Chasing Yesterday

[Ariadne]

OOC: ZLynn/Seya? I think it's your turn

[Zee ♥]

Ooc: Just to make it clear, no one is supposed to find Honesty yet. So don't point it out.. yet. He's gonna listen in. The only person who knows that Honesty is there should be Restraint, and lets just say he won't blow Honesty's cover. Yet. (till he finds out about the whole Virtues-destroying-Sin's-homes. I give you permission to blow it then.)

Honesty shrank back further, trying to hide in the shadows. Restraint had been discovered, by a Sin no less. And by Lark. That voice definitely belonged to Lark. He tensed, left hand gripping the handle of his sword. If they attack him..

But then again, Restraint had used the words "uncertain allegiance". Honesty stared. Uncertain allegiance? Does that mean he wasn't following Purity? Fey lifted his upper lip in a silent growl of uneasiness, but did not convey his thoughts this time to Honesty. No. He still won't do anything yet. Several flashbacks flitted in his mind, along with a false invented image of a dead Purity, causing him to close his eyes in pain.

Go. Get Purity. Tell her about the Sin and Lark. And about Restraint. He told Fey mentally, who disappeared as soon as he finished the command. Rubbing his temples, now more than ever he could feel the gaping hole in his memory of 3 years ago. Perhaps he would hear it all again today.

Ooc: If Purity isn't suppose to arrive here, I'll edit the part out D:

[Seya.]

Lark's eyebrows furrowed. "You're lookin' for answers?" she balked slightly, anxiety raising into her mind. How much had he already taken in? These words were not to be spoken around the virtues, she had given Purity her word. She looked sidelong at Lust; the female looked ready for a fight, but that's certainly not what she hoped would happen here.

"Answers," she repeated. "I can't say I know the questions. The sins are gone, that's all that you need to know." Her eyes were guarded, but unsure.

[Ariadne]

Jakara growled at Lust's side, glaring at the Virtue.

"Get out of here, Virtue," Lust spat, casting him a dirty look. "Even if you did decide to desert the Virtues, you wouldn't be welcome among the Sins." She was still bitter from the news of her comrades' forced retreat. Even if this Virtue claimed ignorance of the past, she remembered. She remembered the years of bitter feuding, of pain, of killing.

She shifted her right foot back, drawing her whip infront of her, taking up the most threatening stance she could. After what they'd done to her home, she had a taste for blood.

[Kal Skirata]

Restraint raised his open hands in defense "I come in search of information on the past, what the Virtues did to you and the other Sins. Not conflict. I ask because I suspect that what I was told by the Virtues was a pitiful shred of the truth." Restraint answered the Sin in a calming tone.

Restraint lowered his hands and calmed himself "3 years ago I died and was reborn as I am now. I wandered the wilderness for those 3 years in search of civilization. Without my memories. When I met Purity, I was so overwhelmed with encountering civilization, I was unable to think about what I was doing. In short I was not given a chance to choose which side I was on...," he stated in the same calming tone. "...and now I wish to be given that chance." Restraint pleaded.

[Ariadne]

OOC: Seya, should I be giving him some bitter-tainted backstory? From what I read in the plot overview section most of the immortals seem to be lacking their memory. But since Lust took off before everything happened, she seems to be exempt from that particular handicap.

[Zee ♥]

Ooc: Only the Virtues are lacking their memories. I think you're supposed to tell him what happened, cause Restraint is supposed to change sides. The Sins can still remember, but I think they have a few chunks of memories that disappeared. They remember the war, but have a harder time remembering how life was before the War? At least, thats what I think, the way they're behaving now. Also, not posting until after Lust gives the story, if thats fine.

[Ariadne]

OOC: alright. Here it goes.

Lust stalked over to Restraint. "You want to know what happened?" She demanded. Grabbing his arm with her free hand, she hauled him to his feet.

OOC: Hope you'll forgive my assertion(s)

Lust's whip glowed red for an instant before catching fire. She snapped the wrist that was holding the handle and the flames flew about the snow-coated ground. Fire licked stone, melting the snow that had covered it, leaving the foundation of the once-great empire bare before the group.

"Let me give you a little history lesson, Virtue," she sneered, pulling him closer to the ruins. "This was my home. The Empire. It was grand once, years ago. The Great Empress Taint built her fortress from sweat and blood. Protected us from the hatred of the Virtues. Your Goddess believed we were all evil, a race to be stamped from the Earth."

For a moment her former strength filled her, and Lust could feel her magick pulsing strong. Her body seemed to shift and change. Her figure became shorter, her hair shrank and glistened silver as she changed to resemble her Empress Taint.

"We fought them off for decades. Your Goddess was stubbourn, determined she was doing a righteous thing by ridding the world of us. She'd abandonned who she was. She'd once been as a sister to the Empress. She deceived our Empress. But even with all of her self-righteousness she couldn't defeat Empress Taint and her army of Sins."

Her form rippled and changed to resemble the Goddess Purity as she remembered her years ago.

"So when the Empress left her legacy to her two most trusted consorts, your Purity knew that we were at our weakest moment." Lust drew the imaginary bow that Purity always held with her. She aimed it at Restraint. "The Sins were obviously incapable of fighting back without their leader." Lust shifted back to her previous form. "They overtook the Empire, drove the Sins out of Desarith, and destroyed our home."

She let Restraint's arm go and walked forward, her feet striking the cobblestone as they had when she'd first graced these halls. "Take a good look." She turned to face him suddenly and threw her free hand back to gesture and the grand expanse of reckage behind her and fumed, "And tell me how virtuous this was!"

OOC: Restraint, if you would very much object to Lust's treatment of your character, let me know and I will edit it. It was just easier if I could write it all out.

[Kal Skirata]

OOC: Umm that actually was great. Rather have your reaction be authentic than forced.

Restraint did not react when Lust grabbed his arm, and began to speak. What she spoke of made sense to Restraint. She confirmed what he had begun to suspect. The Virtues had treated the Sins as evil savages. That knowledge made Restraints choice much clearer. He turned to Nohar "What do you think my friend?". She speaks the truth. I would have told you but it was best for you to discover this yourself.

Restraint stood and turned back to Lust but looked back at Nohar and said "I agree. It was probably for the best". Restraint looked back to Lust "It would appear that I was duped as I was beginning to suspect. You seem to speak the truth, if with a bit of an emotional bias. You did say that the Sins had been chased out not destroyed. Where are they now?".

[Ariadne]

Lust hesitated to answer the Virtue's question. She looked down at her feet, remembering.

The night had been cooler than most. Despite it being almost Spring there was a distinct chill in the air. Lust stepped in from the cold, hearing Gea sharpening her weapon busily in the background. She could scarcely believe that girl was still at it. Gea always did have an obsessive streak in her, though.

The shirking sound stopped and she saw a small animal rush to the room where it had been coming from. "She must finally be going to sleep," she thought absently, "if Eliade is joining her." Lust sauntered over to her room, in no hurry. Tonight had proved to be uneventful so she'd returned home early. Jakara followed behind her, also taking his time.

Her room was lit by nothing but the moon, shining silver through the window. It was full and unnaturally bright, probably why the night had been so boring for her. The humans were supersticious about nights such as these, when the veil between the dream realm and the waking realm was thinnest. Tonight was a night for magic.

Lust shrugged off her fall jacket, exposing her shoulders and long neck to the empty void. She draped it over the back of her bed and looked outside again as something caught her eye. She could have sworn she saw something move out there. Jakara entered.

Deception has returned, he said nonchalantly. Lust looked over at her door, opened just enough to allow her cat passage. Perhaps he could provide her with some...amusement. She moved to her mirror to check her appearance out of habit, and heard Gea's door open and close. The sound of feet kuh-slapping on the stone floor rang through the halls and Lust went to the door to see Gea heading down the hall.

Lust returned to her image in the glass when she heard another pair of footsteps, these ones heavy and faster moving outside her room. Something was amiss tonight. Lust left her stance before the mirror and ventured out into the hall just as the figure turned the corner at the other end.

Slipping out of the room, she made her way down the hall as silently as possible. As she approached the other end she heard voices talking. It was too faint for her to hear them fully, but someone was talking. She followed the source of the sound until she was standing outside of the Empress's door. She stopped herself, not daring to enter into the Empress's most private space.

She was only there a moment before she heard what was going on. Taint was leaving, and passing her powers on to Vengeance and Deception. Lust covered her mouth as she gasped. Tears streaked down her cheeks as despair filled her heart. She'd trusted all of them, she'd thought they trusted her too. Why had they kept this a secret? Why didn't Taint ask her help? And why hadn't Gea, of all people, told her what was going on? She fled the hall as quickly as she could, and when she was out of earshot she turned to her summon. "Help me ready my things, Jakara, we are leaving this place."

It had been years since Lust had felt the sting she'd felt in that hall. The sting of her friends betraying her, deceiving her, hiding the truth. She looked up to meet Restraint's eyes, so full of curiosity and uncertainty. He truley didn't know. Purity had kept him ignorant. She wrapped her arms around her, and Jakara leaned on her leg sympathetically as she whispered, "I-I don't know."

[Seya.]

ooc: Had to do a small modification, Ariadne... there's not supposed to be machines, so we're going to pass it off as Gea using a whetstone of sorts, I guess? xD

Elarkashaye stepped forwards on impulse, laying a gentle hand on Lust's arm. Her eyes were devoid now of the anger they held moments ago, and now she could witness the pain that the other redhead had been hiding behind her rage. I know what you mean, she thought wordlessly. Deep in her sub-conscious, her mind could only touch the small area where Taint retreated in these last few years, to be by herself. There had been nothing else.

I know... she thought again, but this time to a different melody. I know where they are, but I'm bound from saying....

[Kal Skirata]

That is a bit of a block Restraint thought. Indeed it is. Do not fret I would not be surprised if the other one knows where the Sins are. I can feel a aura of greatness around here, or at least one that existed in the past. I would suggest speaking to her, ask who she is and perhaps if she knows.

"Hmm, this is... disappointing," Restraint finally responded in a thoughtful tone. He then turned to Lark and asked "What is your importance if I may ask? Lust seemed to know you or something going on what I overheard of your discussion before you spotted me."

OOC: Sorry for the shorter post, I've got a lot of stuff going on right now and I'm finding a little hard to RP properly.

[Ariadne]

Lust was looked curiously at Lark, she too had wondered the same question before this Virtue had blundered along. She felt something from this woman, something hauntingly familiar. And then there was her appearance, her uncanny resemblance to the former Empress if you looked at her in just the right way. Her speech also intrigued the Sin, the way it seemed to slip back and forth between a noble and common dialect. It all seemed to point to something that was just out of her scope of understanding, nagging at her like an itch that one couldn't reach. Her eyes traced the figure of the young woman before her, contemplating how she might be able to loosen her tongue and garner more information.

[Zee ♥]

Honesty couldn't bear it any longer. Fey hadn't returned, even though it had been a while since he left. They're getting less reliable nowadays... He thought absently, inching away from the crumbling wall. There was a mild throbbing in his head as he slowly processed the words that Lust had said. There wasn't a shred of dishonesty in it, that was for sure.

But why did it not make sense to him?

As quietly as he could, he broke into a slow jog, then ran, almost tripping over a small pile of rubble in his haste to get away. Fey chose to appear right then, running by his side. "Where have you been," Honesty hissed through clenched teeth, sprinting away from the site before any of them caught him. Fey looked up curiously. Sleeping. He answered shortly, causing Honesty to screech to a halt. "Seriously?" Honesty asked, exasperated.

"Nevermind, just, take me back to House Eternity. I need to talk to Purity." He added hastily, grabbing a fistful of fur. Fey shrugged as much as a dog could shrug, and the both of them disappeared.

Ooc: Poofeth. Honesty has left the thread! Uhuh-huh. /elvis

[Seya.]

The human girl ground the ball of her foot into the ashy dirt, feeling both sets of eyes on her. That question was rather intrusive, and she still didn't know to which extent she could speak without her throat preventing her words from passing. She wanted to tell Lust, but for now... she wasn't sure about this virtue... ex-virtue?

She opened her mouth to speak, but at the same moment, felt a shadow loom over her from behind. A musky, furry smell filled her nose. Wolves, she thought. Purity had told her not to go into these woods.

No... The second voice in her head cut in, startling the girl into jumping slightly. You have accepted me back, Elarkashaye. I've got no power other than to give you a guardian. Larketh.... it's nice to see you again. Taint's voice sounded weary, but proud, inside her mind.

There was a loud and low 'wuff' from behind the redhead, that sounded somewhat like laughter. Lark gasped, and spun, coming face-to-face with a monstrous wolf, his pelt a mix of grays and shades. Startling green eyes, the sharp color of new grass. At least six foot at the shoulder, eight overall. Fear and awe mingled clashingly in Lark's mind.

You look different, Empress, the great wolf murmured, his voice a powerful thunder although subdued. The backwards flip of his ears stressed unease, confusion, and his muzzle twitched as he breathed in a somewhat unfamiliar scent. He turned his heavy gaze to settle curiously on Restraint. And your company has certainly changed.... why is this so?

As Lark stood there, wordlessly, her inner-mind replied to this massive, extraordinary beast. It'll be a while yet until I'm as you know me. I'm still in pieces, and I need this one to be guarded now that Purity has deviated from her caring nature. Lark's body twitched once or twice, and then took a step towards the beast, causing the true owner to panic a bit. "Wha's goin' on?!" she cried aloud, her own legs resisting her saying no. She wanted to give into Taint.... but, was it necessary so suddenly?

At that, her body froze, and she could feel Taint's spirit withdrawing slightly in apology. Lark remained with her palm against the soft fur of Larketh's muzzle, staring into his eerie eyes.

As you wish, Empress, he agreed.

In the far corners of her mind, Lark wondered whether the two pairs of eyes were still on her.

ooc; So, they'd be able to hear what she said aloud, and what Larketh said. Not Taint's words.