RP:Stay The Hell Out Of It, Jos.
Summary: Revan corners Josleen to extract revenge for bringing the Paladin Kelovath into his affairs but his plans fall apart when his former self decides to step in. This is the first RP to introduce the Blue Rose.
With the recent casualties the army has a surplus of tents. Wanting some escape from the din of the medical tent, Josleen claimed one of the smaller tents for herself and parked it behind the medical ward. There she is close by if ever needed, but has more privacy when resting. But rest doesn’t come easy to her. It hasn’t since her rescue. She sleeps fitfully when she does sleep, stares wide-eyed into the darkness when she can’t. Forget counting sheep. She’s counting days, until the war is over. This particular night nature calls around three in the dawn. Eschewing chamber pots (who wants to live with their piss if they don’t have to?), the bard opts for quick sneaks into the surrounding woods. She wraps herself in furs, slips on her boots, takes a lantern, and leaves the camp by just a few paces to find the right spot behind some bushes. Unfortunately a lot of the camp does this, and each time she has to wander a little further to find a new spot that hasn’t had its soil disturbed to bury someone else’s answer to nature’s call. By lantern light she chooses her steps very carefully and fantasizes about outhouses and water closets.
Revan always seems to be there even when he's not. The omniscient feeling of being watched by the creature accompanied by a sense of dread curses those he's touched with his malice fueled magic, however on this calm and quiet night Josleen wouldn't be allowed the courteous warning of his inevitable wrath and as such she would not feel the pressure of his hateful gaze burning furiously into the back of her neck, a tell-tale sign that he was hard at work despite the perverted circumstance. "Jos...", the voice echoes from behind her a single cry beckoning to the bard for aid as it's tone matches that of a familiar wood elf. Hesitation, should it be given, is immediately met with the same cry amplified with a higher sense of urgency that stated quite plainly that a fragile life was on the line deeper into the woods.
Josleen has just about found a fresh spot when she hears--Skylei? Can’t be. There’s her voice again. The bard starts in the direction of the voice, then hesitates briefly. This isn’t Josleen’s first terror rodeo. If anything, it’s a miracle this woman leaves her home at all. Monsters have used Skylei’s fake voice to lure her into traps before. What are the chances Skylei is out here? Or even more improbably, could guess Josleen’s late night bathroom break would lead her here? Near impossible. But --and this is why the Skylei decoy trick is so effective--what if it is Skylei? Josleen treads with caution. She dims the light of her lantern by lowering the gas and tucking it beneath her furs. Her steps are eerily silent, owing to a half elven heritage, and she ducks behind trees. Finally she sees her--or it: Skylei leans against a tree with both legs amputated. Josleen’s heart race. Is this real? It’s so unlikely. She’d hate to be wrong. She hisses in the dark, “Skylei, it’s me. Is it really you? Remember when Ezekiel and I visited you in Frostmaw. Colin was with you. He brought you a gift. What was the gift?”
Blood surrounds the fallen wood elf in a massive pool, her complexion white as snow as a tremble claims her body, tears pouring down her cheeks as she stares to Josleen in a state of shock. The fact that the bard thinks asking a question for confirmation is a good idea given the current situation is quite mind boggling though her concerns are well placed. It is unfortunate that Josleen sealed her fate the moment she brought the paladin into her affairs, mercy is not neglected in the eyes of her punisher but such a betrayal would not be forgiven. Skylei begins convulsing in a violent manner and her scream pierces the air of the dense woods for ages, it almost seems as if she's going to pop but she abruptly stops and looks to her old friend with solid black pupils and answers her question in a rasp, rotten voice that doesn't belong to her, "Retribution". A birds sharp cry erupts from behind Josleen to pull her attention and when she turns the unlucky bard finds Revan reaching out for her throat lifting her into the air upon contact before slamming her to the ground on her back, the earth shattering like glass causing her to plummet through a horrific tunnel like void with hands reaching out to scratch and tear at her furs and skin with sharp nails during the descent. The eventual crash audible by a correlation of crunching and slapping noises as the darkness is dispersed by the eruption of infernal flames surrounding the bard and the pile of corpses she now rests upon as Josleen finds herself trapped in Revan's own personal hell. His voice cracks out like thunder across the blood orange sky, "Those who would avoid their punishment often find matters far worse than they once were, Lady Josleen of Xalious. You avoided your sentence and now you will pay the ultimate price. The chill of despair burns into the pain of agony, your ignorance shall be your demise." Another roar as the bodies beneath her shuffle about as they are disturbed by something lurking beneath the pile, a quick observation finds a multitude of weapons littered through out the body pile as well as a trio of exits that would allow for a possible escape from the hunger below, the bard would be forced to act quickly or face the consequences of her obviously hesitant nature.
Josleen‘s stomach drops at the sight of Skylei’s grisly tableau, but she still hesitates. None of this makes sense. Intuition sounds the alarm in her gut. Then “Skylei’s” black eyes snap open and Josleen’s sense of foreboding is validated. She’s about to turn and run when Revan choke slams her down to hell. The clawing hands cut into her face and arms. Her furs are shredded, as are sections of her dress beneath. She lands helpless on her back like a babe, momentarily winded. Everything Revan says is madness twisted into philosophical farce. She doesn’t stay still for long. There is nothing to debate here. She must escape whatever this is. She has no curiosity about what lurks beneath, knowing it can only be evil and violent in a place like this--wherever this is. She grabs a rusty short sword from the ground and chooses the eastern exit without knowing why. She’s too terrified to think properly. Action, reaction, she’s like an animal in survival mode. But on some subconscious level she chooses east because to the east is Larket, Kelovath.
Josleen would find no sanctuary in his hell, the eastern path seemingly the wisest choice as a heavy roar is felt more than heard during her escape, whatever had been lurking beneath the bodies was free and angry. The woman would encounter no issues sprinting along the blood stained path to the east until she comes across a heavy stone door with glowing green runes blocking her path. A quick examination reveals two levers on either side of the door totaling four all of which are topped with a flawless gemstone, the top left is emerald, the top right is onyx, the bottom left is jade and the bottom right is pearl. As she looks over the levers the tremors beneath her feet hint that whatever was hiding back there has decided to give chase - with no way back, Josleen must pull the levels or be devoured. Josleen , despite her panic, guesses that the order of yanking the levers must be a puzzle. She tries different combinations, such as yanking in the rough cardinal coordinates of the Hollow creation pantheon, then yanking in the order of a well known folklore story in which a little prince finds gems inscribed with secrets, first jade, then onyx, then emerald, then pearl. If that fails, she’ll try yanking by their symbolism, pearl for birth, emerald for life, jade for death, onyx for the afterlife. And so on until it opens.
Despite her constant yanking the door doesn't budge while it's riddle is unsolved. During her struggle the vibrations get stronger and stronger until when Josleen finally peers over her shoulder she finds a elongated set of jaws opened wide as the creature grabs her into it's maw and begins chewing away each bone snapped giving a satisfying crunch as the razor sharp teeth rip through her fragile flesh until finally death is brought about by molars breaking her skull wide open. Though this is not the end Josleen deserves, no, she will get far worse, after a few seconds of darkness a burst of light burns through the area until the woman finds herself sprinting down the eastern path once again, the pain of being devoured still very fresh in her mind.
Josleen screams as she is eaten alive. Sorry, friends, family, loved ones, this is it. She is sure her death is final and true, but then she respawns. No time to think about it. This isn’t her first interplanar horror rodeo either. She runs to the door and pulls the levers in the order of onyx, pearl, emerald, jade. It spells O-P-E-J. Not quite O-P-E-N, but close enough.
As Josleen pulls the levers in order the heavy stone door begins to rumble to life as the green runes on the face fade away, the obstacle lifting straight up allowing her entry to the next area - a large open courtyard that is that has a portion of Xalious replicated within, the peaceful village burning as demonic entities battle make shift milita. A small home is being engulfed by the raging inferno as a woman screams from the second story window pleading for assistance, a child has his back pressed to a tree and cries in fear as one of the creatures closes the gap on him and a man armed only with a pitch fork has hoisted up one of the dark foes then flings it towards three others while shouting taunts to them, "Come on! I've got all day!". To the left a hole just big enough to fit the bard can be seen if she should choose to hide or escape while to the right people can be seen fleeing across a bridge to a field of brimstone.
Josleen has also seen her hometown taken over by demonic creatures. This isn’t her first evil-monsters-attack-Xalious rodeo either. Finally she grasps the trial-like nature of this experience. It takes the edge off her fear and lets her think a little bit. Thankfully, this test plays directly on her lived experience. In these circumstances, Josleen has always been the first to work for the good of the village within the context of her skillset. She isn’t a warrior or a powerful mage, but an influencer and a inspirer. She solves problems and finds solutions. Using her bardic magic, first she mimics the sound of a large explosion, large enough to take down the entire mountain and surely to grab the demon’s attention, to give the man and boy a chance to fly. She hides behind a large oak tree, then searched the crowd for a member of the Guild’s Arcane-Xalious Guard (who are surely out fighting against the attack) that she recognizes. She finds a hydromancer who frequents her performances and mimics the cry of his wife, plays the mimickry over the burning house so he is drawn to it, will see the woman in danger, and act.
Revan hums to himself impressed by Josleen's quick thinking the entire plan playing out in her favor which leaves the undead in a frustrated awe forcing him to turn up the heat. As the hydromancer doused the flames and the towns people escaped into the fiery field the entire scene begins to flicker like a failing lantern until darkness consumes the bard. The deafening silence is enough to drive someone mad the only sound being their own blood rushing around in their head. Soon the silence broken by a dripping of some liquid against a sheet metal surface then the fires ignite to illuminate the room, a large dome ceiling with a steel floor that is beginning to pop while it heats up from the fires below. In the room, Josleen finds she is not alone but is instead imprisoned with three adults, ten children and a very nude Eliason - her former lover blinded by thick, milky cataracts and disfigured by horrific scars across his face and burns all around his body tell the tale that the paladin has been locked in this place for far longer than she. At the edge of the room another door marked with the same green runes, five sigils hovering over head, three of the children and a man sprint for the door though in their dash they aren't paying attention and the man and one of the children tumble over the edge with cries of terror as they disintegrate in the fires - one of the sigils illuminating fully and another halfway. Even in their panic the others are already working out the puzzle and upon pulling the remaining children away from the edge they eye Eliason in his tormented state with a look of hunger in their eyes. Armed with her rusty blade, Josleen must make her next choice before she cooks alive.
When the village burns away and she’s left in a void, Josleen braces herself for the next attack, but nothing comes. She feels the heat first, opening one eye then the other to find the starved people, and Colin Eliason, nude and withered away by age and neglect. She sprints to kneel by his side and pulls his head onto her lap. “Oh Colin,” she coos as she brushes his bangs away from his forehead. Although she knows this is all an illusion, a trial by Revan, the sight of Colin in such a wretched state still wounds her, albeit less intensely than it would if this were real. Then the adult and child run over the edge of the steel floor and burn alive. She watches one-and-a-half out of five sigils brighten, and purses her lips at the implications. Four adults, including Josleen, remain on the disc. That would do the trick in lighting the 4 remaining vigils. 9 children too, also completes the puzzle as she understands it. Grisly math. Is that the test? Adult sacrifice for the children? Sweat beads on her brow. She pulls at the torn collar of her dress and begins to feel woozy from the heat. As she puzzles through the sigils, she notices the small crowd turn on Colin. “Stop,” she says. “Stop. We will escape this together. I think I know the way.” She doesn’t brandish the sword, always choosing instead to wield influence, not steel. She explains to the crowd the math she has figured out. An adult sacrifice illuminates one sigil. Two children illuminate one sigil. The numbers fit too perfectly: who dies? Adults? Children? A combination of the two groups? She poses the choice to group, for who is she to decide the fates of others. Granted, if she believed this were real she would be more inclined to survive, but as it stands, she doesn’t believe Revan is done with her yet. In fact, as the group bickers about what’s more ethical, the slaughter of children or adults, Josleen replays everything Revan has ever said to her and understands that she must jump into the fire to save the children. Interestingly enough, the choice brings up a memory of Josleen and Ezekiel trapped in another plane. In the other plane was an endless black void and a dollhouse with 4 yards on each side of the house, as if on a disc floating in a void. To escape, she and Ezekiel too had to jump to their apparent deaths. And so, this isn’t even Josleen’s first jump-to-death-to-solve-the-puzzle rodeo. Perhaps that is Revan’s mistake, for he has underestimated the breadth of her experience. Not his fault, of course, for Josleen wears a mask of femininity and the feminine is considered isolated, sheltered, petty, selfish, vain. And she can be some of those things at different moments, but none of them define her. She stands and says with confidence. “I’ll jump. That spares two children.” She looks a Colin and says, “You’re not real, dear. You can jump too.”
Her fellow prisoners look back and forth between one another as they debate their next action, sensibility being rather hard to find in the heart of a hearth. Sweat pours down one of the adults forehead, a young and posh high elf with a sense of nobility leaking off of her, "Miss, that man is ill, he isn't going to survive what is beyond this portal either way but if we toss him into the fires then the rest of us are one step closer to getting out of here!" Her tone suggests that she is out for number one but her follow up quickly contradicts such a thought, "Give him to me and I'll take the leap as well. That leaves two sigils for the rest of you to illuminate." The metal floor begins to crack under the pressure of the flames biting beneath, a hole bursting to allow an eruption of hell fire above the surface putting the crowd into a frantic frenzy. "Please! Give him to me!" the woman pleads with Josleen, desperation clear in her eyes.
Josleen narrows her eyes on the woman and says, “I said I would jump too. I will jump with him. Please jump with us.” Now she turns to Colin and more urgently says, “Come on, none of this is real. It’s like the… the dollhouse.” Eliason never knew about the dollhouse, but it doesn’t matter anymore, does it? She starts to yank on Colin’s gaunt arm to help him stands, takes him to the ledge, and just before jumping she hesitates. Is she sure about this? Is she so sure she will survive? That she understands the test? She quickly calculates again her situation, her likelihood of survival, the things Revan has said, and what about her is being challenged. Yes. She needs to jump. So she jumps with Colin in hand.
Revan watches with intent as his experiment plays out forcing Josleen to face death once again in a mere matter of minutes, her willingness to sacrifice herself in order for the remaining survivors to make it out alive bringing a sense of pleasure to the illusionist. The bard was showing progress so quickly that it felt hard to comprehend and accept, certainly by this point she had found comfort in knowing that death was not permanent in this world even though the pain was very real as the blistering heat of the fire charred the woman's flesh. He would be unable to form a scenario involving Josleen's friends with true effect due to her rapid discovery of his game and so with a snap of his fingers, the fires that consume her being dissipate and she finds herself laid across a cold surface of cobbled stone a familiar creature standing close by with the open wound on it's head still leaking a constant stream of black and crimson blood. There is no obvious hint to any puzzle, there is no immediate danger, there is no dismemberment, beheading or fire to be seen. Josleen is alone with the creature that raided her bed, it's jagged hand reaching out to hers.
Josleen screams savagely as the fire ravages her. These games bring the pain, the pain always too real, and the torture part of the entertainment for whatever sick bastard put her here. She stays supine for a while, body curled into a half fetal position flattened slightly against the ground. Her chest heaves dramatically as she tries to catch her breath and forget the pain. Her other senses, apart from sight, remain alert to whatever comes next, but there is no motion, no sound, no smell. After a few moments, she looks up and blinks to adjust her flame-dried eyes to the darkness. She gasps at the familiar, and still macabre, monster that reaches for her. Sitting on her behind, she scrambles away in a panic. Is this the final test? Sleeping with this monster? A real terror seizes her. The memory of when this creature first invaded her room and bed still terrorizes her in that way that all women, and few men, understand innately. She shuts her eyes and repeats to herself ‘It isn’t real. It isn’t real. It isn’t real,’ but weeps all the same. Screw this. What crime did she commit?
The creature tilts its head slightly to the left with a perplexing stare cast out over the woman. Bare knuckles press against the cobbled floor as the creature moves not unlike an ape closer to Josleen as she weeps in fear and pain, the back of its hand reaching out to brush at Josleen's shoulder with a soft touch beckoning for her attention.
Josleen tenses when the creature touches her, but does not pull away or scream. She tries to make her mind blank then fill it with another place. The only way to get through this, she knows intuitively, is by leaving her body. She thinks of the swimming pond in Xalious park and sunbathes with a good book. Anywhere but here.
Growing more confused the creature begins sniffing the woman, he widens his nostrils to take sharp heavy inhales around the woman's hair and ears before grunting and popping his knuckle on the ground followed by the sound of him scurrying off to the other side of the dark room where a small wooden chest is located. Flipping the latch open the creature begins rummaging through the collection of junk tossing things to the side like a wrench, wand, some dirty rags, a tacky blue mask, a dust pan, a glass that shatters... this goes on for around thirty seconds or so with object that clearly shouldn't fit in the trunk being yanked out and tossed to the ground before finally the entity finds what it's looking for - a single black rose. Rushing back to Josleen the creature pulls at her wrists and makes a variety of noises trying to get her attention and if she would finally look he'd present the rose to her and before her eyes the pitch black petals would come to life and transform to a shimmering white.
Josleen takes the rose when offered, her eyes still streaming with tears. Through her water-blurred vision she looks at the black rose and feels empty and defeated. Perhaps she is condemned to always be sinner. Perhaps this sin is bigger than the sum of her actions. Perhaps she was born a sinner, the signs of her sin in the name ‘Josleen’ and the pink her parents chose to paint her nursery with, and in the ballerina slippers printed on her childhood bedroom walls, and the way she spent hours perfecting the ideal cakelog. But then the rose begins to turn white, and she looks at the monster with confusion. He doesn’t attack her. Her body is safe. Her mind returns. She reluctantly nods, then even smiles a little at it. Its grotesque appearance already grows on her. She looks past the deformities and into its eyes to see if she can find his intentions there.
The creature bounces up and down on it's hands when Josleen offers a smile, however faint then proceeds to scurry to the middle of the room nodding it's head in the direction towards the chest pleading for her to follow.
Josleen slowly stands up. Her body aches, but the creature’s behavior is in its strange way charming. She follows to the chest and peers inside.
Once Josleen is near the chest the creature dives into it head first falling through the very much present wood bottom, the material shimmering like something from a fairy tale. The bard is left alone only for a few seconds before the hand of the creature pops back up from the bottom of the chest with an open palm extended to her.
Josleen hesitates before grabbing the rotting hand and jumping through the portal (hopefully).
Once Josleen takes the hand, the creature helps her leap by pulling her down into the portal which sends the duo into another free fall except this time their aren't any hands scratching about and the lack of odor is quite noticeable. The fall doesn't last for nearly as long as the first and as they approach the end of their fall a levitation spell takes place to allow the couple to fall like a feather before softly landing on their feet. It appears they are in a long, bleak looking tunnel with a very dim flash of light at the very end. The walls suddenly come to life with a flash as hundreds of images are projected on either side of Josleen and her grotesque companion, everyone of them displaying Revan and the trials he has put the people of Hollow through, the undead doesn't discriminate in his haunting as his victims consist of nearly every race and sex imaginable though their features are hard to make out with the distortion to their appearance. With her hand still held tightly in his own the creature slowly begins trekking down the tunnel, more and more of the projections coming to life as they advance.
Josleen follows the creature’s lead at a slow pace. Her eyes eat up the images. She tries to remember every detail, but it’s hard to commit much to memory. Her mind is exhausted, and she just wants to be free of all of this. Maybe there is no freedom from this? She shivers at the thought, them twitches involuntarily. No, she must hold out hope. She looks to the creature and asks, “Is there a way out of here?”
The disfigured beast perks up at her voice and turns to stare at her while standing erect, his head tilted once again before looking to the light at the end of the tunnel and then back to her. His response is clear despite his inability to speak and as they continue down the tunnel the images begin to grow louder, the vivid images slowly turning from strangers into Josleen's own personal encounters with the man who torments her life. The couple comes across a scene they had both witnessed, they're in the bedroom where Revan incinerated the creature as he tried to defend her and the depiction causes the leaking creep to make an audible whine. "Do you truly believe you'll find peace at the end of this tunnel?" Nothing gave warning to his arrival as Revan stands over Josleen's shoulder, her companion scurrying to put himself between the two of them though the illusionist pays the fiend no mind. The heavy hood that usually hides his features is lowered around his shoulders revealing the full extent of the corroded, torn, burned and eaten flesh that covers the battered skull of the undead as his burning red eyes stare unblinking at the bard.
Josleen‘s heart races and the panic returns. He backs away from Revan slowly, his disfigurement adding to her fear. She glances between Revan and the creature several times. Surprisingly, she finds herself worried for the creature’s safety. He has been helping her, that much is clear now. To Revan she shouts, “Why are you doing this! Just let me go. Please. I’ve accepted him.” She gestures towards the creature. “You were right. He isn’t my enemy. I’ve learned.”
Revan watches as Josleen backs away with a burning hatred in his eyes though her words cause him a deal of confusion as his blistering gaze finally lowers to the creature, a graveled laugh coming from the man. "You think I care about this abomination? That I care how you feel about it?" Revan reaches to his belt and grabs the hilt of a coiled whip that has a light fog rising off of it, the weapon revealed to be covered in razors and enchanted with ices as he uncoils it with a flick of his wrist before lashing out to slice the face of the smaller minion causing the creature to shriek in pain while covering it's face and kicking about on the floor as blood flows freely between its fingers. "You've damned yourself to this fate, Josleen of Xalious. -YOU- are the one who chose this path. When one commits a crime, they are punished, when one performs an evil act they ensure a price will be paid in retribution!" A slender finger that clearly shows a bone protruding from the tip is aimed at her as the man begins to shout, the projections around him amplifying louder and louder with each step he takes to close the distance on the two of them. "And when that someone tries to have their punisher executed... well, that's just when (explicit) becomes personal." Raising the whip high into the air Revan lashes out with a great amount of force aiming to slice Josleen right down the center of her body.
Josleen screams, “Stop it!” when Revan abuses the creature, but there is little else she can do. She’s out-powered here, has no skills at her disposal that would help, and no one but this creature to help her. She pivots back on her right foot so that her back is flush against the animated wall and the whip snaps just before her chest, where her body was moments ago. She runs down the tunnel as quickly as she can towards the light that the creature had assured her would be her deliverance. Her legs pump in strides fast and longer than she’s run in a long time. Her eyes are wide and wild, dress still ripped. Her chest burns from the effort. Josleen has always been a survivor; she clings to life, always wants to live.
Revan shouts after her "This is not your decision Josleen! This is your damnation!", the tunnel begins to rumble and collapse with stones falling freely all around the evading bard the images on the walls distorting both visually and in sound. Despite the thunderous roar of the collapse the cries of the creature can be heard as it fights against Revan, a battle it surely won't survive. Through the chaos and destruction the light at the end of the tunnel remains vigilant and burns bright as a beacon for Josleen's salvation and once the bard reached her waypoint, should she do so without falling victim to the debris, she would find herself tumbling into an open courtyard with a beautiful fountain at the center, it's only occupant a single blue haired male that looks at her with sorrow filled caramel brown eyes.
Josleen looks above her when the tunnel starts to collapse. She spots boulders as they fall and does her best to avoid them, but near the end of the tunnel they fall so quickly it’s impossible to avoid them all. A stone the size of a large dog comes crashing down on her shoulder and pops it out of its socket. She screams at the pain, and to give herself a boost to keep going, keep running. The blow slows the bard, but she manages to escape the tunnel and find herself in the courtyard. She grips her loose arm with her good hand so the weight of the limb won’t further injure the shoulder. She blinks at the man before her and stammers, “T-tyler?”
Tyler continues to stare at Josleen for a few seconds more before shaking his head slowly as he approaches her, kneeling by her side once he's reached her in order to examine her shoulder "Why'd you have to bring the paladin into it, Jos?" he asks as he promptly pops her shoulder back into place with a satisfying pop before she can argue.
Josleen shouts like a feral animal when Tyler pops her shoulder back in place. She takes several deep, shaky breaths to calm herself down. Her jaw hurts from clenching. Once she can speak she says, “What else was I supposed to do? It attacked me, cursed me.”
Tyler resists the almost overwhelming urge to scold Josleen like a disappointed father but two things prevent him from doing so; number one he can't think of a proper argument for her point and number two the girl has been through more than enough and having him berate her certainly isn't going to do anyone any favors - if only she had thought to show him such a kindness in life instead of slapping him about all the time. Her scream doesn't phase him as an open palm is kept on her shoulder with pressure while his free hand holds her neck steady to keep her from wiggling about. A soothing and cold wave of relief would start to fill her body as a faint white glow emits from the boys hands. "Hold still and let me heal you. That way you won't wake up with the worst hangover of your life..." His eyes flicker from his work to hers and then back again, speaking once more after a brief silence, "I'm sorry he picked you."
Josleen sighs with relief when Tyler heals her, but her relief is not only at his soothing magic. He said she'll wake up. Thank Sven for that. There truly is a light at the end of this tunnel. She rolls her shoulder gently once he's done with it. "Thank you." She stretches her body a little this way and that to work out some kinks. "I'm sorry I was cruel to you in life. I just--" She shakes her head. An excuse would weaken the apology. "I'm sorry." She purses her lips briefly to hold back all the things left unsaid. It's better this way. She studies Tyler as if to appraise whether or not it's really him. He's dead. Does that mean she's dead too? "What do you mean he 'picked' me? Why me? What were the other options?"
Tyler actually smiles as Josleen begins to apologize for the way she had treated him back in the world of the living but slowly shakes his head in dismissal to the notion', "You don't have to apologize to me Josleen. I deserved what I got, every bit of it. I was too immature and headstrong for my own good and I mistreated a lot of people I cared about." Watching her adjust her shoulder he rises up to move by the fountain and runs his fingers across the surface as if testing it's temperature, turning only to offer a light chuckle at her question "I don't think you'd care to know the other options if I'm being honest." He notions to her person "Do you still have the rose?"
Josleen gives him a look that says she isn't pleased with his answer, and she assumes the list must include Skylei. "Should I be warning anyone that they may be next?" She steps towards Tyler and pulls the now crushed rose out from under her dress's shoulder strap. "Is there a way to stop this thing? The monster?" She hands Tyler the rose.
Tyler swallows the lump in his throat and keeps his lips pressed tight and his caramel gaze stares not at but into Josleen's eyes. Her questions striking a nerve in his gut which plummets his conscious into guilt and aggravation - how could he tell her that he -is- the monster? None too eager to answer he reaches out to take the rose before turning to the fountain and submerging the flower beneath the crystal clear water. He twirls the stem between his index finger and thumb causing a thick black liquid to flow from the petals into the water not unlike oil, the gunk eventually obscures the area around the rose and when he eventually lifts the flower from beneath the surface the petals are no longer the crushed pearly white but instead pristine icy blues. He turns to offer her the gift "Take this and keep it close to you. So long as you have this he won't be able to harm you..." Another pause before he finally answers her question "As for the others there's nothing you can do... just... please stay the hell out of it, Jos'."
Josleen leans over the fountain to watch the magic. Curious. This isn't a trial, obviously, but what is this? Where are they? Why is Tyler here? She takes the rose and clutches it tight to her chest. "Thank you." His last warning is met with a shake of her head. "You know I can't if he comes after those closest to me. It isn't who I am." Lost in thought, she pauses then shakes her head again. "How could I stand idly by as the people I love suffer at the hands of this monster?"
Tyler continues to bite his tongue as she says it again, shaking his head from side to side before offering a slight shrug of the shoulders and at her mentioning of those close to her his hand instinctively reaches to take hold of the heart shaped amulet wrapped around his neck a feeling of heartache coming over him once more. He wouldn't argue further and he wouldn't allow her the chance too. Without warning the blue haired boy scoops Josleen into his arms and tosses her into the fountain, no sooner than the splash is heard she would find herself laying on the forest floor with the blue rose gripped tightly in her hands and a chilly breeze on her bum.