The Clockwork Mansion

For a moment, a smirk of satisfaction appeared on Gareeku's face as his blade seemed to hit it's intended target. However, the smirk would soon disappear as the wolf found that his blade seemed to hit nothing but air. He was then met with a grin from the angel, his eyes widening slightly upone seeing the look on her face, before her attack hit home.

"UGH!!" Gareeku cried out as he was struck hard in his midriff, feeling himself flying back before slamming into one of the nearby columns, another cry of pain from the wolf being heard as he did so. Landing hard on his feet, Gareeku fell to his knees as he coughed slightly, winded from the blow the angel had dealt to him. Forcing himself to get back onto his feet, the wolf grimaced as he glanced back at the angel, who was now on the attack against Aisha.
Damn it..my sword didn't affect her at all... Gareeku thought to himself in frustration as he wiped away the blood that had run a little from the corner of his mouth.

Composing himself once more as he picked up his sword, Gareeku advanced again as he sheathed his weapon, flames of soul energy appearing in his hands as he did so. They seemed to be totally outclassed by the angel...but there had to be a weakness somewhere...

Breaking out into a run, Gareeku dashed forwards towards the angel in a new assault, throwing forward a bolt of soul energy as he did so. Once he had done so, the wolf dashed in close, before leaping up as he brought his fist upwards into a hard uppercut, his fist burning brightly with white flame. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Gareeku then slammed his hands onto the ground, creating a powerful cyclone of soul energy swirling up.

As Jeremiah sunk into that decidedly nonlucid state that went with his curse, In woke up fully. In was an interesting persona in that he literally was at the back of the line on the day they were handing out brains. When the other personae were staking out parts of Jeremiah's intellect they could use, he showed up last. However, his being active essentially freed up more of Jeremiah's mind for his use. Thus, he thought better while hitting things.
Jeremiah staggered to his feet. Next to him, red flames formed a demonic bull with an extra pair of horns. From the way its mouth was open in a soundless bellow, the way its left hoof scratched at the ground twice before it charged at the angel, the cold glare of its coullike eyes, you would never have guessed that he was mostly thinking about politics and was only sparing a little attention to the task of hitting the angel like a runaway train.

Mel saw that the battle wasn't going well but didn't know if there was anything she could do to help. With the fight in melee she couldn't use most of her attacks without hurting everyone else more than the angel. She did the most useful thing she could see needed doing. She grabbed Gina and got them both behind a pillar and away from the flying energy of the fight.

Gareeku's onslauht was met with a bitter face from the angel, but mostly just that. The blows that were not deflected seemed to pass through thin air, not having much effect at all. Whatever weakness he had sought for chose not to reveal itself, as he was met with another wave of force as soon as his vortex died down, this time simply throwing him over the floor and against the central well.
   It was then that In decided to charge the angel. The towering beast hit her with all the power of a tank and all the efficiency of cutting water. Its fiery shape thundered through the angel as if she had been made of mist and smoke, after which she became solid again as if nothing had happened. She looked at the bull-like apparition, her eyes narrowing a moment, and then turned disregardfully, facing the bat as she made another attack and appeared to try and take a stranglehold on the aetherial feline, whatever that might have served...
   "Despicable creatures! Can't you see that this must end?!" the angel snarled, struggling with the bat gripping her somehow, clenching her fingers tightly around Stygian's shoulder and throat. She tore her from her grip, and threw her violently against a column just next to her, a hard hit that jarred the bat's spine and made her slump down with almost a whimper.

   When Mel tugged at her and pulled her along behind one of the supportive pillairs, the ferret shouted and babbled in protest, tears still running down her cheeks. She squirmed out of Mel's grip, and dashed around it, shouting something in many voices as she went, grabbing at the sword on the ground.
   "SNOW!" a few of the voices echoed out.

Gareeku's attack would again bear no result, as his attacks seemed to not affect the angel in the slightest. Crying out in pain as he was struck once more, the wolf bounced slightly when he fell to the floor.
"Nnnuughh..." he groaned groggily, moving from his lying position, before coughing up a slight amount of cough, specks of crimson liquid dotting on the floor as he looked back up at the angel.

"There has to be a way..." he growled to himself, before shakily rising to his feet once more. More trails on blood had now appeared from his mouth, and various cuts and bruises on his body were also present. It was then, however, that the wolf glanced to the side, seeing the ferret girl grab for the sword as she spoke in what seemed to be a few voices at once...

As her swipe with the sword was stopped, all too easily to have not escaped her frustration, Aisha only met the angel's gaze with a harsh look in her blood-colored eyes.  Having seen what had been done in response to the attacks of the others, she wasn't at all surprised when she was flying through the air again, the holy blade knocked from her grip.

She landed several feet away, though she tried to do so on her feet it was a hard landing and the panthress ended up on her side instead.  She growled and tried to stand up on still-exhausted muscles, yet had to regain her wind as she watched Stygian and Sathariel try to strangle each other, and Gareeku's powerful attack was reduced to nothing before the wolf was thrown back again...she winced.  There seemed to be no way...and the sword was too far out of her reach, but if she could just run...

But there was a pause as the ferret suddenly dashed from behind a column, rushing to the spot where it fell.  Aisha's eyes widened, but she could do nothing for the moment but watch, gripping a somewhat sprained leg.  The hell...?

With seeming feeling of hesitation, Cog readied his sword at his side and struck at the angel with a large, broad and powerful stroke. He did not hesitate to strike, but rather his movement was so smooth it seemed he moved slower than he was. The sword glowed a fiery white, and in the breath of a moment a dozen white lines crisscrossed about the angel, the strikes to fast to see. His final strike broke one of the rules of swordsmanship, making him twirl and put his back to his enemy for a moment, but Cog had good reason. His other hand was balled into a fist and using the momentum he had built he launched another wave of force and thunder at  the creature, almost point-blank.
His face, frozen into a vicious snarl, belied his frantic mind. The angel was unaffected by their blows...except for Aisha. That sword...

PBH is half-conscious when she see Mel hiding and then reaching after the ferret as Gina races to take up the sword.  Hurting PBH crawls and limbs to Mel's side by the pillar.

"Well, what can we do, now, lady Mel?  The Angel has to be gaining power from somewhere.   Also She has some threads around our batty friend.  There are some weak strands into our other adventurers friends  Can the strands be cut?" 

***
PBH can see the thin strands of magic touching everyone poisoned by the spiders, and with many of the strongest threads leading into Stygian.
***

PBH

The ferret hefted the sword and moved up before the angel and the bat, looking at them both with an unreasonable mixture of anguish, sorrow, loathing, panic, determination, chill, spite and relief in her face, one that was so strange it was almost impossible to discern. Her form seemed blurred somehow, other dim shapes hinting and slipping between her own movements, blurred lines and contoures that were not hers. She held the sword in front of her in a good position, but shakily, tears faling down her face underneath the blur which was really quivering in desperate sorrow.
  "Why?! Why do you do this?!" she exclaimed, her voice still shifting. "This was not supposed to be! You are both a disgrace!" That was the voice of the strong grandmother from before, coupled with a bit of bitter decisiveness to her face, which quickly melted into tears again. Her voice became that of the young man once more, as she looked desperately at Stygian.
  "Tell me why! I loved you, Snow!" she said, angrily and heartbrokenly.
  The bat slowly got to her feet, her eyes wide with sudden realization.
  "Kill in the family spirit..." she murmured. Then, her eyes faced the ferret's, narrowing as they did. "I loved you too, Azel. But I hate you. And I don't regret what I did. Not one thing." Her eyes stared coldly at the ferret, oozing loathing.
  The ferret's eyes widened, and with a cry of rage and mad grief, she dove for the bat, pulling back the sword and aiming the tip for her heart.
  With all the speed she could muster, Stygian pulled on the angel hard, and threw them both in front of the gleaming tip of the sword. It sank through both their hearts, first the bat's, then the feline's.

Standing there as he panted softly, Gareeku looked on as the ferret confronted Sebastian. It was that, with widened eyes, he saw the girl attack the bat with the sword she had retrieved, before Sebastian pulled the angel over and ensured she would be stabbed along with her. Throughout this observation, the wolf stayed silent. He didn't know what to say. Everything had happened so fast, and he couldn't anything but watch.

Aisha watched the goings-on with bated breath, closely as the ferret approached both the bat and angel.  There was suspense, the adventurers having hung back despite the feeling of wanting to sink their blades into the flesh of the ethereal and beastly creature before them.  The ferret and the souls she harbored carried something fierce and empowered when they held the blade with them, and it seemed, nobody dared get in their way.

Her eyes widened though as soon as the female Sebastian retorted back, and then the panthress clasped a hand to her own mouth when the blade pierced the hearts of both creatures, one after the other.  She wondered if the bat would recover as easily from that as when she had before pulled a shard from her throat.  But even if she would, that sight wasn't one to be erased from memory.

Cog had expected many things to happen in through the duration of this battle, but this had not been one of them. As he stared at the impaled bat and feline, the snarl died on his face, and he grew very quiet. So far both had proved indestructible, but still...the only thing that had seemed to hurt the angel had been that sword.
He stood silently, staring intently at the both of them. He kept his face carefully blank, his eyes only betraying his feeling of sorrow, but those were hidden under shaded lenses. His glowing sword thrummed in his hand, and he waited.

As the ferret tore violently out of Mel's grasp she stumbled against the column.  By the time she had righted herself and gone around the column after Gina the girl had the sword in hand and was shouting at Sebastian in multiple voices. Then she lunged forward. It took Mel two or three blinks before she could realize the sword actually seemed to pierce, rather than passing through like all the other times. Mel took a half-step out from behind the column, not certain that even a heart-piercing could do anything to the archangel.

The world seemed to freeze for a moment. There were the faces and stares of the adventurers. There was the darkness around them which has seemed to go as hard and amorphous as glass. There was the shrill silence, broken only by a short gasp from the ferret. There was the panic on the angel's face. There was the gleaming blade through the both bodies. There was pain. And stillness.
   Then, with a wordless scream of hundreds of voices, the three shapes erupted in a torrent of white and blue fire, and flaring, fuming blackness. Their shapes were blurred as the cascade spread outward, the light playing tricks with the rank darkness of the surroundings. Pure power, one that had been pent up, layered and entangled for more than a century and a half, flooded out and washed over them. And amid it all swirled the lost souls of all the dead who had been taken by the house, shrieking and screaming as they passed upward toward Heaven and downward toward Hell in a swirling vortex of light and shadows.
   The flare of power lasted for a few, eternal moments, the three shapes coming into view almost like one again, before it flashed away, with one of them blurring down and falling to the ground, another one flaring out and dissappearing like a flame without its fuel, and the third standing shakily for a moment, before falling to her knees and then the ground.

As the brilliant light faded enough to see, Mel saw a body hit the floor. She had spent the fight staring like an idiot, maybe now there was something she could do to redeem herself. She rushed forward, then skidded to a momentary halt as she realized the figure was female. As the dust settled she realized it was a bat and remembered that Sebastian was a female now. She ran the rest of the way forward, kneeling and turning Sebastian onto his/her back to check for life signs.

The bat had neither breathing nor a pulse. There was no blood pouring from her body, just a black ooze that sizzled on the stone where it dripped, and she had a big hole right through the left centre of her chest. Her eyes were already glazing over. But then, Mel felt a throb. Though it didn't come from  her body. She was clenching something in her hand that...
   A fiery glow sparked to life in the bat's right fist, and something throbbed with an audible pulse, making a thump that seemed to reverberate through the darkness. It developed into a steady rhythm, and slowly the bat's body lifted, as dark swirls and crackling cinders began to snake around her. A soft, chiming hymn could almost be heard.
   The sound of it, first a seething, scraping sound like sand against sand or ash crumbling grew to a storm, as darkness tore itself inward, into the bat's shape and against her heart. And from her hand, the fire and cinders swept out, mixing with the shadows. It all ripped into the bat's chest cavity, and as it did, she began to scream. She opened her eyes, irises blazing with fire turning from orange to blue amid blackness.
   The roaring and the fire died down, at last, the blaze slowly settling down and darkness taking hold again. The bat fell to the ground on all fours, panting and shaking violently.

In had vanished soon after the brilliant flash of the sword connecting with the angel. This was not something he wanted to stick around for. Thus, Jeremiah was lucid enough to know to stay the hell away from Sebastionette while she was waking up, as you can never guess whether or not a fallen angel wakes up gracefully or angrily. However, he was not bright enough to avoid checking the other body, which was probably Gina. He made his way across the rubble littering the floor and carefully checked the possessed ferret's pulse. Very carefully.

Blinded by the flash for a moment, PBH also ran to help with Mel but was a step or two behind her.  PBH met the Frog by Gina, and frown as he checked for her purse, then for her heart beat. 

Gina seem to alive but unconsious.  Bambi, hoping the girl had her sanity back, lays her out more comfortable.  And checks for any other visible wounds as Mel see to the bat.

PBH   

Kerag stares down at the piece of  paper for a few seconds then looks up at the house then looks down at the paper again. "This isn't the club! They trick me." Kerag declared in an angry voice then slowly walks up to the door of the house "Well might just ask who ever lives here if they know were the scorch bar is." when he reach the door he banged on it a few times to see if anyone would answer.

Aisha stared, frozen, as the bodies skewered by the sword and the one gripping the handle seemed to hang straight in midair, balancing the line between silence and an overwhelming sense of pain.  Even if none of the adventurers had felt the blade, it seemed that they could imagine vividly how it must have felt to the bat and the angel.

Then came the brilliant explosion of light and sound, of pure emotion from the looks on their faces.  Aisha, gripping her leg with one hand, held the other up to her face and shrank back against the onslaught of darkness, so brilliant and powerful that the emerald glow of her tail ring was lost to the flash which seemed to last only a few moments.  She blinked with fascinated eyes as many trapped souls went their separate ways.  And then it all died down in a flash, and she could remove the hand shielding her face.  Sebastianette, falling as if dead to the ground...the ferret off to the side...Sathariel nowhere to be seen.

Aisha released a sigh that had been held during the whole endeavor, watching and resting in her position on the floor as Mel came forward to inspect the bat.  The panthress was mildly surprised when she came back to life, disproving the odds otherwise.  Looking around the group of adventurers, many of them regaining some injuries yet nonetheless alive, she fell to the ground and released a shaky laugh.  "Mierda...that was not fun."  She looked up and around again.  "Everyone okay?"

The bat made a rasping sound that could have meant anything and coughed, and tried to get to her feet. Her first attempts failed, as she proved too shaky to go anywhere at all, and had to have at least three limbs in the floor so as not to tip over. The rasping and hacking continued though, some of it forming parts of words while she waved her hand at them. She seemed to want to shout, to tell them something. After a fe seconds they got it.
   "R-rhun... ack...! Hou ihhiohsss... hrrr... he ahve do rrhun...!" she managed to get out, wobbling to her feet and trying to get through.
   From above some dust and rocks fell. And then a tremor shook the ground, and the whole hall with it, creating a rumbling, throbbing sound below the audible in their ears. A crack split the shaking floor with a loud snap. The bat looked back at it with fear and tension, and broke into an unsteady but hurried sprint.
   "Run!"

Looking on, Gareeku's eyes widened as the events unfolded, his mouth slightly open in awe as the souls went their separate ways in spectacular fashion. The roaring was incredibly loud, and the fires burning with awesome intensity as the souls were transported off to either heaven or hell.

Once the commotion had died down, Gareeku managed to snap himself out of it just in time to hear Sebastian's order to run. Not needing to be told twice, Gareeku forced himself to move, fighting through the pain he felt each time he moved a muscle. If anybody needed help, he would be there to offer assistance to those who needed help getting out. If nobody needed assistance, then the wolf would be breakign swiftly into a sprint after the bat.

Aisha had been watching the bat and the others for a reply, slowly getting to her feet and testing her leg before finding it sore, but still good enough to walk on for the time being.  She had started to look the others over, the ferret in probably the worse shape, but Bam seemed to have it under control.  The panthress bent briefly to pick up the holy blade which lay nearby, thoughtfully looking at it before she was interrupted by the female Sebastian's rasping voice.

Then the ceiling above them shook, followed by the hall around them.  The fear of being buried came back into Aisha's eyes again, before hearing the bat's order for everyone to run, and as soon they did.  The panther didn't wait to be told twice.  She hobbled a bit at first, and then took off after the others on a full sprint, going faster when the floor had started to crack open.

When the ground started to shake and Stygian yells to everyone to "Run",  PBH quickly sweeps up Gina into her arms and runs to the stairs... She doesn't look back as she dodges falling rocks...

PBH

As Keaton watched the attacks fly back and forth in a blitzkrieg of fire, blades, and energy, she adamantly cursed her circumstances. Damn it all. Just... goddamn it. Unarmed and incapable of harnessing the powers of the shadows around her, the Cubi-turned-Angel didn't stand a chance against the infuriated archangel. If only she at least had her mace—if only...

A loud seething noise drew Keaton's attention to the encroaching puddle of umbrage that had leaked around her feet, corroding in wicked, gnarled vines until it became a twisted knot of writhing tendrils. A vaguely familiar shape was emerging from the abysmal center of the pit, at first starting out gelatinously, connected to the shadow by tenuous strands of inky ichor. Smoke orbited the base of the gradually-hardening shape, enveloping it, then breaking apart as a single form--an archaic, rigidly-carved symbol, burning through the layers of black with piercing white light—shone brightly on it, beneath the thorned head of the object.

It was a Morningstar mace, completely black, save for that one, moonwashed symbol, and covered in snaking patterns of intricate carvings.

Keaton's jaw nearly dropped.

Reaching out, she attempted to scoop up the weapon, but a burning pain burst from the palms of her hands as she cradled it, lasting for only a split second before she nearly dropped the club. Thankfully, she managed to hold onto it long enough, sighing in relief when the pain subsided.

Catastrophe had come back to her. She had no idea how, no idea why, but she wasn't in the mood nor the circumstance to ponder this turn of events. Behind her, the battle raged, the archangel screeching and exchanging blow for blow, until an equally unexpected event occurred.

"SNOW!"

The ferret was screaming out her epithet for Stygian, her voice distorted and permeated with something only equivalent to heartbreak. Her form was shifting constantly, blurred and flanked by transforming, illusory apparitions. It became clear to Keaton how cursed this ferret was, how deeply she was tainted. Before Keaton knew it, she was leaping at Stygian, sword in hand, and was plunging it for his heart—

--when in a swift movement, Stygian seized the archangel and thrust her in front of him, the sword's blade skewering right through both her and the bat behind her with one shove.

Keaton's azure eyes widened behind her askew glasses, her ivory fangs sunk into her lip with almost bruising force, stifling an expletive of shock, and she nearly dropped her mace once more. "Oh my Go--" the jackal exclaimed, ears flattening and her feet propelling her backward, slamming her against a pillar. Oh my God what the FUCK just happened did that ferret just—I think she just—

She did.

There was silence, broken by the gasping of the ferret, and the shrieking of the countless voices that erupted out of nowhere.

White and blue fire and squirming blades of darkness mingled together about the impaled shapes, burning with blinding intensity. The shapes within the cataclysmic explosion of flame were nearly consumed, save for the faintest outlines of their silhouettes, but the only thing that Keaton allowed her eyes to see was that cursed sword, pushed through both angel and bat. Energizing ower, swooping specters, falling heaven and rising hell, it all rushed in by in a whirlwinding barrage of flashing energy...

And it was over in a paroxysm of exploding flame.

Keaton thought she was going to faint, as the very breath had been ripped out from her lungs. What had just happened? What the hell had just happened? What had happened to the—why was—what the FUCK was that—

Without realizing it, Keaton seemed to be unconsciously mouthing these questions under her breath, threatening to screech them out once the fire finally faded, revealing the staggering form of Stygian, clenching his vibrating fist. The archangel was gone, save for a few, almost unnoticable ashes, dappling the ground like flakes of dust. Darkness was beginning to swarm  back into place, restoring some form of reality to the surroundings. For some reason, Keaton had just felt like she had experienced an unspeakable horror, something that could only be defined as worlds colliding and every soul in hell being unleashed for that one, final moment.

Suddenly, the chamber broke into an unstable, uncontrollable series of shudders and wracking quakes, sending shards of stone and mortar raining down from the collapsing ceiling. Looking up in terror and barely jumping out of the way of a plummeting, rather hefty chunk of rock, Keaton skidded to the side, looking back and forth as everyone started to gather themselves up and prepare to escape. It was no surprise to Keaton that the mortally injured Stygian had barked out a garbled order to run—but frankly, only a complete moron would've remained in the sanctum while it was on the verge of breakdown.

Honestly, Keaton had no idea why they even bothered to bring along the disturbed little ferret, especially after her botched assassination attempt—but then again, if it weren't for that, the archangel wouldn't have met her demise. The protest that Keaton was about to spout disappeared in a heartbeat, especially once the ground started to crack and split in two with a thunderous bellow.

At this point, Keaton had no other option but to run.

So she did, cursing in a rapid-fire stream of profanities all the way.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Cog's previous feelings of compassion vanished like mist in the sunlight. His face seemed to simply droop and he gave a  loud sigh.
"Of course. The ceiling. How foolish of us." he said, sheathing his sword in a quick motion and turning on his heels. He began to sprint for the exit.

Strength was rapidly returning to Styian's limbs, and after her initial stumble her steps were becoming more and more secure. She nearly stopped, looking at her hand. She put some effort into it, and it turned, the tips of her fingers blackening and becoming sharper and longer, the skin turning to ash and cinders and cracking up, blackness writhing under the moving skin...
   She turned back against them, her irises practically burning between pitch black pupils and corneas, shifting colour like a flame just between fiery orange and intense blue. Eyeing the crumbling surroundings, one could see how the black cracks that split the floor faster and faster spread outward, ripping the surroundings apart rather than having them crumbling down on them, as if the darkness was tearing them into pieces.
   The bat's shape spilled out darkness, and an envelope of blackness tore itself out, forming tentacles that smashed away a few crumbling rocks just before they were about to fall on them. Stygian felt the hit, but it wasn't as heavy as expected. Or rather, it was as heavy as expected, but lighter than it had been.
   His powers were back in full. They really were. And he smiled, with that changed face, as the skin on it turned to ash as well around his eyes.
   "Go! I'm covering you!" the bat shouted, darkness cascading and snaking out from her, grabbing at the portal to the stairway and surrounding them as they dashed through.

   The stairway was already crumbling and cracking, the steps partly immersed in flames as fissures and cracks opened in the floor and the walls, the steps lurching under their feet. Panicked shapes, the souls of the damned, screamed and thrashed and ran around them. Fire licked their clothes and rocks toppled down around them, the satairway beginning to fall apart underneath them...

Bambi continues to run up the stairs with the ferret,  she jumps cracks fissure and dodges falling rocks and bricks.  But she finds herself slowing some by the final stair with wall of flames. When a fissure opens up below them, PBH pulls Gina to the inner wall  and they become trapped on the edge three feet wide with 10 feet of open air around them..   

PBH

There was nothing more to accurately describe the scene around the fleeing adventurers than pure chaos.  The world seemed to be crumbling around them, though they couldn't afford to pause and take their eyes away from the path ahead.  Aisha was sprinting, swishing through the portal with a sort of jump, past Sebastian with a passing concerned look.  There was a ringing in the panther's ears before the others were alongside.

Rushing ahead, the panthress worked her leg muscles to the point of exhaustion, and yet the adrenaline and stress of fear kept her running.  Around them, it was a scene that could have played out in so many dark stories, adventurers escaping the paths and fires of Hell licking at their heels...she wondered if it would even burn them.  As the stairs crumbled, Aisha gritted her teeth and, in her sprint, only started jumping the steps...two, three, four at a time.

All the while, as she soon was working to keep up with everyone, Aisha's mind just kept chanting along with harried whispers beneath a shaky breath, unheard by anyone but the raw silence of her own ears, covered by the shaking debris of the ceiling and floor.  Dioses, nos salvan... (Gods, save us.)

"Of course..." Jeremiah panted as he ran like hell (it seemed like the thing to do), "The brave heroes are triumphant, they kill the horrible beastie, and naturally the reward is for the castle to collapse around their ankles. How could it go otherwise? God forbid they build these bloody things to last. Everyone keeping up!? Have we lost any- woop!" He was still shakey on his feet from the fight (albeit his meager role in it) and just about every other type of beating he'd taken today, leaving him staggering or slipping every so often as he bounded up the crumbling stairs, dodging flames and crumbling mortar.
"I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE this bloody goddamn castle!"

Mel had scuttled backwards at the first hints of flame from Sebastian's hand, watching the transformation from lifeless to... well whatever. She started back closer when he/she started trying to speak, until the booming crack of chamber's support giving away clarified Sebastian's warning. She had worried this would happen if the angel's influence was removed.

She ran for the exit, at the same time trying to locate everyone else and make sure they were up and moving. Everyone seemed to be, although she suspected that some of them were hurt enough they would need help before safety was reached.

With the floor and stairs crumbling to depths unknown wings were such a comforting thing to possess. In front of her the frog stumbled and she grabbed his elbow. "Bitch later, run now."

"Get in line! We do too!" the frog and Mel heard a voice from down below, and then they felt something grab them and lift them away. The same happened to the feline and the ferret, as they were enveloped by tentacles of darkness, originating from Stygian who was now speeding upwards, slithering and climbing forth, the bat's true form having fully emerged and darkness flowing wildly from it.
  As the stairs crumbled beneath them, and the flames singed and roasted their fur and skin in a very, very lifelike manner, the adventurers only barely managed to throw themselves out of the crumbling archway into the open hall, before it collapsed behind them with a growling, vivid sound. But it wasn't over there. The alabaster columnades were drenched in reddish water, falling from a crackling sky filled with dark, churning clouds under a crimson heaven and between red bolts of lightning. The darkness on the sides was closing in, and the choir from before was half singing, half screaming, a dramatic crescendo in A minor that sounded like the perfect music to end a world to. Far up front, close but still all the way to the world's edge it seemed, was the gateway back into the castle, swirling like a vortex as it was slowly closing...
  "Mooove!" the bat roared, and threw herself against them, pushing them forward...

  Outside of the castle, for a few seconds, the sky turned red and the thundering storm seemed almost fiery, flashes of orange and blooded red around as lightning struck. The wind intensified, and doors swung open, gaping and showing the darkness inside that echoed of screams and crying voices.

Kerag stares at the door "what the hell!" Kerag runs away and stares at the sky wonder what in the world did he do this time.

As Styg's torrent of tenticles carried Jeremiah and the others up the stairs, he mentally went over what had led up to this point. Fleeing the collapsing tomb of an angel, being buffeted by tangible darkness and being admonished by a rather rude white feline. He probably would have reached some important conclusions about his life, the direction it was going in, and possibly have taken up a career in adventuring if he'd had a handful more undisturbed seconds to mull it over. However, that's where the stairs ended and the running started up again. Ah well, epiphonies can wait.
"Thanks!" He yelped back as he sprinted across the room.

'Oh, you're not the only one who fucking hates this place.'

Swearing fitfully under her breath, Keaton raced among the group of adventurers, legs an ivory blur beneath her rapidly moving body as she struggled to keep up with her companions. Sable-streaked, pearlescent feathers spiraled behind her like milky, velveteen comets every time one of her strides grew heavier or the ground shook in an unpredictable jostle, vibrating the whole hallway.

Hellish tongues of flame leapt up from the earth beneath the crumbling stairs, lapping dangerously at the escaping troupe's bodies in writhing daggers. Seething and gripping the elaborately engraved handle of her mace a bit tighter, Keaton watched with horrified eyes as the entire room started to warp and convert into a vile counterpart of its former self, drowned in tainted sanguine. Distorted voices screeched in a frightening symphony of chanting and screaming in the background, complimenting the decaying state of the rapidly-collapsing world around them.

Up ahead, Keaton barely noticed the churning, twisting portal back into the castle and out of the hell they had been sealed into over the periphery of the frames of her glasses. Thank God. With a final roar from Stygian, he leapt at the group, shoving them forward collectively with bruising force...

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Sweat flying from her face, Aisha leapt away from the flames threatening to lick at her feet, feeling the heat on her bare heels.  Yet she thought nothing of it and kept going, ever more determined to back to the surface...and even then, she grimaced at the sight before them and wanted to pause...so much red...she cringed from a fleeting, nameless memory and turned her frightened and adrenaline-soaked body to the portal, though the path beneath the feet of the adventurers all slowly seemed to crumble...

She barely heard Stygian's roaring, shadow-encompassed voice from behind, she was just reaching for the slowly slipping portal out of the nightmarish realm crumbling apart in a blaze of glory and pain.  Aisha felt the push from behind, and the panthress used the energy to make a desperate, muscle-bunched lunge from the flaming ground...she closed her eyes and felt the tingling again while passing through the other side, landing on the floor with her shoulder cushioning a hard fall.

Landing outside of the painting they had entered earlier, Gareeku fell to his knees as the fatigue obtained mostly from the blows dealt to him began to take effect.
"Well now...I think that's enough excitement for a while..." the wolf muttered in between pants and winces from the dull pains in his body.

When the running and tossing about finally ended Mel found herself on her hands and knees on the floor below the gate painting which was no longer a gate. The painting was just a painting, the pigments running and smeared as if left in the rain. She looked around and everyone seemed to be present. She got to her feet and dusted herself off from the rock dust and soot of the collapse. "I read that House Caeruleus was known for throwing lavish entertainments, Sebastian. But I hope you don't feel compelled to top this last one any time soon."

Mel looked around at her companions, particularly the ones who had been in the forefront of the battle, "Who needs healing first?"

Breaking through the ephemeral threshold separating the entrance of the now-fading painting and the real world in a swirl of churning colors, Keaton went sailing somewhere over the fallen Gareeku, landing unceremoniously with a sickening thud against the tiled floor. Groaning and twitching on her aching side, trying to ignore the irritating pain in her shoulder, Keaton flared her feathered wings out as she drew herself up to her knees, rubbing her head with the heel of her palm.

"Owowowowow..." she moaned, ears flat and glassy eyes dazed. Burying her fingers in her disarrayed, ivory hair, Keaton shook her head, as though she were trying to banish the dizzying sensation that was clouding it. Looking rather grouchy behind a veil of askew hair, Keaton peered over her shoulder, watching the colors of the painting smear and run down its distorted surface in a waxy mix of fiery hues.

"Y'know what, Sebastian?" she asked, letting her head drop into her hands.

"I hate your castle too."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

PBH finds herself on the floor breathing heavy in a heap with Gina on top of her, where the bat had deposited them..  She is too tried to move, but she watched the paint's gateway close from her position on the floor.. 

"Thanks, Sebastian..but can I barrow this floor space? I will be asleep if you need me." PBH says before she passes out. 

PBH

With a leap and a roll, Cog jumped through the portal from that world to the castle, and promptly rolled into rather old and very hard chess table. He lay there unceremoniously for a few seconds before lurching back to his feet and leaning against the wall, catching his breath. He laughed darkly at the other's comments.
"I still say burn the place."

His coat flapping dramatically, Jeremiah lunged through the painting before it closed. It probably would have been more impressive if he hadn't misjudged how high up the painting was. He got up and dusted himself off, looking at the ruined painting thoughtfully.
"You know, it looks better this way. Sort of a Dante meets Salvador Dali sort of thing. What do you guys think?" He grinned back to the others, "Hate it, love it, this place has some nice art."

Hearing the others' comments, Gareeku rolled his eyes somewhat, before slowly getting back onto his feet, albeit a little unsteadily.
"Well now...if everyone if quite done bitching..." he commented with a slight smirk as he looked at the others. Glancing over at Mel, the wolf knew she should concentrate on getting herself back to a reasonable condition before attempting to heal others. Besides, the members of the group appeared to be relatively alright, considering what had happened in the time they had stepped through the now-ruined painting portal.

"I don't know about you guys...but I'm starving..." Gareeku said, turning and walking a little unsteadily, using the wall as support as he looked at Sebastian. "Mind showing me where the kitchen is?"

There was a last peel of thunder from the painting as the runny colours swirled and flowed in a vortex of red and black, growing still around the dark portal at the heart of it. With a scream and a last thrust, Stygian pushed through, throwing herself out in a burst of darkness through the portal just before it sealed shut, and rolled over the floor before slamming into a table. Her darkness began receding and she lay still, panting and watching them all with gleaming eyes.
  "Out of the question... we've dealt with it..." she said, and grunted, before her voice began turning normal again. "But we need to fix a few more things... like my back... ow..." She stood up, slowly returning to her ordinary shape, breathing heavily. She tried steadying herself against the table, but when the leg of it broke she stumbled against the railing of the stairs instead, and sighed.
  The painting had become solid and still again. Still it had turned into a very good, if dramatic piece. As if through a wet glass, one could see the hall, the columnades, the red sky and the shadows from out of which gleaming eyes peered, the shapes of the damned ones trapped there vaguely discernable. And at the heart of it all was the dark gate, cracked and absolutely black at its heart. But still, it was only a painting now, even if more lifelike than anything any artist could ever have created.
  "That one will hang in the library," the bat said.

Aisha had her eyes closed for a while as she lay on the floor beneath the grand painting, recovering slowly from the experience that she and everyone else coming through had just had.  She felt everyone landing nearby, through vibrations in the floor from their feet and bodies.  The panthress opened an eye after counting them, and finding that the others were pretty much all there, if not a few having been carried.

She had to laugh at everyone's comments about the castle, for she certainly agreed herself...but it couldn't have been the place itself that had been so evil, but the angel...and she was gone.  Aisha slowly ordered herself on her feet, testing her sore leg and finding it still worked, and trying to fight through the fatigue while glancing at the painting, which had become solid and still again...though thoroughly changed.  It was barely believable to think that they had pretty much been in a hell bordered with a frame.

"Food?" she glanced at Gareeku with a shaky, rasping laugh, after composing herself.  "How can you think of...?"  That was when her stomach made a slight, barely audible grumble.  The panther pinned her ears.  "Never mind."

Kerag makes sure his wings are hidden and walks back up to the door a little slowly make sure if anything decides to jump out and attack he can run full speed out of there he gets to the door and knocks on it and ask in a small voices "Is every ok in here?"

The bat looked completely dumbfounded for a second at Gareeku's comment, and flicked her lengthened tail once. Then, she smiled. And slowly, she burst into hard and long laughter.
   It took a while, but she finally stopped, rubbed her temple, and surprisingly wrapped an arm around Gareeku's back and slapped him a bit on the shoulder.
   "You're okay, puppy. Heh. Adventurers..." she said, and chuckled some more. She began walking smoothly against the exit. "I doubt you'll find anything fresh in the kitchen. A decade does things to... well, everything. Except me, I hope..." She stopped in the doorway and looked back at them over her shoulder.
   "We could probably get some food quickly from town. I cam go and be back quickly. In the mean time, I think that it would be proper if our resident arcanists went and began working on countering the curses we still have left..."
   After the last comment, her eyes gleamed back at them, while she gave a sinister and meaningful look to Mel, Keaton... and Cogidubnus.

   The castle seemed still now. The dark, open windows were no longer threatening, the doors no longer like gates to some distant and frightening place. It was just the building in its imposing grandeur that was a bit threatening now. But it was open and empty. As were the front doors.

At Sebastian's words, Cog, who had been rather relived and calm at escaping the flames and fires of hell, suddenly remembered what he had done within those flames, and looked at his own hand, trembling. The memories of what he had done, been able to do while fighting the angel came back to him with startling speed. He slid down the wall, and sat roughly on the ground. As he stared at his hand, a spark suddenly jumped between the fingers, and he flinched violently.
"Dammit....why..." he said, pushing his shades up over his eyes with his other hand. Behind his shades, he seemed to merely become like a piece of stone for a moment, unmoving and silent. In his mind, he was teetering on the brink of exploding or imploding, desperately trying to think of some way to deny the lightning that now jumped from his hands. He had become everything he hated, and the sparks that now flowed from one finger to another condemned him. Arcane.
He did not cry, but rather began to laugh eerily, a mirthless laugh that died shortly after leaving his lips. He let his hand fall to his side. He was not all he hated yet, but this was a good first step, he thought bitterly.
"It makes perfect sense. If it were anyone else..." he said, suddenly laughing that eerie laugh again. "Anyone else..."

Stygian eyed Cog while her face turned serious, even bitter, and her eyes narrowed. There was obviously something very wrong with that one. He would have to talk to these people some. They were interesting, and he was in their debt in a way, but if they were all to make this work out...
   "I can take a trip into town. Presuming it's still there, of course. But I think I remember..." the bat said, using the stolen memories from the ferret just a bit. "I have a lot of other things to catch up on as well, I think. And money won't be any problem." She looked at them all for a short moment. "Anyone else coming?" In truth she was hoping they weren't.

Kerag slowly walks into to the castle and looks around with a little aw of the place. he didn't pay attion to his Surroundings

Aisha leaned against a wall and sighed, listening to the conversations starting.  The others still looked winded and tired, and she looked over those who had still kept the curses of the spiders upon them.  Keaton...and now Cogi it seemed, from the look of irony he sported.  Let's hope this can be solved.

Glancing up on hearing the bat's inquiry to the group, Aisha glanced around for a second.  Getting out of the castle sounded a good prospect...but there was a factor that seemed to bind them in place.  She laughed.  "I dunno about the others, but I might stay for a bit, señora.  We've taken enough long walks."

Mel looked around from staring at the remains of the gate. "I think I will stay here and heal those that need it." She looked deliberately at Gareeku who had flecks of blood on his muzzle where he had been coughing up blood. She suspected he was in need of quite immediate help and hoped he wouldn't deny it, although she suspected the pantheress would be her ally in convincing him.

The bat flinched at the implications made by the word placed in Aisha's last statement. She frowned a bit with a sour look to her face, and snorted.
  "Solucionaremos esto sobre mi vuelta, niña. Por favor no intente y enfádeme. Incluso si esto tiene éxito, que no es probable, no estará bien para usted..."* she said, giving Aisha a little grin under that frown, and then turned to walk out, leaving the adventurers behind. "The kitchens should be at the centre of the bottom floor. It's big. You will find it," she spoke back to them, before her steps silenced and went away.

  The castle's interior, like its exterior, while magnificent and just as grand and dark as before, seemed much less living and hostile. The hallways were navigable now, the surroundings having returned to órder, and while there was still a bit of that haunted sensation now, it was distant and frightening more because of its strangeness rather than any evil or malice. All in all, it mostly just appeared to be an old, mysterious castle now. One with a history, and perhaps a few ghosts, but nothing that an adventurer couldn't handle.

  As Kerag walked further in, suddenly he became aware of steps from somwhere, though he couldn't immediately tell where before they were directly upon him. A figure turned around a corner just a few feet from him, heading against the entrance, a tall, beautiful female bat with pointed ears, pale blonde fur and quite manly clothes. She placed a pair of slim glasses on the bridge of her nose, just before looking at him and quirking an eyebrow at the newly arrived. She didn't look long though, just sighed and walked past him with a bland look to her face.
  "Two lefts and then a right. They're all there," she said, whatever that was supposed to mean.

* (Spanish: We will solve that upon my return, little girl. Please do not try and anger me. Even if it succeeds, which is not probable, it will not be good for you...)

Kerag spins around his hand rises in the air with his index finger pointing to the celling and looks like he about to say something but what he was about to say just left his brain as quick as it came. Kerag just stood there feeling a bit numbed.

"Kitchens. Bottem floor. Right," Jeremiah snapped off a salute and a grin at Sebastionette as she left. Of course, the at-attention posture vanished as soon as it had appeared. He leaned against a nearby wall next to the painting and looked around.
"So, all for poking around this place some more for food. Or whatever food was preserved well enough to last the good umpty-thousand years it's been since people lived here..." He mentally went over a sort of checklist, gazing over the rest of the group. Gina's okay. Bambi's okay. Cog's gone all twitchy. Gareeku's had the crap kicked out of him. Aisha's been knocked around a bit. Snow-Leopard-whose-name-I-don't-know is ready to fix the above. Cubangel chick's still got her sense of humor. Tough guy... Will probably show up later, if I know this place.

Having climbed successfully to her feet once the stinging pain in her side had dulled to a few, minor throbs, Keaton checked over her body for any visible injuries. Since she didn't have the chance to participate in the match against the now dearly-departed archangel, there were none to be seen. It was likely, however, that a bruise would form in the place where her side had struck the floor.

Gathering up her mace, which had landed a good distance away, Keaton dusted herself off and folded her wings elegantly behind her. She had grown tolerant of their presence after going through such unbearable tribulations in the past day, as becoming an Angel--as much as she adamantly loathed the race--paled in comparison to being forced to remember the fate of her clan and family. At first, she felt like glaring at Gareeku for focusing on EATING of all things, but it appeared that Stygian approved of the idea.

Meanwhile, Cogidubnus, the one who had offered his words of wisdom before, seemed rather devastated by some apparent curse which had been inflicted upon him. Deep down, Keaton felt inexplicably concerned for someone who had been genuinely caring during her moment of despair for once, completely juxtaposing with her normally selfish nature.

"Hey..." she started slowly, "Are you--hey. Are you okay...?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Aisha simply stood and listened to Sebastianette's retort with her arms crossed, a sort of blank look in her crimson gaze before the bat turned and walked away from them.  Her ears were kept pinned back to her skull at being referred to as a child, but a light smirk appeared on her face.  A remark with a polite title earns a threat in return?  For this place, that is not surprising at all.

The panthress sighed, deciding to stick around with the others until they were healed.  She sent a slight grin to Gareeku in particular, who as always looked a little more beat up than what was healthy.  She also kept in mind the direction of the kitchen.  Though the castle had lost most of its threatening air, there was still the feeling that lingered, the kind that the adventurers had only expected upon coming in the first place.  Haunted, abandoned, and devoid of vitality that ran on blood; only this motley group of adventurers and Creatures had that aspect.

And truth be told, even if the panthress wasn't easily creeped out on the overall feeling of the old castle, she still didn't feel like using much energy right away.

Mel followed closely behind Gareeku as they made their way to the kitchen area. When they got there she told him, "Since we have a while to wait for Sebastian to return with food why don't I spend the time doing healings? I think you might be my first patient." She gestured to a rough dining area, obviously intended for servants, just off the main preparation room. "My office, sir."

Cog sat quietly as the others discussed food and the gathering thereof, not very hungry himself. He had a small grin on his face, and still let out a dry chuckle every moment or two. He knew he was overreacting, but he honestly didn't care. He'd walked through hell, and started exhibiting arcane abilities. He could freak out if he wanted to.
He looked up at Keaton from behind shaded lenses. His grin faded, and his eyes were wild beneath his glasses. "Oh, no, I'm not fine at all. But I will survive." he said, his grin returning. "One of life's ironies, you see! What I hate, I now do! Wretched man that I am, how glorious! Cogidubnus the Mage!" he said, the last line passing over his tongue like ash.

Making his way to the kitchen, Gareeku entered the room, looking around the place before deciding to sit down on one of the chairs at the kitchen table. It was then, however, that he heard a voice from behind. Looking round, the wolf found that Mel had entered after him. Hearing her request to heal him, he smiled slightly.
"Honestly, I'm fine. Go and see to the others first." he replied, wincing slightly from another shot of dull pain that made itself present.

Time passed, enough for the adventurers to mull or moan a great deal about their state and being, and the things that had happened. The rainstorm outside continued for quite some time, thunder echoing in the distance, though far from as intensely as it had before. After a while, even that one began abating, the skies clearing around a high and impressive moonrise. From the few grand clocks around, such as the one standing against the wall of the dining area, one could tell it was getting closer and closer to midnight.
   Then, just before midnight struck, the shape of the bat came wandering up the long road to the castle in the moonlight, holding several large bags. She entered it, seeking out the others...

Kerag just takes the advice and try to find his way to what ever the girl said he end up in a kitchen Kerag suddenly feels a little awkward

Jeremiah had eventually followed Gareeku to the kitchens, and had been right about there being little that had been preserved with the amount of time involved here in mind. So there he was, poking around and wondering if there were pickles or olives or SOMETHING that had lasted the years. He didn't want much, and thus took it as a personal affront that it wasn't there.
"You guys find anything?" he looked up from a cupboard as Kerag wandered in, "Yo guys, we got another one! Hey," the frog smiled at the newcomer politely as he abandoned his search for a few minutes, "Name's Jeremiah, welcome to the least pleasant place on the face of the earth. If you have any appointments elsewhere, such as perhaps one with your amatuer dentist who can't afford anesthetics, I advise you take care of that first. Not only does this place just suck up your free time, but it'll seem less god awful by comparison."

Despite Gareeku's protests as soon as he sat Mel started the work of healing him. It took a while, he was quite a bit worse off than he would admit to. But long before the bat reappeared with the food she had finished his repairs and had gone around the group, tending all the wounds, big or small.

Aisha went without protest during the few hours that the adventurers waited in the castle's kitchen, darkening with the passing night until it was suspected that they were passing the middle of it with time.  The panthress didn't feel sleepy yet, after having thought about it while walking to the kitchen with the others and looking around before.

Even with the castle's demeanor calm, the memories of what they had gone through were a more than a little haunting.  She much suspected it of the others too; more hungry than anything were some, but still very much wide awake.

She watched as the others were healed of their various injuries, and allowed Mel to fix up her sprained ankle.  The soreness lingered and then vanished with time, leaving only one discomfort: the fact that her dark navy clothes were darkened further by so many blood stains.  As soon as she could, Aisha had started walking around the kitchen, sating her curiosity by poking around in various cupboards and grimacing at whatever she found.  Better than sitting still.

Then at one point, she had noticed a stranger walking in the room...another adventurer no doubt, but only spared a nod to him before continuing to walk.  Then she leapt on top of a counter and just sat on it, darting her eyes around at the others, and then finally posed a question towards the frog.  "Jeremiah?  You think you're gonna need that bracer for much longer, amigo?  It might be useful if it were available for healing again."  Her look wasn't one of impatience, just moreover a slight concern.

Without so much as a word, Stygian reappeared in the kitchen through one of the doors silently, went in while still not making so much as a sound, and dropped some bags on the floor right next to Aisha. While out, she had gone from a state of relief and gladness, to wonder, and now to mellow sadness as a few realizations settled in.
   "Things have changed," was all she said about her venture outside, unpacking a few things and leaving others in the bags. "There's something called wok in one of the bags. I got us some other things too, and stuff so we have things to eat for a couple of days after," she continued, pulling out a plastic bag with some red fluid in it and a glass.
   The bat didn't mean to stay, clearly. She looked them all over with cold eyes and stayed silent for a few moments. Then, she took the bag, the glass, some candles and a pen she had bought, and began walking out.
   "If you need me, I'll be in the library. I expect to see you there later, both Keaton and Mel." She strode out, and looked at Cogidubnus, still with that critical look. "You as well, wolf," she said, and then quietly made her way down the corridors.

Aisha's request had been unanticipated, but not at all unreasonable. Still, Jeremiah had no clue whether or not this new persona had learned the rules. Finally, after a couple seconds of worrying, he reached a decision.
"I have no clue, but we have to find out sometime," He held out his arm and waited for Aisha to remove it, "Let me know if I go crazy again. I'm assuming I wont notice until after the fact."

While listening for Jeremiah's response, Aisha turned her head up to glance at the entryway where their host had returned, and tilted her head at the way she looked upon doing so.  It certainly wasn't too unexpected, considering the amount of time the bat had spent in isolation; things would have surely changed indeed.

Before she could say anything however, she had left the bags on the floor and left, calling back a few of the others.  Shrugging, at least the panther agreed with having the mood lifted, by having the various curses lifted as such.

Turning back to the frog, Aisha leapt from the counter and paced over, hesitating a moment.  "No problem, if you don't notice I think we will," she laughed before placing a hand on the still-glowing surface and uttering the spell for unlocking it.  With a click, the glow flickered, and the panthress took it away from his wrist.

Cog lurched up from where he sat and made his way to the kitchen, not really hungry, but simply needing to get his mind off this turn of events. He clamped his jaws together to keep from giggling the whole way down, and kept his hands evenly at his sides.
He leaned on a counter as he entered and his face brightened considerably at the mention of the cuisine that Sebastian had gotten. Wok wasn't a half bad choice. He did hope someone could cook, though. He thought back to the last time he had tried to cook and grinned in true mirth. They had said it was impossible to melt macaroni, but he'd showed them...
At Sebastian's final words thought, the grin flew off his face and he scowed deeply. He busied himself looking in the sacks, wondering if she'd brought anything that had more bite than water.

Kerag see that he is ignored he moves out of the kitchen following the bat girl to the library intend to find out what the hell is happening here.

It really shouldn't have surprising that Cogidubnus would've reacted bitterly in response to Keaton's question--after all, she probably would've done the same. But nevertheless, the jackal recoiled after the wolf snapped, an almost bestial look overcoming his eyes from behind his shades. Lifting her hands defensively, Keaton raised an eyebrow behind the frames of her glasses, regarding his outburst with a casual, yet slightly unnerved exterior.

"Well excuse me for giving a fuck," she said coldly, turning away and walking over to a suddenly very interesting section of the room.

Ears lowered flat against her skull, she folded her arms, sulking irritably. Well, that went as smoothly as she thought it would. Nice to have your sentiments regurgitated into your face... but some insensitive, curious part of her demanded to know why Cogidubnus resented mages so much. Keaton shrugged her shoulders in response; it wasn't any of her business, and besides, it couldn't be much different from her eternal loathing towards Angels.

Keaton spent the next moments pertinaciously pouting and sulking about her failed consolation attempt, as weak and easily rebuffed as that aforementioned attempt was. It wasn't as though she was a veteran to the entire "care about someone other than yourself" tirade. Soon enough, Stygian reappeared, a bag containing what would be their next meal in tow. Keaton wasn't as enthusiastic as the rest of the group; after all, she was a Cubi. She didn't need to eat, and the remnants of suffering still radiating off of the unconscious ferret's body nearby did very nicely to sustain her, as well as the hodgepodge of emotions she filtered from Cogidubnus (this was partially layered away from her mental barrier, however, as Keaton felt slightly guilty for leeching off of the wolf's fouler emotions).

Stygian told her to meet him in the library, so she decided to do so. Burying her free hand in its corresponding pocket, while the other gripped her mace by its elaborate handle, she followed the others who started to wander towards the library, apparently including another unfortunate newcomer...

~Keaton the Black Jackal

To the momentary relief of the wolf, upon inspection two of the bags revealed themselves to hold nothing but quite a few bottles of alcoholic beverages, including wiskey, cognac, bourbon, vodka, wine and some packages of cigars and cigarettes as well. The others mostly held beef, rice, vegetables and fruit, and oil and other foodstuffs. But there were quite a few of them that held papers, notebooks, candles, pens and books on a number of topics too. It seemed that the bat was intending on doing a lot of business there.

  The bat paced silently and smoothly as ever down the hallways, not paying heed to the feline following her. She held a notebook and some loose papers in her hand, and a pen, the glass and plastic bag in her other.
  When she reached the library, she set the things down and pulled up a chair to a table with a black tentacle along the floor, then sat down with a sigh and grabbed a book from the table, skimming a page before looking back up at the feline and straightening her glasses.
  "Unless you have some serious arcane or occult knowledge on advanced transmutation, or you are here to assist me by cleaning up the place, I seriously doubt I can help you," she said, and went back to reading, opening the bag and pouring out the red liquid in it, obviously blood, into the glass. Then, she noticed Keaton coming in, and looked up again, this time with a more level expression.
   "Ah. There you are." She studied her shortly, looking her straight in the eyes. "You are experienced in the dark arts, are you not?" she asked, her gaze chilly. Just as before, Keaton could barely feel any emotion coming off the bat at all.

Mel decided she would give Sebastian a while to settle in before heeding his summons. Food then curse research. "My cooking tends to be uninspired at it's best. Why don't I peel and chop and let someone else more creative do the artistic part."

The ancient kitchen had one advantage over a modern one. The old fashioned ice box was still useable after all these years. Opening the upper hatch Mel filled it with ice with a simple spell. Soon it would be cool enough to keep whatever they didn't use at this meal from spoiling. Then she grabbed a knife and began chopping vegetables. "Anyone see any wood or coal to get a fire going?" she asked over her shoulder.

PBH wakes after a few hours from the cold hard floor under the old painting.  Wandering around a bit, she finds that most everyone have move to the kitchen.  Upon hearing Mel request of wood or coal for a fire, She cautiously opens the trap door in the floor, hoping that no more bats are still trapped down there.  She goes down, finds, and brings up some broken and dry-rotten wooden crates and old barrels.  She setup the wood in the fireplace and lites them with a fire spell.  She slowly warms herself and builds on it for cooking,   

"Does anyone know or can get some water for the pot?" asked PBH in a croaky voice..

Suddenly Mel felt a stab of hunger that had nothing to do with the food in front of her. She had been using magic at a great rate and needed minerals. Unfortunately she was disguised as a feline at the moment and chewing up rocks would look decidedly odd. She needed to get away from the crowd for a few minutes.

Mel set down the knife. "There, plenty of veggies. I need to go see what Sebastian needs in the library. But I'll be back so save me something."

She made the walk to the library a slow one, crunching bits of quartz and topaz as she went.

It didn't take long for Keaton to catch up with the congregation of adventurers and enter the library, surveying the ancient sanctum with a gliding sweep of her baby blue eyes. Once she had arrived, Stygian called her over to where he had taken his seat, pouring himself a glass of crimson fluid (!). Quirking her eyebrow, Keaton approached, considerably startled by the lack of emotions that writhed around him.

Normally, being harmonized to detecting the slightest changes of emotion in a person, it was child's play to monitor a person's innermost thoughts even without having to directly invade their minds, but with this man...

Something was dreadfully wrong.

"'Dark arts'?" Keaton repeated, managing to hide her shock effectively enough. Folding her wings, she sat down in a rather vermicated, moldy armchair (she pinched her nose shut between her index finger and thumb as she dusted it relatively free of dust and decay).

After situating herself comfortably enough, she inclined her head inquisitively in Stygian's direction. "Yeah, I know about it. Why do you ask?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

The bat sneered at Keaton's attempts at secrecy. He had seen quite a few things in his life, and what the jackal had done, and the magic and sensation she had oozed of before. Was she expecting that he would not recognize a dark magic user when he saw one?
   "I care not whether you can perform dark magic properly like that or not. Your halo's askew by the way..." she began. "I think I could need someone else with magical expertise to break these effects lain upon us. I will have to go question her who is the source of this problem as well, why I would like someone who knows what they're doing to go through possible solutions to this. I've never tried breaking the effects of Arachspearian poison before, and this doesn't seem normal even to that sort..."
   The bat took her glass, and drank quite deeply, murring for a moment as she took it from her lips and licked them. As she did, a book, held by a clawlike, three-fingered hand that originated from a black tentacle, which in turn originated from under the bat's coat, snuck up next to her from beside the chair.
   "Greene's Thesis on Curses and Hatefully Bonded Magic. I think it would be a good start," Stygian said, and smirked at the jackal. That was when she heard steps coming from the corridor, and watched Mel walking in, brushing off her hands of something. "Ah, and here comes even more help."
   The bat rose from her seat, putting the book down and taking her glass with her. She strode up next to Mel, looking at her with a musing, if not humorous gaze.
   "As I was saying, I would very much appreciate if you could sit down and do some research on what's happened to us. These are no normal curses, and I think we need to take a very specific approach to them." She passed the dragon in disguise, and sipped her drink a bit, then looked back at them with gleaming eyes from the doorway. "I'm going to get us some more materiel. I'll be back soon though," she said, and walked out, heading for the chapel.

Having decided not to protest any longer as Mel healed him, Gareeku gave his thanks to her, before seeing that the bat had returned with food. Watching the others light the fir and chop the vegetables, the wolf got up to help, when Mel went off somewhere, Gareeku presuming the library.

Putting the chopped vegetables in the wok, the wolf then put the pan over the fire, gently stirring the vegetables with a spoon (a clean one, luckily) he had found in one of the kitchen drawers.

It wasn't so much of that she didn't think that he wouldn't identify one who relied on dark magic, but that she was a bit surprised that he found it was of any significance, especially when it seemed she wasn't the only one who was a wielder of darkness. Leaning her mace against the arm of the antediluvian chair, she leaned back as comfortably as possible without her wings becoming an convenience--it was times like that she wished she could still shapeshift. Maybe she had taken such inherent abilities for granted.

At the mention of her halo, Keaton scowled, her pallid lower lip clamped between enamel knives. How nice it was to be reminded of being turned into something she despised the most. Oh cruel irony, how she loathed it. Five hundred years of her life and she still hadn't developed some form of tolerance or amusement for it.

Helping to break the curse, nevertheless, intrigued Keaton. She hadn't expected to be called upon to help at any time during this misadventure, especially since her magic and transformation skills had been reduced to nothing in this enchanted form. The sooner they could remove the curses injected into them, the better.

"Alright," Keaton stated, watching as one of Stygian's shadowy tentacles drew itself out from the ground and retrieved a book. "I'll give it a try. I'll start looking for any information A-S-A-P."

Checking to make sure her mace was safely in place, she ambled over to the nearest bookcase, scanning over the selection of hardcovers. Azure eyes shifted to the side, skimming over the grand bookcases etched into the walls, containing thousands upon thousands of novels within their chambers.

It was debatable, but it could've been possible that this library held more books than she had ever read in her life.

This would take a while.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Mel sighed a bit, thinking of the dinner she was missing. Good thing the minerals would sustain her for a good long time. She turned to the small catalog by the door, searching out common texts on curses until she could see how they had arranged the room. She quickly came to the conclusion that the owners must have been a fun bunch as they had every book on curses she had ever heard of and more besides. A few minutes and she thought she had the lay of the place enough to go get her first pile of references.

PBH helps Gareeku with wok and the food.   After awhile, PBH says "ah Hi, I'm Bambi Hunnydew... I didn't caught your name, but Can I have some food for Mel?.. She seem to have sidetrack into something else but I am sure she is hungry."   PBH stands ready with a plate for some the cooked meat and veggies to go to Mel, as she waits for Gareeku to answer her.

PBH

Putting the meet to cook in a separate smaller pan he had found in the drawers, Gareeku heard Bambi speak and smiled.
"My name is Gareeku. Gareeku Manoko. It's a pleasure to meet you, Bambi." he replied, the smile still on his face as he spoke.

A short while later, the food had finished cooking. Hearing Bambi's question, the wolf nodded.
"Sure thing, though I'm not entirely sure where she's gone to." he replied, putting some of the vegetables and meat on the plate that Bambi was holding, before sharing out the rest of the food equally on to the other plates for people.

Stygian came back from the chapel after about an hour and a half, carrying with her what appeared to be the spider-woman from before. Except she looked different now. No longer was she a monstrous mix between arachnid and humanoid, but now looked rather well. Her skin was thesame black as before, but smooth and flexible and much less chitinous than it had been. Her face looked less cruel and distorted, though it still held a firmly arachnoid resemblance as she still had fangs and eight eyes, with three small pairs situated around her two main ones. She had an abdomen that hung just below her rump, two legs and six arms, and clean and long red hair that flowed in wavy, clear trails from her scalp. She was also gagged and chained up, and shaking, making little cries of anger.
   "I'll be with you in a heartbeat," Stygian said and set her down on a sofa, smiling a bit at the woman's attempts to resist. The bat didn't pay her much more attention, just looked at Keaton and Mel to see if they had made any progress, and to see if Cog had joined them yet. Asserting that the answer to both questions was a no, she sighed and sat down again, beginning to work.
   Progress was slow. After several attempts with conventional spells, a great deal of reading, some tissue samples and a bit of debate, they had concluded that the effects of their curses was not persisting due to any active magic or poisoning. Rather, they had just settled into them in some odd way which Stygian found disturbing, albeit quite useful if one could replicate the effects. Mel had found out that not only several angels, but also a rather powerful dragon from the clan Stormclaw, one Azhi, had been involved in many of the Caerule family affairs and also helped in placing the curse on the castle, and that Stygian bore a deep grudge against him and his clan for that. Keaton had learned from watching Stygian's working that the bat had to be an incredibly skilled and cunning dark mage, possibly classically schooled and even having authored works and created spells, or as he called them; hexes, by himself. Both had learned that the Caerules, against their reclusiveness, had been at the heart of many great plots and magical conspiracies, mostly in conflict with the Don'Chel family, which had revealed itself to be a family of demon-blooded dark mages. Apart from magical knowledge, the library was full of historical accounts and documents, many of which Mel would have wanted to have lain hands upon years ago, a few some of which even proved things in the Icewing collection inaccurate or completely wrong.
   After quite some time, the bat slapped a book together, rubbed her temple, and finished her bag of blood.
   "Allright," she said, sighing. "We've seen that there is no active hold effect, or any traces to trail and use to find unraveling points. If that was the case, then we could try a conventional approach. But there is no information or symbolic meaning, other than that we all seem to have been turned into something we find most unpleasant. That probably means we can't go about trying to dispel the curses by fulfilling some procedure, and thereby lifting them. So it's not technically not curses at all. It's just... poisoning." She shook her head, and laughed. "Yet, still the effects are holding against transmutation reversal, so that implies that it's forcing us to stay this way... It really makes no sense. Could we make a potion? Or a ritual, perhaps? Something with strong enough symbolic value. Or should we try an ego assertion effect? Those work against illusions, at least..."

After Aisha had removed the bracer from Jeremiah, she took a few steps back with a little caution, before nodding with a little relief.  "Seems you're okay for now."  Gods, don't let that statement be a jinx or something.  I've had enough of wraiths.  She nodded her thanks for its return and replaced the light artifact on her belt, before stepping back across to lean on the counter.

She watched as a couple of the others started chopping the vegetables and meat, and starting the fire, off a little to the side so that at least she wouldn't be in the way.  Aisha had minimal skills with cooking, enough for her to survive well enough, but after all that had happened everyone deserved a decent meal more worthy of one made by the artisans of the group.  Perhaps later I'll see what I can do with the rice and fruit, she grinned after taking a minute to look at the bags.  At least frying a little bit of it would make a dessert of sorts...

When she noticed the food was finished, Aisha craned her nose to the air.  "Gods, that smells good," she commented and started over toward a table, with a smile to Gareeku.  "You're a natural, muchacho."

 Having no culinary ability to speak of, Cog didn't have much to do in the kitchen. He was delighted however to find Sebastian had brought a great deal of liquor with her from the town, and not knowing where the glasses were kept, simply made off with the bottle of whiskey. He walked down one of the hallways, not really knowing where he was going, nor caring.
He found an empty room and stopped there, sitting and unscrewing the cap to the booze. He took a long pull, and sighed as it went down. He stared around the rather dull room for a moment, and set the bottle on a table next to his chair. He leaned back and sat in the silence for a moment, thinking.
He sat  for a long while, occasionally pausing to sigh or sip more of the drink. He must have thought of something pleasant, or something comforting, for his face brightened somewhat after a while. He stood from the chair, and taking the bottle with him, he left the room and headed for the library where Sebastian was. The bat had wanted to see him, he was fairly certain.

More work. More debate. More dispute. More failure. The three... well, four of them, Stygian, Mel and Keaton sat around and exchanged knowledge and theories, while the spider-girl lay in hopelessness on the couch. But they were not getting that much closer.
   Then, Cogidubnus stumbled into the library, and while he was not entirely off his feet he seemed more intoxicated than he was aware of. In his hand he was holding one of the bottles Stygian had brought, a good three quarts of it emptied. The bat thought three things; firstly that the wolf could obviously hold his drink, secondly that he was entitled to it if he was having such an awful experience, and thirdly that it could nonetheless be a problem. Unless they all got drunk together, which would be great stress relief. Only, Keats seemed too sour for drinks, and Mel too... posh.
   "Ah. He arrives. Tell me, wolf; do you think we should use Colem's Greater Conductor for the ritual we're planning next?" the bat asked, a smile on her face. It was more of an idea she had gotten.
   Of course, it would be stupid. And that was the point. Cogidubnus could see that, and that was what frightened him. The spell Stygian had suggested was general magic with a heavy lightning connotation. It used large amounts of electricity to 'supercharge' the magical effect and spread it out through anything that conducted electricity well enough. It was fool's talk, since there was no need for it and the storm outside had passed. But Cogidubnus knew the spell, the incantation circle to it and the method and procedure to use it. And if Stygian had hit the spot, he would break down over it.

PBH follow Cog as he made his way to the library, she paws were too full of a tray with food and china to be much help to the drunken wolf.   She also had little pity for him, since she, herself had been in similiar condition before and pity never got her out of the wine barrel.  The wolf weaved left and right down the hallway until he got to the library, PBH silently move around him into the library and handed out food and drink to everyone who wanted some.  Seeing the spiderlady, PBH stopped by her, and wondering she could risk giving the spider at least some water... But goes on to finally brings Mel her plate, PBH sits down nearby to MEL and listens in finding out, where they are in their research..... Her eye going wide at the large Dymo-electrical device in the middle of the room.

PBH

For the umpteenth time, Keaton browsed over the yellowed pages of the book in her hands.

For the umpteenth time, Keaton found absolutely nothing.

Growling and shoving the senescent novel she was gripping back between Ancient Occult Rituals and The Other Side of the Mirror - A Study of Dark Magic, Keaton leaned back and folded her arms before her bosom, sulking deeply. For Christ's sake. Of all the bullshit that she had to endure throughout this sordid experience, this was perhaps one of the most frustrating. Compared to being transformed into anything remotely heavenly and their encounter with the mutated arachnids and the archangel, however, Keaton would prefer this any day.

The only problem was that during the past few hours or so (Keaton had no idea how much time had passed), Keaton had accumulated so much useless knowledge of dark magic and how dangerous and oh-so evil it was that it was enough to make her want to burn the entire library down. What she would've given for a few hundred gallons of gasoline and a flamethrower...

Stygian had returned a moment before, bringing the miniaturized spider woman--although she now lacked any arachnid characteristics--in tow. The poor creature had been bound in shackles and gagged, rendering her struggles useless, so there wasn't much she could do to resist as she was dumped brusquely on the nearest sofa. Keaton didn't feel so much as a spark of pity for the creature--she had caused them so much bull (and by 'them', she meant mostly 'her') with her little followers and their mutating toxin.

From watching Stygian out of the corners of her eyes, Keaton easily watched the extent of his prowess in dark magic, enough to spawn, for the first time since she left SAIA, a strained form of admiration. Not to mention his shrewd, calculating mind, which he demonstrated through the creation of his personal spells--hexes--and how he chronicled them. Over time, Keaton studied even more about this mysterious character and the cursed castle he had been condemned to in some of the books and observations she unearthed.

Maybe there was more to this place than she realized.

Snatching several books off of the shelves and stacking them up in her arms, Keaton trudged over to the nearest table, setting the impressive tower of hardcovers down on the surface of the table with a collective thud. As much as her brain ached from all of the information crammed into it, and as reticent as she was, Keaton still had a lot of work to do. Cogidubnus finally entered the room, alcohol in tow. It was tempting to ask for some, or at least where to find some so she could fetch her own, but Keaton needed her mind as focused as possible. Inebriation wouldn't augment that.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

After the bat girl's suddenness Kerag was just left and roam around the castle due to the fact that he had no idea were his so called friend party is he guess he will stay here and see if he can be of any use cause he really didn't really want to go back and see his sister for this month. The he though what happens now?

 Cogidubnus managed to make his way back through the halls, although it was much more difficult than he remembered. It seemed like it was darker, and the hall had narrowed somewhat, but he did make his way back without incident, finding the large wooden doors of the library without undue difficulty. Pawing open one of the latches, he walked into the library with what he felt was a great austerity.
He hadn't really expected much of a to-do about his arriving. He'd expected to find an old chair somewhere and sit, and perhaps drink, and he did remember that the complete collection of Beddoes was around here somewhere. Considering his mood, it seemed apt reading.
When Sebastian asked his question, however, Cog stopped. The bottle of whiskey fell out of his hand and shattered on the floor, soaking the carpet. The sound was strangely loud in the otherwise quiet library.
Cog not only knew what Sebastian was talking about, he knew everything there was to know about that particular spell. He'd never studied magic in his life, and excepting for a single ritual never performed it, but now...he knew what the spell did, what it could be used for, what reagents could increase the effects...everything. He could not only throw thunder about, but he could in truth cast a spell, with all the connotations implied. He had arcane knowledge, not just power. And, faced with this knowledge, Cog almost broke.
He clapped a hand over his mouth, muffling the laughter coming from it, and fell rather than sat into a handy chair. He rocked back and forth for quite a long time, stifling the laughter, and to his further chagrin sparks danced from hand to hand and all around his body. After some time, he finally seemed to quiet and still, no longer laughing madly.
He pulled one of his charms out from his jacket, the Broken Moon, and stared at it for a moment. He seemed to calm looking at it, and finally, nodded before wrapping it in his fist and placing it back in the jacket. He took a deep breath and stood.
It was not magic Cog hated. It was mages, and specifically them. Spells were not to be hated, rather, spells were tools. He hated those who seemed to always, always abuse that power. If anything, this whole house was a testament to the foolishness and sadism of wizards. Cog despised those who abused such power so, so much so that he shunned all magic altogether, preferring to think that anyone who used magic was either completely evil, or the rare exception.
But even if he could sling a spell, Cog was Cog. Detested and unwanted change is the arena of lychanthropes, and Cog had lived through quite a few detested changes. The body did not matter. If his body could now throw lightning as well as force, than so it could. The body did not make the person.
"No, I can't say I'd recommend it." Cog finally said, walking towards Sebastian. "Not in the least."

As the bracer was removed Jeremiah laughed, once. Hell, here we go again... But the laughing didn't continue. As if testing a sore tooth the frog considered the laugh, framed it in his mind.
Ha.
"... I think I'm good- wait..." That damn ringing in his ears had started up again. Now it would rise and fall in pitch every so often, but it was quieter and easier to ignore than before, "I'm feeling a side effect, but I think I'm alright."

He was a little miffed about not being called to research. After all, he knew some magical theory and had his own reasons to be interested in curses. He wasn't too broken up over it though. Gareeku's cooking was pretty good, and good food solves all problems. Eventually, he remembered the lost looking newcomer and remembered that he hadn't finished with those introductions. Ah, I'll ask the guy later.

Mel hadn't researched like this since her university days. It would have almost been fun if it had been for a grade rather than such a serious reason. Her contributions tended to be older, more obscure knowledge since she had been out of university long before most of these books had been written. Of course she had to play stupid when the stuff about dragons came up. Sebastian seemed to really dislike the entire race due to one idiot. Like any race was free of the cruel and self-interested.

PBH says "Mel, Mel,  you really need to eat something and I brought a some meat, veggies, and rice.  The books can wait 5 minutes so you can eat... or are you going to wait until you fall over your book and unable to see straight..Believe me, your eyes will be misreading many words before that happens.."

PBH pushs the rice bowl under Mel's nose, and also finds that the food tray is empty.  Once she is see Mel eats at least a mouthful or two.  PBH heads out the door towards the Kitchen for more food. 

PBH turns a corner and runs into black cat cubi, Kerag ..

PBH

Kerag was a little surprise he wasn't paying attention and thats why he got caught a little off guard he didn't really have any thing to say. So he stuck with the basics. "hello there....my name is Kerag  Sean Luo." his last name was out of his mouth before he even thought about it and hope to hell she didn't know his sis. Kerag attempt to keep his face straight but you could see lines of nervousness on it.

Stygian watched Cog's transition from speechlessness to hysteria, and then to quiet acceptance with a wary, but ultimately pleased look. Now, he was not likely to cause anymore ruckus. Or seize up and start overreacting again. Or try and kill them, which had been the greatest concern to Stygian himself.
   "Good. Now, I'd go and get another bottle usually, but you might want to stay clearheaded. If you need to hurl, there's a bathroom just outside," the bat said, watching the wolf walk up to her with a blank face. When he reached her, she placed a heavy, old book in his hands entitled Indefinece and Ambiguity; Curses and their Keys. "I just started on this one. Try and find something useful while I see if I can make something of the spider over there."
   The bat turned from Cog, and went over to the sofa, sitting down next to it and whispering something to her, while beginning to play with her claws over the girl's neck. It was hard to determine what was being said, even to Cog with his senses, but the woman began crying, and then very suddenly stopped with a little yelp, breathing heavily. The bat then came back, sitting down in a chair and sighing.
   "Not much of a clue there. She's still spider, but there's no arachspearian venom left to analyze." She put her head in her hand a while and tapped her temple. "I'd say we go with the identity assertion," she said and went over to a table, starting to sketch some ideas. She took a while.
   "It has to be a complex ritual," Stygian then said, pondering. "Otherwise it would be just to unravel the magic like... this."
   The bat snapped her fingers, and then Mel felt something that might well have been the most uncomfortable feeling in her life, if not the most painful. It felt as if something, many clawing and slithering and ripping somethings, just tore into her and horribly quickly began tearing up the magic applied to her. All the magic, to her dispair.

If Mel had been paying a bit more attention to what Sebastian was saying and a little less to the book in her hand she might have been able to at least mitigate the damage, but the feeling of a million hook-clawed bugs crawling under her skin came as a complete startlement. As she realized what the horrid sensation meant she said a very vulgar word in her native tongue. As the process continued she added three or four more, as if to make sure her opinion was clear.

Even a very small dragon does not fit well in a room designed for beings, even a very large room, and this was no exception. As her size-shifting spell was torn to pieces she began to grow to her full 22 feet. Mel tried backing away from the occupied center and the living occupants but still managed to tip the sofa on which the unfortunate spider-woman was ensconced. Yet as she backed up she could hear other pieces of furniture being unceremoniously rearranged. At the sound of one of the smaller bookcases tumbling into several others in a domino effect and the resultant tattoo of books hitting marble she stopped backing. But with her front feet firmly planted to keep from expanding towards her startled roommates this left her arched up like a startled cat, wings well up into the hollow core of the room. To the others it probably looked like a lot more dragon was present than actually was. She kept her gaze on all of them as they came to the realization that there was 100% more dragon present than they had believed a moment ago.

"I knew it," the bat said bitterly. She was looking up at Mel backed up against the table with a gaze that could have shattered steel. "I bloody well knew it!"
   She did not remain frozen like that very long though. Black lines started making themselves visible on her skin, as her eyes turned, and her face went from pretty to fearsomely twisted into a snarl.
   "Here to finish the family business, are we? Or are you going to try and lock me up again?!" she growled, eyes gleaming and dark tentacles starting to snake around her legs.

Finished putting the food on the plates, Gareeku heard Aisha's comment and smiled at her as he brought the plates of food, complete with cutlery, over to the table.
"Well my mother always tried to teach me when I was growing up. She's quite fond of cooking, so you pick things up that way, too." he replied with a grin. "I hope it's ok."

A few minutes later, the wolf had finished eating his food. No sooner had he finished, however, when he heard crashing noises coming from another room, in particularly, the library.
"What the...?" he muttered, before getting up and quickly making his way to the library.

Entering the library, Gareeku's eyes widened at what he saw. In the middle of the large room, where Mel was once stood, was now a 22 foot high dragon.
"...Mel? Where is she, and who is that?" he muttered as he noticed the absence of the feline and the presence of the dragon, though he was quite confused, put simply. His eyes then turned to Stygian, who was looking rather angry. Hearing what the bat said, Gareeku then saw the darkness swirled around his feet. His eyes narrowing, the wolf moved quickly, stepping inbetween her and the newly-revealed Mel.

"I don't know what is going on here, but I will not have people at each other's throats!" he said in a commanding tone, before looking behind him and up at the dragon. He didn't know what was going on, but he was determined not to have any fighting if he could help it. "...and who are you, may I ask?"

"Oh, a black cat. Well nice to meet you Kerag, it maybe better if you come in the light.. You have less people run into you, if you not in the dark." PBH says as walks in the torch light in the hall.  "I am Bambi Hunnydew from Lost Lake, and I can get you some food If you like ....." Suddenly they hear crushing and yelling from the Library...

PBH Says "AH Come 'n" to the black feline and runs to the Library.  PBH gets to the door as Gareeku gets to the Library and starts yelling....

"ah Gareeku If I can give a good guess, ah Mel is the Dragon.  You can see her dress torn from the inside out on the dragons back there."  PBH Says in awe of the white dragon before her. 

PBH

Kerag follows Bambi to the library and sees the dragon Kerag stares at it for a second the come backs to his senses "ok now what the hell happen!?"

When Sebastian went crazy and tentacles started after her Mel tried backing further, heedless of property damage. Her skin went icy cold in defense, the air around her fogging slightly. "I don't know what you mean. I'm just a Gatherer, I don't interfere with anyone." She'd seen people get mad over Icewing nosiness before, but never to this level.

Gareeku's sudden entrance slowed the escalation of violence but Sebastian was still snarlingly furious. "Mel. I'm Mel," she stammered, with a blush for her deception. She didn't normally feel bad about hiding her true identity, but most of these people had been nice. "Really," she added, although she had no intention of proving it while Sebastian was menacing her.

At first Keaton thought very little of Stygian shattering the enchantments over Mel, watching the entire scene over the cover of the book in her hands in the middle of turning a page. Deep down, when Keaton watched Mel's reaction, she started to feel something unfamiliar--concern. Mel had been nothing but benevolent towards her, even rescuing her from the brink of death and healing her now safely-patched up injuries. Snapping the book shut (Keaton hadn't found anything interesting within its pages anyway) and pushing it to the side along with its neatly-stacked companions, she was just about to intervene when the transformation took place.

Before she could even comprehend what was going on, Mel's formerly diminutive body twisted and warped into that of a monstrous dragon's, her body accomodating a good deal of the suddenly very cramped library. Bookcases toppled over, scattering novels everywhere, furniture was shoved helter-skelter, it was total pandemonium for that one moment as Keaton yelped and, shielding herself with her feathery wings, tried to remain where she was to avoid being hit with a flying hardcover. When the dust settled and it was relatively safe, Keaton looked around the disarrayed and devastated library with shock evident in her wide, sapphire eyes, her gaze landing squarely on Mel's body.

Thankfully, Keaton wasn't part of the group of myriad Cubi who harbored prejudices toward Dragons, but it didn't make Mel's stature any less intimidating. So a Dragon had saved her life... if Keaton were still at SAIA, she would definitely share a laugh with some of her friends who were associated with Cyra Clan.

Even worse was that Mel's draconic heritage seemed to infuriate Stygian, as the shadows around him started to shape themselves into swirling tendrils, and the very same black lines that Keaton had seen on him when she entered the castle were starting to etch into his skin. Without even realizing it, Keaton jumped from her seat, joining Gareeku at his side.

"Hey! Calm the hell down!" she said to Stygian, wings flared defensively behind her, each feather bristling like slim, razorbladed needles. "What the HELL do you think you're doing?"

Every voice in her head screamed at her to sit down and shut the hell up before she made matters worse, that it wasn't her business, and that there was a chance that Stygian might turn on her next, but for once, Keaton ignored them.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

The lines in the bat's epidermis grew deeper, her skin beginning to take on that ashen tone again and the irises in her otherwise completely blacked out eyes glowed like hot coals. She hissed deeply, her bared teeth lengthening and turning a gleaming ebon color. The wolf and the jackal stepping in only egged her on, her taking their shouting and snarling as actual hostility.
   "Getting rid of spies and traitors is what I'm doing!" the bat snarled viciously. And then things happened very fast. A cascade of darkness tore itself out of her, ripping her former shape asunder as tons of black mass spilled out of her form, mainly her back and forearms. Tentacles, clawed hands, wickedly fanged maws... A tentacle as thick as three men's arms put together swept out against the wolf and the jackal with that whiplash-like speed, curving at its middle to deliver a slow but strong blow that would throw them a great distance away, followed by Stygian moving forward and past them just as fast, the growing mass of darkness hurtling toward Mel and aiming to snag her.
   Stygian leapt just before the most profound change took place. As she flew through the air, her entire body was completely engulfed in the same darkness that made up the veritable swamp of black that flowed out of her back. Her legs turned digitgrade and taloned, her tail snapped out and her face twisted, becoming skull-like and sharp, her mouth turning into some horrid, distended maw full of knife-like teeth. She pounced against the dragon with a force that would easily throw her down, looking to get her on her back and leave her vulnerable, her wicked hand reaching for the dragon's neck.

In response to Stygian's outburst, an incredulous Keaton was just about to shout "What the hell are you talking about?!" before she was rendered silenced the next moment. Faster than Keaton's mind could register, the darkness swarming around Stygian grew even thicker and more corroded than before as it all exploded from the bat's form, consuming him in shadows and lashing out with lightning speed. Crescents of atramentous darkness sliced right against Keaton's body, sending her hurtling toward the wall, where she slammed right into one of the few upright bookcases. Somewhere near her, Gareeku appeared to have suffered the same treatment.

Slumping limply to the ground, but not unconscious, Keaton groaned and rubbed her head, wings twitching spasmodically beneath her body. Despite her most earnest efforts, it was as though her muscles wouldn't respond to her commands to move, either out of the livid pain bombarding her back--Keaton wondered if something was broken, but thankfully that was not the case--or from sheer terror as Stygian began to transform.

Wide eyes absorbed every detail as Stygian's body was suddenly enveloped in darkness in a manner similar to how Keaton used to create a shadowy armor for herself. Somehow, Keaton managed to hear herself shout "STOP!" in a desperate effort to keep Stygian from doing the inevitable, despite all reason and logic telling her that it was useless.

Dragon or not, Mel had saved her from certain death. And now she faced a fate that was possibly even worse.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Before Gareeku knew what was happening, Stygian had leapt at them, darkness enveloping the bat as the wolf was sent flying from hard hitting blow, crashing into a wall with considerable force.

Winding and aching severly from the blow, Gareeku staggered to his feet, looking on with an angry snarl on his face as Stygian transformed and leapt at Mel.
"STOP IT!!" the wolf bellowed out in a commanding tone. "Can't you see?! Mel helped you for fuck's sake!! I don't know who you think she is, but Mel is NOT a spy or a traitor!!"

In the back of his mind, he wasn't sure Stygian would actually listen to him. Like Keaton, Gareeku knew that, dragon or not, Mel had shown nothing but kindness to them. Genuine kindness. Yes it had been a surprise in finding out that the feline was in fact a dragon, but she was not an enemy. She was a friend.

PBH lights off a blinding flare of a light spell into the darkness and between the dragon and the engulfing darkness.   

"Stop! Stygain, Give Mel a chance to explain herself, she has earned at least that much from you.!  If she was going to turn against you.. She had plenty of chances before this.!" yells PBH in a loud voice

PBH walks  towards both the bat and the dragon with her green fae wings out and her antenna blazing in the engulfing darkness.  She seems unaware of the darkness, and dangers it may hold.

PBH

 Cog had somewhat hoped the situation would resolve itself, but it had clearly escalated beyond control. And if they didn't want two giants rolling around atop them, it might be wise to stop the situation now. Cog shut the book he had been reading with a sigh.
If he was thinking correctly, Sebastian was akin to the rest of the shades that had made up the house, before. Probably, then, only vulnerable to one thing. He again tied the Broken Moon around his wrist, but this time, he simply raised it high and spoke the words. Holy light poured from it, inundating the room, and he carefully began walking towards the dragon and shade...

Mel went into a complete panic as Sebastian attacked. She wasn't a warrior, she was more of a run-and-hide type trapped in a room where no movement was possible. No rational thought was involved in her response as she dropped the temperature around her to the point that most would find painful, cold mist rolling out as the area of frigid air completed with the warmer room. There was no time or space to use her breath weapon as the creature of darkness leapt. Eight inch claws drove through the marble flooring, it's substrate, and probably knocked plaster off the ceiling below as she tried to brace herself for the hit. An icy shell formed on her skin, hoping to blunt at least some of the trauma of the claws coming at her.

Rather than claws digging into her skin, Mel instead found a car crash-like force slamming into her and breaking her ice shield, and a large hand closing tightly around her throat, along with a tentacle slipping around it and twisting it, straining the tendons not to the point of pain but very nearly. It was like someone had suddenly wrenched an iron bar around her neck in a moment. She was knocked to the floor by the thing, very uncomfortably falling back while being restrained by the dark thing on top of her.
   "Were you going to slip away and give me away, you little wench?!" the monster seethed, its voice barely recognizable as anything close to natural anymore. "Give me up to your little uncle Azhi, perhaps?!" Mel felt the hand clenching tighter, claws like razors getting closer, and headed, mawed tentacles snuck around her, snapping their fangs threateningly, their eyes seething like those of their possessor. She had a very frightening feeling that her dragon's scales would not be enough to stop either the teeth or talons of the thing.
   "Who knows you're here?" the monster hissed. Then, its voice became a horrid roar. "WHO?!"
   Then, both Bam and Cogidubnus intervened, each one in turn. The abyssal creature's head snapped around, and it made a wordless, shrieking roar against them, straightening a bit more but still keeping a firm grip on the dragoness. Parts of it began turning against them, snaking and coiling as if readying to spring against them.
   "Vos stultus parum...! I am not going to take their shit anymore!" it snarled, furious. "They will PAY!"

"Ab absurdo!," Cog said, clenching one hand into a fist. "If Mel wanted to kill you, she would have done it when you were locked up, and helpless." He said, making very sure to keep the holy charm in front of him. Between him and the darkness. "Back when you were nailed to a stick, Sebastian."
He took his free hand and placed it on the hilt of his blade. "She bled to free you. Kindly stop trying to kill her."

Aisha had barely time to finish her meal, when the peace and quiet that the house had been observing for a few hours was suddenly shattered in the blink of an eye.  She almost jumped with surprise at the crashing noises emanating from down the darkened corridors, and at once, the panthress had assumed the worst...whatever was happening.

She let the others dash in through first, hand instantly rushing to her belt and grasping the edge of her boomerang...she would provide the stealth and the backup if there were any more demons.  But coming into the library, Aisha's gaze wandered up and over the giant opaque creature among the books...not a demon at all.

A dragon?!  She thought with a wide-gaping mouth.  The panthress had seen in her life only few dragons, and had been friends with only one...there was always a degree of fascination and reverence when sighting such a creature.  But the shock didn't last, for as her tail ring took on a fierce emerald glow, and the source from it rose before the adventurers and the cowering creature like an armada of shadow, anger seething from all of its being.

She watched the others as they tried to stop the fight, staying well away from Sebastian's lashing, and listening to the situation, and her eyes widening when the truth was confirmed.  "Mel?" she glanced back at the pinned thing in wonder, before grimacing and finally stepping in herself.  The bladed boomerang lanced through the air against the monster that the bat had become...by this point if the dragon's powers, and anyone else's, couldn't stop the angered creature then she knew the effort would only serve to distract it, if only for a moment.

Aisha then swished to between Sebastian and the fallen Mel, her hand guiding the sawblade's flight path.  "Sebastian, listen to everybody!  Mel has been nothing but kind and this is how you thank her?  How do you even know that she is of the clan that you seem to hate?  How do you know that they're even around today?  You yourself said there are things that have changed!"

"Anzi who?" she managed to push out of her constricted throat. If her brain had been working at anything like a normal level she might have remembered the earlier revelations about the Stormclaw clan but all her alarmed brain wanted to think about was ice. Lots of cold, sharp ice covering everything near her. All her body wanted to focus on was thrashing away, although her claws seemed as effective as clawing at water, her tail merely made dust and rubble out of the nearby wall and furniture, and the one wing not pinned under her just stirred the mixture of dust and ice crystals. "Grandmother sent me. L.L. sent me here."

Kerag observed the attempts like it was a game and wonder if he should help to stop the fighting then Kerag mutters to himself "i guess i will help and stop a death." Kerag brought up his hand he knew this little spell with hurt like hell but he guess he must do something suddenly a small ball of blackness came to in his hand then hundreds if not a thousand of those same ball of energy spawn of that one and head at the bat creature even she mange to get missed by some she will still get hit the spell was powerful he knew it would knock most creatures senseless but isn't a spell for killing to bad the side effect was he will lose most of his spell casting for a while including his shifting will stop so he goes back cubi form and he get a pain in his arm that hurts alot

Crashing noises. Everyone leaving. Jeremiah was at minimum obligated to stick his head through the door of the library.
Dragon. Monster. Fighting. Magic. Losing. Welp, I tried- He was about to slip off when an important detail occured to him.
She looks like the leopard. The nice lady who'd been healing people. Who'd helped him to his feet on the stairs. The mental image of a little feline who could be one of his students.
Aw hell, Jeremiah thought as he reentered the room. He briefly considered the idea of attacking the beast (whatever it was; who knew what things were lurking in these books?) and discarded it; he was unarmed, and had too little magic to work with. His best attempts with a fireball spell had gotten him a pathetic looking, 2.5" diametar sphere that girls who didn't know the damage they did would call cute. He listened to what the beast was saying, and from that and the others reactions gathered that it was Stygian. Finally, he spoke.
"And then what?"
He strode forward, glaring at the creature. He was reminded of a situation from his past. A teacher he respected stopping a fight, talking to a student who could break the old man with one hand. Just talking.
"When you make her pay. What will you do after that? I mean, this example of young saurianhood can only afford so much, so after you extract payment from her what will you do next?"

The monster did not respond to the aggression of the adventurers with much more than deflecting their attacks, lashing out quickly, and backing up like a cornered beast, frost and mist still cracking and falling off it. However, it could do nothing against their reasoning. It released its grip on Mel and started slithering backwards into the shadows of the library, where it was safe and out of reach. Still, suspicion and the stress from having been captive, something that Stygian absolutely hated, lingered in its mind.
   "I will never be so at anyone's mercy again," the creature hissed. "Reasons are never what they seem. You," it said against Mel as it started reassuming its chiropteran appearance, the mass of darkness beginning to snake and crawl back into its much smaller form, her eyes still gleaming in the shadows, focused on the dragoness, "will tell no one of what has transpired here. Else, there will be dire consequences. Understand, girl?!"
   There was no question of what she meant.

Mel just lay where she had been left for a long moment, forcing air through her bruised throat. It took an even longer moment for her to decide that it was safe to resume a smaller form. Finally it was the annoyance of the remains of an end table poking into her hip that made the decision rather than any feeling of safety. Deciding that the leopard disguise was pointless now she merely size shifted to a more being-like size. A five and a half foot tall pearlescent white dragon, neatly attired in a dress and magic-users over-robe pushed herself off the floor. One wing drooped sadly but she didn't think he had broken it, more likely a sprain.

She bowed in the direction of the shadows, the barest, abrupt sketch of a bow merely given to satisfy propriety. "Icewing will withhold this information." That should be enough to satisfy anyone. While the Icewing clan was known for it's voracious appetite for information it was also know to have never given up any information it didn't feel like giving up. "I will leave at full light since my presence obviously makes you unhappy."

The bat hissed quickly and annoyedly, having returned fully to his... her former shape and state, looking even more like a caged animal, one hand holding her arm at her side and her face lowered so that she peered out at them from under her brow.
   "Stay if you wish. I care not," she said, her voice tense and bitter, and quickly pressed between them, hurriedly walking against the exit. She could not stop watching the dragon now; there was another problem right there. Either she would have to go through the tedious business of erasing the knowledge right at its source, which would undoubtably invoke the hostility of the other adventurers, or she would have to keep the dragon under watch, something that was even more bothersome. Just as usual, Stygian found himself caught in a situation where there were no solutions but the unbeneficial ones. Trusting the dragon's word was out of the question; he had seen where that had led before. But there was nothing else that was good enough for a guarantee, save killing them all, which was just plainly evil.
   There was, of course, more to it than just the adventurers and the dragon. The events down in the chamber came back to the bat. How he had killed a friend, a good one at that. And just how empty his vengeance had made his life. He had been lonely for nearly all the time he could remember, but the few tastes of warmth and friendship he could still recall were the sweetest times he had ever had. Things that would most probably never come again, because of who and what he was.
   He hated it. Just plainly hated it. And so he did the only thing that he could when he was out of visible options.
   The bat strode into the kitchen with a sad face and a slowly snaking tail, quickly pulling out a large bottle of cognac from one of the bags. She opened a cupboard and took out a low, cylindrical glass, fixed some minor layerings and cracks in it with a spell and used another one to draw the humidity from the air to slowly form a pair of ice cubes which she dropped into the glass, and then she poured. Downing the glass in one sweep, she then took the bottle and headed back to find some uoccupied room.

Ah Mel,  Are you okay?

I know, We may not be thanked this but we should try to find a cure for the arachspearian venom if not for Stygain than for the other poisoned adventurers.  Can we try a dispell curse, remove poison and transmorph spell all at once....or  Do we need a sample of vemon?

"Kerag, If you please?, I need your help, here with this one."  PBH calls to the black cat. 

PBH turns and walks to the spider-lady, who was still trapped and tied up and she place her hand on her.  "Will you help us?  Can you call ONE Arachspearian spider?  And we'll help you if you help us?"

Kerag can you read her, Is she willing to help us?

Aisha called the boomerang back to her hand as soon as it had been deflected, but stepped out of the way when, finally, Sebastianette's hold on the dragon subsided and she backed away under the determined glare of the others in the room.  The panthress could only watch, saying nothing as she walked out, before replacing her weapon and releasing an exasperated sigh.  Wonderful, conflict within.

She shook her head before turning to Mel, who had turned herself into a smaller version of the creature that had knocked over a few bookshelves, and tilted her head with a light smile.  "Good to see you're okay, amiga."

But, looking around the others who had come, she realized that the fiasco had driven the bat away from the library, when no doubt they had originally come to break the curses on the saddened individuals.  A hand came up to rub her forehead.  "What'll we do now?"  She figured that they would be left to find things out on their own...somehow, it didn't seem like a good idea to go and bother their guide again...and only hoped that a little more was found out.

Keaton could only watch in shock as person after person bombardment Stygian with their personal methods of attack, her shoulders slumped and her wings sinking in their sockets.  Cogidubnus had tried to fend off Stygian's assault against Mel with some sort of sacrosanct charm, Bambi had attempted a more direct form of intervention, the newcomer who had entered the room before swept in with an invasion of spheres, Aisha flung her boomerang at the bat... everyone was contributing in some way to try and separate Stygian from Mel's throat.

Their efforts proved fruitful when Stygian at last released Mel, who crumpled to the ground. For a moment, Keaton just watched, breathless, at the two, unsure whether to interject in case Stygian tried to strangle Mel again, or another battle would break out. Suddenly, this moment of ambivalence broke away to total disbelief when Keaton realized that, although Mel's life was endangered, she hadn't done anything besides her initial protests to save her.

Wonderful! Once more in the heat of a conflict, all she could do was gape in terror and generally act as dead weight. She had her weapon that time, she should've used it!

Keaton didn't spend long in her soliloquy of self-exasperation, thankfully, as her eyes instinctually followed Stygian until he vanished from sight. For a moment, Keaton started to wonder if this was a good or bad occurance, since Stygian seemed to possess enough knowledge to remove the curse placed over her currently-angelic being.

Now wasn't the time to concern herself with Stygian. Keaton immediately climbed to her feet, scooping up her long-abandoned mace with one hand and hefting it to her shoulder as she walked towards Mel, who had assumed a more miniaturized, draconic form.

"Hey... Mel..." Keaton asked tentatively, a look of surprisingly genuine concern on her face, "Are you alright? You—did he--" Being a total newcomer to actually consoling someone, Keaton kept stumbling over her words, as though she was uncertain with what she was saying, or if she was struggling with crawling out of her proverbial shell. "I mean... gah..."

Finally just giving herself a mental slap to the face, Keaton shook off her lack of articulation and said, "Did he hurt you?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Kerag is surprised on the sudden switch of gears then he shakes his head. "I can't do anything with magic at the moment, that spell it was made to stun a massive crowd i used it on one person. It drains you of most of your energy, I can't do that kind of stuff for a few hours now." then Kerag thinks for a moment. "unless you all want to stand around me for 30 mins and let me feed off your emotions." Kerag chuckles.

Jeremiah simply watched Stygian walk away. Nobody ever checked that temper of yours, did they? Being right sucks so very much sometimes.
"Well, good to see you're intact," He nodded to the dragon once, and looked around him. He hadn't had the chance to really read much the last time he was here. Instead, though, his eyes settled on the spider woman still trussed up on the couch.
"You know, I'm honestly starting to think that our host collects crazy people. Anyone get her story?"

Well I hope to get some answers for the spiderlady, and we need a cubi's mind reading powers and find out her feel story.  Keaton, I think, Can you help us out, please...

AH Mel Are you feel okay?, dear.. You are look alittle White  

Mel smiled weakly at Keaton's inquiry. "Scared and bruised, but no more than that. Thanks to all of you. And white is my natural color, Bambi. I turn grey if I'm not well." She let healing energy bathe her strained wing. Soon she was able to fold it properly. "Let us get back to your problem before I leave here." She looked around at the devastated room. "If we can figure out where we left off." She shook her head. "The ritualist has disappeared on us. We're going to have to look for another way to do this unless you want to wait around for him to return."

"Lets try something obvious first. Ask her some questions," the frog offered, wandering a little closer to the spider woman. Not close enough to be within arms reach, but enough to get her attention. "Hello madam. We have a few questions regarding what's going on," turn the idea in a few different directions until you can fit it into the avalable 'not-going-nuts' space in her head, "They are solely regarding the rules of this castle, to better avoid the ire of its denizans. Would you be willing to answer them? After all, how can we not muck things up if we know not how this place works?"

"Yes, Mel I know.    I was trying to be funny,   *Sigh*  Would have ONE of Arachspearian spider help in anyway.?  mmmm  Well we need to see what spells we can find in all this mess?   mmmm

Wait, What happen to Gina? Maybe she can help us.  fWhen I woke-up, she was not there? 

Aisha smiled as Mel confirmed that she was well enough, though she had to roll her eyes at the thought of all of this drama.  It was somewhat silly to think that someone would still have an unchanged grudge on a race for such a long time, when after over a hundred years it would probably never matter any more.  Looking around the interior of the library, even ruined, there was still some haunting grandeur behind its design.  Maybe it's just the noble ones that are protective of memories in a single place, she thought with a shrug and turned to where some of the others were gathering, near a slightly overturned sofa.

The panthress looked around it, looking down upon the thing they were trying to question, and quirked an eyebrow.  The face reminded her of the horrendous spider-woman they had fought and defeated in the chapel, only different.  Though, looking at the creature, bound and gagged, she didn't seem like much of a threat now...but probably more scared than anything.  After a curious stare, she glanced back up at the ones attempting to speak with her.  "Do you think we might get anything from her anyway?  I doubt Sebastian's methods but I also think she might be tied up for a reason..."

Aisha then started toward another table, crossing her arms and only glancing at another book on it.  She had no real knowledge of magic, but hoped that whomever did would step up soon enough.

 Cog sighed and lowered his arm, the glowing light at the end of his arm quickly dying, and with an air of resignation placed the charm back in his jacket. He pushed an empty chair up to Mel, knowing there was not much else he could do, and shook his head as picked up his book where it had fell.
Fool. Utter fool. This was why he disliked mages.
He turned back towards Mel, somewhat at a loss for words. He was not quite sure what he was going to say, and felt churlish for thinking of himself before someone who had obviously gone through an incredible ordeal, but they needed her badly. He bowed his head slightly, and spoke softly.
"I hate to be so mercenary, good lady, but if you are indeed alright, it would help us all greatly if you stayed. The brute is a monster, I know, but true to her word, I think. She reacted in shock, and a little repressed rage. No excuse, but I don't think she'll do it again, somehow." He absently drew a finger across a dusty table. "Jeremiah, yourself, Keaton...me, and Sebastian, I think, and you have somewhat more experience than any of us, save the shade." He gestured at Keaton sadly. "I could live with what has been done me, but some of us have a harder time with the curse than others." he said, sitting back down in his chair. He could only hope the dragon would stay. As he waited for Mel's response, he muttered under his breath.
"I think Sebastian is dealing with his, for some reason..."

All of the spider-woman's eight eyes turned as she studied the adventurers, blackish and gleaming against them as they did. She seemed both scared and confused, but there was a sort of disbelief and some anger to her look as well. She was unable to answer them, just chewing on her cloth gag and making a sort of sighing, exasperated sound at their attempts to communicate with her. Then, she strained the six of her limbs tied up so that the heavy chains shook and clinked a bit, and raised her eyebrows while looking at them as if to say; Aren't you going to untie me yet?

   Some distance from the library, the bat pushed through a door while rubbing her temple and moaning a bit. Her senses were still dizzy, and she felt a serious headache commencing, one which would take some time to numb.
   She set the bottle and glass down, along with the digital camera she had picked off the ferret, and poured some more in, slumping down and getting ready for some hard drinking. Then, when she removed her coat, something which was mostly just a gesture, she felt something in her pocket and remembered. She pulled out a reservoir pen and a notebook, and set them down, looking at them for a moment.
   Then, she took the pen, unscrewed the cap, and started writing.

Kerag had and impulse to go do something he didn't want to read books so he decided to explore some more of the castle he vanish out the door with out a word and started to walk around the castle looking at the furniture and other things making a map in his head.

Oh, Right I forgotten the Cubi is an Angel, and she is not alright with that.  Well, I guess, we can start to clean this mess up, start researching again and maybe find a spider or two while the magic users look in this mess.  But, we can at least take off her gag and give her some water"

**PBH moves back to the Spider-lady and unties to rag from her mouth**

"Would you like some water? Were you bitten too by one of the spider maybe long ago?"    PBH says holding the rag in one hand and offer a glass of water in the other near her mouth.

PBH

Jeremiah massaged his brows, "Right, right, the gag. Sorry, it's my first day on the job," He took another step forward, then stopped, "Now ma'am, when I remove the gag, I do most certainly hope I don't get bit or coated in webs or something. I' doing something nice for you here," And with that, he walked the rest of the way to the couch and removed the gag, "Is that better, miss?"

The spider spat when her gag came off and made some eeky noise in her throat before looking up at Bam and then Jeremiah.
   "You're all batshit crazy, know that?" Her statement was calm and collected, but incredulous, and her just slightly chirring and insect-like voice accentuated the tone. "And you're all going to die," she explained, equally calmly, and then laid her head down and sighed, almost as if in resignation.
    Then, unexpectedly, she thrashed around and struggled against her chains with an angry look. The metal creaked a whole lot more than it had before, and the couch shook.
   "This is insane! Let me go!" she shouted, before she fell onto the floor with a heavy thud and went still again. "Ow..." she declared, rolling onto her back and laying her head down again.

"Jeremy, Tie the gag again.  if she is insane too, then we will have to try to cure her, too. If we can?  And can you see if you can find Gina the ferret.?  Maybe she can help us or we should see if she needs help.  Last, I know she was passed out with me in the painting room when we just got back into the castle as it closed.  I didn't see her when I woke up or since, but I thought she woke up on her own and left me.  I can help with the research here."   

** PBH starts pick up what may have been on the tables, which she puts to the side for Mel to sort and reading, sorting what should have come off in the bookshelves.**

PBH

Mel gave a sigh. Cog was right, they needed her help more than she needed to give in to her insulted pride's demand to storm off. She would stay until she wasn't needed. "Everyone please stand still for a moment," she requested. She sent out a cleaning spell to right some of the damage she had caused. Carpets straightened, furniture righted itself, and books and papers piled themselves in neat stacks. Not much could be done about the smashed furniture or the holes she had put the in floor but at least no one was in danger of breaking their neck tripping on a book.

"There. Now we can get back to work." She picked up the paper the bat had been working on, but it looked as if he had crossed everything out as useless. She set it back down, if it was useless to him it was more than useless to her. Unfortunately her knowledge of curses was thousands of years out of date. Half the stuff she was reading was new to her. She was picking it up quickly enough but she felt like she was playing catch-up more than being helpful. Smothering yet another sigh before it escaped she picked up the book she had been working with and resumed her research.

Aisha watched from the sidelines as the others removed the gag from the spider-woman's mouth, and only quirked an eyebrow at her treatment of them...though, looking at the situation, nobody would have been happy if they went through the same suffering and were being bothered by a curious bunch of adventurers.

"Going to die, huh?  I've heard that about..." she raised her fingers and jokingly counted on them.  "A hundred times...being crazy is how we all have so far survived this mansion, and how we got here in the first place."  She gave a light smirk.  "And right now all we want to do is cure our friends..." she pointed to the various ones having been affected by the venom, "...who have been so generously bitten by someone's minions.  So how's about not being insulting, and let us have a reason to untie you?"

The panthress put a hand to her forehead.  She must have sounded quite irritated, but after all of the commotion, and with it being so far late in the night, could anyone have blamed her?  After a second, she made an apologetic bow for her rudeness and decided to do a little exploration of her own among the library's restored shelves, though staying nearby...perhaps she'd find a story that didn't have to do with the castle.

Cog nodded gratefully at Mel. "Thank you. Staying is a larger burden than I know, I am sure." he said, placing the book he had been reading on a table and standing. "Now this spider woman..."
Cog carefully approached the woman and kneeled next to her. "Hello, my dear. My name is Cogidubnus.", he said as he began tracing some sort of symbol in the ground. "And you have, unfortunately, gotten and the wrong side of me and my friends here. Aisha is right - all we want to do is cure ourselves. Now...." the symbol that he had been tracing on the ground suddenly flared a bright yellow. "That being said, it was your spiders that bit us. I'm going to guess you know how your own venom works. So, little spider, I normally make a habit of not hurting anyone if I can help it..."
As he brought his hand back up, it crackled madly with lightning. "And so I will be compassionate. Tell us what we want to know, and we'll let you go. Keep blabbering death, and I will make the next few days, a hell worse than the one you just came from."
He held his hand close to her face. "I am sick of being at this castle's mercy. How does the venom work!" he said, his voice deathly quiet.

No sooner had Cogi finished speaking, a finger tapped him on the shoulder.
"I doubt threats like that are going to work. Now, if you'll stop acting tough and gun-ho, then maybe we can work something out. I know there's ill feeling towards this castle, that much is evident from the way a few of you have been, but you seem to be forgetting that it was the angel, not the house, that has been the cause." Gareeku said, the look on his face showing the fact that he was not impressed at how the situation was being handled. For a while he had stayed quiet, but for some reason, he had a feeling that the spider woman was just an innocent party. Considering the events the group had been through, the wolf would not be in the least surprised if the spider woman had been controlled by the angel.

Kneeling down beside the spider woman, Gareeku looked at her with a gentle smile.
"Now then..." he said, putting a hand on her shoulder as he spoke. "A few of us have been cursed from spider bites. Is there any way you can help us?"

Jeremiah crooked an eyebrow at Bambi, "I prefer Jeremiah to Jeremy, if that's all the same miss. And that ranting was oddly lucid for a completely useless crazy person. I think I can be more help here than elsewhere; you see about Gina," Seeing Cog begin to summon up lightning, Jeremiah quickly stepped forward again, hands raised in a universal sign for peace. However, Gareeku beat him to the punch. So Jeremiah simply stood there looking at the spider woman's eyes. In case he needed to be convincing.

"Mr. Mithome." The soft voice came from Mel, in the far corner of the room. She remained sitting at the desk in the pool of light from a crystal she had floating above her head. She didn't look up from the massive book she was slowly scanning and appeared a little overly quiet but she seemed rational and reasonable as she said, "Sebastian has questioned her multiple times. Unfortunately he told neither Keaton or myself what he found out. Perhaps it would be faster to find him and ask rather than re-interrogate that girl. He is our curse expert and actually knew what questions to ask."

Keaton's facial muscles felt too slack and exhausted for her to manage even so much of a falsified twitch of her lips, but somehow she was able to plaster a slightly forced, but noteworthy effort at a smile. "Well, good," Keaton said, leaning back and massaging her temples roughly from beneath her pallid hair. "Would've really sucked if you got hurt in some way..."

Looking over to the area where Stygian had made his brusque departure, the jackal sighed and rolled her eyes, idly wondering for only a split second if the bat had gone to subdue his temper somewhat, or at least enough to not assault Mel again. A frown twisted the periphery of Keaton's lips into a thin, slanted line, half grimace, half scowl, fading only slightly when she looked away from the doorway and over to the thoroughly jostled spider-woman, who they were currently interrogating shortly after removing the gag from her mouth.

Professor Hunnydew had suggested that she use her mind-reading capabilities to unearth the information they needed from the trussed-up spider woman, but later remembered that Keaton was now unable to execute such a technique since she had been stripped of all of her Cubi abilities. For some reason Keaton felt sore about this--she definitely would've wanted to be involved in everyone's research more than simply scanning through countless ancient books (a slight shifting of her eyes confirmed that the books Keaton had amassed had spilled all over the floor, some of them mangled beyond recognition from Mel's rampage).

Still, there was always other, brutal methods of prying knowledge out of people, but they were often rather unscrupulous. Such as threats, which Cogidubnus seemed rather intent on using towards the poor spider-woman, who seemed equally inclined to spit foul insults and curses at them. If they were going to go through with the violent means of extracting information, Keaton would be more than obliged to assist, as the hefting of her mace indicated.

Keaton's patience had nearly been drained to its last drop. She was willing to do just about anything to find out the means to reverse the curse that gripped her body, whether it meant smashing someone or something's head in or not.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Cog sat silently and lowered his hand, shaking his head at Gar. "Be my guest, good sir. I'll be over there when she spits in your face." He stood and turned, and walked toward the chair he had been sitting in. He called to Mel. "As you say then." he said flatly, the sparks on his hand dying. "Well then, I suppose we wait for her to come back, or stop sulking or some such."
He grabbed the book he had been reading and sat down again, resuming his place. Dear god, but this was dry reading. He sighed and looked forlornly at the collection of Beddoes on the shelves before resigning himself to yet more magical theorem.

The spider woman actually made a bit of a "progressive" response to Cog's threat, her eyes widening, all eight of them, and her look turning against his face with more than a trace of fear. When the others interfered and he let up, that gaze remained but turned a bit more suspicious, and then sour as she slumped down again and sighed deeply.
   "I don't know. I don't know who you people are and what you think I did to you. I came here to this place to find... that thing, and after that, everything's a blur..." she offered with a resigned look. Laying as she did, she looked like a big, anthropomorphized arachnoid ragdoll.
   "He's going to kill you too, that's for sure. He's never done anything different. You should get rid of him while you still can..." she groaned.

   In her solitude, the bat was getting tipsy, and after having made something like diary notes, followed by some scientific and arcane scribbling in combination, was laying back and singing softly, thinking. Not being able to sleep, Stygian did what he could to pass the time and wind down. He would try as hard as he could to forget that he was in the wrong body and down there were people who were all cooped up and probably plotting to burn the castle down with him in it. He needed and craved to say or do something to them, but that would be too soon and too much of an admission, so he tried letting his mind wander instead...

Kerag as he get quickly bored of the current thing he is doing and heads for the library again then he suddenly gets side track and finds himself outside again. He shrugs maybe there something up on the roof that is interesting so he jumps and flaps his wings and grabs the roof edge not wishing to over shoot and pulls himself up and takes in the view.

While Aisha browsed the books, she was keeping an ear tuned to the conversations like a sattelite.  So they hadn't decided to gag the arachnid-like woman back up yet, instead listening to her words.  Both ears perked curiously then, at the mention of someone wishing to kill them.  An audible slam could be heard as she closed the book she was looking at and stepped back towards the sofa, tilting her head.

"I don't see how he'd want to," she commented, thinking it was Sebastian she was talking about.  "We helped release him.  Was that angel not the evil one?"

The panthress tried not to make too many quick judgments about the place, or its inhabitants.  He had helped save their lives.  But ever since the fiasco with Mel, and the deadly look on the bat's female face, who knew what was really sure any more?

PBH was confused and very unhappy, She tries her magic sight on the spiderlady and the other adventures.  Was there any ties between them and the Spiderlady or with the bat.?    No the spiderlady seem clean

The frog refusal to seek the ferret, has made it more important to find the girl in her mind.  PBH leaves the library and wanders around the rooms from the kitchen hoping to find the Ferret.  Only finds the female Bat with nearly a empty bottle and looking very tippy in a remote room.  She stops just outside the door of the room that the Stygain was in and unsure if she should disturb the girl bat.

PBH

"What we THINK you did?" Jeremiah's bushy eyebrows shot up. They'd been doing that a lot, of late, "You don't remember? You charged in with what could only be called a brood of spiders under your command. Arachsperians, I believe they're called?" He grabbed a chair and brought it over, then sat down facing the spider woman, "Are you comfortable where you are, or merely unable to sit up?" It was an honest question; who knew how tight those ropes were? "I think you know more than you give yourself credit for, miss. After all, you've just told us two things we hadn't yet heard. Who is this mysterious host of ours?"

When Jeremiah mentioned Sebastian as their host, she snorted and sneered at him. She did strain against the chains a bit...
   "He's a monster and a murderer. He killed the people who sent me here, and the ones who lived here as well. His own family," she said, her voice partly coloured with distaste and partly with dark humor. "He's called Stygian. I think you can guess why." She sniffed and smirked a bit more.

   The bat was singing some soft, slow song, her voice as deceptively angelic as much of her looks. The knower might have recognized the mezzosoprano melody from a certain opera; Die Frau ohne Schatten...

Says the woman who turned the morose young woman over there into a different species. We're all monsters to somebody...
"I can guess," Jeremiah replied dryly, and then smiled in what he hoped was a friendly manner, "You see? You know quite a bit. His alias, his habits. What else do you have on him? Particulars regarding his history or personal motives? Why would he turn against his family, and why would this family send you?"

"My My So our empress needs a shadow, or Are you fitting into your new gender, and now wish for a child.?"  says  PBH  as she enters Stygain's room...She sits down near the bat and waits...

"I'm not sure Whose part you were singing just now, and I have not seen that opera in years."  asks PBH in a friendly tone.  "Can you tell me some of why or How you and your family got this way? or You can tell me where Gina might be and I leave you alone. "

PBH

The bat groaned loudly and sighed upon Bambi's entry, rolling to her side on the bed she had been laying on and tossing the notebook on the bedside table. She snarled at the cat's remark.
   "I wasn't interpreting it that way. And I'm more the Eagle, anyway..." she muttered. She laid back and struck out her hands, looking up at the ceiling with empty eyes. "If you're looking for the ferret, last I saw she was in the kitchen being dragged around by you people..."
   With that said, the bat rolled over to the side with her back to the feline, laying still.

   "I was just sent to carry out orders. And it's hard not to see what he did to our family. My masters... He is an abomination. A disgrace to the family. He has to be destroyed," the spider said, then stopped and looked up at them again, now with anger in her eyes. "You're not going to kill him, are you? You're making a mistake. If you live, you'll wish you hadn't. Lived, that is."

My. but our boy does have quite the history. This family...
"What we shall do regarding him is our business, and will change depending on his actions," Jeremiah replied, "It would help if you could give possible reasons as to why he would have done such a thing, more details as to your orders, and whether or not he was a disgrace before or after he started killing people," I'm being remarkably calm about all this. Why? Then it hit him. I'm looking at Stygian as a student who's been picking on other kids. Well, if the childish outburst from earlier is any indication, maybe I should. The best kill or cure for anger issues is someone with no sympathy whatsoever. "You know, it's rather awkward for me to talk to you like this. Would you like a hand in sitting up? Another pillow, perhaps? After all, there's no reason not to be civil after you've been kind enough to share the information you have."

"Look Sebastian, I am trying to be friend and joke around little with you,  You have been alone along time.. And I know You don't trust other people easily.  But You are going to need people to trust sooner or later... the Powers that be are going to find out what happen here. or is happening here.  If they don't already know. And, you'll need people to know your side of the story.

"The others would like to be your friend and give you the benefit of the doubt, but they will also need to know who they are dealing with.  But your silent is  like a lie, and lying is the quickest way to destroy trust.  You should think about that  Well, I am here if you need to talk to someone.  And I should use a drink, too?"

PBH gets up to leave.  She waits a moment at the door to see If Sebastian calls her back.  Then she will go back and listen to her.  If not PBH heads to the kitchen, And hopes to find the Ferret and a drink.

PBH

Watching Jeremiah interrogate the spider woman, she just had to roll her eyes a little bit.  The poor girl probably would have traded the day her troubles started for anything else.  Yet the panthress did nod in agreement with the frog's testimony, briefly glancing back out of the room to where the bat had left.

I think that if he had something in store for us, he wouldn't leave us with the obvious choice to leave anytime we want... she thought, looking at the mostly empty library.  "We've just stuck to Sebastian's good side all of this time...the past is the past, regardless," she pointed out on the side...probably something more for thought than to be replied to.

But the woman sounded insistent, which only piqued Aisha's curiosity a little more.  A hand was resting on the pommel of the holy blade.  "And anyway, how would we expect to kill him?  A sword through the heart didn't."

"He can't be hurt by the physical." Cog said idly, flipping pages in the book. "As we've seen. He snuck up behind me once, and when I turned and swung my sword, he simply caught it." Cog chuckled, in spite of the dry reading material. "I was somewhat surprised. There is one thing I don't think he likes though. At least, if he's anything like the other shades in the castle, light, and lots of it, should either kill or hamper him." Cog looked up from the book he was reading.
"That being said, I'm not completely sure we should be talking about killing him. Or harming him in any manner." He quirked an eyebrow at the spider lady. "We are to believe the one that's put us in this mess, unwittingly or not, over the one who actually has actively helped us? She could be lying, and indeed, she would have great reason to."
Cog resumed reading. "In any case, I think we should talk to the shade before making any judgments here."

Kerag lays down starring at the sky he suddenly felt sleepy so he just fell asleep on the roof

Mel had been only half listening to the conversations away from her quiet corner when she heard Cog say something about talking to Sebastian. She remembered something as he spoke. Mel reached into a pocket and removed something small before getting up from the desk and walking to where the wolf sat. Her light crystal bobbed along after her like a slow bloated firefly.

When Mel got to Cog's chair she waited for him to look up from his reading and acknowledge her. When he did she made a small polite bow before speaking. "Sir. I heard you say you were going to speak with Mr." She paused, realizing Sebastian had never actually given his full name, "with Sebastian. When you do could you return this for me." She held out her hand and from a silver chain dangled a small silvery-glassy looking tube with silver fittings.  "He gave this to me earlier and I do not wish to be accused of stealing family artifacts." Mel set the little magic tool down on the stand beside Cog's chair and returned to her own seat to resume her research.

The bat didn't answer Bambi's words immediately. She breathed heavily once, a few moments passing before she spoke smoothly and silently.
   "Silence and ignorance is better than burdening others who cannot possibly help with your problems. And as long as the world is as it is, there is the chance of escape." The bat turned around, and glared at PBH with eyes like glowing coals, seething anger, guilt and sadness.
   "Trust though, is the sound of death. Friends, I've never really had. And I would not wish any I did have my company anyhow." Her voice was low and cruel.

   The spider-woman hissed and clacked her sharp teeth at them. Cogidubnus' words against her she found completely unwarranted.
   "I told you, I did not put you into a mess! I never wanted anything to do with this place at all! I would never have come here, were it not for my orders!" she snarled, wriggling up and setting her back against the couch.

"And we believe you, for the most part," Jeremiah said soothingly, shooting an annoyed look at Cog, "He's just grouchy. However, it occurs to me that you are owed information as well here," the frog adjusted his hat slightly and brushed an imagined bit of dust off of his sleeve, "Madam, you attacked us. You had a veritable storm of altered arachspearians in tow and were ranting and raving about our awakening the lady. After being subdued Stygian as you call him, who's his current sex because of the effects of your spiders, removed an object not unlike a live coal from you," he leaned closer to the spider woman, partly for effect and partly to see her reaction to what he'd said, "Do you remember any of this?"

Cog looked oddly at Mel and took the tube from her hand, nodding. "As you say. I'll go find our esteemed hostess." he stood, and shot another look at the spider woman. "Of course, madam, but forgive me if I do not believe you." Cog said, and stopped for a moment. If he was wrong, he was perhaps being too hard on someone who indeed did not know better. On the other hand, he also knew better than to jump into a fight with only half the story. That one had bitten him very hard before. He nodded his head at the woman. "I don't believe you, but neither do I believe everything the bat says. Perhaps explanations from all sides are in order." He finished, crossing the room and opening the door.
He had no idea where Sebastian had gotten off to, but tracking the bat wouldn't be that hard. He took a deep breath, and headed left. Just follow the smell of liquor, he thought, and made yet another left, the smell of cognac growing stronger.

Cog spy the tan cat- girl coming towards him, then PBH blinks and bows her head as she moves to the side of the hallway and lets Cog pass as she points out the room Stygain is in..

"Her Majesty, the bat is busy feel alone and sorry for herself..  That "She has many problems, which I or anyone else wouldn't be able to understand or help her with ." type mood.  I'm not sure if she's right or wrong about that, but I find just having someone to talk to, and help sound out your problems, can help you to a sounder solution.  I am off to find the ferret, and maybe you can talk some sense into the Bat.. Good luck" says PBH

PBH continues on to the kitchen, and starts look for the ferrret.

It was not hard to follow the pleasant scent of the cognac, at least not to Cog's finely honed senses. Following the strength of it, he arrived at the second floor in a hallway outside a just barely open door, behind which emanated the dim, warm light of a few candles, sorrowful and almost dismal musical tones sung by a low female voice, and the smells of ink and ash, of blood, licqour and a slight hint of what he had come to recognize as drunkenness.

   The spider-lady slumped and sighed, her face becoming more wearied and tired, and more downhearted for that matter. She leaned on the couch in a way that looked uncomfortable, but was probably the best she could manage.
   "I've told you that I don't recall anything," she said, and looked at the frog resignedly and glumly. "You're going to keep this up, aren't you? Why? I'm just doing a job here. If I fail, someone else will come and dispose of me, and do it instead." She said all of that in the same melancholy yet matter-of-factly and level tone, even the part about disposal.

   Outside, the rain had stopped falling, and the dark clouds were just above the mountains in the distance, having unveiled a starry and clear sky that simply called out for gazing. The wind was nearly dead still, and in the dark bats flapped and darted every so often in their chase of prey, their squeaks barely noticeable in the great emptiness around the castle's spires.

"Yeah, we probably would have to talk to her," Aisha agreed after hearing Cogi's statement, and watched him walk out of the room to look for the bat.  She figured, hopefully, it wouldn't be long enough before the curses were lifted.  The panthress couldn't tell from what time it was really, but she still knew they were well into night.  By this point, things were quiet enough that it was possible to get sleep in...hard a thought as it was in a haunted castle.

She regarded the pseudo-arachnid with a little pity though, after her statement.  So she recalled nothing.  Caught in a trap of the mind and of life, for who knew how long.  Who would be able to tell the woman that over 150 years had passed in the place since the events she was speaking of?  The panthress just shook her head, somewhat tiredly, and left the others to the business of interrogation, taking another stroll around the library's shelves...even placing the one she found back where it had been before, in a single hallowed space that had collected so much dust, out of simple respect for the years seen by the documents.

Aisha then took a spot back to a table nearby, leaning her upper body on the surface.  While they were waiting around, and being quiet, there was no reason for her to be standing around much.  Just a catnap.  Get some energy back. She smirked to herself and closed her eyes, though her ears were tuned to the living and tired voices echoing across the walls.

Mel heard the spider-woman's last statement as she was walking past to retrieve one of the crumpled books she had been looking at earlier from the pile. "Your boss doesn't believe in hurrying. Sebastian was quite certain he had been imprisoned for 164 years. I assume your imprisonment was a similar term."

 Cog nodded at Hunnydew and gave a sour grin. "Yes, well, I don't know if sense is the right word. Maybe a boot in the ass." he said, before stopping at the somewhat closed door. Manners first. He knocked on the wood, and simply let the door open itself. His eyes adjusted to the darkness easily, and after quickly looking around he leaned against the wall to the side.
Sebastian seemed to be having a grand time laying on the bed and looking at the wall. He cleared his throat, and dropped the silver tube he had been carrying on the desk next to him.
"If you are quite done sulking, the others were wondering if you might rejoin us." He said flatly. "The dragon wanted to give you back the item you loaned her. It's on the desk." He pushed himself off the wall, and walked a little closer to the bed. "I hope you are feeling better, sir, because we can't afford anyone else being harmed because of one of your panic attacks."
Cog looked at the desk where a few candles flickered, and passed a hand over some of the writing that Sebastian had been doing. He quirked and eyebrow as he scanned it.

The spider-woman dropped her lower jaw so low that one might have thought it might unhinge. Her eyes tinged first with incredulity, and then when she realized there was no reason for disbelief, with fear. She looked like she was about to cry, and made sort of a sound in her throat before speaking.
   "No. That can't be..." she tried, unconvincedly.

"...the most profound thinking I have ever had in my life, and yet it feels as if it has been for nothing. The immediate turn for the worse and enmity that I sensed from these adventurers proves this, as does what I did to Azazel, even if the decision might have been warranted by the situation. I can not believe I have escaped the attention of the families, and I do not for a second doubt that they will seek me out if they catch word of my escape. And so, it would seem that my imprisonment has been for naught, just like my transformation was.
   Now, I am to search for that glimpse again, and I only hope that I can find some alternative way to rid these adventurers of their recollection, or me of them. If only they could be persuaded or contracted with trust. But a Dragon alone, and an Icewing at that, is great enough a risk that such a solution cannot be. Or, as usual, that is my belief."
   "Having fun reading my notes?" the bat asked, rolling over to the side so she could focus her still black eyes and their fiery irises at Cog. In the light of the candles they really glowed, reflecting the coloured light. They also gleamed a bit more than he remembered.
   "No, you're probably having more fun ridiculing me. Please. Be my guest. It's not as if being sealed away for sixteen decades and then released only to be trapped and turned, and then insulted for faults that are not mine deserves a bit of consideration. We all have our little problems; I'm sure being pointlessly snide will solve all." Her voice was scathing and sharp, as she sat up and glared at him. "I mean, my pain really does not measure with yours..."

Keaton said nothing during the intense interrogation of the spider-woman, instead opting to linger off to the side and leaf through a book she had squirreled from her upended gathering of books which had spilled off of the collapsed table. In reality, she remained quite detached from her halfhearted reading, only turning a few pages every five seconds to simulate any form of attention while she, actually, listened acutely to everything the spider-woman had told in response to the others' questions.

So it seemed like this spider-woman had more of a connection to this Sebastian character than she had originally surmised, and even more interestingly was that, according to her accounts, he was not to be trusted. This came as no revelation to Keaton--her observations about his prowess in dark magic had unnerved even her, only exacerbated by the abilities she had witnessed beforehand in previous battles.

What really fazed the spider-woman was the realization that she had been sealed in the castle for longer than anticipated. Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, Keaton averted her eyes toward the door, wondering when Professor Hunnydew and the recently-departed Cogidubnus were going to return with Stygian.

Considering the relationship between Stygian and the spider-woman, however, she wasn't sure if she entirely WANTED that to happen...

~Keaton the Black Jackal

 Cog grinned slightly at Sebastian's riposte. He stopped reading the notes, and again leaned against the wall. He'd hoped she had been working on something to do with a cure, but alas. "My pain? Good sir, you beg the question, why would casting magic fret me so?" He leaned forward, and his shades slid down his nose somewhat - and his eyes glittered a dull yellow in the light. "What's more, you think magic has been my only trial?" His voice grew quiet for a moment. "The full moon can be cruel indeed." He leaned back again. "It's not the point. You say you were imprisoned for 16 decades, a time in which a lesser creature might have gone insane. A trial, for certain, and one I don't mean to belittle. But yet, you try and kill the one who helped set you free! So you don't like dragons?" he said, raising his eyebrows once more. "Even I would not be so stupid as to kill a wizard who freed me from magic! Especially one who would then try and help turn me back to my correct gender."
His toned softened somewhat. "We're all on edge, and I'm sure the cognac has done little to calm you. But we need you, and without this obsession with trying to silence us, or this fear of us. If we wanted to harm, we've been in better positions to do so."
He motioned to the door. "Whenever you're ready, good sir."

PBH reaches the empty Kitchen, and find a bottle red wine unopened as well as a mess of some dirty dishes and some cooked food left uneaten.  Signing, PBH opens the wine and drink a couple of shallows, coughs, and then takes another hit of the wine and finally puts the cork back.  Signing, PBH cleans up the food and dishes, as she searches the dark kitchen corners and then adjacent room of any sign the ferret girl.

PBH

The bat's eyes widened slightly as she watched his eyes gleam, and then narrowed dangerously.
   "Out of all the people... Dragons, cubi, what seems like bounty hunters... and now a were?!" she said, angrily. "You don't seem to realize why I attacked her. Not really. Tell me then, werewolf... What are dragons most reputed for, out of all things?" The bat moved over the bed and strode up close to the wolf. Cogidubnus was two inches taller than Stygian had been from the very start, and now those two had been increased to nearly four. But the look and tone more than leveled out the way she had to turn her face up at him.
   "Most would say power, but that's not it. Skill, intelligence and prowess plays in there too, so there are even beings who could rival great dragons for power. No... What signifies dragons is greed." She hissed that last word with contempt. "They hoard, they gather and they exploit. The Icewings, I happen to know, are particularly ravenous for information. They're monglers of it. And what goes in their hoarde may well end up in the clutches of some close clan. I don't want any information on me to spread. Anonymity, save for what I allow, is my wish. And privacy is my bloody right!" she said, snarling the last word and poking Cog in the chest with a clawed finger. Then, she snatched her notes from him and turned, flipping a few pages and then setting the notebook down on the bedside table as her comely face took on a solemn look.
   "What I think of you personally has no say. It is a matter of security." And it's cost as many dear ones as it has saved, she thought.

   In the next room, sitting bent over a table, the pretty little ferret was staring at her hand with whited out eyes, looking utterly confused and afraid. When Bunny entered, the mustelid turned her head against her and blinked, before voicing unsteadily.
   "Who... are we?"

"Well then, my dear, perhaps next time you are nailed to a stick, we'll be sure to leave you there. With your privacy."
His mouth quirked in a sneer, despite his best efforts. "Really now. You are in no position to make demands of her. Do you think that if anyone really wanted to find you, they couldn't? At the very least, the spider woman seems to think someone sent her to kill you. So knowledge of your existence is, if not common, at least available."
The sneer faded from his mouth. "If you have such enemies that you have to be so paranoid, one would think you would need more friends, not less. The dragon is not here to confirm a target, anyway." He inclined his head. "No one deals in information if they can't keep a secret. She's promised you her silence, and under the circumstances, I think it's all your entitled to."
He eyed the cognac, but decided against it. He felt rather tipsy enough.

The frog's expression turned apologetic, "That's what I've been trying to get at this whole time, miss. That help probably isn't coming, or already did and is stuck as you were. Integrated into one of the curses on this place, or dead, or just never showed up. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you share another quality with this 'Stygian' in that neither of you are really in any shape to be picky about your allies. Save for the occasional really, REALLY old creature you're the only ones of your time period."

PBH kneels and sit on her feet beside the girl ferret, and kindly looks at the ferret on her level .

"Well, I'm Professor Bambi Hunnydew....But you can called me Bambi, or Bam.  All my friends do.  I will get you something to eat if you like or I have some wine.  You had a hard time recently and I don't know half of it, but I will listen to you if you want to talk, or just be here for you.  Would you come with me to kitchen, and have some food?  I'll help you out as much as I can"

PBH offers her hand with palm up near the ferret arm on the table and waits for her to answer 
 
PBH

The ferret confusedly looked at the feline, not saying anything but simply looking blankly around her. She seemed completely disoriented, perplexed at her whole situation. Slowly, carefully, she took Bunny's hand. Her eyes widened, and she made a little yelp as she did, as if she was surprised that the touch was even real.
   "We... We think We can... What is this? Where are We?" she said, standing insecurely and letting herself be led.

   The spider's heart sank, as did her face. She slowly leaned back, looking as if she had gone numb, blind and deaf all of a sudden, or as if whatever had been holding her up until then had just been taken away in a heartbeat and left her limp like a ragdoll. Tears hinted in the corners of her eyes.
   "He couldn't have... We knew...! They trapped him here to keep him away...! We just had to..." she whimpered, fat drops beginning to trickle down her cheeks. "It can't be!" she said, both heartbrokenly and fiercely, looking at the frog with as much anger as sorrow. "You're lying!"

   "They had no need or knowledge to," the bat replied to Cog, and gave him a venomous look that quickly died down. "It was all supposed to hold me in place and slowly kill me. Still, they never really understood what I am. And they were good at keeping knowledge hidden. If no one finds out in long enough a time, I can slip away." She on the other hand did not have any compunctions against more cognac, and filled up yet another glass, sipping and looking over at him.
   "And I'm entitled to whatever I can bloody get out of her. There's no honor in this deal, just logic. That means I can squeeze her throat shut with all right if she gets loudmouthed." Her cheeks were flushed with anger and intoxication. "Morals has no part in it. Never has had with me. I don't do that. Nor do I do friends; they're better off without me."
   The bat slumped down on the bed again, drinking down and having another glass.
   "But you're right. She's promised her silence. And I don't see how she could break it anytime soon without me knowing. So she'll be condemning herself to death if she does. Maybe it'll work. For now, I intend to keep away and try and get this solved..." she said, and leaned over, sighing and looking at her hand.

   In the library, the group continued their doings. With the books and desks somewhat cleaned up, Mel was being somewhat successful in isolating the way the curses manifested, by embedding itself in the essence of the afflicted using their very own fear, loathing and hatred. It also seemed to have sort of clenched hold of the part of their mind that had to do with prejudices. The worst part of it, she found, was that it strengthened them and would be made irreversible if it were not removed soon. Just how soon, she did not know, but it looked like weeks or more probably days.

PBH smiles at the ferret, and gentle leads her to the kitchen, She quickly fixes up some fruit, and meat plate with some bread.  As she warms up some soup.

"WE? mmm okay we are in a castle, in the kitchen?  Now, here is some food and"

** PBH pours some wine in two glasses and gives her one ***

"... wine or would you like some water?  Can you tell me, what you name is or are?"

PBH encourages her to eat the food but waits for the ferret to answer or eat as she sips her own wine..

Mel disregarded the spider's ranting. If her research was right the spider was nothing but a distraction. She rubbed her tired eyes and sighed. No one was going to be happy with this. It wasn't as simple and easy as just removing the curse. "Keaton. Could you come check my work please. I think I've figured out the mechanics of the curse but I want someone else to proof my research." This wouldn't be easy on any of the victims so one of them would work the hardest to destroy the conclusions Mel had drawn.

She arranged the books she referenced in order with her notes under them. Then she watched Keaton carefully as the girl looked things over. She wouldn't be pleased to read that the curse was feeding on her hatred to make her what she hated so logically the converse would be the cure. The next question was how did one reduce or remove the hatred the curse fed on?

The frog flinched at the spider woman's words; he felt like a right bastard for putting it that way, but it was a message he had to get across.
"I know this is tough on you. This place has been tough on everyone to some degree. Some of us had our species changed, some of us exhibeted strange and unwanted abilities. You've probably been hurt worst. However, it's true," Jeremiah bowed his head slightly, "If you need proof, just look at us. Our clothing; is it anything like your time? Bambi was here just a minute ago, you may have seen her carrying a weapon that looked like a bent iron stick; also something you wouldn't be familier with. I don't like being the bearer of bad news, but it's the truth. I have no reason to lie to you. After all, if I was on Stygian's side why would I only ask questions about him? I'm reserving judgement on many individuals in this affair, and am thus the closest thing to neutral. I'm... Sorry about what has happened to you, but I'm quite serious. Now..." My gods, I am a bastard, "What was it that you were supposed to stop? What were these orders?"

Cog nodded silently, and pushed himself up from the wall. "I understand – and normally, I wouldn't care." He narrowed one eye. "But in this case, I don't care if you don't see it as a matter of morals or honor. I do." he said, making his voice soft. "And so does everyone else who fought to free you." He tilted his head. "You could probably kill us, of course."
He reached for a hat that was no longer there and grimaced. "But killing the dragon, or any of us, would be unwise. I don't think anyone would miss me, but the others - I don't know. Someone might come looking after awhile. And imagine if you killed the dragon and the other Icewing dragons came looking! That might get complicated, yes?"
He shrugged. "I suppose it doesn't matter. You've made your decision." He again leaned against the wall and tapped a finger on her desk. "Something that might matter a little more is for you to stop sulking in here and help us in the library again. Drowning your sorrows in cognac isn't helping anything."
He raised a hand defensively. "Yes, I know, but I neither did I know I could help with the research at all then. What's more, I can see straight, which is more than I'd wager you can."
He again motioned to the door, making a somewhat ornate bow in it's direction. "Ladies first, after all."

The ferret accepted both the food and the wine, though as confusedly as with everything else. She picked a few pieces of food insecurely, and then tasted the wine, twisting her face a bit at the taste but drinking nevertheless. She looked up at the cat with empty eyes at the question.
   "...don't know..." she said, and blushed a bit.

   The spider didn't answer Jeremiah's question. She just hung her head and cried wordlessly, a low and painful weeping between sharp sobs that cut to the very heart of those who heard. Or, at least to those who cared, which under the circumstances seemed to be a lot fewer than might have been expected. The front of the crude and torn robe she was wearing was quickly pricked with wet spots from the tears that rolled down from her largest pair of eyes.

   Stygian's eyes fixed on Cog's as he spoke, the bat rolling the glass smoothly in her hand. The blonde chiropteran took in and pondered his words about morals, unwisdom and sulking. His perspective was as expected, as were his arguments. He really didn't think the same way the bat herself did, but she could understand him. His comment about seeing straight didn't go together with the time perspective. And she wondered just how easily he thought she could kill them, if he spoke like that. Slowly, she drank down another glass of amber alcohol.
   At his last comment though, she blinked. Then, she stood up and calmly walked as if about to head out. When she reached the wolf though, she made a lightning-quick jab against his gut, right to the solar plexus, and no more, planning on just letting him wheeze for breath.
   "No more of that," she said lowly and calmly. "You might think that it's the comments that I have problem with. But it's neither those nor the body. I've masked this way before on the job. But I've never been confined to it. So I'd much appreciate an end to the cheesy jokes."

Bambi divides the soup between them and pass a bowl of soup to the ferret with more bread... " Eat up and I will mix your wine with a little water if it is too strong for you."   PBH goes to get a pitch of water on the other table and returns with it on sit across from the Ferret..offer her some water into glass if she wants some.

"Sorry Gina is the only name I know for you, but I am sure there are others.  Gina, I am not sure what happen to you, but I have an idea what is going on in your head.   Can you tell me what you can remember or just tell what you can about you?  I'm will to be a friend to you, I think you will need to help if you are to make peace within yourself." said PBH

PBH

The frog simply looked at the spider forlornly. He knew when to keep his mouth shut and let somebody cry it out.

Cog gasped as Sebastian's fist connected neatly with his stomach, the blow catching him completely by surprise. A clean hit. He did indeed double over and gasp for a moment, and the whiskey in his stomach suddenly threatened to make a second appearance – he managed to keep the bile down and take a shuddering breath.
To Sebastian's surprise, Cog gave a lopsided grin. "Glad...to see you're feeling better...finally." he wheezed, making an effort to straighten out. His eyes danced with both pain and a little mirth. "I apologize if I've offended." He seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, and managed to keep another snide comment from passing his lips. "But it got you out of bed, at least." He stood a little distance from Sebastian this time, and one hand rested on the hilt of his blade. "I really do hope you can see straight, by the way. You're going to have to go back in town for more booze, at this rate."
Seeing as he had made such an ordeal about Sebastian going first, he again waited for her to vacate the room.

Knowing that it would take the jackal a while to read through the research Mel picked up a book she had not yet had a chance to look through and took a seat. As soon as she was in the large leather chair she chided herself to get up and reclaim one of the hard wooden chairs. This chair was too comfortable and she was too tired and it was too dangerous to sleep with the bat in places unknown. But her body wouldn't heed the command to move after her very long day so she assured herself that the book was enough to keep her mind engaged.

Opening his eyes, Gareeku realised that he had in fact fallen asleep after sitting down in a chair. He had tried to listen to the spider woman's explanations, but it seemed that as soon as he had sat down, a wave of fatigue had overcome him and sent him drifting off into slumber. Looking at the clock, the wolf saw that it was coming up to 3am in the morning.

Yawning, Gareeku rose to his feet and looked around, stretching slightly as he did so. It seemed that people were still reading books, and those who weren't seemed either deep in thought or asleep.
"Well, I think I'm gonna head to a room and catch some more sleep." he said to the others. He felt partially guilty about leaving them like that, but he had a feeling that if he didn't get back to sleep soon he would collapse. "Night guys."

Leaving the library, the wolf made his way through the dimly lit corridors and halls. Eventually, the wolf came to a bedroom after walking into studies and dining halls and such. Collapsing on the bed, Gareeku sighed tiredly, before closing his and drifting off back into slumber.

With the castle quiet and still, it was much easier to admire the exquisite paintings, the architecture and the decorations of the highest class. Had someone actually decided to sell the castle before it had been cursed, it would probably have caught a tremendous price. In a way, one might have supposed that the adventurers were lucky it was so, and that the place had been kept in shape in a way by the curse. The bedroom Gareeku entered was large and comfortable, with a great roofed bed. Unlit candles and tall, draped windows, a tall mirror and a wardrobe, and a small washstand and some chairs and a neatly designed table made the place look homely. It was the sort of bedroom that would have housed honored guests. Upon inspection of the bed, the silken sheets of it were scarcely touched by time save for a thin layer of dust on the cover. Soon the wolf was sleeping on it, drifting away into shadowy dreams.

   The spider cried away, and then fell silent upon the couch, sniffing a few times and then seeming to drift away into sleep. Her red, smooth hair fell over her face and covered her eyes, so it was hard to tell, but her breathing slowed and her mouth opened slightly, a very mild chittering sound audible with her breaths after a while.

   "So what? Better that then die of thirst or painful recollection. You could have some more yourself, to keep it all down," the bat said to Cogidubnus, and turned her side to him, taking her glass and slowly emptying it yet again, as she walked over to the tall windows of the room that gazed out over the side of the castle and the steep cliffs below, and let the full moon shine in and play through the draperies. Then, she looked at him disturbedly. It didn't seem as if she was intending to leave for a while.
   "You keep offending me if that smile's about what I think it is," she said, her face turned against him and her eyes gleaming, lit up from the side by the pale light.

 Cog was taken aback for a moment, but simply grinned all the wider and made a flourishing bow.
"I assure you, it had nothing to do with that. Merely glad to see you stop sulking." He straightened back out and took Sebastian's advice. It didn't look like she was going anywhere anytime soon. He preferred whiskey, but he'd dropped the bottle, so he contented himself with the cognac available. Dregs, but such was life.
He turned to her again, sipping his drink. "You're a bit of a dark individual. I take it as a sign of progress when I can get you riled up enough to throw a punch." His grin faded somewhat, the dull ache in his stomach beating in time with his heartbeat. "Although I do certainly hope you're feeling better. Took god knows how much booze and taunting, but you're moving now, at least."

Throughout the time that she partially lay on the table, head supported by one of her arms, Aisha seemed to catch herself drifting slowly between a simple nap and real, true sleep.  The panthress opened her eyes a few times continuously for a few minutes, mostly just to see what time it was.  I must be more exhausted than I thought.  She lifted her head at one point, just in time to have caught Gareeku bidding everyone a good night.  She spared a smile and a wave back, before looking the situation over in the library.

A few were still in concentration over their reading, so quiet that they looked as if lost in the words that were bound to the book, conversly their minds bound to the concepts within.  And others still had found sleep...the spider woman at this point had ceased her sobbing and also had quietly drifted off.  The bat and Cogi still hadn't returned, so it looked as if the curses weren't to be lifted any time soon.  Even to her sensitive ears, there was barely a sound in the library save for everyone's breathing, or muttering, or snoring.  Outside the storm subsided, leaving calm in its wake...just like the calm after the storm within the castle's walls.

I guess I could try braving a night in a mostly-haunted place, Aisha thought to herself with an inner laugh and stood from the table, stretching the muscles that were sore from a position of half-lying and half-sitting.  Her nostrils twitched though, almost involuntarily, as they had done since the adventurers were done with their fights.  She was one of them who was the most covered in the blood of the long-dead, a scent still lingering.  She sighed.  As long as I live I will probably never get used to that smell.

Making a decision, Aisha gathered herself and, leaving the others without much of a word other than a wave to those who caught sight of her, started to make her own trek through the castle, to explore and get a mental map of at least a few things...who knew how long they were going to be there?  Plus, if she couldn't find a place to sleep, then at least a place to bathe...which she did, soon enough.

Either Mel was more tired than she had believed or the book less interesting because it wasn't very long before the book fell to her lap unnoticed and her head rested against a wing of the chair, eyes closed. The lighted crystal that had been bobbing along over her head blinked out, then disappeared back to wherever Mel had produced it from. In her sleep she twitched and whimpered a bit, as if her frightened mood had followed her into her dreams to destroy her rest.

As the spider woman nodded off, it occured to Jeremiah that he'd had a long day himself. setting up the chair next to a couple others for a makeshift bed and using his coat as a blanket, the frog nodded off and dreamed of fine art...

Kerag awoke and looks back at the sky "Still dark." Kerag muttered he stands up and stretches then jumps off the roof his wings open and slowed his descend a little and lands on the soft ground he goes to the door and opens it and with out thinking he cast a small spell and he was dry this cheered himself up cause now he has his powers back so he heads to the library to see whats going on

Night was still settled deeply all over the castle. A plain, but elegant, tiled bathroom was available and readily found on the bottom floor by the panthress. It was a simple deal to warm up water using a quite good fired heater. With the job done pretty quickly, and with soaps and shampoo and such available in clearly marked glass bottles, it was easy to settle in and clean up. Getting her clothing washed would have to be done elsewhere, but at least she could wash out her fur.

   The bat snickered, sitting down on the bed again and throwing the pendant Cog had brought on the bedside table.
   "Some would call you insane for that," she said, and had some more to drink. "But I don't sulk. I was just feeling all gloomy. Because I'm dark." She smiled jadedly. "It's not always a fun thing, you know? Like when you get locked up for a century and a half and don't get to sleep," she sighed, and muttered. "A century and a half of loneliness and pain... It can get to you." Her eyes gleamed again. This time though, her face bore a devilish smile. And together with that pretty face it made for a look twice as dangerous as what the bat could probably have mustered before.
   Then, she just turned her face down and chuckled.
   "Still, you're right about me feeling better. And I am relieved, even if it might not matter that much now."

PBH watches over the Ferret as she eats and refills both wine glasses when they empty.  She lets the ferret eat in peace, and just taken her company.  The quiet of castle, wine, and the long day, takes a toll on PBH, and she start to dose off.  Her worries about the ferret girl wakes her with a start... 

"Oh boy, Are we ready for bed, yet my friend.?" ask PBH in a calming voice to the startle ferret girl..."We should try and find a bed somewhere, this bench or table is too hard to sleep for long."

See that the ferret had eaten all of her food, PBH gets up with the half empty wine bottle in one hand and offers her other hand to the girl ferret.  PBH waits for Gina to come on her own.

"Come, my friend, and we will see where sleep or rest we may get us.  Don't worry I wouldn't leave you, if you don't want me, too."  

PBH

Understandably, Keaton was more than happy to detach her attention from the spider, as was indicated by the immediate snap of her book being shut, and her eyes gliding over to meet Mel's. A weak smile tweaked the edges of her pallid lips in an effort to uplift them, a hand reaching up to brush some hair out from her face. "What, you want my help? Sure," Keaton said, walking over to where the dragon was and leaning down.

Recieving some form of confirmation, Keaton drew out a chair and seated herself, taking hold of one of Mel's notes and beginning to scan it over. It was apparent by the attentive look on her face that she was more than happy to assist, especially if it meant alleviating the curse that befouled her from her being. Knowing that it would take Keaton a considerable amount of time, Mel located an appropriate perch in one of the leather chairs that hadn't been knocked over before, quickly falling asleep in the midst of her research, although soon the jackal realized, much to her concern, that the dragon seemed to be whimpering in her sleep...

~Keaton the Black Jackal

After having listened to Bunny's explanation, and pondered while she ate, the ferret did not seem so very confused anymore, but just a bit insecure. Still, she stood up and took the feline's hand and nodded to her a bit, while yawning.
   "Yeah. We think We could do with some sleep..." the ferret said, low and dazedly. She seemed a bit unsure on her feet, but walked well enough.

   The grandfather clock in the library, a large and very well-made piece, the gears and working apparatus of which were visible behind an ornate and decorated front, ticked away against half past three in the morning. And where she sat and studied Mel's work, Keaton came to realize something horrible. Mel was not only used to hypnosis and illusion effects, but she also had intricate knowledge about thoughts and memory. She just missed the more specific black magic skills to draw the conclusion, just as Keaton herself could not have done without Mel's previous work, of the spell's composition and effect.
   The horrible truth was that when the poison's effect had completely settled, something that would take two days tops, it would also embed itself into the afflicted so much that it would be as if they had never been anything but what they had become. In effect, it would make them think they always had been, and unable to remember or understand anything else.
   Needless to say, this would be very bad.

   Upstairs, Stygian had laid back a bit, closing her eyes and sighing, not quite contently. The ice in her glass had melted completely, and what was left was now only a little bit of amber slur, she and the wolf having drained the whole bottle.
   "I am really wondering how I am supposed to go back to the world. All my projects have run out, and to wake the old 'legend' will have to wait. And my vengeance... I am not so sure that I wish to pursue further. I've ground two houses in the dust. Now..." she muttered, trailing off and looking over her shoulder at Cog. "Part of me thinks I've extolled my fair pay."
   The wolf though, was not entirely focused on what the bat was saying. It might just have been the full moon, but part of him was beginning to feel just a bit more dizzy and off than the alcohol could account for.

PBH and ferret pass the sound of running water, as tempting as a bath sound right now, she knew she would a sleep in a bath in seconds and likely drown.  Therefore, She leads the ferret upstairs and pass the library to one of the family bedroom with a large bed that is enough to sleep 10 Beings  PBH leads the girl to the edge of the bed.

"It is okay, but we need to get ready for bed."

Here, Bambi takes a quick drink from the wine as she turns the sheets down on one side. Handing the bottle the ferret, PBH sit the ferret down on that side of the bed.  She leans into the girl enough to looses tight collars and sleeve on the ferret and removes any belts, ties, and the girl's shoes. 

**PBH will stop anytime the girl seem scared, the girl asks her to or pushes her away.  but PBH will not push the ferret away If she needs hug or to be held**

After loosing the ferret's clothes,  PBH'll step back from the girl one step or two.
Waiting a moment or two on her knees in front of her, She looks at the girl.  If she seems calm, PBH gets up and removes her own shirt, pants and shoes as she walks to the other side of the bed, but always keeping a eye the ferret.  Leaving only her underwear on, PBH crawl into bed and lays her head on a pillow facing the ferret across the vast bed.

"I'm right here, Girl.  If the nightmares come, or you need anything, I am right here"

PBH

 Cog swirled the cognac in his glass absently. "Vengeance..." he murmured, the word bringing back his own memories of days long past. "Interesting you'd mention that. It's too bad you've been locked up for the last century or so...I'd hoped to find a trace of a certain someone here."
Cog swallowed the last of the amber liquid and set it down somewhat sharply. "Doesn't matter. There are only so many paths in the world, and I have time to walk as many as I must. Eventually, time brings all things to light, as they say..."
Cog suddenly found himself sitting down in a chair, although he didn't remember bending over to sit. He found it somewhat difficult to focus his eyes as well. He shook his head and continued on. "As far as the world...I somehow think you'll be alright. After all, if you can grind two houses into the dust, something tells me it would take great things indeed to put you back in your box. Play it smart, you'll be fine." He grinned. "Not that I think you didn't plan on playing it smart."
Cog was sweating, he noticed, something that he seldom did even after getting as roaring drunk as he probably was. He settled back in his chair and grimaced. Something had been irritating him all night, and it wasn't just the activities and trials of the day. No matter. He shook his head and simply loosened his shirt. Perhaps some night air would do him good.  He stood and crossed the room, unlatching one of the windows and sighing as the breeze flowed in. It was a cool night, but not yet fall - the air was about perfect.

With the door to the bathroom locked, and the last bit of heated water filling the dusty but ornately-crafted tub, Aisha nearly wanted to fall asleep right among the warmth permeating the room after setting her clothes to the side and stepping in.  But soon enough the task of eliminating the scent and feel of blood from her body and hair was finished, and she had the time to just relax in the air of luxuriance, no matter how barely-lit and gloomy the surroundings seemed in the firelight.  That, and save for her own breathing and the water lapping around it was ethereal and eerily quiet.

Her eyes narrowed as they fell idly upon her clothing, which was still darkened with entrails.  I guess I shall take care of that tomorrow, she decided and leaned her head against one end, closing her eyes in thought.  So much had happened in the course of one night, certainly none of the tasks the others had would be finished until the sun rose.  She thought of the cursed...the spirits inhabiting the ferret still...their mysterious guide, and the castle's history...and who knew what else was to be found?

"Stay or go..." the panthress muttered.  Something in the back of her head advised that if anyone stayed, they'd likely face more trouble...death, mental breaking points, or monsters.  Her adventurer's instinct...the same instinct also told her right then, strangely, to stay and see what else happens.  There was a smirk on that thought.  She had gotten a new sword out of the adventure so far.  Even if it didn't truly belong to me...

Aisha stayed there for a while, almost in a state of approaching sleep, until the water cooled.  Then after drying off, she drained the tub and went to looking for a room of her own, dressed in her shirt and trousers while carrying the rest under an arm.  And when she did, she literally collapsed on the bed.  She took a second thought after setting her weapons aside to keep the boomerang beneath her pillow, before succumbing to the dreams entirely.

The more startling information that Keaton absorbed, the more visibly downtrodden and aghast the jackal became, her azure pupils pinpricking until they were nearly swallowed up by the whites of her eyes. When Keaton was a Cubi, she had no need for sleeping, but was one of the very sparse few who still enjoyed it--but even though she now had the same limitations that Angels did, while she remained incarcerated in the castle she wouldn't so much as allow herself to close her eyes for even a minute.

Especially not after what she had discovered.

One exsanguinous hand tweaked at the cover of the book she was scanning through while the other hovered near her mouth, her teeth mauling and nipping at her index fingernail. Teeth finally clamping down onto the overly abused tip and shredding it, she snapped the book shut and tucked it under her arm, climbing up and rushing over to Mel.

The Succubus-turned-Angel looked even paler than usual beneath her luxuriant, alabaster fur as she grasped the accursed book which had helped her unearth the damning piece of information, blood swarming from her knuckles. The very idea of her not being to remember her ever being a Cubi--the idea of her having to spend the rest of her life as a godforsaken fucking Angel sickened and frightened her beyond belief. There had to be something they could do to remedy this, or they would be stuck the way they were for lord knew how long.

"Mel," Keaton spoke tremulously, hand resting on the slumbering dragon's shoulder, "We have a serious problem."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

The ferret seemed quite insecure, but settled down and still enough. She didn't seem entirely in sync with the whole situation, but the feline's words and calm demeanour rubbed off on her and she quite soon found herself. Slowly, she moved up on the bed, sitting down on the end of it, still wearing underwear and her loosened blouse and pulling the sheets aside while she moved her legs up.
   "T-thanks..." she almost murmured. "I'm... not quite sure. But thanks." She smiled at the cat.

   From behind, Cog heard the bat's voice as she closed up beside him and stood over to the side right next to him, taking in the cool night air and sighing pleasedly.
   "Full. And a bit red too. Right the way it should be..." she said smoothly, looking at the moon. Then, her nose twitched and her ears perked a bit, and she looked at the wolf next to her. Being what she was, she had no problem sensing his smell changing a bit, and his body heating up. She quickly looked him over, and smiled a sinister smile.
   "Feeling quite allright, wolf?" she murred, closing more and placing an arm around his waist. "Haven't had too much, have you?"

   Down in the library, the spider slept away. Or at least she seemed that way. There was a glinting beneath the shadows under her forehair every now and then though...

Jeremiah dozed on unaware of possible dangers from any direction, least of all the spider woman who he'd assumed to be equally unconcious. He rolled over in his sleep (nearly toppling from his makeshift bed of chairs and his coat) and murmored something about "bad mojo" and a place called Squiggytown. His dreams had taken a turn for the strange rather than fine art, but that wasn't the business of anyone else in the room anyway.

Mel awoke with a start at Keaton's light touch. Her dreams hadn't been pleasant and being startled back to reality left her blinking and bewildered for a long moment. But it only took her one look at Keaton's face to know that the jackal had not found a flaw in her hypothesis. "I was right, wasn't I?" She sighed, "I wanted to be wrong despite it meaning more time researching."

"Okay, If we are not tried, now" says PBH as she stretches. groans and sits up against her pillows, too.. "Share the wine and we'll make this a slumber party.  We can tell stories, talk about ex-lovers, or try playing true or dare. Go ahead, You ask a question, and I have to answer or Drink up.  Then it is my turn for a question.  So, Go ahead, Ask me anything?"  

PBH

The night air was doing him some good, and although he had not looked up at the sky yet, the view more than compensated. The vista presented from the high view of the castle was incredible. The lands on which the place was situated was beauty inscribed, and although it was somewhat in disrepair, one could still see the skill that had been used in the landscaping. The forest surrounding the place was dark and lovely, and the lake in the distance reflected perfectly the light from the sky and the lesser lights from the castle. Cog was staring out when he heard Sebastian slide up behind him.
He stiffened at her words, however. "The moon.." he murmured, and looked up instantly. There in the sky it was, full and red, the bloodmoon fully risen. He realized what had bothered him all night, and he shivered as he stared. He averted his gaze - looking at it so was a sure ticket to... bad things. He averted his gaze elsewhere, concentrating on keeping calm. He had survived worse nights than even this yet.
He was indeed surprised, though, when Sebastian slid an arm around his waist. His eyes opened wide, and he felt himself grow somewhat hotter than he had been. He looked down at her from where he stood, his eyes hidden behind his shades.
"No, well...yes, I have had too much." he said, his voice stuttering for a moment. He looked back out over the view. "That's not why, though. The Moon, like you said." he murmured, keeping his gaze firmly away from the heavenly body.
Cog stood there for a moment, letting Sebastian keep his arm around him. He felt himself growing more uncomfortable...and, something else too, he realized. His eyes widened under his glasses. The Moon!
Cog cleared his throat. "I...ah..."

Still looking a bit insecure, the ferret nevertheless seemed to catch on quickly enough. She moved a bit to the side and lay more comfortably, placing the wine bottle on the nightstand. Then she breathed in and out heavily a bit, as if to calm herself and get more time to think. As she turned, Bambi could see her all-white eyes glowing very faintly, as if some of the moonlight that shone through the window lingered in them. The girl pursed her lips just a bit, and then spoke in a low tone.
   "Do you know anything about me?" the quite obvious question came. "You said... Our... my name is Gina. How did you know? And what is this place?"

   The bat tilted her head at Cog's reaction at first. Sure, she had expected that he would be out of balance, but this... If he was so easily swept off his feet as this, he should not have become an adventurer.
   After a brief few seconds though she realized what was really going on. She frowned a little, looking to the side and out the window, her gaze meeting the moonlight. Then, she moved against the wolf even more and wrapped her other hand around him too, gently pulling him back from the window with a strength that nevertheless belied her size, and quickly pulling the curtains a bit. She kept the wolf close, and looked up at him with eyes that really glowed, dimly lit like embers from the inside, their eyes just inches apart.
   Stygian had not been privy to the secrets of weres before. Quite frankly he had been uninterested in them, regarding the creatures as an exotic but pointless oddity. But he knew at least enough that he could tell that many of the legends about them at least seemed untrue. Now here was something that the bat could both see and feel was a lot more powerful and strange than she had expected, and that acted unexpectedly to boot. Half her mind told her that what she was doing was risky and stupid. The other half that seemed to drown out the other was just rushing with thoughts too quickly to make sense of. All of her mind was excited and tense like a violin string over the whole situation.
   Slowly, she slid a hand up past the wolf's neck and took off his glasses, looking straight at him.
   "Don't be afraid. You've got to settle down. Focus," she said. Then, slowly and warily, but decisively, she kissed him.

"Pixalated Protons, Hand me the bottle!!.."  curses PBH..But she calms down and turns to the ferret and looks into her eyes...PBH takes a slow sip from the bottle, and then keeps the bottle in her lap.

"Okay Okay, my friend, and I did say anything...This place is known as the BLUE or the blue castle.  And that relates to more than just the color on the walls.  a Great family, Caeruleus, lived here once and they performed great magics.  They created something that should not be in the control of any mortals Being or Creature, but I will get back to that mmmm. What I know about you, I have only seen over this last night or hear about from one of the last members of this family.  I am not sure if you are related to him or her, but someone in you is...."  looks deep in the girl's eye,  wonder If she should go on.

Now, before I going on, I have heard of someone like you once before.   I traveled alot with my mother as a kitten, and I heard a tale of Toban, the Tribe of One.  As a young Kangaroo-rat in a tribe of Kangaroo-rats in arid land, Toban was happy seven year old, when bandits came and killed all his tribe to the last soul.  As the final blow was stuck against his mother, the shamaness, who was using the last of her magic to protect her son.  Instead, she cursed the bandits and their leader Warro, and pulled the last of the souls of her tribe into her son Toban.  The great act of magic scare the bandits into leaving early.  The unconscious boy went undiscovered..  For ten year, the boy survive by the souls of his family and tribe in him, guide his path, and teaching him the way of the sword.  He hunting down every last bandit from that day.  Warro had become a bandit king but no army could defeat him.  Yet, Toban would at last bring down Warro to win the day, and his Tribe's spirits left him.  From the loot of the Bandit king, he would restart his tribe with three wives.  Or so says the tale.

You, my dear girl, seem to be also carrying more then a fair share of souls.  Something that you may not wanted to do.  Now, Please remember that I am your friend and what I am about says, is the truth as I know it.  Some of the souls in you may not be my friend and they are most likely not my host's friend. 
Please Don't kill the messager, because I still have no idea where/what all the pieces are,  But here is what happen under this castle a few hours ago.  "...  PBH will take a sip of the wine and hands it back to the girl.  And starts telling the tale of what happen in the Hell painting including Stygain's and the Ferrets's part in killing the angel.  And Stygain rescue of both the ferret and PBH just before the gate closed.

PBH

Jeremiah shifted to get comfortable, his hat falling over his eyes. He laughed a little in his sleep, softly...

Cog was growing increasingly bothered, by the light of the moon and by Sebastian's continued presence. He found himself in a increasingly...split state of mind, a dangerous thing in this circumstance. His continued amicability, spare of late though it was, depended on his ability to retain his focus, and control, of himself. This all was yet another reason why he despised mages.
The disease he was afflicted with was a part of the lore associated with Weres, although it was not a part of Were nature. It was lychanthropy, purely and simply a curse that had nothing to do with being a were at all. It was, however, unique among these sorts of hexes: it was fashioned, designed, and created to affect Weres specifically, and this curse had created many of the myths and legends that surrounded his race. However, like most things, it was some truth mixed with a lot of illusion.
What was true about it, was that under the night of full moon, the curse would do it's best to force him into his more feral form, and drive him completely mad. This was something one could learn to resist, through mental discipline and focus. With many years of training, it was possible to completely overcome it, to the point that only a little effort was required those twelve times a year. This was under the best of circumstances, of course.
This was the worst of circumstances. He had not only been drinking, he was roaring drunk, and Sebastian was having an good effect disrupting his concentration as well. He was somewhat conflicted – he was aware that he wasn't in the best state of mind to decide anything, let alone wether or not he would want to continue down this vein with someone whom he knew to be as cold as ice, let alone someone whom he had just met. Even would he, he wasn't bisexual, although he wasn't even sure if that applied here. More confusion.
He felt Sebastian pull him away from the window. A nice gesture, but it wasn't the moonlight directly that was the problem, it was dwelling on the moon itself. He was about to tell her so, and turned, when he simply stood silent.
He found himself staring into her eyes, and what lovely eyes they were. Dark, yes, eyes that smoked and glowed like the embers from a long-burning fire, but they were all the more lovely for it. He found himself falling silent, without any words to say. An old rhyme of the bard sang through his head, a snippet of verse that appeared out of long habit and practice, and he grinned at her softly.
But I call thee fair, and name thee bright, ye who are dark as hell, and black as night..., he thought, and  simply let her take the glasses off his face.
But he could have never been more surprised when she kissed him, and though her words urged him to focus, her actions caused him to do the complete opposite. Drunk as he was, while she embraced him, all focus fled from Cogidubnus as he returned her kiss.
But the Wolf never sleeps, and its focus is always, always sharp.
  In his mind, he felt the slip that meant he was losing control, but that only meant it was too late. He cried out mentally – the rope halter had slipped, and left it's strip of raw flesh on his hand, and the wolf, caged for a hundred years, had finally loosed itself. It was hungry. It was ravenous. But more than that, it was angry, and it was free. In that moment, as Cog cried out in his mind, all that made him up Cog was drowned in that flood of rage. Until that moon set, he would not wake, and in his place there was the Wolf.
Cog pulled away from Sebastian and growled, but it was no lover's moan or eager murr that passed his throat. It was the wet, savage growl of a feral beast, a growl of pure rage and frightening madness. He bared long fangs, fangs that were growing longer and sharper, and his eyes held nothing of kindness nor intelligence any more: they glowed as Sebastian's glowed, lit by an inner fire more hellacious than even hers glowed at that moment. Rearing back with another snarl, he swung at her face with hands now ragged with claws, and his form continually grew more and more feral, liquefying joints and bones ripping apart what was left of his torn jacket and clothing.

The Wolf was free: it was FREE!

Kerag stands over the spider lady and mutters "I wonder what are you dreaming about." Kerag's hand flash over the spider's head.

Before Keaton could respond Mel noticed something else. The strange unknown cubi had returned and was trying to raid the spider-woman's mind. He didn't seem to have any real purpose except his own amusement. This angered her, which  might have seemed odd, considering what she did every day, but that was business and to a specific purpose, not a random romp through an innocent bystander's mind to kill time. As she closed on him Mel realized that he was a little kid, probably only a year or two into his powers. He was more likely to kill himself and the spider than anything else. He needed his hands slapped to remind him of both his manners and his limits.

She moved up behind the cubi quickly, shifting size as she did so that she loomed over him, fluffing out her wings a bit to increase her apparent overall size. "That's pretty antisocial behavior you're exhibiting. I would appreciate it if you refrained from raping people's minds without a damn good reason for the duration of our mutual stay in this place." Then she smiled, the one that showed all her teeth. "If you do not comply with my request you will find out what it is like from the other side." She pushed on his mental shield, not enough to do anything except make him realize that she could smash it easily. "If you need something to occupy your time go to the kitchens and make a pot of tea. Keaton and I will probably be very busy for the remainder of the night."

The ferret listened intently at first, but after a while her eyes sort of glazed over and she looked as if in a daze. She slumped back against the pillows and sat, empty eyes staring at nothing as Bambi told her story. When the cat had finished, she just sat like that for a while. Then she looked at the wine bottle and sighed.
   "Give me some of that... I need..." she said, tiredly.

   At first, the bat was simply taken aback. Bashful, and now hateful? How did that work out? She supposed that it might have been an effect of his drunken state, but going from smelling that afraid and excited to passionate and then purely furious in such a short time was just plain mental.
   "You don't have to get so..." she said, stepping back a bit. "Cogidubnus...?" Then the wet snaps and cracklings began, and she realized. All the blush dissappeared off her face, and it contorted as she bared fangs. "If that's how you..."
   She didn't have time to say more, as a shifting hand with razorlike claws smashed right into her face. Not in a position or form to stand up against it, and too out of balance to catch it, she only managed to twitch before she was thrown away next to the bed, smashing into the wall and dropping to the floor with her back slightly to it and her face down, hair falling over it and her body going limp like a ragdoll. Something dripped from her face and the tips of her hair, staining the floor.

Before Keaton could so much as open her mouth, Mel was already on her feet and advancing towards the recently-entered Cubi, an uncharacteristically malicious, fanged smile on her muzzle. Judging by her reaction to his invasion of the slumbering spider-woman's mind, she obviously didn't approve of any sort of "mind-raping". To an extent, Keaton somewhat agreed. She was never the sort of person to simply smash through meticulously-crafted mind-shields and snatch up information--she had been a victim of that in the past, and had compromised very personal memories and knowledge to certain curious Cubi in the past. Learning from her mistakes, she now guarded her memories with layer upon layer of magical barriers, ensuring the safety of her precious secrets.

"Never mind him, Mel, we've got a bigger problem on our hands," Keaton said, folding her arms and frowning, completely incapable of ejecting the panic from her voice. Beneath her, her foot drummed a curt tattoo onto the floor. "If your hypothesis was that we've got a limited amount of time before this effect becomes permanent one way or another, then you were absolutely damn right. We need to tell everyone else and fast, and figure out how the hell to stop this."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Quote from: Stygian on March 29, 2007, 10:15:21 AM
The ferret listened intently at first, but after a while her eyes sort of glazed over and she looked as if in a daze. She slumped back against the pillows and sat, empty eyes staring at nothing as Bambi told her story. When the cat had finished, she just sat like that for a while. Then she looked at the wine bottle and sighed.
   "Give me some of that... I need..." she said, tiredly.

"Oh Gosh, Lovely, If you want to make this a real party, we may need more wine."  says PBH as she hands the ferret the last 3rd wine in the bottle. PBH was just feeling tippys enough to be on the edge.  A feeling, she knew well, where just a little more wine and then she would be really drunk.  Yet, she would be wide awake, in party mode. and demanding more and more wine, until she passed out which would be some time this next evening.   Damn the situation or the dangers of the castle, It would be party girl time.

After a moment of watching the ferret take a deep drink from the bottle, the girl offers the wine back to her. PBH says, "No, love, you finish it, if you want.  I am ... I am fine. But It is my turn for a question and I will try to make it an easy one.  Can you tell me If I am right, that you carry many souls of this haunted place.?  And if you can tell me some of your names, that you know? or if you like girls.?"   PBH looks shock and shy about that last question  "oh ah sorry I didn*Burp*" burps PBH and then giggles a moment.  "aarg *sign*" groans PBH as she falls to her pillows and then shyly looks across to the ferret from deep dent of hers pillows.  PBH looks flush but is it from the wine or embarrassment?  The Ferret can't tell.

PBH

 The Wolf gaped in satisfaction as his blow connected with the dark woman's face, and he would have grinned had he the capability any more. As he fell forward on to his now-bloody paws, he tried to leap at the woman, but fell forward and tripped. His still-twisting body was trapped in torn cloth. He shook and struggled, popping stitches and ripping cloth and finally writhing free of his restraints.
He looked somewhat similar to the Fenris beasts that had prowled the castle, but yet different. He was as large as the dogs had been, but he was yet not as lumbering as they had been. He was lithe, strong, and The Wolf was still unnaturally fast as Cog had been. His fangs were long, and they gleamed wetly in the moonlight a eldritch blue, and his claws were ragged, and dark with blood. It snarled, and launched itself at the dark shape dripping blood, intent on killing the woman and ripping out her throat, and his mouth drolled at the thought of drinking her blood.

With a start, Gareeku woke. Blinking in the dark, he thought he had heard noises coming from nearby to the room he had been sleeping in. Jumping up from the bed, the wolf gripped the katana at the side of his waist as he left the room, glancing left and right down each sides of the hallway.

Starting to make his way down the hall, Gareeku then stopped dead in his tracks as he saw something out of the corner of his eye as he passed one room in particular, the door of which was open. Looking in, the wolf's eyes widened as he saw a wolf-like beast, sporting similar if not identical clothes to those Cog had been wearing.
A Fenris?! No...it seems different somehow... he thought to himself as he summoned magical energy.

With a sharp wave of his arm, Gareeku shot a well-aimed bolt of fire magic at the creature, causing it to be thrown off of it path as it neared its prey, namely the female Sebastian.
"I don't know what the hell is going on here, but there will be no bloody murders or devourings on my watch." the wolf snarled as he quickly unsheathed his blade, the metal of the sword glowing menacingly as he kept his eyes locked on the form of the wolf-like creature.

Ignoring the young cubi Mel returned to her conversation with Keaton. "That was one of my conclusions, yes. But my main hypothesis was that the curse is parasitic, powering itself with your emotions. That is why you turn into what you hate and the more you hate what you have become the stronger you make the curse and the faster it overtakes you. I think we need to figure out if we can stop or block the emotions and starve it out. I'm good at minds and memories but not with emotions. You're the cubi, the emotion expert. Do you think it's possible?"

"No need to worry..." came a voice. The bat was slowly getting up. But it looked like she was being lifted on something too. Her head was still bowed somewhat forward, her forehair keeping her eyes out of sight. It was too dark to see clearly, but Gareeku thought he could see her skin rippling in places, as if things were crawling under it...
   "I will take care of this!" she growled, as her eyes came into view. They glowed like fire, shifting between orange and blue like tongues of flame as they caught the moonlight. Behind her, a whole host of writhing darkness ripped itself out of her back, and immediately a thick tentacle, black and glossy and crowned by a three-fingered clawlike hand that could easily have gripped and crushed a man's head, snaked out against the werewolf with mercurial speed.
   The were was fast indeed; Cog's practiced speed merged with its fearsome strength meant that it could have mauled most swordsmen in a heartbeat, and if it could regenerate as well as certain lycanthropes were rumored to then one might wonder what Gareeku was thinking he could do with his sword. In a fair fight it might have been stronger than Stygian as well, if pure strength and endurance was what counted. But Stygian had no intention of fighting fair. And the tentacles he used were many times stronger than mere arms and legs. The wolf was cornered, with nowhere to go except out the door or left, out through the window, at where the tentacle was coming from.
   The hand gripped around the lycan's neck, and then the rest of the long tentacle followed as it made a full turn and snared like a whip around the werewolf's throat. The girl was advancing on it with snaking movements, her skin already turned ashen and her features starting to distort. She was chanting something, flames dancing and forming mystic symbols and circles around her black, clawed hands.

   "Inside a mind there is a place; where dreaded secrets lie.
    A place to which no thoughts could chase, far and deep away.
    Still this heart, and seal this soul, behind deceitful eye!
    Take him to that dreadful hold where only nightmares stay!
    May he sleep 'til he's not told;
    In shallow grave so deathly cold;
    Until the shadows let their hold;
    Or 'til his dying day!"

   It was a potent spell, one of the most potent that the bat knew of, and the usage of a proper incantation made it very nearly a perfect sure-fire. The fiery symbols the bat had invoked flowed out and disappeared, and the hex's power sank in. Wisps of shadow and dim fire seemed to snake through the air against the wolf, seeking out and seeping into his chest.
   It was essentially a perfect stasis spell, although merely made to contain a subject, not preserve it, as could be discerned from the incantation. It would still the werewolf's body, lock away his soul and mind in darkness and leave him as if dead, until it was dispelled.


   The ferret blinked, and then blushed too, once she really got the question right. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it and leaned over and looked down at Bambi. At first her eyes had been just surprised and almost skeptical in their appearance, however that was possible since there was nothing to read save her expression, but now, as she kept blushing, they had a sly look to them that went very well with the face.
   "I don't know. Maybe you'd like to show me..." she said, the moonlight gleaming just a bit in her look down upon the feline.

all he knew was given to him from his sister  she was older then most but he knew it take time to get his powers stronger all he was going to do Kerag mutter some things and leaves the room he knew better from many fights with his sis that you should never fight anything with more experience but he still want to show Her a 2,4. But he need something to do...Borddrum is the killer of all Kerag thought.

Heedless of the unfolding dramas of the rest of the castle as the minutes wore on into hours, the sleeping panthress was alone in the dark, in a world created from her own imagination...fantasies, fears, and memories.  She could never fall asleep too deeply, however, for she was either trained to be, or innately sensitive to the real world.  As loud as her dreams were, they were only dreams.  Her ears soon caught a few, faint noises far off.  The visions ceased immediately, sounds and all, as if a projector turned off to leave only black color of her inner eyelids.

She opened an eye and sat up, glimpsing curiously about the dark and peeking out of a window to just guess what time it was.  She could see the moon from that angle, a large and perfect orb with slightly sun-kissed colors on the usually opaque surface.  It was most likely nowhere near dawn yet...some hours.  But she pricked her ears again, turning towards the closed door and listening.  The huntress knew even from a little far away the difference between peaceful sounds and chaos.  This was akin to the latter.

With a curious hum, Aisha slid her hand beneath the pillow and retrieved her boomerang, getting up from the bed with fleet, careful steps and opening the door to hear voices coming from another room on the bottom floor.  She followed them in a loping run down the corridor, braking and sliding in front of the room whence she found it, finding Sebastian, Gareeku, and...a feral wolf?

"The hell's going on?"

The Wolf yelped as a magical missile slammed into his side and knocked him into the wall. He stood and shook himself, and the yelp faded into a menacing growl as he gazed at the newcomer. He bared his fangs: there was little intelligence left in the Wolf, and therefore little cunning, but he had instinct. This wolf could hit him in the air - don't leap. He shot towards the swordsman on the ground, crossing the distance with surprising speed, and was prepared to dodge and weave his way around his magical bolts.
However, he would never get to taste the other wolf's blood - he yelped as something dark and cold slammed into his face and lifted him off the ground, and continued to whine as she wrapped a tentacle around his neck, choking him. He struggled in it's grip, but to no avail. Eyes wild with rage and fear bored into the woman's own flaming eyes, meeting her gaze as he bit and writhed in her grasp.
The Wolf was, however, oblivious to her chanting, and ignorant of what it might signify. It was caught completely off guard when her hex settled into his brain, dulling and suffocating his senses - darkened his gaze, paralyzing his limbs. He attempted to growl, or even whine pitifully, but to no avail. He found himself placed into a box of sorts, a mental cage inside his mind where there was no light, no sound, but merely the darkness and himself.
Trapped once again, the Wolf howled, and the walls of his prison shook with his rage.

Now that danger was over, Jeremiah was likely to get up. A discheveled apperation with a tweed coat draped over it sat up from his makeshift bed of chairs in the library (on the basis that he wasn't about to go off on his own to find a bed, and didn't trust the beds around here anyway) and made a noise not unlike "Mrufgalab." Blinking and throwing his coat on properly, he looked around for the souce of the noises that had woken him up. He turned to the nearest person, Keaton, and yawned.
"Whuttappened?" He asked sleepily.

The feral's eyes glazed over rapidly, and then the creature went limp just as quickly, falling to the floor as the tentacle's grip released and slid away, and slowly began to shift back into Cogidubnus. His chest didn't move, and his face was as if caught in shock. Not a twitch came from the wolf as he lay.
   The tentacle snaked back among the many others slipping and worming around the bat from behind her, under her shirt. Slowly, she turned against the door, her glowing eyes fixing on the adventurers dead steady.
   "Thank you. Please leave." Her tone was formal, her manner reserved, but the look on her face and in her eyes told them one thing; she was absolutely furious.
   And with right, she herself thought. Again, she had ruined everything by letting even the slightest feelings out. She mentally scolded herself, as she turned against the bed, slowly walking up to the side of it. This settled it. She was going to sleep until dawn, and hopefully past that as well, and no one was going to ruin that. She could add to the spell and make sure it released the wolf once sun had been up an hour or so.
   The bat's right hand went to her collar and neck a bit. Then, she looked at the two worried adventurers still in the room. Right then, she was just too angry to be anything but short with them. She considered slamming the door with a tentacle, but they were inside, so...

Keaton nearly laughed bitterly at Mel's comment about the curse acting as an emotional leech. If this curse was really dictated by her loathing for something or someone, it would certainly have quite the repast on her unrepentant detestation of Angels. How ironic. After hundreds of years she had found no contradiction or reason against her prejudices, but now it could prove to be her downfall.

Shoving this spiteful tangent aside, she cupped her chin thoughtfully in the cradle of her hand, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling. Certainly she had come across people who had such seasoned control over their emotions that they were nearly entirely unreadable, maybe even unfeeling puppets at most, but maybe the group could manage to restrain themselves just enough to prevent the curse from dominating their bodies.

"I think we could. I've run across people who have done that before," Keaton's head slipped so that way her face was partially buried in her hand, excluding her muzzle. "I don't think there's any sort of mental block that could completely barracade someone against emotions, though. It may just take discipline..."

Just as Keaton was about to continue, Jeremiah started to stir in his cozy little nest of chairs, murmuring a rather incoherent string of jargon beneath his makeshift tweed coat sheet. Blinking, Keaton turned her head around so she was looking at him, her ears pivoting upright.

"Oh, there you are," Keaton said. "If you need a summary of what just happened, Sebastain stormed off in a huff, Cogi followed him, Aisha and Gareeku left..." She started counting off the members of their party on her fingers. "The good professor left with the ferret, and..." Crystalline blue eyes followed Kerag as he made his exit, muttering something inaudible under his breath. "And there goes Mister Anonymous." Keaton clasped her hands together pleasantly, smiling. "So that leaves you, me, Mel, and spider-chickie."

Suddenly, Keaton froze altogether, her ears flattening as an irresistable, erratic pulse of lightning raced through her body, turning her blood to ice. Pupils pinpricking into azure dots, she turned around slowly, staring in horror at the door. An incredible burst of dark magic had rushed through, saturating the area above with its vile, encroaching presence. "...Did any of you feel that?" Keaton asked slowly.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

"Heard summin', yes. Felt, napes," Jeremiah was a bit closer to being defined as concious by now, and tried harder to get the rest of the way there when he heard Keaton's exclamation, "It something Bloody-Goddamn-Castle specific? Oog, where's me hat?" Eventually locating the liberated garment somewhere in his coat, he stood up, "Never fails, summat always happens when yer tryin' t' sleep..."

Quote from: Stygian on March 29, 2007, 03:27:21 PM
   The ferret blinked, and then blushed too, once she really got the question right. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it and leaned over and looked down at Bambi. At first her eyes had been just surprised and almost skeptical in their appearance, however that was possible since there was nothing to read save her expression, but now, as she kept blushing, they had a sly look to them that went very well with the face.
   "I don't know. Maybe you'd like to show me..." she said, the moonlight gleaming just a bit in her look down upon the feline.

PBH looked surprised at the girl, and then grins at her sly look... PBH sits back up and leans in for kiss the ferret girl's cheek, and her lips while PBH removes her own bra.  She pulls the ferret's shirt out, gives the girl a deeper kiss and then holds the girl by her shoulders and looks into her eyes.

"You maybe tipsy and I am nearly drunk, and who is taking advantage of who, I am not sure. *giggle* Oh, I will please you and tease you until you cry for me stop, my love.  All *kiss*I want *kiss on the cheek* is your *nibble on the neck* Name *pant * mmm "  whispers PBH in the ferret's ear

PBH

"The burst of magic?" questioned Mel. "I felt it. My best guess would be that Sebastian and Cog are working on a cure separately, rather than return to working in here with me." She looked rather sour at that statement. "Perhaps Cog was wrong, perhaps I should leave rather than duplicating efforts."

Gareeku could look on with the odd blink of his yees as he watched the female Sebastian and the wolf creature battle it out. Hearing Aisha's voice beside him, the wolf shook his head slightly.
"That's what I'd like to know..." he replied, not taking his eyes off of the scene in front of him as his facial expression turned to a grim one. It was then however, that once the creature had been subdued, it turned out to be none other than Cogi.

Seeing Sebastian turned towards them, Gareeku stared right back, his gaze unwavering as he looked into the bat's eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me just what the fuck is going on here." the wolf replied, his temper beginning to flare as he did so. It could be seen that he was in no mood to play around. "I want to know just what caused Cogi to turn into that thing and why."

Turning her head towards the direction the burst of dark magic had originated from, still sensing the faint ripples oscillating through the electrified air, Keaton frowned slightly, her brow furrowing. "Either way," Keaton said, sounding audibly perturbed, "I think I should go check it out. I don't think this feels... well, right."

She sighed, deciding she sounded far too superstitious, and said, "I'll be right back. I'm just going to make sure they didn't kill each other."

With Mel's confirmation, Keaton turned away and walked towards the door, heading where the still-active pulse emanated from.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

It was stupid and undeserved, but Stygian's temper was much too heated to mind much, so she just turned against the adventurers and scowled, her words low and scathing as they came at them.
   "He said he was getting drunk, and something about the moon. Can you please leave?" she said with growing irritation. She had not known entirely what was going on herself, and if they didn't draw the werewolf conclusion themselves then she was not about to try and explain it all in the middle of the night while pissed off like a cornered cat.
   Then Keaton showed up, seemingly with something urgent on her mind and trying to bustle in. Sebastian snarled.
   "This is not the common hall!" she shouted. The next thing a large spined and handed tentacle swept out from under the bed and shoved the others out the door, then proceeded to slam it shut and lock it from the inside.
   With the adventurers out, the bat wasted no time. She quickly altered the meaning of "darkness" in the spell she had cast, deconstructed the clothes she was wearing as they would dissappear anyway and set out new ones from the wardrobe in the room, fixed things up and then went to bed without further bothering, falling into angered and pained, yet deep sleep.


   The ferret flushed all over, and leaned into Bambi's tender attention, murring softly. Again she seemed to be trying to speak, but she lost herself amid the words and just slipped nervously out of her shirt and bra, her hands going to the cat's back. She too began to slowly strew kisses, tender pecks that grew deeper as she went, stroking Bam's back with her hands and claws.
   Then, with a heavy draw of breath, the ferret moved in and held close to the feline, looking up at her.
   "I... am Inescia," she said, the name sounding like a revelation of sorts. She kissed the cat deeply, and then drew her along down into the white, silken sheets...


   Cog woke from the sun hitting his face, feeling warm enough but still somewhat dizzy and numb, as the alcohol in his body had not been processed during his stasis. The golden, glowing orb outside the still somewhat open window shed its light on him through the slightly billowing draperies from a position a bit above the horizon, meaning it was probably an hour or so after dawn.
   Looking down, he could see that he was sitting under a bedsheet in an armchair against the wall of the room, opposite to the bed. His torn clothes and shoes lay on the floor to his left, under his still somewhat intact coat, with his glasses atop it. In the bed, difficult to separate from the pale golden-yellow silk sheets under the blue cover, lay the bat, sleeping soundly with slow, long breaths. The room was slightly cold and the air crisp, the morning breeze blowing in through the tall window just a bit.

Aisha lowered her weapon, curiously witnessing the captured wolf's transformation, and uttering a light gasp as soon as she saw that it was Cogi.  She stood next to Gareeku in the room, looking against the bat with as determined a demeanor as his on what could have happened.  Her ears pricked somewhat curiously, though, when she had mentioned the moon.

Though before she had time to say anything more, she and Gareeku were shoved out of the door, alongside Keaton whom the panther only noticed right then, with such force that she had landed on her back in the corridor while the door slammed shut.

Slowly getting back up again, she growled with frustration.  "That shouldn't have called for rudeness," Aisha muttered and brushed the dust from her shirt, staring at the door with a bit of concern for their comrade on the other side of it.  "A Were..." the other two heard whispering from her, though the panther shook her head with disbelief.  "More surprises."

Looking out of a nearby window, dawn looked to only be thinking of coming.  With a slight shake of her head, Aisha nodded to Gareeku and Keaton, and started back to her room...she had planned to get a little more sleep in.  But with the disturbances, she was now wide-awake enough to just watch the light rise over the horizon like a beacon of hope against the dreary shadows of the castle interior.

Jeremiah rubbed his eyes and nodded to Keaton, "Right. G'luck with that." He streached and looked around, as if finally realizing he was in a library. With a glance to make sure the spider woman was where she'd been left and a polite nod to Mel, he immediatly began looking though the shelves for something interesting. Admittedly, it was probably rather unrealistic of him to expect to find any interesting sci-fi, but whatever the search did turn up was bound to be interesting.

PBH feels the magical burst as well, but she is too drunk, or too distracted, to do anything more than look toward it's direction for a moment..., But the ferret says her name, and PBH quickly looks back to the beautiful ferret with joy in her eyes.  

PBH smiles a sweet smile and pushes herself on top of Inescia and says, "Well, my Inescia, prepare to be love as only a female can.. as one who loves you can.  and then "we" and I can sleep and see the 'others' over breakfast"

PBH hugs and loves the ferret girl, bring her joy first before letting Inescia to do the same to her.  PBH and Inescia love many times.  and the Sun finds them cuddle together each other's arm...

PBH

Before Gareeku could reply to Sebastian's obvious outburst of anger, he and Aisha, along with Keaton who had arrived at the scene, were rudely escorted out of the room, having the door slammed in their faces.
"Fucking asshole." the wolf growled angrily, before turning to the others. "I'm going to bed. But I will say one thing; I don't trust him, and I'm going to be more wary around him. Think of him what you want."

With that, Gareeku left for his room, clearly irritated by the events that had just unfolded. Collapsing back onto 'his' bed after closing the room's door, the wolf trying to get back to sleep, but the thoughts running through his head made it difficult to do so. Opening his eyes and glancing to the side towards the window, Gareeku could be the night sky beginning to lighten. The sun would be rising soon, and the wolf most have liked to be asleep by then. With that thought in mind, Gareeku closed his eyes and concentrated on getting back to sleep.

The moment Keaton stepped outside the threshold separating the library from the hall, she instinctually broke into a run toward the magical palpitations resonating through the air. She didn't think so much as she followed; letting her feet carry her in the direction desired. It didn't take long for Keaton to approach the room where the rest of the group had congregated, her feet twisting slightly as she skidded to a halt among the gathering of adventurers. Urgency clear in her features, she sidestepped the closest person nearby and entered the room, about to say something before she stopped in the midst of her first syllable.

"Seb--buh?!"

The first thing she noticed was the transmogrified wolf. Not immediately recognizing him, Keaton's jaw dropped, her eyes locking adamantly onto Cogidubnus's body, utter shock seeping into her reeling mind. "What the FU--" she started, but found herself unable to finish her vulgar sentence. Instantly, Keaton whirled around to face Stygian, pupils pinpricked and her entire expression twisted into a mask of incredulous confusion mixed with a slightly unhealthy amount of surprise. After all, it wasn't every day she came across an enormous, bestial monstrosity of a lupine leashed to a shadowy tentacle like some morbid (albeit suffocating) pet.

Next came the revelation of the darkened atmosphere surrounding Stygian, who was orchestrating the tentacle wrapped 'round the lycanthrope's throat. It became painfully obvious to Keaton that HE was the source of the dark magic she had sensed before, as the frantic quakes orbiting him testified. As Stygian released Cogidubnus, his effeminate appearance reminded Keaton about the seriousness of the situation and the information she had stored in her mind, forcing her to kick aside her disbelief for the time being.

She barely got past the first "Sebastian--" before everyone was anticlimatically ejected from the chamber.

Keaton managed to stop herself a little before where Aisha had landed unceremoniously, heels dragging into the ground and feathered wings splayed for balance. "Woah!" Nearly stumbling over, she grabbed the wall and steadied herself, glaring daggers at the now-closed door. The dark vibrations had not ceased--in fact, they had intensified, proving that Stygian had utilized those tentacles of his to shove them outside.

There was a very bitter silence over on Keaton's end as she stared at the door.

Then, with a frustrated sigh, she slapped her gloved hand over her forehead and shook her head, throwing her pallid hair about her face. "GREAT!" she hissed, "Just GREAT!" Turning around and clenching her fists, the thoroughly-peeved jackal started to storm out of the room.

Keaton spent the last few moments of the night sulking in the library, storming in without so much as a word with arms folded and her teeth grit, a thousand curses boiling under her breath.

And it was after the first glimmer of daylight rained upon the castle that Keaton realized how absolutely starved and exhausted she was. Maybe she couldn't feast on emotions after all, she realized as she temporarily removed her lopsided glasses and massaged the bridge of her nose.

'Damn, do I ever need a beer.' Keaton thought, collapsing in an armchair beside Jeremiah and allowing her chin to rest in her hands.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

When Keaton had dashed from the library Mel had sunk back into the soft chair, hoping to claim a few more minutes of sleep. But it seemed if her eyes had no more than closed when a very angry jackal had returned. But there was no demand to resume the research, Keaton claimed a chair of her own and sat, obviously fumingly mad. With a shrug Mel closed her eyes. She'd steal what sleep she could while the girl was distracted. Keaton would probably simmer down and want to resume work quite quickly.

 Cog sat up with a slight groan, holding his head in his hands and sitting for some time in silence. His head was pounding, and he let himself settle for a moment before trying to even think about why he was naked. He quirked an eyebrow at his ripped clothes on the floor, and breathed in sharply. His head jerked out of his hands, and his eyes widened.
"Oh, fuck."
He turned to Sebastian, and his face fell. All along the wall there was spattered blood, and he then knew for certain. The Wolf. He stood and shuffled to the bed, and almost shook Sebastian violently, when she groaned in her sleep. He froze, and took a delicate step back.
Thank god. She's alive...somehow, he thought.
He stared at the wall for a long time, then slowly moved out of the sheets covering him and grabbed some of his clothes silently. He grimaced. He'd been afraid of that...they were completely ruined. His jacket could be salvaged, but everything else was in tatters. He wrapped the sheet around himself, and sat back down in the chair.
Not for one hundred years had this happened, and he found himself without excuse. He should have run, should never have drank that much. How could he have forgotten it was a night of the full moon?
He sat by Sebastian, berating himself for his stupidity. His only consolation was that she was still alive. He waited for her to awake.

The bat awoke not by stirring or getting up. Rather, Cog just heard her slow breaths stop, only a moment or so before she spoke, in a voice made somewhat dim and coarse by sleep.
   "Why haven't you left yet?" she muttered, just audibly. Slowly, she turned over, and grabbed the sheet on her to cover herself as she sat up, leaning against her knees and laying her hand forward, her head on her arm as she looked at him. Her eyes gleamed slightly as she sat in the half-darkness under the bed's canopy, her face sad and wearied. She sighed, rustling a bit as she felt the morning breeze, and then turned her eyes against the window for a second. The shadows moved almost imperceptibly, and it closed, the draperies pulled before it and shutting out at least a bit of the sun. That done, she muttered something into her arm, and then looked back to Cog. She didn't seem to be in any pain, and what he could see of her skin bore no bruises or cuts. There was a little redness on her face, but it was so little it might have been her blushing.
   "You..." she began, then sighed again and looked down. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done what I did yesterday." She seemed to be scolding herself. "I got carried away, and whenever I don't keep my head clear of feelings, I always screw things up." She looked up, her mouth not visible. "You seemed angry. As did the others. I understand."


   Down in the library, the first hour of light had passed quite without incident. Only one tall set of windows was open, the others concealed by long, deep blue draperies that were thick enough that they closed out all of the sun. The kitchen was empty, all the occupants having gone elsewhere. In the sofa, the spider kept sleeping, her chittering breath still steady in between the occasional whimper that didn't disturb the dragon in her chair. And in their rooms, the adventurers still seemed to be sleeping it out, waiting until they had gotten their rest. Time would pass slowly and patiently until they did, and woke up as they pleased.
   At the passing of ten o'clock though, at least the residents of the library would be stirred, as a ringing sound could be heard from somwhere off through the open doors.

Aisha had sat on the edge of her bed, watching the sun make its way slowly up the horizon and banish the shadows of night, the rays coasting across the landscape.  As usual, any sunrise that the huntress was lucky enough to see, she certainly felt blessed to be able to do so.  Especially when the scent of her clothing reminded her of the hellish night left behind, for were it not for Sebastian she and her comrades would have been taken by the castle, or who controlled it more precisely.

She fell back on the covers and thought for a moment...by now everyone must have had a bad start to their day.  Looking at the rising light in the window, Aisha smirked, thinking how if she were back at the monastery, her mentor would have kept her awake by now to do a bit of working or training, and by herself the panther kept up with the regiment.  But today, it seemed, there felt an opportunity to take a deserved moment to relax and sleep in.  Sorry, Mistress, not today, Aisha thought and turned over on the pillows, falling back into a bit more sleep as dawn passed by.

But after a bit of time passed, the panthress had awoken could be heard walking down the corridors, carrying her clothes off to be washed while wearing some older things she had found when poking in the room's drawers.  There was a little hesitance in again borrowing something that wasn't hers...though certainly none of the previous owners needed them anymore.  She listened for any of the others, passing by the kitchen eventually and briefly looking inside, wondering about breakfast, before moving along past the library where she noticed a couple of people still stayed.  Heh.  No rest...  She bade them a good morning before walking off again.

"Morning Aisha," Jeremiah replied distractedly as he continued along the books. Yanno, if I just stayed in here, this castle probably wouldn't seem so bad...

The ringing reached Jeremiah's ears just as he was about to work up the courage to open a malevolent looking tome labeled simply "Knowledge." Feeling as though he'd just dodged a bullet and not knowing why, he looked around for the source, which turned out to be the doors. "Who would be ringing bells? We're too far away from town for it to be the church..." He mused aloud, setting the book down.

It wasn't a churchbell, but rather a much smaller one that rang, and it seemed to be coming from the kitchen. Or rather, upon inspection, it came from a room close to the kitchen, the sound getting through since the doors had not been closed properly. It came from a small, ornate box, hung on the wall, which contained a roughly hand-sized silvery bell. There was no text or label on it. Most likely, that meant it was directly connected to the front door.
   The bell rang again, three chimes this time, more urgently.

Cog kept silent as Sebastian spoke, expecting her to let out with an angry tirade or a hysterical accusation, or simply forgoing the dramatics and trying to kill him outright. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd had to fend off someone trying to 'slay the beast'. This was, however, one of those times he wished that maybe one of them had succeeded.
When she finished, Cog hung his head and spoke. "If you wish me to leave, I can." he said, staring at the floor. "But...what do you take me for?" he said, his voice inflecting with a little heat. "I maul you, and leave without saying anything?" He shrugged. "I thought you might want some sort of explanation."
He looked up at her between greasy bangs. His eyes were soft. "As for you, my dear...you did nothing." Cog seemed to get lost in thought for a moment, then continued. "You didn't get carried away with anything. It wasn't your fault at all. I knew I was in danger of...that." he said, clenching his fist. "If it had been any other day...if I hadn't drunk that much..." He let go, releasing the tension in his hand. "I was in full knowledge of my state, and I should have been more careful. I got cocky and the Wolf bit me. I was lucky that's all it bit."
He leaned forward, again taking a look at the floor. "The problem wasn't you, my dear. It's that damn wizard's fault. Another reason I hate magic..."

The bat looked up at Cog again, her eyes focused and tense but not betraying any emotion, as is the case whenever someone is truly attentive or on edge. She breathed slowly, hearing him out and then staying silent for a while. Then, she slowly let out her breath and closed her eyes. Smoothly, she slid her legs down the side of the bed and pulled the sheet up over her, sitting there at the side of it and looking ashamed.
   "It was still my fault. I... can't blame loneliness, but I thought that it was all I was going to get for a shot. I can understand if I appall you." He had, after all, seen Stygian's true form back in the library, and she thought that counted for it all. "I'm saying you should leave. Not that I want you to. I don't..." she continued, then bit her lip. She hung her head a bit, then looked sideways up at him. "I'm saying you don't have to worry. I'm far from frail. I'm just a monster, after all."

Mel awoke from her uncomfortable bed to the sound of chimes. It took her a moment of owlish blinking and staring to remember why she was asleep in a chair in a library. She was stiff from sleeping in the awkward position and her eyes felt like they had been sanded raw. "Keaton. Where did we leave off?" she asked, going back to her last memory. She didn't get a response other than more chimes so she looked around. Keaton was in a chair near the spider and Mel couldn't tell if she was asleep or awake and in a trance. Mel stood and walked to where the jackal was sitting. Perhaps she was concentrating on weakening the emotions the curse fed upon. "Keaton?" she called again, softly so as not to startle her. "Would you like some food before we start again?"

Slowly but surely, Gareeku awoke from his deep slumber. Rubbing his eyes, the wolf looked out of the window and saw that it was sometime in mid morning thanks to the position of the sun. It was then, however, that he noticed the blood and dirt stains on his clothes as he happened to glance down at himself. Frowning slightly, Gareeku hopped off of the bed and searching through the wardrobe's for any clothes he could wear. To his great surprise, the clothes inside the wardrobe only required a quick shake to rid them of any dust they had, which was surprisingly very little in the first place.

A few minutes later, Gareeku was dressed in black boots, with black trousers and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up just past his elbow as well as the couple of buttons at the top undone. The clothes were Victorian in style, and while it wasn't the most comfortable of outfits to wear, it would do until he got his normal outfit cleaned up. With the bundle of dirty clothes under his arm, the wolf left the room and headed down the hallway. Entering the kitchen, Gareeku dumped his clothes on the floor in the corner, deciding to leave them there for the time being, though he decided to keep his katana with him.

Heading into the library, the wolf waved in greeting at the people who were there.
"Morning." he said somewhat gruffly, before sitting down on a chair. From the looks of things, a cure for the curse was unfortunately yet to found. He wasn't the most informed about curses, but decided to pick up a book and search through it anyway.

Kerag never went to sleep he just sat in the kitchen were his is still stitting

OOC:(soo tired must get sleep! *cough* People always want something from me)

a bell rings and rings in the clouds with PBH and Inescia.. PBH laying on her cloud with Inescia sleeping on her chest, Asked

"XJK9 What the Furggic, Turn off the alarm it is Saturday" mumble PBH into her pillow.
"It had to be Saturday morning, she had cottonmouth and the begins of a hangover, sure sign it was a sleep-in saturday" thought Bambi as she laid on her back.   She feeling an unknown weight on her chest, but she still turns to her side and cradling and cuddling around it.  It is warm and soft, it hugs her back.  MMM Bambi purrs with delight and doses a bit until the bell goes off again. "Grrrr Can't I dream of love a little long" thought Bambi... But she was waking up to pressing needs like her arm really needed blood flow, and she had to go to the bathroom.   

PBH open her eyes to see the sunlight in the ferret girls hair and the peaceful look on her face.. maybe for the first time in ages.  Bambi didn't want to wake Inescia, but she want to keep a working arm, too.  She slowly move her arm to a more comfortable position.  Yet that was enough to wake the pretty ferret girl.

Inescia wakes to see a nude Bambi smiling down on her with the sunlight streaming in behind from the windows.

"Would We like some breakfast, Dear heart?" asks PBH

PBH

Cog took in what she said, shaking his head sadly. He thought for a moment before speaking. "Loneliness, whatever." he said, waving a hand in dismissal. "I don't expect you to be a saint. You must have kicked back at least twice as much booze as I did, and I don't remember you spilling blood."
An awkward silence ensued, and Cog looked away, staring outside at the sunlit green outside the castle. The brightness seemed garish in light of what they spoke of. He looked away, and stared at his glasses for a moment. Thankfully, the lenses seemed to be intact. Small blessings, he thought.
"You don't appall me. Why should you?" he said, placing his head in his hand. "You're no angel, true. I have, however, heard fouler language from the angel we do have." he said, the humor not touching him. "You're not a monster. If so, you really would have killed Mel if you were. Or even me. No. I have seen monsters. Those are not the actions of monstrous people." He spoke with an air of finality, and nodded his head. Of this he was certain.
He stood, keeping the sheet wrapped around himself. He ran a hair through his greasy hair, and stared forlornly at his tattered clothes on the floor. He looked at Sebastian from the corner of his eye.
"I could really, really use some clothes. And a shower."

However much the bat tried to, she could not keep her face from sinking, as she heard the wolf out and took her eyes off him, looking at the wall.
   "I am an angel. That's one problem right there... And far from a good one..." she muttered, one hand vacantly reaching toward her back, before she closed her eyes and bit together. Then, she looked up again, still as sad, still keeping her eyes away. She stayed silent a bit.
   "There are clothes in the wardrobe to your right. There should be a bathroom somewhere out in the hallway," she then said with a clouded voice, turning her face away and pulling the sheets tighter around her, laying her head down on a pillow with her back to Cog. He could see two faint lines on her back where the fur was split, perfectly set right at her shoulder blades a bit over the small of her back and the beginning of her tail.


   The ferret smiled up at the greeting from Bambi and the sight of her, slowly murring as she sat up and rubbed her white eyes a bit. She yawned, and then moved over to the side, laying in a kind of snoozing position.
   "Yeah. Sure. You go ahead," she murred and muttered, intending to sleep in a few more minutes before she would go anywhere else, it seemed.


   The book that Gareeku opened seemed to be a history account of the dealings between the Caerule and Don'Chel houses, a long and tedious record of exchanges as perceived by a set of independent scholars and bankers who had born witness to the long standing feuds between the two houses and others. It didn't tell much but names and places, occasional personal analysies and illustrations or footnotes the only real bright points in the text.
   Next to him lay another book, one entitled "The principles of Harnessing the Light and Dark" by a certain A. A. Caerule. It looked a bit more of an interesting read.

Reading the book he had just opened, Gareeku quickly became bored with it. The wolf didn't find matters such as records of exchanges interesting, and so he closed the book and put it to the side. However, as he did so, he noticed another book laying there; "The Principles of Harnessing the Light and Dark" by A. A. Caerule. Finding the title of the book to be most interesting, the wolf pick it up and opening it's pages, reading what the text within said...

 Cog grimaced at her words, and closed his eyes, making a light groan in the back of his throat. But of course. Bad metaphor..., he thought, and before opening the wardrobe and taking a look with what he had to work with.
He took the loosest pair of pants he could find, a pair of brown velvet pants, and a loose white shirt made out of cotton. He considered for a moment, and took a thick-looking scarf out as well. It'd have to serve for a belt. He'd look for boots and such later.
Turning around, he again paused and looked at Sebastian's back. He stared at the lines on her back and after staring at them for a moment, hung his head. Oh, no... he thought, and spoke. "I...truly, my dear, I'm sorry." he said, before opening the door softly and padding down the hall.
He walked down the hallway until the found the bathroom door open. It was surprisingly clean for something left alone for over a century. Old, yes, but it was an old house. He set the flame on the water heater and waited for the water to get to temperature. Eventually, it began to steam, and he stepped into the shower and pulled the lever. He sighed as the warm water flowed over his skin, and washed quickly.
It didn't take him terribly long to get himself clean and ready, and the clothes fit loosely enough that he wouldn't be unduly restrained by them when something attacked him. It wasn't an if, not in this place. He padded back down the hall and entered the room again softly.
He didn't know if Sebastian was sleeping, so he merely busied himself placing all his personal items back on his person. When he put his arm through a hole rather than a sleeve in his jacket, he grimaced, and decided that on next chance he'd have to visit a tailor. It was indeed hard to find true silver thread nowadays.

The bat lay still in the bed, her face buried in the pillows and her shape not moving. She was intending on laying like that for a while, shutting out the world outside and ignoring the dull pain trying to overcome her until she could get up and get rid of this accursed form, this castle and these people.
   The scars that could only barely be hinted on her back, though they were quite large under her fur, were not what Cogidubnus thought, but old. Almost as old as the bat herself. But they seemed to sting anew as she lay there in her pain as she waited silently for the wolf to finish his business and go. It certainly was not just the wolf that did it, but all that had happened and the ending of a part of what she had based her whole life on all came together and bore down on the bat in her mind, an unfamiliar pain soaking in.
   She drew a reflexive, hasted breath, then another, clenching her teeth and shuddering while trying to fight it back.


   The book was indeed as intriguing as its title suggested. The foreword itself, pertaining to the deeper and more symbolic meanings of light and darkness, of the many facets of it, and of the creatures, the symbols and the events that signified such complex concepts and the relations between Good and Evil, Heaven and Hell and the many tie-ins in between, and where the simple, meager soul fit into all of this was a revelation in itself. It only hinted at the real knowledge behind it all, but opened up for such thoughts and speculations that the wolf had to put the book aside just to ponder for a while before he continued his read.
   The book seemed to be an in-depth analysis and explanation to, putting it simply, light and darkness in divine and magical terms, and the connection between the divine and magical itself. It spoke very much about the significance of symbolism and binding, how powerful entities and gods had bound to them powers of elements and aspects, most notably among these the few angels who had risen to a divine status of being. It also stated how certain powers or entities may be shaped, bonded or trapped, and apart from a number of new magical techniques the wolf hitherto had not known, how to deal with them.
   Needless to say, it was an overwhelming, if not completely dazzling read. Simply put it was too much information to process all at once. And the thoughts it sparked were mindboggling. It was plain to see that whoever had bound the archangel to the castle had used the knowledge of this book, if it had not been the very same person.

Bambi places a light kiss on the ferret's cheek, and then hastely leaves the bed to a privy  Bambi jumps out of the bed and Doesn't touch the bed clothes or the clothes on the floor and search around the room.  Closet,  Closet, Hallway(flashing  a full view of herself the outside hallways before she quickly shutting the doors, which can be heard most likely by those in the library)  Finally a Bathroom. she rans in...ahh  The magics that keep the water running still work if sluggishly with brown water at first.  Bambi freshens up and returns to find the ferret asleep again. 

PBH is still tried, too, and lays down beside the sleeping ferret.  She playing and petting the girls hair and fur, as she doses and watches the sleeping ferret. 
PBH knew the girl need her rest, and let she sleep, but she couldn't leave the girl for fear of what her ghosts were about. PBH wondering who or what was going on in the girl head, and thought,  "If all her ghosts were gone or just sleeping too?  I need to get back to Mel soon." 

PBH would give Inescia a few more moments of peace, before the girl had to talk to the other adventurers or her ghosts.

PBH

Kerag had a small book open and was slowly reading it he read it over and over again and again. It was about when a Cubi used the spell to summon a dragon and what happen to him. Kerag sighed and closed the book and sticks it back into his pocket. His sister Taught  him the spell but said to never use it. "you more then likly will die as it Consumes  the soul." muttered kerag the same word in which his sister told him.

The tiny, opalescent globe rested, pinched, between two slender digits, the light contained within its thick surface swirling and churning.

Flick.

All it took was one, negligent flick of the thumb to launch it upward, the marble somersaulting in the air for a brief moment before it was magnetically drawn back to Keaton's thumb.

Flick.

Again. This time Keaton chose to aim it a bit further, the marble sailing over the armchair but once more, reliantly returning.

Flick.

Again. Keaton didn't notice Mel's first question, too distracted with her marble antics to listen. As short-lived as Keaton's ire was, it seemed as though the jackal had momentarily forgotten about how her negative emotions influenced the strength of their curse during her miniature tantrum. Deciding to start on something slightly more productive than smoldering in her rage, she fished the enchanted marble out of her pocket and started to play with it, losing contact with the rest of the world as she flipped and spiraled it into the air with every jerk, twist, or slight rotation of her thumb.

It was a birthday gift from her older sister when she was a child. No matter where she rolled it or launched it, it would always return to her thanks to the ward placed over it.

Keaton, however, DID hear Mel's next question. Freezing, she clenched her fist, the marble obediently rolling out of the cradle of her palm and perching itself on the back of her hand. "Huh?" she asked, turning her clearly exhausted eyes in Mel's direction. "Oh, jeez, I'm sorry." Slapping her other, free hand to her forehead, she shook her head, about to open her mouth to respond to her question, but she was curtly interrupted by a sudden, thunderous rumbling from her stomach.

Blinking, Keaton looked down at her taut, athletic stomach, snapping her fingers. The marble travelled down her body, winding about her curves until it returned into her pocket, tucking itself away. "Uh..." she poked her stomach. This... was entirely new. She hadn't been hungry in nearly five hundred years. Sure, she liked to eat occasionally whenever the whimsy struck her, but...

"Yeah, I think I could use something to eat."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

It had taken a little while, as the stains of blood and dust were set deep in the fabrics, but once Aisha found a washroom it was otherwise just a little work to get her adventuring outfit clear and back to its navy-blue color...only to get it dirty again soon enough I bet, the panthress smirked ironically to herself.  She was thankful at least that the uniform itself had a few magic properties in the threads...the holes in the back of the cape and the shirt where a wraith had almost gotten her were mended fully as if it had never happened, once the water touched it.

Then she had set to polishing her weapons as well.  The boomerang's razor edges and the dragonblade's glittering surface were soon restored to a glorious shine, no longer carrying the scent of the things they had slain many times over...as if back to being virgin blades once again.  Then she regarded the holy sword, with stilled fascination.  There was no more dust on the surface already, and little blood, for the blade never had to touch the skin of the monsters to kill them.  The flames that were conjured did that well enough.  Still, she also restored the shine.  I wonder if anyone dubbed the blade.  I would like to know what I'm holding.  And where in infierno the sheath is, her thoughts finished with a light sigh, but a smile at her work.

Aisha finally knew that her time there was done once a low grumble came from the pit of her stomach.  She hummed and let her outfit in the room to dry, taking her belt with her, weapons strapped back onto them.  The panthress tugged lightly on the clothes she had on, mostly a mixture of things she found in the drawers; a dark silver-colored shirt with frilled sleeves and a vest that fit over it, a bit of a deeper black color.  The trouser-like split skirt was red, one of the only aspects that kept her wearing women's clothing from another era.  At least for the time being.

She found her way through the maze-like corridors, no longer maze-like thanks to her sense of direction having taken a memory to much of the first floor's layout.  Aisha found the library again where the others were, already starting the day by having their noses placed in books.  She passed them and put her belt on a table.  "I daresay my mentor would like all of you, muchachos," she laughed, crossing her arms humorously and leaning the edge while trying to bring some light-heartedness back to their somber purpose.  "Studious."

It was then that she remembered the chiming noise that had seemed to continue on since she heard a bit of it passing the library before.  Her ears flattened against her skull.  "What was that, anyway...?" she muttered.  "The door?"

Mel greeted Aisha with a nod. "I think we're going to take a break for a moment and look for food. Let's see what Sebastian brought back that might be turned into breakfast. Everyone will feel better and think better if they eat. I think we all need to be in top form to break the curse." Mel started across the library then added, "If we're lucky someone else is ahead of us. On my best day I've been know to reach as high as mediocre with my cooking skills."  Mel almost managed a smile for the first time since entering the castle. What a pair to be scrounging food, a cubi who probably barely recognized food anymore and herself, who considered cooking to be the name of a class she had been made to take in school.

As they passed down the halls the chimes continued to ring and she wondered what they were. If they had been louder, coupled with the huge chapel this place held she might have thought it was some sort of automatic reminder of a prayer service, left ringing pointlessly all these years.  But this didn't seem like that. This was more of an annoying, insistent bell, demanding attention. She turned to Keaton. "What do you think that noise is? With our luck that's the starting bell for the morning shift of monsters to start work."

They reached the kitchen and Mel stared at her nemesis, the cook stove. She reminded herself that the fire was small and contained and unlikely to burn her. If she could handle her jeweler's torch why couldn't she manage a stove without always hurting herself?

Without further commentation, Keaton lifted herself from her seat, giving her stomach a sharp poke with the tip of her finger, obvious confusion engraved in her sharp facial features. When Aisha entered she regarded her with a wave and a nod of her head. "G'morning," she said, rubbing at the corner of her right eye with the back of her fist. It was then that when her fist grazed her nose that she realized how much she needed a bath... Keaton's nose wrinkled distastefully, her eye twitching. Looking down, she stared at the congealing, ugly spots of blood saturated into her now rather threadbare, black clothing. Gross. Gross gross gross.

Another complaining growl from her starved stomach garnered her attention once more. She remained quite engrossed by this apparently interesting phenomenon for the next few moments, up until the chiming resumed its monotonous ringing. Blinking, Keaton's ears tilted up, facing the direction that the ethereal sound had originated from. "Buh?"

That was the first time she had heard the chime. Unsurprisingly, in her entranced state from before, she had been too busy playing with the marble to hear much of anything. It had worked to defuse her anger, but it severely dulled her observations. "I... have no idea what that is," she admitted to Mel, "Does this place have a belltower? I..."

Once more she nearly smacked her forehead. 'Do castles even HAVE belltowers?' she thought as they walked into the kitchen. Mel separated to examine the stove, which she apparently seemed to be rather unenthusiastic about using. Not thinking much of it (after all, she couldn't cook to save her life herself--maybe it was the entire 'food not being necessary' thing) Keaton scavenged the marble from her pocket and balanced it on one of her fingers, looking around the room for something reasonably edible and non-moldy to eat.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Cog put on his glasses, and he was about as complete as he was going to get, for now. He still hadn't managed to find a pair of boots, but he'd tied the scarf he'd found around his waist to serve as a fairly good belt, and it held his sword to his body fairly decently. He looked more the troubadour than the ronin, but it couldn't be helped. Unless they happened to have a tailor in town, it would have to do. As he dressed, however, Sebastian's state of mind was all to obvious to him, and oddly enough, distressing to himself as well. She reeked of despair.
He turned to her, and again stared at the scars on her back. Her comments, and their location, suddenly clicked: Wings, he thought, and made a sour face. Surely whatever could permanently hurt her was dark indeed...and what a cruel way to do it. He began to understand a little about her paranoia.
He sat down on the floor, his joints popping as they twisted into a seated posture, and he took a deep breath. He risked speaking. From her shaking, he gathered she hadn't gone back to sleep.
"The wall isn't that interesting, good lady." he said, trying for a bit of humor, his head tilting somewhat. He sat in silence for a moment, and then risked another word. "You...don't have to be alone, if you don't want to. I'm sorry about last night, but...staying away won't..."
Cog scratched his neck, and felt a most strange sensation – he was at a loss for words. He thought for a moment, and then took a deep breath.
"Alone, we cannot keep ourself, for we give us neither hands nor help – a different way, friends do bring: they bid us fly, than give us wings."

The bat shifted slightly, moving only a bit to the side as she tried steadying her breaths, still with her back turned to the wolf. She lay there a bit, then swung around and placing her feet on the floor again, this time not bothering much with the sheets. Her face was pained, her sharp teeth gritted and her eyes wet, though she looked as angry as sorrowful. She breathed slowly, steadily calming herself and choking those emotions and the memories dead, her face slowly settling.
   "Poetry..." she said, almost with a chuckle, closing her eyes and rubbing a temple. "Always words there are, by bards and skalds and minds so great, to say what we cannot..." This time, she gave a short, bitter smile. She only glanced at Cog, before rolling off her sheets, standing up and walking past him, now slowly and coolly in that same manner that he had seen before, as if her emotions had just died away completely.
   "Friends console each other, but they don't demand," she said levelly. "You don't have to feel or think anything for me at all, if it is not your wish. False comfort is no comfort." The bitterness of the words should have stung her tongue, but they didn't, unfortunately. She took the clothes she had set out for herself on the stool next to the wardrobe, pulling on underpants and then slipping into a black shirt and a pair of smooth black pants that were both a bit too big, before setting her feet in smooth but rough-soled black shoes that were a bit oversized too, not minding. She straightened the clothes before slipping on a silver necklace of some kind and her glasses, taking up the amulet Cog had brought the previous evening and a coat and a duster hat not entirely unlike the wolf's own in her hand, then looking at him as she stood by the door.
   "Let's get some breakfast. I will probably go back to sleep as soon as we are done for today, but I will not do so on an empty stomach."
   With those words, Stygian opened the door, and made way for the kitchen.

   Downstairs, the bat found Mel and Keaton standing and looking around awkwardly as if they didn't know whether to turn on the stove or to jump out the window. Save for the stuff that went in the fridge, the bags she had brought from before stood unemptied, and so she just sighed and urged the others out, seeing as how they could probably just make morning tea at best. She quickly switched on and fired up the stove, took out the ingredients she needed, and got to work. Soon, the smell of tea, warmed bread, some sort of soup and pancakes drifted from the kitchen.
   "I really wonder how the hell you've survived as adventurers if you don't know how to cook..." the bat said as she brough in two breakfast trays in order into the library, one with tea, honey, glasses, cups and platters with some sort of red soup on it, the other with bread, pancakes on a warmed plate and various cold servings.
   "Borstj with bread, cheese and roast beef, and creme fraiche for those who want. The plate to the left has blood in it, so that's mine. Then there's tea, juice, marmalade, jam and pancakes for those who want that," she said, placing the things down neatly, and then taking a seat in a chair and sighing.


   The ferret finally got dressed and went out of her and Bambi's room, trying to tidy her short, ruffled hair just a bit with a hand as she walked.
   "Hey," she said, siding up next to the feline and walking along. "Can we... Can you please not mention my name to the others? Let's just go with Gina for now, okay?" she asked, a bit timidly, while blushing.

Aisha had nodded back to Mel and Keaton as they greeted her, and watched them walking out towards the kitchen.  For a moment she considered following them, but then decided against it...her own slight lack of cooking skills notwithstanding, the panthress didn't wish to feel like she was in the way of those two...especially the jackal, having seen how jumpy she could be while the curse was still upon her.

Smirking, the panther leapt from the table she was sitting on and bade a good morning to the others in the room, sometimes pausing to look over their shoulders at things they were reading...only briefly so as not to annoy them.  But soon she heard them come back, her head tilted at the jackal and dragon, but deciding not to ask about breakfast as soon as the smell of something cooking came permeating down the corridors and to the nostrils of the morning-weary party members.

Hearing the voice of the bat coming in, along with the smell becoming stronger, Aisha smirked in reply when she came from the shadows of the bookshelves.  "For those who save their adventuring money instead of burning it all on ale, food needn't always be made," she pointed out with a laugh and came to the table.  Her eyes widened at the spread on the trays, and with a thankful bow of her head to Sebastina she took couple of pancakes for herself, with a bit of jam and some juice.  The panthress sat nearby and started to fill her stomach, with a quiet and satisfactory purr.

As Keaton idly juggled the marble in between her hands during her Epic Search for Food (or what she liked to think of it as), partially distracted by the constant complaints of her stomach, she froze in place as none other than Stygian arrived, looking in slightly better spirits than he did last night. Ears swiveling back, Keaton's head jerked around to face him, carefully inspecting the bat of any signs of belligerence, though found none as the intoxicating aroma of fresh food wafted into the air.

Setting out trays stocked with food before them, Keaton felt her stomach roar once more, much to her dismay. Again, she found herself very startled by this reaction. Feeling very unassertive for that moment, she took the nearest item which seemed appetizing enough (it happened to be the roast beef) and seated herself, munching quietly.

In the furthest parts of her mind she pondered how she was going to break her recently-discovered news to Stygian, or any of the other curse victims. Finally, Keaton looked up to Stygian and sighed, rubbing at her forehead. "Okay. Enough with the silence. I've got some really bad news that I didn't get to tell you about last night."

Keaton sighed again, massaging her temples. "Me and Mel discovered that this curse of ours is fueled by our negative emotions, which is how it turned me into an Angel and did whatever it did to Cog. But the big problem is that unless we find a way to stop it, it'll become permanent within 28 hours."

Well that went articulately enough. Unfortunately for Keaton the reminder of the urgency of their situation somehow robbed her of her ability to eat, as the tenseness in her expression and muscles indicated. Sinking her teeth into her lip, she dropped her head into her hands, and muttered something inaudible, but it was likely a curse. She then braced herself against any future outbursts.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

 Cog shook his head as Sebastian left, and nodded lightly to himself. "Of course they don't demand. It's why it matters." he muttered. Her words may have sounded calm and collected...but she smelled quite different. She was just as tense as she had been. Maybe moreso. He sighed.
He took a moment to breathe, and as he was already in meditative posture, he did so. The light breeze that flowed into the room carried with it all the smells and scents of summer, and the change from the musty, old air inside the castle was welcome. He sat for a moment, taking a deep breath, and exhaling loudly. The breathing exercise helped to calm his mind, and he stood, a somewhat sturdier Cog.
He followed Sebastian to the kitchen and kept out of her way as she made her way around. She seemed to know what she was doing, and lord knew he couldn't cook. He cracked his neck, and waved hello to Mel as as he sat.
"As it turns out, she didn't want to go back to the library." he said, surreptitiously avoiding her gaze. "I don't think she was in much condition to do so anyway. I hope your research went better?"
Before she could answer, Sebastian came back with several plates of food, and Cog raised an eyebrow. That's quite a talent, he thought, before taking a plate and digging in. The spread was amazing, although he carefully avoided the serving with blood.
He listened as Keaton spoke to Sebastian, and nearly choked on his food. "Forwrhewr?" he said though a mouthful of Borstj. He swallowed and coughed, searching for something to wash the food down with.

PBH watches the ferret getting dress, and sighs "Right Duty calls for clothes.."  and then reluctantly getting dress herself... Watching the ferret trying to fix her hair, Bambi finds her comb in her pocket and straightens her short hair for her..

"When you have long hair like mine, you insure you have a comb or something as backup.  And you would look good with longer hair."  commends Bambi as they head down to the kitchen... PBH walks in silent for a moment, and then stops Inescia and leads to the side hallway...looking into the ferret eyes.. Bambi asks gentle

"I will call you whatever you wish Gina... but If there is something about your given name or something about you and the bat.. I need to know... But, First just answer this. yes or no, girl... Is there anyone else in there with you, Gina?  I heard you, and the bat believed there are more than one person in you, Gina or were before the angel was destroyed.  ... So please yes or no or don't you know? and then I will satisfied for now and I will not love you any less whatever the true.  and please hurry, because those pancakes can't wait and we can't ah... "confront" anyone on empty stomach"   PBH says the last jokingly to try and lighten her serious tone on this serious of this matter.
 "It is more important to me, that you are free to know your own mind and your own self, so you free to love whoever you want."  
A sad PBH with a tear or two in her eyes, steps away from the girl to lean against the wall, and lets the ferret stay or go and wondering if she is pushing the ferret too much right now.   

PBH

Mel tensed in every muscle when Sebastian suddenly appeared in the kitchen. She watched him warily but aside from brusquely ordering them out of the kitchen he seemed uninterested in them. She followed Keaton back to the library where she noticed that both Aisha and Gareeku were bathed and had borrowed clothing from somewhere. She asked Aisha where the bathing room was and was about to make use of it when the food arrived.

She waited for Sebastian to take his plate and be seated before she approached the impromptu buffet table but barely had time to pour herself a cup of tea when Keaton blurted out the information she had found. The teacup rattled against it's saucer as she waited for an explosion of anger, but it was Cog who responded first. She focused on him rather than the bat. "That is what my research seems to indicate. My notes and the references I used are laid out on that table over there. I'm not an expert on curses so please, look them over."

Under the gazes of the others Mel found her appetite had vanished. "I think I'll clean up while you do so. If you'll excuse me." She fled the room to the bathing room Aisha had described to her. She was quickly in and out of the tub but hesitated to put her soiled clothing back on. Normally she would have just put an illusion of clothing on but in memory of Sebastian ripping all magic away yesterday decided against it. She wrapped herself in the towel and found the bedroom Aisha had described as having a wardrobe of abandoned clothing. Picking through she was glad of two things, that as a size shifter she could make herself fit whatever she found, and that the house hadn't been abandoned in a time period where the clothing was more uncomfortable. She picked out a frilly white cotton blouse and paired it with a long full pleated skirt of midnight blue with matching jacket. At least it was short enough to run in if necessary, and as a bonus the high waistband made her almost look as if she had a figure. There were even matching blue half-boots. She laughed at whomever the fashion queen of the past was before steeling herself to return to the library. She still found herself walking very slowly on the return trip.

Sebastian had taken her bowl of blood-spiked soup and some rough bread, and was sitting eating carefully, sipping tea in between mouthfuls with a solemn face. She didn't seem to mind the slightly sordined atmosphere.
   Then came Keaton's revelation, and the words of Cog and Mel, and she stopped dead. She didn't make a face, didn't move, didn't do anything; she just put her spoon down, and looked into the floor a bit. There was silence. And the dragon left.
   "Let me see your research," she then said, just when the stillness had grown to its most uncomfortable point. Not angrily, not irritatedly even, just glumly and resignedly. She slurped up the last of the soup, before going over and looking through the notes that Mel and Keaton had made, strewing them about a bit as there was no need for order in all the mess and myriad of books and papers around, at least not immediately. She hummed to herself as she went through them, quirking an eyebrow here and there, while giving agreeing nods in other places.
   "Well, you are right," she said, very matter-of-factly. "I can't see anything wrong with these. And if it's true, then..." The bat sat back in the same chair Mel had been sleeping in, sniffing a bit at the draconic scent still clinging to it, the flared tip of her nose twitching as she made a face. "Well, at least we won't know that we've been cursed. That's not a relief now, but it might be then," she stated bitterly, and leaned on her hand a bit, sighing. She took up one of the papers, and stared at a particularly complex deconstructive-patterned hex circle, one which by the bottom-heavy hand but tidy layout had probably been made by Mel based off one of his. It wasn't perfect, but it seemed as if the dragon was a quick learner for magic, at least.
   The dragon...
   The bat stood up, suddenly, and walked around the table where the others sat, heading for the exit.
   "I'll be back soon. We'll work then," she said, before hurrying out, her ears twitching a bit and her nose flaring once.


   The ferret seemed a bit overwhelmed with Bambi's sudden emotions, and just looked at her with those empty eyes while blushing, as her face grew a bit sadder. She seemed taken aback for a bit, not knowing what to say. She stood for a bit as Bambi walked aside, then took a deep breath and walked over to the cat.
   "Bam... I... I think there might be more than one of me in here... But it's still just me. I am I. Please..." she said, and turned the feline around to face her. "You've been very nice to me. I really appreciate that." She looked up at the cat just a bit, before leaning up and kissing her on the mouth, just for a couple of seconds. Then, she leaned back and looked down. "I really like you. So let's not overdo it, okay? I just... want to feel calm, and normal, for a little while..." she said.


   Mel turned around another corner, and finally came within sight of the library. She hadn't taken two steps before she heard a voice from behind her though, smooth and a bit mellow. Sebastian's voice.
   "Hey, listen..." The chiropteran had somehow, illogically, just stepped out of nowhere when there was no place to hide or come out from. She stopped speaking, realizing she needed a good start to what she was going to say, and then stepped up, taking time so that Mel could see her and be sure of where she was and that she was not going to do something to her again. The bat took a deep breath, and then made a little, short bow to the dragon.
   "I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have done what I did back then. I was angry and stupid, and I am sorry you had to bear the brunt of it." Her face was not steeled or anything as she spoke, just sad and a bit tense. She looked at the dragoness directly, waiting.

Bambi smiles a weak smile and says "snuffs" Okay I am okay... I am just want to see you thru to the point that you feeling normal all the time or most of the time.... AND No one feelings normal without food.  Come on, and Lets see where the smell of pancakes takes us"    Bambi cheers up as she talks and then takes the ferrrets hand and leads the way to the library and what is left of breakfast.

"Good Morning, everyone How has the cure research coming?"  PB says cheerfully waving as she and Gina enter the library and go to see what there is to eat from the food tray.. but steering clear of anything that smells of blood.

PBH

Mel jumped and spun at the voice mysteriously appearing behind her, her heart rate impossibly doubling again as she realized it was Sebastian who had snuck up on her. She was poised to flee when he appeared but the bat just bowed and offered an apology. Mel stood still and just blinked. Once, twice, three times as her brain rearranged information. Then she nodded her acceptance of the apology. "I... I understand that my own deception contributed to your doubts about me. Fault lies on both sides." She added her own bow. "All information regarding you will be locked away. Icewing guarantees."

She hadn't entirely lost her fright of him but by way of a friendly overture added, "Did you hopefully find a flaw in my research? At least in the timeline? I was not working to my strengths."

At the smell of food Jeremiah had completely and totally forgotten the bell he'd heard and followed the others to the kitchen. Gleefully heaping his plate with more pancakes than was probably healthy for a being his size, he joined the others in chowing down. After he listened to the various announcements going around the table and looked over those who he hadn't already seen that day he reached an important conclusion.
Yeesh, Cog looks like crap. Whuttappened to him?
The 28 hours bit was caught his attention. "Well, that ain't as bad as it could be. Not everyone's nice enough to make curses with a 'return by' date; at least there's some time."

The bat shook her head a little with closed eyes and a bit of a glum expression, then looked up at Mel as she replied. The response was as expected, but not what the bat had been looking for.
   "No, please..." Sebastian said, and she reached her hand out while stepping just a bit closer, taking the dragon's arm in a loose grip. "That's not... This is really, really hard for me. This whole thing started with me treating you like dirt, for no reason, and it's only gotten worse by me doing thesame to others. I keep ruining my relations with people..." The bat turned her eyes down for a moment, and then looked pleadingly at Mel. She started anew.
   "I don't care about your family, and your deception was understandable. I just want you to stop being so angry with me, and I'll admit that I was wrong and do wha..."
   The bat stopped mid-sentence, as her eyes widened, and a look of shock spread across it. Mel couldn't see why at first. But then, she felt something. Tracing the feeling and where the bat's eyes fell, she saw it too. Sebastian's hand had moved, or squirmed, in some way. And for just a brief moment, it had been back to its normal, larger self.
   Sebastian gaped, holding her hand up before her. Then, her eyes darted to Mel. In a sudden maneuver, she grabbed the dragon's head, and planted a deep kiss on her lips, then looked right at her.
   "You're an angel. A real one! I owe you for this," she said, and then just as suddenly let go and stormed off, leaving Mel standing. "Keaton!" she shouted, her heels tromping as she hurried for the library.

   The bat practically stomped into the library, and planted herself at the desk with the most of the notes and books, taking some of Mel and Keaton's work and slapping up a book, and starting to write and draw on an empty paper.
   "So obvious... We've got it! It's right here!" she said, sketching furiously, frowning at the papers.

 Cog pounded his chest and managed to get the last chunk of food down his throat. He coughed once or twice, and spoke with a somewhat rough voice.
"Forever? Oh, hell no." he said, pushing his food away. He turned to Keaton. "Surely you jest. You mean, forever, until we can disspell it, right?"

Thankfully for Keaton, the violent outburst she had been anticipating from Stygian never came, replaced with a very uncomfortable silence. Still gnawing on her lower lip, Keaton anxiously looked off in some randomly selected direction, her eyes immediately locking onto a suddenly-very-interesting crack in the wall. Reaching for a nearby, unclaimed cup of tea, she tremulously raised it to her lips, taking a sip from it, as though to distract her with something besides her enchanted marble, which was resting safely in the confines of her pocket.

Cogidubnus was the first to speak after nearly choking on his food. Grimacing slightly, Keaton hastily swallowed the tea that was in her mouth, ignoring the scathing temperature as it stung at the insides of her throat. "I don't mean that. I mean that as time goes on, we'll gradually begin to believe that we have always been what we are. Our memories, in a way, will be overwritten."

Surprisingly, Stygian requested for her to retrieve the data that she had discovered before. More than happy to leave the room and the penetrating stares of those within it, Keaton set down the steaming hot cup and stood, none-too-eagerly making her exit. Following the same path she had used from the library to the kitchen, she made it to the library in no time, returning to the table where she had left her books haphazardly strewn about.

Keaton frowned as she started to sort through the assortment of books, searching intently for the one which she had drawn her revelation-inducing discovery from. Finally locating it somewhere underneath two other aimlessly discarded hardcovers, she dusted it free of grime and tucked the book under her arm, preparing to walk out of the room.

She didn't need to take another step. Sure enough, Stygian came rushing into the sanctum with such startling speed that Keaton nearly leapt out of her skin once he appeared. "Woah!" she hissed, taking a few, instinctual steps back. "Jesus, Sebastian, you scared the crap out of me. What the hell's going on?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

"Cog, I think the Bat said She got it, so we just had to get it done before your time is up....." said Bambi mulching away in a corner and She hears a that bell ring again  or thinks she does when drops her fork and it tings on the floor.  She finishes passing the butter to Gina.

... "ah Did anyone answer the front door bell?" asked PBH  

PBH

"I know how to get us back!" the bat said out loudly, and bit her lip a bit as she drew practiced circles on the piece of paper she had. She began hastily explaining her theory to Keaton. "It's all about admission, not reinforcement! We set up a ritual to nullify the curse by giving it no reason or way to exist. We don't even have to cross-reference to the event itself; all we need to do is admit..."
   She stopped, and looked up at Keaton, her face suddenly dead serious and those gleaming eyes with their shifting colour boring their gaze right into Keaton's skull.
   "We all have to admit that we were wrong in our convictions. You have to admit that you were wrong about angels. Perhaps not all, but at least about your prejudices. Can you do that?"
   The question was hard, and probably painful. And it drew Stygian's attention to other things too. She glanced over at Cogidubnus with an unreadable but incredibly meaningful gaze, some of the pain he had seen before still there, before she bent down over her papers again, starting to calculate.

Cog grew silent at Sebastian's words, and stared at the shelves of books that lined the walls. He recognized dozens of arcane tomes and books of poetry alike, growing more glum at the former and less at the latter. He caught Sebastian's gaze, however, and himself felt a bit of melancholy spread like an ink stain. What could he say – she'd treated him better than he deserved thus far, at least concerning his recent behavior. He'd done all he could, in that regard. She'd have to work that out for herself...
He was distracting himself, he knew. Intellectually, he knew that he was probably wrong about mages being the scum off a sewer dweller's boot. But still, and the root of it, they had caused almost all his problems. Not that he complained, but he certainly wasn't going to endorse them heartily.
He had, in point of fact, made it a habit to kill the especially rotten ones.
He coughed, and spoke with a flat voice. "You are quite certain?" he said, hoping that perhaps this was the alternative to a costly and probably dark cleansing ritual. He looked morosely at a painting of an angel descending from heaven, and muttered a few lines under his breath.
"And malt, does more than Milton can, to justify God's ways to man..."

Aisha mostly concentrated on her meal while things were going on, people walking in and out of the room.  She greeted each new person to walk in following the smell of breakfast, respectively, with either a wave or a nod, her jaw too full of food to say anything directly...she did pause though when Mel needed directions to the washroom, avoiding the comment that the dragoness needed it as much as everyone else had before.  

In particular though, she kept an ear quirked to the conversation about the cure to the curses, her eyes widening a little and her head turning when Keaton had mentioned something about the curses becoming permanent.  Remembering their mannerisms and reactions to the venom, she felt concern for them again, and relief, wondering what would have happened should she have been bitten.  Her ears flattened against her skull at the thought, before she returned to slowly finishing her breakfast.

However, when Sebastian burst back into the room in a frenzy of epiphany, the panthress nearly jumped and her head swiveled.  Putting the plate aside, she stood and watched the conversation unfold with a tilted, curious expression.

So there was hope for them.  If they could face it.

Sebastian scowled a bit and then turned to Cog.
   "I know precisely what I'm doing. The only other option I can see would be killing ourselves and necromancing new bodies for us, and then doing a Stigma ritual while our souls are still bound fast. I hardly think that we have enough resources or the bodies required to do that..." she said. She muttered something, and stopped writing, looking on her paper. "It's going to need a lot of blood, still. And we're going to have to speak out loud. Also, we'll each be possessed by the knowledge of the other's failings in turn as part of the ritual. And I am not sure what I can do about what you remember of magic, Cog."
   The bat didn't wait for a reply. She stood up, crossed over to the central part of the floor, and pushed aside some tables to clear space. She stood there, looked around and assayed the surroundings, then let her eyes fall upon the others.
   "We'll do it here. And we're going to have to get some materials. I want you to find at least two dozen candles, a bit of..." she stopped, and looked them over. "Antimony for Cog, mercury for Mel and... no, that wouldn't be right. I am Putrefaction, and we wish to unite here, not sunder... We should use the opposite; Cancer. Solution. Yes. That would even go together. Twelve candles, that's all. And a silver cup. And I would much rather do it..." The bat stepped over to the windows, and pulled the draperies fully shut. "...without the sunlight."
   She walked to the back of the room, back to where, in the wall, was an enormous hearth, the kind that some very few libraries have in reading areas for some reason, and picked out a piece of coal from it. Then, she moved back to the centre of the room, and got down on her knees and started to draw a complex twelve-edged star in a perfect circle on the floor, along with mystic symbols.
   "Get moving! We can do this at once if we hurry."

Mel was startled when Sebastian ran off, but quickly followed him to the library to see what he was shouting about. Which meant she heard the explanation. She even dared to peek at what Sebastian was writing. When he gave his list of supplies she spoke up. "The chapel should be able to supply those. Most religious ceremonies use both. In fact the chapel would might be a better spot for this, it was surely magically prepared for rituals and would save us some steps." Then she thought of the condition she had last seen the room. "Or maybe not. It would take a lot of effort to clear the mess out. Is there a large empty room nearby?"

Cog raised an eyebrow as Sebastian began to speak of various alchemical reagents, and then moreso when she demanded twelve candles and a chalice of silver. Surely, things they should keep on their person, no?
Her other words, however...'possessed by the knowledge of each other's faults.' That sounded...very unfortunate. There were things in his past he would prefer very much to keep hidden, let alone recall in a darkened room. He sighed, looking straight down at the polished wood table for a few moments. He slammed his fist down, stood, and shook his head, heading for the door. If that's what it took, so that's what it took. He'd have to live with that, and the arcane knowledge burned into his mind also.
"I'll head for the chapel and look for a chalice and whatnot, then. If I remember correctly, the anteroom is rather large, if we want another location."
He waved a hand at them as he opened both oak doors  and strode down the hall towards the chapel. With any luck, he wouldn't have any trouble finding any of these things.

"Fine. We'll do it in the ballroom then," Sebastian said, and got to her feet. She toyed with the piece of coal in her hand as she walked out, passing the others with decisive steps and making her way out.
   The ballroom lay not that far away, and was quite obviously almost entirely open. The tall windows let in the morning sun, much to the displeasure of the bat who squinted behind her glasses. It was still cloudy, but the light was enough that it spoiled the mood for her, and the draperies that hung around the windows here were only to the outer sides of them and decorative, meaning they couldn't shut it out. She sighed, supposing that it did not matter and getting down on the centre of the floor to draw once again. She completed the complex circle fairly quickly, adding the indicated positions for the three participants with circles and a focus point for the chalice. Then, she got up, and paced over to one of the seating areas in the corner of the room, sitting down in one of the sofas and going over it all in her head.

   When Cogidubnus arrived at the messy chapel, he quickly found what he was looking for. Gleaming in the light colored by the stained glass windows, the ornate candleholders at the podium all held nearly intact tall candles, and at the foot of it, obviously knocked over and away in the battle earlier, lay an equally ornate silver chalice with a few ruby inlays. The metal was, of course, a bit matted with age, but it was still a beautiful piece, and thankfully the metal was thick enough that it had survived its treatment quite easily, though Cog suspected a few of the rubies had fallen out. Around the brim was an inscription in latin: "Cruor vacuus Iusticia , Iusticia incruente". It seemed strangely fitting for the occasion.
   The chapel lay still and silent, not even the wind from outside audible. And yet, it was as if in that moment, with the rosy morning sun rising and shedding its goldened light through the windows, Cog could hear a choir, somewhere far, far above...

Jeremiah leaned around the door to the library. "H'lo? Sorry if I'm interrupting, just tying up what looked like a loose end," he entered the room fully, revealing another plate of pancakes in his hands, and set it down by the spider woman. "Mind if I untie her hands? Not all the way, just loosen 'em enough for her to eat." That ringing was starting up in his ears again, and Plic was rather enamored of all the books in this room. That was bad; she was a kleptomaniac who could only steal noncoporeal things, like the meanings from the words in these books. Thus, he seemed a little distracted as he spoke. After all, he was focusing on both this conversation and trying to convince Plic not to turn any of these tomes into useless piles of paper.

 The Chapel was indeed peaceful, and the sunlight streaming it, beauteous. In particular, a stained glass effigy of a golden angel standing before his sword caught his eye. He marvled at the scenery for a moment, before remembering why he had come there. He located all the needed materials, and smiled glumly at the etched writing on the chalice. Irony, it would seem, had made this place its permanent home.
Cog managed to place all the candles that they would need under one arm, and hefting the chalice in the other used his foot to open the fair number of doors in between him and the ballroom, nearly falling once or twice. He did not fall, however, and entered the ballroom without undue delay, stopping short of the runed star that Sebastian had placed on the ground.
"Twelve candles, one silver chalice. I hope you didn't want any particular colors, as they were all white." he said, setting them neatly by the side of the star. "I'll let you to it, then."
It vexed him somewhat that he understood what most of the runes that Sebastian had placed around the star, but what they meant disturbed him even more. He found an empty wooden chair near the edge of the room and took a seat, preparing for the ordeal that would likely follow.

"You WHAT?!" Keaton exclaimed, ears pivoting upright and clear blue eyes widening into saucer-shaped spheres.

It was obvious that Stygian had instantly garnered her full attention, indicated by the revitalized liveliness in her expression and the alarmed excitement in her voice as she approached him, watching him with keen interest as he started to scrawl an elaborate series of archaic circles and symbols on a piece of paper. Although she couldn't decipher the heiroglyphics included in the image, she tried to listen to every word Stygian presented, her expression gradually falling as he reached his conclusion.

Admit that she was wrong about Angels? Never before had Keaton met an Angel who had proved her prejudices incorrect, but then again she never exactly made any effort to socialize with them. Slowly, she started to think: had a traumatizing experience with one, heartless Angel really marred her opinion about an entire race which she had unfairly categorized as nothing but irredeemable monsters?

Well, it wasn't like she was all sunshine and roses herself. But Keaton found the idea of there being even one, solitary benevolent Angel unbearably hard to believe. As though mirroring her innermost thoughts, her eyes reticiently shifted to her mace, which was leaning against one of the armchairs. Just as Keaton turned her gaze back to Stygian, about to say something along the lines of, I'm not sure I can do that, he had already left with Cogidubnus in search of materials for their ritual.

Once more, Keaton looked behind her, this time at one of her wings, looming over her shoulder-blades. Light glistened off of each individual feather, giving an almost ephemeral, sleek shine to each alabaster-sable fiber. Reaching out, Keaton carelessly plucked a feather off of the wing, ignoring the slight sting of pain that followed this action.

Sitting down, Keaton stared for a good, long while at the feather, curved and resting almost peacefully in her palm, a disturbingly vacant, heartless look on her face.

Isolated in only her thoughts.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Stygian didn't say anything but simply stood up, placed out the candles, one at each point of the star-like pattern on the floor. Then, she put the chalice in the centre of the circle, and turned to Cog.
   "May I?" she said, not really waiting for his permission but simply walking up to him and smoothly pulling his katana from its sheath. She slipped it out, sweeping it deftly through the air though with a bit of an edgy and wavy hand, as if she were more used to a longer or heavier blade, and strode up to the chalice in the centre of the floor.
   "The blood poisoned shows the path to the cure," she recited, and then placed the middle of the blade at her wrist, its length nearly parallel to her underarm. Slowly, she cut a deep wound into it, and blackish red blood spilled into the chalice in fat drops, nearly a stream.
   When she was done, the bat whipped clean the blade with a single stroke like a practiced swordsman would, the blood still on it spattering out into the circle a bit, and then spun it on her hand, landing it so that she could reach it to Cog butt-first. When he took it, she picked out a handkercheif from her pocket and pressed it to her already healing wrist.
   "The same words, and make sure it's a good deal of blood, then take your place at the circle with the symbol of the Moon," she said, and walked over to stand in her own, formed as Cog could see with a whole deal of patterns and symbols that connected to darkness and death, whereas his was clearly marked toward mysticism and spirit, and Keaton's was inscribed with signs and patterns of fury and agony, and also, oddly, a little hint to the Erinyes.

 Cog's eyes widened when Sebastian simply took his sword, and he had to stop himself from taking it back, forcefully, if only out of muscle memory. With his particular style of fighting, it was actually easier to kill someone who had a grip on your sword than one who who didn't. They were close, weren't going to move away, and weren't expecting the rather obvious reversal. Nevertheless. He let her take it, and mumbled something under his breath, affirming both Sebastian's luck and the certain death that awaited almost anyone else who tried such a thing...
He watched her begin the ritual with some chagrin, wincing as she drew his sword across her wrist. He quickly glanced at his own, and wondered if he would be able to complete the ritual without bleeding out at some point. He took careful note of her words, and was mildly surprised that she had the courtesy to wipe her blood off the sword. Rust was so difficult to remove. He accepted the hilt of his sword back from her, and mused that Keaton would probably need it as well. He nodded to Sebastian and approached the chalice.
"The blood poisoned shows the path to the cure," he said, placing the blade to his wrist in the same way, and with a flinch, drawing it across. The edge bit deeply, and red blood quickly flowed out from the wound and dripped off his wrist, into the chalice. It swirled and mixed with Sebastian's blood, creating a strange, streaked look to the fluid. His wrist throbbed, and he wrapped a piece of his loose clothing around the wound. He hoped that it would be enough to staunch the bleeding.
Wiping the blade off with his sleeve, he gingerly handed his sword to Keaton, fairly certain she would be needing to do the same thing. He walked to his corner of the star, marked with the moon, and waited.

As Sebastian started her speech on what it would take to break the curse, Aisha moved out of her way when things were rearranged in the library for the ritual about to take place.  Her eyes narrowed, tracing the intricate pattern on the floor before it was only half-finished, at Mel's suggestion to move someplace bigger.  Aisha wasn't inclined to argue, nor say much of anything but simply watch, as someone unfamiliar with such practices would do.  Plus, sticking around in a library, crowded and holed in with bookshelves for barriers should something go awry, wasn't too comfortable a thought.

The panthress hopped away from the table she was leaning on, arms crossed as she watched the others get up and move towards the ballroom.  The bat lead the way, Cogi having gone off to find the supplies...Keaton looked the most uncertain.  Aisha waited for a second before coming up to her, having the idea that maybe she was too far in uncertainty of facing her prejudices to have noticed the others leaving.

The panthress couldn't blame her...she had a vendetta against the polar opposite of an angel...demons.  Both sides different, but depending on one's experiences, also one in the same.

"Hey," she said to get Keaton's attention, starting to walk out the door after everyone.  "You wanna be cured, right?"  She gave a friendly smile.  "Whatever must happen can't be worse than anything else you've had to endure, I just bet."  The panthress shrugged.

Mel stood off to the side of the room, near the doorway, but watching with great interest. Time had changed a lot of how magic was used since she had been trained. Whatever else came out of this visit to the abandoned castle she was certainly updating her arcane knowledge.

Jeremiah shrugged. He could live with being ignored. He loosened the bonds on the spider woman's arms slightly, scooted the plate of food slightly closer to her for when she woke up, and turned to leave the library. Plic was still straining against Jeremiah's will, and he felt her reach out and brush the edge of Mel's mental shields, gently, to see what was inside and if it was what the personality would call Shiney Stuff. The action was accompanied by a slight flicker of green flames at the frog's fingertips, which he hid by stuffing his hands in his pockets. He picked up the pace, moving as far from the library as possible. Some reason I'm going off. That bell. If anyone asks, I figured it was a doorbell and am trying to remember where the front door was...

Keaton probably would've spent hours just sitting there, looking at the feather, if Aisha hadn't come along, alerting her to her presence and drawing her back to reality from where she had been suspended. Blinking confusedly as though jolted out of a very deep, concentrated trance, Keaton lolled her head towards Aisha, not bothering to hide the feather or the slightly irritated look on her face. 'What do you want? Can't you see I'm moping?' her expression seemed to say.

Whereas Keaton was expecting a possibly uneffective consolation or something equally tedious to her, she found Aisha's words slightly more tremendous than that. Reasonable. Keaton's ears lowered as she listened, nodding slightly at Aisha's question. "Yeah..." she muttered, averting her gaze deliberately, "I want to be cured."

More than any of them knew.

Though Aisha's words rung true--whatever could happen was probably going to be nowhere near as devastating than what Keaton had already went through. Being forced to share the same race as one of those she hated most inexorably (there was one other thing Keaton hated more, though, but that was irrelevant) had brought utter emotional disaster upon her, such she had not experienced in years. Was letting go of her pride and her long-contained loathing more painful than having to endure any of this?

Keaton looked down at the feather again, her eyes raking over its alabaster outline, gradually snaking down to the sable spot that crowned the tip.

Some part of Keaton wanted to crush it in her hand and tear it to shreds, but slowly, surely, that shard of her had found itself, for once, silenced and shoved back into the cage it deserved to be in.

Instead, Keaton tipped her hand over, slowly allowing the pinion to float elegantly to the ground.

Standing up, Keaton turned away from Aisha, dusted herself off, and with a look of liberated determination on her face, started to depart for where she surmised Cogidubnus and Stygian had gone. Just as she was about to step over the threshold of the door, she stopped, squaring her shoulders. Oh yes. She had almost forgotten something.

"Ahem," Keaton cleared her throat, then craned her head around to face Aisha. "Thanks."

And with that, she left.


When Keaton had arrived, she came just in time to watch Cogidubnus make the first cut along his wrist. Stopping during her first step, her pupils pinpricked as they followed the drops of blood plummeting into the chalice, vanishing past the rim of the vessel. Oh crap. THAT was what they were doing? What was this, some sort of satanic sacrifice?

The idea disgusted her, but regardless, Keaton approached, appearing beside the two once the final dollop of blood had made its departure. This couldn't be anywhere near as agonizing as having to endure being an Angel for the rest of her life. After all, it wasn't as though Keaton was transient to pain. Cogidubnus passed her the blade without comment.

Rolling back her threadbare belle-sleeve, Keaton stared down at her wrist, setting down the knife for a moment so she could remove her glove. Taking up the knife again, Keaton pressed the tip of the blade to her wrist and swiftly sliced it, freeing a steady stream of crimson without so much as a moment of hesitation or preparation. Anything of that sort would only delay this process. Keaton extended her arm over the chalice, tilting it slightly so that way the excess of blood would rain down into the bottom of the sanguine-filled grail.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Keaton's blood spilled into the grail with a wet, dripping sound, and through some odd means the red mixed with oily black in the cup on the floor looked almost as if about to boil, shivering and seething. When she took her place in her circle, it didn't take so much as a second before she felt as if something gripped her or bore down on her, like an invisible tension in the air. A quick look to Stygian showed her standing still in her circle, her face focused and her eyes gleaming, but yet still. And somehow Keaton could still feel that it was the bat who had started the ritual, pushing down her foot to start the avalanche, so to speak. The light from outside grew fainter, the clouds somehow darkening in seconds and the air going thick and blurry. On its own, the blood in the chalice swirled, and then somehow began running up its sides and over them, down to the foot of it and running out, exactly following the lines drawn on the marble floor.
   Then, suddenly, the bat spoke up.
   "We are here, tres osoris, three haters filled to the brim with its poison," she said, in a voice that seemed to echo more than it should have, and the light dimmed further, the blood still finding its way through the scribed lines.
   Something shook Cogidubnus' mind, gripping it. It felt like a sort of dizzyness, a power and a presence that was not his but seeping through and within him, lending him its strength and telling him what to do. He felt words come over his lips that he had not thought of, and had no intention to speak.
   "We are here, tres fatuus, three fools cursed by our mistakes as much as their reason," he spoke, before the feeling almost completely left him, the power still lingering just somewhat. The presence then gripped Keaton, and she looked almost in shock as she spoke.
   "We are here, tres petitoris, three seekers, fearing the answer yet still in need for it. You," she spoke, and then felt as her head turned. She saw as she looked and pointed at Stygian. "What do you hate? What do you believe? What do you fear?"

   The bat breathed deeply, before she sighed and then spoke, looking not nervous, but almost as if she felt helpless.
   "I hate women. Not women as people, nor the gender, but women as for how they behave, and what they have done to me. Everyone who has ever managed to really fool me, who has managed to betray me or to wound me so that I felt it has been a woman. A woman stole my place in life that I sought, a woman killed my love and scarred me and a woman cast me out and left me for dead, setting me on the path to revenge I have walked my whole life. I believe women to be above me in a way, I believe them not stronger or better but somehow more pure or just, and for that I hate them. And I fear the power that they have to turn and lure, even without intelligence or strength or cunning or even understanding."
   Keaton felt her hand sweep through the air. And although she and Stygian were perhaps thirty feet apart, she could feel the swat on the bat's cheek, and see her head being knocked aside.
   "Fool!" the jackal heard as she said, her voice hissing and odious. "Your greatest enemies have never been women. The reason you were cast away was not because of your sister. The reason your mother left you was because she wanted you to live. And you only have yourself to blame for your weakness, if it is pain or passion that troubles you. Women are just people, as foolish as anyone. There is no reason for your hatred!"
   The presence left Keaton, and she breathed heavily, her face feeling warm and her body trembling somehow. And then, the bat looked up, and pointed at Cogidubnus.
   "You. What do you hate? What do you believe? What do you fear?" she spoke, her eyes fixed dead straight at the wolf.

PBh knew what the Ballroom would be important to her friend and took Gina to watch the ritual.  As Stygian, stated the reason for his/her hate, PBH watches Gina's face.  What part of this lady in the bat's past was Gina? PBH wonders  Yet, She did not ask, she only watches the Cursed three and the magics of ritual.  also she was watching Gina's reactives, and then places her hand on the ferret's arm to offer support.

PBH

 Cog stood with his arms crossed, his eyes obscured by his glasses, and struggling to keep from shouting. He wanted to scream at this presence, this strange force behind part of this ritual – the very idea of magical domination was part and parcel of his hatred, and although he could rationalize his hate away, it didn't diminish it's presence. He was no stranger to mental domination: that was part of his being as well, and as such he had developed an incredible resistance to mental attacks. Many a foolish mind-reader had thought that without mental shielding a mind was ripe for the picking – they had found his mind fortified indeed. But this thing, whatever it was, had made him speak as easily as he could make himself.
As Stygian stared at him, he felt himself again nudged by that force to answer. He fingered the bandage wrapped around his wrist and looked down at it quickly. It wasn't staunching well. A few stray drops were falling onto the floor and onto his clothing, and the material of his shirt was getting soaked. He thought about trying to heal himself, but decided fingering the crucifix right then might not have been a good idea.
But still, there was that nudging prodding force in the back of his mind, urging him to state his hates, his beliefs, and his fears. But, to his surprise, it did not make him speak like a puppet this time, did not force the words through his mouth. He nodded his head slightly. He had to speak the words, and the ritual would not make him. It was part of its power, and part of why the ritual worked. Free admission of your faults. He stared at the others, and at those standing outside the star, and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he swallowed his pride and reserve, and spoke. His voice was not flat, but rose and fell with the pall of deep emotion.
"I hate mages. I hate them, for I see them as others do not: for what they are. Abusers of power, bullies who use the arcane to further their own petty, personal goals, and damned be the cost. A group of egotisical, might-makes-right tyrants, petty kings who lord over the rest of the earth as if it was their own playground."
He narrowed his eyes and continued. "The Necromancer, the magician who steals bodies, both alive and dead, to raise a personal army of zombies, or to sacrifice the souls in exchange for yet more power. The Wizard of healing, who 'procures' his cadavers for study anywhere he can – from graves when he can, but if none are to be found, well...street trash won't be missed. Even better, you can experiment so much more with a live body! The Master of Destruction, who likely began his path swearing to protect lives with his power, and calls down such flames and fires that the land itself grows twisted for centuries. Mages! Mages, who can not only kill out of curiosity and greed but out of sheer spite and annoyance! Under any other name, these kinds of men would be called murderers. But no one dares call the Lord of the Tower anything but master."
He was shivering at this point, his face coloring under his fur, and his voice shook.  "Mages, who cursed me with madness under the full moon. Mages, who tricked me into destroying the life of an innocent man. Who I have seen kill countless innocent and weak. Mages, who could HELP. They could do so much! But they instead, choose to take, and take, and take, and drunk with power finally attempt something so beyond them they kill all they touch."
By the end, Cog's voice had grown flat, and the blood was now really starting to drop. He already felt lightheaded, and he quickly wrapped more of the shirt tighter around the wound. With luck, he hadn't hit a vein...
"I believe Mages to be abusers of power, and abusers of gifts, without exception. They are cruel without equal, and greedy beyond the most tight-fisted baron – for they do not lust for money, but for power.  And...I..."
Cog took a deep breath, and continued. 
"I fear to become like them. I fear that one day, I might wake up, and find that I have killed, have murdered, and destroyed, all for personal gain. I fear to become what I hate."
At that, his statement had ended, and he glanced at Sebastian from behind shaded lenses. It supposed, like Keaton, she would now tell him where he had gone wrong. He waited for her answer.
She regarded him with blazing eyes. "Fool!" she said, her voice dark, almost akin to her growl. "You do not hate mages - you hate all those with great strength! These men you describe may be despicable, but do you think this is limited to throwers of magic? What of the horrors ascribed to great kings and generals? Is the sin any less when a town mayor steals from his populace? Fool! You do not hate because of right, but because of prejudice! Mages are not the source of the world's troubles! There is no reason for your hate!" As she finished, Sebastian gasped, and her eyes cooled. Cog absorbed what she said numbly, and was again nudged by that force. His turn.
He turned to Keaton. "You. What do you hate? What do you believe? What do you fear?"

As the final drop of blood exited Keaton's willing veins, her clear blue eyes watched with detached, paled interest as the blood gathered at the bottom of the vessel's chamber boiled and started to darken into a sickening, blackened concoction. Seizing a handful of her opposite belle sleeve, Keaton ripped off a sizeable strip of sable cloth, which she used to hurriedly obstruct the acrimonious gouts of blood that were still pouring from the laceration in her wrist. Securing the ligature and biting her way through the still-livid pain stinging along her arm, she looked up, ignoring her injury, and stood at attention.

Stygian went first. For someone who happened to be female, Keaton found herself surprisingly unoffended at his confession. People had their share of prejudices, and so long as they did nothing to interfere in hers, she wouldn't do the same. Without realizing it, though, there was a sudden grasping sensation, as though her very being had been whipped from her body and replaced with a vile, crawling essence, which was speaking in her voice, through her mouth, slapped him with her hand, but just wasn't her. She was returned to her body, leaving Keaton utterly shellshocked and startled by this occurrence. Trying to regain her breath and some sense of being to her surroundings, she looked around, as though she had been just woken up from some very deep, unpleasant sleeping spell.

Cogidubnus went next. His acquiescence was considerably more dramatic, and this time Stygian was possessed by the same, dominating force as before. Hissing about power, hate, and foolishness in a way disturbingly similar to how she did. Stifling a gasp, she grasped her injury, not noticing how the blood pulsing in her arm had started to quicken and electrify thanks to her stress, saturating the layers of cloth bound around her self-inflicted wound.

Then everyone's eyes were on her. Cogidubnus spoke to her. Ears folded back. Keaton looked up, her gaze flickering from Stygian, then to Cogidubnus.

She was silent at first, her hand's slender, long digits unconsciously wrapping around her wrist, squeezing against the damp patch that had formed there. The blood against her palm, the rapid, furious throbbing, seemed to invigorate her, to urge her to talk.

Finally, Keaton got herself to speak, forcing her voice out. "I hate Angels," she said. "I hate them like nothing else."

She knew that wasn't going to be enough. Stygian and Cogidubnus had freely admitted their loathing, so she could too. "The person who humiliated me and treated me as his servant for seventy years of my life was an Angel, and completely personified everything that's WRONG with them. He was greedy. He adored power above all else. He took advantage of those who were beneath him, treating them like dirt."

The final word of that sentence was no more than a rasping growl. Despite rising, simmering rage, Keaton continued, forcing her words out through her bladed teeth. "Especially me. He hated me because of my clan affiliation, but I was useful to him. That was the only reason he kept me around. Nothing more. Nothing less."

Oceanic eyes squeezed shut for a moment, and Keaton wrenched out a slight laugh as the memories came back in a rushing avalanche. As her eyes opened she looked deranged; startlingly mad, a razorbladed smile trembling on the corners of her lips. "Even worse was that he tricked me. He ruined the memories of someone I adored, someone who had been my best friend, comfort, and inspiration, and laughed at me for it."

Keaton continued remorselessly, ranting, raving, the smile vanished. "I believe that Angels are the scum of Furrae, that they are nothing more than lying, cheating, selfish, hateful pieces of..." the jackal sighed, managing to cut off her vulgarity for just a fleeting second before resuming, "...and if they were somehow erased from the world that would be a blessing for all of us.

"I fear" – she spat out the word as though it were venom on her tongue – "That another Angel will come and manipulate me. But I don't fear Angels themselves."

But she had gotten back at him. She had won. She had emerged victorious, free from his control and his presence. Where Keaton had once served him, he now did the same for her, his very soul lingering within the prison of her mace where he would suffer until the day she died. And she would personally ensure that would never happen any time soon, if only to spite him.

It was Cogidubnus's turn to speak, Keaton's head snapping upright and her eyes widening, then narrowing in his direction. "Foolish girl! You chose to hate Angels only because you needed somebody to hate, to blame for all you had went through!

"One individual's actions are not enough to condemn an entire race!" Cogidubnus said, his expression vehement. "You have been living, enveloped in lies that you have forged yourself. You hate and hate and hate, and it owns you, it devours you. You have become yet another puppet, but this time one of your own hate and rage!

"There is no reason for your hate."

The presence was ejected from his body in the same manner it had left hers. The lycanthrope blinked, shaking the dizziness from his head, and found himself staring into Keaton's face, the jackal withdrawn, her eyes large and surprisingly glassy—she looked entirely appalled, emphasized by the dark rings that underlined her eyes, the way her teeth tentatively dug into her lower lip, her pupils dilated, and how she pulled in on herself, tremulous hand clutching her wrist like her life depended it, blood oozing through the fabric and onto her gloved palm. It became obvious that this was the first time anyone had reached her—had shown her the cold truth of her emotions.

And it had brought something among the tempestuous whirlwind of reeling emotions that wracked Keaton's mind that she hadn't experienced in hundreds of years.

Remorse. Terror at herself, her actions, and the truth.

The next moment Stygian and Cogidubnus blinked, that lapse of weakness—that shadow of a little girl--was gone, left only in the sullen demeanor still hanging wretchedly around Keaton's aura like a rotting, exuding tapestry and the thick valleys beneath her eyes. Gritting her fangs together, Keaton averted her eyes, staring resolutely forward, towards the inky mass of blood smoldering in the bottom of the grail.

She could hate herself all she liked, but it would only trap her in the same pattern that she had been imprisoned in for years. She had done enough of hating. Now was the time to change, and to free herself from the vile feelings that fettered her.

And to undo this curse which plagued her.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Choosing not to join the others for breakfast, Gareeku continued to read the book, not being able to take his eyes off of the text within as his eyes flitted from left to right and back again, the soft sound of rustling paper echoing out quietly and occasionally as pages were turned every once in a while.

The blood that had been oozing out of the chalice now filled the full pattern of the circle, its still wet slickness gleaming in the light from the candles, the sky outside the windows having become dark and cloudy. There was something almost like a ripple through the wet surface, the floor shaking once, twice, under their feet. The air around the lines scribed on the floor shivered as if heated, and there was a smell close to ashen in the air.
   "Our hatreds are useless. Purge them!" Stygian said, eyes glowing and enraptured.
   "Our beliefs are void. Purge them!" Cogidubnus said, feeling that gripping presence again and speaking a lot steadier than he felt.
   "Our fears are null. Purge them!" Keaton almost growled, with an anger that she only partially felt.
   The sanguine seal around their feet burst into flames, fire snaking and coiling through the air in unnatural ways as it wormed itself up around them. It immolated them, set fire to their skin and fur, seeped into them with their hasted breath and they could feel it burning through them, from inside and out. The feeling was absolute pain and pleasure all in the same, as they felt every cell in their bodies squirming, suffused with the power.
   And then, as quickly as the fire had taken hold, it stopped, leaving them standing completely unscathed. Now, there was only the three of them, standing there on the empty floor around the drained chalice. The feeling still lingered somewhat, crawling through them, before they all gasped in turn, and breathed out, clearing their lungs and wanting for fresh air. Stygian expelled a cloud of seething black, ash and flames like those who had entered from her mouth, shakily breathing in again. Keaton saw a cloud of reddish-purple fire, like plasma, ooze into the air and fade away as she cleared her lungs. And Cog had good time to catch sight of the glowing, moonlight-like mist and fire that crackled slightly as it left him. Outside the window, the sky had returned to a bright and clear blue, just a few clouds loitering idly through it. All was still again.

   The bat held up her hand in front of her face as the effects of the ritual dissappeared. She was still female, but judging from her expression it was no catastrophe. The spell had not failed. It was just that...
   She turned her eyes against the windows, squinting her oversensitive eyes in the light. Then, she promptly turned on the spot and swaggered back to the shadows in the other end of the ballroom. A sort of crawling movement ran over her skin, as she shifted, and grew into her clothes, making them a perfect fit.
   Male and capable of shifting freely again, Stygian looked down on himself, holding out his arms a bit. He ran familiar fingers and claws over his arm, over where the cut on his wrist had faded to nothing, then breathed deeply, closed his eyes, and smiled.
   "Perfect," he said, in that same smooth, hidden-edge voice they had heard before, looking up at them with gleaming eyes and a grin.

When the circle burst into flame, despite knowing that the fire couldn't leave it's fixed point, Mel couldn't suppress an involuntary squeak of dismay and a jump back that made the door behind her rattle. By the time she got her eyes open it was over. At first glance nothing seemed different. She hoped they hadn't gone through this for nothing.

Mel stepped forward to offer to heal the slashed wrists. Both Cog and Keaton had lost a lot of blood yesterday and couldn't afford to bleed too long. Cog was closest so she stepped up to the edge of the ritual site and offered, "May I tend your injury?" She spoke softly, so as not to startle the swordsman so soon after being in the magic thrall.

"Sure thing," Aisha had simply answered Keaton as she left the library to take her place in the ritual to happen in mere moments.  The panther, noting pretty much everyone had left save for Gareeku, gave him a quick farewell, deciding not to bother him with his reading.  She followed not-too-closely behind the succubus-turned-angel, her arms crossed in curiosity.  This will be interesting.

She entered the ballroom as soon as Keaton had taken her place in one of the smoothly-crafted symbols etched to the floor, and she slowly made her way nearer to the other bystanders, a safe distance from the edge.  But they were certainly close enough to hear and see what went on, especially when their successive voices rang out and echoed across the walls, accentuated by the sudden darkening of the morning...and their blood, spilling as if from its own will into the intricate markings.

To distract the panthress from the crawling feeling that came from witnessing this, from the blood to something having taken control of them, as if something out of stories of mind-rending unholy cults...their lamentations were certainly something to listen to and something more for them to let go.  The panthress unconsciously made mental notes of each respective turn, individuals facing their prejudice, and certainly impressed by their will.  Aisha couldn't help but wonder if she could have gone through it half so well.

It looked like a weight was lifted from them when the spell down and the light was brought back through the curtains anew on the individuals after a dazzling blaze.  The first to revert was Sebastian, with certain relief seen on him.  Now there was just the others.

Jeremiah continued onward, the sounds of the ritual fading beind him. Sounds like they're making progress. Good for them. Now, if I remember correctly the doorway was... was...
Annnnnd he was lost. Briefly, he remembered what Sebastion had mentioned about the castle rearranging itself. "Oh hell..."

 Cog's eyes came unglazed, and his first action back in control of himself was to cough up a great deal of what felt like blood coming up - at least, it was liquid, cold, and felt as though it didn't belong. He was greatly surprised when he coughed up cloud of moon-colored mist, with lightning crackling amidst the vapor.
Cog came back to the world of the living much as he had left it - he felt...different somewhat. Not less or more, but different. He felt whole, clean almost - he sighed, and nodded. The curse had indeed left him...but now to test it.
He concentrated, and tensed his hands, trying to conjure up the sparks that came with overflowing arcane power. Nothing happened. His hand was as stable and grounded as the flagstones outside.
In his head, however, he still had a great deal of the arcane knowledge that he had had. In point of fact, it was still all there, just as vibrant as it had been when he'd been cursed. He sighed. Memories did not fade, and that simply could not be changed.
Strangely, he found he did not mind so much.
Mel's soft voice brought him out of his reverie, and he nodded to her gratefully. "Please, thank you." he said. He'd rather not get this far to die of blood loss. It would be rude, at the very least. He offered his arm to the dragon's inspection, hoping that whatever he had cut was able to be fixed somewhat easily.

The bat's smile quickly dimmed into a half-smirk when he looked up, and then went away as his face was made expressionless. He shifted his stance, straightened his shirt, and then paced back through the ballroom, back to the door they had come from. He spared a brief glance to Keaton and Cog, and to Mel who was aiding them, a quite bitter look, and only made a single comment before he left.
   "I'll be done with breakfast and then go to my quarters. Feel free to do as you like."
   Sebastian passed Jeremiah as he went, the frog not having come so much more than the left side of the castle out of confusion, and just walked silently past him, then did precisely as he had said, finishing his soup and hastily downing his tea and a sandwich even though the latter really wasn't neccessary. Then, he grabbed a couple of books and papers, and some ink and a quill after a quick search, not minding or at least pretending not to mind whether if anyone else walked in on him, and made off against the nearest stairs. He headed for a certain room he was familiar with from another time, on one of the higher floors, intent on staying there for some time.
   The bat's mind was tense and angry, and he knew no better way to calm himself than to go somewhere off and busy himself with business. It was not what he needed, as in actuality he was, despite himself, hoping for someone to come by or disturb him with something interesting, but it was the only way he could think of that he didn't think would end in more stupidity or frustration.
   And so, high up, he closed and darkened a room, laid down his things, and went to bed again, hoping to wake up no time before darkness had fallen again outside.

As though emboldened by the confessions of the three assembled around it, suddenly, the entire circle came to life: the sky outside of the window darkened, the clouds orbiting the castle becoming thick and dark, like smog oozed from the towers of a factory; the blood pooled in the vessel set before the trio started to quake and vibrate; and the floor shuddered and convulsed beneath them. Somehow, despite these evolutions in her surroundings, Keaton remained resolute, her ears folded back and her clear blue eyes locked inseparably on the chalice.

The three spoke once more, their voices resonant and bold, the force that dominated them before possessing them for that final explosion.

Fire coiled in serpentine trails from the crimson-scrawled seal, crawling around them, embracing them, even as they burst into flames. Keaton sunk her teeth into her lower lip to keep herself from screaming, nearly drawing blood, her muscles tensed and her fists tremulously clenched. It ended surprisingly quickly, and somehow left them completely untouched despite the seething, realistic sensation that had erupted from all over Keaton and the others' bodies. Around her, clouds of unknown substance emitted from the group, each individual producing a significantly different toxin.

Then it ended. The skies outside were crisp and sapphire again, speckled with sparse tufts of clouds.

Keaton looked down at herself, carefully examining every detail of her body. White still replaced the vibrant yellow that would normally colorize her fur; feathers still grew from her wings. Had the spell failed?

In Stygian's case, it hadn't. The bat retreated into the darkness, using it to shape his body and return him to his former body—distinctly male. Cogidubnus's body failed to radiate the lightning that had crackled from it before. But then what happened to her?

Suddenly, Keaton felt a crawling feeling all over her body, the halo around her head dying almost instantly. Alabaster oozed away from her body like ivory ichor, revealing the layers of yellow fur that had been concealed beneath; feathers shed from her wings and vaporized into diaphanous fog the moment they departed her pores; two-fingered claws flexed from atop the joints of the wings; and color returned to Keaton's eyes, leaving them mismatched and a chocolate brown. Crowning off the entire transformation, head-wings identical to Keaton's newly-metamorphosed, leathery wings burst from her head in a flurry of white sparks, stretching instinctually atop the mess of dirty blonde hair.

She was back, Keaton realized joyfully. She was BACK.

A broad grin spread along her tanned lips, jagged, enamel fangs sparkling. Indescribable happiness seized the jackal as she examined herself in its entirety, embracing her draconic wings, her yellow fur... everything that made her her. After trials and tribulations, she was finally back to her original form...

This happiness was momentarily interrupted when dizziness started to stem from her head, originating from the still-bleeding cut in her arm. Groaning, Keaton reached up to clutch at her head, her headwings twitching. It was a blessing that Mel approached the two, first attending to Cogidubnus. When it was her turn, Keaton proffered her arm, watching with surprising concern as Stygian left the room.

Crap. After all of this she still hadn't thanked him. First things first, she would go to visit him, if possible. Then she would go take a bath. She smelled like blood and frankly, she knew from experience that it was no fun to lie around in. A wardrobe change would be necessary, as well, since her clothing was torn apart in several places, most notably where the gash in her side once was and her sleeves, which she had used as bandaging.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

PBH sits shocked at the bat's ah hasty exit, and it nag at her, that he did not even see Gina or herself...

"That s it?  No thanks or nothing.. Just 'I am going to my room and we are free for the day'?  I'm not his servant and he is not paying me.  Well, Gina, We need some answers or he owns them to you..."

This angry is fake, PBH had seem the bat's reaction many times in your uncle and herself, when someone should to celebrating a great success, they just wanted to go and hide from people, even friends... Too much time alone will do that and the bat has been alone 60Xtimes longer than her depressed years.

Bambi takes Gina's hand, they started to follow the Bat.  But finds a confused Jeremiah looking lost, she motions to him to follow after finding out where he was going.  She takes and points him down to the hallway main entrance hall just off from the library.  She quickly passes Keaton, as continues on after the bat as just he leaves the library on his way to his sanctuary.  With Gina in tow, she climbs up the stairs and to his tower room that is dark as cave.  Standing in his doorway, She yells "Stygain!, What about >>>ABEWBLabcbliwbcl!"   Bambi stands shocked at the nonsense coming out of her mouth..    " OH fategsy rosiskvoipem;t[["  Bambi trying again.  With a look of horror, She places her hands over her mouth and turns to Gina.  PBH trys to says "I love you" as reach a hand out to her with pleading look, but her voice sounds even worst with grunts and growls.  PBH looks in horror at her own mouth and faints.

When Stygian passes by Jeremiah follows him back to the rest of the group, hanging back slightly to keep Plic away from temptation. He heads back to the kitchen figuring that there shouldn't be any issues there and leans against a convenient wall while he tries to keep his Condition from doing anything that would be traced back to him.

"Bam... Bam, I'm not sure..." Gina complained as they passed up the fifth set of stairs and headed down the corridor, following closely on the trail of the bat. "Bam, I'm not angry with him. He just seems annoyed. Bam!" Her protests were weak and useless against the determination of the feline though, and they soon found themselves standing in a doorway, looking into some huge apartment-like room that was probably one of the master quarters or something of the like. Solid, qualitative and beautiful furniture and tasteful decorations and paintings hinted in the darkness, as did the dark shape of the bat on the bed, featureless save for its outlines. And, for its eyes, glowing dimly as he turned against them.
   "What?" he asked glumly. Then, Bambi had her outbreak, and after a few futile attempts at communication, collapsed. The ferret's eyes widened, before she made a face, and promptly tried lifting the bigger feline away. The bat just eyed them with a frightening gaze, completely still, before they managed to scurry away, the ferret dragging the cat away over to a sofa in the hallway and the door to the room closed by itself somehow.


   When Jeremiah returned to the library, he, being the only one who had actually shown the concern to mind, immediately noticed something that was not right. Not right at all. And something that he was probably to be blamed for. Something quite significant too.
   In the sofa beside which lay a plate on the floor, with its dark, carved wood and crimson satin cover over its cushioning, there lay nothing. No spider-woman, no chains. No pancakes. Nothing.

It took a while for Mel to heal both Cog and Keaton. Both had cut themselves deeply for the ceremony, physically as well as emotionally. "Why don't we go back to the library and get some of that poor cold abandoned breakfast? I'm hungry and you two need to eat to build your health back up." Mel headed back to the library.

There was a smile on Aisha's face, moreover relief as the spell had worked as well on the others, with Keaton perhaps one of the more dramatic transformations yet.  Still, adding this to the memories of all she has so far witnessed in the castle, it far surpassed the mythical travel stories lining the path along and far beyond the front door.  A hurdle passed, an unknown chapter in those myths written, to be hidden.

"A congratulations to each of you," the panthress commented with a grin, though she cast a curious glance at Sebastian's sudden urge to leave.  Unlike Bam and the ferret, who seemed adamant as they left on bothering the bat, she didn't have that same kind of thought.  I wonder if there's more to deal with...

Instead, Aisha stuck around to see if either Cogi or Keaton needed help with the deep slices in their arms, the panthress giving only a slight wince at the thought of all of the pain put together that they must have went through.  Mel however seemed to have it under control, and therefore started on her way back to the library before them, only giving a momentary glance around the grand ballroom, as she hadn't had the opportunity to take in the scenery before.  Once again such amazing design and nobility with the presence of the building, despite the history slowly unraveling.  "Qué ha sido...ha sido (What has been...has been)." She muttered while walking out.

On her way back towards the library though, Aisha's ear seemed to crane unnoticeably in another direction.  There was a twinge...only a passing feeling.  Like the kind someone gets when they just shudder for no reason...but a version barely on the edge of hearing.  But it only made her shrug while she made her way to the library, where within, something...someone...was amiss.

Bambi's body seems to get more life back as her breathing rate increased, and then drops and settles into a more asleep state.    

**Bambi felt something that swept her through on by or was just a fleeting thought.... and now, she finds it hard to talk**

Bam slowly awakes, and feels her throat, it is not sore.
At the sight of Gina, she smiles and said "puroow"  PBH looks ready to cry, now.

PBH

"Oh... Damn," Jeremiah said, staring at the empty plate and the emptier couch, "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn-" His litany was interrupted by the sound of a door opening behind him. With a yelp of "I did nothing!" He whirled around. "Oh... Hi Aisha."

Mel didn't pay much mind to the feline or the frog as she passed them to get to the breakfast, still sitting abandoned where it had been when she'd left to bathe. She hadn't had more than a few bites of the dinner the night before between bouts of research and was too ravenous to notice much of anything but the remains on the table. A cup of cold tea and a sandwich of the various odds and ends left behind by the earlier diners would have to suffice until the next chance at a meal.

Aisha nearly jumped herself when she re-entered the library, having heard a voice chanting a curse until she guessed that it was surely the frog.  Entering with a few louder footsteps this time so nobody would be startled, she shook her head and gave a slight laugh.  "Hello, Jeremiah."  Her head tilted curiously.  "What has you so uptight all of a s..."

That was when she caught sight of the couch nearby and glanced at it twice over, thinking something about the scene in front of her was different...and it didn't take long for it to find its way through her brain.  "Sudden," she finished, then turned to the frog with a surprised look.  "Where's the woman that was tied up?"

He needn't have answered her, as her head swiveled around in the shadows of the still-somewhat-darkened room.  Though the panthress was most likely certain that she was no longer a threat to the party, Sebastian had still must have had a reason to keep her bound.  The panthress cursed a little exasperatedly beneath her breath (in her born tongue lest anyone hear her), and grabbed her weapons belt, whirling to Jeremiah with an accusatory glance...though more concerned than angry.

"You were the one watching her.  You will need to find Sebastian and tell him she's loose."

Without anything else said, the panthress wound her way from the library, past the others, trying to find her way through the labyrinthine corridors for the washroom...in haste, it would probably take her a few moments to find it again.  There was probably little rush...for what could she most likely do except just find a way out of the castle...?  But still the bat was owed the right to be let known.  And if there was anything more to be done anyway, she needed her adventuring clothes back.

"Watch... Wait, what?!" However, it was too late. Aisha had already left. With a sigh, Jeremiah found his way to where Sebastion had scarpered off to (unfortunatly, his sense of direction failed to fail him this time) and knocked twice, hesitantly.
"Houston, we got complications..." He chuckled nervously.

Stygian hadn't slept for more than perhaps ten minutes before his attention was once again called upon. The first knocking of the door he ignored, knowing full well that the frog had no business with him. Or, at least no sane business. When he insisted though, and even spoke to the door, the bat got a bit annoyed. He would make a point out of not disturbing him to them. And so he did a classical maneuver he was used to whenever he wanted to get out of a closed room into a corridor, and there was nothing to obstruct him.

   "What complications?" the frog heard the bat's smooth voice say from just behind him. There had not been so much as a sound up until then, and he was quite clearly taken aback by it. The bat also looked quite irritated, something not very pleasant, circumstances considered.

"Gyeh!" Again, as a direct result of the spider woman leaving, Jeremiah got spooked, "Don't do that!" He gasped, before composing himself somewhat. "It's that spidery friend of yours," he continued nervously, grinning slightly, "She seems to have been, ah... Misplaced." The grin got slightly wider, as if to say "One day we'll all look back on this and laugh and laugh, and I'd like to focus more on the laughing than the yelling."

Cog let out a sigh of relief as Mel healed his wrist, savoring the cool sensation that traveled up his arm. "Thank you." he said softly. His shirt was soaked with blood, but it wasn't really his shirt anyway. In any case, he'd new to buy new clothes at some point, anyway. He bowed gratefully to Mel and rubbed his wrist. Good as new, he thought. He waited until Mel had healed Keaton, and grinned at Mel's words and her mothering of the both of them. "In a moment. Some food would be good, though.", he said.
He walked over to where Keaton had dropped his sword and picked it back up. He inspected the blade and the various pieces of the hilt, checking for damage. It was unlikely simply dropping it would do anything, but he liked to take care of his weapon. Satisfied that no chips or dings had marred his blade, he replaced it in his sheath, and headed to the library. His stomach growled in anticipation.
He passed Jeremiah in the hall, and raised a single eyebrow at the running frog. He watched him turn the corner, and then turned a wary eye towards the library door. Placing a single hand on the hilt of his blade, he slowly opened the grand doors. He saw Mel and Aisha inside, and sighed.
He opened wide the doors and headed for the breakfast table. He grabbed a few random pieces of cold things and turned to the rest of the group. "What's wrong with Jeremiah?" he said, before taking a seat. By their faces, whatever had just gone on was not good. He raised an eyebrow and munched for a moment, taking in the surroundings.
He stopped, and dropped his head. There by the couch, where the spider-woman had been sitting, was nothing. He sighed, and took another absent bite of his food. He leaned back in his chair silently, and tried to keep his face from twisting into a scowl. It would appear that happiness was a commodity few and far between, here.
He stood, wiping his mouth with his blood-soaked sleeve, and walked back out of the library. She'd need to be found, whereever she was. He suspected that Jeremiah had run for Sebastian. It might not be a bad idea.
He made his way through the hallways, stopping to sniff every now and again, and keeping his ears open for the telltale scuttling of arachnid legs.

The bat did not do anything but look at Jeremiah for a brief few seconds, his left eyebrow rising slowly. He didn't show any signs of anger, but...
   Slowly, Stygian stepped closer, his gaze intensifying.
   "Oh, I think that I shall laugh. You, however, will probably not. See, that spider is a professional killer, like me," he said, his voice low but terrible, as he moved in on the frog and forced him to back up. "And like me, she can be up behind your back without you ever noticing. And she will kill you without hesitation if she somehow gets the slightest reason and an opportunity," he continued, bringing a hand up, black claws like knives growing out the tips of his fingers, "just like I will if she fails and you ever fumble so horribly as this again." His voice kept low and his face expressionless, yet his words and his eyes told everything.
   The bat's claws were just inches from Jeremiah's face, the frog backed up against a wall, when behind them, Cogidubnus came up the stairs in the room just down the hallway, catching sight of and hearing them. The bat turned, narrowed his eyes just the slightest bit at the wolf, then snorted and went back, opening the door to his room and walking in.

      Bambi and Gina watched this little drama with the frog and the bat...And PBH realized that she did wanted to ask Stygian anything, right now. Even, If she could talk anyway.  When the wolf shows up, Bambi trys to talk to him. All she can says is jibbrish with her hands pointing to her mouth and throat.  After a moment of pleating eyes up at him, the depressed cat heads down to Mel and watches her finish off breakfast.   
      Here she trys something different, she writes her message..."Can't speak,but throat is okay, but words very hard to form in my head or mind......Help PBH" on paper and hold it up to Mel...she trys to talk again to Mel.."Meow ghatdefbskop Helosubyf"with the pointing to her mouth and head  and then Bambi gives her the sad kitten eyes, and cry in her lap.

PBH

"'Ey, you were the ones in the same room as her! I was looking for the door!" Jeremiah replied, raising his hands. Fortunatly, the green flickering had ended about half a second after he removed his hands from his pockets, "Is this really neccessary?"
He was fairly relieved when Sebastion went back inside and let him be though. He grinned at Cog nervously and chuckled, "Methinks I screwed up."

Once again, the door to the bedroom closed, evenly and seemingly of its own power. The group of people were left standing outside without a clue, basically, the situation just worsened by the fact that Bambi seemed to have lost her tongue completely. She had even felt as if she was beginning to have trouble getting the words down on paper when she wrote to communicate, meaning that something was quite clearly very amiss. The cat went off, and the ferret stood somewhat lost, then headed after her with a frown to see what she could possibly do to help.
   That left the frog and the wolf just standing there, none the wiser.

   Finding the washroom proved a bit of a task, as Aisha had expected, but the panthress was not lost on locations, and soon she was standing outside a familiar blue-painted door with a golden knob from behind which still emanated the distinct smell of wet stone and ceramics, and of lavender soap. There was another, quite familiar smell coming from somewhere off too, but the feline could not place it. It was just like when you have a name right at the tip of your tongue, but can't get it out. And smells, being so distinct to memory as they are, are sometimes even a bit stranger in that aspect.

Mel was a bit taken aback when Bambi ran in, gave her a piece of paper, and fell in her lap sobbing. After reading the paper she gave Bam a gentle shake. "Sit up and let me see."

The initial inspection of mouth and throat proved the note's assertion that nothing was physically wrong. "Bambi, I need to check your brain. You need to drop your mental shielding for me." Mel could have made her way around the shields but this was faster, and more polite, and gave the girl something to do. As soon as she did Mel went right to the language center of the mind to check it out. Except there was nothing there to check. It was a blank. Mel blinked and her brow furrowed, as she checked again, but it wasn't really necessary. She knew exactly what she was looking at. A select portion of the feline's brain had been erased. Quickly and roughly too, for Mel could see bits and pieces were still unraveling. Bam would get worse before she could get better.

"Bam, look at me and pay attention. Someone or something took away your knowledge of language. Unless that someone or something kept it and is willing to put it back you will have to learn language all over again. Like a baby or a stroke victim. I'm sorry, but it isn't something I can fix. Do you know who did this?" But Mel pretty much knew asking Bam was futile, that even if she knew there was no way for her to communicate. Probably even her ability to write would be nearly incomprehensible by now.

"Well, best see about finding her. Care to gimme a hand, Cog?" Jeremiah said hopefully. He wasn't too keen on the idea of locating this dangerous killer somewhere in a dangerous castle by himself.

After Mel finished repairing the self-inflicted laceration cleaved along her wrist, Keaton gave an appreciative nod in the snow-skinned dragon's direction. Inspecting herself, she poked and prodded at the unsightly wet spots dappling her now wartorn and disheveled clothing. The upper part of the sleeve that concealed her scarred shoulder was loose now, the thin threads unraveled, sagging in a tattered ring around her elbow. This meant that her Jyraneth clan scar on her shoulder and her military scars were visible, but she decided it would be taken care of in the future.

Wrenching it off and tossing it over her shoulder, Keaton took in her appearance, satisfied with her yellow fur; her leathery wings, decorated in black spirals and curls; her dirty blonde hair...

It felt so good to be back. She would've jumped for joy if she weren't in the company of people she had only known for a day. As Cogi retrieved his sword (she felt slightly sheepish at dropping it so carelessly; she had no idea that it belonged to him since it was merely handed to her once she entered the room), she continued to marvel in her appearance, following the group down with an expression of complete mirth on her face. She just needed an opportune moment to replace her clothing and take a bath...

They passed Jeremiah, who seemed in total panic. Raising her pierced eyebrow, she tilted her head to the side, watching him stumble over his words and further drive himself into chaos. "What's with frog boy?" she asked no one in particular, keeping her voice under her breath and off to the side. As she turned her head away, she froze as her eyes landed squarely on the place where the spider-woman was once seated, her expression confused. Wasn't their involuntary torture victi--er, prisoner there before?

Then where did she go?

Perturbed by this, Keaton turned around, deciding not to bother herself with this despite her puzzled demeanor. First things first... bath. She smelled like shit, frankly, all civilities abandoned, and it was likely someone else may've noticed it as well. Keaton didn't want her precious yellow--not white--fur to be marred further by the malodorous stench of blood. Not to mention she didn't want her clothing to fall apart further, or for anyone to notice her clan affiliation emblazoned on her shoulder.

Now where to find the washroom?

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Bambi had a good cry.  she was quiet now ...after a moment , she writes "the bat nos what, My last hope  sleeplearner ~' lost ak"  "Grrrr"  she draws a ":cvheart M" ":cvheart G  TTFN"

PBH looks out the window..of the library looking worried and lost...

PBH

 Cog simply fell silent at Sebastian's glare, and twisted his face into a sour look. Things never really did get better here. He let his face fall flat again, took a deep breath, and sighed. He'd have to talk to her...him, later. The brief confusion of gender exacerbated his depression by adding a spot of confusion to the mix.
He nodded to Jeremiah. "That would be a good idea, yes." he said, stretching one shoulder. "But I fear we could spend all day looking, and not even see every room in this castle. And somehow, I don't think it's completely bereft of secret passages." He looked sidelong at the door behind which the Bat hid. "Our esteemed host would be a great deal of help."
Cog stood pensively for a moment, before edging up to the center of the door and cracking his neck. He gave a lopsided grin to Jeremiah.
"Let's hope this works."
Rearing back, he lifted one leg and kicked the door, slamming into it with all the force he could muster, right into the lock. The door flew open with a defeaning thud, the knob probably knocking a nice hole into the wall on the other side. Cog stormed into the room, using all of his abilities of intimidation as he looked at the reclining Sebastian.
"How many times are we going to have to stop you from going off and trying to kill your guests? Huh?!"

After practically dashing around, Aisha finally found the door that she was looking for, and she could finally slow down and catch her breath.  She wondered if there was really any need for rushing...if Sebastian was informed by the time she got there, anyway.

She cast a curious gaze at the door for a minute, however.  It's closed...?  And then after that observation came the notice of the scent.  She tilted her head and put her nose to the air, wondering if she could identify it...but a vision was only on the tip of her mind and could not be totally recalled.  The huntress shook her head, though the slightly-crawling feeling came back to her again.  Could it have been the spider woman?  And was the smell even coming from the inside?

Aisha came up and, after a bit of hesitation, knocked a few times.  Not loudly, but loud enough to gain attention.  "Is anyone in there?  Be warned, I would like to come in and retrieve my things."  Then her hand reached for the doorknob and turned it.

"Yipe!" the frog took a step back from Cog's sudden outburst, and then two steps toward it. He rather wanted to see this.

There was no answer from the other side of the door, and no apparrent change in the surroundings. But after a couple of seconds, Aisha thought that the smell was fading, up to the point that she could not sense it anymore. And that settled it; it couldn't be coincidence.
   As she entered carefully and silently, as was her practice, the panthress couldn't see anything though. Not at first. But then she thought she saw the door to one of the neatly fashioned cabinets in the back of the room move...


   As Cogidubnus smashed in the door, the bat, already halfway in bed with his glasses and shirt off, looked up and made perhaps the most incredulous face that Cogidubnus had seen anyone make in short memory. It quickly changed to anger as he spoke, Sebastian's nose flaring once, while his ears folded back and to the sides and his eyes narrowed under a furrowed brow.
   "It was unlocked, dimwit!" he said, looking up at them from the side of the bed. He stood up, folding his hands over his chest and glaring a bit, the corner of his lips over his slightly bared teeth twitching a bit. "And you're going to have to stop me just as many times as you people fumble and fault and throw all these things right in my face and expect me to take them as levelly as nothing! You're not in a position to talk yourself either!" He scowled at the wolf, then averted his eyes, closed his mouth and took a deep breath.
   "Besides, I won't have to kill you, now that our little redhead friend is on the loose. She'll vanish, and then return after a while, and you'll all be quite sorry."

 Cog growled, and cracked his neck. He looked over his shoulder, and then back at the bat scowling at him. He averted his eyes for a moment, formulating a response.
"Unlocked. Yes, well." he said, fumbling for words. He coughed, and turned back towards the bat. "It's not the point!"
He stepped up closer to Sebastian, leaning closer to the reclining bat. He made his voice soft, trying to keep it from carrying to Jeremiah behind him.
"You leave us alone with the spider woman, and get angry when she escapes? If you knew anything about her, what the hell did you think would happen! She did not have very complimentary things to say about you, sir. Who was Jeremiah to trust? You? You attacked Mel, and ran away. Withdrew into your shell again. Our arachnid friend took quite full advantage of your absence, good sir." he said, his eyes meeting the bat's own red. "I admit, it was one reason I came to get you last night. It was the opinion of rather a few of our party that you needed to explain yourself."
He kept his voice steady as he kept talking. "Now, I don't give two damns why the spider woman doesn't like you, and it's a fair guess that it's not all one way or another." He sighed. "But I think I know why you have...been keeping to yourself. It's one thing to want privacy. I can understand that. We both know why you've been holed up in this room every spare moment, though." he said, again sighing.
He leaned yet closer. "Don't take your being mad at me out on Jeremiah there. If you're feeling sad, or pissed, or whatever, it's not his fault. You've been like this all day. Take a swipe at me if that'll make you feel better. Or at least don't try to kill the others."

Aisha made sure that the door made barely a creak as she entered, taking slow steps across the threshold while looking on the inside.  Her head was stationary, but her eyes scanned the room quickly.  Nothing that seemed to give a clue to whatever presence she had sensed earlier.  The scent was gone, and any lesser mind would have either shrugged it off, or would have left without further interest.

It was mostly what the panthress intended to do as well...her dried clothes were lying at the window, warm and finally back to their original deep blue color, and her cape to a pulsating crimson.  She walked in a little more, still careful of her footsteps, when she froze completely again.  Movement at the corner of her eye, on one of the cabinet doors.

With drills going through her head repeatedly, she kept an intense, focused glare upon that spot, though her ears were swiveling to each corner to pick up any noise.  She couldn't be sure if what she saw was only due to her nerves, or if it was really there.  It's always why she didn't like to be on the recieving end of a stealthy move.  They didn't have to hide and not answer me unless something was up.  Well, chica? Will you just take your things and just walk away, or will you let curiosity get you?

Curiosity, of course.

The maneuver was practiced before.  With one hand she reached for her clothes, and with the other she slowly gripped something wrapped at her side.

In a quick motion, she grabbed her bundle and rushed up, the only sounds a double-padding of her feet on the floor followed by a slam as the cabinet door was swished open.  Whatever was inside would see the bounty hunter with the razor-edge of her boomerang held up in front of herself, with the element of surprise as fully-utilized as she could make it.

"I don't wanna have to hurt anyone," she informed calmly, whatever it was she was speaking to...the air, or a person.  "Not unless they have a reason to hide."

As the panthress threw open the door to the cabinet, she instantly heard something like a hiss, and caught sight of shuffling legs, spindly and sleek. Claws scraped at the wood, and eyes glinted at aisha as she saw a spider, about the size of her own head, crouch together in the cabinet and hiss and snarl at her. She recoiled, being taken aback a bit.
   Then, there was a single, very, very silent wet tap from behind her as something as big as she slid down from the ceiling behind her. The last thing the panthress remembered was feeling something sharp jabbing into the back of her neck.


   Sebastian backed his head a bit, his left eyebrow rising as his mouth closed. Was this the wolf's attempt at some kind of... apology? He felt that the wolf smelt a bit sad and uncomfortable, a remnant of the scent from earlier in the morning. And he had been all apologetic then too. Was he...?
   "You're not... Why are you trying to apologize here?" the bat said. He took a step back and away, dropping his posture to the side a bit, hand on his hip and his brow furrowing yet again as he looked up at Cogidubnus. "I was the one who couldn't keep myself in line. However confused or insecure you might be, it's not right. I was the one at fault." He peered over the wolf's shoulder, back at Jeremiah. "I'm not angry with you, Cog. It's these people, who one expects might have at least the brains not to untie a frickin' demon when she's angry and hurt, but still don't seem to."

 Cog tilts his head at Stygian's words, and one eye narrows. "Your fault?" he said slowly. "A werewolf attacks somebody, and the victim apologizes? That's a new one."
He quirked an eyebrow. "What, then? You've been avoiding everyone because you feel...guilty?" he said, his tone incredulous. "For what, exactly?" He stood in confusion for a moment, and shook his head. "I'm not even sure what you could be sorry about. I mean, unless I'm missing something I didn't exactly run away from you. You didn't do anything, as far as I'm concerned."
He looked away at the comment about Jeremiah, and gave a somewhat sour expression. "He had his reasons. As I have stated, it's not completely his fault." He said, placing a hand on his sword. It was more reflex than anything. "It doesn't matter at this point. She's free. And I'm guessing that there are far too many places in this castle to look by ourselves. Futile. Without somebody who knows the layout of the place..."
He coughed. "If you would be so kind, I'd like to find her before she kills somebody. Or worse. We don't need another curse ceremony."

The bat listened to Cog's words, and slowly a small smile appeared on his lips. Looking directly up at Cog, the two inch difference in height adding just a bit of tilt, Sebastian slowly raised his hand.
   "Nothing is not a good word to explain what I did with," he said calmly. "As for you attacking me, puppy..." He intonated on that last word a bit, purposefully, "I am not so easily hurt."
   The bat tensed his fingers, claws that were already long sliding out even further like hooks, and then drew his fingers down his face, slowly, while pushing them down. Gashes were torn in his skin, blackish blood running out and down around his black eyes with their gleaming dots for pupils. He cut his skin deeply, and then swept his hand over the wounds, wiping them off and then flicking the blood away. Though it was dark, Cog could see clearly how the dark tears were slowly beginning to heal, the blood still left running inward and the flesh reknitting itself. It didn't take more than perhaps a dozen seconds, and the bat's skin was as unblemished as nothing, a little clotted fur the only sign there had ever been a wound at all.
   "The spider will not be found. I can't smell her, and even where it is dark I think she'd be able to blend in. No, she will come to us, if she even so much as stays. Which she won't, if I know her right..." Stygian said, looking down and aside, his face now just thoughtful and solemn. "But we still need to keep watch. She wants us here. She'll likely try and find a way to keep us then."

Mel looked at the last note from Bambi. "The bat knows." She glanced upwards to where Sebastian was holed up and decided that questioning him wasn't something she was going to venture. This could wait until he reappeared. Bam wasn't getting any better or worse in the immediate future. As to the rest Mel didn't understand. If sleeplearner was a type of spell she had never heard of it. Since the closing mentioned Gina Mel handed the note to the ferret. She awkwardly patted Bambi on the shoulder. "You'll pick it back up much faster than a child."  She knew that wasn't particularly comforting but didn't know what to say.

Finally she looked around the library and realized they were all alone. "Where did everyone go?" She started out to look for someone to see what everyone was doing now.

Putting down the book on the table next to where he sat, Gareeku looked around from his position and, noticing that the others were still off somewhere else, got up and began browsing the shelves. He wasn't sure whether the others had found out a way to break the curse of not, but presumed they either had already so done so or were working on it. Either way, he thought it best not to disturb them.

Hearing Mel's voice, Gareeku turned around.
"I assume everything with the curse breaking went ok..." he commented.

Cog was trying to keep his voice down, but Sebastion seemed to be making a little less effort and thus Jeremiah managed to catch bits of the conversation. Bits like "At least the brains not to," "wont be found," "puppy," and "Keep us here." Leaning against the doorframe and not looking as though he was paying attention to anything in particular, the frog reached an important conclusion. He'd loosened her bonds. He'd felt sorry for her. He was the self-proclaimed caretaker for the crazies they'd been aquiring.
The conclusion he reached was This Sucks. Most profound thought in his head all day. He merely remained where he was and eavesdropped, confident that when he needed to be involved the other two would involve him.

When Gareeku popped out from behind a bookcase Mel was a bit startled, but glad to see the wolf. "Yes, the ceremony came off perfectly and our three afflicted are cured. But we have new problems." She dropped her voice so that Bam wouldn't hear, "Someone stole a chunk of Bambi's memory. She can't remember how to speak. She implied that Sebastian did it to her, or at least knows who did. And the spider-monster-lady has escaped and is running loose. I think everyone is gone hunting for her except the four of us still here."

 Cog couldn't help bristling at the bat's new name for him, but as he drew a single clawed hand down his face he took a careful step back. The dark blood that flowed down his face could only be described as macabre, and the eerie way in which his wounds healed did not help alleviate the sense of strangeness it brought. His point was made, however, although it was not exactly what Cog was getting at.
He stood silently for a moment, and then tapped his sword. He spoke softly. "Tell me, sir, if I tried to kill you now, would I do any more harm? And yet, would it matter the less for your being undamaged? I know I didn't hurt you. Hardly the point. It's the principle of the thing." He nodded slowly. "Your point is taken, but still. I am still at a loss to your error. I mean...what, you showed emotion? Passion, from ice?"
He stopped himself from grinning lopsidedly. "Perhaps you aren't as statuesque as you flatter yourself. I've said it twice now - you made no error, and did nothing I would hold against you." He narrowed an eye, and put a bit of fire into his voice. "In any case, taking responsibility for my actions is demeaning. To me. Don't presume you control my curse." He met the Bat's eyes again, looking past his shades. "It's not only degrading to me, it's...aagh." he said, running out of words. "You can't control everything, no matter how hard you make yourself. It wasn't your fault, so stop taking responsibility that isn't yours."
At his words about the spider, however, he made a grimace, and looked back over his shoulder at Jeremiah. The Frog seemed to have an expression of concern on his face, but other than that, he was unharmed. Cog nodded, and turned back to the bat.
"Well, then. It looks like we have time. You think spider-lady would let us into town? I need to get some...supplies." he said, fingering a rather large rip in his jacket.

Aisha had only reeled slightly back from the spider as she saw it in the cabinet...the creature wasn't what she expected, but it was close enough.  She had no time to do any further investigation though, before she felt something crawling behind her, and finally, a stinging sensation that made her shudder, and yet held her in place.  The last thing her conscious mind had thought was, the ceiling...should have...damn...

*     *     *

When the panthress came to again, her eyes just slightly blurred, she was in her room.  Shaking her head, Aisha sat up from her bed and looked around briefly. The light from the window still showed midday, perhaps a few hours into it.  Huh...must've taken a nap... she thought to herself, the events previous having not clicked in her mind yet...not until she made some closer observations.

Her pile of adventuring clothes were in front of her, still as clean as they were when she found them.  The door too was ajar, and vaguely she could remember even opening it before coming in...but anything just before that in the span of minutes was only like trying to remember something that she had dreamed.  Aisha decided to shrug it off, figuring that she had just gotten what she went to the washroom for and them came back to rest.  There was still a sharp prick in the back of her neck, but something in the back of her head told her...almost strongly in the subconscious sense...to not bother feeling back there.  It only felt something like a slight muscle cramp from the pillows.

Stretching, the panthress changed her clothes and put her extra set back in the drawer where she found them.  Her weapons belt was still in the library, so that's where she would head next.  A very good idea, Aisha thought without hesitance.  The others might still be there.

The panthress closed the door behind her, taking cautious looks around the corridor as she walked...she did also remember that there was something to be uneasy about...before stepping back into the library, again greeting everyone there.

Listening to Mel's explanation of what happened, Gareeku sighed.
"Great...it's just one thing after another..." the wolf muttered, sratching the side of his neck slightly as he windered what they should do. "I guess we'd better keep an eye out then."

It was then, however, that Gareeku noticed Aisha enter the library. The wolf was about to greet her when he realised that something seemed a bit...off...
"Aisha...are you okay...?" the wolf asked the pantheress, concern clearly evident on his face as he spoke.

As Aisha passed into the library, she snatched her belt from where it lay on a table.  Everything was there, including the holy sword, which still needed a sheath.  The panthress decided that she'd keep it in her room, after a bit of thought, until it was needed again.  For now it was partially covered by her cape and placed it in the belt alongside her dragonblade.

Hearing Gareeku's tone of concern, she turned back to him with a slight blank look...she looked okay, didn't she?  But she shrugged the question off and gave him a soft and reassuring smile instead.  "I'm okay, Gareeku, no worries...just a bit..." she paused and put her fingers to her head.  There was something on the edge of her mind that she felt like she should be remembering.  But subconsciously she also thought that it couldn't have been important.

"...Just a bit distracted I guess," she finished, not having found a better word for it while sitting down and watching the others, each also with something on their minds, it looked like.

The bat's eyes narrowed yet again, this time not from anger but from suspicion. True, the wolf's words about responsibility and such were correct, in a sense, but the first time he met the wolf he had only felt misgiving and fear from the others' side. To change now... Was he such a chauvinist that he still saw Stygian as a woman? Such a fool that he saw him for anything else than a thing? And he would not hold anything against it?
   Stygian's eyes shifted from glowing pinpricks inside pitch-black corneas to normal ones of a sky grey color as he picked up his black shirt and passed into the light from the door. His face was still as much a mix of bitter humor and solemn resignation as before, as he turned and looked at the wolf over his shoulder.
   "I do not flatter or boast." The statement was clear and simple. "And if the damage dealt means nothing, then why would the curse?" Another bitter smile that time. Then he skipped topic to get off it. "We can find you some new threads here in the castle. Better than the ones that you could find in town, at least. I hope you're better with a needle than I am though..." he said, and paced over to a large door in the other end of the room. "Though if you really want to go into town I suggest you bring someone along to watch your back."
   The bat opened the door, which turned out to be the entry to a huge wardrobe. It was the master bedroom, after all...


   In the library, things seemed deceptively calm, seeing as how the spider had escaped probably not more than an hour ago. The breakfast still stood out, mostly empty trays an platters stacked away. Gareeku was finding more and more interesting books on light and dark magic than he had probably seen in his entire life, Mel was calm as ever, and "Gina" was busy consoling Bambi over in a chair.
   And Aisha somehow felt that it would be a good thing to go and speak to either Cog or Jeremiah, if they were out searching for the spider. She had eaten her breakfast, after all, and it would be a clever thing to do. Possibly, Gareeku could come along, but better then that they paired up to search for the spider, so they could watch each other's backs. Backs...
   The panthress felt as if something moved slightly on the inside of her sleeve, way up her arm. But although she immediately wanted to swat it, reflexively as if it were a fly or something, she couldn't bring herself to, and instead found herself ignoring it, almost forgetting it instantly.


   Outside, in the castle's courtyard, a figure slipped between shadows, agilely slinking out over a wall and down into the trees beside it, dissappearing down the side of the road up to the castle and heading for the nearby town.

Bambi forces a weak, but  brave smile on her face for Gina. She goes to book shelves and find some books on curse spells and how to left them.  But after a moment she starts sniffing and waves her hand in front of her face.  She sniffings around and then holds her nose and points to herself.  Giggle She asks Gina by rubbing her hands together and rubs her face and then looks around?  Where?

Gina guesses "bath?"  Bambi nods "yes."  She takes Gina to Mel and motions to Gina to ask or tell Mel.  that "They are going to the bath."

As she waits for the direction to the bath,  She opens the book and wonders if she can still read?   

PBH

Sitting in the chair and watching the goings-on in the library, Aisha made notice of who was absent and who wasn't.  Her eyes narrowed somewhat impatiently, in concentration of what she was trying to remember...too much in concentration to have regarded any distractions, including the faint tickling on her arm.  Then, looking at the solemn faces and listening to muttering, it clicked, her ears perking.  The spider woman!  That was what she, everyone, was originally concerned about.  Her absence.  Suddenly, the panthress felt like treating the matter seriously.  A loose prisoner was unpredictable.

And there were still people who were also not with the rest of the group, scattered in the uncertain corridors of the castle where their only protection could have been their own wit.  Cogi and Jeremiah, and perhaps even Keaton, for she remembered hearing the succubus say something about finding a place to wash.  The urge to move was quick and passing, but she regarded it as instinct well enough...the huntress followed her instinct, always.

She stood up, straightening her belt and cape as she did so, facing the others.  "I doubt we should be sitting quietly while we have a loose prisoner.  Plus, I sent Jeremiah to get Sebastian and neither he nor Cogi have returned," she said, with the same familiar tone of concern and finality in her voice.  Aisha looked to start towards the door, before she turned again, her eyes settling on the others.

"I'm going to start searching.  It would be best perhaps if someone came with me."  She scanned the inhabitants of the room, thinking really that any one person would do instead of many.  Bam looked to be having her own problem, with Gina staying alongside.  That just left Mel and Gareeku as the more worthy of candidates in case of a fight.  The dragon wasn't one for fighting though, Aisha was uncertain that she would speak up...and so her glance moved hopefully to the wolf.

Listening to Aisha speak, Gareeku narrowed his eyes.
"Well as I said earlier, I don't trust him." the wolf replied grimly, his hand subconsciously resting on the katana at the side of his waist. Listening to the rest of what the pantheress said and seeing her look at him, Gareeku nodded his head in acknowledgment.
"Aisha and I will go look for them. Join us if you must, but be on your guard." the wolf stated rather flatly, before leaving the library into the corridors beyond.

He had no idea where the others were, but knew that Aisha almost certainly knew where they were last time she had seen them, and so he hoped that would provide a good enough start, especially considering they now had a potentially dangerous person on the loose. Something about Aisha, however, still concerned Gareeku. He wasn't sure what it was, but something didn't feel right...

 Cog's eyes fell as Stygian turned toward the closet, and his face twisted into a strange grimace. Into the shell again. Her words seemed calm, but still...there was the smell underneath, of smoke, ink, blood, and tension. He shook his head ever so slightly.
When Sebastian wanted to talk, he would. Until then, it seemed there was little he could do.
Cog stared into the rather large closet with a raised eyebrow and a mildly amused grin. "That's...quite a collection." he said, staring into the wardrobe. It was all one would expect from a place this size - fit for a king, as it were. This castle, despite it's problems, was built with the expectation of living occupants. If anything, this accoutrement reflected that.
He fingered a few of the closer garments. "Needlework?" he said, giving Sebastian a strange look. "No. I'm a swordsman. That's generally not in our repertoire. Although...I think  I can get around that..."
As he trailed off, he continued to look through the closet, looking for anything similar to what he had been wearing. He picked various things off the rack, a black shirt and pants, and a charcoal-colored coat that was a little too big for him, made from some silk-like fabric. Grabbed a pair of black shoes from the bottom of the wardrobe, he hung the clothing over his arm, the shoes dangling from his other hand. He turned to Sebastian.
"Thank you." he said, before turning and heading for the door, and Jeremiah waiting in the hallway. "I hope we will see you later, then. We'll probably be in the library or some such."
He began walking down the hall, and called back to Jeremiah. "I don't think he's going to kill us. But he's fairly certain that the spider woman will. It might be a good idea to stay together. Oh, and we're not going to find her." he said, taking the turn down the hallway that lead to the spare room he'd found last night. Good a place as any to change in.

Muttering and so forth, Sebastian walked out of the closet, sneaking a look at Cog before the wolf left that was as unreadable as before. Then he turned to the frog, frowning a bit at him.
   "And you? Are you just going to stand there? You're free to do as you please, but it would be more clever to go elsewhere, I think..." The chiropteran made no faces now, but he showed what he meant. "Don't worry. We'll catch up with you." There really wasn't such a long way to the library, but the bat also showed that he thought Jeremiah could just as well walk off, no matter the spider being on the loose. Whether if this was from him thinking quite little of the frog, or that he thought she would not attack him, was very hard to determine.
   The bat did not spend more time than that on the frog, before turning to the bed and moving over on it, sitting down and closing his eyes, sighing a bit and thinking.


   Oddly, there seemed to be nothing wrong with Bambi's reading abilities, or her understanding of speech. It was as if something had just plunged into her head and selectively removed the parts of her that understood how to use her mouth and vocal chords, and how to make her hands form the symbols required for writing. The words in the book she held, an old tome on advanced alchemy and rationalized transmutational processes, came easily and fluently to her. Or, at least the meaning of them. She still found her lips clumsy and unwilling to form anything even close to speech as she tried saying something.
   There seemed to be nothing to do than just try harder and harder to make her speech coherent. Perhaps, with enough work, she'd regain what she had lost, or just cross that threshold that would let it all come back to her.


   Aisha did not feel very strange at all until she and Gareeku had gone out of sight of the library. But once they had made the first turn, things began to feel eerie. Not uncomfortable or dizzy, but... strange. Odd, and not quite right, but not wrong either. There was something telling her... making her feel and do things. As if in a daze, her mind filled with thoughts and directions that seemed her own, even though she did not recognize them. Trying to think about it only made it all seem more surreal, more strange, more compelling. Surely, she knew what to do, right? This was what she thought. This was what she wanted. What she had to do.
   Something moved a bit inside the panthress' sleeve again...


   Upstairs, a small thing skittered over a roof on clawed but padded feet, too silent for anyone to hear, even the loud, strong-odored thing below it that had just entered. The creature, warm and luminescent to the creature's eyeless sight, had just left the other two things down the hall; the slimy, cold one, and the one that smelt and felt very, very bad. And it had even started taking off the bothersome sheets of stuff that these things usually wore. That was fortunate. It was moving around a bit, of course, but that was no problem to the creature. It was much too fast in its work for that to matter. And compelled strongly by the tingling signals that shot through this thing's nerves like fireworks, it tensed and became even more excited, quickening to do what it knew it had to.
   Precisely, with instinctual, almost machine-like precise moves, the creature fastened a thread of silk to the roof, and began lengthening it, slowly gliding down and down toward the warm thing's neck. It reached almost down, and then dropped.
   The thing only had the time to flinch before it was taken.

"Thank you, Gareeku," Aisha nodded as the wolf started along out of the door too the library, and to her relief somehow, she noticed that nobody had seemed to volunteer coming with them.  The two of them were soon out of earshot of anyone nearby, their concentration focused on the search for the escaped creature.

As they navigated the passageways, conversing on which way to go, Aisha found herself drifting alongside Gareeku and then a little behind, always wanting to keep his back in sight...though she didn't drift too far, as the wolf was a seasoned adventurer and therefore vigilant...there was still concern, and an eye kept on her.

She felt different then, somehow.  Thoughts drifted in and out of her head, passing as if in suggestion, a voice that was hers and yet not.  There was a twinge of nervousness.  Her eyes kept scanning around lest she'd hear something.  Her concentration was upon their goal, and yet something was overshadowing that whenever she looked back to Gareeku again.  The further they walked, the more urgent the thought of the task became...even in her deep consciousness, the panthress never knew that the commands weren't hers.

Aisha shook her head briefly, still keeping her composure lest the wolf would question.  Something had to be done or it wouldn't stop.  It has to be done.  Then, for a bit of distraction, she concentrated on the crawling feeling in her sleeve...but instead of wanting to swat at it, like originally...she found her arm drifting up.

Her ears pricked.  Her sensitive hearing had picked up speaking, or perhaps walking.  "Gareeku.  I thought I heard something.  Down that way."  She nodded in another direction, waiting for the wolf to turn his head away from her.  She had started to point that way too.  But instead the hand that pointed was inching to the back of his neck, and so too was whatever started to scrabble across her arm...

Then she flinched, hesitating.  Was someone really coming...?

"And on that note, away I go," the frog offered Sebastion a half-bow and an exaggerated salute before heading back in the general direction of (hopefully) the library. After all, I'm off the hook, so why linger amongst unpleasant company?
Unpleasant company has kept you alive, Jeremiah. After all, look at us.
Kept us alive!? HA! Jeremiah's 'us' had a double meaning; he often felt Bal needed the reminder that his death would bring all of the other personae with him. It just wasn't something he seemed to get.
Ignore him, Sir. You act of compassion may have gained us an ally! An ancient creature, and you are the first kindness she has experienced in decades. This may vault you toward the greater things we are meant for!
Just stay away from her, Jeremiah. She is trouble, and an influence you should keep away from.
Alright, anyone else have their commentary? 'Cause if so, here's a preemptive fuck you! Jeremiah mentally snapped, ending all the others complaints save for a dark muttering that was probably Bal. And that ringing. He leaned against the wall for a moment and rubbed his forehead. That damn ringing!

Like clockwork, the moment Aisha thought that someone was nearby, Keaton almost seemed to materialize before them as she walked past wolf and panthress, her belle sleeves removed and bunched up in one fist, and her mace slung over her shoulder with her opposite hand. "Done hogging the washroom?" she asked Aisha cynically, ambling casually by as though nothing had happened: apparently she had not witnessed anything abnormal or out of the ordinary about Aisha.

She was just too preoccupied with getting to the washroom and exorcising herself of as much grime and filth she had culminated over the duration of her stay in the Castle as possible. Ruffling her leathery headwings, the jackal strode out of sight, chocolate-sienna eyes set resolutely forward.

Keaton made it into the washroom easily, gingerly resting her mace against the wall and flinging her shredded sleeves off in some carelessly chosen direction. Dusting her hands off, she turned to the bath and switched on the water, waiting until the hollow was filled to the brim.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Upon seeing Keaton and hearing her voice, Aisha nearly jumped, quickly pulling her arm away from Gareeku and grasping the wrist with her other hand...either to keep it from moving, or to stop the tickling in her arm in its steps.  "Dammit," she breathed, calming her adrenaline rush down.  She stared blankly at the jackal for a moment before regaining her composure, giving the succubus a smirk back.  "I've stopped hogging it for an hour or so, amiga.  Enjoy yourself."

She watched Keaton walk away for a moment, still grasping her wrist and glancing back at Gareeku.  It was as if the jolt to her system had snapped her out of whatever she was thinking of doing for the time being.  In her eyes there crossed confusion and concern, plus a little impatience.  What were they doing?

Oh, right...the spider woman.

"Let's get going," she said to Gareeku with a smile, turning her gaze in the direction which she had given earlier.  There were still people around...and they were close.  Her composure as usual was calm, perhaps relieved.

But for just a moment, there was a dangerous gleam in her crimson eyes.

Cog shut the door rather loudly as he entered the room, and moved to the middle, hanging some of the clothes on a couch as he did so. His mind was somewhat distant as he disrobed, thinking of other places and other things than where he was right then. It was perhaps his undoing.
As he placed the bloody white shirt over his ragged jacket, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. He hissed, his arm coming up to swat whatever it was even as he started to fall forward, his legs betraying him. It didn't get past his shoulder before he passed out, landing face-first into the ground with a dull thud.

He woke up a moment later somewhat groggily, pushing himself back onto his knees. He put his face in his hand as he tried to remember how exactly he had landed on the floor.
Something bit me, he remembered, and then I blacked out...
He started to reach for the spot on his neck that he had been bitten, but suddenly stopped. Probably gone, whatever it was, He thought, before standing back up. He needed to get dressed.
Taking a few moments to finish undressing himself, he began putting on the rest of the clothes. They fit rather snugly and loosely, alternatively, but that would be the work of a moment to fix. He chuckled to himself, and sat down on the couch, leaning over the dusty surface of the coffee table. He began scratching out arcane symbols on the surface, eldritch writings that were probably meant to bind demons or fell large cities, but now twisted to his own specific purpose. He had little power, true, but then this would take barely anything. The runes glowed for a moment, and he felt the clothes around him shift, loosening and tightening respectively. He nodded, and stood up sharply. Good. He thought, before grabbing the coat he had picked up and delicately putting it on, taking special care around his shoulder area. It was tender, after all. Wouldn't want to exacerbate the inflammation.
If it's inflamed, it might be a good idea to see Mel. He thought, and nodded to himself. Yes, going to see Mel seemed like a good idea. Somewhat pleased with himself, he opened the door, absently leaving his sword and glasses in the room.

The bat got his own slim glasses on, tidied up, and rubbed his temple some while thinking, before he heard a sound from outside in the corridor, and felt as the wolf began coming closer. Sighing one last time, he got up from the side of the bed and looked outside quickly, watching Cogidubnus as he walked down back against the stairs. Judging that everything seemed fine, and that no one seemed to need his attention anyway, he closed the door as he had wanted to all the time, and went back to staying alone in the near-darkness, a lone candle his only light and company.
   Little did he know that the wolf stopped not far away from his room for some reason, seemingly confused as to just why himself, calmly ignoring the crawling that came up the back of his leg and then settled on his back, and then walked on as if nothing had happened at all, thinking that perhaps he should talk to Jeremiah before he had that check with Mel, that perhaps even checking with the dragon might be unneccessary, seeing as the tenderness in his neck seemed to be dying down. But if he was heading for the library, he might as well talk to her too...


   The water ran quite fast into the large tub, steam quickly filling up the whole bathroom with its humid, hot embrace and fogging up all the mirrors. Keaton did not have to wait very long until she could get ready. She would have to change her clothes, but seeing as how the others had managed and as how she could shapeshift, and how well-preserved everything seemed to be in the large castle, that would probably not be a problem at all.
   Nor would it be a problem for the thing that was watching her to perform its task, that which it was so excellently made for. The jackal's bodyheat had vanished from its senses, the fog from the steaming water filling up its entire vision with warmth and clotting its sense of smell somewhat. But her nervous system, strong and advanced, still tingled and fired reliably and clearly to it. And so, when she got off her clothes and moved over to sit in the tub, the thing was already placed right where it needed to be to gently sink down and grab its prey.
   As usual, it took only a second or so before the victim, the jackal was knocked out, falling forward onto the edge of the tub lightly. She twitched for a moment or two, then grew still. For perhaps half a minute she lay like that, while the creature took time to blend into the color and texture of her back as well as it could.
   Then, as if nothing had happened at all, the jackal sat up again, blinked, then smiled and leaned back in the bath, enjoying the warm water...

   Now, there were three to go...

As much as Bambi felt she needed a bath, the discovery that she could still research and study magic.. Bambi forgets the bath and suddenly dive into the books around her.. she finds something that may not help her directly, but this one spell detects curses and their type.... She quickly studys and trys it out ... Bambi can now see the cursed and what that curse is...  as Cogidubnus walks into the library.  PBH sees something about the wolf, but her shock and dismay can only be know by the look on her face, as she back away from him and hisses at him. 

Bambi quickly covers her mouth, and is embarrassed.. She silently begs forgiveness from Cog....as she see that she was mistaken about his momentary weirdness.  She thinks she got the spell right but she is not sure now.

PBH

As the water rose and soft, wafting clouds of steam started to coalesce out of the steadily lifting layers of liquid, Keaton watched the bath gradually fill while she fluidly shed her clothing and discarded it in the same corner where she had thrown her wartorn sleeves. After looking over the remains of her top and dropping her belt in a crumpled heap nearby, Keaton sighed and shook her head, folding it. The top was salvageable in terms of damage, but every article of clothing was stained in coagulating splatters of faded, syrupy sanguine, just like the rest of her apparel. Not that it couldn't be replaced. She could easily just shapeshift herself into a new pair, but still, she rather liked that clothing even if she could just imitate it.

Negligently throwing away the top, Keaton finally tweaked the knob that triggered the steady flow of water into the tub. Stretching her arms high over her head, Keaton untied the makeshift bandages that were still fastened to her body, dropping the strips of fabric, then slid happily inside of the bath with a loud sigh. Enjoying the water.

Then it happened. There was a slight pinching sensation, an instinctual blink and a slight "ow" from her end, then her senses went dark and she felt her body go limp against the rim of the tub, eyes rolling in the back of her head like pearly marbles. Fighting against the paralysis that gripped her muscles, the jackal twitched once, twice...

Then went still.


When Keaton awoke she automatically stirred where she was, groaning and reaching up to touch the back of her head, as though instinctually checking for blood. Almost every time she passed out was thanks to some blow to her crania or something equally brutal, so she assumed that this was the case in this instance. One quick inspection of her hand proved that this was, for once, not the case. Blinking and staring around the room, the jackal hesitated, wondering what the hell had just happened, before she let her wings sink into her back and leaned against the marble periphery of the tub, closing her eyes and absorbing the hot water.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

 Cog continued through the hallways with a general sense of ease, something that had long been absent from his being. Nothing seemed dangerous, or even difficult. He had stopped listening for the telltale scuttle of arachnid legs - it seemed a futile exercise, after all.
He almost made a face, and but continued on. Indeed, his calmness was beginning to be worrisome. He couldn't quite put a finger on why he was so calm either...but that too didn't seem worth worrying about. He turned the corner and entered the large doors to the library.
His immediate greeting as he stepped in took him aback, the professor suddenly hissing at him ferally, then making apologetic gestures. He quirked an eyebrow, about to say something, when he suddenly didn't feel much like talking to her - he needed to talk to Mel. Or Jeremiah. Either one.
He didn't question either urge - it seemed perfectly sensible, after all. He didn't see the frog anywhere, so he guessed Mel would be the one to speak to. He made a bow and began to speak to the dragon.
"Ah, good lady. It would appear out esteemed host believes us to be in no great danger. He says the spider woman was...mostly harmless."
He reeled at his words, knowing their utter falsehood, but could not quite make himself recant his statement, or even give a twitch or shudder to expose his distress. Instead, he found to his utter disbelief himself brushing off his lie and continuing on. He couldn't even justify this one, merely...forgetting about it, for the moment. He smiled at Mel and grabbed a random book off one of the shelves. "He did say, however, that it was very important that we find her again. Apparently, there was something she read in this tome here that she must not know. He wanted you to read it." Cog said, fumbling the tome and dropping it close to Mel. He cursed, not-quite-accidentally tripping over a chair leg as he retrieved the book and  tumbling into the petite dragon.

Jeremiah showed up at the library just in time to hear Cog's staggering falsehood and observe his general staggering about. He raised an eyebrow, He says that after he saw 'Bastion read me the damn riot act? And since when does Mr. Graceful McStabsthings here trip?
Trying to attract as little attention as possible, Jeremiah slipped back out the door through which he came and headed toward the kitchen. Something's screwey here...

Of course, as Cog made his maneuver, so did the spider that was huddled up on his back, crawling down his free arm and scrambling up onto Mel as the wolf apologized and appeared to help her get to her feet. And there, it once again sought out the nerve stem of the neck of its victime, this time the dragon. Cog saw the little abomination, an eyeless eight-legged thing, all smooth, rubbery chitin colored a dark, dark gleaming red and claws and pincers. And while the sight of it brought out a hint of his arachnophobia, it was somehow suppressed by something else, something that had burrowed its way into his consciousness and taken it over, making him know somehow that little thing was his companion somehow, and that he had to help it to the dragon, that he wanted to.
   The 'spider' that clambered up against Mel's neck was terribly quick and precise in its work, and no matter if it invoked revulsion or dread, one had to admire it. It placed itself right at the base of the dragon's long neck, turning its mandibles aside and extending a needle-like spike from the middle of its 'mouth'. Its feet and claws found ample grip on the dragon's smooth, scaly skin, its legs spreading so that it could press against her back, taking only a second to secure and fasten itself well enough, and already beginning to change its color and texture, its shape beginning to smooth out and mimic the pearlescent white of the dragoness' skin.
   However, while it managed to climb up on the dragoness and secure a hold, once it got to the very point of 'claiming' her for a host, it encountered difficulties. Mel could feel the thing's pincers and probing spike making their way through her skin, but it went slowly. And with her being both shapeshifted and quite more alien in nature to the creature than any of the others of the group, it was encountering difficulties in taking her. It needed a lot more time. Time, during which Mel felt like her spine was on the outside of her back and being prodded with hundreds of tiny fingers. It was not painful, but it was perhaps the most awkward sensation she had ever felt.

   Before Cog knew what he was doing, he had twisted Mel's arm, and quickly trapped her other in a grip in his elbow, while placing his hand over her mouth to muffle any eventual cries for help. Knowing precisely what to do, he held her steady, not wanting to hurt her, but just to ensure that the spider on her back got its time. Not really knowing what he was doing, he leaned forward and spoke softly.
   "Shhh... It's allright. You need not fear, miss. It is not dangerous," he said, not really understanding what he was doing.


   In the hallway with Gareeku, Aisha was walking and looking around her, even a bit more cautious than she was usually. No one seemed close by. They were almost at the stairs. There were few lights, and...
   It was quite good enough to do what she had to do. And there was also the fact that she knew, somehow, that she... no, they. She, and Cog and Keaton, and soon Mel too, had to find the others and... do something to them. Help them. Let them join them. And the faster the better.


   Upstairs, half-sleeping on the bed, a half-finished game of chess standing on the nightstand and a book laying on the sheets next to him, the bat was calmly ignoring the bad feeling he was getting, regarding it as an effect of the silence and solitude, and tried to get to sleep again...

Jeremiah heard more noise and sounds of a struggle behind him as he made his way toward the kitchen; another reminder to quicken his pace. I can't do any good there. I just have to figure out what's going on.
...

I'm all alone in here, It finally dawned on him when he reached the kitchens. No defenses. Nobody to protest and prevent my being killed. Anything in this castle could just reach out and-
Oh will you just shut-!?
RInNnNnnNNNnG!
The frog clutched at his head, leaning on a counter with his free hand. He stayed that way until the ringing died down and then sat down to think. What's going on?

Bambi seeing that she had not offended the wolf, starts to turn back to her research.  When she heard Cog's statement, that the missing spiderwoman is not a threat... She quickly turns around and see the wolf trip into the dragoness and the "spider" jump and scamper up to her neck.  

She fires off a magic bolts at the thing as it tries to embed itself into the dragon, but her view is blocked for another spell by the wolf attracks and holds the dragon down.  She runs quick to help Mel, and places a flaming hand on the bulge on the dragon's neck and burning a wound into the "spider".

Gina just screams at the spider and then at the wolf's attracks on Mel 

PBH

Mel had just started to question Cog on the state of his health, with his being so unnaturally clumsy, when she felt the skittering, pinching sensation and Cog grabbed her and whispered his entirely unreassuring reassurances. She immediately began lowering her body temperature, intent on making her skin too cold for him to be able to grasp her. That was the only thing that saved her life when Bam laid her flaming hand on Mel's neck. While she was grateful for the help she was frightened of fire for the very good reason that as an ice dragon she was twice as vulnerable as most to damaging burns. Conversely most things couldn't survive the amount of cold she could and she used that to her advantage now, making the air surrounding her intolerably frigid.

Leaving with Aisha, Gareeku said nothing as the pantheress conversed with Keaton. Something about Aisha was definitely wrong, this much the wolf could conclude as he observed her unusual mannerisms, Gareeku noticing tem even through Aisha's normal calm and collected manner.
"Yeah...let's continue the search..." Gareeku replied, an eyebrow slightly raised as he watched the pantheress from the corner of his eye.

It was then, however, that he noticed. It had been, in fact, purely coincidental. Gareeku had turned to face Aisha to ask if she had any thoughts as to where the spider might be, when he noticed the dangerous gleam in the pantheress' crimson eyes. It had only been ofr a split second, but it was definitely.
"Ok...that's it..." the wolf growled, stepping infront of Aisha and blocking her path, gripping her arms firmly, but not so much that it would hurt.
"You are going to tell me what is wrong. I know there is, so don't try to hide it." Gareeku stated with grim seriousness, his eyes staring into Aisha's. It was safe to say that they wouldn't be going anywhere until Gareeku found out just what was wrong with his close friend.

It was starting to come back to her again, as they traversed further down the harrowing shadows of the corridor...the pressing feelings of nervousness that were starting to unhinge small parts of her sanity the more she thought of it.  The crawling feeling in her arm came and went, and her eyes still held that gleam, that determination of getting their goal accomplished.

The spider woman had to be found...no...she's no threat, and may be long gone by now...we just need to find the others...all of them, safe...bring them...

As they were nearing the darker reaches of the corridor, Aisha felt the compelling urge again to reach out.  The scrabbling in her arm started up again.  The push in her mind to get things finished, no matter what.  There was one right next to her, the wolf...if she could just...

But the panthress hadn't even started to look for a clear gap, falling back a little, before Gareeku rounded on her.  Aisha's arms were suddenly in a firm grip before she could begin to sense his ill ease, through her overwhelming concentration.  This seemed to break through her thoughts again just as the other interruption did.  She froze, eyes widening.

Looking up into the serious stare the wolf was drilling, hers was a glare of defiance right back as she struggled to get out of his grip...a mostly futile gesture, for she knew that the warrior would be steadfast until he had his answer.  "What is wrong with you all of a sudden?!"  She growled, eyes holding confusion and anger.  "I told you I'm fine!  Unhand me!"

...Am I fine?  The thought crossed her head for a split second, and a part of her found herself holding onto that thought, while another part was wrenching itself free of it...as if chanting, using her own mind, that she was indeed fine, and that the wolf was overreacting...

He will be dealt with...

During this passing argument of minds, Gareeku could have felt or seen something moving under the fabric of Aisha's sleeve...he had blocked the controlling creature from moving back up her arm.  It froze upon contact, the feeling only fleeting.  But along with her anger, there suddenly was a bit of panic...she felt it...most likely it must have come from her, but why panic?  Panic wasn't what the huntress usually felt.

"Nothing is wrong," she repeated again in a softer voice, blinking up at him, but the look proved otherwise.

 As Cog held Mel down, his mind was in turmoil. Everything in him knew this was wrong - and yet, everything in him told him that it was alright, that he was doing Mel good. That this was for her benefit, for everyone's benefit. It was malicious, seductive, and irresistible. Moreso, because the voice seemed so right. It was so clear, if only he wouldn't think about it.
As Bam began her attempt to dislodge that arachnid from Mel's neck, Cog began to feel a strange sensation. Mel was growing colder. Much colder. Her arms had felt like ice before, but now it was becoming painful to hold on to her, and it was getting worse. His hands weren't growing numb, the pain simply growing and growing - eventually, he drew his hands back out of sheer reflex, crying out. Mel's skin had begun to smoke with that telltale fog of extreme cold. He rubbed his hands trying to restore a little heat into them. The room was growing colder, all the heat being sucked into Mel, her chilling presence cooling the room dramatically.
He felt himself lurch forward again, the arachnid on his back commanding him forward, but oh-so-subtly. He knew it was another arachnid, intellectually, for he knew something was controlling him. Something was telling him these things, commanding him, something that was not himself.
The werewolf had fought this kind of battle before, although against a different foe. What's more, this opponent was more than mental, it seemed. It felt almost hardwired into his system. He could not even bring himself to growl at this presence. His control had become limited indeed.  He fought against the presence with everything in him, using every trick and every tactic fighting the wolf had brought him, and even inviting his more feral self out of it's cage. He was not the only occupant of his mind, after all.
Three parties fought for control of his mind, and between clenched shut teeth, a tiny growl escaped the wolf's lips.

As hard as he found it inside, Gareeku did not release his grip one bit, continuing to stare into Aisha's eyes as she protested.
"I'm not doing anything of the sort until you tell me what is wrong." the wolf replied, his voice calm, yet one knew there was a definite air of determination and seriousness about it. To an onlooker, one most likely would have thought that the wolf was being completely unreasonable and was overreacting. Gareeku, however, knew that something was wrong. Something was indeed afoot, and the wolf had every intention of finding out just exactly what it was.

Along with the anger that Gareeku could see in the pantheress' eyes, he also see a slight bit of panic within as well. from this, he knew he was right; something was indeed wrong. It wa then, however, that Gareeku saw it. Something had been crawling on Aisha's arm, this he knew from what he saw out of the corner of his eye. Something under the fabric of Aisha's sleeve had been moving. His eyes moving down to look at the sleeve and then back up at Aisha's eyes once more, Gareeku listened as the panteress tried to assure him that she was fine.

"...I don't believe you..."

Acting quickly, Gareeku kept the grip on the arm firm as his hand gripped the sleeve of Aisha's top, and wit ha sharp yank of his arm, ripped off the sleeve from the pantheress' arm, exposing the black fur underneath. That was when he saw it. A spider on Aisha's arm.

The chill that Mel spread had precisely the intended effect, shaking both her attacker and thankfully also the severely burned and dying spider on her back. As Cogidubnus reeled back, crying out a bit from the pain in his hands, two more shapes scuttled out of his clothes and darted away, leaping down with high-pitched sounds and scurrying out of sight under tables and furniture. Instinctually they knew that things had gotten out of hand, and so they did what was the only safe thing to do and fled.
   The spider on Cog's back though, did not. It was too far into his mind and had too much use of a host to abandon it. This would prove to be its downfall though, for while its control was growing more and more forceful, the thing trying to invade and control his mind more and more, the resistance it encountered was not only growing stronger, but also stranger and stranger. Feelings and input that it did not know how to manage were circling through the wolf's nervous system; their nervous system, for the time being. And slowly, the wolf was winning over.
   Then, it hit both Cogidubnus and the spider as a shock. For once, both the wolf and his feral self passed out completely, taking the strange little creature on his back with them, as his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fell unconscious on the floor.

   The commotion in the library had not been completely unfortunate to the spiders though. While Mel and Cog had been distracted, the previously so enraged Bambi had been grabbed and held back and muffled. It had not taken long for a spider to take her too. While her face was flushed and she still looked upset, the feline actually felt more confused, as she unconsciously straightened and ordered the neck of her shirt...


   The sight of the spider on the panthress' fur was shocking to say the least. The thing, while still somewhat visible in its shape and contours, seemed to be mimicking the color and texture of her melanistic fur, and was doing one heck of a job at it too. When revealed though, the thing crawled up on its hind legs and made some sort of hissing sound, protruding out from her arm. It didn't have any eyes, but it seemed to know precisely where Gareeku was.
   Again, confusion and now also anger hit Aisha. Why was the wolf doing this? Couldn't he see that it was neccessary? It wasn't like they would hurt him! If that was the way he was going to be...
   With those thoughts circling through her head, Aisha snarled at the wolf, and found herself gripping at and tumbling against him, while the spider on her arm pounced and headed for the wolf's neck as fast as it could in all the movement.

With her momentary collapse just a distant memory aside, having dissolved in the soothing calmness and the balmy, fog-clouded atmosphere, Keaton jubilantly completed her bath and, having finished rubbing off the vestiges of blood that stained her fur, climbed out of the tub and seized a towel from an ancient rack nearby. Wrapping the towel around herself, the yellow-furred jackal quickly dried herself off and, draping the rag over her shoulder, kicked her discarded clothing into a corner and garbed herself in appropriately black apparel via metamorphosis.

It took her just a moment to dry herself off and then tie her hair up using an abandoned strip of cloth, then drain the tub of bloodstained water and leave the washroom. Without a care in the world, Keaton walked in the direction where she assumed the rest of the group had congregated.

Up ahead, she noticed two familiar figures: the sable pantheress and her white wolf companion, apparently grappling with one another. Raising her eyebrow, Keaton watched them, unsure whether to intervene or declare it as a private matter she had no business in interrupting. However, any indecision vanished once Aisha assaulted Gareeku, the jackal unaware of the speck that leapt off of her neck and onto Gareeku. Panicked, Keaton moved to interfere...

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Bambi wasn't effected by the cold if she didn't have her flaming hands spell, and she steps back from Mel as she increase her ice effect to the surrounding air..

She tried to turn to Gina, when she was pulled from behind... And she was held as she felt the spider crawl up to her neck... With her flaming hands she trys to burn the one who held her and in her stuggle manage to grab her own at neck but miss the invader and burned her own neck.  And the pain caused her to lose her mental battle to the spider.  The new Bambi tried to cover her burned neck with her collar, but it fails. 

Bambi's Fae-feline self is left to watch her own body move on its own and waits for an open to attrack.  She can see the "mind threads" from her mind to someone or some mind beyond the library into the rest of the castle.   but can she see where in the castle?

PBH

Mel jerked herself away as soon as Cog let go, at the same time feeling whatever was on her neck slide away. As she whirled to face her attacker to see where the next attack was coming she saw that he curiously wasn't moving. By the looks passing over his face he was fighting something besides her. The thing, the whatever that had crawled onto her neck, it might have siblings.

Just as this thought occurred the wolf collapsed. Mel paused a moment, to see if it he would get back up, but he seemed truly unconscious. She cautiously approached, keeping up her frigid defenses as she did.  The thing that attacked her had gone for the neck so she moved Cog's collar aside. Just as she suspected, there was something there. It was pretty well disguised to blend into his fur but it seemed to be a spider. It didn't take many guesses to figure out where that had come from.  Her body still burning cold she touched the intruder. It was only a moment's work to make it so brittle she could shatter it off. Then she backed away and waited.

 As soon as Mel snapped the spider off Cog's neck, he gave a violent twitch, his eyes flying open and a snarl passing his lips. He seemed to almost fly to his feet, his body already twisting, when he jerked to a stop and seemed to again struggle with himself, his eyes closing and the snarls growing softer. Standing that way for a moment, he suddenly stopped shivering, and opened his eyes once again. The feral look had passed from them, and it was Cog standing in front of Mel.
He had perfect memory of what had occurred, and Mel's cold-smoking hands and the feeling of ice on his neck gave him a clue as to who had freed him. He looked at her sadly, making a shallow bow. This one was genuine.
"I...apologize." he said, having nothing greater he could say. "I think the spider-woman may have been more dangerous than even Sebastian knew. We have to warn him. And the others." he said, his voice carefully controlled. His clipped tone was a great contrast to his usual eloquent speech, and betrayed his true feeling. He did not scream, but instead felt the slow burn of anger that he had so often felt, the dull calling of revenge. The little spider would pay for this, if she was responsible. Oh, yes, she will scream before the end... he thought, turning a glance at Bam. She seemed alright, but it was hard to know. The ferret woman...he didn't even know if she had a mind to take over. He absently grabbed at his neck, and pulled out the nub of a pincer Mel had left in there. Flipping his collar up and tuning his senses as finely as he could, he made his way to the library door, waiting at the entrance for Mel.
"We need to stay together. There are more." he said flatly, remembering the other ones that had crawled up his leg. "It might be smart to keep yourself as chilled as you can. I don't think they can work under those conditions."
He grinned. "Who knew? The healer is our best weapon." he said, keeping his eyes open for more spiders. He could hear Bam breathing - hopefully, he would be able to hear the scuttling sound of spider's feet.

All of a sudden, Gareeku found Aisha pounce on to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he also saw the spider that had been on the patheress' arm jump at him. Reacting instinctively, the wolf swatted the arachnid to the ground, before crushing it with his fist. Then, with a growl, Gareeku pushed Aisha off of him before flipping back onto his feet.

Not taking his eyes off of the pantheress, Gareeku saw out of the corner of his eye that Keaton had entered the scene.
"Keaton, something is wrong with Aisha." the wolf explained, not knowing that Keato nhad also been taken too...

Jeremiah found what he'd been looking for in the kitchens; a large knife, easily concieled in his oversized coat. He was sick of going around unarmed in a psychotic damn house! Cog was acting funny, lying through his teeth, and there was a deadly spider-chick on the loose. Right.
...
The frog found himself a nice corner to lean in, one hand in his coat. Like hell he was going out there!

Of course, there are many sound tactics to employ to increase one's chance of survival or success or whatever it is that one just happens to pursue in a certain struggle or endeavour. In the face of danger, for example, one can try and gather as much information on it as possible and try and counteract it, or try and escape its attention, or just run and hope that the danger in question can't catch up with you. Needless to say, holing up with a big knife in close proximity to it and hoping for the best is mostly not a sound strategy. Neither was it this time.
   The spiders that scuttled away from cog had been scared away, and while not really that intelligent without a host's brainpower to depend on they were nevertheless very cunning and adaptive by nature. Thus, they understood the need to avoid the dragoness and find places to hide and hosts to help them quite quickly. They were very good at the latter two as well, being naturally attuned to cramped and dark places, and able to sense any larger and more suitable host creature through heat-perceiving pits and antennae capable of sensing electrical pulses from far off. The frog didn't register very much on the former, but it picked up his scent and the tingling of his nerves quite easily.
   And so, as he even had the courtesy to back up in a corner and allow it to easily and silently skitter down the wall to his neck, the frog soon found himself knocked out for a little while, before he woke up, feeling much more calm and collected, and more... purposeful.

Oog, what hit me? Jeremiah got up and rubbed his eyes. He felt so sleepy, and he had a knife in his coat. Why did he have a knife in his coat? He could have hurt himself when he fell! Shaking his head, he took it out and dropped it on the table. Honestly, he should probably seek some help. He knew his psyche wasn't in the best of shape, but this was just a new level of mentally @$%^ed up. Why was he all by himself? This place was dangerous! He went off down the hallway toward the library. Where all eyes would probably be on Cog, and he could... Do something... Man, he was out of it.


Meanwhile, somewhere in Jeremiah's subcontious, various personae were panicking, celebrating, and throwing tantrums respectively.
New management! BREAK THINGS!
I can take nothing! Noo!
RInnNnnNnNNnNg!
BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK-
                                   Trapped!
We are focused at last!
                                                                                             Yes!
                                                                 No!
                                                                                                                                 RinNNNNnnNNnNNnNnNNNnNnNG!
                                                                                                        Unforgivable...
Bal was having his territory moved in on. Plic was only a matter of days away from figuring it out for herself, there was whatever the newcomer did, and finally there was even this little crawling THING. All of them were able to or soon would be able to exert his degree of control. This could NOT be forgiven. It was HIS! This interloper must be removed, immediatly!
Bal was very goal oriented. It worked rather well with the hubris, short temper, power, and homicidal tendancies.

OOC: Right, panic and cowardice don't work well in horror flicks. I should try to remember that.

the Fae Bambi is a secret glade in the corner of her mind, watches the little spider that hijacked her body... As it trys to make Bambi seem normal to the rest of the adventurers.

The flow of information should be two ways, thought Bam... Bambi sends little probing butterflies around the spider and finds that it is like a computer virus that takes processing power and memory from her for it's own use, but mainly it is a remote control reciever from another more advance mind.  A thread of a mental com-link is connected to her mind and the spider and then another link from the spider to her real ememy.   

In the little brain of the spider itself, Bambi keeping herself hidden in the flow of data, and trys to see what information the little node of psion spider has on it's path to the "master brain"
Does it have the path to escape to "Mother"? 
Can Bambi bypass the spider and attrack the mind links directly?
 Better yet, Can she send pulses for energy down the mind-links and hit the "master"? 
What firewall/defense was there in the "psion-spider"?

Bambi studys the psion-spider for a way to maybe send her own virus down the links hidden as a "Spider" thought... to strike from within the spiderlady's network.   :mwaha :mwaha

PBH

Keaton moved fluidly, her wings emerging from her back once more in a swift, almost gelatinous gesture, shaping themselves into long, grasping tentacles. Instead of sporting the jackal heads that her clan possessed, Keaton modified the tendrils so that way the tips were crowned with large, groping claws reminiscent of the ones atop her wings.

"I noticed that!" Keaton growled, whipping one of her wing-tentacles around in hopes of holding Aisha down. "Give me five minutes and I'll have her pinned down in no time. Do you have any idea what's gotten into her?"

Then again, Keaton reminded herself, now wasn't the time for conversation.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

"Everything alright? I heard some loud noises..." Jeremiah said, peering around the doors. Mel looked exhausted, and Cog was picking himself up off of the floor. "Yeesh. What happened to you?" Bambi looked as though she was fine but she's got those burns right there and he was imagining things. She was fine. Bambi? Capable young woman, couldn't possibly be in trouble. "Need a hand?" A hand. Contact with someone else, preferably close to the neck or somewhere else with easy access to the nervous system. Why stupid question. Don't ask stupid questions and make yourself useful.

There was a slight tingle, and a rush of thoughts slipping into the back of her mind. Not very balanced ones, sometimes even uninterpretable and jumbled as much as some of the others could be crystal-clear and concise. But it all went together to form a picture that Sal could understand quite well.
   So, the adventurers thought to put up resistance? And one even had the audacity to try and enter and hurt what was hers? They didn't know what they were up against.
   Carefully, the spider took the neccesary precautions and then distanced herself from her 'little ones', cutting of the chance for retaliation, however improbable it was. Even as she kept moving and working, she could easily control the mindspiders and the link to and between them. They were her creation, after all.


   The indications that something had changed came rushing to the spiders, and through them to their respective hosts. They had been cut off, but they had orders. And they knew what to do. Contain, claim, and use...

   Jeremiah got the message. He was being perhaps a bit too forward. He had few spiders to support him. Maybe he should lay low for just a bit...

   Keaton understood. She had to keep Aisha back, and distract the wolf, so he could be brought into the fold as well. That would not be a problem. She had a spider on her and two were moving toward the stairway...

   Aisha got the picture. She would struggle and then be subdued. If it had to be done, she could even show the spider on her back, just so that Keaton could get her shot in...

   Bambi suddenly felt sort of a shock, being forcefully pushed back into her own head. The link between the spiders and their 'mother' had been closed off, save for the hint that she would want to communicate with them again. The spider on her back did not have any orders now except but to force her back into her head and make her stay there, while behaving normally...


Upstairs, a final spider, the last one to receive its orders, found itself somewhat confused. It did not have any specific directions. So, it simply resumed watching the sleeping thing beneath it.
   It was not so sure about that one. It did not really seem so dangerous, or active either. It had some activity and warmth, and it did not smell bad. But there was just something that felt wrong about it.
   The spider wondered and thought about its conflicting orders. For one, it knew there was something odd about this thing, but mother had said that it should contain and claim... And it was becoming both curious and afraid that this one might make trouble. So it made a decision.
   Slowly, the little eight-legged thing lowered itself and approached the creature, determined to investigate...

Just as Jeremiah offered his hand to the wolf Mel's hand wrapped around his wrist, a frosted cold hand.  "Have you seen the others?" she inquired rather urgently. "We have a serious spider problem. A new spider problem." She pointed to the mangled remains of the one that had attacked her, still twitching on the carpet. "If they get you they commandeer your brain and body. Cog found out the hard way." Then she rather abruptly let go of his wrist. "Sorry. That probably hurt. We discovered they are vulnerable to cold. I'm keeping the area chilly to ward them off." She looked at him as if just realizing he wasn't a mammal. "How is that going to affect you?"

Jeremiah hissed through his teeth when Mel grabbed his wrist. Damn right it hurt!
"Just don't let me fall asleep and keep your distance," the frog replied, rubbing his wrist and chuckling nervously. Looking at the mangled spider made him mad for some reason. Really mad. "So long as you don't touch me while you're doing it and don't let me fall asleep, I'll be fine," the cold made him uncomfortable, but it was at its worst somewhere around the small of its back. Something there was really complaining. "How far out from you does it go? I'll just stick to the edge of the effect or something." Bal was complaining about something, but it was distant... Unnecesary. Like white noise on the radio, fuzzy and indistinct. Thank the gods for small favors.
"I haven't seen the others, sorry. Anybody else definatly affected?"

Before the rational part of Aisha's head could have come to the aid of the situation, her anger had already overwhelmed it...something happening not entirely of her own device, but through that of the thing commanding her...which she instantly knew upon viewing the spider hiding itself on her arm, after her sleeve was ripped off.  There was a surge of revulsion, the urge to pick the thing away and toss it to the side...

And instantly the idea was mentally tossed out of the way, into a dark and impassible corner, mind again focusing on the task at hand...and on the wolf in front of her, who proved resilent to her efforts to pass the spider...but not for long.  As she lunged, her eyes carried a familiar sense of purpose, but by now he knew that her mannerisms were all wrong.  She would fight for control...

Then along came Keaton, to which the panthress had felt relief, somehow.  She knew...and yet didn't know...that Keaton was with her.  Among the taken.  The wolf would be subdued yet...this observation brought back the confusion she felt before.  Who needs help...?  Gareeku?  Me?

In the throes of the battle, the wind had been knocked out of the panthress as she was tossed to the side.  And before she could get up, Keaton had pinned her.  Her hand reached down to her belt for a weapon...and was stopped within inches of grabbing the handle of her blade.  Despite her ferocious strength, the fact that she didn't at all give up, soon enough there came a new feeling.  Again, from herself, and yet not.

This is hopeless.  I cannot fight the both of them.  Exhausted...

Aisha's body fell limp, though her muscles still bunched.  She was on her stomach on the floor...mostly intentionally, for through the fabric covering her back, barely bunched in the folds of her shirt, they might have seen exactly what had gotten into her.  Growling in frustration, her eyes shot from the wolf, to the jackal, and back again.

Gareeku's concerned, then he will see what is wrong.  And what is right.

Grunting as she succeeded in roping Aisha to the ground with her wing-tentacles, Keaton watched as the ebony pantheress slumped hopelessly in the grip of her claws after a momentary struggle, even an effort to reach for her weapon before she appeared to realize that resistance was futile. Breathing a sigh of relief, Keaton wiped away a bead of sweat that had gathered on her forehead and turned around to face Gar, patting him on the back.

"Got her. I got her. Doing alright there, Gar?" she asked, still keeping a keen eye focused on Aisha in case she attempted once more to break free and assault the wolf. "What the fuck's up with her? Has she gone nuts or something...?"

Unknown to the wolf, as Keaton's hand rested on Gareeku's back, a tiny, rigidly-shaped figure walked gracefully down her arm, needle-like legs of chitin maneuvering it along the length of her muscular limb similar to how a skilled acrobat would waltz along a trapeze. It was quick and precise in its movements; efficiently leaping off of the joint of her wrist simultaneous to the moment Keaton withdrew, not wanting to garner any suspicion from the lupine.

There were no ostensible alterations in her expression, not even the slightest twitch of her facial muscles or movement in her eyes as they remained locked on Aisha under the pretense of keeping guard, though somehow she seemed to assure the pantheress that things were going exactly as planned.

That they would all become like them.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Cog waited at the door for impatiently before the door clicked and opened behind him. His eyes went wide, and he turned and nearly punched Jeremiah in the face as he entered. He stopped just short and blanched at the frog, and then whirled around again, narrowing his eyes. Satisfied the spiders were not behind him, he again turned toward the frog, and edged his way close to Mel.
He realized this might be a greater problem than he thought. From his own experience, he knew that the spiders were more than capable of using their hosts knowledge, and if they so chose, acting exactly as the host would have under normal conditions – and they were insidious, undetectable by simply talking or looking at somebody. One sounded as one normally did, all the while unaware of the parasite, or incapable of fighting it, able to give no warning, or any sign.
He wasn't infected. Mel wasn't infected. Bam probably wasn't infected. That's where the list ended. Everyone else could or might be.
He addressed the frog's comment. "So far, we have no idea who is infected. But we know who isn't. Me, and Mel." He said, nodding at the ice dragon. "She got the bug off me, and I saw the bug on her die. And I know there were more of them. So."
He carefully reached inside his jacket for the protective charm he wore, but flinched when he found his pockets empty. Still in the other jacket... he thought. His sword was gone too, come to think of it. He'd...well, the spider had left it all back with his other clothing. Accursed parasite...
He continued to speak to the frog. "So then. If you could be so kind, good friend, proving your sanity to us might be helpful." He kept one hand behind his back, ready to throw a wave of force at a jumping spider or a crazed Jeremiah. "Let's see your neck, good sir."

"Prove my sanity?" The frog laughed aloud at this one, "Cog, how sane am I to begin with?" He'd already backed away from Mel and Cog somewhat. That chill was a real pain. "Fine, fine, it's a valid concern..." He tilted his head slightly, pushed the edge of his hood slightly further away from his neck. Not enough to see any detail unless you were to get closer, "But I'm not coming any closer to Frosty there. My wrist's gonna be aching me for hours as is."

Mel acquiesced to Jeremiah's request to back off but at the same time prepared a massive blast of cold. If anything looked odd to her everyone in the room was catching a chill. She nodded to Cog that she was ready. "I can heal your wrist, after you're proven hitchhiker free.

Things were not going well. The spider on Jeremiah's back knew that these people were too suspicious now, and that even though it could imitate the gleam and color of the frog's skin nearly perfectly, it would be spotted. It and its siblings had already lost two of their number already, and being so few that meant that they had to conserve their forces. How was it to...?
   The spider made a crucial decision, and then probed Jeremiah's mind a bit with its own, imparting some thoughts and sensations it hoped would help. It was smarter than he was, so long as it had his mindpower to rely upon, and it had a huge information and access advantage over him too. Besides, it did not like giving up a host, which it supposed helped in a way too.
   The feelings the frog were then exposed to were insecurity and fear of these other people he had just met, and who up until them had only made him go through a whole lot of trouble and showed him only disdain. Then came the presence and mind of the spider, slightly accentuated, and tinged with belonging, calm and purpose. He felt a thought formulating in his head; that he could be rid of his voices and find some peace if only he would work together with the spiders; that they would not hurt him or demand things of him, just be with him and nothing more. Then, he felt the presence withdrawing, and his mind and vision starting to dim...

   Unexpectedly, the frog shuddered, and then his eyes rolled back up into his head as he slowly fell forward. Without warning, a spider leapt up and out of the neck of his shirt and up on one of the bookcases, faster than Cog could strike it without a sword. Then, it scuttled away and darted, born on terribly fast legs and strands of silk, out of sight.

"Bambi was dazy and confused just after she was push in out of the mind spider, and then she blocks her fae-self behind a mental wall from the mind spider... she has one thing from her encounter with the mind of Sal...

PBH knows now the command codes of the "Mother". 

Could she now mimic the spiderlady mental voice and command "her" mind spider?  Now that the spider has cut off her link to all the mind spider?

MMM let us try this once  "Act natural, read a book" thinks Bambi as she mimics the spiderlady mental voice.. after practicing a few trys inside her mind shield until her mental voice as matches as the Mother's voice.   

then Bambi send the thought out

"Act natural, read a book"

PBH watches If the mind spider direct her body to take up a book and sit reading a book.

PBH

 Cog threw his fist forward when the spider jumped from Jeremiah's neck, but to no avail. A wave of force blasted into the wall above Jeremiah's head, and the spider simply sailed through the air and landed neatly on one of the bookcases behind him. By the time Cog had whirled around, only a few random tatters of silk were floating in the air, the spider long gone.
He cursed, turning around again after he heard the dull thud of Jeremiah hitting the floor. Upon reflection, it might have been a good idea to catch him. He looked out cold, but if his own experience with the spider had told him anything, he would probably wake up soon. Good, he thought. They may not have been able to kill the spider, but that was one more they could be sure was not infected.
This would be slow going, however, if they had to force each and every spider out of everyone. Depending on how many spiders there were, he supposed, but he had already counted enough for everyone. He turned to Mel.
"About how cold can you make it, good lady? For example, could you lower the ambient temperature of the entire castle, perhaps?" he asked, keeping an eye out for the three spiders now scuttling somewhere around the library. "Enough to inhibit the spider's, anyway."
As he waited for Mel's response, he kept his ears perked for the sound of mouthparts, or the telltale clatter of wood and chitin.

For a moment, relief was apparent within Gareeku as he heard Keaton's words. "Well that's good. To be honest i have no ide-"

Something was wrong.

Whirling around, the wolf backed away from the jackal succubus, eyeing her suspiciously. Gareeku was now very wary of her also. From an outside observer, at that point the wolf must have looked like the person actingly most strangely. What was wrong?

...Keaton had patted him on the back.

This probably would have seemed most strange for someone to suddenly distance themselves from being patted on the back. However, Gareeku had observing the mannerisms of the various people currently staying in the house. So why had he backed away like that? Why had he become so suspicious of Keaton all of a sudden?

...Because patting people on the back was something Keaton didn't do.

Gareeku had noticed during the time spent in the house that Keaton was more of the distant type, and this included not doing things like patting people on the back. Keaton had acted quite out of character, and Gareeku knew that this meant something was up.

Jeremiah was lucky that Mel was not quite so jumpy as to blast him with the cold when he fell, but that meant the spider was lucky as well. She went to one knee to check the back of Jeremiah's neck for more hitchhikers when Cog asked her about temperature. "A room, even the size of this one, I can make colder than the spiders can tolerate. Given time I could get it below what even the hosts can tolerate. The whole castle I wouldn't be able to do much to. Basically the smaller and emptier the room the colder I can get it in less time."  She stood and backed away from Jeremiah before he could awaken. "He is going to be the biggest problem. I don't think his fatal temperature is much different from the spider's."

Cog nodded sourly at the dragon's words. "That would indeed be a problem, yes. Out of the question, then." he said, squatting next to Jeremiah. He put his arms under the unconscious frog's own, and with a grunt tried to lift the rather heavy spellcaster. It took him a few moments, but he finally managed to straighten all the way up, Jeremiah simply hanging off him like dead weight.
"We can't...leave him here." he said, dragging the frog towards the door. "Or get him somewhere safe. Out of sight for a moment..." he trailed off, his face still twisted into a sour expression. "I don't care if we have to drag him through the entire castle. This stops now." Cog said, grunting again and managing to get Jeremiah over his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, Cog opened the door to the library and began heading for Stygian's room. "Let's tell our esteemed host of our situation." Cog called back to Mel.
It was somewhat difficult to keep from going completely insane from paranoia as he walked through the halls. But Cog had seen far worse situations than this, and the spiders' main advantage was gone. He walked through the halls calmly, ascending the stairs to Sebastian's room without pausing once. His ears were sharp, and he couldn't hear any spider behind, ahead, or above him. If he kept moving, he would be alright.
The room with his sword was past Sebastian's own, so he stopped at the bat's room first, not bothering to knock before opening the door. The sight that greeted him made him curse.
There was the bat, lying on his side without as shirt, as he was often wont to do. At the nape of his neck was another mindspider, cream-colored, tan camouflage not hiding it from the wolf's sharp eyes. He dropped Jeremiah unceremoniously and prepared to smash the spider on the Bat's back, getting ready to throw a wave of force at the thing.

The look that Aisha returned in response to Keaton's guarding eyes was an aggravated glare.  In the part of the mind that she deemed still belonging to herself, the panthress never did like the idea of being subdued in a fight without being finished off.  Adding to the fact that she was being seen as having gone crazy...

Yet still she held an air of calm, dissipating the anger and slowly bringing her boiling point down to a level of rest.  This is what's supposed to happen.  Her mind was still warring.  She knew what was happening...what would probably happen to Gareeku and what had already been done to Keaton...the prospect was wrong and yet right.  Revolting and yet acceptable.  And in she was still subconsciously leaning towards right and acceptable...though not as heavily.

As she saw Gareeku reel away from Keaton's attempt to place another spider upon its victim, she released an exasperated sigh.  One would have thought it was from staying on the floor for very long.

"I'm fine, you can let me up," Aisha said with a suddenly calm and assuring voice, but was being careful to avoid locking her gaze with the wolf's.  The emotion behind her eyes had given her away before.

Shortly after Keaton had removed her hand from Gareeku's back, she noticed that the lupine had grown noticably suspicious of her. This wasn't good... not good at all. It wouldn't do.

Lip quirking into a scowl, Keaton raised her pierced eyebrow again (which apparently seemed to be her most flexible one, as she constantly used it in ocular expressions of sarcasm) and asked snidely, "What's with you?" she would've set her hands on her hips if she weren't busy still keeping Aisha on the ground, although she decided that perhaps the pretense wasn't necessary. Aisha certainly had no intentions of putting up a fight.

Although the pantheress was no doubt agitated with Keaton's efforts at restraint, she didn't let these fouler emotions leak into her voice. While Keaton was perfectly ready to release Aisha, she didn't want to garner any more dubiosity from Gareeku. Pretending to be uncertain, Keaton turned her gaze attentively to Gareeku, hiding all lurking emotions that would've given her away.

Ah, it was good to be a Succubus sometimes.

"What do you think?" Keaton asked, trying to turn Gareeku's attention away from her attempt at depositing a spider on him, "Should I let 'er go?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

The bat seemed to be resting soundly, meaning that he'd probably already been taken by the spider. And Cogidubnus, already tense, probably jumped when he twitched a little and then stirred before the wolf could release his force wave. However, as Sebastian sat up, his hand immediately went to his neck. His dark-clawed fingers quickly found what they were searching for, and then, without ceremony, he grabbed and ripped the spider off his back, crushing it slightly in his hand. The small, dark wound and scratches from the thing's claws that resulted healed up as quickly as the clawing on his face had done, and were gone before he moved over and turned against Cogidubnus, throwing the spider to the floor, his black-tattooed right arm somewhat stained with its greenish blood.
   "Allright... What the flying fuck is that thing?!" he growled, looking down at the still bleeding arthropod and reaching for his shirt with his clean hand. His fangs, their tips usually just peeking out underneath the sides of his lips, were fully bared in an angry snarl. "I expect it's a present from Sal, no?" he then muttered, looking up at Cog with eyes turned to gleaming points by the darkness, but not really waiting for an answer. He quickly got his shirt on, and began walking toward the wolf.


   To Bambi, it almost seemed that her attempt to trick the spider had succeeded for a few seconds, because she felt as she moved over to one of the bookcases, slightly out of view from Mel, and started looking over the rows. But then, suddenly, came a short jab of pain that would normally have made her squeal, feeling like a switch over one's bottom or perhaps knuckles, only for the mind. The spider on her had been confused for but a moment, and while the thoughts circling through her head really weren't in any sort of language or text or images, but rather a jumble of feelings and sensations of all kinds, she quite clearly got what the spider was telling her.
   Bad! You cannot fool me! Mother is mother, feels like mother, tells like mother. You are not mother. You are me, because I am you! I have you, and I am you! the little creature imparted to her. Worst of all, Bambi felt that as its treatment of her mind became more forceful, she more and more felt as if it was actually her thinking the things to herself, her mind dizzying and clouding.
   It had been a good plan, but the spider lady seemed to have made these things too good, or she had encountered this problem before.

Bambi will not give up or burn herself out...

Bambi is force to retreat to the self sanctuary and mindwall.   She knows how to ground and center and reach to the Fae magic, this will decide this battle and maybe the war....

Bambi sits with her back against her tree, her Fae self in her mind...
   She matches her breathing to her tree,  feeling her roots drawing strength from the earth magic and warm/fire magic from the sun. She is one with her tree.   Yet She feels the rotten that is spider. 

PBH first grows new leafs and limbs and roots and pushing fae fire and magic up the her limbs of her mind to healing all wounds or damage of her mind and the spider's mind.  The fae life fire burns and plays across her body, bathing the library in a green glowing light.   It burns what will not healing...

PBH

Jeremiah began to stir, slowly coming to.
Trust the spiders. You don't know the others. All of them, either creatures like the bastard who cursed you or adventurors who don't take the threat seriously, and go after them for kicks. Trust the spiders...
"Zwuh... huh?" Jeremiah got to his feet laboriously. That chill Mel had been throwing around hurt his head but really, what did he expect? Who said that You thought it. Trust the spiders. His head felt... strange. Familier too, like something he hadn't had to deal with in a long time, but strange. He was more worried about the number that the cold had done on him though; his head wasn't the extent of the pain. He could feel his joints creaking like that of an old man.
"My everything hurts... What did she do to me?" Course. You feel terrible. Who but the ice dragon can make you feel this crappy?

Mel peeked around Cog at Sebastian, a wave of chill preceding her. She stepped around and away from the prone frog, trying not to chill him any more than was necessary. "Mind controlling spiders," she confirmed. "We've already seen more than enough to control everyone here."  She looked back towards the hall, "Considering Bambi and Gina didn't follow I would guess they were taken. The rest of the party are somewhere in the house and I guess we must presume they are controlled as well. Sorry about the room temperature, but they don't seem to like being cold."

Again, a snarl came from the bat, drawn out into a sort of hiss as he closed his mouth again. So there were more of them...
   He stomped the arachnid on the floor out, squishing it properly, though he had killed it as soon as it dared attatch itself to his neck. Then he passed Mel, walking out into the corridor.
   "Great. Just bloody great," he swore under his breath. She couldn't just run away. No, she had to find some way to ruin their stay even when not there...
   "Where are the others?" he asked, looking back at the small group with eyes that were turned normal by the low illumination in the corridor. "We need to bring everyone together. Then, if these things don't like cold, we'll give them just that..." he growled forth, focusing his eyes on Mel just a bit.

 Cog backed out of the doorway to get out of Sebatian's way, his eyes wide behind shaded lenses. He was amazed at Sebastian's apparent display of iron willpower. To simply...pick the spider off his back. Incredible. Well, that, or he simply didn't work the same way the other's did. Either way, it appeared there were now two immune to the arachnid's effects.
He spoke to Jeremiah. "Mel didn't do anything to you, sir. You were infected - the spider knocked you out when we got suspicious, and ran away. We brought you with us." he said, suddenly coughing. "I...may have dropped you. Probably why you feel a little sore." He grabbed Jeremiah's arm and helped him up. "As long as you stay a little distance from Mel, you should be okay. The cold keeps the spiders' at bay."
Satisfied that Jeremiah seemed to be in one piece, he walked into the hall, nodding at Sebastian's statement. He took a deep breath, drinking in the smells of the place, and walked past Stygian and descended the stairs.
"Gar is this way. He's the only one who hasn't showered yet, I think." He called back to them.

The bat followed Cogidubnus while looking down into the floor, muttering and scowling at nothing in particular. He turned toward Mel for a second before descending the stairs.
   "Hey, dragon! Come along! And bring the frog, whether he wants it or not!" he grawled in an uncustomarily rough way, then beginning to descend. He would need her understanding, or rather feeling for ice magic, if they were to plummet the whole building until the walls frosted.
   The central staircase was large, and the circular stairs winded downward in a rather comfortable fashion, but not one that made it any quicker to descend. From the bottom at least Sebastian and Cogidubnus could hear faint sounds of voices, carried down a corridor from further away. It wouldn't be hard to find the others at least... But Stygian still felt as if he should be working some other way. Tracking down and removing these spiders one by one was a simple way, but too slow and not thorough. He had never seen something like them before, and who knew what they could do, or what they might do with a host? What if they fled? What if they went outside? What if they merged with them or laid eggs or some other freaky shit? He had seen worse things happen. And he also felt as if he should have something else at hand too.
   Keeping on muttering, the bat slipped out an etui of slim cigars, flipped a silver lighter he had acquired from somewhere, and lit up, soon trailing musty smoke.

Mel grabbed a decorative throw off a nearby sofa and dropped it around Jeremiah's shoulders. "I'm sorry that the cold is making you so miserable, but it's better than being a spider zombie, isn't it? Hopefully Sebastian has a plan to get rid of them once and for all then you can sit in front of a roaring fire and get warm again." She smiled apologetically and gestured the frog out of the door ahead of her.

"Mrf," was the closest to a responce Jeremiah gave as he clutched the makeshift blanket closer and did as he was told. He hated the cold.

Meanwhile, deep within the catacombs that the curse had carved out in the frog's mind, Personae went this way and that. There were plans to be made, if things were going in this direction. The spider's implanted thoughts roamed, tweaking and pulling at what was there...

 Even though Sebastian had rather rudely lit a cigar behind him, making it that much more difficult to smell anything but the burning tobacco leaves, Cog managed to follow the smell of Gar and the others relatively easily. As he stepped down from the stairs and headed toward the hallways past the library, he absently reached for the sword at his waist. He grabbed air, and stumbled as he walked. Looking down, he realized he had completely forgotten to reclaim his gear.
He cursed rather loudly, regaining his stride and running a hand through his silver hair. He desperately hoped that Gar and the others were not indeed infected. Taking on Aisha and Keaton without his weapons...

Turning another corner, he found himself staring at Gar, Aisha, and Keaton, all who seemed to be in a sort of deadlock, with Gar in the middle. Gar seemed distressed, and the various lumps in Aisha's sleeves, and the look he was giving Keaton gave Cog some clues as to what was going on. Cog exhaled, and got ready to start throwing force-waves around. He wasn't incredibly worried, as Sebastian and Mel seemed suited to this kind of work, but he knew both of his fellow adventurers to be no pushover, and Aisha's blade would be especially effective against the bat.
He stood, centering himself, and waited.

Boorishly, Sebastian descended the last part of the stairs, following the wolf down the hallway and then positioned himself next to Cogidubnus. He glanced over the three others and made roughly the same conclusion as the wolf, then took his cigar between his fingers and tapped it slightly to ash it off. Calmly, he placed it back into his mouth and pulled, and then lazily breathed smoke between his lips. His gaze was purely irritated.
   Then, unexpectedly, Cog felt something quite uncomfortable upon his mind. He recognized it, in a way; it was like that feeling he had gotten when he first encountered Sebastian in the ballroom. It was like a crawling under his skin, over and into his back and up his spine. Like a shiver, amplified quite a few times over and mixed with some venomous, seething sensation in a rather horrid manner. And then he heard a voice. A familiar one.
   "Cog... I want you to create static in this hallway. A lot of it," it said, writhing through his head. "If these things connect right to the central nervous system they will probably be sensitive to it."
   Slowly, the bat pulled on his cigar again. Acrid smoke rolled between his teeth.

"Dammit, Keaton, I'm okay!  Let me up!"  Aisha growled loudly before Gareeku could answer the jackal, her muscles bunching up again.  She was truly losing a bit of patience, having nothing to do but lie on the floor and think while being held captive by the wing-tentacles.  This was more her emotion than that of the spider controlling her, yet with a few deep breaths she was back to being deceptively calm again.  "You wanna not treat me like a psychopath?  I get angry sometimes.  It doesn't mean I would hurt my good friends."  The statement was said with a good air of sincerity as she rolled her eyes up to look at Gareeku.  The words were sincere, at least.

If I could just reach my sword...

It was about then that her ears swiveled, having caught footsteps coming from the stairwell nearby.  She turned to glimpse at those that had come, Cogi and Sebastian, standing with looks that read concerned and annoyed respectively.  Her eyes narrowed instantly...she knew even from having not seen it herself that they were not taken.  And strongly knew it of the bat, especially.

Now there seemed to be a little more panic in her eyes, moreso than Gareeku had seen before, but it vanished again in the throes of anger.  Now she was just wanting to have full use of her hands and feet again.  "Can someone PLEASE tell these idiots that I'm fine?" the panthress growled.

 Cog jumped at the Sebastian's sudden intrusion, but nodded as the bat went on. "Yes. Probably a good idea." he said, feeling a bit foolish for forgetting his newfound arcane abilities.
He set his feet roughly parallel, and lifting on hand in a halting gesture, began to chant low and softly, the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly rising, as did some loose hairs around his head. Tiny, iridescent sparks jumped from his hand, and the air around him became charged with static. It felt...fuzzy, somehow.
He kept his free hand clenched with the promise of a wave, and let himself roll along with the chant of power, calmly reciting the eldritch syllables with precise intonation. With luck, they would perhaps see who was who, and who was merely a spider.

The air fizzed and cracked with static charge, sending tingles over the skin and through the fur of all present. And while it did not affect those unclaimed by the spiders, the little arthropods' sensitivity to the electromagnetic disturbance that was suddenly spreading all around made their senses go haywire on them, something neither they nor their hosts knew how to cope with. They couldn't communicate, couldn't react right, didn't understand what was happening... and so, they freaked out, taking their hosts with them.
   Anger and confusion flooded Keaton's and Aisha's minds. They couldn't understand it, or grasp or control it. It was just there, and telling them that they were going to get hurt, that Cogidubnus and Sebastian were going to hurt them badly and that they had to take Gar and get away from there immediately.

   Sebastian himself sensed the shifting, and saw the girls' faces and behavior changing. He took a long pull, walking past Cogidubnus, and then threw his half-smoked cigar to the floor, at the same time as his claws blackened and extended. His face harsh and angered, he closed on the three people before him.

Noticing the arrival of the others before he could say anything, Gareeku thought that explaining the situation would be sensible.
"Aisha and Keaton aren't acting their usual selves." the wolf explained, though he was keeping an eye on both the pantheress and the jackal succubus as he spoke. "A few minutes ago I confronted Aisha about it, who denied of anything being wrong. I then ripped off her sleeve to find this weird looking spider on her arm, which was when she, as well as the spider, attacked me. Keaton then came in, but she hasn't been acting herself either. I don't know what the hell is going on."

Mel turned the corner to arrive behind Cog and Sebastian just in time to see Aisha and Keaton turn panicky, their movements strangely uncoordinated. She could feel the electricity sparking around Cog and deduced that the girls had both been taken over and that a second weakness had been found. She worked at lowering the temperature in the hallway, trying as best she could to keep the focus in front of her, towards the afflicted, and away from the shivering frog slightly behind her.

The shivering frog was backing up a bit from Mel anyway, despite her attempts at controlling the effect of her spell, and simply kept his eyes on Gareeku. Trust the spiders...

"...Damn..." Aisha cursed, seeing that there was little that she could do that would convince them of anything.  More people were gathering around the spectacle that was herself, Keaton, and Gareeku.  They all knew who was taken...there was no more hiding.  There came more panic, more anger, more confusion.  Why am I so afraid of my allies?  What's going on?

The electric tingle rushing through the air and their bodies only made the panic worsen.  It couldn't hurt her, but something was strongly arguing that it could.  Even if the sensitivity belonged to the spider, it seemed to extend to her own nerves, an illusion of pain.  Slowly, a part of her was going insane.  Crying out to make it stop.  And yet Cogi didn't let up, and Sebastian was coming closer.  Gareeku was still out of reach.

Then there was the dragon...the room becoming colder...so much colder...

"Let...me...GO!" Aisha snarled with urgency.  She knew that Keaton, most likely feeling the same effects, would not have stayed there for much longer herself.  Aisha's eyes were wide, and though one couldn't tell from their natural color, bloodshot.  I'm...we're...going to die...

Feigning hesitancy in releasing Aisha to evade any further suspicion from Gareeku, Keaton cursed her circumstances as people approached, flocking to them like agitated moths to a flame. Trying to keep her rising anxiety to a minimum, Keaton kept Aisha anchored to the ground with her wing-tentacles, staring at the enraged expression of the gradually advancing Stygian. This was not good. Damn it, she should've released Aisha sooner, then she wouldn't have garnered such scrutiny!

Keaton tried her best to appear as indignant as possible at their apprehensive expressions, but otherwise without any defensive arguments. Coldness was beginning to saturate the frigid temperature of the room with Mel's arrival, and the stinging, electrical feeling stabbing at Keaton's mind was not helping. The jackal's pupils pinpricked, branches of bloody vines spidering through the whites of her eyes as the message started to seep in: they were going to get hurt.

They were all going to be stopped. They were all going to--no, no, NO. She could prevent it. She just had to release Aisha and get Gareeku out of the room as swiftly as possible.

Upon Aisha's urgent command, Keaton did just what she had shouted, her tentacles unraveling from her wrists and ankles in a simultaneous, serpentine motion. With Aisha released, Keaton started to stagger back, an almost insane look that appeared truly hideous seeping into her eyes.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Mel saw that Keaton was trying to escape down the hall while Sebastian closed on the other two. She didn't want to hurt the girl but couldn't let her, and her spider, get away. She aimed a heavy blast of ice at Keaton's feet, hoping it would both trip her up and weigh her down. The floor was coated with the ice that missed the cubi, making it slick and hard to maneuver.

As soon as she was released, Aisha's body had an intense and urgent surge of energy flow through to her muscles.  "Finally," she growled, a tone that was low, dangerous, and bordering insane, while only watching Keaton back off through the corner of her eyesight.  The panthress flexed her claws, not bothering to pull her torn sleeve back up to her shoulder.

She left Gareeku to Keaton, partially so that perhaps what had been started could be finished...and also partially for the reason that she wanted him away from the fight.  Her crimson eyes seemed to flash, either by the light or by their own accord, it was hard to tell...the light from her tail ring was ever brighter.  The cold in the room, the tingling current...it was driving her--moreover the thing that had become her--to madness.

The cold could be combatted a little though.  With a devilish smirk that seemed out-of-place even on her dark features, the panthress drew the holy sword from her belt, ignoring the familiar sting in her palm as the blade came alive in a blaze along the shining edge.  "Don't stop us..."

At this point in her mind, rage and confusion became one emotion.  It was madness to face the bat and wolf as the opposition.  And yet the urge was compelling.  It was perfectly synchronized for her own love of the fight...she had to fight, or at least be the distraction...and not be simply subdued...by the COLD!

Aisha stared them down with the merciless expression of a bounty hunter...just as if she were staring at a demon.  Her pupils were reduced almost to demented pinpricks.  And then she lunged.

Unfortunately for Keaton, the moment the jackal made any indication of escape or some form of aggressive movement, Mel fired off a powerful blast of ice at her feet, catching her off-guard entirely. In her panic, Keaton hadn't anticipated any attacks, having only been focused on snatching up Gareeku and fleeing to a safe and fairly undetermined location deep within the castle.

Which was probably too much to ask for, as five seconds after those words slithered through her mind, Keaton's body jerked and she went flying briefly, landing in a crumpled heap on the ground. Dizziness flared in Keaton's mind as she twitched for a moment, eyes rolling woozily. The first of her body to straighten were her wings, and instinctually Keaton tried to move her legs, but registered no movement from them whatsoever. Startled, brown eyes shot in the direction of her feet, only to find them cemented together in thick, crystalline layers of ice manacles.

She was trapped like an animal. Keaton's eyes snapped from her feet, to Mel, to her feet, to Stygian, to her feet, to Cogidubnus, to her feet, to Jeremiah, to her feet--again and again, pupils shrinking down as animalistic dread and fear welled up in the nauseatingly churning pit of her stomach. White light erupted from Keaton's eyes in alabaster waves, the shadows formed around her body thickening, transforming from a viscous, slick body, then convulsing between sharpness and its former, lifeless state. It seemed to represent the erratic state of Keaton's visible emotions, all of which had leaked through her once nearly impenetrable, almost artistic air of deceit.

Aisha was approaching them, brandishing the sword and hissing angrily, but still, Keaton found herself bestially frightened of the others, and the terrible, terrible, terrible cold, oh god the cold the fucking cold her head hurt it was hard to think...

"Get BACK!"

Then the light burst from Keaton's eyes anew as the shadows surrounding her retracted, then practically exploded into a series of towering spires, tearing right through the ground. The ice shackling Keaton's ankles splintered as an involuntary ripple passed through the atramentous pillars, allowing for the jackal to kick off her frosty binds and scramble off of the ground, frantically manipulating the shadows emerged from the earth. Having been newly reacquainted with her darkness-oriented powers after a long hiatus, she was probably rusty at this, not to mention her shock didn't help matters much...

But her first orders were to attack. The spikes jutting from the ground wavered, then stretched, darting in towards Keaton and orbiting her protectively. Using her hands for orchestration, Keaton made a broad, sweeping motion with her arm, each tentacle individually shooting out towards the first and most threatening target, sparking with red-purple wreaths of energy: Stygian. Having made her first move, Keaton sprinted away, detaching herself from the shadows. Blackness enveloped Keaton's body, forming a palpable shell over her body, oozing through the yellow and utterly caking her in melanoid ink, leaving only the Jyraneth clan marking flashing on her hip and her eyes with any trace of light in them.

With her defense up, Keaton outstretched her arm, a wing-tentacle crowned with a clawed hand whipping out to sweep up Gareeku. She would leave Aisha to deal with the group, having left that attack to hopefully dispatch the bat. Then she would convert Gareeku...

~Keaton the Black Jackal

 Cog restrained himself from cursing, continuing to chant, and simply slipped into a low stance as Aisha flew at them. Still keeping his one hand in front of him, he clenched his other hand into a fist, and not even growling gathered as much force into his hand as he could before throwing it at her.
The wave distorted the air for a moment, displacing the air before it slammed into her, halting Aisha's progress and throwing her back into the far wall with a thud. He grimaced as she hit, and hoped that he hadn't hurt her permanently - he'd had little choice, however, as that sword was far too dangerous if she got close.
He did curse as Keaton began to throw darkness at them, his chant faltering for a moment - the spell faded for only a split second before returning again, Cog quickly resuming the chant after his momentary slip. He backed away from the tentacles - he had no charms, and he doubted he could do much, if anything, against that kind of dark, arcane magic.

The ice blast that Mel had fired zipped past Stygian's shoulder, effectively knocking Keaton to the floor and allowing him to get closer. He was only walking, trying to think of how best to deal with the situation. Keaton was probably the one with the most options for fighting, being a cubi and thus probably having a good deal of magic and abilities in her arsenal. She was also the only one who could really grab Gar and carry him along effectively. But Aisha, indisputably having the greater firepower in her holy sword, was really a problem if she was going to flank her. Even if he could get behind them, they were still a bit away, and he'd risk getting cut immediately.
   Then, Keaton performed some sort of dark magic or such and Stygian nearly stopped. Blackness erupted, and smashed the jackal free, allowing her to regain mobility. And she immediately attacked, once she could. Darkness struck at Stygian, ripping into him in the form of spiked dark tentacles.
   There was one problem though. Stygian retained the speed that was signature to an angel. And he knew and could feel darkness very well. And so, when the darkness ripped into him, it really ripped into him. The black spikes vanished in under his shirt as he spread it, and the ones that struck him in the chest just pierced it, and then slipped right into him, black lines spreading for just a second and the skin then closing behind them as if nothing had happened. For a second he stood like that, and then he looked up at Keaton as she ran. He half snarled, half grinned, and his skin and fur started grayening in tune with his eyes and teeth blackening.
   Then, in an explosion much like the one that Keaton had caused, darkness tore itself out of the bat's skin and clothes in the form of barbed tentacles, tendrils, ripping claws, maws and hands, spreading out and rushing after her in a huge shroud. Eyes hinted amid the horridity, gleaming and focusing on her as they caught up with her in a short second.

   Keaton froze. Her muscles tensed and she was still trying to run. But she just couldn't! It felt as if something had snagged her, as if something had slipped around and entwined her whole body, like iron wreathed around her limbs, keeping her from moving more than just squirming about.
   Then she noticed. She couldn't feel her darkness anymore. The cloak of it that should envelop her body was not responding. But it was still there. She could see it on her outstretched hand, how it...
   The darkness writhed, and then it twisted. And the jackal could see how it actually turned into that entwining thing, some sort of barbed tentacle, like darkness condensed and turned organic and hard-skinned, with little sharp formations in it, feeling coarse like sharkskin on her fur. In its grip, she fell forward, feeling her legs wrapped up as if a huge, odd centipede had just decided to curl around them, and she felt weight on her back as her wings were held fast. She could feel more movement there, and could see the dark, crawling things that slithered along the floor, like leathery, glossy blackness sporting claws and sharp segments.
   Then, something moved into view next to her head. A face, humanoid but just barely, with sharp, pointed teeth set in an elongated jaw and skin that looked just as flowing and yet still leathery as the rest of the formless creature. And Stygian's glowing eyes staring intensely at her out of it.
   "Bad choice, little girl!" he growled.
   The spider on her neck was abruptly crushed, and she could feel it die.

   When Keaton was assuredly free, Stygian released her, his crawling form rolling off her and slithering across the floor over to the wall, where he reassumed shape, his skin re-forming over the crawling darkness and his black clothes pulling back on and mending themselves magically. He looked down at the jackal seriously, and then over at Aisha by the other wall, watching her.

"Jeremiah, step back," whispered Mel as she began lowering the temperature in the hallway even more. While they were dealing with the possession of their comrades there could be other spiders nearby or secreted on them. She remembered Cog having the one he tried to possess her with up his sleeve. She drove the cold lower and lower hoping to immobilize any lurking and ready to strike out at the unpossessed. She just hoped she didn't overshoot the cold tolerance of her friends at the same time.

Needless to say, Cogi's blast had caught the panthress by surprise.  Before she could swing her sword, the flaming whiplash only partially formed in the midst of the ever-plunging cold, Aisha had been swept from her feet and flung towards the wall.  In a flash, the panthress used her reflexes to minimize the damage she took...instead of having her back hit the surface, she hit her right side with a loud grunt, dropping the sword in the process.

As she fell to the floor, she landed shakily on her feet, and then to her knees.  The panther's teeth were grinding together in frustration and pain, but more mental than physical.  The mental pain was that shared from the spider...the physical came only from the wall and herself.  Both came together in a concoction that would have been too much for the huntress to bear, were she not trained to withstand pain.

So hard to move... she snarled.  The drop in temperature was even starting to affect her as a shiver ran through her body, only withstood by the cape covering her body.  She...no, the spider...she...they felt as if on the edge of death.  Her hand reached to grip the handle of the sword again.  Fire...to counter ice...

In the time that it took to do that, Keaton was already subdued.  She could feel it, an acquired sense, the death of a comrade...though it wasn't really a death, she thought it so.  Her eyes flared with something that looked much like vengeance...turned up a few notches, and they were looking at almost inner demonic rage.  No more confusion...just giving in to the emotions...

With a hissing roar from herself, Aisha watched the blade shine in a great blaze once more.  She faced the bat as he looked back.  The gaze he gave scared her.  But the threshold was crossed.  The sword was swung in a criss-cross fashion through the air, arcing toward Sebastian, Mel, Cogi...whomever was still standing in opposition.  And it kept on like that, flames whipping across the room, until she could no longer take the cold...just stop the cold...and she kept guard with the blade over her head, close to the ebbing warmth.

As she tried to reach back for sanity, the spider was clinging to the last of its own life...

The flaming lash tore against the bat, sending waves of fire down the corridor against him and the others. A sweep caught his arm, and tore it off and asunder in a rip of black blood and a snarl from his side. But fortunately Aisha's back was against a wall and in a corridor that had no windows. Stygian made his move quickly, and with a roar he leapt forward, dodging a second sweep as he let out his darkness again, splitting up into crawling and lashing black and making his way up behind the panthress. He hoped that Mel and Cog had the presence of mind to fight the flames back, because he could not.
   The darkness snared Aisha's feet even before Stygian had broken up completely, and felled her to the floor. Then came a segmented hand, forming out of flowing darkness, and grabbed her arm, twisting it nearly to the point of dislocating her shoulder. The beast snarled over her shoulder, restraining her harshly. And then came the sensation of claws into her back, piercing both the spider on her before it could retreat and ripping her skin some.
   Aisha heard a scream. She feared that it might be her own. Then, the world dimmed and she blacked out.

   Again, Sebastian's, or Stygian's, darkness crawled back and into him, and he returned to normal, only one arm short. The one he had gotten torn off lay crumpling into an ashen pile over on the floor, and he clutched at the blackish stump that he had left. Another snarl, and crawling tentacles and insect-like pieces of blackness ripped out of it, slowly taking the form of an elbow, an underarm, a large, wickedly clawed hand... He looked at it a bit, before it shaped back to normal and covered itself with skin and fur yet again. Slowly, he clenched his fist. Then, he looked down on Aisha.
   Spiders fell out of her clothing, a threesome of them, moving sluggishly from the chill, and Stygian stepped on the closest one. A snap with his finger and a quick incantation circle incinerated the other two.

When the fire lashed out Mel gave a frightened squeak and ducked back behind the turn in the corridor. A lash of fire flew past her nose, making her squeak again.

 Eyes widening at the waves of flames heading for himself and Mel, Cog immediately stopped chanting and took a step back. He had bigger things to worry about than keeping the spell going.
He glanced at her, wondering if she had some way of blocking such an attack. Sebastian took some damage, losing an arm, but his sudden flowing and disappearance into darkness allowed him to avoid the fire, but Cog and Mel were left to defend themselves. Cog thought quickly, and stepped in front of the dragon.
There was no way that he could sustain any sort of barrier, but he could create individual waves quickly, and stack them one atop another. Gritting his teeth, he sucked in a breath of air and threw his fist forward again, a less powerful wave of force flowing out from it, stopping the fire like the glass screens of a fireplace. As soon as it stopped, however, the wave dissipated, but Cog threw forward another to meet the fire, and then yet another, each one of Aisha's crisscrossed strokes meeting another wall by Cog.
He kept this up for as long as he had to, dropping to his knees as the last wave came and went, landing on the carpet with a dull thud. Cog was still for a moment, panting heavily - when he recovered some of his breath, he crawled up against the wall and leaned against it, still catching his breath. Throwing that much force around was like running a few miles, all put into a few moments. Doable, certainly, but exhausting.
He absently hoped that Sebastian had gotten the damn spiders. They were really beginning to piss him off.

With a snap to undo the last spider that had fallen out of Keaton's clothing and a step past the unconscious cubi, Sebastian walked back to Cogidubnus, Jeremiah and Mel, eyeing them in turn.
   "Good job. Thanks," he said, not quite easily and with a bit of a look at Mel, but still. Then, he walked past them and back against the stairs. It seemed that he was intent on going back to his room again, or something similar.
   "There will probably be more of them, but I know you can take care of it, dragon," he called back to them, walking briskly. He expected her to as well. This was helping, but that was all. If he couldn't find some more rest he felt as if he was going to go insane. It wasn't even evening yet!

Mel moved towards the battle area, rubbing her scorched nose. Then Sebastian walked right past them with an order to take care of everything else themselves. She scowled at him "What do you mean, take care of it? They could be anywhere and it's your mansion. And what about that creature who left these little presents?" she argued as she checked on the fallen. Cog was closest but his immediate problem seemed to be exhaustion. Next she knelt beside Aisha and heal the gouges on the back of her neck and checked for damage from the cold. "Is anyone else hurt?" she asked of the others.

Jeremiah didn't need to be told twice to get away from the cold. In fact...
"G-Gareeku!" The frog hurried over, looking as though he was checking Gar over for particularly obvious spiders, "You a-all ri-ri-right? Any of the c-creepy crawlies get on y-y-ya?" Jeremiah's oversized (for a being) teeth were chattering, and there were places on his usually slick skin that were starting to crack and flake. The cold was really doing a number on him. Naturally, at Mel's question, he raised his hand.

And the interloper thoughts continued to find their way around...

Stygian stopped, turned, glanced at the frog and rolled his eyes, and then took a look at Mel.
   "The wolf seems fine enough. Mr. Amphibian here doesn't seem to have that anticoagulant in his blood, so he's the only one to worry about..." he said boorishly, making a reference to a certain species of frog that could stand being frozen down, "...and to get rid of the spiders, all you have to do is flash-freeze the house. Nothing lasting, mind, just something to frost it down and clear the little creeps." He said that as if it were no big deal. "There's plenty of water to be found, and silver and mercury..." Slowly, he resumed his walking.

 Cog gaped as Sebastian simply left them there, a tiny spark of anger in his eye. To just...go. Leave them there. It wasn't callousness, he knew, but...even so. He lurched to his feet, and held on side of his stomach that had cramped. He spoke to the retreating bat.
"What? Just freeze the entire castle, like that?" Cog said, his voice somewhat edged. "But of course! Leave it to us, yet again. Wouldn't want to disturb the lord of the manor. He's not in a very good mood right now!" He said, his eyes narrowing. "I know you haven't asked for any favors, sir, and I fully realize you'd really rather us just go. Even so!"
He took a lurching step towards Sebastian. "Can you stand our presence for just long enough to clear your own damn castle of an infestation of mind-eating spiders?!" he said, his voice rising. "Are you such a damned coward that it takes disaster for you to just be with people?!"
Cog growled in his throat, and quickly restrained himself, snapping his jaw shut and turning round, heading for the library. There was much more he wanted to say, but he feared he'd said too much already. He began walking down the hall, stepping around his fallen comrades. "C'mon Mel. When you're done here, I mean, we have some research to do. Unless you know some way of cooling this entire place, because I sure as hell don't."

There was a clack of a heel as Sebastian stopped. Slowly he turned, his eyes darkened and intense, and his face incredulous in that way that just speaks for itself. Then he made no noise.
   Before Cogidubnus had a chance to pass Jeremiah, someting snared his neck from behind and he was lifted like a ragdoll into the air. Fingers clenched his throat, keeping him from taking anything but the most desperate of breaths, and claws at their tips rasped his skin.
   "You bloody...!" the bat growled from behind him, his speech between his teeth and his face twisted in fury. "Calling me coward...?! You don't need me babysitting you! This isn't my place. You are quite obviously not my friends. And I kill people!" he snarled, his grip on Cog's neck constricting. "It doesn't matter what I do but I either hurt, kill, offend or ruin! You've seen it yourself!" he hissed, and for a second Cog felt as though his claws were going to rip into his throat.
   Then, the wolf dropped to the ground, the grip on his neck released abruptly. The bat's face wasn't angered anymore. It had shrunk back to that self-loathing and mournful expression, with a bit of dissappointment mixed in as he looked down on the man before him, then over Gareeku, Mel... For a second, his gaze was present, clear and both filled with sorrow, hatred and pain. Then, it hardened again and his face settled, his gaze again on Cog's neck.
   "You're adventurers. Deal with it!" he said in as scathing a tone as he could manage, and then turned, walking off.

Cog coughed a few times, and clambered back to his feet slowly. He stared at the retreating bat, and simply kept silent until he was out of earshot, turning back towards the others and heading back towards the library. "That's right. Keep running, coward," he said, suddenly stopping. Ignoring the stares of the others, he turned again towards the stairway and followed the bat, walking calmly.
He'd forgotten to get his sword. Again. It was still upstairs.
He kept silent as he walked behind the bat, not saying a word, but rather simply ascending the stairs without comment. He passed the bat's quarters on the way up, walking past and into the room where he had changed. There on the couch was his old jacket and sword - he emptied the former of his charms, placing them in his new clothing, and placed the sword into his belt, adjusting it for a comfortable fit.
He exited the room, walking down the hallway and heading back down to the library.

The spat between Cog and Sebastion spooked the hell out of Jeremiah, but it was useful for one thing. He was right, he had seen this sort of mindset in his students before. Usually demonic ones, but angels are really just the other side to that selfsame coin. Useful...
And more importantly, it was a divide in the group. Those two were that much more likely to avoid one another. Useful indeed.

Keaton didn't notice the effect the dark-woven tentacles she had launched in Stygian's direction had, as she was too busy trying to grab Gareeku to bother to witness the side-effects of her attacks. All she needed to do was snatch up the wolf and leave, whether or not Aisha was safe or not, then contaminate him with the spider's presence--that was all. Common sense and coherent thinking had been entirely eliminated to make way for brutal bloodlust and the panicked shrieking of the spider nested in Keaton's back. The arachnid had rapidly been layered beneath the darkness caking her body, securing it for now, although the contours of its outline was concealed by the black-wrapped locks of Keaton's hair.

Then she couldn't move. Keaton twitched where she stood, still trying to resist the paralysis that crippled her muscles. She felt her body tense and her limbs spasm slightly as she tried to push, but that was all. What was going on? Why couldn't she move? Still incapable of forming or registering anything akin to normal thinking, Keaton struggled and strained, teeth grit and vicious screams stifled in her throat. If she hadn't been going to such lengths to keep herself from shouting, she probably would've been screeching death threats like there was no tomorrow. The bat had to be behind this. He had to be.

She couldn't sense the darkness anymore. Normally Keaton would be able to reach out to its algid, clammy touch, fuse her mind with it and shape it to fit her will, but she was suddenly alone. She could... not... feel it! Why? The cloak enshrouding her body was still there, but she couldn't manipulate it. Once more Keaton tried to move, fingers twitching as her glowing eyes shifted towards Gareeku.

Then it started to move, but not on her own accord. The darkness had become almost fleshy, organic, rough and prickling, writhing uncontrollably atop her skin. Keaton toppled forward, landing unceremoniously in a crumpled heap on the ground, the shadows coating her body still twisting and shaking even as she felt the pressure on her back, squishing her against the ground and making it difficult for her to breathe properly. It was still impossible for Keaton to make any sounds other than tiny groans and protests, suddenly stopping in her throat as she noticed the claws snaking along the ground.

Before Keaton could comprehend it a head, seemingly forged out of darkness itself, appeared beside Keaton's own, leering into her eyes, eldritch glow against glow.

"Bad choice, little girl!"

Then the spider hidden underneath the darkness shattered into thousands of tiny crumbs of rubbery chitin, triggering a choking cry from the jackal, who stiffened instinctually on the ground. With the cold life of the spider seeping away from her, Keaton accidentally released what little control over the darkness she still maintained, the shield encasing her body dissolving. It oozed about her body in a syrupy puddle, slowly retreating back into its proper, slanting position along with the remnants of what had tried to stab itself into Stygian, restoring the original position of the shadows cast about the ground.

Keaton remained still for a moment, struggling to regain relative thought. By the time she had willed herself awake to the sound of shouting, Aisha was unconscious nearby and Stygian and Cogidubnus had departed, apparently in foul moods, if the yelling was of any attestation. Groaning, the white light died from Keaton's eyes as she lifted her head, trying to climb to her knees. She clutched her head, hissing angrily as a mother of a headache pounded away at her brain, likely from the stress that plagued her before.

"What... wha' happened...?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

No sooner had Gareeku's hand formed a flame of white energy had Sebastian gotten there first. Standing there alert, the wolf looked on as the possessed Jackal as well as Aisha were dealt with. Once the pantheress was knocked unconscious and Keaton was knocked down, the wolf relaxed a bit, the flame disappearing from the palm of his hand. He was still alert, however, as he had virtually no idea what they were dealing with. The only thing Gareeku did know was that the spider-woman was almost certainly behind.

She would definitely be dealt with, Gareeku decided in his mind.

Watching as Keaton came to, the wolf wasn't surprised to find her memory of the recent events a little foggy; such a side effect was common in possessions. Having not known the whole situation, Gareeku decided he would let someone else explain what had happened to her, as the others most likely knew more about the situation than he did.

Mel shifted her attention from Aisha to Keaton. "Slow down and tell me if you're hurt Keaton. As for what happened, we're having spider problems, again. Only these are small and take over your mind. A parting present from the spider demon. You've been possessed for a while."

She helped the jackal to her feet. "Are you hurt anywhere? It was quite a fight to get the spider off you."

In a way, Aisha had certainly seen the counter-attack coming.  An air of satisfaction made itself known to her ragged and tired face as her flames sheared one of the bat's arms off...but it wasn't at all long-lived.  There was no time, nor way, to defend from the shadows that bound her feet and wrenched her arms back.

The blade's handle dropped from her grip and clattered next to her...with the mixture of cold in the room, and the tight hold upon the possessed felid, she had no hope left of fighting.  And yet the spider in its throes still pushed wave after wave of insane anger through her subconscious.  Aisha's own mind pushed its way through the suffering, and simply awaited the inevitable.

The last thing that she felt then were claws piercing her back.  Her face showed more pain than there truly was, and the scream...it was the spider's, but it came through her voice.  Then it was gone.  Blinded by darkness, Aisha's body fell limp to the ground.

She felt very few sensations after that, floating somewhere in a recess between reality.  Her adrenaline was ebbing and the cold growing.  The feeling came back to her nerves...her nerves, once again...slowly until she was awakened fully by wincing at the pain on her back and the sensation of ice upon it, now comforting and soothing.

Aisha's eyes opened slowly, and looked upon the others in the room.  Keaton was in the same state as she was, delirious and confused.  The panthress did not remember the past few moments either...like they were seen through someone else's eyes where it should have been hers.  Then Mel's explanation was caught by still-sensitive ears, which were ringing horribly at first.  Then her eyes widened.

Spider...  The memories came back.  She was herself, but not truly.  Leading on by deception...and almost had spread the monstrosity to her good friend...

"Ugh," the felid protested and started to her knees, reaching a hand around to her back.  Nothing there.  Her neck, nothing.  Head...hers again.  She took a deep breath and almost fell down again, taken by euphoria.

Then, as if in reply to the events, Aisha hissed lowly.  "Whoever did this to us...is dead."

Sebastian went up to his room before Cogidubnus, smelling of indignation and loathing, a strong, stickly and itchy scent that mixed ill with his regular one of ash and blood and discomforted anyone sensitive enough to feel it. When he arrived at his room he passed in through the doorway determinedly, and it closed on its own behind him. Well inside he just threw himself on the bed, only bothering to kick off his shoes before he laid down and sighed into the pillows. Anger still boiled within him, but it was becoming increasingly drowned in sadness, dissappointment and weariness.
   He chuckled bitterly at that, making an attempt at seeing things from some sort of positive perspective. Weariness, after being free at last from a century and a half imprisoned? Of course, he failed to cheer up the least. But there was still some humor to it all.
   Still, he could not make himself go back to sleep, however much he rested. He never had been the one to sleep much, and there were so many things going through his mind that it was virtually impossible to really relax. But he could not go out there again. He would not go out there again. He had said thanks, and he had tried to be reasonable. And the wolf had hit him below the belt. So, if he actually did not want to be with people, what of it? Did that jerk think he could put himself in his situation?
   That ritual really had made him realize. He never really had hated women. He had just hated anyone he actually felt something for, be it hatred, fear, familiarity or love. When he could distance himself he was allright. When he actually felt, bad things happened. He got hurt. Others got hurt. The deal with Cog, and with Mel, who he couldn't stop thinking of as 'the dragon', proved that. As did how these people saw him as an asshole.
   Perhaps it was better that way? After all, he was calculating, often evil and perhaps even a bit insane. He had no problems seeing that. He shouldn't burden people with his presence if that was all there was to him. Maybe that could be his only grace...?
   The bat turned and laid on his back, staring into the roof. They were adventurers. They should be capable of fending for themselves. If they wanted his help, they would have to ask for it. Not grovel or beg, but just simply ask, because that was fair and enough. And if they didn't want him around, well... then that was the way it was.
   But why couldn't he stop hurting?

Keaton listened to Mel's explanation with half-lidded, dazed eyes and a face partially obscured in shaggy blonde hair, expression still muddied and confused for a great deal of her clarification. Gradually, clarity began to sink into her features, a hand reaching up to slip her glasses, which had fallen off of the bridge of her nose and were dangling haphazardly from the gilded chain anchoring them to her ear, back onto her muzzle.

Confusion remained quite dominant in her expression for a while as she struggled to recall when she had ever been taken over by the spider. All she could remember was taking a bath, relaxing quite peacefully for a moment, and then everything going dark...

Keaton's ears shot upright, the myriad of piercings festooning her lobes jostling, as revelation came to her. The memory of the slight, pinching sensation she had felt before her unexpected blackout became clear to her, as did everything else preluding that moment. Ears lowering and her lips twitching in a broad snarl, Keaton reached up, massaging her forehead with her palm and growling low in the pit in her throat.

"Fucking fantastic..." she hissed. It was apparent that she didn't enjoy the fact of her ever being someone's or something's puppet, even a psychopathic spider's. Enfolding her chest with one of her arms and still cradling her head, Keaton's growls deteriorated into angry, quiet curses and incoherent grumblings as she struggled to remember everything which had happened during the moments she served as the spider's vessel. Unconsciously, her hand wandered to the back of her neck, feeling for any bites or traces of the aforementioned, infernal arachnid.

To be certain, Aisha wasn't the only one who was furious at whoever was responsible for their possession. Keaton wasn't going to put up with that form of personal violation--and she never would.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Seeing that the two formerly possessed were upright and upset Mel concluded that they were healthy enough for the moment. "Let's get back to the library. If you want to share the fun of squishing spiders I strongly suspect that Bambi and Gina have been overtaken. At least one more spider is loose on the premises. We need to figure out how to make sure this castle is spider free." She sent yet another apologetic look to the shivering frog, "So we can get Jeremiah warmed up and healed up."

"Th-thanks," Jeremiah said, still not to eager to get too close to Mel. Awful nice of her, but it's freaking cold... He was used to interacting with those he didn't trust, and appreciated the help. Still was going to help the spiders get her too, but appreciated it.

Behind some of the bookshelf in the library, Bambi's comatose body, glowed green with fae fire burning around the base of her neck.  Bambi's battle for her own mind was at statemate in which time was on the spider's side.  She had send out little copies of herself has fireflies into her mental image of her tree with many webs and threads thoughout the branches of her mind.  The fireflies burn the many linking threads of the spider to control parts of brain and body.  Too many were spread in her lower lobe area to burnout completely.  But she had kept most for her upper mind from it.  Her time was limited by her strength, and she was tying.  The spider knew it.  Yet, She send a fresh squad of fireflies to clean the webs from her mind's Tree.  Each fly was a copy of herself with a virus to change the spider.  And the spider love to eating her little fireflies

PBH

 Cog slowed and stopped as he approached the door to Sebastian's room, pausing to stare at the door for a moment. It was uncomfortably silent in the hallway, the sound of his own breathing audible in the space. No sound emanated from the room.
  Taking a deep breath, Cog knocked on the door and opened it, not waiting for Sebastian to respond. He doubted he would get one from the bat again. He left the door open, and spoke to the reclining bat.
"I understand if you want to keep to your...get some rest." he said, mentally checking himself. He was still quite angry with him, and he needed to be careful. Words spoken in anger seldom did any good. He took a breath, and continued. "Neither Mel or I know how to cool down the entire castle."
He stayed silent for a moment, and spoke again. "We...could use some help." he finally said, inclining his head before leaving and closing the door behind him.
He'd not apologize for what he said, although he was perhaps sorry he said it. But apologies accomplished nothing here, and he hadn't said anything untrue. He instead walked down the stairs and to the library, joining up with the others in a few moments.
He kept silent, keeping to himself and his thoughts.

Sebastian did not look over at Cog. His back turned against the wolf, he kept his eyes on the wall. And he stayed like that when the wolf walked out, his expression solid. For quite a while he thought, laying there in the darkness that he knew so well.
   Then, with a groan, he shifted and got up. He straightened his somewhat rumpled shirt, and then got his shoes on again. And then he walked down to the library.
   The sun was still blocked out of the place, thankfully. No one had pulled the curtains aside yet. And at least Cog and Mel were there. He thought that he could smell the cat from before somewhere too, but she wasn't that much of a concern to him.
   "Right. What is it that you need me for here now?" he muttered, walking in and parking himself in one of the leather armchairs of the place, not too comfortable with being around Mel or Cog as he imagined they did not enjoy his company either. He didn't smell or see or hear much from them at all, but...
   "The spiders aren't my concern. Neither are they yours either, it would seem..." he said, looking at Mel. "And so far we've rid ourselves of seven of them. Now, I would be surprised if there are so many here that we really need concern ourselves. And if we just stick together, those of us who are vulnerable with those who are not..." he muttered, giving Cog just a bit of a glare.

   In another part of the library, the spider on Bam's neck wasn't having too much success with its host. Gina sat beside the cat, looking down at her with a strange and concerned expression as she glowed. Things were really becoming strange...
   The spider on Bambi decided that it just couldn't hold out longer. It would have killed her off, but it didn't think that it had the strength or the opportunity any more. Neither could it leave her as things were. So, it did all it could; it sent out a warning for its siblings, trying to pass on as much knowledge to them as it could before it drifted off to go unconscious, hopefully to die...

 Walking down the bookshelves and ticking off various titles, Cog pulled one down to start on while he listened to Sebastian speak. Yordin the Strange's Teatise on Elemental Saturation, it said, and the language inside wasn't much less opaque. He sighed as he sat in a leather-covered chair, and began flipping through pages.
He felt Sebastian's glare, catching his nasty look, and it took some willpower not to respond in kind. He merely nodded his head, and chimed in his own suggestion.
"We could wait for the spiders to come to us, yes." he said, resting his head in his hand. "However, getting Jeremiah near a fireplace and flash-freezing the castle, like you suggested, eliminates the possibility that one or two keeps to itself, only to bite us in the ass later. From what you've told me, this Sal probably has enough brains to wait for our guard to drop."
He looked around for Bam. "We need to free the cat too, when we find her. It would be unfortunate to be possessed again after getting so close to freeing all of us."

"Well, that is all understood," Sebastian said, making a disregarding gesture with a hand and looking to the floor a bit before taking a look at the strangely appropriate book Cog had grabbed. Was the wolf taking to magic that well? Ah, well. If he was, then that was his own business. He had power, perhaps, as all weres did. But he would need practice to match the knowledge...
   "The problem, as I see it, is that I certainly do not have the power to freeze down this whole castle without some serious preparation. Possibly even not then. Elemental magic isn't exactly my... speciality," the bat commented, and then shot a meaningful look to Mel. "Well, maybe I should put it another way; I have the knowledge, but I can't, because of certain circumstances. I had thought that certain others would be better in that department."

Mel was leaned back in a chair, staring up at the muraled ceiling four stories above, complete with the smears of bat where she had smashed the creatures earlier, and thinking about cold. She spoke slowly, more thinking out loud than responding. "Air is quick to cool, other things less quick. The walls and the items in this building will keep the cold from moving outward." She paused and scowled as she calculated. "It would be faster to wait for winter and open all the windows. What we need is a way to get cold air around the castle rather than waiting for it to move on it's own." She closed her eyes and sighed. Modern buildings were full of pipes and at the push of a button hot or cold air traveled from place to place, but this building wasn't modern and had stood empty for a century and a half. Without much hope of a positive answer she asked, "How do you move air around this place?"

"Ohohhmrow" Bambi groans as the spider is finally asleep or dead.  Pulling the body of the spider off her neck and throw it far away from her, which just happens to be into the main study area of the library were Mel and the others are talking...

Bambi flops back down on the floor and groans again after the effort to throw the spider away.  Hearing the others, she is not sure if she should be disappointed that her friends didn't come looking for her, or check the library, the last place she was in.

PBH opens one eye to see Gina was safe and somehow glowing.  She smiles a small smiles before she closes her eyes tight against the aches and pains of her neck and body. 

"Grroan" PBH

PBH

Stygian looked up again, glancing over the ceiling as if one might see the air running through the place, or perhaps the ventilation, with one's bare eyes.
   "The place has central heating, as far as I know. I guess that's how the spiders crawled to the top floor so fast..." he muttered. "If we could imbue some water vapor with the right magic and properties and send it through the ventilation, we could use it as a conduit to channel away the energy and chill down the whole place, like a large icebox. That would let us trap the bugs and frost them down." He tapped his temple a bit, as seemed his habit when thinking. "I suppose that would require a complex circle too, but really, all we should need that's of any significance is elemental expertise with water and cold. When we're done, we can turn the water back to vapor instantly. It's not a hard alchemical reaction."
   The bat traced a finger over the arm of his chair, drawing an imaginary magical circle with the claw of his index finger.

 Cog sighed and nodded at Mel's words, his expression nonplussed. He'd expected as much, but such things could not be avoided. Short of truly epic ice spells, it was the best they could expect.
As Sebastian spoke, however, his expression brightened, and he nodded at his comments, standing and returning to the shelves as he continued to peruse his book. "That might indeed work...it would cool the castle relatively quickly, too. Wouldn't require a very much power..." he said, nodding his head. "Brilliant. Nicely done." he said, making a very shallow bow to the bat. He was still quite irritated with him, but the bat was participating. No matter how much it felt like pulling teeth to get him there.
He placed the book back on the shelf and began walking down the stacks again, addressing Mel. "Do you think you can do that? You are our resident master of ice, after all..." He turned again to Sebastian. "We do have all the goodies needed for alchemical processes, yes? Mercury, truesilver, all that good stuff?"
Taking down another book, he flipped through a few pages and muttered under his mouth. "Let's hope none of the reagents need to be fresh..."

Mel thought again about the sheer size of the castle. Even if it was just air they had to chill it was still a lot of cold air. And there were places without ventilation that spiders could hide in. They were going to have to overshoot the spider's fatal temperature by quite a bit to make sure all corners were saturated. "It's still more than I have ever tried to cool at once. I'm not sure."

Stygian snorted. He looked around at all the books in the library, the sketches of magical circles, a piece of intricate brass-like equipment standing on a table, the candles, the magical books opened and laying over tables and floor...
   "Well, that's really understandable, from an elemental specialist," he said so sarcastically that it sounded as if he really meant it. He had noticed that she had gotten quite a lot of what these books had said earlier. "How old did you say you were again? I thought dragons were meant to be powerful." He sighed a bit, and then moved over to a table, getting a paper and a book, and then going over to start writing down some starting calculations for the spell in the doorway.

 Cog raised an eyebrow and slammed his book closed, a little dust flying into his face. He stared holes into the Bat from where he stood, his gaze hidden from behind his shades. He has the nerve to criticize Mel, when it took near death to get him here?, he thought, finding himself growing yet more irritated at the bat.
"You're hardly in a position to criticize. At least she's willing to try." he said, his voice tense.  "She does what she can. Hardly that much could be said for you."

"I know my limits, wolf. And I try not to push those of others, unless it's needed. You could perhaps use a lesson in that..." the bat commented back, deceptively coldly. "I know I'm not the most likeable of people, but at least I try not to let my temper get the best of me. If I didn't..." He clenched his hand a bit, then looked back to his book. "I don't know if your vaunted swordsman's calm is holding up. You seem to be demanding things of me that you neither have the right to ask, nor I the obligation to fulfil," he murred. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with me at all."

"Goh ah Gohess!!" shouts Bambi as she walks using the bookcases for support   PBH slowly comes out from behind the books into the front of library.... Bambi looks like death warm over.

"Sop Sop pit" says PBH and points a finger at the Wolf.   "Oh Grrr"... Bambi is breathing hard and looking angry and frustrated..  After a moment, Bambi goes to Mel and takes her hand and flats it between her own hands and then moves her bottom hand over her top one with an air space between as she pushes Mel's white hand down so that Mel's hand is one floor down.  PBH repeats this hand sandwhich but keeps move Mel's hand lower each time.

PBH looks into Mel's eyes, to see if she understands.

PBH

Jeremiah finally entered the library, having spaced out for a bit. Something was odd. His curse was being quieter than he was used to. No matter. He noticed Bambi's frantic motioning, remembering right before he was about to comment that something had messed with her ability to speak which makes it easier for her to lie, don't you forget. They'll lie just like the frog did all the time to protect himself.
"Erm... Something about kindergarden? Patty cake?" Jeremiah hazarded, "No. Something about Mel and... Layers? Ice and layers. You want an ice cream sandwich? No, wait..." He continued to guess. He had an idea of what she meant but for some reason knew it would be a bad idea to betray the spiders and couldn't tell them.

 Cog frowned and paused for a moment, opening and reading his book to buy a few moments of time while he digested what the bat said. After a while he responded, speaking softly as he continued to read.
"I see. So, you just want to be left alone, correct?", he said. He struggled to keep the edge off his tone. "Understandable. Perfectly fine, in point of fact. I usually like a little solitude myself, for the most part. Nothing wrong with that, by any stretch." He continued, and looked up from his book, his eyes gazing over his shades. "But you are lying."
His voice grew terse, and though he was trying to keep a level head, his calm snapped. "You don't want solitude. You don't want to just be 'left alone'. This isn't your place, like you said. Why not leave? No one is stopping you. You kill people? You haven't killed us, despite your 'logic' to the contrary."
He rubbed his neck meaningfully, and his speech began to get caustic. "If you hated us so much, you would have killed me before. You want to be with people. But you won't." he said, practically hissing his next words.
"Because you're afraid. A coward. Afraid of people, because you, or them, would be better off without you."

Aisha's answer to Mel's suggestion that they head for the library was only answered by an agreeing, but exhausted, nod from the panthress.  She did stay on the floor for just a few more moments though, to mentally and physically regain what energy she had lost.  She shivered a little in the lingering chill of the room, pulling the cape around herself and recalling more of the events that passed.

It sickened her to think about how a mere spider had easily taken the huntress under control...a spider that most likely was perfectly designed to do such a thing, but nevertheless she cursed her inability to have sensed it coming.  The panthress cursed until she ran out of words, and then finally recalled the idea that started the whole thing.  And judging from Keaton's countenance--everyone's really--she wasn't the only one itching for justice.  She's dead...if EVER we see that spider-girl again...DEAD...

Then, Aisha realized she was getting caught in anger again and took a few deep breaths to get out of it, instead getting to her feet again and starting to follow along to the library.  She felt her limbs warming up a little bit as soon as they reached it.

Along the way though, she glanced to Gareeku and paused, pulling her torn sleeve back up to her shoulder with her other hand.  What sickened her most of all was that she might have succeeded in putting the same mind-losing fate to him, or to others.  And would have hurt him trying.

"...I'm sorry..." she muttered quietly to the wolf, ears pinned back to her head while looking him in the eyes.  In the long run it wasn't her fault, but she still felt it needed to be said.

Leaning against the wall just outside of the entrance to the library, Gareeku pondered the events which had not long occured. It seemed his paranoia had proven to be correct, yet he still hurt him to act that way to someone he cared deeply for. There was also the matter of the spider woman. If he ever came across her again, he would make her pay, that was for sure.

It was then that, out of the corner of his eye, Gareeku saw Aisha approaching. Watching her apologise, the wolf looked back in her crimson eyes, a soft gentle smile on his face as he gently put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't be." he replied reassuringly. "You weren't yourself."

Mel looked at Bambi and at the charades she was playing. "Are you trying to tell me that cold air sinks?" She stared at the hands. She knew she was small and weak, but did she really come across as so backwards that she didn't know the basics of her element? Mel pulled her hands away. Every magic user in the room was judging her inadequate. "Yes. Um...thanks." She started backing out of the room. "I'll go find... stuff... stuff that we need. I can do that."

She managed to escape the room at a dignified walk, but once outside she wondered what she would do with herself. Nothing involving magic, obviously. Mel wandered a bit, it was pretty lowering to discover that even non-dragons equated her small size with small worth. She eventually found herself on the floor with the bedrooms and passed a door that belonged to a storeroom, by the cedar smell. She decided to look for coats and gloves. Unless the others wanted to sit in the garden for hours they would need them.

Before Gareeku could say anything more, he looked up and saw Mel leave the library, walking past Aisha and himself. What was worrying, however, was the look on her face. It was one of sadness, one of...almost feeling alone...

Looking back at Aisha, the wolf had a look of concern on his face.
"I'm gonna go check it out." he said to her, not minding if the pantheress followed her, though he wouldn't blame her if she didn't, considering what she had just been through. Following the dragon through the house into the part where the bedrooms were situated, Gareeku watched as she stopped at a particular door, before heading after her. Looking in, the wolf found the room to be a storeroom, and it could be seen that Mel was looking for coats.
"Mel..." the wolf said quietly. He wasn't the best when it came to talking to people. He always had that diffifculty, at least he though so anyway. "...is something wrong? You seem down..."

As the group walked to the library, Keaton remained utterly silent, drawn in on herself with arms crossed and wings folded, shielding the bruised spot on her back where she had felt the pressure on it before. A lugubrious air surrounded Keaton's sulking form, exuding from every pore and slouch in her usually confident posture. Within her mind she was cursing up a storm; promising herself that the spider-woman behind their manipulation would be crushed beneath her heel and have her wretched soul devoured.

She wouldn't be the first person Keaton had condemned to waste away.

A wicked, corrupted grin briefly tugged at the edge of Keaton's lips as they entered the library. Professor Hunnydew had also been afflicted by the spider, apparently, and had been rendered incapable of interacting with them verbally. As Bambi relied on hand gestures to communicate, Keaton could only stare in confusion at her earnest efforts to convey her feelings. The milky-scaled dragon turned away and departed the library the next moment, leaving Keaton to stare after her with increasing befuddlement.

Keaton was as attuned to emotions as her Cubi brethren were--she could tell that Mel wasn't leaving the room in search of something. Fouler emotions had gotten the best of the benevolent dragon, but Keaton wasn't entirely sure what. Perhaps it was stress, or self-doubt? Parasitic feelings they were, responsible for the downfall of many a person's confidence and self-esteem. Gareeku seemed to notice it as well, as he followed Mel next.

Keaton sighed and turned to Bambi, deciding that she would leave consoling Mel to Gareeku. He seemed like a level-headed individual and would likely reassure her properly.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Bambi signs sadly, She didn't get her point across.....Shaking her head "NO nO",  Bambi gathered stack of 5-7 books and puts one book binding up like a V roof.  She hits the top flat book with her flat hand and then moves to next book down and then the next book.  and then the next one.  Knocking the "roof" she motions and blows across the whole surface of the top book and again hits each book down the stack.  

But Mel didn't stay to get it.  So, she signs and follows the dragon a small pace behind her and She see the dragon is sad, but not why... She motions Aisha to follow and see that Gareeku is already following some distance behind the dragon.  Bambi can only nod or shake her head to any questions.  So, she stays silent, and looks worried after the dragon.

Bambi doesn't stop at the door but continues following Mel into storage room.  She hugs Mel when she see the coats and starts gathering the winter stuff.   Bambi purrs at the fur coats.  Bambi stops and looks worried and encourging at Mel when she hears Gareeku ask his question.

PBH  

Hearing Gareeku's reply to her apology, Aisha had a soft smile of her own.  She was relieved that he wasn't angered, and more so that the hold had been stopped before it could spread...she certainly owed him in part for that.  "Yes...but I'm just glad you were able to see through it," the panthress replied, laying her hand on his arm.

Before anything more could be said, she too noticed Mel exiting the library, and also looking rather disturbed, with a mute-stricken Bambi following close behind.  With a concerned look of her own, she nodded to the wolf and watched him follow the dragon, pausing for a moment before deciding to go as well...there was most likely nothing much else to do in the library except to sit around and come up with a solution again...and the huntress didn't feel like sticking around by herself, nor letting her friends out of her sight.

Once they found where Mel was, Aisha leaned on the doorway and listened for the dragon's reply as Gareeku asked her what was wrong.  There was a slight quirk of an eyebrow in thought.  I hope nobody's judging her again.  Sebastian did that enough already.

Jeremiah simply found a chair to sit down in while he thought. He wasn't about to offer a suggestion against the spiders. Every time he tried to think of one it would just slip away anyway. So he'd need an excuse to get away from the rest of the group. Some way of getting to the spiders...
"Hey, did we ever check what that bell was earlier?"

Stygian snapped. That coward thing again! Why was he so bloody blinded?! His face froze for a second, and he growled something, but paid mind to let Mel walk out before he opened his mouth again. She was discomforted, and the smell of it stood rank in his nostrils.
   "Well better that than a bloody inconsiderate idiot who can barely control himself and who still never comes off his fucking high horses!" he snarled once she had left, slapping the table in front of Cog hard and glaring at him fiercely from under his brows. "I don't hate you. I never asked anything from you, or tried to hurt you, but still you treat me like shit." By the last word, he grabbed the wold by the collar and pulled him in, staring into his eyes and baring his teeth. "At least I'm trying to go away and not bother anyone!"
   The bat then pushed Cog away, and then followed an uncomfortable silence, where Stygian averted his eyes and stared into the table hard enough that one almost expected it to crack, and Cogidubnus just peered at him through his glasses with one of those "oh you did not just say that" looks.
   "I see now. Yes, I think I understand perfectly," Cog then said contempsuously, and turned, walking out of the library and against the front entrance. Stygian, in turn, just stood there, then punched the table so that it did crack, and then slumped back into his chair with a hopeless expression.

Mel continued to paw through the coats as everyone showed up at the storeroom. She smiled a bit as found a brilliant red one with black fur that she tossed to Aisha in the doorway.  "Thanks for the concern, but it's nothing I'm not used to. I'm not powerful enough to help with the big magic so I'll help with the little things I can do." She pulled out a shaggy black coat that she started to hand to Bambi before noticing wing holes. She set that one aside for Keaton and handed Bambi the white fluffy coat beside it and an identical smaller one for the ferret, probably originally a mother and daughter set. She hoped no one was allergic to the scent of cedar since everything in here was saturated with the scent after so long.

That covered the females and she turned to the opposite rack and the men's clothing. A heavy fur and quilted coat for the frog. Nice and warm, although she hoped there wouldn't be any need for him to move much as it weighed a ton. "I've always been too little to be much help." She grabbed a couple of fur lined wool in taller sizes for the two downstairs, one charcoal and one black. She didn't know if Sebastian even needed one due to his nature. She had to paw a bit more before finding one that looked like it would fit Gareeku. She held out a rather military looking navy blue with lots of gold buttons and dark fur to him. "I've made myself good at little things that need to get done but the big boys don't think of. Like gloves and hats and boots. Now where would they put accessories?" She spotted built-in drawers at the back of the room and started pulling them open.

Listening to Mel, Gareeku frowned as he watched her collect the coats and hand them out, thanking her as she passed him one of the coats. Stepping forward, the wolf put a hand on her shoulder.
"Listen...you're not a "little person"." the wolf said. He wasn't the greatest at this sort of thing, but he felt he had to say something, and judging from what Mel was saying, it seemed that she had been treated as insignificant in the past. "Trust me when I say that you're as important as any."

Bambi looks though some gloves and hats she found in a chest of drawers in the storeroom...As she listens to Gareeku. Bambi place her hand on Mel, right after Gareeku's words, and smiles at Mel.  Then PBH gathers up as many of the hats and gloves that she can carry along with her own and Gina's coats, heads back to the Library.  Leaving Gareeku alone with Mel and Aisha...

In moments, PBH hurrys into the Library, places her load of hats and gloves on a table and shows off the coats to Gina ...

PBH

Jeremiah quickly wrapped himself in the fur coat over his tweed one when he got it from Mel... and promptly fell over. A thumbs up emerged from somewhere in the pile of cloth; I'm alright! 'Sall good! A laborious journey back to his chair from before, and he simply sank down into the warmth.
... You have work to do....
He wouldn't be able to stay in the warmth for long. Eventually he would have to make his way over to the others while they were working on freezing the castle and disrupt what they were up to. To get there on time, he would have to abandon the coat. He just might freeze to death. There was an instant of worry that the implanted ideas managed to hold down. Things would probably work out. Just had to work with the spiders...

The interloper-thoughts could be considered to have a personality, for a given definition of the term. It had found its way somewhere very, very strange. The part of Jeremiah's mind where the curse and the subconcious both overlapped. It appeared, to the interloper, as a huge city at about midnight. Neon lights, the sounds of people laughing from numerous night clubs, people working in office buildings and living in apartments, and a little to the left of the center of the city a gargantuan casino. The people on the streets were numerous and varied, but there was one common factor. All of them had an only half-there quality to them. Like if you looked away from one, and looked back, they would be different.
The interloper stood on the balcony of a hotel room, the number plaque of which simply said "Yours."

As the coat flew to Aisha, she reached and caught it with one hand in midair, though her eyes still remained on the dragon as she continued to sift through the closet.  The panthress regarded the coat for just a moment, tilting her head and remembering the spiders' suffering of the cold air.  I'm guessing it would be quite unwise to go without this.  But the sooner we rid this place of the vermin, the better.

Listening to Mel's answer, she had to shake her head slightly.  Remembering what she was capable of, Aisha believed that the dragon indeed thought too little of herself.  "Listen to the wolf," Aisha smiled in agreement with Gareeku.  "You've been a wondrous help to us in the castle so far, no matter how little you think your efforts have been."

Sebastian sat in his chair feeling lonely and ashamed for a while, whilst Cogidubnus passed throughout the castle with a scowl and muttering. Both had been hard offended by the other; Sebastian hardly thought Cog could have the right to call him a coward, when he thought he was staying away from people because of pain and their loathing of him, and Cogidubnus had clearly seen Sebastian's meaning that he was an asshole for trying to push people when he himself was cursed and no better. One sat and pondered, while the other walked and pondered, heading out and for the town, it would seem.
   After a while, the bat got up from his seat, having finished his diagram and incantation circle that he had worked on, and forced himself to seek out the others, more specifically Mel. He found her with Aisha and Gareeku in an old storeroom upstairs somewhere, where they all seemed to be going through a few years' supply of clothes and then some.
   As usual, the bat didn't make much notion of arriving, but just stepped silently in around the corner and then positioned himself leaning against a wall with folded arms and watching them until he felt it right to open his mouth. Which wasn't soon. Despite himself, the bat felt a bit flushed and awkward.
   "Hey," he finally said, pretty silently. "I finished that magic circle."

Mel turned back towards the door at the sound of Sebastian's voice. "That's great. I think we're almost done here, as well." She gathered up the pile she had created. "This should make sure no one ends up with frostbite while the spell is working." Almost buried under her burden of coats and other cold weather gear came the muffled question, "Is there anything else we need to find for the ritual? Silver, mercury, rock crystal?"

"Hardly," Sebastian replied as he slowly walked over to the dragon and flipped the paper he had written on, showing the circle to one exposed eye that cornered the heap of clothes that nearly smothered her voice. "Just a whole lot of ice or water, a circle and... that's about it. It's not a complex spell, after all," he said, in an almost suspicious tone. She didn't work that out herself? She hardly seemed stupid, or even mediocre at magic, and this was her field, but still...?
   "Can I carry those for you?" he asked, and didn't really wait before he took over the dragoness' burden, scooping it up in arms much more suited for that task and putting his chin down on top of the pile to hold it. He thumbed out the sketch of the circle under it in his right hand and turned it over toward her.
   "Let's get started on this," he said, with as little tone as he could manage.

Mel looked at the paper she'd been handed as she followed Sebastian. So simple? She would never have gotten this, she had been making it unnecessarily complicated, fooled that the size of the spell increased the complexity of the spell. It was nothing but a children's spell on a grand scale. Increasingly disheartened she asked, "Has Cogi gone to start preparations on the ventilation system?"

The question had to come. But Sebastian still didn't like it, and he folded his ears a bit and made a sad expression, muttering something between his teeth as he walked out the door and admitted Mel past.
   "No. He went somewhere else. Hid somewhere or went out. I don't know," he said lowly and looked serious. "We disagreed quite a lot, and we sort of both lost it." That was about true, though not entirely from the bat's perspective. More prone to sadness than anger, he most often blamed himself, as in this case.
   "I was thinking that we should do it in the boiler room. It's spacious and at the centre of the ventilation," he then said, starting to walk slowly and wanting quite a lot to change the topic.

Bambi, who was enjoying the new coats with Gina in the Library, was slowly growing sad as her own curse continued to be a problem for her even with the simplest things....

"I feel like a blind kitten stuggling to get the most basic words out or toddler" thought Bambi

Gina could see Bam's dark depressed on her face, and trys to comfort, then Bambi brighten suddenly and jumps up quick searchs the bookshelves of the library.  There in a bright corner of the library with a few chairs, she finds the children's books.  Bambi grab a few picture books and an ABC book.   She runs back to Gina with her picture books and demanding and begging Gina to read to her.   

So Snuggled in a big chair in the main study area of the Library, Bambi and Gina are "read" the words, match the picture and letters.

"Dee   D-agg-gone?" questions Bambi     "Dragon"said Gina   "Dragggonnn" said Bambi as she traces the word under the picture.

"ah   CCCAT   N   aaah   Heyt.....  FFFOs  in a  goxxx" said Bambi    "Box " said Gina 
"Oh"   "BE  bee Ba   Box" said Bambi    This is slow  but the words stayed once she remembered them. 

She points to herself with a winter hat on her head and "a cat n Heet?" said Bambi   Gina can't help but laugh...."no no a hat"

Aisha had only stood to watch for a moment before hearing Sebastian coming up, casting a curious glance his way as she listened to the procedure they were coming up with for making the castle into a frigid environment.  The panthress was silent, having nothing to say about the methods, but only hoping that they would work.

Clutching the coat that she was given, she pushed away from the doorway and waved casually after the dragon and bat as they walked off.  "I would wish you good luck on the ventilation, but I'm certain it's not needed," she chuckled quietly.

She then turned back to Gareeku with a smile.  "I don't know about you, but I might as well go watch over our comrades left in the library.  Who knows how many of those things are left crawling around," Aisha said in a light shudder.  Should that happen to me again I might become arachnophobic myself.  The panthress started to walk out, heading back through the corridors to the entrance of the grand room.

The bat paced on with his burden, keeping silent and heading down stairways, first the main circular ones and then, once he and the dragoness had entered the service section of the castle, a broad set behind a pair of heavy doors. A short hallway led to them, and darkened considerably the closer they went. The hard, unpainted walls began to glisten, the stone wet in humid and cold air that pressed in as much as the looming darkness. Stygian descended the stairs without problem, the darkness better for his senses than light, and then stopped halfway to look up at Mel, who was having trouble seeing. His eyes cast back the tiny light there was magnified through his pupils, their points glowing eerily at the little dragon.
   "Slow steps. You can walk in a forest with your eyes closed. Stairs are thesame," he said, waiting and stepping out a bit into the middle of the stairs in case she should fall.
   Once down safely, Sebastian drew out and dusted off a bench, and placed the clothes down on it. He looked around, taking in the place more by feeling and hearing it than seeing. It was large, open and mostly empty. A snap with his fingers lit lamps that had stood for centuries, some of them dimming out as soon as they had lit but most keeping the flame and casting an appropriately dim light over the place. A huge furnace, pipes and mechanisms surrounding the hearth and the boiler behind and atop it, sat against one of the walls, furthest from the doors that led around and behind the whole contraption and into other service rooms, its large iron-barred front hatch seeming a dark maw of black metal in front of which some coal and dirt lay strewn about. The walls were clean and solid, the only other things in the place a cooled air intake and a hatch through which coal was to be taken for the furnace, and two benches. It was a pretty cozy place, Sebastian thought. He could imagine the smell once the furnace was burning. That would have to happen some other time though, beside this one. They couldn't spare time to watch the thing. Or rather, they didn't want to. Individual furnaces in the rooms would have to do.
   "Right. This will do perfectly," the chiropteran said, eyeing the ducts and pipes leading up into the castle through the ceiling. He moved to the centre of the floor and looked around him, and then made a sweeping motion with his hands, the floor cleaning off from beneath him and out as he did.


Upstairs, Jeremiah suddenly became aware of motion at the corner of his eye. Though he couldn't turn much, bundled up as he was, the frog still tried and moved his head around to look at what it had been that had caught his attention. And he saw quite quickly, oddly enough. A spider, the spider, about the size of a large bundled fist, was lowering itself down from the roof and down onto the table before him. He knew, somehow, that it was the same one that had attatched to him earlier.
   The little arthropod's claws clacked just slightly as its outstretched legs touched the table and it released the string of web it had held, the silk somehow curling up and elastically bounding back up into the roof where it began dissolving, before it snuck over the table and then positioned itself before him. Then it held, and stopped still, regarding him with its eyeless gaze. It was tense, knowing that he might do something unpredictable, but he didn't seem terrified, and if it had made its point earlier...

While the intruder's thoughts were potent in their own right, they couldn't compel Jeremiah to let such a thing back onto his neck. He HATED being controlled. However, Plic had recently figured out a new trick.
Slowly, as if unused to having a voice, something spoke from within the frog. The voices of Plic, Cab, the Specter, and Nex. Three personae that believed the spider useful for their own goals.
"Until we find a better," They said, turning Jeremiah's head to the side to reveal his neck. Something else watched the spider from behind those eyes, studying.

Mel looked around at the furnace room. It was large, plenty of room for what they needed, and amazingly clean and neat. Whomever had been in charge of the mechanical systems of the buildings had loved his work. If the size and number of the pipes was any indication this system covered a majority of the castle. She peeped through the doors leading out of the room. The second one she investigated was the pump room so they had access to water. All they needed was to get started. She turned back to the center of the room and began working.

The spider didn't respond immediately, but chittered something, and then crawled up Jeremiah's side, slipping into the scruff of his neck and then seating itself down just at the bottom of it at his back, connecting itself to him. The familiar presence and the spider's control took hold, and two more of the little creatures soon joined it in the frog's clothes. Now, he just had to go find the others and lay low, and stay warm. The only place that was going to do so was probably where they pulled off the actual spell. Sadly, he probably wouldn't have time to get the other spiders out there with him, but...


Stygian had already gotten down to marking out the circle on the floor properly. The rough stone seemed to glow dimly from inside somehow as he wove trails of foggy symbols and geometric patterns through the air with his fingers. He knelt down and touched the lines chalked on the floor, and immediately a frosty layer of ice formed on them, which would act as conductor for the spell. Fog rolled a bit over the floor.
   "Right there. That's what I can do. Now, we need your power and feeling to activate it, and it should all work out on its own. I'll just guide if it needs to be done," he said, sitting down on the floor in one half of the circle and crossing his legs. He didn't expect she'd need much help. It was pretty follow-through, even if it was a multiple-stage spell.

Mel stepped carefully into her half of the circle, making sure that the full skirts of her borrowed dress didn't brush away any of the markings. The next bit was the easiest, calling up the frigid mists they needed. It was a like a child picking up a her favorite blanket, to wrap the comforting cold fog around herself then down into the circle. She felt the magic grab the ice and the spell come to life. She tried not to smile, but the idea of the castle full of ice made her think of home.

Blowing wind, and loose grass.

That, was what comprised the outskirts of the town. It was a stark contrast with the  feel of the Castle, that place of darkness and stone, the town was warm and bright, if a little sleepy. Cog had made his way there quite soon after leaving the library. The afternoon felt hot, and lazy, and Cog was glad have left that cursed place atop the hill. He had gotten Sebastian's point - the bat wanted to be left alone. So Cog would go, and that was that. It pained him greatly. He wasn't completely sure why.
In some ways, Cog could hardly believe himself. He wasn't the type to interfere with people, usually. He'd watch someone destroy themself before trying to interfere with them, unless he was asked otherwise. Their business was their business, and as he was now keenly aware, he did indeed have no right to tell them otherwise. So, why now?
His anger at Sebastian's words and actions was astounding, to him - anger, was a very foreign emotion to Cog. Rage, yes, but simply being angry was strange for him. It was a tribute that Sebastian had managed to get under his skin this much. People were people, Cog had usually thought, and he was content to usually ignore the bastards and enjoy the nice ones. Sebastian wasn't even a bastard. But, something about him, his accursed refusal to...
Cog growled in his throat and kicked a nearby can, the aluminum tube clattering into a brick wall. He harumphed and walked past it without a second thought, searching for somewhere to find a drink. He wasn't too worried about lodging. He did plan on returning to the castle, if only for a bed.
But he'd had to leave. That much had been made clear.

He walked through the town with an air of melancholy. It seemed to hover about him, practically advertising his bad mood – Cog somewhat hoped it would buy him find a little solitude, and the people of the town seemed well content to let him have it, excepting for a very few brave or overly curious ones. A few asked where he'd come from, or if he'd seen someone in the big castle on the hill. A few moments of silence from Cog, and a hard stare, however, would usually unnerve them to the point of leaving. For the really stubborn ones, a simple no sufficed to get his point across.
Finally, he'd found the place he was looking for. Perhaps not the nicest establishment he had ever seen, but it was dark inside, and it was mostly deserted. It took him only a few moments to find a drink and a table.

And left to himself, Cog wondered why exactly that damn bat bothered him so much.

"Right then. Let's get this over with. The others will probably realize once the temperature starts dropping..." Stygian chuckled, and then slapped his hands together. Then he placed them on the circle on the floor, and closed his eyes. Immediately, the air and mist started whirling, and crystals of forming ice glinted in it.
   It was only the beginning of the ritual, and not really part of it, but the other people of the castle didn't seem to quick on the uptake, so...
   "We will begin freezing the castle now. Everyone who doesn't want to become a popsicle, please vacate the castle and come to the boiler room," the bat spoke out loud, and the wind carried his words along out through the castle by air ducts and corridors. Then, he looked up at Mel, as if to ask and ascertain that his little intervention hadn't caused any trouble with the spell.


The town wasn't large, not by normal standards, but it was healthy and well-grown from many good years. Most people that lived in Arrien either worked not far off, as the place lay quite close to a railway station, despite the place's mountaineous location, or they worked in the town itself. The place was a prosperous-looking concentration of houses, most in mildly Neo-Gothic or near-Tudor style, around a main square with a statued fountain, a town hall and a manor a bit off into a park that spread off the outskirts to the south of the town. A not-so-large but tall church chimed its bells softly as the wolf paced against what was familiar near to the point of instinct to any adventurer; a tavern, three-storied and set to the side of the square.
   Inside, the tavern was as dimly lit, cozy and still as one might expect, and the wolf seemed to have no trouble fitting in among the few patrons. No one seemed to have gotten word that he had come down from the castle, or at least not yet, which was probably good. Some people had given him odd stares as he walked into town.

Hearing the Bat's call from the boiler room,  Bambi and Gina garther ups their coats and stuff and Bambi grabs some new picture books and leaving the other books behind as they head to the Grand Entrance Hall....

"Great, The boiler room... We don't know where the Boiler room is, but we can leave for a bit. If we can get the bat to help to us to locate it." thought PBH.

PBH

Jeremiah finished pulling up the collar of his coat over the spider and did as asked, immediatly forgetting his newfound hitchhikers. So much to be done...

Meanwhile, deep in Jeremiah's subconscious, the little spider jacked into his nervous system experienced something perculier. It was in Jeremiah's conscious mind, yes, and it also knew it was somewhere in the small of the frog's back. However, it also knew it was in a third place, replacing the thoughts it had left behind in Jeremiah's head.
It was seated at a table with four creatures. A green feathered gryphon (class B) whose overall manner was best described as twitchy sat with her front claws folded on the table, one talon tapping a tuneless tattoo on the tabletop. To her left sat an leonine angel, dressed and groomed to in every way resemble a king. To the left of the gryphon was an undead doberman woman, in every way the example of a well preserved and severe individual, barely touched by her condition save for her slightly sunken eyes and gaunt, angular appearance. She wore what looked to be whatever she had been buried in, equally untouched by time. The room was barely large enough for the table and chairs, its sole furniture, but one individual had chosen to stand. A fellow hidden by a cloak, playing with a little marionette of a frog and giggling to itself. Every so often, it would remove part of the marionette and replace it with another piece from somewhere within its cloak.
All three personae looked at the spider-mind in a manner best described as expectation.

Aisha hadn't stayed for too awful long in the corridors near the library, where she suspected many of the others still were.  Along the way, the panthress felt it wise to put the coat on, first having untied her cape in the process.  It's a time like this that I think I shouldn't have been born a jaguar, she thought idly to herself.  Dealing with the cold was never something she liked, although Aisha usually could do so with a natural winter climate in her usual clothes.  Nothing like a polar winter...which she figured was akin to what would happen to the castle, purely on a guess.

As she figured, the felid glanced into the library only to run into Gina and Bambi, and perhaps Jeremiah and Keaton still hung around as well.  Gareeku she either thought had followed Mel and Sebastian to the boiler room, or had come with her.  And Cogi was nowhere to be seen, but knowing him, he must have been safely placed.  Before she had a chance to speak up, Aisha's ears perked, hearing the bat's warning from somewhere in the house.

"Vamos, chicos y chicas (let's go, boys and girls)," Aisha said in a call for attention, pointing a thumb down the corridor.  "You heard him."  Making sure that everyone who was coming was behind or nearby her, she started to discern the direction from memory on where Sebastian and Mel had moved, and quickly.  Aisha could already feel the house growing cold...whether or not it was by her imagination, she slipped the cape back around her shoulders and the hood over her head while walking.

Standing back and listening to the others converse, Gareeku then followed Aisha as she looked for the others. Not really understanding what Aisha said when she spoke in her native tongue, the wolf assumed that she had suggested they leave.
"Better do what she says. You don't want to get on the wrong side of this kitty." Gareeku commented jokingly, grinning at the pantheress before following her as she began walking again.

Bambi is so overjoyed to see Aisha and Gareeku, that she squeals and just stops short of hugging Gareeku.  Yet, she quickly looks worried as she says "Cog go, not home!...no Frog,  Frog not here"  and she starts to look around for the succubus... "C  dU headwingy?" she askes as she starts to put Gina's coat and then her coat on as the castle's temperatures start to drop. 

PBH

Mel nodded at Sebastian that the spell was coming along fine. The freezing mist was whirling faster, a vortex of finely misted water and supercooled air combining into a glaze of ice. As the guide she started the upwards movement, through the ductwork into the rooms and outward to every corner of the massive structure.

Keaton was spending her solitary time in the library in relative silence. Even Bambi Hunnydew had gone to comfort Mel in some form, leaving only Keaton in the library. Deciding that it was best to leave Mel's consolation up to those who knew her best, Keaton took her seat in one of the armchairs which hadn't been turned over during the dragon's previous rampage and set to playing with her marble again, watching the tiny globe soar in the air over and over. Before the sloping shadows cast along the floor, a deep, black pit formed itself, seething and writhing with barely-contained tendrils of misty darkness.

Keaton had been keeping an eye on it for a little bit after realizing that this was the same event which occurred during the fight with the Archangel, after which Catastrophe reappeared. Sure enough, the mace completed reforming itself and hovered over to her, still exuding palpable waves of darkness. Keaton accepted the mace, weighing it in her palm and pocketing her marble.

She wasn't sure how it was capable of doing that. Perhaps it was the soul contained within it's link to her own body. Then why she hadn't learned of this secret ability's effects hundreds of years ago was beyond her.

When the group returned, Keaton craned her head lazily around, head-wings and ears perked. "Ah, welcome back," she said languidly, observing as Bambi stockpiled the coats and gloves she had gathered from the closet on the table, returning to her ferret friend (Keaton was starting to wonder if something rather interesting happened between those two).

When the temperature began to drop and Stygian's voice was heard resonating through the air, Aisha was quick to order everyone out of the room. Keaton didn't need to be told twice. Her clothing, scanty and promiscuous as it was, was more suited for her strange brand of fashion than any form of insulation, and frankly, Keaton hated the cold. Scooping up a coat (a nice black one), Keaton hastily slipped it on, picking up her mace and resting it against her shoulder. She followed the group, hugging her bosom with her free arm.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

"Damn straight," Aisha laughed in reply to Gareeku's statement and playfully punched his shoulder, as the others fell into line behind the panthress and started walking along.  She was glad at least that the attitude had risen to a small level of humor, despite the recent traumas with the spiders.  Though she was still sickened by the thought of what it had done, rarely did the huntress let things get to her.

And with the temperature lowering slowly but steadily, she also knew that their retribution would be gained soon enough.  The smirk had turned into a grim one, imagining the vermin freezing solid, one by one, trying in vain to endure the conditions before knowing that they would already be dead...that very visual was imagined the moment she was freed.

She paused, gaining a quick headcount.  Everyone had made themselves known except for Jeremiah.  Working together, with the group walking briskly along, nobody was going to be lost.  Just in case though, Aisha shouted out, "boiler room, anyone we're missing!  Move it!" and quickened her pace.

They found the pathway easily enough, thinking of directions...though it was common sense to just move down stairs wherever they found them.

As Mel kept feeding the spell upwards and outwards throughout the grand building a part of her was aware that they had gained an audience. She was too busy to count noses but it seemed as if everyone was gathered in the furnace room. She couldn't even spare the concentration to nod at them as she monitored the movement of the cold, it seemed to be taking forever. It felt as if she had fed an entire glacier to the castle one ice crystal at a time before she reached the correct temperature throughout. Now she just had to hold it here for a few minutes, long enough to kill any remaining spiders.

The air of the entire castle seemed to take on an entirely different character, even visibly. Chill clung to walls and stiffened carpets, made chandeliers clink and glass and metal surfaces frost, small crackles the only sound about. The floors iced over in some places, and throughout the whole place, chill air moved down, eerily silently turning the castle into a giant icebox. The spell was somewhat strenuous, but without the convenience of its design, one could have struggled to freeze the castle completely and failed quite a long way from getting anywhere near done.
   And the place stayed cold. Only the initial ring pattern of the circle on the floor stayed active, glowing a glacier-ice blue and slowly moving about, two rings rotating slowly inside each other along with the symbols on their outside, which intermittingly formed complex signs that flashed and stayed for a second before moving on. The air was still and terribly cold, even though the air in the big underground room and at the heart of the spell was warmer than anywhere else. The adventurers had to seal up all the cracks in their clothes as well as they could to keep the heat from leaking out and that deadly cold from seeping in. It was almost irritating how Mel and Stygian could both sit right in the middle of the circle, icy mist surrounding them and frost clinging to both their forms, seemingly without minding.
   Then, after what had seemed quite a long time in that deadly chill, the bat finally moved.
   "I think that's enough. Time for the next part now," he said. Slowly, he spread his hands, and placed them on the seal on the ground. And then, a third circle appeared, inside the other two, building on their pattern. The three started moving, rotating around each other in their own directions and speeds, interacting with and completing each other where they needed. And so was the spell that they formed. It wasn't three separate spells; Mel could tell quite well. But it was like someone had made three different layers of the spell, which the circles represented, and pieced them on or inside each other and made them move about, making them interlock at places to trigger the right responses, like a clockwork mechanism. And together with the external manipulation, that made for a working result that could not be described as anything short of... beautiful.
   Fire suddenly ignited in the furnace, and leapt out in a swirl around the dragon and the bat, taking its place in the ritual. It moved around them, but did not touch them directly, instead making its way into the spell and taking its place in it, replacing the water with flames and hot gases, and rushing out into the already streaming spell and air. It gripped the water and the cold, exponished and drove it out, sweeping through corridors and walls alike and heated the place up in a near-silent storm, the only sound the crackling of the flames and ashes around Mel and Sebastian on the floor, at the heart of it.
   And then, it was snuffed out, the last light of flames rushing away into the air ducts before dissappearing entirely, along with the now orange-glowing circles that had finally stopped, locking with each other completely before they faded. The wind stopped, and then there was only the crackling of the furnace.

   Sebastian made a small shuffling sound as he got to his feet, but no more, and then brushed himself off and straightened his clothes.
  "Right. Then, we're done here. Thank you for the help, miss Icewing," he said, quite formally, and stepped up to her. "If there is anything you want to ask, please just seek me out later. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
   With that, the bat paced off and up the stairs, and away before anyone had a chance to hinder him. Soon, he was going down the front entrance stairs instead, having disguised himself and put on a t-shirt and jacket, and heading for town. The sun was still up, so he was squinting quite hard, and immediately stuck to the shadows behind buildings as he entered Arrien and headed for the one place that he knew Cog would be in.

Jeremiah waddled into the boiler room, quite thoroughly enveloped in his heavy fur coat to keep out the lethal cold. He simply nodded to Mel as he entered and found a corner to sit down in and stay warm. No expending any energy he didn't have to, just sit and collect heat.

Downing yet another glass of whiskey, Cog slammed it back down on the counter and ordered up another, already on his second of the day. Cog found himself drinking a lot lately, and it was somewhat bothering him. Adventurers who became drunks seldom lived very long, and drunk swordsmen even less.
   It bothered him yet more that he barely cared. He was about to order up another when yet another patron entered the tavern, letting in the bright, bothersome afternoon sun for a moment. He turned to see a single blond-colored fox walk in, dressed in a simple ensemble of a t-shirt and pants. He turned disinterestedly back to his drink.
   To his surprise, the fox walked up beside him and sat, tapping his finger on the bar for a drink. Cog turned to regard the fox yet again before suddenly jerking and drawing back, his eyes narrowing. He recovered quickly, leaning back forward his face falling somewhat. He sighed and took a drink.
"Didn't expect I'd ever see you again." he said after taking a long swallow. He peered at Sebastian out of the corner of his eyes. "I'm somewhat at a loss as to why you're here too. I thought you wanted to be left alone." he said, his voice not-quite devoid of sadness.

The fox, somewhat smaller than Stygian normally was and dressed in a bit of orange too instead of just black like usual, twitched his ears and then laid them back a bit. He didn't say anything until he got his drink, at which point he swept down half the glass and sighed out, and then muttered as he spoke.
   "Couldn't very well let you go. You might still have a spider on you," he gruffed and rolled his eyes, and it was clear to see what he thought of that excuse. "I really can't let you leave just like that. You understand, don't you?" That one though, could have meant anything.
   The 'fox' sat there for a while, his straight and slimmed muzzle pointing down under his slim glasses right into the glass before him. He emptied it, sighed, ordered up another and seemed more pondering what to say than hesitant to say it.
   "There are several reasons why I couldn't let you leave. But you're right. Not about the 'coward' thing, but about me..." he finally said, then stopped. "I'm a monster, but I still want to be a person. And I do want... people around. Or at least Hell, after a century and a half..."
   He stopped and his face saddened, his gaze forward and not meeting Cog's. People were looking at them a bit, casting disconcerned glances, but no one had come in yet, and the bar was still as calm as ever.
   "I thought you were offended. And that you despise me."

Mel got to her feet with less grace than Sebastian. She nodded politely when he spoke to her but couldn't really attend to what he was saying before he disappeared. All she could think about was sleep. Her few minutes of napping between research the night before really hadn't been that refreshing and the deficit had caught up to her with a vengeance. Stumbling a bit over her own feet Mel turned a yawn into a smile at the rest of the party. "I think I'll skip lunch and go for a nap. Those library chairs are comfortable, but really don't make great beds. I'll see you around dinner time."

Upon that announcement  Mel climbed first the basement stairs, then the grander set up to the second floor. Finding a room that appeared unclaimed by any of the others she barely managed to get her borrowed shoes off and the room temperature lowered to a comfortable level before curling up on top of the covers still dressed and falling asleep.

Bambi waves to the dragon, saying " Nighty nighty"  As she and Gina headed to the door ...

"Go to Get Snack or  Foooot? Come on" calls out PBH as she waves to the rest of the group to heads to the kitchen to see if there was any food stuff to cook.

PBH

The panthress had been relieved when the group was finally within the boiler room, the surroundings somewhat warmer with the rest of them there, although the idea of just how cold the castle was could be felt easily.  Aisha leaned against a part of the wall, simply watching the process unfold before them, and conducted rather fluently and smoothly with the bat and dragon working it.

As the air grew colder, even in the room where they were safe from the dramatic changes upstairs, Aisha seemed to shrink into the coat while her cape was wrapped around her drawn-up knees.  The only part left exposed to the air was her tail, and that was enough to make her shiver as it curled back into the cloak.  How is anyone prepared for such conditions?  She wondered, staring at Sebastian and Mel while they continued purging the castle of warmth and spiders without a single bit of visible discomfort.  When the warmth returned with the second stage, the panther was able to relax again, at least comforted in the knowledge...or hope...that the vermin were gone.

She hadn't tried to stop Sebastian as he left the group suddenly once more, the task assumed finished.  He has quite a habit of doing that, Aisha thought humorously, but at least for now things were calm enough not to need more help.  Still recovering a little from the chill, the panthress sat comfortably on the floor for a little while, keeping an eye on the others and waving a farewell to the dragon as she was the next to leave.

Her eyes rolled slightly at Bam's insistence on getting out of there too.  Aisha didn't feel like moving immediately, as a felid felt most comfortable where it was warm...but the prospect of lunch was what ordered the panthress to her feet again.  "I hope whatever's left won't have to be chipped out of ice..." she joked, pulling her cowl back and glancing at the others.

Cog gave a somewhat confused look to the fox, his head tilting. A soft grin played across his face. "Despise? No, I think not,", he said, his resolve firming as he grinned. "No, most certainly not. Although, I can understand why you'd think that..."
   He stared at the fox for a few moments before inclining his head towards him, and murming a soft apology. "I spoke rashly, and in anger. I owe you an apology." he said, his face somewhat sour with regret. "My intent was not to make you think I despised you. I...ah...well." he said, taking a slow drink. "I simply could not, and do not, understand you. You're not a coward...but you do run. Away, almost constantly. It vexes me. Perhaps it should not...no, it should not, period. Like you said, I have no right to force you to do anything."
   He removed his glasses, setting them on the counter. Now was not the time to hide behind shaded glass. "I...was offended. It's a testament to you that you can do so. Not many can. And, it's nothing I will hold against you. You were partially right. I don't have any right, even if you do really want to be around people. It's your decision."
   He took another drink, setting the half-empty glass down. He sat quiet for a moment, and leaned back in his chair. "As long as you do want people around, though, I'll be there." he said finally, waiting for the bat to speak.

The castle is a winter wonderland, but the air was above freezing ... Frost and ice gleeming over everything in the sunlight, as it slowly melts.   Bambi looks in wonder at the melting beauty

"ha ha Winter Everywhere, but ...."  says Bambi as she stops in the middle of the  hall and hits her hand to  her front Head... She quickly grabs Aisha arm and pulls the panther to her, and she does a small burn on her neck with a flaming arm spell...When no spider appears...she looks sorry, but says

"Winter everywhere, but on US..."

PBH

The 'fox' snorted and swigged his drink down, slapping the glass on the counter and muttering.
   "Sure. As if that could ever work..." he said, and then put his cheek in his palm, leaning on the counter. Idly, he moved the ice in his glass with a finger. "If you want to keep off that subject, then I'm not going to press you. But as long as it remains significant... Another, please," he said, clearly and aloud. His drink arrived quickly enough, but he sipped this one more carefully, to make it last, staying silent a bit.
   "I suppose you think I should be complimented by your words. Well, you're not entirely wrong there. But the running part..." he grumbled. "I do, but for a reason. And I think you should realize. The name's infamous, after all..." That earned a quick glance from the bartender, and a tough-looking woman over on the corner, but Sebastian ignored them. "You might have heard yourself. There is a reason why I am a monster, and why that's just the way it is. Now, it's nothing that I want to talk about, but..."
   He turned on his chair, and then eyed Cogidubnus very seriously, his face neutral but his eyes intense and glowing in that way that the wolf had seen very well before.
   "I don't demand things of people unless it's business, and never expect, seldom even hope. I play the game by the rules as they are; no holds, all serious and all dangerous. An what's more relevant; I know you can handle yourself, and I do not look down on you. Quite the opposite, in fact. But if you're uncomfortable with me or what I am, then you had better take those words back."
   He almost felt like he should do something for emphasis. But he held, and while he smiled just the smallest bit, his eyes remained as grave as ever.
   "I like you, I'll admit that. You've got fire. But that's all the more reason for me to say this."

Stepping back into the upper reaches of the castle, Aisha was held in slight awe at the appearance of the place.  The temperature had returned to a tolerable level, but the place she had expected to be icy instead appeared as dry as it had been before, the surroundings quiet save for the group's footsteps and voices.  The panthress looked up briefly to glimpse the ceiling, curiously searching for just the slightest bit of moisture.

Having not really listened to Bambi's observations, she was slightly surprised when the fae had grabbed her arm and set a flame near her neck.  The panthress wrenched out of it, burning the base of her neck in the process.  She drew in a hissing breath between her fangs and held her hand to it, shooting the other felid a red-tinged glare.

That didn't last long however, and she just shook her head in a forgiving manner.  "Sorry, but my spider was purged from me quite a while ago," she said with a calm and lightly irritated tone.  "Everyone else too, if you wish to check more."  With that, she resumed her walk through the corridors, briefly snapping the bracer around her wrist so that the healing light magic within could seal the burn.  In minutes she no longer felt it.

Which reminds me, I'll need to thank Sebastian when he returns, too, she thought while trying to find her way through the levels again.

"GRRRRGRRHA!!!"  shouts Bambi...as she stompers  her feet  into the Kitchen.... She goes about inventorying the food stuff to see how she can make of lunch or is it dinner?...Banging pot and pans as she whips up some chicken soup, and hot sandwiches... Another food run maybe well be needed, soon...

She lets to smell of food call anyone who is hunger enough to want to eat.  AS she sits in the kitchen brooding and wondering over her new paranoia over the group, and even If anyone would be reinflected with a spider just before the cold spell.   

PBH

 Cog nodded at the fox, his eyes sad. "As you say, then. You are, what you are. I'm fine with that." he said, grabbing his discarded shades and placing them back on his head. He turned, his voice soft. "Just as long as you are." he said, taking another drink and looking away from him. "I find I like you as well." he finally said.
He found the silence somewhat uncomfortable. He leaned back in his chair, declining to order another drink. He didn't want to get drunk before night fell, in any case. "I have no doubt you came all the way down here to see me." he said sincerely. "But I'm sure there's something else you might need while we're here. Perhaps more booze to replace the bottle I broke?"
He looked sideways at the fox. "I need to visit a tailor, at some point. If only for a hat."

There. That was that, the bat in disguise thought, and stared forward, looking just as sad. Downing the last of his drink, he turned back against the counter again, and then fished something out of his pocket. Placing it on the counter, he then stepped down and turned to walk against the door. Cog could see the glinting silver coin, probably as old as the bat was himself, laying fat on the countertop.
   "I saw that thing the kitty was holding," he said, matter-of-factly to avoid anything else sneaking into his speech. "Figured I'd get a pair of those as well." Slowly, he walked toward the door, the eyes of the whole bar turned against them both for a few brief moments. "And no, more booze wouldn't hurt either..."
   The words were lashes for his soul. But he walked calmly on and out, turning and walking into the alley beside the place.

   A tailor could be found not far from the tavern. In fact, it was just to walk a quarter of the round square and then turn to the right, and the place would come up on one's left after just a few tens of paces.

Jeremiah nodded to Mel as she left. "Pleasant dreams. And thanks for the coat." He had no intention of going out there until it had cooled off; he'd been damaged enough today, thank you. However, one gets lonely sitting in a boiler room by themselves, and eventually the scent of Bambi's cooking reached even him.
The frog leaned around the door to the boiler room, pulling the coller of the fur coat up to his jawline. Nope, still too cold, he thought, ducking back inside, Freaking chill. He quickly threw together a small illusionary message and, hoping he'd remembered the way properly, sent it off to the kitchens to suggest that the poor, hurt, tired amphibian, who was unable to leave the boiler room in his terrible condition, should have lunch brought down to him if it's not too much trouble.

Cog drummed his fingers on the counter and watched Sebastian leave, somewhat lost in thought. As the fox opened the door and finally did exit, however, he seemed to wake up to the fact that perhaps it was time to leave the bar. He jerked in his seat before quickly reaching into his pocket and pulling out a silver coin, something he had thankfully remembered to transfer between clothing, and set it on the counter as he dashed out. It occurred to him he had perhaps overpaid.
The sun was still quite high in the sky, and the afternoon sun seemed garish in comparison to the shadows of the tavern. He took a single look down the street and spotted the fox making his way down the street. Considering his earlier comments, he figured Sebastian was heading for a gun shop. Jogging a moment to catch up, he fell into step a little behind the fox.
  "If it's quite alright with you, I'd like to see what kind of weapon you intend to buy. You didn't strike me as a firearm sort of person. More like knives in the dark, or summoned hellhounds from the eighth circle." He said. "Not that there's anything wrong with firearms, of course."

The fox just walked on into the alley, and as he did, his skin started crawling and cracking, the familiar blackness spreading over it and making it writhe and seethe before Stygian returned to his real, genuine appearance.
   "A gun, when properly presented, is more threatening than a sword. It has range and the power to punch through armor as well. And besides, when I can rip a man to shreds with my bare hands, who needs a blade? It will distract my opponent from the real threat, and still serve well enough," he said coolly, the low and scathing tone to his voice returning in force. On he walked, glaring forward against the building up ahead, a two-story wooden history with a display window and a large backyard, and a steep slant to its tall roof, a large chimney letting out smoke high above it. He made his way through the alley and across the street, and then pushed the door, reading "Kingston's Firearms" in brass letters, open, a little bell tingling as he did.
   The place was as murky as the bar had been, and went in almost thesame red and dark browns, though of an entirely different nature. It seemed cramped, despite the open space in front of the counter, with crates and boxes of polished wood standing all over the floor, and the walls hung tall with rifles and guns of all kinds, chained or locked to them in some way mostly. Cabinets held finer examples of weapons, and in some places one could see small paintings of men hunting or adventurers slaying beasts or creatures with well-placed shots.
   Stepping up to the counter, the bat leaned over it, next to a huge knife with a bayonet-fix which had been driven into the polished wood for some reason, and looked into the back of the shop, where one could very faintly hint an orange glow from behind a door.

Within the boiler room, the first thing Keaton did was casually take a seat somewhere against the wall and resume playing with her marble, this time offhandedly letting it roll magnetically along the length of her arm as it followed her vaguest mental commands. She wasn't in the mood for interacting with anyone, for once, being somewhat in a solitary, maybe even the most remote thing to peaceful, mood despite all that had progressed previously. When Stygian had finished his ritual, everybody seemed more than eager to leave the room. Only after he had vanished did Keaton remember to thank him for his assistance in removing the curse--and for vanquishing the spider, apparently--much to her dismay.

Grumbling a little under her breath, Keaton climbed to her feet, rolling the marble between two digits. Bright colors swirled within it, wreathing around each other in a neverending, gently churning ocean of pastels and vibrant hues, one color changing into another. It was almost like a kaleidoscope of some sort, maybe even reminiscent of the dribbling oils of a watercolor painting. Giving the marble one last glance, Keaton ceremoniously set it back in her pocket.

Everyone was going for lunch. Being a Cubi, Keaton didn't need to eat, for once, even if there was a considerable absence of her favorite emotions. Sometimes it really did suck being a Jyraneth--they had a trademark affinity for different variations of suffering.

As she followed the group into the kitchen, Keaton let her eyes wander away from the frames of her glasses and into the distance. If the cold was meant to eliminate the spiders, did this mean that it would be safe for her to wander around? She felt somewhat restless, and playing with her only memento of her family sometimes wasn't enough to curb this.

"I'll be right back, guys," Keaton said, running her hand through her hair. "Just going to walk around for a moment."

And with that, before anyone could comment, she turned into a randomly chosen direction and walked off, humming softly under her breath, even allowing a few lyrics to slip in. 'Seek me, call me. I'll be waiting. This distance, this dissolution...'

~Keaton the Black Jackal

There was a bit of rustling in the back, and then, from behind the sturdy door, came a short male badger, a pair of round glasses pinching his long, flat muzzle and a somewhat neat craftsman's outfit with a shirt and vest that were both snug on his short, stocky form. He peered through his glasses up at Sebastian and Cog, then shook his head and wiped his hands off on a piece of rough cloth.
   "'Nething I can help ye gents with?" the badger rumbled in a voice that seemed fit for a man half again as big as he. He eyed the bat carefully as he began strolling over to one wall of the shop, where the handguns were kept. Sebastian peered over them critically, judging them and thinking ever as much as the engineer that he actually wasn't. At least not by profession. In his head, he began going over numbers, chemistry, calculations and application.
   "I want you to make me a gun. More than one, actually. Something that can fire rifle bullets, wildcats or no. A revolver, I think," he said calmly, studying a big piece of that particular sort.
   "We have those. Three-hundreds and twenty-twos. Five hundred a piece or three fifty. The ammo's more expensive though. I'd recommend you buy a big point three-eighty or bigger, really," the badger replied calmly, studying the bat's hands, then Cogidubnus'. "And ye then, mister?"
   In his hand, Stygian drew idly with a claw. Then he asked; "Could I get a pen?"


The castle seemed even bigger from the inside than it had from without. The arcs and hallways, the tapestries and paintings and statues, all gave the place such a regal and lofty feeling that it felt as if a king or archbishop should just turn up down the corridor with an entourage or a party of nobles and mages to sit there with wine and books and holding a conversation whenever Keaton turned a corner. Or for the next big room that she walked by to be filled with dancing people. And, with all those things missing, the feeling of the place instead turned to emptiness.
   As she wandered, she passed the atrium of the place. Somewhat wildgrown, the place looked a bit torn up after the freezing, and with the plants looming and looking dark and ragged that gave the large place a rather intimidating look. Following, as she went up into the higher floors a smaller library, a whole host of reception and guest rooms, and a dining hall passed by before she reached a somewhat familiar corridor.
   She had just about walked on past it in search of something more interesting, when she heard a slap behind her, a closing that sounded muffled, like a book snapping shut. It had come from behind her. And turning, she could see that only one door in the place was open.

As Keaton wandered aimlessly through the halls of the Castle, she couldn't help but distantly admire every opulent elaboration or piece of architecture she walked by, fully immersed in the rich history of the Castle Caerule. She had stopped humming a while ago, isolating her musical murmurings to the chambers of her mind. To maintain some form of tranquility to the atmosphere in a surprisingly respectful maneuver. Everywhere the jackal turned she expected to find the rooms thriving with people long departed--just as it may or may not have been long ago. She was uncertain, she had never familiarized herself with the legends surrounding the ancient palace.

In a way, it was breathtaking, yet depressing. It reminded her too much of home, and how she had visited the ruins of Harla'keth--the Haven of the Jyraneth--long ago. What was once a proud city housing a destructive, powerful clan (at least in their eyes) was ruined. Decrepit. Unsalvagable. Generations had been demolished, and it was unlikely that, even if the still-alive clan leader returned, it would ever be restored to its former glory with most of the population having been destroyed.

When she was in the atrium, Keaton sighed and stared briefly up at the sky to remind herself what time it was, and how long she had remained in the Castle. Welcoming daylight poured through the immense rupture in the ceiling, spilling in translucent, dusty spades down upon the haggard, wilted plants. For a moment Keaton wanted to test her wings to see if she could fly up through the opening to escape this wretched place, but some long-neglected part of her outright refused to let her abandon the people who remained in the kitchen. Why she cared was beyond her. Companionship came and went, especially when one was a Cubi, and as fervently traveling as her.

Keaton grew tired of remaining in that melancholy cavaedium. Digging out her marble once more, she started subaudibly singing another song to herself, rolling the tiny sphere in between her slender fingers. "Angels, they fall first, but I'm still here, alone as they are drawing near, in heaven my masterpiece will finally be sung..."

Several more rooms passed by uneventfully and by then Keaton had went through several different songs by seperate artists. Her fingers had grown rather tired of playing with the marble, perhaps because of the monotony of the situation, so she had tucked it back in her pocket. Turning around a familiar corner, she found herself in an equally familiar corridor, much to her dismay. Sighing distastefully and rolling her eyes, Keaton started to turn away, when something soft pounded in her eardrums.

A muffled slam. Keaton blinked and craned her upper body around. A door that she hadn't entered through was open. Her face contorted in a troubled frown. Regardless of all logic or any inner voices telling her to turn away and ignore it, Keaton moved over to investigate, interest picqued by this almost insignificant phenomenon. Who knew? Maybe she would find something amusing to entertain herself with.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

 Cog nodded a negative at the badger's question. "Nothing for me, thanks." he said, tapping the hilt of his blade. "I learned my art some time ago. Old habits and whatnot."
He did walk around the shop, admiring some of the more decorative firearms. He had no idea if any were quality - such things were beyond him, but the man seemed knowledgeable about his craft. He would be willing to bet at least some were very nice.
Wandering through the tiny space, however, his eyes did eventually fall on the bayonet plunged into the counter. Cog raised an eyebrow at the piece of steel and wrung it out of the wood, bringing it closer to study.
Balance was definitely handle-weighted. Most knives were, and the ability to manipulate the blade was usually better than any added power from a tip-heavy configuration. It's role was that of a thrusting weapon, but the owner had obviously taken the trouble to keep the edge sharp. From the sheen in the wood, it was fairly old too. He'd guess at least thirty or so years, unless it had been re-hafted at some point. He nodded to himself and plunged it back into the counter.
"On the other hand, that's a very nice knife. If you're willing to sell, I'm willing to buy." he said, fingering the coins in his pocket.

The badger grumbled at Cog as he gave Stygian a pen and a slip of paper. He didn't seem like a very merry old fellow. But then, maybe that was just his way. He didn't really look a grump though; just a workman who did as he did and no more, no less.
   "That one be a good one, yes. It's heavy for one meant for a bayonet, and really, it works better as a bowie. Just a piece I picked up to cut leather. I'll give it away for sixty," he grumped. That was a bit overpriced for a used knife, but it looked pristine at least. The simple, clean and part-sawtoothed blade gleamed a rust-proof sheen.
   Meanwhile, the bat was especially engrossed in studying the barrel of a particularly heavy and long revolver, and the rimmed and ventilated muzzle of it. Unattentively, he scratched down text on the paper in his hand, sketching and writing with his brain rather than his eyes as he had taught himself long ago.
   "A longer and slimmer three-hundred with no neck would be ideal... and put the barrel underneath..." he murmured to himself. Furrowing his brow a bit, he nodded, and then turned to the badger with a smirk.
   "I want you to make me something along the lines of this," he said, presenting the cluttered paper to the large mustelid. The man took it slowly, pinching his glasses and studying it closely. He frowned the slightest bit, then looked up back at the bat.
   "Are you crazy, mister?" he asked.
   "Just do it," was the reply.
   "It will cost you. A damn lot."
   "The faster you can make me a prototype and ammo, the more I'll pay," Stygian grinned back at him, and then slipped his hand into his pocket for a moment. Pulling it out, he strew about half a dozen fat golden coins on the counter.
   The badger didn't make a face. He just smacked his lips.
   "I think I might be up to it." This time, he returned the bat's grin.


   The door only creaked the slightest bit as it swung open, admitting Keaton into a large bedroom clearly intended for guests. An excessively spacious bed filled up a lot of the place, closely followed by a large table and some leather chairs, and a cupboard that stood guard close to the door. The place was not so dimly lit as much of the rest of the castle, with windows to one side of the room open, curtains pulled aside a bit. But it didn't look like anything quite exceptional or out of the ordinary, situation considered.
   There was one thing though, that drew Keaton's attention. Amid the strewn-out and ruffled sheets on the big bed, there was this one book laying open. Not closed, but open, though it could have been only that which made that sound. It practically oozed of... well, she couldn't tell what. It just felt... strange. And intriguing. Like the book was calling out to her to examine it.

Keaton briefly assessed her surroundings as she strode into the room, her steps at first hesitant, but quickening once she realized that there was no ostensible danger. Ensuring her safety somewhat, she leveled her mace, which she had the fortune to remember to bring with her, with the wing tentacle she was carrying it with, and passed it to her hand.

Nothing notable was in the room; as far as the jackal could tell--it was just an ordinary, if a little extravagant bedroom. She was just about to turn around and leave when something caught her eye: a lone book, laying, discarded, atop the excessively ruffled sheets. Normally Keaton wouldn't be perturbed about this, but something about the book drew her to it. Every page practically exuded indistinct, palpable waves of an unknown sensation, something which was slightly unique to Keaton. As a Succubus, she normally could determine most forms of sensations or emotions that were invoked in someone. It was a natural empathy.

Keaton steadily approached it, expression fixed into a curious scowl. She scooped it off of the bed, examining it for anything out of the ordinary contained within its pages.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

The note from the Jeremiah, Bambi greeted with confusion and then suspicion,  

"The frog is the most sensitive to cold, and he was alone the most often after the first attack of the spiders and he can to the boiler room last"...thought Bambi... The cold in the castle would be only in the low 60's at the most by now.  

"Still the Cold hit him the hardest..." thought Bambi...

With a "sigh", Bambi makes up a small tray for the Frog.  With hot tea, hot sandwich, and small bowl of chicken soup. she heads down to the boiler room....The frost and ice is long gone from the halls, leaving here and there, only a few small puddles of water, which will dry up in a hour or two.

Bambi ready a flaming hands spell in mind as she reach the boiler room.  She was friendly but cautious to the frog
"Froggy  It is Warm outside and run to the grand hall. Go see.  Spider Mother wants you to stay  inside" says Bambi as she set the tray of food down to front of the frog... PBH watches for any spider that may attack her with a flaming hand spell at ready.

PBH

"Hm?" Jeremiah looked up and smiled as Bambi walked in, his large eyes practically lighting up and the sight of the tray of food. "You're a saint, Bambi. A real saint," He'd shirked off the heavy fur coat, but still was reluctant to leave the boiler room, "Thanks. I know that, technically, staying scared and hiding is what the spider woman wants," A convenient bonus; while I'm staying in here, I'm also helping the spiders lie low. "The honest truth, though, is that I'm a little scared to go out there even if it's warmed up a bit," he chuckled and scratched the back of his head, embarassed, "Bad experience when I was little; got caught in the snow in just a tee-shirt and jeans. I'd been out in it before, yeah, but I'd been wrapped up pretty tight. One day, I saw it snowing outside on I day I was going to have a test, and I was so happy to see all that snow that I just ran outside," he paused for a second, sighed, "Not something a wise amphibian does. Ended up missing the whole month of school in the hospital," He smiled apologetically at Bambi, "I tend to get a tad paranoid about the cold. Thanks for bringing me lunch."

 Cog kept quiet as the gunsmith drooled over Sebastian's gold, and grinned to himself as he carefully six coins across the counter. Sixty dollars was more than the knife was worth, but Cog had been wanting to try something, recently. He'd need a test subject.
Slipping the knife into his boot, he saw both Sebastian and the smith concluding their business and making the formal goodbye noises. He headed for the door and left the shop, holding the door for the bat as he leaned against the wall. He had the feeling that if he let him, the bat might stare and gape at the weaponry all day.
In all fairness, he might too, if it was a different kind of store.

Perhaps to the wolf's surprise, though it should not have been, had he known the bat better, Sebastian stepped out closely after him quite soon and sidled up next to him, walking alongside as they headed for the tailor. The bat had added a pair of hip-mounted holsters to his outfit, and a pair of rather big revolvers gleamed somewhat in them. It seemed that he had gone for a pair of existing ones to get the feeling.
   "Right then. That should be done soon enough..." the bat murmured, taking silent but determined steps. He kept silent for a while, but once they got to the square and around between people just a bit he took word again. "You might be wondering why I'm going around and practically showing off like this," he said, looking dead forward. "It's all to a purpose, trust me. I mean to show that I'm back in business. And this town is a perfect kickoff point..."
   The two reached the tailor, a slightly larger building to the side of the main street. The shingle up in front proudly displayed; 'Dawes Tailoring; If we don't have it, we will tomorrow'. The bat did not pay it much heed, but simply pushed the door open with the chime of a bell and stepped in.
   Inside, a clear-eyed little rust-colored gryphon looked up at them as they entered, narrowing its eyes at Stygian. The shopkeeper, a wolf not too unlike Cogidubnus, smiled toothily but not uncomfortably as she took a look over them.
   "Hello, gentlemen. See anything you like, tell me immediately. We're having a discount week," she murred, and then went back to folding some pants over the counter.


Keaton turned quite a few pages, not finding anything out of the ordinary. The book seemed to be on the topic of demons and beasts that practiced parasitism or possession, mostly, and held some rather vivid examples of the victims of such monsters or the processes by which they worked for illustration. But it hardly seemed like anything curious, what with the amount of books like it down in the library. She scanned a few more pages, the text blurring before her and the images glinting through in their detail. Then she looked through a few more pages. Then, she looked a little more, and a little more. She read some more, turned a few pages over, flipped through some more...
   She wasn't sure, but somehow the book had captivated her. She couldn't see the text, couldn't feel or hear or sense much else but the book, which she couldn't understand anyway. The words just blurred before her eyes, and...
   It took a while, and then she came to her senses and settled down. The book lay before her, closed. What had just happened, she had no idea of.

 Cog quirked an eyebrow at Sebastian and nodded somewhat at his words. "Quite. I would agree, largely. Iai teaches that one should learn to win without having to actually draw a sword...or gun, I suppose. Sheer intimidation can do this nicely."
Cog sighed as he entered the tailors shop, and made a bow towards the shopkeeper, taking off his glasses and approaching the bar. Upon entering, he had scanned almost the entire place, and seen what he might need, what he could use, and what the tailor could likely do with them. He wondered what she had in the back...
Nothing then remained but to ask. Somewhat forgetting about Sebastian, he leaned against the counter and began to adress the shopkeeper, seemingly engrossed in his own strange world. "My good lady. Your presence, nay, your very essence here is a boon to my heart. As water to a thirsty soul. For, behind you good lady, upon the cupboards and hooks on your lovely, pastel wall, I see hats." Cog said, his voice lilting and flourished. "In point of fact, upon the second-to-the-top on the leftmost rack, I see the very hat that I lost today. Not the very hat, for that would be too much boon to ask for, but verily the same kind, to me, now gone."
Had she had tried to shake Cog's hand, this would have been the point where he would have kissed it. Instead, he merely continued with renewed vigor. "If my lady would be so kind, I would love nothing more than to see if it fits. After that, I would expect talk of what you have in concerning shirts..."

Bambi just nods and with a weak smile, she takes her leave of the Frog.  Her face shows her worry over something.  She is no more wiser than before, but can't shake the feeling that he's hiding something....Even his comments are reasonable if a little odd about the spider mother and spider woman.   But Bambi herself has too many words missing from her mind to talk straight enough to be understood. 

With a sign and a wave bye, PBH returns to Gina, the Kitchen and her own lunch.. She takes Gina out into the sunny kitchen garden with their lunch to enjoy the sun and breeze as their eat.  They are visible through the large kitchen window.   "It's back to the baby book, soon" thinks Bam

PBH

As Keaton leafed through the yellowed pages of the aging book, she found herself increasingly bored by what was contained within the novel. Demons, possessions, rituals? After all that had occurred within the Castle between the span of a day she was hardly surprised that the cursed palace happened to have something as cryptic as a book specializing on such matters. Not particularly interested, Keaton normally would've set down the hardcover and left the room in search of something else, but she somehow remained glued to it, thumbing constantly through the pages.

It was becoming harder and harder to see the text as it blurred before her eyes. Something had ensnared her mind, keeping her leashed to that mysterious book even as she became unaware of the world around her. Without realizing it, everything vanished for a split second as the words emblazoned on the pages smeared and swirled like running ink, fading away...

Brown eyes fluttered open behind askew lenses. Unconsciously, Keaton reached up to adjust her glasses, then stared confusedly around the room. Inevitably her gaze led her back to the book, which was sitting peacefully on the bed once more, closed. Something about that unnerved her, especially since she didn't distinctly recall ever setting it down...

That clinched it. She was getting the hell out of that room.

Without a moment's hesitation Keaton climbed to her feet, picked up her fallen mace, and raced out of the room, leaving that damn book behind.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

With the warmth in the castle regathered, Aisha took her coat and cape off as she walked into the kitchen and laid them to the side, having smelled lunch upon entering.  Still, a little hungry as she was, the panthress didn't feel at all like letting her guard down, even with the comforting thought that the spiders were long gone.  The adventurer had seen enough of the castle's features in that floor alone and below to never start trusting appearances.  Stopping and leaning on a counter in thought though, she did wonder if she was following instinct, or perhaps starting to become a little paranoid.

"Only you know the difference, chica," Aisha muttered to herself, the words having come long ago straight from the mouth of her mentor.  She watched Bambi leave, noting that Jeremiah wasn't with the group, and shook her head.  Things were peaceful for the moment, and she could hopefully trust her comrades to also keep on alert.  At least she couldn't be worried for Gareeku, for he was just as experienced with sensing that kind of trouble as she...it was a relief.

Humming quietly in a random tune, a sign of restlessness, the jaguaress decided to look for something of her own to eat, taking a few pieces of fruit when she found them.  Then, juggling them with a hand, she had an idea and went for the stove, remembering an old favorite from when she was a child.  One of the few things she knew how to make, or at least hoped.  "Fried rice and fruit.  Perfect lunch after a cold snap," she joked, perhaps more to herself than to anyone who might have come with her.

The wolf woman seemed just a bit taken aback, but about halfway through Cogidubnus' tirade, she just settled into a musing smirk and waited for him to finish before she fetched the hat and ordered it. Leaning over the counter, smiling sweetly and showing perhaps a bit more cleavage than she should have as a businesswoman, she set the hat on his head and then inclined it slightly, tipping the front down a bit. It was a near-perfect fit.
   "No worries, mister. I would gladly show you around." She kept the smirk, which fit her like a glove and probably not out of accident, and swayed over toward the men's section of the botique, the end of her long, slashed dress waving slightly. As she did, Stygian, as if by chance while interestedly studying some hats and scarfs for himself, placed himself next to the wolf, turned away from him.
   "Nice little piece, don't you think?" he smirked slightly. "Just don't let her follow you into the changing booth. She's Cubi," he muttered silently, while scratching his chin.


Keaton had no problem leaving the book behind. Yet, somehow, she couldn't get that dizzy feeling out of her head. Her feet seemed steady enough, but it was as if her cranium had suddenly been turned to goo and her headwings begun trying to flutter off with it without her doing anything, or noticing quite as it had come up on her, as fast as it had. She tripped down the stairs steadily at first, but halfway down them she had to stop and steady herself against the railing, just because it felt like her feet were going to run away from the rest of her.
   That's when she heard a whispering sound from behind, up the stairs. It had not been anything discernable, just a draft from above perhaps or the echoes gathering in the large, round room. But she couldn't shake the feeling that it had actually not sounded as either, but rather like a voice...

Pivoting and swaying dangerously on her heels as she trudged wearily back through the Castle, Keaton struggled to recall every last step she took previously, her head braced against one of her hands. Her head and back-wings were drooping simultaneously, a stark contrast to the strangely fluttering feeling that kept whirlwinding Keaton's dazed and agonized mind. Halfway down the stairs she thought she was going to give into the dizziness that plagued her, but thankfully a steady grip on the handrail assured that she wasn't going to do any impromptu tumbling.

Her heel rested against the surface of the next step when she heard it: a distant, indistinct whispering sound, emitting from over her head. Ears quaking, Keaton stared in the direction it had transmitted from, her eyebrow raising. Fantastic. One event after another in this fucking castle. At first she would've disregarded it, but a moment of intent listening and clearing of her mind revealed that what she had heard was almost akin to someone speaking. Voices.

Was someone else in the Castle?

With this in mind, Keaton turned around and started to follow the sound, using it to lead her to the source, slightly sobered from her dizzy spell.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

 Cog winked at Sebastian as he followed the proprietor over to men's clothing. He felt much better with a hat on his head, and his demeanor showed it. "Worry not. Furthest thing from my mind, actually. But a charming customer is hard to cheat. Usually." he said, grinning widely at the bat and joining the proprietor next to a group of shirts. Giving her a charming grin, he began to look through what she had on hand.
"As far as it goes, m'lady, thicker fabrics are better, but nothing too heavy. As you can imagine, the perils of the road dictate a certain amount of reliability and toughness for my garments, but wearing something that itches can be just as bad when not immediately vanquishing foes. Strong, and comfortable. Being on the road means I don't get to pick." he said, picking up a black shirt of satin he'd found. "Something along these lines. But with the stitching done in silver." he said, indicating the various places. "Oh, the buttons as well. Mother-of-Pearl is so brittle, after all."
He gave her another charming grin and handed her the shirt, starting to sort through the pants. "I prefer very loose pants. You will find, actually, I prefer them about a size and a half too large. Practicality, after all. A proper fit can be too confining for certain things. Adventuring wise, I mean." He said, handing her a pair he liked. "These will do nicely. The same treatment as the shirt, if you please, and a belt to match."
The tailor hadn't manged to get a word in edgewise, and Cog pressed his advantage. "I think I will keep this particular jacket." he said, indicating the one he currently wore. "If you make the alterations to it as to the pants and shirt, I will most certainly. Now, if you would be so kind, there is only the matter of measurements, and price..."
At the last word he grinned toothily, and waited for the Cubi to respond.

The bat couldn't help but make a bit of a smirk at Cogidubnus' bargaining tactics. He seemed to have a bit of success... but on the other hand, the way the wolf lady took it, with a smile and in stride, might have indicated otherwise. Sebastian himself tried out a rather nice fedora and some good shirts and vests, more modern garments than he was used to, before moving on to the neoclassic stuff. All the while, the woman just smirked back at Cog and then moved him over to one side of the shop, taking his measurments and checking the clothes he was already wearing.
   "These seem a bit loose on you. I suppose you might want it that way, but I think I should still make a better fit. And perhaps a tighter collar, to better frame that lovely mane," she said. She took his shirt and his jacket and then left him sitting on a chair while she went into the back and started doing some preliminary work.
   Sebastian emerged from a booth after a while, and laid up an assortment of garments on a chair, before standing over by the counter and leaning back on his elbows. He sighed, then looked over to Cog, scanning him over.
   "Too bad we don't know the girls' measurments. I'm sure they'd appreciate something," he commented coolly after a while. "Well, maybe they'd like to come some other time..." he then muttered, and leaned back a bit, looking into the ceiling. He murmured something about it not even being evening yet, and then walked up and over, settling down in a chair next to the wolf and waiting. His look was not one of annoyance or preoccupation, but rather of sheer glumness, as if he'd much rather be elsewhere and elsewhen, though he knew he couldn't.
   After a while, the wolfess emerged again, this time with samples of her work and of different threadings and buttons and belts. There was the usual haggling, the keeping up of the flirtatious routine, the selection and taking orders, and finally the work. Cogidubnus' fee landed on an even seven hundred, while Stygian paid a thousand for his larger selection, though he earned a quick but off look from her at one occasion and somehow managed to unnerve the wolf woman even though returning her comely smiles and her cues, something Cog could smell well enough. Which was strange, considering that he was the adventurer.
   They left the tailor with full bags after a couple of hours and tea and books while waiting, and a pair of signatured cards, though Cog was the only one whose card smelled of the same lavender perfume as the shopkeeper wolfess had worn. Sebastian sighed just slightly as he stepped out into the street, slipping a package from the gunsmith into one of his bags, and then without saying anything began walking determinedly back toward the square and against the castle again.


The problem with following the whisper, Keaton found, was that neither did it keep up nor was she sure where it had come from. She took a few steps up the stairs, before she felt something in her ears, a sort of tension, as if someone had blown a really high-pitched whistle somewhere off. But it only felt that way. It wasn't...
   Another whisper came, this one close to her ear, and yet still so distant that it seemed to have traveled for a lifetime before it reached her. The stairs seemed to lengthen before her eyes as she watched, the surroundings turning darker and gloomier somehow, the dark corridor opening up into the balcony at the top of them just waiting for her, opening up into a gap from where she could feel the darkness reaching, calling to her, clawing after her. And still, that was not the most terrible thing. The stairs seemed to be tipping, sloping as they lengthened, growing steeper and steeper and wanting to throw her over backwards, to fall down into a vertical nothing where she would just keep falling and falling forever. And...
   There was someone behind her.
   Kill them all...!
   She snapped around, looking down the stairs. Down at nothing but the marble and blue carpet that covered them. They looked just thesame as they had before.

As Keaton scaled the stairs, she started to realize how oddly the surface and slanting had begun to distort. Every so often she would stop, overwhelmed by the consistently irritating dizziness pecking at her brain and the constantly warping, shrill whistling and whispering that twisted into her eardrums, to stare about and make sure that the tumultuously bending staircase wasn't going to buck her off like some sort of rabid horse.

The darkness swarming at the top of the staircase seemed to open up to her with shadowy, serrated claws, beckoning her, calling her closer, closer, into its grasp. Once or twice Keaton wanted to turn back, simply too unnerved to approach, but the occasional reappearances of the murmurings kept her going. It was just her imagination. Nothing more. She was Katherine Beatrix Jyraneth, proud Succubus and member of the once-powerful Jyraneth clan. Darkness was her forte, she bent it, commanded it, shaped it to her will! Nothing of the sort should scare her.

Suddenly, Keaton's body froze up instinctually as she felt the flickering presence of someone behind her, radiating body heat, subtle telltale signs she had learned to pick up over her five hundred years of living. Teeth gritting like enamel beartraps and pupils pinpricking, she was just about to turn around, weapon raised, when she heard it.

Kill them all...!

Nothing. It was nothing. Nothing was behind her, just the infernal length of staircase she had left behind. Keaton unconsciously realized that her heart was pounding in her ears, as though that sudden, ephemeral utterance had electrified it. And not very pleasantly at that. Brown eyes snapped back and forth, scouting for someone who could've possibly snuck up on her.

Nobody was there.

That did it.

She was out of here.

Leaving any curiosities about the voice behind, Keaton whirled around and started to ungracefully stumble down the stairs, her free hand keeping her balanced on the intricately crafted handrail.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

"Lovely woman." Cog said as they began walking back towards the Castle. "Although, I fear my plan may have backfired. Seven hundred seemed a bit steep. Ah well."
He tapped the new hat that now covered his head. "I would have paid twice what the hat was worth, and I think she knew it. Shopkeepers always do - they can smell it in your blood, you know. Or in this case, read it from my thoughts. Sharp eyes, you have." he murmured, grinning at the somewhat sullen bat. "Ah, but look at me, complaining about my expenditures. Praytell, sir, are you going to show me what the gunsmith gave you?"
As they walked, he slipped the card that the woman had given him into the inside of his hat. He'd want to remember her: good tailors were so hard to find.

The bat scoffed, and gave Cogidubnus a sidelong glance, smiling with the slightest show of his teeth and a sort of bitterness that did not pass the wolf by. He turned his face back quickly, slowing his pace just the smallest bit so that he and the wolf were walking alongside each other.
   "These are not eyes but lies, my friend; To gaze into haze that has no end..." he rhymed. Then he chuckled. "I suppose you've heard the expression 'blind as a bat'?" he continued, the bitter half-smirk staying in place. "Technically, it's not entirely true; many bats actually have better vision than comparable animals. But in some cases it's... still very correct. As in mine. After all, a creature made to live entirely in darkness has no need for eyes. And these..." he said, pointing to his own, "do not see."
   Sebastian slipped his hand down by the holster on his hip. Rather than being held by his belt, the heavy guns he had purchased were strapped to the hip itself, mainly because it was a steadier way to hold them and because he didn't want them swinging around or making noise.
   "And as for these... Well, I don't think you would like a demonstration now," he said simply, patting the gun to his right, his face going serious again. They were just for practice. Sure, they were the most powerful pieces that the man had been capable of selling, but they were still not as good as the ones that he was intending to lay his hands on.


If Keaton thought that she would have been able to escape the fear - because that was what it was, she realized, however much she wanted to deny it - by moving quickly and away from the darkness, she was terribly mistaken. She didn't have any more overwhelming moments, but twice she thought that she could hear something around the corner, sounding like cloth billowing or whispers or some sort of rasping sound, and everywhere she looked to the shadows they seemed darker than they had before somehow. The dizziness had faded, yet the world somehow still seemed to bear down on her. And she couldn't get that feeling out of the back of her head; the sensation of someone staring into her back just behind her, just waiting for her to turn...

Mel awoke with a stretch. While her nap hadn't made up for her lost night of sleep it had refreshed her and restored her magic. She stood and stretched her wings out to their full spread, shaking the stiffness out of them. Catching sight of herself in a mirror in the corner of the room she shook her head. Her borrowed dress had been hopelessly creased by her nap. Feeling refreshed she decided to try to retrieve one of her own outfits. With the strong magics of the castle around her she wasn't quite sure she could bring things in. With a familiar spell she reached into her bag and was gratified to feel fabric. Soon she had a favorite outfit laying on the bed. Black camisole and trousers first, then her tall boots. A blue shirt with the tiniest shimmer of gold then over all her grey suede coat. It had enchantments to keep cold in rather than out and made life among beings a lot more tolerable. In a pleasant mood she left the bedroom to see what everyone else was doing.

After a little bit, a mixed smell came from the kitchen amidst whatever food had been cooked there before, something hot and fried.  It was certainly a comforting thing for Aisha, noticing how the room had been as dreary and abandoned as the rest of them before the presence of food and other supplies turned it into a moderately comforting and working space.

While she idly worked over the stove, exercising her minor cooking skills, Aisha couldn't help but still think that it was still strange that the adventurers were slowly making themselves at home in the castle, even if uneasily.  She still felt like an intruder.  There was an audible and soft laugh at the prospect, which had only become silly by now.  The only former occupant who had taken outright offense to their presence was dead.

With a sigh, she found a plate and put some of the cuisine she made on it, then filled a few more plates with it.  The panthress hadn't an idea of what time it was when she was finished, but hunger often knew no boundaries.  Lunch may as well have been early dinner, and a small meal of one at that.  And it's not wise to be in the middle of an adventure on an empty stomach either, Aisha smirked to herself.

She set a small plate aside for Gareeku, then her ears swiveled, having thought she heard a few of the others passing by.  "Amigos!  Anyone for fried rice?  You'll love the fruit too."  She called to them with a smirk, hoping that the atmosphere could be brought back to a bit of calm.  She knew nothing of how wrong she might have been.

 "Ah, well, you bump into surprisingly few poles for being blind." Cog joked. "And an odd choice of weaponry if you can't see. But that's not what you meant, I think."
He turned a glance at the bag the bat was lugging along. "And it wasn't the revolver you have strapped to your hip I was talking about. I've seen many such. Killed quite a few who carried such. I meant that thing you slipped into your bag of clothes." he said, his tone light. "Of course, I understand if you wish to keep your secret. We're almost there, anyway."
Cog sniffed. "Someone is cooking rice too. Feel up to some lunch?"

Bambi and Gina were returning into the kitchen from the sunny garden, when Aisha call out to everyone to try her fried rice dish.  

Bambi snuff the the rice pot and says "mmm Sweet!",  but then points to the still warm pot of chicken soup, and the two or three sandwiches in the cool cabinet and looks at Aisha with a puzzled look.  Still she serves Gina and herself up two small bowls of fried rice.  The fruit tastes tangy and sweet with the rice.  

"Thanks Aisha  it good." says Bambi to Aisha with a bow.

Sebastian's face was still dead serious as he walked on, him and the wolf making their way up the somewhat steep road up to the castle with ease.
   "I don't see the world. But I feel it a whole lot better than any vision could let me do. My vision has been... twisted, sort of, like the rest of me. When there is no light, there are far better ways to image the world. And I can still act as if I see things normally. Also... you're not the only one who can smell and hear things far better than normal. She's sparesome with the butter, I feel. And I think I really want something with meat in it," he said, relaxing a bit as they came into the shadow of the gateway into the courtyard and watched the main entrance as they had left it.
   He pushed the forward doors open slowly, and stepped in, holding it for the wolf but not turning, fishing the package he had taken from the gunsmith out and holding it up a bit. It was a paper-wrapped little box of some kind.
   "Just a bit of tryout steel and designs, and more importantly ammunition. Nothing fancy." With that, he walked off briskly, heading after the trace of the smell into the kitchen to prepare something to eat for himself. If the others wouldn't take their dinner in the dining hall, then he'd bring some books up to his own room. He'd apologized, but however talkative he was still uncomfortable about being around them, the wolf and the dragon in particular, instinctively punishing himself.

Keaton rushed down the stairs hurriedly, barely keeping herself from launching herself off of the staircase and making an ungraceful landing on the floor. Around her she was plagued by crawling feelings creeping up her quivering spine, her ears filled with distant sweeping and rasping, elicited from every angle. Every time she glared behind her she could swear that the darkness corroding the air at the top of the stairs had become even more contaminated and deep, almost like an enveloping vortex of shadows. By the time she made it down the stairs she wasted no time in sprinting off, using every bit of stamina she had in her body to carry her far, far away from that scene, and all the unpleasant sensations that infested it.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Drawn by the smell of food Mel found herself drawn to the kitchen. Sleep wasn't the only thing she had neglected recently and she found herself walking quite quickly. She only paused once when she thought she heard a faint sound of running feet, then decided it was only an echo of her own quick steps. "Sounds great, Aisha." Mel took a portion of the rice and added some of the soup and sandwich as well. Except for the leftover bits at breakfast she hadn't eaten since she had arrived at the castle. "Has anything happened while I was napping?"

The problem with running, Keaton found, was that the feeling did not go away. Instead, it kept with her, chasing her, breathing down her neck. It was everywhere, encroaching upon her mind and her senses, refusing to let up. And it was getting worse. She found herself filling with sensations of helplessness, of anger and shame and guilt and hatred. And most of all with fear. She could run and run and never stop, but it would keep hunting her. And she felt that if it ever caught her, that would not be the end of it. It would be the end, but it would not stop her suffering...


Cogidubnus and Sebastian walked into the kitchen, the smell of food filling it up yet still not really appetizing the bat. His senses didn't tingle really like he was used to when what he usually called food was near. Still, that was easily helped. Setting down his bag, he placed it on a countertop and then went over to the bags he had previously brough, fishing out a bottle of wine and another bag of medical blood. He didn't feel like taking the time to cook up the roast beef he had bought, so that and a bit of fruit would have to do. Once he had taken the things, he took a glass and a knife, and then turned on the spot. It would do for a very early dinner.
   "There we go... If we need more food, just tell and we can take another visit to town. For now, I think we should have enough to last us quite some time," he said, and then walked out and away, toward the large stairs and his room. Sitting down and being awkward with the others hadn't occurred to him. The dragon still smelled like she was uncomfortable, and Cog may have put on a humorous face but his case was probably thesame, or so Sebastian thought.

"Froggy scary down in fire room,     Cog and Bat  ah ah no Home.  Keaton be ah I not know.  but I learn words again...slowly and hard"  Said Bambi as holds up a child reader book. "Gina help"

"Bam make more sandwiches dor Dagon fried?" Asks Bam to Mel....

PBH

Oops   Hi Cog and Sebast said after she hears the bat and wolf

Aisha nodded to each person in turn who answered her call, having set a plate aside for each of them.  She smiled proudly at the compliments, nodding first to Bam and then to Gina and Mel before filling her own plate, just as Sebastian walked into the kitchen with Cogi.

"Welcome back," she said in passing, nodding politely before standing at the table near the others.  She made a flourishing bow.  "You're all welcome for the food.  I don't think I could make it half so well as my family.  But I hope it's enjoyable nonetheless.  I made plenty."

With that, she sat at the table with her own plate, licking her teeth in anticipation.  She hadn't tasted the dish in quite a while, and she grabbed a bit of what Bam had prepared earlier in addition, thanking her as well.  However her ears perked, having thought she heard pounding on the floor, faintly, as if someone were running.

Mel smiled at Bam's torrent of words. "Thank you, but the food I have is quite sufficient." She took a seat across from Aisha and had just taken a big bite of the sandwich when Sebastian and Cog entered. Unable to greet them properly she just nodded and was a bit discomforted when the bat merely took a container of blood from the ice chest and disappeared again. What were they doing hanging around the castle when the owner could barely seem to stand the sight of them? Mel couldn't even name her own motivation aside from an instinct that they needed to stay together a while longer.

She temporarily pushed motivations aside and asked Aisha, "Did I understand correctly that Jeremiah refuses to leave the furnace room and we have no idea where Gareeku and Keaton are?"

 Cog nodded at Aisha and grinned to the others, setting his bag down at the entrance of the kitchen. "Rice sounds delicious. And rice with soup sounds even better." he said, taking a bowl of the stuff and pouring a ladleful of chicken soup like a dressing. It made a sort of floating meal, to which he began to eat with gusto.
He watched the bat leave the room and suppressed the grimace he felt coming. He kept his words to himself, however. He was who he was. Maybe he would come down later. In the meantime, rice.

Bambi smiles at the dragon.... "Thanks...and Scary Jermy  scared  to leave the ?boooiler room?  Yes .."  

Sebastian was not to receive the calm that he had expected though. Since he was headed for the stairs, he had head warning of Keaton from her hard, running steps, but he did not try to avoid her, figuring that it was something htat would probably haunt him some way or another later if he didn't. He had no idea how correct he was.
   She came straight at him from down the long hallway, running as if chased by the hounds of Hell in her boots, tromping quickly against the floor. Quickly, he set the wine and the bloodbag down on a small table in an alcove in the side of the corridor and then stepped out, standing and waiting for her. She came upon him quickly, and he caught her, halting her stampede and holding her gently but firmly.
   "What's wrong now?" he said almost tiredly. "Who or what needs to be put out?"


She was gripped mid-run and stopped dead, however she had just dashed.
   "What's wrong now? Who or what needs to be put out?" The words were gloomy, almost bored, but to her ears they snaked and writhed and echoed. Not like his ordinary voice. His fake voice, she realized. There was something seriously wrong. She looked up.
   The world seemed to have turned an off sepia, or as if she was viewing it through darkly greenish colored glass. Shadows distended and snaked at the fringes of her vision, and the horror that followed her spread through her entire body. But now it was faced with another horridity as well. Sebastian, or Stygian, was not the same.
   His face was a deathly mask, a cracked and skull-like thing with black, hollow gaps for eyes and crumbling at the edges. His entire skin seemed made of some sort of whitish ash or perhaps stone, or something in between, that was constantly being turned to dust before her eyes, blackness hiding and snaking within it, taking disgusting shapes and seething like a boiling acid where it showed through. He seemed like a grotesque golem, an animated statue or a corpse infested with this darkness, speaking to her with a voice not his own. He opened his mouth again, and a centipede-like thing of blackest black crept out through it and down, in through a hole in the ashen skin on his neck. She felt a crawling where his hand was, and looked down to see something spider-like emerge from the clawed appendage, prickling her skin with its taloned legs.
   "Keaton? What's wrong?" he said, black fangs glistening wet with toxic drool, his voice decaying like his body. She jerked back from some reflex, and out of his grasp, and his horrendous face grew puzzled. Slowly, gingerly, he reached with a rotting hand for her. Around him, the whole corridor seemed to be crumbling. Slowly, she saw a black, writhing halo come into view, set against a pair of torn wings. And somehow, she knew. This was how he really looked.
   "Calm down, sweets! You look like you've seen Hell."

And she ran, and she ran, and she ran, plagued by the prickling, creeping sensations slinking all around her and the phantasmic apparitions that flashed in the corners of her mind, trying to keep herself from stopping and lashing out at every little thing that crawled into her vision, whether it was the twisting shadows or the barest glimpse of something invisible. All the way Keaton tried to keep herself from screaming, from alerting anyone or anything else lurking within the castle, despite her ever-growing terror and dread, either from her own demented pride or to prevent drawing any attention to herself.

She did, however, nearly shout when she collided with an indistinct shape which seemed to appear out of nowhere once she had turned her head away from her shoulder.

Keaton struggled momentarily, at first incapable of registering who it was that was holding her still. A voice. She heard a voice, it was supposed to be familiar to her, but it came out resonant, eerie, distorted. Not right. Out of instinct Keaton was forced to glance up, only to feel her breath wind itself into a knot right in the center of her constricting esophagus.

The air surrounding them had been drowned with an off-colored, sickly green hue, drenching it in shamrock slime. Darkness prickled along the ground like seething, dying serpents, decorated in cactus barbs and oozing ichor, painting the walls in atramentous dollops. So far away from her, so beyond her control, so--so--and then there was the bat himself standing before him, having been transformed into one of the single most nightmarish creatures she had ever seen before in her life. Fur had become faded ash, coiling strips of darkness climbed along his body in snaking trails, corroded wings made of baked and aging leather unfurled themselves from his back...

Rivulets of cold sweat slithered down the back of Keaton's neck as she stared into the abysmal pits that had become Stygian's eyes, her own, sienna pupils pinpricked down to specks and fear evident in every twitch of her body or convulsion of her facial muscles. It grew even worse when he touched her arm. Without realizing it, Keaton snapped her head towards where it had rested, only to nearly let out a blood-curdling yell when she saw a vile spider writhe its way from his skin.

The subtle twitches which had been racking her body started to become more and more tremulous, even looking as though the jackal was going to try and lash out at any moment.

And she did the next moment Stygian spoke.

Muscles clenched, teeth unconsciously bared, and, in a desperate effort to escape, Keaton let out a shriek and shoved, hard, against Stygian with every bit of strength her body contained. Once he was successfully pushed back, Keaton whirled away and dashed past, winding around a corner and darting out of sight. Not even thinking of using her wing-tentacles, just focusing on purely escaping, of getting the fuck out of there and running for her life.

Screaming all the way.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Halfway through their meal a scream, an incredibly terrified scream at some distance from them, interupted the companionable silence. "Was that Keaton? That can't be Keaton," said Mel. She looked to the others present, looking for confirmation of the impossibility of the tough cubi screaming like that.

Aisha had eaten mostly through her meal, finding it hard to take her time eating one of her favorites.  She was taking in the compliments for her dish, until she nearly choked upon hearing the piercing scream from somewhere outside of the kitchen, a ways down the corridor.

She coughed and pounded her chest a little to loosen the bits out of her throat, swallowing them again before taking a harsh breath and looking up with a surprised expression.  She glanced at Mel, having heard her comment.  "I think that is Keaton.  She screamed like that once before," she pointed out, standing up and grabbing her sword which lay nearby.  Damn, but what would have gotten her so scared now?

The panthress hummed.  "If whatever it is could terrify Keaton, let alone a 'Cubi at all, then it must be something worth investigating," she calmly said and got up from her chair, glancing at the rest of the party before narrowing her eyes at the doorway.

While the others had gone off to the kitchen to eat, Gareeku had decided to take a walk around the building, his curiosity getting the better of him as he made his way around the various corridors, his eyes continually scanning the architecture and decor.

After a while, the wolf had decided that he had better join the others for food, his decision being made after his stomach growled audibly. Upon reaching the same floor as the kitchen, Gareeku was about to make his way to it when he heard a scream.
"...Keaton?" the wolf wondered to himself. As if on cue, the wolf then caught sight of the succubus running towards him. "Keaton! Is everything ok?"

Nothing was okay. Everything was absolutely wrong. That was what Keaton felt and knew. The whole castle was infested with evil, something was out for her, Stygian was a monster and...
   Gareeku was a monster too, she realized. She only needed to take one look at him to see the evil that was lurking, gripping him, seeping right through him. At first he looked the same to her, but when she focused she could see it. It was Gareeku, but as he really looked, in his soul. The wolf's face was a fanged grin as he spoke, his eyes dark and his irises and pupils turned into glowing, fiery red dots. His usually smooth white fur was turned a ragged gray and he somehow seemed more muscular or toned. Or maybe it was that he was hardened somehow; his cheeks seemed sunken next to that grin and his fingers more clutching, with sharp, dark claws tipping them. As he came closer, she could see that he was carrying deep red scars in places, blackish chains that she somehow knew were part of the darkness that fettered his soul clinking and snaking about him as if they were alive and spikes at their ends glistening with his own blood. She also saw the glint off a pair of black horns, slightly curved out of his brow, and then, a pair of leathery black wings tipped deep red that extended from his back. He was a demon, a monster too.
   Keaton was overcome with fear. The image of the wolf as this was somehow not entirely solid, but it was strong. His eyes were so intense that she thought they might burn their way through her skull any second, and from how he whipped his now more muscular tail and closed on her...


Stygian shook his head and muttered, slowly placing his hand over his face and rubbing his temples. He was never going to get any peace like this. Still, it seemed as if he was stuck being the host of this party, and that meant keeping one's guests entertained and content. But by Hell did he hate being forced into it.
   Turning on the spot, he put his hand on the wall and then leaned on it for a second, still with his left over his frowning face. He pondered only a bit, then slowly went over a few spells and began constructing a moderately complex ward, a glowing incantation circle appearing on the wall under his palm. He activated it, placing it on the castle itself, before turning and picking up his things. He couldn't well eat properly with an insane cubi running around the place, and certainly not while chasing her. At least now he would be warned and could do something if she decided to leave the building.
   Briskly, he walked back toward the kitchen, only to run into Mel and Aisha as they were leaving it. He eyed them as he passed them into the kitchen, talking while he set things down on the nearest bench.
   "Finished so soon? If you're concerned about the cubi, you really shouldn't be. I'm your host, and it's my job to take care of such things..." he said, making sure to put the right scathing tone in to effectively convey the message of just what he thought of the whole situation.

As Aisha started to leave the room, hearing Mel following along behind her, she stopped upon seeing the bat returning to the kitchen.  She quirked an eyebrow at his statement, silent for just a moment while gauging the tone of his voice.

"So you are," she agreed, but gave him something of a sarcastic look, crossing her arms.  "Yet somehow we figured you wanted little to do with us."  She tilted her head with a smirk.  "It's appreciated, but what kind of guests would we be if we couldn't help with a few things ourselves?"

The huntress, satisfied with her argument, then started out the door, only pausing to glance back at Sebastian with curiosity.  "Unless you know something that we don't about what's happened?"

Thinking about it, Aisha still wasn't comfortable with rushing into another situation that she knew little about.  Maybe it was wise to just trust the bat's word on things.

Bambi was feeling next to useless over this next ....ah curse with now Keaton.  She watched Mel and Aisha rush out the door,  and just sit down by Gina.."Can we help Mel, Gina?" asks PBH 

but the Bat returns into the Kitchen, Bambi offers him some soup and a sandwich..... "Who got my speech mind, mister bat? or Where can Bam find it?" asks PBH as she makes more sandwiches for Gareeku or anyone else...

PBH

Keaton was making a lot of noise for someone with a fairly well established reputation as the tough chick member of the group. Stereotypes are wrong, yes, but there are certain patterns people tend to move in. Jeremiah was, of course, curious. Figuring that it was safe to go out, but hanging on to the coat in case it wasn't, he left to head in the direction of the screams.
"Hello? Keaton?" The frog yelled. Why no, I'm not about to question the logic of going towards the terrified capable person. Not a bit. No more than the -ThInGs I dOn'T nEeD tO tHiNk AbOuT. "Is everything alright?"

Ketefe hadn't wanted to stay in this town for more than a day, and she hadn't intended to go near the castle. She had to keep moving if she was ever going to find them, and Jarevei had told her to stay out of trouble, for his sake. Nonetheless, that castle had plagued her thoughts and dreams last night. Did it have to do with the sudden drop in temperature? What were those screams and noises of slaughter? And why the hell was she not going over there to help? She had done her best to ignore it, tossing and turning and thinking of Jarevei whenever she felt like jumping up and running to the castle.

And then, that morning, at the tavern, she had overheard the blond fox and the wolf talking. An infamous name... She wondered if they had anything to do with the commotion at the castle. A rather notorious family used to live there, from what she had gathered. So the curious cat had followed the two, as quietly as she could, grateful that she had remembered her sword. She was only somewhat afraid when the fox turned into a much creepier-looking bat; she was more curious as to why he needed such a dangerous gun. He might be an adventurer or a law enforcer, but even then, why the unnecessary firepower? She had stalked them, silently, to the tailor's and then to the castle, exactly as she had suspected.

She was hiding in the shadows of the front room, waiting for the opportune moment to introduce herself and get a few explanations. Her light blue fur and its thin orchid stripes usually made it somewhat difficult to hide, but due to the unusual cold of last night, she was wearing longer clothing than usual to cover it. The black cotton pants, black tank top, and her ever-present black mask made it much easier for her to remain unseen. She was brushing back her cobalt hair with her fingers when she heard a bloodcurdling feminine scream. Her yellow eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed with purpose.Sorry, Jarevei, she thought as she quickly unwrapped her sword and raced in the scream's direction.

If there was any sense of security or sanity left in Keaton's mind at the idea of having successfully escaped from Stygian--or the monster which he truly was--it had been quickly extinguished once yet another figure moved to intercept her flight.

Then again, there was no sanctuary to begin with. She wasn't safe here. Monsters and demons populated every corner of the rotting, infested palace, all out for blood, all out to rip and tear and kill, and they were after her.

Much to Keaton's eternal horror, the moment the next creature stepped before her, she once more appeared to freeze up; every one of her muscles petrifying, every drop of blood snaking through her tightening veins freezing into liquid ice. Cold sweat continued to bead around the fur coating Keaton's already damp forehead. "Aaah--" was all Keaton could manage to utter, even that tiny exclamation drowning away into an even smaller, prolonged groan as her eyes completely registered the sight in front of her.

Gareeku had--oh god, he had been--

The white fur that outlined Gareeku's form had been corrupted into a bedraggled, tarnished grey, bristling and whipping along with the almost palpable, contaminated waves of black energy she could feel corroding along his form. Thorny vines of it climbed up sinewy muscles, spilling in coalescing, filthy halos around pinpricked, infernal red eyes, accentuating every imperfection with his twisted being. The hollow cheeks, the serrated fingernails, the grin--the grin, she couldn't stop obsessing over how absolutely terrifying it was--and the livid crimson scars crisscrossing over his muscular body. Ragged wings drenched in black and striped with red emerged from his back, seeming to encircle both of them in how it merged with the smoky rings of darkness exuding off of Gareeku's visage.

She couldn't help it. She screamed again, but this time she did much more than just try and push her percieved attacker away.

Instinctually, her leathery pair of draconic-esque wings emblazoned with sable spirals unfurled from her back. Dual-fingered claws flexed and stretched their bony digits toward the air; spikes rose like tiny, fanged mountains on the back joints of her wings; black-decorated, yellow tendrils extended from the creamy membrane of her wings; and jackal-shaped heads shaped themselves like clay atop the tentacles, baring daggered ivory fangs and glowering at the monstrous creature with four, brown eyes.

Monsters.

They were all monsters.

"GET..." Keaton pulled back two of her wing-tentacles, quickly swinging it around in a wide, sweeping arc. If this hit connected, it would hopefully send Gareeku flying away from her. "AWAY FROM ME!"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

"Keaton, what's going o-" Gareeku began as he looked at her. The look on her rage was one of sheer terror, and yet this terror seemed to be directed at him. Before he could say anything more, the wolf looked on as Kearton started to show clear signs of aggressiveness, wing tentacles beginning to form, their jackal-like heads snarling at him ferociously. This was then confirmed as the jackal succubus screamed again, bringing round a tentacle for an attack as she did so. Ducking, Gareeku just barely managed to avoid the full force of the attack, but he had not come away unscathed, the fresh cut on the side of his face was evidence of this fact.

"What the hell!" the wolf exclaimed, turning back to Keaton with a mixed expression of shock, confusion and slight anger. "Keaton! What the hell is wrong with you?! Snap out of it!"
It was then, however, that a new person appeared. Gareeku didn't know who it was, but the brandished sword didn't look particularly inviting.
"Whoever you are, stay back!" the wolf called out to the stranger, hopinh she would heed his words of advice. "And you can put your sword away too. I don't want Keaton getting hurt."

When she arrived, Ketefe was more surprised than she had expected to be. The scream had come from a very panicked jackal-succubus. But she seemed experienced,  and the white wolf near her didn't look or sound like he was threatening her. Nothing's threatening her, so why should she panic? Ketefe mused. As she jumped out of the way of tentacles swinging by her, she wondered how much information she could get from the wolf. This would need more explaining than she thought if she wanted to be of any help. She obligingly stayed back and decided not to use her sword until she knew whether she'd need it or not.

"What's wrong with her?" she shouted to the wolf, reluctantly reaching for the blanket she used to sheath the lightning-shaped sword. "How long has she been like this, and what can I do to help?"

Stygian shook his head and muttered. Again, they were expecting things of him that he couldn't possibly know. When were they going to get it? He was not there for them, and even if he owed them they had better actually ask if he was going to help them. He had nothing against their company, but if all they wanted to do was use him then...
   "Someone just entered the castle," he said suddenly, his eyes shifting focus and turning distant. Slowly, they narrowed, and he breathed in deeply, obviously concentrating, shadows shifting around him a bit. "A cat. In a mask. She's got a sword, and... Keaton and Gareeku are fighting." His eyes suddenly clearing up and hardening, the bat walked between Aisha and Mel with determined steps that while completely silent still almost made them feel as if he were tramping past them. "Let's go," was all he said.

   Not more than a few moments after Gareeku had spoken out, Stygian appeared. Ketefe couldn't see or hear it; he was behind her and much too silent, but from their point of view the wolf and the jackal had no problem seeing the bat suddenly stepping out from an alcove through a momentarily deepening patch of darkness that seemed to both blend with and slip off his figure as if made solid before he was out of it. To Gareeku it mostly seemed like he was stepping out of darkness. To Keaton, that darkness writhed with tentacles and tendrils, fangs and little crawling shapes, and for a bit the bat was actually part of it, the disgusting creeping things flowing from it and into him as he walked out.
   He didn't so much as stop mid-stride to find his bearings. With movements that were so smooth, silent and practiced that they were instinct to him, the bat just walked out and up behind the cat with dark eyes and a grave expression, and then placed himself not an arm's length from her back.
   "Who are you and just what do you think you're doing?" he growled.

Upon witnessing Gareeku evade her hastily-aimed attack (although he had recieved a nasty slash to the cheek), Keaton felt her panic escalate greatly to the point became unbearable. Ears plastered flat and pupils pinpricked, Keaton continued to attempt and bombard Gareeku, flinging a quick jab with the sharpened end of a bladed wing-tentacle at him. Fortunately for him and unfortunately for her, this completely missed him, being as distracted by her fear as she was.

Cursing sharply under her breath, Keaton tried to conjure up a powerful dark-oriented spell to aim at him, but she simply couldn't manage to scrape together the energy. Not to mention she couldn't make the distorted shadows respond to her summoning--it was as though the very ability had been ripped straight from her grasp. Upon the introduction of a newcomer, Keaton whirled around, her eyes wide. The heads on her wing-tentacles bristled and all, simultaneously let out trills of shock.

Following the appearance of the striped, masked feline, Stygian materialized out of the shadows, tendrils of atramentous night rippling eerily off of his steadily solidfying form. Tiny, clambering shapes scrambled down his body, barely visible at first, but they seemed to each exude their own, individual aura of corrupted energy, as did the darkness surrounding them. Further horrified, Keaton let out a small, almost pitiful squeak of terror.

She had to get out of there. She had been defeated by Stygian before, when she was possessed by the spider. She wasn't going to take her chances by going up against both Gareeku and Stygian--and possibly the newcomer as well. While she wasn't a stranger to fighting while outnumbered, she truly didn't want to risk her life at this point. Very rarely had she actually experienced fear.

Letting out another, blood-curdling shriek, Keaton finally wrenched her mace from one of the wing-tentacles and whirled it around, aiming a powerful blow with its blunt-ended hilt toward Gareeku's chest. Whether it connected or not was not of Keaton's concern. Regardless of whether or not her attack was successful, Keaton ran, intent on escaping the presence of Stygian and Gareeku.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Aisha hadn't really heard the bat's command to find Keaton.  She was already out of the doorway, most likely with Mel following and whomever else decided to investigate as well.  She had heard about Gareeku getting into a fight with the succubus, and a newcomer into the castle.  Heaven spare, she thought humorously to herself.  Lately, the place didn't have too much luck with welcoming newcomers.

The panthress followed the sounds of commotion, through the passages and corridors.  It wasn't at all hard to find them, whence Keaton had unleased another gut-wrenching scream.  Aisha finally found the succubus as she was retaliating against Gareeku.  She hung back unseen for a moment, observing her.  She hadn't seemed to be hurt...just enraged or in trauma.  What in the hells could have happened?

She saw the newcomer as well, a felid she guessed, with a mask.  Strange attire perhaps, but then again she had seen stranger things in the last hours.  It wasn't any concern of Aisha's.  Like the others, she was trying to find out what was going on.

"Keaton!" the panther started.  It was her turn now to see what she could do to help the jackal, trying to stop her as she was running, but staying cautious lest she'd fail.  "Why are you doing this?  It's us!"

Ketefe felt a chill run down her spine when the man behind her spoke. She wasn't used to being snuck up on, and the sight of the freaked-out jackal's attack had unnerved her. She turned around slowly, trying not to look intimidated. It was the bat from before, the one who had bought the menacing firearm. Ketefe couldn't tell if he was trying to scare her or genuinely livid at her for intruding, but she kept her sword sheathed, although the muscles in her arm were tensed in case he tried anything. The wolf didn't seem to be a threat at the moment and the panthress who had appeared had run after the jackal - Keaton, was it? - to help her, so Ketefe focused her attention on the bat.

"I don't see how who I am is more of a concern than that girl's safety," she responded calmly, nodding her head in the direction Keaton had fled. "But since I can assume you know her well enough not to be upset, I guess a stranger would be more worrisome. My name is Ketefe Solowynd, and I followed you out of curiosity about all the noise here last night. It's probably none of my business, but what happened here and how can I help? I can assure you I won't stay if I'm not needed; I just want to help out and be on my way."

Following Aisha to the scene of the confrontation Mel saw the panicked cubi swing at Gareeku and flee down the hall, followed by Aisha. Already at the scene were Sebastian and a newcomer, an absurdly dressed feline. For an abandoned castle this place had more traffic than your average small village. Knowing Sebastian could take care of the new arrival and seeing Gareeku appeared unharmed, Mel chose to follow after Keaton and Aisha.

Stygian looked perplexed all of a sudden, and then tilted his head. She had her sword sheathed, smelled like he didn't know what, looked tense as a violin string and masked for apparrently no reason. And she'd uttered her whole name in the first sentence. Now, this was the sort of person he didn't understand; honest, straightforward and innocent. He'd never met anyone or anything of the sort. Of course, he didn't believe it for one second.
   "Benevolent stranger?" he said, tempted to add a 'Yeah, sure. And I'm actually Belphegor in a dress' but fortunately deciding not to. Muttering, the bat just walked past her, shaking his head. If three was a crowd, then what was this?
   "Fine. Come along or take a look around or eat the plants, will ya? Be my guest..." he said, in nearly the same tone he'd used against Aisha and Mel. It was turning ridiculous.


It couldn't be! She was horrible! Keaton had never liked adventurers, but this?! It just wasn't possible. They couldn't all be monsters! And yet, she couldn't deny what she saw, couldn't deny the truth of it.
   Aisha looked comparatively close to what she'd always done, when one considered what Gareeku and especially Stygian had turned into. But her fanged grin, her eyes that burned like hot coals, the part-furred black, leathery and clawed wings that sprouted from her back and the orange-red glowing tattoo on her right arm that seemed to almost burn from under her skin were completely out of place with how she had seen the panthress before. She too looked somehow more muscled, more ragged, and a whole lot more ferocious than ever before, piercing eyes threatening to burst into flame at the jackal and smoke trailing from her lips, from behind which came a strange, fiery glow as she spoke, as if she were burning from within.
   "Keaton! Why are you doing this? It's us!" she seethed, her voice tinged with fire. And Keaton couldn't help but think; yes, it's you. It's really you!
   Then came a voice from behind her. That decaying, corrupted, slithering one...
   "Hold her down! We have to catch her!"

It was starting to get easier to catch up with the others after Jeremiah went off on one of his excursions. He simply looked down each hallway when he came to a branching path, and if any of his options looked quiet and serene he avoided them. He arrived in time to see what appeared to be a standoff between Aisha and Keaton, Stygian and... Someone. Just what the bonfire needs. More firecrackers.
The spiders scurried about across his back under his thick coat, agitated. However, they knew that this was important just as well as he did. We can't have any unpredictable variables, and were she killed then we lose out on her value as a potential host with extramental capabilities. This must be handled with caution.
"Now Keaton, let's not do anything hasty," he offered, stepping forward so that she could see his hands in the air, a universal gesture of a lack of ill intent, "You know who we are, you know we have no reason to hurt you. Simply..." he sent a trickle of magic along his gaze, "Be Sensible..."

Ketefe was quite relieved that there wouldn't be a fight just yet. At least Jarevei would have no reason to worry. She relaxed a little and turned to walk after the bat, noting the white dragon who had walked after the panthress and Keaton, and glancing at another arrival, a frog in a very thick fur coat. She guessed that most of them were more concerned about Keaton than her, but for some reason, a few of these people made her a little jumpy. No matter. The bat will probably explain.

"First things first: who are you, and why do you need that gun you bought?" she asked, wondering if it had anything to do with the noise last night and/or Keaton.

As the hilt of the mace connected, Gareeku grunted as a sharp pain made itself present in his chest, causing him to stumble back. Luckily the blow was enough to break anything, but it still hurt like hell. Trying his best to shake it off, the wolf watched as Keaton ran off, followed closely behind by Aisha and Mel. Turning back towards the stranger and Sebastian, the wolf concluded that those two would be fine, and so sprinted off after the others, hoping to calm Keaton down and find out what exactly had happened to her.

This time, she nearly fainted. Jeremiah looked hideous enough to vomit at. Famished, with bulging eyes and spindly fingers, he looked like some half-dead and crooked old man under a shaggy coat, staring at her like a lunatic. Spiders crawled in his sleeves, and around and from him ghastly shapes moved, their hollow-eyed faces glaring at her like she were some sort of rabid animal in a cage. Which was not far from how she felt. It was insane!


"Damnit, get her!" Stygian shouted, taking determined steps against the jackal and closing on her fast, ignoring the question the cat had posed. She could wait. For now, they needed to subdue Keaton before she could hurt somebody, or herself. Questions would have to wait for later. "Get back!"
   The bat leapt, and the ends of his shirt spread up, crawling darkness gathering under it. In a torrent, a host of tentacles that seemed as if made from pure darkness, half liquid and half organic, rushed out against the cubi, clawed hands and fanged heads at their ends grasping and snapping for her. Cogidubnus appeared, having just entered the hallway from behind her, and had to back up firmly against the wall to avoid the rush of darkness coming their way.

Despite Jeremiah's attempts to pacify her, Keaton barreled right past the frog, too fearful of seeing what he truly was--like the rest of them--to stop and listen to his poisoned words. One glance at him as she passed by was enough to nearly make her shriek all over again: coated in crawling arachnids and draped in ragged leather, old and withered and as dead-looking as a viscous, partially-decomposing corpse. Nearly screaming, Keaton pedaled down the hall, panicked, pinpricked eyes trying desperately to bare into the writhing darkness corroding the atmosphere before her.

Making out anything even remotely resembling a hallway was nearly impossible. Drowning darkness cloaked everything, entangling corners and contours with squirming, inky tendrils of black and pulsating shells of defiled green, transforming the entire castle into even more of a Hell than it already was. Every so often Keaton glanced over her shoulder to gaze in terror at the figures she saw sprinting after her in the atramentous shade--among those were Gareeku, Mel, and a new creature, this one with coal-like, sulphurous eyes and shaggy black fur, spreading over her body like a thick, bedraggled blanket up until they reached the roots of her wings.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Keaton screamed hysterically, "GET AWAY FROM ME BEFORE I--BEFORE I FUCKING--"

She would've said something along the lines of 'Kill all of you', but she never got the opportunity. Before she even realized it, Stygian had launched himself into the air, corrupted darkness roiling and tumbling under the folds of his shirt as it flared up around him. Dozens of shadowy tentacles launched themselves at her, each sporting a head or a claw or some form of fanged appendage, all possibly intending to rip or tear or hold her down...

She wasn't going down without a fight. Releasing another scream, Keaton whipped her mace around, concentrating as deeply as she could. Piercing through the insanity and the clouding, impairing frenzy. Livid bands of crimson lightning started to ignite around the the mace, twisting about each individual spike crowning the club. Without so much of a concern about hitting or damaging anyone around her, Keaton swung her mace, electricity crackling through the air after it like the tail of a comet, and shot a lance of energy in Stygian's direction.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

The sounds of battle and screams, finally were too much PBH.  She didn't know what she could do but she left the kitchen into the Grand Hall as the fight raged on in the hallway.   She stood shocked and scared for your friends, as she watch the fight from down the hall.  Bambi desperate for a spell to dispel the illusions from Keaton's mind. 

A truth spell on Keaton may work but it would only last a few minutes or less under this curse. And then she would be back under her curse...The truth spell would make her force her to see and tell only the true, about herself and the others.  An sample spell normal used in investigations with hostrel witnesses.

It was the best she could do...Casting a green sphere of light straight into the succubus as Stygain pounces her and the succubus fires off her lightening at him... 

PBH

Keaton's discharge missed the center of the bat's body as he leapt, but he still got a good dose of energy into him, and roared out with the shock. Lightning surged and crackled as most of the tentacles seemed to go unsteady and partly dissolve mid-air. He was still as much of a huge shroud coming for her though, and far from intangible. And beating on the bat with a mace in a situation like that did as much good as trying to smash water with a hammer. He tumbled into her, gripping her and throwing her over, attempting to pin her as quickly as he could.
   But, the situation was trickier than that. Suddenly came a green light sailing into the tussling pair, before Stygian got the jackal down on the ground. They rolled for a bit before they stopped, with Stygian returned to normal form and pinning Keaton on her back under him. Her mace had been knocked from her hand, and she kicked and struggled with her bare claws instead. Not that it seemed to do much at all. The bat was twice her size, and hard as rock. One odd thing though, that all who saw noticed, was the way the both stared at each other; Keaton as if the bat was about to bite her head off and Stygian as if Keaton had just appeared from thin air and stolen his ears.

When Sebastian shouted to "get back" Mel flattened herself against the wall. Having been attacked by him once herself she had no wish to get between him and his target. She was a bit surprised when Keaton's attack caused him to shout. Her own experience had been far from successful. Mel ducked a second time as a spell went flying past and into the combatants. Their thrashing came to a halt and they just stared at each other. Mel cautiously stepped a little closer, not sure if the fight was really over. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Jeremiah knew what his odds were of doing anything to restrain a pissed off, mace wielding cubi, and thus didn't try. He merely backed away and looked around for any sort of magical indication of what was going on. He wasn't the best of spellcasters, and thus wouldn't be able to see much, but you work with what you have.

Aisha was taken aback by Keaton's demeanor.  Never before had she seen someone with a normally calm attitude look so frightened, as if she had seen a monster.  The panther's ears pinned back to her head in thought.  What could it have been...?

Hearing the bat's order to restrain her, Aisha moved to try, were it not for the fact that Keaton wielded her mace with such ferocity that it was hard to move close and be cautious at the same time.  She drew her sword, staying close just in case the succubus would start to turn on her.  From what she had seen of Keaton's abilities, Aisha was happy enough to let Sebastian handle her, which he seemed to be doing well himself.  "Keaton, just calm down, we just want to help," Aisha tried to calm, among the chaos.

It didn't take long either before the rest of the party came in, either trying to help or observing and looking a way, until the tussle slowed and stopped at a very tense crossroad.  Aisha lowered her sword, waiting to see what would happen.

Ketefe took a surprised step back when the bat ran away abruptly, but she jogged up a few minutes afterward to get a better look at the fight and to see if she could help at all. She  stopped about twenty feet away from Keaton and the others, and the fight was one of the most unusual and scary events she had ever witnessed. Most of these people were magic users, and the bat was either a demon or some sort of shape-shifter, what with all those tentacles that had come out of him. As for Keaton, she was screaming, whipping her mace around crazily and shooting energy at the bat. Ketefe was used to fighting Beings, so she hadn't bothered to learn any magic, and she seldom ever had to fight demons. Knowing that she'd probably do more harm than good if she interfered, the masked feline curled up against the wall and waited for the combat to end.

At last, Keaton was restrained by the bat, so Ketefe uncurled and watched the dragon walk over to the two surprised-looking fighters and ask if she could help. The cat stood, a little unsteadily, and walked close enough to the others to hear them and be heard. She found herself being curious about the succubus's behavior. The others had made it clear they didn't want to hurt Keaton, and yet she had been screeching for them to get away and attacking them, and now she was staring at the bat like he had just told her that he was going to eat her alive. Ketefe didn't know how the jackal would respond, but she wanted to help her and the others any way she could. "Keaton...why are you so scared?" she asked, in almost a whisper.

" Truth Spell, it no hurt anyone, yet you must see and talk the Truth to u-self and others... But it no lasts.  The ebil sights will come back, soon. very soon" says PBH, as she , the light brown cat-girl with blue hair rushs down the hall.  She comes up the hallway to the bat and the jackal sucubus, "Fiend.. grrr....  my friend Keaton, but we must tie you up for you   for us" says Bambi  with a light kind hand on Keaton.   "Quick Need something to hold her, If she fight us again." shouts PBH as looks to the others in the hall.

PBH

Keaton could barely get the two new people. The cat in the mask looked as if it were somehow part of her face, distorting it to a sort of mysterious, unexplainable smile over which her eyes glinted sharply, which could only mean trouble. Bam on the other hand seemed like some sort of capricious, mean-hearted pixie where she stood, with glowing eyes, an eerie grin and fae's wings, and leaves and wisps of green and diamond light falling off her. Things were going crazy...

   "There'll be no need for that. If she can get away..." the bat said plainly as he lifted Keaton up roughly and bent her arms up behind her back, then gripping around her wrists with one hand and holding her around her neck with his free arm. Her wings flapped in his face before he pushed against her back, hard, and tightened his grip on her neck, using nearly a foot of height difference and fiendishly strong arms against her. His voice had changed somehow. It was less... seething... in its tone now.
   "You're not going to get away. And nothing's going to help you. Not unless you give up," he said in her ear, his tone low but strong. "Quit your struggling, or I will be forced to hurt you." Then he turned to Mel. "Can you put something on her? Paralyze her or something? I think you'll need to go through her mind."

The mention of some method of incapacitating Keaton caught the frog's interest. It would be useful to discover whether or not I'm capable of hypnotizing a cubi; definitely something worth knowing. He kept his ear open to the conversation going on there as he strode over to the newcomer.
"This castle is a scary place," Jeremiah offered, holding out a hand to Ketefe, "Name's Jeremiah, the token useless civilian of this lot. And you?" his wide mouth curved into a friendly smile, "What brings you here?"

When Stygian tackled her Keaton went utterly beserk. Red flashed before her eyes as she kicked, scratched, and screamed like a wild-eyed banshee, pummeling at Stygian with her fists and claws even once she was disarmed and pinned to the ground. Pure horror as etched in her ferocious facial features even in the midst of her chaotic panic, exacerbating as she started to realize that her clawing was doing nothing to jostle Stygian's hold on her. Over his shoulder, she barely caught the glimpse of two other arrivals, making her freeze in place.

One looked to be some sort of a bastardization of a wicked fairy-tale creature; an imp and a pixie and all sorts of malicious troublemakers mixed together in one gruesome concoction. The other had a mask partially fused to its face, a wicked smile crawling along its lips.

A moment after Keaton allowed a pathetic, puny groan to slither its way from her reticent throat, she found herself hauled up and securely seized by Stygian, leaving her to dangle from his clutches and stare in hopeless shock at the demented fae-pixie and masked feline. Yet it didn't stop there. There was what felt like hours of flailing and gnashing of the teeth and frenzied flapping of her wings. Dangerous sparks of electricity flashed around her eyes, ignited without warning or any provocation of her mace, which lay, abandoned, nearby, threatening to explode at any second and fluctuating rapidly as her writhing and thrashing intensified...

She felt Stygian's eyes bore on the back of her head. Keaton's violent movements ceased and the orbs of sanguine lightning died down to a few, fluttering flickers. Keaton closed her eyes, took in a seething gasp, and looked around.

At the winged, fanged wolf-demon; at the malicious fae; at the corpse-frog; at the masked feline-creature; and at the dark-furred she-monster.

Another sigh, this one stuttering, maybe even choking. Looking on the verge of tears, Keaton let her shoulders slouch in resignation and her wings wilt in their sockets.

"Bastards...." she hissed, "You fucking bastards..."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Mel stepped forward to where Keaton dangled in Sebastian's grasp. "Please calm down and relax Keaton. We want to help. What has you so scared?" As she spoke she probed the jackal's mental shields. Cubi tended to have good shields but Mel had been doing this a very long time, she knew where the soft spots were. With only a few false starts she was in and took control of Keaton's motor systems. "She can't fight now. We might want to go someplace more comfortable to figure out what is wrong with her."

As horrid as the others were, and as much as Stygian made her skin creep as he held her fast, none had such an overwhelming impression on Keaton as Mel. Standing much taller than before, with dark eyes in a ghastly white face, with spiked frills, curved horns and towering wings, she looked every bit the mythical and terrifying creature that a dragon was. Icy mist fell slowly to the floor, wreathing around her feet as she walked, and her face was bitter and as cold as if carved out of ice. Claws and teeth like pearlescent knives glinting, she closed with the captured jackal, and then started prodding her mind's protections like nobody's business. For all she tried to struggle, she had little to put up, and soon she felt her muscles and sinews slacken, even more than they had when she relaxed. Even her eyes would hardly move as they were told anymore.
   It was a nightmare. First the whole castle tried to kill her, next her companions turned out to be horrors, and now she wasn't even capable of putting up a fight. Amid all the terror, she just found herself hearing the same thought over and over again; that she should get away; that she should kill them all and then just run into the darkness and never come out again.
   Then she felt as she was hoisted up, and her head tilted to the side to look down the corridor. She briefly caught a glance of Cogidubnus before she passed him, the wolf looming even taller than the bat, his face a dark thunderhead under his hat and his eyes glowing and crackling with bluish-white electricity, his fur swept back and spiked as if it were full with static. She could do nothing but follow along as the bat paced, heading where she didn't know.


Stygian felt the cubi finally relax completely in his arms, and slowly released his grip, his face still a bitter mask. He felt odd for a reason. Somehow, he knew just about what was wrong with her, as if it were a thought he had just to remember or a word at the tip of his tongue, but that he just couldn't place right away. He knew what it was that Mel had done to her, and knew that the cubi would just stand and walk along, incapable of controlling herself, should he set her down. And just therefore he instead lifted her up into his arms. It seemed... less of a blow to her pride that way. He knew from his own experience.
   Walking past the others silently and heading down the same corridor they had come from, the bat made for the ballroom, being the largest and most comfortable room near them now. Once there, he set the jackal into a sofa behind a large oval table and next to an armless marble sculpture, and slipped into the matching armchair next to it, looking at her gravely.

Watching the bat take Keaton to the ballroom, PBH wondered what went wrong with her truth spell.  Then she remembered that the spell hit Stygain and not Keaton.

But hearing the frog's voice, Bambi cause to snap her attention to the newcomer and the frog.. She was still fearful of the frog, and that something was even more a miss with him.  With a wary look at the frog, Bambi walk over there to defend the newcomer should a spiders try to attack the cat in the mask.

"Hi I am Bambi" says PBH with her hand out to the newcomer cat, but she is also ready with a flaming hand spell on the tip of her tongue, should any spider that appear. 

PBH

Ketefe glanced at the two outstretched hands before shaking both simultaneously. The frog seemed friendlier and more normal than most of the people in the castle, and had actually understood she was scared. And  the light brown cat (who, Ketefe noted with surprise and pleasure, had the same hair color as her) also seemed like she wanted to help out, even if she couldn't speak very well. She also didn't really approve of her attire - doctors made her nervous for some reason, but this one seemed kind and innocent. Ketefe smiled shyly at the two.

"I'm Ketefe. Nice to meet you both." She let go of their hands and addressed Jeremiah. "To answer your question, I'm here to satisfy my morbid curiosity about the commotion here last night." She raised a hand halfway. "Please, don't tell me it'll kill me one day. That joke lost its funny after the three zillionth time I heard it."

At the first sight of Mel approaching her, Keaton let out an unrestrained scream, her pride shriveling up and crawling into the dank, dark corners of her subconscious for that one, shameless moment. Thrashing intensified, wings, arms and legs stiffening and flailing in Stygian's grip as Keaton threw every bit of energy she had in escaping. Yet, she found her muscles paralyzed in the next second, falling limp.

Pupils dilated into pale pinpricks, she stared in pure horror at Mel. Instead of the pearlescent, slim dragon from before, it seemed as though she had been turned into an icy abomination, carved entirely out of frosted stone. Her claws and teeth were serrated and dangerous, more like blades than actual appendages. Diaphanous mist wafted up from the air in coiling, somersaulting, white clouds, seemingly issuing from the sheer, frigid temperature radiating around Mel's icy body in palpable halos. Part of her registered feeling a mental force probing at the outer defenses of her mind-shields; barriers which had been constructed painstakingly, but she didn't care anymore if any of her privacy or the secretive history she so desperately guarded was sacrificed.

Finally she lost the will to fight for the first time in centuries. She allowed herself to be carted off, glassy eyes staring off into space, no longer caring whether or not they were deliberately pointed at the monstrosities encircling her, now with the addition of the recently-arrived, towering Cogidubnus. Even the sagely wolf had been morphed into a monstrous bastardization of his former self, rocketing past even the bat in terms of height, his eyes sparking and eliciting fresh shards of lightning. His fur was windswept, seemingly charged with static electricity and spiked up over his sinewy body in peaked thorns.

Without realizing it, they were walking off, leaving that corridor and entering an enormous ballroom, where she was set in a sofa. Almost unceremoniously Keaton crumpled there after her back hit the vermiculated cushion, long-dammed dust spilling around the abandoned pillows as her weight was pressed upon them. Sitting upright, Keaton glanced around, her expression unreadable.

Then she snapped.

Keaton's lower eyelid twitched briefly, tapered ears lying flat. The yellow jackal let out an unidentified grating, choking noise, part-scream and part-sob, and pulled her legs up to her chest.

"AhaAHAHAahAhAaHAHAHA..." Keaton forced out a deranged laugh, her voice constricted by rasping wheezes. Dirty blonde hair lay askew along her head, draping over her face like a ragged shroud as she lowered her head, face and muzzle disappearing from sight behind her long legs. "This is a nightmare!" she laughed, "That's all this is. I'm sleeping and I'm going to wake up ANY MOMENT NOW! ANY MOMENT!"

Head lifted again, eyes blinking wearily from behind the loose strands of her entangled hair. Dark, snaking lines of tears were creeping down the dark, crescent-shaped patches emblazoned over her bloodshot eyes, dribbling from Keaton's rigidly chiseled jawline. Keaton's hands slinked up into her hair, confining her slender fingers in the disheveled mess of her hair. "Aha... that's all... th-that's all... this whole thi...thi--thing is a ni-nightmare...

"Just a nightmare..."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

"Pretty, competant and a sense of humor?"  the frog raised one bushy eyebrow, adjusted his glasses, and turned to Bambi, "We can keep her, right?" He offered up another friendly grin, "Fine, I'll spare you the knee jerk reaction joke. This place is starting to seem like one anyway." He pointed to various individuals in the room, "Seriously, just look. 'A dragoness, four adventurors, a cubi, a mad scientist, an art teacher and whatever the hell Stygian is walk into a castle...' Actually, that's not even all of them. Some others have been seen wandering around here, this place is huge." He chuckled, "Seriously, I wouldn't be suprised if small civilizations spring up around here. Just like normal civilizations, but at about one-eigth scale."

Mel sat next to Keaton on the sofa. "When did the nightmare start Keaton? What were you doing when the nightmare started?" She could have just ransacked the girl's memory, but it would be better for both Keaton's emotional state and her dignity if she cooperated. "Can you tell us what has you so scared? We can't help you until you tell us what is wrong."

Ketefe blushed at the compliment and laughed quietly at Jeremiah's joke, and then went a little serious. "Who's Stygian? Is that the bat? 'Cause he's creepy." She suddenly remembered the endless questions she'd had in her head prior to the battle. "And while I'm still thinking about it, why could I hear sounds of an attack across town last night? Does that have anything to do with Keaton's condition?" Her yellow eyes moved to the door, and she heard muffled shouts and thrashing, and then a crazy, desperate peal of laughter. She shivered involuntarily. She had more questions - a lot more - but that was enough for now. Even if it took a while to explain, she had to know at least a little. She made a mental note to write to Jarevei and let him know she'd be gone for longer than she thought. If she explained, he'd understand; he knew that helping people was important to her.

"I'm not sure how long I'll be here, but do you think I'll be able to help out?" she asked Bambi and Jeremiah.

"Yeah, the bat's Sebastion or Stygian, depending who you ask," Jeremiah nodded, "As for how helpful you can be..." He shrugged, partly because he didn't know and partly because one of the spiders twitching under his coat was tickling him, "To be honest, this place plays merry hell with the psyche, and it's dangerous to boot. Matter of fact, many aspects of this bloody castle can be compared to hell. Such as the unholy number of curses that would appear to be on this place. As for Keaton..." The stuffed his hands into his pockets, "No clue whatsoever. Personally, I've been a little worried about her mental state for a while. It could just be this damn place getting to her." These words, of course, spoken with the severity and seriousness of one who had been in this place only about a day and a half longer than Ketefe.

"Ketefe, Come have some food... Mel will able cure Keaton" said Bambi as she pointed the way to the kitchen, and waited for Ketefe follow....

She smiled at the new catgirl, but looked worried at the frog for a second.

PBH

Ketefe returned the smile Bambi sent to her. "Okey-doke," she answered, following the lab-coated cat and finally realizing she was hungry. "So, Mel would be... the dragon, then?"

She wondered about the nervous glance Bambi had directed at Jeremiah. So far, the frog had been completely amiable to Ketefe. But Bambi was a spellcaster, and obviously experienced despite her speech... had Ketefe let her guard down too easily, or was Jeremiah masking his true nature? Even though it was probably nothing, she'd need to watch him a bit more carefully.

Standing back as the others successfully restrained Keaton, Gareeku walked with him, trying to imagine what on earth was wrong with the jackal succubus. Why had she become so...well...psychotic? At this time the wolf had absolutely no idea, but he had a strange something, or someone, was responsible. As Keaton broke down, Gareeku was not help but frown.

Stygian took word almost immediately, for oddness' sake.
   "She has something dark inside her mind. It's all over her. I suspect she was poking around the castle. Though I am somewhat surprised as to why it would not have sought us out," he said, looking mildly confused and unsettled. Slowly, he bent forward against Keaton, while his eyes blackened over and his irises shrank around a pinpricking pupil and started to glow. Slowly, his hand moved up, and he brushed past her cheek. She could feel the claws of the thing, easily capable of gripping around her entire face, tracing through her fur, and his eyes narrowed as she felt a sort of chilly tingle. In her eyes though, it looked significantly different, the dark appendage crawling with tendrils and little insect-like shapes that moved and clawed her skin, almost trying to make their way under it. Fortunately, the bat drew his hand back quickly.
   "Yeah. Something's gotten into her head allright."

Aisha replaced her sword in its sheath, only quirking an eyebrow in reply to Keaton's cursing outburst before she was finally subdued and carried back over to the ballroom.  She shook her head slowly as she followed the others there as well, just as curious to the jackal's condition.  She stayed a distance back however, thinking of how she was recieved.  There was no telling what a succubus could do when in such a condition, and as an adventurer she wasn't about to place more discomfort.

She too could only stand back with a blankly sour expression as Keaton awoke and spoke as if insanity had a firm grip on her mind.  Aisha was going over what possibilities there could have been for it.  Perhaps she was possessed?  Another curse?  Gah, why couldn't I have learned more mental-based healing...?  She even stole a glance at her light-enchanted bracer, resting around her wrist where she decided to keep it, and wondering if that would help somehow.

"Gotten into her head..." she hummed after Sebastian made his observation.  Curiosity was starting to get to the felid, and she wondered what would happen if she went to look for the source of this trouble.

Not without a ward, I'm not, she decided, crossing her arms while looking back to the jackal.

Bambi  takes Ketefe ahead down the hall and away the frog abit..

"Spiders, mindstealing spiders, be in the castle and were in us.  Beware spiders."as she looks quick lt to the frog " and  Traps and curses fill the castle, Keaton got caught.  And me, too.  My words were stolen, I'm cursed too.  So going nowhere alone."  says Bambi

PBH

Jeremiah raised an eyebrow at the newcomer being led away by Bambi, but didn't think anything of it. I've given Bambi no reason to suspect anything. Besides, Ketefe seems like a reasonable person; she'll require proof, which the good doctor doesn't have. Wonder if Aisha knows what's going on with Keaton... Being controlled by spiders didn't make Jeremiah any less himself, and he rather enjoyed talking with the adventurer. He followed the others to the Ballroom and, seeing the huntress lost in thought, tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.
"Erm..." He jerked his thumb in the direction of the maniac cubi, trying to think of a nice way of saying 'Why's she crazy?' "Uh... What?" Was the best that came out.

Ketefe listened to Bambi's explanation with surprise, uneasiness, and a bit of sick doubt. Curses and traps all over? Mind-stealing spiders? The results were all too clear; she had seen Keaton, and she guessed that Bambi had sounded much clearer before. Maybe she shouldn't stay here after all... or if she did, she'd need to learn how to detect magic so she could avoid being cursed or brainwashed.

"God..." she whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. "Why is everyone staying here if this place is cursed?" Then her brain answered her question: Because there are people who have been here too long. They need help, and how many people will believe a crazy story like this one? She gulped, and looked at Bambi. "How long has everyone been here?"

WHY??  for We be Heroes, to keep the badness inside...for the gold,  For our friends, for Adventure! To save the world.  And most be here a day or three..."  says Bambi as she hands the catgirl a sandwich, some soup and fruity rice in the Kitchen..  "Gina!, We have a new friend... Meet Key tee fee... This is Gina.." says Bambi as she show Ketefe off to a white furred ferret...

PBH

Aisha blinked upon being tapped on the shoulder, only turning her head slightly to see that it was only Jeremiah.  She smirked at the confused expression on the frog's face and shook her head.  "Your guess is as good as mine, compadre," she answered, glancing back up to where Keaton stood, while those with powers that would do well to defend against a 'Cubi were trying to snap her out of it.  "All that was deduced so far was that something got into her head."

The panther's ears flattened.  "She was roaming the castle, the last that anyone has seen of her."  This didn't come as a surprise to Aisha.  Still, she didn't want to come into contact with anything that could make Keaton scared to death.  She raised her voice, offering a suggestion.  "Is there no way to make her coherent enough to tell us anything strange that she has seen only moments ago?"

Other than us...she added silently.

Under Mel's gentle interrogation, Keaton only continued to sob and release heaving laughs, unable to say anything even remotely intelligible. Her body was shaking uncontrollably with each escaped wheeze or choking rasp, and it only exacerbated when Mel approached. The illusions had been eased somewhat, but the convulsing, twisting abyss which consumed the background remained, along with the neverending terror which gripped her.

"Aha... th... ni... nightmare... just a..." Keaton resumed her demented chanting until it deteriorated into even more senseless babble, her lips forming the words but completely incapable of carrying anything past them. "AhaHahAAh..."

Stygian's hand flashed somewhere beside her, teeming with insectoid, inky silhouettes, but she had utterly surrendered at that point. Despite an involuntary tremor of fear that was added to her already spasmodic quaking, she didn't resist, instead folding her wings a little closer to her body even as the squirming tendrils lapped at the surface of her flesh.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

"Yes there is. But it would be very painful for her," Stygian said, still looking a tad off. "And it's not a nightmare. There's something in her head that's basically taking control of her through her fears, making her go insane so it can take over. Makes the spiders look like flyshit." Now, his eyes widened, but he shook his head and then looked hard at Keaton again.


Gina, a good deal shorter than Bam, looked up from a book and at Ketefe a bit distractedly, then got out of her seat and walked over, taking the other feline's hand.
   "Sorry. She's a bit overenergetic sometimes. But cute," she said, and gave Bam a smile. "I'm Gina."

Jeremiah mulled over Aisha's words for a minute, and Stygian's. A threat to the spiders. Not good. Poor Keaton. He looked over at the gibbering wreak that was the local cubi, and it came to him.
"Perhaps it's a matter of asking the right questions..." The frog hazarded to Aisha, keeping his voice low so as not to worry Keaton, "After all, she's probably in no state to lie to us. We phrase things right and she may tell us when this started."

Ketefe smiled, a smile that, for the first time since she'd entered the castle, showed happiness. She shook the ferret's hand. "Hi. Nice to meet you." She glanced at Bam. "And it's Keh-Teh-Fay, by the way," she corrected good-naturedly. "S'all right, though. A lot of people get it wrong."

She released the ferret's hand and walked over to the table, pulling out another chair and sitting down. "Is it all right if I put my sword down? I've been carrying it for a while," she said, gesturing to the black-wrapped weapon on her back.

Mel looked at the jackal cubi lost in a world of endless fear. By the rising temperature of her body her adrenaline had to be pushing her heart hard. It was a question of which would die first, her mind or her body. Mel was already past her shields but it seemed rude to try anything without asking. "Keaton, would you like help waking up from your nightmare?"

"Something worse than the spiders..." Gareeku muttered as he took in what Sebastian had said. This was not good, to put it lightly. As Sebastian had already pointed out, whatever had gotten inside Keaton's mind was driving her insane, to the point where it could take over, presumably able to control her easily once the victim had no sanity to conjure up any sort of willpower to fight back. To state the obvious, they needed to act fast....the only problem was...
"Then how are we meant to go about helping her" the wolf asked. He would be the first to admit that he was no expert when it came to dealing with issues of the mind, but he would help in any way possible. He had not known Keaton for very long at all, but he felt that he had a duty, as a friend, to help.

*sigh*  Bambi need be hyper to keep to the gloom away...." sighs PBH as she turns to make something lemonade in a pitcher....  Can she still hear Keaton's screams faintly, or Is it her congence nagging her...?  Bambi puts some glasses and the pitcher of lemonade on a tray.... After offer some to Ketefe and then Gina with a teasing tickle and quick kiss, Bambi takes the lemonade to the ballroom.

"Lemonade Anyone?" asks PBH as she walk into the ballroom and puts the tray down nearby the group.  She see that Mel has calm Keaton down, but not much else, and that the jackal was in danger of disappearing into her fears..
"Mel, Will the truth help?" askes PBH as she casts a new truth spell, but hold it in greenlight sphere in the palm of her hand.

PBH

Mel realized that Keaton was beyond asking for help and decided she would have to act now and apologize later for any invasion of privacy. She was already past the cubi's shields in a superficial way, but moved entirely inside to hunt for whatever was terrorizing the girl. She faintly heard Bam's question but was unable to respond. One of the others would have to answer her as Mel devoted her attention to searching Keaton's mind.

"Truth? The truth never helps. It is fact, and action. It is instant. But people always twist the truth, the very moment they lay their eyes upon it," Stygian said, intently eyeing Mel and Keaton, apparrently talking without thinking. "Truth is in the eye of the beholder, however cliché it might sound. And seeing as it is neither certain in or out of perspective nor..." He stopped, suddenly, and shook his head, then returned to studying Keaton.
   The jackal had begun to shake and quiver again, though thankfully she remained relatively silent now. Her eyes had slowly rolled up, exposing the whites, and she was taking short, whimpering breaths. But though she couldn't express it, she was feeling a rather intense, numbing pain and discomfort, the result of something trying to use her to block Mel out with increasing agression. It felt, quite literally, like the worst migraine one could possibly imagine.
   Mel, in turn, was having some difficulties tracing down whatever it was that had gotten into Keaton. She was getting steadily closer, true, but for every real pathway or hint that she got there were ten rather convincing false ones set out to lure her, or snare her, or make her trip some sort of psychosis or nightmare or horror in the jackal's mind. She found herself delving through Keaton's memories, images and sensations and feelings flashing past, flickering and leaping as she trailed the thing delving through the cubi's consciousness. Just a glimpse here, a trail there, yet soon she thought that she could almost feel it, getting closer...
   Behind his back, Stygian was flexing his fingers slowly, his other hand placed steadily on Keaton's shoulder. One could never know what was to happen next...