Renard only listens halfheartedly to Ezmond's chatter as they continue to trudge through the hallways. It was always difficult for him to deal with those types of people; most likely because hearing of other people's lives made him lament his wasted childhood.
Renard stops in his tracks, and so does Ezmond presumably. His unblinking gaze fixates on the flintlock pistol (not revolver), and by extension, its long silver barrels that had been pointed at him and his ally. This was a sight he would've never expected to see; his own creation being used against him. He always thought guns were his unique trait, exclusive to him always, but this sets off his imagination and he pictures a future in which guns are the primary weapons of armies, with swords having outlived their usefulness.
This takes all of two seconds, after which Renard decides it is not worth staying in a linear hallway with a man wielding a gun at the other end of it.
He stays extremely still for a few more seconds, continuing to look them in the eyes. The silence between the duo and their enemy was going to be broken, one way or another, and it wasn't going to be pretty. It was just a question of who, and when.
Immediately Renard darts for the nearest door, dragging Ezmond with him before he can react to anything that had been going on for the past few seconds, both ducking to avoid any lead balls heading their way. Once they are safely inside, he breathes a sigh of relief, before cursing the entity.
"Bloody hell... Locked up for a millennium and already knows how to use it. Fast learner."
Renard slumps against the wall and quickly scans the contents of the room for anything interesting.
"I don't suppose you exorcists or whatever your line of work is called are equipped to deal with gun-toting lunatics," he says wryly.
"Actually-- no one ever is, except maybe if they're from the future," adds Renard hastily.
Ariel's soul remained in the hallway, his sword the only thing seen of him as it swung in the air like pendulum. By this account alone, it could have been perceived that he was feeling a little bored, but that's not really what he was feeling at all; dangling his sword in a swinging manner was just a display of his casual confidence as he prepared to confront the demon inhabiting his body.
With a growing smile on the face of his soul, he started moving down the hallway, out of the line of sight of Renard and Ezmond in the room as he approached the Demon. Even though Renard and Edmond couldn't have heard him, he spoke, knowing the demon most likely could.
"You might wanna hand my body back to me, dumb-bum. In case you haven't noticed, you're inhabiting the body of an angel, and the last time I checked, when a demon inhabits the body of an angel, things start getting unpleasant for said demon. Are you feeling the burn yet?"
"Not so!" The demon screeched with the voice of Ariel's body, "You fail in your understanding, angel - for have you forgotten the sin you committed? This body is no longer a holy vessel! It is mine to do with as I choose!"
The Demon had a point, and Ariel realized that fact to be true, but he had another card up his sleeve -
"Then prepare to have a short life, demon, because I'd rather see my body dead than see it inhabited by filth like you. And don't even think about running, you and I both know flesh can't outrun a soul."
The Demon responded with a hair raising scream and squeezed the trigger of the flintlock pistol. The blast of the gun filled the mansion and the bullet, obviously passing right through Ariel's soul, punched a hole in the door frame of the room Renard and Ezmond had entered.
"Effective!" Ariel scoffed at the Demons attack, as he raised his sword and rushed at the demon, aiming to drive the blade straight through his own heart.
The demon found no other curse of retaliation but to throw the pistol at Ariel's soul in frustration, though this attack was just as ineffective as the gun hit the floor and slid its way down the hallway floor and past the open door of the room, while the demon let out another scream and vacated Ariel's body as the blade penetrated the flesh. Fortunately, Ariel's aim was a little off, since he wasn't yet fully coordinated in soul form, and the blade entered the shoulder of his body instead of his chest. at the same time, the spirit of the Demon fled like a gust of powerful wind down the hallway and into the room where Ezmond and Renard were waiting. In an instant the demon spirit had hold of Renard, lifting him high and pinning him to the ceiling, attempting to reach in and rip Renard's soul from his vessel.
Out in the hallway, now his body was empty, Ariel's own soul was sucked immediately back inside. Straight away he felt the pain of the sword lodged in his shoulder as he yelled out in pain and dropped to the floor, wriggling about in agony while desperately trying to pull the sword free.
As 'Silas' was knocked against the wall, he did not remotely look like he was in any sort of pain. "Oh, so that's how you want to play it, mister Bonecrusher..." he growls softly, a small grin crawling up his mouth.
Boris hadn't yet divulged his Bonecrusher identity to anyone in Waise yet and it was doubtful anyone there were part of the circles that knew of said reputation, but even though his own memory may have been at fault, he doubted that, so he just grimaces down at the little, bearded man, replying;
“I am too much man for you.” Vernon winks at Betty, indicating he is merely jesting, yet his persona shifts considerably to add; “Besides, by the aroma you’re giving off, I would suggest you have recently conceived.”
(Pandolen, please note I took a great liberty with this. Therefore, if you do not wish for your character to be with child, then I do not mind at all. Was merely a ploy to create further drama)
Vernon does pause to regard the dragon indulging in the taste of blood, before shifting a glare to Boris. “Withholding facts is not a lie. You have no idea of the powers you hold. Your scent is extremely sweet…. If you only knew of the abilities that lie waiting within you, you, and you alone, could vanquish the threat to this town. Boris… let it be known right now, for the good of yourself and all others present, you are the son of a God. It may be time for you to acknowledge that.”
He now turns his attention to Jack: “You’ve chosen your words well, Jack. The people you refer to are called The Order. I was part of them, but no more, I will no longer let them have their way with the innocent. We are spawned of a different planet. Our abilities are… natural, inborn. Each of us have our own. Some of us have many.”
Vernon regards Jacks equipment, as someone might regard the archaic tools of centuries past, than asks; “You’ve heard the stories, haven’t you, Jack, of civilizations mysteriously disappearing from the face of the planet… no trace… no evidence? Now you know who is responsible. You, and many in this town, have been witness to the Order, though it be no fault of your own. Nevertheless, The Order don’t allow any witness to live. They pride themselves on secrecy. …There is no way to destroy The Order entirely, at least not here and now. But yes, there may be a way to counter their current efforts.”
He steps away from Jack, now addressing each person in the room.
“You may have heard the wolves outside. They are here to eradicate those who have witnessed the cloaked men. But they are not at all men and the wolves are merely the first wave; a relatively inconspicuous measure of attack to prevent further witnesses. Yet they are, in effect, only wolves. I assume you won’t have an issue killing wolves? But don’t get too cocky in this knowledge, the wolves don’t ride alone. We have a battle ahead of us. If their first assault fails them, they will not hesitate to deploy a second, more powerful wave.”
It may be apparent to Jack and the others in the hall at this time, Vernon has still not answered Jack’s question with any specific indication on how to counter The Order. By the look in Vernon’s eyes, it may however be clear that he lacks the faith in those present to succeed in what is needed to perform the task.
While Ei contemplated the matters at hand, Annie gives her a kiss on the cheek then walks to the entrance of the hall, one eye revealed as she peeks around the door-frame to watch her father speak.
Boris's attention is then drawn back to Vernon as he starts talking to him. What Vernon said wasn't exactly irrefutable evidence that he wasn't a big fat liar, but if Vernon was telling the truth, it kinda explained a lot of things that have happen to Boris recently: The strange appearance in the bedroom earlier, the travelling back to the past to un-kill a dragon, not to mention a few other things like the unnaturally intelligent speech he delivered to the silly crybaby dragon a few minutes ago - Hell, he himself wasn't even sure what all that jabbering was about anymore.
On account of Vernon's testimony kinda making sense, Boris really didn't have anything to reply with, he was too busy trying to wrap his mind around the implications. His jaw awkwardly shifted to one side as his eyebrows knotted together, peering thoughtfully at Vernon as he went on to talk to Jack. If it was true, if he was in fact the son of a God, then what exactly did he have to do to use those sorts of powers? He strained his mind incredibly hard, even groaning a little while trying to find something that each of those strange events had in common.
"...I sure do wish I knew the answer." He mumbled, his voice straining like someone direly constipated - and that was all it took, that was the answer - the realization was so intense that he stumbled back a couple of steps, and declared at the top of his lungs; "I wanted those things really bad and they happened!" With his eyes still pinned on Vernon, he spoke the next thought that came to mind. "The sons of Gods smell like sweet things?" Without actually wanting an answer to the question, being that it was more or less a rhetorical question, he immediately started to think of something else he wanted just as badly as the other things when the strange events happened, but only one thing came to mind at the moment: Revel Yell.
"I sure do wish I had my bone back." He told himself with pure honestly; "But at the same time, I sure don't want that dragon to die again because of it." These words were in tune with two specific thoughts he was having at the same time, imagining the dragon was still alive, and having Revel Yell in his hand again. And so it was, in the blink of an eye, Revel yell appeared in Boris's hand.
Filled with Awesome surprise and wonder, the smallest tear joy in his widening eyes, Boris held up the Bone in his hand as Vernon was completing his speech to Jack, and wasting no time he gave Jack a hefty nudge to show off his latest accomplishment.
"Hey Mr. Jack, look what Boris can do!"
Unfortunately, Boris was't the type of guy who wanted things that badly all the time, and even when he did they were usually smaller, insignificant things, like wanting a nice comfortable bed to sleep in, so being able to use this sort of power was probably not going to be a very frequent event.
While Boris is announcing his power to Jack, Sluggy didn't bother waiting for Jack to answer his earlier request, and just lunged himself off the wall and onto Jack's shoulder. "Thanks buddy!" He says, in his squeaky little voice.
Even without Boris making contact with her, she still felt the same way about everything going on at the moment. "Get off... get off get off get off..." she whispered to herself while her eyes darted from Boris, to the floor, to herself and back at him again. It was clear to anyone who could understand someone's emotions that hers was quite unstable. Repeating things that had already been responded to, the heavy breathing that didn't slow down and anything else that seemed odd about her implied large amounts of stress.
As Boris apologized for his behavior Chisille tried to listen to what he was saying, with difficulty. Talking to herself had calmed her mind down, forcing her self-assurance that Boris had backed off. However what he was apologizing for and what how he was once more declaring that he would not injure a single scale on her was making her feel... angry. He was so insistent that he was going to inflict no harm on her that it clashed with her knowledge of the world just like all the other times that someone had told her they weren't going to hurt her. She knew better then that. She HAD to know better then that! She... didn't know better then that, she had no idea how the world worked, and that's what made her anger rise. What she knew about humans being constantly challenged at every turn, and then when she was forced to feel things she didn't want to it just confirmed what she already knew, and then it went straight back to contradictions again.
And then came the speech... While Boris had tried his hardest to convince her he had made a grand error that he could not have known about. He talked too much. He talked something something friend, friend something... earache... then he kept going on as the pain angered her further. When he got the whole way through the speech, she snapped. Her tail rose up into the air then slammed down onto the floor as hard and loudly as she could, the spike leaving a clear imprint in the wood. Small trails of smoke started to rise from both nostrils.
"ENOUGH! ENOUGH! Stop this! All of this! Please! You say don't want hurt me but that's words! WORDS! I know humans but I don't! You always are mean to me, shout at me, run from me, attack me! Trap me!! That's what you do! That's all you ever do! You don't mean what you say when say you would not harm me but just... don't know!" She shouts at him with an upset growl in her voice. "Don't know anymore! Just don't know! Humans are nice but humans are bad! Can't tell who will hurt or who does not, and then! THEN...!" she shakes her head angrily at the next part she's about to say. "Make me feel what I don't want to feel! Make me think you nice! Confuse me more and more and more! Play with my thinking like it's fun! I try to not attack because you all kill me if I do! I hide because you find me and then hurt! I don't know what friend are, never had friend! Even if wanted one never had one! Don't want one because it will kill me! All words and can't tell if friend will kill me!" Several tears roll down her grey cheeks, washing away a little bit of the blood that had recently splattered on her face. "I'm scared! You all make me scared! Room full of humans and I don't know what will happen to me! You come up to me, scare me! Other one make me calm, but scare me more! Nothing but fear!"
And at that, she hurled a small ball of flame at the ground nearby that explodes surprisingly violently. It doesn't manage to hit anyone, but it's definitely going to be a problem soon. Chisille doesn't care though as she sinks to the ground and begins crying her eyes out, letting out loud draconic whimpers that would pierce through the hearts of anyone emotionally caring enough. In a way, it's sort of pathetic.
'Silas' turns sharply over to Jack. "Oh, shut up," he quickly grunts, before looking around again.
"Is, someone... hunting us?" he mutters to himself, having heard Vernon's announcement. Why, the host seems to know who these 'hunters' are! Some sort of 'Order'... How delightful, that it'll all be miiiiiine once I finish consuming his heart...Wait, that must mean they're lifting the barrier, if I'm not mistaken! Perfect...
[/left]
Betty edges her way from the freaky little dragon and Approaches Jack. Just so happens he might be the most stable person around at that time, and not too bad looking in a I'll-kill-you-if-you-look-at-me-wrong kinda way. As soon as he finishes chatting with the old nut job, Silas, she gives Jack a big and somewhat uncomfortable smile.
"So uh... ummmm.... How ya do'n there, stranger? What brings a knight in shining armor to nasty ol place like this?"
But wouldn't you know it! Before or maybe after Jack has time to reply (and I sure am hoping he does) that Vernon fella shows up again, making his big ol tough guy speech about helping everyone fight the threat around town!
Betty gives Jack a little nudge with her elbow. "Is it just me, or is that guy special? He sure is a cutie, I'll give him that much for certain!"
Jack glances at Betty as she approaches and talks to him, answering, "Given the circumstances, I've been doing pretty well," with Ei in the other room, he removes his helmet once more, rubbing his eyes as he continues, "I had hoped to get some sleep here, but... well, that didn't happen." He looks at her again, pausing for a moment before continuing, "Say, you were at the inn earlier, weren't you? Good to see you're still alive."
Jack turns to Vernon as he enters the room. "There is certainly something unique about him," Jack answers after the nudge from Betty, before speaking up in response to his offer. "I assume you are referring to the robed... individuals? And if so, I take it that means... you know some way to counter their abilities?" Jack recalled back to the two prior encounters with the cultists in which he had attempted to do some harm to them; the one outside the mansion, who seemed to simply shrug off physical assault, and the false image of Boris, who had allowed himself to be impaled by Magebuster, to little effect.
While the former didn't necessarily concern Jack- it wouldn't be the first time he fought something that couldn't be defeated with sheer force- the latter was more... troubling. He had at first assumed that these cultists wielding some kind of powerful magic, something that Magebuster should have excelled against; its was designed primarily as an anti-magic weapon, after all. And yet it had no effect at all upon the image of Boris, be it an illusion alone or an illusory disguise. To Jack, this meant one of two things: either the cultists had access to some kind of magic unknown not only to himself, but to the original creator and wielder of the sword and the kingdom he had originated from, Evelus- one that took great pride in the breadth of its knowledge of the arcane- or whatever their abilities were, they were not some form of magic.
Either one was a rather unpleasant possibility.
Nucleep
When Chisille fell into a state of hysteria, Boris's stared pout at the ground was broken. He looked at the pathetic display, his heart hurt at the sound of the dragon crying, but his lack of current intellect didn't provide him a suitable response. He was frustrated by this, lifted himself off the floor and stomped his foot hard like a child chucking a tantrum. He then turns around, alerted by Silas's rude remark to Jack. His eyes flare with rage as he gives the old man a hefty shove against the wall -
"YOU DON'T TALK TO MY FRIEND LIKE THAT!" The shove was no doubt severe enough to knock the wind right out of Silas.
He then walks over to Jack and Betty, not saying a word to Jack, but distractedly happy to be in the company of the only friend he has at this point. He gives a soured look to Betty.
"Girls are mean!"
Vernon enters the room again to make his announcement. Boris looks at the man like someone might look at an alien vessel descending from the heavens, and also replies to Vernon:
"I may not be a smart man, but I can tell when someone is lying! Likeable men like you get away with fibs all the time!" He clenches his fists so hard that his knuckles turn white. "You better tell the truth or ELSE!"
Just then a little voice screams out from behind Jack, Bob, Betty and Boris. It's the slug on the wall, yelling loud enough for the four to hear, even though his words are directed at Jack:
"Hey you, Jack! I need a favor! Come on over here, please. It seems things are heating up around here, and I sure would appreciate it if you let me take a ride on your shoulder. I promise not to be a nuisance, you won't even know I'm there, really! It's just that I have no way of keeping up without a little help. And by the way... please don't hurt me! Oh yeah, thanks for putting out the fire!"
Buttons lifts his eyes to Jack, a look of 'this kitten is hungry' on his face.
Bob smiles, also saying something to Jack. "Looks like you're the man of the hours."
"I sure do hope my livestock are okay back home." Ezmond tells his new, funny little friend as he follows him through the door with Ariel's sword floating after them. "Coming here, I wasn't none too little worried about how they'd cope if I just so happened to take too long returning to them all. I hot diggity damn as heck didn't want them to commence to starving in my absence - that would be more than terrible! So I just went on ahead and put a spell on all them animals before I left. Nothing too fancy, mind you, but they should be able to take care of themselves without me for a while, at least. Gosh darn it, sure do hope that spell worked, I wouldn't want anything to happen to them while I'm away! Just can't help to worry about them, though, no sir!"
Ezmond kept on to rambling like a real motormouth about his farm and all his fine animals, while Renard, himself and the ghost of Ariel moved on ahead in search of Ariel's body.
As Renard, Ezmond and the ghost of Ariel enter the hallway - not the same hall as the other group are in - they see Ariel, or his possessed body, standing at the end of it. His eyes are radiating red, and he speaks in demonic voice;
"This host is mine. You will not subdue me. I have not tasted of freedom in millennium. Let me be!"
He is holding Renard's revolver. It's already loaded and ready, hammer pulled back, all three barrels pointed directly at Ezmond's head.
Fred is wearing a flannelette shirt and torn jeans but no shoes, sitting on the brick wall of an island garden outside of a pizza shop, slurping a cola slurpee.
Boris's words and his actions, particularly the part where he said he wanted to pat her drew all attention onto him. Even with the calming effects of Vernon's words, she was beginning to resist their effects. "No... these mind spells... I should not be calm right now! This isn't... how it's... supposed to be..." she thought quickly as natural instinct and a building hatred for being toyed with was fighting against Vernon's calming words.
Some sort of internal struggle started up. She thinks about everything that is currently happening right now and how it's making her feel, or supposed to be making her feel. At this stage from what's happened to her since she's been in Waise, it could be expected that she would just deal with it all. But she's just too overwhelmed for her age by what's been going on constantly with not enough time to adapt. Externally, she freezes in place like a stunned rabbit while Boris slowly extended his hand towards her. He meets absolutely no resistance until his hand finally reaches her.
Depending on where he manages to pet her, Boris either feels her smooth, hard and somewhat reflective scales or her softer but slightly rougher underbelly, so warm. Regardless of where he manages to touch her, the sensation breaks her mind out of the struggle she was having. Her eyes locked onto Boris' hand. Her breathing rate began to spike up as she realizes what is happening. She's not feeling calm at all anymore, all traces of the calming spell had been overwritten. "Get..." she starts. Her voice sounded breathless and panicky, and sounded like she was trying to tell him but at the same time begging him. "...off..." Those close enough can feel warmth radiating from inside her chest.
Whatever splatters of blood end up hitting her get completely ignored.
Boris never actually made contact with Chisille. He was only edging his hand closer to see if she would accept his effort. He was trying really hard not to be scary and wasn't aware of all the things Chissy had been through lately. He wasn't a smart man, but it was clear that she wasn't wanting anything to do with being patted and he took that personally. It was the story of his life, no one had ever let Boris get close to them, but he blamed that on himself, since he couldn't figure a reason as to why it might be other peoples fault. Except for girls, of course, they had always been downright mean to Boris in his life, and he figured that they must have just been generally evil. Chisille didn't fall into that category, though, Boris just saw her as a cute little dragon who he wanted to be friends with. Maybe this desire to befriend her had more than anything else to do with his past interaction with dragons, leaving him with the feeling of needing to make things right. But whatever the reason, all he really wanted was for people to like and trust him, just like he had seen them do with other people, so seeing the dragon reject his kindly advance only served to lessen his self esteem. Jack was an exception, yet Boris didn't really consider Jack's apparent liking for him as a comforting notion, probably just because Jack really didn't come to mind at that moment, the heartbreak of Chissy's response overshadowed any hope Jack had previously supplied.
Feeling dejected, and neither giving a damn about the splatter of blood and guts that were sprayed on him, Boris simply dropped his hand away. The smile ran away from his face. He plonked himself down on the floor, legs crossed like a child, shoulders slumped with what appeared to be one of Trixie's mangled nipples sliding down his cheek as he dropped his head somberly to pout.
"Boris sorry...." He turns his eyes to Chissy, a look that could only be given from someone with an inferiority complex, though the look didn't last long before his eyes turned back down at the floor. “Boris doesn’t know why people hate him…. I no want to hurt you. Boris only wants you to feel good.” Shaking his head slowly, a tear could be seen in his eye, which might have been an uncomfortable thing to view on someone with such a large, manly appearance. "I must be too stupid and ugly to be liked.... Boris really sorry.” The nipple dropped from his cheek and into his lap.
Despite his feelings of personal rejection and hurt, which was more or less a way of life for him, all he really wanted was something intelligent to say in the hopes he could make Chisille understand where he was coming from, and that he had no intention of being a threat to her – and as it turned out, that desire alone was enough to make his wish come true, if only for a short fleeting moment –
It was like his mind suddenly became clear with understanding, accompanied by actual words to speak. His slumped posture straightened, not abruptly, but rather smooth while his eyes lit up and looked at the dragon with undeniable kindness and understanding.
“Life can be cruel. It can make a good person turn bad.” He told her, his voice calm, clear and perfectly pronounced. “I have also had a life of pain and sorrow, just like you. So I understand that all you really want is a reason to feel safe. You want someone around who cares about you. Don’t we all really want the same thing, someone that makes us feel safe and loved?” A soft smile forms on his face. “A friend is patient and kind. Friends do not dishonour each other. They aren’t self-seeking. Friends are not easily angered and they keep no record of wrong doings. Friends do not delight in evil but rejoice in the truth. Friends always protect each other. Friends always trust. Friends always persevere and stay with each other until the end.” He paused again, giving Chissy a look so warm that it almost seemed impossible for his face to deliver such a look. “I know you’re confused and I know you have no reason to believe in the kindness of humans. I honestly understand. But I want you to know that if you want me to, I can be that friend for you. I like you so very much… and being that friend for you would make me very happy.”
As he finishes his speech, Boris’ eyes seem to dim again, his shoulders slump, and his eyes turn sadly to the floor.
Chisille's pondering over the source of the familiar smell she could detect was suddenly and loudly disrupted by Boris, who upon spotting her marched heavily over towards where she was hiding. Of course, such loud and direct behavior would immediately be thought of as aggressive by little Chisille, so her draconic instincts were to immediately run or fight the man.
Though instead of either of those options, she decided to stay put. Even when scared by Boris' behavior, she remembered that not only was she already behind someone who would be very willing to stop him, but running would mean getting lost once more. However she wasn't perfectly fine with all of this either. Whether she really knew it or not her tail had started quivering, visible to everyone. If Boris were to come even closer and frighten her more, it would be very likely that she would lash out with the bloodied spike on the end of it. The flames heating up within her chest was just in case that didn't work.
Thankfully for Boris, Chisille's defensive stance relaxed once Vernon's calming spell takes effect on her mind. Her tail stopped it's nervous quivering and her dragon fire cooled off in her belly. A light sigh escaped from her mouth. "More mind stuff... why me all the time..." she muttered to herself, looking away from everyone else as she said so.
After a short pause, she looked back up at Boris. Even though he was still acting scary, Chisille's current state of mind allowed her to answer his question, however because of what she had already decided upon, she figured it wouldn't be a good idea to tell him. Not only because it would get another human killed because of her, but it would also lead them straight to the one that would tell all about her murdering Fin. She cleared her throat. "None hurt me. Was my fault. Got scratched badly by thing." she lied.
Boris, not wanting to follow Vernon and not really effected by his words anyway, smiles really broad at the little dragon, to the point that he almost looks a little goofy. He stoops down with his hands on his knees, and stares with that smile at her.
"Boris sure wouldn't blame anything bad on a little dragon like you." He pauses for a moment attempting to subdue her with the continuation of the intense bulging eyes of his smile. "Boris sure would like to give you a pat. I promise not to hurt you at all, not even a bit, little dragon."
He extends one hand slowly to see if she'd accept his advance, keeping his big, goofy looking smile, which might even seem a little comical being worn on a man of his brutish size.
Taken aback by the man's strange accent for a second, Renard hesitates before shaking Ezmond's hand.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. 'greatest wizard who ever lived'," he says wryly. "It's decided, then. I'll take lead for now, then, if you're as competent as you say you are, you can go work your magic on the entity."
Renard turns his back on Ezmond quickly, mostly to hide the confusion on his face. He had only heard the man's strange way of speaking at least once in his lifetime, and it was quite recent to boot. Nevertheless, he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and pushed on with the man at his back, going through the door that Ariel's body had snuck through.
"Grand idea - Let's go get that son of a... demon!" Ariel calls out, but he knows no one can hear him as he starts following after Renard and Ezmond, sword bobbing in the air behind them.
She gives Ei a glance, stating; "He smells like me." and starts her short trek down the hallway. Passing Jack along the way, she provides him a flirtatious wink while biting her lip. She then enters the dining room to face Vernon, checks over her shoulder to ensure Ei has followed.
Valkon
Jack watches Annie as she follows Vernon into the dining room, his face stricken with what could best be described as a mixture of a blank expression and something halfway between confusion and contemplation. To say the least, he was unsure what to make of Annie's actions.
He tries to avoid looking at Ei's face as she glares at him, silently lifting his helmet and putting it back on, covering the upper half of his face in the process.
As the two reach the dining room, Jack turns to the others nearby, stating, "Well, this has been an... interesting... turn of events."
Bob raises his brow with a smirk and what could be considered a slightly sad chuckle.
"Yep, interesting is one way to describe it, another way would be a typical day in Waise. But it sure looks like the women are after you, so that's something. More than I can say for myself anyway." He frowns and regards Buttons who is now seated between Jack's feet. "Hell, even my own cat likes you more than me."
Trixie, ...or Herman, sees the look both Ei and Annie give Jack. It infuriates Herman, the jealousy causing Trixie's blood pressure to rise. He was planning on waiting to attack that little floozy, Annie, but after seeing that exchange of looks he decides not to wait any longer. He was so infuriated by the prospect of the competition that the effect Vernon had him was quickly suppressed.
As he starts walking towards the door of the dining room in pursuit of Annie, the green coil of energy begins to spiral up both his arms, his body charging with energy and surging through his veins. Unfortunately, just a few steps from the door he realizes something is terribly wrong. Trixie's flesh is beginning to twitch and spasm. Her vision becomes blurred as her eyeballs begin to vibrate and shift in awkward directions. He could feel her blood literally becoming heated. Her chest swelled painfully, rib cage cracking, expanding well beyond the capacity of taking a breath as the skin all over her body began to tighten at the inflammation of her flesh. Herman then realized the body he was inhabiting couldn't take the variety of magic he was using. It was reacting as if it were combustible to his power, like some weird allergic response. But it was too late to do anything about it; the reaction had already passed the point of no return -
With a mighty boom, Trixie exploded like the entirety of her body was a bomb, covering the walls and everybody in the hallway with particles of flesh and bone.
Bob let out a little sigh, wiping a chunk of what looked like brain from his eye as he nodded at Jack, and added; "No, you're right, it's been a very interesting turn of event."
Herman's soul was on the loose again, soaring through the haze of the settling cloud of blood, as if he were being sucked through a vortex towards the wall where he entered the body of the slug again, and immediately screamed out in mortal torment -
I'm a little confused. Actually, I'm very confused!
Guards? Am I prisoner? Scientists? Am I an experiment? What's with the threats? I don't even know what I'm doing here!
That mean monitor is treating me like some sort of patient, or experiment, or like something bad that needs to sleep... but why, I wonder. It also says I need to be quiet, but I don't see how I've been making much noise - since I don't have a mouth to speak, dammit! And obviously it doesn't even care about the flirty compliments I gave it. Well then! How rude!
All this reasoning makes me frustrated and angry, and since the monitor is complaining about me, I might as well actually give it something worth complaining about! After all, I'd like some answers and there's no guarantee the scientists and guards will provide the answers I seek. They just sound scary! Plus, being nice to this monitor just doesn't seem to be working for me, so....
Keeping the book under one arm, I punch the monitor with the other hand. Hard!
Take that! I think to myself, You mean and confusing monitor!
Renard continues to stare at the ceiling whilst the reality of the blade lodged in his stomach starts to become more and more apparent. A slight frown forms on his lips whilst blood trickles from it simultaneously. A sword through the stomach-- a little ironic to him, since that was the same way Faux had went out. After all, he was the same person, or at least a fragment. He tries to laugh, but nothing comes out. The pain had gotten worse enough, making him numb to the blade in his stomach, though he feels as if something is being tugged from him. He wonders to himself-- was there a place in heaven for someone like him? In actuality, asking that kind of question was similar to asking whether dogs go to heaven or not.
'Ah well,' he thinks to himself, the sweet relief of death taking him as he closes his eyes. Moments pass, and his thoughts continue, still having not been cut off by death. He thinks of this as strange, considering he was supposed to be dead.
Renard opens his eyes to find himself standing over his own dead body, unfortunately reaffirming that he was in fact dead. Now with a chance to finally see Faux in person, he deduces that he must've been a real ladykiller, what with the golden coat and handsome face even in death. It was a little too bad those traits hadn't carried over completely. Looking around the room, it seemed as if he was now on another plane of existence, because he could now see his friend floating about, albeit time seemed to be stopped and so was Ariel. He holds his hands up in the air and checks himself out. Regular him, cape and all, though the whole being dead thing puts a damper on his happiness.
It still hurt. Such a thing was impossible, but the pain still lingered in his soul. Even in stopped time, the source of his pain, his sword 'Truth', continues to vibrate violently on the floor. He takes one look at Ariel who seemed to have a grip on the sword that had impaled him. Emulating this, Renard, knowing what to do, slowly grabs the sword off the floor. He had no idea what it would do now, but he still thought about it before doing anything. Dying peacefully was enticing-- now he could be released from all the troubles of the world. What good could he do for the world? He wasn't really meant to exist in the first place. Was there a point in continuing?
Loose ends. Loose ends and revenge. That's why he decides to continue on, despite all the pain coming from the sword he will undoubtedly continue to suffer. He takes one good look at the sword-- despite its appearance, it was holding his regular body within it. All he had to do was release it.
After much deliberation, Renard spins the sword around in his hand out of habit and prepares.
"And with this... may Faux Ambrose rest in peace! Switch!"
Holding the sword firmly, he drives the sword directly into his former body. A beam of light begins to take form, blinding Renard briefly as he is brought into the present. Gravity begins to weigh down on him, now that he has been given form. His signature black cape flutters impossibly in the non-existent wind, whilst his brown leather armour complements it nicely. He rests his hands comfortably on the sword clipped to his side, which was Maras' creation. It continues to emanate a light purple glow in its sheath. Soon enough, the beam of light begins to die down, and looking at the floor, he notices that Faux's body was now gone, the sword impaling it also having disappeared. The beast that had killed him was gone, too. He wonders exactly how much time had passed, but nonetheless, he looks around the room for the mystery sword, finally spotting it strangely flying through the air. It was impossibly heading for a man he hadn't seen before at all. Renard tries to move, but trips and falls on his buttocks with a loud thud, mostly because he would have to get used to this body again.
He curses himself for not having made his return more stylish, and being stylish was meant to be his defining trait.
"Stop!" he yells, knowing exactly what was behind the flying sword.
One thing about being a ghost, or a soul, emotions are much more raw and absolute, not mixed or diluted like when you have a physical body that influences diversity in responses, so the anger Ariel had for Ezmond at that very point in time was unadulterated. Another thing about being a ghost, is that response time was practically instantaneous, so when hearing the voice of his friend call out for him to stop - despite the great speed that the sword was being driven towards Ezmonds - Ariel came to a complete halt with the tip of the blade floating in the air just a few millimeters from Ezmond's chest.
It was strange really, how the realization of so many things could happen in the smallest moment. It seemed unnatural, but wonderful at the same time. No matter how different each change of emotion was from one to another, his mind was present and fully alert with each of these changes. In an instant he went from rage to joy, no middle man, as he turned to look at Renard with a smile he couldn't see, then spoke to him in a voice he couldn't hear;
"I've never felt so damn glad to see someone alive."
With a fancy spin of his sword, Ariel dropped the blade to the floor, resting the hand of his soul on the pommel as if the weapon were now a cane. But he had no idea what else to do now, so he just stood there joyously smiling at Renard. He didn't care that Renard couldn't see his pleasure, and he didn't even question how Renard had managed to pull of the seemingly impossible. Ariel was just happy to see him alive. Simple as that.
At some point while this was happening, the demon, along with Ariel's body, decided to escape out the door on the opposite side of the room to where Ezmond had entered. He was gone.
...Annie seems disappointed in Ei's request. She screws her mouth to one side, thinking on the matter while watching Jack leave with buttons in arm. As she watches Bob and Buttons reunite, the distinctive sound of wolves howling can be heard from outside the mansion. The sound penetrates the walls of the mansion like a haunting melody as Annie turns her attention back to Ei.
"They spoke to you, didn't they? They made you feel safe.... They told you what you wanted to hear... didn't they?" She extends her arm and gently runs her finger down Ei's nose. "The dogs have come, Ei. The cleansing has begun. No one who has seen them will survive. I want to speak with the-"
Annie's mouth claps shut as her eyes turn to look past Ei at Vernon, as he enters the hall alongside Chisille and Betty.
Vernon stops his walk when he arrives behind Ei in the hallway, his eyes immediately meeting with his daughters glare. Though Annie may have recognized his face as a familiar resident of Waise, possibly even a member of the Order, she couldn't have yet known she was looking at her own father.
"Don't be getting pessimistic on me, Annie," Vernon speaks in a firm yet gentle tone. "It isn't over till the fat lady sings." He lowers his eyes to her stomach and nods. "Congratulations.... Now put some clothes on."
As 'Silas' vanishes, he soon appears elsewhere. Though, not where he was hoping to end up. Judging by the water that reaches to his knees and the disgusting smell, he's ended up in the sewers beneath Waise.
Ei simply smiles at Jack. "Don't worry, I already know your name, Jack. Anyway, that cat." Ei points at Buttons. "How much for it?"
Ei turns her attention back to Annie. If Jack and such were willing to sell Buttons, they'd mention the price even when Ei's attention was elsewhere. If not, she'd just take Buttons in a not-so-peaceful manner.
"Well, sort-of. I wanted to speak with you about what they said, and how it matters to us." Ei says, unaware that Annie's attention is currently vested on Vernon. Only when Vernon speaks does she actually notice he's there. "And who might you be?" Ei asks, cautiously observing Vernon. "But yes, Annie, you really should wear something less... revealing."
"Well, that makes things convenient, then. As for the cat, it wouldn't be my call; it belongs to Bob, so you'll have to negotiate prices with him."
Jack looks around as he hears the call of the wolves. "Wolves... or perhaps another set of monsters?" Either way, once they had left the mansion they would have to exercise caution; it would be a shame, after all, to have survived everything that had occurred over the course of the previous day only to die to mundane wolves.
Chisille nods in understanding when Betty informs her what a physician is for. However as she thought about precisely what this means, she started getting more nervous then normal about the thought. Both Vernon and Betty were seriously suggesting that she should willingly go up to some human who knows this stuff and let them examine her injuries. To just... sit there and let them toy with her vulnerable state like that... she shuddered at the thought.
"Don't like idea of seeing doctor. Haven't needed them before, why now?" she asks Betty in a hushed tone, spinning her head around to get a look at the bandaged up part of her tail. The bandage was still holding strong, though it was clear that the wound was still bleeding judging from the redness of the cloth, just much slower then before. The pain was nothing new even though it was still uncomfortable. She often woke up from a good night's sleep feeling a bit sore when she used to be imprisoned. She never figured out why though.
When the group reached Ei, Annie, Jack and whoever else was still within viewing distance, Chisille changed her position from next to Betty to behind her instead. Too many new others stood before her, including Vernon. She caught a strong whiff of someone that smelt oddly familiar, even though she didn't recognize anyone directly before her. In between her nervous glances and constant checks of the others behavior, she narrowed the scent down to two individuals. The cloak wearing Annie, or Ei.
Chisille couldn't quite pinpoint when or where she recognized the scent from previously, and she was not feeling brave enough to figure out which of the pair was the culprit either.
Bob didn't pay too much attention to the howling wolves outside, after all they were just wolves and nothing too unusual, but he is getting a little antsy about Buttons. It was clear that Jack wasn't about to give Buttons away without permission, since it wasn't his cat to give, but Bob didn't trust Annie or Ei, and the arrival of the newcomers, Vernon, some odd looking farm and a young dragon, wasn't helping his comfort levels. He had originally asked Jack to retrieve the cat because being unarmed and dressed in a tattered evening wear wasn't exactly a condition to be making any bold moves in the face of two powerful beings, but the time had come to suck up some courage and save his cat from possibly being catnapped by force.
Hoping he wasn't going to interrupt the ensuing conversation between Ei and Vernon and draw attention to his advance, he takes a deep breath and walks quickly to Jack, taking the cat from his arms.
"Thanks, Jack." He whispers, and taking a few steps back.
Buttons didn't seem very relaxed either. Bob wasn't even sure if the young cat even recognized him and his little body was shaking nervously, unable to get comfortable in Bobs arms.
"Don't worry, Buttons," He strokes the cat behind the ears to try and subdue him; "everything is gonna be fine."
Boris steps up beside Bob, smiling broad at the kitten in his arms. "Awwww... that sure is a cute little cat. I wish I had a cat just like that."
Then Boris' attention is drawn to the young dragon hiding behind Betty. He recognized the dragon from dinner, and was happy to see it, but he didn't recognize Betty, Vernon or Ei. Annie of course was till being her very naughty self, but Boris for some reason didn't feel like begrudging her at that moment. It was possible all the many things taking place, plus the joy of seeing the dragon, was overriding his disdain for the girl.
Unfortunately, as Boris angled his head to take a better look at the dragon, he noticed the bloody bandage around her tail. Someone had hurt the little dragon! His heart suddenly sunk in his chest as his jaws clenched shut and teeth began to grind. The sound of the grinding was kinda loud as his blood pressure caused his eyes to bleed red with fury. His hands became white-knuckled fists as he then broke from his stance and strode towards the Farm girl and dragon. Paying no consideration to the conversation between the others, his feet stomp heavily into place as he stops a meter from Betty and Chisille, and raises his voice to demand answers.
"Who hurt you, baby dragon?! BORIS CRUSH THEIR SKULL!"
At the other end of the Hall, Herman forgets about Silas and doesn't even notice when the guy disappears. The green coils of energy continue to make their way up his/her arms while he concentrates his focus on Annie, but the sudden arrival of Vernon and the others makes him think twice. He puts a stop to his spell and the power rescinds. The coiling energy moving up his arms disperses harmlessly into the air.
He frowns disappointed, shaking his head and giving his chest a caress to comfort himself. "In time then.... A better opportunity will come."
While Renard comes to lay face up on the floor and the demon prolongs his next move, the haunting chorus of wolves breaks Ezmond's spell on Ezra. In less than an instant he realizes he has been freed, then in one continuous motion he removes the sword from his neck, takes three long strides towards Renard, and drives the sword down through his stomach, pinning him to the floor.
With a hair raising screech of victory, he takes his sights to Ezmond while cocking his head to listen at the wolves.
"I have been relieved of duty."
In his closing words, Ezra glances at the demon in Arial's body before changing to his ethereal form, fading into the air and passing out sight through the nearest wall.
The demon looks to Ezmond when the spell was cast on Ezra, then watches curiously as Renard misses his mark, at which he was little humored and let out a small hissing sound. When the wolves then howled and break the spell on Ezra, the demon didn't have time - or maybe he just didn't care enough - to reach Renard in time to try and save him. He had started his advance across the room to assault the beast, but by time he arrived Renard was already pinned to the floor and Ezra had vanished from the room. The demons turns to look at Ezmond through Ariel's eyes and mocks the man.
"Well done, Wizard. Who's your next victim?"
Meanwhile Ariel, or rather his soul, is frantic in his efforts to try and help. His screams and yelling apparently continue to go unheard, and as he watches Ezra plant his own sword in Renards gut, it feels like his own soul is being stabbed with the torment of being helpless to the cause. He was so distressed by what took place that his soul circled around Renards body, yelling at him to wake up, telling him to heal, while his ghostly hands grasped and clutched to try and remove the sword, as if doing so would somehow undo the past five minutes and make everything ok again.
Oddly enough, in his frantically emotional effort to try and do something, anything at all, the hand of his soul suddenly takes grip on the swords. He can feel the cold metal of the hilt tantalize the his touch as the contours of his hand conform to the texture of the grip. In a moment of epiphany he recognized his ability to maintain his hold on the weapon and with a swift move - forgetting that removing the blade from Renard might actually make matters worse and cause him to bleed out faster if he wasn't already dead - he withdraws the swords from his friend.
The sword rises in the air, wielded by Ariel's unseen soul as he swings it fast at Ezra, but his efforts came too late and the blade merely cut through air as Ezra disappeared through the wall.
Infuriated by the harm to his friend and his own lack of help, Ariel turns blame to Ezmond, gripping the sword in both hands above his head as he flies fast across the room to plant the blade in Ezmond's chest in a downward stabbing motion.
Trixie sighs at what Revel says, she sits down on...whatever she is standing on. She starts thinking about who she would like to be. She didn’t want to be anything like what she was. She wanted to be free, not a person who always worried about what other people thought of her. She wouldn’t care about power or ego like Trixie did either. All of those things didn’t help Trixie in the past anyway. She imagines a girl with no ties to her previous life in any way….
…This girl would be 17. Old enough to make her own decisions, but she would hardly have a care in the world. She’s attractive, because why not? But she wouldn’t even care about that either…. Her name would be Aella, and would be somewhat short and petite, but stronger than any other girl her size and is very agile. Her eyes are a light green and have excellent sight. She wears modest clothing, a little dull though. Perhaps like a man with trousers, a top and boots. Her hair is a light brown. Not too long, but it’s a little bit messy and flows around wherever, just like her personality…. Aella would go where she pleases and do what she wants whenever she wants to. She would be a free spirit. Just like the wind…. Speaking of the wind, that would be her unique power as well, not fire, ice, dark magic or anything like that, aella would be an air mage instead. Yes, she would have the ability to control the wind, and perhaps even other parts of the weather at times.
Now Trixie starts thinking about Aella’s history. Where did she come from? What sort of life did she have? Trixie imagines she would be from a small town named Tiago... far to the South of Waise. Aella grew up there, but most of her childhood was rather unimportant. Her parents encouraged the young Aella to learn Air magic, as they were air mages themselves. She accepted and she eventually mastered their teachings. But for many years she had no idea of the great power she was really capable of. This all changed when she was 15. Whilst she was leaving school one day, a beastly bear-like creature attacked the town, and this was the event when Aella realized how truly powerful she was, even greater than that of her parents or anyone else in her town had ever known. That was the day she was crowned a hero to her people.
When the monster entered town the villagers ran from it, and many were caught by surprise being injured and died. But Aella didn’t run. She confronted it, because the love for her people filled her with unexpected courage and she grew angrier and angrier upon each passing moment the beast was alive. She automatically focused on the teachings of her parents and her anger somehow made her realize much more than she had been taught. A new level of her power was unlocked.... Miraculously, the beast soon collapsed, Dead. Aella had channelled her energy and stole the air from inside it, causing the beast to suffocate.
After this incident, she was called a hero by the many villagers. She impressed her parents, she impressed everyone. For heroic deed, a green bow, forged from refined Viridium (A green metallic rock found in the mountains near her village) was awarded to her. The Viridium was light, durable and made an excellent material for a bow. The arrows were also crafted from Viridium, and some of these arrows were tipped with Viridium Crystal, a special crystal that is naturally formed in the same way that diamonds are formed from coal, and found naturally in the mountains around the village as well. Since Viridium Crystals were said to hold their own magical properties, Aella separated them from the other arrows and reserved them for special occasions. (the special magic of these arrows will be revealed later)
It wasn’t difficult for Aella to learn how to use the bow, it was like second nature to her. Over the next two years she became a master of archery. It also turned out to be an excellent tool to use in conjunction with her Air Mage abilities - Naturally these air magical abilities could assist many things such as levitation, helping her move and run at amazing speeds, remove the air from lungs or larger spaces, and slow her descent when falling from dangerous heights - but she could also use the same air manipulation to alter the course of an arrow, speed up its velocity, slow it down, and even bend its path around corners.
Because Aella is small, the bow was practically the same length as her and she almost always carried it in one hand, not on her back. It was more than just a bow. It became a multipurpose tool; a staff to conduct air spells (even though she didn’t need it to do that), a melee weapon for close combat, a cane to help in hiking and mountaineering, even while walking she would walk the bow at her side in one hand as a companion, and while standing still she would hold it like a native holds a spear to lean on with one foot resting on the knee of the other leg. For all intents and purposes, the bow became an extension of her body.
While Trixie imagines the existence of this person and all her special gifts, she also knows that in the end Aella is human and has weakness like any other human; she can be injured, she can bleed and she can die. But Trixie also knows because Aella is only young, she still has a lot to learn about herself and her magic abilies…
She then looked to Revel, wondering what he thought of this.
Revel leans back in his highchair and watches Trixie's imagination go to work. He stares blankly for much of the time, but towards the end one of his brows begin to rise slowly with slight astonishment from behind the rim of his sunglasses. When she finally finishes her daydream and looks to him for his approval, he stares at her for a time with eyebrow still raised. Eventually he breaks the silence.
"Well...." He removes his sunglasses and places them gently on the tray in front of him, regarding her with intrigue. "Just when I had lost all hope for your intelligence...." He pretends to wipe a tear of joy from his eye. "That's quite a character you have there. I hope you're up to the challenge because..." He raises his hand to point his chubby little baby finger at her; "...You're it! Goodbye!"
In not even as much as a flash of light, Trixie's soul is transformed to meet the criteria of her wishes, the memories of everything that happened to that point in her existence are wiped clean, replaced by a whole new life worth of memories. She simultaneously appears in her brand new body standing on one leg, her other foot resting on her knee while she leaned on the bow held upright in the grip of her hand. She doesn't know she just came into existence like that, of course, by her own account she arrived in that place and time by whatever means the memories of her life to date told her she had. But it was in that moment that a soft breeze tussled her hair, accompanied by a small and unfamiliar voice, saying; "Have fun".
"Ain't too much obvious about this place. I'm guessing it's run by a madman, and you kinda fit the bill."
He walks casually to the opposite side of the desk, raps his knuckles thoughtfully on the timber a few times, knife slowly spinning in his other hand.
"If there's nothing interesting in the drawer, how about we move on?"
Braun didn't trust this guy, he was unnaturally calm under the circumstances, amusing he was also a captive, that is. But Braun wasn't ready to settle on that assumption just yet.
Well, I was gonna say put the book against the monitor as well, so... err.... I guess if nothing else works, then we could even give the screen a big moon.
For what are probably not obvious reasons, Ezra remains still in wait, possibly evaluating the dialogue between the pair, for his inhuman ears continue to flicker and twist with analysis until the moment of the explosion in the adjacent hallway. At this, Ezra flinches to a crouched position then pauses, remaining as such while his beastly eyes observe the changes in Ariel. On completion of Ariel's transformation, Ezra appears cautious. Possibly to the point of showing a trace of fear. This change in him may denote his knowledge for what has happened to the angel. For a moment, his eyes turn as if to follow something unseen around the room.
When Ariel... the demon... finally makes his move, Ezra releases an inhuman shriek and moves with equal speed from the demons path of attack. In a moment Ezra is behind the demon with his back facing Renard, while using his powerfully clawed hands to grab hold of the demons wings in an attempt to rip them savagely from his back.
Renard, noticing the convenient opportunity, carefully tries to line up his shot. The sword shakes in his hands-- mostly due to the agonising pain in his ribs. He pauses for a few seconds in order to catch his breath and hold it long enough to keep his aim steady, a short period of time that may unfortunately leave enough time for some damage to be done to Ariel's wings.
"The two don't look too different from each other," mutters Renard as a passing observation. "Demon and beast..."
His moral compass starts to spin wildly out of control. Whoever he shoots, the outcome would not be good either way. There was no right choice to make-- only his loyalty for his friend could make his decision.
The pistol sword shoots and the air shatters with a loud crack. The bullet tears through space, and silence falls in its wake.
The demon is fast, but the beast Ezra is equally fast and powerful, apparently more powerful than those Order drones, one of which he had killed with ease earlier in library.
Before he knows it, Ezra is behind him and viciously pulling at Ariel's wings. The pain is excruciating, like someone attempting to pull bones out from his back. He can feel the flesh begin to rip under the strain, and Ezra's hold on him allows for very little movement. But this body wasn't the demons, and he could soon find another body to dwell in if this one died, so making a possibly damaging effort to loosen Ezra's hold was seen as his best course of action.
With all the power his angel body could generate, and despite doing so may result in losing a wing, the demon thrusts one shoulder away, causing both him and Ezra to spin in unison as the blast from Renard's weapon shattered the room.
A moment of silence fell.
The demon stood still, now in a position to stare wide-eyed at Renard as then the sound of Ariel's voice broke the quiet moment -
"Be careful with my body!"
Renard, the demon, and Ezra would have heard his voice coming from somewhere near the ceiling, echoing out as if desperately escaping the confines of another dimension just long enough to make himself known.
A second later, a fleeting ghostly image of a manlike form passed in front of Renard.
At the same time, the demon came to terms with the fact that one of Ariel's wings had come close to being torn completely from his back, but looking down at his body and feeling no other pain besides that of his wings, it was clear that Renard's shot had missed him.... But where did it strike? He turns his eyes to Ezra who had loosened his grip, and assuming that Ezra had been struck by Renard's fire, the demon raised Ariel's sword in one swift movement and drove it into Ezra's neck for a finishing blow.
"You want a kitten? We could get a kitten if you want one." Ei says, her voice coming from behind Annie as the black smoke gathers and Ei emerges from it, holding a large cloak which she gives to Annie to wear until they find actual clothes. "Sorry for not being present earlier Annie, I had some business that needed finishing but I'm here now." She says, smiling. "Shall we go, or do you want to chat with these... people some more first?" Ei says, glaring at the other people in the hallway.
Jack continues to avoid looking at Annie as she speaks to him. "...there's been quite a bit of... excitement as of late, though I'm not sure 'fun' is the word I'd use to describe it," he states somewhat reluctantly as he kneels to pick up Buttons; as he feels the now-known to him sensation of being licked, he grimaces, remembering the false Boris from before. Almost instinctively- and against his better judgement- he glances at Annie's face, stumbling backwards slightly as he manages to stand back up rather than fall backwards to the floor again as he realizes Annie hadn't moved at all from her position a few feet away, not to mention the grin on her face and the change in the color of her eyes. He blinks as he hears the voice of the child, uncertain what it is saying- or how it is saying it.
As the voice subsides, he rubs his face with his free hand in an attempt to wipe Annie's saliva off of it, and as his hand brushes against his nose he realizes that the sharp pain in it has disappeared completely; he presses his nose with his finger, confirming that it has healed. Looking at Annie, evidently confused, he asks, "You... fixed my nose?", uncertain what could have motivated her to do such a thing.
Jack backs off as Ei glares, something about her presence making him particularly inclined not to incur her wrath. Given her behavior with Annie, he can only assume she's both the lover that she had mentioned before, and the one that Maras had referred to as Lady Ei. He takes a breath, building up his composure before stating, "I take it you are the one that Maras and Lyudmila serve... Lady Ei?"
Buttons lands beside Annie. Annie rises to her feet, caressing her rounding belly. Her lack of concern denotes the explosions ineffectiveness in harming her unborn child. She stares down at the cat, partially smiling as it speaks to her in its native tongue.
"You're a cute little thing." She replies to the kitten in a gentle whisper. "I would hope for a pet like you...."
Jack approaches cautiously from down the hall. Annie is aware of his intentions. She watches intently. When Jack is near to her, she speaks in a soft and... undeniably seductive tone:
"Hello Jack. Having... fun?"
Jack crouches down to pick up the kitten, as he does so he feels something wet probing his cheek, it moves swiftly to his nose, then whips about to tickle his ear. It is Annie's tongue. Though she did not move from her position, she had extended its length the few feet it took to make contact with Jack. If he were to look up at Annie in this instant, her tongue will snap back into her now grinning mouth. One of her eyes are purple, the other red. Another voice can also be heard. This voice is unmistakably coming from within Annie's belly. The voice of the child within her womb, though its words are unknown, perhaps heard by Jack as nothing more than playful gibberish.
As the voice within her grows quiet, Annie remains perfectly still, watching Jack with only the movement of her eyes. She is allowing him to take the cat. What may then come as a surprise to Jack, is the pain in his nose... it is no longer present. His broken nose has been healed.
Little kitten Buttons doesn't run because running into unknown territory seemed just as daunting as staying put, and besides, the approaching man (Jack) seemed vaguely familiar. He looks up at Annie when she talks to him, his wide, scared eyes attempting to make some sort of sense to the emotional portrayal of what she might be saying. The ensuing interaction between Jack and Annie, which prevented Jack from actually picking Buttons up, kept Buttons curiosity. He backed away a little, but looked from Jack to Annie as they conversed. His fear was subsiding a little and didn't sense any reason to be further afraid.
Then Ei appeared, and the way she appeared was scary, and Buttons darted in an arc behind Jack for protection, and pressed his body up against his ankle for security. He looked up at Jack with a faint meow.
Bob watches on from a distance, remaining where Jack left him in the company of Boris and Ki. He feels a little anxious when Ei appears from the dark smoke; yet another powerful being to possibly lessen his chances of getting Buttons back and causing more problems around town....
"Who is that woman...?" He mutters softly to himelf. Ei seems oddly familiar to him. "I think I've seen her before...."
Boris, taking a break from his deep contemplation, steps up beside Bob and gives him a nudge with his elbow. "Don't you worry, Mr. Bob. Jack will get your kitten back. He's a very smart man."
"Uh.. yeah, thanks Boris." Bob replies and turns his look to Ki. "And hi there, kid." He holds out his hand to her, "Bob's the name, good to meet you."
It was then that the loud crack erupted from the room next door. Buttons arched his back, hissed, and dug his claws into Jack's boot. Bob jumped with a little surprise, but just kinda raised his eyebrows with a look of 'whatever', keeping his hand extended to Ki. Boris chuckled.
'Silas' growls at Herman, and not in a good way. "I'm busy," he grunted. "Important work," he continued, roughly shoving Herman out of the way before returning to what appears to be writing science and magic far too complicated for any of them to understand on the walls of the mansion.
'Silas' turns around to face what the commotion is all about. "Strange..." he mutters. "The host recognizes the appearance of this Ei being. It is of no consequence." He returns to continue his work on the wall. "In time," he whispered to himself, almost like a ritual chant, "all shall be consumed."
Herman isn't altogether disappointed by Silas' reaction, somehow it only stimulates him.
"I don't mind it rough." She says, and strokes his back with her finger as he writes his equations on the wall with his magically appearing pen. "What's that you're doing there, hun?"
As Silas turns to view the appearance of Ei, Herman places her chin on his shoulder to watch the commotion as well. She furrows her eyebrows at Ei's appearance, having never seen the shady female before, but finding out who she was was going to have to wait; his attention is instead turned to Annie, since she's the ones that's naked, and hopes she doesn't put on the coat that the newcomer has offered. But something of a curios notion grows on Herman's face.
"So you'd prefer that young pregnant girl over me?" She whispers in Silas ear.
When Silas returns his attention to his work, Herman stands back, rubbing his female chin thoughtfully.... While his soul was trapped inside a slug, he wasn't able to use his powers, since the chemistry and physical parameters of slug wouldn't allow it, but now that he was again in human form, Herman suspected he was able to tap into his powers of sorcery once more. As he considered this, he kept his eyes on Annie, while his slender female fingers wriggled by his side and a thin, hairline green mist-like substance began to coil up her arms.
"Yes..." She repeats Silas' words in a whisper; "In time... certainly in time... they will all be consumed by my lust. But I think that Annie girl will have to die -"
Herman's words were ended by the loud sound from the room next door, and he turns to look as if he could see through the wall, which of course he couldn't. "Sounds like someones fun is going off with a bang."
"Well, don't worry, Boris. Perhaps you'll find a way to get it back? We can find you a new weapon to use in the meantime," Jack attempts to reassure the large man.
Boris nods with Jack's attempt to comfort, but he wasn't truly feeling it. He really just wanted his bone back, but he didn't want to kill the dragon to get it either. He scratches his head, concentrating hard to try and think of other options.
"Well... I can't say I've thought much about it, but I don't suppose I would... Herman."
Jack is unsure what to think of the new Trixie. Or... Herman. If nothing else, 'she' certainly seemed to be using much more in the way of body language. Given the comment about slugs, Jack could only assume that the explosion ripped the soul out of the slug from earlier and transferred it into her. Which might lead one to wonder about what happened to Trixie's soul, but this train of thought was soon interrupted by another.
Jack turns to Bob as the latter places his hand on the former's shoulder. "And you as well, Bob. I suppose the last step in tying up lose ends for you would be seeking vengeance against that witch that put you in Button's body in the first place, then? Preferably before she does the same to more men." He glances at Magebuster hanging from his waist. It would be helpful against such a foe, but given her apparent inclination towards curses, another item he knew of might've been more useful... but that was in the past. Returning his attention to Bob, he adds, "If you do seek out that vengeance, I'd be glad to assist you in doing so- hunting down such individuals is my profession, after all- though I have business to take care of in this town first."
Herman is disappointed by Bobs interruption and grimaces at him, looking his attire up and down as she does so. She crosses her arms stroppily and huffs. She listens to their conversation for a while then looks up at Boris with a cunning smirk.
"Hey there big boy... maybe I could help get your bone back."
Boris didn't pick up on the innuendo, but the tone of her voice told him enough. Distracted from his contemplation he raises his narrow glare at her.
"You a very naughty girl. Boris doesn't like you at all. You might be a pretty lady, but your words make you ugly! Ladies are meant to have discretion - even Boris knows that much, miss. Boris doesn't want help from a woman like you."
Herman seems genuinely surprised by Boris' reply. "Well damn.... Who saw that coming?" Twisting her nose up, she turns away, gives Jack a kiss on the cheek and starts walking down the hall. "Fine, boys, I'll find a real man somewhere else." She hardly even takes ten steps before stopping at Silas, approaching him in much the same as she had approached Jack a minute before.
"Well how you doing there, Sweetie Pie? Looks like you might be a man of experience." She runs her fingers down the bristly hair of his face. "I'm ready for my lesson."
Bob is slowly shaking his head, genuinely amazed at Herman's behavior. After watching her walk away, he looks back at Jack with a nod. "Takes all sorts, I guess. But yes, I'd like to take you up on that offer. As far as I can tell, Jane, that's her name, was responsible for sticking Herman's soul into the slug as well. Not that I might blame her in this case. But it's true, Jane needs to be stopped. I was married to her a number of years before I even found out she was a witch. She's a clever one, Jack, and she also has my two kids with her. I'd prefer they don't get hurt. Nonetheless, we have a plan, let's work out the issues of this god forsaken town first, then go on that hunt together."
He looks at Boris. "And don't worry, Boris, I've lived in this town for most of my life and know where we could get our hands on some weapons. That is if we can get out of this house first."
He looks back at Buttons with Annie, and calls out to the cat by name, but Buttons only responds with a frightened look before returning his skittish attention to Annie again, then starts analyzing the area with a frightened demeanor.
"Buttons was our household pet, and I'd prefer to take him with me." He tells Jack with a sigh while looking over his tattered evening long johns. "But I'm hardly in a condition to safely get close to that girl (Annie) right now. I don't feel safe around her. You wouldn't mind going to fetch him for me, would you?"
Trixie was somewhat flattered by what he did, and what he said though she rose an eyebrow at the offer he made. She mainly ignored what she viewed as 'pointless banter and antics' by what Revel did, she stopped her pacing. "A second chance at life? Anything Trixie wants to be..." she muttered to herself. "For Starters Trixie would like to live a long, long life. Immortal perhaps. Theres those others....Annie...the order and that other one...whoever they are. They are powerful right? Being a magiciation...for the majority of Trixie's life...didn't show power at all...it showed illusion and weakness...not real magic." she sighed and paced around once more. "Instead of showing off, Trixie could be a hero....Powerful hero...someone young, girl obviously. It would be more fun to discover Trixie's powers as she goes along..." she looked down and sighed again, stopping her pacing and looking him in the eye. "Tell me of what you know of the powerful ones. I want to be like them. Instead of being show offy, I could be sneaky...heroic...young...mysterious...smart..." she said firmly, dropping her 3rd person.
While Trixie is muttering and attempting to reason with herself, baby Revel yawns a couple of times, finishes his beer, then fashions his lips over the neck of the bottle to make some hollow sounding tunes. The music sounds quite nice, if not a little haunting. When Trixie finally asks for his advice, he stops blowing into the spout and tosses the bottle carelessly over his shoulder again. This time the bottle appears in space in the year 2063 and topples into the opening of a propulsion system to a newly designed space craft, causing said propulsion system to malfunction... and ultimately sets human space travel back another 50 years.
"Sometimes people just aren't ready for new things." Revel looks at Trixie, removing the glasses from his face. "Take it from me, as the old expression goes - and for a very good reason - knowledge is one of the greatest powers of all. Why not try and be at least a little smart about your decision here today. After all, you don't want to mess this up. I'm not going to make any decisions for you, but you're running out of time, I have places to go and people to humiliate, so hurry up and make a decision. Here, I'll make it easy on you, as I can see you're having a great deal of trouble with this.... Just imagine being someone. Give them a name, imagine what their personality is like, what their interests are, what talents they have and what they find important in life. See them in your minds eye where words could never be enough to describe, and I'll do the rest."
Jack manages to maintain his focus as Boris shakes him, listening to his story. Something about a dragon from the past no longer being dead, and a cave? Could that have been where Boris ended up when he vanished after dinner? Given what Revel had related to him, and what that meant Boris truly was, it was certainly a possibility. It was then that he noticed Boris no longer had Revel Yell with him. "The dragon you killed? I didn't know about that. Congratulations on... un-killing it? Though I do have to ask," he states, indicating towards Boris's back, "What happened to Revel Yell? Did you leave it behind or something?"
He glances over at 'Trixie' who, to say the least, seems to be acting strangely. Jack can't help but wonder if the explosion had something to do with her sudden shift in behavior.
Boris releases his grip on Jack and steps away, the joy on his face running away as he slowly reaches back to confirm the absence of Revel Yell. Groping a few times at the air, he then turns in a circle several times reaching and grasping like a dog chasing his own tail, before he stops and releases a long winded sigh of disappointment.
"Daw.... Jack, why Boris so dumb?" Despite his limited intellect, Boris in that moment just so happened to consider the possibility that Revel Yell did in fact come from the dragon he killed, and had now saved the life of. His face became pale at the thought of no longer having the weapon. "Dragon not dead any more... so Boris have no more dragon bone...." He hangs his head pouting, shoulders slumped.
Trixie is still lustfully examining her body with heaving, excited breath when she notices Jack looking at her with a curious notion in his eye. She steps away from the wall, her fingers wriggling by her sides as she plans her next move. Dropping her face to look at Jack seductively from the top of her eyes, she does a little catwalk towards him, runs her finger down his chest in a slick, snake-like pattern, and says;
"Hey there, handsome...." Her tongue runs slowly across her upper lip. "Don't tell me you prefer slugs over... this." She giggles softly and bites her lip for a moment, bringing her hand up to caress his ear. "You can call me Herman... honey."
Bob, after thanking Ezmond, turns his sights to Jack and places one hand firmly on his shoulder, interrupting the interaction with Herman. "Thank you for taking care of me, Jack. I'm in your debt. And by the way, My names Bob. It's good to meet you properly."
0
Ariel's soul remained in the hallway, his sword the only thing seen of him as it swung in the air like pendulum. By this account alone, it could have been perceived that he was feeling a little bored, but that's not really what he was feeling at all; dangling his sword in a swinging manner was just a display of his casual confidence as he prepared to confront the demon inhabiting his body.
With a growing smile on the face of his soul, he started moving down the hallway, out of the line of sight of Renard and Ezmond in the room as he approached the Demon. Even though Renard and Edmond couldn't have heard him, he spoke, knowing the demon most likely could.
"You might wanna hand my body back to me, dumb-bum. In case you haven't noticed, you're inhabiting the body of an angel, and the last time I checked, when a demon inhabits the body of an angel, things start getting unpleasant for said demon. Are you feeling the burn yet?"
"Not so!" The demon screeched with the voice of Ariel's body, "You fail in your understanding, angel - for have you forgotten the sin you committed? This body is no longer a holy vessel! It is mine to do with as I choose!"
The Demon had a point, and Ariel realized that fact to be true, but he had another card up his sleeve -
"Then prepare to have a short life, demon, because I'd rather see my body dead than see it inhabited by filth like you. And don't even think about running, you and I both know flesh can't outrun a soul."
The Demon responded with a hair raising scream and squeezed the trigger of the flintlock pistol. The blast of the gun filled the mansion and the bullet, obviously passing right through Ariel's soul, punched a hole in the door frame of the room Renard and Ezmond had entered.
"Effective!" Ariel scoffed at the Demons attack, as he raised his sword and rushed at the demon, aiming to drive the blade straight through his own heart.
The demon found no other curse of retaliation but to throw the pistol at Ariel's soul in frustration, though this attack was just as ineffective as the gun hit the floor and slid its way down the hallway floor and past the open door of the room, while the demon let out another scream and vacated Ariel's body as the blade penetrated the flesh. Fortunately, Ariel's aim was a little off, since he wasn't yet fully coordinated in soul form, and the blade entered the shoulder of his body instead of his chest. at the same time, the spirit of the Demon fled like a gust of powerful wind down the hallway and into the room where Ezmond and Renard were waiting. In an instant the demon spirit had hold of Renard, lifting him high and pinning him to the ceiling, attempting to reach in and rip Renard's soul from his vessel.
Out in the hallway, now his body was empty, Ariel's own soul was sucked immediately back inside. Straight away he felt the pain of the sword lodged in his shoulder as he yelled out in pain and dropped to the floor, wriggling about in agony while desperately trying to pull the sword free.
Boris hadn't yet divulged his Bonecrusher identity to anyone in Waise yet and it was doubtful anyone there were part of the circles that knew of said reputation, but even though his own memory may have been at fault, he doubted that, so he just grimaces down at the little, bearded man, replying;
"You sure are a creepy old man."
Boris's attention is then drawn back to Vernon as he starts talking to him. What Vernon said wasn't exactly irrefutable evidence that he wasn't a big fat liar, but if Vernon was telling the truth, it kinda explained a lot of things that have happen to Boris recently: The strange appearance in the bedroom earlier, the travelling back to the past to un-kill a dragon, not to mention a few other things like the unnaturally intelligent speech he delivered to the silly crybaby dragon a few minutes ago - Hell, he himself wasn't even sure what all that jabbering was about anymore.
On account of Vernon's testimony kinda making sense, Boris really didn't have anything to reply with, he was too busy trying to wrap his mind around the implications. His jaw awkwardly shifted to one side as his eyebrows knotted together, peering thoughtfully at Vernon as he went on to talk to Jack. If it was true, if he was in fact the son of a God, then what exactly did he have to do to use those sorts of powers? He strained his mind incredibly hard, even groaning a little while trying to find something that each of those strange events had in common.
"...I sure do wish I knew the answer." He mumbled, his voice straining like someone direly constipated - and that was all it took, that was the answer - the realization was so intense that he stumbled back a couple of steps, and declared at the top of his lungs; "I wanted those things really bad and they happened!" With his eyes still pinned on Vernon, he spoke the next thought that came to mind. "The sons of Gods smell like sweet things?" Without actually wanting an answer to the question, being that it was more or less a rhetorical question, he immediately started to think of something else he wanted just as badly as the other things when the strange events happened, but only one thing came to mind at the moment: Revel Yell.
"I sure do wish I had my bone back." He told himself with pure honestly; "But at the same time, I sure don't want that dragon to die again because of it." These words were in tune with two specific thoughts he was having at the same time, imagining the dragon was still alive, and having Revel Yell in his hand again. And so it was, in the blink of an eye, Revel yell appeared in Boris's hand.
Filled with Awesome surprise and wonder, the smallest tear joy in his widening eyes, Boris held up the Bone in his hand as Vernon was completing his speech to Jack, and wasting no time he gave Jack a hefty nudge to show off his latest accomplishment.
"Hey Mr. Jack, look what Boris can do!"
Unfortunately, Boris was't the type of guy who wanted things that badly all the time, and even when he did they were usually smaller, insignificant things, like wanting a nice comfortable bed to sleep in, so being able to use this sort of power was probably not going to be a very frequent event.
While Boris is announcing his power to Jack, Sluggy didn't bother waiting for Jack to answer his earlier request, and just lunged himself off the wall and onto Jack's shoulder. "Thanks buddy!" He says, in his squeaky little voice.
0
When Chisille fell into a state of hysteria, Boris's stared pout at the ground was broken. He looked at the pathetic display, his heart hurt at the sound of the dragon crying, but his lack of current intellect didn't provide him a suitable response. He was frustrated by this, lifted himself off the floor and stomped his foot hard like a child chucking a tantrum. He then turns around, alerted by Silas's rude remark to Jack. His eyes flare with rage as he gives the old man a hefty shove against the wall -
"YOU DON'T TALK TO MY FRIEND LIKE THAT!" The shove was no doubt severe enough to knock the wind right out of Silas.
He then walks over to Jack and Betty, not saying a word to Jack, but distractedly happy to be in the company of the only friend he has at this point. He gives a soured look to Betty.
"Girls are mean!"
Vernon enters the room again to make his announcement. Boris looks at the man like someone might look at an alien vessel descending from the heavens, and also replies to Vernon:
"I may not be a smart man, but I can tell when someone is lying! Likeable men like you get away with fibs all the time!" He clenches his fists so hard that his knuckles turn white. "You better tell the truth or ELSE!"
Just then a little voice screams out from behind Jack, Bob, Betty and Boris. It's the slug on the wall, yelling loud enough for the four to hear, even though his words are directed at Jack:
"Hey you, Jack! I need a favor! Come on over here, please. It seems things are heating up around here, and I sure would appreciate it if you let me take a ride on your shoulder. I promise not to be a nuisance, you won't even know I'm there, really! It's just that I have no way of keeping up without a little help. And by the way... please don't hurt me! Oh yeah, thanks for putting out the fire!"
Buttons lifts his eyes to Jack, a look of 'this kitten is hungry' on his face.
Bob smiles, also saying something to Jack. "Looks like you're the man of the hours."
As Renard, Ezmond and the ghost of Ariel enter the hallway - not the same hall as the other group are in - they see Ariel, or his possessed body, standing at the end of it. His eyes are radiating red, and he speaks in demonic voice;
"This host is mine. You will not subdue me. I have not tasted of freedom in millennium. Let me be!"
He is holding Renard's revolver. It's already loaded and ready, hammer pulled back, all three barrels pointed directly at Ezmond's head.
0
Fred is wearing a flannelette shirt and torn jeans but no shoes, sitting on the brick wall of an island garden outside of a pizza shop, slurping a cola slurpee.
Don't look at me like that1
Boris never actually made contact with Chisille. He was only edging his hand closer to see if she would accept his effort. He was trying really hard not to be scary and wasn't aware of all the things Chissy had been through lately. He wasn't a smart man, but it was clear that she wasn't wanting anything to do with being patted and he took that personally. It was the story of his life, no one had ever let Boris get close to them, but he blamed that on himself, since he couldn't figure a reason as to why it might be other peoples fault. Except for girls, of course, they had always been downright mean to Boris in his life, and he figured that they must have just been generally evil. Chisille didn't fall into that category, though, Boris just saw her as a cute little dragon who he wanted to be friends with. Maybe this desire to befriend her had more than anything else to do with his past interaction with dragons, leaving him with the feeling of needing to make things right. But whatever the reason, all he really wanted was for people to like and trust him, just like he had seen them do with other people, so seeing the dragon reject his kindly advance only served to lessen his self esteem. Jack was an exception, yet Boris didn't really consider Jack's apparent liking for him as a comforting notion, probably just because Jack really didn't come to mind at that moment, the heartbreak of Chissy's response overshadowed any hope Jack had previously supplied.
Feeling dejected, and neither giving a damn about the splatter of blood and guts that were sprayed on him, Boris simply dropped his hand away. The smile ran away from his face. He plonked himself down on the floor, legs crossed like a child, shoulders slumped with what appeared to be one of Trixie's mangled nipples sliding down his cheek as he dropped his head somberly to pout.
"Boris sorry...." He turns his eyes to Chissy, a look that could only be given from someone with an inferiority complex, though the look didn't last long before his eyes turned back down at the floor. “Boris doesn’t know why people hate him…. I no want to hurt you. Boris only wants you to feel good.” Shaking his head slowly, a tear could be seen in his eye, which might have been an uncomfortable thing to view on someone with such a large, manly appearance. "I must be too stupid and ugly to be liked.... Boris really sorry.” The nipple dropped from his cheek and into his lap.
Despite his feelings of personal rejection and hurt, which was more or less a way of life for him, all he really wanted was something intelligent to say in the hopes he could make Chisille understand where he was coming from, and that he had no intention of being a threat to her – and as it turned out, that desire alone was enough to make his wish come true, if only for a short fleeting moment –
It was like his mind suddenly became clear with understanding, accompanied by actual words to speak. His slumped posture straightened, not abruptly, but rather smooth while his eyes lit up and looked at the dragon with undeniable kindness and understanding.
“Life can be cruel. It can make a good person turn bad.” He told her, his voice calm, clear and perfectly pronounced. “I have also had a life of pain and sorrow, just like you. So I understand that all you really want is a reason to feel safe. You want someone around who cares about you. Don’t we all really want the same thing, someone that makes us feel safe and loved?” A soft smile forms on his face. “A friend is patient and kind. Friends do not dishonour each other. They aren’t self-seeking. Friends are not easily angered and they keep no record of wrong doings. Friends do not delight in evil but rejoice in the truth. Friends always protect each other. Friends always trust. Friends always persevere and stay with each other until the end.” He paused again, giving Chissy a look so warm that it almost seemed impossible for his face to deliver such a look. “I know you’re confused and I know you have no reason to believe in the kindness of humans. I honestly understand. But I want you to know that if you want me to, I can be that friend for you. I like you so very much… and being that friend for you would make me very happy.”
As he finishes his speech, Boris’ eyes seem to dim again, his shoulders slump, and his eyes turn sadly to the floor.
0
Boris, not wanting to follow Vernon and not really effected by his words anyway, smiles really broad at the little dragon, to the point that he almost looks a little goofy. He stoops down with his hands on his knees, and stares with that smile at her.
"Boris sure wouldn't blame anything bad on a little dragon like you." He pauses for a moment attempting to subdue her with the continuation of the intense bulging eyes of his smile. "Boris sure would like to give you a pat. I promise not to hurt you at all, not even a bit, little dragon."
He extends one hand slowly to see if she'd accept his advance, keeping his big, goofy looking smile, which might even seem a little comical being worn on a man of his brutish size.
"Grand idea - Let's go get that son of a... demon!" Ariel calls out, but he knows no one can hear him as he starts following after Renard and Ezmond, sword bobbing in the air behind them.
Bob raises his brow with a smirk and what could be considered a slightly sad chuckle.
"Yep, interesting is one way to describe it, another way would be a typical day in Waise. But it sure looks like the women are after you, so that's something. More than I can say for myself anyway." He frowns and regards Buttons who is now seated between Jack's feet. "Hell, even my own cat likes you more than me."
Trixie, ...or Herman, sees the look both Ei and Annie give Jack. It infuriates Herman, the jealousy causing Trixie's blood pressure to rise. He was planning on waiting to attack that little floozy, Annie, but after seeing that exchange of looks he decides not to wait any longer. He was so infuriated by the prospect of the competition that the effect Vernon had him was quickly suppressed.
As he starts walking towards the door of the dining room in pursuit of Annie, the green coil of energy begins to spiral up both his arms, his body charging with energy and surging through his veins. Unfortunately, just a few steps from the door he realizes something is terribly wrong. Trixie's flesh is beginning to twitch and spasm. Her vision becomes blurred as her eyeballs begin to vibrate and shift in awkward directions. He could feel her blood literally becoming heated. Her chest swelled painfully, rib cage cracking, expanding well beyond the capacity of taking a breath as the skin all over her body began to tighten at the inflammation of her flesh. Herman then realized the body he was inhabiting couldn't take the variety of magic he was using. It was reacting as if it were combustible to his power, like some weird allergic response. But it was too late to do anything about it; the reaction had already passed the point of no return -
With a mighty boom, Trixie exploded like the entirety of her body was a bomb, covering the walls and everybody in the hallway with particles of flesh and bone.
Bob let out a little sigh, wiping a chunk of what looked like brain from his eye as he nodded at Jack, and added; "No, you're right, it's been a very interesting turn of event."
Herman's soul was on the loose again, soaring through the haze of the settling cloud of blood, as if he were being sucked through a vortex towards the wall where he entered the body of the slug again, and immediately screamed out in mortal torment -
"Damn it!"
0
I'm a little confused. Actually, I'm very confused!
Guards? Am I prisoner? Scientists? Am I an experiment? What's with the threats? I don't even know what I'm doing here!
That mean monitor is treating me like some sort of patient, or experiment, or like something bad that needs to sleep... but why, I wonder. It also says I need to be quiet, but I don't see how I've been making much noise - since I don't have a mouth to speak, dammit! And obviously it doesn't even care about the flirty compliments I gave it. Well then! How rude!
All this reasoning makes me frustrated and angry, and since the monitor is complaining about me, I might as well actually give it something worth complaining about! After all, I'd like some answers and there's no guarantee the scientists and guards will provide the answers I seek. They just sound scary! Plus, being nice to this monitor just doesn't seem to be working for me, so....
Keeping the book under one arm, I punch the monitor with the other hand. Hard!
Take that! I think to myself, You mean and confusing monitor!
0
One thing about being a ghost, or a soul, emotions are much more raw and absolute, not mixed or diluted like when you have a physical body that influences diversity in responses, so the anger Ariel had for Ezmond at that very point in time was unadulterated. Another thing about being a ghost, is that response time was practically instantaneous, so when hearing the voice of his friend call out for him to stop - despite the great speed that the sword was being driven towards Ezmonds - Ariel came to a complete halt with the tip of the blade floating in the air just a few millimeters from Ezmond's chest.
It was strange really, how the realization of so many things could happen in the smallest moment. It seemed unnatural, but wonderful at the same time. No matter how different each change of emotion was from one to another, his mind was present and fully alert with each of these changes. In an instant he went from rage to joy, no middle man, as he turned to look at Renard with a smile he couldn't see, then spoke to him in a voice he couldn't hear;
"I've never felt so damn glad to see someone alive."
With a fancy spin of his sword, Ariel dropped the blade to the floor, resting the hand of his soul on the pommel as if the weapon were now a cane. But he had no idea what else to do now, so he just stood there joyously smiling at Renard. He didn't care that Renard couldn't see his pleasure, and he didn't even question how Renard had managed to pull of the seemingly impossible. Ariel was just happy to see him alive. Simple as that.
At some point while this was happening, the demon, along with Ariel's body, decided to escape out the door on the opposite side of the room to where Ezmond had entered. He was gone.
0
Bob didn't pay too much attention to the howling wolves outside, after all they were just wolves and nothing too unusual, but he is getting a little antsy about Buttons. It was clear that Jack wasn't about to give Buttons away without permission, since it wasn't his cat to give, but Bob didn't trust Annie or Ei, and the arrival of the newcomers, Vernon, some odd looking farm and a young dragon, wasn't helping his comfort levels. He had originally asked Jack to retrieve the cat because being unarmed and dressed in a tattered evening wear wasn't exactly a condition to be making any bold moves in the face of two powerful beings, but the time had come to suck up some courage and save his cat from possibly being catnapped by force.
Hoping he wasn't going to interrupt the ensuing conversation between Ei and Vernon and draw attention to his advance, he takes a deep breath and walks quickly to Jack, taking the cat from his arms.
"Thanks, Jack." He whispers, and taking a few steps back.
Buttons didn't seem very relaxed either. Bob wasn't even sure if the young cat even recognized him and his little body was shaking nervously, unable to get comfortable in Bobs arms.
"Don't worry, Buttons," He strokes the cat behind the ears to try and subdue him; "everything is gonna be fine."
Boris steps up beside Bob, smiling broad at the kitten in his arms. "Awwww... that sure is a cute little cat. I wish I had a cat just like that."
Then Boris' attention is drawn to the young dragon hiding behind Betty. He recognized the dragon from dinner, and was happy to see it, but he didn't recognize Betty, Vernon or Ei. Annie of course was till being her very naughty self, but Boris for some reason didn't feel like begrudging her at that moment. It was possible all the many things taking place, plus the joy of seeing the dragon, was overriding his disdain for the girl.
Unfortunately, as Boris angled his head to take a better look at the dragon, he noticed the bloody bandage around her tail. Someone had hurt the little dragon! His heart suddenly sunk in his chest as his jaws clenched shut and teeth began to grind. The sound of the grinding was kinda loud as his blood pressure caused his eyes to bleed red with fury. His hands became white-knuckled fists as he then broke from his stance and strode towards the Farm girl and dragon. Paying no consideration to the conversation between the others, his feet stomp heavily into place as he stops a meter from Betty and Chisille, and raises his voice to demand answers.
"Who hurt you, baby dragon?! BORIS CRUSH THEIR SKULL!"
At the other end of the Hall, Herman forgets about Silas and doesn't even notice when the guy disappears. The green coils of energy continue to make their way up his/her arms while he concentrates his focus on Annie, but the sudden arrival of Vernon and the others makes him think twice. He puts a stop to his spell and the power rescinds. The coiling energy moving up his arms disperses harmlessly into the air.
He frowns disappointed, shaking his head and giving his chest a caress to comfort himself. "In time then.... A better opportunity will come."
The demon looks to Ezmond when the spell was cast on Ezra, then watches curiously as Renard misses his mark, at which he was little humored and let out a small hissing sound. When the wolves then howled and break the spell on Ezra, the demon didn't have time - or maybe he just didn't care enough - to reach Renard in time to try and save him. He had started his advance across the room to assault the beast, but by time he arrived Renard was already pinned to the floor and Ezra had vanished from the room. The demons turns to look at Ezmond through Ariel's eyes and mocks the man.
"Well done, Wizard. Who's your next victim?"
Meanwhile Ariel, or rather his soul, is frantic in his efforts to try and help. His screams and yelling apparently continue to go unheard, and as he watches Ezra plant his own sword in Renards gut, it feels like his own soul is being stabbed with the torment of being helpless to the cause. He was so distressed by what took place that his soul circled around Renards body, yelling at him to wake up, telling him to heal, while his ghostly hands grasped and clutched to try and remove the sword, as if doing so would somehow undo the past five minutes and make everything ok again.
Oddly enough, in his frantically emotional effort to try and do something, anything at all, the hand of his soul suddenly takes grip on the swords. He can feel the cold metal of the hilt tantalize the his touch as the contours of his hand conform to the texture of the grip. In a moment of epiphany he recognized his ability to maintain his hold on the weapon and with a swift move - forgetting that removing the blade from Renard might actually make matters worse and cause him to bleed out faster if he wasn't already dead - he withdraws the swords from his friend.
The sword rises in the air, wielded by Ariel's unseen soul as he swings it fast at Ezra, but his efforts came too late and the blade merely cut through air as Ezra disappeared through the wall.
Infuriated by the harm to his friend and his own lack of help, Ariel turns blame to Ezmond, gripping the sword in both hands above his head as he flies fast across the room to plant the blade in Ezmond's chest in a downward stabbing motion.
0
Revel leans back in his highchair and watches Trixie's imagination go to work. He stares blankly for much of the time, but towards the end one of his brows begin to rise slowly with slight astonishment from behind the rim of his sunglasses. When she finally finishes her daydream and looks to him for his approval, he stares at her for a time with eyebrow still raised. Eventually he breaks the silence.
"Well...." He removes his sunglasses and places them gently on the tray in front of him, regarding her with intrigue. "Just when I had lost all hope for your intelligence...." He pretends to wipe a tear of joy from his eye. "That's quite a character you have there. I hope you're up to the challenge because..." He raises his hand to point his chubby little baby finger at her; "...You're it! Goodbye!"
In not even as much as a flash of light, Trixie's soul is transformed to meet the criteria of her wishes, the memories of everything that happened to that point in her existence are wiped clean, replaced by a whole new life worth of memories. She simultaneously appears in her brand new body standing on one leg, her other foot resting on her knee while she leaned on the bow held upright in the grip of her hand. She doesn't know she just came into existence like that, of course, by her own account she arrived in that place and time by whatever means the memories of her life to date told her she had. But it was in that moment that a soft breeze tussled her hair, accompanied by a small and unfamiliar voice, saying; "Have fun".
0
Starts moving around and flailing arms all over the place; playing Charades to ask the sexy voice just what the hell is going on around here!
0
Braun reveals a small smirk.
"Ain't too much obvious about this place. I'm guessing it's run by a madman, and you kinda fit the bill."
He walks casually to the opposite side of the desk, raps his knuckles thoughtfully on the timber a few times, knife slowly spinning in his other hand.
"If there's nothing interesting in the drawer, how about we move on?"
Braun didn't trust this guy, he was unnaturally calm under the circumstances, amusing he was also a captive, that is. But Braun wasn't ready to settle on that assumption just yet.
0
Well, I was gonna say put the book against the monitor as well, so... err.... I guess if nothing else works, then we could even give the screen a big moon.
*press butt against screen*
But only as a last resort, obviously.
0
The demon is fast, but the beast Ezra is equally fast and powerful, apparently more powerful than those Order drones, one of which he had killed with ease earlier in library.
Before he knows it, Ezra is behind him and viciously pulling at Ariel's wings. The pain is excruciating, like someone attempting to pull bones out from his back. He can feel the flesh begin to rip under the strain, and Ezra's hold on him allows for very little movement. But this body wasn't the demons, and he could soon find another body to dwell in if this one died, so making a possibly damaging effort to loosen Ezra's hold was seen as his best course of action.
With all the power his angel body could generate, and despite doing so may result in losing a wing, the demon thrusts one shoulder away, causing both him and Ezra to spin in unison as the blast from Renard's weapon shattered the room.
A moment of silence fell.
The demon stood still, now in a position to stare wide-eyed at Renard as then the sound of Ariel's voice broke the quiet moment -
"Be careful with my body!"
Renard, the demon, and Ezra would have heard his voice coming from somewhere near the ceiling, echoing out as if desperately escaping the confines of another dimension just long enough to make himself known.
A second later, a fleeting ghostly image of a manlike form passed in front of Renard.
At the same time, the demon came to terms with the fact that one of Ariel's wings had come close to being torn completely from his back, but looking down at his body and feeling no other pain besides that of his wings, it was clear that Renard's shot had missed him.... But where did it strike? He turns his eyes to Ezra who had loosened his grip, and assuming that Ezra had been struck by Renard's fire, the demon raised Ariel's sword in one swift movement and drove it into Ezra's neck for a finishing blow.
Little kitten Buttons doesn't run because running into unknown territory seemed just as daunting as staying put, and besides, the approaching man (Jack) seemed vaguely familiar. He looks up at Annie when she talks to him, his wide, scared eyes attempting to make some sort of sense to the emotional portrayal of what she might be saying. The ensuing interaction between Jack and Annie, which prevented Jack from actually picking Buttons up, kept Buttons curiosity. He backed away a little, but looked from Jack to Annie as they conversed. His fear was subsiding a little and didn't sense any reason to be further afraid.
Then Ei appeared, and the way she appeared was scary, and Buttons darted in an arc behind Jack for protection, and pressed his body up against his ankle for security. He looked up at Jack with a faint meow.
Bob watches on from a distance, remaining where Jack left him in the company of Boris and Ki. He feels a little anxious when Ei appears from the dark smoke; yet another powerful being to possibly lessen his chances of getting Buttons back and causing more problems around town....
"Who is that woman...?" He mutters softly to himelf. Ei seems oddly familiar to him. "I think I've seen her before...."
Boris, taking a break from his deep contemplation, steps up beside Bob and gives him a nudge with his elbow. "Don't you worry, Mr. Bob. Jack will get your kitten back. He's a very smart man."
"Uh.. yeah, thanks Boris." Bob replies and turns his look to Ki. "And hi there, kid." He holds out his hand to her, "Bob's the name, good to meet you."
It was then that the loud crack erupted from the room next door. Buttons arched his back, hissed, and dug his claws into Jack's boot. Bob jumped with a little surprise, but just kinda raised his eyebrows with a look of 'whatever', keeping his hand extended to Ki. Boris chuckled.
Herman isn't altogether disappointed by Silas' reaction, somehow it only stimulates him.
"I don't mind it rough." She says, and strokes his back with her finger as he writes his equations on the wall with his magically appearing pen. "What's that you're doing there, hun?"
As Silas turns to view the appearance of Ei, Herman places her chin on his shoulder to watch the commotion as well. She furrows her eyebrows at Ei's appearance, having never seen the shady female before, but finding out who she was was going to have to wait; his attention is instead turned to Annie, since she's the ones that's naked, and hopes she doesn't put on the coat that the newcomer has offered. But something of a curios notion grows on Herman's face.
"So you'd prefer that young pregnant girl over me?" She whispers in Silas ear.
When Silas returns his attention to his work, Herman stands back, rubbing his female chin thoughtfully.... While his soul was trapped inside a slug, he wasn't able to use his powers, since the chemistry and physical parameters of slug wouldn't allow it, but now that he was again in human form, Herman suspected he was able to tap into his powers of sorcery once more. As he considered this, he kept his eyes on Annie, while his slender female fingers wriggled by his side and a thin, hairline green mist-like substance began to coil up her arms.
"Yes..." She repeats Silas' words in a whisper; "In time... certainly in time... they will all be consumed by my lust. But I think that Annie girl will have to die -"
Herman's words were ended by the loud sound from the room next door, and he turns to look as if he could see through the wall, which of course he couldn't. "Sounds like someones fun is going off with a bang."
0
Boris nods with Jack's attempt to comfort, but he wasn't truly feeling it. He really just wanted his bone back, but he didn't want to kill the dragon to get it either. He scratches his head, concentrating hard to try and think of other options.
Herman is disappointed by Bobs interruption and grimaces at him, looking his attire up and down as she does so. She crosses her arms stroppily and huffs. She listens to their conversation for a while then looks up at Boris with a cunning smirk.
"Hey there big boy... maybe I could help get your bone back."
Boris didn't pick up on the innuendo, but the tone of her voice told him enough. Distracted from his contemplation he raises his narrow glare at her.
"You a very naughty girl. Boris doesn't like you at all. You might be a pretty lady, but your words make you ugly! Ladies are meant to have discretion - even Boris knows that much, miss. Boris doesn't want help from a woman like you."
Herman seems genuinely surprised by Boris' reply. "Well damn.... Who saw that coming?" Twisting her nose up, she turns away, gives Jack a kiss on the cheek and starts walking down the hall. "Fine, boys, I'll find a real man somewhere else." She hardly even takes ten steps before stopping at Silas, approaching him in much the same as she had approached Jack a minute before.
"Well how you doing there, Sweetie Pie? Looks like you might be a man of experience." She runs her fingers down the bristly hair of his face. "I'm ready for my lesson."
Bob is slowly shaking his head, genuinely amazed at Herman's behavior. After watching her walk away, he looks back at Jack with a nod. "Takes all sorts, I guess. But yes, I'd like to take you up on that offer. As far as I can tell, Jane, that's her name, was responsible for sticking Herman's soul into the slug as well. Not that I might blame her in this case. But it's true, Jane needs to be stopped. I was married to her a number of years before I even found out she was a witch. She's a clever one, Jack, and she also has my two kids with her. I'd prefer they don't get hurt. Nonetheless, we have a plan, let's work out the issues of this god forsaken town first, then go on that hunt together."
He looks at Boris. "And don't worry, Boris, I've lived in this town for most of my life and know where we could get our hands on some weapons. That is if we can get out of this house first."
He looks back at Buttons with Annie, and calls out to the cat by name, but Buttons only responds with a frightened look before returning his skittish attention to Annie again, then starts analyzing the area with a frightened demeanor.
"Buttons was our household pet, and I'd prefer to take him with me." He tells Jack with a sigh while looking over his tattered evening long johns. "But I'm hardly in a condition to safely get close to that girl (Annie) right now. I don't feel safe around her. You wouldn't mind going to fetch him for me, would you?"
0
While Trixie is muttering and attempting to reason with herself, baby Revel yawns a couple of times, finishes his beer, then fashions his lips over the neck of the bottle to make some hollow sounding tunes. The music sounds quite nice, if not a little haunting. When Trixie finally asks for his advice, he stops blowing into the spout and tosses the bottle carelessly over his shoulder again. This time the bottle appears in space in the year 2063 and topples into the opening of a propulsion system to a newly designed space craft, causing said propulsion system to malfunction... and ultimately sets human space travel back another 50 years.
"Sometimes people just aren't ready for new things." Revel looks at Trixie, removing the glasses from his face. "Take it from me, as the old expression goes - and for a very good reason - knowledge is one of the greatest powers of all. Why not try and be at least a little smart about your decision here today. After all, you don't want to mess this up. I'm not going to make any decisions for you, but you're running out of time, I have places to go and people to humiliate, so hurry up and make a decision. Here, I'll make it easy on you, as I can see you're having a great deal of trouble with this.... Just imagine being someone. Give them a name, imagine what their personality is like, what their interests are, what talents they have and what they find important in life. See them in your minds eye where words could never be enough to describe, and I'll do the rest."
Boris releases his grip on Jack and steps away, the joy on his face running away as he slowly reaches back to confirm the absence of Revel Yell. Groping a few times at the air, he then turns in a circle several times reaching and grasping like a dog chasing his own tail, before he stops and releases a long winded sigh of disappointment.
"Daw.... Jack, why Boris so dumb?" Despite his limited intellect, Boris in that moment just so happened to consider the possibility that Revel Yell did in fact come from the dragon he killed, and had now saved the life of. His face became pale at the thought of no longer having the weapon. "Dragon not dead any more... so Boris have no more dragon bone...." He hangs his head pouting, shoulders slumped.
Trixie is still lustfully examining her body with heaving, excited breath when she notices Jack looking at her with a curious notion in his eye. She steps away from the wall, her fingers wriggling by her sides as she plans her next move. Dropping her face to look at Jack seductively from the top of her eyes, she does a little catwalk towards him, runs her finger down his chest in a slick, snake-like pattern, and says;
"Hey there, handsome...." Her tongue runs slowly across her upper lip. "Don't tell me you prefer slugs over... this." She giggles softly and bites her lip for a moment, bringing her hand up to caress his ear. "You can call me Herman... honey."
Bob, after thanking Ezmond, turns his sights to Jack and places one hand firmly on his shoulder, interrupting the interaction with Herman. "Thank you for taking care of me, Jack. I'm in your debt. And by the way, My names Bob. It's good to meet you properly."