Alice Victoria Casselle's Story

Guin leaned her hands against the balcony, stretching her back to push her stomach against the cold marble as she smelled the wind. It blew past her face with a melodic sound, and smelled like burning roses in the Ashen Wastes. At that, she leaned back, putting the whole of her foot on the ground and turning towards the interior of her father's castle. She pulled at the rug-robe mixture that was hanging on her shoulders, patterned in a Tiager-style of roaming circles, and frowned.

I have a conference at some point this afternoon. And the chances of anything coming out of that are quite slim. Let's be honest, who wants to be in Mysteria at this point? There's no use... "I don't think we can actually win this war." She looked around her sheepishly, not meaning to have said that out loud, and hurried inside the castle. Warmth spread over her with the light of several candles, and Guin started to pick her way through the winding halls.

"It's been far too long since I've been here last. Far too long.." The Angel murmured to herself again and again as she trekked through the villages scattered about the land. The night was young, the full moon hanging high in the sky and the stars burning bright. The moon cast a silky blue glow over the villages, making up for their downgraded states.
Few villagers could be seen wandering about either taking care of last minute things such as removing ragged clothes from clothes lines, or locking doors to simply wandering. Those who wandered wore blank expressions, not appearing to have an apparent purpose as to what they were doing. They almost looked like they were searching for something. Something they were determined to find until they collapse from exhaustion.
The thought of the wanderer's searching for death came to mind and she shuddered. No, she was sure that wasn't it. And she almost believed herself. Absently she ran her hand along her back where her wings should be but instead brushed past two narrow slits cut into the back of her attire. "One could only wonder what happened here." She said to herself, used to the habit of talking to herself. It was the only companion she had in this world as of now. Had a war broken out over the land or were they simply struck with horrible misfortune? She wished to believe it was simply misfortune, for misfortune has a way of turning around again to luck, but this wasn't the first village she came across like this.
"Things will be right again soon. A bright future and happiness has yet to come." She murmured to every wanderer she passed, but never received any form of reply. Only stares; whether they be shocked or keeping to their blank expressions. It pained her to see humans so depressed over what was happening, whatever was happening.
Finally reached the outskirts of the village the castle could be seen off the horizon. It stood tall against against night, the moons light bathing it in a hazy glow. Why she felt compelled to come here she wasn't sure. To escape the sadness and depression around her perhaps? Curiosity of the strange castle?
In any case, it was a place to go to for the time being. Of course she didn't intend to stay or even have her being there be known of, but she needed a place to rest and the trees surrounding the castle looked fairly comfortable. They were large and broad rather than weak and withering like the ones around her now. "Some rain might do them some good." She noted to herself softly before slipping into the dark and bringing out her wings.
The white feathers tickled her skin as they brushed past her shoulders and spread out around her. With a final glance back in a silent wish of luck the Angel took off for the odd castle in the distance.

After a short while of flying the Angel finally made it to the cluster of trees lining the front of the castle. The castle looked impossibly taller now that she was up close to it. It didn't appear to have an end as it reached up to the night sky, almost as though it were attempting to reach up to the moon itself.
Lights could be seen inside the fortress, indicating people were wandering about inside it's walls, more than likely awake. "Hm, didn't think there were others awake at this hour." She noted to herself as she flew up into the branches of a fur tree, taking solace in it's concealing branches and soft bark. As she rested back against a narrow fork in a branch, being wary of looking down, she hid her wings once again. With that out of the way the Angel rested her eyes, ready for a nice sleep after her day of venturing about the land. 'How long had things been this way?' She mused silently, remembering back to the last time she was walking about the world. She couldn't come up with a number. There was no sense of time in the afterlife.
The Angel merely shrugged to herself, not too worried with the thought of how long she was away but instead of the conditions the land was in. Suddenly the sounds of voices drifted into her thoughts, breaking her away. She opened her eyes again and flickered them up towards the castle, her advanced hearing picking up more on the conversation. It sounded...chaotic.
Curiosity piqued the Angel found herself quickly leaving her place of rest, spreading her wings about her once again. Sticking to the shadow's as she had before she flew up to one of the many castle windows and peeked inside. A beautiful blonde haired Elvin girl with a sad air about her could be seen standing among a group of soldiers along with someone else, but she couldn't see who else was there for the time being. "Hm, this is interesting." She whispered to herself. What could possibly be going on?

Her unspoken rage only fueled his elation, although he hid it behind his mask of indifference.
"Yes, two things, as a matter of fact, one, funny the song written about me in my 482nd year has gotten around to your people, and two, correct me if I'm wrong, but the window seems to have been occupied by an angel who's taken a shine to it. Allow me."
With that, he stood up and walked over to where the angel was, exhuding an aura of kindness, peace, and goodwill, opened the window, and then snatched the angel by her arms and brought her in. Joys of being a unicorn, no one ever suspects you to be evil within the first five minutes of meeting you unless proven otherwise, your inherent holy magic throws them off. He then placed her down and closed the window, taking off the blindfold to reveal his shimmering eyes. They'd probably do nothing, but at least their sparkliness would keep her distracted.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he asked gently, aiming to keep her off guard so that this new angel wouldn't try to smite him immediately.

Delphine was walking through the halls, with a hawk sitting upon her shoulder, discussing with it what it had seen earlier that moring.

"Yes, I understand... No, I haven't been to the Ashen Wastes... Yes, I understand that I'm supposed to be at battle. Do I look like I have spread my wings recently? Precisely, you have, I have not. Now, I understand that -... No, I suppose that's right, I would know if anyone has been fighting recently. I-"

She was cut off as it suddenly took flight, and stared at it, wondering what had happened. "Come... Come back! Why are you leaving? Was it Khasten?" She frowned, and relaxed her shoulders.

"Hm, what a peculiar melody."

Delphine frowned. She could not remember anyone being nearby... Perhaps that's what scared my friend off. She took a few steps forward, and saw an angel appear on the balcony ledge. She frowned, looking behind herself to see if her own wings were showing, and smiled to see that they were not. I don't want to announce myself as a Valkyrie yet.

"...Excuse me? My dear angel, are you lost?"

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Delphine stepped back, and looked around her for anyone. No, there was no one, and she simply floated back to lean against the bricks.

"Yes, two things, as a matter of fact, one, funny the song written about me in my 482nd year has gotten around to your people, and two, correct me if I'm wrong, but the window seems to have been occupied by an angel who's taken a shine to it. Allow me."

Guin smiled with amusement. As much as she did not want to admit it, this would be amusing, no doubt. "Let it begin... I am interested to see who would dare eavesdrop."

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"She doesn't look familiar... I don't think I've quite seen this one before. Forgive me if I have, my dear, and you have slipped my mind."

The Angel's eyes widened as a Unicorn came to the window and opened it before swiftly pulling her out. "Uhm.." She uttered brilliantly, unable to help but gape at the sight of the creature. She's never seen a Unicorn before, so it was something else to meet a Unicorn with a blindfold.
"A better question would be, who are you and what you doing here?" She countered quietly before she locked her gaze with his. His eyes looked nice she had to admit, but all the same the Angel found herself taking a precautionary step back. He was too bright and peaceful.. the only other being she's met of being like this were Angel's such as herself. Were all Unicorns like this?
Her attention was focused then as others began to question her and she fought against the urge to shrink back against their stares. "I- My name is Alice." She introduced herself quietly. "I'm terribly sorry I listened in but I couldn't help myself. It all sounded so interesting, the odd things you were all speaking of." She admitted, casting her gaze to the ground in abashment.

"I- My name is Alice. I'm terribly sorry I listened in but I couldn't help myself. It all sounds so abashing, the odd things you were all speaking of."

Guin narrowed her eyes slightly, pulling one leg over the other in a swift motion that would allow her to pick at another loose thread. "What will you do with her, Lucius?" she asked. This was certainly not her place to say anything, for she was not the one to catch the eavesdropper. And, as much as they could abide by the rules tonight, they would. Perhaps the rules of spies did not count as much here, but she had no say as to what side Alice was playing for. If she even had a side.





((OOC note:
[Sorry, doesn't belong here, but has to be done. I just realised Alice wasn't actually added to the ranks... I kinda put here there. Sooo maybe we recruit her? :o]))

Shadow stood up, and got his food. Mostly meat cooked rare and some mead to let him drink. Alcohol was one of the greatest things that he's seen created, though he never quite understood the concept of getting drunk. He walked back and sat down by Guin once again, before hearing the song. he listened quietly, singing along in his head until he saw the Unicorn get up from his seat.

He watched in slight amusement as he grabbed a girl-from her aura she was an angel. He watched as the girl was harshly yanked into the room and questoned by the unicorn. With a sigh, he turned back to his meat and began to eat. They really needed to relocate the castle if some random girl can just come inside. With a sigh, Shadow watched the scene unfold more.

Lucius' response was, again, calm and befitting of a man who'd spent centuries dealing with any kind of threat.

"Why, I'd say a good feather clip would do it for punishment, nothing permanent, just enough to keep you grounded for a day or three. We could have been talking about things that could endanger all of the world if they got out, and while that isn't the case, I feel it wouldn't be fair to everyone involved if I let you off with just a warning. It would show that ANYONE could just waltz into a meeting and eavesdrop." As he created a small blade of blue fire in his fingers, he tried to reassure her. "Don't worry, it's painless and given what I know of angels, should be back to normal within a couple days. By that time, however, I'll have returned to my homeland, and anything you WOULD be able to tell anyone will be irrelevant."

"Why, I'd say a good feather clip would do it for punishment." Guin felt a shiver creep up her spine, and held her arms stiffly in place. She could not imagine what it would be like, precisely because she did not have wings herself, but regardless of what Lucius said she would feel the same.

"If you'll excuse me, I will not watch," she whispered as she stood from her chair, dusting her skirts off without finding the need to. "Please, invite me back when you are done."

She glided over the floor, half way to the soldiers she was making her way to, when she looked over her shoulder at the people behind her. "Oh, and do not tell me you're planning to stay longer than the rest of the day." That was much more than she could handle, but something she would put up with for purposes she knew she must.

Her heart lurched as she was pulled off to the side, panic clear on her face. 'Really now, you all were speaking of the oddest things.. I don't understand how that alone would jeopardize the country!' She cried internally as the Unicorn went on to speak of her punishment. A punishment? She was truly being punished for innocently eavesdropping?
"Yeah, right! Of course it's going to hurt!! What Angel's have you meet?" Alice demanded, her eyes growing wide as blades appeared from his fingertips. "This..This is all..." Alice whipped her gaze around desperately and realized no one was going to come to her aid.
Acting on instinct the Angel took her elbow and jabbed it into Lucius's side before dashing back to the window where she came from. Thankfully the window was left unlocked, making it easier to throw them open and leap out.

Delphine was talking to her hawk friend once more. He had flown off in frustration, but he was back once more, sitting on her shoulder and telling her what he had seen.

"Yes, I understand. Yes, I have seen the battlegrounds. I'm not one thousand and five hundred for nothing!" She frowned softly, as the angel jumped out of the window, and seemed to run towards her. She stared.

"...Are you alright?" she asked, a soft whisper. She was afraid for her. She looked scared, heartless, as if something was terribly wrong and should be fixed. "No, I will not read her! I refuse to see if she will die or not. Go take your flaming pot of feathers and dump it somewhere where someone will actually care."

Delphine roughly shoved the hawk off her shoulder, and pushed away feathers.

Lucius acted faster than she could fly, blinking in a puff of hellfire to right above the eaves of the window and kicking her back in with a swinging kick from the outcropping of stone outside, all traces of good replaced an aura of menace powerful enough to make demons feel uncomfortable as he threw up a dark barrier around the exits to the room an angel could escape from and also kept the valkyrie out. His words, however, were calm and collected, like the eye of a storm. The flame he conjured around his fingers this time was a white, holy fire, proof that he wasn't messing around.
"For your information, I've met several angels, am good friends with Uriel, and PERSONALLY know the Metatron! So when I say a quick wing clipping will be so harmless that you'll just have to walk around for a day or three, that's the extent it'll be! And like I said previously, it's not the action, but the intent that I planned on punishing. Surely, as a being of law and good, you understand that the crime is what is punished, and not the motive?" He worded it like so PRECISELY because it tackled the one issue he'd seen several angels deal with, and had become weaponized by him: their need to choose between themselves or their highly respected rules. He knew she'd become a fallen if she answered herself, due to acting selfish, a great sin, and that she'd have to give in to his wish to basically remove ONE form of transportation for a few days if she responded her responsibilities, which was a win for him anyways.
"And Gwen, I only promised no harm to the enemies I have this morning, so I can not promise anything for this angel." he said before she could take action, his eyes almost glowing in the light of the fire in his hands. This angel had gotten him angry for the first time in years, and this was NOT a feeling he relished.

Guin found herself being pushed along, for some reason following Lucius to see what he would be doing with the angel.

A few moments ago, you didn't care; now, it's as if La Cirque des Rêves has landed on your palace balcony.

She crossed her arms and pushed them against her chest gently, trying to adopt a stance of carelessness, but with a slight side of frustration. That was what she felt at the moment; best not to hide it in this situation, she could tell. Perhaps especially when a life could be in danger, as she noticed that Lucius's patience had seemed to disappear.

"And Gwen, I only promised no harm to the enemies I had this morning, so I cannot promise anything for this angel."

"Talk, talk talk, Lucius. Get to it. Don't speak to me of what you plan to do, for I can only see that delaying this matter any further will cause more trouble than truly necessary."

She sniffed with disdain, and raised her chin slightly, watching Alice with the eyes of a hawk.

The moment Alice flew outside a figure could be seen sitting on the roof. She registered something black resting on her shoulder as well but all she could care about was the fact someone was there. The Angel opened her mouth to cry out when she felt something slam into her stomach, knocking her back in the room. The force of the blow was enough to send the air whooshing out of her, the growing desperation in her words of help stuck in her throat.
She glared up at the Unicorn then as she battled for breath and felt an impossibly heavy aurora cling to him. I was right to be wary before. She thought bitterly, ignoring the subtle burning in her lungs yearning for oxygen. As Lucius spoke she felt herself shrink back as if she were a child being scolded by an elder. But her eyes were mainly focused on his fingers once more and the fire they emitted, noting that is was now white rather than blue.
Suddenly her breath came back all at once and she gasped wildly, almost making her unable to hear the rest of what he was saying. Her heart beat in double overtime making her limbs shaky as she scuttled back a few inches, wanting nothing more than to put space between her and the seething Unicorn. He was absolutely terrifying.
On a final act of desperation Alice flickered her gaze to the blonde haired elven girl and caught the sharp, unrelenting look in her eyes. Balling her hands into fists the Angel pushed herself to her feet and walked over to Lucius, staring him down with every bit of courage she had left in her before she promptly her turned her back to him. She moved her long brown hair aside, exposing her broad, thin feathered wings on her back.
If this was truly necessary then fine, have at it. But she still wanted to maintain a small shred of dignity, even if she lost most of it within the past ten minutes.

Guin whistled softly as Alice pulled her hair to the side, and exposed her wings to the mercy of the unicorn.

"Well, well, Lucius. Looks like you have a play-mate after all." She grinned, unfolding her arms and tossing her braid over her shoulder. "Best do it politely, then."

Guin, as she had earlier declared, turned away from the scene. She glanced over her shoulder, blue eyes palely drawing back for a moment, but turned towards the way she was headed and let go of the matter.

Lucius nodded, then began to trim the flight feathers of the angel's wings, the fire between his fingers not even producing heat as it slid through and made a ragged cut on each feather so that air would become buffeted in any attempt to fly, and thus cause more loss of lift than gain. Even as he trimmed, some feathers fell out, already being replaced by their new counterparts.
"See?" he said calmly, the menace gone as if it had never been there, "Harmless. This is actually how certain angels were punished back in the day, albeit a bit more permanent. And there, I'm done already and you didn't feel a thing!" he continued as he made his final snip and stepped back to admire his handiwork. Her wings looked as if they had saw teeth on the backs, and made her appear more like a being of vengeance rather than law. All in all, quite proud of himself.

Alice suppressed the urge to throw the elven girl a dirty look. She was no playmate, especially to someone like him. As Lucius worked she drew in small, steady breaths. It didn't hurt like she had thought, no, but it was uncomfortable and unnerving all the same. Every feather that fell away felt like she was loosing a part of herself; and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.
An icy breeze washed over her bare boned wings, drawing a harsh shudder from the Angel. "Humiliating." She retorted after his first statement. This was all horribly humiliating, and all this for simply listening in on something she never understood to begin with. Chills raced up her spine and down the skeleton of her wings at the mention of some being more permanent.
Not wanting to push the insane Unicorn any farther Alice said nothing. Keeping her eyes averted to the floor she hurried to hide her wings away. "Agh!" She cried out, pain like no other shooting through what used to be her wings, and back. Alice fell on one knee and grasped the floor for something she didn't know. Slowly she tried again only to be met with another flare of pain. Alice grit her teeth and huffed. She couldn't hide her wings away without her feathers.