Snippet #2446327

-Before Luckas goes and talks with Ella –

Mageria sat serenely in the Council chamber, smiling at the men who shuffled in. There was more than one who stared at her in disgust and disbelief. There was also more than a hint of rage in her smile. One by one they all sat down.

Adolf, one of the senior Councilmen was the one who sat forward and cleared his throat. “Cap….ahem. Lady Mageria. You have been exiled and stripped of your rank. Why is it that you now see fit to sit here, with us?” He waved one hand at the rest of the Council. Mageria had always liked Adolf, which was why she kept her tone respectful. “With all due respect to the Council. I left because the Queen asked me to, not because I was exiled. The Black Knights cannot be exiled. They may only be executed, and that by one of their own rank. It is in the laws set down long ago. She nodded over to Thomas, who sat across from her. “The White Knights have seen fit to welcome us back, during this time of troubles.” She smiled sweetly at the men, watching as they all shifted slightly in their seats. She had never really managed a sweet smile.

After that, ground rules of a sort were laid out. They had sent a fast messenger to the White Shadows, waiting for a telepath to answer the question of what had happened to the Queen. Mageria knew, as so she made as many plans as she could for when they would be forced to imprison the necromancer for the duration of the pregnancy.

-Later-
Thomas scowled at Mageria. “You could have been slightly more diplomatic with them.”
Mageria shrugged and started polishing a nick out of a practice sword. “Diplomacy is your thing. You smile, people trust you. I smile, they start looking for something to hide behind. I’ve never really understood it.”

Thomas rubbed his forehead, feeling the pulse of a migraine that never seemed to go away anymore. “That’s because you don’t smile. You bare your teeth, like you’re about to rip their throats out.”

“I do not!” Mageria exclaimed in slightly shocked and hurt tones.

“Mageria,” Thomas sighed. “You are a woman, in charge of what is well known to be a bloodthirsty amoral much of killers. You yourself confessed to killing the former Captain of the Black Knights, a man who actually earned the reputation that you now enjoy. And you wonder why people are uneasy?”

Mageria looked up and cocked an eyebrow. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

Thomas sighed. “Yes, actually. Things would be better if you weren’t around for a little bit. I can handle things here, I need you to be out of sight for a little bit. Go talk to your people, get them ready for what’s to come. Because it’s going to be hell.”
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Luckas was more careful than what was his usual going into he Raven's Nest that morning. He was aware that what he did in the castle had caused some trouble and so he made sure to not run into absolutely anyone on his way in. Of course he couldn't avoid Mageria, in fact he had gone there with every intention of running into her, but he felt it was best to not talk to anyone else before they spoke. So he found the woman, and lurked around her, patiently waiting until he managed to finally catch her alone. He didn't bother pretending the woman didn't know he was there, if she didn't it would be the first time. "Lovely day isn't it, Captain?" He greeted, stepping out from his hiding spot amongst the trees and looking around as if wondering if there was someone else lurking there besides himself. "Feels like we may be having some sunny days ahead, finally."

Mageria had been sitting next to the stream sharpening her sword when Luckas showed up. She had known he was there, of course. She would have known either way, but here in a place where she knew every sound and animal call, it wasn't even difficult. She didn't glance up, didn't pause; just kept pulling the whetstone along the edge of the blade.

"Luckas."

She didn't know why he had come, but given that he was trying so hard to be causal, it wasn't for any good reason.

"I'm thinking of calling you StormCrow. Every time you show up, things seem to go sideways. Why is that?"

"Oh?" Luckas asked, arching an eyebrow and staring at Mageria with an intrigued look in his eyes for a moment before letting a chuckle escape him. "Well, I wonder what reason you would ever have to call me, Captain. Not to mention that, as you probably know, I'm never too far away... I really wouldn't mind though; It's a neat name. Very ominous-sounding." He mused, chuckling some more under his breath. "As you are probably wondering... I'm here, instead of being in the area of the camp I usually prefer to roam, for a particular reason Captain. Ever since Lena's death I've been experiencing some... Episodes... I have these annoying little visions from time to time, and I suddenly know things I was not supposed to know; that only she knew. It's not conscious, I either have random flashes or I suddenly find myself knowing answers to questions I've never bothered to ask before. It's actually pretty useful, aside from being uncomfortable and confusing. Now, for instance, I know that the 'medicine' Lena's pet gave you with the intent to save your life was nothing more than a very powerful sedative mixed with some well chosen hallucinogenics... Opens doors in secluded areas of your mind so you can go inside. That's all it does; once inside you're on your own. None of the people they tried it on before ever awoke. You shouldn't have either. Considering every test ever performed with both my brother's victims and mine, surviving was an impossibility. So the question, this annoying, persistent, question in the back of my head... Remains... How did you do it?" The question hadn't really changed from the last time they had conversed, but the tone behind it was entirely different from the amused curiosity Luckas had always displayed when wondering about the matter; his tone was serious, almost uncharacteristically serious. If there had been an important motive behind his questioning before, it had suddenly become very apparent. If there hadn't been; then something had changed. "I need to know Captain, and if you can't really tell me, then I need to see."

Mageria's hands never slowed, her posture never changed, but there was a sudden tension in the air around her. Her gaze turned inwards for a moment, remembering.

Almost.... almost she could hear a whisper of a voice again.

"Well, if there was noting but some powerful halucenagens, then what happened in my mind wouldn't make much sense, would it? Just the ravings of a mind trying to turn itself inside out. And if nobody else survivned, why did I? Maybe your brother just didn't have a chance to finish what he started. Maybe he just did a bad job on me. And if not, Luckas, why in the name of the Twins do you think I would let you into my head?" Her voice was trying very hard to be causal, but failed slightly. "Your brother didn't manage to drive me to suicide, but I very much doubt that you would be so sloppy."

"For fucks sake." Luckas muttered under his breath, starting to feel a bit of annoyance. "It seems like even though you shared a one-sided telepathic link with my brother for a few moments before you bashed his head in, you still don't get how this works... Here's a few facts then, just for your benefit... Fact one: It is impossible to do this halfway, there is no way of doing a poor job of it, it's something that either is or isn't and in your case it sure as hell was. Fact two: The mind always tries to repair itself one way or another. Usually our consciousness gets in the way, rational thinking gets in the way... Because all it does is focus of the pain. And the pain screams at us to just give in.. And it screams... And screams... And SCREAMS... Until we finally do what it wants, shutting that off is the mind's best chance to heal; hence the sedatives. And hallucinations are simple projections of the things that dwell inside the very places my brother was oh so famous for attacking within his victims' minds. The hallucinogenics, as I said, open the doors to those dark corners where no one likes to go and exposes the problems. Lena was a lot of things, but she was never stupid; the concept was sound, in theory it should have worked, but it simply couldn't have because it just... never... bloody... did. Something was missing. Whatever it was, you seem to have found it and there is no amount of maybes that will erase that fact. So there: It is what it is, Captain. Your mind holds the key; salvation always comes with a fucking price."

Luckas went silent for a moment, taking his time to take a couple of breaths and maintain his tone as calm as he could. "Remember that last time we spoke of this I said that maybe we could help each other... That was just a friendly offer back then, now things have changed. So believe me, because you know I don't lie: You're going to need my help soon enough. As is though, you can either give me what I want, or you'll eventually be forced to kill me, because I'm not going to stop trying. It's as simple as that and you know it. You know that there's a great possibility that my answers fit some of your questions as well. You know that if my goal was to drive you insane or make you suicidal there are many ways I could do that just as easily by using the people around you instead of standing here and asking for permission. You also know that I may be many things as well, Captain, and insane may just be one of those things, but I'm not stupid either."

"I'll need your help Luckas? With what; the fact that I still have nightmares so real that I'll wake up with a sword in my hand? That I once had to start locking myself in my room because I kept waking up wandering the halls fully armed with no clue how I got there? The fact that I sometimes think I'm wading through rivers of blood while everybody I know or love floats past me and I know, I know deep down in the very core of my soul that it's my fault?" Mageria's hands still hasn't hesitated throughout her questions, but the tension in the air around her had become almost unbearable. She brought her sword up and slowly examined the edge of her blade, looking for nicks. Light shivered along the edge, evidence that her hands had started shaking. "Besides which, we've already established that you can't get in my mind. Some sort of mental scar tissue left behind by your dear brother."

"Or maybe you mean something else. What is it you've been doing, Luckas? What trouble have you been stirring up when you leave here?"

Luckas sighed softly, keeping silent for a long while as though he was thinking of words to say when in fact he was attempting to hold in the fit of laughter that inevitably escaped him so violently his knees gave in causing him to fall over. "Oh, excuse me Captain, I couldn't help myself, it's just..." He choked on his words and coughed for a few moments, waiting until he could breath normally before moving on. "I know what that's like, well, sort of... And yes, it's unpleasant, more so for you sentimental types than for someone like me, but... No, I can't help you with that. Well, in theory maybe I could, but I wouldn't consider that a solution to your problem. No... Forget that, we don't want to do that." He chuckled softly, shaking his thoughts away and moving onto more pressing matters. "That's all I will say; you will need my help. You'll know what for when it's time, unless of course you kill me, then you probably will never know. That'd be a shame, but that's just life."

Slowly Luckas stood up straight, wiping some dirt from his clothes as he mumbled. "Your nightmares seem real because you make it so, Captain. All those little things you believe you're to blame for... Well, you are because in your mind, for some stupid reason, at some point you decided to be. Blaming these things on the dead boy is a rather pathetic attitude the way I see it. If you choose to feed your inner demons you have only yourself to blame when they eventually bite your head off." He smirked. "What I'm saying is... You've always been fucked up in the head... You just didn't know it yet. Now you do; you can do something about it or you can sit in a corner when no one is watching and wallow in self-pity, it's not my business which one you go for and I honestly don't care. I have my own fucked up head to worry about and a list of things I'd like to get done before it eventually explodes, soo... Yes, that's true; I can't go into your mind if I try, but that's because you really, really, don't want me to. If you were to let me, then I could. And we would never have to speak of this again, which, believe me, is something I really look forward to. Probably more than you."

Mageria finally sheathed her sword, standing up and turning around. "You're right Luckas. I'm fucked up in the head, quite possibly more than anybody around here realizes." She smiled bitterly. "But you've got me all figured out, don't you? Too bad that you can't see what's right in front of your face. Because if you could, you'd know why I survived." She strapped her sword to her belt in an absent gesture while she talked. "I hope you enjoyed this little chat, Luckas. Because it's as close as you are ever going to get to the inside of my head, ever again." With that she turned and walked back towards the main body of Raven camp, gliding smoothly through the underbrush.

Luckas shook his head, steadily pacing after Mageria as she walked away. "It was not my intention to even try to figure you out, Captain and I never pretended to give enough of shit to go through the trouble, but fine... If you're through talking about yourself, let me ask you something else then, just out of curiosity; after you killed Matthew, what did they do with his body? Did they bury him somewhere or is he still rotting down there where you left him? Do you even know?"

Mageria glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Normally we bury the bodies of prisoners in a cemetery we had set aside for them. Even the condemned deserve a place of remembrance. But after that fight there were too many bodies to bury while the wounded still had to be tended, so they were cremated on a mass pyre and their names were inscribed on the wall."

"Their names..." Luckas muttered under his breath, a hint of disgust crossing his voice. "Fine." He stated simply. "One other reason I've come was to say that I had a chat with poor Little Ella. She finally understands that she's going to have to die, even if she can overpower the necromancer and regain control. Apparently she couldn't figure that one out on her own; as I suspected intelligence isn't much of a requirement to rule a city. At least she has the chance to make her peace with it now. Isn't it a sad day for Valcrest when the only one thoughtful enough to bother with these little details is the psychopath?"

Mageria sighed softly. "I wasn't sure that she could hear anything I would have said and there was no point in speaking to the necromancer. So, thank you for that. Of course, in order to have talked with her, you would have had to have gotten past my people who were guarding the room she was locked in. Given that you still want something from me, I'm guessing that you didn't do anything permanent to them, because you know what I would do to you in return. So. Was there any reason for your conversation and you telling me about it?"

"Don't think my reluctance to harm your people has something to do with this, Captain, or that it'll stop me if one of them... I'm going to assume you'll know who I mean... Gets on my bad side... But your boys at the castle, they just took a little nap. The other dude who walked in on me wasn't as lucky, but that was self-defense." Luckas shrugged simply at the questioning. "I don't know if there was a reason for our conversation, Captain, depends on what you'd consider a valid reason. I did offer to kill her, permanently, but she didn't take up on the offer; probably because of the kid, but then... What kind of life is it going to have anyway? If mommy, uncle, and grandpa are anything to go by... well... Best of luck to the little bugger. And I just thought you'd like to know... That she's not suffering as much as she could be. That's... comforting... I think? Common courtesy is something that hasn't yet died on me, Captain... You did warn me I was being sought after by someone after all; I appreciated that. I think you probably shouldn't have told her you killed Matt though... Sammy really, really, wanted to find us both alive. And she can be a pretty dangerous person when she doesn't get what she wants. Like me, but with less restraints. She didn't say anything, but when she asked me who did it and I said I didn't know, well... She wasn't happy."

Mageria shrugged. "Well, I thought it was better to tell her the truth than to sit there and smile at her before she found out on her own. I take it she has the family talent of getting into people's heads?" She stopped as a sudden thought occurred to her. "Does she know, what happened between your brother and I? And that you can't get in my head?" She tilted her head to the side. "Is that why you want to know what happened so desperately?"

"Family trait?" Luckas chuckled. "First, Sammy said I'm her brother, and in a way that's true, but we're not blood relatives. Second, do you not remember what I've told you Captain? I wasn't born like this... There's not a drop of enlightened blood in my entire family line as far as any known test can tell. That was why Lena spent so much time poking around my mind instead of tossing me in a dungeon cell and that's a part of the reason I need to know what happened. Sammy is enlightened, yes, but what I am, what my brother was... It's something else entirely. Like I said, she hasn't told me anything, I don't usually like to talk about Matthew and she respects that, but if I were to guess... Sammy knows what happened well enough. There's a lot of things she's not quite ready to tell me yet and if there's one thing I've learned these past weeks, however, is that my memory is an incredibly unreliable source of information. So... Maybe, I'll get back to you when I know more. Maybe, because I've already been twice as helpful to you in thirty seconds than you have been to me in months."

Mageria had turned to say something when she stopped suddenly, lips slightly parted as she reran the conversation in her head.

I wasn't born like this... There's not a drop of enlightened blood in my entire family line as far as any known test can tell.

She actually had forgotten that Luckas had told her that; but in her defense, a lot had been happening recently.

"Yes," she whispered, "they would need a lot of children for that......". She turned abruptly and strode quickly to her cabin, stepping over Puppy as he lay across the threshold and climbing the steps to her workroom. Pulling the journal from a cabinet, she started flipping through the pages, searching for a passage that she half remembered.

Luckas frowned, a look of confusion spreading across his features as he watched Mageria freeze in place and then suddenly wander off. "Wait what?" He mumbled, only catching a couple of words she had whispered. He froze for a second while the woman was already walking off, causing him to have to run for a couple of steps to catch up. Following after Mageria to the door of her cabin, Luke stopped for a moment to briefly scratch Puppy's ears before wandering inside and just hanging around there looking really confused, but deciding that he needed to know what exactly had prompted that reaction. "Captain?"

"Hmmm? Oh, sorry, come on up." Mageria's entire demeanor had changed, now that she had a problem that she could work on. She pulled out a think bundle of notes and started laying them out in chronological order. She looked up as Luckas came up the stairs and reached out to pull him over by one arm.
"Here, look at this." She gestured at a map of Valcrest, small carved stones laid out across it. "Each of these marks the place where a village was raided and destroyed over the years. The weird part was..." She started laying the notes from the journal out next to notes from her own records. "The weird part was that we never found enough bodies. An entire village destroyed and all we would find were the people who died during the fighting." She reached out and touched the journal laying to the side. "According to this, though, they were planned as, cargo raids. With people as the main target." She pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "But it almost seemed like children were the main target, once you shift through the ramblings of that idiot. Which didn't make any sense, because children don't make good slaves." She carefully reached out and adjusted the position of a small ring of white unmarked stones. "Except if he wasn't selling them as slaves and instead, experiments? I doubt that this, what ever it was that happened to you and your brother, worked the first time. Which means that they needed lots of children to practice on." She reached out and tapped one finger on the journal. "I hope to meet him, someday."

Luckas stood, looking over the map, his expression seeming to darken for a moment as Mageria spoke. The word 'experiments' causing an involuntary twitch in the corner of his left eye. He couldn't remember everything, but he could remember well enough to know that his 'conditioning' or whatever they liked to call it had been far from pleasant. Throughout his silence Luke's face contorted in an expression of contempt and disgust as he tried to think of how many times they had tried this before it finally worked. Sam's words about her cats crossing his mind abruptly, her casually telling him how her father had made her attempt the imprint on twelve kittens, ten of which didn't survive... He and Matt were like those cats... There had been others before, but what about now?

Luckas heaved a deep sigh, his expression slowly changing to a void as he finally spoke. "I see... Well... There are things I can share and maybe they will help you, Captain. However, I have conditions. First: I've asked this before, but I'll ask again... Don't tell anyone that I'm not enlightened; absolutely no one. What was done or not to me is no one's business but my own. Second: Any information I have to give, believe it or don't believe it... Just don't ever ask me where I got it. These are my terms." Luckas stated simply, looking up from the map to stare Mageria in the eyes. "There is plenty I'm not going to tell you, Captain. I could, but I don't want to. There are many reasons for that, but the main reason is that at this point I don't feel I can trust you to trust me." Luckas paused for a moment, turning his attention to the map once again. "Lady mentioned to me a while back that children were being taken in Blackpond. I know that the person in charge of what was done to me is dead, because I have been searching for him. I've been digging around, I haven't found much about any recent activities, to be honest, but I can tell you some things I've learned about my past and of some places you can look for more information. That is, if my terms are acceptable to you."

"Agreed," Mageria didn't even hesitate before she spoke; if anything, children were her one weak spot. To keep this abomination from happening to any other child, she would make a deal with a demon. She met Luckas's eyes, her own expression as grave as his. She took a deep breath. "Help me make sure this doesn't happen again, Luckas, and I'll do my best to let you see why I survived."

"Alright." Luckas mumbled, not seeming too pleased with having to talk about these things, but suppose it was only fair. "I was born in Blackpond. When Matthew and I were around three or four years old our father was killed and out mother sold us to these people. She was not very good at her job apparently. I'm not sure how or when we were taken from there to Newhaven, I can't remember much of anything useful from that time except for voices. When Lena caught us playing with the Warlord Xypher in the Castle, I had recognized one of those voices in his mind. More recently I discovered the man's name is Bennett. He's a councilman in Newhaven still. He has been threatened very recently to keep his mouth shut about the past and if you do get him to speak no matter what anyone does to prevent it he is going to die or simply disappear. It seems the man in charge of the experiments offered us to Newhaven as an advantage in battle, he intended to raise a small army for sell, but since my brother and I proved to be too... Uncontrollable... The Newhaven people backed out of the deal, technically the whole operation was shut down. Mathew and I were to be killed, but..." Luckas shrugged slightly. "I don't know what happened next. I know they offered Blackpond the same deal, but they were already training their own assassins and good old Rory told them to fuck off... Look how well that ended for him..." Luckas snorted a slightly amused laugh at the irony and continued. "Like I said, the man who ordered this to be done to me is dead. The new leadership... Is something else entirely, something far more dangerous, far more subtle and far more deadly. And if, IF, they are taking children to do with them what was done to me and Mathew... They're not going to sell them out this time."

Luckas stopped talking for a while, crossing his arms over his chest. His tone was completely calm as he spoke, but there was noticeable tension in his posture as if speaking of any of this would immediately cause horrible things to happen to them both. He forced a deep breath before moving on. "In the past, oh, eight years or so, they have infiltrated Newhaven, Blackpond, the Wolfpack, the Crimson, and you can be damn sure that if they haven't infiltrated this camp yet they are at least watching closely. For what I understand, they have associates in powerful positions in several locations outside of Valcrest scattered across the continent. The only place they seem to shy away from is the White Shadows' territory, but with Lena gone the Shadows can't help even if they want to. They've pretty much taken over Blackpond at this point and the King doesn't seem to notice because he doesn't care, hell if he wasn't such a good distraction they would have taken him down and replaced him for someone more controllable by now; those assassins are only alive, basically, because they've been allowed to live. If you're feeling particularly adventurous, one other thing you can do is send a few of your guys into the city and try to get them into the fighting circuit, that's the only thing I've seen them allow outsiders into, and they'd surely see some stuff. The places aren't too hard to find if you go around the more quiet parts of town, the ones even the worse types seem a bit hesitant to wander through. I have to warn you though that those places are brutal and if anyone were to get killed down there you shouldn't expect to see any leftovers. I think it's not necessary to say that enlightened people are not very welcome in these places either." Luckas frowned, watching the leather journal Mageria had showed him, thinking on what she had told him. "This man, whoever he is, must serve some great purpose to them if he's still alive. Now that they're pretty much out in the open they've been eliminating anyone who has deeply involved in their affairs, but not this guy. I take it he must be important somehow."

Mageria laughed softly. "Important. Yes, you could say that." She absently started doodling the symbol she had seen over and over in the journal. "His name is Asher. He is, among other things, a weapons merchant. He sells to anybody with a bit of coin in their pocket, playing the Cities against each other. Till recently, he was living in that underground prison city in Blackpond. His currently location is unknown."

Mageria swallowed hard and held out the scrap of paper to Luckas. "The journal is in code, but this symbol repeats over and over, in reference to "Cattle". I believe that this is when he's selling the children." She waved one hand at the map. "Like I said, I think that I've narrowed down where their base might be. I've got some people out scouting the area now." She shrugged. "But if they happen to see children in trouble there.... I doubt that there will be much left after they get done with it."

"Asher..." Luckas mumbled under his breath as he stared at the symbol Mageria had sketched on a bit of paper. Of course he should have figured it would come up, but the fact that it was on this guy's journal was what surprised him, maybe Sam was wrong about how the symbol became known; if she knew that this guy had doodling it in his personal records it was doubtful that she would have let him get away with it. "I see..." He muttered. "I've seen the symbol before. That's about as much as I have to say on the matter." He replied shortly, clearly not wanting to dwell on the subject. "If I have any information on this Asher person or his whereabouts though I'll have no problem passing it along, or possibly fetching him personally, but then... I assume you'd prefer he'd be alive and sane enough to talk, yes? So maybe I shouldn't fetch him." Luckas opened a devious smile at the thought of hunting this guy, but then it was probably a bad idea to openly go after one of the Brotherhood's associates; Zeke would surely want his head for it. "One more thing Captain... I don't think I really need to tell you this, but just to be safe I will anyway; you shouldn't, under any circumstance, tell me about any plans. Not even if for some weird reason they involve setting my pants on fire; not even to give me fair warning, just don't tell me. Trust me, it wont be good for anyone if you do."

With that final warning Luckas silenced for a moment, wondering if he should or not mention this guy's journal to Sam. On one hand she might tell him something important, on the other... It may not go well in the long run. He needed to give that some thought. "I suppose..." He started. "...That's all the information I have to give at the moment, Captain."

Mageria nodded. “I promised if you helped that I would do my best to let you see what you wanted. Since there are things that you obviously don’t want to be told about…. It should happen before I make too many other plans.” Luckas opened him mouth to say something in return, then shut it with a snap. She was giving him what he wanted, no need to make her angry again. Instead he stepped forward and did his best to smile cheerfully. “I’m glad you finally came around to my way of things, Captain. Now if you could just relax….?” Mageria nodded and let her eyes fall half closed, taking deep, even berathes. Luckas leaned forward, concentrating…. It was like searching for an island in the mist. Every time he though he had a lock on the Captain’s mind, it slipped away again.
His eyes flared black several times before he sat back. “Captain, really. You need to let me in.”
Mageria sat up and glared right back. “I’m trying. I don’t even know how this happened in the first place.”
Luckas sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Just, try not to avoid me. Think of ripples on a pond or something.”

Mageria sighed and bowed her head, focusing on finding a still center in her mind. Her breath slowed and her face grew serene. Luckas leaned forward, cautiously reaching out again. This time he got the sense of walking through a dense fog, following somebody that he could almost see. He followed them for several minutes before what felt like a gust of wind blew away the fog and left him facing Mageria. They stood together in a shadow-drenched courtyard, just a few torches struggling to lift the gloom. Across from him Mageria stood in her Black Knight armor, heavily scared and dented here and there. It might have been a trick of the shadows, but it almost looked as if there were three people standing behind her; which wasn’t possible because he hadn’t invited anybody else along.
“You know Captain, a few plants would really brighten this place up.” Luckas couldn’t suppress the remark. When the woman could choose any sort of inner landscape, this was what you felt most at home in? Mageria shrugged. “You wanted to see what happened. It wasn’t exactly a vacation.” Luckas shrugged. “Whatever. Just show me and we can get this over with.”

Mageria winced, clearly not happy with the idea, but set her jaw and inclined her head. She rippled and vanished, and the scene wavered, before snapping into focus. Twin Mageria’s stood facing each other, one crazed and drenched in blood and one dressed in a simple tunic and leggings, her he=aid pulled back in a long tail. They seemed to be speaking to each other, but the sound was distorted, as if hear from the bottom of a well. Luckas moved closer, trying to get a grasp of what was going on, but the scene wavered and blurred, washing away like watercolors in the rain.

“DAMN IT CAPTAIN!!” he roared. He was so close and the stupid woman kept pulling away what he needed.

“You’re not going to get what you want that way.” A cool and slightly amused voice caused him to turn. The person who stood behind him…. Was not Mageria. Not completely. It was as if they were part of her, but a part that was separate on its own.
“Who the fuck are you?” It was a woman, dressed in an archaic black coat. It had a deep hood that covered her face, with a long white braid flowing down from it. The woman ignored the question. “You said it yourself earlier, this whole thing was about symbolism and hidden meanings. Did you really think you would understand it without a frame of reference?”
“Who. Are. You?” Luckas was rapidly loosing what little patience he had. Again, the woman ignored him.

“You need to know what happened. Are you willing to pay the price?” There was a brief flash of teeth in the darkness of her hood and she held out a hand. “It’s the only way you’ll get what you want.”
“Fine.” Luckas snarled. He reached out and grasped her hand in return. "What's the price?"
Again there was a feral gleam of teeth in the darkness. The hand grasping his clamped down until he could feel his bones creaking.

"Pain."

There was a brief twisting of his vision and then …. Somehow he was inside Mageria’s mind in a way that he had never experienced before. She/he stood across from the her/him that stood drenched in blood. It was as if all of the guilt and rage and evil thoughts they had ever had had been ripped away and stood before them, a personification of corruption. She/he could feel the horror of facing it and at the same was drawn to it. It was terrifying, being so out of balance. Somewhere in their mind there was a scream that went on and on and on……

Their opposite laughed insanely and leapt forwards, trying to strangle them with her/his bare hands. They screamed, feeling evil burning into their skin. They fought, but it was no use, they were too evenly matched. Mageria/Luckas tossed their head wildly. “No,” Luckas could feel his lips shaping the words as well as hers. “No, this is wrong. You are me. We are….balance.” The other froze for a moment and Mageria/Luckas took their chance. Lunging forwards, they wrapped their arms around the other, feeling corruption eating into their skin, into their selves, into their core.

The realization came suddenly. In order for Mathew to force one to face their evil, he had to draw it away from the rest of a person’s mind, making one half again into an innocent, before the burdens of the world descended upon them. When one was innocent, the idea of evil seems overwhelming. The first was always the harshest, staining the soul in a way that never washed clean. After that they became easier, as one became used to the weight of evil. But as he tore away the weight of evil, he also tore away the strength that came from facing the world. Mageria/Luckas realized that, knew that in order to face the world and make any difference for the better, they would have to accept the weight of that evil again.

Mageria/Luckas accepted evil back into their souls, feeling it etch itself into their selves, feeling the weight of a lifetime of harsh choices and sins and evil all burying them under what felt like the weight of a mountain. The evil worked it’s way deeper, forcing itself into every facet of their minds, staining them with blood that would never wash away….. And Mageria/Luckas accepted it, drew it in; because without it they would never have the strength to make the world a better place. And still the weight of that evil burned and burned and burned and she/he screamed………


Darkness descended.


Luckas spun in place, searching vainly for something to hold onto in the maelstrom that Mageria’s mind had become. He reached, looking for anything he could find. The same fog that had kept him out now made it almost impossible to find a way out. A snatch of a child’s laughter drew him in one direction, he followed it and found himself standing in a sunlit glad. A small girl ran past him, red hair flying. She looked over her shoulder and Luckas could see the hint of the woman she would become someday.

“Pappa!” she cried joyfully, running through the trees. “Pappa, come look!” she ran and was swung into the arms of a tall man, who threw her into the air with a laugh. “What is it now, my Ria?” The girl twisted around to point and caught sight of Luckas, gasping in fright. The scene twisted again, Mageria standing before him. She moaned and clutched at her temples, stumbling back a few steps. She bent over, gasping for breath and coughing. She looked up, teeth bared.

“Get. Out.”

In the real world, Mageria collapsed bonelessly to the floor, eyes rolling backwards.

----Later, After Essence collapses----


Darren didn't sleep much for the next few nights, staying up late to decode what he could as he waited for news on the Captain's return. It wasn't that he didn't know Mageria's time in the city was of great importance, he was just extremely antsy to find out as much information as he could to substantiate his theories. It didn’t help that the more time he spent on the journal, the harder it was to concentrate. He began obsessing, only taking breaks to eat, until finally he finished the first section. That was when he put the book down, if one could call it that as he tucked it back into his jacket. He couldn’t part with it, but at least he was trying to focus on something else. Anything else, really. Darren knew it wasn’t good for his sanity to have gone so long without sleep, but every time he closed his eyes he saw the little redheaded girl and felt nauseous.

Darren had heard Jake was back in camp, but only after the commotion the Captain broke up, took place. He had caught Irv leaving the scene prior but didn’t get to question him on the matter. He didn’t really care at the moment why Jake almost got stabbed, chalking it up to the bits he had procured when he shook the man’s hand. ‘Jake must really like his redheads.’ Darren thought to himself, snickering at the bits he overheard as he watched Aiden wait outside the medics cabin only to be turned away by one of the women who was with Essence. He waited another moment before making his way towards the Captain’s quarters, barely containing his haste. Mageria already seemed to have her hands full but he needed to see her and collaborate on what they both were able to discover. As he approached he saw Jake leaving, jokingly bumping his shoulder into the man’s side. “What is with you pissing off redheads, hm?” He half joked, but didn’t stop to wait for an answer. Darren felt his blood pounding in his ears when he revealed the journal from his jacket and went to knock on the door. He wanted to pound his fists against the door until he cracked the wood, but to the contrary the sound he made was soft; a little too quiet perhaps and he wondered if it would be overlooked as he went to knock again.

Mageria growled to herself as she finished pulling off her soaked clothing. The temperature had been hovering around freezing the past couple days and the damn river was cold. And now..... she listened and heard a soft repeat of the noise. Somebody was knocking.

She quickly wrapped herself in an old shirt and worn pants, noticing idly that they fit a bit looser than they used to. She didn't even glance at the mirror, knowing that there was more stark white showing in her hair than there used to be. Instead she grabbed a soft old knee length robe and wrapped it around herself as she went to the door, snagging a towel to try and wring some of the water from her hair.

"Darren," Mageria only raised one eyebrow at the man standing in the doorway. Given the journal in his hands, she could guess at what brought him to her door. "Please, come in." She lead him down the few steps into her sitting area, before kneeling down in front of the fire and throwing a few logs on. She warmed her hands for a moment before sitting down. "So, tell me. What have you learned?"

Where should I start? Darren thought to himself, standing and staring idly at the fire as the Captain tended to the flames. He inhaled a deep, shaky breath as he spoke, stuttering only at first. “We..Well..ok Irv made a copy of Asher’s ledger after Jake and him procured it for me, back in Blackpond and with all that came up at the Ball...I couldn’t wait to see what you had discovered so I worked to finish what I could in your absence. I found out my birth was apart of a business deal and that I apparently have siblings whom I’ve never met. Half sisters...Something that was going on between Ebony and my father. In his journal he talks about them as if they were experiments and that most were disappointments. He..also talks about his joy when he discovered I was a boy...his first son. I ...don’t understand what happened to the others…” Darren coughed, clearing his throat. “I do have my theories though...which leads me to you to ask what you have learned. This bit I can only guess was inventory or were transactions of sorts. He was smart in never placing names to incriminate any of his business partners or his dealings per say. Everything has a bit of poetic flare to it...and instead of inspiring...it sickens me.”

Darren flipped through the pages, pointing out bits and pieces to substantiate his findings as he showed the Captain before continuing. “...There’s much more….there’s a girl...who I can only imagine if she is still alive..is now a woman..but he obsesses over her...and it reads like he ‘saves’ her from the destruction of her village...but he gives her to someone who he dislikes but benefits from...and talks about her as a ‘Crone’. I’d like to think he means Ebony..but again only hints. When she is older...he talks about a love affair of sorts with her...and then again having his only son...which has to be me. There’s pages and pages of Asher talking about a business partner who got him where he is now, and how he hints at the man’s power, is unbelievable. If you knew my father...her fears no one or anything...except this man.” Darren paused and nodded as if motioning towards a particular part on the pages before the Captain. “See anything funny about the entries? Have you noticed a symbol that repeats itself anywhere else in the journal and especially when particular business dealings are mentioned? I don’t know what it means. Then, the Cattle he refers to. I believe...it may be a euphemism for… children.” Darren’s voice disappeared as he spoke the last word, casting his eyes towards the floor as if ashamed.

Lifting his head back up so his eyes met Mageria’s he continued, “Which is why I need to know what you found out. Not to mention I know for a fact what his last entry talks about. A few years ago, my father began my lessons with...explosives, which I’d like to think i’m pretty knowledgeable of at this point. Not to sound cocky but it leads to the point that I understand what these symbols stand for.” Leaning over the ledger he pointed at the bottom of the page. “..These are the components needed to create what is desired and he talks about getting massive amounts...but for what I don’t know. That is also why I need to find out what his dealings were and how often...there may be a pattern to everything. It must have to do with the reason I turned my back on Asher. You see...he was dealing weapons of all kinds to the major cities of Valcrest...and fueling the terror for YEARS...playing each one as a pawn against one another. Makes me think of a chess game..”

Darren trailed off, shaking his black curls roughly as if trying to shake off his disgust; as if there was something on him that was not coming off. He finally fell quiet, pondering if there was anything he failed to mention. "..But that's why I left my father and his business. I refused....to deal with those who are basically war profiteers."

"Darren... There's some things that once you know, they change the way you see the world. Very rarely are they good changes." She looked at his face and sighed. "Come along, there's something you need to see."

She lead the way up the winding staircase to her conference room. A map was laid out, small carved stones marking various locations in Valcrest.

"Assume that your father was moving cargo, whatever it was, that he wasn't getting lawfully. Easy enough to assume that, given that his journal is in code. Assume that he was getting large amounts of whatever it was, which could only get gotten by raiding. Each of these, is a village that was destroyed over the years. Some of the days match up. Enough for me to be sure. The thing is, all of these," she waved her hand again, briefly touching one of the stones. "All of these, indicate somewhere where there weren't enough bodies. It was never put together before now, but it's obvious that they were raided not only for the good but for the people too. And you're right." She pulled out a scrap of paper with the symbol drawn on it. "This most likely stands for children taken.....because this isn't the first time I've seen this. And if it's what I think it is, things are possibly worse than you know."

Darren obediently followed the Captain, quietly staring at the map of Valcrest laid out before him. “This world..will never be what I expected…” He whispered, absorbing the bits the Captain was connecting with the dates that coincided with the destruction of some of the villages destroyed out west. Darren pointed to a few different markings upon the map. “..If I remember my history correctly...those are the villages of Blackhurst, correct? I heard they are mere ruins now. I have never visited out West before. So...whomever my father is working with, you think had something to do with the destruction of those villages. And from what we’ve read, it seems he profited quite handsomely on their demise.” Darren sighed, shaking his head. “Do we know why the villages were destroyed? Were they casualties of war? What would someone want with so many children?”

Darren turned away from the map, flipping through the pages of the copy of his father’s journal, trying to ignore a dull headache that was forming between his eyes. “ I knew the Great Dragon would take her soul…” Darren muttered to himself, reaching to understand what it could mean, exactly. “...I read there were never any survivors….from those villages. Is that true? Not too sure what kind of information one would get from them…” Clearing his throat he changed the subject slightly, “Captain...was there anything recently dated? Maybe supplies to be moved? I know my father’s business has not halted, even away in prison. If only we could intercept...find proof of it all…”

Mageria hesitated and reached out, touching a small circle of stones set apart from the others. These were a plain white, where the others were carved or decorated in some way. "Here. One of the things I've learned as a commander is how to follow troupe and supply movements. From what I can understand from the movements reported in the journal, their base would be somewhere in this area. Darren" Mageria's voice cracked like a whip, halting him before he could move. "You need to consider why there were stealing children. Most of them didn't end up in the slave trade, we would have noticed that. Based on information I've gotten from other sources, I think." she swallowed carefully. "I think they've been experimenting on them. These aren't going to be people who you can go up against alone. We're going to do something about this, but if you try to rush in alone, I will have you restrained. We can't afford any slip ups that would warn them. This is going to have to be perfect." She turned and rested a hip against the table. "I need you to give me your word that you won't do anything stupid."

Darren pondered the Captain’s word carefully and nodded as he thought aloud, “...Not all were found dead...and you say because it would have been noticed...not all were put into slavery of some sorts. So why…” He paused, an exasperated and frustrated sigh escaping him as he looked at the Captain, his expression showing he had the answer and that it had been probably the most obvious. “...Replenishing their ranks….whoever they are..” Darren nodded. “...I understand and agree this is bigger than what we’ve been shown and it would take great numbers...maybe even an army...to take down the heart of it all. So yes, I will not go it alone because it would be foolish. I won’t mention anything to the others, but I should just make it clear that Irvin and Jacob Turner are the only one’s who know what I’ve been up to and have a clear interest in my findings. If you prefer, I will still be silent. Perhaps it would be better if you spoke with them...or at least Jake.”

Darren tucked the journal away in his jacket, taking one last look at the map before him. “..Asher...is not a stupid man, Captain. If he was out in the southwestern area of Valcrest, he most likely will be relocating, if not already moved. He would be splitting up his resources and whatever muscle he carries. Which means..if we search the nonconventional roads...those not normally traveled...we could get lucky.” Darren stood straight, a look of compliant obedience taking hold of his form. “..With your permission, Captain...I’d like to scout the area. Perhaps I can accompany one of your people?”

Mageria took a long look at the man standing in front of her and nodded gently. "Yes, I think you can. They will leave in the morning, so be sure to sleep well tonight. Pack for a scouting trip that will last for at least two weeks. It may be less than that, but better to be prepared." She smiled a bit crookedly. "I hope you find what you're looking for, Darren. And that you still want it, when you do."

Darren pondered the Captain’s word carefully and nodded as he thought aloud, “...Not all were found dead...and you say because it would have been noticed...not all were put into slavery of some sorts. So why…” He paused, an exasperated and frustrated sigh escaping him as he looked at the Captain, his expression showing he had the answer and that it had been probably the most obvious. “...Replenishing their ranks….whoever they are..” Darren nodded. “...I understand and agree this is bigger than what we’ve been shown and it would take great numbers...maybe even an army...to take down the heart of it all. So yes, I will not go it alone because it would be foolish. I won’t mention anything to the others, but I should just make it clear that Irvin and Jacob Turner are the only one’s who know what I’ve been up to and have a clear interest in my findings. If you prefer, I will still be silent. Perhaps it would be better if you spoke with them...or at least Jake.”

Darren tucked the journal away in his jacket, taking one last look at the map before him. “..Asher...is not a stupid man, Captain. If he was out in the southwestern area of Valcrest, he most likely will be relocating, if not already moved. He would be splitting up his resources and whatever muscle he carries. Which means..if we search the non conventional roads...those not normally traveled...we could get lucky.” Darren stood straight, a look of compliant obedience taking hold of his form. “..With your permission, Captain...I’d like to scout the area. Perhaps I can accompany one of your people?”

Mageria took a long look at the man standing in front of her and nodded gently. "Yes, I think you can. They will leave in the morning, so be sure to sleep well tonight. Pack for a scouting trip that will last for at least two weeks. It may be less than that, but better to be prepared." She smiled a bit crookedly. "I hope you find what you're looking for, Darren. And that you still want it, when you do."