Fragility of the Mind

Gabrielle audibly groaned in frustration. "Look, man, I'm sorry I snapped, but come on..." She pleadingly looked over to Lance. "Hopefully my night can still be salvaged. I need time to think, and I can only think properly when I've had a couple of joints..."

She hadn't had any drugs in a while, maybe that was why she couldn't think properly lately.

"I don't blame the thing about Josh on you, but barely an hour ago I found out that Saul was dead, and now this crap. Three people I hold on to as irreplacable are gone, just like that." She jerked a finger in TK's general direction. "And I can't sit around watching this. Lance, let's go."

Lance shook his head. "Gab, the last thing you need is to get high right now." He was afraid she'd do something stupid, but no matter what he did, he could only just remain a passive figure which Gabrielle could discard in a moment's notice. She didn't need a damn thing from him.

Gabrielle took it well, and just slumped her shoulders. "Then what am I supposed to do?" she asked, trying not to embarass herself in public.

Ryan was still typing some things into his wrist-pad at this point and overhears Gabrielle and Lance, looking over at them...he rubs the back of his head and approaches her
"Miss...? Do you need any medical attention? If not, is there anything else I may be able to assist you with? I understand what you just went through was rough, it's the least I could do..."

"I'm quite alright," Gabrielle forced out, even though she considered the man to be a perfect target for her discontent. She figured the man had probably had a bad day too. She clenched her teeth. "Thanks for caring, though." She waved her hand nonchalantly to her side as if to say, 'now scram'.

Nero emerges from the shadows and is greeted by the truly morbid scene in front of him. The dead lie scattered about like tossed away dolls, its revolting. Yet the years he had spent creating such gory works of sick artistry caused him to feel nothing more than slight surprise toward the grisly battlefield before him. He looks about and realizes he doesn't know, or remember, any of the survivors. So he stands, silent, and watches as the few who lived mil about, still stunned by the attack.

Ryan tilts his head upward slightly as if he was going to continue the reaction...then pauses and nods, waving slightly as he then turns around, understanding the dismissal

He looks for others in need of aid as the other honor guards are almost back at the vehicle with Alevon

Ariel took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She couldn't believe everything that had happened, with TK and Raine and her other friends... She had to make sure they were alright. She felt like a coward for running away and hiding in the trees the way she always did.

The she remembered the way Gabrielle had acted. She stared at the ground for a moment. She made her decision. She sprang up and ran quickly towards the empty battlefield, searching for the other woman. When she spotted she quickly made her way to her side.

"Gabrielle?" she started. "Are you alright?"

Ryan nods in acknowledgement to Maxim, and jabs a thumb toward Alevon as they finish loading his corpse into the vehicle
"I've been observing Alevon for quite some time now, as he has been wanted for some time now, ever since we finally discovered the source of the various murders throughout to be his work. We had believed that they were simply numerous missing persons cases...until we had a witness. I was assigned to track Alevon when I discovered that he works for a group of which had been ordering him to do such. My job was to learn about this group and when I felt confident with my information, take Alevon down. As for El, my suspicion is that he is under some sort of mental control from said group...as we have been keeping an eye on him as well, and there isn't much of a connection between the two groups...thus mind control or mind altering abilities are at play, and my job as an Honor Guard is to stop it."

Ryan emits a displeased sound when he sees that El is gone

"I'm really okay, just really tipped off," Gabrielle explained. Then she frowned and tried to explain herself. "Sorry."

Finally bored of waiting around Nero walks over to one of the people that looks like they aren't too freaked out by the whole situation. As he gets closer he over hears the man being called Ryan and refer to himself as an Honor Guard. Which is great because everybody loves a good Honor Guard....

"Ryan? I just got here and.. frankly, its a mess. What exactly happened to cause this massacre?"

Ariel sighed inwardly. She didn't think her friend was alright but...

"You don't need to apologize," she said softly. "It was a bad situation that none of us were prepared for. At least you're alright," she finished, trying to offer a small smile. She honestly didn't know if she was being any help, or if she was simply an annoyance. She wasn't all that great at comforting people.