Fantasy Hunter's Moon [IC] [CLOSED]

[K0mori]

"I don't imagine I'll be needing it much longer," Mariette joked to Galina as Rosanna appeared. As she asked how she was doing, Mariette gave her a toothy grin, looking far more casual than she had once allowed herself to be. "Ah, Mademoiselle, I'm nearing the end of a very long voyage. I've seen things here in Grimtham Isle which have awakened me, truly. I've felt the sun on my skin and run like a wild gazelle." Her expression grew far more serious. "...I've seen a side of my self, born of this curse, which frightens me, deeply. Rose, I could not have lost those wondrous gifts at a better time. Although, now, there is little more I can offer this Inquisition. I am not a fighter; this sword is little more than a trophy to me. I'm a witch, and I've lost my grimoire... a collection of dark magic which took decades to assemble."

She chuckled at herself and shook her head. The sun was beginning to emerge from behind the distant scenery, and the shadows of the buildings around her became blankets of safety in a suddenly-deadly world. "You all are in a stronger position than I have ever seen you," she said. "I believe, like Jakob, that it is time I take my leave. Except... I don't intend to return to Escaria."

 

[Infab]

Rosanna's smile faded. Was she about to do what she thought she was going to do? Rosanna glanced up, taking note that the sun was rising. Oh no. "Please don' do this, Mariette. I-I can teach ya to fight! Or one of us can! We need everyone we can get!" she said, motioning to Galina and the Inquisitor far behind her. "...Forget about the stuff you done before! If you dwell on that, you'll just stay miserable!"

Valeria glanced over from where she was standing, straightening up a bit. What was Mariette about to do? Rosanna was becoming hysterical.

 

[K0mori]

"Rose, it's more than just that," Mariette replied. "I crossed a line that none of you, save for Gigeure, knows about. She knows because I sought her out, told her what I had done, and asked her to do away with me when the time was right. I..." she trailed off before laughing scornfully at herself. "I struck a deal with Sazak. I thought so awfully, dreadfully high of myself when I survived beheading... I was a saint in my own imagination! And look at me... a demon comes along and offers me everything I ever wanted, and I shook his hand. Well, damn the deal, damn Sazak, and damn me all the same! I'm not going to follow through with my half of the bargain. Never. But Giguere was right- as long as I walk this world, there'll be an emptiness inside of me that nothing will be able to fill. I'll always seek what I cannot have, shy away from death in the most grotesque of ways, and delude myself endlessly, endlessly. I want no more of it. No more..."

She stepped forth into the light, slamming the tip of the rapier into a gap in the stones, creating an anchor with which she could cling to with both hands, so that the Inquisitors couldn't shove her back into the shadows. Across her whole body, starting where her skin was exposed, a silvery smoke began to rise. "I've already sent word to my estate, and Gigeure holds a letter for you all... ah..." She strained to remain stationary as her skin and clothing began to ignite. Rose took a step toward her, but Mariette fiercely shouted her back. "Don't touch me! If you wish to save me, then allow my legacy to stand for something I never could."

The flames had suddenly engulfed her with an uncontrollable fury. She lowered her head so that her hair and hat would hide the view of a face which would soon be unrecognizable. "Slay the duke," an agonized voice urged them. "Protect each other...

"...Drink to me."

Mariette collapsed to the ground in a complete fireball, the flames consuming her flesh like rags doused in oil. It had happened so quickly and violently that none could intervene, and left nothing behind but a crumpled pile of burning clothes and ashes before the sword.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Aleister lingered inside as the light grew brighter. He searched around the office and procured a hooded cloak from the doctor - an item left on a coat rack long ago. It was a little drab and dusty, and there was no telling who or what wore this thing, but it was necessary. He had enough magic in him to protect himself from the sun, though a hood and shawl was still needed to mitigate the discomfort. Some of the others had already moved outside while a few lingered indoors, and he was just happy to be alone in the waiting room for a moment. Aleister adjusted his hood in small faded mirror when he smelled something off. Smoke.

He stepped towards the door and caught sight of something... someone burning, and he staggered quickly out the door in time to see the flames fully engulf Mariette from head to toe. His voice caught in his throat as he tried to shout, seeing the rapier in the ground as she held on to it to steady herself in the light. Horror sent his body rocking back against the door-frame as he realized that this wasn't a tragic accident. It was on purpose.

"What is she doing!? Why are you just standing there, stop her!" He screamed to the others, hands shaking. The flames ignited more violently, so quickly, that almost in a blink she was reduced to ashes.

He didn't know why. He could never understand why. To be confronted with Jakob's physical illness as temporary as it was, and to walk out to see Mariette give her life away.... He lived to avoid pain and illness, to forever stand at a distance from a natural death. What was happening here was a nightmare.

His face was broken into a pained snarl as tears streaked his cheeks. He couldn't be here. Not around this. Not ever.

With another devastated scream, Aleister took off running like a frightened animal.

 

[Infab]

Rosanna watched in horror as Mariette, her remaining friend, did exactly what she thought she was going to do. She tried to stop her, stepping forward towards her, but was quickly stopped by Mariette. And soon enough, she was gone. Simply ashes, staining the dull grey cobblestone street black. Rosanna didn't even hear Aleister's yelling and scream as he ran away from the scene. Tears were already streaming down her face, as she stared down at the pile of burnt clothing and ashes at the foot of the sword.

Valeria, far behind her, had turned to face the event completely. Her eyes widened. Mariette had committed suicide by sunlight. This whole inquiry was taking a toll on everyone, though some more than others. A pity...at least she fulfilled part of her duties. She didn't complete her end of the deal, but it was a good effort. She'll live more comfortably than most in the Abyss, at least. Valeria's eyes narrowed. What the hell did you do? Oh, I made a deal with her. She'd be more powerful than Cassandra ever dreamed of being, and she'd get her own slice of the world to rule as queen, if she made sure that you lived long enough for me to possess you. That deal is off, as you can see.

Valeria grunted. You vile son of a bitch. I can make her suffer, Witlock, so remember who you're talking to.

 

[Dmaster]

Camille smirked slightly at the 'iron maiden' comment that Jakob had for her, giving a stark nod before stepping out of the room. She took note of the glance that Mariette shot her, and merely looked on without saying anything as she went off to outside the building.

The huntress was greeted by the countess moving through with her death in her own hands, and she sucked on her teeth as a matter of wincing from her screams of pain and terror. Having seen the last remnants of humanity in the vampire meant that she could empathize with the situation a bit more, a fact she hated so utterly. Despite the differences the both had, Camille would do well on her promises as a way to honor what Mariette had done on this journey. Even still, she had felt a certain emptiness and inadequacy from the situation. She had wanted to make the death painless, ferry her off to her end without any agonizing pain. Despite how vile the vampire had been, she was still a human, once.

Camille looked somber as she stood off to the side, staring on as Mariette turned from a silhouette in the flames to nothing but a pile of ash. With a sigh she shook her head and began to step forward, blocking the line of sight to the grizzly remnants from the rest of the group as she turned to address them. This was just in time to see Aleister panic and consequently run off into the daylight himself. "I had believed the plan was to do things in private, but I guess the countess does enjoy her theatrics..." she said with a sigh. "Did, rather..."

Using her undamaged arm she produces the letter that Mariette had given her from a coat pocket, holding it out for anyone to take and skim over themselves. Yet as she did so she met Valeria's gaze, her eyes smoldering slightly as she decided to bite her tongue. Perhaps it would be best to not sully the countess' death with the terrible problem that loomed over them next. Once someone took it from her, she merely got on one knee and looked over the ashes. "Adieu, âme torturée. Restez fort où que vous résidiez." she whispers, only to stand up and start walking away from the group.

"I am going to find Aleister. Make sure he doesn't combust as the countess did." Camille says flatly, stepping after him at a relaxed pace.

 

[Infab]

Rosanna's head slowly rose to listen to Camille, glaring at the woman as she commented on Mariette's death before turning about and paying her respects to the pile of ashes. Then Camille stood and went after Aleister. Rosanna then glanced back to the others. She didn't say a word, simply looking between those that were outside, before turning back about and walking towards the end of the street. Once she arrived, she turned right, heading in the direction of the inn. She didn't want to talk to anyone. Not now.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Aleister headed straight for the inn. He bounded up the stairs and into his room, leaving the door open, and he approached the modest writing desk against the wall. His hands were still shaking and he grasped either end in an attempt to steady himself. The wood began to creak and then splinter as his grip crunched the wood in his grasp. Not only was he unable to calm his body, but his mind was suffering similarly as well. He couldn't think straight. He was going hysterical.

Instinctively, he hefted the small desk in his hands and threw it towards the open balcony. The wooden desk hit the railing, cracked, and went tumbling over. Everything that was on it fluttered about into the room causing an instant mess. Two inkwells crashed onto the floor and left ugly black splotches, with splattered dots covering the walls. An elixir of blood hit the wall and left a running stain. A stack of papers scattered and landed every which way in the room, coating the floor and bed. When a breeze came in through the open balcony, it shifted the papers around like angry fluttering birds.

Why would Mariette do such a thing. How could she do such a thing. Who would ever throw away immortality and health.

His exhaustion from earlier warred with a surge of anxious, desperate energy which coursed through him. He wanted to sleep, but he couldn't stand still if he wanted to. His legs propelled him every which way, and he slammed his boot into the side of the bed, launching it forcefully against the wall with such force that a picture fell of the wall and the room shook.

 

[Dmaster]

Considering that the vampire had run off in the direction Rosanna stormed off in, she figured that he had left for the inn. As she walked she thought on the tasks at hand, who they were losing and any possible way she could see them claiming victory over the Duke. Yet as far as she understood things were looking incredibly grim, and she could only roll her shoulder to work through the numbness as she traveled to her destination. Confident in where the vampire went, she took her time to journey to the inn as she went up without bothering to check in with the desk worker.

Once upstairs she simply knocked on the door with her arm that was free of its cast, inviting herself in as she saw Aleister having a panic attack. Rather, the aftermath of one as she had arrived several minutes after he had concluded his tantrum. "I think you could do a better job of healing this arm than that doctor, monsieur." she states, stepping inside the room. Camille stood in the center of the scattered room, desk missing as well as ink poured about haphazardly.

"It was what she wanted. This was the only way she would find peace."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

When Camille entered, Aleister was sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. His hair was in a messy state, not unlike the room, and out of place from his typical vain perfection. He heard a voice and glanced up slightly to see a figure standing in the room, but didn't quite register the words for a few moments longer.

"But... why? How? She would have forever t-to... to make herself feel better! She cannot come back now, she can't come back ever now!"

 

[Dmaster]

The huntress would have said something along the lines of how pathetic he looked, but she saw no reason to break her streak of not letting her commentary get the better of her. Mostly. "It's not so simple." Camille says with a slight frown. "Her soul was poisoned by the affliction you think a blessing - consumed by her constant desires for power, driven by selfish want that she twisted as being in the right." Despite her injuries, she stood completely straight and her voice was flat, absolved from emotion already as she saw the situation as a cut and dry deal.

"She had... even made a deal with Sazak, Aleister. Simply to secure the prosperity and immortality she clung to. This was her only way of righting things, and I was meant to be the one that did it." she states. "Yet it would seem she took her fate into her own hands."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"A deal... with Sazak..." he murmured, face blank as his cheeks remained damp from the tears earlier. He stared at the floorboards of his room and slowly shook his head.

"I... I don't understand why. I... perhaps I... do in a way, she and I, we... had that argument and I thought, back then, she was going to do something terrible when she became a pureblood but... she fixed those wrongs, right? I thought she and I... I even, the elixir," he stammered, gesturing to the shattered glass of blood. "A gift for her... as an apology, I had misspoke back then, I think... I can't...." He trailed off, whispering, before speaking up again.

"To end her own life... I have never seen vampirism as a curse. I will never. It isn't undeath that drives one to power and selfish desire, that... that is already inside you. In everyone. But all that has transpired, she never truly... crossed the precipice, did she? Neared it, perhaps, but what has she done that is irredeemable? You live to grow, and to be happy, and to be... be better!"

He rubbed his hands over his face, causing some black smears around his eyes as it appeared he had some make up on. A few more tears caused some streaks over his cheekbones. "But Sazak? How? Why? What more could she have possibly gained from... from some demon? We can kill that creature, all of us, why would she end her life over a lapse in judgement?"

 

[Infab]

Rosanna arrived after Camille and Aleister, having walked at a far slower pace than the two. She entered the inn, not even bothering to look at the small kobale behind the counter. Tariun was also nearby at a table drinking tea, and watched as the cowgirl crossed the room and ascended the stairs. She sighed, before looking to the kobale. "Don't bother them for now." she said simply, before turning about and finishing her drink.

Rosanna paused next to the doorway to Aleister's room, hearing Camille talking to Aleister inside. She wanted to step in and say something, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not everyone became the monster that Camille believed. There was a prime example of that walking about. Undite. The goddess was a vampire, and didn't bother anyone with her vampirism. It could be controlled just like anything else. When she heard Camille say that she was the one that was supposed to kill Mariette, she almost came unglued. She ignored the statements about Sazak, as she had already heard them from Mariette herself, and stepped into the doorway as Aleister finished speaking.

"I'm glad she ended it this way...because I would have killed ya if you had done it." said Rosanna, looking to Camille. "You're one of the most vile people I've ever known, and I hope ya rot in the Abyss whenever you finally meet your end." She then turned about, stepping out of the hallway and heading to her own room. They could hear the door slam down the hallway...followed by another noise. Rosanna slamming her door had broken its hinges, so the door simply fell inwards and hit the floor.

------
​

Valeria eventually moved down the street herself. "...Lets get back to the inn. We need to discuss a few things moving forwards." she said, without looking to the others outside. As she walked, she glanced up to see a tall man in a hat standing next to a woman whom was dressed in a top hat at the end of the street walking away from them. The woman looked rather sophisticated, wearing fancy pants and a nice jacket with a white shirt and leather vest under it. She also had on a monocle. The man looked more like a priest, just without the typical white collar that they often wore. She didn't pay them much more attention. Probably tourists fresh off the boat.

 

[Dmaster]

Camille could only sigh as he rambled about how things transpired, looming over his hunched form with her eyes on the balcony and the thrown desk that sat there. Yet when Aleister insinuated that she could change and she wasn't irredeemable she started to frown slightly. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Rosanna came bursting in, her head turning to face her as she was chewed out for their arrangement. Before she could even defend herself the dulluhan walked off, and the rudeness on display got her to grit her teeth.

"I am vile? It is insane to call me such a thing when I give life and soul to protecting innocent lives." she starts, turning back to Aleister with clear fury in her eyes. "Irredeemable..? Aleister she consorted with the enemy to become a pureblood! Once she had the inquiry's forgiveness she walked back on her own word and made a deal with a demon! Our lives, the world, it was all jeopardized due to her insatiable thirst for power." Camille shouts with rising anger.

"She came to me in desperation, knowing that her soul was wicked and not worth saving, lest she fall into an even deeper pit that endangers everyone. I won't stand idly by and be deemed hateful by those too caught up in facades to understand one's true nature." the huntress spat, glaring back into the hallway even though Rosanna was nowhere to be found. "Can you not see that this is why I hunt? Every moment of her life had been torment, and once she finally had everything she wanted she could only feel utter emptiness. I seek to bring these tormented souls to justice, before they can bring harm to those that do not deserve it."

"Mourn her death, Aleister." she states, turning her head back to the priest seated on the bed. "Yet do not forget the path that lead her to it."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Alesiter wasn't sure what to say following Rosanna's words, but Camille had spoken up far faster than he as she spoke angrily. He simply sat quietly and listened.

"Priests... priests are meant to forgive. To guide the lost," he explained sadly. "I understand what you are saying... I do. Part of me does not want to acknowledge that she could have... made such a deal with the demon. When we first met she had told me she wished to prove that... that she, and our kind, were better than how others think us to be. To acknowledge what she did with Sazak would be to accept that she... was not."

He shook his head again with another deep sigh. "You are not vile. Harsh... perhaps... like steel, but not vile. I think Rose is... uneasy, too. You may see Mariette's path as an inevitability, but I do not. She was lost and I could not help her."

 

[joshuadim]

Ethraeil made his way outside, but stood out the door of the doctor's office. He had expected that they would move back and plan their next move accordingly on what to do, but then came about the series of events that took place. Mariette killed herself with the morning light, leaving naught but ashes where she once stood. Ethraeil tilted his head down only a little and gave off a sight. And so another falls on this path. Ethraeil thought to himself as he watched Aleister run off, Camille following suit. Ethraeil made his way to where the group stood and stayed utterly silent as they dispersed. He followed after Valeria, walking by her side as they made their way back to the inn. He saw that Valeria was... wounded. He eyed her for a moment before turning his attention to the path ahead.

"Do you want to talk about it....?" he asked.

 

[Infab]

Valeria didn't look over. "No. I don't. But I'm forced to now. I can't put it off any longer." she responded as they continued to walk. Valeria could hear an audible chuckle from the back of her mind. I'm eager to see how well they take it. I bet Camille will opt for the idea that the sword be handed over to Theodore. The Escarian midget, although intelligent, doesn't possess the skill to wield the weapon. But I do, and that's what I'm granting you when you finally face the Duke. If he tried to use it on the Duke, they will all die horrifically painful deaths.

 

[Dmaster]

She seemed calm by his assertion that she was harsh rather than vile, nodding her head slowly before rolling her pained shoulder yet again. "Unfortunately she squandered every chance she had... I am far from religious, but I do know that demons present you with offers that tempt even the most steadfast of souls a great deal." Camille asserts. There was still the matter of Witlock going through with a similar deal, and she wondered if Aleister could deal with the implications. No, no he could not. His room was a mess after witnessing Mariette's death, there was no telling what he might do if he was given that news on top of this.

"I do not care for what Rosanna thinks of me, to be so narrow-minded about me without having known what Mariette confided in me shows what her true character is. And she would have killed me for fulfilling her last wish?" The huntress shook her head, moving off from the subject.

"One thing we have in common is that we need to learn that not everyone can be saved. We will never know what compelled her to act in the way she did, but I am certain that an Escarian woman of her caliber was not born evil." she states, walking closer to the balcony as she looked out into the daylight. "Yet in such a long life she had been exposed to situations she would never have experienced in her comfortable estate, forced to watch a world evolve slowly around her as she was confined to the weaknesses of her curse. I feel that everyone that suffers this burden will break down, despite the affliction the mind is still only weak and human. A vessel of such power shoved onto a feeble or wanting mind, it is easy to succumb to the hunger that she did."

"I have seen what it can do to people on several occasions. Why is it right for one vampire's ambitions to endanger so many others? Some feel that they are superior, and humans are nothing but cattle to feed on. Others buckle under the pressure of living an a society that can't understand them, and they lash out and ironically become the very thing they were so sure they weren't... All it can take for some is just one instance or event in this cruel and unforgiving world, and as the days pass by in their endless existence it is only more likely that such an event will arrive down the line." Camille concludes.

 

[joshuadim]

"...as unappealing as it may be to some, it was our best shot at finishing this fight." Ethraeil stated. "We cannot allow the Duke the win. Whatever it takes. The other's will know this to be true." He stayed silent for a moment after as they continued to walk before speaking again. "The thought of having to do the deed... once all is said and done... I know I promised, but it still weighs upon me heavily. There are few I would consider to be as friends... and although we did not start that way, I know that you are doing whatever you can and for that you have my eternal respect. And my eternal gratitude for breaking my bondage."

He sighed again, looking down at the ground. "I have ended too many friends in all my years. And to have to end another pains me still so much."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Perhaps everything you say of her is correct... but of my kind...." Aleister shook his head, finally glancing up at her. "Everything you say can be applied to mortal men just as easily. Certainly they won't live as long, but the damage they can bring about is no different. If not worse in the grand scale given how many there are. How many wars, genocides, and atrocities have been committed by mere mortals? You suggest there is a time limit for all men before they fall from grace. That is a... depressing view. I've known both good and bad people live to old age, some possibly nearing a full century of life. When does the madness set in, then? Two hundred years? Three hundred? Four, five, or six?"

"Vampire or not, no ambition of anyone - anything - should endanger others. For what Mariette chose to do in a moment of weakness is terrible, yes, but she came back from that. How many children have intended to steal from the cookie jar, hand on the top, before realizing what they were doing was wrong? Or, at the very least, the punishment wasn't worth it. Are such people irredeemable for the thought and steps in the wrong direction? They've not fully committed to their wrongs. They've even rebounded from them. Such is the entire concept of redemption. Do you not believe in such a thing?"

 

[Infab]

Valeria glanced down at the ground. "...After I was adopted...I didn't have many friends. I left my old ones behind after what happened back home, and moved to New Dewsbury with Father Weston. I became a bit of a recluse, socially...I was afraid that if I had anyone else to care about, they'd eventually get hurt or die in some horrific way. And of course...its happened just as I thought." she said, as they rounded the corner at the end of the street towards the inn. "You won't be alone. I'll make sure the others help you." she finally said, glancing over to Ethraeil. "Camille will be more than happy to oblige, I'm sure. The woman dislikes me." Valeria then, surprisingly, smiled.

 

[Dmaster]

"It is hard to redeem oneself out of an inescapable deal from a demon, is it not?" she merely replies to start. "I do not seek to right the wrongs or prevent the atrocities that man can commit, for we have armies and other men who stand against the tyranny of their own kind, ideally."

"My view is as depressing as the world we live in. Despite your faith in the gods they allow for terrible things to happen every day, and we stand at the center of chaos where one twist of fate can be your end." Camille goes on, looking the vampire in the eyes. "I choose to hunt because not everyone can or will, just as constables bring criminals to justice, hunters bring the inhuman threats an end. I hold myself to the virtue that if I could have prevented someone undeserving from meeting an untimely death, I must step in and prevent it. If I come across a vampire and allow them to persist for ages, only to squander their existence with a vile or even petty act, and I could have stopped it, what good am I?"

"Men have a limited time on this world, their souls are bared over time and they soon pass on. If a vampire is cunning enough they may continue to do horrible things without being contested for ages. I cannot put an estimate on when madness manifests, yet losing a single innocent life is far too many."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Then by your own words, you have convinced me that mankind should not live on. Don't you see... if you would slay a vampire on the chance that, in some distant future, they may commit a wrong, then... why suffer others to live? You cannot... you should not... punish those for things that they have not done. Even if one has thought of committing a wrong and has never done so, what would they be guilty of? A crime of thought or mind?"

Aleister wiped his eyes on his sleeve, staining it with ruined makeup. "I suppose we've had this conversation too many times for it to be worthwhile."

 

[joshuadim]

"I made you a promise that I would not allow Sazak to turn you into his slave like he did me once." Ethraeil said with a somber tone as the inn appeared in sight. He walked quietly for a moment before speaking up again. "Camille will understand, even if she despises you for it."

 

[Dmaster]

Camille shakes her head from side to side. "Perhaps mankind doesn't need to live on. As I've said I do not concern myself with such philosophical issues. Take comfort in the fact that if a vampire has found themselves in my sights well, they must have done something worthy of being hunted by myself."

"I am sorry you lost a friend, but you must respect her decision. We are in even fewer number now, and the worst has yet to come." she says, groaning as she rolls her shoulder again before turning back to Aleister. "Perhaps after we rest you could heal my arm. I can't exactly fight enemies with just one of them being functional..." Camille says, finally turning her back on the priest as she left for the hallway. She checked into a room downstairs, yet lingered about the lobby for some time.