[center][h2] - Darkblood Camp - [/h2][/center]
[center][@Tyki][/center]

There were no 'guards', in the traditional sense, in Darkblood Camp. Darquesse was too powerful to require guarding, and possessed nothing of sufficient value to be worth stealing, considering the inevitable consequence of such. The people were 'policed' through a series of spies, the populace turned against one another as each knew that every other could be working for Darquesse. Undoubtedly it had been one, or several, of these spies that had spotted and reported Kyoko. But these spies were not tasked with retrieving anyone. Often Darquesse would deal with dissidents personally, but for lesser issues she had a group of 'Cleavers', grey-robed silent figures who strode forth from her mansion wielding scythes. Little was known about them besides that they were inhuman, absolutely loyal, and really damn fast. On the few occasions that they had been engaged in combat, it had been swift and brutal. It was these mysterious figures that apprehended Kyoko one fateful afternoon, and dragged her bodily to the mansion in the center of the camp.

She was pulled through the streets by a pair of cleavers, guarded by two more, and the citizens of Camp Darkblood parted and whispered as the procession passed through. The front of the mansion was a gory sight indeed, and there was a reason nobody lived in the nearby houses. The tall white walls were splattered with dried blood, several flayed corpses hanging from shackles brutally slammed into the rock. They writhed jerkily, mouths devoid of teeth opening and closing with empty, gurgling croaks. They thrashed, bleeding, not allowed to die, serving forever more as a reminder of what happened when you crossed Darquesse. Some fates were worse than death. It was not a reassuring sight, and might be the last thing Kyoko saw as she was prostrated before the massive wooden doors. With a heavy thud and creak they opened, and she was tossed inside with surprising strength. The wooden doors slammed shut behind her, and she could hear the lock clicking into place. It was a sensation not unlike being swallowed by some immense creature.

The inside of the mansion was surprisingly well-lit. A large chandelier boasted countless tiny crystals, which glimmered and shone in the light of the candles hung among them. Large windows let plenty of lights into the wooden hall, although from the silence she could tell they were designed to be soundproof. Two spiralling staircases lead up to the second floor, which looked out imperiously over the entrance hall. Where previously one of the bedrooms had stood, in the center of the elevated second floor, someone had torn out the walls and door to allow one to look out towards the entrance from the room below, which had been retrofitted into a makeshift throne room. The entrance was lit by two equally makeshift braziers, being someone's barbecue pit welded onto a set of metal pipes that were clearly not intended for this purpose.

Kyoko flew up the stairs, not of her own volition. She simply lifted off of the ground and seemed to float there on a solid carpet of air, like a leaf on the wind. She was deposited in just that throne room, about a meter from the glorious chair the room was named after. It was a fancy chair, with spikes and candles and a bunch of improvised additions, but it really paled in comparison to the figure who occupied it. Darquesse was about 18, based on her physical appearance, but there was an inhuman quality about her. Her skin was pale and unmarred, almost dollike, while her black eyes seemed to dig into Kyoko's soul. Her nails were perfectly manicured and dyed black, and she wore a surprising amount of make-up. She wore no 'clothes', technically, but was rather shrouded by a twisting cloud of shadows, a second skin of solid darkness that shifted and wriggled at her slightest thought. The shadows seemed to grow deeper as Darquesse looked down at Kyoko from her slightly elevated position, and the lights grew as the flames burned twice as tall. "My pets are wonderful creatures. They do the dishes, launder the clothes and walk the dog, as well as bringing me little treats like yourself. But they find themselves unfortunately lacking the brainpower to speak, even to their lovely mistress. So please, tell me, what got you dragged here? And don't bother lying, I can tell when people lie." The look Darquesse gave her was not malicious, but rather bored, as she absentmindedly played with a coil of hair. But a hint of a smile spoke of the dark possibilities in Kyoko's immediate future.