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 Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 1:24 am
"It's okay, really." He took a deep breath. "... People figure me as sorta... Slutty. And they're pretty much right. You see, even though I'm ascended, I still have residual... Urges. Very strong ones. Downside to my powers. Huge downside. Difficult to manage, like an addiction for which there isn't a cure. But back at my home, I was still new to this world. Back then, I was filled with the Light, but I still... Er... I was very amorous with those who created me. And people being mostly monogamous creatures, they didn't care for me sharing myself with everybody, so... I pretty much had to leave. They didn't ask me to, mind you, but I felt that some time and distance would heal the wounds, ya know." He took another long pause. "I think what's driven me to study the arcane arts is to find such a cure. A bit of a side project, as my primary research takes my mind off of... Carnal thoughts... And such." He finished, somewhat uneasily. "Maybe I can go home, one day. After I fix myself of this."
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 1:37 am
She leaned back away from him, giving him a bit of space as she crossed her arms over her chest, nodding gently, "I see... but... do you think that you can cure something that's a part of your lineage?" She asked, this her focus rather than the amorous elements. She was immune to his charms in that regard. No amorous tricks or effects would get to her due to her lamia nature. Normally a lamia was capable of charming their own victims. Usually for their own desires rather than some craving like Zeren suffered. However, with Valeria, rather than charming, as it was not in her nature at all, her natural ability twisted to a resistance. She could love, she could fall for a person, but she could not be charmed or allured by other means.
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 1:48 am
"I have to." He responded simply, staring down into the floor of the coach. "My lineage was altered when I was ascended. Surely, it can be done once more. Not sure how, but I will be rid of this disease someday. Either by discovery or death." He looked up at her. "I... I apologize if this conversation makes you uncomfortable. Lovers made for poor confidants, and I don't get to talk about my... Issues much with people who're just friends, ya know? That, and the wine's making my bill a bill loose." He said with a shallow chuckle, a weak attempt to break the tension.
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 2:03 am
She looked to her own bottle, only about a quarter of it left, and took another swig, not leaving much left, but chuckling just a little, "It's alright... I think I've been more comfortable with you tonight than I've been with anybody in quite some time. Not to mention it's taken the edge off from everything that happened earlier. It still hurts of course, but... it's a dull ache now." She looked back over to him with a slight smile, a gentle flush to her cheeks as well as she spoke, "Not really a bad thing if you ask me... good conversation... good company. Nope. I'm not complaining one bit." She gave a small laugh and knocked back the rest of her bottle, setting it next to her in the coach's seat before looking to him again.
"Death isn't a good answer for anything... enough of that in this world. If you could fix it though, would you really be okay with that? Changing who you are? Changing your complete way of life? I imagine everything would change for you, Zeren... if you could change it all, I would definitely weigh your options first. All the pros and cons. I mean... it's one thing to think about it... what it might be like, but... when you're faced with a real possibility of it... things might be different... you never know."
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 2:09 am
His eyes lit up when she smiled at him. He looked back down, rubbing the back of his head. "... I don't know. But wouldn't you think that change be for the better? What cons is there to a more controlled sex drive? I don't know, like I said. The consequences will be further known in the future, perhaps." He mulled a bit on the thought, then changed the subject. "So, just a dull ache? You think you'll be well enough to enter Medusa's den tomorrow?"
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 2:20 am
She pondered the thought for a moment, looking up to the cloudless, starry sky above and sighing softly, "Well... morning will be a different matter. I'm sure that, after some sleep, I'll be ready. Besides... I need to know that all of this was worth it. I'm not about to turn tail and run. We've all come too far for that." Her gaze shifted to the campfire a decent ways away again, Felicity had rejoined the group and now they were laughing together, everybody in bright spirits. This brought a smile to Valeria's lips before turning to him once more.
"Yea... I'll be just fine." She paused a moment, raising a brow, "What about you? You seem pretty stoic about all of this... guess you didn't know anybody that died, huh? Not that I did, of course, but... you know..." She had lost her smile a bit, but shook her head. "That's... not important I suppose. Guess I'm just wondering how you're feeling about the mission as a whole... not asked anybody who's here against their will such as yourself."
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 2:40 am
"As much wanton death I've seen, I'm a little harden to... This. But like you, I'm drinking to forget. They may've been strangers, but people are still people." He downed the rest of the bottle and set it on the floor between his legs. "But all this death... And for what, a piece of jewelry? Not likely, I believe. There's something else about this artifact that's more valuable than precious stones and metals. And I'm still curious as to what of it, myself. Thus, I'm as driven as you to find out... More wine? I might be able to find more."
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 2:46 am
"Hmmm... I don't know much about it honestly. Merely that the queen wants it. However, I also know she collects relics of varying power and use, so I'm sure it's no ordinary trinket, as you have suggested. There's definitely more to it, but... I know nothing of what Medusa could do or what she possessed that was above and beyond the norm." Her lips were tugged to one side in a bit of concern, but she shook the notion at the suggestion of more wine, a small smile instead. "Might help. I can even come with if you don't mind the company." She suggested.
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 3:09 am
Her queen collects relics? Why not? Most royalty does. However, he could see this as no ordinary relic.
"Ah. Just back here, I think."
He slipped back inside the coach. Of course, the room was filled with wounded. Some of the more well of the injured were fiddling with his various contraptions in boredom, most of which upon seeing him ceased nervously. The vulpine in the middle of the coach threw an empty wine bottle at him.
"What the ********> He ducked, the bottle breaking against the wall.
"... Moar." She slurred, swaying a little as she sat up in her cot.
"She's an alcoholic." Zeren turned to face the source of the voice. It was the hawk's, her voice sounding soft and smooth. Almost angelic.
"I can quit anytime, you feathered whore." The fox shot back.
"I doubt it, love." The hawk replied nonchalantly.
While the two bickered, Zeren slipped by, stopping at a nearby chest. A human with black hair was slouched in front of it, asleep. Zeren gently poked the man, who jerked awake and glared at him.
"Ugh. What?" The human snapped.
"I need to get into that chest behind you."
The man gave Zeren a vacant look. "... Oh! You own this wheeled contraption, right? My apologies." He shifted out of the way as Zeren reached into the chest, procuring two bottles and deftly hiding them in his coat.
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 3:28 am
She decided to wait for him, looking back to the stars as she did, sighing gently, her tail dangling over the edge of the coach, swaying lazily back and forth as he ducked away. She sat there, thinking to herself a short bit before hearing the crash and shattering noise of the bottle that had been thrown. She jerked upright and slipped from her seat to the coach entrance, opening the door, already yelling a bit before even catching the scene, "After today, I will not tolerate you people being ignorant and bringing harm... to... each other?" Her temper sated as she took a look at the scene. She could tell some were drunk, some were sleeping, some were toying with Zeren's devices, and others still too beat from the fight yet, resting it off. She caught Zeren in the back as he slipped the bottles into his jacket and raised a brow a moment.
The avian spoke up first in defense, "That fox did it. The alcoholic minx can't hold her liquor and still she demands more." She gave the woman a bit of a cocky look, happy to have pinned the blame on the person that deserved it rather than the group as a whole.
The fox sobered a bit, both under the yelling of her ranking officer and from the accusation, but her frustration had not been so easily tamed. She glared back at the other, "I'm not an alcoholic!" She insisted. Her gaze then turned back to the lamia at the door with an apologetic expression, "Look, I didn't mean nuthin by it" A bit of a slur to her words in spite of the somewhat sobering effects, "I juss asked the man if he had more was all."
Valeria looked to the two and shook her head with a sigh, "Look, it's fine, whatever, just... be more careful please. We don't need anybody getting hurt... especially since you're all injured to begin with." With that, she ducked out of the coach and resumed her spot she had been prior without another word, the two women shooting dirty looks across the room, but remaining otherwise silent for now.
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 3:43 am
Zeren watched the exchange while the human next to him chuckled. After Valeria disappeared, the two resumed hushed arguing, Zeren once more slipping by as the vulpine suddenly shot an ugly look at the human behind the demon.
"The hell you laughing at, you hairless monkey?"
The human shook his head, his expression that of amusement. "Nothing, Cam."
Zeren stepped back out and passed a bottle to Valeria. "They're getting rowdy in there. Here ya go."
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 7:19 am
She took the bottle happily, popping the cork with little effort this time and setting it alongside her with the empty bottle. She might not down this one she figured, wouldn't hurt to hold onto the cork, though she wasn't certain as to how it would be replaced, hadn't thought about it prior to now, but shook her head, looking back to him, sighing softly and rubbing her temple for now, "Really, those ones are like a bunch of children. I don't know what I've gotten myself into with these people." She chuckles oddly and takes another swig from this new bottle, letting out a satisfied sigh, "This stuff almost seems more potent than the other stuff..." She noted, looking at this bottle a bit more closely.
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 2:00 pm
"It's from my more fancier reserves. Saved for celebrations, you know? Hardly the case now, but hey, might as well." He popped the cork. "You know, We've been talking about me all night. Let's hear some things about you, Valeria. I'm sure you have some interesting tales about yourself to regale me with."
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 3:54 pm
"Hmmm..." She had to ponder this a bit, unused to sharing her stories and trying to determine which ones he would be interested in. After a bit of deliberating, she decided on throwing out a few varying facts and seeing which, if any, he would care to pick up on.
She took another swig of her beverage, downing her sip quickly before gazing at it and sharing her points. "Well, first off, I guess I would say I've got no parents... the queen's the closest thing I have to family, but I've only been directly in her presence 3 times in my life, mostly just receiving letters from her in private or the occasional messenger to speak on her behalf, even accepting this mission came as an impersonal letter from Her Highness."
She sighed softly at this, but trudged on to another point, "Then there's my studies of magic, limited as they are. I may have only read a few articles of books dedicated to the subject but, while fascinated by it, I can only manage scroll-work. Not a useless skill I imagine, but... I would much rather be able to draw on power from within myself." She took another swig from her bottle and proceeded to a third topic of discussion for him to draw from if he so chose.
"I would also say that that Alpha earlier is not the biggest creature that I've taken down." She left an awkward pause, her tone serious as she resumed, looking to him with one eye, "Have you ever heard of a chimera? Not the half-bred creatures of this world, but a real life, full-bodied chimera?" She asked him curiously. Most had heard of these creatures, but not all she supposed. Wouldn't hurt to ask and enlighten if need be rather than acting as though she were somehow better than him, as she did not feel this was true.
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 11:09 pm
"No parents?" He said, mildly surprised. He didn't even know his kind even had parents to spawn from, but his darker days was a thing he didn't delve into for other reasons besides not remembering most of it. He was probably better off blissfully unaware. "Anyways, a lot of spellcasters draw on their own reserves, but some utilize alternative sources of energy. Timonium, for instance, is a conducive mineral. It's nigh perpetual source of energy stems from drawing upon an unknown source. Some theorize it's not of this realm, but where ever it's from, it's incredibly potent. Thus the reason why it's so rare. But since you'd rather develop your own well of magical energy, I do have a few books on the subject..." He sipped. "... Can't say I've heard of chimeras beyond mixed breeds."
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