Into the Darkness (Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

[Sponge]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

This was insulting. To him, to everything he fought for. Just this guy making such casual remarks about him ever possibly submitting to the filth that ruined his life, and many others he had cared for. A small spark of his spiritual energy grew in his eyes, only lighting the pupil. His voice struggled to remain calm as just reminding himself of what he had seen happen at his former home.

"I'm willing to do anything. Whatever it takes. If I can rid this world of all the pollution of their very existence, I'd do anything."
Then the light fully enveloped his gaze. All was blue fire fueled by hatred.
"But if your kind, or the damn aliens, EVER lay a hand on her, I'll make sure what they know what real malice is! I'll fucking tear their throats and make sure they drown in their own blood just so I could laugh in their face while I break their bodies because of what they deserve! A slow, agonizing, pitiful death that if I had the power, would NEVER end for them! I'd be willing to go to hell just to make them suffer!" A small chuckle escaped his lips.
"Actually, I would WANT that! That way when I get down there with them, I can do it all over again for the rest of my life, just making them regret ever touching her! If hell is truly made of fire, burning and tormenting the souls of the inhabitants, I'll make sure that I enjoy EVERY second down there! Sure, I'd be hurting as well, being possibly dissected alive as I've heard. Possibly roasted or starved for the rest of eternity. But it would be worth every second just to make them suffer more..." Garrett's eyes closed slowly as he took a deep breath in, before finally opening them and exposing the normal human eyes one would expect.
"That's what I'd be willing to do.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Spoiler

Garrett: HP = 62, PP = 43, EP = 77, Status = Fine
Laena: HP = 67, PP = 56, EP = 46, Status = Pregnant
Lily: HP = 62, PP = 88, EP = 62, Status = Fine

"I'm sure you'd imagine as much, but the situation I speak of would be following your defeat. You would never be given the chance, not by the aliens who would be done with you within a day of your capture, and not by my kin who would present you with opportunities for your escape only to rejoice in watching your hope die as they failed." Canderous began just as calmly as before. "Please understand, I do not say this to upset you. I merely want you to understand what you face by going up against my kin who have taken residence in Celesis and the invaders who have wrought such damage to this world."

In the face of Garrett's pure blue fury the demon showed only utter dispassion, and if he was intimidated by Garrett's display, he didn't show it. "You would not find Hell to you liking, methinks. And what I am attempting to do is offer you a way that might allow you to prevent the worst for you and your comrades should the worst happen."

 

[Sponge]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Garrett's mood was still bitter by the mentioning of probability demon had brought up.

"Well duh, course I'm aware of all this. Why do you think I'm here? I could be some stupid little kid huddled in a corner traumatized, but I decided to do something about it." Growing quiet, Garrett looked somewhat downtrodden all the sudden.
"You know, it's odd. I think I just realized something. I'm angry about what has happened, what these things do to people, but maybe a bit of my bitterness comes from seeing others not doing anything about it." He looked towards a window, peering out into the town.
"All those people, they continue to live there lives, just hoping that whatever danger this is will fade away. That somebody else will do all the work. They won't have to sacrifice anything, because they'll have a hero do all the work for them."A slight pause as he rubbed his chin.
"Sure, there are some people that have valid excuses. Being sickly, or don't have enough power to even protect themselves. But humanity and all other sentients would have a much better fighting chance if they all acknowledged the danger they're in. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” He rubbed his temple, giving a heavy sigh.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

"Powerful enough" Laena replied, folding her wings behind her. "Not as much as when you did it, but it worked fine." She didn't really want to keep having this conversation, and she slowly began to edge her way towards the door, to show Garrett her new shirt and maybe prod him into bed for a little demonstration of what she had learned.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Spoiler

Garrett: HP = 62, PP = 43, EP = 77, Status = Fine
Laena: HP = 67, PP = 56, EP = 46, Status = Pregnant
Lily: HP = 62, PP = 88, EP = 62, Status = Fine

Canderous remained silent through Garrett's speech, allowing him to finish before he remarked, "It is not practical for them to do anything more than what they do. Should every man woman and child take up arms until the invaders are destroyed and my kin wiped from the face of the world? Who would grow food to feed them, or maintain shelters for them to rest in? More importantly, who would convince them to take up arms and abandon their own peace in order to secure someone else's? It's easy to say that that peace is only a short lived thing unless they do more to maintain it, but it's a much harder thing to prove it. It isn't that they don't acknowledge the danger, but until one has seen it as you and I have it is a vague and shapeless thing in their minds. Few in Glassmoor have ever seen a demon or an alien, unless you count me. Few have ever even seen one of the fey folk, and the jungle practically crawls with them! Even if it probably would make the world a much safer place, it's unreasonable to expect people to take an active role in the fight against all of the things plaguing your world when they've already got their own happiness, to one degree or another in order to battle some vague evil they've only ever heard of. It takes something drastic and personal to dispel that illusion, I'm afraid."

 

[Sponge]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Garrett shrugged. He was getting all talked out. Complaining, while it did help relieve some steam, was not how he wanted to spend any free time. Something more important was on his mind.

"So... I'm curious. What exactly do you have behind those locked doors beneath the house?" A grin curved along his face.

"I'll admit, as soon as you left, my paranoia got the better of me. And I know your not stupid, and it's obvious you could tell that some things had been slightly shifted. So I'm not going to act ignorant about it anymore. Only thing that kept me from going further were the ladies insisting that I just forget about it."

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Spoiler

Garrett: HP = 62, PP = 43, EP = 77, Status = Fine
Laena: HP = 67, PP = 56, EP = 46, Status = Pregnant
Lily: HP = 62, PP = 88, EP = 62, Status = Fine

Canderous quirked an eyebrow at Garrett's admission and responded, "Oh, this and that. There's some food stores, a few extra supplies.... Clothes and candles and tinderkits and the like. There are a few trophies down there as well, and my old armor and sword. As you can probably see, I keep most of my things up here, and simply protect the books and papers with magic to keep them from being lost to the heat and humidity." He paused briefly, "While I must admit that I'm surprised that you've admitted this to me, there really wasn't any harm done by going down there to look around. I can hardly blame you for being suspicious."

 

[Hentaispider]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Realizing that the conversation isn't going anywhere, Lily falls silent and heads through the door, perhaps swaying her hips a little more than usual to give Laena a better view. This didn't go as well as I had hoped. But I'll have plenty of time for funny business later.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Laena breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Lily began to walk to the door, glad to put this behind her. Her eyes were drawn briefly to the fae's shapely rear before she managed to look away, hopping slowly after Lily towards the door.

 

[Sponge]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

That was a huge weight off his shoulders. Garrett was glad that it didn't bother the demon.

"Well there was one door that was locked pretty tight. Again, I was stopped by the ladies. I suppose that they trusted you enough at that point to leave everything alone. But only reason I agreed to leave it alone was because I figured something dangerous could possibly be on the other side. I have no clue what kinds of 'collectables' demons may collect. But I suppose admitting this to you, it shows I at least have SOME trust."
One thing did catch Garrett's attention.
"You said an old armor and sword was down there? When did you use that kinda stuff? You seemed like the type to use magic, rather than actual material weapons."

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Spoiler

Garrett: HP = 62, PP = 43, EP = 77, Status = Fine
Laena: HP = 67, PP = 56, EP = 46, Status = Pregnant
Lily: HP = 62, PP = 88, EP = 62, Status = Fine

"That'd be the food storage. I keep it chilled and don't want the cold seeping out into the rest of the house," Canderous explained offhandedly regarding the locked door in the basement. The demon smirked at Garrett when he questioned him about his sword and armor and replied, "I normally do, but when I first arrived on the mortal world I was only a knight, nowhere near as powerful or as skilled with magic as I am now. My old darksteel armor and sword are down there in the basement, their nature and the enchantments I placed on them rendering them immune even to the corrosive atmosphere of the jungle. That's why many of the military forces here in the amazon prefer simpler weapons or rely on magic or their bare hands you know!"

Canderous then laughed at himself, cutting off what he would have said next as he instead said, "But look at me, going off on a tangent like that!" He glanced at the doorway through which Lily and Laena had vanished without losing his smirk, but then turned back towards Garrett and said, "So, you ever played cards?"

~~~~The Next Day~~~~​

The night, compared to everything else that had happened that day, was fairly uneventful. The three of them were allowed to do as they like, perusing Canderous books, training, or lounging about the demon's small house. They were allowed to sleep in his guest bedroom or find their own lodgings, which would be easy for Lily considering that she already had her own room in a local tavern. Regardless of their choices, the three of them assembled once more in the morning in Canderous' living room. The demon, still in the guise of a bent old man, sat in a chair and glanced over the three of them, Laena having a just slightly bloated abdomen, before saying; "So. This is it then. The three of you ready? If you want to ask me any more questions, this is pretty much your last chance until you get back."

 

[Sponge]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

If there was one thing Garrett had learned overnight, is that demons could bluff poker among gods.
Never was good at poker anyways...
Snapping his attention back to reality, he gave a nod.
"No, I'm fine. No questions here. Ladies?"


((proceed to wherever we're going when there done answering. )

 

[Hentaispider]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Having stayed up fairly late using Canderous' impressive library to find out more about the artifacts and harpies and fetching her rather light possessions from the inn before taking the second guest bedroom for the night. Despite all that, the sidhe seems to be in a good mood. "You mentioned something about a map, yesterday? I think it would be best to take a good look at it before we leave, even if we'll have time for better study later."

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Though Laena had planned on taking Garrett to the bedroom and showing him her new spell, she had second thoughts once she got out there. They had done a lot of that lately, and she didn’t want to seem too sexually aggressive or perverted. She would have a long time to introduce him to it anyway. Of course, she had spent several hours in the room with Lily, so maybe he would think she was a pervert anyway… She pushed the thought out of her mind, contenting herself with cuddling her mate until they both fell asleep.

In the morning Laena hopped up and to the table, waiting on breakfast. She didn’t register that her belly was a little more round than it had been that night… Then she began to panic. I’m pregnant… what will I do? I won’t have a nest. I’ll be out and fighting, how will I move it? How will I sit on it? What about when it’s born, what if it’s a human boy? How will I take care of him? The harpy broke out into a cold sweat, trying to figure out what to do. Why didn’t I think about this before I went and fucked him? Dammit, why am I such an irresponsible idiot? DAMMIT she thought, slapping her forehead with the palm of her hand hard enough to make a rather large noise. "G…Garrett, can we speak for a minute?" she asked, getting up nervously from the table again. She wanted his opinion on what to do about their child, certainly. Maybe he would be able to help her calm down and think about it.

 

[Sponge]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Garrett looked to Leana, unsure of why she seemed to be stuttering. Was she already starting to regret following him on this mission? Maybe she was realizing the danger that he would be getting into.

He didn't hesitate to indulge her, as he was genuinely hoping that this could be the case. Losing the girl he just fell for would be devastating. Worse, he'd feel awful if it had been his lack of abilities to protect her.
"Sure, what's going on? You seem a little nervous. Everything ok?"
He hadn't yet noticed her stomach, as he was more or less concentrated on her face. Standing up, he followed her to wherever she planned to have their talk.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Laena began to walk towards the hallway with the slow, ponderous gait that birds sometimes take on, in a way too nervous to hop as she had been. She felt very grounded, in a bad way. Trapped. This was a bad situation. A bad situation of her own making. Well, Garrett had helped, certainly. But she had pushed him, urged him on in it. When she was sufficiently far away from the others that she thought they wouldn’t hear she turned to face her mate again, her wings hanging limply at her sides. "Garrett… I…" she started, her hands subconsciously moving to her slightly swollen belly. There was a long silence before she finally squeaked out "I’m… pregnant. Already showing." She waited a moment, to let it sink in, before saying "What do we do about this? It’ll take me less than a week to lay the egg, and I’ll need a nest to sit on it and deal with it. And if it’s a human boy it’ll take years before it can fend for itself, how are we going to do this?" The panic was leaking out into her voice again, her words coming fast now, starting to bleed together. "What do we do now Garrett?"

 

[Sponge]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

For a moment, Garrett didn't understand what Leana could of been talking about.

Yeah, I'll admit, she might be pregnant, but we'd have about like 4 months befo- His brain left the thought discontinued as his face turned a pale white. Gazing at her stomach, he could tell there was definitely a life within her womb.

"W-w-wait WHAT!? How is that even possible!? We did it last night! How is.. wha- it takes months! What's going on? And why now!? I mean, having a kid would be great after all this is over, but NOW? I figured..
He didn't want to give the wrong impression. A child wasn't something he was totally against having. It's just this was the wrong time! What could they do?! Maybe the demon knew! Possibly!?
"I... hon... I'm not sure. Just calm down. W-we can't think if we get all panicked about this. Maybe Canderous knows something. But seriously, how is this going on? Is this.. magic or something?"

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

"Keep your voice down!" Laena hissed, not wanting Garrett to yell out about their situation. Why she was modest about it was confusing, perhaps, but it was what it was. "I’m not human, I’m a harpy. We’re magical, remember? This is normal for us. I wasn’t thinking, dammit, didn’t think at all." She looked at him funny when he suggested that maybe Canderous would know something. "What do you think he’d know? And why would you even think of consulting him? He’s a demon, remember?" she asked. She was curious. It was odd that he wanted the demon anywhere near their future child.

 

[Sponge]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

Oh yeah, duh. Good point. Not exactly the smartest thing to do would be asking a demon for advice about children.

He closed his eyes briefly giving a calm sigh.
"Ok ok.. and you're right. I wasn't thinking straight. Last thing I should do would be trusting a demon on child care advice. I just figured since he was really smart, he'd have something. But you're right, he'd probably do something twisted." He briefly paused, trying to think.

Would Lily know something? Can't exactly trust her though either. What the hell are we supposed to do? I didn't know harpies had kids in the brief time span of a day! How was I supposed to know that? Gripping her hand softly, he pet her cheek.
"Hon, I'm not sure if you could come now... I don't want to leave you behind. But.. You'll be safe. And honestly that's what I want the most for you. But if it really does happen this fast, we could wait a couple days or so and find a babysitter or... something?

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Into the Darkness (Sponge, Tiffanian and Hentaispider)

"Well, it might be good to consult him anyway. And Lily too. I don't exactly know what to do. I can't stay here, I don't want to stay here. But... I may have to. I can't fly well when heavily pregnant, and I can't just neglect my egg... I also can't just let you go off on your own into the jungle. Dammit. This complicates everything so damn much..." Laena grumbled, sometimes louder, other times more quietly, her voice rising and falling as she became more or less hopeless. "Who would we even use as a 'babysitter?' I don't have anyone I would trust to do such a thing for us."