice and take from you our “pound of flesh” for your transgressions then set you lose to do as you will...however in doing so we caution you that you are now known to us, and while we might be inclined to grant you some small mercy we imagine others are not so kind. What is your answer?
…..Alexis was actually quite capable of soul rending, just not on the mass scale of the Kinn. She would have had to do it one or two at a time, and so crushing the sands were simply that much faster. What would take her many weeks, maybe months to do individually, would take her only a few minutes to do with the mortar and pestle. The spell on the sands was what had allowed her mother to recreate a feat that seemed like mass soul rending to the Kinn. Then again, it was Alexis’s thoughts that the less the Kinn knew of her abilities the better. Self-preservation, after all.
……She sat there quietly though as he took what was rightfully his, and returned the sands to her, a curious thing in her opinion, but done never the less, and then listened to his speech. To be honest, she was a bit confused by her ‘transgressions’ but remembered a passage in the book her mother had written about the Creatures of Darkness being . . .oddly inclined as to offenses. But now the Evencar was still offering her a place with them, to learn and grow stronger. It was of course under threat, but she was learning quite quickly that that simply seemed to be tradition with them, and it was after all her calling to serve the Darkness. She had devoted her short life to doing just such a thing.
……She looked up to the dais, careful not to raise her eyes above their feet and spoke as clearly as she could in her best Latin, for she knew her speech was one offense, had seen the way they all seemed to cringe when she spoke in common.
Nitor, ut serviant in Tenebris. Non auferetur a te, sed ego sum confusa, et volunt ad ius meum iniquitates. Quaeso, quid feci, quod offendit te?
( I strive to serve the Darkness. I will not fail you, but I am confused, and wish to right my transgressions. Please, what have I done that offends you?)
……Alexis was still acutely aware of the creatures around her, even the ones behind her, including the odd copy like creature of the Evencar off to one side. That one had her interest, but she was fully focused on the event unfolding before her. It had not escaped her notice that she had been passed off to the one known as The Hunter, or Kage rather than the one that had discovered her. Her interest and curiosity ran rampant at this point, thankfully no emotion transferred into her voice stone.
The Evencar leaned back and looked down its nose at her as she asked what it was she had done that offended it. It gave a nod before leaning forward and addressing her. ”Tu contumeliam nobis multipliciter, dicemus numerare eos te. Quaestio est, ubi committitur... profanum nostra artificium, enshrining in sordes. Vos compositum, hoc ulterius esse reclamacione et sordes, quae ceciderunt, ex te ante oculos nostros. Veneris ante gloriam, quod nos, et contumeliam nostram aures, cum sonum simiae. Haec vox non etiam a te..fit, sed ex lapide. Te dicunt ignorantia in furtum, in conatu ad absolvit te de culpa.Te stare coram nobis, volens servare secreta. Intra haec atria absens donum pater noster. Denique tuam contumeliam est ignorantia, et ut plurimum. Est remissa, hoc quondam.” (You insult us a number of ways, we shall count them for you. The question is where to start… you profane our artifact, enshrining it in filth. You compound this further be reclaiming the filth which fell from you before our eyes. You come before the glory that are we, and insult our ears with the noise of monkeys. This noise does not even come from yourself..it comes instead from a stone. You claim ignorance on your theft, in an attempt to absolve yourself of the guilt.You stand before us, trying to keep secrets. You enter these halls absent a gift for our father. In short your insult is ignorance and a great deal of it. It is forgiven, this once)
Fides shook its head here a look of revulsion somehow reflected in its eyes. ”Vis facere, et bene ut aufero te a coram nobis cito, nostram misericordiam non est sine suis terminis. Vade nunc, venator veniet ad vos in tempus, semel placuit, quam optimus, ut te dignum nostris temporibus in posterum, cum stare ante nos iterum tibi erit aliquid magis decet. Detur hoc misericordia quondam...nos intelligere totam culpa haec non est tua. In futuro dabitur enim vobis non est misericordia, discere melius tua, locum in nostro mundo, perficere munus datum est tibi. Hoc facite, et tu, ut sit remissa, non magis tibi, ut mereretur praemium.”(You would do well to remove yourself from our presence quickly, our mercy is not without its limits. Go now, the hunter will come for you in time, once it has decided how best to make you worth our time in the future, when you stand before us again you will be something more fitting. You are given this mercy once...we understand the complete guilt of this is not your own. In the future you will be given no mercy, learn better your place in our world, complete the task given to you. Do this and you may be forgiven, do more and you may earn a reward.)
That dark grin played across it’s blackened lips once more, the thought of being given permission to see to this ‘womans’ training, to make her worthy to even stand before it’s brethren once again would be an odd joy to it, one of very few ‘positives’ known to the Hunter. It watched intently on the spell like workings from the woman, curiosity growing as she used neither hand motion nor vocals to create the effects she sought, unlike many others of flesh or even spirit could manage, it simply played into the Hunter’s mind as to make her worthy, though that would be further down the path she chose, if she were to choose this path before her.
Listening to every word spoken between her and the Evencar, Kage’s mind ran wild, thinking of many ways to begin this one’s training, the possibilities only growing further as the Evencar listed off the many insults and transgressions, it was than it knew full well the first of many lessons to come. But then a look of disgust crossed Kage’s features as the woman spoke of ‘striving to serve the darkness’, the thought one would think her services would even be noticed in such a monkey suit as her own, and furthered by the same thought as Fides, using a mere stone to speak to them, to address the children of darkness in such a manner, it was a mere reach in an attempt to impress them.
“Vos dicitis vos conantur, ut serviant Pater noster, et tamen prodico hoc dictum in simia sectam, praeterea, contumelia in tenebris, cum usus est lapis. Vos sunt sensim amittere nostra interest, tamen dicemus, tene te ad illud, si verum est quod dicis, nos plene sperare te esse, multo minus contumelia. Probare hoc est vere viam sequi vis, primum munus est, ut discere proiecerunt tua absurdus simia sectam, inquis, sunt ex Omnibus, Patris auctoritatem, ita probari, accipere magis decet speciem. Non quod difficile est enim unus de tua virtute, nisi forte vis ad oro pro nobis, et habere aliquid, quod offerat in commutationem.” (You say you strive to serve our Father, and yet you preform this statement in a monkey suit, further insulting the darkness with the use of a stone. You are slowly losing our interest, however we shall hold you to your statement, if you what you say is true, we fully expect you to be far less insulting. To prove this is truly the path that you wish to follow, your first task is to learn to cast off your grotesque monkey suit, you say you are a product of the All Father's influence, so prove it, take on a more fitting appearance. It shouldn't be that difficult for one of your prowess, unless of course you wish to beg for our help, and have something to offer in exchange.)
Naturally speaking form it’s point of view, nothing was ever given for free, her curiosity clear to it even despite the lack of emotions through her speaking stone, did she truly think it would offer such a thing as to guide her down this path without wanting something in return? No way in all the hells was it about to do such a thing, no of course not, there was a great deal she had to offer it, but the Hunter was curious to see what it was she would be willing to offer in exchange, what value could she place on such training if she truly did strive to serve the darkness as she claimed. It was her first test in a manner of speaking, but it would keep that part to itself for the time being.
If movement were a natural thing for her, Alexis would have frowned with confusion, bur she listened intently to all that the Evencar said, without so much as a twitch. How was she to serve, if her very body and voice offended the Kinn? How was she to do anything at all as nothing more than an inanimate object? This bothered her greatly, but it was very very clear that she was being told to get out, and so she did, she gathered her unused mortar and pestle and slowly backed out of the Citadel. Her strange, silvery eyes watching the creatures around her, and careful not to touch or bump any of them.
.
Anger flared through her entire being as she was challenged once more, but the emotion was quickly squashed before she did anything other than squeeze the mortar in her hands, the small stone bowl crumbling to dust in her grip as the Hunter addressed her and told her to cast off her body. She was only feet away from the exit, the Evencar had told her to leave, but her new ‘Master’ was telling her to stop and perform some task. The most he got was a blink as she took the last five steps backwards out of the Citadel and down the few steps, her eyes never leaving Kage’s feet. Oh yes, she knew better than to let any emotion get the better of her.
.
From outside of the Citadel, Alexis began to do as she was told, her mortal flesh began to quickly disintegrate, it would catch in an unnatural wind, so that not a single piece of her flesh would ever touch the Citadel of any of the creatures within. As her physical form fell away, she was careful to create and illusory form to replace it. It would appear that she was crumbling like a vampire in the sun only to have a secondary form beneath it. This form was as solid as an illusory form could be, and solid, not transparent. This form had no physical component to it, and as her body disintegrated to her core, she would dissolve the stone and diamond that protected the cross as well. This dark rosary was brought out of her body and clenched tightly in her hand for a moment before she placed it against the base of her ‘throat’ Here it would hang as if hung around a body, though it was more just her telekinesis that held it aloft.
.
The voce stone floated up as well and sat in the hollow of her throat, it echoed softly, and in perfect Latin.
"You know that I can speak directly to you, but would that not be a violation of yourselves? My voice can touch your minds, or my voice can emanate from an object. I have no other choice in the matter as my true form was taken from me as an infant in the Empire of the Forsaken Rose one hundred years ago." And with that, Alexsis would bow and take a few more steps away from the Citadel before turning to walk out into the open area outside, and wonder just how the hell she was going to get home.
(wilting rose FIN)
Moderators: Kage (played by ZeekHarbinger)