Graded [Clockhaven City] Kinship and Smoke

[RavenSong]

Scylla would lay down, letting out another sigh and then pulling up the covers up to her neck. Her whole body ached, her feet ached, her SOUL ached. She felt she couldn't move from how tired she was, "K, could you get the lights, i mean, candles." It was strange how such a place was set up for romantic encounters. She wondered, but ultimately, the witch wouldn't give it any more thought. There was a vampire they had to find, she was their leader, and so much depended on her. "I'm so tired, goodness, i don't believe i've slept in a bed since.." She recollected as she gazed up at the ceiling, her eyes slowly but surely closing, "..the.. academy i think.. i wonder what Clarice is up too." When she opened an eye however, she quickly noticed something.. odd. She was probably already dreaming wasn't she? It couldn't be the silhouette of Kalina. Pfft! Scylla, you're such a perv. She'd think to herself before closing her eyes, she was too tired to even notice the bare vampire laying next to her. It was then that Kalina spoke, "Hm? Yes?" She muttered with closed eyes, then the question made her open her eyes a bit more, noticing the vampire laying next to her. "My.. finger?" She repeated, perhaps it was just in her nature to forget such things. But she recollected regardless, "..oh.." She chuckled softly, "..yeah, i was just playing around. Since we never seem to ever have a moment."

It was then that the vampire suddenly exerted some force upon her wrists, effectively bracing her down, "Huh?" She gasped suddenly noticing the vampire sitting on her stomach, "I.. suppose that aforementioned moment is here." She stated as her mind revved back up to life as it dealt with the surprise moment now before her. She looked up at her, her expression changing from shocked to surprised to a bit afraid. Somewhere deep down she knew she couldn't deny the vampire any longer. "Oh merciful Rosan of the Underworld.." She whispered before addressing the vampire, "..well, i would say to you to do as you wish. I.. have been neglectful of your urges and well.. i suppose a mouse cant run forever can they?" her expression then suddenly became a little coy, kind of bringing her shoulders up a bit getting Kalina's face out of her neck, trying not to giggle, "Okay, okay you win! That tickles!! ..uhm, but first.. could i have that glass over there?" She raised her eyebrows at the extra glass of champagne that she poured for Kalina, which she declined. "..perhaps, this might be a good occasion for that? You know, since you can't really drink. Maybe, this will make so you can?" She'd tug on her wrist, taking it back and getting the glass. She attempted a smile at the vampire, noticing her quite either lustful, or hungry expression. She felt so small in the presence of such passionate hunger, or desire and a little nervous. Taking a sip as best she could under restrain then a gulp, she shook her head quickly, "Bbbbrt! That's.. a bit too strong for me." She shivered, getting goosebumps.

She'd give Kalinas wrist back, "Okay, i think i'm ready." Again smiling nervously. She'd close an eye and peek with the other as Kalina's mouth got closer and closer to her neck. There was something oddly, arousing about it. Making her expose her neck a bit more, as her mouth gaped, trying to catch her breath. her heart raced, likely making the vampire hungrier. She likely felt it as it was then Kalina took a bite. She bit her bottom lip a bit as she gasped, it wasn't at all painful. In fact, it was like getting a shot which she remembered from her previous life. Except this was two, and in her neck. She eyes lids sort of drooped with pleasure as her blood was taken. She'd felt the mana coursing through her body along with her vitality drain through her neck. She suddenly could care less if she died, she almost desired to be set free of this world, to return to the pleasurable source of everything that existed and would exist. She looked up at the ceiling, then as the vampire leaned in closer, pushing her weight on the witch, she'd slowly take her hands back, and entwined her fingers with Kalinas. Closing her eyes, humming a bit.

Elvario

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Elvario ​

As Cayde eased onto the bed, he felt hours of tension seep oin ut into the mattress. He took a breath, eyes shifting lazily on the bed above. No gleaming stars. No willowy trees swaying in the breeze. No dying embers rushing into the night sky. A melancholic feeling welling in his gut, Cayde looked off to the side. He couldn't hear Zane downstairs, bottles clinking and floorboards creaking as he closed the shop. No pitter-patter of Kesh sneaking about, either. Just silence. Unbearable, unfamiliar silence. Cayde's gaze fell back onto the bunk above. The bed didn't feel so comfortable anymore. His eyes didn't feel so heavy. It was too quiet. The woods weren't this quiet. Home wasn't this quiet.

What felt like hours must've passed until he heard a sound. Cayde slowly lifted himself out of bed. It was coming from above. Something metallic sounding. "Morana...?" He waited a minute. More noises, and none of them were reassuring. Cayde clenched his teeth. Morana's labored breaths felt even more unsettling than the silence. Did she need help? Was she suffering from those drugs again? "You're gonna be okay. Hold on, I'm coming up," He got to his feet, eyes scouring the darkness for his pack. The solution, if not temporary, would be in there.

Steadying his breathing, Cayde peered into the space where he thought his hands would be. There was a cantrip for this. The grimoire had all sorts of those. All he'd need to do was remember. "Alright..." He muttered, shutting his eyes and channeling mana into his hand, forming technique. Then, his palm tickled as intention became a reality, a small, light-bearing orb floating out of his palm into the air beside him. [Magic F + Arcana F + Control Environment F + Focus F].

Through the orb's hazy yellow light, Cayde saw the large silhouette of his pack leaning on the bed's leg. He dived for it, lifting flaps, removing bottles, and mixing powders into fluids until he created his [Natural Cure - D]. He practically flew up the ladder to Morana's bunk. "Here, it's the same thing as last time, just a little bit more potent," He said, offering the aromatic concoction, "Come on, it'll make you feel a lot better,"

Spoiler: Abilities Used

• Natural Cure - Alchemy D, Medicine D, Nature D, Arcana E- By creating a concoction consisting of arcane herbs, water, and several beneficial mushrooms, Cayde can create a potion that quells moderate poisons and moderate illnesses, even if inflicted by magical or supernatural means. - Grade D - 2 Post Cooldown

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

Elvario Sharena

Iberis listened intently to what Shion had to say regarding the clothing. “I’m really sorry to hear that you had that experience along with everything else Shion. I know that people are capable of really horrible things..and as much as I hate to say it, there are people in this world who definitely sounded like the awful people from yours…it seems like no matter how hard we try people always end up choosing the darkness..but as you’ve found there are many who try their best to do good in the world too..At least when we’re in a private place where you won’t gain that kind of attention I want you to feel as comfortable as you can.” She reaffirmed her with a soft smile, making some eye contact briefly.

After she told her that the healing had helped, she then watched the tail wagging ensue and the brighter, and it was rather cute seeing Shion move that way, as Iberis’s smile got a bit stronger seeing that. She was just glad that Shion was with her and was feeling better than she had been it sounded like at least.
Iberis listened as Shion spoke about her predicament once more, Iberis shifted her legs slightly, looking down briefly at her undead one.It was sort of relieving that Shion hadn’t taken any offense to it or made any less than desirable comment about it. It looked paler than the rest of Iberis and likely felt cooler if it was touched, granted there was still circulation there so it wouldn’t have been like a regular undead’s leg but it certainly looked more youthful corpse-like. Of course Shion couldn’t see under her dress but where the leg was attached to Iberis just suddenly became normal again at the attachment sight, where there was likely evidence of grafting at the connection point.
She nodded to show that she was paying attention when Shion mentioned the forest bit. That was understandable, there were many dangers in this world so it was understandable that she didn’t want to get herself killed so readily. Of course Iberis knew that there had to be some relatively safe forests somewhere which monsters or criminals didn’t frequent, The See still seemed like the best option there. Perhaps some green spaces in other areas too, though she’d really need to touch up on her knowledge about those sorts of places. When Shion paused to talk Iberis looked a bit more concerned, albeit briefly trying to gauge how Shion was feeling in that moment since her voice faltered. She had an urge to tell her it was okay then and there when her ears drooped and she looked away, Iberis’s smile turning into worried look, but then there was the Sigh and Shion started to speak again, seemed like giving her time to think had been the move there.

Iberis’s face did become a bit more sad upon hearing all about Oliva and how Shion and Oliva apparently both perished in their last world trying to save it from the calamity that Shion had been describing. At the very least she had come back In Iberis’s world was all she could think. There were many points that Iberis could have interjected but she wanted to be present for her and listen to Shion first before she gave her piece on some of the matters. Iberis couldn’t help but almost find herself tearing up a bit when Shion mentioned how meeting the group had been helpful to her, she even found herself almost giggling a tad at the Scylla comment.

By the point that Shion was making her way over and sitting down on the bed beside her, and told her she was an open book, the first thing Iberis had an instinct to do was reach over, and if Shion would allow her to, she’d give her a gentle hug from the side.

“You’ve..been through a lot Shion, I can tell that you and Oliva must have made one another very happy…and you were both very noble.” She then eventually broke the hug off.

“And, It’s..really okay, I have a strong feeling that you wouldn’t do anything like that.” she said, referring to the replacement comment.

She then reaffirmed her “You are speaking your truth which I can respect, I can handle whatever you want to tell me it’s the least I can do that much for you.”

She laughed some herself when Shion did, finding it rather contagious when she really thought about the whole situation there they were talking about this kind of heavy stuff in a room like this decked out for lovers to have the best time possible.

“While I don’t know what it’s like to be hunted or a lot of the things that you went through, I can relate to traveling alone. You see, I grew up at an Orphanage in Ryke. I never knew my parents or who they are. Anyway when I was old enough they let me out, and I survived a while by doing jobs here and there on the streets, unofficial quests and stuff like that. But I can’t say that I had all too many people I was ‘friends’ with. Many of my early days were doing a lot of things solo.”

She moved her feet a bit back and forth against the bed idly, while she continued, “But I can tell you right now very much like you..I much prefer traveling with my friends, I’ve been through a lot with some of the people there and I’d trust my life to them.”

“Which brings me to Scylla. I am sorry about her behavior sometimes. She really does generally mean well, when I first met her she was a lot different actually, like really cold and cool with her powerful magic, but now she’s super friendly and bubbly, i’m not really sure what happened..but I can tell you that she’s deeply caring, sometimes she just gets sidetracked or acts impulsively against her better judgment, so it’s not..intended to be personal from her..I like to think I Know her enough to have determined that..she was my very first friend at the Academy, and She’s always been there for me when I’ve needed her, then from that point on..I met…”

She paused, as if the next bit was harder to say, her face looking more solemn and serious ”Renee and through Renee Chandra..”

“Which I guess leads me back to the memory thing, I know that there’s a lot of information up here” She’d gesture to her head.

“ I just have a hard time accessing it all on command is all..I guess I'm still sort of in shock and I need to work at it, I just wanted to reiterate that if you look around in there, there might be some disturbing stuff that I won’t have much control over if you stumble upon it..so I wouldn’t want to subject you to that if you don’t..want he possibility of to exposing yourself to that sort of thing..just wanted to make that clear." She finally let out.

​

 

[Sharena]

​

"It is easy for humans to give in to their most basic desires, their short lifespans makes them act rashly in hopes they will be rewarded. They think nothing of the long term, nothing of what effects their actions have on the world and those around them. And they-" Shion cut herself off after she realized she was rolling with Iberis' line about humans embracing darkness everywhere more readily than she would've liked. She grimaced, a somewhat shamed look crossing her visage a moment.

"Forget I said that, it does a disservice to the betters of your race." She sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping in the process. Then Iberis' hug came, and it removed Shion's internal chastisement of herself as she listened closely to the mage's words. After Iberis' words, a couple wet spots formed on her sleeve. Shion was crying.

"Iberis..." Was all Shion could manage for the moment. She didn't speak, but she did respond. She shifted her body and pulled the girl into an embrace. She didn't say anything for some time, listening to Iberis' words. Her feelings on Shion's statement about replacing Olivia, Iberis' trust in Shion's feelings, the time Iberis spent alone and with the orphanage, and her preference on traveling with friends. Shion let out a single "heh," as if to try and regain her composure while Iberis began talking about Scylla while the kitsune finally let the mage go.

"Iberis, I-" Shion started to speak, only to hear Iberis speak rather solemnly about this woman named Renee, and Chandra. Renee...I wonder if that's Chandra's sister...

Shion's tail swung in front of her body and tickled just under the mage's nose a little, hoping she was a little ticklish there to hopefully prop up her mood a little as she was finally functioning again herself. "Come now, there's no need to dampen that pretty face with a frown, granted I haven't been helping much with that." Shion exhaled with brief annoyance at herself. She was supposed to the the centuries old kitsune here to give this young woman her wisdom, yet here she was being far more emotional than she expected. Iberis really had been a point for Shion to rally around since she got here though, Iberis wasn't comfortable in this city just like Shion, Iberis immediately showed an interest in Shion's origins and wanted to talk with her, and she had helped and encouraged Shion from the moment they met. Cayde was about the only other person Shion could say had been supporting her from the start, but in a more indirect way than Iberis had directly. There wasn't really any wonder in the kitsune's mind why she allowed herself to be this way around Iberis.

She smiled at Iberis. "If you're worried I'm going to eat Scylla if she squeezes my tail again, you have nothing to worry about...my kitsune form hasn't returned to me anyways." Shion laughed a little before dismissively waving.

"Seriously though, I do not hold any ill will towards Scylla, but my tail isn't something I like to be played around with at someone's whim. You saw how I was on the train, I get very...emotional when someone pets my tail. Most kitsune's tails in my world are a symbol of power to their enemies, and a symbol of affection to those they let touch them. At least, that's the gist of it anyways. Scylla touching my tail like that...it isn't just because I don't like my tail squeezed, it's like she's disrespecting both my power and my emotions as well. It's a trifecta of humiliation that, frankly, she's lucky my power is lacking enough that a slap was the best my instincts could think of for a first time offense...in my world she would've gone to bed with nightmares...maybe for a few days..." Shion's tone was jovial during her explanation as she informed the mage what her kind was like, chuckling at the end as it gave a faint idea that, while Shion wasn't mad, she took touching her tail like that very seriously. Speaking of the past again prompted Iberis to speak about her memories in regards to what Shion was about to scour through. Shion smiled at Iberis' desire to keep her sane and safe.

"Iberis, I greatly appreciate your desire to keep me unharmed, I feel we are mutual in that understanding. Sadly...I doubt anything I find in your mind could scar me much. My world...wasn't exactly full of pretty memories towards the end of its life. I saw many horrid things...while I'm sure it will unsettle me a bit to imagine someone like you going through what I find, you do not need to worry for my sanity." Shion's eyes dimmed as she looked towards the window of their room, gazing out over the moonlit scenery that almost made the streets of Widersia beautiful.

"Maybe not horrifying, but if you want haunting...just imagine never seeing the sun again...the world wreathed in an everlasting crimson moon..." Some memory seemed to be going through Shion's head as she looked out the window as she didn't speak for several moments before shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, before I get distracted rambling some more, shall I see what I can find?" Shion asked Iberis as her the irises in her eyes began to glow once again before she'd get closet to Iberis and placed one hand near her head as she began to [Mind Dive] into the mage's memories.

--
Mind Dive - Magic E, Perception F, Magic Range F, Telepathy F - Shion peers into another's mind with the intent of searching for suppressed, hidden, or locked away memories. - Grade E - 1 Post Cooldown

 

[Elvario]

The Rusted Booze
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Droid's Row – Bar - The Rusted Booze
Time: Nighttime

From: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/D5J8bG
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena | Sophia Silent Angel

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

As Cayde spoke up, she instantly fell silent. It stayed eerily silent after he managed to light up the room. However, as he got up the bunk, he'd confirm his suspicions. She was awake. With one mechanical arm, she was... opening? Tinkering? Dismantling..? Doing something to the big combat arm. It was in a partially non-functional state, but something was clearly wrong with it. It was twitching at irregular intervals, clawed fingers contracting, opening, moving. Small gears turning. All without clear function or reason. That probably wasn't meant to happen.

As for Morana herself, he was right on the money. The drugs. She was going through withdrawal. Enough so for her to not even hesitate, she'd practically rip the concoction from his hands and downed it in one go. She no longer even cared about what it was or if it'd truly be safe. She needed it too badly. Her breathing steadied ever so slightly a bit later, as she regained her voice.

“My apologies, sir. I was... underestimating the effects of no longer having my regular dosages. That and...” She was hesitant. Insecure if she should talk about it, look at Cayde, then at her arm. No, at this point, she might as well be honest. “I promised I'd share my story, didn't I? It's perhaps a bit late, but...” She shook her head. “You'll have it.” She spoke, even though she remained silent for a bit longer, mentally preparing herself.

“Almost twelve years ago, I was married. My husband, the most beautiful Elf I'd have ever seen, had chosen me, a simple and plain Human, to marry. Can you imagine? It was like I was living in a fairy tail. We were married for six years when our first child was born. A boy. He'd have been six now... Two years later, another was born. A girl. The boy took after me, but the girl took after her father. Both were some of the most amazing things I'd ever seen, but I guess most parents would say that, wouldn't they?” Her tone, through her mask, was mostly emotionless, but the parts at which she slowed down made it very clear that she was getting emotional. Her eyes, however, were as cold and dead as always.

She continued. “I worked as a maid, that time. Doing housekeeping for nobles. Not the most honourable job, but enough to help support our household. The kids would stay at a daycare. One day, I returned to pick them up. We had a car, much smaller and far less fancy than the Baron's, but still, a valuable luxury. We were driving home that day, when someone crashed into us with a far bigger car, which had been going at insane speeds through the roads. Its steam-tank was almost exploding from how heated it'd gotten. Dangerous. Reckless. Stupid. One could call it a lot of things, but I'd call it outright murder...” She remained silent for a long while, clearly in pain, thinking through these phases of her life.

“I awoke in the hospital months later. My right arm was gone. My knees had been replaced with metal ones. My lungs and breathing, part of my jaw, all had been fixed up with mechanisms. You could imagine the shock, awaking like that. However, that wasn't the worst of it. My children. Neither had made it. They'd been cremated, their ashes taken to be spread through the See with my husband. He'd stayed with me for a month, but when I wasn't waking up, he'd left, unable to keep living with such sadness. I... was furious at first, but I can no longer blame him. I was driving when our children died and I myself was as good as dead. He'd have no clue if I'd awake again. His decision was a reasonable one. I just hope he spread their ashes somewhere beautiful and that he's living a better life now.” She sighed a deep mechanical sounding sigh.

“That's not where it ends, however, as I learned another thing. Before he left, my husband had tried to keep the one who crashed into us accountable. Some son of a nobleman. A bastard who cared for nobody, but himself. Not only had my husband failed, they threatened him to the point he felt pressured to leave. Or perhaps he would've left even without them, due to my state... I'll never know. All I know is that I felt this rage. Something so fierce that I'd never felt it before.” Once again, she was silent for a while.

“I'll spare you the details, but I killed that nobleman's son. Slowly and painfully. Normally they say that revenge doesn't bring you solace, but I'd say that's a lie. To me, it felt great. That's when I learned how [Bloodthirsty] I truly was. Needlessly to say, I got arrested. I never planned to escape or stay hidden to begin with, I was ready to meet my maker, but the Baron offered me a deal. That's how we got here. Doing something I learned I loved doing after losing everything I loved before it.”

After another deep sigh, she finished with one more explanation. “I hate telling this, as some folk believe I'll need sympathy. I don't. I've gotten used to this life now. However, sometimes... People tend to do things. You, Shion, even that witches' antics. It's confusing. It reminds me of things. This arm that Fromm gave me, it somehow tends to malfunction whenever my mind's in turmoil, as if I can only control it fully when I'm hooked up on drugs and bloodthirsty. Either way, with your supply, I should be able to function as normal, so please, don't worry on that regard. I'll do my best to see this mission through, sir.” She closed off, sounding a lot more formal again. She'd shown a lot of weakness, but she was clearly not used to doing so.

Kalina Chivernu

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/pilyeon

Kalina would blow out the candles upon being asked. Thanks to her Darkvision, it didn't make too much of a difference to her. There was just a bit less colour. That was the innocent part. The reaction to the other parts was different. Honestly, she'd been a bit scared to try this. After all, what if she'd been wrong? What if this did scare Scylla or make Scylla hate her? She could finally leave such concerns out of her mind. In fact, she could rejoice, as the opposite held true. Although Scylla's first words made her withdraw a bit. A mouse running sounded like Scylla wouldn't actually want this, but that she was instead doing it out of a feeling of being indebted. That's not what Kalina was after. However, that changed. She'd pass over the entire bottle. No need for glasses, she figured. Honestly, she'd normally wonder if she could indeed get alcohol through someone's blood, but right now, she was already far too intoxicated by something else.

When Scylla finally said she was ready, Kalina couldn't hold back any-more, sinking her teeth into the witches' neck. It wasn't as great as before. It was greater. The little part of her mind that wasn't too busy enjoy this to its fullest rejoiced. She did feel different, knowing this was truly voluntarily, not like how it'd been with Cayde and Iberis. She did have some sense of herself left, even now, even though all her senses were overwhelmed and highly stimulated by the experience. She wasn't sure if it was her being flustered somehow, or if Scylla's blood was particularly warm and sweet, like an extremely sugary and syrupy cup of steaming hot tea. It was amazing, so much so that she'd had to force herself to stop. She'd not want to cause yet another of her friends to be too low on blood.

Even as she stopped drinking, her face would stay near Scylla's neck for a bit, her hands finding enjoyment in being intertwined with Scylla's hands. She could hear the witch hum a bit and smiled. Then, out of instinct, she'd move her lips from Scylla's neck to her lips to press a kiss upon them. Something she'd learned from Sophia just today, but which she'd already taken a liking too. For better or worse, unless Scylla would stop Kalina, she'd end up feeling the vampire's kiss and the faint taste of some traces of her own blood remaining on the vampire's lips and mouth.

A bit later, she spoke... “That was amazing... thank you. You're every bit as intoxicating as that little tease suggest you might be.” She finally uttered. Suddenly, she felt... shy. “I... I ehm... I don't really do such things often, unless with Sophia, but she... well, she clearly knows what she wants, but... ehm... I hope you liked it as well?” She'd ask, more than a little awkwardly.

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Elvario ​

Morana's story felt like a fist to Cayde's gut. For a moment, he looked into her eyes. She'd seen so much pain - been through it in equal measure. Both unforeseen and consequential. How could he take that away? What words could make it all better? "I-I'm sorry to hear about that..." He paused and shook his head. No, that wouldn't do. He needed to be honest. "I don't know what to say to you. No platitude I can give can change what happened. You've already made your choices. You've suffered. There are no words I can say that can fix that." Cayde said solemnly, looking away and slightly shrugging, "And even if I tried, then what? Maybe you feel a bit better. Maybe you don't. Nothing changes. That still happened." Then, he looked back to Morana, "But I can at least offer you my appreciation now. It takes a special kind of strength to admit what you said. I'm glad you chose me, Morana. Thank you."

As Morana mentioned Scylla and Shion, his eyes fell on the mattress, "I can't tell you why my friends care about you, Morana. I don't know them." Cayde sighed, his grip intensifying on the ladder, "And that's the thing, yeah? How can I call anyone here a friend when I know nearly nothing about them?" He paused again, eyes distant in thought. Kesh, Kalina, and Ceylan, what was their biggest fear? Their favorite memory? He couldn't remember. Did he even know to begin with?

"Nevermind that, though." He said, quickly pushing the thought into the recesses of his mind, "I can tell you why I care: it's because you deserve comfort," He held up a hand, "And don't think it's because of your story or pity. It's because you're on my team. Just like everyone else fighting for the good of this city," Finally, he nodded, "And when you're on my team, I will do my damndest to make sure you end up just a bit more comfortable. Doesn't matter who you are."

Cayde loosened his grip on the ladder and made his way down, "The situation with Chima made you uncomfortable, I know," He continued, "It was a heavy price to pay, and no amount of apologies can change it, but I can at least try to make it up to you. It doesn't matter if you forgive me. Just wait until the morning comes," With that, he settled back on his bed, though one more thing still flew into his mind, "One more thing. You said our actions remind you of things, yeah?" He asked, peering at the bunk above, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Whatever makes you comfortable."

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

Elvario Sharena

Thankfully for Shion Iberis didn’t seem particularly offended as she listened to what Shion had today. She wasn’t wrong about that being true for some humans, even many humans. There were plenty who did terrible things for their most basest of desires regardless of the morality involved. She had a feeling that Shion had worked quite hard to get to where she was at with level of tolerance and understandings she had for humans to begin with given all the awful things they had done to her.
She hadn’t really been accounting for Shion to start tearing up so much more directly, so in response she let Shion hold her closer, and she hugged her back, gently rubbing her back in an attempt at a soothing way while she was speaking

Upon hearing Shion say her name twice, and then the Heh, Iberis felt a bit relieved that Shion was seemingly feeling a bit better? But before she knew it she had a tail tickling her face and it was an area that had quite a few nerve endings to say the least so she found herself giggling, as the expression that Shion had been commenting quickly turned to one of joy.

“Thanks Shion..” Iberis replied after the fact a soft smile back on her face again, indeed it seemed to perk her mood up well enough. She then listened to Shion’s talk about the tail business which was straight forward enough. That was a relief to hear, not that she thought for a moment that Shion would actively attempt to seriously harm Scylla for doing that like by ‘eating’ her. She was getting to hear why it bothered Shion beyond it just obviously being rather impolite. Suddenly coming up to someone who was still largely a stranger and randomly feeling them in a rough way because you could was definitely against the vast majority of people she had met etiquette in the realm. It was also a relief to hear that she wasn’t holding ill will against her.
A look of realization fell upon Iberis’s face now understanding why it went beyond that.

“She definitely doesn’t know that..and I don’t think she’d do it if she did, I’ll have to have a talk with her about it so that she understands how it feels, unless you’d like to do it yourself..either way there isn’t any reason you should have to deal with that. And I Think if she was made aware she wouldn’t do it.”
The almost playful tone at the nightmare comment did make Iberis smile nevertheless before she continued
“I imagine many of the [beast] people would feel similarly if not for the same personal reasons, even though I don't know much about them one could only assume many wouldn’t appreciate being treated like someone’s pet.” She affirmed.

Iberis couldn’t help but feel bad when Shion mentioned that seeing what happened in her world before she died had been that traumatic or awful but given the grand scope of what she had been talking about conflict wise unfortunately that sounded very feasible.

The witchy youth found herself gazing at Shion’s side profile while she looked out at the night scenery. Iberis decided that she was decidedly quite pretty. Iberis replied softly, “I’m glad that we’re on the same page then.” However the imagery Shion described not long after was far from comfortring, and that was just the environment, she could only imagine the death and destruction which had followed.

She would have comforted Shion about what she described but before she could decide fully if she wanted to speak on the scene it wasn’t long before Shion was initiating her mind ability and Iberis nodded “I think you’re right better we do it now..” consenting to the ability as she closed her eyes and relaxed.
---

Spoiler: What Shion Sees In Iberis's Mind

The opening Shion was left with at first was some kind of mixture of scenes and memories from the Iberis’s perspective ,walking along the streets of Ryke, begging, doing errands for people, some even going as far back as her looking up at the roof her room just before bed at the orphanage.

There was one memory in particular that came up, in some kind of stoned space, it looked like Shion was getting the view from Iberis’s perspective, as Kalina raised a blade and Shion could hear a heart beat began to increasingly get faster and louder, until suddenly the blade came downand red crimson blood spurted all over the place before the memory suddenly shifted again. But as these memories kept flickering suddenly as if Iberis was standing right before Shion, a manifestation of her in her mind turned to Shion and said simply.

“Follow me.” As Iberis figure dressed just like when Shion had first met Iberis began moving swiftly past a blur of memories in the wide dark open space, and just like that suddenly the scene changed and the Iberis figure disappeared.

What Shion was then met with was in a first person view, it looked devoid of life, and waste the scent of decay could be smelled, incredibly large bones to who knew what creature was around the main source of light coming from the moon, of the vast land. The perspective point of view then looked down revealing two hands which did not look like Iberis’s what so ever, they were much older, the fingers were longer and more corpse like, from a robe, and below that there were two more even large undead like arm appendages sticking out from whoever was looking around, for a total of four arms. One of the large atypically sized hands was holding onto what looked like some sort of magic text which it had opened up.

On the ground on all fours was a person coughing up blood, they were heavily armored in knights gear and defining characteristics were out of view, with the armor covering so much.

“P-Please help me..” They’d groan out, more blood spattering out of their mouth. “She..did this..to me..please..it hurts.” The figure let out more.

The four armed one whose perspective the vision was from replied in a distinctive masculine voice, if albeit eccentric sounding.

“Oh just be quiet, you’re an idiot who got yourself into this mess by your own accord, As far as I’m concerned you sowed what you reaped.”

“I’ve been in pain so long..I know you can help me.. I don’t know how much longer I can go on..” The figure strained.

“And how is that my problem? I have a kingdom for the rightful king to reclaim and your life in the grand scheme of all of this is worth very little, even if I consider you an ally..”

“I..can see the vision too I’ve fought for so long on your side..I just want to keep fighting her, please let me be in your servitude I’ll..do whatever if takes if you’d just..remove this..”

The POV voice let out an exasperated sigh, “You would almost be doing us a favor by showing us how long someone can survive afflicted to the extent you’ve been. But I suppose I’ll see what I can do..but as you know everything comes with a price..” The unenthused annoyed voice said.

As if on cue there was a skeletal bird of sorts which had a blue ectoplasmic hue between it’s bones that came out of a black and white energized portal, which appeared to be held in some kind of cage formed out of human bones. The large undead hand with black finger nails reached over to the cage, and the other one that was holding the strange ornate book in an unknown language lifted it up and placed it into the upper right hand of the POV figure.

The POV figure than began to speak in some strange tongue and after some time suddenly it looked as if the ghost like bird shriveled up into ashes, and the heavily armored figure on the ground suddenly began to stand up and stop coughing up blood, as the black and white energy entered their body from the POV figure’s hand.
Until suddenly they pulled out some kind of red energy with the same hand that had sent the white and black magic energy over, before they forced the red energy onto an femur bone on the ground that began to crack red and weep a red substance.

“Equivalent exchange to cure such a powerful curse..this entity was very high in vitality...”

???
​

But just as that memory was ending and it looked like the figure was going to say something back. The memory cut short and Shion was greeted with the visage extremely close up to her view of a male face, as the ‘camera’ panned back it revealed an open space much like the opening area but it was littered with humanoid bones all around of varying kinds, and what stood before her was a very four armed, one arm not complete looking more like a stump, undead looking person let out a dark cackle, towering over her.

“And just what do you think you’re doing here coming into my domain? Who my apprentice invites in is one thing, but those who wish to gaze at what I have to offer is another matter entirely.” The figure asked, looking directly at Shion, his completely white eyes staring at her.

 

[RavenSong]

Scylla had taken quite the gulp from being handed the entire bottle! Regardless, she didn't drink all that much more than she would have through a glass anyway, she let the bottle down off the edge of the bed softly until it stood on the floor, starring up at the vampire. It was all so sudden! Kalina wasted no time in taking her prize. She'd hold the back of Kalinas neck a bit almost pressing her in further, however, that's when Kalina broke away. Closing her eyes, a bit as the vampires fangs exited the punctured vein in her neck. "Mm."

"Is.. that it?" She asked sweetly, feeling like she had woken up from some kind of pleasant dream, a big smile on her face. "..hmm.." She hummed even as the vampire panted on her neck, "..hey that wasn't so bad!" She said with joyous surprise, however that's when Kalina pressed her bloodied lips upon hers. Upon contact something stirred within the witch. Something, quite unexpected.



The room seemed to grow dark, an eerie magical darkness slowly coming over the place, shadows seemed to dance like flames. Grinning faces, solemn faces, laughing faces and giggling faces all dancing in silence about the rooms walls. various little red pairs of eyes starred into the room, silently giggling, while others watched fiercely. They looked like little devils with tails, horns, sharp teeth and mischievous as they held various weapons, like small clubs, or rusted swords. However, they couldn't break the veil from the world beyond into the world of the living. They seemed to be incredibly attracted to the witch, perhaps she was giving off some kind of scent, or perhaps the supernatural act of her kissing the undead. Regardless, a shadow was being casted, and something was indeed awakened.

Scylla's was kissing Kalina back as the bright silhouette of something sinister appeared above the beds back rest. A figure of someone or something. Suddenly Scylla's mind would swirl, like her entire consciousness was going down some kind of drain. However, her body continued with the loving or lustful act. The witch would put her arms around the vampire, however, little did Kalina notice Scylla's claws growing in length, her hair changing, her underclothes and even the clothes laid out and about magically began to transform like water colors in a glass of water.

Two large horns began to grow from her head, a different consciousness was being channeled through the witch. However, when Scylla opened her eyes.. she'd open them from some kind of void. Seeing everything through some kind of magical mirror that revealed that she observed the world as a spectator. Uh.. what the? The witch said, but her words wouldn't emit through the body she was witnessing. She was no longer her. She was under some other worldly influence.




Looking at the vampire get up, kind of nervous or perhaps bashful of what had just transpired, the possessed witch sat up slowly. Her body language was different, and she couldn't really be seen by mortal eyes. Although the vampire would most definitely see her through the pitch black darkness. Her red eyes, glowed brighter than ever before, before blinking slowly at the vampire.

"You call that a bite?" She said blankly, as she blinked softly and eerily once more before looking around. "Darkness." She whispered before raising both of her hands and audibly clap them once. Suddenly the candles that were put out became lit. "There. Much better." She looked at the vampire, looking at her up and down. "This explains the darkness in here. Do you bite, Scylla often? Or is this just some weird kind of kink she's just discovered." She brought a hand to her forehead, frustrated, disappointed, and annoyed. "What terrible time to arrive. That stupid, stupid witch. She wasn't losing blood because she was in danger, she was losing blood because she was giving it to you." She sighed, before getting back under the covers, "I suppose it can't be helped." She muttered with an underlaying annoyed tone. "You must be wondering who I am. Yes. They call me by many names, 'The poison on the assassins hand' or 'the plague' or 'the black death' or 'the never ending fever' the 'spirit of blood and disease' but you may refer to me as Velvet. Scylla's, better and less stupid self. It was no wonder Rosan assigned me to her. The Almanac should have never reached her hands. Ugh! That pathetic fairy Cytha. May you remain cursed!" She scoffed at the ceiling. "Before you get any ideas.." Velvet's crimson gaze resting on Kalina, "..no drinking blood from me, unless you want to be burned through your insides. It seems Scylla has become fond of you so I'm sure Scylla would be happy to give you as much as you like. But if you even think about turning her into an undead blood sucker like you, i'll take your eyes and leave you wandering through the world, blind. Agreed?" There was an oddly calm undertone in her voice as she spoke, it was as if she'd known Kalina her entire life. There was a certain comfort she gave off like that of an older sibling. "Before you ask, I have promised to serve, as penance for a misdeed in my world. That is why I’m here. I agreed to help this witch as a special request. She is surprisingly, a critical piece to bringing peace to an age old war against the undead that have spilled over into our world."

She sighed and looked at Kalina still sitting up, "So are you going to lay down with me or not?" She said coldly, before letting out a huff. "Do you have any questions for me?" She then asked curiously, her expression changed a bit, one to that of curiosity, like she was expecting some sort of special reaction, one could even say she almost looked like she desired to feel accepted. But perhaps it was the way her eyes looked at Kalina.

--

Meanwhile in Scylla's mind...

"H-hey i'm still here you know?!"

"Shut up and go to sleep. You'll be back to normal in the morning."

"But-"

Velvet growls.

"whoa! whoa! Scary! Okay, fine."



Elvario

 

[Elvario]

The Rusted Booze
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Droid's Row – Bar - The Rusted Booze
Time: Nighttime

From: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/D5J8bG
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena | Sophia Silent Angel

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

She'd merely scoff at Cayde's first replies. She'd heard those types of words before. Although... perhaps not as sincere as now and... come to think of it, not as often after she'd admitted to her revenge. That was peculiar. “You're one of the few to calmly claim to appreciate me after hearing me talk about committing murder and enjoying it. Far too many tried to claim it was a mistake, an act in the heat of the moment, something I should ask to be forgiven for, yet none of them understand how great it feels to know I personally ended that scum's life. The only other person who appreciates me for who I am is Baron Fromm, although he believes me to be a useful tool, which I ended up living as in turn.” She made a weirdly sounding snorting noise, thanks to the mask it sounded even more odd, upon his mention of strength. “Strength is relative. Most would say I just revealed a big weakness.”

His talk on friends surprised her. “With all due respect, I saw how your group coordinated. Whilst certain actions they make amongst each-other or towards each-other are perhaps a bit brazen and distasteful, you all seem to trust each-other almost unconditionally. Isn't that what counts most? They trust you, you trust them, thus you're friends.” Honestly, she wasn't entirely sure what she was talking about. “Perhaps that's why your group is confusing me. You know little about each-other, you're vastly different, yet you seem to have trust in one another as friends regardless.” A sound that could almost be described as a chuckle came from her mask. “If we weren't hunting vampires, I'd suggest we play 'never have I ever', it's a game my son loved to play, without the drinking, of course, although he'd always brag about doing things he never did.”

His team-talk surprised her even more. “You're a natural born leader, if you were to ask me. I truly don't understand why you're letting the purple witch pretend to be the leader in your stead. Her actions endangered others and the mission multiple times. It's more and more clear she's far less suited to the role than you are.” She figured she might as well get that part straight. “So if you'd truly want to make me more comfortable, I know I'd feel a lot better having you take charge, rather than having the purple witch pretend to be in charge. She makes me feel like my nerves will give out before the drugs have even worn off.”

As for his talk about Chima, she was silent for a bit. “I'll admit that made me furious, but being offered an alternative is a preferable outcome by far. Chima would've found out eventually and it'd be without my knowledge. At least now I knew I as compromised from the get-go and have an alternative.”

Finally, he asked her what they reminded her off. “You're the type of man I wish my son would've grown up to be like.” She'd said it before she realised and wasn't sure what to say afterwards. It was too awkward. She'd just stare at the ceiling wondering what the hell was wrong with her and why she wasn't drenched in vampire-blood already with her mission fulfilled instead of talking about her life with a near-stranger.

Kalina Chivernu

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/pilyeon

She had no clue what she'd done, but frankly, it scared her. Not for her own sake's, but for Scylla's. Things had been going so well, but now... this. Whatever this was, it worried her. The kiss might've been reciprocated and even intensified, but she realised she'd no longer been kissing the same person. That was... awkward. “I... call that a kiss?” She replied on instinct, confused about what in the world was going on here. “What happened? Who are you? Where's Scylla?” She rapid fired the three questions as she withdrew.

That said, the way this person talked suggested she was familiar with Scylla. It calmed Kalina down ever so slightly. “No, but I will be doing so.” She replied to the question if she'd bite Scylla often, not really liking whomever or whatever this was and their attitude. They'd interrupted her quality time with the syrupy witch. That said... She did look adorable with those horns and blood-red eyes. She was surprised by the woman's introduction. “You look far too pretty for such horrible names.” She ended up replying, wanting to test this strange woman a bit, but also being genuinely surprised.

However, she did feel offended by a lot of the next statements. “First, Scylla's not stupid. She just has her own logic. Second, I don't drink blood from those that won't give it to me voluntarily. As much as I'd be curious if the taste has changed now, I won't even have my fangs come near you unless you'd allow me. Third, I'd never want to turn her into an undead. Not only wouldn't I want my friends to suffer the same fate as me, I'd also not want her delicious blood to become as rotten as mine. Of course I'd love them if they could live forever with me, but not by making them undead... not that way.” She shook her head at the last part, as she wanted to make those things very clear to whatever was suddenly in front of her.

“Lay... down with you?” Honestly, having [fatigue resistance] she rarely slept and almost forgot that they were meant to be doing so. She was too inexperienced to even think of another meaning for that statement. She forgot about the question altogether when she was offered a chance to ask questions of her own. “Of course I do! What happened with Scylla? Is she still there?” She pointed at Velvet's head. “Also, are you really related to Roshan? I don't want to doubt your story, but you're far, far too pretty to be in any way or shape related to all those abominably gruesome looking undead. It just doesn't add up, unless you're using an illusion?” She shook her head, still confused. “Are those even real, they're adorable.” She ended up pointing at Velvet's horns. Then she snapped back to it. “Wait, so like, is Scylla even okay? Can't you just... bring her back?” This was weird. Almost too weird for her to keep up with.

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Elvario ​

Cayde felt the corners of his eyes sting when Morana spoke of what kept the group dynamic. Trust. Such a simple, powerful concept. How could he forget about the universal bonding agent? "Heh, you're right. They might not be sharing secrets, telling me about their dreams, or filling me in on who or what pissed them off this morning, but that doesn't matter, yeah?" Cayde chuckled, folding his arms behind his head, "They know I've got their back. I know they've got mine. That's enough." Then he sighed as a slew of memories flew by: Following Ceylan into Aston, bringing Kesh to help save Aegorizea, and navigating the Dark Continent with equally wary friends. Letting a vampire - no, a friend take his blood just for an act. That was the bonding agent at play. It followed everywhere. "Nah, scratch that. It's not just enough. It's everything."

As the conversation returned to Scylla, Cayde shifted slightly in bed, "Well, I wouldn't say Scylla is a bad leader. She just... has her own way of approaching things," He explained, his voice slightly hesitant, "She came to me after the meeting, y'know. Asked for some feedback on how to be a better leader. I told her she needed to put more faith in the team. She took it well, so maybe we should give her a chance and..." Cayde paused, a dejected sigh escaping him. What was the point of making excuses? "I just don't want to make her upset." He finally said, but logic quickly caught up to his emotions. "But, she doesn't really get upset at all now that I think about it. And as long as I tell how much she means to us as a teammate..." He slowly nodded to himself. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to talk about it with Scylla. Perhaps he didn't have to do it alone, either. "Nevermind. I'll have a little chat with her and the team in the morning. We'll get it settled then."

Cayde's eyes grew noticeably heavier, the adrenaline from before clearing in his blood. But as he heard Morana's last statement, his mouth hung agape, speechless.

It didn't make sense at first. It was supposed to be in reverse, Cayde thought. He was supposed to be one wanting to be like someone else. He was supposed to be the one following paragons. Was he really one himself? "I- That- I-" He held a fist up to his mouth, trying to keep his breath from hitching. His mind went to Ryken, walking into the apothecary and telling Zane exactly what she said. He pictured his goofy grin, saw the sheer glee in his eyes, felt his brick-like hand slapping him on the back. And heard four little words: I'm proud of you.

He let the tears fall to the pillow. "Th-Thank you, Morana. That means..." He took a shaky breath, not a single care about how it sounded, "I'll keep at it. For him."

 

[RavenSong]

Velvet simply looked at the vampire, then a little grin drew upon her face. It felt she had struck a chord within the vampire. This was fun. How fun. How cute and.. pathetic. She thought evilly.

"You sound so sure.." She responded to Kalina's claim to be biting her regularly from this moment forward. "..what makes you think she'd agree to be your personal sugar rush bag?"

However, upon her next response Scylla would pull on her reins as she began to figure out how to influence Velvet a bit. “Why do you care so much about Scy-“ she shook her head a bit, then glared, looking down, then back up before continuing. “Scylla is fine.” She admitted before crossing her arms, “There. Happy?” She scoffed looking away, and tapping her fingers on her own arm.

I'm just having a bit of fun with your friend. Your vampire lover is absolutely head over heels for you.

Playing with her feelings is tooootally not good, 'Velvet'. She's not our enemy, so like, chill out.

C-chill out? You're stranger than i thought, witch.

Then, unexpectedly Kalina complimented Velvet. Prompting the demon to look up at her with a mixture of surprise, confusion, shock and a bit of angst.

However, she wasn’t flattered, and squinted her eyes at her suspiciously. “If you think flattery will gain you my favor, you are gravely mistaken little bat.” She snapped before chuckling evilly, “Scylla is most definitely stupid. You would have to be quite as stupid yourself to not believe it. However, I suppose it’s her uncanny little quirk to provoke feelings of joy in others. And that is certainly why you defend her as such. Tell me, if she wasn't as much of a ditz would you still want her?” She listened to the vampire further, blankly, and void. “You wouldn’t want to taint the witches blood?” A hand came over her soft lips, resisting a flat out laugh. "That is.. oh hells.." However, she couldn’t hold it much longer, and finally gave into her amusement. When she was done however she continued, “heh.. ha.. hahaha!” She trembled as she attempted to stop herself from laughing any further. “You’re quite.. heheh.. the comedian, lady Kalina.” She said mockingly albeit humorously, “Said and affirmed like a true undead. However as much as I distaste you..undead, you’re at least an honest one.” She rested her back on the beds backrest. “My, oh my, what a treat to be able to stand amongst the living.” She stated with a bit of envy, before closing her eyes happily. “It makes me sick.”

After she’d offer the vampire to rest, she looked over to her, rolling her eyes. “No. Not in the sexual act kind of way. Who do you take me for?”

She pulled the covers up over herself her horns would tap onto the bed rest, but she calmly adjusted herself with a long high pitched sigh. “How wonderful. After nearly eight hundred years I get to re experience the luxury of sleeping on a bed. Oh yes. Even demons like to sleep. Want to know what we dream about?” She said out loud then looked at Kalina with a grin.

But then a frown formed on her resting and ecstatic face when Kalina asked the very questions she asked for, “Of course she’s alright. I am technically Scylla, didn’t I make that clear just now?” She gave a bit of a disgusted look. "But.. right now.. my name is Velvet. She sighed with frustration.

Your girlfriend is dense.

She's just worried about me. Its called a 'relationship'.

You mean, us. And.. gross.

Us? Yeah, i guess so? No, you're gross!

She closed her eyes again, tuning out Scylla in her mind, trying to be more patient this time, however. “No, no.. I am not related to her majesty Rosan. I’m more closely related to him who is known by many names.” That was the best she could do without naming this ‘him’ in her demonic tongue, and it was a rule she couldn't break for secret reasons. She hoped the vampire Kalina wouldn’t press her further, but she knew she had to give her something. “A deal was made in which I had to serve Rosan to repay my debt, to.. him. My duty is to make sure the witch doesn't die before fulfilling her destiny. I'm her.. guardian of sorts.” She was becoming annoyed at the fact she couldn’t utter his name, so she decided to continue with the other questions. But before she could do so, she pointed at her horns. Provoking a scoff from Velvet. “Do i look like some sort of pet to you? How on earth is being called 'adorable' supposed to make me feel?" Velvet looked at Kalina blankly, "And yes, my horns are as real as your fangs, vampire." Velvet took Kalina's hand and placed it on her horn. "Very sharp. Now, are we going to sleep? Or do you have more questions?"

Elvario

 

[Sharena]

​

"It may be best if I leave explaining my case to Scylla to you, your words are more likely to reach her than mine. That is just my theory anyways." Shion requested of Iberis to settle their topic on Scylla and her tail.

Once she was inside of Iberis' mind, looking around had her pick up a few traces of memories here and there, something involving Chandra she didn't want to get involved in, although she somehow felt that name was...wrong? When she thought it looking at the memory briefly as if that wasn't how Iberis remembered her. Not what I'm here for, and everyone deserves their privacy to a point. Shion moved on, and eventually she encountered the mental form of Iberis that guided her through her mindscape. Another memory, she could feel herself getting closer. Armor? That didn't seem like Iberis. This perspective too...could this be the being related to what she was searching for?

She wouldn't have to ponder the question for long, she was soon standing within Iberis' mindscape before this being she had just occupied the perspective of. For a split moment, Iberis could hear her utter something in the physical realm.

"Thalamus? No...thank goodness..." The words were stated under her breath in reality and within Iberis' mind, so there was potential she heard the statement in this strange feeling of mental reverb.

Shion's resolve hardened as she stared down this being. Her eyes sharpened, her posture stood with no inclination of fear as she replied with conviction.

"If you speak of Iberis Ohdir as your apprentice, then there seems to be a misunderstanding between us. My existence here is not a different matter as you claim it to be. I am here under her guidance because of her desire to regain knowledge buried within her mind, knowledge that you gave her. I am here to restore those memories for her. Nothing more, nothing less." Once again Shion's words would reach Iberis both physically and mentally. Her confidence was well in tact, but her abilities weren't, so she held back the threats that came to her mind as she assumed she couldn't back them up presently.

 

[Elvario]

The Rusted Booze
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Droid's Row – Bar - The Rusted Booze
Time: Nighttime

From: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/D5J8bG
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena | Sophia Silent Angel

Kalina Chivernu

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/pilyeon

The entire experience was odd, but at the same time... interesting. She'd gotten a little... excited? Perhaps it was the sugar-rush from Scylla's blood, but she really felt hyped up about this. “She seemed to enjoy it well enough to offer me a second helping sometime in the future~” She'd reply to Velvet, feeling a tad bit smug at that little victory and the sign that her blood-drinking wasn't all that monstrous after all, if more than just Sophia could enjoy it there was definitely more to it.

As for Scylla being fine, she smiled in relief. “Yes, I am.” She'd reply to the question if she was happy or not. “Flattery...? No, I mean, maybe? It's, just, you really are a lot nicer looking than the rest of them?” She replied a bit confused, not even sure of her own intentions at this point. She'd scoff at the remark about Scylla being different. “I want her for who she is. Being a bit of a ditz is one of her defining traits, but I'm sure it's not the only thing. So yes, I'd still want her if she'd not be one.” She spoke with confidence.

She wasn't sure what to do about the laughing and the next remarks. “Just Kalina is fine.” It was odd to be addressed with 'lady' just now. Was this due to the fact Kalina got recognised by Rosan and Ryke as well in that undead dimension? Wait, if she earned the respect of those two and Velvet served those two, would that mean Velvet by extension was addressing her as 'lady' just then? That was an interesting thought. It almost made her want to push it, but she decided against it. It was better to try to get along instead.

Scylla's blood flowed into Kalina's cheeks when Velvet suddenly mentioned a sexual act. “What? No, no, no, of... of course... not... no...” She stammered, the freshly drank blood making her blush. “I just, I meant, I normally, I just don't sleep, normally, due to having fatigue resistance... normally, as an undead.” She stammered he reply relatively incoherently. “But.. I mean, I want to do so now, yes. It might be nice. I meant, yes.” She added, for better or worse.

Somewhat hesitantly, she'd get onto the bed again, trying not to accidentally touch Velvet just to be safe. It really was a pretty neat and soft surface to lay down upon. Some of Velvet's next words went beyond Kalina, both as she didn't understand and was actually starting to drift off. She'd wake up a little more when her hand was put on the horns. “They're adorable...” She uttered again, until she realised the question that preceded it. “If you're here to protect Scylla, that means you're a friend of mine. An adorable friend of mine with adorable horns and beautiful red eyes...” She uttered, before closing her eyes and drifting off... Whatever else Velvet would say would be lost on her.

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

She'd not replied too much to Cayde, too tired to think upon all their topics much further. It was unclear how much of his words she'd still heard before she'd fallen asleep.

The Rusted Booze
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Droid's Row – Bar - The Rusted Booze
Time: 7:30

From: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/D5J8bG
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena | Sophia Silent Angel

The entire group, regardless of what room they were in, would be awoken the next morning by the sound of an anger-filled and raised voice coming from Cayde and Morana's room.

Yumi

Spoiler: Full Image and source

From: Milleore - Granblue Fantasy Wiki

“I swear, if you keep pushing this I WILL just leave on my own and let you two figure this out here without me.” One of the hunters, a halfling woman, was shouting at another one, a human woman.

Senna

Spoiler: Full Image and source

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Q3adx

“We talked about this for ages! I'm not going to keep going along with this BULLSHIT of yours. We're professionals. WE HAVE STANDARDS. We don't quit a mission because something else happened. Even Theron knows as much!”

“You've got no clue what it's like. YOU NEVER KNEW HER. YOU WEREN'T THERE! This has nothing to do with you. This is between me, Theron and whomever did this!”

“FUCK YOU! I've been in this team for EIGHT FUCKING YEARS now! You can't just brush me off and fuck over our mission now!”

Theron

Spoiler: Full Image

From: Dwarfen

“For Heaven's sake, SHUT IT!” A Dwarven voice boomed through the building. “You two are waking up the entire place with your arguing. What even sparked it first thing in the morning this time?”

“Yumi was planning to sneak off.”

“I was just going to ask Chima if her contacts learned anything new!”

Cayde, who'd be wide awake by now, unless he had the ability to sleep to folk screaming at the top of their longs mere feet away from him, would wake up finding an odd weight upon his feet.

Kelsey

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
Kensei

“Morning mister Alchemist.” He'd hear from the foot-end of his bed, where snuggled into his right foot he'd find Kelsey. She'd taken his offer to try sneak in serious and had ended up succeeding at sneaking into the foot-end of the bed somewhere along the night. Her halfling size made it easy to sleep without too much space concerns, although she didn't look all that much like a happily awake morning person after she short night and the early wake-up call from screaming vampire hunters. “What a way to wake up...” She yawned, staring at the vampire hunters.

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

A shadow passed by their bed, which was soon revealed to be Morana hopping off of the top bunk and onto the ground. “It seems like there's not time early enough for you folk to start embarrassing yourselves.” She said, at a challenging tone. The wholesome mood from last night almost nowhere to be seen right now.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

Elvario Sharena The Last Curse RavenSong Silent Angel
Iberis Mind Continued:

???
​

The figure let out a dark sounding chuckle at that. "Oh my, you remind me of when they came here, not understanding the extent to which they were getting involved..and just look at where that got them, one very dead sister.."

The undead mutli-armed necromancer didn't seem to move too much, as he kept looking at Shion with his blank undead eyes. "I know much more than you might assume, Iberis and I are one in the same, her memories are mine..and my memories are hers, I am part of her and she is apart of me, so I know very well what you were looking for here..but what's curious to me is that you aren't from this world, and you have a most peculiar ability.."

"But that's of no concern to me, I have no reason to withhold the information you were looking for from my apprentice, she already led you to what she needed to know..the curses, they can be cured by healing, but when it's a particularly powerful curse it can require a greater price which can take many forms..as you saw I was able to transfer the curse to a non living object by grafting it. Thankfully you aren't dealing with someone nearly on the same level of mastery as who I was dealing with so it should be a more straight forward task..just glimpsing into her memories. "

"I gave her all of this information willingly and it seems she has not been as receptive as I would have hoped. This 'Trauma' you living have to deal with..it really is a bothersome thing isn't it? It's the only explanation as I can think as to why she doesn't have everything yet..but no matter it'll settle and she'll remember..what she needs to when this is all said and done..the rest will come with time."

The figure shifted his arms, and looked less hostile now as he spoke in a more neural but far from friendly tone.
"Very well then Shion I accept this as a misunderstanding, but I should tell you my memories are not as safe to transverse as hers..I'm certain I'll be seeing you around then." He said almost ominously with a cackle.

With a figure like this it was difficult to tell how much of an ally they truly were and how self serving their motivations were, were they being honest? There were a whole host of uncertainties indeed.
---
Back to Present:
Even so after this the scene began to fade and with a wave of the figures hands suddenly Shion was right back out of the memories and back in the present and Iberis appeared to have become quite tired as she smiled at Shion replying softly, "I think I have just what I need..Thanks Shion." As she gestured for Shion to lay down beside her if she wished.
----

Regardless of what transpired next with Shion and Iberis whether it was dozing off or talking more, it wasn't long before the next morning and Iberis was awoken to yelling and harsh language unfortunately. Causing her to shoot up straight.

"That doesn't sound too good...wonder if there's some new info." She commented before she automatically started to get herself dressed once more, between her sash, socks, boots, over coat, hat, and staff figuring she should probably go and see what was going on, since it sounded like it was close by and there were some familiar voices mixed in with Theron speaking.

"Gonna go see what's up." Knowing very well that it might be something useful for the purpose of their main mission with all the sort of people who were staying there, she was also just curious in general, while also hoping that things weren't going to get out of hand. After heading out of the room Iberis would head toward the space where she heard the sound coming from. Presuming she wasn't hindered however long it took her to navigate through the building she'd stop at the door way and give a bit of a knock before saying,

"Everyone alright in there?" Iberis asked with a genuine tone of concern in her voice. She did have her catalyst at the ready on the off chance that she needed it, perhaps out of habit with all the combat zones she'd been in since going on her adventure.

 

[RavenSong]

Velvet looked away, when a confident grin appeared on the vampires lips. Her discomfort was apparent, but she had no choice but to concede this little 'victory' of hers. "Whatever you say, vampire." She brushed it off dismissively. Then about the fact that she accepted Scylla for who she was, "Really?" She responded with a bit of shock as her voice raised slightly in pitch, but quickly retorted, "How.. sad." Then the compliments continued, much to Velvets' bewilderment.

Really. What does she see in you, witch.

Oh nothing.. just that i'm a delicious PEACH of course!

Alright. Transform us back. This love stuff is making me sick!

No way! You still have to meet my friends!

F-friends? No, i didn't sign up for, 'friends'.

Well, TOO BAD!

Velvet would close her eyes with a sigh. Then look back at Kalina, "Looks can be deceiving, i highly suggest you exercise caution with me, and keep those.. words to yourself." She rolled her eyes, but then shortly after squinted her eyes with a bit of confusion. Her eye's blinking as she then looked away, "As you wish." She was surprised at the fact that Kalina wanted to be addressed with her name alone, and not referred to by her title. Rosan, made it very clear that Scylla would be sent back to assist her, and this vampire had indeed earned the respect of the king and queen. However, this humility was oddly earning her respect from the demon. She wasn't just a pervy yet innocent fluff cake, no, she was humble, which was a quality she deeply appreciated. Perhaps it was just the nature of the 'spirit of disease' to feel contempt for those who were humble in the face of certain death.

Then the vampire found herself in quite the predicament, much to Velvet's pleasure, provoking a grin from the demon spirit. "Is that.. a blush i see?" She smiled, however, she didn't want to keep hearing the vampires compliments, and flattery and flat out flirting. So she decided to leave it at that.

It was after Velvet had made the vampire feel her horns that she once again recoiled. Blinking and looking down.

This is so weird, i am a living breathing spirit of disease and illness. I am feared, and hated.

She's gettin' to ya eh?

No, its not like that, witch. I suppose being among the living is simply a different way of existing. Being a spirit, no one sees you, you get warded off by magic and influences.

Well yeah, its just like mana! It's nothing when it courses through me, but when i give it form, people see it, and people are hurt or healed by it.

That, oddly makes sense.

You'll get used to it. Dork!

Hmph.

Then Kalina gave a long volley of words of compliments, making her gasp softly, "I think you're just tired, Kalina. Go to sleep." Velvet shook her head, getting up and blowing out the candles, then laying back down. As she did so, Kalina's hand was on the bed, hesitating a bit to touch her, she did it anyway pushing her hand closer to the vampire, before laying down herself. She closed her eyes, and peeked at the vampire before discreetly holding her pinky finger and going to sleep.

---

Velvet was having a bit of a hard time sleeping, she would keep waking up again and again, however it wasn't because she wasn't tired, her body was resting but she couldn't move. It was as if she was paralyzed. And she'd hear Scylla sleeping in her head, for being quite the chatty witch she slept rather calmly. Occasionally, hearing random little facts, about crushes, magic formulas and.. bunnies?

At some point in the early morning a bit of a commotion erupted just a few doors down from where she was staying with Kalina. She mentally tugged at Scylla, which woke her up rather quickly. Allowing Velvet to get up. "Kalina." Velvet whispered as she shook her a bit to rouse her. It was then that Velvet got up quickly and got herself ready for whatever might happen next. Her staff had become a katana however, among a few other things like her clothes. She opened the door and made her way down the hall. Iberis was already there however, "I wonder what that is all about?" She asked Iberis, "Please, stay back, i'll handle this." Velvet would then open the door cautiously, once in the presence of the vampire hunters, her instinct was to reach for her sword, however she wouldn't thanks to Scylla keeping her from doing that.

Not smart! They're really really tough!

So am i.

We need these people, they're immensely critical, to our mission here.

You don't say? Very well, agreed.

Velvet decided to resort to using words instead. "Excuse my interruption." She said as she bowed her head. "You have woken me and m-my.." she hesitated, ".. girlfriend in a room next door. What seems to be the problem here? I pray whatever it is that we could come to a peaceful and calm agreement." It was then that those in the bunk beds would rise, she'd immediately and respectfully bow her head, "Please forgive my indiscretion. The concern for danger was too great to simply stand outside your door."

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Elvario TheTimePiece RavenSong ​

Cayde wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep. It hadn't bothered his subconscious mind. Dreams of Ryke filled his sleep: A cozy cabin in the woods, the soft creaking of trees in the wind, the slow lapping of a pond against its pristine banks, an orange cat lying peacefully at his feet, incessant screaming...

His eyes groggily blinked open. Screaming? "Wh-uh, what?" He murmured, looking around in an awoken stupor. The cabin was gone, and so too were the lovely sounds of nature. But the screaming was still there. And so was the cat? He propped himself on his elbows, staring down at his feet. Not a cat. Kelsey. "Ah, G'morgin Kelpie..." Cayde replied, brain cells still partially asleep, "Whe-When D'you get in here..?" Then, with sloth-like efficiency, his head swiveled to the source of the noise. Three halflings stood a few feet away. One of them looked familiar through heavy eyes. "Who-Who're they?" He lazily pointed at Theron, Senna, and Yumi, "Why'se they yellin' so early in the mor-"Cayde let the sentence hang as his eyes bounced between Senna and Yumi, progressively getting wider.

A switch went off in his brain. Those were the vampire hunters they needed to reconcile. And they'd heard everything. "AH! Sorry, you had to hear that!" He said, quickly slipping out of bed, "Head gets a bit loopy without my morning tea," He rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes and turned to Senna and Yumi, "Sorry to interrupt, but you two must be the vampire hunters, yeah?" He tried to fix them with his best, non-sleep-deprived smile, "I'm Cayde, a part of a small team helping with your vampire problem. You'll meet the others soon. They're probably wide awake now."

A knock on the door attracted his gaze. "Speak of the devil, here's Iberis and..." He looked past Iberis to Velvet standing in front of her. She didn't look familiar. Maybe a concerned patron? She sure sounded like one. "No, no, you're fine, miss. Just off to a bumpy morning, is all," Cayde said, eyes trailing to Iberis next. She seemed a bit on edge. Was it the screaming? Or was it from whoever this woman was? Both? "It's alright, Iberis. Nothing's happening just yet." He glanced at Velvet and back at Iberis. "You sleep alright? How'd the night go?"

Awaiting her answer, Cayde peered at Senna and Yumi, their argument replaying in his mind. It didn't sound like the average disagreement. Something happened to someone dear, and it hadn't brought them any closer. Likely a big part of the problem, he thought. He'd need to separate them and get their stories individually. That'd make things slightly easier. "Ah, funny thing about Chima," Cayde interjected, stepping between the two halfings, "We went to talk to her a while back, learned a bunch of useful stuff about the vampire," He paused to look at them both, "Stuff I think you two might wanna hear about,"

Cayde rolled his shoulders before folding his arms behind his back, "But it's early, y'know? My team, if they're not already on the way here, are probably waiting back in the tavern. Why don't we head there?" He said, utilizing his [Persuasion - F] and gesturing to the door, "The walk'll help blow off some steam. Trust me."

 

[Silent Angel]

Sophia Smith

Sophia stretched as she stepped out of her room, not the most happy at the amount of sleep she received, but knowing that it was for a good cause. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes before blinking in the direction of the yelling. She did her best to straighten out her clothes, her hair rather messy and not yet in the braids she normally put it in. A yawn escaped from her lips before the fae glanced at the others, before her eyes fell on Velvet.

She frowned deeply before glancing past her to Kalina, and then back to Velvet. "Who are you?" The words were a bit harsher than she meant them to be, but the lack of sleep plus surprise mixed together in not the nicest way of speaking. From the corner of her eyes she noticed the halfling exiting Cayde's room, and remembering the reason she stayed up so late, she reached into her bag and began to draw out something wrapped in cloth. She pushed it into the halfling's hands, saying, "Here, this is for you. If you need instructions for putting it on, might be a good idea to wait until we're away from prying eyes." However, after she had finished her contractually obligated action, she turned back to Violet, still expecting an answer.​

 

[Sharena]

​

Shion listened to what this necromancer had to say cautiously, waiting for something nefarious to escape his lips. She was actually surprised when he didn't even attempt to bargain with her to withdraw the memories she'd been looking for. She still didn't trust this being, but he seemed to hold some relationship with Iberis that Shion couldn't quite comprehend. Was it pride, hoping she'll be worth the effort? Curiosity to see if a human would embrace his teachings readily? She was uncertain, most beings like this Shion never trusted to begin with...then again, most of her references had tried to destroy her home world. Then he said something peculiar about the living. Shion scoffed as she looked away from him.

"Trauma...yes, it is a cumbersome burden to deal with. Do not ask me why we are built with such a weakness, I do not have the answer. You'd think our resolve would be steeled to prevent recurring catastrophes, but that's not how our minds work. What was lost because of it? What was gained? What led to the inciting incident? There's too many factors to account for to try and prevent it either...I would know." Shion shook her head after she realized what was happening and locked eyes with her converser again.

"Listen to me, waxing poetic about the nature of existence with a being incapable of empathy. I doubt this topic holds much weight to a being like you."

With this thing agreeing with Shion about their misunderstanding, Shion sighed. "I have no interest in coming back unless Iberis asks me too. I guess we'll have to see if we encounter one another again in the future."

Once Shion left Iberis' mindscape, she smiled warmly, thankful to be greeted by the mage in the physical realm as the magic faded from her eyes. Her mood dampened a bit as she processed what that figure said to her though.

"To think you...no, we're tired, we can save that conversation for another time." Shion sighed before hearing Iberis' thanks, and she smiled again as the mage gestured her to lay with her.

As she started to accept the mage's invitation, Shion's eyes began to glow once more and mana began to swirl about the kitsune's body. Shion reacted in shock for only a split moment before realizing what was going on. Her breathing slowed as she sat on her knees and took a meditative pose. Her eyes opened wide as the glow in her eyes expanded beyond her irises and enveloped the sclera as well as she appeared to enter a trance.

"My mana is beginning to adapt more...I can feel my attunement to the weave of this world growing..." She knew Iberis was in the room with her, but her statement didn't seem directed anywhere. Almost as if she was just observing the phenomenon. The magic swirling about her body soon began to wash over her in a calming blue light. As it reached her waist, the magic flared to life as it disappeared behind her before Shion's hands clasped over her heart and her eyes closed, some mana still escaping the edges of her eyelids as she felt the world around her.

Iberis could hear some kind of stir behind Shion's back, and the kistune slowly began to pull her hands apart from one another. The mage in bed with Shion would then witness as Shion's mana began to take form behind her in a familiar shape, and then Shion clapped her hands together and the magical energy dispersed! The mana slowly faded away, and in its place, two brand new tails became part of Shion, majestically drifting behind her as Shion's eyes opened again, the mana slowly fading from her eyes now. She chuckled.

"It's been so long since I got to experience that, I...forgot what it felt like for a moment. It was different to experience that in my humanoid form for once...and two at once too, hm..." Shion seemed both elated and curious about what had just happened, but it seemed like she had gone through similar in the past.

"Well, hopefully that display didn't shoot you wide awake, as it has proceeded to exhaust me." Shion giggled a little. "Let's be off to bed, your questions can wait."

Shion proceeded to shift under the covers with Iberis before pulling the girl close to her, holding her in her arms as she closed her eyes and her tails laying over both of their bodies, Iberis' head resting just above the kitsune's bosom now as she drifted to sleep.

When morning arrived, Shion was awakened by the escalating commotion going on elsewhere in the tavern. She threw the covers off her and Iberis and just as the mage snapped upright in bed, Shion shot up to standing as she still lacked her claws while taking a protective stance over Iberis. Unfortunately-or fortunately-for the mage this meant her morning greeting from Shion was the back of Shion's lower half was staring at her plain as day, although she could vividly see the converging point for all of Shion's tails now too...and it was impossible to tell if there was a single base and the tails split from it or if each tail was connected individually from vision alone.

Once Shion listened a bit more and just heard the obnoxious squabbling between two tavern residents, Shion's body relaxed with a sigh.

"Not the way I would've preferred to wake up." Shion stated as she hopped off of the bed as she heard Iberis speak and her body half-turned as she looked over at the mage.

"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry Iberis, did that wake you too?" She listened to Iberis own inquiry for a moment. "New info? I can hardly imagine whatever they learned is worth this level of volume." Shion shook her head before reaching out with her hands and grabbing hold of the strands of mana she could pluck from the ether as she proceeded to weave her clothes onto her body once again.

​

She then grabbed Iberis's arm as she started to leave. "I'm coming too, but you have to help me comb my tails later now." She said with a smirk and wink to the mage, taking a look at Shion's tails the bed covers and her protective instincts seemed to leave her fur a bit frizzy.

Once they arrived at the room, things were certainly immediately interesting. The vampire hunters were in the middle of an argument, Cayde was attempting to defuse the situation as seemed to be the role assigned to him for this mission, the poor guy, and...somebody with Chandra and Sophia that wasn't Scylla. Shion's eyes immediately started to glow as she began to [Mind Link] with Velvet. The connection lasted less than a few seconds, as she heard two voices bickering inside her head, and one of them was definitely Scylla.

So there's more to the witch than just spontaneity and magic then. Shion then heard Scylla's alternate self refer to Chandra as her girlfriend and Sophia questioned who she was exactly, and it only made Shion's mischievous side smirk with what she was likely about to witness.

But she figured she should at least say something to help Cayde out.

"Let's cool our heads, nothing productive will get done if we start the morning like this. If we're going to work together, maybe we can offer our perspectives and help work this out?"

 

[Elvario]

The Rusted Booze
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Droid's Row – Bar - The Rusted Booze
Time: 7:45

From: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/D5J8bG
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena | Sophia Silent Angel

Kalina Chivernu

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/pilyeon

Kalina hadn't heard much of Velvet's replies... up until they both awoke to the same noise in the morning. “Hmmm.... morning?” She'd ask, a little out of it. With how often she skipped sleeping, the process of waking up was something she had to get back into. However, at what Velvet said, she laughed. “As if.” Standing back when one of her friends did the work? She'd at least be there in case she needed t to back them up. She'd quickly change back into her other identity.

Chandra Jarmil

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4QrLn

Then she got ready to follow after Velvet, although she took a bit longer putting on her armour and all that. She arrived a bit after Velvet, having missed her comments and being unsure of what exactly was going on. She only knew that it'd likely be best not to draw too many attention from the vampire hunters, so she remained silent, up until she spotted Sophia. “Good morning.” She'd say with a smile, glad to see her again. She'd extend the smile to the others as well, spotting the entire team had somehow gathered here.

It was getting very 'cosy' in the room with Cayde and the vampire hunters, as the others came wandering in as well. Iberis was the first to walk in, asking if everyone was alright.

Kelsey

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
Kensei

“Good morning sunshine~” Kelsey was the first to react to her entrance, totally breaking through the tense vibe in the room by making just about everyone glare at her instead.

She then turned to Cayde, who was still waking up. “I'm not a kelpie, but for you, I could be one~” She'd reply, sticking out her tong like a panting dog. She smiled at his question. “I got in here when destiny called, of course~ I took your challenge and won it!” She laughed at his half-asleep question. “They're selling little more than a lot of noise right now~” She'd reply, earning herself some more glares from the vampire hunters and, believe it or not, something might almost sound like a chuckle coming from Morana.

Velvet, being the second one in, took Kelsey by surprise. “Oh my, where did such a pretty girl such as yourself managed to hide all this time?” She ended up going with for a good morning. “Ohoho, your girlfriend, you say? Who's the lucky gal? Would she mind a third?” It was clear that the time of day didn't mean much to Kelsey's behaviour.

She was glad to see Sophia, finally jumping out of Cayde's bed to head over to pick up the hand. “Oh, that's great. Thanks hon~ Let me know when you want to claim more of your reward, hm?” She'd reply at a very suggestive tone. With the hand obtained, she was quick to sneak out, so that she could get it on and test it out in private somewhere.

Theron

Spoiler: Full Image

From: Dwarfen

“You're bloody right mate.” The dwarf replied. “Go on, downwards, you two. We'll have to talk things through over breakfast.” With Cayde's persuasion and Theron's backing, they begrudgingly calmed down enough to agree.

They were soon seated along a table. It was a bit crowded in the bar, but they each had a chair at least. Morana had stuck near Cayde, Kelsey was off testing her hand somewhere. Theron was strategically placed between his two arguing companions. Methystos had brought them breakfast, some sort of oats with raisins.

Yumi

Spoiler: Full Image and source

From: Milleore - Granblue Fantasy Wiki

The halfling vampire hunter spoke up first. “I'm not sure what we're even arguing about. If one of your friends suddenly goes missing, you go look for them, right?”

Senna

Spoiler: Full Image and source

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Q3adx

The human vampire hunter instantly snapped back. “That's a bullshit way to put it and you know it. She's been dead for a little over 10 years now. Her corpse is missing. That must suck, but it's not worth leaving our mission for!”

“It's not her corpse! I keep telling you, it was different. Her soul was banished, but her body wasn't killed! It isn't the same. Some of her might still live!”

It looked like Senna might reply again, only louder, but Theron interfered. “For crying out loud, this won't get us anywhere. You're only embarrassing yourselves in front of these people. Let's start at the start right? I'll go first. Good morning, I'm Theron. Leader of this embarrassing display of vampire hunters, specialised in close combat and stealth.”

“Yumi. Stealth and hand crossbows.” The halfling vampire hunter stated shortly.

“Senna, fastest markswoman in all of Widersia, if not all of the world. I'll get rid of all threats loudly and proudly!” She proclaimed, with some pride to it.

“Good, now, you guys can go.” He said, nodding at the others. “Ah, also, do add what you learned from Chima.”

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

Mentions: Elvario Sharena The Last Curse RavenSong Silent Angel

After the conversation between Shion and the figure had concluded Iberis had been curious as to what she wanted to talk about but she was rather tired, though it wouldn't be hard to tell that Shion was probably curious what was up with the guy saying that Iberis was his apprentice all up in her head. Instead Iberis found herself welcoming the warm embrace of the kitsune. Ibers did take notice of the mana related happenings which were occurring with Shion and it was a most curious thing which intrigued Iberis even in her more tired state. Given the fact that Shion was quite tired and Iberis was too she nodded in response, even if the magical spectacle had been rather exciting, "That was..amazing Shion." She said softly with a smile, glad to see that something positive was happening to her ally who had arrived in this world not all that long ago. Despite this fact Iberis felt rather comforted to have someone near her like this, practically embracing her. It was so calming in fact that she didn't even have a night terror nor was she having a difficult time falling asleep, just knowing that Shion was there with her and seemed to genuinely care was enough to ease her nerves.
---
When she had been woken up alarmed this feeling of safety was only reaffirmed when Shion took a defensive stance, something she associated with some of her closer friends like when she and Scylla worked together to protect one another during the entrance exams, this feeling of safety was very much similar to how she felt in this moment after realizing that there wasn't an immediate threat in their room and it was instead loud and outside.

She nodded when Shion made the comment about them not needing to be as disruptive as they were being over whatever it was given the time of morning.

Of course the view wasn't something she had been expecting a bit of brief redness with the view, but it quickly turned into one of curiosity as she tried to discern where the tails stopped and started, nevertheless it wasn't all that vital to understand even if it was a curiosity. By the time she was dressed and on her way out and Shion grabbed her, she giggled a bit at that, "Yeah I guess I'll have to huh? Gotta have you looking prim and proper for all the new faces we'll be meeting in this realm together." She said with a smile.
---
By the time Iberis was at the door and presumably Shion wasn't far from her as she followed, Iberis saw Velvet approach, a new face which she wasn't used to, to say the least. She wondered if she was some sort of adventurer, maybe a hunter? Who really knew, there could be just about anyone. She was rather intrigued with the way that Velvet looked however, from the clothing and general presence, she seemed like the type that Iberis didn't want to mess with.

"I dunno actually I was trying to figure that out." She replied at Velvet's inquiry, but she also relented and stepped aside when Velvet said that she'd handle it, not feeling like arguing on the issue. Iberis only continued to keep her somewhat guarded look with the way she held her catalyst.

Iberis became slightly less guarded looking, even a bit relieved upon seeing Cayde when he reaffirmed her that nothing problematic was going on yet at least. His thoughts weren't really off as far as to why Iberis looked the way she did, it was from the loud sounds and uncertainties about some of the people around her.

She smiled a bit meekly in response before replying, "Well that's a relief to hear, I Just wasn't sure what was going on..and y-yeah me and Shion slept great actually, till whatever just happened in here actually..You?" She responded to Cayde in honesty.

She then saw Sophia make her way on the Scene and she gave her a small wave and a smile. She was also wondering who Velvet was but didn't have the same confidence to ask up front just like that. Definitely something that she somewhat envied about Sophia who seemingly had no problems saying what she wanted to say.

Then there was also 'Chandra' who had made her way in which Iberis was feeling quite a bit better at that point with so many more allies around her, feeling relieved even.

All Iberis could really do was hope that the group would be receptive to Shion's words about working things out.

Right off the bat Kelsey was acting super on brand from what Iberis understood of her, she really wasn't sure what to think there was Sophia's openness and then there was Kelsey who seemed to be very interested in relationships with all kinds of people.
---
Thankfully between Cayde's talking skills to get things on the move and Theron helping with it, it wasn't long before the group was entering a much more spacious area , Iberis naturally followed along with the group and listened to Yumi's and Senna's back and forth, by that point probably getting her hands on some oats as well, which was a welcome change from the rations that she'd quite literally had as a meal last night.

Truthfully it wasn't clear who was in the right or wrong with that back and forth, with what she had learned about the undead however she did sort of lean more toward the possibility that even if they'd been missing that long it was possible that they could retrieve their friend in some sort of sentient state, even if Yumi was completely wrong Iberis would certainly be inclined to explore options should it be her friend even with the difficult circumstances.

"Nice to meet you Yumi and Senna, as you may have heard earlier, my name is Iberis, Iberis Odhir, magic user, and like many of the others here, I'm here to help." She said with a soft smile, figuring a formal introduction was the way to go here. She was intrigued and she was primed to listen for what they had to say next as their situation sounded..difficult.

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Elvario Sharena TheTimePiece ​

A warm smile spread on Cayde's face when Iberis asked about his night, pleasant memories of yesterday replaying in his mind. "Ah, me? I haven't slept that well in weeks," He said amiably, "Dreamt a lot too..." For a moment, his eyes flicked to Morana. He contemplated saying more. Iberis would've loved to hear about Morana's past. Shion, Scylla, Kalina, and Sophia, too. It could've brought them all together. But just as quickly as the idea arose, it soured in his mind. Not his place to make decisions like that. Not anyone's place to destroy that trust. "Mostly about home," Cayde said, shrugging flippantly, "Nothing too special. Just something to look forward to, y'know?" He looked between Iberis and Shion, giving both a quick nod, "Just like hearing about whatever you two found."

As things settled down and the room cleared, Cayde followed next to Shion. Now would've been a good time to share something. "Got our hands tied up with those three, huh?" He whispered, covertly gesturing to the vampire hunters ahead, "I think I might have a clue on what the problem is." He looked forward, a theory beginning to form in his mind, "It sounds like one of em' trying to find closure. But the other's moved on - or at least trying to. And then there's Theron, wanting both of them to stop..." His lips pursed in consideration. "I dunno, can't say much without knowing them better. Let's try finding out where they all stand." Cayde stated, resuming his trek downstairs. This wouldn't be easy, he thought. At least Shion was on his side.

He took a seat near Senna as they regrouped in the tavern. His eyes moved curiously between her and Yumi when they mentioned corpses. That could've had some relevance with the vampire's necromancy. Perhaps it should be brought up. "A pleasure meeting all of you," Cayde said, greeting Yumi, Theron, and Senna with a nod, "Now, before we start, I'd suggest we try to trade what we know. We're both fighting for the same thing, but there's still so much my team doesn't know. We could use whatever you've got," He looked to Theron next, "With that said, Chima's information came in handy. Not only did we find out where Sverre was, but we learned something pretty big," Cayde looked around and lowered his voice. "This vampire knows necromancy. She'd resurrected the corpses of Sverre's men in the Scrapyard, and we've no doubt she'd use those powers on others, too."

Watching them for a reaction, Cayde continued, "Now, I don't want to start any more rumors. But with this in mind, and what you've been saying about this friend... it concerns me." He said, voice growing sympathetic, "So, I'd like to hear more about this person. From all of you. You can tell me in private if it makes you feel more comfortable."

 

[Sharena]

​

Hearing Iberis say together had made Shion's ears twitch and her tails swish about with this serene rhythm to them. Before they were out the door, Shion pulled Iberis close and gave her a small kiss on her forehead. "I'm looking forward to it."

--

Shion rubbed her temples slightly listening to Kelsey talk. She really didn't need this so early in the morning already. Once she'd run off to test Sophia's gift she sighed and looked to the insectoid human. "My hero, I hope that takes her a while."

​

The kitsune placed a hand on Iberis' shoulder as she became cautious around the demonic stranger. "Calm yourself, she's fine."

Shion smiled at Cayde's inquiry to him and Iberis, and she proceeded to reinforce Iberis' statement. "Yes, we slept wonderfully. It was rather eventful all things considered, but I'm not complaining...not enough to ruin the experience at least." Shion had been soured a little speaking with Iberis' master, whoever that was, but if it helped them achieved what they wanted for now, then Shion was willing to look past it. She desperately wanted to talk with Iberis about him, but this wasn't the time or place to do it.

"As for what I found, Iberis can fill everyone in later once things have calmed down...also means my day's going to be busy working on Sverre later too." Shion had this look of exasperation on her face, but she smiled to hopefully put Cayde and Iberis' minds at ease.

Shion did take time to look over to Morana as well during the bustle of the room. "What about you Morana, did you sleep well?"

--

Once the group managed to be coerced into moving this someplace less cramped, Cayde started to discreetly speak with Shion. One of her ears shifted slightly in his direction as she listened, and she nodded once he was done. "Seems like we'll both have our hands full before the day's done." She chuckled a bit as she also responded under her breath to Cayde.

Once the group was situated for breakfast, it became even more apparent Shion had three times as many tails as she did the night before, as when sitting next to Iberis her tails were slowly flowing in a continuous wave like pattern behind her chair as she happily accepted the breakfast placed before her with a brief "thank you" to the tavern owner. There was a refinement to her table manners that suggested she had either been taught or observed humans enough to be more polite, but there were moments that reflected her more bestial nature too as she had no compunctions about picking her plates up to scarf her food down faster once they started getting about under half full. She didn't leave a mess though, once again blending both sides of her while she listened to the introductions of the hunters. She heard Iberis and Cayde give their opening statements and proceeded to follow.

"I'm Shion, a magically attuned telepath." Words she never thought she'd use to describe herself, but it made the most sense with the way her abilities had progressed since she got here. Once Cayde finished sharing a couple things their group had gathered since coming here, Shion folded her arms and legs and looked between the three vampire hunters before her, taking measure of them as best she could. She'd be there to back Cayde up if need be, she was curious what relevance a comrade passing away over ten years ago had in regards to the current job, but she would hold herself back for the moment. She had a feeling it was more personal than that, so she'd wait and see if they could be professional long enough to get through this conversation.

"I'll also be attempting to see what we can do for Sverre once this conversation is over, with Morana's help I may be able to bring back more of his memories which could also help us tackle this threat we're dealing with." Then Cayde brought up this friend of theirs, and Shion decided it best to follow suit. She was happy Cayde didn't want to wait either.

"I agree with Cayde. We were told by Chima your ability to function as a team was practically crippled over something. What relevance does this have to the job at hand, and what reason is there that you can't handle both? In a voice that won't rock the very foundations of this establishment, please."

 

[RavenSong]

Velvet had noticed Sophia frowning, maybe glaring at her. She looked at the fae straight in the eyes, meeting her glare.

Who is that?

That’s Sophia, she’s.. well.. Kalinas lover I think.

What? I thought it was y-

It’s complicated.

I can tell.

Look, that doesn’t matter okay? I really want to impress her so don’t ruin my reputation!

Ugh.

Velvet!

Alright. Fine.

Velvets expression changed as she looked at Sophia going from a slight glare to a sternly look however she was doing her best to soften up. She had barely opened her mouth to speak when the fae addressed the halffling. She saw Sophia give Kelsey something but then Sophias gaze returned, just as deep and fierce as before, feeling defensive the demon spoke up, “Just who do you-“ she closed her eyes and furrowed her brow a bit. Making a fist. It was that tug she felt when Scylla didn’t want her to say something, “Scylla. I am Scylla.” She finally said, “I’ve transformed, you see. Something happened when Kalina bit me, perhaps losing blood brought forth this ability.” Velvet shook her head. “I know you must perceive this as strange, but it’s the truth. You can call me, Velvet. But Scylla is just as acceptable I suppose.” Velvet crossed her arms, “There’s more to it, but this isn’t exactly the best time. Mu.. no.. mmm.. muffin.” Velvet tried resisting but was suddenly appalled at what had escaped her lips at the end, Scylla had a pet name for Sophia it seemed. Velvet closed her eyes with disappointment. Letting out a small sigh.

When the demoness felt an external force trying to invade her mind. She instantly noticed and moved her eyes over but wouldn’t turn to look at the potential inquirer.

Seems like someone here can hear you speak Scylla. I suggest you keep quiet.

oh! That’s gotta be Shion. She doesn’t like me, but maybe she’ll like you?

She doesn’t.. like you.

yeah, I squeezed her tail and she slapped my face.

ha! Serves you right.

Whatever.

—

When back in the room, and after asking about the commotion, even apologizing for entering without permission, Velvet visibly flinched a bit, blinking a few times as she processed what Kelsey had began to say to

“Excuse me?” Velvet asked with a bit of shock. What was it about people here and their flirtatious ways? “Those are quite the vile statements miss half ling..” she looked at Kelsey with stern eyes, then stepped aside, gesturing at Kalina. “..however if you must know, this is my partner.”

Your friends are something else.

heh! You’ll get used to it!

Unlikely.

She’d look at the lusty Kelsey a bit disgusted with her, before turning to the vampire hunters. They would introduce themselves, they were a lively lot and much to Velvets surprise, were very much a team, one could tell they had a lot of history. She’d step back a little, after figuring out that there wasn’t much danger.

She’d turn to look at Yumi, “Pray tell about your lost friend.” she was fairly curious about her, she seemed passionate and willing to fight just about anything or anyone to find her friend. Such a passion had it’s uses, perhaps it was the demon in her that wanted to pull the passion out of others. Yet, it wasn’t all malicious intent, she genuinely was curious

 

[Elvario]

The Rusted Booze
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Droid's Row – Bar - The Rusted Booze
Time: 7:50

From: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/D5J8bG
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena | Sophia Silent Angel

Iberis' introduction was greeted with a smile from Senna and a nod of acknowledgement from Theron and Yumi. The first one to react to Cayde's information was Theron himself. “We suspected as much, but thanks for confirming it. I guess we can add ridding the Scrapyard of zombies to our list...” He grunted, clearly not excited about the prospect. “With that confirmed, the rumours that some corpses have gone missing from the morgue are even more concerning. She'll likely have her own undead guards as well.”

Yumi

Spoiler: Full Image and source

From: Milleore - Granblue Fantasy Wiki

“THERE'S NO WAY!” Yumi yelled out when Cayde mentioned their friend. “I mean, it can't be. We lost her twelve years ago, we hid her body underneath hallowed grounds in a secret location after her soul was sealed. There's no way the vampire could've gotten to her... something else must've happened!”

Senna

Spoiler: Full Image and source

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Q3adx

“Yes, something that you should SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT already. It was ten years ago and has nothing to do with our current mission. If you want to go investigate, do it after we've done our jobs here and stop threatening to leave us hang. You're a professional, aren't you?”

“That's easy talking, you never even knew her! You've got NO CLUE what it's like! Nothing! You're just a...”

“Halt!” Theron shouted, forcing them to stop before it could escalate all over again. “She used to work with us long ago. We might not look like it due to our Fae-blood, but me and Yumi have been doing this job for a really long time. She's been with us for most of it. She joined me just a year after I started, being a Lune Elf, she got mistaken for a Vampire due to being so pale, I got sent to kill her and somehow ended up recruiting her instead. She was a fine Vampire Hunter, one of the best. She saved Yumi's life and taught her all she knows, the typical stuff. However... she got infected trying to protect someone. She eventually volunteered to have us seal her soul away, so that we could keep her body in a magically induced coma until we'd find a way to cure her. We've gotten a lot of ideas on how to cure a vampire, but nothing concrete. However, whilst we were on this way here for the mission, we heard her corpse had gone missing as much as 10 years ago, with the priest having been told to watch over her having covered it up all this time.”

“And so I suggested we go look for her!”

“After which I said we should stick with the bloody mission! It's been TEN FUCKING YEARS! She's gone. You're not gonna find her!”

“You don't know that! I...”

Theron glared at them, which was enough to bring them to silence once more. “Well, that's our dilemma. It is unlike it has anything to do with our current target, but it's a distraction regardless.” He sighed. “I'll admit, even I can't keep wondering what in the world could've happened to her.” Having finished his food, he picked out a cigar and lit it. He spoke again after a deep huff of smoke. “Anyhow, you offered some information. From what little we did find out, the vampire would have some type of undead guards. Meanwhile, the thrall uses some sort of metal weapon, a very sharp one that makes large amounts of cuts that go through skin and bone with ease. The bodies that thrall left in its wake were gruesome and mangled beyond recognition, as if to sent a warning. The thrall might be even more dangerous than the vampire. I'm afraid that's about all we were able to confirm thus far.” He figured Shion's question was answered in the process of all of this.

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

“I'm Morana. I'm working for Baron Fromm's and I'm currently under mister Cayde's command to help deal with the vampire.” She'd introduce herself, hazy eyes glossing over the three Vampire Hunters and not seeming to be very impressed by them even with what little body language was visible.

As for Shion's question. “Yes, mister Cayde's medicine helped a lot.” She replied, briefly and shortly, but the fact she bothered to reply probably meant a lot in its own right.

Chandra Jarmil

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4QrLn

She'd shot Velvet a glare, upon her mentioning their act of drinking blood. Not because she didn't want Sophia to know, but because talking about such topics was dangerous when there were literal Vampire Hunters in the building that were up and about. You never knew who might hear them and who might be nearby, so such topics were best avoided for now.

When she eventually joined the others for breakfast, she'd also shortly introduce herself. “I'm Chandra Jarmil, a humble adventurer from Ryke.” She'd introduced herself (Deception D) after the others had done so.

However, as the vampire hunters were talking, she grew more and more silent. Subconsciously fading a bit into the background [Stealth E]. If what they were saying was correct... this might be bad. Or was she just overthinking this? How big was the chance... yet some details lined up too well... This was not at all what she was prepared for.

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Elvario TheTimePiece ​

Cayde's brows furrowed as he listened to Theron's description of the woman. A knot started to form in his stomach, memories of the day before flashing in his vision. The thrall swept into view. Pale skin. A curse equal parts vampirism and necromancy. An infection. The knot growing bigger, Cayde shifted in his seat. Corpses were going missing. The vampire resurrects the dead. The body of one of the hunters disappeared. Too much lined up. "Damn it," He thought, eyes falling to the counter, "And they don't even have a clue..." After a brief moment, Cayde looked up at Yumi and Senna. His lips felt tight. What could he say now? Should he even mention the idea?

No, Cayde thought. They'd need to hear it, but not yet. This gap needed to be closed. They needed to come together. "It's a shame to hear about what happened. But know that neither of you is in the wrong." Relaxing his posture, he looked to Senna first, "You're moving on, I can tell. And you want Yumi to move on so you can finish this together. That's great." Cayde said, tapping the counter, "But corpses have gone missing. Your friend's body is gone. And we know this vampire utilizes necromancy. I don't know how long they've been plaguing this city, but if any body has gone missing, that might be another servant for the vampire." He nodded, eyes not moving an inch, "That's another facet of this mission. So, investigating this would benefit you. If not, help Yumi finally move on."

Cayde looked to Yumi next, his eyes softening a bit. "And you want closure. You want to get over it, but you need answers. And you feel like Senna needs to be helping you get them." Folding his hands, he leaned back, peering at them, "She can if you two work together on stopping all this. If your friend's disappearance is entangled with this vampire, taking care of them will give you answers." He stated before crossing his arms. "Both of you want the same thing, and you can have it. But the more you scream and shout, the farther you'll go. You've been working with each other for some time, I reckon. You know you can navigate through this together."

With a small sigh escaping him, Cayde finally turned to Theron. Info-exchange. He'd almost forgotten. "We'll keep that in mind. But on the topic of the thrall, we've learned a lot about her, too," Once more, he looked around and lowered his voice. Better safe than sorry. "From Chima's information, the thrall only goes after folk who try to stop her master's wishes. Otherwise, she lets them go. So, with that in mind, we managed to disguise ourselves as 'recruits' and actually got something out of her," He explained, tapping the counter again. "We didn't get much about where her master is, but we know our thrall doesn't want to do all this. She seemed hesitant. Maybe a bit regretful. Kinda like she was forced to act like this."

Nodding to himself, Cayde continued, "We could've tried fighting her right there, but she's the only person in this city who knows exactly where the vampire is. So, we thought maybe we should try 'freeing' her," He gestured to Iberis and looked around for Scylla. How come she still wasn't in here? "A curse binds her. We're thinking of weakening it with healing and transferring it to something else. But I wanna know if that's possible or if there's anything else we could try."