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Post by Guinevere on Dec 20, 2011 15:25:18 GMT -5
::Guinevere's followers from Treno were swift in their arrival in the sixth world where she and her sharpshooter ally had been waiting in Maranda to hand over their prisoner. They had been warned that they were transporting quite possibly the most wicked man in all of Gaia, and not to take him lightly, even frozen and immobile. But aside from putting him in the containment chamber where the celestial runes surrounded him amd checking in every once in awhile, there was really nothing more they felt inclined to do. They couldn't simply keep their guns trained on him all the time. There were six or so manning the ship, and the two in command were sitting in the bridge, waiting out their lengthy flight back to the ninth world::
Pilot: Quite a show our lady put on GNN don't you think?
Co-pilot: Yeah...
Pilot: Something wrong?
Co-Pilot: I'm not sure how I feel about all this. Her taking orders from the Witch's Surrogate I mean.
Pilot: They're allies. She's not taking orders at all.
Co-Pilot: If you say so. But that's not how it looked to me. What is our Lady planning to accomplish by working with her? That girl's mother nearly destroyed the eighth world. Not to mention the mess she made of our world when she was fighting The Order. Sure they helped save it, but she didn't seem to mind all the collateral damage she was causing. And that girl was with her every step of the way, taking whatever form that Witch told her to. Just plain unnatural.
Pilot: You'll recall though, it wasn't too long ago our Lady followed the Demon Witch.
Co-Pilot: That doesn't help put my mind at ease.
Pilot: Are you doubting our Lady? Need I remind you she is the reason there is no longer a class system in Treno? I will not have you questioning her judgment on my ship. She's simply doing her part for the rest of Gaia like we all should be doing. Am I understood?
Co-Pilot: ::sigh:: Yes Sir.
Pilot: Get out of my sight. Go check on the prisoner.
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August Krasnow
Determined Individual
"Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici."
Posts: 291
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Post by August Krasnow on Dec 23, 2011 3:16:53 GMT -5
Down in the hold, amongst the shadows and creeping, cool mist sloughed off the icy tomb, laid in repose August waited patiently. Despite frozen indefinitely, his face wore a smug though beaten smile. Smug pride, even in defeat, he wore it as a badge of honor. Content in the knowledge that he knew something all others didn’t. Then, something stirred, heavy footsteps approaching and a sudden flush of light from above. Though he couldn’t hear or see more than the changes in light past his tomb, he felt their presence. A small man.
The vibrations moved closer, and closer, he could nearly feel the heat from their body radiate through the frozen womb. The soft, gentle warmth of life. August tried to stir, his bindings though proved far too strong in this state. But there were other ways to reach out from the prison, more subtle and soft tentacles that could be utilized to reach into the depths of the mind of man. August knew of these ways, now was time to attempt them. With focus, he reached out to the new arrival.
”So bold – do you not know of my work? How much gall does one need to have to walk so carefree into my though, albeit, frozen midst? We're aboard some sort of vessel, yes? Where are we headed?”
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Post by Guinevere on Dec 23, 2011 13:39:07 GMT -5
::Passing by the door to the cell without a glance, The co-pilot replied vocally and quite curtly to the reply::
Co-pilot: We're heading to the White Mountain Chapel where you'll be placed in a dark hole somewhere until we figure out how to put you down like the dog you are.
::The man looked up suddenly, startled::
Co-Pilot: Wait... how did he?
::He went back to the door and peered inside. A feeling of unease as he drew nearer to the captive prompted him to unstrap the assault rifle from his back. Ever so carefully he stepped closer until he could tap the casing of ice with the barrel of his gun. He breathed a sigh of relief::
Co-Pilot: I must be hearing things.
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August Krasnow
Determined Individual
"Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici."
Posts: 291
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Post by August Krasnow on Dec 23, 2011 21:16:15 GMT -5
No reaction from the ice-man, neither flinch or shutter. Still as the grave and just as cold. Nothing to see, nothing to hear. Though when the Co-Pilot slacked his guard, breathing that misbegotten sigh of relief. A strike, a black bullet through the brain strikes the poor Co-Pilot, a crippling darkness that grows with every word built upon each other. Stacked books weighing down with ever crushing word.
”Indeed you are ‘hearing’ things.”
August’s voice reached out with icy fingers down the spine. Though his lips never moved, something was indeed alive and stirring in his warped soul.
”No? You’re not afraid of me are you? Here I am, trapped in ice and witches binds. What threat am I to you… why, I am nothing but a simple statue compared to your flesh and blood. Certainly a strong young gent such as you are not made uneasy by a harmless little voice.”
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Post by Guinevere on Dec 24, 2011 2:31:35 GMT -5
::The guard released his grip with one hand on the rifle and raked his hands through his hair as if to pull the frightful weight and that chilling voice out of his head::
Get out... Get out! GET OOOOOOUUUUUTTT!!!
::With a surge of adrenaline bursting through him, he took aim with his rifle and fired a round straight into the ice construct's chest::
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August Krasnow
Determined Individual
"Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici."
Posts: 291
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Post by August Krasnow on Dec 24, 2011 4:15:12 GMT -5
The round struck the ice with a dull crack. Cobwebs formed out from the impact, crawling out towards every edge. Beneath the frozen tomb, the body of August stirs as the grip the prison once held slowly sloughed away. His eyes shot open and through the glassy hurdle, stared down at the startled young man.
”I’m not even in your head – or could I? Certainly one cannot speak without voice. Perhaps you’re having an cerebral embolism or a cerebrovascular accident. These altered senses, your brain is on the verge of a complete failure, I can see it in your eyes, the weakness. Your heart rate must be growing ever more rabid, yes, yes, I see it, the perspiration on your skin. The prognoses isn’t good, I’m afraid.”
The ice tomb cracks more and more, frozen bits falling away and shattering upon the floor. August stirs more, his head and shoulders jar and push against his bindings.
”You should now be experiencing increased chaotic thinking with growing confusion and even a chance of anosognosia. I’m afraid there is no going back now, the next step will be a painful headache, vomiting and then-“
The ice gives way around the left hand, the witches bindings growing weak with the ice as August’s personal enchantments begin to reactivate. A red glow rises around his left wrist and through it, he moves just two fingers. He slammed his index and thumb together – a black spike, made from the darkness within man’s own heart, flies forth and strikes the poor Co-Pilot between the eyes.
“Death.”
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Post by Book of the Twilight on Dec 30, 2011 1:53:40 GMT -5
::The pilot hearing some commotion from where he had sent his partner to patrol a moment ago checked the security monitors. What he saw made him pound his fist onto the alarm button and dash for his gun. His four remaining subordinates were quick to group together. They sped through the corridor to where their prisoner had been kept::
Pilot: What... the... hell?
::All that was to be found was a puddle of water and their comrade sprawled on his back, his eyes frozen open in terror::
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August Krasnow
Determined Individual
"Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici."
Posts: 291
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Post by August Krasnow on Jan 30, 2012 20:38:06 GMT -5
(OOC: And here I nearly completely forgot about this thread.)
Unfortunate fools flocking so fruitlessly close like scared chickens surrounded by a fox lurking in the dark of the night. One fowl down, four to go. Quiet and keen, August shifted behind the crates and boxes that littered the tiny little hold, the rhythmic tapping of dripping water hiding his timed steps till he emerged behind the four.
"Excuse me gentlemen."
August's hands connected with two of their backs, striking a searing sigil upon their flesh. They could only scream as it burned through them, lighting a fire inside their bellies till they immolated from the inside and collapsed to the floor as smoldering, burning husks of flesh. The third, even before the screams of the first two could erupt from their throats, was struck down by a single shot from the co-pilot's weapon to the cranium. He was dead before he knew it. And last, the pilot who turned in time to see his subordinate drop from a round to the head opened fire at the dripping corpse of a man drawing towards him: one, two, three shots center mass and the thing refused to fall before he was upon him. A quick flash of steel and a spray of blood as a knife cut through carotid. The pilot collapsed, but still alive. August knelt beside the dying man, wiping his dagger upon his chest.
"We still have a little while before the blood loss takes your life. So, how about you tell me how to fly this thing?"
The pilot couldn't speak more then gurgling blood and quick breaths of fear and pain. August tapped the blade against the man's cheek.
"Come on now, you can speak. What, afraid of death? It's really not all that bad, you even get a massive dose of endorphins to sail you through it. You know that it has been called 'the undiscovered country from which no man returns', maybe if you're lucky, you'll be an exception. I was."
He smiled back down at the dying man, fiddling with the dagger's point, digging it into tip of his finger.
"Tick-tock, your time is running out, do you not wish to impart your knowledge?"
The pilot's eyes grow dull and a last gasp signals the man's demise. August snorts, as if affronted by the pilot's rude departure and stands, feeling as if he was disparagingly treated. He could not even get one simple request out of the slab of man.
"Seems I'm on my own, well then, to the controls."
He departed, slamming the door behind him shut, leaving the bodies to stew in a mixture of spilt blood and water.
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Post by Book of the Twilight on Jan 31, 2012 4:00:30 GMT -5
??: I wouldn't worry about that Doctor. I have the ship on auto for the time being. ::August heard the voice from the control room before he had entered. He knew he had not been mistaken in thinking he was alone on the ship now. Each crew member had been accounted for and dealt with. It was not like him to make a miscalculation. But there it was, the voice of another on the ship with him, a smooth and cultured voice, not unlike his own. And also... familiar:: ??: Well it would be rude to keep me waiting. ::Entering the control room August realized the familiarity of the voice when he saw the man's face. It was the Council Member from his trial in Vector. The one he had not recognized. Looking back, his words had been encouraging, but he had spoken neither against August, nor on his behalf. Only stared at him with an expectant smile just as he was now with those cold green eyes. Much like how a spectator watches an animal behind glass hoping to see an exciting trick:: ??: Now would you just look at the mess you made. You wouldn't believe what you're costing me.
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August Krasnow
Determined Individual
"Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici."
Posts: 291
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Post by August Krasnow on Feb 1, 2012 1:04:02 GMT -5
August eyed the eleven man with an air of suspicion upon entering, but kept his weapon stayed and arms crossed. Peculiar that one from the council would be personally escorting him to whatever backwater hole they were going to stick him. It tickled his curiosity.
“I demand a high price for my work; wouldn’t any professional? Doctors are not cheap.”
He retorted as he stepped over and took a seat quite gingerly next to the unknown man. He begun going over the controls in his head, situating himself at the helm.
“What is it I can do for the council this time? I did have rather pressing matters to attend too, I rather not let those linger on much long.”
He turned, swiveling the chair so that he better faced the mysterious man. He readjusted his glasses.
“But this isn’t about the council, is it? Care to enlighten or shall we keep up this reticent banter?”
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Post by Book of the Twilight on Feb 1, 2012 1:14:13 GMT -5
::The man chuckled::
??: Clever aren't we. The council doesn't concern me. It's you I have an interest in. Be grateful mortal. It's not every day the actions of someone of your station attracts the interests of one such as myself. Even enough to extend your contract as many times as I have. Or did you think all those get out of hell free cards were just that? Free?
::He leaned back in the pilot's seat::
??: I've made quite an investment in you my dear boy. And I protect my investments.
::His attention shifted from August for a moment as he swiveled his chair to face the viewing window::
??: Fascinating world you have here this... Gaia. Now I finally understand why she spent so much time here. The culture, the advancements, these are true visionaries here.
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August Krasnow
Determined Individual
"Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici."
Posts: 291
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Post by August Krasnow on Feb 1, 2012 2:19:31 GMT -5
August smirked, it all becoming instantly clear what was going on here. He casually leaned back in his chair, as if he were having a simple chat with an old acquaintance, for in a way, they indeed were very well acquainted.
“Surprise, surprise. Hadn’t expect you here, and who is this vessel you that acquiesced to one of your unannounced intrusions? Not that I imagine they had much say in the matter.”
He turned back to the controls, fiddling with a few controls.
“And they weren’t? I must be more careful to read the fine print next time. Be that as it may, I’m glad I can be such an asset to you. So what is it you wish of me now?”
August pondered to himself, how he had not registered the ting in the air that Jezebel was here. Even one such as she, or ‘it’, couldn’t mask that much power. Peculiar, to say the least, but he opted to keep that to himself. He distracted himself further with the controls.
“’Visionaries’ is a world I’d hardly use to describe a ‘person’ organism. They just devour, like all organisms. A mutual cycle of eating, hardly anything visionary about it. They’re simple, barely elevated above animals who seek only simle stimuli. Beyond this toothsome joy of consuming other organisms is the their warm contentment of simply continuing to exist - continuing to experience physical stimuli, to sense one’s inner pulsations and musculature, to delight in the pleasures that nerves transmit. Once the organism is satiated, this becomes its frantic all-consuming task, to hold onto life at any cost... this absolute dedication to Eros, to perseverance, is universal among organisms and is the essence of life on Gaia.”
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Post by Book of the Twilight on Feb 1, 2012 2:51:34 GMT -5
::The man smiled::
??: Not a vessel at all my dear boy. I am not the mother as you have guessed, though I'm quite flattered my presence would lead you to such a conclusion.
::He grinned further when August narrated his thoughts on the insects below them, turning to face him again::
??: Ah there it is. Your pride. Your hubris, it's what I find most endearing about you. It's like I schooled you from the cradle. It's those like you that are so very interesting, so very useful. You don't really give a damn about pre-concieved notions, and you have no real desires or wants to make you soft because after all you're above the rest. Pride you see is unstoppable that way. Pride, or rather I am the one sin you cannot beat. Ah but forgive me, I believe I'm confusing you.
::The man whirled his seat once more, and when it turned to face August again it was empty. The man stood in the doorway now with arms outstretched::
??: Perhaps an introduction is best. I am Lucian, the Demon of Pride, the Third Lord of Hell; Professor of the Arrogant.
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August Krasnow
Determined Individual
"Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici."
Posts: 291
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Post by August Krasnow on Feb 6, 2012 3:14:45 GMT -5
August was not at all pleased to have rhetoric thrown back at him, none the least. He slapped dashed a keys and dials upon the controls of the airship, then flung his hand away.
“I don’t require you to explain to me my own damn hubris. I’m well aware of it in my own right, demon Lucian. And forgive me in my failure to address you properly, this whole resuscitation from ice has dulled my senses.”
August was neither taken back or surprised by Lucian’s sudden transportation, he appeared to care even less by the display. He was more caught up in the controls of the vessel than anything else the demon had to say. Except one thing.
“What is it you wish, Professor..?”
He spun the chair around and offered his arms as if asking what could he do for him.
“Death, destruction, chaos? What can I do to pay back an iota of my debt?”
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Post by Book of the Twilight on Feb 6, 2012 22:50:04 GMT -5
::As August gazed out the window while he steered the ship, he was suddenly aware of Lucian's proximity. The creature who wore the handsome Elven face was close enough to whisper directly into his ear, and though he could feel his breath on his neck, there was a strange chill in it, indeed if August could even feel hot or cold anymore. Nevertheless he was very aware of the demon's long bony fingers caressing his shoulders::
Lucian: And there it is. Even beneath your shell of arrogance you still possess that one most basic mortal instinct to survive. You are no less animal than the rest of them.
::Then he was back in the chair beside where August was steering, staring at him as he had before::
Lucian: Fear not, I am not here to collect payment.
::August could hear the grin in the creature's voice::
Lucian: ...Yet. This was merely a friendly warning. You see unfortunately my attention is not the only one that has been drawn in by this realm of yours. In fact the actions of a certain mortal in this world has captured the interest of one of my kin who you should really be afraid of. Especially since this mortal is determined, belligerently so, to take your life.
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August Krasnow
Determined Individual
"Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici."
Posts: 291
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Post by August Krasnow on Feb 9, 2012 5:14:57 GMT -5
“Once, long ago, there was a time… that creatures like you would burn with infernal flame for merely being close to me. Perhaps, I’ve grown weak with death that now you can so easily caress me without want of fear. Or, perchance, I’ve lost my way along this road into the darkness.”
August never flinched at Lucian’s touch, nor could he feel it aside from the pressure it inflicted. A sad state for a man, but one August had accepted as a price for his temporary immortality. The price of a debt he was suppose to pay.
“I have uncompleted work, even that you must understand can drive any entity past the point that should devour them. Even the tamer animals.”
August shrugged, uncaring and unconcerned.
“If you speak of Lillith and the rest of her rag-tag bunch rabble-rousers, they won’t be much of variable in the equation in a few days time. I had plenty of time to think about what to do about this little problem and I’ve come up with a answer. This will either crush or consume her. But whichever way the wind blows, the blood in the air heralds her demise.”
August sets in an auto-pilot way-point, to the eight world, to an isolated peninsula in the south with one tiny destination surrounded by sea and sand.
“You wish to know why I’m less an ‘animal’ like the rest of them? Because, animals kill to survive and without malice. I, on the other hand…”
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Post by Book of the Twilight on Feb 10, 2012 0:16:26 GMT -5
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hU6heeOrOI::The demon stood at last, making his way slowly to the doorway:: Lucian: Ah yes there was a time indeed. But no longer. For I am now a part of you that will never die. ::A hissing rustling sound was heard, drowning out his footsteps as a cloud of black feathers swirled up from his feet like smoke, whirling around him:: Lucian: I do look forward to your clash of sins with the mortal witch. Hers is much like yours. The more you try to hinder it, the more obstinate and dangerous it becomes. ::The ash black feathers ascended until they covered his face and then they vanished, taking with them the Demon of Pride::
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