A Little Bird Told Me

Re: A Little Bird Told Me

Postby CherryStatic » Thu Mar 05, 2015 5:01 pm

Mictha watched passively as Egris and Glenn discussed the possibility of introducing a new player into the game, one with powers that could be useful to their plight. His eyes flicked to the crystal ball in the center of the table, its crystalline depths stirring gently as he silently called to it.

"You might wish to avert your gaze, Miss Gloria."

A swirl of rosy color bloomed in the orb's center, perhaps unnoticed by the pacing Lady Warden and the passionate Burnie. It turned slowly, folding in on itself and twirling in place as it sought out the object of his query. Then, a face appeared in the whorl of reddish hues, that of a young woman, her sullen expression marred by scar tissue. Unusual hair and even stranger markings decorating her slender neck and arms had the half-elf cocking his head ever so slightly, resting his chin on the back of a dainty hand as he watched the girl's brow furrow, glancing up as if she could feel his eyes on her. He allowed himself a tiny smile; she did indeed have powers if she could sense the scrying energies.

The light framing her face abruptly faded to a dull purple, the color of a bruise, and the girl vanished as the smoke collapsed on itself, like two waves colliding, one word making itself known in the wake of her departure

Elliot

A man's blank, staring eyes, helpless to resist the woman who was doing away with his very essence, wiping any and all shreds of who he was from his mind, destroying him from the inside out before filling the husk of his body with a fabrication of her own design. Behind her, barely visible through the violet smoke, stood Glenn, his glazed eyes turned on the woman, lusting after the caress of her magic while a vague sense of rational terror tugged at his hand, self-preservation attempting to wrench him away from her madness, her poison.

The images came faster now, a barrage that he catalogued in the back of his mind as they appeared. There was Gloria, demanding proof and answers, at a loss without either. There was Egris, flinty determination conflicting with the doubt in her eyes as she stretched a hand towards Glenn, straining to reach him. He frowned as something particularly vile sprung into being within the ball, a serpentine mass of scales, talons, and fangs that slithered and coiled itself tightly around Niall, effectively trapping her while at the same time shielding her from shadowy forms. He smelled chocolate, faint and wafting throughout the room before it was torn away by the vision, leaving him at somewhat of a loss.

A mansion. A paved pathway through the courtyard flanked on either side by knights in brilliantly shining armor. On the steps, a woman with long hair like fire and elven features, an infant clutched tightly to her breast. Her white dress flowed as she raced to meet the handsome man climbing the steps towards her, catching her in his arms and kissing her deeply, tears slipping down her cheeks as he whispered something in her ear.

The same woman, older, her hair cropped short and her face drawn into a scowl, a scar descending from her left eye to her cheek. A dagger, one of her own, held to the small of her back by a man with dark hair that he immediately recognized as the Bloodletter Kess. They moved quickly, staying out of sight, slipping past guards.

And all at once, the feeling of velvety smooth fingertips caressing the neck of whoever happened to be staring into the orb. The sensation of warm breath ghosting across their skin, a soft sight against their ears.

No cheating, pets.

Michta whipped a white linen napkin from where it rested an inch from Egris's place setting, tossing it over the orb so that it covered it entirely. The sensations stopped, the noises faded, and all was quiet.

Michta was silent for several moments before gingerly lifting the cloth from the quartz. The orb was as still and transparent as it had been only a minute before. The half-elf looked paler than usual in the dim lighting of the room, but he behaved as though nothing had happened. He spoke to Egris first:

"Do as you see fit." He plucked the ball from its stand, tucking it into a billowy sleeve, not sure if Glenn or Gloria would seek to smash it first. "Just be quick. I fear that the final act of our play draws near. If you will excuse me, I must speak with Captain Montelle."

So saying, he swept quietly towards the door of the room, disappearing down the hallway as he headed for the stairs.
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Re: A Little Bird Told Me

Postby Rance » Fri Mar 06, 2015 3:29 am

You might wish to avert your gaze, Miss Gloria.

And because she was told not to, she never even blinks.

Inside the orb is a swirling, vaporous world where mists become images, where moments of the past -- a hollowed Elliot, a serpent-tongued Rhaena, and a conflicted Glenn Burnie -- all collide with images of the now: this fire-haired woman cradling a little child, an artificial happiness soon shattered by a scar. These are the thoughts of others, all their caprice and all their fear, and she's an interloper, peering through a sky of glass onto--

Time falls away as Gloria watches.

Mere seconds stretch into minutes; minutes reach across chasms of the hours and become whole days; whole days disguise themselves with the trappings of years, of decades, and the bitter smell of confectioner's treats.

The fingers of a phantom upon her neck. Between her ears, never heard, but wholly deafening--

No cheating, pets.

The napkin. She's here again; she's breathing hard, too hard. Everybody's a smear of color, and she cannot talk to any of them. Her tongue becomes a dumb flap of leather. Only her gaze -- two hard lumps of iron bullion -- feels capable of speaking, and it says to Glenn and Egris what her lips cannot: Whatever you determine, I will help.

Then, like Michta, the girl was gone.
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Re: A Little Bird Told Me

Postby Glenn » Fri Mar 06, 2015 3:58 am

"Don't mention to her that I have anything to do with this." It was a ridiculously common piece of advice from Burnie. He had burnt more bridges than existed in six provinces over the last few years. Still, it had felt good to do what he had done, to plan and plot and put pieces, disparate pieces together. It's what he had thrived at for years, and obviously there had been a cost to that, so high a cost, but it still made him feel as alive as anything else, and it had been a long time since he had felt alive.

Egris responded as positively as she could, and that was nice in its own way as well. She was the one who had finally forced him out of her comfy, laconic prison. She had turned the key and left the door open, stopped her visits that were congenial though hardly conjugal. Winter was over and the hibernating bear was just starting to peek his head out. Now she'd have to deal with it roaming around her Myrken.

He was going to say something else, probably something utterly insufferable when the theatrics with the crystal ball begun. It was enough of a distraction, had enough of effect that Michta and Gloria both left without him able to do a thing about that.

By its end, he was staring at the door, searching for his control, his center, searching, searching, and finding it. He exhaled, not looking to her, not looking at anything in particular. "Egris," and it was just the two of them, which made this rather ridiculous as well, but maybe it could be for them. "My new plan, if you don't like the first one, is that we gag him, bind him, have him infected with an infectious plague and send him to them with a bow." He swallowed back his rancor, something she so rarely saw out of him. He swallowed it down and hid then behind something she had seen far too much of, feigned irreverence. His voice lightened with some effort. "Who the hell is Captain Montelle again?"
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Re: A Little Bird Told Me

Postby Kestrel » Fri Mar 06, 2015 4:35 am

His advice was met with a nod. "I try not to tell anyone that you are involved in anything to do with me," she remarked, dryly. It was difficult to distinguish their true feelings for one another - betrothed, but with disdain. Unless one could see the occasional thoughtful glance thrown towards the other when they thought they were not being directly observed. "No one much likes you anymore."

The crystal ball whirled and instead of averting her eyes, she paused in her pacing to glance towards the orb. In the past, there had been visions. Important information that she could not afford to miss. She watched Niall's expression before memories began to spill over.

Particular attention was paid to Glenn's moment; watching as he was powerless to stop the love of his life. He so rarely showed her such honest moments. Suddenly, she wanted very much to avert her eyes from his private moment. Perhaps so that she might examine her own feelings. A pulse of distress assailed her as she realized that no one had ever looked at her like that before. Like their heart was outside of their body; in another's hands. Love like that had always been a strange, unknown component of life. It influenced, it destroyed, and it allowed men to fly all at once; far too dangerous weapon to allow herself. It made one vulnerable.

That decision had never before caused her any regret.

The sly whisper sounded in her mind, whirling around them all as the abyss looked back at them.

Just as abruptly as it began, Michta ended it with a frail napkin tossed across the surface.

The Lady blinked, her stoney mask settling over her features as she nodded towards the seer.

Gloria followed closely behind, earning a hard-eyed stare of acceptance in return.

Alone again, as often was their lot, the Lady lifted her gaze to search the man with his barely-contained fury. "Glenn," she answered his call with a wary tone of voice. She was silent as he managed to catch the reigns of his anger, watching him with darkened eyes. She crossed the room towards him swiftly and attempted to lay a gently restraining hand upon his forearm. Her eyes were sympathetic, but there was no pity there. "I will speak to Niall. Stay sharp," she warned, with as much concern as she could afford to let show.

Her eyes, wistfully centered solely on the curve of his mouth as if debating giving - seeking her own - small comfort, dragged away with some difficulty as she left him alone in the room.

Before she did something stupid.
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