Name: Phanta Rel (Dream)
Age: Appears to be in her 30's
Personality: Cold. Dispassionate. Vengeful.
Appearence: Pale skin, shoulder length black hair. Wings of the deepest ebony. Crimson eyes.
History:
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
The woman pulled her, bodily, from the bed, not giving her even a second to think before she hit the frigid stone floor. This woman put her foot on Raba's throat and her long bow to her head. "Move, bitch, just an INCH is all it will take and your long standing wish, will, at last, be fullfilled." Her voice spoke of no compassion whatsoever and Raba knew, right then, that she spoke nothing but the truth. Dressed only in an oversized shirt, the chill of the room and the coldness of the hard floor bite her hard. She fought not to tremble, fought through small gasps to breathe past the foot closing off her airway. Where was her love? She moved just her deep brown, fear-filled eyes to the bed from which she was pulled, searching for that which she did not find...again. It was then, that her eyes filled with tears, as she directed them back at the woman that held her life at bow's length.
(Dream: ) Catching her glance, this new woman laughs heartlessly. "He is with his NEW love, Raba dear, perhaps even now she is curled within his wings and will wake upon his eyes, inspired, as once he did to you. You are NOTHING to him! A forgotten dream, a lustful moment...just a passing fancy." The woman smirked at her, her red eyes glowing with a faint light of their own. The room was barely more than slightly lit shadows, the fire had burnt down to softly glowing embers. This woman's pale skin was, perhaps, the brightest thing in the room. "What would make an evil person such as yourself, think that you would ever deserve love?? Something so sweet as a payback for your betrayal, my dear?" She brought the bow down to replace her foot at Raba's throat.
(Raba: ) Her hair spred out around her in pools of the softest dark silk, and the tears ran freely from her dark eyes. "No..." she gasped, her throat ragged. "Those are lies...there was a battle...he could not refuse his calling..." She felt her pain rush through her, refreshed in its intensity, by the words of this demon before her. That these words were breaking her heart was evident in her soft elven gaze. This had been her fear when she had layed her head down on the lush pillows and cried herself to sleep, when he did not return to her as promised. The doubt of her love spiraled through her, the woman's words spoke to the fear in her soul that she would lose him to another, that she was not good enough...that she did not deserve more than a swift death by cruel hands.
(Dream: ) The woman smiled sweetly, nothing more than mocking the elven maiden. "My name is Dream, but I am NOT sweet, and I am quite sure that you may come to know me as your last, and worst, nightmare." To accent what she spoke, she drew her right leg back and kicked Raba in the left side forcefully. "Do you have any idea, what you DO to people?!" She screamed now. "Do you know how many lives have been DAMNED by loving you?!" Her face had drawn to a snarl in her viciousness, as she drew her foot backand applied another powerful kick to the side. "Get up!!" She moved the bow from Raba's neck. "But don't get any funny ideas. This bow will shoot right through your heart, at a split second's notice. All it needs is just a thought from me." To prove her point, she pauses, catching her breath and glares at the elven woman on the floor beneath her. The bow releases a small metal arrow that pierces Raba's bare right thigh.
(Raba: ) Screaming in agony, Raba moves her hands quickly to the point of entry, curling to a sitting position, and wrapping her fingers around the shaft of the arrow. Somehow, it seemed to her, that the arrowhead had expanded when it entered her flesh, making it impossible to be removed without creating further damage. The pain in her left side slowly sinks in as the shock of being shot wears off slightly. A broken rib, or possibly two, it was impossible to tell for sure right now. As she moves her eyes from the arrow back upon the figure of the woman before her, she notices this woman has wings too. They had slipped her notice, in her fear and confusion, and the darkened room. Black wings, not like the ones she was so fond of. Not the ones that made her warm and safe, but one's that radiated chill through Raba's very bones. She froze as she took in the sight of this creature before her.
(Dream: ) Dream stepped forward, lithly, bringing the bow around in an arc that connects with the left side of Raba's face, knocking her backwards on the floor once more. "I SAID, GET UP!! Are you as stupid as you are ignorant?! Whining, always, that things are so tough, that your decisions are too hard to make, that you wish only love and then turning your back to those that would feel it for you!" She said all this in a mocking, whining tone, never allowing her blazing crimson eyes to stray from the elven maiden should she decide to attempt to fight back, rather than just being beaten to death without a struggle.
She stepped forward again as the elven wench struggled to push herself backward, with her good leg, and her arms. Dream waited while she floundered, trying to pull herself up using the wall. She took in the elf's deep, panicked filled eyes. This was good. She smiled slyly. Dream sought to fill her with more anguish though. There was no length that she wouldn't distance, to inflict the pain on this woman that all the others that the wench had left in her path had felt. "Did you think that he would love you forever? Did you think his words were anything more than to fullfill the dream that once he had lost?! Did you think he saw ANYTHING in you other than a pretty face and a skilled lover?! You are so foolish!!"
She laughed, again, with no happyness, as it fell flatly in the dimly lit room. The sun was beginning to rise, the light of pre-dawn filtering in through the windows of this room, making the scene of this "discussion" more clearly lit. "Already he grows to HATE what you are as he lays in the arms of another with simpler goals in life, goals more like his own. He plans on taking your children FAR from you, where you will never SEE them, let alone REACH them." Her cold red eyes glint with pleasure at her deceptions. "But "I" can help you out with that today. As a matter of fact...you won't have to worry about anything after today, including that which YOU believe gives you hope. Its FALSE hope!" She speaks now with laughter. "You get nothing! You lose!!" She waited to see if she had drawn the elven woman out enough to fight back.
(Raba: ) Raba sobbed with the pain that this woman inflicted, both on her body and within her soul. She was rocked back, knocked down again, as Dream's bow connected the first time. She struggled back and stood shakily, using the wall as a means to gain a vertical postion, using it so she could not be knocked down again. So that if there was any chance of surviving, she would meet it on her feet and not with this woman towering above her as she cried on the ground like an invalid. The deepest cuts, those about her love, those about her children, inflicted waves of grief.
Her eyes danced like those of a deer trapped within a bright light at night. Panic raced through her. Blood trickled down the left side of her face from a cut at her temple, that Dream's bow had inflicted. She struggled to breathe through the pain in her side, struggled to stand as waves of faintness washed through her. Her eyes poured tears as she begged. "Please...don't do this...", she gasped. "I've done nothing to you, Dream! I don't even know you! Why would you seek me out? Why would you do this? Please...."
(Dream: ) Seeing that she would not fight, that she would rather waste her last breaths still sniveling and whining, Dream replies, "Why would I listen to your pleas?! Your cold heart did not think to listen to the shattering of your love...", she said with her head tilted slightly, the frozen expression still eminating from every feature. The coldness pouring off of her in waves. "From the ashes of broken hearts and sacrificed souls, from the bitter tears of love...I come. You have no need to know of me previously, as I know of YOU. And that is why I am here." The fun of this game was beginning to die out for Dream, this woman would provide no fight, no challenge. With a renewed fury at this disappointment, she releases another arrow from the bone long bow within her hands.
The arrow shot with amazing speed and accuracy, straight into the chest of the elven maiden. The poison from the first arrow should have been kicking in by now as well. As the fire faded from the eyes of the elven woman, and she sank slowly down the cold stone wall, Dream laughed and bent closer, whispering in her ear, "This is what you asked for...when you asked for a Dream. This is what you receive when you think to acheive something that you don't deserve. There will be no more broken hearts along YOUR path, bitch. You are beyond any help that anyone could give you. The poison from my arrows speeds through your system even now. Such JOY you will find in your damnation." She laughs again, coldly.
"But...MY, how the spirits of those you betrayed will rejoice within the end of your betraying reign." With that she turned, walked to the full length window, and spread her ebony wings. She took one last look at her disappointing victim, noting the blood that pooled into her lap. Yes. Things were finished here. There was no salvation for this betrayer of dreams. With a final laugh she opens the windows of this room, and flies into the early morning light, without another glance back. Her mission here was done.
(Raba: ) Dizzy and nauseous, Raba struggled to remain conscious. She felt herself sliding to the floor, no longer able to stand on her own, the world spinning out of focus rapidly. She heard every word that woman spoke, though. Biting down into the part of her that she so seldem accessed, she found the strength to endure. As the woman left, Raba fell to her right side. With arms that could no longer feel, she slides a gem on a golden chain from her pocket. It's green lights shines brilliantly for a moment as she loops it around her neck, with a light groan of effort, before her head hits the cold stone floor.
(Dream: ) Oh, the return of a Dream would be grand! The ebony-winged woman grins coldly, folding her wings back, as she descended to this small home within these ancient woods. It figured that she would return to this place. Her prey...so predictable. Dream wondered if the lovesick little bitch of an elf would even remember her. It -had- been far too long. So much work to be done, so many betrayers to destroy. So rarely, though, did it ever happen that someone survive...In fact, it had happened only -once-. This thought makes her crimson eyes glare with fury for a moment, as she lands, without sound, on the balcony of this small elven home. Dream knew of this woman's past. Everything about it, or so she thought. She could not understand why this woman chose to live as a peasant, when all the riches of her bloodline, and the power they held, could have been hers at any given time. A cold sly smile. Oh the things she would do and say -this- time...
(Raba: ) Instinct. Or was it the pale glow of the gem she wore around her neck that woke her? Either way, her whole being was suddenly screaming "danger!". Ever so quietly, she sits and swings her legs out of the bed and opens the drawer to the nightstand beside her. There is a box here. She takes it out and holds it in her lap with her hands. Within it is a gift that was never given. A very special gift. A certain thankfulness spreads through her in being able to try to use this today, possibly even to save herself, but more so for the sake of two others. Twin sets of mithril eyes.
The presence that had woke her was growing increasingly closer. Raba knew there was not much time. Perhaps only minutes. Opening the box, she whispers, "Wake up, little one. No time for games or play, you must go." A soft light glowed from inside the box within her hands, lighting her features with a pale glow. "I know, but that was not meant to be. I'm sorry...Please. There is not much time. Wings for you. You will have fun soon. You will fly." This seemed to appease whatever it was within the box, as she continued speaking with a soft smile, though her deep elven eyes were filled with great sadness, as if she knew what was about to occur, but could do little about it.
Her eyes seemed to say it was neccesary to go through the actions, even if it did not change the outcome. "Find Ash. Find Setsuna. Find Anowien. Find anyone that you know would go to their aid. Or mine...if it is not too late. Show them. Bring them. Use the mists if you must, but do not allow them to be lost within them. Guide them. The fairies will allow your passing, they will also allow those that you guide. Stay close to them...no matter what you may feel happen." The pale light hovers for a moment, changing to a soft blue tint. "I know. Just go." A perfect representation of herself carved from clear crystal. Only now...now, with tiny wings. Enchanted with her own lifeforce, a gift from Fairie. One of several that she was owed.
The small Raba flies through the open window above the night table as the door bursts open, splintering in places along its wooden frame. Raba's dark eyes filled with the image of one of her worst nightmares. Dream.
(Dream: ) Already this wench was ruining her fun! She had wanted to scare her, and there she was perched on the edge of her bed, looking as if she were expecting something. And what of this box within her hands? It could contain anything. Was it a suprise? How would she have known of her coming? Interesting. Dream notes a pale green glow about the woman's neck, and also a flicker of silver. Charms of some sort? Perhaps something to warm her of coming danger? Oh, this one was getting tricky. Not that it would do her much good. Dream holds her left hand out and up with a dramatic flare. The bone long bow, that this elven woman should remember so clearly, apperating within her hand, her grip natural along the center of its length. There would be no string along this bow to pull or release, as that was not how it worked. Her mind alone would fire the small poison filled metal arrows.
A mocking tone, "Hello my dear...did you forget, that we still had business to attend to, you and I?" Her crimson eyes stared at the elven woman, with a coldness and cruelty that would have pierced even the warmest of hearts. "I see that you are finally beginning to feel the bite that you have laid upon others, but it's too late for that now." A small cold chuckle escapes her. "Oh yes, I feel lonliness within you. You could not hide that from me, so don't even think that you should try." Dream moved a bit closer to the woman seated on the bed before her, further into this dwelling, her eyes returning to the box that lay on the lap of her victim. "They've both disappeared, have they? Do you find that coincidence? Do you really?" Dream's eyes searched those of the elf before her. Such an open book, this one. "Neither has time to waste on such a fickle heart, on a betrayer, such as yourself." A mocking pout. "Have you run out of options to save yourself, Raba? Have you run out of those that you could manipulate into being involved within your twisted little life?" Cold gleeful laughter. "This time there will be no mistakes."
(Raba: ) She sighed and shook her head sadly. Had the day finally come, that would end this life and take her to the next? Her feelings were mixed, but predominantly among them was a deep sadness. She didn't want to leave yet. But she had resigned not to interfere with destiny. And this could have been written long ago. Though a soft whisper was beginning in the back of her mind. ~It would be simple. She's over confidant. Her arrogance will be her end.~ She knew this voice, had heard it countless times since her family's heirloom was passed down to her.
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(04-07-05)
(Raba cont: ) Raba's mind reaches swiftly for the power held within the emerald Seeker gem around her throat. The power of wisdom, the power of healing; these were the things that she remembered about this gem. So much had been told to her, and, as she sat here, she also realized how little. Her eyes swam with confusion, her nature being manpulated. Her carefree spirit was being painfully broken, though a strengthening of will was occuring, one that she had never felt before. The gem seemed to speak of free will and its ability to change the things that are fated. That everything could be left to chance...that she could take a hold on the things, that for so long, she thought out of her control.
She could not say that she had never done wrong. No, but she paid for her wrongs every day of her life. She is played with by the gods, her life like a piece in a game so grand that she was not blessed with its purpose. But, neither had she ever thought to bring a reason to light. Dream's crimson eyes lock with her own dark depths, and within them she sees the life of this being before her, in the place that her soul should have been. The gods would strip this creature of even that. Again Raba sighs, resigning herself once more, to the things that are consuming her. She catches Dream's glances at the box within her lap. On any other day she might have found extreme amusement in this, because the box was empty... now.
Dream was right in some of the words she spoke though. Raba -had- run out of people that would be there for her. She had refused to allow others to become close. In allowing others to love her, she had lost every time. Well...perhaps not -every- time. But even those that she had allowed close, she has recently cut herself off from them. Not wishing to inflict upon their lives, the drama within her own. The twisting and turning plot that she called life. Her voice was calm, dark eyes holding the crimson before her, "I don't want to play your games, Dream. If you came here to do something...do it. What could I do to stop you? You want the betrayer? Take her."
(Dream: ) Oh, she had become a smart mouth. Well. Why not give the little wench what she asked for then? That smile, that radiated chill. Left arm coming before her, she levels the bow, aimed straight for the heart this time. "So be it, then. I never found much amusement with you anyway." The arrow releases and flies true, just as every other arrow shot from this bow within her hand. Much to Dream's dismay, though, before the point can pierce her target, a flash of green light eminates brightly, consuming the arrow. Dream's eyes narrow as she more carefully appraises the elven woman before her. "What tricks do we play -this- day, Raba dear? No doubt it has to do with the charm around your neck. Though to block the arrows shot from this particular bow it must be a power to rival even the gods... Very interesting indeed."
"Your family's power grows, even now. Thanks to the influence you put forth when your will was not so weak, when you understood what it was to stand upon your own feet. You no longer understand that position, do you? Oh! But they would be delighted to learn of your children, would they not?" She tilted her head, never releasing Raba from her gaze. "Who, exactly, do you hide them from, dear? From their father? From someone else? From your own taint? Do you hide them even from yourself?" Asking these questions now with a curious glare within her eyes. She had truely believed she knew all there was to know. And yet this piece of this woman's life eluded her. "Why are you not with your children? Again you have love right before you, and, again, you refuse to allow it... But why this time? These are your own children." The confusion within Raba's eyes was a wonderful thing, as within that confusion, she would find the niche that would allow her in, and through whatever barrier that protected her.
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(04-08-05)
(Raba: ) Raba's own suprise was most evident within her dark almond eyes. She blinked and looked down to the gem around her neck, a small smile spreading acrost her features. Too many times had she walked alone, this path of life before her. Too many times had she fought the bite of her own actions, or even indecision. She could hear the whispering of the sword so clearly, telling her that it would be soon. All this would be over, and she could rest for a while. Though since the "gifting" of the gem, its whispers have increased in volume, as if one amplified the other. Dream mistook her confusion for the inability to focus on the situation at hand, she thought the words she spoke inflicted pain, but there was a silent joy growing within this woman.
For, through Dream's words, she betrayed her ignorance of the recent events that had occured within Raba's life. Dream knew nothing of the Seeker gem, she knew nothing of the seekers, themselves, and she knew nothing of the children, other than the fact that they existed. What a wonderful turn of events! Raba let the box drop off her lap, onto the floor, and chuckled softly as Dream jumped back just the smallest bit. "It's empty." The elven woman shifted along the bed, moving herself closer to the edge, even nearer to the winged woman before her, though it was only inches. Her hands slide behind herself, as if she were relaxing, the left sliding beneath the edge of the pillow.
"For being so confidant that my demise is inevitable, you sure are unaware of particular events that should have been most note worthy to the gods that direct your own actions, wouldn't you think?" She smiles openly, that brilliant glow coming back into the depths of her dark eyes. "As for my children, I see them whenever I wish, it is just -you- that can not see them. As they are hidden well, within the shadows, in a temple as quiet as the night that breathes it life. Their love is not denied. Within it I find my redemtion. But you wouldn't understand that. The gods have taken from you, the last of your humanity. It isn't your fault of course. I understand this. But enough of this small talk. You can not break my heart, for I have already done that myself. You can not break a will that has not existed, and you can not take a soul that has been drown in the tears of regret. Now what is there left to take from me...?"
(Dream: ) Her fury was building within her, and her eyes reflected her anger in a soft crimson glow. There was no end to how much this elf would run her mouth this day, was there?! "Who are you to speak to -me- of humanity?! Do you think you are better? More pure? I really don't know what games you play this day, but they will come to an end...NOW!" She moves to strike the elven woman with the bow she held within her hand, much as she had the last time that they had met. A swift swing at an upward angle that would close the mouth that would not stop running! And once again a brilliant spark of green light before she can connect with the woman before her, an electric current that seemed to run along the length of the arm that held the bow.
Dream threw her head back in a silent scream of fury, her left arm rebounding off the arc of whatever shield the elf had projected. A cold numbness washed through her, a wave of faintness. She looked to her now outstretched wings to find ice forming at their tips. Panic flashed through her eyes. What was happening here?! It was a simple shield spell of some sort...wasn't it? Dream looked back at the elf before her, following Raba's left arm to the sword that was now embedded through her own frame. Renewed fury, as she pulled back, away from the sword, falling to the warm wood floor, blood spilling from herself at a now rapid rate. She had impaled herself upon this sword with her own forward momentum, her own fury, and by her own refusal to believe that there was any fight left within this elven woman before her.
The coldness that would normally eminate from her being was now turning in on itself, slowly icing the ebony wings that spread behind herself. Cracking and popping could be heard, as she staggered back to her feet, fighting against the ice that was overtaking her, her crimson eyes still filled with disbelief as she stared at the woman before her. She struggled to bring her bow around as her arm began to freeze, but before another shot could be fired, before another word could be spoken, the ice completely consumed her, taking from her, once more, the life that had been granted to accomplish her mission.
(Raba: ) She had not even thought about her actions. As dream moved forward, the hand that was beneath her pillow touched upon the sword of Ceves, her birthright. There was no thought in between the time that her hand touched this weapon and the moment she found it impaled through the body of this venge-filled spirit. She kept her grip on the sword as Dream removed herself from its silver edge, watching with dark eyes as she fell to the floor. There was no suprise held within these eyes, though. Nor, for once, was there regret. She let out a relieved breath, as Dream froze before her eyes. Another close call. She put her face in her hands, dropping the sword to the floor, just as the frozen body of Dream exploded into thousands of tiny pieces of frozen shrapnel. Too bad the gem wouldn't see water as a threat, frozen and sharp... or not...