Fantasy A Horrid Yet Wonderful World

[xXRassBerriXx]

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[xXRassBerriXx]

Among the crowd of frightened whispers and uneasy faces, Curse stood in a near complete silence. He found himself frozen in what could only be described as shock, after hearing the name of his horrid father mentioned. It caused quite a few feelings to arise within the typically tranquil mage, ones of despair, hope, betrayal, and so much more which mixed into a vivid confusion. This wasn't right. His father wasn't supposed to be this way, right? He only hated Curse, it simply wasn't possible for the man to to be this terrible! However, after the passing of a few moments, Curse finally did manage to regather himself. He shouldn't be worrying about any of this now! He just needed to store these emotions away... He could let them out later in the form of magic. Instead, it was time for him to act as the royal mage he is, and eliminate the threat. Curse pushed his way through the crowd, only stopping once he was in front of everyone. He turned, cyan eyes upon the worried townspeople. "Everyone, calm down! I'll take care of this myself, so there isn't anything to worry about!" he addressed the crowd, hoping to silence the nervous whispers.

 

[Bea Delaine]

N stood amidst the sea of people, their anxiety in the air thick enough to cut. She, however, stood still and just watched the announcement take its toll. She had known beforehand snippets of the plans, and she had suspected they were going to instill fear and hopelessness to make the defenses desperate. Sloppy.


She lowered her pale blue eyes, concealed by the shadow of a heavy cloak. Her palm slapped into her forehead and fingers messaged the skin of her temples.


The a loud voice broke the hushed panic. He spoke of being brave and fighting this on his own. N raised her brows with amusement and slight positivity before she sauntered over to join the Royal Mage. She herself being a Magician of a more rogue variety.


She practically skipped up to his side, through the cloak, carefree movements readable. She saluted the crowd, only her smile visible to others.


"Hello!! I believe the man here is correct. There is nothing to concern yourselves with. We and the most powerful group one could gather will venture to eliminate this heavy threat."


N spoke in a strong but sweet voice, humor a little noticeable.

 

[SecondBreaking]

Merek stood under the shade of a tall building, off to the side of the crowd, watching as the events unfolded. The girl walked up beside the boy, proclaiming herself to the cause. A few more as talented as these, and this dragon cult would be in serious trouble. Maybe he would even join them, but not here. Not now. Too many eyes. This group needed his help, but if he was revealed at the wrong time, everything he had worked so hard to build would be shattered. He could still watch, he decided.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

Curse had not been anticipating the participation of any civilian in his attempts to sooth the crowd, causing him to peek over at the stranger. He didn't recognize her... She didn't appear to be someone from the royal palace. Who was this woman? Regardless, Curse didn't have the intent to work in a group. Always, he was the sort of person who would force everything upon himself, especially in situations as dangerous as this. No one other than his own self needed to be hurt. He was about to tell her to back off, before realizing something. It seemed that she was actually having a positive effect upon the crowd. He sighed, and decided to allow her to intrude for now.


He set his focus upon the crowd once more, shouting out to the people, "See? Everything will be fine! Just stay safe, we'll do the rest." With those final words spoken, people were beginning to depart. A new air of contentment crossed the previously nervous crowd, and slowly its size began to lessen as people returned to their individual business.

 

[Bea Delaine]

N watched as the crowd seemed to be relieved of tension. Her ever present smile remaining in place as though they just put on a show for the crowd. She stared at one figure momentarily, who also didn't seem so shocked this had occurred. Tilting her head ever so slightly, she noticed the other guy was concluding. She realized his intentions easily through his demeanor change when she arrived.


"The last time a conundrum like this happened, if you don't mind my stating, a hero alone achieved nothing. I'm not saying I'm valiant," she chuckled, "but I would rather lose one of two people in a group than every individual fighting by him or herself."

 

[SecondBreaking]

As the crowd dispersed, Merek turned and left, going to one of the gardens he had found in the city earlier. As he arrived, he sat under one of the large trees present, hiding under the shade it provided. He remembered a time when he would sit under the glaring sun, reveling in the heat it gave, possibly talking with another person. Those were the days he was with his family, days where he learned that villains did not always work in the night. His family was a prominent example of this, forcing farmers from their land for money, killing others with bandit pawns.


In those days he learned that the night was not something to fear. Night was not a symbol of evil, as day was not a symbol of good. Great good an great evil could happen under moonlight or sunlight. He had chosen moonlight. The bright glare of the sun brought back too many memories. The sun was unforgiving unyielding. The moon was calm, tranquil.... the perfect tool for meditation.

 

[Zelda18]

Daire had gotten caught in the crowd for a millisecond before she fled, cradling her wings in front of her with a pout on her face. Having wings nearly twice as long as your body didn't work out when people tended to elbow them out of their way. She could figure out what the crowd had gathered for later.


She ran aimlessly, finally stopping in a completely deserted garden. Leaning against one of the tree's large trunks, she extended her wings as slowly and carefully as she could. A soft cry of pain escaped her as she fully stretched them out- the left wing was definitely bruised. She bit down harshly on her lower lip, waiting for the throbbing pain to cease. Lowering herself to her knees, she twisted around at the waist to smooth over her ruffled black feathers and examine her injury.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

As the crowd began to drain away, the girl beside him spoke up once again. It seemed she had caught onto what he was thinking, and yet she still desired to fight alongside him. Perhaps, this girl wasn't going to be the obedient type? Most people would do most anything royalty would tell them to, acting as lapdogs to the people who were socially above them. However, he still did have more than one reason for fighting alone. While he didn't want anyone else to get hurt, he also has the wish to use this as an opportunity to repair the shattered relationship between himself and his father. Curse, in all reality was just being naive, but he believed his father couldn't be entirely evil. As a result, Curse always did hold onto the hope of regaining the father he lost when the older man was exiled.


"Things are different now," he retorted, turning to face this woman. It was only then that his common glare returned to his face, the mage turning into the distant and rude man he tried to be. "This is my problem to deal with. It's the responsibility of a royal mage to protect his or her kingdom, there is no need for you to endanger yourself. I'm strong, I can handle this on my own," he said the last bit with a hint of uncertainty. Really, he knew he wasn't capable of doing all of this... He was just hiding it. After a second, he did realize what he had just mentioned. If she ever heard of Vasilias before in the past, she would know that the man had once been a member of the royal mages in the past.

 

[Bea Delaine]

N watched the crowd disperse, and saw the transition from the mans initial facial expression to a scowl of sorts. Her smile stayed, being the only facial feature he should be able to read anyways. She even laughed a little again as he tried to defend his reasoning for going alone. She slowly pieced together who he was, having gotten some clues. He started reminding her of an animal caught off guard and wounded, which suggested relation of someone from the demonstration. Yet at the same time, she recognized most of the group. She had never seen this mans face.


"I will join you because I am not fighting for a crowd of terrified people, or even a race of them. I'm selfish and I have personal motive."


Her smile turned to one of deviance.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

Still, she persisted. Curse's glared hardened, not wanting to accept the help of this stranger. Maybe, it would be for the best to just allow her to join him for now? If she ran off and tried to fight them on her own, she wouldn't have anyone to look out for her. She could die. While he did want to go after his father alone, he still did want to keep as many people as he could safe. That included her. A sigh of defeat left him, his scowl easing just a bit as he chose to give in to her will.


"Fine, do what you want. Just don't get in my way," he stated a little harshly, before peeking over his shoulder towards the castle. "I'm going to check on Atanka. You can follow if you want." The dragon was still located in the castle's dungeon. When those men vanished, Curse didn't get the chance to see where they were going. He had to make sure they weren't anywhere near the egg.

 

[Bea Delaine]

N smirked when she realized she was winning over his opinion. She figured we was the type to either be very protective or rarely let others in. Possibly a winning combination of the two. She awaited his reply as her eyes took apart his demeanor into understandable reactions to her request. Then he said yes, sort of.


N smiled wider and gave a short clap with a pair of black gloved hands. Practically bouncing over to him as he began to make his way to check on the egg, she decided it wouldn't be wise to travel with someone she knew not the name of.


"Wonderful! This will be fun.. Or scary. Probably both. But before I know I can join you..."


She feigned slight timid was for a half a second.


"What might I call you?"

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

She seemed to be quite pleased by all of this. It was a little odd, seeing someone so excited to put themselves in danger. Her motives must be quite important to her in order to make her this gleeful over the situation. Curse turned his back to the girl and began to walk towards the castle gates when she asked a new question. His name. He was just a little hesitant, knowing his name was often something that sprung up unnecessary conversion. Curse was such an odd name, one that no person would name their child. Most of the time, children were named happy or pretty names.


"I'm Curse Pevman," he responded after a moment of silence. He then returned his attention to the castle gates nearby, a pair of guards already preparing to let the royal mage inside. He already knew he would be able to get the stranger inside. A guard wouldn't question the decisions of royalty.

 

[Bea Delaine]

N followed him quietly, vocal hesitation in answering a question such as his name was slightly apparent. Maybe it was trust issues after all? When he did speak his name, she quickly understood the true source of Curse's hesitation. If she questioned it, he would surely be reclusive. And after all, who ever got to pick their name? Well, besides her.


"It's a pleasure, Curse Pevman."


She said, as they passed through the gate. She was slightly curious as to why everyone was so welcoming. She was a stranger after all.


She felt a slight insecurity and moved to pull the hood further over her face. Maybe they knew her motive? Impossible.


"This land is more accepting than any that I have known. Consider me N. My name I mean."

 

[WolfsbaneRain]

When Kaylen heard the terrible news of Atanka's group of followers and their plans to awaken him she was in complete shock, and then it turned to rage. Many of her ancestors were killed directly by the hands of Atanka, providing her with a lasting grudge that she will never forget. She felt herself starting to slip and knew only trouble would follow if she did. She quickly left the crowd, bumping into everyone in her path and pushing through them. She needed to meditate, she needed to get out of there. She was away from the crowd before Curse even made his little announcement. She would have to hear it from her mindful ancestors instead.


When she was finally away from the crowd she found herself in a small garden, a peaceful place. Sitting against a large tree she closed her eyes and cleared her mind, letting herself relax as much as possible. She didn't even notice the man sitting few trees away, seemingly doing the same as Kaylen, meditating. After some time she found herself conversing with her great grandmother. The conversation stayed light, until her grandmother asked the question that Kaylen was dreading. "What are you going to do, my great granddaughter?"

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

Curse was relieved that she chose not to question his name, looking back ahead with a form now free of tension. As they passed through the open gates, they entered a garden. A stone path was paved between the flowers, leading to a large pair of door not too far away. The castle its self was very large in size, built up high with blocks of ivory brick and topped by pale blue roves. As they entered, N mentioned her own name and the hospitality of the castle.


"Its only because you're with me," he stated. "The king puts quite a bit of trust in his mages, so we don't get questioned often." Curse walked down the paved path with eyes set on the castle ahead. It would probably be harder to get her into the dungeon, due to the fact that the security was tight around Atanka.

 

[Zelda18]

Daire had thought herself alone until she heard a female voice, talking seemingly to herself. She edged around the tree, spotting a girl with blue-green hair sitting a fair distance away. The girl's eyes were shut, her breathing slow, but she was still speaking as if someone else were there. Daire tilted her head in confusion, wondering if she'd missed another person in the garden. But no- the girl's voice was the only one she could hear. Her ears and eyes both couldn't betray her.


Growing up in a place were magic was common, she was used to seeing some strange things. But whatever meditation or magic this human was using was something she'd never witnessed before. She sat back down, careful to be out of sight of the girl- well, all of her aside from her wings, which were clearly visible on either side of the tree. Whatever the girl was doing, Daire didn't want to interrupt.


@WolfsbaneRain

 

[Bea Delaine]

N looked around the castle entrance and areas with keen interest, her smile present yet guard up high. She even found herself standing slightly closer to Curse in case anyone decided to give her trouble. He made a valid point about the hospitality, making her feel her paranoia was for naught. She ran a gentle gloved finger over the white brick, thinking hard.


"How might I get through when we get towards the Dungeon? Surely my appearance may raise suspicion?"


She questioned lightly.

 

[SecondBreaking]

Merek stood up from his meditation, also hearing the girl speaking. He stood, moving silently through the flowerbed of the garden, clack cloak standing still in the harsh winds. He saw the meditating girl who was the source of the noise. She was speaking seemingly to herself, but upon further investigation, seemed like she was speaking with someone familiar to her. He looked away from the girl, sprouting wings sprouting from the trees. There was some sort of fairy or demon hiding behind it.


Choosing not to be detected so soon, he backed up into the shade of the nearest tree, and dispersed into the shadows.

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

"I'll get you through," he responded simply. He didn't really have any sort of plan in mind just yet, believing that the guards would allow her in at the mage's request. If they didn't comply, he would just need to talk them into it. That too could fail, but if such a thing were to happen he could adress the king personally. He would find a way to get her in, and he felt that the urgency of the situation would be on his side as well. The other two royal mages were probably making haste as well, so he expected to see them in the dungeon as well.


Eventually, the doors were right in front of them. He stepped forth and pushed the large ivory doors open, revealing a long corridor and rather expensive looking corridor.

 

[Bea Delaine]

N tilted her head a little at what he said than shrugged and continued on down the corridor to figure out where they might need to be. It was inevitable, however, that N would just end up following curse. She walked through, half turned around or walking backwards playfully, to watch the head Mages actions.


"Ah.. That clears things up I suppose. So I guess you are also concerned that the clan might make their move immediately?" She faked an animated frown and tapped a gloved finger to her chin a couple times.


"My idea is that such a group might want to foster fear first. Striking on the day of a warning leaved very little room for guards to panic and become sloppy, you know? However we may find others like us here for the sake of keeping the egg hidden. They may offer leads."

 

[xXRassBerriXx]

"We still need to be careful," he responded, in regards to her predictions about the group. They only just appeared, and while Curse did know his father, he didn't know the entire will of the group. At the moment, he thought of them as being unpredictable. "We don't much about the group yet... Aside from who their leader is. I know he's a patient man... He will wait for the absolute best time to strike, but he is a little clumsy. He makes mistakes often." Curse found himself thinking over memories of his father, digging up thought upon the man's habits and personality. He always acted so cold and harsh to Curse, but all that time Curse thought his father was merely trying to challenge him... To make him stronger. In reality, the man was actually just being extremely blunt.


"Regardless, if they aren't there, I still do believe the seals should be strengthened, or even doubled. If we make the magic complex, it would make undoing it quite the challenge," he explained further. As he said this, he took a turn in the corridor. His one lead to a smaller corridor, a pair of old iron doors at its end. Two guards stood in front of the nearby doors, armed with a pair of spears.

 

[Bea Delaine]

N quirked her eyebrow curiously, and glad Curse wouldn't be able to see it. She could now piece together that Curse was related to one of the group, specifically the leader. He was also a head Mage here.. And she knew one of the men was husband once of another very special, powerful mage. She smiled knowingly, but played dumb.


"Ah.. I see I have an expert in my presence?"


She said and then froze when she saw the guards, hands tugging at the hem of her protection and smile smaller.


"Good day sirs." She said with a short head bow.

 

[WolfsbaneRain]

Kaylen stayed in meditation, still conversing with her great grandmother. "I do not know great grandmother. What can I even do?" Her grandmother seemed to give her a distasteful scoff. "Child do not be silly. You know in your heart the path you must take. You are plenty strong, a prodigy to our family, methinks. Your grandmother nor your mother had the skill you posses. You will avenge our family against the tyranny of Atanka." Kaylen simple bowed her head to her strong willed great grandmother. Her family may no longer be alive, but that is no reason to disobey. "Yes great grandmother, I will avenge our family." With those final words she lost her connection and was awakened from her trance like meditation. She slowly opened her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing herself for the new mission that she has been given.


When she finally stood up and looked around she was surprised to see two wings strutting out of a tree. Her curiosity taking the better of her, she slowly tip-toed up the the wings and gave then a gentle poke.

 

[Zelda18]

Daire had drifted off to sleep, otherwise she would've heard Kaylen approaching. As sound asleep as she was, she jerked awake immediately with a squeak of fear as a light pressure touched her wing. She curled them around her body protectively as she scrambled to get to her feet, wincing when the movement caused her injured wing to begin throbbing again. When she saw that is was only the girl from before, she relax, her wings uncurling slowly.


"You scared me nearly to death!" She said in a hushed whisper, placing a hand over her frantically beating heart. Her face heated up a bit as she realized this wasn't exactly good manners. "I'm... I'm Daire," she introduced herself, extending her hand. "What's your name?" @WolfsbaneRain