The Castle [02] (Remba, but don't let it stop you)

[Boog]

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 Dragonkitty]

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.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

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

[Rloa]

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]

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.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

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.

[Stygian]

"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.

[Gareeku]

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?"

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"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

[Rloa]

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!?"

[Mel Dragonkitty]

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.

[Sunblink]

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

[Stygian]

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.

[Sunblink]

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

[Gareeku]

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.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

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

[Cogidubnus]

 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 Dragonkitty]

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.

[Stygian]

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!"

[Cogidubnus]

"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 deCabre]

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!"

[Mel Dragonkitty]

"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."

[Rloa]

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

[Boog]

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?"

[Stygian]

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 Dragonkitty]

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."

[Stygian]

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.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

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 deCabre]

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.

[Sunblink]

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