Under the Hill - First Circle: Judgement

[Ragnar]

Crap im no good in dealing with this kind of things. Ixidor shies away a look as he talks

"feeling guilt perhaps? we're only human you know...as for your destiny part, well i haven't found mine yet so don't take my word for it." Ixidor smiled and his expression quickly change in disgust as he pause for while and steps it up looking Marcus in the eye

"That's a very unique power you got there mister ...so you just kill people for your personal gain? does it satisfy you!? but killing is wrong!"

The young painter wince as the troubled killer comes closer to him.. "Ok mister, no need to come closer..were just here to talk" he heard Marcus mumble "I'm sorry, what?"

[Chevaleresse]

"You don't look like me. I thought it might be as simple as that." He thought about what Ixidor had said. "Here's a question for you, since you seem fond of moralizing. Why did you kill me, and nearly kill two other people?"

[Notus]

The Beasts

Pain followed as the She-Wolf was hit in the midlle of a jump by Rose's knife. It held in a howl, more surprised than really hurt. That wasn't supposed to happen.

It landed and reverted it's course to try and confuse it's prey. Didn't work out however, as a wave of cards came flying towards it. Most of them were avoided, but two cut the wolf, just as the knife did, and this time it let out a furious howl.

The She-Wolf would need to bring this to the next level.

It stopped on the place it was, glowing a bright silver. Than it started to speed up on the group's direction, straight through the magma as if it was nothing. Before anyone knew what was happenning, It jumped over to Ellaria, knocking Damian out of the way before closing it's fangs around her body. The girl vanished in a silver light.

It than turned to Rose, eyes glowing with fury.

===============================================

Out of the shadows, the Panther jumped on the way Ethic and Mr. Taylor were running. It let out a roar and stared at them with joy in it's green eyes, knowing the cornered prey wouldn't live long.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Notus

[Ragnar]

Ixidor takes along pause as the question echoes to his head as he remembers the incident ..

Oh snapped! he got you good! well don't you stand there answer the goddamn question... or here's my method since you still have your chisel in your pocket and he is standing in arms reach, why don't you just stab him and make him think twice who's he talking to... as the voice taunts him.

Ixidor out of frustration reach down in his pocket and grips the chisel in his trembling hands. having second thoughts, he calmly lets go of the handle and withdrew his hand from his pocket as he loosen up.

No.. he said to his irrational thoughts

"I'm aware of that, but it was an accident!" as Ixidor holds his tears "But that's not a good reason is it? well i held responsibility for my actions.. i don't need to be reminded, cause my guilt does that every time!" as Ixidor burst down to tears looking at the floor and clenching his fist.

"Look mister i didn't meant that to happen.. I'm sorry but i can't change that now, guess i'll have to face judgement in this place. forget about what i said about you.. who am i to judge?..Im sure you have a good reason to kill." as Ixidor turns his back on Marcus and walks in a different direction.

Edited June 3, 2014 by typhlosionrulez

[Flux]

A portal opened between Ethic and Mr. Taylor and the panther. Phantom strode through. He wasn't exactly positive why he had decided to do what he was about to do, but he had a strange urge to do so. He walked a few steps forward, unsheathing his sword as he did so. He let it hang at his side as he stared at the panther. He looked over his shoulder at Ethic and Mr. Taylor. IT was as if his glowing red eyes had seen into their very soul when they met his gaze. He spoke in the same ethereal tone as before.

"Go... I'll... distract..."

As soon as he finished the sentence, he returned his gaze to the panther, awaiting it's move.

[Supernovae]

Mr. Taylor quickly turned to Ethic, "I'm afraid we're dead weight in this battle, my dear boy, we do need to get out of the way, we'll only be a distraction and we could end up getting someone killed." A quiet pain built in Mr. Taylor's eyes as he said this, he wanted to stay and help, as soon as he had arrived in the hill he had always had to run from his troubles, it was truly humiliating. But, he knew the truth in his words, these were good people and when he or Ethic got into trouble he knew the others wouldn't hesitate to help out, even at there own risk. Mr. Taylor turned to Phantom and let out a quiet thank you, then turned in the other direction to get away from both the Panther and the Wolf. "Come on Ethic, let's get moving!'

[Rosesong]

Rose stared as an angry howl came from the direction her cards were going in. Suddenly, a bright silver glow could be seen, even over the luminescence of the magma. What happened next was terrifying. The she-wolf dashed over Enya's trap as though it were non-existent, and ran past her. Turning, her green eyes widened in horror. The wolf had knocked Damian away and grabbed Ellaria in its jaws, biting down and causing the girl to just vanish in a puff of silvery white smoke. "Ellaria, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rose screamed desperately, sending her remaining cards at the wolf, each one cutting through the air as fiercely as a knife would.

This caused the wolf to turn and glower at her. Rose scrambled for a pencil from her bag, and quickly sleight-of-handed it into a knife. Wincing as she once again cut herself while drawing the knife out of her jacket, she flung it through the air toward the she-wolf, this one aimed toward the center of its face. As she let go of the knife, she immediately called to Enya, "I hope you have something up your sleeve!" and began to dart toward where some of her cards had fallen earlier so that she could use them again if need be.

Edited June 3, 2014 by Rosesong

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Enya looked at Miss Rose, momentarily confused. At that moment an earthshaking roar sounded throughout the library hall.

"Up my sleeve? He wouldn't fit up my sleeve," she said.

The tear ripped apart as if unable to hold back whatever it hid-- and out came a massive dragon, white with energy that rolled off its scales, flickering black with fury. Its head almost reached the ceiling, knocking down a chandelier, as it drew itself to its full height, the little girl who had climbed onto its neck like a little speck or a mere ant on the beast.

The smell of the wolf was caught in its snout. Dinner was just standing there, below it. The human woman who stood by was irrelevant-- this would provide much more meat that she would.

It lowered itself on all fours, and unfurling its wings, sped towards the hellspawn, hunger in its eyes.

[Sutoratosu]

"Come on Ethic, let's get moving!'

Ethic didn't like the feeling of being so useless... But everything Mr.Taylor said was right... and it was exactly what Lucian had been saying all this time....

Cursing under his breath, Ethic took off after Mr.Taylor as he ran away from the panther, leaving the mysterious masked man to deal with the beast.

[K_H]

Kenny then felt a piece of something fall on him. That's when the Glass collapsed on top of him, freeing him from the rubble of the Walls that had collapsed. as he looked around, he saw a masked dark figure between a Black Panther and both Ethic and an old man, the sea of lava from earlier, and a Gigantic Dragon attacking the She-wolf. Kenny decided to help the mysterious man, so he started Charging up his Aura, glowing Blue in the process, which notified everyone and everything of his return to the Library. he built up quite the Charge, and then funneled one-third of his Stored Power into the mysterious man, and another third into the Little Girl who had summoned the Dragon, giving both of them a huge boost in power. he then continued Charging up, keeping only one-third of what he collects, splitting the rest of the Energy evenly between the man and the girl.

Edited June 3, 2014 by K_H

[Notus]

The Beasts

The Panther narrowed it's eyes , staring at Phantom. The man had his sword in fighting stance, and was standing between the feline and it's prey. No one did that and lived to tell the story.

It decided to test the opponent's skill, jumping straight at his direction, quicker than lightning.

=====================================

The She-Wolf moved it's head quickly, grabbing Rose's knife in it's jaws and breaking it with it's fangs. However, as it started to walk towards the girl a dragon appeared through one of Enya's rips. The She-Wolf stood still while the mighty beast run to strike it.

But it didn't. As the dragon was almost hitting it's target, the Wolf stopped glowing and disappeared into thin air. As the lizard passed right through the place it's prey once was, unable to stop, the She-Wolf appeared once again right behind it.

Ignoring the beast, the silvery figure leapt over a terrorized Rose who could only see the black inside of it's wide open jaws. Than darkness swallowed her.

Ellaria

Ellaria stood up screaming in agony. Than she realized she was whole, and apparently unharmed. Despite the fact that just a moment ago she felt the huge fangs of the She-Wolf tearing through her flesh.

Still shaking from the shock, she listened around. At first she could only hear multiple voices whispering, what she recognized as the library's Shadows. Before she could start to worry about it, she heard something falling on the ground right beside her. And than, a voice.

"Oh great Miss Rose just arrived too, how handy. I'm sorry about the way you've been sumonned here, but it seems you managed to piss of Deceit, and it is not the most patient wolf around, you know." said Judge Minos.

"Now, if you please could recompose yourselves, I'd like to have this trial started"

Edited June 4, 2014 by Notus

[Ragnar]

Just as he was about to leave Marcus... Ixidor realize he left his sketchpad as he turns around and walks towards it and kneels down to pick it up, he looks up at the misunderstood killer as he wipes the tears in his face with his sleeve.

"Well this is awkward..." as he pause " Oops..forgot my pad, Sorry you have to see that mister, but my emotion got the best of me." said with sadness..

"but its better of me if i go alone..so bye for now." as he gets up and start walking again.

Edited June 3, 2014 by typhlosionrulez

[Rosesong]

Rose stared in shock as her knife was destroyed by the wolf, and Enya's dragon did it no harm. The wolf then leapt toward her, jaws gaping open, and she stared in disbelief. Her every plan had failed. "Everyone," she whispered, " I'm so sorry." Closing her eyes, she waited to feel the pain... But instead, the next thing she felt was a hard landing on the floor.

"Oww... That hurt..." Rose moaned.

"Oh great Miss Rose just arrived too, how handy. I'm sorry about the way you've been sumonned here, but it seems you managed to piss of Deceit, and it is not the most patient wolf around, you know," came a voice from somewhere above her.

Looking up, Rose saw a man like Enya had described to Mr. Taylor. "Wait," she questioned wearily, "that wolf, that has been trying to kill us was really trying to get us here? Why couldn't you summon us normally?"

She then stood up, staggering from the pain in her head that was threatening to overtake her. The cuts on her arms were steadily bleeding as well. "Could you answer who you are, and what the purpose of this trial is?" Seeing Ellaria, she leaned on her for support, whispering, "It's me," so the girl wouldn't be frightened.

[Notus]

Judge Minos

Minos stood silent for a moment, considering Rose's questions "Well, yes I actually could. But you see, it's so much better to see how people react in critical situations rather than just asking them... You could think of it as a test."

"As for who I am, you have already been told. I'm Minos, Judge of Hell, and this is the Last Court, where people come to be judged for their sins and qualities and determine where will be the place of their final... rest. Satisfied?" the Judge said.

"Anyway, from now on I'm the one who makes the questions, young lady. As long as we're clear on that, it's gonna be all fine. And to start, a routine question: what do you want from here, and what would you be willing to do to get it?"

[Rosesong]

Rose's head swam at the judge's abruptness. "Um, ok. You're the boss. Anyway," she stopped and took in the judge's words. "I really want to find the means to pay for my schooling, and..." Rose trailed off, unwilling to mention the fact that she just wanted to prove her family wrong. "As for what I would do to get it, my goals aren't as important as some of the others. If helping them means losing out on what I would like, then so be it."

[Notus]

Minos sighed. "Well, you told me part of your wish. You know that could be considered an attempt to hide information from the court, right?" before Rose could answer he continued. "I don't think you did that intently though and anyway, it doesn't matter. This only gives me a better notion of who you are." than he turned to Ellaria. "What about you Miss Ellaria?"

The girl tried to calm herself before answering, with little effect. Anyway, she thought it would be only worse to let the judge waiting. "I...I entered here by accident your Honor. I just want to get out of here safely." she said.

"Nonsense. No one enters this place by accident. You obviously have something you want badly, even if you don't know it yet, else you wouldn't be able to enter before your death."

Ellaria stood still for a moment, thinking. Than she remembered what she had thought when Rose told her they were at the Hill. "I... Can I have my vision back?" she asked, still unsure of that possibility.

"Yes you can, if you manage to get to the bottom."

She was very happy in the moment she heard that. "Oh, I can't believe it! I'd do anything to have it back!" than she realized what she just said, and turned towards Rose. "No, I mean... I... I want the others to have their wishes too but..."

"That's enough miss Ellaria, I already know what I wanted." Minos interrupted her. She couldn't see it, but the Judge was smiling.

"Now to the next question: What's your greatest sin, the thing you regret most in your life?"

Edited June 3, 2014 by Notus

[Rosesong]

"I-I'm sorry, your Honor," Rose said, surprised. "It just hurts to talk about that other part, and I hadn't thought it'd be of any use to mention it." Then she hung her head in shame. "As for this question, my greatest sin is how distrustful I am of everyone around me. For example," she stopped leaning on Ellaria to gesture to the girl. "Ellaria has been nothing but kind to me, yet I don't trust her, not one bit. I know I should, but I can't bring myself to. It's another token of my past," she ended quietly, wringing her hands in front of her and causing more blood to run down her arms.

[Notus]

Ellaria

"Ellaria has been nothing but kind to me, yet I don't trust her, not one bit. I know I should, but I can't bring myself to. It's another token of my past."

Ellaria tensed with Rose's declaration, all joy and hope gone at once. But not for the reason one might think. She felt that the other girl was sorry for not trusting her. And considered the situation, the best would be to ease her worries, as a true friend would.

If she could ever be considered a good friend.

"Don't worry Rose, you do good in not trusting me." said Ellaria, crestfallen. She turned to face Judge Minos. "I know my sin very well. It's treason. I've had one friend in my life, and when he needed me most I turned my back on him. Now either he is dead or living in a horrible place, while I run free thanks to him. I... " she stopped talking, her skinny body shaking in anger as tears ran down her cheeks. "I am not a person that can be trusted." she managed to finish.

"Oh well, this is interesting. You both are." Minos voice sounded, low and serious. "I think we'll need to take your cases carefully. I'll send you back to your friends now, and we will call you again once we reach a conclusion. You're dismissed."

And with that, the two ladies vanished from the courtroom back to the library.

Minos sighed. "Ah Nine Hells, it's been a long day." he talked to himself. "But there's only one left now. Deceit, you can come back, our job is almost done."

In the Library, the She-Wolf let out an annoyed growl. Did he need to call it now that things were starting to get fun?

In a second, the giant wolf vanished, along with the magma, the dragon and all traces of the recent fight, leaving that piece of the Library exactly like it was before.

Except for the two shaken girls that were left in the middle of the aisle.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Notus

[Rosesong]

Rose blinked, she was standing back in the library next to Ellaria staring at Damian and Enya. Suddenly, her eyes widened. When they had come back, she could hear fighting far off. Now she could hear nothing. "Guys, what's happening?" she asked. She began to get scared, as she couldn't even hear her own voice, "Guys?" she screamed, hoping to hear herself but failing.

She saw the others, but her vision had begun to blackout at the edges, and it seemed she was looking through a tunnel. Pulling up her jacket sleeves quickly, Rose noticed that while there was dried blood on her arms, the cuts had stopped bleeding. Unable to hold herself up anymore, she fell to the ground, coughing. Bringing a shuddering hand to her mouth, she found blood there.

Then the headache started. Rose's other hand jetted up to her head as she shrieked in agony through the stabbing pain. Her vision then completely turned black, and she fell unconscious.

[Sutoratosu]

Ethic heard a piercing shriek from far away... sounded kinda like from where the other's had been fighting the wolf...

his instincts and Lucian's nagging told him to keep running and simply disregard it... but he looked behind him and realized that he couldn't even see the masked man and the panther anymore... now that he could no longer lay eyes on the threat, his thoughts shifted from self preservation to worrying about what had happened to his friends to cause one of them to produce such a sound of agony.

that, and the fact that he and Mr.Taylor had been running blindly, with no real idea of where they were headed.

Slowing to a jog and then stopping completely, Ethic called out to Mr.Taylor

"Mr.Taylor! that scream just know... Maybe... we should circle back and see what's going on with Rose and the others... I'm pretty sure that panther is to preoccupied now to pursue us..."

Edited June 4, 2014 by Stratos

[Supernovae]

"Mr.Taylor! that scream just know... Maybe... we should circle back and see what's going on with Rose and the others... I'm pretty sure that panther is to preoccupied now to pursue us..."

Mr. Taylor stopped and knelt down, all this running made his bones ache. He didn't necessarily need the cane to get around, he was still in fairly good shape for his age, but it did help his back out, something he wished he had remembered while running from the panther.

But, still Ethic was right, this was no time for an old man to complain about his back. Mr. Taylor gave Ethic a firm nod, "We'll have to be careful though, just promise me you won't do anything foolish, I don't want you to end up dead." Mr. Taylor sighed quickly remembering the different rules death played by in this world. "I mean I know it's not permanent, but trust me son, it's not something you would want to do."

With that Mr. Taylor turned around and started jogging back in the direction they came, grimacing with each step. "If you don't remember the way back, just follow me I've done my best to keep track of our turns in my head. If I don't get us exactly there, then I'll get us fairly close."

[Notus]

Damian

Damian knelt beside Rose when she fell. "Rose! Wake up! What the...?" Than he noticed the dried blood on the girls arms and mouth. "Oh my." he said, worried. Realizing this was beyond his capacities, he did the one thing he could do. Shout.

"Help! Everyone, Rose is hurt! Come quick!"

[K_H]

Kenny heard Damian call out for help, and Kenny came running, only to get a large headache upon his arrival. After recovering, he noticed that Rose was on the ground, unconscious. He new exactly what he had to do, so he started to heal Rose, and both Kenny and Rose started to glow a vivid Turquoise while he was doing so. He was in the middle of healing rose when another Headache started.

[Sutoratosu]

Ethic followed Mr.Taylor, he could see the older gentleman was obviously fatigued from the running.

"Mr.Taylor, I can find us a different route back to them based on the shriek just now... it'll be safer if we don't completely backtrack..."

He heard a cry echo out in the distance, he couldn't hear it's exact words, but he did manage to pick out one word: Help

this cry also gave him another beacon to lock onto, and he began trying to work out how far it was. once that was done, he began picking his way through various Aisles, heading towards the sound as he had done when he first found the group, making sure to walk for now so that Mr.Taylor could keep up and recover a little.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Stratos

[Flux]

Phantom could feel energy of some sort moving into him. He brush it aside, rather than accepting it. Foreign energy would merely be a distraction. Before he could determine the source of the energy, the panther pounced at him with blinding speed. He barely had enough time to collect himself and roll to the side. He turned to face the panther once more as he stood to his feet. He concentrated energy in his left hand, preparing to make a portal as soon as it began its second attack.