There was noise at first. A wild cacophony of enraged thoughts that tried to bore through his brain. He could make no sense of them and they were painful, brutally painful to bear.
Kiga could not say a thing, either. His air was being stolen from his lungs as the seconds ticked away. A single thought did eventually become clear. A powerful voice telling him to release the books. To drop them into the nearest flames.
Kiga could not scream nor yell for help, his body was betraying him at that moment. He was locked onto the books, his body curling in on itself and tensing, his eyes cramped shut and the pain only showing on his face.
The voice hit and he had anticipated it would, something that would make it's purpose clear. It wanted them destroyed.
But Kiga had endured pain, tremendous pain all through his earlier years. His masters forged young children into assassin's with cruel determination, they broke people apart and rebuilt them time and time again. No, their voices were far harder to defy that whatever being now tried to order him about.
His answer was very clear.
"NO."
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
The shriek wasn't just desperate this time it was outright insane. How dare this insignificant creature defy him. It was useless to his cause. How could his prison remain with the inferno of fire that had just seconds ago rampaged around this building?
He hammered at Kiga's brain again. There was nothing subtle about either, no temptation or seductive voice that had whispered through fire mage's receptive mind. He tried to smash through it instead throwing a wild amalgamation of memories, past and present at him.
Once this meat puppet was wrung dry of any sanity he would have his freedom.
Ely's voice was right against his ear, too.
"No. No. No. Kiga put them down!"
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Kiga writhed now and screamed in pain, still curled up tight with the books clutched so desperately to his chest. He could hear Ely but could barely register her, there was too much hammering at his mind, too much tearing him apart for him to notice such a subtle voice.
Kiga fought back. He yelled once more, a defiant NO that Ely now heard and reeled from the attack on his mind. But he was determined there was nothing worse than what he'd already been witness to, the torture already delivered upon him at the hands of those who were supposed to care for him. He went back, far back into his past.
A bastard son born of rape, he was never accepted. His mother did not love him, his people shunned him and whilst his years lasted longer than any humans thanks to his muddled blood, he was sent away at too young an age.
Given to a dark organization, one of murder and mayhem, a family that killed with callous and cold precision and demanded the highest of prices. There were none like them in all the realms and that was due to one very simple reason - they did not employ normal means to train their agents. They were deprived of everything, tortured in the extreme, left barely hanging at the edge of death. Performing well saw them left in their misery. Performing poorly saw it worsen.
Kiga was a small child, neglected already and unhealthy. He had failed at everything physical, he was a laughing stock amongst a family of hate, their spite spat in his direction. They were all alone and miserable, but Kiga was buried under the cumulative hatred they bore for their condition. He was their whipping boy. He withdrew.
He succeeded at nothing until they were taught the elements and for whatever reason, it was discovered Kiga had a gift. It was his platform to his acceptance... but only in so much as they saw him worthy of more training. To become the elite, to be a tool for destruction, a dog with no mind of it's own. He was not broken. He was running on hatred and pain, resentment for the world around him. He took all of this out upon his targets, he murdered them in splendid fashion.
But beyond all of that hatred, beyond all of the pain which so easily ready to be dragged up now, the eternal anguish of his past that was so much worse than what the mage could deliver... there was tranquility.
He found the birds. A grove of wonder, with so many of their kind fluttering about, chirping and chasing insects, their beautiful song something that lanced his heart and somehow; let him know there was beauty in this world.
He would sneak away, take his time and sit and listen. He would warble and whistle and laugh and watch in wonderment, the only kindness in his life; the one thing that to him made him feel more than a wretch, a weapon.
But the tranquility was not what he sought now.
He pulled back a moment in his mind, as if to gather his senses and his thoughts; as if to prepare to lash back at the voice within his mind.
He remembered, he could never forget the day he found them all murdered. Every single one, cut down and slaughtered, feathers and blood everywhere. He was not permitted to have such things.
Kiga's mind had already snapped you see, he was not unfamiliar with the sensation of his very brain tearing in half, of his own hands dragging at his skalp to rend his own very mind open and throw it away.
No, he remembered that very clearly and now, the person in his head would feel it too.
Kullervo, the mage, writhed about in triumphant abandon while Kiga shrunk inward toward ever more terrible memories. The screams of pain from his new meat puppet were particularly satisfying. So much so he utterly forgot about the Cathian girl trying to wrap her arms around Kiga.
Ely could not ignore the screams of pain. Kiga was paying her no attention, not that she could blame him. And coming off her own experience with those damnable books, she was quite rightly horrified by the thought of them enthralling him, too. All she could do was hold the man curled up in a ball on the floor; the one she had loved since she was eighteen.
Kullervo was not done, though; not by a long shot. While he did not have a corporeal body, yet, he certainly had power in abundance. The words that Ely could not decipher, were neither words nor some cryptic code as she had discussed with the metal mage. They were magical glyphs put there by the cabal of witches binding Kullervo to the book.
Time had faded many of those barriers, the ink pale and washed out, and with every one destroyed he had come closer and closer to reality. Now, it was just inches from his grasp. He was not worried about what the puny creature on the floor had hidden in his mind. He wanted to see. The fire mage's memories had been a delight to run through, to provoke, to enflame and ultimately control. This one would be no different.
But now, the hurricane of Kiga's memories had sucked him in. There was nothing to hold on to and no shelter from the rising winds. He was whipped back and forth by them. His very thought process pummeled into dust. Kullervo was not a good man. No, it was safe to say he was an opportunistic, cunning; not to mention a profoundly bloodthirsty bastard. The degradation and humiliation Kiga's memories held were appalling and appealing at the same time, until they snapped his thoughts right in half.
Remember Kullervo had no physical form. No body to combat the pain Kiga had been subject to. He existed only as an entity of ideas, and ideas without form or cohesion are just figments of the imagination easily blown away.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Kiga had more pain to give too, the very physical pain and torture that came after. Birds screamed in horrendous fashion as the memories of torment played out in his mind, as every horror visited upon him was felt as though new. He had to be disciplined, made an example of; and none tolerated an elite student simply spitting in the face of the family. No, he was dragged closer to death than anyone had any business being, the very slimmest sliver of thought holding him to life.
They did and did not want him to die. The decision was made to allow him one more opportunity when he swore his fealty, made an oath to do anything. The task was nigh impossible and he would not attempt it alone...
... but he chose instead to flee. The mark was capable of killing him easily and had chosen not to, something that took Kigazaki a long time to come to terms with.
Grayell had his own demons and fought harder than Kiga knew how but together they strived for their own tranquility. An odd pairing. Still, it was not the vision of his guardian that helped him now.
No, the sound of so many birds filled his mind, subtle and magical and that is when he felt her arms and though still lost within his mind, he saw the vision that Ely was to him. She gave him calm, she pushed the pain back with endless enthusiasm, determination and optimism.
He ran to her and slipped her arms around her pleadingly, clutching her to his chest, the dream around him falling away.
When he opened his eyes, she was in his arms; him holding her so very closely. He was trembling but as her firey warmth washed over him, he began to settle; to feel calm. He did not look at her but instead buried his face in her neck, unwilling to let go.
"Ely.."
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
"Shhh. Shhh. I'm here, Kiga. Everything will be alright."
Ely was not at all sure that it was or would be. But, he was no longer screaming and he recognized her. That was tremendously better than a minute ago. She gave the library a quick once over unable or unwilling, at the moment, to pull her arms away from Kiga's back and spine.
The largest flames had been yanked out of the library by Kiga's wind magic. What remained was nothing more than wisps of flickering orange light, they would die soon enough. As for the building; it had seen better days and better nights, too. The door was destroyed and there was going to be a Kiga-sized hole in the wall until she could find a brick or stone mason. Hopefully, the hole in the roof would vent much of the smell of smoke. The tree had been buffeted by the wind and flames but nothing that would not recover.
Ely offered Kiga a soft crooning sound close to his ear. While it was not nearly harmonious enough to match the songbirds he loved and she blamed her shaky breath for that, Ely hoped it would coax him out of the horrors in his head. She knew how he felt. When he'd grabbed the books, established contact between himself and Kullervo, she realized what had happened.
Everything that occurred since walking out of her house with the volumes and until Kiga put his hands on them was remembered with perfectly clarity. Her belly churned violently. Ely fought the nausea in her guts and the desire to flee to some dark hole where no one could find her. She couldn't leave him; not this time.
"...Kiga?"
She said his name softly unsure of what to expect.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Kiga was clinging to her and riding out the storm in his head, the pain of memories past slowly receeding back into the recesses of his mind. He could hear her clearly now, could feel and touch her, could smell her; and every nuance of her stole him away to somewhere peaceful - then brought him home. He lifted his head and looked at her, not quite sure of what words to say, perhaps not capable of words just yet. His hands wound to the back of her neck and he stared at her, thoughts still battered by the onlsaught of the mage.
And then he kissed her. It was all he could do, all he wanted to do at this moment. Still clinging to her, he pressed his lips to hers and kissed her mouth firmly, hands urging her closer against him. He had missed her, had been so terrified of what had happened in the course of the day and ultimately had felt so entirely useless to help. He'd promised her he would look after her no matter what, that nothing would take her from him again and only by the grimmest of margins had he succeeded. He didn't want to think on that now and he did not need to, quickly washing away the stress of the day with the taste of her kiss.
The worry in Ely's stomach grew exponentially when Kiga lifted his head from her neck. The look on his face made her belly do flip flops. She gave a squeak of surprise, too when he reached out to kiss her. After all the confusion of the day, the worry in her head about the books, and his welfare faded away.
Ely echoed Kiga's slide of hands. Her fingers went up around the back of his neck and she laced them together. New sounds found form during the kiss; murmurs and things lower than that. Her ears were flickering against the side of his face and the soft silk of her hair fell along his arm and shoulder.
She should have been concerned about the remaining fires. She should have been destroying books. She had broken free of their hold several times. It was possible they would gain another foothold. Ely was worried about none of these things, at the moment, not with Kiga's arms around her.
Her voice whispered at him, soft, and entreating.
"Kiga..."
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Kiga slowly withdrew from her lips and sighed in frustration, then stole another kiss. He didn't want to not kiss her presently, it was entirely too pleasurable but yes, they needed to see to other things. Quickly.
Again, he stole one more kiss, just one and then... oh hell with it. He grabbed the girl and toppled to the floor, unable to let her lips slip free.
Several whining sounds came from Ely when he broke away from her. Her hands, which had been winding higher up on his nape made a fleeting grab for him, too. Her nails caught skin, hair, before separating and dropping to her sides.
It wasn't until he snatched her up and they went tumbling back to the floor that Ely managed to kiss him back and in places other than his lips.
Later... a number of hours later, they came up for air and glanced around. As Ely had surmised earlier the fires had gone out. The books were toppled off to the side. A quick glance through all three volumes showed the pages to be empty. Still, she tore them in half anyway, ripping the leather covers completely apart. Kiga unsatisfied with just tearing them apart swept the covers away in four different directions. No one would gather them up again or be influenced by some figment of the imagination.
This was wonderful. Though, it did take us a while to get through. There were so many things I could point out. Kiga's discussion of man-laws. The insight into his background. All excellent for that alone I'm giving him a bonus.
Kiga take: 20 Acclaim 100 Gold
I will take: 15 Acclaim 80 Gold
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”