Creatures of Darkness

Creatures of Darkness
Date of Scene:	11 December 2012
Location:	Traverse Town - District 2
Synopsis:	Angantyr and Avira catch up with each other after Manhattan is destroyed. Angantyr, repeatedly stabbed with guilt from Avira, then runs off to do something foolish. Happens immediately before Desperate. There was also some radio exchanged before the scene that didn't get recovered.
Cast of Characters:	Avira, Angantyr Vespar

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Avira has posed:
Traverse Town has become extra crowded lately, fallout from the recently destroyed Manhattan. There were thousands of people, maybe even hundreds of thousands, now without a home. All of the once abandoned buildings in this section of town had become occupied, be it by escaped Manhattanites or aid workers from other worlds that were helping.

The VALKYRI Headquarters was mysteriously silent. A number of them had gone to Manhattan to fight and were scattered as a result. A few had already found their way back from the outer worlds they were cast too.

When Angantyr arrives, there is no immediate sign of Avira. There is, however, a tall figure standing before the statue placed outside of the guild house. The statue is of a man driving a sword into a Heartless, earned through a charity auction in Manhattan that Avira had participated in a month ago. Now it had become a relic from a world that no longer existed.

The tall and large figure is draped in a cloak of black material. By the hang of the material, it's possible that this person is a hunchback of some kind. They stand with their back to everyone, facing the statue, a "hand" hand upon the stone man.

Well, it isn't so much a hand as it is a black-furred claw. Looking down will reveal black-furred feet that look like a cross between a bird's and a wolf's.

The figure's other arm hangs down next to them, their clawed hand clutching a Ma Belle.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr walks into the guild house, making his way through the various places...he knew Maira was fine. He was with her at the portal battle, the other members...he was not so sure. He hoped nothing happened to them, at least, the ones that weren't secretly shadow lords. He approaches the statue, pausing for a moment...the Ma Belle was in the hand, but those hands were not Avira's...the sense of Darkness was not hers either.

Slowly, his hand moved towards the mace on his back, not pulling it, but getting ready to. This had all of the signs of an ambush. All of them, /All/ of them.

"Where is Avira, and I'll make it clean." he says to the thing infront of him. Not realizing the horrible truth yet. Her belongings still in one hand, but the bag was slowly being dropped to the floor, carefully.

Avira has posed:
"...Angantyr..." The being says, the voice coarse and rough, yet very familiar.

That tone. She could tell he didn't know. He clearly thought some darkness-filled monster had come along and done away with his little friend. As she was now, she could sense that darkness of his own far more clearly as well.

The clawed hand falls away from the statue and the beast's back shudders. There is a long moment of silence after that name is said before the creature slowly reaches up and pulls down the hood of the cloak, revealing that wolf-like face. Ever so slowly, afraid of startling Angantyr into action, she turns to face the Dark Knight. Her eyes, still with brown pupils like Avira, but yellow everywhere else, are filled with sadness.

"Angantyr..." she repeats, her voice tight, tears threatening to gather at the corners of her eyes. "It's me, Avira."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
The realization kicks him after a minute. He almost double overs in shock, as if something punched him in to stomach. He can hear the voice, despite the fact that it was different, the way she inflects...holds herself...they were all the same. It takes a great mimic of some skill to do that, and of course...why would they chose a form but Avira's?

She could feel his darkness now, very very clearly. He was a wellspring of it, it rolled off him as if he were a fountain, the little things she couldn't percieve before...and the feeling of something deep within it squirming. It was neither malicious or benevolant...but it was powerful. It was a testimate to Angantyr's will.

He doesn't step back in fear, but he stands shocked, guilt running into his thoughts. He had helped the Shadow Lords, he had not known what they were up to...when they turned their attentions on the civilians, he had changed sides but...

What if his actions caused this?

"What...what happened? How did this happen?" he says, with a dry voice.

Avira has posed:
When she sees him hold back and not attack her, a good deal of tension disappears from Avira's form. Carefully, she gathers up the cloak around her and pulls it aside, allowing her enormous feathered wings a moment to stretch out. It didn't feel comfortable, even then, doing so with so many people around, but she wanted Angantyr to see, fully, what she had become. If it helps, Angantyr can also see the Spine's sheath at the small of her back, held to the leather belt around her waist.

Avira's watching his reaction carefully, seeing if he'll step back in fear, or worse, revulsion.

"The Darkness..." Avira murmurs, digging into what she had read in the research she pilfered, "The Darkness those Shadow Lords brought when they attacked the Heart of the world...it had to be that...I think it was LEXUS himself. ...that or..." she thinks of Loki and seizes up at the thought. No, he had sought to simply erase her existance. "A geneticist, Dr. Sevarius, he was researching and gathering Heartless in Manhattan. He injected me with something that turned me into this."

A look of pain is on her face as she watches Angantyr, "I should have told you earlier when I had the chance...no, I should have told you the truth a long time ago. I'm from Earth. Manhattan was the last piece of that world left. I came from another city that was destroyed months ago. Then maybe...maybe you wouldn't have..."

She seems upset enough to not be able to continue for a few moments, "...I thought I could start anew in Ivalice and leave everything behind. That Earth didn't matter anymore...but it hurts. It hurts so much."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr was not a small man himself, he was a very tall and powerful one.

Interestingly though that his hair had grown out over the time sense they first met, because His player is too lazy to find a picture with shorter hair. DEAL WITH IT. He watches her as she explains, he doesn't back away in fear...or revulsion...shock and possibly horror. His friend has been turned into something monsterous...

Then the truth comes out, "I figured." he says at last, "That you were not from Ivalice. I...had no idea though you were from Manhattan." GUILT. Then she starts to choke up, and he takes a breath. A very deep breath, Angantyr is not the emotional type, he walks towards her, and without a second thought puts his arms around her to give a comforting hug.

"I'm sorry." he says at last, "For my hand in this. I did not know...I did not know what LEXUS was doing...I did not think the Shadow Lord's goal was so.." he chokes up.

Avira has posed:
At least he wasn't recoiling from her. That does help a little, even in the face of this betrayal.

"I saw it die." she says, a haunted look on her face as she looks away from him, staring down at the ground, "I saw the heart of my world die." Her whole body is trembling now at the thought and very soon she's no longer able to hold back her tears, which are quickly soaked up by her face-fur. Her wings pull tight against her body, folded on her back like a bird might do-due to her shape, she cannot 'cape' them like a gargoyle would.

It's a huge shock to find Angantyr pulling her into a hug. She could sort of understand Skoll being able to do that-he was kind of blind at the time, but Angantyr could see her clearly. Her arms come up, pushed against his chest, and after that moment of shock has passed, she seems to collapse against him.

"Sorry..." she cries quietly. Avira wanted to push him away, but this was comforting. Being there in his arms, around his darkness, was comforting and a small part of herself hated herself for that. "...sorry won't bring my friends or my world back..."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
"No.." he says, slowly. "No it won't." he barely speaks, wanting to comfort her...but he was the source of her sorrow. He knew that...he did not hide the truth from her, even though he ended up fighting on their side during the final battle, his actions were too little too late. And he didn't know...but ignorance wasn't an escuse.

"Sevarius did this to you? Then...I will find him." he says, finally letting her go and turning away from her. "I can't face you like this...not because of what happened to you...but because I am responsible." he finally says.

"This won't even be enough."

Avira has posed:
Angantyr would know Avira. Fortunately, this response from her wasn't too off base. She preferred actions to words. Talk was cheap. Words could be false. Doing things was what she really valued. Though this did not change the fact that, yes, she did blame him a little for helping the Shadow Lords. If only she offered him money to stay on their side!

He vows to find Sevarius and Avira rumbles. "I hope he has a cure. I don't want to be like -this-." Then, Angantyr pulls away from her and turns away. She looks sadly at him, reaching a clawed hand up and putting it on one of his shoulders.

She squeezes it. Right away it starts to dent the armor just a little and Avira, realizing she's doing this, quickly pulls back.

A bit of that will enters her voice again and for a few seconds, the sorrow is pushed aside. Angantyr can hear the Avira he knows in her tone, "I'll be the judge of whether or not it's enough."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr looks at his armor.

"...Holy shit." he says, without even thinking about it. He actually pauses, to mess with the armor, pulling the plate off and checking it.

...The metal was good, and he raises his eyebrows, befor smashing the armor over his knee, fixing it...well, mostly. He'll have to take it to a smithee later.

He slides the armor back on after a few moments, giving Avira a glance at her words.

"Yes...yes you will." he says, and speaks, "Where was his last known whereabouts? It makes no sense for me to try and dive into Darkness if he's a heartless."

Avira has posed:
Avira cringes a little at the damage. "S..sorry...I didn't know I could..." Yeah, she's obviously not spent a lot of time getting used to this new form so far. At the very least it appears she's worked out her balance issues that resulted from drastically altered weight and anatomy.

Avira looks back at him sheepishly. Almost innocently...as much as a horrible creature of darkness could look innocent at least.

It's pretty clear though. She doesn't want to see time wasted moping, so evenly she nods, likely in approval, of Angantyr's eagerness to find this man. "That's a problem..." she cringes, "Last we saw of him, he had escaped from a police convoy. Those at the scene said it looked like a Heartless attack, some struggle, no sign of Sevarius or the people transporting him." A look of despair briefly flashes in her eyes, "So he really might be a Heartless. But I think he was working with the other Shadow Lords. There's no way he could have been able to contain all those Heartless on his own. So they might know something."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
"I have a lead then." Angantyr says, looking back at her. "I don't know if it'll be successful.." and will probably give them a grip on me. "Just...hang on a little bit alright?" he says, to her. His features are softer, but she can see that there is guilt there. He wouldn't have this emotion if not for her...but at the same time...

"LEXUS was my contact for my jobs during that time there...I figure he might know a thing or two. However, I didn't make any friends during the final battle either. I found the man persuing Jasmine." he says, "And he knew me. Apparently saw me in her dreams, and through the eyes of the Heartless I slain defending her. However...I think LEXUS is willing to deal with me, we have a mutual..." he pauses...

"He's evil as hell, but he's not insane. If he knows something I am sure he'll deal."

He then turns away. Finally starting to leave, this time he does not turn back unless stopped.

Avira has posed:
"It's something." Avira says meekly, "I'm not good enough at genetics to turn something practically out of Sevarius's notes." She's lucky that she still has them. If she left them at the TDA they'd be gone for good now. It was kind of moot anyway, all they did was fill her with dread as to what would happen to her. They did not contain solutions and Avira didn't have the scientific equipment needed to experiment herself.

Avira can't help herself when he brings up LEXUS's name. She growls and it's an unpleasant, animalistic sound that seems to stir the darkness within her. "That is curious." she says, about the man after Jasmine, "Did you get a name?" Avira would also like a name so she knew who else to hunt down and make suffer.

He turns away from her and starts to walk away. Her growling fades, and she watches him, her heart squirming and writhing in her chest. "Angantyr...I....I'm still your..." she hesitates. "...friend, right?" No, friend wasn't quite it. He had something more than that for her, Avira had slowly started to suspect. But to bring that up here, now...with her looking like this, wasn't going to fly.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
"Jafar." Angantyr says pausing ner the door. "He's a sorcerer of considerable power. Arrogant and vain, however." he pauses as she asks her other question. He closes his eyes at that, and speaks softly, "Yes. I am if you still want me to be." he continues, speaking to her as he faces her again, "I've grown to care about you a considerable amount, more than I should let anyone get close to me..." he pauses, "Heh...but Jasmine did tell me that it wasn't weakness. I want to belive in that." before he slowly turns away.

Avira has posed:
"Yeah." Avira says quietly, "Yeah, I do."

He was so right before, what a fool I am, wanting to be friends with him.

She rubs a furred elbow, thinking her thoughts and looking elsewhere until he turns to face her. "I...I see." she says carefully, looking up, meeting his eyes. "W..well, we'll have to see if it is or not, right? Good luck finding Sevarius." When he turns away this time, she lets him go, not calling him back anymore.

Carefully, she drapes her cloak back over herself, eager to conceal her terrifying form from the refugees.