IC: "Well, I doubt I heard the whole conversation, but I'll admit that I was listening in." She says, leaning against the wall as she studies him. "Certainly enough to know that you are not familiar with our current culture, which honestly intrigues me." Especially the part where he said he probably sired the Shae race. She finds that very interesting.
OOC:
"And why would my ignorance intrigue a curious girl like you? I'm sure you've got something better to do with your life than sulk in crafter eavesdropping. Or were you hiding from someone?" Uriel pondered as he scribbled down some more ideas.
IC: "Constantly, but she's not around just now." She says with a chuckle. She never talks about it, but for some reason she trusts him. "And it's your soul that really drew me in. I've never seen one like it."
OOC:
"That makes two people who've come to investigate my soul yet the King couldn't bother for a single visit. I'm not sure how to respond to that ...." Uriel muttered to himself before actually responding to Aisha, " I'm not surprised, your generation is so muddled by cross breeding barely any of purity remains..." Uriel looked up at Aisha, " Though you seem to be an exception."
IC: That thought is almost laughable to her. Her, pure? He might be able to see the scars that her past has left on her soul, the way that she's been constantly told that she's a monster, an abomination, a creature to be hated and feared. "How do you mean?" Is all she asks, wanting if understand. "Oh, and the king's an angel, they can't see souls."
OOC:
"That makes sense..... " Uriel said walking towards Aisha his fiery wings leaving a trail of embers in the air as he moved, " Your soul has more purity in it than any other I've seen so far. It is the most simular to mine in that respect "
IC: She looks up at him, suddenly feeling very small. "Purity… what does that mean in context?" She asks, her voice soft. In his presence, she's finding it hard to pretend, and thus hard to keep up her current form. The tips of her reddish brown feathers taking on a metallic gold color, and her green eyes doing the same.
OOC:
Uriel looked down at Aria with his blazing eyes analysing her body and soul, " In context that means that your bloodline isn't as tainted as others and contains more archangel within you. Your soul is more pure of the corruption that is formed when mixing bloodlines." Uriel continued to study the girl. Why was it that her soul was so pure? Could those scars on her soul has carved away enough to revel the hidden archangel power?
IC: She blinks, trying to understand, then finally sighs, and stops trying to hide. She grows a bit taller, more muscular, her features more graceful and beautiful, as both her eyes and wings change to a metallic gold. "I was told never to let anyone see this." She whispers, in an attempt to explain herself.
OOC:
" And who told you that.... who feared this form so much that they forced you to change it?" Uriel asked studying Aria's true self. He could see the gold of an Archangel just below the surface. As if he could pull it out.
"It's okay." The King patted her on her back. "You're home now." He didn't say she was safe, technically none of them were, but he wasn't going to worry her more. "Ismene, I'm glad you're safe."
"Me? Pretty well, I guess." Alfie said the smile that had crept on his face started to slid back off. He didn't want to talk about his small nightmares or the blackness that he had felt for the rest of it. Were they safe here? Death still stalked them, the ground they stood on could be a turncoat and they wouldn't know until it was too late. Why would he want to talk to Ithuriel about that? It seemed depressing.
Alfie poked at his pancakes before taking a bite. Death loomed over them and they couldn't trust the very ground they walked on, but least his pancakes were good.
IC: She looks down. "My clan. My parents are both Shae, I should have been Shae… but Shae don't see souls, they don't have golden eyes or feathers. It's not natural." It makes the bruises on her abdomen hurt, and she wraps her arms around herself, trying to hide her discomfort. "They said it was wrong, that something must have made me the way I am, and it terrifies them."
OOC:
"Well something definitely made you this way. It was your soul that changed your body like this, hinting at the hidden power underneath. They were right to fear this golden look, but if they were smart they wouldn't have hurt you so."
IC: She grimaces. "She said it was to teach me." She says softly. "Pain is a good incentive." She isn't fooling herself about this, she knows how cruel her mother is, but these lessons have been beaten into her from birth. "Besides, she knows I can't harm her. It's why she kept me like this, so I won't hurt anyone." Not for lack of trying.
OOC:
"And why can't you harm here? Are you sure it's not because of your fear of her rather than a physical incapability?" Uriel asked stepping away and taking a seat with all of his maps and reports.
IC: "No, it's because she is far more experienced. It's my mentor I'm talking about, the one who trained me as a Shae." She refuses to call Cortova her mother, which is perfectly acceptable for the both of them.
Cortova is ashamed to have Aisha as a daughter, which is part of the reason for her hatred. Aisha is an orphan as far as she is concerned, since neither of her parents ever acted as such.
Her father died some time ago, when she was four years old. Personally, she suspects Cortova killed him.
OOC:
Ithuriel ate for a little while, not commenting on much. Until he finally spoke. "I think it's time for me to do some growing up. I've been living off of dad's influence in the castle for too long, not really doing anything for myself..." He was talking to Alfie, he wanted to make sure that Alfie wouldn't be unhappy about it for some reason. "I think I'd like to take those siren classes that I was always supposed to take, and take Dad's place. Earth taught me a lot, especially about what I regretted,and most of that is that I hate the stereotypical siren, but I am a stereotypical siren. Pretty, and sort of useless. Sleeping around without any actual emotional depth. My only claim to fame is that I think I did a pretty good job with you, Mr. Alfie. That's about all. It's time to grow up and get a real job."
He ran his hands through his raven black hair and said "I'm good at it. And who else can do the job? Not many people. It's perfect," he murmured. Even though he didn't want to do it, maybe he could help. Wasn't that the only thing he could do? "The world is dying. Everyone does eventually, we die from the inside out, but our world is dying from the outside in, as if it were shot and is falling to the ground. If I can help, somehow, in any way, with magic and learning about the world, then I owe it. Because the world is a mother who sustains us. We should all want to pay her back."
Ismene pulled back. "Yeah, I'm glad to be safe, too. I guess." She managed a smile, unable to look like her old self. It wasn't that she'd been particularly changed by her experience, it was that she'd had some trauma, alone and sick, and it would take her time to get back to her old self. Because Patrick was dead and it hadn't been easy. Nothing about this was.
The King frowned seeing his daughter so unlike herself. The time away must have been terrible.
"How about you take a vacation? Somewhere like one of the smaller Siren Islands? One of the best vacation spots. Get some time to relax and then I'll burden you with news about how Evaela is later. How about next week?" He thought a vacation would be good.
"If you want to do it, I guess you should..." Alfie muttered, but glared at his pancakes. It seemed like he wouldn't say anything else, but then he put his fork down. "You're dying from the inside out too, Riel. You're drowning, filling yourself with everything bad that has happened and dad's expectations. I couldn't stop you even if I wanted you to so it must be because you're trying to feel not as bad. Well go ahead. I guess you did well raising me to feel like you don't have to anymore."
His chair scratched on the wood floor as he slid it back and got up.
"Thank you for the pancakes, Riel, but I'm not hungry." Alfie had talked with their father about Ithuriel not wanting to take up their dad's job and now he does? Did he not know his brother at all?
Alfie opened the door to leave, but on the other side was a guy Alfie had never met.
"Excuse me." Alfie muttered squeezing by the older boy and to Ashokka's door.
The boy lurched forward, the threads of tattered clothing dragging against the floor. One side of the boy's pale face looked like the skin was bubbled up and peeling and everywhere was smudged with dirt. Bones cracked against bones each time he moved. He propelled himself towards Ithuriel, grasping onto his necklace and falling across Ithuriel, the chair and the floor.
Sia jumped up.
"What the-" She stopped herself from cursing, well aware of the child in the room. Who the heck was this?Should she stop him? He looked like a zombie!
That was oddly observational of Alfie. Ithuriel hadn't realized that his brother understood him so clearly, but apparently he did... He understood that Ithuriel filled himself up with darkness in order to cover over his feelings of inferiority, uselessness, and anger. "You're right, but I'm not doing this to fill myself up, I'm doing this because I think it's the right thing to do."
"Alfie," said Ithuriel with a sigh as Alfie walked away. "Come here, I don't mean it like that." He got up and followed his brother. "I'll never be done raising you, I just mean that I need to do things for myself too. But I'll always be here and I'll always be there whenever you need me, I promise, I--"
When Alfie opened the door and someone lurched through, Ithuriel's eyes widened. There was definitely something wrong with this kid, was the first thing that went through his mind. Secondly he was mildly terrified because what the hell!? Zombies? Was this a walking dead RP? No, no it was not. But saying that would have been breaking the fourth wall.
Ithuriel fell backwards when the boy tackled him, and landed on the floor, disgusting, bubbled flesh looking down at him. "WHAT THE F***!?" Ithuriel was less conscious that there were children in the room at that moment, there was a zombie here. A zombie who....No. It couldn't be, that would be ridiculous, and cruel, and...
He crawled out of under the zombie thing and looked deeply into his eyes, judging on whether this thing was a security risk. "Go," he commanded, pushing his magic into his voice. He went from looking afraid to commanding a room of people, and he was good at it. He suddenly seemed authoritative like he had in the maze. "Out. Now. Sia, take Dakota and Alfie. I'll be fine, I've got magic, I can tear him apart if I have to. But if I can help R--him, I will."
He had no idea why this thing reminded him of Raziel. Something about the soul just seemed like him, but it couldn't have been of course. Raziel was dead. So who was this thing and had he stolen a dead person's soul? It was too hard to tell who he was physically. "You've already gotten my clothes dirty," scowled Ithuriel. "And you're clearly coming for me. Who'd I piss off this time to send something like you?" He had no idea if this thing was sentient or not.
Ismene shook her head. "I'm fine, Dad. Spending time at the siren islands won't help me... I've talked to Ithuriel too long for that. He sort of hates them.... Always told me stories about how sirens are cruel and ugly and deserve to die.... Anyway, I think I'll just stay here. It's home. really, it's just...It was hard, but I'm fine."
Uriel just stared at Aisha thinking. His curiosity was getting the best of him, " If you wish it I may be able to coax out the power sleeping within you. Then I could teach you how to control that new power, refine it into something even greater." He was playing on the girls abusive past. He wasn't concerned with the girl's lot in life, he barely knew her, but she was certainly a unique one in this generation. He doesn't know the girl enough to care for her.
Cain stood silently behind Ismene as the door opened. When the king appeared he bowed and silently regarded his sovereign.