PMOCT R2 Allagi Part 1

It had been a long night – she figured it was night, at least, from how the overhead artificial lights dimmed throughout the entire city – that Bellatrix spent in the gardens.  Long and sleepless, to be frank; the odd crackling noises she had heard from Laelaps before had escalated into outright pops and snaps, the large dog whimpering in pain each time one sounded.  It took her a while to notice what had happened along with those noises:  it wasn't until she had stood and walked to a stream to get a drink of water that she noticed that the hound had actually grown so that his shoulder came almost to hers.  She had been shocked and horrified by the change; both of the lads seemed to pick up on that emotion, whining at her until she shook her head and coped with the surprise.  Besides that, Labrys' cryptic words to seek out the light of truth had been haunting her; she honestly didn't know where she could go to do so.  At least by the time she sat down to get some badly-needed rest the now much-larger wolfhound seemed to have stopped growing.

Bellatrix flinched awake when someone shook her shoulder, reflexively pushing back against Laelaps as she flailed out with a sloppy punch.  It was batted aside, leading her to kick out half to ward away whomever it might be and half to keep her balance as Laelaps got up and moved away, leaving her to fall backwards.  She recovered and got to her feet, though she found herself quickly immobilized when her arms were locked behind her before she could continue her still-slightly-sleepy defense.  A few futile tugs made her realize just how outclassed she was; while the grip on her arms was tight and kept her from moving, it didn't use an ounce more force than was necessary.  Once the archer had come to that conclusion, she stopped struggling, instead relaxing her arms and torso as much as possible while in that position.

"What do you want?" Bellatrix asked, her voice sharper than perhaps was wise in such a situation.  She couldn't be bothered to watch her tone when she was tired, hungry, irritated, and slightly ill.

"What side are you on?"  Whatever she had expected, that question wasn't it.

"... what?" she asked, blinking.

"You escaped from Hades' prison, did you not?"

"Er, yes – why?"  Bellatrix was now more curious than angry, despite how irritated she had been at first.  She twisted her head so she could look over her shoulder, her vision half-obscured by loose, wavy wisps of chestnut-colored hair.  Despite that, she could see that the man who had so easily locked her arms behind her back was not that creeper – Furor, he had said his name was – but instead an older man, an eye patch covering the eye she had expected to meet.

"Nymphs are tracking the escapees," he said.  Bellatrix suddenly found her arms released and stumbled forward, shaking out her arms once she regained her footing.  Frowning at the two dogs who had simply been sitting and watching the exchange, the young woman turned to face the man who had woken her up only a moment before.  "You need to get out of here if you don't want to be captured.  I'm only a little way ahead of them."  He held her gaze with the one dark brown eye that wasn't covered, showing no reaction to the bit of slight suspicion that she knew was painted on her face.  A small corner of Bellatrix's mind frowned both at how tattered his clothing looked and both old scars and shiny, pink skin where new wounds had only recently been healed that she could see where his tunic and cloak didn't entirely cover his skin.

"Why'd you help me?" she asked, reaching for her bow and Yarn Ball that laid on the floor near where Laelaps and Fox lazed about.  Her dark, grayish blue eyes glanced up to where the scarred man had turned and started to walk away from her.  "Wouldn't it have been easier for you to just leave me to them to give you time to deal with them instead?"  He didn't answer, leading her to scowl at him as she slung her compound bow over her shoulder; if he wanted to be a jerk and not answer her question, fine by her.  She'd just work on her own, never mind what he was thinking-

"You may return the favor at a later time," he said, interrupting her internal grumbling.  She looked up at him, surprised that he had actually answered her question, albeit later than most people would.  Bellatrix's mouth curved into a frown that was more thoughtful than upset as she turned to face him, staring at the back of his head.

"I guess," she agreed.  "In case I do find something that can help you, who should I ask for?"  Bellatrix was testing to see if he would trust her enough to give his name.

"L," he replied simply.  She wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but she didn't have time to make any sort of fuss as he followed up with, "And from whom should I expect such news?"

"Bellatrix," she replied after a brief bit of hesitation, knowing that she was taking a risk.  The young woman started into the deeper part of the forest, away from where she could barely hear movement.  She stopped, spinning on her heel and making her dogs stare at her as if she'd gone bonkers.  "I'll be going to the place where we're supposed to search for the light of truth," Bellatrix told L, her eyes sparkling with determination and challenge.  "Maybe we'll run into each other there."  She could almost swear that she saw the hint of a grin on the older man's face as she left to trek through the gardens on her own and hopefully well away from the nymphs.