Prey: A Character Driven RP [FINISHED]

[DktrAgonizer]

Zetta shook her head sadly as she lifted Maya up. She gave one last, lingering glance at Takeda's body as well before turning and walking swiftly towards the houses Lily had indicated earlier. Maya, she noted, felt no heavier than some of the packages she was used to delivering. "We'll get through this somehow," she said as Maya craned her neck to look back at Takeda.

When she reached the line of houses, out of sight from the people on the street, she let Maya down again. We're going to have a hell of a time trying to get somewhere safe from here, she thought as she leaned against the side of a house, waiting for the others to catch up.

 

[JoJo]

After Zetta put her back down, Maya nervously took a hold of the woman's hand, looking silently back at where the others were standing. Luckily, it was early enough in the morning that the housing estate they were near was virtually deserted. The small girl was shaking slightly but she remained quiet.

Back at the scene of the exploded car, Lily gave Gabriel a glance that hinted of concern.

"If you have a way to dispose of the body, we best not do it public. It probably be kinder too give the little girl a chance say one last goodbye before we do anything permanent. I hope you don't mind carrying him, I wish I could think of better way to do this."

~​

A muffled thud came from outside the bedroom as Rin returned, laden with several large cardboard boxes. A couple were filled to the brim with standard-looking notebooks and she hastily plonked them down by the sofa, along with a long piece of rope. The third box however contained a number of odd wooden figures, each a stylised animal about the size of a clenched fist, which she counted out.

"...six, seven, eight. Splendid, that should be enough"

Rin put her head round the bedroom door.

"Doctor, this is not the time for moping, we've got work to do! Dear, sorry I've forgotten your name, has he fixed you up yet?"

Her last question was directed at Blackrose, however she didn't give her time to reply.

"Well you look fine dear, anyhow I might as well get to the point. Alec wants the sword I owned up until a couple of days ago, and I'm sure you other two wouldn't mind me getting you some funds to enlarge your bank accounts. I know where you can find it, and I can take you there. However, there's just a tiny little job I need you to do for me first..."

She beckoned to bring the three westerners closer to tell them her plan, all the while grinning with barely-concealed malicious glee...

 

[SamuelT]

"It's..uh, it's okay." Gabriel said, trying to figure out the proper conducture for handling a dead body. He scooped him up like he would a sleeping person, getting increasingly uncomfortable with holding a dead person.

"Best thing I can do is light it, or make it vanish, lady."

He grimaced.

"Mind tossing your coat this way? This looks really suspicious."

 

[DktrAgonizer]

It was odd. Zetta had never been around children much in her life, but she felt comfortable around Maya and even relaxed some herself when the girl took her hand--even despite the circumstances. She bit her bottom lip as she watched Gabriel pick up Takeda's body from afar. If he and Lily didn't move quickly, the people coming out to the street would surely notice them. Judging from the sound of the sirens, the ambulance and police cars would be at the scene in just a minute as well.

"Rin had to have had a hand in this," Zetta said as she kept her eyes on Lily and Gabriel. She spoke softly, uncertainly. "We'll find a way to stop her, though." Or so I hope, she added silently. After all, Rin's powers obviously weren't perfect, but dealing with her would definitely not be a cakewalk, either.

 

[LunaSocks]

"I have a question. What's so important about this sword you two need?" Blackrose said, looking at Alec and Rin. "And what's in this room you need us to go to?" She said standing up, stretching her shoulder slightly, testing how much she could do with it. As she started to get her arm in front of her chest, it started to feel like it had a tearing pain.

"Hey Strauss, will I be able to do any lifting with my arm?" She asked the doctor.

 

[TheDoctor455]

"Hmm..." Dr. Strauss mused, "Some light lifting for now. Give your body at least a few hours to heal... just be sure to get plenty of rest on the plane, drink plenty of fluids, and to not do much with your arms or back for a while."

Dr. Strauss's face contorted as he struggled to push the memories away again.

 

[JoJo]

Lily wordlessly passed her coat over to Gabriel as they began to leave the circle of destruction, she was wondering about the dark shape that had appeared just prior to the explosion.

Was that caused by the same thing that made the fire earlier?

Meanwhile Maya watched with dread as Gabriel approached with Takeda's body covered by the coat, confirming what she had already known but didn't want to accept. She gripped Zetta's hand harder and trembled as she tried to speak; the words wouldn't come out properly though.

"Is... is he...?"

~​

Rin nodded towards Blackrose.

"Forgive me, I'd already discussed this with Alec but I had quite forgotten to tell you about it too. The sword is none other than the legendary Excalibur, I bought it a number of years ago and used it to find and wake Merlin. Not only that, but it contains an enormous amount of magical power, which has many uses, if you're knowledgeable enough to with that sort of thing. For some reason Alec wants to return it to the company which the woman I bought it from obtained it from, I suppose they must have promised him a large pay-check. I can promise you two something else, anything within reason that I can use my powers of teleportation or time-travel to get, if you will help me deliver justice."

 

[SamuelT]

"I..uh." Gabriel was grasping for words here. He didn't know if to lie to this pretty bright girl, to tell the truth to a emotional fragile six year old or to just ignore a child of six and talk to the adults.

He opted for the least damaging route for now.

"Zetta, Lily, we really need to get some shelter from..well, anyone." He said, nodding to the authorities and emergency helpers finally arriving at the scene. There were a large amount of police relative to the helpers.

"Like..well, another hangar? Or...I don't suppose any of you has a friend who won't ask too many questions and has a house around here?"

 

[TheDoctor455]

Dr. Strauss knew better than to trust Rin, but still... that offer...

"Rin..." he choked for a moment, "do you really have the power to travel through time? Then... if I do this for you... if I get this bloody sword for you... then please..." he choked again, "save my family."

 

[LunaSocks]

"Well, are you sure the people who took the sword didn't need the sword as well? Because I don't go after people just because you want something." Blackrose said, turning to Strauss.

"Considering what we're about to be doing, I'm hoping you're good with medical tools, by the way." She said.

 

[i don't know]

"Of-coarse those people/demons need the sword if they already have it. Why would they get it otherwise?"

The demon was disappointed that it couldn't drag Blackrose with it back to Hell, but there will be further opportunities.

"Rin, in the end I need to have this sword. Why would I make them drop the sword if I can just take it and be on my merry way?"

 

[JoJo]

Lily didn't answer Maya's question either, though she had much knowledge about dealing with people in various emotional states perhaps thankfully she didn't have any experience with a grieving child this young and she didn't want to accidently say something to upset her even more. Instead, she answered Gabriel's question.

"I do have a friend nearby where we might be able to lie low for a few hours, but I don't know if they'll be in now. If Zetta knows anyone close enough then that would probably be a safer option."

~​

Rin looked between the three, then answered Dr. Strauss first in a comforting tone, looking at him warmly straight in the eye.

"It may not be possible, time is complicated to navigate through and I couldn't save my even own Merlin. Strictly speaking, changing events that have already happened is impossible. However, we may be able to find a loophole and if you help me exact justice, I'll do everything in my power to find one."

She turned to Blackrose and began to reply emotionally.

"I'm sure they must want to use the sword for some evil deed, otherwise they wouldn't have stolen it from me. However you must remember these aren't good beings, as the Dr. here will confirm they fatally wounded my darling Merlin and who knows what they intend to do with that poor little child they kidnapped, wouldn't be surprised if they are planning to sacrifice her to some heathen god! Please, if not for me then for her."

The last part she stuttered with an anxious voice before finally she shifted her attention to Alec and spoke in a more neutral tone.

"I suppose it wouldn't be too risky if you keep Excalibur near you once you get a hold of it, but please be careful, in untrained hands it could be very dangerous to us all."

 

[LunaSocks]

"I-I'm still not to sure, but I'll do it for the little girl." Blackrose said, unassurance in her voice.

"So wait, wasn't Excalibur from that legend, about the sword in the stone?" She asked.

 

[DktrAgonizer]

Rezetta gave Maya's hand a squeeze, trying to comfort her. She'd noticed that the others neglected to answer the girl's question and, though she felt bad about it, she opted to do the same. She wasn't quite sure of what she'd say, anyway. "If this is where I think it is," Zetta said slowly, scanning the surrounding area with a frown, "then I do know someone. My uncle has a house not too far from here. Or, ah, he did, anyway. I'm not sure if he still lives around here or not, to be honest. I haven't seen him in years." She grimaced, trying not to think of the time she'd had to run away from home. "We didn't exactly... have the best relationship. Still, if it's that or slinking around outside for ages until we get caught..." She shook her head and sighed. "Well, opinions?"

 

[JoJo]

Though she was young, Maya wasn't stupid and the adult's reluctance to answer her question combined with their awkward looks told her all she needed to know. The small girl clutched at Zetta's arm even tighter and felt like she was about to cry again but tears wouldn't form. Instead she felt numb and empty; as if the loss was a bad dream which she watching from beyond and her body was just a puppet with no free-will of it's own. She knew that the others were talking, but their words no longer made sense to her, her whole surroundings had seemed to take on a distant and unreal quality to them.

Meanwhile Lily tilted her head in consideration of Zetta's idea.

"It might not be a good idea to intrude on this uncle of yours if you haven't seen him for years, but then again I suspect even my friend will raise a few eyebrows at what we've got here, so its not going to be easy whichever option we pick. Gabriel, what do you think?"

~​

Rin nodded eagerly in response to Blackrose's question.

"You're almost right dear, the first mention of Excalibur does come from the time of King Arthur although it may be much older. It is not however the sword he plucked from the stone as a young man to prove his kingship, that was but a lesser sword which was broken not long after he received it. Excalibur was the blade that replaced it, supposedly given to him by a female water spirit, a friend of Merlin's incidentally."

The woman then stood up and addressed the westerners with a smile.

"Well it looks like you will all be joining me on my little quest, isn't that splendid? I've got a few preparations to make, so why don't you all rest here for a few hours until I'll return? Especially you Alec and Blackrose, you both need time to recover from your injuries before we leave."

Rin turned and walked briskly back into the kitchen, leaving the three alone together.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Dr. Strauss retreated to his temporary quarters; which were little more than a broom closet. It was a punishingly small space for him to live and work, but that was the way he preferred it. It was what he felt he deserved. Once there, he reached into his front coat pocket and pulled out a picture of his family.

If it weren't for that tiny snapshot, Dr. Strauss might have forgotten what they looked like. As it was...

"Damn-damn-DAMN IT!" Dr. Strauss pulled at his hair, "Damn it! Why can't I remember their names?!?!?! Why?"

 

[i don't know]

I got to do something about that stupid nose, I'm going to try something here.

The demon left the room. It then lifted its arms to Alec's nose and in a few seconds his inner nose was returned to its original state. There wasn't much to fix anyway.

Well that worked, but I need to prevent the others from seeing that his noes is fixed, maybe an illusion will do the trick.

The demon then cast a spell making Alec's noes look the way it did before.

 

[SamuelT]

"I dunno if it's even safe to contact anyone. I'd suggest a...bridge or another warehouse or anything, but we haven't had the best track record with that." Gabriel said, uncomfortable hefting Takeda in a less morbid position.

"If given the choice, I'd prefer family over friends."

 

[SeanTheSheep]

"Family it is" Lily said, placing a hand softly on Maya's shoulder, bowing her head as she wondered if she should say something or not. Eventually, she delegated that saying something had a chance of saying the wrong thing, rather than being seen in quiet respect in honour of the deceased boy. She felt a brief moment of irritation that the kitsune hadn't been in his fox form when he died, making the disposal of his body easier, but she quickly banished the thought, quietly thankful that her hair was screening her face from view. An expression betraying a mind at work wasn't the best thing to let a traumatised child see if nothing can be done.

 

[DktrAgonizer]

"I think he might be able to hole us up for a while, at least until we come up with a plan," Rezetta said. "I'd, ah, rather we didn't stay there longer than necessary, anyway. It'll be awkward enough as is. Well then, let's get moving."

Rezetta led the way, quickly but cautiously moving through the lawns of the houses. If they moved back onto the street, they'd be noticed by someone. They were somewhat of an odd group and, especially with what Gabriel and Lily were carrying, there was no doubt somebody would find them suspicious. Thankfully, a life on the street had taught her the best way to move about without being seen, though it was harder with a small girl clinging to her hand and two other people following behind her.

Eventually, Zetta came to a stop at a small house about ten minutes away from the scene of the car explosion. She told Maya to wait with the others while she stepped forward and rang the doorbell. After a minute, an older man with greying hair opened the door and stared at her. "Rezetta?" he exclaimed in surprise, loud enough for the others to hear.

Zetta winced and spoke to him quickly and in hushed tones for a few minutes. Eventually, her uncle passed a hand over his face and stepped outside. "I was on my way out, anyway," he said, giving the other three an uncomfortable look. With a shake of his head, he walked past them and headed for the car in his garage.

"He'll let us stay here for a while," Zetta told the others, running a hand nervously through her hair. "He's going to the store now, so we'll be by ourselves for a time, too." She gave an odd sort of sigh and stepped into the house, beckoning for the others to follow.