Kylie (Courage Wolf)

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

"Revenge, justice, it's the same thing with a different name in my opinion. And I wish I could have met him too. But who knows, maybe we can one day. I mean here in the Netherworld you see all sorts of exalted people from all over Midgar. So it may be possible to find him someday if you ever wanted to, and then I could meet him," Giselle said, hugging Kylie and smiling kindly at her. "I just want to see you happy and smiling. Seeing you sad and everything makes me sad too," she went on to say, hugging Kylie some more and kissing her on the neck.

Together they headed downstairs, where they saw the others all gathered around the dining room table eating breakfast. They all waved to Kylie, Giselle, and Maria, but didn't stop them, as they knew the three had already eaten breakfast in bed. Once outside, Giselle pointed westward towards the mountain that Kylie could make out in the distance. It was a very tall mountain, and snow capped the top of it and stretched nearly halfway down, despite them being in the tropical environment they were in. "That's where the Ice devils of Hespera have their holds. Cosimo and Elise both told us last night before we left the bar that Orik lives up there and is married to the daughter of the countess of the ice devils," Giselle said as she pointed up at the mountain.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

Kylie had had enough officially of being comforted, and the moment that Giselle said such a careless thing, she vanished. Literally out from under their noses, tears running down her face and heading off on her own. She never got the directions to Orik's Forge, not from Maria or Giselle who she left behind entirely, on a rooftop and out of reach in short order. The only direction she'd received now was Center of the island, but instead she headed for the lighthouse, and then out onto the open water, striding out into the surf to be alone for a few hours. She was too tired to fight. And she doubted her Brother wanted to see her ever again. She was the reason he was dead. Last words or not.

And this nonsense about the Exalted out here in the netherworld. Her brother had never done anything to be exalted. He had simply faded away like a candle. Vanished. Dead. Gone.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

As soon as Kylie had vanished mere moments after Giselle spoke, her siren fiance turned to find Kylie gone. "K-Kylie... where'd you go? Kylie! KYLIE!" Giselle asked before calling out for Kylie in a very worried tone as she frantically looked around for Kylie.

As she fled away from Giselle and Maria, Kylie was easily able to leave them behind and was soon on her way up to the lighthouse again. She passed by the very place the fight had happened at and around the lighthouse, spotting no rotted corpse of an Atropal, which let her know that they had at least been cleaned up and gotten rid of. As she made her way out across the water once down at the ocean, Kylie spotted a couple of ships in the distance that had fishing nets out, and about half a mile out she saw a small sandbar like island that had only a single palm tree on it that wasn't overly large. The little island had about fifteen feet of space from end to end and was a very good spot for being alone, as nobody was around and the fishing ships were too far away to even see her.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

Kylie idly wondered if Giselle was ever going to remember how her ring worked. Probably not. It seemed to be an amazing blindspot with Giselle. But while she was panicking and flailing around a tiny paper airplane smacked her in the forehead that read, when opened. "Stop shouting. Need some Alone time. Love, The woman who lives in your house with a pet squid and his squidlets."

Confident that would stop her from losing her mind while she took care of herself, she headed to the Ocean! Which was big, and Blue, and annoyingly not empty. But the sandbar was! And that was like, only 15 feet! instead of 2000 miles. SO it was easier for THAT to be empty then the whole ocean and she headed there.

Once there, she dropped in the sand and looked up at the sky.... And nothing else.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

As soon as Giselle was bumped in the forehead by the paper airplane, she yelped slightly and grabbed the thing up and quickly opened it to read it. "I'll shout all I want Kylie! And you aren't just the woman who lives in my house, you're the woman I love and want to be with dammit!" Giselle called out as Kylie set off.

...

As she flopped back onto the tiny island, she looked up at the sky and saw the sun beaming straight back at her for a minute or so before it was hidden behind a cloud. The cloud looked almost like a sword and the tip of it covered the sun first. As she lay there, Kylie had plenty of time to herself, as nobody was around, at least for a few minutes anyway. She heard the water splash a bit as a sea turtle flopped up onto the sand next to her, where it flopped along past her, seemingly not caring she was there.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

Kylie could empathize with the sea turtle. It seemed to say "Don't mind me strange black and pink monkey thing. I mean only to relax. I hope you do the same." as it waddled along, Kylie throwing obscene gestures at the sword cloud for awhile. Everyone always had something to do or say. Some reason to put their foot into their mouths. She didn't want to see her brother again. She was the reason he was dead, there was no changing that. And no amount of I'm sorry's and It's alright's would Ever make that pain go away. She suspected she'd never get over that, just a chip on her shoulder that would never fade.

Even if he popped up right now and Said "Kylie I forgive you I know it's not your fault" Not only would she not listen, but she'd smack the shit out of him for being so damned stupid, and then never speak to him again. She deserved to be hated.

Or she'd run away from him. It would be a reunion that would never happen, it wasn't even funny to joke about it. She'd done too much, that would probably truly break her. She didn't know what to do with the swords. They should have been buried with him, not touted around and given out as gifts. Nor would she give them to her children. These were the tools of a murderer. Not a warrior, not a duelist, but in the end, something to kill with. Her children would have no business learning the arts like she had. She wouldn't allow it. Likely just how her own Mother had wished for the same.

She had access to the vault now at least... Though she'd never take the title Cosimo had tossed around, She refused to lead the branch, there were others who cared more. Her ability to simply faded now with her own problems and life to lead. There was a war brewing and people to kill and gods and monsters and demons and she just didn't care. She was going to be married to someone who would outlive her by 500 fucking years or more. That was her problem. And Giselle still tried to hug her and tell her it'd be alright, and it was all fine so long as love was involved.

Kylie stood and screamed at the top of her lungs at that. She was fast losing her patience with that kind of placating simple minded bullshit. That was really all it was too. She was being pet on the head and told not to worry like a small child. She knew full well Giselle was a fighter and knew better. She'd have to have a talk with her, or let her burn it all out on Maria. For the first time since the introduction of the idea, it seemed a Harem wasn't a bad idea. It would at least get her away from shit like that when all she really wanted was to be left alone to lick her wounds.

Meet her brother... Kylie would kill herself before she allowed him to see her traitorous face again. He deserved better then to have to look at his killer like that. Whether she'd held the blade or not. And with that, she started to stomp back towards the shore, gutting some kind of shark that leapt at her with her long knife as she ducked under it, hardly seeming to notice.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

The sea turtle continued flopping past Kylie, stopping and pulling itself into its shell when she spoke to it, but after a minute it came back out and simply lay there a few feet away from Kylie and lazed about. As she lazed about with the turtle there on the island, Kylie grew more and more stressed as she thought about her brother, until finally she stood up and screamed as loud as she could to the top of her lungs.

Setting off back to shore, Kylie did have a shark jump out of the water at her, where she easily sliced into it and killed the thing before it could grab her. Other than that, she saw a dolphin glide past through the water, chirping at her as it jumped up out of the water and splashed back down, landing in a way that Kylie barely got hit by the spray of the water.

When she reached the shore once again, Kylie found that she'd came back up at the lighthouse again, where a few people were at looking out over the ocean, but paying her no mind really. She did see that the beach was starting to gather up people, a couple she recognized, being Tina and Selara, both of whom were being very affectionate with one another she could see as she went up the beach and didn't seem to notice Kylie, so she was still virtually alone like she wanted.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

Kylie didn't really want to interact too much, but she was in a slightly better mood and ready to move on with her day. Reaching down to her hand, she tightened her grip on her wedding ring and focused on Giselle, soon getting a direction and heading off that way quietly. She'd hug her Fiance from behind, and then kiss her cheek, ready to move on.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

When Kylie slipped up behind Giselle and hugged her, finding her near the temple finally. "Oh goddess... Kylie you scared the hell out of me," Giselle gasped suddenly, glancing over her shoulder. "And don't do that anymore sweetie, you really worried me," she went on to say, hugging Kylie back and refusing to let go when Kylie started to pull away, slapping her gently on the cheek in a way that didn't hurt at all, but was simply to try and get her attention.

"I don't know what sparked that, but I don't care," Giselle told her after a few moments, still looking a little worried about Kylie, but not prying.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

Kylie just lewdly licked Giselle's face in response, hugging her back before likewise flicking her in the forehead in exchange for the slap. I just need to be alone sometimes, and lets just not talk about my brother anymore. cmon, where is this damned forge. she said, trying to smile. There wasn't any real success, but there was an attempt.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

"I couldn't stand being alone... ever. But, if you have to, then I think I can handle that. But only so long as you warn me before you leave again Kylie. You can't just do that to me. Because what if something happened to you and I didn't know where you were? I... I'd go crazy, I couldn't stand losing you too," Giselle said, tearing up as she spoke and hugging Kylie tighter.

After a couple of minutes, Giselle finally managed to stop sniffling and wiped the tears that had formed away, where she pointed up towards Mt. Gelugon again. "Orik's forge is up there at the mountain. And I won't talk about your brother if you don't want me to. But... I have to say that I don't think he would blame you for anything Kylie. You're his little sister after all, and a big brother would do anything for his little sis. At least all of the big brothers I've ever known do anyway. But enough about that, it's a long walk to the mountain, so the sooner we get going, the sooner we get there," Giselle said, kissing Kylie on the cheek and speaking in a serious manner with what she said before setting out for the mountain.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

Kylie didn't answer and the moment Giselle started to speak about her brother again, Kylie put her finger to her lips and shook her head. I'm the reason he's dead. Doesn't matter if he'd forgive me. I never will. she said plainly before they started off.

Ok. Mountain. That way. she said, starting to walk.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

Giselle stopped talking about her brother as soon as Kylie shushed her by putting her finger over Giselle's lips. She looked like she believed every word she was saying, but she wouldn't push any further right now, that much Kylie could tell. "Yeah, supposedly Orik is one of the best smiths anywhere. He's even made things for the gods if the rumors are to be believed," Giselle said as they made their way through the city. "We can also hire a carriage to take us if you'd rather not walk that far, as it is a few miles," she added, suggesting they use a carriage maybe unless Kylie would rather walk.

Regardless, once they were outside of the city itself, Kylie saw the land open up around them, the grassland view simply breathtakingly beautiful. There were farms there too of course, growing all manner of vegetables and other crops. There were both devils and mortals working the fields she saw, working in harmony with one another and the land. She even saw a trio of angels walking back towards Hespera city, the lovely ladies not having the brilliant white shining wings like Amara had, but instead having a faint pink color to their wings, and being no less beautiful to behold. "Angels of love," Giselle explained if Kylie looked over at her about the angels.

"Hello ladies, heading to the beach?" Giselle called to them as they passed by, with all three giggling and smiling.

"Aye, but first to the temple," one of them replied.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

Carriage it is. I already ran to a tiny island. Kylie said, soon getting such a horse drawn ridey box for them to use, and lounging in it. Literally. Lying down in Giselle's lap and closing her eyes. Bah. there's an angel for everything. Give me an Angel of Bacon. I already have Love. Kylie muttered, dozing in Giselle's lap as they rode.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

"A tiny island huh? Might have to take me there if it's far enough out of the way, for some alone time maybe," Giselle said as they climbed into the carriage.

...

"Hmhm, an angel of bacon eh. Now that would be an awesome angel indeed. Just pray to her, and receive loads of bacon to eat. She'd be one of the best angels ever," Giselle said when Kylie said what she did about angels.

The carriage ride lasted for another hour or so, with Kylie easily drifting off to sleep in Giselle's lap, who didn't mind in the least. Her nap was made easier when Giselle began humming softly and then singing after a minute or two, a song of relaxation Kylie could tell.

...

When Kylie woke back up, the carriage had just come to a halt, and Giselle was reaching out the window to hand the man that drove them out some money for the ride. "If you don't mind, we'll be heading back shortly most likely, so if you could stay then I'd be grateful. I wouldn't mind paying you extra for the trouble too," Giselle told the man.

"Sure thing hon, I don't mind staying. Beats having to go back right now when the day's so beautiful. I'll be around town if you need me, just check one of the taverns close by here when you're ready to head back. You're a couple of the best passengers I've ever had, and your song was beautiful miss," he replied to Giselle with a smile as he opened the door to help them out.

Giselle helped Kylie raise up and then get out, with the driver offering her a hand down, though whether she took it or not was up to her obviously. Giselle did take his hand on her way out, and once both were down Kylie saw that they were in a bustling town that was a little ways up the mountain. "Well here we are. There's two paths up, and I'm up for either. The first is head into the mountain proper and take the lift up, or walk the five thousand steps up. Take your pick hon. It's supposedly not a tough climb if you go via the steps," Giselle told Kylie as their driver went off to do whatever.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

Kylie woke when her back started to itch, and the smell of... Kaal? No, Dragons, came to her nose unbidden, smacking her lips before yawning loudly as she came back around, the magic in the mountain getting her attention in strange ways. Giselle's song had brought her back around from her brood and she laughed as Giselle said it wouldn't be a tough climb.

You Vastly underestimate the difficulty in 5000 steps. And the Exercise. Kylie said. But she thought about the person she was visiting. A legendary blacksmith and a dwarf to boot. It would be unwise to take the stairs when he'd gone through the trouble of installing a lift. It's his home, let's not turn away from his hospitality. Kylie said after a moment, moving with Giselle and the Silent Maria to enter the mountain and take the lift.

This will be interesting... Kylie said. She'd seen dwarves back home. Never spoken to one though, and certainly never underground. This would be very interesting indeed.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

"Eh five thousand steps might not be that tough. But you're right, they did install a lift for those that didn't feel like walking all of that. But I wouldn't mind walking it on the way back down, I've heard that it's a winter wonderland of sorts up here higher up," Giselle said, wrapping an arm around Kylie as they walked.

Maria had tagged along with them and remained mostly silent throughout the journey, having drifted off to sleep in the carriage with Kylie, She was now carrying one of their bags of holding with obviously a lot of gold and platinum in it for payment. When they arrived at the lift after going through a couple of tunnels in the side of the mountain, Kylie saw it was quite large and used for more than just moving people.

The journey up on the lift was mostly uneventful, but Kylie saw there were large window like cuts in the side of the mountain that allowed her to see out the eastern side of the thing, where she saw Hespera city in the distance and the ocean beyond. The city was easily as large if not larger from the looks of it than her old home city she saw. The further up they went, the cooler it got until suddenly a blast of heat warmed them up again, and Kylie saw what looked like a magical version of a space heater sitting in the corners nearest to the windows.

After a while the lift stopped and the ramp flipped down, and as she stepped out Kylie saw virtually another town literally inside of the mountain itself. She saw many dwarves and minotaurs roaming about, and some strange looking dwarves that had darker skin and a reddish hue to their eyes, as if they had devil blood. There were devils too of course, a few tall blue skinned ones that Kylie noticed, and when passing by one of them she felt a slight bit cooler.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

Kylie didn't have eyes for the view, or the town, or the devils, anything really. She was just holding Giselle's hand and looking to get it all over with. Something she'd been initially excited for now seeming far too tiresome and far too useless to matter anymore. She couldn't shake her depression and it was showing with how she slid between and pass people, soon letting go of Giselle's hand and not wanting to be touched.

Kylie... just didn't. She wanted to retreat to her own underground. To the quiet rooms and cells and shadows. She was homesick and in pain. She was tired and without any flare or vigor to her anymore. She missed the jungle as well. She was already tired of Hespera and the Astral sea. She'd had grand plans of her own, but what did they matter. Now she just wanted to kill something. Someone, She wanted a contract, she wanted to feel like what she did mattered again. And she didn't feel like it was all just wasted. She'd lost her drive, the Atropals had left her empty. Elise had left her empty. The fire that had kept her going was gone. She hadn't been this low in years. This place was bright and full of people, it stank of magic and confusion. Of pollution.

No contracts, no assassinations, no training, no reasons. Everything her identity had been built on, including revenge, seemed to have faded away and now revolved around these new people. There was a web she was tangled in as she examined her own thoughts and mindlessly stepped passed and around people, simply reacting. Had she changed? She hadn't thought she had, but maybe she had and for the worse. It certainly didn't feel better. What was she doing?

Kylie was starting to panic, she was getting more and more wound up, like an animal in a cage, like she couldn't escape the tangle of thoughts in her head. Now she was surrounded by people she didn't know in a place she was unfamiliar with without a reason to be there that felt justifiable and she just broke down, dropping to her knees in the street, sobbing quietly. Lost. Truly Lost for the first time in so long. She suddenly drew her brother's sword and stared at it like it was a snake. Some kind of grim reminder come to threaten her new life with her old one. Nothing was over, Nothing was Forgiven. Nothing would change. She was a failure. Her original family was all dead. She had no right to a new one. They'd all die too and it'd be her fault.

This spiral seemed inescapable to her, grim and hateful as she got to trace the threads of her fate back through her life and see and feel all the death that had happened around her because of her. It was all her fault. It would always be her fault, and her faults that destroyed everyone she loved. She laid down in the middle of the road, sword sprawled out on the road, tears streaking her face as she stared outwards without seeing anything, without hearing anyone. Lost inside herself and unable to get out. Eyes locked in her past and a possible future too terrible for her to stomach.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

As they made their way through the crowd, which wasn't overly large, Giselle and Kylie got split up, mainly because of Kylie letting go of Giselle's hand. As her mood worsened by the minute, her breathing quickening a bit as she started to panic, Giselle came up and hugged her.

"Honey... you don't look so good," Giselle said softly, looking very worried for Kylie and touching her forehead to Kylie's humming softly to try and calm her down. Seeing that it wasn't working as well as she'd liked, Giselle hugged Kylie as she turned her around to face towards her. "Let's go home okay. I'm taking you home," was all Giselle said after that, taking Kylie's hand and leading her back to the lift, giving Maria all of their things save the bag of money that Giselle had and giving her a look that said, "Deal with the rest please,"

Maria nodded and kissed Kylie on the cheek and told them that she would be on as soon as she finished up. Giselle scooped Kylie up and carried her back to the carriage, where she sung softly to relax Kylie throughout the journey. The two got to the portal, where Giselle paid for them to send the two of them back to Feynrial, where she was carried up to where she saw bright blue sky above her and Giselle hugging her. "I know what will cheer you up Kylie. We should go see Hope. If you want to," Giselle suggested, but didn't press this if Kylie wished to do something else instead.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: Kylie (Courage Wolf)

Kylie was rescued by Giselle and they went straight back home, away from everyone else, away from all the pain, and back to the jungle. She couldn't do cities anymore, too many people too many memories and imagined obligations to save the world.

She did go to see Hope, but only from afar. She couldn't bring herself to go any closer and she didn't speak for almost 2 days.

It was a week for her to recover and longer for her to leave the house after that, opting to stay in the basement with Bob and the squidlets, and Hope when she could visit with the others. She could feel Giselle's hurt through the ring, that it seemed nothing she did seemed to help and that was finally enough for her to decide she'd cried in the shadows long enough.
...

Out on the journey, Horus wound up sidetracked by a village in need, and Chesire simply faded from existence, vanishing into smoke as her plans were undone in an instant while Horus, no longer attached to the godling, forgot about the mysterious woman in his dreams in her problems, and over the weeks, came to stay in the village as a preacher.

...

When Kylie did finally surface, it was quietly, and gently. She'd waited for hours for Giselle to fall asleep, Giselle refusing to sleep in their bed together until Kylie was back in it herself, sleeping instead on the couch. She'd never left Kylie in the house alone and her sisters had handled everything. Looking down at her in the true early hours of the morning, just after midnight, she moved to touch her before she felt her hand slapped violently by a very pissed off looking High Elf. who was Glowing... White... Like the moon.

Kylie's attempted romantic gesture died right then and there as she glared at the woman who glared right back. Finally Decide you're done hurting her? she spat, before a similarly otherworld drow popped around the corner to the kitchen. Now now, everyone needs to heal now and again. Besides, not like you were helping anything. You meddle more then I do. Lets get her presents you said. AND then you gave her a baby? How is that a present? That's an 18 year commitment and a parasite for 9 months. Cute and loveable or not. Really? A fucking card wouldn't cut it? the drow said, hand on her hips, a gown of spider's silk hugging her form while the other was dressed in Nothing because she was a bit of a slut... as far as goddesses went.

O yes and you were sooo helpful! Her Brother's sword! That's just what she needed! If you weren't such a bitch sometimes this wouldn't have happened! Sehanine retorted quickly, what had been about to be a lecture to Kylie devolving into a sisterly argument quickly enough. Lloth seemed to think she was in the right and likewise with Sehanine and Kylie could only look between them, eyes spinning, like her breakdown had truly left her insane for a moment. The fuck do you mean a baby?! That glowing was you?! she asked suddenly, turning to the high elf, who waved her off with her hand. Grownups are talking. Shush. she said, while Lloth laughed. Yes, you're so mature. What were you in charge of? The moon and cheating husbands? she said, catfacing and starting to giggle while Sehanine turned bright red. That's it Bitch! This shit is on!

What happened next was 11 out of 10 parts confusing as the two goddess proceeded to have a fucking slapfight in the living room while Kylie watched, too out of her gourd it seemed to tell reality from her imagination, or if this was actually her imagination and simple disbelief wouldn't allow her to fathom two goddesses screeching at each other and pulling each others hair. Bitch! Slut! Skank! Cheap Skank!! You Dirty.. Come here damnit!


So yeah, that was going on. Flopping onto the couch, Kylie watched them until it all faded out of her plane, and simply shook her head and then falling asleep only to wake curled up with Giselle and Hope, who had stayed the night hoping to see Mama.