Abysmal Souls: Chapter 3 and 4 (surprise)

[Jaybee]

Danyon

His horse now satisfied, he was back, waiting for the match to properly start. He placed a moderately large bet on the armoured guy to win - Getting through that armour was hell, and he knew it.

[Nanami Touko]

Adrian

Alright, cleaning time. That's good, I won't have to wait long to spend some time with Carrion. There were one or two more orders coming in, but he'd leave them for the next guys on the shift. He didn't want to lose his job, but Aiduen had already started to clean a bit, so he began as well. "Is she... normally that agreeable? I mean no offense to you or her, but they way you talked about it, or maybe I was just inferring it, she was gonna be... much more defensive than that." Adrian was a bit confused by Carrion's actions as well, but hadn't really thought anything of it. "Well... no, she's not, normally. She's been worried about trusting new people for the past few days, so... I honestly have no idea why she was so polite just now. I guess the thought of having free room and board was good enough for her to play nice? I wouldn't think too much of it, and, hey, if she's being sincere, then that's just more of a bonus for you; you won't have to deal her being defensive. Heck, she seemed to really like you, just now." This is good, yeah. If they can get along, then maybe talking about Carrion will be a lot less awkward. He finished most of what was left to clean, sighing and stretching. "So, do we have to cook and clean anymore? We done for the day?"

Edited July 30, 2011 by seph1212

[ReformBlade]

Aiduen

"Warming up to me, I guess?" Trying to work out was going on, and that was all she could figure, "Well, it's certainly better than the alternative. I'll take sudden kindness over sudden hatred any day." Smiling, she looked around. "Um... I honestly think we're done now. The next rush won't be until after the arena is over with, so yeah. Let's finish up here and then we can all have a nice chat before my brother gets back. Sound good?"

Arcen

"Alrighty then! Would both combatants get ready for the final match of the tournament please! Your match... starts... NOW!"

Charging right at Teis, Arcen went in, his sword swings wild, a smile on his face.

[Shin]

Aurelio

Bringing Zwool along, he found his place next to Adano. He had a small bet riding on Teis, hopefully he'd win.

[Zsword]

Zwool didn't have money, nor did he really know what betting was. He gave the person thtat Aurelio sat next to a friendly wave before he sat another seat down.

[Nanami Touko]

Adrian

Adrian stretched once more, smiling this time. My first day of work, and I didn't screw up! I'd call that a success. It's going better than some of the jobs I've had. He thought a bit about work he'd done in the past, before answering Aiduen. "Yeah, sounds like a plan. You might want to be a bit more worried about Carrion though." He smiled a devious smile, "that little bit of her you just saw really might've been her putting on airs, ha ha!" It felt good to joke about Carrion like this. He didn't really mesn it, and it felt nice to crack jokes about her after all the jokes she'd cracked about him. Chuckling a bit more, he opened the kitchen's door to walk out, "nevermind me, let's just go relax. Laying down on a bed sounds really nice, right about now." He motioned towards the door with his head, keeping on that ever refreshing smile of his.

Amera

Amera had fallen asleep between the two rounds, waking up as the announcer shouted the combatents' names. She didn't flip, she just sort of jolted awake, sitting up more in her chair. She glanced at Gideon, wondering wnat he was thinking about. And after what I said to him, whatever he's thinking must be a lot...

[CT075]

Ormis

Ormis jumped a little. He'd managed to fall asleep while the fighters got ready. Somehow. The boy shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

Teis

For Teis, everything disappeared except for his foe. Arcen just charged. The knight brought his shield up, suspecting a trap. No way someone skilled enough to make it to the finals would try such an obvious ruse.

Unless...

Teis raised his axe slightly, preparing himself.

[ReformBlade]

Aiduen

"Yeah that does sound good about now, but you and she should get the bed for now." Wait, she may have been lying with that niceness? I hope not... "Well, anyway... If you wanna go upstairs, go ahead, I'll be bringing up some drinks. Anything in particular you'd like?" Wiping down the last table and throwing everything into the trash can, she took off her apron and put it away, also stretching.

Arcen

Still going for it, he took a wide swing at Teis. When he was sure he could do so, he tried to talk to the man, "Hey, you know something's up, right? I have a feeling this match is rigged!"

[Nanami Touko]

"... Anything in particular you'd like?" Ya know, I do wonder what the drinking age is here in Shuthra... I'm only eighteen, but I think I deserve a nice drink after all this work. Completely bypassing his thoughts of what could go wrong if he got buzzed with the two of them, he said, "well, I wouldn't mind some alcohol, to be honest. I don't know how old you have to be to drink here, though. I'm eighteen, so, if I'm allowed, that would be nice. If not, just some water. And, yeah, I'll head upstairs now, it's been a long day." He yawned as he left the kitchen, slowly bringing himself upstairs. Upon reaching the rooms, he'd realized that he didn't know which room was hers. He could only sigh, and wait for Aiduen in the hall. "Dang it, why do I always forget the important things?" He said aloud his thoughts, hoping that Carrion might hear him and make his wait less.

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Adano

He had bet about a fourth of his gold on Teis. Anyone who could beat his daughter in combat deserved to win this tournament. Besides, both of these men relied on power if anything. Teis knew how to control his power much better than Arcen did, at least it seemed like he could from what Adano's seen.

"Oh, hey there Aurelio!" He smiled. "Lucretia's asleep, she might be able to make the end of the fight." He looked to the newcomer, someone he's never seen before. "Who's your friend?"

Julius

'I don’t know... wanna check after we've finished eating?'

He nodded. "Yeah, I'd like to see what's up." He continued with the meal. It was good to actually eat something that was prepared by trained chefs, and not something he'd just hunted.

Lucretia

She awoke, that short nap made her feel a bit more awake. After all, it was only the afternoon at best. She took her swords with her--old habit--and headed to the arena, hoping to catch the last fight. Although she would have missed the betting period, she would at least be able to watch a good fight. She was hoping Teis would come out on top.

[Shin]

Aurelio

"Lucretia's asleep, she might be able to make the end of the fight... Who's your friend?"

Part of that message gave him an image in his head. Before his mind could wander too much, Adano had asked his question.

"He's Zwool, he's a friend of a friend. I'm showin' him around and keeping him out of trouble. Don't worry, Zwool. Adano's not gonna do anything funny with that lance."

Arcen seemed oddly hesitant, surely he'd be the first one to charge in blindly? Either he was trying out some half-baked tactic or something was up. Aurelio hoped that it was the former, it'd help his bet out massively.

Edited July 30, 2011 by Dokutayuu

[ReformBlade]

Aiduen

"Alcohol? Fine by me." Getting a mug of ale for all of them, she went upstairs to find Adrian looking around like a lost puppy, further down the hall. "Um... Adrian? First door on the second floor. Right as you come up the stairs! Don't tell me you forgot so quickly, haha..." Holding three cups by herself, the best she could do was indicate the door, hoping Adrian would hurry up. "Come on, you probably don't want to keep her waiting, do you?"

Carrion

Sitting on the bed, she held her head in her hands, simply waiting for the other two to arrive. She silently wondered if telling Aiduen anything relevant would be beneficial, or if it would lead to disaster. Her mind was set on it leading to a disaster, and yet... Adrian trusts her, and I don't wanna just blow him off like that... Agh, why am I so conflicted about this? I guess if worst comes to worst, I can at least defend myself now...

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Adano

"He's Zwool, he's a friend of a friend. I'm showin' him around and keeping him out of trouble. Don't worry, Zwool. Adano's not gonna do anything funny with that lance."

"It's a pleasure, Zwool." He said, turning back to the fight. "They're just standing there. What's going on?"

[Nanami Touko]

Adrian

"Um... Adrian? First door on the second floor. Right as you come up the stairs! Don't tell me you forgot so quickly, haha..." He sort of blushed, chuckling a little, "I guess I did. Sorry about that. Yeah, let me help you with the door, there." She obviously wouldn't be able to get it herself, easily, not with three ales in her hands. He simply turned the knob and walked in, smiling at Carrion. "Evening, love. Having fun all by yourself, up here?" He fell onto the bed beside her, rolling over onto his back to stare at the ceiling. "So, we're all going to enjoy a drink and just chat. Sound like a good time?" I'll enjoy it, at least. And stop the two of them from getting into any silly arguments. I just have this feeling that it's going to happen.

Andy

Andy opened an eye, looking at the scenery bob up and down. He was moving. Not sure how; the last thing he remembered was getting k-k-k-kissed on the forehead by Langley... Oh Gods, why is this happening to me? I'm not ready for all of this!... Also... how am I moving...? He glanced up, and found himself being carried by Langley, turning the shade he had been moments before fainting. He didn't dare say a word, too afraid to, at this point.

[Jaybee]

Elune/Adonis

Things didn't seem quite right now. There weren't normally many people who took this path, but even so, there was nearly no one on the road to the hills now. Adonis counted 5 people within sight, not including himself and the woman he was riding with - something was definitely up.

"Watch out. You realise there's too few people, right?" Better for him to give a word of caution now, in case it would be too late in the end.

In response, he got an extremely sharp rebuttal. "You're supposed to be watching out for me. But yes... this is too few. Might be a coincidence, though you should keep an eye on the woods. Could be something like bandits, wolves... or maybe worse."

[ReformBlade]

"What, you hoping to score or something, kid?" Taking one of the drinks, Carrion sat back down on the bed, taking a small swig of it before coughing at it. "Shit! Ow, is it supposed to be this... strong? I mean, I don't have complaints, but damn. Somehow I've been all over this world and not had something this strong before!" She took a much bigger gulp this time, wiping her mouth and setting the drink on the bedside table."So you wanna talk, huh? Well brilliant kid here decided to already blab to you about me a bit, so how about you spill the beans on who you are, eh?"

Aiduen smiled, setting her drink aside and handing Adrian his drink. "I guess that's fair. Well, there's not much to tell about me to be honest. I'm... pretty much just a rebellious teenager, though not exactly in the way you might be thinking. You see, when I was fourteen years old, me and my brother basically just left our home in Lushira because we didn't agree with our dad's practices. Namely slavery of Anri. So me and him let all of em go one night, and we decided to just kinda forget our heritage and live our own lives. Been alright so far, no shortage of cash thanks to me keeping my brother in check and stopping him from doing stupid things. Which isn't to say we haven't had hardships, I mean, we've had to kill for a living, unfortunately. As a person who was brought up worshiping the Goddess, I kind of feel bad about it, but I'm not going to let ideals get in the way of my survival. If I feel it's the best route to take, my brother will be backing me up all the way, so I don't really have any qualms with anything... I'm sorry, I tend to ramble." With a blush, she turned away, sipping her ale. "Sorry if that's a bit hard to swallow, or if it strikes you as odd that I do still worship the Goddess despite what I do. I don't feel she's tied to the letter of the law so much as the spirit of the law, you know?"

"Yeah, I get you on that... Not exactly a devout follower but I've always had respect for her... no matter what I've said in the past, anyway."

[CT075]

Teis

Teis blocked the slash with his shield, and swung his axe in the split second while his opponent was off balance from the recoil.

"Hey, you know something's up, right? I have a feeling this match is rigged!"

"I don't know about the match itself, I'm more concerned about what's gonna happen afterwards."

[Zsword]

Zwool shook his head with a sigh. "I wouldn't know, this entire practice is foreign to me... I was trained in combat to protect others..." He said this rather plainly but took a minute to stop, that wasn't something he rememberred... that was purely instinctual. He then tacked on quietly, "Atleast... that's what it feels like..."

[NagafenOfIlivikitty]

Carrie smiles once again, determined to begin another 'adventure' as soon as the guy had finished eating. She is surprised by how quickly she's eaten her way through the food, but is quite content, murmuring over to him as she looks quite calmly to the empty plate, then to him with a rather relaxed feeling.

'Thanks for the food.'

---

Langley is a bit quiet, her eyes a bit serious looking for just a moment. But she feels a slight shift and then looks down to the guy in her arms. She offers him a tiny grin and just chuckles at his redness, a slight tilt of her head as she continues to walk.

'I see you've rejoined the land of the slightly more awake. You okay? That was quite a surprise.'

[ReformBlade]

Nimbly dodging the blow, albeit barely, he backed off a step. "You're not an idiot then, that's good. Between you and me, I'm not going to go all out in this match for that reason exactly. If you're going to be offended b that, I'll gladly give you a rematch later if you so desire, but right now, we need to make this seem plausible. They'll probably disqualify us both if it looks set up, so you'd best prepare yourself!" Gripping the handle with both hands, he held the sword behind him, opting for power rather than any sort of finesse now. He went for a powerful slice down on the man's shield, hoping to cut into it, if only for dramatic effect.

[CT075]

Teis

"You're not an idiot then, that's good. Between you and me... ...so you'd best prepare yourself!"

Teis silently agreed with the sentiment. No point in exhausting himself against an opponent who wasn't fighting with his full strength either. He raised his shield, but realized the mistake a split second too late. The force of Arcen's blow knocked Teis slightly off balance. Instead of wasting time regaining it, however, he swung wide, using the momentum as a counterbalance.

"Hmph. I am no prize-fighter."

[Nanami Touko]

Adrian

"What, you hoping to score or something, kid?" "I think that'd be pretty awkward for Aiduen, don't you? Unless you plan on having her join us. Maybe you're the one trying to score." He laughed, finally getting his lips to his drink and almost choking on it. He managed to get it down, but his throat was burning from it. Oh, damn, why did I want ale again? This shit's strong... Aiduen gave the same explanation she'd given earlier. It was still a pretty weird story to hear, even the second time around. Kinda sad as well, if you think about it. She's probably never going to be able to see her parents ever again. Not that it sounds like she wants to, but still. Aiduen was finished, and Adrian forced some more of his drink down his throat, coughing a tad. "So, Carrion," he cleared his throat again, setting the drink down before he was tempted to try more, "maybe you should tell your side of the story to Aiduen, then? It's only fair; she's explained her life to you." He sat up on the bed, wondering how she'd answer.

Andy

'I see you've rejoined the land of the slightly more awake. You okay? That was quite a surprise.' "I-I-I..." he cleared his throat and shook his head a bit, trying his best to calm down in this situation, "I-I g-guess I'm o-okay. In the situation I'm in r-right now, I could be worse." He was still red, that wasn't going to change, but at least he could speak with her, albeit awkwardly. "So, how much farther to the mountains? Ah!" He's just realized, once again, that he was being carried, "a-and would you rather me walk on my own? I sh-should be fine, now..."

[NagafenOfIlivikitty]

'Hm? Oh, the mountains. I'd look straight ahead. And if you're sure you won't fall over again, here.'

She let's Andy down, rather careful to help the guy stand, while ahead, the mountains now loom overhead, quiet bar the wind coming from their direction.

[ReformBlade]

Carrion

Finishing her drink probably much too quickly, she could feel the burn and yet, she didn't mind it. "Fair? Don't toss that word around please..." A blush starting to form on her, Carrion decided to just try and get it over with. "You know what, I think I'll just go for it. Ever heard of the Crimson Witch, deary? Well, she ain't no damn story. You're looking at her right now. Tell me, as a Lusian, how does that sit with you? You wanna 'bring me to justice'? You wanna... wanna kill me now? Well come on, answer me dammit!"

More than a little surprised, Aiduen had to wonder if it was the alcohol talking, and if it was she made a note to never buy it again for Carrion if she was this much of a lightweight. "... You're screwing with me, aren't you? Both of you are in on this or something, I swear. I'm not exactly fond of this arrangement either, but if you'd please stop teasing me that'd be great."

Carrion simply went on to laugh, "Girl, if you choose to believe me or not, I could not care less, I really couldn't. If you don't like what you see, fine, but I ain't screwing with you. What do I have to gain by claiming I'm the witch here? You wanna see something?" Pulling down her shirt to reveal her seal, she went on. "Does this make it more believable for you? Or maybe this" She summoned her book from thin air, a purple flame revealing it again, "y'ever seen some normal person do that before? I mean, yeesh, do you have any idea just how much goddamn power it requires to bring back someone from the dead? It damn near drained me just to bring back this kid here, and he was a fresh corpse. And thanks to this book here I had enough power to do so. But... whatever. If you feel you're being teased, there ain't nothing I can say that can convince you..." She lay down on the bed, trying to let the alcohol in her settle down a bit, her stomach starting to feel a slight burn.

Arcen

As the fight went on, a sprinkle of rain started up, slowly turning into a small downpour, but Arcen didn't care much for that. It was a gamble on the armored man's part, but it worked. Arcen had no choice but to stop his pursuit and block the blow, a blow that sent him sliding backwards much farther than he originally thought it could, causing him to trip up slightly. "Good lord! Where did he get so strong?" He muttered to himself, admiring his opponent's strength for a moment before standing back up. Circling around Teis, he was simply trying to out maneuver him now.

[Nanami Touko]

Adrian

"Fair? Don't toss that word around please..." Watch your boundaries, Adrian. She might not have her magic right now, but setting her off like yesterday wouldn't be a good idea. He was sort of worried, now that Carrion had downed the ale, that she'd be easier to upset. She was already red from it, and having her get upset like that would make this situation... really bad. "... You're screwing with me, aren't you? Both of you are in on this or something, I swear. I'm not exactly fond of this arrangement either, but if you'd please stop teasing me that'd be great." "Actually, that's what I--" he went to speak, but Carrion cut him off and threw out every reason she could have to be the Crimson Witch, even going as far as bringing the book out. When she was done, she collapsed onto the bed, leaving Adrian there to put together the pieces. "... Uhm, yeah, that's what I was afraid of telling you back in the kitchen. That she's actually... well, yeah. The Crimson Witch. Uh... Surprise?" He chuckled awkwardly, really unsure as to how this was going to turn out. He could only hope it would end well.

Andy

"Ah, alright. And... thanks for not leaving me there, as awkward as that must've been to carry me." The mountains were in sight, and that made Andy smile a bit. "So, uhrm... You... never did tell me much about yourself, just your family. If you don't wish to tell me that's fine. I assume it's my turn, then?" He wasn't too worried about explaining his life. It hadn't been very eventful.