Rindou vs. Seraph

[22:17] Calael E. Kang says, "Seraph."
[22:19] Seraph says, "Mm."
[22:19] "I carry no authority in this city anymore, Seraph, but she-" A leveled finger points at Rindou hiding near the trees, "Is in league with Ultovex. She has corrupted Lea to do the same." Cal's more or less relaxed expression grew angered at the sight of the swordswoman, and by the way he had stumbled onto the beach, he hadn't entered the city through any public roads.

"I cannot... ask you to arrest her. But this city is falling. And I cannot stop it."
(Calael E. Kang)
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[22:20] Seraph says, "Ah."
[22:20] Seraph says, "Well. I suppose I'll handle this now."
[22:20] Rindou Sakamoto asks, "..?"
[22:26] Idle as one spirit may have stood was followed by action alone. Golden winds which each pushed across these lands now being wrapped and bound around one such woman. Though a soothing touch came from such power, all the while they seemed to be pushing down upon this figure of Rindou.

"... I know you well aware enough not to lie in the presence of Calael. I know you more than aware not to attempt to hide your crimes from my Judgement." His words rolled from his tongue, that once gentle glow around his figure becoming harsher as this figure spoke.

"You are given two options. You may relinquish yourself to I, so that I can properly ascertain what corruption lingers inside of you."

A pause.

"... Or. You may stand against spring and take action against I. Fight as all do when they know of their own wrongdoings. Until the bitter end."

From behind the mask, the spirit's spear pointed outwards - Focused entirely upon Rindou.

"Choose, quickly."
(Seraph)
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[22:34] To think a brisk walk to the beach of the place she lived in would end in such a way - with Calael Kang accusing her of such a thing before the very manifestation of justice came and stepped forth to her. The young woman stared in silence towards the spirit for a few moments before she looked up to Calael.

"To accuse me of following Sors Ultovex is a rather courageous statement. I'm sure you'll find it in your heart that I fully intend on taking him down when I'll have the opportunity to do so.

You sound like Lea's mother. Even with the proof that he hasn't tampered with my soul, you'll keep on accusing me. I suggest you call back a man you have no authority on, Calael. You've given up on Lea's city, stop meddling in its affairs like she does."
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[22:34] Calael E. Kang says, "I did not command my brother."
[22:34] Calael E. Kang says, "I informed him of an enemy."
[22:34] Calael E. Kang says, "He is doing as he sees fit."
[22:34] Seraph idly taps his spear.
(Seraph)
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[22:35] Calael E. Kang says, "I... will be right back."
[22:35] Rindou Sakamoto says, "You'll find that Levengard's enemies and your own differ, Calael Kang."
[22:36] Calael unless stopped, Cal intended to get into the Lighthouse.
(Calael E. Kang)
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[22:36] Seraph says, "Calael. Bring me a collar."
[22:36] Calael E. Kang says, "I'll try to find one."
[22:37] Lea Elisheva says, "I missed something."
[22:38] Seraph says, "... Choose. You may come willingly so I can see what issue plagues you, or you may show your true nature and stand against I."
[22:38] Rindou Sakamoto says, "You have, Lea."
[22:38] Rindou Sakamoto says, "Your uncle made the decision to command the protector of -our- city to try and turn him against me."
[22:38] Lea Elisheva says, "I see."
[22:38] Juniper Elisheva says, "......."
[22:38] Juniper Elisheva says, "Um."
[22:39] Seraph says, "She has been given the choice, one so very simple."
[22:39] Ilui Elisheva asks, "-Our- city?"
[22:39] Ilui Elisheva says, "Ah-.. Ahaha.."
[22:39] Ilui Elisheva says, "Wow."
[22:39] Juniper Elisheva exclaims, "OH!"
[22:39] Juniper Elisheva says, "Mommy and Daddy aren't asleep."
[22:40] Ilui Elisheva says, "Hello, hello."
[22:40] Lea Elisheva whispers something.
[22:40] Rindou Sakamoto says, "You're better with words than I am, Lea."
[22:40] Lea Elisheva says, "I'd prefer it if you left her alone, yes..."
[22:40] Seraph asks, "Oh?"
[22:40] Seraph says, "You needn't worry."
[22:41] Seraph says, "All I need is one moment to focus on her."
[22:41] Seraph says, "I can see what plagues her soul."
[22:41] Seraph asks, "... Unless you wish to remain ignorant to that?"
[22:41] Lea Elisheva says, "I know what plagues her soul."
[22:41] Seraph asks, "Oh?"
[22:42] Seraph asks, "What sin ails her, then?"
[22:42] Lea Elisheva says, "One moment."
[22:42] Lea Elisheva says, "Cal, you have some explaining to do."
[22:42] Seraph says, "Lea."
[22:42] Calael E. Kang says, "I will explain."
[22:42] Seraph says, "I will expose her now unless you wish it."
[22:42] Seraph says, "I will drag that corruption out from her."
[22:42] Calael E. Kang says, "Both you and Rindou have been meeting with Sors."
[22:42] Seraph says, "And I am cer-"
[22:43] Calael E. Kang says, "There is nothing else to explain."
[22:43] Seraph says, "I see."
[22:43] Lea Elisheva asks, "So?"
[22:43] Lea Elisheva says, "I had a chat with him. Big whoop."
[22:43] Calael slowly shakes his head. "Don't lie to me, Lea."
(Calael E. Kang)
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[22:44] Seraph says, "He is quite good at telling if you're lying."
[22:44] Lea Elisheva says, "Okay, I had two chats with him."
[22:44] Ilui Elisheva says, "...."
[22:44] Calael holds a potion of Truth up. "I don't have to use my blessing for the secrets to come out."
(Calael E. Kang)
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[22:44] Lea Elisheva says, "I don't know what more you want me to say."
[22:44] Lea Elisheva says, "I had two conversations with him."
[22:45] Calael E. Kang says, "Then I'll explain further-"
[22:50] "Rindou Sakamoto has corrupted the chosen Oracle of Levengard. She has dragged her into the north to meet with Sors Ultovex, not once, but twice. Both meetings, if there were only two, have ended with your uninjured selves returning to Levengard, to Gehenna, to Huangzhou." Calael was floating in the air, his feathered wings twitching wildly.

Occasional glances were given to Ilui and Thalia, and they would be able to tell he was older than the last time they saw him, some grey hairs speckling his head. "Suspicions were already on Rindou when I retired, but it was you who pardoned her, you who I had... so much hope in..." his voice fell.

He took no pleasure in this confrontation, no desire for things to happen this way. Calael had left Lea in charge because he believed in her, but all the news he had been given in the last few months weighed heavier and heavier on Cal's shoulders with each passing day. Whether he wanted to deal with this or not, the Virtue could not ignore it any longer.

"There has been one primary enemy that has plagued these lands all my time here, one man my sisters both fought against in their youth. One man who has torn families apart, who has ignited wars, who has done vile and terrible and cruel things to innocents."

"And you. He offered you something." Cal's eyes narrowed, more in a concentrating way than an accusing one, as if he was trying to figure out what such a deal entailed. "Did you take it?"
(Calael E. Kang)
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[22:58] It is noted that the man does look oddly older, enough to make her gaze narrow the smallest of bits. Even then, she does not seem to let it break the stride in the conversation that was now currently taking place. Arms would hold onto Juniper in a momentary unease, the silence that resided along her shoulders.

...To Sors Ultovex. To one of those that supported Neo Invidia. To man, to the many that committed so many atrocities within this world that it wasn't right in any sense of it to be meeting with this depraved lunatic.

For a moment, she can hear only her heart beating in her ears as she squeezed her eyes shut tightly. The repetition of 'why' inside of her mind time and time again.

The land didn't come this far to give that man footing and a place he could remain safe.

There's an immense amount of betrayal that rolls from her that simply just can't be suppressed. One by one, the dominos all fell. For now, though, she would offer no words.
(Thalia Elisheva)
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[22:59] So that's why she's still around.

At first the girl had been driven out by his own wife, and yet she returned. Completely pardoned and allowed within the city as if nothing had occurred. It was strange to him, considering the things he had heard, but 'Sin' magic wasn't any of his concern. It's just something that happened to people, and that's how he's always seen it.

-- But going up to the North to meet with Sors in secret? Well, that's a whole other story. The man was many things, but no matter how terrible his supposed crimes were. The worst of all had always been the fact that he was a Necromancer. Someone who openly stole corpses from the lands, rising them to do his bidding.

As the accusations were made, the Dryad's usually lighthearted demeanor quickly changed as he seemed to tense up a bit as he scowled across the beach. Glancing between both Lea, and Cal'. Unsure on who to actually trust. Since there's absolutely no way she'd do something like this.

.. Right?
(Ilui Elisheva)
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[23:02] Rindou definitely felt like the attention was upon her. Well, both her and Lea. While she seemed quite comfortable with all eyes on her she was no fool. She knew this kind of attention wasn't good. It wasn't right. Her and Lea were working on building a better place. A world where none would be left behind or betrayed. A paradise.

But Calael never saw it as such, did he? To Rindou he always seemed selfish; putting his goals above all else, even human lives.

It wasn't her place to speak, however. The tension was high and Lea Elisheva was nothing if not an expert wordsmith. She would be able to get the situation settled.

She would make them understand. Rindou thought as much. For now, her gaze remained upon Seraph's own, watching cautiously the spear moments away from being drawn.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[23:12] Lea turned around towards Calael, walking over to him and looking him dead in the eyes.

"You may know things, but you don't have the faintest idea why they happen. You've become so blinded by your knowledge that you've lost your ability to understand things, Calael."

"Sors doesn't harm people who meet him on the mountain. He told me as such. That's why we're uninjured. What do you expect? Him to betray us when we're just there to talk? And the first time, I went there for Rindou's sake, but the second time, I went there for my own reasons. To get to know him. To understand him. To see if he makes sense."

"And he does. But he's still not a good person, and I still hold him accountable for what he does! I might try to be his friend, but I'm not his ally."

Things that were all true.

"And if you're worried about people corrupting me..."

She grasped tightly onto his collar, anger visible in her face.

"Why did you leave me with a piece of shit that abandons me because I said one mean thing once and didn't act right away!?"

Anger. Frustration. Feelings of abandonment and betrayal. It was all that was on her mind, and all that she could even think about. And no matter how deeply one probed into Lea's mind, that's all they would see.

"Someone who abandons their BEST FRIEND because they can't handle a position? Someone who abandons one of the most important people in their lives? Someone who knows how important that they are to me and says it's a fucking JOKE that I try to be friends with everyone? That my friendship never really mattered with him."

Because it was, in her mind, the cause of everything. All the wisdom in the world couldn't penetrate it.

"Why? Why?! WHY?! WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!"

And for the second time in their whole time interacting together, Lea screamed.

"FUCK. YOU. YOU WASHED UP PIECE OF SHIT."

...and for the first time in her life, Lea reared her fist back, aiming to slam it into Calael's face with all the force she could muster.

And whether or not she succeeded, she had one final thing to say.

"Stop trying to ruin everything because you can't handle the fact that someone is actually trying to do things, and not just working on silly little projects that don't matter to anyone except you and the one or two people you use them for."
(Lea Elisheva)
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[23:20] "I have heard enough."

Golden winds, all would rush along this beach as they wrap around both Rindou and Lea alike. The warm and welcoming glow around Seraph filled with a sense of calm, his words lingering in the air as quickly as they had came. Excuses and pleas would mean nothing when stood beneath corruption, when so many had so willingly chosen to sell themselves away.

"You are still nothing more than a child, Lea Elisheva. You don't quite know the horrors and unspeakable actions of which Sors Ultovex has brought to this land. You would turn a blind eye simply because you feel betrayed - Driven by emotion." His words ring with a certain intensity, those wings growing all the more heavy.

"... I speak now as a voice of both Sera Elisheva and a Guardian conjured by Thera Elisheva. You have committed a cardinal sin of man, you who would aid those who seek nothing more than inflicting pain and suffering upon hundreds."

His spear drawn, pointed at Rindou.

"Lea. You are naught but a spoiled child who has lived without Judgement for too long. Rindou, you are one who believes you can discern the watchful eye of the law and escape punishment."

One swipe of his spear, sending shockwaves across this beach.

"Submit to your Judgement and your crimes, your punishment may be lessened. Calael, I entrust you will not allow Lea to continue down this path... I entrust you will aid, you will assure this vile way of thinking which has seeped into her mind..."

A pause.

"Will not be allowed to spread."
(Seraph)
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[23:27] A burst of cosmic magic pulled Calael into the air, narrowly avoiding Lea's swing. He floats a good six or so feet over the sand, now off of the ledge they had been standing on. In all of Lea's outburst, he picked up on the important parts, focusing on those rather than the bits that truly hurt. The keen eye would notice his hands trembling as they usually did in moments like this, but he was doing what he could to keep them hidden.

"Friend to Ultovex..." he echoed, frowning and shaking his head again. "Understanding him- meeting with him- the man we fought against for- forever, Lea. The man who destroyed your sister's life." The wings extinguished, leaving some smoke across Cal's back and shoulders.

"I didn't expect Adrian to abandon you, I told you both for years you'd be working together and I thought that friendship meant enough, was strong enough to endure..." He was still in the air, facing and speaking with only Lea.

"Things get bad, Lea, but you can't... you have to catch yourself before they get worse. You can still go back-" To what? To leading Levengard? To a normal life where she hadn't watched Calael kill her father? Nothing ever went right.

"I've never tried to ruin anything. I've tried to do as Thera asked of me, every project was her inception, every... thing..." Thought were firing all over the place as he tried to make sense of the information set before him along with the overload that was being revealed piece by piece, all of Lea's emotions and pain.

"I wanted you to succeed, more than anything."

'Our time at the helm is over.' "Levengard's Oracle has been compromised. What happens next falls to the next in line." He wanted to help Lea, wanted to fix things. But golden eyes turned to Ilui. "It's up to you... I would suggest taking her somewhere to see how far the rabbit hole goes, how much leverage Sors has gained within Levengard..."

Cal obviously didn't want to hurt Lea. He didn't want to have to force her into a cell or into a collar or anything else. He knew it wasn't his place to even try either way. But something had to be done. He turned back to Lea and said,

"I am washed up. But my family still matters to me most of all... and I won't sit silently while Ultovex ruins it again... please, listen to us, Lea... and answer my initial question-"

Wisdom's light illuminated the beachhead alongside that of Justice.

"Did you accept Ultovex's offer?"
(Calael E. Kang)
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[23:33] Happening upon this beach encounter, the white-and-gold Artificer strides - pausing at the crowd of people before her. A few blink-blinks are given the way of the group - though, any intent to give Miyo and Juniper and Lea a hug are completely ceased at that final question spoken in a rarely-heard, authoritative tone.

It turns her blood to ice, once she gazes down that cliff face to see Calael and Lea. Color drains a bit from her face, and a few slow breaths need be taken to steel herself and try to slow an adrenaline-augmented heartbeat.
(Magdalen Elisheva)
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[23:36] The emotion that flew around the area was definitely palpable, and it caused her to draw in a sharp breath. A slow release of flames leaves in short order as she flicked her glowing eyes from person to person. Loss-- it was something that drove people to deep, dark lengths. It was something that drove people absolutely mad, and even Thalia hadn't been exempted from such an emotional sensation. The same sensation experienced when standing face to face with the likes of the Kykessy that had given her life.

The same woman's spirit that she had to burn alive in lieu of accepting. The reeling of Juniper back into her chest practically manages to ground her, but the child can likely feel the harsh drum of her heart in her chest.

"You wanted me to have faith in the ideal that you could contain Rindou," she speaks, her teeth gritting together. "...But I guess it's her that's leading you along. With the filth of sin-- whatever it might be, whatever I felt coming from her the first time." Her gaze snaps over and she feels the burn within, the one that eats at her insides like nothing else she can properly grasp a hold of.

Was she lied to? Deluded? She was blind to the things taking place because she had been told by Lea that it'd be handled, wasn't she? Gaze flickers over to Ilui, and she squeezes her eyes shut.

The question begged answering, though. So thus, like the others here, she'd wait for it.
(Thalia Elisheva)
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[23:38] Simply walking up, silver hues would flick between Lea, Rindou, the wraith that had been brought back some time ago, and then Calael as a hand came up to his wife's shoulder he could feel her adrenaline and want to act spiking beyond normal but he'd simply implore her to let it be handled by her brother.

Saying nothing but surveying this very surprising beachfront his ears would twitch some as he attempted to paint a full picture over whatever was going on here.

They'd just spoken to the two the other night... though it'd seemed his and his angelic spouse's warnings had gotten ignored.
(Kabu)
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[23:38] Lea gazed over at Seraph, her expression towards him venomous, but the words of Calael calmed her down. She walked up to him and whispered so that only he could hear, as he'd be the only one who knew for sure that she was telling the truth.
(Lea Elisheva)
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[23:41] Lea Elisheva whispers something.
[23:42] Lea Elisheva whispers something.
[23:42] Lea Elisheva whispers something.
[23:42] Lea Elisheva whispers something.
[23:42] Calael E. Kang says, "Tell them, Lea."
[23:42] Calael E. Kang says, "Not me."
[23:42] Lea Elisheva says, "Only if you confirm that I'm telling the truth."
[23:44] "So you want me to.."

Sighing softly to himself, the Dryad's arms moved to fold across his chest. Gritting his teeth together as tensions began to rise, his gaze meeting with his Uncle's for just a brief moment. There's no telling how far the rabbit hole actually went -- and if she was ever even going to tell the truth, without the help from potions and such.

And in truth, it's hard to tell if she was even fit to be allowed any sort of power within the city any longer.

Craning his neck back slightly, he'd glance over towards his fiery-counterpart as flames began to rise just as her own emotions did. Shooting her a certain look, as if to tell her something without the use of words.

"Right. I want to hear what she has to say first."

And that's all that's said. At least for now.
(Ilui Elisheva)
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[23:48] Another sigh left Calael as Lea whispered to him. His gesture toward the crowd for Lea to tell them came and then she asked for him to confirm that all she had said was the truth. The older demiangel, alight with his Virtue, sought to search for it in her words and thoughts. Memories flickered into existence for brief moments until Calael's eyes closed and opened once more.

"What you told me is true." He said more for the others to hear than Lea, "...but it does not change the situation." Calael was crestfallen, another candle of hope extinguished.

"You made a deal with the devil... Lea... panic and desperation... do not excuse that." He gave her a chance to tell Ilui what she told him in order to determine how this would end.
(Calael E. Kang)
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[23:48] Lea this, Lea that. How did it go from being about Rindou accused of being in touch with Sors to being all about Lea and how others corrupted her - how people too her away from the life she was expected to live? To Rindou all of this was insane. Even after leaving his position of power Calael Kang decided to step all over Levengard, to do just as Adrian had claimed the Elisheva would do.

Rindou could only hope that Lea would prove the drakanite wrong, that she would stand for herself as she already had and... make Wisdom accept the mistake he's made.

The winds of justice billowed in her robes while she kept herself at the pointy end of Seraph's spear. She could feel his intent - anyone could, really. Yet... It felt wrong to draw a blade. Wrong to draw it before she had her words delivered, all of them carried with the same tone as ever. She was interrupting no meeting, nor was she screaming out, no.

This time Rindou was the one being wronged, or so she believed.

"Perhaps it's time you all stop searching for corruption, betrayal, manipulation, and issues with Lea. Maybe it's time you stop thinking that Lea Elisheva's changed in any way."

A deep breath was taken, one that kept her ready for the battle that was inches away from being declared. This... innate desire to protect still hadn't left Rindou Sakamoto. Its focus had changed but she still knew just how to be holy - how to keep those she cared about safe.
The one she cared about.

"Lea knows who that man is. We both do. I believe he should be dead - gone. The way he rose the dead and brought Nethradin down upon the shrine was disgusting. I'll never forgive him for the souls he's taken. But Lea... has always been nicer than me. How are any of you surprised that she'd want to make a friend?

Have you met Lea?"

Even if it wasn't her strongest suit, Rindou felt like the world needed to be told of their mistakes in a golden light. It held no hope for the future, nor valor, but it embraced those it wished to keep safe all the same.

"Just about everyone left. Adrian screamed at Lea for letting the world trample Levengard like it was its playground, and that's... just what Calael is trying to do right now.

When her family decided running away and harassing - insulting the people she cares about rather than believing in her was the best option what did you think would happen?

How do you think she feels?
Would it hurt to trust in someone you should love, for once?"

Rindou was definitely not the best at... speeches, or convincing others, no. But these were things that were on her heart, or rather, things she felt herself. It was easier to relate. It was easier to speak of.

Justice was blind to emotions, all of her hopes were in the hands of a man she grew to dislike, despite his good convictions; could Wisdom see the balance between heart and mind?

Rindou felt like it would not.
She felt like this would be the breaking point.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[23:51] Magdalen can't help but shiver in place, eyes widening as concern and unease consolidates into terror and pain. All because of that admission, told by the brother who does not lie, that Lea made a deal with Sors.
(Magdalen Elisheva)
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[00:07] "Yes. I did. I accepted it out of panic when he mentioned that my friends and family wouldn't be protected from the targets he specified. It's not an offer that'll bind me to his whims or anything. Rather, it was a contract that'll do nothing more than hurt me a lot if I don't fulfill the condition, which is to kill one of a handful of people. If I wanted to, I could simply not do it. And I was considering just taking the results of failure, because I find it hard to bring myself to hurt anyone. I find the very thought of it abhorrent."

"And yes, actually, I think it does excuse it."

it's not her fault.

Lea gazed upon the crowd before her, her expression judging them.

"Can you name one person here- aside from the children- who hasn't done something dumb out of panic and desperation? Hasn't hurt someone who didn't need to be hurt? Hasn't stained their own spirit in the pursuit of something? Failed to do something important out of fear? Done something unnecessary to try to protect someone?"

She didn't name names, but the people here knew who she was referring to.

"What did I even do?"

it's not her fault

"I listened to him, said no at first, had my friends and family implicitly threatened, and said yes out of panic."

Also not wrong. None of it was. Lea was telling the truth.

"And, surprise surprise, it's something that's only wrong if I act on it. I could just do nothing, take the hurt that comes from failing it, and go on with my life, having learned a valuable lesson that I expect everyone here to hold me to on the off chance I can't hold myself to it."

there's no way this was her fault

"I made a mistake. I'm sorry. I won't do it again. But all my mistake did was offer me a reward for something I won't fucking do."

"What more do you all want from me out of this?"
(Lea Elisheva)
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[00:12] Calael almost rolled his eyes at Rindou's words, but he floated silently while Lea spoke to everyone else, letting her speak her piece. "I'm not here to direct this city anymore." He said to Lea, to the others. "I'm not here to arrest her. I'm n not here as an Oracle, Keeper, or Sage."

"I'm here as your uncle, telling you that Ultovex has weaved his way into our family." Cal turned to the Commander again. "This is between all of you, for you to decide what comes next. You're at the helm of it all." An echo of Noel's words that Cal's older brother had left him.

Cal's light dimmed, and he intended to land a bit away, nearer the Lighthouse.

"Seraph has made his judgement. I would suggest arresting Rindou Sakamoto and starting with the weeds she has planted here... weeds that are strangling us all."
(Calael E. Kang)
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[00:13] Seraph says, "She has made no attempts to assault me. Should she be collared, I can find a way to deal with whatever corruption plagues her soul."
[00:13] Seraph asks, "... Calael. Did you /get/ that collar?"
[00:13] Calael E. Kang says, "We won't need one if Ilui decides she should be arrested"
[00:15] The white-feathered listens quietly to that speech - accepting a contract that will hurt her a lot if she does not complete it, with the terms that she has to kill someone. And she was considering not taking it. She's crying quietly at this point, standing still and just staring at that child of hers. Lea would never do something so awful - the motherly Atmosian-blooded knows that this is Rindou's fault.
(Magdalen Elisheva)
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[00:22] On the onset of all of this, the panther's hues would fall to Lea as she gave her speech. She was telling the truth, as the natural lie detector in Calael had proven time and again no truth escaped his sight, but there was simply something off still about her.

Even contemplating the offer Sors gave was not something the therapist, the oracle, and the prized daughter would ever do.

Quiet sobbing next to him would have him comforting the mournful mother to the cerulean haired demi-angel as he hugged her and made sure she was taken care of as silvery hues looked over to Rindou as the main source of this warping and twisting of thought.

Whatever had happened to the woman caused her to cause the tiniest fracture to the mirror of virtues Lea held.

Slowly but surely the kimono wearing woman had worked at the seems, making sure that when stressed more and more cracks would form until she took the shape she desired.

His mind wasset on that at the very least.... but some of the work still lied within the now former Oracle as well.

Corruption was a perversion of patience after all.
(Kabu)
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[00:26] After Lea had said he piece, the Dryad finally spoke up.

"If you're wanting me to make the decisions here, then--" Stuff was probably about to get really messy, knowing his track record. And yet, for some strange reason, he was the one that had been called upon. Slowly shaking his head to and fro he moved himself from the cliff, sand crunching beneath his boots as he made his way over.

"Ah, you're right-- I've done a lot of terrible things, hm? And what I'm about to say might be the most terrible of them all, in all honesty." He turns, swiveling on his heel so that a pair of pink eyes could narrow in on his aunt.

"As it is now, Magdalen, this is the second child of yours that has given themselves up to Sors. One not so willing, and the other.." He glances back over towards his cousin once more, grimacing, ".. Well, whatever excuses she was making for herself just now. I'm sure you get the picture." A wave of his hand,

"But I don't care about her excuses, not one bit. And if I were able to have it my way..? Well.." He chuckles, a faint grin finding its way onto his features, "Well the problem would be squashed right here and now. But nobody will allow something like that to happen..."

"And if I banish you, Lea, you'll just run right back to Sors..."

"So--"

Always one for theatrics, he turns once more. A finger pointing towards his Aunt,

"-- Lea Elisheva will be given over to her mother. She's to remain collared, and by her side. She can be the one to try and handle figuring out just how far this rabbit hole goes. Hm? And Magdalen.." A slight pause, his eyes turning to tiny little slits as they narrowed in on her,

"Do. Not. Let. This. One. Go. You've already lost one daughter to Sors, so don't lose another. Hm, hm?"

And then, over to the other.

"As for Rindou, I don't care if she actually is what she's being accused of. I never have. What I care about is that she seems to be the root of this entire ordeal." Another wave of his hand, "Arrest her, and do as you see fit with her, Seraph. I trust your judgement."
(Ilui Elisheva)
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[00:27] Seraph says, "Mm. Understood."
[00:28] Seraph says, "Calael. Collar."
[00:30] Calael E. Kang asks, "Ilui, you can still do that vine trick, right?"
[00:30] Ilui Elisheva says, "I can handle collaring them."
[00:30] Seraph says, "Wonderful."
[00:30] Calael E. Kang says, "Mhm."
[00:36] Juniper Elisheva says, "...."
[00:36] "The fact of the matter is that you put yourself in whatever proximity necessary to Sors Ultovex that would put you in this predicament. You could've come to me, you could've come to Uncle Cal, you could've come to any single one of us that wasn't known to be corrupted for assistance," her voice is tinged with certain disappointment, but...

What people like Lea didn't understand was that she'd already threatened Ilui's life if he grew to become out of control with his 'tendencies' all those years ago. She erased Sienna's spirit rather than trying desperately to bond and counteract the fact that she hadn't been wanted.

Her eyes flicker over toward Magdalen as she rocks with Juniper in her arms. "I think this is the best decision. Separate Lea and Rindou immediately. When a snake bites, you have to draw the poison out." Naturally, Rindou was that poison, the one whosewed weeds within the garden.

"We'll have to figure out just how compromised Levengard really is, from parameter to others within the walls, too." Smoke curls from her lips in the form of an idle sigh.

Then, her gaze moves, laying on Lea. She wasn't going to keep harping on about promises she had made to people, or who she's had to execute to keep people safe, but... Now she felt it more than ever; How many people would end up hurt if they let this continue on?
(Thalia Elisheva)
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[00:42] This was really not what he'd expected to walk over and see. It really was a mess, the worst part was that now he'd have to deal with Vedran saying told you so. Though, from what he saw everything was well in hand. Lea would be given to her aunt for treatment and Rindou would be collared and aided as well.

All in all it was a very Levengard outcome! The Zanders frowned, which in essence meant the two women where most likely going to end up dead. Dulled jade hues shifted from Lea for the moment glancing to Kabu. Noting his expression, wondering perhaps if the man could offer help for the woman.

Though, not that anything he thought mattered in the end. So, the old Paladin would clasp his hands behind his back. Watching the evnets taking place with interest.
(Ascalon Zanders)
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[00:44] Lea sat down and hung her legs over the cliff, staring down at the sand below.

"...I've been nothing but honest this entire time."

She hung her head down, her expression turning blank.

"I was straightforward with all of you the moment it came up, telling the whole truth."

A sigh escaped her lips.

"...but I guess what I did really is that bad, huh?"

She shifted her gaze over to Calael, her despair evident in her eyes. But she still managed to stand up, walk over to him, and hold her hand up, where the invisible Nethradin ring that signified her contract was located.

"Can you take me to the lighthouse and see if it fixes this? Please...?"

She knew he couldn't see it, but she also knew that he knew that's where it was.

"...I don't wanna be stuck here with this... I really don't... please help me get rid of it..."

The desperation and despair was plainly evident in her voice, and her tone pretty much confirmed what Seraph said earlier:

She really was a child, at heart.
(Lea Elisheva)
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[00:48] "The Lighthouse cannot help with it, but your mother's magic can." Cal looked past what was boiling over on the beach to his sister. "You should come see to it, Mags." He nodded to Ilui, and then to Thalia. If he didn't need to oversee what else happened here, then he'd take the others inside.
(Calael E. Kang)
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[00:50] Lea Elisheva will be given over to her mother. She's to remain collared, and by her side.

Arrest her, and do as you see fit with her, Seraph.

Ilui Elisheva.
Ilui Elisheva.

The root of the issue always reared its head in the very end. That entitlement that allowed Calael to just direct Levengard's forces as he willed, to overthrow Lea's position as an Oracle, to trample over the world they wanted to build.

To destroy their paradise.

Entitled. Divine. Blood.

The dryad may not have been the same, but he was brought up with the name. It made him the same as Aurora. The same as Calista. The same as Calael. They were all... shifting the world as they pleased. They pointed at those who wouldn't agree with them - those who wouldn't bend the knee and call them villains.

Corrupt.

"What gives you the right?"

Rindou's amber eyes focused on that spear being idly tapped, on the anticipation that had been rising from the spirit, on the preparation for battle it first stepped up to her. She would've been dellusional to think this could go any other way. It couldn't.

They hated her for saying the truth. They hated her for calling them out. They hated her for being herself. She needed not to even do anything wrong, she would be judged as a criminal. From the moment they saw her as a hindrance to be thrown away, to this very day.

"What gives you the right to decide who is in the wrong only for existing?!"

There was a reason the judgement had been cast so, so fast. A gut-feeling that Seraph's spirit had even if hadn't reared its ugly head from the start. It took a lot to draw its full manifestation out of Rindou, to be honest. She was already jealous enough as it was. She wanted more than she could grasp. And right now she could only wish she was born in the right family, with the right heritage, with the right to decide the fate of the world.

"Your fate is to be a pawn." She said, her voice shifting to replicate one that very few had ever heard— though it was easy to feel cold shivers when hearing the voice of a man who's sinful life was known all across the world. "He wasn't wrong. Fate is decided by those who were blessed from the start, that's how it works on Agartha."

A sickening sensation could be felt tugging at the heartstrings of each and every single person in the area; from those blessed by their heritage, to those blessed by the sun, to the chosen of the fallen, and the hunters of the night.

A feeling of pure, unfiltered jealousy ripping at the very person they had grown into, the people they were becoming. It pulled, coalescing around Rindou in its greenest of forms. Timeless magic that would not die, for it was born within one's heart.

When Lea shifted around and turned her back on her it exploded forth. A blade that could never be hers manifested itself within Rindou's grasp as she fully embodied the one they all hated, the one they all wished would just disappear.

Lea had given up on her, hadn't she?

And when she did, when she let go of that dream Rindou's heart screamed for her, eyes watering up for she was naught but a tormented soul, deep down.

"I don't want to die here!"

For there was so much more she wanted to have, experience, and feel.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[00:53] You learned the spell Light Shield.
[00:59] Move.

Chaos and lies had all spread outwards as a single pull upon this spear was quick to follow. Winds which sought to strike in each direction now seeming all the more harsh as one such spirit wasted not a second.

Do not allow a second of reaction.

Around his body was that same gentle glow now being twisted into something far more harsh. Where as all others that had come to witness sin would feel that soft embrace cloud the sickening touch of sin - Rindou would feel a cold and desolate touch.

One which sought to push her down more and more so that she not stand against this beacon of light.

"Everyone. Man, woman and child are all blessed from the very second they are born. Blessed by choice, blessed by the options which life has given them. Don't pin what sickening aura swells around you now..." His words followed by a pause, that spear raised as it now aimed to strike at this woman.

"On anyone but yourself. You chose this life. You, just as any other are not exempt from Judgement."

Without another word, with instinct alone driving his spear...

Seraph struck.
(Seraph)
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[01:09] ** Rindou Sakamoto has inflicted an injury upon Seraph. ("Temporary Injury", "Temporary Injury", "Temporary", "Duration: Medium (4 days)") **
[01:24] That Angel-blooded mother pulls Lea close instinctively Both arms come to hug and hold, tight and welcoming and gentle. The same arms that have always been there for Lea. Still soft, gentle, and tenderly squeezing.

"I'll never let them hurt you, my Lea. You'll come home with me, and we'll be together again, and I'll fix whatever happened to you..."

Tears still dripping down her face like a fool, her head buries itself into Lea's blueberry locks for several moments, that wing-hug upheld, even as the feather-barrier recedes in a gentle wave of white-gold light, leaving just those tiny two wings upon the mother's back.

"Remember when you told me that no matter what, 'You'll always have your Lea.'...

Well, no matter what happens, you'll always have your mom..."

Without even looking back upon Rindou and whatever punishment she's to receive, Magdalen would aim to gently maneuver Lea away, looking to Calael to follow as the Lighthouse is the place to be entered! Not letting Lea look back, or even think about or worry about Rindou...
(Magdalen Elisheva)
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[01:44] Everything was a mess right from the start. That spear pierced right through her defenses and wouldn't allow her to rest or even think for a moment before unleashing a barrage of golden and divine winds alike. She was sent flying backwards before she could even process what was going on. Her heart pumped, adrenaline flooded through her entire body as she saw just how dire the situation was. It was... real, wasn't it? This man— this spirit of justice wouldn't allow her to live on after what she had demonstrated.

Her eyes went shut.

A Carnal Wrath.

All of those repressed emotions, that rage that she felt at this injustice she perceived while justice itself was trying to bring her down was burning up, building up. She wouldn't be able to win if she played things fair, if she played them without remorse, no. This was not a game to know whether or not she could best Seraph in an honest match; this was for her life.

For her whole being.

She reached into her robes, pulling a small flask of bubbling red anger. Her eyes opened wide as all of the adrenaline and anger deep within her was manifested at once. Dark wisps of mana surrounded her, twisting and shifting as they ate at everything, even herself. The potion within her hand merely fed the beast of the underworld that had manifested itself within her heart, pumping through her veins.

This was serious.
This was someone who may just kill her.

Her body flickered out of sight, shifting from one spot to the next one as she struck Seraph in an unpredictable, wild manner. A storm of heavenly blades came rushing at her.

Fate is decided by those who were blessed from the start

Her left hand reached out as the sinful manifestation of her desires reached out, latching at the spirit himself before stealing from him. The divine-blooded's own ability to manipulate the holy arts was manifested before Rindou, creating a shield able to withstand the full barrage of its master's own divnity.

She pushed through. She advanced, using magics that weren't hers in order to get up close to the Elisheva; to finally catch him in the worst of all spots:

Right before her blade.

She struck. With all of her might, she slashed across his midsection. The weapon within her grasp did more than merely carve through him, it craved through him, too. It ate at his divinity, at his luck, at the wheels of fate, at the hand he was dealt at birth.

Envy struck with reckless force, attempting to steal that divine blood coursing through the man's spiritual circuits. She couldn't. Of course not. The cut the man was left with, however, would ceaselessly try to eat away at his birthright.

"No one in their right mind would choose to be hated by the world, to be betrayed and left all on their own.

Don't pin your opinions and thought as Justice."

Rindou's free hand reached for a smoke bomb, launching it against the ground and allowing a large, large cloud of smoke to erupt from it, one covering the whole area. Magi and non-magi alike would have their visions obscured long enough to...

Stop worrying about losing Rindou Sakamoto.

And so she did. When the smoke cleared up there no longer was Rindou. She was nowhere to be seen. She had slipped away right before their eyes. A mere moment was enough for her to don a mask and hide in plain sight. No one would be able to tell in which direction she left.

And more terrifying than all?
No one would be able to tell if she even had left.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[01:52] Ah...

You've grown lazy, haven't you?

He could hear one such voice linger in his mind as blows never quite met their mark. Golden blades which had been flung across this beach only grazing when fatal blows were meant to follow. The sounds of a spear whizzing past the head of this woman, time and time again only to be rejected that spring.

Ithaca would scold Sera for this.

Isaac would strike down those which had knocked him down - Though this spirit had only himself to rely on.

What followed was an opening, one foolish and leaving this spirit's form flickering and cracked. One final strike across it's midsection sending this being flying backwards - Divine ichor flowing and spilling upon these grounds before vanishing on single contact.

"You're a liar... You know full and well what you were doing before falling into sin."

Would act as his final words, as the spirit looked up once more...

Only for Rindou to have vanished.
(Seraph)
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