Under the Hill - First Circle: Judgement

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Enya thought hard-- she couldn't remember. As usual, she looked to her beloved bear, as if for guidance.

She then nodded, and looked at Mister Taylor again, saying quite simply, "I fell asleep."

[Ragnar]

As Ixidor struggles to crawl for his survival trying get away from the killer leaving blood trails as he goes,"STAY AWAY!" he cried out.

He heard a cry and looks at the at killer trying to stab him once again out of desperation... he reaches for his satchel around his body and uses it as a shield as it blocks the attack, the force of the dagger seems weak at this time as he deflects the attack. as the killer seems exhausted and couldn't continue.

Now's your chance.... finish him! said the diabolic voice in his head.

Ixidor grabs a nearby broken glass shard on the ground as he tries to use it as a stabbing weapon. But trembles to do the deed as he drops the sharp glass piece. He ties to sat down feeling all kinds of pain as he's in an arms reach from the stranger as tears start falling from his eyes and started loathing.

"what i have become" as he looks down at his bleeding hands with tiny broken fragments pierce into it. Ixidor tries to communicate with the desperate man as he pauses with every word.

"do you really enjoy...aghh..killing even if you are on the verge of dying...!? i wish i have passion for your desire. well not for the same motive anyway." as he release a smirk and soon to follow an agonizing pain as he sat motionless and weeping.

[Chevaleresse]

Marcus coughed weakly. "You don't ... understand. When I kill ... I ... get stronger. You were ... my only chance." He coughed again, and then lay still, a trickle of blood running downward on his cheek to the floor.

[Ragnar]

Ixidor was surprised when he heard what the suffering killer has just said. He almost felt sorry as he gaze upon what seems to be a dying man.

Fool! did you really fell for that? did your brain just shattered as well as that glass wall? He's trying to kill you in case you didn't notice, he's just a injured rabid dog trying to plead that needs to be put down. look i won't interfere when it comes to this, just grab a glass shard and stab him easy peasy. you keep your morality in check by preventing him for killing everyone else, there's no down side when you look at it.

look we haven't have much time since we're dying as well, the beauty of it is you get to decide who gets to go first, Its either you or him.

But he has a chance to save himself... i don't. as Ixidor rebuts his thoughts as the voice didn't answer back.

Ixidor grabs a glass shard nearby without any hesitation and slides it down next to the stranger and said like a challenge "Do it! since i'm dying anyways...kill me, if it makes you feel alive..." as he collapse to the ground once more as he breathes slower and slower.

Edited May 24, 2014 by typhlosionrulez

[Supernovae]

"I fell asleep."

He heard the young girl innocently blurt out, "Damn it, just a dream," he thought to himself furiously rubbing his temples. How could he have gotten so wrapped up in this little girls ideas without asking that simple question. But still, the little girl had to know something, she was easily able to figure out his death. There was latent knowledge there, whether she knew it or not, and Mr. Taylor knew that knowledge may be vital to him.

"So, my dear, how do you know you just weren't having a dream?" Mr. Taylor said continuing to smile at the girl. He felt bad for her, she shouldn't be in a place like this, she seemed sweet and happy and yet she was in this hell-hole just like the rest of them.

[Notus]

Kenny's Trial

"A small chance you said?" Minos answered Kenny with a grin "Very well than. Now, proceeding with the schedule, what would you say it's your greatest flaw, and what's your greatest strenght?"

[Sutoratosu]

Soon a pathway of familiar light lit up on the ground of the dark space that Ethic was being dragged through... He looked to see a rectangle of white light appear in the distance at the end of the illuminated path way.

This is just like before... thought Ethic, beginning to shift his body under his captor's grip on the back of his shirt. the daze from being thrown to the floor and being kicked earlier had worn off now, and some fight was beginning to trickle back into the young man as he was dragged further and further. The Goth noticed this and stopped suddenly.

"So," he began, looking down at Ethic, the eerily black sword still in his other hand "You've gotten back to your senses have you? then walk for yourself, it's getting to be tiring to drag you like this."

He let go of Ethic's collar, and Ethic sprang to stand up and face him.

"You're not to bright, are you?" He asked, looking into the stormy eyes of his captor a little to confidently "What makes you think that I won't just run back the way we came through this place?"

it was a complete bluff. from the way the Goth had dragged him, he had been able to see the entire way they had gone since entering the portal. he had seen the portal close the instant they were through, and he had seen as the path of light slowly dissipated back into inky blackness behind them as they traveled... and he had no idea whether or not it would come back if he ran in the opposite direction, nor how to open the portal himself. but still...

He wasn't going to let this guy have the pleasure of thinking that he had won against him just yet.

the Goth responded, his voice ringing with a bit of boredom.

"Because, I know that just now, that was a load of horse shit coming out of your mouth," he said, "I dragged you behind me like that for a reason; so that you could see that there was no way backwards, only forwards in this place. it's a one way road with every trip. you can only head towards to objective, not backwards towards your starting point."

The Goth smirked at him now.

"So like I said before. You may think you have a choice in the matter, but you really don't when it comes down to it."

Ethic knew it was pointless now. he walked forward, brushing past the Goth. The rectangle of light grew far larger with every step, despite it seeming so far off when he was being dragged, it was only ten paces before he stood before it, the light and power radiating off of it felt like sunlight. he turned to the Goth, who was now trailing behind him.

"I know that whatever this place is, it's related to the Arcana and the Keepers." he stated simply "So that begs the question..."

He looked the Pale young man hard in the eyes before he continued "What are you? a Keeper?"

The Goth laughed at this. apparently something Ethic had just said was quite amusing.

"What am I? what am I? oh, you'll find out eventually. now get to steppin."

Ethic stayed where he was, refusing to comply. The Goth placed his hand on Ethic's chest and roughly shoved him through the rectangle of light, it englufed him as he fell through. his vision flooded with white, then the light receded...

he was back in the multi-colored space. the various Arcana of the Tarot floating in the air around him. 21 of the Keepers formed a circle in the middle of the space, with him having entered into the middle of it. The Keeper of the Wheel stood on a raised platform shortly outside the circle. his Goth captor entered through the rectangle after him, and it dissapeared. the Goth looked up to the Keeper of the Wheel.

"I've brought him," he said "He put up substantial resistance to comply with the request however, and I was forced to resort to violence to coerce him."

Request? Ethic thought to himself That was no request, he freaking abducted me...

He stood as the KOW replied to the Goth

"Very well then. this will be noted and added on to your record following your report being filed. dismissed."

and with that, the Goth was immersed in a shroud of darkness, which burned away into nothing, growing smaller and smaller until where the Goth once stood, there was no one now.

the KOW turned his attention on Ethic now.

"Ethic Ytilarom, you have been brought here on request of the council to be determined as to whether you are fit to continue as an Envoker."

Ethic was completely puzzled as to why they would call him in for that.

"What are you talking about, what did I do to make you change your minds all of a sudden? one minute you're all bowing to me like I'm some king, then the next minute you're trying to fire me."

He was answered by an elderly voice. he recognized it from his near death experience earlier

"You know why we have brought you here." it said, Ethic turned to see an old man in a dark blue robe with the hood pulled up. he carried staff that had an old oil lantern swinging from the top.

another voice, he recognized it as Longicus, continued the statement.

"You allowed the Arcana to be destroyed while in your possession. this is a serious offence."

Ethic couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was here because of something he had no control over at the time?

"Hold up," he said "It's not my fault what happened to them. It's not like I held them out and let someone destroy them. Hell, at the time, I was barely even ALIVE, let alone CONSCIOUS!"

the keeper of the Wheel answered this time.

"the fact of the matter is that they were destroyed while in your care."

He stepped down from the platform and entered within the circle, stopping a few feet away from where Ethic stood.

"Have you anything to say in your defense?"

Ethic ground his teeth in anger. what he had just said was his defense.

"I just said my defense" he said simply, trying not to raise his voice.

that's when he heard a voice rang out in protest.... it was Lucian.

"Why dont we just end this charade!? Everyone of you know that he can't be held responsible if he is an unwillingly participant or unable to intervene at the time! End this stupid evaluation, and drop the charge!"

Ethic couldn't help but smile a little. at least he knew that someone was on his side in this.

Maybe Lucian really is a friend...

The Keeper of the Wheel, turned his attention on Lucian now, his voice snarling with displeasure at this outburst.

"Keeper Lucian, You're input or opinion on the matter is null and void due to you're being biased to the subject's favor. refrain from such rampant outspeaking again, or we shall evaluate whether or not you are fitt to oversee the Magician Arcana."

Ethic looked at Lucian, and saw the young man's hands beginning to smolder as his staff glowed an angry scarlet. off in the distance of the rainbow hued space, the Magician Arcana also glowed a deep scarlet. but Lucian said nothing more, despite the look on his face suggesting very much the opposite.

the KOW returned his focus to Ethic.

"We shall deliberate and review this. Our decision on the matter shall be made known to you when we arrive at it. Dismissed."

The space began to shift and change around Ethic, melting and swirling into itself... before he even knew what was going on, he found himself standing back in the library.

and his knife was nowhere to be found, despite him having it in his hand the whole time.

"Great... just great..." he muttered to himself

"this is going down hill real fast..." with that he started walking off in a random direction. it was utterly impossible to tell if he was in the same part of the library as he was before.

he stopped when he heard something in the distance. it was faint, but it sounded a little like voices.

Well... might as well just throw caution to the wind and head towards them... he thought to himself, doing just that, walking off in the direction

Besides... if anyone finds me and so happens to want to start something, well... I'm at a pretty bad disadvantage with my power to Invoke stuck in limbo and with no weapon... might as well try and get together with a group if it's possible...

he headed around a corner, the voices still relatively far off, but closer now.

Edited May 24, 2014 by Stratos

[Notus]

Ellaria

Ellaria stood quietly listening to the newcomer's inquiry on Enya. She could tell by the man's voice - as well as the fact he'd introduced himself as mister Taylor - that he was old, but to be here he surely wasn't your regular grandpa. "A professional adventurer?"she thought. "Good, that's another great companion to have here"

She kept listening, and thigs kept getting more disturbing by the second. What were they talking about? Trials? Returning from the dead? Before she could make any sense out of the conversation, she heard more steps. "Someone is coming" she warned the others. What was going on here, a hill party?

[Chevaleresse]

Marcus, through the fog of pain, was actually shocked. The boy was. . . offering himself? He wouldn't refuse. He grabbed the shard of glass Ixidor had slid next to him, and with a final effort, drove it into his temple; it was the least painful way he knew of to kill someone. The same onrush of energy that had occured before, the boy's life appearing before him too quickly for the killer to process consciously. Marcus shuddered, and looked down. The glass was still in him, so he reached down and, with an incredible amount pain, grabbed it and pulled it out.

The kill hadn't been enough. Blood welled from the wound, now that there was nothing to impede its flow. Rather than bleeding out, Marcus turned the knife on himself, and the world ceased to exist for him.

[Rosesong]

Rose glanced at Ellaria. "Another person?" she double-checked. "We're just a party now; it was the four of us for quite awhile. This is a person, right, and not a creature from the depths of hell?" she questioned, making sure that there was no need to hasten their journey.

Edited May 24, 2014 by Rosesong

[Notus]

Ellaria considered Rose's question. "The sound seems like normal walking... but I can't be sure, since there's so much weird stuff going on here." she answered.

[Sutoratosu]

Ethic rounded another corner, the voices were growing louder, which meant he was getting closer, though not close enough to hear anything that was actually being spoken.

He continued walking, it seemed that once he turned the next corner and headed down another aisle, he'd be close enough to hear what was being said, if not actually see the voices owners. then he stopped halfway from said next corner.

I have nothing... he thought. not a single scrap of supplies.

and it was true, he'd lost his burlap bag as well somehow earlier on, though he couldn't recall when it could've happened. aside from his now gone jacket, that bag was what he had used to carry most of his journey items. He began rummaging around in his pants pockets, trying to see what, if anything, was there.

If these people aren't exactly friendly, then I'll be between a rock and a hard place in terms of how to get out of the situation...

He found something in a pocket on the right side of his pants. he brought his hand out to examine it...

It was a small leather bag, around the size of his palm... he could tell what it was from the jingling inside...

My emergency fund... I completely forgot it was even there after I got into this place... he placed it back in the pocket and continued searching... in the same pocket he found another item, it was hard and cold to the touch. he pulled it out.

it was an old pocket knife the old man in the cafe had left after he and Ethic had finished talking about the hill... Ethic had tried to find the man and tell him he'd left it behind, but the guy had dissapeared as if into thin air, so at the time he had just pocketed it and had since forgotten about it.

Ethic would've been quite grateful if the damn thing had just been a little bigger... he could tell just by looking at it's smallish handle that the actual blade of the knife probably wasn't much larger than a large house key. it would be difficult to use in self-defense if needed. he replaced it and began searching again, coming up with nothing more.

well... he thought to himself I don't have anything to defend myself with... oh well... I already decided to take a chance when I started walking towards the sounds... nothing else to do. He simply continued.

[K_H]

Kenny was silent for a while as he thought deeply, searching his own self for the truth of who he was at his core. then, he responded truthfully to Minos' Question:

"My greatest flaw? that would be my short temper, seeing as i go a little too far when i'm angry. However, my greatest strength is my resourcefulness."

then, he waited for Minos' response.

[Ragnar]

Just as what the young artist provoke Marcus to do, the killer drives the glass shard between the boy's temple that causes his death..

A long green flat line was picture in his head and started beeping once more as his a slowly pace heartbeat was heard. A battle of wits was about to go down in Ixidor's thoughts.

Ixidor wakes up in a familiar white room in his mind and he was greeted by pale grinning face that resemble himself infront...

well congratulations, you finally defile me and crawl yourself out of that with your little sense of morality! you little Che Guevara you.. as the white doppelganger mocks him.

"wait! i can hear my own thoughts? waiit... whaat?? no this can't be the last thing i remember was a blow to the head im pretty sure i wont survive that" as Ixidor surprise realization takes its toll.

yeah, i know right? people die if they are killed said with a sassy tone..

well in this case we don't, i don't know what sorcery this is but it seems this place no longer bounds the laws of death. speaking of which, our death was kinda pathetic.. can't believe you fell for that and to makes matters worst we got killed by a begging dog. as the white Ixidor seems to be upset.

Ixidor looses his stiff and glad to heard he was alive.

Look, i don't wanna waste this second chance and sure you dont either. im pretty sure Ethic abandon you in the hands of that killer and there's no way kenny could survive in that implosion of glass. It's you and me kid whether you like it or not.

"Why do you keep saying we!?" as Ixidor contradicts White Ixidor.

let me put this bluntly so you can understand.. the game has change kid, get with the program...the second you let your guard down boom vamooosh your dead! there's no friends that you can lean on, there's no justice in this place. We create our own justice, we create our own destiny! we create our own monsters! we are no longer bound by the laws of reality for we create our own. said the narcissistic white Ixidor that seems to be frustrated as tendrils of shadow cast into the white room that they're in, dividing the room in what seems to be a black and white painting.

oh and one more thing that Stranger that kills you.. he just makes it into the list of things that needs to be eliminated in our perfect world. as white Ixidor grins and a flash of pitch black darkness engulfs the place

Ixidor was lying flat on the cold marble floor of the library. as his fingers slowly trembles in signs of life.

Edited May 25, 2014 by typhlosionrulez

[Notus]

Minos

"When you get angry uhn?" said the Judge at Kenny's answer. "I wonder if a painful death would be enough for making you angry" before Kenny could answer, Minos carried on. "I think this will do for now, mister Holmes. The juri and I shall study your case and we'll call you back when we reach a conclusion. Dismissed."

The judge put down his gravel and the court room faded, leaving Kenny into darkness.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Notus

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

The child thought for a while again, then shrugged, her little shoulders moving up then down beneath the oversized leather jacket.

"I... Guess it felt all too real to be a dream, to me. But Ace tells me that it isn't a dream," she said, looking down at her fluffy teddy bear.

[Sutoratosu]

Ethic rounded the last corner, crouching and moving slowly to try and muffle his steps, still unsure as to whether he'd need the element of surprise in order to run away. before long, he was in the next aisle, and he was finally able to see where the Voices had been coming from...

And what he saw surprised him, standing down the aisle were the two young women and little girl that He had encountered after taking out the wave of Shadows that the destruction of the first bookshelf had unleashed, he knew it was them from their faces, which he could catch glimpses of despite their having their backs to him. there was also a young man with them, whom Ethic had never seen prior.

Well... He thought to himself Looks like I won't be needing a means of defense now afterall...

Confident that no one currently present would try to kill him in some way, he got up from his crouch and began walking toward them... then he noticed another person was in the group... an elderly man...he looked a bit familiar...

I think I've seen him somewhere...Ethic thought, it was a bit hard to identify a person from such a distance, and from where Ethic was, he couldn't see the man's face like he could with the others in the group.

I know I have... but, where...

he stopped to think about it for a minute, but still unable to call up the memory, he started walking towards them again.

Well, only one way to figure it out...

"Hey there! I'm Ethic, from earlier!" he called out, waving his hand as he walked, hoping to get the group's attention

Edited May 25, 2014 by Stratos

[Notus]

( I've sent a pm to Bluewolf some two days ago, and until now no answer. For now, let's assume Damian is still there.)

"Hey there! I'm Ethic, from earlier!"

Ellaria turned immediately to the new person that arrived, recognizing his voice. "Oh I remember you! I thought your name was Etan." she said, a little unconfortable. "Sorry about that by the way."

[Sutoratosu]

"Oh I remember you! I thought your name was Ethan, Sorry about that by the way.

Seeing that they were indeed the people from much earlier, Ethic slowed his pace as he finally made it over to them.

"No problem," He said, turning to the young woman who had responded, it took a moment for the name to pop back into his head.

"You're Ellaria, If recall correctly, Right?" but as he asked he was also busying his mind with analyzing to two other men with the group, specifically the older one...

And for a moment, he thought that the memory nearly surfaced in his mind, but when he went to pursue it, it fled from his probing, deep into the recesses of his memory. he Decided to try and give it a little more time to come back to the fore-front.

"So..." He said "What happened with you guys after Shotgun McGee attacked?"

[Rosesong]

Rose scrutinized Ethic. She recalled seeing him before during her and Enya's wild eagle ride. Holding out a hand, she looked him in the eyes. "Pleasure to meet you, Ethic. I believe we were briefly acquainted but never met due to our," motioning to herself and Enya, "arrival on a huge eagle, followed by the attack of shadows." Taking a moment to get her facts straight, she continued, "I'm Rose. Weren't you traveling with two other young men? I'd like to meet with them again, and thank them for saving my and Enya's life."

"Who, by the way, is Shotgun McGee? I don't believe I've met that person," she commented, pushing her glasses up on her face.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Rosesong

[Ragnar]

The young artist opens his tired eyes as he touches his temple and was surprised there's no fatal wound. he was dumbfounded of what just happen as he looks around at the same area that he was once killed.

He gets up and before he takes his first step, he sees Marcus' lifeless body bathed in a puddle of blood. Ixidor felt disgusted and feeling nauseated as looks away from the incident.

"Oh gawd, oh gawd mister... but.. but i thought you will get better if you kill someone. i give my life to you dammit!" as Ixidor seems to be upset

see? what did i tell ya.. nuthin' but a low life scum trying to satisfy his thirst in his last moments. as his ill thoughts assumes.

and for once Ixidor kinda agrees with his other half's valid points and withdrew is sketchpad and said.

"But he didn't deserve this..." as he drew a dark blanket to cover the dead body out of sympathy.

Well good riddance.. not our problem anymore.

suddenly something snapped inside him like his inner thoughts sync as one and release a frustrated outburst addressing the air hoping to send his message to the judge from before,

"IS THIS SOME KIND OF A SICK JOKE!? WHAT KIND OF HIGHER POWER ARE YOU!? YOU CAN PREVENT ALL THIS FROM HAPPENING BUT INSTEAD YOU CHOOSE TO DO NUTHIN'" as Ixidor catches is breath and gains confident to continue his rant.

"WELL HERE IS OUR ANSWER TO WHATS OUR GREATEST STRENGTH... OUR IMAGINATION! THAT RIGHT 'OUR'! WE ARE venom ONE, JUST LIKE YOU SAID!

as Ixidor fled from the crime scene.

Edited May 26, 2014 by typhlosionrulez

[Sutoratosu]

Ethic shoke roses outstretched hand.

"Yeah, I was travelling with two others..." He said " Kenny and Ixidor....But Ixidor... he proved that he wasn't a friend... he took something very precious away from me...and he took my power to Invoke too..." He thought back to the glass prison incident not long ago... and for the first time, he found himself questioning what had happened to kenny... then it made sense...

why he didn't have a scratch on him... how he and Ix had gotten outside... Kenny must've healed him at least, and teleported the two of them out... but there was only one likely outcome for anyone stuck inside that thing...

"And I'm fairly certain that his actions killed Kenny." Ethic said solomnly, saddened at what fate he believed his friend to have befallen. but then that saddnes turned into anger. More so at himself than the boy.

"I couldn't protect my friend." he said, almost as if in admittance. "I couldn't help Kenny..."

But I will bring the one who killed him to justice... he thought

he now had two reasons to retribute Ix, For taking away the last thing Ethic had from his mother, and even more so to Avenge his fallen friend.

"I don't where know Ixidor is right now... but I'm going to have to kill him for what he's done... as for who Shot Gun McGee is... he's what I call the rat guy that attacked us all earlier... and I think he may have somehow turned into a shadow, like the one's from the books... because I had to fight one that looked just like him."

Edited May 26, 2014 by Stratos

[Chevaleresse]

Marcus opened his eyes, and sat up with a fair bit of surprise. A sound echoed from nearby. It sounded like a voice, though he only caught the tail end, and couldn't make out what was said. As he climbed to his feet, he thought. So, death need not be the end. Or, that life absorption ability works better than I thought. The killer prodded at his stomach carefully. Everything seems to be in working order. A flicker of motion caught his eye. Is that. . . "Ixidor?" he called, remembering the name from earlier. He sprinted after the boy.

[Ragnar]

Ixidor casually walks alone into the aisle of books and reaches the end of it. He heard footsteps and it seems he was being followed.

"Who's there?!" he said feeling threaten.

His hand begins to glow triggering his erasing powers and slightly touch the wooden selves. As it begins to crack and seems to be fragile at that moment and one more push it will come tumble down as he prepare for the worst.

"Look i don't wanna hurt nobody...I just wannabe alone! don't take another step, or ill bring this bookshelf down."

Edited May 26, 2014 by typhlosionrulez

[Rosesong]

"Ixidor was the youngest boy, right?" Rose's thoughts began to blur as they sped through her head. "That was the kid who saved us. If he turned out to be a killer, than perhaps you really can't trust anyone," her mind intoned. Then she thought about the people she was with. "Enya, Ellaria, and Damian are really nice people. We've gotten through a lot, and I don't understand why, but I feel as though I can trust them completely," her thoughts continued. Mr. Taylor seemed nice enough, if not a bit crazed from the hill. As for Ethic... Rose's intuition told her to trust him, but she couldn't help but to remain weary of him for the time being.

Collecting herself, Rose spoke again. "Shame that he acted that way. Perhaps the hill got to him. And if the rat-man-- Shotgun McGee, I believe you said?-- is a shadow... Let's just say I don't want to know how he became one, or who did it," rang her words solemnly.