Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

Hurty doesn't work that way. Or maybe that's the only way she works. We don't understand when she speaks. It's true, if it's not something she understands she twists it. If she can't twist it, she breaks it, if she can't break it, she'll find a way to kill it. There is nothing she cannot Kill. But she doesn't leap straight to killing. She likes to play with her prey. The cat filled in for what the Dog here was missing.

If the Cat was Infernal and the Dog was Celestial, then it would make sense that this Hurty would make no sense to a Celestial if it only thought in terms of predator and prey, or worse. It was something a Demon would understand however. But, it's not a question of talking to her. You need to be able to reach her first. Then she'll talk. It will hurt. The cat warned, looking serious, the joking nature sliding away as Ichiro looked into it's eyes and saw a fragment of Hell's fire there. It was being entirely literal and serious, there would be pain.

They were making alright time however, the elevation of the ground rising as they went slightly, mountains becoming a reality. They'd make it there by nightfall.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

"I see... so, well assuming I can reach her, then I'll need to tread very carefully. And... I'm no stranger to pain, even though I would prefer there be none. Giselle cannot do it all alone, I'm sure. So to help you, and in turn myself, and Vila, I will do what I can to bring you all back together again and make you whole," Ichiro told them as they rode onward to the mountains.

Ichiro grabbed a couple of more oranges along the way, sharing them with the others as they rode and the mountains began getting larger and larger as they started climbing upward. If at any point, Ichiro saw any wild game of any kind that he could maybe catch, with the help of the cat and the dog, and Vila, then he would suggest they try and nab something so they had something other than oranges to eat, something he could cook over a campfire later in case they didn't make it to their destination before it got too dark, or if they did, then he could cook it up there instead.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

That's nice. Try not to die. the dog said cheerfully.

There was plenty of game around, but dog and cat were against the idea and as such trying to catch anything would end in failure almost assuredly.

It was to be oranges. AND PAIN! AND PAINANGES!

At least Dog was against it, Cat however seemed to want something more substantial and a deer miraculously tripped and died mysteriously of a broken neck out of sight. Dog was Sad, Vila was Sad and hungry, and Cat was mostly just hungry.

So, there was to be some meat they could eat tonight at the very least if Ichiro didn't want to push straight through to the meeting.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

"I will try and not die. But, it's really up to her in this case I guess," Ichiro said, smiling to them and petting both.

Seeing plenty of game, Ichiro wanted to catch, clean, and cook something, so that he could have some meat, but alas, the cat and dog duo seemed to think it not a good idea. However, a deer somehow managed to trip and break its neck not too far away, and Ichiro had the sneaking suspicious that cat had caused it to trip. "Well, it wouldn't do to let it go to waste and all. Besides, I could really use some meat, and I haven't had deer meat in... what seems like years," Ichiro said, dismounting and leading the horse over to a tree to tie him off, while he pulled out his axe and used it to clean and cut the deer, gathering as much meat as he could for the group, putting it into one of the other saddle bags that the cat hadn't been in after wrapping it up in a cloth to keep stuff from getting on it, and leaving the rest for the scavenger animals about.

With that, he remounted the horse, helped the group up, and set off again up the mountain, hoping that they could reach the place they were heading before night set in too much.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

It was entirely dark by the time they reached where Vila was certain they were going, which turned out to be a sheer drop off several hundred feet above them, no foot holds, no easy way up, highly HIGHLY defensible as a location. However the poor horse was about to have the shitting shock of it's life while Cat and Dog only giggled suspiciously and vila flailed about thinking she'd been wrong.

And then they realized the horse's hoofs were no longer on the ground, they were floating, and rising, Ichiro feeling weightless. It was disorienting and sickening in a way, having never experienced this before, and it persisted as they climbed, climbed, climbed into the air, the horse flailing it's legs around in a panic.

They were placed delicately on a stone shelf in front of a woman who looked very much like Sola and Ichor. But she was solid where the others had been silhouettes. Her eyes were entirely white and her pale flesh was covered in drifting whorls instead of sharp lines, all in white as well as her hair. She was sitting crosslegged on the ground and didn't move towards them, or away from them after setting them down, simply tilting her head.

The second Visitors to my perch, The last I turned into smears. she said dispassionately, as if she didn't care one way or another, with Vila scooting closer before Cat and Dog charged in and flopped in her lap, the woman cracking a smile and petting them both. Hey you two. Sorry I had to run. Couldn't leave Kalt off by herself, you know how that would end. she said softly, loving on them both before smiling at Vila and beckoning her over, though she seemed to want to stay with Ichiro.

Must be odd for you Wolfkin. You could literally touch the moon in a way if I was feeling Kind. she said softly, regarding him. While Sola had seemed intense and almost panicked, this woman was entirely calm. Completely level and balanced in every way. She would move when she chose, she would speak when she chose. That was her way, it radiated off of her gently. not troubling, just a point of fact that she would let no one move her. Or draw her out.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

The climb up the mountain was steadily bringing them closer to the location they were making for, and Ichiro was curious about how long it would take them to reach it from there. After reaching the cliff's edge, Ichiro looked curiously about, wondering if they'd made a wrong turn somewhere, and he noticed that Vila was also looking a little worried about having possibly made a wrong turn. It was then that he realized that the horse's hooves were not on the ground, and Ichiro's eyes widened as he clung to the saddle and reins. Ichiro had never flown before... unless you count jumping out of a tree when he was little and landing in the river flying, though that was less flying and more falling really.

The pit of his stomach roiled a bit as he floated on the horse, and he was about to begin panicking himself just like the horse, until they were set down on the stone slab in front of a woman. She looked similar to Sola and Ichor, and Ichiro dismounted, sighing in relief as his feet touched solid ground again.

"Well... I hope that you don't turn me into a smear on the cliff side. And yes, it is indeed odd," Ichiro replied once the woman had finished talking to the others, and him, and he also gave Vila a look that he didn't mind if she went over too. "Sola, the one residing in Vila here, was the one who led me here. She didn't exactly say why to come here, though I got the sense that she meant all would be explained when I did. I'm Ichiro Suzuka, by the way," he added.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

Did she now. she's inside the sprite? Come here little one. She said, offering her hand, Vila looking at Ichiro nervously before fluttering over and landing there. Don't be nervous. she said, before her white light poured into Vila, and extracted Sola from her forcibly, drawing the glowing yellow woman from her body with as much effort as brushing away a fly, the sleeping woman curled up at her side, her head in Luna's lap.

Stroking her head gently, she smiled and Vila just... Appeared, in Ichiro's pocket, peaking out while the cat and dog bounced around the pair happily. Can you both carry the wound she had? Will it trouble you to stay together? Luna asked, raising an eyebrow, asking if they'd leave Vila's healing intact.

As for explanations, what is there to explain. We are broken, we are coming together, the country may be obliterated by Kalt through the tunnel behind me should her contemplations come to an end and she decides to go on a rampage. I couldn't care less about the others, they are not a dire threat as it stands to nearly as many as she is becoming. she said seriously, her gaze darkening. Each blow dealt to us is further edging her to acting and destroying everything. she finished, looking at Ichiro seriously.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

Ichiro smiled to Vila and nodded to her to move over to Luna. "It's alright little one," Ichiro told her, watching as she went over to Luna.

Ichiro grew worried of course when Luna began forcibly pulling Sola's essence out of Vila, and he caught himself just before he started forward, and saw Sola take shape, resting her head in Luna's lap. When Vila appeared in his shirt pocket again and popped her little head up, Ichiro smiled down at her, feeling relieved. "I... I'm not sure. I suppose we can bear it. I mean, we've borne it up until now well enough... I think," Ichiro replied, glancing down at Vila again to see what she thought about it all.

"What can we do to help then? To help keep Kalt back there from going on her rampage," Ichiro asked curiously after a few moments.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

I suppose Rampage is not the appropriate word. It would be a systematic extermination of anything living or dead south of this point to the edge of the sea barrier. Not a single thing would be left standing. While I gather the forces of Ioun to me in this time of crisis, She has gathered the energies of the Raven Queen and Tiamat both. Her power is Immense at this point in time. My arguments have kept her from acting. Ichor has claimed the energies of Zehir, true god of assassins and poisoners and her body reflects his energies. Sola has of coursed taken on Pelor's remaining energies and my other sisters have claimed those energies that remain. Avandra also sits before you in both her aspects. I believe Kina and Kuna have done her proud thus far. she said, explaining something to Ichiro. It wasn't just Pelor at play here. Truly most of the pantheon's energies had been pulled into this arena. Only now rather then the guiding hand of a diety, it was the fractured mind, soul, and heart of a person who walked this world as he did. And while Luna may be long thinking, the others like were not.

If you want to try your hand, please do. Just take great care, and bare any pain she delivers. It will be a test of your will, if you make it that far, she will decide you are at least worthy of speaking. she continued, Vila looking up at him.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

"Mmm... I see. So... everyone has a stack in this pretty much, is what you're saying. In terms of the gods I mean," Ichiro said, looking troubled by what Luna had said is the power behind Kalt. "I promised Sola I would help, and I mean what I said. I will manage somehow I'm sure. I've managed great pain already just in getting to this point," he added, looking confidently at her before he glanced to Vila and walked into the cave, cautiously of course.

"Vila, do you want to stay out here? If so, I won't think any less of you," Ichiro asked Vila at the mouth of the cave, letting her choose whether or not to stay out there with them for now.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

... Yes. I do. Be careful Ichiro. she said, fluttering to sit on Luna's shoulder, watching him go. As he walked into the tunnel, not one step in and he was certain a blade had lanced straight through his thigh muscle. The initial pain was immense, and dulled to the burn of a bleeding wound that he was familiar with, but his body was unharmed.

Each step caught him with another cut, always in a new place, always deep and painful. Crippling wounds he knew, and the worst was the laughter. It was male, deep and rolling, filled with true joy at his pain, at watching him suffer.

It was without sense or purpose except to inflict misery upon him for daring to intrude on whatever sanctum lay on the other side, and it only got worse as cuts turned into Burns. He could swear he felt bones break, tendons tear, muscles rip. He experienced in full truth, what it felt like to have his fingers and toes broken, and his claws forcibly removed. Each fresh torment without any adaptation for him to become accustomed to the pain. If he got used to one, he was visited with another. It was Expert, this manipulation of his pain to make him cry, scream, beg. If he did not have the light to look forward to at the end of this tunnel, he knew he would break. He was taken just to the edge as he stood at a barrier at the end of his ordeal. He would pray for death if this carried on, but fear, Fear he had to admit he felt, that he would be slain immediately if he flagged in his resolve, kept him from doing so, because he knew the moment he did, the force he felt beyond that barrier would grant his wish in an instant, cursing his weakness for him.

No sane mind could put up with this pain. He knew something far worse waited for him if he took that final step. He knew Hope did not exist in this place. That it would be more terrible than any pain he experienced in the longest 50 yards of his life previous in this hellhole of a tunnel.

He took his last step, and in a moment he was forced to live through the painful and excruciating death of the only person in this place he cared for, who had been there for him. He was made to watch as Vila was tortured to death, slowly, hearing her screams and sobs and prayers to be allowed to die. For 6 hours he watched, unable to Not See it. Cruelties he would wish on NO ONE were visited upon his friend while her tormentor just smiled innocently and laughed as she screamed until she broke, and only then was she allowed to die. He didn't do her the service of killing her. He just let her fade away a shattered mind in a tiny, broken, twisted body.

And then he was through.

You survived. Feel my pain, even if you do not understand it. Corellon's energies have a unique taste. I've used his gifts to raise my activities to art and found beauty in it's perversity. Take the time you need to recover. a musical voice said softly. He was standing in a hollow in the mountains, snow fell steadily here even though there was not a single cloud in the sky. In it's center stood a woman, a Beautiful woman. Her pale body was like her sisters, unclothed. Unlike her sisters, her ears were almost 9 inches long and viciously tapered, her eyes black slits inside blue irises. There was not a single flaw to be found anywhere on her body, not a single feature out of place, she was truly otherworldly in appearance and she regarded Ichiro as he stood there, trying to rally his mind from the pain, and what he'd been Forced to witness at her hands for the chance at this audience. And that was certainly what it was as she looked down on him.

Three Gods stood here with her, or at least the power they had abandoned under whatever compact Melora had invoked. She was only getting stronger as time passed. All around her stood sculptures of ice, shaped carefully into people she remembered, her loneliness was as stifling as her obvious pain, hatred, and jealousy at Ichiro's connection to Vila. That he had someone, and she did not... Only Luna to argue with and these statues to stare at. He recognized the fey woman from before as the one nearest her location. But it's eyes were hollow, it had none of the life the true woman had. Had it had to tear at her heart every moment, of her existance in this form.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

"I will little one. And don't worry, I'll be careful," Ichiro told her, nodding to her and the others before heading inside.

Not far inside, Ichiro grunted in pain as he fell to one knee, looking down quickly to see what had cut him, only to see that he wasn't bleeding at all. He got back to his feet, and started forward again. Every time he took a step, Ichiro felt immense pain, but he did his best to bear with it, trying to not let himself falter. The laughter was what was the worst part about it in Ichiro's opinion, as it was taunting him, and delighting in his pain and agony. After about halfway, at least he thought it was anyway, Ichiro fell to his knees again, panting heavily and groaning in pain.

Ichiro was about to speak, to beg for the pain to stop, but he remembered that he had to keep going. The pain and cruelties didn't end there though, and kept coming. When he finally took his final step, after enduring the cruel agonies that were forced upon him, Ichiro collapsed to his knees, and then he was forced to watch as his friend, his best and closest friend in the entire world, was tortured slowly to death.

When he heard the voice speaking, Ichiro looked up, panting heavily, and his face drenched in sweat, and tears streaming down his face. As he stared at up at the woman before him, Ichiro opened and closed his mouth several times as he recovered, though... he didn't think he would ever truly recover from the sight of Vila being hurt like that. It took Ichiro a few minutes, but finally, he found his voice again.

"I... I would like to ask, t-that you please, stay your hand. G-Giselle... she's searching for you, a-and the rest. And she's still down in the city," Ichiro panted softly, and as he imagined what this woman could do, and likely would, if they didn't pull this Kylie woman back together again, then Agatha, among many others, would pay the price. "I-If I swear to help put you back together, with all of your other parts... would you be willing to help me... or us, to do so, and stay your rage... please? I... I know how it feels to be alone, believe me, and your powers made it that much more painful to witness my first true friend in many years taken from me. I would not wish that on anyone else, not you, not Vila, Agatha... nobody. Nobody should have to bear being alone... ever. It... it's too sad, and it hurts," he went on to say, a pleading look in his eyes as he laid his heart out on the matter.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

The woman listened and tilted her head. Selfish. was what she had to say in answer, walking forward one step, the motion enough to kick up the snow all around her as if a bomb had gone off around her, clearing the earth and destroying the ice statues. But she stopped and froze, tilting her head.

I should spare everyone because it hurts too much. she said, her head tilting the other way, her eyes unmoved and unblinking. Your pain has taught you nothing. You are still here. The world will continue to turn even if I tear all of your hopes and dreams asunder and bury them in the blood and bones of your friends, likewise broken. she said, even as Ichiro wondered how the 20 pound hunks of ice from the statue had all missed him cleanly. But now he was feeling the cold so keenly that his body was starting to shift for the first time in a very long time to try and bare the frost.

What makes your friends more important then their friends, your dreams more important then My dreams. No more pain, only the quiet and the cleansing cold. she said, slowly kneeling down on her one forward placed leg and looking at him. It was as Luna had said, this creature was alien to him and likely everyone else. It had a different way of thinking, While it focused on a few key concepts, it's view was incredibly wide and far flung. It had traced the pathways of it's actions along a single line as far as they could be traced and weighed them. It wasn't sane, not to his definition of sanity, but it wasn't crazy or unintelligent either.

You could live and make new friends... why? They will die, you will die, you will cause the children you mistakenly have pain when you die, they will do the same. They will suffer unspeakable torments like we all do over our lives at the whims of the mortals and gods alike only to repeat the cycle. Why should I Not wage my war on all of them? These higher powers? If I slay all their worshippers, living and dead and undead, then they too die and the cycle is broken and everything returns to peace and quiet. What is the value of your friends against this?

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

Watching as Kalt seemed to be completely oblivious to his reasoning, or rather didn't care, Ichiro tried to stand his ground, but fell back to his knees as she took a step forward, the overwhelming power she had nearly too much for him to even be near. "Maybe you're right, and I haven't learned anything from my pain. But I do know that if you killed everyone, then there wouldn't really be a world. It would just be empty, and lifeless. Sure, there's pain in life, living itself in a way is a form of pain, because you grow older, your bones grow weak. But despite all of the pain one feels, life is worth living... really, because of all of the reasons you just gave me that you should end it," Ichiro said, panting softly as he hung his head a bit. "I understand that you hurt. I hurt... everyone hurts in a way, whether they say so or not. You... you called me selfish before. But, isn't what you wish to do selfish as well? When you look at it in a logical sense, we're both selfish in our own way," Ichiro went on to say.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

Selfish. No, were I to turn this all on myself, and Die, leaving this world in the state it's in, burying my head in the sand. THAT would be selfish. You understand I am hurting? I gave you one third of the pain I suffered in a single night. Including watching a friend die. You recieved 6 hours. I watched it bolted to a chair, physically bolted, with screws through my limbs and my eyes held open, for over 18. I counted the seconds of every minute while I listened to her scream, heard her beg for her life, and then her death, saw her break. One third of a Single night is enough to bring you to your knees with scars to show for it. What do you know of Pain? I feel Giselle's Pain as our children slowly Die, I hear the other shards crying out, some in glory, others in fear, some silently pursuing to inflict pain on others. My heart Sister struggles with our Body while Aria fights for the children and you think me selfish. To end it all, to put their torments to rest. Or maybe I should take the way of my heart sister and struggle to the very end. Or maybe Aria, To give until she bleeds and continue to give. Perhaps Gale, to save my hatred for only those I deem a threat. No Okami. You want me to stay my hand? she said, tilting her head completely to the side.

What price should I demand of you hmmm? What menial task should I dictate to you Okami. That would Assuage My pain. Perhaps you should Know Me... Perhaps... Perhaps.... The waves had stopped rolling off the woman, that pulsating energy that roiled beneath the surface of this area Luna had momentarily confined her to had dipped to a low simmer while she seemed to be tracing another pathway, or perhaps a set.

Something astounding happened. The woman kneeling in front of him fissured into two, both muttering, both thinking furiously. But this new Kalt only did so for a moment, and went about rebuilding the scupltures, lovingly, delicately, taking her time to ensure every detail was perfect, every attempt to capture their actual life in poses intricately gone about. Before she turned her strange gaze to Ichiro and looked Through him. And then she was gone, and Kalt was done thinking. It took 20 minutes all in all for Kalt to rebuild the statues and trace whatever mental line she was following down it's path.

I am tiring of you. Make any final pleas you have, and then leave. she said, moving to sit cross legged again as the snow once more began to fall and accumulate.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

"Or... you could help Giselle to recover all of your missing pieces, without destroying Garellia. Or you could do anything really. The possibilities are endless, and only you can make your own choices. Despite all the pain, loneliness, and everything else that life can throw at me... I choose to live it, because until I met Vila, my death was assured, and I didn't want to die, but I had accepted it. Now I have a second chance at life though, and I choose to try and help those I can, so that they don't have to go through the same pain and suffering that I and others have experienced," Ichiro said, watching as Kalt split in two, and then went about rebuilding the ice sculptures and whatnot.

He watched Kalt doing this, looking quite interested about the whole thing. After she had done so, and addressed him again, Ichiro sighed softly as he got to his feet. "I merely ask that you give me, and the rest of us, time. Time to try and help put you back together again, to find who did this to you, and to see if we find a solution before anything drastic is considered," Ichiro replied softly when Kalt told him to make his final plea before leaving, where as soon as he'd spoken, Ichiro turned to leave her be for now, hoping his words had been enough to dissuade her from destroying everything for now to give them time enough to try and fix this problem.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

Time. You want Time. I was contemplating tearing out your tongue and binding you to stone to torment for your previous high minded words Okami. We were made with dark magics from the primordial energies of creation against our will into a single being and made to dance like a puppet, made to suffer for amusement, made to sleep for an experiment, and awoken to our... Second Chance. So says Idris. I was born later. I am the combined pain, rage, and hatred of all 8 of the original fragments, bound and compacted into a single living soul. I am not some paltry mortal scraping around this dingy horror ridden planet for a single lifetime. I will wait until either our children die, Giselle dies, or I am returned to Idris embrace. If the former two occur. I will obliterate the world step by step starting with this country and I will bind you to watch until the last life is extinguished. I have curbed my temper for Luna's sake, I will do so no longer. Leave. Kalt said, her calm visage so far twisting to that of a mind pushed passed all point of reason into a hatred Ichiro could See in her eyes. It would never fade, it would never heal, it would be a blight on this Kylie's soul for the remainder of her days and should they all survive this, to be whole, she would carry this cross of hers until the end of her time without complaint.

The way he'd come opened and the statues all turned to him. They were not renditions of loved ones now, but weapons, curling hooked frozen fingers in his direction, their bodies glowing with a baleful light that reminded him of the horrors he'd been made to witness. His time with this creature was up.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

Ichiro didn't say anything else, and merely nodded to her before he turned to leave, lest he anger Kalt further than she already was. But he'd done, he supposed, what he had set out to do in here, which was to buy time for them. If Kalt was really truthful about her words that is. This meant that he had to find Giselle, to pool their resources... and soon. Because he also had to protect her, else Kalt would go on her rampage. He headed out of the room, and back down the tunnel, his face paler than it had ever been before, and a pained look in his eyes.

When he reached the exit, which he made for as quickly as possible, Ichiro stepped back outside, and walked past the others, and collapsed against the cliff wall, sitting there shivering a bit, though not from being cold, but from what all he had just witnessed and gone through. "Can she hear me, out here, Luna?" Ichiro asked curiously, trying to push the tortures out of his mind.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

If you are referring to Kalt, not at the moment, she has turned her attention back to Idris, and pangs for her as one rended from the truth of her soul. That is the only explanation I can give. Speak freely. Luna said, Sola still asleep but seeming much more at peace, and far more stable in Luna's care. This duality of nature these shards shared had to be more important then anyone realized. Vila landed in front of Ichiro, instead of on him, looking worried. Itchy? she said softly, looking like she didn't want to touch him and shock him with the contact.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Praise the Sun. (Mind Flayer)

"Good... I hope you'll forgive me for saying this. But she is one crazy woman," Ichiro said, not calling her a crazy bitch like he'd started to, lest he anger Luna and Sola. "But... I believe I bought us some time with which to put you back together again. She said that she wouldn't start destroying everything unless Giselle or your children died, or she was returned to Idris's embrace. The pain, the sadness, and the loneliness she feels is... just... too much. The things she forced me to see, just to speak with her was... intense. And I'm alright Vila, don't worry about me. I just... I need to rest a little is all, after that," Ichiro went on to say, looking down at Vila and smiling as best he could to try and ease her worries, reaching down and scooping her up to hug her to his chest.