INT - Eldritch Caverns; day
Dorian had gotten nowhere with trying to fly off island for goods, the supernatural fog was disorienting and sickening to fly past. That and persisting on taking Irene to the least spore-dense paths he could find had been his main concerns. That and finding out who, if anyone was getting off island goods back to Callisto. When Dinah hadn't shown up for morning rides a few days running he'd be too curious not to come looking. Fresh from his own ride, as he descended through the darkness, he'd hold out his lighter ahead of him to light the way through the treachery of needing to duck at a certain point past a protruding root. Once in the gently candlelit fastness below he'd snap the thing closed and slip it back into his pocket. He had a sinking feeling now he admitted it to himself, but told himself it was just his imagination. His footfalls were careful, quiet in well worn riding boots. The song he'd been humming ceased as he walked through the antechamber bearing its crystal on a pillar, out of reverence for the sanctity of the place, and out of an abundance of listening for where Dinah might be.
After some moments his vision began to adjust to the dark, to sharpen where light pooled and diffused. He did not call to her, just put one foot in front of the other, fair certain he'd find her much missed and more beloved face soon.
Dinah: the first thing that dorian would find would be blood. The stink of it heavy in the dank cave air, a great crimson slash of it puddled near to the books and leading toward the yog-sothoth temple room. Di herself wasn't immediately visible right away; not unless he followed the sound of sniffled crying and the occaisional whispery buzzing of wings.
she was perched up on top of the statue of the king in yellow, still splattered in blackened, dried gore, a lump of something cradled in her lap, one arm wrapped around the head of the King himself, eyes closed, hiccuping breaths against the stone.
Dorian had, in the course of his long life, occasion to see and smell copious amounts of blood, but never before in a cave. Even in this one. Upon seeing it, the smell made sense, and he'd bend to strike his lighter and touch the stuff to see how sticky it was. Telling himself he'd come across some kill of Hunter's, and not to panic, he'd go following the path of the drag marks toward the archway that lead to a certain pool which lead to a hungry entity to a point where he nearly left the room. Maybe it was the twin thing, maybe it was subconsciously hearing her wings disturb wind or the quiet sound of her sniffle, but he stopped following the trail and looked around the chamber he was in once more holding his lighter yet, though it was getting hot, his gloves helped mitigate the heat of it for now. Peering up and around he spied her clutching the eldritch entity's statue head, and his face broke into a grin once he reconciled the shape of her up there. It was too dim to see she was crying from where he stood, and as he neared he'd remark, in a warm greeting tone, "I almost did not see you up there. You hiding from something? I know the morning rides are early, but if you wish not to join me, you needn't hide."
Dinah hadn't noticed Dorian approach, though the eternally familiar sensation of her brother's aura though she'd never SEEN it until her eyes had returned. Now in the dim of the cave the seemingly endless eyes cracked open, free of the redness of endless crying by dint of the same freakish healing rate that had led them to this point.
"...I never noticed." she said softly, her voice a mumble "how much blood there is in a person. Not when we do the rite. I never noticed.. how much blood. there's so much, isnt there? so much blood" she murmured, almost dreamily. Crusted scabs of old blood coated her chin and chest, and she pulled her feet up beside her onto the arm of the great King in Yellow.
"...a-again, Dorian. it happened again. but...but it wasn't me this time. I promise it wasn't me. I promise..."
Dorian was late noticing that there was something wrong with her face, that it wasn't just errant shadow, and he went to examine closer, only she seemed to shrink from him. That wouldn't do, thus with a spectral flap of golden wings he'd be hovering near enough to really see what was going on with her. To see she was covered in blood. Normally down here when that happened it was her own, from her magical workings or flesh crafting. She didn't seem to be quite herself, and though he didn't understand why, her words did not illuminate much. They made more questions than they answered. For some odd reason he didn't reach to sweep her close, but instead hovered and stared, asking, "What happened, my love? I saw the blood--are you alright? That is what is important."
Beyond words, within thoughts that he shared with her because he didn't know how not to, was a sense that he was ready to TAKE ACTION, to embrace her, because she was the most precious part of the known and unknown universe. Reassurance, undying love, and the certainty that he had her back. That he was sorry he hadn't come sooner to look for her.
Dinah nearly smiled as he approached, ever grateful for his light. The glow of his wings illuminated the shape in her lap a little, the blackened mottling partially covered by the hand that kept it curled close to her.
"it happened again Dorian" she whined, her voice a choked sob. "Paris" was all she said in explanation, shifting her position again so that both hands could hold the thing she had kept so close to her. He'd know it, how could he not? Though granted there was most often a body attached to the horned shape in her fingers, carefully cradled around his jaw and up under his cheekbones. Greyish, exsanguinated, clearly and very obviously dead.
Dorian saw what she held for a moment and the object was so curious as to be able to pull his gaze from her beloved face unto staring at what she held. It couldn't be. He looked closer, flicking his lighter to life again. A smile flared to his lips. And wild eyed he looked to her primary set of eyes, with that smile departing by shades. Paris. That meant she was distraught. That meant that though it was something he'd dreamed of doing himself, that she had not done this for him at all. He was not to celebrate, not even a little. Eventually his expression just fell toward slack jawed uncertainty of what to say in which he found true words to speak, "It is alright Dinah. We will be. You... you said it wasn't you... Hunter?"
Dorian clearly took it literally when she said it was not her, and though he sounded curious about it, he realized that what he more wanted to know was what he'd quickly append, nodding in the direction of her general countenance "That blood isn't yours, is it?" He flapped nearer again and this time put a hand upon her leg, between knee and hip, to do reassurance duty where words could not.
Dinah flinched at the smile and she drew the head back towards herself as if stung, curling herself around it just a little. She sniffed again, lower lip trembling at his question, and she shook her head. No, it hadn't been Hunter.
"...the necklace" she whispered after a few moments’ hesitation. "...i... i had been researching. Trying to make it... t-trying to find a way to use it to slow my healing. so we could have a baby. A-and... and niles offered to help me, and... the demon" she trailed off, her voice cracking again. Another shake of her head. the blood wasn't hers, and her eyes dropped guiltily to the head in her lap again.
"...i...i bit him... but... but it wasn't me. it made me. it made me... m-made me...e-eat...and... and he didn't heal. I tried to make him heal. I tried... I tried. I tried, i tried" she stammered, a little flare of pale light from the bioluminescence in her hair.
"i... i didn't want... to lose him. he was so kind to me... i took the rest.. to the pool. but..." she huddled around the head protectively again.
Dorian had tucked the lighter into his pocket and when she huddled away he took his gloved hand from her and held them both up beside his head. He was trying so hard to quietly and without demonstrable feeling accept that he now lived in a Niles Roesler free world. His heart was racing, pounding so loud in his ears, as if he'd been running. As if the thrill of the kill had been his He was trying to understand and finally came around to a narrow-eyed gesture of surrender in which he'd also try not to ask her to repeat herself. He had feelings about cannibalism which weren't particularly fond, but worse feelings about a creature possessing his sister and forcing her to do anything she didn't want. "That damned thing that turned your hair black? Where is it? I will find a volcano to drop it in, it is the last time that damned thing hurt you. It wasn't your fault."
And maybe if he got rid of the pendant the demon would be beyond bringing Roesler back. Nodding toward her trophy, he murmured, "Surely... you don't mean to keep that, do you?" Evidentiary trails aside, he was already certain that the sooner he got the fallen stringbean out of sight, the sooner he'd be out of mind.
Dinah looked up towards Dorian, his delight was as clear to her as if he was happily singing and dancing around he place. she could SEE it on him, see it in him, with the extra keenness her eyes had gained in their long blindness.
When he spoke about dropping the pendant into a volcano though, her voice raised, sharp and sudden
"NO!" before jolting as if surprised by herself. there'd not been a fear in her voice though. She curled herself around the head, resting her fingers against his brow.
"...i dont...want it destroyed" she muttered sorely. she was silent for a long few moments, turning her eyes to the head in her lap. "I want it... kept safe. It wants to come out when the veil is broken. It waits. It...it has hurt me. It tried to trick me. it used me. I...will find it's name. I will crush it." her voice had drifted, as if tired, but she lifted her head again
"...with...with Paris... i didn't... you and Drystan. you left me with nothing. Don't leave me with nothing again, Dorian. Please."
Dorian couldn't help that his disquiet was heavily flavoured with deep gladness. Dinah had removed the thorn in his paw herself, which he really wanted to be thanking her for. Out of care and love he kept his tone measured to a coo intended to calm her, and did not grab her to do a triumphant tango. He did not thank her for the great gift she'd granted him, but instead, "Alright, everything shall be just as you like it. Do not worry. Are you certain though, that this is the token you want? If so... I shall not try and stop you." The family had power and money to keep the constables at bay for a long time if they ever came knocking, and he couldn't begrudge her keeping such a thing when he kept her corrupted but beating heart in his room.
He'd float nearer once more with his arms aloft, murmuring, "You can keep it, you just have to come up. Get cleaned up. Eat something. Rest. Because it was not your fault, and you've been down here for what, days? Say it again. It was not your fault." Not knowing where the demon pendant was, he couldn't take it, but he had an inkling that she knew where to find it. He wouldn't have tried to anyway.
Dinah looked sorrowfully down at the head in her lap when he asked if that was the token she wanted. She still had the wasp. She still had Clipsy. She could let him sink into the water to be with the rest of him, but...
She shook her head.
"i.. want this. to stay" she said quietly. She would probably have to remove the flesh though before it stunk. It likely already was, but she'd not noticed. She looked towards her twin again when he said she needed to come up. She sniffled again.
"...b-but..." she protested lamely, gesturing to the strike of blood on the stones.
"...I.. I will need to come back down. Often. Niles, he... he looked after the shard. He's not there anymore. I.... I will need to keep giving to the pool. I will need to. I cannot let the shard suffer because I was stupid enough and weak enough to let a demon use me as a plaything" she reached a hand, not for his but to entangle with the fingers of the statue she perched upon, dropping herself down to the ground in a slithered motion.
"..I don't know...what to tell people. I don't know what to tell Drystan. I... don't know...what to do. this never should have happened. He was trying to help me.. he was trying to help me and he died trying to help me"
Dorian was concerned about the decay of the thing, but he had to put that aside, as he was doing with his own joyous feelings. Dinah was in pain so palpable that it had shaken her out of seeking daylight and the embrace of family, and that had to be addressed. He knew just how, too. He'd reach a hand out for her, offering his when she disengaged from Hastur, explaining practicalities, "First things first, I think we should wrap it in my shirt for transit between the mouth of the cavern and the house. Here..." He'd be out of his shirt and offering the silken thing to her with the hand that he'd previously extended. "Second things second, you cannot worry about the shard or anything else until you have taken care of yourself. As for Drystan, you tell me what you want to do..." He'd keep her confidence if that was her desire, but, "...you do not need to tell anyone outside the family anything. The less we say about him--it all, the better." If anyone in the family was going to be looked it, it'd surely be himself who'd dueled and publicly feuded with the man, and that was fine. Just as long as nothing befell Di.
Dinah nodded mutely, finally shuffling closer to take the shirt and curl it around the decaying shape in her fingers. she didnt take his hand, her fingers still crusted in dried flakes of blood, but she dropped her cheek against his shoulder. She sniffled again.
"i... need to tend to the shard. I can't let him suffer. that's hunter's father, that's the keeper of the gate, he is keeping us alive, Dori..." her voice was near-pleading, and she nodded again against his skin.
"...i know you hated him but..he...he was helping. we could have had children, dorian, we could..." she stopped herself again, sighed, and she looked towards the blood again. She nodded again and she looked down to the wrapped white shape in her arms, looking utterly miserable until she skulked away towards where the pendant lay, cold and untouched since it had fallen from her, but she didn't reach for it.
Dorian could no more hide his joy than she could her sorrow, their bond being what it was. So when she came near, rejecting the offered hand and leaned on him he'd move to embrace her only she was slipping away to go to look at.... something. He'd assure her, "I will clean the rest up down here," trailing after her with her parcel of despair. And when he saw what she was looking at upon the stone floor, he was bending to pick it up, figuring his gloved hands were safe, "I knew he was going to hurt you." He left a moment of silence because now she was hurt and it was because of a Niles shaped hole in heart. After letting that hang, he'd conclude, "You may yet have children, even if they aren't his. You have time to learn how. You have time to tend to the shard, after you tend to Dinah." If she didn't try to stop him from picking up the thing he'd scoop it up to carry it back for her.
Dinah sighed and she shook her head "...why bother? noone is going to see it but us" she muttered, entirely morose even at his offer of cleaning the place. She flinched as he reached for the pendant, but he WAS wearing gloves, though she turned to stare up at him in silent, reproachful fury when he mentioned her hurt.
"*I* hurt me, Dorian. again. I did this.. he didn't...he never hurt me. I was cross with him and even then he never hurt me. this...this wasn't him" she trailed off, though she hugged her arms to herself, the parcel hanging from her fingers when he mentioned children.
"they would have been ours, dorian. he and I never did more than kiss, not ever. and he was still trying to help me. they would have been ours" and that had her double over, curling into a sobbing heap once more.
Dorian did not and could not agree that Niles hadn't hurt her. Even if he was the helpful gentleman she said. If he hadn't been so charming and easy on the eyes, then his sister wouldn't be hurting. There was never going to be reason in it, and Dorian knew enough not to argue with her. For her sake, since she was sobbing, he demurred, "I am glad he proved true to the end. But it was not you. It was this." He held up the pendant and showed her who was to blame. "It sounds like whatever happened, it was horrible. And I am sorry it happened to you Di. I really am." He was honest. He couldn't say that he was sorry it happened to Roesler and the words ring true. He could however put an arm around her to steady her, and lend her some strength for the walk she didn't want to take. He did not argue about cleaning the stones, but still intended to, so she wouldn't have to see it again. The pendant still dangled from his gloved fingers, he thought twice about putting it into his pants pocket. What if there was a hole by his-- nah, he'd carry the thing by hand to wherever Di directed him.
Dinah: Hunched as she was, she was easy enough to lift to her feet. she didn't have the strength to fight him, even if she'd been inclined to as he picked her up against himself. She gave a baleful glare towards the pendant, the hatred seething from her very pores and she clutched her brother's arm tighter in the one arm that wasn't holding the grisly trophy in it's concealment. She clenched her eyes shut again with another whimper and fight her way to her clawed feet.
She didn't speak, fingers digging against his arm, and she pressed her face against him again, curling herself tight against his side.
Dorian just held her close, keeping the demon pendant arm way out away from them, never flinching away at all even when she held onto him in earnest. He'd stand with her like that until she was ready to walk, and once she was really close he'd turn his head to put a kiss off center on her forehead where there was no eye. While he stood there, holding her, he'd help her with a little bit of a funeral song for Niles. He sang to his sister one of the old tunes he'd learned in the Navy,
"The silver swan, who living had no note,
When death approached, unlocked her silent throat;
Leaning her breast against the reedy shore,
Thus sung her first and last, and sung no more:
'Farewell, all joys; Oh death, come close mine eyes;
More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise.' "
His voice was resonant enough on its own, and he was unshy about singing aloud, now that it was an in memoriam, but it carried eerily around cavern corners and out toward the dark edges. While he sang he'd caress her arm with the hand that had been holding her. He never thought he'd be the one singing songs at that man's funeral such as it was. The world certainly was a sudden, strange place.
Dinah flinched a little as he kissed her forehead, the memory of the last kiss laid there bubbling unbidden to her mind. she paused her faltering steps as her brother sang, and she wilted against him again, curling her arm around the parcel.
"...I dont...even know how many will mourn him, you know. maybe no one but me" she murmured weakly when he'd finished and the last of the song had left the ringing in the caves, trudging along beside him. she didn't try to glamour herself as she left the caves with her solar twin, truly her opposite today with his joy and her sorrow.