Locked away

[Akkarin]

((As a quick explaination for where he's been....))


How long had it been? Days? Months? Akkarin had lost all sense of time in his confinement. Thoughts scattered as he tried to grasp on to them, his mind too weary and diminished. Focusing on his surroundings reminded him why he felt so grogy. His prison was a sealed room filled with water, making his movements slow and heavy. He attempted to make his way across the room and was sharply reminded of the shackles that held his hands and feet. A current of electricity had pulsed through them, growing stronger every day that he had been here. Stray memories came to him, of a dark cave with four figures, sudden violence and pain, then waking up here. That memory seemed so long ago. Hopelessness overcame him and he drifted back into unconciousness.

--------------

Akkarin awoke sharply and pain shot through his wrist and ankles. He shook his head to try and clear it, but only managed to increase the throbbing headache. Something had woken him, a sound. He strained to hear and was greeted by the sound of rushing water. Several minutes later, Akkarin hung halfway between the floor and ceiling, restraints digging into his wrists and shoulders on the verge of dislocating.

The one door into the room was thrown open, the sound sending another wave of pain through Akkarin's head. Shapes drifted through the doorway, to distant for Akkarin to make any sense of. Something split away from the mass and approached him, becoming clearer as it got closer. Recognition struck and filled him with a cold dread. He tried to back away, to no avail, as the face of his father filled his vision. The next few moments passed in a flash of hot pain and angry words, too much for Akkarin's mind to take in. Eventually, he was alone again. Focusing on the new pain of the clawed wounds across his chest as water began to fill the room again, Akkarin kept hold of one thought.





I'm still alive

[Kitmarch]

((just a question: Do you want us to be trying to do something about it, as you're not around?))

[Akkarin]

((Well of course, do what you will. At the moment, all the FA knows is that Rin hasn't been seen in a while. If anything needs investigating, confirming etc. Send me a message, I'll get it when I can))

[Akkarin]

A secret location 00:21am Feb 1st

Eight figures stood, sat and leaned around the room. Sunlight barely filtered through the shuttered windows, casting long shadows. Dust glittered in the air as it passed through the rays. Those gathered were all dark haried and paled skined, with matching all black eyes. Conversation flowed easily with them, being family.

"As I see it, all the preparation is complete" spoke one of the leaning figures, his bare arms showing deep red tatoos running along them. "Most of our kind are with us and more are coming. With one action we've removed our biggest threat and re-gained one of our strongest allies, who is fully recovered by now might I mention. Providing the heroes don't get word...." and with that he shot a glance to the woman at his side ".... We can continue as planned."

A deep, approving sound came from the armchair in the corner, where an imposing giant of a man sat.

"You have done well my son. I see no further matters for discussion. Keep an eye on your brother, ensure he adjusts properly. The rest of you may continue your tasks."

With a collective nod and several hasty bows, the room emptied.

[Shadowe]

To: The Fletched Alliance
From: Doctor Richard Huntington III, PhD. MIP

Fileroute: HT Secure Network>Helena>DirectWire Encrypted Link>351

<Voice Transmission Begins>

Well, not entirely sure how to begin. I know you all know that I have problems of my own right now, but quite frankly that pales to insignificance next to the disturbing news I received last night.

Akkarin has been either subverted or altered by his 'family'. He is no longer the man you knew. He is now quite fully a vampire with, so I understand, only a shadow of his former humanity.

His entire family are planning to move from their current base of operations - which I believe to be in England - to Paragon City. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that this represents a significant risk to the people of the city.

I therefore, as a concerned citizen and, I hope, your friend - and a friend of Akkarin's - ask you all to prepare. While I may not be able to aid you in this, I humbly request that preparations be made for immediate action with two aims: One, to recover Akkarin and reverse whatever has turned him into the inhumane demon he has become. And two, to dissuade his family from their intended transition to these shores.

You now know as much as I do about this situation.

I beg you to act as soon as you can.

Thank you.

<Voice Transmission Ends>

[Lu]

(( Okie doke, I wanted to write soemthing up about Monday's encounter with Arketh. I don't think this is great, but I'm hoping you'll all be forgiving.))

Grassed area, south of the Galaxy Girl statue, evening, Feb 5th

Lu bit her lip, thinking. This was an opportunity to prove she could contribute to the Alliance, to prove she was a useful member of the team. If Jane was going to leave them too, she needed to be strong and help ensure the Alliance continued to survive.

Taking a deep breath she sauntered towards Arketh, her skirt swaying slightly with the movement of her hips. 'Hmmm, handsome, and probably knows it too. I'll have to be careful with this one' she thought before greeting him with an inviting smile. He turned out to be quite charming and she quickly established herself on the bench next to him, enjoying the moonlight.

A thought ran through her mind as she continued the teasing flirtatious comments, trying to put him off guard 'Maybe I can somehow suggest I was here to meet Akkarin on a blind date or something and see if he knows where he is?'.

She turned to face him, putting as much tease as she could into her face as she asked him if he'd found some where to stay, thinking maybe Akkarin might be there too. 'Mmmm, maybe he's not so bad after all. His eyes are stunning'. Her pulse quickened at the feel of his breath on her neck and she moved closer to him, gazing into his luscious eyes. She could hear Alita and Kat talking over the Alliance com, but all she wanted to do was concentrate on Arketh. She took the comm unit off and cast it on the ground so she wouldn't hear all the nasty things they were saying about him and smiled up at him. 'Was he really willing to stay here with her instead of running his errand?' the thought made her tremble as he leant in towards her. She felt a thrill of pleasure and excitement as she realised he wanted to kiss her neck and she tilted her head slightly in anticipation.

Suddenly Alita was there, trying to distract his attention, and Kat, and he was laughing! What was she doing? He was cute, but not *that* cute. She moved rapidly off the bench and towards Alita who dragged her off to the side for a quick word. Alita carefully examined Lu's neck for bite marks, explaining to Lu that she had almost fed herself to Arketh.

Dread flooded through her. She had failed, she had failed the alliance and she had failed Alita and she couldn't figure out why. She had wanted him so much, but why? Alita comforted her after her stammered apology and they headed back to tackle Arketh again, Lu determined to get it right this time and not be distracted by him.

While Arketh was focussed on Kat, Lu asked him directly about his brother but Arketh wasn't giving anything away, saying Akkarin was busy. But then Arketh was so handsome, why would she want Akkarin. Alita nudged her, trying to distract her away from Arketh. She turned to Alita in concern, checking she was okay. Alita grasped Lu's wrist and told her firmly to run. Seeing the determination in Alita's eyes Lu suddenly realised the level of danger and, following her advice, ran, just as Jane and Sam arrived on the scene.

[Akkarin]

((Just because I got bored..... ))

Akkarin, Arketh and Alrua sat in their private corner of the club, the red leather seating surrounding a small table stacked with empty and half empty glasses. The lighting was low, the music was loud and the company was questionable, everything they wanted.

Akkarin kept a careful eye on the blond he'd chosen for the evening. She had a practiced swing to her hips, making her skirt sway tantalizingly. As she passed the siblings table she graced him with a flick of her hair and a smile. Akkarin merely smiled, confident in his charms.

"I don't know why we didn't come here sooner" he said, turning to his brother.

"We did, for the last two years. I do wish you hadn't lost your memories to that psychic, worst luck. It's a good thing you have us" replied Arketh, with his near permanent smirk.

“Yeah well, I’m not gonna slip up like that again. On that note, did you have any luck finding out about our enemies?”

Arketh leaned forward and grinned “I’m glad you asked brother. I took the liberty of..... investigating. It seems they haven’t found us yet, but I would bet they’re hunting us down as we speak. Their attack on your memory will make things difficult, I believe they will try to manipulate and deceive you.”

“Uhuh, so you’re gonna wait till they make a move and expose themselves” sighed Alrua “seriously, you need some new plans bro. Well, whatever, I’m gonna go dance.” With that she hopped over the small table and was on the dance floor in a flash.

Akkarin and Arketh watched her go, both reaching for their drinks.

[Kat]

((The following is pinned on the Alliances message board. 351 will nag people to read it incase you don't check it regularly))

Everyone,

I'll keep this short. As you know Akkarin has been taken and turned by his family. We have a lead that could lead us to him, what appears to be a hideout of his brother. We're slated to take that place in our usual fashion Sunday night and the more the merrier, basically. We need Akk back so I don't have responsibility anymore.

-Kat

scribbled underneath:
Kat
Lu
Rook

((What times are kay? Lu has suggested 7:30 which works for me fine))

[Shadowe]

((7.30 is good for me, but I'd like to bring Richard along for this bit of plottage, rather than Sam - 2 choices as I see it: Create a Richard toon and get him into the FA for this meeting, then alt to the real deal for anything outside the base or (hint, hint) Coalition the FA with the Warriors of Darkness so I can bring Shadowe along...))

[Ves]

(( 7:30 is fine for me to, and I'd like to second Shadowe's wish for a WoD / FA coalition. I will be bringing Ves along for this, thought about Alita doing it but after careful consideration, Rin is one of Ves oldest friends, it's only right that he helps get him back. ))

[Kat]

(roger both of these points))

[Lu]

(( This is a bit about what happened to Lu after the mission on Sunday night. I thought I'd put in in this thread because it is kind of related, but if you feel I'm going offf topic yell at me and I'll do better and post elsewhere next time.

I have made reference to some other stuff that was going on that night. If the players would prefer I didn't mention it, again yell and I'll whizz in and edit it out with profuse apologies.))

Lu's appartment in Galaxy - v late Sunday night, following the failed mission to rescue Akkarin

Letting the door close behinf her Lu stumbled into the living room and collapsed on the sofa, her breathing coming in shalow, wheezing gasps. She fumbled with the straps of her armoured chest piece, removing it with a sigh of relief followed by gulps of air. Examining it and wincing at the damage it had received from the vampires her fingers traced across the dents that had restricted her breathing so much. Putting it aside, vowing to do something about it tomorrow she turned her attention to her leathers. Grimacing as she unwound the temporary bandages she could see the wounds were already healing, but there were a couple she needed to work on to remove the bullets.

Standing cautiously she wandered into the kitchen and put a pan of water on the stove to boil. Ditching her temporary bandages in the bin she moved to the bedrom and stripped out of her leathers, laying them carefully on the pale bedspread so she could assess the damage. Red had been a good choice, the dried blood was not obivious at all. She was just glad not all of it was hers.

There were a couple of bullet holes in the leg and one in the left arm. She mad managed to avoid contact with most of their sharper weapons, but there had been a lot of them and the fighting had been viscious. There were a number of gashes in the leather, with a big unharmed patch where her chest piece had been. it didn't look like a repair job would be possible and she sighed at the additional expect of buying a new set.

Strecthing slightly as she felt a twinge in her arm she picked up her manicure set, taking out the tweezers as she walked back though to the kitchen. She dropped them into the boiling water on the stove and set her timer before heading into the bathroom to sponge away some of the blood that had dried from the miriad of scratches and cuts she had recevied during the raid on the property.

The timer rang and she fished the tweezers out of the bouling water with some tongs and waves them around in the air to cool them down a little before using them to retriece the bulets from the wounds in her amr and legs. Her eyes watered with the pain and her face contorted into a silent howl but she managed to extract the offending article before her wounds closed around them.

Returnign to the bathroom she climbed into the shower to clean off the blood caused by the bullet removal and to remove any stench left from fighting the vampires. She didn't want Alita to know how hard it had been, or how much she hurt. It had been lucky Kat had brought her medical aid concoctions, otherwise Lu would be in hospital with Cloe and Iris.

Pulling on her jeans and a long sleeved top to hide her wounds she ran a comb through her hair and examined herself in the mirror. She smiled, no outward evidence she had been out at all, so if Alita asked she could give a reasonable description without needing to provide too much detail. She didn't want to remind Alita of what the vampires were capable of if she could help it.

Biting her lip she thought of Alita's evening and hoped it had been positive. Alita had told her she was planning to do some work with Sam to try and do something abotu the vampires poking the memories in ther head. Lu understood Alita needed to do it, but had wished she could have been there to make it easuer. On the other hand, she realised it would be painful and didn't like the idea of watching Alita intentionally subject herself to the pain those memories brought her.

With concerned thought of Alita running through her head she left her flat and called a cab to take her to Richard's mansion, hoping Alita woulnd't mind her visiting to see how the evening had gone.

[Akkarin]

((Far too late in coming I know, but whenever I get the time write I log in to CoX instead

This is set roughly 2 days after the attack on the mansion/building))

Unknown Location - 2am

Another darkend room, an small apartment half way up a skyscraper overlooking Gemini Park. The only light in the room comes from a monitor against one of the walls, where Arketh watches a recording intently.

The door opens and light from the hallway spills in, outlining the siloute of a man in the doorway. He steps in, closes the door and kneels next to his brother.

"Do you plan to do anything, say... physical, in the next week?" Mocks Akkarin "None of them died, it's a shame, but there's always next time"

Arketh keeps his eyes on the recording as it plays "You should know that my plan was never that simple, I fully expected them to defeat our forces, hoped for it even." His mouth forms a casual smirk "What we have here is a detailed recording of their skills, powers, tactics and most importantly, weaknesses."

Akkarin scowls "You mean to say we lost half of our forces in the city so you could get a bit of information? I thought you smarter than that..."

"This isn't all we have gained. Father tells me that upon hearing of this 'unprovoked attack' five more highblood will be sending forces, two are coming in person, Mithos and Canrale. Also, that building had historical importance, sooner or later the explosion will catch up with them."

Akkarin relaxes a little "Fine, but that doesn't explain why you've been sitting in here for hours."

Arketh's smirk returns as he points to the screen "Look here, some of them are barely making it, they rely on the others to keep them standing. Even the strongest among them make dangerous mistakes when one they care for is in danger. This makes it so much easier to remove them one at a time. Along with our agents keeping track of them, we have little to worry about."

"Perfect, if it works. Now about why I'm here. I think I'm ready for a human subject.... the sooner I master this the sooner we can bolster our ranks."

Arketh still watches the screen "Oh.... you've given me an idea brother... ha.... hahaha." He points to one of the figures on the screen. "This one...."

[Ves]

Ves made his way casually towards the bar, whistling jovially as he leaned over the polished wodden counter to pick up a metallic container which smoked heavily as he opened it to take a large gulp

"Hey, 351, you really need to work on the security in this place. Someone could just waltz right in and steal all the good drinks"

"Veskit? I didn't know you still had clearance for entry, or that you were here. Anything you need?"

"Just came to top up my Smokers supply, but I could do with you passing a messege on to Kat for me. Tell her I have some news she might be interested in, and a new friend she might want to speak with"

Then, as seceretly as he arrived, Ves left the Fa base once more, the only indication he'd ever been there was a small smiley face he'd scratched into the bar top with a claw while he drank

[Lu]

(( I hope this is the right place for this. I believe it is all related, so I'm sticking it in here.

Thanks go to Veskit for his help with getting the nasty anguishy bits nastier. And to Meadow and Shadowe for reviewing and checking content )

*****

Lu smiles maliciously at the group of vampires facing her, the sounds of the battle around her fade as she focusses on her foes before her. Moving in what feels like slow motion, she approaches them, raising her sword as she does so and slicing across all three throats in a double handed back handed swing. Twisting the blade she reverses her motion, severing what was left of their necks, her gaze going to her next targets before the bodies hit the floor. The vampires are met with a whirl of stinging motion as she flies into them, spinning, her katana held steady as it cuts into the monsters she strikes.

Landing, she eyes her enemies, quickly taking their measure, understanding the sharp nails and blood letting teeth could mean death ... or worse if she let them get too close. Slamming her elbow into the face of the ugly vampire closest to her, sending him flying across the floor, she spins, halting the edge of her blade against the next enemies throat. "Akkarin!" she barks at him "Where is he?". Shifting her grip on her blade, she decapitates him when he answers with high pitched laughter, leaving her with no targets in immediate reach of her weapon.

A sudden scream pulls her awareness back to the battle raging around her. Turning to identify the source of the scream, she smiles as she sees Alita's toys bounding round, causing untold pain to their enemies with their flaming attacks. Suddenly her smile is corrupted, twisting into a strangled sob as she sees
Alita convulsing helplessly; blood flowing freely from the distinct wounds upon her neck.

Seemingly sensing Lu's gaze, the hooded vampire guilty of the attack lifts his face just enough to reveal a cruel, blood coated smirk. It licks it's lips delicately, as if savouring the taste, before letting Alita's limp form drop to the ground and vanishing into the heaving masses of the conflict.

*****

Lu woke with a start, terror evident in her eyes, her breath coming in short sharp gasps. Gradually she forced herself to relax, her pulse slowing "It was only a dream" she told herself. Although she was starting to worry, it wasn't the first time she had seen Alita hurt by vampires. She had dreamt about it last night too, only it had been more like Alita had described Poland. This time it was .... it felt like is was really going to happen.

She got out of bed and wandered into the kitchen, wrapping her dressing gown around her for comfort. As she warmed up some milk she glanced at the clock, wondering if it was too late to call Alita. 2am. She winced, too late to telephone, Lu would have to wait until the morning to speak to her. An involuntary shudder ran through her and she chewed her lip thoughtfully as she added the Horlicks powder to the milk. She knew she couldn't stop Alita helping to rescue Akkarin, she knew Alita needed to help, but was there anything she could do to try and keep her safe while she was there? She considered the necklace she had given Alita, with the numerous holy symbols on it. That should help, but was it enough?

Taking her hot drink back to bed she curled up to drink it, hoping it would help her sleep more restfully for the rest of the night and pondered what else she might be able to do to keep her dream from becoming reality.