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| − | * - Back to [[GoldenCat/EighthMovement|Eighth Movement]]
| + | #REDIRECT ADanceOfAngels |
| − | * - Back to [[GoldenCat/DanceOfAngels|A Dance of Angels]]
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| − | == Amber Wrap ==
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| − | Later that day...
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| − | It ended up that, yes, they got billed for the building. The King was dead, and the Prophet... had never been there, no matter that both Abyssal women still remembered it. None other did. But at least, they could get together in the Mansion once again... together with a veritable pile of Jade. A true fortune. To say that Aghar and Bronze Butterfly salivated over it would be an understatement. They were both ''this'' close to smack their leaders down and run away gleefully with the money. But Aghar simply would not, and the Butterfly was too weak to carry it all.
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| − | Lounging in the Mansion, the Son of Giants stretched, bringing his mug of beer to his lips... "... aye, General, sorry fer not being 'round. I wuz held up. Some lil' fairy-things, black and wit' sharp teeth. Had to punch their heads in or they'd eat mine."
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| − | "And ya know, I like my head."
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' "Fu", Vorpal lets out an amused sound despite herself. Ignoring the pain the sudden move causes in her system, she eases herself down onto an opposing couch and favors her former comrade-in-arms with a crooked smile. "I'm glad they didn't go for anything important."
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| − | '''Aghar: ''' "They'd have more luck with it, too, lil' things barely got ta my waist. But I'll let ya know my head's plenty important, General. It's my best surprise weapon for when dey think dey got me by holding my fists. Works like a charm, every damn time." He nods, sipping some of the beer. "Ya sure ya dun need anythin', tho?"
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| − | '''Bronze Butterfly: ''' The Butterfly languishes on a corner, demure. She would be hitting something with her scythe if she had something to hit. She is angry. She is fuming. She is trying hard not to cry. The invasion the Vestal made on her was... unforgivable. Especially how she made the mighty Bronze Butterfly feel so.. pliable. Powerless.
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| − | And so she stays sullen on a corner, watching everything silently.
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: '''"Important? Hmm." Selina asks curiously, looking at Vorpal and closing another one of the books she had scrounged up here and there to try and get some insight into their condition. And to do a bit of her own learning -- since the gifts of the Dragon, half given, still reside within her.
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| − | "Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair is an illusion of the mind." She quotes pedantically, as if replying to Vorpal's movements. She picks up another book, opens it.
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' Vorpal closes her eyes and leans her head back. Her white hair cascade over the couch's back rest. "Nope", she replies. "Pain is a reminder that you are still alive. Despair is something that happens to others."
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| − | Opening her eyes to slits, she returns her gaze to Aghar. "Something red and warm would be nice. Lost plenty of blood... again."
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "You keep doing that." Selina observes, putting the book down, getting to her feet. She creates a ball of elemental essence on her hand, tweaking it, studying how it reacts. "It makes me wonder how you survived your mortal days."
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' The Pale Angel makes a show of giving it some thought. She frows, she hmms, she strokes her chin in reflection. "Now that you mention it", she begins slowly, the crooked smile returning, "Aghar, how did I survive back in the old days?"
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "None of the stories I ever heard included you getting the ever living shit beaten out of yourself." She continues, looking at the ball more intently. "Though considering that some said your chest deflected greatswords, perhaps I shouldn't have believed them."
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| − | '''Aghar: ''' "Whenever we fought somethin' that could crush a human to a pulp? She worked with a team, she had a plan, and she damn well killed it before it could kill her." He nods. "And then, a few weeks on hot compresses for all. And when things got bad... she just became a real bitch. Nobody can deal with the General then."
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| − | '''Bronze Butterfly: ''' "We have ''seen'' her chest deflect greatswords." The butterfly chimes in sullenly.
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "She never used her bitch-form around me." Selina says, almost disappointedly. "I guess that would imply I'm not a very good team. Or many of our friends back in Spire." She shrugs, disappears the ball and sits back down, reading her book again. "But becoming a Chosen does tend to fill the heads of many with complete garbage. It's why I kill them."
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| − | * Aghar stops, staring blankly "... ye're a team?"
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| − | '''Bronze Butterfly: ''' "And why would you want to see her angry anyway? I thought she was angry enough with you already..." She says, letting her winds shred some of the wall close to her, wishing that was flesh. She needed to hit something. She needed to hit something hard. "I guess she's just like a barbarian. Fought some of those 'berserkers' once. They are damn scary."
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' Selina grins toothily, looking up from her book. "I '''adore''' angry cute things."
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| − | * Aghar sniffs, then breaks out into a hearty laughter, spilling some of his beer over his clothing, the armor, leather and pelt thrown together to cover him. After all, clothes don't usually come his size. And neither do most people. "Naw, darlin'. I'm a Barbarian. And I can assure ya dat's not what the General was."<br><br>"She was a ''demon''"
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' "There is a reason why I keep the bitch down, Selina" Vorpal shifts her head a little in order to squint at Selina. Her tone of voice is surprisingly serious against Aghar's mirth. "It's other people around me. Take my word on this one: when I go bitchy, I am not cute."
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "Worse than mine?" She asks innocently. "Ah but yes, we are a team. Or supposed to be. It never really worked out too well, differing methods of approach and all, that kind of thing."
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' "We ''are'' a team", the Pale Angel responds with calm confidence. "We have our differences, but there is power in diversity. And we haven't done ''too'' badly, considering. You are too harsh on yourself about that."
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| − | She falls silent for a moment. Then, abruptly, she chuckles. "Greatswords, eh?" she says and shakes her head. "I don't just deflect them. Bring me a greatsword and I'll show you what other things I can do to it."
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| − | '''Aghar: ''' "Dun ye have one? No luv for ''Betrayer'', General?" He chuckles, thinking about what she said, making some counts on his fingers... "Well, ye did fight with a demon-backed Raegar and won. Pity, I wish I'd been there ta bash his head in. I'd always bet that the Pale General'd win if they fought. Now just need ta fight Arada." He nods sagely. Truth be told, Mercenaries and soldiers together are just like a circle of knitters - they gossip, they throw together odd matches, they wonder who would fare against who or win against who. It's about the same, but you just replace knitting with dirty sex jokes.
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "Perhaps sometimes." Selina replies with a shrug. "A pity on assassins. We don't get our tales told by partners like that. We just get them told by relatives and friends of the victims."
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' "Old Arada?" Vorpal shrugs and suppresses the wince by turning it into a smile. "Please. Blow too hard and he'll turn to dust. Can't you think of anyone more challenging? This 'Roseblack' I've been hearing about, maybe?"
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| − | Sighing, she turns her gaze back to Selina. "But isn't not being spoken about a compliment in your profession? Never saw her do the deed, only found the victim... That sort of thing."
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "That gets pretty boring unless you're really into professional pride. And that can get overdone. Trust me." Selina says with a neutral tone. "Besides, I wasn't made to be an assassin. That's just a career I took along the way, to which I happened to be suited."
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| − | '''Bronze Butterfly: ''' "We have our own to tell some tales to, though. We know it by the modus operandi... and well, the Dark Angel was never too subtle. We... we in the Assassin Guilds... we always knew..." Which is why she walked in that Angel's footsteps...
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: '''"I wasn't too subtle with some." Selina corrects her apprentice. "There are other contracts I carried out where people still don't know who did it. Cultivating an image of sloppiness works quite well at times."
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' Vorpal listens silenty, all mirth gone from her mien. Sometimes, on occasions such as this, she finds herself hoping that she could come up with something that could raise Selina from this eternal gloom she suffers.
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| − | After a moment, she asks: "How does your system work, then?"
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "What system?" She asks off-handedly, looking back down at her book. "Mine? I have none. Butterfly has messed with the guilds more lately than I -- nowadays I'm more of an independant."
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| − | '''Bronze Butterfly: ''' "We get together in some places. It has... more mystique than what you see for real. Some passwords, some bars where everyone meets." She says, sighing and throwing her head back. "We compare modus operandis. Some people write compediums only those who live in the shadows know how to buy. We talk about decent poison or weapon suppliers. You know, the sort of concealed weapons we use are illegal on principle."
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| − | "Of course, I conceal ''nothing''" She smirks, in her teddy-like dress, the knives hanging out of it...
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' "I notice that", Vorpal replies, somewhat dryly.
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| − | "So", she then turns her head back to Selina, "a social outsider also in the professional field?"
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "Mhmm." Selina hums, narrowing her eyes at the book and making another ball of energy over one hand. "Ever since I killed my parents, and a bit before that."
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' "Mn", Vorpal pouts for a moment. "I can relate to that."
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| − | Her gaze flickers brefly back to Butterfly for a second, as if to challenge the Dragon-Blooded to fill the silence with a quip. Soon, however, she returns back to Selina again. "Have you found anything yet?" asks and indicates the books with a nod of her head.
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| − | '''Bronze Butterfly: ''' "That is also what makes her a bit of a celebrity, of course." The Butterfly picks one of her knives, playing with it on her hand before throwing one not too far from Selina's hair. "See, there are some things professionals just don't do. But she survived those, and picked the contracts no sane person would. I tried something similar. But I lacked... something."
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "Some. Mostly for me, but I do recall some bits back in my library." She sighs, moving the energy all over her body, playing with it and refining her control over it as she speaks. "You evidentally cannot remove what makes us Chosen without killing us. So, he did not do that. And I have never, ever read of someone disabling that power, even in the First Age. Of course, we have never been tied to others before this."
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| − | "However, if it were as simple as he said, we would have heard of this happening, or seen many more reverses between deathlords when they began currying favor to short out their rivals' deathknights' powers."
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| − | She looks back at Butterfly. "You know, you could miss. And I wouldn't be at all happy if you missed."
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' Vorpal's eyebrows move together for one fraction of an inch. "You are saying it could not have happened. So how do we undo what could not have been done?"
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "I'm saying it's very unlikely." Selina corrects her counterpart. "Which opens up other avenues. We could be shielded by necromancy beyond our ken, for example. Thus, in a way, he could say the Malfeans had some part in doing it."
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| − | * Bronze Butterfly flashes a razored smile. "I don't miss."<br><br>Then she slinks back on her wall, and on her blues... "Who are those Malfeans?"
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' "No-one you need to be concerned of", Vorpal replies with a dismissive wave of hand. "Let us asssume for a moment that it's necromancy, then. Could you break it?"
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "Maybe." Selina says slyly. "I would need something more than I have access to right now, but I could possibly do such a thing."
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| − | "Unfortunately, it is not something I will be able to do until we go back. Something I had hoped to avoid."
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' "If it comes down to that", Vorpal says, careful to not let any hint of impatience at that eternal pride rise to the surface, "we might not have a choice. Besides, other Exalts might have the power to help us."
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "Hmm, yes." Selina agrees too smoothly for it to really be real. "They might."
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| − | ''Or maybe I'll find out how many of them can be vultures. ''
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' Perhaps the Pale Angel has been around her dark counterpart for too long, but the subtle change in Selina's tone immediately makes Vorpal perk her ears.
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| − | "Or", she continues with very distinct nonchalance, "We could always ask Valencia. I'm
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| − | sure she'd help friends in need."
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' The Windian raises an eyebrow at Vorpal. "Why her?"
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| − | Far too suspicious at the ghost-blooded to suppress that.
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' Ah, so the barb did strike home.
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| − | ''She's trying hard not to show it, but she might be trembling with terror inside even now. ''<Br> ''Not so confident about your powers after all, eh? ''
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| − | "She is a sorceress", she offers, simply. "She has connections. She is not paranoid."
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| − | And, she'd like to check up on Valencia in any case. All that talk about the Lunar and her Prince being together had been nagging at her lately...
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "Connections which do not need to know of our condition, I am sure." Selina responds sullenly. "She has no reason to be paranoid. Unlike me."
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' Vorpal sighs. So, there you have it.
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| − | "Why are you paranoid?"
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' Selina glares at Vorpal now. "You have to ask? So many reasons, the least of which being there is a demon somewhere out there who wrote that sigil on my belly. I don't especially wish to see the Prince either."
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| − | '''Bronze Butterfly: ''' The Butterfly gets up, silently, striding to where the Dark Angel is.... and then pulling her up, arms draped around her collar, exactly between the Windian's wings... "Aw, why not ? They will also find it so ''cute'' that you are like us now..."
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' The Dark Angel has a point about that demon. The Pale Angel cannot really say much about that.
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| − | But about that boy... that ''Prince''... Vorpal cannot help but to chuckle at the funny feeling rising inside her chest. "Fu. To think that boy is more powerful than the two of us combined right now. It's quite a turn of the tables, that."
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| − | "So, let us crawl up from this pit together, shall we?" She looks up at Selina with that slanted smile on her lips once again. The familair spark lights up in her eyes. "Just you and me, as always."
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "I could still kill him, even like this." Selina growls under her breath, more to herself than anyone else in the room, ignoring Butterfly. Then she looks at Vorpal strangely. "We can try. Maybe we will, or maybe it will be later. The maybe is immaterial, because it ''will'' happen sooner or later."
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' "I suppose the 'try'-word would be immaterial as well", Vorpal adds and shifts into a more comfortable position on the couch. "We are not going to simply ''try'', either."
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| − | '''Selina de Windia: ''' "Exactly." The Windian replies with the same cold and clinical tone. She didn't want to think about meeting the Prince after this.
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| − | "And then the Prophet shall be dealt with for his presumption. His ''conceit''." She chuckles to herself.
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| − | ''He will bring it back, will he, like she said? ''
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| − | ''Not this time. ''
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| − | ''He is not what he was. And I? ''
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| − | ''I am not Moranine. ''
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| − | '''''I am not Moranine. '''''
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| − | ----
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| − | * - Back to [[GoldenCat/EighthMovement|Eighth Movement]]
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| − | * - Back to [[GoldenCat/DanceOfAngels|A Dance of Angels]]
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