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No title.
(2012-11-23 - 2012-11-24)
No description.
Garland Mirage Tower. At the peak of this immense structure, which looms over the Dalmascan Sands, spreading its shadow as far as the eye can see, there is a room, a wide, open-air room into which no light penetrates despite the blue sky quite visible above. White clouds perpetually block the sun, casting a shadow over the room indefinitely; it makes a quite comfortable situation for those who are fond of the Darkness, who take their comfort and pleasure from the shadow.

And of such creatures, few are more monstrous than the fallen knight and former god, Garland. He rules this tower with an iron fist; it is an expression of his will, like so many other things he has taken control of, and it is here that he comes when he has need of appearing in a public situation - that is, talking to other people. Even his Apprentice has not yet set foot in the Castle Above The Clouds, nor been made aware of its existence; that is reserved for Garland alone.

Now, Garland steps out of the darkness, the Corridor closing away from him. He is beyond human; an ancient, rippling creature that once upon a time and will again be a god of darkness. The shadows know him, and they bend to his presence.

And he would speak with another he suspects is much like him, one his adorable little Apprentice ran afoul of and dragged to his tower on his own orders. He had a desire to Speak, and while the creature was still weak, he could do so - he had no interest in battling it. Not when he had other plans.

He does not need to announce that he has returned. The machines power up, the various security systems springing to life with whirrs and clicks and mana running through their veins. Their master is come, and they kneel before him.
Angantyr Vespar Angantyr had returned some time earlier, placing the girl on something akin to a flat surface so she could rest. Angantyr took his own helmet off, keeping it under one arm, before sitting down near by in the room and closing his eyes. This doens't mean he wasn't aware...oh no, his mace was still within close range, easily enough to take it and smash the head in of a troublesome girl again.

He had lost his focus, he wanted to try and regain some measure of control before he saw his master again.

Then the building started coming to life, and he rises, placing the helmet back on. He was still relitively injured, but the shadows were doing a nice job restoring him to increased strength. The mace comes back into his hand, before it slides back into it's holster.

"I brought the girl old man like you asked."
Leida Silent and still, the young girl lies where she has been placed in a corpse-like coma of recuperation. Her chest rises and falls but the motion is almost imperceptable and spaced too far apart for a normal person to be sustained by the scant air that it pulls into her lungs.

The room is bathed in shadows and this helps to speed the process along, the ancient creature bonded to her bending the primordial energies to its will. Faint wisps of purple light waft up from Leida's body like a shroud and in the dim light the darkness watches and waits.
Garland "Well done, boy." Garland makes his way forward, completely silent despite being both seven feet tall and clad in full, very clunky-looking plate mail. The sword on his shoulder evaporates, disappearing back into the Darkness from which it was drawn; he needs neither motion nor incantation to banish the massive slab of segmented metal, for it is as he is.

And he is frightening. Though he is shaped like a man, any Darkness would see that he is of the Darkness, that he IS the Darkness; in the primordial memory, it may even remember the name of Chaos, the God that he once was, the God that reverberated through time and space and will once again do so when Garland's advent comes to pass. For now, he may be lessened, but he is no less ancient, no less endless, and nothing less than an abyss to which there is no bottom.

Garland pauses before the body, looking down at it as the wisps of purple shadow leak from it. He does not crouch or kneel; he simply waves his hand gently to the side, massive clawed gauntlet moving as silently as Garland himself.

"Name yourself, if you have one."
Leida For several moments there is silence, the scintillating haze of dark energy shifting slightly as it considers the presence before it. It is old and powerful, older even than itself. It does not know how it knows this but it can feel the knowledge seep into its depths even as it wonders. Such is the way of things in the world of the supernatural. It does not question it.

They are the same, but different. Two pieces of primal chaos adrift from their whole. What is does /not/ know is why it has been brought before this one.

The child's eyes open suddenly and she stares blankly up at the ceiling for a few seconds. As if drawn by invisible puppet strings, her body lurches upwards on the table or bench that she lies upon and it turns to face Garland. Sliding to the edge of the platform, Leida hangs her legs over the side and rests them on the floor. Her head tilts back slowly, her eyes drifting up the massive form before her until they finally rest on the wicked helmet and stare into it with the same sickly light.

"We... are Leida..."

The voice is composed of two different tones, one a dark and sinister thing laced with treachery and hate and the other innocent and confused. They mix together in a strangely harmonic way that whispers echoes into the darkness.
Garland Garland is, indeed, old. Thousands upon thousands of years old; he knows masks and lies and manipulation when he sees them. Indeed, he has been them; he has pulled the strings of civilizations to watch them fall into Darkness and been the ruin of souls, and he had no desire to stop now. He tilts his head downwards slightly, considering the creature and the shard of darkness that sat before him.

Garland closes his hand into a fist and settles it behind his back. "Know then that I am Garland, and that I would speak with you. You have assaulted my apprentice; I would know what purpose you have in doing so." There's no threat, no hate, no anger; it's simply a matter-of-fact statement from a voice that rumbles like the depths of an earthquake, as dark as the shadows at the bottom of the sea.

He looks over at Angantyr. "You said that she tried to consume you, did you not, boy?"
Angantyr Vespar Angantyr shrugs a bit. "She tried to pull me into darkness, which is kinda silly considering who I am and the training I went through, but it was still hers. Things tried to grab me and restrain me, and she tried several times to suck the life form me, so I would consider that trying to devour me. Rather it was my heart or something else.." he shrugs, "Whatever the case might be, I'm the one still standing." he says running his hands over his gauntlets, "Freekin' puppet."
Leida A faint haunting laugh rebounds throughout the room but the girl's face remains placid and blank, her lips barely moving. "Our purpose..." It muses softly as if the thought were an amusing concept. "We have none... we exist because we must... Light cannot but cast... shadows in its wake..."

The girl slowly pushes to her feet and the darkness deeps around her as if what little illumination exists here were being drawn into her body. "We /are/ the shadows... in the hearts of men... in the dead of night... in the purest soul..." Her arms rise to each side as if to embellish the explanation with a flourish though her lack of enthusiasm doesn't help. "We wish only to see hope snuffed out.. to hear the songs of sorrow... as the darkness hidden away in all... is brought screaming into the open for all to see..."
Garland Garland nods at Angantyr's report. Yes, so he'd expected; shadow swallowed all things, inevitably. As the girl/creature said, darkness existed because darkness existed. It ate because it could.

"No, I do not think that you are so grand. I think you are but a piece of that darkness." Garland looms over the girl, tapping the wrist of his gauntlet; metal upon metal rings out across the shadows as he observes and considers her words. "However, we have similar goals - at least for the time being. Therefore, I will forgive you for assaulting my apprentice; you knew no better, after all. Furthermore, I will give you a purpose - to expedite your consumption of the Light and bring the shadows to all that lives. I trust that that is acceptable to you." Again, Garland doesn't ask people if things are acceptable; he simply states that he feels that they are, and if they have an objection, he listens.
Angantyr Vespar Angantyr rolls his shoulders, working out a kink from the the fight in his back, still trying to shake off the effects of her assault on his control. It was a good test...but one that shook him a bit too much...one wrong move and it would have been bad for him. Really bad. However, right now he is quiet, watching the scene infront of him unfold. Angantyr didn't quite believe all of the things the old man says, but he does know one thing: Darkness is power, the power that he was born with. He knows no other power, because it refused to leave his soul.
Leida Again the demon, it does not shy away from this label for such things inspired fear in mortals, considers the words of this ancient darkness given form before it. It did not much care for the implied threat behind its 'forgiveness' but it knew also that to take offense would be futile and likely fatal. But it was a creature of lies and deceit so feigning fealty to this being would be easy enough for it. However, there was still one question to ask first.

Leida's head tilts to the side slowly and her bangs shift to cover her childish features, leaving one glowing eye to peer up at Garland coyly. "And why," it whispered. "Should we... do this for you...?"
Garland "You assume that I am asking you to do it for me. That is your first mistake." Garland's clawed finger rises in front of him, directly in front of his helmet; directly between his covered face and Leida's. That finger points towards the open sky as he stares at her, two ancient creatures atop an ancient tower. Angantyr is witness to something old, something so old that concepts of time are not really relevant at all; it's a rare sight for any mortal creature.

Garland's second finger rises. "Your second mistake is attempting to play with me when I am offering to aid you."

His fingers close back into a fist, and his hands go back behind his back as he resumes his pacing. "You are not doing this for me. You are doing it for yourself. I am offering you a purpose not to suit my needs, but to aid in your feeding. I am offering to aid you; I have neither desire nor drive to rule over you, nor give you orders. If you wish to ignore me, the only one who does not profit is you."

He shrugs gently, sending a billowing through the dark purple cape that flows around him. "It is, in the end, your choice. However, if you are interested in the opportunity I provide..."
Leida Leida clucks her tongue as the demon inside hisses in contemplation. It was alone here, in this strange mingling of worlds that had been opened to it. The Heartless had come on the day of its finest hour, sweeping through the entire world as the utter depths of the grief and madness it had inflicted upon the young noble girl broken down the barrier of light. It had been delighted at first but the minions of evil had not come to plunge its home into eternal shadows - the had come to destroy it forever.

Robbed of its ancient bonds to the land, it now continued to exist solely on the emotions of its host and the darkness it could find in others. Greed and fear were human emotions but ones that it was in touch with as a side effect of being bonded to a mortal. It did not want to die. There was only one real answer to the choice presented to it here.

The girl's head dips in a slow single nod and she continues to bend in an elaborate formal curtesy before the being of utter darkness before her. "We submit... to your... will..."
Angantyr Vespar Angantyr continues to watch...

He really starts to feel like a kid watching grown ups talk. It is unsettling to him, feeling out of his element like this, but someone had to do the dirty work. Still...something in him stirred...it wanted him to plunge his sword into her body and destroy her heart. No...not destroy, free it. He clenched his hand, ignoring the urge...that demon, something in him did not like it.

Taking a breath, he shakes his head...submit huh, didn't he just say...nevermind. He was pretty sure the grip on reality of the woman was...not even tenious.
Garland "I do not want you to submit to my will. I want you to continue doing exactly what you are doing - but more controlled. More subtle. More aware of what it is you are doing; targetted, at key points, that you might destroy the light utterly."

Garland had no interest in killing this creature. Even had it refused him, he would've let it go. He has no need nor desire for petty vengeance; he is a man who has long since surpassed such concepts, because they do nothing but waste time and energy, and Garland abhorred doing both. He simply sits, crossing his legs as he does so; though it looks horribly uncomfortable, for Garland, the armor is so much like his second skin that he cannot bring himself to care. "I want you to feast. But I want you to center your feasting in an area called Manhattan. I will open a path for you; there you will find food abundant, Hearts to devour and drag into the darkness as you please. You have likely been there before; it is a central crossroads in these worlds, and many love it dearly. There, I want you to feast on as many hearts as you can - and tell me if you find any strong in the light."

"Beyond that, I have no desires. Act as you see fit. If you wish to attack me, attack me. If you wish to assault my apprentice, attack him. There is no reason to hold back. But...I think the hearts filled with light will be far more appealing to you."

Nevermind that if Garland even had a Heart anymore, it was so full of Darkness as to be nonexistant.
Leida Leida lifts her head and smiles faintly, the first display of emotion on her youthful features yet. It looks awkward in the presence of her souless staring eyes which are affixed upon Garland. Even seated he manages to be almost as tall as her.

"We would dearly... love to do this thing..." It speaks slowly and thoughtfully, as if searching for the right words. "However... there is an... obstacle..."

It leaves the statement hanging in the air like an unfinished thought, waiting to see if either of the two beings present will take the bait for an elaborate exposition.
Garland "And what obstacle is it that you think would block me from enabling you?" Garland inquires, the words very carefully chosen - 'that you think would block me'. If nothing else, the man is assured in his power.
Angantyr Vespar Angantyr is still here.

0KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER

He grunts, the darkness really was persistant today.
Leida "We... are no longer... ourselves..." It continues after a slight pause, clasping the girl's hands over her chest and closing her eyes in an unconscious mimicry of emotional display.

"This... vessel... we are... one... now..." Leida's head rolls to the side, resting on her shoulders as she hugs herself tightly. "Her mind is... fractured... broken... twisted...." It makes a disgruntled noise and opens her eyes, staring at the ceiling. "We cannot... control her," it admits ater a moment. "It taxes us... drains us... we must conserve... our power... for the dangers she faces... Her life... is ours..."
Garland Garland considers this for a long moment. He considers this as he thinks about the girl's actions; yes, that made sense. Angantyr had described her as being detached from reality, as being a broken doll.

"Fascinating. I have never seen such a thing." Garland continues staring at the girl quietly from behind his helmet, thoughtfully. "However...one that can be surmounted. As long as the girl cannot move through the darkness, you are free to feed, are you not?"
Leida Leida nods slowly after a moment's thought. "She is... unpredictable... but her madness... makes her... feared..." The girl smiles again at a recent memory.

"She commands... our powers... though she does not... know why..." It places a hand to her chin, looking thoughtful. "In such a place... panic... chaos... darkness," it adds the last word with a hint of affection. "These things are... inevitable... and we... will feed... but... she wanders... with no rhyme... or reason..."
Angantyr Vespar Angantyr rolls his eyes...god, both the doll AND the demon were weak. "Then get her a leash." he says, callously, doing his best to only be slightly grating....but that urge to destroy the entire creature was rising. It was /irrational/ and he has no idea why. Maybe that darkness was a bit more than he gave it credit for originally...who knows.

His eyes look disgusted, both host and possessed were weak. He swallows his contempt.
Garland "And neither rhyme nor reason is needed. Are you capable of remembering the Hearts you feed upon - whether they are strong in the light, and so on?" That was really the most critical part - whether they were capable of such a thing together. If they were, then the girl's memory loss meant she couln't possibly spill anything anyway - not that Garland really cared.
Leida "Yes..." It turned to look past Garland, its shimmering purple eyes staring into Angantyr as if peering into his soul and reading his thoughts. But it quickly turns away.

"We can take control... when she feeds... and she is drawn... as we... to the shadows... in humanity..."

It adds a moment later, "The strongest light... creates... the strongest shadows..."

Its host was one such example of this phenomenon. Pure, innocent, and naive. Leida's love for her family had been the architect of her own demise. The demon had done little but foster the darkness inside of her, such a small thing. But the strength of her love corrupted had destroyed her entire family. Such a delicious irony to feast upon.
Garland "Then that is all that I wish. Send me a message through the Darkness whenever you feed, and name me those who are strong in the light and the darkness alike, and I will help you to grow stronger and stronger, until once again you are in control." Garland stands and holds out his hand for the girl. She could /try/ to feed on him right then and there, but...

Well, dark things feed on kindness and light.

You can't draw blood from a stone.
Leida Leida regards the outstretched hand for a long moment as a bird might a snake. Beings of darkness were not known for gestures of kindness or offers of peace without ulterior motives but this one was old and powerful and seemed to have little need for such deceptions here. No, the demon is not worried about trickery but old habits die hard.

With the same slow grace, she returns the gesture, placing her tiny mitt inside the giant gauntlet and shaking it up and down a couple times. Atleast, it assumes that's what the hand is for at this moment.

"Very well..."
Garland Garland nods, then pulls her upwards, helping her to her feet. "Then, girl, go with my blessing - and feast upon all the hearts of Manhattan."

"You may exit through the corridors. I will find you when I have completed the spell I intend to give you; for now, I think that your wandering will be enough. If you will excuse me..."

Garland draws his massive, segmented sword out of the darkness and levels it at his apprentice. "I must give my adorable apprentice a lesson in the art of Chess."
Angantyr Vespar Angantyr rolls his eyes...disgusting thing, but there is a moment of silent conversation that passes between master and student...and Angantyr decides that battle chest would be the most epic thing ever. It'd never catch on...

Wait...Manhattan?

...Isn't that where...

Or was that Marksdale? He'd have to ask Avira at the clan house.

Hours later at the Clan house, "Where the hell is Avira?"

 
This scene contained 28 poses. The players who were present were: Angantyr Vespar, Garland, Leida