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Rage Against the Path

It did not take long for the Shades of Eventide to leave the razed neighborhood, leaving the smoking ashes behind... oon had used his senses on the place and found no other survivors... and so, their priority became taking those that had been possessed, the few survivors, to the Wilandian clinic.... with all their speed. Soon they burst through the front door, holding Fiona, Mikhal Snowblade, and the others....

And calling for whatever help they can get. The poor survivors had the spirits of murder forcefully pushed out of them, had been beaten by the Shades of Eventide badly, and been in the middle of an explosion, even if protected by the Alexander's Heavenly Defense...

"Ryshassa!" The Prince calls as he touches down in the lobby. Not wishing any but the very best. The others were, after all, with them. "We need some help here!"

Seventh Moon: "Fuck, this is a mess," the Lunar sighed as he deposited a double-arm full of limp and ragged figures onto one of the clinic beds and started sorting them out. "Fightin's fun, but the clean up ain't never much'a thrill."

Elizabeth Holysword: Elizabeth just... follows her little brother. A strange feeling, but what else could she do? She tries to distract herself by taking measure of the city-- her city-- but it doesn't help much. Her attention ends up split between Alexander and the haughty one with the guns. She bends over to whisper to Alex, "What's a Ryshassa?"

Alexander: He looks up at Moon, almost looking at the Lunar through his Halo - which was still getting to emulate the light as well as it should, after being in the middle of all that dust. "Did you ever had to clean up before?" He asks... but then Liz asks, and he turns to her, whispering just as low... "Oh, it is the healer. Solar, Copper Spider. She is nice, but a little too heavy on self-sacrifice... but she saved Cedric."

Kanti: Kanti slips away from Alex's side, as much to get away from his strange sister with the bleeding hands as to help the people, not that she could do much that wouldn't agravate the situation with more flames, at least until some time had passed, carefully straightening the bodies moon and the others laid out, careful not to let her robes touch them.

Elizabeth Holysword: Elizabeth freezes in place for half a second, then catches up to Alex "Cedric? He's here? With you?"

Ryshassa: Ryshassa rushes forward as soon as she hears Alexander calling for her. Her kimono this time is predominantly white, with meandering silver strands flowing across it like miniature streams, and embroidered peonies in rose and gold blooming upwards from the hem. She does not even take in the presence of the others at first, seeing only Fiona hurt and bleeding, and the others with her... "Bring them here, I will look at them right away."

Seventh Moon: "Course. Usually not by choice. Ain't always won every brawl, y'know?" Moon flashed Alex a grin, but only spared a moment for the prince as he hauled the limp bodies two and two towards where Ryshassa summoned them. She too though, he took the time to toss a grin at. "Hey darlin'. Gotta load for ya. Ain't nothin' bad as I was though."

Alexander: So much, so fast. His heart beating at a thousand paces, he rushes into the clinic, letting the one on his arm into the bed as he talks to his sister. "Oh? Hm, no.... I thought he would be with you! He was not safe here, so Cael... that Windwraith guy who stole the Hanslanti airship, you might have heard... took him to the Great Forks, where he would be safe, far away, and with you!"

"Oh, and..." It was not really time for formal introductions, but... "Ryshassa Krauser, meet Elizabeth Holysword. My older sister. And... um, Lunar Exalted!"

Ryshassa: "I'm relieved to hear that," Ryshassa says to Moon, her brief smile not dampened by her concentration on the patients, glancing over their physical state more with her senses than with magic, for now. Her attentions in particular are on Fiona, inwardly quite shaken that the lively prodigy had been endangered. "What... happened to her? And these others... Is it only physical damage, or have they been spiritually attacked?"

Pausing to clear her head, she catches sight of Elizabeth, the only unfamiliar face still on her feet rather than laying down on the beds. "Ah -- and pardon my rudeness, please, if not for the wounded -- well, anyway, very pleased to meet you, Princess Elizabeth --" and as soon as her greeting is done, her attention is right back to the patients, to her desire to soothe what ails them.

Seventh Moon: "Lil'a both," he told Ryshassa in passing, raising his voice to shout to her as he made his way back for another pair. "Bunch'a fuckin' cat ghost shits got into 'um. We kinda got a lil over zealous gettin' out again."

Okay, well, he had gotten a little over zealous about it. But sheeyit, it was cats! Ryshassa would understand.

"Wouldn't been so hard on 'um, but then the fucker that made 'um that way in the first place dropped an egg full of shit on the ground and the whole place lit up. Alex kept us safe, but couldn't really catch everyone."

Elizabeth Holysword: "G-Great Forks? I... see..." Elizabeth says weakly... worried about what could come of that... Either this Cael would not come back... or he would... Either option scares her. She tries to hide it in a smile, as Ryshassa greets her and gets to work. 'It is my pleasure, healer Ryshassa."

Narrator: They are... well, most of them are barely beaten up, but not very cut or anything. Just as if they had gone a good few rounds with a heavyweight boxer. Very hurt. Also a little burnt from overheated dust from the explosion - the one she had heard, she had seen... everyone in Spire had.

Alexander: "The poor Virdynn died, yes... I wish I had been able to save them. They were probably just being controlled..." He shakes his head, so glad to see Liz was happy that Cedric was going to the Great Forks! "But I saved all of you, all of them... it was enough, at least. A pity I lost Vapor Aegis..."

Seventh Moon: "'Poor Virdynn' my fuckin' ass," Moon growled under his breath, dropping the last of the ex-possesses down with a little more umph than strickly called for. "Fuckin' cats were probably came up with the whole goddamn idea."

Ryshassa: Ryshassa does not seem to be concerned, for the moment, that Moon had a hand in beating up the people she is now healing. From the explanations she is hearing, the people had been possessed -- cat ghosts? Virdynn? "They possessed Fiona, too?"

Seeing that none of the patients are critically injured, she relaxes somewhat, even looking up to take a closer look at Liz. "I didn't realize you have a sister as well, Alexander. Are there others besides her and Cedric? And Princess, I am sure that Cedric is in good hands. Cael thought it over quite thoroughly before choosing where he would bring the little Prince and his caretaker away from the war."

That said, she begins to heal the first of the injured... starting with the one that seems to have taken the most damage. This one is bleeding, and looks as if she had nearly suffocated underwater... Her only reaction is a tightening of her lips and a sharp intake of breath, as the wounds on the girl disappear and become mere bruises on her own skin.

Alexander: "Should have known you would hate cats... but yes, they possessed her as well. Scared Kanti quite a bit... but Leonas managed to exorcise them all out of the poor people. You should have seen it... it was great. They resisted, but with Moon's howl... and Kanti, here. She was the Wheel itself. Her light.... it was enough to push them all out of the cats."

Seventh Moon: "Fiona got hit the worst," Moon added in, moving to stand beside the Solar's bed and peer down at her, letting a worried expression for the kid through only now, after everyone else was settled in. "Fucker just didn't wanna let go."

Narrator: And did it show. She still had wisps of Pandemonium about her... forming the feline features, still...

Flickering, in and out... almost real, then almost ephemeral...

Elizabeth Holysword: "...didn't realize he had a sister...? She must not be local..."

"Alex has two sisters in fact. I am the oldest. The other-- his twin-- is the Lover's slave... for now." Her tone makes it obvious what she thinks of their current 'ally'

Kanti: Kanti walks over nervously to look at Fiona, concern written over her features, overcoming even her fear of the shadow whirling over her face and the strange sister... ..My prince has a sister .. who ... who is ....like the Dark Angel...?

Ryshassa: "I see... I should thank you then, Moon, that they came away with only bruises..." Ryshassa says dryly. They are quite unpleasant looking bruises, but her thanks is still genuine.

Before moving onto the next patient, she glances briefly towards Kanti. Is she all right? Though with her Prince and all these people here she would likely be quiet...

Fiona is next, and Ryshassa takes care to heal her bruises fully (not without a wince of surprise; Moon must hit hard) before taking the opportunity to check her mentally, as well. "Just a moment, I will be... briefly distracted..." And her eyes unfocus as her senses pierce the veil between physical and spiritual -- only to be certain that it is as they have said, and the Virdynn has released its hold on Fiona completely.

Alexander: "She was sent to the Great Forks to marry Dayshield's son, Ryshassa... that is why you did not know. But odd, Cael should have told you... he went to the Great Forks to leave Cedric in her care! But..." He looks up at her again, through the halo, smiling. "She could not stay away, apparently."

The Virdynn... has, but it is strange.
She is hurt, but her essence is also completely scrambled... something that would require great knowledge of essence flows to fix...

Ryshassa: Ryshassa is, of course, as prim and proper and innocent a woman as can be possible, and naturally she is thoroughly shocked at this discovery of scandalous clothing amidst her collection! "But it's not -- I -- it has nothing to do with -- oh..." She snaps out of her flustered babbling when she realizes Kanti's voice is filled with admiration, not distaste. But her blush still remains, starkly obvious on her pale, delicate cheeks, and undeniably warm.

"D..don't, please don't apologize," she manages to say when her initial surprise has passed. Her hands stop fidgeting with the costumes, at least not in any attempt to hide them. After all, Kanti has already seen them by now; the damage, as it were, is already done. "I just... no one ever sees that side of me... b-besides my husband..." No, that is not completely true. There have been others... before... but it was not for love. Nor for my pleasure.

Finally Ryshassa just takes a deep breath and asks, tentatively, "You like them?"

Seventh Moon: Moon only shrugged back to Ryshassa, his hand now resting on Fiona's brow. "Worse things 'round than bruising."

His eyes were on Fiona, but he was still following the conversation close as he could. Listening and learning about the other Lunar, Alex's sister. Funny that after spending fuck knows how long never bumping into another Lunar beyond the old crazy, they seemed to suddenly be popping up like fleas off a stray. "Must'a heard we were actually winnin' the fuckin' war."

Ryshassa: Ryshassa has no reply for the moment, though she still registers Alexander's words. Scrambled Essence -- is Fiona still in there, somewhere? Is she still... herself?

She does not progress far into Fiona's spiritual space, simply draws her attention to what has been misplaced. Memories? Personality? Or merely cosmetic effects?

Elizabeth Holysword: Elizabeth... does not respond to the Lunar's particular comment. "Not all of us have stolen airships... to fly about on... not that I'd admit it". Nonetheless, she responds rather acidly "I left Th-- Great Forks as soon as I heard."

• is nothing misplaced, simply scrambled. It is her soul the chakras of her body, all thrown out of balance.

Alexander: "I hope you did not worry your fiancee, Liz... that would be bad for our relations. But I guess he must be taking good care of Cedric now." He giggles, walking up to Kanti, his hand entwining in hers', whispering... "You alright?"

Kanti: "Sorry, my prince." she murmurs, looking at him, and then loooking down.
I'm so worried about Fiona....
Your sister scares me...
There are too many people here....
"I ... will be okay." she says, with nervous glaces to Fiona and to his sister.

Elizabeth Holysword: "R-right..."

"The dead have overrun your land, and you're worried I might have upset that bastard?"

"I'm sure Cedric is... fine...."

Alexander: "Relax, Kanti. Relax... Ryshassa can do it.Whatever it is..." He whispers, his wings closing around t hem slightly, making Kanti feel enclosed, constricted. "You have not introduced yourself formally to my sister yet, however," he whisper. "Be nice to her. Make me proud..."

Ryshassa: Shaking her head, Ryshassa withdraws from her outward trance, returning to her physical body. "I think Fiona should be fine," she says, a trace of uncertainty in her voice, "but she will need some time to rest. She is herself, and yet she is... changed. I suspect we will not be able to see what that means until she has awoken."

A frown remains on her face; the ephemeral changes of Fiona's appearance are still disconcerting to her. But there seems to be nothing that she might actually fix.

For now Ryshassa concentrates on the others, drawing upon her Essence to bolster her body's natural regeneration before resting her hands upon the one called Mikhal. The others would be simple enough to heal, she suspects... "Your sister is with the Lover?" she says to Elizabeth as she continues to work. "From your reaction I wonder whether she is with her willingly..."

"Employer" or not the Lover is still a Deathlord, after all...

Kanti: Kanti relaxes as his wing closes around her, holding her there, calming herself in the space he made around her.

"I..I will do my best, my prince."

Alexander: The prince opens his wings then, shining, gloriously presenting Kanti to his sister...

"I know you will."

Elizabeth Holysword: Elizabeth looks at Alex, wondering just how much he has changed... As much as her? Doubtful. "My sources are vague, Ryshassa, but Deathlords have many variations of the term 'willingly,' and I accept none of them."

Seventh Moon: "... why the fuck ain't we traded ta get her back?" Moon demanded, cutting into the princes conforting words with a voice that rang with disgusted shock. He stared up at the prince, his eyes opened wide. "Ya fuckin' tellin' me ya let family stay with one'a those fuckers all this time and ain't even thought ta just trade?"

Kanti: Kanti's brieafly widden as she suddenly finds herself standing before liz, so highlighted by her...
my prince is here.
So much blood....
my prince is here.
She is lying to him....
my prince is here.
Kanti drops herself into an elegant and deep curtsey, everything just so, as would be expected of the Whiteshield Court.

"Greetings, Princess Elizabeth Holysword, it is my pleasure to meet you."

Ryshassa: "Perhaps Princess Elizabeth did not know about her sister until recently?" Ryshassa suggests. As far as she is concerned, anyway, the Lover never hired her for anything. They may be on the same side, but it is Alexander she gave her loyalty to.

The injuries flow to her skin from each of the other patients, as quickly and easily as a single touch. The Caste Mark is prominent on her brow now, and her aura is the color of the sun descending, punctuated by wisps of belladonna petals that flutter here and there in the midst of it. Her skin, where her kimono does not cover it, darkens in places with bruises, some of them overlaid on top of one another so as to form a dark blue-purple shade.

Elizabeth Holysword: "Greetings little fire-aspect... the curtsey is unnecesary." It's been two years since I deserved it. She shifts her posture, unvomfortable about something. "Alex, is there somewhere here I can get a moment to myself?"

Alexander: Kanti was courteous, her etiquette flawless. It made Alex happy...it made him shine with happyness.

But alas... then Moon spoke.

And he turned his gaze down, guilt welling down his throat. Why hadn't he? Why...? "And trade... what? I was going to trade myself, Moon. The Angels as my jailors, I was going to Red Ice... but we took a... detour. They do not want me to go there now... but Carina... I just do not.. do not know." He says, his voice fading. Feeling so guilty... "Just... look around, Liz... we will get you the royal quarters on Spire later..."

Seventh Moon: "Tch," he shook his head. Don't they teach kids anything these days? "When another gangs got one'a ya friends man, ya don't trade yaself. That don't fuckin' put ya in a better position to bargin man. That just means they swap out who they're beatin' on a while. Ya get somethin' else they want, preferably one'a them. Hostage trade 'n shit."

Ryshassa: "Prince, you cannot be expected to be able to take care of everything at once... so much has gone on here, it is not an easy task... even I, I cannot spare all the energy and time I would like to help everyone..." Ryshassa looks distressed by this, as she lifts her hands from the last of the patients, her aura now extinguished.

"Though I doubt it is much consolation from me... since I am not the one with family endangered. I was born on the Blessed Isle," she explains to Liz, "and spent my years after my escape --" she taps her forehead knowingly, where her mark as a Solar Exalted had just been so glaringly apparent "-- in Gethamane, until recently. I suppose Great Forks would be a much warmer place to spend a few years, at least..."

Not that the Princess seems to have enjoyed being sent there.

Alexander: "But... but them? I can't take my lady prisioner. Or the Dark Angel..." Of course the image of the Angels in chains appeared on his mind.... and that was... a good image. But still. He could not... not when they helped him so... "What else would the lover want?"

Elizabeth Holysword: Elizabeth is only gone for a moment, but when she returns, her wings are gone and she wears a fine dress of what appears to be white silk, decorated at the edges with-- not lace, but feathers. Of course, it would be silly to assume the two are related. She obviously posesses some artifact or charm to shapeshift the wings away. Yes, obviously, that must be it.

Seventh Moon: Ya other sister?

No. That was a good way to get smacked.

"How 'bout one'a the Bishops boys? They got one'a hers locked up. Stead'a throwin' outselves at it, lets grab one'a his people and we can all do a nice big swap 'round 'n shit. His for yours, hers for his." He clapped his hands together. "Done deal."

Ryshassa: Ryshassa raises her eyebrows at Liz's change with interest. Amusingly her first thought is something like ooh, instant cosplay! but she doesn't say it out loud.

Alexander: "Hmmm. I wonder. What sorts of Deathknights she would wish for herself..."

"Beautiful dress, sis... you got an artifact to shift your wings too?" He says, activating his own, his wings shrinking into his bare back...

Elizabeth Holysword: Strangely, Elizabeth appears more... at ease than she did a few minutes ago. Calmer, certainly. She smiles at Alex' artifact. "Yes, well, something like that Al."

Ryshassa: "Moon's idea is a plausible one, though, I think," Ryshassa adds belatedly, "so long as we could find someone the Lover finds... equally worthy for the trade."

Seventh Moon: "Or a whole fuckin' bunch of 'um. Ain't like it seems though fuckers gonna run out any time soon." Moon notes irreparably, absent mindedly stroking Fiona's hair. "Never seems like we get ta fuckin' out number them, y'know?"

Can't even keep our fuckin' selves safe...

That really should have made him grateful for Elizabeth showing up, but that would involve applying logic to the situation and instinct was anything but that.

Alexander: "We did win today, however. With no problems at all.... now we just wait to hear what Days and Ise get out of that priest, find out where all of them that are left are hiding... and strike back. It is past the time we do that... strike back, and spread beyond Spire and the Boil...."

Leonas Du Mistlav: And Ryshassa works, on the clinic, on their silence...

Surrounded by life, by the plants and vines that fill the walls of the clinic, its shining flowers, glowing in every color of the spectrum. Little leaves growing, over some patients, eating the infection-filled air like most plants eat light. And the light, of the late afternoon, coming into the room...

Barging on that silence, Leonas comes in, his black armor cleared from the soot and dirt from the explosion, now shining free... thanks to his winds. He sees the Shades - and Elizabeth Holysword, who receives long, quizzical glances from him - as he comes in... "We looked all around... but there were no people there. The only ones dead have been so for... a while. The cats played a whole damn lot on that neighborhood... so there was nothing much left. And what about their hapless hosts? Are they well?"

Ryshassa: Ryshassa's smile to Leonas is distracted, but still a welcoming one. "They should be..."

She returns her gaze to the patients, beckoning the Caduceus close to her. Her slender fingers trace the staff's twin serpent heads, down the intertwined coils of their bodies wrapped together around the central shaft, caressing the detail of every scale with a lovingly familiar touch. To her touch the serpents awaken, as if stirring from a great slumber. They slither along the staff, liquid gold as the wings appear to be, and twine along either of her outstretched hands, rearing their heads only as they reach the tender flesh of her wrists.

They bite -- but their fangs leave no mark. They sink their teeth not into her flesh but her spirit, interfacing with her, a direct conduit to the knowledge they bear, the echoes of memory from an age long past.

I am the staff of all life

Ryshassa's lips part, mouthing phrases in Old Realm.

Through me the elements of all Creation are born

The space around her flares with sunset light as the faceted butterfly wings of her anima unfold like belladonna flowers blooming into wings. They open as if to welcome the descending sun, a multi-rayed, delicate yet awe-inspiring display of color.

Through you I feel the pain of all who suffer to live

And the anima-wings shudder and break, like shards of shattered glass, the sharp edges reforming into smaller pairs of petal-wings, giving rise to a host of belladonna butterflies.

Through this exchange shall you be regenerated

And they fly -- the butterflies flock to the patients as one, and bring the distilled nectar of their suffering back to Ryshassa's flesh.

Seventh Moon: "They're alive," Moon offered the Winlandian his own answer from across the room. "S'good enough, y'know?"

The Lunar punk had claimed a table and chair for himself, stuffed far enough in the corner to be out of the way of those at work. Wasn't much he could really do here, except maybe haul stuff or people around if they asked. Which so far, they hadn't. He idled himself away by instead ripping pieces off a withered piece of ivy on the wall, twisting it into little pellets and flinging it into a near by waste bucket.

He was worried and he was bored. The combination of the two didn't place him in the best of moods.

Alexander: The Prince, on the other hand, was simply worried. And by now, already feeling cold from walking about shirtless. Now that the adrenaline had stopped pumping on his vein... Kanti had healed his chest, at least, which slowly healed, along with so, so many scratches where White Jade was crushed into bits and blown away from him. But right now, all those minute pains didn't really register... as he was too busy watching Ryshassa. "You always know how to make a show, Ryshassa..."

Leonas Du Mistlav: "I took it you are not very happy with this situation? Cannot blame you, Lunar." The Dragon says. Valencia had made him respectful, but used, to the power of the Silver Moon. Not those of the Solars, and he gawked at Ryshassa a little bit... but he had a work to do, after all. And so, he walked to Fiona, seeing the Pandemonium features shifting over her... "What about her, however?"

Ryshassa: One by one the butterflies fade, as they deliver the burden of pain to their mistress. And soon Ryshassa stands there as before, somewhat more battered, but still standing unbowed and serene in her white kimono with peony blooms. The Caduceus is once more placid, hovering obediently at her side as she turns to the Prince, shaking her head...

"No, it is just... well, to heal so many at once, there must be a medium through which I can touch my patients... sometimes it is music, this time... my anima." This she explains as if it were simple fact, and her accomplishment were little more than the ordinary.

"Oh, that is right, Leonas..." Ryshassa moves towards the sorcerer, apologetically, as she is about to ask him a favor. "She is... mm. When I examined her, her Essence was ...scrambled, somehow. It is not a matter of mere medicine, I fear it is more magical in nature... so perhaps you might be able to look at her more closely?"

Elizabeth Holysword: Elizabeth watches Ryshassa's show with an intensity bordering impoliteness... though not for the reasons one might expect. The young heiress-- queen, rather?-- could not be less interested by the healing if it was her own flesh being healed. Her gaze is instead for Alex... how he reacts to Ryshassa... the honesty in her voice... Perhaps they are what they say... But no matter what the spook says, I'll never trust the Lover's Angels... I know the power of those Oaths.

As for the Lunar and his disinterest... She liked him. He was honest-- maybe moreso than the healer woman, and more than Elizabeth certainly. He reminded her of friends she no longer had in Great Forks.

Not that she'd ever tell him that. Damn royal pretense... If it weren't for Alex, I'd do this in secret... I don't want to rule...

I don't have the right.

Leonas Du Mistlav: "It is beautiful, Ryshassa. Very, very beautiful." He says with a smile, her golden lights dancing on his red eyes. And then... he turned back to the fallen Solar, the strange illusion warping her body still, like couds breaking on and off the moonlight, like oil within water in a closed jar on the sea. He sighed, stoically reaching to one of the pockets in the sleek Black and Emerald armor... "Let me see what I can do..."

Picking a pair of green-blue-and-silver spetacles, placing them over his eyes... where they begin to shift, melting on his face, reaching down to his back and pushing more of the armor... covering his face with a sleek black helmet, the spetacles shining green on his eyes. "Connect to her essence, now... it might give you all a little tingling."

Emerald winds appeared over his hands, enveloping Fiona's form, touching her light as gossamer, and sending information back to him... leftovers of the emerald winds flowing into the room, making all of them shiver, making hairs stand up....

...and connecting all of them.

Connecting Moon... and Alexander... and Elizabeth.

And they remember running...

Fighting, sparring. Talons against Claws. Fangs against Beak. Moon remembers being Ofaniel... and sparring against Her... no, Him. A male. The White Tiger. Eyes of Chaos. Gatekeeper of Saresh. A friend. Body of a feline, mind of a trickster, Walker Between Worlds, assassin.

Somewhere farther on the past. Blood on Ofaniel's feathers. Fintan's golden wings broken. The Tiger, fighting so fiercely for his friends. Fighting against a Goddess of Blue Skin. Wights all around them, Burning Blue. Blue and White flames of Her servants, stronger than their Dragons, their bodies all around... few exceptions, like Amarum, snuffing their flames with powerful blows of Ebb and Flow....

Getting up. Fintan, Ofaniel, Righteous Guide. Moon remembers being flanked by two beacons of light, before a Goddess of Darkness. Remembers the Tiger flung from her, near death, the blade of Eternal Night on her hand. Her and her Frozen Eyes... and the friend, so hurt, nearly dead... the White Tiger, that had fought so...

Friend, in the most dire of circumstances, even against their own allies... even against Fintan himself. One who held to their side, even against all odds...

Alexander: The Emerald Winds nearly knocked the Prince over. He looked at Elizabeth... and remembered. Remembered being an Emperor, with him as their assassin. Their Lunars, so strange, always... him, an Assassin and Gatekeeper... Ofaniel, a Poet and Warrior. Always duplicious. Was that something of the Lunars of old? He looked... and could still remember the bells. The bells of Starmetal, wrapped around him. Part Fate, part Mutable chaos, the Maiden's melodies together with his chaotic purring. He could still hear the Bells as he looked at his sister. But she had no Bells. No Claws. And he was no emperor, just a little winged - well now UNwinged - boy who fell to the ground on the weight of memories...

"... Liz?"

Elizabeth Holysword: Elizabeth blinks... and catches her breath. "What...? What did you just do?" she asks, her voice echoing shades of annoyance, anger, surprise and... fear?

Ryshassa: Ryshassa meanwhile is completely oblivious but for the fact that Leonas has just put on glasses and complimented her, which elicits a demure and quite apparent blush, and a pang of longing for another man with glasses who is nowhere close to her now.

It occurs to her that the others are blinking in surprise and confusion, and she can only tilt her head, even more lost than them. "What happened, Leonas? Did it work?"

Elizabeth Holysword: Eventually, it is annoyance and anger that win Elizabeth's attention. Certainly, the heiress has enough secrets that she didn't want anyone mucking about in her head without warning. She steps up to Leonas and grabs him. "What was that? "

Narrator: More details rush in....

Bells of Starmetal and Black Jade, singing strange melodies, he had.
The Cape woven out of Nyx's blood, which allowed him to meld to shadows, he had.
The cape whose stars could shift and shine his destiy, or an enemy's misfortune, he had.
The gauntlets made of dreams, he had. Always shifting. Always laughing.
And their laugher was such a terrible thing.
A companion to Silent Dream...

His mate... she was so beautiful.
Like him, she was the night. Her hair green.
Clad in Nyx's whispers. She was like a Spider... and Gumela had spun her web of gems.

Leonas Du Mistlav: "No... this is beyond me." He shakes his head, turning around... "We will need someone better with essence flows, someone lik.... hey!" And then the Princess got ahold of him. She was much, much stronger than she looked! "Wha... I just connected essence in the room! I said you would feel a tingling or two..."

Seventh Moon: That ain't me!

A growl rumbled deeply in Moon's throat. Silvery Essence stirred around him, but pale. So pale and watery, like the moonlight rippling in a pool in an alley way. Still weak, still worn from the fight. The silver motes snapped irritably at the emerald winds, twisting them and shaking them, but not able to stop them.

That ain't me and that ain't them!

His head turned, drawn inexorably towards Elizbeth.

That ain't a man and it ain't no fuckin' cat! That ain't!

And again, his head turned steady towards Alexander, teeth gritting as his lips pulled back.

And that ain't him neither! He ain't a fuckin' emperor'a nothin' yet!

He could almost hear the hawks call. Almost hear the flute. Calling, demanding attention. Demanding a place inside him.

Ya dead and thats all there is to it, ya fuckin' bastard! Ya dead and I'm me! I'm gonna STAY and ya gonna-

"Stay fuckin' dead!!" he snapped at the empty air in front of him, drubbing the table top with his fist hard enough to smash through the heavy wood.

Alexander: No bells. No Nyx. There was no Nyx here. No Tiger...

What was... all that? The scary Lady In Blue. That blade... that blade looked to be... ... as powerful as Ainerach...

He got up, slowly, a little dizzy, letting his wings out, needing to feel them again. And looking at the Dog... why was Moon saying that? Their memories, their life... it was so important. So grand. The Legacy they had to Uphold... all he felt when he touched Ainerach... when he dreamed... when he looked at them all... "Moon... they are dead. They are all dead... but they are us. We must honor them..."

Ryshassa: No... it is still going on. But Ryshassa feels nothing of the strange reactions triggered in the others. And she has no idea how to react.

Crash! Moon smashes through the table and Ryshassa jumps in surprise, her body tense. "Leonas, you connected them together? They must have seen something we have not..." She thinks of the strands of fate Alexsei had spoken of, connecting several people of the Circle together, connecting them to their counterparts in the First Age...

Leonas Du Mistlav: "It would have that effect..." He says, his hands trying to encircle Elizabeth's.... "... fascinating. Are you experience your shared past?"

Elizabeth Holysword: Elizabeth's attention snaps to Moon and his outburst, vaguely registering Leonas' confusion. "Dead?" she shakes Leonas off. "Stay away! Stay out of my head!"

Seventh Moon: Moon blinked at the sound of Alex's voice, shaking his head like a man waking from a dream. Which was about what he was. He looked surprised for a moment at the hole he had broken into the table, but didn't give it a second thought as the prince went on.

"Like fuckin' hell we must!" he rounded on Alex, rising up from his chair and thrusting a finger out towards the prince. "You fuckin' honor 'um man. I don't need the fuckers pokin' 'round in my head!"

Ryshassa: "Elizabeth," Ryshassa says carefully, not wanting her to be angered further, "I do not think that he knew this would occur. He was trying to help Fiona, this is a... side effect. Which I doubt he will want to try again..."

Turning to Leonas again, she asks, "If you cannot help Fiona, perhaps you know one who can?"

Alexander: It rushes through Elizabeth's mind...

Rushing through the spires of Whiteshield, what was before, a white lighting.
The blood on her hands. The blood of yozis. So tasty.
His mate. Holding his mate to her. Making love. Her gem-web around him...
Facing a multitude of Dragon-Blooded.
Assassinating a great Solar. Facing the deliberative.
Standing before the lady of blue skin. That black blade on her hand... her frozen eyes on his fur.

Him... her... no... him..

On reality, Alexander looked at Moon, his eyes burning. "Yes you do! They have our answers! Our power! We are walking in their footsteps... those are their enemies, their battles! You have to learn, to unlock their power! Or do you wish to go around blind?!?" He turns around quickly, touching his sister's arms... "Liz... it's alright... give in... feel it... their grandeur..." He says, paused, but quickly, as if trying to get to her before Moon throws denial on her as well...

Leonas Du Mistlav: The Emerald Winds return to his hand, and he hopes, all will stop. He barely hears Ryshassa... all that is around him is so... "... fascinating! So, in their minds are the demon-kings of yore, the great anathema of sun and moon... that must be... quite a perspective in life..."

He scratches his chin, watching... wondering. "There is someone here in Spire, yes, Ryshassa..."

Elizabeth Holysword: Elizabeth glares at Alex in anger, and almost shives him away too. "Follow in their footsteps? Why Alex!? The First Age didn't turn out too well, last I checked!"

Seventh Moon: "Fuck that!" he growled, spitting at the ground and savagely thumping a fist against his chest. "I lost everyone! Everyone! I bled on the fuckin' street and spat in the eye'a the people that put me there! And this is what I gotta show for it!" Light flared weakly around Moon, the hounds great eyes barely able to manifest above him. The display was flickering and weak, fading away moments later, but Moon was glowing bright enough for it. "This is my power! MINE! I fuckin' earned it! We all earned it, one fuckin' way or another! They didn't do shit ta give it to us! Cost me every fuckin' thing I gave a damn about! Don't you ever try ta tell me it belongs to someone else!"

Ryshassa: Ryshassa shakes her head as Leonas talks, feeling... out of place? "It is fascinating surely, but not an extraordinary thing with this Circle, I believe... according to my husband, they are very, very strongly connected. Or some of them are. And we are still Anathema, Leonas, if you would believe the Realm..."

Not so much fascinated herself than worried over the tension, Ryshassa keeps talking, latching onto the others' exchange. "I know nothing of what you have seen, I admit. And I can certainly say that becoming acquainted with one's past lives can be an advantage. Though it is indirect, the knowedge from my Caduceus has aided me in developing my healing abilities to this extent... but... I still think it ought to be a choice, Alexander, to accept the influence of one's past incarnation or not..."

"Unfortunately," she adds, frowning slightly, "I do not know if any of you have much of a choice. But some people would be angry to feel out of control of themselves, I think that is understandable." Not that she expected her sympathy would calm Moon down in the slightest. But still, she had to say it.

Alexander: ... and fire came from both sides!

"It turned up badly, but there was love, Liz... it was grand... they were so... powerful, and happy, an...." And then Moon spoke, cutting him. And he listened to his words, he watched his light... and his finger was coming towards him as fast as Moon's had towards himself.... "Look here, it is ours', bu..."

And then they heard it.
And then the clinic shook to its very foundations.
The roaring of the flaming dragon.
The heat washing in.
The shock, sending almost all of them to the ground, breaking the glass on the windows.

A part of the building had just been blown to little bits.

Narrator: Moon hears... the sound of birds. Birds cawing. Right before the explosion, he had heard them. Near the storage room, where both Days and Iselsis were interrogating the Priest... he did not take more notice of it due to the memories... but now, he hears the death-cries of birds... and the explosion, it was on the storage room... and it was Iselsis. Her power, her signature, and mixed with the scream of birds, her own....

Ryshassa: "Nooo--!" The entire exchange is, for the moment, wiped from Ryshassa's mind as she cries out in shock at the explosion. Here is a situation much more pressing and one she can both comprehend and participate in -- even though she would rather not, she would rather that no one be hurt from the explosion. And even if no one were hurt, that entire part of the building, the lovely flowers cultivated to care for the patients... she shudders at the thought of such beauty rent to cinders...

But first, she must see for herself whether there are any wounded! Leaving the others to react in their own way, Ryshassa is already getting to her feet and moving forward, half stumbling in her haste at first, not really knowing exactly where she is going but following the general sound, the sound and heat of the destruction...

Elizabeth Holysword: Elizabeth is... Relieved. Relieved for something to take attention away from the memories... She was not so against the knowledge provided by them as she was concerned about what the others might learn from them or through their connection to her.

She squints against the heat, but makes no further movement to protect herself from it. "I'm guessing this is not normal?"

Seventh Moon: Any more angry retorts stop the moment the building shakes to it's foundations. Moon rocks, keeping balance on his feet while the world sways bellow him like a ship tossed on the ocean. The first dawning boom is absolutely deafening to his sharp ears and the Lunar yelps in pain, slapping his hands over the sides of his head to ward it away. There is blood on his palms when his hands come away and a piercing whine in his ear like someone whistling sharply beside him.

"The fuck was that? Is everyone a...?" he starts, looking around at the others, then cuts himself off as droning whistle fades a little... and is replaced by the screeching cries of dying birds. He'd already been hearing them, but thought the strange buzzing sound has been an echo on Elizbeth's voice. But there was more to it than just that. There was a scent, a sense, of fire and ire and demonic-wind.

Red!

"Red's in trouble!" he shouted, already pushing past the royals to run to where the Terrestrial and the Snow Monkey had vanished to.

Ryshassa: "Red?" Ryshassa sees Moon dash past her, obviously knowing the way much better than her. Red... he could not mean Kanti, the Fire Aspect is still in the room, though unresponsive, apparently shrinking at the strong displays of emotion. She would have to talk to Kanti later -- but now is not the time!

"You mean Iselsis?" The healer cannot quite catch up to Moon, but runs as fast as her legs will take her, following his back, following his unerring sense. Whether it was Iselsis or not would not matter in the end, she would save whoever might be hurt --

-- she would not let anyone die!

Alexander: "Not in the least... something... something must have happened with..."

"Iselsis! " He cries out, rushing after Moon, unable to keep pace with the Lunar....

As they rush out of the room, towards the noise, towards the flame... towards the Birds.

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