Watch Me (V Please)

[Aello]

Aello simply blinked a few times. She was doing her level best to keep herself from reacting like the Konti. One sniveling idiot was more than enough. Especially when she was the one who was expected to kill everyone. When she was the one who was expected to save them all. She could not let herself cry, but she could let herself get angry. After all, anger fed the fire that allowed those to fight skillfully. Or so the young spiritist thought. "Of course," Aello replied simply. "Why wouldn't I help everyone to get out of here? The men are mad, and deserve to have a bloodied blade run through each of their chests, over and over again." There was a slight pause, "and while one is at it, they may as well gauge their pretty little eyes out... the one thing that seems to give them power over us, over so many that came before." Her voice now seemed quieter, very far away. Her gaze was the same; distant, as though she were deep in thought. Aello remained like this for a few moments, before looking up at Nima once more. Her gaze rested on the Konti's violent colored eyes, as she spoke, "and you will help us in any way you know how." Hopefully she doesn't try anything too stupid, Aello thought. "And in return, you shall have our protection, and any other aid we can offer. Within reason, of course." The Konti seemed to smile weakly back at Aello, as the girl sat quietly, waiting for one of her two companions to say something. Cassandra, do you think it odd that she let herself come here? Aello asked the ghost. Nima claims to have been a slave all her life, that whatever she left behind was worse than anything she could have been brought to. There was a slight pause, she claims to have known what would happen here, even before she was brought to this place. Surely, as a daughter of a goddess, she would have tried to stop this somehow? Made it so that Gabriel would not purchase her? Aello's eyes narrowed a tiny bit as she simply stared. Are you absolutely certain that we may trust her Cassandra? That she is one of us, and not one of them? There is a slight pause, that she isn't utilizing the magic your host so often wields in order to disguise herself, and convince us to trust her? Aello vaguely remembered having heard somewhere that those rather skilled in the field of auristics could alter their own aura, so that they may not be read properly by other magic users. Of course there is no way to be certain. Well, unless she does something to prove where her loyalty lies. There was another slight pause, even my own magic could not show the truth if she was suppressing her true nature by altering her aura. "Do we have a deal?" Aello asked, while extending her right hand to the woman, and then thinking better of it, she pulled her hand back. She wasn't sure she wanted to let the woman into her world of secrets. The mark can see, can't it?

[Verilian]

The konti's eyes widened in delight as Aello spoke of killing the hypnotists, nodding her head gleefully. Aello's desires were, after all, now her own. "Yes, yes! Take out their eyes! And cut out their tongues so they never say another poisoned word again! Cut them all to pieces!" The last part she nearly screamed, but she fell silent just as Aello did, awaiting her next words. "Yes, yes, I will help you! I will help you kill them all. All the hypnotists, every last one. They all will die!" Nima fell silent again when Aello did, waiting to see what Aello would decide to do. She didn't seem to know Aello had her doubts about the konti, or if she did she wasn't showing it. Cassandra seemed unsure, but also unconcerned. Her reply was simple. If she betrays you, kill her too. For a moment it seemed that was all the ghost had to say on the matter, but after Aello continued to voice her misgivings the ghost finally spoke up again. Her mark makes it so that she must serve whoever she is in contact with the most. She can resist it, yes, but it would be difficult. It is possible Gabriel commanded her to come spy on you, but doing so would be risky considering she could just as easily become bound to you. ..although, if that is the case, then it means he already suspects you.. And that would be bad for us. Cassandra paused, thinking things over, then continued. I don't know why she would allow herself to be taken.. Perhaps she knew you would be here to save her? Or maybe she is just crazy. If Nima noticed Aello's reluctance to shake her hand she didn't show it. It didn't matter anyway as Nima squealed like a little girl and shouted out "Deal!" before embracing Aello in a full bodied hug. Aello didn't even have time to react, be the experience pleasant or not, for at that same moment she saw the door opening and heard Gabriel's voice. "Aello, I couldn't find the fruit but you should come out here, there's somebody I want you to.." Gabriel's voice trailed off as he spotted the two women. "..meet. ..Nima, what are you doing in here?" Aello felt Nima's body tense and could feel the girl reach for something on the bed. "Don't worry, Aello, I'll fulfill your every desire." Nima stepped back, winking playfully at the spiritist, then turned around. She walked toward Gabriel, one hand behind her back concealing the fork she had grabbed from Aello's plate. "I just wanted to meet the new girl, Gabriel. She's so nice and pretty! I hope she gets to come with us!" Gabriel seemed to relax at those words and shifted his gaze back to Aello. "Come on out, both of you, I want you both to meet my friend." Gabriel motioned for them to come and turned around, his hand reaching for the knob to the door. And so it was that he was caught completely off guard when Nima shrieked gleefully and stabbed the fork into his shoulder. OOCFeel free to kill Gabriel.. Or the Konti, or both, or whatever you want. Reinforcements will arrive in my next post.

[Aello]

The second option seems highly more likely, Aello responded to Cassandra, before giving the Konti a nervous glance. Does the dumb blonde ever shut the heck up? Or learn that there is such a thing as personal space? Aello inquired, as her face wrinkled into a dissatisfied mess. If only she could keep her hands to herself, Aello thought as Gabriel walked back in. "Friend?" was all she managed to ask before Nima thrust the silver fork into Gabriel's flesh. Startled, Aello's eyes grew wide, and her heart skipped a beat, before proceeding to pound within her tiny rib cage. She could just make out the sound of it drumming, feel it pressing against her chest, threatening to break free. What the fuck? Aello's palms began to sweat as she leapt off the bed and headed towards the door, where Nima and Gabriel were still standing. As she ran over to them, she pulled the cursed dagger from concealment. She held the hilt tightly in her right hand, the blade was pointed towards her. The blood that lingered on the silver seemed to glow, to reflect off the crystals that hung from the ceiling. When she reached them, Aello extended her left hand towards Gabriel. She tugged on the back of her shirt, and pulled him closer to her. Now that he is closer in height, it should be easier to do this... Aello nudged the giggling idiot of a Konti out of the way, as she lifted the blade, and then plunged it into the side of Gabriel's neck. His eyes grew wide, and there was a strange gurgling sound as the blood she had spilled rose in his throat, before getting caught behind her blade. Bubbles, she thought, as blood began to spill out of the incision she had made, and the man's knees began to buckle. He was crumbling to the floor, more than likely trying to cry for help. Aello pulled her left hand off his clothes, and slid it around his head, so that her fingers may rest over his mouth, helping to block out any sound he may try to produce. As the man fell, Aello eased her body down with him, pushing the blade farther into his neck to speed up the process. When Gabriel's body finally touched the ground, and Aello was kneeling over him, his eyes closed. Blood spilled out of his wound, and onto the floor, Aello's blade, her hands. Staining them a bright red, like Nima's mark from Ranuri, slightly more alive. Now pull the dagger out of his neck, and get the damn Konti under control. Aello eased the blade out, pulling several drops of blood with it. That metallic scent, fresh blood for the blade, always so refreshing, Aello thought, as she got to her feet. Her eyes were blazing as she shut the door lightly with her left hand, she was staring at Nima. "What the heck was that?" she hissed. "You're going to get us killed making so much damn noise! Allowing them to make noise before their life leaves them!" As she talked, her grip tightened around the hilt of the blade. The blood Aello had just shed fell from the tip, and plopped on the floor. The blade hung so uselessly at her side now, perhaps she should change that soon. If the Konti messed up again. "You can not give them a chance to scream. You cannot give them a chance to draw attention to us. To call for help, anything!" Aello hissed at Nima. "So swear you will not do anything as stupid as that again! Swear you will keep your damn mouth shut from here on out! Swear you will make yourself useful!" Aello spat. "Leave the killing to us!" she growled, "that is what we are here for." She was referring to herself and Cassandra. "Now, if you plan on being useful, then you'd better drag that body under the bed, and get it the heck out of the way. Don't you think?" Aello's eyes were blazing, one false step and she may simply kill everyone in the place. Other than her, and Yune that is. And of course Cassandra and Gabriel, who were already dead. OOCSo yeah, Gabriel's dead... hope you don't mind how that happened.

[Verilian]

That's not good, Cassandra muttered as Nima plunged the fork into Gabriel's back. After that everything happened very quickly. Aello darted forward, finishing off the hypnotist before he even had time to register what was happening. With his death Aello felt any lingering feelings she had for the man, remains of his spell from when they met earlier, vanish the instant his life fled. Nima, who was crying uncontrollably because she had angered Aello, started trying to drag the body under the bed, and Cassandra was whispering advice in the back of Aello's mind. Even if they didn't hear Gabriel they will have heard the Konti. Try to play it off like nothing happened, like Gabriel hasn't come in here yet. Somebody knocked at the door, "What's going on in there?" It was a man's voice, one Aello didn't recognize. "Gabriel? I thought you were supposed to be coming right back out." We need to stall them. Tell them.. Tell him Gabriel is occupied at the moment. Make it sound like you are exerting yourself. Whatever Aello decided to tell the man it seemed to do the trick. "Alright, but don't keep him in there all day. We've got business to talk." With an amused, or possibly annoyed, laugh the man walked away. Aello could hear his footsteps fade and hear the man speaking with the girls outside. "That should buy us some time," Cassandra said, now hovering next to the bed. "We need to come up with a plan. You can't just keep covering for him, they'll want to hear his voice eventually." Cassandra glanced down at Nima who was in the process of trying to get Gabriels arms to stay under the bed, they kept flopping back out, and shook her head. "We need to see what we're up against. We can't trust her to go check. She might do something stupid or worse, she might turn on us if one of them touch her. I'll go, you two wait here until I'm back." Cassandra vanished, leaving Aello alone in the room with the dead man and the sniffling konti. When she had finally managed to get the body to stay under Nima climbed back to her feet and faced Aello. Her sobs stopped almost immediately and she wiped her face dry, taking a few steps toward the spiritist. Gone was the look of the crazy/frightened little girl, it was replaced with a serious and knowing expression. "You shouldn't trust her," the konti spoke, "She's not what you think she is. She won't hurt you today, she really does want to kill the hypnotists, but don't believe for a second she is your friend. She wouldn't hesitate to kill you if you got in her way." Cassandra reappeared and the tears welled in Nima's eyes almost immediately as the konti ran forward, falling to her knees at Aello's feet and grabbing the hem of her shirt. "Please, please forgive me Aello! I thought it was what you wanted, for him to be dead. I was just trying to make you happy. Please, you have to be just a little bit happy now that he's gone. I know you are. I promise I won't do anything unless you tell me though, from now on." Cassandra watched the display with mild interest, waiting for the konti to shut up. When she finally did Cassandra let out a sigh of relief before speaking. "Okay, we are in luck. There's only two of them out there right now. The drykas and a new person, probably an inspector working for the nuit coming to make sure his wares are up to standard. And then the girls.. I don't know if they'll be a problem or not. The other two must be in town on business.. Probably bringing back more girls." Cassandra looked like she might have more to say but was interrupted by another fist pounding on the door. "Gabriel," the booming voice belonged to Navikal the drykas, "What are you doing in there. You know you can't keep our client waiting. Get out here now!" OOCYou may do whatever you like. If you need info on a particular course of action just let me know. Also I put the telepathic or whatever stuff in color because it was confusing when I looked at in in italics.

[Aello]

"Shut up Nima," Aello hissed through grit teeth. "You cannot alert the hypnotists to what has just happened." There was a slight pause, "now do your best to obey!" Or there will be consequences. What do you say we cut off her tongue should she prove unable in keeping her mouth shut? Aello mused, as she waited by the door, expecting someone to burst in at any minute. Aello did not have to wait long, for there was a knock on the door a few minutes later. My that voice sounds familiar, do you think it's the Drykas? Aello asked as she gave a little moan. "But we're both enjoying this so much," she said somewhat breathlessly. "Why don't you join in? We could always use an extra hand or two," Aello said with a small giggle. A second later, Navikal had come in the door, his eyes seemed to grow wide when he realized that Gabriel was no where to be found. Aello smiled evilly as she swiftly kicked the door shut, and then extended her left hand towards Navikal. She allowed her fingers to wind themselves around his sleeve, before she clamped onto the fabric as tightly as she could, at which point, she pulled him a little closer to her. As she did so, Aello lifted the cursed blade over her head, and then began to bring it back down towards the Drykas. She hoped that stabbing him in the center of his arm, just above the elbow, would be enough to slow him down, and keep him from being too much of a threat. After she had landed, or even missed that particular attack, the girl would begin to twist into Navikal's chest. When her side matched up with his stomach, she'd raise her blade, and attempt to rake it across his chest. She'd begin by bringing her blade up against his left shoulder, and then slicing it diagonally across his body, towards the right side. Then she would bring it back in the opposite direction, to finish things off. OOCSorry for the short post. Combat posts tend to be short with me. Also... if this is confusing feel free to ask for clarification. The best I can describe the look though is the beginning of the judo move iponsionagi (sp.), the set-up portion. And then the blade kind of got in the way. And sorry it's not so epic... I am running out of cool moves after all the recent dagger threads.

[Verilian]

The drykas cried out when Aello stabbed him in the arm, caught completely off guard by the attack, but that was the last time he would be caught that way. As Aello twisted into him, Navikal twisted in the opposite direction avoiding her attack. The twisting essentially caused them to trade places, Aello's back now facing the door. The drykas was unarmed, but of all the hypnotists Aello had seen so far he was the most physically fit. Raising his hands in front of him the drykas stepped forward with his right foot, his right hand shooting out toward Aello's left shoulder. His left hand was open and raised defensibly in anticipation of the dagger that could come in at him from that direction. Navikal pulled on Aello's shoulder as he brought his left knee up and connected with Aello's stomach, possibly knocking the wind out of her. The attack was immediately followed by another move. His left leg fell back to it's original position as Navikal's left hand came up and grabbed Aello's right arm just above the elbow. Stepping across with his right leg and bending for leverage he pulled on Aello's arm lifting her feet off the ground. As he flipped her up and over his shoulder he stood to his full six feet of height so that the crash into the ground would be all the harder. (Basically this) After Aello was on the ground Navikal shouted out for help and prepared to attack the spiritist again when she stood back up. At the same time Nima cried out and rushed the drykas, leaping on his back and scratching at his eyes. "Get off you crazy bitch," the drykas roared as he flipped Nima onto the ground next to where Aello had landed. If the spiritist was on her feet he prepared himself for her next attack, raising his hands defensibly in front of him. Meanwhile Nima had flipped over and crawled toward the drykas, grabbing his leg with her arms and biting down on his ankle. "Aaaah," the drykas roared as he tried to shake Nima loose, leaving him open to an attack from Aello. If she did attack he would just barely block a lethal blow but still end up injured. If Aello didn't attack he would kick Nima loose and proceed to kick her again before she could get up. At the sound of Navikal's call the unknown man came running and threw open the door. His eyes widened as he saw what was happening and started to draw his sword but never got the chance. Just as he laid his hand on the hilt of his weapon he was thrown back by an invisible force, flying several feet through the air before hitting the ground and sliding into the far wall. Cassandra, who had not shown herself in the fight up to that point, appeared in front of the who's jaw dropped when he saw her. "Not you," he whispered under his breath before Cassandra vanished. She was not gone, however, and the man started to draw his sword. It looked like he was struggling to draw it, as if some force were holding it back.. Or perhaps forcing him to pull it out. "I... won't... let... you..." The man growled in defiance as with each word his sword was pulled out a little bit further. Sweat appeared on his brows and fear was apparent in his eyes. The man let out an enraged roar and shoved the sword back into his sheath, bit was then suddenly hurled back across the room slamming into the wall next to the door to Aello's room. His body crumpled to the ground and the battle of will started all over again as he started trying to pull the blade from it's sheath, or prevent it from being pulled. All this happened simultaneously to the fight happening between Aello, Nima, and Navikal, and at the time the man was hurled back across the room Nima was biting Navikal's leg. So the scene was left with one man crumpled against a wall struggling with his sword, one konti trying to hang onto a leg with her teeth, one enraged drykas, and one spiritist climbing to her feet with a lot of options before her. OOCIt's okay, I understand. Combat posts are tough. If you need any clarifications or have questions, send me a PM.

[Aello]

Before she knew what was happening, Aello found herself on the floor, looking up at the Drykas. Now how did we get down here? Aello wondered, as her fingers loosened up a bit around the hilt of the blade. Her fingers began to unfurl, allowing the palm of her hand to become exposed as the dagger rested in its center. She was barely holding on as a sharp, shooting pain shot up her spine, and extended towards each of her extremities. Down each arm, each hand, each finger until they reached the tip, before it shot back down to her toes again. It felt like the god of storms had released thunder and lightning into her system, leaving her to clench her eyes tightly shut, and grit her teeth in pain, as she rolled back and forth uselessly on the floor, never gaining any ground. Aello was silently wishing it'd go away, wondering why she had ever allowed Cassandra drag her into this mess. She had her regrets, just like any other being... Just block out the pain, Aello told herself as she lay on the floor. Her eyes were still closed. Just open your eyes, and forget that you are hurt. Just long enough for you to defeat them before they end your life, and send you on your way to Dira's realm. Aello seemed to nod, sending a dull, throbbing pain through her neck, as she curled her fingers around the hilt of her dagger once more. Her grip was tightening around it as she finally opened her eyes and noticed that Nima was biting the Drykas. So many screams... The Drykas is distracted, you should end his life now, Aello told herself, as she pushed through the pain that was coursing through her body, and forced herself to sit up as swiftly as she could. As she did so, she raised her right hand, and thrust the blade towards Navikal. It was headed straight towards where his small intestines would end on the right side of his body. If he failed to block her attack, they would both be looking at a lot of blood, and possibly, some of the man's innards, should she cut deeply enough. Just a bit closer, and there will be even more red rain... OOCPM if you need me to edit anything.

[Verilian]

As Aello tried to finish off the drykas the struggle continued between Cassandra and the mystery man outside the room. The man roared and shoved his sword back down into it's sheath, leaping triumphantly to his feet. "ENOUGH!" Cassandra's voice reverberated throughout the building and the man was lifted off his feet and pinned to the wall. Cassandra appeared in front of him, staring as he struggled to break free of the four translucent tendrils of soul mist that held his wrists and ankles to the wall. The man cried out as his wrists and ankles began to break under the force of the ghost’s power. Cassandra eyed the man a moment longer, seeming to take pleasure in his pain, and then a fifth tendril appeared and slowly pulled the sword from it's sheath. The sword hovered in front of the man's eyes for just a moment before it tipped and was plunged into his heart. The man gave one gasp for breath before slumping and letting go of his life. Cassandra vanished once more and the man unceremoniously dropped to the ground. Aello's attack had done well, digging deep and spilling blood all over her blade and arm. The man stumbled back and away from Aello, dragging the still biting Nima with him. Clutching his wound to contain what would surely pour out if he lofted his hand the drydas continued to stumble back until he fell, landing halfway through the door. "Girls," he shouted followed by a sputtering bloody cough, "Help me... the bad people have come to kill us all!" Most of the girls had fled to their rooms when the fighting started but upon hearing Navikal's cry for help several heads popped out of their rooms and turned their eyes toward Navikal who was lying in the doorway. "Navikal!" The first woman to respond was the harpist who ran across the room falling to her knees at the drykas side. "Oh no, Navikal, you're wounded. Let me help you!" So enthralled was the woman by the drykas she paid no heed at all to Aello as she tore a strip of cloth from Navikal's shirt and tried to wrap it around him to cover the wound. The next girl to respond was one that Aello had not seen yet. With a high pitched scream she charged across the room leaping over Navikal and trying to tackle Aello (or jump on her if she is still on the ground), scratching and biting in uncontrolled frenzy. Two more women exited their rooms and approached, though with a bit more caution. Perhaps Navikal's spell was not as strong on them, or perhaps they just had some sense. One of them was holding a small eating knife while the other appeared to be unarmed. OOC : That's four girls. The one attacking you has no combat skills whatsoever.. maybe like brawling 2 or something. Do what you will with her. The girl trying to patch up the drykas isn't much better in a fight. The girl with the knife has Dagger 27, and the other one will avoid combat for now unless attacked directly in which case she has brawling 15. Special note: Aello may fight back and injure the girls but the moment she moves to kill (if she does at all) Cassandra will try to stop her so if you go for the kill leave it as a cliffhanger. You may, however, finish off the drykas if you want but the girls will try to stop you.

[Aello]

"We... bad people!" Aello shouted as one of the girls jumped on her. The girl seemed to be in some sort of fury, swiping at Aello with tensed hands, that had been curled somewhat towards the palms. Her nails were long, relatively sharp for a human's, obviously a set that had not been clipped for a long time. "What is wrong with you people?" Aello shouted, as the girl swiped at her face again, and she was forced to brace her arms, and push upwards against the girl's stomach, the flat portion of her blade resting against the girl's chest as she did so. "Would you cut it out?" Aello hissed, as the girl's claws narrowly missed her nose. "We're trying to help you! To keep you from being killed by the hypnotists and their... leader!" she scowled as she grit her teeth. Her arms were trembling, and her heart was pounding in her tiny rib cage. The girl, although not too heavy, was beginning to seem so to Aello. The young spiritist was growing tired, strangely sick of fighting, and more than ready to get everything over with. Oh how did Cassandra manage to get us into this mess? Aello wondered as several more beads of sweat appeared on her brow, and her muscles began to ache. Because she really isn't the most charming of creatures, and having more blood on our hands... all to tie up loose ends for her... "Would you quit fighting?" Aello hissed, "please, stop listening to him," she went on, as the girl pushed the dagger a little closer to Aello's own chest, by forcing her weight upon Aello's arm. As she did so, the girl waved her arms furiously, like a tiger, and sank her teeth into the center of Aello's left arm. "You're just making this harder on everyone," Aello growled, as she pushed past the pain; the knowledge that the woman's teeth would leave an impression in her pale flesh. Enough! Aello's brain screamed, throw this petching idiot off of you and finish off the Drykas! That should destroy his hold over them, and allow you to escape with your life. Aello gave a slight nod as her arms continued to tremble, and she bit down lightly on her bottom lip. She began to rock back and forth, until she had built up enough momentum to turn all the way over, and switch positions with the girl. As her opponent rolled onto her back, she seemed to let up on Aello's arm a little, as though she were surprised by the change of events. "That's more than enough biting," Aello hissed, as she raised her right hand, and raked the blade across the upper portion of the girl's right arm. The woman's clothes instantly split, as did her flesh. A thin trickle of blood spilled out, covering the tip of Aello's already bloody blade, but not her flesh. Her flesh was too drenched in blood to be seen, no longer white and pure... After the incision had been made, Aello's opponent let out a small scream. That should keep her busy for a while, Aello thought, as she sprang to her feet. Her chest felt so heavy now, like it was closing in on her heart and her lungs. Her throat felt dry, and it was getting harder and harder to breath. Her fingers sank into the blade of the hilt, as blood trickled down their sides, she wasn't so sure she could do this, she was simply growing so tired. But she had to, she had to finish what she had begun. As her past opponent rolled around on the floor clutching her arm, Aello sprang towards Navikal. She ignored the woman who had once played the harp, the one tending to his wounds. "Come on Navikal, lets finish this," Aello growled, as she raised her right arm, and tightened her grip on her dagger. The tip of the blade rested against her flesh, close to the elbow, dripping with crimson red blood. So very warm... still clinging to life... it all fell to the floor. "Fight, and quit hiding behind those with the feeblest of minds! The ones that you can actually manage to control!" Aello finished, as her arm began to race outwards, to the right of her body. As it did so, she inched even closer to Navikal, before slicing her blade through the air in a wide arc. It was headed back towards her body now, all the way to her left shoulder. With the harp player working on his wounds, Navikal seemed to find it difficult to move out of the way. He tried to lean back, and dodge the bloodied blade that was heading towards him, but found that he could not move fast enough or far enough back. Aello's blade raked across his chest, slicing through his clothes, and creating a long gash across his chest, from which trickled fresh blood. "Navikal!" the harp player screamed as each of the hypnotized women tensed. The one with the eating knife seemed to inch closer to the door, as Aello began to bring her arm back in the opposite direction. "Fight!" Aello screamed as the tip of her blade missed Navkikal's flesh by a fraction of an inch. What the? Aello took a moment to look down at her feet, the harp player had jumped towards her left leg, and wrapped her arms tightly around it, so that Aello could not move. A second later, the crazy girl who had been rolling around on the floor with her before, had gotten the same idea, and wound her arms around Aello's right leg. Petch! Aello thought, as she tried to shake them off her legs, but found that she could barely lift her appendages of the ground. Great, just petching great, Aello's mind went on, this is definitely what we needed right now, Aello thought, as she looked up just in time to notice Navikal's fist coming right towards her. Aello's eyes grew wide, as she rapidly ducked out of the way. That was too petching close, Aello thought, as Navikal's arm passed over her head. She could feel a small gust of air shoot past her from the movement, and the two girls growling and biting at her legs as they pinned her in place. Her feet were dragging down towards the earth... where she would wind up being buried on her way to Dira, should the hypnotists prove kind enough to give her a proper burial, which she highly doubt. "Get off!" Aello growled, as she lifted her blade once more. If only Aello could finish Navikal off, she could end this madness. "Don't let him go Nima!" Aello hissed, knowing that the Konti was struggling to hold on. "Try not to let him move!" she added, as she pushed the blade upwards and outwards, towards the center of Navikal's chest. Seconds later, it had lodged in his flesh, spurting a small waterfall of blood onto Nima, Aello, and each of the other girls that held her down. Aello's eyes grew as wide as Navikal's as she continued to push the blade a little deeper, "you did not think you would lose, did you?" Aello asked, her voice cold, as Navikal raised his arm to strike her. A second later, it was hurtling towards Aello's face. Unable to dodge in time with the two women still clutching her legs, Navikal's hand met with Aello's right cheek. The flesh flattened around his hand on impact, and then took on the shape of it; in bright red. The mark stung, even as Navikal was pulling his arm away to strike her again. But it was trembling... seemingly so very afraid, as though it knew the end was near. "No..." the Drykas gasped, as blood poured from his lips, and down the edge of his chin. "No..." he said, his voice trailing off as his eyes closed, and all of the women's eyes fell on him, as his body fell to the hardwood floor. Blood seemingly dripping from every section of his body, causing his clothes to cling to his flesh. As he fell, Aello let go, the blade was no longer hers to hold. Its sheath was the man's flesh, at least, for now... Several beads of sweat trickled down the side of Aello's face, as Nima pulled her body out from under Navikal. Aello's heart was beating even faster than before, and her skin had lost all of its color. Her throat felt so very dry, her muscles so very sore, and her eyes unnaturally heavy, as though she had not slept in a long, long time. Everything seemed silent for a moment; silent and still. Until finally, Aello broke that silence. "Cassandra!" she screamed, her voice echoing throughout the room, seemingly bouncing off the walls, and the crystals that hung from the ceiling. It was such a pained scream. The voice of a victor who had also been defeated... OOCOkies... sorry that was super long, but I wanted it to be epic-ish. PM if I need to edit, or you need clarification or anything.

[Verilian]

All four of the girls stopped as Aello took the life of Navikal. The sound of an eating knife clattering to the floor rung out, and the two women trying to hold on to Aello let go, shakily climbing to their feet. Everyone seemed as stunned as Aello as they all stood in silence, everyone except for Nima who ran across the room, fetching a pitcher of water for Aello to drink. She must have sensed the spiritist's thirst through her mark, but when Aello screamed aloud the sound was followed by that of breaking glass as the startled konti dropped the pitcher. There was no answer from the ghost.. only silence. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something to happen, anything to happen. But Cassandra did not appear. Aello could not sense her, could not feel any of the signs that a ghost was nearby. In the end it was Nima who spoke, her voice sounding slightly distant and her eyes were glazed over once more. "It's over, Aello." The mark on Nima's breast was glowing faintly as she continued to speak, "You have saved all of us, Aello. It's over now... you may rest now. But not here.. go Aello. It would be bad of you to stay.. I see.. we are burning this place to the ground. But you are not with us. You're part in this is done..." Nima's voice faded as the color came back to her eyes, the glowing mark fading at the same time. The mark had changed as well. Before it had been a single lily, but a second lily had sprouted from the stem blooming beside the first one. Nima shook her head trying to regain her senses. Finally when she appeared to have recovered her eyes locked with Aello's. "Aello, it's time for you to go. You've done so much already, let us finish this." Whether Aello chose to stay or not it didn't really matter, all the girls including Nima agreed the place needed to be burned to the ground.. or water, as it were. There was enough oil from the various lanterns that they were able to drench most of of the walls in the flammable substance, and once everyone was clear of the building it was set ablaze. There was little fear of the fire spreading, it was one of the only buildings in the areas, and everything else was protected by the watery canals which the flames could not crawl across. All the girls went their separate ways including Nima who explained to Aello that even though she would have loved to stay and serve Aello, she was being called by a higher power and had to move on. Aello was left alone once more, still with questions unanswered, and another set of fresh wounds to deal with. Well... Not truly alone. Yune was with her, as was the familiar feel of the dagger returned to her thigh. Eventually Aello would discover another addition to her possessions. Tucked away in her pack was a small ornate vial of soulmist, the likes of which she had never seen before. Aello could sense it's potency without even touching it and she knew, it had to have come from Cassandra. OOCSo I was gonna draw this out with a conversation with Cassandra and all that... but I liked your epic conclusion and didn't want to spoil it with unnecessary chatter. Plus, having Cassandra not appear seemed more dramatic. Aello +1 Stealth +4 Rhetoric +3 Intimidation +5 Spiritism +1 Observation +5 Acting +3 Seduction +1 Persuasion +5 Dagger +2 Brawling You Question My Logic? : Okay, so stealth was for the very beginning when you were trying to move through the crowd unseen. Rhetoric, Intimidation, Observation, Acting, Seduction, and Persuasion were mostly for your various conversations with Gabriel, and a couple things with Cassandra and Nima. Spiritism is obvious, as is the dagger and brawling I think. Lores: Followed by the Ghost of Paranoia, Trusting the Blue-Eyed Stranger, Running from the Ghost of Paranoia, Witnessing two Ghosts Fight, Nothing is Ever as it Seems, Auristics: Masking a Ghosts Aura with ones Own, Home of the Blue-Eyed Men, So Many Hypnotists!, Living in Luxury, Another Hypnotist tries to get into Aello's Pants and Fails, Why Cassandra Hates the Hypnotists, Origin of the Blue-Eyed Hypnotists (Basic), Best Night's Sleep Ever, Breakfast in Bed, The Blue-Eyed Men, How to Recognize that you are being Hypnotized (basic), Crazy Konti Nima, Feeling Attracted to a Female, Lore of Ranuri (Basic), Lore of Divination (Basic), How Cassandra Died, Don't Trust Cassandra, The Konti's Dumb Personality is an Act?, Pretending to get Laid, Hypnotist Slayer Loot: You have time to loot up to 50 gold mizas off the corpses and another 100gm worth of sell-able random crap from the building (your choice of what the items are) before the girls get impatient and burn the place down. In addition you may take 3 books of whatever you want them to be (worth 10g each) (the sell-able random crap could technically also be in the form of books if you wanted). You have the option of not looting the place, but this is the max that I'm going to let you take unless you wish to continue looting during the fire. In your pack is a vial of Cassandra's Soulmist. It is enough for just one use, and is extremely potent. It's the equivalent of something a master spiritist might produce. If used on an item or body part it is permanent, allowing the item or body part to interact with ghosts. (This is something Aello could eventually do at master level. It doesn't have to be used on yourself. Possibly on one of your kelvic friend's teeth?) Or, if used on a ghost it will not only fully heal them but imbue them permanently with some of Cassandra's skills: +1 Materialization, +1 Soulmist Projection, and +1 Possession. (You can give this to a PC ghost if you wish but don't give it to Liam as that would be cheating on my part.) Finally,k once you have the skill, you could also use it to summon Cassandra to you from anywhere in Mizahar. (Maybe if you are in a bind and need a powerful ghost to come save you.) Remember, you will only ever get one use out of it, so take your time and choose wisely. Just like a master spiritists soulmist, it will never expire, so there is no need to rush. Just make sure when you use it to PM me, especially if I won't be the one grading/modding the thread, so I can confer with whatever ST would be in charge and let them know whats going on. Also, if you try to summon Cassandra, you will need a mod regardless. Notes: I enjoyed this thread immensely and I hope you did too. The story is not over, but Aello can relax for now. She will not be bothered for some time.