Hell or Highwater [M]

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Fear was definitely present. Strangers of any kind, even ones who might be close friends to her... lover? Friend? Whatever she thought of Merric now... Yes, even someone who might be of any relation to him did little to quell any doubts or fears about them- especially knowing he was a man of the church.

She kept herself guarded, and pressed into Merric, but did not let her eyes drop from his.
"I am just his escort," she spoke quietly, her voice rough, sounding almost like gravel. She didn't like him. Not the way he smiled, nor the way he looked. He reminde dher too much of the others...
Those who smiled at her, and looked fresh and clean, all thanks to the 'church'- while she was down there...

She closed her eyes, trying to fight off the memories that bubbled up ,hot and heavy, from within.

[Lion]

Lucian laughed, standing back and resting a hand on his hip. "An escort? Since when did you start escorting people around Merric?  Have you gotten side work as a bodyguard?" he asked with genuine amusement. Still he didn't take his eyes off the woman. She was far too guarded to be any ordinary person. And if he knew Merric at all, it was that he did not do frivolous things.

"She is...my friend," Mercuxio murmured.  He was just happy to see another familiar face after traveling for so long. "She's not used to strangers, is all."

"We don't have to be strangers," he replied, flicking eyes up to Attalia, but he looked back to Merric. "I'm just glad I found you before some messenger did, Merric.  You're wanted in Lluin. The Godhand themselves want a meeting with you."

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She felt so awkward and the tension was becoming too much to bear. Feeling ill, she shifted uneasily from where she was perched on the saddle, studying Lucian while trying not to be obvious about it. She bristled, however, at Merric's reveal on who she was to him.

A friend...

More like a dead friend. And what happened back at the inn.....
No, she had to remind herself. Those days were over. This was another place, another time....
But it didn't mean she had to like to be slapped back into reality like this. She supposed part of her wished they had never left the inn, and she found her eyes drifting towards the road well past Lucian.

[Lion]

Merric was at a loss.  And he felt the pit of his stomach grow cold from the thought of it.

If Lucian had come out of his way to tell him this then certainly it must be important. However, he immediately remembered Attalia and looked between her and his friend. Duty bound him to follow. His oaths bound him soul and body until the very earth claimed him.

"I have other priorities," Merric admitted.  "I'm afraid it'll have to wait."  He looked back to Lucian, expression contrite and he shook his head.

Lucian's face fell, and something in his eyes darkened. "The call to the Order isn't taken lightly Merric.  You have to come with me.  She will just have to come too."

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Her eyes went frightfully wide at the man's suggestion as she leaned into Merric, tense and scared. Go with him? No... No, she could not!

[Lion]

Mercuxio did not dismount, but when Lucian began to walk away from him, he followed, and pressed Titus between his knees. The horse felt ill at ease, but obeyed his rider.

"Where are you going?" he barked.

"I will have to report you then," Lucian muttered as he glanced back to Merric.  "You will be punished for your disobedience.  I'm sorry friend.  That's the way of things."

"You don't have to do that. I will meet with them as soon as my endeavor is over, Lucian. You know I am good on my word," he pressed and maneuvered the horse so that he was facing the road.  Lucian was quiet and approached Merric, head close to his leg, and he put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"You know I have to. And the very fact that you think you can be an exception to the rules....makes it even more imperative that I do so."  And with that he reached up and pulled Mercuxio by the sleeve, knocking him to the ground and savagely kicking him with an iron-soled boot.  Mercuxio's breath left him as the boot bloodied his face.

[visualspice]

She sensed even the animal was uneasy about this, and it gave her all the more reason to fear. But just as she imagined the situation to go- it went; and Mercuxio was suddenly doubled over in pain after a heavy kick from his supposed friend.

Titus danced about uneasily, almost tramping Merric and tossing off Attie as it went. She was able to fetch onto his mane to avoid falling into the dirt, but a fearful gaze to Lucian had an icy fear racing through her blood.

He was a fiend of the church- a very cold reminder of the life she feared, the life she ran from-
and put a spot light back on the real villains of this war.

[Lion]

Titus whinnied distressedly as he turned towards Lucian in an attempt to raise his hooves. Lucian backed away in time to skirt around the horse and grab Attalia by the leg, pulling her from the horse.  He treated her likewise, and from the side Merric groaned, coughing and spewing blood from his nostrils.

"Att-" Merric hissed, vision blurry.

Lucian came back to his side and grit his teeth.  His green eyes flared with anger, a hidden rage that had broiled underneath for far too long. "I loved you, Mercuxio. You were my brother.  But it can't be any other way," he said and gave a final kick when everything else went black.  Just as other Confessors emerged from the road and snared Titus in ropes, throwing him to the ground.

[visualspice]

She had wished she had been kicked unconscious too, not because the sharp pain in her side was unbearably, but because the church men closing in on her made her chest seize up so tight she couldn't breath, and found herself doubling over, clawing at whatever she could in hopes to find air. But in her panicked state she became unstable, and her body's powers went without order- waterskins exploding from the sides of all the horses, one loud pop at a time before the waters themselves collected up in a fury and spiraled..
spiraled, spiraled around her as if a protective barrier while she feebly cowarded, unable to do little else but tremble and close her eyes.

[Lion]

[how can she use her magic if she's unconscious? xD]

Merric was carted away, dragged behind a horse on a wooden rack as the other Confessors went about her magical water spirals. Lucian sidestepped and gave her one final crack to the head to ensure she was out before he scooped her up and brought himself up on Titus, riding along after the lead Confessor within the party.

They traveled for some time, keep into evening as Lucian took them to a hidden Sanctum deep in the wilderness of the Sirantil Valley.  Only then was Mercuxio awoken, chained and bared naked in a cold damp cell.

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The crack was enough to silence the crawling waters, but it still seemed as if water hung unnaturally to her form. But did it matter now? For when she awoke, she hurt all over and could barely see. She couldn't remember what happened, but did remember whom she had been with.

"M.. Merric?" she called out into the darkness, moving and realizing, with a jerk to her wrist- she had been chained, and had chains on all four of her limbs.

[Lion]

Mercuxio's screams could be heard down the hallway, as the crack of the whip echoed down the hallway. And on the other end of her cell was a figure seated in a chair. He was tall, lean, blond, and he sat with his chest against the front of the chair, resting arms across it.

"Merric is occupied," Lucian said softly. "But I'm sure there's something else I can help you with, my dear. You're magic is very interesting. Water can be a dangerous thing you know."

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Attalia cringed and drew away from him, chains rattling. The fear was very real, she could taste it, even feel it in the burn of her nostrils as she began to shake.

"Where is this place?" she croaked. She didn't dare ask him more than that.

[Lion]

"Oh I wouldn't worry you're pretty little head about it," Lucian chuckled as he stood up and approached where Attalia was chained up. Her form soft and vulnerable, and his eyes surveyed her. He breathed in deep, chest rising and falling to the pulse that thrummed loudly in his ears.

"You're safe, my little plum. Here in the loving embrace of Ansgar," he breathed, stepping closer to her and caressing the side of her face.

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She didn't like that look. She didn't like being here, and she certainly didn't like being touched. The wildness and fear from times past, when she was locked away in the church unseen all curdled up inside of her and came out in a desperate attempt to lash out at anything that dare come near her-
and she bit at his hand, and bit hard.

[Lion]

A bite that broke skin and made Lucian wince. He yelped, retracting his hand and glowered at her. "You bit me. Like an animal," he hissed and his scowl turned into a grin, as he brought his hand to his lips and licked the blood away. The taste was exhilarating.

He still turned his hand up and slapped her hard across the face. "How dare you strike a servant of God," he growled and turned the same hand back across her face the other way.

[visualspice]

The slaps rung  clear through her ears but only forced her to lash out further, screaming, "You're the only animal here! You and your corrupt visions of the church."

[Lion]

Lucian grinned at her screams. Her resistance was so cute, it would be such a shame that it would be wasted. She would have made a good plaything for a while. Lucian would enjoy peeling her away one layer at a time.

Stepping forth, he reached down and let his left index finger play at the skin between her breasts. "You're a corpse, aren't you?" he said quietly. "The way you react so vehemently to my many truths. You don't want to be cared for by the church. Tell me why."

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She tried to jerk back at his touch, but she was chained too tight. She settled for baring her teeth at him while looking at him through a ragged curtain of her dark hair.

"Why would I care to tell you anything?"

[Lion]

"Because Mercuxio is going to be skinned alive as we speak, if you don't," Lucian purred and gripped her face with a harsh hand. "Tell me why you hate the Church. TELL ME!"