Krystina's house

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes river

sorry, haven't really been able to write well as of late...

Sing it

Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Go - Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Sing - Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Way down below, way down below
Way down below, way down below

I've had better days, man
I've seen better days

"right...." the demon drawled, glancing out the door. "should i bring her in?" he asked, looking to Ephraim in confusion.

"i think he'll be alright, after all, he's got his sister here to look after him." Rissa smiled, sitting down beside Kansei.

Tilting his head to the side in confusion, skylar took a few steps towards the forest, glancing at Perem as he passed the spirit who seemed not to notice him. odd.

"...i heard a spirit rambling about it and thought i'd ask...." the panther shrugged, keeping her eyes on truth as she spoke.
how would we be able to tell if this self proclaimed hero to man has shown himself to us? she asked, her ear twitching at the sound of a spirit, although she couldn't see any.

I've had better ways, man
I know better ways

One, two, three and four
The devil's knocking at your door
Caught in the eye of a dead man's lie
Start your life with your head held high
Now you're on your knees
With your head hung low
Big man tells you where to go
Tell 'em it's good
Tell 'em okay
Don't do a goddamn thing they say

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

Just making sure you hadn't forgotten it is all.

This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.
I promise to depart just promise one thing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.

"While it's going to bug the hell outta me, I'm not sure if dragging in some outside force no one's ever really met face-to-face is a wise decision. I'd personally call in Perem first seeing as he's been there, done that and got the t-shirt of getting at least one of the wiser group member's trust. If you trust this sand guy, I won't doubt your ability to off him in all realms if necessary. Through a brief line of people trusting another person is how my trust in you is going so don't fail that chain of trust or the first person turning against you will be me. The chain can just as easily backfire and if my theory is correct, Hades might snap and turn against everyone if it backfires... Or he could turn suicidal-ish... I don't really get how suicide really works for him. Is suicide for him like the normal ways of dying just to sever the memories in the hopes he'll never remember being betrayed or taking a skinny-dip into some acid? Either way, you were the first person he trusted after all and if that trust gets damaged or severed, it can't be fixed. As far as I know, Perem has you who has Hades who has Lulu who has Sheik who has Trevor who has me. This mystery guy has a demon baby who has only seen bits and pieces of his dreams followed by Kansei now having some kind of attachment to him. No offense, Veda, but you did kinda sell yourself extremely short for a false promise of friendship," Ephraim answered after a few minutes of silent deliberation. He knew he'd gotten a little off track in the middle, but his point was rather clear in not going to this mystery guy as of yet. He'd definitely prefer exhausting his resources before asking some random person.

"Don't worry about it, little Shenshÿlia. There are worse things you could've said that you didn't and I'm already used to such negativity. Do whatever it is you two think is best... I won't deny that I sold myself short for a false promise after all," Veda murmured lightly while continuing to chew on a plastic green key although the pace had slowed quite a bit. Stupid infantile body became tired so easily with such a small amount of magic being used. It'd be back to training for using his magic and what physical abilities he had all over again once he could get his body to work properly again.

"At least you can acknowledge that much."

"Right. Besides that, he doesn't seem as timid as he was when we first met him," Watari smiled back at Rissa while gently brushing a hair out of Krystina's face. At least she seemed to not be in as much pain anymore. Perhaps she'd be a little unused to the things she hadn't needed for a little, but hopefully the pain wasn't going to last as long as Koail said it'd last for him. It wasn't like the crazy musician gave an idea on how long his even crazier blood cells would take to kick into gear much less how long it'd take to reboot the entire system before running off again.

"Weird... So how'd you get Krystina to change back from being a vampire again?" Tyvinda asked his cousin curiously, his eyes shifting over towards Krystina for a moment or two ever so briefly.

"So that's what happened... How did you do that actually? I've never heard of the process being reversed before," Serai asked with her brow arching slightly.

"That's right. Trevor, you and your parents weren't exactly part of that discussion. There's a fruity musician Sheik and I know who was once an elf that got changed into a vampire a long time ago. It was discovered several years after the change that his system rejects the venom from a vampire and can quite literally reverse the process. The woman who originally changed him made him a collar that keeps his system from killing off the venom under the condition that he remain as part of her coven. He was then given some time away from the coven due to past members finding his body's natural rejection of the change freaky. Once they were met with horrible "accidents" that ended their lives and they were replaced, he was supposed to return only he didn't want to return. He hadn't even wanted to be a part of the coven to begin with. Centuries later and it's been fully noted that he still can't retain the venom in his bloodstream without that collar on and anyone he changes reverts back to their original species over a period of time."

"But if his blood reverted her back to how she was, wouldn't it kill off a vampire?"

"It would, but the woman who originally changed him had a demon father. His blood in her veins negates the blood cells' ability to fight off the venom which is why she's that much more adamant about keeping him in her coven. He could singlehandedly wipe out the vampires and that means she could instill fear within their ranks and create her very own army. The war between vampires and lycans would come to a screeching halt and all that is secret would no longer be secret."

"That's insane..."

"That's Vedinya Ashani for you. While she goes by the name Odessa, the psychotic vampiress has only two goals in mind; world domination where she is queen and killing her younger brother, Seda Ashani. She's the daughter of Sedynn Ashani, a powerful demon general that worked side-by-side with one of the greatest demon kings, Chestra Kuhani. He was, figuratively speaking, the King Tutankhamen of demon kind; the youngest to become king."

Seeing that Skylar was following him, the figure began moving forwards again though it still paused every now and then to be sure Skylar didn't lose him. Once reaching a certain spot, the area began shifting a bit until a set of ruins leading down into the ground took it's place. It was then that the male figure pointed Skylar toward the stairs where the statue of a dog-like creature opened it's eyes and moved to the side so it was out of the way.

"Because he's rather obvious about what it is he seeks. I can't exactly describe him to you as of yet as my seer hasn't seen his physical form yet meaning he won't show up in the physical realm to meet with the Weaver of All Formulas and Solver of All Formulas until later. The shadows were wise to send the lonely demon to you all though, that much is for certain. Unfortunately, they seem to forget the whole between area of the realms. It's why they fail to keep the one shadow inside his resting place. The Reaver of All Formulas is already trying to pick the lonely demon apart so it'd be less difficult to repeat what happened so long ago. Do you even know about the war between the light and the dark? Are you sure you want to hear such a long tale?" Homunculus responded followed by the faint jingling sound of chains following shortly afterwards almost as if he were moving slightly. As the jingles ceased, a soft sigh could be heard alongside the slight sound of something like a pencil hitting a floor. "The point is, you'll know him when you see him. He acts friendly and prepped to save the world from one of wars to one where everyone can lounge about having afternoon naps all the time, but looks as if he hasn't slept a day in his life and isn't above blackmailing others to do his bidding. I can't help you much more than that from in here, only tell you what I know as fact and theories being passed amongst those of us in this place. Just do me the favor of considering convincing the psychos who put us in here to at least let the others out. I'd rather be in here alone than have to watch them losing their sanity. You'd be surprised how many we've had to feed to the Lino Doue stigma user chained up in here because they went batshxt crazy."

I promise you my heart just promise to sing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I thought,
I thought you need me,
This is what I thought so think me naïve,
I promise you a heart you'd promise to keep,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes river

Sing it

Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Go - Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Sing - Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Way down below, way down below
Way down below, way down below

I've had better days, man
I've seen better days

"in that case, I'll go get 'im." he drawled, shifting the kid so he could walk back outside.
"Hey, Perem, wanna come in here for a sec?" he asked, to which the spirit nodded and started over, shifting into a solid form. Noticing something off, the demon briefly glanced over to Skylar before Perem brushing past him recaptured his attention.

"what's up?" the spirit asked, shoving his hands into his pockets as he looked at Ephraim. So this was who Adra had been talking to through the shadows?

Although Krystina appeared to have settled into a peaceful sleep, her breathing had grown shallow and her grip on Maso's shirt tightened slightly.

"Hey, Kibum, it's been a few, shouldn't she be waking up soon?" Aerith drawled, keeping his gaze on Krystina.

I've had better ways, man
I know better ways

One, two, three and four
The devil's knocking at your door
Caught in the eye of a dead man's lie
Start your life with your head held high
Now you're on your knees
With your head hung low
Big man tells you where to go
Tell 'em it's good
Tell 'em okay
Don't do a goddamn thing they say

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.
I promise to depart just promise one thing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.

Nodding slightly at Adramalech saying he'd fetch the sand spirit, Ephraim's gaze focused in on the pictures. Who was this missing guy and how did he force himself awake? He could tell something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Upon hearing Perem's voice, his gaze shot back up just to reflect the colors of the man's skin, hair and clothes back at him instead of the color of his hair now being pinned out of his face by a couple of bobby pins. "Hey. Um, it might not bug you or maybe it will... I don't know you too well so I can't really say for sure. Since Adra and you seem to know more about these tombs seeing as you've been there more than once, I figured I'd ask y'all if you could recall someone being in this empty space between these two kids. Adra admitted knowing there was indeed someone there between my age and this kid's age. I vaguely recall intricately detailed black and white paint on his skin, but we can't exactly put a face to him. If the shadows were being cautious and snatched us back, he shouldn't be up and about. Technically speaking, I should still be asleep too, but I'm not. This guy, whoever he is, wasn't in there when we got there, but I know each of these unmarked stone table things had someone on it and Adra agrees. Feel free to add any details or just say you can't quite recall if there's nothing you can add to what we know," he explained while tapping his fingers on the empty space and a slightly younger boy's picture.

"He's feeling vulnerable... Ephraim, are you not telling us something?" Veda murmured before speaking directly to Ephraim. As soon as he asked the question, he inwardly sighed at how the shadow user flinched and diverted his gaze. He hadn't mentioned something.

"I feel detached from the shadows like when the Brotherhood took all shadows away from me when I was younger and I don't think it was the shadows that woke me... I can't swear to it, but I thought I saw someone out of the corner of my eye inside the tombs yet had no opportunity to look before I was kicked out completely. The shadows seemed to be contradicting themselves before too. When they first snatched us back, they claimed it was a safety measure and that they had to be cautious. Shayde's never accepted the precautionary measures of others so he naturally got into a giant bxtchfest with the shadows about it. While he ripped into the dark inside the tombs, a voice separate from the others said to remain calm and he was trying to fix the problem. Before I could ask what he meant, Shayde was out like a light and they were asking if I was going to be just as difficult. There's a solitary voice that gives short, choppy and vague directions that contradicts what the voices that speak in unison say, but it doesn't seem to have a malicious intent whereas the other voices, while they don't seem malicious either, don't seem to make sense or simply tell us we're not ready to learn something. I've told people before that I don't handle detachments from the shadows much less confusion very well."

"She should be waking up shortly, yes. If she doesn't start showing signs of improvement within the next few hours, I may have to take her to the realm of the fey to recover," Kibum answered before chunking a small rock at his dad staring down at Runealis and Lianna sleeping. When he still didn't budge, he padded over to him and began dragging him away. "Leave them alone. As interesting as it is knowing you knew him once upon a time ago, they're trying to sleep."

"He's started twitching again so I was trying to see if he was having a bad dream or not. It's hard to tell with him snuggled so close to her like that. He could use the comfort though. It's hard finding those who understand when you're so different. The kitty is chasing the skeleton too," the older elf responded with a slight pout. When Kibum raised a brow at him, he only flashed that half-crazed grin of his before beginning to clean and sharpen the metallic claws that served as his weapons. Kibum just glanced at Fedelta who just shrugged back at him. Actually, now that he thought about it, Tybalt had disappeared entirely. Where had that insane cait sidhe gone?

Vanishing once Skylar had at least taken notice of the stairs he'd been directed towards, the boy appearing to be a witch doctor reappeared at the bottom of the stairs and motioned the fair haired male to follow yet again. "Hurry, Winged One. We haven't much time," a distant male voice urged before the boy began moving forwards again. Upon reaching a room with several stone tables holding various boys and girls that were obviously still somewhere in their mid-adolescent years to their late teens sleeping, he stood by one figure in particular; Shayde.

I promise you my heart just promise to sing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I thought,
I thought you need me,
This is what I thought so think me naïve,
I promise you a heart you'd promise to keep,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes river

Sing it

Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Go - Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Sing - Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Way down below, way down below
Way down below, way down below

I've had better days, man
I've seen better days

"a single voice among the shadows?" adra frowned, glancing to perem briefly before noting that the spirit hadn't even been paying attention.
Flickering slightly, Perem gave a sigh and kept his gaze on the papers, only to grab a pencil and start sketching out the basics of a male figure with white tattoos all over his skin. "adra, did he look like this?" he asked, handing him the image while trying to keep it out of Veda's view.
"uh..... maybe...?" the demon shrugged, flexing his injured shoulder briefly as he tried to recall things once again.

"so that's where the screwball went. he never tells me anything." the elf tsked, tossing a rock towards where Fedelta was at. "hey Fedelta, wanna wrestle or something?all this sitting is driving me crazy." he sighed, blowing his hair out of his face.

Letting out a small breath when he saw Shayde, the blonde glanced back up at the spirit he'd been following, raising an eyebrow. "what's going on....?"

I've had better ways, man
I know better ways

One, two, three and four
The devil's knocking at your door
Caught in the eye of a dead man's lie
Start your life with your head held high
Now you're on your knees
With your head hung low
Big man tells you where to go
Tell 'em it's good
Tell 'em okay
Don't do a goddamn thing they say

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.
I promise to depart just promise one thing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.

At Adramalech echoing the statement of it being a solitary voice from the shadows questioningly, Ephraim nodded in answer. When Perem didn't respond to that, the golden-amber haired male glanced up at him and furrowed his brow. Did he just...? "I can't see that from where I'm sitting," he muttered before standing up and peeking over the crow demon's shoulder. "Is that supposed to be Jayy Von Monroe from the Blood On the Dance Floor's Bewitched video or Andy Sixx from Black Veil Bride's Fallen Angel video? S-sorry... Adra's a bit taller than me so I'm getting a wonky view of it... Stop laughing, Veda."

"I have no idea who Jayy Von Monroe or Andy Sixx is, but the fact that you just compared them to Perem's art just seems funny," Veda snickered, his body actually following suit and giggling as if amused. His retort from Veda didn't make Ephraim feel any better causing him to cross his arms over his chest and his eyes to narrow slightly. He wasn't joking! Stupid demon baby...

"Of course that cat's insane. All cait sidhe are insane. Wrestle? I'd love to do so. Kibum, you get to babysit my weaponry~," Fedelta snorted before removing all of his weapons and setting his weapons in a pile on the ground. It was amazing all of the places he'd hidden them not to mention the amount of blades piled up by Kibum. Even Sheik, Watari, Tyvinda, Giosuè and Serai were staring at him like he was insane. Once free from the blades and all of their hidden holsters, Fedelta moved off to the side where the two would be free to wrestle.

"Don't get too enthralled in it, Fedelta. I don't want to have to sick the lycanthrope - I mean Lucian - after you for getting too excited over violence," Kibum warned after giving a heavy sigh. His words just made Fedelta raise an incredulous eyebrow at him only to briefly mutter in Elvish that he'd do his best. Nodding slightly at his words, the blonde elf opted to sit beside the elder blonde elf still working on sharpening the blades of his weapons. It made him question if he'd be acting like his father in his future, but perhaps there was missing factors in how he was living that made his dad seem so... Off. He had mentioned voices telling him things after all and he personally didn't notice them unless his canniballistic side kicked into effect which was relatively rare. Perhaps he could avoid this point altogether by remaining the medic he'd become. At feeling something settle against his legs, he twitched slightly only to smile faintly at his father curled up in his lap like a child. How long ago had his grandmother passed away? Was his father still young when it'd happened? His father didn't speak much of her or his grandfather very much other than vague details that didn't quite add up to anything in specific.

"We're fixing the problem. There's been a miscommunication somewhere in the line of transmission; a spirit being altered to create an ideal situation. Unfortunately for all of us, he can't get him out of here as easily as he did the other. Sorry for the scare. You can just call me Sam. Everyone else does. Either way, once he's done separating him from the shadows, he needs you to take me and him back to where he connected the dark and the neutral realms of existence in order to get him up and out. They weren't supposed to be back here yet. At least that's what he's told me and I trust him... He's helped me on more than one occasion during this time of year. I can't even tell you his name, but his English and Japanese are relatively choppy," a dark auburn haired male answered while sitting up on the stone tablet beside Shayde's place. Giving a slight wave with one hand, the other rubbed against the faint traces of a scar on the side of his neck. At the youth looking like a skeletal witch doctor removed his hand from his neck, the one called Sam blinked and stared down at a deep blue heart-shaped stone on his chest. "You sure? Alright. I can't promise he'll wake immediately, but he should be alright. Just let him and the other guy know their shadow abilities and connections are severely limited for now. He'll reconnect them again once it's safe to do so, but for now it's best they not draw attention to themselves from the realm of light. I also can't promise something dark won't follow your spirit back to your body so just be careful... I've had them follow me when I was younger and I opted to come here. It always made me curious as to what their story was for sleeping in here and now that I know, part of me wishes I hadn't found out. Anyhoo, so I'll carry your shadow friend back to the opening in what he said was your house seeing as you can't really do much besides wander and interact with other spirits, memory residue and so on in this form. Once I come back into this realm, the door should close. It sounds simple, but we don't know if the shadows will take notice their prince is missing or how long they'll be gone so we have to do this now. Okay?"

I promise you my heart just promise to sing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I thought,
I thought you need me,
This is what I thought so think me naïve,
I promise you a heart you'd promise to keep,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes river

so, I got a job... And now I just come home and crash most nights. I never knew being a cashier was so exhausting!

Sing it

Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Go - Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Sing - Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Way down below, way down below
Way down below, way down below

I've had better days, man
I've seen better days

"if your have been patient I would've shown it to ya. Impatient brat. " Perem chuckled, handing Ephraim the drawing and stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Not to get off topic, but who the hells are Jayy Von Monroe and Andy Sixx?" Adra asked, raising an eyebrow towards Ephraim and Perem.

"aw, that's the point of all this, Kibbi! To have a bit of harmless fun and also get some energy out. Besides, a few bruises among the others won't really matter." Aerith grinned, setting down his sword and pulling his hair out of his face with a piece of leather. "Watch my stuff too?" He asked, pulling off various rings and charms before setting them down next to his sword.
Walking over to fedelta, the elf gave a smile. "So, we want rules or do we just go until someone says give?"

Letting out a low sigh, Skylar gave a nod. "Alright, if this is the only option, then we'd better do it quickly. " he mumbled, chewing on his cheek as a bad feeling began to settle in his stomach.

I've had better ways, man
I know better ways

One, two, three and four
The devil's knocking at your door
Caught in the eye of a dead man's lie
Start your life with your head held high
Now you're on your knees
With your head hung low
Big man tells you where to go
Tell 'em it's good
Tell 'em okay
Don't do a goddamn thing they say

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

It's fine. Just respond when you can. I just had my wisdom teeth removed and have college so... Yeah. :3 Congrats on the job by the way.

This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.
I promise to depart just promise one thing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.

"Shut the fxck up, raghead. It's been a long time since I've been unable to just peek through shadows at things. It makes things a million times faster and now everything's just crawling by like a friggin' snail," Ephraim snarled, his eyes shooting daggers at Perem calling him impatient. Yes, he was impatient and he'd admit it, but he didn't need to be getting called names from some guy he hardly knew. Aladdin was gonna get a one-way trip back to Agrabah if Ephraim had anything to say about it. Removing a sketchpad out of his right stud earring, he flipped the pages through various sketches before stopping and handing it to Adramalech so he could see the pictures of the two human singers. "That's two ancient demons that don't know music in the modern era... Jayy Von Monroe is a lead-slash-side vocalist from a band called Blood On the Dance Floor that usually does songs that involve things like text-talk, example being I-D-G-A-F, or sexual innuendoes although in all technicalities, he's a human front for a bloodbound human bartender's rebellious teen years some time ago. Ratonaké:ton Evans was the original albeit everyone knows him as the All-Knowing Barkeep Sam. He's a human who's seen ghosts since he was a kid and inherited a bar where all species are welcome from his father. his mother was a medicine woman and spiritual healer known for speaking in tongues before she died when he was about four. The guy doesn't take crap off of anyone and is known highly amongst the Brotherhood as a go-to should some research turn up empty-handed. There's practically nothing he can't dig up dirt on. No idea why Runealis doesn't ask him for details on his childhood, but whatever. Runealis made it to him first after escaping the fey realm and promised sanctuary from the bartender's wife, Sara, so long as he kept her secret of being a second generation living vampire on the down-low. Sara protects Sam as bests he can, but there's been times she couldn't and he will disappear during certain times of the year. Actually, he should already be out of the bar by now seeing as it's about a week 'til his anniversary with Sara. Long story. Anyhoo, Jayy Von Monroe looks kinda like this in the video Bewitched only he's got like a hoodie on or something. Andy Sixx is the lead vocalist from Black Veil Brides who mostly do this alternative rock thing with some scream-o type stuff though it's not in every song. I've only heard a few of their songs, but they were decent compared to most music today. Again, another front person for someone in the shadows. It's easier asking the elf-vamp that fixed Krystina who these bands really are made up of. Like this kid, Kiss and Jayy Von Monroe, he normally has his face painted black and white only his is more like stitchings that're black in a white background and usually only goes off one side of his mouth. Here's a doodle of them I did when I was bored."

"You have a lot of talent in drawing, Ephraim. You ever think of selling some random sketches instead of serving the Brotherhood? Evil eye... Jesus, kid, even Jedah didn't get that pissy when I suggested he try playing the piano or violin," Veda murmured a bit more seriously only to gets sharp glare from Ephraim. Man, this guy had a temper over just about everything! He could see similarities between these musicians and the boy though. It didn't mean that was necessarily what he looked like, but it was a general idea.

"Shut up, Veda... It's Trevor's fault I even started doodling. He wanted me to draw how I was feeling or things I felt were important to me. It went from that to doodling out of boredom. And no, I don't intend to become an artist. It's a hobby to occupy the boring areas in my life... Not that I think I'll have many of those anymore..."

"Just the unspoken rules of no nut shots, eye gouging, etc. All else is permitted. We just go at it until the other passes out or taps out, whichever happens first," Fedelta answered before snickering, crouching down and stretching each leg out to the side while keeping up a slight rhythymic bounce. "He's just reminding me not to get too excited 'cause my dark elf half kind of overpowers my other half as is so if one of us accidentally draws blood by popping the other in the nose, I could turn either homocidal in the self-preservation way or homicidal in the 'I-want-to-paint-the-walls-red-with-your-blood" way. If I let it get to me... Well, Cyntus has had to drag me off of people before and I freaked a lot of others out by using my teeth to rip someone's throat out 'cause he thought he was being funny when he wasn't and I snapped. Part of me just enjoys the simplicity of using spoons with little spikes on it to remove eyes from their sockets and watching draegloths cave other people's chests in with an ax, pry open their ribcage with their barehands and start consuming that person's heart while they're watching~.... I have issues."

Kibum, ignoring that brief moment of a dreamlike gaze from Fedelta expressing his love for violence to such high degrees, just glanced at Aerith as if asking 'you sure you want to wrestle with him now that he just said that in awe?'. His father, however, started up a hysterical laughter in his lap. After choking on his tongue, the insane seeming elf had sat back up, his laughter becoming more nervous and his hand deliberately trying to tug Kibum back up onto his feet. "Dad? Dad, sit down. It's alright. No one's going to hurt you here. You can stop the nervous laughter now... Great... Good one, Fedelta. You've got him freaking out now. Try avoiding those kinds of topics around a schizo again, ya idget!"

"My bad. I wonder which exactly made him so nervous... Oh well. Let's get it on!" Lunging forwards, Fedelta's arm caught Aerith around the waist pushing him back a step or so before Fedelta ended up behind him with his other hand catching hold of his own arm and all of his weight being pulled back towards himself and the ground.

"Hm? Okay... Uh... He did say he'll explain it to you further later if you want, but not now when you first got here," Sam responded, a little surprised Skylar was just going along with what they were saying. The witch doctor looking male pulled up a little black figure off the tomb Shayde was laying on only to let it vanish inside the dark blue heart necklace around the human's neck before stepping away slightly. Sam, however, just picked Shayde up like he weighed nothing and motioned Skylar back towards where he'd come in through.

"Take him way I brought you here and be careful of men with fire on faces... Your soul protected now, but once outside tombs, it won't be and your body still in danger. The redhead girl couldn't come. Would've killed her if tried. Xian Wu will guard you back, but return to your body once you pass realm gate in front door of where they gather. Explain further later. Just go," that distant young male voice urged quickly while the skeletal witch doctor male began a small fire at the end of Shayde's original sleeping spot. With the fire came the faint shapes of what looked like voodoo dolls and bowls of various shades of colored paints. As Sam had said, his sentences were rather choppy as if he hadn't learned how to speak properly, but what made it even more strange was how he'd never opened his mouth to speak. He'd mostly just given hand gestures and the rest of the time he seemed preoccupied doing something else.

"So... Did he tell you where his gate between this world and ours connects? I know he can't come quite yet personally and we don't have a lot of time is why I ask," Sam asked from the stairs, Shayde still sleeping though he actually twitched now. That was a good sign. "And um... If he mentioned Xian Wu, it's that dog critter that turns into a statue in front of the door into the tombs. He's pretty vague when he's rushing things."

I promise you my heart just promise to sing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I thought,
I thought you need me,
This is what I thought so think me naïve,
I promise you a heart you'd promise to keep,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes river

Sing it

Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Go - Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Sing - Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Way down below, way down below
Way down below, way down below

I've had better days, man
I've seen better days

grinning more, the spirit gave a nod and put his hands up as a sign of surrender, returning to his translucent state. "alright, sorry.l, my bad. I understand the panic of being disconnected." he drawled, his form once again flickering into that older, burned figure as he stared back the way he came.
"sorry if my musical sense doesn't go further then artists such as Mozart, I haven't been in a body of my own for a long time." Adra chuckled, listening to his explanation before he let out a sigh, his usually fiery eyes flickering black. "Ephraim, perhaps you should drink some tea and calm down."
Glancing back at Perem, the demon gave a frown. "What is it?"
"the songbird's gone dark..."

"a spoon? Lianna always just used her fingers. Said it was more fun." Aerith mumbled, a calm look on his face as he was pushed, moving backwards onto one knee before he pushed off, rushing back at Fedelta. Grabbing the arm holding him up, the elf pulled it out from under him, pushing him behind him and grabbing the other's leg so as to keep him from repositioning himself.

Moving slowly, Krystina gave a soft whine as her eyes opened, readjusting to the light before she looked up at Maso. "H-hey..... "

"He didn't really have to, I know where it is. Only problem is, I can feel some other spirit trying to get through the protection charms on my body. Someone's trying to possess me while I'm here." Skylar mumbled, his hands in his pockets as he turned back the way he came. "So, you can't take him any further then the gate?"

I've had better ways, man
I know better ways

One, two, three and four
The devil's knocking at your door
Caught in the eye of a dead man's lie
Start your life with your head held high
Now you're on your knees
With your head hung low
Big man tells you where to go
Tell 'em it's good
Tell 'em okay
Don't do a goddamn thing they say

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.
I promise to depart just promise one thing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.

"It's fine. Sorry for calling you a raghead... I'm a little irritable not having that safety blanket the shadows provide so doing things like calling me an impatient brat is going to get hostility from me," the coppery haired male responded after readjusting the bobby pins holding his hair out of his face and taking a deep breath. He just needed to try remaining calm. Calm was his friend right now. Ephraim just needed to relax. "It's fine, Adra. I don't really listen to many of their songs 'cause they're no Mozart or Beethoven. I'll let you hear some of the music you've missed since you were sealed inside other people. I know a halfbred demon prince who deliberately has various devices deliberately separated by musical artists and he copies it down onto iPods for me and just gives it to me. My first iPod nano came from Trevor and it had everything ranging from classical to straight up death metal. Music just seemed weird to me at first, but I've gotten used to it since I was ten and it's become comforting and soothing now. I've expanded since then and upon investigating Koail, his details being very vague altogether, I found out that all musicians whose names are popular and the music is actually pretty good are actually fronts for people in the background. The only constant that comes with these various bands all over the world are Koail... Except for Sam's music. That's him and his junior high friends being rebellious until his father died when he was seventeen."

"Sounds like we're going to get introduced to music that's in the human world as of today. I've only heard Pandora's magical music before so this sounds like fun. I think her music was what you call Mozart's and Tchaikovsky's concertos or symphonies 'cause it sounded familiar when Hagen would play it in our room at night. It just doesn't do what Pandora was able to make people do by playing it on the piano," Veda murmured softly, his body yawning before continuing to chew on the little green plastic key. "I'm actually kinda hungry... Hm? The winged guy? Idiot probably went into the spirit world. What part of "I draw in bad things" did he not understand? It doesn't even have to be ill will directed towards me, but it will find me. That's why no one liked being around me! Well, one of the reasons at least."

"Songbird? You people and your motherflipping nicknames... Sky's gone dark, spirit world and bad things find you as in something evil's trying to possess him? I'm not intuned to the spirit world so you're going to have to clarify that for me."

"The drow have rituals that require special spoons designed to avoid damaging the eyeball. Fingers tend to damage it so if you had an eye gouged out and want to replace it with someone else's eye," Fedelta partly sighed while managing to slip his leg out from under Aerith and sliding it around his head so his foot could hook under the other's arm. Doing a barrel roll, both males were on the ground with Fedelta's hand pinning Aerith's to his chest, or at least as close as it would get, and his other foot set just so against the other's side and back so he he could push and start a slow process of dislocating his shoulder in a far more painful mannerism. "There'd need to be a ritual to make the eye yours. If you didn't, the eye wouldn't set into place and you'd just be donning the eye of another person. Through the ritual, you'd actually have all of the special connections between the eye's optic nerves and the cerebral cortex set into play. If you damage it, you'd be damaging your new eye and you want to be able to see of course. Mostly only wizards do this though. Gromph Baenre would be one of these magical gentlemen and he's a deceptive, condescending p***k. Get up, get up. It isn't even a complete armbar considering my feet are under you instead of over your chest like it's supposed to be."

"You two are insane and that sounds nasty, Fedelta," Kibum muttered which only made his brother start chuckling and sit up. Sliding his feet out from under Aerith, he rolled backwards to where he was back on his feet before flipping forwards with his knees prepped to make full impact with Aerith's chest.

"Hey there, little lady. How you feeling? The pain go away?" Watari smiled down at Krystina, his fingers gently brushing her hair out of her face. He could hear faint movement, but there wasn't exactly a presence with it sort of like the wind itself.

Nuzzling Lianna's shoulder ever so slightly, Runealis' grip tightened around her a bit while twitching. There was no real dream he was having, no memory being recalled, just a restful sleep. Unfortunately, it came to an end all too soon. Opening his eyes, he stared blankly at the faerie in front of him before smiling faintly at her still sleeping in his arms. That was probably the best sleep he'd had in a long time. He'd been right about her being good luck. Gently kissing her on the cheek, he snuggled closer.

"No, I could take him further easy. I'm still in my corporeal form after all and finding this place isn't hard for me. Hello again, Xian Wu. We're going back to the gateway," Sam answered, nodding slightly at the dog creature watching as they stepped back out into the open of the forest. The dog creature just sighed lightly before padding ahead of the trio rather quickly. Glancing back at Skylar, he seemed almost uncertain about what to talk about next. In all honesty, he was nervous about what Skylar had said about the spirits trying to invade his body. "Sorry again for putting you in danger of having your body possessed by dark spirits. If you want, I can stay until you've reattached to your body. I've seen spirits since I can remember so I'm kind of like a beacon of light in their dark little world... I'm no exorcist or anything, but spirits can't exactly possess me without my say so and I can get them kicked out of anything they possess. I just gotta get close enough to do so."

I promise you my heart just promise to sing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I thought,
I thought you need me,
This is what I thought so think me naïve,
I promise you a heart you'd promise to keep,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes river

Sing it

Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Go - Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Sing - Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Way down below, way down below
Way down below, way down below

I've had better days, man
I've seen better days

"dark as in his body is nothing more then a shell. A puppet for whatever spirit first breaks through his protective charms." perem drawled! turning back to look at Ephraim.
"And that means whatever spirit who possesses his body will have access to a vast amount of magical energy. His wings store almost as much energy as my tattoos do." Adra grunted, readjusting Veda as he pulled over hagen's bag.
"Where's the food at?" He mumbled, staring blankly at the bottles full of questionable white liquid. The hell was Hagen doing carrying what could only be poison in his son's bags?

Rolling out of the way, aerith spun on his heel and gave fedelta a kick in the gluteus. "I just meant if you wanted to enjoy the blood. Wasn't talking about rituals." he drawled, opting for a straight forward approach as he swung a fist.

"I feel... Tired," she mumbled, smiling up at him as she pushed herself into a sitting position.

"Let's see if I'm right first, if I'm not then you can return to the shadows. But if I am, I'd appreciate the company...." Sky drawled, starting back to the house.

I've had better ways, man
I know better ways

One, two, three and four
The devil's knocking at your door
Caught in the eye of a dead man's lie
Start your life with your head held high
Now you're on your knees
With your head hung low
Big man tells you where to go
Tell 'em it's good
Tell 'em okay
Don't do a goddamn thing they say

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.
I promise to depart just promise one thing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.

Nodding slightly in some understanding, Ephraim lightly scratched his jaw. "Can you tell how long he's been out of his body? I think someone once told me that the longer your out of body experiences, the more vulnerable your body becomes to dark entities... Or Trevor was watching some Dead Files. I can't remember which specifically, but I mean... We're not ghost hunters and what people are exorcists, well, at least one of you fought amongst them and can tell they'd probably need more rest before dealing with dark spirits," he finally asked while stacking his pictures back up and sliding them into his sketchpad.

"Probably more than twenty minutes. He seemed upset the other shadow guy isn't back," Veda answered to the coppery haired male. Glancing up at the bottles in the bag, he could only start laughing at Adramalech's question of where the food was. If only... Good baby arm for reaching for the bottle. "That would be my nourishment right there, Adra. I'm still a baby, Adra, so food can't be solid until I start getting my teeth back. For now, the milk in those bottles and the little jars in the next opening are what I'm stuck with. You've never dealt with infants before, have you?"

"Obviously not. I think we should ask Serai or Trevor to do the baby stuff. Hagen said you had to protect him, but he didn't say you had to feed him. Just stand by while those who've experienced parenthood do those things. Is that milk?"

"Yes, Ephraim. That is milk. You two are just like Hagen in the marketplace. It was horrible sitting in that basket with all those women flocking around him, asking if he was single father and calling him a poor baby. He was just as uncomfortable too, but he graciously accepted their suggestions and advice. He actually made the fruit and vegetable paste in those little jars himself and it's actually pretty good. Hagen used to mix up what I ate for the day with it. I miss him already..."

"Well then yeah, fingers are better. The socket bleeds more if you rupture it's optic nerve instead of just severing it all nice-like with ritual spoons. Oh the amount of blood head injuries give~," Fedelta hummed as he knees made contact with the ground without so much as a flinch. Upon getting kicked in the gluteus, however, something dark flickered in his eyes and he simply planted his feet more firmly in the ground at Aerith's frontal approach. Once it made contact, he slid back a pace or two without so much as an attempt at blocking it. Tilting his head slightly to the side almost as if asking if that was supposed to hurt, his Cheshire Cat grin slid into place followed by a hiss-like chuckle. "Not funny, little prankster. Not funny at all."

"Fedelta, play nice," Kibum warned making the smile vanish entirely before he swung his fist at Aerith again. There was no elaborate move, just a frontal swing directed at the male's head.

"I can tell that much. You're not radiating pain to me though so I was wondering if it's faded out. I've managed to save you some tea and a sandwich too if you feel up to it. I don't want you pushing yourself too hard though. I'm here for you if you need anything," Watari chuckled lightly while gently keeping his hand on her back and arm as she sat up.

"Sure thing. It would be kind of our fault you were put into this position after all. I mean, you exited your body by your own means and for your own reasons, but we did end up dragging you much further than you probably intended to go. Just um... Sorry if any changelings opt to bug you and your friends about me... They kind of don't like me," Sam nodded, his voice remaining rather low. He really didn't want to deal with spirits bugging him about something that hadn't been said to a loved one or whatever. Unfortunately, just as this thought occurred, what looked like some kind of feline-ish creature that once existed in the shadows opted to try approaching him. "I can't help you right now. Sorry. Don't even think about body-jumping this kid either, buddy. Keep moving please. There's just going to be more spirits that approach us becauseI'm a living person who can see them and I'd just like to get past them as quick as possible. That room is the only place void of spirits altogether and for some reason, they won't enter it. It's weird, but at least I don't have to listen to a million voices trying to get my attention."

I promise you my heart just promise to sing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I thought,
I thought you need me,
This is what I thought so think me naïve,
I promise you a heart you'd promise to keep,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes river

so i found a song to sum up Trevor's nightmare of Truth and Deception leaving... >x> damn song makes me cry

Sing it

Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Go - Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Sing - Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Way down below, way down below
Way down below, way down below

I've had better days, man
I've seen better days

"Leave it to you two to not know how to care for a child," Perem snorted, a soft thud sounding as his feet hit the ground, an arm extended to Adra. "let me see him, i'll do it," he drawled, ignoring the cold look the crow was giving him.

"oh hush. you know it's a bit funny," Aerith smirked, taking the hit as he swung a punch to Fedelta's stomach.

"mm.. still achy but it doesn't hurt as much as before..... but i feel like if i eat right now, i'd probably puke," she mumbled, looking around for a moment before settling on her brother. "....what's up with Sky?"

"you're carrying the reason i left my body so its no problem there," the blonde hummed, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he briefly glanced at the person from the shadows. "as for spirits talking to you, i would understand that. i've got a similar ability, although i had mine sealed away with the tattoo on my face" he hummed, tapping said tattoo for a moment before frowning and turning back towards where his body was.
"that can't be good..."

I've had better ways, man
I know better ways

One, two, three and four
The devil's knocking at your door
Caught in the eye of a dead man's lie
Start your life with your head held high
Now you're on your knees
With your head hung low
Big man tells you where to go
Tell 'em it's good
Tell 'em okay
Don't do a goddamn thing they say

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

It definitely sums up his nightmare. cry

This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.
I promise to depart just promise one thing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I brought you this you can keep,
This is what I brought you may forget me.

"Can we kill the raghead? I want to kill him right now," Ephraim growled, his eye twitching at how Perem just seemed to like rubbing salt into open wounds. Metaphorically speaking that is.

"Not unless you want me turning the Alpha Stigma or Lino Doue on you. I've had enough of death of those in my inner circle in this infant form. Try letting me get some control over my body again," Veda retorted sharply while he got passed over to the sand spirit. Smiling lightly at Perem, the demon reached for the bottle again with his tiny hands while completely ignoring how the stigmas in his eyes lit up to analyze the bottle of milk. "And would you stop calling him a raghead, Ephraim? He's not that bad of a person. I swear, anger is such a common emotion around here."

"Nope. It lost it's humor quite some time ago. Blame Cyntenius for that one 'cause it's his fault I don't find that hilarious anymore," Fedelta responded in a smooth purr while dropping low to the ground and using his legs to bring Aerith back to the ground with him. Upon seeing something flicker in his peripheral vision, however, he glanced towards the tree. "Did you... See that?"

"Achey is better than what you were radiating earlier so you must not have to go through what Koail goes through with all of his changes. That's good news. We can wait to feed ya if you're not feeling up to it also. Like I said, there's no pressure on you to do anything you're not feeling up to doing quite yet," Watari smiled lightly while giving an understanding nod. At her question, his expression became serious as his gaze shifted towards Skylar's body. "I don't-"

"He didn't seem to be too happy about Ephie's return from the shadows 'cause Shadowheart didn't come back with him. Something's felt off, but I can't quite put my finger on it... Hm? Sam? What's he...?" Sheik answered before raising his brow at something unseen by the human eye. At the mention of Sam, Runealis sat up slightly to glance around.

"Sam? As in the bartender?" he asked curiously which only made Sheik nod. "I wonder what he's doing way out here and why he's unable to be seen with the human eye..."

"He must mean the world to you... And you're lucky to get it sealed off. Mine was sealed off until my mother died and then I became the weird kid who saw ghosts," Sam smiled lightly to himself, inwardly happy knowing that Skylar understood the whole interaction between ghosts and the living who could see them. Glancing at Skylar's body when the winged male had turned towards it, his brow furrowed. That definitely didn't look good. "No, that can't be good at all. Let's get him back out of the shadows and I'll see what I can do about the dark entities. Just don't be surprised if Rune and Sheik ask what I'm doing here." And with that, the bloodbound human padded rather quickly up to the front door of the house just to resolidify with Shayde still in his arms.

"How in the hell, Sam? Why are you even here?" Sheik asked while Lucian, Runealis, Watari and Tyvinda shifted their gaze directly towards the human.

"You sound unhappy that I'm here, Sheik. That hurts considering how many times I've had to save you from your sister," Sam teased with a faint smirk. Setting Shayde up against the wall of the house, he gave a soft sigh before glancing back between Skylar and his body. "I'm helping someone fix something. He'll explain it when he gets here later. For now, however, I'm keeping my promise of staying with Mr. Skylar until he reattaches to his body... Which may be more difficult than I originally thought... He said bad things follow the Weaver and Solver of All Formulas, but this is insane... I'm gonna need a drink for this." Stepping back down off the stairs, he padded over to Sheik and tapped his earring only to crouch down beside all of the various types of alcohol and starting to mix it inside an extra container.

"Really? You're mixing drinks right this second?"

"Shut it. I don't question your half-assed methods so don't question my methods of dealing with the spirit realm. Looks like Shayde's awake, Sky. How much do ya want me to tell your... Sister? Yeah. She's your sister. You want me to tell her what all is going on around your body or can she see all that?"

I promise you my heart just promise to sing,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.
This is what I thought,
I thought you need me,
This is what I thought so think me naïve,
I promise you a heart you'd promise to keep,
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes river

yeah.... :-/

Sing it

Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Go - Oh, Lord, heaven knows
We belong way down below
Sing - Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Oh, Lord, tell us so
We belong way down below
Way down below, way down below
Way down below, way down below

I've had better days, man
I've seen better days

keeping a steady hand on the infant, Perem glanced up to Ephraim and sighed. "it won't do you much good to try and kill me, I've been a spirit for quite some time now." he drawled, tapping his fingers on his knee to pass the time.
"Forgive the anger, Veda. You forget that you're in the company of three so called dark entities." Adra drawled, looking towards the door. "Smells like the other kid is back, Ephraim."

"yeah.... I saw it..." he nodded, sitting upright and looking at the tree as well.

"go ahead and tell me, I can't see what he does, but I can sense a lot of negative spirits over by his body....." Krystina mumbled, watching Sam carefully.

Drifting over to where shayde was resting, sky gave a smile and carefully brushed his hair out of his face. "if you need help from someone Sam, let me of my sister know and we'll do what we can. Thank you again for bringing him back." he sighed, turning to face the human with a smile.

I've had better ways, man
I know better ways

One, two, three and four
The devil's knocking at your door
Caught in the eye of a dead man's lie
Start your life with your head held high
Now you're on your knees
With your head hung low
Big man tells you where to go
Tell 'em it's good
Tell 'em okay
Don't do a goddamn thing they say