The Divine Curse p.1 (Open / Started)

Habit grinned, 'Wow we have a helper here,' he thought, starting to scan around the tavern. Taking note of Cy, 'What is she doing here?' he thought, almost frowning before realizing he was undercover. He just let his gaze wander back to Rosa as he spoke. "Wow thats really nice, I just wandered for the sake of adventure myself, I'm lucky enough to have been spared from any demon attacks. Normally I just keep up in the trees, bandits tried to get me once though... But i uh... Took care of that quickly.
  'And boy do bandits taste gross. Ew,'

Naturally, Cy just kept staring at Habit, a feeling of ecstasy bubbling up in her. For a moment, she grinned, then immediately adopted a expressionless face. Her hand unconsciously clenched, then released. For a moment, she had a daydream about walking up to Habit. It was quickly shattered.

Dropping her smile slightly Rosa laughed, "Bandits... are pretty terrible aren't they?"

She gripped her halberd tightly, twisting her grip slightly, as if she was wringing the neck of a bandit. 

"I don't like bandits at all." She muttered darkly, "They kill people without reason, stealing measly bits of coin or food from them. It's terrible."

Habit nodded, letting his voice go quiet, his smiling fading into a hard expression, "Yes they are awful people, almost as much scum as those stupid demons," He answered softly, letting some contenpt enter his voice when he said demons. That wasnt an act, he hates the stupid ones. They could've been so much more fun with the right genes. Like him, or Cy, he sighed. Irritated with his own kind. 
  'Bad, possibly traumatic, experience with bandits then?' He added it to his arsenal of information.

Rosa stared down into her empty tea cup, contemplating the little grains left in it, and twisted her hands a few more times for good measure.

"Yeah." She said quietly. After letting a moment of silence go by she finally spoke a bit more.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I got a bit worked up didn't I? We were having such a pleasant conversation too..." She trailed off, uncertain how to continue.

Habit's bright mask returned, "No it's fine, we as sentinent beings sometimes drift to unpleasant topics, daisies and ponies isnt always the topic of conversation..." He drummed his fingers on his hand, growing a bit bored of pleasnntries and the like; but not showing it. He wanted to get closer to Elza, and fast. 'I think you made a wrong move here HABIT ahahah' He thought, teasing himself. No. He could still get close. He knew getting into their groups was just a matter of getting to 'Hey lets travel together,' status with Rosa.

"I suppose so..." She responded sheepishly, "It's nicer to stay on happy topics though."

She hummed to herself thoughtfully, trying to think of something else to say but coming up with nothing until...

"Ah, what's your hometown?" She asked warmly.

Elza's eyes widened slightly as she noticed Armistice, and she nudged Faron, their awkwardness forgotten. He had a dark-looking white-haired guy with him, and she didn't like the way he was looking at them. He didn't seem to have a weapon, though, so if worse came to worse . . . Then she noticed a man idly chatting with Rosa. he didn't seem to be malicious, but the mage was definitely on her guard, by the way she held her weapon close. The elf watched the pair from the corner of her eye, looking for any suspicious behavior.

Will steepled his hands as he surveyed the tavern, taking in the band of other Chosen. This was certainly a blessing straight from Plethantahs. He stood, having finally made a decision. "Yes, that is not a good thing. Stay here while I get us something to eat." The teen ordered food and drink, whatever he saw first on the menu, and quickly slipped the poison into Armistice's drink when no one would see him. He came back, giving the Fairy his share. "Hurry and eat; I think we should leave soon." 

Aaron shot a glare at the fairy, extremely pissed at what he had done to Koe by nearly killing him and Xavier. The werewolf continued scarfing down his meal, which was mostly meat, with a few rolls and a glass of milk on the side. Though he rarely had the chance to drink it, milk was his favourite beverage.

Habit blinked, then laughed. "Oh my I am so old I don't even remember!" He exclaimed, using every illusionist component in his body to keep darkness out of his eyes. "I think it was somewhere in the mountains, I can never remember.." He chuckled again. Forcing back a look of disgust before it would appear on his face, his hometown was filled with filthy... Disgusting... Idiots. Except for the High, who where the only smart ones around.  "What about you?"

 Koe ate her food quickly, eyeing them carefully. They did not seem safe at all, no, nu-uh. An they fairy. Her finger twitched slightly, almost calling her swords. 'No, people,' she reminded herself. She looked at the man talking to Rosa. He seemed pretty harmless, he was just chattig after all. Hell the man didnt even look ARMED. But she watched the Fairy and White haired human from the table. Her eyes turning to slits.

Armistice nodded, and as he waited for his share of the meal, started scanning the area around him. All kinds of normal people, and all kinds of strange people, too. There was a man talking to the little mage that caused him to burn his hand, he definitely had a strange air to him, but he couldn't place it. A woman was staring at that man, and she seemed odd, too. Then there was the whole group from yesterday. This had the chance of turning into something excellent. He smiled, then as Will returned, he grabbed his food and sat down. "Thanks, yes, quickly is good. So much to do, of course." He dug into his meal quickly, chasing it down with the drink Will had given him. Almost immediately he sensed something was a bit off, but things were always so weird he hardly noticed at first. A dull, bitter sting on his tongue was how it started. Not long after that, things started to feel a bit woozy. Something he'd eaten disagreed with him. Violently, it seemed. "Oh, no no no no no no no." He muttered, standing up abruptly. He tried to stagger back to his room, but didn't quite make it there before collapsing. This feeling horrified him. He knew what was coming, what happened when his blood rejected a substance so completely. Last time he'd felt this was when he was changed into a beacon of justice, but nothing so grand was happening now. He screamed shrilly as the burning started to course through his body, and then he started thrashing wildly about on the ground. "NO NO NO NOOO! NOT AGAIN! THEY WILL NOT HAVE ME AGAIN! AAAAAAAAH!"

"But you don't look that old." Rosario muttered in confusion before giving a trailing reply, "As for me I'm from Lavinia, it's in the Western Peninsula, so you probably haven't heard of it." 

"NO NO NO NOOO! NOT AGAIN! THEY WILL NOT HAVE ME AGAIN! AAAAAAAAH!"

A one-armed man was screaming, sounding half crazed. Rosa sprung to her feet, leaving her halberd to rest against her abandoned chair as she sprinted to the man's side, taking a seat next to him. He was moving about quite a lot so she sent magic straight into his muscles, in bursts that ensured paralysis. 

"Poison?" Rosario muttered to herself, rummaging through her bag as she placed another on the still man's chest, "Convulsions, increased body temperature, adverse reaction, appears to have been instantaneous. Emetic would most likely be ineffective, perhaps in combination with flushing blood with magic? He'll be weak, but survive."

She nodded to herself and grabbed a cup from a nearby table, dropping a ball magically produced ice into it and then heating it with a burst of fire as she dropped her leftover soapwort into the hot water and continued to boil it. While it began to boil she shoved a hand in his mouth and closed her eyes, attempting to get a feel for the poison. Coarse and sharp she decided, much different from the feel of blood. 

She sat the man up at an angle and threw up a magical shield n his throat, an unorthodox way to ensure that the liquid would go down the right 'tube'. She cooled the liquid emetic with an additional burst of ice and then carefully poured it into his mouth. It was actually the first time she'd had to do something as strange as this, but urgent situations call for equally strange methods. With the emetic applied she turned the man on his side. It wouldn't do for him to choke on his own vomit.

Knowing that he shouldn't be too far gone to hear her, she gave the man a fair warning, "This... is going to hurt a little bit."

Then she placed both of her hands on him, one on his side, and the other on his back and closed her eyes, beginning to feed her magic into him.

Habit's head turned sharply as the fairy started to convulse. Pushing down a feeling of perverse glee, he always took pleasure in peoples pain. 
 Then.. He could sense it. He was part demon. Habit almost laugh, Rosa was worried for nothing. The poison wouldn't kill the bastard, he was just a crazy mother hugger poisoned by another who didn't even know what he was. 'That's f***in hilarious. Poor Rosa doesn't even know better... Ahaha. No. Not going to even try to eat the fairy'
 His smile had already passed into a worried look. And he was actually impressed with Rosa's medical skill. 


Koe, Xavier, and Faron all smirked simultaneously. Then scowled as Rosa started to heal the stupid fairy. 
 "Damn it," Xavier muttered, clenching his fists.

Will took his leave during the confusion that followed Armistice's dramatic display and burst through the front door of the tavern, wanting to put as much distance between himself and the fairy as possible. He had no idea if the poison would actually work (he didn't exactly trust apothecaries), but there was a chance. He would not put this to luck, however. The teen sprinted out of the town and towards the forest, where he could disappear.

Elza grinned in delight as the fairy began convulsing, and almost yelled in frustration as Rosa began to heal him. Then the human boy took off, and she knew he must have been the one to slip the fairy the poison.

Aaron was on the edge of his seat, watching in a twisted, wolfish delight as Armistice convulsed on the floor, and then Rosa intervened. He almost got to her feet and stopped her, but knew that once she was focused on something, she would see it through. He cursed in frustration.

"Poison?"

The small mage said this aloud after she had taken his movement away, given an explanation for why he was now suffering in silence and motionlessness. Who would've done it? The bar maid had no way of knowing who the food was going to, unless she was trying to kill Will, and that seemed unlikely. Oh, Will, how could you do something so... cruel? When I find you, we're going to have a nice, long, sloooooow talk about the proper way to treat your allies.

 "Convulsions, increased body temperature, adverse reaction, appears to have been instantaneous. Emetic would most likely be ineffective, perhaps in combination with flushing blood with magic? He'll be weak, but survive."

His body was forced upright, and then there was a strange pressure in his throat. He couldn't breathe for a few brief seconds, and the constant war between rage and relief at the touch of death once again raged. Soon, however, a bitter drink entered his mouth, and he could breathe again. That was to end soon, as now he was vomiting profusely. Then, her voice again.

"This... is going to hurt a little bit."

A spike of burning pain and raw power went through his body, the tinge of magic and healing. Oh yes, his body needed this pain. It felt good and oh so bad. Agony coursed through his veins and at the same time, he felt relief. With all this help, I'll be up again in no time. Will Will Will Will... I hope you sleep with one eye open. No, I hope you sleep with both closed, oh yes. We'll be together again so soon.

((wwwwiiiiilllLLLLSSSTTTRIIIIIICCEEEE WILLLLSSSTTTIIICCCEE the fangirls scream, flailing and screaming an starting gheir slash ficti- WILLLLSSSTTTIIIICCCEE OH NO WHAT THEY HAVE FOUND ME I AM TO DIE I TOLD THEM ABOUT THEIR SLASH FICTIO- 
  She's dead. 
WIILLLSSTTTIIICCCCEEEEEE *schreeches*))

Rosario began to draw the remaining poison out of his body, she wouldn't dream of being able to remove it all, but she could at least get enough of so that he would be more comfortable. She took her hand off his side and along him, keeping about an inch of space between her hand and his body, she focused on the feeling of the poison that had entered his system and began to draw it out, slowly dispersing it into small enough particles that the passed through his pores without too much difficulty. Eventually small drops began to coalesce on the underside of her palm. Using her other hand she pulled out one of her empty vials and placed the collected poison in it, before repeating her actions.

She did this a few more times, noting that his exposed skin has turned a bit red and raw looking where she worked before stopping. The small vial only had filled about a third of the way, and gave little indication of how much poison had been used. She felt that she had only gotten a bit under half of what was in his system, but it should be enough. She closed the vial and moved it into her bag before running a healing hand down his side to deal with the raw skin.

Then, filling her hand with ice, which she melted with a quick bit of flame she rinsed the mans mouth and face carefully, then dried it with a rag before sitting him up and releasing her paralysis, though she kept a steadying hand on him.

"Are you alright? It looks like the worst of your vomiting is over. I managed to remove what I could of the toxin as well." She asked in an even tone, "Do you feel well enough to sit up on your own?"

After the excruciating wait of the toxin extraction, Armistice heard the girl ask if he was capable of sitting upright. He nodded, then struggled to sit up. His blood roared, his stomach was in rebellion, and his head felt like it was spinning around uncontrollably, but he sat. 

"Yes, never better, never been better. You, little mage, are very, very helpful." He glanced around for Will, and chuckled. "I must leave soon, oh yes. So much to do, and so very little time. I might not have the time for the chase, but I'll find time."

Rosario frowned at the man's words, "No, you won't be leaving until you are completely healthy. I couldn't bear with it if I just let someone run off feeling ill."

Crossing her arms she gave him a look, noting that he was still extremely pale, "Do you have a room here you can rest in? That would be my recommendation."

Armistice shook his head, and stood up shakily, leaning on a nearby table gasping heavily. He chocked back a bit of bile in his throat, coughed up a storm, and spoke raspingly. "I still have a room, yes, but I must go. As soon as I can. No doubt he's getting farther and farther away." He started stumbling to the door. "But he's not escaping me, oh no. Not when we have so much work to do."

Rosario released a heavy sigh, this man was acting like a child.

"Even if I were to let you go, you wouldn't be able to catch him in your current condition," She admonished, grabbing the back of his shirt and forcing him to stop. "No, what you need is a rest, and I'm not going to leave you alone until you have it."

She looked at the floor where she had treated him muttering, "And once I get you to bed I'll have to clean this up..."

Armistice wouldn't hear any of this. He reached for his hammer, only to find it seemed to have gained about 500 pounds since he last unsheathed it. "Fine, fine. I have no time to waste, and so I must rest, it seems. I..." A spell of dizziness overtook him and he almost fell over. "My room is down the hall on this floor not far, and I can't make it. Help me, if it suits you."

Smiling pleasantly, Rosario positioned herself under his arm so that she could manage his weight and began to guide him down the hall, giving a apologetic smile to Habit as she left. There were several rooms on this floor, so with a slight cough she asked, "So which room?"

Atalia groaned as the morning sun's rays drifted in through the sheer curtains and laid out in stripes across her face. Her lavender gaze reappeared as she blinked, staring at the empty room before her. Gradually, she lifted herself and sat on the mattress, her legs sprawled out in a 'W' shape. Was it a wise idea to keep trailing that group? Was it really going to protect her, or bring her closer to harm? She didn't even know their purpose in traveling together.. What was she getting herself into now? The Ram spirit yawned and her stretched her arms over her head, careful not to scratch them against her own horns. I shouldn't worry too much. Once out of bed, Atalia slipped into her usual outfit. The weight of her equipment wasn't as much of a burden like it was yesterday. A smile crept onto her countenance, sometimes a good night's rest was the best medicine. Swiftly, she swung her laboratory coat over her clothes and held the room key in a tight grasp. One night here was all she needed. Foot before foot, Atalia neatly began strolling through the hallway down to the stairs. It wasn't hard to tell that something had happened from the tension in the atmosphere in the floor below, and now figures were approaching her. The witch, Rosa, was next to some limping cripple has well. The Ram spirit smirked. It seemed like the witch had to under control, Rosa was definitely talented. She waved a little, pausing when she neared Rosa. "Mornin'."

"Near the end of the hall, second to last. Lots of red." Armistice gasped. Despite his health being quite low at this point, he found himself feeling at little bit lucky. This could be an excellent opportunity to talk to this mage, and see if he couldn't get some help out of her for his own schemes. Of course, if the world would stop spinning, that would be so much easier. He vaguely noticed another women, but he had nothing to say to her. The pounding in his head made talking hard anyway. Yes, laying down would be a good idea.

Habit blinked, his preyway into Elza's group already leaving. He forced a smile, "Hey let me help!" He exclaimed, moving to the other side of the fairy and helping him on the other side. "Quie a stupid move gettin poisoned eh?" He almost laughed. Then pushed it down.