Lore: Upon The Heels of War

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:42 pm

"This isn't something people like us can do," Soran said, looking at Blade. He still couldn't quite believe it himself, but there was no doubt. He got that same feeling when he looked in the child's eyes. He glanced behind them to find that Sinead was gone.

The one guard remaining in the room said "The Queen has gone to look after her servants."

"Come again?" Soran said in atonishment. A queen looking after servants made absolutely no sense, but he was beginning to sense that little did with this one. He bit his tongue and quickly said "Never mind."

"You may take refuge here for the day if you choose. If not, you are free to leave as you please," the guard said, looking at Soran strangely.

"What of the prisoner we brought with us," the elf asked, against his better judgment. He should take his family and leave, just leave before their luck ran out. "The soldier."

"I'm told the Queen has extracted all possible information from him. He spent the night with our resident nightmare, a modified vampire named Vlad."

Soran's eyes widened a little. That bastard they'd met last night had been assigned to torture Sid? He opened his mouth to ask the next question, but found his voice strangely gone. "Thank you."

The guard bowed and left them alone in the room. Soran looked slightly dazed, not quite focusing on Rai's face as he looked down at her.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:23 pm

"I have special blood," Blade was telling Rai when he noticed his father gaze off with a troubled expression. "Father?" he questioned with concern. Mizuki was biting her lip. She knew why Soran was quiet, she felt like it was her fault. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Either way though... it had been inevitable. Coming into the city with an Arken solider would've raised suspicion had they not gone straight to the Queen.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:44 pm

Soran's gaze switched up at Blade's voice, and he greeted the boy with speculative eyes. Since when had he begun answering to "father"? "We brought an enemy here with us," he tried to explain to the boy's confused look. "Someone I have some history with..." He looked across the room, like he couldn't meet anyone's eyes. "I just...I suppose I hoped..." The rogue looked really shocked now, like something heavy was settling its full weight on him until he couldn't breathe. "...At least, for them not to torture him," he breathed.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:50 pm

Blade cocked his head to one side. "He used to be your friend?" he summarized without being told everything. "Well," his shifted his weight around thinking, "We could probably ask to see him. I don't believe they'd bar him completely. And..." he smiled, "I'm a Prince father, I can get us anywhere we need to be."

"Blade," warned Mizuki, "That can be dangerous..."

"But, it's important to dad. Besides, I need to learn what he knows too." His diplomatic nature came back. It was almost hard to argue; as a Prince of the Dark Angels that were now becoming involved in the war, he DID need to get all the information he could. Something began to squeak on Blade's shoulder, and he turned to it without a second thought.

"Ah... okay. Blobby says he's getting a message from home, it's from Siren."

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:56 pm

"Siren?" Soran said, that one word interrupting his swirling thoughts about everything else Blade had just said.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:00 pm

Blade nodded enthusiastically. "Probably to report on the army. I promoted her to Army General. Okay Blobby, show it!" Mizuki's memory jogged at seeing the small dark essence of dark magic expand and contract its body large enough to emit an image. Blurry at first, Siren's face came slowly into view and began to say,

"I hope you found them already, Blade. The counsel is gun ho about you sneaking off--"

"You snuck off!?" Mizuki angry voice interrupted making Siren's image perked up.

"Mizuki? I didn't see you! So he did find you all!" Siren was so happy, she was bouncing. "Where's Soran and Rai? Oh, next to you? HI! I would've come to but being Army General keeps you way busy..."

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:09 pm

Soran stared at the image of Siren like he was talking to a ghost. It occurred to him that he had never expected to see her again. "You seem well," he said awkwardly. Talking through a magic vortex was not his preferred mode of communication. He reached out tentatively and passed his finger into the image, half expecting to be able to touch her also. His expression fell slightly as it didn't work. "We may have to borrow Blade for a while," he said, collecting his scattered thoughts.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:16 pm

"Oooh, really? Cause I don't think--" Siren started before Blade cut her off.

"I will be staying with my family Siren. Now we will be obtaining information from an enemy soldier that had been captured." Blade said in his diplomatic tone, "And also... I want to stay with my family. It took long to find them! Please? Can't I stay!?" He suddenly turned back into a young child.

"I'd hate to rip you from family kid, but... Okay," Siren gave up, the kid knew how to manipulate. "I'll tell the counsel that you're obtaining war information and also... Karin and Ronal want to make sure you're not practicing any sorcery."

"I'm not..." Blade whined.

"You remember last time! You almost took down the north tower!" Mizuki gaped at her son. He could even do magic? It was clear they really needed to catch up. Her heart still pounded from the thrill of seeing him again, and seeing Siren...

"Siren, what exactly...has my son been doing?" Mizuki asked, not remembering the names of Ronal and Karin, the two who had been there at the necromancer's underground dungeon.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:07 pm

Vlad sat atop a large statue of Queen Ighten, sitting on her shoulders. He leaned forward and crossed his arms on top of her head, bracing himself, and just stared as the Queen's army marched from the city. He had a good view from here; he could see the front of the line fading into the distance. It was all very freakishly familiar, except this time, he wasn't up in front leading. He was back here, sitting his ass on a statue while the woman he....while Tenele rode away with a thousand other people to war. People who wouldn't regenerate wounds or wield powerful magic in proportion to their need. It was entirely possible that none of them would make it back here. He had a strange intuition about it, and it wasn't a good one. The superstition of it all was strange in and of itself, coming from him.

He finally grew fed up with watching Tenele's coach get smaller and smaller in the distance. With a pensive grunt, he threw himself back to the ground and started walking back to the castle. He didn't teleport. He couldn't think of anyplace in this direction he cared to go that was worth the effort. He made his way back through the palace gates, winning curious stares from the two guards, but they simply moved aside and let him through.

* * *

Soran rubbed his hand through his hair, taking in everything Siren and Blade were saying. At the same time, it all felt distant from him, like it was happening to someone else. "I will see to his safety," he assured Siren.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:09 pm

Siren inclined her head towards the magicked vortex. "Well," she said, "You'd better." she smirked playfully, "And make sure he does no destructive magic. He's got some amazing power, but absolutely no control over it. Well, I must go, I'm leading a scouting party over the border. Good luck to you all." And with that, the image of Siren faded and Blobby reverted back to his small, gelatinous form atop Blade's shoulder.

"Well," Mizuki said after a pause, "It seems there is much to be said." She smiled down at Blade who grinned sheepishly, already knowing he'd have to make some explanations.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:36 pm

Soran looked at Blade when Siren had gone. He studied the boy, walking up to stand just in front of him. Their eyes locked, matching so strangely. "We parted months ago, and you've grown nearly to manhood. It shouldn't be possible," he said doubtfully, but there could be no mistake that it was the same child. Was this person in front of him a man, or a child? Was it a dark angel, a prince, or something close to a son? How could they be father and son, when they knew nothing about each other...

One thing was certain, though. "Thank you. I owe you my life," he said to the stranger in front of him with a watchful stare.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:24 pm

"It's... in my blood..." Blade responded, not knowing what else to say. By normal human standards, no, it wasn't possible. Elves, humans, demons, fairies... all other sorts of creatures living in Heirot, they all aged almost exactly the same. The only difference was the way the body looked during the aging process. Any other creature besides humans aged normally, their bodies just don't start to break down until very farther down that person's time line. A Dark Angels body rapidly aged until that Dark Angel's very own internal maturity. Afterwards it was a slow and steady pace that matched an elf's.

Mizuki saw the look on Blade's face, trying to find a way to explain that wouldn't alarm Soran. She herself only knew because it's what her powers, before being blocked, abled her to know.

"How about we get something to eat first?" Mizuki suggested. "Then we can have this talk, I know there is much we all need to share."

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:00 pm

Soran looked to Mizuki and gave a slow nod. He couldn't even think about food right now, but no matter how he wanted to act normal, he was still somewhat in shock from the near loss of everything he had. Right now, Mizuki could have suggested a barefoot stroll through a mess of thorn briars and he'd be all too content to follow. "Good plan," he said, holding Rai a little tighter.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:14 pm

So the family set out towards the kitchen, this time they were greeted and served as the Queen's guests. They were seated at a square table, Mizuki facing Soran, Blade facing Rai. They were served a general three course meal, though obviously, not all would be finished. After the first course Blade cleared his throat to speak. He had been thinking how to explain his people's... ability to grow, he kept coming back to dark magic in his mind, and how Gabriel gave up his mortal flesh.

"Honestly," Blade began, "We don't know how it really happened. It was never documented how Gabriel had managed to infuse our blood with dark magic, causing us to grow the way we do..." He paused. Proud of who he was, Blade felt no shame towards his people and how they were, maybe, if any, his only shame would be what his birth father had done to Blade's mother.

"It's because of that plague, yes?" Mizuki asked gently. Blade nodded mutely. The history lessons on it were painful for his tutor. It had not been too long ago...

"We needed to increase our numbers if we had any hope of surviving, espesically now. But the plague still lingered even after it began to finally dwindle, taking newborns and children mostly. What Gabriel did, sacrificing his mortal body to wipe out our plague and to help us recover our population, was noble... The people admire him for it."

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:21 pm

Soran just narrowed his eyes, anger - no, rage growing in him as he thought of the man that had attacked Mizuki being lauded for his deeds. "That monster was not a hero," he hissed.