[IC] St. Sappho Academy, Medieval Magic Academy (Invite Only)

[Pyromania99]

Eith and Lunalel Lightsword

Eith practically showed her teeth to the ninja as she heavily swatted the hand away. "Not this one." She grumbled. For someone that was not worried about taking away the life of Eith's food-giver, this person was being awfully friendly. The hound took a more defensive stance as Luna started to speak.

"So what you mean to say is we might already be late as it is? If so, we might want to proceed more quickly." The Knightess mentioned, looking to Eith. The hound didn't seem especially happy, though that was likely more the doing of Ayumi than anything else. "Eith?"

The hound gave her a small glance and replied, "What is it Swordwoman?" She kept her annoyed stare on the ninja for the most part though.

"Where is Selvina and Lyssa."

"Outside. I told Caras that Lyssa acted weird, so she went to talk to her."

"I see. . . I need to talk with Selvina. I'll make myself scarce until they finish talking at least." Luna said as she walked past Ayumi and Eith. She stopped at the door and looked at Eith. "Can you keep an eye on our. . . Guest?"

Eith looked back tentatively. "I have her scent already. If she decides to run, I can chase her to the ends of the earth."

Luna nodded at her companions answer and walked off towards the exit, waiting for a better time to appear if Lyssa and Selvina were still talking. Eith, meanwhile, just stood there and watched Ayumi. She was sure that she wouldn't let such a hostile woman go as she pleased.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Ayumi~

"O-oh?~" Ayumi tilted her head to the side at the sight of the hostile hound. Heh, well...wouldn't this be fun? She vaguely registered Luna's comments, more focused on the hellhound in front of her. With a bright smile Ayumi turned to face Luna as she left, an impish smirk forming on her lips.

"Don't worry about me!~" She giggled. "I am riiiight where I wanna be~" Ayumi turned her gaze back to Eith. Well, this would certainly be quite entertaining, no?

"No, no, I'm pretty sure you are a good wittle puppy." Ayumi said, touching one of Eith's ears, regardless of the danger. "An adorable, good wittle puppy!~"

~Lyssa~

"Whaaa? Everyone can be adorable! Well, not as adorable as me, buuut that's not their fault. Competing with me is just silly, hehe!" She giggled, leaning slightly into Selvina. "And erm...is it that obvious, eh?" She continued, giving the young...prince? Princess? A small smile. The demon looked towards the ground, shaking her head. "I'm just...I don't like fighting." She replied after a few minutes. "Seeing people get hurt, it just...makes me sad is all. Anyone! Even if I know I shouldn't care or they're someone I should be angry with. Fighting doesn't solve anything, does it? It just gets people hurt and when someone gets hurt someone will always be sad about it and that makes me sad."

Well, it wasn't exactly some sort of life changing revelation or something, but it was the truth.

"Hehe, sorry...I'm fine, really! Just, a bit in shock I guess? I was just...really scared one of you were going to get hurt, since well, you and your adorable butt are my best friend."

[Pyromania99]

Eith the Shellagh

Eith pulled back as the Ninja went for her ears and instinctively bit back the hand the petted her. With the human teeth she had at the moment, it probably wouldn't draw much (if any) blood but it would have hurt. Eith didn't keep her mouth on a filthy degenerate such as this if she could help it. "Next time the hand comes off. Literally." Eith informed the ninja. The injury the night before should have gave her a good judge of what Eith was capable of. And the Shellagh was capable of much more. So keep your hands and body parts to yourself."

[Roleplayer001]

Selvina gave Lyssa a reassuring smile as she listened, although was a little confused. Didn't she know that adventuring could involve fights? Why did she come along then? Still though, the noblewoman listened to Lyssa and gave her another pet before continuing. "I'm sure my butt is most esteemed to share that position with me" Trying to balance with it was a complicated matter on it's own. Getting more serious though, the mage put an arm around Lyssa and gave her a small squeeze. "It's not always the best way, but sometimes two sides disagree and they can't compromise. I've lived in politics my whole life - trust me, war is expensive in many different ways. If there was a solution around it, I'm sure all the greedy monarchs of the world would have found a way around it." A few seconds past before she continued her thought. "I don't think it makes you foolish though to find it distasteful - it means that you have a conscious in there somewhere." The petting was made more intense for a few seconds as Selvina looked back towards the building, noticing Luna waiting in the doorway.

The magierprinz beckoned for her to come over, giving a small look to Lyssa. She was fairly sure she knew what this was about. "I think Luna wants to talk to me as well - how about you visit with Eith upstairs? This ... might be a bit serious."

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Ayumi~

Ayumi didn't flinch even for a second as Eith bit her. Instead, the ninja simply giggled in a somewhat pleased manner.

"Definitely good wittle puppy, hehe~" Still, the ninja could tell when it would be a fairly bad idea to do something. Sometimes, at least. Eith would probably take off her hand if she tried it again, and she needed her hands for ninja things...among other less reputable things, heh. "But alright, fine fine." She pulled back her hand, rubbing it a bit as she spoke. "So, little puppy. So...Eith is your name, eh? I am Ayumi. Nice to meet ya. Feel free to bite me in any capacity that does not involve dismemberment if you want."

~Lyssa~

Couldn't compromise? Really? Lyssa frowned, shaking her head. Surely there is always an option for compromise? Fighting should always be avoided if possible. Still, it wasn't really a topic she wanted to dwell on. Perhaps she should go visit Eith for a bit? The talk made her feel a bit better at least, but she still was a little off-put, but she couldn't blame Swen or the others for that. That was something she'd have to deal with herself.

"Alright, I'll go say hi to Ayumi." With a quick, affectionate hug that was even a familiar seeming even for Lyssa, the demon hopped back into the house where Eith was keeping an eye on Ayumi.

[Pyromania99]

Lunalel Lightsword

Luna waited for Lyssa to start walking toward her. It looked like they had a nice talk. Hopefully better than the one she was about to have with Selvina. She walked over to the Prince(ss) and scratched her head a little bit. There was too much she learned, so where was there to start. "I've good news, and I've bad news. Perhaps fortuitously, we have a way into the temple, unfortunately that way lays with your attacker." Luna explained the situation as she learned it from Ayumi, making sure not to leave out the detail that it was Ayumi she learned it all from. "Personally, I believe it's mostly true. Oh, and maybe we should tell Lyssa that it's not good to release armed assassins from the overly excessive binds. There's a reason for those. . . Maybe an additional one, but it was all necessary I believed."

Eith the Shellagh

"I don't like biting the hands of someone that tastes of deviancy as you do. Nor does it matter if you tell me your name or not." Eith mentioned, keeping an eye on the ninja. She really didn't have much to say to the ninja. She was to just look after her anyhow.

[Roleplayer001]

Selvina just looked over at Luna as she was suddenly being fed a lot of information. The girl had talked, then? That was good - the magierprinz would have been glad to help out if she wasn't willing too, although the thought unsettled her stomach a bit. It was nice to have Luna taking care of everything ... actually, that is probably where this conversation was headed.

Might as well get to it first.

"Thanks Luna. I ... I think we'll trust your instincts here. You've done most of the work for this operation, and I think it's only right you are put in charge for it. I've gone through a lot recently, and it's been distracting me from thinking clearly. And besides. You are a natural leader. It'd be nice just to follow for once."

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Lyssa & ~Ayumi~

"D-deviancy?" Ayumi seemed a bit shocked that she was called a deviant, though it was probably just fake surprise. "I like to think of myself as honest with my desires, little doggy." Ayumi said with a chuckle, voice taking a somewhat lower tone as she continued. "After all, you're here because of your own wants too, no?" Before Eith would be able to reply or even think much about the ninja's words, a certain pink-haired demon practically bounced into the room - tackling Ayumi with a hug.

"Heeeere's Lyssa!~"

"Wah!~" The ninja shouted in response - the demon had completely caught her off guard and almost sent her stumbling to the ground.

"Hey hey, Ayumi, Eith!" Lyssa said with a grin. "What ya doing? Swen told me to come back inside and say hi, so here I am!~"

"Oh, we're just discussing how much of a deviant I am, and I am being held captive by a very good wittle doggy." At this, Lyssa giggled and let the ninja go, twirling and taking a few steps away from her. The demon smiled.

"Wah? Captive? But you don't look like a captive. We need more rope!"

"I agree! Captives must be bound tightly to prevent escape."

"Right? Hey, I think the rope Luna used before is downstairs...hey hey, Eith, maybe I could get it?" Either Lyssa was playing dumb, or she legitimately didn't think Ayumi had any ulterior motives at all.

[Pyromania99]

Lunalel Lightsword

"Fair enough." Luna stated, unsurprised by the request. Luna thought it a diplomatic matter at first, but she didn't imagine it would come to someone almost dying. "I came to ask that of you. No offense, but I imagine I would be better experienced at combat. I was not expecting something quite this intricate." Luna said before sighing. "Matters have a way of complicating themselves, do they not?"

Eith the Shellagh

Eith just stood and watched the exchange between the demon and the ninja. Lyssa could protect herself. . . Right? Well, Eith decided to keep an eye out on the ninja anyhow, so she just continued. Still, eventually Lyssa asked Eith a question about getting the rope. . . Why did she asked Eith. . . "Do what you want. It matters little to me if you help in her brand of deviancy." The Shellagh looked aside as she muttered something to herself. "I guess it'll make watching her easier."

[Roleplayer001]

The magierprinz nodded with a smile on her face, then got her mind working as they sat there. "So ... what's the play then?" After the mage mentioned that however, she took a critical look at the paladin as she thought about Lady Gwynn in the corner of her mind. Selvina had her own thoughts on the subject, but now the other woman was in charge - and besides, she likely had a more well constructed plan anyways and had gone on missions more similar to the one they were currently embarking on.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Lyssa & ~Ayumi~

"It isn't deviancy!" Ayumi replied with a somewhat fake-hurt pout. "It's fun, wittle puppy! You should try it!"

"I'll go get the rope!~" Lyssa giggled brightly before zooming out of the room. As they waited on Lyssa to make her likely quick Return, Ayumi simply pressed her hands together and gave Eith a smirk, silence befalling the two. The ninja took a few steps closer to Eith, eyeing those fluffy ears of hers very likely trying to resist the urge to pet them again. Not long later, Lyssa returned with the rope.

"Fouuund it!~" Lyssa hopped back into the room. "So, wanna help tie her up Eith?~"

[Pyromania99]

Lunalel Lightsword

"I think the best option for us is to have Ayumi show us in. I don't fully trust her, but she hasn't killed us yet." Luna stated, looking to Selvina. To be safe. . . We. . . Should probably put a leash on her of sorts." She added, sounding slightly disturbed at the thought. Unbeknown to Selvina, Luna was being completely literal when she said that they should put a leash on the Ninja. "Just as a precaution."

Eith the Shellagh

"No, I will not take part in this. If you want to please her, go ahead." Eith confidently stated, keeping an eye on the ninja still. She found it odd that the stealthy person would find joy in such a thing. Eith hardly felt minor pain, but couldn't imagine enjoying it as this person did.

[Roleplayer001]

The maierprinz nodded - they would have to indeed keep a close watch on the ninja to make sure she was alright. "She could be betraying us, but then the lies she is feeding us do give us information as well." In the sense that if they figured out one part of her story was false, that other parts likely were false as well. Or if something about her tale wasn't adding up early on. "Well, unless you have something for me to do my lady I'll wait out here for the others to come down. I think it would be good to start on this journey early on as the elder advised."

[Rune_Alchemist]

“Alrighty, your loss!~” Lyssa giggled. Without waiting for another word from Ayumi or Eith, Lyssa went about tying Ayumi back up. Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, she did a much better job than Luna did in that department. By the time Luna had returned, the ninja had already been thoroughly tied from head to toe. Arms secured behind her back, legs tied together and chest area thoroughly bound.

“Hehe, there we go! Tied up pretty good. What do ya say, Eith?”

It’s annoying how quickly you did that.” Eith simply replied, looking over the demon’s handiwork with a look of irritation. At the least she didn’t seem as bothered as before.

As Selvina and Luna entered the room, the mage raised an eye at what she assumed was Lyssa’s handiwork, casting a nervous gaze over to the assassin who had terrified her the previous night. ”Yeah … um … good job.” The magierprinz felt something stir within them, but shook their head and decided to settle it later. ”Although … perhaps it would be best if they could walk, Lady Lightsword? I don’t think it would be wise on our constitution to carry her the entire way up.”

”Yes, I couldn’t carry her and climb a mountain. However. . .” Luna went silent for a few seconds before looking over Ayumi. ”So we can trust you? How do we know you won’t stab us in the back?”

“I say she can be trusted!” Lyssa said with a confident grin, holding her arms in front of her in a rather comical fashion. Maybe she was being too trusting.

“I mean, if I wanted to stab you in the back I’d have done it last night?~” Ayumi replied with an innocent tilt of her head. It was almost unbelievable how she said that, as if she actually believed it. “Iiiif it makes you feel more comfortable,” Ayumi giggled. “You can take all my knives…though, uh, unless you untie me you’re gonna have to get a liiiitle handsy.” Not that she really needed knives to fight.

”Whatever. We’ll just put her on a short leash, and since Lyssa trusts her so much, she can hold it.” Luna knew that it was a way to possibly win the allegiance of the ninja, if only temporarily. Of course, it might have seemed a figure of speech at first, but it was obvious Luna meant what she said. The Knightess didn’t want to do it herself, as it felt wrong still. Lyssa seemed to have no problem tying Ayumi up, so that was the best course of action, in Luna’s head.

Selvina let out a sigh of relief for multiple reasons - she didn’t want to haul someone who clearly had chosen her as a target up a mountain and antagonize her, but also she wouldn’t have to deal with an attention hungry Lyssa as she would obviously be occupied. ”That seems like a good idea ... seems like you’ve made a new friend, Lyssa!” The mage looked over towards Luna and Eith making her feelings obvious as her gaze eventually returned to the group leader. ”So … are we ready?”

“Yep, I’ll watch her!” Lyssa said with a bright grin. ”Though, erm, leash?” Lyssa titled her head a bit towards the knight, holding a hand to her mouth in a somewhat disappointed seeming fashion. “I didn’t know you were into that sort of thing…”

“Hey hey, before we go!” Ayumi spoke up. “We miiight wanna talk about what exactly we’re doing here. We can’t exactly just…waltz up. They won’t just let you in.”

Luna hardly took what Lyssa said seriously. ”If you’ve spent twenty minutes with me and five seconds with Ayumi, you should realize why I say that Lyssa.” The Knightess said as she turned her visage towards the ninja. ”And then that’s why you’re here. I don’t know why, but I felt you would enthused by a leash. Would I be wrong then?” Luna seemed less bothered by things when she was thinking about strategy or she was doing her damnedest to hold herself back. ”Regardless, I suppose us getting in there is up to you. So either you trick us, or you get us in.”

Lyssa simply giggled at Luna’s response and said nothing.

“Well,” Ayumi continued. “What I meant was that even if I talk to the guys at the front gate they won’t let you in even if I talk to them.” The ninja shifted a bit in her bindings. “Buuut, there’s a sort of…back door, we could take. Its an old cave system. Should lead right to the courtyard. See, once you’re in you can’t exactly just be kicked out since Lady Dawa has said that no one can leave without her express permission. Too much of a risk that someone might…go and get help oor…leave while the fox is possessing them.” Ayumi tilted her head to the side.

“Shouldn’t be much of a problem getting through there, though…the mountain gods don’t really like people trespassing. But we’ll be fine. Probably, yep.”

Selvina nodded, taking note to flip over to portions of her book that involved dispelling magic - if people could supposedly be possessed by this thing, then perhaps a bit of severing it would be nice? She already had divine shackles prepared in the worst case scenario for Eith, but they would fit anyone with a bit of luck. ”The ‘mountain gods’? Could you please explain more?” The mage’s voice was filled with the disdain of one they were clearly upset with, though she tried to be more neutral in tone.

“Can’t really say,” Ayumi said with a shrug. “The people in the village here are really wary of them. Don’t like going up the mountain when they’re not on some sort of religious pilgrimage thing. Never seen one myself, but I have heard them on the mountain every now and then. Don’t like being seen by people.”

”The Elder said as much when I asked. He said it was something that shouldn’t be talked about.” Luna nodded slightly, confirming her own memory. She looked to Ayumi. ”Is there anything else we should know about? Anyone there especially strong?”

“Hm, aside from Lady Dawa I don’t think there’s anyone else you should worry about.”

Selvina looked between the two, a little curious but not saying a lot. For some reason, she trusted the masochistic assassin person. She clearly hadn’t been meaning to actually harm them the previous night, and it was entirely possible her own actions had made the upstart get more serious. ”Is that all we should know about?”

“Other than the fact I need to use the little ninja’s room again?” Ayumi said with a grin. “Nope, nothing really.”

---

After saying farewell to the elder, the students, led by Ayumi made their way up the mountain. On their way out, many of the villagers shot them less than welcoming looks, but said nothing. They were simply glad to be rid of them, despite the Elder wanting to be hospitable towards them. As soon as they left the village, the mountain air assaulted them. It was cold, biting, and not the most inviting environment. The path up the mountain was even less so. Rocky, and in more than a few places only enough walking space for them to walk up one at a time. With Ayumi bound as she was, she couldn’t reliably lead the group up the path that well either, and more often than not they had to stop to let the ninja recollect where they were at.

Eventually, the group finally managed to make it to a small overlook on the edge of the mountain. A sheer cliff was below them, leading several feet to the snowy, rocky ground below. To their left was an entrance to a cave. The path inside seemed to have a few carved stones leading in. Perhaps it had been used at one point by humans. Either way, it had taken most of the day to reach the cavern path and the sun was already starting its descent.

“Alright, here we are!” Ayumi said enthusiastically. “So, if we keep going at this pace we should be able to make it before nightfall. The mountain gods become a loooot more active at night so it’s probably not a good idea to try and stick around.” Lyssa nodded, though the poor demon looked like she was absolutely freezing.

“Uugh, it’s colder than my aunt’s glare up here.” Lyssa said with a shiver, rubbing her arms for warmth.

“Should be warmer in the cave, without the wind and stuff – oh, and uh,” Ayumi said, shifting in her bonds. “You should probably untie me. It’s been fun and all, but if something happens it’d probably be better if I didn’t have to waste time breaking out of these, heh~”

Selvina had been cold travelling up the mountain, but Northern Germany had its own shares of harsh winters. Of course she’d usually remained within the palace walls, but going outside was unavoidable. That didn’t mean she was exactly comfortable, and the climb itself was exhausting especially with this body she wasn’t used to. She’d had to ask Eith a few times to help her up, but she made it up in one piece.

Looking over to Luna however, he eyes couldn’t avoid the natural plea for a break. She really wanted to cast a spell for warmth and go to bed immediately. The ground was starting to look very comfortable …

The noble shook their head, trying to focus on their spell list and concentration in case something went downhill. She wasn’t sure what to do about Ayumi, but Luna was in charge now so it didn’t matter.

”Well, this looks like where you said we’d go. Let’s go inside and rest.” Luna almost ordered. The way she said it with confidence gave the feel of an order, though she kept the tone more friendly if one could imagine. The trip in the cold was refreshing. It was frigid and frosty, but it was a change of pace. . . Much like when there was that flash snowstorm a bit back. ”Tell me if you notice anything odd.” The Knightess said. Everyone looked a little tired and pretty cold aside Eith. ”Anyone good at untying knots that can let Ayumi free? I think she’s fine for now.” If no one volunteered, Luna would have done it herself.

Eith looked over Ayumi but she could only burn or cut them so she said nothing. How the ninja traversed the mountains as she did was amazing. Caras was having troubles and she had free hands. Eith herself could probably have made great bounds if she were by herself and the cold didn’t bother her too much. In fact, it made her save energy a bit. The Shellagh pattered softly over to her caretaker, ”Rest for now. Unsure of what’s ahead. No risky moves.” She said, not wanting a repeat of the prior day.

Selvina nodded, sitting down on the ground near a group of rocks as she tried to catch her breath. A four hour climb wasn’t insignificant for her, and she was used to either having access to teleportation, magical elevators, or at least horses to ride on. It was a little strange to have Eith be so caring but it wasn’t bad - simply a little unusual.

“Oh, I’ll do it!~”

Lyssa quickly helped Ayumi out of her bindings. The Ninja proceeded to stretch, not seeming to particularly mind the cold too much despite her fairly light clothing.

“Phew, I kinda don’t wanna walk up the mountain tied halfway up again. Jeez, that was annoying.” She said, running her hands across her back. “You guys can rest if you want, but It’ll probably be best to get moving. Still got a bit of a walk to go.”

”Just a short rest. Then we’ll continue.” Luna said, making sure not to tire out the troopers before the really exhausting part. After about ten minutes Luna nodded to herself and then said to the rest of them. ”Hope that was a restful ten minutes. Now, let us be going. Ayumi, lead on.”

Selvina’s legs groaned as she stood back up, shaking just slightly. The mage couldn’t help but wince in pain slightly as she rose from the ground but like a good soldier she didn’t complain verbally, instead just nodding at Luna to indicate that she was prepared.

“Alrighty then!~” Ayumi said, bouncing backwards into the cave a bit. “First things first, it’s not exactly a straight path there.” She said to the gathered group. “In fact, I’ve never been here before in my life so I don’t even know where we’re going!”

That was probably worst reassuring statement ever made in the history of mankind.

“Buuut when the temple was first made the old monks used to travel through here to avoid snowstorms and whatnot. Shouldn’t be too difficult to get through, buuut I’ll lead the way since I sort of know what to look for.”

Selvina raised an eyebrow at her voice of confidence, casting a quick detection spell to see if anything else was coming up. A second later she shrugged as nothing came up, keeping along with the others.

”I see. Lux.” Luna gave her chant for a quick spell. A light appeared on her finger to give a bit more light in the surrounding area. ”Ayumi, I’ve been thinking and I couldn’t figure something. Why is it your Lady Dawa let you out of the temple, if she didn’t want anyone leaving in case of possession?” It just dawned on her that there was really no explanation on that.

“Oho, noticed that did ya?” Ayumi chuckled as she twirled, turning around and leading them through the cave following closely by Lyssa. Their footsteps echoed softly against the frozen cavern walls, Luna’s spell illuminating the walls with ease. Along the brief walk, one could see the walls decorated with a few faded carvings depicting something, but they were too faded to really read well.

“Wellll…Not gonna lie, I am the only one allowed to leave. I can’t be possessed, see – I have a, well, lets say a number of protective charms that would prevent the fox from getting near me as weak as it is. I was sort of raised to defend myself against it in this sort of scenario.” Ayumi shrugged. “I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on the village and make sure any foolish outsider doesn’t get up the mountain, but…I dunno.” Ayumi shook her head. “Things aren’t getting better, and if someone doesn’t do something, well…” Her voice trailed off.

“Anyways,” Ayumi interrupted herself as the group reached what looked to be a small chamber of some sort. The room was small, a few frozen vases were pushed up against the wall, and a few tattered rugs and mats were covering the floor. Two carved doors led out of the room, with Ayumi standing between them. A few seconds of silence passed as Ayumi seemed to ponder which way they should be going.

“So, I’m pretty sure we should go right.” She said, before taking a swift look to the door in front of them. “Ooor…is it this one….uhm, hold on, I got this.”

Luna took a look around. There was one way or the other to go. ”Let us go to the right side.” Luna said, walking over to the door and then started to open it. ”Heading back to what you said. ‘If someone doesn’t do something.’ What was the rest of this?” The Knightess asked as she pushed on the door. It was old and rusty. Heavy feeling. Took a bit of force to do, but Luna was more than strong enough to push it open, though she didn’t feel the need to push it all the way to the wall.

As Luna opened the door, it creaked against its old hinges, protesting its use. The poor, neglected item cracked as the swordswoman pushed against it, likely making further use useless. The carved hallway beyond wasn’t much different than the hallway leading up to the room.

“Well, you heard the village elder.” Ayumi said. “The kitsune is a blighted creature – doing nothing but bringing curses and plagues upon the land.” She said with a frown, perhaps a bit too forcefully. “If it gets out this entire region will be needing more than a single little nin-nin to imprison it again – so its best if we re-seal it before it happens.”

“Hey hey!” Lyssa’s voice interrupted Luna and Ayumi’s conversation as she pointed to the carvings on the wall. “What’re these things?”

“Dunno – probably just some old artwork from the first monks. They really liked carving things into stone to record ‘em. Made a bunch of fancy stonework back at the temple, too.” Ayumi said rather dismissively.

”One second, I’d like to take a look.” Selvina knew she didn’t understand the language of these monks, but her ability to resist various pieces of intellectual knowledge was very small. The noble started to look it over with a large degree of curiosity.

”Let’s not take too long.” Luna said, stepping back to take a look with Selvina. It wouldn’t be good to split up. Less that it was dangerous but more that they might not be able to find each other again easily. Eith just followed alongside her caretaker, doing her job as a bodyguard.

“We should hurry.” Ayumi complained. “Just a bunch of old carvings from crazy old men.” She said with obviously disinterest in the topic, though she didn’t make much of an effort to stop Sel from looking over them.

Still, even as they stopped for the briefest of moments would be enough for Sel to study the ancient, weathered carvings. They were much to weathered to make out anything substantial, but the scholar would be able to at least tell two things. The carvings seemed to perhaps tell a story, or at least depicted something about the creation of the temple. Two carvings that were worn beyond recognition were positioned at one end of the carving, facing each other. Some large structure was carved beneath them, with multiple ones – perhaps people, seemingly beneath it.

The next part revealed even less, but the smaller carvings seemed to be fleeing from something, but from what time and disuse had rendered it unreadable.

Sel frowned slightly as she looked over the carvings with a small pout forming on her face - she had hoped to learn something more, but in their current state of disrepair it would take an archaeological team working on this for months to glean anything accurately from it. ”I think this way … leads to something bad. It probably leads to the temple as well but … the other direction may be better at least to look at. It shows figures fleeing from some sort of danger …” The mage’s eyes drifted over to Luna. It would be best to make a decision about which path to go after examining both sides.

There could be something bad? That could be true, but it was all too hard to make out anything. Unless the older monks that lived here made traps, Luna doubted it would be anything. ”This door is open already, I say we go this way.” Luna said before she held her left arm out. ”Lucis Arma Magna.” The Knightess said as a shield of light appeared on her arm. If one had to describe it, it looked like Kite Shield. ”I believe we should be fine.” Luna said with a smile as she headed through the door, using her shield to illuminate the passage ahead.

“Probably just tells how the temple was founded or something,”Ayumi followed Luna with a dismissive shrug. “You already know about that though.” Lyssa hurried along after the two of them – it was getting colder out here and she could use a friendly hug to warm herself up.

As the group walked, a cold wind eventually started filtering into the tunnel, the path opening up to a small plateau outside of the mountain. They were incredibly high up, and in the distance on the edge of the mountain some walk away – was a large structure covered in a heavy dusting of snow. The sloping, red colored roofs could be seen even from where they were – the multi storied building looking quite out of place upon the frigid mountain.

“And that, is where we’re going.” Ayumi said, pointing to it briefly before continuing leading the group down a sloping path. “The uh, path might get a little…rocky from here, so I hope you guys are good-”

In the distance, something howled.

“…pretty sure that was just the wind.”

Selvina upon hearing the howl felt a chill go up her spine and cast one of her precious detection spells again. The native could be correct but … that wasn’t the wind right? If it was … then it was probably the creepiest place to live - ever. By far.

However when she detected nothing nearby she sighed in relief. That didn’t mean the entire mountain was empty - if the range was that large the spell would be useless since it would deliver too much information - but it did mean they wouldn't’ be getting jumped in the next minute. ”I don’t detect anything nearby ….”

”I think that might be a bit more than ‘the wind’ Ayumi. I remember the Elder mentioning creatures. Mayhap we stay cautious and keep our eyes open.” Luna suggested. She wasn’t going to die on some mountain to some creatures she knows little about. She fought a dragon so she couldn’t lose to some creature. ”We’re close to the Temple then Ayumi?”

“Eh,we’ll be fine.” Ayumi said to Luna. “Nothing here but us and the wind!~” Though the manner in which she said that was a bit suspicious.

“And we’re close enough,” Ayumi said, leading them forward. “If we’re where I think we are, then we are anyways.” Rather abruptly, the path came to a sudden halt, a section of what was once likely the path having fallen to the ground some stories below before continuing some distance on the other side. The ninja turned her head upwards, to the mountain above them. “Annnd we are. The actual road is up there.” She said, pointing up. “Could see this place from up there if you didn’t mind looking over the edge, heh.” She turned to face the gathered group.

“Welp, I can get across easily enough, but you guys might wanna get creative.”

“Wow…that’s uh, far down.” Lyssa said, taking a look at both the rocky wall and the path that continued onwards.

Selvina had a teleportation spell so that she could move a short distance, but that wouldn’t be able to help the rest of the party. ”I think I can handle myself. What about you guys?”

Looking over at Luna though, the mage had another idea. ”Lady Lightsword, hand me the rope if you will. I’ll get to the other side, tie it around something, and toss it back to you?”

”Please, just call me Luna and I don’t think I can walk across rope.” Luna complained, scratching the back of her head. She looked to the shield on her arm and knocked on it a few times. ”Well, I have an idea. I think it should work.” The Knightess stepped up to the gap and dissipated her shield, showing both her palms to the gap. Lux, tu es meum pontem.” With that, a shining light appeared over the abyss. Luna wasn’t too sure, so she tapped it with her boot. It seemed strong enough. ”A leader can’t expect others to follow her where even she would not tread, no?” She mused just before she crossed, walking slowly as to not cause a problem. As she reached the other side, the Knightess turned back, ”It should be fine. Cross however you need to.”

Eith found that crossing on foot would be the easiest way and utilized Swordwoman’s light bridge. It seemed safe enough, though she imitated the slow walking. It would be bad for the bridge to collapse beneath her.

Ayumi blinked.

“Aw, but I wanted to show off my ninja skills.” The ninja pouted upon seeing Luna’s light bridge. She tapped it with her foot as Lyssa hurried across after Luna.

“Wow, Luna!” She giggled brightly. “You’re pretty amazing, you know? Can ya make it warmer up here? Because my tail is about to freeze off.” The demon giggled, though it was mostly a joke. Ayumi followed behind quickly after, making her way to the other side of the chasm.

“Hope ya got some other fun tricks up your sleeves in case we have to do some climbing. These paths don’t look like they aged well.”

Selvina simply watched slightly as the bridge was summoned - she hadn’t seen that sort of spell before, but it seemed to have quite a bit of utility. Like the others she went across slowly to make sure the magic didn’t snap as she walked over the gap. ”That is rather impressive Luna. Did you learn that one at the academy?” It hadn’t showed up in any of the courses she was involved in, but it was always possible Luna learned from someone else or at home.

”I just thought of it. I figured if I could make a shield or protective wall from light magic, why couldn’t I make a bridge?” Luna said, ”I just thought outside of convention. While it’s a bridge now, I could very well use it to be a defensive wall.” The Knightess felt smart. Why find a way around the river when you can build a bridge over it.

Selvina nodded and took mental notes on the entire process as Luna discussed her thoughts. The mage gave the knightess a smile before earnestly praising her. ”I must give you credit for your ingenuity, Luna. You could make a good scholar if you actually manage to make it to class one of these days.” Although the mage was a little worried that creating the structure would have spent more of her energy than they were comfortable with - if things went violent it would be better to have a team that wasn’t exhausted.

As soon as Selvina stepped across the bridge, another loud howl was heard in the distance – this time closer, much closer.

“Yeah, okay, that’s probably not the wind.” Ayumi said with a small frown. “Come on, guys, we should get moving.” Lyssa nodded. Whatever was doing that howling didn’t sound too friendly.

---

The rest of the trek passed uneventfully. Aside from some small chatter among the group, nothing bothered them. Whatever was howling out there seemed to just always stay out of range of the students. A small blessing, considering the path was just as Ayumi suspected. In a number of areas on the outside path they had to use Luna’s light bridge again or got even a bit more creative with the walk. Eventually, it led back inside of the mountain, where they passed a number of old rooms similar to the one at the entrance, those these lacked any sort of carvings or decorations.

After about a final half hour trek through the winding paths, they finally arrived – a small tunnel with a small crevice that looked like it led outside.

“Welp, we’re here! On the other side of this wall should be the main courtyard.” Ayumi said, giving the group a triumphant thumbs up. “See? I’m a good little nin-nin when I want to be, hehe!~” The smile quickly faded though as she realized that they might not all be able to exit through the small barely human sized hole in the wall.

“Erm. Any of you mage types got something that can blast a hole in that wall?” She looked specifically towards Sel, since she seemed to have at least something that could make little nin-nins like her go boom.

Selvina had learned throughout this adventure that the assailant who had nearly killed her the previous night, sent her into a panic in Eith’s arms, and indirectly convinced her to give up her leadership of the group was in fact a complete annoyance and almost child-like. How she got into the business of assassination was beyond the wizard … she seemed more suited to being someone’s cheerful little concubine. Or a slave perhaps.

The mage shook their heads though as the ninja made her suggestion with a glance towards Luna. Obviously it would be a bad idea to make such a ruckus but if that was the only way in they had in there wasn’t another option. Sticking her wand outside the hole Selvina started casting another detection spell to try and see if anything lied in the courtyard in wait for them.

”Do you sense anything out there, Selvina? If we’re to trigger a trap, I’d rather know what we’re triggering.” Luna told the multi-talented mage, waiting for the results. Eith just sniffed the air, seeing if she caught wind of anything.

The mage looked around at the group and gave them a nod as she cast her spell and withdrew her wand. Around a dozen enemies? Selvina spoke to the others as she turned around. ”There’s around a dozen of them waiting for us in that courtyard. Ayumi, are most of them as … powerful as you are?” Of course, Selvina was the sort who was able to take out multiple enemies with ease, but perhaps she could ask about their prior history and make a deal with them? It was possible.

“Whaa?” Ayumi replied. “They’re…waiting for us. Oh that’s…how did they know?!” Ayumi pouted, puffing out her cheeks and holding her arms close to her body. “I am the best nin-nin! They shouldn’t be ready for us at all!”

Did she mess up somehow? She didn’t think she had, had she? Unless…

“E-erm, I-I’m not entirely too sure about any other entrances around here unless we were to possibly head back and try the other path, but I think it just connects here in one of the rooms we passed.” Ayumi seemed a tad bit distressed for the moment, falling silent for a few seconds as she thought before continuing.

“Erm, maybe look around? Or maybe we should just wait to see if they leave or go do something else, heh.” Her last sentence was spoken with a bit more of her usual tone, for whatever reason.

”Do they know our language as you do?” Luna asked the ninja. It’s not like anyone was fooling anyone else right about now. Plus, if their party left, the temple dwellers would likely just follow them around, ready to attack. ”If so, I could talk and see if we could come to a compromise.”

“Oh, uhm, Lady Dawa and maybe one or two of the priestess’ would.” Ayumi replied. “Eeeh, Lady Dawa isn’t exactly the uh, nicest, of people. I don’t think you’ll have much luck, but…” Ayumi narrowed her eyes a bit, frowning as if she disapproved of this idea.

”Hmmmm? Well, I’m not unfamiliar to “not the nicest of people.” That said, Selvina, do you have a spell that can incapacitate?” Luna asked. Her plan was fairly obvious. . . Hopefully.

Selvina looked over at the others as Luna asked her about the spell. ”No - I didn’t exactly expect to face a temple full of people, I expected to have to fight a powerful beast if worse comes to worse.” The girl shrugged. ”And besides my spells of that nature aren’t that good. Unless you want me to try and shooting shackles at all of them …” But that would quickly exhaust the mage as they continued to struggle against the bonds.

”That’s impractical. We don’t need to give them a reason to hate us anymore than they do. Nor do I feel like killing the staff of the place that’s been holding such a creature for so long.” Luna admitted, looking toward the wall. She could only wonder what was the correct solution to this. ”It’s a long shot, but. . .” The Knightess looked to Eith, I want you to give them a little surprise. "When we’re ready, I want you to breath fire through that hole there.”

Eith looked at her confused but nodded in agreement. ”I suppose.”

”Selvina, you have some sort of explosive at your disposal correct?” Luna asked, to be sure. This was a odd plan, admittedly, but it could work.

Selvina looked over at Luna starting to understand where this was going as she scratched her chin. ”If have a wind cantrip that I could expand or and actual firey one Luna. What’s the plan?”

Luna smirked a bit, ”Something just large enough to blow open this wall so it will scatter out on their side and not ours.” The Knightess pointed to a point in the wall about halfway down and hopefully towards the middle of the enemy. ”And just strong enough to knock out with the rubble and not kill.” The Knightess looked to her ally with a questioning look, asking if it were possibly.

Selvina looked over with a smile as she pulled out her grimoire.. ”I’m ready when you are. Just give the words.”

”Great. Eith, after the wall blows, I want you to light the ground up, steam them out with the over-heated snow. It’ll give us a smokescreen and make them worried about the heat.” Luna looked to Lyssa and Ayumi. Those two were strong enough, though hopefully Lyssa would be fine with this. ”You two,” Luna pointed to the two and then herself, ”Us three are going to knock them out. They can be healed back so long as they aren’t dead.” Luna’s words had a confidence in them that would normally bring confidence to her troop. ”It’s five on many. It may be a bit cheap, but it needs to be done.” She looked to Lyssa and Ayumi for their answers.

“U-uhm-” Lyssa definitely didn’t seem to like the idea of fighting. She frowned, looking towards the ground and holding her hands together. After a few silent seconds, the demon seemed to come to a conclusion. “O-okay…I-I’ll try.” Lyssa seemed quite worried and reluctant, but didn’t object. She really didn’t want to fight other people, or anything really…she supposed she should have expected this? Of course a simple little adventure would just be fun times.

“Waah, fight them?” Ayumi said with a perplexed expression. “I mean, sure. I can do it buuut I grew up with half of these guys. If I just whoop all their butts so easily I’ll lose my reputation, heh~” Whatever she meant by that, she didn’t elaborate too much. “But alright, alright. We should knock ‘em out and head right for the Seal. As long as Lady Dawa and that pesky priestess aren’t there, this should be easy!~”

Luna put her hands on Lyssa’s shoulders. She seemed worried about it. That was fine, before the conflict, but Luna needed her ready. ”Lyssa, ours and the fates of these people count on us. For their own good we have to do this.” Luna smiled at the demon, ”Just think of this as putting them to sleep.” Luna patted Lyssa’s shoulders before turning to Eith. ”Eith, give them a surprise would you?” Eith nodded at the Knightess as she turned to the hole and breathed a large blast of fire through it. ”Selvina, your turn.” Lyssa simply gave Luna a small nod and a weak smile.

Selvina gave Luna a nod, backing up into the tunnel somewhat. ”Luna put a shield up as soon as my spell finishes.” Time was of the essence and it was time to get moving. The mage started chanting her spell into the air with an almost ethereal voice a little surprised by the new pitch her magic put on. ”Power within my Grimore, release your flames at my call with an inferno that would surprise the sun itself. EXPLOSION!” A streak of energy left the girl’s wand as she raised her arms instinctively to protect herself from the massive detonation. Hopefully no one would be hurt, but the explosion was directed outwards to prevent the tunnel from collapsing.

Just in the nick of time, Eith retreated from her distraction back to the others. Lunalel chanted her barrier spell, ”Lucis Aegis: Forma Bulla!” And the sphere of light engulfed the group as the explosion resounded and crashed against the tight barrier. The group couldn’t even feel the blast of air off of it, though the shaking from the spell made it through. When the explosion seemed to stopped, Luna ordered everyone, ”Eith, if you would be so kind. Lyssa, Ayumi, with me.” Eith leisurely walked out and boiled some of the snow, making sure there was a smoke screen for the others. The Shellagh didn’t like taking orders, but this one knew what she was doing and that was the easiest way to accomplish her mission. Selvina followed, feeling a little winded as she waited for the others to do their jobs.

“R-right…” Lyssa followed Luna out with unsure steps, but made sure to keep up. She could do this, couldn’t she? It wouldn’t be anything new, really. Fighting was what she was trained for. Just, aim for their non-vital spots. Unless she messed something up and had the usual lack of control she had with her magic, then this would be fine.

But if something did, she could easily kill whoever her opponent was in a not exactly painless way. The thought was almost enough to cause her to turn tail, but if she didn’t help here, there was a chance her friends wouldn’t be able to handle it and get hurt instead.

“Hey, don’t sweat it pinky~” Ayumi said, giving her a small nudge on her shoulder. “Just focus on defending yourself. I got this.” Reaching into her suit, the ninja pulled out a rather odd looking fox-mask instead of the one from the previous night. With a smile and a turn of her head towards Luna, she continued. “Gotta go faster, Luna!~”

In the blink of an eye, Ayumi was gone, nothing but the feeling of a small gust of wind blowing past Luna and Lyssa. She was out of the small hole within seconds, leaving the other two behind.

Once out of the cave, there were definitely shouts of surprise. The men who had been waiting to do the ambushing, were being the ones ambushed. A few of the yellow and red dressed guards stumbled backwards, though most kept their footing and readied their weapons, most of which looked like heavy metal staves, though a few sported nothing but their fists.

Ayumi came rushing out of the temporary screen of steam, surprising one such weaponless guard.

“Heya, Dolma!~” She said all too friendly before the palm of her hand met the guards face with enough force to send him right to the ground.

Selvina was still catching her breath after causing the explosion, tossing a glance over to Luna to continue the job they had started.

”Ayumi really doesn’t hold back against her own people does she?” Luna said as her hand met the back of someone’s neck quite forcefully. He dropped and Luna moved to another nearby person, punching him hard in the jaw. She got lucky with that one and he dropped as well. They were cheap shots, but it was necessary. Luna noticed the last man had a metal staff, and grabbed it to use herself. If nothing else, it wouldn’t cut. Luna wasn’t very skilled with the weapon, but she hoped her strength alone would be enough to cut it. ”Lyssa, in front of you.” Luna urged her.

“E-er-!” Lyssa didn’t have much time to reply as one of the temple guards stood in front of her, armed with a simple metal staff. She hadn’t been as quick as Ayumi or Luna to get out there in the fray, and was honestly hoping to leave most of the work with the other two. The guard didn’t give her much of a chance too, though. He swung the from the side, aiming right for Lyssa’s head. Whoever they were, they weren’t playing around either.

Thankfully the demons natural reflexes kicked in before he could connect the blow. She ducked under it, hand swiftly coming up to grab the mans arm. The other give it swift, hard jab – likely breaking something in the process before she gave him a solid kick right in the gut, making sure to reign back the power a little. The guard fell right to the ground, completely winded and likely out of commission for a bit.

”Good work Lyssa.” Luna said a she looked towards some of the other guards coming at her group now. Well, she knew that they’d only have so much time for a surprise.

Selvina jumped out of the hole and once she found an incoming figure that was likely a guard - hopefully they were male and therefore noticeably taller - the mage fired her wind cantrip to keep them off of her companions. It wasn’t a lot, but every bit would help even out the fight they were having.

Luna swung her metal staff at an incoming strike, parrying it to the side and quickly striking with it as if slashing with a sword. She hit the man in the jaw knocking him back. He probably wasn’t out, but he’d take a bit to recover. It was then that a voice called out from even further back. ”What? You can’t handle a few invaders when you outnumber them? You’re wasting your training if you are.” It was a woman in an odd outfit, and obviously another member of the temple.

Woman

”Another person?” Luna questioned as she parried another blow that came at her.

Hearing the new voice, Ayumi’s head immediately turned towards the source of it, briefly pausing her assault on one of the guards. Oh boy, the priestess showed up. Welp, then this might have gotten a bit complicated. As long as Lady Dawa didn’t intervene though, they still had a shot if they cleaned up the other guys and fought her together.

“Oh hey, it’s Kozue.” Ayumi giggled, tossing the unconscious man on the ground. “Welp, guys, this just got a bit more complicated. She’s probably better than me when she’s serious – which is like always.”

Selvina cursed as the other person approached through the mist after being called out by their nin-nin friend of questionable senses. The mage pulled her magic together, preparing to fire a cantrip at the newcomer to test their abilities. If ‘Kozue’ was anything like Ayumi then this would be difficult. However the mage was willing to let the other woman decide to engage them first before doing anything else.

”Ayumi. I thought I could smell a rat amongst them. Turning traitor are you? Bringing these outsiders into this temple at a time such as this?” The woman known as Kozue said, coldly. ”Punishment is not nearly enough for you.” She added, looking at the outsiders finally. ”Leave now, and we will forgive your transgressions.”

”Sorry, but that’s not an option with the seal right there. Leaving things as they are would be an atrocity to everyone.” Luna said, in attempt to convince this Kozue. ”Let us to the seal, so we might fix it!”

”Good Medicine is bitter to the mouth.” Kozue said, before tapping her staff on the ground. To look at it though, it was different from the rest. It’s head had a gold top to it with some intricate design. In addition, there were these golden hoops that clanged together attached. ”The gods desire you not being in this temple, and neither do I. You will bring ill fortune to this land.” With that, Kozue practically launched at Luna with unnatural speed and struck at her simultaneously with her staff. The Knightess was caught off guard and just barely managed to block with her weapon.

Selvina fired at the priestess in an attempt to knock her off Luna, preparing a blink spell in case the warrior decided to hop at her next. ”Any plans!?” The mage was hoping that Luna or someone else had imagined how to defeat this woman, sweat dripping from the brow due to the number of spells cast and the stress of possible failure.

“Woop, no can do Kozue!~” Ayumi replied, avoiding a swift jab from one of the other guards. Despite the somewhat bad situation for them they still seemed rather intent on trying to keep them out. “Well, I mean, you can punish me annnytime you want!” She grinned beneath her mask. “Buut we’re getting to the Seal, so if you could make this easy on us, that’d be great! You can punish me later, hehe~”

For the most part Lyssa had stayed near the edge of the small battlefield. Whoever this new girl was, was giving her some seriously bad vibes. Or, at least, she was likely quite capable in the whole ‘could easily kill them’ department.

“As for plans…hmm, don’t get killed? That sounds good!~” Master tactician here, folks.

”I don’t plan to kill you unless necessary, but we will hold you captive until it’s safe to let you outsiders free.” The way priestess said it wasn’t especially reassuring, especially when she grappled with Luna, putting her in the way of the shot.

Selvina’s spell had already fired meaning it would send the pair flying at least a few feet back. The mage growled slightly at the priestess when her friend was used as a shield but there wasn’t much she could do here. Instead she pointed her wand at one of the remaining guards and fired the spell at them - hopefully they weren’t as proficient as the silly priestess was.

Luna grunted as the spell smashed into her. Kozue moved out of the way in the blink of an eye as the Knightess skidded right past her on the ground. For the moment, that was one person out of the way for her. Out of the corner of her eye though, a dark skinned being charged at her. A spout of flames came out and nearly singed the hairs on her arm if she hadn’t moved away quickly. The flames faded and the source spoke. ”You look strong. I shouldn’t have to worry about going all out on you, right?” The nails on her fingers grew longer and visibly sharper.

”A demon in need of extermination?”

”No, a Shellagh needing to beat someone down.” Eith replied. She wasn’t sure if she could beat this woman, but Swordwoman and Caras were both exhausted it seemed. Plus, Eith wouldn’t be able to fight most else. Tooth and claw were her weapon.

”Eith, need a little help with her?” The pair hadn’t really worked together in a fight and while the puppy was tough Selvina also believed she was the sort who was liable to never admit that they required aid. And after the previous day she didn’t want to see her be hurt again.

Kozue and Eith really got at it quickly. The Shellagh stayed in her human form, as her beast form had no easy way to leave an intact opponent. Claws slashed, feet struck, blows hit their mark… It seemed even for the most part. Eith was too into striking and dodging to really answer Selvina. More of a thing where she was too busy than her straight up ignoring.

Luna pushed herself up. By now, a majority of the ones that were not Kozue were down. Now would be the time to go to the seal. If Eith kept that priestess busy, then that would give the rest of them time to walk away. Eith seemed to be having fun at least. Somehow. Luna looked to Selvina, hoping she thought the same as her.

The mage gave a simple nod back to Luna to give her the signal - she felt like she was prepared for whatever could be coming up in the moment. It might be easier to fight the ninja when she didn’t have the room to maneuver and it wouldn’t be hard for them to reach the temple at this point. Selvina began to step towards her friend keeping an eye on the mistress of the temple.

For the most part, Lyssa had remained on the sidelines, trying her best not to get in her friends way and not get injured. Ayumi had just finished taking care of the last of the others and dashed over to where Sel was.

“Lets get going, then!” She tapped Sel on the back of her head, before bolting towards the interior of the temple. “Seals this way! There will be some priests and other people in the temple but for the most part they shouldn’t try and stop us!” With that, the Ninja quickly lead the way towards the seal. Lyssa, following closely behind Sel once she got moving.

The mage followed the others and Luna into the temple taking a caring glance back towards Eith to make sure she would be okay. Selvina’s brow furrowed slightly as she forced herself to admit she was starting to care for the beast, but the hound was a tough girl and would be able to put up with a lot of punishment, right?

Eith didn’t take her attention off the priestess she was fighting. For a second, Kozue took her attention away from the Shellagh to consider chasing the rest of the intruders, only for Eith to grab her by the arm, spin her around a bit before slamming her into the ground. ”We’re not done yet.”

That was the last Luna saw of the Shellagh before the fight was far behind them. ”Lead the way, Ayumi. We need to get to this seal and make sure it will not open.”

The ninja lead the small group through a number of corridors and hallways. It was a fairly straightforward path – despite the large open courtyard, the inside wasn’t as large as it looked. Many rooms were large and open, and more than a number looked like they weren’t used that often. As they ran, they passed a number of priests and other people that seemed to have no idea what was going on – though a few seemed to greet Ayumi.

Within a few short minutes, they arrived near the back of the temple. Two large, ornate doors lead into the side of the mountain – likely where the seal was located.

There was just one small problem. In front of the large doors was a woman dressed in a green kimono, flanked by two fairly burly men dressed in the yellow and red clothing of the other guards.

Woman

Ayumi stumbled to a halt, nearly tripping and falling over before catching herself.

”I would kindly ask that you halt.” She said to the group – her words were stern, but seemed to carry no hostility. “Before your ignorance causes misfortune.”

“Heeey, Lady Dawa. Fancy meeting you here.”

[Roleplayer001]

”There’s plenty of misfortune to go around if we don’t fix that seal.”  Luna said as she watched the woman and her bodyguards.  She’s been using her healing magic on herself as they ran to here.  Best to repair whatever damage was done.  ”We mean you no harm here.  Overall.”  The Knightess said, reflecting on knocking out a number of the guards.

“And you even touching this door risks breaking the seal.” The woman, Lady Dawa said with a measured, calm tone. “I do not mean to sound overly forceful or rude – but you outsiders are meddling in something you have incomplete knowledge of.”

Selvina looked towards Lady Dawa with a degree of nervousness as she questioned the woman’s intentions.  Simply touching the door?  Then where had the strange things come from?  Lady Lightsword seemed to be handling negotiations, but the mage was content to simply observe the rest of the room as she listened to make sure nothing was hidden.

”Incomplete knowledge?  I can’t argue that, our sources of information are. . .”  Luna started to say as she looked over to Ayumi.  ”Shifty at best.” Luna mumbled to herself as she crossed her arms.  ”Now then, I hope you have come to realize we’re not here to decimate this temple.”  At first she’d have said destroyed, however, they’ve already blown open a wall and put the most of the guards to sleep.  

”We’re only here to fix the issue.  That said, perhaps you would like to complete our knowledge of what we are ‘meddling’ in.”  The knightess continued.  There was quite obviously much information they were missing.  Perhaps they could drag information out of Lady Dawa.  It also gave Luna a chance to heal her sores and aches.

“If you would be willing,” Lady Dawa continued. “We can discuss it over some warm tea and a more amicable atmosphere.” She turned her head to the door. “It is…not a good idea to discuss such matters here.” Ayumi turned her head towards Luna, still wearing the fox mask.

“It’d be a bit faster if we just ignored her.” She said with a frown. “I don’t buy it.”

“Ayumi, I realize you likely have the temple's best interest, but your rashness will bring about disaster.”

Selvina continued to look around the room for some sort of clue about what could be transpiring here.  Her eyes drifted over the door as she looked at the magic seal on the door, eyes drifting over the intricate designs.  It was apparent however that the seal was placed rather recently and wasn’t exactly designed to hold back any sort of mythical being within - rather it was intended to keep others out.

She decided to remain silent on the matter of the seal for now - she could tell Luna later.  Instead she looked towards Lady Dawa with a bit of concern.  ”It’s been a tiring journey for us all and the refreshment does sound nice if we are up for it, Luna.  However our hound is occupied outside and I’d rather not have her be hurt while we are sipping tea, Lady Dawa.”

Mentally however Luna would hear Selvina’s voice in her mind unless the Paladin tried to block it.  Snap your fingers if we are going to attack.

”Here should be fine, Lady Dawa.”  Luna said, opening her arms to the area.  ”I’ve a tale of a young man walking into the realm of his enemies.  They were courteous, but in the end, offered him drink laced with a heavy enough dose of Wolfsbane to kill.  His family never heard from him again.”  Luna looked around quickly at both Ayumi and Selvina and back to Ayumi, remembering some of her words.  ”That said, I’d rather be out in the open.  We could hardly know who was under orders, or directly controlled by a malicious entity.  It could be you.  Me.  That woman locked in combat with our ally outside.”

Lady Dawa sighed, shaking her head. Of course outsiders wouldn’t understand, but she couldn’t fault them for that. With a frown, she turned her head towards the two men flanking her. Outsiders were so mistrustful, and they understood nothing about the situation here.

“Tell Kouze to stand down. We do not wish to escalate things any further.” With a small bit of hesitation, the two guards left the hallway, quickly making their way out of the hallway at a light jog. Hopefully sending them away would be enough. She turned her head back towards the group, taking a few seconds to compose herself before continuing. “Would you believe me if I said the beast feeds on chaos and violent thoughts? That by simply fighting here and being here as you are, you are feeding it and making it stronger?” She looked towards the ground, frowning.

“I hadn’t even intended to fight or harm you – simply discuss. Ayumi gave word of outsiders intending to head up the mountain that looked fairly capable. Perhaps it is my fault for not relaying my plans to the rest of the temple, but I did intend to send a small delegation in the morning to meet you, and bring you here.” She raised her head, giving a sharp look of both annoyance and disappointment to the ninja. “But of course, Ayumi saw fit to let her rash actions, though well intended, to get in the way of things again. I suppose it was also her idea to attack after you somehow managed to detect the people waiting for you.” The ninja’s gaze turned to the side, chuckling somewhat nervously. “So I will ask you once more – please, let us leave this room and discuss this elsewhere.”

Ayumi simply turned her head back towards Luna and the rest, seemingly waiting for their response and waiting for their answer.

“U-uhm!” Lyssa spoke up with a quiet voice. “Tea sounds nice! It’s really cold up here and I’m about to freeze my tail off even with this coat.” With her opinion given though, she quickly quieted. It was quite likely the rest could tell she wasn’t eager for conflict.

Selvina kept her thoughts to herself.  While the climb had made her tired she wasn’t quite as eager to be a pacifist like Lyssa - sometimes things had to be done.  This entire tea conversation could also be a trap although they were stopping the fighting outside to let Eith in.  If this was an intent to poison them the hellhound would likely be able to resist it.  ”If the beast feeds on violence then I am glad that nobody was likely seriously injured.  We never had the intent to kill anyone.”

”Agreed. In that regard, Selvina. . .  Eith seemed to be a bit. . . Ravenous.  Perhaps you could go and check on her?  You two are close, right?” Lunalel asked as she looked from the mage to Lady Dawa.  ”I’ll go with Lyssa and Ayumi to where-ever it is this Temple’s Mistress desires.”

The mage looked a little surprised at this idea but then nodded as she decided to leave the temple doors following the temple servant who had been sent out to the courtyard to stop the fighting.  Selvina wondered if their newly appointed leader was doing alright since it was generally considered a bad idea to split the party … but she decided to have faith in Luna as she looked upon the scene in front of her.  ”Eith, are you alright?”

The fighting seemed intense, but neither party seemed injured though that may be due in part to the Shellagh’s high regeneration factor.  The Temple’s Champion seemed to get word that the fighting was to stop but not Eith.  She was still ready to put up a great offensive with the addition of two guards, but took a peek over at Selvina when she spoke.  ”Ehh. . .?  Are we done here already?”  She asked, seeing Selvina having moved through the temple by herself. . . Or so it seemed.

Kozue kept her guard up, just in case the beast launched another attack.  She decided her words would not be the best in calming the beast.  She’d have tried to continue and exterminate this demonic creature, but if Lady Dawa says to stand down then there is no other way about it.

Selvina gave Eith a tired look before walking up to her and running a hand through her hair.  ”Yes Eith we are done and you did a good job.  Now unless you want to talk we should rejoin the rest of the group, alright?”  A little concern ran over the mage’s face as she looked over her companion but every minor scrape she had seemed to heal before her eyes.  Truthfully it was an incredible sight to see.

---

As Sel left to check on Eith, Lady Dawa breathed a sigh of relief. She had been expecting the outsiders to not even consider it. Her eyes seemed to linger on Lyssa for a moment as she observed the three before shaking her head and continuing.

“You have my thanks, truly.” She replied, walking away from the door and towards a room to the side. [color=lightgreen ]“I suppose I shall start by asking what exactly do you know about what you’ve gotten yourselves into.”[/color] She asked, leading the group down a hallway. A few men bowed their heads slightly in respect as she passed, giving the outsiders a somewhat curious look, but for the most part continued with what they were doing.

It was difficult to gauge how much exactly they knew from their words, and it made it difficult to determine how to handle this situation.

Luna followed Lady Dawa, ”How much we know?  Vague mutterings for the most part, to be honest.  From our original source and what we gathered from Ayumi we know that his “seal” is weakening and needs to be repaired.  Truth be told, Selvina knows more than I do so her expertise was what we were leaning on when it came to that.”  Aside from those details, Luna told the Temple’s Mistress what else she knew from what Selvina told her.  

“If I were to tell you the seal is fine, as it is?” Dawa replied as she led them into a small square side room with fairly simple furnishings. A small square table was centered in the middle of the room, a few shelves and chest of drawers lined the edge of the room, as well as a few decorative scrolls. A small tea set with what appeared to be warm, freshly brewed tea in it and a few teacups sat on the table. Lyssa for one was glad to finally be inside somewhere relatively warm.

“Your original source’s concern isn’t entirely unfounded, but I am not skilled in both exorcism as well as charms for nothing.” She continued with a small chuckle, taking a seat at one end of the table as she poured the four of them something to drink. “I cannot fault them nor Ayumi for their actions, only urge them from now on not to act with such rashness.” She took a sip of the tea, frowning before setting it back on the table.

“Ayumi, bring the other two outsiders here, if you would? I have something I want to discuss with them in private. You are free to return to your room, afterwards.”

“Aw, but-”

“Ayumi, you have done enough for today.” The ninja pouted a bit, but did as she was told and left the room to show Selvina and Eith the way to the room. She turned her attention back to Lyssa and Luna. “The seal will hold as of now, so long as no one bothers it. I have seen to that.” She frowned again, eyes seeming to follow Ayumi’s path as the ninja left. “But I would be lying if I were to say all is well. You have no doubt heard that the village has been afflicted by a rather…troublesome plague of sorts. That, is indeed from the influence of the malevolent spirit that lives here.”

“Erm, then doesn’t that mean the seal isn’t working?” Lyssa asked.

”That’s the answer I’d come to myself.  Why is that?” Luna added, curious of why that would be.  ”Would it have something to do with violence and chaos as you mentioned earlier?”

“Hm,” Dawa frowned. “Unfortunately, no. If it was that simple, it would be easily rectified I would hope. It was my own incompetence and negligence that led to that.” She shook her head as she continued. “To put simply, we didn’t realize the seal was weakening, and it allowed the creature to…escape, in a sense if you will.” She took a sip of the tea sighing. “The fox is a purely spiritual entity, even whilst not sealed or weakened. It can change its form at will, into that of a human to trick people, and even as you likely know – possess individuals.” Her words seemed to hesitate for a moment before she continued. “The creature's physical form is still sealed behind that door. We managed to succeed at that much. However, its soul, it’s essence, if you will, was able to escape. Thankfully, it will be unable to travel far…but I also fear the creature has already possessed someone here. I have a few…suspicions, but I have no real proof and…exorcising a spirit is often painful and can sometimes be deadly, if the spirit is too strongly attached. And if we’re wrong, then the process could very well force the humans soul out of their body – effectively killing them.” She fixed the two of them with a stern, but sad seeming frown.

“It is why I sent Ayumi away, and why I want your help in finding the person who is.”

”Has no one been acting differently?” Luna asked.  That much would seem different. . . Unless this spirit could easily imitate the way people acted.  ” Ayumi mentioned that the spirit couldn’t possess her because of some special talismans or something of the sort.  So would that mean it couldn’t be her then?”  Luna looked to Lyssa as if trying to reaffirm that Ayumi said as such.

“Yep, she did.” Lyssa replied. “Whaaa, this is some good teeea.” She said, taking a sip of the beverage. “So waaaarm. Urgh, its so cold out there I thought by cute butt was gonna freeze off.”

Dawa laughed a bit at Lyssa’s words before replying to Luna.

“I made sure to give everyone protection against such a thing,” She continued. “But it is a powerful spirit, and it likely knows how to tempt mortals with things they desire. You have met Ayumi,” She said with a soft smile. “She’s…well intentioned and would never willingly harm this place, but…the spirit could easily take advantage of that. The charms cannot protect someone if they willingly make a deal with some entity. Forced or otherwise. ”

Selvina entered the room as the two conversed and noticed the relaxed atmosphere the conversation had turned into.  The mage helped herself into a chair as she looked towards Luna and Lady Dawa.  ”Apologies for the wait.  I hope the conversation was not delayed due to my absence.”

Luna looked to Selvina as she entered with Eith on her tail. Selvina sat but Eith just stood.  Eith looked to the woman in charge of the temple.  The Shellagh was obviously not the most trusting but she had no desire to attack as of now.  Truthfully, she looked fully bored.

The Knightess spoke up soon enough though, ”Hardly, I’ve pushed this talk as far as I could.”  She gave a short run-down of what they’ve discussed so far.  ”So in the end the Mistress here wants to find out who might be possessed by the spirit.  The easiest solution would be to put everyone in chains until the situation could be solved, but this is not a regiment.  It would cause more issues than solve.”  Luna’s past experiences obvious,  she put her thumb to her lips in thought.

”Does that spirit have a smell to it?  My nose is good.”  The Shellagh added, thinking she might be able to help more than fighting off one woman.

Dawa shook her head at Eith’s question.

“Not unless it was by itself somehow.” She replied. “If you wish to help, I will prepare a room for you all here so you may stay the night if you wish. I would suggest talking with a few people here. I do not know how much you know, but it would likely be beneficial to find out more. Admittedly, Kozue would likely be able to give you a more…complete story than I would of this place’s history.”

Selvina looked over towards Eith as she suggested smelling the spirit out.  That was a rather ... interesting suggestion.  The mage thought to herself for a few moments as she her thoughts roamed.  ”On Eith’s suggestion, would it be possible to clean a room?  If completely isolated it could be possible to detect anyone who has abnormalities.  Can the spirit hop around or is it stuck with who it possesses for some time?”

“Hmm…that is an interesting suggestion.” Dawa replied. “It could likely manifest some small part of it, but for the most part it would be bound to the possessed person until forcibly removed or it decides to leave of its own accord.” She frowned, the fan in her hand resting on her chin as she thought. “However, I think bringing it to a suspiciously clean and empty room would be a bit…obvious. This spirit isn’t going to fall for such obvious tricks.”

Lunalel looked between Selvina and Lady Dawa in thought.  ”You said that someone could willingly take a contract.  You know the people of this temple better than we do.  Is there anyone you suspect already?  You let Ayumi free, so does that mean she is free of guilt?”  She hated these games of “Who is the traitor.”  A few times her father forced her to partake.  He loved the look of frustration on her face when she couldn’t figure out his storied machinations as a child.

“I…would not say she is free of guilt, no.” She replied with a shake of her head. “I would not willingly cast blame on anyone, but…” Dawa frowned again. “Kozue or Ayumi. Those are the two I would suspect, if I was forced to make a decision. Kozue is a good girl, if somewhat serious and a bit…eager to protect this temple. I wouldn’t put it past her to try and subdue or possibly even control the spirit. Ayumi because, well, it would be just like her to accept some deal from something as long as they promised not to hurt someone or something, even if it made her do something she’d rather not.”

”From what little I know of Ayumi, I’d suspect she’d do it if the Spirit merely tied her down a little bit.” The knightess shivered a little at the thought.  ”She doesn’t seem to have the most self control and jumps at her desires.”

”Staff Woman is strong.  Unsure if because of her own strength or outside help.  She seems to have a strong force of will though.”  Eith said, giving her own opinion on the other girl.  

”Selvina?  Lyssa? What are your thoughts?  This is a farcry from what I thought would happen originally. . . Let’s play this cleverly.”  Luna said, looking between the mage and the demon.

“E-erm…” Lyssa didn’t seem to want to comment on the matter. This was getting a tad bit heavier than she wanted to get into. “Uhm, if someone is possessed by something,” She frowned. She wasn’t an expert on this, but she knew a bit about possession magic and other things from spending time around her mom and a few other high-ranking demons. “Wouldn’t it just be best to watch them for a bit? If they think they’re alone…”

“Hm, I have had a few others keep an eye on Ayumi and Kozue…but it is difficult to surprise Ayumi, and Kozue wouldn’t make such a mistake.” Lyssa nodded, looking down at her cup. Well, she was quite certain that she could easily do the ninja things as well as Ayumi. That was sort of her thing a bit, after all, though maybe not on the same level as the Ninja.

Selvina sat for a few moments thinking to herself as she wondered about the situation.  ”Eith, wanna try sniffing the two of them?”  Of course they wouldn’t be foolish enough to enter a room that was cleaned but the mage had her own thoughts.  ”Is there a reason why anyone would not be willing to be put under Eith’s nose unless they were guilty?  Are there other spirits or things she could confuse with being our resident angry spirit?”  It was possible the spirit would become more apparent … especially if they were sleeping.

”Also the spirit wants freedom, correct?  It may be possible for us to offer that.”

“Kozue is…well, let us just say she isn’t fond of anything ‘demonic’ like your two friends here. Never has been.” Dawa said, indicating both Lyssa and Eith with a point of her fan. Lyssa looked a bit surprised that she was included in that, and pointed to herself with a somewhat dumbfounded expression. “She likely wouldn’t agree to such a thing.” Dawa paused for a moment, contemplating Sel’s next question.

“Let me make myself very clear. That spirit, if it is free will only bring trouble. I urge you never to listen to any of its words – it seeks only to bring destruction and misery to us. I suppose you could try subduing it, but it is not a creature so easily controlled, even with magic. There is quite a high chance it could end up influencing you or whoever tried to control it for the worse. ”

Selvina remained sitting.  ”If Kouze isn’t willing to do it that keeps her on the suspicion list.  But if Ayumi is then she can be clean along with anyone else who is willing.  Eliminating a single option is useful.”  For a few seconds she remained thoughtful.  ”I was considering talking with the creature about possibly becoming either me or Lyssa’s familiar since the bond itself would protect us - but I suppose she would simply hire a hitman to kill me and the problem would be in our own hands.”

”If the creature is as clever as you claim then simply trying to talk to someone would have no purpose.  Even you could be her in a guise and feeding us false information.”

”I believe we should go gather information.” Luna said as she stood.  ”Lyssa, Eith.  Could we have you go talk to Ayumi.  I doubt we’ll get much out of her, but you get along, right Lyssa?  Maybe you can get her to talk.  Selvina and I will go talk to Kozue.  It doesn’t seem she would want to talk to a demon so two humans will be the best choice.”  This talk was getting them nowhere.  The time for information gathering was now.  ”Is that agreeable with you, Lady Dawa?”

“If that is what you wish, then very well.” She replied. “I see no problem with it. Ayumi can likely be found in her room  - ask anyone around here and they can point you to her. Just…well, you know of her eccentricities.” She gave a somewhat uneasy smile and shake of her head. “As for Kouze, just be respectful and you’ll get along well, I think.”

“Alright, we’ll get talk to Ayumi then.” Lyssa said, standing up. She was not looking forward to leaving this room. It was gonna be cold out there and her little demon butt wasn’t going to handle much more cold. At least she had her own personal heater going with her.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Eith and Lyssa made their way out of the small meeting room. Lyssa wasn’t too keen on leaving the room since it was much colder out in the hallways, but that’s what Eith was for! Immediately upon leaving, the demon scooted closer to the hound as they walked…and immediately wrapped one of her arms around the other girls shoulders.

“Whaaa, Eith you’re so waarrrm~” She giggled.

”Lyssa, don’t go further than that if you value your whole body. Unless you’re keen on losing an arm.” Eith told the demon. She’d let Lyssa probably deal with Ayumi more. They were just told to keep her busy anyway.

Lyssa pouted, rubbing her face against the hounds cheek.

“Come ooon, it’s freezing and I’m coooollld.” Lyssa continued as they walked.

”And you won’t be cold ever again if you go further than this.” Eith was growling slightly and it would have been loud and clear to the demon attached to her face.

“Sooo…this is okay then?~” Lyssa giggled impishly.

Since Eith hadn’t told her to stop, Lyssa continued snuggling Eith as they walked. She was content to simply hug the girl for now as they made their way to Ayumi’s room. She was really glad the hound hadn’t forced her off or something. When the pair finally made their way to Ayumi’s room, Lyssa was the first to bound over to the door and throw it open with a bright grin.

“Heeeere’s Lyssa! And Eith-uh…” Lyssa’s mouth briefly seemed to quit working as the door opened.

Ayumi was hanging from the ceiling by a rope tied around her body, and was bound fairly tightly. She titled her head towards the two of them with obvious amusement.

“Wooow, Ayumi, already got yourself all ready for me.” Lyssa giggled.

“Oh you know, I aim to please in all number of ways.” Ayumi replied with a smirk. “So lemme guess, Dawa asked you to find the spirit that might be possessing someone.” Ayumi’s rather precarious position sent a few red flags up in Lyssa’s head despite her giggles. She figured Ayumi was skilled, but how did she tie herself up like that? She’d have needed help, wouldn’t she?

”This is good. We can leave her like that and she can’t touch us. The Shellagh said with a tone of relief. “Let us continue on like this Lyssa.”

Lyssa giggled, walking into the room and shutting the door behind them. Taking a quick look around the room showed that the area wasn’t too much unlike the other areas of the room, though a number of decorative masks depicting various creatures adorned the walls. A simple bed, a few dressers and a desk with some writing utensils and ink were about as much furniture as the room had. Oh, it was also much warmer than it was outside, which the demon was thankful for.

“So, what should we know about this spirit?” Lyssa asked the ninja.

“Aside from the fact I’m pretty sure it’s 100% possessing someone? Hrm, lets see…” Ayumi hummed to herself for a few seconds before continuing. “Well, not much. I’m not sure who it could be possessing or how exactly to detect it without forcibly trying to exorcise them. Might be the best solution, actually.” Ayumi would have shrugged, if her arms weren’t tied behind her back.

“If I had to hazard a guess though, it’d probably be Kouze. I mean, she’s like a sister to me in a lot of aspects and I don’t want to point fingers, but…well, It was my bad with the whole fighting thing. I know, but Kouze didn’t exactly give us much of a choice. She didn’t even try talking. Not that we uh, did that either, but eh~” She chuckled sheepishly. “We grew up together and I was always the one getting on her nerves, ya know?” She chuckled. “But hey, someone always had to make her have a bit of fun. She’s got no concept of it whatsoever.”

”I don’t think you know much about having fun either.” Eith added, looking at the way Ayumi was tied up. ”Why say Staff-Woman is the target?” Eith asked. To her Ayumi gave no real reason.

“Waaah? I’m tons of fun!” Ayumi said with a pout. “But as for why…I can’t really give you a solid answer. If I had to say though, likely because of the power it could have. Kouze has pretty heavy sway over Lady Dawa, as well as everyone else in the temple. She’s a good sort and people trust her.”

Most thought was really beyond her grasp. Eith tried to think, but she really couldn't put together a real reason it could be Staff-woman. To be fair, she couldn't put reasons behind anyone being it.

Lyssa hummed quietly to herself. It made sense, at least. But then, there was also the chance Ayumi was just telling them that to take suspicion off herself. Her mama taught her better than to blindly trust people, after all! Even if she wanted too, it was rather silly to do that, especially in a situation like this. The demon tilted her head to the side in a somewhat innocent manner as she replied.

“Aren’t you the same, though?” Lyssa replied.

“Eeeh? Accusing meee? And here I thought we were friends, pinky!” Ayumi chuckled. “Not gonna lie, yea, Dawa practically raised me. Trust from the others though? Pfft, I go around stealing their underpants for giggles. Kouze gets really embarrassed about it. It’s hilarious.” Lyssa giggled at the thought.

“Eeeeh, I dunno, all this is making my head huuuurt.” The demon grumbled, holding the side of her head with her hands.

Honestly, Lyssa knew they pretty much had accomplished nothing with this talk, really. Sure, Ayumi said Kouze could be it and she wanted to believe her, but…it was just words. The demon frowned, puffing out her cheeks as she pouted slightly. She liked Ayumi, she didn’t want to accuse her of anything or believe she lied. This was difficult and somewhat annoying.

“I don’t think we’re gonna get anything else, Eith…” Not like this, at least. “Aaaah, I’m gonna head back to the tea room, curl up in a ball and go back to doing adorable demon things.” Maybe she’d take a bit of a nap so she could do some stealthy ninja stuff of her own tonight…

“Alright, see both of you later. If you wanna stay and torture me some, hound, you caaaan~” Ayumi grinned at Eith. “Ooootherwise, I’ll be hanging out here, heh”

Eith scoffed at the ninja and left the room without a second look.

“Tsk.” Ayumi clicked her tongue in a dissatisfied manner before a small grin spread across her face. “For someone so warm you’re awfully cold. Makes me all tingly, hehe~”

Lyssa giggled a bit, but quickly followed after Eith, leaving the ninja to her own morally grey devices. The two demons left the room and returned to the Tea room and waited for the others.

[Roleplayer001]

Selvina stood up and walked with Luna as they headed towards the agreed upon location.  As the pair were going towards their location the mage decided that she wanted to say a quick word to Luna first.  ”What about Lady Dawa?”  The magierprinz wanted to hear Luna’s thoughts on that matter.

”I pondered that myself.”  Lunalel answered her partner.  ”For now, she is a possibility, but as she said I’m sure she wouldn’t be it for if she were possessed the seal would be just broken.  We can ask Kozue if there is anyone else with Lady Dawa’s power.”  Luna smiled and nodded at Selvina.  It was still hard to believe the person in front of her was a male at one point.  Luna stopped to ask someone if they knew where Kozue was.  They pointed her in a direction telling the two that she was helping treat the injured.  After giving thanks, the two continued toward where Kozue was.  ”Sound good to you, Selvina?”

Selvina nodded before giving Luna another look.  ”But wouldn’t that knock Kouze out as well then?  And possibly Ayumi too?  She said the three of them were the most powerful of the group, right?  I could examine the seal to see if it prevents them from approaching … but if Lady Dawa would be incapable of ordering Kouze into a room with demons she isn’t that powerful, is she?”

”Did you hear the ire coming from her when she talked to Eith during the conflict?”  Luna asked the mage that accompanied her.  ”For example. . . How would you treat the person that turned you into this form? But you have to sit there while they are freely walking around your home?”

Selvina nodded - it would take a lot to convince her to see the demon queen of her own free will - she wasn’t very interested in meeting with a creature who clearly had evil set out for her.  The magierprinz paused outside of the room before they entered and raised her hand up to stop Luna.  ”Do you think she’s been cursed by some sort of demon in the past, then?”

”I doubt it.”  Luna giggled.  ”That said, in the past when my family was a zealously religious, apparently demons were despised and were to be slaughtered on sight.  Things have changed of course, but perhaps the followers of this temple were taught something similar.  Or perhaps something happened.”  Luna shrugged as she turned to enter.

As soon as the two entered, Kozue turned to them.  She had a thoroughly sharp look in her eyes though not necessarily hostile.  ”You two. . .  Did you put down those two demons traveling with you?”  The girl asked, noting their two missing companions.  The question took Luna aback slightly.  ”Or did Lady Dawa suggest you not bring them when you come talk to me?”  Kozue continued her treatment of the men and women that the party had knocked out on their way in though with eyes on the back of her head.

Selvina looked towards Luna as she decided to answer this question honestly.  ”Your lady advised not bringing them.  She said you would not appreciate their presence.  We are just here to ask some questions and do a little investigation on this matter.”

”Of course you are.”  Kozue said as she finished wrapping someone’s forehead in linen.  She stood to look at the two.  ”If Lady Dawa wishes, I shall comply.  Ask your questions.”

Selvina looked over to Luna as if requesting her to ask the first question.  As the leader it was somewhat her responsibility to set the tone of their conversation.

”I guess the first question should be. . .” Lunalel looked over the people in this makeshift infirmary.  ”Is everyone fine?”  The Knightess asked finally looking Kozue in the eyes.

The priestess returned the look sharply for a few seconds before looking away.  ”They’re fine.  I’m glad you took the chances to take them down with merely that.  Everyone’s alive, though hurting a bit.  They shouldn’t hold it against you.  Instead, I’ll focus their mistakes into bettering themselves.”  Luna could swear she saw a slight smile on the girl’s face but forgot as soon as she returned her vision to them.  ”Now, what are you really here for?”

Selvina raised an eyebrow at the priestess’ curt response.  It was time to get down to business.  ”We have been told the spirit inhabiting the temple has decided to take over one of it’s members.  Lady Dawa advised we speak to you on the matter to learn what you know about these circumstances.  Is there anyone suspicious?”  The mage was almost certain she would say either Lady Dawa or Ayumi in turn.

”Suspicious?”  The girl seemed to try processing the thought.  ”I’d trust any of these men and women with my life.  Though I may need to train these ones a bit more.”  The priestess looked over the group in the room with a slight sigh.  ”Ayumi’s the biggest firebrand we have here though.  If I had to point a finger, and I really don’t. . . It would probably be Ayumi.  She’s unorthodox and a bit on the wild side as well as. . . Strange.”

Luna nodded at the statement, understanding what she meant.  Lady Dawa seemed to be of the same opinion. ”I see.”  Luna felt she’d leave the questioning to Selvina.  ”I’ll heal the ones that have bruises.  I feel bad now.”  Luna left to use her healing magic on those injured.  Kozue looked slightly worried, but eased up when she saw a bruise on someone’s face visibly disappear.

Selvina continued to think for a moment before asking her next question.  ”If someone did accuse you of being the guilty party, what evidence could you provide that you aren’t in fact possessed?”  The implication of her question was incredibly obvious but it was better to get there sooner rather than later.

”Evidence? And what evidence do you want me to show you?”  Kozue replied, her eyes narrowing making her seem even more hostile than normal.  ”What evidence can one show to prove they are not possessed?  Are you here to solely insult my person?  You could hardly find such evidence on Ayumi or Lady Dawa either.”

”I’m not suggesting that you have to prove yourself innocent.  But you’ve been in the service of this temple for a long time.  Surely some of your fellow priestesses could vouch that your character hasn’t changed recently?”  Selvina was a little taken aback by the hostility and tried to maintain a neutral tone in spite of herself.  ”I was simply hired to help you guys out here.  We all want to go home as soon as possible and let this area return to how it was previously functioning.  If you have anything that could help us, any insight on how we might discover the person who has been possessed it will help us get out of your way faster.”

”You’ll find both I and Ayumi act the same we always have as have everyone at the temple.”  Kozue stated. ”If it were that simple, we could have solved this ourselves by now.”  

”That is a fair point … what do you know about the history of the temple in regards to the creature however?  Does this temple have another purpose aside from holding it within?”

Kozue looked at Selvina for a few seconds, contemplating what to do next.  Lady Dawa likely told them to ask, so she told.  ”Very well.  This temple is to the kami, Inari, as well as the location of the sealed spirit.  Long ago, Inari had two servants.  Sisters. Two kitsune.  Spiritual foxes with great power.  One sister supposedly sought power and rebelled against her master, traveling to Yomi to steal power.  She is the one sealed here.  After she gained her power, she attempted to kill both her sister and Inari.  She destroyed the main temple, but ultimately failed as she was chased, subdued and sealed by humans.  Tales pass down however, that she also killed her sister in the final confrontation so I suppose she achieved her one goal.”  The Priestess seemed slightly melancholic at the thought, but shook her head and looked back to Selvina.  ”Time passed and we have come to our current situation many years later.  This is where her sister chased her, and where humans sealed her.  We built a temple on the location as to better ourselves and to keep watch over the seal.”  She went silent, looking to Selvina and Luna who had reappeared after hearing the story.

Swen had never been one to completely believe or discount tales about the gods - they were likely based in some sort of fact, but they were often times exaggerated.  Still though this information could prove useful if this had happened before.  ”Has the spirit possessed someone before?  How was it solved the previous time?”

Kozue looked at Selvina with slight irritation.  ”It has never happened before.  If we knew how it were ‘solved previously,’ we’d have exercised the spirit by now.”  The priestess said with obvious irritation lining her voice.

Luna spoke up, trying to diffuse whatever tension there was in the room.  ”Alright, suppose we don’t figure out who exactly it is.  What is your course of action?”  It was something that could be asked without ire, right?

Kozue looked from the mage to the knightess.  She breathed in and out before continuing.  ”We exercise everyone.  From the most suspicious to the least until we rid ourselves of the spirit.”

”But. . . Your Lady said that. . .”

”That is correct.  If it means keeping the spirit from running free, we all should be obligated.  What are the lives of us for those that may be lost?”

”I hope Eith manages to help us then.  I’d prefer not to kill the innocent personally.”  The idea erked on Selvina but she had to grudgingly respect Kouze’s dedication to the cause.  ”Who would replace you on this mountain, then?”

Lady Dawa would have to find others to replace us.  She’s the only one that could exercise the spirit right now.  So it would come to her.”  Kozue stated,  unphased by her own thought process.

”What if Lady Dawa was the one who was possessed?  Who would help take care of her?”  Selvina questioned Kouze.  They were all relying on her and so long as they had no lead there was a reason each person here stood to benefit.

”Then you should leave as quickly as you can.  This place is going to become a hell outside hell. As you would put it.”  Kozue said, looking to her fellows.  ”Are we done? I believe my brothers and sisters will sleep better without you around.”  She didn’t mean anything bad about it, but the way she said it would tell otherwise.

Luna was slightly jarred by the girl’s manner of speech but agreed.  ”Yes, I believe that will be all.”  Luna started for the door and tugged on Selvina.  ”Let us away.”

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Gwynn~

Sometime after leaving Sappho...

"Damn it all!"

A loud, voice echoed all the way down the hallway, startling a young girl awake.

"They completely ruined it!"

Whose voice was that, anyways? The young girl pulled the pillows over her head, trying her best to drown out the shouting. There was a quiet mumble as another voice replied, but it was too quiet to make out whatever it was saying.

"Fools, the lot of them! That’s the third deal this month, this is absolutely disastrous!"

…wait, wasn’t that her father's voice? Gwynn yawned, turning her head towards her door. It was closed, but a small flicker of light from under the door signaled that at least some light outside was lit. Huh, normally everyone was in the bed by now and she'd be out running around trying to get into the larder for free food.

Why were they up then? He sounded angry. She hadn't really seen her father angry very often, but when he was he did have a tendency to be scary. Well, she was definitely curious and she wanted to know! Besides, maybe it was something she could help with. With another yawn, she hopped out of her bed, climbing over the fluffy and luxurious covers, tiny feet landing on the carpeted ground with silence.

Quickly, the young girl pushed open the large and heavy door to her room, leading out into the hallway. There were lamps lit in her father's study not far away…

"Dear, take a breath already and lower your voice - you'll wake Gwynn."

That was her mother, right? The small blond haired child walked to the door - it was cracked slightly, just enough for her to be able to hear inside of it. Her father replied, but she couldn't clearly make it out - another yawn dulled her hearing.

"I don't…!" He was still angry about something though, but he did lower his voice to a point where she couldn't hear until he finally shouted again. "Damn my foolish ancestors and our cursed blood!"

She nearly fell forward, tumbling into the room and barely managing to catch herself as she almost fell asleep standing up. Her parents immediately ceased their conversation, turning to make sure she was alright.

---

"Captain!"

Suddenly, the dream came to an end, and she fell out of the bed and onto the rocking floor of the ship. The gentle rocking motion and creaking of the wood was a pleasant sound to hear when one first woke up with a slight hangover. Felt homey, really.

"Captain, we've arrived in Gibraltar and- Uh…" His words faltered just as he saw the state of their so-called captain. A kid! She was a kid! A kid that was currently…half-dressed and lying on the ground with a bottle of booze rolling around on the cabin's floor.

"…well if you're gonna stare, at least tell me I'm pretty or somethin', mate." She said, staring up at the large african man from the floor.

"Captain," He replied with a groan. Ever since leaving port she had been impossible. Sure, the crew owed that purple robed woman for saving their asses, but a kid like this as a captain? He had to question if he wasn't drunk. "We've reached Gibraltar. Crew's awaitin' your orders on deck."

The blond untangled herself from the covers, dusting off her sleeping clothes which consisted of a thin cotton shirt that was just a bit too small and simple undergarments that didn't exactly leave much to the imagination. She walked over to the table where her clothes had been carelessly tossed to the side, donning the simple garbs and strapping her sword to her side. A simple green vest, with leather gloves and light weight pants and boots to protect her feet

"Alright, lets get goin'! That treasure's not gonna find itself." She left the cabin, grabbing a tricorn off of a hook by the door as she left.

The trip to mainland was fast and swift. They docked their ship at the local city, disguising themselves as simple traders was easy enough, since they had all the appropriate paperwork and a simple survey wouldn't bring anything up suspicious.

Now they just had to raid that remote temple…

---

"Hah…these guards were way too easy."

The first mate looked on in mild uneasiness at the sight before him. Two well-trained guardsmen were on the ground under the captain, her green vest stained with a bit of blood from one of them just not having the good sense to surrender. The other, unconscious but alive.

"Oi, Dejen! Take the men and find anyone else and find where the relic is," She turned her head to a woman that was currently trying her best to make herself as small as possible behind a statue. "I'm gonna…go find some treasure of my own, heh."

For a kid, she was scary sometimes. If it wasn't in his job description, he'd have said something about her obvious intentions.

"That's a nice statue, ya know?"

huh? She was…more interested in the statue then...Dejen wasn't going to question it.

"Alright men, you heard the captain! Find the relic and lets get out of here before anyone else arrives!" A group of five men headed further into the small temple as Gwynn stayed behind with the obviously still terrified woman.

"Say, what's the history of this place?" She asked.

"E-eh?"

"I know I probably don't look it, but I love history." The comment seemed to make the older woman more than a little upset.

"H-history!? You? How dare you claim to be a lover of history when you so carelessly walk through this holy place and steal anything of value and-"

"Annnd you sure do like to talk, don't ya lady?" Gwynn said with a huff. "Yea, I like history. My best subject in school y'know, heh. Like this place. It was built by the Atlanteans, wasn't it?" This seemed to entirely catch the woman off guard - she likely hadn't been expecting a simple pirate, especially one so young to know that.

"Y-yes? It was…how did you…"

"I like history." Gwynn replied again. "It's fun, y'know? Discovering things that might not have been seen for a long time."

"E-er…" The woman didn't entirely know how to react. This was completely beyond her experience.

"It's a shame to let all that history go to waste - covered and dust and dirt, don't ya think so?"

"W-well, I can't really say…" That was something she had never really thought about before, had she? No.

"So, you wouldn't happen to know where that relic of yours is, eh?" Well, she saw that question coming.

"W-what makes you think I'll tell you!?"

“Mmm...because of my rapier wit and charm?” The woman tried to process all that was happened. First, these thugs come in and basically kill one guard and knock out the other. A group of them loots anything valuable and takes it back into town, and the rest go to question the others about the relic and this girl, barely even an adult was...well, flirting with her obviously, trying to get her to tell her where a priceless artifact was.

This entire situation was absolutely absurd.

“I’m not telling a rogue like you anything.” She firmly replied. Gwynn pouted, giving the slightly older woman a good look over as she held a chin to her hand before sighing with a shrug.

“Suit yourself.” Gwynn turned back to the statue in the middle of the temple before her sword appeared in her hands - she was still using the ring Swen had given her.

“Y’know, that statue is a bit weird, isn’t it? Only one in this temple from what I can see. Not to mention there’s a door to the left and right and...and a roof over the them without a room between them, and if my Gut is correct...” She walked over to the statue, running a hand alongside the stone base of the large construct. “There’s a room behind here, isn’t there?”

The woman didn’t reply, only shift her gaze uncomfortably to the side.

“So we got ourselves a little impasse here, don’t we? Ya can open it...or I can make me a door.”

After the raid, Gwynn was back aboard her ship and already heading for the open ocean through the strait. In her hands was an azure colored disk of some sort, vaguely seeming to resemble some artistic rendition of the sun.

Just a few more days of sailing…

[Roleplayer001]

By the time Luna and Sel returned to the tea room with Lady Dawa, Eith and Lyssa had already returned. Lyssa had taken a seat in her previous spot, and was leaning on the table where she was happily warming herself.

“I see you’ve returned.” She commented, anxiously studying them a bit as they entered the room. “…Eith and Lyssa tell me they couldn’t get much information out of Ayumi. How did your chat with Kouze go?”

”Productive is what I want to say.” Luna said, as she walked in electing not to take a seat.  ”From what I’ve learned, Kozue is a martyr.  She admitted that worst case everyone will have to go about with the ritual.  It’s not pleasant.  I understand, but I don’t think I could stand for it.”

Selvina nodded her agreement with the sentiment.  In truth the two of them had learned very little aside from Kouze’s somewhat admirable zeal towards the cause that she worked for.  She severely doubted Ayumi would be able to offer the same sort of loyalty - at least not for the right reasons.

Lady Dawa shook her head.

“That is a scenario I’d prefer to avoid.” She said with a shake of her head. “But I suppose if it is the only option then we must do what we must. The people here would allow it, but…it would not sit well with me. I suppose since neither of you have a clue as to who it could be…” Dawa turned her gaze towards the table. “Then we have little choice. I suppose I could be wrong in my assumptions, even.  Perhaps the spirit hasn’t possessed anyone and I am letting mere paranoia get the better of me.” She sighed, slumping slightly where she sat.

“But I suppose it is irrelevant. I cannot take that chance…I have taken the liberty of preparing a room for you four here. Traveling down the mountain at night would be a bit…difficult at best. Come tomorrow morning I will begin the…exorcisms if you do not have any information to work on.”

Lyssa, for the most part remained silent. She didn’t like where this conversation was heading, but there wasn’t much she could do, was there?

”It’s not like we’ve given up.  Lyssa, would you be so kind to tell us what little Ayumi told you?” Luna asked her demon friend.  Perhaps the information there held the key.  Perhaps not.  Luna couldn’t play her own cards without being sure of what her opponents held.

Lyssa shook her head.

“Well, she said she didn’t know who it could be.” The demon replied. “But, she suspected Kouze since, well, she said that if Kouze was the one possessed the others around here trust and respect her.” Lyssa shifted slightly uncomfortably. She really didn’t like being in these situations. “B-but I’m not sure how much I’d trust her…she admitted that she has the same power, so her words don’t really mean too much.”

Lyssa hesitated for a moment, as if she was going to say something else but ultimately refrained from it.

”Is there anything else, Lyssa?” Luna asked, picking up on the girl’s hesitation.  She liked to take input from everyone.  It always seemed to be a better decision when everyone was in agreement after all.

“W-well…” Lyssa shifted her gaze to the side. “I…might be able to do something.” She continued. “B-but I’m not sure…it’s…a terrible idea, really! I-I mean I could maybe try following both Kouze and Ayumi tonight to see if either of them do anything suspicious…o-or…” She turned her gaze towards Selvina. “We….could…._{ask my mom}”

”If we asked her here, it’d be like forsaking one spirit for a devil that only gets her way.  It’d end up the same way I feel.” Luna said, putting her right hand over her left arm.  ”We could have you follow Ayumi.  In my opinion, after meeting Kozue, I feel like Ayumi is our host.”  Luna nodded to herself as she turned to face Lady Dawa.  ”Has anything else happened around here lately?  Mischief or pranks of the sort.”

Lyssa gave Luna a somewhat hurt look, but said nothing. The knight wasn’t exactly wrong about her mother, but…still. Her mother wouldn’t do that, would she? She liked to meddle in everything, certainly, but…

“O-okay! I’ll tail Ayumi tonight.”

“Be careful, Lyssa.” Dawa replied. “Ayumi is…quite skilled. She won’t be fooled so easily.”

“E-heh, I mean, I am pretty skilled myself…” Dawa simply smiled softly before turning back to Luna and Sel.

”Does anything ever happen while Ayumi is gone?”  Selvina continued going along with Luna’s line of reasoning.

“Aside from Ayumi’s usual routine of pranks? Nothing I can think of…aside from the mountain gods agitation. I suppose looking into the cause of that might give you some information on who the host could be. Come to think of it, though…Ayumi does have a tendency to disappear in the early morning hours. She usually uses the time for training. I suppose if you suspect her that would be the best moment you’d have to find some evidence of it.”

”Early morning hours? Understood. How could we look into the mountain god’s agitation?  I’ve heard the mountains don’t appreciate outsiders.”  Luna asked, curious.There were so many things to look at were there not?

“It is true, they do not…even so they have a tendency to avoid people. The mountain you came through is likely your best chance at finding something. It leads into the old mountains and tunnels, as I am sure you are aware. They make their homes there – you may have heard one on your way here.”

“Uhm,” Lyssa chimed in. “If I’m going to be tailing Ayumi…I’m going to leave for a bit. I need a bit of time to prepare, ehe.” Lyssa chuckled nervously. “I am, um, not sure if I’ll be back before tomorrow, but don’t worry, I definitely will be by then.”

Lady Dawa gave the demon a somewhat quizzical look, but ultimately said nothing. She gave her a small nod, and Lyssa stood.

“E-erm, I’ll see you guys later.” Lyssa quickly made her way towards the door, if someone wanted to stop her now would be the time.

Selvina gave Lyssa a strange look with an encouraging nod, unsure of what the demoness was thinking exactly.  It seemed that she was stressing out a little about the entire circumstances and rightfully so, but wasn’t it obvious that they were acting towards the greater good?

”I’m not sure what you have planned, but I believe in you.”  Luna said to the demon as she left.  With her having left now, Luna turned back to Lady Dawa.  ”I suppose we shall have a report on that matter tomorrow then.  Now then, back to the matter at hand.  We will need to go back into those tunnels to contact one of them, then?  Perhaps we could take Kozue with us?  So we might keep an eye on her and to act as guide IF she knows?”  It was possibly a stretch, but if it were in the realm of possibilities that would be a boon.  

“It would be your best bet, I believe. Taking Kouze with you could help as well, though I am unsure how she would feel about your friend here. It might be best if she stays behind again, in case something happens.”

Selvina felt a little uncomfortable with the idea of going into danger without the hellhound around to protect them in the worst case, but since Kouze was at least being a little cooperative towards them it would also be a bad idea to anger her.  ”I guess we could leave Eith behind … but it doesn’t exactly make me happy.  She IS a member of our party here and a tough one at that.”

“It was merely a suggestion.” Dawa replied. “Do as you will, but…you know how Kouze reacts to people such as her.”

”Will be fine.  I will stay here.  Going will only bring about unnecessary conflict.”  The Shellagh said as she looked to Selvina and nodded.  She trusted that Sword-Woman would be more than enough to protect against Kozue.  

Luna looked a bit conflicted herself, but nevertheless agreed with a nod.  ”Could you keep an eye on her?  That should be enough to keep Kozue happy.”  A lot of choices so far. Too many unknowns.  Lunalel wasn’t sure of Lady Dawa, so leaving Eith behind could be a blessing in disguise.  

”Before we do anything let’s wait for Lyssa to get back.  All that mountain climbing hurt my legs and they are still very sore - I don’t know how you do this Luna, but I clearly need to figure it out.”  Selvina honestly still was tired from the climb and despite relaxing since then felt the warm embrace of sheets calling out to her ever louder as she let out an extended yawn.

A twelve hour nap at the moment sounded fantastic to the noblewoman.

”I’m just good at not showing it.”  Luna said as she gave a weak smile.  ”One has to lead by example, showing weakness to your troops is never a good sign.  I’m just glad no one aside a small girl saw my fight with Sorcha.”  The Knightess commented.

Lady Dawa chuckled, smiling softly at Sel.

“I was just about to suggest you take the rest of the evening off as well. I took the courtesy of preparing a room for the four of you – you can ask anyone in the temple here and they can show you to the guest rooms. Otherwise, you are free to do whatever else you wish in the free time you are here. Mind you, just stay away from the door unless necessary.”

---

As soon as Lyssa left the room, she immediately headed for the tunnels. If someone was doing sneaky things somewhere, it’d be a good idea to get to know the area herself. She didn’t want to brag, but she had a fairly good memory for such things. It was easy enough to get there unnoticed to – Ayumi wasn’t the only one who could move unseen, and she could do it without the aid of magic. Just a bit of patience, since she didn’t have anything she could really blend in with.

Once back in the caves, the first thing she did was…remove all of her clothes.

a flash of red colored electricity and poof, gone!

“Aaaah~” With a small sigh that ended in a small giggle, Lyssa stretched. Under her clothes, she was wearing a simple black tube-top with straps holding it up around the neck. Two, small bat like wings fluttered behind her, and two small ram-like horns curled around from the sides of her head. On her legs were simple knee-high boots, with black stockings going up her legs and a small skirt covering her lower torso. A small, spaded tail extended behind her.

“Hehe, wooow, I don’t get to go full out often.” She giggled brightly. “Lets see…first things first, lets look for any funny stuff.” Now that she was away from the others, she felt a lot better. She really didn’t like other people knowing what exactly sort of stuff she was good at.

Lyssa moved swiftly – much more swiftly than Sel or Luna had likely ever seen her move. She made her way back to the chasm they had crossed before, easily clearing it in a single long jump aided by her wings, and headed back to the entrance of the caverns where the paths split earlier. She was very curious as to what could be down there – if there was something funny going on here then this would have to be where it would be, wouldn’t it? She didn’t see anything too out of the ordinary on the way here…

Lyssa frowned.

“Hmm, can’t do it, nope.” Opening the door that is. Couldn’t let whoever was possibly sneaking around here wary of someone else going in. That’d make them wary. If she knew her cave systems though, at least the ones in Hell, there should easily be another way in.

…or she could make one, heh.

It took some doing, but eventually Lyssa had managed to find an alternate path behind the door. The area wasn’t too different from the other path, but instead of leading along the outside of the mountain towards the old temple, its path lead inwards.

Eventually, the demon came to a large, cavernous opening in the cave. Definitely man made, judging from the circular construction of the room…and the giant, stone carving of some sort of humanoid creature.

---

By the time morning came, Lyssa hadn’t returned yet.  

Selvina yawned and looked at the others in the room, stretching her arms out.  Some pain in her back had forced her to wake up and the need to stretch had overcome her need to get a decent night’s rest.  With a sigh the girl’s eyes drifted over her compatriots and a small clock in her pocket.  It had been several hours of sleep, but the girl was tempted to return to the covers along with Luna and Eith and …

Where was Lyssa?  ”L-Lunnnaaaa …”  A few pokes on the normally armored girl followed as the mage tried to summon her thoughts together.  ”... Lyssaaa … Lyssa isn’t back yet.  Did she say something earlier?”

Chances were that the girl had simply entered the place and reported before flirting with a priestess of some sort.

”She said she might not be back until later, remember?”  Luna said, somewhat absent-mindedly.  It was early and they had got to sleep really early.  Luna slept all she really needed.  She was use to long hikes like that, albeit it was a bit more harsh that she was normally use to.  ”You can probably sleep a little more until we get moving.  Or, we can just get moving.” The Knightess added, just about ready to leave.  She only needed to toss her armor on and she could go.

Selvina nodded at Luna’s suggestion.  On one hand it seemed like the woman wanted to get on the move right now.  On the other hand the yawning girl considered the very idea of waking up at this destitute hour impossible and laid her head back down speaking in a tired voice.  ”Just … just a bit longer … alright?”

A knock at the door of their room interrupted the conversation they were having.

“I apologize for the disturbance.” It was Lady Dawa. “However, your friend has yet to return…and I am hesitant to wait any longer for perhaps more information.”

”Well, seems our time to move is now, Selvina. . . Eith.” Lunalel said as she stood to put her armor on.  It was time to get moving.  Without a doubt Kozue was awake already and Lady Dawa probably already mentioned the issue to her.  Eith though. . . Luna looked to the dog-girl.  ”Can you stay with Lady Dawa while we’re gone?”  The hound looked a little worried about that though and looked to Selvina.

Selvina looked towards Luna as if asking ‘why’?

”Because if you don’t I’m dragging you out of bed.”

That wasn’t what Selvina was wondering about but she completely understood how that would be misinterpreted.  After another stiff yawn the mage managed to crawl out of bed resisting the urge to carry the blanket and pillow with her along for the journey.  ”Alright Luna … you take the lead.”

The trio opened the door to Lady Dawa and Luna spoke, ”Understood.  Shall we leave now then?” Asking Lady Dawa to make sure they were on the same page.  It never hurt to ask did it?

“Yes, let us.” Dawa sighed as she led them out of the room. “I am concerned for your friend…last night there were reports of the Mountain Gods being rather agitated about something, but what I cannot be sure. I have also gathered everyone in the courtyard so I can perform the exorcisms once she returns, but I am hesitant to wait any longer.”

By now she had led them to the hallway outside of the courtyard.

“I realize I am once again asking for your advice and aid here…but, I cannot put this off any longer. I can take my time but if your friend found something then we need to know what.”

Selvina agreed, but what if Lyssa didn’t return?  Would they be forced to go ahead with the exorcisms anyways?  Additionally they hadn’t interviewed everyone - only those in charge.  Perhaps a manipulative underling would have additional information?

Selvina's answer came rather quickly. Before the mage could do anything, the ground suddenly shook. Not by much, and not enough to cause concern if it had just happened once.

But it happened again, this time louder, followed by a howl that was quickly approaching.

---

"Wheeee!~"

Great uncle Lucifer, they were moving so fast! Didn't even matter if her cute butt had currently frozen off, this was fun! And he was so fluffy and warm! She was definitely glad she had gone on this little trip! She wondered if she could keep him. It'd certainly be fun, and they could build snow castles all day together!

As the giant creature steps carried it swiftly across the ground with heavy steps, the temple came into view with its walls quickly approaching.

"H-hey! Don't you think we should slow down?"

The creature huffed, finding the very notion of the idea 'slow down' to be absurd. Instead, it started running faster before vaulting itself over the temples walls and landing right in the courtyard, stumbling to a halt as priests, attendants, and others scrambled away from the creature. Luna, Sel, and Eith, would barely have time to consider that the creature was hostile before a familiar voice and a head of pink hair poked itself up from the creature's head.

"Hahaha, made iiiit! Woow, that was so much fun, we should do it again!~" The demon giggled, hopping off of his head. The creature itself was about twice the size of a man, and just as wide. It was vaguely humanoid In shape, covered in thick white fur with two horns curling alongside of its head. Its face, was very ape like in nature, and eyed the rest of humans around it carefully as it decided to take a seat right in the middle of the courtyard.

"Hehe, heeey guys! Sorry we're late. Got a little carried away playing with this big guy!" Lyssa grinned happily. "Anyways, uh, we should talk yeah?"

Selvina’s eyes bulged out as she observed the large creature and after debating for a couple seconds about where she found it and what she intended on doing with it the girl sighed.  Playtime was probably the genuine answer to that question, wasn’t it.  ”Glad you have found something to cuddle with, Lyssa ....  So what news do you carry?”  It would be a lie to pretend she hadn’t been disturbed by the entire circumstance or the monster in front of her … but it was standard fare around the demoness at this point.

Unlike Sel, Lady Dawa couldn't keep quiet.

"T-that's-!" The woman was shocked and with good reason. The beast that stocked before them was one of the very same 'Mountain Gods' that had lived in the mountain for ages. "Child, How did you…"

"Eh? I just cuddled him into being my friend." Lyssa replied with a slightly impish grin, twirling a loose strand of hair in a finger. You know, that was the truth…if 'cuddling' meant fighting the creature until it had calmed down.

"But erm, anyways…" Lyssa's gaze turned to the ground.  "Where's Ayumi at?" Lyssa asked the group.

Luna didn’t know where to start really.  Ask about the ‘mountain god’ that Lyssa brought? No, perhaps first of all. . . ”That should be what we should ask you, Lyssa.  Can I assume you followed Ayumi then got distracted?  Ayumi’s not here.”  Luna was only slightly irritated, but Lyssa said she had answers.

”What matter of madness is this!” A familiar voice called out from behind Luna and the others.  A good amount of shock, surprise and wonder weaved into the words of the typically calm girl.  

”Kozue.  You’ve not seen Ayumi I assume?”

The Priestess looked over Luna quickly, ”I’ve not.”

”Understood.  Lyssa has some things to tell us I think.” Luna said as she looked at her demon friend.

Lyssa fidgeted for a few seconds. She didn't want to accuse Ayumi, but…well, it was obvious she was the one behind all of this trouble.

"W-we need to find her!" Lyssa managed to stammer out. "I managed to follow her last night. I found a place in the caves where these guys live, and-and…the reason these guys have been so angry is because s-someone has been…killing them…"

She really hoped the others would be able to pick up what she was telling them.

"I-I got a bit…hung up and I lost Ayumi, some time ago but…she couldn't have gotten far! It wasn't that long ago."

Selvina shot a cursory glance over towards Luna.  ”We should get moving.  Where did you last see her?”

"In the caves - she was," She cast a glance over to the large beast next to her. "W-well…I can't be sure but she was definitely up to something bad!"

"Are you certain, lyssa?" Dawa asked the demon, who simply nodded in response. The green robed woman fell silent, shaking her head with a heavy sigh. This was bad. Of all the people, she had thought it was possibly Ayumi. It would have been difficult for a forced possession…which meant that she likely did it willingly.

So why?

[color=lightgreen"I'll…assemble the guards. We can't let her near the seal."[/color] Now that her secret was out there was a high chance that she was going to try something. In response, Lyssa gave a rather comical yawn. She had been up for quite a while and it was probably showing.

Selvina gave Lyssa a quick look, raising her eyebrow.  ”... do you need to sit this one out Lyssa?  You seem rather tired.”  It wouldn’t do to have someone fight when they were possibly suffering from exhaustion.

”Yes, I agree.  Unless you feel you could.  It doesn’t seem that our plans have changed much.”  Luna turned to Lady Dawa and Kozue.  ”Kozue, I imagine you cannot let things stand as is?”

Kozue stood for a second, looking between Lyssa and the Mountain God and then to Lady Dawa.  ”I shall go with them.  If Ayumi is the possessed, than she will be more than a match for the outsiders.”

Selvina remembered the contest with they had within the village - Ayumi had been a challenge for the four of them to take down together.  Although Lyssa hadn’t done much that entire fight, and even herself had been a little out of it.  But with Kouze on their side and a clearer mind?  Nothing could stop them.

"Hehe, yeah, I didn't really get much sleep last night…" Lyssa said with a small smile. "S-sorry, but I think I'ma sit this one out." The large beast beside her sniffed the air, growling a bit as it turned its gaze towards the temple's interior, towards where the Seal was, but for the most part was content to stay where it was.

"I…will stay here with the others, and plan an evacuation in case things go awry." She shook her head, looking towards the group with a stern expression. "Please, if you can, try and resolve this peacefully. Ayumi is…a good girl, I know she is."

Selvina actually laughed as Lady Dawa said that, likely earning a few eyebrow raises.  ”I’m … Okay.  Sorry.  We’ll try to stop anyone from getting hurt.”  The mage tried to steady herself from the laughter in an attempt to appear polite.  ‘Good Girl’?  In what world was Ayumi defined as a ‘good girl’?

”I know Ayumi.  I’ve known her for a long time.  A beating would be too good for her.”  Kozue said as she tapped her staff on the floor.

Without proper context, Luna might have thought she meant something else, if she didn’t know about Ayumi’s disposition.  ”Let us go.  Eith, with us.”

Kozue looked at Luna about ready to object before the Knightess interrupted her.  ”Unless you can smell for a certain Ninja, she’s going.”  Stern was the way she said it.  Kozue had little she could reply.

The priestess huffed as she walked past Luna, Selvina and Eith.  ”Very well.  Should ill-fortune befall us, it is at your hands blade-mistress.”

It wasn't hard for the group to find Ayumi.

Eith's nose would track the ninja back into the temple. The hallways were completely empty, devoid of any priests and almost eerily silent aside from the groups' footsteps as they moved. As the moved through the hallways, it would become immediately apparent where the group was heading. The same place they had run into Lady Dawa first the previous day - the door to the seal.

Upon arriving, they would find a scene that would likely make some of their stomachs turn.

Ayumi was standing in front of the door, one of the guards that had flanked Dawa the previous day in front of her with the other dead not far - decapitated even. With inhuman strength, the Ninja turned on her heel, pulling the knife out of the  guard as he fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

"Oh, heh~" She said upon seeing the group. "Tsk, that little pink one just had to get In the way…it was going so well, too. I was almost free of this place, even, heh." She sighed, tapping her blood stained sword on the side of her cheek. "Now, before you get all carried away, remember what Dawa said about fighting In front of this door."

Kozue was visibly angry.  She was easily unhappy with the scene in front of them.  Eith and Luna seemed use to such a scene.  ”So you were the traitor?  No, I knew the whole time didn’t I?  I should have.”

Luna was unsure of what to do exactly.  The only real thing to do was talk at the moment.  ”So you were unable to be possessed?  Looks to be a lie.”  She knew the truth of it by now.  ”So, are you Ayumi or the Spirit?  I shudder to think Ayumi would kill one of her fellows as such.”

"Heh, maybe if you weren't such a useless protector you would have acted sooner, little Kouze." The person, whether it was actually Ayumi or the spirit was difficult to tell. She simply smiled, a toothy grin appearing on her face as she looked at the group and replied to Luna's question. "Does that really matter, Luna? Not at the moment. I can tell you though, I couldn't forcibly be possessed. This little nin-nin didn't lie about that. So use your brain for a moment...though, I forget that blond head of yours is built more for brawn then thinking, isn't it? The fox made a rather fun offer and I accepted."

”Hmmm, brawn?  I rather like to think I tend to be a clever commander.  I’m not so dull as to not figure out you would have allowed her in.”  Luna was trying her best to not get angry.  It could be tough.

”You could tell us what you were offered, though.  I’ve read a lot of books - isn’t this the part where you explain your reasoning?”  When all else failed the mage considered it wise to turn to her literature.  The heros in the books always figured out how to do things after they heard the opponents plot, so why wouldn't that work here?

"Eh? Books?" Ayumi laughed quite loudly at that. "Little mage, books hardly are equivalent to real life. But really, it's nothing you would care about, but if you must know…freedom. For the both of us." Ayumi said with a shrug. "And you're currently standing in the way of that." She chuckled darkly. "And I'm getting rather bored, and I would very much like to play with the four of you again, heh." She twirled the knife in her hands.

"So…how do you want to do this, hm? Let me do what I want or will you let me play with you a bit?"

Selvina raised an eyebrow at that.  Freedom?  What did she mean by that?  ”That surprises me since you are one that found joy in being tied up.  But can’t you leave this temple whenever you want?  I don’t see how you aren’t free.”

Ayumi laughed again at Sel's comment.

"Leave whenever I want? You know, I did ask Dawa about leaving once, and you know what she said? It's your duty. Your job. Blah-blah your ancient ancestors did this and you should be proud to do it and that I was a fool for even thinking of it. I say my ancestors can all die and have their souls eaten by an Oni. I'm so tired of always having to live up to their standards. This place is nothing more than a gilded cage where nothing ever changes."

That was all an explanation they were getting. She was getting bored and restless, and this conversation wasn't getting anywhere.

"But this is getting boring…so you and that cute butt of yours will entertain me a bit." It was clear from those words she was about to do something.

”Sure, once we all start going back to St. Sappho together I’ll let you spend the night with me.”  Selvina’s cheeks suddenly grew red at that suggestion.  Ayumi wasn’t exactly ugly, but she was the definition of a deviant and the mage had been thinking the woman meant something more metaphorical.

Luna understood that it meant no good.  ”Are you daft?!”  The Knightess asked as she pulled the mage behind her, ”Lucis Aegis: Magnum Clipeum”  With the words, a tower shield appeared on her arm.  She was ready from one direction. Realistically a tower shield would be bad against someone quick as Ayumi. . . However, it was about as light as a feather.

Eith was hardly worried for herself.  She just needed to cover for Caras.  She readied herself, following Ayumi with her eyes.

”Irritating as you are, I thought you a sister Ayumi.  So this is what betrayal feels?  How detestable.”  Kozue seemed disturbed.  Almost as if she were not paying attention.  ”That’s how you’ve felt the whole time?”

Immediately as Luna chanted those words, there was the sound of metal clinking onto the floor as three sharp throwing knives bounced harmlessly off of the tower shield. Unfortunately for Luna that was only going to stop the knives. Ayumi had already seen Luna's defensive abilities once, and was prepared for it.

"Sister? Please! You did nothing but look down on me and everyone else here! You don't care about me, and I hardly believe you care about anything other than your own sense of pitiable justice!"

There was the sound of rushing wind as Ayumi's steps seemed to carry her with unnatural swiftness and grace towards the Knight and around her shield, aiming a sharp Tanto right towards the Knights neck.

Luna twist her shield around, but was hardly fast enough.  That was when she felt he rear hit the floor.  ”If you aren’t going to be helpful, stay out the way.”  Kozue was after kicking her back.  ”Pitiable justice you say?  So you’re willing to doom the residents of this temple, the people down the mountain, the mountain gods and who else knows just so you can have your ‘Freedom’?  No, the cost is far too great.  I’d sooner take both our lives.  You are insufferable, selfish and deviant. . . But I’d never go to call you evil.”  The priestess wasted little time, attempting to subdue her ‘sister’ whilst talking.

Luna stood, keeping her shield up and prepared in case the ninja tried something like that again.  Eith meanwhile, took a defensive stance in front of Selvina, ready to intercept any blow that was aimed her way.

"Don't patronize me, Kouze!" Ayumi growled, narrowing her eyes as her attacked missed thanks to Kouze. She jumped backwards, a knife leaving one of her hands, aimed towards Kouze's head as she landed gracefully on her feet not far away from the monk. "You're nothing but a self-righteous fool who can't do anything other than follow the silly rules!"

”Hardly!  If you knew! No, you will know. Soon enough.  You know how I think, do you not?  For the good of many, even at the expense of myself.”  Kozue replied, charging at Ayumi to strike. ”You know it, no!?”

Selvina summoned her magic together and leaned around the shield for a second, firing a quick shot of wind towards Ayumi in an attempt to knock her off balance for Kouze.

"Lies, dear sister!" Ayumi replied with a growl. She brought her Tanto and wakizashi up, easily catching Kouze's strike with the blades. [color=1b1464]"You could hardly care about anyone as long as you can justify your actions as being better than everyone else!"[color] Selvina's cantrip slammed into Ayumi, not enough to cause damage but enough to cause the ninja's footing to mess up. Unfortunately, since Ayumi wasn’t playing around quite so much it had little effect. Instead, the ninja spun to the right, letting one of her blades free of the stalemate as the other slowed Kouze's weapon, aiming the smaller Tanto right for the left side of Kouze's head.

Kozue deftly spun her staff to parry.  It seemed as if she slide to the side and brought her leg up in a kick.  ”It seems words cannot reach you now Ayumi.”  The blow connected, knocking Ayumi to the side.

Kouze's kick connected with Ayumi's midsection, sending the ninja stumbling backwards to catch her breath for a moment. The next instant, happened almost so suddenly that the others wouldn't have much time to react. Kouze would feel a small voice in the back of her head, as well as a pleasantly cooling sensation spreading through her body as it became somewhat numb, her consciousness becoming fuzzy as something peculiar happened.

There was a large pulse of magic, anyone even slightly attuned to it would feel it. Refreshing almost, and giving them an odd sense of calmness. Two, ethereal white colored fox ears formed on top of the priestess' head, wisps of magic flowing off of them as nine white-colorful tails formed on her backside.

"Apologies, Kouze, but I will take over from here." The voice that spoke, was Kouze's, but it sounded distinctly different. It seemed older, a bit more mature.

Immediately upon hearing the voice, Ayumi stood straight up, glaring at the obviously possessed Kouze with a snarl.

"Oh, so you're here too. Looks like I was a little careless last time, wasn't I? I'll make sure not to make that mistake again." That said…there was no way she could handle this nine-tails herself. Not without borrowing more power, but to do that she would need to get to the door. Playtime was over, it seemed.

The mage looked over towards the new white kitsune with a look of surprise, but remembered the temple ruins.  Things suddenly made some degree of sense now, didn’t they?  This wasn’t the time to think forever though.  ”Divine Shackles!”  Selvina fired her standard chains after Ayumi in an attempt to force a dodge.

”Kozue, you as well?”  Luna said, curious about this turn of events.  So did that mean the other fox never died?  Regardless, it looked like Kozue. . . Or the fox rather. . . Would be able to confront Ayumi.  Luna quickly made her way over to the seal’s door.   ”Forma Obice.”  She wasn’t far and knew this was the evil spirit’s goal in the end.  If she pushed herself hard, there was no way Ayumi would be able to get past.  A giant wall of light surrounded Luna and the door, barring any way past.

Ayumi easily dodged the shackles launched at her by Sel.

What she couldn't dodge though, was the fox currently possessed Kouze. With inhuman speed rivaling Ayumi's wind-based abilities, the fox was upon her in seconds. She delivered a swift kick right to the ninja's midsection before grabbing her by her clothing, lifting the ninja up before slamming her into the ground.

The ninja barely had time to avoid the staff, rolling out of the way as she got to her feet and put considerable distance between her and the fox.

"What's the matter, sister?" The fox asked, ethereal voice seeming to echo in the room.  This was going badly for her, and the ninja knew it. Unless she could find some way to get into the room with the seal, this wasn't going to work at all. "Grown fat and lazy on the fruit of Yomi, have you? Or were you always this ridiculously weak?"

"SHUT UP!" Ayumi growled - though at this point, if the black colored fox ears were anything to go by Ayumi wasn't the one speaking. "Weak? I was the one always doing your and Inari's dirty work! I took care of all of his problems, kept the peace and what do I get for it? NOTHING." Without another word, the black fox sped towards the other, closing the distance in the blink of an eye, but it was futile. The white fox slammed the staff right into the other foxes gut, a flash of golden flame expelling itself from the end of the staff as holy fox-fire burned those close enough.

The black fox jumped to the side, purple flame trailing along her weapons as she cut through the holy fire with her own cursed fire. The fight continued, both foxes trading blows as corrupt fire burned the white, and holy fire purged the black. Neither fox seemed to be able to get in a decisive blow, until the white managed to grab ahold of Ayumi. The white forced the other to the ground.

"Forgive me, sister."

The white slammed an open palm onto Ayumi's chest, there was a scream of pain as the spirit resisted being expelled from its host.

"Sister, please I-I just!"

She didn't seem to listen.

"Y-you human, you wanted to negotiate, please-gah!"

Luna dropped her barrier as she noticed there was no way the evil spirit would get away.  ”Kozue. . . No, White Fox.”  That was all the Knightess to go on.  ”Is this the only option?”  Really, it was hard to ignore the fact that she has easily killed recently. Mountain Gods and Human.  Still. . .  ”Is there not another option?”  Luna walked up to the possessed Kozue and put a hand on her shoulder.  ”This feels like it will become a cycle.  Nothing good can come of that.  Right Selvina?”

Selvina agreed with Luna’s assessment.  There would only be a constant cycle that would come as some other soul was possessed, and another, and another.  It would mean the seal would no longer needed to be guarded and defended and the priestess’ could always find some other task to dedicate themselves to.  The mage grabbed white fox’s other hand to stop the utter pummeling the black fox was receiving but looked down at Ayumi … or whoever she was with a degree of harshness.  ”This can’t be good for Ayumi’s soul either.  If me or Lyssa takes her as a familiar we can get her away from here and prevent her from doing any harm.  Her soul would be forced to retract from Ayumi as she takes a new form …”

The mage was wholly conscious she was being manipulated, but sometimes it was worth it to be a little of an idiot to be a good person.

The white fox, stood, pressing her heel firmly onto Ayumi's face this time as Sel grabbed her wrist. Golden vulpine eyes glared at the mage with utter contempt as she stopped her.

"Take…her as a familiar? You, young mage?"

The black fox simply remained still under the white, not in any condition to try and fight anymore. The fox's soul had been too damaged and her control over Ayumi was slipping.

"You are nothing more than an ignorant fool if you think you can control this one. Her mere presence causes crops to wilt, illness to occur and other things in this plane. And do not think she will be idly obedient to you no matter what tricks you magicians have." She turned her head to the sealed door. "Besides, if you want to take her anywhere from this place, you will have to undo the seal. Is that a risk you'd want to take?"

Despite the sternness of her voice, there was perhaps a hint of hopefulness in there as well.

”Is there no way to strip her of power?  I’ve a dragon familiar who was wholly weak when I first encountered her from the years of wear.  That’s also the only real reason that I survived the encounter.”  Luna looked a bit worried.  It had only been a day or two, but she hadn’t seen the dragon in a while.  ”Regardless, I believe we could do such a thing worry free if that were possible.

"This is the weakest she will be for now. I have assured that." The fox replied. "But in time, even if she changes her ways the fact that she will forever be tainted by Yomi is not something that will ever go away. Her mere presence in this realm is one that corrupts and brings misfortune."

She looked towards Ayumi.

"…there are ways to purify those who would be willing, however."

”What does that mean exactly?”

The fox sighed.

"Exactly what it sounds like, human. My sisters affliction is a permanent scarring of the soul. Once one indulges in the fruits of Yomi, they are forever marked. It is why we prevent those that have fallen there from leaving. There are ways however, to cleanse such scarring…if the subject is willing. It isn't something that I would recommend. Those corrupted by Yomi have hardly ever renounced their ways to be purified."

”According to Lyssa sweets and candies and cuddles would make anyone renounce any oath, but I’m curious to hear about the details of what this entails.”

"…I would not know." She simply replied.

”Things are never simple are they?  Who would know?”  Luna asked as she looked down to Ayumi.  ”Would you know, Black Fox?”

"Like I'd tell you humans." She snarled, earning a swift kick from the white fox.

"…old priests back home, would know…it was never in my skillset, and not something considered very viable in dealing with any demons and other such things that left Yomi. It isn't an art many save for the most studious would know of." The fox fell silent again. "But my knowledge only comes from my homeland. I would not know if other methods exist in your country."

”Well, there might be.  The Headmistress may know. Perhaps even Miss Lindall, she seems to manipulate souls.  That said, I’m surprised the Black Fox wouldn’t want to do it.  She’d be free from her seal all for a small time servitude to a human and cleansing of her soul.  It’s as if she’d rather go back in for another untold number of years.”  Luna said, almost a taunt if there were ill-intent behind the words.  She bent down to get closer to Ayumi’s face.  ”Not even that would convince you?”

"Just shut up, human. She growled, sharp teeth showing towards the human.

"Hush, sister." The white spoke to Luna. "…it is a complicated situation. The last time she was in service - to the Kami Inari…things did not go so well, but I am forbidden from speaking of it. We both are, and gods word is law, even when it strips us of something as basic as our names."

”She’s a rather feisty one from that experience I see.  But I agree with Luna here … if resources are available somewhere in this work where we could help her out they are likely to be at St. Sappho academy or my father’s palace.  We have extensive libraries and I’m sure that a smart librarian would get us a little bit of headway into this problem.”

"…if you are certain you wish to take her, then It is not within my power to stop you." The white fox stepped off of Ayumi. "I will undo the seal. You must be swift with whatever you wish to do, mage."

”Since she’s here, can’t she swear fealty here before the seal is completely opened?”  The mage wasn’t exactly familiar with all this exorcism stuff and the fact Ayumi was possessed was complicating things further.

"That is why I said do whatever it is you wish swiftly. Maintaining direct control over Kouze is exhausting, and my power is running thin." With that, the fox's  turned and walked towards the door.

Selvina at this point looked downwards towards the fox, extending a long scroll from her backpack.  ”Alright, I need you to sign here, here, and here.  I need your initials here …”  She noticed the two foxes were looking at her with a degree of confusion.  Of course.  ”Okay, just put down ‘black fox’ for now.  Anyways, this is the full fealty swearing contract.”  The thing was about five pages long and filled with terms and conditions and was lowered into the fox’s free hand.

"Why in the name of Amaterasu would I sign that and not read it!? No. WAY. You're gonna need a sweeter deal than that, maybe give me that cute butt of yours and I'll consider it."

”Sexual relations are covered in the contract in article 3 …”  It took a moment for Selvina to realize that wasn’t exactly the main purpose of the fox’s argument.  ”... actually if you touch the contract you will immediately understand what it entails.  It’s designed so that anyone will immediately understand it upon contact since most creatures don’t speak High German.”

She reached a hand out, touching the contract and immediately made a noise equivalent to a growl.

"Lemme make myself clear, human." The fox pushed herself up to a sitting position, but she was still in no state to resist or attempt to fight. "I don't follow anyone's orders, and I refuse to be the lackey of some uppity mage. Not again, so you can take that contract and shove it right up your-" The fox fell back over, it was obvious she wasn't doing too well.

The mage sighed and picked the contract back up and looked over the terms.  Drawing out an arcane pen she scratched out a few of them to make it more lenient about obeying orders but maintaining most other stipulations.  ”How about this?”  The article was returned to the fox’s hand.

"Gah! Fine human." The fox replied, taking the pen. "There." Immediately as the fox signed the contract, a tiny black wisp of magic formed above Ayumi, soon solidifying into a small black fox with three tails, with white tufts of fur on the end of them and its ears.

Seconds later, the seal on the door was broken as the white fox did as she said she would. Stale, oddly foul smelling air filtered in from the room as the doors creaked open for the first time in ages.

"Take care of my sister, human." She said, turning to face Sel. "Or I will make certain you face judgment." With that, the white fox relinquished control over Kouze, exhausted and spent.

The fox looked up at Sel, glaring at the woman and seemingly waiting to see what would happen. The fox wasn't any larger than your average one, in fact it seemed a bit smaller.

Sel was far too distracted by the adorable little fox in front of her to really pay attention to the white fox, although she understood the sentiment.  Looking down at the fox in front of her the mage rubbed her chin for a moment before placing her hands on the ground.  ”Hey, want to ride on my shoulder?  It’s a long climb down.”

Might as well start this out in a friendly manner.  The mage started thinking about names … Nephele perhaps?  Obviously this would require the approval of the fox since it would be rather cruel to name it something she did not enjoy.  Selvina spoke absentmindedly to herself.  ”... Nephele, Tzarzia …”  Perhaps she could just sit them down in front of a book and discuss it that way.

The fox simply continued to glare at Sel before looking towards the ground, doubly ignoring Kouze.

"…Stupid human. You understand nothing." The voice was a smaller, slightly higher pitched version of its previous voice. "I can't have a name." It grumbled to itself.

Eith looked between the fox and Selvina.  It felt wrong to the Shellagh, but it was what it was.

”Nnnggghhhh.  I feel a bit weak.” Kozue said as she had troubles standing there.  Her hand went to her head.  ”Is Ayumi alright?”  She stumbled her way over to where the girl laid on the ground and dropped to her knees next to the ninja.  ”Ayumi. . .”  She was alive, just unconscious.  The priestess took a breath of relief.  ”Blade-Maiden, would you be so kind as to fetch Lady Dawa?  I’m afriad I can’t move.”

Luna looked between everyone there and nodded as she turned to leave.

Before Luna could even turn around to leave, a familiar voice interrupted any conversation they may be having.

"What…is going on here?" It seemed Lady dawa in some manner had at least realized the seal had been completely broken.

”Lady Dawa. . . It’s a long story.”  Luna said almost ready to continue the tale, but was stopped by Kozue looking at her with a shake of her head.  Luna looked at her for a second before nodding back.

”The spirit we hunted long for, Lady Dawa, is that small thing there.”  Kozue said, making a weak motion toward the small fox spirit.  ”I took in the spirit of the White Fox, the good one mentioned in the story.  The outsiders convinced her to spare her sister, lest we fall into a cycle of weakening seals and hatred.  I have my reservations, but at the same time I cannot do much in my state.  My body is weak from the fox’s control.”

"I…this is…a lot to take in." Dawa said, frowning as she looked towards the black fox, who had seemingly started to hide behind Sel's leg as the womans gaze turned towards her. "I…would question your judgment as well, but I feel no…wrongness coming from the seal now, so perhaps..." Dawa shook her head, sighing. "You all must be tired. If one of you could carry Ayumi to her room that would be much appreciated. I'll have the other prepare a small meal for you."

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Sorcha & Maoin~

The travel time had been fairly good, actually. Sorcha allowed herself to at least use her impressive flying abilities at least an hour every day to speed things up a reasonable amount without letting herself get tired and for the most part, she didn't have any episodes.

Unfortunately today wasn't one of those days.

It was late evening, and they had stopped for a bit inside a small village to rest. They had been traveling for the better part of a week now, and the dragon finally had a small bit of a flare up today. She had to even put the kittens usual training on hold, and instead had her do something that didn't need her help. She of course, was putting on a tough face like usual, especially for the tiny little kitten that was accompanying her.

The two were seated inside of a tavern, near the back. For the most part since arriving people had given Sorcha more than a wide berth. A dragon such as herself was not exactly common, after all. Despite this though, Moain would likely easily be able to tell that the dragon wasn't feeling well, or at least wasn't up to her usual standard of both training, teasing, and definitely not as talkative as she usually was.

The cat sat at the table with her ears down as she looked over the dragoness before her. The black haired girl forced herself to eat her food and keep up some normal appearance despite the fact that the dragoness was obviously upset with her.

Maoin had been told to go hunting earlier in the day and after a couple hours of trying she finally managed to snatch up a large rat despite the sun still being high in the sky. Of course the kitten had forgotten that most creatures don’t seem to enjoy such delicacy or seeing a humanoid proudly return with one in their teeth. Ever since then Lady Sorcha had been out of sorts despite telling the girl that everything was alright and that she had done a good job.

”... Lady Sorcha … I’m … I’m still sorry about earlier. You told me to go hunt and I always think of mice and I should have been more thoughtful about your needs as well. It’s okay to be angry with me.”

Sorcha shifted her head towards the kitten. Curses. This wasn't going well at all. She wanted to keep up her usual face in front of the kitten, but if she was getting this out of shape over her catching a mouse…well, she might have to swallow her pride for a bit. For a few seconds, the dragon didn't respond. Thoughts were coming a bit slowly for her at the moment, and honestly she just wanted to find a nice cool spring to lay down in and get out of this armor.

"Little one," Sorcha replied with a small smile. "Trust me when I say if I was angry you'd likely not be alive at the moment." She didn't particularly feel up to joking around or teasing the kitten further about the subject. Besides, seeing her return with a rat in her teeth actually had been rather amusing. She'd have laughed and told her she was a good kitty if she hadn't been trying to use all of her energy to simply remain standing. Unfortunately, at the time all she could manage was a frown and a small praise before sending her off to do something else.

"Now eat," She continued. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. We'll be traveling completely by foot. Me flying you has perhaps made things a bit too easy." Of course, she could stand to eat a little more herself but she just wanted to get out of here for now and rest.

The kitten’s ears dropped lower as the dragoness stated that they would be walking the entire way. Maoin was sure this was intended to be some sort of punishment - cats needed to sleep a lot and didn’t have the endurance to last for a long travel unlike humans. The girl rested her chin against the table and started moving her food around moreso rather than eating it. It was a little soul crushing to disappoint Lady Sorcha like this. Maybe she had taken too much advantage of her generosity? The dragon was so upset with her that she was hardly eating herself - that signaled that Maoin had been a true idiot. In fact that was the only reason why they were even on this journey in the first place.

A minute passed before the cat forced herself to speak.

Submissively Maoin looked downwards at the table secretly hoping her hair would hide her face. ”... Lady Sorcha … do you …” The cat choked up a little as she stumbled on her words and her thoughts. ”I’m … I’m sorry for wasting your time.” Surely the dragoness could do better with a competent apprentice who could figure out that hunting meant deer?

This was equal parts frustrating and depressing.

The dragon frowned, tail thumping the ground beneath them lightly as she observed Maoin. Frustrating mostly for herself since as a proud and great being that she was, she was about to have to admit one of her few faults to someone other than Luna. Depressing, because the poor kitten seemed to assume she always did something wrong. She could tolerate it however, she just needed to get out of here…it wouldn't do to blunder in front of the public like this.

"If you do not feel like eating, then we will be leaving." Sorcha replied rather sternly. The dragon stood, taking one last bite of a leg of turkey before walking away. Unfortunately, in her mild annoyance with herself she moved a bit too quickly.

One of her feet gave out, sending the dragon stumbling forwards, face meeting the ground. Needless to say the humans in the area all gave startled gasps and shocked stares, the ones closest to them looked like they were about ready to profusely apologize.

Sorcha though, simply laid there unmoving for a few moments as she caught her breath.

Maoin simply sat there stunned like everyone else. She had irritated Sorcha so much that the dragoness was suffering a heart attack from the stress of having to deal with her. If she was …

… that didn’t add up somehow. The cat approached after a couple of seconds and set a hand onto Sorcha’s back as if touching the dragon would somehow heal her. ”... Lady Sorcha …?” The heat in her hand was incredible - Sorcha normally had a high body temperature, but this was abnormal.

Still though the other patrons in the tavern were looking at the situation. It had suddenly changed from there being a very dangerous dragon with a vulnerable kitten to having two easily grabbed servants that any mage could steal. Most of the patrons were stunned, but a couple were realizing the profit here. ”... Lady Sorcha, I-I can help you upstairs.” Maoin put herself beneath the dragon’s arm, ready to help lift her teacher when she was ready.

Sorcha, while grateful for the assistance of Maoin declined - at least while they were inside with the other humans. She forced herself to her feet, standing as steady and as tall as she could. Considering her nature as a dragon it wasn't difficult to look both regal and intimidating despite her obvious blunder.

"Come along, Maoin." Sorcha coolly replied, eyeing one of the humans next to her with a cold, hostile glare. "I refuse to stay in a place with such uneven floorboards." She started walking, leaving the tavern and heading outside into the cool evening air.

Maoin watched the dragon with a look of concern as she insisted on standing herself up. For a second or two the cat seemed to debate what was going on here, but the girl picked up all the bags off the floor and threw them onto her back despite the weight. ”W-where should we go Lady Sorcha?” The kitten’s voice had concern in it as she started to walk next to the dragoness but it was rather obvious that the dragon wasn’t feeling like speaking about whatever just happened at the moment.

"Outside." They hadn't passed a lake or any body of water recently, so Sorcha would simply have to make do with what she had for the moment. She walked as quickly as she allowed herself too, making sure Maoin was following as they left the small village and the bewildered patrons of the tavern behind.

The outskirts of the village was mostly light forest, and as they made their way outside of the village Maoin would have had to help keep the dragon steady on her feet. The moment they were a comfortable distance away though, the dragon ordered Maoin to halt, the large beast barely able to hold herself up by now and almost collapsing onto the ground.

It hadn't been this bad in a long time, had it?

She sat on the ground, leaning onto a tree behind her, silent for the most part as she steadied her breathing.

Maoin set the bags down after the dragon started resting and tried to resist the panic that was welling up inside of her from seeing Lady Sorcha in such a surprisingly low state. She failed. ”L-Lady Sorcha are you alright? What’s wrong? Were you poisoned? How can I help? Y-you should rest!” It would be rather apparent to the dragoness that this was so far outside of the kitten’s expectations that the girl was having trouble comprehending what was happening.

"Poisoned? Hah, it would take either a very powerful poison or a lot of it to harm me, little one." Sorcha let out a quiet laugh. The kitten's concern over an old dragon was touching. The dragon's voice was obviously strained despite her attempts at remaining tough. "Sit, and relax for a moment little one. It is…difficult to speak loudly at the moment." The dragon opened one of her wings, indicating where Maoin should sit next to her.

The kitten seemed to collect herself a little bit as Lady Sorcha spoke once more in her ‘tough, strong, impervious’ tone she seemed to be accustomed to hearing from the dragon. Maoin nodded although questioned a hundred things she should be doing - fetching the dragoness water, grabbing her a pillow, maybe even giving her a massage - but instead she obeyed the command after a few moments when she lowered herself inside of the wing.

Maoin forced herself to take long, steady breaths as her eyes ran over Sorcha with more than a small deal of concern. It would be rather apparent that the kitten was trying to contain herself as she leaned towards the dragon and watched her every move with wide eyes as if to ensure she could pounce on the problem if she managed to find it.

What happened next, would probably surprise the kitten once again.

She'd feel Sorcha's head land on her shoulder, and the dragon's breathing slow. For a few minutes, the dragon said nothing.

"I'm…sorry, little one." She finally replied. "Being a stubborn old dragon with pride is very difficult at times, you know. It's quite…irritating to talk about your own faults and admit weakness, especially in front of someone you don't want to show it too." She chuckled lightly. "I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't angry with you…in fact, it was rather adorable and if it was any other day I would have laughed and told you what a good little kitten you were." She chuckled again, though the chuckle turned into a light cough as she fell silent again for a few moments.

"I should have told you earlier, but sometimes it is difficult to make sound judgment when you think yourself invincible, heh." Her wing pulled itself around Maoin tighter. "This…is nothing you are able to help with, kitten. Truthfully, the reason I cannot fly you all the way to Gibraltar is because I physically am incapable of it. I have a…condition, Maoin. An affliction of the soul which cannot be healed by simple means. It has gotten better over the years, but there are days like this when I can hardly even walk. I'll spare you the details of how I received it, but it's nothing I will ever be rid of."

Maoin was a little startled as the dragon leaned on her, but the kitten wrapped both her arms back around the dragon as she finished speaking. The kitten’s ears were rather low for a bit as several questions filled her mind. But they would be able to be asked in time. ”A … I could get you some water, Lady Sorcha.” The kitten reached over to grab a canteen from one of their sacks before setting it down next to Lady Sorcha. Whether or not the dragon seemed to appreciate it the girl seemed more satisfied since she at least made an attempt to help.

”I’m glad you aren’t upset with me but …” It was rather clear the dragon didn’t want to talk too much about why she had the infliction she was suffering but the girl eventually managed pull one out of her mind. ”... why didn’t you want to show me … I’d understand that we met only a few weeks ago and maybe you don’t trust me …” The thought made the cat feel depressed, but something told her this was more than about feeling invincible.

"Hmm…" Sorcha hummed thoughtfully, the dragons' large wing thumping her slightly on the back for the thought. "There was a time, many years ago when I had many little living with me, Maoin. They thought I was the best thing in the world. Strong, courageous…they looked up to me." Her voice faltered a bit as she took a large gulp of water from the canteen. "We spent days playing in the courtyard, their little, fragile human faces always laughing and smiling..." She fell silent, nuzzling her head against Maoin's shoulder. "I…won't go into detail but I failed them, and they…their lives were cut short because of it." She shook her head, smiling softly as she looked towards the sky.

"I'm just a selfish, silly old dragon that thought, that maybe, you could look at me like they once did and not worry about this…condition of mine."

The kitten nuzzled back after a second, wrapping her arms around the tough dragon once more and leaning a little back against Lady Sorcha. Several minutes passed as the kitten looked towards the stars alongside her mentor and watching the celestial bodies as they shined brightly against the world. As the dragoness leaned against her the kitten thought about what it really meant for Lady Sorcha to be injured and incapacitated in such a way. What it meant that the dragon had failed her people. Why she still wanted to be looked up to and why anyone would care about a silly little cat.

The time passed and it seemed like the kitten made up some sort of decision about the entire circumstance in her mind. ”Lady Sorcha …” If Sorcha could see the kitten’s eyes she would see the same - no, perhaps a little more intense - admiration in them. The black haired girl’s opinion of Sorcha didn’t seem lowered by their interaction at all. ”... they would probably be proud of you for trying to do the same … especially after all you’ve been through.”

The cat removed herself from the dragon’s side for a moment and rested her knees on the ground as she started to undo the straps to Lady Sorcha’s armor. The radiant king of the heavens would feel a massage as the kitten started to rub her shoulders with great care from the front, allowing the dragon to rest her back as much as she chose to against the tree.

"I wonder…" Sorcha smiled wistfully as she felt the kitten start undoing her armor, shaking her head. She had messed up a lot in her life, and still seemed to be making the same mistakes over again. She let out a content sigh as the kitten started giving her a massage. Well, that was alright wasn't it? "Thank you, little one. Even as old as I am it's hard to keep myself grounded in reality at times."

Maoin simply smiled back at the dragon in an attempt to continuing caring for her. Eventually the cat started to feel a little tired as she massaged Lady Sorcha … the dragon would eventually feel the kitten fall lightly against her after an hour, sitting somewhat in her lap and head against the powerful chest with one of her ears pressing against the bottom of the dragon’s nose and twitching periodically as she dreamed.

The dragon wrapped the kitten in a light hug, resting her head on the top of the kittens and pulling those wings around them as she quickly joined the kitten in sleep.

---

Maoin’s eyes were wide as they swept over the crowded streets of Toulouse. She’d never been to a city that had so many people in it - the Foghlu estate was rather small and only consisted of the manor and even St. Sappho academy wasn’t that big with only a few thousand citizens within.

Truthfully her ears hurt from all the constant sounds of various shopkeepers advertising their goods and the constant yelling as people tried to converse above the constant roar of other’s voices. But despite the discomfort her excitement was obvious as her tail flicked behind her - the short girl was probably lost a few times to her teacher in the crowd as the dragoness was forced to search for the telltale sign of dark cat ears poking above the heads of others as they eventually remet.

This was another one of those times as the black haired girl ran up with excitement to a large engraving on the outer wall - a portrait of some young bat winged girl and what appeared to be a sorceress destroying a giant together. Truthfully the piece was well sculpted, and the girl found herself looking at it as Lady Sorcha found her again.

Honestly, Sorcha wasn't a fan of Toulouse. Too many…skeletons buried here, so to speak. The area just dug up so many memories and feelings, most of which weren't exactly all that good. Still…it was the largest city in the area and the kitten seemed to be enjoying herself. Seeing her excitement was enough for the old dragon to distract herself. When she got to the engraving though, the dragon had to purse her lips, doing her best not to let it show she was bothered by being in the area.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Sorcha said with a smile. "I remember when it wasn't even here, heh." She chuckled lightly, looking at the mural.

The kitten looked back towards her teacher as she made the comment and nodded. ”I wonder …” One would think there would be an engraving nearby explaining why this piece existed but the only writing was in a language that Maoin would be unable to comprehend as an irish kitten.

”Oh! Lady Sorcha! Then do you know why it is here? What happened?” The kitten was practically bouncing as she looked back towards the dragon. There were so many wonderful stories her mentor had on hand at a moment's notice. Perhaps she knew where this came from?

Oh dear, she saw the question coming from a mile away. Well, it was a good thing she was good at this, then! Even if it wasn't exactly easy for her too at times, especially this particular story. Her mouth turned up into a smile as she started to speak.

"Indeed, I do." The dragon began. "It's an old tale, though not quite as old as I...it's a tale of a scared little dragon who didn't know anything other than arrogance and pride, and a sorceress who put up with her and taught her how to be better than she was." She looked up at the mural, humming lightly. "It's only a tiny snippet of their tale, shortly after the two met but I will tell you what I can." She offered a hand to Maoin as she spoke, picking up the kitten rather suddenly before using her powerful wings to bring her to the top of the wall, setting her down over the section of the landscape before them where the events took place.

"Once there was an old jotun - a giant. Quite old mind you, and not exactly the friendliest of folks and a tiny bit on the crazy side." The dragon continued. "I'm not certain of the details, but he had started to terrorize the city here. Knowing the culture of the giants, he was likely looking for an honorable way to pass - that is in combat instead of fading away quietly as an old man." She turned towards the edge of the wall, leaning on it with a small smile.

"A sorceress and her friend, a young dragon around your age in their years happened to pass by on business. She was about as big as you were too. Small thing and definitely one wouldn't think of her as a majestic dragon." Sorcha chuckled. "Either way, they decided to help the citizens here, and when the Jotun appeared next, they challenged him. The dragon, in the form of a human much like I was, fought the Jotun by herself. It was quite a sight, watching a young dragon valiantly fight such an impossibly strong foe while the sorceress prepared a spell." The dragon looked towards Maoin.

"The jotun was skilled however, and quite strong. Strong enough to give even the dragon a run for her money in brute strength. As the young dragon's strength waned and sustained injuries in the fight, it looked like she was about to lose. The jotun raised its mighty weapon, intending on striking down the dragon where she was standing." Sorcha turned her head towards the sky, looking towards the direction of the sun with a wistful seeming smile.

"But just in the nick of time, the sorceress finished her spell. It was as if the sun itself had unleashed righteous fury upon the jotun as a mighty pillar of fire burned the creature alive just in time to save the dragon and the city both." She turned her head back down towards Moain. "This mural was later made to honor the both of them."

Well, that was a slight…exaggeration of events, to be sure. But Maoin seemed satisfied with the story anyways as her ears twitched slightly with the excitement as she continued to be the most attentive audience. She gasped as the dragon was about to be defeated but cheered when the sorceress managed to fire her spell off.

The girl seemed to be thinking of a question to ask as her tail swished around before seeming to come up with one. ”What happened afterwards? To them? Did they live here to keep protecting the city?” The kitten looked at Lady Sorcha with big excited eyes that suggested the girl had complete faith in whatever the dragon would end up saying.

The dragon shrugged, poking the kitten on the nose with a coy smile. Maoin sniffled slightly and gave her teacher a look suggesting annoyance.

"Who knows where exactly they went? They left shortly afterwards. They did travel, for a long time from what I know. You can find little traces of their exploits through many cities, all the way from Ireland and Britannia, to the Norse peoples and even as far as the desert lands to the south." She started walking, offering another hand to Maoin to bring her back down to street level.

The kitten nodded and allowed herself to be carried down to street level and stretched slightly once she was released. For a few moments the girl seemed to be captivated by the story still until her eyes fell on a shop selling dresses and various accessories. Maoin’s eyes seemed to light up very obviously as she looked at it for a moment before sprinting up to the window and practically pressing her nose against it like a small child that had seen some sort of mystic event occur.

After a second though the girl came to the sudden realization that she had no money to her name and frowned to herself before sulking back to her teacher with a somewhat defeated look and a lowered tail as her ears hardly lifted from her head.

The kitten had been running around town all day with a frantic dragon trying to keep up - it would only be fair if the girl followed her mentor where she chose to go as well, right? ”... Lady Sorcha … is there anywhere you’d like to go?” Maoin forced herself to put on a happy face as she asked but it would be easy to tell it was just an act.

Sorcha kept her eye on Maoin as the kitten ran about the city. It was refreshing to watch her behave more like a child should and less concerned about others. A child shouldn't worry about such things. When her eyes fell on the shop though, Sorcha frowned as Maoin walked back over. It was obvious the kitten wanted something, and she had been a good little kitten. But then, she didn't want to toy with the kittens obvious fragile emotional state too much. Buying her a gift of affection or reward might give her the wrong idea and it'd only end up hurting.

But then again, the kitten hadn't exactly been paying attention to her own hygiene and appearance in a number of days.

How about a bit of pampering for them both, then?

"Hmm, it has been a long time since I have been to Toulouse…" Sorcha said with a small smile. "But a private bath house where we could both relax a bit shouldn't be too difficult to find, no?" Sorcha continued. "Plus, I brought you here for a bit of relaxing after your training, Maoin. We should do anything you want too, little one."

At Lady Sorcha’s last sentence the kitten looked back towards the shop … so many pretty things were inside. Dresses, necklaces, earrings, maybe more! But no. She couldn’t force the dragoness to take her in there. She’d already been forcing Lady Sorcha to spend all this time with her, it was quite possible the dragon wanted to relax herself.

So the cat looked back towards the Radiant Queen of the Heavens with big, pouty eyes. It wasn’t intentional, but the eyes were simply filled with a sort of longing and emotion. But Maoin nodded her head about the bath house, not wanting to interrupt the one part of this the dragoness would probably actually enjoy.

Sorcha watched the kitten, chuckling lightly and placing her hands on her hips as the kitten looked at her with obvious intentions.

"Have I mentioned how adorable you are, little one?" The dragon replied with a chuckle, petting the kitten on the head. "Tsk, if you were even a tiny bit mean you could have anyone wrapped around your finger." The dragon started walking in the direction of the shop, motioning for the kitten to follow.

Maoin stared for a second at Lady Sorcha as if a little confused, but quickly fell behind the dragoness. The kitten wasn’t sure exactly what her teacher needed from the store - the dragon wasn’t the biggest fan of clothes herself - but some good things came about in life. The cat skipped after the dragon with a jubilant cheer in her voice. ”Coming Lady Sorcha!” The rest of the dragon’s comment seemed to be lost in the midst of the girl’s excitement.

As they entered the store it became apparent it was meant for women exclusively and of the quality that the daughter of a decently well off merchant would wear the gowns perhaps on Sunday but especially on a holiday. For a few moments the kitten simply looked at Lady Sorcha though, curious about why the dragon had decided to step in here.

Her eyes quickly drifted around the racks of clothing though, but the girl remained where she way. The dragoness was likely here for something essential and then they would probably be on their way.

Taking a look at the wares, most of the items seemed to be geared specifically towards luxury. If Sorcha wasn't pressed for time and had the desire to pamper herself a little, then she'd have bought every single item in the store. The thought brought a small smile to her lips. There were several items that caught her eye specifically, but that wasn't why she was here, was it? She walked over to Maoin.

"See anything you want, little one?"

The kitten blinked as if confused. ”W-what do you mean Lady Sorcha? “ Was … was the dragoness planning on buying her something? ”You’ve already done so much for me - I …” It seemed that the cat was starting to feel a little guilty. ”D-don’t you need to pick something up?” Maoin hoped they hadn’t simply come in here for her … Lady Sorcha already spent so much of her time caring for her that the cat didn’t want to force the dragon to do anything she didn’t want to.

"I have enough pretty jewelry and shiny treasure already, little one." Sorcha replied. "And after the hellish training I've put you through, I think you've earned yourself a little something." The dragon looked over Maoin for a few seconds, smirking in a somewhat teasing manner. "Besides, look at you. You've hardly even taken care of your own appearance in the last week! I am not having any student of mine look as shabby as you do, little one." The dragon continued. "As soon as we are done here I'm dragging you to the best bathhouse I can find and having you cleaned and pampered head from toe, and I am not taking no for an answer."

For a couple of seconds the kitten looked downwards ashamed. She hadn’t put any work into her appearance since she left Sappho but it was a little embarrassing to have the dragon constantly take care of her. She’d have to do something to repay Lady Sorcha … but she had no idea what that could possibly be. There wasn’t any treasure or gem that she would ever possess that would be worth enough to matter to the Radiant King of the Heavens.

Maoin shook her head. The kitten couldn’t afford to waste anymore of the dragon’s time and should at least let her excitement out so the dragon would feel better. ”Thanks Lady Sorcha!” The woman would feel a quick and enthusiastic hug wrap around her before the girl started going down the rows.

At first she ran through a few dress racks - she picked up a long green dress, held it up for a moment, and then shook her head as she imagined herself wearing it. There was a cute black one though that was just a shade darker than her hair and had a gigantic bow tied around the waist to help keep it tight as well as provide support. It seemed the girl took note of that one and a few others as she headed down the aisle.

A pair of earrings caught her attention, Maoin holding the black diamonds up to her ear as if pretending to put them on. The kitten soon went through necklaces and then … something on the table made the cat pause and stare. It was out of sight of Lady Sorcha, but she seemed to sit around and examine the objects on the table for a long period of time as her eyes drifted over them … the pure expression of happiness had left her ears and instead the cat seemed much more serious and contemplative.

"Something wrong, little one?" Sorcha asked, walking over to the kitten. She had been watching the kitten as she examined a few of the items herself. Seeing the kittens change in expression made her a little concerned.

In spite of her excellent hearing it didn’t seem like Maoin noticed her for a bit as she looked at a table with various collars on it - they were exceptionally pretty, far nicer than the collar Foghlu’s gave her. Even the one that had spikes jutting out of it was more ornate than the simply leather band Maoin wore day-after-day as a servant. The cat thought it would look rather comical on any familiar ....

”Wh- I … I was just looking at the jewelry is all.” It seemed that the cat was slightly embarrassed that she had been looking at the collars longingly. Her eyes drifted back to the objects after a second, the girl questioning what lucky familiar one would have to be in order to receive such a valuable gift.

Sorcha eyed the collars curiously.

"Do you want one, kitten?" She asked.

Maoin looked up towards the dragon for a moment before letting out a long sigh. ”... it’s … I’m not supposed to put one on myself. It’s the job of a master to place a collar on their familiar. Without one it’s just an object.” Her fingers ran over one with a blue liner on the inside that was rather thick with a large bell attached to the front.

It was also illegal for a familiar to claim to be owned when they weren’t but the chances of being caught for that offense were so remarkably slim that they were negligible.

Sorcha frowned, giving Maoin a harsh look as she interrupted anything else the kitten might have to say.

"Maoin, you are servant and familiar no longer, are you?" The dragon asked. "I didn't ask what you were supposed to do. I asked did you want one."

Maoin seemed a little surprised by the sudden harshness Lady Sorcha put on. The kitten looked down with a frown. ”I ....” Her eyes seemed to water slightly as she managed to look at the dragon for just a second before looking away after a moment, unable to hold the dragon’s gaze. ”I … wish I had a master that would place one on me.”

"So you don't want one, then?" Sorcha replied, eyeing Maoin carefully. "Think very hard about your answer, Maoin, and if you continue to lie I will be extremely cross with you."

Maoin looked upwards towards Lady Sorcha with surprise from the dragon’s increased hostility. For a couple of seconds she simply stared at her mentor before looking back down at the collars. After a second her lip curled upwards and her eyes water as she looked at her hero suddenly becoming angry with her.

”I-I don’t know Lady Sorcha. I don’t know what I want.”

The cat’s eyes seemed to hold with the dragon’s, as if expecting her to have an answer. Of course the dragon remained silent, at which point tears started to fall from Maoin’s eyes. ”I-I’m not good at this Lady Sorcha. I …. I hate making decisions. I know you’ve been training me and you’re great and powerful and strong and all of that and an example of what every familiar should aspire to be-”

Before Maoin could continue any further, she would feel Sorcha's palm hit her forehead enough to force her head back a bit, but not hard enough to harm the poor thing.

"That is enough Maoin." Her voice was firm, and more than a little serious. "I told you, I will not be having you speaking that way about yourself at all! Do you understand me, little one?" She didn't give the kitten much of a chance to respond as she continued, stepping quite close to the kitten, close enough to invade her personal space a little. "Are you so weak, so…pathetic you can't even decide if you want a simple piece of jewelry or not? Or did I choose to take a wrong apprentice? Maybe I should have just left you at Sappho and let Livia do whatever she wants to with you, hmm? You are the apprentice of a dragon, you spineless cat so you better damn well start acting like one."

It was easy to tell from Sorcha raising her voice that the dragon wasn't pleased with Maoin's behavior or her answer.

The cat just looked at the dragon as she was yelled at. Terror filled her veins. Hadn’t Lady Sorcha said that if she was angry she would be a dead kitten? It didn’t take her ears to be able to tell that she wasn’t going to last very long if that was the case.

Her eyes darted over to the door and then back to Lady Sorcha, her thought of fleeing dispelled as she realized that she would never make it. For a moment the cat closed her eyes in obvious distress as if attempting to pretend this wasn’t happening. When that failed the girl just exploded in screaming. ”I JUST WANT TO GO BACK TO BEING A PET AGAIN!” She collected herself for half a second before opening up her vocal cords again. ”I’M JUST A HOUSECAT! I’M A SILLY KITTEN WHO JUST WANTS A MASTER PROUD ENOUGH TO MARK ME AS THEIR OWN!” Out of breath for a second she breathed before continuing. ”I DON’T KNOW WHAT LADY GWYNN WILL EVEN DO. SHE’LL PROBABLY JUST LEAVE ME AGAIN WHICH IS TOTALLY UNDERSTANDABLE SINCE I TRIED TO KILL MYSELF!”

A few more breaths and flushed cheeks. She tossed one of the collars on the ground at her feet. ”IT IS JUST A DAMN PIECE OF JEWELRY ISN’T IT? IT WON’T BRING HER BACK TO ME AND WHOEVER GETS ME NEXT TIME WILL PROBABLY ABANDON ME AS WELL!”

”MAYBE I SHOULD JUST WAIT UNTIL SOMEBODY BEATS ME MOSTLY TO DEATH TO CLAIM ME SO AT LEAST I KNOW THEY’LL WANT ME! SO I CAN KNOW THEY AREN’T JUST KEEPING ME AROUND OUT OF FUCKING SYMPATHY!” It seemed like Maoin had every intention to keep yelling as she took another few quick breaths and pushed her hands back to help her keep balance as she leaned forward.

To say the kitten's shouting caught her off guard was an understatement. The shouting itself was tolerable, but it was the contents of said shouting that really caught the dragon off guard. She was quite aware of the kittens feelings and the situation of her…leaving on this trip. They were feelings she too, were keenly familiar with. Déjà vu, much? She could empathize with such feelings and seeing the kitten like that herself made her heart ache just a little. If…if Irasacha, or rather, her next incarnation hadn't just abandoned her, maybe…

She shoved the thought out of her head, focusing back on the present.

But, they were drawing attention, and continuing to converse here was a bad idea. The dragon placed a hand on Maoin's lips, silencing the kitten with a single finger.

"Wait outside, Maoin."

For a moment Maoin paused. It seemed like she considered continuing to protest … but after a second she gave Lady Sorcha a look. She had no idea what emotion it appeared to be or even was supposed to be. Then it seemed like something more peaceful would be said but …

The cat turned around and left the shop without any ceremony, her animalistic parts displaying her fear-induced rage as she slammed the door behind her.

Sorcha watched Maoin leave with a shake of her head. She picked up the collar she had tossed, walking over to the counter and offering an apology as she bought the piece of jewelry before heading out of the store herself.

At first, Sorcha was more than a little concerned when she couldn't find the kitten. She had assumed the worst - that she had run off and gotten lost in the city. That wouldn't be good at all. She knew better than anyone that sometimes rash, rage fueled actions could have serious consequences. She flapped her wings, easily getting herself airborne as she observed her immediate surroundings, trying to find any trace of the kittens familiar black ears.

For a few minutes, concern and a little bit of panic started to set it.

Some more minutes passed however, and she spotted the kitten crying down an alleyway. The poor thing was probably a mess…

The dragon approached quietly, though not silently as to avoid startling the kitten. When she arrived, she said nothing, merely standing next to the crying kitten and letting her have a moment if she needed it.

It was rather obvious from the whimpers that Maoin had been sobbing, but she turned her head away from Lady Sorcha. ”... you can leave if you want. I’ll still look up to you if you do. You were right … you probably should have left me in Sappho. There must be a better apprentice out there somewhere.”

Sorcha moved in front of Maoin, the dragon kneeling down in front of her. Was she really going to do this? It was a split second decision, certainly, and one that could have serious consequences, but…if she could help. Help the kitten maybe avoid the same mistakes she had made when she was in this situation herself….

The dragon placed a hand on Maoin's head, rubbing her head gently and running a finger and thumb through the kitten's ears before tracing down the side of Maoin's face and resting her hand on her cheek and bringing her face to look at hers.

"And if I said I would never leave you or abandon you, no matter what, little one?" Sorcha spoke softly.

Maoin looked up towards Lady Sorcha, not really understanding the implication of what was happening here. ”I’d want to believe you, Lady Sorcha, but you’d get tired of me some day. You already are.”

Sorcha leaned in closer as Maoin replied.

"I would not." Her voice was firm, and the kitten would notice the dragons free hand holding something - the very same collar she had tossed.

Maoin’s eyes looked up towards Lady Sorcha, then down towards the collar, then back up towards Lady Sorcha. Her breath even seemed to freeze up as she waited and looked into Lady Sorcha’s eyes.

The dragon brought the collar up to Maoin's neck, bringing the lock that held it up into place. The collar itself was simple, but elegant. It was made of comfortable black dyed silk over a leather base to give it support, and enchanted to resist wear and tear on it. Sewn into the fabric were decorative white embellishments, and hanging off the front of it with a thick, durable cord of leather was a single topaz, shined and cut to perfection.

"I won't ever abandon you, Maoin. Never, or my honor and pride as a dragon will be worthless."

The cat remained sitting completely speechless … had .... had she just been made into Lady Sorcha’s slave … servant … pet? For a few moments Maoin used a single hand to play with the collar, a single hand running over it’s surface. Then she nodded until some other thought popped into her head. Then she nodded and finally looked at Lady Sorcha’s eyes. ”Mistress?”

Sorcha ran a hand through the kitten's hair again, affectionately rubbing her ears again.

"Yes, little one." Sorcha stood, pulling the likely still confused kitten to her feet. "Now, before anything else…" Sorcha gave her a serious look. "Do you still wish to find and go after Gwynn, or do you wish to return to Sappho? I understand if you need time to think it over, little one."

The kitten closed her eyes slightly as her head was petted. It wasn’t as nice as when there was the formal familiar bond between two people, but it still felt different somehow. Maoin decided that first she needed to swear her oath in turn. ”I swear to follow you until my body rests in the ground. I will obey your orders even if I disagree with them so long as you are sane of mind. I accept whatever punishments or rewards you decide to grant me.”

The cat looked up into Lady Sorcha’s eyes once again. ”Mistress, I will follow you. If it is more convenient for us to return to St. Sappho, then we should do so.”

Truthfully, Sorcha was curious about what Gwynn could be getting up to in Atlantis and what exactly Livia was scheming, but…she would also like Maoin to adjust to her life as her servant as well. Unlike her previous master, Sorcha wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to be told she was pretty and be pampered.

"Then we shall return, little one…and~" She chuckled, pulling the kitten close to her body. "As soon as we get back, I expect the best pampering you could possibly give me. I hope you're ready to seriously be a dragon's servant."

The cat blushed as she was suddenly pulled close, unsure of exactly what the dragoness meant by doing that. Was … was Sorcha attracted to her? Maoin’s eyes widened as she considered the possibility.

More questions ran through the girl’s mind, but she shook her head. Surely Lady Sorcha -no, her mistress- had thought about all the complications that could be involved in this arrangement. Still though the cat was a little bit nervous about this - sure she’d been following the dragoness for a few weeks now, but now their relationship was different. The girl subconsciously fumbled with her new collar absentmindedly enjoying the sensation of the soft silk against her throat.

”Mistress … is there anything we need to talk about in our relationship?” The cat was ready to go towards the bathouse at this point, but she wasn’t exactly sure if Lady Sorcha had any strange rules about how servants spoke of her and such.

Sorcha released the kitten from the tight embrace, smirking slightly as she asked about anything regarding their relationship. She was a grand dragon, after all, and any of her dedicated followers should keep that in mind when addressing her.

"Indeed, come along Little One." Sorcha said, walking out of the alleyway. "There is…quite a number of things we should discuss, but let us get you cleaned up first. We'll be going to the bathhouse first and we can discuss the first things there."

The kitten nodded obediently, half surprised that the dragon didn’t pull out a leash and start dragging her there after the previous surprise. The girl felt like she could use a little pampering at the moment after the stress of the past few weeks ....

---

On the way to the bathhouse, Sorcha kept a brisk, purposeful pace, barely even acknowledging the kittens presence as she walked. Now that Maoin had become her servant, their relationship would change more than a little, as well as how Sorcha treated the kitten. It didn't take them long to find a private one they could use in a larger complex. Normally it was reserved for nobles and other important people, but no one was about to say no to a dragon who looked like she was about to kill the first person who looked at her funny.

Once inside and making sure they were alone for now, Sorcha addressed the kitten.

"First lesson, Maoin." She said, walking past her and towards the bath. "You are a servant of a dragon - so you should act like it. As such, you are to look your best no matter what. Understand?" Her voice was firm, but not harsh as she stopped, turning on her heels to face the kitten to see her response as she motioned towards the bath.

The kitten gave Lady Sorcha a look of slight surprise as they entered the lonely room, then looked downward submissively and nodded. She hadn’t done anything wrong yet, so it was likely the dragon was just trying to be serious. ”I … I always try to put an effort into my appearance mistress. I don’t know what your preferences are and have no way to acquire clothes …” Maoin had no idea what a ‘servant of a dragon’ would dress like normally, but she sensed Lady Sorcha had a preference. The black haired girl wondered with a degree of curiosity about what the dragoness would like …

"You do not have to worry about Clothing. I will provide them for you when we return to Sappho." Sorcha replied. "But I was not speaking of your clothing. Your physical appearance - your unclothed form - must be second only to mine at all times. Now wash - your appearance the past few weeks leave much to be desired."

The kitten looked over at Lady Sorcha and hesitated for a few moments before turning around and starting to remove her dress. She was curious about what exactly the dragon had in mind for dress … she hoped it wasn’t too risque ....

Soon the dress fell onto the ground and Maoin quickly slipped into the warm water letting out a long purr as it treated her skin from weeks of travel. She wasn’t planning on beginning to scrub immediately … that could wait a few minutes. For now she simply stood in the tub allowing the water to reach her upper chest as she looked at Lady Sorcha with a smile.

Sorcha took a seat on the edge of the pool next to the Kitten, giving her a neutral expression as she lowered her legs into the water.

"Kitten, you are not here to pamper yourself." Sorcha said sternly. "I certainly don't mind you taking a little time out of your day to treat yourself, but no matter what situation you find yourself in, tending to me should be your first priority and any playtime or pampering on yourself should be done swiftly unless I have otherwise given you time to do as you wish."

The kitten’s eyes widened as she nodded, moving around as she started to remove the dirt from herself with a cloth located near the bath’s edge, dunking her head underwater and washing her body and hair down in record time. She hadn’t used any sort of soap yet, but she was now available to help her new mistress if she required it. ”Apologies, Mistress. I was not trying to be selfish.”

"I did not say you were, little one - I am not berating you, simply instructing you for now." There were more lessons regarding Maoin's appearance Sorcha wanted to address, but that would come later as the situation called for it. For now, Maoin was going to learn what it meant to truly attend and clean a dragon.

"Second lesson. When I ask to be attended too in the baths, you are to give me the full treatment. Nails cleaned, tail and wings polished and scrubbed, chest, body - everything you will wash and make sure my hair is in the best of conditions. There should be some…polish in the bags somewhere for my wings." bringing a leg up and pointing her foot in the kittens face, Sorcha gave her a commanding look. "Now, get me out of this armor and attend to me."

For a while the cat simply stared down the dragon’s legs, obviously hesitating as some thought crossed her mind.

Sorcha's foot gave the kitten a firm poke on her nose.

"When I say do something little one, do it." Her voice took a slightly serious tone, indicating displeasure.

Certain thoughts crossed the cat’s mind as she was given an even better view of her new mistress’ leg. The poke only made the kitten blush more. Despite having excellent hearing, it seemed that the cat mind was still occupied with other things as she examined Lady Sorcha further … it had been a while since …

Frowning, Sorcha removed her leg from the kittens face as she spoke again.

"Did I not make myself clear enough, little one?" There was a definite hint of annoyance in her voice as she spoke, tail thumped on the ground in displeasure. "Or…perhaps you were distracted by thoughts of something else?" Her mouth curled upwards into a smirk. "You don't have to hide it, kitten. Being enthralled by my beauty is only natural, but if you get distracted by it so easily I can hardly use you as a servant."

With the leg removed the cat’s mind returned to the matter at hand, realizing her face was flushed. ”... um … I …” Cleaning, right? The kitten stepped out of the pool and started to undo the straps on the dragon’s armor before setting the pieces off to the side and grabbing another cloth to bathe her new mistress with.

The black haired girl returned to the pool, grabbing one of the legs and beginning to scrub it dutifully as she started to remove the week's worth of grime that had collected itself onto her new owner’s body. The girl let out a sigh as she scrubbed but she was engaged in the work as she started to run the cloth over the dragons’s toenails to get rid of whatever had collected beneath them. Her ears perked towards Lady Sorcha though to indicate her mistress had her attention now that the legs were no longer distracting her. This was going to take a while, and there would be time to talk if that is what the dragoness wanted.

For a few minutes, the dragon simply enjoyed the treatment. It had been awhile since she had anyone around to take care of her quite like this. It was an experience she sorely missed. It was going to take a while for the kitten to finish, and the dragon was in no rush to hasten the experience. Plus, it gave her a good chance to talk with her some more about what was expected of her.

"Thirdly. You are to attend to me, and only me. No one else without my explicit instruction, little one." Sorcha continued. "If another mage or similar were to try and harass you over something or ask you to do something for them, you are to tell them no and if they give you any problems, you are to tell them to take it up with me and leave." It was another basic action there, nothing too new that the kitten would hopefully be already familiar with. Of course, that action in itself might present a few problems with less…savory and agreeable mages, but Sorcha would get to that in a moment.

The kitten nodded as she thought about what the dragoness had said, rotating to the other foot and starting to clean those toe nails. Compared to her previous thoughts it was quite obvious the girl was trying to distract herself from different ones as she swore she saw something crawl out. ”Uhhhh Uhhh … didn’t you say that it was a shame that I only served one person when I belonged to Lady Gwynn, mistress?” Maoin hadn’t entirely understood what the dragon had intended when she said that … it had been a little confusing to the kitten.

"Tsk, you still haven't figured out what I meant by that, little one?" The dragon frowned. The kitten wasn't too bright in that regard, was she? Though, she supposed it didn't matter now. "It doesn't particularly matter, kitten. You are mine. You belong to me and are my servant. You are to serve no lesser beings than myself, and you will not degrade yourself to do such things."

The kitten listened as the dragon claimed her ownership without any exception. It was a little surprising after her previous mistress did everything in her power to ensure that she didn’t feel like a possession. Although unusual for the cat she didn’t argue with anything the dragon spoke and instead nodded obediently. ”Yes mistress.” The kitten finished scrubbing the right leg, grabbing the cloth to start working on the dragon’s nails. She wondered if the dragon would ever be into receiving some nail polish. Red maybe, to match the eyes? Lady Sorcha had gotten annoyed last time when she started to do makeup but now that she was a servant perhaps the dragon would enjoy it more?

The dragon didn’t seem interested in giving too many more comments and seemed to be enjoying the royal treatment instead. The legs had required a little time to return back to her old skill, but the kitten’s pride in her work was well earned as both arms were promptly cleaned and scrubbed. Next the cat stood outside of the pool with a slight shiver as the air ran against her damp skin, dumping a bucket of warm water onto Lady Sorcha’s back before scrubbing that as well. The dragon’s hair recieved a similar treatment although the soap would have to wait until later.

When Maoin returned back into the water though and prepared to start scrubbing again she realized the remaining areas were much more interesting. The kitten had given the dragon a bath before but .... The girl’s face was completely flushed over as she looked away from Lady Sorcha’s body with a degree of embarrassment as she tried to figure out what her new owner wanted.

Sorcha let the kitten continue the service. There were other things that needed discussing, but they could be more easily achieved back at Sappho. Besides, things were getting a little droll and serious. A little fun with the kitten could be had as long as it was nothing too serious either…and the kitten presented her with a rather prime opportunity.

"Oh?~" Sorcha smirked as she saw the kitten's hesitation and flushing cheeks. "It's nothing you haven't seen before, little one." The dragon lowered herself completely into the water, putting herself a bit on the same level as Maoin as she continued. "You've cleaned me before, haven't you? What's the matter, then?" She leaned in a bit closer, enough for the dragons rather ample chest to almost touch the kitten's. "Perhaps…you're imagining doing something with them, now that I'm your master, hmm?~"

The cat instinctively took a step back as the dragon left her seat fumbling over various words. ”Um ....” The girl found herself unable to maintain eye contact - goodness those pillars from the roman period were well constructed, weren’t they? She wondered how many people had been in here and … the cat realized her thoughts were doomed to go in circles as she looked at the dragon with eyes that couldn’t remain still. ”O-of course not!” Maoin was a terrible liar, forgetting to even address Lady Sorcha properly.

Sorcha smirked, taking another step closer to the Cat as she stepped backwards.

"Lesson four, kitten." Her voice had taken a slightly sensual, teasing tone as the kitten continued to try and get away. She would have none of it though, and for every step the kitten took away from her, she took one towards her. "You are to always address me as Mistress, 'Lady Sorcha', or any derivation of. Understand? And don't be so nervous, Little one…it's not like this big scary dragon could easily eat this scared little kitten in front of her, heh~"

The cat nodded and started to speak with a cracking voice. ”Y-yes Mistress.” Maoin seemed to catch the implication that the dragoness was talking about as she took another step back in the water.

She felt her tail run into the bathtub’s edge before her butt pushed into it. The kitten’s line had run out and she looked around nervously suddenly feeling incredibly self conscious as she covered her breasts with one arm and lowered the other one to hide the area between her legs. If the dragon paused close in front of the kitten however the girl would look her in the face with a nervous plea of some sort running through her shaking eyes as her breaths came in and out quickly.

The dragon placed a hand on the Maoin's cheek, laughing a bit at the kitten's obvious nervousness as she attempted to cover herself. The dragon was standing close enough to the kitten to have her leg press against Maoin's leg.

"Lesson five." The dragon said, moving her hand down Maoin's neck, coming to a rest on the kittens shoulder. "Confidence in your appearance, little one. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. They're…cute, heh~" Sorcha continued, using a somewhat playfully patronizing tone. With a small giggle, Maoin would feel Sorcha press her body against hers. "But well, I can't say you're embarrassment isn't cute, either~"

The kitten’s breathing came to a complete stop as she felt Sorcha press against her, not really sure what to expect next from the dragon. More than her face was flushed as Maoin ran over the compliments in her mind and she had no idea what-

Before the kitten could properly react though, Sorcha stepped back, swatting the kitten on the back of the head lightly with a hand, looking at her with a frown.

The kitten was taken somewhat out of her thoughts as Sorcha stepped away from her with a slight swat on her head and calmed down a little. A look of confusion seemed to run across her face as she was being frowned at. Eventually a nervous voice responded to the circumstance. ”L-Lady Sorcha?” Was the dragon upset with her for some reason?

”H-have I upset you?” The cat forced herself to stop covering herself but clearly was a little uncomfortable and embarrassed by it. After all she was the dragon’s property, right? Maybe she wanted to inspect her goods?

The dragon's frowned deepened, but she said nothing before walking back to the other side of the pool with a shake of her head, returning to her previous seat on the edge of it. Entertainment value aside, the kitten had definitely failed at her task. She had ordered the kitten to clean her, and she had let herself get distracted.

"Finish what you started, little one." She inspected her recently cleaned nails with a degree of satisfaction as she continued. "And tell me why I am upset with you."

The kitten went over to grab the towel quickly and returned as she started scrubbing Lady Sorcha’s chest. It seemed the kitten had to mull it over for a bit in her mind as she thought about what the King of the Radiant Heavens wanted from her in this situation. With the playtime already over it allowed the cat to relax as she finished her work on the dragon’s front, instead stepping out of the pool and working on the dragon’s wings. ”... should I have not backed away from you, mistress …?” Had she denied the dragon what she considered her rights? Perhaps that had upset her?

"What, and ruin my fun by not being able to tease you mercilessly?" Sorcha replied with a small laugh as the kitten finished washing her front. "No~"

Maoin ran her hands over the wings, pouting but at the same time feeling a little relieved that wasn’t why the dragon was upset. It was playful fun for both parties involved … Lady Gwynn had always told her to stand up for herself … so maybe … ”... should I have told you to go away if I was feeling uncomfortable?” Lady Sorcha always seemed to want her to be more independent and confident in herself. ”Or maybe just more honest with what I did want, mistress?”

The dragon laughed at the kitten's next words.

"I'm not sure you telling me to go away would have the desired effect that you'd want, kitten." Sorcha replied with a smile. Maoin trying to be all threatening and telling her to go away would simply make it more fun for her to tease the poor thing. "And no, that is not it either." She sighed with a shake of her head. "What did I order you to do before I started teasing you, Maoin?"

The kitten paused for a few moments as she realized what she had done as she finished washing the wings. Soap and polish would still be needed later, and there was a good chance the dragon would like a long massage afterwards. ”I didn’t obey your order, mistress. Despite you having informed me of your displeasure earlier” Of course this closeness was far faster than that which had occurred between Lady Gwynn and herself, but she was a better servant than that, wasn’t she?

"Indeed, you allowed yourself to get distracted after I gave you an explicit order." Sorcha replied. "Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a little playing around in the bath, but when I ask you to do something kitten, you are not to allow yourself to get distracted by anything." The dragon turned her head towards Maoin to see if she understood.

The kitten looked down, clearly feeling ashamed of her failure as she lowered her own hands down into her lap as she knelt against the ground. It was her first day on the job, and she already was failing at being a servant. Wasn’t that something she had always prided herself on … the one thing she was good at? Her ears lowered further against the top of her head and her tail went somewhat between her legs as she returned a glance to Lady Sorcha and nodded for a couple of seconds. ”... I … I apologize mistress. Is there anything I can do to make up for this failure …?”

"Yes," Sorcha replied simply. "Don't let it happen again, and show me that outstanding work that you pride yourself in."

The kitten nodded, pulling out the oils and soaps and starting to rub the shine into Lady Sorcha’s wings softly, and soon enough they were shiny like the sun reflected off of it. The cat went down with the soap as well, and cleaned both of them before taking Lady Sorcha’s hair and working on making a complicated french braid. A yawn escaped her lips but she continued to work having learned from the lesson earlier that letting herself get exhausted or lazy would probably irritate her new owner. Soon enough the cat was finished as she let out a sigh of exhaustion. Perhaps she had taken a bit too long at this, but a few weeks of travel combined with Lady Sorcha’s high standards made any sort of bathing a long task. Still though, the dragon likely wasn’t finished being pampered. ”Anything else, mistress? Would you like me to fetch you a drink and massage you?”

"I don't think that will be necessary, little one." Sorcha said with a quiet hum. She brought one of her wings around to her eye level, seemingly inspecting Maoin's work. "I think, I would prefer a nice dinner. Tis getting a bit on in the day and you should find us a place to stay for the evening, no?"

The kitten managed to keep the sigh of relief down from not having to continue working her hands on the dragon. After the morning’s training and the fight they had in the shop earlier, the cat felt spent after giving Lady Sorcha the long bath she desired. Still though, Maoin had a new order and with a small yawn started to finish drying herself off before throwing on one of her recently cleaned dresses that was stacked outside the door and tying it into place. The cat proceeded to stack her owner’s things close to the pool before she turned her eyes to Lady Sorcha. ”I’ll return as quickly as possible Mistress.” With a nod, the cat left the doors and headed out into the streets.

It took about ten minutes but a knock on the door signaled Maoin’s return to the bathhouse. ”Mistress?”

"That was quick, Moain." Sorcha said from behind the door. "You've found a suitable place, I assume?" The dragon had already put her armor back on and was eager to get into a bed and some food. She was feeling a bit tired herself.

The cat nodded, leading the dragon and herself to a well-off tavern that was perhaps a bit on the pricey side, opening the door politely to let her owner in first as the pair of them were led to a table in the back where mythical creatures would avoid scaring the general populace. The dinner came out quickly for the pair of them and was overall tasty but nothing divine. Lady Sorcha ordered herself several drinks but did not ask if her servant was interested so Maoin assumed that since she was on the job she wasn’t supposed to get inebriated. Soon enough the meal was paid for and the pair of them headed upstairs to a room with a single full bed, a small desk, and a closet to hang any clothes in. The cat hung the clothes up with a yawn, closing the shutter doors and turning her eyes back towards Lady Sorcha to see if she had any sort of orders.

Sorcha, immediately plopped down on the bed in quite a comical fashion, messing up all the covers and stretching her body completely over it.

"Ahh, that was gooood~" She chuckled, slightly drunk. She rolled over onto her back and sat up, tossing her legs over the edge of the bed and smiling over at Maoin. "So…how do you like it so far, hm? It's only going to get tougher from here, you know. I expect that sort of care every day, if I am not occupied by something else." Despite the seriousness of her words, her tone of voice was more playful than anything.

The kitten let out a loud yawn in return in spite of herself, rubbing her eyes. Still though she gave a smile in return. ”It’s certainly different, mistress.” Lady Sorcha was MUCH more active in requesting her desires than Lady Gwynn, although the cat hoped that this didn’t mean she would never be pampered again. Her eyes drifted out the window before she let them look back to Lady Sorcha as she broadened her smile. Whatever a servant did, it was their job to appear cheerful as they did it.

Sorcha returned the smile, but said nothing patting the spot next to her indicating Maoin should sit. Maoin walked over loyally, lowering herself into the spot and trying to avoid collapsing straight onto Lady Sorcha. She turned her tired eyes up to the dragoness and forced herself to suppress a yawn. ”Yes Lady Sorcha?”

Suddenly, the dragon reached up and placed a hand on Maoin's head, gently rubbing both the top of her head and her ears.

"Who's a good kitty?" Why yes, she was slightly drunk as previously mentioned.

The cat meowed slightly as she was being petted, hands curling up slightly and rubbing her head instinctively back into the pets. ”Meeeeeow” Why yes, she was a fantastic kitten, wasn’t she? Maoin wrapped her arms around Lady Sorcha as she pressed her head further into the source of attention.

"Yes you are a good witttle kitten, aren't you?~" Sorcha chuckled…before letting herself fall backwards onto the bed, and bringing Maoin with her, wrapping the kitten in a firm hug as the beast yawned. "Get some rest, little one. You'll have a long few days ahead of you. Don't think your training is going to be put on hold just for this…"

The dragon grumbled with a final yawn before settling down to sleep. The kitten found herself laying there for only a few minutes in thought as her own eyes closed peacefully.

She suffered nightmares every night on the trip home.