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Strange Happenings [Glob] [M]

Started by DragonSong, February 04, 2016, 08:44:32 AM

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DaGlobster

The silence was deafening. Vel only had enough wits about him to catch the scrying ball before it fell off the table. The sudden cessation of magic had caused it to wobble out of its stand. Vel held the scrying ball in his lower pair of arms, staring down at the dark sphere, his face straight.

What did he feel?

Shame, first and foremost. Shame that he let this happen.

And then it hit him full force. Twilight was in danger.

Twilight was in danger.

He set the crystal ball back down onto its stand a little more forcefully than was appropriate for such a delicate implement, and he put his hands on the table to collect himself.

The man's words, especially his offer to "come and learn," rang in his ear, and he closed his eyes to let it fester, let it grow. He sought an emotion that he hadn't felt in a long time, an emotion he'd told himself was too destructive for someone like him to hold. And then there it was.

Anger.

Straightening up from the desk, he turned to face the window. With a wave of his hand, there was the man's mansion, in full display. The gargoyles, while well made and extremely well concealed, were of no concern to Vel. It gave him a twinge of hatred, seeing fellow constructs guarding what was now a foe, and it'd make it all the more easier for him to dispel them.

He stared at the mansion for a bit longer, and more of the man's words echoed within him.

"Come enjoy our hospitality."

So there was more than one of him as well. Vel turned away from the window and walked to the elevator. He set his feet on it, and took a deep breath. His mind was too jumbled up, so he spoke the words.

"Seals below that guard the unseen, lift thyselves."

From beneath the platform, a gentle blue glow shone out before dimming. Vel let out a breath he didn't even know that he was holding. He'd never gone in here since he built the place. A literal burial of his past. He was afraid that what he'd take from there would change him forever, that he wouldn't be the Vel that she married for using the things beneath.

But for her, he was afraid, but not hesitant.

"Bottom floor."

He started to descend into a dark chamber, and when the lift stopped magical lights illuminated the room, his greatest secret.

The room looked like a tomb, with unforgiving stone making up most of its construction, a sharp contrast to the wood that made up most of his tower's interior.

Ahead of him was a brass coffin set into the wall, and the walls of the room around him were lined with constructs of all shapes and sizes. They were all of similar make and craftsmanship as Vel, but their forms varied. Constructs that ranged in size from Ogre-sized metal behemoths to even a clockwork dog, sitting eternally by the brass coffin. A dragon's skull, made of gears, glass, and steel, hung over the coffin.

As he walked towards the coffin, Vel's mind was silent, and he got close enough to even lay a hand on the coffin. He hated his master and creator. Hated him with every fiber of his being. He'd made a promise to himself that he'd never disturb the tomb beneath his tower for anything. To Vel, using anything that his master had left behind would be a betrayal to himself and his lifelong quest of mastery over the art of construct-making.

Using his magic, he unsealed the coffin, removing the locks that kept it closed and allowing the lid to swing open. Inside were the dessicated remains of his master. A grand figure in life, but now, a shrivelled corpse wearing a plain brown robe. The area around the body was lined with scroll cases and the corpse itself held a large tome bound in a copper case.

Vel paused for a few moments, but thoughts of Twilight scattered his doubt. He reached in and took a single scroll case. His eyes paused on the book, and he let out a sigh.

It was tempting to just take it, but he stayed his hand. Instead, he sealed the coffin once again, and looked down at the scroll he'd taken. A single spell.

Flesh to Brass.

The rest of his preparations went by in a blur. He'd resealed the tomb and gone to the top floor to don his wooden plating. There was a time where he was used to wearing it nearly every moment of the day. His time with Twilight had changed that, and now, it felt all the more foreign as he attached it to his frame.

And past that, he was ready. He put on his illusion so he'd look like his human self but with armor on, and went to the door. He opened it, and stepped out of a large tree on the edges of the mansion's territory, the gates to the grounds looming several hundred feet away.

All in all, it had been an hour or so since the scrying ball had gone dark, and he still wasn't sure if he was ready for what was about to happen.

DragonSong

Twilight was lost.

Locked in her own mind, screaming, screaming for freedom, screaming hatred, screaming threats and tears and terror. Screaming for Vel.

But outside she meekly followed her captor through his grand, crumbling manor to a large antechamber where a massive table had been laid with a feast that I'm any other situation would have made her mouth water. When Lorian took a seat and beckoned her forward she came, movements jerky and stiff, a puppet resisting her strings.

"Fighting it will just drain you," the vampire said with a fang-tipped smirk. "This whole thing will go much easier if you just accept it. Sit."

She sat, railing uselessly against him inside her head. It was like being Midnight or Starbeight when the other was in control, forced to sit and watch as her body moved without her intervention.

"Ah." Lorian suddenly grinned and looked to the door. "Seems your beau has arrived."

Panic jolted through her, strong enough that she gave a little gasp and lurched forward slightly before his spell froze her in place.

"Easy now," Lorian soothed with a pat on her arm that made her skin crawl. "No one will harm him just yet. After a, I told him he could expect our hospitality." He clicked his fingers and the same young dhampir from before appeared at his side. "Escort our guest to me, please."

"Yes, Father." With a smirk for Twilight, he left to collect Vel.

Silently, Twilight prayed that he would run.

DaGlobster

The walk up to the gate was probably the worst he'd ever felt. It made him remember the few times he'd defended himself before he learned that running away was just the better option.

He hated using his magic to hurt, but as he got closer and closer, he found himself more and more alright with scattering Twilight's captor into ashes and then glassing even that. The feeling sickened him, and without a stomach to turn, the bad emotion only fueled his agitation.

He spared a glance to the gargoyles as he approached. They seemed dormant at the moment, which was good. They were either waiting for their master's signal or crudely made enough to only recognize the living. 

Placing a few wards on himself as he approached the last few steps, he put a hand on the gate, and gave it a test push.

Locked, of course.

Here he was expecting trouble yet the first threat he runs into is a locked gate.

At least that's what he thought, until the door to the manor opened, and Vel looked up, hands at his side, balled into fists. He might not have looked it, but he was ready.

DragonSong

The dhampir smirked as he took Vel in and leaned back against the door frame. "You must be the whore's little protector, hm? Come on, then." He chuckled and flicked a glance up to the gargoyles. "Before Father's watchdogs decide you've loitered too long."

It wasn't far to the antechamber where Lorian waited, Twilight seated at his side. She could actually hear his son's muffled voice as he addressed Vel. But she couldn't do anything, couldn't move, couldn't even speak.

It was driving her mad.

Despite the fact that outwardly she could show no emotion, Lorian seemed to pick up on her agitation- not that it would have been a difficult assumption, at this point. "Calm yourself, Aurora," he murmured, reaching out to stroke her hand gently and giving her a friendly sort of smile.

Bile rose in her throat and she tried desperately to jerk away from him, but to no avail. Twilight! she screamed in her mind. My name is TWILIGHT!

DaGlobster

Vel weathered the pale man's words. He had a hunch that these weren't just ordinary humans, and when he peered into the dhampir's energies, it all became clearer to him. He knew exactly how to deal with her kind. Using his thumb, Vel discreetly made some symbols on his palm, the action hidden by the fact his hands were balled into fists.

It took a lot out of him to weather the words of the spawn he saw before him. Some kind of vampire whelp with a drastically inflated sense of self-potency and importance. Thinking about the spells he was preparing insdvertently caused him to shoot a slight, knowing smirk at the dhampir as he passed, his eyes remaining hard points of contempt.

He followed through the halls until they reached the meeting room. Immediately, the first thing he noticed was Twilight. He could see the malignant sorceries lingering about her and it caused his cool, unemotive seething to give way to a scowl, directed at the man sitting next to her. A million things flew around in his head, but the hatred his eyes leveled towards Lorian had a piercing clarity to it. He had to play it cool, but not too cool.

He knew these were vampires. He hoped that they'd see the soul that powered him and think him a weak human. As someone who could be underestimated.

Vel made it a point to speak first. There was no room for pause or hesitation as a machine. He went into the room to do something, and he executed his plan.

"I'm going to make this quick and very simple for you. You have one of two options."

He stepped forwards to put a hand on the far side of the table, staring right down at Lorian. The smug look on his face only deepened his anger.

"You take your goddamn strings off my Twilight and you let me walk away with her. You and your inbred little vampire family get to see another moonrise and you will never even so much as think about the color of her hair ever again."

He straightened up, taking his hand off the table.

"Your other option is to die in this heap of a mansion."

DragonSong

Tyrrel snarled, rocking forward toward Vel, but Lorian raised a hand and his son settled back.

The vampire sort of pouted at Vel, tilting his head to the side before he offered a friendly smile, one that made the blackness behind his eyes somehow more prominent. "Well no, that's not very kind. And after I went through all the trouble of inviting you here." He sighed dramatically and reached out to stroke Twilight's cheek.

A small shudder ran through her body, the only reaction she could show to her revulsion of his touch. Her eyes were fixed on Vel, screaming inside her head for him to run, that he didn't realize how powerful the vampire lord was- but she was frozen, locked in place by magic.

"So, allow me to counter-offer." Lorian folded his hands beneath his chin, elbows propped on the chin as he smiled again. "Feel free to take a seat, of course." He cleared his throat. "You seem to be under the impression that Aurora here- that is her name you know, the one she was born with- is somehow yours. I'm afraid you're mistaken there, but it hardly matters."

He clicked his fingers and Twilight suddenly found herself jerking to her feet, then stepping behind his chair. Her hands clasped in front of her body and her head lowered slightly- violent shivers wracked her frame with every movement, the only manifestation of her desperate resistance.

"So here's my proposition: Aurora stays here, with me, very well taken care of I can assure you. And of course you would be permitted to see her, as often as you like, I should think- except when I have need of her." He leaned back in his chair and cast a sort of evaluating look over Twilight. "Depending on her strength, I'll perhaps only need a child or two. Of course replacements should be made should the first perish, but..." He shrugged and smiled blandly in Vel's direction.

"You really have no idea what she is, do you?"

Another click of his fingers and Twilight was suddenly stumbling forward to collapse into his lap, shuddering as his arm came around her waist and his thumb stroked over her hip, a perversion of a caress. She couldn't even turn her head to look at Vel until he did it for her, guiding her chin with thumb and forefinger.

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry- run, sweetheart, please, you have to go, I don't want you to see this, she babbled desperately in her mind, only vaguely aware of Lorian shifting to move closer to her.

She felt his fangs brush against her skin and even through the spell holding her immobile a soft, sharp intake of breath betrayed her fear.

DaGlobster

Vel couldn't help it. He flinched slightly at Tyrrel's lunge, raising his shoulder defensively for a few moments. His focus returned to Lorian when he started speaking. It was with both contempt and relief that Vel saw that this particular scumbag liked the sound of his own voice.

All well and good, because it gave Vel more time to silently weave and prepare magic, as well as plan out his attack. When offered to take a seat, he merely approached the seat closest to him and laid a hand on top of the backrest, fingers gripping it with pent-up aggression.

Vel was seething. For a moment, somewhere halfway through Lorian's tirade, he looked to Twilight, and his gaze lingered on her. When Lorian made his offer, Vel started to channel his magic into the chair he was gripping.

His eyes returned to Twilight, but just as quickly, Vel heard fingers snap, and she jerked out of his sight and into Lorian's hands. Vel's other hand clenched into a fist, and suddenly, his anger was gisible in his face.

Don't touch her. Don't you fucking dare--

He didn't need to think anymore, because he saw the glitter of fangs as he moved in close to Twilight, he reacted. He ripped out a chunk of the chair's backrest and used a little bit of the reserves he'd been building up the entire time to make it far deadlier than it actually was.

Which, of course, he'd already been weaving into the wood of the seat.

Then, in nearly the same instant, he threw it at Lorian. It would fly like a bullet towards him, accuracy enhanced by magic. Vel didn't have time to aim, however, just to throw it at the general part of his chest he could hit.

Regardless, he didn't have time to see the results of his attack, because Tyrrel lept in to attack him. Vel just barely turned around in time when he heard the young dhampir advancing. Tyrrel pushed Vel up against the table, managing to get one hand around his neck while Vel held the other arm at bay. Immediately, Vel used his free hand to land a hook across Tyrrel's face. Magically-boosted strength combined with the striking force of a machine meant that Tyrrel ended up losing most of the teeth on that side of his head.

The dhampir recoiled, caught off-guard by the strength of the attack. Tyrrel only had a few more moments to realize that maybe he wasn't dealing with a regular human before Vel hit him square in the chest with a minimized fireball. Fortunately for Vel, whatever strength Dhampir had in resistance to sunlight they lacked in true vampiric endurance.

Even as Tyrrel fell backwards, screaming as the magical flames continued to spread despite his attempts to put it out, Vel spun back around to face Lorian again.

DragonSong

Lorian seemed to almost teleport away from the danger he moved so fast. Twilight was thrown forward into the table in his haste, half collapsing against it before she went limp again without the vampire's interaction with his binding spell.

The master of the manor was at his son's side in an instant, clicking his fingers to draw the flame away- but it was clear the damage had been done. Barring severe magical intervention, Tyrrel was dying.

Of course, Lorian was capable of that intervention, but it required a good deal of resources and time. It was much simpler to just let the boy die. Well- "let". He wasn't a complete monster, he could put his son out of his misery.

"What a waste," Lorian murmured as he knelt, sort of stroked Tyrrel's cheek, then snapped his neck with an elegant flick of his wrist. He looked up to Vel, annoyance more than anything else clear in his features. "You seem so intent on making this more difficult than it has to be," he noted. His tone was still mild, but there was an undercurrent of something approaching anger.

Left limp against the table, Twilight was throwing everything in her power at the spell that trapped her. Which unfortunately wasn't much; Lorian's control was so complete she couldn't even reach for her own magic.

Two shadows were slipping into the room, using the commotion as a distraction. More of Lorian's spawn, she was sure. Everything she had roiled and bucked against her magical chains- and she thought she felt something shift. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

Movements still wooden, she managed to clumsily scramble over the table, reaching for Vel before she was frozen again. "Be...hind you..."

Lorian tsked, genuinely surprised the girl had managed even that much but unwilling to show it. He snapped his fingers, eyes narrowing at her.

Twilight's spine arched and she went rigid as magic coursed through her, foreign and invading and painful. A cry was choked off before it could even really begin and her eyes widened. Then she collapsed. Without the ability to break her own fall, her head struck the stone floor and her vision blurred, then went dark.

DaGlobster

It was a lot to take in. Almost as soon as his rage had subsided and he looked down at Tyrrel, his blackened ribcage home to the dying embers of the fireball, he felt a kind of cold shiver go over him.

Oh gods, he'd done it.

He actually killed someone.

He felt like he was going to be sick, but almost as quickly as it had arrived, Lorian was there, and the sick feeling melded with his anger to create something the construct couldn't quite place. The snap of Tyrrel's neck was what pulled him out, and he looked to Lorian witha disgusted, hateful look smeared across his features.

And then Twilight was speaking, and he couldn't stop himself from turning around, just in time to see her fall and hear the baleful sound of her head hitting the ground.

And so, he started to run, abandoning all sense of self-preservation as he went to his beloved.

At least, that's what he wanted the vampires to think. His other two arms, concealed by his illusion, prepared a force spear.

DragonSong

Lorian bared his teeth and growled-- a sound that was more irritation than rage, eyes flaring. "You are making this needlessly complicated," he spat at the construct, throwing a hand out and releasing a crimson bolt of magic toward Vel's head.

Twilight's vision swam, flickering to black on occasion, and she stared dully up at her husband. Run! she screamed in her head, though she knew he couldn't hear. Run, run, RUN!

Something grasped her. A power she didn't know or understand. It coursed through her, electrifying every nerve in her body, setting her blood on fire.

Lorian's eyes widened as he felt his hold on the girl weaken. "No," he snarled, and his attack changed course, aiming to wrap around Twilight and redouble her magical chains.

DaGlobster

Vel braced for the magical bolt to hit him, feeling his wards flare up as the magical bolt approached, and then veered off at the last second. Fortunately for Twilight, if there was one game that Vel could play, it was the magical one.

It was almost in slow motion that he saw the sizzling, red magic whizz by his head and keep going, straight towards his wife. In a motion that was almost too quick, he altered his spell, his mechanical nature allowing him to perform the sigils well despite the rush.

The spear of force was widened, and he cast it. A barely tangible sheet of solid force flew in front of Twilight, and Lorian's spell slammed into it, but ultimately didn't break through the barrier.

"I said keep away from her, you son of a bitch!"

Vel, now only ten feet from his wife, wheeled about on his heels, slammed his fist into his open palm, and extended two fingers towards Lorian. It was a quick, almost subtle motion, but the lightning bolt that shot out of his fingers and arced towards Lorian wasn't so subtle.

DragonSong

The vampire lord dodged to the side, so quickly the air around him seemed to blur. He turned back to Vel with a growl, hands raised, another spell forming on his lips.

The power that Twilight didn't understand pulled her forward. Moving on instinct, an animal defending her mate, she somehow managed to lurch in front of Vel, one arm cast put protectively. "L-leave him alone!"

Magic gathered around her, scarlet and azure and violet, and it twisted and writhed, then suddenly solidified. She blinked, staggering slightly under the sudden weight of the shield and long sword she now held. The shield was deep blue, a silver sun and golden moon embossed on the surface, and the hilt of the silvered blade was crimson, a ruby set into the pommel.

Lorian snarled, Though his eyes widened fractionally. "That's not possible."

DaGlobster

Lorian wasn't the only one left surprised. When she stood in front of him, Vel automatically started moving to her side to support her. But then the magic started swirling around her, and he barely made it next to her by the time it had all coalesced into her weapon and shield.

Vel was quiet for a few seconds, just staring in shock and awe.

It was amazing! He'd never seen anything like it, and Lorian had just barely finished speaking when Vel snapped out of it and put a confident grin on.

"It is possible," Vel said, not even quite knowing what was going on but pressing the advantage nonetheless. As he spoke, he wove some more magic, and then laid a hand on Twilight's shoulder. He didn't know if she had magical protection, but he wasn't going to take any chances. His sole focus was protecting her, and it showed. Twilight was encased in a suit of weightless, transparent armor that quickly shimmered and disappeared from sight.

DragonSong

Twilight drew in a shaky breath as she felt the magic settle around her. With the brief fight against her magical chains still raging in her mind, the touch of Vel's magic was a breath of cool air against her neck.

She smiled, feeling Lorian's grip fall away, unprepared for the combined assuault of her and Vel's power. She raised her shield and pointed her blade at the vampire.

"We're leaving," she told him calmly, coolly.

He bared his teeth in a savage grin. "You've no idea what you're playing with, girl," he growled. "No idea what this power is, what it will do to you and your automaton lover."

DaGlobster

"Trust me, it's better than what you had in mind," Vel spat, and now that he was ousted, he didn't bother concealing his nature. At least he now knew that vampires could see through his disguise.

He held all four of his hands together, and a soft, warm light started shining from the gaps between his fingers.

"So step aside."

He tightened his hands, and the light shined a bit brighter.

DragonSong

"Vel, don't." Twilight glanced back over her shoulder at him, eyes wide and more than a little scared, despite the sudden bolster of her power.

Lorian smirked, raising his hands almost peaceably. "Listen to her, artificial mage. No one has to die today. Go on, take her. Take the little whore and I will not follow. Not today."

DaGlobster

Vel was quiet, a determined, lethal look in his eyes. Ultimately, it was Twilight's voice that stopped him from filling the room with daylight, and he relaxed slightly. His upper hands calmed, but his lower hands still held onto the swirling globe of sunlight. He made the motions with upper hands, and a portal opened behind him. He motioned Twilight through with his head, and he spoke as he backed into it, making sure she went before him.

"If I ever see you again, you're going to wish for the sunlight," he growled.

DragonSong

Twilight hesitated as she backed toward the portal, one foot inside while she waited for Vel.

Lorian caught her eye as she paused and smiled. Her stomach dropped. She raised her shield threateningly, Modnight memories assuring her she could wield both blade and shield well if she chose.

The vampire laughed, shaking his head, but for an instant there was a flicker of irritation in his eye. "You are welcome to try, automaton. I am rarely caught off guard twice."

He winked at Tailight and she felt her stomach roil in disgust, dropping her eyes.

"A pity," Lorian added serenely. "We could have come to an arrangement. I may even have been able to help you find a body. A real body." He shrugged and smirked again. "Alas."

DaGlobster

Vel didn't give him the satisfaction. Instead, he put his hands fully together drowning out the light. As he stepped back into the portal to join Twilight... he smiled.

"Well, before you can help me with that, you should find a new house before sunrise."

Just before the portal closed, he dropped what he had formed in his hands, leaving it behind. It was a dull rock with glowing red crags the size of a fist, and it sat harmlessly against the carpet for a few moments before it started to burn with fierce, magical fire.




The portal closed, and Vel merely stared at the empty space where it was for a few moment. Then, he turned to Twilight, and just sort of looked at her. He was bewildered, emotional, and for the third time in his life, coming down from an adrenaline rush.

Rather than say anything, he just pulled her into a hug and gripped her tight, as if she could float away at any moment.

DragonSong

Twilight squeaked quietly, eyes going wide as she froze. Shen she threw her arms around him, shield and sword clattering to the ground on either side of her.

"I'm sorry," she gasped against his chest, shaking as she held him. "I thought I had to, I had to go, I'm sorry, love, I'm so sorry..."

Carefully, she pulled back enough to look up at his face and reached up to lay a hand on his cheek. "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

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