~~~

"This was in the good old days, when monsters were fantasy." ― Hollis Seamon, Somebody Up There Hates You

~~~

The entire time they had been shunted and pushed through one portal to the other, she'd clutched tightly to her book. She'd stopped screaming eventually and squeezed her eyes shut as they went through them all. Each portal made her vision swim and her mind reel until she felt she was going to be sick.

When finally the journey ended, she was released and collapsed, still dizzy from the trip, frightened to her wits end, Les ended up curled up, whimpering slightly. Hearing the stammered voice, she looked up cautiously for a moment, watching him. You could see her weariness, clear as day and just as clear as her fear.

The blue flashing eyes were gone, replaced now by dull evergreens. Human eyes. Pained, and tired. Not only the pain of the transformation, but the pain of the confrontation with Wanda. The accusations. How dare she...."Forgive....me. We...," stopping, staring fixedly for a moment, "I....could..." Smell. Best not say that, "Sense her....somehow....on you." His brows furrowed slightly. He would be blunt, there was no way around it - he'd lost that subtlety, somewhere, to the Red Lady, "....she has....hurt....you?" His eyes roamed her, though he had not moved from his crouch upon the ground where he'd landed. The look was not predatory, but interrogative. A pure search for information. Answers. For a moment a lost look crossing his features, "....my fault..." mumbling, "....how ....many...?" Les watched the man for a moment, her body shaking and she whimpered slightly. Renna....Rosa...Hurt her" Yes, that was one way of putting it. Les had been left missing a chunk of her heart, when she spoke with This One. But she still blamed heself for hurting her back, even worse. She felt scared, mindlessly scared at the moment and just stared at Kaius, wide eyed.

What is the function of the White Rose's Knight' What was the task Nemesis set to it, to Kaius"

'Ware, little girl.

Kaius sighed, frowning, and pushed himself with one hand to his knees then feet, standing and keeping his left arm behind him as always. His right would extend down, slowly towards her, "Come, stand." His voice soft, and filled with regret. As they'd bantered back and forth in the Inn....life was full, of regrets. His eyes cast not only down, but away from her even as he offered, "Truly....didn't mean t....to frighten you..." Inexplicable as it was to him, he was better able to speak the closer he drew to her. He wondered why he hadn't noticed that earlier, in the Inn. If he had, instead of dealing with useless chafe, he would have simply put a hand on her shoulder and asked to speak. Poor Kaius, who thinks with his passions. Everything changes, but some things, are ever the same.

She watched his hand inevitably draw closer with an ever filled sensation of dread, until she looked up at him again at his last words. Shaking slightly still, Les's eyes, deep red flecked with purple, turned upwards at Kaius and watched him for a few beats of a heart. Not hers, but someone's. Slowly, she uncurled from around her book, and began to stand. Without taking his hand.

~~~

"I'm always looking for the monster. Not even just in horror. I want them in everything. Just give me the monsters. Logical conclusions don't satisfy. Monsters satisfy, absolutely." ― Victor LaValle, Big Machine

~~~

~~~

"No, we aren't civilized, even in our business suits and high heels. People are as mean as ever, and as predictable. Underneath it all, we are not so different from what lurks in the wild, perhaps we're worse." ― Donna Lynn Hope

~~~

"Everyone....does bad things; those who have never known happiness....cannot give it, those who have never known joy, will not give....joy; but those who know....pain..." His features twisted, anguish written across them, "or....betrayal..." His eyes hardened, and fixed on hers, and though it wasn't directed at Lesinda, he was clearly mad, "The solution to her, the 'heroes' would use..." The word 'Heroes' was almost spit upon the ground in distaste, "....only make it....worse. There is no empathy and no sympathy. Not for her. No chance to heal, no chance to..." The adamant of his eyes cracked. No chance....to be loved. A deep breath, "What do they -expect-" -They- made her what she is, if not through their actions then through their apathy. They're worthless." Hate. "They reap what they sow, and complain for the crop..." A vertical slash cut the air behind her, but didn't spiral open into a Gate. Not....yet.

Les stepped back again from him, worry clear on her face, but....She felt the need to say something...."Dad...Try to give her that chance....Protect her, understand her, but..." But she tried to kill him. Him. His wife and his unborn daughter. How do you defend someone, after they try to take your everything"

You can't. He knew. He'd watched them try to take ....

Her, his One, His Renna.

His everything.

And he couldn't forgive them, either. "...you can't." His eyes were dull, "I promised her....I promised Nemesis....I would....protect her. From her, even. I fell....too deep, and was lost, even to myself. I failed. The blame....is mine. When a tiger is loose from its cage, and kills, is it the tigers fault' No....It's a tiger. It's what they do. Beautiful, powerful....and deadly. It's the fault of the Handler. Who is reprimanded....while the tiger....is killed." And his eyes were as dead as the last word he uttered. "Tell them....something for me. Please. On the love we share..." If they think I treated you....in some form that....would make them hate me....let them think it." His eyes met hers and it was a simple plea, nothing more. An attempt, at Penance. "...I would take their hate on me. They never understood, any of them, this....what I am, now, is not something she did to me. Or something she inflicted. I took it, willingly, upon myself. Out of love, and out of ..." Anger" Despise" Hatred" What was strong enough to describe his feelings for those unfeeling bastards, who only cared so far as to make the world directly around them perfect to themselves, and gods forsake everyone else.

"I am not the animal they think I am....though, I have it within myself to be, if it serves to lessen their hatred of her." Let them hate me a thousand times a thousand, better that than one more derisive comment about Renna. The Gateway slowly spiraled open behind her, opening in Rhy'din on a street between the Inn and the main thoroughfare out of the city proper and towards Bristle Crios. "One of your parents," an afterthought after the Gate opened - and that alone proof of how close Sirrush was to the surface that he could consciously open a Gate, "is an Eternal....perhaps even High. Your father or...?" A shake of his head, "No....No matter. We should not be friends, you and I, perhaps." Eyes filling with grief again, one so similar, so close....now, to send her away. For her own good.

"Dad's....A demi-god..." She replied, and eyed the portal with suspicion. And stepped away from it. Looking at the man for a long, long moment. She finally spoke, "Who are you..?"

He smiled, sadly, not looking at her to realize she had stepped away from it. "....then perhaps your mother or perhaps your father simply....doesn't know." He shrugged, "When one of them reaches the end of their time on this mortal or immortal coil, and finds that their presence is not yet....up, then....perhaps they will realize. Or....merely be absorbed back into," he gestured, around them, "....everything. This farce called life." Shrugging slightly, "My brother could explain it better, I'm sure....but I can smell it on you. One of your parents....is an Eternal. Semantics." He looked down for a long time, another gesture clearing the Gateway of its opaque event Horizon. He indicated truly, and it did open to safety. Judge everything by the way they look, do you? Do you think the armor of the Knight was made to combat just -anyone-" Or more likely, made to protect from the sometimes hard loving attention of someone else.." Consider it. Who am I" "Kaius..." the Weak, the Foolish, Kaius the Arrogant, Kaius the Madman....finally, he closed the sentence, but in a hushed tone. Damn himself, curse himself, hate himself, forever for his failure. And the hushed tone was only just loud enough for her ears, "Kaius....the Betrayer."

Kaius....the Betrayer.

The Path that Bleeds

~~~

"The problem with people who say monsters don't really exist is that they're almost never saying it to the monsters." -Seanan McGuire

~~~

Preface

When had he become a Hunter" Had it ever been thus" Or did he get that from her"

No, just inspired from her.

Need, you see.

It took over, and when it came to her, the need was an urgent thing, clawing away at the inside of him, until he was turned inside out. Metaphorically. Or is that literally' When the man worn on the outside rides instead on the inside, and the monster on the inside walks around and talks in his stead.

The thing that he was remained hidden, suspended between Gates. Hovering in this way made his senses fluctuate, new pieces, packets of information coming at him in chunks rather than a continuous flow - but it also kept him hidden from the senses of others, at least for the most part.

The one below him was....overpowering his senses, extended as they were to their fullest capacity. The smell of Renna's blood, and more than that, the plane of his initial imprisonment, Negzarcurgis...

Though...

If it had been imprisonment, it had been self imposed, now hadn't it"

The man within would want to claw at his own eyes at that, had he physical form to do so.

Suddenly, it's senses narrowed on something below, nearing the tree near which the girl slept. As the man came more clearly into view below him, Sirrush's Talon scissored shut, slicing through the stem of the white rose that it held, sending satin petals earthward and out of his hidden pocket of space.

Meddling brother.

Silently, he watched.

~~~

"If we act like prey, they'll act like predators" ― Alyxandra Harvey, My Love Lies Bleeding

~~~

The man who stood now in the glade bore a certain familial resemblance to another man who had accosted her nights prior, much of the facial features were the same, albeit this man was slightly older, and possessed of all his limbs. Midnight hued hair had fallen forward to obscure those details, but the armor he wore under his cloak did also bear resemblance to that same man....or creature, who had taken her. Justicar was a dull throb in the center of his forehead, and he tried to push it out of his mind, for now. He'd only wanted to check in on his brother, only to find him...gone. There would be no special chase, not this time, once was enough. His head tilted back as he scanned the canopy, and raised one hand to brush at his Myriad's light, the other straying to his swords hilt, buckled at his hip. "Enough games! You need help!" A shout, though muted, breaking the silence of the glade completely.

Les jumped, wide 'awake', her eyes snapping open wide at the shout, muted as it was, she heard it clear enough. From her vantage point, she couldn't see the man, but given the sound of his voice, she could guesstimate where he was. Carefully, slowly, she rose from her hidden spot to peek over the roots of the tree to try and to identify the man....Only to duck back down and try to bury herself in the loose leaves that were surrounding her, some vain attempt to hide herself from the man that looked so similar to Kaius from the other night.

At the flurry of motion he turned, slipping from the Low Speech to the High Speech in an instant, "Reveal thyself." His sword had whispered free of its scabbard before he'd uttered the last syllable, held in the air behind him, raised slightly just as his other hand was presented palm first in front of him. "I know not who you are, but who you are not. I am no threat to you, if you return the favor in kind. Do Not make me quest for you..."

She paused a moment in her frantic, and frankly probably futile attempt to hide herself. Chewing her lip a second, before slowly standing up, gripping the tree to help pull herself up. As she appeared over the tall root, first would appear her green hair, maybe a leaf or two in it framing a pale, white face. Given the height of the tree root, her legs aren't visible, but the blazer she's wearing, buttoned up against the cold one would assume, was visible. Les eyed the figure with suspicion, red eyes flecked with tiny gems of purple glinting in the light.

Justicar's flickering red light dulled to a soft glow upon his brow, and winked out. His head lilting to one side, giving a slight shake as he lowered his sword and returned it to its sheath. The palm however, only lowered slightly, and he held the spells completion conditions in his fore mind. The High Speech slipped and he reverted to a mix of Low & Common, "Have you seen a man come through here" Armored, perhaps..." He would look....perhaps like a drifter. Cloaked, as I am..." flashing emerald eyes scanned her quietly, trying to take her Measure.

Les shook her head softly. "Not...Here, no..." She chewed her lip again, watching his hand. Obviously aware he had a spell prepared...Now she questioned the sense in not just simply running away.

An eyebrow rose but an increment, and his hand lowered further as he inquired, "Somewhere, here, though?" His defenses, vis a vis, his offences were lowering slowly; she reminded him a little bit of his stepdaughter. This was another issue he had yet to address. Where....was....Nikia....Justicar flashed, only momentarily, a burst of lurid crimson power bleeding upwards and dispersing.

She backed up a little bit, the flash unnerving her. Les gave a small nod. "Th-there was a-a man...He l-looked an l-lot like...Like y-you..." She replied, stammering, slowly. One hand pressing against the tree bark to steady her, reassured slightly by its presence. Brows furrowed lips pursed. Troubled. "....yes, was he here today?" The rose petals were fresh, was he here watching this girl" Strange, that would be, or seem. He gave his head a slight shake, "You're afraid....of me," his hand dropped entirely, Justicars light snuffing out. "Why." It was as much statement as question, in hindsight; she had no reason to fear him that he could tell, thus far.

~~~

"You not only are hunted by others, you unknowingly hunt yourself." ― Dejan Stojanovic, The Sun Watches the Sun

~~~

"You seem a woman of some pedigree, at the very least." His smile a little bemused; odd the people you meet in a forest glade, and none to close to the Coven either.

"My mother was the Head of Vampire House, before they changed the system to Advisers...Dad took over from Miranda in Mage House..." She ventured cautiously, chewing her lip again, watching the man a long moment, seeing him relax, she relaxed a little. "I think.....I mean, your brother....He's not....Well...I don't think..." She said after some time. "He's....Fractured..."

He visibly winced, there goes the relaxation. It was nice while it lasted, though, brief as it was. He had been nodding along with her, a smile riding his lips until mention of his brother again. He looked away from her, perhaps to hide his emotions, or maybe something simply caught his eye, but kept the conversation going, "....I know, he's not well....how though, do you mean, fractured" He was ....very poorly treated, in the place we retrieved him from." A frown, not sure why he was divulging this but, "....forgive me. I only seek....I want no more trouble from him. Enough was paid, in blood and tears, to rescue him. I only want to make sure he no longer ventures far a field..." His jaw snapped shut, as if trying to keep everything in. Proof of the changes he himself had undergone, to let himself slip like that in front of a stranger, no less merely a young girl. And yes, vampire though she might be, a young girl. The measure of age changes once you take on the mantle of High Eternal. Absently, he added, "I look forward to meeting your father, I look on the Lady Branson very highly, and I'm intrigued to meet the person she would step aside for." Thinking to himself, I was Head, or High Seat, of Eternal House, and not just that, but House Eternal. The difference, in the coming months, would be made apparent....to all.

"He kept...Changing...Like different people...Like he *was* swapping between different people...And that armor...? She couldn't help but shiver slightly, and stared at Kristoph, leaning her shoulder again the tree. Etched deep in the bar not far above her shoulder, were a few words that might have been visible to him. Young girl described her well, looking around the 19 years old mark. "Your brother called him an Eternal..."

~~~

"May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in." ― Mother Teresa

~~~

After a blank moment, considering Kaius's state of mind, "Mind you....it's not....as if it was his intent, he's simply....been through more than his mind can bear, I suppose. It happens, to all of us." Oh, how true was that...and he did realize her apprehension, but there's no way she would know how used to being treated like that that he already was.

Throwing her a haunted look, though it would last only a moment, a fraction of that, even, "People in love will do ....illogical things." Giving himself a shake, "but they are only what we must do, to carry on; if you have a reason to live, I suppose....you can bear almost anyhow."

At his words, she leaned her head against the tree again, unconscious of one hand tracing the scored bark of the tree a second, before nodding. "They do..." Les said quietly, before shaking her head softly to clear it of some thought or other. "What will you do after you find him?"

"Hopefully," taking a deep breath, and exhaling it slowly, "I will do nothing, except ask about how he is coping. Hopefully," his brow furrowing, "He will give me no cause to do more than that." He regarded her for another long moment, watching her hand caress that part of the tree, and though he didn't understand, nor was he stupid. She loved, someone, and he had inadvertently struck a chord. "I understand that your father has you well looked after, but, if ever you ....require....me, I give you leave to," frowning, offering something which had often been taken from him, but rarely ever had he gifted, "....summon me." Hesitating, "The conjuration is simple, even if you are not so inclined to use sorcery." He couldn't help but finish somewhat lamely, it seemed both of them had intruded upon one another innermost thoughts, though without meaning.