RP:You Must Have Been Hurt

From HollowWiki

Part of the You Must Have Been Human Arc

Part of the Lies Within Us Arc


This is a Mage's Guild RP.



Summary: Karasu and Quintessa accidentally pop each other's fragile egos and get into a fight about whether to send the Syndicate of Shadows to investigate the Mage's Guild despite Magik's efforts to de-escalate. Oh no, now everyone's sad. :(



The Syndicate Grand Council Hall

Karasu is seated at the table, her hair pulled back with a thick red ribbon. A loose shawl with interwoven red and pink threads hangs loosely around her shoulders despite the summer heat. Sprawled out across the round table is a listing of members from the Syndicate of Shadows themselves, and the Unseen Hand. "He won't work. Foreza doesn't look it, but he's actually racist against the gnomes." Karasu motions to one profile with a quill in one hand. "I still think the spies should be human if possible, they're the most versatile to make up a lie with." She directs to the leader of the Syndicate of Shadows across from her. It seems at least the spellblade has been at her assignment for hours, trying to determine which members would be the safest bets to send into Xalious given the dangers roaming within the old walls of the Mage's Guild.

Quintessa enters the Syndicate of Shadows headquarters without much pomp and circumstance, stepping down the ladder slowly with her heeled leather boots. The changeling has been in a daze all week long, the blow to her head that she suffered as the Crimson Mantis causing a persistent ringing in her ears that comes and goes, but was always distracting. This particular day was worse than most. When Quintessa reaches the floor, she smiles seeing that Karasu was already down here, and the hexblade walks over to take the seat next to the feline, her forehead pressing against her shoulder in exhaustion. “Still thinking about Xalious?” the Arcane Stewardess asks, her mind also lingering on the Mage’s Guild and the cult that they had been made aware of despite the splitting headache that now pounded down on her cranium.

Magik firmly taps at the list to point at a certain name, "Her. Elven girl. Quiet on the outside. Reminds me of Penelope. She's deadly to say the least.." The elf looks up as Quintessa makes her entrance, "Evening, Tessa." "Drinks?" he asks the lovebirds. Either way, he heads to the bar to at least make himself and drink.

Karasu turns her head when her lover joins her to press a sweet kiss onto the top of her head. "Aye. If we're going to send in a spy, we have to make sure it's the right one, and one with enough network amongst our own network to be easily recognizable to a team of backups should something go wrong." She says, surprisingly serious regarding the task at hand. The quill is gently placed aside, and an arm is looped around the changeling's shoulders. "Ooh, I read about a drink called a Vaalane Vice the other day, do you know how to make that?" Karasu says to Magik as he moves away from the table. Running her fingers idly through the changeling's hair, the Arcane Stewardess gives a hum in contentment at the brief moment of intimacy. "What do you think? You probably know the other members better than I do."

Quintessa allows her mismatched eyes to flutter closed, sighing at the comforting feeling of feline claws on her scalp. At least this was easing her headache, at least until an even larger migraine was brought up. “Oh, that…” Tessa hesitates, her eyes opening to flicker to the table, glancing at all the names that had been categorized. A second sigh finds itself escaping her lips as she sits up, giving Magik a silent nod before she gazes down at some of the names. “It’s hard to say… What happens when our spies get captured by them and their bodies snatched? When it was Larket things were different- I knew how to fight them, but the Ossian Order? How do we fight that which we can’t even find?” The changeling’s raven locks fall into her face as she shakes her head. “I’m starting to think it’s hopeless.”

Magik makes himself a RIT then takes a step back to look at the bottles present. "Vaalane Vice," he repeats. He grabs an empty glass, "I think so.." and begins mixing different alcohols, "If it's not right I'll make you something else." After finishing to piece the drink together successfully he makes Tessa a RIT as well. Purple loopy straw. Orange slice. Magik grabs all three drinks at once by pressing them all together and carefully places them on the table. Kara's drink is slid to her. Tessa's as well. Magik collapses into a chair sideways just before realizing he's under Larket's banner, "We have to get rid of this banner, by the way." Back to the matter at hand. He takes Quintessa's comment into consideration, "Perhaps multiple enrollees?" He thinks for a moment, "Nah. Too obvious..literal constant contact with our insider? People listening around the clock on shifts?" Magik shakes his head as he starts brainstorming and dismissing ideas left and right, "Damn.."

Karasu seems incredulous at such a suggestion. Even the presence of a minty alcoholic drink does little to prevent the annoyance that rises as she draws away. "If they get into trouble, they whisper to the shadows, just how we do, just how you could have when you were working for them." The spell-blade knits her brows together. "I know the interior of the tower better than anyone. I know when students and teachers alike are most likely to be in and out of the halls, and I know which rooms got turned into storage when enrollment dropped to almost nothing." The woman seems far too confident in the abilities of the Unseen Hand. "That's why they should go in pairs, perhaps posing as siblings or lovers!" Her excitement wanes slightly as she takes her drink. "If we save Xalious... We'll be heroes."

Quintessa gives Magik a grim expression, her eyes looking as tired as she felt. “Whoever we send we might have to accept the fact that they might never make it out. They’ll have to go under DEEP cover, I mean no communicators and no rings to get into the headquarters. If the Ossian Order infiltrates us then we are frakked harder than Elazul with a Hellfire enima.” Her gaze slithers back over to Karasu and she sits back against her seat, a hand raising to rub her temple. “I’ve seen the way they work. If a member of the unseen hand gets bodysnatched they wont have a chance to whisper to the shadows, instead the Ossian Order will be whispering to us. They’ll divide and destroy us just like they are doing to the Mage’s Guild. Don’t you see? This fight is unwinnable… I’m starting to think…” Quintessa swallows the knot in her throat but it simply moves down to her stomach to sour. “That Inks was right.”

Magik sips from his drink while he listens to Karasu's words. Decent ideas. However, "Kara, we aren't in this to be heros. We are in this to do what's right..to an extent." His focus then shifts to Tessa, "If I may..even being in this room doesn't guarantee I'll make it out of here alive. That's just..life." He pauses to look at the two, shifting focus back and forth between them as he speaks, "Deep cover is fine. Not even a note passed to them. Scheduled lighting of a candle visible from outside of the tower. Every fight is winnable..We just have to be particularly careful and surgical.." The more the elf talked about this the more he started having his own doubts, but he wouldn't hint at it. "Perhaps we need to hit some books.."

Karasu visibly deflates under the concerns of her friends. Tired eyes look from Magik, to Quintessa, then back at the papers in front of her. For a few breaths, the feline just stares at them. "I know we aren't in this to be heroes, but doing the right thing is part of it. Hell, the whole point of the Syndicate is to take down corrupt leaders, which is what heroes do. I refuse to believe that we can't win this fight. Every group has a weakness." She huffs and sets her drink back down on the table. "They're obviously not as strong as they seem to be if they need to recruit strangers into their group. How can you be getting cold feet now that we know so much, Tessie?!" Karasu pleads with her fellow Arcane Steward.

Quintessa doesn’t exactly follow what’s being said, both hands moving up to shield the dim lights from her eyes as the ringing returns. Maybe they could win this fight, but was it theirs to win? Would it be worth it? Would the Guild even be the same afterward? “...I wanted to be a hero too.” Quintessa mutters, venom seeping into her voice. “But everytime I did what I thought was right I was just making another mistake. How am I supposed to even be able to tell who the heroes are and who are the villains? I don't know anymore!” Her hands drop from her face to gaze over at Karasu, a frown tugging downward on her lips. “Probably the same reason -you- got cold feet wherever you found out how much of an ass your father is.”

Magik lets the two get their shots in before turning in his chair and slamming his drink on the table, "THIS is exactly what they want..This Ossian Order or whatever they call themselves." He uses the table as leverage as he rises to his feet, still putting pressure on the table as he leans forward towards his closest friends, "Look at you two already! One difference in opinions and you're throwing insults!" A quick swipe at his glass sends it flying across the room to shatter and make a mess of things, "There. Now I'm mad too. What does this accomplish? Nothing." Once again he shifts his focus between the two, "We will -not- run into this blind. Just as I will not send Unseen in without some type of protection in order." Magik lowers his head and sighs, "I'm not walking away from those kids. I can't."

Karasu moves to grab her drink and jolts slightly at the mention of her father. Her hand knocks into a bottle of ink, sending the ichor across the beautiful table. The halfling curses, moving as many papers out of the way as possible as Magik scolds the pair. As she snatches a rag from the bar, she bares her sharpened teeth. "-I- left Xalious to prevent my father getting his hands on my sister, because someone was waiting outside the cabin where she was doing her gig to kidnap her. At least I was aware the whole time that I was gone that what I was doing was wrong because I don't get blinded by promises of power I don't even need; I let my work speak for itself. -That- is not an insult, Magik, that's just a fact." Internally, she regrets the statement as soon as she says it. No one knew what she had done. Karasu slams the rag on the table and wipes the spilled ink with pursed lips. "I'm not leaving them either, just like how you both didn't leave me when you finally found me. I'll go in myself if I have to."

Quintessa finds herself flinching a little at the shattering glass, a random, errant memory of her own drunken father coming home to smash things up because he was angry again. Back then, that always meant she was next, so now the changeling is fully on guard. Her hands clench one another under the table, watching the condensation drip down her untouched glass as they wring together. When Karasu speaks of a certain someone getting blinded by promises of power, her icy blue and warm hazel eyes flitter over to the feline, her mouth nearly dropping open. “Excuse me?” Quintessa is offended by this, “I haven’t been amassing power for the last nine months for myself, I’ve been doing it so I could build a safe place for us- for your sister too. Who is the one keeping her safe right now?” A long digit points at her own chest. “Me. I could have been keeping her safe all along, but you are too obsessed with trying to martyr yourself. Too busy trying to prove you can do it by yourself. Well guess what, you can’t do it by yourself!” The changeling grumbles as she shifts in her seat, moving to face away from Karasu. “Why can’t you be more like Kanna?” Tessa mumbles to herself, “At least she knows her limitations…”

Magik throws his hands in the air before collapsing into his seat. He shakes his head then spots the mess he made just moments before. He pops back up and leans over the table to snatch the rag from Karasu while spitting his next words to the pair, "If I hear or see a single weapon pulled against each other, this Ossian Order problem will be the least of your worries. Understand?" Without waiting for an answer from either of the women, the elf makes his way to the shattered glass and kneels down to start cleaning up the mess he made.

Karasu glares up at her mentor, the man that allowed her to sleep in the safety of the warded headquarters. Black tendrils snake up from the mark on her neck, slowly, ever so slowly elongating as they creep up her face. She suddenly turns on her heel and grabs Sagaribana from off of another chair and storms down the meeting room. "Fine, no weapons." She rears her arm back, throwing open the door to the armory and throwing the scabbard in with all her might. There's a loud clattering as the weapons are knocked to the ground from the force. "Why can't I be more like Kanna? Because Kanna ultimately only looks out for herself! Plus, she's probably stronger than both of us combined right now! She doesn't need protecting anymore, she just needs a babysitter so no one sees her face. Trying to sacrifice my own wellbeing is the -least- I can do to make up for all the witnesses and all of Kaaname's spies I had to kill to keep Kanna's murder spree on the down low. If I can't do anything by myself, then what the f*** was all my years of training for, and what good am I supposed to be to the Syndicate -or- to the Mage's Guild?!" Her voice cracks as the confession echoes through the room. Her chest heaves, either from the exertion while still being bandaged from her fight, or her worries, or some combination of both. "I can help the Mage's Guild. With or without you. After all, you're used to doing things behind my back, why can't I do the same?" Karasu's resolve hardens.

Quintessa considers Magik’s words coolly. Of course she wasn’t going to draw her blade, but being told not to only made her want to pull one even more, just to defy him. Deep down the changeling knows that such childish defiance had no progrssive purpose, but she doesn’t care at this moment, especially after Karasu launches her weapon into the other room. Behind her lips, Quintessa clenches her jaw, her teeth grinding together at the feline’s words. “Fine!” she hisses, slowly raising to her feet with wisps of her black aura swirling behind her. “Do it by yourself! Do whatever you feel like you need to do to preserve your fragile little ego. Get yourself killed, see if I-” The changeling leans over the table, her head splitting once again, her heart crumbling to pieces. She couldn’t deny her secretive nature. “I don’t need the guild or the syndicate to empower me, nor do I need to save them to prove that I’m worthy. I’m Quintessa frakking Dragana! Monster of the Black Pond! Arh’Nuk’s chosen! I’ll do it alone- and in the shadows behind your back too, like I’ve always done, right?”

Magik kept picking through the glass shards and wiping up the mess. His heart was slowly breaking for these two. 'see if I..' had the elf give up on the mess. Magik stood up, small glass shards falling off of his pants, and leaned his back against the makeshift bar. He folds his arms across his chest lazily as the fire in his eyes dims enough to reveal his true blues. The elven man stares at the scene before him hoping the pair choose their next words very carefully.

Karasu gulps hard, clenching her fists until she feels the skin give way beneath her claws. Then, she just stops. The darkness encroaching on her stops as well as resignation drains the light from her eyes. There was no winning this. "You wouldn't get why I care about my home getting torn apart from the inside. You don't feel the need to save them because you already have everything you want. Yet, you still want more. If it was a matter of keeping the people you love safe, why not stop when you got control of the Dragana House? Because it's not going to be enough to change whatever happened to you before we met. I keep fighting and yet I have nothing to show for my work." Karasu averts her eyes and disappears into the armory. There is soft clicking of metal as items get put back in their respective places, and she soon emerges with her sword, though the safety catch is thankfully still on. "You know what? Maybe… maybe my father is right. Maybe none of this would be happening if there was a control on who could use magic or not." The shawl is replaced with her fur coat as she prepares to leave the Syndicate. Looking over to Magik, there's sadness in her expression, a wordless of apology for what she's about to do, before she puts on a neutral mask. The communicator is removed from her ear, along with the ring, and placed on the table. "I won't need this where I'm going, but I promise I'll be back." She says emotionlessly, not even looking at Quintessa as she does so. Moving away, she climbs the ladder and leaves the safety of the Syndicate for a long overdue talk.

Quintessa remains leaning on the table, tears welling in her eyes as Karasu disappears into the armory, but even as tears stream down her face her aura of malice continues to grow, gnawing away at the visible edges of the dark fae girl. Karasu was right. Everything she was saying about Quintessa was true; no matter what she had the changeling would continue to want more and more. However, when Karasu says ‘maybe my father is right,’ the hexblade looks over in shock, her face contorting in anger. “Him?!” Tessa cannot believe it, and her denial causes her to slam her fists down hard onto the cherrywood table, doing absolutely nothing to damage the thick surface. “Fine! Run to daddy- I’ve got my own unfishished business to get back to!” And with that vaguely threatening revelation, a black mass of tentacles emerges from her shadowy aura to wrap around her arms and legs and pull her body within, transporting her back home- her real home: The Black Pond.

Magik 's expression remained blank for the most part except for just a hint of sadness. His gaze followed Karasu until she disappeared into the armory. Tessa gained his attention until the Owl returned. He watches her remove her jewelry. As she turns to him, Magik hesitates for a moment but ends up nodding in acknowledgement before Kara makes her exit. Quintessa's outburst shifts the Lyastri's focus once more. He's too slow to speak though. By the time he speaks the changeling's name, she had disappeared. The Shadow looks around the suddenly empty meeting room and deeply sighs. Ohtar wasn't even there to break the silence with his snoring. Magik soon turns around to pour himself a glass of whiskey. He takes the glass to the table and sits down to look over the papers Karasu had organized. He would then spend the rest of the night sipping his whiskey as he goes through the names of Unseen members but ultimately accomplishes nothing.