Memories Lost

[Inazuma Sky]

While they were talking they could hardly notice the weird sloshy noises coming from the ceiling, but they definitely would notice the figure that emerged when the sounds ceased and dropped down on the sickly squishy ground behind Umlot.

She was clad in what could hardly be described as an outfit that seemed to showcase its scars, with prominence on a rather large one that ran down the front of her torso. Other details were obscured by the ichor caused from being squished out of the organic ceiling, but upon first glance it could easily be recognized as a Niearcim servant.

That was until it spoke in a familiar tone that they all recognized.

"Oh. God... that is the most disgusting form of travel ever!"

What was soon to be recognized as Inazuma stood up and wiped some of the chunkier residue of her "shortcut" off and flung it to the side in disgust. She then answered several reaching hands with a handful of pill-like things that the owners of such appendages downed in a hurry. She then tapped Umlot on the back to silently offer him the same, frighteningly strong, sedative that she gave the others.

It wasn't long before the hall quieted down significantly as a result of the pills and she nodded silently to the friends that she hadn't seen in months. She wanted to thank him for sending a message like he promised he would if he sensed Jacob, but she didn't want to completely interrupt the conversation.

She did however signal to Jacob that she had questions that she needed to ask of him.  

[GamingLord]

*GL shivered, hugging himself tightly*

GL: "Please... do it. I.... I don't want to remember some of the things said out there... And the empathy too, please.."

Jacob: "Unfortunately, this blind spot couldn't be avoided, Rosemary. It's the only way through, and trying to fly over the structure would let the Horrors, those false abominations, see us far too easily. The caverns, Sephiroth, should be abandoned... It should be nothing like the walls here."

Umlot: "I'm able to somewhat sense what ya are, Miss. I have a faint grasp on the ability to feel auras and souls, slightly. You feel... like an angel, but somethin's off. Dunno what exactly, like you're not quite an angel or ... something. Nnngh... 'scuse me.."

*The mage with drew further into the wall, grunting quietly as blood seeped through freshly appearing wounds on his stomach. He muttered a few swears, before recomposing himself and answering Sephiroth's question*

Umlot: "I'mma mage that practices elemental magic.. Or at least, I use to. Barely have 'nuff strength nowadays to cast anythin' simple."

*When Inazuma suddenly appeared, the group was... surprised to say the least*

Jacob: "Inazuma, what are you doing here?"

*Umlot simply stared sightlessly at the pill he was given*

Umlot: "What is this thing?"  

[Inazuma Sky]

Inazuma looked like she could have smacked Jacob when he asked her why she was there, but she held back the urge by making a gesture to tell him to wait a moment. She then turned to explain the little pill things to Umlot.

"They're sedatives that someone else had asked me to swipe from the Niearcim in exchange for information. I would never have found this area the last time we met if it weren't for what they told me."

She paused

"Of course this is the second batch I stole... my informant kind of hogged the fist bottle"

Her gaze returned to Jacob and she frowned.

"Why didn't you tell me about this whole excursion? If it weren't for Thas acidently slipping up I would never have found out! Didn'y you think that I would want to help GL after all that he's done for me?

She cut of her venting and held out a hand as a reminder to calm herself down. After a moment or so she continued.

"Just to let you know, I've been here for like a week and I can tell you that your maps are off... everything re-arranged a couple hours ago. Otherwise I would have just walked here instead of bribing the trapped to carry me here with the pills."

Inazuma shook the bottle to indicate that the thing should have been full but was instead bordering on completely empty. She did hear Sephiroth's comment and managed to crack a smile despite her trump card slowly being worn away.

"Yeah... I know. I'm sorry about that. I was actually stuck defending Reason. Seems that he's gotten into a lot of trouble for letting Hi run amuck the way he did. Guess he was supposed to be keeping him in hell or something...."

She then grumbled something about the heavenly army having absolutely no idea what they were doing nor did they have a clue about how retarded Hi actually was. She then shot Jacob a dirty look.

"I'd be in hell with Reason right now too if I hadn't found out about this."

Aside from GL, the lightening angel might have been the only person actually benefiting from being her. It wasn't unknown that she had the ability to throw the newest Satan into a blind rage whenever she was around him. Being in hell would have been worse for her than her current situation.

Anywho, so yeah... Jacob. What the ******** are we doing?  

[GamingLord]

Trapped: Why? ... No pain... I ... don't understand... Not angry?

*The niearcim mage in front of the structure's victim smiled*

Niearcim: Nonono, I can understand why you wanted that sedative... You poor thing, always in pain...

Trapped: You did this... all of you! No, sorry, I...

Niearcim: Sssh... I know, it's our fault.... Rather, my associates... I'm the one whose sorry. I couldn't stop them, I remember... seeing you in so much pain when they... put you here.

*The mage put on a grand show of weeping, shuddering as if under the burden of great guilt.*

Niearcim: I want to help you... All of you. Please.. tell me, who gave you those pills? Where did they go?

*The trapped hesitated, indecision heavy in it's face*

Niearcim: I... I want to meet with them, so we can help you. I'll be honest, I don't know when we can get you out of here, but by God we'll try. Until then, I can try and sneak you more of those sedatives... Now please, tell me...

*The mage did his best not to burst out laughing as the trapped relented, and spilled his guts... and again, quite literally, when the mage's blade sliced his stomach..*

- - - - -

Jacob: Perhaps you should have taken one of those pills yourself, miss...

*Instead, the necromancer shook his head, not voicing that thought... though easily heard by the others with the "thought grubs" in their heads, forgetting for just that moment that it still lingered in his own skull.*

Jacob: "Forgive me... But I didn't want to risk having too large a group. Otherwise, we'd have more problems trying to stay stealthy. Also..."

Galantros: "Also, I wouldn't want you involved either... It's bad enough Rosemary and Sephiroth are involved... Especially Rosemary..."

Jacob: "Anyway... as to "what the ******** we are doing".... We're attempting to lift a rather potent Niearcim curse off GL's head... To put it simply, he needs to kill the mage that casted the curse. And if the niearcim have rearranged this maze, then... a good chunk of our maps are useless. They haven't rearranged the structure in over a thousand years... That concerns me even more now, as to why do would choose to do so now."

Galantros: "If I don't... remove the curse... It'll just pass on to someone I know when I die. I'd rather not have someone else forget all their memories of someone they care about."

*Umlot looked over the pill for a while, then simply gave it back to Inazuma*

Umlot: "Any relief I receive from my curse, I want to be permanent. Gettin' a short break from the pain isn't worth it when I realize it'll just wear off again.... er, hey, how many folks did you give this stuff to?"  

[Inazuma Sky]

"So... you don't want me involved."

She looked at her feet obviously hurt by what GL said, but when he continued she seemed to have gotten mad again.

"Aren't you being a bit selfish? You're not the only one with memory issues. My quote-unquote life before all of this was a lie and my actual angelic life before all that is completely lost to me. This life here and now is the only thing that I can hold with any real value and now you're telling me that because I have the chance of forgetting you if something happens that I should just butt out? Oh that's really fair..."

Once again she forced herself to calm down and one glance at Jacob's face gave her an indication of what he was thinking.

"Fine... If you really don't want me here I'll leave."

She already knew that she was lying when she said that. Sure, she might actually leave for a little while, but she would end up getting so sick with worry that she would come back and spy on them from a distance just to piss them off when she butted back in to help with some sort of dangerous situation. She wasn't even really sure why she said that.

When Umlot asked her again about the pills she was actually thankful for the distraction from her thoughts.

"Considering that after they rearranged everything, I was stuck on the other side of the complex, so..."

She tried to recollect just how many people but failed.

"Compared to the amount of people that I passed, very few actually. Most turned it down like you did, but there were still enough to drain the bottle."

This wasn't too hard to fathom with the amount of people that the group had passed in the hallway. Those who's minds were a little more sensitive could tell that what they saw was only a top layer of the sheer mass that made up the walls of the structure. Even a hundred pills would barely cover the tiny hallway, forget about the whole compound.

What Inazuma didn't say was that she only really offered the pills to those that had initially refused to help her without having something in return because that would seem unfair to those who helped her anyways. There were a lot of greedy people.

Greedy people...

At the thought she glanced back at GL and sighed. He was greedy in a different sort of way. All he ever wanted to do was help people. He was so self-less that he often denied people the ability to help him back when he needed it. With smaller things than this it was okay, but now was one of the times that he NEEDED help and it really hurt to be denied the ability to do so.

Tears started stinging at her eyes and she forced herself to turn away before the others could see them. She tried to keep them out of her voice but failed miserably.

"Whatever you guys decide..."  

[Inazuma Sky]

((Wow... I just read over that again, and I think that it's the most human post I've ever made for her.

I'm so amused by that fact for some reason. X'D ))  

[GamingLord]

*GL held his head, as if suffering from a massive migraine all of a sudden..*

GL: Calm down... think.. calm... frustrated. GUILT! GUILT! GUILT! WHY!? ..No,can'tthinkstraightguiltterriblepersonnononoNONO... CALMDOWNDAMMIT! Can't let it take over.. Can't let it take over... thedemonwilltakeover... I Whatswrongwith.. Everything was screaming out there... Didn't want to see... SHEDOESN'TKNOWWHATTHE CURSE... IS... LIKE! BUT... CAN'T... AARRRRGH! I HATE THIS!

*His thoughts went into a stream of english and limboian obscenities, the absolute mess of his mind swirling like a storm. The reaper slammed a fist into the flesh wall, then fell to the ground shakingly, sitting against a wall as he tried to sort them out.*

GL: I...I.... I'm sorry. You're right, I... nnnngh... NNNNNGHHH!

*Bad timing for GL to not be able to calm down and gather his thoughts... he fell to his side, writhing a bit. His fingers had started to grow into claws, teeth beginning to rip themselves out of the flesh of his face... Thas acted quickly, rushing to the half reapers side and placed a hand on his head. Those that had the thought grubs could hear his stream of thoughts quieting, slowing down greatly... his alertness was vanishing a bit, as if he were almost falling asleep. Inazuma and Umlot could visibly see the process of him transforming reversing itself. During this, everyone else felt their nerves calming, the source of which seem to be coming from Thas.*

*Thas' tendrils wavered freely in the air, glowing brightly. After a while, they dimmed, and he sat down quietly, resting. It had taken a bit of effort to make everyone relax so they could all have a clear head. They were still rather alert however, not nearly as sedated as GL seemed to be. Umlot however, twitched suddenly... He excused himself abruptly, and quickly rushed into the ceiling.*

Thas: "I thought it would be best if everyone's tempers were calm. Becoming frustrated in a place like this isn't exactly the best of ideas... Galantros will become more alert in a few moments."

GL: "'Zuma... so sorry... I'm stupid. Help me?"

*The reaper slumped, eyes barely open. Even a partial transformation would be enough to make him a bit worn out. He was just grateful that he hadn't transformed fully. Part of him had seen how hurt Inazuma was, and wanted to give her a hug. Two things stopped him though... she might still be too angry, and he was a little to out of it to stand up properly. Jacob glanced over at Galantros, then ran a hand through his hair.*

Jacob: "I apologize as well, I hadn't meant to be so hostile or... tempermental. Something about this realm just... makes me a bit on edge, and I don't always think quite clearly... Well, if you still wish... we would appreciate your help."

*The necromancer rummaged for another thought grub to offer to Inazuma in case she accepted. It would give her the same ability to share thoughts with the group as well.*

GL: Rosemary... forget it.. .the uh, empathy.. thing.. whatever it was you were going to do, it might not be worth it. Wouldn't it be worse if they could find us easier, and you can't detect them as well in the first place? Couldn't Thas just use that ability of his on me anyway?

Thas: I can't keep that up for very long. I can only use it once in a while, or it will drain me too quickly. Perhaps... only as needed while we travese these... "caverns"... and then once more when we exit?

Eztli: Seems like an idea to me.

GL: That'll work...

*Umlot suddenly appeared again, a look of massive fear and worry on his face*

Umlot: "Y'all gotta get the hell outta here, now! There's a niearcim mage pokin' around up there somewhere, he's been jabbin at some of the trapped for information. G'on, hurry... It won't do to have that b*****d find you."  

[GamingLord]

Umlot: Run, Jacob... don't let em catch you...

*The mage watched as they quickly left his chamber, hoping they'd have a safe journey. Minutes later, the niearcim mage came across the entrance to that very same room. He examined the wall, and a crumpled map he held in his hands.*

Niearcim: Interesting... This wall should not be here. Let's remove it then...

*The mage slashed the wall open, smirking as he was sprayed by the structure's blood. He dragged his weapon along the walls as he walked in, finding the room surprisingly empty.*

Niearcim: This room should be filled with victims. I don't believe our slaves are THIS lazy...

*Umlot held his breath, doing everything he could to stay silent. Fear took a hold of his mind as he silently willed the mage to simply leave.*

Niearcim: Ah well, I'll see to it later...

*The mage began to leave, but stopped. He then suddenly hurled his dagger behind him, the blade slicing through one of Umlot's tendrils. The poison worked it's way up the appendage, and began to burn at Umlot's body... he couldn't take the pain... He fell to the ground, screaming.*

Umlot: NO! YA CAN'T! YA CAN'T TAKE ME THERE, I WON'T GO! I WON'T GO TO THE CITADEL!

- - - - -

*Jacob shivered as the group moved on, more motivated to do so after hearing Umlot's pained howls. He silently renewed his vow to find a way to break the immortality curse and free his friends...*