shatteredservice | Taming The Beast?!?

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Current Location: A Warded Room/The Kitchen

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Taming The Beast?!?

The room is plain and fairly empty. A few hours before, it had been a small study, but Set and Dia have cleared all of that stuff out and made it a much more fitting arena to face The Beast in. After all, he is going to be violent enough when he realizes what they are going to try to do to him. It probably isn't a good idea to give him access to anything that could be used as ammo.

Dia watches as Set paces around the room checking the various wards that he placed on it when they moved in. They aren't anything special--just a few detection runes--but they were never meant to do anything like keeping The Beast in check. The Beast himself has seen to it that Set can't do anything like that. That is why Bazett is stopping by. She doesn't have to try and work around The Beast to do her work; she can just do it.

Set flops down into a cross-legged sit in the middle of the floor and sighs, "I think that's it until she comes. Hopefully, it won't be too long. I think he's starting to wonder. I'm trying to distance myself, but..."

Dia nods, fingering the capped needle in his hand, "I'm really sorry about this. I hate having to do it."

"Don't be, it has to be done and this is the safest way. Just promise me something," Set gives him a hard look. "Make sure you make the most of this. You need to talk to him. I doubt he's going to let us get away with this very often. Heck, maybe not ever again. This might be the only chance we get."

"I-I know," Dia's voice wavers a moment and then he steadies himself. "I am preparing myself. It's going to hurt, but hopefully it will be the first step toward making it so it doesn't hurt so much anymore."

Set smirks and motions for Dia to come and sit with him. When Dia joins him, he wraps his arms around his lover, "That's my Baby! You have no idea how good it makes me feel to hear you say that."

Dia blushes slightly, but doesn't reply. Instead, they wait for Bazett to again make her way into their home.

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"Runic magic appears simple, but they operate like crests in miniature. It would be hard for someone unskilled in the art to undo them."

It was an old magic. She is not sure how she came by it, but she assumes it is because of her family's ancestral teachings.

"You could remove energy from the wards, like any other wards or bounded fields, and weaken its operation, though. Is there any way you could do that?"

"Gae Dearg could easily nullify it since that is its special ability, but I have no intent on call it for this fight. If things go so badly that I need to draw a weapon it will be Moralltach since he seems to respect and even fear it. Otherwise, I have no other way of removing or weakening energy flows. I merely wished to be careful. I would hate for a stray action to put us all in danger," Dia notices Set twitch slightly in the middle of the room and frowns.

"You may wish to focus on finishing those wards. It seems The Beast is trying to force him to wake after all."

She quickly finishes the fourth corner and runs back to Set. Grabbing hold of one of his arms, she starts drawing runes on his hand. She knows she has to hurry, but runes took time to set up.

Dia takes a step back toward the door remembering what Bazett asked of him, but also ready to dash in and fight should that be required.

Fortunately, despite letting out a low moan, Set remains unconscious as Bazett does her work. It's clear from the look on his face, he's fighting though. How long he will be able to hold out is anyone's guess.

And unfortunately, Dia knows it will only take a split second for the change to occur as soon as Set loses his fight. He just hopes Bazett will be done by that time.

It is a genuinely nerve-wracking experience as she traces the runes, pausing every time he stirs. But she gets his hands done. At the very least, he would no longer be able to snap bones as he had done the other night.

"How is it going? Almost done?" Dia asks softly, almost afraid that hearing his voice might give The Beast that last little bit it needs to break free. "Just remember how he changed last time and if you see even a hint of that you need to get back away from him."

Set moans again, eyes tightly squeezed together. He's twitching harder now, and it's obvious he's not going to stay down much longer.

"Damn it,'" Dia curses under his breath. "You might want to consider calling it good, Bazett. I think the tranquiler is about to let go. So much for needing a rune of healing to remove its effects!"

She nods and stands up, running to a spot in front of Diarmuid. She shifts into a defensive position, ready to react to any sudden movements from Set.

"He has runes on his hands, but not his legs. If he so wishes, he can still rush up to us."

"I'm sorry. I really had expected that the tranquilizer would work longer. I guess that was too much to hope for. The wards should protect us if he rushes us, right? What do you need to do to activate them or are they all ready now?"

As Dia finishes speaking, Set suddenly falls still. A moment later, Dia notices the shift from his lover to The Beast begin, "If you need at activate anything, do it now! He's waking up!"

She barks out a verbal command which activates all of the runes. The wards seem firm enough, if the way that they initially drain her prana is any indication. She watches the Beast rise, wondering if he would attack.

"It is no fault of yours. We all knew there was a possibility of this happening."

Dia nods, but doesn't say anything. He's too busy watching to see what The Beast is going to do.

The Beast slowly looks around the room. When his gaze falls on them, he grins, though the grin in tinged with anger, "What is going on, Little Bird? What game are we playing now? I see your woman friend is back. Locking me in so you can go play?"

"No, we need to talk to you without you causing anyone harm. Since you have messed up Set's ability to use his runes, Bazett came to use hers," Dia answers.

The Beast cocks his head at them and slowly starts walking forward, "And if I don't want to talk now? What then?"

"I only wish to discuss our current situation. You have so much influence over Cu Chulainn that it is only right you know of what we wish to do. And it is only right for us to know the reason for your recent behavior."

She throws a glance at Diarmuid, mouthing a quick apology.

"You will talk. Otherwise I would not guarantee Diarmuid's health. But rest assured that if I do kill him, it would be in a more merciful fashion than anything you could inflict on him."

She hopes that he will not call her bluff.

"Oh, really now, hmmmm," The Beast stops walking forward when he reaches the edge of the barrier. After seeming to examine it for a moment, he taps on it, "And this is suppose to keep me from stopping you. I see. You have a lot of faith in your own abilities. But tell me little lady, what makes you think that my Little Bird would let you hurt him so badly? Do you really think you are stronger than he is?" The Beast pushes his face close to the barrier, near Bazett's, and grins. 'Tell me what would keep him from pulling that Blade of Ending on you?"

Silently, she steps closer to Diarmuid and places a hand on the back of his neck.

"One rune. That is all I need to blow his head to pieces. But he trusts you to be willing to negotiate."

She looks toward Diarmuid.

"Am I correct?"

Her hand is completely stiff. Otherwise, it would be trembling.

Dia's shoulders tense even though he knows she doesn't really want to hurt him. It's those old battle instincts. That and the affirmation that her words give that runic magic is just as strong as he had always been told it was.

"She is right. We probably would take each other out since I would only need an instant to call Moralltach and release the runes sealing its abilities, but she would only need an instant to draw the rune and detonate it. Do you really want to take that chance? Aren't you the one who is so scared of losing me?"

The Beast's eyes narrow to thin slits, "You are not playing fair, Little Bird. Why the change? Don't you want me to protect you anymore?"

"I want Set to have a normal life. He can't do that with you being so unpredictable," Dia states. "And if you wish to be specific, you changed to rules of the game first. The other night...explain it."

The Beast sighs and turns away from them for a moment, wandering back into the center of the room, "What is there to explain? Was it really so different from any other night?"

"According to Cu Chulainn, the way you addressed him was certainly different, though your physical aggression might have been the same."

Her body relaxes now that she sees he is willing to to talk. Since the tension was the only thing holding her still, her hand starts to tremble slightly. She forces it to be perfectly still again. It would not do to show the Beast how weak her resolve actually is.

"Oh, is that all," The Beast rolls his head back at an angle to look at them without fully turning back to them. "Well, answer me this. How am I suppose to feel when HE is all over this woman who I know nothing about other than she's a beast like me, hmm? Don't you think I had a bit of a right to be upset when it was upsetting my Little Bird?"

"Don't play games!" Dia finds himself taking an angry step forward before he can stop himself, "I'm tired of this! I'm tired of you ruling our lives! I'm tired of being the one who has to comfort him because you've used his body to hurt me again and then left it for him to fix!"

The Beast finally turns to face them, his face deadly serious, "Oh really, Little Bird? Is that so. And here I thought you rather enjoyed those particular acts of penance. Isn't that what you called them? A way to pay for your sins? And then he could mak...

"Shut up! Stop lying! I nev- I...."

"Then inflict those injuries on your own person. Or attack me directly. Do not involve Diarmuid. What you said to him on that night--"

She stops and reaches out for Diarmuid as he steps closer to the Beast.

"I do not know what you are speaking about, but do they have any relevance to the topic at hand? If not, then stop."

"But of course it has something to do with the topic at hand," The Beast's expression returns to that crazy grin of his. "I would even go so far as to say it's vital. Isn't that right, Little Bird? Because when it comes down to it, this is all about you and your insecurities. It's always about you."

Dia starts slightly, "W-what do you mean by that? This is about him, not me. I want him to be happy and he can't be happy with you acting like this!"

"You want, you want. See," The Beast's smirk widens, "it is all about you. But you are just a cripple now, right? I thought you didn't think you had the right to want anything."

"I-I," Dia looks down, almost seeming like he's going to cry before stopping himself and taking a deep breath. "No, I'm not letting you do this to me tonight. I know I have problems and I know I've been wrong to hide them." He looks up at The Beast, his eyes steady, "I'm going to try and change that, but if he is all messed up because of you, I won't be able to."

She hates that she doesn't know enough about their history. Otherwise, she would be able to argue with the Beast, or at least comfort Diarmuid. As it is, she can do nothing but listen in silence. At least it gives her a chance to analyze the Beast's words.

"If you take so much objection to what he wants, then tell us what you want. So far, all you have done is twist his words around."

"What I want? I didn't realize that a creature like me was allowed to have wants," The Beast is quiet a moment then he suddenly jumps toward Dia, a twisted grin on his face. "What I want is to take my Little Bird into my arms. And then I want to....break him so his body matches what he seems to think his soul is." The Beast twists his head so that it's almost upside down, "And maybe then he will realize how wrong he is."

Dia's face loses all color, "Don't tell me all of this is just one of your games to make me see--make me admit--my real feelings?"

The Beast shrugs, "Maybe I just want to see you bleed. For a supposed hero, you are so very very fragile." He brings his hands together like he's holding something small in them, "Just like a little baby bird. So easy to...crush." He suddenly brings his hands together like he is smashing whatever he had been holding.

Everything coming out of the Beast's mouth scares and disgusts her. For a second, she wants to undo her wards so she could punch him. However, she knows that would be a foolish decision.

"That still does not explain your behavior on that night as well as that moment when you first woke up. You know that it is Cu Chulainn holds feelings for me, and yet you insist that I am Diarmuid's friend."

Whatever the damage to Diarmuid's soul, the Beast could only make it worse.

The Beast looks at her with a sweet grin though it is fake through and through, "Aren't you? All the women like him you know. He can't help but take them away from those who they belong with. Poor little thing."

"Stop it, " Dia shuts his eyes for a moment to steady himself. "If you must tease, tease me, but leave her out of it. As you said, you don't know her or what she is going through."

"No, you are far too broken to tease, Little Bird. There is no sport there. You just shut your eyes and take it," The Beast can't help but laugh when his comment causes Dia to snap his eyes back open. "I want someone who will react. She does it nicely. Perhaps there is a reason he likes her so much."

She gives him a slight frown.

"As a practitioner of magecraft, I have some degree of magical resistance. His face is a charm--one that I have no intention to fall to."

The malicious mocking the Beast subjected them to could not be called teasing. She has seen Cu Chulainn's teasing. At worst, he only produced slight embarrassment and awkwardness. But the Beast was actually picking at a person's most sensitive points.

"And if what Cu Chulainn says is correct, his charm is an unconscious one. Even if I am affected, it would not be his fault. In the end, you are still hurting him."

"Woman, no one hurts him more than he hurts himself," The Beast turns away from them again and heads back into the middle of the room. "But all this talk is booooring me. I don't want to talk anymore." He turns back with a grin. "Do you want your Baby back now Little Bird? You can talk with him."

"No, we need to talk to you. You are the one who pops up at odd times. You're the one who hurts me and threatens to hurt other people. If you really care about me, you will keep talking with us," Dia states calmly.

"Then come in here, Little Bird. I will not keep talking to you with this barrier between us," The Beast fixes him with a glare. "If you expect honesty, stop hiding."

She steps in front of Diarmuid.

"I will enter if you require it. Diarmuid stays outside."

If Diarmuid went inside, it could easily become a repeat of that night.

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