Character Lounge

Stygian · February 06, 2007, 03:30:26 PM

Not receiving an answer, Stygian sighed and returned to gazing into the flames. He finished his cup of tea with a solemn expression, eyes still. Then, he stood up and walked smoothly around them.
"No matter. You have sleep to catch up on, and I have business. I suppose the security system here is going to go haywire too then. Not that one cares..." he chuckled. "Then I shall be on my way. I'm sure there's an inn in town, and then I'm heading back to my own place."

Boog · February 06, 2007, 07:42:51 PM

"Hm? Oh, sorry. Got distracted with the idiot savant machine," Boogey jerked a thumb at the intercom, "I have no problem with you sticking around, so long as you keep your word about not violating our peace. Peace is best left unviolated. I don't speak for everyone though," He turned to the others, "Well?"

Mel Dragonkitty · February 07, 2007, 10:52:51 AM

"A formal invitation is not mine to give, but another partycrasher is welcome. Since the invitations came from the housesitter and not the Admiral I'm not sure but that we're all partycrashers anyway. Perhaps that is why he didn't turn off the security system. A high-tech version of turning the hose on us."

Mel looked around at all the sleepy faces and added, "Not that we seem to have much of a party going at the moment for anyone to be enticed to crash."

Stygian · February 07, 2007, 11:59:41 AM

Stygian smiled just a bit bitterly at them and shook his head slowly. He folded his arms across his chest and took a step backwards, shifting on his legs a bit.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll try and be off as quickly as I can actually, so I won't disturb you longer than I have to," he said, and then turned around and walked against the corridor out. He looked over his shoulder at them for just a little as he did. "You'd better be off making more drinks, I'd say!" He laughed, and walked out.
The corridor was as dimly lit as before when Stygian paced through it. After a few turns he arrived at a door, and then a stone stairway that winded down into the large cellar. Walking past rooms of hi-tech equipment, a micro-powerplant and some servers, he then descended another set and went from the fake stone foundation to the real one, a humid, open space whose darkness lay undisturbed. It reeked of dampness and that earthy smell that a place gets when it's stood locked for decades on end. And, to Stygian's senses at least, there was another smell as well, different altogether. The acidic, metal-ended and seeping smell of evil.
His eyes shifted to a fiery red for just a moment before he changed, his features cracking up and the almost whitish-blonde fur and skin crackling off and turning into nothing, darkness emanating from within. He flowed, rather than walked, his other senses guiding him accurately through the dark to a small, but clear indicator on the wall, not so much a symbol as a sign. Assuming a somewhat humanoid shape, he ran his hand over it. He chuckled.
"Footstool," he murred.
The symbol could not be broken, at least not by him, nor could he remove it. For that, he would need much more preparation than he had now. So instead of going through it, he just had to go around it. Flowing, he seeped through the sides of the wall slowly, around the protective barrier and to the back of it, just moving through its weak point, like the blind spot of an eye.
Inside, behind the wall and yet not, thanks to the enchantment, was a chamber, roughly twenty paces wide and long, with an altar in the middle. The large, black stone slab bathed in the light from candles that seemed to have run down quite a lot, but had not stood there for hours but years and years, burning without oxygen to feed them. The thin atmosphere of the place carried no scent but a cold, dead one, and Stygian quickly moved up to the altar to leave as soon as possible, before the hex on the place or some guardian figured out what was happening.
The altar, which was in fact a vault of a kind, had four lines running from the sides and into its center, bending at angles so that the whole stone piece looked like a swastika with a sort of lock at its center. Carefully, Stygian's hand went to that lock, and his fiery eyes gleamed for a short moment. Blood poured down from his hand, and then into the lock. A few seconds passed, and then with a rumble the slab moved up and opened, the stone parts unfolding like a puzzle of some kind. A single, empty piedestal with some sort of plate on it emerged from the floor, and Stygian's jaw dropped.
Less than ten seconds later he was already out of the chamber. No doubt it would destroy itself after this, but what did that mean? The fool had taken it! He really had! If there was anything...
Slithering through the lower floors, Stygian arrived before the house vault with a snarl upon his darkened face. He moved a hand before it, traced by incandescent symbols, and spoke a single hissing word; Pateo! The procedure was violent if not crude, but he did not care. When he had lain bare the protective systems and wards, he then uttered a second word, and struck out his hands, forming a much more complex pattern of symbols inside moving circles, fire flowing from them.
"Destruo!"
The circuitry, fine mechanics, magic, everything about the security system violently fried and was wiped beyond restoration. Stygian waited not a moment, but began to draw out all of his shadow, lifting it from the floor and shaping it. He immersed himself in it, merged with it, and then targeted the locks and seals, smashing into the vault door. The foundation shook as he tore it up, eating and ripping away at it, and then throwing it to the side like the obstacle it was in his anger.
And again, failure looked him in the face. He searched, but the Heart was not there. The blasted idiot hadn't taken it anyway, that was to his credit. Or not, depending on how one saw it. Practically fuming, he eyed the damnable place and let his shadow shrink and sink back, before he turned and stomped out, heading back up while trying to cool his head.

Joat · February 07, 2007, 05:18:59 PM

*OOC: I shall try to regain my place in this.*

“‘Machines are gullible’. I’d be insulted if I were you, Sylver,” Valencia jokes.

“The only ‘party’ I wanna talk about is a slumber party,” May says sleepily.

“I know how you feel. *yawn* I’ll just lay down here, rest my eyes,” I say as I lie down.

“That’s what you always say right before…” Valencia begins.

“Zzz…”

“…you fall asleep. Joat, how can you sleep on a hard floor so easily?”

Aisha deCabre · February 07, 2007, 05:39:06 PM

Sending another grimace at the loudspeaker's statement as E messed around with it, Aisha shook her head slightly, a bit of sleepiness still evident on her face. For once I think I'll agree to being pushed around. She looked up when Stygian started speaking again, about to answer his question, when Boogey answered it for him. She agreed with his statment, as well as Mel's. "Yes, nobody is chasing you out. But that's true, there won't be much of a party if everyone's tired."

She nodded in farewell to the dark creature as he left, anyway. Looking out of one the windows, it seemed that the sun had finally set fully again, leaving a semi-clear night sky dotted with too many stars to count and just a very light indigo band in the west to show where it had gone; otherwise the rest of the sky was black and night well underway for the second time in what seemed like a couple of hours. Glimpsing around the other tired faces, Aisha smirked when she saw Joat having fallen asleep on the floor, rolling her eyes. "If that security system does go off as it threatens, I hope he's not in the line of fire," she laughed.

Yawning, Aisha started to turn around, glancing at Gareeku with a smile as she did, and wondering if he was to follow again. The panther paused briefly however as she heard a faint but curious noise from somewhere far off.

Joat · February 07, 2007, 05:47:06 PM

“Mad scientists tend not to think things through very well,” Valencia says.

Mel Dragonkitty · February 07, 2007, 07:51:32 PM

Mel felt slight vibrations running through the house and magic being flung about. It seemed that Mr. Don'Chel's business didn't involve just picking up some books and papers. Good thing Karl was asleep or they'd be at swords drawn once again.

Stygian · February 07, 2007, 08:06:19 PM

...and that's when Stygian came back in, his boots smacking against the floor. He looked up at them all with a face that was under control, but one could easily spot the seething anger and annoyance behind it.
"Well, it seems that what I came for isn't here any longer. That means this trip was practically in vain, if I cannot find out who took it. Because if it was that half-wit up there, I'll eat my own tail." As if to strengthen his point, the whitish-blond furred appendage whipped a bit behind him. He straightened his glasses, looked them all over, and then went over to the table full of books and odd things.
"I shall be on my way out of here then. I think I'll be staying in town while searching for clues, and then I'll be heading back home. If anyone of you have any information, or if you just want to, you're welcome to follow. My place shouldn't be any worse than this," he said, flipping pages between his fingers and thumbing some with a claw.

Gareeku · February 07, 2007, 08:25:01 PM

"I do not detest you." Gareeku stated calmly in reply to Stygian. "The matter has been cleared up, and no one was harmed."

Nodding his head in farewell to Stygian, Gareeku then turned to Aisha and smiled at her, noticing she seemed as tired as he was as he laughed softly at her comment.

The wolf began to follow the pantheress when he noticed Stygian returning. Listening to what he said, Gareeku raised his eyebrows slightly.
I wonder if Karl does indeed have it... the wolf thought to himself curiously.

Aisha deCabre · February 08, 2007, 12:10:15 PM

Hearing Stygian coming back, Aisha eyed him with curiosity, noting the negative emotions behind his movements and words. It's not there...? she thought, tilting her head. Surely Karl wouldn't have it...but then again, it IS his house now.

"I'm sure we could help if we knew what it was exactly that you were looking for...or how significant it is," Aisha said with an apologetic shrug. "The house wasn't like this when Karl invited us. Maybe he could be asked...?" She looked around at the rest of the group with a questioning look, though perhaps nobody else knew exactly what the deal was either.

The more about this that came up, the more that Aisha was becoming curious about the whole thing. She hadn't heard anything about a "heart" throughout this whole excursion, that she could remember. But, tired as she was, the panther was more than willing to overlook it for the moment...unless everyone agreed actually that they would get out of the house, she figured that nobody would want to get caught by the security system. "It's fine by me whether anyone leaves, but perhaps it can't wait until morning...?" Aisha started to turn around toward the stairs again, with pauses in case there was anything more to be said.

KarlOmega1 · February 08, 2007, 01:54:12 PM

(just on for a few minutes)

Just then, Karl woke up and shouted.

Karl: Micheal! Postpone SecSys activation!

Micheal.exe: Acknowledged, sir.

Karl: Micheal...I sensed an Energy dispersal...Where did it come from?

Micheal.exe: scanning...Floor B2, section 4...section 4 Individual SecSys disabled...Our recent guest must have been looking for his item... some sort of Heart.

Karl: Heart...heart...anything in the FIA or Neo-Christix Database on the item he was looking for?

Micheal: Searching...several Items found...displaying.

Karl then looked over the list and thumbnails of the items.

Karl: Heart of Cybertron, nope...Heart of Garnak, wasn't here...hold it!

Karl spots an Item similar to one he found in an old chamber under the house.

Karl:Which database is this from?

Micheal.exe: Neo-Christix Database...in the "Possible Inter-realm Contraband/Artifacts" section.

Karl: Yeah, that Item did look kinda like a Dark Realm/ Hellborne Artifact...send a message to the lobby for Styg and show him it, asking if it is it. Where is it anyway?

Micheal.exe: Searching...the local Artifact/Confiscated item locker in the local Neo-Christix Station/templain in town...

Karl: If Styg goes there to pick it up, Call the CPs to tell them that he's on his way there and to give the item to him...no arguments!

Micheal.exe: Yessir.

Karl: Also...when you give Mr. Stygian the Info where it's at, tell him he should have came to this room and knocked...he could have asked me for permission to the vauit where we keep not only items we've found, but where we keep our Energon/Emeraldine Crystals as well as treasure/money/ Jewels.

(Note...SecSys is short for Security Systems, CPs is short for Cyber-Paladins, and the Neo-Christix are a group of people that enforce Inter-realm laws and regulations [different from No-zone because realms, aka subdimensions, are parts of an entire dimension])

Stygian · February 08, 2007, 04:37:35 PM

Stygian looked up and at the panthress as she walked, eyeing her curiously.
"You're right, of course," he said. "Though I am unsure of where to go then. Ah, but who gives..." he said. He turned around, and looked at the others. "I suppose you feel thesame. Very well. This place looks big enough. So, I'll see you in the morning then?"
His form started shifting, the pallid blond fur seething off and slowly becoming the shadow it was made from again. His fiery eyes regarded them.

Mel Dragonkitty · February 08, 2007, 06:11:55 PM

Mel looked around and saw that everyone seemed to be departing for the guest rooms. She shrugged and followed along. It seemed the excitement was over for the minute. She wondered if the magical interference had quieted down enough for a quick trip home for supplies.

Gareeku · February 08, 2007, 09:02:59 PM

Hearing what Aisha said, Gareeku nodded his head in agreement.
"Aisha's right. I personally haven't had hardly any sleep in the last two days, and if I don't get some soon I'll probably collapse." the wolf said with a slight smile. "Goodnight everybody."

Giving Stygian a nod of his head, Gareeku then turned back to follow Aisha.

Mel Dragonkitty · February 09, 2007, 02:29:05 PM

Mel chose a guest room at random. As she suspected from the downstairs the room's basic decorating theme was neglect. Karl's new purchase needed a thorough cleaning. She shrugged, she wasn't spending much time here anyway.

She pulled from her pouch a small narrow piece of metal filigree that she dropped on the floor by her feet before calling up a spell. She stepped over the filigree and out of the mansion.

Joat · February 09, 2007, 05:56:36 PM

May goes back into the same room as before and goes back to sleep. Sylver curls up next to me and falls asleep.

Aisha deCabre · February 09, 2007, 06:59:39 PM

Aisha had kept her pause, listening to Stygian's answer before nodding her head back to him, though narrowing her eyes slightly as he changed back into a virtual dark shadow. There was the shudder across her spine again...the panther thought that she probably wouldn't get used to that. Nevertheless, she waved a hand back at Stygian, and everyone else, bidding them a good night. "Hasta mañana, all. 'Til tomorrow." She smiled with agreement at Gareeku's remark and started up the stairs with him behind, willing to get just a little more sleep in as well...hopefully without nightmares this time around.

The last individual that they had come across through the darkened hallway was Mel, and the panther spared a farewell to her, too, albeit with a tired smile. Aisha's half-lidded eyes roamed the dark corridors, looking for the room that she had taken the previous time...though with things a little different in the mansion, her sense of direction was being challenged. But it was found fairly easily anyway, with the corridor leading down to the library on an almost straight path across.

Aisha pushed the door open and left it there. The room still looked much the same, with the window on the far end showing a peaceful night on the outside, despite what had gone on inside the house a while ago. "I've said it once, and I'll say it again," she smirked, turning to look at Gareeku while untying her cape and setting it with her belt and weapons on the side table with a sleepy sigh. "Strange day."

Gareeku · February 09, 2007, 07:20:46 PM

Following Aisha up to the room, Gareeku looked to the side and spotted Mel.
"Goodnight Mel." he said with a warm smile. Walking into the room with the pantheress, the wolf listened to her comment and laughed softly.

"Just a bit." he replied with a soft laugh as he removed his hood, top, sandals and katana and setg them down on the floor by the bed. "So many things have happened that I'm starting to wonder whether we should be used to this by now."

Stygian · February 09, 2007, 07:32:59 PM

Stygian nodded at the others as they left, and then he creeped away, abandoning his humanoid form as he turned into shadow and crawled off. He snaked over floors, onto walls and ceilings, through cracks... Eventually he found what he was looking for, huddled up in a sofa.
"Hello, fox... Tell a bedtime story, won't you?"
The fae's scream was quickly silenced, and the rest of the night passed undisturbed.

Aisha deCabre · February 09, 2007, 09:07:36 PM

As Gareeku walked into the room, Aisha watched him with a smile before silently closing the door, laughing slightly in agreement to his statement. "You'd think we all would be by now, really. And adventurers are supposed to be ready for anything."

Stretching, the panther walked back across to the bed and sat down on the edge, starting to untie the braid from her hair as she looked briefly out to the window. "But who could be ready for that? World-traveling, battles...nightmares..."

The last word was said quietly, with a thoughtful tone, before she pushed the blankets back. Looking back up at the wolf with a soft smile and a warm face, she added, "Well, it wasn't all a nightmare."

Gareeku · February 09, 2007, 09:20:36 PM

Watching Aisha sit down on the edge of the bed, Gareeku smiled softly and sat down beside her. Listening to her comment, the wolf smiled slightly.
"Heh, yeah you're right..." he answered softly, before looking back at her with a smile equally as loving and warm as she spoke once more. "Some of it has been a real blessing..."

Boog · February 09, 2007, 10:28:04 PM

Watching as the others left, Boogey strolled off to see what he would do now.
I don't have a room, and there's probably only so many beds. Aside from that, they're just not as cozy as a dream. Seeing as nobody would be willing to sleep with me in their head, that leaves me the next best thing...
The Boogeyman strode into the library and, possibly for the first time in that entire day, removed his coat. However, he draped it over himself as he curled up in a nearby chair to sleep, so perhaps that doesn't count.
Sleep tight, he wished to anyone able to listen, And don't let anyone like me bite... There were a few movements amidst the coat that were not related to the wearer, and Boogey went to sleep.

Aisha deCabre · February 09, 2007, 10:50:20 PM

As Gareeku sat next to her, Aisha looked over to him and listened to his gentle words, answering him with a soft chuckle and a shy smile while recounting the memories that had gone on in the past night. Indeed, no matter how she saw it, everything that had gone on was all worth it to realize that she loved him so much. In a way, the bad experiences just seemed to either help, or destined to be pushed in the back of their minds.

"Yeah...very true," the panther whispered back and leaned against him, looking into his loving eyes with her own. "I guess considering everything...I wouldn't change it." She at that moment recalled how she had sensed his presence when asleep before. Now he was there with her again, and Aisha felt safe with the notion that he was; protected. It was a comfort she hadn't known for the longest time, and was willing to return.

With one more slight yawn, Aisha embraced Gareeku and closed her eyes, leaning up to kiss him while reaching over to pull the blankets up.

Gareeku · February 09, 2007, 11:03:36 PM

Listening to Aisha, Gareeku's loving smile stayed on his face as he gazed into her loving eyes. As Aisha had untied her hair from the braid it had been before, the wolf could see how her long flowing hair only added to her beauty.
"Neither would I. Not for the world." he replied softly. When he had gazed upon her sleeping before, he had felt at peace enough. Now he was with her, the same feeling of peace had returned; a feeling which he had absolutely no arguements against.

Smiling as the pantheress yawned slightly, Gareeku wrapped his arms around her and held her in a gentle loving embrace as they layed together, returning the tender kiss before her head came to rest on his chest.
"Goodnight, my love..." he whispered lovingly, gently kissing the top of her head, before closing his eyes and slipping into a gentle slumber, a soft smile refusing to vanish from his face as he slept.

KarlOmega1 · February 09, 2007, 11:21:54 PM

It was then that speakers in the rooms went active.

Micheal.exe: Message for all guests...tomorrow is the first day of a 15 day period for anyone with an ounce of Cubi DNA in them to get their "Cubi Pox" vaccination...remember, this Vaccination is only available for Cubi who have a high risk of catching the disease...then it will be available for those who are not at high risk if any is left within the 15-day period, or when more vaccine comes in after the 15 days. Also, to recent arrival , Mr. ...Don'chell...did I say/spell that right? Well anyway, some info is being transmitted to the screen in the guest room you're in...

The speakers then when silent for a few seconds before three words came out.

Micheal.exe: that is all.

Stygian · February 09, 2007, 11:30:45 PM

Night passed...

The sun began to rise, very late in the morning because of the season, spreading a dim lighting through pulled curtains throughout the rooms of the house, and very nearly illuminating the library. The glowing sphere of fire hadn't done much more than touch over the horizon though, before a gentle smell started to spread down the corridors from the open kitchen, carrying a sort of warmth with it that didn't really lift the darkness from the hallways but managed to make it feel cozy rather than gloomy.
Then, there came a much more easily noted thing; the sound of a piano playing gently, sort of dancing through the part of the house near the main lounge.

Aisha deCabre · February 10, 2007, 12:44:00 AM

With the same kind of smile painted on her face, Aisha had fallen easily into sleep during the night, lulled by Gareeku's warmth and his gentle words. So comforting and relaxing as she was while sleeping together, it was truly impossible for their minds to be plagued by anything less than a good dream. The night just seemed to pass all too quickly.

The light from the sun filtered in through the window, falling gently onto the panther's eyelids, albeit less noticeably as she was turned away from the window. Accompanying it, her ears had perked slightly at the faint sound of music...faint, but still noticeable. The smell of what could have been breakfast came soon after, and the combined effects made her open one eye slowly, followed by the other. It had been a while since she had awoken from such a peaceful sleep, by her own accord.

The first thing Aisha saw, coming to, was Gareeku still beside her. With a smile, her hand came up and caressed his hair. He looks so innocent when he sleeps. Leaning over him, she gave him a soft kiss before murring softly, "You want to wake up, my love?"

KarlOmega1 · February 10, 2007, 12:55:27 AM

Karl had awoken and gotten dressed...then he went to Stygian's room and knocked on the door.

Karl: Styg, did you get the data that was transmitted? I just wanted to make sure you knew about what I found.

Karl then proceeded to the kitchen, where he found Lilith cooking breakfast.

Lilith: Hello, Dearie...what would you like?

Karl: Scrambled eggs and french toast.

Lilith: Ok...*to anybody else that was in or is about to go into the kitchen* ...and what about you sweeties?

Stygian · February 10, 2007, 11:39:54 AM

In a guest room somwhere a bit off into the house, a shadow glided across the floor, up toward the side of a wall and then into the ceiling, closing the curtains before dropping down gracefully and slithering back over the floor. It slowed and sunk, the crawling and snaking darkness taking on a more solid form. It reached down toward a little metal filiment that laid on the floor, and picked up. Curiously, it studied the thing with gently glowing eyes, taking in and studying the curious magic of it. Then, it slipped it away somwhere into it, and crawled away.
Seconds later, the shadow reappeared in another end of the house, in a common room not altogether unlike the one that the company of people had been hosted in for the main part of their stay. It was a tad bit different, more dimmed because of the pulled curtains and with a bit of different furniture. A fox slept worriedly under some blankets on a large sofa toward one end of the room, his paled muzzle twitching a bit. In the fireplace in this room, some coals still glowed very dimly, the fire in them having faded perhaps half an hour ago or so. It was into the soot of this fireplace that the crawling darkness dropped the metal filament. Then it reassumed a humanoid shape, turning back into Stygian, who walked out with a grin and a snaking tail, dropping a book that he had retrieved from the main lounge on a table, and headed off for a shower.