Castle Hydra: Next Generation

[frostmourne]

Aza started to pushed herself up, but her arms gave out. The tree shivered and Jared came over and helped her to her feet. He stood slightly behind her, ready to catch her if she fell. There was a feeling of quiet tenderness in the way he didn't take her eyes off her. She looked exhausted but determined to stay awake. "I don't like being anyone else." she said, smiling wanly.

Adrian had also found a way into the tunnel, and the cave was starting to feel rather crowded. He was pressed against the wall and yelped when a tree branch fell on him. He turned to look at Jared. "You did that on purpose." he said accusingly. Jared was expressionless and didn't reply. Adrian quickly exited the cave once he saw another branch about to topple.

[lycrawaterz14]

"My Aza..." Kenan grabbed her and held her like a child with a teddy bear. "You're hurting her." Adele warned. He hissed at her, holding Aza closer but a bit softer. "S-sorry..." he murmured into her hair.

 

"You grew up with Arachne and Judaeo, Arachne a weaver of fate and Judeao a fellow reaper." Adele began again. "Weaver of fate? What is that?" he asked. "A decendant of the three fates, a weaver of destinies. Arachne challenged patron Athena, and in the human realm is a spider as punishment for losing. You were betrothed to her." "Not my Aza?!" "No. You met her at Castle Hydra, a high school for creatures not of the realm of humans." Adele nodded. "Arachne truly loves you, and this remains true to this day." Kenan growled. "I don't like her. I haven't felt this... This..." "Hate? Rage?" Adele offered. He shook his head. "Angry... Disappointed." Kenan tried. "Good. You're recognizing emotions..." Adele nodded.

[frostmourne]

Aza made a quiet choking noise. Jared blinked, protective gleam in his eyes. Aza shook her head slightly and leaned against Kenan lightly. "It's probably a good thing you weren't betrothed to Aza. She would have been mapping out an escape route before she even met you." Jared said quietly, looking amused. "Would not!" she protested. Jared raised an eyebrow. "I would be making you map out an escape route." "And he would have done it. Probably would have gone with you too." a shadow snickered. "And if he wants to recognize emotions...." A wicked smile danced on the shadow's face. "Don't you dare." Aza snarled. "Just kidding. But anyway, what happened to Judaeo or whatever that guy's name was?" He didn't seem genuinely interested, but he figured the information might be useful. Behind them the cocoon was dissolving, sending up wisps of smoke. Jared knelt by the cocoon and started raveling the silk onto a spool before it completely dissolved. "What are you doing?" "Might be useful for something."

[lycrawaterz14]

Kenan blinked. "Judaeo was in the Senate." Adele mumbled quietly. "No! No senate! They're going to take her away, NO!!!" Kenan clutched Aza closer, wood rage in his eyes. "Kenan, they aren't here. Forget about it for now..." Adele soothed, giving Adrian a dirty look. "Judaeo and Kenan were like brothers. Judaeo could mimic the actions and appearance of others, making him excellent to work with you as you worked on your fathers rare assassinations. Whenever the fates failed to kill someone, he would call on you to perform the duties yourself. You had one of the highest clean kill rates."

 

"Wassat?" he blinked. "Kills without disturbing other's fate." she nodded. "Over a billion clean kills in the course of your lifetime. Half of your kills were clean." she said proudly. Kenan looked like he might throw up. "I don't want to kill people..." he mumbled, nuzzling Aza, petting her sides. Adele sighed. "Well, this is a problem."

[frostmourne]

Adrian looked amused as Aza coughed. "Any tighter and you'll break her ribs." he chuckled. Aza tipped her head to the side as she thought. "Jared, could you do me a favor?" "Of course." "Cut my hand." Jared blinked as if he didn't comprehend what she wanted. "But you might not heal fast enough." "Just do it." she sighed. "I-" Adrian huffed impatiently, snatched a knife, and quickly stabbed her through the heart. Unprepared, Aza bit back a screech of pain. She whimpered as she slowly drew the knife out, swaying unsteadily. The wound wasn't closing as fast as usual and the amount of blood was starting to become worrying. "Now do you want to kill anyone?" Adrian asked with a thoroughly unpleasant smile. Aza shuddered and black spots were dancing across her vision from blood loss. A brief flicker of worry crossed Adrian's eyes, but the smile remained there.

Aza opened her eyes and looked at her wound. It was completely gone, but she felt even more exhausted than before. "Adrian, wanted to see whether I could heal mentally, not provoke Kenan into killing someone." she said in a voice hardly louder than a whisper.

[lycrawaterz14]

Kenan felt the wound, he could see her life force flicker and rage bubbled. He looked like he was ready to rip Adrian's eyes out.

 

He let Aza go, striking Adrian's face with the sharpened bones of his hand. He seemed rabid, unable to control himself. "No!" Adele said sharply, Kenan hissed, standing at his full height and hissing at Adrian. Adele swatted his head. "No!"

[frostmourne]

Aza toppled the moment Kenan let go, and Jared barely caught her. Adrian winced and felt blood streaming down his face. He did nothing to protect himself, allowing Kenan to claw him all he'd like. "Well, I think we've solved the problem of not wanting to kill anyone. All we'd have to do is get them to threaten Aza." he said cheerfully, daubing the scratch marks on his face with a odd pink paste. The wounds closed immediately and Jared eyed the poultice suspiciously. "Is that-" "Aza's blood mixed with a couple other things? Yup. Stop looking at me like that. She gave it to me for the burns since I kept setting things on fire when I'm around a kitchen." Adrian wiped the remaining blood off his face and looked at Kenan. "If I were you, I'd be more worried about her than me." He gestured to the barely conscious figure Jared was trying to get to sleep. Aza was stubbornly still struggling to keep her eyes open.

Edited March 5, 2012 by frostmourne

[lycrawaterz14]

Adele finally hit him in the head enough to knock some sence into him. He blinked looking confused. "Aza?" he whimpered, and nudged her. "S-sorry... sorry..." he tried to hold her.

[frostmourne]

Jared let Kenan hold her, but there was a hint of reluctance in his movements. He didn't seem to trust Kenan as much as he use to after his memory lapse. Aza was obviously starting to give in to the urge to rest. Her eyes drifted shut and Jared hurriedly made a cotton plant start weaving a bed. It was done in a few minutes,but it didn't look stable enough to support more than one person. Adrian was still trying to scrub off a particularly stubborn spot of blood. Suddenly the cave was plunged into darkness as the sun sank too far to shine through the chink. The softly glowing flowers provided a ghostly light.

[lycrawaterz14]

Kenan laid Aza on the bed after he bumped into it, laying her down tenderly.

 

"More stories?" He asked Adele. Adele nodded. "You two going to be alright standing here? Or you going to try to get him to kill you again?"

[frostmourne]

Adrian smirked and a armchair formed in one corner. "I'll leave the killing to Aza after she wakes up and finds out that-" The moment he sat down, he was bound and gagged with several vines. "We're fine. Please continue." Jared said quietly, leaning against the cave wall. He was toying with a dark sphere that Adrian seemed wary of. He had the chair move further away when the sphere started giving off a golden glow. Jared slipped the sphere back into his pocket. "Afraid of the Arclight?" Jared said with a slight smile. A few of the flowers drifted upwards and hung in the air. More flowers grew until the room was illuminated by a soft white light. The corner Aza was in remained dark as if the light was afraid to go near her.

[lycrawaterz14]

"Judaeo was like a brother to you..." Adele began again. "I'll leave the daily entries for you to read on your own time..." she sighed and flipped through the pages. "In fact... I'll leave the rest up to you..." Adele laid the book next to Aza. "You don't need to study now..."

[frostmourne]

The vines around Adrian retracted. Jared was jotting down notes, and Adrian turned his head slightly to stare at him like he was crazy. "You do know Kenan isn't one of your experiments, right?" Jared immediately snapped the notebook shut. "Sorry, force of habit." Adrian sighed, already restless. He knelt by Aza and prodded her awake. "Aaaazaaaa? I'm bored." Aza glared at him as well as she could with half closed eyes. She was already starting to drift back into sleep. Adrian poked her until her eyes snapped open and she was fuming. "Can we go to France?" Aza grabbed a rock and threw it at his head. Adrian caught it easily and continued to pester her. He sounded like a impudent child, but his real purpose was to keep her from falling asleep.

Finally, Aza sat straight up and marched out of the tunnel. Adrian trailed after her, but soon couldn't find her among the tall grass. Jared was watching him, amusement well concealed. He knew exactly where she was in the grassy sea. After all, he had just woven a grass hammock for her.

Edited March 6, 2012 by frostmourne

[lycrawaterz14]

Kenan whimpered, now alone without her. He cried out a bit, sounding like a lost animal. He began to panic, his hands trembling. He wasn't as skilled with regcognizing things without his memory, so he had no clue what was going on. His hands snatched up Adele's book, finding the idea of the stories comforting.

Edited March 6, 2012 by lycrawaterz14

[frostmourne]

Jared tipped his head to the side as he heard Kenan. "Aza, you may want to check on Kenan." a blade of grass whispered to her. She was at the tunnel entrance within seconds. She practically ran into the cave. "Sorry!" She pressed herself against Kenan, oddly seeming afraid that he would disappear. Adrian stopped just before he entered the chamber. A rare genuine smile appeared for just a second. It immediately disappeared as he felt another emotion from further away. As much as Aza implies she chose Kenan, I don't think she's fully accepted it yet. Sure, she adores him, but I wish she would just let Jared go. Every time he suggests leaving, she bursts into tears. She ought to make up her mind.

Jared remained outside, distinct feeling of loneliness bothering him. He left his post by the tunnel and wandered around the swaying emerald sea. He felt abandoned and like he was searching for something. He stopped by the edge of a cliff. He closed his eyes and tilted his head upwards. He looked like was about to just jump off the cliff.

Edited March 6, 2012 by frostmourne

[lycrawaterz14]

Kenan abandoned getting comfort from clutching the book to pressing up against Aza. He whimpered and held her shoulders being soothed by her smell and holding her. "Aza? Can you tell me stories?" he asked, afraid. Stories made hm able to see, the imagery allowing him to picture everything the way he would if her had eyes, could interpret like the others he knew...

 

A stray emerald butterfly landed on Jared's hair and Arache stepped out from behind him, bowin slightly. "I didn't mean to startle you." she murmured.

[frostmourne]

Jared jumped in surprise and tripped, nearly falling off the cliff. He backed away from the edge a little. "Hello Arachne." he gasped, still recovering from the shock of nearly falling. "I've been a little jumpy lately I guess." he said rather sheepishly. "How have you been keeping? I haven't seen you since the seminar."

Aza smiled a little and briefly shut her eyes as if thinking. "What story would you like to hear?" she asked. "Should I just recite my current favorite?" She didn't know who had written the story, nor did she remember who had read her it.

[lycrawaterz14]

Arachne surged forward to catch him, but he settled out himself. "I've been hiding... I thought it would be best for a little while..." she looked mournful.

 

Kenan smiled with glee, and nodded. "I don't mind." he grinned and took her hand.

[frostmourne]

"Two men occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene." Aza recited. "One morning, the nurse found the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. The other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said that perhaps he just wanted to encourage him. There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled."

Jared had a quizzical expression on his face. "What were you hiding from?"

[lycrawaterz14]

Kenan actually teared up, and laid on her shoulder. "Thank you..." He murmured, just laying there to think. He took her hand and gently held it, seeming appreciative that she was there... someone he could talk to.

[frostmourne]

Aza smiled and squeezed his hand. She could practically sense Adrian bouncing towards them. She gave Kenan a quick peck on the cheek before turning away, focusing on sealing the entrance. Adrian rapped the black wall in front of him lightly. "Not fair! Anyway, just wanted to tell you that Jared is now officially suicidal." Aza hand her hands over her ears, determined to block out whatever Adrian was saying. "She's not listening to me isn't she? Oh well. The itsy bitsy spider is probably having a pep talk with him or something." Adrian snickered. He leaned against the wall and started jotting down a list.

[lycrawaterz14]

Kenan growled at Adrian, mad at him. He still hadn't let go him stabbing Aza.

 

Arachne looked at Jared mournfully. "I judy needed to think, to hide out from everything for a bit... I've decided I want to stay with you... You are life and everything else here represents death...."

[frostmourne]

Jared smiled and looked for something in the grass. He picked up a large rock and tapped it a few times. "Dead, right? Nope." He tapped the rock a few more times and the relatively soft rock cracked open. Inside was a glowing blue creature that faintly resembled a frog with a tiny pair of fangs. There were bite marks on the inside of the rock along with a little water. "Adrian gave me one of these. He dropped the rock on my head and the frog bit me." He closed the rock with the frog still inside. "It's not mature yet. When it is, I'll just look like a blue frog. The fangs drop off like an egg tooth."

"Someone's a grump today. Two people are in fact. Aza still isn't listening is she? Oh well. Toodle-oo!" Adrian left the tunnel and the wall flickered and faded. Aza sighed with relief, but a few seconds later Adrian came back. "Encore!" Aza groaned and threw a rock at his head.

[lycrawaterz14]

Arachne smiled a bit at the frog. "Where is that from?" she asked, blinking. "I've never seen anything like it before."

 

Kenan nudged her cheek as soon as he went away, and almost beat Aza to tossing a rock at him. He growled slightly as he walked away. "I scratched his face... I'm sorry... He struck you..." he murmured, ashamed.

[frostmourne]

((What does Arachne look like again?))

"You can find them practically every where if you know what to look for. Unfortunately, the rocks can be any size, shape or color, so this was just a lucky guess. I found one here before and was hoping I would find one again." Jared said, brushing a speck of dust off of the stone. "I've been trying to figure out how they get into the rocks since the composition isn't right for it to be an egg. I honestly have no clue still."

"That was a misunderstanding. It was no one's fault. Adrian just did what he thought I wanted him to do and you were just trying to protect me." Aza said, tenderly nuzzling his neck. Adrian had dodged the rock, but started to creep out of the tunnel. He pretended to throw up as he watched the two.