Promises, Promises

[Jaxen Marveet]

Nox definitely handled the power masterfully. Aria's body was swallowed by the asphalt. The ground vibrated as the earth morphed and puddled like sinking into some great black volcanic lava. Seemed rather dramatic. Jaxen would have tossed her body into one of the nearby dumpsters, personally.

He shrugged and waved Nox onward. It was a quick tap against the tech built into his coat to signal the driver to return to the place he dropped Jaxen off not all that long ago. He finished up as Nox asked about the Atharim.

"I'm generally not a 'freaking-out' sort of guy,"
he replied with a shrug. He hadn't expected Nox to be Atharim himself. That was rather surprising. Hopefully the guy in turn didn't freak out should he ever discover Jaxen was the reason their headquarters went up in smoke.

They stalked down the alley, but Jaxen kept a wary eye out anyway. Not so much needing the civvie land warriors, he hooked them on the collar of his shirt. "But it's interesting to learn the Atharim kill each other as much as everyone else."


Whatever he was worried about, Jaxen didn't expect an army of refugees to greet them as they rounded a corner. He stopped dead in his tracks, Nox at his side, brows lifted high. Fifteen of the homeless stood before them like a wall, blocking their path out of the camp. Apparently what went down with Aria hadn't gone as unnoticed as he hoped. Some planted themselves with arms crossed. Others held rudimentary weapons, crowbars, bats, and one outright held a gun.

Jaxen glanced at Nox, hoping the guy didn't overreact. He seemed a tad emotional at the moment. "Hello folks, just passing through if you don't mind making way,"
he began and took a step forward.

[Nox]

Nox was about to say they are disappointed he didn't kill himself for being a god, but they were suddenly stopped by a throng of people - no this was a mob. And not a friendly one, Nox almost expected to see torches and pitchforks like in Frankenstein.

Nox sighed. "Really."
The only thing that worried Nox was the gun. The mob was harmless otherwise. He'd taken on mobs of monsters who's bite could make you one of them. He'd taken down Oni with one shot of a cross bow bolt. The gun was the only thing that worried him. His new found friend (ally?) took a step and Nox grabbed at his elbow to stop him.

The power was itching to do something and really Nox had to neutralize the gun. Easiest solution was to heat the gun so the man dropped it. Nox wove a quick weave and super-heated the gun the nameless man held and it clattered to the ground with a 'what the fuck!' escaping his mouth. Nox grinned at the man. "We don't want any trouble. Let us by."
Nox smirked. "Please?"


One man started, "No trouble? What did that girl do to you?"
Another of the men spoke, "Fucking channelers think they can do whatever they want."
A third chimed in, "We aren't going to let that happen in our neighborhood."


If there wasn't anything like a good old-fashioned misunderstanding to brighten your day. Nox shook his head. "Suppose it doesn't matter she came to kill one of you cause he or she was like me. And she didn't care who got in the way of her weapon of choice."


A man with a bat was pounding it in his hand with malice. He spoke. "She ain't here to defend her self now is she. She was just a little thing. Look at you."


"We aren't getting by are we?"


"That's a big no."

[Jaxen Marveet]

Jaxen didn't resist when Nox pulled him back. The guy thought reasoning with people was going to work? Yeah it was a bad idea from the start. It didn't matter if Aria was a orphan-killing murderous psychopath, which maybe she was, who knew, or if she was a saint. A channeler strolled into their home, slaughtered her in about the most gruesome way possible, cleaned up after himself and tried to stroll right out again like nothing happened.

Jaxen was eyeballing potential escape routes when Nox wove fires of the ancient power into the handgun. Not particularly keen on getting shot here, he likewise agreed with Nox's assumption that it was the most dangerous weapon present.

But fires? Jaxen dropped his mouth to tell Nox to stop, but heat high enough to burn through the grip and make the man drop his sole source of defense was hot enough to make the weapon discharge.

"Nox--"
Jaxen started too late. The weapon fired the round in the chamber. The loud bang clapped all their ears and incited chaos. The fifteen men charged. Jaxen's eyes flared wide. He tried to wield the power to shove some away, but it slipped through his fingers.

The man with the bat swung, and Jaxen threw a hand up. He grabbed the man's wrist and let his own momentum carry him forward, deflecting the bat past his own head. But bodies closed in. Someone grabbed his coat and yanked. His feet got tangled up in the spin and he tripped to the ground. Not good, not good, not good!

His ribs flared hot. Smacks of wood on bone filled his ears. Anger flared hot, displacing fear. He pulled on as much power as he could and shoved it all out and away from him. A bubble opened up as men were tossed from their feet. Jax climbed to his own and turned in a circle. "Enough!"
He growled and hugged his own ribs. If one was broken he was going to be pissed. He was about ready to leave Nox to the mob. Even curiosity wasn't worth this trouble.

He stalked forward, throwing up more walls of Air from the ancient power like Nox had done before Aria.

[Nox]

The gun discharged. The sound in the corridor of building ricocheted around making it worse. But that didn't beat the feeling of a bullet ripping through your body. The power surged and tried to burn him up from the inside out as he started to lose control. It took every ounce of concentration to hold the power through the pain and now losing blood he was feeling light headed.

On bent knee Nox knew the fight raged on, his friend had chosen a wrong move by helping him now. Nox repaid his kindness with a brawl with innocents. He wanted to throw up but what men weren't attacking his friend were trying to get at him. Nox blocked most of the blows with small shields of air but he could only weave so fast and space was precious.

The stranger brimmed with the power of the gods and walls flung outward. Nox watched through fogged eyes of tears. Or blood he couldn't tell what haze was what from the fight.

Nox didn't want to hurt them. But he needed out. He touched the ground and his power sank deep into the earth. The ground shook around them. The second earth quake he'll have caused and prayed nothing else broke. Ascendancy was going to be slightly pissed. Nox wasn't sure he'd survive much longer anyway as the men stumbled backwards to keep their balance and Nox flung up his own walls of air and shoved outwards separating himself from the mob.

The words yelled echoed through the street. Enough the mob stopped when the walls few up keeping them from his friend. Nox wove a ball of fire and his firey whip appeared in his hands. "Go home. I don't want to kill you. But I will, if I have to."
The double weaves was sapping what strength he had left, but there was plenty to work with as his energy depleted. What the fuck was he going to do burnt and now shot... FUCK!

[Jaxen Marveet]

Apparently Nox lived his life under a bloody filter of violence. Every instinct he wielded was to lash out with intimidation and danger. The ground shook alarmingly. Cracks and rumbles echoed in the alley, the windows pattering in old frames overhead. An old gargoyle at the corner of the Gothic structure cracked, dust of shattered concrete billowed like clouds. Threads of the ancient power caught it, but before Jaxen saw it coast safely to the ground, two more crumbled. He almost panicked, but coils of more air erupted. He groaned under the strain like he was barely hanging onto the edge of a cliff. Sweat pulsed from his brow. Together, the falling debris were discarded safely aside.

Meanwhile, a fiery strand flared from the hellish whip Nox wielded. Damn that guy was dramatic. Jaxen liked it. He copied the weaves Nox used and a similar whip of fire erupted into his control. He grinned devilishly as the glow flicked at people's feet. "I said back,"
he stated.

Together, they forged a path out, but on the periphery of his vision, someone grabbed at the now-cooled gun. It took all his efforts to divide his focus enough to splinter his powers in two. Holding the whip, flicking it at people's feet as they went, and lassoing the gun with invisible ropes and yanking it from the man's grasp. Jaxen deposited it high on a railing. Its not like he wanted it for himself, but neither was he going to just leave it laying around.

Nobody was going to die today, although now he noticed, it seemed like Nox might. He was bleeding, doubled over, his face wrenched with pain. The driver was going to be pissed about the blood soon to soak into leather seats.

They guys kept their distance, scared by the whips and shook to their senses. At the entrance to the camp, they met the wider boulevard, and Jaxen pointed out his car. "There it is. Go,"
he took off. After all this work, Nox better be worth the trouble.

[Nox]

Nox would have liked to think he ran to the car when it became apparent where he was going. His head felt strange. Dying twice in two days was probably some sort of record - it was for him. Never thought fighting for his life was actually going to me fighting for his life - fuck the Atharim! Maybe staying in the underground bunker of Ascendancy's was better than this.

Fuck! it hurt. The mob stayed behind them. Fear. Nox tied the fireball weaves off and they hung glittering in the air as they headed for their escape. Nox's vision was starting to fade in and out but he kept moving. It would dissipate with a distinct pop in a few minutes, plenty of time to scare the mob a little longer.

The car was nice, there was a driver. When the stranger said he had a car at his beck and call Nox knew he was rich, but this only confirmed it. The rich boys always had it so easy. But when push came to shove he had held his own, and made up for some of Nox's normal mishaps. "Careless. Wreckless. As always little brother."


Nox growled at the voice in his head. "Shut up."


The door opened. Nox wasn't sure if he'd done it, or if someone else had. He climbed in - it wasn't graceful. More like falling. But now that safety was nigh Nox had time to see what hurt. Where the blood was coming from.

The jerk of the car taking off made Nox's stomach flip he felt the urge to empty his stomach but he bit it back. "Bet you are regretting helping me now."

[Jaxen Marveet]

Jaxen smirked, "Why? Because you're getting blood all over Paulsen's car?" He flicked a gaze up at the driver in the front seat. Jaxen, meanwhile, wrapped up Nox's wound with bands of air to hold in the bleeding. If there was a way to heal the man with the ancient power, Jaxen had no idea how to do it. Compression was going to have to do it for now.

"Paulsen, hospital."
He flicked his wrist and the driver sped away. He navigated traffic like a boss. This was no old man's limousine.

"So you want to talk about what happened back there?"
He asked of the guy slowly losing coherency. "I met Aria once before. Can't say much about her except helluva scary with those swords. There some kind of Atharim civil war going on?"
He offered Nox an unopened bottle of water while he summoned up a map screen on the interior windows. They were a few minutes from the nearest hospital still.

[Nox]

Nox was grateful for the help. His leg hurt like hell and the more the rush of a fight wore off the more painful it became. Blood loss was going to be the enemy here. It hadn't hit the femoral artery so that was good or he'd be dead already. But gun shot wounds were never good. "Gun shot wounds in hospitals are reported, not exactly in a position to explain myself to them. I'm sure Ascendancy would love to know I'd gotten in trouble the same day he told me not to."
Nox laughed. It was almost manic and he heard it in his own voice. He was clearly losing it.

He shook his head and sighed. "I know a small place that doesn't ask questions. Not the first time I've gotten hurt and needed to be patched up."
It was an Atharim run clinic, but they saw normal clients too, as long as they got paid that's all that mattered to them. And he'd pay whatever he had to to keep out of the police radar. Nox tapped up the address on his wallet and handed it to his savior? Nox hummed in worry, did he need a savior? "Clearly you need a keeper."


Nox sighed and opened the bottle of water hopefully that would help. "Thank you. I owe you one."
And to start that repayment Nox told him what happened. He kept it brief. "Aria's lover died, brutally murdered though he deserved it from the looks of things. Aria's wallet broke as she signaled me for help so I came running and found her in a pool of his blood. She was broken before but his death was more than that. I promised that if she went rogue that I would end it for her so she didn't kill any more innocent lives. I wasn't sure she had, but she confirmed it back there. I hunt monsters for a living, Aria was a monster in sheep's clothing. So no, no civil war. There are those of us who don't agree with the kill on sight rule for human abnormalities - gods, wait channelers, is the term now I think, sentient, those like aria, wolfkin, etc. But we are small, far between. The war is and always has been about killing the gods before they enslave humanity again. Perspective changes when you become one."


[[ Gonna let you decide hospital or shady clinic. Nox's 'future' is in your hands. ]]

[Jaxen Marveet]

A long story to say that Aria went berserk and took off on a murderous, bloody rampage of death. While Nox talked, Jaxen took up his directions and slipped the map from his wallet to the car's system. "Paulsen, axe the hospital. Our guest has requested a special clinic."
Paulsen nodded. He was paid well enough to not care where to drop off bleeding passengers. If he cared about the upholstery, he was paid well enough to also keep his mouth shut about it.

Jaxen was disappointed there was no such story of a civil war. Didn't mean one couldn't be incited, though. How did one of these folks join up with the snakes? No, that was a bad idea. Best to stay an outsider and poke the basket from outside, rattling the cobra from a safe distance. With a stick. A long stick.

"Sure, cults always have a logical explanation behind them."
He laughed but Nox probably wasn't in the mood. At this point, Jaxen wasn't even sure Nox heard him.

They pulled up to the clinic and Jaxen slipped from the car. "Keep nearby, Paulsen. Just in case again."


Jaxen studied their surroundings. He kept a firm grip on the ancient power as Nox led him inside. He was being given a tour of the Atharim world without even asking. Hospitals, Baccarat. How many holes did the snakes hide in after all?

[Nox]

It wasn't the first time the Atharim had been called a cult. The biggest difference with the Atharim is they didn't worship anything. Sure it was catholic based, but Nox didn't know a single Atharim that believed in God except Aria. And Aria was unique in her beliefs and a murdering psycho but he wasn't going to judge.

Nox faded in and out of consciousness while they drove. But his companion's voice kept him awake. At least he hoped it was him and not something else in his head. Last thing he needed was more voices. His sisters constant chiding was becoming annoying.

"Most believe they are right. Become fanatical. The Atharim are no different. Can't change. Don't want to. But the world is making them."
Nox shrugged as he walked into the clinic.

It wasn't fancy and it was empty for the hour. A single woman sat at a desk and looked up with a frown. "What can I help you with?"


Nox tried to grin through the pain. "Got a pesky gun shot wound I need you to look at."
The humor was lost in the pain. Nox was regretting doing a great many things in this moment. A great many!

The woman stood up and looked down. "The bleeding has stopped. What do you need us for?"


Nox sighed. "It's not, it's an invisible compression band. My friend here can remove it with those fancy goggles he's wearing."
Nox smiled at the guy who had escorted him inside.

She nodded. "Right this way. Who am I charging this to?"


Nox shook his head as he followed her. "Me. I don't want this going outside."
But Nox pulled up the sleeve of his left arm and revealed the red and black dragon eating its own tail. "It's best no one knows even them."


The woman sucked air through her teeth and nodded. "My silence has a price."


"Just tell me the price and I'll have it wired asap."
Nox wasn't rich but he had friends who could do what he'd just said. He'd pay Dorian back, or Cruz or Sage or whoever paid the woman. He owned them more than his life anyway. Nox sat down on the table and looked at his friend. "Tell me how I can repay you."
If it was money well he might as well ask for it all in one foul swoop. So Nox wanted to hear what he was expecting in return. No one did anything for free - specially not get shot at.