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Planar Escapades: Elibra's Tower


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#21 Laufey

Posted 01 October 2007 - 03:24 PM

Dekaras didn't pause to think about what to do next, the conclusions came too rapidly for that. If he acted, Jaxon might force Anna across the edge. But if he did not, the risk was even higher. And since he didn't want to hurt her, that didn't leave many options open.

He sprang at once, counting on surprise and on his own speed, and as he jumped he aimed for the woman's legs, seeking to kick them out under her and drive her to the ground before she could get too close to the edge.



(OOC: I'm not sure exactly how close to the edge we are here, but it seemed not right at it. I'll wait for Dadri to say if Dekkie managed to stop Anna in time or not.)
Rogues do it from behind.

#22 Guest_Dadri_*

Posted 02 October 2007 - 02:18 AM

(OOC: I'm just going to assume this happened before Ezrai led them through the several rooms in between the landing and the narrow hallway...otherwise Jaxon would have no reason to say this is high.)

Dekaras took Jaxon to the floor with a swift leap. Andi smiled weakly, yes, Jaxon needed to be physically restrained. No magic Andi had could touch her while she used Anna as a hostage.

"Benny, could you please assist Dekaras in restraining Jaxon until she gets bored and goes away?" Andi said, eyes glittering fire orange, lemon yellow and wine red. Andi needed to pick her words carefully.

She wanted to keep herself from being anything like her father, despite the malice she couldn't quite smother. Did her father really fight with himself every moment in her presence to not attack her? Did he just settle for hurting her indirectly because he was not yet permitted to strike her directly? She closed her eyes and smiled a small ironic smile at the ridiculous feeling of sympathy she felt for him at the thought. It must be absolute torture for him to see her every day and not be able to harm her directly.

#23 Guest_Silver_*

Posted 02 October 2007 - 10:50 PM

"Benny, could you please assist Dekaras in restraining Jaxon until she gets bored and goes away?" Andi said, eyes glittering fire orange, lemon yellow and wine red.

"Of course, Andi, not a problem." Benny edged towards Jaxon, keeping his eyes on her all the time. It figures that she'd show up now. He wasn't afraid of her, for her words could have no effect on him, but he was concerned about what she could do to Anna.

"What do you want, Jaxon?"

#24 Guest_IriaZenn_*

Posted 02 October 2007 - 11:06 PM

"What do I want? What all good ghouls want, of course. To be rewarded by my lord Cyric, would be nice." She laughed as she looked at him from the floor. "Oh but what I want the most is for Anna to die. She's helped so many people, one of them you know. You invaded his mind after all. You know Anna from a long time ago. Don't you? I saw the little bitch help him, of course since then she feels like she should help others all the time. I was the one that drove Tamoko away, right into her dear big brother's arms. She didn't tell you that of course." The jester rolled on to her back and looked up at them like a big red headed puppy.

"Of course if you hadn't given her the urge to help, the ability to want to help. I would still be in the background. See I can thank you that you're the reason I got to kill the first child. And when Andi's sister rips my soul out of this body. I'm taking the baby's with me. After all what good is a baby without a soul?"

#25 Guest_Silver_*

Posted 02 October 2007 - 11:19 PM

Benny stared at Jaxon, his expression emotionless. But his face had grown paler as her words brought back several painful memories. Of course, that was where he had seen Anna before! When his adopted son had been in trouble, Anna had used their Bhaalspawn connection to communicate, to try and turn him away from the path of darkness and destruction.

"You can talk all you like, Jaxon. Actions mean more than words. Why don't you try taking on somebody equal to you for a change?"

#26 Guest_Dadri_*

Posted 03 October 2007 - 12:55 AM

Andi opened her eyes and looked at Jaxon. She smiled venomously. Her eyes deepened, the yellow became orange, with glitters of yellow and shadows of red. All she had to do was not respond, it wasn't so hard, was it?

But she had confidence that if her sister decided to extract a ghost, she could do so without letting that ghost do harm.




(Edit: to clear up the meaning in my mangled sentence.)

#27 Laufey

Posted 03 October 2007 - 04:23 AM

Dekaras focused on not letting the jester up, on not letting her words provoke him, hard as it was.

"You will try to do harm if you're banished," he eventually said. "You are bound to do harm if you stay. There is no choice other than to have you removed, and as soon as possible."
Rogues do it from behind.

#28 Guest_Dadri_*

Posted 03 October 2007 - 07:13 AM

Ezrai looked down at the woman who wasn't Anna. She'd been about to lead everyone through the rooms, but they seemed distracted by pinning this person to the ground.

"Where'd Anna go?" Ezrai asked, floating there, eyebrow cocked. "And what are you doing? Is it a tickling game? Because if you want to tickle anyone, this is probably the last safe place to do it for a little while."

#29 Guest_IriaZenn_*

Posted 03 October 2007 - 09:47 PM

"Oh look the little freak is back. My how unnatural like the rest of her family. We've got Aunt Andi who can't decide which race she is and the little freak niece. Foul creature. You know they're all thinking that about you. Why do you think none of them want to stay? They really don't like you and when you finally led them to your mom, they're going to kill her and then set you on fire like they would any other unnatural creature. So just take us along so we can kill your filthy self already."

#30 Laufey

Posted 04 October 2007 - 04:02 AM

"She is lying," Dekaras, said, not taking his eyes off the jester. "She is a ghost of the worst kind Ezrai, and she will say whatever she can think of that will hurt you."
Rogues do it from behind.

#31 Guest_Dadri_*

Posted 04 October 2007 - 04:17 AM

Ezrai's mouth fell open, her tiny black eyebrows knitted up in shock, and it took all of two seconds after the words were spoken for her golden eyes to be glittering with tears. "Wha-?" She said, but the words burned, by digging into all the right places, and sounding like part of her knew the world could be.

"I am NOT unnatural!" She shouted, clenching her fists and floating there, raven feather cloak billowing in no wind, and not even realizing that clenching her fists had called her twenty feet of magical darkness, since she could see out of the shadows anyway. Tears dripped down her cheeks, and she wiped them off with the back of her hand.

"You...aren't here to kill my mother-?" She shot a pleading look at Benny, bit her lip and then remembered Anna's comment in mother's language. "But it would be stupid to tell me, wouldn't it?" She sulked.

"She is lying," Dekaras, said, not taking his eyes off the jester. "She is a ghost of the worst kind Ezrai, and she will say whatever she can think of that will hurt you."

"It's the evil spirit we told you about-" Aunt Andi said, quickly. "Don't believe anything she says. Would it really make sense for us to be here to kill you for being unnatural if I'm unnatural too?" Aunt Andi asked sensibly, and Ezrai knew it didn't make sense. But people always did things that didn't make sense. She was a child, most of everything didn't make sense. But if they were trying to do it despite it not making sense, it was a horrible thing to do, and she wouldn't have any part of it. Ezrai didn't like betrayal, and she would have nothing to do with betraying her mother.

"Stay here. No more Ezrai says. I'll go get mother. She'll know. If you're here to kill her, then I'll show you what I can do...naturally." She sulked. She wasn't really sure if it sounded nearly as impressive as when Burbree sulked. Burbree always sounded impressive. Ezrai wanted to be just like her when she grew up. "And if not, than I'll ask mother very nicely to help Anna get rid of her ghost problem." She tilted her hair to the side. "The unnatural ghost." She added, then stuck her tongue out at the redheaded human pinned down by the two humans.

#32 Guest_Silver_*

Posted 04 October 2007 - 11:50 AM

"I could kill you!" Benny scowled at Jaxon. "She's just a child, leave her be! You're just trying to upset her and it's worked, so enough is enough."

Secure in the knowledge that Dekaras had his eyes on the jester, Benny risked turning his head to look at Ezrai. "Ezrai," he said gently, "I know there is nothing I can say to make you believe me - but I can swear to you with everything that I have that anybody who tried to hurt you or your mother would have to kill me first. I am the child of a demon, and about as unnatural as they possibly come, so I know how it feels to have people hunting you because you are different. We have come only because we want to get rid of the evil spirit. No betrayal, Ezrai, I promise."

#33 Guest_Dadri_*

Posted 04 October 2007 - 03:13 PM

"I could kill you!" Benny scowled at Jaxon. "She's just a child, leave her be! You're just trying to upset her and it's worked, so enough is enough."

Andi couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer. "Benny, you can't kill her, she's already dead. She can't be hurt directly without hurting Anna and that is what she is wanting to happen. But should we really wish to hurt Jaxon, she has given us another method...she has mentioned her precious Reiltar in our presence, and since she seems to have no compunctions about going after...areas of other people's weaknesses..." She smiled at the Jester vengefully. Shall I show you what it feels like to be helpless Jester? Perhaps you need a lesson on being human after all. Her blood turned to ice when her mind said the word 'lesson'.

Secure in the knowledge that Dekaras had his eyes on the jester, Benny risked turning his head to look at Ezrai. "Ezrai," he said gently, "I know there is nothing I can say to make you believe me - but I can swear to you with everything that I have that anybody who tried to hurt you or your mother would have to kill me first. I am the child of a demon, and about as unnatural as they possibly come, so I know how it feels to have people hunting you because you are different. We have come only because we want to get rid of the evil spirit. No betrayal, Ezrai, I promise."

Ezrai smiled weakly. "I believe you. But I'll go get mother so you don't have to try to carry the struggling thing through all the traps." She said.

#34 Guest_Silver_*

Posted 04 October 2007 - 03:33 PM

"I know that," Benny assured Andi. "I'm not going to do anything to harm Anna. I know that is what she wants."

He smiled at Ezrai and nodded. "It would be good if you could go and get your mother for us, Ezrai. The sooner this spirit is dealt with, the better for all of us."

"So, Jaxon..." He looked her directly in the eyes. "You are good at playing on the weaknesses of others, I see. So tell me, what is my weakness, spirit?"

#35 Guest_IriaZenn_*

Posted 04 October 2007 - 05:07 PM

Jaxon smiled at Benny, her eyes gleaming in the light. "Your inability to save any one person. After all it's your fault Edwin died, it's your fault that Kane gave up his humanity, it's your fault your dear sweet wife is dead and your dear sweet son will never get to know his father." The Jester laughed.

#36 Guest_Dadri_*

Posted 05 October 2007 - 04:39 AM

"I know that," Benny assured Andi. "I'm not going to do anything to harm Anna. I know that is what she wants."

"Please forgive me, Benny." Andi said to Benny with none of the hatred or malice that seemed to flicker to life when she looked at Jaxon. "I'm not thinking clearly." She noted in a mumble.

He smiled at Ezrai and nodded. "It would be good if you could go and get your mother for us, Ezrai. The sooner this spirit is dealt with, the better for all of us."

"So, Jaxon..." Benny looked her directly in the eyes. "You are good at playing on the weaknesses of others, I see. So tell me, what is my weakness, spirit?"

Ezrai smiled, curtsied in the air, dropped to the ground, walked through the doorway, then jumped into the air and flew a complicated pattern through the room. She really was slowed down by having to lead the group through, Andi noticed. Then she landed, walked through the next door, finally passing out of sight.

Jaxon smiled at Benny, her eyes gleaming in the light. "Your inability to save any one person. After all it's your fault Edwin died, it's your fault that Kane gave up his humanity, it's your fault your dear sweet wife is dead and your dear sweet son will never get to know his father." The Jester laughed.

Andi wondered why Benny would ask her to list his weaknesses. Usually, weaknesses were to be hidden, minimized, ignored. Letting a person grab onto a weakness was asking for it to be twisted against you. Her father had taught her, oh how he'd taught her. Perhaps Benny was showing the ghost that he didn't care what she thought his weaknesses were. Perhaps it was a way of saying 'these are my weaknesses, so what?' Perhaps it was just to shield Ezrai. But a lifelong of 'lessons' caused her to fear for him.

"Are you sure it wasn't you making a Kane give up his humanity?" She asked Jaxon. "Meeting you probably would cause just about anyone who had another choice choose to not be human... I mean, look at Reiltar, clearly he met you, and decided to be a jack ass instead." She smiled bitterly. She knew it wasn't really funny or clever, she just said it to fight back.

#37 Guest_Silver_*

Posted 05 October 2007 - 08:02 PM

"Forgiven," Benny said to Andi, without hesitation. "Relax don't let her get to you."

Jaxon smiled at Benny, her eyes gleaming in the light. "Your inability to save any one person. After all it's your fault Edwin died, it's your fault that Kane gave up his humanity, it's your fault your dear sweet wife is dead and your dear sweet son will never get to know his father." The Jester laughed.

"Even if that was true," he said, careful to keep his emotions completely under control. "So what? Yes, I've made mistakes, I've failed in my duties... and I have accepted that now. I am how I am. You will have to do better than that to affect me, jester."

#38 Guest_Dadri_*

Posted 06 October 2007 - 04:24 AM

"Forgiven," Benny said to Andi, without hesitation. It was one of those surreal details that made Andi wonder if she'd really woken up as Andi this morning. No insults, no outrage, just forgiven, as though telling him something he knew already was nothing. "Relax don't let her get to you." Andi wanted to keep her mouth shut, but keeping her mouth shut had gotten harder before she'd even been on the mission in the first place. If she didn't need to talk to Elibra to request this assistance, she would have kept herself in the tent, rather than risk screwing it up. After all, she had committed suicide via father three times before even getting into the tent- there was an endless array of deaths prepared for her when she got home, because her mouth had fallen open and started talking back when she should have known better. Of course, the deaths would have been waiting anyway, really.

"Even if that was true," he said, careful to keep his emotions completely under control. "So what? Yes, I've made mistakes, I've failed in my duties... and I have accepted that now. I am how I am. You will have to do better than that to affect me, jester."

Andi had to admire his control. She had only felt malice rise in her mind in the presence of the jester, so she hoped with the destruction of the jester, this feeling would go away and never come back...it made her reckless...but the experience would not be lost on her...she could now understand why her father did so many horrible things to her...if she made him feel like this. Perhaps he craved her death so fervently because he couldn't rid himself of this feeling when he laid eyes on her.

If so, her current feelings towards Jaxon were just like her father's feelings towards her...it would do her good to analyze her feelings a bit.

Why did she hate Jaxon? Outside of the fact that she was a hateful bitch who wanted to murder children? Was it just because Andi could completely identify with having her body used to do things she didn't tell it to? Was it because she'd throw off her parents control of her if she could? Was it because she didn't really know or sympathize with Jaxon at all, and she was convenient enough to hate? Perhaps all of these. To Andi, Jaxon represented everything she hated; a vicious creature who only existed to cause pain and misery, who could control someone she had no right to, and delighted in it. A person as hateful as her father.

Why did her father hate her? Because she was everything he hated; She was weak, unattractive, unambitious, pathetically attached at any chance, she cared about people around her, and that was a weakness he felt driven to punish. She failed magic in his presence- he considered protective magic as boring but necessary, and her mastery of it didn't impress him any more than her ability to put on her robe every morning. In fact, he doubtlessly found her concentration on protective magic as another sign of her utter weakness... because she clearly couldn't understand what was important.

Could she really hold her father accountable for what he did when he felt this way towards her if she couldn't even handle it? Of course, she was weak...and he had so much better control of himself...didn't he? If he couldn't master this emotion, what made her think she ever had a chance? But she had a tool he didn't, didn't she? She could take away the foundations of this emotion, couldn't she? She had that great big weak spot in between her ribs.

Andi imagined, for a moment that she was a pure human- it wasn't too hard, since only a few weeks ago, she'd thought she was. She imagined for a moment that somewhere along the line in her life she'd decided that another race were....evil. That they were worth killing... and she imagined further that she'd been murdered by a half blood child- and to make matters worse, she was trapped in that child's body- not even allowed to pass on...and the only bit of hope of moving on lay in having that child killed, and the child kept growing, and getting strong, and for years and years all she could do was screw with the child's life through briefly possessing it. And then one day the child was a full grown woman looking at having a little bit of happiness. It was a hard sell, but if she could empathize, however fleetingly with her father, she could surely see it from Jaxon's point of view. And now, Jaxon's point of view involved the possibility of not just going to Cyric empty handed, but having her soul destroyed. Naturally, she'd resist that with all her might, and couldn't really be hated for doing so. In fact, Andi had to feel a little bit of sympathy for her position. She really couldn't see herself being in it- how could you really hold a child accountable for being born? But she could appreciate the desperate situation no less.

The orange in her eyes deepened to an amber brown. The red vanished into black shadows, and green returned to the edges. A small, rueful smile took over her lips. "Thank you Jaxon. I've never felt malice before. It was quite a learning curve. Now I know how to deal with it."

#39 Guest_IriaZenn_*

Posted 08 October 2007 - 01:46 AM

"Aah, I taught you malice did I? But I'm not the expert on teaching that you know. You are. I can think of a certain boy that pleaded with you to help him because no one else would. He begged and begged and you didn't help him. After he was finally dead, you forgot about him. Didn't you? Brushed him under the rug like a filthy little secret. That's what the rest of your family did. You like your high morals, you like to think in a way you aren't as cold as they are or as wicked. But you know who's had to watch you fail time after time to become stronger? The one that would have wanted you to become strong so you could free him? Yet you failed him. You've let him rot in a crystal. Oh how he must hate you for being so weak. Why almost as much as you hate yourself but not quite."

#40 Guest_Dadri_*

Posted 08 October 2007 - 05:19 AM

Was she accountable for being weak? Had she kept herself weak on purpose? It only took a few moments serious reflection to discover the hard truth. She had.

She'd been used to kill...and she couldn't stop him from using her that way- he was so much more powerful than her...so she'd settled for being very useless instead. She hadn't even thought about it consciously- her parents could read her thoughts, it wasn't safe to think anything rebellious. Her interests had shifted after her brother's death, suddenly she wanted to know the more involved magical theories, she studied the planes, she studied protective magic...because how could her father make her kill someone when she only had dimension door and protection from feathered fliers memorized? Only after he'd completely stopped using her and declared her as utterly useless had she picked up more offensive spells, and she'd only used them on test illusions or dummies.

And since part of her knew she'd done this, there had always been a guilty side to her. She hadn't been able to save her brother at the time of his death and even had she buckled down and studied to her full potential, she doubted he'd be free yet, but she hadn't given it her all, she'd given up. Even now, the idea of someday being powerful enough to oppose her parents openly seemed laughable, though with a group of individuals that could work together with varying skills, she thought there might be a slim chance, and it was that slim chance that her current hope was based on.

The idea of going off with Anna or coming to visit Ezrai at the end of it all seemed...well, pretty unlikely, because she wouldn't survive fighting her parents....she shouldn't. She deserved it. The only thing that helped her try to visualize surviving the battle at all was the hope of getting the sapphire from Benny and taking it to a temple of Tourm.

She nodded, surrendering to the points as valid. "You're right, the malice is my own weakness." She said, sighing. "And you're right. I failed to save my brother. But you are wrong...I did not forget him. I did not brush him under the rug, I let his image torture me for years instead. But yes, I failed to get stronger. That stops now, whether I live twenty three seconds from now or twenty three years." She stated. "And my brother is entitled to whatever feelings he has on the matter." She stated. "And thank you for your assistance in identifying my problems for me. I know my father's been telling me all my weaknesses for years, but you know, it really helps, having an outside source." She smiled, ironically. She'd been kicked where it hurt and found it still hurt but not as bad as it had yesterday or the day before. And really, could she blame Jaxon for kicking her there? She'd gone hysterical over the matter twice in Anna's presence...if Jaxon wanted to hurt her, she knew what to say.

But Benny and Dekaras needed her to keep a level head, and she wanted to do so. And Elibra could show up at any time, and Andi would need to keep her mind straight for that.




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