|
|
Post by Holly on Sept 11, 2011 22:09:29 GMT -5
ordeum 11, 1593, nearly noon
acerbus umbra castle, acerbus umbra, pertinax
[/i] "Where'd you go?" The mystic's little lyre bird chirped as she entered her private quarters. He puffed his feathers out and stretched out his wings, having a cheerful expression shinning in his eyes. Flitting over to Holly and landing on her shoulder, he didn't even seem to take notice of the multiple bags she was carrying. Holly gave him a look, rolling her eyes and smiling slightly as she dropped the bags roughly on the bed. Not like there was anything valuable in them. Most of them were candles and a mized assortment of stuff that were to be used for potions in the future. Aria had left her a detailed list of the spells and potions she was supposed to learn over the time that she was gone. Truth serum, invisibility spell, and love potion were all on that list and Holly was starting to think that those were jokes. Though, a truth serum would be interesting. "Where do you think?" She sighed, pointing at the bags. "I'm guessing that you didn't go to the aviary store and get me a pretty companion," Flick shrugged, flying back to his perch. As he turned back to Holly, his cheerfulness seemed to dim down a bit. Darn, and he was so excited! "Sorry, Flick. I was in a rush and it's just... I'm feeling rather confused and it's not the best day for me..." Holly stopped sorting through her bags to walk over to the window. There was no sun for her to look at and, quite frankly, she didn't wish to be looking at it. Today was not a good day, but she tried to force a smile anyway. The lyra bird was quiet for a moment, watching Holly before cautiously asking, "Today's the anniversary, isn't it? With Chase and your family?"Her fingernails dug into the stone under her hands. She bit her bottom lip hard, closing her eyes and tried to keep out the memories of Chase killing her brother right before her eyes. She tried to stop the images of her mom and dad and sister from rushing into her head. A minute passed by. She sighed and nodded, taking a deep breath before turning away from the window and forcing a smile. "Yeah. But it's fine. That was then. This is now."
"H-H-Hello? P-Please is anyone th-th-th-th-there?" Pascal stuttered out, stumbling along the halls of the castle. He needed to tell someone. Where was Roxanna or Falkor? Where was Holly? Should he tell her first or let someone else tell her? Maybe she would take it better if it came from Countess Roxanna. He had to find someone to tell first off. [/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify][/size] |
|
|
|
Post by Roxilicious on Nov 6, 2011 12:03:34 GMT -5
A stoic figure made his presence known at the arrival of a little, message-delivering ferret. It was King Falkor, emerging from the shadows of his mysterious business and approaching Pascal.
The tall man had an taut, upright gait, as if his spinal column had been replaced with a slightly flexible metal rod. He walked like a highly-esteemed professional at whatever he did. His white skin contrasted greatly with his dark, shaggy hair, and that piercing, ice-cold, cerulean stare of his could been seen from a mile away. It was only made more vibrant by the dilation of the blood vessels in his eyes.
"Is something the matter, Pascal?" Falkor asked, like any good king would. His voice was very liquid with a flowing sense of casualty compared to the usual strictness with which it was laced.
ooc.
wooow i can't do anything well on the site anymore.
|
|
|
|
Post by Holly on Nov 6, 2011 15:47:54 GMT -5
"Are you sure you're okay, Holly?" Flick questioned. He didn't think she was so down if she was smiling the way she was, but he thought he should ask anyway. The lyre bird knew how she could get on these sort of days. He didn't know his mother, his father, or if he had any siblings, so he didn't know how much it must have hurt to have them killed in three days, but he could imagine that it left the Olisthir feeling rather alone.
"Fine," Holly replied in the same cheerful voice she used on normal days. "I think I'm going to practice acrobatics in the courtyard. You're welcome to join if you want," She offered up at she finished lacing up the strings on her leather boots.
"Nah. I'm gonna take a nap... Again," Flick chuckled, thinking everything was all right with Holly if she was going to go outside and do something instead of sulking inside the dreary castle. Of course, even though he was her companion, he had no idea of how capable she was at hiding her emotions from people. He waved a wing to her as she left her room and made her way down the stairs.
"K-King Falkor! I-I-It's Aria!" Pascal stuttered out as soon as Falkor made an appearance infront of him. He was so happy that someone was there, but, at the same time, he was finally overcome with the sadness that should have hit him earlier when he was on the boat, making the decision to leave Aria's body behind. He began shaking so hard that it nearly looked like he was recently dropped into a pond in Krymo Zahrada.
"Th-Th-The girl w-with the pink h-hair! She s-s-said Aria was going to pay! Th-Th-That all of Acerbus Umbra was going to p-p-pay and that y-y-you and Holly were g-going to meet the same fate for b-b-b-being like, like her! Th-Th-There was a strange noise on the boat! Ren w-w-was gone! The assassin!" The ferret was blabbering about everything he encountered then, his story getting jumbled up.
At the same moment, Holly was making her way to the same spot where Falkor and Pascal were. A sudden spark of excitement hit her as she noticed King Falkor standing near the exit. A smile emmerged when she saw Pascal. If Pascal was there, then that meant Aria was back too, right?!
Holly was just about to say something of a welcome when Pascal blurted out in a desperate voice, "Aria's dead!!"
The Mystic stopped just feet behind Falkor and Pascal, her eyes widening in horror. Her staff dropped out of her hand and smacked the ground louder than it should have. "What?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Roxilicious on Nov 21, 2011 15:35:10 GMT -5
"Aria's dead!"
The chilling words slammed into Falkor as if he had just walked into a brick wall. He felt his mouth open in protest, as if to say, 'Shut your mouth, you stuttering, lying little weasel! Get out of my sight!'
No sound, however, came out.
The King closed bit his lip and closed his mouth as Holly reacted to Pascal's heart-wrenching statement. He narrowed his arctic eyes at the ferret and then turned to look at Holly. There were no words to be said. How could anything be said? Everything was still the same.
A million thoughts raced through his mind as Falkor just stood there. His disconnected gaze was now fixed on the ground about twelve feet past Pascal, and his eyes were glazed over. He thought about his history with Aria. She wasn't really gone, was she?
No.
Of course she wasn't gone. How could she be gone? How could she touch so many lives, help so many people, make so many people smile and feel better, save so many lives, find so many new friends and then just... Leave? Aria would never do that, and Falkor knew that. Right? The people he cared for would never just leave him like that. He swore he'd never let that happen. So this couldn't be happening. This just couldn't be happening.
Falkor shook his thoughts and snapped back to reality. He swallowed and looked down at Pascal once again, this time his eyes not glassy but angry and sad.
His fists were now clenched tight, and his face had contorted with a frown of disgust. Flames ignited in his palms as he opened his fingers and made a home for baby fireballs.
"Stop lying to me!" he shouted with rage, raising his arm and whipping a ball of crackling, destructive fire at Pascal. It was only a fraction of a second later before he hurled another fireball in the ferret's direction. The flames spawned very quickly in his hateful palms.
ooc.
Pascal is not supposed to get hurt:) Not even a little bit – he should jump/dodge orrrr they're just going to hit the ground next to him and make a little bit of an expansive poof of fire but he's not supposed to get hurt. I mean unless you want him to be hurt but... Hahahah...
|
|
|
|
Post by Holly on Nov 21, 2011 19:15:57 GMT -5
There was nothing -- absolutely nothing -- in the world that could have hurt more than that did right that instant. Even if someone had told the Olisthir that the world was ending, the feelings she would have felt could not compete with what she felt then. Utter loneliness, despite having friends that made her laugh and smile everyday. It seemed like every bone in her body froze, aching and feeling numb all at the same time.
Why on this day? Why not two days later? Hell, why not never?! How in the world did Aria die? How could she die?! Who could ever kill Aria when she always seemed invincible to everyone else?
Falkor's yell ripped through her thoughts, making her flinch and her head whip up. Good thing too, because tears were pricking angrily at her eyes. This gave her a bit of a distraction.
"King Falkor! I-I swear! I-I-I w-would never lie about s-s-something as important as th-this!" Pascal had the most desperate sound to his stuttering, every hair on end, and eyes bulging wide. "I c-couldn't do anything--AHH!!" The ferret squeaked in surprise, dancing away from the first fireball. He shrieked as his tail managed to catch the first flames. Putting them out, he didn't even realize there was another one.
Thankfully for Pascal, Holly finally stepped between the two, an orb of water absorbing the fire ball and disappearing in a puff of steam. Trying to stop Falkor from causing Pascal more harm, she grabbed his hands. While fire swirled in his hands, her hands were completely covered in a layer of water.
Gazing up at him, her blue eyes looked dimmer than they ever had before. "If Pascal says that he's not lying..." Holly's voice shook, "Then he's not lying... No matter how much either of us wants him to be..." Slowly, she released his hands, never once looking away from him. The Mystic-In-Training -- no, Mystic -- didn't move, even as tears started to trail down her face.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roxilicious on Nov 21, 2011 20:00:37 GMT -5
Falkor glared at Holly, ripping his hands away form her the instant she released them. His eyes were a sea of raging fires that burned hotter than the blistering inferno of the most unforgiving volcano on Orbis. Buried beneath the blanket of blazes, however, was a crashing wave of retroactive pain.
You need to stop yourself.
He tried so hard to ignore the overwhelming storm of emotion he was experiencing. It was not very kingly to lose it just like that. He needed to set a good example for his kingdom and mourn on his own time. He could not let his anger take the best of him, nor could he burst into hysteria over the death of the court mystic. It was just childish. Overdramatic and childish.
Falkor inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly with his eyes closed, calming himself with a minor calm spell. It caused a faint, blue mist to surround him, almost invisible in the dimly-lit corridor. A shiver ran down his spine before he spoke.
"I'll speak to Tsavi about a province-wide vigil and funeral arrangements," he said dully, cold and distant. The King then opened his eyes. They were vapid and devoid of any sort of feeling. It was as if nothing had happened, nothing at all. Nothing that mattered to him anyway.
That's what he had to do. To remain stable, Falkor distanced himself. He had no choice. He couldn't maintain a strong emotional connection with anyone, lest he wanted to turn into Roxanna: a hysterical wreck of mental instability. Falkor had to stay professional, and if this was the only way to do it, so be it.
ooc.
Tasvi is Falkor's random female steward, an ailour. She's nice and loyal.
|
|
|
|
Post by Holly on Nov 21, 2011 21:37:16 GMT -5
She nearly snapped at him for his change back to his normally unemotional self. How dare he! After Aria had just been pronounced dead, how dare he act like nothing had just happened! But that was nearly. How could she judge someone for something that even she participated in? She definitely had her fair share of hiding her bitter, sorrowful emotions. The only difference between her and Falkor is that she masked her worries and fears and sadness with false smiles and laughs.
How stupid. Was that all anyone in Acerbus Umbra do? Hide things?
Holly nodded lightly, gaze falling to the ground. She bit her lip, forcing herself to hold back more tears as she wiped away more. "Do you need me for anything?" The Olisthir asked, looking back up at him again.
Most of her wished he would say yes, so she could assist in any way. But, a small portion of her just wanted to go back to her room, or maybe the garden, and mourn. "I'll do anything, I promise."
|
|
|
|
Post by Roxilicious on Dec 12, 2011 19:05:42 GMT -5
"No."
The King's eyes were half open. His expression actually looked bored above all. He now seemed unfazed, as if the news hadn't hit him or as if he just didn't care. He looked down at Holly one last time with his cerulean eyes. It was a good two seconds of eye contact before he looked up, exhaled, and walked past her. He wasn't done talking, however.
"I need to find my sister and inform her personally of the news," he called back to Holly. Falkor was walking quite slowly, lethargy evident in his entire being. He felt a little bit dizzy, and his vision seemed to move more slowly than his eyes, the way it did when he was intoxicated. It was an unusual feeling, on accompanied by grief that so strongly desired to explode from his heart.
Meanwhile, at the end of the hallway that was perpendicular to the one in which Falkor and Holly stood, Darcy appeared with Dia in Castle Umbra.
"No!" Darcy screamed, running into the stone wall and pressing her hands and face against it. It was cold. "They can see me; I'm visible! They can hear me! Even when I'm not talking they can hear me! They see me when I'm not even there! Where are my thistle leaves?!"
The mentally disturbed Nightingale* whipped around and glared at Dia with blood in her lightning stare. "You. It was you. I told you to leave my cabbage patch alone, and that's why I'm in trouble with the law, isn't it?! You ratted me out, you silver-toed lemur! How dare ye!"
It didn't take more than a second for her face to turn from one of rage into one of sadness. "Where are my strawberries?" she wailed, falling to her knees. Her cry echoed throughout the entire labyrinth of hallways. It was a high-pitched, annoying, piercing caterwaul for the externally seeded fruit.
* hahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahah ahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahaha hahahahahhahahhahahahahhahaahahah hahahahhaahahhahahha hahahahhahhahhaahahahahahahahahah ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah which one.
|
|
|
|
Post by Holly on Dec 12, 2011 20:04:53 GMT -5
Holly's fingernails dug into her palms as she crushed her hands into fists. At this point, her emotions bubbled completely to the surface, but she couldn't quite figure out which feeling was harsher at the moment. She knew later, once the thought sunk in, sadness and grief would wash over. However, a dark emotion of anger directed at Falkor was coming up as well.
Why should he be the one to tell Roxanna about Aria? He didn't care about his sister. Roxanna was her best friend. Aria was practically Holly's mother. She had saved her when she was younger. So, how did he get away with being the one to tell Roxanna something that important?
She shook her thoughts, finding them to be childish now that she pondered over it. It was his job; why should her emotions get in the way of that?
"No!"
The Mystic was snapped out of her thoughts, physically jumping from the sudden noise. Upon natural reaction, she mumbled something along the lines of "what in the world was that?" and gathered her staff. Curiously, Holly picked her way towards the origin of the yells.
While the Mystic approached, Dia sighed and rubbed her temples. Annoying, annoying, annoying! Urgh! She hated loud, pestering noises! That's why she couldn't stand bells or babies crying or anything of the sort! "Here, you've lived up to your side of the bargain," Dia placed the bag of strawberries in the crazy Nightingale's lap.
"Hello? Is someone in need of..." Holly turned the corner with hesitancy and walked a bit closer. "Help...?"
Dia noticed a certain emotion flick over the Olisthir's face, something that made her a bit more satisfied than seeing her grieve over Aria. Holly didn't like her. She felt threatened by her presence. She was afraid she would keep her word of taking a certain someone from her. Foolish girl.
"Oh, hey," Dia replied calmly. The annoyance washed away from her features and was replaced by sweet, smug satisfaction. "Look who I found."
|
|
|
|
Post by Roxilicious on Jan 23, 2012 10:52:04 GMT -5
The piercing scream made Falkor, too, start with surprise. It was an earsplitting caterwaul, like a newborn's wail increased by a power of ten. It was simply awful!
Falkor was quick to follow Holly to the source of the glass-shattering cry, but he retained an air of caution. That was probably just his paranoid side however. With the death of one significant citizen of Acerbus Umbra, he felt suddenly more concerned for the safety of everyone else, and he held twice the suspicion he normally would have had.
As Holly rounded the corner, Darcy whipped her head around to look, a strawberry dangling in her mouth. She was still on her knees, viciously attacking the strawberries but finding them to be quite unsatisfying. This adventure, on the other hand, was starting to become interesting.
"You have spirit in your eyes!" she squealed, looking directly at Holly with an unblinking, enormous gaze. Falkor made his way into the scene as she continued, "I might take those from you when this is over."
It was that voice, that piercing cry combined with that familiar voice and those irrational, otherworldly eyes. The King had no idea who the calm girl was, but years of separation wouldn't allow him to forget the insane one. Oh no, he knew exactly who she was.
"... Darcy?"
Her hands were squishing and crushing the strawberries, now covered in the red, gooey, seedy flesh of her favorite food. She smiled creepily, revealing her teeth which were now stained with red juice and crimson chunks.
The crazed olisthir stood up and let the strawberries' remains fall to the ground. A glow surrounded her hands, and the goo from the berries was replaced by steel gauntlets with long, sharp fingers for slicing, dicing, mincing, and murdering.
"Stranger, what say you we take some chunks out of these two to complement the strawberries," Darcy offered, unfazed by her brother's presence, "and then we can skip rope with their intestines!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Holly on Jan 23, 2012 21:24:58 GMT -5
"Spirit... In my eyes...?" Holly questioned slowly, not sure who the girl was. Well, she was an odd one. Taking... what? Her eyes? The spirit? What was that supposed to mean? Her eyes narrowed and a frown appeared on her face. Everything about this girl screamed unpredictable and unstable to Holly and she wasn't exactly sure what to say.
That is, until Falkor seemed to know who she was. She whipped her head in his direction and raised an eyebrow. Obviously, he wasn't talking about Dia because... well, Dia was Dia and not Darcy. Darcy must have been the other girl.
"You know, Darcy, I might just have to take you up on that offer," Dia replied to Darcy's riddled way of asking her to help with the killing of the two standing before them. She had a plan in mind before, but that was thrown out the window now. She was an impatient person anyway, but there was nothing wrong with that.
Out of thin air, Dia made her large scythe appear. Her mix-matched eyes shined mischievously and with the will to kill.
As much as she didn't understand the first words that the girl said, Holly definitely understood the second set. Defensively, she placed herself between Falkor and the other two, then placed her staff infront of her. The stone at the top of her staff started glowing bright white as a warning. You might want to get out of here, She telepathed to Falkor.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roxilicious on Jan 23, 2012 21:47:51 GMT -5
"Get out of here?" Falkor scoffed, completely bewildered by her suggestions. "When my sister is trying to kill you and eat your dying remains like a madman?! There's absolutely no way I'm leaving and no way you're doing this alone."
The King didn't hesitate to transform, stepping around Holly in the process as his clothes tore from his exponentially growing entity. He infrequently used his shapeshifting abilities, as he rarely ever made confrontation with enemies and battle, but this was an opportune time to do so. Falkor quickly took on the form of a small dragon, about the size of a horse, that wielded fire-breathing capabilities. He roared in rage and headed toward Darcy.
The hallway, though large, was still a cramped space for him as he maneuvered toward his sister. He let out another shout and rained an intense, white-hot flurry of flames down on his sister.
Of course, her unstable brain wasn't foreign to bloodshed. She was much more like an animal than a human. Her calculating mind knew not of interacting with fellow conscious beings or socializing, but it was well-acquainted with the art of battle. Darcy readily jumped out of the way and toward her brother, slashing at his throat with her steel gauntlet claws. It penetrated his thick, scaly armor, though not enough to cause death.
Blood dripped onto the ground as Falkor let out a cry of pain. His sick sister held out her hand and licked the gooey red liquid that fell to her hand, satisfaction in her eyes. She then expelled a spiral of fire into the open wound. Thankfully, her destruction skills were lacking compared to the rest of her magic, but that didn't stop the pain. Falkor cried again and swatted at his sister with his forelimb, sending her flying into the wall with a loud and painful thud!
And that's when the walls disappeared. In fact, everything disappeared, and suddenly, everyone wasn't really... Any specific location, really. Instead, the floor and ceiling and walls melted into a black and purple swirling pattern that lacked the distinction of the three spacial dimensions, a phenomenon that was truly quite nauseating to those unfamiliar with it. In addition to the new scenery, Darcy was now multiplied. Hundreds of times. All smiling creepily and glaring at Falkor. The original Darcy, too, got up, clutching her stomach and gasping for breath, with the same smile on her face. Soon, her clones took on her exact movements, but only one was the real, tangible, touchable Darcy.
|
|
|
|
Post by Holly on Jan 23, 2012 22:39:52 GMT -5
"I told you to get out of here so you wouldn't get hurt!" Holly snapped at him and almost rolled her eyes. Did he say sister? He had a sister other than Roxanna? Falkor in the form of a dragon's cry made her freeze. He was hurt, but he wasn't going to die from that. He might, though, if she didn't get moving.
With air manipulation, she pushed herself off the ground just enough where she landed in front of Falkor again. With the illusions starting, she cursed. Of all holy magics, she disliked illusion the most, just because of the possibilities of it.
Conjuring up several daggers, Holly tossed them at as many clones there were daggers, hoping that one of them would turn out to be the original Darcy. For any of them that she didn't hit, she began making orbs of light magic. She found it the quickest and easiest to produce because, after all, it was her first element.
Busy with conjuring weapons to defend against the Darcy army, Holly had completely forgotten about Dia, who had been waiting for a chance to strike. Spinning her scythe expertly, the side with no blade smacked into the Mystic's side. As the weapon spun, the bladed side slashed against Holly's shoulder.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roxilicious on Jan 27, 2012 23:19:16 GMT -5
The creepy voices of children filled the pool of existence in which the battle currently took place. They came from Darcy's clones, asking millions of questions as per the nature of developing children, though not one was distinguishable as they zeroed in on and tried to intimidate Holly by overwhelming her.
All of them moved in synchronization, their hands open and threatening with the sharp blades. Some of the Darcy clones actually moved straight through Holly, disappearing on contact like steam being boiled from a pot.
"Who are they, and where are they?" the clones asked in synch, retaining their high-pitched, childlike voice. Some giggled. The face of Darcy, smiling like a maniac, grew like a project along the black-and-purple swirling plane of existence, as if it climbed up a wall. It was a hallucinogenic, frightening experience, one conjured from the innermost workings of the Nightingale's crazed mind.
As a dragon, Falkor roared again. He released a storm of fire from his jaws, quickly killing off a decent-sized portion of Darcy's clones. His efforts were futile, unfortunately; his sister quickly responded by creating more, perhaps more than she originally began with.
"Darcy!" The King shifted back to his human form, fully clothed... There were four bleeding scars on his throat. "Do you not remember me? Snap out of it!"
He didn't know what to do. He couldn't exactly attack her. Something inside of him wouldn't let that happen, and he was so stunned by her surprise visit to the castle that his recognition of Dia was completely nonexistent. To him, it was just a thousand Darcys, plus the real one, plus Holly. He forgot Dia was even there, not that he knew who she was anyway. It was a stupid move on his part, letting his guard down so easily just to talk to his sister. She didn't exist anymore. She simply had a body but there was nothing inside of her. Efforts wasted.
The child Nightingale ignored her brother. She was more focused on killing him and eating his flesh, as well as his girlfriend. Each Darcy conjured up two daggers, throwing them at Holly. It could be daunting to some: being the prime target of thousands of thrown daggers. The only problem was that only two were real. She just had to figure out which ones were the ones that were determined to impale her liver and her stomach as they rest passed through her like she were not even there in the first place.
And amidst the flurry of daggers, some passing through his being, for perhaps the first time in his life, Falkor had no idea what to do.
|
|
|
|
Post by Holly on Jan 28, 2012 0:05:33 GMT -5
Intimidating was an understatement.
There were hundreds of Darcys, spouting gibberish in childish voices that sent a shiver down her spine. Holly whipped her head back and forth and spun as her staff was clutched in front of her. She looked like she was becoming frantic as her breathing picked up and her eyes stretched wide. Overcome by anxiety, she wasn't sure what to do.
If she backed up, she wasn't sure if she would run into the real one or if she would just run into fakes. A scream escaped her as one just passed straight through her. And then another and another. This wasn't happening, this wasn't happening!!
Dia's scythe slid right under Falkor's chin, the blade a dangerous inch away from slicing at his skin. "You're really pathetic during battle," Behind Falkor, Dia was floating a good ten feet off the ground, sitting comfortably on nothing. "It didn't even seem like you had any thoughts before blindly rushing in. As a dragon, no less. Quite frankly, as the king of Pertinax, I thought you would be a better shadowstepper. And a better strategist, the 'Opportunist'."
She chuckled lightly, obviously enjoying the show from where she was. Dia had no problem with her position at the moment. If Darcy and her failed, she could merely teleport them out of there and then she would go on with another plan. However, she could also just let Darcy do her dirty work for her. "Wouldn't move if I were you. Or, you know, pop goes your head."
As strange as it was, Holly closed her eyes and focused. She tried to pinpoint on where Darcy was using illusion and where she was using conjuration. The difference in magic would hopefully be enough to notice. As she brought her hand up to make a shield and move to the side a little, one of the daggers impaled themselves in her hand while the other hooked her on the side.
Trying to ignore the pain in her hand after she took the blade out, aimed just to the right of her. She really hoped she was correct with her shot as she used her birthsign to suck the oxygen out of a group of Darcys, attempting to suffocate the real one.
|
|
x
x
x
x