04.19.2127 - White Rascal

[Dray]

She was growing more and more concerned about something that apparently was happening behind him.

"Yes please. Please take it out of the Church and hide it..and someday," she lowered her voice, "someday we will be able to use it against him."

Then, when she apparently thought she had an opportunity, she kissed him on the cheek and as quickly broke their dancing embrace and walked away.

[Griznuq]

Girls are so weird, he thought. With a shrug of his shoulders, he headed off to the bookcase.

[Dray]

Harrison turned and bumped into a huge suit of black plate mail armor. To make matters worse, it stopped to talk to him.

"I am thinking you should have more to do servant boy, than kissing and dancing with angels yes?" asked a voice inside the plate mail helm. The man's voice was almost casual, and Harrison didn't sense any impending doom within it's inflection. When he looked up however, and realized that the suit was that of a Judge, he ...

[Griznuq]

"Oh, pardon me sir, I didn't see you there. Miss Millie gave me a fifteen minute break," he said dusting himself off as he got to his feet.

"Uh, but I wasn't kissing anyone though," he explained matter-of-factly. "She gave me a kiss on the cheek before she left, but I'm pretty sure it was ceremonial or some custom or something" Harrison nodded ignorantly. There was an awful lot about Society in Our Commons that Harrison took blindly as custom. It seemed there was little to the customs that could be explained, therefore anything he couldn't explain must be custom.

"But to your point, I do have more to do, I'm sure my fifteen minutes is just about up. Would you like some cheese sir?"

[Griznuq]

OOC: I assume you meant Harrison, not Griznuq.  

[Dray]

That is the SECOND time I have done that.

[Dray]

"Even when on a break servant you are not allowed to mingle with the guests," started the reply echoing in the helm. "Nor the Celestial Spirit for that matter."

The man still didn't sound angry to Harrison, as if the man was simply performing his duty.

"Get back to your duties son."

[Griznuq]

OOC: didn't seem Angry to whom??

"Oh!" Harrison said enlightened. "I didn't know that! Wont' happen again.

The youth turned to head back to the kitchen, but stopped short. He turned back around and said "Thanks! No body's explained any of this to me. It's all very new."

[Dray]

LOL, I will call you Leslie next, I just know it.

The Judge, who had been walking towards Emma as she slipped through the crowd to get away, stopped in his tracks.

He turned around for a moment, his helm turning fully towards Harrison, then he turned away again to find Emma...who he had now lost. ‘Did I say something wrong?’ Harrison wondered.

Harrison caught movement on the floor in his periphrial vision to his left. As he turned, he noticed that the few little kids who had been invited to the Ball with their parents had returned to the small bookcase with the story books. Some inconsiderate parent must have given their child wax colors (crayons), as the kids were now coloring in all of the books and in effect, ruining them.

Harrison's heart leapt to his throat.

All at once he realized which book Emma had meant for him to secret out of the church…it was the book that made her feel funny a few days ago, the one she said she summoned a spirit with.

He knew this because to his shock and horror, one of the children had a large tomb open on the floor that could be nothing but said book. The large, old-yellow parchment pages were open to a complex glyph that centered about a pentagram...the child was actually drawing a purple flower over the glyph!!

[Griznuq]

Harrison thanked Kaine or any god who happened to be listening that he saw Clive skittering along the floor. Harrison motioned toward the child with the crayons.

As if reading Harrison's mind, Clive ran over and jumpped on the book, knocking the crayon from the kid's hand. Harrison scrambled over to the book as quickly as he could without drawing attention.

[Dray]

Two things happened at once.

The child screamed at the squirrel like it was a wild dog that had arrived to eat him.

At the same time, Harrison got hold of the book and everything in his vision blurred and swirled. One moment he was standing in the grande ball with a sense that everyone was turning to face him, the next, he was alone in a large dark room with walls beyond shadow. At the rooms center was a white marble sarcophagus with a light from a source unknown shining down upon it. Upon it was a marble relief of a woman lieing in wake.

Suddenly he was awake again, but had a hard time discerning where he was. A corridor ceiling was passing by him and his but was sore from the fact it was currently sliding on the floor, and his neck hurt, due to the fact that his collar was choking him....he was being dragged by the neck somewhere!

Harrison suddenly realized that he was being dragged through a corridor of the church. He could just make out Clive bouncing along behind him, as he could see where he had been despite not knowing where he was going.

He did notice that he was still holding the book tight in his grasp however.

[Griznuq]

Desperately he looked for a place to stash the book, but he saw none. He hoped that no one who could identify the book saw anything.

Once again, he was being punished for doing the right thing. Somewhere in his future there had better be some damned satisfying events, the light knew he deserved it.

With his free hand, he grasped as his collar and gulped for air. He tried to crane his neck back to see who he had to thank for the help out of the ball room, but he had a feeling that he already knew who to expect.

[Dray]

He heard the pounding of metal greaves hit granite floor even before he looked at the black plate mail armor.

As he looked past the Judge he realized he was quickly getting pulled close to the door. As they reached it, the Judge opened the big iron door as Elite House Guards stood aside. He was unceremoniously tossed, book and all, outside onto the cold courtyard grounds.

"Good night." The Judge said and closed the door.

[Griznuq]

Harrison rolled painfully over the unyielding courtyard. He sat up waited for his head to stop spinning. He looked around but saw no one. They must all be inside, he thought.

"That all you got, scumbag?", he said to himself feeling safe, as he rose shakily. "Shanteel would have gotten another dozen feet, weakling."

Clive's hurried jump from the ground to Harrison's shoulder nearly shocked Harrison out of his skin. For an instant, he thought the Judge must have been right behind him and heard what he'd said.

Harrison clutched his chest with his left hand. He could feel his heart trying to burst through his chest.

He took a deep breath, and winced as his ribs protested. Slowly he began to hobble home to the orphanage.

"And you!" Harrison said, grabbing clive's head in the palm of his hand and giving him a playful shake. "Lot of help you are! I haven't seen you in days!" Clive chittered a spirited response.

 

[Griznuq]

Harrison entered his room and was relieved to find that he was alone.  He concentrated a moment, and released the power his mother had taught him. He felt the cracks in his rib mend themselves. He was careful to leave some bruising, but he couldn't take the pain when he inhaled.

He drew a deep breath that mercifully didn't hurt, and began to write a hastey letter to Emma. He was sure she was in trouble, and had to know her fate.