Completed [Isolde's Apartment] Betrayer (Isolde)

[Fubuki Kouri]

Lycoris The Great Bazaar, 20th of Bell, 51st of Summer 513 A.V In one the shadowed and concealed alleys of the Great Bazaar, two curious figures could be seen, speaking hushed words to each other. One figure was in the shape of a little girl with knee-length black hair and sapphire blue eyes wearing a simple white dress and no footwear while the other figure was... a rat that seemed to be made of clay, a Pycon. "Did you got what I ask you?" The little girl spoke with an eerily mature tone, rather jarring for her appearance. "Yep! No problemo, Mistress! But..." The pycon, the famous (or infamous, depending on one's perspective) Street Rat, Pycon information broker extraordinaire of Syliras, didn't find the girl's attitude to be strange at all. Heck, he was a walking clay rat, human attitudes were of no concern for him. "What's in it for me... eh~?" He rubbed his hands together, his curious Pycon mind demanding a reward for his efforts. "Here" The girl flicked her very long black hair and tossed the Pycon a leather pouch filled with gold mizas, five to be exact. Rat swiftly caught it with his jaw and put it beside him "Five gold mizas, I think it should be enough" The girl then crossed her arms and tapped her bare right foot, impatiently waiting for his answer. "Hmmm?" Rat examined the tiny leather pouch and counted the gold "Five, eh? It was a rather easy task so okay! So..." The Rat then quickly scurried to the girl, climbed her body, and nestled on her right shoulder. What the shykes?! So cold! His clay eyes went wide in shock when his feet touched her skin, it was freezing cold! What the heck was she?! She looked human and yet... Ah! Whatever! A client is a client! She kept her end of the bargain so should I! he screamed in his mind to keep himself calm. He then whispered something into the girl's ears, obviously trying to hide the freezing sensation the girl's skin and clothing gave him. "Mhm... I see..." The girl nodded, acknowledging him. Rat immediately got down from her freezing body and rubbed his poor clay feet, warming them. "It's a pleasure, M-mistress!" He was obviously shuddering in cold though. "Pleasure's mine..." The girl spoke non-chalantly as if finding the phenomenon normal, she flicked her hair before twirling elegantly, heading out of the alley. "If I may ask a question, Mistress. How can you be so... cold?" Being a Pycon, Rat couldn't keep his nose out of things that sparked his curiosity, with 'things' meant almost every unusual thing there was. "Curiosity kill the rat..." The blue-eyed girl just answered with that one ominous statement before disappearing into the sea of bodies clamoring the Great Bazaar, leaving Rat alone and bewildered. Thirty chimes later... Bittern District "....." The same black-haired little girl was standing in front of a particular dirty apartment in the Bittern District. Ignoring the strange looks she got from the various bums, hobos, and scum who made this slum of a district their home. Some men also had a hungry look in their eyes as if seeing this young girl as some kind of prey, maybe those men would literally petch everything that moves. None dared to approach her though as her aura seemed to radiate danger and doom. Kouri, in her nigh perfect human appearance - materialization ability so mastered that one could not distinguish her visually from a normal human except through various magical means such as Auristics - approached the apartment's door and focused the soulmist in her hand, she then knocked the door, gaining the attention on whoever lived in there. She knew it was Madame Isolde... she could thank the Street Rat for that. Telling him to go look for a woman with black-tongue and paint smudge on her face was the right thing to do after all, he truly was the information broker of Syliras. Receipt-5 GM for The Street Rat's Service

[Isolde Seibold]

The Nuit was meditating. She did that a lot when she was home. Meditation was one of her favorite pastimes, now. It kept her calm, helped her to relax, and to forget her worries... of which there were many. Sometimes, after focusing her mind, she would be able to return to memories that she usually didn't dare touch, to try to inspect them while it wouldn't hurt too badly. Other times, she would practice a little Reimancy, nothing fancy. Trying to levitate pieces of paper, creating those little twisters to sweep the floor, that sort of thing... and those tasks usually went well enough. Trying to light a candle, though... she could never do it. The simplest task, simply causing a wick to burst into flame. Nothing. Or trying --and failing-- to tease the flames in the hearth into different shapes. It was somewhat distressing to her whenever she was unable to perform even the easiest tasks concerning fire Reimancy. She seemed to have no affinity for fire whatsoever. Her constant failures were as exhausting and disheartening as they had been so long ago, studying under the Burned Man. Fire had come so naturally to him...

There was a knock at the door, and Isolde felt herself drawn from her meditation, mouth turning down, eyes searching her side of the door as if it might decide to speak, announcing who could possibly be knocking, and at this hour. Worry soon set in though it was a blunted thing; her concern struggling to make itself known in a mind that had been purposefully trying to meditate that concern away. Who could that be? She didn't really have anyone who would come over. And especially not at night. Her mind tried to draw up the possibilities, and the only thing she could think was Knights. It was the Knights. Somehow they'd figured out that she had-- had helped Kouri and Rena. Or... or they'd figured out about the poison lesson yesterday with Ninus and Isalie and Ivandra. Or worse, they had spoken to a witness who had seen her and Hadyn and Shiress fleeing the scene of a murder/assault at the Spinning Coin, and just now they had decided to pick up the Nuit and escort her to her execution, deportation, or other sort of trail, whichever came. She looked hurriedly around her room, but there was no place to hide besides under the bed, no windows to leap from, and what was the point of all that, anyways? One didn't resist the Knights... not if they knew what was good for them, or only if they were seriously desperate.

Okay. She would just have to... to let them in. The Nuit stood, calling uncertainly out, "C-Coming..." She looked around the room once more. Once it had been covered in cobwebs, and could have used a good scrubbing. Ever since starting her job at Undeniable Interests, though, Isolde had taken to a little home-cleaning. She saw enough dirt, dust, and grime at work, after all, and since she wasn't allowed to tidy up there... well, here would have to do. She couldn't help the lack of furniture or ornamentation, decoration. Isolde wasn't one for company. There was a plain wooden table and a rickety chair pulled up to the hearth, and a chest tucked alongside one wall. There was also a lumpy bed, now neatly-made and completely uncreased, the Nuit not having any need for rest of any sort, and besides. Lying or sitting on the bed made her feel strange. It was too... homey. In a weird sort of way. She preferred the warmth of the fire on her dead flesh, a more welcome reminder of home.

But she was dallying. Whoever was on the other side of the door was going to get impatient, and she didn't want that to happen. The Nuit hesitated a moment before picking her knapsack up off the table and setting it carefully in the chest, out of sight. It would be safer there. Then she took a deep breath, holding it in far longer than would be possible for a person who actually needed to breathe... and then opened the door.

To find not a Knight but a... a child. For a tick Wynry flickered there before her, a little girl with long, dark hair and large eyes, eyes that were that beautiful cornflower blue, the color that indicated that the young girl was at her happiest... shown when she was running through the fields and playing hide-and-seek tag with friends, or helping her mother bake and ice cakes, or learning to whittle little animal figurines with Vaughn instructing her all the while. Those two had been perfect together, the only perfection that Isolde had witnessed firsthand in their little life in Mithryn, the only utter perfection in the entire world for all she knew--

And then a chill sort of feeling crept into the Nuit, and she recognized it immediately, and Wynry was gone. And was it-- was that Kouri? The Nuit was so surprised to see the girl that she didn't sense the aura of suspicion and anger clinging to her, so surprised at having seen Wynry standing there for a moment; now the Nuit's chest had gone tight, because seeing Wynry was not okay, even if there was no way that she could ever hurt Kouri...

But what was she doing, just standing there? She should be speaking. "Kouri? T-That is you, isn't it--?" It was strange she had to ask, but the girl... her hair was black instead of white, the eyes startlingly blue instead of crimson red. And suddenly a sense of odd... fear came to the Nuit, and she took a step back on reflex. "Kouri, what a-are you doing h-here? Wh-Where's Rena? Is she... she's okay, isn't she?"

OOCDid Kouri have a makeover...? XD Is that the surprise! What happened? And who --or what-- is 'Lycoris'? So many questions!

[Fubuki Kouri]

OOCRead the appearance tab on my CS for more info! The Street Rat did lived up to his reputations, his information was spot on. Kouri made a mental note, she would hire him for various services in the future. Madame Isolde could actually recognize her? Even through all this disguise? Kouri wondered if the Nuit had some kind of detection magic, but her unsure voice was brimming with assumptions. Kouri decided to just play dumb, she was 'Lycoris' right now, the name she took when disguising herself as a normal human. How ironic that she used her original Vantha appearance with a fake name. Most beings who could detect the presence of Soulmist just thought of her as a spiritist because... Spiritist emits soulmist while not being a ghost. "Kouri? Oh... I see..." Lyco entered the apartment without excusing herself and closed the door behind her. Lyco noticed the disheveled state of the apartment Isolde lived in but made no comments about it. She was here for a purpose... to know why did exactly Isolde talk about her to a spiritist without her permission? Asking her in her ghost form would freak the Nuit out and she may made up some stories just to save her false life, Kouri needed another way... and using her spiritist persona seemed to be the right choice. "No, I'm not that ghost... I'm looking for her actually. You see, I'm a spiritist" Lyco tilted her head to the side and put her hands to her waist "And I'm looking for the ghost that had a bounty on her head. I heard from rumors that you - yes I'm sure you're the woman with the black paint on her face - had met with the phantom girl? And who's this Rena? Tell me everything. She's dangerous, right? So you need to cooperate with me, I'll share some of the reward with you, you know." Lycoris hoped that her monotone expressionless lie could fool the Nuit. Kouri wanted to see Isolde's reaction. If she truly bore malice against her, surely the Nuit would cooperate...

[Isolde Seibold]

OOCSorry, sorry, didn't realize she wasn't supposed to be recognized! ^^'

"No, I'm not that ghost... I'm looking for her actually. You see, I'm a spiritist. And I'm looking for the ghost that had a bounty on her head. I heard from rumors that you - yes I'm sure you're the woman with the black paint on her face - had met with the phantom girl? And who's this Rena? Tell me everything. She's dangerous, right? So you need to cooperate with me, I'll share some of the reward with you, you know."

The Nuit took a long second look at the girl, stepping back and away, startled, when the child came, uninvited, into the room. Perhaps the Nuit had been wrong... the cold that had seeped momentarily through the air had certainly reminded her of the ghost girl, but that seemed to have faded, or could have been a random draft-- and though the girl's features certainly were reminiscent of Kouri's, well... could this child really be the same girl? She didn't act like Kouri, and she certainly didn't seem to be Kouri, from her words. Perhaps... the Nuit had been mistaken?

And then something that the girl had said dawned on Isolde, and she took another step away, edging so that the door was closer to her, her legs suddenly trembling. "A-- A Sp-Spiritist?" Like Anders. The thought terrified her, chilling her to the bone. Gods, she still didn't know what sort of domain someone like this girl might have over her. What sorts of powers did this child have? Could she effect a Nuit the same way she could affect a ghost? The Nuit kept creeping back, one hand automatically straying to the dagger at her belt... and then she realized what she was doing, and she forced her hand to stay away. This was a child. Not-- Not a threat. She couldn't raise a dagger to some little girl. No. That was wrong. She would not. Even if the girl was a Spiritist. The Nuit crossed her arms, tucking her shaking hands so she would not be tempted to reach for her only measly means of defense once more... trying to keep the panic at bay, and now she wished she had been meditating more deeply before, that would've helped...

"L-Look. I-- I'm s-sorry. I r-really am. I don't know what s-sort of rumors you've h-heard, but I-- I won't deny that I know Kouri..." She purposefully left Rena's name out, trying not to draw the Spiritist's attention to it once more. "B-But I'm not interested in any-- any reward you might be o-offering. I-- I'm truly sorry. N-Now please. L-Leave." She didn't want this Spiritist girl in the room for one tick longer. Just being in proximity to the girl was making Isolde want to run, run, run away, and her hand itched to grab the dagger from her belt. She forced herself to stay where she was, forced her arms to remain crossed, and then wished and wished that the girl would not be too insistent, and would just go.

But really, if the girl wanted to stay, what could the Nuit do? She refused to raise her hand against a child. So what, just let the girl stay? Perhaps Isolde herself could leave... but she would need her knapsack. Suddenly she regretted putting it in the chest. If she intended to leave the girl here, she would be forced to cross the room, cross past the girl to get the knapsack from the chest, and then go past her again. She didn't want to be any closer to the girl than she absolutely had to be. Spiritist, ever since Anders, frightened her almost more than anything else. There was just too much she didn't know about them, about what they were able to do.

[Fubuki Kouri]

OOCIsolde could recognize her if she knew Kouri enough though. She has the same face structure, body build, and voice after all Oh, for the love of Queen Morwen... Lyco was rolling her sapphire eyes, it seemed Isolde was in a perpetual state of fear and nervousness no matter whom she met. What is wrong with her? If Isolde consulted that Ethaefal Spiritist about her then it would not make any sense that this Nuit was afraid of spiritists. Why would she approach a spiritists if she was afraid of them? Lyco shook her head, maybe it was the effect of being a walking corpse. "I wonder, Miss. Why are you so afraid of me? I'm here to help you drive that ghost off our neighborhood, isn't that the right thing?" Lycoris entered the room further and stood beside the burning hearth, her vibrant Vantha-like eyes seemed to shine by the fire. Kouri was definitely confused now, what exactly did she want?! Didn't she want to betray her after the outburst Kouri showed at her apartment some time ago? Didn't she hate her? Then why did she refuse a genuine help to solve her problems? Lycoris' mind was turning for answers, but the true answer lied within the Nuit in front of her. "Ah I see, perhaps you are worried about my safety just because I look like a child? Tsk tsk... you, undead, of all people should know that appearance means nothing..." Lycoris then seemed to unleash a thick powerful soulmist aura from her body and she approached Isolde's dirty bed. She then focused her energy in her fingers on her right hand and lifted the bed with seemingly no effort at all, holding the bed up high with her right hand. "Do you doubt me now, undead?"

[Isolde Seibold]

OOCDAYUM, Kouri got STRONG. @_@

"I wonder, Miss. Why are you so afraid of me? I'm here to help you drive that ghost off our neighborhood, isn't that the right thing?"

It would not be possible for Isolde to explain that she was afraid of the girl simply because she was a Spiritist. Perhaps that was judgmental of the Nuit --and if anyone knew how painful it was to be prematurely judged, it was Isolde herself-- but she couldn't help it. She had no idea what Spiritists could do, other than the fact that they affected the undead, mostly ghosts. It was the mostly that drove the Nuit to terror. What sort of control might one of these djed-wielders have over the Nuit, herself? Could they force her to move on, or manipulate her own djed, or her bond to her body? She didn't know, and that made her feel threatened. Any Spiritist could be a danger to her. More so than normal people.

And this one was apparently refusing to leave.
What now, what now?

Still, something the girl said was bothering the Nuit. What the black-haired girl had said had conjured up the old frustration and sense of failure that Isolde had been overwhelmed with when talking to Anders about Kouri and Rena-- how he'd said that there was no real way to help them. The Nuit was still doubtful; she didn't want to believe his words. No way? No way at all to-- to stop them from being so... malicious and deadly, no way except to get rid of them like common pests instead of children. Gods, they were just kids. Kids that may have killed people --Isolde thought that they might have killed a lot of people-- but there had to be some humanity left in them. There had to be. She had seen it herself. When Rena had stopped Kouri from hurting Isolde. The way the little girl would hug the Nuit. And the dollhouse in their room. All of that was proof, wasn't it?

"I-Is it the right thing?" The Nuit's voice was filled with a quiet desperation as if she was struggling with the question. Her dull blue eyes had settled on the girl's bright blue ones, and she asked, "How can that be the r-right thing? How? K-Kouri's just a k-kid. A-- A st-strong kid, and s-she might have m-made some mistakes..." Okay, a whole lot of big mistakes... "B-But c-can't she be helped? I d-don't understand. Isn't there some way to help her? There must be a way. I-If you were really interested in the w-welfare of this city you would try to help its citizens, not hurt them." There was a short pause, and then the Nuit said hesitantly, "U-Undead or not."

"Ah I see, perhaps you are worried about my safety just because I look like a child? Tsk tsk... you, undead, of all people should know that appearance means nothing... Do you doubt me now, undead?"

The girl lifted the bed. Just-- Just lifted it, above her head, like it was nothing. Soulmist choked through the room, spilling out the door... and the Nuit would swear to the gods that that girl was Kouri. She looked like her, save for the hair and eyes... and Kouri could pick up objects, like those terrible, strange knives that she spun. But. The Nuit had never seen the ghost girl pick up something so large, and without any effort whatsoever. Who was this girl? Was it Kouri? That... strange mist, that was just like Kouri's... but what would be the point in lying to Isolde? What would be the point in trying to trick the Nuit? And she had never seen Kouri take that...

That form.
Holy gods. It was Kouri, after all. Isolde had seen her. She had seen the ghost girl's death, had seen what she looked like when she was alive. She'd been Vantha. In the Jungle. And that tiger had-- but-- but why?

The Nuit's mind raced, and she realized that she had backed up further at the
girl's-- at Kouri's display of strength. What was Kouri after? She was asking about herself, but why? Why would she come here, to the Nuit? It had to do with information. Like... this was some sort of test. Testing the Nuit. For what? Loyalty? Why would Kouri doubt her loyalty? Perhaps because she had sensed the Nuit's doubts about the girl, and about Rena, the last time they had spoken.

It was strange that Isolde was relieved that the girl was Kouri, and not a Spiritist. She had thought that the ghost girl was one of the things that scared her the most... but after meeting Anders, that fear had shifted.

Still, Kouri was high on that very long list of fears. Especially since she could lift beds above her head. Gods, what else could she do? Could she lift people? Fly them up, up, up and then let them fall down, down, down... If Kouri had grown even further in strength, that was bad.

"What sort of p-power is that?" Isolde found herself asking faintly. She didn't know if she wanted Kouri to know that she had recognized her... well, again. The Nuit should have listened to her instincts the moment she had opened the door and seen the girl. And it also explained why the Nuit didn't have any trouble looking at her. Normally, with kids, it was nigh impossible to look at them directly, as if she was staring at the sun. With Kouri and Rena it wasn't like that. Isolde couldn't hurt them. And besides... she had been desensitized to those two the first day she had met them. She'd been possessed by Kouri, after all.

Perhaps it was better that she let Kouri think that Isolde was fooled. It appeared that the girl was intent on sticking to some persona... and Isolde didn't want to upset her by blowing it. And also, well. This 'Spiritist' girl was a little more controlled than Kouri herself. As long as Kouri remained playing her role, Isolde might be safer... especially if Kouri actually did doubt the Nuit's loyalty to the girls.

Maybe Kouri was afraid of Isolde's capacity to do what was right, and she thought that the Nuit might turn on her because of the terrible acts that Kouri performed. The truth was that Isolde dearly wanted to do what was right... but was absolutely horrible at it. And in this case, she had no idea what to do.

OOCHow was it that I managed to forget that Isolde had seen Kouri when she was alive. Jeez... *facepalm*

[Fubuki Kouri]

OOCYea, I was just wondering on when would you remember that. "So... you actually care for them..." Lyco's voice was not so calm anymore, tinge of emotions could be heard as she contemplated Isolde's statement. The Nuit still thought of her as a child and Isolde really was consulting Anders to help her, in the non-violent kind of way. I... might have been too harsh... Lyco had seen on how unstable Isolde acted, but this 'instability' was the opposite of Kouri in a sense. When pushed, Isolde would cower in fear while Kouri would go on a maddened roaring rampage of rage. Kouri put down the bed in its original location and flicked her hair, the very long black strands blowing in a non-existent wind. "Help them... yes, there is a way to help them. I think hmmm~ the she would be happy if..." Lyco approached Isolde and due to her small stature, tilted her head to gaze at Isolde, sapphire blue facing with dull blue. "if all evil people just die..." It would take a simpleton or someone who didn't know Kouri to not notice the same sadistic tone Lycoris had. "What power? I'm just lifting it, ehehe~♪" Lycoris was satisfied with Isolde's answer, the Nuit cared for the girl after all, but it wouldn't hurt to give her a warning. "But you know~ you should perhaps just let me handle her, eh? I'll try to talk to her~" and with that, Lycoris walked to the door, opened it, and waved Isolde a happy goodbye before closing it; leaving the Nuit alone in her apartment. OOCAlright! That was fun! Post your last reply and I'll post it for grading, Isolde. Hope to meet you again in another thread... scratch that, wewill meet again

[Isolde Seibold]

The girl put down the bed, and with the motion she seemed to abandon her humanity. She flicked her head... and the strands of long, black hair swayed gently in an intangible wind. Her next statement was enough to wash away any of what was left of this illusion, the dregs of this strange human facade that Kouri had adopted. "Help them... yes, there is a way to help them. I think hmmm~ the she would be happy if..." Here the Nuit went entirely still, and would it be too much to hope that the girl would offer some way to help, that she had been touched by Isolde's words--?

"If all evil people just die..."

Kouri was closer than she had been, and her bright eyes were staring up into Isolde's, and the young-seeming woman could only just stare back, feeling that sudden flare of hope sputter and die within her. The Nuit felt trapped. Trapped, and in more ways than one. No, she didn't like being quite so... close to the ghost girl, not now and not ever, knowing how very strong she had become. But, there was also this confusion that Isolde had, her frustration with the whole problem. She had no reason to believe that Kouri could change, or that she would be willing to. She had no reason to believe that Rena would turn out any better. But she just couldn't find it within herself to actually give up that belief. Everybody deserved another chance. Everybody did...

Didn't they?

The ghost girl's odd, giggled, sing-songy warning just slid off the Nuit, and Isolde simply stayed where she was until Kouri was out of sight. Once the door was firmly closed, the Nuit stumbled back until she felt herself pressed to the wall. She allowed herself to slide to the floor. Her shoulders were shaking, and it was causing a twinge of pain to run through her left arm... Without much thinking anything, Isolde brought that arm in close to her body, sheltering it, and gripped her left shoulder with her right hand to keep it still.

A while passed, and she continued to shake, the shudders wracking through her. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to do.

She didn't know what to do.

Finally she bowed her head, trying to take steady breaths, and attempted to ease back into meditation once more.

If only she could pretend that Kouri had not said what she had. Gods, she wished the girl had not said that. Gods, it like an echo in her head...

If all evil people just die...

OOCI look forward to our next thread, hee hee!

[Perplexity]

Riddled With Rewards Fubuki Kouri Experience Skill XP Earned Materialization + 1 EXP Soulmist Projection + 2 EXP Lores • Lore Earned • The Information Broker of Syliras: Rat Pycon • Lycoris Laced Lies, Adapting An Alternate Persona • Isolde Seibold: She Does Care Isolde Experience Skill XP Earned Meditation + 2 EXP Socialization + 1 EXP Observation + 1 EXP Philosophy + 1 EXP Rhetoric +1 EXP Lores • Lore Earned • Meditation As A Relaxation Tool • Panic! At the Seibold Residence. • The Difficulties of Fire Reimancy • Moral Conviction: To Help, Not To Harm • State of Confusion: What do I do? Notes : Well done you two! My hat goes off to you both. I always enjoy reading the novels you write Ms. Isolde. As always, Ms. Kouri your character is both an enigma and a delight.