The Key To Destiny's Door [RP]

Arashi snickered as the platinum-haired woman left the bar, "Feisty." the boy muttered to himself as he picked up his sheathed sword which rested on the table in front of him. "Well thats quite the rare site... rebellion to the rather strict laws of Aurora." he said to himself as he got up and followed the woman. "So... I'm assuming you aren't happy for the laws either... well that makes two of us." said Arashi as he scanned the area for guards. "Seeing as you're willing to go out after curfew I'm assuming your confident in your abilities to escape the guards... well that also makes two of us." Arashi was terrible at making small talk and today wasn't an exception however, he felt as if something strange was going on.

 

"Hic!"

The noise rose from the depths of Sherry Kardel's being, forcing its way up like some small mole tunneling to freedom.

"Hic!"

Those people were so nice! They gave her directions, and water - but the water tasted kind of funny and bitter! But she was still thirsty, so she drank it all anyways, so then it made her feel all light and happy. And then they tried to stop her from going, but she knew that she had to go back to that place with the beds and go to sleep!

"HIC!"

A particularly powerful hiccup burst from Sherry's person, emitting a lavender bubble from her mouth.

"hic."

She guessed that they weren't expecting her to be so strong, since they weren't pushing hard enough to keep her in her chair. After that first one she bumped broke a table, none of the others wanted to stop her anymore. They were all just so silly! Only problem now is, it's dark. And as her Papa always said, she should never be out when it's dark!

"Hic!"

 

Perhaps some would mistake it as folly for a mere mortal to immerse oneself so fully in the darkness, especially given the wary circumstances that surrounded the veiled land of Kalina. But what condemnation does one actually afford when the light can be even more terrifying than the darkness?

The world's vibrant sun had cascaded down beneath the horizon, its subsequent light source was hardly a deterrent enough for the soul-seeking scourge, yet there was a clear distortion in the night's still. Ebon robes flapped away from a darkened form; their futile attempts to dislodge from broad shoulders, synchronized perfectly with the wind's seductive whistle. It was as if the cloth were trying to preserve its own soul as the presence of fresh forms grew palpable.

The city's beauty had barely been tarnished by the shadows that ravaged the countryside and an incessant flickering of flames served the ambiguous figure well; steady gait willing to a stop as the figure realized the path been barred. The seemingly infallible safe haven of Aurora only an hair's breadth away.

Azure orbs shifted right--a flicker of movement. Then another, another and once more. The deluge of sounds was finally joined by the sting of metal against a snug sheath--then silence.

One one-thousand, two one-thousand…

The shriek was unmistakeable, as was the sound of a lunge. Instinctively, sharpened metal slashed through the darkness while legs worked even faster than before, sprinting towards Aurora's unmistakeable threshold; they moved quickly, but on either side, shadows skated alongside, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

There it was--the slightest of stumbles--the shadows took no quarter, each creature lunging towards the figure with bloodlust. But their recoil would be tenfold; the darkness was quelled instantly, sweltering flames sprouting from the figure's free palm in a semi-circular motion, allowing just enough time for the stumble to transform clumsily into a roll, stopping firmly within the illuminated outer boarders of the city. Robes tattered, blade a few arm's lengths away and a disheveled hood which revealed a male with a distinct head of crimson; body dressed patchily with another dark cherry colored liquid.

He saw a quizzical guard watch as he rose from his resting perch, the slightest of smirks spreading upon his lips as a bright blue gaze settled upon the guard. "Hey, where can I get a drink around here?"

"The Dragon's Nest" the guard responded off impulse, watching the tattered man saunter gingerly by.

Just another trip to Aurora.

 

"Oh sweet nightingale; glide on the wings of hope and sore through the clouds of darkness, for your soul is not of which they seek."

This small being was not in the mood to gather at the watering hole, as she called taverns. It was a rare thing, but she felt a rift in the air of this place. Something evil was lurking out there and she was not about to find out. As her azure hued lime kissed hair fell to her face she looked to the ground from her bay window in her boarding room. Bondi blue eyes stared at the ground, trying to pick up any sounds that might alert her to danger, or some kind of spirit.

After sometime she sighed, nothing was going to happen, she just needed to relax and clear her mind. She didn't need to be all stressed and spazzy on this travel; it was not the time.

Slowly she peeled herself away from the window seat and closed the crusted red velvet curtains, hoping nothing could enter once they were closed. Gazing around the room she counted 13 lite candles and 12 spare waiting to be fired. As she picked up and oil lamp she made her way to the bath room. Once she entered she lite another 8 small candles; "Never to much light!" she giggled sheepishly to herself.

Picking a few nice natural smelling bath salts from the shelf and the silk rode she undressed as she started the hot bath. After moments passed she climbed in, willing her body and mind to relax.

 

A woman sat upon a throne, legs cross, her head resting on hand attached to her arm resting on the arm of the throne chair. She shook her head.

"For once, I wish these people would learn they're going to get captured and they're going to die, second I wish they'd just go to sleep in their cozy beds and if the soldier come knocking theyll come easily." The woman remembers telling her dear friend when her father back when she was a princess gave her this task. A task that would become her primary duty as queen of Noir.

She pointed her thumb down for death but opened her whole hand as a stop.

"I don't want just a simple execution this time. I want torture until death, their body I then want delivered to our next targeted city, clear?" The woman waved her hand as she talked as though she was bored of her job yet so easily entertained.

"Oh and Thirsha," The woman called the huntress by her first name. "Anymore of them tonight can be sent to death. I'll leave you to decide how they die, please do remember we have the Legion wishing to add to our glorious army, any worthy soul, please remove and twist them to fit." The woman said standing up and strolling out of the throne room through a private door hidden behind a curtain. She began to walk down the private hall. The hall served as a hall for all the royal family and guests. As a child her very own bedroom was in this hall.

At first her bedroom was a small, cold room in a dungeon, she was placed there as a toddler, picked up by a soldier of the Legion of Noir, they thought her as a threat, a powerful sorceress, but she was young and did not see any good for the citizens of the other kingdoms, especially the very kingdom she was born in, a kingdom known as Kalina.

The king saw this, saw it in her piercing gold eyes that showed no fear, rather it showed fate, however fate can be rewritten as was the case of the young toddler, a sorceress born to rid the dark kingdom of Noir instead was turn to the princess of that very dark kingdom. Became the heir to the throne to king and queen who were unable to have children.

"Good evening, Queen Madam Destiny." A servant scrubbing the floor quickly bowed as she approached. Destiny, it was not her birth name, no it was a name her adoptive father gave to her, a name to remind her that her new destiny lied with the kingdom of Noir and her destiny was to take over the world. A dream of his father, his father, his father, going down the line to the point where the "Kingdom" of Noir was merely just a castle of Lord and Madam Noir, a demon worshipper and an actual demon.

The woman, Destiny Noir, the Queen of Noir, waved her hand in passing to recognize the servant and to signal she did not particularly cared for the servant neither. She came to a large brick wall. She reached up and pulled off a chain. The chain had a small skull charm on it. She gripped the skull charm in her hand and upon opening her hand a skeleton key appeared. She laid her hand on the brick wall and removed it a small keyhole appeared. She inserted the key and twisted it. As she did the illusion of a brick wall disappeared and a thick large iron door clicked open granting her access.

She closed the door behind her looking in the large great room in front of her. It contained several books like a library, a large table for dining like a dining hall, a large fire place and chairs around it like a sitting room, and lastly a large balcony to look out into the great country, all of it belonging to her vast kingdom.

She spent several childhoods in this room. She had a private tutor who taught her basic elements of knowledge. The room she spent the most in though was a room she rarely uses anymore, but as of late has begun to use. In the corner was a spiral staircase going down into a dark, cold chamber. Most people unless you were a pure Noir were afraid. Her father believed Destiny would be afraid, but she was not afraid of the content. It was as one would imagine a witch's hideout, a large caldron and several ingredients on the wall. Off to the side was also torture devises. As a child, Destiny would watch her father, a demon torture souls and living alike in that room only in the end devour them.

Destiny there was taught her greatest and most feared knowledge. There she was taught how to harvest and nurture her powers of dark magic, there she trained to become the darkest sorceress of all time. When she was 20 she went with her dying father there. With her dying father she tortured and devoured the king of a newly conquered kingdom thanks to her. She did not care for the taste of the soul of king, it was something new to her. But after devouring the soul she felt young and revived.

She has since only devoured one other soul in that room. Her dying father told her though that to complete her destiny, to become a demon sorceress she would have to devour one thousand souls. Something for the past 5 years though kept her from doing it. Until recent.

Recently her control over the kingdom has been growing weak, allowing the living to escape into the kingdom in hopes of defeating her. Still the Legion of Noir captures them and even then her magic still is too great for them. But the message from her father has repeated in her head making her realize she will soon need to begin to devour souls to keep her rep as the darkest sorceress of all time, as well as one day fully achieving her destiny of becoming the demon sorceress queen of Noir.

Destiny stood at the top of the spiral stair looking down the stairs before closing the wooden door and closing it with the same magical key granting her access to her special tower. She walked to the other corner and began to ascend another set of spiral doors. She passed a door belonging to her secondary general and dear friend who was practically her sister, Thirsha. Thirsha's father was the general to her own parents. And so he and his wife lived there, their young daughter lived in the bedroom next to her childhood bedroom.

Destiny continued the climb passing another door of a practice room. It was once a meditation worshipping room but her parents turned it into a training room for Destiny to practice fighting and using her magic. The ascended and glanced at another wooden door.

This room did not always exist but when her mother became ill and was dying when Destiny was 16, her father created the room for the young woman princess.

She continued her climbing stopping at a thick iron door. She unlocked the door with her key before walking in. The room was very large and lavish, it was the private bedroom to the king and queen. The top of the tower besides an attic space which was occupied by guards of the castle, stood as the highest point in the entire kingdom of Noir.

Destiny slowly made her way to a large wardrobe. She closed her eyes extending her arms out as her clothes dissolved right off. Soon replacing her previous clothes was a fitting sleep bra and underwear. She looked at herself in the mirror staring at the pale ghostly white skinned, faded brown haired woman staring at her. She has changed so much since she was a child, but one thing stayed the same, her piercing gold eyes of fate.

 

Leah sat alone in the dark, her only source of light a faint magically orb she struggled to maintain. Perched on her fathers grimoire, which was large enough for her to use as a seat she buried her face into the straw end of her broom struggling to maintain some warmth. She could've used her magic to summon a fire, but she had no kindling and she was afraid the smoke would travel up the irrigation pipe and into the city alerting the guards to where she was.

'How did I end up like this' she sighed quietly to herself.

What little money she had taken with her when she left home to start her journey had dissolved quickly. Who knew how expensive basic living could be, especially in times of war. She had used up her last gold piece renting a horse to get from a small town to the Paladin City of Aurora. She had never been to the city before, but from what she heard from the small dirty taverns she holed herself up in during the day time, this was the realm of Kalina's beacon of hope against the looming darkness of Nior.

'If I had been stronger I could've flown here on mothers broom, then I'd still have money for a place to stay'. Leah was on the verge of tears. Physically and emotionally drained. She had been in Aurora for four days, but this was her first night outside. She had been staying in a tavern within the city boundaries, but once they found she couldn't pay for her bed or food they chased her away threatening to call the guards. Fleeing from the city she knew she'd have to find a place to stay. Somewhere outside of the city, but somewhere recluse with shelter.

'And that is how I ended up sleeping in an irrigation drainage pipe beneath the city walls' she thought to herself, replaying the days events in her head.

She was slowing drifting in to the welcoming nothingness of sleep when she heard a faint clink coming from just just outside the pipe. Suddenly switching herself to alert mode she prepared herself to defend if needs be, extinguishing her light and prepare her fire.

------------------------------------------------------

"Don't be afraid child, I'm a refugee just like you. I'm searching for a place to rest my head." Eurydice raised her head over the end to the pipe, making eye contact with the child. Although forgetting that normal humans could not see in the dark.

"Please be still child." Eurydice could see the child release her breath and relax slightly 'It seems, like most humans, she is to eager to trust women.' She raised herself fully into the pipe and folded herself in. She was far to tall to fit into such a small area, but she knew this was one way she could make it into the city.

"I wouldn't re-ignite your light if I were you. I could it see it from miles away". This was a lie. Eurydice had been heading to the pipe in the first place, she hadn't been expecting anyone to be in there. Although lying, it played to her advantage. She knew if the child saw her charcoal black skin, or eyes that glowed like embers, she'd know what she is. And unlike the other members of the Nior army, she wasn't to eager to kill children. Plus, she didn't sense any from of threat in the child.

"I'm Ismaire" Eurydice said, she could've used her real name. No one outside of Nior knew of her existence. She had yet to earn her name and reputation as one of the fearsome Generals.

"I'm Lea........... I'm Lindley" The child fumbled out.

 

Somewhere far off in the Kalina countryside, a certain general and his troop were raiding a noble's mansion. In the deeper recesses of the mansion, Kandin walked around, closely followed by Yedije. A body lay slumped against the chair, pinned by a sword in the chest.

"So, what's on the schedule now? I've gotten the uppity noble quota for the day. . ." Kandin inquired, rummaging through the drawers of the desk of the small office they were located at.

"Well, you've got a pillaging scheduled tomorrow at sunset, Hatfield is scheduled for a murder-"
"Hatfield? What about Arken?"
"Arken was the one that you ran through with a pike five minutes ago"
"Ah, damn. Guess I didn't know him by face then. His loss!"

The black-haired man finally found what he was looking for at this point: a wiry pipe, a small bag of tobacco, and a notepad which he stored in the breast pocket of his suit jacket. Preparing the pipe, he told his secretary, "Go ahead and pick through the library for whatever you want to read, then tell the shades to bring whatever back to the castle for you. We've got a long night and I don't wanna waste it lugging around books."

The white-haired woman simply smiled and exited the room, leaving Kandin to his own devices.

"One noble down. . . the entire continent to go," He mused, puffing gently on the long pipe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A rather drunken Sherry Kardel leaned against the door to an inn, barely disappointed by the fact that it was locked. She eventually just sat down, pulling her lanky legs close to herself while she mumbled, "I'm gonna take a nap out here. . . Gots to ge'ssome sleep. . ."

 

Arashi responded to the platinum-haired womans stare with a grin, "Nope, not at all, in fact I was about to ask you the same question." Arashi cleared his throat before talking in a rather goofy pseudo-masculine voice mocking that of the average guard "So, I'll ask you the same question, Isn't there somewhere you ought to be?". His expression remained serious for a short amount of time before he began to laugh, "Sorry that imitation was just plan hilario-" he stopped after hearing something that sounded like a metal boot hitting the pavement.

 

The man's steady but tired gait came to a quick halt as his ears picked up the familiar sound of chatter occurring in very close proximity to his current position. The watering hole that he'd been searching for shone as a beacon of relaxation at the edges of his eyesight, but there was an obstruction between he and the pub. The sight of a platinum haired woman and her companion, a young man who seemed much to jovial for the current state of things cautioned him to reach subtly towards his blade. Engaging them in any form of discourse other than conversation seemed like too much of a strain on an already exhausted body; instead, a muffled voice called out towards the duo, crimson locks matted down by a readjusted hood. If there were one thing that time had taught him, it was that there was no room for presumption in life. Especially during times of war.

"Is this the direction I need to be going to get to The Dragon's Nest? I just got done fending off some of those damn shadowy beasts and it'd do me good to consume something." he asked, taking a few inconsequential steps forwards, azure orbs catching a bit of the moonlight as his stance widened a bit, lest there be anything unexpected from the duo. The question, of course he already knew the answer to, but it was innocent enough to provoke a response out of the two. If they were out this late in the streets of Aurora, it was clear they weren't fearful of strange encounters.

But sometimes that was an dangerous trait in itself.