Y.Z. [PG-16]

[Loki]

After giving Reid a confused and spluttered thank you, Alicel climbed onto the strange contraption, and though against all her will, she was quite excited. Sure she'd seen things from a height before, but, her wings always tired out while she was flying, and she paid more attention to that then anything else. As the mismatched group of runaway's flew to Tealia in Reid's homemade flying machine, Alicel craned her neck over to the glass and stared down, extremely curious as to what exactly was down there between the islands that she'd lived upon and always known. However, her time to contemplate this lasted only four short hours, and by the time they'd landed, Alicel decided that next time, she'd pay closer attention to the ocean, which had seemed like just a big blue puddle between the clouds. It was definitely something she wanted to see.

Turning to get off, she was just stepping off the ladder when Rod commented on how quiet it was. Alicel, having never been in Tealia, was extremely discontented and grasped the ladder tighter as Reid told everyone to stay on guard; Rosaline in particular. Alicel's hand was but three inches from the whip around her waist when she heard a shrill giggle, and almost in the blink of an eye, they were completely surrounded by soldiers. Looking toward the direction of the giggle, she caught sight of a little girl, certainly no older then Alicel herself, who had her hands clasped in the lap of her dress as she grinned.

"Welcome back Reid!" She said in a cheerful voice, bowing slightly before pointing at Reid, "You were gone for so long! It made me..."

A lightning bolt of black streaked from her index finger and engulfed Reid's head and face, her middle finger reaching out to match her index finger as another streak of Dation did the same to Rosaline, the little girl's cheerful voice turning malicious and sarcastic, "So very sad."

With that, a soldier grabbed both of Alicel's arms and another pressed a stun gun to the base of her neck.

 

[Alter Ego]

OOC: Yay plot development! :3 I'm not sure if there's supposed to be some kind of struggle here, but I'm assuming not.

IC:

For Faewyn, the trip to Meredy was nothing short of awesome. After all, it wasn't every day one got to be aboard a vessel pieced together from junkyard parts which was still capable of ferrying people through the air, let alone getting the privilege to steer it. Considering the girl's excitement over the whole affair, she actually did a pretty good job at it - well, maybe excluding the steep near-nose dive and consequent pull up she made just to see if she could and the two times she came a bit off course because she was so busy admiring the scenery, but still: the ship arrived at Meredy in one piece, and Faewyn was as happy as could be. That had sure been something; now that was how you should travel the world. She'd have to make a note of learning how to build one of her own (After all, Reid had sort of promised to teach her).

When they arrived in Meredy, however, the girl couldn't help getting a slightly eerie feeling about it.

"But...I though someone in Meredy was always having fun..." Faewyn muttered, staring at the empty streets in wonder, "I mean, there was always so much noise and commotion when I visited here and-"

It was at that point that Reid announced his own suspicions, encouraging everyone to be on their guard, but before the girl could do much about that, a group of guards appeared, led by a girl who claimed to have been very sad about Reid's absence, right before zapping him and Rosaline with some kind of peculiar black energy.

"Hey!" Faewyn exclaimed, frowning in suspicion as she reached for her staff, "That's no way to treat someone who just-" before she could embark any further on her naive little speech, however, Faewyn suddenly felt a hard but clearly well-measured hit at the back of her head, a last glimpse of someone rushing towards sailing past her vision before it faded completely.

 

[parallelzero]

OOC: We're getting captured. I can guarantee this post is going to get some "WTF"s. XD

"Adela, what are you doing?!" Reid shot his remark at the young girl as he barely managed to stand after being shot down to the ground by the Dation attack. Rose was out cold, however, the fact that she was weak against Dation users being the key factor. Reid was lucky, and was barely capable of withstanding the attack of the girl who stood before him. He was knocked face first into the cobblestone onto the ground from the impact of a scabbard to his head, and passed out to the sound of Rod's voice.

"You should really watch your back..."


Reid awoke some time later in what appeared to be one of the more secure holding cells. He grabbed his head groggily as he rose to his feet, an unnatural weight lifted from his back as he did so. "Crap..." He muttered under his breath as he realized his bow, board, and knife were gone. Though, why wouldn't they be? He was being contained after all. Also, present on his right wrist was a cold, black metallic wristband. He knew what this device did, it prevented the wearer from using any type of mahstion. The boy cursed under his breath once more, but his attention was suddenly turned to a person standing before the cell door. The cell was made for a maximum security prisoner, completely white in colour, and devoid of any needs other than a toilet. There was also a barrier at the entrance that no Mahstion could pierce. Beyond that barrier was a figure he recognized. "Rod! What are you-"

"Naive, aren't you? Don't tell me you think I'm here to help you." The teen replied in a very maleficent tone of voice. Reid had no words for this. What was going on here? "You see, Reid, I've been playing you all along. In fact, I've been playing you, Tealia, and Carn ever since the night you bailed Rose out of that ceremony. Now, I bet you're wondering why, aren't you? You see, I've stumbled upon a source of ultimate power. I guess I'll tell you the story since you're out of the way now. Though I'll be taking the girls along with me, especially Rose. I need her life..."

Reid's fists clenched with anger as the boy stepped closer to the barrier. "What the hell are you talking about!? What is her life going to bring you!"

"Well, you see, one week I traveled to the Underground to pawn of some military goods, when I accidentally fell into some strange ruins below the surface. After a bit of exploration, I came across a large, red rock shaped in a perfect cube. Intrigued, I touched the rock, and I suddenly felt an overwhelming power. The rock then proceeded to talk to me. 'Bring me the sacrifice of Carn, and I will provide you with enough power to rule the world' it said. Of course, since it was a talking rock, I couldn't help but believe, and here we are." Rod continued to laugh maniacally. It was almost as if his mind was becoming corrupt. Just what was that rock?

"And what do you need the other two for? Where do they fit into your little plan?" The trapped boy asked, his mind slowly wandering in search of what to do now. If he could somehow get a hold of Adela, he might be able to at least get Rod arrested.

Rod smirked in response to the question, before beginning to walk away, down the long hall of cells to a staircase. "Oh, you know me. I just love girls. They'll make fine bride candidates when I take over the world!" And with that said, the sound of Rod's footsteps walking down the stairs was heard. Thankfully, he still had four levels to descend before reaching the others.

"ADELA! SOMEONE! ROD IS A TRAITOR! HE'S TRYING TO TAKE THE GIRLS!" Of course, this wasn't going to sound too convincing from someone who had been labeled as a traitor himself.

------------------

"Mmm..." Rosaline began stirring on the cold cement floor, eventually bringing her torso up to get a decent view of where she was located. It was a dark, damp cell, with smelly cots and crappy plumbing. Because of her upbringing, she felt right at home. Examining herself thoroughly, she found a strange black wristband on her left wrist, and her flute was missing. Scattered on the floor beside her was Faewyn and Alicel, but no Reid or Rod. "Hey, hey, are you two all right!?" The sacrifice called out to the two girls as she shook them, full well knowing that she couldn't heal them without her flute.

 

[Loki]

Alicel groaned, still groggy and sort of numb from the stun gun, trying to shut out Rosaline's voice, "Mmmmm..." She mumbled, settling into a more comfortable position. But since she didn't answer, someone else took the liberty of answering for her.

"I believe that both are quite alright."

Alicel's eyes shot open, her ears trained and listening for that voice that she'd escaped for a day, but was now suddenly accustomed to all over again. Sitting up as fast as her numb body would allow, she stared into the direction in which the voice came, but saw nothing with her good eye. She was silent for awhile before deciding that it was her imagination and assured Rosaline she was fine, "I don't think they got me with anything but a stun gun." She said, rubbing the slight burn on her neck, "Where are we?"

Her imagination wouldn't leave her be though, "We're all prisoners of Tealia. Isn't that wonderful?"

Alicel whirled about to face Aertan, who had a half healed gash on his forehead, the blood that had flowed from his cut long dried. She knew her face first registered digust at the sight, but in the second instant, she'd put an arm out as if it would block Rosaline from the wounded hunter.

"Don't bother." Aertan rubbed the back of his neck, "Even if I caught her, there's not much I can do about getting her out."

Alicel continued to hold her arm up as she glared at him. She let her eyes drift to his left wing, where Haeon't normally hovered. But there was nothing but a claw jutting out of his wing bone, so she assumed that something in the room caused Haeon't to be stuck inside his prison as well, "Rosaline," Alicel said, "Are you okay? Has he done anything to you? Did that weird girl-"

"Adela."

"Whatever." Alicel spat, "Did she do anything to you?? Where's Reid, and Rod???"

"Rod?" Aertan's spiteful voice came, "He's gone. Or, well, I suppose he'll be coming back soon. I wonder how you'll twist your way out of this one- It's not like you can mahstion your way out of it." Haeon't's finger extended out of the dark corner and pointed at the black wrist band on Alicel's wrist before she snarled, "What are you talking about?"

Aertan seemed to be pondering on whether he'd share his story of being deceived, but decided against it, Haeon't shrinking back into the shadows again, "You'll see."

---

Adela's neck instinctively turned when she heard her name echoing from the prison as she stood on a chair outside the door, shooting up arrows to see how long each one would take to come back down to the earth. She listened with a bored expression on her face, as nobody was around to see this less-then-cheerful take on her features. Rod, a traitor hmm? She stepped off of the chair and collected her scattered arrows, replacing them in their rightful place and then marching over to the door that led down to where everyone was being held captive, and wrenching the door open. Adela raised and eyebrow and waved away the musty smell before descending the stairs to face Reid's cell.

"Hi there!" Adela grinned pretending she hadn't heard the serious degree of accusation Reid had placed upon Rod, who was of much higher birth then himself, "Did you say something about Rod and Princess Rosaline??"

 

[Alter Ego]

OOC: I admit; you got my WTF. :3 Ah well...at least Rod remains an idiot, what with having divulged his whole scheme to Reid and all. And you have to admit that's an unexpected plot twist. xD

IC:

"Erm...I-I'm alright..." Faewyn managed to mumble out, slowly rising into a sitting position and clasping the back of her head where, she was sure, one mammoth of a bruise had now taken residence, "Head feels a little sore, though." she conceded. A quick inspection revealed that her staff and the messenger bag were now gone, but apparently her journals hadn't been deemed worth the bother, and a quick double-check of her clothes also informed the girl that they had missed a pencil. A small comfort, but it was something.

Faewyn would have asked most of the general questions, of what happened, where they were, and where the boys had gone, but Alicel already had it covered. It was then that Aertan caught her attention, and much like her friend Faewyn immediately stepped in to shield Rosaline. Seeing the wound on the person she had felt such intense hatred for last night softened her manner a little, although not by much. After all, they were all trapped in the same cell, but the hunter still wouldn't even give a straight answer...

Wait, answer? A sudden realization dawned on Faewyn and she turned her full attention to Aertan.

"I have a question for you." she announced, fully aware that she would probably get a scornful remark in return. She didn't care, though, forcing eye contact with the hunter without even the slightest flinch in her gaze, "Is this-is this the kind of place where they took my parents too?" her eyes gained a fierce edge at this point, although with the bracelet on Faewyn was hardly intimidating by any stretch of imagination, "And don't...don't try to tell me that you don't know anything about it. You're one of them; the people who make others disappear without a trace, I know that you know. Tell me, tell me what happened to Lin and Verdance Ayre!". It was entirely the wrong time and place for this. They should have been trying to cooperate, to come up with some way to escape and figure out what's going on, not picking on old grudges. But to Faewyn, this was her greatest - and perhaps only - chance to finally find the answer to the question that had been eating at her for so long. She just couldn't let this chance slip.

 

[Loki]

Aertan raised an eyebrow after being addressed on a subject that entirely had nothing to do with the present situation they were in. Actually, that girl had mentioned something about Ayre earlier too. It'd completely slipped his mind when he'd returned to Carn for that single night to ask the Father exactly who they were, and even if he'd been up to it, Aertan wouldn't have been able to give her and answer. Resting his cheek on the heel of his palm, he stared warily at Faewyn, and tapped his temple with his index finger, "I don't know anything about those people. Unfortunately for you, I'm not exactly a real hunter- I was just a lowly priest who represented my church during that thing-"

"Rosaline." Alicel snapped.

"Princess." Aertan countered, determined not to use her name, nor 'sacrifice' since it was now associated with Juliet, "During the Princess' sacrifice. And since I was near the scene of the crime and was suspected of having glimpsed the perpetrator's face, I was sent off on a wild goosehunt. Except, my church was formerly accquainted with..." His face twisted slightly as though the name were distasteful now, "Rod."

Alicel stormed forward without hesitation now and gave Aertan a good slap across the face, "Stop bad mouthing him!!" She shrieked and Aertan simply cracked his neck in response.

"If I can continue, after I captured you," He waved a bored hand toward Alicel, "Rod gave me reports of where Rosaline was, so I wasn't exactly on a wild goosehunt like everyone else. I'm a priest, not a hunter. Just very capable of being a hunter. I'm doing this for Princess Juliet, not for money. But," Aertan shrugged, "I can find out what happened to them. I can find out exactly where they are, whether they're alive or dead, whether they can be seen or are hidden in the deepest depths of Carn. I can find every last bit of information on them, if you hand over the Princess."

Alicel slapped him again, causing the half healed wound to start bleeding again and she snapped, "Keep dreaming! Rod is apart of the Tealian military, he wouldn't tell you more then the rocks on the floor! And Faewyn would never sell Rosaline out for a cheap promise!" Her eyes flashed as she turned to face Faewyn, "Right?!"

 

[Jack O'Neill]

The warden of the Tealian military prison strode purposefully through the cell block. Two guards trailed shortly behind him, carrying the unconscious body of Aleksandra Zaitseva on their shoulders; they briefly stopped directly in front of Aertan, Alicel, Faewyn, and Rosaline's collective cell.

"How much further must we heft this good-for-nothing Underneath whore? Any cell will do. Why not throw the puta in with this lot?" the first guard said to his companion as he glanced over at the cell. "They can use someone to rape."

"Them? What about us?" the second guard complained. "I haven't had any since the beginning of the month, and she's passed out, just the way I like them."

The warden halted his stride and spun around to face the two lagging guards. "Shut up. You maggots complain like a pair of high-school girls on their period," he uttered as he got a key ring from his belt, walked back, and unlocked the door of the cell directly across the hall from the four other inmates. "Just toss the slut in the cell right next to them."

"Yes, sir," the two guards replied in unison before unceremoniously throwing Aleks into the cell, who awoke shortly afterwards to the sound of the cell door slamming shut with a resounding clang. The warden and his two lackeys departed without a word.

Aleks took a few moments to get a sense of her surroundings. Iron bars showing the first signs of rust, leaking pipes, concrete walls and floors in the same uniform shade of gray... The only difference between this prison and the Carn concentration camp she used to live in was the absence of propaganda posters and the rules and regulations bulletin. She stood up and gazed through the bars at her new neighbors. "You four have no idea how lucky you are," she droned in a concise monotone. "As bad as this prison may appear, it is nothing compared to a Carn penitentiary. Whatever goes on behind these walls pales in comparison to the sheer brutality perpetrated by the Carn Royal Guard. You name the method of torture, I've been subjected to it. I can even show you the scars if you want. You're all getting off light, trust me."

 

[parallelzero]

OOC: REALLY crappy post. An essay killed my creativity. ;.;

"Really? You find this place bad? It feels kind of homey to me..." Rosaline chimed in densely, apparently not quite clued in to the fact that not everyone was raised confined to a cell deep underground. "In fact, this place is quite nice compared to my home. At least there's natural light!" The girl waived her hand to the barred window nearby. Despite Aertan and this new girl showing up, Rose had managed to stay in good spirits. After all, moping wouldn't help very much at this point. The news about Rod too was troubling, though hard to believe from a current enemy, but she had better questions to ask. "You. You want to save my sister, don't you? Well we do too! Why don't we join forces and bail her out. That way nobody has to be sacrificed, and we need all the help we can get!" She was naive in thinking Aertan would just agree with the ramblings of some 16 year old girl, but it was worth a shot.

"This ISN'T the time to be acting like a kid, Adela! Why would I lie about something like that? I'm being charged for being unable to deliver the target on time, not for betraying the country or anything!" Reid was having a fit at the girl before him that was taunting him with childish remarks. "Listen, you can believe me or not, but it'd be best you did. Because when Rosaline goes missing in five minutes, I won't be the one getting blamed. It'll be YOU. I know we've had our differences in the past, but your mom trusts me, you should too!"

 

[Loki]

Adela blinked. Well, certainly she hadn't known Reid very well before; only that she hated him because her mother treated him more like her child then Adela herself, but he was extremely pushy. And he certainly knew how to hit the sensitive spots, first with her position in the military, and then with her mother's attitude toward Reid. She screwed up her face in concentration as she tried very hard not to strangle Reid for mentioning how his mother trusted him, and managed to say in a very forceful and un-cute way, "FINE." before wrenching the keys off the wall and unlocking Reid's jail cell. She couldn't care less about Rod's betrayal, but if he was about to put the job she'd spent so long trying to get in jeopardy, then there was no way that she would stand by and listen. But then again, she'd probably get in trouble for letting Reid out as well...

She stared at him with great distrust, and had half a mind to lock the door again, but she spun the key around and pocketed it safely, not bothering to remove the black wristband on Reid's arm as she said, with a malice dripping from every syllable "If you're lying, I'm going to cut off every one of your limbs and make sure that nobody can find your head once I'm done."

With that she stormed up the stairs and halfway up the flight, turned and looked meaningfully at Reid, jerking her head toward the corridor that she swiftly passed through to reach the place where the Princess was being held. She had no interest in whether Reid escaped or not- the Princess was the only one officially under her charge, Reid was under Kallen's name, and if he escaped, well. She'd lose her job, and there would simply be one less person to torture on a daily basis.

Stepping into the hallway, she glanced around, and narrowed her eye when she saw the new prisoner in the cell. She'd have a few things to say to those ridiculous guards who took care of the less important hostages. And first thing would be proper protocol, and official documents to move the prisoners of Tealia. In the meantime, she whirled about, looking for any sign of Rod, all the while regretting more and more that she'd listened to Reid and left him behind.

 

[Jack O'Neill]

"You are one messed-up little girl," Aleks replied to Rosaline in her patented brusque monotone. Her eyes focused themselves on the black rose sigil on the back of Rosaline's left hand. "So, a Carn national, I take it? Figures. You were probably born in the gulag, for all I know. If not, then they've made a significant advance in brainwashing techniques in the years since I've left. And all that without even having to lay a hand on you. Me, on the other hand? Five straight years of torture, and all they succeeded in doing was adding a few new scars to my back."

Aleks was just about to take off her shirt and show off her scars when she noticed Adela striding into the cell block. The two traded disdainful glares with each other. "So, even Tealia's resorting to conscripting children into its ranks," she mused out loud, with a slight hint of disdain in her otherwise passionless voice. "Both sides will do just about anything to win, I suppose."

 

[Alter Ego]

Faewyn's fist clenched as Aertan finished his little offer...

"That's not fair." she remarked in an even voice, "That's not fair at all..." she would have given up anything to find her parents, but Rosaline..? No, the girl shook her head to dislodge the obnoxious thought, no, she couldn't betray her friend; she wouldn't. Aertan was lying; lying, lying, LYING!

"Don't bother." the girl remarked sourly as Rosaline suggested that they join forces to save princess Juliet, "Someone who would make an offer-an offer like that could never care about anyone that deeply." she gave Aertan a disgusted glare, "If he did, he would never have said what he just did."

It was then that she noticed the new prisoner in the cell next to them, one who had just spoken up and remarked that the place wasn't too bad, all things considered, explaining that she knew every method of torture around.

"Do you know of anything that could make him." she jerked her head towards Aertan, "Talk?" she inquired darkly, not fully sure of whether she really wanted an answer to that or not but preparing pencil and notebook nonetheless. Before Faewyn could get any kind of reply, however, the girl from before walked into the room in a huff.

"Hey!" Faewyn called out to her, "You're that one from before, what are we being held here for, anyway?"

 

[Loki]

Adela grinned at Aleks and giggled, "Aren't you just a riot?" She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes afterwards before addressing both the girl who'd asked her why she was here and Aleks as she extracted her bow and arrow, "Don't speak unless spoken to in the presence of a superior. Haven't you ever heard of manners? Well I suppose not." With a mockingly piteous glance at Aleks, the floor about her feet began to seem as though a puddle of black were surrounding the floor around her, just in case she couldn't react fast enough to an attack. Rod was, after all, just as capable as herself. If not even more capable. And then there was Reid, whom she'd foolishly let out and left behind. He was at a great angle to attack her now from the darkness of the corridor that connected the two prisons.

Tugging at the silver woven string on her bow with the arrow between her forefinger and middle finger, she prepared herself for any attack, half expecting one to come, and half not.

"I like that proposition. Every bit except there's a little bit about me that would be publicized if I assist in going against Tylonstus and Carn. If you can find a solution for that, I will assist. If you cannot, then I will also refrain from helping." Aertan smiled at Rosaline, pointedly ignoring Adela's order and also ignoring Aleks, who seemed to have not realized or completely not cared that Aertan was possibly completely disinclined to see her shirtless, "But I'll change my offer then. Save Princess Juliet, with or without my help, and I'll find the information for you to the best of my powers. Now before our little soldier who's guarding us from the boy traitor blows her cap, let's settle down and make sure that none of you get kidnapped by Rod. I'm quite sure thats the whole reason that Little Miss Dahtion is standing outsid-"

"Shut up!" Adela barked losing interest in what Aertan was talking about after he'd begun talking about Rod, and Aertan slid a disdainful stare toward the back of Adela's head, shutting up nonetheless. Because judging from the strange, extremely rude, and rather socially handicapped statements of the new girl, she'd end up finding a way to irritate Adela better then he could, and that was good enough.

 

[Jack O'Neill]

Aleks spat at the mention of the name Tylonstus. "Where is your false god now?" she uttered with some hint of sarcasm in her monotonous voice. "Where is Tylonstus to deliver you from this prison? Where is Tylonstus to strike down the godless Tealian scum?" She spat once more. "Face it, your so-called 'god' has abandoned you. Only you can help yourself now. I learned that a long time ago, and it's time you did too."

After concluding her semi-heretical tirade, Aleks turned her attention to Faewyn. "So, you want to learn all about torture techniques, little girl?" she asked bluntly. "As one scholar to another, I'll give you the information, but only if you let me look at your findings in return. You seem to have lots of data packed in that notebook of yours to begin with. Maybe there's something in there that I may be interested in."

 

[parallelzero]

OOC: OMG sorry I haven't posted, my connection has just been god awful. x.x; Err, Jack. Rosaline lacks the black rose sigil. Time to get the dark side of the plot rolling...

Rosaline sighed, she hadn't thought about the possibility of him refusing due to being publicized. "Fine, I'll think of something. But join us until then, at least." It was becoming hard for Rose to form words due to the constant chatter of the arrogant new girl who seemed to be more militaristic than anyone she had ever encountered in her short life out of her cell. "First of all, learn who you're addressing before you throw an insult such as 'a messed up little girl'. I am the second princess of Carn." In other words, this was a fancy term for 'sacrifice', but she didn't want to refer to herself as that anymore. "I have a right to be 'messed up'. Spend all but one week of your life locked in a small underground cell without so much as a way to bathe, and then come back and call me that."

"What, the little girl let you out? That's too bad. I guess I'll have to deal with you myself." Rod said with a cold and lifeless voice at the young boy who had just caught up to him. Unequipped, exhausted, and still wounded from being captured, he didn't appear to be much of a threat at all. The boy didn't reply. He just watched as his friend-gone-enemy drew an unusual weapon, a weapon of the likes he'd ever seen before. It wasn't a bow, nor a sword, nor an axe, or anything of the sort. It was made of a black metal, and shaped oddly so that it extended to point at it's target. It also had a trigger. Reid had seen this type of weapon before... or at least something like it. Was it in a museum? Was it forbidden resurrected technology? Rod rested his index finger on the trigger, and Reid became ready to dodge. As Rod's finger slowly pressed down on the trigger, Reid made the gesture of jumping out of the way, but was froze stiff as a loud BANG went off, a sharp pain consuming the boy's mind, radiating from his right leg. His eyes wide open in shock, he fell to the ground. "How'd you like that? That's a mahstion powered handgun. Much more efficient than your little bow and arrow, I'd have to say. You see, the gun concentration mahstion from the user's body, and released it in an unthinkable fast, compacted form, which of course just blew a hole through your leg."

Reid, short of breath, grabbed his knee so that he could slowly bring his bleeding leg into a visible state. It was true, he could feel it, that energy bullet had pierced his leg and shot right out the other end. "Bastard..." Reid muttered as he raised his left hand, covered in blood from examining the wound. The green dot on his head suddenly began to glow, as it expanded until the boy's entire body was green in colour. A sharp wind suddenly blew through the small corridor, distracting Rod momentarily. By the time he had focused on Reid again, he was dead, his body falling to the floor in a bloody mess, the gun clinking as it hit the hard floor. The last thing Rod had seen was Reid, all green with red eyes, floating in the air, before the wind shredded his skin.

"Insolent fool." 'Reid' said to himself in an inhuman voice, before his feet touched back on the ground, and his body returned to it's normal complexion, the bullet wound still present. Reid struggled to keep from passing out as he picked the bloody body of his friend off the floor, and limped down to the others.

Rose was the first person to notice Reid's return, and broke down crying when she saw the bloody mess. Reid looked at the group with lifeless eyes, before collapsing into unconsciousness, unable to give them any answers yet.

 

[Loki]

OoC// Hmm, wasn't sure if ALL Lionus users could heal, or if it was just Rosaline. And David's connection is currently sucking, so I couldn't ask on MSN. Soooo, I'll edit if not all Lionus users can heal. xD; And this post is EXTREMELY unorganized; I'm sorry. ;A;


IC/ Adela's dation retracted into her feet in the blink of an eye as she rushed over to Rod, who was hardly recognizable as Rod instead of just a bloody mass of flesh.

"What the heck have you been-" Adela started, her voice squeaky and terrified, before being cut off by Reid falling unconcious, "H-Hey!! What do you think you're doing?!" Frantically she nudged an unconcious Reid off of the dead body of Rod, her hands and knees slapping against the thick crimson liquid as she dropped to her knees and bent down in front of what she'd decided had once been Rod's face, listening for breathing, before she grabbed his wrist and felt for a pulse. But of course, there wasn't one. Then, crawling over to Reid on all fours, even though the trip was only a few inches away, she grabbed his wrist and felt for his pulse, and though not exactly at a healthy pace, it was there. Leaving an imprint of Rod's blood and her fingertips on his wrist, she stood up, spun around and stared at Princess Rosaline.

But Adela dismissed the option of taking off Princess Rosaline's mahstion bracelet. Even if Adela could easily overcome the girl with her advantage with dation, she would rather not deal with the trouble. Flinging her hand about, she climbed the stairs and sent the sentry directly outside the door to fetch a healer. Seeing the young girl covered in blood, the man didn't hesistate, nor question himself as to why he was taking orders from someone more then half his age, unlike usual. As she hurried back inside, she snatched Reid's wrist into her hand again and with the help of a claw-like dation formed hand, she pulled him to the other side of the cell, where he would be furthest away from Rod.

"Stop crying!" Adela snapped at Rosaline, as she scurried back to Rod, and nudged his body to face the ceiling with her toe, before giving one quick sweep of what was left to deem him safe to leave dead. No lingering mahstion tricks.

Aertan, momentarily stunned by the sudden events, had wholly forgotten the girl's comments on Tylonstus. This had perhaps, been a good thing, though as he replayed the scene in his mind, he fell again upon the subject of Tylonstus. As if reacting to the sudden drama, the tattoo on Aertan's hand began to burn with a fiery passion yet again, as he threw himself into the corner of the cell, gritting his teeth as his right hand clutched his left, his thick powerful wings locking themselves shut around him, silencing his cries of agony.

"Wh-" Alicel choked out, her voice quivering as her pupils turned into pinpricks, staring only at the bloody mass that could somewhat be recognized as Rod, "Who..."

Maybe she hadn't been surprised when they'd been caught. They'd been expecting that. She shrieked as she fell back onto her bottom, unable to tear her eyes away from the goriest sight she'd seen in her entire life, his flesh free for the world to view. Gagging, Alicel covered her face with both hands, though her eyes were frozen. Everything was wrong; all wrong. Svartel's were never supposed to be happy. So how had she fallen under such a wonderful illusion? One that seemed to have fallen apart too many times to be true?

As Aertan beat his fist against his wings, which had automatically closed themselves around him in reaction to the searing pain, he felt an unfamiliar feeling against the burning sensation. An even hotter liquid seemed to be oozing out, and he identified it as the same substance that Adela, Reid, and Rod were now covered in. A true Svartel, as was the tattoo-less one outside his cage of wings.

"I SAID BE QUIET!" Adela shrieked at Alicel, who had been overcome by racking sobs of terror behind her hands, the horrifying younger girl picking up her bow which had earlier been discarded, and staring expectantly at the door, which seemed to open on cue, as a girl with bleach blonde hair that draped all the way down to her thighs and pale skin that glowed against the dark of the prison emerged in the doorway.

"My services are needed?"

"Shiraume!" Adela stood up, glad to see her friend who had hid in the shadows during their conversation about Reid earlier that now seemed lightyears away.

"Oh dear." She said monotonously, staring at Rod, "It seems they aren't needed anymore."

"No," Adela shook her head and pointed behind her, "Reid is still alive."

Shiraume descended into the prison, and stepped into the blood without care of getting her pure white dress and shoes dirty. It was a simple matter, as the Lionus danced from Shiraume's hands and over the wound in Reid's leg, "Please present a short report as to what has occured to the Queen."

"M-Me?" The weak-kneed sentry pointed at himself.

"Indeed." Standing up, Shiraume turned with a more melancholy expression then her usual emotionless one, "I am unable to completely heal this wound at the moment. It seems he was hit with mahstion at a very high velocity, and with my powers it may take some time to make the hole close up. Just as well, Adela, it would be wise if you were to examine the scene. Perhaps it will reveal to us how Reid, with his mahstion bracelet on, managed to kill Rod in such a thorough way. It would always be wise if you were to go change, as well Adela. Your clothes will smell of blood forever soon if you do not do so."

"That's fine." Adela snapped, stepping up as the sentry remembered his deed, and hurried off, "I'll go look through the corridor."

Shiraume nodded, and glanced at the inhabitants of the cell behind her, and managed a small smile, "My apologies for such a scene." before a dozen strands of lionus began pulling at the flesh around Reid's leg, forcing the wound to close.

 

[Alter Ego]

OOC: Oookay, I'm going out on a bit of a limb here, but my reasoning here is that since Faewyn shares her mahstion type with Reid and both came from the same source she would feel something when the other one goes all berserk about it. If this assumption is unreasonable/disruptive I'm open for edits. :3

IC:

Even though she technically didn't need it with Aertan's new proposal on the table, Faewyn was still up for an exchange of information. After all, it wasn't every day she met a scholar, let alone one who was actually interested in her work.Torture had to be included in a proper guide to everything too, and who knew what other kinds of things this woman knew? Oh, she was a bit on the rude side, but Faewyn was used to that sort of thing, and this new person had at least stayed on negotiating terms with her thus far. Before the girl could say anything in response, however, the dot on her forehead - a feature which she had all but forgotten about by now - suddenly sprang to life. It wasn't like the searing pain of when she had first gotten it, but it stung nonetheless, pulsing as if it held a life of its own, and Faewyn instinctively covered it with both her hands, shutting her eyes as the drone of a storm ran through her ears. Something was going on, this she knew without really understanding why, something big.

Well, it didn't take long to get an answer to that question: the sensation subsided in a split-second, and in its place Faewyn suddenly became aware of Rod - or, to be specific, the gory, bloodied mess that once used to be Rod - was flung down the hallway, soon followed by an equally bloodied but slightly less torn up Reid, the boy giving them an unseeing glance before toppling over. Needless to say, this was somewhat unsettling for the others in the room. Rosaline had burst out crying, and by the looks of it Alicel and that rude warden Adela weren't too far from that point either. Even the usually stoic Aertan seemed to be feeling discomfort. Faewyn, however, merely gaped like a fish, her eyes fixed on the bodies of the two boys she had come to think of as friends, one of which - as a hastily summoned healer soon informed them - had already perished. The sight itself wasn't nearly as unsettling for the girl as it was for her friends, however. Oh, she was sad to see her friends in such a state, of course, but the blood and wounds really didn't bother her that much. Faewyn's uncle was a doctor, after all, and her mother being the practically minded person that she was hadn't objected when the girl demanded to see Kain at work. She had seen many a cut, tumor and intestine; the only really uncomfortable thing about this scenario was that she had grown attached to these particular victims.

Faewyn wanted to say something comforting, but what could possibly be comforting in cases like this? Lacking an answer to this question, she instead placed a hand on Rosaline's shoulder and the other on Alicel's, wordlessly hugging each as hard as she could. In all honesty, she knew of no better way to comfort anyone that didn't involve speaking. Sometimes all you really needed in this type of situation was to know that there was someone out there who still cared about you, and even if they found it embarrassing and objected it would at least serve as a small diversion. The girl then rose up to her feet, wiping the last traces of shock from her face and replacing them with a look of determination as she turned to address the healer. She seemed to be the most reasonable one of the lot, not to mention the only one who wasn't teetering on the brink of utter despair.

"Excuse me." Faewyn said in as firm a tone as she could muster, her eyes fearlessly locked with Shiraume's even though her voice trembled ever so slightly. She knew what she had to do, and by golly she was going to do it too, "I need to get a closer look." yes, Adela would probably screech out that there was no way she was going anywhere at this point, but Faewyn honestly didn't care, "My uncle, Kain, is a doctor and my mother, Verdance, is one of the world's leading specialists in offensive Wind mahstion." it was a desperate name drop, but both had made at least some kind of reputation for themselves in Tealia; hopefully it would be enough to persuade these people that she knew what she was talking about, the tremble was slowly spreading through her body and her face was even paler than usual, but Faewyn's expression betrayed no sign of weakness and she didn't relinquish the eye contact for a moment, even as a small tear began working its way from the side of her right eye and down her cheek, "There may be something I can tell you about those wounds, but I really need..." she swallowed hard, "I really need to examine them up close. You don't have to remove my bracelet, but please...if there's anything I can do for them I need to do it. Those two are my friends."

 

[Loki]

Adela, standing at the opening to the corridor, glanced at Shiraume, who ignored it, and stared at Faewyn. Her nearly white lavender eyes seemed bored and unimpressed by the mention of the names, though when she spoke, it was quieter then even her normal hushed voice, as she addressed Adela, while watching Faewyn with a careful eye, "Adela, was it wise to place such a girl in a cell with residents of Carn?"

Adela seemed to just barely make out what Shiraume was saying, and called roughly, "Well why not?? Why does it matter?? Can we please talk about this later?"

Shiraume sighed and put her hands together before her lap, closing her eyes and falling silent. As she thought and thought, the lionus still danced about in graceful tendrils, weaving Reid's wounds together as she seemed to be concentrating on something totally different. Finally, she opened her eyes just barely, and mumbled something inaudible to anyone but herself, before stepping forward and holding out an expectant hand towards Adela, who seemed not to understand the gesture. Shiraume's eyes slid slowly toward Adela's pocket, and the younger girl started as she realized that Shiraume wanted the keys, and fumbling about in her pocket as she returned to her original spot right next to Rod's head, pulled out the ring that held many an assortment of keys.

Opening the door to the cell, she monotonously uttered, "I ask that only Faewyn exit the cell." She glanced meaningfully toward Aleks, "And you have only the smallest sliver of time before you are to return to the cell; Guards and Mahstion Inspectors will arrive soon, and though I wish only for my patient's swiftest recovery, I would very much prefer it if I was not accused of treachery for it. You may depart, Adela."

Turning around, the girl in question ran through the corridor more quickly this time, so she wouldn't be distracted again. She wanted to get to the scene first. Before those meddling inspectors arrived. It was hardly hard to find it, what with the trail of blood. She was rather amazed that Rod could've held all this blood himself. But then again, practically every vein and artery in his body had been cut to bits. Or something like that. As she came upon the place where the fight had obviously ensued, for the sheer magnitude of blood splattered across the dungeon, she found nothing particularly out-of-place, other then the discarded... thing.

She stared at it. Judging by how much blood it was in, it was obvious that this tool was not Reid's. So where had Rod gotten it? She'd never seen Rod with it, before he left, or after he left to retrieve Reid. Adela was silent, before the sound of voices caused her to tear her gaze away. Quickly, she pulled off her bandanna and wrapped her hand in it, carefully poking the device with her clothed forefinger, before deciding it was probably safe and picking it up, placing it delicately in her messenger bag swathing the strange object with her bandanna before looking around for anything else that she didn't want the inspector's to touch, and also putting herself in a proper position so that she didn't look as if she were well aware of what had happened.

Glad that the blood had still not dried and filled up the spot where the gun once was, Adela left no visible trace of the disturbance she'd caused the actual scene, and when the man clad in pure black along with a handful of other people showed up, Adela immediately forced herself to start bawling as she cried for her mother, the people rather taken off guard. Eventually, one of the people escorted the crying child outside of the dungeon, and it was all Adela could do not to laugh at how influential a crying child could be, when faced with adults that thought she was harmless, and just a ray of sunshine in the wrong dungeon.

Shiraume did not wait for Faewyn to exit, instead, nudged her quickly out of the cell with lionus, before slamming the door shut again, as it locked automatically.

"You have two minutes, at best." Shiraume stated bluntly.

Alicel also dearly wanted to leave the cell and use her mantle to cover up Rod's body. Though he was branded a traitor by everyone she'd spoken to so far, he had never done Alicel any wrong, or never got the chance to. He was still one of the first friends she'd had. Unresponsive to Faewyn's comfort, she continued to cry, her shoulders heaving, though her sobs silenced. Her fingers were turning red from the force in which she was pressing them against her eyes and forehead, as she ignored Shiraume and Adela's words, ignored Faewyn's request, ignored the deals that seemed to still go on even after the terrifying events.

From behind the wings, the screaming had completely stopped, though the wings themselves began to tremble. Haeon't and Geote were both trying to force the wings apart, though Aertan had more control over the wings then they did, and thus the attempt was futile. There was no way Aertan would show that nosy Alicel girl the evidence of who he was. No way he would reveal to Princess Rosaline exactly why he couldn't join them to save the person he'd been trying to save all this time. Because of some stupid family heritage that had suddenly turned around and slapped him full force with the stupid family tradition.

 

[parallelzero]

OOC: Yay, new foes~ Anyways, I'm going to end Act I here. AE, you can discuss Faewyn's findings at the beginning of Act II. ^^;

Spoiler:

Name: Cress Alberto Tylonstus
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Nationality: Carn
Class: 7th Apostle
Mahstion Type: Lionus / Dation
Weapon Class: None

Appearance: The apostle's are very different than normal Carn citizens, for a number of reasons, all of which will be outlined in this form. Cress is a very feminine looking young man, standing at a height of about 5'8. His arms and legs are thin and scrawny, as well as his torso, and his face lacks the roughness the face of a young man should have. His hair is long and straight, reaching down to his waist, and is divided in half by colour. The right half of his hair is black, while the left half is white. Now, this is where things start to get bizarre. His eyes possess a blood red colour, and appear almost as those of a cat, with the slitted pupils instead of the rounded ones meant for human use. His ears are long and pointed, like those of your elf stereotype, and extending themselves from his hair line are two long, pitch black horns that curve and reach to the back of his head, pointed upwards. When he smiles, his inhuman fangs make their appearance, and they have a tendency to stick out from between his lips at times. To complete this unnatural appearance, his hands are almost like sharp claws, with sharp, nearly unbreakable nails shooting from each finger. This is how he defends himself, rather than utilizing a weapon. Cress's has four wings lines vertically down his back, instead of your usual two. One pair is white, and one pair is black. His small feet are covered with a pair of white running shoes, and he wears a pair of baggy, black pants, that are held on by a gold string that wraps around his waist. He wears two pieces of clothing over his torso, neither of which cover his stomach or the center of his chest. The first piece is a long sleeves shirt of sorts, that is black in colour with the ends of the sleeves weaved with gold leaf to make them appear golden. Overtop of this is a bizarre sleeveless piece of clothing that resembles a jacket. It is white in colour, and reaches almost all of the way down to the back of his feet, the material parting into two pointed pieces just before his butt. Embedded in the center of the back of this bizarre jacket is the black rose Carn is famed for. Around the neck of this jacket is black, puffy fur that gives off that "bad ass" kind of feeling. To complete his outfit, Cress wears a pair of black, fingerless gloves which leave room for his claws to do the talking.

Personality: Out of the seven apostles, Cress was the most recently created one, and is regarded by the others as the youngest, despite a majority of them being younger physically. He has a strong dislike for the other six, because they love to boss him around and treat him like dirt. Cress strongly dislikes violence, but due to the purpose of the apostles, he has no choice but to fight most of the time. He has very little faith in Tylonstus, his lord and supposed creator, and has more than often expressed as much, usually getting himself maximum punishment because of it. Despite this, he finds joy in doing his job, no matter how dirty it is. Other than this, there isn't much to Cress's personality. Probably because he has yet to live long enough under the right circumstances to exhibit much more.

History: Apostles are not human. They do not look human, and they are not born like humans. In fact, apostles are born from science, a term that defies all that Carn is. You see, an apostle is created when two users of different mahstion are fused together into one being. The new being has no memory of its past two lives, and it's appearance has some physical and personality similarities with the two humans (with ages between 8 and 20) that it's derived from. However, the DNA of the final product is corrupted by the fusion of mahstion energies in their bodies, usually giving them parts to their appearance that seem demonic, or animal-like. If the two mahstion types oppose each other, the apostle is more likely to appear less human. Due to the nature of fusing two mahstion types into one entity, the apostle also receives an immense power boost, allowing them to be stronger, smarter, and insanely faster than your average mahstion user.

Production of apostles began approximately eight months prior to the escape of Princess Rosaline, when a man by the name of Eugene Kylan developed the theory, and presented it to the king. The king initially refused the proposal, due to Carn's disbelief in the use of science, but eventually allowed the use of the new discovery after Eugene proposed the use of apostles as a military unit. With a power such as the power an apostle would have, Carn could be unstoppable. And thus, the first apostle was born, and then the next, and the next, and so on. They were given the titles of Apostle as a way to hide the fact that science was being used. A title such as that made them sound like they were born of the god; nobody would question it. The apostles were then confined to a military base in Alta after Carn took the small country over, and to this very day have been awaiting orders. Cress was born four days after the escape of the Carn sacrifice, Rosaline, and was quickly trained in how to utilize his powers. It was only until recently that he had received his new orders...

"Number 7. A word?" A deep voice beckoned the young, demonic looking boy who was sitting on a bench within a long, metallic corridor. If it was your first time looking at him, you wouldn't believe he was male. Short, thin, long hair, feminine face, it almost seemed unnatural. However, not as unnatural as the rest of his body. The boy got to his feet, and walked toward the origin of the voice, his long hair drifting in the air behind him. The boy didn't speak as he looked in an emotionless state at the militaristic man dressed entirely in a black army uniform. "I would like you to inform Number 1 that your unit has been assigned new orders involving the case of Miss Rosaline and Tealia. Also, General Eugene requests that you "acquaint" her group with what it is they're dealing with. Have you any complaints?"

The emotionless look on the boy's face faded, a scary smirk taking it's place, fangs bearing. "No, none at all. Piece of cake...!"

Y.Z.
Act I. END