Tearful Return

[MeloraBelikov]

The first thing that struck her was the panic of being dunked under water and held there. Naturally, she struggled, still not used to the fact that she did not in fact need to breathe. Still, she was stuck under the water, unable to move, which only added to the panic. The next thing that hit her was a burning sensation. It started at the symbol on her chest and worked it's way over her body, as if she were in a hot bath. Then the most terrifying screeching noise she'd ever heard filled her head, causing her to jolt. Water splashed above her from her kicking her legs out. The noise only continued to get louder and louder, until her vision blurred entirely. She opened her mouth to scream and water rushed in taking the place of any possible noise she could make.

And then, in an instant, all the pain she'd ever felt in her entire life time rushed at her in full force in the form of a burning sensation. Melora struggled harder than she ever had to get away. No such luck. Between Anshel holding her down and the symbol on her chest. The pain burned like nothing she'd ever felt before. She shut her eyes tight and tried to deal with it, her finger nails dug into her palms, cutting into the skin of them. The blood rose into the water, spreading into the clear around her. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the pain left her and her muscles relaxed, leaving her limp in the water.

[AzuraGallu]

Azura was fine with a little bit of splashing, that he could just shred the sheets over. It was when she started to thrash around and scream he'd had enough.
Snarling he rose from the bed and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him, leaving the space a complete mess. Every breakable item save the lights on the nightstands and the oaken furniture was broken, shredded, or otherwise compromised. The comforter was pulled apart, stuffing all over the sheets, reduced to ribbons and the mattress done in as the comforter was.
He was pissed, scared and anxious all at once, a bundle of tight and explosive emotions ready to burst at the slightest trigger. It felt like he was in the tub with Melora, suffocating under his own weight.

[Doctor]

Anshel's hands were warm under the water, gripping Melora's scorching flesh to still her. Her violent jerks had splashed water along the walls and ceiling and spilled over the edges. But he knelt there, body still and controlled, and it was over. To anyone just dropping in, things would appear seemingly uneventful. His hand moved from Melora's shoulder to cup the back of her neck and in an instant she was wrenched from the bath, back into open air. He noted how much like drowned dog she looked, wet hair spilling haphazardly over her face in knotted black strips. Anshel pushed her backwards to lean against the end of the tub so that her neck was cradled against the lip.

He frowned. Sixty-six days had passed. Now the debt was very real.

Unwilling to entrench himself further into this mess emotionally or professionally, the judge made to leave, pushing himself up off the floor and reaching for a dry towel. His pants and shirt were wet in patches, but he didn't care to let them dry and quickly pulled his jacket back on, the yellow now much more appropriate in the absence of Melora's demonic-possessor, but then out of place again as Anshel unconsciously fell back into the annoying habit of analyzing the trouble ahead. That it was no longer his trouble was only mildly consoling.

Promise me you won't do anything stupid, Anshel wanted to say to the girl, but he knew it would be a waste. Swear you'll take care of yourself and use my advice, seemed more appropriate, but he feared asking anything of her would only compel her to do exactly the opposite, as she was wont to do.

"Good luck," is what he settled on, before unlocking the washroom door.

[MeloraBelikov]

Melora rose from the bath and picked up a towel, completely disoriented. She dried herself off, entirely in a daze. A few times she opened her mouth to speak to Anshel, but no sound came to her. It wasn't until the fourth time that she opened her mouth that she found words. "You too, Anshel. I'll be seeing you, I'm sure. Thank you." Finally, she left, walking into the room she had occupied.

Everything had been torn to shreds, strewn over the room. Melora tip-toed around broken things on the floor and finally made her way to the bed, frowning. She could go find Azura, but her body was telling her to just fall asleep as soon as possible. Instead, she walked back through the washroom and into the room Azura had been sleeping in the day before. He would find her there, curled up on the bed, still unclothed, sleeping. She was tiny in the middle of the bed, blankets flowing around her. She hadn't even bothered to pull a sheet over herself, she simply fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed. Exorcisms could be very tiring.

[Christopher Saunders]

Quite the scene was playing out just up the hall from Azura. Perenelle was standing, shoulders slumped, tears carving more rivulets down her cheeks. She mover her eerily pale hands over her mouth in a spastic motion, eye shut tightly.

Christopher had staggered away, eyes fixed blankly on the ornate carpet beneath his feet. He ran a hand through his hair, still unmoving. How had she just disappeared? Played him so easily… He’d thought… Given a couple more years and she may have become the Moroi Queen. But now…

The Lord seemed fractured, a part of him separated. Perenelle tried to take a shaky step closer, but he waved a hand. Serena, his second in command, his lover. She knew so much… And now she was gone, willingly he was sure, taking what she knew with her.

[AzuraGallu]

Azura was pulled from his sulking by the sound of a girl crying, head darting up to see what was the matter, finding only Christopher nearby. He paused, seeming to debate whether to interfere or not, and was stricken by the will of authority to get to the bottom of this little scene. He came upon them quietly, golden eyes seeming a bit eerie in the dark lighting below.
"Christopher, is something wrong?"
He looked past the king, eyes resting on the girl, or rather, woman. "You look tired. Why don't you stay for the night, and we can discuss this matter in a more private setting?" he looked to Chris to make sure he was following the topic of conversation, knowing that empty look he had in his eyes.

[Christopher Saunders]

“She left.” His voice was surprisingly bitter, as though he’d just drank lemon juice when he’d been expecting blood, and harbored a rough, defeated edge to the words. “Serena left in the middle of a crisis.” His shoulders slumped slightly when he exhaled.

Perenelle looked to her person of authority when Azura offered. Christopher made the faintest of nods, his gaze trapped to the floor and steps like an old man’s. They'd both quieted. She wiped her eyes, and curtseyed in front of Azura slightly. “My name is Perenelle. And I would be most appreciative.”

[AzuraGallu]

"In the morning, let's go back to the Citadel and look for her." He offered, his own clan particularly stable since the last time he'd ventured to the Moroi capitol, despite demon breaking in and stirring things up. At least it didn't affect the majority of his people.
Chris' clan, however, could not go without a leader, keeping him safe or no, and his only link to them had mysteriously disappeared.
He ushered Perenelle into a room on the same level as Chris', just across the hall, in fact, thinking she'd be most comfortable there.
"I'll tell Melora," saying her name was burning his tongue and his curiosity at this point, "and we'll get everything ready."

[Christopher Saunders]

"King Azura." She laid a reluctant hand over his forearm before he began to leave. "Its not quite that simple." She was in fact making a concious effort too hold back tears, and her gaze turned back to Chris for a moment. "She left without any signs, there's no signs of a struggle, we thing it was purposeful."

Christopher stood, now able to hear it spoken that way without tears. Oh yeah, this was bad. And deep down, beneath hurt and broken trust, he felt a tiny boiling anger churning in his gut.

[AzuraGallu]

He patted her hand. "There is always a sign, just get a couple of big, brutish Gallu in your home and you'll see."
He left the both of them in the guest room, Perenelle's room, shutting the door quietly behind him and heading back up to his room, hoping Anshel was finished. When he arrived, Melora was sound asleep in his bed, living...sort of.
He breathed a sigh of relief, heading into the room he'd trashed earlier, picking up fragments of things and heaping them onto the bed itself.

[MeloraBelikov]

Melora woke, hearing a door. She wandered into the next room behind Azura, sleepy eyed and yawning. Still naked, she leaned against the door, completely forgetting that her clothing was absent. "Azura....did you do this? What happened?" She tilted her head sideways, green eyes shimmering in the low light of the room. Her hair had dried into it's usual ringlets, and the smell of sulfur was absent from her path for the first time in two full months.

[AzuraGallu]

He glanced behind him, unused to her not making noise when she approached. "Firstly, I'd get something on. A sheet would do if you really want to breathe. Secondly, yeah, I did it. I was bothered by your attempts at screaming while thinking you were drowning."
He tugged a bit of dark blue fabric from the mess, shaking it out before walking over to her and wrapping it around her torso. "I suppose thinking of you as a vampire will take getting used to."

[MeloraBelikov]

Holding the towel up she looked to the side, avoiding his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure it will. Sorry to make you worry." A hint of guilt laced her voice. She kept re-realizing that Azura was now bound to her whether he liked the idea or not, which meant Anshel was right, Azura would always be compelled to protect her. She was glad that she had given Azura the okay to leave, after all, Anshel shreds would much much messier and harder to clean up than fabric ones. Still, would Azura always feel the same anxiety any time she was in danger? Would he always feel like breaking things if she were to be on her own in a situation he knew could be fatal? She bent down and picked up a piece of glass from the floor and turned it in her hands, trying to complete it in her head in order to remember where it came from. A vase, she decided.

[AzuraGallu]

"The answer to your question is yes, and you look tired," he stated dryly, reading her mind from the expressions flitting across he features with every second that ticked by. He plucked the shard from between her fingers, tossing it away from her as he laid his hand on the small of her back and steered her toward his room.
"We'll be leaving in the morning for the Moroi capitol. Apparently Christopher's stand in has vanished."

[MeloraBelikov]

Melora stopped, his hand pressing into her back. "I'm sorry, Azura." When they got to his room, she turned and looked at him, concern flickering in her eyes. Could he father have gotten to the stand-in leader of the Moroi? "Do you have any details on the disappearance?"