Abysmal Souls: Chapter 2

[ReformBlade]

Carrion

The witch had fallen asleep, too burnt out to bother talking to Adrian any further, as such, Carrion slept peacefully that night, a rather rare occurrence for her. She dreamt of her old days again, playing with her brother, smiling and happy. Unfortunately for her, she could not remember this dream too clearly as her head was throbbing and hurting. She woke up, but she didn't get out of bed since it was too bothersome to move. Oh my god, head, stooop ringiiiiing.... she thought, cringing since the pain didn't seem to go away.

"Adriaaaaan, get me some water..." she whined. "Make it quick!" she added, hoping he'd get the hint that they were gonna be getting up and going very quickly here.

Grant

Earlier that morning...

"Good morning sir, I see that you've recovered."

"Yeah, it wasn't that bad, it just needed immediate attention is all. Now, about the bill, I-"

"Taken care of, sir. Seems the captain actually had it payed for you. In fact, he actually left a note for you..."

"Huh? OK then, lemme see this." Grant picked up the note and gave it a once over. "Ah fuck... Of all the favors and times, he picks now?" He shook his head in dismay. "Well, if that's that, I'm off." And with that, Grant walked out of the building, his belongings in a bag over his shoulder, looking to find the Crimson Witch again...

[Nanami Touko]

Adrian woke to a shrill whine which could only belong to one person. He hadn't dreamed at all that night, and wasn't feeling that good. "Get it yourself... It's your fault you drank all that alcohol last night." He struggled to get himself out of bed, and stretched, wondering what kind of toiletries this inn had. There hadn't seemed to be anything in the room, and if he couldn't find one in the inn, he'd have to deal. Instead of search, though, he stumbled out of the room to find Riya a glass of water. The woman wasn't going to be getting out of bed anytime soon, with a hangover like that, so he might as well get one for her.

"God damn woman getting drunk, why'd she have to go and do that, making it worse for me, freakin'..." he mumbled to himself on the way down to the bar, which was open, surprisingly. The same barman from the night before was working, and, without Adrian saying a thing, handed him a glass of water. "Ah... thanks." The barman nodded. "We all have those days, kid. Just' tryin' t'help." Adrian felt a little better, as he brought the water back upstairs to sleeping beauty. Oh ho ho, I'm so clever, what a fun little sarcastic nickname. Not surprisingly, Riya hadn't moved much. "Here. Your water." He groaned, scratching his head.

Edited May 29, 2011 by seph1212

[CT075]

Ormis got out of bed for the fourth time. The first few times he'd tried to wander around and ignore the hunger pangs, but this time he really couldn't keep putting it off. He started out into the hall, trying to find someone who would lend him money for a meal.

((Short post is short. No idea what to do, really.))

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Lucretia awoke in a sweat. Her mother haunted her dreams again. This time, instead of a memory, it was a chilling vision.

--

The snowfield was red with blood. Bodies were strewn around Lucretia as she wondered who could have done this. As she moved closer to the figure with the bleeding sword the bodies got more grotesque. Limbs were missing, from appendages to arms. She saw one corpse disemboweled and decapitated. She was sick at the sight. As she approached the figure, she realized who it was.

"Mother!!" She yelled. Nothing. "MOTHER!!" She turned to face Lucretia. Her eyes were blank and expressionless. That wasn't her mother.

"My daughter...it is time." Without allowing a reply Anastasia readied her blade. Lucretia knew it was her time to fight her mother. She reached for her swords but they were not there. She could barely scream as her mother advanced on her, her blood-stained blade aimed at her neck.

--

She awoke and immediately went into the hallway, with only a robe on. She made her way to the bar, and saw the barkeep who had served her that drink previously.

"I need something strong again. Any absinthe?" She asked.

"You crazy, miss?!" He asked. "That's strong stuff."

"I can handle it." She placed another two coins on the bar. The barkeep gulped nervously and poured her a glass. She thanked him and took it upstairs with her as she returned to her room. She noticed in the hall the boy who passed out earlier, wandering with a lost expression. She wondered his situation, but the smell of absinthe hit her nose. She immediately began to drink it, the taste immediately sending her backwards.

[ReformBlade]

She supposed she should get up, it being morning and all, and what with the needing to get the hell out of the city and all. She drowsily got up and grabbed the water from the kid. "Thank you." She said rather mumbily. She took a quick gulp just to stop her throat from being so dry and then with a quick intake of breath, she splashed the rest on her face to wake herself up quicker. shaking her head and then wiping it with the blanket, she went to the door, waiting for Adrian. "Any time now, we're probably gonna be getting paid for last night's bullshit. Once we do, we're getting the hell out of here, understand? You should probably get yourself some supplies first, because we got a long ways to go, and we have to be careful."

Indeed, those who were there during the mission the previous night would find a note and a small bag with 500 gold coins waiting for them at the receptionist desk. The note reads as follows:

"To those unaware, the Crimson Witch, or The Devourer as some would call her, walks the earth once more. You were with her last night, you have seen her new face, and now we have one thing to ask of you. Capture her, or if you can't, kill her and bring her corpse to me. If you can manage this, you will be handsomely rewarded, riches of any kind at your fingertips, you name it. If you can't manage this within a week's time, you will be hunted and killed. Contact 'Greg' when you finish the job.

PS: Nothing personal.

Sincerely, A Friend"

[Nanami Touko]

"You know there's...!" he started, as she went to splash the water on her face, trying to tell her there was an easier way to wake herself up without having to get herself wet. Too late. Then she made for the door faster than he'd expected, almost surprised to see her there when he turned. "We're getting paid for killing some soldiers? And, wait, why do we have to leave?!" He yelled, following after her. I know she said we'd have to go, last night, but, damn, she really wants to get out of here. I seriously wish I knew what was going on! He simply grabbed his coat and sack, ready to follow after her. He didn't want to. He wanted to stay with Ormis, Susan, and that knight, maybe go on some adventures with them, but he was tied to the book she held. He cursed under his breath, wishing, once again, for the last night to have never happened.

Edited May 29, 2011 by seph1212

[CT075]

Having had no luck finding any change on the floor, Ormis decided to go see if the receptionist could do anything for him. Instead, he found some money and a note.

"To those unaware, the Crimson Witch, or The Devourer as some would call her, walks the earth once more. You were with her last night, you have seen her new face, and now we have one thing to ask of you. Capture her, or if you can't, kill her and bring her corpse to me. If you can manage this, you will be handsomely rewarded, riches of any kind at your fingertips, you name it. If you can't manage this within a week's time, you will be hunted and killed. Contact 'Greg' when you finish the job.

PS: Nothing personal.

Sincerely, A Friend"

Ormis read it quickly, then threw it into the fire. There wasn't much reason to keep it, since the point of the note was clear and concise.

Scarlet is the Crimson Witch. Which means I have to kill her before she kills me.

He clenched his fist, hunger forgotten. There was a game afoot.

~~~ (Half an hour later) ~~~

Ormis walked out of the armory. He'd gotten a decent meal at the local tavern, and used the rest of the money to buy himself a decent sword and cloak before heading back to the inn. To his surprise, Scarlet was right there, running out at fairly fast speeds, and Adrian was following her haphazardly.

The boy grinned.

The chase is on, isn't it? Time to make a name for myself!

He ran after them.

[Shin]

Aurelio - Still in the barn, still quite far away

Morning had come a little quickly, but it had been a reasonably pleasant night. Aurelio wasted no time sneaking out of the barn - he was a little too hungry to fight its owner.

He made his way to the local tavern, hopefully finding some information. Having no real connections, he often followed the vaguest of leads. However, this attitude meant that he spent months at a times traveling, going back as many steps as he had taken forward. Perhaps it was his reckless nature, perhaps it was the desperation to see his family again. He sat down, hoping to hear even the slightest tidbit. He would be waiting for a good while.

[ReformBlade]

Grabbing the money and getting ready to leave the establishment, she urged Adrian to hurry. "Look, just trust me, okay? I may be 'immortal' for all intents and purposes, but it's not a fun process, and if you cooperate more, I'll give you a present or something, I don't know, just hurry the fuck up, we do NOT have time. Look, we'll split up, you grab whatever you need, and make it fucking fast, then meet me by... let's say the southern city gates." she said with unusually less venom than usual. Perhaps the urgency was getting to her, or any number of things... Either way, she walked out the door and made her way to the stables, purchasing two horses and some feed which unfortunately left her with less than a tenth of her 'reward' money. And now... she waited.

Grant, on the other hand, made his way to the armory, giving a small wave to Ormis as he seemed to be leaving as the knight entered. By the way Ormis was moving, Grant surmised he had gotten the same letter that he got... I'll bet the others were informed of this, it seems. What is he after? he thought, but ultimately put that thought to the side as he searched for a new upper torso piece since his old one was kind of ruined.

Word seemed to have traveled fast last night, as many taverns and inns had rumors of the witch's return! It seems the witch hunts are going to be back, and a return to dark times once again begins to surface...

[Nanami Touko]

"Yeah, because I've got every reason to trust you!" Adrian was getting extremely frustrated, not knowing what was going on. And instead of get an explanation, Riya just left him at the inn, rushing off to do her business. "I don't get a fucking choice, do I?!" he screamed, the few people in the inn staring at him. He couldn't care less, at the moment, and grabbed one of the bags of cash from the reception, as well as one of the letters, shoving them into his pocket. "Hey, you can't take--" one of the workers started, but he'd already left. "Might as well get a new sword." He made his way to the armory, surprised to see the knight from the night before inside. "Uh... hey." Adrian started, not sure if he'd be remembered, or not.

Edited May 30, 2011 by seph1212

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Lucretia found herself the next morning feeling a different sense of awareness. She went down to the inn's lobby and thanked the innkeep. The keeper noticed her swords and asked her, "You going on that hunt too?"

"Hunt?" She asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, every inn and tavern's heard about this 'Crimson Witch' or something." The innkeep replied.

"Interesting." Lucretia said as she exited the inn. "A witch, huh?" She decided to head in the direction of the armory in the hopes of finding someone who knew more about this hunt.

[CT075]

Ormis noticed Adrian running off to the armory, but didn't really care. Right now, his only focus was the girl walking briskly away in front of him.

Well, at least this means he won't interfere... I hope.

"Hey, you!"

He drew his sword , pointing it at Scarlet- no, at the Crimson Witch. Making sure that it reflected the light as impressively as possible, he threw of his cloak in a needlessly dramatic fashion.

"You! Crimson Witch! Yes, you, Scarlet! I know who you really are. And now I'm going to kill you!"

With that, he took an offensive stance, readying himself. He had completely disregarded the fact that he was in a town, and such a provocation would probably land him in prison. He also ignored the fact that she could probably burn the entire place down with a flick of her finger. Despite this, Ormis tensed himself, preparing to charge.

[ReformBlade]

Swishing her hair to the side, she looked at the kid. Oh god dammit. This one again? "Look, kid, I don't know what you're talking about, just... go away? Please? Randomly accusing people of being legendary figures is kinda silly, doncha think?" Hopefully he'd buy it, but she'd bet that even he wasn't that retarded. "It's starting again... Ugh." she muttered, taking a step towards the kid. "Just beat it, alright? All the money in the world probably won't be worth the trouble you're about to get into." By this point, a crowd was forming around them.

The knight looked at the kid, "Hm? Oh, hey there, aren't you...?" He too a moment but a he eventually recognized the kid. "Oh! I never got your name, I only really talked with Susan... so how are you?" Unfortunately for him, he was way too out of it to hear anything that went on in the mission's end...

Edited May 30, 2011 by SlaveBlade

[Nanami Touko]

Adrian smiled, glad to be recognized. At least I'll have someone to talk to, while I'm here. "It's Adrian, ha ha. Sorry about not mentioning it, didn't really get the chance. I didn't get your either, actually." Adrian thought of how to answer his question, starting with a simple thing "And I'm not in the best of moods right now, frankly. Damn woman won't explain why we need to get the hell out of the city. Seriously, she's making it out to sound like someone's after her! I swear, women these days..." and turned it into a mini vent, not intending to do such to the knight. "I've got to get myself a new sword. I lost the other one last night. Kinda sucks, since it was an heirloom of sorts, but, not much I can do about that." He started inspecting the wall, remembering that he had that letter from the receptionist. Might as well give it a look.

"To those unaware, the Crimson Witch, or The Devourer as some would call her, walks the earth once more. You were with her last night, you have seen her new face, and now we have one thing to ask of you. Capture her, or if you can't, kill her and bring her corpse to me. If you can manage this, you will be handsomely rewarded, riches of any kind at your fingertips, you name it. If you can't manage this within a week's time, you will be hunted and killed. Contact 'Greg' when you finish the job.

PS: Nothing personal.

Sincerely, A Friend"

What...? No, no, this isn't going to happen! Adrian paled, and froze in place with the letter in his hands. So, everyone at the inn who was there last night... got a letter exactly like THIS?! Oh shit... Oh, shit! He didn't know what to do, or what to say. He just hoped that the knight hadn't pieced together who he was talking about, a moment ago.

[ReformBlade]

"Oh god, I'm sorry! Grant's the name, and yeah, that was some crazy shit..." he said, listening to Adrian's complaints. "Come on, you're exaggerating, it can't be-" Grant was about to finish the sentence but he noticed the kid's face pale rather quickly. "...that... bad... You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost... Oh. Wait. You're just reading THAT letter? Don't worry, kid, if no one else steps up, I'll kill her for you. You're fine, in fact, you could probably just stay here for the week!" said Grant, completely misreading the situation. I mean, I know it's a bit gruesome, but... these threats are mainly just to rile people up, does he not get that? And it's not like they enforce them that well beyond our own borders... The more he thought of this place, the more he wanted to just run away from it all again. He had almost forgotten why he hated it here, but the customs and the past he had with the place did not sit well with him.

[Shin]

Aurelio - Earwigging in a tavern

After sitting for a good while, Aurelio suddenly got a breakthrough. Crashing through the doors came one of the villagers;

"There's a witch-hunt going on! They say there's a massive reward! Some pink-haired wench! Any men interested come with me, we're setting off now!"

Aurelio stood up suddenly.

"Pink hair?" He thought to himself. "How many girls have pink hair? It actually could be Lunaria! What's she got herself into? Witches like that aren't real!"

He'd have to play it cleverly, they'd never take him if they knew his intentions. Walking forward to the now reasonably sized group, Aurelio responded;

"That's enough waiting, someone'll beat us to it!"

Hurrying outside, the band of about a dozen all took to horseback. Most were foolhardy villagers, Aurelio expected at least 2 of the men were mercenaries. He was informed that she was apparently in a small town in Sapphire. The party would pass Dal Rias in a couple of hours, but they would still have some distance to travel.

Edited May 30, 2011 by Dokutayuu

[CT075]

A boy, only 14 years old, pointed his sword at a man nearly twice his size and easily three times his strength. The man was wielding a broadsword longer than the kid was tall. The rest of the guild was crowding around, laughing, jeering. The boy tightened his grip on his blade. His eyes narrowed to slits. The man looming over him took a few steps forward, then aimed his own blade.

"Come on, kid. I don't have all night. Are you going to live up to your claim or not?"

With that, the boy redoubled his grip on the sword and charged, yelling for all he was worth.

Ormis coughed a little.

Dammit... not again... just like that time... no, no, no, nonononononononoNO!

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

He ran forward, swinging his sword as hard as he could.

"Take THIS!"

Ormis missed, and swung around again for a return shot. This time, though, Scarlet sidestepped. Ormis's momentum carried him through the crowd (which basically backed off from the crazy boy as much as possible) and into the wall. He slammed into it and was knocked back quite a bit, completely winded, momentarily stunned.

Edited May 31, 2011 by Camtech075

[Nanami Touko]

"Don't worry, kid, if no one else steps up, I'll kill her for you."

Yeah, that's real reassuring, Grant. Adrian gulped, "I-I've gotta g-go..." he stuttered out, grabbing whatever sword looked good off of the wall. Leaving a pile of money on the counter, he ran out of the shop. So, basically, everyone in this whole damn city knows that you're the crimson witch, AND, I have to fight with you, because otherwise, I die, because you control my life in the palm of you hands?! Goddammit!! Adrian thought out the whole scenario in his head, only making him run faster.

Coming upon the southern city gates, he saw a crowd, and Ormis out cold on the ground. Looks like he already tried. At least he didn't get himself killed... Heh, I'm gonna have to fight against everyone from last night, won't I? Looking past the crowd, he spotted a rather annoyed looking Riya, just standing there waiting for him. "You!" Oh, you're gonna get an earful. He ran up to her, and grabbed her by her shirt. "So, the whole fucking town's out to kill you, and all you tell me is to trust you!? No, let's not tell him what's going on so that he might be ready for it, fucking NO! Let's just tell him to 'trust me'! What the hell's wrong with you?!"

Edited May 30, 2011 by seph1212

[ReformBlade]

"Don't you dare give me that! All you needed to know was to just move your ass, that's it! I didn't think the why even mattered at all! Excuse me for urgency, you dumbass!" Her anger was rising quickly, but hey, she always had time to talk down to her fellow beings. Grabbing Adrian by the collar she pulled him to within inches of her face. "I'm going to be hunted, and by extension, so are YOU. If you do as I say, I can guarantee a sweet ride the whole way, but only if you fucking LISTEN to me!" She looked frightened for a moment, thinking of the hunts of the past, but ultimately, she felt more indifferent. If no one wants to respect me, I'm damn well gonna reciprocate. "We're going. Now. Just fucking follow my lead and get on the horse." she commanded, hopping on one of the horses, spurring it off to the gate. The crowd was obviously intrigued by the whole thing, some of them actually going off and preparing to give chase, but mostly they just watched and got out of the way. Carrion ignored the unconscious Ormis, as she didn't view him as a threat right now...

Grant was surprised at Adrian's sudden departure, wondering why the kid was so out of sorts. I'll get to him in a moment... He thought as he picked out a suit of armor that would fit him from the wall and payed for it. He walked out to witness Carrion riding away on a horse. Rage seemed to be the only thing left in Grant at this point, his body moving without hesitation, but he could not give chase to a person on horseback... Instead, he went over to Ormis, surprised that the kid was still living giving the circumstances. "Kid, kid! You alright?!"

[Nanami Touko]

"And maybe if you fucking told me why you were in such a rush, I'd be more willing to trust you! I don't want to get hunted either, you know?! You make it sound like I don't even want to leave! Yeah, I'd love to stay and get killed, AGAIN!" He spat back at her, after she unleashed her little rant. "Of course, we're leaving, whatever." Adrian was rather jaded at the woman, now, not wanting to deal with how she worked. Want me to trust you? Fine, I'll get on the fucking horse... except I don't know how to ride a horse! He looked back at the crowd, as some of them seemed to be getting weapons ready, other pointing and mumbling to themselves. And then, the worst thing of all happened. Grant, fully clad in armor now, rushing past the crowd to help Ormis. "Well, looks like it's time to learn." Adrian scrambled onto the horse, barely managing to get himself on top of it, and did what Riya did, flicking the reins. The horse shot off out of the gates, and Adrian held on for dear life. Oh god, why would anyone use these for transportation!

[CT075]

The boy was sprawled on the floor, staring at the broken, shattered piece of useless metal that had been the hilt of his sword only moments before. Above him, the man he had challenged was laughing, laughing for the first time since he had been challenged. Laughing with the rest of the jeering crowd. The boy stood up, glaring defiantly. He wasn't going to go down like this. Charging forward, he attempted to place the shattered end of his hilt into the mans stomach, but was denied by a fist in his stomach. The boy grimaced. He wasn't giving up yet.

Ormis leaned against the wall, still trying to catch his breath. He could still see the crowd gathered around to see the idiot kid, the loud teenager attacking a random stranger. He didn't care. Damn it, damn it, damn it all...

"Kid, kid! You alright?!"

His foggy vision cleared, and he saw Grant standing near him, shouting at him to wake him up.

"Ugh... yeah... Damn... Where did...?"

Ormis didn't need to finish that question. It was obvious who was on the horse moving out of town extremely quickly.

"Damn!"

He punched the wall out of frustration.

"She got away."

[ReformBlade]

Carrion looked at Adrian struggling, which in turn made her grunt in anger. "Get it together! Good god!" was all she could get out. When Adrian had finally cleared the gate, Carrion started channeling some of her mana into her hand. "This'll at least buy us some time, I just hope it'll be enough..." She figured that if they could hide out until they could reach a small town, she could avoid the whole witch hunt scenario altogether. "You people never change... I never wanted... this!" she finished, launching a powerful ball of fire right at the gate, causing a huge explosion and a collapse of said gate. It wasn't a permanent solution, but if they wanted to chase her, they'd need a catapult or they'd need to ride out of the northern gate and travel a long way around the city. Once they were a ways away, she looked back at Adrian and shouted back to him, "Hey kid! Are you really that uncomfortable riding a horse?"

Grant also watched as Carrion got away. "That bitch is going to get what's coming to her, not a doubt in my mind about it. And you and I are going to be the ones to give it. Right?" He said, offering a hand to Ormis who seemed to be as pissed as Grant was. He looked over at the gate as the explosion hit, covering himself from any possible debris, but mostly just angry that she'd do that. "Fuck, she's just making us waste time now! I WILL end her, she has nowhere to hide.

[Nanami Touko]

Adrian clung to the horse, a fireball whizzing past him and striking the gate, causing an explosion as impressive as the ones from last night. Looking away from it to shield his eyes, he focused on not falling off. Of course, it was becoming a challenge to hold on to the reins, but he somehow managed to get himself sitting straight up on the horse, feet in the holsters. God, this is a painful ride. Couldn't have stolen a cart, or something? Riya's shouting wasn't helping his situation, but he shouted back "Of course not! I've never been this close to a horse in my entire life, unless it was pulling the cart!" He was quite embarrassed about that, actually. You'd think someone who was training to save his family from bandits would've learned to ride a horse, but he never did. "How long are we riding for?" He shouted at her, finally becoming the smallest bit comfortable with his ride.

[ReformBlade]

Her gut reaction was to just tell Adrian to quit whining, but she felt that if she would cooperate more with him that he'd be more willing to listen to her. "It depends!" she began, slowing her pace down to keep next to Adrian, "how far we can go really depends on these horses. If they're as good as the owner says, we can ride until roughly nightfall and then break for camp. Did you buy any food?" She added on, "Because, well... if not, I hope you're a good hunter gatherer." Sighing, she kept on riding, dreading having to hunt for food again.

[CT075]

Ormis was too confused to attempt to avoid the debris flying everywhere, and only narrowly avoided being killed because the crowd shielded him from most of the blast. That, and he was lucky enough to not get hit with flying debris.

"What-"

Then he realized that the gate had been blown over, creating a very effective barricade between him and the outskirts of town. He grinned, back to his normal, bravado-filled self.

"Heh, she doesn't think that'll stop us, does she? Who the hell does she think we are?"

With that, he ran over and began climbing the metal framework of the gate... only to leap backwards with a loud cry of pain, because the metal was still red-hot.

"Um... okay, we can climb the walls!"

((Grant took one look at the 15-foot-tall walls and facepalmed.))

Edited May 31, 2011 by Camtech075