Whispers in the Dark (Aello)

[Nathan Longstride]

Leon listened to everything Aello had to say. If her captor had come by, but didn't open the door, it would've sounded like Aello was slowly going insane, naming who was out to get her. But Leon knew his sister was already insane. He knew of the dagger she carried, but not that it had appeared to her since being captured. He knew everything about her. But did he share the same feelings as her? He was proud though to hear that Aello wished to serve Dira with the destruction of the Nuit. Gods and goddesses throughly enjoyed it when mortals vowed to follow them, especially with such a gift to give her. But Dira would never learn about this devoted follower unless she was free. And Leon probably would never stop hearing it if he failed saving his friends. When Aello finally was calm, Leon spoke to her again. You are held captive by a powerful ghost who goes by the name Vulpin. Before Vulpin took control, he was a captive along with other ghosts to a high ranking member of the Black Sun, who was fond of collecting ghosts, and turning them to dust. Well, the acolyte got bored, and let Vulpin free for fun, and perished. So Vulpin lived here, leaving the other ghosts in dust form. But I turned them against Vulpin, telling them about how you could save them. Leon paused to see Aello's reaction. She had never had a brother alive to be angry with, but this might be her reaction. Maybe fright or disappointment even. But Leon wanted to know how she felt, whatever it was. It might be the difference between a success or failure. The ghosts began to torment him, asking for the one named Aello, until he finally sought you out. Not the way I hoped he would, but a success in that phase none the less. Now he wants you to sate the voices however you can. And if you can't stop them, he'll just kill you. Leon paused, letting that sink in. If Aello didn't think this would end in death, she did now. But she also learned that there was hope of living. All she had to do was complete what the voices wished them to do. But what was it. They want you to destroy Vulpin.

[Aello]

"I have only heard of ghosts being turned to dust, by the most powerful of my kind," Aello whispered. "I have never done it before. Nor would I know if I had either the strength or the skill to do so." Aello paused for a moment, running her drying, white-tinted tongue over her cracked, bloody lips. Flinching as her saliva sank into slits in her skin, causing it to sting. "Dira does not believe in that practice. Knowing that it keeps your kind from returning to the cycle... she considers it an abomination. Thus, dusting a ghost is not something I would take part in. Perhaps, if the ghost was harmful, a way could be found to drive him or her back into the cycle... but not like that." Aello paused again, took another minute to lick her lips, before drawing her tongue back inside her mouth. "Do you know how do undo it? The dusting?" she asked. "Do any of the others?" Aello fell silent for several moments after that, providing her brother with a time to reply before she continued on. "Is that truly a surprise brother?" Aello asked. "When your sister has been bound, and restricted to but a chair? When she has been doused in water, chilled to the bone? And sprayed with her own blood?" Aello paused again. "Why wouldn't each side want the other dead, brother?" the young spiritist finally inquired. "Isn't that the name of our little war? Of this city..." her voice trailed off for several moments. "Little can be done from this prison, brother. Either you and your companions free me... or we all suffer. Surely you can't die again. Not truly..."

[Nathan Longstride]

Aello never had parents around as she grew up to be proud of her. So Leon made up for it, even if she didn't know it. He truly was proud that his sister could do what she could. It made it easier to keep in touch after this was over. If the ending what how Leon wanted it to be anyway. First they needed to solve the current problem. How would she get untied? Ignoring the problem at hand, Leon instead answered her question. He was glad she knew what dusting was, and happier she felt it wasn't good. She truly was devoted to Dira. That was what Leon took pride in the most. To reverse dusting, you must mix their ashes with fresh soulimist. Aello could only feel dumbfounded on how easy something so sinister to someone like her could be reverse with such a simple method. But where was Aello going to make soulimist? How was she even going to get the chance? Leon ignored Aello's response to Vulpin threatening to kill her. It was saddening to him to see his sister face the possibility of death so easily. Sure she cried and whimpered, but who wouldn't? But before everything that had happened, Leon was sure his sister would've been different. It was this cursed city, with Rhysol and his followers. Not to mention the hypontists, evil ghosts, and everyone else. Leon waited until Aello asked her final question before speaking again. I'm sad to say I'm you're only back-up at the moment. And I'm a weak ghost, so I cannot free you. Leon paused, letting this sink in. His tone could only make Aello picture his brother opening his arms, pointing at nothing with the "what companions" look on his face. But really he stay silent for a moment so Aello realized that this wasn't going to be easy. He needed her ready for what he had to say next. You have to "help" Vulpin. When he returns, agree to help sate the voices, and he will let you go. Mess up, and you die before we even begin. Fail, and you'll be visiting Dira instead of serving her. The last sentence probably drew question with Aello. Did she really want to see Dira? Is death the right sacrifice to meet her goddess? Or did she wish to serve in the flesh?

[Aello]

"Well that's easy enough," Aello whispered. "I can make soulmist out of just about anything it seems... you just have to add your own blood... that stuff seems to be the secret ingredient. The one thing I always forgot to add, as a small child. When I was still learning..." her lips curled into a small smile at the memory, causing them to crack. For the dried blood that had gathered around some of the cuts to break, and make room for a fresh flow. "Anyway... you can't... you don't... you're just as misleading as ever Leon," Aello went on. "Promising that there are others, and then taking it all back... why should you be trusted over this Vulpin?" she asked, before pausing. "Heck, if you weren't my little brother, you may find that I had the heart to work for him all along..." Aello's voice trailed off for several moments, as she considered her brother's words. Once she was done, she spoke again. "Then help him I shall... you see brother, we all get our way, don't we? I get out of this bloody chair, Vulpin gets his help, you get yours... he just dies at the end of the day... again. Sort of." It was not her intention to die anytime soon, to see Dira just yet. So for a time, she would seemingly serve two masters, to the best of her ability. The girl's shoulders shrugged as she stared off into space, thinking about what she must do and waiting for the door to creak open. For Vulpin to come back. Aello wanted to get out of that chair; to get everything over with.

[Nathan Longstride]

Leon listened to everything Aello said. Being able to make soulimist out of blood was good since Aello had enough to go around at the moment. But it did hurt to hear her say he was misleading. But then again, what ghost wasn't? Leon did have much more to say, but if he stayed any longer, he risked being caught. Everything he had to say would take days, and they didn't have days. So Leon drifted off, but he left a message for as he disappeared. I love you, Aello. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As the next bell strikes. . . Aello had been sitting there for an hour, less than that since she had her brother for "company." But she had to wait for this Vulpin for many chimes. Who was he? How powerful was he? Would he kill her before she was given the chance to help solve the problems of the voices? When the door to her cell finally opened, she could only feel relief that this was beginning. Time to do or die. A man steps in, with black hair slicked back to reveal his forehead. While his eyes and lips were small, his nose was large like the beak of a hawk. He wore a nice suit that one might find at a ball, and he carried no weapon? Was this truly Vulpin, or a live helper of his? His body didn't look like other ghosts Aello might've seen. How was he so good a materialization. In reality Vulpin was an expert at this, having been around for a while. But it was because of the dark, gloomy cell that Aello was in that made him appear more human. Put him in the light and his body would shimmer. But bring him down here, and he looked more human than some humans themselves. Until you touched him at least. "Have you sate the voices yet, wench?" The hostility in the man's voice was evident. And there was something else mixed in. Maybe it was his constant glances around the room, or maybe the way he blinked forcefully, as if trying to blink something out of exsistence. This man had suffered greatly from these voices. Would he react like normal people would when Aello offered him help? Or would he just kill her to end it all?

[Aello]

Aello smiled weakly when Vulpin came in. "It seems that one of them has been driven away, in the time you took to go for a walk through the village, and back," the young spiritist replied simply. "Although, the others have not been so bold as to show themselves, it is uncertain as to whether or not, they too, followed the other ghost into exile, or remained behind, waiting to torture you as soon as you set me free... perhaps, when they knew they faced less of a threat." Aello paused for a moment, trying to wet her throat. Running her tongue over the roof of her mouth as she stared at the ghost, who seemed all too real for her liking. Tangible, that is... she was wise enough to know that ghosts did exist, after all. "Perhaps though, if you free me to this chair, I will have a chance to banish them properly before I make my exit," Aello went on. "With the use of my hands, I should be all the more powerful, all the more capable, of completing the noble task you have set before me." Aello paused again, as her brain whispered, I really hope he buys this shyke, because these bloody binds are really starting to make the joints sore... not to mention what they're doing to the skin... The girl tried to shift her body a bit, just to make herself a bit more comfortable, as she waited. "So what do you say? Would you like to free me, so that I may help you? Or... would you like those voices to continue tormenting you? For there is little I can do from here." Oh please Dira, let him free me of these binds...

[Nathan Longstride]

Vulpin listened to this woman speak to him, his curiosity at its highest. Had one of the voices really visited her? It was odd to the ghost, and this put him on guard. The voices never followed him as he moved about the home, but there were so many that it seemed that they were always there. But Vulpin knew for a fact that no voice dwelled in this cell, a reason he put this woman here. He wanted her frightened, not figuring out everything. Vulpin bit his lip, staring at Aello with his brown eyes. His face revealed that he was trying to make a decision. Was this woman telling the truth? It was hard to believe, but Vulpin needed her help. He needed the voices to be quieted. He couldn't do it himself, and this woman seemed to be his only hope. And if she failed? Well, her death solved one problem at least. Walking up to Aello, Vulpin ran his finger in the thin air around her neck, as if he was slitting it. He wore a devilish smile, enough to run a chill down her back. He was desperate but not weak. Stepping behind the chair Aello rested in, he bent over so he could whisper in her ear. His breath felt cold on her neck. The freezing chill of death. "Good job, but that was the only beginning. And I can still kill you after suceeding once. I can kill you whenever I want, and no one is here to stop me." If anything, this proved one thing to Aello. Vulpin didn't know of Leon. Reaching down to the knots, Vulpin pulled the loose string of rope and the knots fell to Aello's knees. And without a second look, the ghost stepped past the now free Aello, heading out the door. His only order to the spiritist was a slight whistle, like one would use to call their pet. And Aello could do nothing but obey. She had no where to run, no where to hide. She truly was a trapped rat. And Vulpin controlled whether the latch would be lifted for her or not.

[Aello]

Aello wiggled her arms, and shook her wrists, the joints in her feet, just to be sure that everything was relatively loose, before she stood up. Her bones creaked, and her muscles ached. But even so, she could still feel the cool touch of her dagger against her skin, working to reassure her, remind her that she still had one, small lifeline. At Vulpin's whistle, Aello strode over to the man. Her movements were short, clipped, a little shaky. But she paid this no mind, for she would regain her strength soon enough. "What is it you would have me do?" Aello asked. "To drive all the voices away? To be sure they never come back?" The girl paused a moment, waiting for Vulpin to supply her with some sort of answer, should he see it best to do so... should he even have one to supply her with. "Do you know how to draw them all out?" Aello went on after awhile. "For some of them seem to stick to the shadows.... seem to think it best to hide, and not show themselves. As though, in that way, they can keep themselves from being banished."

[Nathan Longstride]

Vulpin watched this Aello with no pity or mercy. He watched the woman who the voices asked for nonstop wobble over to him. He was disgusted that he should use such scum to cleanse this house of those voices. He disliked getting help at all, but without this woman, he'd never be free. He would have to hear them forever, taunting him. They were trapped, but so was he. No he wasn't. He could leave whenever he wanted. But where would he go? He liked it here. . . This was how Vulpin always was, confused and worn out from these voices. They drove him to insanity long ago, and he never could go back. Add to it the woman's questions, and a nerve was struck. Why couldn't she be the quiet, loyal pet that did as the master wanted, even when she wasn't given an order? Vulpin listened to annoying voices too much, and this one brought him over the edge. Vulpin didn't answer her immediately, instead walking up the stairs leading to the ground level, Aello following behind. But she continued speaking, wondering how the voices could be banished. Coming to the top of the stairs, Vulpin suddenly whipped around, slapping Aello across the face. She could feel the same coldness as she did in the chair, but she could tell Vulpin was hot. "I don't care how you do it! Just do it! Bargain with them or kill them. Your method doesn't bother me. Just do it!" Turning quickly, Vulpin opened the door and stepped into the next room while Aello stood there nursing a sore cheek. She would have to follow, since there was no where else to go. In the next room, Aello would find herself in the entrance of home, with two staircases climbing up to the next floor. A fireplace stood dormant on the other wall. On Aello's right is a vase with no flowers. And the oak doors to the outside was only paces away, guarded by Vulpin. Could she overpower him? Or should she play it safe? And then she heard the voices. Kill him. Kill Vulpin. Turn him to dust like we are. Make him suffer like we suffer. He deserves it. He needs it. Kill him! Aello could hear more than one voice calling at her, cramming themselves in her brain. Where were the ghosts, and why couldn't they torment Vulpin instead of her? But Aello would understand why Vulpin went insane. And why she needed to do what Leon said.

[Aello]

By the time she had entered the upper portion of the house, Aello had dropped her hand from her cheek. Why must men always be complete and total hotheads? Aello wondered, as she kept close to Vulpin, just in case he whispered some sort of instruction to her or something. So bent on asserting their authority that they come off as complete assholes, causing their so called underlings to rise up against their abuse of power? The girl shook her head lightly, as the voices began calling to her. They too, seemed convinced that they held sway over her. That they could control her in much the same way that Vulpin was controlling her. Or convinced that he was, anyway. Her options played over and over in her head then, as she simply stood, awaiting instruction. The many things she could do: defy Leon and somehow escape, kill Vulpin... which seemed rather confusing seeing as he was already dead, or at least, Leon had told her he was a ghost, meaning he could be nothing other than deceased. She could do as Vulpin asked, and rid the place of the voices. Or she could defy her goddess, and dust every remaining ghost in the place, and simply leave. After all, she didn't have to clean up after everyone's mess, now did she? But that in itself, didn't seem like an option to Aello either. She had to do something, had to act. Had to at the very least, undust the dusted ghosts, and bring them back, so that they may all fight amongst themselves, and work their own shyke out. Aello sighed. This wasn't turning out to be a very good day. Thinking that she had best make a decision about what to do, and soon, Aello thought deeply. Her mind whispering, in the hopes that the voices could penetrate her mind. Could hear. Are you the dusted ghosts? Aello asked. Can you speak to me in this way? Or are you in the same form as Vulpin over there? But simply unwilling to show yourselves? The girl paused for a moment, giving time for the ghosts to answer, before she posed her final question. And how do you kill a being that is already dead? Aello wondered, knowing that someone had somehow beat her to the act.