Creda Shields
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Post by Creda Shields on Aug 22, 2012 2:04:20 GMT -8
Her back felt like it was on fire.
Eyelids fluttering awake, Creda gave out the first few sounds since last night. A few grunts and groans of pain. Her shoulder was heavily bandaged up and judging by the fact she was lying on her front, her back must have been in a similar condition. Her wings had been resealed.
Where...how did I get here?
After that disastrous fight with Kikime, Creda had fallen unconscious in the dirt. Bleeding out rather severely too, what with the horrific shoulder injury and even worse lacerations to her back. Fate was still smiling, it seemed.
But that still raised the question of who exactly brought her in here.
Giving out another small yelp of pain, she struggled to try and lift herself up to have a look around.
The infirmary... I see. Maybe a nurse wandered by? Even so, I would have expected them to stay around...What am I doing?!
Gingerly, she began to try and remove herself from the bed, inadvertently opening the wounds on her back again.
She had to tell her guardian of this development! Of this honestly frightening power that Kikime had displayed! He had to be warned! Not that she doubted His abilities, but knowledge like that could always be useful...
...and truth to be told, she couldn't bear it if Kikime cut the string between them. She adored Him too much for that.
"Guh...AHH!"
She cried out as her back wound reignited with pain.
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Gleam
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Post by Gleam on Aug 22, 2012 8:51:32 GMT -8
A tongue clicked in the silence, and the infirmary door swung wide. A younger Mediterranean boy stepped in, took the scene in at a glance, and stepped to Creda's bedside. "I would not recommend moving very much." he said, quietly, touching the girl's shoulder on an uninjured patch of skin and pressing her back down into bed. "Your injuries have damaged a number of blood vessels that run to your wings. If you continue to aggravate them, I suspect they will atrophy and cause you permanent damage. Please do not - that is too magnificent of a gift to lose."
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Creda Shields
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Post by Creda Shields on Aug 22, 2012 9:12:21 GMT -8
"The wings are sealed. No damage can come to them." Creda responded sharply, trying to shrug the boy's hand off of her shoulder. "This...this is nothing. I was careless and was punished for it. It was necessary to remind me of my...hnng....place..."
She again tried to push herself off the bed, but her mangled shoulder betrayed hr, resulting in the poor girl falling face first into the bed. Regardless, she tried again, not caring about her back and injuries.
"Grr....AGH!!"
Slipping again, this time she caught herself. Panting with the pain, she glared whilst staring into space, as if furious with her own body for betraying her like this.
"I...have to get in contact...that girl's powerful....hnnng...."
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Gleam
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Post by Gleam on Aug 22, 2012 9:18:34 GMT -8
The boy's brows lowered. "Your place is going to be a coffin if you continue in this manner. I can get you a phone if you require a guardian to be notified, but for right now you are not physically leaving this room. Now sit still so I can fix the stitches you just finished popping out again."
He planted himself in a chair beside Creda's bed and stared at her evenly. "I am not aware of what violence you might have engaged in, save that it was against another student, and as distasteful as that is, I treat all invalids equally."
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Creda Shields
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Post by Creda Shields on Aug 22, 2012 9:26:59 GMT -8
"Grr..."
Creda just gently lowered herself back onto the bed. If Fate wanted her to leave, it would have allowed her to escape before the boy entered the room. Besides...the wounds were getting to her now.
"...Fine. I shall allow you to continue."
Her back exposed, Creda just gave a Hmm at his last statement.
"I will not make excuses for what I did. Only know that I was the loser of said combat. She...She was undoubtedly a fierce foe." the raven haired girl reported. Looking up at the boy as best she could, she fixed his features with a cold stare. "People need to be told. She's a demon summoner. An unholy heretic..."
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Gleam
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Post by Gleam on Aug 22, 2012 9:40:48 GMT -8
A faint exhale, half exasperated and half amused, sounded from above Creda. "My thanks, miss." The boy answers, and applies a topical anaesthetic first, numbing her back and the scars in her flesh. "I will need to wash these out first again to prevent infection, then I will replace some of the stitches - you managed to pop three."
A huff. "Pain tolerance is fine and dandy, but not to this extent."
Fingers, slathered in some kind of cold gel, he starts to apply it to the cuts across Creda's back. The bleeding, which had started up again, stutters to a halt as the blood vessels constrict.
"Admittedly, this academy is not concerned with the health of its students in any reasonable fashion." Jacob agrees. "I would not know much about demons, all told, no matter what religion they descend from. But whoever gave you these injuries was standing over your back and attacking you while you laid supine. That is not mercy - that is not self-defense. That is nothing less than cruelty; sadism. That, in and of itself, is intolerable."
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Creda Shields
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Post by Creda Shields on Aug 22, 2012 11:21:32 GMT -8
Creda just nodded, wincing slightly as the anaesthetic was applied, then calming down as the numbing took effect. She was used to this kind of medication, having being forced to endure it when her guardian went overboard with training sometimes. It was to be expected.
"Devotion should be able to overcome the body." Creda countered, nevertheless letting Jacob work his ways. "But my thanks, anyway."
She continued to listen, folding her arms underneath her chin, unable to feel the cool gel soothe her wounds.
"They only managed to get into that position through my own failings." she countered. "I tried for a retreat when it was obvious I should have pressed the attack. I got careless and Fate punished me for my cowardice. It was a mistake, one I do not intend to repeat. I escaped for a reason, my part is not yet finished. Though you talk of cruelty..."
She remembered the awful power displayed by Kikime.
"That, I will grant."
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Post by Gleam on Aug 22, 2012 11:48:10 GMT -8
"It is nice to have the option to ignore it, yes." Jacob agreed, and extracted the two broken stitches swiftly with a pair of forceps. "Do try not to though. If you wind up with nothing useful to devote, whatever your cause may be, the ability will do you no good."
A moment later the needle slid in and he carefully restitched the wounds, using flesh that hadn't been torn or weakened by Creda's thrashing. "So finish healing before you repeat your assault. And, though I am and shall remain a neutral figure in the politics of this place, I suggest you stack the odds more thoroughly in your favor. Be imaginative."
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Creda Shields
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Post by Creda Shields on Aug 22, 2012 12:00:38 GMT -8
Creda just gave a Hmph as a response, not reacting to the needle entering her skin, anaesthetics proving their worth.
"We shall see what is in store for me. My path could involve never seeing the girl again. I cannot decide." she eventually replied. Turning, her white eyes met Jacob's.
"I take it you're one of the nurses here?" the winged girl assumed. "Were you the one who brought me inside? I cannot recall being brought into the establishment."
Though thank God I was found... I have to walk my path to the fullest. I cannot afford to fail Him just yet...
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Post by Gleam on Aug 22, 2012 12:12:26 GMT -8
The boy shook his head, unbothered by Creda's peculiar gaze. "I am, principally, a student and a lab assistant. I do, however, spend a great deal of time wandering the outer areas of the Academy cataloguing the local flora and fauna, which is what brought me across you."
He applied a little more aloe to the freshly sewed stitches in order to prevent the skin from inflaming, and then leaned back and retied the shift that kept her clothed. "I spotted you there, and as I have some prior experience with first aid, I brought you to the infirmary and treated you as best I could. "
A wry smile. "My apologies, but I was making a call to the Academy headmaster when you awoke, attempting to inform him of a student attack."
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Creda Shields
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Post by Creda Shields on Aug 22, 2012 12:54:13 GMT -8
"I see... Fate did indeed smile on me then. To have you come across me so randomly." Creda muttered more to herself than to Jacob.
But my main problem...what do I do now? I've only been here for less than two weeks, only have recruited one person and have been defeated by a girl with the mental age of someone half her years... Clearly, this is not the best of starts...
All a test, Creda. All a trial. Overcome it, just like the rest. Prove your worth.
"This Academy has a headmaster?" the winged girl found herself saying, before she could stop herself. "The general security system in general on this island appears shocking at best. Another girl has told me that various other incidents have occured similar to this."
...perhaps I should not interfere here.
"Regardless, I would wish to know the name of my benefactor."
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Post by Gleam on Aug 22, 2012 13:17:40 GMT -8
"Jacob Khorwah." the boy answered with a nod. "And not quite so randomly. You are the second person I have come across abandoned and injured in the outgrounds in less than a week. I believe I will make a habit of searching them in the evenings."
He pulled a chair up by the bed and folded his legs, sitting in it. "It has a Headmaster's office, and a name on the registry. There is a Headmaster's phone number, open only to phonecalls from outside this area code, but it directs to a secretary who answers for him. His apartments are attached directly to his office and no one I have spoken to has seen him." Jacob shrugs. "At this point, I believe he is either a fiction or a puppet. And yes; there are at least two students that have stopped attending classes and have vanished. Three more have wound up in the infimary with serious injuries, none of them accidental. Within a week. There is no security system worth speaking of, or if there is, it is not meant for the student's benefit."
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Creda Shields
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Post by Creda Shields on Aug 22, 2012 13:40:13 GMT -8
....Very interesting...
This was new information. Students openly getting attacked and nothing was being put in place to stop them? Along with the weaknesses in the teaching staff and apparent lack of a Power Control tutor, perhaps her Guardian would have an easier time getting onto this island than she first thought. And with no Headmaster...
A plan began to formulate in her mind. The seeds had been planted during the meeting with Gabrielle, but now, they were beginning to sprout.
Though it does beg the question...
"What, exactly, is being done about the situation?" Creda asked, eyebrow arched. "It seems like whoever set this island up is actively uncaring as to what happens to the students... No matter, that will change."
The ominous words were held in the room for quite some time before Creda continued.
"When will I be healthy to move about?"
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Gleam
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Post by Gleam on Aug 22, 2012 14:07:04 GMT -8
"You are to stay in the hospital wing a full day to give the stitches time to settle." Jacob lectured, ignoring her previous statement for a moment. "After that, light labor only - no running or flying if you can help it."
A pause, and he sighed, scratched at his head. "I am gathering information at the moment." he said quietly. "As there is no official investigation occuring. Most of the incidents occur out on the rim of the Academy, in empty ground. Footprints are - absent. Not just brushed clean, but absent. Knife work is almost always involved. And the targets never testify."
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Creda Shields
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Post by Creda Shields on Aug 22, 2012 15:19:54 GMT -8
Creda blanched.
An entire day? But there's so much to do!
Patience is a virtue.
Taking a breath to try and calm herself down, the winged girl nodded slowly, going back to lying face down on the bed, face tilted to the side so that she wasn't faceplanting.
"I see. If that's what it takes, then I must abide."
A shield must be at one hundred percent, after all...
Jacob was literally feeding her information at this point. It was like she barely even had to probe to find out what was going on behind the scenes. The bit about knives, however...
"Try scissors." she said, abruptly and out of the blue. "The girl who fought me utilised scissors. And could do something with relationships..."
She trailed off, remembering how vulnerable and alone she felt in the few seconds where she thought her time with her Guardian might really have been gone.
"She needs the scissors to do it, but she might be able to do it by hand too, I do not know. And these..." she indicated her back and shoulder. "Were not done by a knife. They were my own feathers."
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Post by Gleam on Aug 22, 2012 15:38:14 GMT -8
Jacob grimaces. "Sharp enough to substitute, certainly." He said. "That quality seems useful, if rather detrimental for this circumstance. And that is two reports of powered students capable of affecting the mind. I am not certain who the other is, but she seems capable of altering memories. Tracing her, for obvious reasons, is incredibly difficult."
His fingers ripple on the chair arm as he thinks. "Likely connected." he murmurs. "What did this girl look like? Did you manage to get her name?"
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Creda Shields
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Post by Creda Shields on Aug 22, 2012 15:47:46 GMT -8
...two?
A red flag was raised in Creda's mind. There was ANOTHER with that kind of power? This really was interesting and vital information. And this one could alter memories? In some ways, that was worse than relationships! No wonder Jacob was having a difficult time.
She nodded slightly at his questions. Creda needed these two off the island. Not only were they powerful, but they were potentially killing off recruits for her Guardian's cause. They would have been asked themselves, if Creda hadn't found out first hand how insane and sinful one of them was.
It was almost like she embraced the demonry from the start. But no one is born evil, right?
...But I was born Gifted
"Short, black hair, looked about 14, though she might be older." Creda began to relay with militaristic precision. "Wore a Victorian styled dress, very flowery. Ludicrous hair. Wields scissors. Calls herself Kikime...that's all I know."
................................................wait.
Why hadn't Jacob asked her, her name?
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Post by Gleam on Aug 22, 2012 16:02:45 GMT -8
Jacob's eyes flicker in triumph. "Kikime Liliana Jinja, currently rooming with one Secernia Lambda Greelix, dorm six. Sophomores. Secernia was recently involved in an altercation with another student in which she claims she was beaten without provocation. Noted in infirmary registry. Kikime has also been involved in the past with a smaller girl, Alora, whose arm was broken and her head shaved - also noted in infirmary registry. She is devoted to Kikime now."
His eyes shifted rapidly as he processed information sets, correlated info, and came to a conclusion. "Likely suspects. My thanks, miss."
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Creda Shields
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Post by Creda Shields on Aug 23, 2012 0:56:28 GMT -8
So that's her full name. And now I know the identity of the other potential problem. Clearly, I was meant to survive that fight. Kikime and Secernia.
"Devoted to Kikime?" Creda asked with confusion. "The girl must be blind and deaf. The demon summoner does not appear to be have fully functional mental capabilities. She's quite insane. As all who would consort with demons must be."
She was still extremely wary about Jacob. How did this man know so much yet stand on the sidelines and do nothing? Was it proof that was needed? Was her back and shoulder not enough?
Wait... he mentioned being hard to trace due to their respective powers...
"Am I the first to come forward?" she asked bluntly. "The first to actively recall what happened?"
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Post by Gleam on Aug 23, 2012 5:55:16 GMT -8
Jacob laughed, short and sharp. "You do not say." He answered. "It is such an obvious and brutal case of Stockholm Syndrome that it should be in a textbook."
He made a slicing gesture with one hand and rose, moving to the nurse's desk in the infirmary. There was a lock on the drawer, but it was already sitting just an inch open; Jacob pulled it wide, extracted a thick plastic binder, and brought it over to Creda, lying it on the bed beside her. It was labeled INFIMARY INCIDENT REPORT, and Jacob flipped it open.
A week, so far. And nine entries laid on that page in perfect, inken cursive. Broken arms and skulls, cuts and slices, dehydration and hypothermia. And nowhere is there a cause or source column. It isn't even on the page.
"I know as much as I do because I track down the patients individually and ask." Jacob said, grim. "And you are the first to mention either of those girls as an instigator. Either they don not exist in the victim's story at all, or they quite suddenly find in themselves a deep and abiding affection for one of those two girls."
A faint smile flickers across his face. "They are getting sloppy, though."
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Post by SarahSyna on Aug 24, 2012 5:33:21 GMT -8
Gabrielle stormed into the infirmary, slamming open the door with her mind and knocking it off its hinges. Not the best way to enter a room but she was holding a first year in her arms and had Kikime’s gigantic scissors practically shoved up her armpit at this point. What was she going to do, turn the handle with her teeth?
She looked around and spotted Jacob first.
“Hey! Hey, uh, Jacob, right? Do you know where the nurse is?” she said, inwardly really fucking wishing that she’d thought to wipe off the blood that was now dried to her chin. “I’ll fix the door later, but this kid’s shoulder is fucked and he’s been out for a while.”
There was no point mentioning the wounds she had received. Either they’d gone numb in which case it was too late or they had just healed up at this point. Though the raggedy nature of her jumpers and jeans would probably be a little bit weird.
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Creda Shields
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Post by Creda Shields on Aug 24, 2012 6:24:45 GMT -8
"This is not normal. Stockholm Syndrome is too soft a term for this..." Creda mused aloud. She put forward a possible explanation. "Maybe... the cause is Kikime or her associate forming some sort of trouble, then utilising their powers. Grelix for the memory manipulation, possible to erase the incident or alter it to their needs and Kikime to perhaps create a new relationship? One based on friendship?"
She scowled viciously.
"Altering their Fates...it's unforgivable."
The entry of someone new made Creda turn round slightly, seeing Gabrielle, despite the awkward positioning on her front.
"Viaris? What are you..."
Her words fell silent at seeing the unconscious boy. She kept her words to herself. This boy required help. If Fate had him die, so be it, but You Look After Your Own.
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Post by Gleam on Aug 24, 2012 7:08:26 GMT -8
Jacob blinked as Gabrielle entered. Then his eyes ran over her burden and his expression went very smooth. "Thank you for bringing him here." he replied on autopilot, and took the child from her arms immediately in order to lay him on the bed. Jammed shoulder, likely a cracked bone, and a clear concussion - the boy was already asleep, though and there was nothing to be done about that.
"Fuck." Jacob swore, low and vile, and padded the child's head to avoid worsening the injury. Then he dosed the kid with a anesthesia to prevent him from shifting. The bone would have to be set.
"Are you injured?" Jacob directed back at Gabrielle, not turning around. "If you have got open cuts, take a tab of this -" he tossed a dissolvable tab over his shoulder at her, "- and clean them out with rubbing alcohol. I will stitch anything up in a moment."
With a grimace he paused three counts, and then popped the child's shoulder back into alignment, making him whimper audibly.
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Post by SarahSyna on Aug 24, 2012 7:25:31 GMT -8
Soon as Jacob took the boy out of her arm, Gabrielle started trying to rub away the crusting blood on her chin, it coming off in little granules, until she spotted Creda. She went over to her immediately.
“Creda, you’re alright!” she exclaimed in relief. “That little bitch said she’d fucking killed you or damn close to it.”
Her expression changed quickly as she realised Creda was currently clothing-impaired on her top half and she blushed and stared up at the ceiling.
“Oh sh-sh-shit sorry I didn’t r-realise! Anyway! I-I’m happy to see you. Not like that!” she added hastily.
She looked over to Jacob as he offered her the cotton, the tab bouncing off her cheek. She looked over her shoulder, trying to get a look at her back. There were very obvious slashes and rips in her clothes and a good bit of her own blood. Didn’t look like anything was actively bleeding though.
“No, it’s f-fine.” Gabrielle said with a shrug and turn back to Creda, though still not looking directly at her. She pulled out the huge, fancy scissors from under her arm and showed them to the injured girl.
“Here, d-do you know the crazy b-bitch who owns these? S-said her name was Kikime.”
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Post by JDGreat on Aug 24, 2012 7:41:09 GMT -8
Creda continued to remain silent as Jacob got to work on the boy. He was clearly the more injured at this point. Fate would have her survive today and the boy, it seemed, but what would happen when it smiled on Kikime and her associate?
I shudder to think...
Her thoughts were interrupted by Gabrielle's relief, offering the girl a nod.
"Lying on top of her previous transgressions? She is already guaranteed a place in the Pit for consorting with hellspawn but she seems adamant to cement herself in it's history." Creda muttered with an absolutely straight face."Nevertheless, she was not able to defeat me. I still have a task for this world, yet."
Then, she offered Gabrielle a Look, concerning her state of dress. As if to ask 'Seriously? You think this is up there in importance when we have two potential murderers, an unconscious boy and severe knife wounds to the back?'. It was amazing how much Creda could say with just a Look.
Her eyes widened when Gabrielle revealed the scissors.
"...It's her again." she muttered, glaring at the instrument. "I thought I had managed to toss those out to sea, never to be used again. Kikime must have found them. Still, she needed those to use her powers, so perhaps you have defanged her slightly after all."
Defanged? What an odd term to use...
Slowly her gaze was drawn to the crusty blood around Gabrielle's mouth. She tilted her head quizzically.
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