Return of the Emblem Chapter Seven: Reunion

[Zsword]

By the time the shaman realized what Gabbie was doing, it was too late, she had already made contact... as she pulled away he stepped forward... not hearing her spoken words, as he was busy trying to prevent horrendous events. Without much thought or planning he shot a wave of energy forward, throwing Gabbie, and most likely anyone too close was atleast stumbled minorly. "Out. Now." He commanded, one arm held out to form the barrier between them and the coffin, the other pointing to the door.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Dead? Hmm...> The news didn't sounded comforting, and yet, something seemed off from it. <Although...> John was thinking. <She isn't like us. Could her kind really be able to 'die'? HMm...> His thoughts were interrupted though, when the shaman decided to take matters into his hands.

''Hey now, aren't you taking this a little too far?'' He asked him. <Then again, Lilith did make herself a traitor in the eyes of Ursians.>

[Phoenix]

Confrontations

Gabbie had only just finished explaining when a wave of dark energy forced her away from the altar. She fell over but threw her hands down to enter a cartwheel instead of outright falling. She still had too much momentum to land on her feet, but once she came down on her side, she quickly got up and turned to face the offending shaman. "If you're gonna try to boss me around, you'd better be ready to prove you're worth following. Touch me with that magic again and I'll put you in that tomb, Shadrak ... and you won't have a pulse eoither!"

"Guys ..." Amon tried to chime in, but this was getting out of hand.

"She's dead, idiot! Not breathing. Not even a heart beat. Believe me when I say that getting out of this place is more important to me than erring on the soide of caution. Fuck caution. We're in the land of the dead for cryin' out loud. If you don't take that barrier down so I can search around for somethin' useful, I'll turn you into a wyvern snack!"

Range Testing

Raquel held the emblem out directly in front of her and took a few steps back, toward the door they entered through. By the time she reached it, the emblem was dim and dormant again. Stepping forward and toward the confrontation, she witnessed its faint glow return. That was conclusive enough for her. "Shadrak, Gabbie. There might be a piece of the emblem somewhere in this tomb. I'm not sure, but maybe. Mine's glowing again." she explained. Amon thought to pull out his trinket, but once again he realized how little good that would do him. Raquel's emblem was always close by, so any glow would likely come from that.

"Well ... hard to be excoited about another piece with the current situation ... ... land of the dead n'all ...." Gabbie remarked.

Edited December 10, 2011 by Phoenix

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"We might as well take a piece of the emblem if it's there. Though if there's a piece here, why didn't the people who warped us here take it? You would think if they were interested in the emblem they would have explored here already," she said, watching the scene cautiously.

[Psych]

Sirocco ran down the hall, trying to find some sense of people. Noises echoed off of the walls, and the wind howled. This fortress was scary enough, forget being in the land of the dead. Sirocco was starting to panic, bouncing of the walls and running down the hall. She tried taking deep breaths, not wanting to hyperventilate. She tried slowing her pace, but her mind was racing and she was sweating profusely, soaking her bangs.

Eventually she heard voices, and began to follow them down a flight of stairs, reaching a doorway.

[Zsword]

Shadrak took a deep breath, lowering the field he seemed to set up. "Fine... besides, another emblem piece is exactly what we need, it's our only hope of getting out of here... or atleast, our safest hope." He turned to the coffin. There's no way someone that powerful is dead..."Raquel, I suggest you start by the coffin and work out in that case... but, be careful..."

[Acacia Sgt]

Now these other news were something else. <A piece of the Emblem? Here?> John wondered. Nevertheless, this looked promising. <Well, I guess coming here didn't turned out as bad as we thought.>

''It might be they had no idea.'' He suggested in answer to what Veronika said. ''It depends if they've actually been here before. And then, ours only started to shine in this room. It may be the temple, or it's truly still some distance away, but I guess we might consider ourselves lucky to find it before them.''

Meanwhile, Sophia was confused at this turn of events. Piece? Emblem? What are they talking about?

[Phoenix]

Light

"I wouldn't be so sure no one's been here before. There's nothin' to take with us. That door was a little too inconvenient. If there is an emblem piece here, I bet it was 'left' here, not just unnoticed." That was Gabbie's take at least. Meanwhile Raquel stepped closer to the center of the chamber. The closer she got, the brighter the emblem became. Gabbie hadn't moved very far and was keeping an eye on Raquel during her approach. She had a bad feeling that the emblem she was looking for wouldn't be in plain sight. Oh how much would Shardak freak out if the corpse had to be moved, she wondered. The piece Raquel held eventually was shining too brightly for her to look in its general direction anymore and she held it above her head so she could see where she was going.

Upon arrival at the open tomb like structure, she took a gulp. The avian woman was lying there lifelessly right in front of her, and there were concerns of her waking up. Raquel squinted her eyes to keep the shine from overwhelming her as she lowered the emblem toward the body to see if it would get any brighter. It seemed like it would be impossible to gauge a difference in luminosity at the current intensity. "Uhhh ..." Where was she supposed to look?

"Any luck?" Gabbie asked.

"Maybe it's ... on her somewhere? I can't tell. Maybe it's just a small fragment. She's wearing a lot of gold but nothing as large as what I'm holding." Raquel explained.

"Uuuuurgh."

Raquel didn't want to touch the woman but what else could she do at this point. She wouldn't have the chance to decide whether or not to, however, as the emblem's sudden dimming demanded her attention. She looked directly at it just in time to see it go completely dormant again. "W-what just happened?" She looked to Gabbie who shrugged, and then to Shadrak. This wasn't good. How was she supposed to find what she was looking for now, and what caused the emblem to become dormant again? She looked back down at the woman wondering if she was involved. She probably was. Raquel cringed slightly when the woman's eyelids moved ever so slightly. She took a step back. "Uh oh ...."

"What?"

"She just moved ...." Raquel shot back, pointing an accusing finger at the open tomb.

"... huh. I'm gonna have to update my qualifications of 'dead', apparently." Gabbie shrugged. "Well look on the broight soide. When she gets up you can ask her where she keeps her goods. Getting her to part with them ... moight prove difficult but gotta start somewhere, roight?"

"I don't know how to bargain for an ancient artifact!" Raquel protested.

Gabbie gave her a disapproving look. "What koinda merchant are you?"

[Acacia Sgt]

<Wait, what?> John looked over at the 'tomb'. <Was it the emblem...? Well, either way, I guess there's no turning back now, does it?> He shook his head. <No, I guess not. Now that she has awaken, we might as well see it all the way through.>

Sophia took a step back. So she is still alive? I have a bad feeling about this.

[Mercakete]

Norbert wasn't caught in Shadrak's blast, but he felt the shaman had no right in trying to boss everyone around like that. He would've socked him in the jaw for the stunt if other things didn't capture his attention first. First Lilith was dead -- which was good -- then she was alive -- which was nerve-wracking. He wasn't sure what to do other than move closer to the doors leading into Lilith's "tomb." The air was tense.

"Think she knows Leviathan?" Gytha cheerily asked, clearly not seeing any danger in the situation. "The heck is wrong with you?" Norbert asked. "What? She can't be that bad. She never fought anyone 'sides gods, aye?" "I...guess...?" "Well, we're nod gods, so why would she hurt us?" Gytha had an oddly good point. Norbert really didn't know how to answer.

[Snowy_One]

"Gytha. Remember back at the church? When I shot all those people because I was woken up mid-nap? That is what might happen." replied Robin in a stern voice. "Best be careful with her. In the old stories, she is a seducer of men, queen of wenches, and... other nasty things. Besides, I'm sure at least one of us worships the Gods and if she fought against them and one of us worships them... she might not see that much of a difference between the individual and the group."

[Mercakete]

"Uhh... I think that's just ye who act crazy when woken up," Gytha mentioned, though she didn't argue against the other claims Robin made. She, herself, didn't know much about this person, she she really couldn't confrim or denay what Robin was suggesting.

[Zsword]

Shadrak turned to the coffin, looking completely and totally horrified at what Raquel just said. "Maybe... you should... step away, from the coffin..." he suggested, his bravado now gone, his face turning ash white... Well, good bye world... hope your end is swift and painless...

[Phoenix]

High Tension

Raquel took a few more steps back as the woman's entire body began to stir, her movements like those of a person just waking up from a long slumber. Her eyes still hadn't opened, but she slowly climbed out of the tomb in what seemed to Raquel like a small eternity. Once she had finally come down, she was on all fours with her wings concealing most of her body.

"She looks ... koinda weak. Well I guess sleepin' too long can have that effect." Gabbie quietly commented.

<"... Wrath ....">

"Wha? Hey ..." Gabbie tried to get the attention of the others in the chamber. "Did anyone else catch that?"

The woman was speaking in Ursian, it seemed. Raquel meanwhile was trying to decide what to do. Part of her wanted to help the woman up, another part of her wanted to put quite a distance between them. The indecision left her standing only about five feet from her.

A world full of scars, blood, and conflict, in desperate need of saving; another world holding a solution; a final stage; a new resolve; an impossible struggle. [spoiler=The Vision]

The mental images assailed the woman until finally she came up to her knees screaming at the top of her lungs.

<"WRAAAAAAAAAAAAATH!!! Uuuuuuuugh ..."> Raquel took another step back.

"D-did you say ... Wrath?" she asked as carefully as she could. The woman immediately looked up at her with fury in her eyes causing her to flinch. She wasn't left with time to do or say anything else, as the woman had moved so swiftly that only a speeding bullet could have beaten her to Raquel. She appeared standing right in front of her with a short sword held up to her throat. Raquel froze. The wind kicked up by the woman's movements finally caught up and caused a gust to sweep through the entire chamber.

"Shit, where'd that sword come from?" Gabbie asked aloud. A missing patch of the floor where the woman had been a moment ago was a bizarre clue.

"I ... I uh ...." Raquel was at a loss for words.

[Mercakete]

"RAQUEL!" For a moment, Norbert forgot this was Lilith and dashed towards the two. He quickly remembered, though, and stopped short partway into the room. The heck am I doing? I can't beat a Vasilus! Darn... What can I do? ... Wait... Where have I heard that accent? She's mad at Wrath, but... Yeah, she probably... Was Common even around when she was...uh, undefeated? "<S-stop!>" I hope I'm saying this right... Was that the right sound for the first part of it? Uh... Darn. Never thought I'd be using a dead language. Well, I guess this is the place for it...

Gytha looked over to Norbert in confusion. Why's he making weird noises?

[Phoenix]

A Pause

The woman's position didn't change, only her eyes wandered to the man speaking Ursian. They then darted from one person to the next. It was quite an odd assortment of individuals. It was too odd. The fighting was over, she could tell. Just recalling the original composition of the sword she had forged from the floor let her know that she was in a very old building of some kind. Her shoulders slowly dropped, and with them, the sword. She lowered the blade away from Raquel and composed herself. <"Who are you people?">

"... that's ... definitely Ursian." Raquel commented. She got a curious gaze in return for it.

<"What ... language is she speaking?"> she asked Bert.

[Mercakete]

Darn. I'm the translator now, huh? Uhh let's see... I think she was saying something like... She wants to know who we are and.... Something like "What language." Okay, I can do this. Darnit, Nigel, who knew? Now, how do I answer...? "Uh, <She and we speak Common.>" How am I supposed to answer her first question? I can't go into detail on who we are with what of this language I know... "<We are...>" What was the word for "trapped" again? Or... How can I explain it? "<...good.>" Great substitute, genius. "<I don't speak Ursian very well.>" he tried to explain.

He's talkin' t' her? Didn't think he spoke goddess. Gytha thought as she watched the scene play out.

[Acacia Sgt]

And so, she had awoken. Even though it didn't looked like they were in imminent danger, it wasn't inviting to drop one's guard. <Ursian, huh. Well, that makes sense.> John thought. <Well, I guess for now it's just watch and see how things play out.>

[Phoenix]

Language Barriers

She paused for a moment. If she was the only one present that didn't speak the language, it was probably best to rectify that. She held out her hand at Bert, fingers outstretched, and arm firm. Raquel's face turned to horror; she feared this Lilith was about to blast Bert into the next dimension. What had he said to get that sort of reaction? A response of some kind came from her, slight shaking of her arm, and the occasional wince. Something was happening, but what? After a few moments, she let her hand down as she closed her eyes.

"... so many contractions." She opened her eyes again, looking up to face everyone. "Where did you people come from?"

"AND she speaks the language nooow ..." Gabbie announced, a little dumbfounded.

[Mercakete]

Ack! What'd I say?! Norbert was a bit panicked as Lilith took up that stance against him. No attack came, though. Instead, the most peculiar thing began happening to his memory. It almost felt like his Ursian -- which was not the best -- was better than his Common. He couldn't say anything because he couldn't remember how to speak his first language! His thoughts were more of just feelings and what Ursian he knew, unable to form into Common even in his mind. <What is this?! I don't understand! I can't speak it! I don't like this!> Then, like a wave breaking on the shore, it all returned as Lilith lowered her hand. "The heck was that?!" Norbert exclaimed, quite simply freaked out of his mind to the point of mentally recalling several words in Common to make sure they were all there. Or, rather, most of them.

"Ye a'right?" Gytha asked. She wasn't sure if whatever had happened just now had hurt the pegasus rider or not, but he seemed a bit jumpy, presently.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Incredible, she just learned Common just like that.> John was impressed. <Well, I guess now it will be easier to communicate with her. Although...> He looked at the freaked out Bert. <Doesn't look pleasant for the language giver though. Hopefully she knows Neviskotian already or does it to someone else to learn it.> The thought certainly wasn't inviting.

Amazing... Sophia was surprised. It is such a useful ability. Though I guess it could only be used so much times as there are languages in the world I guess. Well, I guess someone else can take charge of speaking with her.

[Snowy_One]

"We were sent here by a arrogant bastard who could not take that he had been beaten in a fight as we sought to reclaim one of our own, the woman whose head your hand was on." said Robin, hoping the explanation was acceptable. It was true, but Robin knew she was not the speaker of the group. Raquel was their leader and... well... many others were bigger mouths than her. However, she was not going to let someone pose danger to Raquel!

"The woman whom freed me from slavery and whom I will protect." she said in a strong tone, hoping to convey that she would protect Raquel if Lilith tried anything.

[Mercakete]

"Huh? That never happened..." Gytha voiced, confused by what Robin was trying to convey, "'Sides, Raquel's th' leader. She should be th' one t' tell Lilith who we are." Don't remember anyone sendin' us... Unless she means Weyland... But he's not arrogant n' we never fought him.

[Psych]

Sirocco stepped into the room. There was a large crowed of people at the doorway, but Sirocco tried to see what was happening. She noticed everyone seemed to be focusing on someone in the center of the room, but she couldn't exactly see who. "What's going on everyone? Thank goodness I finally found you all."

[Zsword]

Shadrak gulped down his gut instincts to run, right now... she was awake... might as well as try to get some good out of the otherwise terrible situation, he approached, as calm as he could, and gave a slight bow. "Greetings M'lady, I'm Shadrak, me and my companions were sent to this realm by another against our will, from the, Mortal realm. If I may be so kind as to ask, what's your name?" He politely convayed to the demi-god, though his will wasn't perfect, he was clearly shaking and nervous, but, considering his thoughts on the woman... it was a very well put effort in suppresion. Calm down Shadrak... look at the brightside, this is the perfect chance to get some first hand information that will never be available again...