"Hello? Is anyone there?" Velvet called out as she wrapped her arms around her body for warmth, treading carefully through the chilling fog. Cold night air seemed to run her through with each shaken step through the dark obscurity ahead, but she had to persevere. What ever was going on, she couldn't give in to hesitation.
"Vyctor? Dr. McMoy? Why'd you guys go and leave me behind?!" Stomping the ground with her heeled boots, she clenched her hands into tight fists. A reluctant sigh escaped her. "Of course I know it wasn't your fault, argh! It's all this f-ahCHOO!" She sneezed, and suddenly there was an explosive sound to her side. Startled, she fell backwards as a flock of crows swooped down from the cloudy skies above and began to circle around her, their cawing loud and aggressive. Their beady red eyes focused on her as if she were prey, her arms raised to defend herself.
After an unsettling breath, however, she realized they weren't attacking.
Velvet hesitantly struggled to a stand and brushed herself off as they simply watched. She blinked with a nervous scratch at her cheek, "Just noisy boys saying hi the only way you know how, huh? I guess you're alright if you don't go pecking at me..." She trailed off as they appeared to be flying in a singular direction before looping back with a curious caw.
She tapped her lip in thought, "Do... they want me to follow them?" Thinking hard for a moment, the lost fashionista decided to throw her lot in with creepy birds. "Bonus points if you lead me back to my friends," she said aloud but her message seemed to fall on deaf ears.
"No matter what happens," Lin began, "I will protect you, little prince." He placed a hand gently on Io's head.
The Oracle reached up to grab his arm as if seeking warmth. "You are continuing to give me nicknames even now?"
The Ringmaster smiled, "Now is the perfect time, of course!" He frowned just as quick. "We only have a little while before that bastard takes over, so we should use every bit of it."
"I suppose you are correct," Io took the man's larger hand in both of his, and held it with a nod. "You will ensure no one interrupts me?"
Lin gave the other's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Promise. Ain't nobody going to touch a hair on your head 'cept me, jellybean."
"I will hold you to that, should everything fall away from us."
Lin let out a laugh, "Can you even imagine nothingness? What a cruel punishment indeed! Nah, I swear I'd sooner die than let this moment go to waste."
"Lin!" Smolkie shouted. "Stop it this instant, I say! Miss Wattson is innocent!"
That voice. Beyond familiar and oh-so-irritating. It was like a knife through the darkness. Lin opened his eyes then and saw through his burning gaze a young woman squirming in his grasp. Velvet Wattson, she who assisted Arika days ago. He had his fingers wrapped around her throat, but the realization that life was ebbing from her face made him release his hold as if struck. She fell unceremoniously to the ground and gasped for breath.
"That's right, my boy!" Smolkie approached him as the others tended to Velvet. "You're better than this! Fight the dar-" He was cut off by the Ringmaster's whip cutting through the air and just narrowly missing him.
"Silence," Lin's voice came out a harsh snap. A lifeless rasp echoing the shadows billowing from his form. "You abandoned Io," his eye flared with energy red and hot. "When things grew difficult, you gave up. What could you understand of Cirque ad Infinitum? Of my family or the life of my Io? You had your chance to adopt him, to prevent Veles' evil, and you failed." He cracked the whip of fire and flames burst high in a circle around you and the group. There was no escape.
He held the whip in one hand, grip painfully clenched.
"I hesitated once, but I will not again. None of you shall pass while the Oracle's will yet struggles."
"Vyctor? Dr. McMoy? Why'd you guys go and leave me behind?!" Stomping the ground with her heeled boots, she clenched her hands into tight fists. A reluctant sigh escaped her. "Of course I know it wasn't your fault, argh! It's all this f-ahCHOO!" She sneezed, and suddenly there was an explosive sound to her side. Startled, she fell backwards as a flock of crows swooped down from the cloudy skies above and began to circle around her, their cawing loud and aggressive. Their beady red eyes focused on her as if she were prey, her arms raised to defend herself.
After an unsettling breath, however, she realized they weren't attacking.
Velvet hesitantly struggled to a stand and brushed herself off as they simply watched. She blinked with a nervous scratch at her cheek, "Just noisy boys saying hi the only way you know how, huh? I guess you're alright if you don't go pecking at me..." She trailed off as they appeared to be flying in a singular direction before looping back with a curious caw.
She tapped her lip in thought, "Do... they want me to follow them?" Thinking hard for a moment, the lost fashionista decided to throw her lot in with creepy birds. "Bonus points if you lead me back to my friends," she said aloud but her message seemed to fall on deaf ears.
"No matter what happens," Lin began, "I will protect you, little prince." He placed a hand gently on Io's head.
The Oracle reached up to grab his arm as if seeking warmth. "You are continuing to give me nicknames even now?"
The Ringmaster smiled, "Now is the perfect time, of course!" He frowned just as quick. "We only have a little while before that bastard takes over, so we should use every bit of it."
"I suppose you are correct," Io took the man's larger hand in both of his, and held it with a nod. "You will ensure no one interrupts me?"
Lin gave the other's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Promise. Ain't nobody going to touch a hair on your head 'cept me, jellybean."
"I will hold you to that, should everything fall away from us."
Lin let out a laugh, "Can you even imagine nothingness? What a cruel punishment indeed! Nah, I swear I'd sooner die than let this moment go to waste."
"Lin!" Smolkie shouted. "Stop it this instant, I say! Miss Wattson is innocent!"
That voice. Beyond familiar and oh-so-irritating. It was like a knife through the darkness. Lin opened his eyes then and saw through his burning gaze a young woman squirming in his grasp. Velvet Wattson, she who assisted Arika days ago. He had his fingers wrapped around her throat, but the realization that life was ebbing from her face made him release his hold as if struck. She fell unceremoniously to the ground and gasped for breath.
"That's right, my boy!" Smolkie approached him as the others tended to Velvet. "You're better than this! Fight the dar-" He was cut off by the Ringmaster's whip cutting through the air and just narrowly missing him.
"Silence," Lin's voice came out a harsh snap. A lifeless rasp echoing the shadows billowing from his form. "You abandoned Io," his eye flared with energy red and hot. "When things grew difficult, you gave up. What could you understand of Cirque ad Infinitum? Of my family or the life of my Io? You had your chance to adopt him, to prevent Veles' evil, and you failed." He cracked the whip of fire and flames burst high in a circle around you and the group. There was no escape.
He held the whip in one hand, grip painfully clenched.
"I hesitated once, but I will not again. None of you shall pass while the Oracle's will yet struggles."