The Apokolipz has Returned... Part Two((--Nanarie--))
The house remained dark, the only light was what danced on the top of the melting stick of wax in her gloved hand. The flickering light of the tall candle danced about her plain face.
She had been here for hours... countless hours. A dark, quiet and familiar place to think. Her initial intent when she first started revisiting this old home after her return to the Keep, was to find clues to her lineage. Clues to who her father was. Slowly, in that small quest, the shack returned to its old self. Everything had become just as it was from her childhood, from the drapes to the furniture.
Her gloved fingers wrapped around the candlestick. Wax melting and cooling on the leather. She had spent hours in her mother's room this night. Searching and cleaning. Hoping to find something to lead her to who he was. Frustrated at coming up empty handed. So, she wandered her room, looking for nothing in particular, just entertaining her thoughts as she wandered. Looking through drawers, examining old odds and ends to her past. Even her old vanity table had cause to put a halt in her step. Now, restored to its beautiful onyx luster, no longer covered and dulled by the blanket of dust that once inhabited this house. She pulled the old cushioned seat out and sat. Her own blood red eyes staring back at her. Her face remained plain and without her old youthful beauty. She set the candle in a bronze holder on her vanity and removed her black leather gloves to reveal badly scarred knuckles. She unbound the ponytail and watched with a visible annoyance as her hair fell down her back. She reluctantly picked up the old comb and ran it through her hair. What do jalil find so enjoyable about such tasks, she thought as the comb got caught repeatedly in tangles and knots. What did usstan find enjoyable about this? Time passed quickly, as again, thoughts of who she was and who she had become took over. Absentmindedly she set the comb aside and took in her own reflection. Her once unkempt ivory hair, constantly pulled away from her face, now lay silky, thick and beautiful over her shoulders. around her plain face and down her midnight blue tunic. For a moment, brief and breathtaking she saw the Lady she had been, looking back at her.
One loud pound sounded, jolting her from her old reflection. She shook her head in disapproval. This is naut ussa, she thought to herself. Then came a second. ~THUMP~ and she turned quickly, one ivory brow raised. She rose and with a swift movement she swiped the candle by its bronze holder. Her chainmail greaves ringing in her quick strides down the stairs. ~THUMP~ a third pound. She reached to the small of her back lifting the waist length hem of her midnight blue tunic and wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her dagger. It wasn't often that she had visitors, especially here. Vinlaael wasn't likely to come here. She wasn't expecting to see him until much later, and away from here, that was certain. Perhaps, he had a change of plans.
The door slowly opened, her left hand still grasping the hilt of her dagger. Her eyes found the dark form of a male and all time seemed to stop. Every muscle in her body ceased in movement. Her hand paused, the dagger half-drawn from her waistband. Shock and confusion decorated her face. Her eyes the very shade of dry blood began to swirl with various shades of red. He was familiar, yet not so familiar. His looks had changed. Instead of his once usual unkempt hair, falling in matted tresses along his emotionless face. He was now well groomed. His hair combed neatly away from his face and he even donned the dark robes of his trade. All this taken in within moments. She forced herself to blink, thinking that what she saw before her was nothing more than the tricks of her mind. If it wasn't for his bone white hair, if it had remained its true shade of ebony after his 'rebirth' , she would have truly thought Vladdik stood before her.
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((---Apokolipz---))
For two beings to be as entwined as they, the Apokolipz had only ever spoken to Nanarie once before, odd as that may seem. The woman who now stood before him seemed as different from the one he had met before as he knew he must seem to her. Her eyes, raging seas of blood during their last conversation so many months ago, now were filled with confusion; even the shades of red within swirled, not knowing which emotion to show. Everything about her seemed more like the Nanarie from his now familiar past and less like the knight of darkness he, the Apokolipz, had met.
The moment seemed to last an eternity.
As they stood and stared at each other, unblinking, his mind lost itself in her presence. Nanarie. She who followed him to House D?Orakaa in search of her lost love, only to find a shell of the man she once knew. But now, here he was, finally face to face with her, with no distractions, no interruptions from the spirits of the damned? and all he could do was think of how beautiful she was?
A memory flitted through his mind in an instant, and, just as quickly, it was gone.
----'...ssshe sservess Innoruuk...' the whispers had told him long ago.
The Apokolipz had raised an eye at that. "You said she was a deceiver, setting a trap for me?" he questioned in a hushed, coarse whisper of his own.
'...yesss, her trap is her heart, her heart deceivess you both...'----
It was a split second, but enough to snap him out of the odd haze he was in. His icy eyes blinked, ending the trance for them both. For the first time since his rebirth, the Apokolipz felt his heart thumping, his skin flushed. Nanarie also blinked, as if she were caught in the same ?distortion?. Their eyes remained locked. Fire and ice.
The spirits remained silent.
?Evening, m?Lady Nanarie,? he greeted her, his voice smooth, his tone low. He bowed slightly to her, courtly even, his eyes remaining fixed on hers. He did not weild the ancient staff and shield he usually carried; they were still put away in one of his many magical containers. He only wore the rich midnight black robes and charcoal gray cloak that have now become familiar to him.
Her expression was still a mixture of shock and disbelief, her jaw slack, silvery strands of light enveloping that dark, heart-shaped face. Though the muscles of her profession were easily visible along her jaw, his eyes still saw the soft beauty of her.
With the door?s edge still in hand, she stepped back, away from the door and off to the side, gesturing for him to enter yet remaining silent. Her mind seemed to be visibly ticking now, thoughts filtering through her too fast to grasp them.
The Apokolipz took one step through the doorway, the sound of wet dragging entering his ears. For the first time since she had opened the door, he took his gaze from her to look towards his feet? and the fresh blood that emanated from the bottom hem of his robes and cloak. His ice blue eyes rose again to gaze upon Nanarie?s angelic features. ?M?Lady,? he spoke courtly and clear, ?my apologies, but?? and his eyes moved for her to look.