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Luna looked over her shoulder towards her sister biting her bottom lip as she nodded towards her slightly, she really did hope that Myrus was safe and sound. As Luna headed down the spiral staircase that led to the lower levels and eventually to the royal family crypt, she hadn't been down there in a long time. As Luna opened the door, looking around the dark crypt knowing that their parents were down here as well. "Myrus, are you down here?" Luna asked as she started to walk a little bit deeper into the crypt seeing the names of all of the previous queens that ruled.

Luna stopped when she heard something, just as she turned around Luna screamed loudly as a vampire came out from the shadows and lunged at her. "Help me please!" Luna yelled as loud as she could staring at the dagger as she tried to keep the dagger away from her, and attempted to kick the vampire off of her. She didn't think there would be anyone else hiding down here other then her brother or maybe a few servants hiding from the chaos, she wasn't expecting a vampire.

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Arnora looked over her shoulder towards Cuyler for a moment she did remember them talking a little bit but she didn't poke the beast to much about Arya, she did keep the secret that she was dead from him for awhile now. She stood next to Halley as she was just about to open the door when it opened. Staring a an older man who looked like he was about to leave, seeing his expression towards Cuyler they did have some kind of history. Then Halley spoke up, though not naming Loki by name at all and looked over towards her for a moment and then over at Cuyler.

"The fugitive that we are looking for has an ancient relic in his possession, that could be a threat to this world I believe he is within the Pyramid Library." Arnora said looking over her shoulder towards Cuyler for a moment, she didn't like the idea of leaving her friend behind and seeing as the old man didn't seem to be very fond of Cuyler. [colo=#81BEF7]"If you'd allow us, in Cuyler could stay out here?"[/color] Arnora offered.

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He sighed, relieved that the doors opened but he wasn’t relieved for long. Blaise Rowland walked out and looked at them all. His steely gaze settled onto Cuyler and the man hadn’t felt so low before. He bowed his head, looking away from the man as he was talked down to. He felt he deserved some of this but he had come back. He had felt Arya and felt as he had when first laid eyes on her. That had to mean something right? Cuyler would tell Rowland that, that would mean something to the man who was rooting for and helping him win Arya over.
Cuyler looked back up when Halley took over the conversation, explaining why they were here and what they needed to do, despite Rowland saying he was not allowed in. He shot Arnora a look when she suggested they leave Cuyler behind. No, he couldn’t help them get inside but he could help with Loki. That much he could do. Cuyler looked back at Rowland to plead for his case when he stopped short. He pushed past Arnora, standing right in front of Rowland but he wasn’t looking at Rowland. No, he was looking at what Rowland was wearing. His robes were purple and Rowland hadn’t worn purple for quite some time. Noise seemed to fade and there was an eerie stillness around Cuyler. ”Why are you wearing those?” His voice was low as he questioned the man. Cuyler was putting himself in active denial as he finally looked into the man's eyes. "Blaise, why are you wearing those?"

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Titan remained silent as they walked. His words would not be appreciated here. Titan had nothing good to say about anything at the moment. He was simply doing his duty. They made their way into the crypts. He was looking around when he heard the scream. Titan watched the vampire lunge at Luna but he missed luckily. Titan moved quickly, putting himself in front of the Princess. He was grateful for retrieving a sword for it allowed him to make the strong swipe with both hands and take the head off of the vampire. The body dropped instantly while the head flew and rolled after hitting the ground. Titan watched the thing with dead eyes. “Anyone have any fire on them?”

Amarantha sighed but shook off the fact that she would be stuck like this forever. ”Well, work on something that allows for me to drink something other than blood to stay alive, would you?” As for the other stuff that the Castle would rebuild and this was not the lowest point of the Castle made Amarantha relax a bit but not by much. She couldn’t prevent nothing from happening to the Castle and that was perhaps more frustrating than being able to save it. They all had a long journey ahead of them and they weren’t immune to anything anymore. They were weak now. Fair game for other lands to come and attack them and they were on shaky terms with the SnowPlains and Lost Nights.

As they made their way to the front of the Palace, Amarantha kicked something that made a couple ringing sounds as it was banged up against debris. She walked over and picked up. She turned the ring over in her hand and glared at the thing. She clasped her hand around it and squeezed. ”It seems the Eastern SnowPlains have been here. Wonderful.” She looked around the courtyard. There were dead bodies everywhere and people were starting to clean them up. Amarantha went over to a servant and questioned if they had moved someone with Mona’s description. If it was true they would have to go about finding the chains the old fashion way. Or suck it up and find the royals. Amarantha wasn’t too proud to admit she was avoiding looking for them. Not that she feared them dead but for fear of what they would do to her now that she was a Biter.

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Ahote frowned at the man who was only growing more frustrated with the lot of them. It was equally frustrating to be told there was nothing to be done and yet none of them were speaking with attitude. ”I am certain we would all like to return. Please bear with us as we still have a hard time understanding that there is nothing we can do to save our home from something your people will bring upon us.” Ahote looked at Myrus and laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. They would try everything they could to postpone or stop this. There was more than one Asgardian they could talk to back at the Castle.
Their time was now up though as the ground shook underneath Ahote’s feet. He turned and looked behind him, seeing a 17 foot Frost Giant approach rapidly and pick up Mona. She looked so small in the giant’s hands. Ahote turned to face the thing and looked up at it. There was only one of them, for now. They could most likely get away with taking it out together. ”Mona, if you have any power, I suggest you use it now! Even if it’s the power of persuasion.” He looked behind him at Bruce. ”Are you able to help with this and bring all of us home or should we solve this without you for the time being?”

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Myth shook her head. "I don't think I ever asked how to stop it. I said I would stop this from happening. I will not see my family dead on the ground. So, as I did ask, what do we do now?" She stared down her husband, almost daring him to challenge her. If he had no intention of helping her ensure their family not be killed, then he was going to be sorry.

Before they could turn and leave or do whatever, a Frost Giant appeared and snatched up the woman called Mona. Myth had about enough of this foolishness. She remembered from myths and tales she would sing that Loki and Thor had challenged frost giants and had lost. They only lost because the Frost Giants used illusion Magyk to beat them. They feared Thor's strength. So she had to prove her newfound Asgardian loyalty.

"Hey, ugly! Put her down or face me instead! I'm not a Midgardian. I'm from Asgard and I'll prove it!" Using her own Bardic Magyk she illusioned a giant boulder some length away. She ran over and grabbed hold of it. "For Asgard!" she screamed, holding it high above her head. She pretended like it was a struggle, but in reality, it was like lifting air. She stared down the frost giant. "So...put her down. Now."

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Fleur listened to the woman, who it seemed had lost her mind in the events of Chthon. She could hardly blame the woman for believing she could attack her outright. "I am not some evil being wishing death on everyone. I want punishment and vengeance on those who deserve it. I especially want Amaranthine dead. She took someone precious from me and I will see her burn for it. On that, you have my word."

She held the Concillium. She would have to maintain it, but she added some further persuasion into it. Hopefully, the woman could be won over to her side without such tactics. "We will see them all pay for what they did. I think you should come with me to my coven and see how we have progressed. I have amassed a large number of soldiers on my side. All willing to fight for our cause. All who see the evil that the royal family has brought upon this land. Come, let us make haste then."

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It seemed like Bruce was having a very bad day. But you know what? So was Mona and she wasn't going around calling people annoying! Perhaps mostly because she was having trouble comprehending and catching up on what was happening here. What she did understand at this point was that they needed to keep some poor soul from death to prevent the end of the world. People tended to die regardless of the help offered. How were they going to manage this? Something something gods. Mona was feeling infinitesimally small.

This was only furthered by the fact that a large hand wrapped about her waist and hoisted her into the air. It knocked the breath from her and caused her to drop Erasmus. Gasping, she placed her hands against the giant's thumb and looked up at him wide-eyed. People below her were shouting. What were they saying? The booming voice hurt her head. He was holding her so tightly. There was only one thing she could do.

Purge.

Mona barfed quite spectacularly - her cider and treats from the celebration projecting toward the Giant. Once everything had left her stomach she looked down, quite saddened. She had enjoyed those foods... and they had not tasted quite as good coming back up. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand before looking up at the giant. "Hold a g'el more gent'ley. Yer muthah raise yeh in some sort o' barn?" she demanded of the beast.

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Valda followed along after her sister into the crypt. She wasn't entirely sure what to really think about being down there once again, or why her brother would really be down there too, but she trusted her sister's judgement. If she thought there was a chance that Myrus was being down in the crypts, then she figured that there was likely a chance that Myrus had gone downstairs. With that, she was remained silent for a while, once they reached the crypt, as a part of her didn't think it was respectful to make too much noise down there.

When her sister cried out for help, she moved towards her, but Titan was faster then she was, and had already somewhat dealt with the vampire. Somewhat meaning the fact that the head was still rolling around and not quite dead. "Luna are you okay?" she asked a bit frantically, moving to be next to her sister. At Titan's request for fire, she shook her head, "My magic doesn't exactly work like that to harm anything, so I can't really create fire in order to burn something, since that would be destroying something."

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Bruce let out a sigh, shaking his head. "You have no idea what it is that you are dealing with clearly, otherwise you wouldn't have suggested something like that. Part of me really just wants to stand back and see you attempt to deal with the Frost Giant all on your own," he said with a bit of an eye roll. He didn't like Ahote at all, since the guy in his opinion was really out of his league when it came to the sort of situation that they were dealing with. This was bigger than all of them, and he himself wasn't even sure that they'd be able to prevent this apocalyptic future.

"I wasn't suggesting you were asking how to prevent, I meant just about everyone else here aside from us asked how to prevent Ragnarok," he said, shaking his head slightly at Myth's words. Seeing her use her magic to create an illusion to make the Frost Giant afraid was interesting to say the least. However he visibly flinched somewhat when she said that corny line. It was something his great-uncle would have really said. Hardly anyone else actually said that. "Honestly with that line?" he muttered.

With that, fire swirled around him once more, and he sent a blast into the Frost Giant, sort of glaring at him. "You heard her, put her down, otherwise you'll burn away to a crisp got it?"

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No! You're wrong! she sort of snapped at him, shaking her head. Sylvi knew deep down that odds were that her family didn't really care that she had run away, but a small part of her was still in denial and actually wanted them to sort of care. She didn't know if they'd actually send vampires out to attack the Castle, it didn't really matter did it? To her there wasn't really much that could be done about it now, but she did somewhat hope that her family wouldn't have wanted to hurt her.

I'm sorry for snapping at you... she said, then proceeding to apologize for yelling at him. Sylvi understood where his thinking was coming from, but it annoyed her to know end. Hearing his other words about what she was supposed to eat or something, she flinched slightly just thinking about it. I d-d-don't want to hurt anyone... she stammered out, clearly not too thrilled with the idea and panicking slightly.

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Myrus' violet eyes widened in fear as he saw Byleirst snatch up Mona. He had heard a few stories about the Frost Giants and none of them were good. In those tales, Thor was usually the one going off and putting them down - he didn't know if Bruce would be strong enough to handle them. And if this was Ragnarok, then for this Frost Giant to have survived all of that... he had to have been one of the strongest ones. He had a nagging suspicion there was something important he was forgetting, but instead the prince started to look around, trying to find a rock but he just couldn't at the moment. It was like his brain had forgotten what a rock looked like.

Byleirst stared at Myth, dumbfounded. "How... The Host of Asgard... The House of Odin died!" he protested, looking at her as if asking for her to explain just exactly why she wasn't dead. The little woman in his hands, Mona, didn't even seem to be that startled by the fact that he had picked her up. And then, the little man had summoned fire! There was only one logical explanation as far as Byleirst was concerned... They were all Asgardians!

The Frost Giant set Mona down gingerly, as if afraid that if he set her down too roughly she would turn around and punch him, shattering his knees with a single blow.

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The Long Walk - the Castle...

Apollodora chuckled slightly. "Oh yes, with my amazing innate Magykal abilities I'll just brew you a potion," she quipped sarcastically. Unlike her brother, she didn't have any Magyk. Her eyes never turned green. And while she knew her mother would never admit it, Rainbrook was her favorite for that reason. That was fine by her. The less she had to interact with her parents, the better. This mission into the past was an unfortunate need to prevent herself from being written out of existence.

For a moment, the time traveler looked confused as Amarantha mentioned the Eastern SnowPlains, but then she understood. Apollodora knew that nation by another name, one that inspired more fear and terror than its current one. The young woman was waiting inside the Long Walk, looking out at Amarantha in the courtyard as the servants confirmed that they hadn't found Mona. She could be alive then - or maybe her body just had not yet been located. "Come on, hurry up will ya?" Apollodora called out.

The Palace Crypt - the Castle...

While Valda's Magyk could not be used to set a living creature on fire, there are some torches lining the walls of the crypt that could be ignited with her powers. All Titan then would have to do would be to take the lit torch and set the fire to the head of the vampire, removing it from this plane of existence. Of course, they may wish to keep the vampire alive and question it, in order to learn more about why they attacked the Palace that evening.

"So hungry..." the vampire head moaned. Upon closer inspection, the trio would realize that the vampire was not a fully grown adult. No, this vampire appeared to be a small child, no older than thirteen.

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"... I am sorry. Who was this person you lost?" Violet asked Fleur, hearing that she had lost someone dear because of Amarantha. She wasn't surprised. From what she had seen, the military leader was reckless when it came to the lives of others. Amarantha was a product of the corrupt Young Army and Arya had no doubt that the corruption in the Castle included her. With her death, they could usher in a new era of peace and prosperity. It was something she had been wanting to push her accomplice towards, as he had a connection to Amarantha that would easily be exploited.

Of course, she would have to kill Antonije Magnisky one day - he was a means to an end and she knew the darkness that lurked inside of his heart. But once the work was done, the Castle would not need them - and she too would plunge the dagger into her own heart, finally removing the last drop of malice from the land. Breaking the stillness, Violet nodded her head. "I will come see your Coven... And I will aid you, but my battle is here. My work is not yet done." She couldn't just drop everything and devote herself entirely to Fleur's cause, but she would join and when needed, she would show up.

Every other waking moment would be spent here in the Castle, spilling the blood of those who would go unpunished for their sins. She had to take care of those she had marked, before they could spread that monstrous disease to too many people in the Castle. Hopefully, the visit to Fleur's coven would not add too many to the ranks of the vampires.

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He didn't really care that she had snapped at him - it was a hard truth to swallow. His eyes went over towards the door, wondering briefly what life would be like if Sylvi's family were to appear in moments and take her back to the Land of Long Nights. Antonije's grip on her tightened considerably. He didn't want her to be taken away from him, preferring to keep her all to himself. So many people in his life were gone, he didn't want Sylvi to be the next one to go. It was bad enough that his siblings had decided to go live on another planet with people who weren't even their family, rather than stay here with him. His parents were dead. He didn't even know if they had any living extended family or not.

Calm down, Silvija, he instructed, smoothing her hair. The hunger would be beginning to gnaw at her again, but it wasn't so bad that she couldn't think quite yet. I know you don't want to hurt anyone, but what do you think happens if these criminals live? They get away with horrible things, like rape and murder and robbery... They're going to hurt people. And if you don't stop them, then when the bad things happen, they happen because of you, he reasoned, continuing to stroke her hair to try to keep her calm. I can't make this choice for you Silvija, but you should know that right now... You have a lot of power. So there is some responsibility that comes with that too - you owe a debt...

You know, the neighbor across the hallway beats his wife and kids... he informed her, planting the idea into her head.

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Rowland was one of the nicer ExtraOrdinary Wizards, but he was not about to foolishly trust every person who came up to Wizard Tower screaming about danger - especially if Cuyler Eysteinsson accompanied them. He had thought of the man as a son at one point, someone suitable to court Arya (who was practically his daughter), but he had realized how ridiculous a notion that had been. If Cuyler had truly loved Arya, he would have gone to her funeral rather than drop off the face of the earth. "I am afraid, my dear, that I cannot allow you entrance to the tower - especially not the Pyramid Library," Rowland said frankly.

His expression soured more as he saw Cuyler shove by Arnora - really, what had he ever seen in him? "That's no way to treat a lady, boy," he scolded. "You know bloody well why I'm wearing these robes!" Rowland then snapped, his pupils contracting slightly.

"Look, we don't have time for this petty squabbling," Halley interjected. "It's clear you hate Cuyler, so he'll stay out here and if we could talk to you in private..." she suggested. One of the more annoying things about Asgard was that everyone held grudges. Freya still refused to even have dinner in the presence of Thor after what he tried to get her to do when his hammer was stolen a few thousand years ago. It made things irritating at best when some matter concerning Asgard and Vanaheim came up, requiring the two of them to discuss it.

Rowland didn't even dignify Halley's idea with a response. "She died, Cuyler! Arya died! You didn't show up - you didn't even care, you just left the Castle as if she was just nothing to you, just someone that could be thrown away and disposed like refuse! Where were you at her funeral?! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN SHE NEEDED YOU, BOY?!" Rowland ranted, his voice growing louder and louder in volume. An errant spark of Magyk came off of his fingers and zapped Cuyler - probably unintentional, but it was hard to tell at this point. "YOU NEVER CARED FOR HER - SHE WAS NOTHING TO YOU! YOU DIDN'T DESERVE HER!"

Rowland then struck Cuyler across the face, a hard slap that would cause Cuyler's face to turn red with the impression of Rowland's hand. The rings he wore on his hand didn't help either, leaving little cuts and indents in Cuyler's face.

Halley gave a sideways glance at Arnora, feeling a bit awkward. Things were escalating rather quickly here and it didn't seem like the ExtraOrdinary Wizard was going to calm down at any point soon - and boy, did he hate Cuyler... She could relate to Rowland some on that point at least.

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Luna stumbled backwards as Titian came in and managed to swipe the head off of the vampire, feeling a little bit of blood landing on her dress. She shook slightly looking over at her sister when she came over towards her and nodded slightly, the voice in her head started to laugh a little bit, trying to calm herself down. "I'm fine thank you Titian.." Luna said softly as she looked down at the knife and picked it up, and started to inspect the knife. Spotting the crest of the Eastern SnowPlains on the hilt of the dagger wasn't good either while looking over at the head jumping as it spoke.

Titian suggested finding something to burn it looking over towards him and her sister. "We could try and maybe find information out of it?" Luna asked seeing that the body of the vampire was a lot younger then she was, made her wonder how the kid was turned, she decided to keep the dagger. Luna walked further down until she could hear something and turned around as she spotted a servant who was hiding behind one of the coffins in the crypt. "It's safe now." Luna said as she reached her hand out to the servant giving a slight smile as she offered to help the servant up.

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Arnora just stood there awkwardly as Cuyler pushed her aside when he asked Roland why he was wearing the purple robes, she wasn't really sure what the color actually did mean. But she had a feeling that Roland was the big guy running the Wizard's Tower, as she shifted a little bit, she did smirk slightly at Roland's comment about treating a lady. Arnora sighed slightly looking over at Halley of course it was obviously over a girl. She still did feel really uncomfortable about the whole situation as well, when Roland suddenly yelled at Cuyler about Arya's death.

Arnora flinched when Roland slapped Cuyler across the face, seeing the nasty mark that was left on his cheek, looking at Halley for a moment, it looked like it really did hurt. Arnora then decided to try and summon some of her own magyk of her own to try and recreate the hologram like thing Halley made earlier with the tesseract. "This is really more important, it's really clear you do not like Cuyler for what he did. But the fugitive we are looking for will cause a lot of problems." Arnora said.

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Cuyler glared at Rowland a bit. Arnora was a woman yes but if he knew half the things she could do, he would hardly call Cuyler’s shoulder shove past disrespectful. The things Arnora could do to all of them made a mere shoulder shove hardly dangerous but Cuyler didn’t have time to dispute that. He was trying to wrap his head around the fact that Rowland was wearing ExtraOrdinary wizard robes and everything that his cousins had been telling him was in fact, very possibly, true. He couldn’t believe it. He refused to believe it.
Cuyler’s hands started to shake as he grew more and more angry, more and more volatile. Halley’s words of Rowland hating Cuyler didn’t help matters much. Rowland had been a father figure to Cuyler after his own had passed. He had a wonderful life with his father but in some degree, felt the man had been taken too soon from him and Rowland had always shown compassion to Cuyler. Rowland hating Cuyler, disrespecting him and who he was, was as if his very own father was doing the same. Like he was speaking down from Vahalla and expressing disappointment in his only son.
Rowland had completely ignored Halley and unleashed on Cuyler again. At first his words didn’t register. Cuyler’s hands stopped shaking but the words weren’t making any sense. That was until Rowland slapped Cuyler hard across the face. The stinging from the rings and cuts seemed to cause those words to sink into place; although, the pain on his face was nothing compared to what was happening within. Cuyler stumbled back, shaking his head over and over again in denial. The Magyk that had been zapped didn't do so much to him either. ”No no no, no she can’t be. I felt her…. I felt her power, in the Port today. She’s not, she can’t be….” He continued to shake his head, not even able to utter the four letter word.
Words slammed back into his head from Halley and Arnora. They had said she died, disappeared when Chthon was here. That was the day of the failed wedding. When Cuyler destroyed the Palace Library after him and Arya broke up. Klara had continued to push him, saying Arya was fine and that they needed to leave. Did she know? Had his mother kept this from him? Arya said she was afraid of her, of their relationship. It was the main reason they broke up. Such a petty little thing now but Cuyler had just been a child then, craving a mothers love that he didn’t get enough of due to tragedy and now he was learning he was wrong to look for it in Klara. Everything he knew was wrong. Everything he had learned and become was based on a lie. Deep down Cuyler had wanted to come back here to see Arya, to apologize and show her how strong he had become. How, alike they now were. They weren't so different anymore with Magyk being their biggest barrier. He had also felt Arya was just that bit unattainable to him because of her incredible power but now Cuyler had that and strength. He could protect her now, love her proper now.
His hands tensed up again and he shook all over, feeling as if he was about to boil over. There was an intense roaring in his ears as he tried not to unleash everything he was feeling in the form of his power. His idea, his deep buried thoughts and hope of second chances had been completely wiped away. Dead. Arya was dead. If Loki were to appear now, Cuyler was sure he would empty the entire sea onto his smug smiling face in an effort to drown the god.

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“Shut it!” Titan roared at the tiny head that moaned. He glared, staring around the room for some use of fire. There were sconces around the room that had been sitting dormant for many years. The resin on them had surely dried by now but perhaps Valda’s Magyk could be used here since it would be simply the act of providing light in complete darkness. “Here, could you light this?” Titan grabbed one of the torches from the sconce and held it in front of her.

Gleaming no more information about the Eastern SnowPlains or Mona being present, Amarantha turned back around and rejoined Apollo. ”Mona is not here so she cannot do a tracking spell for us. But, if there is anything I have learned in commanding this hell hole it is that all ancient and special things tend to be kept down in the family crypt. Shall we venture below ground and see what other things lurk in the dark?” Amarantha was also eager to learn how advanced her senses truly had become. Sure she could smell and hear better and visually things looked clearer but she wanted to test her vision more.
It seemed Amarantha would have to grow used to being a Vampire because even with Apollodora being from the future, there was still no cure for what she had been turned into. Amarantha would just have to make it work. It could come in handy with besting Fleur and whatever she was up to in hiding, as well as the Eastern SnowPlains. There of course was the issue with any kind of fire being able to burn her and kill her, much like any other human but it seemed to be worse for Amarantha now. She wasn’t afraid of many things but now fire seemed to have made that list. She would have to speak to a tailor and perhaps Mona about enchanting a suit of armor to repel fire. There had to be such a thing. After all the battle armor Amarantha was so fond of was dragon hide and that had fire resistance along with a minor Magykal resistance.

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Ahote covered Mryus, stepping back a few paces with the Prince in order to keep him from harm and the spew of food stuffs coming from Mona. Ahote looked away a moment so he wouldn't feel the need to become sick himself. Bruce's words still weren't settling well with Ahote. He couldn't accept that there was nothing that could be done to stop this destruction. How he could feel nothing for the body of his son a few feet away was even more astonishing. His wife on the other hand, the mother of his child had a fierce passion within her. Myth jumped forward, casting an impressive enough illusion that when accompanied by Bruce’s power caused the Frost Giant to release Mona. Ahote relaxed a fraction, watching the Frost Giant for any changes in target but it seemed the creature was afraid of them now.
”Perhaps we should leave now,” Ahote said. He sounded a bit defeated, having wanted to stay and discover more of what transpired here. They perhaps were best suited into leaving though, especially with Myrus being with them. If it wasn't for him, Ahote would protest into staying and figure out a way home himself. Ahote believed he could do a lot of good in this place. He had been helping Myrus with his ability and his confidence but the True North native wanted to do more with his ability. He had it in him, he knew he could help prevent this destruction.

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Mona saw the look on the giant's face and was momentarily concerned she had hurt the poor creature's feelings. His hold on her became gentler and he set her down with extreme care. As his hand loosened on her she gently patted it with gentle reverence. She gave him a small smile as she stepped back toward the group. She wasn't about to let him scoop her up again. It was not her most favorite experience.

As she went she searched for the head if Erasmus. Her eyes searching the ground but always keeping the giant in her periphery in case he decided that she looked like a tasty snack yet again. It did not take long until she found the noggin of her fallen friend. Or would it be more apt to say the fallen noggin of her friend? Her captive? Ah, well... She picked him up by the hair and then held him beneath either side of his jaw - very conscientious of where her flesh was in relation to his pointy bits. "Are yeh al'right?" she asked him.

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"I don't recommend us really asking him too many questions... As something tells me that just the head of it can be violent and probably hurt us or something..." Valda said towards her sister when she suggested asking the head of the vampire questions. It might be a good idea in the long run, but also what were the odds that they'd be able to get it to answer any of their questions? If the vampire had come to attack them, then it wouldn't really answer any questions most likely.

When Titan asked about her potentially lighting a torch for them, she nodded her head slightly, before she felt the Magyk in her hands, and there was a spark of fire, and after another moment the torch was lit. Hearing Luna's words, she walked over slightly to see just who it was that she was talking to, and saw that it was one of the servants around. "It is alright, we won't hurt you... Are you okay?"

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Bruce didn't say anything right off the bat once the Frost Giant put Mona down. This whole situation was a bit on the messed up side, since he had hoped that Ragnarok would never really happen, at least in his lifetime. The problem is that they couldn't stop it, at least not in the way that most people would consider stopping it. All they could do was post pone the inevitable and hope that they don't die in the attempt. Knowing that, they were going to have an uphill battle stopping this from happening so soon.

"Yeah, let's get out of here and hope that we can actually manage to post pone this from happening," Bruce said, shaking his head slightly as the fire started swirling around them. He made sure that he had everyone before he went to work taking them back to the present. After a few minutes of the fire swirling all around them, they would find themselves back in the Palace. Now the question is, what were they going to do?

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Sylvi felt the hunger starting to get to her once again, and she wasn't so sure what to really do about things. It wasn't an uncontrollable hunger yet, but she knew that sooner or later it would become almost unbearable and she worried that she'd hurt Antonije if she lost control of it. Her mind went to how close she had come earlier to biting him in the midst of the chaos. She had lucked out on the fact that there was already someone who was dead near them, so she didn't have to worry about hurting him, but now that fear was back again.

I-I-I don't really know what to think... she said, hearing his words about everything, and she didn't really think too much about what was going on. His words did ring in her mind, and she thought about what it was that he had said. They had to worry about what they were going to do at some point. Considering the fact that she'd need to drink blood in order to survive. She glanced towards the front door for a moment now, when he mentioned their neighbor, and she nodded her head slightly. O-O-Okay...

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The Palace Crypt - the Castle...

The little boy, hardly older than five, happened to be Milo, the groundskeeper's son. He was a fairly quiet child, preferring to spend his time in the gardens among the plants rather than talking with other people. It had become a bit of a point of contention with his teacher at the Yellow School in the Ramblings. "I'm fine..." Milo mumbled, gingerly accepting Luna's request and crawling out from the coffin he had been hiding in. There was blood on his shirt, but it was hard to tell if the blood was Milo's or not.

The group wouldn't be alone for long though, as there was the sound of footsteps going down the stairs. Amarantha and Apollodora. Apollodora smirked slightly, recognizing the Royals assembled there. "Queen Valda - a pleasure," she said, crossing her arms. "Biter head? Cool." Almost as if on cue, the head started to hiss dramatically, bearing its fangs - did the little vampire expect that they were just going to waltz on over there and allow themselves to be bitten? "Are you gonna kill that or do I have to do it for you?" Apollodora then asked.

The head hissed at her and the time traveler rolled her eyes, sarcastically hissing back (though she lacked the fangs for it). "Annoying piece of shit," she muttered.

---

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"Oh I'm fucking peachy," Erasmus rasped, a black fluid dripping out of his mouth as he talked. The beheaded vampire didn't seem to have taken on any additional damage, even with Bruce using his cosmic flames to transport them back in time. The group landed in the courtyard outside the Palace, essentially in between the barracks and the Royal Family's dwelling. The death and decay was not nearly as bad here as it had been out in the front lawn by the boat launch where Bonfire Night had been celebrated. Myrus wished that their foes could have been more like Byleirst - at least they had been able to more or less reason with the Frost Giant.

Myrus was dismayed to see everything that had happened here once again. It wasn't just a complete failure on their part to keep the people of the Castle safe, but it also showed how woefully ill prepared they were. He had been trying to Fleur-proof the Palace and he had utterly failed. If these vampires could get in so easily, why hadn't she come to kill them yet? Was she toying with them like food? The prince's hands started to tremble and they glowed softly as his ability threatened to unleash itself on the unwary. "W-well... Like I said, the myths say it starts with Baldur's death so... Maybe we just convince the God of Light to hide somewhere? I'd say here but... This place clearly isn't safe," Myrus explained softly. His stomach was still tied into knots as they hadn't found his sisters yet.

There was one place he could think of though that would conceivably be safe. "The Port Palace, maybe... It's hidden, no one can get inside unless Valda or Luna or I let them in... It's got some serious Magyk to in there, I think I read once that you can somehow even get to the Lagoon by it in seconds..."

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He was a little bit disappointed that Sylvi was agreeing to his idea - part of him had hoped that she would push back, accuse him of coming up with vile and evil ideas, and refuse to take part in them. Antonije thought the world of her and he didn't want her to turn into a monster like him, but she was going to need to kill in order to survive. There was then the entire problem of Arya Rincewind and her vendetta, as that most likely would include Sylvi now, but he could tackle one issue at a time. Maybe he would be back to get her out of the country - bards could work anywhere. They could go to the Big Wild Land maybe. That place seemed nice.

Antonije kissed her forehead. I'll handle everything. We can ration him out for you, make sure you don't run out too fast... he offered. Slowly, he let go of her, allowing her out of his grasp. His movements were hesitant and slow, ready to resume his earlier cuddling position within a moment's notice if it was required. Giving her a smile, he moved around the small little room, looking for something that he could use to end the man's life. He didn't really feel like getting into his head - not now. He wanted to keep his telepathic powers ready for Sylvi if she needed it - and as an early warning system if Arya were to turn up.

"Perfect," he finally said, pulling a hammer from his tools. "I'll be back with your snack in a minute, unless you want to join me?"

---

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A hologram of the Tesseract flickered to life in Arnora's hands, the strangely glowing blue cube visible for all to see. There was no sign of recognition in Rowland's eyes, but that was hardly surprising. Very few people on Midgard had ever heard of an Infinity Stone before, most of those who did came from the Eastern SnowPlains, and those who knew what a containment vessel such as the Tesseract would look like comprised an even smaller group. "You Felt her power?" Rowland asked. Halley was braced for Rowland to smack Cuyler around again, to maybe go on some sort of rant about how Cuyler couldn't have possibly sensed that, but only an uncomfortable silence followed those words.

Cuyler was also surprisingly managing to keep his powers under control, as if he hadn't just been told about Arya's death and had instead been informed that it might rain later that evening. The anger in Rowland's shoulders released as he stepped backwards and to the side, allowing the small group entrance to Wizard Tower. "You two may peruse our library, accompanied by Jarvis Yule," Rowland told Halley and Arnora, though his eyes were on Cuyler. "Cuyler, we need to discuss this - privately. If you're right... Then what has happened to Arya is worse than death..."

"... Alright-y then," Halley commented, stepping into Wizard Tower. It had been a while since she was there and the Floor flashed up at her in its usual overly colorful greeting. It was one of the more beautiful uses of Magyk in Wizard Tower, the way the soft sands of this floor would rearrange and change in color, identifying each person who tread through the entrance hall.

To Rowland, the Floor greeted:

To Halley:

To Arnora:

To Cuyler:

Halley couldn't help but snicker a little bit, spotting the flashing colors that appeared at Cuyler's feet. "Thank you, Rowland," she then said, regaining her composure. Had Cuyler not been in so vulnerable a state, she probably would have teased him more about it, but she sensed he had been through enough for the moment.

The ExtraOrdinary Wizard nodded and within a few moments, Jarvis Yule had come down the moving staircase. "... What is he doing here?" he asked instantly, zeroing in on Cuyler. He didn't recognize the girls with him, but he doubted Cuyler's presence here at Wizard Tower meant anything good.

"He and I are going to discuss some matters - I'll fill you in later, Jarvis. Now if you would please take these two ladies to the Pyramid Library and assist them with whatever they need, I'll come to retrieve them once I finish with Cuyler," Rowland said.

Jarvis nodded, still looking a bit skeptical about this situation. "Alright, let's go," he said, mouthing the word motherfucker at Cuyler before he stepped onto the staircase and waited for Arnora and Halley to join him. Once the pair of them were on the stairs, he instructed for the staircase to move at time, the rotating steps not ceasing until they were on the landing for the Pyramid Library. "Ready?" Halley asked Arnora.

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Proud of herself for facing a freaking giant and living to tell the tale, Myth put down the "boulder" and allowed the others to do their work. It seemed the woman had some fight in her, though Myth may not have appreciated the methods. Still, the giant put her down. "You're welcome" Myth told her, noticing the woman had not thanked her for aid. Mayhaps Bruce was right.

And speaking of the dear man, he managed to transport them back to the present and she had never been so happy to see the courtyard. She wanted to go back home and pick up her baby and hug him, but she knew they still had work to do. Regardless with what Bruce said, she had every intention of stopping Ragnarok, or at least stopping the event she just witnessed. She would not see her family on the ground. Not without a fight.

"Well we are back, safe and sound thankfully. Thank you, love. I still think we need to check on Tate and his girl when we have time, but up to you. What's next?"

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Fleur had not told anyone else apart from those in her coven about Nera and about her feelings for the woman. Hell, the coven wasn't even aware of the true thoughts and feeling she still hed for her. "She was my best friend, my closest confidante. She was my second-hand when I needed someone and she obeyed without question, but it ran more than just me as leader. I felt a kinship within her I had never felt before with anyone. As a leader of a large group, you learn to never trust anyone really. This one was the first I allowed any sort of trust. And she was taken from me by that woman. So, I will see her dead upon the ground."

Fleur wondered what other work the woman had left to do despite following her with the probable intention of killing her. "Of course, dear heart. I don't expect you to drop everything and come with me. You are a woman of your own and you will find that while I may lead my flock, they are, more or less, left to their own devices. In fact, if you would like, I could aid you in your work. As a way of cementing this newfound partnership we have. Up to you though, my dear. I have some business to finish here and then I will be as free as a raven."

---

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Luna gently gave Milo a pat on the head, looking over she noticed that his clothes were bloodied as well and started to wonder if he was hurt or if it was someone elses. "Are you hurt or anything?" Luna asked him sounding concerned she did care about the servants that worked with them around the castle. She looked over at her sister wondering if keeping the head was a good idea or not, she thought it was a good idea. "We just keep the head in some kind of glass case so that way it doesn't bite us." Luna suggested, she was pretty sure that the head had some kind of answers for them.

Luna held onto the dagger that the vampire held, as she turned her head towards the stairs as she could hear a set of footsteps coming down from the stairs. Gripping the dagger tightly she was ready to defend herself right now, eventually Amarantha and some other woman came down the stairs. Sighing in relief that Amarantha was alright and quickly ran over towards her closest friend, teacher, and bodyguard and hugged her tightly. "Thank god you are okay." Luna said hugging Amarantha. "Have either of you seen Myrus?" Luna asked.

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Arnora looked at the tesseract that she had made, and smiled mostly to herself that she was able to recreate an image of it as well, but it seemed that Rowland was more focused on Cuyler looking at the marks on his cheek for a moment. Eventually they were allowed inside following shortly behind Halley. She hadn't been in here since the night that Arya had died during the whole fight with Cthon, as she watched the floor messaging each person in a greeting. Arnora raised an eyebrow slightly when it called her a Snowman Warrior, sure her mother was the goddess of bowhunting, skiing, winter, and mountains. "Snowman Warrior really?" Arnora said mostly to herself.

But the floor's greeting to Cuyler was actually more funny to her as she snickered as well calling him an Asshat, but she wasn't going to say anything about it. Arnora looked towards the Jarvis guy and gave him a slight nod looking over towards Halley and nodded towards her. "More than ready." She said as she started to make her way towards the stairs, hopefully Loki didn't move from where he was either.

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Luckily for Cuyler, his powers remained in check; however, without an outlet of his power being released there was a large amount of agitation and tension underneath his skin. Rowland showed a calmer side but Cuyler knew he was about to be drilled with questions. ”What could be worse than death?” He shook his hands out and ran a hand over his beard. The feel of her power, the memories that it brought. It was so real, it couldn’t have been faked there was no possible way.
They walked into the tower and the Floor lit up for each one of them. Cuyler presented the middle finger to the Floor before he shot a glare at his cousins who snickered. ”Well maybe if I wasn’t kept in the dark, I could have done something,” he snapped at them. Jarvis mouthing the word motherfucker did not help matters any further. Cuyler looked at Rowland. His shoulders were tensed and face was red but his eyes betrayed a deeper emotion of sorrow and there was a heaviness in his chest. ”Rowland, if I had known I never would have left, I would have been here. I could have…” He shook his head and his vision started to blur.

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The two women entered the Crypts and Amarantha was surprised to find people already down below. She pushed herself away from Luna as soon as her friend hugged her and expressed her relief at being safe. Amarantha swallowed and shook her head. Her focus shifted to the hissing head and Amarantha narrowed her eyes at the thing. ”I’d like to keep that thing alive for awhile longer if you don’t mind. Burn the body but keep the head. Perhaps this one will know more about the Eastern SnowPlains sending the Vampires here in the first place. As for the Prince, I have not seen him.” Amarantha avoided looking at Luna for any long periods of time. Titan meanwhile shifted off and set fire to the body with his torch. He frowned at the head, wishing he could do the same to it.
”Valda, do you know of any chains that can keep anything with a Magykal ability chained?” She looked at Apollodora to see if she wanted to elaborate any further. Luck was still on Amarantha’s side and she felt zero need to feed on the large amount of warm-blooded people in the room. She only hoped her luck wouldn’t run out. Not with these people in the room. Amarantha's eyes shifted back to Luna at these thoughts. She was relieved to see her friend alive and well and that Titan was able to keep them alive. She had done right leaving them in his charge when she was unavailable. He would make a good leader when Amarantha had to leave.

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Bruce managed to bring them all back to the present in one piece. Ahote looked around at the still standing palace and deflated a bit. The destruction of the present paled in comparison to the destruction of the future. The end of days was coming and three years didn’t seem like a long time. He looked back at Bruce and nodded to him. ”Thank you.” He was grateful to be back, that place held no happiness but Ahote was still determined to stop that future from happening.
Ahote looked to Prince Myrus and nodded. They had to start somewhere but even with all of Ahote’s determination, he held no advanced knowledge like Myrus had or first hand knowledge like Bruce. He would follow their lead but push boundaries when he felt the need to. Ahote’s only concern now was them meddling and causing the future to happen sooner or in a worse way. ”We need to be careful with whatever plan we come up with. I am sure your gods have many enemies, so if we decided that killing the one that kills Baldur is what we need to do, another may just step up to the plate sooner and bring on Ragnarok that much faster.”

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Mona smiled with relief at his statement. The sarcasm of it went right over her bushy-haired head. She did have some concern over the black liquid that flowed from his mouth and wondered what it could be. She should probably take him to a healer to get that looked at. Nevermind that he was just a head. She had only ever known him as a head.

She had not anticipated the spark of flame about her again. Her heart raced to a panic as she was transported from the future world back to the past. Back to normal, here and now present. Good. She was all sorts of nervous and flighty about being in the future. She didn't belong there just yet.

Ideas were being thrown about. People making plans hither and thither. Mona turned her attention from the head in her hands to the ground. "Well, cannae much o' nuthin' be done 'til we be talkin' to the Bally-man," she said matter of factly. For all their planning it would do no good if he did not cooperate. Best take care of that when the time came - cross that bridge so to speak. Besides, maybe the Ball-dun would know a thing or two to do. Or maybe their meddling would make things happen? It was all very confusing. Mona came to the conclusion she did not at all like knowing the future.

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Valda gave the boy a slight smile when he came out of his hiding place, when the addition of a few new voices interrupted her thoughts. Turning, she looked at the new people in the area, only really recognizing Amarantha. "Uh, I don't mean to sound rude or blunt or anything. But who are you? And why do you seem to know things about the vampires or whatever?" she asked Apollodora bluntly, having no idea who the woman was at all.

She then turned to pay more attention to what it is that Amarantha was saying about keeping the head alive. "We should just get rid of the head if you ask me, the fact that we're talking about walking around with a talking head is insanity..." Valda said, shaking her head, but then she raised an eyebrow at the comment about the Eastern Snow Plains. "So, you're saying that the Eastern Snow Plains attacked us and sent those vampires here to the Palace?" With that, she considered what it was that Amarantha asked her about the Magykal chains and such, giving her something to think about.

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"Just getting my grandfather to hide or something is not going to be a simple thing, let me tell you that. No, it is not going to be as simple as that, nothing ever is... Besides, death is inevitable, even for us, so like I said, we can only really post pone this, you can't stop Ragnarok, it is the end of time as I have said before," Bruce said, shaking his head slightly at the mention of trying to get his grandfather to hide somewhere. He had almost asked if they had met his grandfather and actually knew him, but stopped himself since he realized that yes, they had never actually met Baldur.

Then, Bruce turned his head towards Myth, thinking about her words. Things were completely screwed up at the moment, and he needed to see about tracking down where his sister went. After all, the whole concept of Ragnarok happening was majorly important right now, with everything that was going on with his great-uncle, that was definitely concerning too. "...Not too sure if Tate would want to talk to me right now... You go check up on them okay? I need to see about tracking down my sister and letting her know about this. The fact that we saw that image, and we came to Midgard originally to see about dealing with Loki, that can't be ignored. That future we saw was only 3 years from now, it's something she should be aware about..."

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If you say so... she muttered softly into his mind, not too thrilled at the idea of him leaving her by herself. Especially if there was a slight chance that she'd lose control of her bloodlust while he was gone. That was what mainly concerned her, is that she'd lose it or something and hurt the first person who came through that door. It was something that was on her mind a lot, especially considering she was getting hungry again right now. Sylvi was so confused, she had no idea what to do about anything.

"H-h-hurry up okay Tate? I-I-I don't know if I can handle being by myself for very long right now..." she admitted to him, looking up to meet his eyes. That was only partially true, it was a combination of that and the fact that she was getting hungry again. If Tate was in the room alone with her for much longer, what was to stop her from accidentally hurting him? Sylvi didn't want to hurt anyone, but it didn't seem like she'd have much of a choice, considering what she was now. So, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she ended up hurting those who deserve it.

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The Palace Crypt - the Castle...

Milo shook his head at Luna. The blood on his clothing wasn't his and understandably, the poor thing was traumatized. All of the death and tragedy that had occurred at Bonfire Night was just too much for sweet Milo. Apollodora at the least was more talkative, helpfully chiming in as Amarantha asked the Queen about some chains. "They're stronger than the gods - meant to keep a big, bad wolf under lock and key," she added.

Now, while Valda won't know much about these chains, she will know that they keep just about anything of Magykal value in the Palace Vault on the first floor. It isn't too far from the Queen's Room, being located in the Library Wing. It will take her a moment, but thinking on what Apollodora said about a wolf, she'll have a vague recollection of a story she heard back when she was a Wendron Witch. Eons ago, in the ancient times, a goddess of death attempted to rise and cast out the other gods. She was killed by a dragon and her wolf was slain, but the legend goes that they would return again. Only a set of carefully crafted chains would be able to hold the wolf at bay. Now, depending on who told the story it would either end with the prediction that one day, a young witch would have to chain the wolf to prevent the end of the world... or that a young witch would break the chains and bring about end of times.

"I'm Apollodora," she introduced herself, smirking slightly. "And I know about the Biters because in my time, they've infested the world - and I've made a name for myself slaughtering them."

The 19th Floor - Wizard Tower, the Castle...

The Floor made a rather crude drawing in response to Cuyler's finger and it was a good thing no little kids were around to see it. Rowland ignored the little spat between Cuyler and the Floor, taking them up the moving staircase to the 19th floor. No one lived on this floor of Wizard Tower, as this was where wizards went to study the Darke. It was quarantined to this area, that way the Darke Magyk couldn't get out and Infest the entire Tower.

Rowland didn't respond to Cuyler's feeble pleas that he would have stayed and done something. He still had a lot of anger in his soul at the boy and he didn't trust himself to not snap even more at Cuyler, maybe even try to strangle him, if they came to that topic again. Instead, he unSealed the door to the 19th floor and stepped on through, Sealing the door behind them once Cuyler had come on through. Rowland sighed, taking a seat on a stool. The wrinkles in his face seemed especially pronounced in the low lighting here. It was hard to make out much of what was on this floor, but one thing would be easily visible - the shining white skull on the windowsill.

"You ask what could be worse than death..." Rowland began, his voice weary and low. "Arya was no ordinary child - for she was born not of man and woman but of woman and Magyk... Her powers were too much for her and there was a Darkenesse inside of her... My sister, Becky, was the midwife to Selesia Rincewind. We helped to hide the peculiar nature of Selesia's child... I agreed to take Arya on as my apprentice, as we feared that if she did not have a strong, firm guiding hand... she would become corrupted by the deep Magyk that brought her into existence."

"So I ask you, Cuyler? What happens if that child brings herself back to this world? Would she remember who she was...? If what you say is true... Then it is likely that her soul was lost to the Darke... We have to kill her, Cuyler. It's the only way to save Arya."

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Myrus could have sworn that there was a legend that said exactly who would kill Baldur, but it refused to come to mind. He wondered if he had just imagined that detail in the prophecy, though to be fair he was hardly a scholar of the myths of the Land of Long Nights. He was a recent convert to that religion and tended to just know the basics. He hadn't even really picked a god or goddess to call his patron just yet. Though... from what he could tell about Bruce, he figured the demigod would be mad if Myrus didn't pick him.

"Well it's almost always the Frost Giants in the stories - or Loki..." Myrus suggested, the name of the person who would kill Baldur still escaping him. He was a bit shocked as Mona called the God of Light the Bally-man, half expecting a bolt of sunshine to come down and kill her where she stood. He bit his lip slightly, hearing what Bruce was saying to his wife, Myth. They had come down from Asgard looking for Loki? What had Loki gotten up to? From what he knew about the God of Mischief, it was hardly anything good. "Look, I'm going to go find my sisters... It's getting rather late. But tomorrow morning, I'd like to invite you guys to the Royal Council so we can talk about all of this," Myrus suggested. Myth and Bruce seemed to have things they needed to go off and do.

He looked then at Ahote and Mona. "You're welcome to come, if you'd like..." he added. Myrus then left the courtyard and entered the Palace via the Long Walk. Thinking for a moment about where his sisters might have gone to hide if not the Queen's Room, Myrus went straight for the Crypt. It was mostly luck though that led him down there and his face broke out into a wide, earnest smile as he saw his sisters - and some people he didn't know.

"Valda, Luna, thank heavens you're alright!" he exclaimed, rushing forward and hugging his siblings.

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About ten minutes passed before the door to Room 847 opened again and Antonije dragged in a body after him. The man was still alive, but barely. His face had been bashed in with a hammer and he looked more like a deflated balloon than a person. Every few seconds, there was a pained wheeze as he gasped for breath, doubtlessly in unbearable agony. "Oof, sorry," Antonije apologized, before he brought his heel down hard on the man's neck. There was a audible crack! as his neck snapped and Antonije just smiled, a bit of blood on his face (no doubt from when he had attacked their neighbor with the hammer).

"Will this work? I can try to drain some of the blood, maybe store it in wine bottles or something..." Antonije proposed, closing the door behind him. He would need to go and clean up the scene at the neighbor's place, but he wanted to make sure that Sylvi got to eat first. She had seemed so hungry - he didn't need his telepathy to tell that primal need. Ironically though, now that the food is here, Sylvi's bloodlust is actually waning. She's completely in control of it - for the moment. "I could even see about getting some herbs if you want to season him..."

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Jarvis shook his head at the two girls, feeling too tired to be dealing with whatever nonsense they had going on. He opened up the door to the Pyramid Library - and Halley couldn't help but be a bit in awe of how beautiful it was. Shaped like a square pyramid, each wall was covered with books - some of them literature, others books filled with Charms and spells. They were organized by subject and date, with some of them dating back to the Old World. Little butterflies made out of paper fluttered around near the ceiling and a young girl, Minerva Frost, sat on one of the royal blue sofas with a book in her lap.

The young woman glanced up, her face brightening into a smile as she spotted Arnora. "Shut up!" she squealed. "It's been way too long!" Minerva exclaimed. The last time she had seen Arnora had been back when the Sickenesse still plagued the Castle. "Please tell me Grimspound isn't with you," she then added quickly. "That guy was such a prick..."

Halley frowned slightly, having been expecting Loki and not a young witch. "Erm, do you two know each other?" she asked. Jarvis went around the room for a moment, making a big deal of picking up the rugs and some of the cushions on the sofa as he "checked for this powerful intruder." He was pretty certain that these girls were just wasting his time.

"See? Nothing here," he pointed out. "Did Cuyler put you up to this? As if the asshole hasn't done enough to break Blaise's heart..."

"Oh, sorry, where are my manners?" Minerva asked, shaking her head. "I'm Minerva Frost," she introduced herself, extending a hand to Halley. "Peckett's my uncle, I'm here visiting Wizard Tower, getting a feel for whether or not this place will work for me..."

Halley did not take Minerva's hand. "Arnora - can you do another tracking spell for You-Know-Who?"

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Violet nodded slightly, feeling a deep understanding of Fleur's reflection on the woes of leadership without even really recalling why. She had no memories of leading anyone - though she supposed Antonije counted as someone she commanded. He was more or less her henchman when it came to this line of work, but the work needed to be done. The Castle wasn't safe with the immoral and criminal allowed to just go about as they pleased - goodness knows Amarantha, the Army Leader, hadn't done anything about it. And from what Violet understood, Queen Valda the Wild knew nothing about how to run a country.

"I wish I could help you bring her back," Violet said softly. She knew that Fleur was incredibly powerful, but her Magyk must not have been enough to bring her loved one back from the grave. Violet knew that some Magykal force kept those who passed away in this realm as ghosts, echoes of who they had been in life, and that they were not able to properly pass on because of it. Sometimes, when she slept, Violet would wake up with the certainty that she had died - that that was how she had come to be in Limbo, the strange place between astral planes... Her eyes flickered around the dark streets of the Port. Prime hunting hours would be beginning soon. "Let's attend to your business - and then we can find each other again soon... Perhaps at the witching hour?"

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"It was certainly them." Luna said showing Valda the dagger that she had taken off of the vampire that tried to attack her, she looked towards Amarantha for a moment, seeing that she was avoiding looking at her for some reason. "Is everything okay?" Luna asked, she knew Amarantha pretty well, and was expecting a little more. She looked at the other woman who had came down into the crypts with Amarantha wondering who she was exactly. She seemed to know more about the vampires as well, as the body was burned by Titian as well she gave him a slight nod glad that the body was gone. "I agree keeping the head could tell us something.." Luna said softly.

She then heard some more footsteps coming down from the stairs and saw that Myrus was alright and quickly ran over towards him and hugged him as tightly as she could. Sighing softly she was really happy that he was alright as well, biting her bottom lip for a moment as Luna remembered seeing Mavis' body out in the courtyard as well. "I'm so sorry about Mavis Myrus.." Luna said softly as she started to look over at Milo who was there. "We should get you out of here." Luna said offering to help him out if he needed it.

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Arnora still felt pretty bad after keeping the secret from him about Arya, but she didn't say anything else, as she went up the stairs as soon as she stepped into the room. She took in the sights again, she hadn't been here in awhile after dropping off that kid back during the Sicknesse months ago. She turned her head when she heard a familiar voice and she wasn't expecting to see Minerva here at all or seeing her again either for that matter. "It's been a really long time." Arnora said giving her a friendly smile, and quickly shook her head at the mentioning of Grimspound. "No, he's actually dead. He pissed off a woman for being sexist an flung him out of the tower actually." Arnora answered.

Turning towards Halley for a moment. "I met her when I first came here with Grims and another person as well back during the Sicknesse, and the day of your brothers wedding as well." Arnora said, as she closed her eyes and started to do the tracking, she was easily detecting him here. "He is definitely here, I tried to use a spell to reveal him but he's way stronger than me." Arnora whispered to Halley looking over towards Jarvis rolling her eyes slightly towards him. "He's most likely using powerful magyk right now to hide himself you know, so probably moving rugs and cushions wont reveal his location I tried just now he's more poweful than me." Arnora pointed out.

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Cuyler was about ready to continue the theme of attacking the Floor when Rowland led him away and up the stairs after the others had left. He followed Rowland slowly, wondering why they were on the 19th floor. He knew of what this floor was, simply because of Arya but they never ventured here. When they walked in Cuyler felt like he was about to be interrogated or punished. He remained standing, on edge while Rowland spoke. It seemed at the very least, the man believed him. After Cuyler spotted the pristine skull, he tried his best to ignore it and sat down across from Rowland. ”So you believe me then, that Arya is still alive? Thank the gods,” he sighed. The rest of what Rowland said though, didn’t sit well with him. ”Kill her to save her? Rowland what are you talking about?”
Cuyler was feeling a flush of emotions again. He knew Arya was alive and than Rowland had beaten him down with words that Arya was in fact dead. Now again, Rowland was agreeing and saying she was alive. To say Cuyler felt like he was running in circles, feeling each emotion slam into him like the training sessions on Asgard was an understatement. Cuyler held his hands in head, feeling conflicted. He couldn’t kill Arya, there was no way. That wasn’t even fathomable.

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Amarantha rolled her eyes as her questions were delayed from answer due to Valda’s demand on who Apollodora was. Honestly, would Amarantha bring someone she didn’t trust around the royals? No, she definitely would not. Still, Amarantha crossed her arms and waited patiently. Luna questioned her and she looked over at her friend. ”Nothing, perfectly happy,” she lied to her friend and looked back at Valda. ”Yes the Eastern SnowPlains. We questioned one of those vampires before things got a little out of hand. I want to keep this one around to do the same again. Titan please take him to the Barracks.” Titan frowned a bit at the dismissal but nodded before leaving. He passed Mryus and nodded to the Prince before continuing on.
When Mryus and Ahote walked into the room Amarantha sighed again. Yet more delays to her quest. Time was of the essence here. She looked back at Apollodora, surprised that her timeline was infested with vampires. Well that would have been good to know, especially considering now. Amarantha shifted and then a scent caught her nose. Her pupils widened and she look at Mryus. ”I need to leave.” Amarantha’s luck had just run out and Mryus’s heart was beating rather fast in his neck.

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Ahote nodded, agreeing with Mryus that a break to think and regroup was the best idea. They would all get a full night's sleep and would be able to better think of a plan. Hopefully by then Bruce would find his siblings and they would all have a better idea of what to do. ”I will come with you,” Ahote told Mryus. It would be good to see the rest of the royal family and ensure their safety. He had felt mildly guilty for not following the Queen and Princess through the cupboard. Hopefully his gamble to stay did not end up in getting Mryus's siblings killed.
Lennox, who had gone into a bit of a shock after being transported three years into the future had finally found his voice again (may have forgotten him…). “I’m going to head back to the barracks then if you are going with him Ahote. I will come find you again once I know the damage of the Castle better,” he said before sprinting off.
Ahote turned and followed Mryus inside and down the crypts. As they entered the hallway Titan passed with a severed head that seemed to still be alive. Vampire by the looks of those teeth. He gave a simple nod to Titan as well before they walked into the crypts. It seemed they were lucky and found who they were looking for right away, Amarantha was even there with a newcomer of sorts. Ahote smiled, hanging back as Mryus greeted his siblings. He was very pleased as well to see them all alive. Amarantha spoke up about needing to leave and Ahote frowned a bit. ”Amarantha, is everything well?” She was staring at Mryus rather intently and there was this wild look in her eye.

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Myth shook her head. "For all we know, your sister is somewhere else entirely. Whereas we know exactly where Tate is at this moment. He has undergone so much in recent months and what happened here is no different. Especially with Sylvi. I do not like what I have seen of that relationship. I don't trust it. But I have only been his family for a short time whereas you have had more time for him. He needs you, whether you both realize it or not."

Myth would go, but she would prefer having her husband on board. She understood the need to inform his sister of what they saw, but since it wasn't likely going to begin in the next hour, they could take a slight detour. "I would prefer we both go, but you do what you feel you have to. Both are family matters."

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Fleur thought a moment. Her remaining business was to bid Nera farewell and though she shared more with this woman, it didn't solidify any trust she had of her. Hell, this was founded on deception. "My business will only take a mere few minutes. It is just saying goodbye to an old friend. Afterward, we can be off to wherever you need to go."

With that, Fleur entered the old Coven home. If Violet followed, it was all right. She made her way up the stairs back to the room Nera was in. "Wanted to say goodbye as this will probably be the last time I see you before everything transpires. Whatever happens, wherever you do go, just know I will miss you."

She stayed a moment, to let Nera say what she needed, then made her way back down to collect Violet. "All right. Shall we be off?"