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The Wings Of Sanity [Cinnabar]

Started by Codex, January 15, 2017, 09:57:52 AM

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Codex

The sun shone high in the sky as the snow lightly fell between the grey clouds overhead. Cyn, the time mage, would be slowly lumbering her way through the thick snow in a long furred coat and hood. Underneath the hood, her face was huddled by the shadow, but one could easily make out the large white eye patch that covered the girl's left eye. She seemed cold and uncomfortable as she trudged up the mountain slope, but she was determined to be sure. She had traveled too far to give up now. Her magic had told her of a certain being within these mountains that could suite her needs greatly. All that was left for her to convince him to see her ways. It'd be nearly a week now since Cyn had recruited three others to her cause, but the team wasn't completed yet. No... There was still one more she needed. Someone with the expertise she desired... And someone considerably large and powerful... A dragon would indeed make a valuable ally.

Cyn finally got to the top of the slope, where she was met the massive opening to a dark cave. Smirking under her hood, she silently walked inside, welcoming the warmer air. The girl would remove her hood to reveal her long raven colored hair and crimson eye, while her left one was still covered by an eye patch. Hopefully the beast was home. It'd be a shame if Cyn came all this way to be met with silence. However, the dark was too vast for the girl to see the entire contents of the cave.

She'd simply stand there with a dark grin, before calling out to the shadows. "Anyone home?"

Bunbun

...A visitor. It had been quite a while since he'd had one of those. Not that he was complaining- it gave him plenty of time to focus on his research- but it didn't hurt to interact with someone every now and then, especially if they happened to possess magical talents. If they didn't, well... at least he wouldn't have to go off hunting for something to eat.

The dragon released his telekinetic grip on the artifacts and tools he had been working with, allowing them to fall to the ground with a noticeable clatter. Slowly, he turned around to face the mouth of the cave, spotting the silhouette of his new guest standing at the entrance. Judging from what he could see and what he'd heard so far, the person was a far cry from the typical types who made their way up to his cave. Usually, he'd be dealing with muscular, armour-clad dolts who mistakenly thought they could make it big by slaying dragons. This girl seemed nothing of the sort, though entering a dragon's lair without the intention of killing it was arguably just as idiotic.

"...My, my. Wandering around a place like this by yourself, are you? Your parents must be worried sick about you, young lady."

Galvan stepped forward, allowing the light of day to reveal the entirety of his form. He continued to close the distance, eventually leaning in to the point where he was obnoxiously close. There was a short pause as he scanned the girl's body, looking for any distinguishable features that could reveal more information about her. He made note of her wicked smile and her eye patch- obviously, something had happened to her eye and to her mind, but it was too early to conclude whether they were both the result of the same incident. Blowing a cloud of smoke from his nostrils, the dragon finally stepped back to a more comfortable distance.

"Well? What exactly motivates a little girl to enter the lair of a big, bad dragon? You got a death wish or something?"

As he spoke, the faint sounds of sliding metal and ruffling paper could be heard in the background.

Codex

There was silence for a few moments, but Cyn could now sense her presence had disturbed something within the black... Something powerful. It wouldn't be long now until the voice called from the shadows in response to Cyn's intrusion. Like she had expected, her look had made the beast assume she was helpless in some way. Judging by his first remark. That's when he finally revealed himself in all of his glory... Odd. Cyn wasn't expecting feathers.

"Oh I'm so glad you're here mr. dragon!" She began to say, clapping her hands together like an excited child. A bright smile on her face. "I've been looking for someone like you for a loooonnngggg time!" As the dragon blew a cloud of smoke in her face, Cyn simply coughed a few times, waving the fumes from her face.

She'd giggle, and pat the beast's nose. "You see, I really hope I didn't bother you sir! Me and my friends would love it if you could participate in a little.." She hesitated, not sure exactly how to put it. "Err. Social Experiment! Yes! That's the one." She'd say. It was obvious by  now there was no sense of fear in Cyn. An onlooker would either classify her as completely insane, or just stupid. Unsurprising, there was an answer to that question.

"I've been told you like to experiment as well! Then you'd absolutely LoooooooOOOooove the little fun I have planned!" She'd bow in front of the beast. "My name is Cyn. At your service feathered drake!"

Bunbun

Galvan frowned a little, truthfully a little disappointed that the girl didn't seem at all afraid of him. He was trying to get a read on her, searching for what made her tick, but she was clearly different than anyone he'd met before. Apparently, his tactics weren't too effective when used on someone who was out of their mind, which this girl undoubtedly was. After all, stupidity only got a person so far before their natural response took over to keep them out of danger. Whoever she was, whatever she was, she'd passed that point a long time ago.

His eyes narrowed when the girl reached out to his nose, petting him like he was some kind of household pet. He wasn't, of course, and if he were any other dragon then he very well might have bitten her hand clean off. Further proof that she wasn't exactly right in the head, he supposed, but that didn't make being treated in such a fashion any less demeaning. Giving an indignant snort, the dragon slowly slid his head away from the girl's hand.

"You should really watch where you put that hand, if you don't want to lose it. Lots of things tend to go missing around here."

He issued a warning, but he wasn't really expecting the girl to heed it. Something about the way she conducted herself made it seem like she knew that he didn't plan on killing her, like she knew exactly what to say in order to have this exchange turn out in her favour, and it frustrated him to no end. Perhaps, though, she deserved more credit than he'd given her originally. She'd already survived longer than any of the so-called dragonslayers he'd previously had this displeasure of dealing with.

"Friends? Somehow, I find that one a little hard to believe. As for a 'social experiment', though... I have to say, I'm intrigued. Not entirely sure how you learned about my experiments, though..."

His eyes narrowed again, this time more out of suspicion than anything else. Clearly, this girl... Cyn... knew a lot more than she was letting on, so scaring her off at this point would be a shame.

"...But you really are a rude little girl, aren't you? My name isn't 'feathered drake'. Surely you should know that."

Codex

"My apologies Galvan, I meant no disrespect." She smiled standing straight again. Cyn would continue to grin at the great beast before her, before finally speaking again, addressing his concerns. "My sources spread wide my friend, and your profession is interesting to someone such as myself!" She'd pat a hand on her chest. "I couldn't even begin to fathom how much more disrespect would RADIATE off of me if I were to be so bold and approach a dragon like yourself with no prior knowledge of your little... Err... Activites." She said.

Cyn would now begin to walk around the dragon, inviting herself into the beast's home. She would gaze up at him awe, admiring his form. "You see mr. Dragon... I have need of someone with your expertise... And I promise to pay you with your desires... Perhaps even more. A second chance." She'd say

"Experimentation is so much fun, but sadly I lack the skill and time to perform my observations..." She frowned. "After all, time is a brutal aspect of this world..."

Bunbun

So, the girl did know his name. That was interesting, to say the least; while it wasn't inconceivable that some people might know of his research, he was fairly certain that he'd never divulged his name to anyone. Well, anyone that was still alive, anyway. Perhaps he'd have to think about relocating at some point; the last thing he needed was someone who actually held power finding him out and sending a damn army up to his cave. Or, maybe, the girl really did have a fair amount of influence, in which case cooperating with her might not be a bad idea. Which one was the correct choice? Hell if he knew; if there was one benefit to being insane, it was that you were exceedingly hard to read.

"...Let's just be blunt, shall we? Yes, I conduct research. Yes, said research sometimes involves experimenting on people. No, said people do not usually survive said experiments. That's simply what's necessary in order to make progress."

As Cyn wandered a little deeper into the cave, she might notice a few of Galvan's works. Artifacts of all shapes and sizes lined the walls, the only noticeable similarity between them being that they were all at least partially made of metal. A few of them were incredibly detailed, surprisingly intricate considering the size of their creator. Plenty of notes were also scattered around, borderline impossible to read due to being written in draconic script with some... less than stellar handwriting.

Meanwhile, Galvan silently considered the girl's words as she made her way past him. A 'second chance' didn't interest him in the slightest, as he hadn't made any significant choices that he ended up regretting- not enough to make him want to cooperate with a random stranger, anyways. As for something he desired... now, that was something he could get behind.

"You make a tempting offer, if you are indeed telling the truth, but I'd have to be as crazy as you are to trust someone who offers the impossible. Especially when that person is currently invading my property. And besides, surely there's a few mad scientists out there who'd be more than willing to help you. Y'know, ones that aren't liable to kill you at a moment's notice."

Codex

At the dragon's next words, Cyn's frown suddenly, almost instantly shot into a surprised, excited grin. Staring wide eyed up at the dragon with a very happy expression. It was true, his words had indeed caught her attention. This is exactly what she had been hoping for. Sure, Cyn's magic could've carried her this information, like it had, but for some reason she always felt more joy when people confirmed it themselves. She'd clap her hands.

"Oh! Oh! I'm so happy you do the work you do mr. Dragon!" She'd say admiring the pieces spread out among the cave. "You have no idea how telling this is... And how rewarding it will be for you." She said, staring up at a larger piece. Because Cyn was completely insane, many people could never tell weather or not she was ever telling the truth. She was extremely hard to read by everyone around. But the fact was she was telling the truth. This dragon, Galvan, she had been looking forward to meeting for a very long time now. And he was becoming interested in the offer Cyn had yet to even explain the details of yet...

At his final statement, Cyn would simply giggle, still staring at a piece of art, with her back towards the beast. She wouldn't say anything, but simply lower her head into her hands and giggle again. Her hands carefully removing the eye patch around her left eye, revealing an ominous yellow glow... She would slowly turn to the dragon with a look of insanity, her golden clock eye ticking silently. "But none are like you, my friend! It was personal preference that made me sought you out... And I hope you have desires. After all, magic is such a wonderful thing..."

Bunbun

Galvan only frowned as he watched Cyn clap her hands like an excited child. He wasn't at all used to people behaving this way around him; they'd usually try to chop his head off, or burst into tears after a particularly intense experiment, or run away as fast as their legs could carry them. Not so with this girl- she seemed genuinely happy to have come across him, which was a huge deviation from the norm. It was a nice change of pace to be dealing with someone who wasn't incredibly noisy for once, but the fact that he couldn't control her like he did the others made him a little ticked off.

"Yeah, yeah, that's all well and good. But, let's be honest, you know I don't trust you in the slightest. Surely you didn't come all the way out here just to show me some parlour tricks and just expect me to believe that you're some kind of grand and powerful being... and for god's sake, would it hurt to use my name? It's not like you have an excuse."

The girl's words remained as ambiguous as ever, which was beginning to wear on the dragon's patience. He needed more information from her, but she simply danced around his questions without a care in the world. Not that it mattered too much- if Cyn didn't want to give out information willingly, then he'd be more than happy to take it forcefully. There were quite a few devices lying around which he could use to achieve that.

When Cyn finally turned around and revealed her eye to him, Galvan gave a twisted grin. This was something that he was sincerely interested in, a type of mechanism that even he was unfamiliar with. It appeared to be some sort of clock, but it functioned in harmony with the rest of the girl's body. The combination of machinery with living organisms was something that he'd put a lot of time into studying, and the fact that someone else had apparently beaten him to it made him a little jealous.

"...holy shit. Whoever managed to pull that off is a real piece of work, I'll tell you that. Not even I've been able to make that work yet. Maybe I could learn a thing or two by dissecting it, hmm?"

Codex

Cyn would continue to stare at the beast as he admired her new form. The golden clock would tick silently on her eye, taking up the entire iris. The pupil being nothing more then the center of the clock itself. With his next words, Cyn would simply chuckle and look down at her hand. A yellow light began to dance through her fingers.

"Perhaps... But maybe I can show you things you never thought were possible. And show you how to utilize these new found laws of science..." She said, clutching her fist so that the light died out. She turned back up to the dragon with her usual grin and would begin walking closer to him. "Me and my friends are on a quest, you see?" She would begin, putting her arms behind her back. "We want to make this world a better place. But as you well know, it's impossible to clean this planet of the infection that has spread through it." She'd say. "Or... It was." Cyn would giggle.

Suddenly the girl flashed away in a yellow glow! Within the second, she'd reappear behind the large beast, sitting on top of one of his experiments with her legs crossed. Smiling at the dragon. "I've heard of the little experiments you've been doing with these 'play things.' Why not step up your game for a greater purpose?" She'd say. Cyn would wave a hand in the air, and with it a yellow mist would manifest in a ball to form what seemed like an image. The image depicted a golden clock. "I can show you the way, but i'll need your help. With me, I can provide the tools you need, and the people too! And soon..." The clock in the image would begin to count backwards rather then forwards. Suddenly the mist would turn red and disappear as Cyn's voice got darker and she looked downwards. "You can have the blank canvas all to yourself. A chance to rewrite the laws of your science. No more need for constant experimentation... You will know everything there is to know."

She'd look back up at him, her eye glowing brighter then before. "Aye?"

Bunbun

Galvan tensed up slightly as he watched the girl's eye light up, not entirely sure what to make of it. Noticing the soft glow swirling around Cyn's fingertips, he silently pressed his front claws against the ground. This caused them to become coated with a black liquid- a toxin, one that would almost assuredly knock out a person of this size in no time. It was subtle enough of an action that it would probably go unnoticed, especially since the liquid matched the colour of his claws. He typically only used his poison on people he planned on studying, but he wouldn't refrain from using it if Cyn stepped out of line. After all, it never hurt to have more test subjects.

However, his precautionary measures proved to be unnecessary as Cyn simply teleported away instead of performing an attack. She'd apparently decided that it was a good idea to take a seat on top of one of his inventions; quite the strange sight, considering that most people with any amount of magical talent wouldn't want to be anywhere near it... if they knew what it actually did, at least. In any case, it wasn't her actions that he was particularly interested in at the moment- it was her words. She made a good case in that Galvan couldn't achieve everything he wanted to, for several reasons. There was only so much he could accomplish by himself; in particular, creating larger inventions required resources and manpower that he simply didn't have access to. There was that and... well, people didn't tend to react well when they leaned about the fates of his experiments.

"You're right about one thing: there's certainly something wrong with the world right now. People are more concerned about their precious feelings and emotions then they are about actually making progress. They're so afraid of change that they'd rather let their pitiful lives waste away achieving nothing then do what is necessary to develop their talents. So much wasted potential, it's a damn shame."

He paused for a second, before returning Cyn's grin and giving a light chuckle.

"...To be honest, though, a lot of people can't even be trusted with their full potential. So many of them let the feeling of power go to their heads, then they turn around and waste it by doing something incredibly stupid. I mean, look at the Fell... not only did someone manage to squander possibly the strongest source of magic on the planet, but they also blew an entire nation off of the map. The sheer stupidity of humanity never ceases to amaze me."

Another pause. The dragon stared at the girl's clock eye for what seemed like an eternity, completely unresponsive as he mulled over several thoughts in his head. Eventually, he broke eye contact as he looked deeper into the cave, telepathically retrieving a few notes and shuffling them around in front of his face. The shuffling came to a halt as an empty page made its way to the front, and Galvan gave a sudden glance towards Cyn.

"...aye. What exactly did you have in mind?"

Codex

Of course, Cyn was very unique as far as most mages were. Her magic allowed her precognition into the near future, showing her all the possible outcomes. Because of this, she had already known about Galvan's subtle claws secreting a venom that inflicted paralysis on his victims. However, she wasn't worried he'd actually use it. In fact, it seemed as if he was only preparing for self defense. Did this dragon sense the little girl's strength? Was he truly afraid of her turning sour and attempt to end his own life? Honestly, because of her insasnity, Cyn had no idea. Perhaps the dragon was afraid of her, or simply didn't trust her enough to move freely around his home. Not that it really mattered either way. Cyn was fully prepared in case the dragon got bored of her childish demeanour and attempted to end it. After all, dragons were truly unpredictable creatures.

"Power is a relative term..." She'd chuckle. "Truly, I believe it doesn't exist. Not yet anyways. The laws of this world are what limits beings such as ourselves from our true potential. The very fabric of the universe is against all of us and I hate it!" Now she sounded angry as she stomped her feet like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Her golden eye glowing furiously as the ticking picked up speed. "But now we can control the very fabric of time and rewrite the limits to fit our benefits! The power of gods in our hands when you rip open the holes of this dimenshon and claw your way out of this hell into the heavens above! Leaving the rest to watch their resolve fade  into the shadows, and the only friends they'll have to comfort them are not the ghosts of those they could not save. But the spirits they recreate from the depths of their souls, and take back what reality stole from you from birth!" An aura exploded from her body briefly.. Her golden eye fading to a faint red color... The ticking slowing down.. She slumped to her knees breathing heavily. Looking downwards as her long black hair covered her face...

"D- Do you understand now mr. Dragon?" Her voice quivered as she sounded saddened by something. "Saving the world and changing it are one in the same..."

Bunbun

The dragon looked relatively unimpressed with Cyn's sudden outburst, having little reaction to it other than subtly moving some of his smaller inventions away from her using his telekinesis. The last thing he needed was for one of them to get damaged by someone that he probably shouldn't have even let into his home in the first place. Afterwards, he brought one of his wings close up to his head, allowing him to close his teeth around one of the feathers and pluck it out. The feather floated downwards, then proceeded to move seemingly on its own. It dipped itself into the small puddle of venom pooled around Galvan's claws, then levitated back upwards towards the blank page, beginning to write something in draconic script. He didn't bother trying to hide this; his writing was barely legible to other dragons, let alone a human.

"...so that's what this is about, huh? You want to screw around with the fabric of time, changing the very laws of the world as we know it? That kind of power... there's very few people I'd trust with something like that. And no, 'crazy teenager I met five minutes ago' is not very high up on that list. Just thought you should know."

He leaned in close once more, placing one of his claws under her chin and lifting it up so that she'd be looking at him. It wasn't intended to be a threatening gesture, though plenty of people would interpret it that way considering that it was coming from a dragon. With this girl, though, he could never be certain.

"I suppose I could make an exception just this once, if you really are telling the truth about being able to do all that. Manipulating time would open up a whole new realm of possibilities... even if it ultimately resulted in failure, it would be an interesting experiment to say the least. But, as I think we both know, I don't trust you with that in the slightest."

With that, he'd suddenly close his claw, attempting to sink his nails into the girl's throat. He gave no warning that he was going to do so- it was a test, a test to see if she really knew what was going to happen. If she did, then she should be able to teleport away, providing evidence of her influence over time in the process. If she didn't, then, well, there were plenty of other things he could do with her.

Codex

SHe'd simply chuckle at the dragon's comment. "Well, luckily your trust isn't a factor in this game... Like I said, it was personal preference that made me sought you out." She'd say, stills staring at the ground, breathing heavily as the glow in her eye would begin to reform itself. illuminating the area around her. She'd look up at the dragon with hopeful eyes as he leaned her head towards his, shortly after taking some notes on his paper about the situation.

"My friend... Failure doesn't exist. Just 2nd chances, or 3rd, or however many you want. But I will never stop until I fix my mistakes..." She said quietly smiling. However, her smile would quickly fade as the impact of his claws made their way towards her throat. But the odd thing was they didn't make contact at all. Rather, they stopped completely. Cyn would stare down at the frozen clawed hand, and slowly stand up. "Or maybe my words aren't enough to sway you." In fact, it would seem the entire body of the beast was frozen, only for a moment. Cyn would place a palm along his face.

"My dear Galvan, I can assure you no error will take place when siding with me. But I can promise you that you'll feel the side effects of not taking me seriously..." She'd wink, and he'd suddenly feel his bodily sense return to him. As if every cell in his body had frozen all at once, and suddenly released from their invisible cage. Cyn would rub her neck, subtly making sure none of his claws found their marks. "So what do you say? Help a girl out?" She'd giggle, putting her hands behind her back and swaying silently.

Bunbun

To be completely honest, Galvan had no idea how Cyn was going to react to his attack... if she was going to react at all. He had expected her to either slump over on the floor, or attempt some sort of evasive maneuver. What happened instead was not something he'd expected in the slightest. Instead of his claw closing and sinking into flesh, it simply... did nothing. It simply sat there, frozen in time, along with the rest of his body. As soon as he regained control of himself, the dragon's claw would slam into the ground, accompanied by the billowing of smoke- and even a few small flames- from his mouth. Needless to say, he was pretty pissed off, but he wasn't going to try another attack.

Just... what the hell was that? It was presumably some sort of time-based magic (at least, according to Cyn), but the sheer amount of control she had over it was beyond anything he'd seen before. Apparently she'd been telling the truth, at least the part about possessing powerful magic. Intrigued, Galvan went silent for a few moments as he re-examined the girl, idly scribbling down a few more notes. Perhaps it might be beneficial to cooperate with this girl after all. Chances were that she wasn't going to leave him alone until he agreed, and he really didn't need to waste several hours in a pointless argument with no conclusion. That didn't mean he was going to be completely obedient, though. Not by a long shot.

"...alright, fine. If you really want it that bad, then I'll cooperate with you. Let's get one thing straight, though- I don't play by anyone else's rules. Never have, and I'm certainly not planning to start now. I'm not going to be doing anything unless it's for my own benefit. And don't think threats will work on me either, since you've already made it abundantly clear that you need me. So, I'll be doing what I want, even if it's not what other people want. Understood?"

Codex

Cyn would raise her hands in the air and let out a cheerful squeal!

"Oh! Thank you Mr. Galvan sir! Your contribution to my project will help it significantly! I can't wait to get started! And trust me, I would have it no other way, regarding your preferences Heheh." She would say rather quickly and excitedly. She would skip about the cave near the entrance, and than turn back to face the beast, her yellow eye casting a much bigger glow now that it was facing the opposite direction of the light coming from the mouth of the den. "For now, you can keep going about your business. Pretty soon though, you'll have another, bigger, and better lab all for yourself! I'll notify you when my people are ready..." She said somewhat darkly.

A hand reached into the inside of her heavy coat, and she pulled out what seemed to be a large silver pocket watch. She tossed it over to him with a sly smirk. As the object bounced on the stone, it would open up so that the red clock inside was revealed. "When the hour hand reaches the 12, come fly to the Kingdom of Serendipity! I'm sure you'll know where to go from there..." She giggled.

She would bow once more, standing straight and now holding a flintlock pistol, she would raise it to the sky. "I bid you farewell now Galvan. See ya soon..." With a flash of yellow light shot from her weapon, she was gone... And the only evidence of a time mage being there in the first place was all gone as well. The feather that Galvan had taken from his wing lied still on his wing, as if it had never been taken out in the first place...

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