The Divine Curse p.1 (Open / Started)

Rosario shifted, rolling on to her side underneath the covers. It was about the third time she'd moved about like this since she'd awoken, and she was still unwilling to actually get up from warm and comfortable bed. Despite the rain, she had left the window cracked open overnight and the temperature had not yet risen to the warmth of day.

Eventually she shifted again and then sprung out of bed, throwing her still moist clothes on. They smelled a bit musty as a result of her not properly drying them yet again, but it didn't bother her. She'd wash them eventually. 

Taking a moment to check over her inventory, she took a seat on the floor. A few slender glass vials sat in a specially insulated pouch she had picked up in the north designed to keep them from breaking. There wasn't anything in them as of yet, but if she found any interesting ingredients she could gather them on the spot and sell them somewhere. In her larger pouch, which contained two compartments, she kept her herbs and medical supplies.

She didn't have much in the ways of herbs, just neroli, ephedra, and convallaria in small quantities, along with a small bit of ground soapwort left from the last time she made soap herself. In the other pouch were a few soft cloths, two rolls of bandages, scalpel, a needle and some thread and a small bottle of alcohol for sterilization. It wasn't extensive, but it also meant she wouldn't be quite dead on the water if anyone managed to sever her connection to her mana pool.

Having completed her morning inventory Rosa strapped the bags around her waist where they were easily reachable, grabbed her halberd and then began to head downstairs for breakfast, ruffling her bead head  into something similar to decent as she went.

"Ack!" Armistice flailed his arm about, trying to untangle himself from the blanket. Eventually, he succeeded, leapt from the bed, and pulled his clothes on. "So, Will, you hungry? I'm hungry. You wanna go get something to eat? It'd be nice to get something to eat."

(((I foresee some very traumatic events for Elza ; n ;)))

Elza murmured something in her sleep, but her face was pressed into the pillow, and it came out as muffled gibberish. One of her arms was hanging off the side of the bed and a foot poking through the blankets. Elza eventually roused, turning over in the bed and laying there for a moment, her brain slowly beginning to work again. When it hitched on the memory of the kiss from the night before, Elza made a sound akin to a dying whale and mushed her face back into the pillow again, her hands pressed against her burning cheeks. She was so stupid, stupid!

Aaron was a slow waker. His body was awake but his brain still half asleep, so he had very strange dreams in the mornings. He dreamed he was walking through an upside down world, or maybe he was walking on the underneath of the clouds, he wasn't sure. The sunlight was bright and blue, the sky a milky orange. The birds fluttering around him were all vibrant colours, and as they flew closer, Aaron realized they had the faces of his friends instead of normal beaks and feathers. Their eyes glittered menacingly, and they all started screaming at him at once. You're a bloody, murdering werewolf! We could be next! You killed your own family! You monster! Koe was the largest and loudest of all of the birds, her face contorted in rage and fear. His friends, or so he thought, began to dive at his head, pecking at his eyes and tearing at his hair, and suddenly he was falling, falling. Aaron woke with a start, his heart thumping in his chest and his eyes wild. When he put a hand to his face, it was wet with tears.

Will nodded, his stomach loudly howling its agreement. "Seems so. Let's hurry." Every time he moved, the little vial bumped against him, reminding him of what he had to do.

Koe felt him jump, and at first she thought he had found her out. So she grinned and opened her eyes. 
 The grin soon quickly faded, "Aaron!?" She exclaimed, wrapping an arm around him. "Hey, woah Aaron are you ok?" She whispered, worried. "Did... You have a nightmare?" 

 Faron almost smiled as Elza woke up, slowly getting onto his feet. 'Ok so... I'll just act like it didn't happen? Or do we need to talk about it... We should probably talk about it...' He sighed, stuck inbetween a rock and a hard place. Figuratively of course. He could walk out the door or he could talk. Door. Talk. 
  He chose talk. "E-Elza?" He stuttered, his face red.

Aaron nodded, wiping sweat from his forehead and focusing on breathing. In, out. In, out. "Yeah. A dream . . . it was a dream . . ." He opened his eyes and looked her in the eyes, barely able to shake off the memory of her fear-filled face of his dream. He managed a smile and asked, "Want to go get something to eat?"

Elza sat up, attempting to keep her blushing under control, but not doing a great job. "H-hi, Faron . . . good morning?" What exactly does one say the morning after an event like that?

Armistice nodded energetically. "Alright, off we go then! For glory! And also foods. But mostly glory!" He laughed a bit, something about having someone to talk to was making him feel silly. He slipped his hammer onto his back and left the room, working his way to the front of the tavern in hopes of getting some food.

Koe nodded, a little unconvinced. "Yes! Let us get sustanence. I feel like I haven't eaten in a couple days," She chuckled trying to the lighten the mood as she stood up, starting to pull her boots on over her trousers. "Man it does feel nice to have clean clothes though," 

 Faron nodded. "Uuhh... Y-yes. A very go-good morning indeed. I'm... Um.. I mean um... Do you wan to eat? I'm starving," He was trying to say something else, but alas Faron is a awkward wimp and he didn't think of putting on another form to hide with.

Rosario sat at one of the tables near the bar, some tea made of local garden herbs she couldn't identify in hand. It was sweet, but not to thee extent that she would normally enjoy, and had a hint of bitterness to it. Perhaps she would enquirer as to the nature of the ingredients after she had finished her breakfast. A rough roll cut in half with ham, cheese, and butter as the garnishes made up the bulk of her breakfast. She took a bite of the sandwich as she waited for the others who had undoubtedly arrived at some point after her to come down.

She decided she should eat slowly, seeing as it could be awhile.

Will followed the fairy to the tavern, his eyes darting around and taking in their surroundings. If the nymph was here, and alive, the others would be, as well. Perhaps they would even kill Armistice for him. The poison still bumped his side, assuring him of an alternate way out.

Aaron nodded in agreement, his breath under control, and the rest of him working on it. The dream wasn't going to fade anytime soon, but he could push it to the back of his mind. "I'm so hungry I swear I could eat . . . a cow. Yes, a cow. I could eat a cow right now." He almost chuckled at his own rhyming skills, fumbling around with his cloak until he finally had it fastened correctly.

"Uh . . . sure. Yeah, food sounds . . . good." Elza cleared her throat awkwardly and hopped off of the bed, fastening her katana to her side and grabbing the tattered remains of her pack. Really, she needed a new one. Barring the demon mauling, it was at least a hundred years out of fashion (as if she knew anything about that).

Koe threw on her own as well, opening the door and bouncing down the steps. "Food food food food~" She sung, laughing. Then she stopped. Waiting for Aaron to get by her side and as he did so linking their arms, "I'm staying away from the landlady. She's...." (only you m'dear, I'd cry if somebody go that. I'd be so happy) Koe stopped, surveying the tavern. Something didnt seem right.... 


Faron just nodded, walking out the door silently and falling behind Aaron and Koe. Something did NOT seem right to him either. He felt himself try to slip into a form, any form. 
 Nothing. 
He tried again. 
Nothing. 
"What...?" He said aloud. Blinking. Again. And again. And again. And again. 
Still nothing. He grew pale. "No! No!" He chuckled bitterly. "I just need anothers day rest thats it,"

Xavier was already downstairs, dressed and waiting for the others. Holding them a table in the back, quite a ways from the door. He sensed it too, the wrongness in the air. And beckoned for the others to sit with him as they came down.

Armistice entered the tavern, and his eyes quickly fell on the face of several people he'd met... When was that? Really recently, he thought. But... Hmm... "Will, there are people I think I probably know all over this place." He nodded once, curtly. "And I'm pretty sure that's a bad thing."

Habit smirked as he heard the sounds of life inside the tavern. 'Disgusting f***ing creatures,' he thought, a look of disgust coming over his face before he rolled his neck and cleaned one of his knives; hapazardly licking the bright crimson... delicious... blood off and opening his vest to put it back in it's place. He shook his head, and then put on his most charming smile and opened the door to the tavern. 
  Habit stepped in, walking straight up to Viola. "Hello darling, its been so long," He whispered, kissing both her cheeks before backing away. "How have you been?" He asked, surveying the tavern for himself. He had a new game to choose, Viola was too stupid, and he refrained from killing her because the tavern was a great place to pick up a game or two. 
  Viola grinned, "Well I'm a lot better now that you're here Habit," Habit just grinned, leaning on the counter. But in his mind he was disgusted, disgusted by the fact that she was flirting with him, disgusted with the way the tavern smelt, felt, disgusted with many of the living creatures in the room. 
  But his eyes found Elza, then shifted to the group she surronded herself with. Grinning even more, but with a darker sinister feel too it. Then he noticed the girl a couple tables from them, he could tell by when one of the the other elves was lookig at her, in a grateful admiration, that she was one of thim. 
    A perfect way to start yes? 
 He broke off his dull conversation with Viola and walked over to the girls table. Promptly sitting down in front of her and smiling, noticing her mark. 
 'A group of marked ones.. Ohhh Habit you're playing a bit dangerous today...' 
 He shot her a charming smile, "Now why is a beautiful young woman like you sitting all by yourself?" he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. 


 Xavier watched a crazy psycho fairy walked into the tavern. Clenching his fists and growling slightly. Koe noticed him too. Her eyes natrowing. "Xavier there is people," She whispered in a hurried angered tone. 
  "Right right," Xavier muttered, unclenchin his fist and pretendig to ingnore crazy fairies presence. 
Revenge was the forethought of his AND Koe's mind.

A man sat across from Rosario and addressed her, tilting his head as her did so, "Now why is a beautiful young woman like you sitting all by yourself?"

In response, Rosa tilted her head likewise, opening her mouth to speak and then closing it again. 

'Wait. Was he hitting on me?' She wondered before glancing around, looking for a quick escape which she found in a group of familiar people she hadn't before noticed arriving in the tavern.

"Ah, well- Actually you see my friends, I missed them coming in. I'm going to go ahead and uh... leave. Sorry. Excuse me." She said with a flustered expression while picking up her plate and cup and awkwardly holding her halberd in the crook of her arm, preparing to stand and leave.

Habit blinked. "Wait, I'm sorry if I had cause you... Any discomfort... I didnt mean to make you flustered," He looked up at the ceiling, playing his innocence act as he had done various times with lesser beings with low innteligence and people of various genders and races, "I was just looking for somebody to talk too... I'm new and figured making another person who was alone.. Not so alone, would be beneficial. I'm sorry ha, I didnt know how to apparoach you... and also that you had others," He stood up, looking back at her and chuckling. "I'll guess I'll leave you alone then, if you wish," He started to turn around, his look of kindness turnig into one of a more sinister kind while his back was turned to her.

Rosario set her items back on the table with a blush, "Ah, no, I'm sorry. I'm not used to people coming up to talk to me."

She took a seat, lightly holding her halberd. It wasn't like this guy was anything dangerous to her, but running around on her own  had taught her to never let her guard down around men.

She kept her glance low, releasing one of her hand's grip to take a nervous sip of her tea, "So, uh-" She paused to collect herself, "What did you want to talk about?"

Habit put his kind face back on, donning it like a familiar scratchy mask, before turning back around quickly. He noticed her hand on her halberd. 'Traveler, defensive traveler, probably bad experiences with attractive men who hve tried to talk to her,' he thought, noting it and keeping it for later. 
  Habit looked up again, forcing himself to turn slighly red. "Well I.. Didn't get too far in that part of the plan," He chuckled and looked back at her. "Oh! How about plants? Do you have a particular favorite. I have a certain love for nightshade... Even though its deadly... I still really like it" He chuckled again.

At a nearby table, Cy sat, watching Habit. She was disguised as an ordinary human with dark hair and blue eyes. She couldn't help it. She was obsessed with him, and she knew it. He was probably the only one she felt any sort of affection for. Watching him play around with the other woman irritated her, but she fixed a calm expression on her face.

((Creepy stalker, I know))

Scratching her cheek with her free hand, Rosario began to relax as she answered his question, "W-well... I guess I don't really have a favorite. But I do like things that are useful."

Then she took another sip of tea, and realized she was almost out, "D-deadly nightshade can actually help treat a variety of conditions as well... if you know how to prepare it. Like pertussis, pneumonia, and typhoid fever. It doesn't cure them at all, but it can help." She kept her gaze down to the table as she spoke, not glancing up.

Habit widened his eyes for apperances, internally rolling them. "Wow, I didn't know that!" He laughed, "Now I know more about my favorite plant... I'm glad," He smiled some more, always the smiles, people don't like frowny faces now do they? Habit blinked, feigning shock. "Oh my I'm so sorry. I'm so very rude, I forgot to ask for your name. I'm Habit,"

Inclining her head with a sharp nod Rosario, responded in kind, "My name is Rosario Scutese. It is a pleasure to meet you Habit."

Then she fidgeted a bit more and took a bit of her dwindling sandwich.

"So, uh, why are you in this little town?"

Habit's smile almost turned dark and menacing before he stopped it, keeping his sweet and innocent smile. His eyes lighting up slightly, "Oh well I was kind of wandering through this area and needed an actual... Bed to sleep in. Some good old fashioned rest. Dirt and trees get tiring after a while," He answered, 'and body beds are what I miss the most, but they start to stink,' He added in his head. "And what about you?"

"Ah, well usually I'm fine with sleeping outside, but it was raining, and I had a really long day yesterday so sleeping did me some good." Rosa responded with a polite smile. Well, this conversation was remaining remarkably normal, perhaps because there were others about? Rosa nodded to herself in thought, shifting her free hand to entwine with the other around her halberd as she pondered that. Perhaps she should avoid talking to strange men when others were not around. That would certainly stop any awful situations from almost occurring.

Rosa kicked her feet slightly as the conversation trailed off again. She was out of tea now, and she sandwich was gone as well, leaving her with nothing to cover the silence with.

Cy stared at the woman talking to Habit with undisguised jealousy. Then, she shifted her gaze to Elza and scowled. HABIT. For a moment, she wondered what was wrong with him.

Habit noticed her hand tightening around the halberd. 'She's still suspicious of me,' He almost laughed, before pulling his feelings back in check. Letting the silence fall before breaking it quickly, "So why do you travel so much?" He paused, "You look like a pretty seasoned one," He smiled.

'Because bandits are terrible people and deserve to die, and demons as well.' Of course, she didn't say this out loud, though her grip tightened further on her halberd as she thought about the former, instead she blushed and gave a slightly true answer relaxing her grip and giving a cheery smile.

"Well, I love being able to help people so I travel around a lot gathering herbs and helping in clinics. Sometime I run errands or help deal with minor monster infestations to make a bit of extra money." She said meekly, "But, even little things add up in the end!"