Re: The Phenomenal Fracas! (GBS2G6): [Round Two: Witch's Haunt]
12-10-2010, 01:29 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.
Muriegro had been wandering around the garden with Lily for some time as the other contestants lost themselves more and more to the corrupting influences of the dysfunctional ghosts that pervaded the gorgeous manner. He, or rather, his handler, had to actually contribute to the conversation very rarely; the little girl seemed ecstatic to simply have someone to talk to after who-knows-how-long of being conscious and immobile at the bottom of a silent lake with fish nibbling at her remains. She had taken to calling him Murray and pointing at every object or place they passed and saying things like "And that's where I used to..." or "... the time I lost Dolly..." or "Daddy always told me...". The cultist and his god were content to follow her and glean what they could about the round's setting for now.
It was quite a placid walk; while near-drowinings and possessions and lightning fights were cropping up and disappearing elsewhere, the two figures of Lily and the priest drifted calmly through the eerie beauty of the grounds. At the same time as near-idle chatter was pouring from the illusory lips of the reanimated child, the pincushion was carefully investigating her dual nature. From the first few lines it heard from the second voice, Laguja had suspected that the calmer, more knowledgeable presence was essentially what had arisen from the girl's magical nature as the shackles of youth and life had unbound it; the idol's careful magical and mental prodding seemed to be bearing this theory out. It was still Lily in every way, but without the filter of childhood applied. It rather doubted that the girl let herself see the witch inside herself even now that she was dead, and so it was forced to manifest itself as a separate entity of sorts.
Lily stopped them at a small bench and fountain under a few picturesque birch trees and sat down, patting the seat beside her and smiling. Muriegro joined her, folding his ragged hands in the lap of his more-ragged robe.
"Thanks for getting me out of that lake, Murray. I really appreciate it! And you're so nice too..." She slipped her hand into one of the priest's and grinned sheepishly. "You remind me of my daddy before things got weird with him and my brother and the lake and the voices." The little girl, apparently oblivious of her companion's grotesqueness and savagery, leaned her head against him. "It's nice to be out of the lake, especially with nobody saying I'm the devil when they think I can't hear."
Laguja turned Muriegro's head towards his charge. "What exactly are you talking about? There is clearly some force at work on this house, but I assumed it was the doing of the one who brought us here."
Lily's innocent voice queried confusedly, but the godling tuned it out, focusing instead on her other half's response. "No, this house was cursed long before you or your handler arrived. I'm not sure why, but it began to twist and corrupt its occupants as they lived in it; part of me suspects it was my birth and the influence of my undeveloped powers that exacerbated what was a low-level haunting or demonic taint. In the end, the entire family was turned against itself, and my father killed me, convinced that I was possessed by Satan himself."
It was rather odd listening to what the more knowledgeable aspect of the girl had to say, primarily because her other half had by now laughed off the question and was swinging her legs idly and playing with the hem of her dress; the explanation continued despite her illusory mouth not moving and her apparent attention focused elsewhere. "No-one lived for much longer following my death of course. I was still unconsciously amplifying whatever malign force existed in the house even from the bottom of the lake, and the madness that had destroyed them continued to drag them further into the darkness. I don't know much about the events since my death, being bound to the lake, but I can sense that their souls are still trapped here, unable to move on."
Were he the one in control, Muriegro's eyebrows would have furrowed. Laguja been unable to detect any such spirits when it had searched the manor, but there seemed to be no reason to doubt her words. Perhaps another, finer search was in order... Its musings were interrupted when Lily suddenly jumped off the bench and grabbed its servant's hand. "Come on, let's go see the bees!"
The pincushion allowed its vessel to be dragged back along the path; it wasn't sure what its plan was at the moment, but it figured that the best way to achieve its long-term goals for now was to learn as much as it could about the witch and the house, and that meant sticking with the little girl. It was also rather nice to have someone who unswervingly cared about and respected it again; it wasn't the same thing as worship by a long stretch, but divinity can make do.
The odd pair reached the hives in little time and with no real interruptions; it was occasionally possible to hear snatches of raised voices coming from inside the house proper since the grounds were so otherwise quiet, but impossible to make anything out. Lily looked upset at their stillness and moved over to the closest one, calling out "Hello? Beeees?"; when there was no response, she tapped on the side of the hive.
There was a very faint sound, like a sudden sharp exhalation from a mouth several yards away, and a slight sense of vibration. Both lasted for only a moment, and following their passage was silence again. After a moment of Lily circling the hive and peering into its entry, the manor groaned as though every wooden beam and strut was being twisted to near-breaking, and a loud buzzing welled up inside the hives. A single worker flew out of the closest one; the girl smiled as the bee landed on her hand and crawled up her arm, and the house's screaming rose even higher. Finally, an enormous swarm rose from each of the previously-still apiaries and spread into the air, and the manor went silent, leaving only an undefined feling of dread permeating the air.
Muriegro had been wandering around the garden with Lily for some time as the other contestants lost themselves more and more to the corrupting influences of the dysfunctional ghosts that pervaded the gorgeous manner. He, or rather, his handler, had to actually contribute to the conversation very rarely; the little girl seemed ecstatic to simply have someone to talk to after who-knows-how-long of being conscious and immobile at the bottom of a silent lake with fish nibbling at her remains. She had taken to calling him Murray and pointing at every object or place they passed and saying things like "And that's where I used to..." or "... the time I lost Dolly..." or "Daddy always told me...". The cultist and his god were content to follow her and glean what they could about the round's setting for now.
It was quite a placid walk; while near-drowinings and possessions and lightning fights were cropping up and disappearing elsewhere, the two figures of Lily and the priest drifted calmly through the eerie beauty of the grounds. At the same time as near-idle chatter was pouring from the illusory lips of the reanimated child, the pincushion was carefully investigating her dual nature. From the first few lines it heard from the second voice, Laguja had suspected that the calmer, more knowledgeable presence was essentially what had arisen from the girl's magical nature as the shackles of youth and life had unbound it; the idol's careful magical and mental prodding seemed to be bearing this theory out. It was still Lily in every way, but without the filter of childhood applied. It rather doubted that the girl let herself see the witch inside herself even now that she was dead, and so it was forced to manifest itself as a separate entity of sorts.
Lily stopped them at a small bench and fountain under a few picturesque birch trees and sat down, patting the seat beside her and smiling. Muriegro joined her, folding his ragged hands in the lap of his more-ragged robe.
"Thanks for getting me out of that lake, Murray. I really appreciate it! And you're so nice too..." She slipped her hand into one of the priest's and grinned sheepishly. "You remind me of my daddy before things got weird with him and my brother and the lake and the voices." The little girl, apparently oblivious of her companion's grotesqueness and savagery, leaned her head against him. "It's nice to be out of the lake, especially with nobody saying I'm the devil when they think I can't hear."
Laguja turned Muriegro's head towards his charge. "What exactly are you talking about? There is clearly some force at work on this house, but I assumed it was the doing of the one who brought us here."
Lily's innocent voice queried confusedly, but the godling tuned it out, focusing instead on her other half's response. "No, this house was cursed long before you or your handler arrived. I'm not sure why, but it began to twist and corrupt its occupants as they lived in it; part of me suspects it was my birth and the influence of my undeveloped powers that exacerbated what was a low-level haunting or demonic taint. In the end, the entire family was turned against itself, and my father killed me, convinced that I was possessed by Satan himself."
It was rather odd listening to what the more knowledgeable aspect of the girl had to say, primarily because her other half had by now laughed off the question and was swinging her legs idly and playing with the hem of her dress; the explanation continued despite her illusory mouth not moving and her apparent attention focused elsewhere. "No-one lived for much longer following my death of course. I was still unconsciously amplifying whatever malign force existed in the house even from the bottom of the lake, and the madness that had destroyed them continued to drag them further into the darkness. I don't know much about the events since my death, being bound to the lake, but I can sense that their souls are still trapped here, unable to move on."
Were he the one in control, Muriegro's eyebrows would have furrowed. Laguja been unable to detect any such spirits when it had searched the manor, but there seemed to be no reason to doubt her words. Perhaps another, finer search was in order... Its musings were interrupted when Lily suddenly jumped off the bench and grabbed its servant's hand. "Come on, let's go see the bees!"
The pincushion allowed its vessel to be dragged back along the path; it wasn't sure what its plan was at the moment, but it figured that the best way to achieve its long-term goals for now was to learn as much as it could about the witch and the house, and that meant sticking with the little girl. It was also rather nice to have someone who unswervingly cared about and respected it again; it wasn't the same thing as worship by a long stretch, but divinity can make do.
The odd pair reached the hives in little time and with no real interruptions; it was occasionally possible to hear snatches of raised voices coming from inside the house proper since the grounds were so otherwise quiet, but impossible to make anything out. Lily looked upset at their stillness and moved over to the closest one, calling out "Hello? Beeees?"; when there was no response, she tapped on the side of the hive.
There was a very faint sound, like a sudden sharp exhalation from a mouth several yards away, and a slight sense of vibration. Both lasted for only a moment, and following their passage was silence again. After a moment of Lily circling the hive and peering into its entry, the manor groaned as though every wooden beam and strut was being twisted to near-breaking, and a loud buzzing welled up inside the hives. A single worker flew out of the closest one; the girl smiled as the bee landed on her hand and crawled up her arm, and the house's screaming rose even higher. Finally, an enormous swarm rose from each of the previously-still apiaries and spread into the air, and the manor went silent, leaving only an undefined feling of dread permeating the air.