[IC] ANKL. Part I: Awakening

[Stalkerkain]

Esyllt

 

"Tsk. How irrational," she said with disdain. She hadn't originally intended on transforming herself, but it was just as Eden said; transforming was as easy as thinking it. Esyllt knew a day was being hopeful, but to have only ten minutes to deliberate. There wasn't any choice. She walked over to Platinum for what it was worth, and clasped her hand in an attempt to pull her upwards, but to no avail. Eden could probably crush the two girls if she wanted to. She attempted to do the same with Alva, even knowing the result. Finally, she sat cross-legged on the ground in front of the two girls, with her eyes closed, and her hand clenching her fist. Thankfully, Eden had fallen for her bluff.

 

Alexus was out there.

 

Possibly nearby, judging from Eden's vehement denial of her request for time. She decided to withhold that information from Alva and Platinum, not wanting to give them false hope. For there was no guarantee that they'd all make it out alive, much less be able to find Alexus. But if Eden had identified that Alexus had granted her power, then perhaps, just perhaps, there was a chance for Alexus to find Esyllt. She would have to bide her time, waiting for a miracle. Ironic, considering how previously she was a non-practicing Alexian. She finally opened her eyes, and looked into Platinum and Alva's eyes.

 

"Seeing as how you two are just as involved as anyone else here, I wanted to make sure you at least had a chance to have a say in the matter. Granted, we don't really have an option," Esyllt explained carefully. She tried to do so in a manner that wouldn't alarm the other two girls. She herself could barely contain her shaking, if only to appear brave in front of Alva and Platinum. After a brief pause that seemed to last several moments, Esyllt continued. "I... have decided to go along Eden. I don't agree with what she's trying to do, nor do I want to perform actions under her orders. But I'll be able to at least negotiate both of your freedoms. It should be a negligible request for that girl to grant, considering neither of you have powers."

[Chevaleresse]

"Yep," she said, rather clipped. She sounded more annoyed than she really was; the girl was a bit too distracted to get too irate with Natalie. Though there was still a small part of her that wanted to lecture her for causing a scene, the truth was that it really just wasn't her problem at the moment. The well-known alpha bitch being bitchy to somebody who was trying to basically be said alpha bitch. Yeah, totally something she needed to get involved in. Especially since her mental health seemed to have been rapidly slipping for the past. . . ten minutes? It seemed odd that her and. . .  Arya? - she was awful with names - were friends, though. The latter wasn't very friendly and the rest of the people at the academy didn't help, and she figured the former might be too concerned with image to associate with her. Though she supposed it could be some sort of rebellion thing. Or, you know, legitimate friendship, she wasn't a damn psychologist.

[Twinwolf]

Alva numbly nodded. "Y-You don't think she'd let us go if we promised not to t-tell anyone, do you? This is... t-this is madness and I'm still not entirely sure I'm not having a really really bad dream. We don't have anything to d-do with this..."

[Shamitako]

Eden

 

"I don't know the answer to that." Eden said, sounding a little melancholic, "My memories and feelings are a jumble, it's hard to see where Ethan ends and Eden begins. If there's any separation at all. But... I think yes, for both parts of me the anger feels unnatural. Only because of past betrayal does it burn so violently." She sighed. It hadn't been all that long since she was an innocent little girl whose biggest concern was learning her multiplication tables. And now, now she was somewhere between an ancient spirit of vengeance and a little girl caught up in something far beyond her. It wasn't a change she regretted, but some part of her missed the ignorance.

 

"If you don't mind," Eden shifted the conversation, "I'd like to sort out what your power is while we're here." Eden had the inklings of a plan forming, but it hinged on Kaede having a sufficiently aggressive power, which were a rarity under the element of Light.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Kaede

 

"l'm sorry Eden. l'd not know where to begin." she wasn't certainly not familiar with this power... she'd only just learned they even existed but, she was willing to learn of it use. lt would perhaps become a tool for her in the coming days, in her mission, the one thing her life was for. lt was strange learning from a being that was somehow... both younger and older than her. Something that before today was but a story, a forgotten one, but one nonetheless. 

"You'll have to guide me, but l am willing to learn and to understand this gift you have given me."

[Shamitako]

Eden

 

"It's not so hard that it requires guidance, you just have to try using it on something." Eden encouraged, "There might be more complex uses to look into later, but right now I'm just hoping you create a sword or a ball of light jumps from your palm."

 

(OOC: Just, you know, focus on a leaf or something and have it go dark)

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Platinum

 

Sure enough, Esyllt's help didn't really effect anything, as Platinum (and the other girl) was still stuck firmly within the ground. With that realized, Platinum sighed, resigning to being stuck in the ground for the foreseeable future... At least, the rather short seeming one. Depends on if she was able to survive this. When Esyllt said her thing, Platinum would've, once again, face palmed at her agreeing to work with the girl that had... Well, some sort of extreme power (likely something related to goddesses), if it actually made sense, in a much better way than the previous girl. In all honesty, Platinum didn't see a way to get out of this alive either: That girl was ready to kill them if they didn't anyway. Hell, with Platinum and the other girl stuck in the floor without powers, they might still be killed even it they cooperated. But, they had to at least try.

 

"I don't think she'll let us go if we agree to not tell anyone... Keeping chances of this breaking out to a minimum" Platinum said, shaking her head. This was complete madness, that she could agree on, along with the fact that she didn't want anything to do with this herself. But, it was rather obvious that she didn't have a choice in the manner, "I respect your decision though Esyllt... Even though I hate to say that. I mean, we don't really have any choice ourselves-" she said, gesturing the the ground that circled around her waist, "... I just hope that she won't decided to kill us just because we don't have powers."

[Sutoratosu]

"'Yep'.... that's it? That's... all you gotta say after they sent you to trek out here after us, like a red shirt?" It was kinda odd, Arya figured whoever would've come to fetch them would complain about how they wasted their time with that stunt, or try and lecture them about not running off, kinda like a teacher's pet. Infact, a teacher's pet was exactly who'd she'd been expecting. The girl almost seemed distracted by.... something. Something Arya wasn't about to go to the effort of prying, nor did she really care enough to linger on it. They still had shit to fix, and the less bitchin' there was in the kitchen, the better.

 

"Well, alright" Arya shrugged "You might as well lead the way back"

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia simply nodded in response. Why, exactly, did it matter how much she had to say? Not an argument she felt like having at the moment, though she again bit back the urge to snark back at the girl. Specifically, to question why she needed to be guided back. Instead, she sighed a bit; could she just go finish her carving and then go take a nap or something? Sleep deprivation caused psychotic symptoms like hallucination, and Arturia was not exactly the model of healthy, restful sleep patterns. 

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Kaede

"Okay, l shall but l do not know if it will be a manifestation you are looking for. Try not to be too disappointed." Kaede said, seemingly defeated already. She did not know if her ability would manifest in such a brilliant way. Her soul was broken was it capable of burning that brilliantly? She did not expect it would be. She sighed, and resigned herself to her fate. She focused on a small object at her feet, a leaf. She tried to effect it in some way. She tried to send light at it, to create energy and throw it. Nothing came to her call.

 

Spoiler

 

She tried to form a blade of light as Eden had requested... it did not sprout from her fingers tips. She tried to focus it as a ball of energy... still nothing. Clearly... trying to call on it wasn't going to accomplish anything. So... what should she try? lf she could not beckon it to her side... she could not create it in the palm of her hand, what was she capable of? Her soul... was... broken.

She then tried to make the leaf as she was. She tried to banish it's light instead. She tried to destroy it, push it into darkness. Something... reacted to her call this time. Threads of dull orange light leapt from her fingers tips, threads of melancholy shoot out of her fingers following the path of the tattoos on her arm. They lifted from her skin, and began to dart forward faster than the eye could comprehend. Streaks of orange thread attached to the leaf and began to unravel the light about it. lt evaporated away from it's form, tearing away the light around it like threads of silk. They evaporated and changed to a horrible umbren shade of purple as they died. The leaf was left, a dark after image... completely plunged into darkness as if it wasn't truly there anymore. lt was but of void of darkness... an impenetrable darkness that nothing could exist within, or so Kaede felt. She felt... at home looking at it. As if she was looking at a reflection of her own being. "What am l...? l do not know, but l like it." she thought aloud.

[Shamitako]

Katherine

 

When the three girls returned, Katherine was alone. She had been getting nervous from how long they were gone, but hadn't wanted to go looking for fear they'd return to an empty shelter. "Ah, there you are." She said, sounding quite relieved, "I already sent the other two off to evening prayers. We should all head that way, but if any of you need to talk to me, I'm prepared to exempt you from prayers today." She knew that prayers were a source of annoyance and stress for many girls, even as a devout Kallistle she had hated them in her younger years, so she offered an out for her already stressed charges.

 

Eden

 

Eden's eyes widened. This was even more perfect than she'd hoped. "It seems I was wrong." She confessed, a hint of her excitement slipping in, "You don't have power over Light. Like me, all you have is the power to destroy." She smiled with sinister glee, "This is more than a sword. With this power, one touch is all it would take to destroy Kallisto."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Kaede

 

"...The power to destroy? The power to end a goddess in but a single touch... is this fate? Was a broken doll truly given the means to tear apart the heavens?" Kaede thought aloud. She tried to make sense of everything that was happening... but this reality was a lot to take in. Perhaps this is why that one girl was so adamant in hoping this was but a dream. But, Kaede said it herself. This was no dream. "l don't know whether to laugh... or... l dunno. lt feels all too perfect. As if this is too sweet to be true."

She stared at the strange marking on her arms, the tattoos that had lifted away from her own skin. They unraveled the light from that leaf... easily... effortlessly. This had to be what her life was meant for, wasn't it? To destroy the church. To perhaps even destroy Kallisto herself. "Eden... are you broken like me?"

[Chevaleresse]

"Uh. . ." Arturia began eloquently. Evening prayers weren't exactly something she was fond of, and she did have something she wanted to mention. . . just not in front of the other two. Not to mention she felt awkward bringing it up at all, but it should be mentioned to somebody, and her list of viable options wasn't long. "Could I talk to you after they leave? No offense," she said, turning to the "they" in question, "it's just something private."

[Shamitako]

Eden

 

"Not the same way, but yes." Eden nodded. After all, she was born with an angry god inside her soul. "Anyways, you gave me an idea when you mentioned working from the inside." She began explaining her plan, "So I was thinking I'd wipe all their memories again and send you back like nothing happened. Then you can find Kallisto, cozy up to her, and destroy her." It wasn't exactly a complicated plan, but the simplicity of it gave less opportunities for it to fail.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Kaede

 

"l believe that is for the best. lf you can remove their memories... l suppose that is why when we awoke we did not know where we were. l suppose that is part of what you can destroy. l don't know if this is something easily achieved...in fact l doubt that it is. But, it is my fate... if l must destroy her with my own hands, then l will." Kaede was sure she needed to go through with this, she had to change this world. Even if it broke it more in the end... she had to try and that fact alone absolved her. lf no one was willing to risk that for change... then change would never occur.

[Shamitako]

Natalie

 

Natalie raised an eyebrow. All Eberhardt had done was come get her and Arya, so it was curious that she would be the one who needed to talk. Perhaps the private nature meant it was unrelated and now was just a good time to discuss it. "That's fine by me." She looked to Arya, "I don't think either of us needs to talk to Miss Katherine right now."

[Sutoratosu]

"Not really..." Arya shrugged. Whatever it was, it probably was the same thing that had distracted the girl back on the trail. Not like it really involved them. And the girl had outright said she didn't want them around. Plus if anything, it'd be best if they kept that.... little discussion earlier to themselves, no point sharing it with an instructor.

 

"Guess we'll head there on our own, then. Where is it?"

[Shamitako]

Eden

 

Eden shrugged at Kaede, not dismissively, simply as a gesture of uncertainty. "Honestly, I've got no clue how this is going to go down." she said, "I'd be willing to bet everything I have on even the smallest chance of bringing down the goddesses, and your power is a lot more than a small chance." She started to release her hold on the time around them, but stopped suddenly. "Oh, almost forgot. If you discover the Eye of Hope, get away from her and stay away." With that said, time began to flow properly around Eden and Kaede again.

 

Eden approached the the other three girls. "Alright, time's up, start talking." She announced, focusing her attention on Esyllt.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Kaede

 

The Eye of Hope? An ominous warning indeed from Eden. Kaede would've asked but the flow of time now restored she didn't wish to reveal that information to the others, even if they'd have their memories erased. Kaede was not sure how this power of Eden's functioned, if the memories were truly gone forever. lt was best to not test those limits and leave the others in the dark. They'd soon not have to be a part of this anymore, they would be free of the burden. She stared at the others, no real emotion on her face. She clasped her hands towards her chest, in an idle motion. There wasn't much thought given to it, just that she felt... something waiting for what was about to come.

She closely watched the girl with the powers as well, expecting out of the three girls here, if anyone was about to try something... it'd be her.

[Stalkerkain]

Esyllt

 

Esyllt took her time standing up, not all too enthused at being ordered around. She decided to take the leisure of inspecting her dress for signs of dirt, appearing rather pleased that her dress remained spotless despite having sat on the ground. She made a mental note to herself to own one of these dresses when she got older. She took her time in replying, appearing as if she were perturbed in thought. Her mind was calm, having regained her composure. She turned, as if finally noticing Eden and Kaede waiting on her response.

 

"I'll agree to help you," Esyllt stated effortlessly. She had faced Mother Opium many times, having gotten into trouble in the past (much to Mother Opium's displeasure). To Esyllt, this was but another day in Mother Opium's office. Before Eden or Kaede could say anything further, Esyllt continued. "On the condition that you release these two girls, and ensure their safety. They should pose no threat to you, as like you said, they don't possess powers. These are my terms, should you wish to enlist my assistance."

[Shamitako]

Natalie

 

Natalie and Arya left Arturia and Miss Katherine, heading towards the chapel for prayers. It was an extremely large, single room building with enough space for around 800 people. It also had no windows, the entirety of the massive building being lit by candle-burning chandeliers, though it was likely that false electronic candles would be used for less expensive guests. Dutifully, the girls joined the massive crowd in sitting in their seats and allowing the Stole to lead them in prayers. Most probably only attended prayers once or twice a week, but one of the downsides of attending a large school outing was prayers every single day.

 

Katherine

 

Katherine wondered what Arturia might have to speak about as she saw the other two girls off. Maybe Arturia had caught them making out when she went to fetch them. Though they didn't seem concerned. Whatever the reason, Katherine appreciated the excuse to talk to Arturia. There was still a pretty big problem: Katherine had no idea how to convince Arturia that she was telling the truth and not a total nutcase. It probably didn't help that Katherine had yet to convince herself of that. Putting that aside for the moment, first she had a duty as a teacher. "so, Arturia, what did you need?" She asked, sitting down at one of the tables.

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia took a deep breath, not really knowing how to begin. Katherine was going to think she was a total nutcase. Not that she was certain she wasn't. "Uhh, something. . . weird, happened on the way to grab those two. I think I might be hallucinating or something, so I figured I should tell somebody." A large part of her was worried that this would be dismissed as some sort of cry for attention. As if Arturia wanted anything other than for people to largely stop paying attention to her. "I ran into this weird little girl. Had a sun hat with a dead flower in it, and red hair. She said some weird stuff and acted like she'd met me before, and then I. . . passed out or something?" She cursed herself for sounding unsure. At least she didn't have a reputation for pranks or jokes. "And then I had a . . . I don't know if dream is the right word, where I met Layla. We introduced ourselves, and then suddenly I was back on the trail. The weird girl said something about 'the face of darkness' and then vanished into smoke." She exhaled, having finished her tale. "Please tell me this is just some weird prank and that I don't have to go to a mental institution."

[Shamitako]

Eden

 

Eden shrugged. "I never actually wanted your help. And help in return for hostages I won't have anymore sounds risky at best." She stomped her foot again and for a moment Esyllt thought they were actually going to die. That moment was quickly cut short...

 

Esyllt couldn't help but feel like she was forgetting something really important. Yet she couldn't place her finger on what. The girls had been cut short from attending the cemetery when Lexi had fainted rather suddenly. Cici and Haley had been sent ahead to get a nurse, Alva was helping Miss Carstin carry Lexi, and the rest were just walking back normally. As far as Esyllt knew, nothing else had happened, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more important that needed doing.

 

Kaede's memories were a little jumbled. She remembered the meeting with Eden, but not how she had ended up back with the rest of the group. She did have what she could assume was a false memory of Lexi fainting, but there was still a gap. She seemed to be the only one to notice Riley reemerge from the woods where she'd been relieving herself. It seemed that all she could do was walk back and hope to find Kallisto. But then she realized something, her altered memories didn't include Riley's bathroom stop, her only memory of that included Eden was well. How much could the girl with the sword know?

 

Katherine

 

Arturia's story was well outside the bounds of what Katherine would normally expect to deal with as a teacher, but it wasn't entirely beyond her. Her face shifted as all pretense of Katherine fell away. Nothing about her expression was obviously different, but Arturia could tell something was different. This was not the kind and brilliant teacher she was used to, this was someone else. "A strange girl introduced you to Layla?" Kallisto mused, "Strange indeed. What you're describing sound like a ghost encounter, but I've never heard of a ghost having that much power. You're certain it was Layla and not Lilith?" Kallisto spoke with a confident tone that suggested she knew what she was talking about, hoping it would be enough to deter Arturia from questioning both of their sanities.

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia's brow furrowed in confusion, reacting with a small amount of startlement before quickly making an attempt to smooth her expression over. Maybe this was some sort of religious thing? She hadn't really thought about it; she was more interested in the parts of the religion that mandated this or that and why they were ass-backward. . . not that it was something she brought up often. There weren't many steps between "kinda weird loner" and "pariah." Regardless, she attempted to steady herself before answering. "Uh, she said she was Layla. She looked exactly like Lilith, though. I thought it might just be some association between the two names in my head, since Lilith is a Laylite and the name sounds similar, y'know. . ." She shrugged. 

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Platinum

 

Needless to say, Platinum was not entirely... Well, displeased at the fact that the hike was cut short. There had been a nagging feeling of bad news concerning the cemetery, and she was actually a bit relieved that they didn't have to actually go to it anymore. Though, the manner of which the hike got cut was not something Platinum liked, specifically the fact that Aislin had suddenly fainted. Why was beyond Platinum, bit it probably had to do with lack of eating, since it was rather obvious that she had enough rest prior to the hike.

 

Well, nothing could be done about it now, besides heading back to the campgrounds, since the situation was being handled by Miss Carstin.