The more Rose tried to encourage the group of their safety with her around, the less assured Luciel became. Although, his feelings were conflicted with her explanation of being a witch-hunter, but with it came its own implications that coincided with his knowledge of philosophy. A tall hill blanketed in flowers of emotions and concepts, most would distract themselves with the simplicity of those near the base of the sunny side without ever having climbed its nearly sheer face. The chimera was more concerned with the long shadows of the shapeless tree at the top which offered only the shade he was provided while being dragged up through the dead grass and rocks, eyes forced up into the drifting, discarded leaves.
Cryptic metaphors aside, Rose's words offered a layer of insight that fit with a few sayings and an empathetic speculation: Those who gaze into the abyss are doomed to have the abyss gaze back.

...but if the abyss gazes into you, can you resist taking even a glance?

Luciel blinked, shaking his head, finding himself daydreaming while they were on the approach to the cottage's front door. While it wasn't his first choice, he trusted the enigmatic woman's judgment. Perhaps a mixed blessing, they didn't need to even get within arm's reach before the door opened and an inviting voice encouraged them to come inside.
It was arguably eerie that the door would open on its own with no hand at the knob, but the group seemed keen on accepting the invitation accompanied by rich aromas of food which were enough to lure Gish in. Luciel had been keen to follow, even forgetting about his own dinner plans before the woman hopped back out the door, surprising the chimera who nervously tensed a finger on the trigger.

The flutter of panic in his heart was unfounded as Gish began a strange ritual of wiping her feet in the grass before stepping back inside. Luciel listened to the apology before balancing on one foot to check the underside of his boots which admittedly had their own layer of grime and grit from all of the walking. Being confined indoors, the notion hadn't occurred to him that dirt could be tracked through a dwelling. The etiquette that went with wiping their feet off before entering someone else's home sounded obvious enough that Luciel felt silly for not doing so and almost making the mistake, as well.

It took a tiny bit more effort than flat-soled shoes, Luciel taking almost obsessive measures while discharging his crossbow to use the bolt for scraping even the tiniest bits off before stepping in after Gish. Chalk it up as another display of paranoia, though it came without thinking as the Chimera stepped in with crossbow in one hand and the bolt in the other. Ears standing up at the realization, he let the crossbow hang across his chest with the sling, returning the bolt to the quiver belted to his left leg and clipping the strap over it.
Manners, nervously tended to, compelled Luciel to compose himself in a friendly manner, though he wasn't used to being armed while indoors. It stirred a strange compulsion to stay on guard, though he composed himself respectfully as the woman introduced herself.

Luciel repeated the bow from before when introducing himself to the group, formal and rehearsed with little actual feeling to it. Taught to do it rather than mean it, the consideration was that it was simply the polite thing to do in showing respect...whether or not he meant it.
"Szank you for havink us, Madam Mimi" He said, easing himself back up and to the side, lingering awkwardly to the side of doorway during his introduction which mostly rode off of Gish's coattails. "I am Luciel" he continued, remaining where he was. Being invited was one thing, but actually entering the house was another since being indoors made him feel strangely out of place as if an invitation wasn't enough for him to feel welcome to simply walk about.
He shared in William's concern, but it was lost with the rest of the stressful thoughts swimming through his head which slowly caused him to shake after a moment of standing still. It all seemed unrealistically convenient, but Luciel had no experience or even rumors to go off of when it came to justifying his feelings.

"I-iz a nice home...but iz zeis not a dangerous place to live?" he asked, concerned if the farce of consideration for the woman composed as a question could work a bit of information from her. A reason for staying, a means of feeling 'safe' to live in a cave...if she knew anything about the spooky figures in her 'yard'; there were many questions, but the subtleties would have to suffice as a question for now.

Though Lightward sounded more appealing at the moment Mathias had a strange feeling what he desired lay deeper in the Halls. That and whatever reanimated this poor sod burning at their feet.

Mathias was always gifted with a strong sense of purpose. He was here to search, hoping to find something he could locate nowhere else. Something to lift a death-curse. Though Fazra seemed to share an intense sense of purpose many of the others were completely lost in the dark her.

"I know not what brings the rest of you here. What I do know is that I'm here to find something that can shatter a curse." There was little point in hiding his purpose. If it could give strength to him, then why not drive and direction for others? "Tis something that would doubtless help many people. I have my mission and that is why I am here." Mathias was unable to recall how he first arrived in these Halls but that didn't seem important at the moment. "I cannot do this alone, comrades." He peered around at the lot of them. "Will you help me in my search?

They didn't need to know it was for himself. The less people knew the less complicated this would get. A weakness could be harshly exploited. Despite his polite demeanor toward the bunch he didn't trust them.

Victor had expected any number of things in the cottage. And empty building, a creature taken up refuge possibly even a hardy group that had built their life here... of course witch was just as likely and it seemed to him that was exactly who was greeting them. A 'kindly' old woman had opened the door and introduced herself Miss Mimi.The moving scarecrows, inexplicable plant growth underground, a cottage for gods sake it was perhaps the most obvious fissod Victor had ever witnessed... not that it really mattered, if she was providing shelter he was fine with it, after all what could she do to him?

He entetered after Luciel and Gish, calmly using a dirk of his to scrape whatever grime had been on his metal shod boots. He was very grateful she had invited all of them in, otherwise his cover may have been blown seeing as that annoying stipulation of a vampire needing invitation to gain entry to a private home. Calmly he in introduced himself once inside, "Thank you madame, I am Sir Victor Guttman, a pleasure.", and bowed shallowly. He listened to Luciel ask his questions. He smiled down at William and ushered him in alongside himself, "Now William its not nice to decline an invitation! And thats quite rude to say.", he lightly scolded him. Hopefully this cottage was large enough to have a few secluded spots... Victor needed to feed and his chosen victims would have to be seperated for that, which would be hard to do if this place was to small.

Fazra dropped her hammer down so that the head lay on the ground, and she leaned on it. Light shone upward from the head, and her face littered with shadow cast by her armor.

"No," she answered the other knight simply. "I have my own quest. I cannot return to my keep after such short a time, I must go onward. But," she relented, "I guess that you've already tried a cleric to kill this curse. If you need something stronger, you may find it Darkward. There's nothing for you the other way. They say there are many treasures in the endless halls. Everything Lightward has been claimed, but Darkward is fresh. Come with me and you will find something, if not what you're looking for."

She hefted the hammer back onto her shoulder, and looked around at the party.

"That goes for all of you. When we come back to the Road, turn right for safety. Or follow me left for treasure and glory."

I backed away more before victor called out my rudeness. perhaps I was being a bit too paranoid, maybe this was rarely an innocent old lady as she appeared to me. Still the thought of danger fed on the back of my head, but I progressed as to not be the odd one out of this group that I had just become apart of. I kept my hood over most of my pale and nervous face, dark arcanic symbols reeking of both dark magic and some other strange et equally malevolent magic. A striking contrast to my shy and innocent behavior. I entered the home of the old woman with feet draped under these brooding robes. I didnt notice anything odd about them, in fact I was rather comfortable wearing them. As if I had some attachment to them that I couldn't remember. Yet at the same time, something else was bogging at my sub conscience, was it the thought of death or memories trying to flood back into my mind, I couldn't tell. But I remained like this without any mental progress.

The old lady gave Gish a small smile, "Thank you Miss Gish, it is a pleasure to meet you as well," She said, ushering the girl and the rest of the group into her home. As William voiced his suspicions Mimi gave a laugh weakened with age, "Oh, please, young man, I'm just a lonely old lady eager for some company." The final one to chime in was Luciel, the women nodded in agreement with his assertion. "Yes, it can be quite dangerous down here. But I have friends that protect me, so there is no need to worry about my safety or your own while you are inside my home." She said kindly. Rose gave her an inquisitive look, "You don't mean the, uh... things outside, do you?" Mimi nodded, "Indeed, I do." Rose didn't push for further explanation- Rose decided it would be better to not call attention to them, considering the fact that one of their own had opened fire on the scarecrow-like constructs.

The group slowly filtered in and Mimi gingerly closed the door behind them. The old lady began to excuse herself, "Please, make yourself comfortable, dinner will be out soon." She said, disappearing through one of the doors. Rose gave a nervous glance around, making sure that they were alone now. "So, uh, I'm not the only one getting the sense that there's something up here, right?" She said with a loud whisper. "Kindly old ladies are always evil in situations like this. It's almost too cliche. Plus I don't like the smell of this place, and let's not forget where we are. We're in the Endless Halls, things aren't supposed to be this friendly here. We should have a pl-"

It was then that the door flew open. Two figures came through the door, carrying a third in-between them. Rose turned and... Uh-oh. This is going to be a problem. Was what she thought to herself. The figures were the strange scarecrows from outside, carrying the one that had been shot be Luciel. They were no longer rigid, now moving as if they were ordinary people. As they entered they yelled frantically, "Oh man, oh man, oh man, Ben, I think he's dying, I think he might be dying." The first one said, as they placed their injured companion on the table. The second one was visibly terrified, "Okay. Okay, okay, you apply pressure to the wound... that'll stop the bleeding, that'll stop it, I'm sure, I'll go get Mimi." He went through the same door the old lady had earlier. Neither of them had noticed the group as they had barely lifted their attention from the third. Rose was now shrinking into her chair. She cast a worried glance across the group, and then mouthed out 'What do we do?" hurriedly.

Luciel smiled slightly, discouraged by William as his brows bent into a worried expression that betrayed his feelings. Again, reassurance had proven to exact the opposite as the chimera felt nothing but skepticism...however, the warmth and inviting nature of their setting soaked into him. Enclosed spaces eased his nerves, as the integrity of structure was one of the many 'few' things that could be genuinely trusted. So alluded to by sayings, a roof could keep you dry, and sturdy walls were keen on keeping threats out.

"I-I can help!" The chimera called after Mimi before they moved to disappear into the back room. With people taking their seats, Luciel still lingered near the door. In the silence, he edged his way into the room before sliding back against a wall. The stability of structure was far too enticing to simply shirk even for a comfortable chair; standing against a wall, sleeping against a wall, bracing against a wall...they were always there for you. This was the first moment where the chimera began to doubt Rose, as the stories he'd read and read to their young master depicted an insidiousness built upon blatant lies and lack of introductions based around buildings of food. Candy and cream always hurt Luciel's teeth, so he found a fitting thirst for the bitterness of the world. Where the rejection of decadence was met with scorn, it build up the healthy skepticism that clashed with the two others.

Though he found the situation oddly convenient, it was hard for him to feel threatened by the old woman who likely had a slurry of tricks up her sleeve. The fact that, even surrounded, they were welcome in their house bothered the chimera since, for all intents and purposes, they were likely to be met with a warm mean prepared by a wizened hag with no other goal than to aid groups like theirs.
Alternatively, they were already shoulders-deep in opposition if the crowd outside happened to be what people expected them to be.

With that, it was uncanny how the mounting concern amounted to a true actualization of his misunderstanding so swiftly; the door bursting open as the scarecrows carried in the body of the one Luciel had shot.
Again, he felt like his heart fluttered to a stop with the notion that a terribleness had occurred and was directed towards him. Unfortunately, he was right, this time.

Luciel froze beyond lifting an arm to gently close the door that had opened on him, stopped by the steel toe of his boot, mainly to get a better view of the scene.
There was no sense in following Rose who sank in her seat while the event unfolded, although, the chimera respected her for not immediately selling him out. Instead, he stepped forward, setting his armaments to a side along with their cloak and kneeling by the scarecrow.

Turned away from the rest, his expression melted from his casual apathy to a genuine toothy display of shock and pensiveness. "Y'jeh...I-...h-hello. Yes! Right, I can likely help, tell me what to do" Luciel asked, blown out of his element though oddly comfortable in thinking of the strange creatures as constructs with minds and feelings. This same notion made the result of his impatient assault that much more grating against his heart. There came a sense of responsibility, this notion that he owed the figure, organic or construct.

I did this.
I did this to another creature...a-are they all just made to act this way? And how am I supposed to help such a-

With this though, a relatively dark idea came to Luciel's mind; sliding his hand under the other assumed construct's hand to hold the wound, they leaned in to the unknown figure's head, drawing back and looking to the others. "Vaht iz zehir name?" he barked, the component crucial in the mending spell he knew. He needed to know the figure's name to complete it, though he could begin through mending the bleeding.

Power came from a name. It was what made creatures whole and human, regardless of their lean on the world. "Zee name!" Luciel demanded, bringing their other hand around to aid in the compression as their ears folded back.
"(Bound to we regal; the sand and silt from gills and guile, see with toil and soil to make right on a debt to yet be paid...)" Luciel hissed in preparation for the lack of a name. With luck, the old woman was not out to eat them and that the spell could play itself out. The syllables reverberating in something that could be attributed to shoddy elvish, though bending with a weight upon the air to become something foul with the echoes across the walls. A deep speech resounded back with a dull shade pressing into the light of the nearby lanterns and fireplace as a slight trickle of blood ran from Luciel's nose, dripping onto the figure before being licked away from the Chimera's lip. "(Etch)" he concluded, tracing his hands along the wound and replacing and oozing wound with a black stain of silky material that held the wound from bleeding and the material within together as denoted by the indents of the broken edges of black flesh shifting underneath as the wound slowly began to mend with the aid of Luciel's over-expended essence.
"Th...the name..." they groaned, a grumble in their chest while they swallowed hard with a disquieting wince, doing their best not to vomit.

Whatever had transpired, Luciel was doing his best not to show how it affected him. Growing more pale than usual, fluttering ears as he braced his hand on the floor by the now covered wound, denoted his heightened state. "Iz...I...sorry...I..." they began before falling to a side, propped up on an elbow as they heaved a groan and tried their best to edge away from the scene and stay conscious from the mana burst which went into a genuine healing spell in the place of key components. While it could have made it easier on the chimera, his apathy towards his assumption of the old woman left him resolved to be at hers and the others' mercy.

Gish turned to Rose, a look of confusion on her face. "But you're the one that said she was a good wit-" she started, but the accusatory interruption died in her throat as the scarecrows burst in. Gish yelped and scrambled in a half mad dash behind the chair, daring only to peak around the side. They were carrying one of their own between them. They were speaking. They were people.

Her stomach dropped out when she realized what must have caused this, and her eyes bored into the back of Luciel's head with frantic worry. He'd shot it. He'd shot a people. Oh Mother. Oh mother oh mother oh mother. She wanted nothing more than to run from this, press herself into the wall, sink into the ground, just get away.

But he didn't run. Luciel stepped forward, placed his hand over the wound, demanding to know the persons names. She only had a moment to consider why when he began to speak again, but this time was different. Something rough. Something unpleasant. Something familiar. She didn't understand it, but at the same time she knew it. It pulled at her like the tides of the ocean and before she knew what was happening she she had crept out of her hiding place. Everything but the words seemed distant, numb and blurry, and she choked in choking breaths like a drowning woman. Then he began to waver, slumped over, and the spell was over. Whatever cautious awe that held her broke as she rushed forward and put herself under Luciel's arm to help keep him steady.

"Where did you hear that!?" she said in a desperate, worrisome whisper. "How do you know that!? What did you say!?"

I entered the home with caution, I was very clearly on edge even my thick concealing robes couldn't hide. This was very wrong. I knew this, but peer pressure kept me forward. I sat down quietly, shaking violently as I did. When Mimi left and Rose started to whisper. I wanted to agree with her but I was too nervous to say anything. Idle chatter inside, we were interrupted by a group of strangers with one of them bleeding. Having not been there during the scarecrow episode, I simply watched in more confusion and horror then the others. I was tempted to get up and help them but the chimera beat me to it, and I have never felt so grateful to anyone in my entire life.

After he passed out I watched the fish woman race to his side and question him franticly. I would just hide my head at this point. In my panic I would be gripping the wooden table on its end. I wasn't over the shock of what happened. The table on my end would start to creak. At first it soul be assumed that it was the result of uncontrolled strength, however that idea would end when it became obvious it was something else. The wooden material touching my clenched fingers would start to rot and decay rapidly. Though the effect wouldn't spread far, the creaking of rotting wood and its texture was very noticeable. My shock would be broken when my fragment of the table broke with the heavy thud of lighter rotted wood scattering on the floor beneath me. Looking down my eyes wide with fear as I stared silently and frozen.