RP:Bad Blood
Part of the You Must Have Been Human Arc
Summary: After being escorted to Vailkrin from a party by Quintessa, the Ghoul Kanna finds herself alone in a large city of vampires. Of all people, she runs into Magik at a fountain of blood. Despite not knowing his name, the two share a chat about their last encounter to clear the air.
Blood Fountain
This historic fountain has been magically restored, though with differences. The outer wall stands three feet high in a perfect circle, and a central pedestal rises a foot above that. On this have been raised two figures carved of pure white stone, a noble Lord and Lady of proud bearing, both obviously vampires. They are dressed in elegant robes, the embroidery depicted by fine, spidery engravings on the stone itself. Around the outside of the pool are carved, in slightly less detail than the statues above, depictions of all the races that may be sired, each in a vampiric form. The pool is already filled with bland but nutritious blood, the pipes creating a hypnotic spiraling motion as it flows in a clockwise direction. To the south a dimming path leads to high and ornate iron gates, beyond which may be glimpsed the tops of tombstones glinting below the bright moon as well as several larger buildings, and to the north seems to lie another hub of activity for the citizens and visitors of Vailkrin, to judge by the stream of nobles,commoners, traders and ruffians alike that are constantly treading to and fro.
A few half filled wine bottles line the fountain wall as a tall figure dressed in all black with a hood covering his features dips a large vial into the fountain, carefully and precisely filling each bottle to a certain level. Once a bottle is filled to his liking a cork is pushed in and gets a quick shake to fuse the liquids. The bottles are neatly put into his endless pack sitting on the ground next to him. The Lyastri quietly hums a tune to himself as he works on the remaining bottles.
Kanna looks around the nightmarish city with wide eyes. As a human, she would have never dared to explore this place, given the residents' affinity towards the living. She approaches the fountain and sees the cloaked figure bottling the blood. The display is unusual, but she brushes it off as being simply something the locals do. Perhaps the blood is served elsewhere or used on long-distance trips? Curiosity befalls her and she tucks in her skirt to sit on the fountain's edge, in plain sight of Magik. A cup is produced from her bag, which is then dipped into the ichor below. Satisfied with just enough for a sip, she brings it to her face and tries the bland blood. "Oh, its cold!" Kanna wrinkles her nose, setting the cup down.
Magik nearly jumps out of his skin as the unexpected voice fills his ears. Being a ranger, this is a rare occurrence. He's usually very aware of his surroundings especially in the open public like this. The Lyastri's arm flies out of the fountain, spilling the entire contents of the vial coincidentally in Kanna's direction with the majority aimed towards her face. "Ah!" he exclaimed loudly. Not only did he spill his vial, he knocks over a few ready-to-fill bottles. What a mess.
Kanna gives a slight yelp in surprise, turning her shoulder away as the blood drenches her formerly lovely clothes. "Hey!" She protests, running a tongue over her lips to clean the blood that covers them. Her eyes fall to the bottles that roll away from the fountain, and she leans forward, stopping two of them in their tracks. "Sorry if I startled you." Kanna says, holding out the empty bottles. She's covered in blood, yet she's the one apologizing!
Magik 's eyes glare at Kanna for only a split second before focusing on the missed bottle rolling away. He turns quickly to get a foot in front of the bottle and flips it up into his hand. After setting it back on the ledge, he grabs the two Kanna caught and places them on the fountain as well. His eyes do not trail away from hers. In his mind, she's already struggling as he squeezes her throat with every bit of strength he has. On the outside, he just seems highly annoyed. "You again.." He deeply sighs as he pops up on the fountain edge next to the set bottles, "Come to try and eat me again?"
Kanna locks eyes with him for a moment, and a flash of fear and guilt cross her face. She looks away at the other pedestrians crossing the area. Surely, she wouldn't be attacked in broad daylight, right? "No." The word is said in a manner similar to a child being asked if they've done something wrong, when the evidence is all around them. A handkerchief is produced from the pockets of her skirt, and she makes quick work of dabbing the spilled blood of her pudgy frame. "It wasn't personal, you know. I kind of -have- to eat people."
Magik folds his arms across his chest. Had his wife seen him not kicking Kanna's teeth in at this very moment a fight between the three would have surely broken out. "Just know, if you try that on me or mine again, I -will- kill you, permanently." His inferno filled eyes flicker brightly for some extra flare and emphasis. With his eyes returning to their normal blaze, he looks over the ghoul, "Was that retribution for the lodge? Did my people not deliver the gold like I instructed? Or..Wrong place wrong time kind of thing in the tavern that night?"
Kanna seems alarmed by the question. "It wasn't retribution, either. It just--" Were she still human, a flush would have crossed her face. Instead, she settles for wrinkling her nose in embarrassment. "Yes, wrong place, wrong time. You were objectively one of the more handsome ones there, and you recognized me from when I was human. I figured that was two for two for an easy meal." The handkerchief is folded and put away before she sits down a few arms' lengths from the Lyastri. "I won't try to eat you again. I don't eat diseased flesh either." Kanna quips, emptying the remainder of her cup back into the fountain.
Magik felt a little flattered but didn't want to show it. Removing himself from the fountain wall, he returns to filling his bottles, "My flesh isn't diseased. My blood is. I wasn't always like this." After dipping the vial into the fountain he brings it to eye level. A quick flick of his wrist spilled just a bit of blood back into the pool. Satisfied with the amount, the vial is emptied into an empty bottle and corked. He says quietly to himself, "Need wine in that one." He then directs his words to the ghoul, "So what happened to the girl in the lodge? The one with more color in her cheeks. This look doesn't suit you." He was starting to wonder if her situation was reversible.
Kanna scoffs at the comment. For a split moment, Magik might get the feeling he was talking to another girl who scoffed at half the things said to her. As if remembering something, she reaches into her other pocket and withdraws a silk camellia flower that glows with a faint trace of cursed magic. The woman fixes the clip into place and opens her mouth. Instead of her usual sweet voice, a voice akin to what could only be described as the sounds made from cat mating with a seagull exits her mouth. "She got transformed by the God of Undeath. No heartbeat, no feeling in my skin for give or take 7 months now." The clip glows as ill will is drawn towards it and stored. Satisfied with the two lines made with the horrendous voice, the clip is removed. "Hate using this thing." Her usual voice returns as she moves to pocket the device.
Magik finishes filling and corking the last bottle just in time to turn and witness the flower and disturbing voice, "Hm. Shame." Normally he wouldn't pry for more answers but he's never witnessed whatever that was, "...What just happened?" After putting the last bottle into his pack, he disposes of the vial in a separate pouch. The Lyastri resumes his seat on the fountain wall.
Kanna gives an innocuous smile. Her knowledge of cursed items was limited, so she sees no reason to hide it from someone Quintessa seemed to trust. "Was my voice really bad? I don't get to hear it myself when its worn. Its an... hm, there's not really a name for it. Ill will collector? Supposedly if I can collect enough bad juju towards me, this other undead I met can modify my curse so I can go longer between meals."
Magik thinks to himself, "There she goes talking about eating people again.." However, he replies with, "Yeah. It was, uh, disturbing and kind of awkward hearing it..So, it collects ill will towards yourself?" I guess there was a bit of negative energy she could have picked up from Magik even if they are having a decent conversation. "So, yeah, that makes a little sense. So, you're essentially feeding off of someone's negative energy instead of feeding off them directly.." Magik was 'almost' doing the same thing but with already harvested blood. He didn't question the source. Plus, his bottling of his own blood wine was hopefully only temporary.
Kanna seems amused at his reaction. "I won't do it to you again. I wouldn't want there to be too much bad blood between us, it'd be bad for whatever Quintessa has planned for me." With that, the odd clip is pocketed.
Magik shrugs then offers Kanna a smirk, "There won't be any blood left because.." He drags his thumb across his neck, "There won't be any of you left." The Lyastri stands firm with his warning from earlier but hits her with another question, "Do you know what her intentions are? Is she seeking out to fix your..problem?"
Kanna shrinks away slightly as he warns her again, the smile on her face only growing out of nervous habit. "I have no idea what she wants. When she approached me at the May Day festival, she said that I would not be pursued further if I followed her here, but that I had to wait for her to come back from a trip before she could fill me in on why she gathered the corpses of those I used." Looking up at him, she tilts her head. "Did she tell you anything?"
Magik starts seeing Kanna as he remembers her from their first meeting, less ghoulish, as he starts getting hungry. It's probably the smell of blood in the air considering where they are. As he listens, he starts salivating. Do vamps salivate? With Magik's situation, anything is possible. Quintessa did suggest letting his D'Chath blood start taking control and to resist the vampiric urges, even irritating the disease by indulging in non-vampiric foods and drinks. This wasn't the time though. He reaches back into his pack to grab the used vial. Filling it half way up with the fountain blood, he sips at it to curb his sudden urge to feed. He takes a break to shake his head, "Nope. Nothing."
Kanna would have sighed, had she still had use for her lungs. Her foot taps the paved stone impatiently and a hum escapes her as she pouts. "Boring." The only comment given to the lack of information. Mildly content with how dry the inside of the cup is, she attaches it to her bag again. "I was hoping she would have information on who the person following me this whole time was. They didn't come out with me to Vailkrin, so I suppose it was one of her goons? It would have been nice to at least know which one." Her eyes trail to the statue at the center of the fountain. "Maybe I should find the Black Library. That'll keep me entertained."
Magik held the vial upside down to get the last few drops to drip onto his tongue like there wasn't a full fountain's worth right behind him. Once the last drop fell, he put the vial away again, "Someone following you? That's odd..perhaps a friend of a victim waiting for their moment to get you back?" Magik knew. It's your sister, Kanna. The Lyastri doesn't hint that he knew anything about that as he looks at her once more. Her ghoulish form returned through his eyes, hunger suppressed for now. "I remember what happened last time I went to a library.." He chuckled. It almost burned down.
Kanna thinks about this for a moment. She knew that was wrong. There had been a singular incident that told her that the stalker knew her well. A panicked voice hidden by a magical distortion warning her to keep away when approached still echoes in her mind from that time. "Hm." She raises a brow at his chuckle. "I'll wager a guess and say that it was a repetition of the Bardic Lodge?"
Magik winces as he scratches his head, "Yeeeah. Just about. Less damage because I knew what could have happened if I stayed longer." The elf lowers himself off of the fountain edge and throws his pack over his shoulder, "Well, Kanna, I'm glad we could clear the air a bit. I try to rotate my tavern visits so if you ever see me in the Hanging Corpse and if you don't play any music..just don't sneak up on me." The Lyastri extends a hand towards the ghoul.
Kanna gives a smirk at that. "I'll try to keep that in mind." Kanna takes his hand and seems to realize something. This would be their third encounter, and they had still had never been introduced. With her ice cold hand in his, she looks up, her bright blue eyes meeting his. "What's your name?"
Magik releases her hand and feigns thought, his hand reaching up to his chin. After a moment of deliberation, he gives her a knowing smile. “That’ll have to stay a secret, Kanna.” With that, he vanishes in a puff of black smoke, leaving the bardess alone at the fountain.