Character Carnival

Sama'thra just stood there for a moment, taking everything in with little surprised. Everything looked old, in more than one way. The world she was in was definately in an earlier stage of advancement than Comixia.

She opened her mouth and said, "My deity commanded me to be here, before I can advance on my quest." She lifted and arm and held it out. The rain simply fell through her palm, "The body you're seeing is an astral projection, created from a combination of electric machinary and magic. My objective her is to look over the subject of this dormain..." she paused for a moment, "...I mean the owner of this place. Am I being too confusing?"

I have to get off for a moment. Fill out your post slightly.

edited 27th Apr '11 7:41:56 PM by chihuahua0

Cyrus spoke. "The owner's unconscious."

Elise watched her quietly, then came out to go meet the girl.

"My name's Elise, by the way..."

Cyrus came a little closer, his halo gleaming a bright white with the new ghost girl nearby. She didn't seem malevolent, but then again, he couldn't tell much about her, aside from the fact that she was paranormal.

Meanwhile, in the dark storage room, the koi struggled as its best friend neared the House of Mirrors. It was too far, though... it couldn't contact her through the ground. Its name?

Molly.

edited 27th Apr '11 7:44:24 PM by CrystalGlacia

Kiora blinked. She slid the pair of kunai back in their holster. Can't afford to find the magician again, she thought. She glanced down at the body beside her. Why does crap like this have to happen?

Sighing, she returned her attention to the... spirit... projection... thing. How would she fight something that didn't really exist? Hopefully it didn't come to that. "Not too confusing," she said. Makes a hell of a lot more sense than my story. "Got a name, Goth Loli?" Common courtesy, she remembered. Give your own first.

"I'm Kiora."

"Goth Loli?" Sama'thra said, forming a smile at one corner of her mouth. She was unfamilar with the term. She grabbed her dress with both hands and gave a little cursty, "I am Sama'tra Esque'rian, Heir of the Throne of Evan'ran. You can call me Sama'tra."

She stood back up and looked behind the teenage boy that approached her. He was dressed similar to a Guardian, but certianly didn't have the composure of one. The world she was in was a strange one, "Can you lead me to the owner of this place?" she asked kindly.

Sama'thra? Sounds like a Mary Sue name, but... okay. Fine.

"The owner's unconscious. Why?"

"And his name's Cyrus."

He didn't really care that she said that. The advantages of not being an Earthling, heh.

Wait, her description didn't really sound like one it fit with a ghost... yet his halo lit up inexplicably. Maybe it was just picking up on the magic that created her... projection. Who the fuck knew.

Turning in soon.

edited 27th Apr '11 8:43:28 PM by CrystalGlacia

Sama'tra nodded and said, "It is my task right now to make sure she stays alive. My deity told me to keep an eye on her, because if she dies, the spirits will get out of control."

She brushed the fingers on her left hand against her dress. She was still trying to get used to the projection. Not being in her physical form was a strange experience. There was some dissonance between her intentions and her moments, as if there was a delayed signal.

She walked pass Cyrus, "Nice to meet you."

Kiora followed the girl. If they were heading back to the house, it seemed to be the best place to regroup. She'd have to ask Mary for a shovel. Digging would give her some time alone to process her thoughts.

Speaking of which...

"Hey," she called. "Your 'deity' wouldn't have anything to do with why we're all here, would it?"

Please let it be that simple.

Sama'tra looked back at the girl. She gave a blank look at her for a few seconds. It was a wierd feeling to hear the rain fall through her body.

"I'm sorry, but my deity didn't tell me." she said, "All I know that in order to gain favor from my deity, I have to ensure the safety of Mary and look after any other innocents nearby. I do know that most of you are from other worlds, but I don't know why."

She turned her head back to the direction she was heading and walked on, hands closed. Hopefully, she'll find the answer too. Before now, she didn't really know there was any human—or even intelligent—life was outside her solar system. Now she knew. However, she seemed to be taking it all too well.

Mel found the carnival grounds to be more or less what he was briefed on: old and rickety, like from some old horror movie, and as if the natural colour of the place was sapped away, leaving a bleak, grey image under the matching rain.

As he stepped nimbly over puddles of mud and dirtied water, he pulled his jacket tight and cautiously made his way past the entrance, making sure not to sully his black dress pants. This place was farther from the choking air and meandering crowds of the city than he'd been in years.

"What could there possibly be here of any worth?" Mel muttered under his breath. The carnival was unnervingly silent and dark, save for a few figures in the distance, figures that made this scene all the more suspicious, and all the more dangerous.

Assuming a pose more suited to casual business than wary sneaking, Mel approached the busy figures with a polite, yet social manner. He had to find out what was going on here, and why this dead carnival of all places was under investigation.

Sama'thra was in front of Mary's house, looking it up and down. The architecture style of the home looked quite old, even though it looked aged already. There was a patch on the top of the roof.

"So this is her house," she said, standing on the path. She started walking. But half-way to the porch, a jolt of energy went though her, causing a brief outage of her sight.

She was fizzling, her projection seemily malfunctioning.

"My astral projection is-" and then she poofed out of the carnival.

OOC: Goodbye now.

Cyrus was, admittedly, getting a little bored.

"Interesting."

Elise was so confused. First, a scary man tried to hurt the nice lady they met, then a ghost girl vanished.

"Where'd Samantha go?"

So she just up and vanished. How does that even happen? He figured that it would be best to just... not try to think about it too much.

He really wanted to... just shoot something right now. Make this rattling frustration go away. He never wanted to feel it again...

Aren't there some demons who hide in mirrors and warp your appearance?

Yeah. Yeah, in fact. Search there next...

He walked to the entrance to the House of Mirrors without even thinking.

"Boo," The magician said as he gave a light tap over the ninja's shoulder from behind. "Looking for something? Maybe even me?"

The magician had plans, but those could wait. He found a client, and that came first. After all it was part of his occupation to find them.

"It seems you lost something, this time not so simple as a pair of weapons, I see," he said ignoring the potential threat that stood close to him.

edited 28th Apr '11 8:44:47 AM by Fancolors

Kiora jumped at the touch. Her hand went to her kunai, but she caught herself. Not everything has to be a threat, she realized.

She eyed the magician. "Now I know why my parents don't like me sneaking up on them," she said. "At least you aren't covered in dragon blood."

Lost something? Kiora wondered. "I haven't lost anything, except any desire I once had to be here." I hate killing people that aren't specifically enemies. For all I know, I'm the bad guy here. A shudder ran up her spine at the thought.

I'm sorry for taking so long to post, the energy here went out due to heavy rain.

"Ah, interesting, interesting...May I offer one of my services, miss? You know, other than being a charming entertainer I also offer some other, let's say, amusing services." He put on a smirk. "Have you ever wished for blissful ignorance? Well, I can give you that, or,to be more precise, I can...extract your memories, it'd be useful for my research and an easy no-no for your guilty feelings. What do you say?"

Ozmond faced her, she seemed to be in pain. Of course he could save the magical girl, but that would mean she'd become an anomaly like him, not even wanting to let the ninja raise the possibility, he omitted the information.

He waited for her answer.

0.133 seconds...0.450 seconds...0.758 seconds...

It took too long for his standards. He focused in something else, then. He finally noticed the exorcist, not even letting the ninja reply he blurted, "Hello, exorcist! Enjoying your escort mission?" He wasn't sure if the exorcist had heard him, he seemed to be focused on something else.

edited 28th Apr '11 3:13:36 PM by Fancolors

"Erm... what exactly is going on here?" Mel said bluntly in his young, boyish voice. The people in front of him dressed strangely, spoke of strange things and generally seemed... out of place, in a way.

Politely giving a short bow, he awaited any response while eying each of the persons present. At least they look human... he thought, hoping that this encounter wouldn't end up being too hostile.

Cyrus completely ignored the new guy, instead cutting off 'Ozmond'.

"Go fuck yourself."

Elise gasped in horror.

He was very obviously not in his element anymore, and not in a good mood.

When he turned back towards the entrance to the house of mirrors, his halo began to gleam.

The dart that he had been fiddling with warm in his hand, he examined his reflection in the mirrors, searching for any anomalies. The mirrors created an endless tunnel effect, reflecting their images back at each other endlessly.

Suddenly, a flash of orange, white, and black in the back of the mirror "tunnel" appeared from behind Cyrus, moving so fast, he almost missed it when he blinked.

Elise's eyes grew wide with joy. "Molly!"

Finally, she saw someone who wasn't so mean and angry! Though Cyrus was the only one who could help her, she found him frightening and hard to talk to.

She was uncomfortable.

A little scared...

And Molly could feel it.

Kiora laughed slightly, shaking her head. "Blissful ignorance? If only life was that easy. No, I'll be fine. Worse things have happened. I'm not even sure why I'm so upset over that kid dying."

No, she thought. If life was that easy there wouldn't be war.

"I'll take a shovel, though, if you've got one," she said after a while. "I should at least see this through to the end. If I knew where her spirit was..." She dismissed the thought. Dealing with Kohana had taught her that the dead were better off staying dead, no matter how pointless it seemed. "I killed my first enemy at fourteen, you know? In five years, it hasn't gotten any easier. I guess it never does."

To those of a certain persuasion, there is nuance in even the most precise set of words. Through the clever use of etymology or the dubious application of fine extrapolation, one might even take certain words, be they of fiction or fact, law or contract, to mean anything at all, regardless of intent. Such individuals may be seen by others as liars, schemers, selfish manipulators, especially if it is in the nature of their employment or general occupation to do so; most reviled, indeed, are those that might use one set of binding words to bend against another to the point that the latter are, for all intents and purposes, utterly broken, yet never acted against in precisely the way that might qualify as a breach of contract.

Generally, such professionals apply their manifest skills in this arena to the practice of law. Others become businessmen, some confidence men.

And then, there are the chosen few who would have the audacity to apply this approach to natural law. Most of these seek opportunity in the sciences, where such an attitude may be disguised in the trappings of the zeal of rational inquiry, however questionable their intent or methods.

Some do not.

Woe be to he at the leisure of the last.

At the edge of the wood, a burnt and broken shape stirred in the mud.

"You are a very caring person, aren't you? Well this is mostly disappointing," the magician said with a smirk, "Well, then a shovel will be." He proceeded to pull the requested item from his hat. "Here, you may want to be there before the rigor mortis affects the lovely bodies. Oh—give me a call, in case you chance idea."

Ozmond turned to the stranger, "Well, well...I wish you luck. You will need it."

With that being said, he chuckled and walked away from there, slowly disappearing from their sights.

Maybe I should've bought her back...Now, now, where was I?

Kiora gave the magician a muttered, "Thanks," as she took the shovel. She turned back towards the site of the fight.

Once there, she pulled out a kunai. The nearest stall still had most of its tarp left. Soon she had cut a properly sized piece of it to wrap Polly's body.

Stupid kid, she thought, laying out the tarp. You don't just fight through a fatal wound if you've got a medic-nin at your side. Polly's body was carefully laid on the tarp, her arms folded across her chest. She could have been sleeping, were it not for the blood.

She wrapped the tarp around the body and conjured a doppelganger. She stumbled as she felt the drain on her already dwindling chakra. No, she told herself. You will see this through.

Her clone grabbed the shovel as she carried Polly's body to an open lot she'd seen earlier. Laying the body on the ground, she dismissed the clone and set to work with the shovel.

Instead of slowly coming back to the world, Mary jolted up with a yelp.

She sat up, and saw that she was in the living room. She had been placed on one of the couches, which felt unconfortable due to the broken springs. Her backpack, her flashlight, her holster, and her jacket were in a pile on the glass coffee table.

Mary stood up, rubbing her eye. Her thoughts were gathering together. She still felt out there, "That better not had been a dream." she thought. There was no way she would've fell asleep like that. She picked up her jacket, and began to put it back on. It was still wet, furthering conforming her suspisions.

Then a thought came to her.

"What had happened?"

Meanwhile, there was a quiet rumble near the back of the carnival.

The glimpse that Cyrus and Elise caught of Molly was nothing more than a reassuring projection.

Molly could sense a new presence above, from twelve feet under the ground. Nobody had entered the mirror house in years, but she knew what footsteps felt like.

A graceful, yet heavy stride, she discerned. Followed by the light, pattering footsteps of a ghostly child.

Of Elise.

Molly bore a deep hatred towards the rest of the ghosts who imprisoned her in this storeroom, even going so far as to bind her in red strings and surround her with every silver object they could find.

Over twenty years later, however, the stench of silver that could send a newborn demon into a writhing frenzy barely registered on her radar. Her sheer strength, fueled by her desire to exact vengeance upon her captors for casting Elise out of the group made her grow stronger and larger with each passing year, in hopes that this would be the year.

She had been practicing this for the ideal moment. She learned that, if she wished to stay with Elise, the two would have to travel together. This was the moment that she had been waiting for for the last twenty years. She could feel Elise's longing for her, loudly and clearly. Whoever was with Elise stood no chance if they ever thought of hurting her in any way.

The red strings that kept her fins bound snapped. Now free, she flexed her fins in the air as though she was in water, slinking around the silver that no longer bothered her enough to influence her decisions until she located something suitable for her to reach Elise through. Some broken mirror fragments.

She literally swam through one large enough for her to fit through, leaving ripples on the surface of the glass. She came out through the glass, finally free.

She moved her body from side to side, just as she remembered swimming in life. She could feel him the man with her more clearly, concentrating on anything she may have missed.

Silver.

He was an exorcist.

edited 3rd May '11 8:25:41 AM by CrystalGlacia

OOC: Recap. I'll probably be needing one.

Kiora sighed as she put the shovel down, inspecting her work. The grave wasn't too shallow, about three and a half feet deep. It would serve her purposes. Placing Polly's body inside, she seized her tool and began scooping dirt on top of the body.

And Kohana thinks she's gone soft? Kiora wondered, a small smile forming as she worked. She remembered Serenity's funeral, the village dressed in black to mourn their fallen comrade. Kakashi's words came back to her:

Though those we care for may leave us in body, their spirits live on inside us, giving us the strength to fight through their passing and continue on with our lives. Honor your fallen comrades, but do not allow their death to rule your lives. Those who dwell on the past will doom their future.

Kiora stabbed the spade into the dirt to temporarily mark the grave. She had to tell Mary about this. Had to tell someone.

Valentine walked up to the grave site slowly. She couldn't believe that she ran when her allies were in trouble. Ran and hid while Polly died to protect her. She shook her head. Not me. Everyone else. I was too busy trying to look after myself while she died for the rest of them. she sighed. I'm scum.

Seeing Kiora, she winced and looked away. "I'm sorry," she muttered, "I'm sorry I ran off as you all fought." And all I can say is sorry. That won't bring Polly back. She hung her head. And to think, she looked up to me.

edited 30th Apr '11 9:02:26 PM by GIG