Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)
"I see... hmm," Amara was all Amara said in reply, looking deep in thought.
...
"A-Alright sweetie. Just stay here alright and I'll be back shortly as soon as I can," Giselle said to Kylie, kissing her on the lips before starting to head out, stopping when Kylie's hand held her's and moving back to pull her into a close hug before stepping back and letting go, looking a little reluctant to do so. "Hmm... maybe Amara wouldn't mind flying me down there and back so I can get there faster," Kylie would hear Giselle whispering to herself as she departed the shrine area.
As she set her cat tooth down upon the shrine of the Raven Queen, she would feel a slight breeze blowing around her, whipping her skirt just a little bit in the process, though nothing else happened just yet. Whilst she waited there at the shrine, essentially going into a small trance of sorts, Kylie would continue to hear the things around her, though her vision would fade to black. The sounds of the running water from the stream pouring over the waterfall, the sound of the bugs chirping, the sound of the leaves blowing in the wind, the sounds of the birds singing, even the sound of Maria's prayers were heard to her... she heard it all. Maria's prayer wished for Kylie to be able to come to terms with her recent woes, she could also faintly hear what sounded like trees falling and her vision faded slightly to her's and Giselle's hilltop retreat where the men and women had just gotten there to begin cutting the few trees of the clearing down to place their foundation to their new home. Then amidst all of this, Kylie heard the sounds of a raven squawking in the distance, though it sounded as if it were getting closer somewhat, though after a certain distance it remained just there in her black vision, the sight of the raven now in her line of sight. In her trance she was spinning slowly as she sat there, not enough to make her dizzy or anything mind you, but enough to keep up with the raven as it flew around in her wide circles, as if it were watching her closely for some reason.
"Soon, we shall speak again, when your beloved returns with your payment. Until then, know this... it is not dirty work. It is merely necessary work, and you aren't my only arm in this... you aren't alone. You have allies that you need but gain their trust. But in the meantime... perhaps some insight shall help you to understand the sacrifices made to protect you," the raven called out to her in a faint voice, a slightly cryptic tone in her words as the raven in Kylie's vision flew out of sight and she was left alone again, the memories of everything that had happened to her since she awakened on this island flowing through her like a river, not overwhelming her any, but it was quite a lot to take in all at once and left her breathless as she watched her first meeting with Delilah, entering the village, meeting Giselle and Hazel and the others, Giselle getting kidnapped, their rescue of her beloved... all of it in vivid detail. When the last memory flowed through her, which took place not just down the hill, Kylie saw herself saying what she did to Hazel over again and the quite large breasted succubus tearing up all over again as she nodded her head and left her be.
Then her mind was whisked away to another place, to a far away place where she saw the Atropal chasing her and Reggie through the sewers of her old home city. It was floating towards them through the dim light of the sewers, which was something she didn't remember at all during that time. She saw Reggie carrying her until they reached a dead end where he nearly collapsed with her, though he caught himself and set her down then turned to face the Atropal as it came for them. He drew the dagger he had on his belt and prepared to face off with the thing, a hint of bravery flickering in his eyes as he stared at it. "Y-You won't take her from me... I... I won't let you," Reggie said with tears in his eyes, looking downright terrified, but like a rock in that he wasn't about to move willingly and let Kylie be taken.
The Atropal continued towards them, a couple of rats scurrying nearby keeling over dead from the sheer necrotic power emanating from the abomination as their flesh began to rot pretty quickly. Before the Atropal could make it to them though a couple of splashes could be heard and the sounds of doors and grates opening as well, followed quickly by the rush of boots thumping on stone and splashing through the sewer water. Cosimo, Gestalt, and nearly two dozen other members of the Steel Rose rushed out of hidden passages and other such places and surrounded the Atropal, all of them looking a little scared but set in that they were going to do battle.
She would then see Gestalt and a few of the other ones move in at their foe where they began thrusting spears, slashing swords, and firing crossbows at the thing. They hacked and slashed at the abomination several times, though it seemed all for naught almost as it simply snatched a couple of them up and flung them against the walls of the sewers with a crunch where it then grabbed one young woman member of the Rose and did the same to her as it had done to her mother, almost literally sucking the life out of her. A few more members of the order were slain and Gestalt himself was knocked back by the creature towards where Cosimo and a couple of others were getting Kylie and Reggie up to carry them out of there, his arm looking as if it had bent at an odd angle, indicating that it had been broken. Another of the members of the order helped him up and they fled through a door that was fixed into the wall that Reggie had set his sister against, a couple staying behind and distracting the Atropal as the door was shut behind Cosimo and the others the managed to flee, their screams of agony easily heard through the walls as they were killed as well. Cosimo and the rest were running as they carried Kylie and Reggie, the door rocking as it was smashed into by the Atropal when it tried to break through.
"Gods above, how can we hope to stop that thing? it killed everyone that went against it except me and those two," Gestalt said through clenched teeth from the pain of his broken arm.
"Doesn't matter if every last one of us dies Gestalt, you know that. These two have to be protected at all costs no matter what my friend, even if we must die too. Cammy had to have told them where she hid the codex, at least one of them... I know she had to have done so. She knew what was at stake here... if the Amaranthines get it then they can just enter anyone's bedroom at will and murder them in their sleep... me, you... anyone," Cosimo said as they ran, panting slightly as they went.
Immediately after that the Atropal broke through the stone door, the bricks crumbling down against its brute strength, where it came after them all. Cosimo stopped to look at it for only a second or two as he carried Kylie, where another dozen order members came from in front of where they were going,making a frontal attack against the thing, slashing it like mad and wounding it, but still it continued and slew all of them as well save a couple, who were too wounded to get up. But it gave Cosimo and the others time to flee further, where they went through a series of hidden passages in the sewers until they made their way to a large room that had a trapdoor in it leading further down. Heading down that, Kylie watched a few of the remaining members of the order that had been with them stop and stand their ground while they went down the ladder, telling them that they would hold it off long enough for them to get the children out and to a safe place. They then entered another room that had a circle engraved into the stone and filled with magical inks and everything, where a woman was waiting for them with a scroll in hand.
Speaking the incantation upon the scroll the circle flashed a glowing golden portal into existence which they rushed through, the Atropal hot on their heels as it landed from jumping down the ladder shaft. They entered a shining golden city with magnificent buildings all around them, as well as a dozen angels and a dozen devils standing in formation with swords and shields at the ready, all of them wearing heavy armor and ready to fight, as well as a couple of magic using angels and devils with fireballs and crackling energy in hand, ready to throw and cast at the Atropal. Cosimo and the remaining members of the order ran to the side where the Atropal jumped through after them and the mages threw their fireballs and the angel soldiers pushed in, using the stunning effects of the fireballs slamming into the thing to hack it to pieces... which they did after taking a few wounds and a couple of them getting knocked down.
"Jeez... that's just one of them. I wonder why they didn't send the the other two from the curse after Cammy. All three from the curse would have obliterated us before we made it, we got lucky as hell" Gestalt said through the pain of his broken arm as the angels continued hacking the Atropal to pieces, where a trio of female angels and a couple of succubi came over to them along with a human man and a human woman. The man was wearing a crown made of a black metal that had 8 shining rubies placed in it in the shape of an 8 pointed star, with a large astral diamond set on top standing slightly above the rubies, and he wore a white astral silk cape that hung over the back of his black scale mail, the cape she could see had a red throne on a black field neatly drawn upon it, with a golden crown atop the throne, and the throne was surrounded by eight red stars. One of the succubi she could see was Hazel, with a very concerned look on her face for Kylie as Cosimo knelt down with her in his arms. The other succubus looked... very much like Hazel, save slightly smaller breasts and bubblegum pink hair instead of that dark pink of Hazel's. The angels were the same trio from Kylie's memory that sealed her memories, while the human woman was dressed in studded leather armor with a astral silk cape of her own over that, and upon her cape was a red heart under a full moon with eight stars, on a blue field... it looked like Elise Crimea from one of her other memories she'd recovered.
"Gods, the poor thing. Come on, let us take her to the Aurosion... now. We must help her. I won't let what happened to me happen to her, this time I want the memory seal strong enough that she doesn't go through what I had to," Elise said, taking Kylie from Cosimo where she carried her up a cloudy like hill to a very large temple, with the trio of angels, Hazel and the other succubus, and the human man, leaving Cosimo and the remaining members of the order to be treated for their wounds and whatnot.
Once they got there, Kylie watched them lay her upon an altar where they began delving into her poor shattered mind at the time, where they pieced it back together little by little from the shock of what had happened with the Atropal. Elise was pacing back and forth as the angels worked, where Hazel came up behind her and hugged her from behind to try, looking obvious that she was trying to calm her down. "Don't worry Elise... I know that she'll be just fine... and that we'll find the codex. We won't let what happened to her mother be in vain, and I'll personally keep an eye on her when the time comes that she must leave her home. I'll die for her if need be, nobody should have to go through what you did," Hazel said while they waited for the angels to finish with the young Kylie's memory seals.
"Hazel... please don't talk like that... gods I'd never be able to live with myself if something happened to you. I love you," Elise said in a worried tone, her eyes tearing up some at Hazel's words.
"But I would, just as I would for our children. I'll keep an eye on her when the time comes and I won't let anything happen to her. But trust in me to keep both of us safe okay," Hazel said to Elise, pulling her close and kissing her.
"Alright Hazel... I trust you. You know I do," Elise replied after returning the kiss to Hazel, where they sat and waited for the angels to finish with Kylie.
Her vision faded after that to a time after, where the younger version of Kylie awakened from her slumber and opened her eyes to look around. She was in a beautiful soft bed with silken sheets and the angel from her memory Elena was sitting there, and as the younger Kylie awakened, the present Kylie suddenly remembered this memory of when she woke up and saw a beautiful golden haired angel that told her everything was going to be okay, that she was going to take her home now with her uncle Cosimo and her brother now that she saw she was feeling better. Then Kylie remembered being carried by the same angel through the streets of the beautiful golden city, which Elena the angel named Celestia and then she remembered falling asleep on Elena's shoulder and waking back up in her uncle Cosimo's home next, as if Elena carrying her through Celestia was just a dream.
As the young Kylie fell asleep on Elena the angel's shoulder, her vision of the memory faded and went back to the black void from before, where she heard from a distance her beloved's voice. "Now... it is time to awaken, do what you must with your payment and your beloved now and tonight... tonight come to the place where the dead sleep in this village and we shall speak more... come at midnight and listen for the raven," the voice came to her in the dark void of her mind as she heard another voice in the distance as she began to drift out of her trance.
"...ylie... Kylie, I'm back. I got the arrow Kylie, I'm back, Amara flew me out there and back, so that it wouldn't take so long," Giselle called as she sprinted up the hill, carrying the arrow Kylie asked for. She was still a little ways from Kylie's position still, where Kylie was still sitting amazingly enough. "Here you go sweetie, only took about an hour or so with Amara's help thanks to her flying," Giselle added as she came to a halt next to Kylie, kneeling down next to her and handing her the arrow.
