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Nanashi was trying his best to make LaRae feel at least a little more at ease. At first, it was almost hard to determine if she was even listening to him. She was nodding in all of the right places, but he wasn't sure if she was really clinging to anything that he was saying to her. He hoped that she wasn't upset with him. Even though he knew that he couldn't have done anything and he knew that she knew that as well...he still worried that she would be upset with him for not trying. He was upset with himself for not trying, as irrational as it was. Even knowing full well that there was nothing that he could have done, he still felt guilty for not even trying.
Once he had gotten her to look at him, however, he felt a little more at ease. The fact that she had been trying so hard not to look at him before was making him even more uncomfortable than her silence. He knew that it was shame keeping her eyes on the ground, and yet he still couldn't help but think that she was disappointed with him somehow. Once he had gotten that tiny smile out of her, he returned it weakly and then sighed softly. "...I suppose I will take that as a yes," he responded softly. Of course, being what he was and who he was, he felt compelled to make sure that his constant presence would not be a bother to her. He knew how LaRae felt for him...but even still, he was not quite confident enough in himself to believe that anyone would want him to declare that he would not leave them. After all...most dragons would find that to be a curse rather than a blessing. He wrapped both arms around her again and pulled her close to him before he started to loosen his grip and sat back a little. "...Come on...lets go back inside," he coaxed softly. He knew that she looked a little worse for wear, but with so many people in that room, he doubted anyone would really take too much notice. He reached for her knees and carefully dusted them off before placing his hand on her cheek gently. Her makeup was smudged, and there was no fixing that unless they simply washed it off altogether, but he didn't think that it was terribly noticeable...unless you were close to her face as he was now. |
LaRae still didn’t feel completely back to herself, by no means. She was feeling a little more herself the longer that she had sat there with Nanashi, but it was still hard to put everything behind her that had gone on with Renzo. She was at the very least a little amused with Nanashi having felt the need to ask her if it was alright what he had said. Of course it was alright, she didn’t really have a reason to say otherwise. She felt pretty damn comfortable with Nanashi around… most of the time. So long as he didn’t try and pressure her into telling him what she and Renzo had talked about she didn’t really see where there would be any problem. She went back to being relatively silent and not smiling at all sometime after Nanashi had responded. She looked at Nanashi just a tad bit unsurely when he spoke up again and coaxed that they go back inside. She didn’t particularly want to… she didn’t really want to be around anyone else right now. Unfortunately she couldn’t really explain that reasoning to Nanashi. She stared at him for a moment once he had placed his hand on her cheek. She was well aware that her crying that messed up her makeup and unfortunately that was pretty damn evident in her mind, or at least she was overly aware of it. Perhaps that was because she didn’t usually go out of her way to wear makeup and she knew and could feel that she was for once and she didn’t really want anyone to notice that it was messed up. The idea of someone noticing that her makeup was mussed made her uncomfortable. She knew that at the very least Aamori or Selenity would ask about it if they saw it because it was messed up enough that being close enough to her to have a conversation with her would draw your attention to it. You might not notice right away that it wasn’t the way it had been but the longer you stared at it or the closer you got the more obvious it would be that it was messed up due to her having been crying. After a moment she couldn’t help but shake her head a little. “…I’d rather not…” She said quietly and almost promptly started to avert her eyes. “…I…” She paused. “…I …don’t want to deal with people ….right now….” She added quietly. She really didn’t want to deal with anyone else who might ask questions and she didn’t know how else to avoid being quizzed than to just not go back inside to the party.
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Nanashi could tell that LaRae was doing just a little better now, although he knew that she was still not completely back to normal. That would be asking far too much for having only been with her a few minutes. He kept his eyes on her hopefully after he had tried to coax her into following him back inside, although he was not surprised when she told him that she did not want to deal with people right now. He sighed softly and simply placed his hand to her cheek again. "...It's alright," he assured her softly. He rubbed his thumb across her cheek lightly and then lowered his hand again before standing up. "...We just wont go back inside." He turned around to look at her again, this time holding his hand out to her invitingly. "...But let's at least get out of this maze. There are better places to sit," he reminded her softly. He didn't think that continuing to sit right there in the same spot where Renzo had gotten a hold of her was going to help her get over things after faster. After a moment, he grasped her hand and pulled her up off of the bench whether she was prepared or not. He pulled her forward so that her feet would come into contact with the ground, although he did throw his other arm around her waist to make sure that she didn't loose her footing and fall if she hadn't been ready to stand. He let her get her feet under her and then let go of her hand and wrapped his other arm around her back as well, hugging her very close to him. He absently curled his fingers up into her hair a little, not particularly caring if he loosened it from its bindings some. He leaned his head against hers and nuzzled his cheek against the side of her head gently for a minute before he slowly loosened his grip on her and then offered her a tender smile. "...Come on," he said softly as he reached down to take her hand again.
Inside, the party was starting to get just a little more interesting, at least if you had any cares for being here and had been listening to the gossip. While the entertainment ensured, the guests had started bantering about what the main attraction of the night was all supposed to be about. Ellior’s mother had obviously let slip to someone that Ellior was going to propose to the princess before the party was over. It was getting later and later, so the guest were starting to buzz with anticipation. Of course, just as many were starting to wonder where the princess’s suitor was hiding himself, since few had seen and actually noticed him. Lady Keren was starting to look for Ellior almost feverishly herself, although she clearly had not thought to look to the back of the room next to the one person that no one save the princess herself wanted at this party. She found one of Ellior’s closest friends and interrogated him on Ellior’s whereabouts, although she was not provided with a good answer and soon enough went to search elsewhere. Of course, Kouki knew perfectly well about Ellior’s feelings about all of this just as he knew that his mother was probably the last person that he wanted to talk to right now. He knew where Ellior was hiding, but he hadn’t bothered to say anything to Lady Keren. Instead, he started to make his way toward the back of the room once she was gone although he was stopped by someone else along the way. The man was yet another acquaintance of Ellior’s who had noticed him standing in the back of the room. He showed some mild concern about the way that Ellior was acting, but then offered Kouki a drink to take to him, if he was brave enough to go back there. Much like Ellior, Kouki did not have a strong vendetta against dark dragons, although they did make him a little nervous. Nevertheless, he slipped past the crowd and walked over to the area where Ellior and the others were standing. He maintained a confident stride, although he still had an almost timid appearance about him. He was nearly half a head shorter than Ellior, although he had the same pale blond hair. His was shoulder length and not quite as neatly trimmed as Ellior’s. He had large sky blue eyes and a rather petite frame for a boy, although he was rather obviously male. One might refer to him more as cute than handsome, but he still had his charm. He smiled weakly at Ellior when he made his way to him and held out the tall, thin glass of wine colored liquid. “You might not want to stand around here too long. Your mother has already cross examined me to try and figure out where you’re hiding,” he said lightly. Ellior had not offered to move from the place where he was standing. He had been there beside Nero since he had stood up and told everyone to leave him and the little princess alone. He hadn’t felt like moving. He was still so tired, it was a wonder that he was even still awake now. His head had long since fallen forward to his chest and his hair was dangling in front of his eyes. He really did look like he was asleep standing up, although in reality he was only teetering on the edge of doing so. He startled when he heard a familiar voice suddenly so close to him and jerked his head upright so quickly that he cracked the back of his skull off of the wall behind him. He cringed and then uncrossed his arms to raise his hand to the back of his head. “Kouki?” he asked, sounding a little dazed on top of being surprised. He glanced down to the drink that was being offered to him and half smiled as he reached out to accept it. “Thank you…but I’m not really hiding…,” he said quietly. He had been standing right out in the open all night, it wasn’t like he was trying not to be found, really. Kouki smiled a little and lowered his hand after Ellior took the drink. “Well, you may want to start,” he told him simply. He side glanced to Nero and the rest of the group hovering in that general area and then lowered his voice, speaking to Ellior in a language that only the two of them could understand. Essentially, he was quietly explaining to him that his mother was looking for him and that if he wanted to escape, now was the time. She’d be back here any minute. Ellior listened quietly to Kouki’s explanation and then sighed heavily. “Point taken…,” he responded quietly in the common tongue. He raised the glass to his lips and took a small sip of it and then found himself staring down at the glass. He recognized the fruit cocktail as something he had drank before, but there was an added sweetness to it that he was unfamiliar with. It did not taste bad, however the sudden kick of sweetness caught him a bit off guard. Perhaps they had changed the recipe a little, not that it really mattered. He was thirsty, so he would drink it. He lowered the glass away from his lips before glancing over to Nero again. He smiled weakly, and then pushed himself away from the wall. “…I believe I am going to make myself scarce,” he told him, although he somehow doubted that the dark dragon would really care. He simply didn’t want to seem terribly rude and just take off after a little private chat. “…My mother is looking for me,” he explained as if that cleared up everything. Of course…for anyone who had come into contact with his mother, it probably did. Kouki nodded his head a little bit and then side glanced over to the dark dragons again. He offered the taller one a weak, shy, smile and then looked away again. That one looked annoyed…although he had looked annoyed long before he got there. “I’ll…go try to keep her at bay for a while,” he told Ellior quietly before he started to turn to leave. |
Nero much like Ellior hadn’t moved from where he had been standing for most of the night. He hadn’t really minded that much that Ellior had been standing so near to him, or well, perhaps dozing off so near to him was more the proper term for it. He for the most part ignored the guy other than a momentary glance in his general direction to make sure that he was still standing. He had continued to silently people watch while absently trying to keep tabs on the rest of the group, save Kanone. Kanone had annoyed him plenty enough already tonight that he could go drown himself in a punch bowl for all he cared. Of course since he was people watching he noticed when the other male light dragon started to approach Ellior. He didn’t bother to pay too much attention to the guy at first; he merely noticed him and then proceeded to look as if he hadn’t seen him, or maybe ignoring him. He silently listened to what he could of their conversation while he stood there looking completely uninterested. He did turn his attention more appropriately towards Ellior when Ellior actually addressed him. He didn’t say anything; he merely looked at him for a few moments before glancing away… or at least until Ellior tagged on why he was making himself scarce. He eyed Ellior for a brief moment before shaking his head slightly. “You did not need to give me an explanation.” He responded quietly. He didn’t really care that Ellior was leaving and Ellior hadn’t needed to tell him anything. His eyes shifted slightly towards the other dragon when he gave a weak smile. He just kind of stared at him for a moment before averting his eyes all together and resuming his silent people watching as if nothing had even gone on right beside him.
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Ellior was not surprised that all Kouki managed to do was give Nero a little smile before hurrying away from the group as quickly as he had come around. Kouki was considerably more reserved than Ellior was, and given his own bout with shyness it didn't come as a shock that Kouki didn't offer to stand around and talk with the others. He glanced at Nero once again when he told him that he had not needed to give him an explanation as to why he was leaving. Much as he had expected, Nero really didn't seem to care that he was going anywhere. "Nonetheless...I you have one," he responded quietly. "I am sure you could not care much less, but I am sure I will see you later," he told him before he started to glance out to the rest of the room. He spotted his mother easily enough searching the crowd for him and then sighed and took that opportunity to retreat around the wall to the balcony. He was not entirely certain where he intended to go from there, but he doubted that his mother would even think to look out here for him. He wandered out to the edge of the balcony for a few moments, overlooking the vast garden below him. He sighed heavily and then turned to make his way down the steps to the walkway. He was not entirely certain where he wanted to go, but he did at least want to make sure that he found somewhere to sit where he would not be terribly obvious should his mother happen to bother looking over the garden. He had barely gotten a few steps along the path when he felt a dry scratch in the back of his throat that caused him to cough quietly. He swallowed, only to find that his tongue felt a bit like a dry sponge. Had he really gone that long without having anything to drink? Now that he thought about it, this was the first thing he'd had to drink all day, and he still hadn't eaten anything. He raised the glass to his lips again and took another small sip of it. There was not a whole lot in the glass, and he was trying his best to make it last as long as he could since he did not intend to return to the party. He could sleep out here amongst the bushes for all he cared.
It did not take him terribly long to find himself in the center of the garden. For the most part, the garden itself was a massive semi-circle with three main paths branching off from it. One led into the rose garden, one led to the gazebo by the lake, and the center path led into the hedge maze. He had already wandered all over these paths in the previous days that he was stuck here, save for the maze. He had not bothered venturing into that, nor did he feel the urge to do so now, even though that would have been his best bet at not being found. He was too tired to wander through the maze now, and he was starting to develop a bit of a headache. He had been getting those on and off all day and for the most part he assumed that it was due to his lack of sleep the night before. Now, it was just starting to get a little worse. He sighed heavily and glanced around momentarily. There were several benches lining the beds of plants. For now, he thought that simply sitting down right there would be fine. The plants were tall enough to hide him…sort of. He found himself staring blankly at the bench so long that his vision crossed and he shook his head before raising his free hand to his temples. After a moment, he started over in that general direction and turned around to sit down. Once again, his mouth was so dry that he could barely stand it. He took another drink to try and quench his thirst, however as soon as he had swallowed the urge to drink something hit him again. He sighed heavily and then took another drink from the glass, this time hardly thinking to be conservative. He may find himself going back inside just to get another drink at this rate. He had almost downed the entire glass by the time he finally lowered it from his lips, realizing that it was still doing nothing for his thirst. Maybe he needed actual water…although he didn’t think that he could become this dehydrated over the course of one day. His head was starting to pound even worse than it had before he has sat down, and his stomach was starting to show some disagreement to the drink that he had just inhaled. He let out another heavy sigh and leaned forward, holding the glass loosely in his fingers. He closed his eyes, trying to nullify the throbbing pain in his head. He didn’t move until he heard a series of shuffling footsteps come into contact with the pavement. His vision was so bleary at first that he could barely even see what was in front of him, although after blinking a few times, he could see well enough to tell that it was three people. Judging by the bright red share, he assumed that one of them was probably Nanashi. He shook his head again and then grimaced and placed his hand to his forehead again for a moment and waited for his vision to clear up before he looked up again. Nanashi did not give LaRae much time to stand around once he had gotten her to her feet. He knew that she was reluctant to leave the maze, but he wanted to get out while he still remembered the way. Once he had taken a hold of her hand, he started to tug her back toward the opening that Kyran was standing next to. Of course, there was another way to exit the maze, but he didn’t care to continue wandering through the thing. He would sooner come back out the way that he had initially come in. He kept his hand laced with LaRae’s as he started toward the entrance and looked up to Kyran momentarily as he neared him. He still had a look of quiet worry etched into his features, but he did not say anything as he passed, merely nodded his head in the direction that they needed to go to signal for him to follow. He did not bother running this time, simply took the turns at a slow, steady pace. With LaRae dragging her feet, it was a little difficult to move too quickly. Eventually, he did simply reach around her and wrap his arm around her waist while guiding her forward. It took nearly three times as long to find the entrance again than it had taken him to find the center of the maze, although he essentially followed the same path he had taken before. The only difference was that he was not running and was still trying to coax LaRae out of the bushes. Once they reached the end of the maze, he looked over to LaRae for a moment before turning his gaze out to the rest of the garden. He blinked, a bit surprised to see Ellior sitting on one of the many marble benches just ahead of them. Upon a glance it was apparent that there was something wrong with him. When he looked up at them his eyes looked terribly unfocused and it was evident by the set of his brow that something was hurting him. He paused momentarily, watching him while he seemed to be favoring his head and then glanced back to Kyran again, the look of worry returning to his face. He turned his gaze back toward Ellior again and then moved a little closer slowly, almost timidly. “...Ellior?” he questioned quietly, tilting his head a little. It was a little difficult to see by the moonlight, but even by that it was not hard to tell that there was a sheen to his forehead and that his pupils were dilated and a bit glassy. Once again he looked back toward Kyran anxiously. Going to LaRae’s aid was one thing, but Nanashi still had obvious trouble getting too close to people whom he didn’t know very well. He liked Ellior…but he was not comfortable enough around him to go getting too close to him when he was not invited, and LaRae wasn’t really in the mental state to do it, either. It was apparent in the way that he looked at Kyran that he wanted to go and make sure that Ellior was alright, but that almost childish fear of strangers was holding him back. He knew how Kyran must feel about Ellior, but he didn’t quite know who else to look to right now. ((Well...not the original post but....close enough, I guess.)) |
LaRae really didn’t want to leave the maze and go back towards the party which was for the most part the reason that she was dragging her feet on the trip out of the maze. She was a little more embarrassed than she had originally been when Nanashi came over and found her once she saw Kyran. She hadn’t really even noticed that he had been with Nanashi. Kyran hadn’t really said a word that she remembered hearing and he had just kind of stayed out of the picture. She kind of hated the idea that he had been right there the whole time that she had been with Nanashi… but she also knew that there wasn’t anything that could be done about it now. By the time they had exited the maze she had for the most part relaxed to the idea of exiting the maze but she still didn’t want to go anywhere near the party. She was also a little more comfortable with Kyran’s presence but perhaps that was because he hadn’t really said anything. He just kind of kept to himself and didn’t appear to be judging her in any way or questioning what had happened. She of course couldn’t help but notice Ellior once they had gotten out of the maze and Nanashi had noticed to him. Though just as it had been thought… she was in no shape, emotionally to go and deal with Ellior. She just kind of helplessly looked on, though with a slightly more distracted attention than Nanashi. Part of her cared that Ellior seemed to be hurting but then on the other hand… she had bigger things to worry about than some stranger, for all intents and purposes.
Kyran hadn’t said a word as they were exiting the maze, he felt that it was better that way. Nanashi or LaRae would talk to him if they felt the need to talk to him about whatever had gone on. For the time being seeing as no one had anything to tell him, it was irrelevant. He silently followed after Nanashi as he almost forcefully led LaRae out of the maze. It was kind of obvious that LaRae didn’t really want to leave but then at the same time she wasn’t putting up a fight to stay either. He continued to stay quiet as he followed, at least until they had exited the maze and wound up noticing Ellior. He couldn’t help but make a slightly disgruntled noise when he spotted Ellior, the last person he wanted to see right now. He completely missed the fact that Ellior looked like he was in pain, at least until Nanashi looked at him the way he had. That made him look a little closer at Ellior and of course then he noticed that Ellior looked to be in some sort of pain. He couldn’t help but stare at Nanashi for a moment one of the times that he had looked back at him. He picked up on what Nanashi was silently asking. Nanashi was afraid to approach Ellior… and the only other person clearly capable of it… was himself… He didn’t want to. He really didn’t… but it wasn’t in him to just ignore someone who was in pain. He had looked like he’d rather die than go over there, at least for a moment or two… but he sucked it up and put on a semi-fake expression. He was concerned about whatever was bothering Ellior… kinda… but at the same time he didn’t care for Ellior. He finally broke away from Nanashi and LaRae and started to edge closer to Ellior. While he got closer he tried to tuck away all of his negative feelings towards the guy. “…Are you alright, Ellior?” He asked softly with a hint of concern. It was probably noticeable to an actor of Ellior’s caliber but he was really trying to sound like it didn’t bother him at all that he was having to check on his rival, for lack of better words. [[REALLY busy today… had to hurry and type this. Sorry it’s not great. X.x; ]] |
Nanashi heard Kyran’s disgruntled grunt once they had stopped moving, but his eyes had already caught on Ellior’s condition. The guy really didn’t look that great, and he couldn’t help but worry. After all, he hadn’t looked that bad before, he had only looked like he was ready to fall asleep standing upright. He did want Kyran to go and check on him, although he could see full well that Kyran had no desire to do so. He could see in Kyran’s eyes that part of him would have loved to just turn around and leave him there as he was, but he knew that Kyran was better than that. After a moment, he reached over and placed his hand on Kyran’s arm lightly, though he didn’t say a word to him. His gaze still held that silent pleading look until Kyran finally stepped forward. He continued to hang back with LaRae, his arm still curled firmly around her middle, and he didn’t really offer to budge. He wanted to make sure that Ellior was alright, but he didn’t really know what he should do if it turned out that he wasn’t.
Ellior could hear that someone was approaching him while he was holding his head, although he could hardly bare to lift it again to see who it was. That question was answered, however, as soon as Kyran spoke. He swallowed hard suddenly realizing that despite his unquenchable thirst, his mouth was watering considerably. Slowly, he started to raise his head and looked up at Kyran tiredly, although his eyes still did not seem entirely focuses as he looked up at him. He could hear the concern in Kyran’s voice, even though his face was too bleary to really make out an expression. He didn’t need to see Kyran’s face to know how he felt about it. It had been made quite obvious the last time that they were together that Kyran had little care for him now. When they had first met, the two of them had hit it off fairly well…but now that he was practically engaged to the woman Kyran loved, he knew that things were different. Kyran was kind hearted…but he somehow doubted that he wanted to be the one checking up on him. Not to mention, he really just didn’t like to worry people if he could help it. He smiled as best as he could, though the lethargy was evident in his expression as he held up his head. “…I...I will be…,” he responded quietly, although he did not sound entirely certain of himself as he spoke. “I’m…just a little…I…I don’t know…,” he admitted in a faint, shaky voice. He swallowed once again, this time absently raising his free hand to his mouth. His hand was shaking, he could tell that it was, although he couldn’t seem to stop it from doing so. “…I f-feel sick…,” he whispered into the back of his hand. He was starting to feel as though he was bound to throw up at any moment, and the sense of nausea was not subsiding. Once again, he shut his eyes for a few moments. Something was wrong…he knew it was. He hadn’t really been feeling well all day, but he could think of no reason that he should suddenly feel this ill. “…I…I’m sorry…,” he told Kyran quietly after a moment, “…I…I need to go…I…t-there’s…there’s something wrong….” With that, he started to stand himself up quickly, panic overriding the sense of fatigue he was suddenly overcome with. The quick motion cause his aching head to spin and his vision to double in front of him. For a moment, he staggered to the side like a drunk, the wine glass slipping from his trembling fingers to crash against the ground. Before he could even think to make an effort to save the glass his stomach lurched again. He threw his hand back to his mouth, but there was no stopping himself this time. He spun himself away from Kyran obscurely and doubled over, grasping his stomach with one arm as he heaved while his other arm searched blindly for something to steady him. Even as he retched, he was losing his balance and just as soon as his hand came into contact with the bench he had been seated on his legs seemed to give out beneath him. His stomach tightened once he is knees hit the ground and his intestines felt as if they were being twisted, causing him to double in on himself once again as he retched into the grass. It did not take long for his stomach to empty of its contents, although he was still heaving long after nothing more would come up. He didn’t know what was going on, only that his entire abdomen was suddenly in agony. After a minute, he finally managed to stop heaving, only because the need for air outweighed the need to purge his stomach. He gasped helplessly while he tried to recover from the sudden fit and then found himself shutting his eyes once again. |
Kyran was still kind of second guessing the action of checking on Ellior even as he was actually checking on the guy. He really didn’t want to have anything to do with the guy, if he could help it… unfortunately… he couldn’t really help it this time, especially with Nanashi all but physically pushing him to do it. With Nanashi… his eyes said and did plenty; His eyes were more than enough to physically make you do something… He eventually threw out the notion of not wanting to have anything to do with Ellior the longer he was near the guy. It was blatantly obvious that something was wrong with him and there was only more evidence to support that as he tried to deny that anything was so wrong that it warranted help. He didn’t speak while Ellior tried to fend him off and he didn’t bother to really move to help him once he had decided he was putting his feet under him in an attempt to get away after he had said that there was something wrong. He did finally move a little, unsurely, to try and grab hold of Ellior once it looked like he was taking a spill… even if it appeared he was going to be sick. He was unable to help him however and let him drop to the ground against the bench and merely looked away once he began to heave. He was genuinely more concerned now than he had been before. He had known that Ellior hadn’t looked this bad before and to his knowledge Ellior had been pretty much fine for most of the night aside from just being tired. He may have avoided the party but that hadn’t meant he hadn’t been aware of these things. He waited until Ellior appeared to be done losing his stomach contents and then started to kneel down so that he could be a little more on his level. He took a brief moment to try and get a better look at him, primarily his pallor and his eyes… He sighed quietly, unsure of what exactly he was looking at. He wasn’t a doctor or anything… but he knew Ellior looked ill. He turned and looked back at Nanashi, trying to mask some of his concern. “…I need you to go get help.” He started. “…Maybe locate Ishta …and have her bring two male guards with her.” He directed him. He figured that Ishta would be the best bet… mostly because she was the head of the guard and she could direct guards to do what was needed and she would know quieter ways around the palace so that they didn’t disturb the party, if it didn’t need to be disturbed. Then the extra guards were quite obviously for help to carry Ellior seeing as he doubted Ellior would have feet for too much longer. “Be discreet about it too, if you can be. Just let her know there’s an emergency… she should know not to draw too much attention to it…” He added. He knew that Nanashi wouldn’t want to go, or that he’d feel uncomfortable… but he’d much rather send Nanashi on a mission to talk to Ishta than have him here having to be hands on with Ellior if it came down to it. “And I’ll keep an eye on LaRae, so just be quick, please.”
[[*RUSH* gotta head out the door. xD]] |
Nanashi watched with wide eyes as Ellior tried to stand and wound up taking a tumble and falling to the ground against the bench he had been seated on. Even once he had started to heave, he was unable to look away. Part of him couldn’t seem to believe what he was seeing. Ellior had been fine all night, so why now was he suddenly unable to even stand. He had been ill before himself, but he had never collapsed while he was in the process of purging his stomach. He absently tightened his grip around LaRae’s side and stood rigidly in place. He wanted to do something, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. All he could do was watch as Ellior doubled over on the ground helplessly. He finally pulled his eyes away from Ellior when Kyran turned back to him and told him that he needed him to go and get help. Of course, for a moment, he looked absolutely terrified by the idea of going back inside and asking anyone that he didn’t know for help. He couldn’t very well run up to Selenity and get her to come and help, and he was afraid that no one else would listen to him. Although, while Kyran was explaining what he wanted him to do, his eyes trailed back to Ellior again, and his ears fell back slightly. Ellior just looked so…helpless, and even frightened that he brushed off his fear of not being heard. If whoever he sought out for help would not listen, then he would make them listen. He knew that he should be discrete, but if it came down to it he would do whatever it took to get someone’s attention out here. He turned his gaze back to Kyran once he told him that he would keep an eye on LaRae for him and then nodded his head before starting to move away from her, pausing only to look over to her once. He squeezed her hand and stared directly into her eyes as he reassured her that he would be right back, and then released her hand and started to hurry toward the palace. He hated to leave LaRae again so soon, but he was sure that she understood the importance of it. Someone had to go. He got only a few steps before he heard something brunch under his foot. He stopped abruptly and looked down, moving his boot off of the shattered fragments of Ellior’s cup and the remnants of its contents. He stared at it for a moment before a look of comprehension dawned on him. He had been practically asleep all day, and had been standing with them for the longest time. He also hadn’t had a drink before he had come out to the maze. “…Kyran, see if you can find out what he was drinking,” he said quietly before he continued to run back down the path toward the stairs that would take him back up to the balcony and into the ballroom.
Ellior kept his eyes shut tightly, sucking in deep breaths of air between bouts of gagging. He still didn’t seem to have recovered entirely, though it still felt as though the muscles in his stomach and intestines were writhing. Slowly, he turned his head to look over at Kyran while he instructed Nanashi to go and find Ishta. He didn’t know that Ishta would be able to help him…but he was sure that she could find someone who would. It was Nanashi’s departing words that sent a chill up his spine and caused him to look up at Kyran with an almost horrified expression. Could it have been something in his drink? Why would anyone want to do this to him? “…K-ky…r-ran…,” he gasped quietly, pain now evident in his voice. He didn’t know what to do now. He didn’t want anyone to see him this way, and yet, he knew that if he didn’t get help things were only going to get worse. Once again, a sharp stab of pain seemed to pierce through his intestines, and he sucked in a sharp gasp before his teeth clenched together tightly and he crumpled in on himself, allowing himself to fall practically into Kyran’s lap as he caved to the pain. His hand found a bit of the loose fabric of Kyran’s pants leg and grasped it like it was some form of lifeline while he writhed on the ground, burrowing his face into his arm at first. He whined pitifully, trying his best not to make a sound, but the longer the intense, twisting and contracting pains persisted, the harder it became. Finally, he couldn’t help but let out a pitiable shriek as his body twisted so that he was lying more on his back than his side. Once he had rolled over, he shut his eyes again tightly and resumed gasping for breath. It was hard to tell whether it was pain or panic that had his breathing going into overdrive. After only a few moments of this, he started to choke on his own saliva. His mouth had not stopped watering, and the angle that he was laying now left it nowhere to go but down his throat as he sucked in breath. Tears had already started forming in his eyes, and his face was starting to flush both from fever and exertion. He could feel his temperature rising and the world was becoming more and more unclear. He felt drowsy, light-headed, and an overall sense of delirium sweeping over him, accompanied by a strong sense of helplessness. He couldn’t even bring himself to move, and he could feel his heart pounding both in his chest and hear it echoing in his skull. ((lol I bet Kyran's just thinking fuck my life... XD )) |
Kyran kept his focus on Nanashi only long enough to see that he was actually going to do as he had asked, or told and then his eyes had fallen back to Ellior. He still didn't care for Ellior much at the moment and was likely to still not care for him after whatever this was was over. He did glance back to Nanashi for a moment when he brought up that he should try and find out what Ellior had been drinking. He... wasn't sure how he was doing that... especially since Ellior appeared to be in so much pain that he couldn't talk very clearly. Or well... he understood his name when Ellior managed to say it... he just hadn't said it fully the way he would have if he hadn't been in pain. He didn't know what to do for Ellior, all he could do was just try and keep an eye on him while he waited on Nanashi to get back. He could do nothing more than kneel there and watch Ellior writhe in pain, especially after he found his way off of his lap and back onto the ground. Watching him left him thinking that the quickest way to help Ellior was probably for him to have gone in Nanashi's stead... seeing as he was the faster runner... but he had been trying to look out for Nanashi an his comfort level a little as well... which he probably shouldn't have been worrying about that with Ellior in front of him in so much pain. He was so focused on watching Ellior in pain and feeling lost with no way to help him that he barely even paid any attention to LaRae. He knew that she was there... but she wasn't talking or moving so he just kind of forgot that she was there, unfortunately. But thankfully she wasn't really having any problems herself right then.
[[*LAZY* and ready for bed. x.x; ]] |
Nanashi was running as fast as his feet would carry him toward the balcony, and he took the stairs to the top two at a time. As soon as he reached the doors he hurried through them, and his movements alone were enough to give away his sense of urgency. He looked around the room quickly, but it had been a while since he had been inside. Everyone had moved, and as much as he hated to admit it…all of these light dragons kind of looked alike. He bit down on his lower lip as he scanned the crowd quickly, and then finally turned his attention over to Nero and the others. He wanted to asked them for help, but he knew that it would draw too much attention to have them all running around looking for Ishta, especially if Nero and Reyes decided to help. After making that assessment, he turned around and started into the crowd, for once keeping his head up and his eyes forward without staring at the floor. His desire to find someone who could help Ellior overrode his usual shy, timid nature. Normally, you couldn’t talk him into keeping his head up in a crowd such as this. Of course, he knew as he passed that there were a few people staring at him, but he paid them no mind. He knew what he needed to do, and he didn't have the luxury of time to worry about what anyone else in this place thought. Thankfully, it did not take him long to spot Ishta, although at first he was not even sure that it was her. She was not in a dress, but dressed like a man. He recognized her short, choppy hair more than anything since she had nothing done with it, and appeared to have forgone all primping and makeup. She still had a sword on her belt, and her high heeled, spiked boots. Clearly, she was here as a guard, not as a party guest. She was standing near the rising where the king and the elder were seated with her arms crossed over her chest, scanning the crowd vigilantly. She seemed to notice him almost as soon as he spotted her, but she did not offer to move from where she was standing, only watched him approach her. "Ishta," he began quietly, as soon as he was within range of her. He kept his voice quiet so that he would not draw too much attention, although his mere presence near her seemed to draw enough funny looks. "We need your help. Ellior collapsed, there's something terribly wrong with him, he needs help quickly," he explained in a rush. "He's out back in the garden, Kyran's with him, but he can't move. He told me to find you and tell you to bring two guards with you."
Ishta had been here for a while, although she had been trying to stay unnoticed. She was not here for her own enjoyment, only because it was expected. If anything happened, it was her responsibility to put an end to it. She did notice when Selenity's little halfbreed friend came back inside and immediately started searching around. It did not escape her attention that his demeanor had changed a little. He seemed frantic, and she noticed when his eyes locked on her. She merely watched him as he approached her without even bothering to lean away from the wall. She listened in complete silence as he gave her the details, and without missing a beat she stood up straight as soon as he had finished. "You two," he barked in her usual commanding tone, turning her attention to the two cadets whom they had met at the dinner. "Come with me, immediately." Jett and Kyros looked at one another for a moment before moving away from the wall, and as soon as they had taken a step she brushed by Nanashi and started to make her way toward the balcony without so much as another word. Ellior continued to lie there without much movement for a few moments before he forced open his eyes again and sucked in another deep breath. He was trying to get his breathing under control, although the lack of interaction between him and anyone else was making it exceptionally hard not to panic. He knew that Kyran did not like him, but the frightened boy in him still wanted him to talk to him…or something. He swallowed hard and then slowly turned his head again so that he was looking up at Kyran again. His grasp on Kyran’s pants leg tightened just a little and he did not appear to be willing to let it go for anything. “…K…ky…ran…,” he whispered again quietly, his voice trembling just as badly as his hands. He was going to try to answer Nanashi’s question while he was still capable of doing so. “…K-kou…ki….” He paused, almost strangling again before he was able to swallow down the saliva oozing into his mouth. He coughed a few times before looking back up to him again. “…I…inside…h-he…g-gave…m-me…...t-that…,” he gasped out quietly. Another pain tore its way through his abdomen, causing him to let out another strangled cry as his body twisted involuntarily. This time, he wound up curled in on his side once more, facing Kyran again. With his death grasp on Kyran’s clothing, there were only so many ways that he could turn without breaking his arm. He cringed and rolled in on himself for a few moments before opening his eyes again, and this time they really were wet with tears. “…Wh…why…?” he whimpered softly. Kouki was his friend…one of his best friends, why would he do this to him? How could he? That two had been best friends since they were children. He shut his eyes again tightly, tears dripping down his cheeks and into the grass below him as he sucked in a ragged, sobbing breath. “….H-he…wouldn’t…,” he whispered quietly, a hint of a different kind of pain evident in his voice; betrayal and denial. He tugged weakly on the fabric in his hand with little more strength than one would find in a newborn child. He didn’t know what he could do. He was feeling worse and worse as the seconds passed, and he knew that there was nothing that Kyran could do to help him. He was sure that if someone did not come for him soon that he was going to die here. He started to sob quietly into the dirt while tears continued to spill from his eyes. Normally, Ellior was not the type of person to cry in front of people…but at this point, there was nothing else to be done. He couldn’t get away, and he couldn’t stop himself. These past few weeks had been hell, and this was how it was all going to end. For a few moments, he was silent, save for his ragged breathing and his choking sobs. He couldn't help but whine when another wave of pain hit him, causing him to curl in on himself yet again. "...K-kyran...," he whimpered again, his voice frightened and pleading. He cringed again as a twisting, writhing pain spiraled though his abdomen, so intense that it caused him to release his death grip on Kyran's pants to attempt to roll over so that he could heave. There was nothing left in his stomach to come up, but he could not stop himself from gagging. His fingers curled into the grass tightly while his body retched, and once the motion finally passed he was left gasping for air as his trembling body collapsed back to the grass, not that he had been able to really push himself off of it. He felt exhaustion sweeping over him and once again the world seemed to shift in and out of focus. All at once, his eyes started to roll back a little and the world went black. In those few moments, his legs seemed to stiffen and his upper body started to convulse, and bubbles began forming at his mouth as he struggled to breathe through scarcely parted lips. This lasted a good thirty seconds before his body fell completely limp again and his eyes closed completely, although he was still breathing shallowly and his eyes seemed to be darting about below their lids. ((Ye-eah....I was going to make that longer on Nanashi's part *typed Ellior first* but...given the time, I need to crash so...next time I'll work more on the other part and focus less on croaking Ellior. XD I think I've run through about every symptom of the poison already anyway, so...yeah. lol. Drowsiness, headache, fever, sweating, nausea, vomiting, salvation, vision changes, abdominal pain, weakness, seizures.... Think it's safe to say he hates me now. XD)) |
LaRae hadn’t so much as really budged from where Nanashi had left her. She had perhaps shifted her weight a little but she hadn’t moved. She had spent the time apart from Nanashi almost absently staring at what Kyran was having to deal with. She was seeing it, but not at the same time. Had she been more herself she might have been able to help Kyran a little as far as trying to sooth Ellior went. Then of course she would also have been of some help with detecting what was wrong with Ellior. She may not have been a healer but she was well enough versed in her own clans poisons to recognize them in action, but alas… that knowledge was completely and utterly escaping her right now. All she could manage to make herself do was stand there and stare almost blankly while she waited for Nanashi to come back. She was already starting to feel a little uncomfortable with him having left her, even though in the back of her mind she knew that he had left for a really good reason.
Kyran felt there was little that he could do for Ellior, save listen to him. Part of that was because he was still kind of warring with himself on what exactly he felt he should feel for the guy. A huge part of him wanted to completely throw his own feelings to the wind and just do whatever he could to help Ellior and then there was still the nagging part of him that was telling him he should let the guy rot. If he died then he was no longer there to steal away the woman that he loved. But again… the bigger man in him couldn’t just sit there and let the guy croak… could he? He brushed aside his own inner war to listen to Ellior whenever he spoke up, or well… attempted to speak up. The poor guy couldn’t manage to say anything coherent without gasping or coughing, or both. His eyes shifted from Ellior to the glass that he had dropped once Ellior had spit out a name and said that Kouki had given it to him. He just kind of stared at the glass for a few moments as if he were trying to piece things together. It was obvious though that this Kouki person had given Ellior a drink with a little something extra in it… He didn’t manage to pry his eyes from the glass until Ellior started trying to speak again to ask why. Once that had managed to fall out of his mouth he had pretty much decided to hell with his own emotions. Something was seriously wrong with Ellior and he needed to stop being an ass and do whatever he could to help Ellior. Unfortunately once he had decided that and felt like he should be trying to hold Ellior or something to try and sooth him he realized just how impossible a motion like that would be. Ellior wasn’t staying still at all. He was in so much pain that he couldn’t just lie there. He found himself reaching for Ellior several times only to wind up pulling his hands back with a bit of a puzzled look to his features. He was so internally focused that he hadn’t even thought to just talk to the guy. He was more focused on the physical part of soothing someone rather than the verbal. Once Ellior had wound up whimpering out his name he couldn’t help but reach over and place his hand on him in some way to attempt some comfort, even if Ellior was just going to wind up moving again. The way he whimpered out his name just kind of broke him enough to fight to put at least one hand on him while he stared down at him with much kinder features than he had in quite a while. He had of course wound up pulling his hand back once Ellior had started moving around again from the pain and didn’t touch him again until after his body had started to convulse and he began foaming at the mouth. He just kind of stared down at him in disbelief for a moment or two before his hand darted for Ellior’s neck to make sure that there was still a pulse, then he moved close enough to make sure that he was still breathing, even if it were shallowly. He felt like this whole thing had happened way too fast… and at the same time it felt like forever ago since he sent Nanashi for Ishta… |
Ellior could feel Kyran's hand on his arm, whenever he did decide to touch him. The touch was welcome...considering that up to that point, he had been practically begging for Kyran to do something. He was frightened, and hardly understood how this had all happened; not to mention he was almost afraid to know the outcome of this. Deep down, he knew that Kyran could not help him...but at the very least he needed someone there with him. Once the convulsions stopped, he was still for a little while, his breathing shallow and ragged. His heart was racing in his chest, and he could still feel it throbbing in his ears and pounding so wildly that it felt like it was going to burst apart. He seemed to register when Kyran touched his throat before he moved just a little. By that point, his fever had already climbed so high that his skin was hot to the touch and his face was flushed with color. He groaned quietly a few moments after Kyran had moved away from his mouth and nose and started top open his eyes gradually. At first, he seemed to be having trouble with the motion. His eyelids fluttered and closed before opening again and staring out ahead of him in a haze before he blinked and started to turn his head a little as if trying to gather his barrings again. Confusion was evident on his face, obviously he did not quite remember what had just happened. He remembered what had happened to him...but he did not remember laying in this position. He had somehow gone from lying face down on his stomach to lying on his side with his arms pulled up to his chest without realizing it. He didn't remember moving, and the last minute or so was a complete blank. His breathing started increasing again for a moment, until his eyes finally managed to focus on Kyran again. Just the sight of him seemed to send a small wave of relief through him and he started to relax a little. He tried to raise his hand again, but he was so tired that it felt like he was trying to move a part that was not even connected to him. Finally, he managed to relax his fingers from the fist they had been making, causing him to drop several blades of unearthed grass to the ground as he did so. He then tried to reach for Kyran's hand, although he was doing well to stretch his arm out toward him. He wasn't quite able to find what he was looking for (unless Kyran decided to help him out) before he felt another wrenching pain stab through his abdomen. This time, however, he was too tired to writhe around the way he had before. He curled in on himself a bit, and his hand tried very hard to close around whatever was closest to it. His jaw clenched with the effort not to scream since he could not move, but he couldn't help a series of quiet, pained grunts. After a few seconds, he relaxed again, letting out the breath he had been holding as he allowed his eyes to shut again, though his face was still contorted with pain. "...P-please...," he began weakly, his voice barely audible. "......pl...please......m-make...make it.........make it...s-stop.......," he begged weakly, gasping quietly between almost every word. ".....P-please......please...........please........"
|
Kyran stared down at Ellior almost helplessly after he had checked to make sure that the guy still had a pulse and was still breathing. He had been slightly relieved to find that he hadn’t just gone and died on them while help was hopefully coming, hastily. He continued to stare down at Ellior, watching his face rather closely. Of course he noticed once Ellior had started trying to open his eyes and once he had seemed to focus a little better he tried to make sure that he was just close enough that Ellior could see him and know that someone was with him. It hadn’t been too hard to notice that Ellior seemed a little lost, confused perhaps… although he wasn’t really sure what to make of that, nor was he terribly focused on that in particular. He absently moved his hand so that Ellior could hold it as soon as it looked as if that was what he had been trying to reach for. He gave a small squeeze to Ellior’s hand once they had connected. He wanted to pry his eyes away from Ellior to try and look and see if anyone was coming yet but it was too hard to do that. Ellior looked so pathetic and scared… and honestly, he was half worried that if he stopped paying any attention to Ellior that the guy really may just croak before help got to him. The more that he thought about it the more he almost wished he had just picked him up and run him to someone who could heal him… but he was unfamiliar enough with the palace that he didn’t have a single clue where he would have had to go… plus, he had no idea what exactly was wrong with him so he wouldn’t have known who to take him to. There were probably people who were better with certain things than others… The thoughts seemed to disappear from his mind once again like they had before when Ellior started to speak again, or well, try. He had been watching Ellior but he had been lost in his thoughts and worries, at least until Ellior started becoming even more pathetic. Begging? Honestly…? What the hell was he supposed to do to make it stop? He’d already sent Nanashi for help… there wasn’t a whole lot else that he could do. “…Help’s coming…” He tried to reassure him quietly as he lifted his free hand to rest on Ellior’s head lightly. He could feel the heat from the fever the guy had but he continue to keep his hand there for a moment before he let out an almost exasperated sigh and finally shifted. He lowered both of his knees to the ground and sat with his legs below him and then released Ellior’s hand long enough to put his arms around his upper body and carefully haul him into his lap a little. He wasn’t sure that it would help anything… but he propped Ellior’s upper body up in his lap and then rested one hand on his shoulder lightly and the other on his head where he began to try and sooth him a little by petting him gently. “…It shouldn’t be long, Nanashi will be back soon with help.” He added lastly, hiding the concern and worry from his voice.
[[P.S… Kyran hates you. XD. Ellior’s being as sad and pathetic as Nanashi can be… pulling at Kyran’s heart strings… you beech. XD ]] |
Ellior struggled again to open his eyes when Kyran told him that help was coming. His vision blurred in front of him and his head spun. For a moment, he looked like he was going to be ill again before he swallowed hard and shut his eyes, simply turning his head away from Kyran just a little. He did seem to relax a little when Kyran placed his hand to his head. His hand felt so cool to him right now that it honestly felt nice. "...It...i-it hurts...," he muttered to him quietly, "...it...r-really hurts...." His grip on Kyran's hand tightened just a little and he sucked in a pained breath through his teeth when another stab hit his intestines, though that motion left him hacking afterwards. Once he had stopped strangling, he gasped quietly for air, at least until he felt Kyran pull his hand away. He let out a quiet gasp and immediately started to open his eyes again. "No!" he choked out quietly, panic evident in his voice momentarily. His hand moved blindly as if he was searching for something to grab onto. He sucked in another shallow, surprised breath and coughed quietly when he felt Kyran pull him up into his arms. He leaned his head back a little, half trying to look up at Kyran's face, though his eyes were too unfocused to see. He found himself in a small fit of strangled coughs again which forced him to shut his eyes tightly. He tried to relax himself again and struggled to catch his breath while he rested in Kyran's lap. He kept his eyes closed this time, since opening them hurt his head even more. Already, it felt like his skull was trying to split at the temples while his intestines were tying themselves into knots. The pain was slowly growing so intense that he didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to stand it. His eyes scrunched tightly closed and his mouth opened a little in what looked like it would have been a cry of pain if any sound had come out of his mouth. Before long he clenched him jaw again and whimpered quietly, his entire body tensing and shivering. After a few moments he slowly started to relax again, the pain seeming to have died down just a little. He turned his head a little to meet Kyran's hand when he felt him stroking his head again. He had felt him before, but the pain in his gut had taken precedence. Slowly, he started to raise his hand to his his shoulder to meet the hand that Kyran had left resting there, and lightly laid his warm, trembling fingers over his. "...I...I don't...want to...be alone....," he whispered breathlessly, his lips barely even moving to form the words. "...Thank...you...."
It wasn't long after Ellior had last spoken that Ishta came hurrying around the large circular hedges that the two of them were hidden behind. Jett and Kyros were still close behind her, with Nanashi following close behind them. "How is he?" she asked as soon as she approached, glancing down momentarily when she heard something crunch under her foot. She narrowed her eyes momentarily, but then decided to ignore the glass for now and turned her attention back to Kyran and Ellior. The scene in and of itself was rather pathetic, and did not look good at all. Ellor's skin looked ghostly white, save for his cheeks which were flushed deep scarlet. His face was drenched, both from sweat, tears, and what she assumed was probably drool given that it was around his mouth. Just one look at him told her that whatever this was, it was not good. Even his breathing looked shallow and irregular. "Jett, Kyros, get him gown to the infirmary immediately," she ordered them urgently, although her voice remained calm and collected. "Do not waste any time, every second counts. Get everyone available on staff on this right away before it gets any worse." She knew that just sending Ellior to the infirmary with no idea what was wrong with him was not the best course of action, but since none of them knew what he had been poisoned with, there was nothing that they could tell the healers. They were going to have to do the best that the could with their knowledge and the symptoms he was presenting and try to do what they could. She simply hoped that they were not too late to do anything. Jett and Kyros both appeared to be a little disturbed by what they were looking at, but neither of them hesitated or argued with Ishta when she told them what to do. They had both assumed that they would wind up being supports on either side on Ellior to help him walk, not outright have to carry him, but neither of them argued. Jett stepped forward first, although given his size, he did not attempt to pick Ellior up himself. Instead, he found himself looking expectantly at Kyros, who seemed to get the silent hint and moved over to kneel down near them. "Okay, come on...," he said quietly, half talking to himself as he reached out to pull Ellior up into his arms. He seemed a bit surprised when Ellior seemed to put of a very feeble struggle not to be taken away from Kyran, but he was so weak that his struggles didn't amount to anything. Jett seemed to pick up on the notion that Ellior was not pleased with being separated from the one who had been with him, probably since this started. He moved over to place a hand on Kyran's shoulder lightly and then reached for the hand Ellior had been stretching out for Kyran as Kyros was picking him up. He reached over himself and took a hold of his hand gently. "It's alright...," he whispered softly before he carefully tucked Ellior's hand back onto his stomach. He left his hand on top of his for a moment and then reached to ran his fingers over his hair once. "You'll be fine...just be still," he told him before he looked back to Kyros. "Let's go," he said quickly before he turned and started to hurry toward the castle again. There were two double doors that lead into the end of the lower hallway, and the infirmary was practically just inside of the doors. Jett went in front of Kyros, whose arms were pretty full, so that he could open the doors for him and give him access to get inside without having to stop and waste time shuffling around. Ishta waited impatiently for the two of them to get a move on, though she did not say anything about their brief efforts to try and put Ellior at ease. From the look of him, the last thing that he needed to do was stress himself out. Once they were gone, she turned her sharp gaze back to Kyran and LaRae, who looked like she was not even with the program right then. "Well, what happened?" she demanded simply, her gaze steady on Kyran's face. He had been the one tending to him, so he was probably the best one to talk to. Nanashi had followed Ishta and the others back to the balcony, although he hesitated for a moment at the door, as if uncertain whether or not he should follow them. After a brief second, however, he hurried to catch up with them, and followed them back down to where he had left the others, directing them from behind as needed. Once they had gotten back, his gaze fell on Kyran and Ellior first, and his eyes melted with sympathy. Ellior looked so frightened, he almost wanted to go over and try to comfort him as well, but he forced himself to stay back out of the way until Ellior had been picked up. Only then did he move a little closer to where LaRae was standing. He didn't so much as breathe a word, though he probably didn't really need to. As soon as he was close to her, he reached for her hand and wrapped his fingers around hers tightly. He was sorry for leaving her right after he had said that he wouldn't, and he hoped that she understood. |
Kyran continued to sit there with Ellior propped up in his lap trying to sooth him as best as he could. He didn’t know what else to do or say to him other than that help was coming. He felt terrible when Ellior finally said that he didn’t want to be alone but that feeling was soon overwhelmed by a sense of relief at seeing Ishta coming round the hedges. He was so very glad to see her, probably more so than Ellior would be… and he was glad that Nanashi had managed to find her in that massive crowd of people. He kept his hands on Ellior but looked up at Ishta when she asked how he was. “Not good…” was all he really managed to say. It was obvious by looking at him that he wasn’t okay and that there was something seriously wrong with him. He watched silently as Jett and Kyros snapped into action once Ishta had given them orders and tried to just sit back out of the way, without actually moving. He stayed where he was of course but he tried to be as out of the way as possible. He couldn’t help but stare down at Ellior sympathetically when he put up a slight fight at being taken away from him. He just kind of stared at Ellior once Jett had quickly taken to trying to reassure him that it was alright and that he would be fine. He would have gone with Ellior at this point; no questions asked… if it would have made him more comfortable. Hell, he would have carried him if need be. He stared after Jett and Kyros silently after they had finally gotten hold of Ellior and started hurrying off towards the castle. He didn’t look back to Ishta right away even though she had asked a question. To be honest, once he had gotten over his own feelings he really was concerned for Ellior and his well being. He did finally shift his glance back to her after a moment. “…I’m not entirely sure.” He stated firstly and then started to get to his feet and dust himself off a little. “LaRae, Nanashi and I were out exploring the maze and when we came out Nanashi spotted Ellior on the bench and he didn’t look well.” He started. He didn’t think it was important to clue Ishta in on whatever was going on with LaRae and Nanashi so it was easier to just say the three of them had been exploring, which wasn’t completely false. “Not too long after we had all seen him did he wind up dropping the glass and falling off the bench heaving… and then it just kind of got worse from then on…”
LaRae still had that slightly dazed look about her even once Ishta, Jett and Kyros showed up. She started to slowly come back to her senses a little more the more activity there was going on. Somewhere between Ishta showing up and Kyran standing again she seemed a little more focused than she had been. She still wasn’t completely herself but the fact that someone else was way worse off than she was, was starting to rouse her out of her slump. She hadn’t moved at all until Nanashi came back and took her hand like he had. As soon as he had a hold of her hand she started to squeeze his hand a little and glance over at him. She wasn’t mad at him for leaving; she understood that he had needed to go… someone needed to. But that hadn’t meant she hadn’t felt uneasy with his presence not being there right next to her. |
Ishta kept her sharp eyes on Kyran while she waited for him to give her his attention. She could see that he was concerned for Ellior, so she did not rush him, although she did wish that he would hurry up and answer her. Once he had finally turned his attention back to her she sighed in mild frustration when he told her that he was not entirely sure what had happened. She could not say that she was surprised to hear that he had no real idea what had happened, but she was hoping for something. Her gaze wandered away from Kyran and went back to the broken glass that was scattered across the walkway. The stem of the glass was still in tact, and a part of the base had managed to survive, and still held a bit of the reddish liquid that he had been drinking inside. "...I see," she responded flatly when he gave her a brief rundown of what had happened. She made her way back to the mess of glass and carefully picked up the stem with a steady hand, balancing the few surviving drops of liquid carefully. She moved the piece close to her nose and sniffed it briefly. "...There was poison in this glass," she stated, although she was sure that they had all pretty much figured that out. She turned her eyes back to Kyran again since he had been the one sitting with Ellior before. "Did he say anything through all of this?" she asked him simply.
Nanashi returned LaRae's light squeeze when she closed her hand around his and then sighed quietly. His ears fell back a little while he watched the cadets take Ellior away from Kyran. He was trying to stay quiet and out of the way, though once Ishta had confirmed that there was poison in the glass. He had already suspected as much, although he was not entirely sure how she knew that just by smelling it. "...is he going to be alright?" he finally asked quietly, concern evident in his voice. Ellior was like Kyran and Selenity. He was kind, fair, and did not judge others based on what everyone else thought. Ellior had actually treated him like a person rather than a piece of garbage, so he would hate to see anything happen to him. Ishta paused for a moment and turned her attention over to Nanashi briefly when she heard him ask about Ellior. She sighed softly and then shook her head a little. "I am not a healer, so it's hard to say for sure. We have the best healers available here, but without knowing exactly what poison was used, it's difficult to do very much. Not to mention, with poisons time is of the essence. The faster it is caught, the better. They will do everything that they can, but there is no guarantee that they can save him." She sighed and looked down at the broken glass again thoughtfully. "...Someone wanted him out of their way...but with that being said, it could have been half of the people in that room...." |
Kyran watched Ishta while she picked up the biggest remaining remnant of the glass that Ellior had been drinking out of. He wasn’t particularly surprised to hear that there had been poison in the glass, they had all, already suspected as much… even Ellior, he was sure. When Ishta asked if Ellior had said anything through all of this he just kind of stared at her for a moment. He was drawing a slight blank, at first anyway. He felt like he had to re-filter through everything to remember if Ellior had said anything of importance. “…Most was just that he was in pain.” He finally told her. “…Though he did mention a Kouki …and he seemed rather distraught over that…” He added. “I had been on the balcony for a good majority of the night so I’m not positive myself where he got that glass.” He said honestly. He assumed that this Kouki person was the one who gave Ellior the glass based on how Ellior reacted… but he couldn’t be certain since he hadn’t seen it to begin with. He shifted his attention momentarily towards Nanashi after he had inquired about Ellior being alright. He knew without Ishta having to say anything that it would be hard to tell. One would better understand Ellior’s chances of survival after speaking to one of the healers. He couldn’t help but glance towards the balcony after the last thing Ishta had said. He couldn’t begin to fathom who would want Ellior dead… but he was positive that there would be hell to pay for the culprit. You didn’t just get away with trying to kill someone so close to the Royalty… and certainly not at a Royal function… on Royal property… and especially not when the target had a mother like Ellior’s. He sighed almost heavily after all that thought. Tonight really was turning into quite the mess. “…Do you need us to do anything?” He finally asked as he looked back to Ishta. He wasn’t sure how she wanted to go about this seeing as the party was still in full swing and the culprit was going to have to be found.
|
Ishta stared intently at Kyran while he tried to think of what Ellior had said to him. She let out a quiet sigh once Kyran had told her what Ellior had said. "That is to be expected," she replied simply once he had given her a name. She listened quietly to where he had been during the exchange and then turned her gaze back toward the balcony. "Kouki is the name of the son of Uri. Ellior's father was the previous Captain of the guards. Uri was his second in command. The two were good friends, and their children were well antiquated. From what I have gathered, Ellior and the youngest of Uri's children, Kouki, were very close." It went without saying that if Kouki was the one who had done this to him, Ellior was going to have a hard time coming to terms with it. She turned her gaze back to Kyran again and then nodded her head slightly when he asked if there was anything that they needed to do. "You go down to the infirmary and tell the healers what you can. The more they know about his condition the better." She then turned her attention to Nanashi and LaRae. For a moment, she seemed to be pondering what to do with them, but after a moment she simply shook her head. "You two may go with him since you were not present before he came out here either. I will be going back upstairs. The party is over." She started to turn to walk away, and then realized that she still had the remnants of the glass in her hand. With only a moment's thought she held the glass out toward Kyran. "Take this with you...and do not spill it. They may be able to identify the poison." Ishta herself could smell the herb that was used, but she was not well versed enough to know off the top of her head what it was by scent. She just knew that the drink did not smell right. With that, she started to turn to make her way back toward the balcony. First of all, she was going to have to have the guards seal off the exits. No one was going to be leaving, and she was just going to have to hope that the culprit had not seen Nanashi come back inside and get her. That would probably send up a red flag that they needed to get the hell out of dodge.
|
Kyran listened silently while Ishta explained why Ellior had reacted the way that he had to the name Kouki. Hearing that just kind of made him feel bad for Ellior yet again. If it had been this Kouki who had poisoned him… it was just going to make everything hurt worse for Ellior just in a different kind of way. He gave a slight nod of his head after Ishta had answered his question and told him that he should go to the infirmary with what little information that he had. He figured that was as good a place as any for him right now and since he was pretty much clear of any ‘charges’, being out of the way was the best option. He continued to stay where he was for a few moments while he listened to what she wanted Nanashi and LaRae to do. As soon as Ishta had started to turn to walk away, he had too, at least until he caught out of the corner of his eye that she had stopped and was holding the remnants of the glass out to him and telling him to take it with him. He gave a slight nod of his head and reached out to take it gently and carefully. It made perfect sense to him to be taking the glass with him so of course he had no qualms about carrying it. Once he was free to go he went ahead and hurried off, carefully carrying the glass and its sparse contents. He moved quicker than he normally would, mostly because he felt the need to make haste to make sure that this wasn’t too far behind Ellior. The sooner this glass and its contents were presented to the healers, the less measure’s they may have to take. He knew that Nanashi and LaRae would be fine on their own, surely Nanashi had seen where Jett and Kyros had gone so he wasn’t worried about them following after him.
LaRae was starting to pay a little more attention to the conversation at hand as the word poison was brought up and thrown around, although she drowned out the chitter-chatter about Ellior and this Kouki person almost immediately. It wasn’t exactly that she felt the need to ignore it so much as her brain latched onto the word poison and made her pay more attention. That was something she knew of fairly well but her focus was gone just about as quickly as it came on. Frankly… she needed to take a nap and try dealing with things fresh. Renzo had just really screwed with her mentally and it was like she needed a reboot… otherwise she was just kind of going to putter along slowly coming back to herself in bits and pieces. The process might be faster going if she were forced to focus on something and converse with someone, but there wasn’t anything that desperately needed her cognitive powers right now. She did at the very least watch Kyran as he finally hurried off towards the infirmary. He was moving faster than he usually did so obviously it was important. Her eyes trailed over to Nanashi and clearly she was waiting for him to move before she went anywhere. |
Nanashi listened silently to everything that Ishta had to say about Ellior and his childhood friend. That alone was almost heartbreaking to hear simply because he could imagine what it would feel like to know that someone that close to you would do something so horrible to you. He didn't move right away once Kyran had taken off, but he did nod to Ishta when she told him that they could go with Kyran. He looked over to LaRae quietly when he noticed that she was looking at him. He gave her hand a squeeze and then gave her a gentle tug. "...Let's go," he whispered quietly. He started to make his way back toward the castle as well, though he made sure to take a wide detour around the broken glass since he knew that LaRae's feet had no protection from it. He wanted to stay with Kyran for now, partially because he did not know exactly how this was going to turn out, or how Kyran was going to react to it all.
Ishta wasted no time getting back up to the balcony and into the ballroom. Her eyes were narrow, and she had an air of business about her. The first thing that she did was pull aside the nearest guard and give him quiet orders to get the others to stand guard near the exits and not allow anyone to enter or leave until further notice. It was not very often that things like this happened on castle grounds, but this sort of function was just the sort of place that they expected them to happen. Here, there were tons of people, meaning tons of suspects, and there was so much going on that there was almost no way to keep track of everyone at all times. Once the guards had been given his orders, she started to make her way casually back up to the king’s throne, where she had been standing before. As soon as she got there, however, rather than go back to the wall where she had been standing, she moved over to stand just beside the throne. Her eyes gave the room a quick sweep to make sure that the guards were doing as she had told them and then leaned down to give her report to the king. She tried to be as quiet as possible while filling him in on the details to the best of her ability. As soon as she had finished with her report, she turned and gave the guards a brief signal to tell them all to get to their post and stay there. Once that was taken care off, she slipped off of the stage once again to go in search of Kouki. At the moment, at least, he was their prime suspect and the first who needed to be spoken to. Akito stood mere moments after Ishta had finished explaining the situation to him, and then made his way to the edge of the rising that his throne was seated on. “Stop the music,” he commanded formally. As soon as he had spoken, the music died away, and all eyes turned to him expectantly. At first, the crowd seemed excited, likely thinking that something interesting was about to happen, but soon the look on his face caused the excitement to die down and the room was left in a quiet, confused hush. “I am afraid that we are going to have to cut the festivities short,” he began simply. “There has been an incident in the courtyard. One of our guests was found in very serious condition. We know that this was not an accident, so until we are able to narrow down the suspects, I am afraid that we will have to keep you here.” There was a small rise of voices in the crowd, which Akito hushed quickly with the raise of one hand. “With that being said, the screening process will start immediately.” Selenity was still hovering near the front of the room, trying her best to seem interested in small talk and gossip when her father called the celebration to a halt. Her attention immediately turned to her father, and as soon as he was finished speaking, she hurried up to the rising and stepped up to stand next to him. “Daddy, what happened?” she asked quietly, concern already evident in her voice. Akito sighed softly before turning his attention to Selenity. “Someone tried to poison Ellior,” he responded quietly, trying to keep his voice low. “Some of your friends found him. He is in the infirmary now, and they’re going to take care of him. Ishta is looking for the main suspect now.” Unfortunately, he failed to notice that Keren had made her way close to the landing once again. She had been spending the majority of her time near him, at least until she had gone off to find Ellior. Had he known that she had made her way back here again, he would have told Selenity that he would explain what had happened later. Unfortunately…it was a little late for that. “Ellior!?” Karen exclaimed loudly. “Someone poisoned my son!?” Akito turned to Keren quickly, already regretting having opened his mouth. “He is being taken care of, my lady,” he assured her quickly, “Please, do not panic. We are doing everything that we can to find the culprit.” “Find the culprit!? Everyone I have talked to has told me that he’s spent the entire day standing right over there!” she pointed out, pointing her finger directly to the back wall where Nero was standing. “He must have done something to him!” Selenity narrowed her eyes as soon as Keren started, literally, pointing the finger at Nero. She could already hear several voices from the crowd rising in agreement. “Wait just a minute!” she interjected loudly, “What reason would he have!? Do not go pointing your finger at whoever seems to be the most convenient suspect! Nero would not have done something like that to him! He has absolutely nothing to gain from hurting anyone here! Anyone else here has ten times more reason to attack your son than Nero ever would! ” Keren turned her eyes back to Selenity, and her own eyes were just as narrow. Right now, she did not much care for formalities. “How can you stand there and defend him!? How could you even bring one of those heathen murderers into our territory after the things they’ve done!? Even after what happened to our queen, how can you defend those retches!? ” “Hold your tongue, Keren!” Selenity snapped angrily. Her hands had already balled into fists at her side and her eyes were practically on fire. “How dare you speak of them in such a manner!” “Are you saying I am wrong!?” she challenged angrily. “Tell me, do you think they need a good reason!? It could have been you that this happened to! You cannot convince me that that…that…fiend is your friend! Trusting them will only get you killed!” Selenity was just about to bite back, and from the looks of it quite physically, when Akito finally stepped between them. “That is enough, both of you!” he snapped in exasperation. He could hear a considerable number of people from the crowd agreeing with Keren, and he himself was not convinced of the dark dragon’s innocence. After all…if Ellior had been with him, then he was also a prime suspect. “We will figure this out one way or another. Guards, take him in!” |
Aamori had noticed when Ishta came back into the ballroom like most of the group probably had. She had seen Nanashi come in before and watched him again when he left with Ishta, Jett and Kyros. She had lost track of him when he disappeared into the crowd, but then again she hadn’t been watching him that closely. She wasn’t sure what was going on but it was obvious to her at the very least that it was something important. She was raised enough around guards and whatnot to recognize some stuff… or at least the posture of some of the guards after Ishta had spoken to the one. She wasn’t that surprised to hear the King speak up after Ishta had gone and talked to him, although like much of the room she was surprised at what he had to say. She glanced around at the others briefly before looking back towards the balcony doors. She hoped that whoever was hurt wasn’t someone from their group…
Nero hadn’t missed a thing since Nanashi had come and gone and Ishta had come back. He had silently watched from behind his protective shaded glasses. Being military like he was it wasn’t that difficult to notice that something was up. Ishta’s stance said plenty but then so did the stance of every guard as word was passed around. It was like they were snapping into action one at a time. He continued to silently watch the scene unfolding from behind his glasses. The further things went the more he wished he hadn’t been here tonight. He really wished he had managed to talk his way out of being here. Things were going south and they were going south fast… especially once Keren opened her mouth. He couldn’t say that he was surprised to overhear her blame him for Ellior being poisoned. He of course assumed that the poison had to have come from that drink that he had been given just before he left. It was the only thing that Ellior had consumed that he knew of… unless it had been something given to him sooner… or later… but he was almost positive it must have come from the drink. Or at least that made the absolute most sense. He sighed heavily the longer that he listened to Keren and even Selenity for that matter since she was trying to defend him. He would have much rather Selenity just kept her mouth shut. It was easier to deal with accusations and people being outright mean and disrespectful when there weren’t other people getting in the meld. He could have dealt with Keren’s rambling just fine on his own but it kind of bothered him that now people were going to talk more about Selenity just because she was trying to defend him. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Reyes was getting riled up too. Clearly he wasn’t happy listening to Keren run her mouth either. She was easily winning over the masses… and he knew this was not going to turn out well. He reached over and grabbed hold of Reyes by the shoulder to stop him from wanting to go help Selenity pummel Keren into the ground. He kept a decent pressure on his shoulder just to try and tell him silently to stop. Reyes was getting riled up… and his body language was clearly aggressive and it needed to stop before he wound up getting himself in trouble. He couldn’t say that he was surprised to hear the King’s final word… He knew in the back of his mind that this was what was going to happen after Keren opened her mouth and blamed him for Ellior’s being poisoned. Of course Reyes only got more upset at hearing the King and the last thing he wanted was for something to happen to his cousin. He took hold of Reyes a little more tightly and grabbed his other shoulder with his free hand before physically moving him and shoving him towards Kanone. “Try to keep her out of this…” He told him quietly as he passed Reyes off to him without much choice on the matter. He knew better than to cause a scene… and he figured the more compliant he was the less trouble there would be. For the first time of the night he finally broke himself from the wall, pushing off of it gently and stepped a little more into the crowd with his hands partially up and out in the open where they could be seen. He hated to be compliant… it almost pained him considering he hadn’t done a damn thing wrong… but he didn’t want to cause undo trouble for the group or Selenity. |
Kanone had been standing near Nero the entire time, although he had not been paying too much attention to what had been going on...at least not until Ishta had come back inside alone and started talking to the guards. He watched as small groups of them started to make their way toward the exits and then stop by the doors, looking as if they dared anyone to try and walk through them. His mouth fell open a little when the king said that someone was in serious condition, and he was even more surprised to find that it was Ellior. Of course, as soon as the situation started to turn south, as far as Nero was concerned, he found himself moving even closer to him, almost protectively. "But he didn't do anything!" he called out as soon as the king had given the order. He got the message soon enough that Nero was not going to argue with anyone however. As soon as Nero pushed Reyes toward him, he looked Nero directly in the eye and his features instantly started to calm...although he still did not look very happy about any of this. He nodded his head weakly and then raised his hands to place them both on Reyes' shoulders firmly before pulling him back a little. "Let Selenity handle this," he told him quietly. Even still, he gave Reyes' shoulders a tight squeeze, hoping to let him know that he understood. He didn't like this either, but right now there was nothing any of them could do about it. Even Celestine looked considerably pissed off at the accusations that were flying, but unlike Kanone he had sense enough not to say or do anything stupid.
Selenity looked completely aghast when her father ordered the guards to take Nero in, but she knew that nothing that she could say would do any good at this point. Practically everyone was on Keren's side...no one was going to listen to her. She watched helplessly as two of the nearest guards hurried over to Nero, seeming to pay very little mind to his yielding nature. One pulled his arms around his back and tied them tightly before taking a hold of his arms. Unfortunately, Sri was not being spared from any of this. As soon as the girl saw what was happening to her new-found friend, she started to throw a fit wanting to know what was going on and why they were taking Nero away. Selenity moved over to her quickly and simply plucked her off of the ground like an even smaller child than she was and hugged her tightly, quietly telling her to hush, that everything was going to be alright. The guards led Nero out to the hallway forcefully, though they did not exert any more strength than necessary since they were being closely watched. The one who was holding onto Nero’s arms, however, was exerting considerably more pressure on him than need be, though Nero was probably the only one who would really notice that. Ishta had managed to find Kouki fairly quickly and had already pulled him aside to interrogate him. The two of them were standing just outside in the hallway, and Ishta’s face was almost scary. She had already determined that Kouki had not known anything about any poison. He had been genuinely surprised when she pulled him aside and once she had told him what she had been led to believe, Kouki’s reaction was of genuine distress and concern. The first words out of his mouth as soon as she had suggested that he had tried to poison Ellior, was to ask if he was going to be alright. That alone, led her to believe that he was not the one that they were looking for. He seemed less concerned with what she was accusing him of and more concerned for Ellior’s health than the predicament that he himself was in. He did not immediately start denying the action, and in a way still seemed to be trying to process what exactly had happened. Only when directly asked if he had any reason to want to hard Ellior did he finally give his first denial and tell her, “Of course not!” By the time the guards had gotten out of the ballroom with Nero, Ishta had already surmised that Kouki was innocent, and Kouki looked as though he was about to be in tears. Both of them looked up when the two guards exited the ballroom with Nero and both seemed equally confused to see him being led out that way, although Ishta did not seem all that surprised and Kouki still looked like he was in shock. “What are you doing?” Ishta demanded firstly, eying the guard who was holding Nero’s arms to guide him forward. She knew this one well enough to know that he did not take kindly to Dark dragons. “The king ordered us to seize him,” he responded immediately. Ishta stared back at the guard for a minute before her eyes wandered to Nero. Given h is location in proximity to Ellior for most of the night, she was not surprised that someone had pointed the blame on him, although she did not believe for a minute that he was the culprit either. For a moment, she seemed almost lost in thought. Her eyes were narrowed, but she did not seem focused on any one thing in particular while she was staring at Nero. “…Captain?” the guard asked, a bit uncertainly. Ishta seemed to snap out of her daze immediately and looked back up to the guard. “What are you waiting for? Do as you were ordered. Lock him up for now until everyone settles down.” The guard did not offer to speak again, although his grip on Nero’s arm did tighten considerably. Clearly, he did not like the fact that the Captain was not even toying with the idea that this man was the one that they were looking for. Once she had given them the order to move on, he started to make his way down the hallway again, forcing Nero along in front of him. It was not terribly long before they came to a large set of heavy doors, which the other guard had to open and close behind them as they went through. Just beyond the doors was a long staircase, which spiraled downward below the surface of the ground. Down here, there were no windows or lights, though it was far from being dark. Everything behind this door seemed to be comprised of a material that was thus far unused in the structure of the rest of the palace. Much like everything else, in the main halls, the floors seemed to be made of some type of crystal, although unlike the upstairs the stones themselves emitted luminescent white glow. The glow itself, would not have been all that bad…had the entirety of the prison not been made out of the same strange crystal. Every inch of the structure was made of this material, and combined it was just as bad as looking at newly fallen snow under the glare of a bright sun. The light practically drove all shadows from the room and for one whose eyes were not made to accommodate so much light, it was nearly blinding. The guard wasted no time leading Nero to the first cell and as soon as the door was open he made to shove him inside, although he paused after remembering one key detail. “Give me those,” he snapped as he snatched the shades Nero was wearing roughly from his face. As soon as he had the glasses in hand, he gave Nero an unnecessarily rough shove into the room, honestly hoping that he would knock him off balance. He would love to watch him bust his face on the floor. As soon as he had given Nero a shove, he backed himself out of the cell and slammed the door behind him, barring it in the process. |
Nero had been hoping that if he was compliant with the King’s order that perhaps not quite as big of a spectacle would be made. He wasn’t happy about the rough treatment he was getting as the one guard tied his hands behind his back with a sturdy thin wire restraint. He didn’t fight the restraint being tied because he knew for one that it’d just made a scene and two, it’d only cut into his skin. He supposed he shouldn’t have been the least bit surprised by the force being exerted by the guard that was leading him once they finally started to remove him from the ballroom. He probably would have done damn near the same if the roles had been reversed, he just couldn’t help holding out a little hope, for lack of better words, that because they were light dragons they wouldn’t be quite as forceful as dark dragons. He kept quietly to himself and didn’t so much as make a muscle twitch in his facial features at the pressure he was feeling from the guard guiding him. It was more pressure than was needed, especially with a person who wasn’t fighting you in the slightest… but he remained stoic. He was vaguely surprised to see Ishta in the hallway once the guards had removed him from the ballroom and she had stopped them. He hadn’t seen her leave, but then… he hadn’t exactly been paying attention once things started going south amongst the crowd. He just kind of stared over at Ishta from behind the safety of his shaded glasses while she heard what the guard had to say in response to her question. He continued to silently watch her while he seemed to think about things and then rolled his eyes slightly when the guard had to bring her out of her thoughts. He wasn’t surprised that Ishta ordered the guard to continue with his duty. There wasn’t a damn thing Ishta could do about this right now since the order had been a direct order from the King, he knew that. But he was a little surprised that Ishta didn’t exactly seem to believe that he was being imprisoned for a good reason. He hadn’t really gotten to know Ishta so he half expected her to share the same feelings as most of the light clan.
He couldn’t help but shift his glance just a slight bit when he felt the guard tighten his grip even more than he already had been holding on. If he weren’t trying to be good and not cause a scene… he would’ve already broken free of this idiot’s hold and beaten his head in for the rough handling. But… he was trying to be good, so he sucked it up and just let the guy lead him while being as rough with him as he wanted. He quietly took in his surroundings as he was lead to a holding cell. He was thankful for the shaded glasses that he was wearing because even with them on it was still a little bright. The light didn’t bother his eyes exactly [with the shades] but he could tell with them on that it was blindingly bright without them. He stared into the cell that he was lead to and sighed almost inaudibly at the turn of events. He was a little more focused on how he wound up here rather than the present moment so he didn’t quite catch what the guard was up to until he felt the glasses on his face moving. They had been jerked from his face with enough force that the part that went over his ear slid like a knife from the side of his face to his cheek bone and partially over his nose, leaving a crimson slice in its wake. He had been being quiet until then… he hadn’t expected the cut on his face and certainly hadn’t expected it to be made by the glasses that were made of out some form or degree of crystal substance. He let out an angry hiss as the glasses were being completely removed from his person and the light blinded him as well as the pain from the cut. He was used to cuts in most places but unfortunately his face was kind of sensitive to cuts so he really hadn’t been able to help making some degree of noise… plus… that damn light was seriously blinding. He didn’t have a whole lot of time to become oriented once the glasses had been removed because he was rather roughly shoved into the cell. He wasn’t surprised that he was shoved… but he hadn’t been completely ready for it. He stumbled into the cell from the force and damn near fell forward enough to lose his balance all together but he caught himself with the help of his tail and didn’t fall face first into the floor. After a few moments he stood up straighter and kept his eyes pinned tightly shut, his tail swaying behind him in a clear sign of annoyance. What he wouldn’t give to share some of this rough treatment with that guard… he was cut open and bleeding, he was going to have bruises… and he damn near almost lost his balance… and his eyes hurt like hell from the sudden exposure to the blindingly bright light. Once he had stood there silently, long enough to gather his wits about him he went right back to being his silent stoic self. He also started to move, slowly, edging towards what he thought was the back wall of the cell. Once he found a wall he turned around and set his back to it and slid down it so that he could sit down since he was positive he was going to be here for awhile. [[Mini Skip // an hour or two? ]] Nero had continued to remain silent while he was locked up in his cell. He had eventually brought his knees up closer to his chest and hung his head a little to try and block some of the light from bothering his eyes, unfortunately though even the floor was emitting that same light that the rest of the cell was. Even with his eyes shut the light was still so bight to him that it still hurt, on top of that it had long since started to cause him a headache. The longer he had sat there the longer he started to feel like there was going to be no relief from it, at least until he shifted and felt the fabric on his arms. He remembered then that the shirt he was wearing had been dyed especially for him so that it was a dark shade, damn near black. After remembering that he wasted very little time finagling it so that he could slide his tail up the front of his shirt and rip it open… that was only the beginning of the process though. He had to get the shirt up so that it could go over his head and help him block out the light. He thought about how to do that for a few moments, testing the option of trying to slide his arms under his rear so that he could work his legs through his arms and get his arms in front of him… but given the way that he was bound and his size… that was a failed path of action. The only other option that he could think of he wasn’t a stranger to… dislocation hurt sometimes… but he knew how to do it and had done it before. He quietly worked one shoulder out of its socket at a time, making a very small grunt during the process and then slowly began to lift his arms up so that he bring them full circle to the front of his body. About the time that his arms made it just past the back of his head the fabric of the shirt got stuck at his wings. He tugged on the fabric as much as he possibly could to try and rip it but without full muscle control in his arms it was kind of hard to exert enough force. With that he used his tail again, this time snaking it to the open slits in the fabric at his back and applying opposing pressure to one slit at a time until the fabric ripped. He wasn’t that well trained at using his tail in such a way so it had taken him some time to maneuver just the right way but he did eventually succeed in freeing his shirt from his wings. Once he was able to move the shirt more he lowered his arms closer to his drawn up knees, causing the shirt to pull forward over his head like a tent. After he managed to use the shirt that way to block out a good portion of the light he resumed hanging his head a little towards his drawn up knees and tried to relax his eyes. He would have preferred the darkness of the room he had been staying in… but for now… this was his room, whether he liked it or not. He was just thankful for the dark colored shirt that Firra had managed to get him, more so now than ever. |
The two guards that had taken Nero down to the dungeon remained posted outside the cell for a time without bothering him, although the one who had initially led him down here seemed as though he was itching to go in there and make more of a mess of the guy. He had just as much desire to see Nero dead as Nero currently probably had to run him through with something. There was strong hatred on both sides of the line, as far as the war between these two particular clans went. While Light dragons in general tended to be very laid back and tolerant, many of them seemed to have absolutely no tolerance for dark dragons. The more reserved of the two guards heard the sound of the fabric ripping and glanced back to see that the dark dragon was trying to hide his head from the light, but he ignored it. After all, that was not hurting anything, and certainly didn't look comfortable for him, really. Unfortunately, that tiny bit of protection was more than his companion could stand. He had to hold out his arm to keep him from going back into the cell and causing more of a scene. "Leave him," he told him simply before turning his gaze back toward the front. He did not particularly like dark dragons himself, but at the same time he saw no reason to use brute force on someone who was not and had not even offered to fight back. Unfortunately for Nero, the guard with some sense of reason was soon called back upstairs.
Almost as soon as they were alone, the door opened and the guard wasted no time making his way to the back of the cell. Nero would have barely had time enough to raise his head before the guard reached down to snatch the fabric that he was trying to hide beneath, likely grabbing a fist full of hair as well. He wrenched the shirt away from him with as much force as he could muster, ripping the fabric away from his head. The sheer force of the motion was enough to drag the dark dragon out of his little sitting position and onto his side, though when the sleeves of the shirt only slid down to his bound wrists the guard placed his foot down on Nero's hands and wrenched the fabric up again, ripping it completely away from his body. "Don't get comfortable!" he hissed as he tossed the remnants of the shirt Firra had made for him out into the hallway. For a moment, he looked as though he was going to walk away, but rather than go anywhere, he whirled on Nero again with a roundabout kick square to the abdomen at full force. "It makes me sick even having to keep you alive," he told him darkly. He pulled his foot back and once again struck out at Nero's rib cage with the toe of his boot before pulling back to hit the same place again and again for good measure. Finally, he decided that he had better stop before he went a little too far, but he couldn't resist getting in one more lick before leaving. He kicked out at Nero once again, this time aiming at his face and his boot connected hard with Nero's jaw. "Filthy cur," he spat hatefully as he stepped away from him again. With that, he finally turned and left the cell, slamming the door behind him before reclaiming his position by the wall. Soon enough someone would be down here to relieve him...or so he hoped. Upstairs, the guards had been very busy painstakingly filtering through the crowd. Ishta had kept Kouki hostage for a good while, trying to wring all of the information out of him that she could before she pawned him off onto another guard. She had a detailed description of the man who had given him the glass, although it was not someone whom Kouki knew personally. Whoever it had been had appeared to know Ellior well and had expressed enough concern for him to make the drink seem harmless. Unfortunately, that still left a good number of people to suspect. Gradually, however, Kouki helped them confirm that the one who had given him the glass was no longer here, and probably had left soon after handing it off to him, so the guards quickly turned their attention to the small handful of people who had been seen leaving early. Selenity and Sri had long since been shuffled off to their rooms, as had Celestine, Aamori, and Kanone. Many people were demanding that Reyes be taken in as well, but Kanone put up enough of a fight in 'her' favor to keep everyone at bay. After all, Reyes had been with him for a good portion of the night. She had barely been anywhere near Ellior, and even when she was, he was still with her. Once they had all been dismissed, Kanone took it upon himself to haul Reyes back to the room that they had been sharing with Nero to wait things out as patiently as possibly. He was trying hard to keep Reyes calm, and to keep himself in check. He didn't need to go getting his ass in trouble as well. As soon as he was cleared to go, Kouki made his way straight down to the infirmary. He had been told to go home, but he at the very least wanted to see Ellior before he left. Unfortunately when he arrived, the news was not exactly good. The healers had tried to stanch the poison and keep it from getting any worse, and for the most part, it seemed to be working. However, that did not mean that Ellior was getting any better. They were having trouble getting his fever to break an he had gone into convulsions on them several times throughout the past couple of hours. Eventually, due to the amount of pain that he was in, they finally decided to sedate him since even if he didn't make it through this it would be kinder not to force him to stay awake through it all. Given the sample that they had been given and the symptoms that Kyran had described to them, they were able to at least narrow down the type of poison that was used, which gave them a better idea of what they were dealing with. Kouki tried, briefly, to get over to where Ellior was lying, even if he was asleep, but he was quickly shuffled off to the same corner of the room as everyone else. He felt terrible for allowing this to happen. It was bad enough knowing that it had happened to Ellior in the first place, but knowing that it was his hand that had passed the poison off to him just made him feel all the worse. He tried to simply stand in the corner quietly and watch, but the more he watched the more he wanted to get closer and tell him how sorry he was. Before long, tears had started leaking out of his eyes in steams and he was standing with one hand pressed over his mouth to try and keep himself quiet. Nanashi and the others still had not bothered to leave the infirmary, though they too had been shuffled out of the way. Once Kouki arrived, Nanashi edged over on the bench that they were preoccupying to give him some room to sit, although the guy never seemed to even notice. He sat there silently for a while, at least until he looked up again and saw how hard he was crying. His ears fell back and he finally stood from where he was seated and reached over to touch the guy's shoulder timidly. Kouki was not very big, nor did he look especially threatening, but even still Nanashi appeared especially nervous about getting too close to him and yet he also seemed compelled to do so right then. Almost as soon as Nanashi's hand had made contact with Kouki's shoulder he turned to stare at whomever had touched him with wide, startled eyes, although as soon as their eyes made contact it was Kouki's turn to startle Nanashi a bit. Without the slightest warning Kouki turned around and buried his face in Nanashi's shoulder, wrapping both arms around him tightly. At that point, Kouki didn't seem to care who he was holding onto, he just completely broke down and began sobbing hysterically. At first, Nanashi didn't seem to have the slightest idea what to do with him and almost looked like he was ready to retreat, but after a moment he slowly placed his arms around the guy lightly and just let him have his shoulder. He felt tears coming to his own eyes when he heard Kouki repeating how sorry he was, over and over again between sobs. Finally, one of the healers approached them and asked them all to leave for the night since it was getting late, although considering the timing it was probable that they were just getting tired of listening to the heart-wrenching sobs coming from that corner of the room. |
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