Selene's back lay against the cold surface of a roof. Her wings lay limp spread out her sides as if exhausted. She wasn't actually exhausted physically such a thing was impossible. No she was exhausted mentally. It didn't matter how much she searched she couldn't find any suitable replacement. She was beginning to wonder if there weren't any suitable replacements out there. If she would be cursed to live forever. No what was she thinking one would show up eventually no matter what. The problem was finding one. Maybe she could take control of a king and use him and his kingdom to search for her replacement. That would be a lot easier then searching herself. If they stood in the way of her goal then she didn't care who she manipulated. She was so sick and tired of living.
This particular night, Smed found himself out on the town in Zantaric. Although it was quite the ways away from his usual stomping ground of Serendipity, he was here on business. What kind of buisness? The kind of the business that would help him burn Arca to the ground.
He was with a small gang of his underlings. Nine or so other goblins, each wearing a hodgepodge suit of armor, designed to look flimsy but provide unexpected levels of protection. Each goblin wielded crude, horrible looking weapons. Some of them weren't even weapons. Some goblins wielded items like fireplace pokers or bear traps at the ends of poles.
Cackling and chatting amongst themselves in Goblin, they passed under the roof Selene was resting on, not yet aware of her presence.
Until...
Smed stopped the group holding a little clawed hand up. The goblins all stopped, and looked towards their leader to see what was up. Smed took a few quick sniffs of the air. The demon inside of him spoke up, his voice echoing around in his head.
There's something nearby, Smed. Something...Holy...Delectable...
"Somethin' sweet sittin' around here," He said out loud.
Selene heard a voice that didn't sound very human. In fact it sounded like a goblin. While the fallen angel usually payed no attention to such mundane affairs she was board at the moment and when a goblin was in a civilized settlement entertainment was sure to come.
Being lazy Selene attempted to roll on her stomach over her own wing which proved very painful. "Laziness brings only pain. I should make that a proverb." She said before properly getting up only to lay down on her stomach supporting her upper body with her elbows and arms to the roof. Folding her wings in Selene crawled to the edge of the roof and peered down. "What do you know a group of goblins. This is sure to turn out very entertaining" Selene thought to herself.
The sound of the roofing creaking under Selene had the ears of the goblins below her perking upwards, and Smed was the first to glance up. The others soon followed, until ten pairs of beady little eyes were all fixated on her.
"What's she lookin' at?" One of the goblins whispered, and the others shrugged. Smed silenced them with a wave of his hand, and he peered up at Selene. Then, he smiled. A wicked, toothy smile, showing his rows of gnarled, snaggly teeth.
"You lookin' at something, Sweetness?" He asked.
"Oh well your perceptive. Carry on don't mind me." She said making a shooing motion with her hand.
Smed wrinkled his nose, and the goblins around him all fell silent.
"I can mind you as much as I like, Sweetness!" He snarled. He ought to teach her a lesson, talking to him like that. In fact, that was exactly what he was going to do!
"Mind if we join you up there?" He asked, a smile on his face as he motioned for his goblins to start climbing up the building.
Selene was right she was already entertained. The goblins started climbing up the building on their way to her. Selene stood up and jumped off the roof spreading her wings and flapping to the roof of another nearby building. "Do deh wittle goblins want to play tag?" Selene asked in the most playful tone she could muster. She probably didn't pull it off very well but either way she was sure to get some sort of reaction from them.
"Oh, Sweetness' got wings, don't she?" Smed asked rhetorically when he reached the top of the roof.
His eyes suddenly started glowing red, and a pair of small, black wings burst from his back, along with a small little devil tail.
"Yes, I do want to play tag!" He said, and he surged forwards on his wings, making a direct beeline for Selene as he drew his two weapons.
Selene blinked in surprise. Selene had never been much of a true angel for justice or whatever nonsense and even though she had never knowingly come in contact with one before she knew that there was something demonly going on here. Not that Selene had anything against demons. Though what was suppose to be entertainment quickly might have turned into something that would cause her a lot of pain. Concentrating Selene reached out to the winged goblin's mind and attempted to manipulate his mind to ignore her as if she wasn't there. Though to Selene it wasn't just an attempt. Her mental powers have always worked 100% perfectly no matter the target and no matter whatever mental barriers they put up.
Smed's mind was a jumbled, horrid place. Not only was he seeing her, but he was smelling, hearing...and it was all mixed up in a horribly convoluted way. Smed's was the mind of a madman, nigh impossible to read.
On top of that, there was a secondary force in his head, something she couldn't see or feel. As quickly as she did damage, it was repaired.
Smed wasn't deterred. Shit, he didn't even notice what was going on in his head! His course didn't change, and he was still headed directly for Selene, intent on hitting her in the knee with Anklesnagger.
Selene could read anythings mind however the tampering she was doing was being repaired to its original state somehow. Even if someone healed at an incredible rate it wasn't like she was damaging his brain just tampering it.
Even as an immortal with powers she thought unstoppable Selene still knew fear, but it was only fear of being forced to live forever unable to die. Today though she experienced a new fear, fear of the pain to come. Though she was immortal she still felt physical pain and it was not pleasant at all.
Jumping into the air Selene took off attempting to out fly the demon goblin. Her only concern now was getting away. Her only defense had been her mental powers and they never failed her before, so why fail her now? It didn't make any sense.
Smed saw Selene take off in front of him, and happily, he gave chase. From behind, his underlings cheered him on as they chased after the two of them, eager for him to bring a new plaything back for them.
Gagging as if he was choking on something, Smed hurled a stream of fire out of his mouth and towards Selene, intent on catching her wings on fire and bringing her back down to the ground.
The terrified angel heard her pursuer seem to gag on something. Maybe he accidentally swallowed a bug and would slow down a bit. Nope, flames licked her right wing the heat was intense. In an effort to escape the flame being hurled at her Selene pulled her wings in and fell into a dive. A few of her feathers that had caught fire but the small flame was put out by the wind rushing past it.
Selene was not making any head way in escaping her dive would allow her only a short moment of relief. Selene decided to do something she would have never considered just an hour earlier. She dived towards a group of people in the village. She hoped they would rescue her from her assailant. Straining her wings Selene spread her wings at the last moment and did a few circles nearly touching the ground to kill speed before landing. The people that were there though ended up quickly clearing out, she had startled them. "No wait I need help!" She begged. Selene thought about forcing them to help her but she couldn't concentrate to do it from a distance and didn't have the time to physically touch them. As the demon goblin descended Selene attempted talking her way out of it. "Hey sorry for calling you little earlier and spying on you, promise not to do it again I swear just let me go." Her voice was filled with panic something very unusual for the normally emotionless women.
Smed landed just ahead of her, and he cackled. The other goblins caught up to them, and they slowly started to surround her. One of them lifted up a crossbow, and aimed it at her.
"Sorry, Sweetness, but you should've just kept your little mouth shut. Now, I'm gonna have to shut it for you!" He growled, stalking closer and closer to her with each step. His wicked looking weapons glinted in the light, and Smed licked his lips.
Suddenly, he shrieked, and charged forwards, intent on digging Anklesnagger into her leg. He was going to capture her, but first, he was going to have some fun.
It seemed the demon goblin couldn't be persuaded with words not that she expected it to but she was desperate for anything. With no other options available she continued to try and talk her way out of it. "You like money right? I can get you money lots of money, more than you've ever had." Selene said trying to buy her way out. It wasn't a bluff she really could supply them with a hefty sum of money. It would really be no problem at all. It didn't seem to sway the demon goblin at all though as he charged right for her shrieking. Selene swiftly jumped out of the way out of reach. She might now be particularly strong but she was amazingly agile. She still was encircled though. "Come on there must be something I can give you?" Selene kept her wings as close as possible to her body. She didn't want to make herself an easier target.
Smed stopped, and turned to face her, smiling madly. "Yeah, there is something. You can give up!" He cackled, and the crossbow goblin, (who'd been keeping aim this whole time) fired at her back, intent on skewering one of her wings and pinning it to her back, since she was keeping them so close.
After that, Smed came at her again, and tried to hit her leg with Anklesnagger again.
Selene was revealed when the demon goblin said there was something, but her hopes were crushed when that something turned out to just be giving up. Without anytime to respond or do anything a bolt was shot right into her back successfully pinning her left wing. The momentum from the strike threw her on her face screaming in agony. Her wings were already particularly sensitive and the bolt went right through it and if that wasn't enough it dug into her back too. The goblin demon seemed intent to dig his wretched weapon into her leg. Selene could do nothing but scream on cry on the ground as pain overwhelmed her senses.
Smed left Anklesnagger stuck to her leg, where he'd struck her, and slowly walked over to her head. He stooped down, and grabbed her hair, pulling her head up and forcing her to look at him.
"Well well, boys. Looks like we've got ourselves a new Pigeon to play with..." He sneered, before slamming her face back down on the cobblestones.
Selene wanted to beg them to stop that they had their revenge but the intense pain clouded her mind. She couldn't do anything other than scream and cry.
"Spit it out, Sweetness..." Smed growled, pulling her head back up.
"Tell me you're sorry, and I might let you live past tonight..."
Selene let out a strange sound that was the combination of crying and laughing. "You can't kill me. I can't even kill myself."
Suddenly, and most likely quite contrary to what Selene was hoping, Smed's face lit up into a sickening, twisted smile.
"So you're saying, if I put a dagger through your skull, you wouldn't die?" He asked, and he pulled her head up by the hair even higher. He laid the tip of Footcleaver against her throat, smiling.
To Selene's horror what she said made her circumstances worse. She felt the cold metal touch her throat. Through the pain and painfully awkward position Selene struggled to speak. "Please no, I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
Smed continued to hold her up, silently contemplating his choices. He eagerly listened to her beg, absorbing each word with an evil, twisted gusto.
"Ya picked the wrong goblin to ask for forgiveness. I like the way you sing, Pigeon." He snarled.
After he finished speaking, he drew Footcleaver back, and thrust it forwards to stab her in the throat.
Physically Selene was a bit of an oddity. Even though she was immortal she still felt pain. Though she didn't really need to breath she felt the need to and though her muscles never grew tired she still felt fatigue from using them. When the goblin stuck the sword through her neck and the blood filler her lungs she felt that panic of being unable to breath. Combined with the pain her brain was starting to slip. She could no longer scream for help. The only way she could express her pain was through the expression and waterfalls on her face. Despite the situation Selene continued to hold on to conscious which threatened to slip away at any moment.
Smed held Footcleaver in her throat, watching her expressions with excited glee. Every little gasp for air, or tear down her face was a new source of happiness for Smed. Truly, he felt like he could watch this fragile little angle bleed.
He pulled Footcleaver out of her neck so it would bleed more freely. Slowly, he raised the pommel of Footcleaver, and he brought it down on her head, intent on knocking her out.
The goblin pulled the sword out from her neck. Still she couldn't breath as all her airways were filling with blood. Thankfully the pain didn't last much longer as the goblin hit her atop the head with the blunt side of one of his weapons. Too bad the lack of consciousness wouldn't last forever.
When Selene woke up, she'd find herself in quite the troubling situation.
The first thing she'd notice (before even her vision returned) was the air. It was stuffy, thick. Almost as if she was in a cave. It also smelled like a subtle combination of meat and goblin.
After her eyes adjusted, she'd see that she was in a tent, and the ground beneath her was rough, yet somewhat smooth-over stone. Any attempt to move would reveal that she was shackled to an iron post in the ground by her neck, ankles, and wrists.
Her body would be sore, covered in bruises and scarred over cuts that were't on her before she fell unconscious. She was spattered all over with a dried layer of her own blood, indicating it'd been quite some time since she'd been captured.
Facing away from her, seated at a goblin-sized table, was Smed. It looked like he was busy writing something down.
Selene slowly awoke to an awful stench. The next thing she noticed was how sore her whole body felt. In generally she just felt very icky. What she wouldn't give for a bath. Opening her eyes the first thing she noticed was the goblin in front of her. With that she remembered all that had happened. Maybe now she could get away while he was distracted. Selene tried to move only to fine herself bound in nearly every way to a cold post of some sort. Oddly enough though her wings were free not that there was a lot she could do with them. Still having something to stretch felt nice.
Selene examined her surroundings and then herself to the best of her ability. She'd been out awhile. What did they do keep hitting her head to make sure she stayed knocked out. At least she could breath now which meant the wound through her neck was already healed. Though there were some new wounds around her that she didn't remember witnessing and she thanked her lucky stars for that.
Selene had a number of questions for the goblin but chose to keep her mouth shut. It wasn't worth the pain that could result. Though there was one she couldn't help but ask. "Don't you get bored of playing with the same thing over and over again. What are you going to do when you grow tired of me?" Selene asked the wretched goblin.
Smed's little ears perked up as Selene's chains jangled about, easily giving away her movements. He turned his head to look at her with a sidelong glance. At her question, he laughed, and he laughed a lot.
"Oh, Pigeon. You poor, misguided girl..." He snarled, hopping off of his chair and approaching her. Pulling on a rope, he tightened the chains, forcing Selene down to her knees. "You're everything I ever wanted! I slashed that pretty little throat of yours, watched you bleed and bleed and bleed. You never died, just as you said. We're going to have so much fun together, Pigeon..."
Selene didn't understand her new nickname pigeon. If the feathers of her wings were white she'd understand it but they weren't they were black. Maybe it was just the mere fact that she was an angel.
Selene was forced to her knees just before the spawn of evil itself gave her the news that she was never getting out of here. Selene struggled from her binding as best she could flailing about so hard she was cutting her own skin. The only significant movement she made was with her large wings which flapped wildly. Eventually the pain and exhaustion got to her and she gave up. Was she going to have to bear this torture till this devil goblin died.
Smed watched her flail against her bonds, patiently waiting for her to give up.
Once she was done, he walked up to her. Since she was on her knees, her head was level with Smed's, and he took her chin up in a little clawed hand of his. He turned her head, studying the face that he'd get to see twisted in new and wonderful ways.
"So, what's your name, Pigeon? Must be something pretty, seeing as how you're an angel and such."
Her captor took her chin in his hands and examined her face as if he didn't know it well already. He asked Selene for her name. Fearing what he would do to her if she refused to tell him she of course replied. "Selene." She said. Within the safety of her own head she swore if she got out of this she was going to erase her memories. It was better than living a meaningless and miserable life. Maybe then she could have a brief amount of happiness and when all she knows is killed by time she'll erase her own memories again. It was like a pseudo death.
"Selene," Smed repeated, before he smiled.
"That's a real pretty name. Shame you won't be usin' it much. Pigeon's your new name. Say it a few times, get acquainted with it."
"Pidgeon." Selene said with a bowed head in shame. This goblin was torturing her and stripping her of her of every thing she had. Even her name was being taken from her.
"Isn't Pigeon such a lovely name? Rolls off the tongue real well."
Suddenly, he grabbed her hair really roughly, and pulled her head forwards so he could growl into her ear.
"This is your chance to get off on the right foot with me. Start stripping down to your smallclothes. I've gotta search you."
"Thats a little hard to do all shackled up like this." Was Selene's only response.
Smed was silent for a few moments, before he rocked her abdomen with a hateful punch. After that, he unlocked the chains around her wrists.
"You best start quick, before I get bored. You don't want me to get bored."