Natural Selection [Ignotus Everto]

[Nadea]

Timestamp// 5th Fall, Year 512 It is common for the strongest to survive and weak to perish. Based on biological traits, resources, environment and luck we manage to survive on this god forsaken planet. Some survive with power, others use strength, fools fall in love, prophets call upon gods and the weak die trying. This is scientific and factual. Now young Nadea at fifteen, was neither powerful nor strong. She did not believe in love and rather pray to an idol, she ignored them instead. No rather, Nadea was inconspicuous and adaptable. A particularly plain girl of average size and height. She had the ability to blend into the background and remain unseen but also as a canvas could put on a different visade and play the part convincingly. Here at the Kelp Bar, Nadea played the role of a mute barmaid.It was a very easy role to play, afterall Nadea had no lines to memorize. The setting was undesirable but like a diamond in the rough, contained many untold treasure. In other words, poor unsuspecting people to prey on. On a night like this, the Kelp Bar was active.Fall had just begun and many would come in after hard day's work to drink their sorrows away. Nadea found it an endless cycle really, alcohol that is. You would use precious Mizas to drink into stupor then wake up to become melhancholic again, only to return here to begin the cycle. Not that Nadea could complain she got money to extort the fools who played along in the scam. She watched from behind the bar as men and women gathered in their own little pods. Rabble of conversation,laughter, screeching of stools, and clinking glasses filled the air. Sometimes said instruments would be accompanied by song. It was a rather lively atmosphere, which gave Nadea many to choose from for a "playmate". However on the fifth day of fall she had yet to find one suitable for her.Perhaps she calculated wrong maybe the University had more variety of suitors to participate in her game.

[Ignotus Everto]

While it was true that the strong would dominate the weak, that did not mean they were easily noticeable. At 5'2, slight, with balding brown hair, Ignotus Everto didn't look like the strong at all. His spindly little hands couldn't lift boulders or crack skulls. They could, however, give life, spit fire, and warp minds. Some would say those gifts were greater than that of brute muscle. Ignotus would agree with them. He too went to the Kelp Bar on occasion, for very different reasons: Drunks were the easiest to practice his craft on.

He was small and unassuming, but his green eyes surveyed the crowded bar with all the calm confidence of an apex predator, or a lumbering hulk of a man. Tonight, he was hunting for more than magic practice. He was hunting for a new host. There were quite a few factors involved; physical strength tended to vanish fairly quickly, along with muscle mass, so he preferred thinner subjects. They looked less deformed. The sweeter looking ones were also preferable; you just don't get much trust if you look like you recently murdered someone.

If he wanted to be honest with himself, Ignotus was in a very... Playful mood tonight, and as such immediately set his sights on the weakest looking soul in the bar; a little mute maid. With a gentle beckon and a grandfatherly smile, he called over to the girl, "Sweetheart, a drink please." Should she walk up to him, he'd start immediately, "Now, this might sound a little sudden, but..." a thin finger rubbed his chin, "I'm an artist of sorts, see, and I have just been looking for ages for a proper portrait model."

This was where the real art began. Adding a faint fog of Djed to his words, he softly stroked Nadea's ego, "And you are simply perfect. I don't say that to just anyone, either. I've a very selective eye." Why shouldn't she feel flattered? A cloak of credibility he draped over his black cotton one as he continued, "Being a barmaid can't pay very well. Now, I can't say I'm very famous, but I'm lucky enough to be well off enough to be able to offer a silver miza a bell if you were willing to simply sit on a stool and smile." A gentle tug at her lust for gold here. Everyone had it, no matter how generous they may seem on the surface. That wasn't to say it was greed. More... The desire for resources. In this case, money.

"You can spare some time to earn a little extra coin, can't you? Of course you can..." All that was left now was to see where she stood at the moment. It wouldn't do to blindly barrel forward after all, now would it?

[Nadea]

Nadea saw him, he was perfect. Like her he was a low-key character.She had seen him before on occasion, he would come in and go as he pleased. Although small, she found his eyes intelligent a rare aspect among humans, especially drunk ones. His eyes scanned the bar slowly. What was he doing? Sizing up the competition? 'How interesting' she thought to herself as she cleaned a glass mindlessly. His eyes fell upon hers and he beckoned her over. His smile was jovial and warm, he was probably some dearie's grandpa or daddy. It was time to make an entrance then. She approached him with her chin tucked in slightly.Arms behind her back in an unassuming position. Although she kept eye contact with the man, they would flit around to assume a docile disposition. When you had no words to speak you had to give it all in body language. He asked for a drink and called her sweetheart, he was definitely a family man. Eyes trained on her shoes she nodded shyly and was about to flit off to get him a very special drink when he had to bother her again. Ugh what did he want,a blanket and long nap too maybe? No instead he wanted a "proper portrait model". Oh how fancy...he used consonances, he was positively sweet. She wondered how sweet he'd be when she was wrenching the life from him. He called her perfect,she thought it strange Nadea was so plain. Well beauty was in the eye of the beholder and she had no room to judge.That and she couldn't object now, it would blow her cover.His eye certainly was selective though, maybe farsighted anyways. Nonetheless she played into his compliments by tucking a blonde strand behind her ear. This usually suggested interest, despite Nadea's lack thereof. She just wanted him dead for her own interest and gain. He then spoke of payment.Now she was interested. Ah the poor dear was letting her kill two birds with one stone. Not only would she get money from his own hand and dead corpse but he would lead them to an place far off from the bar, private and alone. So she could just leave his body there as though he died alone. Her interest was genuine this time, her eyes meeting his for a moment. If this old man was observational, he maybe could have caught the cold glint in Nadea's eye but it was gone faster than a wink. She doubted it though and presumed her mute barmaid role. After nodding ever so shyly like some little lamb and fixing her silver hair pin, she flitted off to get the man his very special drink. One drafted up just for him, the poor sucker. Nadea pulled a tin tankard that she kept aside for her "playmate".What looked like ash sat at the bottom of the mug.This ash was infact ground up Mizaharan Hellebore, a nasty little plant that was a violent narcotic.Especially in incredibly high doses...like now for instance.If used correctly it would incur salivation, nausea, vomiting, weak heartbeat, vertigo, ringing ears, disturbed vision and then a eventually coronary arrest that would cause death due to overdose.It took a pretty miza to purchase it, and hard work to find a master poisoner to brew it.Hellebore, however would affect almost ponderously. The best part about the powder was that it was an odorless and tasteless solute, not that it would matter.Beer was so bitter it would hide taste anyways.Nonetheless is was one of the perks of Hellebore, and would prove successful. After ingesting the drug, they would slowly start to feel lightheaded and nauseas, common side effects of alcohol. Eventually the user would feel woozy and their ears would ring.At this time it would be assumed that they are intoxicated.Which was perfect setting for a bar afterall. The user would then head home . However all of her victims would end up dying before they returned. In this case, the man would vomit miserably all the contents of his stomach then have a heart attack and die.It was rather amusing really Nadea always took great delight in watching the final scenes of death. Before Nadea could get caught up in daydreams of coronary arrest she filled the man's drink with ale. The solute dissolved quickly into the drink as though it was never there. Then Nadea walked over to the man, hand shaking lightly before placing the drink in front of him. She gave him a genuine smile, although it could be mistaken with quiet sweetness it was actually a smile lined with morbid interest.Now all Nadea had to do was watch and wait. ((OOC: -15Gm for Mizaharian Hellbore))

[Ignotus Everto]

Ignotus grinned. This was even easier than he had imagined! When she trotted off to get his drink, his mood was dampened slightly, but not much. Having fluid in your stomach wasn't that bad. It just never went anywhere. The thought that the drink might be spiked didn't even cross his mind; the cold glint in Nadea's eye completely escaped his notice, passing too quickly for his meager observational skills to pick up. Being dead already didn't hurt to lower one's fears of being poisoned as well. Bowels that were frozen, lungs that didn't suck in air, no blood to speak of, and a still heart. How would any toxin even reach somewhere vital?

Downing the drink she brought in a single long gulp, he motioned for her to come with him. "Call me impulsive, but I just have to take a better look at you." Nadea's sense of daring flowed with the soft curve of Ignotus' outstretched fingers, curling back towards his palm like a dying spider. What was the hurt in taking a short break? It might even net a few more mizas. "It won't take more than a few chimes; I'm sure no one will mind."

Should she agree, he'd lead her out the Kelp Bar and through the damp cobblestone roads, past the vague border where solid masonry houses melted into ramshackle wood, to one of the less affluent, and certainly more deserted parts of the city. Every once in a while he looked back at her, both to make sure she was still following, and to push back suspicion with a few ticks of eye contact. They had been walking for a little over a bell now, and Ignotus wasn't showing even the slightest sign of weakness, or even intoxication. No confusion, no impaired motor skills, nothing. The fatal substance was sitting still in a decomposing stomach, surrounded by dead tissue that fed and were fed by nothing. The Nuit didn't even know there had been anything in the drink.

Casting his gaze over the rows of houses, he scoped out one of the nicer looking, but abandoned ones, and smiled at her. "Here we are!" With a small bow, he'd step forward and open the door with a soft creak. "Please, come in!"
He was still constantly lacing his voice with a faint sense of satisfied relaxation that would suffuse Nadea's being. That wasn't to say he could control her emotions; if she decided to crush the feeling, doing so would be child's play. Still, it was better to be safe than to be sorry. Once inside, the wizard would step in after her and shut the door. Soon, the real fun would start.

[Nadea]

He finished his drink in one sound gulp, almost as though he was getting it over and done with. However Nadea didn't dwell on the action much she just kept her eyes glued on him in excitement. She wondered if he'd get light headed first or maybe his vision would blur instead.No matter he asked her to come with him anyways. She nodded obligingly following after him. She chose to keep a few paces behind him, so she could get better view of the side effects. However none seemed apparent. This dumb founded her, how could it be possible? She gave him more than enough Hellebore.He should have been stumbling foolishly already. However the man walked as though he had no care in the world, he would even steal glances at her, ever so often to be sure she hadn't fallen too far behind. It secretly infuriated her that he wasn't dead already. There was no possibility that he was unaffected. None that she could think of anyways. She was so hung up on the problem, she payed no heed to the fact that he was leading her to a more secluded part of town. Without a word of protest she crossed the threshold of the abode he showed her. Nadea decided affirmatively that it would be best to just take care of him herself. She looked around the room and saw no sign of weapons to use. She'd have to come up with something herself then, preferably small and simple so the fool wouldn't see it coming. She watched him as he shut the door and then drew her hair from her pin.Such body language would probably determine a side of vanity but that wasn't necessarily the case.She also grew rather tired of this act.It didn't matter if he'd discovered her true identity anyways, after all dead men tell no tales.

[Ignotus Everto]

As darkness began to swallow the room, Ignotus pressed the palms of his hands together. Slowly he spread them apart again, a glowing green gel spreading out between them and illuminating his chest and face in a sickly color. A crooked grin stretched across Ignotus' face, "You really aren't that bright, are you?" he jeered, jaundice colored teeth glinting in the meager light. Gone was the coddling old air. Gone was the soft spoken tune of his voice. Gone was the friendly twinkle in his eyes. In their place, was an anticipation like that of a child being given cotton candy. Except this was a madman being given a girl to toy with.

A short, excited giggle escaped him, "Tell me, my dear..." coming from the wizard's mouth, the nickname seemed drained of its affectionate connotations, "Have you ever been burned before?" At 'burned', the rope of Res broke into four sections the size of a fist that collapsed in on themselves, turning into undulating orbs that drifted through the air to hover above his shoulders and on either side of his waist. This was going to be a fun night.

[Nadea]

My, he sure was an ugly brute.Especially with his face lit up in the horrendous green light, made him look sick.Now she did not expect him to possess Djed, but she knew all people had a different side to them. After all she did too, now was probably the best time to act if she wanted to survive. Her heart pace quickened although her face showed no fear or anxiety. "No I suppose it was poorly calculated...for me to follow you to a deserted part of town...Although this is rather cliche' with the abandoned building and what not..." she said with dry inflection. Her head tilted in a observational fashion as she watched the green slimes transmute and form as it danced around the man cryptically. "I wonder what I should do now...cry? Beg for mercy? " she said her voice quickly altering into a sweet tone that sounded...almost terrified. Her eyelashes batted as well to add effect. "And of course I've been burned before, that's a rather stupid question don't you think?" she asked and she tilted her chin in defiant action. "But before you decide to torture me or whatever you do for your own entertainment..." Her eyes met his cold and unwavering. "May I at least ask....what are you exactly? Because it seems that you are...unaffected. And I'm rather curious to why you don't respond to a high dose of Mizahar Hellebore" she admitted her eyes now casted distractedly at the silver pin in hand.

[Ignotus Everto]

Ignotus smirked at her relaxed tone. This was going to be a fun night. She was unafraid now. Fortunately, that could be changed. He lifted his arms up like a musical conductor, even going so far as to tap an imaginary baton on a music stand that didn't exist. With a flowly flick of his wrist, a bolt slightly smaller than an egg launched from the orb over his left shoulder, bursting into flame when it reached a couple arms' lengths away from him and splashing at her feet. Just a little singe on the ankles. A taster. "You're brave. I like that." he murmured menacingly. Insidious tendrils of fear carried on his voice, wormed their way in through her ears, that sick, sinking feeling in one's stomach.

"Apologies I couldn't be a little more original. This isn't Sunberth, after all..."
At her inquiry about his identity, he simply said, "I suppose you could call me dead." another bolt, this time from the right shoulder, and aimed at her lower calf. Females always seemed to get so worked up when their clothes got burnt. He couldn't see why for the life of him. Well, perhaps he could. That would be why he was trying to set her dress alight, after all. "Sadly, I'm in the need of a new body at the moment... And you are simply perfect." the echo of the doddery old man's compliment seemed to only make his statement even worse. Ignotus laughed and flicked yet another fire bolt at her collar, the ball over his left shoulder shrinking to the size of a robin's egg.

The chilling noise of the Nuit's mirth sent a disgustingly vivid image splattering in front of Nadea's vision: Her own body, bare and helpless, skin crisping and slowly peeling off, with a shriveled old corpse bearing over her, pressing against her... Just as quickly as it came though, it whipped away like windblown leaves.
That was her future. To be a receptacle for Ignotus. The Hypnotist didn't see the pin in her hand. He was too focused on her face. He wanted to see tears come to it. He wanted to see terror wrinkle it. And he would not be satisfied until he did.

[Nadea]

Nadea mirrored his own smirk with hers. It was funny how he tried to make the atmosphere more demented by imitating a conductor. Yes I suppose this would be like a symphony, and the situation would be worth composing about too. The lapping flames before her ankles were particularly hot.She had to be careful. She wasn't inhuman, Nadea did jump slightly at the small cinders before her. "You say brave, I say bored...po-tay-to...po-ta-to.." She mocked before grinning widely at him.However fear did settle in her heart, which was natural for a human to feel. The fight or flight instinct would have set in by now if she didn't have better control of herself. Instead Nadea tried her best to keep it cool, although she laughed lightly about his comment of Sunberth. "But you seem rather experienced in this...like I am. I would have taken them somewhere more public if it were my victim. As I always say, you're best hid in plain view..." When he shot flame at the corner of her skirt and her dress began to enflame, she felt the heat.It seemed hotter than normal flame, Nadea was concerned. "Come now, do you know hard it is to find a pair of clothes these days...?" She shook her leg trying to soothe the fire. "So you're dead..but here you stand. I hate when old men talk in riddles... " she grumbled as the fire burnt her leg. Her inflection tinged high at intimate feel of heat."You are in need of a new body...?" she asked herself more than him. She slowly pieced together such information. Way back in time she remembered a bedtime story about people who could switch bodies . They were dead but their souls weren't. She couldn't remember the name of them at the moment though...it was on the tip of her tongue.However she was distracted by the feeling of absurd pain in her shoulder. Nadea screamed in surprise and pat at the stinging pain on her collar with unoccupied hand. "Ooooh...that one kinda tickled " she lied trying to preserve her pride.The burn was excrutiating and took all of Nadea's will power not to fall to the ground in pain.Her hand pressed to the small burn,determinedly. For that she wasn't going to go easy on him.Although intrigued how she was going to get out of this if he was dead already. Nadea however stored that small information of his need for a new vessel aside and stalked a little closer. However she did not get far when she saw flash of her burnt tarnished body. Was her mind playing tricks on her? It must be a illusion due to the life or death situation. She breathed slowly trying to regain herself, she had to act fast.Without thought she leapt forward and jumping on him. Her weight bared down on them and she sunk her pin satisfyingly into the top of his hand. It didn't go in too deep that it would sink through the other side but it did break skin. It stood up by itself without help and for a moment glistened in fleeting light. So that must of count for something. Nadea marveled at the sick dense sound it made embedding into the wizard's hand. She felt surprisingly better, revenge was certainly sweet. He seemed shocked at least and before he could react she pulled the pin from his hand roughly. She hoped that gave him pain as well, a strange white liquid spurted slightly. It gave them both twin splotches on their cheek. How fascinating... "Tell me...have you ever been maimed before?" she asked mocking his question earlier. Which was rather dumb of her, she should of ran when she got the chance.

[Ignotus Everto]

"You're best hid in plain view..."

"Better hid where no one can save you." Ignotus retorted with a smirk as the flames lapped up the cloth of the dress.

"Come now, do you know hard it is to find a pair of clothes these days...?"
"Don't worry, you won't need them. Besides, I need to take a good look at you..." the Nuit said, leering at her. The sex instinct was nonexistent in his kind, but he found faking it to cause such amusing reactions. He licked his lips, his jet black tongue visible for a couple ticks.

"So you're dead... but here you stand. I hate when old men talk in riddles..." then the squeak. The delightful, orgasmic squeak,
"You are in need of a new body...?"

Ignotus threw his head back and laughed, "Then allow me to be clearer; You're going to suffer before the end." Her futile attempts to protect pride only made him laugh harder, the sound of her scream sending waves of pleasure coursing through the Hypnotist. Star bursts of shame radiated out from his form, seeping under Nadea's skin and infecting her mind.

Fortunately for the girl, his merriment also meant he wasn't looking at her. Without warning, Ignotus felt something very heavy slam into him, knocking him to the floor. Res rained down on them, splattering on the floor and slowly starting to dissipate before Ignotus focused his attentions on the fluid again. That gave Nadea all the time she needed to drive the hair pin into his hand. A high pitched shriek tore from Ignotus' throat, his face turning livid with rage. He lunged for her shirt, tearing at fabric and hurling her onto her back. The Nuit leaped onto her, clammy fingers seeking out her throat. "You little whore!" he snarled, "Your death will be slow ..."

The puddle of Res flowed along the floor as if of its own accord, gathering in a small lake underneath them. With a bark of "Vaknui!" the borders of the pond burst into crackling orange flame, bathing them both in a sickly yellow light. "Go on... Beg. SQUEAL! Nobody's looking for you. Nobody likes you. You're going to die here, and the inferno will be your undertaker." Slowly, gradually, the flames began licking their way across the surface of the green gel, their hungry heat gathering intensity, the greedy tongues gaining proximity. The grin had come back to Ignotus' face as he reached into his cloak.

The sound of metal scraping against leather sounded from it, and he drew an old, rusty dagger from its pitch dark depths. He laid the dulling blade against her chest, chuckling murderously. "Not yet, though. First, you'll learn what maiming really is!" Again, another image. The dagger was carving crimson canyons that cried crooked tears of blood. She was being invaded. Defiled. The smell of smoke filled her nostrils; not part of the flash. A blink of an eye after the vision started, she was back in the abandoned house again, the cold steel of the dagger, as cold as the hand around her neck pressing against her flesh. Hard knees jabbed into her thighs to force them open. He may not have the slightest interest in the pleasures of the flesh, but if a little push would make her panic... Well, it was effort well spent.