H(a)unted

Started by Akkas, March 03, 2019, 06:59:25 AM

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Akkas

Despite all the effort she put into it, Rilika was no step closer to fixing her knee. She still needed a cane to walk because her left knee was too weak to carry her weight. Since the people she knew did not have the kind of magic that could solve this, Rilika traveled around and paid attention to everything that was out of the ordinary. At some point she reached a small town and she decided to stay there for a while, as she heard an interesting rumor. In the forest should be a house that was haunted by a ghost.
Rilika decided to go check it out. She wore a dark grey jacket, black pants and brown boots. She had a lot of golden rings around her fingers, all of which used to belong to the angels she hunted. Her white shoulder-length hair was cut asymmetrically and her cane matched the color. It was made from her magic and could not touch anything with a dark energy; it would pass through harmlessly. She herself was a demon and thus had a dark energy - but since it was her magic, she could touch it.
She was walking to where the villagers said the house was and wondered who or what lived there.

Nyx NightBird

Onyxia had just finished her morning training in the forest surrounding her house. Keeping up the daily training routine was one of her old habits. One of those that were hard to get rid of.
She easily made her way through the undergrowth towards her home, leaving no tracks. It seemed like a small, wooden, somewhat decayed hut on the outside, but it had enough space for her on the inside. There was a functional kitchen, a cozy, little living room, a small but suitable bedroom as well as a nice bathroom. Not to speak of her secret vault beneath the hut.
As the hut came into sight a slight smile curled her soft lips. People in thetown nearby thought this place was haunted. What no one knew, Onyxiya herself had been the one to start that rumor. She didn't want anybody to come near her hut. She didn't have a problem blending into a crowd, but she preferred to live in a secluded space.
She entered the hut and took off her black leather jacket putting it on a coathook. Actually, all of her clothes were black. A simple, sleeveless top with a standing collar, functional pants with a leatherbelt and soft leather boots that gave her a good foothold and in which she could move around without making a sound.
Her long, caramel-hued hair was pulled back into a high ponytail.
After stretching her muscles one last time she went into the kitchen and started making scrambled eggs with bacon for breakfast.

Akkas

A small wooden hut came within Rilika's sight and she knew that must be the house she was looking for. With how this place looked, she was uncertain that anyone really lived here. Although a ghost wouldn't bother with maintenance.
She kept up her pace, as she found the cane already slowed her down enough. She neared the front door and started to wonder: should she knock? If no one lived here, that would be pointless. If a ghost lived here, it would be equally pointless as they wouldn't be able to open the door. But if the villagers overreacted at something unexplainable, the resident could very well be alive and living here. And they probably wouldn't like a stranger barging into their home. Rilika decided to go for the safer option and knocked loudly on the door.

Nyx NightBird

Onyxia had just sat down at the small wooden table in the kitchen to have her breakfast when she heard a loud knocking on her door. For a split second she froze.
A number of thoughts rushed through her mind.
Why would anyone knock on her door?! Who were they and what did they want here in this place? And why the heck would they knock at all in the first place?!
Better be careful and check out who they were...

The hidden knife she always carried around, another one of those old habits, found its way into her hand almost by itself as she got up in a smooth movement not making a sound.
The kitchen was in the back of the hut, so she noiselessly opened the window and climbed out of it.
Sneaking around the hut towards the front door, she kept her guard up. She peeked around the corner to take a look at the person standing in front of her hut. The woman with the cane didn't seem familiar to her and as she didn't seem to pose an immediate threat, Onyxia decided to talk to her.
Still not letting her guard down, she stepped around the corner and asked loudly "Who are you and why are you here?"

Akkas

Rilika took a step back as she heard a voice from an unexpected direction. She was immediately aware that this woman was skilled with how quietly she approached and the way she stood there. Rilika noticed the knife and shifted her weight to her good leg. Then she'd be able to react quicker, in case necessary.
"Thank you for your warm welcome," she said sarcastically, though she couldn't blame her. She was a strange visitor.
"I'm Rilika," she said. She eyed Onyxiya and added: "...and you're clearly not a ghost. Do you live here?" She asked that with sincere interest and curiosity.

Nyx NightBird

"...Yes... I live here..." Onyxiya answered reluctantly, not easing up yet.

That woman... Something seemed off about her...
She was no ordinary human, so much her keen senses told her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Was she a hunter for rare creatures like her? There was quite a black market out there for such rarities, a bunch of rich people liked having their own little zoo of fabulous creatures. But the woman with the cane hadn't attacked her yet. And how could she have tracked her down anyways? It didn't make sense... Onyxiya had to get ore information about her.
She eyed Rilika up and down, not letting herself be fooled by the sight of the cane. One never knew what other powers a person might hold, be it magic or just modern or not so modern arms.

"I'm not going to ask you another time. Why are you here? What do you want?" Onyxiya asked with a somewhat harsh undertone in her voice.

Akkas

Rilika raised her free hand slightly in defense. "I'm not here to fight," she clarified. She thought about making a reference to her knee, that someone like her was not a match, but Rilika didn't think that this woman would believe that.
Her thoughts drifted to her rings, which contained good energy. So far those were the only things that could improve her mobility, though their effect was very temporary. She actually believed she didn't need to use them now. Even though she took Onyxiya serious, she believed she wouldn't start a fight.
Because Rilika considered herself cooperative by telling half the truth. She started by telling the innocent part of her reasons to come here: "When I heard there was a ghost here, I had to see for myself. I already thought that the villagers were exaggerating and it seems I was right."

Nyx NightBird

Onyxiya decided to grant Rilika a small amount of trust and the knife swiftly went back into its hidden sheath. Her muscles however were still tense. It would take quite a while for her to trust Rilika enough to ease up even a little around her.
Over her long life she had learned not to really trust anyone but herself. Even now she still thought that the woman was keeping something from her.

Nonetheless she showed Rilika her now empty hands to show that she wasn't going to start a fight either. Onyxiya decided to try a more debonair aproach. Saunting over towards the hut's door she offered: "How about you tell me why you're really here over a nice cup of coffee or tea?"

Akkas

Rilika had a lot of faith in her charms. She had made many people believe she was a decent person, though she knew well that she was not. She always remained nice to the people she befriended, though she only befriended those she could use for her own agenda. She believed she'd win Onyxiya's trust too, as this was a good start.
"Sure, I'd like that," she said, ensuring there was a hint of gratitude in her voice. She successfully has been trying to get people to like her for so long, that those little clues of friendliness have become a natural part of her personality.

Nyx NightBird

Opening the door, Onyxia led Rilika into the hut.
In utter contradistinction to the decayed outer appearance of the hut, the interior was well-maintained, neat and tidy. And even though the furnishing seemed quite frugal devoid of any extravagance, one couldn't argue that there was a certain coziness to it. The style was fairly rustic not to say primitive in the sense of simplicity. All furniture was made of wood.

Upon entering the hut, they stood in the living room straight away. Onyxiya gestured towards the only chair in the room, an armchair covered with a soft fur, right next to the small fireplace. "Have a seat", she said in a kind, but decisive voice.
She walked into the kitchen, which was connected to the living room by an open way, took a pot out of a cupboard, filled it with water from a barrel in one of the room's corners. She then put it on the gas oven to heat it.
"Coffee or herbal tea?", she asked Rilika as she took two wooden cups out of another cupboard and put them on the kitchen table where her breakfast was still sitting yet to be eaten.

Akkas

Rilika followed her inside and was positively surprised by the interior. This actually felt like a home, as opposed to the outside.
Rilika went over to the chair Onyxiya gestured at. She placed her cane against the side of it, needing to lean on her good leg while doing so. She grabbed the armrests to ease her way down. As she sat down, she crossed her legs and felt comfortable.
"Coffee, please," she replied as she took a good look around. This place was well taken care of, which was such a difference from the outside that Rilika started to think about that. If she put this kind of effort on the inside, she could've made the outside look better too. Clearly Onyxiya also has manners and knows how to deal with people, so Rilika figured that it was no accident that the villagers had a wrong impression of her. It must've been on purpose.
"Why do you let people believe this place is haunted?" she asked curiosly.

Nyx NightBird

From yet another cupboard Onyxiya pulled out a small container of instant coffee. Using teaspoons she put some of it in each cup.
As the water was boiling now she took the pot from the oven, turning it off, and poured some hot water onto the instant coffee in the cups.

"I like to live by myself without anyone disturbing me", she answered Rilika's question with a glance towards her. "I'm just tired of people..."
This wasn't the whole truth but would work just fine as an answer.

She walked over and placed the steaming cups on the small table in front of the armchair, then returned to the kitchen to get a small sugarbowl and a carton of milk.
After placing those next to the cups filled with coffee, she went back into the kitchen and got the chair from the table. She placed the chair in the living room, sat down, put some sugar and milk into her coffee, then took a sip.

Looking at Rilika again she queried Rilika "So, why are you really here?"

Akkas

Rilika noticed the glance and tried her best not to smile. That remark could be taken personally, as she was a disturbing someone. Though she did not feel insulted, as she knew it was about people in general. She just happened to be one of those people.
Rilika added some milk to her coffee, picked up the cup and took a small sip, careful for the heath. In the meantime she could think a moment about her answer. She was as of yet uncertain whether Onyxiya knew anything about magic and she did not want to have to explain that to a human. So she, too, did not give the whole truth as she told:
"What I said was true, I really came to meet you because you sounded interesting. Why I came to the town in the first place, had nothing to do with the town itself. I was just on my way through. As you've seen, I'm having some difficulty walking and I'd really like to have that fixed. Whenever I hear about anything new that might help, I go there to try it out."

Nyx NightBird

Carefully listening Onyxiya watched Rilika as she was talking. By now she figured that Rilika couldn't be a human. But she couldn't tell yet what she was.
As Rilika had finished her explanation, Onyxiya couldn't help but chuckle. It was a melodic chuckle plesant on the ears.
"And you thought a ghost could help you with your knee?"
Her face turned serious again as she further queried "So what exactly are you that a ghost might help you with your issue?"

Akkas

Rilika didn't really want to specify what she was right away. Whichever title she picked, either demon or angel hunter, it didn't sound friendly.
"I'm like the black sheep of my kind," Rilika said. This was true in two ways. Angel hunters were a subspecies of demons and none of the others were anything like them. And Rilika was unlike any of the other hunters, as she was mostly busy with anything else.
"The unusual nature of my injury is why I consider a ghost might help me. There's physically nothing wrong with me. Some disgus-" She cut herself off as she felt her anger rise. She still hated him for what he'd done to her. "Some man put a load of dark energy in my knee and no one seems to know how to remove it."
Even a great healer couldn't do anything. In fact, he couldn't even tell there was something wrong with her. If the problem wasn't so clear, he'd have said she was in perfect health.
"Do you only know about the supernatural world, or are you also a part of it?" she asked.

Nyx NightBird

Onyxiya carefully listened while taking another sip of coffee.
Noticing how Rilika prudently avoided the topic of her species, as small, almost unnoticeable smile appeared on her lips. She probably would have done the same thing in Rilika's place.
When Rilika mentioned the dark energy in her knee Onyxiya focused her senses on said knee. She wasn't endowed with as much magic abilities like some other species, neither was she incapable. She could faintly sense the dark energy pulsing as she concentrated.
It seemed Rilika was finally telling the true reason for being here.

Opening her eyes again she answered her question. "I'm also part of it." She wasn't going to give away her species either as she was a particular rarity even in the supernatural world if not a singularity.
She was half elve and half vampire and at birth that was.
A lot of people had hunted her for exactly that rarity before which was one of the reasons why she was so cautious and lived so secluded.
Placing her cup down she continued. "And now I suppose you expect me to tell you if I can help you or not, right?"

Akkas

Rilika was satisfied to hear that Onyxiya was a part of it too. Since she didn't feel like any of the species that Rilika was related to, nor had she shown any sign of recognition at the golden rings, Rilika believed that Onyxiya was something very different, and that excited her. Anything new could provide so many new options and opportunities - because Rilika was creative and has reached the impossible before. She only needed to right ingredients.
"Expect?" she repeated in a tone of played surprise. "I was just telling you my story, which you asked for. But yes please, since you're offering, I would like to know that."
Rilika took a sip from her coffee, looking as innocent as she could. It of course was an act, and she knew Onyxiya would see through it. She already had by asking that. At some point Rilika would give in and be more open, but she doubted either of them was ready for that yet.

Nyx NightBird

A knowing smile curled Onyxiya's rosy lips. She gently and with naturally coming grace placed her cup down on the table.
Then she looked directly into Rilika's eyes. Despite the smile she now had a somewhat stern air. Her slanted, almond-shaped eyes were quite an unusual colour. They were a beautiful purple with a dark reddish hue sprinkled with small dots of gold making it seem like there was an entire universe inside them.
She tilted her head very slightly and charmingly crossed her legs.

"I'd appreciate it if we could just end this charade. I understand that you don't want to tell me everything about you right away and I respect that. But let's at least be honest in the things we actually tell each other and drop this act."
She paused for a moment, looking deep into Rilika's eyes.
"You are here because you want to know if I might be able to help you with your knee problem and for nothing else. Correct?"

Akkas

Rilika looked back at Onyxiya and thought. This was not the typical kind of first meeting she usually had and she reconsider how much she'd tell. Maybe it was time for a more direct and more honest approach.
"Alright," she admitted. "You're quite right, that is the main reason. But not entirely. There's more. I'm fairly certain that your answer is no, that you cannot fix it. Experience taught me that much. But here I am, still looking for the impossible, because I know how to achieve that. All I need are the proper ingredients, which I do not yet have. So I need more than a simple yes or no." She needed to know exactly what Onyxiya could and could not do, so she might combine her useful abilities with those of others.

Nyx NightBird

Onyxiya tilted her head, thinking about what Rilika had just told her for a moment.
"I can't even give you a simple yes or no." She then stated.
"I'm not as adept in the art of magic as some other species in the supernatural world. And I don't exactly have healing powers-"
She infact could heal herself, at least to a certain degree, but healing others was something completely different.
"-but I'm not even sure if healing powers are what is needed in your situation..." She looked at Rilika's knee, pausing for a moment.

Then she looked into her eyes again.
"I might be willing to help you, at least see what i can do about your problem. But I will have to know the story behind this. How all this happened."
She gestured towards the knee.
"And what was that about achieving the impossible with the proper ingredients? What exactly do you mean by that?"

Akkas

Rilika was actually surprised by how helpful Onyxiya was. She hadn't expected to receive an explicit 'maybe' from her so quickly. She uncrossed her legs and held the cup in both hands.
She started by answering the last question and explained what she meant.
"What I mean is that there is a lot of magic available by thinking outside the box. By combining certain pieces and powers of different species, a whole world of possibilities opens. For example, I once gave someone the power to move through anything. Just as I made something that could duplicate any object instantly." Those were just two of the many things she'd made. Most projects failed or got wrecked, but the ones that succeeded, were usually impressive.
After a sip from her drink, she continued with the story of how her knee got damaged.
"About a year ago, a prison guard died and some prisoners managed to escape. One of them we call the Fairy Tale Hunter, because the views that he has on our society are far from realistic; he hunts a fantasy. I volunteered to help retrieve the prisoners and bring them back to their cells. The Fairy Tale Hunter decided that I shouldn't have done that. He wanted to stop me and this is how he did that. He slowed me down so I could no longer be of use. I can't say precisely why he felt the need to do this, as all of us agree that he is crazy. That's why we put him in prison in the first place. He kept pushing us to believe in his views and once he finally understood that we disagree with him, he gathered a team of outsiders and started to attack us."

Nyx NightBird

A pensive expression on her face, Onyxiya grasped her cup and took another sip.
Turning the cup in her hands she then asked "Who is the 'we' that you're referring to? I take it, that the prison you mentioned is one for supernatural creatures. Is it run by your species? Is that Fairy Tale Hunter, as you call him, one of your kind?"
Looking up from the cup in her hands she continued "I know these are a lot of questions and you might not be willing to answer all of them just yet. But if you want my help, I need all the information on that matter that I can get. In my life I was able to gather a fair amount of knowledge and it could be possible that among that is something that might be able to help you. Though we might have, as you already said, to think outside the box. And I can only do that if I have all the details, even those that seem to be irrelevant."
Onxiya leaned forward, her arms resting on her thighs, the wooden cup still in her hands.

Akkas

Rilika nodded thoughtful. What Onyxiya asked, was very fair. And what she said sounded very promising and hopeful.
She considered what to tell and wanted to be honest. But she didn't trust Onyxiya that much yet; if she were a being of good, she might hate to be talking to a killer of good.
"Let me start by saying thank you for you open attitude so far," she said. "I am inclined to tell you more, but I don't want there to be any misunderstandings. The world I know is divided in good, evil and neutral. Do you have any prejudice or strong dislike to any of them? Because if you do and that type happens to be mine, don't judge me too quickly. As I've said before, I'm not like the rest of my kind." She might tell her story from a different angle depending on Onyxiya's answer.
"Either way, yes the Fairy Tale Hunter is one of my kind. We're called the hunters in short. That's how he got his nickname. We just replaced what we hunt by 'fairy tale'. Whenever I said 'us', I mean the hunters. We are connected to a bigger species, and they run the prison. Most of the escapees were a part of their kind."

Nyx NightBird

The corner of Onyxiya's lips raised slightly, giving a small smile to Rilika.
"As I've come to know the world, there isn't simply black and white. There's only a lot of different shades of grey. One can't just simply say 'This person is good, that person is evil.' And there isn't exactly a 'neutral' in-between."
She leaned back, the wooden cup still in her hand.
"One can't categorize people, be they supernatural or not. People are made of layers and they all carry different aspects of the person. But in their exaggerated opinion of themselves they think they can judge other people based on the tiny fragment of  aspectsand layers they know about the other person."
She paused for a moment. She wouldn't give away what she was yet, but for the sake of honesty she was willing to share a little something.
"Take me for an instance. Depending on the aspect I'd give people about what I am, they would categorize me either as a being of good or a being of evil and judge me on that without knowing the whole truth. That's just how the world is..."

Akkas

Rilika was very pleased with that answer. She wouldn't have to worry about saying the wrong thing and could say the truth as it was. She did believe there were lines between good and evil and neutral, but it was beneficial to agree.
She certainly decided to remember the detail Onyxiya gave about her being. She found it made her more eligible to help her.
Her golden rings were glowing with a faint yellow light to show they weren't regular rings.
"I'm an angel hunter," she said, and she dimmed the light. "We are but a small piece of the demon race. Even though we are related to the demons, our powers are unlike them. They are evil -" With what Onyxiya said, Rilika grinned and corrected herself, "- considered evil and good is their opposite and weakness. Hunters like me harness the good and feel strengthened by it. And dark energies are our weakness." She crossed her legs, gently placing a hand on her weak knee. "That's why this was effective. Any regular demon would've felt it like a rush of adrenaline and walked it off. But with me... It settled deep and remains a constant bother."