ladynero (ladynero) wrote in rp_prompts, @ 2009-01-02 12:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | ladynero:pegunicent:tb:vs |
Spell
Title: Granted Wishes
Authors: ladynero, pegunicent
Characters: Abel Nightroad, Sydney Losstarot
Fandom: Trinity Blood, Vagrant Story
Theme Set: Ten Set 03
Theme(s): Spell
Warnings and Notes: Post-Game Vagrant Story setting, during the Armageddon of Trinity Blood. Complete crack and half naked men of faith.
Ladynero: Cain smiled as he crept into the Cathedral in the middle of the night. It was moon dark, the perfect time for this according to the books that were up in the library. His brother truly had no idea what sort if power he was sitting on here, but Cain was not going to be foolish enough to let it slip through his fingers.
Hurrying through the empty streets, Lillith hoped she wasn't too late to stop Cain, She had just found his journal and notes, realizing that he was planning on summoning something dark to become even more powerful. She had to stop him before he ended up damned for eternity.
Penguincent: He felt the Dark stirring and frowned. Lea Monde rustled underneath him, warning alighting in his blood. He motioned for the letch he'd conjured to mark his place in the book he'd been reading and left his comfortable nest in the library. Instinct and Lea Monde pulled him to the altar room. "Abel? Seth?" A flicker of will lit the candles. "Ah. You then. Earlier than I expected but I'm remarkably unsurprised." He glared at Cain in disdain.
Ladynero: Cain glared at him. "You will not be the only one with power here, Ghost. I will soon control what you do."
Penguincent: Sydney sighed. "My father had two sayings that were the only wisdom he managed to pass on. The first is that those who seek to control the Dark are destined to be consumed by it. The second, is that once the mind is made the will well follows, even unto damnation." He waved Cain on, a look of weary boredom settling on him. "Lets see how well you seduce the Dark."
Ladynero: That got a snort. "You speak as if it's alive," he drawled, walking up to the altar and the Ghost. That was a rediculous notion. It was a power not a living creature.
She was nearly there, only a bit farther. It never occured to her to shift to her Crusnik form and take advantage of the increased strength and speed.
Penguincent: "It is. It watches, and knows, and loves and hates." He arched a brow, claws tapping on his arms. "Why do you think it dismisses so many who seek to possess it? Ripping them apart from the inside out and remaking it in the image it feels suits? It has a horrible sense of humor." His smile was mocking.
Ladynero: "They are fools who didn't know how pure the power is," purred Cain, his eyes falling partially shut at the thought of the power he would soon possess. "And none of them was a Crusnik." He started pulling out candles and placing them around the alter, putting a book on the surface to consult while he set everything up. He could almost hear his Sacrifice approaching. Her death was for the power, a fitting tribute to the worhtlessness of her life.
Penguincent: He tilted his head to the side, the warning in his mind rising. "You're offering the life of another, instead of yourself. Just like Guildenstern." He shuddered and grimaced. "And you don't even have his delusions of a greater good in your breast."
Ladynero: "The only person I care about is me," remarked Cain, checking the placement of the black candles before lighting them with a spark of electricity. "She never helped us, always siding with the humans even when they sneered down at us. Well, I will never be sneered at again." He smirked at the ghost. "Your library is quite informative if primitive. Abel certainly improved the quality of books."
Penguincent: "Your brother is wiser than his years." Sydney murmured, calling up a ward around the Cathedral. It was not his place to interfere, the Dark could take care of itself after all, but the rest of the city didn't need to be disturbed. "He's still willing to accept you and love you if only you let him. Magnanimous of him, in the face of your indifference."
Ladynero: Abel could hear voices. It sounded like Sydney and Cain, but what did Cain want this late at night? Rising from his bed, he quietly walked towards the voices, stopping in the door to watch and listen.
"He is weak," spat Cain, his eyes narrowing at the Ghost. "He is perfectly happy playing leader to this mass of stones, uncaring at the riches piled at his feet in offering to you."
She managed to slip into the Cathedral just as a shimmer appeared behind her, enclosing the building. She leaned against the wall, breathing hard from her run.
Penguincent: Sydney scowled. "And he's welcome to them. I've little enough use for the rubbish. What good would it do me? Or you? What need have you of wealth and power when you can not appreciate what you all ready possess?" He spread his arms wide, silver glittering and ringing. "I never asked for this, I never wanted or needed it. I lived and died for something greater than myself Cain, and that is what you can not see. You are blind and dumb to the world beyond your bruised little ego. Do what you will to yourself, but I will not let you hurt him or any other innocent in this world." His snarl echoed in the old stones, spell songs of warding and protection blazing to life through out the Cathedral until the place glowed blue with Sydney's will.
Ladynero: Abel sighed softly, leaning against the door. He had been willing to reach out to his brother because Sydney had asked him to, but it was apparent that Cain had much growing and changing to do.
Cain smirked, cold and sharp. "Stop me if you can, I will have the power and none will sneer at me again," he challenged before bending his head and starting to chant. It was a spell he had discovered in an ancient book that was created to call the Dark Power and invite them in.
Hearing the chanting, Lillith pushed herself off the wall and stumbled towards the altar room. "Cain! No!"
Penguincent: Sydney didn't try to stop Cain. Or Lilith. He stepped back and watched with ancient, pitiless eyes. "The past repeats itself." He murmured, not looking at Abel but aching in his heart for the boy. He had hoped the brothers would have a better fate than he and Joshua had fared.
Ladynero: Quietly, Abel walked into the room and stopped just behind Sydney. "I tried, but he wasn't willing." The words were quiet, not breaking the chanting at all. He knew that out of the entire building, he was safest with Sydney.
Cain continued chanting, a cold smirk on his lips as he stared at Lillith. When the Offering of Sacrifice came up in the chant, he offered her name and life for the power. She started moving towards him, not knowing she was coming to her doom.
She had to stop him. There was still time for him to be redeemed. Even if Abel had fallen to the Blond Sorcerer, Cain could still be redeemed.
Penguincent: He felt the Dark move, pouring through the summoning circle and Cain and Lilith. "I know." he replied tiredly. "I know, but I'm still sorry for you."
The Dark laughed, cold and empty and humorless. It poured into Cain, tearing apart his shields and walls and grasping his soul tightly. Its Sacrifice was warped, twisted and broken and it remade her to reflect herself before casting her aside once more. Cain was the one that held its interest. It had no need for another vessel, no desire for this one, but in amusement it molded the Crusnik to a better form. It would not abandon the one that called it, but it would not answer the call until the vessel was better suited.
ladynero: Abel rested a hand on Sydney's shoulder, offering silent comfort. "Thank you for caring."
They were screaming as they were torn apart and put together differently. Lillith stopped screaming only because her vocal chords gave out, but Cain continued screaming, finding the breath to keep the noise bouncing off the walls.
Penguincent: When the Dark finished with them it subsided, curling back into stone and bone and soul. Sydney didn't release the wards, too familiar with the madness that came to some that survived.
"I'm sure what would be more merciful is killing you and letting the Dark take what remains." Sydney murmured. "But I have no reason to grant mercy."
Ladynero: Lillith pushed herself up, moaning before screaming as the visions started. Her hands came up to claw at her eyes, trying to stop them, but they weren't they type of visions that were seen with mortal eyes. Cain just lay sprawled on the stones, breathing hard and pale, but there was something... different about him that Abel couldn't put his finger on. "What did the Dark do to them?"
Penguincent: "It remade them to reflect what they really are. As it made Guildenstern an insect for his annoying buzzing, it has changed them for their motives and actions." He shrugged, wincing at the renewed screams. To spare his ears he cast a minor spell of silence. "But it has not abandoned them. It is loyal. It will keep them, even past death."
Ladynero: Abel watched Lillith claw at her eyes, tearing deep gouges in her face with her nails. "She never wanted to see before, so it allowed her to see now?" he suggested before glancing at Cain. He tilted his head. "He looks... different. I would almost say more breakable, but I'm not sure."
Penguincent: "She thought she saw truth. Now she must see truth. He envied man, so he is man. they are what they wanted to be." He almost smirked, but couldn't muster the mirth.
Ladynero: Abel stepped in front of Sydney and rested his hands on Sydneys's shoulders. "There was nothing you could have done to stop them, nothing I could have done. He was determined and so was she. I do not blame you for their stupidity. Do not blame yourself."
Penguincent: Sydney looked at Abel for a long moment, the back of a claw tracing softly over the boys cheek. "I don't. I'm simply too old and tired to find the vengeful joy I once had at seeing a fool brought low. So little has changed Abel. So very little. I wish very much the Dark had never woken."
Ladynero: "I don't, because then I never would have met you and Armageddon would still be going on," protested Abel, leaning into the touch before reaching up and cupping Sydney's face. "People never change, not really. Kingdoms rise and fall as they scramble for power, wanting what the other person has, and even if someone smacks them down for it, they'll still try for more power, more wealth, more whatever."
Penguincent: "I know." He sighed, leaning into the touch, gray eyes falling closed. "And the lure of the Dark will only bring more of them. Sleep and peace are the only lure's I follow now."
Ladynero: "Then let the Dark take care of those that would try to harness it for greed and power," suggested Abel, reaching up with his other hand to brush blond hair out of Sydney's face. "She can be an example of what happens to the foolish who try to take what doesn't belong to them."
Penguincent: He let out a quiet breath, the wards falling silent and spell songs dark. The Dark coiled within him, content and purring, maliciously amused. It agreed with Abel, and a great deal of Sydney agreed to, but while he was a vessel for the Dark, he still had his own conscious to answer to. "I may have no reason for mercy and the Dark less, but it is a lesson you should know. It is a lesson of the heart."
Ladynero:"Sydney, I have no desire for power or riches. Your friendship is the only riches I need. I am warm. I have a place to sleep without being woken up after a few hours to be sent on a mission. I have enough to eat. I have amusements to keep me occupied helping run Lea Monde," he stated. "Some might deserve mercy but others do not. I have no doubt that Cain left enough clues for Lillith to follow him here, but if she had bothered to just see us instead of what she expected to see, then she wouldn't have raced blindly after him." He offered a wry smile.
Penguincent: His smile was a worn thing, thin around the edges. "It is not up to us to decide who deserves to live and die, we are not fit to judge our fellows. That is why we aspire to higher powers than ourselves." He replied. "Just because the Dark has passed it's judgement does not mean we must agree with it, or that even we should agree with it for it carries little regard for consequences and less for morals."
Ladynero: "Mercy is for those too badly injured to heal or with a lingering, painful illness that will kill them because there is no cure," he said, nodding in agreement with Sydney's words. "As for the Dark, what are morals and consequences for something like it? It has its own values that it respects, but morals and a conscious are mortal things."
Penguincent: "And we are the mortals who must think of these things." He responded, gesturing to the whimpering woman and thankfully now quiet youth defacing his altar room.
Ladynero: Abel nodded and turned, resting his hand on Sydney's shoulder. "Cain will need some guidance in his new mortality. Perhaps the Midwife could look after him? Teach him some humility?" He gazed at Lillith. "I'm not sure what to do with her, honestly. She clawed her eyes out. I don't believe those will return, even with Crusnik healing."
Penguincent: "The humans created her, and she defended them to this end. Let them now care for her. The Pope has sent me enough gaudy baubles to warrant a gift in return." He said after a few moments thought. "As for Cain, he should remain in Lea Monde for certain, and the Midwife is as good a keeper for him as any. I have the feeling the Dark is not yet through with him."
Ladynero: He nodded again. "I'll deliver him to her while you go back to whatever book had caught your attention," he said. "I'll clean this place up and get Lillith ready to go to Rome."
Penguincent: "No." he shook his head. "I will take her. You care for your brother. However blind she may be, some small part of her was a willing sacrifice. I have empathy for that."
Ladynero: "All right." He stepped forward and brushed a kiss of comfort along Sydney's cheek. Then he stepped back with a teasing smile. "Don't let the Pope shower you in gold and jewels this time. Tell him you want more silver and steel."
Penguincent: He snorted. "Of course. Let him think we're amassing an armory. I'd settle for any items of power he finds and a proper scribe for record keeping."
Ladynero: "I don't think anyone would know an item of power if it came up and introduced itself to them," sighed Abel, moving to the altar to start dismantling the mess Cain had made. "As for a scribe, ask him. If nothing else, I'll talk to one of the girls with a neat hand to help for some pocket money until you find one."
Penguincent: He knelt beside Lilith, claws mindful and gentle as he wrapped her in his arms and called up a teleportation circle. "At least it would keep him busy." he muttered. He spared Cain one last pitiless look before the magic took hold and carried them far away to Rome.
Ladynero: Packing away the last of the items, Abel flipped the book shut, pausing briefly to look at the scribe's name in the front page before shaking his head. "I don't know what you were thinking, using a book scribed by Guildenstern," he muttered. He moved over to collect his unconscious twin and left the Cathedral to deliver him to the Midwife.
Penguincent: To say the Pope was surprised would be an understatement. Especially since Sydney left Lilith at the foot of his bed in his private chambers like a traumatized puppy. "This is yours. Do with it what you will but if ever it makes its way to Lea Monde again, I will destroy it." the Prophet growled. "And as far as these ridiculous offerings go, cease and desist. Faith can not be bought nor miracles earned through wealth. The only treasure that carries worth after death is the soul."
ladynero: Abel walked down the streets, carrying his brother in his arms and quietly knocked on the Midwife's door. "He did something very stupid for power, and is human now. Will you teach him what it means to be human and mortal?" he asked, phrasing his question so as to not insult the woman as she waved him into her house.
Penguincent: "And what did this poor soul do to incur the wrath of God?" The Pope asked, kneeling to hold Lilith's face in his hands.
"Wrath?" Sydney asked, claws ringing against his arms. "This was a blessing your Eminence. Surely one so close to God as yourself can see the difference."
Ladynero: Sighing, the Midwife gestured towards a thin cot. "Place him there. What happened to him?"
Abel shrugged and placed his brother where requested. "He thought to control the Dark so humans would not sneer at him. Only the Dark made him human."
Penguincent: "A blessing?" the Pope's tone was differential, but there was an intelligent cunning in his eyes. A politician in holy vestments.
"But of course. Now she can see the truth." Sydney's smile was wicked.
"God's will is ineffable." the Pope nodded.
Sydney's lips twisted in a grimace. He hated that catch all phrase.
Ladynero: "If he wasn't human, what was he?" inquired the Midwife, her tone gentle as she stared at the young man with far too old blue eyes.
"A Crusnik, created to be superior to vampires," sighed Abel, feeling his heart break a bit. They hadn't been close, but he had tried.
Penguincent: "She shall be cared for here until the end of her days." The Pope promised. Sydney almost thought about delving for the man's name, but he couldn't care less in the end.
"Considering her life span, that's going to be quite the incarceration." Sydney let one claw trace through Lilith's crimson locks, earning a disgusted shudder.
"She has been gifted with the governance of an angel?" The Pope looked genuinely surprised.
"I wouldn't know, I've never met an angel. But the Crusnik's were built to last forever."
ladynero: The Midwife clucked her tongue. "I had heard rumors, but didn't place any stock in them." She nodded, once. "He will be cared for, but he will have to earn his keep like anyone else."
Abel nodded. "If you need anything, I am at the Cathedral."
Penguincent: Sydney huffed as the man tried verbally stepping around him a few times for any hint of 'divine word' or something else he could use to rally and preach his people with. A flicker of claws and blue sparkles had him teleported back to the quiet sanctity of his own Cathedral. For all that both massive structures were of similar design, Lea Monde carried a bit more weight. Age painted the heavy stones, laughter and anger and death coated the walls. The Vatican may have beauty and nobility, but Sydney's Cathedral had life. Souls trapped in the very walls.
Ladynero: Abel took his leave of the Midwife after promising a bit more income to help with Cain's expenses and made his way back to the Cathedral, trying to understand why Cain had acted as he had. Looking back, he could see only a few faint hints that Cain had planned anything like this, studying the ancient books that Sydney had a bit more than any of the other ones, purchasing a few herbs here, a few candles there, but nothing that would paint such a picture unless one had the full plan.
Penguincent: Sydney sighed, walking through the altar room and glaring down at the remnants of wax and soot. He knelt, boots creaking a little. A quick scratching on the stone floor, and he erased the meddlesome evidence. "Better."
Ladynero: "I thought I had cleaned everything. Im sorry," apologized Abel, entering the room as Sydney finished.
Penguincent: "Hardly your fault." He waved the apology away. "I take it Cain's affairs have been put in order? Lilith will be taken care of lavishly and beyond her status's warrants I'm sure."
ladynero: "The Midwife is going to watch over him and treat him as a normall human," Abel remarked, walking over to him. "I promised her a bit of coin so Cain isn't too much of a drain on her funds."
Penguincent: "I'm sure she'll work the rest out of him." Sydney smirked, standing up with a creak of hollow leather. "And you?"
ladynero: "A bit sad, but there was nothing in his actions or his words that expressed his true oppinion of me or that he was going to attempt such a feat," sighed Abel, shaking his head.
Penguincent: He placed a hand on Abel's shoulder delicately. "He is still alive, and your brother. And perhaps now he will be able to move beyond himself to see you."
Ladynero: He nodded before looking up at Sydney. "Would you think it cruel of me to make him reach out instead? I'm afraid my arms are tired of reaching for him."
Penguincent: "Cruel? Of course not. Human however, is a trait I won't deny." He gave Abel a tired smile. "Just be there for him when he realizes he needs you. Whoever coined the term, forgive and forget, was an utter imbecile."
Ladynero: "I will try," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I only hope it happens before his life is ended."
Penguincent: Sydney smiled innocently. "Oh? What makes you think he's allowed to die?"
Ladynero: Abel blinked at that, before chuckling a bit. "I thought that since the Dark made him human, that was with all the vulnerabilities, including old age."
Penguincent: Sydney nodded brightly. "Of course! But the body has very little hold on the soul Abel. Those that the Dark takes, it takes to keep."
Ladynero: "Even when those it takes might give it indigestion," drawled Abel, shaking his head with an amused smile.
Penguincent: "Yes, well, I never claimed that the Dark was rational, only that it was wise." He pretended to inspect his claws for knicks.
Ladynero: Shaking his head, Abel stepped up to Sydney and brushed a kiss across his cheek. "I am going back to bed and sleeping late. The Cathedral will open whenever I manage to rouse myself."
Penguincent: He smiled and stroked the back of a claw over Abel's cheek. "Sleep deeply then, and dream pleasantly."
Ladynero: "You as well." He smiled slightly before making his way back to his room and curling in a ball under his covers. Sleep was a long time coming.
Penguincent: He spent a long time meditating, not so much on Cain as the similarities between Cain and Guildenstern. Perhaps he should be feeling guilty, or at least feeling something, but all that came was a weary ache where his heart used to be. He'd chosen Ashley because the man was stalwart, uncompromising, and stubborn to a fault with a core of honor and dignity even the Dark couldn't taint. And he'd chosen wrong. Perhaps there was no hope for Lea Monde, no future beyond the workings of the past.
Ladynero: His last thought before dropping off was an absent wish that he could do something for Sydney to show the man that he would be there for him the way Sydney had been there for Abel, despite everything.
Penguincent: "All the power and magic of the world bound up in the bones of this place, and not one spell among it all to ease a broken heart. What ever does that say about us?" He asked the empty air. The mood for reading was gone, and so he let himself dissolve back into the Dark, knowing it at least, would never let him go.