Superbia (or maybe Hubris?) [Pride]

[aureliaofarista]

Luc gets to the all-porphyry gates ahead of his companions. He doesn't want to go back for them because his control would be chipped at more, and it's best not to break some civilian's bones or something.

So as he stands in the courtyard and waits for them to catch up, he'll look around the place with thorough professionalism, eventually

Comments

[lightsthenight]

"Looks like we're finally getting somewhere." Siri comments wryly, shifting back to human form with a little smirk.

Let's just pretend none of that ever happened, shall we?

[ai_id]

Ziggy will be happy to go with that. After he finishes leaning against one porphyry wall, retching and trying to pull himself together. Rather literally.

The transitions between levels, when he hazes out and switches to another form, have been getting progressively longer and more painful and disorienting. But this one took only a fraction of a second-no longer than his normal form-shifts. Never mind that the wrenching pain crammed into that half-second was greater than that of any of the other switches so far.

Instead of sparking and wavering around the edges, now he's just the barest bit transparent and no longer throws a shadow.

At least he's back to the form he's most familiar with. It's the little things that count even after six days of crazy.

[notof221b]

Holmes snorted in disgust at the structure, hideous and lacking in the prestige of the numerous palaces and castles back in England.

"No doubt it is were our puce 'friend' is hiding in." Holmes remarked almost haughtily as he took out the knife that Jeff gave him.

"Shall we start by heaping onto him some indignities of our own invention?" The young man asked as he took to the wooden door, and stabbed into it - long, deep strokes, forming two letters.

VR - Victoria Regina. A genuine grin appeared on the tall youth's face as he finished defacing the door.

[im2sexy4mysnark]

"This is what you call a prideful place?" Altalita scoffs a bit as she zips up the hazmat suit and enters the area. She readjusts her hair and makes a small, frustrated sound, "I suppose we'll have to find our way through this lovely hell as well." She says, with some annoyance.

Fun fact: Pride is one of Altalita's sins.

[aureliaofarista]

Quite Some Time Later, when Luc and Holmes finally emerge from that ass's classroom, they head up the stairs.

Luc's tired of the now-smelly suit constricting his movement so as they get up into the palace proper, he takes a few more minutes and, in fact, is now wearing only his weaponsbelts, sandals and bracer, bandages and underwear.

Could anyone possibly mind? Maimed or not, he still looks good, right?

So they make their way through the palace. Treasure. Yeah. Never seen that before. Okay, it is more than he's ever seen, but that doesn't impress him much.

And then some sort of dull-eyed maidservant shows up, cooing about 'Wow! You've come so far! I guess it's true what they say about Aristans.'

"It's almost always is," Luc says with his best charming smile. And since every good guard knows the best source of information, if you can't get your own siblings-in-arms, is the servants.... "So, care to tell me where the purple fellow is

[im2sexy4mysnark]

'You're so smart, so lovely, so perfect!' can be heard just down the way, "Will you shut up? I know that already. Get away from me." Altalita's voice quickly follows it.

Yeah. It's one of those days, it's turning out to be.

[vicarious_v]

The porphyry building gets a thorough investigation and quite possibly the surreptitious planting of a few objects against its overdone surface. Who knows? It also gets a diagnosis of too much Lovecraft. And a big V in a circle carved on it. Ha.

V paces between the doors and eventually simply picks one at random, as he is convinced they both lead inside anyway, and he is confident he can meet and defeat anything he encounters within.

One sewer trip later, he's a little less confident, but he'll cross whatever bridge he'll cross when he gets there, up to and including any marauding fellow Nexians.