video - open to both courts

[digophelia]

[ Alice is outside of Caer Scima's courtyard in a brisk walk. She has the vorpal blade in one hand and elven sword in another. It feels strange, the sword. It's heavier than what she's used to and the way she uses it, she's not experienced in it. As usual, the way she attacks is frenzied, without a care of her own well-being, always bordering on being feral. She's already tried clubbing them with the knightmare hobby horse to no avail. The fact it didn't affect them leaves her visibly startled.]

It wasn't enough that we already made amends that we spilled blood on Death's Altar?!


[ She's cornered. Her mind's visions are twisted, there's a glimpse of something from her past. Fire. She is small, smaller than she is now. The way her visions twist together, it's hard to tell if it is a memory or a hallucination. She is small again, covered head to toe in bandages, wheeled down a dark, gloomy hallway by strangers-]

Stop it.

[ Alice warns holding out the curved sword. Now that her hands are shaking and she's nearly in a panic because what she fears most is fire.

You cannot help them.

But she refuses to fully succumb to this, she's never been this fearful in Drabwurld, not like this.]



[ She will not be pushed around, not anymore. She'll let the hounds of Hell have it by killing them. The horrified look on her face turns to a look of utter glee. She'll kill them.

She'll make sure they'll stay dead.

Because of the way she stabs them, even when they're dead.]

Comments

video;

[boutant]

Alice!

[ She's been working on fortifications, pausing when needed to fight off dogs, but this-

God, Alice. ]

Come toward the gates!

[ They can fight together. ]

video;

[digophelia]

[ Alice is feeling a particularly savage today, just a bit more than usual. The elven blade feels so strange in her hands, not unlike the vorpal blade. It cuts nicely, she'll give it that. Especially when she cleaves down on a dog's skull with a nice crack. She's just small, she has to use her hands to pull it out. ]

I'm coming.

video;

[boutant]

[ And that's something Ariadne really did not want to see. ]

Watch my back while I try to reinforce them- we have to keep them from getting in!

[ And then she closes the locket; Alice knows the way. ]

action;

[digophelia]

[ She comes in a flurry of blue butterflies near the gates, already feeling a little exhausted. With a huff, she glances around to see if she can find her as well as keep an eye on her surroundings. ]

action

[erythristic]

[they want her, reach for her with their teeth and their eyes and she could scream if her throat didn't feel like it had been closed up. back in what she had seen in the dragon's eyes (you are rotting, you are small and you cannot change this), choking on what she refused to admit even to herself (what are you anymore).

but when the one gets close enough to swipe its paw and tear at her shoulder, her sword is sheathed, and instead the roar of her scythe takes its place. it cuts, it should cut, and to be sure she laces fire into her attacks. cutting and burning until it is down and fades from view, the rumbling of the motor louder than her trying to catch her breath, and the fire extinguishes in her hand. sorry Alice, for bringing your fear into reality for a minute there.]

action 1/2

[digophelia]

[ She wasn't expecting that.

Alice wasn't remotely phased by the savageness of Grell's handiwork. She was about to even comment how well it cut through them and it was something that they need it. Only out of the corner of her eye she sees the fire and shrieks in fear. Fire? She was sure she hallucinated the whole thing, why is it in her hands? Why does it looks so real? ]

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[digophelia]

[ It costs her, that pause, when Alice was about to drop her weapons and take off from the sight of fire. She blames the dogs. She blames the fear she has been carried that they'll come right back up and she'll deal with them again.

She's afraid of Bumby showing his face and instead of recoiling in fear, Alice does the next best thing. Something that she knows better than anything else.

Violence. She turns to the dogs, cursing them running the vorpal blade through in a flurry of blue butterflies and flickers of blood. ]

[erythristic]

[the next one to come is another victim of magic, slammed against the stones below their feet with one gesture, dragged over with a second, and then decapitated with the scythe. that puts them in the clear for now, and she glances over to Alice's display when she has breath again. there is savagery and then there is a useless display when the corpses would fade into the air.]

They're dead, Alice.

[just in case she didn't realise.]

[digophelia]

[ She hasn't.

Intermingled with her own paranoia and hallucinations, she almost overlooks it. Still, a part of her compels her to completely dismember anything or anyone that's fallen out of that fear. Her hands are trembling, there's hair in her face, and Alice has stopped.

She didn't see Grell on fire, right? ]

Action;

[of_the_lake]

[The brief little song of an arrow flying through the air interrupts the charge of one hound. Lancelot, his shard blazing like a small sun in his chest, helped him shy past his madness and reach into the holy aura he once possessed. Every arrow he fired was holy, ripping apart each hound as it struck them dead on. He settled down in a clearing, not yet speaking up to Alice, rather than providing her cover as Grell had done as well.

He had only returned to Caer Scima to bury the bones he had been directed to, but it was sufficient enough to say that he could easily have become busy in other ways.]

Action;

[digophelia]

[ How dare they tap into her past and her greatest fear. How dare it be exploited again, just as it had been many times over. Alice is not used to sword fighting, so her strikes while brutal in nature tend to be erratic.

And she has little to no care for her own well-being, her actions are self-destructive. The hobby horse doesn't work on them, so she settles to be more personal, more brutal in nature. She barely glances out of the corner of her eyes while her hair obscures her features, looking more and more feral to see now who just came through the courtyard. ]

Action;

[of_the_lake]

[The bow carried the aura of holy might on it. Normally, such a thing would have been impossible given the darkness surrounding Lancelot's heart, but with his shard--he could force the right 'mindset' out that would allow him holy strength once more.

As such, Lancelot's presence was much more light and rejuvenating than it had previously been.]

Alice. [In a flurry, nine more arrows were fired in quick succession. The rate of firing was inhuman--just as quick as a semi-automatic weapon. More dogs collapsed, burning from the nature of Lancelot's holy presence.

Though--the use of his shard was still something new. Fairly quickly, he had gotten closer to exhaustion.]

Action;

[digophelia]

[ It's an impressive feat and she'll ask questions later. She had gotten so used to the dark presence he carried so it was unusual. Even then, she felt a little more at ease to glance to her friend.

He can see later how the hobby horse has no effect on them whatsoever. The familiar weight of her self-doubt sags on her shoulder where it could honestly be distracting for her.

Burning. Burns. It takes a lot out of Alice not to snap again, fall further into a psychotic break. She won't have it, she doesn't want anyone to see that, despite he's seen her at her worse. Alice is nearly getting there, seemingly enraged that they would dare threatening her friend.

She can't afford to get distracted again; she nearly falls, but quick to recover in the blue mist of butterflies. Once Alice has a nice clearing she can take a breather from the savagery that is her knife and sword work.

Alice feels ridiculous for her unorganized, chaotic attacks compared to those arrows. With a huff, Alice finally pulls her hair out of her face. ]

Lancelot.

action~

[bythewaves]

[ Song answers her, a silver blanket of Hope and Comfort that pours out and wraps around her, driving back the dogs.

Maglor comes into view after his voice does, his Light blazing clearly as he puts forth his power, the song cresting into triumph as the dogs break and flee and die before it ]

Alice! Alice, are you well?

action;

[digophelia]

[ It's hard to say with her currently. Physically fine, but the same cannot be said for her mind.

It feels like a healing wound has been exposed and in many ways, it is. She's replayed the vision of her past over and over, both conscious and not. She is done crying over it, she tells herself.

She's been fighting off the fear of fire, unsure if these visions are a horrible rendition of her mind or not. Suddenly, something passes over her that pulls her slightly out of that haze. Her arms are sore from cuts and bruises. Her fists are bruised and her dress is torn.

She's been at this for a while, she just realized. Alice turns to see him, looking disheveled. ]

action 4eva~

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor recognises that look, has seen it in his brothers' eyes, in his men after the Nirnaeth, in the ruins of Doriath and Nargothrond and Sirion, in the eyes of peredhel twins. Automatically he gentles, song now coaxing, sweet and kind ]

Alice. [ He calls her softly, with song as well as voice ] Alice, it is well, they are gone, for now.

[digophelia]

[ She looks at him, almost in disbelief. None of this can be real, can it? Her green eyes locked on him, still wide in terror. Knife in one hand sword in the other. She feels like she's going to be sick for a moment, blood in her mouth. Is it even safe to put her weapons back? ]

Mister Maglor?

video;

[playmakings]

Oh my gosh--

[ Focus, Kelsi. Focus. ]

Where--Where Are you? Listen, if you're near--uhm, if you're near the Seelie court I can help you, oh my g-- [ She cuts herself off. The sight is morbid and certainly nothing she's used to. She almost feels like throwing up, if only because of the blood, but she forces herself to remain calm. This girl definitely needed help, and then it hits her.

She's the girl with the heart mask. The one at the ball. ]

Re: video;

[digophelia]

[ Even in her haze, she recognizes that voice. She remembers her because Alice was so unused to compliments and the attention she received.

Something stirs in her when she hears the word "Seelie", causing her to push back a dog with the vorpal blade in addition to the sword in her left hand. She's just not that good of a sword fighter. Once Alice gets free space and catching her breath for air, she responds.

She resents the Seelie, but she's young. She doesn't need to get involved. ]

You need to stay inside as far away from them as possible. They've made their way over there, I'm sure.

video;

[playmakings]

But what about you?! If you're hurt, or worse--I don't want to see you like that!

video;

[digophelia]

I have lived through worse.

[ She doesn't say it with arrogance, but matter of fact, even a little icy. She twirls the vorpal blade in her hand and is committed to going back to work, in a sense. ]

Action

[forsworn_rose]

[Beatrix is a ways out from Caer Scima, perched on a rock enjoying a moment where the dogs weren't desperately trying to attack her, when she notices the recording on her locket. She hasn't been paying the messages much mind, except she recognizes where the girl is, and it isn't every day you see a young woman apparently going berserk on her enemies.]

[Hrm.]

[She clicks her locket closed and scoops up her sword, heading in Alice's direction. But the first the girl would know she was approaching would be when a wave of holy energy sweeps several of the dogs she is facing away and leaves them dead and dying on the ground a distance off.]

[The general comes into view a moment later, her visible eye narrowed and her expression thoughtful.]

Are you alright?

[She has her sword held loose but ready. She recognized reckless when she saw it, she had no idea if the girl would attack her or not.]

Action

[digophelia]

[ Alice has spent her time smashing through them all in an frenzy. Only occasionally glancing around here to see who and what was coming. She was too in-tune with the sound of the hounds around her, that the footsteps catch her off guard.

Alice was lurched forward with her hair in her face, with a crazed look in her eyes. She doesn't move towards her, pausing there unsure whether or not this means she can actually breathe.]

I'm fine.

Action

[forsworn_rose]

[Beatrix was clearly not convinced by that, though the girl's crazed look was a bit of a concern, really. Not so much to be dangerous, just unfortunate. And though she clearly wasn't dangerously injured, she certainly hadn't come through these fights unscathed. Hmm.]

I doubt that's true.

[After a moment, the general's eyes narrowed, and she brought her hand up to her face, whispering, just for a quick second, before gesturing towards the younger girl. A wave of white healing energy would swirl around Alice, dealing with the more minor of any cuts and bruises and temporarily relieving muscle strain and fatigue.]

Are you fighting by yourself?

Action

[digophelia]

[ Either it is another fantastic hallucination of her mind that the aches and sores in her body have dulled and the soft whispers aren't real or something just happened. But by now, Alice has stopped questioning these things, the mark on her hand an all too vivid reminder of that. She doesn't comment on that.

She feels that she has no choice but to be fine. Her hands steady on her weapons, gripping tighter. A few more moments ad she would have gotten sores on her palms. ]

There is no one out here, except for me.