We have to WALK? (DaftDeviant)

[Anonymous]

The painting rippled, like a pool of water. The rippliing grew more and more intense, as if a strong wind was blowing into the black sea and then--somewhat without warning--a pair of very long arms reached out, grabbing Crimson and--if she didn't manage to do anything else--April as well.

The hands then would proceed to pull them both into the painting. They plunge down into a deep watery tunnel of darkness, with gurgled and distorted noise echoing around them, and the whole world would begin to shake and shudder before, with a loud POP! both of them would be launched free of the painting and find themselves...

In the midst of what looked like a study. Crowley sat in a corner, examining a vial of yellow liquid through a magnifying glass, muttering to himself in annoyance--not noticing or not caring of their arrival.

[Anonymous]

April jumped, but by now no screams came from her, as the arms grabbed both her and Crimson. She tightly shut her eyes as they were dragged through darkness, before the loud Pop! reached her ears, and she stumbled to a stand in the middle of a study, only to see Crowly sitting there with a vial.

“Crowly! Where have you been?� She asked, staring at him in disbelief. How could he not have felt the rumbles and shakes of his own home? “There’s a huge…something beneath your house!� This man was starting to frustrate her, and frustration ended in yelling for April.

“And…and Crimson can’t feel his legs!� She added on as well, staring at Crowly with icy eyes, blonde hair waving slightly from either side of her face. She wanted to go home, sleep in a bed, and wake up and have this all be a terrible nightmare. But, she didn’t have a home, or a bed, so she’d have to settle for yelling at Crowly.

[Anonymous]

"A staunch reason why I havn't remarried is because of the incessant noise you women make. Honestly, you just shout and shout and shout, and don't really accomplish much, now do you?"

He looked up at her with a look of almost disdain.

"Your outbursts are rather obnoxious. Of course I have noticed that we are under attack--what attacks us, I'm unsure. I'd detected this earlier, but I'd merely thought it was a stray Spawn. Now, I fear that we may be dealing with..."

He pursed his lips.

"No. Not them either. This was sent here by Arca. By whatever...or whoever...unleashed the virus. Interesting how BELIAL has changed in these years. Silence for a millenia--lucky I was prepared. Nonetheless, I suppose it will be a bother if it destroys my house. Where is Simon?"

[Anonymous]

April firmly pressed her lips together as she heard Crowly, and angrily crossed her arms over her chest, but she said nothing more after his comment. She didn’t really find herself obnoxious. Upset, scared, tired, and angry, yes, but obnoxious? Never. And now Crowly didn’t know what was attacking the house. Her day was getting so much better.

At his question about Simon’s whereabouts, April turned to look towards anything but Crowly or Crimson. Her and Simon wouldn’t be considered friends, but he had helped so much, and he really was a nice fellow. She hated to see him gone, hated to see that so much death and chaos was caused by all of this.

“He, Simon, well, he…he jumped down after it to give me and Crimson some time to find you.� She finally said, playing with a strand of hair as she spoke, focusing most of her attention on that blonde chunk in her fingers.

[Anonymous]

"Jumped? Jumped where--oh no bother. The man is going to get himself killed one of these days."

The building suddenly shuddered again, hard. Books fell from their shelves, the wooden desk decorating the center of the room cracked slightly and slid into the wall. Crowley stood, unbothered by the shuddering, squinting at the vial. He smiled oddly, as if he saw something he liked, and quickly pocketed it.

"Well, I suppose we have to get rid of the beastie, now don'w e?"

[Anonymous]

April sighed as she heard Crowly. If only the man knew the truth of his statement. She jumped as some of the books fell and the building shook once more. She watched as Crowly pocketed the vial, and blinked as she heard him, before giving a tired nod.

“I suppose we’ll have to.� She threw her arms up. “What exactly are we going to do to be rid of this beast?� She asked, once more folding her arms across her chest, only jumping every now and then if a book fell, or something else fell. If one thing had happened throughout her adventure, it would be that she had become less jumpy and paranoid, and she’d held her stomach through the entire ordeal. It was an accomplishment for her at least.

"And what are we going to do with Crimson? He's gone and lost all feeling in his legs." She asked the old man, waiting with patience for an answer.

[Anonymous]

"Has he? Sucks to be him."

Crowley walked over to the wall, tracing a series of strange and intricate symbols into the white walls. The symbols glowed eerily, pulsing with a beautiful, yet deadly-looking light. The room began to pulse and change, and a doorway opened up, with a stairway leading into darkness.

"Go down there. That stairway will take you to Serendipity Castle. News of Arca's destruction is likely to have been bottled up by the government--you'd best petition the King to help you. Crimson's curse is a deep one--in a few days, with some loving, tender care, I imagine he'll be walking again. You should rest a few days before talking to the king."

He handed her a small diamond. It glittered eerily in the dim light.

"This should be worth enough to take care of money problems. Off you go! Try not to die!"

[Anonymous]

April was sure she would start bleeding by how hard she had her teeth clamped down on her tongue. She actually winced once or twice from the hold she had to keep on her tongue to keep from saying anything to Crowly. She was able to release the pink muscle when she saw him draw the signs, and heard his instructions to her.

“Okay.� She said, taking the jewel from him, before blinking toward him, tilting her head to the side.

“Am I resting before I’m going then? If so, where do you suggest we stay? This isn’t exactly the safest place to be and rest up.� She told Crowly, holding the diamond within her fingers as she looked to the old man. She’d have no problem at least trying to talk to the king, but she wasn’t exactly dressed to impress, Crimson couldn’t walk, and she was exhausted. But, this place did have a huge monster beneath it.

[Anonymous]

"Rest in town, if you would please. I find that guests only cause me undue trouble."

He waved his hand dismissivly at the door, already busing himself with something else, the building continuing to shudder.

"I swear, so much left to do...go on, get out of here. Crimson's unconcious again too--he's likely dehydrated. Best get some food while you're out. Cheerio!"

[Anonymous]

April continued to clutch the rock as she sighed, moving towards the unconscious Crimson. She once again thanked whatever gods were listening that he was so light, or, well, light enough for her to carry.

“Thank you ever so much for your help, dear Crowly.� She replied back to him in a sweet voice, but sarcasm dripped from each word as she moved to the door, and out into Serendipity. She’d been here many times before, so she knew her way around.

After finding a suitable place in town, she had to give the man a ring she had one, seeing as how the only bit of value she had was the diamond she would be using to persuade the king with. The innkeeper handed her a key, and she slowly made her way up the stairs, down to the room. After a bit of maneuvering with Crimson, and unlocking, she opened it into a relatively clean room. Without taking a minute to look around, she placed Crimson on the bed and rang for a maid, or anyone who would come to the room. When the young girl came she asked for a pitcher of water. When it came, she thanked the girl and set it on the only table within the room. She filled the glass that came with the pitcher, and brought it over to Crimson, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Crimson, you’ve got to wake up and drink some of this. I don’t want you choking and dying if I try to do it while you’re out.� She sighed, pressing her hand to her forehead. If he didn’t wake up, she’d move to try and lift his head and coax some of the water into his mouth.

[Anonymous]

(Shall we move this over to Serendipity, milady?  :twisted:  :) )

[Anonymous]

((That would make sense. You can go ahead and make the post  :D ))