Northwest Tower (Ash's Rooms)

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black Alt

Wolfe Garm

Dancer moved into the tower then sighed at the stairs but moved up them anyway with Amir hot on his heels. He moved to look over the situation then shook his head as he pushed through what needed to be done.

He walked over and collected the rings from the frame, "Sebastet, Amir, I need you two to team up and melt these when I tell you to. It'll take both of you," he said simply then moved to open the shutters over the bed so that Amir would have the benefit of the sunlight to use. As they both got into position, he held the rings in his palm over Ash's chest then tapped into his own healing ability.

He hid the pain it caused him as he gave them both a nod and watched as the rings were blasted with enough heat to melt them. Ash gave a groan and shook, then arched on the bed as Dancer forced his heart back into him.

But he wasn't finished yet.

He smoothed the rough places Arqden had caused when she used a piece of her soul to help him. Then he moved to the elf and did the same with her, easily smoothing the rough places where she'd separated that piece of her soul.

He finally stepped back, barely noticing it when Amir caught him.

Sebastet looked at the two on the bed, noting that Ash was sleeping a bit fitfully, "Dancer... You should know that Lareth was killed... I'm not sure on the details yet, but I'll let you know when I find out. For now... Amir, take him on out. The sunlight will help you both," she said simply, "Dancer, you can check on them after they've had some sleep," she added.  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Red Gypsy

Wolfe Garm

Amir
Amir watched Dancer sigh at the stairs and followed him up to the room Ash and Arqden were in. He frowned as he took in the state of Ash and Arqden, not sure of the details but able to feel the remnants of the magic that had put them in their current state. He looked over to Dancer, watching him as he collected the rings from the frame. He examined them for a moment, looking a bit confused until he realized what the rings actually were.

He stepped into the sunlight as the shutters were opened, taking a deep breath as he summoned up his power. He waited for the signal from Dancer and poured all of the heat he could generate into the rings, watching them melt as Sebastet did the same. He watched Ash groan and shake as as Dancer forced his heart back into him.

He watched Dancer work on smoothing out the rough places in their souls and stepped over to give him a bit of support. He caught Dancer as the other male stepped back and fell into his arms. He looked up to Sebastet when he heard her speak, looking a bit stunned as she explained that Lareth had been killed. He didn't know Lareth at all, but he knew who he was. The fact that he had been killed was pretty shocking. He gave a quick nod when Sebastet said to take Dancer out of the room because the sunlight would help them both.

Amir helped Dancer back down the stairs and stopped near the door. "Is there anywhere in particular that you want to go?" he asked, trying to think of a good place to spend time at. "I believe that I promised you a fun time before."

 

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Dameon Black Alt

Khajhan was silent and stayed out of the way during the whole ordeal, and merely observed what was going on, but was very aware of the seriousness of the situation. It was only after everything was done that Khajhan stepped forward stopping behind Sebastet to give her support since this was likely very hard to handle seeing both of them out cold, that was until Arqden gasped awake startled by the fact that she was laying next to ash or for that matter that she couldn’t remember anything after she had cast a dispel spell on the rings and then nothing. Looking at Sebastet and Khajhan she couldn’t help but groan when everything she had did hit her hard “that’s the last time I play around with soul magic” she frowned as her body rebelled when she tried to move, khajhan was the first to stop her from moving “rest, you aren’t doing anyone any favors by making things worse for yourself” Arqden looked at him and sighed before looking at Sebastet for a moment and then turning her head around quickly to look at Ash “is he?” Khajhan nodded “like you he just needs rest” Arqden looked somewhat concerned but settled down a bit.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Dameon Black Alt

Dancer was grateful for Amir's support and smiled as he opened the door, "I still have to go see Lydia. If I don't, she'll come hunting me down. Better to get that over with now," he said to him then led the way out into the garden. From there, they'd head over to Sebastet's Tower and the office there.


Sebastet gave a nod as she looked over Ash, "He's right, Arqden. Ash will be alright, as will you, after some rest. Don't be surprised if he does a little cuddling. He won't do anything else unless he's awake. In fact, the longer you can keep him in bed, the better. I had no idea he'd gone that far after Rebecca died, and even more shocked that Lareth allowed it. But if it kept him alive, Lareth would have done it," she explained as she moved around the bed to stand with Khajhan and looked down at the elf with a frown.

"Next time, knock the patient out and summon other help. That kind of thing is what Dancer specializes in. Thankfully he's back home. Lydia will see him settled back in and help with his patient load. I don't want him overdoing it like he usually does. She'll see to it. She'll be able to see through him easy and he won't be able to bluff her. After this, I hope you're ready to be the resident Healer. For healing, you know what you're doing. For the other stuff, leave it to Dancer," she motioned towards the stairs, "Khajhan and I are heading out. I'll tell one of the servants to check on you two in a few hours and bring up something to eat. So rest!" she added then led Khajhan downstairs and out the door to head through the garden.

She needed a little rest....


Beside Arqden, Ash gave a small pained sound and frowned as he shifted in the bed, one hand moving up to rest on his chest over his heart. Obviously, it did pain him to have it back in his chest for the first time in years. He was also trying to wake even though he should have continued to sleep for hours more.  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Arqden sighed as she nodded understanding fully what she did was perhaps not the wisest thing she had ever done but there was little time in which to act. Eventually she spoke up as she looked at Ash placing a hand on his chest to make sure he was alright “I understand, I’ll do whatever I can to help as the resident healer” she wasn’t really left with much choice this was her permanent assignment it seemed, and with Lareth dead there was no way of knowing what the intended reason was, so simply put she would have to accept that for the time being she this was her new home.

Arqden held her hand on his chest and while she was drained it wasn’t very taxing to help someone rest easier and simply channeled a light resting spell, Khajhan noting it cleared his throat “you are much to weak to be doing that at the moment, you need plenty of time to rest” Arqden nodded and replied as she looked at them “I know but this is easy, even for me, at least this way it’ll be easier for me to rest knowing he’s not going to wake up anytime soon, he needs far more rest than I do, but rest assured I will be taking it slow until I’ve fully recovered” Khajhan nodded and left to catch up with Sebastet.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Ash did quiet and sleep, but it was not a restful sleep. He still managed to keep from disturbing Arqden somehow, but that was almost as disturbing as what he'd done to himself...

When he did finally wake up, he sat up with a harsh intake of breath that he quieted as soon as he realized that he wasn't alone. He frowned to see Arqden in his bed without her armor, but when he noticed that they were both still wearing clothing he left it alone. He did congratulate himself on having a female in his bed without doing anything, but it hurt his pride at the same time. Then he realized that he didn't really have much of his pride left at this point and let that go.

He put his hand to his chest with a frown as he felt something strange then turned that frown to his dresser. When he saw the rings gone from their frame, he gave a pain filled wince. They'd somehow put his Heart back... He wasn't sure how, but they'd done it...

Lareth had promised him...

He shook his head as he turned to look at Arqden again and somehow knew that she wasn't going to let him run off too far. He would have to go back to the Demon Realm to renew his oaths, but it could wait for a day or two.

He gently eased himself from the bed so that he wouldn't disturb her then headed downstairs on legs that were only slightly unsteady. Once there, he noted the table set up with a meal keeping warm on the sideboard. He bypassed that for the moment and headed for his desk.

Once there, he penned a note for Zosne:

"Hit my head when it hit me. Sebastet won't let me travel for at least two days. I'll try to slip the leash sooner if I can. But you know how sneaky the cat is. I'll do my best to get there. Will have to renew my oaths to stay healthy, after all. Tell Cynthia that I'm at her disposal if she needs me.

Ash"

He folded it, sealed it, then sent it directly to Zosne with a touch of fire.

That did make his head sting a bit but he ignored it and moved for the sideboard to see what the servants had brought them to eat. And that was how Arqden found him: putting two plates together.

"Ah, there's my temporary guest... Come on and have a seat," he commented in his usual manner of slightly teasing as he moved to set the plates on the table and sat down, deliberately hiding his real state at the moment.

As he laid his napkin across his lap, he offered her a teasing smile, "I'll have to go to the Demon Realm soon. If I don't renew my oaths... Well, let's just say that I'd like to stay mostly healthy..." he told her while leaving out major details...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Arqden having only been partially asleep didn’t take much to wake up fully when he left the room and just sat up a bit to stretch before she finally got up out of bed and downstairs. Once downstairs Arqden smiled lightly as Ash spoke about renewing his oaths and just sat down at the indicated chair before she spoke up “I see…” she looked at the plate a moment before she picked up the fork and took a bite of the food finding the taste palatable and ate in small bites before she looked at Ash and inquired “so the note I received was true Lareth’s dead, I guess since he was the one who assigned me to this post that I’ll have to find my own path now” admittedly she wasn’t really sure what she would do, in all likelihood the Elvish council would just call her back to the realm and resume her tedious duties given to her by the council.

As Arqden sat there, she was conflicted on what she should do, both here and about what she had to do for Ash, she could tell that dancer had smoothed things over for her and ash’s souls but it didn’t change the fact that now she was likely the only thing keeping him alive right now and she was struggling to say anything, and yet still how he would react to the fact that he suddenly had a piece of her soul keeping him alive. It was obvious that something was bothering her even as she ate, though worse yet she was exhausted from doing that one act of kindness, more so than she had ever been before and it showed on her face, truly soul mending magic was rough on the user and had to wonder how anyone could do it for so long.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Ash shook his head at her, "I highly doubt that you'll be recalled any time soon. Apparently there was a major event in the throne room in the Elven Realm... Wren's husband, his brother, and King Bowen all died. The Goddess herself showed up and declared full rights for all three and she's overseeing it all personally," he paused to let that sink in then continued, "And apparently something else happened in the Enchanted Forest, but my contact hasn't found anything out on that one yet," he added then moved to drop the report next to her plate so that she could read it.

Lady Zosne was still a bit jealous of his range of contacts. He usually had information on just about everything that happened to some degree...

He finally sat down at the small table and looked at his meal. He knew that he had to eat, no matter how he felt, so he simply started eating his venison steak and asparagus without complaint.

"I take it that you bound us together somehow. I'm not sure exactly how or what kind it is, but I can tell that you need more food and even more rest. You don't have to worry that I'm going to go do anything stupid right off. I'll give it a day or two first..." he said, only partly teasing her. But, knowing Ash as she did by now, he had to tease her somehow in every conversation they had. It kept her off balance with him and produced true reactions instead of the practiced etiquette that she was so well versed in...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Arqden shifted uncomfortably for a moment before she spoke up “yeah… I gave you a part of my soul, was the only thing I could think of to save your life.” She ate some more food as she watched how he took to her actions. After a few bites of her food and a drink she continued “dancer came and help us both, I don’t rightly know what he did but I came to after he was done and pretty much have been here watching you off and on ever since” Admittedly she was without her book she had been reading before she came to help and as a result she dose in and out of sleep while she recovered and watched him, the last time she woke up before she followed ash downstairs her energy levels were nearly recovered which was a good thing before long she would be able to resume her duties as a healer, though it would be sometime before she could leave the tower since Sebastet was clear that they were both to rest and recover for a couple of days so she had little choice.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Ash gave a nod to her explanation then took another bite from his plate then wiped his mouth and dropped his napkin on his plate then got up and moved to his desk to thumb through some of the paperwork there, "Good thing is that the bond is one way. It activated a little like the bond that would have formed if I'd given my Heart. It's more subdued, but it's still focused the same way," he said softly then moved to the sideboard to pour himself something stronger than the coffee.

He poured from one bottle then gave a small smile as he remembered Lareth giving him the last of the king's personal homebrew. He smelled from his glass and remembered drinking it the first time. He shook away the memories and took a drink before turning back towards her.

"As for what Dancer did... He did something that's going to upset me for a bit, but I'll get over it eventually," he considered a moment then continued, "For my wedding gift, Lareth did something that turned my Heart into our wedding rings... Dancer simply returned my Heart," he explained the basics but didn't go into any more details on it.

Of course, it was much more complicated than that but he didn't want to explain the details on what Dancer did. Hell, he didn't want to think about those details...

"My guess is that he also helped you heal from what you did. It's kind of a specialty of his. While you can heal the body, he heals everything else. He's been that way since he was little. I wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to heal again after what happened two years ago," he'd deliberately changed the subject away from the rings and his Heart. He didn't want to explain that one...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

The war demons didn’t waste any time getting to the castle after they got into the woods, being agents of the realm, they took full advantage of their mobility in and out of the shadows and when they got to the clearing with the castle in full view they moved quickly to the gate and once there did they walk once more. Alkac’s eyes shifted scanned the castle as they moved towards the door, Garthel followed close adjusting his grip on his shield as they went inside and didn’t even pause when they saw a human approach them, Veresia stopped and bowed her head slightly before she spoke “we’re here to speak with Ash and Sebastet where are they?” the staff member replied “Ash is in his tower, while Sebastet is out at the moment” Veresia sighed and nodded “very well, when Sebastet returns let her know that someone wishes to speak to her” the staff member nodded and replied “of course and who is looking for her?” Garthel looked at Alkac who simply shrugged “I am Veresia an agent from the twelfth legion of the demon realm” she nodded and simply stepped aside as they continued forward, having been given a highly detail description of the castle, she didn’t need directions to get to ash’s tower and simply went through the door into the garden without delay, once there they didn’t waste any time moving across the garden to the tower once there they went inside immediately.

Arqden nodded when Ash explained a few things and just took a bite from her food again to take a moment to collect her thoughts which were immediately interrupted when she heard someone come into the tower and a moment later three demons came into the kitchen where they were, Alkac and Garthel both took a moment before they left the kitchen taking up residence in the living room leaving Veresia there with Arqden and Ash.

Veresia approached them respectfully, though at the moment she ignored the elf who was staring at her with disbelief and just offered a hand to Ash with a slightly amused look on her face “Ash, didn’t interrupt anything did we?”  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Ash rolled his eyes, "Veresia don't be an a**..." he said simply and took another drink from his glass then lookd at all three war demons then at his breakfast guest, "Arqden, these are Veresia, Garthel, and Alkac. They're war demons from the Demon Realm. I'm guessing they're here with a message from Lady Zosne that couldn't be sent through normal channels," he threw that out a bit sarcastically, but felt that it was justified.

He turned back to the other three, "You're coming at a bad time, actually. There's a group or two currently attacking the island. They're a really bad bit right now. Most likely hired by the Church, of course," he informed them then took another drink from his glass, finishing it off.

Lareth's homebrew was something that only two people were able to drink. Everyone else became almost instantly legless. Not even Al'gaan could drink it. Only Lareth and Ash could drink it. As it is, Ash was considering getting roaring drunk today. It would certainly make an interesting change for him and a good distraction...

Ah, maybe not...

"But what brings you three crashing into my morbid thoughts today," he gave an indolent attitude to the whole thing, deliberately distracting everyone from what Dancer had done and didn't want the war demons hitting on the bond he now had with Arqden.  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Veresia just shrugged and replied “we’re here for more than just simple messengers, being envoys of the realm is but one part of our assignment per Lady Zosne’s instructions, we do have a message for you, we’re here to bring a formal message from not only the Commander but the Queen which required relaying through other means” Arqden seemed concerned but kept quiet as she listened “we’ve been instructed to inform you that due to situations ongoing within the realm, that at the moment you are to remain here until such as time as it is appropriate for you to reaffirm your oath to the new King, Lady Zosne said that you will have your chance to do so but for the time being the Commander believes your presence here is critical due to people who have been targeted within the realm, there is a likely chance that a threat from within might target the island as well once certain avenues have been sealed permanently” Alkac and Garthel were off a ways speaking in private when Veresia stopped only to look up at Veresia for confirmation who simply nodded and watched as the two war demons disappeared into the shadows.

Veresia continued “as for your problems as there is a potential threat to our assignment here on the island we’re prepared to offer our assistance to remove this threat” Veresia had a cruel grin on her face “after the hunt we’ve had some time ago, we’re itching to do some more hunting and Lady Zosne has given us leave to operate as the situation demands” her Primary and secondary arms crossed as she stood there a moment before her expression softened and continued “but when I speak to Sebastet I’ll be sure to notify her of this as well” She glanced over to Arqden who seemed concerned and inquired “is there something on your mind Lady Arqden?” Arqden seemed taken back by that and replied “I’ve had encounters with people from the demon realm but I can’t recall seeing demons like you before?” Veresia laughed slightly and replied “Lady Arqden, the legion isn’t filled with demons like us as much as it used to be but, there are still many like myself out there that do defend the realm, we’re war demons created to wage war in the defense of the realm and I am a member of the twelfth legion commanded by Lady Zosne who is also the spymaster of the realm as it were, Ash here held that position at one time before he became a liaison of the realm, my skills as an agent and assassin of the realm is a testament to the role I was created for which is why the twelfth is the one and only legion that operates behind enemy lines during times of war” Arqden nodded and simply looked at Ash for reassurance.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Ash gave a shrug of one shoulder and set his glass down behind him, "Zosne is welcome to the ulcer. While my connections are still better, I'm more than willing to pass on everything I learn to her and let her finish dealing with it. I still do the odd job on occasion to keep my skills sharp. And you will never find a demon more loyal," he couldn't help the jabs he was giving out. He was in a mood today...

It had to be the return of his Heart...

He took in a deep breath and gave his charming smile to all of them, "They're fine, Arqden. You couldn't be safer with them around than you are now with them around. They were created to fight, to defend, to protect... That's the way they are and what they do and they're very good at it. I should know... I helped with the design..." he told her simply then gave them all a nod and headed for the stairs.

"But if you'll all excuse me, I feel the need to take a bath and lay down for a bit. It's either that or see how much of Lareth's homebrew I can drink in one sitting," he finished as he started up the spiral staircase that was specially made for him.

Lareth had found him the artist to design it and create it. It was the history of his family line and showed how long they'd served Lareth's family and the royal line. Something he was proud of and now... Now it was the only thing he had left...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Veresia nodded as Ash explained their role in things and simply shifted forms taking on a more appropriate form of a beautiful woman still wearing her traditional armored garbs, her hair was long reaching halfway down her back which was black, her eyes were an auburn and was reduced to two arms instead of four. Veresia grinned as she saw Arqden’s expression and just continued “don’t get used to it, I don’t change often” Arqden spoke up “why’s that?” Veresia simply pointed at Ash as she shook her head “you’ll figure it out eventually, everyone does” Arqden was about to speak but was stopped when Veresia raised a finger and grinned before she looked at Ash “alright, we’re in the neighborhood for a while so speak up if you have need of us, we’ll be around” with that Veresia gave them both a respectful nod and left without another word through the door into the garden.

Arqden looked at Ash and just shook her head in disbelief before she spoke “Interesting people… do you think they’re right and there’s another threat to the island?” she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on that would require war demons to show up here and what kind of a threat would require the creation of such a demon.