[Kodai]

Kodai turned to face Kree and blinked. What an odd question... Of course she could see them; why wouldn't she be able to? Sure, it was unnaturally dark in this cathedral, but there was still some light to see by... unless... she wasn't supposed to be able to see them in the first place? "Yes... I can see them..." she replied tentatively, unsure of how the imp would react to such an answer. Carefully she sat down before the altar, looking up and following the blood trail down again with her eyes. Such pain... she could almost feel it, trapped and pulsating within the broken stone. "Do you know... what happened here?" Curiosity got the better of her again, and the question had escaped her before she could consider the consequences.

[BaalsBaby]

The imp stopped, listening to the human... "Is... not being seen by normal eyesss, lord..." he replied slowly, wondering who this female could be, once merely a victim of the Basantha incident... He shifted on his feet again as the human sank down to a sitting position, now he a bit taller than Kodai.

At her question, the monster averted his eyes and slowly shifted away... "Iss... not remembering... Not wanting... lord..."

[Kodai]

"Not by... normal eyes?" What made her eyes so special, then? Did it have something to do with falling into Nyssyldriel's personal hell and releasing Sa'ouna? ...Well, whatever the case, she could see the blood upon the altar... At his hesitant words, Kodai looked at Kree, the curiosity in her face giving way to ...concern? How strange... concern for her captor... "Are you... all right?" she asked slowly, trying to catch his eyes in order to read the expression within. "It is... a dark past, isn't it... I... I can feel it... from the blood..." She shifted over slightly, allowing the imp room to sit down himself if he so wished.

[BaalsBaby]

It surprised him how odd this situation was. His captive either feigned concern very well or she really did generally care, he'd never been in such a case as this. How could she feel for him after what he'd already done? Kree shifted and sat down, trying to avoid eye contact, curling his tail about his body somewhat defensively. "Is... only being seeing by once deadsss, lord..." he couldn't help but say, she was just too curious. "And yess... is dark dark..."

[Kodai]

"Once... once dead?" Kodai blinked at Kree, then returned her gaze to the altar. When had she ever been dead? Again her thoughts turned to her experience at Basantha with Nyssyldriel and Sa'ouna... This must have something to do with that. After all, Nyssyldriel himself had said that that place was only for lost souls... and that Sa'ouna had been killed years before... "I... suppose it makes sense," she said finally, again following the blood trail with her sight. She couldn't help it... it was as if it cried out to be noticed by someone, anyone, to hear its tale of what injustice had been wrought...

...please... hear me...

Tears began to roll down Kodai's cheeks, though she could not fully explain why...

[BaalsBaby]

"What isss matter, lord?" the creature said and caught himself, he didn't sound too imposing just then. Vaguely he was hoping the human wouldn't take this for some sort of weakness... but tears, somehow were ingrained with mixed feelings within himself. He too, afterall, had shed so many in the past, but learned to overcome it.

And why did it 'make sense' for her to see the blood?

The imp shook his head, trying to seem to not care, but his glowing eyes moved in her direction for the slightest moment...

[Kodai]

Feeling the light glance pass over her, Kodai turned her eyes to him, tears still making their silent way down her face. "I... I'm not sure... just... a great sadness... for this ancient pain..." There was really no other way to describe it... it was as if the tears trapped within the memory of the event that had created these stains were manifesting themselves in her own eyes.

Tears that needed so badly to be shed...

[BaalsBaby]

As soon as the imp's eyes were met, he sheepishly looked away, choosing quickly to stare at the stains from so long ago instead. They pooled and slunk down the stone like dark ink and he couldn't help but shiver a little at the words of the human. She was so oddly sensitive to this place... even if it weren't her own suffering, nor could she possibly understand all the evil that was held within this place's walls...

Something broke the silence. It was a faint scratching of the walls which the imp had passed off for wayward vermin, but now it grew in intensity. Kree's long ears perked up, the bell swinging but still making no noise at all. "Isss... something..." he hissed, getting up into a standing position, claws at the ready. He felt it within himself that this was no comrade... It was definitely hostile...

[Kodai]

Kodai too finally noticed the (to her ears) faint scratching noise, and her fear returned. "What could... possibly still linger here besides the deeds of the past?" she asked, though it was more a rhetorical question than anything else. Anxious, her eyes darted about the dark corners of the cathedral, trying to spy any source of movement, any sign that something was amiss... but she could see nothing, only hear the scratching that seemed to be steadily growing louder... closer... She tried to hush her breathing in order to hear better, but it still came in little quick gasps, and her heart hammered in her chest as before...

[BaalsBaby]

The nervousness of the human could be felt in the air, and the imp tried to concentrate on the sound echoing from the vast emptiness of the hallways to the sides of the nave. It grew to a thundering roar and soon from the space in front of them an ethereal form gathered... it was large and wavering, much like Kree but grew more solid by the second. The imp hissed low in his throat, watching as the thing materialized into the shape of a Hollowheart... though a sickly one, lacking the pride and purity of a true one. This one's skin was deadly pale and molding, dripping in places, and bone exposing through. It's eyes were sickly clouded and it swerved it's head in several directions, as if trying to see more than 'sense' the two intruders here...

"Kaaaai... Krrr...Raaaa..." it hissed, opening it's maw at the two. Suddenly it charged.

Now fully solid, it slammed itself full force into the altar, knocking aside the two standing before it in opposite directions. Kree slammed back first into a nearby wall, momentarily fazed... A cloud of ancient dust billowed about, but the dragon merely shook and snapped open it's maw, raising a winged claw and whipping it's bony tail, knocking aside several pews...

[Kodai]

Slamming into the wall opposite Kree's, Kodai was also rendered momentarily helpless as she fell back down to the floor. What... what... what was this thing?! A guardian spirit of the cathedral come to kill the two trespassers? A twisted ghoul that sought to wreak vengeance upon those still living? Not that it particularly mattered what it was... it was here and it was dangerous, and if something wasn't done there would be another tragedy to add to Lya Pointa's long list. But... how the heck was she supposed to fight off a Hollowheart? And an undead one at that? Slowly she rose, trying to glance about for anything that could serve as a defensive weapon... and then she saw Kree. He'd been blown away in that attack, too... would even he not be able to withstand this spirit's onslaught?

[BaalsBaby]

The beast gave a wrenching, guttural roar with no visible throat to produce it, staring down at it's next victim... the imp. With a decided vengeance, it swiped it's claws across horizontally, aiming to rake into the black thing's body.

Kree, just now pushing himself to a stand braced himself for the pain to come... He vaguely began to wonder where the human had gone, and whether he could really die again... Kree closed his eyes...

[Kodai]

The pain did not fall upon Kree, however....

"H-haaaa-aaaa..." A strained breath escaped Kodai as she stood before the imp, creating a barrier between him and the crazed beast. Somehow she had managed to position herself in front of him before the creature's claws could connect with him... and she herself had taken the hit instead... Heavily she leaned over Kree, supporting herself against the wall with outstretched arms. The scent of blood positively drenched the air now...

[BaalsBaby]

The lights of Kree's eyes brightened, widened in surprise and confusion. He was... protected? How could that...

Wasting no time, the servant of Xai're drew his powers into a fist, a snarl upon his face as he leapt from under the sacrificing human and up towards the dragon. The sheer force of the imp's fist colliding with the underside of it's jaw sent the Hollowheart stunned and flying backwards into the far wall. Kree landed gracefully upon his two feet, shaking his claw a bit from the impact, then risked a momentary glance back the human... He would get to her soon... But... This beast had to be out of the way first.

He turned back to the drooling monster with determination in his eyes. In the back of his mind, he was busy worrying but not for himself... It was not his mission to have the human killed, after all, she wouldn't be of much use if they could not use her to get Kai to submit... And yet... somehow... he was worrying about not only just the mission...

[Kodai]

So Kree could hold his own against the monster... that was good. Sighing, Kodai sank to the floor, her legs becoming too weak to support her own weight. A great gash in her lower back showed where the beast's claw had torn her flesh, nearly reaching the spine itself... It was not a pretty sight. Cautiously she turned in order to watch the battle between the demented Hollowheart spirit and the dark servant Kree. Hopefully the imp would be able to take out the dragon on his own... she wasn't sure if she would be able to perform such a maneuver again..