Adventure Classic: Dungeon Crawling

[waterfell]

From her vantage point, the entire countryside opened up before the priestess Mercury. Mountainous terrain spread from there to the horizon, dotted by caves and carpeted with forest. The broad vista took in a pristine landscape.

The beauty of the scene was marred only by the keening and noising of what might be animals, They sounded thick, and primal, and not as distant as a traveler might have preferred. Mercury faced in the direction of the noise anyway, noting it carefully, before she turned to return to her camp. More distant still, too distant to be seen, was her destination.

There was a long way to go yet, and there were many obstacles between her and her goal. Yet she had taken on this journey and quest willingly. The sign that her plans were favored were her healing powers. She was confident, in this bright morning, of her path.

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[one_one_se7en]

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.

[decaying]

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.

[waterfell]

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.

[one_one_se7en]

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.

[decaying]

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."

[waterfell]

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.

[one_one_se7en]

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?"

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

[decaying]

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.

I see no gap 8D /john yer up

[waterfell]

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.

[one_one_se7en]

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...