RP:Are You Afraid Of The Dark?
Summary: Meri's left behind in the Plane of Shadows, despite Khitti's attempts to bring the psion and the Catalians all home safely.
Mourir, Isle of the Damned, Plane of Shadow
A betrayal. CopyKhats for days. Literal hellfire. There was a lot of things that’d gone on in a matter of minutes. It’d been utter chaos and Khitti hadn’t had quite the focus she’d wanted in order to bring the Catalians and Meri home. Meri’d been too far away, and then was ultimately left behind. It hadn’t been intentional of course, but it was still unfortunate nevertheless. Khitti, Lionel, and Brand were left to wonder what had become of their friend and sister. And Meri? Well… she was probably in for a world of hurt. A voice, neither from Facilier nor Onyx, would find Meri’s ears and whisper a single word: Run. Would either undead, or that legion of Khitti clones, follow her? Perhaps, if Meri took too long to decide whether or not she was to run or fight. Surely she’d die if she hesitated. But, if she did hesitate, she’d see the ghosts of the von Schreier clan that’d not quite become twisted by the curse placed on Khitti. Regardless, the cacophony of banshee cries would tell the psion that something or someone had come to her aid.
The ghosts themselves didn’t do much, besides act as a decoy. Their wails filled the air, but the spectral magic didn’t quite hit Facilier or Onyx. They knew it wouldn’t do a damn thing against either of them. Facilier was powerful enough on his own, but with the added help, there was no hope, but they had to try. Meri would not be the one to feel Facilier’s revenge today. Besides Khitti and that strange gem contraption, it’d be the rest of her family. There’d be no true death for them, though it was tempting. Once Facilier had gotten them under control, he’d complete their transformation into the same twisted, killing machines that Khitti and Brand had already encountered in Cenril.
When Meri would find herself outside of the Cathedral of the Damned and on its steps, she’d find herself face to face with yet another member of the undead. This one, though… he looked a little familiar. The eyes. That jaw and chin that came to a somewhat sharp point. The pensive, worried stare. This was the man that Khitti got her looks from. All that was missing was the red hair; for the male standing in front of Meri, dark brown locks was in the red’s place instead. Max von Schreier had waited outside for Meri as the rest of his kin did their best as a distraction and when she arrived outside, he’d merely say to her with a frown, “You need to follow me. It’s not safe here.”
Run. That was already on Meri’s mind, she did not to hear that whispered word twice and she did not linger long enough to really analyze where it was coming from. Or who, for that matter. At best Meri could ascertain that they may somehow and in someway be counted as an alley, but she did not have enough Information to be able to puzzle together how. Run. The ghosts of Khitti’s family would serve as a sufficient distraction, but how could Meri be certain? Facilier And Onyx could have things well under control before Meri has even made a full escape. How did they even get here again? There was that long dark hallway, a set of stairs, and then outside? Was that the route? There are several points where Meri, as a psion, could create a barrier of energy to prevent at the very least the KhopyKhats from gaining on her. These barriers would only be temporary of course, once Meri was a certain distance away she would not be able to maintain the hold and they would give way. It is a good thing there are several points Meri could do this, eh? Running was no easy task, and it was not just the burns she has sustained that made it difficult. The oxygen was thinned in the Shadow Planes, wasn’t it? And Meri was not the sort that hailed from the mountains. Her escape is a successful, but she has gasping for breath and her heart is beating a mile a minute by the time she makes it outside. Only to be greeted by another ghost.
There is only a small pause, Meri hunching over and placing her hands upon her knees only to end up gasping for breath a couple of times. This is where a look is cut toward Max, a suspicious one, and then back to her full height Meri goes. There was no time for dallying. There is plenty of reason for Meri to be concerned about heeding the request to follow, she still did not quite know who this was before her. Yet she was not so stubborn to realize that they had helped to some extent already...and she needs all the help it would get. “Go,” she would agree, and follow. Of course in the back of her mind there was suspicion and that would not dissipate until she had some answers. “Who are you?”
“Khatja’s father.” Max wasn’t quite as transparent as most ghosts appeared to be; he even moved alongside Meri, as they headed out of the city and into the woods, as if he weren’t a spectral being, his booted feet neither entirely touching the ground nor was he all out floating. “I’d been keeping an eye on things, with you four and Facilier, as best as I could without seeming to obvious. This curse is tainting us, the von Schreier line, but me and the few others that helped you back there, we’re the last to keep our sanity.” He frowned, thinking of his wife. “I don’t think that’ll last too long now though. He likely thought the madness would take us sooner. Some of us even pretended that it did. Others, like my wife, were not quite so as lucky.” He tried to shrug off the sadness it brought as he continued to lead her. The terrain would be familiar, if she remembered much at all from that day everyone travelled there on the Tranquility, for soon they’d end up at the magic echo of Khitti’s village. What once had been filled with spirits, reliving their last moments over and over again, was now an actual ghost town. “He doesn’t come here anymore. He has what he wants from here: us. You should be safe here.” He directed Meri towards the vaguely transparent house that used to be Khitti’s home. Once inside, it was as it had been during the von Schreier’s living years. Inside, it was no longer transparent and provided a much needed shelter for the psion to hide out in.
Khatja. The name put her at ease, to an extent, though in the back of her mind she knew that she should probably keep her guard up. Always up. One hard lesson she has learned in her life is that things can change on a whim. The terrain was familiar only in bits and pieces, some of the more notable landmarks would stick out at her, but everything was easier with a guide. Had she been traveling alone there would have been more doubt and hesitation as to which direction she was supposed to go. Max led, and Meri kept a watchful eye on their surroundings as she tried to force herself along. Well that is not what she was trying to do, she was able to walk, she was trying to force herself to ignore the pain from the burns, she was trying to force herself to not let her pace drop too a slow crawl. Resolve was fading the closer they got to that echo of Khitti's home. "Thanks," she murmurs. Part of Meri has more questions, part of Meri is too tired to care.
Max was given a confused nod, because from the outside the home seemed vaguely transparent. Which meant that she would be visible to anyone passing by? As if Meri would be able to tell, it's not like astral projection was a talent she had, she could not scope this situation out. Once inside, her mind was boggled. It wasn't transparent at all. The same questions still nagged, but exhaustion was starting to overcome her. Before she loses motivation entirely, the woman attempts to rummage through drawers to see if there was anything that she might find useful to her. Food to eat? Bandages? Admittedly brought some amount of her own gear, but it's not like she was going to walk into Facilier's place with a big ol' bag full of enough supplies to last a week or more. No. Meri was lacking and thus rummaging. If she found supplies, great. If not, she'll have to make do. One way or another it would not alter her next course of action, just how frugal she was with rationing. A seat on the bed. Bandaging. A bite of food. A bit of water. Tears. Sleep, for as long as allowed. If left undisturbed she would sleep for hours before waking of her own accord.
“Rest here. I will try to come back for you, but I can’t guarantee that Facilier won’t hunt me down now. It was inevitable, I suppose.” He watched as she rummaged through cupboards and dressers and such throughout the house. She’d find what she needed. Everything that had been there in the von Schreier house the night Khitti was taken and her family was killed was still there. Somehow, even the food seemed real enough. “Thank you… for taking care of Khatja. I’m sure you two will be reunited again soon.” With that said, Khitti’s father disappeared and Meri was left to her own devices for who knows how long.