The Dark Promise

The Dark Promise
Date of Scene:	25 January 2014
Location:	Deja Room
Synopsis:	Artemis is introduced to her... benefactor.
Cast of Characters:	Seith, Artemis Eurus

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Seith has posed:
As time passed, the Wild Hunt had to come to an end. And with that, the end of this reality within the Oblivion Castle's Deja Room. The transition is slow and hard to notice at first, until there is that flash of white light...

And when it is all over, Artemis finds herself standing outside in the halls of Oblivion Castle. What's more, before her stands a man not too unlike one of the members of the Wild Hunt. His horns look more sophisticated however. And his armor more ornate. And what's more, there is no helm covering his face. In a ways, the man is beautiful. Not in the way that Louis would be called handsome or 'an adonis'. But in a more effeminate manner. Long straight silvery white hair.

In a ways, distinguished. A little old - without his facial features giving away this 'age'.

He's looking at her, waiting for her to realize that reality has changed, and that he is there before her. It appears the other two are not present as of yet.

Artemis Eurus has posed:
The dream dissolved, but the Hunt would always ride. It is only over /for now/.

Artemis exhales slowly, looking around herself as she regains her bearing, one reality to another. It doesn't disorient her as much as it should perhaps. All the nightmares, of the lives...its all just one dream after another.

The masked woman looks toward Seith, still radiating darkness and a predatory air. Her sword is still in her hand as she looks him over, eyes narrowing in scrutiny. She'd seen him during the hunt. "Who are you?" she asks.

Seith has posed:
"I am the person who guided you here." Seith answers Artemis, placing a hand to his chest and making a smallest of bows. A curtsey, if you will.

"I do appologize if I inconvenienced you in any way. But in my many forays into the realm of dreams, it is not so often I find someone who so clearly needs my help." It's also not so often, that Seith puts himself into a position where he might come across as remotely 'important'. Or a person for others to rely on.

"My name is Seith. Sorcerer of Dreams and Illussions, and a member of what you might know of as the 'Shadow Lords'." His pale green eyes gaze at her blade for a moment, before he takes the woman in fully.

Artemis Eurus has posed:
Artemis is still as she listens, taking in his countenance. An elf? An elf that actually appears aged, at that. He must be quite old, if that is the case.

Or it is an illusion.

"Seith," she repeats, tasting the name on her tongue. At the admittence that he is a Shadow Lord, an eyebrow rises beneath her mask.

Artemis begins to circle him, blade in hand but pointed still at the floor. "Guided me? I have been to this place before. I came for answers--you are not who I expected to meet, but I believe I found my answers all the same."

"Help? How can you help me? More importantly, why would you help me?" she asks.

Seith has posed:
"I would be lying if I said that it was merely to help you. The Shadow Lords need your help as much as you need what we can offer." Seith answers her. Showing himself to be someone to be reckoned with, he doesn't turn along with the woman's circling. He comes off as incredibly sure about his own power.

"I think I rather concentrate on how I could help you though. If I am correct, you believe your brother to have been possessed by something incredibly dark. Am I correct?"

Artemis Eurus has posed:
"If it was you in the dream, you know this," she replies, stopping before him then and sheathing her blade. She crosses her arms beneath her chest, eyeing him steadily. "Yes, I believe this to be true. A Lucavi, specifically," she continues, looking away for a moment. "The dreams I have had...they are true dreams, aren't they? Somehow, I've become...stuck...we have, Louis and I."

Seith has posed:
"The world of dreams is a strange place. Even for someone such as I, it continues to hold many mysteries. So I am afraid I do not have the answer to that question." The man answers her. There is a chance this man had fabricated all those dreams for her. But why go through all of that trouble? Is it the darkness within her? Or a fate?

Seith despises of the word 'fate'.

"That aside. If you believe he is possessed by a dark being, then I beieve you already know the answer - and why I believe I can help you." The man flips one hand and shows a small 'sphere' of darkness come to live within his hand. It pulses with sheer power. Brimming with it, in fact.

"Darkness gives you control over darkness. If you grow so powerful, that your darkness and the ability to control it grows to such an extent that you can control a 'Lucavi'..."

The man closes his hand, and the sphere extinguishes.

"You can free Louis." He looks at her pointedly when he finishes that sentence. Trying to read her response to this.

Artemis Eurus has posed:
Artemis gestures vaguely, waving off his words. "You do not need to anwer. I have already made up my mind," she informs him. He could be lying about the dreams. He could tell her he'd fabricated the whole thing and she'd likely not believe him. Who could have such power? To twist a heart and mind in such a way? Besides, when she'd come with Isaac and his friends it was confirmed he met the friends again he had watched die. He'd crossed over realities.

Artemis eyes the sphere of darkness the man summons, and laughs softly. "Become the Hunter," she says with a nod. "If this is the way it must be done then I will do it. Every time, I have killed him or died trying. THIS time, I will save him. I will break the cycle," she says, the darkness whispering inside her, the sounding of the horn...

Artemis takes a deep breath and turns from Seith, looking around the room. If she can't break the cycle by saving him....well, then she'll just have to see it all destroyed.

Artemis turns back to Seith. "So you want my help? What for? I have heard of the Shadow Lords, that you control the Heartless...that is all I know. Worlds have fallen because of those like you. What is your agenda?" she asks, focusing her intense green gaze on him.

Seith has posed:
"I can not speak for the others. But to me, the fall of the darkness strengthens the people outside of it. I wish to see all worlds freed from the barriers that split them off from the universe at large. I wish to draw out everyone's might and ability to control the darkness and power - so that nobody will ever have to suffer like you are suffering right now." Seith explains. And it is no lie. He truly does believe that the only way to everyone having happy lives, is to know how to control darkness and have power - and the knowledge on how to use it wisely.

"Many of us look to Maleficent, who has promised us the power to see our ideals through. And to gain that power - the sacrifice of a few worlds, as sad as it is, may be neccesary." He pauses for a moment, before adding; "And if all have the power to control darkness, perhaps those worlds can be dredged up from their place in the darkness."

Artemis Eurus has posed:
Her eyes scrutinize, searching for any signs of a lie. He could just be very good at lying, of course. He's certainly older than she, he'd have plenty of time to practice. She exhales sharply through her nose, a sound of small amusement. "Is that what you think I want to hear?" she asks.

Still, if she had the power to control the darkness, had nothing to fear from it...her world could perhaps be brought back. Her mother was still alive, maybe, out there in the night. No one ever seemed sure what happened to a world when it fell.

"Maleficent...I've heard rumors of her. Did she promise you power, like you are promising me?" she asks.

A name rises from her memory, from her dreams. "Garland...what do you know of him?"

Seith has posed:
"I hardly feel like it would suit me to speak lies to you. I am trying to take you into our midst. A lie as simple as that would be easy to uncover - and it would make hardly an ally if you distrusted me." Seith answers Artemis with a bit of a bored look on his face. He doesn't speak often of his idea on things. To be met with suspicion is also quite natural for Shadow Lords. But that doesn't make it any less bothersome.

"Maleficent's offer was... a little different. She sought to unite the Shadow Lords and offered a place and a library." Seith explains, and doesn't really elaborate on just what he might be telling her.

"As for Garland. I can not say much about him. He's a powerful being, but I would not try to guess at his intentions."

Artemis Eurus has posed:
Artemis is still for a time, and silent.

Ever so slightly, she seems to relax. "I see. An ally. An ally I could be, so long as you understand I will not be a minion," she says, flashing him a smile.

"He has featured in some of my...nightmares, that is why I ask. Oh well," she says, shrugging her shoulders then.

"So you want me to join the Shadow Lords? If I will have my freedom...if I can free Louis..." she grits her teeth for a moment. There are only a few people who come to mind who might object to this decision. The Braves, what would they think? They would not approve, she knows. But they haven't seen what she has. They don't /remember/.

"...then I will accept."

Seith has posed:
The man nods. "There are few 'minions' amongst the Shadow Lords. We are all, in a ways, eachothers' equal. We are what we need to be, and work together by neccesity, or because our goals are the same. But we all share one wish. To gain the control of darkness and the power that Maleficent offers us." They've seen bits and pieces of that sorcery. Of that power. Seith goes quiet when Artemis accepts. Giving a moment for her own words to sink in.

"Then take my hand, and I will teach you the first things about becoming a Shadow Lord... and grant you the control over this new dark power -- so you might take your first steps towards your own goal. But know this. When it comes to the Shadow Lords, you get out what you put into it." With other words. If she didn't work with them now and again, she'd get little out of this 'membership'.

Artemis Eurus has posed:
Artemis strides toward Seith, closing the distance between them. "I understand perfectly," she replies, and extends her hand.

Seith has posed:
Seith grabs Artemis' hand, and a black gate suddenly opens behind him. Through him, she can feel the darkness that pours from it - that swirls behind the portal itself. "This will be your first lesson. To learn to open the portals into the corridors of darkness. I feel you will be a quick study."

And so, a new part of Artemis' story would begin.