``insanity and tea [camellia]

[Kane Rafferty]

His eyes watched the parchment as his hand and feathered pen floated over it. The Parchment was empty and he sighed in exasperation as he thought of what should be written. His mind drew a blank on the letter he was supposed to be writing. It was supposed to be sent to one of the Crystal royals in reply to questions he had asked, but something had been nudging at the back of Kane's mind as if an unseen secret was trying to get his attention. Finally he put the pen down and stood from his seat to go and look out the window of his room. It took him a moment to peer out into the streets and the gardens of the Great Diamond Kingdom Castle. His mind and eye lingered on the people down below and the beauty of the stone. Kane was a man of beauty. He loved anything beautiful. Besides the Queen, everything he could see and far beyond all belonged to him from the frozen wasteland of the Diamond Kingdom, to the beautiful soil of the Crystal King- No… Providence.

A grin stretched on his lips. Who knew that he would be in a position higher and more important then his own teacher? Oh how that man deserved every humiliation he got and every humiliation he was going to get from now on. The man was brutal and merciless to him as a child. From what he could remember at least. Most of it was a big blur. But he was sure that it was just his mind blocking out the parts that were painful. Something that he was very thankful for. But his resentment toward his teacher was evident because of what he could remember about his quickly diminished childhood. “That’s what you get for underestimating me Lucifer. You get burned.”

And it happened too quickly for him to realize what was going on. He hadn’t noticed the effect that his slight sing-song voice had on his own mind. Especially when it wasn’t directed at a particular target. It was a moment later when he realized that the world around him began to change. It started with the wavering of the walls, as if he was underwater. When he recognized the shift his expression hardened and he stepped back from the window to keep himself from touching the intoxicating magic of the wavering walls. He watched as the next stage of his world came into effect. The walls began to shimmer an eerie blue. His favorite color, but the way his mind’s world portrayed it, he wouldn’t mind changing the color he most enjoyed.

“Why do you continue to lie to yourself Kane?” The voice sent a shiver sliding up the spine of the young advisor and he turned to face the owner of the voice. To be honest he would have to say that he wasn’t all that surprised to see the familiar face. Which just happened to be his own. But the man in front of him was very different at the same time. The hair of this twisted Kane was a snow white rather then the jet black of his own and the eyes were bluer then the bluest sky. His eyes made Kane want to stab him just to get him out of his sight. They were intense and unnerving and Kane often wondered if that was how other people felt looking into his own crimson red eyes. “You are not so different from him.”

The image of his opposite flashed and only for a moment was another very familiar face, almost as familiar as his own. It was both calm and cruel at the same time. It was meant to scare him, because that was how the magic worked, and even Kane had his limits, but Palkia had mentioned that the insanity would come on slowly. This was only the beginning of the process. He had not used the magic enough to be completely overtaken by it. Not even a little bit. And the grin that formed on the face of the original Kane was cold and unwelcoming. “Get Out.”

The other Kane furrowed his eyebrows in question. “What?” He said, seeming hurt by the comment. Kane didn’t waste any time making pleasantries with his other half. “Get Out, Now!” And with narrow eyes the other Kane vanished along with his own world. When Kane woke he was lying on the floor as if he had fainted. He hadn’t been in the other world long enough to faint had he? When he found his strength again he pushed himself up from the floor beneath him and brushed himself off a little bit. Then he made his way back over to his desk and sat in his chair.

Only briefly did he glance at a drawer at the bottom of his desk. It held the pendant that he had found in that strange box. He still had no idea the importance of the pendant, nor what it’s powers were, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it was made especially for him and perhaps even his predicament. But he still had no idea how it worked. Nor had he shown it to anyone, even Camellia knew nothing about it.

He sighed softly as he looked up and around his room. It was then that he saw the blue letters on his special intricate tapestry. The sight of it shocked Kane so much that he pushed himself back and he and the chair both fell to the ground together. He gasped in pain and wondered what had just happened. Readying himself for something that could have possibly been a vision or image of his mind, he stood back up and trained his eyes right back onto the fabric on the wall. The word “INSANITY” was written on the wall in big capital blue letters. It was as if he had written them himself with his finger and he did recognize his favorite blue ink. For once in his life he could feel his eyes widen in a sort of fear. A fear from himself rather then from someone else. Quickly he stood and tore the tapestry down with two hands. He was not going to have that in his study anymore. It would only make him remember, even if the words were washed off. He would have it burned and he would find something else to cover the memory and the empty space up.

He could feel his heart pounding and his calm, cool personality begin to slip and knew that he needed something to take his mind off everything. “Tea…” He said to himself. “Perhaps the lady would like some company…” He took one last deep breath and threw the tapestry to the side. He would deal with it later. Then he stepped out of his room and warned the closest guards to watch his door and for no one to go into it on penalty of the lowest level of prison or death. Then he made his way to the kitchen, had some tea and cakes prepared and brought them himself to the study of his Queen on a silver trolley. When he got to her door he knocked and stated his name. “My lady, it’s Kane.”

Character: Kane Rafferty | Tag: Queen Camellia

[Queen Camellia]

Camellia sat in her study, reading a history of the Crystal kingdom. This one had been written by a native of the country, and thus had a different perspective than that of other versions of the story she had access to in the Royal Library. It was important that she know her new subject's mind, and sense of self, not just their story. And what better way to learn how they viewed the world than read how they viewed themselves?

Clovis sat in the other room, his eyes closed, his mind open. meditating on his life, and nature in general; focusing his inner calm into a blade to fight his foes with. Later that day he would train, preparing for the upcoming tournament, but for now he simply stilled his mind. His tongue got ahead of him far too often, although Camellia was too proud to deign his comments with a response.

There was a knock at the door, and Kane's voice called from without. Cam turned towards Clovis, though she couldn't see him through the wall. It's really him. Setting the book aside, Camellia put on her mask of kindness; she wouldn't let it drop just because she suspected that Kane suspected, in fact she would be overly cautious about letting it slip because of that. After a moment, Camellia went to the door, wondering if she should have a servant posted at the door to let people in for her; she was the queen of half the continent, after all.

But she decided that was not right for her kind persona, and opened the door, seeing her Royal Adviser standing before her, his own face as much a mask as hers, though infinitely more obvious, his thoughts hidden behind cold blue eyes. Camellia trusted Clovis to read the man's thoughts, and warn her of any trouble, but she doubted that she would receive any from him; she was too valuable to his own well being.

"Kane, It's good to see you. I was unaware of any meetings at this time; is this a social call or do you have something important you wish to discuss?" Camellia motioned for the man to join her in the study.


OOC: Kane's head right now

[Kane Rafferty]

As the queen opened the door for him his eyes shifted to her own. He could feel his whole being scream “fake,” but what did it matter right now. As he waited for Cam to react to his knock he couldn’t help but think of the experience he had just drifted out of. It was beginning to cause more and more unsettling thoughts into his mind. But he forced himself to clear it. It would not be good for the queen to find out. If she was truly as good as he thought she was then any hints and thoughts that her pokemon could read would not be so good for him. He was a professional. He was trained that way. That was the whole reason behind being trained by Lucifer. Control your emotions Kane… But now that he was looking into the eyes of his queen, everything seemed to slid away, like always, as if there was never any problem. As if… only his role as an advisor made sense. Everything about his job came back to him and he couldn’t help but push all insecurity that was left in his mind away.

When she spoke his eyes averted to the tea on the silver trolley in front of him. ”Social, if you like…” His voice was calm and curt. There wasn’t very much of his usual charm despite his chill mask. He knew very well that he didn’t come and visit her just because he wanted to. This was very much a first. "I was bored with responding to whining Royalty. I thought tea would brighten my muse and decided that having tea by myself was a very boring experience. I came to see if you would like some as well. Especially with the tournament coming up. Figured you would like something to calm your mind.” He shrugged as if it had been a last minute thought.

When she offered his passage into the room he pushed the trolley into it and moved toward a table in the side in the corner. He began to put the china on the table with a thoughtful expression on his face. He felt calm for the moment. There was nothing pushing him over the edge. He was careful to keep his voice his usual collective tone without any emotion or song. No matter how much Camellia knew about his Palkia given power, he didn’t want it to be active around her. Besides, he didn’t know if it would work with Clovis protecting her mind the way he was. It didn’t matter. Kane didn’t want to take her out. He wasn’t the kingly type. That wasn’t what he wanted. He didn’t care about being at the top of the world in that sense. He wanted… He wasn’t really sure. It wasn’t entirely clear why he needed to be at the top. Being by Camellia’s side made him want more. But what that “more” was he didn’t know.

Insanity

Something flashed in the corner of his eye. He shifted his eyes to look, but nothing was there. He felt his heart beat pick up again. As he went back to putting tea into the teacups, he glanced at his hands. It was barely visible, but he could see them shaking. Stop it. Keep a hold of yourself.

Assuming Camellia sat in one of the chairs at the table, he placed one of the cups in front of her, then put the little cakes in the middle of the small rounded table and pored himself some tea before sitting down himself. He quickly took a sip from his tea to calm his nerves. ”Forgive me for intruding like this m’lady.” He said putting his cup back on the table, it’s steam filling the air above it.

Character: Kane Rafferty | Tag: Queen Camellia

[Queen Camellia]

This was certainly unexpected. Kane didn't make social visits. What was his angle? Camellia returned to her seat, waiting while he pulled the tea trolly himself and set the table. She watched the man, pretending to be mildly interested, while in fact being very astute, trying to see any signs of what Kane planned. His hands were somewhat unsteady, like he was worried, but she couldn't make anything specific out.
Clovis, what's going on in that head of his? Why is he here, now, and what is making him so nervous?
He's purposefully not thinking about it. He knows I'm here, Cam. I thought you hired him because you knew he wasn't an idiot.
Nonetheless, Clovis continued to monitor the man's thoughts, seeking clues. While this happened, Camellia continued the conversation.
"Well then, tea would be lovely. I welcome the chance to talk about something other than the tournament. I had thought getting the other countries to agree to it would require more...diplomacy than it did. Turns out it was all the little things after that which keeps one from their bed." Camellia had been about to continue, when Clovis made the psychic equivalent of a shriek.

iN̥͎͡S̰a͕N̩̤͍̬͚̙̭i҉̹͔̱͚̬̺T̼̪̯Y͚͔͉̜̫͙̞
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̦̘̣͍̯̥͜PS̙͍̹͞Y͕̗̤C̭̭Ho̟̦͍̤P̴̠̺̝̰͉a̩͙̦̬̫̦Ț̦̰̺̼͔H͍̠̭̬͠Y̴̦̹
̳̱̤̯̜A͔̫̩͍͠ ͝c̩à͎̖̮͈͕r̷̼e̝̣̤͢f҉̲͇̪̞̭̣r̝͇͈͇̜̰͓e͍̖̦e̵͓͍ ͈l͈͙͕̙̹̭i̵̳f͕̖͖̥̤ͅe̳͈͖͚̟̠

Camellia felt the snap in his mind, lasting no longer than the blink of an eye, a full Psychic broadcast of whatever he'd heard that had disturbed him. Luckily it wasn't forced into the mind; anyone of sufficient willpower, such as Camellia, would be fine. The guards outside would probably hear it, but it wasn't 'loud' enough to have much effect outside the room. Camellia's defenses were up instantly, and when it was over, her eyes scanned everything in the room.

Clovis's near-constant connection was gone, but she suspected he was still nursing his mental wounds. Kane, however, seamed to have missed it. Likely, whatever it was in his mind that had hurt Clovis like that was being contained by Kane's own subconscious, or perhaps the other way around. Either way, the man gave away no sign he had even heard Clovis' scream. Setting the table, he poured Camellia and himself a cup of tea.

"It's fine, I don't mind the distraction at all." Cam glanced towards Clovis, though she couldn't see into the other room. There was nothing but silence, though she doubted that had killed him; the broadcast had been too weak. And she was right. In the other room, Clovis sat, cradling his throbbing head with his bladed arms. He knew Cam would be furious that he'd been taken so simply; but that was the pure thing of it; this had been something with a will of it's own, a sort of un-mortal thought that simply bypassed all his defenses. Had he not switched to broadcast mode, it would have eaten his mind in moments. Whatever was in Kane's head, it didn't like intruders, and wasn't from this world. Possibly not from the next, either.

After a few more seconds, Clovis tested his ESP, and could feel a piercing knife of mental energy aimed at him through the wall; even without his connection to power her magic, her mind alone was sharp enough to leave a trail. Psychically reaching out, he connected to the dagger, re-establishing the link.
...I...I'm unsure...what that...was, but it...wasn't any...thing I've felt...before. Let's...not do that again...
Camellia's only response was to relax the dagger-pointed thought, her dismissal of him acknowledgement that she expected nothing of him until he recovered. Rather than wait, however, Clovis maintained the link, so that he could be ready if Cam needed him.

[Kane Rafferty]

"Well then, tea would be lovely. I welcome the chance to talk about something other than the tournament. I had thought getting the other countries to agree to it would require more...diplomacy than it did. Turns out it was all the little things after that which keeps one from their bed."

Kane nodded at her mention of the easy request to have a land wide tournament. That would also mean that Camellia herself was fighting within it. Allowing himself to relax his shaking fingers and beating heart. "Of course, there is so much tension going on between the kingdoms that something like this would relieve the patriarchs I would believe." He said right before the woman turned a furious glare at the walls around them as if something had caught her attention. For a moment he didn't say or do anything, wondering if he had said something to upset her, but decided that he hadn't. His eyes followed hers for just a moment and his own watched the wall in wonder. Well, clovis wasn't to be seen. His automatic thought was that that was what had bothered her. However, he couldn't be entirely sure. He sat taking a sip of his tea as he waited for her to respond to his other comment he had mentioned.

"It's fine, I don't mind the distraction at all." And then she again looked in the direction of the wall, even after recovering slightly. Something was wrong. And suddenly he could feel very self conscious about it. What if it was this other Kane? What if they had found out about that or something had gone wrong? Was Clovis sneaking into his thoughts? Dammit… He shouldn't have come here. Too risky. But he was here now, so might as well continue. 

"Is something wrong m'lady?" He questioned carefully.

Character: Kane Rafferty | Tag: Queen Camellia

[Queen Camellia]

Camellia considered the situation as Kane questioned her, obviously noting her reaction to Clovis' outburst. Should she play it off? No, he was smart enough to notice. Attack? No, Clovis was too weak and she didn't know enough yet. So confront? hmm...perhaps on the cautious side.

Carefully Camellia lowered her outer illusion; that of the emotional girl, and fell back to that of the strong warrior. This was the fake personality that Camellia hinted at when dealing with soldiers, because they would respect her decisions more for it, and also with Odile, who required such sternness to be controlled. From Kane's perspective, it would likely look like her face hardening, her expression not angry so much as sharp, and much more attentive than it's usual appearance of unawareness.

"Clovis was attacked by something..." Camellia paused, waiting to see if Clovis would provide more information now that he was recovering. ...Kane...Two of him... Beware the second one... Clovis attempted to tell Cam more, but he was still too tired, to stunned from the earlier twinging within his mind. "...he's not sure what exactly, but whatever it was got him good. He's fine now, but that still doesn't explain who's attacking my pokemon and why."

OOC: Cam's avatar is what she looks like most of the time. Her hover image is this "second illusion" she's wearing now. Kane may or may not have seen it before.

[Kane Rafferty]

For a moment, the Queen seemed to debate. It wasn't a long debate with herself, but Kane was pretty sure it was about him. He watched her face as she thought it over. There was never anything there to give her thoughts away. That was why he suspected her so much. Because of the lack of any mistakes. The lack of human mistakes. Her reactions always seemed perfectly planned out and perfectly planned. But he said nothing, instead taking the moment to run his eyes over her expression and then her room. When she turned back to him she chose to go with her serious, more warrior personality. Kane respected that. It told him that she was taking the whole thing seriously. She wasn't hiding anything from him and she wasn't playing him stupid. He knew she suspected something from him. He wasn't sure how to tell her or how to explain it to her, but he knew he wouldn't be able to hide it for long especially after being given respect himself. Of course she was being careful and he understood that. She needed to be careful for her sake and because if Kane suddenly tried to commit treason.

"Clovis was attacked by something…" Kane's expression didn't change, continuing to be hard and cold as always. All emotion was kept from his eyes as he listened to her calm, but careful voice. His eyes made perfect contact with hers, as he wasn't afraid of her. No… It wasn't her he was afraid of. "...he's not sure what exactly, but whatever it was got him good. He's fine now, but that still doesn't explain who's attacking my pokemon and why." At this point he suddenly felt fingers sliding through the back of his own hair and he almost reacted very badly until he heard a familiar cold laugh sound beside him. He didn't look didn't react in any sudden way, but in that moment his eyes broke their contact with his Queen and averted down to look at his tea.

"So sneaky and snoopy your queen. And yet. So vulnerable." Then he laughed again. Kane closed his eyes, trying to ignore the racing of his own heart and the roaring in his ears. For a long moment he didn't say anything. He wasn't sure how to respond. Finally he opened his eyes and looked back up at his queen. She deserved the truth. Whether that meant loosing his job or not, didn't matter. All that really did matter was Queen Camellia's safety. Palkia had warned him about it from the beginning. Maybe he could talk to the god later. Maybe it wouldn't help at all. "Assuming your Pokemon went picking in my thoughts he was probably attack and so he should be. But no matter. It was something, but I'm not exactly sure what it is. When I saw Palkia and when he gave me the ability to see peoples fear--" He stopped in his tracks as he saw a white haired Kane step out from behind him and walk up to Camellia. His eyes followed the abomination as he began to slip his fingers through Camellia's hair playfully, his lips stretched into a crazy smile and then he giggled lightly. An empty feeling clutched at his heart and he looked away sharply to stare at the ground. "The damn deity told me there would be a consequence." Of course Cam wouldn't know that the insane Kane would be standing behind her or even touching her. It probably wasn't even happening. It was all an image of his imagination.

"He told me I would slowly loose… myself the more I used the power. The problem is. I don't know what that means. So… Whatever attacked Clovis…" "He's brilliant? Intelligent? Handsome? All powerful?" "Could not be… a figment of my imagination… No… I'm not crazy…" He closed his eyes again. No, he wasn't crazy. He had complete control over the situation. No… He couldn't be. Never.

"Oh Kane, whatever you say. She is beautiful you know. Such a lovely creature. I can see why you love her." His eyes flicked in the other man's direction, whom was now leaning beside the queen like a cheshire cat. His eyes narrowed and the man shot him a knowing grin. "You know she could never love you back don't you?" Kane looked away. How dare he. Kane didn't love the Queen. He respected her. But he could never love her. Lucifer made sure of that. "I'm sorry m'lady… I didn't mean to come here. I came because I needed some comfort… But thats unprofessional. I shouldn't bring my emotions to work." he pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. Feeling quite dazed as the other Kane straightened and nodded. "Thats right Kane, you don't deserve her attention."

Character: Kane Rafferty | Tag: Queen Camellia

[Queen Camellia]

Camellia listened carefully as Kane spoke, not interrupting him as she studied his face. As usual it was as blank as a board. The perfect opposite to her own expressions, which denied the absence of emotions. He spoke of Clovis deserving getting attacked for digging in his head. She understood his meaning, but disagreed. She would be a fool not to, and he was well aware of it; common courtesy was for the weak or simple. Camellia was neither.

After that Kane's sentences began to break down...he was clearly not as stable as he appeared at a glance. But he did acknowledge that the attack had come from within him. Cam felt a mental blade forming behind her, the strike almost instinctive, before she halted it. Kane was too useful to simply kill. He was worth a certain amount of liability. But she wasn't about to simply wait until it came to bite her in the backside.

"Kane. What exactly do you mean you'll slowly lose yourself?" Then he made to leave, apologizing for...comfort? Kane? Kane wanting comfort? From her? What the Giratina? Since when did Kane do things for human reasons? And when had she ever provided him with pleasant company? Just when she thought she had him figured out, thought she had found every hole in his armor, he goes and draws a target over his heart. But she wasn't about to let him get away that easily.

"Hold on, Kane. It's fine. You're feeling unwell, you needed to get away from the more stressful side of things. That's why I was here to begin with, remember? I'm tougher than the public thinks, as you well know. I can handle myself. Now are you aware of anything that can be done to slow this...loss, or shall we relax and ignore the previous...slip."

Cam wasn't even sure what to say, what to avoid mentioning that might trigger him to snap. He was no good to her fully crazy, and she wasn't about to let him go off and stew; that wouldn't end well, but she didn't know how to talk him back to his usual sane-acting self. This was new ground, and she was making it up as she went. Always dangerous territory, but she had learned a trick or two from her brother, who had always been better at on-the-fly planning.

[Kane Rafferty]

There was a brief moment where the white haired Kane stepped away from the queen with his hands up in surrender and a crazy smile plastered on his face. This was the very moment that Kane had stood up to leave the company of his Queen.

"Whoa she almost killed you Kane." The voice of his double was taunting in an almost "what-you-going-to-do-about-it" kind of way. Kane glanced his eyes in the direction of the other man in the room, but made no other reaction. Either the idiot was lying or he was telling the truth and he had some kind of mental connection to Camellia's mind in one form or another. Did he even need a mental connection? Or... How did this even work? It didn't matter, Cam of coarse had every right to dispose of him if he had become a threat to her. He wouldn't appreciate loosing his life but he would understand and wouldn't blame her if she did.If he was a danger to her, would there be any other choice?

When Cam spoke he could feel her words and her gentle voice flow through his system and he closed his eyes to listen. Even though it was quite obvious in his mind that her feelings were always fake. He didn't know why or what she had to do to hide her true self but He suddenly didn't even care anymore. He had way too many other crazy things to worry about. He forced his heart to stop racing and his thoughts to relax. He still had a tense body, but that was about to be dealt with. It was at this point that he felt the fingers of his twin grab his shoulders and whisper in his ear. "Why do you trust her so dearly? Don't you know what hides behind the mask?"

A mental dagger... If that was how Cam had been about to kill them then perhaps he could form a mental dagger of his own. He knew it would take practice to control this thing within his own mind, but at least it was still weak and did not have its full power yet... Or so he presumed. He created a very crudely formed one and pointed it at the man still standing behind him.

If I am to be stuck with you, you will follow my rules. You can talk and roam around if you want, but stop manipulating my thoughts, and keep away from Queen Camellia. Don't get me killed. The tone of his thoughts were hard and commanding. Though he knew he would probably revert back to fear later on, Kane Rafferty was strong in both mind and will. Kane would not release himself to this sudden insanity. Besides though he wouldn't admit it, Camellia's voice had strengthened him and gave him some kind of hope despite its illegitimacy.

The mental wall that had been torn down down by his mind's intruder was built back up once again and this time it was stronger then before. He realized that now he was older and out of the reach of lucifer, he would need to update his mental walls. He needed control and safety. His entire intelligence was based around unpredictability and brilliant ways of executing. If this could get into his thoughts, what else knew his mind inside out... Or who else? Any fear or uncertainty he'd had before vanished. His entire body relaxed as the other man moved away from him silently, no comment or reaction to Kane's attempt of possible suicide. His only conclusion was that neither of them would know the outcome of the probability, and Kane's death was most likely at the top of the probability list.

When Kane opened his eyes the first thing he saw was the other Kane snooping around the wall that Clovis was probably hiding behind. Probably sneaking around trying to find some kind of doorway or secret way in through the wall. The dagger was still being pointed at the back of his neck, his expression now hardened rather then the usual creepy smile.

Then he turned to look at his queen, she was watching him with a worried expression on her face. He gazed back into her eyes, only briefly before sitting back down in his seat and pouring himself some more tea. "Palkia had mentioned something about an unlocking of an unknown part of myself. I'm not exactly sure what that means and I plan on finding out. When I first encountered him-" His eyes flicked in the direction of his other half whom was now doing knocking sounds into the side of the wall, which was a little bit distracting. "It was a bit... Unnerving, for lack of a better word. But now that I've been around him for a bit I'm sure that I can keep control of him, if only for a little while. I would like to seek Palkia's council again just to understand what exactly 'it' is and where 'it' came from. It seems to have a completely separate mind to my own and it kind of reminds me of Odette, Odira, and Odile. It appears in my image, though with white hair and blue eyes instead."

Character: Kane Rafferty | Tag: Queen Camellia