Glayp'neir (Arc 1)

"I'm not sure arguing whose death was more guesome isn't a very constructive conversation. Although, at least Jian's kins' deaths were quick and painless compared to that of my own"

"Oh come now, Jian. Surely, you can't say your completely alone. What about Sharpe, the doctor, and even little Hitomi here. They'll never replace the ones you've lost, and they'll never fill the void in your heart, but don't they at least ease the pain? make it that ounce more easier to deal with?"

...

"and what about me. I know we've only met recently, but through a mutual understanding of the pain from loss, would you consider me your friend?"

When they put the woman into Sharps bed, he takes the ties for the curtains and uses them to bind her hands and feet. He searches her person and takes all the weapons from her and puts then in one of empty dressers.

"Well, I got things here. If you want you can check up ok Jian and Jack. I am going to stay here with her make sure all is well with her."

He looks up at Sharpe, glaring, ready to kill.

"Then when I know she is well, I am going to find out why she is after one of my friends. She isn't going to leave until I have an answer."

His voice is cold as ice.

Sharpe looks down at Doc, and realizes that the man values his friends above all else.

"Alright. Just don't do anything drastic. No shadow hands, got it? Plus, need to conserve that stuff."

He looks out the window for a quick moment and notices that there is a bridge connected to a ledge that leads to the window. He walks over to the desk and writes a quick note:

Air, I've left this unlocked. If the woman from town is here, don't hurt her, don't tell Jian about her. knock her out if need be. -Sharpe.

He places it on the window sill and closes it so nothing will fly inside.

"I figured it might get a bit too cold in here, she's wearing a tank top after all."

He leaves his room and closes the door behind him. He walks down the hall to Jian's room and knocks.

"Sharpe here, may I enter at my own peril?"

Jian pulls down his shirt. Kind of digesting the words of Jack, because he has a point. Jian's not alone, that's true. But... Is Jack a friend. He's not sure yet if that applies. Given the earlier circumstances.

"Well... I would say, it's even for now. Friend... We'll see about that. Sorry, but I try to remain honest here."

The knocking then stops the track of thought of him.

"Yes, come in.", he then replies to the knocking, awaiting some kind of news. Maybe they have the answer of why Hitomi reacted like that. He walks up to her and lifts her away from the door, then rubbing her back and setting her down on the bed.

As sharpe enters the room he seems Hitomi sitting on the bed and looking up at him. She gets up and starts walking about the room again, investigating things curiously. Her boredom seemingly taking over. Jack and Jian are sitting near the bed on some chairs and seem to be a lot less tense than they were before.

The device makes no noise or motion, and aside from the regular dots there seems to be nothing amiss.

Meanwhile in Sharpe's room, the Doc is tending to the woman. She doesn't seem particularly hurt after his small treatment but she wont be in any fighting condition for a while, which is good. That way she won't be of harm to him and his group.

The woman slowly begins to gain conciousness and opens her eyes. She doesn't say anything and merely looks at the doc patiently with no question as to why she is here or what he was doing to her.

Sharpe watches with a small smile as Hitomi plays about and peeks at things that interest her at random. He doesn't have much to show her, and he certainly won't be showing her his sword any time soon. Or his gun for that matter. Not smart.

He leans against the wall and crosses his arms.

"I take it you two are best buddies forever and will in no way rip each other apart now? I'm just here to make sure nothing's gotten too bad. There was an explosion in the dining hall, but we couldn't exactly find the source of it. Just what seemed to be a rumble. Neither of us were involved in the incident."

He gently ruffle's Hitomi's hair as she skips along.

He takes out the device again, it hasn't been active for some time. When he opens it up, he finds that the skull and crossbones are on Doc is extremely faint, nearly gone off of the radar. Could there be something magic regarding the blue gem? perhaps magic is leaking out, if that makes sense.

"So nothing happened here while we were gone? No more corpses, no other explosions?"

Dr. Atrium watches as she slowly wakes. He clears his throat before he speaks.

"Good to see you are still among the living which is always good. I was beginning to think you were going to start turning into one of them walking corpses."

He bows to her.

"The name is Doctor Atrium. In have mended your wounds and you are back to tip top condition."

He turns around to look around at Sharpes room while he is talking.

"I had to bind your hands and feet because you cannot be trusted to move about freely. I have also removed every last weapon you had on your body. I have some questions that I need you to answer. My friend told me not to use my shadow claw magic on you to make you talk."

He turns back to her, his eyes colder then ice and his voice matching. He brings one hand up as the black aura around it.

"I have other ways to get answers from the unwilling. Now, let's start with the easy question. Why are you after the herb salesmen names Jian?"

"Don't worry Sharpe, none of that happened. just me and Jian getting to know each other. I can only imagine your time with the doctor was more exciting. Did you investigate the explosion or run into that lady here to kill Jian?"

"Sharpe and co. are here on investigation, but that lady and I were invited here. what could the connection be?

Sharpe entered the room, alone, to Jian's surprise. Something doesn't seem to right about that. Wouldn't both come back if there was nothing of interest anymore?

"Where's the doc then? Wouldn't you two come back if nobody was to be found in all this mess? And yeah, Jack is right, did you investigate further or encounter the right hand of the new emperor trying to hunt me down?"

He hopes to get a proper reasoning out of the disappearance of the Doc, otherwise he has to assume there's either something wrong, or he tries to cover up that the doc was injured or anything of the sorts.

The woman looks at Doc unimpressed. Not so much disinterested as much as helpless in a way, and aknowledging it. She leans her head over and looks at her weapons. On the table are a set of throwing daggers a dagger ment for blocking and disarming, and a short sword with intricate runes on its handle. The runes serve no use, at least anymore. They used to contain a powerful sleeping agent but the spell has been sucked out of the blade by the castle and this realm. She also notices a small device that she caries around with herself. It's an intricately designed handle attached to a pin. A protraction weave that serves for opening locks in a matter of seconds. She can sense the subtle flow of it and see the faint, unthinkable, shimmer of protraction make its way across the pin, to the tip and back.

She turns her head again and looks at the rather hostile and aggrivated man infront of her. Realisticly speaking there is nothing she can do about, or for this man so she merely stares at him, raising an eyebrow as if to question his motives. She opens her mouth but only a soft sigh comes out. She decides against her better judgement to rest her eyes for a moment, preparing for what lies ahead.

She closes her eyes and waits for the man to say or do something.

Sharpe remembers what he absolved to earlier regarding Jian. He promised himself he would try to be on better terms. This is his time now instead of lying.

"The incident involved the woman, and she was injured. She was fighting some of the servants, who proved to be very combat-capable. They move with an unrivaled quickness."

He sighs, hoping Jian won't take this too far.

"We took her up and settled her in my room, but not without precaution. She's healed but I don't think she's going to be getting up. Doc's probably got her bound up and her weapons and the like moved away from her. So she's not exactly a threat right now. You may want to freaking torture her, but I'd prefer to keep her intact, as she might be able to go places we can't. Thus she can be an informant. Later, she could be a useful diversion. I'm just looking at this logically and practically. I don't want to agitate this. Doc's completely fine. I will say he needs to conserve his magic now, he's not going to get much of a chance to replenish. So magical assistance now is limited to knowledge, nothing that'll have active effect. Anyway, glad to see the two of you are doing ok." He lengthily explains.

Doc waits for an answer and starts to get angry until he remembers the injury he found that was inside her throat. He sighs, is his luck really this bad?

"That injury you have in your throat, I couldn't heal that. It is a magical injury that I can't heal. Let me guess, this means you can't talk? Someone made you a mute so you couldn't talk...but I do have an idea to have you talk without needing to speak. I will be right back, don't you dare move." 

He takes all of her weapons and charms and walks out of Sharpe's room and walks next door into his old room. The smell of decay is still strong in the air but it doesn't bother him. He puts all the weapons into his bag and pulls out the magical quill and charm. He then leaves the room and walks back into Sharpe's room where he is shocked to see that she didn't move. He walks over to her and puts a sheet of paper down on the bed and looks at her holding up the charm and quill.

"This is a very helpful quill and charm I got a while back. I put this charm on your forehead and the charm tells the quill what you are thinking and will write it down on this paper. Like so"

He puts the charm on his head, after a moment the quill jumps up and writes 'why are you after Jian?' He then puts the charm on her forehead and waits for her answer.

"Well, it might be best that Jian keep his distance from her, but I have a few questions for the new guest."

Jack leaves before he can hear what anyone would've said. He opens the door to Sharpe's room with a sense of urgency, revealing the doctor, a lady tied up on the bed, and a magical quill that appeared to have finished writing something

"T-that mark on her neck, did he do that to her? Did you make him go mad again?

Jack did his best to hide the tense tone in his voice

"Hello there doctor.If I'm not inturrupting anything, I have a few questions for your patient there."

Hearing this, Jian is nearly running over with inner hate.

"W-What? You HEALED her for her then being USEFUL to us?! Are you fucking crazy? She was part of the whole damn movement which caused my whole clan to bite the dust! AND YOU ARE WORKING AGAINST HER DEATH?! Oh wow, this is great! Sure! Let's just keep somebody who wants to rid me, being maybe the last one of the clan, ALIVE! Brilliant, good, that's the best FUCKING thing I ever heard!! Of course! Name me a better reason RIGHT NOW to not go over there and take her out, or you see me over there with the biggest bloodshed one could perform on somebody in this short amount of time. TELL ME!"

The woman frowns in wonder and then tries to use the charm. The quill moves about the paper writing down words.

"INvestigaTe"
She looks at the paper and ponders about how best to express herself.

"PoliTics. EmPeror. Clan." She manages to write. It seems hard for her to put her mind to use at the current time but she continues.
"Causing CoMotion. Sent to inveStigAte, unDercover. You Are fRom them."
She sighs and rests her eyes for a moment, realizing its not required to make the charm work.

"Investigating and come across man. Offer to fix voice and meet in castle. Find cult instead, manipulative, planning attack. Big problem. Chaos. Must return to Recudor."
With that, she opens her eyes and gives the man a stern look. She remembers now why this man looked so familiar. Of course it was so obvious, she thinks to herself, trying to get a feel for the magic surrounding him.

"You should not be alive?" she writes and nods towards him, then suddenly getting distracted by a loud voice coming from the other room. Someone is yelling but it is hard for her to make out the words througho two closed doors.

Sharpe pushes off from the wall and stands straight. He looks Jain directly in the eyes with a stern gaze.

"Some people need to die. She's not one of them. People who need to die are those who violate the freedom and will of others. Shatter their souls. Do unspeakable things. Think for a second, Jian. Who is this woman? Is she really responsible for the death of all you love? Is she really trying to kill you because she thinks you're inferior? I'm not against you hear, but honestly, killing her doesn't solve anything. She's just living her life, going by orders. It's her job. You don't know if she has grudges, or if she's uncomfortable and against what happened. She just punches a clock."

"The reason I told the truth and not some fething tiny fib is because I can tell, trust with you is earned, and honesty is typically the best way to earning that trust. We're in a situation, a place where we can very believably meet our end. You want to keep living, so do I. Killing her doesn't get us out. If anything, it would make matters worse. You'd get a bigger bounty on your head if you have one accumulated."

He places a hand on his sword.

"If you want to duel her when this is over, be my guest. Just now isn't the time to let the waves of crimson flow like water from a tsunami."

Dr. Art ruin reads what was written and when he gets to the last sentence, he gets a bit nervous but he hides it well. He hears Jack come in and turns to face him.

"Hello Jack. I am kinda in the middle of something as you can see but while you are here you can help. Close the door and guard it. I don't feel that this lady needs to be tied down....at lest by her legs."

He turns back to her and unbinds her leg. When he is done, he looks back at the woman.

"See, I am not a horrible person. I just want my friend to be safe. No I am from his clan, I don't even know about his clan and what became of them...but if I had to guess though, they are dead sendings how he  was wondering around alone before I met him. As for this castle, serious shit is happening here. I amglad the  servants of the dead didn't take you with them when they left. We may need your help to get out of this place. If I unbinds your hands will you harm my friend? Letting you know right now, you can't lie with the charm and quill. It only writes the truth. Also, what did you mean when you said that I shouldn't be alive?"

Jack reads the message

Well, I guess the doctor hasn't torture her, yet, but how did her neck end up like that?

"Uh, miss, pardon me for interrupting but was the man you mentioned named Marcus by any chance?"

"Tch, just following orders, you say? She was an active part in the killings, she was sent to the fields as general for the troops often enough. Our general Liu-Bei was facing her once, back then when things were undecided for a specific part of the country. She is violating my freedom, can't you see that?! She basically tries to take it, FOREVER! Killing me is her only option to do it! If she really wanted anything else, she could've done so! The emperor always listened to her thoughts, it was more like she was ruling thier part of the country, not him. You don't know what happened there, what happened in general. Otherwise you might actually understand why I am reacting like this. Heck, I didn't see her, but I am sure I heard her voice commanding the troops into our village when it was torn down! "Keep no one alive!", she said. I am certain it was her. There are no other female general in thier clan!"

Jian gets ready to switch rooms, sliding his hand down more and more, ready to just pull the blade.

The woman rests for a while longer, closing her eyes for a brief moment. The quill begins to sketch a rough image of a crest with a foxes face, half of it consumed in flames, and two swords crossing behind it. A cold chill breezes through the room as a knock interrupts them.

Janettes voice can be heard from the other side. "Excuse me, may I have a moment?" She asks cheerfully through the door. "You wouldn't happen to have noticed anything out of the ordinary? I'm afraid one of the guests has gone missing and we're trying to locate her so she wont get lost in the castle grounds."

Janette waits patiently on the other side of the door, smiling as ever.
Meanwhile the woman on the bed continues writing. "Do not. Danger."

"In addition" Janette says, "You asked me to inform you, should Marcus return. It seems he is a bit early tonight, but he is tired and has retreated to his quarters. He will be able to meet you tomorrow morning."

Sharpe's hand tightens around his sword's grip. He's not liking where Jian's going with this.

"I know I was not there. I am sorry for my ignorance. However, have you ever considered that maybe people repent? That maybe people figure out later that they made terrible mistakes?"

Jian is not going to listen to him. There's already some disparity between the two of them. Maybe someone else, someone who has shown time and time again some modicum and concern and respect...

"Would Airgetlam approve of this, Jian? Would she? Would she want you to kill the woman in the other room? Answer me that."

His face feels like a burn in the midday sun, his face scrunched inward just a tiny bit, and his eyes full of fire. He doesn't want to have to subdue Jian. He doesn't want to have to fight him.

Dr. Atrium looks at what she drew and his heart sinks to his feet. 


How would she know the symbol of the guild unless...




He ignores Jack but when there is a knock on the door he looks over at it. He listens to what Janette has to say, the he walks to the door and opens it a crack so all she sees is him.

"Thank you for letting me know about Marcus. I have not seen any other guests that you have here in this castle. If I do find someone I haven't met, I will let you know. Thank you for your time. Sorry to be a bit rude but I need to sleep so have a good night Janette."

He bows a little at the door and then shuts it. He rushes over to the woman. A mixture of anger and hope is on his face. His hands are glowing dark and the shadows start to creep out from under the bed.

"How do you know this symbol?! What is your name?!"

Janette nods at the doc, smiling at him as he closes the door. She makes her way over to Jian's room and repeats the process there. "Hello" She says in an up-beat voice, "Would you by chance have seen any guests getting lost in the castle?" She asks through the door, not waiting for anyone to open.

The woman takes a moment to sigh and stare out of the window. She seems surprisingly at peace given the situation she's in. And who is to blame her? She stares at the mist outside. It's fairly dark already, though time seems to be moving in a strange pattern in this realm. Was it even ever daylight? Where would it have come from... She snaps out of it and directs her attention back to the paper, noticing she just wrote down everything she thought about. She blushes for a moment and wills the quill to scribble over it and then begins writing in a new line.

"Group from eastern continent causing problems.
Was sent as an imposter. Part of Neo Hikari Juken.
Information gathering.
Run across Marcus.
Doesn't recognize disguise.
Invites to castle to repair damage.
Sent there to investigate missing people... Curious... Trap..."

She looks over to the door, and back to the desk where her weapons previously resided.

"Tired." She writes and closes her eyes.
Her vital signs are fine and she's entered a light sleep. She could be easily waken up but her body has taken a toll and is exhausted. It's clear to Atrium that she wasn't trained for combat, and as such has no experience with bodily pain.

Jian remains silent during the time until Janette decides to leave. After hearing footsteps of her walking off, his eyes focus on Sharpe again.

"You... Are going to work against me? Is that really how it goes? Pushing somebody else in as mental shield to then work against me? I... can't believe it. I simply can't. You're trapping me in my own room, holding me as a hostage, could it be that all was a trick to simply fool me into a play? Leading others out of the room to then take me out while nobody's watching? You're a hired mercenary, working for him... am I right? You're working for the emperor, right? did he pay you good at least? It better be worth every bloody penny then. If you wanna stand a fight, fine. I'd rather hold my ground, rather than going down without trying it."

Jian, filled with intense amount of rage, slowly pulls out his dagger, his stance is changing, the rage is giving him confidence to hold his ground. Fooled into a trap, he fell for it, he trusted somebody too fast, like oh-so-often. This trust just formed a perfect cliché backstab from the person he believed to know.

He grabs his charm tight, standing ready. The whole room fades out, only focused on Sharpe. Silence fills the room. Jian is mentally fighting him already. He is prepared for everything, not sure if to make the first move or not. All he knows is, that he'll fight, for what is left of the clan. Enough blind murder was commited towards it.

All the trust is now lost. Sharpe using Air as a mental shield, that was a bad move. Using other people to shield somebody is just absurd. The emperor shields himself the same way, just using everyone else, blindly sending them in to die. What a dishonorable way to stand the fight.