RP:The Silver Lining

From HollowWiki

Part of the The End's Not Near Arc


Summary: Reginae is escorted into the Grand Cenrili Arena for healing by Pilar and Yozenra, following her defeat at the hands of Kreekitaka. During the transit, in the back halls, she's no longer able to hold her disguise and reverts back to her natural state. Royce, a member of the Alithryian rebellion that she'd previously met in Frostmaw, approaches her and attempts to recruit her for the cause of ridding the city of Jaize.


Grand Cenrili Arena Back Rooms

Reginae is led off with Pilar and Yozenra to a private room granted to the combatants. The door to the room is left ajar in haste, as the Vampire and naga pull Reginae's now unshifted form onto a simple hay bed covered in various layers of pristine white cloth. It's immediately stained with the rich crimson of her blood as she pants and stares at the ceiling. Pilar has already done quite a bit to slow the bleeding but the excessive shifting makes the healing slower. Her body is pulling from emergency reserves to maintain consciousness. Yozenra stands back at the door while Pilar moves back out of the room on the hunt for cold water to apply to the wounds that refuse to stabilize.


Royce wouldn't be too far behind them, though sticking mostly to himself when they went into the room. Waiting outside the room for a time, he noticed the vampire leave the room and glanced around a bit before making his way into the room himself to see the injured fighter. He sadly couldn't do anything to help the poor naga but he could offer words that might encourage him to keep fighting. Making his way in however, he stopped when he noticed that instead of the roguish male from before, he stood before the woman he met in Frostmaw, "My my, that was you in the arena? I must say. I'm impressed." He didn't see Yozenra at the time as he came over to the side of her bed. "But why the disguise?"


Yozenra didn't hesitate. The second Royce got a little too close to Reginae, she moved, aiming to tackle Royce around the abdomen and pin him to the ground. Pilar walked in moments later, nearly dropping the jug of water. She held out a hand, arcane energy swirling around her fingers. "Who are you?" She and Yozenra demanded at once.


Reginae's hazy vision falls on the familiar face. Her expression starts as a cocky, exhausted smile with his comment and subsequent inquiry. When she sees Yozenra rush towards him, her eyebrows bunch with panic. "Wait -" She whispers, trying to dissuade Yozenra (and then Pilar) from their protective instinct. "Hey, hey!" A cough breaks up the words. "It's okay, I know this man and he knows my name isn't Nicolau, but Rey." An alias, rushed just in case her female protector thought she was in danger. "We met in Frostmaw - he's with a resistance in Alithrya." Her mind is too hazy to recall the thing they were fighting again. Presently, everyone seemed to be battling Jaize's influence. But what after that? Reginae hadn't stopped to consider that just yet.


Royce looked back casually when Rey called for the two to stop. Eyes lingering on Yozenra for a moment, he calmly looked back to the injured naga that he was more interested in. "A shame you lost. You put up a hell of a fight from what I saw. I hope there wasn't a whole lot riding on it." He would only then regard the two behind him saying, "I am indeed a fighter trying to get the tyrant queen out of the castle. Out of the city if we can manage. We're just a small group but we have enough courage to match all of the queen's forces."


Yozenra stopped and Pilar lowered her hand. The naga sized Royce up, still wary. It was hard to know who to trust when it came to naga, these days. Pilar, meanwhile, hurried to Reginae's side and began tending her wounds, magic flowing from her fingers and into the deposed queen.


Reginae chuckles bitterly at Royce's observation. A shame she lost, indeed. "It was more a personal matter than anything." She didn't delve into details but groans when Pilar approaches to flush her magic into the naga's wounds. "Forgive me," She winches, looking towards Yozenra with an undiscernible message that only her former Queensguard would understand. 'We are not telling this man who I really am'. Right now they had the same goal, but would they always? "A goal I fully support." She says, at length, when she's able to catch her breath. "Thank you Pilar...Reginae would be very grateful for your assistance with my venture." A whisper of her own name, to test the male's opinions of the former Queen. "The Queen is a powerful adversary, especially for a naga. What forces have you mounted? Maybe we could be of assistance to each other, despite my failure in the ring."


Royce paid no mind to the queen’s guard anymore then he would a stranger in the same room. Moving aside when Pilar came over to heal the injured naga, he gave a nod saying, “Well, perhaps you’ll be able to make your peace with that at some point.” Meaning he was rather keen on dragging her off into all this nasty business with Jaize and keeping her there. Clearly she was a force to be reckoned with. Not many naga’s can keep such a large form for longer than a few seconds. Much less for fighting. When she brought up the name Reginae, his reaction was more… neutral. He was neither here or there with the late queen. In one hand, he believed she could have been a good influence on the people. In the other, he was still dead set on seeing the current form of government removed for something that fits better. That would be free of risk if history had the misfortune of repeating itself. "Our forces right now only stem to what we have back near Alithrya. It's much harder getting into the city and actually leaving as well. There is no good reason to and I suspect Jaize has an idea that those who leave dont come back. Any speak of rebellion or resistance to the false queen is usually met with swift and harsh punishment to top it off." there were a few recruiters who had the misfortune of finding that out.


Pilar hummed when Reginae brought up... herself. She didn't need to catch that look to know telling what's-his-face her true identity was a no-no. Once Royce said his piece, she spoke. "I'd like to do what I can to help Alithrya. If Reginae were here, I'd fight by her side with no hesitation." Yozenra nodded her agreement, and Pilar continued, "I miss talking to her. I have so much I wish I could tell her." She tucked a stray strand of hair away with her left hand, ring plainly visible upon her finger. "As it stands," Yozenra said, "we'll simply have to fight in her stead. Save her city."


Reginae finds a softness tinting the corner of her eyes at this declaration of loyalty. Is this what they would have done if she'd actually perished? Reginae hadn't heard about any of the naga murdered by the new Queen but she doesn't doubt it. Her sister was as ruthless as she was vain. "I'm glad to throw in hand in and see what we can accomplish. While she likely knows about the rebellion, I doubt she knows about anyone outside of Alithrya that cares. If we could mount other forces...there seems to be no end to the heroes of Lithrydel. Surely they would fight for a truly good and just cause as freedom from a tyrant that murders the city's occupants." (cough, Larket, cough) If only they knew about Vestra and her plan, the impending attack on Chartsend - they could draft a plan between them and get the upper hand on the twisted Queen currently on the throne. She casts her tired gaze to Pilar as she heals and Yozenra before slipping out of consciousness. Her surroundings become a silent blackness that swallows all her fears, hopes and awareness until the next morning. When she wakes, Yozenra is still standing guard by the door. Pilar lies asleep in the chair by the bed and there's no trace of Royce left behind except for a letter with his contact information. A polite request to write as soon as possible is scribbled on the letter's exterior. Reginae will fall asleep several more times before she finds the letter - all the while under the protection of her student and her Queen's guard.