Miletus Roleplay

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Chazz recovered quickly from the fairly light hit and was able to balance himself easily. His reaction was to swiftly drive his elbow into Makari's chest.

Chazz wordlessly passed Makari mushroom after mushroom. After he was done, he watched Makari fall to the ground, though he seemed to only be asleep. Chazz wondered how long it would take for the poison to kill his friend. He watched Makari, and found himself thinking back to when he first met him. It was strange, because at that time he was helping to nurse him back to health. Now their last moments spent together would be Chazz killing him.

Chazz reached for his rapier. He was more than ready to be done with it all, and Makari probably didn't have much longer anyway. However, it seemed that his rapier was missing. Chazz had just assumed that he could die when he wanted to, so it was alarming to realize that he would have to wait and suffer. He sighed and looked at Makari again. It would be best to make sure that his friend was dead before finding some way to kill himself. But the longer he watched and waited, the more he couldn't take it.

"Ah, g-good morning." Raphael returned her greeting, smiling a little. He finished up packing his things. "Did you sleep well?"

Darast awoke as the sun rose and saw Casimir shifting around in his bed. The kid seemed to do that quite often, and Darast wondered if he ever spent a night restfully. However, it was now time to get up so he went over and gave Casimir's shoulder a shake.

"Rise an' shine," he said.

Meanwhile, Nadina continued to sleep soundly in her room. She was quite a sound sleeper and she was used to sleeping as long as she wanted back at the mansion, so she would continue to sleep for a while yet if no one interfered.

Makari slept peacefully for a while. After a few hours, his breathing and heartrate had begun to speed up a bit. However, he remained asleep.

Casimir was relieved when Darast woke him up; he hadn't been sleeping well. He felt groggy and slightly ill from sleeping so badly, but he was used to that. "Nn... morning..." he greeted Darast, slowly getting out of bed. He started to gather his belongings together.

Elyse smiled at Raphael. "I did, thank you." After getting her things together, she recalled that Nadina was in a room by herself. She knew Darast probably had his hands full with Casimir. "I think I'll go check and see if Nadina's awake," she said. She walked down the hall and knocked loudly on the girl's door. "Nadina? Are you awake?" she called.

Chazz noticed that instead of Makari becoming more lifeless, his breathing was getting faster. He didn't understand what was going on and it was quite alarming. Chazz moved closer to his friend but didn't know what to do, so he just stared. Something was going wrong and Chazz felt sick to his stomach. "N-no... Makari, you can't..." He had to wonder if he had even failed his simple final task of giving his friend a merciful death. "Please, no..."

Raphael nodded at Elyse before she left the room. He exited not long after her and waited for everyone out in the hall. They had been travelling for such a long time and they were finally not far from elven territory. Raphael had also noticed that there had been fewer rogues lately, so apparently they had chosen the right course of action.

Darast watched Casimir go about gathering up his things. He debated for a moment whether he should ask the question that was nagging at him, then decided he would.

"Hey Cas, when was the last time ya didn't spend the night tossin' and turnin' and stuff?"

It took a little bit before Elyse's knocking woke Nadina up. At first she couldn't figure out what it was, but then Yuki went to the door and started scratching at it. She really didn't want to get up, but there was no way she could continue on her journey without these nuisances.

"A moment!" she called out to Elyse.

She got out of bed and started to get ready to go, though the speed at which she did so wasn't fast by any measure.

Makari's breathing continued to become rapid as his limbs went rigid. He suddenly shot up into a sitting position. His pupils were constricted and he looked around frantically before vomiting.

Casimir didn't look at Darast at first, assuming the man was just going to remind him about not arguing with Nadina or something annoying like that. However, he was surprised by what he actually did end up saying. He glanced at the paladin. "I don't know... it's been a long time, I think." He rubbed his eyes as he pondered this. "I just can't sleep anymore. I hope I didn't keep you up or anything."

"All right," Elyse said, glad that Nadina was responsive. She went to join Raphael, noting voices coming from Darast and Casimir's room. "I think everyone's up."

Chazz had been keeping a close eye on Makari, and became alarmed when his friend suddenly became rigid and frantic. "Makari, what's-" Chazz quickly stopped when Makari vomited. "Makari!!" He moved to his friend's side and put a hand on his shoulder. "J-just lay down... this wasn't supposed to... this isn't supposed to..." Chazz shook his head as he felt panic rising within him. He gripped more tightly. "No... no no no... no! I... I don't want you to suffer! Why can't it stop... I... I want it all to stop... please..."

"Ah, th-that's good," Raphael replied, also hearing the voices. "It.. it seems... seems that the weather is q-q-quite favourable as well t-today." He began to blink uncontrollably. "Hopefully... things will g-go... better than y-y-yesterday." He recalled the arguing and hoped that everyone was in better spirits.

"Naw, not at all. I was just wonderin'. If there's anythin' I can do to help, just lemme know, okay?" Darast replied. If this had been going on for that long, the lack of sleep was probably a big part of why Casimir was always so quick to go off on people lately. "Anyways, we should probably get goin'."

He finished packing up his stuff and headed out into the hall with Raphael and Elyse. He noticed Nadina hadn't made it out there yet, and in fact they had to wait around for a while before she emerged from her room.

When she did finally show up, she seemed to be angrily fighting with some of her hair. She stopped and looked at the group, scowled, then went back to her hair. "I cannot believe I am going out into public looking like this," she muttered.

Makari heard Chazz's panicked voice and turned to face his friend with a helpless stare. He couldn't properly process what was going on or what Chazz was saying, but he could feel pain and it scared him. His stomach lurched and he moved to vomit again. Dark red splattered on the ground in front of him, a fact that registered even in his hazy brain. Panic showed on his face as he vomited more blood.

Elyse nodded at Raphael. "I hope so too..." The fighting really dragged the group down.

Casimir managed a smile. "Okay... thanks," he said. It made him feel a bit better to hear that. Darast then said they should go, so Casimir nodded. He was looking forward to finally being out of harm's way.

They had to wait for Nadina and when she finally showed up she was still fiddling with her hair. Casimir rolled his eyes, but refrained from commenting.

"You look fine," Elyse assured her. "All right, is everyone ready?"

Speechless, Chazz just stared for a moment at the increasing amount of blood that was coming out of Makari. Something had gone horribly wrong and he couldn't take it anymore. Makari was suffering more than ever and it was caused solely by Chazz's actions. "I-I didn't mean to. I never wanted- no, I didn't want to- " he said, his voice becoming panicked and frantic. "No, goddammit!! No!!" He held his head in his hands as his breathing became rapid and tears welled up in his eyes. His whole body shook. "I'm, I'm..." There was desperation in his voice. "I'm so sorry!!!"

Chazz practically shoved Makari onto his back. Sobbing by now, he frantically grabbed his friend's cape. He leaned over Makari and pressed the bunched up cloth onto his face as hard as he could. His tears fell on Makari's shirt. "Makari, I'm sorry..." he whispered through sobs.

Raphael smiled at Darast and Casimir when they arrived and then at Nadina when she finally emerged. "Y-yes, I am prepared." He tried to give Nadina an encouraging look to go along with Elyse's reassurance.

The group set out and headed for the forest. After a little travelling, they entered, finding that the trees were quite dense. Making sure not to lose their bearings, they avoided the various bogs and other obstacles. While they were walking through a clearer area, Raphael suddenly stopped.

"What's this...?" He had seen something shine on the ground slightly off their path. Raphael went and picked it up. "This is a... a... a rapier? Wait... isn't this..." He turned to face the others so they could see.

Nadina stopped and blinked at Elyse and Raphael, then went back to her hair. The group soon set out, and after a while of travelling she gave up on it. After some time they came to the forest and Nadina was glad that they didn't make her trek through all the nasty bogs that were in it.

Darast walked along quietly, wondering if they would actually run into Chazz and Makari by going this way. However, while they were going through the forest Raphael found something that seemed to suggest they were going the right way.

"Looks like Chazz's to me," he said. "Guess they musta come this way, though I dunno why Chazz would leave that behind."

Chazz's distress caused Makari to become more troubled. He trembled as he spat another mouthful of blood onto the ground. Chazz pushed him down then and Makari was shocked to find himself on his back. "Hn--!" The next thing he knew, Chazz was holding his cape over his face. It was becoming difficult to breathe and Makari automatically struggled against it. Spasms suddenly racked his body and he convulsed as he fought for air.

Casimir's heart sank at the sight of the rapier. Darast seemed to think it meant he'd just left it behind, but Casimir's first assumption was that the rogues had gotten him and Makari.

Elyse looked at the rapier for a moment before glancing around. There was only one clear path from where it had been dropped. "They must have gone this way," she said. "Let's go."

The group travelled a bit further. Elyse was stunned by what she saw. "Chazz!!" she called, immediately darting over to him. "What are you doing to him!?" She grabbed his shoulders and attempted to pull him away from Makari.

Casimir was horrified. There wasn't even a chance to be relieved that the two had managed to evade the rogues. It looked like Makari was having some kind of a spell and Chazz was trying to suffocate him while sobbing. Casimir felt severely ill at ease witnessing such a thing. Rooted to the spot, he wrapped his arms around himself and tried to avert his wide eyed gaze.

Chazz only became more upset when Makari started to convulse. "I'm s-s-s-sorry... I-I-I'm so sorry..." His voice shook more as he started sobbing harder.

The sudden call of his name startled him, and he barely had time to look over his shoulder before being restrained. Chazz's eyes went wide and wild as he felt himself being pulled away from Makari. "No, no!!!" he screamed. Chazz fought to free himself, but his attempts were weak. "Makari!!! I have to, I need to!! Please!!! Let me!!!" Chazz's voice started to go hoarse from his desperate screams. "Please!!" His face stained with tears, he looked back at his captor and realized for the first time who it was.

Raphael gasped and froze on the spot when they arrived at the grisly scene. He had never seen anything like it before and his jaw slowly dropped as Chazz's screams went through him. After Chazz had been removed from Makari, Raphael realized that he had a job to do. He dashed to the man lying on the ground and knelt next to him. Makari was obviously in very critical condition and Raphael knew that just stabilizing him would take a lot, so he immediately cast his strongest magic.

Chazz noticed what Raphael was doing. "Let him die!!!" he screamed again.

After finding the rapier, the group moved on through the forest. As they went along the path, Darast thought he heard some kind of noise further ahead. He then heard Elyse call Chazz's name, and he rushed forward to see what was going on. His eyes grew wide as he saw Elyse was hauling Chazz off Makari, who looked like he was going through something horrible.

Raphael went into action trying to heal whatever was wrong with Makari, and, even though he didn't like the guy, he figured he should help with what magic he was granted from Bahamut. He went over and knelt next to Makari on the opposite side from Raphael and placed his hands on the man. His healing wouldn't be as strong as Raphael's, but every little bit would help.

A million questions went through his head during that time, but Chazz didn't seem to be in any kind of condition to give a proper answer, so Darast figured he'd wait until the situation had been settled.

Meanwhile, Nadina hung back and watched the scene with disinterest. This group sure did have a way of wasting time, she thought. Why did they have to stop and help this guy who was quite obviously going to die? Why couldn't her mother have sent her with the mansion's guards instead?

She sighed, then decided to wander around a bit while they went about their thing. Maybe she'd find a way out of this stupid forest and her father's house would be nearby.

It was obvious that Makari wasn't well at all, but Raphael and Darast were dealing with him. Elyse turned her full attention to Chazz. The man was obviously in a bad state and Elyse felt awful for him. It must have been difficult to watch his friend go through that. Regardless, they needed to deal with this situation and Chazz freaking out wasn't helping anything. Elyse gave him a hard shake. "Chazz, calm down... look at me. We're going to get you guys out of here and we're going to get Makari to a doctor, okay? Just tell me what happened to him. And what about you? Will you be able to walk?"

Makari's body stopped spasming as the healing spells took effect. His breathing slowly steadied. With his eyes rolling back into his head as he fought to stay conscious, he looked around. The figures looming over him were blurry and it wasn't long before Makari passed out. His condition was stable, but his body was still incredibly weak.

There was nothing Casimir could do but fearfully watch the scene in front of him. He felt a small amount of relief as the others started to deal with it, but it was obvious that things were still bad. He swallowed hard; everything just kept going wrong.

Chazz stopped yelling and looked at Elyse when she told him to. He blinked at her, his breathing still rapid. "I... I-I..." He swallowed, trying to pull himself together enough to answer the questions, but it wasn't working too well and he was still crying. "I... gave him the mushrooms so... s-so he would die. But... but..." Chazz wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Elyse had talked about getting them out of there, but he didn't see why it mattered. Makari was too far gone and there really wasn't anything for Chazz to live for. All he did was ruin the life of anyone who came into contact with him and nothing ever got better. "Makari's going to die! D-don't make him suffer even more... and... just give me my rapier a-and leave me here..."

Raphael saw Makari go limp, but he could still sense life in him. "He is o-o-only unconscious, but... he... h-he needs m-more treatment. This... is w-w-worse than th-the... the injuries I am ac... a-accustomed to," he said, then looked up from Makari and at Darast. "Can you c-c-carry him? He needs a d-doctor..."

Darast was concerned when Makari stopped moving, however Raphael thought he was still alive. When the elf asked him if he could carry him, he sat back and looked at Makari. He didn't particularly want to, but there was no one else in the group who could. He knew Bahamut would want him to as well, and as much as he disliked the guy he couldn't just leave him like that.

He carefully got Makari into a sitting position, then got him onto his back so he could piggyback him. He stood up and stumbled a bit, but with the guy unconscious he couldn't think of any other way.

"Okay, which way we goin'?" Darast asked.

Nadina wandered around in the forest, lost in her thoughts. Suddenly, she heard a noise which startled her, but realized it was just Yuki. She then looked around and found she didn't know which way the rest of the group was.

"Ah... Where am I...?" she whispered.

Elyse frowned when Chazz mentioned giving Makari mushrooms 'so he would die'. Surely there was more to that story, but Chazz obviously was in no state to tell it right now. "No, Chazz," she said firmly. She stood and started to pull the man to his feet. "We're not going to leave you here and Makari isn't going to die if we get him to a doctor. You can't just give up like that." She wasn't sure how to get through to the man. "Makari wouldn't want that, would he?" She then glanced at Darast. "We should probably go back the way we came. I think it will be easier to try to go around the forest." She looked ahead. "The path doesn't look straightforward at all from here."

Casimir hesitantly took a step closer to the group, his eyes wide. He wasn't sure what was wrong with Chazz or Makari, but he could tell that it was bad. He looked at Chazz, who was obviously very upset, but wasn't sure what to say.

Chazz weakly stood up when Elyse pulled him up. He stared down at the ground, leaning against her for support. It seemed they weren't going to leave him alone. "No... I... I... there's no... point. I don't want to..." He trailed off. Chazz didn't know why they had to force him to keep going like this, since he didn't want to at all. He didn't notice Casimir looking at him.

"I th-think that is b-b-best, Elyse," Raphael said, his ears twitching. He turned to face that way and looked around. "Oh... where d-did... did Nadina go? She was j-j-j-just here..."

"All right, sounds good to me," Darast agreed. He turned back the way they had come and started walking, then stopped when Raphael mentioned Nadina. He looked around, but didn't see her. "Did she try to go on ahead or somethin'...?"

Nadina looked around in all directions, but didn't recognize anything. She kicked herself for not paying more attention. She started to panic; what if they left without her? They were obviously more concerned with those two dirty men they'd found than with her. Her heart started pounding furiously.

She found a rock nearby and sat down. All she could think about was being stuck in the forest forever. She didn't notice Yuki leave and retrace their steps back to the group. The wolf trotted over to Elyse and pawed at her.

"Chazz..." Elyse looked concerned. "It's going to be all right..." Just then, she felt something scratching at her leg. She glanced down to see Nadina's wolf. It was at that point that she realized the girl was missing; she'd been so distracted by Chazz that she hadn't noticed before. "Oh no..." She glanced at Raphael, as Darast was already occupied with Makari. "We should probably follow him." She didn't think it was a good idea to go alone in case Nadina had been attacked or something.

Chazz was leaning against her, so she shifted her gaze to Casimir. "Cas, can you help him for now?"

"Okay..." Casimir nodded tentatively and took Elyse's place next to Chazz. He glanced at the man's face and felt uneasy; he'd never seen Chazz like this before.

Raphael nodded at Elyse, a bit concerned. He certainly hoped nothing had happened to the girl. "Yes, I... I believe that would b-b-b-be best." He waited for Elyse to pass Chazz on to Casimir and then joined her. He looked down at the wolf, who then led them out into the woods. After a bit of walking, Nadina came into view. "Nadina? A-are... are... are you okay?" He suddenly began to scratch the back of his hand.

Chazz silently leaned against Casimir. He glanced at the boy briefly before returning his gaze to the ground. "Casimir... I'm sorry... for everything," he said, almost too quietly for the boy to hear. "Everything I did to you... I'm sorry..."

Darast hoped Nadina hadn't gone too far and was okay; if something had happened to her while she was under his protection he would never forgive himself. He shifted Makari a bit and hoped they'd come back with her soon.

Nadina started when she heard a voice. At first she was afraid some evil man had come for her, but then she realized it was just Raphael. She stood up and tried to regain her composure, not wanting them to see the state she was just in.

"Y-yes, I am fine. Let us be off, I am ready to be done with this forest," she said, her voice wavering a bit.

Elyse was relieved to see that Nadina was all right. She nodded. "Yes, we're leaving the forest now and going around it instead," she explained reassuringly. "We should find somewhere to stay soon." They headed off to rejoin the others.

Casimir heard Chazz say his name and listened closely, as the man was speaking very softly. He was shocked to hear the man apologizing to him. Chazz sounded so sincere that even Casimir couldn't question it. "Chazz..." He looked at the man, biting his lip. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. It was hard to figure out what to say; he didn't know if he could honestly say that he forgave Chazz, but at the same time he was nowhere near as angry as he should have been. More than anything, he was just glad to hear that apology. "Thank you," he whispered. That was all he could really say at this point. Chazz's condition was still making him nervous. "Are... you going to be okay?"

Chazz looked at Casimir again. It sounded like he actually accepted the apology, which was surprising. After everything he had done to the boy, Chazz thought he didn't deserve his kindness and concern. "I don't know..." he replied, his voice still soft. "Does it matter?"

Raphael nodded. "Yes, we d-d-do not need to st... stay any longer," he agreed. The three went back to where they had left the rest of the group. "All r-right, shall we go?"