A girl's gotta do what a girls gotta do...

[Anonymous]

Nall preened, brushing nonexistant strands of loose hair back into her ponytail. If Atam or Akso could see her now... they wouldn't be happy to see her with Rennick, of course if they'd been able to see her they wouldn't have had to see it, she wouldn't have found herself near him. If they'd been there she wouldn't have to worry about making sure the couple silver coins she managed to peddle lasted. She couldn't afford to refuse a free meal.
 
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
 
Initially, she was nervous when he appeared, sliding up next to her from thin air. She was scared, considered running since she was sure he'd have some kind of grudge from the last time she saw him. She thought about running, certain enough that no one could catch her if she didn't want to be caught.
 
He didn't seem angry, his tone seemed friendly. "Alone again little one?"
 
It made her a little less nervous. "Just taking a walk."
 
"Talking  now, I see," he laughed. "Laryngytis?"
 
"Huh?"
 
"It's a kind of sickness, it makes you lose your voice."
 
"No... it's a long story." Long story, Mamaspeak for not wanting to talk, period.
 
Rennick didn't understand Mamaspeak. "I've got the time. Let's find a place to sit."
 
That urge to run came back, Nall ignored it. The day was young, running would be better in the dark. Besides, that place to sit happened to be an outdoor table at a little restaurant. Nall's last meal was this time yesterday. It couldn't hurt to get some free food. It was about this time she considered how Atam and Akso would be angry with her and rationalized it with the knowledge that they weren't there and that she'd be a fool to turn down free food. It wouldn't hurt to talk a little bit between mouthfuls...
 
By the third plate she told him the whole story.
 
All the way up to sitting at the restaurant.
 
Ooops.
 
Rennick didn't say much while she talked, just nodded and sipped at a glass of water that he never seemed to finish. He crossed his eyebrows and set the glass aside once she finished. "How terrible."
 
Nall nodded, it was a little hard to talk with a mouthful of bread.
 
"First Akso... vanishes."
 
"That was Atam's fault."
 
Rennick made a low 'hmmm' sound. "I'm sure, and that's why he was 'captured' so shortly afterwards."
 
"What do you mean?" Nall shivered.
 
"How could anyone leave such a darling all alone? Such monsters," Rennick looked angry, he took the glass again, slid it back in front of him.
 
"They aren't monsters!" Nall stood up, planting her plams on the table. "They wouldn't just abandon me! Atam wouldn't and Akso, she's my friend."
 
A little smile crept across Rennick's face, he placed a hand on top of one of Nall's. "I understand. It's so cruel, trying to spare your feelings to indulge their own. You can't have your cake and eat it too."
 
"It's not true."
 
Didn't Atam tell her to keep away while those green chains dragged him away? Hand't Akso been gone for longer than normal? Both Akso and Atam where always going off to whatever they needed to do that she couldn't see. They always came back though.
 
What made this time so different?
 
"No," Nall took a step backwards. "It's not true!"
 
Rennick started to stand up, Nall ran.
 
She wasn't technically running from him. She didn't know what she was running from. She just ran, and cried, saying over and over again, "It's not true, it's not true."
 
She ran until her lungs burned. When she stopped, she swayed a little and wiped her face with the back of her hand. All that running didn't make that strange queasy hurt go away.
 
"Nall."
 
If this was like the fairy tales, then the voice calling her name would have been Akso, with Atam close behind her. They would have seen her running through the streets and known she was upset at being alone, then they would have followed her and now that she stopped they'd be coming to console her and tell her that they were off doing something important. Something important that she wasn't allowed to know about because that's what they always did, the only difference this time being that it took longer than usual and weren't they sorry they made her worry so much. Then Akso would buy candy and she and Nall could eat it all. Atam wouldn't get any. It'd be like normal.
 
This wasn't a fairy tale. It was Rennick. Upset as she was, Nall wasn't about to start running again. She just turned around and ran at him, hugged his waist. Akso and Atam wouldn't like that, but right now she was even willing to have them mad at her if it meant getting rid of that horrid loneliness. She sobbed out the rest of the tears crowding her eyes.
 
Rennick stroked her hair and said something, almost too soft for her to hear. "Don't worry, I'll help you get them back."
 
Nall smiled a little, glad she found some help.

[Anonymous]

Nall ran.

Every night for the last week she'd tear through the streets of Arca, run to the farthest outskirts, the threshold of the city and the trails to the wilderness, stand and stare at the sky. At the clouds.

They'd been clouds for the last seven days, but maybe tonight, the clouds would finally clear.

The night before she began these wild runs to the outskirts of town, the night she met Rennick again, she dreamed of Akso and Atambrean in the stars.

She'd see them when she saw the stars.

But, they weren't there.

Every night she'd walk back to the hotel dissapointed and Rennick, who was always awake when she got in, would sit up at the head of her bed and croon soft little hopes in her ear while she fell asleep. It made her miss Akso and Atam even more.

Rennick was doing something to help her find Akso and Atam, something that involved talking in a strange foreign tongue to a little necklace. So far that didn't seem to do anything. It wasn't any better or worse than her own random searching. Until the dream came true.

It had to. She was starting to like Rennick for selflessly providing her a place to sleep, food, help and comfort when yet another day passed without the stars. Akso and Atam would hate her.

A soft rumble split the clouds and sent a fine spray of rain down.

What if they already hated her? What if, somehow, they could tell that she was around Rennick. What if they were waiting for her to leave him and try finding them on her own. If only she had any idea where they were. No... it wasn't that she was waiting to know where they were to strike off on her own to find them. She was tired of being afraid. Tired of being alone. Usually, after the discovering the sky full of clouds yet again she would frown and make her way slowly back to the hotel. Sad, but hopeful that maybe the next day there would be a clear sky glittering with stars.

The little drops of water began to sting her eyes as she looked up. Surely the entire world wasn't covered in clouds, there had to be a place where the stars were shining. Maybe that was the clue! Maybe Akso and Atam were in the only place where the rain wasn't!

But, where was that? What if she left Arca and the clouds followed? Nall shivered.

Wait. Akso and Atam could fly! They might be in the stars above the clouds. They might be looking through the clouds for her. She just needed to get their attention.

"AKSO-OOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed, jumping and waving her arms. "ATA-AAAAAAM! I'm here! I'm right here! Can you see me? I'm waiting for you! I'm here! Here! Under the clouds! Under the rain! I miss you! Whatever I did, I'm sorry!"

Another rumble from the clouds accompanied the echo of her shout through the alleys the wall created around the city.

"I'm right here," she choked, sniffing loudly and jumping a few more times, scanning the sky for any winged figures large enough to be Akso or Atam.

There was nothing but rain.

Nall sank to her knees, her eyes still up in the clouds. They couldn't stay forever, if she waited the clouds would part and she'd see them again. All she needed was patience.

----

Nall stirred, sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Bed. Someone carried her back to a bed. She sniffed, it smelled familiar enough. The layout seemed familiar, two beds, a big window that looked out on crowded street, a door to a bathroom. The bed closest to the door was hers. Was it? Nall grinned so wide her face hurt. Had the clouds parted? "Atam?" she called eagerly.

Nall wondered how Atam ever convinced Akso to let her spend the night in her room, unless it was just Atam that found her. It didn't matter, if she found one they could both work together and find the other. It'd just take-

Atam didn't have blonde hair and his eyes were purple, not blue. She sighed and sank back down in her covers a bit. Rennick walked to her and sat at his usual spot at the head of her bed.

"You have to tell me," he said in that smooth, almost sing-song voice. "What's so appealing about that little road at the wall. From what I understand you've been out there every night this week."

Nall started to tell him, but frowned a little. He didn't know why she was going out there, he wouldn't understand. "You'll laugh at me," she muttered.

"Try me," he ran a hand through her hair, which was free of its ribbon.

"...I go there to see the sky."

"There hasn't been that much to see out there these past few days."

At least he wasn't laughing. "I'm waiting for something."

"Is this what I'll find so funny?"

"Nope."

"You sure?"

"I'm looking for the stars."

"I never expected you to be a little astrologist."

Nall resisted the urge to ask what an astrologist was, for now. "I had a dream, Akso and Atam were up in the stars."

Rennick tilted his head to the side, his expression looking like someone just a broke a promise to him. "Poor thing, do you see much of the future in your dreams?"

"No..." her chest started to get heavy. "But, I thought since I was looking for them that maybe that was a clue. I thought it was my power, or that they were trying to tell me something with theirs. It didn't hurt to try..." She sniffed and blinked furiously. She wasn't going to cry, just because this didn't work didn't mean it was all over.

"No, it didn't hurt to try," Rennick's voice switched to the voice he always used to console her with, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her toward him. She didn't fight it. "I wish your Akso and Atam could see what they were doing to you now. Even if it were just for one little second."

"Would that make them come for me?"

"If they had any heart."

"What do you mean?"

"If they had any heart they'd come for immediately once they realized that they hurt you. Or maybe, they know they've hurt you and they don't care."

"They do care..."

"Where are they then? If they're looking for you now they can't be putting in a sliver of the effort you are, or you would have found them by now."

"I'm only one little girl..."

"Yes, maybe they are looking. I'll bet it's so difficult for two powerful beings to find one little girl they were assigned to protect."

Nall sniffed again, looked up at Rennick. "You think so?"

"That's my best guess." He smiled, ran a hand under her chin.

"Will it get easier now that you're helping?"

"You bet it will."

Nall grinned. Rennick leaned in so close to her that their noses were brushing up against each other and put his lips around hers.

[Anonymous]

It wouldn't be long now. Nall still clung relentlessly to her little quest to find her guardians, but in no time her reasons would be different. When she found them, if she found them, their reunion wouldn't be sentimental nonesense and tears. No doubt, she'd have some questions for them. It almost made him want to actually start helping her search, just so he could see their reactions.

She had him worried yesterday, suddenly asking him why Akso and Atam hated him so much. It startled him at first. The easy solution would have been to twist this into more of the anti Akso and Atam yarn he was weaving into her. He never trusted the easy solution, he couldn't have her thinking that every other word out of his mouth was something harsh about her former guardians. It was smarter to act as though she had some intelligence - which she had to if she survived so long without her guardians.

'Maybe they thought they would lose you,' he told her. 'Nobody likes to lose someone they care about.'

Her face brightened and he thought he'd have to start from square one on that board all over again. No matter, at least it progressed him a little further in the game that counted. Her face fell soon after and she asked why they left her if they cared about her so much.

'Perhaps that care wasn't genuine, they could have had some ulterior motive for caring about you.'

He could see her trying to deny it in her thoughts, trying to find some excuse for their genuine care to prove him wrong. There was a significant pause as she thought and he studied her face. That was when he changed the subject to a lighter one, one that didn't concern her guardians.

Now she was off again, searching for her guardians. Yesterday she came back at sunset, three hours earlier than she usually did. He could only wonder how early she would come back today. Instead of dealing with usual duties he decided to call on the black wyrm on a whim - and was just now feeling quite fortunate for indulging that whim.

"Atambrean?" He grinned, leaned back in his chair and looked over his shoulder.

"Yes little demon, that's what he calls himself. Friend of yours?" He heard a spark of amusement in the dragon's voice. Doubtless he was thinking of some way to use that knowledge.

"It's a rather one sided relationship, has he asked about a girl called Nall?"

"Never, he barely speaks and when he does its all foolishness."

"Funny, his name is every third word from her lips. I would have hoped he'd at least snore hers every once in a while. Now Deszeld... are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"It may have passed through my thoughts... but, I'm old so you'd best bring it up."

"My little Nall would do anything to find Atambrean, and I'm almost certain Atambrean doesn't talk of the little darling becuase he dreads what might happen if you knew about her."

"I believe I'm finding myself rather fond of your voice Satanachia..."

[Anonymous]

(Ok, I sadly remember very little about Akso at the very end of our last thread...argh. Oh well, I'll just make it up as I go...)

Getting used to being in a man's body hadn't been as hard as she had originally expected. It probably helped that she had never been very lady-like to begin with, but that was beside the point. The point was...

...Akso was quite contentedly living in Seth's body.

Well, as contentedly as she could without Nall and Atam around. Just thinking about the two of them depressed her to no end. So she did what she could.
She didn't think about them.
Coldcoldcold...
Of course, that also had something to do with a little realization she had come to just before leaving them...

She knew why Seth had given her his body.
And it wasn't a nice piece of knowledge.

Anyhow, she was making the best of it. She had bought herself some clothes almost identical to the ones she wore as a woman. Red silk pants and a white leather trenchcoat. It was kinda neat though, cuz she could have the top pretty much open without having to worry about anything showing. She didn't have breasts anymore, so it didn't matter if Seth's slim yet muscular chest showed.
She was pretty much oblivious to whether or not that attracted attention from women.
In her mind, she was still a woman.
She just happened to be in an attractive male body.

Akso was currently soaring over the town on feathered wings. It was finally a clear night. There had been alot of cloud cover the past few evenings, so it was nice to finally fly by the light of the moon without getting blinded by mist every five minutes.
There was also something else...a knawing sensation deep in her gut. As if there was something important she was missing...
Ugh, she hated that feeling...

[Anonymous]

(I remember that Akso went flying up into the air to do something, and that's about it XD )

Clear skies. Even if she finally had a way to find Atam she had to come out tonight. The stars were finally out, she might not have to do that ritual. Rennick seemed a little annoyed at her decision to push the ritual back a couple hours, maybe into tomorrow so she could look one last time. She was sure Rennick was losing his patience with her search efforts, but he was still helping her. It was Rennick that found the one that could find Atam, but only if she went through with this ritual.

Rennick believed that Akso and Atam used her for some purpose and now that they didn't need her they abandoned her. She didn't want to believe it, but she was sure that if Akso and Atam knew how much she'd come to rely on Rennick that they would be angry. Nall shivered, she didn't want them to be angry with her, to hate her.

It probably wasn't a good idea to wear the dress Rennick bought her out tonight, but she was sure she wouldn't be able to get into her regular clothes. The dress, all white with blue ribbons in the sleeves, hem and waist, made her feel like a doll. She never owned something so fancy and frankly never wanted to. It was hard to move around in, harder to blend into the crowds, its layered skirts and capelet too excessive. Still, she wore it because her regular clothes could use a good washing and some mending.

A gust of wind blew her hair around her shoulders, tangling it into the dangling earrings she was given along with the dress. Nall stopped, clawed her hair back over her shoulders, pulled the blue ribbon from it's perch on the side of her head and tied her hair back up in a high ponytail, the night was too windy to wear her hair down. She was greatful for the wind though, it drove away the clouds so she could see the stars.

If her dream was right, that's when she would meet Akso and Atam again.

Nall held her hands, digging her nails into her skin and looked up at the sky. It looked like every starry sky. Nall pouted a little and continued walking toward her usual spot, the end of town. She wasn't sure why she went to that same spot everyday, but felt it was best to trust her instincts. There had to be a reason why she gravitated to that spot the first night she went out looking for Akso and Atam in the stars.

In the stars... What if her dream meant that they were in the stars? Literally in the stars? Flying. How would they see her on the ground? The white dress made her stand out against the darkness of the street... but then so had her white cape. There had to be a way she could get their attention besides waiting for them to notice her.

Her magic? It didn't help her before, but maybe it could help her now. Even its singing should work, both of them knew she sang, maybe they would follow the sound of a singing voice. It couldn't go any worse than the other nights.

Only the other nights weren't starry. This time had to work.

Nall closed her eyes and began to hum, letting her voice slide up and down a simple scale from a lullaby her Mama used to sing. The song always made her think about the people she was away from, maybe this time it would bring one to her. As she began to sing a glowing butterfly slipped out of her forehead and began fluttering off in the night.

At first it flew wildly, zipping around buildings and once tumbling out into the wilderness before it began flying straight up and dashing towards a figure in the air.

[Anonymous]

Nall continued to sing after finishing the lullaby. She started it over, singing it out of order and adding in a few lyrics of her own before she changed the song entirely. The song didn't matter, so long as she had something to sing she could keep using her magic. The longer she could keep it up, the better a chance she had to somehow find Akso and Atam.

They were in the stars. Or she would meet them under the stars. Whatever her dream had meant, the stars were shining above and if she was going to see a sign of them it would be tonight.

It had to be.

Her voice rose as the song descended into a chaotic medley. Maybe if her magic wouldn't work, they would hear her voice if she sang loud enough. They had to. This was the night. She didn't come out here for nothing, not after knowing how she could get to Atam. That ritual hadn't been in her dreams, it was the clear star filled sky. The sky that was overhead. The sky that promised to tell where Akso and Atam were. She would see them tonight. She wanted to see them, something of them, a fleeting vision if anything. Something-

Hands clasped around her shoulders, digging in tightly. The verse she was about to sing coming out as a scream. She thought she heard a voice.

Nall froze for all of one second before looking up into a face that was neither Atam or Akso. It was a man with a dark face, with red hair that rose in spikes. She didn't like that face. Or the paler face of the white haired man standing just behind the redhead. She needed to get away from them, fast, they were distracting her from singing. Nall twisted in the redhead's grasp and launched herself backwards.

His hands and the capelet slid off her shoulders. The redhead let go and kicked her back, forcing her back up the other way. It almost knocked the air from her her lungs and almost knocked her down.
Once her feet were flat on the ground she tore off running, skirts twisted in her hands so they wouldn't tangle around her legs. The men said something but she couldn't hear it with the blood pounding in her ears. They were bigger. Most likely faster. She would never outrun them, she'd have to lose them.
Somehow.
She cut through the alleyways, twisting and turning down this street and that and everytime she looked over her shoulder they were there. Always there. Sometimes close and sometimes a length or two behind. Always there.
Her lungs began to burn, she whimpered and turned back to the main road. Market street, if she could get to the market street she could hide somewhere.
Nall looked behind once she got to Main Street.
And the white haired man was on her.
She looked behind just as he leaped. She saw his hands reaching to smother her. Tried to move her feet faster.
His hands still snagged in her skirts, just above the knee. She fell. Slammed her head hard on the ground.

"Got her!" the white haired man made a sort of 'whoop' sound and put his knee in the small of her back. She saw his hand pull something that shined from his belt.

"Search her then!" the redhead fussed. "She's gotta have it somewhere."

It? The white haired man pointed the shiny thing at her. A knife. Akso and Atam would have been able to save her. She felt tears start pricking around her eyes. No. What if... what if the dream mean that Akso and Atam were in the stars. Among the stars?

Dead.

no... She pressed her face into the ground and sniffed. Then felt lighter than air.

The redhead cursed and a cold breeze wafted over her head. Nall shut her eyes tight, not wanting to feel what was going to happen. She didn't. She felt the course cobblestones under her and then a gentle hand on her head.

It won't be them... she thought, not wanting to get her hopes up again. The sting of broken hopes was something else she didn't want to feel. Even thinking that it wasn't, there was that one stubborn, but tiny voice pleading that it was.

It was Rennick. She sobbed aloud. He picked her up and let her head rest against his shoulder while she cried.

"They didn't come," she choked, clenching her hands around the cloth of his coat. "I didn't see them! I sang! I tried! They didn't hear me!"

Rennick tilted his head down to nuzzle the side of hers. "It's too early for tears little one," he whispered, picking his way around the frozen chunks of red and white haired men that were menacing Nall.

-

The glowing butterfly became more frantic as Nall's song became chaotic and whipped around the winged man erratically once it reached him. Several times it tried to dive bomb his face, but pulled away just before it could run into him. Then it became still, floating motionlessly in the air for a few moments before fluttering its wings weakly and taking a slow path down to the city. It flew a scant seven feet, fading all the while, before it finally decayed into a cluster of bright sparks and faded away.

[Anonymous]

(Bah! Sorry...! >_O )

That feeling in Akso's gut only got worse as she flew over a dark town, and she grimaced. What the hell was that??? Ugh...
This high up, there were no sounds but that of the wind whistling in her ears, and the dulled flapping of her own wings.
And then it happened...

It was like the crazed butterfly of doom! Akso blinked and tried to get out of its way, but it wouldn't stop circling her, and then it took to divebombing her face. "Gah! Cut it out, you crazy ass bug!" She growled, too big to really out-manuever something that small. Then it suddenly stopped, and Akso had to back wing furiously not to actually run her face right into the delicate creature. "Now what...?" She muttered, then watching it with green eyes splashed with silver as it slowly and weakly fluttered down toward the city.
Akso frowned.
Something didn't feel right...

As the butterfly suddenly dissapeared in a burst of magic, something clicked. Call it woman's intuition, the gut instinct of a protector, whatever...
Hell, maybe it was even devine inspiration.
"...Nall...?"
HOLY FUCKING HEAVEN.

Akso pretty much tucked her wings in and went into a free-fall right then and there. Probably not the smartest choice, but her once calm demeanor had been thrown into a flurry of emotion. Her heart wrenched in her chest. Was Nall alright? Was she in that town? What about Atam? If that bastard had left her...
Would she forgive Akso's absence...?
Oh God, she wanted to see little Nall so badly...
Would she still be little?

Finally Akso snapped out of her thoughts enough to rip her wings open, hissing as the muscles strained, and she pretty much flew through the streets of the town at speeds she really shouldn't. If she hit a wall going this fast...
She pressed Seth's body to its limits, alittle jealous to find it preformed better than hers would have. Twisting her wings about, she wove through the alleyways, feeling the further most feathers brushing either side of the bricked walls. She was going purely on gut instinct now, hardly able to see anything.
And she realized it was because she was crying...

When she found them, she almost ran right into them. She literally backwinged herself into a friggin flip and landed roughly on booted feet, stumbling into the alley wall to her right. Her wings were so strained she couldn't even fold them up, so she let them hang limply, trying furiously to wipe the tears out of her eyes so she could see.
"Nall...Nall???" She cried, trying to focus. Wait, that wasn't right...
Either Nall had gone through a serious growth spurt or...
Akso finally managed to stand up straight, her eyes tear-free enough to let her really see what was before her. Well, aside from those creepy frozen bodies anyway...

That was little Nall... that was her! But the man holding her wasn't Atam. Or, well...she didn't think it was. He was always chaning his appearance...
Yet, she could feel it, that wasn't him.
Her limbs trembled, totally out of her control at this point.
Why was she so nervous...?
Suddenly, words escaped her, and she just stood there, her mouth partially open. She had to look so stupid...
But...
Nall...

[Anonymous]

((S'alright ^__^))

It may have been too early to cry (she couldn't quite grasp what Rennick was trying to say), but that didn't stop her from crying. She wanted to see Akso and Atam and those creepy men had come and chased her and what if they showed up just afterwards? In just enough time that they wouldn't see her running? What if they couldn't hear her because she stopped and now they were looking someplace else?

What if Rennick was right?

Nall shivered and pressed her head firmly against Rennick's shoulder. He cou-

Wait... did someone just call her name? Nall whipped her head around so fast, her neck hurt, but through her tear blurred eyes she saw-

Was it? Really? She wiped her eyes and stretched them open as far as they could go. The white coat, the dark hair, the wings.

"akso..." Nall said the word so softly that for a heartbeat she thought she was thinking her name rather than saying it aloud.

"AKSO!!" The second time rang from the walls. As she was calling her name Nall launched herself from Rennick's shoulder and flung her arms out toward the dark angel. Rennick caught her in mid leap though, grabbing her awkwardly by the waist and pulling her back to set her on her feet. Her momentum was too great though, and when he pulled her back she crashed into him and nearly fell. Nall's teeth chomped against her lip and the front of her teeth was washed in blood. Rennick let his hands rest on her forearms, his grip firm to stabilize her.

She began crying again and swallowed the mouthful of blood pooling in her mouth, wincing a little. She wanted to spit, but didn't want Akso or Rennick to see it. Nall began to tremble and looked down at the ground before glancing back up at Akso, her eyes wide.

Rennick was right there and Akso was right there. What would happen when they saw each other. It was all those men's faults, if they hadn't shown up she wouldn't have had to be rescued and she could have met Akso alone. Wait.

"Wh-," she swallowed, lowered her eyes and looked back up again. "Where's..." now she was shaking so hard she thought she was about to fall again. Once she was sure she was steady she stepped out of Rennick's grasp, managing a few tiny steps before a wave of dizziness crashed into her and she stumbled, falling to her hands and knees.

-

Rennick almost started when the winged man damn near crashed into them and took a reflexive step back when he began babbling Nall's name. He was sure this wasn't Akso or Atam, did Nall have other guardians?? He started to walk past the maniac, taking one simple step before Nall apparently went crazy, yelling Akso's (of all people's) name at the top of her lungs and trying to jump at the strange man.

Or maybe she hadn't gone crazy. Rennick stared hard at the man - it was definitely a man. Akso was a woman... unless Akso had been in drag at the time. Didn't Akso have different coloured hair though? Maybe Nall was so shaken after her encounter with his hired thugs and so desperate to see some sign of them that she was hallucinating.

Then why did he see and hear this thing too? Was it her magic, she mentioned something about it, but he never really got a grasp at what she could do with it. It wasn't so far out of her control that she could fool herself with it... was it?

[Anonymous]

(Lol, I totally forgot who Rennick is or what his significance is... ^_^;; Like, it sort of rings a bell, but I can't quite remember... >_O;; )

Akso shivered in her boots when Nall whispered her name. She remembered...
Hell yeah, she remembered!
Suddenly Nall was screaming her name and launching herself, and Akso was quite ready to catch her too, except...
That strange man interfered.

"Hey bastard, stop man handling her!" It left her mouth before she could stop it, but it wasn't like she would have stopped it even if she could have. He practically yanked her out of the air!
She took a step forward, not recognizing the man at all. Then again, she was also totally focused on Nall at this point.
And she wanted to hug her...
Really really really badly.

Those speckled eyes blinked at the broken question, and she frowned. "You mean that jerk-off isn't with you??? Aw, I am so gonna ring his neck when I see him!"
Obviously, she was talking about Atambrean. Who the hell else would she so blatantly threaten like that?

Finally, she shook her head, Seth's head, and walked over to Nall. She disregarded the man behind her, if he tried anything, she did still have the double-bladed sword on her back. Nall suddenly stumbled forward, and Akso just reached out and grabbed her on instinct, holding her under her arms and carefully placing her back on her feet. She gave an awkward half-grin, and though it was Seth's face and his muscles, it was still her smile.
"You are still teeth-rottingly cute Nall." She said softly, ruffling Nall's hair gently. She still couldn't bring herself to just hug Nall. For some reason, she felt it would be more appropriate to let Nall hug her, that way she could be sure that...
Well, that Nall wasn't angry with her for leaving.

(Aaand that was made of suck... >_< )

[Anonymous]

((He first made an appearance back on the old boards, about 2 odd years ago. The thread is here. In a nutshell, 'Rennick' is an incubus, he was interested in Nall but Akso laid the smackdown on him.))

Rennick raised both eyebrows when the stranger told him to stop.. manhandling Nall. No doubt about it - this was no hallucination or some by-product of magic. But, who the hell was he? Nall described her guardians well enough so that he'd be able to tell one from the other and this one didn't match up to either!

Nall shivered when she felt Akso grab her and hoist her back up to her feet. Did this mean that she wasn't mad? Did this mean that even though she had been with Rennick that Akso didn't care, because she was just too happy to see her? Let that be so! It was better than she could have ever imagined it to be! A new flow of tears began racing down her cheeks and she launched herself at Akso yet again, hugging her and twisting her hands into the cloth of her coat.

"Akso, I missed you so much and I looked and Atam looked until Atam got caught by something and then I looked and then Rennick and I looked and I had a dream that I would see you both when the stars came out and I knew it was true, I knew it was! I knew, I knew! I thought Atam was with you and so did Rennick, but Rennick already knew how to find Atam and we were going to do that but he didn't know how to find you and I was so worried!" Nall sniffed and continued crying into Akso's torso, trying to cling tighter to her if that was even possible.

Akso? Akso! Rennick's eyes widened in sudden realization. Nall did say something about Akso becoming Seth and that Seth was Akso's brother. Shit. How could he let a detail like that slip away? God dammit, just looking at that wo... Akso made his shoulder hurt! She didn't seem to recognize him, or rather she did and was more concerned about Nall at the moment. Both scenarios were garbage... Nall was all but counting on Akso and Atam to be angry with her decision to trust in him. It was time to think up a new strategy... just in case the lovable ball of fluff wasn't having a delayed reaction. In fact, Nall all but drew the outline already when she mentioned that he knew where Atam was. If Akso wanted to wring his neck so badly she might just put some faith in him. Especially if she'd forgotten. Oh, wouldn't that be sweet.

Rennick crossed his arms and watched, half interested - but didn't say anything. It would have been rude to interrupt their little moment.

((I blame this post on the time. 0230 in the AM is not my natural writing habitat XD.))

[Anonymous]

(Oooh! Lol, I had forgotten all about that...and Akso's aura vision...and all that nasty junk that happened in the castle, lol...I have THE worst memory ever. ^_^;; )

Akso smiled as Nall suddenly hugged her, and she was quick to lift Nall right off the ground and hold her tightly to her. She cuddled her own tear-streaked face into Nall's hair and neck, just too incredibly happy to be holding her little Nall.
This was probably the closest thing to a dream come true that Akso had ever experienced...

Nall was gushing information, and Akso was having trouble following it all. "Woah, woah, slow down there kiddo." She took a minute to process it all, and then frowned, holding Nall now with one arm, glad for Seth's body's increase in strength compared to her own.
She brushed some of Nall's tears away as she looked into her face.
"Atam was caught by something? What was it? And who's Rennick??"
She still hadn't looked up to see who the man was, or to really get a good look at him.

She then brushed back some of Nall's hair, finding herself amused with the fact that Seth's fingers were slender like hers had been.
"I'm sure we can find the bumbling fool...Apparently I can do just about anything with you cheering me on." And with that she gave Nall a good natured wink with Seth's silver speckled emerald eye.

(Lol, tis fine!)

[Anonymous]

(('tis alright. Right now Rennick is prolly just background noise to Akso anyhoo's. XD I have a bad memory when it comes to mathematics and remembering conversations and stuff.))

Nall stopped because she ran out of air between crying and spouting out her tale to Akso. She sniffed deeply and blinked out the last couple tears stinging in her eyes. If only she could be happy without worrying about what Rennick had said about Akso and Atam. He to be wrong though, Akso didn't even know where Atam was. But, he also didn't know, maybe someone had done that to Rennick once so he thought that's what Akso and Atam did.

"Atam..." she started again, nearly choking on a late sob. "Atam was taken by something green. I didn't see it too well. Rennick knows though. That's Rennick." Nall pointed.

From far away he might have roughly passed for Atambrean, having long pale hair and all. Up close, even that slight resemblence faded, since his hair turned out to be platinum blonde rather than silver like Atambrean's. And rather than being purple his eyes were a vivid blue like natural gas, completely inhuman. His clothing was also light, where Atambrean usually preferred darker shades or jewel tones.

He was unreadable, standing with his arms crossed with his luminous eyes watching them closely. When Nall pointed him out he bobbed his head in greeting.

Nall brightened up considerably when Akso tousled her hair and she smiled at the wink. "This time you can cheer me on Akso," she said softly. "I know how to see Atam. Since I got to see you it should work."

[Anonymous]

(Oh ick...I just can't remember things with numbers in general. Lol, conversations I'm ok with, but discriptions...not so much, lol. I even forget what my own charries look like a good portion of the time >_O)

Something...green? That wasn't exactly specific...
How many green things grabbed people?? Was it an animal? A plant? Something magickal?
Eesh, singling that one out wasn't going to be easy...

She then blinked, looking over and finally seeing the man standing there. At first she would have said he looked like Atam, but upon closer inspection, he certainly did not.
There was a slight twinge in the back of her head, as if she was trying to remember something.
Akso didn't normally remember the people she beat up, so Rennick didn't immediately come back to her mind. And Seth's body did not have the same aura-sensing abilities as hers did, so she could not feel the fact he was a demon.
Double bummer.

Her gaze shifted back to Nall as she switched what the dark angel had said. Cheer for Nall?
She had a way to find him??
"Oh, well that's great! You're just full of surprises, eh?" She smiled through Seth's face.
"Let's get to it then. I haven't gotten to beat on Atam in waaay too long."
Truthfully though, she was really worried about him. Even if she didn't understand exactly what had happened to him, she knew it didn't bode well.
She was trying to be as cheerful as possible for Nall.
Just let Atam be ok...

(Uh...lol, that was kind of boring. ^_^;; I'm really not sure what you have planned, so I'll just go along with whatever it is!)

[Anonymous]

((*pats* I forget their middling details all the time XD Like which one of Aiol's eyes is which colour, which side of Pastel's hair is streaked, what sort of artillery Vivante has on him... damn complex Cyans. That's why I like Atam <3))

Someone smack him, this was almost too good to be true! Akso didn't seem to recognize him - and what was better, she had complete faith that Nall had indeed found a way to find Atam! Well, technically, he knew where Atam was, but the 'ritual' wasn't necessary.

Long practice at controlling his expressions kept the slaphappy glee off Rennick's face. He allowed himself a little smile though, since Akso just got through expressing her...his desire to beat Atam. "Maybe we should let him cool down a little first," he quipped.

"NO!" Nall yelled. "We have to do it tonight. It might not work if we wait." Nall's eyes began to shine again, another few teardrops beading up on the corners of her eyes.

Rennick grinned and held up his hands. "You win," he laughed. "Tonight then."

"Can Akso help?" Nall wiped her eyes and smiled a little.

Rennick put his hand on his chin and pretended to think about it. "That might cause some hiccups. This ritual works better when it searchs using one person, more people might get an innacurate result."

[Anonymous]

(Lmao, I guess that makes sense! Since he can change his appearance...much to Akso's annoyance...hehehe)

He? Oh, right, duh...Seth's body...
How come she always twitched whenever somebody called her 'he'? Despite knowing she was in a male's body...?
Oh well, she could understand that. Besides, it must be confusing for this Rennick guy, since Nall knew she was female, and he didn't.

Confusing stuff.

Akso jerked as Nall yelled, and so close to her ear too. Well, apparently they'd be doing it tonight then!
"That's alright, I can just watch. Probably wouldn't be much use anyway." She wasn't super great at anything involving magick...or rituals...or complicated things. She just didn't have the patience for it!
Besides, Seth's body was hurting right now with the strain she had put on his wings. Pain screamed through her wings, her back throbbing. She didn't even dare try and move her wings for fear of how much it would hurt...

[Anonymous]

((It'd probably annoy me in real life too, being able to change aspects of one's personal appearance without hair dye, weave, contacts, plastic surgery and etc. is unfair +80billionmilliongoogleplex))

There was no way in hell Rennick was going to let Akso watch the ritual because there was no way in hell Akso would be stupid enough to sit there and watch! Denying too soon would be a bit suspicious though, so he waited a couple seconds, pursing his lips a bit in fake-thought.

Nall didn't like the pause. Pauses were bad, why couldn't he just say 'yes'. Then a yawn forced it's way out of her and she rested her head on Akso's shoulder.

That yawn seemed to be a good enough indication that he'd spent well enough time pondering. "Hmm... I'm not sure what will happen if someone watches, perhaps the same thing if another participated. I'll let you call this one Nall." Insane... maybe, he was riding on the thought that the threat of the spell not working would make Nall or even Akso have second thoughts about watching.

"Couldn't we just do it again if it got bad. It's not long is it?"

Well damn...

[Anonymous]

Akso snorted and shrugged.
"Never heard of a ritual that would get screwed up just by being watched. It's usually only the rituals one doesn't want others to see that are kept secret."
And with that, she gave this Rennick guy a bit of a look.
Of course, it was just the mild suspicion of a stranger.
She had no idea who he really was, or what he was really planning.
Probably a good thing for him.

In any case, she nodded in regards to Nall's words.
"Yeah, if I do mess it up somehow, you guys can just redo I suppose. Anyway, we shouldn't be standing here talking about it. If Atam's in trouble, the more time we waste talking, the worse off he's going to be."
With that, she set Nall down.
"So where are you guys doing this ritual thing anyway??"

[Anonymous]

Rennick fought to keep his composure when Akso questioned what the ritual was going to be like, curling his toes in his boots to give the urge to panic somewhere to go. There was no reason he should be afraid of Akso though! He had the upper hand and this time Akso lacked the element of surprise she... he... whatever had the last time.

He couldn't get too cocky though. This time around he'd invested too much time and money into Nall to get nothing out of it. Besides when he cooled down a bit he realized there was no need to panic - he just had to come up with a better excuse for Akso not to witness the ritual.

"Yeah," Nall agreed when she was placed on the ground. She clung onto Akso's sleeve for a few seconds before letting go - as though she was scared that Akso was going to dissapear again. "We have to find Atam tonight!"

Rennick nodded. "Tonight it is then. We can do the ritual back at the inn." It was going to be the inn before Akso, trying to come up with a place on the spur of the moment more than likely wouldn't come off well...

Nall grinned and used the knowledge of the location as a free right to grab hold of Akso's hand. "Come on Akso, I'll show you where we're staying!"

Rennick took that as a cue that they were about to leave and as soon as Nall began to walk and Akso followed, he walked with them back to their room.

Luckily there wasn't anything suspicious about the room. It was just a normal room with a pair of beds. As soon as they walked in, Rennick moved to his bed and began to rifle through a small belt-pouch. They would think he was looking for reagents or something, hopefully.

The first thing Nall did when they got back to the room was pounce on her bed, stretch out and twist around to look at Akso. "Why did you leave Akso?" she asked softly. The question had been nagging her ever since she realized that Akso hadn't just flown off to do some sort of practice-drill. She figured it was Atam's fault, but now that Akso was back she could make sure she was right in blaming Atam. If it was Atam's fault then Rennick would be wrong, she wanted nothing more than to know that Rennick was wrong about why Akso and Atam dissapeared.

It didn't occur to her that Akso might lie if that was the case. She believed in Akso too strongly to think that she would ever lie to her. Whatever she said, it would be the gospel truth according to Nall.

[Anonymous]

Back to the inn it was then.
Akso grinned down at Nall as her hand was captured, and she allowed herself to be led away, booted feet thudding softly on the ground. Gingerly she attempted to pull her wings closer to her body, but to no avail.
Every movement of those strained muscles hurt like a bitch, and she grimaced.
Half way to the inn and she had to stop.
"Wait a moment Nall."
With some concentration, the wings trembled and then slid carefully back into her flesh. Seth's body was different from hers...his healing and the way his wings emmerged or dissappeared was nowhere near as bloody or painful as when she had to do it in her own body.
Little bastard...he probably did that on purpose...

"Ok."
Wingless now, she continued along with Nall and Rennick, and entered into the room with Nall. Her gaze scanned her surroundings as she followed Nall to the bed, glad to find nothing out of the ordinary.
The question, however, brought Akso's gaze back down to Nall.
A soft sigh escaped her chest, and she frowned.
Dammit...

Kneeling on the floor, she rested her arms on the bed and put herself at Nall's level.
"I'm so sorry for leaving so suddenly...but there was something important I had to investigate." Her speckled eyes wavered a bit, but she decided to tell Nall anyway. She had to be truthful...honest...
This was very important.
"I had to see if my hunch was right, and it was. Seth...he's going to come back. When I was in Bern's castle, I killed her, but I too died. When I returned later as a ghost, Seth suddenly forced me into his body, and said something very unlike him to put me at ease. But I guess, in the end, I was just holding his body for his return without ever realizing it."
Another sigh. This so royally sucked...
"I think he's planning on possessing me somewhere in the future. I went back to Bern's castle and found all sorts of different spells that would help him accomplish that. And Bern's body was missing...it just puts me ill at ease."

Akso sagged onto the bed and frowned as she watched Nall's face.
"I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly...really I am. But I was in a panic, once the thought crossed my mind, I knew I had to look into it and fast. The last thing I wanted was for Seth to take over my body while I was with you and Atam...you know he'd kill you both. So far though, I haven't had any luck with finding a spell to shield myself, and I estimate I may have up to a month before I really have to worry about Seth re-entering his body."
She knew Nall had every right to be angry with her, but she also hoped the girl could understand the reasoning for her leaving.
Please, please understand...

[Anonymous]

Nall listened while Akso explained and on the inside she was relieved because what Akso was saying was nothing like what Rennick said she would leave for. Still, Nall could understand that Akso hadn't merely gotten lost on the way back from a candy shop. Seth and Bern were bad people. Really bad people, if she'd run into one of them instead of Rennick that day she would have turned around right there and run off.

Bern was the one that killed Akso. Seth helped. They were bad.

So Nall frowned. She didn't want them to take over Akso's Seth body. They couldn't do something like that, it wasn't nice.

She didn't want to be mad that Akso had to leave to go check that. She didn't want to be mad, but she was mad. Not screaming mad, but a little mad. Like how Mama could be a little mad at Papa when he went out late at night. Papa was always sad that Mama fussed so she didn't want to fuss... but Akso might think she didn't mind her dissapearing if she didn't fuss.

"Next time," she whispered. "Can you say something? Please? I thought it was Atam's fault... that's why he got taken by that green stuff."

Rennick half-hearted fidgeted with his bag while Akso explained. If only she'd been a little later in getting here, then that Seth could have his body back and be off doing whatever his business was. There was no chance in hell he was going to bide his time for a month to wait for someone to possess Akso either.

He didn't have to. He had another idea for getting Akso out of the picture, for a moment. Even a moment was better than coming out empty handed. "I hope you both weren't planning on getting any sleep," he announced, setting the pack aside. "There's still some things, we'll need before we can start."