{ TENT } Medea's Resting Quarters

[Zoobey]

In the very center of the Lost Clans reserve is where the Head Priestess Medea can be seen, most often cloistered inside. The fragrant smell of the pyre wafts all around the tent, and to the side, a small Arpakassu pen, with a bunch of the minipets waffling around.

The head priestess waits inside, patiently, most likely in Trance. She will have to be quietly disturbed. The tent canvas closes heavily behind, as if blocking off all other visitors

OOC: Visiting Medea

STUDENTS:

- Any STUDENTS wishing to gain power can visit Medea. If they answer her questions correctly, they can be INITIATED. Once they have, make sure you read HERE for additional information on distortion.
- Students can also ask questions from Medea, though they might get mixed results as answers.
- Lastly, students can also request a Trance session. Currently, Medea seems rather busy, however: any students asking this will automatically get her reply that she is busy but has great plans for later

HORSEMEN QUESTIONS/ INITIATED QUESTIONS:

- All horsemen/ initiated students can come here to ask Medea questions.

 

[Ice Queen]

The punk boil was skulking around the horsemen grounds, looking for someone in particular. He still had the symbol on his shoulder, so he figured he might get through without too many troubles. But he'd been thinking about this long and hard, which meant he'd given himself a headache and only come up with one decent solution. He had to talk to the horsemen.

He'd thought about going to Invi. It seemed logical, seeing that Roch knew Invi somewhat. But this woman--she'd been the one that had opened the portal. Maybe Invi could have, but she HAD. That meant she was super powerful--and while that unnerved the punk, it might be what he was looking for.

"Scuse me, um... Lady Horsemen?" he said, peeking into the tent. "Can I ask you something?"

Zoobey

Blade pointed this out to me, hope it's okay I'm posting!

 

[Zoobey]

"All those that seek guidance are welcome here," Medea slowly opened her eyes, still seated half-kneeling. She smiled, nodding to Roch. "And as long as you find me, I will answer. Now child, what troubles you to request my presence?"

Ice Queen

 

[Ice Queen]

He hesitated. Honestly, Roch didn't trust the horsemen. Respected them, yes, especially Invictus, but he didn't trust them one bit. But that wasn't stopping him right now.

"My name is Roch. I'm a grim reaper, but you probably know that. I came here to ask for a favor," he said quietly. "I don't know if you can do anything, or will do anything, but the guys that were taken... the ones we went into the hunter territory to save, the hunters implanted somethin' in them. Somethin' really nasty. Somethin' I figure that can be used against all of us, if we ain't careful. I want to know... what it would cost to get it out of them. Or if you can do it at all."

He was uninitiated, he didn't even know what being initiated was. She had no reason to give him a hand, he did know that. And if she did... what would she want in return? He wasn't stupid enough to think she'd do it just for shits and giggles, or out of the kindness of her heart.

Zoobey

 

[Zoobey]

She gave Roch a somewhat comforting smile, beckoning him even closer with one hand. "Come, child, there is no need fear your potential allies. I understand your feelings, your need to for revenge, but this is a choice, a path you must make. I can give you what you seek, I can give you power, to strike out at those who have hurt you, your friends, all that you care for, but in return I ask for silence and loyalty. We, the Lost Clans, are more powerful united, together as a single force. You seek revenge, power from me, now, can you prove to me your trust in us?"

She pointed at the altar, the pyre next to her, burning with a brilliant blue flame. "Do you trust me still, if I told you that the only way to gain power, revenge, was to place your hand in those flames as a trial?"

Ice Queen

 

[Ice Queen]

Frustration showed on the punk's face. She was going straight to what she wanted, he figured, what she'd wanted when she led the others through the portal. It was probably the only thing she was going to talk to him about--along with power and revenge.

Did he want revenge? he thought as he took a step back. They'd killed his uncle, they'd inserted something nasty in his ghoulfriend and probably one of his best friends. He had no love for hunters. If she was right, if doing whatever it was she wanted was the only way to get revenge...

For a moment he was still, staring at the blue flames. It was tempting.

"No," he said finally, quietly. "Never mind. We'll figure out how to deal with the tracker thing, ourselves. Thanks for your time, ma'am," he added, nodding at her. "But before I go, can I ask a favor? Can you get rid of this mark?" he asked her, showing her his shoulder. "I'm not much for bein' branded."

Zoobey

 

[Smerdle]

He had wanted to come here right away, but something had held him back, something that felt a lot like fear, the plain old lowercase kind. West didn't like feeling afraid.

The first several hours he had spent alone with his brand he had simply stared at it, as if he half expected it to flare to life and demand he do a jig or sacrifice fifty piggles to a room full of horsemen or something far more sinister. If he hadn't been too paranoid to notice in the first place, West might have given some thought to the fact that the mark felt... "off," for lack of a better term, but the sight of the thing made getting past its usual significance impossible. To be honest, he didn't even know if horseman marks held the same meaning as demonic ones, but he'd had more than enough experience with contracts that hadn't gone the way he had planned to comfortably tolerate this new and blatant reminder of possible servitude.

After that first day, he'd taken to unconsciously scratching the sensitive skin at the inside of his elbow. He hadn't thought it possible to shred flesh so thoroughly with the pathetic stubs of a chronic nail biter, but apparently anything was possible. At least the bandages kept the thing out of sight for now.

West looked up at Medea's tent. He had the feeling someone was in there right now from the way it was all closed up, and he so desperately wanted to be on his best behavior at the moment. No barging. No yelling. He dug his teeth into his lower lip for a second, then turned to Levi.

"Y'ready?"  

[nekoluch]

She'd been branded. Branded like cattle. Given Levi wasn't prepared to be marked, it was a shock through all that was happening at that time. Her peers were trying to take down the barrier with the horsemen under the guidance of Medea and the odd water. At first, Levi thought it might've been a demonic mark West put on her in a time where they weren't sure of what would happen as an end result to their infiltration of the hunter camp. She hadn't been very happy with him at that moment.

It was when the battle was over that Levi found herself turning her wrist over and over, looking at the mark like she was waiting for it to disappear on its own every morning. It didn't. She needed to make it leave.

Yeah, let's go. They both wanted to be relieved of this branding. The ghoul was curious about West's reasons if he even had any in particular. One day she'd ask about it but for now, they had to see the horsewoman. West was particularly calmed right now, his voice not a pinch rougher as it usually went when he'd knock on her door. The ghoul kept to the same level of neutrality.

To hunt in a pack was all well and good, but to have a lead that marked their kin, that was not something that sit right with the tatzel at all.  

[Zoobey]

"Ah, that is quite a story is it not?" Medea dismissed the flames with a wave of her hand, seating herself down politely again, quietly. "Now that we have given you your allies back and the power you wanted, you would rather sit and wait behind the seats, a coward. That too is fine, it is a path of your choice and only yours. Now, consider the mark a reminder of a promise left unfulfilled, when you truly owe us nothing then I will remove your debt to our clans."

She shifted again; just slightly. "This goes for all those who took the promise and betrayed it, you were given an option and are you thus saying you are exempt from your own choices?"

Nekoluch

Smerdle

Ice Queen

 

[Ice Queen]

"I helped kill the man that kept us from returning. I was one of the guys that took on the heavy weights guarding the place and made him back down," Roch said as he looked at her. "I died on that trip, so did my best friend and so did my ghoulfriend. But if you want to say I still owe you, fine, ain't no biggie to me. I'm seriously used t'not livin' up to people's expectations." He gave her a cold smile, shrugging. "Sorry t'waste both of our time," he said, stepping out of the tent.

"If you're here t'get rid of the mark, you're wasting your time," he told West and Levi. "She thinks we still owe her." Then he walked away, not planning on looking back.

The key that he'd gotten from Tex's locker was still in his pocket. One of the few, if not the only key there was to the underground lake. And it would damn well stay there, he thought with a tight grin.

Zoobey

Nekoluch

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Medea's voice was suddenly clear enough to understand from where they stood, and the demon froze in place as he listened to her speak of betrayal and promises. As Roch brushed past them and left without a backward glance, West hurried into the tent, a rare look of utter panic on his face. It couldn't be true.

His flimsy veneer of calm wavered and cracked.

"No. No no no no no! There wasn't any deal. There was jus' fire. Fire an' a hole. How were we s'posed t'save anyone without walkin' through th'damn fire? That's'not a choice! It's jus'... how t'get where we needed t'go! Y'never said anythin' 'bout a promise. Y'never said this was gonna happen. Y'said..." His face scrunched up for a moment as if he might burst into tears, but instead West ripped at his bandage, scratching at the newly exposed skin until a few of the scabs broke open again. He took a series of hitching breaths, staring straight ahead until he could play at being normal. This was not how he had imagined this would go.

He wanted to ask what it would take, right now, to be rid of it, but he couldn't force himself to form the words for fear of what they might cost him. His gaze flicked in Levi's direction, but he didn't turn to look directly at her. "At least get ridda hers." If it came to it, he would ask for the tatzel. Between the mark and that trance, this pony b***h had hurt them both more than any hunter in the history of ever.

Zoobey

nekoluch

 

[Zoobey]

Medea's eyes turned cold and she smiled, a little too sweetly as she waited for West to finish. "You are correct, in one aspect at least. I don't make deals with children. However, if you bow, submit yourself to me, and realize exactly how feeble your attempts to live without truly living, without truly becoming something else is, then I will consider your request. A mark is nothing as an unsharpened weapon."

smerdle

 

[nekoluch]

Huh? Roch's discussion with the horsewoman revealed exactly what Levi had considered to be the worst case scenario: Medea wasn't going to remove their marks. As she entered the tent, following after an understandably wrath-feuled demon, the ghoul would find the priestess sitting rather comfortably, unaffected by her previous visitor's words.

Levi's eyes widened in terror at seeing West's reaction. Before she could say anything, he began frantically tearing away at his wrappings and then at himself. With a hiss between gritted teeth, Levi reached out to grab the wrist of the demon so he'd stop, only to gain a glance from West as she did so. This had the instantaneous and miraculous ability to stop Levi in her tracks and revert her expression back to one of neutrality somehow. West was angry enough for the both of them clearly. He really must have been through something else... The tatzel pulled her hand back and watched the horsewoman instead, looking for a change after seeing the boil. Medea remained seated, only a hint of a smile visibly peaking.

At hearing West's offer at her side, Levi's head turned back towards the wrath demon abruptly. WHAT? NO! How could you? You can't! Shush!!! In that moment, it was a mix of anger and fear greater than her bearing a mark on her skin could have mustered. The mere thought of such a deal being made was unacceptable; she'd never allow it. Levi began to think of scenarios. If she had to slice off her tail to set him free...

... the ghoul shivered, unable to continue through the various possibilities here. He didn't mean that. Boil just ain't thinkin' right. That's tha'mark talkin'. Levi placed a fanned out hand behind West's back, all the while looking towards Medea and trying to relax her expression again. It was firm and her nails secured spots on the fabric of his shirt; she was trying to keep him quiet. Obviously Medea was not taking to his brand of reasoning, and the tatzel most certainly wouldn't stand here and hear about how he was willing to sacrifice himself in her place. Hush, West. Jack dangit. They needed to leave. Whatever had been said previously before they got there, it wasn't helping their case. C'mon, West. Let's go. Levi gave the boil a stern glance, pleading that he drop whatever else he had lined up to say in his head to the priestess. They needed to think more on this. Perhaps she'd be more willing if they could approach this from another angle; they just needed to find out how. Levi looked down at West's arm, easing her fingers off his back and placing them on his upper arm and clutching onto him so he'd follow.  

[Smerdle]

West loosened his death grip on his own arm when he felt Levi's claws at his back. Yes. It was time to go. They would never get anywhere at the moment, especially not when he felt as though he might exude lava out of his eyes at any moment. The demon's face was very nearly blank, the only readable expression on it a mild fear, but inside he no longer felt afraid. They would be back. He would be calm then. And he would do, if not anything, then a great many things to be rid of the horsemen in his life for good.

He nodded, turning toward the tent's exit and waiting for the tatzel to move before he departed.  

[Nothing Yet]

Speaking to someone of such great importance was one of the most intimidating things Shine had ever done. She lingered at the entrance to the head priestess's residence, distracting herself with the cute little minipets for far too long as she worked up the confidence to step inside.

The first time she opened her mouth, no sound came out, stifled by fright and uncertainty. Her brows knit together and she wrung her hands, rocking from bare heels to toes to heels before she tried again.

"Excuse me, but, I...um. My friend Aymet knows you, and thought that you could help me. And...and that I could help you." She anxiously picked at a chalky candy on her bracelet, breaking it and sending it falling to the ground beside her. "He's never been wrong, but...is he right?"

Zoobey

a initiate-hopeful coming to visit! biggrin