Requiem for Themelio: A Dirge for Tartarus (Still Accepting!)

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Ijani found the irony of his statement astounding. "Communication?" he said, lowering his guard. "What about 'communicating' that the Ronin was injured, rather than picking a damned fight with him?" He glared at the dragon tamer and gestured to his bloody nose. "How can you talk to me about taking injuries seriously when you break your own body every time you fight something? Just because you don't feel pain doesn't mean you are invincible." He scowled at the man, but sighed. There was no use standing here and arguing for all eternity. Through gritted teeth, he said "Next time try talking with your mouth, instead of your fists." then turned to Iris and said "Let's just get the hell out of here before anything else moronic happens."
 
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"People like Ronin only understand stubbornness, and that requires force,"Darius said in ready retaliation to the newcomer. "As for my outburst, when you have had people under your command get themselves and others killed because of their prideful stupidity you will understand. Thirdly, you have only just showed up while in the middle of the fight, with the demon no less. That puts you in a very untrustworthy position. You still need to give yourself an introduction".
 
"I said that is enough." The tall demoness snarled as she turned to Darius, quite irritated at this whole situation. She didn't like this dragon tamers reasoning behind his outburst. It was broken, and twisted. Though, she supposed she didn't have much room to talk about twisted logic and reasoning. Gods knew she had done her fair share of....gruesome things. Things that would most likely make these mortals loathe her, especially the paladin, but she had learned her lesson at least.

"Look here Mortal. You just agitated the wound with that stunt, for all you knew the Ronin was perfectly fine." She continued, taking a few steps towards the tamer. "It wasn't life threatening, and maybe you didn't notice, but you mortals are more durable here in tartarus and can survive wounds that would otherwise kill a man as long as they have proper rest and medical attention afterward. And now thanks to your little outburst you've made the Cleric use more of her energy healing him, which would have been totally unnecessary. Now she may be unable to cast a miracle on someone if they actually need it."

As she spoke, her features began to change slightly, the easiest of which would be her hair. It began to grow, a small mane beginning to form as it made its way past her shoulders. Her pupils became bigger, taking up most of her irises, and it seemed that she grew even taller, if only by a few centimeters. She had to resist grabbing the man by the throat and throwing him into the river herself. This wasn't good - she was normally able to keep her anger in check, but hurting your comrades was something she detested. She didn't care for the reason, there was none that was good enough to justify that.

"Do you think the Styx such an easy target that you need to attack your own comrades? Maybe you need to think about the consequences of your actions before you go do something like that." She turned, looking away from him to calm herself down. She walked away from the tamer with another snarl escaping her lips. "I'm surprised you were able to command anyone with that attitude."

"perhaps that's the reason you died, mortal." Though, she resisted the urge to say the last bit and instead tried once again to get everyone back to the matter at hand.

"Now, if you all are quite done, I'd like to get moving. This arguing is not good for my...complexion." She spoke, her voice obviously indicating that if any of them so much as made another mention of the incident, she would personally end them herself.
 
"Since you have been wandering these caves the most, It should be wise that you take the first steps on our journey, Lady Iris." Iwao spoke out, once again fidgeting with the wooden idol. He stood in a relative proximity to the Demoness he had seen change moments ago, he didn't care, she spoke out for him, and he appreciated the gesture. He said to her,
"I apologize for whatever anger you have harbored against us, and wish to help you in any way, for how we, or Darius and I have treated ourselves before you, miss." It was such a casual sentence, by the way he said it, but he said it low so not to be heard by others. She was a lady to him, no matter what race or even species, and should still be treated as such. There seemed to be little difference between them and her, emotionally wise, and he could see that the actions of both he and Darius had irked her.
 
Iris ignored Iwao, she had nothing else to say and she simply grunted in response as she headed for the current caves exit. It was a nice thing to say, to be sure and she really wasn't that angry with Iwao. However, she was unsure she could stop herself from saying something that would turn the mortals against her so she simply kept silent for the most part.

"Well then, I suggest you follow, those of you who wish. If you don't want to, I'll come back later and take your valuables off your dead bodies." With that, she set off into the cave system, not bothering to note whether the mortals were following her or not.
 
Catherine turned to Darius, "And next time use your damn sword when we get in combat you fucking fool. From now on any harm you get simply because you refuse to use your blade for its intended purpose is on you." Catherine turned and began following the demon, her hand resting on the hilt of her blade.
 
Iwao followed suit, stepping back to walk next to Catherine, since she was the closest behind. He didn't talk for quite some time, he just kept pace with her and looked around at the massive cave before suddenly saying.
"These caves remind me of home, on the cliff edges on the southern edge of the land, there is a cave system that leads underwater. It is where I always visited with my wife when we were children and later, her and my son when he was but a toddler. Do you have any kin Lady Clearwater?" He asked. He felt much better now, both bodily mentally, and talking about his family lightened his heart, and even brought a small smile to his face.
 
"No, I am an orphan that was taken in by the church, and I've remained chastened in my journeys. So no, I have no family other than the sisters of the abbey." Catherine said this plainly, but deep down talking about it hurt. She had always wanted a normal life, and not this life in the service of the church. She didn't regret it, but she had always hoped to go and live a normal life.
 
"Ah, my apologies." He said, although thats all he felt he could say about that subject. No one was given up after birth in his homeland, there was always a family member there to take care of the children after anything unfortunate, she had none but a church group. But it seems that it was better than none caring for her at all.
"Maybe after this, whatever this is, I can show you to Fú jiā, my family will welcome you like one of our own, all of you are welcome to my home after we leave this place, you can all come visit my Zukuri, or I guess you would call it a manor." He offered, looking at Catherine and then everyone else.

"At dawn the sun rises over the mountain, the sky blushes pinks and oranges unlike any canvas could hold, you could hear the gulls cry and every breeze smells like the ocean sand and salt. The trees were beginning to blossom the last time I remember and if the wind blew just right, you could see the petals dance on the wind all the way to the sea.
The afternoon smells of cooking food, which reminds me, the best dish of my country by far is the filet of sea snake, smoked and flaky with the savory sauce, paired with soft grain…" His mouth visibly watered as he recalled his homelands delicacies, he was lost reveling in the life of the living he so desperately wanted to get back to. HE shook his head and freed himself of his daydreams enough to avoid a low reaching stalagtite.
"My apologies, I was running my mouth when we should be focusing on what lies ahead.." He said sheepishly, he hasn't felt more homesick like this than ever before.
 
"Not to worry, Ronin," Welda smiled, as she continued to use her longsword as a guide, and she continued to walk at what she was sure was their pace. "All of our minds are all over the place, whether we like to admit it or not - we are in Tartarus. For now, we should encourage all thoughts of home, because we will never know how much longer we are going to spend in this place. Hope is all we have."
 
Wishing to avoid both the dragon tamer and the cleric, Ijani stayed close to Welda, watching over her for fear she might trip or wander away from the group. Despite her lack of sight, however, she seemed to be able to follow the group without much trouble.

"All of our minds are all over the place, whether we like to admit it or not - we are in Tartarus. For now, we should encourage all thoughts of home, because we will never know how much longer we are going to spend in this place. Hope is all we have."

Hearing her words struck something within his heart. Was there even anything for him to go back to?

Speaking to Welda, he said:
"Do you miss your home, too?" His voice sounded very solemn, like he was mourning something. "I bet your family misses you deeply." He paused. "Would you tell me about it?"

Maybe it was because she was blind, or maybe it was because she was the only one he hadn't already been given a reason to mistrust, but somehow talking to her felt comforting.
 
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"Do you miss your home, too? I bet your family misses you deeply. Would you tell me about it?"

Welda was surprised to hear how close the voice was to her. She had not realised that Ijani had been standing so near to her, and smiled, satisfied by the fact that she wasn't wondering aimlessly away from the group. She then replied to him, "Sure, I will. Well, I do miss my parents but I was barely able to see them while I was alive. We grew apart a long while before my death, so I am not too deeply affected by being unable to see them now. However, I did wish to make amends with them, and had I known I would have died at such a young age, I would have." She then began to think of her other relatives, and smirked. "I have a brother and several sisters, in fact, and I am close with all of them, as well as their own children. I will miss returning home to the sight of them playfighting or celebrating or..." She then paused, before lowering her head, and in a quieter tone, she said rather sullenly, "I will never be able to see that again."

She sighed deeply, before raising her head and forcing a smile onto her face. "How about you? Were you blessed with a family too?"
 
"I wish I could have known what that was like, but any family I might have had... well, things just didn't work out that way.
There's nothing left for me up there. On Themelio, I mean.
When I was a boy, I tried to do research into demonic powers. I was only 14, just a curious child. I didn't know the consequences of my actions.
My family, my friends, even poor Mehdi - the church killed everyone I knew, just because I asked the wrong questions. That's why I…"

Ijani stopped mid-sentence, tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes."Look at me! I did all this chasing some stupid ideals about making the world a better place, but what have I achieved? Nothing!"
Tears began to roll down his face as all the emotion he had been bottling since he arrived in this place finally released itself. Everyone's dead because of me, and now I'm dead too. The surviving inquisitors will have destroyed all of my work by now. They would never let anyone hear the words of a heretic like me." His voice was full of guilt and pain. "They were innocent; they didn't deserve this. They didn't deserve to die for my transgressions." He began wiping his face with his sleeve, trying to calm himself down. "I'm sorry. I… I'm sorry." He looked away from her, embarrassed at his outburst, but she wouldn't have noticed.
 
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As Ijani began to tell her his backstory, she was shocked to hear him say that the church had killed his family and friends. Furthermore, she was startled to hear the pitch of his voice suddenly rise and become slightly louder. She couldn't hear any sniffling or sobbing or other signs of a crying man, but the change in his tone immediately gave it away. Judging his closeness to her, by calculating how loud his voice was to pinpoint his location and distance, she moved her hand to his shoulder and patted it gently twice. She then rested it there, squeezing his shoulder to show her sign of support as he apologised. She could feel the muscles in his shoulder tensing in some locations and deducted that he had turned his head away.

"I have suffered similar, although lesser, crimes at the hands of the Church myself," she replied to him, following his tearful outburst, and she moved her hand from his shoulder and allowed it to hang by her side limply. "Various ministers and priests from the church received quite powerful titles in my King's court. They targeted me, for I had earned a grand rank in the court, and feared that my own lack of faith combined with my gender would influence the people to turn to atheism. Because of this, I am now dead and blind."
 
"It sounds as if the church was defending itself." Catherine said coldly to Wilda. "If they thought you a threat, you made yourself a threat. Still no reason to kill a woman, but don't be surprised if when you throw your political weight against a group, they push back."

Catherine was beginning to realize that many of these people may have just died of their own idiocy. The poor fools. Picking fights with the church, going into combat without a weapon. She was stuck with a bunch of damn fools in the middle of fucking hell.
 
"Lady Iris? Are we nearing the destination?" He asked the guide. It seemed that they were far from anything that looked remotely habitable, and he guessed that stopping was out of the option.
He had overheard Ijanis story, and Weldas, but held his tongue, even when Catherine gave her dismissive statement. They could fight sure, but could we work together like a pack, or fall apart one by one?
Only time could tell, he knew it, and hopefully they did too, they were going to be here for a while in foreseeable future. He clutched his little idol again, the habit forming whenever he was in deep thought.

 
Upon feeling a hand on his shoulder, Ijani smiled weakly. It may not have been exactly the same, but it was comforting to know that someone here could relate to him.

"It sounds as if the church was defending itself." Catherine said coldly to Wilda. "If they thought you a threat, you made yourself a threat. Still no reason to kill a woman, but don't be surprised if when you throw your political weight against a group, they push back."

The comment made Ijani angry, but he managed to refrain from merely yelling at her, figuring it would do neither of them any good. Instead, he said:
"Do you really believe that's just? Or is justice whatever the church tells you it is?" It was spoken calmly, but a hint of tension in his voice betrayed his true emotion.
After that, he slowed his pace a little, distancing himself from the cleric in an attempt to avoid speaking to her further. He was stressed enough, and there was likely a fight coming up soon.
 
"Just, no. While I am a cleric, I believe that corruption runs within the church and that it should be violently purged. I trust no politician, and many of the church are politicians. Straying from the path of our Goddess. I have no problem with your kind Ijani. Not everyone can gain the powers of the Goddess, and so they must seek out the power to fight some other way." Catherine looked to Ijani. While her eyes were covered, her lips showed a look of concern, but her voice did not betray her. "Just don't let the beasts control you, or I will put you down."
 
Iris listened to their various stories as they talked, though she didn't say much herself. On the topic of family...well, demons didn't normally have them. Not in the traditional sense humans would know of. Sure there were those who used humans for...such things. Incubus, Succubi, and other lust demons and abominations were the most notorious sorts to kidnap humans for their amusement. If a child was born of it, it was normally shunned, or simply ignored and left to fend for itself. Most demons, however were created from mortal souls being corrupted by demonic energies, either by a willing participant or some demon torturing a poor soul until it turned. Most fell into the latter category. As for herself, she was a mortal once, ages ago. She started to feel slightly...nostalgic, at remember a few things.

Her undead companion who had been following silently at her side tilted its head up at its owner, sensing her discomfort. However, she didn't get to think too much about it. She had to make sure these mortals stayed in line and co-operated together long enough to get out of here. Well, she didn't have to, but she had taken a strange liking to this rag-tag group.

"Just don't let the beasts control you, or I will put you down."

"Little Ijani doesn't have to worry about that." Iris chuckled, stopping briefly to turn to address them. "I'll make sure to take good care of him after we get out of here." She gave the mortal an overly friendly smile before turning to address Iwao.

"As for where we are...Hrm. I Think, we should be close. We've been following the river upstream towards where the Styx starts for awhile now. Which means we should be careful. The entirety of the river is the spirits home. It might be watching us right now so stay away from the edges of the river unless you want a very unpleasant death."
 
"It sounds as if the church was defending itself. If they thought you a threat, you made yourself a threat. Still no reason to kill a woman, but don't be surprised if when you throw your political weight against a group, they push back."

Welda raised a brow as she heard Catherine's cold remark. Personally, she didn't like to stereotype people, however, it increasingly seemed as if those who had followed the path of the church seemed to follow them blindly. Oh, the irony. She had to restrain her mind to prevent her from aggressively retaliating to the woman, clenching her fists in order to avert the thoughts. Then, she listened to Ijani and Catherine arguing for a moment, contemplating whether she should intervene. Once Iris had finished her warning regarding the spirit of the Styx, Welda decided that she was too angry to let her remark slide.

"I'm sorry, but you must be deluded," Welda said with a polite tone, as if what she had said was a factual statement rather than an insult. "Not once did I ever rally the people to atheism, neither did I speak up against the church. I didn't make myself a threat to anybody, nor did I throw my political weight against any group. I was victimised without good reason. I earned my rank through battle and they had no reason to feel insecure, and no right to declare me a traitor. The church wronged me, Lady Clearwater. Regardless of your religious belief, I thought you would be wise enough to know when they are in the wrong. I guess I overestimated your genuinity."
 
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