Miss Elegent Serenity wrote:

H paid for her room and turned to Yugi
"There really isn't much to tell but I will do my best to answer any questions you have truthfully"
she put the change back in her bag and took the key from the inkeeper
"so should we go for dinner now or get settled into our rooms first?"

"Well I heard there is a great pub down the street. Wanna go check that out and hang out for a while?" Yugi said as he put away his room key and money before saying "I hear they got some good beer on tap." as he opened the door and held it open like a gentlemen

"As a matter of fact, I just might be." Kao said still smiling. "What do you need an evil lair for? You aren't going to be kidnapping poor defenseless girls for your experiments are you?"

Vincent lay helplessly on the ground watching the scene unfold around him. Okay she did understand what I wanted. Vincent began to get feeling back in his body and he slowly got up off the ground and moved near where the intruder was standing. The area behind the intruder got darker. Vincent used his magic to bind the intruders hands in magic and he grabbed the back of his robe, dragging him down into the blood. "Let's see how you like this."

The Alchemage groaned as his face was next to the pool of blood.
"Okay, first of all, what kind of scientist do you think I am?! Secondly, I'll have you know that you just broke the last straw! Hayabusa! Escape Plan Alpha!"

"Plan Alpha?" Hayabusa inquired.

"Yes, Plan Alpha, do it now!"
The Alchemage yelled as he struggled against the man pushing him down.

Hayabusa took the air.
"Commencing Plan Alpha!"
He let out an ear-piercing screech and started attacking Vincent, harassing him and scratching his face. The distraction was enough for the Alchemage to roll away to safety.

"Let's see how you like this, you foolhardy brute!"
With great effort, he broke the binding on his hands and pulled out a pair of his recently acquired Warp-stone infused manacles, which he wasted no time in using; he attached them to Vincent's hands.
"I'm just gonna take a shot in the dark here and say that your power is either a contract or hereditary."
The manacles started to glow as they bound Vincent's hands together. When that was taken care of, he turned back towards Kao and pulled out another pair of manacles.
"As for you, little blood mage...I'm sure these little gadgets would be just as effective against your powers, too. Shall we commence the experiment?! Ee hee hee hee hee!"
He charged right towards her, trying to reach her before she could cast a spell.

Kao's concentration faltered as Alchemage charged towards her and accidentally released her pressure all out once. With nothing to hold it in check the golems began to drag themselves out of the ground. They were towering and rained blood as they staggered towards Kao. Their eyeless sockets devouring the dim light in the basement.
Kao snatched up a knife Vincent had left on the table and she held it defensively as Alchemage came closer.
"Get back!" She growled as the blood continued to rise. The golems, noticing the threat began to converge towards the threat to their master.

Vincent watched the scene unfold as he got up off the ground, hands bound. God damn it. If this keeps up... Vincent run at the intruder and tackled him the ground, making sure the intruders face was in the ever raising blood. "You stay right there! Kao!" Vincent shouted. "Get these things off me! I can't use my magic!"

The Alchemage pushed himself off of the ground and quickly, though inelegantly, stumbled backwards away from the blood.
"Ack! I can't believe this is happening to me of all people...this is humiliating!"
He looked up and saw the golems surrounded the two.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me! Now she's commanding golems?!"
He stretched his pointer finger towards them.
"You know, I really didn't want to do this but you leave me no choice! Behold my magic, the ultimate power I possess! Soon you will tremble before me, ah hah hah hah hah!!"
His body started to glow and a portal appeared in front of him.
"Yes! Perfect! The summoning is going exactly as planned, ha ha ha!"
While he was laughing madly, a warrior appeared before them from another dimension.
"Ahhh, he looks like a strong one! It seems that fortune has favored me, after all. Now, here's the plan, my inter-dimensional minion..."

But even as he was saying this, the warrior let out a mighty battle cry and charged towards the golems.
"LEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOYYYY JEEEEEEEENNNNKKIIIIIIIIIINNSSS!!!!!!!"

The Alchemage looked on in horror.
"NO, YOU FOOL! NOT THE GOLEMS!"

Her concentration completely shattered now, the blood began rising faster and faster at an alarming rate.
"No!" Kao whimpered as the blood covered her mouth. She began thrashing under the rising water level and the golems gripped her arms and legs and began to pull her down into the Earth. She fought against their strength in an attempt to press the blade into her thigh. She screamed.

Memoire shrugged.
"This way you get to be back among your people, and you don't have to worry about being groped and fondled in the night. That would seal the deal for me. I envy you in fact - I can barely sleep with that pampered ape in the room, she insists on taking images of herself all night she calls "selfies.""
He rolled his eyes.
"So, you going to take it or leave it?"

The man hiccuped again and drunkenly leaned closer.
"So what if I *hic* am, honey bunny? You gonna *hic* be a good girl for Daddy, or are you gonna cost me summin?"

"Kao!" Vincent shouted. Vincent turned to the intruder. "Undo my bindings!" He ordered, turning around. "I need to help her, she's my student and her magic is going out of control! I promise I won't attack you, now do it!"

The Alchemage let out a deep sigh at the chaos happening around him.
"First you attack me and now you want me to help you. I really don't get you people in the slightest!"
He quickly turned to Hayabusa.
"Go on, help that knight guy keep the golems busy!"

Hayabusa seemed shocked to hear this.
"We are actually going to help them? But why?"

The Alchemage already started running towards Kao and her master.
"Because they'll totally owe us one, that's why!"

Understanding his master's orders, Hayabusa flew towards the golems. He circled them, occasionally diving down and scratching them. Even though it didn't do much harm, it worked well enough at keeping their attention. Leeroy Jenkins hacked and slashed away at the golems with everything he had, going all-out with every single attack.

The Alchemage started to remove the man's bindings.
"Let's see...never actually used these before...I think you just...there it is!"
After a few moments of messing around with it, the bindings were removed.
"There, now do whatever it was you were going to do!"

"I guess that was interesting enough." Arthénice slowly backed out of the throne room, making sure not to draw attention to herself. "I guess I'll wait for him to finish whatever he's doing.. Oh!" Arthénice jumped slightly as she turned around, realizing that she had bumped into someone. It was a well-built but still stocky man, with an intimidating combination of beard and mustache that gave his face a fearsome and grizzly look. Arthénice was able to recognize this man as the Earl of Pudd-Thng, a small city-state, just north of the capital, or as it was now called, the old capital, and about ten soldiers.

Name: Aries "The Earl of Pudd-Thing" Greccica
Age: 47
Gender: Male
Race: Human/Elf half breed
Magic Type: None
Magic Ability: None
Other: In order to compensate for his lack of magical ability, he has overwhelming physical strength.

Spoiler:

"Arthénice? I thought you had died! When your family's mansion was found burnt to the ground, I WAS SO WORRIED!" The earl crouched down towards Arthénice, attempting a hug, Arthénice however, quickly dodged, causing the Earl to fall to the ground. "I'm glad that you were worried about me, but why do you have soldiers in the capital? Hasn't the country existed peacefully for decades?" The Earl's face turned grim. "It appears that you haven't heard of the news. Come with me, I must speak with the king. All will be revealed then." As the Earl began to march off, Arthénice stopped the Earl once more. "About that... It seems that he was just assassinated and the new king has been crowned. I'll be in charge of all military operations. Earl." The Earl and his men were all taken back by this news. The city-state of Pudd-Thing was only about four days away, but to have had their days of travel and war preparations destroyed by a single assassin, they were devastated. "Fine. I don't know how you became the King's military adviser, or how only you managed to survive the attack on your family's mansion, but I know that you're clever enough to work something out. Come with me to the war preparation room. I'll explain the situation on the way there."

The Earl had gone off in great detail about the forces they were up against.It was a large group of nomads called the Dragoons who, after worshiping dragons for several generations, finally gained affinities with them, making them the strongest military group. Maximizing their strength in magic, physical strength, and numbers. The assumed base of operations of the Dragoons was the center of the island to the north of Pudd-Thing. The Earl and the previous king had been devising preparations for the dragon-mounted warriors, but were at a loss. They had never fought against dragons, which were assumed to be myth until several months ago. Hearing this, Arthénice smiled. "Don't worry about a thing Earl, I know just what to do to those Dragons." She sent him and his soldiers into the town to inform them that the old king was dead, and that the new king was to be officially crowned in several hours. 

"Varfolemi! Varfolemi!" Arthénice shouted as she ran down the halls. She finally found him, still in the throne room with the assassin that had just killed the previous king. She paused to take in the situation. "I don't really care about what just happened, and I'm not sure if I really want to know, but in summary, a large group of dragon-riding knights is going to come to the country and wreck our shit, so unless we don't want or shit to be wrecked, we have to gather up people. I've already sent out soldiers, telling them about your coronation, but it's going to be hard to get the townspeople on our side. If you can do something to make everyone in this town love you, we'll have a chance at winning this war." Arthénice didn't let the filthborn let out a single word before she ran off again, into the castle's magical workshop. Because she grew up sheltered and away from the outside, she was able to read up and study the many characteristics of magical weapons. Since she had started her studying, she had always had one design stuck in her head that just refused to go away. In the times of peace, her invention would have made her a mass murderer, needlessly creating weapons for a war that wasn't going to happen, but now, her weapon would make her death itself.

"I know you're excited about this war, trust me, I am too." Death's cold, shivering voice came out from behind her. "JEEZ COULD YOU NOT JUST MATERIALIZE OUT OF DARKNESS." Arthénice shouted. Death didn't change it's expression, if it had one. "Anyways, I have a deal for you. If you can bring about the deaths of 30,000 people in this war, I'll let you keep your eyes, no drawbacks, no eventual insanity. You don't have to answer now though, just think about it." And with that, Death disappeared into the shadows. While her weapon could easily kill 30,000 people, that wasn't actually the result of her killing them, more them just falling out of the sky. If she wanted to continue living, she had to resume her training with Beatrice, who was probably with Varfolemi.

pizzanerd1 wrote:

"Well I heard there is a great pub down the street. Wanna go check that out and hang out for a while?" Yugi said as he put away his room key and money before saying "I hear they got some good beer on tap." as he opened the door and held it open like a gentlemen

H thought for a moment then pushed herself off the wall
"Ill go there for the food but not the beer"
she walked past him and out the door
"It's best to keep a clear mind when around new people"
she waited outside of the inn gesturing him to go ahead of her
"I'll let you lead the way"


Lavina shuddered at the thought of being groped and fondled in the night
"Would he do that to me?"
she shook her head trying not to think about it, she had to do what was best for her people. WHen he spoke about his future wife she gave him and apologetic look
"Im sorry your not happy with her"
she looked out into the garden
"I guess we both don't really have a choice in all of this do we"
then a thought came to her and she quickly looked up at Memoire
"Maybe you can come along, tell your father you will go to make sure I nor my father, my father mostly wont try to do anything. It will give you a break from..."
she paused for a moment and looked in the direction his fiancee was then back at Memoire
"her..it's rather peaceful there and we have plenty of room in the castle for guest"
she stood up from the bench
"Do you think he will allow it, allow me to go back to my home and for you to come with?"

Without missing a beat Vincent ran up and picked up Kao and his knife. Taking it in his hands he stabbed it into her leg, though not deep enough to cause serious damage. "Snap out of it!"

The pain burned through the blood she was choking on and the golems fell apart and melted back into the ground. Coughing and spluttering with imagined blood Kao collapsed on Vincent. She kept her eyes closed for a long time before opening them. There was no blood, no golems. Just Master, the table and the intruder, his bird and some bizarre knight.
"What's going on?" She asked exhaustedly.

Vincent let out a sigh when Kao woke up. "You let your magic go out of control. You need to learn how to keep focused." Vincent looked at the intruder. "Alchemage right? I'll keep my promise and won't attack you. Now if you would just leave..." He said looking back at Kao. "We need to go into town today. I have a task that needs doing very soon and I need to make sure your armed in case things go wrong. Can you walk?"

"I think so." She said, testing her injured leg. There was a slight pain but nothing terrible, especially compared to the pain she had felt a day or two ago. She stood obediently by the stairs.

As his time limit ran out, the clone of Leeroy Jenkins started to turn back into the mana it was created from.
"At least I have chicken..."
Speaking these last words, Leeroy disappeared completely.

The Alchemage shrugged at Vincent.
"Well, that's a lovely way to show your gratitude."
He called Hayabusa back and the bird landed on his arm.
"Come on, let's go find ourselves a place that's actually deserted. The last thing we need is people meddling in our affairs as we plan world domination!"
He left the house soon afterwards, beginning his search for a new location for his evil lair.

Vincent watched as The Alchemage left and walked up to Kao, opening the trapdoor. Putting the dirty kife somewhere else he grabs a clean one, puts it in his pocket and grabs an apple. "Here." He said handing it to Kao. He grabbed another one and left the house, biting into it. They walked down the pathway for about a half hour before making it into town. "Remember, as long as you use your magic you can get whatever weapon you want." Vincent said, smiling. "I'm gonna leave you on your own for this matter. Will that be fine?" He said. "Kao, I trust you. I know that you won't tell anyone." He said in a calm voice.

MateusseDarkslight wrote:

The man hiccuped again and drunkenly leaned closer.
"So what if I *hic* am, honey bunny? You gonna *hic* be a good girl for Daddy, or are you gonna cost me summin?"

Xia leaned forward slightly, her nose barely a centimeter from his face, as she reached down and grabbed his 'family jewels'. Though she was repulsed by the smell of his breath, she did not show it on her face. "I recommend that you return to your table of vile friends, before I set fire to your family jewels." She snarled.

Kao nodded submissively. "Of course, Master. Leave it to me. I'll meet up with you later." She turned and vanished into the crowd, limping slightly.

"Brandt, are you feeling okay?" Darmi asked him. She had to repeat herself twice before he acknowledged her.
"Huh?" He gave her blank look as though he had just come back from miles away. "Yeah, I'm fine." He lied.
"You've just seemed distracted today."
"I'm alright. Don't worry about it."
"Okay, well, I'll go check over there for any leads. You can start here." He nodded irritably. He thought he caught Darmi shaking her head in his peripheral vision but he didn't care.
Kao was in his head constantly now. He saw her slight curves, the playful smile on her face, everything. The way her orange hair haloed her face. Her eyes were amethyst, her skin was lightly tanned and the tattoo flickered and swirled as she walked sensuously beside him.
"So, my love," the illusion said to him, "Are you going to save me today? Or are you going to make me wait longer?" She stepped in front of him, put her hands on her hips and pouted.
"If I come and save you then that perverted carpenter will hunt us down."
"Perverted carpenter?" A corner of her mouth quirked up. "And you aren't perverted, my dear?"
"Well... yeah, I am. But we're in love. I don't think it's bad for me to feel that way about you." Kao simply giggled girlishly and skipped on ahead.
"Even if he did come after us, I know my brave Officer Brandt would keep me save."
"Of course I would, Kao. I love you."
"That's good to hear. I feel so safe now. Hey, look at those things, aren't they pretty? The way they shine?" She was pointing to an artisan's stand that held a bunch of decorative metal pieces and jewelry.
"Kao, you know I can't afford any of that right now."
"B-But B-Brandt." She stuttered, looking like she was about to cry.
"Kao, once I become an Officer I'll be able to get you whatever you want." He said, trying to soothe her. The last thing he needed was her breaking out in tears in the middle of this crowded place. Did she want him to get thrown in jail for not reporting he had found her?
"We could kill my father. And the Captain. Then we'd get all of their money and we could do whatever we wanted. We could even take over this country. How would you feel about being King, dearest? I'd be your queen and we'd have a bunch of little orange haired kids running around causing trouble for our slaves. Doesn't that sound like "Happily Ever After" to you?"
"Ssh!" He cautioned glancing around to make sure no one had heard. "Don't say stuff like that. You'll get us both killed."
"I'm sorry." Kao said and got a dejected look on her face. God how he hated seeing her said. There always needed to be a smile on her face otherwise she wasn't as cute.
"Let's just take things one step at a time, okay? And are you sure you'd be okay with killing your parents?"
"Anything to assure we live happily and have a lot of kids!"
"Sir, are you okay?" A shopkeeper asked him giving him a funny look. Brandt looked around curiously. Kao was peering out from behind the man's legs and laughing about something that he didn't understand so he smiled back at her.
"I'm fine. Go about your business." He told the shop keeper. He went back to patrolling as Kao strolled along next to him.

Nothing looked good to her. Kao sighed angrily as she went from shop to shop. Vincent had something planned but hadn't really told her what it was yet. But she figured there were a few things she'd need. So far though, there hadn't been anything she'd wanted. It was starting to get on her nerves. Just when she thought she'd rather start burning things to the ground or try and summon Ravasz and ask him for a different kind of magic she saw them. They were small things, designed to look like stretched out Vs, they were perfect. With a grin she eagerly collected them into a bag using her power to make it look like she was simply inspecting them. Slipping them into a bag she had picked up somewhere, she couldn't remember where, she calmly walked out of the store humming to herself.
The two men were standing there, just outside the shop stopping people and showing them a piece of paper. T&T was emblazoned on the breast of their coats. Kao froze when she saw them. Her father's men. Shit.
"Come on, Kao. Don't tease me like that." A voice said from nearby. It immediately drew the attention of the two men and Kao herself. What she saw was a Guard walking through the crowd and appearingly talking to himself. And he was saying her name! Her father's employees exchanged glances and that's when one of them saw her. Tapping his partner he pointed directly at her!
Kao turned and ran into the alley beside the shop
"Kao!" One of them shouted after her.

Kao spun at her name being shouted. Brandt looked over her shoulder and saw two men wearing coats with T&T on them. They were chasing a fleeing figure that was wearing a hooded cloak. They looked over their shoulder and the hood fell away. Her orange hair seemed to blaze in the sun.
"Kao?" He asked in shock. Kao turned to him with an odd look on her face.
"Well?" She asked. "Are you just gonna let them catch me or are you going to save me?"
That was all he needed to hear. He charged after the men, shouting for people to get out of his way.

She held one of the V Blades in her hand prepared to fight. The two men held their hands up and pleaded with her to come back with them. Her father was worried about her and they told her that he'd admitted it hadn't been right to force that on her at her age. He had only been thinking of her best benefit after all. One of them had edged close as they were trying to convince her and she slashed at him with the weapon. He danced back and shook his arm.
"Damn, bitch!" he swore looking at the cut on his arm.

Brandt rounded the corner in time to see the man jump away from her.
"Kao!" He shouted drawing his short sword.
The two men turned to face him.
"Guard, restrain her. But be gentle about it. If she bruises, Mr. Tulant will have all of our heads!"
Brandt advanced grinning savagely. The two men parted so he could advance past them.
"I'm here to save you, My Love." He said to Kao's glaring face.
Spinning around he quickly dispatched the two men. They lay in rapidly expanding pools of blood. He turned to her, "Come on, let's get out of here. We can go past the forest like we talked about. Your father wont' ever find you out there."
Confusion was in her eyes as she regarded him. Sword point down he stepped towards her. "We don't have time for this Kao. We need to go now!"

What in the hell? Did he just call me, "My Love?" Kao thought as she watched the City Guard kill the two men. He then turned and held out a hand and asked her to go with him.
"Who the hell are you?" His look was too shocked for her comfort.
"Kao...? It's me, Brandt."
"I've never met you before." She told him. "And I don't know of any other Kaos either."
"Please, we need to go. The others, they'll come find me."
Others? So this insane Guard isn't alone? Did I get a fan club or something? No one told me anything.
"Don't make me force you!"
That broke it. She turned and hurried off deeper into the alley. No sooner had she turned around, hands grabbed one of her arms and something rough and wet was pressed against her mouth. She fought against the Guard but he was too strong for her. The rag covering her mouth smelled...Odd. With every breath she took she felt her body growing weaker.
"I'm sorry." A tear filled voice right behind her. She could feel the breath on the back of her neck. "You gave me no choice."
A few more weak struggles and her eyes began to close. Fighting with every last scrap of her will... It wasn't enough.
Master! She cried in her mind, knowing that there was nothing Vincent could do to save her as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Brandt picked her up and casually swung her over his shoulder like a sack of vegetables. Kao's limbs swung limply for a few moments before they settled.
"You need to be careful, Love." Kao said from his side. She looked up at him. "I'll show you how to get us somewhere safe, just let me lead."
He nodded and she went up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. "Okay, follow me!"
She led him through the alleys, a long route that left him exhausted and with shaking legs. The body on his shoulder weighed him down more every step he took. Why couldn't he just chuck the thing in the river and then go with Kao to the cabin they had picked out the day before.
You're carrying Kao. A part of his mind said. You're talking to an illusion.
He shook the disturbing thought from his mind and continued on.
The sun was just beginning its descent when he reached the edge of the forest and the old cabin that was there. Shouldering the door open he made his way inside and deposited Kao's limp form on the old bed. Taking strips of cloth from his pocket he bound her securely to the bed so she couldn't get away. It was a delicate balance between security and cutting off the circulation to her hands and feet. The next thing he did was tie a clean rag over her mouth so any screaming she did upon waking would be muffled.
Task accomplished he stood there staring down at his love. Her chest rose in time with her breathing. His entire body was shaking as his eyes analyzed every part of her he could see. He held his gaze on her breasts and crotch as he stared at her lustfully. Opening and closing both hands spastically he reached one out and just lightly grazed her cheek.  The skin was soft and silk smooth. He touched her again, his entire palm on her cheek now. He moved his hand up and ran his fingers through her fiery hair. His body shuddered with ecstasy at the contact. He sat down in a chair he had scrounged and watched her as she slept. He couldn't wait for the drug to wear off.
He knew she loved him just as much as he loved her. She just hadn't been able to think right because those men had terrified her. Once she woke up and realized she was with her protector she'd be fine and they could go on to overthrowing the government.
Idly he toyed with one of her newly acquired boomerangs as he waited through the day for her to wake up. His mind burned with everything he'd tell her once they were finally reunited.

Memoire looked doubtful.
Then he regretfully shook his head.
"As tempting as that offer is, I have to stay on top of things here. I promise I'll visit every day, if you want."

The man wisely moved away. A moment later, Riastrad came tumbling out of the back room and landing sprawled on the floor, the bartender advancing on him with a club. "That bounty on your head is mine, ya crook..."
"Xia, run or fight, up to you..." Riastrad managed to gasp.

Lavina gave him an apologetic look when he said he had to stay there
"I don't mind if you visited, I'm assuming your brother will be coming as well then?"
she walked over to a tree and placed her hand on its trunk, the bud on the tree all started to bloom
"I could come here and stay a few times a week and tend to the plants. I dropped my staff back at home, with it I can do more things with this garden. It contains a crystal that allows me expand my ability."
she looked back at Memoire
"Should I stay for a night then head back in the morning. It could give you the time you need to speak to your father about me living with my people and not here"
she smiled

"I'm sorry sir but we don't really need any new tables right now." The shop owner told Vincent. "Ah I see. That's a shame then. Have a good day." Leaving the shop empty handed, Vincent took a seat on a near by bench. Damn woman telling me how to do my job. I know that those tables are going bad and was willing to give her a discount. Vincent was arguing with the woman a few minutes prior. I wonder where Kao is. I'm hoping she found something at least. We really need to get started soon. After thinking that he watched as a man ran past him carrying what looked like a sack over his shoulder. Vincent watched the man run and noticed that it wasn't a sack he was carrying, but a small body with orange hair. Orange hair...? Vincent sat there for a second before it finally hit him. Shit! Vincent got up and chased after the man but he was already too far away for him the catch up. Not now! Damn it! Vincent turn and ran back to his house. He had to get Kao back.

Memoire smirked a little.
"Up to you, madam. It's just that things are a little different here than back where you live. I'm not going to talk to my father because knowing him he'll just conjure up some law that means you have to stay in the castle. Forever. No contact with any plants of any sort. Still want to stay?"