The Castle [03] (Remba, but don't let it stop you)

[Boog]

And now I merely need to- OH HELL! The not-Jeremiah braced six arachnid legs against the ground behind itself and shoved the wardrobe away from itself, "Alright, the crap?" it clambered up a nearby wall, glaring at Keaton as though she'd lobbed the furnature at it out of- oh yeah.
Damn, it's this tiny little door and I've got a snowball's chance in hell of sneaking in now. How am I supposed to get in? The theory was that, with the dragon in crappy shape, all it had to worry about was the comparatively weaker fighters (that is to say, weaker than a cursed angel and a goddamn fae). However, they now not only had the advantage of its having to come through a bottleneck, but the fae behind it had cut off an otherwise easy escape.
Fine then, I'll wing it.
"Well, since my staying out is so very important to you..." the not-Jeremiah executed a mocking bow, spider legs inching it slightly further away, "Grandma always said a gentleman does as a lady requests, and I do so like to consider myself a gentleman..."
As soon as it was far enough away, it pulled itself closer to the ceiling to push off with (what we shall for the sake of designation call the limbs Jeremiah started out with) its real feet, launching itself toward the doorway. Spinning through the air like that, the armored spider legs shielded most of his body. "And if you believe that one, I'll tell you another."

[Angel]

Ketefe listened to Keaton's answer, wondering why the jackal laughed behind her hand as she answered. She frowned a little, not seeing what was so funny about her delirious friend. Then the entire room heard a loud thud from the hallway. Ketefe turned her head, then turned back to Keaton, giving her a "what the hell was that" expression. Keaton went to see what it was, froze, and then screamed.

"Keaton?!" Ketefe rushed to the door along with Aisha and Gareeku, and when she skidded to a stop, she found herself wishing for the eighth time that day that she had never come to this damned place.

It was Jeremiah - or it had been Jeremiah. The kind and humorous frog had been replaced with a grotesque spider-creature, complete with extra eyes, spindly legs, and a sickening grey substance over his face. Behind him was Bambi sans any clothing. Ketefe quickly looked away from the fae and concentrated on Jeremiah, reaching over her shoulder...

Hang on. Where was her sword?

"Oh fuck!" Ketefe cried, realizing she'd dropped it in the ballroom before running to help Mel. The others were shouting at Jeremiah to stay out, and for a minute, he seemed to comply... before launching himself at the door.

Ketefe did the only thing she could do. She threw herself to the ground and covered her head with her arms, screaming "DUCK!" to the other three warriors.

[Stygian]

"I'm pretty sure that they can handle it. They've proven themselves capable so far," Stygian said, his eyes still solidly fixed on the tigress. "Between us, I think she's the most levelheaded one there. Strangely. The others each have their own set of problems, but she... Do you mind if I smoke?"
   He had already flipped out his etui, and the brushed titanium lighter that he always used, and placed a slim cigar in the corner of his mouth. There was something that might bring memories back. He hadn't smoked last time he saw her, but his mother had favored the sort. And he didn't care if it was a library or not. The books weren't so fragile that they'd fall apart from a little smoke. Puffing to heat the tip, he flicked his lighter shut and slipped it down his pocket, and then put the slim cigar between his fingers, breathing out.
   "Well, I hardly think that she is without her own troubles as well. There is something beneath that surface, something... painful," he said, and scratched his chin. "Guarded or not, that was inevitable. Wasn't it, Ryn?"
   Slowly, he stepped closer, taking a breath from his cigar and letting the smoke trail out between his teeth lazily. His dark eyes seemed hot like coals behind the fog.
   "I haven't lived here, you see. I died here. For a long time. And I know you're not to blame, even letting it happen... But then again, I let some other things happen too. Terrible things."

[Prof B Hunnydew]

NSFW

The confused Bambi finds the morphed Jeremiah busy beating at Mel's bedroom door.  This sight clears all Bambi's confusion in a flash, and she quickly rushes the non-Jeremiah with a new spell, "Dispell magic", and "Remove curse"...

PBH hopes these spell blasts away Jeremiah extra limbs, and returns him to more himself,     Well, Maybe Spider-frog.

PBH

[Aisha deCabre]

"I don't mind," the tigress replied idly to the bat's inquiry about smoking...her gaze had turned to the book in front of her, as if her attention was diverted; but her ears steadily followed his voice and position as he spoke, and with a certain calm concentration.  He certainly seemed more familiar to her as the conversation moved forth, and the noises from above didn't help much either.

Then something seemed to click in her mind, as soon as Sebastian mentioned more of about her student, and more specifically, hinted about the pain that she held within for so long.  Her mind was starting to race with questions, and especially concern yet for Aisha, and it was only evident by the tiger's snaking white tail having started to twitch just a little faster.

She closed the book in a flurry of dust and stood slowly from her chair, facing the bat while taking her staff to lean on it.  Her gaze must have been just as intense as his own, but perhaps without the hints of subtle intimidation.  As he finished his piece, she slowly nodded.  "So you may have, Sebastian.  I guess your 'death' would count for naught, as I see it didn't last," she chuckled.  "Still, some would count themselves blessed, and others cursed, to have come back after a long time.  I can only guess as to which you must be."  Her head shook.  "In any case, the past is the past, though it is not easily forgotten," she added with a gleam in her eyes.

She turned briefly to pick the book up again.  "Aisha does have a level head," the tigress admonished still with calm pride in her voice.  "As well as intense focus and a determined spirit.  She has her father's blood, an adventurer's child as one could hope for."  She gripped her staff a little closer to herself.  "The pain is that she has never gotten over his death, nor the destruction of her family's last safe home.  She has her mission of seeking retribution."  Her eyebrows raised slightly, in caution of her words.  "As I have my own."

*     *     *

With a snarl of frustration, Aisha ducked away from the spider-like Jeremiah as he charged for the door, only for him to be slowed down again by Bam.  Standing up again, she made sure everyone was into the hallway before quickly reaching up to close the door to the room and standing in front of it with her blades drawn against the frog in case he tried again.

"What the hell as gotten into you?" the panthress snarled.  "Mel is recovering right now!  And we're going to make damn sure that it will be a peaceful one."

She wasn't at all sure what went wrong with Jeremiah this time...but hopefully the frog had enough sense to not keep trying.  Having helped save a life, it wasn't that strange for the panther to feel somewhat protective of it.

[Boog]

The two spells Bambi hit the not-Jeremiah with in midair smashed its spider legs into stubs, and then it had a door slammed in its face. Could you say pissed?
It picked itself up, legs very slowly regrowing with those stretching, popping, gristly noises. "I..." It said, "Have no words. I mean, do you have any idea how much that stings? And the sheer indignety? My volcabulary completely lacks any profanities that accurately describe you." A flick of its wrist and a tiny, two inch wide fireball appeared at the end of its finger. "Then again, given present company, the no words thing is probably nothing new to you by now." Be insensitive to her condition, insult her, make her angrier. Angry people make stupid mistakes, and there's no resource more valuable than a stupid enemy.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Bambi moves beside Aisha to also block the Spidy-frog from the rest of the group.  she has been running and fighting awhile now.  With heavy breath as she says:

"Sweets pixies! , *Breath* Aisha  *breath* Froggy be sick, too. *breath* Now, Spiders took Frog. *Breath* Where Healer? *breath*" 

Bambi stands ready to hit the non-jeremiah again with fae-fire the second he trys to move towards them. Yet, She stands as if she force herself to stay up-right as her chest huffing & puffing with each breath. 

PBH

[Mel Dragonkitty]

A crash jolted Mel awake. While she really wanted to ignore it her self-preservation instinct, coupled with the sounds of shouting, running around, and a door slamming, kept her from simply closing her eyes and going back to sleep. She pushed herself up and looked around, no one remained in the room with her to ask. She pushed herself the rest of the way up and swung her feet off the bed. She almost managed a laugh when she looked down at herself. Her coat and shirt were missing, soon spotted in a sodden pile on the floor. Both her camisole and pants were irretrievably ripped up, only staying decently in place due to a liberal gluing of half-dried blood. But somehow she had kept her boots. She did smile at the sight, she had done enough healings to know that focus was so tight that the boots hadn't even been noticed by her caretakers. More muffled thuds and shouts came from outside the door. Mel stood and quickly made a dizzy little catch for the mattress. When the room stopped spinning she started across the room to see what was going on.

[Stygian]

A smile spread around that cigar, wedged between large, sharp fangs. Stygian's gaze remained just as piercing, not even veering to look as the tigress shifted her staff, or her tail. He stayed still, but he lowered his voice, his tone becoming more of a murr.
   "I'd like to think that it's fortunate for me and unfortunate for some others, this return," he said. "Though frankly, the opposite turns out to be true ever so often too." He didn't hold a grudge with her personally, but she had always been on the opposite side, from his point of view. And even if she'd never so much as raised a hand against him, that still counted for something. "Though to mention curses..." Another sensitive point. But not because of what had happened at the castle.
   "You know, I still remember when we were... young. Even having become as I am, I remember. Some things were even good back then," he said, turning and looking aside for just a bit. "I remember that thoughtful little kitten who'd always pick the butterflies out of spider's webs." He chuckled, and pulled on his cigar again, then breathed another streamer away from her. "One time, I asked you why you took out the butterflies. I said that the spiders would starve. Do you remember what you answered?"
   Calmly, he turned back to her, looking her in the eyes and letting his hand fall to his side.
   "You said that you didn't want the beautiful butterflies to go away. And then I asked why you didn't save the cicadas or the crickets. And you said 'No, those eat each other. And they're noisy and fat so they can feed the spiders better'," he said. His eyes were embers.
   "You didn't care about the suffering then. You knew the spiders had to feed too. And you wanted the butterflies to be pretty for you." There was no smirk on his face now. "And that's why I always liked you. We were somewhat similar. At first glance, at least."
   He made his last pull, the cigar almost burned down to the butt. Calmly, he took it, and then stubbed it out in his palm, unflinching.
   "The problem here, you see, is that Aisha doesn't just have the blood of her father, but her mother too. That was always strong. And she is no butterfly that you can save. She isn't a cicada or a cricket either," he said. "She is a spider. A very venomous one. And while you may have saved her from being eaten, there's no telling if she will still bite you. Because I'm not the only one who made the choice not to be there."
   It might have been unfair. But it was still true. He knew. And as he turned away, he could already see the tiny hints in her face, feel them in her smell.
   "She's your pupil, yes. But think of what might happen if... when... she discovers. Me, I intend to keep a close watch for that. Maybe you should too."
   Calmly, he strolled out, picking up a book and heading back toward the noise.

[Angel]

Ketefe picked herself up off the ground, glaring at Jeremiah, every muscle in her body tensed. She slowly tied her mask around her face and, keeping her gaze on the spider-frog, inched over to where Bam was.

"The healer's in the library," she whispered, trying not to move her mouth too much as she did so. "Go get her and Stygian. And uh, borrow a cloak or something before you go."

Her eyes flickered across the room, looking for something, anything, that she could use as a weapon. She decided on a largish piece of broken wood from the wardrobe Keaton had chucked. The splintered board was about four feet away. As she inched it closer, first with her tail, then with her foot, an idea came to her. What if I distracted Jeremiah so he doesn't chase Bam into the library and kill two of the most useful people here? I could run into the ballroom and get my sword... Nah. If he followed her, she'd probably die, and if he stayed and fought, the others might die. Still, she needed to stop him chasing Bam...

"I'd watch my tongue if I was you, Jeremiah," she said aloud, scootching a little away from the others in case he attacked. "Because for the record, you look like something that crawled out of a toilet and died."

[Boog]

The not-Jeremiah hurled his fireball at adventurers (Which went wide by a mile and hit the wall with a sad-sounding "paph!" This wasn't one of the huge honking things that Bambi had been chucking around) and emitted another harsh, gunfire-rattle laugh, only speaking again after the laughter had died down.
"Ah, can I call 'em or what?" the abomination chuckled a little more, "Pretty, competent and a sense of humor. And at least I don't look like something that stayed there, doll." Can I call 'em. I. Referring to myself. Am I the one who called that? Is a chain the same chain when you break the links and put them together anew and out of order? I suppose I am Jeremiah for a given value of "I am"...
I am someone with no time for such contemplation.
The not-Jeremiah had no more magical power to work with than the frog, but had less qualms about exhausting or damaging itself from overusing it. It had to think in the short term. A fireball being too small to do anything didn't mean that it had failed, just that it had to do it again. The not-Jeremiah held its hands wrists together before it and spread its fingers, webbed digits forming a scalloped seashell shape facing the door. It chanted something tribal-sounding under its breath, various runes forming before its hands as it readied a barrage...
The abomination winked at Ketefe, once. "Nicccccce Massssssssk..." And a stream of fireballs left its hands.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Bambi was waiting for Jeremiah to attack..  Boy, He is getting annoying, but she saw not going to be baited into getting angry at him.  She checks around the spider-frog, and see a hanging single lamp over his head.   She fires up a sweep of fireballs at the hitting the floor, Jeremiah, who burned and knock off balance and then the lamp, which falls toward the fallen spider-frog.

PBH

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Walking on two feet was hard work when you were dizzy and tired, Mel decided after the second time she had to stop and cling to the furniture. She swapped to her true form, but at half the size. That improved her balance, even if a twelve foot dragon was still a lot to maneuver across a room. She paused at the door and listened. Lots of familiar voices, thumps, bumps, and crashes, the feel of magic, and the smell of burning wool, probably carpet. She prepared several spells, then, crouching slightly so she could see out, jerked the door open. Half the group was in the hall facing down a reptilianish-spiderish mythos. "Freeze," she roared at the group adding a touch of magic to her roar to back up it's authority. She was also quite prepared to make the command literal for anyone who had other ideas. She glanced at the smashed armoire and the clothing strewn around, the slowly smoldering carpet that would have to be doused, and scorch marked walls and asked,  "What is going on?"

[Boog]

Using its half-regenerated spider limbs, the not-Jeremiah batted the chandelier away from itself and sent another barrage after Bambi, backing away to avoid being clubbed over the head by the more traditional fighters while he was focusing on the fae. And then, of course, Mel showed up. The individual who was probably the greatest threat to Mother. The abomination grinned.
"Why, Mel," it chuckled, more fireballs igniting at the ends of its fingers, "Was wondering how long it would take you to show up..."

[Gareeku]

Standing back as the others battled against that...thing...Gareeku kept his hand firmly on the hilt of the katana at his side. Then, when Mel had appeared with her rather commanding introduction, the wolf saw that the creature was focussed on her. Perfect.

Dashing forward with incredible speed as he unsheathed his blade, Gareeku closed in and aimed his sword at the slowly regenerating stumps, as well as the other limbs that were still intact.

[Boog]

Gareeku's blade went through the first half-regenerated leg with ease. The second with mildly less. On the third it got stuck in the exoskeleton halfway through. The not-Jeremiah simply gave the wolf what could only be called a Look, and sent one handful of fireballs at him point blank. The other handful he cast toward Mel.

[Gareeku]

Finding his sword to be jammed in the exoskeleton of the creature, Gareeku then looked up to find a handful of fireballs being fired at him. Grunting with pain, the wolf was sent flying backwards, landing hard on his back with another loud grunt of pain. However, Gareeku was not one to give up so easily. So would called it stubborness. He preferred to call it determination. Rising to his feet, the wolf dashed in again, bright white flames enveloping his hands as he summoned up a mixture of soul energy and light magic, before firing them off at the spider-like creature as he retrieved his sword from the thing's exoskeleton.

[Boog]

Most attacks against the not-Jeremiah hadn't been all that effective. The wardrobe and chandelier had been deflected, damaging only the legs. Bambi's assault had knocked it around, but hadn't done much in the way of damage.
Gareeku's blast hit dead on. The abomination had taken all it could. The blasts that thudded into its body lifted it into the air, spinning almost gracefully before slamming into a wall, shattering the spider mask. (Almost gracefully. It was, to a degree, Jeremiah.) There was a hiss, and a column of steam from where the creature had fallen...
Jeremiah lay there, mainly returned to his normal self. The first time the specter had changed him his teeth remained slightly large afterward. After this, his skin retained the blotchy black and orange pattern (although a slightly lighter shade thereof). His coat was still on the couch he had been on when he'd first assumed that shape, his tie dye shirt was slightly stretched around the collar and ripped along the back. His hat had been lost somewhere, and the frog looked somewhat sickly due to magic overuse. So there lay the amphibian, tired and damaged.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

The nude Fae quickly ran in front of Mel before the small flare-size fireballs hit her.  The fae turned her back to attack to use her wings to deflected the last attack of the Spider-frog.  After grunts from deflecting the flare of magic, She looks worried at the weak Mel and reaches out to her to help her back to bed.

"Help Mel  Bed NOW?!!" said Bam.

PBH

[Aisha deCabre]

Rynkura said nothing through Sebastian's exchange back to her words, but simply kept a guarded face and a slightly tense demeanor.  Her eyes were blank and lacking emotion as he gave his analogy, a little calmer than she really predicted he would be.  What she hadn't expected was that a memory came up after so long, that even though she shouldn't be so familiar with the bat, he seemed as much.  And even more so with her student.

The tiger didn't reply to his words this time.  She couldn't really; she simply watched him walk off, the grip on her staff suddenly growing until the wood dug into her palm.  How DARE he think that I would...!

But there was truth in those words.  The tigress had tried all she could to protect Aisha from herself in the past...hiding her adventuring lineage, only to have found the girl's resolve stronger than thought...and now this.  This place, and the connections...Rynkura suddenly found herself somewhat conflicted.  Sure, Aisha would not be happy.  And if things went well, she wouldn't have to endure it.  But there are some things that can't be hidden forever.

Alone in the library, save for the sounds of conflict above having ended abruptly and her own thoughts, the tigress shook her head and returned to the book she was reading.  She may be venomous.  But if I remember correctly, spiders may also eat other spiders.

*     *     *

The panthress watched the grotesque mix of amphibian and spider try its hardest to face the people before him, all of them determined individuals with skills that most likely normally surpassed his own.  It was pure insanity, building up in that seeminly tiny hall, now that everyone bar for Mel was out of the room to guard it.  Fireballs were flung at the door in every which direction, some of which were deflected by the panther's magic-proof dragonblade.  At this rate the hall could catch fire...Aisha silently berated the stupidity.  She couldn't use her boomerang in this state either, for fear of hurting someone else.  All she could do was duck, weave, block, and be ready in case Jeremiah couldn't be held by the others...

Suddenly the door was jerked open behind her, which caused the panthress to roll away and suddenly stare from her position at Mel, a very ticked-off ice dragon to say the least.  It only made the panther grin slightly.  She was certainly well enough back to full health, if not by now.  But it turned instantly back into a grimace again upon hearing "Jeremiah's'' voice, berating the dragon.  Aisha certainly wasn't one to see such ignorance from the monster that he had become...and Gareeku seemed to mirror that feeling as he made his assault, which to everyone's great relief, finally was the mutant's undoing.

What IS it with this place and spiders, anyway? the panther hummed, replacing her blades while sending the wolf a light smirk.  "Well done."  Her gaze passed around the hall, a sigh of relief emitted.  "Everyone."  Upon hearing Bambi berate Mel on being awake, however, Aisha rolled her eyes.  "The dragon can be awake if she wants to.  Let her be."  She grimaced.  "And for heaven's sakes, put something on."

Her eyes then fell cautiously on a damaged Jeremiah, lying against the wall.  "The hell was that about...?"

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"Please?!" added Bambi to Mel after Aisha ragged on her... She looked puzzled at Aisha.

"Something on? " Asks Bam and then looks down at herself "why?"  Still her puzzled look is meet with stares and disgusted glares.... "But me comforty, Oh you are not..  *Heavy Sigh* Okay Fine fine"   Bambi was hoping to get a bath and she can try on some of those dresses if everyone want her "dressed".  She starts to seeks out the room she and Gina used last night.  But If she ever gets to meet that healer, she was going to give her an ear full.

PBH

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel frowned at the fireballs coming at her. She cast two spells, one after the other. The first was a power wave, turning the fireballs and sending them back at the mythos-thing. The second was going to be an air blast, tight and focused on the midsection of the spider-thingy, like a cannonball to the stomach. She pulled it at the last second to avoid hitting Gareeku. It was a good choice for the wolf managed to take the spider-reptile thing down. Bam started pushing on her front legs, trying to convince her to head back to bed. "I was asleep until there was a fight in the hallway. And I will go back when I get some answers. What happened? And why are you naked? Was that mythos Jeremiah? Is someone going to put out the fire in the carpet?"

[Boog]

Jeremiah stirred, but made no effort to get up. He wasn't even entirely sure he could. What was Aisha talking about? The last thing he remembered was-
Oh no, the frog's eyes snapped open, looked around at the scene he'd caused. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't think of what to do next. What do you say after that? 'Whoops, sorry 'bout that' probably wouldn't cut it. And he couldn't claim that he wasn't himself, because he still wasn't sure if he WAS when the specter took over. It was as though he was... What you would get if you broke him down and made the parts into something new. He remembered that clawed wraith from his first time in the castle and simply looked up at the huntress, mortification and confusion evident upon his face.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

an Angry Bambi turns back to Mel and Aisha
"MY guess be Frog hidden a spider on him During Snow Spell,
Froggy hurt protecting Mel,
Healer Help Mel but Not Jeremiah
Spider Took hurt Frog
Spidy-frog go hunt Mel. but Bam stop spidy-frog and lost clothes when fighting Spidy-Frog." Bam rapid Fire comments

"Hump" Bambi leaves and stumps down the Hallway.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog walked down the hall stairs, concern evident on his face. He was attired in the clothing he had picked up, having changed just moments ago. He'd heard quite a large whump, and that usually meant little good in this place.
Upon arriving, however, his eyes widened, and he stood quite still for a long moment. Laid out before him was the detrius of battle, broken furniture and blood spatters decorating the walls. He took a step back and grabbed the sword at his hip, and let go of it just as quickly. Whatever had happened here was over.
He took stock of the situation, his neck twitching every moment or so. He tried to speak, but merely croaked something unintelligible out, and cleared his throat instead.
He tried again. "What...who...I..."
Cog simply stopped and shook his head. "This is why we can't have nice things!" he said, his voice a bit strangled, and he himself seemed somewhat confused at his own statement. He stood there for a moment, then jerked and averted his eyes from Bam. "I...well..." he coughed. "I suppose...is...what the hell?" he finally said, his eyes locking on Jeremiah.

[Angel]

Upon hearing the spider-frog's jabs at her, Ketefe hissed a little quietly and forced herself not to adjust her mask when the thing winked at her. (She willed her body not to shudder at that part.) Then he started shooting fireballs at everyone and everything around him, and Ketefe backed away a little to letthe others fight; she was not being a coward, she simply knew that she was unable to fight without a weapon. Upon seeing the almost-monster simply bat a chandelier away like it was a fly, she kicked the board away, realizing it wouldn't be much use.

This is how Jarevei must feel during a fight, she reflected as she ducked out of the way of various fireballs. She watched as Gareeku and Mel and Bam mostly took care of everything, but the climax finally came when Gareeku broke the spider-thing's mask. The creature hissed and went back to frog form, still with a strange skin-pattern and looking very tired, but Jeremiah nonetheless. Aisha walked up to him, looking more than alittle deadly, and Jeremiah simply lay there, looking ashamed and scared. When Mel asked about the carpet, Ketefe glanced at the fire, only just noticing it.

She untied her blanket-sheath from her back, walked over to the fire, and smothered it. The sheath was heavy enough to hold a jagged sword, so it worked pretty well as a fire-proof blanket. Then a new person walked in; hey, it was that wolf from the beginning of all this madness! She tossed her sheath off to the side, then walked up to the wolf to explain - well, give a summary, more like.

"Keaton freaked out, a Mythos attacked, it got Mel, Stygian killed it, Aisha's teacher came and saved Mel, Jeremiah got sick because of spiders, he turned into a freaky monster-thing, he's not quite back to normal yet, and all this before dinner."

She paused. "Oh, whoops. We haven't been properly introduced yet." She extended her hand. "I'm Ketefe Solowynd. I followed you and the bat here several hours ago. Who are you?"

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog stared at the newcomer for quite a long time, his eye twitching underneath his glasses as he absorbed the news. He opened his mouth as if to speak, and simply put his face in his hand and groaned.
He peered at the stranger from between his fingers. "Cogidubnus Mithlome. Charmed." he said, suddenly leaning against the wall. "I...well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."
He sighed. "You start to relax, and it all goes to hell again. I really am starting to loathe this place."

[Stygian]

"Well, I'm certainly glad that you're having such a pleasant stay. Really," Stygian said, approaching behind Cogidubnus, walking while reading the book in his hand, and holding two other thick volumes and an apple in his free hand. "Take it from me; this place can get really cozy and familiar after a while. And your pleasure is my pleasure. I'm just glad that you're entertained in a proper..."
   He stopped, his mouth open and formed around the next word, as he looked over the mess in the corridor, Gareeku with bloodspatter on him and his sword out, Aisha just standing, Bam naked and trying to usher a twelve foot Mel in through a door, the place looking completely chaotic. He stared for three seconds. Then, he shut his mouth with an audible snap.
   "I'm not cleaning this up," he said, very simply, and then glanced over Jeremiah on the floor. Then, he turned to Cog and Ketefe, and looked at them both expressionlessly. For a second there was utter silence, before he spoke again.
   "Who wants tea?"

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel reverted to her anthropomorphic form and leaned against the doorframe. She was tired, slightly dizzy, and wasn't sure she understood what happened. "Did I understand right that Jeremiah shielded the spiders we were trying to kill? And they turned him into that mythos-like creature?" She looked around and asked, "Is there anything I can do to help? If not I think I'll get cleaned up." She picked a bit at the clothing glued to her with dried blood. "I'll take that tea once I'm presentable."

[Boog]

Mel's words seemed to jerk Jeremiah back to the present. "Wasn't my idea!" He blurted, "The spiders. All that. I didn't shield them, they got me again."