Pax RP

"Part out of my own curiosity, part due to being in a familiar ordeal," Devon answered, observing the orange glaze coating on the assassin's recovering burns. "Between you and the other dragon's sudden reversal states by the Lord Psycho, it is under the likely assumption you were influenced by external forces of the Collector, correct?"

Gauging the progress he had done assisting her debilitating injuries, the man sat down beside Fade. Even with the brush's paint still affixing him to a younger form for the time being, Devon had retained his aged stare. Clearing his throat, he clarified his reasoning. "Long before your travels to Pax, I myself had face a burden not unlike your own. Pitifully weak, cowardice and shame lead to my corruption, becoming a shell of my former self. Quite literally I might add," in he interjected to display a pendant in his hand. Without turning to see, he slowly spun the dangling stone, resonating a green light to the channeled rock.

"You appeared instead to became stronger, more whole in that other state, if your thoughts might yet deceive you. However, part of you was unnaturally changed?" Devon ceased the spin, inquiring a notion to the woman before continuing. "Everything should follow progress, though be wary of what you may lose in exchange as payment. I myself nearly burnt out my very soul in pursuit of such gifts."

Looking off to the sky, a flight grin came upon the crazy coot's face. "Be thankful you at least didn't fall from the sky."

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So what of those have yet to fall from grace? One may ponder as the Encampment gradually worked on lifting up itself from despair inflected by the 'miss evil incarnate.' Even within the borders of the sullen town, there are still people in the path of descent. Especially someone returning right next to another's prepared departure.

"WHAAA!"

A figure slammed hard against the ground like a wet noodle, bar the smoldering soot clinging to his burnt clothes. The man, disturbed by unseen horrors, shambles about as he rose to balance himself on a nearby wall.

Fade

The assassin didn't say a word whilst Devon spoke, simply watched him as he talked and tended her wounds. She did spare a curious look at his pendant however, and looked up at the last to see the arrival of the other person.

"Indeed" Fade answered, lowering her gaze to look at Devon "I was transformed into Glaze after I fell at the beginning of all this, even my mind was affected, my emotions encouraged to run amok. I revelled in causing suffering I would not have had any interest in before.... All of me was unnaturally changed, as was Coolpikaaa and many others." Fade paused and ever so slightly narrowed her watery grey eyes at Devon "I neither wanted nor asked for the power of the Dragon, my particular progress was on a different path . It is fortunate that the Dark Psycho was here, although his appearance was perhaps more of a surprise than it should have been"

Fade stayed put, regarding Devon coldly "You seem to have more experience with this pursuit of power after it changes you, does it take long to recover?"

<hr />

Blue

Blue eyed the main that had fallen out of the sky right in front of her, wrestling with her inner voices over whether to leave for the others safety, or whether to stop just to make sure the stranger was ok. Eventually Blue sighed and folded her wings to her back, but her draconic tail twitched with apprehension. "Excuse me" Blue said, walking a little closer "Are you alright? That fall looked painful"

Devon

"Power of the Dragon..."

The words drew Devon's attention, having bore a greater impact than one would normally guess. "The time to recover rests on the choices that effect you," the man replied mysteriously. "Take in mind, that not all of them are those directly made by oneself, as you have already noticed. My curse'd state began with the desire to protect: defending those which I cherish in my life. Ideals, friendships, people who held no strength to save themselves. Back then, I exerted myself beyond what I should, despite warnings of those around me. Back then, I nearly succumbed to true darkness.

"Frankly, most of it dealt with my workings on these mirrors."

He darted towards the assassins neck at that instant. Whether her reflexes react to the sudden move matter little to Devon, for any parry to harm him would not stopped the reach for the locket, to his credit dwelt not in greed nor jealousy. Merely tapping the chain garnished a slight shiver of light, warranting an apparent need to his story. "That locket that you hold is a result of my craftsmanship. A device, forged in likeness to far greater artifact, in the right hands proves useful in nearly any situation. During my younger days, I had heedlessly tampered with that artifact, believing that all my troubles would be whisked away by harnessing its true power Such a fool I was. In the wrong hands, it strains every constitute part of you: body, mind and soul.

"My own draconic lineage only heightened the risks, where just in the later years of Blackstar's time did I became once again."

---

Jent

The stranger Blue met just now, rather be groaning of his physical injuries like a regular person, broke out in a derailed rant. To the draconic being, only mumbled curses of failure and woe could be discerned from his plagued tongue. This poor fellow had journeyed through a truly frightful week.

"They-they... my stupid-&#33;" Jent rasped, throat sore from pitched screams of a deathly flight. Across his body, his body seemed to wavered by in mirage drifting pattern; subtly shifting as a shimmering reflection cast upon a lakeside. The man in the self-inflicting torture eventually caught wind of Blue, though. A half-smile, half-frown quivering while get regained his bearings. "Far... from it."

Fade

Fade raised an eyebrow at Devon when he darted for the pendant she'd gotten around her neck, although she didn't exactly make much attempt to stop him either. The mirror had been given to her so she could complete another goal, it was worth that and only that to her. "This was given to me by 'a mere Jent' to help with another enquiry of mine, and I still intend to follow that through.. I will not be keeping it" the assassin stood then, and stretched her arms "Your insight may yet prove useful but this conversation is over." Fade began to walk away, she needed time to meditate first then the rest could come after.

<hr />

Blue

Blue stared at the man as he ranted and raved incoherently, her eyes going rapidly from glowing soft white with slits to being pools of black as she took a step back. Yep, she definitely should have left, she should have just left well alone and gone. She should have learned by now how often helping people backfired.

"I think you need to sit down. Or lie down. Probably both. In exactly that order" Blue tilted her head sideways at Jents odd expression "And what's with the look?"

Devon

Recognizing her urgency, he accepted the woman's decision to leave. Devon still felt there were matters still left unresolved. However, he had no real reason to talk the assassin longer. Hmm, is she referring to the distortionist? Perhaps I should-

The eccentric shrills near by alerted the man, a voice well known to him. Thoughts of the person spun into a frenzy of anarchy made Devon cringe. Grimacing, he hurled one of his stone at the the crazed target.

---

Jent

Jent remained motionless, stuck in a demented state of semi-awareness, altogether slipping further from his sanity. The lunatic tilted his head to the side after a moment, eyes heavy by the encompassing madness. "Laying down in midst of a complete stranger, you say? That be quite smart," he uttered, hardly moving his lips.

Listening to the request, he did so suddenly through the lighting shocking his body. The resulting 'thump' quaked the the air slightly at the collision of his back to the ground. Blue in the next moment would notice a man wearing an vest comprised of sleek stones kneeling next to Jent. While binding the odd pendants to the stunned man's limbs, the assailant beckoned the mutant over his shoulder.

"Could you kindly not make any sudden motions, miss?"

Blue

Devons warning came a moment too late, as Blue had already face palmed herself after the man had seemed to think she meant right here and now, before he'd flopped down and done exactly the last thing she'd suggested.

"Right" she said, eyeing Devon through her fingers before slowly lowering her hand from it "The name's Blue. What's wrong with him? Actually on second thought, it's none of my business. I should just leave" the mutant said, turning to leave.

Having finished tying down the unconscious man to saplings sprouting all around him, Devon objected at the mutant's decision. "Mine's Devon, and leaving now is a poor choice, to be frank. There is a certain Lord Psycho that may want to address his subjects once more.

"That is, unless he has other needs to attend to," he said, drained by the inefficient stone-age tools.

Blue looked at Devon oddly "So, you're saying we should all just wait around just in case he might decide to say something to us?" the mutant tilted her head and stared, eyes slowly moving back to glowing yellow "Wait, was he the one who restored everything then? Wait, did you come from Blackstar too?" Blue suddenly seemed more interested than about to fly the coop ".... And you look like you could use a sit down now as well"

"Yes, yes, yes, and most certainty yes."

Collapsing into a tired mess, Devon grinned faintly as she chose to linger here for awhile longer. He breath in deeply to relax his body. One shouldn't push themselves to their early graves, even if they did just got younger. "As we wait for Jent to recover, I can answer your questions in more detail."

((I hadn't planned on making a speech, and I'm not sure anyone in pax counts as my subject. But I'll give this some thought))

"Jent, so that's his name" Blue eyed the tied down lunatic warily, before crouching into what was to her a comfortable position. Tail curled around, twitching apprehensively on the floor, wings folded tightly to her back, and hands on her knees, she looked like she was about ready to pounce on someone "So, what's wrong with him? He just sort of fell out of the sky right next to me and started raving"

"Since he returned back to the Encampment, prior to this arrival, Jent has been frequented with visions. At first, appearing as no more than rude awakening of the night. They unfortunately have become a concern of mine," Devon lamented.

"I wished he'd been feeling the years finally getting back at him, not many can last for long." He exhaled, gradually soothing the aches and pains accompanying his joints. "Something snapped inside his mind during his trip, kinda like a noose hiding under a layer of fallen leaves. You never can see it unless part of it the system was disturbed. Going too little reveals nothing, going too much could be as bad setting off the trap in the way is was set for. Regardless of how it happened to the boy, it did."

"I'll try my best to assist his recovery. A malady of the mind is not what I am specialized for, but the patient is at least flexible. Now about your other questions." Cracking his neck, Devon broke off a stone from his vest, bursting the rock in a shimmering spectacle as he sent it flying over the town. The depressive outlook made him far from cheerful, having recently watched the world fumble throughout the week. It did even the stout soul sick.

"That was a message for a companion of mine, no worries," Devon explained. "As with my ties to Blackstar, yes, that place was my previous home. The Lord Psycho, as he may reign just, appeared to finish off an otherwise earthly adversary. Such a blessed scene. I always respect a realm's deity that I deem honorable, despite his more chaotic means. To the subjects his will is fairer than the ones I had grew up with."

"Uhh, okay then " Blue said after Devon had finished, putting an arm behind her head and looking at the man almost as warily as she had been Jent "You know I was part of a religious group on Blackstar once, I studied Theology whilst the Father tried to help me with my... issues. He failed, and then the Flock turned on the Lord Psycho, which is when and why I left. It almost sounds like you came from some sort of religious order as well"

"Issues... I think I might know what you mean," Devon reckoned. "My father was part of an order, while my mother came from a small village, not keen on their views of "fighting 'till the last breath." So that alone caused a lot of tension."

Chuckling, he stroked his beard while apologizing. "As you might guess, he instructed me in, seeing potential with my unique ability that none of his brotherhood had. Oh the trouble I caused when I was younger."

Blue smiles at Devon, the expression good natured yet wry at the same time "That's not quite what I mean by 'issues' but I can understand completely why your family caused yours" The half mutant stood up from her comfortable crouching position and opened her leathery black wings again, flapping them slowly "My issues are the reason I really should leave, now you're with your friend and not quite looking so tired"