“So, I suppose I can be a bit more honest with you now, can’t I?” The woman’s tone seemed friendly, hardly any sort of noticeable difference between now and from they had last spoken, and yet Vyra could not help but feel a bit uneasy nonetheless. A number of factors that potentially stood to be the reasoning behind that; the woman’s initial vagueness and unwillingness to be more open with Vyra, the nature in her disappearance and that experience entirely. Yet, having awoken from whatever sort of care that this woman and these people may have provided her, even Vyra could not deny that she would not have survived without that aid.

“Just know it was nothing against you personally. All of this. Them,” the woman indicated, adjusting her upper body enough to wave her hand out, casting it upon the people gathered about, a few more having now joined in the one woman in whatever it was that she had been focused on. “Everything we’re doing lives and dies on as much our ability to keep attention away from us as it does ensuring that among those that reach us out, that we can help.”

“But, don’t I count in that?” Vyra asked, still a bit disheartened to the woman’s response. It was not that it did not make sense. It did. But hadn’t Vyra shown that she needed help? If there had been any sort of doubt before, it was impossible to look past what happened at the tavern, or the aftermath within the empty street. Control over her Magic, it had moved past something that could be taught.

It literally had become a matter of life or death.

“I mean, my Magic,” Vyra paused, not sure just who knew of or had seen what of she was capable of. It wasn’t even clear that the redhead before her had even seen her Magic. Worse even, she feared that she may have seen the other Vyra: just the prospect of that left Vyra sick to her stomach. In that immediate second, she reconsidered what she was going to say, figuring better to say less than more, “What if my Magic leads to people dying?”

[366/2000]

“More,” a lone word echoed out by a figure not expected to have taken interest, let alone notice, towards Vyra. The response seemed to even take the redhead off-guard slightly, turning around as Vyra could notice the slightest look of surprise upon her face, much as the Demi-Human seemed to too, looking on as the tall, pale woman began towards her, red eyes fixated upon Vyra. Her focus never parted from the girl while Vyra’s did, instead turning towards the group whom had previously gathered around this woman. Now it seemed all of their attention was turned towards her.

It made Vyra feel small, the intense eyes of this woman surrounded by the cast of eyes that all seemed to stare intently into her. Each one with a look that carried their own respective feelings towards Vyra, some of disgust, some of intrigue, others that she could not adequately read. She felt alone, despite the woman beside her. “What,” she asked weakly.

The woman rose an eyebrow just slightly, reading through whatever sort of ignorance Vyra had hoped to convey. “You meant to say if it leads to more people dying, didn’t you?” Hearing it caused Vyra’s heart to sink. If this woman knew, it was hard to imagine that these people didn’t know too. Her eyes darted towards the woman beside her, and the change in expression, the seriousness that was now cast on her face made it apparent that she also knew of what Vyra had done. The extent though, was perhaps the only thing that she could hope to take solace in.

The woman moved closer towards Vyra, seeming to tower over the Demi-Human, the look in her eyes remaining as intense and piercing as it had before. Vyra wanted to back up, to create any sort of distance between her and this woman, but her legs would not move. Her entire body was seemingly petrified. “After all, there are more than a dozen bodies that can be put to your name. Just today alone.”

[704/2000]

“That wasn’t my fault!” Vyra pleaded, fearful for what she said and how this woman stood to interpret it. Even in the few words that were spoken, it was apparent enough that she would not be able to play dumb with this woman. Especially if she wanted help, which Vyra desperately wanted. She took a deep breath, knowing that what she said had the potential to be interpreted in the absolute worst way, “It wasn’t me.”

The woman’s gaze remained intently on Vyra, but seemed to be different. It was not so much cold; rather, dismissive instead. For several seconds, she did nothing more than stare down Vyra similar to how an animal stares down its prey. Then, for only an instant her face seemed to express a look of disgust before she turned away and started off. “Your Magic…”

“But I couldn’t control it! That’s what I’ve trying to say!” Vyra looked towards the redheaded woman, her eyes pleading with her to understand, “That’s why I tried to find you! To find all of you!” She sank her shoulders, a feeling of defeat and failure washing over her, “Because I can’t control it. I don’t want what happened there to happen.”

Having taken a number of steps away from Vyra, the woman seemed to stop in her place, turning her slightly, only enough such that she could see the Demi-Human out of the corner of her eye. Listening to Vyra, she gave no indication of her feeling towards the woman; whether believability or suspicion, she kept all of her thoughts private. “The tavern showed otherwise.”

Vyra’s eyes widened, her legs seemingly going weak right from under her as she collapsed to her knees. The worst-case scenario, the one thing that she hoped did not happen had. This woman knew about the tavern incident, whether it was from the woman beside her or worse even based on what she had said, that she had been there herself.

She saw what Vyra could only have imagined being the dark persona of hers killing the thugs in cold blood.

“I swear! Please! You have to believe me!” Vyra sounded like a broken record, her pleas each time conveying the honest emotion and genuine anguish she felt towards the situation. But it did not seem to register anything to the woman, her gaze remaining as un-telling as it had been before. “You wouldn’t have saved me if you didn’t-“

“We brought you here because a dead wizard among a crowd of bodies does nothing but draw attention to us.” The woman’s voice rose with anger, clearly evident towards Vyra, which caused the Demi-Human to tremble slightly, wishing she could take back what she just said. “It does not change what you are though. That you are on your feet means you’ve exhausted more hospitality than what’s deserved.” She turned entirely away from Vyra at this point and as she began to walk away, she pointed in an animated fashion towards several of the people who had been watching, “Get that murderer out of my sight.”

Vyra’s eyes finally diverted from the woman and onto the individuals singled out. Rough looking men, not like that of the thugs she had encountered earlier in the day, but rather like that of soldiers. Physically imposing, much like the woman seeming to tower over their surrounding, Vyra included. She wanted to run, wanted to move or do something, but she felt drained, weakened to the point where she could do little more than simply stand there. Making a final attempt, she cried out once again at the woman’s backside, “Please! I’m not a murderer! I swear! Just ask Alisa! Ask her! She’d tell you the same! Please!”

As it seemed the soldiers were within just a couple of feet from Vyra, the woman threw up her hand suddenly, enough to signify to them to stop in their place. Standing at attention, they awaited for her to do anything. And as she slowly turned around, the woman looked at Vyra with what seemed like a much warmer face, not quite a smile nor a scowl, but some sort of look on her face.

A face of curiosity.

“Alisa? You’re telling me you know her?”

[1410/2000]

“An interesting tale. If it’s true.”

The conversation left little going Vyra’s way it seemed. The suspicion shown towards her was admittedly high as perhaps one in her situation should have anticipated. There was no doubting now that amongst everyone here, all the suspicious eyes watching Vyra intently, the pale woman in the intricate garb was clearly the leader of them. And while she may not have revealed her impressions of Vyra out loud, it seemed apparent enough that her opinion had shifted.

At least after Vyra had mentioned Alisa’s name.

“I swear, all of it is,” Vyra exclaimed, it impossible to fully remove the shots of adrenaline that were running through her at this point. Although the woman did not say anything directly, Vyra had a terrifying feeling that she would not have left this place alive if left to the woman’s first instinct. That things at least appeared to have calmed down, it was a beyond reassuring thing. “She just, I don’t know, all of a sudden, I black out, and when I wake up, everything that she has done, I don’t know any of it.”

It hurt describing just what her other personality had done, having to relive the torment of her past, the fateful night that she discovered its very existence, and the conflict that has waged for her own body over the course of the past two years. Throughout those who were listening, their reactions seemed to vary significantly; some listened with incredible interest, others disgusted at the behavior of Vyra’s other self, some who kept their opinions quiet.

The opinion who Vyra was most curious of though, was the woman who stood there, her eyes watching over Vyra as she spoke every word, retold every story that she could recall. Every so often, Vyra looked up, hoping to see something in the red eyes that stared her down, but it seemed impossible to quite tell what she may have been thinking. “That was who was responsible for the tavern incident? Your supposed other?”

Vyra nodded enthusiastically, hopeful that this woman may start to believe her. “All I remember was them all approaching me. She was gone,” Vyra said, pointing towards the redheaded woman, her eyes widening slightly as she realized the gravity of her leaving Vyra unattended. “And when I was back, there were bodies all, I don’t know, messed up! And everyone was staring, and, I don’t know, I got this sick feeling in my mouth and I, I just couldn’t be there.”

A long silence came after that, Vyra watching the woman, the woman watching Vyra, the rest of the people alternating their gazes across the pair of them. Eventually, the woman spoke, causing all eyes and ears to be focused upon her, “How much of this does Alisa know?”

“All of it.” Vyra looked down for a moment, glancing at the floor before returning to meet the woman’s eyes again, “Well, all of it except for the stuff that happened today.”

Silence followed once again, the woman seeming to be deep in thought, her eyes looking through Vyra, the Demi-Human keeping her head down, only occasionally glancing up to look at the woman before returning it back down.

“I want to meet her,” the woman said with a tone of complete certainty, “This other of yours, bring her forward.”

[1968/2000]

Vyra was speechless at the woman’s request. She had hoped that she would understand, but this was not what she imagined her reaction would have been. It left the Demi-Human not quite sure how to respond; it had seemed like finally, after managing to claw her way out of a near death situation, she had built up some sort of report with this woman. But now, was she to deny the request and burn down that good will? Would this woman have responded in such a manner?

There was no reason to think it would not be the case.

Despite that, Vyra hoped that maybe, just maybe, she could convince this woman otherwise. “You… You’re not serious, right?”

“Very,” the woman said with a cold tone. In only a single word Vyra could tell the difference in the woman’s voice. The earlier conversation likely stood to be the kindest that she could have expected out of the woman. “You describe her as evil. I want to see for myself. Convince me,” she paused as her eyes narrowed just slightly, paying extra attention to Vyra and her reaction, “and we may help you.”

There was a part of her that couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It had been what she was looking for from the beginning and finally, after going through a number of harrowing experiences over the course of the day, finally there seemed like a way out. But the excitement stole from the harshness of what was to come to make that dream a reality; Vyra would have to bring forth her other persona, something that she had never been able to do on her own. And knowing her, at least how she thought she did, undoubtedly the darker persona was aware of all of this going on.

Getting her to cooperate, even if Vyra knew how to, would be all but impossible.

“I…,” the enthusiasm within Vyra’s voice seemed to die as the reality more set in, “I… I can’t.”

“That was not a request,” the woman barked out, frustration seeming to set in.

“No, it’s not like that. It’s just,” Vyra sighed, “I don’t know how to make her appear. She just, does. I don’t know, it’s like something happens to me and then all of a sudden she comes out and then all of a sudden I’m back, but I don’t know how to do that.”

Another brief pause filled the room again. Everyone seemed to watch with baited breath as to what would happen.

After a short little bit, the pale woman turned around and began walking away, not saying a thing until after she had already begun taking several steps, “Grab her.”

No sooner had she barked out that order that several people had reached and grabbed her, leaving Vyra is a bewildered state of shock. “Hey!? What’s going on!? What are you doing!?” She plead and cried, but it did not seem to phase the woman.

“If you cannot bring her forward by choice,” the woman began as she turned around to face them all again, her eyes piercing directly into those of Vyra’s tear-filled eyes, “Then we will resort to force.”

[2498/2000]

She led them through a large tunnel, the faint light coming off of the dimly-lit lights doing little to ease the tension among the group, or rather the tension conveyed by Vyra, who remained as confused and as utterly terrified as she had been when the pale woman first conveyed her order. It did not help either immediately following as Vyra began to struggle against her captor, the words from the woman seared completely within the Demi-Human’s memory.

“Her Magic comes within her. If she starts to show any sign at all of her beginning to utilize her Magic, cut her down immediately.”

Vyra knew that this woman was earnest in this threat as well as her soldiers who seemed at the ready to carry out the order, evident by the two guards who walked on either side of the guards who carried her, heavy, serrated knives in hand. Her eyes could not help but remain fixated upon the metal, the dim light reflecting upon it, giving it an almost hypnotic allure to it. It helped to distract her from the hopelessness of her current situation, being literally carried by two guards who maintained a near vice grip upon her. In what could only otherwise be considered insult to injury, Vyra could not help but feel a momentary spark of hope towards the seldom few occasions where her feet may have happened to touch down upon the cold ground, only for it to be snuffed away as they were as quickly hoisted back.

After what felt like forever, in part to the never-changing aesthetic that haunted their route, it seemed that the small caravan had come to a stop, Vyra finding herself thrown between a warped sense of excitement in finally being rid in this vulnerable state whilst jointly terrified at what was to come. Throughout the walk, however long it had taken them to arrive here, not a word was said save for Vyra’s protests. And once it became apparent that those were falling upon deaf ears, no point to even exert energy towards that.

A loud sound of metal scrapping against either metal or stone rang through the hallway, it being such a significant deviance from what they had been used to and as loud as it was that it caused Vyra to visibly shake in shock. Looking to the origin of the sound, she could see the heavy metal door, surprisingly intricate in its design, grinding against the surrounding material as it opened up to what could only have been a large arena of sorts, a carved out circular room, barely illuminated save for a few lights arranged around.

Unable to resist trying to peer in and see what was there, Vyra could not help but feel a lump in her throat as a sense of dread swept over her. Even being let down onto her feet and guided in the room by the two men, she could almost feel the sensation of a knife being pressed just along her backside, indicative of the fact that the only direction she stood to move was forward. At one point stopping to see just how they would react, Vyra winced as she felt the very tip point of one of the knives pressing into her backside; not enough to draw blood, but enough to know that she was going to walk or bleed. No other option.

Maybe a dozen steps, perhaps more? After what seemed like a relatively short distance, all things considered, Vyra finally was brought to a stop. She could not help but breathe out a sigh of relief, no longer having to endure the persistent threat of the knife pressed against her. She turned around, curious as to if her escorts were still there, instead being met by a new pair of guards who were stationed just on the inside of the doorframe, large muskets in their possession.

Against her better judgment, she a step towards them, prompting one of the guards to respond by pointing their musket towards the Demi-Human. Vyra responded instantly by taking two steps back, it not dawning on her the sounds of heavy breathing from within the apparent shadows. Once she did, she realized the horror of her situation.

She was not alone in there.

[3212/2000]

Vyra wished that she had been faster to realize just what was happening, but once it had dawned on her, the entirety of the situation, the armed guards, the threat to deploy force, hope escaped her. She felt it, the breath upon her backside, the heat causing a chill to run down her spine, the wet feeling making her physically shiver in revulsion. What stood to be behind her terrified her to her core, and as hard as she could, she kept her eyes closed as tightly as possible, hoping to will away whatever was there.

A moment passed. The disgusting feeling seemed to fade away. She exhaled deeply, part of her forgetting to even breath in her moment of terror, but as she turned around to affirm her fortunes, she immediately jumped back in utter terror.

Standing there partially in the shadows had been a creature that appeared like a large bull, but no longer. Evidence of corruption, infectious spores, scabs, blotches of skin that had fallen off, the faintest evidence of bone beginning to become apparent, all displayed upon a creature that dwarfed that of anything she had seen beforehand. As it let out a bloodcurdling roar, it shook not only Vyra to her core, but seemed also to panic the soldiers in the room with her still, at least slightly. One of the two seemed to reach for something whilst the other one looked on, his gaze never deviating from the creature, as though making sure for something.

On the other hand, Vyra was terrified, desperately wanting to get away from the creature, managing to move backwards just in time to avoid one of the creature’s front legs smashing into the ground where she had just stood, causing cobblestone to fly everywhere. As one of the lights surrounding the makeshift arena began to flicker, the issue chained to another, and then another. Within moments, every couple of seconds left the arena in complete blackness, only for it to almost immediately reappear again. But for Vyra, every moment of darkness meant a moment that she could not see the creature coming closer and closer towards her.

Whether out of fear or desperation, Vyra somehow found herself backed against a wall, falling to her knees as she felt the cold stone sliding against her backside, the faint burn barely noticeable following the persistent close contacts she had with the soldiers’ knives earlier. Through the lights she could see the creature shifting its position every so often, at times even struggling to figure out its own location within their confinement. Vyra watched on, panicked that it would stand to regain its senses and find her, at least until the lights flashed again, and with them going dark, so too did her own eyes.

[3675/2000]

The creature in focus, Vyra could not help but delight in the sight of it. Not the actual creature or its appearance. Both were hideous. Rather, the anguish, the fact that despite whatever strength or power it stood to have had, it was blind as a bat. She was no fool; she could as easily tell the creature’s blind trampling – while an admitted threat to her own safety – were as much byproducts of the creature unable to discern anything in its surroundings.

It was all a herring.

A ploy by the pale woman to bring her out. Her more naïve side simply made the mistake of getting too close to this creature. But, that did not matter, as in the end, the woman got what she wanted.

That didn’t mean that Vyra would have to work with them.

Her mind shifted to the creature before her. Undoubtedly it was suffering, but that was by their doing, not hers. No reason for her to be feeling guilty about it. Amidst the flickering lights, she drove her nails into her neck, pulling down as droplets of blood began to pour onto the ground, disappearing like insignificant specs upon the cobblestone. But from within the cracks of it there protruded multiple tendrils, all having an almost sickly-crimson color to them, enwrapping themselves loosely around Vyra’s body. That is, until she seemed to project them out towards the creature, the silence and speed at which they moved leaving the creature powerless to do anything other than cry out in suffering as a tornado of crimson tendrils ripped through it, leaving it a gnarled mess of blood and substances.

“That’s enough,” the voice of the pale woman bellowed out from somewhere, obviously though somewhere within view of Vyra’s performance.

The two guards stationed seemed to proceed towards the Demi-Human, but before they could get much closer than a couple of feet from her, it was only too late that they noticed that she had spit onto the ground, causing the Magic Rune to appear just beneath their feet. Neither were able to react or do anything more than simply feel the full brunt of the attack as the pillar emerged from below, all but obliterating them.

Only moments following their screams, if even that long, the pale woman had emerged from beyond the door, along with no more than half a dozen soldiers, far more than what she had arrived with. She and Vyra exchanged glances for a moment, neither seeming to back down. One held a look of contempt, while the other a look of wicked satisfaction for what she had done.

“Hold her,” the pale woman commanded with authority as Vyra prepared herself for any amount of the soldiers behind her to strike at her. Though they may have stood to outnumber her, no doubt that she would take some of them at the bare minimum.

Several of the guards began to move, but not towards Vyra. Rather, they seemed to go weak, their legs giving out as they began to slump to the ground in varying states of fatigue and lethargy. At the very same moment, several figures materialized all around Vyra, all looking exactly like the pale woman, all of them restraining themselves towards the Demi-Human, making it utterly impossible to move.

Vyra could not help but look at the presentation before her and be stunned at it, how quickly whatever it was that formed, the circumstances towards the soldiers who suddenly fell ill. It took almost no time to put the two together and as she looked with shock at the woman, it was impossible not to find some degree of admiration towards the pale woman, “My, my. You truly aren’t what you claim to be are you?” She chuckled, “Certainly not with a sort of Magic like that. Siphoning their life to sustain whatever these creatures are? Twisted, but impressive.”

The pale woman did not give any sort of acknowledgment, though between the two of them it was not needed. “So, here you are.”

“Here am I finally. Happy now? It only took you threatening a poor, sweet, little child to death to draw me out,” Vyra narrowed her eyes as she spat venom towards the woman, “Must be real proud of yourself.”

“Is that what you think? You think you know the situation?”

Vyra smirked, “Oh, I know plenty. Like, I know you all aren’t what you claim to be, what she thinks you are. And I like that. In fact, I prefer that.” Vyra turned her focus right onto the pale woman, “Because I want to make a deal.”

[4447/2000]

Spells [1600/2600]

Name: Infected Blood
Rank: A
Mana Cost: 200
Requirements: Living Plague; Debuff (Offensive); Mana Burn (Offensive)
Type: Offensive
Element: Darkness
Range: 20 Meters
Cooldown: 4 Post
Duration: Instant
Effect: Vyra rakes her hand upon her neck, causing a Magic Seal to form beneath her. During this, streams of a sickly-looking blood will pour down her arm towards the ground. At the same time, the blood will pseudo-harden into numerous strains that encircle around Vyra. She can control the tendrils to coalesce together into a large tendril having a diameter of 2 meters which can travel outwards at a target within range, at which point upon contact with the target it will erupt into a whirlwind of the bloody tendrils that encompasses a total diameter of 8 meters, inflicting A-Rank damage to anyone that comes into contact with the tendrils as well as causing them to suffer an A-Rank debuff to their Constitution attribute for one post.

Name: Plaguefall
Rank: A
Mana Cost: 200
Requirements: Living Plague; Debuff (Offensive); Mana Burn (Offensive)
Type: Offensive
Element: Darkness
Range: 20 Meters
Cooldown: 4 Post
Duration: Instant
Effect: Vyra spits up phlegm upon the ground, causing a Magic Seal to appear beneath her and a target within range. From the Seal beneath the target comes a pillar of sickly-purple material having a maximum diameter of 8 meters, drenching the area and all those who either come into contact with it or otherwise touch it, dealing A-Rank damage per application and also applying an A-Rank debuff to their Constitution attribute for one post.