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 Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 4:33 pm
It never rained much in the City, but when it did, it positively poured. It left the evening somewhat ominous. The lights from Seasons were the only beacons into the comforts of the civilized world, though the imprints left inside were just as eerie as the world from which it sheltered. Wet footprints went from the door to the back room in a steady line, next to a damp smudge that seemed to be where someone had been dragged. At first, the area was only wet with water, but the closer it neared the door, the more thoroughly saturated the ground was in blood.
However, it wasn't Persy who sat in the back room, bent over the body of the newly grown godling. A girl of about his age knelt beside the fallen boy, her long waves of hair falling from her face and gently tickling her torso as she blotted at the holes in his face, seemingly unphased by the entire situation. In her hands was a bowl with a smooth creamy balm that smelt of leaves, and using delicate fingers she lathered the salve to his eyes, a medicine of ancient craft that would help alleviate the pain and speed his recovery. With pursed lips she took a cloth from the floor and folded it several times, taking care to watch his many horns as she tied the blindfold to let the wounds dry and eventually heal.
From the front of the shop, music began to play, and the girl lifted her head for a moment in recognition before returning to the boy's care. Shuffling to a different position, she carefully lay his tiered head in her lap, stroking his still-wet forehead as she began to hum along, her voice airy and somewhat muffled. Unlike the rest of the room, the girl had the distinct feel and slight smell of a dank, dark cave, and any godling who looked upon her could tell she wasn't human. However, they could also tell she wasn't a godling...so just what was she?
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 5:08 pm
His body stirred ever so slightly before stopping. There was a momentary pause before his hands went imploringly up to the blindfold. The coarse material greeted his finger tips, and empty sockets voided behind the material. His head shot up in alarm at this realization, forehead knocking against Echo’s and horns lightly grazing her sweater in a strange tug. Caught. His head was caught on something, it smelt dank, he was wet, it was cold. Something was wrong.
His hands reached to his horns to see just what they had caught on, letting loose the fibers of her top from the tips of his horns. There was a shirt there, and judging by the feel he had woken up to… this was a girl.
“Crow…?” He asked this rather cautiously; she was the only girl he knew, let alone one of the only girls who would be brave enough to touch him. But no, this was not Crow. There was a soft music and all though the atmosphere seemed safe enough… It just was not that girl’s style at all.
“Who are you?” He was more than a little paranoid. There was no recollection about how he had gotten to this place, why he was blind, or who these people were. Even if he could see, he’d probably be confused as well. “What did you do to me!?”
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 7:06 pm
Echo's brow furrowed when the boy awoke, and she opened her mouth to speak: only no words came out, merely an empty sigh, and she shook her head, trying to motion that she couldn't speak. But, of course: he was blind, he couldn't see her. The nymph girl put her face in her hands, shaking her head: how was a mute to communicate with the blind?
A certain touch cause her to freeze up, and she pulled away, surprised at the directness of the boy so soon after waking up. However, it seemed that it was only a passing mistake: he was naming someone else, some other girl, perhaps...Echo's heart sank, though she took his hand, and getting to her knees, helped him into a sitting position. "Who are you?" she repeated, gently touching his shoulders to show that she was moving to face him in the front. Softly, she began humming to the music again, and taking one of his hands she pressed his fingers into the form of her face, trying to get him to understand.
"She can't respond if you don't speak: she can't help it."
It wasn't certain exactly how Persy entered the room, but once she did, everything seemed to be overcome with the sense of springtime and vivacious nature, with a hint of something darker, more sinister. The woman knelt down beside the boy as well, knowing that were he to stand, he would be much taller, even without his horns.
"Her name is Echo, and she brought you here through some pretty rough weather after you decided to gouge your eyes out, not to mention she used a rare antibiotic to heal you." Both the verbal and visible glares met Echo with a bit of anguish, and she held onto the boy's hand for support. "So, now that you're safe at Seasons," Persy continued, "I suggest that some thanks are in order. The girl practically saved your life."
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 12:06 am
He was, for the most part, being treated as a puppet. That was not a good feeling to someone whom was just taken over by their god. “Don’t.” He brushed his hand off of her face, trying to keep himself from panicing. “Stop that.”
Yea. He was in a room that smelt like a cave with a girl who wasn’t talking. Hell, apparently she didn’t even know who he was, yet here she was tending to him? “What should it matter? I’m getting out of here anyway.”
There was some random girl… She didn’t know him, she was holding his hands… Hell, she could have been the one who ripped out his eyes in some freaky satanic ritual or something… Wait…. Wait, no… Some bits were coming back. Fights, blood, pain.
And at what might have been the peak moment of his discovery, Persy’s voice had to chime in and ruin it all. All that realization, gone. He didn’t even know who is other woman was. She had to be someone else, because her voice did not match the high one of the girl next to him.
And then the girl had grabbed his hand again. “I said don’t. Stop that!” Why the hell these touchy feely parrots were here, he’d never know. But apparently they had done a favor, and that was good enough. It also solved the mystery of why he was blind, as well as why he was in a place he didn’t know.
“Look… “ Ciro tried to get off of his bum to stand, but wavered: apparently he was weaker than he had originally thought. “Look.” Try again, just try again while sitting, “I do appreciate being… not dead, and all… But you probably don’t realize the implications of taking a stray like me into your home.”
How the hell was he supposed to explain this? People were stupid to even walk by him with his horns, let alone take him places!
“I’m not exactly the safest person to have around… So… Yea.”
God, he felt like a moron. “It’s probably safer if you just let me go right now... Because no good will come with associating with me. You could be screwed even now. “
Yeaaa, he could just pretend he was in a movie. Movies usually said just the right things. His raspy voice almost sounded like that of an actor that had just had his dramatic finish.
“If you could…” Wow. Wow wow wow. He was really some kind of retard. “If you could show me the door, I’d be pretty obliged. Moreso than I already am, of course.”
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:38 pm
Persy cocked an eyebrow at the blind boy: she was not amused by any of this. "Save the sympathy, kid: in case you haven't noticed, you weren't taken in by anyone normal. You should have come here with Fish in the first place, you stubborn idiot. I am Persy Floros, and this is Seasons, neutral grounds as accorded by the Coalition of the Gods. So quite frankly, no one gives a damn about how safe you are, because no one's allowed to be dangerous here, and you will stay here until you're good enough to be back on the streets again." Standing, the woman crossed her arms as she looked down at the boy, shaking her head.
"Stay here until you're good?" Echo softly repeated Persy's words in a kinder way, retreating from the boy with a broken glance as she, too, stood, a good bit taller than the gardener next to her with her awkward limbs. The nymph's brow furrowed, and she suppressed an airy cough before reaching down to help him up as well, pulling him up with one hand as if he weighed nothing at all. She cupped an arm underneath one of his, then used her shoulder to help prop him up, though her expression seemed distant, still hurt by his repeated rejections.
Persy took note of this, and frowned, pursing her lips. "And like I've said before, the girl who helped you is named Echo, and she cannot speak unless spoken to, because she is cursed to only repeat the words of others. She has gone through many efforts to help her, and she will be the one cleaning your blood from the floor and off the upholstery once you leave, so the least you can give her is thanks, if not more suitable manners befitting a young man who is supposed to represent a god of the sun." The woman's voice was crisp and irritated, and because Ciro could not see her vertical disability, she could certainly seem to be a force to be reckoned with.
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:26 pm
He tried to rise once more, but still seemed to falter. His arm waved back wildly: anything behind him probably would have been smashed in an act of rage. “Who the hell do you think you are?! ‘Oooh, I’m Floros, I’m so important and I’m going to tell you what to do!’ HELL NO. I’ll get the ******** out of here when I please and I sure as hell aren’t going to let some prat like you tell me otherwise.”
Authority. Every one was some god damn authority: even some woman he didn’t even know was trying to tell him what to do. So the gods allied? Big deal. No way is some god going to stop him from doing what he wanted: he had a god too and that would be damn well good enough.
“Apparently,” he barked out, his deep voice filled with anger and power, “My gratitude isn’t good enough for you tightasses.” He would have glared, but the severe lack of eyes hindered that. “But there is no way in hell I’m going to sit here and be your lapdog. I appreciate what the girl did… But lady, you’re getting on my last nerve.”
It was only when he felt his body temperature going up did Ciro realize that before he had been cool enough to touch. Quickly, in what could either be seen as an act of good will or a fear of his lack of control, he jerked away from Echo once more. “Seriously, now…” His voice was stern yet quiet as he tried to address only her, “Do not touch me. It won’t be pleasant.”
His tight frown then centered on where he assumed Persy must be, “And anyway, lady, how the hell am I going to stay here WITHOUT being dangerous? You’re from the ‘coalition of gods’ or whatever the hell that was, you should know damn well that I can’t go a DAY without being a danger.” His fists clenched, being sure to both keep this Echo from trying to ‘comfort’ him with touch, and to be sure that he’d be ready if this woman tried anything. “If you’re so god damn high and mighty, you should at least know that not all of us are perfect little avatars with holier-than-thou intentions. So…” He took a step forward, being sure to keep his balance, a threatening tone tainting his voice. “It’d be best if you let me go.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:06 pm
What had started out as an already miserably long walk had turned into a physically miserably long walk.
It rained.
Not just a little, a whole damn lot. It still was, for that matter. As Crow finally reached Middling, and was nearing Seasons Florist. With the click of her hooves she finally picked up her pace--she hadn't for hours, but the simple thought of a dry moment, away from the dismal rain, was all too sweet. That, and getting to pay of part of a debt, that was always...nice, for lack of a better word.
Crow first thought to knock, but no, she could see Persy's petite frame standing in the back... With, something much taller with her?
Maybe this wasn't a good time.
...but when was it ever a good time with Persy? It wasn't Writ, or, at least if it was Writ, he was going to wish he had never stepped foot near Seasons this eve.
Either way, Crow had a third reason to enter; let's find out who the person is, shall we?
Morrigan agreed, and thereby, Crow wiggled the handle a bit before it opened, and stepped inside. As if her own hoof kicked her in the face, Crow stood rather stunned, and stayed that way for at least half a minute before finally exclaiming.
"CIRO!?"
Well who else had those horns, anyway? Why was he blindfolded? Why was he there? Why...was there a little strange person clinging to his arm like that...
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 1:17 am
There was an odd sort of reaction from the pyro: an arm went up defensively as the other stayed near his side, both fists clenched just in case. But no one attacked him, it didn’t seem like anyone would and even if they did, he was fairly certain that with his body temperature… It probably would do them more harm than good. If only he could learn to control that… Well, that would be nice.
But this third voice… It knew him. It wasn’t his foster mother… It wasn’t the parrot or the new b***h… It wasn’t Crow, no, because this voice was deeper and more mature.
Ciro, who despite the deepening of his voice or the distance from his head to the ground did not realize he had aged, had also seemed to have mistaken Crow for yet another strange amazon under this Floros woman. He was, more or less, damn sick of being told what to do when he had JUST gotten the freedom of running away, and was really quite ready to snap on these freaks.
“Well GOD DAMN I am popular today!” The boy was getting damn near his edge, and his tightly his jaw was set was clear indication of that. “I’ve already had a word with ‘Miss Floros’ here,” his arm flourished in a sarcastic little gesture to the woman, “So if YOU’RE the bellhop that’s showing me out, I just may keep my sanity.”
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 4:24 am
Yep, that was Ciro alright. Crow shook her head slightly, realizing quickly that the voice change--and still, the question brewed, was Ciro blind?--totally threw Ciro off.
She slammed her hoof on the floor, and then decided to take a few steps closer. There wasn't a knife in his hand, so he couldn't be that much of a danger...could he?
"Eh..." She started, quickly trying to form a coherent sentence, "yeah, Ciro, if Persy will let me...in exchange for information about Len... I..."
You oughta explain the 'I', Morrigan chimed in. Oughta? Morrigan was picking up too much of Crow's dialect. Unfortunately Crow's mind had started to unravel, she knew calm sanity wouldn't last very long.
"Ugh, Ciro... I don't...know...why there's a blindfold on you... But... Remember me...? Crow? The little winged girl who...who... Kinda...uh... DAMNIT CIRO, WHY THE HELL IS THERE A BLINDFOLD ON YOU?!"
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:31 pm
He recoiled from the yelling, trying to understand why Crow didn’t sound normal… That was weird.
“T-Theres a blindfold…”
He took a step back, a little freaked out by the whole situation and rather wishing he could at least see what was going on.
“Well, I’m kind of a dumbass. Let’s leav—HEY WAIT.”
His voice boomed out, wait… that wasn’t normal. Was EVERYONE’S voice just going insane, or was it just him?
“Crow… This is going to be a very, very stupid question. But… What do I look like? “
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 10:00 pm
Crow felt her knees go weak.
He was blind. Her only remaining ally now had a handicap. One would think, with has little hydration as she gets, that no more could be produced. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Her eyes soon found themselves burning with the familiar sizzle of tears.
"Ciro..." She started, crossing the shop quickly with her long strides. "Oh god...who...who...?"
Of course then the fact he had asked her what he looked like, had temporarily snapped her back, but it still confirmed he was indeed blind. She sighed, placing a hand on his chest.
"You grew...like... Fish, Wr...Wr... And.... Like I did, too... You're...uhm... Taller, and your horns are a bit longer, and your hair is a bit...orange-r... Like mine, kinda... And you've"--she chuckled slightly--"got a cute goatee?"
Crow's head tucked in towards her right, she felt a few tears escape her eyes. Damn the crying, she thought, her insides twisted back like they had before.
"Who... Who did this to you...Ciro?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 10:16 pm
He tried to pull back… But there was just something about the normalcy that Crow brought. Even just a simple touch seemed to ground everything that had been chaotic before. Crow was someone who had been there and accepted him for his strange antics, and even had her own mutations to deal with.
But he had grown. Just like Fish and that b*****d Writ. That was a lot to swallow, especially while blind and being held against his will. What’s worse, he would never get to know what he looked like. He’d never get to know what Crow looked like...
Which made him feel like even more of an idiot. How the hell was he supposed to tell Crow that he had did this to himself? He could blame it on Shamash… But that wasn’t entirely true.
“Well…” Maybe he could just say something to sound cool… Play it like it wasn’t a huge ******** deal and a handicap for the rest of his life, “My god is of Justice, right? You know they say Justice is Blind and…”
Yeaaaa, he knew exactly what he was going to say. He could pull cool points when he really wanted to.
“I wanted to bring myself down a few notches… Make it a bit more fair for the other players.”
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 10:33 pm
Now calm down, Carren, I'm sure he's got a better explanation than that...he's just lying, you know? Because he likes you...so...no killing him... Morrigan started to plead; even if she hated Ciro, she didn't want Crow to go throw herself into the toxic blue over two boys.
On the planes of the City, in the shop Seasons in Middling, Crow's talons had clinched tightly into Ciro's shirt, and thereby tore through easily to his chest. She probably scratched him, but she didn't even notice that she ahd ripped his shirt.
"You... Did... WHAT?! You didn't... Just... Say you... You... Took... them... out... YOURSELF?!"
Her fist clinched tighter. The tears flowed without any hope in stopping. Her wings flared out widely and her muscles tightened.
"You... Ciro... Damn you... TELL ME THE GODDAMNED TRUTH YOU DIDN'T RIP OUT YOUR OWN EYEBALLS DID YOU?!"
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 10:57 pm
Whatever grounding that Crow’s presence had had… Whatever normalcy that she may have brought was completely and utterly shattered when she drew blood.
At the feeling, he jumped back, mistepping and falling hard onto his bum. It seemed that no matter what, things would just not go his way. He tried to act like it was all fine, no biggie, and BAM. They were attacking. An ALLIE was attacking. He could feel a deep anger forming in his stomach, one amplified by the fact that the two amazons must still be there. One made far worse by the fact that he really, honestly, did not want to be there.
“What the HELL woman!? What the ******** is wrong with you!?”
His fingers felt the blood slowly oozing out of the new wounds, and it seemed like everyone in the world had already gone insane. Hell, he thought he was the crazy one, but with the way things were going, he might be the only rational person left. Apparently, judging by the large gash that was now apparent (Thanks to the attention Crow had brought upon his chest), there had been more damage done to him than just his eyes. That entire night was still a fuzzy mystery: his only guess was what ‘Persy’ had told him.
“YEA. They’re GONE. Okay?! But what the ******** is ATTACKING me supposed to do!? It’s DONE. God damn, it’s not like YOU’RE the blind one, so get over it.”
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 11:13 pm
Crow yelped, she didn't understand what had happened until she finally acknowledged her hand was soaked. She squealed at the sight of blood, and soon fell to her knees.
"Oh Goddess, Ciro... I ... I... The damn claws... I didn't mean to..."
She stammered, and even more tears came busting through.
"Ciro I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you!" She yelped suddenly, her wings curling in around her defensively as he yelled. "I didn't mean to I'm sorry! I didn't know I had... dug in... I even cut myself a few times with these things... I'm sorry!"
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