Introduction
Characters: Alyssandro, Lorna, Lucifer, Alyxis, Meredith
Location: Lake Draconis
Plot summary: Alyssandro and Lorna discuss ruling the world. Alyxis hovers around for a moment while a vision comes to Alyssandro. Enter Lucifer with an offer.
Logs:
(Amendments Note: These logs have been spell checked prior to addition to this site.)
Alyssandro sat the base of a large tree at the water's edge, fully armed, yet looking surprisingly peaceful. Lorna was at his side, a very odd change from the company people were used to seeing Alyssandro in. But this wasn't the same Alyssandro, not by a long shot. This was an Alyssandro with nothing left to lose. "So... You want to take on the world, eh?" Alyssandro said, playing over something Lorna had said earlier. "Would you be content with being my queen and consort?" Alyssandro asked, with a wry grin.
Meredith lay curled in a branch overlooking the lake, her tail lazily flicking at the water. The moon was bright overhead and she yawned widely. Not much had happened since her Lorna had left her, and Khaz had managed to comfort her a little, appease her wounded heart, but it never seemed enough. She supposed she deserved it; she wasn't exactly the example of monogamy. What's done is done, she told herself, sighing, her claws digging into the branch.
Lorna was laying beside Alyssandro, her arms folded behind her head. How had this all come to pass? Not long ago, she had been reunited with her lover, and now, she was a free agent, in it for no one but herself. She glanced up at the angel, and smiled, "Queen? I think someone else holds that title..." She murmured, referring to Merry's pact with Khaz. Lorna debated telling Alyssandro everything, about Merry and Khaz's plans to kill all the mortals and rule over vampyre and lycan kind like a pair of misfit monarchs. But, she thought, she made a promise, an oath, to Merry. One she planned to keep. "I will be your partner in crime, though, love, for sure."
Alyxis wandered through the trees, completely off in her own world. Still reeling from the last time she'd come back into contact with civilization-- if you could call it that-- she preferred to remain alone, much of the time still. Looking up through the trees, she could see the sky in places, and thought a few times, what it would feel like to stick her hand out into the light. She'd forgotten what a lot of things felt like- Indifference was it's own poison, sucking out the other emotions. Instead, she trailed a hand lightly across the bark of a nearby tree, taking careful note of the bark, the texture of it to her hand.
Alyssandro smiled, tiredly "Lorna... Looorna.... Lorrrrrna... Looorrrnnaaaaaa..." Alyssandro rolled the woman's name from his tongue several times, weighing it up and considering what she was and wasn't telling him. "You doubt that I could rule the world, given the right turn of events?" The angel said, testing the water somewhat. "I am widely known, widely respected, widely feared... I wonder if people are starting to realize yet?..." Alyssandro cast a customary glance backwards and was slightly taken aback by the figure he thought he saw looking over his shoulder, it was no-body, but the Angel obviously saw something... Or someone.
Merry sat up suddenly, her ears twitching. The name of her recently lost lover, rolling off the tongue of a man, reached her ears. She laept from her tree and shifted, adjusting her clothing properly again, and stretched. She walked, following the direction the words had come from, and the direction her nose took her. Looking down the beach she saw...Lorna. And...Alyssandro? Her eyes narrowed. "Well, well, well..." She muttered.
Lorna shrugged, "I don't doubt that you have the power to rule the world, not at all. I just...the wind isn't right." She scooted forward, propping herself up on her elbows. After a brief pause, she glanced up at the angel, "You realize if Merry comes after me, I won't fight her, right? As...broken-hearted as I am, I still love her and would never betray her. I just want to make that clear." With a sigh, the vampyre flopped back down.
Alyxis sucks in a breath sharply, feeling an odd turn of mood, and sends her fist into the bark of the tree lightly. A soft scraping noise and a curse drift away from her as she mutters, "I remember.. I remember.. Why do you want me to remember?" Turning away from the tree, she sighs, half leaning forward, "Why are we still like this?" She sighed again, and continued wandering, still highly unawares of anyone around her.
Alyssandro turns back around "I just saw the Lightbr... Wait... Oh, Merry, yeah. No worries, I won't let her hurt you." Alyssandro says, squeezing Lorna's shoulder reassuringly before turning around again and looking for what he thought he saw.
Merry turned around and began stalking back down the beach, her back to her lover, the traitor, and the angel who's always been a pest.
Lorna followed Alyssandro's gaze, trying to figure out what the hell was so interesting. "Something bothering you?" She asked, eyes flitting back to her partner.
Alyxis, in a moment of very-much spaced out, tripped over a root, and hit the deck with a soft 'oof'. Rolling to her back, and then into sitting position, she looked at the root that'd gotten her, and murmured wryly, "And I knew you were there too. Damned thing. What was that for now.. I was lost in thought, too." Pulling her leg away from the entangling root, she settles comfortably among the copse, shaking a leaf from her hair.
A breeze brushed the leaves in the canopy, making them flutter and sigh. The sound almost seemed to hold tiny voices, raising in song like a vast choir. But the sound was low, almost a hum, one could have mistaken it for the wind or a bird perhaps. The sunlight dabbled the forest floor and suddenly, almost invisible, a section of that sunlight broke apart from the rest and seemed to form its own minuscule self. Dancing in between the branches it wove through through the trees towards the reclining angel and his companion. The choir becoming underscored with a rumble that seemed to emit from the ground and sky at the same time, the very air vibrated with it. Whether these things were perceived by the angel alone or others know one could be quite sure. A flash! Like a supernova and a being stood, arrayed in the finest attire, a silvery gold halo adorning burnished locks. Steady eyes in an imperious, aquiline face regarded the angel, a small smile playing along perfect lips.
Alyssandro glared wholly unwelcomingly at the apparition, straightened up and subvertly hid his extra wings for the moment, less he needed to pull an ace from his sleeve. The Lightbringer knew him well, they were old allies... Millenia ago. "Lightbringer, Modesty and honesty... And what in the name of all halos are you doing here? Finally screwed up the courage to leave your throne room for more than a toilet break, I see." Alyssandro said, sincerely and mockingly at the same time. Standing tall and completely at ease with the overpowering presence of Lucifer.
Alyxis calls through the trees, just barely catching words on the wind, "Will you keep it down? Dammit, some of us enjoy silence." Rising silently to her feet, she continues towards the slight clearing she can hear a voice from. Her stance turns completely wary as she approaches-- a sign of her truly not being used to people again-- almost animal-like.
The Lightbringer, Little Horn, Devil, Satan...Lucifer, Morning Star. Many names uttered from millions of lips but all given to the same creature who stood now by the lake, smiling at his old friend, though a chip of ice had solidified behind his eyes at the insults. "Old friend." He admonished, the light around him dimming to a comfortable level. "We have no seen you at Court nor have you been in His presence for a long time. Do you not bid me welcome to see an old ally?" His voice held a touch of condescendence maybe, but then, it could hold many things, let alone the truth.
Alyssandro ran a hand through his hair nodding to the lightbringer, perhaps this could be useful for the arch-angel. "Friend. Long has it been, forgive my tones, I am finding worldly emotions slightly overwhelming. You are welcomed to my realm, Shia t'aan." Alyssandro used a very old name for Lucifer, a symbol of their long standing friendship. "You know since the war was over I swore never to take sides again, only to live for myself. And that's worked quite well for now." Alyssandro said, courteously "But I grow tired of the mortal realm, Morning Star. So tired..."
Alyxis wanders quite close, keeping in the shadows a few trees behind them. Her eyes widen as she recognizes one of the speakers, and remembers a little more of what happened. Curling her fingertips into the bark of the tree, her thoughts race as she tries to figure out why she hated in the first place- what motivation, and what cause.
Lucifer's smile widened, pleased with Alyssandro's change of tone. Old arrogance dies hard on the heel of pride it seems. "Well met Halagan, it has been too long." He cast a glance around him, something that could have been disgust flickering across his face as he took in the sights of the mortal realm, so far from the Eden he recalled. "As I have noticed, my friend. Consorting with...creatures and upholding 'good'" He laughed, "How droll."
Alyssandro straightened up again, his green eyes fixing with the powerful icy eyes of the morning star "I do as I please. Be it so that you wish to trade places? Have the freedom of the worlds? Do as you please? Or be stuck down there. With twisted, sniveling entities for company. With screams haunting you every moment. With every broken, foul, destitute thing we cast out... With FAILURE mocking your every effort. Oh lightbringer, you mock, but how you envy. How you envy." Alyssandro smirked "But we won't let that mar the meeting of old friends, will we Little Horn?"
Alyxis looked down at the bark for a moment, before calling out, "Why not be removed? From everything- instead of desiring another's place?" She takes a breath before continuing, "Being stuck down there with twisted, sniveling, broken thing is the same as being up here.. Only, the things up here are full of greed, want for power.." She seems to back away-- realizing that she's spoken out, before turning and running, back the way she's come.
Eyes snapping cold fire, Lucifer caught the quick muttered words of another being but quickly ignored it. His attention was focused on his old second in command and something like anger rose in him. But he had played this game many times over. It was true that Alyssandro had abandoned their ranks, shown his prowess, but beings could be swayed. Lucifer let the slow, easy smile slip back. "Oh yes, you do as you please. Envy, you speak of such mortal emotion Rosencratz. Look what it has brought you? Pain....betrayal. Even now your heart, " He smirked at the word, "aches for the touch of another. What should I envy of you? Though, now it is true that you are...in a position to reconsider, maybe, your allegiances. To both yourself and this existence." He raised an inquiring eyebrow.
Alyssandro laughed, hard and cold. "I'd rip my heart out to prove you wrong, but as always, you're perceptive, Lord Lucifer. My allegiance is not so easily gained, though. I do not need for anything. However, if anyone knows what to offer to an old ally, to reaffirm their allegiance, it is you, Lightbringer." Alyssandro goaded, he had no desire to join the ranks of the damned, he was just interested to see what the old goat could pull from his magick hat.
Lucifer sighed, feigning resignation. He let his hands drift over the belt at his waist seemingly at random, touching the hilt of the vast flaming sword that slayed many of the faithful. "What keeps you here Alyssandro? You left us to meek out pain and death on the mortals and you have succeeded in that quest. You ascended into his sight and then chose to come back for the love of a pathetic animal and now here you stand, reeking of all that makes this place so...repulsive. There are greater things in motion! Do you not remember the glory we had. The Fall may have failed but pieces are always moving, shifting, the balance is ripe for the tipping. You think you have all the power you desire here, but think on what you used to live. With the legions at our backs again, what could we not achieve?"
Alyssandro faltered (Ever the actor) visibly. He had one of those swords, but kept it hidden "Aaah, how things change, Lucifer. Because not only have I been here for millenia, doing as I please... Being watched and envied by yourself... I also..." Alyssandro snaps out his six wings with a grin, pulling the flaming broadsword from it's scabbard "Became myself... My RIGHTEOUS self again! I DESERVE this freedom AND this power! I don't NEED allegiances! I don't NEED the love of a MORTAL being, or the AFFECTION of the PATHETIC masses! I AM THE ANGEL OF DEATH! And I am FREE to reap as I choose, Lucifer! DO you NOT envy me?!"
Lucifer narrowed his eyes at Alyssandro's little display. It was no surprise to the Prince, he had eyes and ears in many places, watching this and all the other realms. "You speak of freedom like a currency and still you refer to envy, a sin. I am the Lord of Hell, Prince of Darkness, once the right hand of His majesty and you dare to speak to me of sin?" His voice had risen as he spoke but he kept himself in check. He waved his fine boned hand dismissively, "If you wish to stay here and waste yourself on the scurrying of mortals or the beings that seem to inhabit this mountain, then so be it. Carry on this Michael persona as you please." His image began to fade back into the sunlight, "You know how to reach me, Rosencratz. Think about it."
Alyssandro snorted "Tail between your legs again, Lightbringer? Come off it, go back to your hole." the Arch-angel said with a grin. "You know how to reach me." Alyssandro said mockingly, waving to the lightbringer.
Lucifer smiled that smile again that could mean anything or nothing even has the shafts of light pierced through his image. "Pride is the greatest sin of all Rosencratz, you know that." He spread his fingers and a small, flat square appeared in the air. It flickered and images blossomed to life upon it. Figures fighting, a mob of black clad humanoids, the sky was black, night in some other part of the world. Vampyres. In the middle of the mob, a being fought, a blur of crimson hair and silver. There was no sound with the images but it was obvious a tough battle was being fought. The image of Rose fought like a wild cat, but there were just too many. Nathaniel was at her side, his broadsword flashing as he fought to protect Eve. A new tide of vampyres heaved forward and mobbed the young therians, plunging them into a sea of undead flesh and fangs. Stricken at the sight of her fallen children, Rose turned towards them as a vampyre behind her thrust towards her chest with a silver knife. Lucifer smiled as he faded to nothing, the makeshift screen going with him. "A parting gift... Old friend."