Topic: Oblivion

Raven Wyatt

Date: 2014-07-21 03:10 EST
(This story takes place in March of this 2014)


The snow was melting. The birds were finally coming out to sing their songs. Adelaide was asleep at last. And Raven was restless. She paced like a caged tiger, slippered feet taking her up and down the hallway. Down the stairs, up the stairs, down the stairs. To the kitchen, through the kitchen, through the training room. She stood at the door and looked out across the yard. The pond was finally unfreezing and they could release the koi to their preferred home before long. Her gaze swept over the tranquility pond and to the gate. A breeze laden with the first hint of spring brushed her cheek and beckoned to her, some unseen force calling her near.

She was a woman possessed.

She took one step. It became the first of many and with some far off destination in mind, she slipped further and further away from the little dojo she called home. For now, Adelaide slept soundly. For now, Raven's engagement ring sat beside her cell phone on her bedside table. For now, her shoes remained just inside the front door. For now, her staff leaned in the corner of the training room. The snow wasn't thick enough any longer to retain her footsteps, her sodden slippers leaving little evidence of her departure behind. The front door shut with a sharp click.

No note had been left behind for her fiance who was sure to be home within a few hours. No explanation for the woman's disappearance nor for the child left in her crib to cry out for her mother until the wee hours of dawn. The breeze fluttered once more among dead leaves, the remnants of the fall before.

A chill had set in.

Zack Alcar

Date: 2014-07-21 15:53 EST
Having spent most of the day out helping his family, helping to take care of a few matters around the castle. As well as a few others things. Also getting in a little sparing with his brothers, with him just now finishing up and starting to make his way back to the little dojo. Back home to little Adelaide and Raven, as the thought got a smile to cross his lips. As he walked and looked around, with him taking note that the snow was starting to melt with the birds starting to sing their songs again. Getting him to start to whistle along with them as he enjoyed the more peaceful scenery. Hands tucked into his pockets along the way. not really noting that his footprints weren't left in the snow.

He had no clue what waited for him when he got home.

Step after step brought him closer to the place he called home with Raven and Addie, with him looking around for a moment. Nodding as the pond had started to finally thaw out, before making his way through the door that lead into the training area. "Honey. I'm home." Just loud enough to be heard, but not to loud so not to wake their daughter incase she was sleeping. Slipping further into the house, as he looked around at the silence going on. "Must be sleeping." Murmured to himself as he first moved to make his way up to his daughter's bedroom, just to check in on her. Addie had daddy wrapped around her finger, and of course he'd totally deny it.

Then came the bedroom.

After checking in on Adelaide. Zack made his way towards the master bedroom, with another glance around. Pushing the door open, and found that Raven wasn't there. Stepping further inside as he looked around, only to find that her cell and engagement ring was laying on the bedside table on her side. Wasting no time as he came back out and started to search the house, just catching that her shoes were by the front door. With his mind kicking in that her staff was in the training area, as he ducked back out of the house and looked around. Not seeing any sight of her or trace that she had left. He slowly headed back inside, utterly confused at the moment. With no clue on where she could have just disappeared to.

Worry had set in as he moved to pick up the crying Addie, with him rocking the crying child. Murmuring softly to her to try and get the child to go back to sleep.

Raven Wyatt

Date: 2014-07-23 02:33 EST
The next day the sun had risen and set with no sign of the lady of the house, her items and family wholly abandoned in their little dojo set back on a parcel of land in Nosgoth. Of course there would be no sign, Raven had long gone. She had wandered through the twilight of early morning further and further away from all that she knew, as though some unseen force was reeling her in. Her mind was foggy though here and there she would experience brief spells of clarity, prompting a pause and a glance over her shoulder. It was like she was forgetting something but she just wasn't sure what. Just as quickly, the haze would set back in and she would continue on her way. It felt weird, not having any weapons on her, finding them to be as second nature as her own fists. But there she was all the same, wandering through the woods on the outskirts of Nosgoth with nothing but the clothes on her back.

Miles separated her from home but she was only vaguely becoming aware of how cold her wet feet were and how much they ached. As she trudged along, she hadn't the slightest idea where she was going or how much further it was be, but a break in the treeline had her hopeful for reprieve from the elements. A mist had set in over the clearing and she had to squint to see where she was going, but through it all stood a little cottage. A plume of black smoke billowed from the chimney and a soft glow of lantern light could be seen in the front room window. Instinct told her to avoid it. Maybe it was because she had been through these woods before and there had never been a little cottage. It certainly didn't look new. The stone was weathered and the thatched roof looked like it wouldn't have held against a heavy snow. But much like before, the insatiable pull was drawing her in.

As sun set on Nosgoth once more, Raven found herself standing before the old wooden door to the quaint little cottage that seemed to have materialized out of nothing. Hell, she wasn't even sure if this clearing had been here before. But as she lifted a hand to knock, all she knew is that she was called here for a reason. Knuckles rapped against the door and it creaked open a few moments later.

"Hello?" Raven asked, seeing no one in the doorway. The mist in the clearing was getting heavier rather than lighter and she didn't think it would be a particularly good idea to be caught out in the woods after the sun set fully. Through the gap in the open door, she could feel the heat radiate from a lit fire place with what looked like a pot of soup simmering above the flames as well as a juicy hunk of meat roasting on a spit. It made her mouth water and her stomach growl and she pressed the door open further. A step inside was taken.

"H-hello? Is anyone home? I don't mean to intrude but the door unlatched when I knocked and..." She jumped when the door shut behind her. Had she touched it without realizing it? She didn't think so. Maybe it had been a breeze. After all, old cottages were drafty like that. Some pit in her stomach told her to run, but her feet were rooted to the spot. A creak came from a dark corner and her gaze darted toward it suspiciously.

"Hello there my child...thank you for coming..." A voice like honeyed gravel purred from the corner and Raven froze. It had the same pull to it that she had felt when coming here and she couldn't help but feel like this was exactly where she was meant to be.

She stepped further inside.

The mist swallowed the cottage whole and with it, Raven was whisked away too.

Zack Alcar

Date: 2014-07-24 15:58 EST
Through out the night, Zack remained in Addie's room. First coaxing the child back to sleep, before laying her back down in her crib. With him moving to sit down in the chair next to the crib, not getting a lick of sleep all night long. Anytime the child would wake. He was right there to tend to the child, as if she knew something was wrong. Once morning came and he finally got her to sleep, with Zack getting in touch with a few of his family members.

"I don't know where she is at, or where she could have gone." Was all he could muster in his lack of sleep daze. Getting his two elder brothers to share a look, before looking back to Zack. "She couldn't have gotten far." Raziel spoke up finally, before nodding to his twin. With Gabriel already moving for the door.

"You stay here. We'll gather some of the troops and send them out to look for her." Again the youngest of the twins spoke, before moving to head for the door as well. Zack sighed to that and shook his head as he moved to grab Raz's arm. "I'll go. Watch over Addie for me." With Zack pushing past both his brothers to head out.

The twins shared a look again, before Raz moved to do as asked with Gabe moving to quickly gather the troops and get them on the move. It didn't take him long either to send out search parties in all directions. Using the little dojo as the starting point, with them searching the entire day. No trace found in any directions, before they returned at sunset.

The news that nothing had been found by anyone, hit Zack rather hard as he silently made his way towards Addie's room again. With his brothers sending the troops home for the night, before deciding that one of them would stick around. Tonight would be Gabe's turn, yet that offer was turned down. Zack once again would spend another sleepless night watching over his daughter. As well as starting to drink.

Come morning. He would head off into town, Rhy'Din. He would start the next level of the search there. Hoping something would turn up there.

Raven Wyatt

Date: 2014-08-04 17:51 EST
Raven glanced out of the cottage's window, finding only a thick fog beyond glass coated in frost. Time seemed to slow in this strange little home and every second seemed an eternity as she slowly crossed the cozy living room toward the dark corner and the faint outline of a rocking chair. It looked much like the one she had in Addie's nursery. Addie. Her daughter felt like a distant memory and Raven glanced over her shoulder toward the door as though she needed to get out of here. To return to her child. Instead her feet continued to take her closer to the voice, her arms wrapping tightly around her body. Even from the dark she could feel eyes on her and it made her skin crawl and itch uncomfortably. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other before reaching for a nearby lantern. The handle was ice cold and the glow fell short of illuminating more than a few inches but Raven held it up to try and get a better look at the one who had called her here.

"Now, now child, there's no reason to shine the light in my eyes. Where is the baby?" The wretched old hag asked. Raven was finally able to see her and was greeted by the sight of a hunched over humanoid, her head crowned by grizzled silver hair stuck out at odd angles every which way. Her nose was hooked and bulbous, her lips thin and cracking, chapped skin peeling away in flaky chunks. Her spine was curved and humped, two bumps rising between her shoulder blades underneath her shawl. Her ears were oddly formed, some cross between the curved conch of a regular human's and the slenderly pointed dagger ear of an elf or other fae. But the old woman's most striking feature was her eyes, a deep cloud black filling the entirety of her visible eye, sclera, iris, pupil and all. It sent a chill down Raven's spine.

"I'm sorry, the baby?" Raven inquired, one hand offered out to the woman without her even realizing it. The woman took it and used it as leverage to stand up. Had her back not been so grotesquely bent, she may have stood as tall as Raven, if not taller, but in her hunched form she seemed far smaller. Almost harmless. No, there was nothing harmless about this one, Raven's instinct screamed at her. But still Raven assisted. Perhaps she could help the woman.

"Yes. The infant, you daft twat. You were meant to bring her." The woman's tone bled with a thick tongued accent and a vitriolic anger that had Raven taking a step back despite the woman's hold on her hand. The grip tightened and Raven tried to withdraw her fingers, grimacing through the building discomfort. A harder pull produced no results and Raven grunted with the effort of trying to pull away only to be greeted by a wet snap and a sharp pain through her hand. She cried out in pain, no longer trying to pull away. The woman held her grip and used it as a way to lead Raven to a nearby chair, forcing her sit down. An odd sort of warmth filled her from the outside in and she relaxed despite the stabbing pain in her hand.

"I... I did not know I was supposed to bring her..." Raven spoke softly, feeling her head get hazy and foggy again. Much like the fog outside, Raven couldn't see anything within her own mind. She slumped in the seat and slid an unfocused look toward her hand as the woman pulled it up to sit on the table. Her last two fingers were bent at unnatural angles, already hot and swelling as blood flowed to the trauma. With a few jerks and a whole lot of pain, the woman realigned the digits and Raven fought to keep her head on straight, feeling the room spin about her.

"We have work to do. And you must bring us the Chosen. In time. All in due time." The woman nodded as she splinted and wrapped Raven's fingers. Somewhere in the back of her mind, this set off every instinctual alarm built into her natural programming but the sedated feeling never waned enough for her to protest and she merely sat back in the chair and nodded.

"Oh... yes, that's right..."

Zack Alcar

Date: 2014-08-11 15:04 EST
Days passed with no sign of Raven in Nosgoth, as if the woman just vanished completely. Each morning the gathered men would look. From sunrise to sunset. Even Zack's own trips to Rhy'Din to search for her had been turning up empty. With his night being spent in Addie's room, just watching his daughter sleep. With his mind racing over what could of happened, as well what could have caused it. Yet nothing at all came to mind, though his lack of sleep was starting to affect him. But at the same time. It was Addie that kept him going.

His two brothers helped out each day, even when they were told to go home. Eventually Zack relented enough to accept the help, with one of his brothers helping out with Addie and the other helping to keep the house clean. Day after day. They watched their younger brother slip further and further into his own mind, doing what they could to keep him from breaking down. With some days them arriving to find the training room area a complete mess, getting a sigh from them before they took the time to pick everything up and fix it up.

"If we don't find something out soon. He might be beyond reach." Raziel murmured to his brother as he was now busy cleaning the house up, with Gabriel nodding lightly. "We can only hope that someone finds out something and here soon." Gabriel murmured as he rocked Addie in his arms, as even she sensed that something was wrong. Having bouts of just crying, and sometimes crying herself to sleep. Sometimes it would be in one of her uncle's arms, but most of the time it would be in Zack's arms. With him ignoring the pleas for him to get some sleep. Which always got the same reply. "Not until we find Raven." Which always got them to shake their heads.

The longer Raven remained missing, the worst off Zack became. Something had to give soon. Real soon.

Raven Wyatt

Date: 2014-08-16 20:10 EST
While life as she knew it deteriorated back home in Nosgoth, Raven was utterly oblivious to the tangled strands of Fate that were about to change her future forever. Time passed unevenly in that little cottage and her mind was a veritable abyss, capable only of consumption. Stimuli were accepted, received and processed and reaction came as at only the most minimal of levels. Contortions of musculature, twitches and trembles completely involuntary on a conscious level served as the only response to the steady breaking of her mind and body.

The vaguest moments of clarity brought with them a flood of pain. And memories, the memories hurt more than anything. Addie, Zack, she needed to get back to them. Her family. Away from this cottage.

Yes, get back to them and bring the child to us.

"No, no, I can't do that."

You can. And you will.

"No..."

Argument was met with punishment and pain, ending in black. Each moment slid by at a snail's pace, singular grains of sand slipping through the hour glass so slowly she could hear them as they tumbled. The fog slipped in and out of her mind with ease, always lulling her into a false sense of security just long enough for her to be ripped from her reverie in the most violent ways possible.

Bring her. Bring her to us.

"I c-can't. No. She is my daughter..."

She is ours.

"She is mine and you CAN'T HAVE HER!"

Black came once more. Hot breathing against her cheek. Vile whispers in her ears. Suggestive and seductive, there were times she thought she might give in. Not once did they say just why they wanted her little girl, but as much as motherhood had been an awkward transition for Raven, the fierce protectiveness she felt for her child was undeniable. They would get Adelaide over her dead body.

We can arrange that...

"N-no... she needs me, please. She needs her mother. Her father. Her family."

We'll take good care of her, we promise. She will be one of ours. Our Chosen.

"Never."

Black.

Zack Alcar

Date: 2014-09-01 15:10 EST
Days had turned into weeks since Raven seemingly disappeared from Nosgoth without a trace, not a single lead to follow. Day after day passed with everyone close to Zack, either out looking for her or tending to Addie for him as he went out and looked. Eventually he ran into Claire one night in Rhy'Din at one of the dueling venues.

It took her a few tries before she eventually got the whole story out of him on what happened from him coming home the day that Raven left and finding her gone, Addie crying out for her to him spending his time taking care of his daughter. Elaborating upon how he had been looking for any trace of where she could have gone, while conveniently leaving off the fact that he was not getting any sleep.

After bidding her good bye and heading back home to his waiting daughter, as well as his father. "Go and rest, son. You can't keep this up. You have your daughter to think of." Were the words murmured to him, just barely registering in Zack's mind. Yet the young man knew better than to argue before he moved to the bedroom, and simply crashed on the bed, falling into a deep hard sleep as his father and his brothers made sure he slept, while tending to the house.

Come morning, the house would be cleaned up once again, with Raziel and Gabriel at the house, one keeping an eye on the passed out Zack, and the other tending to Addie.

Raven Wyatt

Date: 2014-09-13 15:55 EST
Just how long had she been in this purgatory waiting for death? Raven wasn't sure but at this point, and little kept her going save for the bright spot on the horizon knowing her daughter was safe and sound at home. Zack, oh Zack. He didn't even know. For all he knew, she had left. Left them behind and ran away. Running had been often on her mind when she first found out she was pregnant, as long ago as that seemed to be. But as the idea of motherhood and stability and family finally set in, she found herself increasingly comfortable with it. Now...now she was taken away from it without any say.

Would she ever see Adelaide again? Or Zack? Or her other friends and family? She wasn't quite sure but she could hold on just a bit longer. Even if every breath taken sent wicked stabbing pains through broken ribs. Even if she had to rely on her hearing to tell her what was ahead due to the swelling in eyes battered, bruised, and puffy from crying. Well, not as though she could cry anymore anyways. Dehydration had weakened her until simply getting up off of the floor was a daunting task. Weakly grasping at aged floorboards stained with any number of substances, she slowly clawed her way over to the empty little bedroom's door. Quietly allowing herself to collapse in front of the door, she turned her good ear, --the one without what she suspected to be a broken ear drum,-- toward the crack under the door and did her best to focus through the pain and listen.

A pair of voices seemed to be conversing not far beyond the room where she was held captive. The fog was slowly seeping back into her mind and she groaned, trying to push it back out.

"We can't send her back like this. It will take weeks for her to heal even with assistance."

"Perhaps had you not got carried away, this wouldn't be an issue!"

"But sister, you know I do so love the way they scream..."

"If we cannot send her back, how do we retrieve the Bringer?"

"The Chosen may need to be attained further down the line...It appears we may have exhausted this route..."

"The father will be near impossible to corrupt and infiltrate. The Alcar bond runs too deeply."

"Yes, yes. Then we eliminate this pawn and move on to formulating a new plan. The Shadows can wait."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"Kill her. Dump the body where we picked her up."

Raven caught wind of those decisive words and let out a sharp gasp before skittering back from the door. She could already hear footsteps over the rapid hammering of her heart. No, no, no. This wasn't happening. The brief flame of hope that had been flickering in the back of her mind was growing increasingly dim, slowly snuffed by the conversation in the cottage's hallway. She couldn't even scream since it wouldn't do her any good. Even when clarity was hers, she had no idea where they were. She felt nothing of her bond to Zack nor Nosgoth, a terrible sinking feeling filling the pit of her stomach.

The door opened.

"Hello sweetling." Came the voice from right in front of her. The scent of tobacco and something floral mixed with bacon grease and body odor and the putrid smell met her nose, causing an instinctive cringe away, sliding on her rear backwards until her back met the wall. A soft puff of breath crossed her lips and she tilted her chin upwards. Perhaps she should have been grateful it was this one and not the other, the woman having been a bit more relenting that her brother had been. Fingers curled around Raven's chin, pulling her up onto her knees. Oh her aching knees. The pain in her joints didn't compare to the fire that spread through her chest when the blade was jabbed between ribs already aflame with injury. But the heat and the pain and the agony, it all subsided before long as she slipped into the cold embrace offered by rapid blood loss.

Consciousness wavered. She didn't even hear the faint knock-knock-knock at the front door when the black overtook her for what she thought to be the last time.

Zack Alcar

Date: 2014-09-30 23:07 EST
Meanwhile, earlier that day in Nosgoth..

Claire had not been back in Rhy'Din long, her trip to Pulse having brought her back a few weeks after Adelaide's birth. In that time, she had seen just enough of Zack to let him know that all was well on the Farron front and to tell him she was there if he needed anything. Chalking his extended absence up to the pitfalls of new parenthood, she gave him the space he surely needed. But when he stopped returning her calls and texts, that's when she got worried. Finally making the trip out to Nosgoth, she touched at the pendant worn that morning, feeling it thrum with a hint of tension. She frowned and continued on her way to the Alcar-Ekia residence, weaving down paths damn with melted snow-pack. Her boots left thorough footprints in her wake and as she stepped up to the front door, she wiped the mud off so it wouldn't be tracked in. One hand lifted to knock hard at the door. Not that a door would keep her out, but courtesy was necessary.

Zack had continued his new routine of searching for Raven, as well as taking care of Addie with little to no sleep. Very seldom did he head out towards anywhere, other then searching. During the times that Addie was sleeping and he wasn't looking. He was drinking more than he had before, as his mind just couldn't wrap around the fact that Raven had just disappeared it seemed off the face of not only Nosgoth, but Rhy'Din as well. When Claire finally came to visit when she hadn't heard from him. It wasn't Zack whom answered the door, but his brother Gabriel whom eyed her a moment. "Yes?"

Claire hadn't expected someone else to answer the door. She narrowed her eyes and slowly looked up to Gabriel with a scrunch of her nose. Having never met either of Zack's brothers, she had no idea who it was and set a hand on her hip. Head tilted, she cocked a brow. "Uhh... do I have the wrong house? I'm looking for Zack." She leaned to try and peer around the man, huffing softly. She was definitely at the right place.

Gabe just stared at Claire for a long moment, before he chuckled faintly as he recalled his brother mentioning a few of his friends in Rhy'Din. "You must be Claire." Stepping to the side to let her inside. "He's probably passed out in bed. He rarely sleeps anymore." Said to her when she stepped inside and shut the door behind her. "Only thing that keeps him going is his daughter."

"Ah. Um. Yeah, that's me. You must be... one of the older brothers? Gabriel probably?" An educated guess considering in some other world Zack had named a son after the man. She rubbed at the back of her neck and gave him a faint nod as she stepped inside. Looking around, with the man's words her gaze ticked toward the stairs to the second level. "What? What do you mean? What happened?" She wasn't even really waiting for an answer since she was already heading for the stairs.

"I am Gabriel." Bowing lightly to her before moving up to her side once she stepped in, then quirked a brow to her heading right for the stairs. "It appears that Raven has disappeared and no one has been able to find her." Moving to follow her now as he would pause to check in on Addie. There Claire if she paused to look, would see Raziel. "This is my twin, Raziel." Might as well be nice and introduce her. "Raz. This is Claire." Raz looked up from rocking and feeding Addie to nod.

She faltered in her steps and paused to look back at Gabriel and then Raziel. "Nice to meet you." She said quickly, bouncing her gaze toward the stairs and then back to the men, including the one who held her goddaughter. Rubbing her hand over her mouth, she shook her head. "Seriously? Like, gone gone? Did she leave a note or anything or what's up?" Slowly she inched back towards the stairs again.

Raz continued to focus on Addie who seemed content to be held and rocked, but one could just tell that there was tension in the house. Even Addie felt it. Gabe nodded for Raz to take Addie up to her room, before stepping up beside Claire. "Gone gone. Not even our father could sense her anywhere. There was no note, nor a word from her about leaving."

Claire chewed at her lip, watching Zack's brother take the ill at ease tot up to her room. She wanted to follow, to go up after and make sure that Addie was alright and that Zack was too. "That's..." She wanted to say that wasn't like Raven, but truth be told it wasn't a stretch. A deep frown settled on her lips. "That's not good. What can I do to help?"

Gabe actually patted Claire's shoulder as he caught the look from her as she watched Raz taking care of Addie. "Perhaps you can get through to him." Now motioning towards the master bedroom. "Do what you must." Trying to hide the worry as he had never seen his youngest brother like this. "This hit him hard." Murmured to the woman.

"How drunk is he?" She asked with a crinkle of her nose. Not really waiting for an answer, she gave Gabe a soft nod and started up the stairs two at a time. Silent steps took her down the hallway past Addie's room where she peeked inside to see Raziel laying the wee babe down in her crib. Taking a deep breath, she made it past Adelaide's nursery and to where she knew Zack and Raven's room to be. Knuckles gently rapped on the door before she gripped the handle and turned, carefully opening the door to peek her head into the darkness. "Zack? You here?"

"Very drunk. It seems to be his past time lately." Gabriel said as she moved towards the stairs and eventually towards the master bedroom. "Hope she can get through to that boy. Addie needs him to be strong." Gabe murmured to himself as he waited a moment or two before moving to gather Raz after he put the child to bed. Leaving things in Claire's hands now, as they held no reason not to trust her. When Claire poked her head into the bedroom, there she would find Zack face first in the bed, yet her words got a groan from him. "Let me sleep." Zack muttered as a pillow came flying at the door, as he rolled over.

The pillow hit the door which bounced off of Claire's forehead. A low growl rumbled in her chest and she shoved the door open to step inside fully, snatching up that thrown pillow. Carefully shutting it behind her so as not to wake Addie, she stalked over to the bedside and peered down at him, wielding the pillow in one hand while the other hand gripped her hip. With a back swing, she flung the pillow forward and whacked him with it. "First off, don't throw shit at me." Following her words, she sat at the edge of the bed. "Secondly, why the hell haven't you told me what was going on?"

He tried to use the other pillow to cover his head as it seemed he had really gotten drunk and the slightest sound was enough to annoy him. He had no clue that she had stepped into the room or shut the door, before she started to speak. "Then let me sleep." Grumbling afterwards as she sat on the bed, before finally moving to roll onto his back when she whacked him with the pillow. "Sorry. My mind's just been...gone." Slowly moving to sit up with one hand moving to start massaging his temples.

"No." She said plainly to his request that she let him sleep. Scooting up onto the bed further, she sat with her back against the headboard and her arms folded over her chest. Watching him for a few long moments, she gave him a small nod and reached out to gently rub his back. "I can understand that... Noct was pretty out of sorts until I came home..." She murmured softly, still rubbing. "Want me to get you some water?"

"Fine." Muttered to her refusing to let him sleep, as he slowly shifted to sit up and lean against the headboard as well. Still massaging the bridge of his nose, as he shifted a bit to her rubbing at his back. "She just up and left, Claire. No word. Nothing." Murmured as he shut his eyes and leaned his head back. "Coffee actually." Murmured.

"I just up and left too, Zack." She said gently, patting his arm before sliding off of the bed. "You'll get through this but I need you to sober up. For Addie." Claire spoke sternly, giving him a rather terse look as she headed for the bedroom's door. Glancing back at him once more, she sighed and slipped out to go make him a cup of coffee. Of a mind to bring the whole pot up, she relented on the idea and just brought a mug, stepping back into the room to offer it out to him.

He nodded lightly as he did remember her telling him her story once they became friends. "For Addie." Murmured as he looked to her as she moved to get him the cup of coffee, and once he was alone. His gaze ticked upwards for a moment, only to look back to her when she returned. "Thanks." Whispered as he took the mug and took a long, slow sip of it. He might have looked like he needed a shower, maybe even a shave.

If he thought about it, she had 'up and left' multiple times. Including most recently after their seige on the overlord's isle. Sitting back down on the bed as he took the mug from her, she quietly watched him for a few minutes. "You look like hell." Simply spoken, he knew she would never sugar coat things for him. "So give me the rundown. How can I help?"

There was that as well, as he freaked the hell out himself when she poofed that time. Nearly ripping the place to pieces on his own. "Haven't been sleeping or much of anything since she left. Minus taking care of Addie." Murmured as he followed it with a sip. "I don't know. Raven disappeared one day while I was gone, and I came home to find her gone and Addie crying." Looking to her.

She glanced at him sidelong, head tilting just a bit as she listened to what had occurred. "I can tell. Like I said, you look awful...smell like it too..." Nodding faintly, she reached to set a hand on his shoulder, squeezed gently. "That's...that's weird. Your brothers said she didn't leave a note or anything. I mean, I know she was sorta flighty but I don't see her taking off on her kid like that..."

He chuckled faintly to that at her comment on how he looked and smelled. "Guess I could use a shower." Murmured as he shifted to set the mug to the side. "We looked everywhere for her, and I looked in Rhy'Din." Slowly shifting to move around her. "Mind keeping an eye on Addie?" Looking towards her as he moved off the bed and started towards the bathroom.

"You definitely could." She gave him a grim smile and slid off the bed after him. Brows knitted and she grunted a little displeased noise. That was never any good. "Yeah, I can do that. Once your done, I'll head out unless you need anything." She gave him a nod and yet again left his bedroom. Tiptoeing down the hallway, she peeked into Addie's room again. The mobile spun and left little imprints of stars lit up on the walls. Addie was wide awake, cooing and babbling to herself, so Claire smiled and stepped inside to keep the tot company while her father cleaned up.

"Hush." Faint smirk at her as he yawned and stretched, as he really wanted to just sleep but that was going to be denied. He missed her look, before looking over his shoulder to her. "Nothing comes to mind." Watching as she slipped out and knew if he tried to get some sleep. She probably drag him out of bed, so off to the shower with him. Taking a much needed long hot shower, and once he was done and cleaned up. He even shaved and just tossed on a pair of pants, before moving out of the bedroom and headed towards Addie's room.

As Zack neared, he caught the very tail end of the tale told to the tot. "...and once the big meanie head God fell down into oblivion, that's how the world began anew. Maybe some day when you're bigger, Auntie Claire can take you to see it. It's pretty just like you." She reached a finger through the slats of the crib to boop the sleepy baby on the nose. Addie gave her god mom a tired giggle in return, having listened to the story the whole time without ever dozing off. Claire's gaze ticked over toward the bedroom door and with a soft farewell to Adelaide, Claire went out to the hallway to meet Zack there. "Feel better?"

Which got him to smile as he paused near the doorway to listen to the end of the tale, as he watched Claire with his daughter. "You are going to make one hell of a mother one of these days." Murmured as he looked in on Addie then back to her. "Would like some sleep, but I'll be alright." A faint smile as he covered his mouth to hide a yawn, as the look in his eyes held that he was tired and perhaps the hidden sorrow to Raven being gone. "You going to look, aren't you?"

She blushed and bit at her lip, shrugging gently and not responding to his comment about her aptitude towards motherhood. Addie was dozing off at last, seeming to be drifting into a comfortable sleep. Claire gave a level look to Zack, one hand crossing the distance between them to grip his upper arm. Gently rubbing much like she had rubbed his back, she nodded back toward his room. "Go sleep. She'll sleep for a bit, you should too. I pre-made a few bottles, you just need to add warm water, the formula's already measured out." Her hand sought to gently steer him back toward his room. "I am, yes. I'll call you if I find anything out."

Which got him to actually smile a bit more, but he chose not to try and convince her otherwise. It was just one of those things that he believed in, before looking to her hand as she gripped his arm and started to rub it. "I'll go to sleep in a bit." Said softly as he slipped free of her trying to steer him back towards the bedroom, as he was being stubborn now. "Alright." To both her mentioning the bottles and that she'd call if she found anything.

As he slipped away, she growled and stepped right up to him. Sliding her arms around his torso, she hugged him tightly for just a moment before letting go and stepping back. "No. Go now. For Addie." She was going to play the Addie card lots and lots and lots, don't worry. Walking backwards toward the stairs, she watched him all the while. "Go sleep. I'll call you."

He blinked as she moved up and hugged him, as he sighed softly and hugged her back. "Fine. For Addie. Damn she knew just how to get through to him, before moving to slip away from her. "Fine fine." Moving to the bedroom again as he knew she'd throw that card in his face, and it would work everytime. "Claire." Looking over his shoulder to her. "If you ever need anything. Anything at all. Just name it."

Satisfied when he finally caved and trudged for the bedroom, she paused at the top of the stairs to watch his path. A small smile graced her lips as he looked over his shoulder at her and she gave him a slight nod in response. "I know. Get some rest, Zack." Softly spoken before she turned to head down the stairs and take her leave.

Muttering at how she managed to get her way this time, and it was only because she had to use Addie against him. Light smile to her as he gave her that temple salute. "Later." Murmured as he finally moved off into the bedroom again to sleep.

Claire Gallows

Date: 2014-10-03 17:00 EST
Back Within the In Between...

Raven's trail had all but gone cold in Nosgoth, having lead a weaving and wandering path through the forest at the outskirts of the land until it just up and disappeared in the middle of nowhere. Had she been taken? Whisked away by some great beast or foe? Heightened senses had Claire lingering in the clearing for close to an hour, tracing circle after circle and always ultimately coming to a single spot. Raven wasn't here, no. But that didn't stop Claire. With a ripping of fingers at the realm's fabric before her, she etched a hole in reality and slipped through.

Have you ever caught movement right at the corner of your vision and turned your head to find nothing there? Have you ever imagined a faint shimmer at the edge of a mirror, as though there was something more to the reflection? That because there is. The number of realms in the multiverse is too high to count and they bump and touch in the strangest of places. But between those realms lies an endless void, a dark place that is home to many of the things that go bump in the night. Some call it a shadow realm, some the void, others the abyss. No matter the name, it was the place where nightmares become reality.

And it was Claire's destination.

Of all the things to find within the void, the last she expected was such a quaint little cottage. Even moreso when she detected a lingering trace of Raven's essence within the building. Such an innocuous place in so terrifying a location made it that much more sinister and Claire approached with the utmost caution. That didn't stop her from being accosted midway by a voidwalker intent on making her its latest conquest. The twisted humanoid figure towered over her by a foot, made of contorted limbs that bent at unnatural angles. A too wide maw opened to display rows upon rows of hooked teeth, gleaming under a slithering tongue, tar black in color. Excuse her, but that wasn't something she wanted any part of.

She found the creature dispatched with ease, the ethereal blade summoned to her hand cutting through abominable flesh as though it were butter. Ectoplasm splashed against the ground, lost in the perpetual mist and fog that plagued the In Between and Claire carefully skirted around the gore to continue her path to the door. Raven's aura was fading. Quickly. Far too quickly to have indicated a standard departure from the area. No, Claire wasn't going to lose her again. Zack needed Raven. Adelaide needed Raven. And with that, her gauntlet covered fist came up for a trio of knocks on the door.

At first came silence, jolting and sudden. Then a hesitant shuffle within. Claire heard the lock disengage and ever so slowly the door opened. She pounced on the hesitation without a second thought, kicking at the door to send it rebounding off of the person within. A masculine and surprised cry lurched from the person's throat as they tumbled to the floor and with a second kick to the door, it exploded inwards in a shower of splinters to allow Claire's entrance. She stood over the fallen man, blade pulled and pointed at an exposed throat. The decrepit man trembled and twitched nervously, glassy eyes riddled with cataracts darting left and right. Claire kept her attention primed, awaiting the attention that her entrance was sure to have attracted.

"Where is she?" Claire growled harshly, pressing the blade forward threateningly. The man's hands came up defensively but he had nowhere to run.

"I d-don't know who you're ta-" The man stumbled over his words only to go silent as a weak cry sounded from a room down the hallway. Claire narrowed her eyes and with a quick flip of her weapon and jerk of her grip, bashed the pommel against the bridge of the man's nose. Red splattered in a flowing sheet and he lost consciousness instantly. Stepping over the out cold old man, Claire doubletimed her pace down the hall, quickly losing her grip on Raven's aura. The last door seemed to be home to a struggle, a thump and squeak sounding along with a sickening thud. Again a swift kick blasted through the worn wood and she found her target.

"What the fuck did you do?!" Her alarm easily cut through her tone and met the old hag's ears. The hunched woman slowly straightened up and turned to face Pulse's savior. This was not Claire's domain, not in the least, but that didn't stop the air of righteous fury that poured from her very being. The woman was covered in blood and the stains of gods know what. A wickedly curved dagger was wielded in her left hand, dripping with fresh blood. Splat, splat, splat, that was Raven's blood hitting the floor, soaking in to join what seemed to be years of build up. Ever so slowly, the woman pulled the dagger up and in the most macabre (but cliche) demonstration possible, dragged her tongue along the steel, lapping up the sanguine sacrifice offered by the crumpled woman on the floor.

Claire snapped.

With only the slightest of movements, both hands came to wield a matching pair of shortswords. Made of ebon steel and lovingly draped with swirling Chaos despite the ethereal glow, Claire brought one up and thrust it toward the woman. In spite of her hunched frame and much smaller blade, the woman nimbly twisted away and deflected the attack. A counter thrust just narrowly missed Clare's gut and with an enraged roar, the two short swords were brought up and crossed before being slashed outwards. They stuck in the old woman's flesh, sinking in like quick sand as she wailed out. The high pitched shrieks were deafening and drowned out everything up to and including Claire's thoughts. Hoisting a foot up, she booted the woman in the midsection to free her torso from the blades and send her sprawling back against the far wall. Pressing that advantage, she drove her left hand blade right through the woman, sheering clean through to pin the tip in the wall. Blood gurgled on her lips and with disgust, Claire wondered how much of it was Raven's. The light slowly left the hag's eyes and Claire felt the shift of the woman's soul from her body to the beyond.

"Dear Gods, Raven, what'd they do to you?" Once the woman had departed, Claire left her pinned to the wall as she dropped to her knees beside Zack's fiancee. Her jet black haired was matted and gnarled with knots, her skin slick with perspiration and various bodily fluids. The woman was barely clinging to life and a subtle movement of her lips signaled that she was trying to speak. Claire leaned her ear down to Raven's mouth, hoping to hear better.

"Addie... Zack... take care..." Four words was all she managed and the rattled sigh that followed signaled a light snuffed in its prime. Claire's eyes went wide and she gently shook the woman's shoulders. There was no stirring her. A creak behind her caught her attention and she whirled around, still on her knees. Her hand went to her hip and unholstered the sidearm brought along. Would it be effective against the creatures here? She didn't know. The man standing there wielded no weapons, his eyes blackened and his face swollen by the blow Claire had delivered earlier. His hands raised with alarm but without hesitation, she unloaded the entirety of her clip into his frail body. He stumbled back into the hallway's wall and crumpled, a heap of blood and torn flesh, moving no more.

Claire had been unaware of the tears streaming down her face until they splashed against her chest and she turned her attention back to Raven. The woman's life essence was slipping away, little motes of sparkling light lifting past parted lips cracked and scabbed from abuse. Claire grasped at them, trying to capture any she could. A few escaped, lost to the aether but the others, the others she was able to save and with a quickly murmured cantrip, stored them within the crystal pendant at her throat.

Raven was dead. Claire hadn't saved her.

With that crushing realization, the pink haired woman carefully scooped up the broken body of the mother of Zack's child. She was feather-light from undernourishment and blood loss, her pale skin somewhere between ashen and sallow. The tears continued to trickle down Claire's cheeks, falling from her jawline and onto her armored vest. Some splattered against Raven's torn and tattered t-shirt, a ratty old thing even before her incarceration. Unbeknownst to Claire, each drop that fell sank in and glowed with a faintly etched rune and as she hugged the woman's body close, she made the procession out of the pit of hell that was the cottage and back into the void.

No creatures peeked from the darkness, having shied away from the radiating aura of holy grief as the newly ordained Goddess carried the limp ragdoll form of the departed. Even they understood loss and it was with a clear path that Claire was able to depart to the Seen Realms once more.

Claire Gallows

Date: 2014-10-09 11:59 EST
Claire's arrival in the seen world was fleeting, a temporary stop in the grand scope of things as she slipped from the void and back into the clearing in the forest. She stayed only for a few moments, feet touching soil long enough to leave a few sets of boot prints as she crossed from Nosgoth and into the Unseen. Unlike the In Between she had brought Raven from, the Unseen was Claire's territory and she worried not about the things that lurked in the shadows. Sure, in time they would come, but Valhalla was new once more, less a city and more a slowly rebuilding foundation, stone by stone slowly reforming. There was little there and the view was expansive even from the beach upon which her feet first met ground.

She held Raven close as she approached the edge of the Sea of Chaos, the vast "ocean" having been corralled once more, tucked away into the safety of the Unseen Realm. Black waves lapped at the toes of her boots and she kept right on going; first ankle deep then knee deep, eventually wading in until she was up to her waist in Chaos. Thin tendrils of smoky purple-black tugged and pulled at the lifeless body in her arms and ever so gently, Claire lowered her into the embrace of the element. Buoyant, Raven's body bobbed before the pink haired deity as she gently removed a crystal that twinkled with the life force captured within. With a crushing of fingers, it shattered in her grasp and freed the motes of light.

Here in the Unseen, Claire had far more control over the world around her and as such, rather than worrying the little pinpricks would run off into the atmosphere and be forever lost, she gave a gently brush of her fingers through the air and they responded to her will. Her other hand came down to hover over Raven's closed eyes and as her own shut, her lips moved through a series of cantrips. The broken body before her steadily became whole once more, torn flesh and crushed bone mending slowly but surely. The minuscule flutters of light twinkled around her, hovering at eye level as they awaited command.

Once Claire was certain that such a vessel would hold life again, her hand lifted. The soul fragments bounced around with a flurry of excitement and with a flash of light, the glow fell down upon Raven and straight into her chest. Claire held her breath, simply watching. Watching and waiting. For something, anything. But Raven did not stir and slowly the realization set in that she still was not whole. Not in body but in spirit. Brushing her hands through the woman's hair, damp with liquid that wasn't really fluid, Claire had to act quickly or else all of this would be for no reason. It finally came to her and with a hand pressed to her own sternum, there was a soft thrum of innate power and a quiet hiss of discomfort but soon an orb of electric pink light materialized in her grasp. She swayed unsteadily on her feet but once her head stopped spinning, aquas ticked from the orb to the incomplete woman still gently floating in the Chaos.

"Now or never right? Zack, you owe me big time for this..." She murmured before gently guiding the pink light down to the point that Raven's own soul fragments had infiltrated her body and with an urging of will, so too did the pink orb. There was a bright explosion of lights and colors, so brilliant that Claire found herself temporarily blinded. Hands raised to shield her eyes, she heard a violent splash and a thrashing under the water and quickly grabbed at Raven to haul her up. Breaking the surface of the Chaos, the woman gasped out and let out a howl of pain, sharp and mournful as she grasped and clung to her savior. Claire quickly dragged her for the shore, stumbling and tripping along the way until they both ended up on their knees in the sand.

"Is... is this the afterlife? Am I dead?" Raven mumbled, her teeth chattering with a cold not actually felt. Claire shook her head and leaned back, her butt sinking into the sand. Raven stared at Claire with wide and wild eyes, searching the woman for an answer.

"No... you're back." Claire said softly, a vague answer for a complicated situation. Raven swung a wide look around their surroundings then down at herself. Her hands ran over her tattered and bloody clothes but found no wounds to match the stains. Blinking a few times, she looked up as Claire rose before slowly and unsteadily standing as well. Claire reached out to steady Raven.

"This is Valhalla huh?" Raven asked quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. A soft nod dipped Claire's chin but she wasn't too intent on staying around to give a tour. With a wave of her hand, a shimmering blue portal opened and Claire nodded toward it.

"It is. But let's get you home. You've had a lot of people really worried about you." A cautious gesture urged Raven toward the portal and with a hand to the woman's shoulder, Claire navigated both through and back to Nosgoth. Never had Raven thought she would be so incredibly grateful to feel that solid ground and familiar hum of protection but at this moment, there was nothing better.