Born To Run

[The Returner]

He felt her touch and heard her words. He let them sink into his consciousness but did not reply as he looked at the floor in front of himself. What was there to say anyway? He was breathing and standing on his own. Wasn't that enough of a sign? He was not miffed about Rowena's concern about his well-being but the sudden discovery about his very own soul and mind made him doubt everything. It made him doubt all the years he spent training, years spent in the Rebellion and the reasons he has laid down on the way up to this point. Darien wasn't sure whether he would absolve the journey again if he knew that one day he would figure out what was behind all his sternness and judicial behaviour. Yes, it was liberating, but frightening at the same time. He looked up, his eyes fixed on Rowena as she listened to Maat. Maybe it was worth it, he thought, his eyes gliding over the undecorated interior of the central room, stopping on the goddess as she was passing him the chalice. For a second he surprisedly looked at the piece of tableware before he let it slide and accepted the fact for what it was rather than stubbornly going against it.

As he was lifted of the altar, Darien already re-evaluated his assumption that the Book of Thoth probably would not be an actual book but something more deliquescent. Therefore when they appeared in the colossal library where he could hardly see the top shelves that were right beneath this high ceiling, Darien saw the metaphor of a library as very amusing and a suppressed giggle escaped his lips. Rowena, on the other hand, was way more excited. She looked like a treasure hunter who has found riches long lost. Well, in a way it was true. The smirk on Darien's face grew into a full smile. It was probably a second or a third time since he met Rowena, and it became his personal record. He, just as much as his companion, felt a sense of accomplishment that was beyond anything he has ever experienced. Years of searching were slowly coming to an end and even though it seemed surreal to him, the definitiveness of the moment laid heavy on his mind. Part of him could not wait to write the final words of this chapter of his life, yet another part of his being was reluctant to do so, unsure about what would follow. Yet beyond all that, he could start anew, just like he always wanted, with someone he was always looking for. Rowena's timing couldn't have been more perfect. In his emotional overdrive, feeling her lips locking on his only heightened his desires and Darien grasped Rowena's small body in his arms as if he wanted to defy all the laws of biology, squeezing two organisms into one. His response to her passionate smooch was just as equal if not more needy and urgent. If it was up to him, Darien would gladly carry on and do some celebratory orgies on the floor, but Rowena was probably right. They were too close now that fate being the bitch she was, might want to screw them over again.

"Well, I'll try to follow you as soon and as fast as I can," he replied, his voice slightly husky. Unlike women, Darien had the problem that when he got aroused, his manhood somewhat prevented him from walking normally, sometimes it even rubbed against the fabric in a way that it worsened the state of excitement. So after a few deep breaths, trying to get his body back under control, Darien pushed himself off of the wall and followed Rowena. As they made their way through the darkened passageways, despite all the excitement Darien felt about finding what he was frantically chasing after the past years, he could not shake off the feeling of being watched. Every now and then, he looked over his shoulder only to find nothing following them, or anything else for that matter that would set off an alarm in his head. His previously radiant features now dimmed, a hint of an unsettled frown residing on his forehead. Yet, he did not want to say a word to Rowena. She seemed too involved with finding the way to the book that Darien thought if he would distract her, her seemingly natural gift for orientation in labyrinths made out of covers and papers would deactivate and they would get lost. So he kept quiet even when she mentioned hearing water running in the distance. It didn't take them long and they found what they were looking for. A basin up against the wall into which a thin stream was freely flowing. Again, the hair at the back of his neck stood in attention and Darien just quickly looked over his shoulder. Nothing. Only the shadows cast by the bookcases and the occasional play of light that made them seems alive sometimes.

"I don't know Rowena," he said suddenly, his voice somewhat alert. It was obvious from his posture that Darien was on the edge. "I guess if it really was a book with thousands and thousands of volumes I wouldn't be so sceptical but...Do you know what is going to happen when either of us is going to have a drink? I mean, the amount of information is going to be humongous! How can we know that there is not going to be some catch?" His voice was doubtful, his eyes suddenly looking suspiciously at the water. His skin crawling, the sense of being observed strengthening. "Call me a coward and a backward idiot, but despite getting this far...I don't know how about you but I am quite apprehensive about this." Motioning with a flick of a wrist towards the basin with the dark substance in it, the hesitation was nearly etched into his features.

 

[Aine]

Poor Darien; he still didn't know her well enough to recognize how ultimately flawed the strategy he had chosen to discourage her from drinking the enigmatic substance was. In fact, the only approach worse than prodding her curiosity would have been outright banning her from trying to acquire the long-lost knowledge. Sticking her nose where it didn't belong was her greatest hobby aside from crafting necklaces from her enemies' teeth. If Rowena were to stumble upon door covered in signs like 'Danger! Danger!', 'Never, under any circumstances, open this door' and 'Stop right there if you value your life,' she would have opened it without hesitation just to see cause of all that fuss. The vampire folded her arms on her chest and frowned, mild disapproval reflecting in her eyes. "You know very well how hard is it for me to resist a good opportunity for a sarcastic quip, but I'm not going to delve into my impressive database of insults just because you're being cautious. I get that, Darien. It's smart to suffer from healthy paranoia when you're tampering with something that is likely extremely unpredictable and volatile. That's basic survival instinct and probably a reason you're still alive despite all that crazy shit you've gone through. If this was a military operation, I would have closed the whole library to public, took some samples of that water and annoyed the hell out of our analysts to run every single test known to our race on it to ensure it's actually safe to drink. I guess I don't have to explain to you that our possibilities are much more limited. We can do exactly two things," Rowena said in a calm tone and showed him two fingers to further emphasize they had been driven into a corner.

"Solution number one: We agree that risking our health is too dangerous no matter the huge payout, decide to treat this whole journey as an adventurous holiday, perhaps destroy the fountain out of pure spite and return to our daily routine. In case you've forgotten, that 'daily routine' of ours won't be gazing into each other's eyes lovingly somewhere on the beach; no, unwillingness to take this chance will brand us as fugitives forever. The good news is that this 'forever' won't last too long, mainly because we've circumvented laws of probability so audaciously in the past few weeks that the universe simply has to get back at us somehow. It doesn't matter how good we are; there's just too many of them going after us and at least one is bound to get lucky. Perhaps you'll even be alone in this. I don't know how much time I have left, but judging from the state of my blood, I'm not exactly in hurry to plan my next birthday party. That doesn't sound so exclusive now, does it?" She wrapped her finger into fist so there was only one remaining. "Solution number two: We just drink it in hopes it's not going to devastate our immunity system and create a world in which we can live without constantly looking over shoulder in fear. Honestly, Darien, I don't think it's meant to actually harm us. Why would Maat demand such harsh trial if it were to electrocute you the moment you swallow the liquid? Gods are bunch of preposterous bastards, but even they don't like wasting their time and resources. Yeah, there probably will be some drawbacks because nothing is ever too convenient, but... I can deal with anything as long as it's not death." Rowena had always vehemently denied accusations of her being suicidal due to the nature of her powers, claiming that life without them wouldn't be worth anything anyway, but she was beginning to understand those were just excuses to avoid feelings of inferiority. She had never stooped so low as to actually cut herself, yet that was a formality; plunging into front lines to die heroically instead of in her bathtub didn't make it any better. Her desire to end this existence, however, had faded significantly with the discovery that maybe, just maybe her worldview had been distorted by looking at everything through grey-tinted glasses. Rowena put her hand on his shoulder, caressing it gently. "Give me the chalice, Darien. I'll test it out."

 

[The Returner]

He listened to her intently but after a few sentences into her monologue Darien realized the futility of his attempt at reasoning with Rowena. She was correct in most of her analysis, but it was Darien who was given the chalice so it was his duty to make sure everything was alright and there was no danger that would affect them beyond repairable. Maybe that was also the reason why he was so careful.

"I don't know, Rowena." His reply was accompanied by a deepening frown as he was going over her argument, posing it against his speculations and he was losing bad. His motions were starting to be repetitive, yet Darien pressed the bridge of his nose, this time preparing to make a huge step that had so many variables that could go wrong. Despite his want to be the first to take the blow from drinking the substance, there was a hidden, running connotation throughout their partnership. It was the fact, that Darien was still just a human and Rowena was the one with enhanced regeneration. Dropping his hand down from his face, he locked his eyes on Rowena's. He was pensive and the thoughts were engraved around his eyes in form of premature wrinkles. After what could have seemed like minutes of him staring at her, Darien lifted the chalice her way. But even if she would have taken a hold of it, his grip on the metal was still tight, not letting go just yet. He seemed as if he wanted to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat and no matter how much he tried to push them forward to the tip of his tongue, something stronger fought against him and pushed them back. At the end, he gave in, his fingers loosening, his arm mirroring the other and falling to his side. Call it a permission to proceed with this unstable plan of putting themselves on a pedestal of power much stronger than others'. In his mind, though, he was not sure what to expect and was quite nervous to see the effect of the water yet his expression did not betray those feelings except for the pensiveness and qualm.

 

[Aine]

The hesitation in his features couldn't be more apparent even if he had written the word on his forehead. Oh please, don't make me lecture you about superiority of my regeneration again. I'd hate to sound like a propaganda movie about human incompetence, but you can't argue with facts. It's glaringly obvious I can take harder blows than you and I can definitely take more of them, so stop trying to be a hero for once and let me drink the goddamn water before my patience runs out. Rowena didn't want to act like an ungrateful brat - sustaining a relationship that wasn't based on mutual hatred felt like a breath of fresh air - but Darien's almost tangible desire to bleed for her bothered her to no end. Large percentage of female population would have probably swooned over such protective behavior, yet she had to hold back a scream of frustration. When would he finally acknowledge she was no porcelain doll? Did he get a kick out of offering himself as a martyr even if his sacrifices not only weren't needed, but would actually impede them in the long run? The vampire mentality of 'backstab anyone weak enough to return you the favor, murder their friends/family just to be safe and dance on their graves' sucked on so many levels it couldn't even be counted, yet at least it had accomplished something; this survival of the fittest philosophy taken to the extreme had purged senseless altruism out of their ranks. It was a society governed by cold reason... Well, cold reason and sociopathy, but nobody claimed it was a utopia. "Come on, Darien," Rowena insisted, urgency leaking into her voice, "you know just as well as me that the two choices I've presented to you were illusory. There's no way we'd go this far just to walk away with tails between legs and the Book isn't programmed to give us a preview of its abilities, so we're gonna have to gamble." Her hand touched his as her fingers wrapped around the chalice; it didn't surprise her she was met with a slight resistance. "You don't seem to be much of a gambler, so let me shed some light on how these things work. When you bet everything on a single roll, the worst moment is right before the dice fall. You're just prolonging the suffering. Stop it."

When Darien finally let go of the key, Rowena didn't falter for a second; she submerged the goblet into the fountain, filling it to the brim. Nervousness tormented her just like her companion, but the vampire was better at hiding her discomfort. Years of pretending to have emotional capacity of a hollowed out stump had taught her to stare into the deepest pits of hell and look unimpressed even though she was shaking inside. Yes, her arguments were solid, but did that really mean anything? What if it was just another red herring designed to execute the poor bastard who drew the short straw? Gods had shitty sense of humor; she could see them laughing maniacally at such plot twist. What if The Book of Thoth didn't exist at all and the wisdom received by drinking the essence would be overcoming all the obstacles thanks to their wits or some other metaphorical nonsense? What if the expiration date for the water had passed centuries ago and the only thing it would affect would be her gastrointestinal transit? Diarrhea would be so fantastically anti-climactic I'm almost inclined to wish for it to happen. Rowena raised the chalice and smelled the water cautiously; her delicate nose registered absolutely nothing suspicious about it, but that didn't exactly calm her down. Yeah, you didn't detect anything malicious, but that doesn't mean it's not there. It probably is, and it's going to mess you up, whispered her paranoia. Oh, shut up, like I'm going to listen to the voice that's likely sign my sanity is corroding, the vampire thought in response, brought the chalice to her lips and swallowed its contents in one gulp that hinted she would be a formidable opponent in any drinking game.

A wave of warmth washed over her body immediately; Rowena had expected that cramming all that information into her head at once would hurt, yet opposite was happening. The pleasantheat spread from her heart to the tips of her fingers, clearing her consciousness from all disturbing thoughts and filling her with inexplicable happiness. A large, goofy smile appeared on her face as her inhibitions crawled away. It felt strangely familiar, but only distant part of her suddenly fuzzy mind could connect that dream-like state to something concrete; it was eerily similar to that time when her former comrades had to feed her morphine after she had gotten third degree burns from trying to lure their enemies into direct sunlight. Rowena made few drunken steps towards Darien, struggling to keep her balance as if she was engaged in some tightrope walking. "Man, I had no idea knowing everything would be like... like smoking three joints at once and drinking a bottle of vodka afterwards for good measure. You should try it out, I'll return you your money if you don't experience the best acid trip of your life. Well, I would have returned you money, but since you didn't give me any in the first place and I can't generate them out of thin air, you'll have to settle with my apology," Rowena giggled, making it especially obvious she was swimming in narcotics. "Or, if you wanna do it the right way, you can pay me now! Hmmm, which currency do I choose? Euro is really unstable these days, but I have a personal aversion to dollars. I'm not a fan of the Illuminati conspiracy, so..." The vampire took a deep breath to continue with her tirade, but alas, the world would never find out what oratory gem she had in the store. Every anesthetic had to be followed by a nasty procedure, and the Book apparently decided the dosage it had provided was more than appropriate. Her pupils widened in shock as hundreds of knives got stuck in her skull, tearing her apart from the inside. Rowena didn't even have the chance to scream; her brain opted to shut down under the pressure and merciful darkness welcomed her in its embrace.

 

[The Returner]

Standing there as still as a statue, his eyes were following her smooth movements. Motionlessly watching her gather the liquid so effortlessly seemed almost surreal to all his senses that were trying to nudge him over the edge so that he would not let a disaster happen. But what disaster was it exactly? Darien didn't know but he had this indescribable feeling that something was terribly wrong. It was that burning at the nape of his neck and the tension in the middle of his back that almost made him straighten up as if in alert. It was unknown to him that they were not the only two people in the library. Maybe if he would have not ignored his intuition, maybe if he was not so fixated on watching Rowena, he would have decoded this all-too-well known feeling much sooner. But he didn't. Instead he was agonizing in his mind over all the possible outcomes that could happen once Rowena would swallow the eternal knowledge of the universe. She was right, the moments before the dice fall are the worst ones, and the Hekan felt it with every fibre of his body despite his stature remaining unchanged. The seconds after the deed was done, surprise was underestimation of the shock that Darien felt. No screams of pain, tearing on hair and pleas for bullet in the head were coming from his partner. Instead, she seemed to have been having the time of her life. Even for a split second a crazy thought ran through his mind that the liquid was not full of knowledge but pure alcohol that doped Rowena with good mood.

Her blabbering seemed like a good sign at first and Darien gladly supported Rowena's swaying body with carefully placed hands on each side of her body. There was amusement in his eyes as he found Rowena's state somewhat entertaining. Still the consistent alarm at the back of his head did not dispel at the same time as all the dark vision did. More and more was it pressing on his consciousness to push to the front that at one point the amusement was gone from his eyes. With a deep breath, still holding Rowena upright, Darien had to glance back. He had to see if his mind was only playing tricks on him or whether he was truly ignoring a major warning signal. He would never see the sudden shock in her eyes as the book finally started taking its toll. He would never anticipate what was to come even in his wildest dark vision. Her body went limp. He barely noticed the distinct shadow within the dark as he had to turn his attention to Rowena who was slipping through his fingers on her wait to bed down on the cold floor.

"Rowena? Rowena?!" Calling out her name, giving her a slight shake of the shoulder, was the least he could do at that moment as he slipped down onto the ground with her. Her inert body was lying in his arms like a sack of potatoes, not so unattractive but lifeless. It was the moment he saw her closed eyes on the way down that he recognized that Book of Thoth was not a fairy-tale of rainbows and unicorns but pretty much a twisted Lovecraftian story of dark misery. With no time to lose and even less need to panic his hands began working on their own, first trying to take the pulse which he hoped Rowena would still have. Years on the run, taking care of his comrades taught him these necessities. Sometimes they proved to be crucial in order to save a life, and Rowena's life was definitely one of those that Darien would go to any length to save. For all he could tell, Rowena's pulse was still there, maybe a bit harder too find, but it was there. Her breathing might have been ragged or shallow, but Darien was not given enough time to assess that. The centre in his brain screamed at him and he finally let it howl in so loud and clear that the hair on his hands stood up. The danger was imminent.

The surge of magic tingled through his body like a tidal wave. He couldn't aim clearly but he had an idea where to attack. Just as he sent the chalice flying towards the target that he hadn't seen, a different kind of tension captivated his mind. It was forced, sharp and uncompromising. Under its pressure, Darien couldn't but gasp in consternation, leaning forwards over Rowena's body. The clanking of metal against the stone was crispy clear in his darkening mind like a sound of nails dragged over a blackboard. It was the sound of failure. The chalice must have missed its target. The tension was intensifying, but before it completely rendered Darien useless, in the mist of forthcoming unconsciousness, Darien heard one word that would stick with him and follow him from there on. It was a word that symbolised utter failure that the Hekan feared so much. It was spoken but the one and only person that Darien would soon come to know again. Truly, the whole situation just got very: "Pathetic."

---

If you want to follow the story of our two heroes and find out what has happened to them, wait for the sequel. The link shall be updated here once a thread is made, or just simply look for a roleplay that will bear the name Cobra's Bite.[/hr]