Karmic Retribution - The Story

A seemingly unfamiliar sound seemed to ring throughout the corridors of the happy rebel inn. One that had not been heard there in a long time but should have been considering it's position in Clan society. But since recent events the Happy Rebel wasn't so happy... until now. The sound that travelled down the long hall was that off laughter. Youthful, vibrant and care free. And since the Happy Rebel had new guests, the bartender and kitchen staff were going to be hearing it alot more.

Karmic Retribution had made the Happy Rebel Inn their new home. It was a refuge away from Athen, a place where they could hide, feel safe. Athen wasn't safe anymore. Not for them. Tir was about the safest city they knew off. And the only other option besides that was taking refuge in the Shadowlands. It was a majority vote that they stayed in Tir.

The first night in the Happy Rebel for all of them and all that could be heard was laughter. Not something that was expected considering their situation. Most would have been emotionally weary with stress and paranoia... but these two girls were far from it. Everyone moved to and from their rooms, either checking on each other or to see what the laughing was all about. It was their first night after all and things were a strange mixture between exciting and tense. They hadn't taken much with them, just what they could and split into pairs for the rooms. The laughter was coming from Giir and Megaera's room.

Megaera hopped up onto her bunk and smiled, biting her lip gently. Although the light was dim in the little room, it still made her pale Opifex skin shine a strange ivory. She flicked back one of her long white bunches and giggled to hreself a little more while Giir continued to tell her story.
"And then it went 'BOOM'!" Giir said giggling, holding her arms out at either side of her. "And all these pretty colours started to fly around and the circle got bigger and bigger and it was all pretty... you should have seen it... I can show you now if you would like" she said going to stand up.
"No thank you Giir" Megaera giggled. "Probably not the best idea on our first night here" she added smiling a little. "I don't want either Aunty Ishy or my Mother telling us off because you blew up the doorway to our room!"
Giir pouted a moment, then smiled and sat back down, picking up her leet doll and holding it close to her.
"So ... um... do you like it here too?" Giir asked curiously. She cradled her leet doll, stroking the furr and rocking a little on the spot, like an anxious child. But then again, she was still practically a child.
"I do... I like everyone so far... well I don't know if I like Mister Neuro... Neuronomi... Neuronomicon...." she said with quite a bit of effort. "He's a scary man... but Mr Chaos is nice. He tells me all about his home and where he is from and I teach him about where I am from" Giir added with a big grin. "And miss Angel and Kattan are very nice too, but they are scary too... I think they have scary weapons..." she paused and bit her lip gently. "Iryss and Rozee are very funny but sometimes I don't understand what they are talking about and they tell me I can't drink what they have because I have to wait until I am all grown up... ummm.... Urai is a nice person but I haven't said much to him or Anamchara but I want to talk to them more. Anamchara is a very pretty lady" she smiled. "Um.... I don't know... Nemette hasn't really said anything to me yet but she's one of those agenty peoples and I don't understand them.... hmm...and Mr Devin too... he's a nice man, but he's a very sad man too... he's always so sad" she said pouting. Her strange blue eyes seemed to fade out as if her thoughts were focusing on a billion different things. Like her mind was drifting through thought and each thought was a star in a sky of confusion. "I like it here" Megaera smiled and nodded after a long pause. "I don't really understand what's going on, but I know we're safe here from those nasty men"
It was true... as much as they had explained to them, they had never truley grapsed the danger they were in. All but Giir. She was in Backyard seven that day when one of the troopers appeared from the sky. Even with that knowledge and experience, she still seemed calmer than most. Perhaps her innocence was the thing that kept her whole.

The laughter echoed through the hallway once more. It echoed through his head, like some ghost like dream, faded and distant. Their innocence, their youth and purity only added to the feeling, swimming through his thoughts and tempting guilt from it's hovel deep inside his head.
He sat by a desk, head in his hands, eyes closed and a pained expression on his face. His agile features were drawn into a frown and his breathing, heavy with tension. Too many thoughts swimming in his head, and still too many interuptions to gather them. What if moving everyone to the Rebel was a bad idea after all? Were they still in danger? Did the Brigade really mean what they said that day in the bunker? Were Omni still on his case? These were just a few of the thoughts occupying his head. There were very few things that could take away from all of that, that could sweep all of those thoughts away in an instant. One thing that took up alot of his thoughts but always just played in the background, watching the other thoughts in amusement. The thoughts were traffic on a busy street and on the other side of all the Chaos those distractions stood side by side, but divided.
"Oh Deeeeevvvvviiiiiin" came the voice, sweet yet mischeivious. "You've been ignoring meeeeee"
"No.... I haven't been ignoring you Del... and you know it" he replied slowly though quiet and shaky breath.
"Yes you have" she said reaching over and touching his shoulder.
He didn't move. He knew that she wasn't really there. That it was all in his head, but the feel of the hand made him shudder. "You like my brother better... he's bad for you... I am good for you" she said smiling sweetly. "I'm your Endless spirit"
"You're not!" he said a little louder. "You were never meant to be here! Dream was with me since I was born. You just made me worse from..."
"From what, Devy?" she said innocently. "Oh, I know!" she squeaked, clapping. "You killed you're daddy that day didn't you? And Dream was sad and that's when I appeared! I appaeared like a magic cloud, all 'poof' like and then you kept moving away from my bad brother and you were my toy to play with!"
"I am not your toy Delirium... leave me alone!" he said angrily through clenched teeth.
"You're daddy was all mad at your mummy and then you beat your daddy to death and Mummy was scared. And then all the peoples in the place with the knives and walls and nasty things helped you and then you killed even more peoples and the people with the white clothes made you all better and we were friends!" she said happily. "And you're my friend!"
"Delirium, leave me alone!" he said through a strained voice. "Please leave me alone!" His fingertips dug into his scalp, his head still in his hands, his eyes screwed up even more, trying to make her go away.
"I can't go away... we're friends now" she smiled playfully, leaning over and kissing the top of his head. "Now go and play nice with the peoples and remember and show them that it's not what's on the outside that counts" and with that she vanished.
"Not my friend... not my friend" he said quietly through very shaky breath. "You're not my friend.... I am not a toy..." He rocked back and forth a little, his breathing almost a soft whimper. "I'm my own.... my own..."
"Are you okay in there?!" came a voice from outside his door. He jumped a little, not expecting it, unsure if it was her or not. But he recognised the voice to be Devilkattans.
"I'm fine..." he replied shakilly. "I just had a bad dream... that's all..." he said opening his eyes and looking to the closed door.
"Okay.... just try and get some rest alright? I don't wanna have ta knock ya out, now do I? I'm going to tell the girls to get some shut eye... get some rest" she said before walking off.
Shivering slightly, he turned away from the door again. His eyes slid shut a moment, as he paused to try and relax. Slowly, he opened them again, focusing on the wall opposite him, hands held together in front of him. But no longer did they shine that calming dark brown, but shone emerald green and sky blue. And somewhere in the back of his mind, behind a sea of traffic, she smiled and watched, waiting.

'Peace?' the sweet, feminine voice whispered. 'There isn't peace!' she laughs. 'The kitty lady is silly and peace is but a dream... all of the people will go boom! And you will be all okay and there won't be anything and then my sister can play with the Ruby people! Peace means that there isn't the other thing... um... so one side is pinker than the other... I like bubbles, they taste like tommorow'

"Not this drek again..." Devin muttered to himself, the doors to his room closing with a mechanical "*****" and then, silence. His breathing was quick, yet heavy as he made his way to the table in the small room, his steps slow and awkward. He almost stumbled to his knees as he attempted to kneel before the little table. And then he let himself go, flopping over onto the table. For a moment he lay there, half draped over the object, eyes closed, and there was silence.
"Morpheus.... where are you?" he whispered under his breath, eyes still closed weakly. "Why are you fading....." and then his own voice faded and he drifted off.

He opened his eyes slowly, blinking in the warm sunlight. The sound of bird song almost danced through the air, crystal clear, bright. The sky above him was a bright blue, each cloud that swirled though it's tranquility had an almost pale green glow to the edge and each one coiled and twisted around each other like an insane knotwork in the sky. The garden around him was lush with plantlife, vines, flowers and ivy's, tall trees with strange fruits ripe and ready to fall. Throughout the garden were littered ruins of old stone buildings and statues, worn with time. The only thing that stood quiet untouched was in the center of the garden. A sundial.
Devins fingers grasped only to find damp grass as he blinked at his surroundings in suprise, slowly coming too. Perhaps he was checking to see if it was real, if he could feel it. He wasn't too sure himself. And he still wasn't sure if it was real. "Where... am I... Del? Del? Where are you? Is this your doing? Del?" he said, his voice a whimper.

Slowly he stood up and dusted himself off, and looked around himself, trying to figure out where he was, and how he might have gotten there. There wasn't anything recognisable, nothing he had seen before. Just a very pretty garden. A little overgrown and obscure, but a perfectly nice garden. The scenery was almost calming and slowly his shaking came to a stop. But that didn't stop him being cautious.
He made his way over to the sundial, walking slowly and looking all around him. Too many things in life had taught him to watch his back and he did. Yet still, there was nothing. Just the sound of birds singing in the trees, hidden from sight.
The sundial looked as though it had been wrought from a strange marble, a pearl white with black and purple laces of colouring through it's structure. There didn't seem to be a shadow on the sundial though, yet the sun shone above them. He held his hand over the sundials face to see if it would cast a shadow. Nervously, his hand reached over and then stopped, hovering it just over the sundial. There was no shadow. Nothing. He looked up to the sky to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but the sun still shone harshly though the trees and onto the garden.
Squinting he looked back at the clock, a hand now above his eyes to shield them. And his mouth fell open a little. When he moved his hand from the clocks face a symbol appeared. It burned almost fire red in the center of the time piece, and flickered, pulsed as if it were alive. The symbol was a strange spiral, messily etched into the marble, but still prominent. And it wasn't there before. As he looked from the symbol to the sky again, the clouds started to rapidly move overhead. The sun didn't seem to set.... it just faded, along with the flame like symbol, and there was darkness... Nothing but pitch darkness... and silence. All that could be hear was the sound of his heart beating faster and faster, his breathing quickening.
And then.... a soft laughter filled the air. The voice of a small girl, and it echoed through the darkness.
"Whh..... what's goin.. going on?" he whispered, his breathing causing his words to stutter.
And then from the darkness, the sundial shone brightly. In the center, where one symbol glowed, now were seven. An almost ear piercing sound accompanied the glowing symbols, yet there was something musical in the way it flowed, and all around him, the air pulsed and moved, creating a barrier around himself and the sundial.
Shielding his eyes once more, he took a look at the symbols again, trying his best to ignore the noise tearing at his ears. He knew of these symbols... they were from home. Each one represented one of the Endless. The ankh for Death, the sword for Destruction, and so on. Each symbol shined a different hue and shade, and some burned brighter than others. The spiral was the brightest one and next to it, a ruby stone symbol burned dimly, flickering like a dying fire. The others were merely set into the stone, colour flowing and shifting like mercury.
'Mine... all mine! You can wakey up now! Brothers not allowed to play!' came the voice again and then in a flash there was nothing.

His eyes opened in a flash and he sat upright almost instantly. "Not this drek again... she won't let me dream!" he said through clenched teeth, opening a drawer in table. His hands rumaged through it, throwing out papers and things, despreatly looking for something. At last, his fingers hooked onto what he was looking for and he pulled it out, shutting the drawer. A small purple box that contained the pills that could calm him. That could calm Del...

There was a knock at the door and a small voice said "Dev... it's Anam... can I come in?"
He sat still for a moment, silent.
"I heard you talking in your sleep... I wondered what was going on... can I just check on you?" came the voice again.
"Come in" he said with a long sigh, opening the box as he spoke. The doors opened with that mechanical "*****" and Anam walked in.
"Dev... are you sure you're okay?" she asked, sitting next to him on the floor, a look of concern on her small features.
"Just... let me take these and get some rest... I need to...." he stammered.
"Please... just tell me what happened?" she said softly, reaching out and taking of Devins hands in her own and squeazing it gently.
"I don't know what to say, Isabeau... I really don't" he said quietly, his eyes looking at the floor, the open box of pills in his other hand.
"Just a bad dream?" she said quietly, biting her lip a little.
"I wish it were..." he said softly.

(( Exciting read, keep it coming! GoGoGo :) ))

((keep it coming:) ))

((Very nice! :D Keep it comin', cause me likes reading :) ))

"Are you ready Meg?" came a voice down the hall. It was her Mother, Devilkattan.
"Just a minute Mom!" she called back.
Devilkattan folded her arms under her chest and let out a soft sigh. "Meg... while the sun is up..." she called back a little impatiently.
"Coming!" she yelled, running down the hallway. "I'm here, I'm here!" she smiled, running over to her Mother, leet doll in one hand and a bottle of juice in the other.
"Come on little miss trouble. If we want to watch the sunset over Tir, we need to be outside for it, don't we?" she said softly, standing up. Megaera nodded and smiled as Devilkattan stroked her daughters hair lovingly.

Outside the happy rebel, the suns were just beggining to set and night was slowly beggining to fall. There was a warmess to the air, yet a slow and gently breeze drifted along making it that little more relaxing. There was a feeling of safety in Tir for them and that was why they were happy to stay, explore it's grounds.
Megaera and Devilkattan came to a stop on a ramp by the water, and settled to watch the sunset. Megaera sat down next to her Mother and sighed gently looking up at the sky.
"Thats my favourite cloud up there" Megaera said pointing up to a small fluffy cloud, a slightly golden glow around the edges making it stand out in a slowly fading sky.
"Is it now?... well I like that one" Devilkattan smiled, pointing the another one near, a pinker tinge to the curves and whisps in the cloud.
"I like that one too" Meg said cheerily, leaning back, looking up at the sky dreamily. "Mom... can I ask you something?" she said curiously, an innocense lingering in her voice.
"Of course you can sweetie, you know that" her Mother replied, looking over at her daughter.
"Well..." she said, pausing and making a thoughtful face, her head cocking to the side a little, eyes still to the sky. "I was wondering about my Dad.... I mean... I've never seen him... and... um... you don't talk about him... I just want to know what Daddy was like..."
A grave expression clouded over Devilkattans face as her daughter spoke and she sighed, her smile fading completely. Her eyes looked off distantly and there was silence.
"Mom?" she asked again softly, this time turning to look at her. Megaera shuffled over a little, sitting opposite her Mother, biting her lip gently.
"You're seventeen... perhaps it was time you knew...." her Mother said at length. "I just... I never thought about it... I knew one day I would tell you, but... time seems to have went so quickly and you've grown up so quickly.." she said smiling gently, bringing a hand up to touch her daughters cheek softly.
Megarea sat in silence, but her expression showed that she was worried.
"Meg... I ... I don't know who your Father is, at least not by name, and to be honest I am likely to never know, nor do I ever wish to know..." she paused as if gathering her thoughts. "But I do know him..."
"The Blackwood family, as you know, has blood ties to Omni Tek... out family has been with the corperation for generations... and I was once with Omni Tek, like Ishtarr was once and Kisharr. We were happy with the corperation, truley happy. Happy with family life... we had a good childhood" she said pausing again. Her eyes screwed up a little as she cast them to the ground hardly able to look her own daughter in the eyes. She was going over everything in her mind, trying to think of ways to put it, wanting to protect her daughter, but at the same time there were things she needed to know.
"I was fifteen when I left Omni Tek... but I had a reason for leaving... I was scared... I was very afraid of Omni Tek and the people who worked for the corperation"
"Mom?" Meg said quietly. "What happened?"
Devilkattan swallowed hard, trying to stop herself from crying. "I was fifteen years old... younger than you Meg.... you are a very lucky girl, growing up here in the clans amoungst so many trustworthy people. Back then I trusted my company and the people around me... I was training and hoping that one day I could join the Omni armed forces. I was a cadet of sorts. I had friends, I enjoyed my schooling and I was happy to get away from books for a moment, just to wield a blade again and train to fight for my corperation one day, protect them the way they protected me... " she pauses swallowing hard again. She paused so much because every time she went to speak, a lump grew in her throat and she could not speak. It hurt too much to try. "I remember it clearly, but it's a blur... it's both but it isn't..." she said frowning. "Megaera, I don't know your father because the one who is biologically your Father... he essentially forced this whole thing upon me..." she paused again, her voice cracking and a tear slipping down her cheek. "Megaera.... my daughter, my gift from the Godess... you are everyhting to me and I will refuse to see you as a mistake! What happened that day was wrong, but I got you, and I am eternally happy for that! If that officer... that man.. he was my superior.... he took advantage off me after training, and I just remember the darkness of the locker rooms, the sounds of heavy breathing and distand footsteps and then" she paused again, cringing and curling up a little, eyes closed tightly to try and stop herself from crying. "Pain... I remember everything and I feel it when I remember... he hurt me... forced me into doing something I was too young for and didn't want to do! The dark... the sweat... his sneer.... everything... I wanted to train and become a fighter for Omni Tek... after it had all happened it took me months to pluck up the courage to tell anyone at Omni Med when they told me I was pregnant... they didn't believe me... and the man was let off without even an investigation..."
"Mama?" Meg said, her voice small, tears filling her eyes as she rested a hand on her mothers arm. "Mama, it's alright... Mama, I love you... please Mama" she pleaded.
Devilkattans head slowly lifted, her eyes looking into her daughters, red and full of tears. "Oh Meg...." she sid, wrapping her arms around her daughter, the tears running down her cheeks. And for that moment the two sat there, the sun setting over Tir a firey red, and cried.

Devin stood outside Giir's door a moment, just listening. He didn't want to do what he was about to, but he had little choice. In the position he was in and with everything that was going on, it was better than to let things slip into chaos. People had to learn, no matter who they were or how small the crime. But the noises coming from the room made him stop... made him just listen. He even considered leaving it for another day. But he was a leader. He had to show strength over weakness and it started here. Facing the battlefield was a hard enough thing to do, but to walk into a sixteen year old girls room and tell her off seemed even harder for someone who had very little of a childhood.

"Aww Mister Francis Leet, don't be sad. You're my new bestest friend and I won't let the big bad troopers get you" came the voice from the room. "I will hug you and squeeze you and love you"

The big bad troopers... Devin knew who she was talking about straight away. The Dust Brigade. They were in the backyard that day he had left her with Mister Sinister. They dropped in from a ship, and the poor girl was scared half to death. It's why Devin has originally left her in the care of Shattered Dreams' Anamelle. But now, he couldn't trust them to watch her, so at the Happy Rebel is where she stayed. She would be safe with them. At least he hoped she would.

With a deep breath, he let the doors to her room slide open and he walked in.
"Giir.... I need to talk to you" he said a little sternly, although not without any form of kindness.
Giir looked up from her leet doll and bit her lip knowingly, nodding her head quickly as the door slid shut behind him.
"Kat tells me you were in Newland yesterday" he said sitting down on the floor oposite her. "Can I ask, why you were in Newland?" He rested his elbows on a bent knee and leet his arms flop lazily over his leg.
She was hesitant to answer at first, her eyes focused on the floor. "I wanted to see Miss Ana... she's my friend. But she wasn't there so I wanted to wait on her, and Miss Uni and Mister Mushue looked after me and made sure I was okay, and Uni gave me juice and my leet doll, Francis, and then Mister Toxor came along to say hello too... I was happy and Miss Kat made me go home..." She held her leet doll close to her, fingers stroking the fur nervously.
"You know you're not supposed to go to Newland, don't you? I told you..." he said softly, looking at the girl, trying to make eye contact with her.
She nodded slowly.
"But Miss Ana is my friend!" she said looking up at Devin, her strange blue eyes glowing sadly. "And I like going to Newland! And I have lots of friends who are not clans people..."
"Giir... I am sorry but we can't trust the Neutrals as much as we can't trust the Omni's... this is a hard time to live in, I know... but with the Neutrals. There will always be a source going back to Omni Tek thanks to them and traitors. They have friends on both sides and don't care about how much they interfere, helping one side and then the next whenever they feel like it. Giir, it's a joke. And I don't want you having anything to do with them" his tone was kind, yet very serious. And as he spoke, she cowered, curling up more and holding her leet doll tightly.
"I don't want you going back Giir... I really don't" he said standing up. "I am trusting you not to go back... for now..." he said walking to the door.
"Mister Devy..." she said in a small voice. "What if I do go back? What will happen to me?" She sniffed, looking up at him with tear filled eyes.
He pauses, hand on the edge of the open door, back to the little girl and he sighed. There was a long pause and the silence in the room was tense and cold.
"Giir... don't test your luck... if you betray me again or this group..." he paused again, shaking his head, eyes closed. "I personally will make sure it never happens again.." he looked over his shoulder at her, eyes flashing green and blue. "By any means necessary" And with that the doors shut behind him and there was nothing.

((I'll update this story when roleplaying as Devin becomes a little less depressing... I'm taking a slight break... hope you all understand))