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Lead us not into temptation

Started by Sierra, October 11, 2010, 02:28:16 PM

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Sierra

<Kotono> The preparations wind on. As Mari rests Adail is in his meditations.  What disturbs this momentary calm before the storm is Arinzah, entering with a knock. "Mari and Adail?"
* Adail cracks open one eye, but does not otherwise stir from his odd take on the lotus position, "Hmm?"
* Mari looks up from her bed. "That's my name, yeah. What about it?"
<Kotono> "The Lady of the Green Kirtle requests your presences." He says without fanfare.
* Mari sits up. "What for?"
<Adail> "Very well." He unfolds himself and hops off the table he had been sitting on, preparing to follow the servant.
<Kotono> "A human girl named Ami." Arinzah doesn't quite smirk, but it's a close run thing. "Who resides in Baator."
<Mari> "Right. Let's go."
<Adail> "The Lady's intelligence network is impressive indeed." Adail notes rather flatly, but doesn't seem overly surprised at this.
* Hatbot is now known as Friend_Computer
<Kotono> The two of you are escorted out and to the hall. You go the opposite direction this time, eventually around a corner. This leads to a stairway going up. Atop this stair lies doubledoors, emblazoned with the image of glass spheres. They seem alive, cosmos held within. They turn and move, in an incalculable dance. "She waits within."
* Mari nods and enters.
* Adail silently follows.
<Kotono> The door splits open! Within lies a room of matte, flat black. The floor and walls are this, the entire room quite large. The back is a great bank of mist, shifting and image-heavy. Before it the Lady of the Green Kirtle stands, gazing into the foggy depths.
<Mari> "So, out with it," Mari says unceremoniously.
<Kotono> "Approach," It's a command, a single word carrying the weight of authority within it.
* Adail gives Mari a small sideways nod before padding forwards towards the Lady.
* Mari can't stand that tone of voice and only wants to turn and leave just to be contrary to it, but this isn't really the time to be difficult. Also...Ami. Mari approaches.
<Kotono> You can see nothing but mist ahead. The Lady of the Green Kirtle...if she sees more, it is a mystery beyond you. "In this room, much of the cosmos can be seen with crystal clear clarity. Were a child to sit here and watch, they would perish as an old man before a thousandth of the potentials within had been partaken of. To one of the proper will, it can show their heart's desire."
* Mari watches, with some skepticism and detachment. "This how you kept an eye on Nik?"
* Adail flicks his eyes around the room, wondering what it might show him...but he does not focus on that, but instead on being a reassuring presence for Mari, as much as he can.
<Kotono> "One of the ways. Superior to scrying, undetectable..." Her eyes drift to Adail, "With this, I have watched many things and many places. Your sister amid them. 'twould be child's play to see her, and with the proper magic to supplement it, to have her within arm's reach."
<Mari> "I'm sure it would be."
* Adail does not flinch or shy at her gaze, "If you are going to make an offer regarding her, it would better serve to state it simply then to imply."
<Kotono> "All I ask for this miracle is your service and the service of your sister. No need to challenge Baator, no risks of diabolical routing." Her arm gestures at the fog, "No vague hope and quests, only results."
<Mari> "I can't speak for Ami, and I won't. I don't care much what I have to do to get her out, but I'm not about to do it just to put her into your service."
* Adail nods, having expected exactly that answer from Mari.
<Kotono> The Lady gazes out, "Her unit has been activated to head to Gehenna. Baator marches on a demonic encroachment there; casualties will be well over 80% at best. But..." Now she turns her glance at Mari, "For your service alone I would do this."
<Mari> "Can't say that tempts much either. Seen too much of what being around you does to Nik." Mari shifts a little in place. "What exactly could you do, and what exactly would you want? Out of curiosity."
<Kotono> "I have one more scroll of Gate," The Lady of the Green Kirtle says, "Enough for her to come through or be pulled through. You need not embrace undeath or any such - you will do living and breathing."
<Kotono> As you talk, the mists begin to swirl and shift, as if moving of their own volition.
<Mari> "Mm-hm. Forever, I take it? A life for a life?"
<Kotono> "Yes." The Lady of the Green Kirtle says calmly. In the mists you can begin to see red. Red...a blood red sky. Angry throbbing red, clouds of black that boil and burst into great balls of fire. A cracked landscape alien to Mari, as if great lashes of fire rent it asunder. Below, on this land in the mists you can see a large number of creatures - perhaps 100, all told.
* Adail is quiet, but watches the image with seemingly detached curiosity.
* Mari focuses on the crowd of figures.
<Kotono> The viewpoint drops down into the figures! A marching column - humanoids of all stripes and kinds. They wear all the same armor - breastplates forged of iron with halberds and swords at their sides. They march in perfect military order, wearing heavy boots. They are all somewhat indistinct, save one. She wears a helmet, hiding her hair...but her face...it's masked in impassive control, but it's
<Kotono> her face. Ami's face. A face of a cold, unfeeling soldier, marching off to war.
<Mari> "How long before they meet the enemy?" Mari says in a carefully level tone. "Any idea?"
<Kotono> "Not long." For a moment the vision blurs, as if racing ahead. You now see a screaming, large tear in the fabric of everything. Beyond it is another fiery hell, "The portal to Gehenna is barely a day's march away. Less if they force march. From there..." The mists blur again! Further ahead you can see it...it is a twisting, twenty seven sided...thing. As if a monument of broken and terrifying
<Kotono> angles was forged out of placid gray steel. Within the steel pained faces flow like wind through water. All over this impossible fortress they stand...demons. Some Mari knows - arrow demons, dretch, hezrou. Others Mari does not, nightmarish things the mind refuses to see long. So many of them, waiting, hungry...
* Mari notices she's grinding her teeth, stops. "Then I guess we'll have to get our work done here quickly."
<Kotono> "Hmm." There's no emotion in that voice, "Celestial, do you know what happens to followers of Baator on the demise of their mortal coil?"
<Adail> "They fall into the lake of fire," Adail responds impassively, "where one day they become lemures, the base form of the baatezu."
<Kotono> "One long day away, after years of suffering. Nine years at the least, and only if they are supremely lucky." The Lady stays just as impassive as Adail, "Her best chance fate. If the demons get her soul? She will be a plaything of a greater demon for eternity. A lawful toy to torment with every sick desire the Abyss can imagine. The only respite will be when her spirit is momentarily freed from
<Kotono> suffering, when traded to another demon."
<Adail> "But in terms such as this, service is defined by that of the soul, not merely that of the body. Has Ami become corrupted, or is she merely forced to wear their armor and wield their blades? That, we do not know." He sighs, "I grant that is a small chance, they are quite effective at what they do. But it is a possibility."
<Mari> "How *would* you get her out, anyway? She's got to have a master there, at least a commanding officer. Doubt they'd take kindly to having one of their soldiers snatched away. Even if it's just one grunt--" Mari's voice cracks a little here, "--devils aren't known for forgiving slights. You willing to make one of them an enemy just for me and her?"
<Kotono> "Yes I am," The Lady replies without any feeling yet, though her gaze turns to Mari. She looks into her eyes, calm as newfallen snow and twice as cold. "It is a generous offer, Mari. The alternative is every day knowing that your sister is eternally damned. Can you face yourself every day knowing that you failed Ami?"
<Mari> "I already do. I'll tell you what I think is going to happen if I say yes. Ami's probably used to taking orders, I figure, so what's she going to do when she finds herself stranded in a strange world? Probably you'll offer her a deal, and she'll say yes because she's familiar with this kind of arrangement. Plenty of awful things people will put up with just because they're used to them. (more)
<Mari> "She trades one master for another and we're both stuck with you. She spends the rest of her life following orders and nothing changes and she winds up in the same place, just, maybe, much later. I fail either way, so I'm not going to give you the satisfaction. I know a shark when I see one."
<Kotono> "Then?" With a cock of her head back towards the mists, "I vow not to make her a single offer. I leave her fate in your hands if you accept." As she says that the mists swirl! Within them you see Ami...falling. Falling into a  great chasm of leaping fire and boiling magma. There is no sound to her screams for a moment, then from all around they sound! Screams of the utmost agony as she plunges
<Kotono> in, flesh melting away! A white orb stays within, screaming yet louder! "If you care to watch her as she suffers later, she'll call on the few names left to her that give her a moment's hope. Big sister Mari is surely one of them, no?"
* Adail narrows his eyes at the vision, fast losing certainty at it's validity. She couldn't have a way to accurately see the future so easily, even with the magic at her disposal.
<Mari> "You know," Mari says calmly. "I'm sorry, I have to compliment you on something. You're very good at playing on emotions you no longer have. If you ever did. I've seen enough and I think we're done here." She turns and walks from the room. "Call me when it's time to go to work."
<Kotono> Ami's voice says but one thing, "Maarii..." It's the cry of a scared child in agony, tearchoked. The Lady speaks after as it fades, "Be warned, Baator has no mercy, nor does the Abyss. She marches to her damnation without a hope to save her now. If you care for your sister, stay. If you wish to live in regret, go. You see what has happened to so many souls here before, and what is waiting to
<Kotono> happen to Ami at the absolute best."
<Mari> "I'm used to it," Mari says in parting, halting only briefly but not looking back.
<Kotono> "Adail," The Lady turns back to the mists, "If another cares to act on Mari's behalf, I will consider the same arrangement for them. If not..." Meanwhile Mari heads out, the Lady's servant waiting. "Back to quarters," he says with a jaunty smile, "Hold on, the other one's still in there."
<Mari> "Right." Mari pauses, finds a wall to lean against (hopefully outside hearing range of the chamber), stares at the floor. Very still.
<Kotono> Whistling a bit as he stands in place, "Y'know, resurrection doesn't work if Baator gets it's claws on your soul. They don't let go." His whistle is a jaunty tune. "Just thought you'd like to know."
<Mari> "Shut up."
* Adail shakes his head, "To love someone, is to love what they love as well. Would it please Ami for her sister to sell herself on her behalf? I cannot say, but I think Mari can. And has. I bid you a good evening, Lady." He nods politely as he turns and pads out after Mari.
<Kotono> "Oh well, ain't my soul in the barbeque." He says as Adail comes out, heading back to the stairs. "C'mon, you two."
* Mari follows, not wishing to exchange more words with this servant.

~

<Kotono> Nikkolai can see the Lady's servant come, taking Adail and Mari away. This leaves on Knight, who is lost as she works on her mount, and Kamvakua, who is meditating. They are both distant and absorbed...but Yulia remains. She sits near Kamvakua. As the minutes pass, Nikkolai can observe her stealing glances at him.
* Nikkolai is saddened by Yulia's reluctance to be near him ever since his...change. /Am I that repulsive now?/ He wondered silently. /Am I something to be tolerated and spied upon from a distance?/
<Nikkolai> Pushing these thoughts aside, he manages a wan smile and gestures at Yulia to come to him.
<Kotono> Yulia hesitates and looks down...but after a moment she squares her shoulders and flies over. "Hi!" a smiles is suddenly on her face as she flutters in front of Nikkolai, "Hey listen Master, how are you feeling?"
* Nikkolai shrugs nonchalantly. "No problems. I seem to be functioning well enough." He manages to widen his grin, if only to make her feel at ease. "And how are you holding up, bright one? My master or her underlings have not troubled you, have they?"
<Kotono> "N-no, she's nice. It's strange, but she's not eating us or turning us all into vampires or magical research victims." Yulia's smile grows a little more forced, then simply falls away. "How come we can't just defeat her like a ballad and go back to Arborea?"
<Nikkolai> A silence falls over Nikkolai as he ponders how to answer his companion. "It is...not so easy as that, Yulia. If we were to attack her now, I fear that some of our number would perish in the undertaking of it. And I am not powerful enough to defeat her myself. Not yet."
<Kotono> "It's just not fair," Yulia seems to slump down, nearly falling out of the air. "This isn't right, Master!"
<Nikkolai> "I learned many years ago that life, and much of death for that matter, is very unfair." Nikkolai replies in a not unkind tone.
<Kotono> This gets a sigh from the floating courre. "Master, I..." Her voice lowers, "Listen, I..."
<Nikkolai> "Come, Yulia. Speak what's on your mind." Nikkolai reaches out, hesitates for one moment, then patted her gently on the head, as he had done so many times in the past.
<Kotono> Yulia goes to Nikkolai's shoulder, sitting there. She looks down, "I just...I want you to be happy."
<Nikkolai> "Happiness..." Nikkolai muses, his heart experiencing a small burst of warmth at Yulia's decision to be close to him, though it was undoubtedly unpleasant. "It's a very subjective thing. I was happy, for a time, when I thought I was free from Her forever and had come to call a precious few my friends. I found renewed hope in the arms of an angel and (more)
<Nikkolai> --newfound determination to fight my old master. But now, I have failed utterly and completely. I am bound to her once again without so much as a fight from me. I find it so easy to resume the mantle of servitude, though I long to end her wretched existence. That itself brings a bitter taste to my mouth. But even worse, an unforgivable sin, (more)
<Nikkolai> --I have led my friends to their doom and failed to save even a small boy from her grasp. Truly, there is very little left that would make me happy. Her death would be one such thing. Regaining my life and those of my friends would be another. But they are so far beyond my grasp, it might as well be impossible."
<Kotono> Yulia looks down and sniffles. She starts to cry silently, going to wipe her eyes before going on. "Li...listen, okay? Just listen to me." She draws herself up, and SMACK! A tiny hand hits across Nikkolai's cheek, "I wanna cry and give up too! I wanna give up so bad and make everyone listen to me so no one gets hurt any more! But you know what, that's really dumb! Hope's what keeps us going,
<Kotono> and as long as you're still you, you can still hope and still try to make it better! So what if she beat us once? We're still intact and we can beat her next time!"
<Nikkolai> Nikkolai's widen almost comically. Though sensation has mostly fled from his body, he could still the force behind the courre's blow. "You speak truth, Yulia. But...." Nikkolai smiles at Yulia fondly. "When is next time? Days? Months? Years? I...am no longer quite myself." Nikkolai holds up a hand and flexes it, staring at it thoughtfully. (more)
<Nikkolai> "I do not wish to frighten you, Yulia. But when she changed me, I think whatever was left of my soul must have died along with my body. A numbing cold is slowly spreading through me. For brief moments, I feel absolutely nothing. Do you understand? *Nothing*. How long do you think I have until I am nothing more than a husk? A slave to her will truth (more)
<Nikkolai> as well as name. I do not have the time we need to be patient and defeat her months down the line."
<Kotono> "Well then," Yulia's teary face is composed into a tight smile, "We're just gonna have to fix that too!"
* Nikkolai cannot help but chuckle warmly. "If only it was as easy as you make it sound, my dear. If only, if only. My only hope right now is to learn, to watch, and to strike when I sense even a moment of weakness. What more can I do? And even then, I do not expect to be victorious." Nikkolai says. "I still have so many questions to ask Her. Little chance she will-
<Nikkolai> -answer them."

~

<Kotono> Arinzah leads the two back to the room. One can note Nikkolai and Yulia seem to be chatting, though Kamvakua is lost in meditation and Knight's busy with her mount still.
* Adail nods to Nik and Yulia, then places a reassuring paw on Mari's knee for a moment before hopping back up onto the table he was sitting on before.
* Mari walks to her bed. Sits down. Stands up again. Then she overturns her bed and SCREAMS, draws her sword and hacks up the mattress, the bedstead, pretty much anything in reach.
<Kotono> Yulia meanwhile begins to answer Nikkolai, but Mari's action rather pre-empts that entirely. She settles for staring.
* Nikkolai merely looks upon the destruction with a calm eye. A part of him notes he should probably show a little more concern, but he cannot. "I take it your chat with my master did not go well?"
<Adail> "She wished to purchase either Mari's or my own eternal service in exchange for rescuing her sister from Baator." Adail answers.
* Mari is too busy stabbing furniture to respond, save for shrieked obscenities and incoherent yelling. Her face is red and streaming with tears. She doesn't seem interested in stopping until there's nothing in front of her but wood chips.
<Nikkolai> "Oh." Nikkolai's talent for eloquence is understated. "I fear that attempting to calm her down at the moment would be detrimental to our health." Nikkolai's gaze sweeps past the destruction, seeking the servant that guided the two into the room.
<Kotono> The servant is standing at the door, watching the entire thing with a low whistle.
<Mari> Mari, eventually, stops when she's run out of bed to kill. Goes still again, panting, looking around the room. "I'm going to need another bed," she says. "Nik, you don't need yours, right? You don't sleep anymore."
<Adail> "There was one readied for myself, though I never needed it at all," Adail notes, gesturing to the bed he left his pack on, "You can have that, if you like."
<Mari> "Yes." Mari walks over to it, buries her sword in the mattress with a soft *thunk*, then sits down next to it, head in her hands.
* Nikkolai rises to his feet, careful to not unsettle Yulia. "You there. Please be so kind as to have someone come in here and clean up this mess." Nikkolai pauses. "And give word to my master that I request an audience. And...bring the girl some wine and fruit."
<Mari> "Wine, yeah. Lots of wine."
<Kotono> "Sure thing," Arinzah whistles and goes off, closing the door behind him.
* Nikkolai walks over to Mari. "I will only say this, for I do not wish to intrude upon your privacy: whatever she said, whatever she offered, know that it was only for her own personal gain. Every boon that she grants has the bite of poison about it. Take comfort that you were strong enough to resist what she offered you."
* Adail waits for the servant to be gone before he pads over and sits down next to Mari, "Not all is necessarily lost, Mari. Even if she falls to the lake, or to the demons, there are ways to retrieve her soul. Nor do I entirely believe everything she said or showed."
* Mari glares up at Nik. "I know that, you idiot! Why do you think I said no? Go away."
<Mari> "There'd better be, Adail," she continues, wiping her face. "'cause we're going as soon as we're done here."
* Nikkolai tenses slightly, shoulders stiffening. "As you wish." He walks past the bed and to the door, pausing with his hand upon the knob. "Stay with her, Yulia." Nikk whispered softly. "You need not come with me if I am granted an audience. And...she needs you more than I do."
<Kotono> "Okay," Yulia whispers back, going over to Mari. She lands on Mari's head, "It's okay, Mari. We're gonna save Ami too! We're gonna save everyone!"
<Mari> "Yeah," Mari says quietly.
<Adail> "First, we see a diviner. One we can trust, who can fathom where she is. Then we'll be able to make plans from there, dependent on the situation."
* Nikkolai glances over his shoulder once and then slips outside to wait in the hallway for the servant's answer.
<Kotono> The doorway is blocked with two large skeletons. They meet Nikkolai's glare without even batting an eye. This is easy as they lack eyes, granted.
<Mari> "Right," Mari says. Her voice sounds tight, as though she's still struggling to stay level. "Dunno anyone on this plane though. Have to look around. Or go somewhere else we know people. Takes time."
<Nikkolai> "You would block the path of your master's apprentice?" Nikkolai comments mildly. "I serve my Lady as you do. I merely wish to await word from a messenger in the hallway. I will be within easy reach if you see need to rip me limb from limb. Let me pass."
<Kotono> OOC: Make a charisma check, Nik?
<Kotono> "We'll do it," Yulia says, "I know we will! Say Mari, when this is all over, we'll all go back to Arborea to celebrate! All of us, Ami, Rogue, Serith, everyone! We'll have a big party and have lots of good stories to tell about how we won!"
<Nikkolai> roll 1d20+6 Come on, man.
* Hatbot --> "Nikkolai rolls 1d20+6 Come on, man. and gets 23."12 [1d20=17]
<Adail> "Tam will know someone. All we have to do is find a church willing to hire a sending. Or buy a scroll and have Nik or I cast it ourselves. Then we can find the person she directs us to, and go from there."
<Kotono> The skeletons step back from Nikkolai.
<Mari> "Yeah. Yeah, we will, Yulia. I figure she'll need that. She'll probably--she probably doesn't remember any more there are places aren't all bloody and on fire all the time. It'll be nice." She just nods to Adail.
* Nikkolai strides past the two as if they don't exist, gently shutting the door behind him.
<Kotono> The skeletons stay close, eyeing Nikkolai as he stands there. OOC: Nik, going to do anything but wait?
* Adail hops back up on his table, and folds himself back into lotus position, this time falling into prayer instead of simple meditation.
<Kotono> "Right," Yulia says, "You can teach her how to get drunk, since I bet Baator doesn't have anything like that! Then you can go swimming in a river and dry out in the warm sun before falling asleep!"
<Nikkolai> OOC: Let me try something here...
<Nikkolai> OOC: Actually, never mind.
<Mari> "Uh, Baator has booze, I think. I think I had some once. It was a bad day. I'll find her something good."
<Kotono> OOC: Just waiting then?
<Nikkolai> OOC: Yep. I'm too chicken at the moment.
<Kotono> "Well, fun booze!" Yulia smiles, "Then you know what, you'll get her a boyfriend and she can be happy there! All of us will have a lot of fun!"
<Kotono> roll 1d1000
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d1000 and gets 303."12 [1d1000=303]
<Adail> roll 1d20+6 wisdom
* Hatbot --> "Adail rolls 1d20+6 wisdom and gets 15."12 [1d20=9]
<Kotono> OOC: #terrorofdunes, Adail?
<Mari> "Yeah. She'll have to remember how first and she probably doesn't like me much any more, so I figure I'll need some help."
<Kotono> "Oh yeah," Yulia smiles, "I'll help too! So will everyone! Promise, okay?"
* Mari sighs. "Yeah. Promise."
<Kotono> "Good!" Yulia goes and hugs Mari's ear and head, "Okay! I'll hold you to that, even if I have to drag all of you out of Baator!"
<Mari> "Yeah, well, I'll hold you to that too. Never know what could happen there."
<Kotono> "Right!" Yulia smiles even more, "We all have to be strong for each other! Especially you and Nikkolai, you two are suffering the most!"

~

<Kotono> Adail prays. At first it simply gives his mind practiced clarity. As it goes on he loses himself in it, his hopes pouring out. As he does, he can hear it...far away. But he heard something? The sound of a roar, a lion's roar.
* Adail focuses on the roar, letting even the faint sound wash over him and fill him with courage and strength. He wished for some way to give Mari that strength as well, to endure what must be endured.
<Kotono> The roar goes quieter, but at the same time? Adail can hear it clearer. In that roar words speak, "The darkest night is the moment before dawn breaks." It is a voice heavy with wisdom and courage, "To be an exemplar is to inspire others to that strength. Can you?"
<Adail> "I must." Is the only reply that Adail could make. Could he? That didn't matter. Capable or not, he had to. They needed him.
<Kotono> "Have faith and be what your potential can make you," The roar speaks as if standing next to Adail, courage filling his body. "You are Elysium's instrument in this affair. Live up to your potential and realize another step to your dream, Adail."
<Adail> "My potential..." Adail considers the word. What was his potential? He had always focused on just attaining that next step, he had given little thought to what, beyond his end goal, lay along the path. It was undefined...without definition...without boundaries.(more)
<Adail> His potential was what he needed it to be. Fluid, changing...that was the lesson he took from Arborea. But what was needed now? He thought on that as he inwardly nodded to the sound of the roar, "I...will."
<Kotono> "With that, allow more of your potential to grow," The voice is now a roar again, Adail starting abruptly out of his trance! In his ears echo, "One does not rise to his dreams alone. But together, companions can reach any height."

~

* Adail snaps open his eyes and almost teeters out of his meditative position. Unfolding himself, he holds a hand out towards Mari, "Mari...come here. Think of Ami, and take my paw."
<Mari> "Huh? Um...okay." Mari reaches out, closes her eyes and thinks of her sister, remembers the girl she was.
* Adail focuses, concentrates on passing that strength to Mari as he takes her hand.
<Kotono> Mari can hear a far away sound, the roar of a lion.  Her sadness recedes, a determination and courage seeping into every pore of her body and spirit.
* Mari sighs, breathes a little easier. "I dunno what exactly just happened, but...thanks. I don't say that enough, do I? Thanks, everyone."
* Adail smiles, "That's what friends do. They help each other."
<Kotono> "You're welcome!" Yulia chirps, "Make sure you tell Master too! Tell everyone, okay?"
<Mari> "Yeah, okay. I guess even Nik's earned his turn."

~

<Kotono> Meanwhile Nikkolai waits outside. The Lady's servant is not gone long, coming back as he whistles. "G'day," he calls, "The Lady of the Green Kirtle will receive you. This way."
* Nikkolai nods and falls into step behind the servant.
<Kotono> Nikkolai is led down the other end of the hall, to a stairway going up. Atop this stair lies doubledoors, emblazoned with the image of glass spheres. They seem alive, cosmos held within. They turn and move, in an incalculable dance.
<Kotono> "Go ahead," The slaadish servant makes a gesture, "She's waiting for you."
<Nikkolai> "My thanks." He pauses briefly on the foot of the stair. "I do not know how much weight my word carries with you or the other denizens of these grounds...but I would be most pleased if the girl, Mari, were given whatever comforts she asks for. Dealing with our master is...taxing."
<Kotono> "Heheheheh." Chuckling, "Y'know, if you'd talk sense into her...?" Grinning to Nikkolai, "'sides, she's a cute little thing. Be nice to have her around with you, wouldn't it?"
<Nikkolai> "I do not speak for her. Do keep your fondness for her looks to yourself. I am not so much a slave that I would not kill you for laying a finger on a friend." Nikkolai grins a grin devoid of mirth and continues up the stairs, not waiting to hear the...thing's response.
<Kotono> Thus Nikkolai goes up and to the door! It awaits him opening it, the Lady presumably past it.
* Nikkolai reaches out and opens the door, stepping inside.
<Kotono> The door splits open! Within lies a room of matte, flat black. The floor and walls are this, the entire room quite large. The back is a great bank of mist, shifting and image-heavy. Before it the Lady of the Green Kirtle stands, gazing into the foggy depths.
<Nikkolai> "My thanks for receiving me, my Lady." Nikkolai bows.
<Kotono> In the mists you can see nothing, only churning depths. The Lady of the Green Kirtle does not turn, seeming to be absorbed in their study. "Speak."
* Nikkolai decides to be blunt. He's tired of being wordy and dancing around. "Why do I still exist? I wished for my freedom and took it. I was then convinced that I would never truly be free until I had seen the life fade from your eyes myself. And why are you not yourself? You are not as I remember before I burnt your home down around you."
<Kotono> "Such arrogance." The Lady's voice is dead calm and cold, not a speck of feeling as she peers into the mists. "Think you even begin to understand me? A fool that would perish against the least shadows could begin to comprehend a matter such as this?"
<Nikkolai> "I am not arrogant, master. I'm just very tired of being ignorant. If you would but enlighten me, then perhaps I would not have to ask questions that waste both your time and mine."
<Kotono> "What good is an empty, dead world?" The Lady's question back is as she continues to study the mists. "If you were unworthy and powerless, I would have never taken you as an apprentice. No, you are useful."
<Nikkolai> "How long do you think you can control me, my Lady? I am willing and obedient...for now. So long as my friends are free from harm. If they die, I have no real reason to continue this state of existence. And even if my friends all still live...remember that you do not have a slave chained to your feet. You are riding a wolf that would gladly tear out (more)
<Nikkolai> --your throat at the least opportunity. Teach me, and I will learn. Keep my friends safe, and I will serve more loyally than any wretched thing in your service. But I am not what I was. I am...something more."
<Kotono> "I offer you mercy and favors," The Lady of the Green Kirtle replies, at last turning her impassive gaze to Nikkolai. "I have come far kinder and far more mercifully than I have need to. You wish to learn? Impress me - council and convince Mari to accept my offer, and I will teach you a lesson on your return. Show me that you are something more as you claim."
<Nikkolai> "What need have you of Mari, my Lady?" Nikkolai is calm. "Entering your service is not what I consider safe. Nor would it keep her alive for long, I suspect. You toy with her emotions. It would be a trifle for you to pluck a single soldier from the horde that she is part of."
<Kotono> "What trifle is death to my followers?" The Lady of the Green Kirtle very slightly smiles at that, "Have you not seen the talent Mari possesses? How easily she shifts her form from one to another?"
<Nikkolai> "You want a spy." Nikkolai nods. "Yes, she would be very gifted in that area." Nikkolai is silent for a moment. "...she would be bound as I am? Would what remains of her humanity slowly wither away as my own is doing?"
<Kotono> "I would offer Mari a superior state," The Lady of the Green Kirtle says, "But if she declines that is her choice."
<Nikkolai> "I'd forgotten how artful you are at dodging questions you don't wish to answer." Nikkolai replies dryly. "I tell you now, nothing I do or say will convince her, so long as you present it to her as slavery. Give her an option to leave your service at a predetermined time if she wishes to do so. You have your slaves by the thousands already. (more)
<Nikkolai> -hire a servant this once. A free servant is vastly more loyal than a slave who has no choice."
<Kotono> For a time the Lady of the Green Kirtle is quiet, before at last she speaks, "Seven years. After seven years, she may leave if she desires."
<Nikkolai> "You are wise to heed my words. Perhaps you may master your wolf after all." Nikkolai bows deeply, respectfully. "I bid you good eve, my Lady."
<Kotono> There is no reply as the Lady lets Nikkolai go. Her servant awaits outside, smiling and whistling, "So that went well? No barely restrained tears, eh?"
<Nikkolai> "Well enough." Nikkolai starts down the stairs. "Arinzah...a wise man once told me never to trust a man who smiles too much."
<Kotono> "Bollocks!" He grins even more as he goes down, "It means I enjoy life!"
<Nikkolai> "Hmm. Well, has there ever been a time when you don't smile?"
<Kotono> "Oh sure, last time I got kicked in the groin," He says, taking a few steps ahead of Nikkolai as you go downstairs, back towards your room.
<Nikkolai> "I see." Nikkolai follows at a sedate pace.

~