Fantasy Eden

[0stinato]

The walls, roof and doorway had been silent and apparently left alone for... minutes after the claw attack. Perhaps it was minutes, perhaps it was seconds, Rüdiger had no way of telling; the adrenaline in his blood was skewing his interpretation of time. Either way, his eyes were on the doorway and his feet were on the ground. That much he knew. Whether it was safe to move, he didn't know.

"What the..." Silver said in a hoarse voice somewhere in the gloom. He had screamed earlier, and Rüdiger, awoken to his senses by Silver's voice, only just noticed he hadn't been breathing. So he made an effort to begin the action again, relieved to shift the almost-dizziness that was threatening him.

Neither of the other two were making a move to look out of the now-broken window, and Rüdiger felt it might be down to him. There were two reasons for this: he was the tallest, and his mind was clearly capable of reason. If he was calm enough to realise that, he should probably save the other two the visual distress.

As quietly as he could, he stepped over to the window, though keeping to one side of it. If anything came flying through, he could either duck or pull to the side. Though, obviously, he hoped he wouldn't have to.

The darkness outside was thick, though there was certainly something luminous, perhaps two things that were luminous, moving around quickly. As far as he could make out in the diluted moonlight, there was a struggle, but he could not tell if the monster was involved in it.

A few seconds passed with the shape flinging itself around before it eventually came to a stop, and something slumped to the shadow of the ground. Despite seeing this, Rüdiger felt no hope come to him. He had very little hope to begin with, but the potential that he might not die wasn't even worth pondering.

"It's probably fine," he let his low timbre return to its usual volume. "I don't know if it's been dealt with, but the probability of there being two attacks in this place is..." he stopped. He didn't know probability. Missing out on state school and hardly even bothering with home-schooling, meant he had nothing. He knew probability as much as a five-year-old did - it was a saying to him and nothing more.

"Unlikely?" he said, uncertain of his own ignorance. He looked at the other two, noting how neither of them had moved, aside from backing up to the wall so hard it seemed they almost wanted to become a part of the structure.

amdreams archur Trine

 

[amdreams]

Lazuli

Lazuli leaned back as Reina came with the tranquilizer, keeping her hands, and more importantly, her gloves, on them until she was sure there was no movement. A few pokes, jabs and a slap to the face to make sure it was out cold. And it was. Or a really good actor.

That was one problem solved. Just one more to take care of.

Her eyes shifted to the restroom. "Sparkles, if you know how to operate a phone any better than the genius back at the alley, then you should probably call her. Make sure she didn't let the other two escape. And keep an eye on sleeping beauty for me."



Silver

Silver heard it too. The silence. Rüdiger had checked the situation through the now broken window, claiming the end of the situation. And Silver wanted to believe his bearded friend. He didn't care how. He didn't even care if the man was right. He was tired. He just wanted to go home. Go to sleep and in the morning, convince himself that this was all some vivid dream.

"If that thing is gone, then we should go find the girls. Make sure they're okay."

He started for the door, giving a quick look at the sinks. His throat hurt. He thought of taking a quick drink to soothe the scratchiness, but from the looks of the place and what they all just went through, he didn't want to spend another second here.
But there was someone blocking the door. A small, young looking girl leaning against the open doorway of the restroom. The contrast of her innocent smile and the fact that she was in a male restroom threw him for a loop. He froze, unsure of what was going on. Her face was familiar. He'd seen her somewhere, but couldn't exactly place where.

"Hi there. I believe we have some business." She took a look around the bathroom, and though she never stopped smiling, there did seem to be a sense of discomfort or disgust in the way her weight shifted away from the wall beneath her. "Why don't we talk . . . not here."

She backed away from the doorway, making no effort to turn around or keep her eyes off of the guys. Silver followed her out, though cautiously, wondering if Ralph and Rüdiger were following. The girl didn't exactly look threatening. She was much smaller than the figure he saw in the alley. But they did just come face to face with a giant bat thing. The very thing that he could see on the ground, unmoving, as she lead them around the building.

There was another girl, standing guard over the monster. Did these two take it down? They seemed harmless enough, but . . . just what happened here? But this meant they were the good guys right? Silver allowed himself to relax, shoulders lowering as his body became less rigid.

"Th-thank you. For, you know, saving us," he said. "My name is Silver. Who are you?"

"I don't really see the point. Seeing as you're about to die and all."

"W-what?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I commend you for making it this far, even if it was by cuddling together in a filthy bathroom. But you know just a weeee bit too much." At this point, Lazuli grabbed onto Silver's wrist while maintaining eye contact with Rüdiger and Ralph. He saw a faint purple glow coming from her gloves and he suddenly felt heavy. Incredibly heavy. He fell to his knees, feeling as if something big was sitting on his back. "And let's not try anything silly like running. It won't be that difficult to find you."

 

[Devious Dilbert]

Fiora Velaeris
"Okay, okay," Fiora said in reply to Pandora's reassurance. She was huffing, attempting to catch her breath after releasing a flurry of emotions.
She wiped her eyes one last time. "We'll go... I trust you."
Before she was about to take hold of Liz's hand again to drag the both of them back to Pandora's cafe, Elizabeth fired her questions. All of which were things that Fiora hadn't even noticed until now. She didn't catch it herself, but Pandora wanting them not to call anybody was indeed a little peculiar. But- Pandora gave her the comfort and sense of safety that she needed at the moment. Surely, Pandora knew what she was doing. It wasn't fair to berate her with question her like this when she had saved their lives.

Liz...
She wanted to say it out loud, but she knew that Elizabeth didn't act like this without plausible reason.

"But I guess I won't get any answer, is that right?" She said, much calmer after her short series of outbursts.
She then began to walk away only to turn back around and speak what was most obvious.
"I guess we'll need the keys?"
"No, I know where the spares are hidden," Fiora answered, getting up to dust herself off, and then taking a few steps towards Elizabeth facing the direction to the cafe.
"Thank you, Pandora, again." She really wanted to hug her, but that didn't seem appropriate at the current time.
"I trust you. We'll do what you say." She said, glancing briefly at Liz to signal to her that they should both trust Pandora and do what she says. "Be careful with whatever you're going to do."
And with that, she placed a hand on Liz's back to get her to start moving.

The two girls started heading back into the direction from which they came. It was still pitch black except for the warm glows of street lights. While running with Elizabeth, Fiora began having second thoughts. She was feeling much better now. She wasn't as scared as she was before. She was still absolutely frightened, but pouring into her slowly was a willingness to take action of her own.
"Should we really go back to the cafe? ...Should we look for the guys?"
It was only a few more blocks down. If they wanted to, they could still turn around.

And what was Pandora doing? Wasn't it wrong to leave her by herself? She was tough, for sure, but Pandora was still just one woman. If she didn't want them to call anybody, maybe she was doing it herself? With a clearer mind, the things that Elizabeth made a fuss about before started getting some weight to them.


(Interactions: CrimsonEclipse , Capricornus )





Dezien
"Wait!" A voice thundered from above. "You do that- and you only add to the kill streak that this idiot has started. Keep in mind, that's what we're trying to put an end to."

Flying down from the cover of the trees in the black of the night was a gigantic bird resembling a sort of eagle.

Dark and sleek feathers reflected the light from the moon as the bird folded its massive wings. Its appearance was much slimmer now, and a lot less intimidating.
It cocked its head back to the dragon-girl hovering over the monster, confirming that she had full control of him before its golden glare returned to the hot-headed vampire. "Lazuli... If we kill these boys, we have to waste our time hunting down those two girls as well."

It then surveyed the humans, looking at each of them for a good amount of time before stating,
"It's a pretty big deal in their world when something happens to a human child..."


(Interactions: amdreams , Trine , archur , 0stinato )

 

[Trine]

After Lazuli had gone, Reina pulled out her phone and punched in Pandora's cellphone number. After a few dial tones, she was directed to voice mail. Reina hung up and redialled the number. Pandora didn't pick up again, so Reina left a voice message. "Hey Pandora, this is Reina, and I need you to bring the girls from before to the park. You know, the ones that saw the vampire... You know the rules. See ya!"

Reina hung up. If Pandora didn't listen to her voice messages, that would be a problem. She called the cafe, but she was directed to voice mail too. She called up the cafe again, but no one picked up. She left the same voice message. Exasperated, Reina decided to text her... After all, unlimited texting!

REINA:
Can u bring the girls from before to the park like right now? Just for the standard protocol thing. Thx

Reina put her phone down and looked at Lazuli's direction. She seemed to be doing alright, despite the huge bird glaring at her. She stared at the tranquillised vampire. It was ugly... She nudged it with her foot every now and then, checking for a response. Nothing happened, so she waited for a reply.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Pandora felt really guilty abiut hiding this from them, especially when Elizabeth started to ask her questions.It feelt even worse when Fiora followed her instructions, not even doubting Pandora. That hurts sk much, havajng to hide skmething from her friend. She knows that this wasn't fair to them, but she's doing this for them. This will be made all the worse when their friends turn up dead. They would immediately blame her, and worse still. Fiora may hate her for it.

As Pandora turned around to return to the park to at least try to at least save the boys, her phone started to vibrate. It had been on vibrate since she left the cafe, and seeing a missed call, she probably didn't notice it vibrating a while ago. A message was sent to her, the content and its sender dampened her spirits. It was from Reina, a chid of the clan Pandora serves, and apparently she saw Pandora with the girls. Reina wanted her to bring the girls back to the parkm for 'protocol' reasons. Had it been from anyone else Pandora might have risked kt, but Reina knew her and she was, technically, her boss. She had no choice unless she wanted to be on tje run from the Kassem clan.

"Hey wait!" Pandora shouted as she ran after the two of them. "I-I think we should go back." She said to them, desperately thinking of a way to convince them to return. "The boys might need our help, a-and I might not be able to do it alone." Pandora pulled out a phone, discreetly dialing Reina's number. "H-Hello police, there's been an incident at the park. Yes, w-we saw a murder occur and we were chased by the murder. Three of our friends are still there, so please hurry." Pandora pretended to call the police, hoping that it wojld alleviate their worries a little. "The police are on their way. We should still hurry, the boys might be in danger." She said as she walked briskly towards the park hoping the two girks follow her.

Devious Dilbert Capricornus Trine

 

[0stinato]

What a night.

Truth be told, perhaps it was because of the emotional and mental stress, but perhaps it was because of Rüdiger's apparent inability to become properly scared, Rüdiger was more angry than terrified of his own imminent death. Why, he wasn't sure. Perhaps his sheltered childhood, adolescence and now young-adulthood had dumbed his idea of fear. The most terrifying experience he could remember having, before tonight, was his paint-fuelled lucid dreams. But that was the price to pay for seeking inspiration through getting high off paint, he reckoned.

Being told, by someone shorter and nonthreatening, that he was going to die because he "knew too much" was more insulting than anything. He was about to speak up when the girl grabbed Silver.

Rüdiger was too slow to react, and could merely look on as the boy fell to his knees in the grip of the girl. The girl whose hands were glowing. And she told him and Ralph not to run...

What was he supposed to do? It would be foolish to run, but he was getting angry that he was going to die. What had the last few years of his life even been for, if he was going to die now? Spending two extra years in Year 13 because he was a dunce in academic subjects, forcing himself to retake and redo just so he could further his creative career at Art College rather than just immediately going freelance - it had all be a massive waste apparently. How was he supposed to be the world's greatest artist if he was torn down by a silly little girl?

Perhaps his mind would have kept on racing like this, making him angrier and angrier but keeping his feet firmly on the ground and his arms folded, but his whole world was interrupted by a shape that seemed to block out the air, the sky and his eyes.

A bird, a graceful creature, was speaking up. Telling "Lazuli" to not kill them.

This time, Rüdiger opened his mouth. Before anything else could happen.

"I agree with the... are you an eagle? A fucking eagle?" Rüdiger glanced at Ralph. "How many times have you seen a fucking eagle in this city? Red kites, buzzards maybe, sure, but an eagle?" he looked back at the bird. "How the hell have you not been shot yet? She looks like a girl, at least she can blend in. How have you not been shot? If I saw you just fucking flying around, I'd shoot you. I'd shoot you right now but I can't."

He paused before continuing his original line of thought, "But ja, I'd rather you didn't kill me. I've got shit to do. Shit like... letting my mental sanity completely break down. And possibly I should trim my beard."

amdreams archur Devious Dilbert

 

[amdreams]

Silver

From his place on the ground, Silver watched as a large bird descended, turning into a boy that didn't look that much older than he was. He wasn't sure how he felt about the appearance of another monster,but at least this one wasn't trying to kill them.

Judging by the decreasing pressure Silver felt on his neck and, well, everywhere, Lazuli had released him. He tried to rise, but could only manage to sit up on his feet, still feeling the lingering effects of whatever just happened to him.

The girl was crossing her arms at this new guy, pouting in an exaggerated fashion, the same sort of face he recognized on the faces on some of his younger siblings when they're fighting the urge to laugh. Wanting to seem upset for some reason or other.
"Why if it isn't the busboy, KillJoy Mockingbird? Way to break the scene. I was totally selling the role of mafia grunt."

Silver remained quiet as the bird boy attempted to defend his stance. Mentions of having to end the killing and the trouble of having to track down the girls as well. And all the while, Lazuli was looking down at her hand, making it look like she was checking out her nails. Or it would if she wasn't wearing gloves. Watching this, Silver felt a small pang of dread. The same sort of feeling he got each time one of his sisters turned 12 or 13, the feeling he got when he realized he'd have to deal with teenage girls. He almost felt sorry for the guy.

Once the blond finished speaking, the girl looked up from her hand, smiling much to brigthly for what she said. "Well, duh, of course we'd need to find them. I plan on killing them as well. And last time I checked, my family didn't pay you to have an opinion. We paid you to clean up. You'd think you'd learn that by now. We weren't tasked with stopping a killer. We're here to dispose of a threat, remember?" The last bit was laced with a heavier tone, emphasizing the word threat.

She stepped closer to him, having to reach in order to pat his cheek. "So be a good boy and let the big kids do their job, okay?"

Silver didn't know exactly what was going on, but from what he'd seen and heard, he was going to die because of what he'd seen or heard. Thanks bat-thing. You're a prick.

"L-look," he stuttered. "Like the guy says, you don't have to kill us. We won't tell anyone. Right, guys? Ralph? Rüdiger? It's not like anyone will believe us anyway." Please don't kill them. Please don't kill them. Please don't kill them.

Meanwhile, out of immediate sight, was the vampire, sprawled on the ground as Silver and the guys were taking up most of everyone's attention. Gray. Stick-like. And with a very faint, almost undetectable twitch in it's left pinky toe.

0stinato archur Devious Dilbert Trine

 

[Capricornus]

Walking next to Fiora, they made their way back to the café, just like Pandora had asked them to. Apart from a few cars that could be heard in the distance, it was completely silent. This seemed to intensify the feeling of guilt that was forming inside of Liz. She wasn't really angry, but more like disappointed in herself. She knew better than accusing someone, Pandora, of something she wasn't even sure of. But then again, could she really blame herself for losing her composure at that time? Although she tried her best to clear her mind, she couldn't shake it off.

If it wasn't for Fiora interrupting her thoughts, they would have walked the whole way in silence.
"Should we really go back to the cafe? ...Should we look for the guys?"
Eliza stopped. She needed a few seconds to comprehend Fiora's question. Didn't they just agree that they'd go back to the café? What was it with her sudden change of mind?

She pondered for a few more seconds, although she was almost entirely sure of her answer. She really wanted to go, to be sure that the others were safe, but at the same time she was preoccupied with their own wellbeing. If the others were to be found safe and well, they could all go together to the cafe and be somewhere safe - together. Yet, worst case scenario, which gave her goosebumps only thinking of it, if they were to be found... dead..-

Her thoughts were interrupted once again. This was, at least, the third time someone didn't let her finish her thoughts that day. This time it was... Pandora? Why did she follow them back?
"I-I think we should go back."
She aswell? The next thing she did was take out her phone and call the police, notifying them about the crime. Was it because of what Liz had told her? After confirming that the police was on their way and asking them for help, she started walking into the direction of the park.
"Huh- H- Hey, wait for us..!", Liz shouted after her. She turned around, facing Fiora.
"Let's go.", she answered her previous question with a nod.

She started running into the same direction as Pandora, trying to catch up to her. As they got closer to the park, shs noticed something going on in front of the public restroom. Were those the boys, that had split from the group?.. Squinting her eyes to get a sharper image, she noticed that there were too many people for it to be only them. Liz started jogging faster towards them, as she was slightly filled with hope, knowing that they were still alive.

( Devious Dilbert CrimsonEclipse amdreams 0stinato Trine archur )

 

[0stinato]

Despite the golden eagle - a golden eagle, really?! - boy's warning and wisdom, Lazuli said she was going to do it anyway. It was her duty and her job. Her job was to kill innocent bystanders. Bystanders who "knew too much". Rüdiger didn't like the talking in clichés, nor did he like the nightmarish half-transformation image that was stuck in his head of the golden eagle boy. A beak, a beak.

Rüdiger looked down at Silver, whom Lazuli had released. He blinked. If she still had the intention to dispose of them, surely she wouldn't have done that. And surely - dammit - she'd not be arguing with the bird-boy thus giving he and Ralph time to flee if she still planned on killing them. But perhaps it was cockiness talking. If they did run, leaving Silver behind, then Lazuli would shoot them down or find them easily. As if they wore their postcodes on their arses or something. The bird-boy mentioned that they could be "tracked down" so maybe there was some weird mutant tracking ability.

But he had to agree with Silver, his friend did make good points. "No one would believe us," Rüdiger said flatly. "People only believe what's right in front of them. And even then, I'm having trouble because I'm not sure if I've finally gone insane or not."

He eyed Ralph with suspicion, "Do you think you've gone insane? I definitely--"

Rüdiger stopped. Behind Lazuli and bird-boy, outside the park and just out of reach of the streetlamp, he could see someone pause and simply stand there for a few minutes. Watching. Slightly moving as if unsure of what to do.

He felt his mouth dry, though he wasn't sure why. That was surely Elizabeth - her figure was the giveaway - and near to her Fiora. Silver could at least rest easy in his death knowing they were alive, if he could see them. Rüdiger doubted he could.

His mouth opened slightly, though he wasn't sure if he had something to say or not. Had Ralph seen them? Did the girls know the three of them were in some sort of life-or-death-but-most-likely-death face-off with inhuman bipedal figures? If they did, if Elizabeth did know this, was she going to do something about it? Was Fiora?

If Rüdiger was being rational, he'd have wondered what exactly they could do. The answer he would have arrived to is "nothing". However, he was not rational. All he could think - scream in his head - was, "Do. Something."

amdreams archur Devious Dilbert Capricornus CrimsonEclipse