[IC] [Gelatinous Cube] Ballad of the Mages {Ladybella}

[Gelatinous Cube]

It had taken a bit of arm twisting and some hokey excuses, but in about a day Kyra had gotten a listing from her realtor. All the likely properties for sale that Ray thought a cabal of evil acolytes would be bringing their "dead" master back to the land of the living.
Ray was still limping and taking it slow, his ribs were still giving him hell, and above it all he was just fatigued. He could hardly sleep with the threat of both a morbidly powerful Warlock and an enraged Vampire Lord both out for his blood.
If only Mathias could take out Kaeli for us, then that narrows the playing field down a bit...hardly levels it though.

The sun was out, and it was bright and warm, even if it was still a cold day...something to be thankful for. They had needed to leave early to buy Ray some new clothes. So now he wore sneakers, jeans and a t-shirt with a black hoodie over the top. Much more preferable to the tattered sweats he had on the past couple of days. He hadn't realized how much his hair had grown out either, now that it wasn't a shaggy mess. It touched the back of his neck at it's longest point, almost on his shoulders. He kind of liked it. he who had always kept his hair fairly short his whole life. He had to have something to feel good about...anything!

"This is going to take the better part of today," he muttered in a sullen tone, "And I don't even know if it will pay off. There's still the matter of abandoned buildings, condemned lots...fuck. Detective work sucks. And I am going to pay you back for the threads, by the way. Just as soon as I win the lottery."

[LadyBella]

"Oh, don't be so gloomy," Kyra said, looking down at the list. She squinted behind her sunglasses, before looking up again. She glanced over at him, the corner of her mouth lifting.

"I'll hold you to that Ray," She said with a giggle. Her attention floated back to the list as she stopped walking in front of a rather run down house. It had been white at one time, now the paint was peeling and discolored in some areas. She found herself smiling at the ugly little house. It had two stories, windows were missing, the plants outside were brown and crispy, but it had charm. It just needed a little TLC. Kyra took her sunglasses off and placed them on top of her head.

"I'd like a place like this some day," She said wistfully, "A window box with all of my herbs," She mused, turning to Ray. A small sigh left her lips and she looked back at the list, fishing a pen from her purse. She drew a line through the address before looking back up at it. A shiver ran through her as air found it's way up her jacket sleeve. She'd actually gotten to shower that morning, allowing her to let her hair down and shave her legs. She'd been pretty gross before that shower, coupled with a cup of coffee it had probably been the best shower she'd ever taken. The bruises on her face were healing nicely, turning a gross yellow color now. They were more easily covered up now and no longer painful. She felt good and happy. Which felt a little wrong given the circumstances. When she finally got that book back she was going to tear that page out and burn it. There is no reason for that spell, she wasn't even sure why her ancestors put it in the book. Maybe she'd have to take a trip to Ireland for the answer to that question. None of her family lived here anymore. The Ward witches always found their way back to Ireland somehow. Kyra was the only one left in the USA, she had a cousin in Germany and a few aunts in England, but the rest were in Ireland.

"Ready to move on to the next one?" She turned looking at Ray.

[Gelatinous Cube]

That was the big difference between Ray and Kyra. Where she saw a worthwhile investment, a fixer-upper so to speak, Ray just saw a complete dump. Better to knock it down and build something newer and better.
Of course, there was no way he could live in such a place, at least not while it had electricity. He had known a Wizard once who could power his whole house on residual magic energies. Of course, he had been immensely powerful and far, far old than Ray. He had guessed a century, give or take twenty years, yet he still looked to be in his early sixties. Wizards and Witches had longer life spans than regular people, living at least two full centuries naturally if they didn't overextend themselves. It seemed like such a long damn time to him, and when you got down to the root of it all that was what frightened him the most.
Not the uncertainty, not the misery, not the resentment of the people around him, but the fact that he would have to live with it for that long. It made him envy regular people, everyday men and women working nine to five. They didn't need to watch their back for errant Warlocks or vengeful Vamp Lords, they didn't have to live without electricity for fear of blowing up a house and most of them had never killed a man in cold blood.

She sighed as she looked at him, and it just about cut him to the bone. Maybe he was just sensitive from the nerves and the pain, but he couldn't hope to fulfill any of her suburban fantasies. Whatever the future held for them it would not be normal.
He couldn't let these thoughts consume him though, not right now.
He focused himself and stretched out his right hand, and with it his magical senses. Call it a magical sonar...sort of. More like a drone, a small projectile of energy that could search every room and find magical residue.
It only took about thirty seconds and it came back negative.
"Nothing here, probably just a lot of mould and mildew. Let's go."

[LadyBella]

Kyra smiled at him, turning to walk down the sidewalk. She studied her list, keeping her pace semi-slow for Ray's sake. After repeating the number of the next place in her mind, she dropped her arm, the list loose in her hand as she walked. She took her sunglasses off of her head and replaced them on her face, flipping a few strands of hair out of her face. She glanced back over her shoulder and slowed, hooking her arm in Ray's as she fell into step next to him.

"This is fun, I feel like we're buying a house together," She said smiling. Her attention was caught by a couple of kids across the street, playing in the front yard. She looked away, feeling a twinge of guilt. She wasn't sure the reason for it. She was middle-aged with no children or even a husband. Sure, she loved Ray but thinking about anything further than the tentative relationship they had wasn't really worth it. She couldn't imagine them living out a regular life with children running around. Although, she thought, they would be the cutest little kids ever and her mother would stop haranguing her about 'carrying on the line'. Her eyes nearly rolled, but she held it back, pushing thoughts like those to the back of her mind.

[Gelatinous Cube]

There was a warmth that came through her and into him when she linked her arm to his. Not a physical sensation, but something that filled him from the very insides. Ray had to wonder whether she really believed it when he said that he had never stopped loving her, the doubt gnawed at him like a dog with a slab of meat. But she told him that she loved him as well, but Ray wasn't too sure if he should consider anything said after a life threatening night of near death and blood soaked carnage and to a badly injured man covered from head to waist in dried vampire blood as gospel.
Does she love him like a brother, or a dog? She always did love animals and they loved her too. That damnable cat of hers had no love for Ray though, what if they were in it together?
Gah! It just made him want to give up and cry, and that made him angry, and being angry just made his body ache more, and that was only making him angrier!
Suffice it say, that despite the warmth of her touch, he was in a foul mood. If there was any saving grace to being so moody, it was that it might just boost his power enough if this fruitless search came to a fight.
When this is over...I'm going on a long vacation, only I think I'll just forget to come back.
The gloomy clouds had descended on him completely by now, and it was all he could to robotically utter back a, "Heheh. Yeah, I guess it is."
Ray was beginning to wish they would find some acolytes, he was itching to hurt somebody.

[LadyBella]

Kyra frowned, unsure if she was the cause of his bad mood or if it was because he was still hurting. She turned him around a corner, checking the street sign to make sure she was where she thought she was. Her attention then went to the houses. She was looking for 1472. The first house was 1468.

"It should be down a little on this side," Kyra said, pointing to the side of the street they were walking on. She made a mental note to not forget to make him another potion that concentrated more on pain than healing. She could do that easily enough. She knew that after today Ray would be very sore.

"Ah, here we are," Kyra said looking over to see the faded numbers on the house they were looking for. Unlike the last house, this one seemed more sinister. Perhaps it was the dark color it had once been painted. Or maybe the windows that were caked with dust and mud. The door was hanging crooked, but shut as tight as it would go. She grimaced looking at the house and then looked at the list again to make sure that this was the right place. She unconsciously tightened her grip on Ray's arm, withering a little to hide behind his shoulder.

"This looked haunted or something," Kyra whispered. Her eyes watching the windows for a ghost or demon or something.

[Gelatinous Cube]

She wasn't wrong.
When Ray looked at this house the hairs on his arms stood on end and an icy shiver ran up and down his back, like slender fingertips tracing the length of his spine. It was creepy as hell, and he couldn't imagine anyone buying it, let alone standing too long to look at it. Children probably avoided it like the plague, crossing the street in an effort to escape it's spooky gaze.
But...but no, it was more than that.
"This house feels haunted," he said in a low voice, anxiety gripping his throat with unease, and it only got worse with what he said next. He swallowed hard and forced the words out.
"We have to go inside. They could have been here, and even if they weren't...this place...it's...it's dangerous." His instincts were screaming at him, telling him that this place came bundled with a big ol' side order of harm. It was practically dripping with blackness, and all the negative emotions that came with it. Hate, anger, jealousy, grief and misery. Powerful emotions, the kind that overwhelm and smother, the kind Ray had become familiar with over the last six years.
"We have to," he said again to himself as he took a deep breath and took the first nerve-wracking step towards the door.

[LadyBella]

Kyra grimaced, tightening her grip on Ray's arm as he moved forward. She almost pulled him back, but she forced herself to step behind him, quietly as though any loud noise would cause an explosion. Her eyes flicked around the property, trying to see a threat before it happened. She bit her lip as her foot lifted for the first step. She jumped at the creak that sounded, chuckling nervously at her own nerves. She cleared her throat and sent a glance over her shoulder. There were no children playing across the yard, or dogs barking. The neighborhood was quiet, too quiet.
"I don't like this," Kyra whispered, shaking her head. She rubbed her free hand on her thigh, trying to erase the sweat that had accumulated in the past few minutes. What would they find in there? Ghosts? Demons? More Vampires? She shivered, but took a deep breath and looked over at Ray.
"You open it," She whispered, withering behind his shoulder. When did she become such a coward? Oh right, when she escaped a warehouse full of vampires who were trying to kill her.

[Gelatinous Cube]

The first thing Ray felt when he opened the door was cold.
Intense cold. It was almost tangible, like the very air had turned to physical ice. He gritted his teeth and pushed on through, standing in the foyer. It was spacious but the walls loomed over them, as though they were reaching down to grab at them.
The shutters on the windows were all open, but very little light made it through, only the sunshine from the open front door and even that had a hard time entering.
Ray was shivering, trembling, and he wanted nothing more than to run away from this place. Without thinking about it he felt behind him for Kyra's hand and grasped it whether or not she wanted to pull away or not.
He raised his shaking right hand and with a brief effort of will and concentration he called up his flame. It burned in the palm of his hand and cast flickering, orange light onto the walls.
It made him feel a little bit better.
"I can feel it," he whispered, "The cold, the darkness. I won't lie, I'm afraid...scared half to death."
As if to punctuate this declaration he squeezed Kyra's hand tighter, certain that he must be hurting her, but he could not let go.

[LadyBella]

Kyra shivered as they entered, trying to sink towards Ray's body heat. Her eyes flicked around the room, feeling very much like a tiny mouse being hunted by an eagle. She grasped Ray's hand as he took hers, not really thinking about it. She needed his comfort as much as he needed hers. She watched his flame, feeling a little bit better by the warmth of the flame.
"I'm scared too, but we can do this," She said, her voice trembling a little bit. They were acting like scared rabbits, when they were probably the most powerful duo in the world. They didn't feel that way though, not after everything that had happened thus far. She wanted to run away, pack up and go to Ireland, hide in the green grass with the rest of her family. She probably should have done that a long time ago. The book would have been safer with more than one Ward witch watching over it. When she did get it back, she was taking it to Ireland. She had no business keeping it. Not now, not ever.

[Gelatinous Cube]

They slowly shuffled deeper into the house, Ray's flame flickering off the dark walls. The tight grip he had on Kyra's hand made the flame burn just a little bit brighter, and he took a moment to be thankful that he wasn't doing this on his own. He wouldn't have wanted anyone else with him.
Ray took a look around him, taking in the layout of the house. To the left was a dining room that connected to the kitchen, in front of them the main entrance to the kitchen and on the right were double doors concealing a lounge room.
"Alright...let's keep that door shut for the mo-" SLAM!
Ray shouted in alarm and nearly hit the roof as the front door slammed shut behind him and his flame switched off momentarily, plunging them shivering into darkness. It was only an instant later Ray re-channeled his energies and brought the flame back up again, only for the lounge room doors to violently swing open with a gust of wind that was definitely not natural, stifling his flame again.
In that second moment of darkness Ray felt icy fingers sliding all across his body tangible and intangible at the same time, and a chill shook him all the way up and down his spine.
Though in the fear he found something just as familiar inside him: anger.
With a defiant growl he planted his feet and brought up a brilliant flash of fire, first orange then green then blue then red then back to a flickering orange again. The icy fingers were gone, and there was not another soul to be seen inside.
Ray's breath was heavy and his heart beat like a jackhammer, but whatever was inside this house had thrown the first punch, so to speak. Time to answer.
"Alright," Ray began, "Good effort, but thy power is blacker than yours. Come on Kyra, we've got some otherworldly ass to kick."

[LadyBella]

Kyra huddled behind him, nearly jumping out of her skin as the door slammed shut. She whimpered, her eyes flicking around nervously, trying to see something that wasn't there. Her hair flew back at the gust of unnatural wind and she shivered, her breath coming in heavy pants. The darkness didn't bother her, but the feeling of icy cold fingers on her back, bothered her. She squeezed her eyes shut against it, feeling the cold sweat trickle down her neck. How many times a week did one have to entertain the thought that they might die?
Suddenly, it disappeared and she peeked, seeing Ray's bright flame. She let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She looked around wildly, shrinking towards Ray again.
"I hate spirits," She whispered, looking at the house like it would just collapse on top of her. She shook herself, and clung tighter to Ray's hand.

[Gelatinous Cube]

Ray pressed on into the house, guiding by his fire and his own indignation. Sure, he was still scared shitless and wanted to back out swiftly, but he was also hot-tempered and stubborn to a fault. They threw the first bitch-slap, so no he had to respond with a right hook.
If you let the spirit world push you around, they'd never let you be. Malevolent spirits and demons were really just a bunch of bullies...evil, scary, powerful bullies.
He resisted the urge to shudder and shake; his jaw was clenched so tightly his teeth couldn't even chatter.

There was nothing else on the first floor of the house, whatever had been there had either retreated upstairs (if they were lucky) or downstairs (if it knew what was good for it).
It may sound crazy but spirits and demons drew strength from strong foundations, whether they be literal building foundations or natural formations of stone and earth. Call it a demonic feng shui if you will, but it was real and anything evil escaping into a basement was more than likely looking to seek the power of nature for its own dark needs.
Ray's fire on the other hand was a bit different. It needed to be drawn from an open space, from the air around him. Small, closed spaces weren't too great for that.
If whatever was here had gone downstairs, it would definitely have the field advantage.

Ray paused a moment, and uttered a quick scrying spell. Very simple, it sent a pulse out into the house that told him where any recent spiritual activity had taken place...and sure enough, the door at the end of the hall.
"Get your chainsaw, Ash. Time to go down into the cellar," Ray sighed grimly.
He strode onward, appearing far bolder than he felt, and roughly opened the door. His fire lit the way down, slippery orange light flickered on the walls of the confined space.
Ray stopped at the foot of the stairs. The first thing he noticed was the table set against the far wall, bare but for a pair of half-spent candles, the scent of tallow lingered subtle in the air, a common ingredient for people playing with the other side. Then, on the floor was a summoners circle, broken thankfully.
"They were here, I know it...they must have been. The circle, the candles...why else would it be here?"
Ray stepped down onto the floor, and immediately felt sick. He played it off like it hadn't happened, if he freaked now, what would Kyra do? He went over to the table and uttered another incantation, this one for the detection of magic in the room.
It came to him in hits, first telling him that a combination of conjuration and divination had been employed, both with a dark tinge to them. Blood had been spilled to create a link. The second told him that residue was still fresh, perhaps a day or two old.
The third pinged back at him like a ricocheting bullet, and a sharp stabbing agony assaulted his temples. He had only time for a single rational thought before he witnessed a shadow on the wall peel away and dart towards him, man-shaped yet terrifyingly blank.
It's a lure, damn it to hell!
It was all Ray could do to raise his arm up in time.

[LadyBella]

Kyra huddled behind Ray as he made his way down towards the cellar. She wanted to leave, and she drew strength from Ray's bravery. When they made it to the last stair of the basement, Kyra let Ray go in alone. Her eyes swept the basement, feeling a nasty bubble in her throat at the sight of the circle and the spent candles. She didn't care for witches and warlocks who messed with demons. Sure, she dabbled a bit in divination, but nothing to this scale. She avoided black magic like the plague, it had the power to taint her soul and her power in the hands of black magic was almost as frightening as Ray's power in the hands of black magic. Which still terrified her.

She watched as he moved around the room, mumbling spells as he went. Finally, she stepped off of the last step and onto the hard concrete floor. She felt the bubble in her throat threaten to pop and spill its contents on the floor, but she swallowed hard against it. She couldn't help her eyes widen in fear and her body shake as she looked down at the broken circle. She gulped and tore her eyes away, feeling the powerful pull of the residual magic in the room. She turned her head to a blank wall and blinked rapidly trying to force her brain to focus. Something caught her attention to her left and she turned her whole body. It was a desk, next to an old filing cabinet and an empty bookshelf. The pieces of furniture looked like antiques, weathered and dusty, but it wasn't the appearance of the furniture that caused her to pause. It was the eery realization that this was the basement in her dream. The dream where she had been running from something. She had run down the stairs and hid behind these pieces of furniture, gasping for air and looking around wildly. Then from the other side of the desk, Ray had come at her. He had been snarling like a wild dog, hands outstretched to grab her throat and strangle her. Her dream had ended there, but it had stuck in her mind, more so than all of the other dreams where Ray had tried to kill her because he had been possessed by black magic.

There was a tingle at the nape of her neck, mixing with the sudden sweat that had broken out over her body, it had her turning to see a shadow moving towards Ray. She yelped and threw up her hands letting loose a defensive spell. It was the first one that had popped into her head, but it only worked on solid objects. Panic started to bubble in her body as the shadow continued, undeterred by her spell, seemingly in slow motion towards Ray. She panicked and threw another spell, this one aimed at Ray. It was a protection spell. Without her book, Kyra had very little spells for defense. Most of hers were offense, meant to protect, not to harm. She then turned towards the shadow and threw a fire spell at it, hoping to catch it's attention and give Ray time to use one of his spells.

[Gelatinous Cube]

Ray felt a soft warmth creep around him, and in that instant he knew that Kyra had just saved his ass. The shadow bounced off him as he threw back an incantation at it.
A sizzling fireball thundered through it and struck the brick wall behind the creature, but it was just enough to catch the beast off guard for a second. Ray knew what he had to do, but he didn't like it.
Not one damn bit.
He snarled an incantation, and his arms glowed an eerie incandescent crimson. With a viper like movement, he sprung forward and wrapped his arms around the lure. It held within his grasp, struggling and writhing but unable to escape him. The magic Ray used hooked the creature in.
Another incantation later and the shadow began to disappear...straight into Ray's mouth. He could not even believe he had done it. To take the shadow into his body, a being of the black into a man already so stained.

Suddenly it was gone, and Ray fell to his knees, clutching at his ribs and whimpering. His eyes were squeezed shut an his mouth drew into a thin, tight line. Veins began to stand out on his neck.
There was a fight going on inside him, the shadow was vying for control, but Ray was giving him none.
He thought of anything he could to keep himself going. All of his thoughts returned to Kyra, of the times they spent happy, to the times he had made her cry, until he finally settled on a picture of her smiling.
He would give all his power to have that back again, he would throw away every connection he had to the magical world if only to see that smile once more.

And that was it.
The shadow had lost.
Ray took a single deep breath before being violently ill in front of him. A steaming pile of glowing, bile yellow liquid pooled on the floor before him.
He recoiled away from it in disgust.
"They left that there for one of us. I don't know how they knew we'd be here but they knew. It was a lure...a nasty one. If I hadn't killed it, it would have possessed me...and then killed you."
He sounded on the verge of crying, but he didn't let it happen.
"Kyra...cleanse this place. Please, please, please...cleanse it so we can leave."

[LadyBella]

Kyra watched in panic as Ray trapped the creature and then...ate it? She paused at that one, not really sure what had just happened, but Ray's obvious pain had her moving across the room, avoiding the lines on the floor. She bent down next to him, touching him with her hand gently.

"Ray?" She asked, looking at his face. What the hell was going on? As if he had heard her mental question, he relaxed and promptly threw up. Kyra covered her nose and mouth with her hand and looked at him, listening to him talk. A lure? Well, she'd heard of them, but not ones that could possess and kill. Actually, she was pretty sure she used one once, but she couldn't remember for what. Obviously, it had been a good lure, and not a evil soul snatching one. Ray's begging caught her attention and she nodded, standing up and moving quickly to the center of the room. She looked down and yelped, leaping out of the center of the circle quickly. It had been broken, but it still scared the crap out of her when she had looked down. She gave Ray a sheepish grin and stepped back into it, ignoring the lines on the floor.

"It's broken, it's broken, it's broken," She had to keep repeating this to herself as she tried to focus, but her body was screaming at her to move. Her eyes caught on to something on the desk and she did move, clambering out of the center of the circle like a caged animal. Her hands closed on the object that she had found and she held it gingerly.

"Sage," She said, nearly weeping in relief. She held it out, away from her body and sent a little bit of fire towards it, lighting the ends quickly. She brought it back to her body, blowing the flames out and letting it establish a steady burn for smoke. The comforting smell reached her nostrils and she smiled. With a deep breath and turned towards the nearest wall and started to wave the sage and mumble a little spell that went along with it. When she reached Ray, she stepped around him, trying to inconspicuously get some of the sage smoke on him as well. She loved this man but he scared the shit out of her.

She'd made a complete circle in the basement, and moved to the stairs, beckoning Ray to follow her up. Once she was out of the basement she could use a spell for the rest of the house, but that damned circle was just not working with her today. You'd think with all of the things she had seen in her lifetime that a circle would be the least of her worries. It wasn't.

[Gelatinous Cube]

Ray did not need to be told twice. He was up and out like a bolt of lightning.
Though, the sage had definitely had an effect. He was pretty sure whatever was left after he'd spat that lure back out was not going to stick around with that stuff in the air.
If nothing else, this whole experience had just hammered home how fucking dangerous this really was, as if they didn't already know, but now they at least knew how close they were.
Not to mention how close Mathias could get without them even knowing it.
Ray wanted to cry with fear, but he was too angry. He wanted to scream and yell and burn this house to the ground, but...the horrible taste in his mouth was all he could really think of.
He needed a burger, pronto. He was starving, which even he would have to admit was pretty morbid after what he'd been through.
Whatever it was, it had better not have any goddamn mustard.

"Hey, how about we take a little break from this, huh? I'm running on fumes here. Let's grab some lunch."
It almost made him feel like a coward, to procrastinate on something so important, but that encounter had hurt, and not just on the inside. His wounds and bruises were giving him grief again.
"Somewhere open...well lit," he managed a small laugh that made him feel just a little bit better.

[LadyBella]

Kyra smiled at Ray and nodded breathlessly. She turned though and threw up her hands, casting a cleansing spell before she hooked her arm in his and turned towards the door. She was so relieved to be walking out of that house. She didn't want to think about what had happened in that basement, no, not yet. She'd fall apart if she thought about it. She swallowed her fear and pulled on her strength, steeling herself against all of her feelings. She needed to be strong for Ray, hell strong for both of them.

"I couldn't think of a better way to take a break," She said, leaning on Ray with a heavy sigh, "We are not a normal couple," She mumbled, shaking her head. She reached the door and pushed it open, blinking at the bright sunshine. It hadn't been that way before had it? it didn't matter, it was bright now, beautiful and they were both still alive and that was all that mattered.

[Gelatinous Cube]

Laughing in spite of himself, Ray could only agree.
"Wouldn't have it any other way," he said, shaking off the shock of their most recent encounter. Threat and danger lurked around every corner, and every shadow they passed put eyes on them. The only way to survive would be to keep up and roll with the punches.
Ray couldn't help but be afraid, and he was certain that Kyra was frightened as well, but that fear was normal. That fear would ultimately keep them grounded, alert and alive.
The silken warmth of the sun cascaded around them as they strode off arm in arm down the street. A brief little reminder that what they were doing was good, a noble goal for a seemingly insurmountable cause.
He breathed a long sigh and reminded himself to use these precious moments. He smiled, letting warmth and light wash over his skin, and not just the warmth of the sun, but the radiance of the woman at his side.

Even if he had to kill a million vampires, or rip Mathias' head off with his own two hands, even if he had to cross the plains and fight the warlock in the Dead Zone...no matter where he had to go, it would never be too far just to make sure she didn't leave again.
So many different emotions coursed through him, love, hate, anger, tranquility, malice and joy. He closed his eyes and quieted the storm, like he often did, only to his surprise this time it stayed calm.
"They nearly had us back there, but at least now we know what kind of players we're dealing with. Ball's in our court, now we get to show them how we play."