Scene #377: Visiting Ariah

Owner	Pose
Ariah	Ariah is at home, and her open invitation for D to come visit is still fresh on the radio. For a vampiress, her choice of home probably seems abnormal. It's not a long trek from the beach, following the stream, to find the witch herself sitting on the dock of the waterfall lake. She looks likely about the same as D could probably remember, at rest with a large book in her hands. The time of day is pleasant enough, the fading, late evening sun filtering through the trees.
D	It is the first time D has ever set eyes on the Citadel, and he walks into it as if he belongs there. He should find the experience unsettling; instead, he is accepting, calm, and lacking for anything like apprehension. If it takes him some time to find his bearings, that is to be expected. Any newcomer would find the facility confusing, at first. After a time spent learning the layout of the overaching facility, he makes his way to the Residential Islands, and to Ariah's home. He is surprised to find tropical heat and warm sands, and surprised to find the sun so present. Though late in the day, its light orange and dim, the sun bears down like an oppressive master, and he feels the intensity of it to the bone. Escaping into the shaded trees is a relief. Eventually, he finds Ariah. D stops a respectful distance away and bows slightly across his forearm, his voice cool and formal. "Miss Ariah. We meet again."
Ariah	The witch's book might be familiar. It's one of the stolen ones. Or stolen on a future trip. She seems to be taking good care of it, though, and gingerly sets it aside on the dock when she sees D's approach. "We do, and under more pleasant circumstances I should think," her voice is as cool and calm as it ever is, and she's wearing a white dress with no shoes instead of the uniform she was seen in before. It paints her as a sort of ice queen, even in the sands. "Welcome to my home in the Citadel. It is far safer and more secure than a place my world may have to offer."
D	"I last met you as a trespasser and a thief; now, it seems, you are only my hostess. Yes, the circumstances are kinder for you." D straightens from his bow, and settles his dark gaze on the small, pale vampire woman. It is difficult to read his expression, shadowed as it is, but there is a quality to him now she would not have seen in him before. He is not only difficult to read; he is utterly inscrutable. His is no longer the cold of hostility. It is the cold of unfeeling, uncaring. Their last meeting had provoked his ire; now it seems has no ire at all to aggravate. Likely untrue, but a strange difference all the same. "Is this place not like your world in any respect?"
Ariah	"This place is a secure instance of altered reality... it allows me a safe haven without worry of trespassers or even inclement weather. For a scholar, it is paradise. The waves lapping at the sands add to the serenity," Ariah states, stepping closer to D. Though she seems perhaps more personable here at home, the cold is still ever-present in her eyes and voice. "Though I feel I will always be a trespasser and thief in your eyes, it is of less consequence to me. How did you come upon the Confederacy, if you are willing to share?"
D	"You are no longer violating the personal sanctum of a powerful Noble. You have taken what you wanted, and I am not the Noble's lackey, to be recovering his missing belongings. Our last meeting means nothing to me now." D holds his ground, permitting Ariah to approach as she likes. "As to why I am here -- three nights ago, I was badly wounded. I had joined Kilik in seeking out Crona, Miss Gorgon's child, and we came under attack by a powerful monster. I do not recall most of the action; after I took injury, I remember...nothing. Miss Gorgon arrived in time to preserve my life, and the Field Marshal has offered me shelter while I recover. As I am indebted to both, I have offered my services." The story is relayed matter-of-factly; it is the truth as D knows it. The actual truth is another story altogether, but what he does not know he cannot relate. That is between Medusa Gorgon and Lord Dracula. To Ariah's senses, he is almost another person. Although, it could only be thanks to the setting -- she has never seen him by light of day before, after all...
Ariah	Ariah's rank only gives her so much access to information, and her present loyalty to the Confederacy gives her no particular reason to doubt what she's told for the most part. She continues to approach, listening intently, the much shorter woman's feet sinking into the sand until she's just out of arm's reach for the taller D. She does look the man over, only having seem him by the ethereal light of her own magic, and then nods. "Nurse Gorgon is a talented healer, if rough around the edges for efficiency's sake. I am glad that she and the Field Marshal have taken care of you. Should you require any other aid, I would not be adverse to providing it while you are under our security." She says nothing more about her future intents on swapping out books, as that had already been a point of contention. But she does perhaps feel something different from the man. "I hope your stay with us will be an extended one. My seclusions oft lead me to being less than social, but if I may say so, I find some small level of kinship with you. Whether or not you feel the same is your will to decide."
D	And now, an obligatory reminder as to how preternaturally beautiful the Hunter is. An icon of masculine grace, his skin is flawless, his countenance cold but regal, his gaze frigid but captivating. He is too pale for human health, but this fails somehow to be repellent. Unsettling, yes -- but he /is/ a vampire. Like his progenitor, he cuts a powerful figure, tall and lean and broad-shouldered, and the black drape of his garments only enhances his imposing image. There is not a muscle in him not honed by hard labors and long life. He is at once terrifying and divine -- a true creature of the night. Fortunately, Ariah herself is no doubt aloof to most of his qualities. As a predator, he is meant to leave simpler prey in an awe-struck condition. It seems only Medusa Gorgon has succumbed to his charms, an amusing departure from the usual reception he receives on /his/ world. At least here, no one is driving him away out of fear, or throwing themselves at his feet out of love. D inclines his head in a subtle nod. "Thank you, Miss Ariah. I believe Miss Gorgon wishes to assert herself as my primary caretaker, but if she should not be available to assist me, I will remember your offer." How far does Ariah's offer extend, he wonders? "There will be times I have need of it, I am sure." "As to how long I remain in service -- I intend to leave once my debts are paid, if no deeper loyalty is earned. I have no friends here. It is true you and I have a condition in common, but we hardly know each other. Perhaps in time that will change." His gaze meets and holds Ariah's, but it lacks warmth and life. He is so reluctant to be anything other than a cold bastard to any he meets. "Your home suits you. You seem very at peace here."
Ariah	"I do work under Nurse Gorgon in her Ward sometimes, but as she is my superior, if she is your primary caretaker, I will leave her to that unless you are in true need of my aid should she be unavailable. My powers should work on your body," Ariah states in her cool tone. "I would not be adverse to getting to know you better. The ... Nobles of your world are different from the vampires in mine. No great works are erected in their name, unless clandestinely, the power asserted from the shadows, strings pulled." She shakes her head, her hands clasping over the corset snug around her middle. She's not un-pretty herself, but she was born a human, and scarred before being turned, the memory of her flesh retaining the marks regardless of how often she must regenerate, to say nothing of her pale everything and icy demeanor. "As I said, I am a scholar as much as I am a soldier. I am at peace on the battlefield, but I am also at peace here, where I may be alone with my thoughts, or my companion. You are the first... visitor I have had in some time." She's not mentioning the delivered 'meals', of course.
D	"I see. I was not aware she had taken any students. My apologies, of course. I doubt she would have cause to complain if you volunteered yourself to my care." "The shadows only suit my Nobility as a source of comfort. Their rule is open, where it is not opposed, and by cover of night their power is asserted. The balance has shifted in recent centuries to be more favorable of mankind, but it is yet to shift too far in either direction. Another decade may see the Nobility regaining their uncontested authority, or may find human progress continuing in as slow a pace as it ever does. Another millennium, and who knows what scars my world will have kept, or if I will be alive to find them." D pauses before continuing, his voice for once bearing an inflection of muted reverence. "The Sacred Ancestor believes the Nobility to be nothing more than another temporary power shaping the flow of our world's history. All things have an end. 'Transient guests are we,' he said...and I believe he speaks the truth." There; something grips him. A shadow flickers across his expression, bringing with it an obvious state of confusion. D's thoughts turn inward to untangle a knotted jumble of conflicting feelings. A moment later, and he lets out a vexed sigh. "Forgive me. The injury I took -- my mind is not always clear..."
Ariah	Ariah blinks once, "I am not her student." She says it simply, "I assist in her Ward as a medic, on the patients that I am able to help." She then nods after listening. "The vampires of my world are locked in a struggle with much more than just the whims of humanity. I admit, however, that I have not explored your world to see what more in terms of monsters lurk in the shadows. I have still found that many humans are more monstrous than the monsters they hunt, but that is from personal experience and the Multiverse has given me a broader example." A small shrug is given, "Who knows where my world will be in another thousand years, or if I will be there to see it. A soldier with a long life is a contradiction, but could it not be as well?" It's inward thought brought outward, but she pauses as she catches herself, and D's expression. "If you wish to sit down, you are welcome to," she gestures to the dock. "If the sun is bringing you discomfort, I can invite you in."
D	"The majority of the other horrors wandering the Frontier are creations of the Nobility, or demons leftover from ancient wars. The rest are humans or half-demons like the Barbarois." D's staunch neutrality returns the longer he speaks on safer subjects. "I do not advise exploring the Frontier alone no matter how gifted you are. Inexperience can be lethal, especially considering many monsters were created by one Noble trying to kill another in civil conflict. There are also Hunters less scrupulous than I who will take your head in for a general reward instead of accepting a particular bounty...and Hunters who will kill you on sight simply out of principle. If you wish to explore, you will want veteran companionship. That, at least, I can offer you." He pauses before adding, "But we will not return together to the library you disrupted previously. That sanctum is not meant for you to freely violate, and regardless of our current affiliations, my world is left safer with it undisturbed. Continuing to disturb that place will make of you my enemy." The threat is given gently, as if he is explaining why fire burns to someone who has never felt it. He sighs, then, and flicks his fingers in dismissal of any animosity. "...the sun is...a burden to me, yes, but it is low enough in the sky I am not much troubled." Odd. He could take the full sun before. "What brought you to the Confederacy, Miss Ariah?"
Ariah	"I will have to read more, then, at the risk of earning your ire, if the knowledge of the Frontier is more freely available outside of that 'sanctum'," Ariah states calmly. She listens to the offer, and listens to the warnings. Then a simple nod, the diminutive woman turning towards the dock, footfalls on the sand silent. She looks over her shoulder, arms falling to her sides, loose sleeves sweeping in the ever-present ocean breeze. "I am used to being a soldier. A soldier with a cause. I am not fit to be a mercenary, and in the Confederacy... what I am and who I am is not only welcomed, but respected. I am not an expendable resource to be hurled at our enemies like the ocean tide to a cliff face. Where I am from... I was used, even reviled. And this was, as yet, before I became what you see before you," she gives a slight gesture towards her face, her final words accompanied by the flash of her vampiric fangs, but just for a moment. "I can call the Confederacy home."
D	"I see." Home. It had been a very long time since D had anything of the like. To consider the Confederacy his home...the idea unsettles him. He stares at Ariah for a long while in thoughtful silence, watching the flow of her skirts and sleeves in the wind, watching the brief glint of light on her fangs, and struggles to make sense of the turmoil inside him. Comfort is offered to him here -- companionship, care, and more. So, why does he not wish to accept these offers? What repels him? D had always been an isolated man, it is true. Is sacrificing his solitude so difficult? He feels as if it hadn't always been so, but...why is understanding so elusive? It slips from his grasp, sinking into an unfathomable mire, leaving him without any feeling at all but the barren chill of a numbed heart and soul. "It pleases me to see you so comfortable here," he murmurs. "I can only hope to find a similar place for myself someday. Yet I do not think such contentment is meant for the likes of me." D turns away. "Yes, there are many other safer sources of information, including the knowledge inside my own head. I will share it with you whenever you ask. For now, I must take my leave. The sunlight is draining, and I do not wish to leave Miss Gorgon troubled for my sake."
Ariah	"This contentment is temporary. I will be needed, whether it is to provide succor or raise my blade, I will be needed," Ariah states, making her way back to the dock's end. "For the moment, I have respite, until I am called away again. You know that same call, Hunter." The witch looks towards her book, moving it back upon her lap. "Find me a library, one that will not cause you to draw your sword on me, and I will accompany you to your world. I wish to know more of it, and these Nobles and their beasts. And perhaps you will come to trust me enough to allow me to help you and your people," Ariah states. She is sincere, if still lacking any sort of warmth, but she nods to D's need to depart. "You are free to visit when the sun has set, the fireflies and my magic provide ample light to read by at times. May you find peace, D, until the call of battle rouses you again."
D	"Thank you, Miss Ariah...I wish you the same." At this final remark, the Hunter takes his leave, making his way back steadily to Castlevania. The sword strapped to his back seems to mute the sunlight reflected in its curved surface. His cloak snaps in the sea air, another shadow clinging to a man made for the night.