RP:Blessed

Part of the Rise of Larket Arc

Summary: Josleen and Kelovath summon Revan in an attempt to remove the curse placed upon Josleen. Kelovath succeeds in convincing Revan to break the curse, but fails to learn the names of Revan's other victims.

Hildegarde's War Mansion in the Mountains

Kelovath once again did not sleep through the night. The holy aura continued to surround Josleen as the pair made their way to the dormitory of the maids. It didn’t seem like the best time to set their plan into motion, but most of the patients within the medical ward were still sleeping. Early morning always suited Kelo anyways, so why not do it now? The pain in his left hand wasn’t as awful as the day before, but still noticeable. The gauntlet now covered his hand as well, which didn’t help with the slight burning pain. Overall, the armored paladin was quiet as they entered the room, preparing himself mentally for whatever may happen. He had an idea of what the creature was capable of, based on what the bard had described. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep made it increasingly difficult to focus on the current mission. A few deep breaths were taken in as the man walked around the room aimlessly, his eyes shifting to each bed, 6 of them in total, and the 3 cabinets placed throughout the dormitory. Another breath was taken in and released before he turned and smiled to Josleen. “Well…Are you up for this?” He may have been asking himself more than Jos, but he did say it aloud.

Josleen follows Kelovath through the servant’s corridors, the dull spaces behind the wallpapered walls in the abandoned mansion. It’s a place where everyone can hear you scream, but not know how to find you. She stays close behind him to see if she can siphon some of his courage. As for her, she’s terrified. Her heartbeat races. Her back has healed enough so that she can keep pace with him, but its soreness remains ever present. She doesn’t want to do this now, tomorrow, or ever, really. She asks for too much of him, to put himself at risk, in his condition. His exhaustion does not go unnoticed, simply unremarked upon out of respect for his non-verbally communicated desire to not be fussed at. Fine, she won’t fuss, but she will notice. But this curse needs to be broken today, because tomorrow she’ll be gone from his side and protection, stealing away like a thief in the night. Her guilt compounds. Kelovath has been so good to her, deserves her whole truth, but here she is, lying by omission. She smiles weakly at his question. “As up for it as I’ll ever be...” Her voice lacks conviction. She glances beyond him at the beds, and beyond that the bathroom where he will hide to give the appearance of Josleen being alone. Looking up at him now she says, “I’m scared.” A shake of the head. “I want to do this. I want to,” she says more so for her own sake than his. Once he goes to the bathroom she pulls out the now black-and-red mottled rose, Revan’s rose, and strikes a match to set it aflame, hoping to summon Revan’s bad intentions. A careful actress, even her body language suggests she is alone, tiny changes in the posture that remove all awareness of Kelovath hidden in the bathroom.

Revan presses the tip of the match between his index finger and thumb to extinguish the flame with a hiss, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, dear" he states in a very subtle tone. The undead creature hides behind a hooded robe and has appeared before the woman without any sign regarding his arrival, the white necked raven resting upon his shoulder while shimmering red eyes stare to the kneeled woman with a stern look of disappointment. Behind rotting and cracked lips, stained yellowed teeth grit together and grind in frustration as the he bites back the obvious urge to lash out at the woman, a hint of awareness visible upon his features. "Against my better judgment, I trusted you to serve out your punishment with acceptance and to learn from your sins. Yet, here we sit with you unaffected by my discipline and reeking of protection." He remains crouched before her, the woman who had become his prime target in recent weeks, for a few more seconds before rising up with a disgusting crunch and pop from his knees. "Fear is something that has always been dominant in you, Josleen of Xalious, and yet you summon me knowing that your punishment for such betrayal would be even fiercer than the last." He hesitates and takes in a long, deep breathe through his nostrils, "You are not alone", turning on his heel he eyes the empty canvas of the room, the raven on his shoulders releasing its familiar cry before taking flight and landing upon the doorknob to the bathroom, it's wings extending while rocking back and forth to keep solid balance. "Reveal yourself", Revan commands in a soft yet authoritative voice, "and explain to me the meaning of this..." lingering above the bard unarmed and open in his posture, the undead shows no clear signs of aggression, after all his brain may be rotten but he is no fool.

Kelovath wanted to console the bard and give her strength, but there wasn’t much he could actually do. Another smile was offered to the woman before making his way into the bathroom and closing the door. He waited, eyes closed, and per usual, lips requesting strength from Arkhen. It didn’t take long apparently for the undead creature to show itself. The paladin waited and listened, holding himself back until the right time. Hearing the bird land on the doorknob appeared to be the correct time, so he opened the door. The door opened out into the room and standing in the doorway, was Kelovath, holding his sword in his right hand. His left hand, the painful one, was glowing gold with holy magic, aimed directly at the undead. The power requested from Arkhen was more than clear, as an aura now surrounded the paladin. Josleen’s aura, although dim, was still there. A single breath was taken in before the paladin spoke. “Step away from her.” His voice was deep and commanding, stern. His eyes shifted to Josleen for a brief moment, but his focus would be on the undead.

Josleen looks up at Revan as he taunts her, lips fixed in a straight, humorless line. Though the fear trembles throughput her body, Josleen wills herself to not appear afraid, with halting success. It’s evident she’s terrified, but the fact she can even try to be strong signals what Revan suspects, not that she cares. He’s here, isn’t he? That’s all she and Kelovath need. As soon as the paladin appears she scrambles away from Revan, or tries to, to give Kelovath the room to do what he needs to do without fear of catching her in the cross-hairs. She looks frequently between them, to Kelovath in awe and to pick up on any cues for anything she needs to do, and to Revan in fear, and to avoid any attacks if possible.

Revan does not follow Kelovath's order to step back, not that he needs to as Josleen scurries away like a frightened rodent to hide behind her knight in shining armor, those red hues following her escape all the way though he makes no move to prevent her escape. His attention turns back to the paladin as he eyes the glowing aura with an emotionless stare before breaking the silence between the trio, "And so here we stand... A paladin of Arkhen, I knew I recognized that stench." A soft chuckle, or as close to a chuckle as an undead can get, is given while the raven departs from its perch and lands upon the robed man's shoulder once more. The sight of the room quite the spectacle - a cowardly woman stuck between a disciple of Vakmatharas and a warrior of Arkhen in a cold standoff. "Tell me holy one, what exactly is your plan here? To free this wretched woman from her rightful punishment? To eliminate me from this realm? To play the hero?" Another humored sound produces a few maggots and some black sludge like bile from the torn throat of the creature. "You and I are two sides of the same coin. Honor and death go hand in hand, do they not? If you wish to strike me down, then proceed. You will not find any resistance. But know that in doing so you condemn your friend to a life of pain, along with all the other sinners that have met my hand." The meaning behind his declaration is clear, only Revan can undo the magic behind his punishments and even if Kelovath found a way around the curses, he'd have a hell of a time finding all of the disciples victims. "Yet, something tells me you aren't stupid enough to make that decision, are you? A servant of Arkhen, the god of generosity, honor and forgiveness wouldn't strike down an unarmed foe without being proper vindication, yes?" A smirk as he shakes his head, arrogant even when cornered and on the edge of defeat, "What are your demands, boy?"

Kelovath did not move quite yet as Josleen scampered out of the way. His eyes locked onto Revan and his holy magic never wavered. It would be easy to remove the undead completely, sure. But, he had a point. The magic still needed undone. And the paladin truly didn’t know enough about curses to deal with the magic. He could learn. Spend whatever amount of time needed to remove the magic from Josleen. But, the others. There were others. Turning a blind eye to them wouldn’t be possible. So, he spoke simply, but his voice continued to be unyielding. “Remove the curse from those inflicted.” He took a step forward, out of the bathroom now. His armor glowing fiercely as the aura floated around him.

Josleen recalls that the undead are weak against fire and that she has a box of matches in her hand. She’s about ready to figure out a way to rig up enough flame using only things within arm-reach to kill Revan (Josleen MacGyver!) when she hears Kelovath’s demand. She stays her hand and follows his plan. He knows best, her faith in him absolute.

Revan doesn't laugh or mock Kelovath this time instead opting to simply shake his head and speak, "That's not the way the world works, paladin", his eyes turning once more to Josleen as he heaves his chest in a sigh - "In exchange for parting our separate ways, I offer a peaceful resolution. I will remove my mark from this one, who I assume paid you in coin or... other means for your aid. She's become far too much of a headache for me to deal with further. I'm afraid I've lost hope for her finding redemption and forgiveness for her sins. Without my help, the bard will remain dirty but it's clear that it her chosen path." He stares to Kelovath once more, "After all, what is it the humans say? Let god sort them out."

Kelovath narrowed his gaze at the return-offer. The upper hand is clearly in the paladin’s favor, but removing one curse simply wouldn’t be enough. He didn’t move as he replied, “Remove the curse from her,” He motioned to Josleen before continuing. “And I want the names of the others who have been cursed.” A compromise between a servant of Vakmatharas and a paladin of Arkhen. Sounds unlikely to ever happen. But that is the current situation. Probably foolish, but the armored man lowered his glowing hand of holy magic, now getting a much better look at the undead. Gross was the first thought, but there did appear to be something more. At the moment, Kelo had no way of knowing what it was. He wasn’t overly curious about it either, given the circumstance. After lowering his hand, the magic seemed to disappear, only to rather quickly shift into his weapon, the blade taking on the golden aura.

Josleen stays quiet and out of the way.

Revan is no longer amused with the charade between the three of them, the undead rolling his eyes at the senseless demand, "You think I waste my time learning the names of the fallen, hero of Arkhen? They are tasks, not pets and even if I did know their identities, you would be wasting your breath. You can either allow me to remove my mark or slaughter me in defiance of your god, those and -only- those are your choices." Revan has a solid feeling that Kelovath will take the righteous choice and turns his eyes to stare at Josleen, holding out his hand to her, "Come here girl. If you wish to weasel your way out of redemption then so be it but don't blame when you feel the lick of hells flames burning at your feet."

Kelovath looked to Josleen, feeling unsure how to proceed. Killing the undead accomplishes nothing for those already cursed. But he could also prevent others from being cursed. Then there’s Josleen. She could be free from the curse. See things how they are supposed to be. No longer needing the aura to protect her and dispel the unholy magic. Possibly no longer needing the paladin. He didn’t think that such a selfish thought would pop into his head. But it did. Removing the curse from Josleen, could possibly remove her from his life. She’d be free of him. No longer fearing the distance between her and the paladin because of the cursed visions. She could return to her home. He could return to Larket. His home. Forget about the war. Move on. Be safe. Peace. Peace? No. There would be no peace. Only haunting memories of the easy path taken. With no risk, there is no reward. Removing the curse was the risk, but Josleen may be that reward. He had to do the right thing here. “Remove the curse.” He spoke with less conviction, bringing his gaze back to the undead. The aura on Josleen remained, though, glowing a bit brighter now.

Josleen doesn’t believe for a second that Revan doesn’t know the names of his victims. Her lips purse at his villain-monologue bluff. “You lie.” She shakes her head several times when he beckons her to step forward. “You’re still lying.” She doesn’t trust he’ll make good on the arrangement. Why would she, given their history? But what if he isn’t? She puts a hand on Kelovath’s armored forearm and takes a hesitant step forward so Revan can maybe remove the curse. She doesn’t break contact with the paladin so that should things go south he is very close.

Revan audibly growls as Josleen accuses him of lying, especially irritated considering it's one of the only things he's ever told the truth about, he doesn't acknowledge or respond to her accusations instead growing frustrated with her hesitance and moving across the room to close the gap between them, "Hold my bird" he commands to Kelovath and without awaiting permission makes the Raven step up onto the paladin's shoulder with an open beak and hiss though the pet doesn't try to harm the man. He takes Josleen's hand and pauses for about three seconds weighing on his options and deeply considering taking the paladins blade instead of freeing this winch from her punishment, ultimately, logic wins the undead over as he leans in very close to the bard forcing her to stare into his hypnotic gaze as those shimmering red eyes of his twirl into a dazzling spiral, the world around her turning black as tunnel vision forces him to be her sole focus. What happens next is rapid flash, the complexion of the undead man quickly changes to the demon from her first haunting and then for only a millisecond a glimpse of a man with smooth and clear skin along with a mess of shaggy blue hair falling over caramel brown eyes, a voice whispering across her mind laced with concern "Jos..." The event taking place so quickly, it's doubtful that she'd be able to make any sense of it and much less understand the meaning if she even noticed it at all. On the outside, Revan is gentle but direct with the removal of his mark, a swirl of starry black mist twirls out of Josleen's chest, across and down her arm, up Revan's own before sinking into his heart. This takes place for nearly a minute with an icy chill filling the room throughout the process until Revan finally releases her hand allowing everything to return to normal including the voices and sights seen in Josleen's head, now there were only the natural ones and let's face it, the woman had no hope for those. One long final look is given to the bard with an expression of anger and disappointment, similar of one that a father would give to his own child. On the floor the black rose withers away into ash before being swept across the floor boards by an unfelt wind that confirms the validity of the unhexing. The disciple turns now to face the paladin but doesn't step back, "I've kept my end of the bargain holy one, now what will you do?"

Kelovath grasped Josleen’s hand as she moved toward Revan. The paladin was unwilling to let it go during the process. He watched and waited as the curse seemed to be removed. He ignored the bird completely, barely even moving when it landed on his armor. He knew this would have been the perfect opportunity to kill the undead creature, but Josleen was too close for that to happen now. Seeing the rose turn to ash confirmed any suspicion of the lingering curse, but Kelo would not remove the aura from Josleen until Revan was gone. He’d not drop his guard. Not now. After hearing the undead speak, Kelovath pulled at Josleen to come back to him and away from Revan. Softly, he replied, “Leave. And do not come near Josleen or this place (the building) ever again. I will kill you. But it won’t be today.”

Josleen feels herself swaying under Revan’s hypnosis, one hand joined with the servant of Vakmatharas, the other with Arkhen’s chosen Templar. Her fingers blanche as they grip the paladin even tighter, for balance and assurance that he is there. She can feel the mist fluttering out of her chest and shudders involuntarily at the knowledge of having her body invaded, her spirit too, violated. Once freed, she takes a deep breath to find her center again. Her normal vision slowly expands in her mind. She ducks behind Kelovath as beckoned by him, briefly placing a hand flat on his armored back, grateful for this man who shouldered her burden without question or compensation. The touch is brief, her hand quickly withdrawn so that should violence erupt he won’t have to worry about her.

Revan doesn't flinch as he continues to stare into the eyes of the paladin with a lingering hint of distaste, a smirk forming across those disgusting lips just before he says his parting piece, "You've got the generosity down but I'm afraid you'll need work on the forgiveness bit, Arkhen would be disappointed." Moving backwards, Revan doesn't pay a second glance to Josleen while he readies himself to depart, his eyes lids fall shut as he draws a deep breath spawning the same mist like abyss across the floor boards causing him to slowly sink into the ground until he has vanished. Curiously, the bird doesn't follow him and when either the bard or paladin turn to check on the status of the avian they would find in its place a single white rose pinned neatly to the holy warrior's pauldron.

Revan gave you 1 white rose.

Kelovath rolled his eyes at the undead. Like he’d know anything about Arkhen. He waited for Revan to finally be gone, before removing the aura around himself. Right away, the paladin felt better, but still exhausted. The magic around his sword was gone, so it was sheathed. No longer needed for the time being. He turned around to face Josleen and offered a smile to her. He did not see the white rose yet, but now facing Josleen, she would have been able to see it clearly. Softly, he asked, “Are you okay?”

Josleen glares at Revan from behind Kelovath, her hands steady (those noticing she is much braver back here would be correct). She sighs with relief once the undead is gone. She’s about to answer Kelovath’s question when she sees the rose. Without warning she swats it off his pauldron as if it were some exotic, creepy insect, her hand smacking off his shoulder in a glancing blow. Its unlikely Kelovath will even feel it through his armor. “A rose!” she gasps. The heel of her boot grinds down on the white rose, her teeth clenched in quiet rage. “He’s up to something. I don’t like this.”

Kelovath looked rather startled as Josleen smacked the flower onto the ground. Even more so when she stomped on it after it had hit the floor. If it were cursed, destroying it obviously wouldn’t work, as the woman had attempted that before. Using a bit of magic, the paladin could feel that it was less of a curse and more of a blessing. Well, maybe not a blessing, but it wasn’t evil like the black rose Josleen had. The man shrugged and reached for the bard’s hand. “Hey. We don’t even fully know if your curse has been removed yet.” He’d pull her away from the smashed flower and toward one of the nearby beds, asking her to sit down. Once she did, the paladin remained standing and closed his eyes. The aura surrounding Josleen slowly went from its dim, golden light to nothing at all. The aura was now gone. His eyes opened, looking to the woman to see her reaction.

The paladin is right, her reaction follows no logic, but having suffered the way she had at the hands of Revan, everything that comes from him begets her rage. She sits and lets the paladin do what must be done. His holiness ebbs from her and she frowns. She liked being connected to him too, as impractical as it was. She realizes now what he already knows, that with the curse gone there is no reason for him to continue to stay in this fight over Larket’s fight. “Thank you,” she says in a quiet voice, barely there. She looks up at him in silence for a moment, tempted to speak slippery words, but she remembers her mission with Kovl. The curse being removed is a good thing. She chooses not to speak carelessly today.

Kelovath nodded his head a few times, attempted to smile, but failed. Instead, he walked over to the smashed rose and lifted it from the ground. Holding it in his armored hands, the paladin made his way back over to Josleen and sat down next to her. “The rose that was given to you…Had an evil aura about it. This one…Does not.” He sighed, still thinking about what the future now holds for him. And Josleen. For him –and- Josleen. The curse has been removed! That’s cause for celebration, right? A good thing. An unsure thing. Did he want to return to Larket now? There was a war going on right here. A potential ally needing help. Injured that needed his healing. Josleen. Josleen was here. The fermin attacks had slowed heavily within Larket. The council was in shambles. But not helpless. There are people here, who are helpless. And, Josleen is here. The smashed rose within Kelovath’s armored hands fell to the floor, but he made no motion to pick it up. “I’m glad you’re okay now, Jos.” His gaze lifted to look at the woman.

Josleen, for reasons she refuses to examine too closely, daydreams during the silence about Larket. She had visited the town a handful of times as a traveling bard. Picturesque, with its marble columns and arches, and armored soldiers glinting in the sun, bright purple banners and wholesome values, she sees it clearly in her mind: her at the center of some festival, enjoying the lute players, and Kelovath is there too, relaxed and smiling, talking casually to people he knows without a care in the world, under threat of no war. A fantasy, indeed. He breaks the silence and she looks up at him, smiling faintly. She leans into his side briefly, letting her head rest on his shoulder for a moment before she sits upright again, the motion quick like a see-saw, indecisive, her gaze meeting his throughout. “Because of you.” She chuckles a little and says, “He was right scared of you, wasn’t he?” The chuckle grows into a laugh. “He had a big bark, but it was clear he was scared.” She wrinkles her nose above a wide grin, giving him a sly look through her periphery before turning her attention elsewhere. The smile remains, her amusement over the dynamics between Kelovath and Revan lingering. They should go but she doesn’t suggest that.

Kelovath felt like the entire world had paused and now it was only Josleen and him. Sitting on some random, probably dirty, bed of an unknown maid. In a room where an undead creature was just lingering. Not the best place to be, but leaving the room meant unpausing the world. The paladin didn’t want that. There was so much happening throughout Hollow and not enough time to keep up. The moment he wanted was now. He didn’t want her to pull away, but even the faint touch of her side against his was enough to make the paladin smile. His smile grew, when she mentioned the undead. “Heh. Well, yes. I suppose he was afraid.” He almost brought up the fact that Josleen was terrified during the encounter, but decided against it. The smile remained and his attention shifted to look around the room. “Maybe things will calm down some…” He whispered softly, not truly believing his own words. Hearing himself say that out loud caused another sigh to escape passed his lips. Things were only going to get more hectic. There was still a war going on. The undead creature still roaming around. Not only that, there was now the riding-crop with the strange symbol. And Larket, of course. No longer needing to focus his magic toward Josleen gave his mind time to wander. And now it shifted to his hand. Pain still lingering from the day before. Carefully, the paladin leaned forward and removed the gauntlet, exposing his bare flesh in a much brighter light than before. Brown eyes examined the hand, but still unable to see anything new. He doesn’t wince, so the pain must be getting more bearable. Thinking about the pain made it worse, so, with the gauntlet off to the side, he lifted his gaze away from his hand. The bare hand, and armored arm, moved behind Josleen, carefully resting his hand on her back, then moved around to her waist. The paladin looked to the woman, and offered a soft smile.

Josleen‘s breath catches when he puts his hand on her back, this time not to heal her or usher her away from danger but because he wants to, simply to touch. She looks up at him, eyes soft and letting him in. Her lips part slightly, smitten and struck as she tries to navigate whatever this is (she knows what it is; wartime fog makes it obscure). She leans in against him as his hand snakes around her waist. The arm closest to him folds across her middle to take his hand at her side, slender fingers interlaced with strong. Her thumb gently plays with his scars. Through touch and affection they confess a piece of something. She wants to confess more, but there’s an obstacle in the way, a thick clog of guilt. She plans to leave tomorrow on a secret mission, one she hopes to return from (Josleen is not a natural martyr), but when Kelo realizes she is gone how will he react? Will he be betrayed? Hurt? Angry? She doesn’t know his temperament well enough, but does know he won’t be happy to see she is gone. Especially not after this. Should she tell him? “There’s something you should--” She stops herself. She knows that if she tells him, he will try to stop her and she likely won’t resist his wishes. The mission is too important to abandon; Hildegarde’s army needs her and Kovl to pull through. She shakes her head to dismiss her own worlds and rests her head against his breastplate, wishing the armor wasn’t there.

Kelovath was completely content in this moment. His eyes closed when feeling the woman’s hand find his own. Tomorrow, to him, didn’t matter. It hardly even existed right now. His eyes were closed when she started to speak, but they didn’t open. A deep breath was taken in and his hand gently squeezed the bard’s, his arm tightening around the woman as well. The man lowered his head and rested it on Josleen’s. Peaceful would describe the scene very well, if it weren’t for Josleen’s secret. Obviously, the paladin had no way of knowing what tomorrow would bring, or even how he would react to the news. What he did know, was that even though war was looming and a fog may have been clouding his feelings; he knew how he felt. He knew what Josleen meant to him. Finally, that much was clear. The thoughts of her leaving, now that the curse was removed, were still present. The uncertainty would remain until something finally clicked within his mind. When that would happen, is unknown, of course. For now, he enjoyed the moment, thought about what could happen, while wanting to express his feeling to the woman.