Fantasy The Five Kingdoms - The Fall of Sarthenfall - Ic

[explosiveKitten]

Angie was going stir crazy in this room.

She probably looked the part. Her hair was a little frazzled, and she was running out of decent clean clothes to wear- not that it mattered. Nobody had come to see her. She had no idea why, she was Lord Arno, she had a title, damnit! WHy waS eVERyoNe IgnOriNg her?!

Okay Angie, calm down. Breathe. The confinement is making you hysterical. You need to calm down. She sighed, sitting on the lavish settee nearby, rubbing her temples for probably the fiftieth time in those three days. She had been stewing in silence for all this time, too sure that the walls had ears to even bother speaking in her normal voice. There were surely peepholes for people to look in so she never took her undershirt off. It was the highest amount of discomfort she could ever be in. At least when she slept she loosened her bindings under the covers and tightened them again the next morning while still under the covers.

When the door opened, she looked up sharply to find a maid wheeling in a little tea cake on a cart. She was about to question it, but the maid had already left. One of those ones without a tongue, it seems. She was disgusted by that.

When she looked at it, she found a note that claimed it was brought to her “courtesy of Princess Azalea.”
She couldn’t help but to find that suspicious. With the provided fork, she tors it to pieces and found a little rolled note in the cake. From... Azalea. It was her handwriting. A little smudged and sugary, but there.

They were meeting in the library... where the hell was the library in this place? And how was she going to get there?

She was busy trying to hatch a plan when she heard something creaking in the room- When she whipped around, she found the wardrobe door opening slowly, and then suddenly a pale figure fell out of it.

“ALex?!”
“Hi!”

She blinked in surprise as the pale young man clambered to his feet, dusting off his dress clothes and waving.

“What- How-?”
Alex shushed her, gesturing for her to follow him into the wardrobe. She blinked at him, then glanced towards the door. No guards had come running in. She supposed...?

When Alex stepped back into the wardrobe, she followed and found a large hole in the back of it. There was a secret passage! How had Alex found it? Though, to be honest, it didn’t surprise her that there was one. In a palace this old? Had to be.

She looked in and watched as Alex disappeared into the darkness, and after a moment of hesitation she followed. She could feel Alex wrapped his hand around her wrist and guided her through the dark passageways.

“Alex, How the hell can you see anything in here?”
“I can see perfectly fine.” He said, ”I can see the walls, the sconces, your face, the little cracks in the walls.”
“There are cracks in the walls?!”
“Yeah.” The young man turned and met Angie with his glowing green gaze. “Can’t you see it?”

Angie blinked rapidly, not quite sure if she saw that right. Did Alex have green, glowing eyes? When she blinked, it was gone. Had that been real? Or a trick of the... darkness??

“... no. I can’t see anything.”
“Huh. Weird!”

With that, Alex continued to drag her along, soon they found themselves at a dead end, and with no hesitation, Alex pressed his hand against it, and with no warning, a large painting of Aodren’s great great great great grandfather swung forward to reveal Angie and Alex in the library. Thankfully empty.

“... Well, that was shockingly easy.”

 

[Bakuyoshi]

"Uh yes hello, we got a trip to make. Library, guards we gotta avoid. I know it's difficult for the both of us to be quiet but I think I could think of some things that we could do to get us there. If you are willing to create some noise makers, Maybe see if we could use some bells and the like. Or rather maybe something that could alert them somewhere else entirely. I mean I got my ideas. how do you think we could get the guards to be somewhere besides the way we need to go." She looked around the room trying to see what she could use to annoy some guards, maybe even get them on each other through believing the other did it. Turning towards Jeod with a grin "Any suggestions on our distractions?" She hoped her more mischevious ally was experienced in distractions and sabotage more then she was.

Inheritance

 

[Inheritance]

Jeod Swift​

Cali couldn't have picked a better task for him. Any tinker worth his salt would be able to craft a noise maker, and Jeod was perhaps the most talented tinker out there. She wanted a distraction? He'd give her a distraction. He pulled out a decent noisemaker that consisted of 2 bells that were strapped together in the shape of an hourglass, a noisemaker by it's own right. He had fastened them together during his first day, making a constant ringing noise that had driven the guards crazy. It had driven them even more crazy to not be able to find the thing, and almost pushed them over the edge when he had pretended not to hear it himself. He had turned it off after they threatened to do some unspeakable punishments, but he had kept it for a moment like this.

He pulled out some wax and put a makeshift wick on the end of it before lighting it and rubbing it near some curtains. After setting fire to his own room and hiding the noisemaker, he put the candle underneath the door handle and jammed the lock with one of his many lock picks. There would be enough smoke to get the guards down the hall, and when they tried to open the door they'd find it scalding hot and near impossible to open without breaking it down.

"Let's move." He said as the clanging bells began to ring loudly. After she moved out, he followed her down the hall, pulling out a smoke bomb and tossing it down another corridor. Damn. This adventure was going to run him dry.

They sprinted down the halls together, Jeod occasionally breaking a window or throwing something that either made a lot of noise, smell, or smoke down a hall. The two were swift, and eventually made it out of the "living quarters" and out into some of the main hallways. They could hear guards trying to make what they could out of the confusion behind them.

"Alright M'lady, what's the next move?" He said quickly. He was getting a tad bit worried here-that escape and their lack of resupplying had done their mark on his bags. He still had a trick or two up his sleeve, but he was out of smoke bombs and noise makers. He still had a shot or two, but he had used most of his ammunition escaping the guards (by letting them sit in the coals of various fires he started, they would launch all over the place and make loud noises). He had one round of backup, but he was running out of tricks. He doubted some nice words and natural charisma would get him out of trouble now-especially after what he had done to the hallways.

Bakuyoshi Ms. Sparrow

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

Azalea Eve Windfore

Azalea could feel the tips of her fingertips begin to slide from whatever bits of white brick she could cling to on the walls. Her wrists shook and her footwork became increasingly unsteady. She was mere seconds from attempting to throw herself through the nearest window and taking her chances before an arm suddenly swooped around her waist.

Azalea nearly let out a shriek, sucking in a sharp breath before peering up and back a little to realize it was Raymond she’d been pulled back against...which oddly enough didn’t quell all of her nerves, the woman huffing out as her lips quirked slightly.

“My hero,” she mused dryly in a hushed tone as the grapple hook pulled them up slowly, her tone carrying teasing amusement and traces of relief. “Have I mentioned how conveniently timed you are?”

Azalea righted herself on her feet once they finally ascended and came to a stop on-top. The landing was a small balcony and one peek inside the room it led into pointed to all signs of it being empty, an office it seemed, as she peered through the glass and into the dark room. “Basement, huh?” Azalea asked, casting a glance at Raymond and arching a brow. “We-ee-el. Someone hasn’t been staying in their rooooom,” she drawled, waggling her eyebrows and snickering before silently and very carefully opening the glass panned doors into the dark office.

The duo crept through the office silently, closing the doors behind them and peeking their heads into hallways, checking and waiting for signs of guards before slipping out and moving on, Azalea decidingly letting Raymond guide them towards the basement level and weave them through it as stealthily as possible, a trait, Azalea noted, he was awfully good at.

Eventually they did reach the basement level, descending a set of dark, unlit spiral staircases that led them deeper into a cold, dark and damp abyss, light vanishing the deeper down they went. Azalea half wondered if they’d gone too deep. Here, no guards patrolled. Lanterns remained dusted and unlit. It was eerie.

Azalea squinted her eyes in the dark. They’d obviously come into some abandoned part of the castle, furniture and all sorts of trinkets and items lay abandoned and dusted over. Things here were either of older fashion, or of broken use. Though she thought many of the gleaming pieces looked quite valuable.The redhead breathed out into the eerily cold atmosphere, a puff of breath visible in the air.

“Well. Shite. I almost wish we were being chased by guards down here,” she whispered quietly as she stepped over damp stone, head swiveling around, paranoid. She could’ve sworn she felt eyes following them through the dark.

“Everything’s...ancient,” she muttered as they traveled down further, observing the odd, indiscernible walls and floors they traveled by, and as she looked upon other items, they too seemed old and ancient, things she’d never seen before at all, the bizarre nature of some giving pause to her briefly a few times before she felt the hair on her neck begin to crawl.

Azalea quickened her steps, becoming increasingly aware that something was watching them. Following them even. Perhaps the steps of two had stirred some animal. The Calore princess’s stomach twisted into nots. She spoke quickly in hushed whispers to distract herself from this, keeping her eyes on the staircase she’d begun to make out. “The King always told us that Delchistrier’s foundation had been built upon a matter of luck of the land...maybe it was built on top of bloody something—“

Clang.

The sudden noise of something hollow and metal hitting the hard floor only a few paces behind them, resounded through the room.

Azalea jumped, before grabbing for Raymond’s arm impulsively and pushing into a sprint for the little distance between them and the staircase. She could feel it’s looming presence on their trail, a weighing feeling that pressed down upon her heavily, her heart threatening to burst from her chest. She didn’t dare glance back for fear of slowing them. Felt like pure darkness. Something unnatural. Horrible.

Something breathing down their necks, cold air tickling her skin, out stretching towards them—

And then their feet hit the staircase, and she could feel the distance between them and...it, grow, and they were booking it up the stairs, hurried steps hitting stone, the promising glow of light nearly sending the woman into leaps before they reached the top of the stair case, quickly the door was shoved open, before just as quickly, though as quietly as possible regarding the circumstances, the door was slammed shut behind them.

Azalea panted out, shooting a glance at Raymond as she recovered her breath and shaken nerves. She opened her mouth to speak but paused as her eyes glanced behind him, setting upon the high shelves stacked with books, she glanced around.

The room was a large, circular room at that, intimidatingly tall in fashion, stretching higher and higher, with shelves of books lining the walls, along with rows of stacked shelves throughout the room, and a comfortable seating area across the room, closer to the main entrance she glimpsed.

The part of the library they stood in now was darker, though it was a fairly dim setting in general. Clearly the deeper, less traveled recesses of the library, and judging by the dust that had flared up around them, the basement was clearly a level either supposed to be shut off or abandoned entirely.

Azalea presses her back against the door, listening, though she could hear nothing of what had been stalking them and chasing them in the basement. “How—what was—why is there anything in Delchistrier?!” Azalea hissed out between breaths towards Raymond, as if he somehow would know the answer. More questions and fears they had to deal with.

She ran her hand over her scalp, glancing around and exhaling to calm her nerves before a sudden painting beside the basement tower entrance swung open almost right beside them, a good ten-feet away alongside a gap in the wall between some shelves. Azalea recoiled in surprise as Angelo and Alex stepped out into the library.

A very alarmed redhead looked between the two of them, pale. Both of her thin brows arched upwards. “Alex? Bloody moving paintings too? What the fuck is this palace?!” She whispered loudly, throwing up her arms before letting out a resigned sigh and pressing back against the door, glancing around, eyeing the main entrance. “Oh please let the others get here without some weird shite too,” she half groaned.


(GET TO THE LIBRARY DEGENERATES)
Xanto explosiveKitten Bakuyoshi
Blackrose7 Inheritance NinjaGirlGamer

 

[Bakuyoshi]

"Well we go this way, best give the others a warning. I have a good idea of what to do if the guards try and give us hell. The story is a fire had suddenly ignited in our rooms. My door was unable to open due to debris from the fire and you came in and got me out. And we had to retreat to the Library to recover for the moment. Which via some tricks I can make it look like there is soot on us to cause belief that I had to run from the fire." Before finishing her sentence she quickly ran silently moving stuff in her room to make it look as though something bad had happened, her bed messed up, many things scattered, alongside the smoke and fire.

"Good, now then, to our right three corridors down, try and stick to the shadows and when we hit a pair of also on the right that is it. How do I know? A certain rogue visited my window and told me. Now come on and let's make ourselves scarce." Cali led Jeod down the hallways, not so shocked that only a select few guards were even paying attention, some of them were doing things she wish she had wished she hadn't seen. But in the end the sticking to the shadows strategy ended up working before she realized they had made it to the doors of the library. Quickly going in and making sure that no one had seen them.

"I don't like half of the stuff I have seen. May we agree we saw none of what they were doing?"

Inheritance Ms. Sparrow

 

[Xanto]

Raymond Callahan​

Okay, she caught him. Maybe Raymond hadn't been staying in his room, but that's what allowed any of them to get anywhere. Anyway, he followed Azalea into the dark office before ever so naturally weaving through his course. He'd be lying if he said he didn't glance back at her every so often. The guy wasn't used to being apart from her since the day they met.

"Well. Shite. I almost wish we were being chased by guards down here," Azalea whispered, earning a slight chuckle from Raymond. "That's the point," He replied simply navigating through the darkness, "There are none." Don't get him wrong. Ray was still alert in case a guard just so happened to actually jump out at them.

But that's when he felt his partner's pace start to quicken. Azalea was brisk walking faster toward the staircase. She even mumbled something he couldn't quite make out- Clang.

At that sound, Raymond instinctively nudged her away from the fallen material behind them. Before he could do anything else, she grabbed his arm and pulled him into a dash for the staircase. His pace picked up in turn, prompting him to run up the stairs right behind her. It didn't take long for them to get the heck out of there.

Raymond heaved for air, giving Azalea an inquisitive look. What just happened? "What do you mean?" He asked in response to her emphasis on there being anything in Delchistrier, " . . Well, we're in the library now. Let's hope the others get here on time." Then, a painting shifted. Ray aimed his gauntlet directly at the artwork. He was ready to shoot a poisonous dart until . . Angelo and Alex stepped out. Now who discovered that?

He glanced at Alex in curiosity. Perhaps, Ray would keep a closer eye on this one.

Besides the comedic scene, the library was quiet enough for anyone to hear an opening door. Wait, an opening door-

Ms. Sparrow explosiveKitten

Baxter Callahan​

Baxter furrowed his brows at Ivanna once she grabbed his neck. A light thud resounded slightly afterward when she pushed him off to the side. Now, she was asking for a plan? Well, as much as Bax hated to admit, there was no plan. He himself was one to plot things out; however, this unpredictability couldn't get a straight one out of him. "I know the way to the library, but we must keep combat and evidence to a minimum," Baxter quietly informed until he took Ivanna's hand and ran across a hall into a room. That was the plan, as vague as it was.

"I'm here," He calmly spoke out, cuing his earlier attendant to peek out from behind a divider. Mildred stepped up to the rebellion leader with a determined look on her face. It was her task to relay his messages to the network of slaves around the area. "We'll be walking en-route to the library. For the sake of ease we'll take Raymond's suggested path. Assuming the rest are en-route as well, we'll be needing cover around the throne room's corridors. Cut slave distractions. Instead, fuel the kitchen drunkard up. Let him cause a scene. Frame a soldier on the opposite wing by exposing his thievery," Baxter explained to her. Alright, maybe he did have a plan. The leader just wasn't too sure of it.

That being said, the maid was off. Baxter merely turned his back against Ivanna and aimed his cold gaze at the window. After a few moments of silence, Mildred was back giving them the go signal. Baxter nonchalantly took Ivanna's hand and started out the door, "Implement my brother's suggestion for back up, and burst the nearest pipe in case." Then, he walked out the door with his partner. A quick left turn followed by a sudden guard passing, in which Baxter pressed Ivanna against the wall to avoid their stumbling. That should be the only patrol for a while now that Mildred's crew was in place. Bax picked up Ivanna's hand once more then ran down the hall before quickly pushing them against the corner. "Who goes there?!" A man peaked his head out of a room to spot the drunkard turning the corner in due time. "I'll tell you who's here! MEEE! Where is my pay raise you old man?!"

Right, a close call. Bax was so used to open war and maneuvering, he almost forgot about the plan's vague time approximations. Luckily, they weren't too far off from the library now. Baxter released Ivanna's hand before walking out in the open. Afterwards, he held one of the library double doors open for her.

NinjaGirlGamer

 

[Blackrose7]

As Annabel continued to wander around the castle hallways aimlessly, a servant walked up to her. “Hello. Are you a new maid for the castle? Because if you are, I can help you find where you need to go.” said the servant.
Annabel turned around after hearing what the servant had said, and used what the guard had taught her from their books in order to speak to them. “Da. Mne nuzhno to find biblioteku.” said Annabel. The ezeris princess then looked at the servant with the most innocent look on her face. Because there was no way that Annabel was going to speak in the Delchistrier language within three days. ‘...Well, I am screwed now.’ thought Annabel.
Despite Annabel thinking that she screwed herself over, the servant was thinking about something else. For they thought that her attempt to speak in Delchistrier was cute. “Ok. I will bring you to the library, and your attempt to speak in Delchistrier was cute.” said the servant. This had surprised Annabel, since she thought that the servant was going to call the guards. “...You aren’t going to call the guards on me?” said Annabel.
“Nope. I will not do that, since you helped my friend out with her cleaning duty.” said the servant.
Annabel was surprised to hear that the mute maid had told her friends about her. “Well, I didn’t want her to be tired from her job so I did that.” said Annabel.
“That was very nice of you, and shall we go to the library?” said the servant.
“Yeah. Let’s go, and please don’t tell anybody that I wore their mask. I don’t want the Delchistrierians to be upset.” said Annabel.
“I won’t, and you would be surprised by how many servants like the rebellion.” said the servant.
Annabel was more surprised to hear about that, since she didn’t expect the servants to like them. “Thank you.” said Annabel. She tried not to be timid towards the servant, as she didn’t want them to know that side of her. “You’re welcome.” said the servant.
The servant and Annabel continued their conversation during their walk towards the library. Because they were curious about each other. The servant’s name is Eve, and Annabel found that the mute maid’s name is Amber. Eve even told her what Annabel had said to Amber, and that she felt sorry for her.
Eventually, they had arrived at the library. Eve opened the door for Annabel, so she wouldn’t need to do that. “Enjoy your time at the library, Nina.” said Eve. The servant said that in order to protect her new friend: Annabel, since she likes the quiet ezeris princess.
“You too, and please be safe.” said Annabel.
The servant gave her a thumb up before Annabel entered the library.
Ms. Sparrow

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

DISCLAIMER: Because we have been on this particular part for awhile, this post will move a little fast so it can pick up a little more and we can...well...you'll see...
Azalea Eve Windfore

Azalea glanced at the sound of the twin opening doors, eyes darting through the cracks of a book shelf, looking across the room to behold Cali and then Jeod step into the library, right on time. The redhead had only managed to step out from behind the covering of the bookshelf when Ivanna and Baxter slipped in behind Jeod and Ivanna. Annabel followed suite, slipping in, dressed in a...maids outfit? Azalea supposed it was one way to get around undetected. Taking another glance around and deeming the library empty, she decided to make herself known.

Azalea swaggered over to the gathering grouping near the doors with a wicked grin, "I hope you've all enjoyed your three days in hell as much as I have," she remarked wryly, clearly sarcastic, casting a glance at Raymond, grinning a little wider. "Excluding the guy that didn't spend his days in a chamber," she paused, catching sight of the sitting area out of the corner of her eye, she pivoted on her heel to step over to the wooden table and chairs tucked between two spaced out bookshelves, promptly dragging back a chair and sitting down at the table, waiting for others to follow suite.

She spoke again once the group had sat at the table, or gotten close enough near the table where they could hear each other speak in low tones. "Ball was a blast," she remarked with a smirk, giving a wave of her hand. "By far my closest party that almost turned into a bloodbath. Would've made it better if the Queen pushed Aodren down a flight of stairs," Azalea said, tone turning dry before she turned to Baxter, opening her mouth again before a familiar voice cut her off.

"Idiot! You naive, reckless, stupid little girl, do you know-"

"Oh gads," Azalea muttered as she visibly slumped in her chair, turning her head towards the sound of the angry, scolding voice. Light seemed to reflect off his bald head as James, who had seemingly just entered the library, stormed towards her until he was right in front of her chair, his low tone doing little to nothing to hide his frustration or the pace of his rant.

"--three steps from being hauled into the cells, yelling at the King like th--"

"We-ee-el we're not. We're in a library," she interrupted, her irritation at his scolding flared, reaching up to lightly pat his cheek in complete disregard as she turned back towards Baxter. "Me and Raymond learned--"

"You cannot scream at the King in the middle of court. You made him look like an incompetent fool," James argued, cutting her off again as Azalea leaned back in her chair with an exasperated sigh.

"Well then we did a better job at revealing the truth then I thought," she remarked.

"Are you aware had it not been for them--," he gestured to the rest of the group, eyes landing on the few people that had spoken up against Aodren three days prior, "that we'd all be in cells right now? Had you not have caused a stir in his court, something you all certainly helped in that night, this would be a completely different outcome."

Azalea had by now completely tuned out the scolding, glancing around. "Anyone see Aurelie?" she commented casually, half just to piss James off. She arched a thin brow as the library doors opened, though smirked mildly upon realizing it was Aria, whom glanced around the library as she shut the door behind her before catching sight of the grouping at the table and striding over.

Aria grinned some as she slid in one of the chairs beside Azalea. "Glad to see most of us made it here," she commented, grin fading some as she glanced between a very tense, peeved James and a smug Azalea. "...Did I miss anything?"

"We were just discussing Azalea and Aodren's relationship," James cut in coldly before Azalea could, the woman closing her mouth. "And why they are both at each others throats." The Calore Princess had suddenly taken great interest to her nails by now.

"We've bumped into each other a few times when we were children, had a few spats," Azalea said casually, not glancing from her nails.

"He looked like he wanted to murder you the moment you walked into his ballroom."

"The guys sensitive! How am I supposed to know if he's gonna hold a grudge?" She said, exasperation heavy in her tone, slightly defensive as she shifted in her seat and kept her intense focus on her nails.

"His 'grudge' could cost us this alliance. You need to fix it," James growled.

"I'll send him a fruit-basket," Azalea said dryly, lifting her gaze from her nails finally to fix on Baxter. "Well me and Raymond learned Layla's ready to drop her trousers for anyone if that what you wanted to know," she said dryly, cutting off and ending the argument with James in the process, jabbing a thumb in Raymond's direction. "She couldn't take her eyes off him," she said, though now there were mild hints of irritation in her tone, as if mentioning it had brought some anger or spite in her.

"The bitch also gets shifty if you ask how she got her position..." Azalea paled some abruptly, her tone turning more quiet and disgusted. "Also learned from her, that its Maxim cuts off all the servants tongues, the demented rotter." She clenched her jaw some and straightened in her seat, glancing around at the others. "What'd you get off your guys?" Azalea asked, trying to distract her from the visuals.

"Cali knows more about Ivan then me, she can tell you more," Aria said, shooting a smile over at Angie. "I got dragged off near the end."

Azalea fell silent then, allowing the others to speak to get in their inputs and share the information they'd received to Baxter and the rest of them. After all, if they were to progress any farther, they all had to know everything. They had to plan. And admittedly...she found in the three days, she'd...missed their company.

Throughout the talks, Azalea cast a few glances at Raymond. Had he felt what she had down in the basement? He seemed oblivious when they arrived in the library, but it had felt so real...

"I know we have two weeks and all," Azalea said once the others had finished relaying their information and words, "but what are we actually going to do about the fighting pits? We can't all bloody fight. Rabbit wouldn't last two seconds," she said brashly, standing up to stretch her legs, turning her back to the group to idly shift through some books. "and then there's the magic shite we still need to find out. Think this library's got any shite on--"

Azalea cut off at the sudden chill that raked down her spine, lifting her head from the book she'd been boredly browsing through. The room was eerily still, as if something dark had fallen into the cozy atmosphere of the room. Even the air seemed to drop a few degrees in those few seconds. The back of her neck crawled, as if they were being watched. And then...

S C R A T C H.

It was like a long nail had run down the surface of rough wood, reverberating through the room. No, bigger then a nail. A claw. Azalea dropped the book on the floor as more chills echoed through her, expression going tight and hard in focus. She stepped slowly from around the bookshelf, peaking back to the dark, unlit area at the back of the library tower, from the direction she and Raymond had entered from.

SCRATCH.

The claw dragged down the wood again, faster this time, coming from the dark direction and shadows Azalea now stared at from afar.

"Taint...taint...filth.."

A voice crafted of contempt and something else, something otherworldly, hissed out towards them. Azalea hated the way it made her nerves jangle, her hands slightly shake, as she stepped farther out from behind the cover of the bookshelf to peer into the dark abyss. The shadows in the circular room seemed to stretch and grow darker, the room dimming.

"Come. Impostors. Deceivers. Filthy, tainted lies. Come." The voice hissed outwards into the room, as if it came from all sorts of different directions. Azalea peered into the darkness, squinting to make out the faint outline of the door she and Raymond had emerged from.

S L A M!

The door suddenly jolted in movement as something banged upon it from the other-side, something large, but the door held, though just barely, Azalea jumping with the impact. Then the door slammed again, the sound of wood splitting throughout the room indicating the creature's near success in breaking through this time around.
Something had sensed them, something awoken. Or perhaps it was a creature of Soris's, which had tracked them. But whatever it was...

It was about to get into the library. To them.



Xanto explosiveKitten Bakuyoshi
Blackrose7 Inheritance NinjaGirlGamer

 

[NinjaGirlGamer]

𝑰𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑲𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒊𝒏​

Spoiler: Optional

Ivanna nodded at Baxter’s instruction.

“Ok. Let’s try to do this with—“ Suddenly, Baxter took her hand then started to make a dash for it. “Hey!” She said in a low voice as they both ran across the hallway. They entered this one room, where they met a young servant girl who was also mute. Ivanna stood there as Baxter talked to the servant about his plan. Briefly, the servant went out of the room. Ivanna glanced at Baxter who was already looking the other way. Ivanna looked down on the floor before turning her head to the door when the servant came back. Giving them the signal. Before Ivanna could react, Baxter grabbed her hand again and started to make their way to the library. Suddenly, Baxter stopped her movement which made Ivanna shoot a glare before seeing the drunk guard cause a distraction. Off they went again towards the library, and they finally arrived to the double doors. Baxter opened the door for Ivanna and in return she huffed then entered the library without even bothering to look at Baxter. She saw that a few people were there as she walked inside.

The familiar voice of Azalea Windfore started to ring out through the library. Ivanna stayed silent as she made her way to the table everyone was sitting at. Instead of taking out a chair, she decided to lean up against a bookshelf to hear the conversation.

The conversations between individuals started to drag on. First, James was angry at Azalea for being her usual Hot Headed self. Azalea of course, played it off as some sort of success, referring to the King’s meltdown in front of the Court. Second, Aria showed up, and despite her presence, the exchanges between James and Azalea continued. Apparently Azalea and the King had some history. Like that wasn’t obvious. One thing that Ivanna noted was the name of the person who cut off all of the servant’s tongue. Maxim, Ivanna frowned at the name. It was probably best that she wasn’t assigned to that man in particular.

Then, it became the question of what the group has gained from their assigned members of the Court. Ivanna was the first to speak about her assigned Court member, Nadira the SpyMaster. “Right so—Nadira Jorkskirva or the SpyMaster to some, was as strict and stern as James here described.” Ivanna said as she remembered back to the night of the Ball. Saying the SpyMaster’s name left a bad taste in her mouth. “However, me and Annabel managed to gain some interesting information. Apparently, this kingdom is going through a political turmoil. Two brothers are trying to fight for power and another or as the SpyMaster said it ‘A foreign whore that’s trying to take control of a kingdom she has no business being apart of’ “ Ivanna stated clearly. She fell silent again to listen to the rest of the gang’s gathered information.

“I know we have two weeks and all, but what are we actually going to do about the fighting pits? We can't all bloody fight. Rabbit wouldn't last two seconds.” Azalea said.

That’s right, Ivanna thought. Not all of them knew how to fight. Ivanna sighed as she closed her eyes for just a moment. Maybe to get a little nap while the rest look at the book——

SCRATCH!


Ivanna eyes opened wide as she heard the sudden noise.

“Taint...taint...filth..”

What the hell...

Right then, Ivanna noticed that the room was becoming strangely more dark than before.

“Come. Impostors. Deceivers. Filthy, tainted lies. Come.”

Oh you gotta be Shitting me

SLAM!

Ivanna felt the sudden vibration from the bookshelf which jolted her away from it. She instantly looked at the door that was about to be broken into. The sounds of someone banging on the wooden door rumbled through the library.

It was the Shades. They were here.

Ivanna looked around the library in quick glances. Trying to find something, anything. Her thoughts started to race for a solution. She didn’t have her big sword, which she deeply wishes she had right now. Ivanna had to think about something. Fire.., She thought. They hate fire. Suddenly, Ivanna spotted three or four abandoned Sconces on the floor. She dashed towards them and grabbed one off the floor. She spotted a candle in the distance, but she needed something to light the fuel. Ivanna looked at the books before not even thinking twice to rip a bunch of pages then stuffing them in the Sconce. She took the candle from a table then lighting the shredded papers in the Sconce. The Torch holder started to brew a fire as Ivanna held it in her hands. Her eyes darted to the rest of the crew.
“Come on! Grab something you Idiots!” She shouted to the people who were just standing around. Her eyes went back towards the door, she scoffed as she ran towards the nearby bookshelf to try to move it. With the Sconce on the other hand, she tries to push the heavy bookshelf to block the door.

Ms. Sparrow Xanto explosiveKitten Blackrose7 Bakuyoshi Inheritance

 

[explosiveKitten]

“You’re surprised? I’M surprised.”

Angie stepped down from the painting, followed closely by Alex, who hopped right over to Azalea and Ray with a cheery grin.

“Imagine my surprise when this shrimp popped out of the goddamn wardrobe that in my “room”. Like some kind of creep. And the first thing he says? The first thing out of his mouth is ‘Hi!’.” She threw her hands up. “I cannot even begin to tell you how utterly stir-crazy I was starting to get in there. I thought I was hallucinating for a moment.”

Alex shrugged and leaned against a nearby bookshelf, a big grin on his face as he remarked, “What? I’m just good at finding secret passages. It’s a gift.”
As if that explained anything.

Right then, the sound of the library door opening and closing caught her attention, and she immediately snapped to alertness, only to find Annabel walking in, which she relaxed considerably once she realized it. It seems their allies were slowly starting to appear and were quipping with Azalea already.

When the door opened again, shockingly, Aurelie came through, with a vase full of flowers held in front of her face.
“... Aurelie?”
The Aubigian princess squeaked and almost dropped the vase, but once she realized that the people surrounding her were in fact her companions, she relaxed slightly and put the vase down.

“... do I even want to know why-“
“No.”
“.... oooookay... anyway, Azalea, you summoned everyone here. What exactly are you planning?”

————————

Angie was sitting on top of a table nearby, listening to the planning and how James tore into Azalea for, shock of shocks, being stupid and reckless. Angie has been mere inches from strangling Azalea all that time ago, but right now was not the time to go killing Princesses.

“Aodren is an adulterous worm of a man who seems to have a preference for... Aubigian women.” Angie said, growling to herself for ever taking Aurelie anywhere near him. “It’s pretty clear that his relationship with his wife is strained at best... I find the Queen’s ‘illness’ to be highly suspicious.”

When the clawing and scratching erupted around them, Angie almost dropped the book on Delchristian Law that she had been flipping through and when she looked around, she found everyone where they had previously been.

“... well, that’s ominous.” She said into the quiet air, only for the clawing to turn into some some of growling voice, calling them liars, decievers, filth, yada yada. Oh, by the gods...

“What the fuck... what the fuck is that!?”

Ms. Sparrow Xanto Blackrose7 NinjaGirlGamer Bakuyoshi Inheritance

 

[Bakuyoshi]

Cali sighed upon being asked about Ivan. "Well for starters the man is clearly out for himself. He believes that his own kingdoms ways are old fashioned and need change. However I think he wants those changes in Aodrens place. I believe he may want the throne for himself. Though I am surprised that there is someone that holds some not so antiquated ideas. In all honesty I'm sure if we help him he could help us. Key word being could, but hey we must be desperate if we are in a shithole society like this. What's more straw grasping to this whole effor- what the hell?"

Cali was about to say more when she heard the banging and scratching from the door followed by some horrifying voice. And not a moment to soon she realized they were all in danger. From whatever was behind it, and maybe it was just her but she would rather not see whatever was behind that voice. So you know what. She needs to help Ivanna keep that thing out.

"Grab anything to block it! Or kill it... Whatever order need be!" Cali rushed to Ivanna trying to keep whatever was behind that door where it was. Pulling along with the dark haired warrior trying her best to even get there in time. "Well what are the rest of you waiting for, stop looking like you just got told where babies come from and help us not die from whatever is behind that door!" As she struggled to keep up with Ivanna who was leagues stronger then her but at the very least she felt it was helping even if not by much.

NinjaGirlGamer Ms. Sparrow Blackrose7 Xanto Inheritance explosiveKitten

 

[Inheritance]

Jeod Swift​

He sat down merrily as Azalea started speaking, though Jeod didn't really hear what she said. He was excited to be in a royal library, and hadn't been able to enjoy one in a long time. He had already snagged several books that had caughthis interest, such as "Mating habits of a Dragon", "Priests, Oracles, and Drunks", "Water, Monster or Misunderstood Friend?", and of course "Fact or Fiction: Giraffes". Of course he already had the last one, but it was hard to find time to read it with all this pesky rebel stuff happening. He sat down and began thumbing through "Water, Monster or Misunderstood Friend?", when suddenly it seemed as though they were under attack.

Jeod leapt up (though deftly snuck the books he didn't have into his bag), suddenly alert and on guard. What had this rebellion done to him, turning him into a reactionary fighter? He reached into his coat when he heard the call for fire, but his heart sank when he remembered that he had just used almost everything he had to burn down half of the living quarters. He had a few shots, some lockpicks, a few tools for repairing, a few stolen books, and various other things that really wouldn't help him make fire. But as anyone knew, a tinker wasn't worth his salt if he couldn't start a fire without help. He always had some extra flint on him, and there was never a shortage of useless cloth in his bags. He quickly snapped off an arm of one of the chairs and tied some cloth around it, making a very poor torch (but it would work), lit it, and...

Was that barbarian lighting books on fire?!

Jeod almost fainted at the sight of knowledge being torn and burned. He wasn't an extreme bookworm, but he was certainly a scholar, and everyone knew that all the knowledge and stories in the world were found in books. Anyone who would ever burn a book had to be either crazy, an idiot, or both...even if life was at steak. There had to be other things to burn, even if some authors wrote like they were a child.

Why would she burn books?!

He had to ask himself the question again, still stunned into silence as he watched her tear pages out and set them ablaze. One hand holding a swiftly burning torch, the other on his firearm, he stood with his mouth hanging half-open and his eyes wide. Even after the initial shock of the burning books wore off, he was still silent while he tried to ponder how to best scold her without getting his ass kicked. However, with the creature preparing to attack, everyone yelling, and the his shock and outrage at the burning of books, his normally sharp tongue seemed to fail him.

"Wha...what the hell..." He said quietly, not directed at the coming attacker but at Ivanna. "Do you...barbarian...illiterate piece of..." He managed to choke out.

But another bang at the door jolted him out of his stunned state, and he finally was able to turn his attention on the door. He wasn't sure what was about to come out of there, but his heart began to race. If it was a shade, he could only hope he didn't freeze in terror. Nox terrified him, and if shades self destructed when they died, wouldn't they be dead regardless? By the rules that they had told him, it might be time to run right about now. But as the team stood their ground, he broke a few more chairs and made a few more torches (unlit) in case he needed more. He hoped he wouldn't freeze, but he figured that Ivanna's blatant disregard for education and literature would keep him stunned enough to not freeze...


Ms. Sparrow explosiveKitten NinjaGirlGamer Xanto Bakuyoshi

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

Azalea Eve Windfore

Azalea’s scars itched. A tingle in her cheek. It was the only movement she felt, considering she found herself strangely frozen. Rooted in place by that raw, terrible and ungodly voice. Gripped by some sense of confusion, some sense of fear and...pity. A familiar taste to its words, though she could not place where.

Cali and Ivanna both collectively shoved the bookshelf back against the door it was trying to break through. Bang. Bang. Bang. It slammed against the blocked door and then paused. Only could Cali and Ivanna really hear the deep intake of breath behind the door, sniffing, inhaling the scent of flames and smoke. The thing emitted a low hiss and the banging ceased.

The sound of collective clanking behind her was what sent Azalea flying into action. Guards were coming, their metal feet and weaponry sounding through the corridors that led to the library, behind the double doors. Heart racing, the redhead launched for a chair, kicking it over only to set her foot upon it, bend down, and snap a chair leg from it, whipping on her heels and skidding to a halt before the double doors as she wedged the wooden chair leg between the handles of both doors.

They couldn't be let in. Not that they didn't need the help. But they didn't need the blame Aodren would surely point in their direction if a single guard or citizen was hurt.

As the sound of clanking metal neared, Azalea found herself quickly heaving and dragging the long table they'd only just been seated at, across the library, flipping it unto it's side to slam against the double-doors, barricading it further. Cali and Ivanna had bought them the time they needed.

It wouldn't be enough, not to block a squadron of guards, she back peddled from the doors before pivoting for the nearest bookshelf to the door. Why, why did nothing ever go right? Sighting the bookshelf lined up against the circular wall beside the doors, she wasted little time in bolting for the side farthest from the door, wheezing as she slammed herself into it. It barely budged as she shoved herself against it, moving it only by an inch at best. "Somebody--hhh--help me with this fucking bookshelf--" she groaned as she pushed against it, sweat beading on her brow already, as the sounds of clanking drew closer and closer, deafening. The bookshelf pushing against one door, so close to blocking both--

She heard the guards stop before the doors and knew it was too late.

Bang, bang, bang. The door the bookshelf currently did not block opened, just the sliver it could that both the table and chair leg allowed it. The silver, wolf-ornate masked face of a guard peeked through the crack, meeting Azalea's alarmed features with a cold, icy blue gaze. His voice boomed out into the room. "Sarthenfall Rebellion! Open these doors immediately. You are all under arrest for--"

He didn't even get to finish his command as the all the light in the room was suddenly snuffed out entirely.

Azalea stilled and looked around into the room, but found only darkness and chill. The flames of Ivanna's fire, the candles and torches, every single light gone, leaving them entirely in pitch darkness. The room dropped to be freezing, and she thought if she could've seen, she would've seen her breath in the air. Azalea's head swiveled around, trying to spot out her company. Everything was silent, stilled, an eerie feeling looming heavily over them all, crawling down their necks, their spines. She could only hear her quickened breaths. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale--

SLAM. CRASH.

The splitting sound of wood splintering, breaking, shook the room. Books, wooden splinters of all sizes went flying across the room as the door was broken through by the creature abruptly, the bookshelf being shattered nearly with it as some crushing force barreled into it. Those that would be near the door would have been sent harshly into the floor at best, hit and wounded by the mass splinters at least. Azalea jolted away from the door and bookshelf, dropping to a knee as the crash echoed through the room, a book slapping into the wall behind her, she reached into her borrowed boots, pulling out the eleven-inch dagger she had as her only defense.

"Tainted. Disgusting impurities."
The voice hissed, echoing around the room in a way she could not tell nor see where it was. Click, click, click. Something scrapped and clicked on the stone walls.

"Its above us," Azalea whispered, panning up, trying to squint through the darkness, she back peddled from the library doors, from the walls, where the guards had all but frozen. Frozen at the sound of the dark voice, the power, that reached their ears no doubt. Peddling back to the center of the room, or what she thought was the center at least, away from the walls the creature crawled upon.

"Long have I slept until you. Your tainted flesh and blood. Unused bones. You are nothing, nothing to fill my appetite. You are all poisoned."

The claws and scraps suddenly came in rapid succession as it skittered across the walls, she spun in circles, not knowing where it was--

"SPEAK."

A snarl at her ears, Azalea whirled and didn't pause before she plunged the dagger for the source. Her blade met something solid, it barely sunk, hitting thick skin. The creature let out a shriek that made her cringe before something hard hit slammed into her gut, knocking the air out of her as she went reeling back into the floor, white-hot pain burned in her stomach as she felt a warmth spread across her stomach. Azalea gasped and heaved breathlessly on her back. Skittering claws races across the floor before a loud scrap echoed the walls around them, the creature once more crawling along the circular walls around them, its loud, hissing breaths marking its location in the pitch black room. "Ruined. Twisted. You have brought him here. I am not hers anymore. Wrong. Wrong. Hungry for more. Get it out. Get it out. Get it OUT!"
The flames of candles suddenly flickered weakly to life, as if whatever magic compelled it was weak. It cast the dark room into the dimmest of light, that made shadows stretch around them.. Azalea sat up. She didn't even notice she was bleeding, the slashes that tore through her shirt and into her stomach as she beheld the horror upon the wall.

It crawled on four legs, clinging to the stone walls, its structure vaguely resembled a massive wolf, though instead of fur, it was covered in thick, black skin, and sported long, six inch nails at the least that now supported it. Its green-silvery eyes glared into them. It was hideous creature by all standards. Azalea's gaze flicked to the glimpse of silver on its stomach, her dagger, still embedded shallowly into its ribs.

"LOOK AT ME, look at what you have brought, your fault, your fault, tainted filths, mortal fools, "
It hissed in its ancient voice, snapping it's pointed teeth at them as it snarled, it swiveled its head and wrinkled its massive snout towards Azalea's bleeding stomach.

"She does not want you. Does not want your blood near, not want, no, no."
It snapped its head towards the rest of the individuals in the library, its eyes turning gold--and then pure black. The creatures tone became less, less ancient and snarling, but turned darker, colder, more patronizing. It almost seemed to smile as it dragged one claw loudly across stone, stalking lower on the wall, closer to them.

"Shhhh...quiet...there now, hush...good." It inhaled, deeply, as if breathing them in, its black eyes roved over them individually, it settled on Ivanna.
"You...would make for a fascinating...creation,"
It crooned, turning to Alex then, letting its black maw hang open as it settled his gaze on him briefly, flicking across Annabel, then on Raymond, cocking its head at him, snapping its jaws at Aria and Aurelie, and then finally settling on Jeod.

It leaped off the wall abruptly, landing atop the bookshelf closest to Jeod, claws digging into wood, drawling, "Little...tinker,"

The wolf panned to Azalea, sitting up on the floor, and she paled as she stared into its ever so familiar black gaze. She gave a choke and went rigid She couldn't feel the pain in her stomach from the hammering heart that beat against her. The creatures tone was mocking and smug at once.
"One year bought, your time is sought. A deals been struck, your without luck, my games near won, I'll come to take whats mine."

She started to shake her head but the creature had already looked away towards the other individuals of the room.

"Problems, problems, problems,"

The creature tsked towards the group, shaking its head before fixing its gaze on Baxter, it gave a snarl, and its eyes transitioned back to gold. The creature became more bestial, its breaths hard and fast, it crouched down, before springing into action. Down from the bookshelf, it aimed to tackle Aurelie to the floor before snapping it's jaws for anyone who dared to near it, then leaping for the next individual closest to it, snapping its massive teeth to bite out for them.

The beast unleashed itself upon the group, a whirlwind of actions, moving at unnatural speeds and strengths, as it attacked and leapt for each individual, the thickness of its hide suggesting it would take a good number of heavy blows to take the beast down, swiping and clawing for the rebellion members before fixing its golden-gaze unto the leader of the rebellion, unto Baxter, and running for him, leaping off the floor with the intent to tackle the rebellion leader.


Xanto explosiveKitten Bakuyoshi
Blackrose7 Inheritance NinjaGirlGamer

 

[Xanto]

Baxter Callahan and Raymond Callahan​

It seemed that most if not all the rebel group made it to the meeting place. Baxter's cold, blue orbs burned holes at the side of Azalea's head. Knowing the rest of the group, there was no turning back now. At least one of them probably did something on the way over that would only extend their punishment.

Regardless, they were all together again. Baxter had enough . . heart to at least be slightly pleased by that. Then, a representative from each of the other night's pairings spoke up about what they learned from their assigned targets. Safe to say that they at least got something out of that odd mess. The princess proceeded to move onto other vital matters by which the rebellion leader couldn't have said better himself. What would they do about the fighting pits, and the magical book-

That noise.

Baxter quickly scanned the area around them with furrowed brows, and clenched fists. The growing darkness accompanying the paranormal sounds made all the more sense that they were about to face yet another inhuman creature.

A strong bang against the door was enough to let his team jump to work. Swiftly, Ivanna started burning books and pushing barriers. Cali soon came to her assistance, attempting to create barriers with her much stronger counterpart. Meanwhile, Jeod seemed occupied with creating torches from furniture.

Baxter picked up a chair and blatantly threw it against the ground to help the tinker more efficiently obtain the right supplies for torches. Chaos was all around them anyway. Destruction within the royal library at this point was inevitable as well . . no matter how much he disagreed with it.

Soon enough, ignorant royal guards were sent their way. Azalea instinctively created barriers against them from entering the library. Unfortunately, one door was ajar enough for a guard to scream they were all under arrest. "Don't let them in!" Baxter commanded, breaking one final chair and holding its jagged side up as a weapon, "Let them see it!"

On cue, the room went dark. Everything.

The dark creature was advantageously crawling all over the walls. Baxter on the other hand, made his way to the library's center with two broken chair legs in hand.

"SPEAK."

Did someone scream? Baxter turned his head around at the voice. No, not the monster. Another yell sounded out quite loudly, but was partially masked by the creature's words.

"Ruined. Twisted. You have brought him here. I am not hers anymore. Wrong. Wrong. Hungry for more. Get it out. Get it out. Get it OUT!"

There it was again.

But he didn't have time entertain the supernatural voices around him. Once the lights dimly lit the room again, Baxter had finally laid eyes on the biggest beast he'd ever seen. The dark massive wolf . . and someone's dagger in its ribs. Quickly, his mind started to move. It was challenging to keep up with where exactly the beast headed, until it ultimately decided to pounce at him. The leader strongly held the edges of his two chair legs outward, aiming for the belly. He'd enact a second motion to let the beast's body roll over his back-

"GRAAAAH!" A low barbaric voice growled as a body lunged into the beast, and slammed it off to the side. The familiar figure swiftly rolled back and slid away from the beast in fluid motion, while his own dark gaze pierced through the dim room. "Who is . . she?!" Raymond menacingly hissed with a mere dagger held invertedly in his right hand. His body was crouched with a knee against the ground as if he was ready to lunge again.

Welcome . . to the darkness.

"AAHP!" Raymond shut his eyes as pain surged through his body, more primarily his neck. Slow. Inevitable. If anyone stood close enough, they could see a dark rune gradually imprinting onto it. All of this, just before his fist forcefully pounded the ground below him. Ray's hand then rested in the dent he effortlessly created. Now if ever that beast were to move, he'd feel its every direction.

Meanwhile, Baxter attempted to comprehend everything in front of him. That dog was probably a good five hundred pounds or more. The momentum of Ray's lunge was indescribably intense, almost unnatural to the human eye. Then that pound- something was different.

Dark. Baxter thought to himself, while making out Raymond's gaze in the dim light. Who was he? The younger Callahan glared at the beast in an almost inhumanely evil way. In fact, one could argue that Bax felt a sensation from Ray's direction. A quite powerful one too.

"What, is this despicable nonsense YOU DARE BARK!" Ray boomed, failing to keep his voice at its usual timbre. It was much lower, hostile, angry, pained . . different.

Ms. Sparrow explosiveKitten Bakuyoshi Blackrose7 Inheritance NinjaGirlGamer

 

[NinjaGirlGamer]

𝑰𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑲𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒊𝒏​

While Ivanna was trying to push along the heavy bookshelf with only just her left hand, Cali ran over to the other side and started to pull along with her. With the combined efforts of two people, Ivanna and Cali manage to block the door before the beast could fully break through. For a moment there was silence, the sounds of someone sniffing the air was heard. The beast could probably smell the smoke, Ivanna thought. Several seconds have passed, and it seemed the beast has stopped its pursuit, which made Ivanna take a few steps back.

Slowly, the sounds of clanking armor and heavy footsteps were heard in the background. Ivanna quickly turned her head towards the noise, only to find Azalea already taking the necessary action. A look around the room showed that the others were breaking the library’s furniture to gather up tools and weapons for torches and other gear. Ivanna turned her attention back towards the door. Her stance was guarded, she kept in mind that the guards were behind her. However, the beast was more important. Now was the time to figure out what to do next—-



Suddenly, everything went dark.

The torch Ivanna was holding was snuffed out of its light source.

Fuck!

Ivanna quickly took out the long dagger from a concealed part of her jacket. In that moment, she tried to remember where everyone was positioned before the darkness. Her eyes took a glance around.

SLAM. CRASH.

Instantly, Ivanna was flown back on the ground. The hard impact made her grunt in a low voice. The mass wooden splinters flew everywhere in the dark, including at Ivanna. She felt a slash on her left cheek, a slash on her arm, and a slash on her leg.

"Tainted. Disgusting impurities."

Ivanna’s head was ringing a bit from the floor impact. She quickly stood back up as something began to move around the room. And fast.

It’s in the room. The grip on her dagger tightened.

"Long have I slept until you. Your tainted flesh and blood. Unused bones. You are nothing, nothing to fill my appetite. You are all poisoned."

Where the hell is it.

"SPEAK."

Ivanna tried to move within the darkness. A loud shriek was heard, which made Ivanna turn her attention towards the sound. It sounded like someone got attacked, but she didn’t know which one. More skittering claws echoed throughout the room. Ivanna was trying to discern where the beast was located by following its sounds.


"Ruined. Twisted. You have brought him here. I am not hers anymore. Wrong. Wrong. Hungry for more. Get it out. Get it out. Get it OUT!"

The candles in the room were suddenly re-lit, but faintly. Ivanna had her back turned when she tried to relocate the monster. She saw that one or two people were staring at a specific wall with wide eyes. Ivanna quickly turned around, and what she saw next, she couldn’t believe. A giant wolf, way bigger than any of the wolves she’s ever seen.

"LOOK AT ME, look at what you have brought, your fault, your fault, tainted filths, mortal fools,”

She could only stare.

"She does not want you. Does not want your blood near, not want, no, no."

Ivanna only started to move when the beast started to move. She kept her distance as the large wolf came closer to the group. Both hands gripped the dagger and her burnt out Sconce. She was ready to attack. Her mind started to strategize.

"You...would make for a fascinating...creation,"

This caught her a little off guard. Ivanna could only frown at that comment. She soon brushed it off when the beastly wolf went to the others. After a few minutes, the wolf started to become restless and hostile. It pounced on those who were nearby, beginning its on slot rampage. It briefly went towards Ivanna, she quickly dodged the incoming attack from the creature. As it started to come back around, Ivanna hit the metal Sconce on the creature’s head, causing a brief second stun. Within that second, she jabbed her blade on the back of its neck. The giant wolf shrieked then whirled its head around fast to bite Ivanna’s face off. She quickly shoved the Sconce in the beast’s mouth, but the momentum from the force caused her to be slammed on the ground. Ivanna wrestled with the beast for a minute before using her two boots to kick it off of her. The beast then turned its attention towards Baxter as Ivanna scurried to get back up. She was about to come to Baxter’s aid when Raymond slammed his whole body into the beast. Ivanna stopped her movement at the sight. She frowned in confusion as Raymond started to act weird. Was he possessed???? She thought. Ivanna noticed some strange marking growing on the side of Ray’s neck. “What the hell..” She muttered. Was the beast the cause?


“Hey!” Ivanna exclaimed as she slowly went over to Raymond. “Snap out of it, what’s wrong with you?” She said. Keeping her distance, but also trying to make out what was currently happening in front of her.

Ms. Sparrow Xanto explosiveKitten Blackrose7 Bakuyoshi Inheritance

 

[Blackrose7]

Annabel was going to tell everybody about what she knows, but the noise interrupted it. This made Annabel scared. Because she knew that the shades were going to find them eventually.
The voice said Taint...taint...filth.., and Annabel noticed that the room was getting darker. It kept saying more disturbing things, and Annabel saw Ivanna and the others pushing the heavy bookshelf to the door. The Ezeris Princess wanted to help too. But knew that it was impossible to stop that thing from getting here. Because the shades have extremely sharp claws.

The guard then tried to get them to open the door, but the fool didn’t know that they were going to die.
All of the light in the room was suddenly snuffed out entirely, and Annabel looked around with a terrified look on her face. The eerie coldness didn’t help her out with this situation.
And then it happened. The creature got into the library, said creepy things, looked at her, tackled Aurelie, and just about the creature attacked Baxter. Annabel got the nearest chair next to her, and threw it at the monster. “Everybody, let’s go!” said Annabel, as she tried to get to the secret passageway that Alex and Angelo found.
Ms. Sparrow Xanto Inheritance explosiveKitten Bakuyoshi NinjaGirlGamer

 

[explosiveKitten]

When the lights went out, Aurelie squealed like a little girl.

Angie could hear the heavy breathing of the beast that came into the room. She could hear it moving around the room.

SLAM. CRASH.

Her heart started to race as she tried desperately to keep said heart from leaping up into her throat and out of her body. Her eyes darted around the dark room, searching for anything to hint at where it could be. She caught a glimpse of Alex’s glowing green eyes (still weird), darting around, tracking something as it moved through the darkness.

When the lights came back on, Angie spin around as Aurelie screamed and dives out of the way of the beast- It was huge, wolffish and snarling about taint, blood and... “her”. Who is “she”?

While Angie found herself paralyzed, Baxter was attacked. Annabel ran off, Raymond seemed to go rabid. She blinked and took a deep breath, finally shaking out of her daze, she ran and threw her body against one of the loose bookshelves.

“ALEX! GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE!”

While Angie was using her body weight on a bookshelf, Alex ran over to the painting they had appeared out of, running his hands over it till he found a latch and pulled on it, causing it to pop away from the wall and swing forward on its hinges.

The bookshelf soon crashed over the back of the creature, crushing it to the floor. When she had the chance she grabbed a vase- the same vase Aurelie had come into the library with- and smashed it over the beast’s head.

“EVERYBODY GET OUT OF HERE, NOW! I’LL BUY YOU TIME!”

Alex looked at Angie and shouted, “Angelo!”

“JUST SHUT UP AND DO IT!”

Alex blinked and looked conflicted, before he grabbed Annabel by the arm and pulled her up into the dark corridor behind the painting.

Meanwhile Angie grabbed a chair and waved it in front of the beast’s face, hoping to goad it into focusing on her.

Ms. Sparrow Xanto NinjaGirlGamer
Blackrose7 Bakuyoshi Inheritance

 

[Bakuyoshi]

Cali froze like a statue as everything went dark, her sight gone but she could hear whatever was moving. Yet as far as she knew it never came near her. A puzzling idea but maybe it was time to figure something out. Angie was attempting to distract the beast, some people were trying to retreat, and Ray was acting really weird, but Cali saw an opportunity. There was no way this thing was planted here by Soris. It was likely imprisoned in this place, meaning that this place was holding something of importance if that thing was around. And what a fortunate event it had not seemed to notice her.

"Just stay quiet, don't light up anything just yet. And try to find where it came from, I'm not getting arrested, and I am sure as hell not going back empty handed. A ruler must be willing to do anything. That is what Ivan said, and now if I don't listen to that we may end up losing heavily."

Her mind made up she slowly tried inching her way to the way the beast had came from. She could only hope there was not more then one, but if her instinct was correct. That way lead to what they were looking for, danger always leads to treasure.

Ms. Sparrow Inheritance Blackrose7 explosiveKitten Xanto NinjaGirlGamer

 

[Inheritance]

Jeod Swift​

The term "emotional rollercoaster" wouldn't have covered the journey that his heart and mind went through by half. "Emotional Apocalypse", "Emotional Bomb", or perhaps "Emotional Typhoon" would have covered it better. He had gone from the shock, anger, and sadness at seeing books burned, to a white hot fear that was almost as bad as when Nox came around. If his shock from the books hadn't been so deep, perhaps he would have now gone into a deep shock and wouldn't have reacted at all. But despite how dizzy he was starting to feel (especially when that thing addressed him), he was able to recognize that the rest of the group wasn't doing much better. Shaking himself out of his retrieve, he mustered up the willpower to act.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion. The pounding, the beast's movements, his best friend's strange demeanor. Ivanna was over there saying something to him, but he couldn't quite make out what it was. He was vaguely aware of the secret passage being opened up, and people running through while a few people stood to buy them all time. This was all happening so fast, how did he know exactly what was happening? He had felt adrenaline before, but the last time he was in any sort of major fight he had choked. The last time...on the boat...everything happened so fast...He had cowered, he had failed to fire a single shot. He had felt crazed and terrified, unlike the calm that was settling upon him now. Had he changed so much? Was this that "warrior vision" that he had once heard old soldiers talking about? There was nothing unnatural about it, but for Jeod, it was a strange and hardly a comforting feeling.

But reflection would have to come later, now was the time to act. In the back of his mind he knew he would scold himself for years to come (if he ever survived this) for what he was about to do, but with a shake of his head, he darted over to Angie, his logical mind screaming at him to just take the easy way out. As he moved over to her, he saw Cali taking the escape, and a wave of doubt washed over him once again. He may not have had many ties to one country, but he had already given Cali his word he would help her; and she was taking the way that any smart man would take. Why was he doing this? He wasn't a warrior, nor was he all that brave. He was nimble and he was smart, both of which were qualities that were great for him to escape now. But for some reason that he couldn't explain, he shoved those doubts back and continued to Angie.

"Go with the rest of them, I'll distract it." Jeod said with a far away look in his eyes. "You probably know this place better, and you know the people better. I'll hold em off." He flashed her a small smile, but there was worry behind it.

Still holding the bunch of torches he had made, he swung them in front of the great beast. He had to hope that this thing, like most beasts, would be afraid or angered by fire. All that mattered was that it focused on him, and maybe gave Ray time to figure out his shit. He couldn't hear what Ivanna was saying to him, but he had to imagine it wasn't helpful. He pulled out his pistol with his other hand, and was once again grimly reminded that he only had 4 total shots between his two weapons. He aimed it with one hand, focused, and fired a shot at the creature-a puff of smoke swirling out of the front and a BANG echoing in the room. He had no idea if it would kill this thing (he had a strong suspicion that it wouldn't), but he hoped it might injure it enough to slow it down, or maybe to keep it down a bit longer.

"Get him OUT of here Ivanna!" He yelled over to her and Ray. "I don't think this is a great place for him now!"


Xanto Ms. Sparrow NinjaGirlGamer explosiveKitten Bakuyoshi Blackrose7

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

Azalea Eve Windfore

Everything happened in a blur, hard for Azalea to process as she sat on the ground. She could faintly detect the metallic smell of blood, feel the warmth pulling at her stomach but pain was a distant feeling as she watched the wolf go flying off Baxter as Raymond slammed wolf monstrosity with unnatural strength, speed. The dark hiss that emitted from Raymond's voice hit her ears like cold water. Inhuman. Evil, darker. Not Raymond.

The world stopped. Froze. Her legs were nothing under her, she was nothing, nobody. Her expression froze to horror. Devastation.

No. No. No.

The wolf snarled at Raymond, bowing it's upper half, crouching as if prepared to launch itself at him again but it stalked to the side, circling. She barely heard it.
"Such is the ignorance of man still to be so oblivious to what has been," it growled, snapping its jaws towards him. "She? She is the Deceived. The Wronged. The Devourer. Cast aside. Just like you will be," it lowered, legs coiling tensing, lunging--

Crash! The wolf's maneuver was cut short as the chair hurtled into it's side, thrown by Annabel, the wood shattering across it's thick, black hide. It let out a vicious snarl and a whine, wounds already inflicted by Ivanna having weakened the creature. It's golden eyes flickered to green as it shook its head back and forth, snorts and snarls echoed from the monstrosity as it waged some internal battle, letting out pained, distracted whines.

Someone was shaking her, Azalea realized. they had been doing so for awhile, yelling at her to get up. Get up. Get up. They had to move. She blinked up to Aria with a frozen expression, stunned. Raymond was gone. Gone. Gone. Gone.

"Look at me, look at--Azalea! Gods you're bleeding! Get up! Get up! You need to get into the passage!"

The sound of wood splintering and a loud boom and crash followed by a ear piercing howl reverberated through the room. She turned her head as she watched the massive bookshelf collide into the creature, sending it to the floor, Angelo’s position indicating them to be the culprit, before Azalea watched as he raised a vase over his head before sending the hard object crashing into the creatures head. It’s inhuman scream of rage sent chills down her spine, the downed being snapping its teeth towards Angelo with a snarl as it wrestled with getting the bookshelf, thrashing it’s clawed hands towards anyone who neared.

Aria was grabbing her under her arms, hauling her to her feet. Her legs moved like stone as Aria dragged her by the arm, towards the passage Alex and Annabel now resided in. People were fighting. Fleeing. Cali was moving off on her own. Noise was distant in her ears. She was faraway. Sinking. Falling, down, down, down. Gone. Gone. Gone.

More snapping and thuddings reverberated through the room, the dazed being snapping and breaking its way through the wood, ripping and tearing viciously. The dazed beast stood, snarling at Angelo, swiping its clawed hand for her in an almost unfocused manner. The bookshelf clearly did some damage to its form.

But then it whipped it's head on Raymond once more as if it’s attention was suddenly grabbed, it's gaze back to gold, calculating. The skin pulled back from its yellowed canines into what might've resembled a grin. "L-look...look at you at you," it sneered, "Do you feel it, mortal? How does power taste? His gift? It shall feel so much better when you give in."

"No," Azalea breathed, the whispered word surprising Aria enough to make her halt in her tracks.

Suddenly the chair was in the creatures face, Angelo goading it's attention. It ripped its attention from Raymond unto him.

Aria stopped in her tracks. The fear in Aria's face stopped Azalea cold. Not once. Not once had she ever seen her warrior cousin look so terrified. Terrified, Azalea realized, of the sacrifice Angelo was trying to make.

"Angi-no!" Aria broke into a sprint from across the room, as the wolf-like creature stood on it's hunched legs, a clawed hand swiping to sending the chair soaring and shattering, stepping towards Angelo.

It towered over her in this position, rage flickering in its golden gaze. "The gall of your ignorance," it snapped, the thing lunged--

Right before Aria dove full force into the creature, writhing masses on the ground, Azalea glimpsed Aria's fist connect with it's snout. Blood went spattering, razor-sharp canines flying from its jaws. There was an ear-shattering howl. The two were a blur on the floor. A princess, no, a warrior against an ancient being. Filled with the fury of a thousand men to defend the life her friend so selflessly offered.

Suddenly, Jeod was there. A look of clarity on his face. A warrior's calm. Fierce, sad, undeterred. Ready to take on the obstacle before him. Something...something about the look in his eyes, as he looked to Angie, he knew. He knew the costs. The knowing that he might not survive. He was not a fighter. He knew it. They all knew it.

"No," Azalea said, the words coming out of her mouth unbidden, surprising even her, looking to Jeod. Silver lined her eyes. No. Nobody was dying. Nobody was making sacrifices. She looked at Raymond, at Angelo, Jeod. It was a command, a demand when she spoke again, stronger this time. "No."

It brought her into action. No. It was a war drum in her heart, beating fiercely against her chest. She grabbed a splinter of sharpened, broken wood off the floor and sprinted across the room. Maroon hair flew behind her, booted feet pumping. Faster. Faster. She had to get there faster.

Aria's scream pierced the air as the ancient creature gained the advantage, rolling over Aria, too quick to do anything, to react, it's claw plunged into her eye, stabbing into it. Too late, Azalea's legs could not carry her fast enough, nothing could, as the creature stood, grabbing Aria by the collar of her shirt, it threw her into the wall closest to it. She hit the floor with a hard thud and did not get back up.

Azalea let out an enraged cry as the beast tore its attention to Jeod, recoiling as he swung the torches for it, fear blazing in it's golden eyes. Something sharp and loud deafened her, a bang shattering the sound of the room. The force of the bullet sent the creature recoiling, letting out an inhuman, ancient scream. Its upper half bowed over itself in pain, disabling it from moving entirely, right as Azalea slammed into it.

Her vision was red as she felt the splintered wood sink into its hide as she hit the floor. Blood spurted across her features. "NO!" she roared, raising to plunge the wood into its neck again, screaming it with each plunge into it's neck. "No! No! NO!"

But there was nothing left of the creature to kill. The wounds inflicted by Angelo, Ivanna, Annabel, and Jeod had diminished the beast, the shot fired being the killing blow. It was dead before it had even hit the floor with Azalea.

Some part of her knew it was dead but it didn’t stop her movements anyway. She kept stabbing. Over. And over. It didn't matter when she watched the gold fade from its eyes. It didn't matter when it's forest, green eyes stared at her. So old, ancient and pained. But so incredibly, tragically human. It didn't matter when the last of the light faded from it's eyes. The wood plunged into it's hide over and over again. No. It was not allowed to take them. It was not allowed to take Angelo. It was not allowed to take Aria. Or Raymond. Or Jeod.

Her assault on the beasts corpse only ceased when her arms could no longer lift. When the fire inside her had cooled enough for her to think, for her to realize. She was not covered in black, oily blood. Not the blood of shades. It was red. It soaked into her clothes, her skin, spattered across her face. She was a mess of gore. Slowly, she stood. The wood piece she held was soaked to its core. Azalea dropped it and looked towards Raymond, staring.

"You will...not," she rasped out hoarsely, squaring her jaw. The portrait of fierceness. "You will not give in."
It was an order. A demand, a dispute of what the creature had barked at him. It was all she could do not to scream at him. Not to break down and cry right on the spot, to shake him and tell him to fight whatever darkness was inside him. To beg him.

She panted and looked to the body against the wall and fought her knees from giving out under her. Aria did not move. Her still face peered up towards the ceiling, blood covering nearly half of her face to be near unrecognizable. Only the ever slight rise and fall of her chest gave hints to her living.

There was the distant sound of clanging, echoing down the corridor behind the barred library door, louder and louder. It seemed the previous guards had fetched more. It sounded like an army was marching straight for them.

She moved for Aria, the adrenaline running through her veins the only thing that kept her going at this point. She didn't feel the pain from the slashes into her stomach as she bent, wrapping an arm around Aria's waist, holding the unconscious woman up to her feet, this being a harder task for the more petite woman, who looked more then ready to fall over herself. Azalea closed her eyes, inhaling as she felt the weight of Aria's head fall against her shoulder. Don’t break. Don’t break. Pull yourself together. She had to make it through this. They all had to.

"Cali," Azalea said in as strong voice as she could manage, opening her eyes , pointing her finger towards where Cali had moved off for, the now open doorway that held nothing but pitch darkness she knew a spiral staircase would descend into, where the creature had come through. Guards did not go in the basement, and Aodren would surely know the passages. His ancestors had built the castle after all. Aria had to be treated. But she was positive Aodren would rather let her rot and die. No, guards did not go in the basement, and had not for years. And she wondered, if perhaps they were aware and feared whatever it was that had lurked down there.

Maybe they could find the answers for, too. They needed something. Anything. A gods damned miracle. Help Aria. Figure out what's wrong with Raymond. Find answers in the basement. She repeated the order over and over in her head so she wouldn't think on anything else.

"Before our guard friends pay us a visit," she rasped, her steps slowed and weighted as she moved herself and the heavier Aria for the basement, too prideful to ask for help but surely in need of it. So they moved. Moved for that broken doorway into the tower, for those spiral staircases that would descend them into cold darkness. A palace basement, filled with relics and ancient trinkets. Of questions and wonders.

But, most importantly, Azalea thought, a break from hell.

Xanto explosiveKitten Bakuyoshi
Blackrose7 Inheritance NinjaGirlGamer

 

[Xanto]

Baxter Callahan and Raymond Callahan​

Honed in. Zoned out. A paradox in himself. Raymond's gaze darkened as time went by, merely ignoring Ivana's mild concern by his side.

"Do you feel it, mortal? How does power taste? His gift? It shall feel so much better when you give in."

"Spineless, pathetic dog," Raymond growled as the beast's legs coiled. Meanwhile, he was ready to lunge himself at the wolf in turn.

Crack! Furniture piece after furniture piece slammed into the massive wolf, inhibiting any momentum Ray had against it. A chair, a bookshelf, and a princess, each thrown against the beast until they were almost destroyed just as easily. . . Feeble.

"Follow Cali!" Baxter called out immediately after noticing their split group. Some ran down a secret passageway, while others sprinted out the broken basement door. Their scattered formation was any leader's nightmare.

Bang! Amidst the chaos, the rebel leader knew where the gunshot resounded from. Jeod was one of the few members who carried a gun, yet often backed away from actually firing it. A fear Bax knew the tinkerer had openly struggled with. A fear Jeod managed to trample himself.

But this messy post didn't end here.

A princess was aggressively driving a wooden edge down the wolf's neck in repeating stabs. Raymond stared at Azalea, engrossed by the darkness of it all. Each attack driving deeper into the lifeless form than before. Rage, surging through her blood until- "You will not give in," She commented, reflecting his stare.

Darkness.

Just then, the sound of clanking armor prompted the partially possessed man to whip his head around for the double doors. Fortunately, most of the group was dashing down the basement's spiral stairs by then.

"Get in here," Baxter shoved Raymond down the staircase, slightly taken back by how easy it was to maneuver his brother into their route before turning to Ivanna and Jeod, "Let's barricade the stairway, but leave a hidden mechanism in case we need to ascend later. Make it seem we went up, not down."

___​

The ground floor was dark . . as predicted. Anyone had to squint to see exactly who was in front of them. Though, their vision could have arguably been impaired by the cobwebs and dust along rows of blanketed furniture.

Clang! A metal object dropped onto the cold floor, abruptly halting Baxter's movements. A feeling tightened around his neck. Darkness in its human form. Bax brought his hands to the grip around his neck, eyeing his brother in the dim basement.

Ms. Sparrow NinjaGirlGamer explosiveKitten Inheritance Bakuyoshi Blackrose7

 

[explosiveKitten]

GODDAMNIT JEOD NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO GROW A PAIR, GET OUT OF HERE!

She glared at Jeod, internally chastising him while she tried to keep the beast’s attention on her. However, she couldn’t deny that she was... perhaps mildly impressed by his bravery. Mildly.

She turned back to the beast just in time to see it rise up on it’s hind legs and swipe at her. She raised up the chair to block it, having the flimsy wood be smashed and scattered across the floor. She looked up with the leftover chair legs in her hands, which she discarded the side. Then she pulled out her dinky hunting dagger and gripped it tightly in one fist. She was ready to distract this thing long enough for everyone to get away. She would probably be maimed. But that’s fine. Her own life didn’t matter here. She’s-

The monster was tackled aside by Aria. Oh no. Oh gods. Oh gods, no. Time slowed to a stop as she stared, wide eyed, while Aria began to beat the monster with her bare fists. Angie couldn’t even move. She was frozen. Nononono why did she do that? She couldn’t do this, she was too important, this was NOT supposed to happen-

When Aria screamed, she snapped to her senses. She charge she forward and began to drag Aria away from the beast while Azalea went a little nuts on the beast. She collapsed to her knees, looking at Aria with abject horror. Why did she have to make friends, why did she get attached to people, this is why she stopped doing “relationships” and “friendship” and ohhhhhh gods, why the HELL did Aria do this?!

“Ariaaaaaa, why the hell did you do that...? Whats wrong with... shhhhh, shhhh, it’s okay just.. just hold on... hold on.” She was trying to gather Aria to her chest and try to stop the bleeding from her face and eye with her top shirt, the fancy one. Her hands were shaking, and GODS she hoped that nobody saw it.

When she finally looked back up, Azalea was stumbling towards her and Aria, covered in blood, and Angie stopped Azalea almost immediately as the princess tried to drag Aria away- Not because she wanted to keep Aria to herself, no, but because Azalea looked like she could barely stand herself. So Angie herself took Aria up into her arms, bridal style and carried her away as the group began to flee the library.

————————

Angie was sitting on the floor, trying to keep Aria calm the entire time, though who knows? The Northern Princess could have passed out by now. Angie was just trying to keep from crying. The moment was replaying in her head, over and over and over. Why didn’t she do anything, what was wrong with her? That was cowardice, it was weakness. What the hell was happening in this place that they had giant talking wolves in the basement?!
The darkness around her felt like it was crushing her lungs.

Speaking of crushing, Alex gasps, horrifies by what he can clearly see-

“Ray! Ray what are you doing?! That’s your brother, STOP!”
Ms. Sparrow NinjaGirlGamer Xanto Inheritance Bakuyoshi Blackrose7

 

[Bakuyoshi]

Cali had refused to slow down, even with the screams of the rebellion members as the battle raged and ended she still moved down. She no longer cared for this wretched place, where sophistication was used as a disguise for a society more brutal then any in Sarthenall. She would find what was down here, maybe a weapon, or something magical, hell she wouldn't mind a book on the subject. But even now she was left thinking as she descended into the darkness. "Why was magic taken from us due to the actions of one man? What could it do outside of what Soris is doing? What if we could benefit from it? I need to know, I must find it before they find it. Let the darkness itself lead me to this forbidden place and show me the knowledge it hides. After all they can deal with their drama. I need this knowledge more then ever now."

It wasn't long before she heard the sound of fighting behind her, Some form of struggle between Raymond and Baxter. But she kept going down without a word the darkness almost felt comforting to her. Such an odd feeling given what it meant to her once upon a time.

Ms. Sparrow Blackrose7 Xanto NinjaGirlGamer explosiveKitten Inheritance

 

[Inheritance]

Jeod Swift​

Did...did he really kill it? Even as he fired his shot, he figured that he would be dead within the next instant. He knew he would miss, or perhaps his shot wouldn't be powerful enough, or maybe even the firearm would explode...anything but actual success. Jeod was rooted in place as Azalea flipped out, stabbing the already dead creature over and over. Jeod stared blankly, reloading what little ammunition he had left absent mindedly. His 'warrior vision' was fading, leaving him in a state of confusion. Perhaps if things were calmer, he would have gone into a state of shock as he tried to comprehend what sort of god would create such a creature, and perhaps what sort of man had he become now that he had killed something. But the time for self reflection and thinking would have to come later, as they were immediately on the move once again; into the secret passage and into the darkness, finally stopping when Baxter spoke to them.

"Let's barricade the stairway, but leave a hidden mechanism in case we need to ascend later. Make it seem we went up, not down."

Jeod nodded, glad that there was more to do. He wasn't sure he wanted to think back on what had happened, how Azalea had snapped, and how he had almost died in defense of the people that he had once looked down on. If he had time to sit and think, he would have been astounded by how much he had changed. Just a week ago he was ready to abandon the whole operation, and now he was risking his life for the people in it.

"Not a problem." He said without delaying, looking around for things to work with.

He got to work immediately, glad to have something interesting to do. Basic knowledge of physics and mechanics would be enough to create a barricade that would be impossible to get through, but easily removed if one knew how. There was already plenty of rubble to grab and start barricading, and with the skillful hand of a tinker, he made a mental schematic of a barrier that would seem as though it was hastily made from above, making it seem like they had bolted up the staircase. He was vaguely aware that Ivanna was there, but said nothing to her as he set up a small spring, some black powder, and began arranging the rubble around it.

"You don't have to stay here." He told her without looking. "You can follow the group. But if you want to help, start bringing over rubble as fast as possible." He would never admit it, but he was certainly hoping she didn't take his offer to leave. He would feel a lot safer with someone else, and while she was a book burning barbarian, she knew her way out of a pinch...assuming sacrificing him wasn't on the table.



Xanto NinjaGirlGamer Ms. Sparrow

 

[NinjaGirlGamer]

𝑰𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑲𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒊𝒏 and Raymond Callahan and Baxter Callahan

Collab ​

“Hey! Snap out of it, what’s wrong with you?”

No Response. Great.

Ivanna turned her attention back over to the creature when she heard a chair crash down upon it. She quickly scanned the room to see the current situation. Aria looked like she had it under control, but she was losing. Badly. Hand on the metal torch holder, one good swing could put the beast down for good---

BANG!

The bullet from Jeod’s gun pierced the creature to deliver the final blow. It caught Ivanna off guard for a second at the sudden noise. The beast rendered useless, and for once, a gun wasn’t on the receding end of the spectrum.
Ivanna was about to walk towards the dead beast till Azalea beat her to it. And what Ivanna saw next made her stop in her tracks. Azalea was plunging the broken wood into the corpse like a madman. Like she had enough. And for once, Ivanna could relate, so she backed off then turned her attention back over to the main library door.

“Follow Cali!” Baxter shouted, which prompted Ivanna to survey the room.

It seemed like most of the group members were going their separate ways. Some of them headed to the painting, while others went towards the entrance that the beast came from. The sounds of extra pairs of metal feet were getting closer to the door. The situation became clear, Ivanna had no choice but to flee, and she hated this very fact. As she was about to follow Azalea and the rest towards the basement. Baxter stopped Jeod and Ivanna.

“Let's barricade the stairway, but leave a hidden mechanism in case we need to ascend later. Make it seem we went up, not down,” Baxter said as he took his possessed brother down the spiral steps. Jeod got to work immediately, gathering up the tools and parts to craft a mechanism and a barrier.

“You don’t have to stay here,” Jeod stated. “You can follow the group. But if you want to help, start bringing over rubble as fast as possible.”

Ivanna nodded then quickly got to work. She grabbed a handful of rubble scattered across the floor then brought it to the unfinished barrier. One could notice that Jeod and Her didn’t share the same mind, but Ivanna knew what had to be done. She started building the barricade in such a way that the guards will be fooled to think they went up the steps instead of down. The main library door was banging violently as the royal army tried to break through. This prompted Ivanna to move faster in her barricade building. She waited till Jeod finished the rest of the barrier before looking to see if the main door was still holding. The cracks on the door started to widen and the sounds of wood breaking indicated that it was time for them to go. “We gotta move,” Ivanna said in a hurry as she gestured for Jeod to go in front of her. The main door flew open just as Ivanna went down the stairs with Jeod.

A few minutes later, Ivanna did quick glances behind her to see if they were being followed. In front of her, she saw from over Jeod’s shoulder that Azalea was barely keeping stance. Ivanna scoffed and gently pushed past Jeod then grabbed the Hot Head before she soon collapsed. “Don’t be stubborn,” Ivanna said sternly as she casually put Azalea down on the ground to examine her wound.

A gasp was heard behind her “Ray! Ray what are you doing?! That’s your brother, STOP!” Alex shouted. A good look through the dark and one could see a younger brother choking their older counterpart.

“God Damn it!” Ivanna muttered in frustration. “Jeod, take care of her” referring to Azalea.

“Hey!” Ivanna exclaimed as she rushed to the conflict. She tried grabbing Raymond’s hands to peel off Baxter’s neck; however, his strong grip only strengthened more. The persistent tugging around his arm soon annoyed him though, garnering Ivanna a glare as his eyes darkly shifted over to her.

Ivanna noticed that Raymond wasn’t letting go. She had to quickly think of a solution or else Baxter will get choked to death. “Ray don’t make me hurt you” She warned as her eyes narrowed.

Miniscule threat. Raymond released his brother’s neck then swiftly grabbed Ivanna’s waist with his free hand, digging his grip deeper and deeper into her . . as if he knew. The guy forced surges of pain through his hold with the pure blind intention of moving her into the wall. Step by step his body soon invaded her personal space, walking into her if he had to.

Ivanna grunted in pain as she tried to fight back. She used one of her hands to grab Raymond’s death grip hand to push off, and used the other hand to push at Ray’s shoulder. The hold was too strong for her to move. The pain grew more and more as Raymond dug deeper into an old wound. If one could see, her skin was slowly tearing itself open from the inside. It felt like a hot knife slowly creeping into one’s body. Raymond lifted his other hand up, revealing the same dagger he’d been holding the entire time. “Tch..th..the...THEO!” Ivanna cried out loudly.

Any day now, subject. Pierce her! Right in the heart. The teasing voice hummed in the back of his mind, but Ray was steady. Inch after inch his dagger dropped closer to her torso until-

“Gah!” He grimaced at the pain after a flying tool striked his hand. The weapon flew across the room, skidding against the cold floor upon contact.

That f- fool- you will come ba- back to me-!

Thud. Ray’s body immediately fell to the ground, almost looking lifeless. Exhaustion tearing him apart from the inside as his internal battle prolonged against the darkness. “Don’t touch that dagger!” Baxter yelled after throwing some sort of shard at his brother’s now wounded hand.

Ivanna held the spot where Raymond gripped in shock. She slowly leaned off the wall as she looked down on an unconscious Ray.

Theo….

She knelt down then checked to see if he was still breathing by feeling his pulse. A look of sorrow plastered on her face as she thought back to the past.

Across the room, Baxter kicked the dagger into an empty box before anyone else could get their hands on it. All he wanted was to save Ivanna from the end of his brother’s dagger. Did he know if it had any connection with Ray’s possession? No, but for now the dagger’s distance seemed to temporarily end whatever supernatural curse washed over him.

Ms. Sparrow Xanto Inheritance explosiveKitten