Under the Hill - Second Circle: Lust

[Rosesong]

"Uh..." Rose was speechless. A young man had just yelled at the loving dead, and they backed off from the group immediately. Not only that, they made no move to attack him. She was stunned, but also suspicious. No one could do that without being a little... Odd.

Jumping down from her perch, keeping her spear close, Rose gave a weary nod. "We just arrived," she explained, wincing as her ankle twisted beneath her. "These guys," motioning to the naked creatures, "have kept us treed for awhile. May I ask who you are?"

[Supernovae]

Mr. Taylor woke up to the sound of some man introducing himself.

"Oh, hi. I don't think I've seen you around yet, are you new here?"

He looked around trying to catch his bearings. He was apparently lying on a tree branch, his body was considerably slashed up and the most of the group had also taken to the trees. His mind was racing trying to figure out, just what had happened, the last thing he could remember was being pinned down by the loving dead. However, none of that mattered now. A new figure appeared and the dead appeared to obey it as master, Mr. Taylor knew that this couldn't be good. However, despite his own worries Rose and Ethic apparently had decided to introduce themselves, he couldn't blame them though, but he knew it would be unwise to keep talking to this man.

Mr. Taylor quickly tried to get up, the pain from the cuts burned deeply through his skin, but he managed to push himself up on the branch and stand leaning on the tree behind him, now facing Ethic and Rose. "Ethic, Rose, please don't trust this man, if he's they're master than he must not be our ally," he quietly tried to mouth to the two.

[Notus]

Ellaria snaped ou of her shock when the noise started to fade, reapering beside Ethic - and apparently oblivious of what she just did. Still shaking in fear she listened to the talk.

"We just arrived here a short while ago, actually... while the sun was still up."

"Oh, nice! By day it is really beautiful in here dont you think?" the newcomer answered Ethic in a happy tone. Then he turned, listening to Rose's question, and opened a broad smile as he saw the girl. "Ah sorry, it was too impolite of me not to introduce myself, specially to such a pretty lady. My name is Aighan and I'm a humble staff here. It's pleasure to meet you all." he said simply, bowing graciously towards her. Finnally, to answer Mr. Taylor he said. "Oh, no need for fear my good sir, as i said i'm just a subordinate. I understand if you don't trust me, but i think I could help you a bit."

Edited June 14, 2014 by Notus

[Rosesong]

"It's a pleasure to meet you," the 20 year old smiled lightly, before the full weight of his words hit her. "Staff?" Rose echoed. "How do you propose to help?" Shifting her weight so that her ankle bore as little weight as possible, she added, "Why are you helping us if you work here, and how high in the ranks are you?"

Edited June 14, 2014 by Rosesong

[Notus]

"Ah you see, the hierarchy here is quite simple. There's the boss, and staff members. These fellows troubling you are just the residents." Aighan answered. "Living humans are much more interesting than them, with your emotions and all... You fascinate me. As for how can I help, I can't actually do much for you or I'd have to explain myself to the boss, but I guess I could give you some orientation. Forgive me for asking, but where are you trying to go to?"

[Rosesong]

"We're trying to get to the next circle, and leave," Rose answered cautiously. "Who do we need to speak to about this?"

[Notus]

"Why m'lady, that would be the boss. You'll need to go up, she lives in the top level of the garden." Aighan answered. Then he looked at his wrist watch and made the world famous "Oh, so late!" face. "I apologize, but I need to get going. Soon day will come, and I need to put all these fellows back on their places. Hope I see you again!" he snapped his fingers and the Loving Dead started going back to their places beneath the trees. Than he bowed again to the group and walked away with a smile.

[Rosesong]

"Thanks for your help, Aighan," Rose called as he walked away. She didn't trust him, but he did give the answer that they had desperately needed. "Ok guys," she said to the group, awkwardly turning to face them while trying to keep weight off her ankle, "how should we get to the top of the garden?"

Edited June 14, 2014 by Rosesong

[Supernovae]

Mr. Taylor waited until the man was completely out of site, then turned to Rose. "We shouldn't," he gave her as stern a look as his cheerful old face could, "I've seen my fair share of used car salesman and I'd wager he's one of them." He looked around the tree tops trying to address the rest of the group, "Besides let's not forget where we are, the staff here are demons. It's clearly a trap, but I'm not sure of any other options at the moment, so if the decision is to go up there, than I'd suggest we have an escape plan in case things go sour."

[anethia]

Annie merely watched as the man ordered the Living Dead around, introduced himself, and Ethic and Rose began to speak to him. Then, he just walked off and everything went back to normal - apart from there being no monsters around.

"Mr. Taylor, you're alive!" She said, as he began to talk to Rose and the rest of them. "Thank god. But anyway, let's move on; where else are we expected to go? We have two to three hours when day comes, but we can start moving now since the Loving Dead are gone. We have no clue where else to go, so we have to go see the boss. There's a chance she's just like Minos, the boss of this circle. And with the powers we have," Annie glanced at Kenny, "we should be fine to escape."

[Ragnar]

The Manticore flies and carries the two boys through the night sky as it decided to swoop down on the nearest spot it can find. The beast first drop Marcus into the terrace releasing its grip leaving Ixidor still held captive in its paws. We're not done with your little joy ride said the voice in his head.

the Manticore flies a few distance into the well constructed garden not far from Marcus' location. The beast swoops down and drops the young artist roughly into the concrete which result Ixidor rolling down on the marble floor and the beast landed as well as it stalks its prey. The area seems safe enough seeing without any presence of the loving dead. Ixidor desperately tries to defend himself as he gets up while the beast was about to pounce.

This is what you get for disobeying me! i try reasoning with you, but you keep ignoring me! let me remind you that everything you create there's a part of me in that! I'm not gonna kill you that would be stupid considering i am you, So I'm gonna give you a little reminder of my presence! said voice with anger.

The Manticore breaths fire from its mouth as it spins around the area creating a ring of fire leaving the two trap in it. Wide eyes and scared shitless Ixidor steps back. Before he can withdrew his sketchpad to defend himself the beast strikes in a blink of an eye as it pounce and slamming its massive paws into Ixidor's body leaving him trap between it.

Ixidor tries to squirm but the weight of the beast was too much. The Manticore's jaws come closer and closer as it sniffs and bites the hand of the artist and rips it clean. "AGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!" a blood hurdling scream was heard as it echoes through the garden.The Manticore dissolves slowly into thin air releasing the pressure on the artist underneath its paws, leaving Ixidor alone lying flat in excruciating pain in the middle of the ring of fire as he warps his amputated hand inside his shirt to prevent it from bleeding too much.

Edited June 14, 2014 by typhlosionrulez

[Supernovae]

Mr. Taylor turned his attention to Annie now deciding to respond to each of her comments in order, "Well yes, I am, but I'm not quite sure how. I was surrounded and about to get ripped a part. Then the next thing I know I'm up in this tree. However, I doubt that was most likely due to the quick action and thinking of you lads and lasses and I thank all of you for it. But, ... as for if we go see this boss, remember who Minos was, how powerful he could be. If we go in there thinking that they're just going to let Kenny open up a portal for us and let us walk out, then there is no way we'll survive that encounter if this boss doesn't want us too. These are the guardians of hell after all and if we are to deceive them then we can't miss anything."

[Chevaleresse]

Marcus slowly picked himself up off of the ground. The fall had driven most of the air from his lungs. He felt at his ribs for a moment upon standing; they appeared to be intact. "Well, I guess that ends that." He heard a shriek in the distance. Must be more of those dead things. He headed in the opposite direction of the noise; during this night, silence was stranger than the inhuman wailing.

[Notus]

Ixidor

Suddenly a gap opened in the wall of flames around Ixidor, and someone passed through it.

"Oh my, it was you that screamed a little while ago? Here, let me take a look on this."

The newcomer kneeled next to Ixidor, and extended a hand to him. When he looked he saw a beautiful blonde girl in a white dress, sky blue eyes looking at him with worry.

"Please, let me see what I can do for you."

Marcus

As Marcus walked of, a whistle came from right above him in a tree.

Leaping from it down to the ground with agility and grace, a red haired woman stared at him. "Hi there, are you lost?" she asked with a playful voice.

[Ragnar]

Ixidor rolls over feeling all kinds of pain and slowly gets up. He sits down hiding his hand inside his blood stained shirt. "Agghh,,,..yeah, i got separated with my friend and got into a little accident." he winced and looks down at his freshly amputated hand "who are you?"

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Byron

Byron felt awful, he was actually surprised he wasn't dead, he awoke in the one of the trees. "What's going on? Are the Creatures gone?" He shouted from the tree.

Quincy

Quincy was still having the time of his life, now stabbing them with the cane sword he had. He laughed in his reverie, but he felt a bit empty. "I should really get back to hunting the others, they could be missing me." He said as he jumped from the tree. He landed past most of the Loving Dead, and scurried off looking for his prey.

[Rosesong]

Calling up to Byron, Rose replied, "Yep, their master called them off of us and sent them home. He also told us that the boss is at the top of the garden, so we need to figure out how to get there."

After speaking, the girl felt another massive headache coming on and dropped to her knees, spear dropping to her side as she clutched her head. She withheld her scream for fear of what lay in the garden. As the headache took hold of her, a nosebleed took form.

[Sutoratosu]

Ethic Watched as the young man below finished conversing with the others and went about putting the Loving Dead back into the earth... Where those filthy hevons belonged...

He was oblivious to the conversation going on between the others behind him as he looked off into the air... seeing a small rift open there, with a golden light pouring forth into the eerie red light of the night... Lucian spoke up in his mind urgently

"Damn it... looks like it's begun... they're coming for us..."

Ethic watched as the rift struggled to get wider... though it seemed some strange force was acting to make it close at the same time... He looked to the others with a quick glance, and realized that chances were, he was probably the only one able to see it. The Rift sealed a few seconds later, leaving the space in the air like it was before... Ethic called to Lucian mentally...

"What the hell just happened?"

Lucian replied a few moments later

"I don't really know... I guess..." Lucian paused, apparently thinking about something

"I think it has something to do with this red moon here... I can feel something wrong with my powers... Like how I can't sustain a fire... I thought it was just the fact that Ethereal Fire is weaker when exposed to the light of the moon... but then I started feeling it interfere with my other abilities as a keeper... this little thought presence I do with you... it's a lot harder for me right now than it should be... usually, it takes little effort..."

Lucian stopped talking... and Ethic noticed a strange tearing sound next to his ear, he turned to see a rift like the one a while ago now next to his face, though it rippled and slammed shut within seconds of him spotting it. Lucian called in his mind, sounding a bit tired.

"Damn it... looks like I'm right... what I did just know, that rift you saw... I was trying to open a door onto the Arcane Path... You've been there before... when you entered into Hell... and when a certain someone dragged you to that mock trial by the Council... Invokers can't open doors onto the path themselves, but they can still walk on it just fine... though we Keepers should be able to open Doors to it with relative ease... I tried to just now, and It was the hardest thing I've tried to do in a very long time... I couldn't keep it open for more than a few seconds, as you could see..."

Lucian's form appeared sitting by Ethic's feet, the young mage's legs dangled from the branch as he held his staff in the crook of his arm and shoulder. his face had a tired, ragged look to it...

"I'm even having a hard time physically manifesting myself..."

He looked up at Ethic

"If I'm having these issues, that means that it's only logical that all the other Keepers would have the same issues if they came here... that's probably why Longicus decided to wait for a later time rather than coming through now to kill us..."

Ethic looked down to Lucian, a bit Confused as to how lucian could tell exactly who had tried to open the first rift.

"Wait a minute..." he began

"How do you know for sure it was Longicus, it's not like anything was visible in there other than some light..."

Lucian Scoffed at this.

"Like I said before my friend, other senses than just the eyes... Though... it helps that I can sense when my Former Colleagues are nearby... And it was his presence I sensed on the other side of that Rift just now..."

Ethic stared up at the blood red moon.

"What's the prognosis on our situation then?"

"We're apparently safe from them when the moon is up in this place... though not from those things that chased us... though, come daytime..things will probably not be so...."

"How much time we got till dawn?"

"I can't tell... time moves differently here than what I'm used to..."

The two young men stared up at the moon, wondering for how much longer they would have it's apparent protection before their hunters would be able to close in...

-------------

Longicus cursed under his breath as he felt the Rift he was attempting to create collapse on itself. he tried again, getting no result at all this time

"Damn it!" he called, opening a portal in a random place in the world above, and getting no difficulty as he stepped through the Rift and onto a beach with palm trees and highrises in the distance. he took a look around, then headed back onto the Arcane Path, closing the rift behind him.

"What's going on? why can't I hold open this Damn Rift for more than a few seconds!?" He ground his teeth as he tried again to make a rift into the area where he knew Ray and Ethic to be due to the trackers that Maxwell had been so kind as to sew into the lining of all the articles of clothing he'd given the fugitive... he could sense Lucian nearby as well when he concentrated on finding Ethic in his mind. the result of his latest attempt was the same; Nothing, but this time, he could feel his strength waning as he tried to Rift in... like something was inversely affecting him, though he had no idea what it could be...

Letting out a sigh of pure frustration, the Roman Soldier turned around and began walking back up the Path of Light, heading towards the Door way to the Arcane Sanctum...

The High Keeper would have to be told of these difficulties...

-----

Edited June 15, 2014 by Stratos

[Chevaleresse]

Marcus gripped a knife hidden in the folds of his clothing, but did not show any other external reaction. "Many would say so," he replied cryptically.

[Flux]

Phantom looked around in confusion as the dead started to retreat. They were heading back towards an area in the distance that he could not see. Taking advantage of the situation, he leaned forward onto the railing of the balcony, catching his breath from the taxing battle. After a short while, he stood again and returned the sword to its sheath. He looked out from the balcony towards where the dead had gathered. He could vaguely make out a figure walking between them, and could see some of the others from the first circle gathered around. He watched for a while, unable to hear what was being said. Deciding it was pointless to continue the endeavor, he turned away and strode down the opposite staircase, returning to ground level in the garden. He strode down a path, looking at the flowers growing around him. They struck a far-off chord in his memory, but he could not remember why. He began to think on what he had learned from Minos, what he could remember at least, before continuing down the path. He was sure he had known more than he did now when he was with Minos, but he was having trouble retaining the information. After walking for a while, he knelt down and looked at one of the flowers. It was beautiful, seeming almost to glow a pale pink color in the waning moonlight. He reached out and touched the flower, running his fingers lightly over the petals. It seemed so familiar to him, a memory pushing at the edge of his mind, trying to resurface. But try as he might, he could not grasp it.

[Notus]

Ixidor

The girl kept her worried look at Ixidor. "This doesn't seem like "little" for me." she said."I'm Mia. I understand you don't trust me, but let me at least help with this bleeding." she took a handful of leaves from a plant nearby. "These have some medicinal use, you just need to put them on the wound." she said, handing the leaves to Ixidor.

"Now, if I can ask, who are you? It's been much time since I saw someone alive here." Mia asked, her blue eyes still locked on the boy.

Marcus

"Well, then you might want some orientation right?" the ginger asked him with a smile. "Though I don't know if I should help you. It's not very polite to draw a knife for a lady, you know?"

Phantom

"They are beautiful, aren't they?" a voice asked the Phantom while he was looking at the flowers.

As he looked to the source of the voice he saw a young woman with long dark hair and startling green eyes standing next to him. She seemed lost in tought staring at the flowers too, and she slightly remembered Phantom of someone he knew.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Notus

[Ragnar]

Ixidor gladly accepts the leaves as his eyes slowly makes its way to the girl's face and notice the beauty of the worried girl. "Thanks-- wow, you're pretty." Ixidor blushed and paused for a while "ehem, sorry about that." Ixidor let go of the hand of Mia.

"i'm not trying to be a creep here miss Mia, but such beauty it's hard to ignore, it's like seeing a face of an angel in the midst of this hellish place." Ixidor seems lost for the moment as inspiration struck the young artist.

"I'm Ixidor, judge Minos sent me here, i'm kinda lost.after avoiding those creatures. like i said i got seperated--" Ixidor pause and think about what the girl just said "wait...what do you mean it has been much time since you saw someone alive here? is there something i should know about!?" Ixidor crawls a few inch away the girl called Mia as fear quickly replace his bliss.

guess what i'm gonna create next

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

The little girl pulled herself up onto the tree's branches, having made the suspended iron beam dissipate. She found out that keeping something she conjured for too long made her tired, so she made it go away. From there on, having nothing much to say, she hugged Ace and stared blankly, swinging her legs below her as she sat by Miss Rose.

[Flux]

"They are beautiful, aren't they?"

Phantom turned to face the source of the voice, breaking him out of his reverie. It was a young woman, with long dark hair and vibrant green eyes. He was startled by her appearance; she was so familiar, much like the flower, but still he did not know why. The memories were like a tantalizing fruit growing just out of his reach. For a while, he simply stared at her, trying to trigger the memories. Eventually, as the effort proved fruitless, he answered the woman, his ethereal voice echoing.

"Beauty..."

He paused for a while, returning his gaze to the flowers.

Yes..."

[Sutoratosu]

Ethic and Lucian stood on the branch, staring at the moon... when Lucian's attention was drawn by something in the distance. the Magus turned his head, looking with more than just his sense of sight... He could sense the presence off in the distance, it was familiar... because of all the issues it had caused...

He felt as power began flaring around this strange presence off in the distance, the actual figure unseeable, but yet still there. he felt as the power condensed itself around the figure... and a bolt of energy was fired off soundlessly. Lucian sprang up onto the branch, Grabbing Ethic and yanking his head downward, forcing his body down as well, crying out

"DUCK!"

Ethic had no idea what was going on, but he didn't put up any resistance as Lucian forced him down, he looked up above to see a sphere of what seemed to be pure darkness fly through the air where his head had been a few seconds ago. the sphere continued it's flight, hitting a far off tree across the way and leaving a large black mark on the trunk as several branches could be seen snapping and falling down from the force of the blast. He looked to Lucian. who lay on the tree branch beside him

"What the hell was that!?"

"It's that little Bastard, Scott..."

"Wait, like the guy that Maxwell called his 'Apprentice'? How could he manage to get here, let alone fire that thing at me if this whole red moon theory of yours is true!?"

"I don't know..." Lucian Replied, looking around in the distance, apparently tracking something

"Though... He IS the Apprentice to the Devil Arcana... and we're in the middle of hell... You heard what Maxwell said to me, Right? How he was stronger down here than any of us fellow keepers... that same rule probably applies to scott as well, as his Apprentice..."

"So wait..." Ethic said, a bit Nervous about where this was heading

"Does that mean he isn't affected by this red moon crap?"

Lucian stopped scanning the horizon, locking his gaze on a specific point in the distance

"Seeing as how he's here now and is trying to kill us with shots of darkness, I think the answer to that to be an obvious 'yes'."

at that moment, Lucian could feel another shot being charged up... he pushed himself up off the branch, falling down to the ground below and dragging Ethic with him across his shoulders like a rag doll, the Young man falling to the stones as Lucian landed, and another sphere of darkness took out the branch they had been on a few moments ago.

Ethic got up and looked at his friend

"Thanks for saving me... twice..."

Lucian spoke as he continued Eyeing a specific place in the distance

"No problem... But we're gonna have to face him... there's no way we can get away now... he'll just follow us."

Ethic got up to his feet from the cold stones of the ground, glancing back up to the tree where the others were still conversing.

"Can they see any of this?"

Lucian glanced up to them as well

"I suspect that some of them with certain abilities can, but probably have no idea what's happening... not like it matters whether or not they can see it though... not one of them can help us right now..."

Ethic looked away from the Group in time to see another sphere headed towards his head, he dropped to the ground, barely dodging the thing as it wizzed by over head and dissipated into the night. Ethic sprang back up, his anger rising now...

This guy... he's the one that whooped me and then dragged me like I was a sack of flour or something...

He tore Man Without Honor from the sheath at his belt, the blade beginning to pulse with a red light. he called out to his attacker

"COME OUT HERE, YOU COWARD!"

He began pacing back and forth where he was as white energy began flaring off him.... though, not like it would be any use in this fight...

"Fight us like a man instead of sitting back in the dark taking pop shots at me and Lucian!"

That was apparently enough to draw the assailant out of hiding, as a mass of writhing darkness appeared before Ethic and Lucian... a head rose out of it, followed by shoulders and a torso, then arms and legs and feet...

Standing before them was a familiar young man with black hair and all black clothing...

He looked at the Magus and the Arcane Fugitive, smirking

"All right, Ethic," He said "since you're gonna bitch and moan about me doing this the easy way, we'll settle this with Close quarters combat."

He flung out his left arm, a sword of Black metal materializing there. He spun it in his hand before taking an aggressive stance with the thing angled downward above his head, the tip pointing towards Ethic. He spoke up again

"Well, BlackyMcGee, any last words?"

Ethic ground his teeth at that... He was absolutely certain that was meant to be a Racist insult... but it was Lucian who spoke out

"A Dick and a Racist..." He began, sarcastically

"Well, Scott, aren't you just a charming bag of filth and hate?" Lucian smirked at his own counter to what had been said

Scott simply shook his head, letting out what seemed to be a sigh of dissapointment

"No, no... You see, that's the issue with folks these days... Their always willing to jump to the conclusion that something is 'Racist' or Ethnically insulting..." Even as Scott spoke, he began to circle around the two of them... Ethic could tell from the Goth's Eyes that he was looking for an opening.

"I didn't call you that to be Racist." he said simply "I called you it because, in case you haven't noticed, you're decked out head to toe in Black clothing."

Lucian scoffed at this pathetic defense

"Bullshit." He called "That's the best you can come up with for the defense of your statement? I've hear-"

Ethic held up his hand to the side of his face in a "halt" gesture to Lucian. He watched as Scott continued to circle around them like a lion stalking prey... he knew what he was doing... it was what Ethic would do as well if he was on the offensive against someone

"Stop talking, Lucian..." He began, making sure to turn constantly so that he'd always be facing Scott

"This guy doesn't care about Race or Ethnicity or any of that type of stuff.... He's completely apathetic to it; he doesn't give a damn... I can see it in his eyes..."

He glanced to the Magus

"and at the Same time, nothing is sacred to him... he didn't say what he said for Either of those reasons, he said it because he knew that His enemy had a weak point for such statements... He said something similar to me last time... that's probably how he figured out that saying something along the same pretext would work against me again..."

He returned his attention to Scott

"the Sole reason he said that was because he knew it would distract his enemy and give himself time to set up to attack..."

Ethic let out a slight chuckle

"It was a nice try, Scott... It would've worked if I didn't know what you were doing...but I can see it all in your eyes... you don't know how to hide anything in your body language, Do you?"

Scott let out a chuckle as well as he continued circling.

"Well done Ethic...That's what I would say... If you hadn't seen from my body language specifically what I wanted you to see..." he crouched a little to the ground as he moved

"Oh, Ethic... there's that Arrogance again... thinking you fucking know everyone... You're not Ender Wiggin, my friend... In Fact, I believe you disowned you Father's surname and ran away because of the very type of Arrogance you saw in him, which you yourself are displaying now."

Ethic could feel his anger rising a little higher, but prevented himself from acting on it... that's what this bastard wanted just for him to do right now, but he was determined not to rise to the bait.

"Are you done?" he asked Scott

"Because if you aren't, I'll have to cut your tongue out of your mouth."

Scott seemed to grow a little angry at this... he finally made his strike, rushing forward and making a sweep for Ethic's abdomen, which he managed to barely parry with his knife, his arm ringing with pain from absorbing the excess force of the blow Scott had made. Lucian rushed at the Goth, bringing his staff down in an arc, Scott broke contact between his black sword and Ethic's Red knife, leaping backwards through the air, dodging Lucian's staff and beginning to circle again, this time his blade was held in what seemed to be a fencing poise...

"Oh, you were right Ethic," He said with a cruel smile

"This is going to be much more fun than killing you from a distance..."

Edited June 15, 2014 by Stratos