Balance Incarnated

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Without even thinking, Raziel's used his quick reflexes to catch Ariel by her arm before she fell. He then pulled her up into his arms, carrying her bridal style.

"Where's a bed?" Raziel turned to ask Vorador.

The elder vampire was rubbing his temples, but he paused long enough to point to another door.

Raziel muttered a small thank you before carrying Ariel over to the room since obviously she was in no condition to walk, almost doubling over like that.

Raziel placed her gently on the bed, at a bit of a loss for as what to do for her now; he had never had to care for a human before, let alone a female one.

He scratched the back of his head, wondering if he should leave or-- "Is there anything I could get for you? Water perhaps?"  

[MadxHatterxTeapot]

With the world spinning, she felt herself fall only to have a strong arm reach out and grab her. Moments later she found herself being carried off to be put to rest due to her experience and after lying down for a few moments her head swam less and she was able to concentrate more on the questuon he had asked. "What? Oh. Yes. Water, I suppose. Thank you." She rubbed her head.

"How well did we know each other in this past life of mine? Apparently we were close at some extent." She rubbed her temple and gazed up at the wraith, taking in his features more than she had before. It had been dark out and she did not see him very well earlier. In a better light though...

He had an unusual shade for his skin tone. It wasn`t the dirty grungy blue that she had seen in the dark. His color was a rare on if that, as blue-skinned individuals had only existed with the vampire ancients, perhaps this was merely something that had always been with him for as long as he had been around. The contours of what she could determine by his face were strong, From the features that she could see he always had a serious look to him and the determination blazed in the fierce glow of his white eyes. Why was she not repulsed by his appearence again? The set of what appeared to have once been wings on hus back added more questions. What had happened to him? Had the Sarafan Lord made him this way?

Ariel decided most of her questions could be voiced later and that right now the focus was that her family was safe. "...How long will we be hiding here?" she asked him.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Once Raziel had returned with the water ( he had asked one of the humans living among the vampires to go to the shop upstairs to fetch it, since he couldn't very well get it, looking as he did) he handed the cup to Ariel and he mulled over the question she had just asked him.

"We weren't exactly close friends, but our paths crossed a lot. We helped each other realize our own destinies and helped each other achieve that destiny." Raziel replied, sitting on a nearby chair. "That our paths crossed again, in another life, it must be fate that we meet once more." He added quietly, looking up the clock. It was just past midnight. He wondered if there was anymore he could do before dawn; undoubtedly he would need to face the Sarafan Lord again again, but he doubted he could do that in only a few, short hours. He could always go out to feed - he couldn't remember the last time he had devoured a soul - but strangely enough, he still felt just as energized as if he had only just recently fed. And after all he had been through, he figured he would have been barely able to stand... but he felt stronger than ever...

"It's too soon to tell, but when I destroy the Sarafan Lord, only then will you be completly safe." Raziel wouldn't hesitate thing time, now that that monster didn't have Janos to hide behind. He wondered if Janos was still alive, even...  

[MadxHatterxTeapot]

Ariel took the cup from him to sip at the water occasionally. That sounded interesting and all but it still baffled her to some extent. She had not realized that she had also swooned from not eating yet either. She had been so focused on the cell patrons at the City that she had forgotten to feed herself. "If it`s not too much trouble...would you send for something to eat soon? I believe that must have been the reason I nearly fainted." she sipped at her water again. What a night this had been. Ariel looked back at him to try and take in the information he had informed her of.

"What happened to you Raziel? You say you`re a vampire yet you appear so....so different then the rest. The Sarafan lord must have tortured you to this state it appears to me." Perhaps it was out of concern that she asked for the reasons of his appearence, but if they had, as he said, helped each other in their past lives then she could only believe what he said and offer any comfort or support that she could.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

"A woman that got me the water for you said she would also have food prepared for you and your family." Raziel told her, wondering how someone who made a living giving food to prisoners could forget to eat. Then again, she had been through a lot over the past few hours.

At the mention of his appearance, Raziel suddenly a bit avoidant as he want to stand. "It's nothing they did to me. What you see before you in an old wound." He replied "I suppose I should leave you to rest now."  

[MadxHatterxTeapot]

"If it suits you. I will trouble you no more this evening." she said, bading him good night. "Raziel....thank you again. I`m sure even though I may not fully understand, not yet, I am grateful to you. If you need anything please don`t hesitate to ask it of me. I owe you a favor."

Ariel set her cup off to the side and once more bade him good night. "Rest well Raziel. I am in strong belief this battle may not be easy...for anyone." she turned over onto her side to face the wall. "Good night Raziel."  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Raziel bid Ariel goodnight as well, and when he left her room, Vorador seemed to have gotten over his shock and was waiting to speak with him again. There was still a lot Raziel wanted to know about this era, so he would've wanted to talk to the other as well anyway.

Raziel discovered from Vorador that it had only been a few centuries since Kain had refused to sacrifice himself and save the pillars... but if that was the case Vorador should have been dead - executed by Moebius and his dogs.

When Raziel enquired about this, Vorador said that before the execution, Moebius had been killed. The Sarafan were lost without him, and in their grief and with Moebius no longer there to use the staff to immobilize him, Vorador was able to escape.

Raziel hadn't realized how much Kain and him had changed the time stream with their actions. But he now saw with Moebius gone, it must have been easy for the Hylden Lord to assume power over the Sarafan.

Vorador told him that Kain had been defeated by the Sarafan Lord during battle, but he was still alive, if barely. That was how he came into the possession of the Soul Reaver. Vorador warned Raziel that the Hylden were also in the possession of the Nexus stone, so Raziel's wraith blade probably wouldn't work on him either.

Raziel needed to think up a better strategy if he was to defeat the Sarafan Lord.

Vorador said he would take Raziel to see Kain later, if he wished, but for now, the sun was soon to rise and that meant it was time to sleep for the vampires. However, for Raziel, he didn't need to sleep, but that didn't mean he couldn't.

"Are you sure you don't want a bed? I can bring down some fresh linen from for you." Said the woman who had just finished bringing Ariel's food. Raziel was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, just outside the hallway that lead to Ariel's room.

"I'm fine, thank you." Raziel replied without opening his eyes. He was use to resting wherever he could, be it all the travelling he did, searching for Kain, or because he was a dog - for ever how many years that had been - he just felt more comfortable sleeping on the floor than in a bed.

The woman, plump from middle age, but also slightly muscled from hard hard work, put her hands on her hips as she looked down at the wraith. "You vampires are strange, but you be the strangest one by far... sure are cute though - with those big, glowing eyes of yours - you remind me of that tame raccoon outback that begs for scraps every night. You even got the same dark circles under your eyes as 'im~" She musedwith a playful smirk, then giving a shrug, continued on her way. "Suit yourself, Mr. Raziel, let me know if there's anything else you need."

Raziel just blinked in bemusement as he watched the woman walk away. "I am not cute..." He bristled at the comment, but the woman was already gone. He sighed, closing his eyes once again as he willed himself to fall asleep.  

[MadxHatterxTeapot]

A storm struck Meridian that night. Storms were not unusual to Nosgoth however when they did strike they were large and they lasted for hours. Since childhood, thunderstorms were not detrimental to her health but, Ariel HATED storms. Maybe it had been the roar of the thunder or the crash of the lightning. The neighbor had been struck dead by a bolt once and the sight had traumatized her for some time. But whatever reason it had been, storms petrified her.

This had to have been one of the worst storms she had ever been through in her existence. Ariel bolted upright out of bed and sat there for better of 10 minutes staring at the wall catatonically. Storms also had made her have strange dreams as well. Perhaps these dreams were what Raziel meant by her past life. The Balance Guardian.

Ariel wiped perspiration from her forehead and pushed the remainder of her meal to the side before gathering her bearings together, again, and unlocked the door to her room. Closet. Corner. Somewhere to block out the noise. On her way out the door she nearly fell in her hurry and landed on something, or someone, poor Raziel the recepient and stood up immediately to run off. All vampires must have been sleeping by now, but it was best so none saw her as she ran, darted, down a hallway.

Sounds of a woman screaming in her memories and blood cascading across a stone surface in her mind. "No...no....someone stop her bleeding..."  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Maybe sleeping on the floor wasn't such a good idea. He had woken up, hearing Ariel come out of her room and down the hall. It was dark, so she probably hadn't seen him sitting there, but before he could say or do anything, she had tripped and fell over top of him.

He was about to help her up, but she quickly got up on her on accord and began darting about like a mad woman. Confused - and worried that she might trip over something else in the dark - Raziel caught up to her and took her by the shoulders, stopping her.

"Ariel, what's wrong?" He asked her quietly, almost soothingly, wondering what exactly had come over her.  

[MadxHatterxTeapot]

She had heard footsteps behind her and once Ariel stopped to catch her breath she felt hands on her shoulders and nearly screamed, almost trying to fight whoever it was off until she saw the soft glow of the wraith`s eyes in the dark and she sighed in relief. "Wrong? Wrong. Ha! I`ll tell you what`s wrong, it`s a damned hurricane out there there and-and all of these night terrors that strike me." she spoke rapidly, almosy as if she were mad. The truth was the dreams had frightened her no matter what the scenario. This one took the take.

"I-I`m watching visions of a woman being murdered and none coming to her aid as she gushes blood and someone laughs at her on the floor. Taking joy out of her pain and-and...I`m had it up to here with these dreams since childhood!" she sounded angry now, but the more she recalled the dream the more she sickened at the poor woman`s face and as she drowned in her own blood.

"I...I can`t take it anymore, for I shall go as mad as Laylan if I keep witnessing these night terrors...You don`t think I`m mad...do you Raziel? I-I`ve always beeb peculiar but...never mad." She laughed bitterly to herself. "My step mother was right. I am mad. Normal people don`t get up in the middle of the night to run and look for a quiet place to hide until a storm dies over." She trembled as she spoke, but was able to keep her composure as she explained the situation. As for Areil remaining calm, that was a little harder to do. "I`m frightened. I`m not one that frightens easily but here I am upset over some ridiculous storm and these terrible dreams..." A crash of thunder. "AAh!" she clasped her hands over her ears.

"Oh! I will become as Laylan sometime tonight surely. Hylden lose their minds faster than humans do."  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Raziel sighed, arms encircling Ariel's shoulders as he pulled her close to him, as if to protect her from what she was experiencing.

"You poor child..." Not only did it seem that she had inherited Ariel's spirit, but images of her bloody past as well - memories that probably drove the original Ariel to derangement. Raziel knew all too well what it was like, being haunted by memories of betrayal with no way to quell them.

"Shhh, you're all right, Ariel, you're not crazy... these dreams -- they're just memories of another time. You're seeing what happened to Ariel the Balance guardian, but it's all over and passed now, no one's going to hurt you or her, I promise" Raziel told her softly and reassuringly. He had never been this kind to Ariel in the past, in fact he had a couple of things he had regretted, so he really felt bad for her. Even if this wasn't the Ariel he knew, he hoped this would make amends for the unkind things he had said to her.  

[MadxHatterxTeapot]

Well...one could say this was an awkward position. Surely, Raziel was still a stranger to her but...he knew her in a past life. Did that make sense? Welllno it didn`t to her but he was here...and he understood it seemed. Ariel took comfort in the fact that he was there though. Anyone else would have deemed her insane and she would have ended up in the Eternal Prison one way or another. His tone soothed her though and she eventually quieted her ranting and soon just remained standing there in silence with him.

"Did she, I mean did I, have to die so horribly?" she questioned. "Or did destiny just decide to throw a horrible death for the hell of it?" It was a complex question and she understood. "I...should be getting back to bed now. I`ve probably disturbed a lot of vampires this evening." she insisted. "Um. Excuse me..." she said to him, somewhat uncomfortable of how they were still standing together as such. "I`ll be returning to my room now." a nother crash of thunder and she twitched. "Maybe not so soon..."  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

"I think it's time you heard the whole story." It would help Ariel take her mind off the storm, at least and she had been curious about his appearance, anyway. So once he had found a place for them to sit, he told her of both his and Ariel's demise - Ariel's at the hand of Mortanius, who was controlled by the Hylden Lord at the time. And Raziel, who was betrayed by his sire and thrown into the abyss by his sire.

He told her about all the times Ariel and he had met during his journeys, and how in the end, he had helped to free Ariel's soul, and in turn, she purified his. Without her, he would never have realized his destiny, as terrible as being trapped in the Soul Reaver seemed, he was still thankful to her for helping him.  

[MadxHatterxTeapot]

The tale was tragically magical on some degree. Ariel was caught on every word and detail of his journey. It became easier to understand and slowly her confusion dwindled to understanding. Ariel gave a bitter laugh. Her next words a glimpse of the older Ariel shining through. "The irony and cliche` of it all. Another guardian murdering another...it`s so simple. Yet none could predict it." As quickly as her tone had changed the old Ariel was gone and the one she had been reborn in shined through again.

"I sometimes despise the way people and the world works. It seems as though both strive to make each other miserable. People to other people and to the world. Call me a humanitarian. I can`t stand the sight of suffering...in any form. A starving person, a sick animal...mishandling of someone`s remains..." Ariel leaned back against the wall they were sitting against and sighed. "There is no way to compare our suffering souls. I don`t know why some folks would argue over who had it worse."

Ariel stared at the ceiling until her grey eyes turned to gaze upon Raziel. "There are no victories it seems. Only tragedies. And would our souls not have been absorbed into the blade you would have been bound...alone and my soul would remain to suffer at the Pillars if our destinies were not realized."

She sighed. "Raziel...what is to happen to us once the Sarafan Lord is defeated? Are we to either live or die? Will we have to repeat destiny all over again?" If sacrificing his soul for destiny once was hard how would he be able to do it again after all he went through?

Absent mindedmly her hand covered over his claws and she stared at the wall ahead of them

"I suppose it works out the way it feels like working out. Fate is a cruel mistress and she waits for no one."  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Raziel cocked an eyebrow at her and said "You're beginning to sound like your old self." He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Ariel was wise, but there was a very thin line between intelligence and madness, Raziel felt, especially in Ariel's case; too much thinking tended to send her on some morose tirade.

Raziel sighed, looking up at the ceiling himself as he spoke. "After I defeat the Sarafan Lord...? Honestly, I don't know, life goes on... but I do know I need to find Kain, the one from my time. He's the hero of this story, not me, and a hero needs his weapon in his right hand if he plans to save all of Nosgoth." He really wondered what had happened to the other and why he was here now.