Post by Professor Roeswood on Jun 6, 2007 16:26:07 GMT -5
It was times like these when Marina realized exactly how difficult it was to be alone in the school. Everywhere, even the shining lake, was teeming with student bodies travelling to and fro, reminding her exactly how happy they were and in contrast, who happy she wasn't.
For some time it had seemed as though things in life were improving for the girl, who had found love and acceptance for the first time in years in the form of a certain Azrael Jeremiah. However, the situation had slowly deteriorated as busy schedules, conflicting interests, and frequent arguments had kept the two apart. The period of initial sunshine had ended as abruptly as it had started.
Now, despondant and lonely, Marina Roeswood roamed the dungeon halls, the only place unpleasant enough to deter even the most hardy of students. It was musty, dark, and dank, and for Marina, filled with unpleasant memories of times of war, when she had once been defended by the minions of the only person in the world that she sincerely cared about.
Now was yet another age of despair. Finally, no longer possessing the will to walk, Nina slinked off into an old abandonned cell and buried herself into the corner, hiding her tears in the sleeve of her robe, which had grown more and more loose from stress and lack of appetite.
"Oh ho! Now, how this does seem so very interesting," Came a soft and almost overly cheerful voice from nearby the crying Head Girl. It belonged to the figure of the Firefox 'professor' Orifiel; though one could only ever say the word 'professor' in quotes, of course, as he had yet to teach so much as a single class. It was quite a wonder he had not been fired as of yet, though it could be assumed that either Talon didn't care about the comings and going of his school, or simply no one at all in their right mind cared about the subject of divination as a whole. Perhaps even both were true,
Unlike most wizards, Orifiel never did bother wearing robes at any time, dressed instead in his long black coat and a nice white shirt beneath with the top of a black tie being visible around his neck. Also as usual, he wore a wide-brimmed black hat, which in this dungeon cast a dark shadow across his pale face, that was currently broken into a wide grin that made him look more creepy than it did glad or amused.
He might have stumbled across the girl by complete accident, though it was more likely that, being obviously troubled and of somewhat higher regard at the school due to her position as Head Girl, he must have instead have followed her for some time until she took refuge at last in her present location. It also should be clear, if anyone knew he was a Nephilim and anything about Nephilim, that he was in no way up to anything of any benefit to anyone other than himself. Though in her present state, Marina might be a bit more easily persuaded to think otherwise.
“Hmmmm, I do wonder what is wrong.” He said in conversational tones, standing about half a dozen feet away from her or so, as he expected a potential lashing out from her end and was prepared to do something about it should that be the case, “I see you are distressed, are you not? I wonder how much you value information, that you might not let some of it go to me and tell me what is the matter?”
Post by Professor Roeswood on Jun 6, 2007 17:32:33 GMT -5
Marina was smarter than to lash out at the man. After all, she wasn't usually the type to let her emotions get the best of her in front of others, and at current, she had only let her guard down because she had mistakenly thought she was alone. Instead, as casually and she could muster, she rubbed the sleeve across her eyes and feigned a rather convincing yawn.
"I was just rather fatigued, Professor," she replied, her teeth gleaming dully in the near dark of the dungeon room. She wondered vaguely how the hell this man had managed to stumble across her, but she let the thought slip from her mind while she had more pressing matters at hand.
"I do believe you had me falsely pegged, sir, because there is nothing the matter." The lie probably would have been convincing to most people, maybe even ample allay all suspicion. However, Nina had a distinct fear that this man might see past it all, and instead of allowing herself to be content with her facade, she carefully constructed mental blocks that would hopefully keep the man out of her head.
"I don't believe introductions are necessary, because I'm sure you know who I am and I know who you are. Then, perhaps, may I ask what you are doing here?" Perhaps the slightest sign of ineptitude with lying was showing through now, because if she had allowed herself the analyze it more, the abrupt change of subject could easily be regarded as suspicious. However, Nina did not allow herself to analyze it because then she would panic, and she knew through experience that he would surely see right through THAT.
Though one might hide their tears with their sleeve, they couldn't easily just hide the signs of crying from their features, which Orifiel observed now as Marina yawned and claimed fatigue to be her only present malady. Of course, Orifiel would never buy such an excuse. In fact, even if it has been the blatant truth he might not even have bought it then, simply because such a turn of events would simply be of no amusement at all. No, there was much more at hand, or at least so he had concluded to himself.
“An earache.” Orifiel said simply with a knowing nod. “Among other things, it seems clear to me that either some infection or an overabundance of non-purged earwax. It must cause you some pain and, more importantly, impede your hearing. Otherwise you would have deemed it fit to answer my own questions before placing your own to me. Clearly, you couldn’t have heard, otherwise this would be quite a blatant display of insolence.”
“However, you are correct in aspect only,” He continued, clearly having deigned to refuse to answer her questions just as much as she had refused to answer his, “And that would be in the lack of necessary introductions, Miss Roeswood.” he said simply, tipping his hat for a brief moment before re-adjusting it to it’s former position. He was taking an educated guess that she would have one very tough shell to crack, yet was ‘gifted’ with an ingrained over-confidence in himself, which would not allow her to gain the upper hand in this conversation.
“Now, once again I believe I will ask you to divulge some information to me.” he said, being clearly insistent upon this one aspect and dominating the conversation to his own ends. Taking a couple steps towards her as he had asked, he continued to speak, “Tell me what concerns you, I really do wish to know. I wonder if there is any dark secretive reason why you wouldn’t. If not, then who knows? I might even be able to help you, if you allowed me too” He said, still as cheerful as ever.
Post by Professor Roeswood on Jun 6, 2007 18:48:20 GMT -5
It was becoming increasingly clear to Marina that her ruse wasn't going to work against this man, who for some reason seemed completely determined to get something out of her. She was angry and embarrassed, yet she was determined not to get upset at him because she was quite sure it would only be to her detriment.
"No, once again you are mistaken, Professor, because my ears are absolutely fine. However, I do not believe it is your place to be meddling in my affairs." Her tone and gestures were both curt and disinterested, though she was growing steadily more annoyed the more she stood here speaking to him. Something about him just really got under her skin. So, she decided, she would get under his, if that were at all possible.
"Especially considering, sir, that you are hardly deserved of your title. I don't believe I've ever had the pleasure of attending a single one of your classes." She smiled, perhaps a bit impishly, and cocked her eyebrow. "I do not believe that I am guilty of insolence any more than you are of truancy and shirking your duties."
Marina wasn't exactly sure how he would respond to this, but she hoped that in his anger, Orifiel would be distracted from his barrage of questions.
"Now, if you don't mind, I must excuse myself for I am, as previously stated, fatigued, and desire to go get some rest." She bowed her head to him slightly and waved, beginning to walk away.
She was attempting to strike back at him! Now things could prove to be fun. Far from 'getting under his skin' as she had been attempting, she only succeeded in further piquing his interest. Unfortunately, she hadn't truly stricken any old wounds, for he knew and accepted full well that he had completely and utterly disregarded any of his duties, finding it amusing, if anything, that he still retained his position as a professor.
Yet then she did something that was entirely not fun. she attempted to leave. No, that simply wouldn't do, he would have to act first, then he could get his questions answered.
She had been in a lone cell and, having followed her, it meant he was between her and the exit. Of course, this more importantly meant that it was a necessity to walk past him to leave, which would both bring her within a foot or two of the Nephilim and put her back to him. Neither of which were particularly intelligent ideas around a persistent Nephilim.
As she passed by him, he let a single hand dart out, seizing her neck from behind where she shouldn’t have seen it coming. His other hand, that which he has used to play with his hat had been covered in a white glove, much like the pair he normally wore. Yet the hand he used to grab her was bare, exposing the pale hand beneath. “I am afraid to inform you that I do, as a matter of fact, mind you excusing yourself. In fact, I flat out deny you that privilege. Your rest can wait.”
From the moment his bare hand had made contact with her flesh, he had begun to exert his power over her. All Nephilim are, while devoid of the ability to use regular wizard magic, gifted with their own special reservoir of abilities. These powers they used with a general frequency, though in Orifiel’s case it had been many long years since he had last actually used one of his, relying on other talents only to get his work done, yet now he deemed it an appropriate time to once again put his skills to their proper effect. This particular power entailed being able to exert manipulative control over the very neurons of an individual’s brain, at the required necessity of managing to make and maintain contact with them in the first place. It was a unique skill that, despite it’s limitations, was very useful in the fact that it didn’t directly target the victim’s mind, thus couldn’t be warded against via occlumency. At the moment, Orifiel applied his will towards blocking those neuron’s transmitting signals within her somatic nervous system; that part of the nervous system which controls all voluntary actions within the body, so that she should hopefully be rendered completely helpless and unable to retaliate.
Post by Professor Roeswood on Jun 6, 2007 19:43:02 GMT -5
Marina had almost allowed herself to think that she had gotten herself out of this situation entirely, and she even began to smirk as she walked past the man, planning on going to her common room where she knew he couldn't follow her. As it turned out, however, the Head Girl wasn't destined to make it that far, and as she tried to walk out the door, she felt a strange pressure on her neck.
And then, she simply crumpled to the ground.
As her head hit the cold stone floor, Marina tried to cry out but found that her mouth would not cooperate. She attempted to wriggle away, but found that no matter how she strived mentally, her muscles simply refused to move. And, perhaps worst of all, she found she could not even swivel her eyes to look at her assailant. In effect, she was no more than a rag doll, and her breathing became shallow as her involuntary muscles contracted with ever increasing rapidity from her fear.
If there was one thing Nina hated, it was being defenseless. And right now, she was about as defenseless as she could possibly be.
Please don't hurt me, she thought desperately, wishing Azrael was here to protect her. But then again, he hadn't been around in weeks...
As the girl fell, Orifiel made sure to lean down after her, maintaining constant contact with her neck. After all, if the connection were to be broken and she were to get to her wand before he could react further, he might be in a situation that would be rather difficult to slip out of, having fairly directly attacked a student. "That's better. I thank you for being so very cooperative,” he said, cheerful as ever, especially now that it was clear his power hadn’t begun to rust over in the slightest after being dormant for so long.
“Now we can get down to business, eh?” he said, making certain to keep her voluntary movement suppressed, he began to delve deeper into her head, seeking to gain access to the hippocampus; which would give him her short-term memory, which would contain that knowledge of what recently upset her that could answer his current questions. Then further he went within her limbic system; that system relating to memory and emotion, seeking to gain background knowledge and a more in-depth perspective on whatever factors might contribute to her current state.
All in all, he was out to get what he wanted to it’s fullest extent.
Post by Professor Roeswood on Jun 6, 2007 20:24:31 GMT -5
Marina seemed to feel the dull sensation of fingers digging through her head, though perhaps it was an imagined sensation. All she could really figure was that he was doing something to or with her mind, but the only clues as to what was the slew of memories she saw played in her imagination as he sifted through them one by one.
It started at the most recent. There were numerous scenes of her searching aimlessly through any and all of Azrael's old haunts, hoping but failing to run into him. Among them were also countless nights such as this where she sat alone in the Slytherin common room with nobody to talk to. Mostly, interspersed in all of these memories were the occasional meetings with him, which were joyous but always too brief, or ending in arguments that soured her mood and led her to dole out a few unfair punishments on the next few students she happened to run into.
Farther back, he would find long and pleasant days spent with Azrael by the side of the lake or river, cuddled up and talking about anything and everything, feeling finally at ease with things. He would see in those memories a young woman who was happy and fulfilled.
And even farther back than that, the Nephilim would find a very unsure girl with a crush on her professor, a girl who was orphanned and virtually friendless: a girl who desperately needed someone to love and someone to love her. Within these memories was one particular day, at a different school, when she recounted to Azrael what had happened to her as a child, making him the first person she'd confided in since many of her old friends had graduated and moved on in life.
Then lastly, he would find the most horrifying memories of all. Much to her horror, Nina was forced to relive many a torturous evening where any household object could become an instrument of torture; nights where she was beaten nearly to unconsciousness. At this, she most desperately wanted to cry out, but she could only cloud her own mind with blaring mental shrieks in an attempt to get the Nephilim to stop.
"Oh, this is fun!" Orifiel exclaimed as he dug into Marina's mind. He had expected something at least a little bit interesting, yet what he actually found was absolutely delicious. Of course, it wasn't perfect enough at the moment. Orifiel saw many ways in which he could improve this situation and make thing a lot more interesting. He was, after all, only here to help.
"While my dear brother Tiberius would dearly love to meddle with your somewhat dysfunctional relationship, I believe myself to be above such things. After all, relationships simply aren't epic enough for my liking." he muttered softly to himself, extending his powers further to repress those happy memories with Azrael deep into her subconscious; yet not completely destroyed, for Orifiel could feel the edges of his palm begin to singe, as though feeling the effects of a fire that only harmed him. Such powerfully ingrained memories would not easily be eliminated without exacting a great toll on the Nephilim, one which he did not deem worth the trouble.
What he brought to the foremost in replacement were feelings of resentment and loneliness, hoping to bring her to feel great abandonment aimed at anyone and everyone, if that came to be the case. Further he went, finding amusement in amplifying the emotion of joy she felt when with Azrael, yet with those memories repressed it would be a disassociated joy, to make certain her weak human mind was not overwhelmed by negative emotions to the point where she might cause too drastic of harm to herself before she got a chance to do so to others. Yet now, her joy served only to contradict her already confusing emotions and cause mental conflict.
In other words, Orifiel had made everything a great deal more interesting, especially seeing as how she would hopefully spread her afflictions on to others and cause some wonderfully interesting commotion in the process, which should do well to make things a lot less dull around this school.
There was one last thing to do, however. As a final action, he repressed her most recently acquired short-term memory, up until a little ways past when he had first met her, which should leave her fairly confused after he had left, and should seem to her almost as though waking from a strange dream into greater confusion.
Having finished his job here, Orifiel decreed to himself that it would be quite a pleasant time to depart, lest someone happen upon the pair of them, which could even result in Orifiel potentially losing his position as a professor, highly unlikely as that was, in light of the Headmaster's incompetence when it came to assigning professors. removing his hand from her neck and slipping a glove back onto that hand in a single fluid motion, he made for the door.
Last Edit: Jun 13, 2007 13:57:29 GMT -5 by Orifiel
Post by Professor Roeswood on Jun 13, 2007 15:17:11 GMT -5
Marina couldn't do much of anything, lying there motionless under the Nephilim's powerful grasp. No matter how her brain screamed commands, her muscles simply refused to listen.
The Head Girl could do nothing but lay there as pleasant memories were brought to the forefront of her mind. She reveled in the momentary joy, but her happiness was just as quickly replaced with despair as the memories were ripped from her conscious and replaced with all of the negative thoughts that had been filling her brain as of late. She felt like crying, but, in her current state, she couldn't.
What happened next was hard to explain. It was a very strange sensation because one moment the girl knew exactly what was going on, but the next, she was shrouded in complete oblivion to the events that had taken place. The next thing she knew, Marina was waking on the cold stone floor of the abandonned dungeon room with a minor headache and a mass of confusion.
"What happened?" she groaned, pushing herself up with her palms and looking around. She remembered coming here and sitting down, but after that, she couldn't really explain. Had she dozed off and somehow rolled herself across the floor in her sleep? Perhaps that would explain why her robes were rumpled and covered in dust as though she'd been struggling somehow.
As the sleep induced fog in her mind cleared, the reason why she had been here in the first place became all too apparent. Her thoughts wandered once again to Azrael, but now, the memories seemed all the more painful and intense than they had before. She grasped at anything that could possibly bring her into better cheer, but instead of finding thoughts that would bring a smile, she could only find more and more instances where she spent the evening in her dormitory alone, with no friends to talk to, and the only person she really cared about out and about with people that weren't her.
Why was it that he saw fit to spend all of his time lately on other endeavors? Why was it that she took the back burner to all of his other interests? Was she just that unimportant. She began to think about all of the things that could have caused his sudden lack in interest. Maybe she was boring, too dramatic, too unattractive, or just not a good enough person to him to deserve his time. The thought made her feel even more desolate and the tears poured anew from her eyes; her internal wounds seemed to throb in that infernally annoying way that some injuries do, reminding a person constantly about his or her pain.
Standing, Marina wiped the tears from her eyes, determined to find some way out of the desperate sadness that was gripping her ruthlessly and refusing to allow her so much as a smile.
Teagan Offline: This board is full of nostalgia.
Aug 22, 2020 8:39:09 GMT -5
Missing the old MH: gotta say missing when MH and all that was around.
Nov 6, 2019 0:02:30 GMT -5
Willow_lazy: why tf are there 400 posts about adidas
Sept 6, 2018 17:35:57 GMT -5
Azrael: I'm not hard to find, since I'm the only one there who goes by "Azzy", I'm pretty sure. XD
Feb 10, 2018 16:44:41 GMT -5
Azrael: Dunno if anyone still pops by here from time to time, but if any of you mofos do and still feel like gettin' yo nerd on, I've been hanging around this here place a bunch recently: www.roleplayerguild.com/
Feb 10, 2018 16:44:10 GMT -5
Azrael: hold onto your pantaloons
Jul 25, 2016 5:16:43 GMT -5