A visitor for Elliot

A visitor for Elliot

Postby Galacia Tarin » Tue Nov 20, 2012 4:50 am

"Elliot. Ellliiiiot."

The voice was sweet and sticky, thick and overwhelming, a bit like being submerged in honey. She called to him, in his dream. He had been expecting her, after all.

The vision that would form in his mind was that of a hallway, dim save for the candle in his hand. He would be as she had last seen him that day in front of the tavern. Dress, hair, weapons. All that he had been that day he would be here. Before him stretched the damp hallway, far beyond where the light of the candle would reach. To his left and right were doors. All kinds of doors. Some weak and terribly old, others new and opulent. He could see, somewhere just outside his light, the form of another, but he would have to come forward to see his visitor.
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Re: A visitor for Elliot

Postby Glenn » Tue Nov 20, 2012 6:21 am

Elliot had been hanging around the Remedium. The nominal idea was that he was looking out for Cherny, making sure that whoever had done it didn't come back to finish the job, moral support, all that. The real truth is that he had been trying not to fall asleep. To the point that he managed a whole 38 hours before finally slumping down into a chair, before finally drifting off despite himself.

---
And this was why he was trying to stay awake. "This isn't fair!" He'd shout out, careful not to drop his candle. "I'm just some kid. You don't want me! I was just trying to get the other kid to leave! And he didn't know who you were anyway! Stupid liar. Then he got shot by an arrow anyway. Go haunt him instead!." And he was shouting at doors. That was stupid. Doors. Hm. Lots of doors. And he had his gear too. She wanted him to open one, right? His voice took on a rather pathetically superficial tone. "I know how this work. The doors that are REALLY interesting are the locked ones." There was already a pick in his hand, moving between fingers nervously. A DREAM lock. He could open THAT if he could just find one.
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Re: A visitor for Elliot

Postby Galacia Tarin » Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:16 am

"Fair. What in this life is Fair, Child. Nothing is fair. Is it fair that your little friend got shot? Is it fair that monsters roam your world? No, little is fair in life, child. And very little in death as well."

"You say you know how this works, hmm? Do you now? How many times has a Dreamwalker entered your mind? How many times have you faced such doors in your own mind? For that is where we are child, your mind. These doors belong to you. If any of them are locked it is you that has locked them."


She would step forward then, into his light. This creature of dream would be not the thing of nightmares he might have been expecting. She appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary woman. Tall, impossibly so, but ordinary. Raven hair and a modest white dress, almost like a sleeping gown. A candle of her own appeared in one slender hand.

"This is your mind, Elliot. What is it you would lock away here?"
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Re: A visitor for Elliot

Postby Glenn » Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:29 am

Is it fair that your little friend got shot?

Elliot actually thought about that for a moment. "Yeah, it is. I TOLD him that he was going to get hurt, that he was being a complete moron, and he didn't listen." Cherny had it coming. The look in his eyes said it, even if he didn't outright speak the words. Though he had spoken that 'Yes, it is,' which was far too much like saying the words, really. There was the slight disdain, the frustration, the angst. "Dumb kids should listen to me."

She was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful and he was at that age where he was noticing that sort of thing more and more everyday. More than that though, she was absolutely terrifying. "Doors. Locks. Ok." He was learning so much about locks and in front of him, on the door closest, an otherwise plain sort of thing, appeared an intricate looking lock. "Well, I might lock real tight the knowledge of where Aleksei River sleeps? Wouldn't want you to get him or anything. He's so nice to all the kids around town. Gives them candy. Tells them all sorts of things, like how much more he knows than all of them." Foreign bastard. "I'd lock that information away real tight, so someone like you couldn't get it."

A dark undertone seeped into his voice. "Getting pretty good with locks though, I am." He looked young and shy. "Bet I could pick that lock if you promised to leave me alone afterwards."
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Re: A visitor for Elliot

Postby Galacia Tarin » Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:50 am

Not much of a friend then, are you Elliot? Friends care about each other. You sound as if it would not bother you in the least if he had died. Perhaps you are smarter than your chums, but doesn't that mean you should teach them, protect them?"

It was a very human way of thinking, rather motherly really. She would move closer to this door he has so intricately locked within his dream. There was a part of her that wanted to destroy his little illusion that she needed his help to find her way in, but instead she smiled softly, laying a hand on the door.

"The knowledge is in there, hmm? But if he is so kind as you say, why would you betray him so?"

She would turn, and crouch down near him, a tender hand reaching for his cheek. A soft smile on supple lips.

Do you care so little for your friends that you would turn them over to someone like me?
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Re: A visitor for Elliot

Postby Glenn » Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:56 am

Elliot Brown was getting a lecture about being a good friend from Galacia the god damn scary dreamwitch. His eye was starting to twitch. That was new. He took a breath, confused, and then tried to explain himself, desperately. "It would bother me if he died. I should have hit him until he listened to me, if nothing else was going to work. He's what? Ten. Ten and just hanging out at the dagger, mouthing off to dangerous people. If not this, it would have been something else." Speaking of mouthing off to monsters. "It's his fault for not listening to me. It's my fault for not making him." Then his voice went soft once more, soft and bitter, resentful. "I offered him protection." A shake of his head. "Take him right to the top. Stupid kid." And a kick at the ground, annoyed.

Elliot shut his eyes as he put her hand upon his cheek. "I think it'd do everyone good if Aleksei learned to be a bit more humble." If it meant saving himself, would he turn over Cherny to her? Probably not. Niall? Absolutely not. Nova? Not with his fingernails being pulled off. Aleksei? Well, he was trying not to smile at the thought."If you have a few minutes," shy again, "I could show you how I could pick that lock. Just because I know you don't think I can do it. And then, if the door happens to open up and you happen to leave afterwards." A little shrug. "This is Myrken. These things happen, right?" They'd happen a lot more quickly if she'd stop trying to make him feel bad about everything!
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Re: A visitor for Elliot

Postby Galacia Tarin » Tue Nov 20, 2012 12:03 pm

But making him feel bad was all part of the fun, now wasn't it? It was curious to her that he was willing to sacrifice Aleksei to her, without the faintest idea what she would do to him. The hand comes away from his cheek as she looks toward the door. If he wished to prove his prowess with this lock, then let him. She would humor him. And his guilt might eat him alive someday. That could be amusing.

" Yes the other younger ones should listen to you, shouldn't they? You have more experience than they do. They could learn from you if they weren't so jealous. Show me then, Elliot. Show me how well you pick the lock. Show me where to find Aleksei. Are you sure this is what you want?:

One last chance to change your mind, pet. You never know what will cause regret until it is done, and this is not yet done.
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Re: A visitor for Elliot

Postby Glenn » Tue Nov 20, 2012 12:17 pm

She was talking his language now. Even Solena didn't quite do that. She praised him but not in a way that was an exact agreement, not that went even further. Not like this. Jealous. He hadn't even thought of that. It was true though. Elliot could buy whatever he wanted now. Cherny HAD to be jealous of that. He could go through the rafters. He practically had the run of the place. The run of Myrken.

And now he had the Dreamwitch ready to see just what he could do. The boy cracked his knuckles and started to work. He may not have quite mastered stealth yet, but this was very different. This was something that seemed to be in his blood, in his bones. A lock like this, no matter how intricate it looked, shouldn't take him more than a few minutes, maybe even less. Time seemed to pass, and endless amount, far longer than it ought to have taken. He began to sweat, frustration welling, until finally, his lockpick broke with a loud snap.

It was with a mortified look that he turned back to Galacia, still on his knees before the lock. "This.." Elliot was clever in only the most obtuse of ways, but sometimes, sometimes a straightforward truth snuck through. "means that I really don't want to tell you, doesn't it?" His voice was somewhere between confusion and evergrowing fear.
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Re: A visitor for Elliot

Postby Galacia Tarin » Tue Nov 20, 2012 12:35 pm

There is a soft laughter, not mocking, gentle. It is in fact an almost comforting sound. There is a warm hand for his shoulder, and she is then sitting on the floor beside him, examining the lock with him. She is so near, so very near as she looks at this amazingly complicated lock.

"It does indeed. It means that perhaps this Aleksei means more to you than you want to admit. But it is a beautiful Lock, Elliot. Let me help you."

Her hand reaches forward then to touch the lock and it simply falls away. It is ash on the floor of this damp place, swept into nothingness in a breath. If he wanted to protect this knowledge he would have to try a bit harder. Perhaps he had tried as hard as he was able.

"Aleksei is not what you think him to be Elliot. You saw what he became that day. What did you think of what you saw? I will not open the door until you have a chance to tell me what you really felt when you saw wings tears from his body and blood come to his eyes. Am I really so much more terrifying?"
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Re: A visitor for Elliot

Postby Glenn » Tue Nov 20, 2012 12:51 pm

Perhaps the difference was that she dealt with the lock and not him. She had been trying to make him feel bad. She had succeeded. His voice was soft, his cheeks red. Frustrated. He had worked hard and it was all for nothing. The idea that it revealed that he cared about Aleksei in some way? That was... it was stupid, is what it was.

When he looked at her again it was with embarrassed eyes, impetuous eyes. His tone was anything but pleasant. "What did I see? I saw two monsters that I hoped were going to destroy each other. I pulled a dagger out and I wasn't sure which one of you to throw it at. If I thought it would have mattered, I would have thrown it at you both." It was the truth, even if it was full of bluster.

"Aleksei doesn't matter to me! He can rot. I just don't want to help you!" She was the nightmare kindling of his youth, her and the Baie. The stories. Then the Ashfiend had made it all real on that field. Burning his newly killed fellows, his mentors, so that they would not rise back up in the midst of the battle. He lived his nightmare and it was worse than he ever imagined she could have been. And that wasn't the end of it, it was the beginning.

She had a reputation. And he would not be a part of that. Some things could compare to her, yes, but Aleksei, he was not one of them.
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Re: A visitor for Elliot

Postby Galacia Tarin » Tue Nov 20, 2012 1:09 pm

Even though they were only thoughts these names carried power. Especially here. A slow smile on her lips as she rose up from her position on the floor beside him. A thing of nightmares, oh that was lovely. And they spoke of the Fiend as well. Well wasn't that funny.

"You fear what you do not understand. Almost all humans do, this is natural. Some beings feed on that fear. Ashfiend, as you call him, was one of them. Though I am told he sought redemption in the end, or what might pass for it from one of us. Teron Gorefiend and I were Allies for a time. He and his Master Sin'Vraal. He was my husband you know. Darkness flocks to itself."

That last was more of a musing than anything important.

"I do not need your approval, Elliot. I do not even need your help. What I offered was an option. Now I have taken it away. He could have helped you, you know. Aleksei. I am told he is good with knowledge both mundane and arcane. Reads a lot, that one.

The door to the room swings open and she sees that which she needed to see. The rest of it is unimportant.

"I may never visit you again, Elliot, but then again I might. In the chance that I do not, this is your last chance to ask of me whatever it is that you wish."
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Re: A visitor for Elliot

Postby Glenn » Tue Nov 20, 2012 2:21 pm

"I don't want his help." There. It was that simple, but it wasn't,was it? Not at all. Why refuse help when it's offered. In Myrken, there were any number of reasons, but for Elliot, it came down to one thing. "It's not worth the cost." To his pride, to who he was becoming. He asked Aleksei once, for someone else, and no help came. There was a cost to that too. Never again. He came to Myrken thinking he knew them, just like Renea had, thinking he knew the right thing, that he had all the answers. "He tries. If you kill him, do it quickly. He deserves quick."

A shrug as he tried to regain some of that selfsame pride. The ally of the Ashfiend. That made sense. That's why he'd not help her. Did she understand? She didn't care, of course.

She wanted him to ask something? Fine. "Why? Why us? What did we ever do to you? To you and to all the other stupid monsters. Life isn't fair. Fine. Go be not fair to someone else somewhere else."
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Re: A visitor for Elliot

Postby Galacia Tarin » Tue Nov 20, 2012 2:47 pm

"Oh Elliot. So strong and brave and worldly wise. Why Myrken? Do you think that other places do not suffer the same fate? It is balance child. There is no light without the darkness. Some would tell you otherwise, but one dies without the other. It is the way of life itself. There are some who would tell you otherwise. Your Governor for instance. But look around your world Elliot. Find your own answers. See if I am wrong in this. what you may learn from it is this...you have no idea how the world works, and will likely get yourself killed soon enough, but not before you get your friends killed. And I will not have to lift a finger. Your pride will do that nicely all by itself."

With that she is turning, and moving back into the darkness. A raised hand, a pinch of her fingers and the candle sputters out in his hand.

"You'll find that everything has a cost in life, Elliot. Sometimes your pride is the cost of saving your life, or someone else's. Sweet dreams my child."

And she is simply, gone.
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