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Post by Doctor on Aug 16, 2010 22:22:35 GMT -8
It turned out they did all recognize him despite the clothes, and Anshel was quick to explain himself and the urgency of his business to security, though all they could muster were expressions of apprehension. It wasn't like he was in armor, waving around a fiery sword and cursing down their home, for goodness' sake. He was even wearing yellow! Who in their right mind would embark on a spree of intimidation and murder wearing such a cheerful color?
Their jabber was mercifully halted by their King's entrance, thank Satan. Anshel wasn't surprised by Azura's rudeness; they weren't exactly on good terms and the young vampire had yet to develop the emotional fortitude to stay professional in all situations. But he's getting there, Anshel noted. It wasn't like he'd been barreled over and had his head smashed into the ground this time, which was a pleasant change in pattern.
"I believe there's a young lady in your company in need of an exorcism?" He responded cheekily. Okay, so maybe wasn't exactly the embodiment of professionalism himself, but he couldn't be blamed for having an attitude. He scanned the hallway behind Azura for Melora's presence, but only found a disapproving Christopher looking back at him. Anshel shifted a bit in discomfort.
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Post by MeloraBelikov on Aug 16, 2010 22:29:37 GMT -8
She placed a hand against the wood of the banister, looking over it and inspecting the scene. Anshel had shown up, which was not unlike him, but he showed up humbly, not making a scene in the way he came in, which was a sure change. He was uncomfortable for sure and had every reason to be. Well, time for her to bite the bullet. Anshel wouldn't know that Azura had turned her until he saw her, unless Azura was willing to openly admit it right off the bat. From the staircase she watched the exchange, hanging back behind everyone, a safe distance away. Anshel wouldn't be likely to notice anything until she was up close, and the auras of the stronger vampires around her would mask her own. Had she become such a coward, unwilling to admit that, mistake or not, she had asked for this? No, she was more scared of disappointing the only family figure she'd honestly ever had, even though he had spent the night before disappointing her.
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Post by AzuraGallu on Aug 16, 2010 22:33:54 GMT -8
Yellow. What a nice, cheerful and positively heinous color, but he somehow'd managed to pull it off. As per usual, Anshel was the veritable master of off-beat fashion and Azura at least had to stop and take a look. Of course, open admiration wasn't his aim, but it seemed to happen anyway, much to his dismay.
Turning his gaze away, he looked back toward the staircase. "Melora, Anshel's here to help you out."
He'd wanted to apologize, but out here, with so many, it wasn't the best idea nor was it the right circumstance.
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Post by Christopher Saunders on Aug 16, 2010 22:39:16 GMT -8
"Exorcism." He mused. "That puts some pieces in the puzzle." His eyes went to Anshel, watching him shift. "You look well." Christopher commented off hand to Anshel, voice quiet, finishing up with his beverage. It was clear in his words he meant something along the lines of 'calmer' or 'different' rather than well. Different then the cold demon that had confronted him previously.
Her turned half away, eyes travelling to the stair well. Where was she?
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Post by Doctor on Aug 16, 2010 22:44:54 GMT -8
"Thank you. I do try," he replied, trying for nonchalance, but it came out awkwardly.
Anshel followed Azura's eyes to find Melora at the top of the stairs. The minx was hiding and observing him from afar. He suddenly felt like a father, trying to coax down a child guilty of breaking a vase or something.
"You can come down now, young lady," he called to her. It was meant to be condescending, but somehow ended up sincerely paternal. Ugh. The sooner this was done with the better.
"I won't bite," he called out again impatiently. "You look pale enough from here as it is, it's not like I'm going to whip you and risk you dying after I purge you of your demon."
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Post by MeloraBelikov on Aug 16, 2010 22:54:34 GMT -8
Melora descended the staircase slowly, step after step, pausing with each. What good was delaying going to do? Absolutely none what so ever. But she would do it anyway, dammit. "Hello, Anshel." She greeted him from the stairs, voice cracking, a little bit off, like a middle schooler trying to act in a play. The way she had said it was entirely wrong and she wished she could correct herself. Too late. Finally her foot met the bottom of the stairs, and she stayed there, not willing to come any closer. With any luck, he'd simply think she was just still mad at him.
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Post by Doctor on Aug 16, 2010 23:01:03 GMT -8
"What's wrong with you?" he inquired, confused by whatever the Hell was very obviously off with the girl. Anshel had never known her to be this shy and reserved, at least not around him. She should have stomped down those stairs in her ugly shoes, angry as the fucking sun, or pointing her gun in his face.
"Come here," he demanded worriedly, holding out his hand to her. "Now."
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Post by MeloraBelikov on Aug 16, 2010 23:19:19 GMT -8
Melora reluctantly walked up to the group, pulling close to Azura. She put a hand on his arm and hid, almost using him as a shield from what was about to happen. Sorry, she thought to him as she gripped his arm. Anshel held out a hand to her, but she couldn't bear to take it, guilt washing over her like a child who had broken something valuable.
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Post by AzuraGallu on Aug 16, 2010 23:23:19 GMT -8
Azura sighed and nearly rolled his eyes at her but for the fact that she was entirely new to vampirism and didn't necessarily want to be one in the first place.
"Anshel, Melora is a vampire. That's why she looks so different, and that's why she's so embarrassed for you to see her."
He didn't move, offering her the cover she sought from the Demon's eyes and ready to brace himself for any kind of reaction he might have to this new bit of information.
"And before you ask any questions related, I did it. Christopher was a witness to make sure I didn't accidentally kill her."
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Post by Doctor on Aug 16, 2010 23:48:55 GMT -8
What the Hell was her problem? Had he scared Melora that much the night previous that she wouldn't even take his hand? Anshel scoffed at the idea he had somehow been too much for her to handle considering what she'd seen in her short lifetime.
Right on the edge of being very fucking peeved, the judge was about to haul her out from behind Azura when the vampire decided to say something completely lunatic.
It was a delayed reaction. Anshel's first thought was to berate the King for the completely distasteful and unwelcome joke, but the honesty in those words was... horrifying. That... that couldn't be true. Melora was alive. She was very pale, but she was alive, not turned into some... some... psychotic abomination! It didn't make sense, it didn't...
It felt like a freight train had crashed into his everything, heart dropping so low he thought he might shit it out. Anshel couldn't think, couldn't control his face from twisting into grotesque revulsion. His vision was bathed in red, his blood pounded in his ears.
Fueled by an indescribable rage, the demon launched himself at Azura, pushing him back and striking anything of the vampire's he could reach without any reservation.
"You monster!" He screamed out, voice cracking under the horror this man had inflicted on his kin. "How could you?! Why?!" Anshel could feel heat and wetness on his face, on his fists, lashing and pounding with abandon. "I fucking trusted you you son of a bitch!"
The bastard had violated his charge. Had stolen something precious and sacred. The tears running down Anshel's cheeks began to cool, but he refused to wipe them away, hands busy attempting to strangle the king.
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Post by Christopher Saunders on Aug 17, 2010 0:00:58 GMT -8
Christopher's eyes widened, before some tiny amount of laughter bubbled up from his throat. Strangulation...? Really? Vampires did have to breathe, but they could also hold their breath for minutes at a time as long as they weren't trying to be to active. He managed to stifle the laughter before anybody would've noticed, too focused on the fight at hand.
Then the fists began to fly! Now that would hurt... And Anshel wasn't even waiting for fucking explanation!
His demeanor turned serious, and he leaned over to catch one of Anshel's wrists, cutting off the circulation to his hand. "Calm down! She chose it! He didn't... NOT IN THE WAY YOU THINK!"
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Post by MeloraBelikov on Aug 17, 2010 0:12:35 GMT -8
Melora plucked the bell out of her skirt pocket and rang it. Crimson sparks flew around the room, forcibly separating everyone. Her voice rang in their heads, demanding that they cease. With the men away from eachother, Melora stepped between the three of them before pocketing her bell. "Chris is right," She explained. "I decided on this and only asked Azura to help me." Melora turned to Anshel with a remorseful expression. "Vetis leaves. 66 days, poof, gone. And now my soul is bound to hell, just like yours. As a human, I was running scared. I would have ended up a vampire either way, through my father or through the process I've been though. In the past days leading up to my trip, I was not studying hunting techniques or psychic science like my mother, I was studying vampirism." She paused, waiting for any of them to interject, or to jump her. No response, she had all attention. "Becoming a vampire by this means was the obvious choice. This affords me an advantage, I am no longer scared of becoming a vampire. And also, I may now be strong enough to kill my father." Another pause before a sigh laced her lips. "I gave up my humanity in order to have a chance to keep my soul. It was a choice between the two, and I knew I couldn't have both."
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Post by AzuraGallu on Aug 17, 2010 0:21:05 GMT -8
Azura growled, noise made even more grotesque by the bubbly quality to it and the blood pouring forth from his mouth and nose. He even thought one of his ears was bleeding, but as he reached up a hand to check, he realized it wouldn't do any good. His hands were covered in blood.
The guards had swarmed the second the suspicious character leaped at their King, but were swiftly stilled by Melora's quick reaction time. The threat had been neutralized for now, and so their only concern was if their King would be able to straightened his nose before he began to heal.
One of them rushed over, holding out his shirt for the king to wipe the gore from his face. He did so, but only after letting out a long string of curse words before uttering one final 'FUCK!' as he handed the shirt back to the man, holding his nose in place while it healed. He would have to relocate his jaw too, once all else was dealt with.
He didn't utter a single word, as Melora seemed to have it under control, and he was wont to have his face punched in my the demon again. Yeah...he was swiftly becoming less and less a fan of the creature. Monster, perhaps, but not because he'd done what Melora'd asked of him.
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Post by Doctor on Aug 17, 2010 0:47:23 GMT -8
She finished talking and he had the feeling Melora thought her words would somehow make things better.
He closed the distance between them and promptly backhanded the girl's cold, dead cheek.
Anger at Azura had lessened but only slightly. The vampire had allowed this to happen. Had facilitated it. Whether it was out of stupidity, or boredom, or an eagerness to please, Anshel neither knew nor cared.
Melora on the other hand... it was all stupidity.
"Do you realize what you've done?" He snarled at her. "I shelter you, I nurse you back to health, I risk angering the divine to keep you alive! I follow your ass around the fucking world and you still have no faith in me?" Still, after all they'd been through together, he couldn't believe she would do such a thing. "I can take you being an ungrateful bitch, but I cannot accept that you would be this stupid!"
His yelling echoed off the walls, and it must have been intimidating enough that no one had yet to accost him.
"You insist on doing everything yourself. You can't trust your fucking clan enough to help you solve this? Is that why you couldn't see another way out?" Anshel asked, furious and earnest. "You want to be a fucking lone wolf? Fine. You've gotten you're wish, because I can't take you home like this! I can't - we can't take care of you now!" Anshel was not equipped to raise a baby vampire. He wasn't equipped to protect his people from a made one. He was familiar with them. Tortured. Psychotic. Dangerous. Psychoses, blood rage... What had she done?
"There is a reason there aren't many made vampires around!" He was desperate for her to understand. "What fucking good is your soul if you don't have your humanity? If you don't have your sanity? Do you not realize what you've become? What you will become?"
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Post by MeloraBelikov on Aug 17, 2010 22:02:13 GMT -8
Melora did something so outrageous, so insanely obnoxious that she couldn't believe herself. She slapped Anshel on the cheek, hard, leaving a bright red mark where her hand had hit. "You can't take care of me? Take care of? The Banglaire did no such thing." She ran her stinging hand through her hair. "You think I don't know? Do you even know? No, I suppose not. You're such a do-gooder, so much more naive than myself." Melora pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and dropped it at her feet. "That right there is proof, just so you know. Do you think I made this decision lightly? Vampires, blood sucking wild beasts, killed my parents. One of them, anyway. And do you know why? Because of the Banglaire." She paused, kicking the page towards him. "And only to add insult to injury, they knew about my father and covered it up. They didn't seem to take him seriously as a threat. Due to that oversight, he's now more powerful than anyone could have imagined." She stepped back from him, one, two, three steps. She shifted her weight, ready to make her escape from this confrontation. "You would have told me. I trust you out of any of them to tell me the truth? Did you know?" She drew in breath, winded from yelling at him. Did she even want to know his answer?
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