Private Tales The Past Returns

[Tal]

The old man rushed forward as Calliope's hands shot up.

His blade flickered forward, stabbing down at her fragile form even as she just barely managed to catch his grip. "NO NO NO!"

The old man screamed.

"DIE! DIE!" His shouts bellowed, echoed from the house and reached into the streets beyond. "YOU HAVE TO DIE! BOTH OF YOU!"

Beyond the little shack, turned still down the corner stood Tal. The echoing words of the old man reached his ears, as did Calliope's call. A cringe rolled up his spine, and he couldn't help but wince. "Fuck, I'm never going to hear the end of this."

He remarked, putting a cigar between his lips.

"Least he's gonna end up dead." The Underboss said, lightning his vice. Now he just had to make sure Calliope didn't put him in the grave besides the old man.

 

[Calliope]

"Calli?!" Xander's body weight slammed into the door, but the bastard had it latched several times over. Calliope wasn't a fighter. There was never any need to fight back home and so she'd never been taught. She had nothing to fight with, the only weapon she carried was out of reach and the last blood she'd tasted had been weeks ago and had since worn off.

She felt herself slammed into some shelves, grimacing at the pain that lanced up her spine. It was nothing compared to that blade that he plunged into her, just below her collar bone. She screamed then, a sound of absolute agony as the knife was wrenched free, ready to plunge once more.

She was going to die here.

The thought rushed through her mind as she saw her own blood on the blade clutched in the madman's hand, listening to him bark and yell at her about dying. It was then that the door came crashing in, beaten down by a rock larger than she was. It was enough to distract him at least, and the moment his head turned toward his doorway, her hand found a jar of something on the shelves she'd been backed into and she slammed it into his head as hard as she could.

The old man stumbled, slashing out and catching her cheek with his knife before he tumbled to the ground. Calli was on the ground and clutching her own dagger before she could realise what she was doing, and before he could get up again, she'd buried the blade in his chest with a scream of panic.

 

[Tal]

The old man gurgled.

His lips spilled blood. His eyes went wide, and then slowly the life faded away from them. Panic seemed almost frozen within his gaze, paranoia, hatred, a mix of emotion that seemed to stream forth even beyond the veil.

A corpse lay beneath Calliope, resting as easily as any other. Life drawn away, faded. Not a twitch, not a single movement left behind. The old man was dead, still.

Tal heard the thundering of Xander's shoulder against the door. The sound of his cry as he called out towards his mistress. A small smile touched his lips, pursing around the round of his cigar as he felt a sudden weight drawn from his shoulders.

He took a long drag of his cigar, then pushed off from around the corner. "You can kick and kick."

Tal called out.

"But think you might appreciate this key." The Tyrian said, throwing a piece of iron towards Xander.

 

[Calliope]

The key was torn from the Tyrian's hand without a second thought. Xander took a brief moment to take in the scene of carnage before him, but the instant his gaze fell on Calliope he rushed to her. The wound she had on her cheek wasn't as terrible as the amount of blood pouring from it might have suggested, and so as Xander's hand went to it and she heard the muffled voice speak her name over and over, asking if she was alright, she gently shoved him away.

She hadn't taken her gaze from the man who'd just died under her blade. Her crimson eyes were still wide with shock and her breaths still came in ragged rasps of panic. "No..No no no no no.." her head shook, watching the blood spill onto the floor. "A flask, Xan. A bottle. GET A FUCKING BUCKET!!" and then she leaned, ripping the cloth away, uncaring as to how terribly the old man smelled as she drank from the wound.

Xander complied, looking flustered and concerned, unassured that she was in fact alright but wise enough to shift back a little after he'd lain a large flask on the dead man's chest. His dark eyes rose to Tal now, his expression ignited by rage.

"What the fuck happened?!" he demanded as he got to his feet and postured threateningly.

 

[Tal]

Tal took a long drag of his cigar as Calli's attack dog began to bark at him. His eyebrow slowly lifted up, a smile touching his lips. "Well."

He motioned to the bucket on the floor, collecting the old man's blood.

"To my eyes, it looks like everyone got what they wanted." Tal had promised Calli the blood of a man who could help her see lies, and here she was. Quite literally collection buckets of it. He supposed that her magic could not last forever, not from just a drop.

This was a talent too useful to waste. She would want vials of the old fools truth-seeing, but that was alright by his estimation. He had spent the last five years being honest in just the right ways. "No?"

He looked down at Calli. "You wouldn't have been trying to get a little more out of the deal, would you, Darling?"

 

[Calliope]

Every drop of blood that'd ever passed her lips had the same effect. Their gifts were all different, but it was the same ignition of her senses and a pleasant heat that pulsed through her veins, working its way through her muscles and easing every ounce of tension in her body. She had never had quite so much at once, nor had she ever drank straight from the source like this. It'd been a few drops from a vial here and there... This? This was different. Monstrously so...

She could barely hear the other two speak but she had little doubt or care about what they were likely to be saying. Xander would be defensive, Tal would be irritatingly coy, but as she felt the still-hot blood slide down her throat, she wasn't thinking about anything else.

Cal had drained what she could, and everything else that could be saved was stored in one large flask. Blood coated her lips and trickled down her chin and throat as she sat up, panting for breath. Her head fell back and her eyes closed. What had she done?

Xander decided to prioritise, only just managing to drag his glare from Tal to return to Calliope, asking if she were alright. His hands were on her face and he was saying her name. She opened her eyes, the crimson orbs far brighter than it had been moments before, and they slowly shifted to settle on Tal without a word.

 

[Tal]

A slow whistle echoed from Tal's lips, the cigar pinned beneath his true. "So, you weren't lying then."

Every Tyrian, no matter their right of birth, no matter who they were could read the blood.

It was a gift that had been granted to them by the gods. Even he could do it, though his own skill was severely lacking compared to some. Yet this power paled in comparison to what Calliope could do. The magic that ran through her veins.

Back home such a thing was stories, rumor. A tale whispered to children so they might think one day they could be something more. It seemed Calliope actually would be.

He might have found it impressive.

"Suppose my father will have to be very..." Another long drag of his cigar. "Very careful."

 

[Calliope]

She felt a weight press against her chest, but she barely grimaced, her body too distracted by the intake of blood to realise that it was in pain and bleeding badly. Xander's hand held firm to the stab wound under her collarbone as he swore, tearing at the fabric of his shirt to staunch the steady flow of blood with. Calli was yet to speak, yet to acknowledge that she had just killed a man and drank blood from his chest like an animal. Her eyes were on Tal, her expression unreadable as she let the new blood seep into her system. It seemed to whisper to her, her mind suddenly filled with flashes of images and overlapping voices. Truths.

"Calli?... Cal? Here.. Take this. Just a few drops.." Xan tried to coo gently to her but she didn't need to know the truth of everything to hear the panic in his voice. He was pressing a small vail marked with the letter 'M' to her lips. It was the blood of a woman named Marren, an elf who's wounds could heal shut in a matter of minutes. Her lips parted, and she took in the few drops administered. Xan slipped the vial back into the satchel he carried with a soft clink as it joined several others. He was still fussing, taking her hand to make her hold the cloth to the wound whilst he tore more and set about cleaning the blood from her face, both hers and the old man's. The wound on her cheekbone was already starting to close over, but the scar would remain there as her payment.

"You knew he'd try to kill me." she spoke finally, still staring at Tal, her voice ghostly. "He almost succeeded." her head tilted. "You are an utter Bastard, Talmanese Al'Vere."

 

[Tal]

Another slow, long drag of his cigar. "Of course I knew, Sweetheart."

The Prince said with a slow shake of his head. An amused smile flickered over his lips, though something within his eyes betrayed something more.

They wandered slowly over Calli, and then towards her hound, and then over towards the dead man upon the floor. He frowned for a brief moment, as though he were considering something. Then his smile betrayed the more musing expression.

"He was hardly just going to give you his blood, was he?" Tal reminded her. "Besides."

He said calmly. "Everyone has what they want."

Even if things had gone a bit more...erratically, than he had first thought they would. "So, our deal can continue, and we can be off to Tyr tomorrow."

 

[Calliope]

Sweetheart..

Calli visibly sneered at the pet name. His father had called her that before he'd attempted to put an end to her.

"You think I murder people for their blood?.. I pay for their blood, a few drops here and there for a good price. I do not kill people... I have.. I had, never killed anyone before now.." she frowned, head gaze falling to take in the mask of fear the man still wore even in death. Crimson eyes shifted over the wound, to the blade she'd punctured his heart with and the smashed vase she'd used to crack open his skull. She swallowed, and appreciated the firm grip that Xander settled on her shoulder as he fumbled over her wound..

"Cal, we need to find a healer." he urged with concern in his tone, but her gaze was distant as she looked at him. Her eyes were blinking a little too slowly, and it hurt to breathe in.

"What was he talking about, Tal?.." she asked through gritted teeth. "What was it that you wanted from him?" she frowned, her gaze set firmly on the man, daring him to lie.

 

[Tal]

"Oh." Shockingly, Tal actually sounded mildly surprised. A part of him not entirely believing that Calliope had never actually killed anyone.

His father had made sure that he'd seen his first murder at the age of thirteen. Part of blooding him, preparing him for the throne that he might one day occupy. The lesson had of course been against Tyrian law, but such things never applied to Kings.

Not really. "Well if it's any consolation you hardly killed a good man. He was a bastard and a half, really."

Worse than most men he'd met.

The Allir Syndicate was not known for it's kind touch, and Vora had been a large part of that. The Old man himself had slit more throats than most Dreadlords would admit to. Not to mention the countless others he had ordered killed.

Slowly he stepped into the small shack, wandering around the room. Eyes flickering, landing upon a small parchment on the table. "The Old Man had a puzzle piece I needed to collect before leaving."

A hand reached out, shifting the parchment upon the table. Tal's sleeve pulling back for just a moment.

For a few seconds he lingered there, then slowly let his gaze draw back towards the wounded Princess.

"I know a healer." Tal mused, then regarded Xander. "She's quite good, though a tad...divergent from what you find in Tyr. She will see to your needs."

Again, no lie slipped from his tongue.

 

[Calliope]

"I don't care what sort of man he was.." Calli spoke through gritted teeth, half clenched with pain and half with frustration and rage. "He had never wronged me, and it wasn't for me to decide whether he lived or died." she frowned, not bothering to hide the shudder in her voice nor the tears that fell, mourning her own soul more than the dead man's.

"And it could just as easily have been her laying there now., you selfish bastard." Xander hissed with a snarl at Tal and a jerk of his chin toward the exsanguinated corpse. Had he not been so concerned with keeping pressure on Calliope's wound, not even she could have stopped him from beating Tal to pulp. She could feel his rage as though it radiated through his shaking hand and into her chest, and she laid a hand over it with a small smile - a gentle reminder that they needed him to deal with his father before their entire kingdom collapsed.

At Tal's words, Xander gingerly helped Calli to her feet, guiding her hand over the wound with whatever rag he'd been using and instructing her gently to hold it. She did, but her crimson eyes were on Tal, the light in them slowly dwindling as the urge to sleep pressed in. "Explain divergent. She doesn't need to kill anyone else or promise her first born does she?" Xander growled, and started to lead the wounded Tyrian toward the door.

It still didn't make sense. She had questions to ask but honestly, she was struggling to find the energy to force them past her lips. The pain was spreading, and the man's blood churned in her stomach, threatening to ascend her throat in some gory Geiser if she did not focus on holding it down. "Where?" she managed to croak quietly with a silent glare at Tal.

 

[Tal]

Tal continued to lean against the doorway as both Calli and Xander continued to berate him.

Briefly he wondered if it would be worthwhile killing them both and just going back home on his own. It would have been easier in some ways, but so much harder in others. His father would have the Death Watch string him up within the hour.

Chewing on his cigar, he let out a long sigh. "Well, it sounds like it wasn't much of your choice anyway."

Tal said, pointing towards the body.

"He made the decision for you." He flashed her a smile, but he knew that the words would hardly placate either of them. Truth was, a part of him knew where she was coming from. He'd never minded killing, not really, but a small sliver of him still had a conscience. If he'd thought the Old Man would give him what he wanted...he probably would have let the fool live.

A scoff left his lips as Xander hurled more accusations. "What am I? A savage."

Tal shook his head.

"No she won't need to kill anyone, nor a drop of blood." He remarked. "Just be used to the sting of a needle and the magic of a bone-eye."

Shoulders shrugged. "All a matter of course of the Vaudelay."

He motioned out the door, and then turned on his heel to walk towards the fabled witches corner of Alliria.

 

[Calliope]

The way he smiled at her. The look she responded with suggested that she might just continue her killing spree and launch herself at him, but she could barely breathe without pain let alone summon the energy to throttle him. She did manage a snarl, and Xander tightened his grip on her, fearing she might take a swing at him.

“The fuck are the Vaudelay?” Her guard muttered quietly to her as they followed behind at a slow, careful pace. Her head shook, unsure, but right now she didn’t care. The blood was saturating the handful of fabric she held against it and she was more than a little drowsy from pain as it was. They didn't have any choice but to trust him right now.

The walk felt eternal, with each step growing heavier and Xander taking more and more of her weight.
"How much further?" he demanded as he wound his arm tighter around her waist and scooped her feet from the ground to cradle her. Calli frowned, but he apologised before she could say anything, knowing full well she'd protest, but they had to pick up the pace.

 

[Tal]

"Not are my dear dog." Tal said with a tsk as he continued to lead them forward. "It's more of a...where."

As he spoke they would begin to see what he was talking about.

They had been in the Shallows, the slums that surrounded Alliria, but The Vaudelay was an entirely different world of it's own. The buildings became a bit less ramshackle, but more connected. The streets less cared for, but somehow more steady, the people less pale and more colored.

It was a subtle switch, but one that anyone would have noticed after a single block. The Vaudelary was an old part of the city, and one that most people tended to avoid. It was populated by witches, Oungan's, and all sorts of things people would rather whisper of than confront.

People watched them as they stepped inside, staring from open porches. Their eyes following the three intruders with the balefull gaze of sentinels.

It didn't take them much longer after that, reaching a house that was slightly larger...though no nicer than some of the others on the street. Tal thundered upon the door, his voice echoing out. "Silvye, Sybille. Your favorite patron is here."

There was a scuffle of feet, an exasperated sigh, and then the door swung open.

Two figures appeared beyond, each one a mirror of the other. Their dark skin stood in stark contrast to bright violet eyes, each girl looking first to Tal, then to Calli and Xander behind him.

"What trouble have you vrought to our door zis time, eh Talmanese?"​

The forward twin whisped.

"It zeems all you ever has iz trouble."​

The other mirrored with a shake of her head. "What can I say? I have a knack."

He gestured to Calli.

"Need you to stitch her up." Another loud sigh, and then the twins motioned for them to enter.

 

[Calliope]

The pain had dulled by the time they reached the house, and in Xander's arms she began to feel comfortable and were it not for Xander repeatedly telling her to stay awake she'd have quite happily drifted off to sleep already. She didn't feel like she was dying.. Then again perhaps she wouldn't know what that felt like if she was. The wound was deep, but it hadn't pierced her heart, or her lungs, and so death was unlikely if she was sewn back up quick enough, she hoped.

She groaned irritably at him. "If you're not going to let me sleep then you should have let me walk." she mumbled groggily.

Her eyes opened and blinked heavily as Tal spoke.. Favourite patron? "Has he brought me to a fucking whore house?" she murmured quietly to Xander..

She was too close too unconsciousness to take in much of the place she'd been brought to, but she could smell all sorts of strange and familiar scents of herbs and such. The table she was set down reluctantly upon felt cold now that she wasn't wrapped in Xander's body heat, and she realised that she was shivering.

Her hand reached out, and Xander took it, but her crimson eyes were following the two females around the table as best they could. "Don't let them fight.." she murmured, knowing that if she passed out, Xander and Tal would be left to their anger and taunts.

 

[Tal]

"Oh zer vill be no fighting here. Will zer Talmanese?"​

Sybille was the one who asked, but Silvye peered at him the way a cat might look at a bird. His shoulders rolled in a shrug and he shook his head. "Of course not, I know when to behave."

That was a lie which everyone in the room would see through.

Tal slowly stepped into the corner of the room, dragging a chair into place and sitting himself down as the two witches began to stalk around the table. Sybille left the room, fetching something while her sister gently patted Calliope's forehead.

"Don't you vorry, dear. Talmanese has brought you to ze right place."​

As she spoke the other twin returned.

A small kit sat within her hand.

The two quickly began to work, though oddly enough not on Calliope herself. Instead they took a bit of her blood, and then strangely began to mold a bit of clay. Before long a small doll took the shape of their patient, Calliope's features carefully crafted into the place.

Tal took out a cigar, though before he could light it Sybille rounded on him.

"Not in here."​

She hissed as her twin picked up a needle and very gently stabbed it into the clay doll. Threading it as though she were sowing stitches.

Pain would lance through Calliope, and slowly her skin stitched itself together. Drawing closed as though the wound had never been made at all.

 

[Calliope]

She was barely conscious, but conscious enough to snort at Tal's words and roll her drowsy eyes. Xander stayed by her side anyway, and he offered a reassuring smile at her. Everything was starting to feel oddly comfortable. The hard table she laid upon felt soft and spongey, her muscles heavy and the pain ebbing away as sleep crept in. She assumed that this was down to the sisters, that they'd cast some spell to let her rest peacefully, until they started sewing their creepy doll.

Xander's hand got the brunt of Calliope's shock of pain, her back arching from the table as she hissed and growled out a sound of protest through her teeth. He watched the wound stitch itself closed and paled slightly, glancing to the sisters and their doll with a wince of unease.

"You're alright. Rest a bit." he assured her as she slowly settled back down with a shuddered sigh. Her eyes closed as the pain subsided again, and sleep claimed her until such time her body recovered enough to wake.

 

[Tal]

"She will need at leazt two days rest, Talmanese. Ze magic has healer her, but ze blood she has lost is too much for us to recover."

Talmanese frowned for a brief moment as he considered the words.

Killing the old man had been a dangerous Gambit, and chaos would no doubt break out as Markus and the other Triumvir fought over the territory he once had. But two days would work in his advantage. He could grab the final piece, charter a ship, and then…

"Two days it is." He said with a nod towards Xander. "Come along, friend I'll ensure she's safe, and when she wakes we'll see to the rest of our bargain."

He flashed Xander a smile.

Getting up and heading to open the door before he turned towards the two twins. "Oh, and you two will need to prepare for travel."

A wicked grin touched his lips.

"In sure Mama Leveau will agree you two need to see more of the world." The two women looked at him with a mixture of shock and rage, but Tal didn't seem to care. If he was going home, he would need them.

Next Calliope awoke, she would find herself in a dark room lit only by bare candlelight. There were no windows, though the room was lavishly decorated and she slept atop a bed dressed in silks. Tal was nowhere to be seen, though Xander sat in the corner in a plush chair which did not at all suit him.

 

[Calliope]

Her sleep was deep and dreamless, and honestly, when she did start to wake she wasn't entirely sure she'd ever slept so well. Her lips curled, her red hair starkly splayed across the silken pillow that she nuzzled into.

"Hm." she mumbled and slowly forced her eyes to blink themselves open. She hadn't a clue where she was, but she recalled the sisters and assumed that they had left her to rest somewhere more comfortable. Her smile twisted into a grin as she spotted Xander sitting rigidly in the pretty armchair..

"How long have I been asleep?" she asked, her voice dry and husky and so she cleared it. "And where are we?" she frowned sleepily and sighed as she stretched out, in no particular hurry to get out of bed.

 

[Tal]

Before the answer could be revealed, as Xander opened his mouth the sound of splintering wood echoed out.

Tal came crashing through the door, a wide and beaming grin on his face. A bottle of whisky in one hand, and then an already empty bottle of vintage Velurian Wine in the other. The glasses pinched between fingers made a clink sound.

That was when Calliope's eyes would be drawn to Tal's arms.

Wrapped around each of his forearms, sprawling upward to run between his fingers were thick white bandages. They laced intricately around the entirety of his flesh, not showing even a glimpse of olive skin. He seemed unbothered by them, even the stain of red near his left elbow.

"Xander! My favorite doooour downcast drudging danaaagerous...disciple?" A very drunken Tal slurred towards the end, as though searching for a word. When he lost it, he simply continued. "I need a Tyrian to celebrate with, and you're the closest thing I've go-"

His head swiveled. "Oh, Cali you're awake.

 

[Calliope]

Calliope jolted into a bolt-upright position amidst her mountain of cushions and stared, wide-eyed at the drunken lout who'd just crashed in so unceremoniously. Xander was on his feet and ready to fight, but his stance settled from defensive to out-right demented as he realised who it was. He flopped back into the plush chair and clenched his jaw, his gaze fixed sternly on Calliope as he silently sought permission to punch him.

Calli's crimson eyes were set upon Tal with a frown however, and she studied those bandages with concern. "I am. And now I expect you to sober up and supply me with the answers I seek." she replied dryly.

"Where am I? And what on Arethil has happened to you?" she demanded.

 

[Tal]

"My dearest, lovely lacy languishing lounging...Lliope..." Talmanese trailed off again, though covered it with another swig from the bottle. "You are thirty feet under the Shallows of Alliria, in a safehouse beneath the Traipsing Trollop."

He stumbled over towards Calliope's bedside, slamming the glasses down and pouring more than a few fingers for the both of them. A wide beaming smile on his face as he scooped up the fuller of the two cups. "And to answer your other question.

The Underboss swayed slightly. "My father has, had, happened to me."

Tal declared quite freely, bringing the cup to his lips and taking a drink.

"But now, I am free. Restored, and once again..." His fingers suddenly scrunched around the glass. There was a shattering crunch as it broke into a thousand pieces. Whisky and glass splashing towards the floor, and then suddenly stopping mid-air.

A wide grin touched his face, his finger slowly curling and winding around.

Glass soared through the air, pulling backwards and collecting itself into the form of a perfectly crafted cup. Whisky following just a brief second later to all nestle neatly in Tal's hand. "What I was always meant to be."

His grin somehow widened as he finished the glass.

 

[Calliope]

Calliope's nose wrinkled at him. At the state he was in, the painful alliteration, at the way he clambered around and the smell of alcohol radiating from him, and at the news that she was underneath an establishment named the 'Traipsing Trollope'.

Her crimson gaze followed him, her brow furrowing as she listened to him, her body flinching at the sudden shattering of glass and her brow slowly arching again when she realised what he was slurring about. She watched the glass spiral in the air as her thoughts did the same in her mind..

"He took your power?" she asked, utterly aghast at the mere thought of such a thing, as though she didn't do it every day in some small capacity. She only took little amounts that were freely given, but to take...everything.

"That's why you didn't confront that man on your own - you absolute CUNT of a coward! I was just as defenceless as you, more so! By the Gods Talmanese if I had the strength to I'd throttle you." she snarled at him. Xander was at her other side, trying to coax her back against the pillows. She went willingly but only because she was already dizzy from raising her voice let alone trying to beat the shit out of him.

 

[Tal]

"No no no no no." Talmanese said, waving the glass of liquor about as though it might be a ward of objection. "No."

He added for good grace. "He didn't take it."

A chuckle passed through Tal's lips. "He for fuck wished he could, probably, but he did not take. He could not. All he did was lock it away. Shoving manacles upon me, hiding away what I was and throwing me out like a fucking dog."

Venom touched his lips as he spoke, and another slosh of brown liquor was poured down his throat.

As the glass left his lips, Tal shook his head in answer to her next statement.

"I would've slit the old man's throat myself if I could have, Calli." Suddenly his voice turned serious."He was miser, a peddler of misery, death and horror worse than both our fathers combined."

Tal's expression was grim, though both of them knew he was no hero. "I put you there because I knew you'd do it."

He slurred. "Even if you didn't want to."

"But what does that matter anymore." Tal said, eschewing the glass in his hand and taking a swig from the bottle. "It all worked out in the end, eh?"

Tal glanced at Xander. "Now all we have left to do is kill my father."

The words felt bitter on his tongue.