The Rising Age [Begins]

[VirtualPlay]

Mórea
The demonic "demon hunter"
Sitting in her "legitimately paid for" room
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Okay, so maybe it wasn't the best use of my abilities of coercion, but I hadn't exactly expected to need to pay for a place to stay. All the buildings had been claimed by a couple of now-landlords, and all of the alcoves I could have simply slept in were taken by merchants.

So I had "convinced" one of the landlords to give me a room. Which basically meant that I used my demonic gift to play with his mind and make him think that he was being paid when, in fact, he was getting nothing from me. I'm sure he didn't need it anyway; he was probably overcharging everyone here just because he could. Heck, I wouldn't have been surprised if he and the other landlords were actually partners in this crime of theirs.

I sat in the corner and looked around the room I had acquired. There really wasn't much to it; after all, the building probably wasn't originally an inn. Still, it was a roof above me and protective walls around me. From all the types of people I had seen around me, I was probably going to need that protection.

My mind wandered to my tasks again, the reason I was here in the first place. Most people were here to try and interpret the writings and other stuff like that. Some "omen" or something was having everyone up in a fit. I was here to take advantage of all the gathered scholars; with luck I would be able to find the information I was seeking. With so many different people from so many different backgrounds I was bound to discover something.

Of course, the first thing I discovered was that someone was making a rather large racket from one of the buildings. I might not have paid any attention to it, were it not for the fact that it was REALLY loud. Distractingly loud. Grumbling to myself, I made my way outside and towards the source of the noise.

The building that the noise came from looked like some kind of holy place, a chapel or something. People were clambering inside it, and while the noises started fading as those making it disappeared in, my curiosity had been piqued and I followed in behind.

Someone was screaming at the front, something about someone stealing from a brood mother. I had to assume it was a dragon egg, since stealing a dragon is not exactly easy. All of a sudden, the chapel erupted with screams, some in rage, others in terror. A good portion of the people decided they didn't want to get into this fight and vacated out the door.

In the din I crept back to a wall, then willed myself invisible. If there was going to be a fight, I wanted to have the upper hand. My instinct turned out to be right, as some weird, shadowy figure suddenly appeared from the scuffle at the front. A few attackers appeared as well, one of which was taken out rather quickly by the…creature that was demanding the egg.

The shadowy figure was also distracted by one of the more knightly-looking people, and one of the attackers was distracted with someone else, which basically left one other attacker. I slowly made my way over to the one that was trying to reclaim the egg, because I had a distinct idea that while he focused on the egg-stealer, said other attacker was going to try and make a sneak attack. Sure enough, I saw him maneuvering around distracted people and make a move towards the egg-reclaimer, who was busy yelling at the egg-stealer.

As the attacker started rushing, I ducked down and reappeared beneath him, my fist connecting with his lower torso. He let out a gasp of air before crumpling. Since I wasn't exactly as savage as the egg-reclaimer, I wasn't going to simply kill someone without a reason to. Besides, they could be of some use if they had information that I could use. Looking at the guy that was crumpled, I had second thoughts about him having any information, but I quickly checked his person and managed to grab a few coins and a scrap of paper.

"KATAAAAA!!!!" the egg-reclaimer yelled, startling me for a minute as I thought he might be trying to attack me. Fortunately he wasn't, it seemed he was just giving out a victory cry as he was now holding the dragon egg. I looked around and saw that the room was starting to contain fewer living people, either because they ran out or because they were killed by someone else. Fortunately it seemed like the commotion was dying down with them.

I took the small break to sit against the wall and look at the scrap of paper. Of course, it was written in some weird symbols that I had knowledge of, which meant it was useless without someone to translate it. I took a look around to see if there was anyone I could possibly "talk" into reading the runes.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[Crystal Tears]

From the sky fell the Ash world’s wrath, where was the divine hand of the Majesty?

Cicily didn’t appreciate the sudden violence around her, the battle, a bloody mess in all respects, even literal, had stained the ancient chamber. For some reason this offset her, watching people, even people who would’ve hurt her, die in agony. She was too kind for her own good that she understood fully, so what she was feeling was better kept to herself. The creature and most of the raiders had been dealt with; those who were left quickly took one look at the shining knight, the hulking beast of a man and the cursing mercenary and scrambled away.

Ugdagah snorted; his stance a bit less threatening. “Cowards receive no honour in afterlife.”

To be honest, Cicily wasn’t sure that any of the men he had slaughtered would receive honour in any fashion with his beliefs. Apparently if they stole, they were dishonoured, and if they showed intelligence and ran from a battle they knew they could not win, they were dishonoured. Or that’s what she had gathered from what she had overheard from his bellows of rage.

‘I wonder if Kata has any real meaning?’ She thought curiously as people began to gather again. ‘I think I’ll just keep that question to myself though…’

“Nalsha’dil,” Sir Casland interrupted her thought, causing her to look over at him curiously. “I’m sorry I failed to use the respectful title before, we were in the battle and I forgot…”

Cicily blinked, she honestly hadn’t thought anything of it. Selene called her by Cicily, what difference did it make if another knight called her by her real name?

“Its fine,” She smiled, nervousness building in her stomach.

“You’re not bothered?” He narrowed his eyes just a tad in suspicion.

“I’m…” Her emerald eyes scanned the blood and bodies. “B-bother by the death, I think I’ll wait out in the courtyard.”

She moved away hastily, letting out a sigh of relief as she escaped the death. She much preferred the fresh air and the scenery of the people moving about the ancient city to the stench of blood and the forcefully removed head that was probably still rolling around somewhere. Cicily grimaced, trying to ignoring her gut twisting itself into a knot.

“Death bother you that much?”

Cicily blinked; turning and facing another woman. Her skin was pale and Cicily swore she had black irises. She blinked, honestly she hadn’t expected anyone to talk to her, most here were much too involved in their own world to bother talking to a maiden of the chapel. Cicily nodded slowly though, as a meek reply to the question asked.

The woman smirked, looking sideways at the ancient building and Sir Casland. “So that’s your guardian?”

Cicily nodded again. “Y-yes.”

“Well he’s not a very good guardian if he’s letting you stand alone out here.” Her voice was raised, loud enough to draw Casland’s undivided attention and a very notable glare. The maiden stared at the ground, not knowing what to do as the knight made his way over.

“Forgive me maiden, was this witch bothering you?”

“N-no…” Cicily answered honestly, looking at Casland. “To be honest, she seems t-to be bothering you.”

William frowned at Cicily as the woman smirked, not letting her get the complete high-ground he questioned her quickly. “And just who are you?”

“Not that it is any of your concern, but I am Morea.”

“Are you here about the omen?”

Morea didn’t answer with a simple yes or no; she gave Casland a nasty glare before turning to Cicily. “I’m here because I found this in my travels; it’s not in Huma or Elvish, but I find myself dreadfully curious of what it says.”

Cicily sensed a slight change in the Lumar; it was being tricky and felt like a haze or mist. Her ears twitched in response, but she ignored it. “May I see it?”

The shady woman handed her the note.

“It’s in ancient tongue.” Cicily stated, remembering the symbols from her studies and endless readings of text. Thought the parchment itself and the ink the hieroglyphs were fairly modern. To be honest it was fairly crude, the sentence was meant to be interpreted by those who didn’t understand the differences between words that sounded the same. “Badly w-written though…”

“What does it say?” Her knight question, his interest peaked. Cicily frowned, trying to formulate a proper sentence.

“The second omen is rising, retrieve the mage before noon, and then make your way to the Harrowing..? Cliffs… You’re next task will be there. He wants that egg unharmed, the mage is expendable.”

The trio was silent for a good moment, before Sir Casland had to bring up a particular line.

“Why before the afternoon?”

Cicily shrugged; her knowledge on such old magics and spells were limited. “N-nothing I read ever stated o-omens being predictable or t-timed, but it’s not out of question...”

“Where are the ‘Harrowing Cliffs’ then?” Morea questioned.

Her expertise was limited to healing, running and ancient language. When it came to mapping, the poor priestess was about as useful as a broken compass. It felt great to yell and curse at her, but she definitely wouldn’t get you where you needed to go. Cicily simply shrugged and hung her head, she didn’t know where that place was, she wasn’t even sure it existed, for all she knew it was code for something.

“Um…”

“The Harrowing Cliffs do not exist.”

They turned to see the Umbra from before, standing with arms crossed and an annoyed expression on her face. Cicily blinked, she had never spoken to an Umbra before, those that were loyal to the Chapel usually kept to themselves.

“Did they ever?” Cicily questioned, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“Perhaps, though I’ve read few records on the old world kingdoms and domains.” She raised an eyebrow at Morea. “Tell me, where did you acquire such a note?”

“As I said,” Morea’s eyes narrowed. “I found it.”

“I’m sure you did.”

The awkward, seething anger and suspicion between the Umbra and Morea was almost visible. Cicily cringed; the Lumar was twisting uncomfortably, both women challenging each other to see who was supreme. Hoping to take the edge off, she looked back at the Umbra.

“What is your name Miss?”

“Pheh, ‘Miss’, what an odd little human term. My name is Leeryl Kkaht Rylkk, but you may call me Leeryl.” She glared back at the other woman. “And I suppose you could as well…”

Morea stayed quiet, gritting her teeth visibly. To be honest Cicily wasn’t sure if being able to call Leeryl by her first name was good or not. The woman was extremely hard to read, though from what she could very blatantly understand, she was doing better than their sassy friend. Sir Casland had kept quiet, if there was one thing that was incredibly more dangerous than battle, it was two angry women.

“My name is Cicily,” She bowed her head politely, before gesturing to Casland. “This is Sir Casland.” He also bowed his head.

“Ah, a knight, I thought I recognized the crest. You both hail from Silveredge then?”

“That we do.” Casland replied, with a small smile.

“And this…” Cicily then turned to Morea. “This is Morea.”

Morea snorted. “A pleasure.”

Leeyrl smirked. “I’m sure.”

“Something is wrong Sisukae, the Lumar has shifted again. It almost feels as if it’s trying to run away. I think its best we leave. Come to the larger plateau and bring the fool.”

Never had Aiday sent a message and not been present at the time. Cicily faltered, not knowing what to do.

“Sir Casland, I think it’s time to be on our w-way…”

Power unrestrained,
Dead on the mark,
Is what I will deliver tonight.

Pleasure fused with pain,
This triumph of the soul
Will make you shiver tonight.

You will remember this night,

When you were struck by the sight of,
Ten thousand fists in the air.

The city fell silent as the words thundered from all around, it came from every direction it seemed. Echoing out from the inner depths of people’s minds, and yet at the same time it shot up from the ground, came crashing down from the sky and shock everyones’ souls. Cicily gulped her heart beginning to pound at such a chilling, rumbling voice that was in no way natural or this worldly.

One more God damn day,
When I know what I want,
And my want will be considered tonight,

Just another day,
When all that I want
Will mark me as a sinner tonight.


You are all sinners tonight.

“Look!” Someone cried, the man was pointing to the sky. The afternoon sky was fairly normal, but high above the horizon was something. A solid black mass that seemed to be slowly growing larger and larger as it approached.

Cicily found herself stepping behind her knight, hoping to Daggoth that he was able to protect her from whatever was coming. People just stood and stared; even that massive man from inside the chapel, clinging to the dragon egg stopped and looked up. The world was in a state of shock, and there were gasps as whatever it was broke into what looked like thousands up thousands of smaller pieces.

You will remember this night,
When you were struck by the sight of,
Ten thousand fists in the air.

Casland seemed to be the first to snap out of it. Looking around at the awestruck group he gritted his teeth.

“RUN!”

* * *

I’m sorry if I took too much liberty with Leeryl and Morea, you can tell me to edit it if you want. I don’t mind!

Right, get ready to run, there’s a violent storm coming. :3

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

(The Curse is actually edited Ten Thousand Fists Lyrics ♥)

[ChobiChibi]

Sir William Casland

His instruction seemed to be completely ignored by some people, but this really didn't matter. So long as he could get Cicily out of here alive, it didn't matter about anyone else. Except, perhaps their new companions. Although William felt little compassion towards them, he could tell that Cicily already did, since they had assisted them in battle. To be honest, he wasn't particularly bothered by any of them, not even the Umbra, but that mercenary...

He didn't like mercenaries in general to begin with. They were often cruel and shallow people, only caring for the money and other things that they could get out of other peoples' dirty work. Perhaps it unsettled him more that he couldn't see the man's eyes through his sunglasses. You could read a lot from someone's eyes.

Especially the young maiden's. Will had started to run, but turned back to find Cicily's eyes fixed to the sky, staring up at the thousands of black dots descending upon them. She was terrified, hence why she wasn't moving, but she also looked fascinated. William had no time for this, she could figure out what was going on with that weird poem later, right now they had to leave.

“Nalsha'dil!” He called, hoping would be enough to snap her out of it. “Come on!”

By this time, other people had caught onto his idea and were running, but she remained still.

“Cicily!” He tried again, this time she turned to look. “Lets go!”

They ran through the streets, pushing and weaving their way through those who weren't quite quick enough. William made quite a good battering ram. He imagined that Ug would do a better job, but even just his status as a knight seemed to be enough to make them move.

Noting that the street ahead was about to be hit by a considerably large piece of whatever was falling from the sky, William stopped, grabbed Cicily's hand and pulled her into a side street. They both flinched as it impacted, an almighty crash echoing around, the first of many more to come.

In a moment of panic, William found himself asking “Where can we go? We can't outrun this!”

“Aiday told me to go to the plateau.” She answered, flinching as there was another crash, but a little further away.

He nodded, looking up just in time to spot one of the asteroids crashing into the building on the other side of the small street. He pushed the Maiden up against the far wall, pressing his body close to hers to shield her from the rubble of the building, covering his head with his hands. It was at times like these that he wished he wore a helmet...

Once the dust had cleared, he moved away, curious as to why Cicily was blushing and seemingly unable to make eye contact with him. “We can't stop, we have to keep moving.”

She simply nodded, dusting herself off. There were more crashes now, each at varying distances away... William couldn't see how they would be able to escape this easily, but he couldn't see how standing still would help either.

Ergh this sucks. I suck at tagging people... D:

[VirtualPlay]

Mórea
The demonic "demon hunter"
Hide and Seek isn't so fun when the "It" can fly…
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

This day was rapidly going downhill. Not only was I unable to find any real information towards my current quest, the entire area was being bombarded by flying rocks. Judging by the giant splotch of black in the sky, there probably wasn't going to be a moment of rest anytime soon. Which meant it was time to hightail it out of here.

Normally escape would warrant invisibility, but with everyone running crazily and haphazardly every which way, it was safer to remain visible lest someone crash into me and get us both killed. Besides, it's not like I was exactly making a scene by trying to run away. So I simply started running towards the edge of the 'city.' I silently hoped that the attack was simply aimed at the area and not directly at the people that were in it when the loud voice had screamed out.

"Watch out!" someone yelled, before I found myself shoved into an alleyway by a flash of white tackling me. As we landed, so did a rather large rock right where I had been a mere second ago. As the two of us got up, I realized it was Cicily, the woman who had translated the note I found. "I'm sorry, I jumped at you suddenly, but…"

"You were saving me, I understand," I said as I brushed myself off, not too pleased about the fact. She was probably going to want me to help her with what she was going to do as repayment for saving my life. I really did not need to be in debt with someone else as well as Gral. Interestingly she wasn't saying anything, she was just staring at me, her eyes slightly wide as she looked up at the side of my head, as if she were staring at my ears…

With a jolt I realized that my headband had fallen off when she tackled me, and she actually was staring at my ears. Quickly I snatched it up from the ground and put it on. As I adjusted it I glared at her, locking eyes with hers. "You tell no one about this," I said, very firmly. She nodded very meekly, her eyes not leaving mine.

A loud crash broke our locked gaze, and one of the buildings we were between started crumbling. We rushed out of the quickly disappearing alley, stumbling a bit as the ground continued shaking from the impacts.

"Nalsah'dil!" I heard someone call out, and I recognized it as Cicily's so-called 'bodyguard' as he rushed over. His eyes narrowed as he noticed me, but then he just went over to Cicily, "Are you okay, m'lady? I was worried when you disappeared suddenly."

"I'm sorry, I…" Cicily started, and she looked over at me, "I was just…" she faltered, seemingly unnerved by me watching her. "I mean, I…"

"She was saving me," I said, turning my head away slightly and looking at the ground. Why I was sticking around and helping her out was beyond me, but as I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye I noticed she had a faint smile of relief on her face.

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