Mouse into the Serpent's Den

[14:17] Lucian Valintine says, "Ah, it's awake."
[14:18] Claude vey Pelleaux asks, "It?"
[14:19] Claude looked up from the half-destroyed chair, gazing upon the cloaked figure closely.
(Claude vey Pelleaux)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[14:21] A soft grin could be noted from beneath his hood.

"Yes, it."

Arms folded behind his back as he walked slowly from east to west.

"The most noble of all nobles, hm?"

He paused to lean forward, some distance between the two still.

"How does it feel to have fallen from such heights?"
(Lucian Valintine)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[14:26] The Pelleaux looked at Lucian closely, a soft glow of gold peering out from beneath long wild hair. The wounds that littered his body were still fresh enough to keep him from being comfortable.

"The g-greatest of the Nobility. So, y-you've walked in he-here thinking that I would what?"

As he spoke a leg left the floor, to evenly cross over his knee. A curling of his lips as he scowled at the figure. The chittering of the cold that was perpetually coating his lungs.

"No, you're just a wr-wretch of this group of m-miscreants. A worm cr-crawling beneath the dirt. Let me give you some advice."

His right hand flicked, pointing at the man with a digit that was scoured and mared with the fresh burns fo battle.

"Show re-respect to your betters before you g-get taught it."
(Claude vey Pelleaux)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[14:29] He released a heavy laughter in response.

"Ah.. right.."

He hummed softly, finally revealing a plate of food he'd kept behind his back. With a flick of his wrist it was tossed onto the ground before him.

"I wait to be taught. I have no fear, none towards the likes of you anyway."

That grin widened.

"You'll be needing to kill me to teach me anything."
(Lucian Valintine)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[14:52] The Nobleman's eyes narrowed upon Lucian, glancing to the cell door past the man. No one was around it appeared, this man had came into his cell to insult him alone. That was something he'd not expected to happen.

Not after he'd busted Sarasha's nose and tried to kill her just a few days before. The laughter of the man rung about in the cell. It was an infuriating sound, obnoxious in it's arrogance.

"Unfortunately for you, I-I'm a good teacher." As he spoke his mana-circuits started to spark up. The collar about his neck protested and tried to syphon the flow of cosmic energy but in the end it wasn't enough.

The power or Rasalhague coursed through is body as a thin shimmer of incandesnce started to coat the Nobleman's frame. His hands coming to clasp upon his crossed knees. The power cosmic fighting back the eternal chill he'd been cursed with.

"Death isn't a lesson, it's a dismissal for the ignorant who refuse to learn." As he spoke his gaze flicked to the ceiling for a moment. "Dignity, that's the lesson I'll impart. Tell me, how many have you seen in this cell?"

The longer he talked, the more of his celestial blessings he received the less his injuries pained him. His grimace slowly shifted into a mask of amicability. "To many I wager but less than I've seen behind bars. So, does a man lose his dignity when he is imprisoned? Many will say it's stripped from him. I think what happens is most surrender it once they walk through bars."

As he spoke he'd point towards the bars behind Lucian. "That goes for both the imprisoned and the guards. You lost yours the moment you felt a sense of power over me. Don't feel bad, most have that reaction. However, only those who posses great personal dignity can behave with decorum to a defeated foe, and those without dignity are less than human."

As he spoke his knees uncrossed, feet settling upon the floor as he stood a whirling mass of lights dancing across his form. "So, tell me little mouse. Do you think you can gain some dignity or must I show you what happens when you enter a serpents den?"

Even as battered and wounded as he was, the sight of the torn Pelleaux was impressive to behold. The borealis that billowed across his form as slits of molten gold peered behind a veil of indigo. His hands clasped tightly behind a unbent back, the flow of blood from some fo his wounds restarting as they were ripped anew with the movement.
(Claude vey Pelleaux)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[15:04] "How unexpected."

His grin widened as he took to his feet. The lights flickering around the room, even his collar couldn't deter him. His words fell faded, icy hues flickered upon his shrouded visage.

Exciting.

"Ah.. this power I feel. It isn't because you're restrained and I'm not."

He clicked his tongue a bit, his head shifting left to right as an intense chill was manifested in his surroundings, some waves of frozen air beaming from his direction.

"No.. no.. no. No, Pelleaux. I simply enjoy watching you squirm. As you've watched the poor squirm all those years. Those who needed the coin you so casually tossed aside. Those who needed help.."

His grin widened even further.

"Now, I wonder who will come to help you?"
(Lucian Valintine)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[15:12] The Nobleman's gaze narrowed as he looked at Lucian. This young man really didn't know who he was did he? His head tilted to the side, as if inspecting Lucian closely. Looking for some tell or explanation for his words but he couldn't find any.

Ignorance was it? Well, perhaps most rarely took the time to study who they hated. It was a flaw common to mankind. After-all if you understood what you hated, it became a lot harder to hate for most people.

"When you've been beaten and tortured by some of the strongest magi alive. I doubt you'll fair much better young man." As he spoke he'd reach down beside him, his hand seeming to rest upon something that was just not easy to see. As if whatever he'd grabbed either was obscured or simply wasn't there.

"I spent my life improving those poor wretches you so casually cry about. Hospitals, orphanages, clean water, food. All these things have been brought to the downtrodden by me. No, you wouldn't know that would you? Else, you'd have more wisdom in your words, else you'd not echo the same rhetoric of others."

He'd not go into the scandal of marrying a wild Felinae he'd met upon the streets. No, that was to personal to bring up here. To personal to speak about now in this moment. So, instead he simply answered the man.

"I'll help myself!"

With a flash of light, speed most would deem impossible the Pelleaux vanished in light. To appear before Lucian, with a make-shift blade risen high above his head!
(Claude vey Pelleaux)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[15:19] ** Claude vey Pelleaux has inflicted an injury upon Lucian Valintine. ("Temporary Injury", "Temporary Injury", "Temporary", "Duration: Medium (4 days)") **
[15:43] It was speed, that's what he'd shown to be his strongest part. Like a flash he'd set upon Lucian, the feeling of cold radiating from the ice magi only making his own internal icy curse that much worse. He'd have to fight quick, any mistakes and his wounds would tip the fight in the younger magi's favor.

Down came the chunk of nyeshk he'd forged amid a puddle of his own blood. The Desperate blade delivering an equally desperate strike. A strike Lucian would parry, in the nick of time. Opening a flurry of strikes between them to begin. The flickering of light reflecting off the icy flakes as they floated in the air.

Back and forth the two battled a competition between a wounded predator and one of his captors. Another battle for the exhausted man another battle he looked to be losing for a moment. As Lucian's ice started to encapsulate the cell in it's embrace. Looking more and more to become a tomb for the Pelleaux.

Time as running out and Claude knew the sounds of the fighting would be noticed but hoped that it would be written off to another bout of torturing at the hands of his captors. But hoping was a fools game, so he looked across the spikes of razor sharp ice and locked in on Lucian's form. It was hard to spot, the blizzard around him obscuring sight and purpose alike.

One rush, that's all he needed. "Rasalhague, witness your champion's struggles. To him he was undergoing what his patron star struggle with eternally. That was the battle agains the great serpent. The eternal struggle for control.

The air around Claude began to cook as the raw energies of the stars radiated off of his frame. The blood pouring at his feet form his wounds starting to melt rivulets into the ice at his feet. Then a flash, melting everything around him came from the swordsman.

It was as if he was there one moment and gone the next. His formtaking the nature of pure-starlight. Shifting and refracting from the ice in the air. Until he would briefly feform near Lucian a swipe of his blade swung, then into light he became. Again and again he struck and vanished only until he finally reformed before the man.

His hand raised as a beam of light materialized instantly from it into the ice-magi's chest. It would ignite his internal circuitry like nothing before. Overfilling them with a radiance not seen within the darkened cells before. It was enough to end the battle in the Radiant Magi's favor.

His breath's came heavy and ragid as he felt the blessings of his star fade with the need dwindling. He could feel the pain in his body as his circuits cried for relief. The constant struggles putting a toll upon him that he'd not experienced before.

Slowly he walked, his boots crushing the ice beneath his feet as it lost it's magical potency. His foot shot out to kick the sword away from the man, hearing it bounce into a corner as his boot came down upon his chest. The makeshift weapon of his coming to rest above the man's throat.

"Now mouse, show me the way out and I won't skewer you where you lay."

He actually paused for a moment, feeling vindictive as his foot left the man's chest only to come down hard. Pressing against the sternum so that the ice magi would feel the pain in his lungs.

"And it's Lord Pelleaux to you."
(Claude vey Pelleaux)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[15:50] He was fast. There was no denying that.

However, Lucian knew where his talents lied. It wasn't in combat, he was more of an informant, a strategist, an instigator. Simply.. he distained those like Claude.

The battle between the two raged on. It didn't take Claude long to realize his advantages, and Lucian's weaknesses. Before long he found himself stricken.. and without any normal injury to follow.

His jaws clenched as he could feel his circuits burning him from within. That pain, he attempted to nullify with his own ice magic. To no avail, that burning sensation could not be soothed.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!"

He could only laugh, though it came out as more of a shout. His eyes widened, mouth gaped to release these sounds.

"Loooorddd Pelleauxxx.." he spoke with some muttered breathing, still laughing a bit.

"I'll never show you the way out."

He was resolved. Cameo's will to use this man for his further gain, the gain of his cause.
(Lucian Valintine)