Ariana's log, Chapter 127

"What can I say? I'm a man."

Thursday, February 15, 0

Ariana spends the morning preparing an elaborate lunch to surprise Lucien. Jalana helps cover up the smell by burning a pan. Lucien looks quite dubious when he gets home, but doesn't comment on the odor. Ariana asks if he's hungry. He smiles a somewhat plastic smile and says he is. Morgan looks appalled and asks if they have to eat the stuff he smells. Yep. Ariana decides to have lunch outside, where the burnt odor won't be lingering. Morgan keeps repeating that he's not hungry. Ariana says he doesn't have to eat, but he has to sit with the family, and he won't be able to eat later. That last bit is the one that gets him to the table, although he and his brothers look very apprehensive. When Ariana serves the food, Lucien notices the lack of carbon black and gives her a knowing grin. The kids wait to see what Lucien's reaction is before eating themselves. Lucien takes a large bite and relishes it with nummy sounds, which only makes the boys more nervous. After Jalana and the girls start eating, Morgan finally gives in, followed by Vincent, and then Shannon. They look rather surprised. Ariana observes that she thought Morgan wasn't hungry. He gives her a dirty look, knowing full well he's been had. Ariana points out that she never said that awful smell was the food she'd made, which causes Jalana to start giggling and Lucien to smile. Ariana is obviously pleased that everyone liked the food, and that her deception was successful. She waits until after the meal is over and the children have left before teasing Lucien a bit about being fooled. He takes it all rather well and rewards her nicely for the next couple of hours.

Ariana catches a glimpse of Fiona in the hall, and hurries to catch up with her. Fiona slows and looks slightly impatient. Ariana assures her that she wouldn't be bothering her if she could have found any other way, but all she found were dead ends or suggestions that she talk to Fiona. She explains the changes she's observed in Vincent, including the sudden increase in his psyche. Fiona frowns and asks Ariana to take her to the boy. Ariana does so. Vincent looks nervous upon seeing Fiona. Fiona asks for his hand. He looks at Ariana, who nods. He says no. Fiona looks surprised. Ariana asks why he won't do this. Because he doesn't want to. Ariana says she just wants Fiona to make sure he wasn't harmed when the planes of Trump merged. Vincent still doesn't like the idea and Trumps out. Fiona looks thoughtful and says she'll look into this. Vincent returns before dinner and acts like nothing happened. Ariana tells Lucien of the incident. They both agree to leave things be and let Fiona handle Vincent.

Ariana and Lucien attend the ball, accompanied by Jalana, Morgan and Shannon. Hors d'oeuvres are served and people mingle. Ariana notes that Shard is there as Whimsy's escort. He sees her as well, but continues to avoid her. He has a tense conversation with Julian, and then stares at Eric, leaving Eric looking rather shaken. Everyone is seated for dinner and the food is absolutely exquisite. All goes well until a toast is raised to Emperor Nicholas. Everyone drinks, and fifteen minutes later, everyone collapses.

Ariana wakes up some time later with a pounding headache and an upset stomach. She's been placed out of the way against a wall, with her children nestled next to her. They are still unconscious, and obviously hurt, but they appear to be stable so their shapeshifting looks to be doing its job. Ariana looks around and gets her first good look at the carnage around her. There are bodies everywhere. Lucien is working on the other side of the room. Shard is hauling bodies away. Ariana has to make an effort not to be sick. She tries to see if she recognizes any of the dead, but can't really tell from her position on the floor. She calls over a servant and asks him to carry her children up to her quarters, so they won't have to see this when they wake up. This process takes 20 minutes. Once they have been safely moved, Ariana asks to be informed when they start to wake up, then tries to stand. She promptly looses consciousness again.

Ariana wakes up in bed with Lucien napping beside her. She carefully sits up, then stands, with no ill effects this time. She feels perfectly fine, in fact. Lucien sleeps through all of this, so she assumes he must be exhausted and does her best not to wake him. She checks on the children, who are sleeping and appear to be fine. She's very hungry and thirsty, so she drinks a lot of water and manages to eat some toast. Then she changes and goes down to the Great Hall to lend her assistance. When she arrives, she finds that the hall is spotless, as if nothing ever happened. She heads for the infirmary next, spotting a man with red hair and a green coat walking about 20 steps ahead of her. He enters the infirmary first. When she does likewise, she finds him sitting at the only occupied cot in the room and reaching into his coat pocket. The child on the cot is Vincent, and he looks terrified, so Ariana interposes herself between him and the man. Much to her dismay, the man turns out to be Brand, looking rather malevolent. Ariana backs away, pushing Vincent's cot behind her and keeping her sword between her and Brand. She tries to get Vincent to get off the cot and stand behind her, but he is curled into a fetal position and crying fearfully, utterly refusing to move. Brand's smile fades and is replaced with an almost manic concern as he calls her his love. Ariana tries casting Earth Passage, but her fingers feel like they're moving through molasses and magic suddenly seems very, very weak. Brand says he's missed her, and that he's come back so the two of them and Grayson can be a proper family. Family is very important to him now. Then he walks forward and tries to touch her cheek, causing Ariana to slash at his hand and tell him not to touch her. He asks why, saying she enjoyed it well enough the first time. She spits at his feet and says that wasn't the case. She begins to suspect that she might be dreaming, due to the difficulties she's having with magic, and the fact that Brand remembers raping her, so she pinches herself in an effort to wake up. As she does so, Brand smiles, grabs her sword arm with lightening speed, and pulls her in for a tender kiss.

Saturday, February 17, 0

Ariana wakes up with a start, sitting bolt upright in bed. She is alone in her bedroom in Castle Amber, and it appears to be near dawn. She dry heaves over the side of the bed, then curls up into a fetal position and shakes for a bit. Once she's calmed down somewhat, she checks to make sure that she's not pregnant, since that was what happened the last time she had a vivid dream involving Brand. Satisfied that that's not the case this time, she gets up and checks the children's rooms. All of the children are there, even the ones who didn't go to the ball. Jalana, Morgan and Shannon all seem to have recovered from the poisoning, and Vincent seems OK as well. With a definite feeling of déjà-vu, Ariana has some toast and water, then goes down to the Great Hall, pinching herself to try and make sure this isn't another dream. She notices more guards than usual in the halls, and guards in the Great Hall as well, although there are no bodies remaining. Ariana asks where the injured were taken. There are no injured. What day is it? The 17th. Apparently she was unconscious for more than a day. She uses her ring to locate Lucien, who is in Nicholas' office. Not wanting to disturb him, and unable to find anyone she can help, she returns to her quarters and simply watches her children sleep for a while, before eventually nodding off as well.

Quotables:

"So, you don't call out for help?" -- GM, as Gavin is being used by a female demon
"What can I say? I'm a man." -- Gavin

"Outrageous Fortune"
Game Logs for Sessions 1-115 | Character Logs for Sessions 116+

Last modified on December 9, 1998 by Kris Fazzari.