onepassingnight | Adventure Classic: Dungeon Crawling

John's grip over his sword tightened, and he rose his shield with the insignia of his kingdom. He didn't so much need to hear Ami's order as to see her wander outside of the tent to know they would move out soon.

He was already used to sleeping in armor. He didn't even need to set his helmet on to prepare for their journey. He wished he had another layer of clothing beneath the chainmail and the plate, but he had gotten used to it.

The knight ties his rutsack to his armor, and walks towards the priestess the person he swore allegiance to after he became an errant knight.

"Are the others ready?"

"You know I am, chief."

Every party needed an all-knowing mage and for the sake of this quest, Cortana had been assigned. She was quite grateful, her past experience with the knight had been enough to land her with this position and every good gamer knew that every good tank needed a buffer. Cortana was the girl. She walked over beside her allegiance and nodded.

"Unless we're all still interested in sight seeing."

"There's no need to rush. The temple the priestess needs to get to isn't going anywhere."

Unlike the good moods of the rest of the lot, there was a grumpy young man in the group. During the nights, he kept his tent pitched the farthest from the rest. During the evenings he ate his food in silence and alone and during the mornings, he was never exactly happy to see anyone. He words spoken were short and rough. This morning was no different.

"Follow me." He was ready to lead again and it wasn't making him feel any better.

Mercury found herself glancing after Kanda for a moment before she started to move. From the beginning, their guide had been aloof, distant, and bad-tempered. Not that these were qualities unknown among her particular priesthood, but they still put questions in her mind, such as: Why agree to come at all?

Still, to have someone who knew the territory was a definite blessing, another proof of her path, she thought. She didn't argue with him. If she were to tell the full truth, he intrigued her with that air of self-sufficiency and his obvious skill in combat.

The other two were much easier to understand. They were here to fulfill their duty, pull their weight among the group, and perform their tasks quickly and efficiently. She had never seen either of them do anything less. She gave them a nod as she noted they were already ready - a welcome state, but not surprising.

"Let's go," she said simply. "Even if it's not moving, our goal is waiting for us." So was the glory of achieving it, the recognition and fame.

"This area is said to be full of monsters," she said as an afterthought, "Don't let your guard down." She doubted any of the three needed the warning, but it was best to stay sharp.

His helm turned. The knight stood up, and walked close to Cortana, her longest companion.

"I won't."

The only person he hesitated about was Kanda, but if Mercury was willing to trust him, and they had gone together just as long with mutual trust, then he would have to do so as well. Cortana and John had made an invincible pair in the past, knight and mage tearing through foes and monsters with ferocity, protecting one another.

Right now, they had all vowed to protect Mercury for her quest. Gold and glory did not matter to him. After years of wandering away from his kingdom, he finally had a lady to serve.

Kanda had done his homework and figured the only threat Metalia could possibly have was that huge brute that the priestess had decided to hire. He adjusted his sword at his hip glancing at John in silent judgment.

He had to make sure the guy wouldn't fall for any of the traps Metalia had set in store for him. The original plan had been to separate and conquer, once he was out of the game, taking the priestess would be simple but Kanda had been gaining a change of heart. He needed John and that mage of his to stay alive as long as they could. He started leading the way in his brooding silence.

How had he gotten himself in this mess.

Cortana shared John's unease but she knew better than to talk out of line. The priestess was the boss here, she too had been starting to feel the lack of belonging wandering about the kingdom without purpose. It was a terrible thing, really. Maddening. Things were better now, they had a reason to live again and someone to serve.

That being said, Cortana wouldn't exactly admit that the priestess probably had a poor sense of judgment. Out of all the seeker's they could have used she had chosen a rogue no one knew. It was fishy, all her knowledge gave her endless possibilities of potential scenario's that could take place and none of them sounded very positive.

"I hope you're well rested priestess. If I'm correct, we'll be venturing into the difficult portion of our journey soon." Any by that she meant the cold.

The reason was simple, even if Mercury, too, would have preferred a different guide in some ways: Kanda did not just know the way, he knew the land they were traveling through better than any other. That was his reputation, and he was certainly proving it true so far. Besides, Cortana was right about something else: This was a difficult journey and few people would venture into these dangerous parts at all. He had been willing.

"I'm rested enough," she said. The cold never seemed to trouble her as much as the others, but even she felt it as they continued north. The fur of her cloak was scant comfort. Those were reasons enough to give Cortana's warning consideration; but she slept deeply as a rule, and so long as she kept her mind clear, she'd have access to her powers - not the raw strength of the others, here, but alongside her healing spells, there were plenty of defensive ones and concealing ones. "You know the plants and animals that can serve as food or hunting," she added, making use of that same extensive knowledge in this largely barren terrain, "Make sure to keep us in provisions." Not that the others wouldn't help in procuring them, of course.

As she looked at the armored knight, she considered that their guide had, of course, been going ahead of them. "Watch behind us," she told John. Better to have a trusted strength there, too. "I don't want to be surprised." Not that their group wouldn't be more than equal to any threat, of course.

John knew how to survive in the wild as well, as his mentor had taught him that many warriors died more by hunger, thirst, or disease, rather than by the enemy. However, he also had to know Kanda knew these lands better than he did, and with their purpose being protecting Mercury, he understood his purpose.

By her order, he moves to the rear. He assumed Kanda would be up front since he was the guide, with Mercury close behind. With the way these lands went on and on, the last thing the group would need is an ambush.

Lifting his shield, he takes one look at the back, waiting for Cortana and Mercury to take their places in line, before he marches on. Plates of armor painted in a jade colour, and a chainmail painted black to protect it from the rust it could face from the extended march.

He hoped this journey would go on peacefully. But if it were to be easy, neither him nor Cortana would have been taken for this job.

Kanda glanced backwards as the group moved into formation. Good. He lifted his arm briefly pretending to be adjusting his cuffs when instead he was checking the bracelet Metalia had given him. According to her, it was going to be the way he communicated with him. When it burned into his skin, and quite literally burn, an attack was in sight. For now, a low hum of heat had been coming from the bracelet, it was enough to heighten discomfort but this new set up meant John would take most of the brawl. He started slowing down his pace by instinct, Ami had to be as close to him as possible.

"Tighten your ranks. These parts of the woods are known to be treacherous." Was the only warning he'd give. "I suggest you start tracking, Cortana."

His bracelet began to burn, he winced, rubbing at his wrist.

As John passed by her, Cortana offered him a reassuring smile before slipping into rank before him and behind the priestess At Kanda's warnings she brought her head down, her staff glowing for a brief moment as her tracking spell took place. She almost came into a complete stop as it became clear.

"W-We're surrounded! Ten... n-no, twenty! There's so many and they're approaching!" They weren't coming up fast, at least not until she made a comment about it.

"Brace yourselves!"

She never doubted Cortana's power. So when the mage called out to them all, the priestess drew a small dagger, clear as ice, to defend herself. She'd noticed that the rogue stayed close to her; she took it as her due, as a gesture of his acquiescence to her leadership. She wanted to believe that.

It put him by her just as the warning pierced the air. She felt her heartbeat quicken. There was no point in asking which direction they were coming from; Cortana had already said surrounded.

This far from any settlement, she did not ask who dared attack them. "What are our foes?" she asked instead. They had only seconds to prepare.

John unsheathes his blade and literally turns his back on Cortana to protect her, a practiced move to cover his teammates' flanks. Fear that is instead a heightened sense of the world as he becomes one with his group.

Something blurs in his direction and slashes it away just as immediately. He turns to the target in a quick motion, seeing what were they getting attacked by.

"Take higher ground and use the woods for cover."

The corpse that remains on the floor is recognized the moment it lays still. A massive canine, apparently a warg, that had been slain along with its rider, a surprisingly armored goblin that nonetheless looked in starvation; used to warfare, expecting this very fate.

The knight looks to the hill below them. More of them are coming, clearly serving as fodder as a form of attrition warfare. If they were using them, John assumed there might be more stronger enemies willing to finish what these creatures started. They were too well-equipped for this task, especially for a simple party covering four people.

Another comes towards him. He readies his blade -- before digging it in the mouth of the warg, then bashing the rider off to stomp its head. These goblins expected a hard fight. Not an impossible one.

As far as his boss had been concerned, he had been ordered to attack them but essentially allow them to take one at a time. For this round, they were supposed to be taking the mage. He turned his head towards Cortana. John better keep up.

"Move! Everyone!"

They couldn't stay on flat ground, they needed to get into the woods. They wouldn't be able to catch them there or at least it would separate them enough to stand a better chance. He sliced two enemies before grabbing Ami's hand. Just in case she tried to get snatched.

Cortana wasn't aware she was the target of this charrade but she wasn't going to allow these things a chance. She had her staff up bashing away at her own blade while blasting enemies at a distance. She cut off a head or two before taking a few steps back.

"Their numbers are dwindling but I'm sensing a group not too far off. They might be reinforcements."

Mercury, too, had no sense of the true purpose of the attack; but she knew her danger. She let Kanda take her hand, let him pull her to safer ground. For a second, in her face, instead of the controlled and demanding priestess there was the girl playing with forces too powerful for her.

The moment passed quickly, seen only by Kanda. Her dagger flashed, ready for the next to reach her. Coated with a strong poison, it would weaken her foe alongside any damage it did. As if to prove its strength, one fell to her.

Her head turned sharply back towards Cortana and John, but there would be no way to reach them without exposing herself and Kanda as well. And if more were coming...

"We need to reach somewhere we can defend," she told Kanda in a low voice. Higher ground, or at least somewhere to afford some protection.

Edited 2013-03-23 14:17 (UTC)

"On it."

He ducked to cut a warg's leg and stab a goblin on the ground. He jerks his head towards the hill and the forest, as his metal boots dig upon the mud and grass as he moves back to their newer front. He stands on front of Cortana, covering her as they move, slamming a warg and bisecting its rider.

John turns to Kanda and Mercury to ensure their safety for an instant, before melding his mind with Cortana's to act in synchrony. While considering Mercury's safety tantamount, his partner's life was just as important. In the woods, the wargs would have more trouble fighting in -- and all the same, Mercury and Cortana would need protection as they fought in small quarters.

A warg tried to surprise Kanda but he didn't let himself get caught, he swerved sideways missing the goblins blade by mere inches before slicing both their heads. He kept moving until he heard the goblins call. They were ready for their final run. That's what the reinforcement team had been for.

"Shit. Cortana!" He had to get her back into the pack.

Cortana was a stubborn girl, as reasonable as fighting within the crevices of the woods sounded, she really couldn't fight that way. She was a mage, after all, she would be more of a hazard being unable to have some space for her spells.

When she heard the warg's call, she turned quickly to spot the reinforcement team coming up their rear. She rushed forward bringing her staff upward as blue streams of lightning appeared zapping several in one run. Unfortunately, she hadn't anticipated such numbers. She stumbled backward bringing another wave of blue lightning as they over ran her. She fell to the floor, her most of her mana spent from her brutal attacks.

"Are they trying to trample me?!"

Another goblin went down to her dagger, with a last gurgle from a dying throat. In the rhythm of fighting and death, she had to remind herself of the situation when she found herself facing her companion instead of another foe.

She heard the name from Kanda's lips just in time to fight way her clear enough to give a sharp look back in Cortana's direction. The priestess was not known as a warm-hearted person; but she certainly considered it preferable and wiser to have her group in top condition. Losing a member would be unacceptable.

"Let's go," she told Kanda, with a crisp nod in the mage's direction. Blind to the enemy's orders to capture the mage first, and thus blind to the danger and folly of helping her, she was intending to go down there. "She can't fight like that much longer."

He immediately turns to Cortana as soon as he knows she is in danger -- he lowers against a jumping warg and pushes him away, letting his rider be crushed under the weight of his own animal. He stabs the animal straight in its heart to neutralize him.

As he sees fewer enemies for the moment and trusting his comrades, he jolts to Cortana to try to reach her, and lift her up and cover her with his own shield. They had to move now. They had to have a mana potion for her.

"Cover us. I'll help her."

Kanda certainly found himself in a bind. Sure, he could help the girl but he was a little fearful of the repercussions. If she didn't get kidnapped then Metallia would know there was something wrong. It was his job after all to separate them. He gripped onto Ami, pulling her back.

"No. She can't." And he didn't want her to. "I-I'm sorry."

He snapped his fingers and more warg's appeared. They had to overrun John if they wanted a chance, there was strength in numbers. They were left alone for the most part as if the priestess wasn't at all a target. He knew Ami would realize just what type of rogue she had picked up for her group.

Cortana had gotten to her feet only to be overrun once-more by the beasts. She rolled out of the way as they aimed to step on her, blue eyes looking upward trying to find her staff in the dust storm those trampling feet were making. She knew better, how had she gotten in this position? The only reasoning behind it was that they were, in fact, targeting her. Specifically.

"Chief!" She exclaimed, trying to crawl out of the heap as a hand came up and gripped the back of her cloak. She tried blasting whatever it was away only to dropped and picked up by another. She felt herself leave the floor and before she knew it a baton came crashing at the back of her head making her limp in whatever lap she found herself in. "I-It was a trap chief...."

Unconscious or not, it only left someone to blame.

She was prepared to listen, if there was truly no way to save Cortana. She was prepared to let Kanda pull her back to safety. It may have been unacceptable to lose a member, but it was less acceptable still for their entire journey and mission to end in failure. She knew that. She tried, for an instant, to believe that must have been what this was about.

She was prepared to listen, but she was not prepared for what she saw. Her warning came too late, as Cortana already felt the brunt of the plot against them.

"Traitor!" The worst scourge of any battlefield, and the most despised. No one who heard it would hesitate to plunge a weapon into the heart of the man it described. She spat the word as she drew up in anger - but all her struggling and lashing out with heel and elbow weren't enough to overpower Kanda's grip, and she was too beyond herself to notice it kept her from any danger from the creatures he'd summoned.

Even now, she couldn't imagine the true depth of it. She could only think of a thousand things that took on new and grotesque meaning. Each time she found her eyes looking for him had just been his calculation. Every moment of learning to rely on him had made her a fool. She made it personal. She was overwhelmed with shame and the sense he'd been laughing behind her back. Every smile of his was false, every touch- No, she wouldn't think about that.

She would think about vengeance.

His mind flashes with a similar scream in his waking reality. A god-like figure in armor that shaped itself, Cortana looking forlorn at him, and a terminal--

"Cortana!"

He wishes to run after her, without his team, but his mind immediately comes together when he knows he won't catch up with them without another of their animals. He could only see his closest companion held away by these monsters.

And he turns to Kanda.

He jolts towards the traitor with his shield up front, wanting to bash up on the floor and stab his throat, then cut him while he laid on the floor--

But he holds Ami first.

There are no words, no promises to let him live through an interrogation, or warnings that he would kill him if he hurt her. That man was a threat now, and didn't deserve to even receive a word. He would subdue him in any way he could, and that if he hurt Ami he would destroy him without any hesitation.

She is the only reason he doesn't kill him then and there.

Kanda's idea had worked. He had hoped using Ami as a target would have halted Chief's wrath. He wasn't sure how much time he had but he wasn't going to let them attack him, not until he said what he had to say.

"Look, hear me out." He started, bringing his sword to Ami's neck pressing it gently lest she move out of his grip and he lose his flesh shield. "You're right, I sold her out. Truth be told, I've sold you both out. That place you're looking for doesn't exist. This was all a plot to kill the priestess and believe me when I say I don't want that but Cortana had to be taken."

She had to be sacrificed, that was the plan. Had she not fallen then Metallia would have figured it out and they wouldn't be able to destroy her.

Her mind kept replaying everything that ever happened between her and Kanda in this new and horrible light. He hadn't been gentle with her in their stolen nights; she'd taken it for eagerness and passion and desire. She'd liked it, thrilled to it. Now, it seemed like deliberate cruelty, a wish to do no more than to hurt her, perhaps hatred.

And she had been so stupid as to allow it all, to believe in it all. The thought burned. She gripped the anger instead to keep herself moving. She had to find a way to free herself. This was not the time to be sidetracked by feeling. (Any longer.)

Some instinct made her wish to freeze his very hands, bite them with cold and frost, to force him to let her go; but she was no mage, here. She was a priestess. She forced herself to concentrate on his words, to check them against likely falsehood and likely truth.

He has no reason to confess now. He could have escaped with the others instead. Even if he were forgiven, he could never expect enough trust to lead them into a further trap again. There was no strategic point in staying. Perhaps he was speaking the truth. Perhaps.

"I've heard you." The words were brief, harsh, and to the point as she narrowed her eyes and her jaw tightened. "Let me go and I'll hear the rest."

He ignores his offers for information. He was an enemy. For Kanda, Mercury was the only reason he was alive right now. He had sworn to protect her, and any way he hurt her would also mean John would take revenge on him.

It is only her word that guarantees his survival. Until she chooses otherwise.

He stays silent, his shield and blade following Kanda's head with an eerie precision. If Mercury bolted away the second the enemy freed her, that would mean there would be no reason to leave him free, let alone alive.

Kanda gave a light sarcastic chuckle at the priestess's words. Let her go? As if he were that foolish to indulge her when she ran around with that brute of a knight. He gripped her tighter against him, his sword pressing a little firmer. Had she noticed, the blade was reversed. The sharp end wasn't clicing at her throat at all.

"Order him to stand down, priestess. Order him. If you want to save Cortana you're going to have to listen to me. We need her in order to kill Metallia."

If she noticed the sword's position, she also knew how quickly it could be turned. She had no choice but to comply - but John, of course, would know how forced it was. They would figure out something, some plan, that would let them-

Then she realized what he was saying. Kill Metalia??

He was speaking heresy. There were many gods worshiped in this world, and even as a priestess, she had accepted her traveling companions without deeply questioning their personal beliefs so long as they were willing to do Metalia this service. But this could not be ignored or waved away.

First, she had to be free to act. "Stand down," she told John briefly. She knew very well that he was deadly even without his weapon, and would still look for any opportunity to regain the advantage against Kanda.

To Kanda, she demanded the answer to the obvious question: "What are you saying?" How deep did this go? And why did the fact he connected it to Cortana's fate make her feel wary?

Kanda had already turned into an enemy the moment he betrayed them. His treason to gods falls into deaf ears when he mentions his intentions to kill Metalia, instead focusing still on his head to cut for all he did.

And yet he lowers his sword by Mercury's command. But not his shield nor his caution.

There is still a question lingering on his mind, that his body already spoke volumes on a single matter: Cortana. They had to get her back.

Kanda was expecting their reaction, perhaps the priestess would understand the implied contradictions in his words as he made it a point to continue his explanation. He didn't let go of Ami, at first. Not until most of his speech was out with. John was still a hazard.

"The energy you're searching for, there's a reason why it was concentrated at one spot. Metalia exists and she's plotting against this world. I know because I have been her servant long enough to know of her schemes.She wishes to engulf the world in darkness but by doing so, she has to expend a lot of energy. She's ordered her servants to steal it from the masses, the lives of the innocent, and when she heard about the power the priestess held she sent me to capture her and bring you to her in order for her to take whatever energy you had in store."

The blade that was pressing against Ami's neck was removed and with a smooth motion, he sheathed it, bringing himself backwards and onto a knee as he held his hands up in the air. John couldn't attack a surrendering enemy, now could he?

"My intentions before were to follow my commands but I can't. I can't do that anymore."

His tone was that of frustration. He was the best at what he did, the favored rogue of Metalia herself. Kanda had gone willingly to the queen of darkness and hadn't asked for anything, no power. All he wanted was for the queen to keep her promise about destroying the world, he wanted to see it burn. At least, that's how it used to be until the priestess came into his life. Although he still hated the world rather heavily, he didn't hate it as much to agree with Metalia anymore. She had to be destroyed.

"Cortana is still alive, she won't consume her energy until she has captured you two as well. She needs all the energy she can get in order to defeat the priestess and I need you to help me kill her. She had to be captured or else... or else Metalia would know that I was defying her orders. I have never failed a mission. She would be suspicious."

She scrambled away the very moment he freed her, and her order to John was simple in her anger: "Take him."

Take, not kill. She wanted him held while she finished deciding her next move. She would leave him alive; she had a use for him now. At the very least, he knew things they would need in order to find Cortana, if any of his story was true - and his betrayal, at least, was certainly true.

The rest couldn't be. Metalia existed, yes, but Metalia was simply the source and fount of their power. That Metalia needed energy was, of course, true; but to find it this way? (Yet, a cautious inner voice prompts her, a mage like Cortana, and a priestess, would certainly provide great quantities.)

She thought quickly.

"Undo what you've done," she decided. Her eyes flickered to John, who was the most interested in this, then back to Kanda. "Our first concern is this: Return the mage Cortana."

She has an idea about this already. "Go to them," she said. "Tell them you couldn't stay with us now that your intentions were revealed. However, you were able to find out our plans for freeing her." The rest was obvious: He would give them false information, driving them to exactly where she would be making her move. And at the proper time, he would help them, his traveling companions. (And at the proper time, a voice she shouldn't listen to reminded her, she would see for herself what the truth was about Metalia.)

Her orders to the knight were next. She did not bother keeping them secret; let Kanda know the consequences he faces. Perhaps fear would keep him loyal where so-called love did not. "From now on, if he makes one misstep," she told John as she deliberately shut her mind to any softness, "Kill him."

Edited 2013-03-28 21:29 (UTC)

He did not kill surrendering enemies. That is the code of the knight. But by Ami's order, he restrains him to listen to him as soon as she gives it. In spite of everything he felt -what every instinct dictated him to do-, he let him speak. Even the things of Metalia.

And when Mercury tells him their first concern, he lowers his head. Even if she hadn't given the order, he would have come for her.

When Ami gives him the following orders, of killing Kanda the second he so much as hinted about betraying their group yet again, he slowly nods. He is only to let him go if Mercury orders him so. Committing unnecessary cruelty was unbecoming, fitting more of barbarians than of knights.

And yet, this threat hurt Cortana.

Kanda couldn't help but grin. So he had kept the big beast at bay. Perfect. He turned to the priestess and offered her a grin herself. He turned to look at John, the grip he had on him was tight. He could live with this, he was probably going to be under his sights for the rest of the trip. Not a bad thing.

"You won't be disappointed. After all, Metalia is planning on destroying the world. That wouldn't be good for anyone now would it?'

A grin. Of anything she might have expected - fighting back, angry words, even taunting words, or perhaps a daring escape attempt, or a request or demand for freedom - she hadn't expected that. She hadn't expected the grin that said so plainly that none of it touched him at all, that while her mind felt ready to split in two from the effort of keeping her outward composure, his was calm and unaffected.

"Your blasphemy is foul."

She squared her shoulders. This must be done. Mercury stepped around behind Kanda, and her dagger glinted as she drew it again. She nodded to John, a signal to hold their prisoner tightly indeed for what she was about to do to him. She was glad she was behind him; if he could have seen her eyes in that moment- They narrowed, and hardened.

"This will give your story credibility." Without further warning, crimson streaked his back as the dagger lashed it. The wounds were shallow enough not be dangerous, deep enough to plausible.

She had no idea if she'd done it as punishment for his remarks about Metalia, for the sake of her current plan, or because of the sudden driving need to hurt him, to show she could, to show that she wasn't hurt because she would deal the hurt instead and substitute vengeance for regret and pain.

Unbidden, she remembered the scrape of her fingernails against that same skin, a memory as hated now as it had been enjoyed then. She struck once more to strike it from her mind.

Edited 2013-03-30 14:37 (UTC)

In the second Ami nods to the knight, he moves a foot around Kanda's leg to break his stance and holds him by his torso and arm, to forbid him from fighting. For a second, he expected the Priestess' patience to have worn thin and chose to execute him, but he listens.

And watches dispassionately the injury inflicted over the traitor.

It would not be mortal. At most, some thoracic muscles could have been damaged, but they would be enough to keep the guise high. Turning again to see Mercury, however, made him wonder if there was a lot more in her actions than a tactical need.

Only by her order would she release Kanda.

Her slices stung, his back gave several violent spasms as he doubled over. He hadn't been expecting her to do something like this but he figured he deserved it. A few nights of passion and a serious betrayal could definitely leave a woman scorned. He still couldn't help but grin.

"Now that's a different side of you I never thought I would see, priestess." He panted. Shit, his back was sore.

It took all her self-control not to be goaded by that grin. She had hoped to wipe it off him with this and yet- (And yet he dared to act as if she couldn't do anything to him. Maybe he was right.)

"Before you are released," she shouldn't ask this, it shouldn't matter, it can change nothing and in a matter of minutes he will be riding either to betray her again or to clear himself but it can't be like before, "I want to know: Why did you betray us?"

She says 'us' when she really means 'me', but the cover is good enough to get her answer without complete exposing herself, she thinks.

Edited 2013-03-31 02:20 (UTC)

From inside his helm, John's eyes turn to Ami as she asks the question. He was aware of when were some actions more for the unity and welfare of a group, and when was it for personal reasons. He knew Ami's reasons.

This was much more personal. His helm slightly moves in turn to see Ami, but he tightens his hold over Kanda as a warning.

The rogue gave a grunt at the tightening grip from the brute knight before turning his gaze on the priestess. He was well aware of the implication she was offering him to answer but he wouldn't indulge her. That subject was one he wouldn't touch until the deed was done.

"Metalia found me. Years ago. The life of a rogue is simple: take odd job to eat and keep moving. When I met her, I shared the same vision, I wanted the world to burn. She promised me if I helped her that she would make it real, that's exactly what she wanted to do: consume the world in darkness and death."

He wasn't going to explain the why's behind his hatred of the world, that was none of their business. His gaze eventually moved back to the ground.

"It's taken Metalia a long time to get as much energy as she has now and she believes that the priestess will provide the last bit of energy to consume the world. You three were just a job for me. You weren't the first I deceived, the first I led to their deaths, and I thought this would be a job like the others.... but it's not. I don't want the world to burn anymore, the only way to stop her is by killing her."

The priestess was not the first the rogue had deceived. She, who considered herself so far above the foibles and foolishness of others, had fallen into the same trap as - how many? Numerous, she supposed.

She had hated her enemies. She had turned quickly from love to hate; they were so close anyway, in her. But she'd never hated the world she lived in or wanted its end. She didn't even understand the depth of that anger, whatever she might claim and whatever she might do to try to prove what she called strength.

He had changed his mind about that, too, he claimed. It all sounded sincere. It even sounded plausible. But she'd been fooled once. She let the words hang in the air, she gave no indication of whether they were believed, but they were an answer. And if there was any sincerity in those words, he would soon prove it by his actions. She would be watching to see what he did. She wasn't fooling herself into believing he wouldn't have a chance of escape instead.

There might be no one else in the world she'd have given even that much opportunity to.

"Release him," she told John. They were losing valuable time - her own fault, and she inwardly berated herself for the indulgence. "Let him go."

"Rogue. We'll meet as planned." She didn't even speak his name, now. She barely looked at him, as if they were already finished with each other. Her expression was distant, cold.

As soon as he left, she would be making her plans with the knight. They would be prepared for the possibility of the rogue's next betrayal. And one way or another, they would regain Cortana and complete their goals. That was what she should think about now.

Edited 2013-03-31 14:27 (UTC)

The admission that he had betrayed a lot more teams than he expected is strange -- and it makes John even more hesitant to let him go. Even though he was a prisoner, this being deserved to rot in some prison without a single way out, constantly on watch, and on death row. Had he chose to remain fighting, end him...

... And turns to Ami with the order to release him. After a second, he obeys, almost pushing him, showing his back to tell him he is not afraid of him. If he is waiting to trap them, he will destroy everything in their path. That is the fate of his enemies.

As Ami and John walk together, the focus on Cortana continues to linger on his mind. The thought that she is in danger - and that freeing their prisoner could increase it.

"Why did you let him go?"

Kanda didn't normally allow others to kick him around but John was an exception. He knew what the man was capable of and quite personally, he wasn't to getting himself ripped apart because of it. He let him push him gritting his teeth as he left, injured and hurt.

He'd go to Metalia, he'd give her the sob story Ami expected, and he would play his role perfectly. He only hoped the other two didn't screw up. Metalia wasn't exactly some normal woman, they had to be very careful.

She doesn't know herself, why. No words come to her mind to shape themselves into the right form and order to make a good excuse. She can argue all she wants about practical reasons, but a part of her knows those weren't her real ones.

It was him. Something in her just hadn't been able to seek the worst punishment after all, if it was to Kanda. And she knows that was ridiculous. It was not merciful, or kind; it was soft and foolish and dangerous.

"He knows more about what's coming next. He's the best information to still find the mage." She doesn't call Cortana by name. "And..."

If John thinks an admission of her feelings will come next, he's about to be disappointed. "I just want to see what he'll do."

It's not as simple as that, of course. She's watching to see what he betrayed - and stayed loyal to.

The knight slowly turns to Mercury. Their rogue was indeed the best information to find Cortana, and he would have known better about what they would face. But they could barely trust him now, and the only way to feasibly make him help was by keeping him close.

"You just let a traitor go."

It's a warning. Traitors were the lowest of the low. Even knightly law was hardly merciful upon them. Someone that was willing to sell out their own side...

Adventure Classic: Dungeon Crawling

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and as a note/reminder: we talked about some monsters soon, played by kanda-cortana. sound good?

Sure!

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Sorry, sorry, busy week x.x

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no worries <3

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AND NOW TO GET CORTANA KIDNAPPED....

FOR ALL THE 'DRAMA' .... since Kanda will fess up what he's been doing

oh man this is going to be painful once he does

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/COUGH COUGH NO THERE IS NO HUGE GAP HERE...

I see no gap 8D /john yer up

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