Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Rather nice, isn't it?" Jeni cut her eyes to the left at the baddie that walked up beside her. Black slacks, white shirt, crimson red vest. He looked like a blackjack dealer, and she snorted in amusement at the thought.

The baddie's smile disappeared as he turned towards her. "You got a problem? Maybe you nee-" His voice trailed off as Jeni turned around, his face paling at the sight of her mouthless face. "Oh s**t... Uh, I'll uh, leave you be."

The lower half of her face stretched into a ghoulish caricature of a grin as she turned back to the painting before her. Even in Hemlock, few were willing to tangle with Jeni. The few who got past her lack of a mouth soon learned the error of their ways through the extra set of arms she kept hidden under her jacket, giving the illusion of being overweight. It bothered her at first, until she realized just how useful it was for tricking her enemies.

Taking a deep breath, she fingered the small crystal in her pocket as she admired the portrait of suffering before her.

Jeni did a double-take at the male who approached her, reaching up and tilting her glasses down enough to look over them, one eyebrow arched in surprise and more than a little suspicion. She tensed as he took her paw, bracing herself to flatten his nose if he tried to attack. The mouthless baddie then blinked in surprise as he kissed the back of her hand, causing her to relax a fraction.

She rubbed her hand absently where he had kissed it, then nodded at his words. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a dark purple crystal inscribed with runes that spiraled from one end to the other. Tapping her finger against it, the runes began to glow softly as it hovered over her hand. Jeni looked up, giving him that freakish, mouthless grin as a soft, echoing voice began to emanate from the crystal.

"Such crudeness is common in Hemlock. I prefer Mevarron, unfortunately, I'm rather... unwelcome there, at the moment." She held out one hand, even as the ones under her jacket gripped twin blades. "Jeni. Jeni Jes'sir. Or Arachni, if you prefer a nickname. And you are?" Though her words are blunt, there is respect behind them, and under that, hints of genuine curiosity at this strange man who doesn't seem mind her... physical trait.

Jeni's face twisted in that gruesome mockery of a smile, her fingers tapping the air just above the crystal. The movement translated to a slightly-off 'chuckle' emanating from the crystal. "You flatter me too much, kind sir. My magic is no great wonder, I can power my voice crystal, and take my enemies by surprise, but I am certainly no majarae or wazzit."

Though she 'smiled', it didn't quite reach the cold, cunning calculation in her eyes. As he pulled her closer, the faintest hint of movement under the bulky jacket could be seen as her second arms pulled her daggers from their sheathes and held them close to her body. True, this man was gentle so far in his manner and movements, but she knew better than to trust that. Trust was for the foolish. She danced her fingers over the crystal. "If you care for such, there is an excellent bistro down the street. Strong coffee, excellent foods, and servers with a pleasing lack of... curiosity."

Jeni sensed the sudden change in his demeanor and reacted on instinct, whipping around to face the threat even as her hands came out from under the jacket, the cruel, jagged edges of the blades gleaming in the dim museum light. She started to take a step towards him, perfectly content to gut the kat right there and leave him twitching on the floor when Miyavi's arm circled around her shoulders. The move sent an unexpected shiver of pleasure through the small kat, and the daggers slowly disappeared as she pulled her arms back under the jacket.

"Your home?" She had a suspicion he had ulterior motives, but she'd play along. Wouldn't be the first time she mutilated someone in their own home. "I look forward to seeing your collection. Do you perhaps have any of Folca's Statues of Suffering?"

Jeni shivered at his words, surprised to find herself reacting so strongly to his presence. She could feel that familiar darkness stirring within, something she hadn't felt in years, having reined it in to keep from losing herself to the cruel sadism that lurked within. She attempted to distract him with talk of various artists as they walked, even as she kept a mental map of their route. Should she have to kill him, perhaps she would have time to go back and finish the exhibit.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the massive, brooding manor, the crystal sputtering and dimming as her concentration faltered for a moment. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen so grand a house, though that's not what held her attention. Jeni sucked in air desperately, the sheer power of the energy emanating from the house felt like it was pulling the air from her lungs and replacing it with something foul, something evil.

Part of her screamed to run, to gut the man and put as much distance between her and the house as possible. Perhaps even move across the island if needed. She shifted her stance, ready to move, when the darkness within her suddenly flared to life, a phoenix of dried blood and ripped flesh that flooded her vision for several seconds.

Jeni shook her head violently, the vision seeming to mock her before evaporating. Looking up, she saw Miyavi watching her, that playful taunt in eyes that seemed to have an ageless wisdom. Jeni 'smiled as she ran her fingers over the crystal slowly.

"Yes... I think I will enjoy it, Mr. Miyavi. Please, lead the way."

She could feel it as they stepped into the room, a cold brutality that seeped into her bones, fueling the black, bitter sadism in her heart. That voice urging her to run echoed through her head, but it was feeble, dying it's own strangled death as that bloody, hate-fueled phoenix screeched it's murderous symphony in her head. Jeni 'Arachni' Jes'sir wasn't sure what was going to happen tonight, but she knew one way or another, she was going to walk out changed, or dead. Either way sent a thrill of excitement tingling up her spine.

Jeni heard the faint click of the lock behind her, and 'smiled'. So now it begins... whatever it is. She watched as he moved with the darkness with an ease and grace that seemed unnatural, yet was as natural as breathing to the dark man before her. Time to start this danse.

She held the crystal out from herself, reaching up and slowly unzipping the jacket. Shifting the voice crystal from hand to hand, she let the jacket drop to the floor, revealing her second set of arms as they stretched outwards, each holding cruel looking daggers in an underhand grip. Her body was lean, and well muscled, and even in the dim light, the scars that marked her body were easy to see. Bandages wound tightly around her chest and hips, stained with small spatters of blood.

With a muffled 'chuckle' she shrugged, muscles move with liquid grace under a trio of scars that marred her shoulder. Jeni began to walk around the perimeter of the room, clearly admiring the paintings as she flicked the daggers from lower hands to upper hands and back with a grace that spoke of definite skill with blades.

"Family? My family is weak. Vicious, mean, too weak to fully act upon it. As you can see, I am twice 'blessed' by the demigods, perhaps to be a cruel mockery for all other kats to fear." She 'grinned'. "I give them plenty of reasons to fear the night, the day, the boogey man under the bed, hiding in the closet. Those I deem unworthy die, gutted like sheep for the slaughter, never knowing the pleasures of my gifts."

She tapped the tear-like stains under her eye. "Imagine their cries of joy, as I play their nerves like a violin string, their looks of longing as I flay the skin from their bodies." Jeni shivered, her eyes taking on a strange gleam. "Such beauty in their agony, such a shame they can't see it..."

The freakish kat almost seemed lost in reverie, then snapped out of it as she shook her head. Looking up to Miyavi, she pointed one of the hook-tipped daggers at him with a 'smile'. "And what are you, I wonder. Predator? Prey? No, you're no weakling sniveling for his life. This place reeks. Power. Darkness. Cruelty. Sadism. It howls and claws at my soul. And it's centered around you. So I wonder, perhaps this is my time to die, singing the same song I lavish upon others." She lowered the blade slowly, that ghoulish smile returning. "Or perhaps you have something even crueler in mind for one so broken..."

((...Okay, definitely was not expecting that from her. She surprised the hell outta me with that.))

Jeni had been expecting many things. Miyavi disappearing wasn't one of them. Instinct had her falling back into a combat stance she'd tailored for her extra set of limbs as her eyes darted from shadow to shadow. As fast as her instincts and senses were, his were better. The hair on the back of her neck barely had time to raise before she felt that power paw grab her. She tried to do a forward roll, only to be surprised when he didn't budge. Before she could regroup, she felt her arms being pinned, the daggers dropping from her lower paws.

If she had a mouth, she would have snarled, instead a low growl emanated from her throat as she tried to nail him in the face with a backwards head butt. Knife-like fangs nipped her ear, and she froze, her breath loud in the still air.

There was something, under the darkness howling in rage and lust. It felt... old, unused, an emotion she couldn't name. Miyavi's words poured into her ear, poisonous silk that seeped into her pores. Creature of the night... eternity...

That unused emotion exploded into screaming life. For the first time in her life, as her body began to burn, and a familiar copper taste flooded the back of her tongue, Jeni Jes'sir knew terror as the world began to dim around her.