RP:Scary Monsters And Super Creeps

Part of the Through The Looking-Glass: Return To Wonderland Arc

Summary: Khitti and Brand head to Vailkrin to use the abandoned manse as a safe house to portal themselves to the city of Helshade in the Shadow Plane. They eventually find themselves face to face with the Prophet Emeritus' replacement, a newly awakened treant named Cirice. Things are not as they seem and Khitti must accept the (extremely painful) aid from Cirice and the Shadowseers before she sets off to rescue her dude-in-distress Brand.

The Tranquility, Cenril

Khitti || Much like the last time a trip to the Shadow Plane was made, things were packed and prepared--except this time there was a lot less taken. The city that served as Vailkrin’s mirror was supposed to be neutral, right? It only made sense that perhaps it was a bit more of a civilized place where Khitti had no need for ten tons of weapons. Both tikifhlee were spared the saddlebags this time around, the only things Khitti was bringing was both swords and a satchel of whatever essentials she deemed necessary--she wasn’t going to go without -anything-, of course.

Khitti || Idle chitchat with Brand was made along the way in an effort to keep her from worrying too much (it was likely incredibly obvious that that’s what Khitti was doing). Lanara was back. No, you’ve not met her. Turns out she didn’t murder all of those people and set fire to her animal sanctuary. It was possession situation like what happened with Amarrah. She wants to break into the Cenril Bank for her belongings. Meri said I can’t go. I get to babysit. Khitti hadn’t entirely seemed bothered by this--she even told Lanara that thievery wasn’t her forte.

The Seemingly Abandoned Manse, Vailkrin

Khitti || Once they went through the portal to Vailkrin, Khitti grew increasingly quiet. As they passed the dark forest, she stared at it, crimson brows knitted together in vague concern as she tried to see if there was any sight of anyone in that general direction. But there was nothing. Nothing save for trees and darkness, anyway. Khitti led the way through the town, not giving a frak about whether or not her tikifhlee was an inconvenience for anyone there. They’d continue on, until the reached the west side of the city, in the more suburban area, and finally stopped in front of the long-since abandoned mansion. She hopped off her cat then, the beast shrinking down to house cat size as Khitti went to the gate, olive-green eyes squinting to see if it was -truly- abandoned still.

Brand , too, stared out at the forest as they passed. No, nothing. Nothing but trees and darkness and… probably spiders, skittering just beyond the treeline, looking for a meal. A shiver crawled up his spine, and he murmured his gratefulness that they weren’t heading into that particular danger today. But it was the strangest thing -- as soon as he had the thought, he could have sworn he felt someone else’s laughter echoing in the back of his head. <Dominic?> he asked it, but there was no answer. And why should there be? The entity he’d once shared a body with hadn’t been around in years. (And a good thing, too. It would be -way- too awkward to explain child-Dominic to first-Dominic.)

Brand || The rest of their trip was quiet, both inside his head and out. Perhaps the laugh had been the sign of an overactive imagination. He certainly had read enough books lately -- even if most of them were bedtime stories for little Dominic. The -only- Dominic, now. With that, Brand set his worries aside and focused on the task at hand. “Coast looks clear to me. No signs of recent disturbance. Either no one’s been here in ages, or they flew in through the chimney.” He chuckled at his own joke. The sprout was already amped up for the arrival of ‘Santa,’ even though that wouldn’t be for another three months. Most of what the kid requested was actually meant for his gaggle of chickens. Go figure.

Khitti gave Brand nothing more than a distracted half-laugh. She really hadn’t heard what his joke was, but he laughed, so she followed suit. She just stared at the house, those eyebrows of hers still furrowed together in concern… or maybe it was some shade of fear? She couldn’t quite tell. Almost a full minute would pass after Brand commented on the house, before she snapped out of her thoughts, muttering an apology as she pushed the wrought iron gate open, “Sorry. It’s… been a long time since I’ve been here...” Khitti and her cat skirted around the overgrown foliage, pushing away branches if need be until they reached the door. The redhead sucked in a bit of breath and let it out in a heavy sigh as she put hand to doorknob, turned it, and headed inside.

Khitti || Inside, nothing had changed since she’d last been there. The telltale signs of those acid globs she used to conjure up were everywhere in the main sitting area; they hadn’t quite eaten their way through the walls, thanks to the materials the outside was made of, but there were definitely holes in the floor with black rings around them. Khitti weaved her way around them and the furniture, trying not to remember the past (and failing), and went on into the large kitchen, stopping only once they reached a cellar door. It was opened, and Khitti conjured up a small fireball, using it to sear away cobwebs as she went down the stairs. “It should hopefully be okay here to do this. I don’t really know of another place unless we just decided to say frak it and went through the portal out in the open.

Brand || “Right.” A beat. “What’s the plan, again?” Hey, Brand was as prone to moments of distraction as Khitti. He’d been meaning to pay attention, really he had, but all the details beyond ‘go to the place, pew-pew the things’ had kind of melted away in the noise of everything else in his life. Not least of all, Dozla. She’d hidden his trove of spoons again. He was gonna have to give her a stern talking to, after he fou--- Priorities, Brand. Focus. Khitti now. Spoons later. Or he was going to miss the answer to the question he’d literally just asked.

Khitti || “The plan is to go through the portal to what might be the only normal place in the Shadow Plane--” Haha. That exists? No way. “--and find help. From someone. Anyone. Because I refuse to believe that there’s not anyone there that knows about Jessamine. And once Lanara gets her own mess taken care of, she said she’d help us too.” Khitti hadn’t wanted to ask it of the witch, but she certainly wasn’t going to turn down her help. The portal was soon opened--and unfortunately for Brand, she’d still not gotten around to figure out whether or not she could make the portal act like a window, so they’d actually know what the heck they were running in to.

Helshade, The Shadow Plane

Khitti || Both Khitti and her cat would go through the portal and… they’d get stuck in a closet. It’d be even more cramped once Brand followed her through. “OW! Get your damn elbow out of my ribs!” With a huff she batted away the clothing that threaten to overtake them entirely and put an ear to the door. Oh no. “Brand… I don’t think we should go out there…” The sounds of giggling was present, and yet… there was something else. It was the sound of a certain thing Khitti and Brand liked to do -a lot- and the very reason why they had to magically soundproof their room. “No. Not going out there. We’ll just stay in this closet forever. We’ll be perfectly fine. We did alright without parents, Dominic’ll be fine too.” Khitti pulled her head away from the door, eyes as wide as saucers, “There’s… people in there. Possibly a lot of people.” People doing things she didn’t want to see. Brand wouldn’t be able to see it unless he happened to light a bit of fire, but Khitti’s face was as red as a tomato. She could -feel- it.

Brand || In the darkness, Brand cracked a grin. “I’ve got a better idea. Wait here, in case this doesn’t go to plan.” Without further explanation, Brand threw the closet door open, leaped out -- and immediately burst into flames. He threw his arms wide and bellowed out as loud and animalistic a roar as he could. Giggles soon gave way to screams, and the sounds of debauchery were replaced by the sounds of panicked, hasty departure. Brand spent a while chasing out the stragglers before returning to Khitti -- covered in sweat and smelling strongly of pork barbecue, but otherwise none the worse for wear. “That was fun. We should crash parties like this more often.”

Khitti watched in horror as Brand started his own Burning Man festival right in the middle of someone’s home. The tikifhlee had jumped up on Khitti’s shoulders, hissed at the people leaving, and turned her nose up at Brand’s barbecue smell when he returned. “You’re a terrible person. But, this is why I love you,” she said with a smirk. Before exiting the closet, Khitti’d give him one of those kisses that were usually a precursor to his coveted sexy time sessions, but alas… it wouldn’t happen here. Because who the frak knows where those people had been or what exactly they were doing. Ew. “Sorry! He’s got a mind of his own! You have a lovely house!”, Khitti shouted as they made their way out of the building.

Khitti || And when they actually left, well… the city outside waiting for them wasn’t exactly what either of them expected. It was the exact opposite of Vailkrin; while one wallowed in darkness, this place was bright and inviting and full of people that didn’t look like they wanted to tear your throat out and eat you. Helshade was a vast oasis of sunshine and liveliness, its denizens--though they many of them were clearly not from the city and chose to wear sunglasses to counteract the extreme sunlight--seemed… happy? There wasn’t an ounce of corruption for as far as either of them could see. Marble made up the majority of the buildings and their columns, the stone itself flecked in shades of golds and reds that glittered in the sun. To accent it, more warm toned colors were added in, via the use of gold ore and red sandstone that’d been pristinely polished.

Khitti || After managing to pry her eyes away from the architecture, Khitti eyed the various races that wandered about the city as large magical golems of the same marble as the buildings patrolled the streets, spouting reminders of peace to the citizens that went about their everyday business. Khitti tugged Brand’s shirtsleeve as a couple of Amarrah and Facilier’s people, the umbrawisps, walked past and headed into a nearby shop. The two very out of place humans had been spotted in return of course, and the umbrawisps whispered to themselves before disappearing into the store. “Uhhh. Pick a direction and let’s get lost,” she said finally, as she still stared at literally everything.

Brand surveyed the city in deft movements, leading Khitti and the housecat-tikifhlees through turns and narrow alleyways. Soon they reached an area crowded with detritus and makeshift tents. An old woman turned clouded eyes toward their approach, but they were otherwise ignored. No locals with money came through here; no hapless tourists wandered this close to the stink of the mech factory. And Brand walked like he knew where he was going. Whoever these humans were, it was beyond the interest of the alley-dwellers. Probably disguised officers of the law, anyway. Better to keep their heads down -- and that mindset was exactly what Brand was counting on. “Doors and corners, peach,” he whispered, shoving Khitti down another alley and past a row of dilapidated homes. “That’s where they get ya. Keep goin’.” Who was ‘they’? What did it mean to be ‘gotten’? Brand only nodded to himself, as if what he’d said had made perfect sense.

Khitti had absolutely no frakking clue what the hell Brand was talking about, but… as this was a big city--much bigger than any one Khitti’d ever been to before--she just trusted his judgement on this. You know, what with his history in Catal, after all. They continued on through the city’s slums and after what seemed like forever they finally made it out, the two stumbling on what seemed to be the ritzier part of the housing district. Everything looked the same to Khitti and stopping to spin around carefully to take things in and try to decide where to go next wasn’t helping. It wasn’t, until suddenly a trio of impossibly tall cloaked figures hurried down a nearby dark alley. “Wait… was that…?” For once in her life, instead of running off alone, Khitti grabbed Brand’s hand and chased after the three strangers.

Khitti || They’d reach the end of the alley and would find nothing. “What the hell?” Neither end of the connecting street held any clue of where the hooded people went, yet there was a strange rattling just nearby. Olive-green eyes shifted upwards towards the tops of the buildings, and the tail-end of their long robes were spotted. “Goddamn it! Get back here!” Khitti went to the ladder, started climbing, and then suddenly remembered she was wearing a dress. Lucky, Brand. It would seem he gets a bit of a show during this action-y chase scene. She stopped just long enough to give him a pre-emptive smirk, and then continued climbing up. “STOP.” But, the figures decided not to stop. They just kept going, soon heading across golden planks that allowed them to bridge the gap between buildings. They crossed the planks and disappeared into the tower of a large observatory, and Khitti would soon follow suit.

Khitti || That… proved to be a bad idea. Khitti stepped through the open window into the dimly lit library and nearly impaled herself on the end of the warglaive of a waiting elven guard, one of the Greydusk. “Leave. Now,” said the elf woman, “You do not belong here.” If Brand wasn’t paying attention on his way in and bumped into Khitti, she’d have to do some comical-looking bending over to escape the blade’s wrath. “I sure as frak belong here because people -want- me here,” Khitti said, not elaborating on whether or not she meant the observatory or Helshade or even just the Shadow Plane in general.

Brand slipped in beside Khitti and put a hand on the elf’s shoulder, an action that snapped her gaze to his. “You want to be lettin’ us in, miss.” It wasn’t a persuasive argument, and yet the elf hesitated, brows furrowed in confusion. The grip on her glaive weakened and her arm dropped to her side. She stammered a weak protest before shuffling aside, her pose now formal and deferential. Brand gave her shoulder a quick squeeze before passing her by. “That’s a good girl. Now be a dear and forget you saw anyone, yes?” The elf said nothing, but that answer was good enough. Brand took Khitti by the hand and whisked them both inward.

Khitti || Um. What the frak just happened? Khitti watched as Brand worked his “magic” on the elf, and couldn’t help but blink several times as the whole interaction progressed. Much like Brand usually did in times like this where weird things happened and he really didn’t know what the hell was going on, Khitti just chalked it up to something entirely convenient and logical--that something, in this case, being Brand’s assassin background. She’d never really seen him do anything of the sort all that much in the time they’d known each other, the one instance from most recent memory being the incident in Rynvale when they met Auditore and his crew. Brand had coped with that situation a hell of a lot better than Khitti and Lionel had and the situation now seemed much the same.

Khitti || The greydusk let them pass, and Brand led Khitti out of the room and down into the similarly lit main area of the observatory. The massive telescope was retracted out of the building’s moon roof, and the roof itself closed for the long stretch of time that made up the daylight hours. The trio of hooded figures stood conversing nearby the piece of intricately crafted piece of machinery used to study the heavens in the few precious twilight hours the Shadowseers got in Helshade. Khitti stormed her way down the staircase, “Hey, you frakking morons!”, to which the hooded tree-people responded with a hiss until they realized just who was insulting them. There was still hesitation--the last time they’d seen her they’d taunted and attempted to verbally torture her again, as they had when Brand and Lionel had come to the Shadow Plane as well--but eventually, one of them spoke up, “Harbinger, we did not think you would come. The stars were uncertain; we sensed tragedy. It encircles you, as it has in your past lives, as it will in your future ones… and yet... it does not appear to be so.” Clearly, Khitti and Brand were perfectly fine, and the confusion was evident in the Shadowseer’s raspy voice. “Did you ever think that maybe, -just maybe-, that sometimes you could be -wrong-? That maybe if you want me to frakking help you that you need to worry about now and not my goddamn future? Because that’s none of your business. -Now-, I need help. -Now-, I need you to do something. Anything. Give me a goddamn army because that Jessamine might actually be stronger than Facilier and I almost died twice because of him.” The two figures that hadn’t spoken drew closer to the one that had, the three whispering to one another. Khitti sighed heavily, side-eyed Brand, and rolled her eyes--not at him, but at the fact that the Shadowseers were being as weird and as secretive as ever.

Brand stood silently, waiting. He wouldn’t be any more convincing to these beings than the “Harbinger” herself. If they wouldn’t help after a direct plea from her, what more could he do? A long time passed, and eventually one of the seers separated from the group and approached them. To Brand’s surprise, it came to a stop just before him, rather than in front of Khitti. Brand did his best to meet the creature’s gaze -- wherever that might be, under the dark folds of fabric that hid away its face. They were close to the same height, but Brand had the unnerving feeling that he was being towered over, examined by someone who saw him as little more than an ant crawling along the ground. He couldn’t see the stare, but he could -feel- it. Even Brand couldn’t withstand such a force forever, and he sighed with relief as the seer turned away from him and began to address Khitti.

Khitti || “There is no army that can help you, Harbinger,” the first Shadowseer said finally. “The souls that made it to Helshade are few and their will to live barely existent. Even we are scarce, the last of our kind. And it will be that way so long as the past is unchanged by the future. But… there is someone that -might- help you.” A boney branch of a finger removed itself from the Shadowseer’s robes, ushering Khitti and Brand deeper into the observatory, and down into the depths below it.

Khitti || Torches lit the way down the passage from the surface to the basement where the Shadowseers dwelled as of late. Finally, a doorway opened in front of them, and in the room sat a treant much like Emeritus. “They Who Wish Harm took Emeritus from us, turned him into something more. We’re no longer connected to him… our magic faded and it allowed They Who Wish Harm to steal the Lake from us. To taint it. To make it their own. All hope was lost… until she awakened.”

Khitti took a step into the room finally, olive-green eyes taking in the surroundings briefly--scrolls and tomes lay scattered and torn amongst the room, while new writings, frantically written and barely legible, were strewn among them--before finally settling on the treant. Shadowfire burned inside of the creature, the violet and inky-blackness of the flames lit up the various cracks and missing pieces of her bark, the rest that remained were charred, a dark contrast to Emeritus’ ashen appearance. “And who is she…?” She crossed the room fully, to come to stand in front of the treant, the creature standing, towering over the redhead. “Cirice,” the treant said, the fire within her crackling as she spoke. Khitti smirked somewhat, “And how are you any different from Emeritus? He barely helped--and now look where he is.”

Khitti || “Emeritus awakened in a time of neutrality. His way was to follow the prophecies and allow everyone to make their own choices. I, however, was born of rage--They Who Wish Harm have started a war and you will be the one to end it. There is no choice now but to fight or both this world -and yours- will fall,” Cirice said, her attention shifting from Khitti to Brand. Much like the Shadowseer had, Cirice too stared at the Catalian for what likely felt like forever to him before finally addressing Khitti again, “My approach to helping is much more direct. I can return to you that which was lost… or rather, that which was hidden away.”

Brand felt a ball of dread and discomfort settle into the pit of his stomach. Maybe it was the way he was being stared at, first by the Shadowseers and then again by this ‘Cirice’. He didn’t get the feeling they trusted him -- and it made him not want to trust them, in return. He’d been by Khitti’s side since the first time she’d ever come to the Shadow Plane. How many times had he risked his life fighting for her? How many more times did they want him to prove himself?

Brand || The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. The angrier he became, the more his vision watered and swirled before him. Once he was able to blink his sight clear again, he reeled at the scene before him -- Cirice, hoisted up into the air by a dark and mossy tree branch, her roots dangling well above the ground. Khitti, a look of true horror on her face. The Shadowseers, closing around him with weapons drawn. Wait, around -him-? His gaze tracked downward, but the body he saw wasn’t his own. This half-rotten, lichen-covered visage was all treant, and he could neither move its limbs nor express the scream that built up inside of him. He was something else now -- or something else was him -- and his awareness was nothing more than a passenger trapped on the ride.

Brand || The treant snarled and flung Cirice into the nearest group of Shadowseers, bowling them over in a mess of limbs and branches. In one great leap, he gripped the chandelier overhead, his momentum swinging him over the ring of Seers and toppling candles onto the lot of them. Fire and chaos was left in his wake as the treant raced for the exit. James Juniperus would not be caught by the enemy -- no, not today.

Khitti || That thought of “what the actual hell is happening right now” washed over Khitti again as she watched Definitely-Not-Brand pick up Cirice and toss her like she was nothing. It was becoming increasingly more a thing lately that she was at a loss for words, and now was no different. Leaving the Shadowseers to tend to Cirice for the moment, Khitti chose to chase after James, adding her own fire to the chaos. Just as he’d intended though, the strange treant had gotten away. This was another one of those times she desperately wished for the gifts that vampirism that provided without the actual undeath. She stopped at the window they’d gone through to get into the building, but there was nothing. There was nothing. There was no Brand. Khitti’s stomach tossed and turned like a ship in a storm, her anxiety forcing a billion and one possibilities to go through her head. Brand wasn’t here. He hadn’t been here this entire time. Was he dead? Was this just another of her nightmares? What was she going to do if he was really gone? How could she live without--.

Khitti || “Harbinger,” Cirice’s voice called from the telescope room of the observatory. “Return to me. We must work quickly.” The treant’s voice stirred Khitti from her thoughts thankfully, but she still stared out that window a bit longer. Finally, with a sigh, she’d turn and head back downstairs to regroup with the others, the Shadowseers waiting with Cirice as well. There were no tears and the treant took note of it, inwardly saddened somewhat by the prospect that the Shadow Plane’s savior had become more hardened over the time that’d passed since Khitti’d been here for her cure. Cirice had not been here to witness it, but the dead spoke, and the trees always listened. Khitti’s face was void of emotion, her tone harsh, “What more is there to be done?” The same Shadowseer that’d spoken before stepped forward now, a long metal case in hand, “You must become She Who Walks Both Paths.”

Khitti’s brows furrowed together in confusion, “What? What the hell does that even mean?” Cirice moved towards Khitti now, taking up Khitti’s arms in nearly the same sort of fashion as Jessamine’s chains, boney finger branches wrapping themselves around her wrists. “There is still darkness within you, Harbinger. It was merely locked away. It -must- be set free.” The Shadowseers took positions around Khitti, blocking her in--it reminded her of the first day she’d seen them, the way they’d pushed her about and taunted her. “You -will- allow this or we will do it by force,” the treant continued. The Shadowseer with the metal box opened it, finally, revealing a strange looking sword. The gladius was handed over to Cirice, who merely waited for Khitti to make her decision. “Fine,” Khitti said, and her wrists were released.

Khitti || “This will hurt, but you are no stranger to pain. You have suffered greatly and you will suffer more as time goes on. It is well that you have Cyris on your side, for his magic will be what help you from the corruption eating away at you again,” Cirice said, fiery eyes shifting towards the sword before looking down at the wakizashi on Khitti’s hip, plucking it away and tossing it elsewhere, the clattering of the sword sounding loudly in the building. “Two symbols will be carved into your hands: one for putrefaction and the other for purification. They will balance you out. One will aim to kill you, while the other restores you. Using both magicks at once will cost you greatly… Avoid it as much as you can.” The darkly-colored gladius was snatched up finally, and the pointy-end shoved into the palm of Khitti’s left hand, carving one of the aforementioned runes--and the right would soon join its twin in a hell of a lot of pain.

Khitti suppressed screams as the sword dug into her hands, one at a time. The pain was nigh unbearable and yet, bear it she did. Cirice was right, there was work to be done, but first… there was that little problem of finding that almost-husband of hers. The pain she felt now would pale in comparison to what she’d do to Jessamine and James Juniperus when she found them. Soon her hands would be tightly wrapped, the fire within Cirice used to cauterize the wounds. “This sword has had its first taste of blood, and soon it will have more. When you are unable to call upon your own magicks, seek out the power in it, much as you do with the one Cyris gave you. The hilt was carved from the obsidian that formed at Ashfall Peak during my awakening, and the blade made of darksteel, forged in the volcano’s flames. Embershard will not fail you.” Khitti took a closer look at it, a distraction from the agony that course through her hands--cuts of alexandrite in various sizes dotted the handle of the gladius, the purple-green hues sparkling in the light of the flames from within the treant.

“You must go now, Harbinger. You must find your mate. If you do not, all will be lost--and you lost most of all,” Cirice said as the three Shadowseers opened a portal to the remains of The Lake Of Echoed Screams. With aching hands, misery and rage in her heart, and the two tikifhlee by her side, Khitti set off through the portal with only one thing in mind: to take back her Brand.