Cimmerian Halls [Nayru/Remus]

[Deleted]

Got the doors open? Like, the big doors in the front...? Lafiel had a momentary mental image of a super buff Nayru ripping them off their hinges, but waved it off pretty quickly based on how phenomenally stupid it was. It had taken four naga honor guards to open that thing. And she should know, considering she was, you know... there. Trussed up like a S&M fetishist and mad as a hatter at the time. Less with the S&M now, but still hopping mad. Huh, there were a lot of ways to say you were mad, weren't there?

"Maybe." There wasn't much in the wise of genuine belief in Lafiel's neutral-ish tone, she certainly didn't sound super convinced that Nayru would beat them there, but as she thought about it it wasn't COMPLETELY impossible. "Maybe the mechanism broke and she found a way down into... whatever is below the floor, I guess? Where all the rocks were? So it could be a pretty straight path to... somewhere." Or not. The lamia wasn't really sure how it all even worked, but maybe the other woman had found something juicy. Speaking of juicy... "So hey, Remus, how'd you and her even meet anyways? And are you two, you know," she elbowed Remus with a knowing smile, "a thing, or what?" Gossip Machine Lafiel had no brakes and sometimes forgot that sublety was a thing entirely.

The downside of solving a maze efficiently, of course, was that it was boring as sin. You didn't have to make choices about which direction to go in, or really think about anything at all. You just followed a wall until you got where you wanted to be. She had picked the right wall, because it was the right choice, ha ha get it, f**k**g Gaea she deserved only the most agonizing death for that joke. But it DID mean lots of uninterrupted fun happy times with Remus... so she couldn't complain that much all things considered.

[Remus]

Mechanisms. All this talk of functioning traps and what overall a strange thing for the priest. Elibe didn't overly employ such devices. Yet this was not the first trap he'd run into and he imagined it wouldn't be the last on Vinland. Though, his thoughts became more nostalgic as Lafiel inquired as to Remus and Nayru's meeting. As the priest followed the Lammia, chuckling a bit even at the fondness of his recollection, he spoke up. Clearing up the mysticism of his and her friendship. The entire time his tone having as much of a Remus-y sound as anyone really could.

"Ah! Haha well. I er..was trying to use what little money the church could allocate for me, to hire guards so I could cross Elibe to bring a lost child home. I er..take care of orphans, and well...one was lost in a very dangerous place. These um...two gentlemen tried to take that money and when I wouldn't yield it they attempted to harm me and possibly kill me. Nayru then showed up when one was about to hit me, and well...I had to heal them so they wouldn't die of internal bleeding. It was er..simple as that! We've helped eachother out through some tough fights. I've healed her a few times, she saved me from um...bleeding to death and assassins...and monsters. Oh and the time I almost fell to my death getting here. Though I saved myself from that explosive trap on the way here! First time my magic's come in that handy!"

Chuckling faintly before flashing a warm smile, the priest rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as the Lamia nudged at his side. He shook his head in mock-exasperation before gazing ahead brightly.

"Ah! Haha um..Me and Nayru? Goodness no. Purely platonic. I don't believe I could ever be that type of guy for her. I don't think I'm quite her type romantically. If um...she even has one. Heh, come to think of it, I don't think I'm much of any females type! If I am, I haven't run into them yet~ Ahah."

The priest chuckled a moment further before he turned to gaze at the Lamia with a bright smile. Head tilted as he followed slightly behind her, walking in step(slither?) with her bodies motions to the best he could.

"It is very kind of you to ask though, Lafiel~!"

[Deleted]

Orphans, murder hobos, and... assassins. Huh. Was Remus actually someone important, or just prenaturally gifted at attracting trouble? Aside from a sneaking suspicion that it might just be a little of both, she didn't really know which was more accurate. One interesting thing that she caught onto was the mention of internal bleeding though. One, because a lot of people barely even knew it was a thing, and two, because usually speaking if you cut someone in half they didn't die from internal bleeding, they died from having their insides become outsides. It was interesting because it implied Remus knew more about the human body than just the magic healing aspect, and also because it implied that Nayru used blunt force - and more importantly was an actual fighter rather than just a whiny hanger-on.

Also gave Lafiel a bit of pause in the wake of some of Nayru's comments earlier on. Those spikes holding her down when imprisoned had been driven in pretty deep, and SOMEONE had torn them out of the ground... she couldn't be anywhere near as strong as a naga, even most taguel weren't and there was no way a human could beat that, but it did suggest that at least by human standards Nayru might actually be pretty physically able. Probably couldn't extrude her muscles to become immune to swords though.

Any witticisms or genuine questions about Remus's explanation died stillborn in the lamia's throat as the well meaning but INCREDIBLY f**k**g DENSE continued. Lafiel could literally feel gravity redirecting itself around him as the center-mass of the entire universe, because nothing in the history of humanity, taguel, dragons, Vinland, Elibe, or the entire f**k**g planet had ever reached such a perfectly dense state of existence that it comprised all of the matter to have ever existed. If she'd had legs, the snek would have stumbled and faceplanted in the ground instantly, but unfortunately that was kind of... difficult without legs, and she had really good balance, so instead she just had a minor aneurysm as most of her brain cells simultaneously committed suicide, reducing her to a drooling cretin.

At least that was how it went in her head, in practice Lafiel cringed a little and considered ramming her head into the wall until thinking stopped hurting. It was, er, a little... completely destructive to her entire ego that he literally hadn't even noticed her flirting with him at all. All her feminine wiles, the hair flip, accentuating her boobs, and he didn't even UNDERSTAND what she had been trying to do. If he just didn't like lamias, ok, she could live with that. Not everyone wanted to f**k a snake, Lafiel of all people (taguel?) knew that people had sexual preferences, but he actually legitimately hadn't noticed.

Unfortunately for Remus, Lafiel was about as stubborn as he was dense, so despite losing the battle she wasn't quite willing to surrender the war.

She did feel a little bit more empathy for Nayru now, though.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find a nice girl eventually," was all Lafiel managed to think of to say, her tone carefully neutral and not at all indicative of her actual opinion on the matter. She wasn't sure if Nayru was a hopelessly forlorn lovebird or a grim shepherd for the clueless Remus, but that was a battle to be fought another day. "In the meantime, how ya holding up? We've been walking a while and it sounds like you'n'Nayru were exploring for a while before that too. We should try to get out of the maze before resting though, just in case there's some crazy trap crap that fills it with poison gas after 30 minutes or something like that." The irrepressible snake grinned, her mood slightly raised from the shocked horror of a few moments before by her little joke... even if it was more macabre than actually funny.

[Remus]

Ahhh yes. Traps. He'd had enough of those to last a life time. Remus nodded brightly though in response to her optimistic words about his potential wit the opposite gender, and continued in stride. He pondered briefly as to her concern for his well being. When he dwelt upon it he certainly did notice a soreness in his legs that he was not often accustomed to. Though he imagined that extra doses of "Nayru" in his life lately had led to that outcome. Climbing. Walking. Running. Walking. More walking. MORE walking. Then searching. Followed by a chance of pace for once, walking. Then they'd found the temple. That'd led to a bit of a shocking turn of events. Walking. Followed by a bit of cautious walking. Then slower cautious walking. Now back to walking. Needless to say, he was a bit walked out. Remus wasn't one to complain openly though, and attempted to conceal this with a healthy dose of belittlement.

"Ah, haha~ Who knows! Maybe I will~. Hmmm... I think I will be okay until we can get out. Heh I'm not one to quit when others are rarin' to go! I think until we get out of the maze, I should be able to carry on! Though I will hope to at-least sit down if your okay with it when we get out~"

His chuckle served the place of a closing statement while the priest continued following the Lamia. The projection of light really took no effort to maintain, but he was feeling fatigue begin to accumulate. Winding paths. Turning hallways into twisting corridors. It all began to blend together endlessly within those dark corners of the labyrinth. The faint patter of his footsteps and the rather unique sliding sound Lafiel's body made as she slithered along the surface were ultimately the only ones for quite some time. He was quietly pondering what would be best to bring up next only to draw a blank. However, he would occasionally cast a glance towards the lamia as he examined her further. Her body movements. Her appearance. Physique.

He was still trying to draw an adequate comparison and contrast between herself and him. Where her body was likened and where it differed. The obvious options stood out most. Despite this, he couldn't help but feel a familiarity with her simply by association with Nayru. He was desensitized to the oddity of sorts so it did not bother him anywhere near as much as he imagined it would most Elibians. After countless minutes, and an unknown distance of steps, Remus found his light spreading into a much larger chamber. The walls ending as they gave birth to a open space before them and a much more spacious room. The priest turned to look around, speaking with a faint touch of confusion in his tone.

"Erm...Lafiel are we in the archives?"

[Deleted]

Lafiel considered plan B - grab Remus and jam his head into her chest until she cured his denseness or he fainted from suffocation, whichever came first (heh, came) - but ultimately shelved the plan for the time being in light of the fact that Nayru might actually use her as a jumprope if she found out. Lafiel was pretty proud of her supple body and also being like five times longer than the average person, but she had never been so abused and didn't really want to find out what it was like. She was just hoping the sealing thing hadn't awakened her inner S&M fetishist or something, didn't need to fuel it any further. Remus's talk of doors also left her with the unpleasant mental image of Nayru closing doors, repeatedly, on her head, until she stopped moving, and THAT too was something that snek would hiss nervously about.

The labyrinth itself was unfortunately devoid of big strong minotaurs and deadly gas traps or LITERALLY ANYTHING INTERESTING AT ALL GAEA DAMMIT, and after the binding... thing, Lafiel was already two steps to hell in the wise of stir crazy in confined spaces, so when the maze ended - and on the other side, no less! - she was more than a bit happy. She even threw her arms in the air, pirouetted (it was kind of cheating when you're a snake with a pretty big counterweight), and said "woo" with only about 30% sarcasm. There wasn't even a giant golem or murder dragon as a final battle! At least not yet anyways. ...Did she just jinx it? Dammit. If they ran into a dragon in the next five minutes she was going to friggin-

Hurricane Nayru struck like a jilted lover, plummeting from the great beyond in a cloud of dust and dirt and choice expletives that surrounded her like a cloud of bees. Also the girlish shriek of a lamia whose overactive imagination had already supplied at least 30 extra feet of scales, teeth, and fire, accompanied by a jerk backwards and tentative coil into what could very very very loosely be described as a defensive position. After taking a moment to gather her wits, such as they were, Lafiel jabbed an accusatory finger to the other woman and spoke out with the righteous fury of... she was too busy being hopping mad to think of a good simile. "YOU CAN'T DROP OUT OF NOWHERE LIKE THAT I thought you were a frickin' dragon or something oh my god my heartrate is in the quadruple digits."

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

Guaaaaaargh. Slightly dazed and very sore, Nayru ignored the annoying buzzing of a shrill fly and tried to collect her thoughts, and possibly internal organs, it took a second to make sure those were still internal and not say, all over the walls. In retrospect, stepping on a magic circle and pushing the big red button nearby had... probably not been one of her better ideas, but it was red and shiny and THERE, and a woman of science could hardly leave such wondrous mysteries untouched and temptations unchallenged, could she? Of f***ing course not that was a stupid goddamn question.

Unfortunately, she was back to sharing a world with that daft snake (and Remus), the first half of which was less than ideal. "The world is full of wonders, Lafiel." Nope, no sarcasm at all in her tone, and even less superciliousness. Deeeeeeefinitely not taking the low hanging fruit to dump on the obnoxious snake. Not particularly worried about her well being, Nayru swept her gaze over Remus to ensure he was still in one piece, and not sporting any obvious hickies, backwards pants, or dazed expressions that would by necessity result in a Talk(tm) with Lafiel. He seemed fine, so she just waved at him with a casual "sup," then turned back to the task at hand as she dusted herself off. "Man, did you know they actually had a giant fuckin barrel of snakes to dump in the maze? The mechanism was busted, but seriously, that's what I call attention to detail. Just imagine, you're walking down some random hallway, and then BAM, everything is snakes. How were those things even still alive? Musta been there six, seven, eight hundred years. Crazy right?"

There was probably some irony in the whole lamia being murdered by venomous snakes thing, but the two idjits seemed unscathed so Nayru didn't spend much time worrying about it. "So hey, is that supposed to be the Archives, or...?" Trailing off, she wandered towards the door in question, forced to stop by the unfortunate reality that she was actually NOT able to walk through a solid wall of stone. What had once been an open doorway, a metaphorical portal to knowledge, was now... kinda busted looking and full of rocks. Like, a lot of rocks. She actually couldn't see inside at all.

All BS aside though, that wasn't really what grabbed her attention. There was something... else about the door before her. It took a minute for Nayru to place it, she didn't have quite the senses of some of her kin, but it clicked after a moment when she realized her nose itched. The smell. No, the stench. There was something old here. Something dark. She could smell the Nether clearly, more so than she had since... well, honestly, it was really only the tomb in Bern that she had gotten a similar feeling from, and the events THERE had... well. This wasn't something she wanted to drag Remus into.. or even Lafiel, for that matter. Much as she wanted to punch the lamia in the face, after getting roughed up in the 'abandoned' lab, Nayru wasn't quite as eager to jump headfirst into danger quite like that with two people to protect in tow.

Sure raised some questions about exactly how 'natural' the cave-in had been, though, and why the snake tribe had ALL left in a hurry.

"...Yeah, we're not getting in there today." It was both the truth and a a well-meaning... distortion of sorts. Nayru had a feeling they could probably find a way in with some work - maybe not from this door, but somehow - but this wasn't a good day to go for it. These ruins had stayed undisturbed for centuries; the secrets they held would still be there when she came back... preferably alone... and braved what lay within. Nayru smiled wryly, a little regretfully, but wiped the look off her face as she turned to face the other two, wearing a smile that looked more genuine than it felt. It was a little disappointing to have come so far and been disappointed like this, but the last thing she wanted was for Remus to get hurt, he was definitely pushing himself too hard today even if he wouldn't admit it, and so Nayru had to bear it for his sake. "You two've had a pretty long day, whaddaya say we head back to the surface and start looking into somewhere to sleep?"

[Remus]

Remus was fairly tired of confined places. Of spaces so tight he couldn't freely stretch his arms out in any direction and just get comfortable with not touching ancient solid rock wall. He was also getting tired of soul crushing absolute murder darkness. It was starting to fade from daunting and into exasperating, as the fears of drifting shadows became more akin to desensitizing than anything. How far away those lingering shadow lurking horrors felt when you'd been walking for hours with relative silence minus a few incidents, and been faced with life threatening situations more than a few times in ones life.

So the blue haired Etrurian priest was exceptionally thrilled at the prospect of finding open space once more. Not anywhere near as thrilled though as a moment later when Lafiel went flailing backwards past him, while shrieking in blood-curdling terror. The Nayru sounding explosive impact, plus the visible sight of a very familiar silhouette prompted a chuckle as the priest spoke up in his bright tone. His smile visible within the faint warm blueish light that he projected for them to see by and traverse the dark through.

"Oh hey, Nayru's back~ heh."

Lafiel on the other hand had a bit more intense of an outburst. The typical Nayru-ish "Sup" and wave was all the priest needed to know she was safe and sound. He nodded brightly and waved back to her before averting his gaze to the doorway behind that Nayru soon took a notice to as well. The Dragon spoke of traps she'd averted, which prompted him to wonder the big question(to him at-least).

Why is this place so heavily guarded. What would be so important that they'd have to layer it or immerse the paths around with such lethal traps. Shouldn't an archive hold knowledge for all to indulge in?


Oh. If only he knew. How he would soon though.

The priest turned back to Nayru as she commented on the un-accessibility of the archives. While admittedly, he'd hoped to see what was in this place with quite a burning desire, Nayru had a point. Besides, they'd always be able to come in at a later time. They (sort of) knew how to get back there, and had a guide now! Not to mention, some of the traps wouldn't be there to threaten them any longer. Other traps, the priest had seemed to avoid springing. Though, speaking of Lafiel...

"Your welcome to join us by the way, once we establish a camp of some-kind, Lafiel. I imagine you'll want to rest up plenty after what you were through. If you end up having wounds that need tended and didn't realize them until a later point please do not hesitate to tell me and I'll mend them for you. It's one of my few talents."

The priest smiled brightly before looking to Nayru with brimming gaze of elation while the priest shifted his poise to clasp his staff with both hands while thoughtfully leaning upon his staff as he looked to his draconic comrade.

"I could definitely use some rest~ heh. I'll not object!"

[Deleted]

Yeah. Full of wonders. Wonderful levels of bitch, that was. If looks could kill, Nayru's immortality would have availed her little as she was torn apart by the baleful gaze of someone who was most assuredly NOT a gorgon, despite her wishes for stoning gaze or at least laser eyes. Unfortunately, in the real world, Lafiel did NOT have a bunch of superpowers so the exasperating adventurer did not spontaneously combust or otherwise meet a horrific fate, leaving the displeased lamia to stew in her own impotent fury as the other two talked about a bunch of dumb stuff that no one cared about.

Making a token inspection of the once-doorway,though, Lafiel had to admit that Nayru did have a  point there. She couldn't even see inside the room at all - it wasn't just a minor blockage, but most or maybe even all of the entire archives had caved in, to the point that she didn't think even a naga could brute-force their way in. Or out. Ughhhhhh. If she'd found it herself, the snek would have been disappointed but pragmatic - but having to agree with NAYRU of all people made her want to fight it to the bitter end, in pursuit of a moral victory if not one of intelligence. Admitting that they weren't getting in would be /agreeing/ with Nayru, after all, and some things just weren't right. She was a woman of beliefs after all, of class and a moral fiber that - yea that didn't even sound convincing in her own head.

Caving to the pressure, Lafiel morosely agreed to the plan, perking up a little bit at Remus's offer to accompany them. Oh she was gonna accompany the crap out of him alright. Poor guy wouldn't know what hit him. Lucky guy? With her mood somewhat restored, she also remembered that she knew the way out of the horrible ass crack of the universe they were currently lodged in, a maintenance access way she had planned to escape out of after freeing herself. Of course the humans had shown up before she could enact her daring escape, but she would have gotten to it... eventually... just as soon as she grew super strength... yea anyways.

The journey back to the surface was boring as sin, on account of being completely uneventful. No one was dumb enough to trap maintenance routes. Kind of a design flaw if you thought about it though, made it the best way to get in and out... hmm. Whatever. Regardless of those minor concerns, when they emerged Lafiel was ecstatic to feel the light and warmth of... night... the sky was still reddish, but it sure as heck wasn't daylight anymore. Not that she had a circadian rhythm to work with anyways, days of darkness and all. But she managed to convince herself that it was a new beginning nonetheless, a still more glorious dawn awaiting that would propel her into the hearts and minds of... something. She'd have to figure out what to do next, what with being kinda sorta a SUPER outcast now. Meh. Wasn't her first string of reckless decisions with potentially disastrous consequences. And so the indefatigable lamia pressed onward, slightly sore but in the highest of moods, already more or less over the whole 'exiled from everything she had ever known' angle on account of snakes being a bunch of jerkwads anyways.

---------

From a bluff half a mile away...

"There she goes," came the deep baritone of the larger of the two watchers, his craggy blueish-green skin accentuated by the heavy emerald armor he wore. "You aren't going to say goodbye?"

"She has chosen her path" came the response, silky smooth and hard as diamond in dichromatic harmony. A woman, not a girl, shaped by the realities of their world into what she had become. "She will find her destiny, or it will crush her." She stayed almost perfectly still, arms crossed, but he did not miss the slight incline of her head towards him as she continued, her tone perfectly neutral. "-And I see she does not leave empty-handed."

The Sacred Treasures. Busted. He awaited the justice that did not come for a time, before it finally clicked. "You aren't stopping her?" It was... uncharacteristic, so much so that despite the severity of his crime he spoke nonetheless.

In her silence was the answer he sought, and in that moment he understood. He hadn't been the only one to offer a gift. But only one of theirs would ever be known to the recipient. Kindness or weakness, hers would be wreathed in shadow. As necessary of her position. But it made the truth no less sorrowful.

There was nothing left to say, so he simply waited as the woman watched the retreating duo until they disappeared into the jungle. Life in the coven would resume tomorrow the same as it had yesterday. But a torch had gone out, one that he suspected would never burn again, and the coven would be darker still for its absence. It was not his place to judge though; she would bear the burden of that decision for the both of them. And he would still support her, as he always had. Out of duty, and out of respect for the woman he had once known. He had learned today that she was still alive... just hidden. Perhaps someday she would emerge again.

He had a feeling Lafiel would be involved somehow if it ever did happen.

[Finis]