The Medieval Struggle

"NO I AM NOT DONE! GET OUT HERE!" VErinnia screamed in a banshee level of a wail. "Fight me you coward, have at you!" She screamed still although not out of anger as she followed up with, "I am still just beginning to enjoy this fight!" She licked the blood off of her sword as she prepared for battle as Astaroth seemed to snap back into reality with no spell lag whatsoever. "My attention was lost for a moment...please, I apologize." She said with an evil smirk as she lifted her hand towards Fox blowing mass amount of force and wind towards her, pushing her away from the fight. "Stay away, Fox. Dot not come near, or you may die." She said coldly while trying to push her point across. VErinnia stared down Astaroth, waiting for a response as he stood, no longer laughing, no longer taunting, but smiling happily.

"It seems you have finally discarded emotions for a fight, good, that is important, but you are still mis-" He stopped suddenly and his eyes bulged as he witnessed Verinnia beginning to grow taller, more mature again like last time as she began to enter her second release form. "A second? When did you achieve this?! " He asked in haste, surprise and excitement. "Well this certainly looks much more exc-"

"That is not all," She said as she cut Astaroth off. "In order to fight, one must not focus on one's own prowess, but instead work together with their inner demons...so to speak." While Astaroth stood far behind Verinnia began to have a massive power increase as an image of Alice seemed to appear behind her, "Alice, I give you all that I am, so that you may give me all that you are, I am placing my life in your hands. Let us mow him down, show him we are the masters of this body, show him that we want, no MUST control him if he truly wants happiness while inside me....

"Yes VErinnia, and thank you for placing your life in my hands, but my power is beginning to fade. We only have enough for one final blow." Alice said with a straight face while talking the truth. "Then we shall end this in a single strike!" Verinnia yelled out as her sword began to glow and become a complete solid, nearly like a great sword at this point as she powered up, her aura giving off so much energy it could be felt around the world.

"I like it, no, I LOVE IT. SHOW ME THAT YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CONTROL ME!" Astaroth yelled as he himself powered up, his aura nearly equaling each other as they both got into final strike positions.

They rushed towards one another, swords in hand and within a second were near each other as they swung their swords. A massive aura explosion took place as the sword clashed while they pushed against each other blinding those around it to see whom the victor would be. As the dust began to clear they both still stood while VErinnia breathed heavily. "I...I'm sorry...it looks like I've lost.." She said as she passed out onto the floor.

"What are you talking about?" Astaroth asked as one could suddenly see a massive spurt of blood shooting out of his body as if sliced from his torso to his shoulder. "You won this fight....and with the aid of Alice..." His voice began to fade as he fell to his knees. "I am glad that you are the one I was placed into....so please, use....me...well..." His last words echoed throughout the desert as he became reabsorbed by VErinnia who was sleeping calmly, even a smile on her cute face, and it seemed as if her new looks would stay like this permanently. ((OOC: looking 18 rather then 14))

---

"Hmm?' Came the voice of many Reavers along the world, all seven of them. It seems they all felt the power at the same time as one held a hand to his ear. "I'll check it out, perhaps the girl has actually tapped into a power.." He received words of care back as they all continued their slaughtering of many small townsand villages, leaving being only those who would swear their loyalty to the Banshee Queen. "Aaron, please report back to our city, it seems Akiko is on his way home." Came anothjer voice as if the ywere all connected by walkie talkies. "Roger that," Aaron replied simply as a nameless Reaver went forth to check out the power supply, lucky him he was already in the desert...

Arivos had chased after Sephira moments after she had knocked him down only to find the fight between Verinnia and Astaroth nearly over. "Verinnia!" He'd rush over as she collapsed and passed out, sigh softly as he found her still alive. His eyes scanned the desert, finding Sephira a good two hundred feet away and for once she was barely injured. "Come on, Sephira, we need to get her out of this desert and take her with us to the west. Hopefully she'll wake up in route to the dwarves." Sephira would nod, still in terror of what she had seen, what could have almost been if Astaroth had won.

Arivos scooped up Verinnia and began to carry her through the desert, towards the west but as night started to creep up on them they were forced stop for the night at what seemed to be the same oasis they had stopped at their first time in the desert. Arivos placed Verinnia upon the ground, summoning forth his bow to fire an arrow that cut straight through one of the trees. He'd take the branches from, placing them in a pile after digging a small hole in the sand, firing another arrow which let them on fire. "There we go..." Sephira stared at him in the most akward manner, "How did you do that?" She'd ask this while sitting beside the fire to keep herself warm from the cold night of the desert. "It's a bit of a tale actually. Appearently I'm something called an Asho'lanus, or atleast my bloodline is. Man once called them the Shadow Rangers of the elves." He'd then proceed to fill her in on all the woman had told him and all he had learned of it through what he had practiced.

Fox shook violently, not from the cold that seemed to turn her skin to ice, but from fear. Astaroth had been in front of her eyes, his breath on her face, the look of evil in his eyes. Looking over at Verinnia, she felt pain sting her. She was still so angry with these two, and even madder still that she had been at his mercy twice in two days now. And now Arivos apparently had these powers of a Shadow Ranger, something she'd never heard of before. And here she was, the only one with powers that resulted in consequence. Hah, hell couldn't be much worse than this, could it? She thought bitterly as she turned away from the fire. She didn't want his fire and she didn't want to be near Verinnia. Sure, she'd put her life at risk to try and help her, but again she'd let Astaroth overpower her. How dare they lie to her? With her titles now she could have them both beheaded and displayed for the entire realm to view! Arivos said something to her, but she didn't pick it up. A deep chill settled under her skin, making her wish she was back at the inn, warm...on the floor. Feeling sick again, she stood and walked off from the two, finding a nice bush to retch on.

Arivos sat next to Verinnia, who was sleeping soundly and watched Fox get sick. It was worse having to watch it than simply hear it like he had last night. She'd had the most horror-struck look on her face that he'd ever seen. I wonder why she's so scared of him...he's no worse than any of the other demons we've fought. Arivos was going to offer Fox some of the bread he'd taken from the inn, but he'd lost his appetite now and simply waited for Fox to return, which took nearly an hour. Once she returned, she'd simply sat down, pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in her legs. I wonder if I will ever escape him? Now he's just going to calmly sit inside of Verinnia, watching me. I don't believe that for a second! Fox lifted her head, tears misting her vision again. "I don't believe you!" she hollered, wrapping her arms so tightly around herself she threatened to cut off her circulation. Verinnia stirred at this, her eyes, heavy with exhaustion, prying themselves open. "F-Fox?" she whispered, turning to look over. Staring down at her angrily, the fear and hatred of the world burned in her eyes she turned her back on them again, rocking back and forth slowly until morning.

Morning came as Verinnia woke up with ease and excitement while going on over to Fox. "Fox, how did ya sleep?" She asked happily even though she realized Fox had not slept at all. "Arivos, how bout you? Oh, and how could I forget, how are the two of you feeling this morning?" SHe asked as she held her palms out, rightside up showing two small images of ALice and Astaroth to which they responded quickly and well before returning to another one of their arguments. "Come on everyone, up up! Let's get a move on towards the dwarves, if you have any complaints, save them for later!" She put emphasis on that towards Fox as if saying, get over it to which she cemented by saying, "Just another bridge and we will be there," SHe punned causing Arivos to suppress a chuckle. "We are not too far off, so I'll hear a bit of both of you, come on, tell me what's on your minds so we may move forward!"

Tapping her foot restlessly she awaited responses from the both of them as she got impatient more as those in her mind argued on to whih she closed off her mind once more. "Well?" She asked nearly coldly, but still excitedly.

Arivos looked to Verinnia, brow raising slightly. "What's on my mind? Well. For one, is that demon gone, Verinnia? Or is he still inside of you because we need to be able to trust you in battle without having to worry about that demon coming out. Also, I... have powers now." Verinnia stared at him, she hadn't see them yet. "What?" Arivos nodded slightly as he closed his first, bringing for the bow. "I'm sure Alice will know about this, finding it rather interesting. I'm what the elves call a Asho'lanus. An ancient blood line of the Elves that were ment to be guardians. I can think of arrows and the bow and summon fourth any kind of arrow I wish. Ones that explode, ones that freeze my enemies, one that lights them on fire. There is so much I can do with this and I've only tested a fraction of it. I don't fully understand it yet, where it comes from or how it came to be. An elven woman followed us, said it comes from our hearts. Our need to defend those we care for."

He'd stare down at the bow as they continued to walk into unfamiliar lands. Strangely it began to snow a few minutes into the land of the dwarves. Arivos didn't know the name of it, he'd never learned about it, the kingdom of man wasn't much on learning of the dwarves. "I was actually hoping Alice could aid me in learning my limits with this power. Alice, you do know much about magic, know anything of the Asho'lanus? Humans used to call the the Shadow Rangers according to the elf I met." he had left out the part where they had been watching his companions since the night he and Sephira saved Verinnia and the fact they were probably still watching them.

Fox kept her head down. She wasn't going to listen to this rabble. There was no way she could trust either of them. Arivos just suddenly had powers and they held no consequence to him? Bullshit. And Verinnia hadn't thought her important enough to even mention that Astaroth was roaming free. And with her connection to Verinnia's mind, she could hear Alice and Astaroth arguing as if nothing was wrong, as if nothing was going on around them. Anger welled up so deep inside of her that she wasn't even sure she'd be able to handle the trip into the dwarven cities. There wasn't even any guarantee that they were even there anymore. They could just be walking into this snowy wasteland for nothing. Wrapping her arms around herself, she huffed and listened to Arivos chatter on about his arrows and his magick with Alice. Fox fled into the furthest recesses of her mind as they walked. She didn't even need magick anymore, Arivos and Verinnia had that department covered. And her powers no longer even had a purpose seeing as Verinnia had completely conquered herself. Oh gods...I'm shortening my life and probably going to hell for absolutely nothing. She nearly stopped short at this realization. How could this be? She'd been given these powers to keep Verinnia in check and now the girl needed nothing from her.

Well it was decided then. When she was on the throne she would release Arivos and send Verinnia away. Neither of them needed her and she certainly didn't need them. Only vaguely aware of her companions now, she nearly bumped into them when they stopped. "Why are we stopping?" Fox demanded, venom oozing from her tone. Verinnia looked a bit taken aback by her, not at all expecting this from her. Angry with her behavior, Verinnia stood in front of Fox fully, her hands on her hips. "What is your problem? Whatever it is you need to get over it!" she huffed, cocking her hip to the side. Fox scoffed and took a step back. "I-I need to get over it?! Is that all you can say!? You two have the audacity to hide that fucking monster's release from me and then you let him hold me hostage and you want me to get over it!? Then you run off into the desert without telling anyone and I want to help you because I fucking care and what happens? You let him swagger over and scare me a bit more! This must be give the princess a heart attack week! On top of all of that, Arivos now suddenly has powers. And with you fully in control of your powers, you no longer need mine to keep you in check! Furthermore, my magick, if you can even call it that, is the only one that comes with consequences! Who knows how many days of my life I've lost trying to save you...how deep into hell I'm going because of how much anger I have for you! And you want me to get over it?" Fox spit at Verinnia's feet before speaking again, "you two have betrayed me and destroyed my psyche and all you can fucking say is get over it?!" Fox's voice echoed in the open snowy wasteland. A light snow had begun to fall as Fox stood there, her arms spread in emphasis of her point.

Verinnia and Arivos stood silently, not ever having heard her explode like this. Not wanting to have to listen to it any further, Verinnia stepped forward and slapped Fox. "Astaroth is tame now, get over it." The minute Verinnia's hand dropped from Fox's face, her eyes turned as bright as stars, energy building deep inside of her. Verinnia took a step back, a barrier of light forming around Fox in a bubble shape, steadily growing and pushing out. Arivos grabbed Verinnia by the arm and pulled her far away from Fox, who was now lifting into the air. A shriek bellowed from the center of the sphere, slowly morphing into a beautiful song.((Listen From 3:26 On)) The melody seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, bouncing endlessly off the world and far into the distance. Verinnia and Arivos looked up at her, the light enveloping her body, consuming her form. "I probably shouldn't have slapped her," Verinnia admitted, leaning back into Arivos. "Nope!" he replied quickly as he craned his neck.

--

In the distance a song began, a melody Akiko had never heard before. It was a bit ahead of where he was, but he knew if he followed the sound he'd find the voice it belonged to. It wasn't much further through the snow that he saw the giant ball of light. "Ah, so The Siren sings her song once more, leading me right to her!" a cocky smirk formed on his lips. "And where she is, my sister is bound to be. As well as Arivos. I told him I'd have reinforcements!" he threw his head back now and laughed as the figures of two people looking up at the sphere became more clear. "Well boys, it's time to clean house!"

--

Akiko's voice rang out behind them, "I see she's managed to learn a trick or two. Can you tell her to quit that and come have a nice, friendly chat with the kingslayer?" Verinnia whipped around, her hair instantly turning purple as she came to look Akiko in the eyes. "Oh dear sister how quick you are to anger," he tsked her, crossing his arms disappointingly. "Now do as you're told, get her down," Akiko ordered, a bit annoyed now. Her silence defied his order, enraging him further, until he realized something and laughed. "Oh, you can't can you? You either can't touch it because it's pure light energy or because you have no idea how to contain her...or both! How hilarious. What a predicament your ghosty girl got you into! I'll have to thank her at length later when you and I are home with mother," he smirked, his eyes turning bright red. Above them, Fox's song only got louder as the sphere around her expanded, the snow bending around her. Arivos manifested his bow as Verinnia's sword twisted into a rather large claymore. "This is going to be fun, but I don't think we have the right music for a fight to the death, let's make the bitch sing!" Akiko threw a large ball of shadow energy into the sphere. Instead of being repelled or absorbed by the barrier, it went straight through and struck Fox's body, causing her song to twist and bend into something haunting.((1:50 - 2:25)) Akiko smirked, the sound pleasing him deeply. "You gave her the powers of a real Siren, silly Alice. Now it's being used against you! Succumb!"

"Yes....Mother...." Verinnia said as she quickly thought of how this whole situation really began. This would never end unless the head was cut off completely, so what to do now....Fox is in trouble...war has already begun...everything is unraveling. She continued to try to think as Akiko spoke up, "Oh and by the way, I wouldn't bother going to the dwarven city as they already know what's happening...I sort of told them, hm hm hm, won't mother be surprised? SOunds much more fun now..., but again, let us see this Siren defeat you all, unless, VErinnia, what can you do? Show me, show me your strength." HE said as Fox's power continued to grow before Akiko finally grasped what he had done. "Well.... I certainly did not see this coming..." He whispered as his eyes opened with regret while Fox's light sphere began to exponentially grow larger. In sudden quick haste before anyone could even think of moving, Akiko lunged towards VErinnia and Arivos, taking them out of the way of Fox's sphere. "God damn it! What did you do? ALICE WHAT DID YOU GIVE HER?" He yelled into VErinnia body as he shoved his hand into Verinnia's body as if he was a ghost while his body began to spiral out of control with power as he seemed to tug VErinnia as if he was trying ti pry out a soul. A massive source of dark energy poured from Verinnia's body as VErinnia just laid there, not putting a fight up at all as a bright blue glow began to escape her body. Alice was being completely seperated from Verinnia....

After what seemed like many minutes Alice now stood before them all, fully physical while lacking her ghostly properties, in this current moment, but it seems like she was only just seeing the situation now. "Fox!" She cried as she backed away in fear as she walked into Akiko who screamed at her, "You caused this, you should not of given her such power without training her, don't even get me started as to how you held the powers of the Sun Arcana!" He pushed her towards Fox as he held Verinnia back as if shielding her, protecting her. VErinnia was far too busy worrying about Alice and Fox to even take notice as she kept trying to move back towards them in a haze.

"Fox...Fox!" Alice called as she walked towards her, hand held out forward as if reaching for her hand. "She can no longer hear me....and she is scaring me..." Alice thought as she continued to attempt to be brave. "No, I need more power...." She said aloud to herself as she knelt down in prayer towards her Arcana. "Death, give me strength and aid me in my efforts...to stop this Arcana of Sun from spiraling out of control..." She prayed and prayed as the sphere continued to grow as it grew closer to Alice. If it were to even touch her at all, she would be instantly destroyed. Her eyes suddenly snapped open as her face suddenly looked like the ghostly image of the grim reaper himself. "MAMODOOM" SHe cried out, her own voiced masked behind a skelletal accent as darkness ooured out of her, all around encircling Fox's sphere as the two powers pressed against one another, but Alice on the verge of pushing more. Alice's face grew more evil as her eyes sunk in while she poured an even greater amount of power into her attack as it suddenly supressed the light so strongly that Fox's song was canceled and replaced with screaches of pain which suddenly shattered her entire light sphere, but Alice was putting too much power into the darkness, it quickly consumed her as VErinnia finally broke free from AKiko and jumped int othe darkness, wings growing out of her back as she formed a massive purple aura around her, parting the darkness as she grabbed Fox, and getting her to the ground. "Please be okay....Fox... please..." VErinnia sobbed as she bent over to kiss her forehead lovingly. "I need you...I cannot do what I must do without you...Fox...please...wake up...or I may go with Akiko now...please wake...." She struggled and held her as Arivos came up from behind checking her vitals. She was alive, but just waking out of her nearly possessed state.

"Verinnia..." SHe whispered as she finally awoke while looking into her eyes, still able to feel the kiss she placed on her forehead.

Everything blacked out for Arivos. He remembered fighting against Sephira's song as Akiko had changed it. He had lost his will power, his mind, everything was drawing him into Sephira. He had felt fear, and dread and had sensed his coming death as he had moved closer and closer to Sephira. That's the last thing he remembered before waking up on one knee and seeing Fox collapsed upon the ground. "She's alive..." His eyes narrowed though as he stared at Alice, once more Arivos was pissed. "What the hell did you do to her, Alice! What the hell did she mean by she doesn't know how days she's lost? What did you do! Why did you give her powers knowing they'd be the death of her! EXPLAIN!" He paced for a time, both Verinnia and Alice were silent, shocked at the emotion now pouring from him. His fists were clenched as he continued to pace before pivoting to quickly face Alice.

He'd bring fourth his bow, arrow forming as he pulled on the strong. There was no mercy in his eyes, no kindness, no hint of hesitation. "You have two choices now. Either you remove her powers, you fix her or I end your life and that your's and Verinnia's so she doesn't have to protect Verinnia anymore. This whole situation is your fault! We should have killed you from day one, to save you from yourself and to save us from all the trouble that's been caused! To save us from the war that is now coming! But no! I had to have a heart, I had to show mercy and let you live as I saved you! AS WE SAVED YOU! Look at all we've been through, Alice. Look at all we've had to go through barely surviving because of you and Verinnia! And now Sephira suffers because you thought to give her powers! Not for herself but to keep your precious Verinnia alive while Sephira suffers for it! You couldn't even train her and we almost suffered for that as well! What good are either of you two to us?! Everything we survived we had to face -because- of Verinnia!" He seemed more focused then he had ever been, his eyes had become cold and cruel. This wasn't some magic through, it was simply Arivos at his last straw, everything he felt finally coming out. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you both here and now for the suffering you both selfishly put us through! I told you before we reached the capital. NO MORE HELPING! And now you shorted Sephira's life?! GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON!"

That's when he got his good reason, a light chuckle coming from Akiko behind Arivos. "My my, this is lovely. Now you turn on them, Arivos? Perhaps we can still u-" He didn't get to finish his statement as Arivos wheeled around, firing an fire arrows at Akiko, then another and another and another. The first three and missed as Akiko had dodged them.The fourth, however, had caught him in the shoulder, exploding on impact and sending Akiko flying. He'd snarl as he got up, the humor lost from his face as he realized what Arivos had become. "Asho'lanus... but that's impossible! Your blood line is dead! I killed the last myself!" Arivos shook his head slightly, "There's still one left, Akiko!" He ready another attack, only to not fire as Akiko did his disappearing act with a few words left to think upon. "When I'm done, none of your powers will matter! You will die and I'll finally be rid of this boring game!"

Alice went to approach Arivos after this only to be met with an arrow pointed at her face as Arivos had wheeled around. "I'm still waiting on that one reason, Alice." His voice was calmer but the tone was like the calm before the storm, something far more frightening then his yelling at them.

Barely conscious, Fox looked up and saw that everything had calmed. Akiko had disappeared and Alice was standing next to Verinnia somehow, both staring down Arivos' arrow. Weakly, she tried to reach for Verinnia, but her arm fell into a pile of snow, forcing a small gasp from her lips. Verinnia took a step toward Fox, only to have Arivos' arrow land at her feet, another one knocked and ready to release. "If you take another step towards her I will show no mercy! Now answer me dammit!" he barked, the arrow knocked bursting into flame, only consuming the arrow. Verinnia stepped back and looked to Alice, whose eyes were on Fox's. The light had dulled from the girl's eyes, her skin paler than before. "You have to help--" "I will do my duty when I understand what she's dying for!" he screamed, tightening his grip on the arrow. Sighing calmly, Alice looked away as she answered, "I offered Fox the power of Sun Arcana. The power of a true Siren Goddess. Powers she has displayed here. Her powers are the exact opposite of mine and Verinnia, she is meant to keep us in check, meant to balance us. But most importantly, her power is meant to save the world," Alice hesitated, hoping this would suffice. "And what about her life? And her going to hell!" he stomped his foot impatiently, embers from the arrow falling and disintegrating in the snow. Gulping, Alice peeked over at Fox, who's eyes had shut, her head tilted limply onto her shoulder. "Whenever she uses a major spell she loses days of her life. And if she were to ever use her power for greed or against Verinnia, she would be ferried to hell when she died. I don't know how much time she's lost today, I've never seen so much light magick used at one time before. But she hasn't done anything that will send her to hell! She's...she's fine there! And I can't take the powers back! I can't 'fix' her! If I were to attempt to remove the powers I would destroy her. The magick has intertwined with her mind and soul. So sure, let me just remove them and kill her!" Alice stared down the arrow into Arivos' eyes, her anger overwhelming her fear.

A near silent groan escaped Fox's lips, causing them all to turn and look to her. Alice pushed past Arivos, who still had his bow drawn and knelt next to Fox. Lightly brushing the girl's hair from her face, Alice looked into Fox's face. Her breathing was labored and her skin was ice cold. "You need to carry her and get her to safety, somewhere she can rest in a warm bed. The dwarves are obviously out of the picture so there is nothing left for us here. Carry her, you bastard! Now!" Alice was about ready to punch the asshole. How dare he stand there selfishly while Fox seemed to deteriorate. How much time has she lost, truly? Arivos dismissed his weapon and pushed Alice out of the way as he scooped up Fox, coddling her in the crook of his arm, wrapping his warmth around her. "I still have no reason to not kill you," Arivos said over his shoulder, refusing to look at the girls now. "Because if you kill us it would kill Fox. Not physically but mentally. Even if she's angry with us right now it would kill her. And on top of that we're the only hope you have of ever truly defeating Akiko and my mother. So spare us the dramatics and just carry her," Verinnia said coldly. She wanted to add that they could so easily snap his neck and leave him here seeing as he wasn't necessary to the saving of the world, but she bit her tongue and followed closely behind Arivos as they trekked through the snow. It was well past sunrise by the time they exited dwarven lands. They were nearer to the human kingdom now, but still a ways away from King's Road, the main road in the kingdom.

By noon, they stumbled upon an abandoned house in the woods near a large pond. Alice had begun to regain some of her ghostly features by the time they got inside. Arivos placed Fox on the futon in the tiny, one room cabin and placed a wool blanket over her. She had turned ashen in their travels and looked as close to death as she had before. "I'm going to get some air, I'll be outside," Arivos huffed, avoiding Verinnia and Alice as he slammed the door upon his exit. Verinnia knelt in front of Fox, feeling her forehead and running her fingers through the unconscious girl's hair. "She's got a fever but her whole body is ice cold, what's going on," Verinnia wondered out loud as she continued to stroke Fox's hair. Mere hours ago she had been possessed by her arcana. The Siren inside of her had sung and nearly defeated them. Without proper training, she forced herself to perpetuate a massive amount of magick for a long time. How much time have you lost? Verinnia felt a tear slip past her defenses and land on Fox's cheek.

"Her body absorbed all of the magick around her, the light and the dark. Her body is trying to find a way to process all of it. To balance itself. But there is only light inside of her, so the dark is essentially poisoning her," Alice whispered, coming to kneel next to Verinnia. "Then fix her!" she cried, her hands lightly caressing Fox's frail features. "I-I would have to become part of her...I would have to meld with her in order to absorb the darkness and essentially we would become yin and yang. If I were to ever be removed from her like I was you, it would kill her..." Alice explained slowly, coming to the realization as she spoke. "I don't care! You have to save her!" Verinnia yelled as she turned to look into Alice's eyes. The pleading look on Verinnia's face and the tears that streaked her beautiful face pulled at Alice's heart strings. "She will become even more powerful, Verinnia. Even more dangerous. She'll have not only access to Sun Arcana, but Death Arcana as well. She will become life and death itself...and I don't know if we can control that...are you willing to risk it?" Alice asked tentatively. "Alice, we gave her these powers. We put her in this situation. I caused her so much pain and anger! We did this! We have to save her! So save her, Alice! We have no other choice..." Verinnia was defeated. She knew how dangerous this was. The two would fuse and become the light and the dark. Fox would not only have her Sun Arcana and Siren powers, but she would have access to Alice's dark magick's as well. If this proceeded, her power would rival Verinnia's, but her's would be unstable, forever at war with itself. It had the possibility of eventually tearing her apart from the inside. Sighing, Verinnia nodded to Alice, who took a deep breath and become fully shadow energy. Hovering above the girls for a moment, she looked down at them, hoping she was doing the right thing. In the next moment, she slowly floated down, the shadow of her silhouette falling into Fox's body, melding with her, becoming part of her. Fox's eyes flew open, their normal ice blue now a darker shade, her hair flying out from under her to settle behind her, now so blonde it was almost white. Again her eyes shifted, turning to their star like state, only now the stars were as black as night, still shining brightly. Her lips parted as an eerie song escaped her throat against her will.((Enjoy, it's a nice song))

Black and white orbs began to encircle her body slowly before plunging into her skin, causing her skin to marble in an odd manner. After a few moments, the effect settled and the song began to fade, the last few words coming out as whispers. Her eyes fluttered shut as her hair darkened back to it's normal fire. Verinnia hovered over her unconscious friend, worry thick in her eyes. "Oh gods, Sephira..." she whispered as she stood over her, now shaking like a leaf as she wondered if this was the right thing to do. Fox's skin had returned to it's normal color and her fever had disappeared, but she was still not conscious. Sniffling, Verinnia crawled onto the futon, draping her arm over Fox and snuggling next to her. Closing her eyes, Verinnia let her tears slip as she pondered the last few days, and how close she'd truly come to losing the sleeping girl in her arms.

Morning came quickly as the sun began to rise waking everyone although Verinnia was up already. "Wake up, Sephira." Verinnia said as she rocked her shoulder while still laying next to her. Without thinking Verinnia got up while kisses her forehead once more as moved towards Arivos as she began speaking of the upcoming battle.

"Arivos, I need to prepare you for what is awaiting us, but please, ask me your questions first, and tell me what you think you know"

Arivos still wasn't happen with Verinnia or Alice, it showed in his eyes. That coldness, that calmed anger was so easily read. Wait... where did Alice go? "Where is Alice, first of all. Second of all I know that I can hurt Akiko.. but from what I can tell from the capital city, he was after a demon. Probably after more power but it clearly hasn't helped him much. He's now facing three people with magic. No telling how powerful mine could become, I don't know it's limits yet or if there is any consequences. There is always something when it comes to power." It seemed he didn't even trust himself enough, not with magic as distrusting it seemed to be in his nature.

"Anyways. Akiko is up to something, he hasn't tried to end us or take you in, at least not in the capital and not in the dwarven lands. Though I still think we could have looked for the dwarves, Akiko could have been lieing. Honestly... I think he's planning on betraying the Banshee queen. From what I know of her plans she wanted you back pretty badly, Verinnia and Akiko isn't focused on that anymore, he's doing something for himself. Doesn't matter though, because next time I'll be ready for him." His eyes looked inside the house, towards Sephira, his gaze softening. How he felt for her was clear in his eyes, there was no way Verinnia could not see it even if he refused to speak of it. He'd quickly hide it though, not thinking of what Verinnia might have seen as he hardened his gaze once more. "And now I have to protect a woman that loses days of her life every time she uses a spell. Something I can't protect her from... she didn't need those powers, Verinnia. She was strong without them, powerful in her own way. Now I have to protect her while she protects you. Even if she didn't want to she'd have to protect you, just as I protect her. A circle of selfishness." His eyes stared at Verinnia, that coldness returning, "Difference is. You and Alice made this happen, my protecting Sephira wasn't out of her own selfishness as your's was. So I hope you can live with the fact that forcing her to use her spells to protect you is killing her. Oh right. You're undead. You don't live, you simply exist." That bitter tone came back as he stared at Verinnia, simply shaking his head in disgust.

His eyes looked up to the now slowly darkening sky, frowning slightly. "Go get some sleep. Sleep by your dieing protector, Verinnia. I'll keep watch as I always do and before you ask, no. I won't forgive you or forget what you and Alice did to her even if she willingly accepted. We're no longer friends, I simply tolerate you because she cares for you." With that he'd push off the wall of the house, bringing out that magic bow of his as he began to patrol an perimeter around the abandoned home, not giving a Verinnia a chance to respond.

When Fox finally opened her eyes, she found herself in an odd place. The place was decorated lavishly and looked similar to her bedroom in the castle. "Where am I?" Fox asked out loud as she got off of the bed in the room. Upon standing up fully, she found herself in a shoulder-less white gown that trained behind her a bit. "Now I'm really confused," she whispered, as she pulled her hair over her shoulder, which was somehow in a braid. "You're inside your mind, silly!" Alice chimed in, opening a door Fox hadn't noticed before. "My-my mind is a castle?" she stammered, a bit taken aback. "A castle with endless rooms and endless gardens! Completely limitless space! My room's next to yours, isn't that cool!?" she exclaimed, obviously more thrilled than she'd been in a while. "Uhm, sure. But how did you get into my mind?" Fox asked, pulling the dress up a bit. "Long story short? You were dying because of dark magick. In order to save you I merged with you in order to absorb it and balance you. I'm all yours now!" she beamed as she ran to hug Fox. "We were so worried about you! We'd thought we'd lost you for good that time!" Fox patted the girl's head gently as she thought about this. She now harbored another spirit inside of her, inside an endless castle that was apparently her mind.

"Am I alright now?" Fox asked, taking a step back from Alice. She nodded, "yeah, your bodies just resting. You've been asleep for two days." Nodding, Fox went to her balcony and overlooked the gardens which seemed to roll on forever. There was even a hedge labyrinth that seemed to go on forever, like there was no way out, no middle. "How do I get out of here?" she asked over her shoulder, feeling the warmth of the forever noon sun on her skin. "You wake up," Alice said as she came up behind her to overlook the view. "And how do I do that?" Fox asked, knowing the answer would be simple but impossible. "Easy, you close your eyes and imagine yourself awake," a voice said from behind her. Whipping around, Fox let out a scream that would shatter glass. She nearly threw herself off the balcony edge when she saw who was standing in front of her now. "Gods no! I fucking killed you! Why do...you sound like...No!" she began to madly reach for her daggers, only they weren't there. She was unarmed, and in front of her stood a man she'd murdered after he'd destroyed her. Zarek Moesia, the man who took her innocence and then paid the ultimate price. He was well built, tall, with black hair and blue eyes. A devilishly handsome young man, but all the cruelty of the world in his eyes.((Reference)) "You've never killed me Fox," he looked down at himself, "oh jeez, you're scared of a pretty boy? You are pathetic." He threw his head back and laughed, his voice all too familiar now. "Get out of my head, Astaroth. You aren't welcome in here!" she screamed, desperately trying to find something to chuck at him.

"Now you see, it doesn't really work that way love. I can do whatever I please seeing as your mind and Verinnia's are linked. See, in this endless castle of yours, there's a big door. Through that door is Verinnia's mind, which honestly is not as bright and regal, but still quite homey. I miss my little companion Alice and I get awfully lonely, so I figured I'd come out to play," he smirked, the smile all the more disturbing on the face of a man Fox could only imagine in pieces. She'd gutted the bastard and left her entire room a testament to her rage. Seeing him in one piece without even a scar, this scared her worse than she cared to admit. Why was she still so damn scared of this bastard? He'd done something to her and she'd done something even worse back. She got her revenge. So then why was she standing before a phantom of him now, shaking like a leaf. No, this was stupid. She couldn't be scared of Zarek anymore. He was dead. Long gone and dead. And she couldn't allow herself to fear this bastard either. Astaroth was all talk and no action. He lived to torture her, but he'd never once actually hurt her. She smirked to herself. He didn't have the balls to touch her. He couldn't. Smirking even wider, she walked up to him, their eyes meeting. "Oh dear, Astaroth, you think you're so tough. You think you're so strong. Truth is, you're just a lonely little demon who's all talk and no walk. You couldn't hurt me even if you tried, especially now. I'm stronger than you now," she tilted her head to smile in a creepy manner towards him. "So here's a little advice, love. Stay away from me," she'd gotten into his face at this point, their skin almost touching. Astaroth instantly melted into shadow's, his form now swirling around him, something solid in the middle, clouded by rolling shadows.

Before she could even react, Astaroth pulled her into him, her back up against his stomach, his face in the crook of her neck. "Seems someone's not scared of her boogieman anymore," he whispered tauntingly. "Bite me," she hissed as she tried to turn to look at him, but his grip was too tight on her for her to even attempt to move. "Gladly," he whispered, his breath hot on her neck. "I hate you," she mumbled, turning her head away, her neck all the more exposed. He inhaled her for a moment before chuckling, "yes, yes you do." Angry that he'd managed to overpower her, even though she was clearly superior, Fox focused herself and formed a ball of light and used it to push Astaroth off of her. The light sent him flying into the door, which he simply got up and laughed from. "Oh love, now that wasn't very nice," he smirked, the eerie smile shining through the shadows of his form. "Bite me, asshole!" she yelled, sending another ball of light at him. Dodging this one easily, he inclined his head to her. "Good hit, that one really hurt," he laughed as he passed through the door without opening it and disappeared.

"I need to wake up, if I have to deal with him for a second longer I'll go crazy," Fox said as she stormed over to her bed and sat down. Alice came to sit next to her, patting her back, "hey, at least he likes you now." Fox scoffed and shook her head, "yeah, such a good thing." And with that, she closed her eyes hard, focusing on Verinnia, and when she opened them again, Verinnia was sitting in front of her, tears in her eyes. "Oh gods, Fox! You're awake!" Verinnia sighed, wrapping her arms around Fox tightly. "I-I'm fine," she replied, and for the first time in a long time she meant it. No longer was she scared of a past that she'd dealt with the minute it happened. No longer was she afraid of a demon that lived inside of her friend. No longer was she doubting herself. She was strong, she was powerful, and now she was nearly unstoppable. Wrapping her arms around Verinnia, the girls hugged for a few very long minutes before Verinnia helped Fox lay back down. "I'm so sorry," Verinnia whispered, running her fingers through Fox's hair. "Don't worry about it," Fox smiled, the feeling of Verinnia's mothering a welcome change. "Did you and Alice talk at all? Do you know what's going on?" Verinnia asked, looking into Fox's eyes, trying to contain her emotions. Fox laughed shortly before responding, "oh gods, Verinnia. The things I have to tell you." Fox then went on to explain what happened inside her mind, and by the time she was done it was once again dawn. Several minutes after she finished, Arivos entered the one room cabin, his eyes narrowed on Verinnia angrily, but softening when they came upon Fox, a smile even creeping across his lips when he saw she was awake.

Seeing Arivo's angry gaze caused Verinnia to frown as she stood up, "I'll just wait outside for the both of you," She said as she walked towards the door right near Arivos. Arivos was not sure, but he could of sworn he had heard Verinnia whisper to him, "Soon enough, you may never see me again. And perhaps on that day, you will finally be happy..." Said in a very gloomy voice just before she left to the outside. "You know you always have me now, Verinnia." Came Astaroth's voice from within her mind. "Although it is lonely in here, it is home, but I do not like how you feel your future lies. No dying on my watch." Verinnia simply nodded to nothingness as she let herself be consumed by her mind, falling into what was supposed to be her vast darkness of a mind, but now seemed like it had attained some furnishings.

It was no longer an endless void of black, but now seemed like a crypt. The walls were covered in sarcophagus as suits of metal armor decorated each side of the room like a gravestone. In the middle was three massive coffins, one large, and two small. Each had a name above them, Akiko, Banshee Queen, Verinnia. Was her mind showing things to come? Or to things that may be? Astaroth stood in the room at the doorway to his own place as he walked to Verinnia, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I would like to apologize, for everything I had put you all through, and please feel free to belay this message, but I had only been so tough on the lot of you to make sure you increase your power otherwise....you would stand no chance in a showdown against her, the Queen." Astaroth sat upon one of the coffins as he looked into Verinnia's eyes sighing before speaking once more, "By the way, we are not alone in this. You know that. The Elves are joining, the Dwarves and the Humans, but you also have your three companions, and there may be an omnipotent force on your side, or I should say Fox's side now."

"...Who?" Verinnia asked suddenly interested as things began to happen that she had no control or thought over. "She is of the Sun arcana, but also now has Death arcana inside her. Alice is the second highest rank of Death arcana, and if I am not mistaken, her Sun may be the Phoenix who is right up there in power and regeneration, but Alice is stronger.." "Get on with it!" Verinnia said loudly and quickly as she disrupted his speech. "As I was getting to, since Alice is the stronger Arcana, and such high in power, there is one being who looks through her eyes. You see, you never had to worry about this as I am the most prominent in your mind, but now Alice is..... Verinnia...she may end up summoning, or bringing to this realm, Thanatos, or in as most people know him, Death himself."

He took a moment to let that sink in as her eyes widened, "Although as to what he would do, there are only a few options. He never kills on his own, so he would not come for that, but there is a war coming so perhaps he would love to be there when the many souls die. Especially the accursed undead, he'd think." Hearing footsteps outside her mind, Astaroth ushered her out as to deliever all he said to Arivos and Fox.

Arivos watched Verinnia walk out the door, his eyes narrowing slightly until she closed the door. "So... Alice is now a part of you? This just keeps getting better. None of this had to happen, Sephira if you hadn't taken those powers. Now you're forced to protect Verinnia while you slowly lose your life because of it. Atleast you'll never be alone..." Sephira hadn't come out of her mind just yet but she could most likely still hear him as he sat on the edge of the bed. "I guess there's nothing we can do about that now." He'd sigh heavily as he stared at the door. "Though I suppose all I'm about to say, Alice has already known before I did. First off, I know you'll call me selifsh, call me a fool but I can't forgive Verinnia and Alice. Even if you can, I can't not after all they put us through, what they put on your shoulders to keep Verinnia safe. I will her as needed because I am not cruel enough to allow harm to her. I know she means a lot to you Sephira and because of that I will protect her."

He'd take a deep breath after this, his hand shaking slightly which seemed rather uncharacteristic for Arivos. He had always been an elf who had shown a strong will, never had he shown fear or nervousness. Never, that is, until this moment it seemed. "There is something I wanted to get off my chest, something I need to get out of the way." He'd turn his head to look at her, "I care about you, Sephira. More then then friend more then... I can even understand and because of that I swear on my life I will keep you safe. No matter what comes at us, no matter who tries to harm you I will not let them. I will be better, I will protect you with my life. Not because I have to but because I want to, because my heart needs to. My heart beats for it, Sephira, for something an elven duke of the kingdom of man could never have." He looked like he wanted to say more but couldn't find the words. So instead he whispered them, just barely audible, "I love you, Sephira." With that he kissed stood up to kiss her forehead gently before making for the door. His hand taking the door knob but hesitating to leave. Part of him really hoped Sephira was a sleep and heard none of it but he knew better. Even if she didn't hear it, he knew Alice did.

How can she feel the same? You know she's fallen for Verinnia. As close as they have gotten, despite Sephira being so angry with her. How can you do this, now? How can I not? There is no better opportunity to get it out of the way. Even if I am being selfish, she can shoot me down and I can move on. Though, what if she does? Damn it Arivos. You've never worried about this before, never worried about this sort of thing, why her? What makes her so special? Why is she in your mind, why is she always in your dreams? Why does she matter so much to you? How can she not after all we've been through. All we've faced, and now the biggest conflict of the age is about to explode right infront of us. So why now? Why her? She is that special, that one in a million, that everything to me.

That's when he decided to move back to the bed and wait for her to wake up, so they could get this out of the way. There was no better time to talk about this because at the moment there was peace. There was no beast trying to kill them, there was no Akiko at their throats. War was coming and he may never have the chance to tell her again, never have the opportunity to let her know how he felt. In his mind he knew he was going to die, not make it through this war with the undead. The banshee queen wanted him dead for betraying her and the entire undead kingdom. As did Akiko because he made his job all the more infuriating when he refused to turn over Verinnia. In his mind there was no better chance to lay it all on the table. So he waited for her to wake up, sitting at the edge of her bed, his face never being more serious and yet unsure.

Still half awake when Arivos chatted with her, she nodded as if she understood the words coming out of his mouth and allowed him to help her up. But her body was too weak to hold her weight, her legs giving out before they'd made it to the door. Catching her just before she slid to the ground, Arivos scooped her up, cradling her against his chest and walked outside. The words exchanged between Arivos and Verinnia started to make more and more sense as time went by, the sun getting higher in the sky. Arivos and Verinnia made small talk, although most of the time it seemed Verinnia was whispering to herself. When she looked over and realized how wide awake Fox looked now, she spoke towards her. "Astaroth said he's sorry for being a jerk and that he was doing it for our own good," Verinnia said with a half-smile, unsure herself whether it was really that or he just liked to screw with people. "Tell him to shove it," Fox said, her voice raspy. Verinnia seemed to relay the message, a disgusted look coming over her face as she responded, "he said 'I'd rather bite you.' Sorry, his words, not mine," she put her hands up as a show of innocence, which Fox ignored. "Remind me to lock that door in my mind, later, won't you dear?" she said slyly before settling back into Arivos' arm. It was a few more minutes before she realized where they were and where they were going.

"Oh gods! We-we're going straight into the heart of the Undead Kingdom! Are you crazy!? By the gods stop! Stop! Put me down!" she struggled against Arivos, forcing him to put her down. Weakly she stumbled backwards, barely holding herself up. "If you take me in there they'll kill me instantly! The minute we go back home I'm the leader of the human realm! And with the elves on our side I'll be the driving force behind the war against them! They'll slaughter me! Are you two crazy?!" Fox's eyes went wild, as if an animal had been backed into a corner. "Don't worry, they want to kill Arivos and myself just as much. And besides, if you're by my side there's no way they'll risk getting close enough to hurt you, I promise!" Verinnia reassured as she reached for Fox. The same kind of horror lit in her eyes as when she was held hostage by Astaroth just before her eyes darkened and her hair pulsated, changing to blonde. "Sorry about that! She needs a nap anyway! Shall we?" Alice's voice coming from Fox's body seemed to unsettle both Verinnia and Arivos. It was so unnatural to hear a voice so young coming from a body so mature. Shrugging off the weirdness, Verinnia and Alice walked side-by-side, catching up on things and talking in hushed tones, Arivos ahead of them a bit, his bow manifested with three arrows, one fire, one ice, one explosive, knocked and ready to fire at a moments notice.

Once fully inside the Undead Kingdom, the lands seemed to die. The trees, the grass, the hills, the sky, everything was dead. No animals scurried about, no people traveled the road. The only sound came from the howling wind that whipped through the blackened, shriveled trees. The road soon cut away from being stone to merely dirt. The dirt having nearly no tread marks of any travelers. It was up this dirt road a bit that they came to what seemed like a forest of death. The road ahead of them looked to weave around this and that, cut off into several paths, and whipped back around again in several different places. Standing at the entrance to this forest, they all looked on, wondering if maybe they should go through, or find a way around it somehow.

"Well honestly, the forest is only named Forest of Death because of how not a single living creature lives in it although there is an actual amount of vegetation, so let us just head on through. Remember! The forest's name has NOTHING to do with the fact that has the highest suicide rates in the world." Verinnia said cheerfully attempting to take ant tension away from the lot of them. She continued to drag them along the forest causing even Alice to think twice about being here. "You know, I can feel all the souls here, it's quite unsettling that Death has not retrieved them yet. It's not like they are hidden in a magically infused area becoming ghasts."

"Knock on wood, Alice." Verinnia said as she rolled her eyes as it seems like VErinnia felt at home in these woods. "I've played in this forest even when I was alive, apparently. It is what mother said anyhow, and I never ran into any sort of ghost, ghast, giest or even fellow undead. No, I have no idea why." Verinnia had a massive smile on her face as they came to a big clearing in the center of the forest which seemed like it was dug out, and had small wooden forts scattered around it. "Oh yea, she said I came here with friends apparently." She said towards them as she began to show that she feels that anything she was told was a lie, or at least a stretch of the truth. "But you know.... follow me into these wooden forts..maybe we will find something. I'll check this one out, you check the others out."

Verinnia walked over towards a wooden fort which at one point may had been three stories high and attached to a tree, but now was a measly two story high fort, but there seemed to be stairs descending into the earth, to which Verinnia walked down fearlessly as she discovered what looked like many furnishings. Did someone possibly live here at one point? Whatever the reason, there were many paintings laying on the floor around the area, some of people who had similar looks to Verinnia, but she did not seem to notice, but as she found them the others found similar paintings in the others forts, but what were they to say to her? WOuld they mention it?

After finding nothing of value asides from a few bits of treasure that lied about, she left the wooden house/fort as she jogged over to another. Along the way many pieces of wood were found inbetween each fort as if they were all connected at one time. Verinnia heard Arivos and Alice call out to her from another fort and hopped on towards the building they were occupying.

Small movements began to come from the surrounding area that none of them could notice although Alice had a chance to as this undead drew closer, floating at times, walking at other times as he moved over to the first fort Verinnia had entered. He seemed to float like a wraith, but had the body of a normal undead, and as he began to relax his power seemed to be let loose as those around could feel it suddenly while he fell asleep, stopping his control of lowering his power level. Interesting thing though is, the top of the doorway into the building had a name on it, Aaron Skye.

Arivos' eyes had been scanning the area, using his bow as a light source now so he could see better as it was rather dark in this forest and even more eerie then Duskwood had been. Mostly he found nothing more then ruins and broken boards and long since abandoned shelves and of course those painting. That is until he came across a rather strange looking amulet that seemed to have collected no dust nor tarnish. He'd pick it up, carefully so as his usual nature was that of mild paranoia and suspicion. It seemed to be crafted from gold, the chain was rather long and just a simple, thin rope chain. The amulet itself, however, was the real eye catcher. It was a finally detailed cross, something of the kingdom of man perhaps except for the fact the two parts of the cross were crafted as bones. In the center of the cross, however, was an even better crafted emerald skull. It looked so real that it could have been taken from an actual man if the man had been about five inches tall.

"Alice? What do you make of this? Some kind of symbol of an undead religion? I've never heard of them using crosses before." Alice shook her head, staring at the thing in bewilderment. "I've never seen anything like it. Perhaps Verinnia knows what it's from." Arivos nodded to this and carefully placed it into a small satchel on his waist. "We might want to mention these pictures as well. They look... well, Verinnia to an extent. If Verinnia was crafted as a weapon perhaps these are the paintings of the failed version? The ones before Verinnia?" Alice nodded again as she continued to look around, even as she responded to Arivos,"If that's the case just how long has the Banshee Queen been working to perfect, Verinnia." Arivos scoffed as he continued to look around as well, "Still hasn't from what I've seen. If you're going to make a living weapon the first thing you need is it to be obedient and loyal, unable to run away or disobey your orders. Verinnia has a conscience, and actually cares for people. To an extent." Alice blinked a few times as she looked towards Arivos who responded before she could, "No. I still haven't forgiven you two. Nor do I think I'll ever."

Alice looked as if she was going to respond to him but that's about the time the strange ghoul appeared and they had called for Verinnia. Arivos pulled back on the bow string, aiming at the ghoul but not firing yet. It hadn't attack but he wasn't about to let his guard down and run up and greet it with a smile and a hug either. "What the hell is it? I've never seen any undead act as it is."

Alice looked around at the ruined barracks. Never before had she seen things like this. They were so strange and out of place. Filled with meaningless items aside from maybe the amulet and the innumerable paintings that littered the floor. All seeming to bear a close resemblance to Verinnia. Maybe these are Verinnia... Alice thought to herself as she fingered the brush strokes of one of the paintings. It looked so much like Verinnia, but it contained a spark of life, something that wasn't there now. Something that had died the moment she took her last breath. Sighing to herself, she left the barrack and took to the path, coming to meet Verinnia. "Did you see it?" she asked, looking towards the barracks where the wraith like creature had gone in. Verinnia nodded, not sure why it seemed to be getting stronger. Arivos was soon right behind them as they slowly entered the barracks that contained the sleeping creature. Up close, he looked more humanoid than previous, but that was most likely because he was now fast asleep. "What is it?" Verinnia wondered out loud. Alice shrugged, tugging on Verinnia's sleeve. "I don't know, but if it's sleeping I suggest we don't try to wake it, alright?"

"I also suggest letting it sleep," the creature said, it's eyes opening, instantly falling Verinnia. The creatures eyes widened but he didn't sit up or show any emotion beyond this. Their gazes locked for a moment, but when no emotion played across Verinnia's face, the creature sighed and closed it's eyes again. "Come on, Verinnia, let's go," Alice whispered, tugging on her sleeve again, this time pulling her from the decrepit room. Obliging, Verinnia allowed Alice to pull her out into the open again. "Let's get going, we need to head further south before we reach the exit of this forest and are closer to mother," Verinnia confirmed, pointing beyond them into darker parts of the forest. Arivos and Alice nodded and began to head that way until a sound stopped them. "What are you three doing here, anyway? It's dangerous for such young women, even accompanied by an Asho'lanus," the creature asked as it lazily hung in the doorway, eyeing Verinnia in particular.

"Well....Just sight seeing, really." Verinna spoke up before the undead sat up and stood from his recliner. "I was told I used to play here as a child, mother would bring me here." "Mother, eh?" The undead responded before lifting his head and yawning. "Well I can't very well let you go like this.." He said almost menacingly as he turned around to grab something from the cupboard as Arivos and the girls got into a fighting formation, but before they could even think, the undead sat on the floor, glasses in hand with a large bottle of sake. "Come have a drink! Share with me tales of your travels! Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners? Skye, Aaron Skye is the name, and I do believe your name was Verinnia, correct? You have a last name?" He asked with great interest as if he was testing her memory.

"I...I do not remember what it was any longer," SHe said as she sat down, wanting to take him up on this offer. For some reason she felt like she could easily trust this undead, but as she and everyone got a closer look, what seemed to be evil looking wraith was really just his clothes, all ragged and loose while his hood finally hung off his head revealing his face fully. "Wait, are you not one of the seven reavers?" Verinnia asked with fright although her instincts still told her to trust him.

"Never mind about that sweetie, but a shame that you cannot remember your full name," He replied sadly before moving over to Alice. "And you, what is your name?" "Alice." She responded quickly as he responded with, "Well that's your name, but what's your name?" He asked again to her as he smiled with yet another yawn. "Her name is Fox." Alice said as she pointed to her body.

"These old eyes aren't fooled miss arcana, heh heh heh," He chuckled as he took a swig from his now filled glass. "Ah and you, it seems you finally got that power I sensed inside of you long ago, eh Arivos?" He said with another laugh before continuing. "But don;t be shy now everyone, tell me a bit about yourselves and your travels!" Aaron filled all the glasses and passed them around as he took another swig from his own glass while he hiccuped. He seemed to constantly yawn although it was not because he was tired, but becasue he enjoyed sleep and was quite lazy.

Arivos blinked a few times before finally responding, "Aaron? No no, last time I saw you could barely even smile being under her control. How did you get out? You were in shackles, still not even sure how you made it to me that night." Arivos let out the first chuckle he had in the last few days as he sat down with the undead. "Well, that's a bit of a story you see! We'll simply put it up to the last bit of my will power being used that night. As for now, a lot of things have been changing since Verinnia escaped, speaking of which, weren't you supposed to bring her to the banshee queen?" Aaron grinned knowingly as he looked towards Arivos who reached up and rubbed the back of his neck with another light chuckle. "Yeah well, conscience got the better of me and we've been hunted ever since."

Aaron laughed, shaking his head slightly as he downed the contents of his cup. "Yes, by Akiko. There's been some tension there between his mother and that one, last I heard at least." Arivos nodded slightly, "I figured as much, pretty sure he's thinking of over throwing his mother. He's supposed to be bringing in Verinnia but stopped trying, as many times as I've seen the man I've never known him to give up." Verinnia seemed to be giving Arivos a rather strange stare, confused as to what he meant. "I was supposed to bring you in, Verinnia. I worked for the undead for almost seven years until the night I decided not to bring you in. There, now you know. Alice and Sephira already knew, they found out without my telling them. I don't anymore, however, not my line of work, never was." He'd look back to Aaron as he pulled out that wooden pipe he smoked the day they first went into the elven kingdom, filling it with herbs and then lighting it again. He'd take two puffs before blowing out a perfect smoke circle.

"Oh! While we're here, Aaron. Do you know what this is?" Arivos held up the amulet for Aaron to see, Verinnia as well.

Aaron plucked the amulet from Arivos' fingers before he could even react. Eyeing it suspiciously, he tapped the center a few times before tossing it back. "Nope, no clue," he smirked before taking another swig from his glass. Arivos stared at him, an eyebrow raised, "you're lying." Putting his cup down in front of him, Aaron wiped his mouth on his sleeve, "you're damn right. But as far as your concerned I know nothing and the thing is useless." He ended the talk there. The tone in his voice warned them not to egg him on any further about the issue. They drank in silence for a moment before Alice spit the sake from her mouth. She began mumbling to herself before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell over. Startled, Verinnia leapt to her feet to aid Alice, only to find a very angry Fox now staring back at her. The ice in her eyes had returned and the fire in her hair now recapturing it's place.

"Where the hell are we?" she asked, rubbing her head as she ignored Verinnia's aid in sitting up. "You're in the Forest of Death. We haven't been introduced. I'm Aaron Skye and you're Fox," he lifted his glass to her before gulping down the rest of his sake. Verinnia sat down again, closer to Fox than she had been earlier, and looked at her cautiously, her eyes flickering to Aaron occasionally. "So what are you doing here?" Verinnia asked suddenly, curious as to why one of the reaver's would be in the forest, nonetheless an abandoned shack like this. "I live here, ain't that obvious?" he asked, spreading his arms so they could take in the room. This particular one had the most paintings of Verinnia, most even still on the walls. There were scattered clothes and the recliner but otherwise the place was barren. "No," Verinnia responded curtly before taking a sip from her sake. He smiled at her tone before pouring himself another glass.

"So where is it you're headed now? Someone who's wanted so badly by the undead just walking into their territory. Must be pretty important," he asked, leaning back on his free hand. Verinnia shrugged casually as she placed her cup down, "we're paying a visit to mother dearest." Her voice had deepened when the words left her mouth, her eyes flashing red for a moment before she seemed to return to normal.

"I see..." Aaron said as he gave a small hiccup. "Well, you certainly cannot go barging in like maniacs although if Verinnia did that alone it probably wouldn;t do anything, but cause Akiko to face palm pretty good." He chuckled at the idea of Verinnia going in swinging while he thought of past outrages. The hint in his tone seemed strong enough to suggest something as Fox looked towards Verinnia. "What? So I attempted to fly off the handle once before, it never got me anywhere." "Exactly," Aaron said as he finished off what seemed to be his last glass. "No one would notice if you go in by yourself, but with these two....you may be attacked on site. If you were to ask me, I'd say go through the sewers underneath the city....but it's all your choice after all as I know you are not here for a simple visit, and no I am not going to stop you as I have some cleaning to do round here," He said as he began moving some paintings away attempting to neaten the place up while hiding said paintings. "I've only just began cleaning. Recall that I said I live here? More like I 'lived' here, quite literally. You know, us undead don't forget out previous lives all the time, in fact a good percentage remembers unless the Queen has anything to do with it." He spoke to them in a teacher like tone as he continued about the undead. "We are weak to any holy symbol which is blessed to rot our bodies, not because they are holy, silver does not effect us as they do were monsters, and some of us are powerful enough to regenerate such as the Queen or Akiko." All this he had spoken as he continued cleaning up his home while seemingly hiding anything that could be related to Verinnia, and if anyone raised an eyebrow towards his actions of whenever he obviously hid something, he would give them a look as if saying, 'Just shut up."

"There now, that looks better." He said as he began to remove his robes to hang on the now cleared coat rack on the wall. As the robe was removed one could see his eyes clearly, blue in color while his hair was pure blond and tied in a ponytail with the length down to his shoulders. He laid back onto the floor towards them once more as he yawned before grabbing just one more dip into the sake. "Now, why don;t you tell me what you think you three will be doing, or better yet, just you two. " He said as he motioned towards Fox and Arivos while Verinnia pouted when he ignored her.

Arivos shrugs slightly, "I don't think we've gotten just that far. Sewers could work but the moment the Banshee Queen sees any of us she'll call out to her entire city. A quick hit and run could work if we knew any real weakness of the Banshee Queen. I'm still rather certain Akiko won't be here, as I said earlier I'm pretty sure he's making his own preparations for whatever he's planning. Though..." He'd look to Sephira for a moment before looking back to Aaron, "Her and I are rather skilled at not being seen when we don't want to be. I'm fairly certain her and I could sneak in? Perhaps leave Verinnia here with you."

All three of them stared at Arivos as he suggested this, "Now now, I know what you're thinking but she'd be safe here. The best place to hide is in plain city, or in enemy territory. They'd not think of looking for her here. Though even if we do that we still don't know how to take care of the Banshee Queen. Though... Sephira can channel holy energy and I might beable to conjure up holy arrows. Though..." He'd look to Sephira again, "She'd lose enough more time on her life if she does anything. Maybe I should go alone instead. One person could sneak it silent enough and Sephira could watch over Verinnia." He'd look between them, eyes shifted to each face. "This is your call, Sephira, Verinnia... this is just my suggestion. They will know your face and they will see through any spells you try, you can't hide your appearance, not from them and considering Aaron is out here and no longer under the Banshee Queen's control he can watch over you, as can Sephira."

"Though, there is something I don't understand, Aaron. What is with the pictures? They all look like Verinnia, are they former test subjects? Former attempts at creating what Verinnia has become?" Arivos' eyes focused on Aaron, the look he had was not one that would take any excuses or lies, not this time. "Tell me, Aaron because I know you know."

Fox looked over at Arivos angrily before pulling out one of her daggers and stabbing him in the thigh. He cried out as she ripped the dagger out and placed it back under her dress, falling onto his side as he gripped his leg. "What the hell was that for?" he demanded as he applied pressure to his wound. "Now who's going alone? Now who's gonna sneak? I wasn't dragged into this god forsaken kingdom to sit in some rinky dink shack and wait for you to die and the Banshee Queen to send her dogs to rip my limbs off. Besides, Verinnia's the only one who has any actual shot of beating the bitch. Stop pretending to be macho and just lay there and be quiet," she patted his thigh hard before returning to look at Aaron, an amused look in his eyes. "You're rather violent for such a young woman," he remarked as he tipped his cup back, hoping even a little sake remained. Pouring the remainder of her sake into Aaron's cup, she sat back on her hands and sighed, "I'm the future queen of the human realm. It's pretty much in my job title to be violent."

Aaron eyed her for a moment before sipping on her offering, "so that really makes you Sephira. Interesting." Arivos laid uncomfortably on his side for a while before Verinnia decided to tend to his wound. "That wasn't very nice, Fox," Verinnia chastised as she cleaned and bandaged Arivos. Shrugging, Fox turned away, avoiding their gazes, "I've learned recently that being nice gets you nowhere." Verinnia came to sit back by Fox, sitting so close they were nearly occupying the same space. Neither girl seemed to mind or notice, only seemed content in the contact. Aaron raised his eyebrow at this, but turned his attention back to Arivos. "These paintings belong to me, that's really all there is to them. Yes, they are of Verinnia. I get bored quite often in my line of work and took to painting each of her appearances after each experiment because each one seemed to change something or other. And seeing as I had nothing else really important to do, I figured I'd paint the process," Aaron said as nonchalant as possible before downing the rest of his sake. Arivos had sat up now, his leg out in front of him as he mumbled angrily under his breath. "You know Sephira, a simple 'no' would have sufficed. And now thanks to you I probably can't move for a while," Arivos said angrily, turning to look at her.

Fox's head turned slowly, her eyes glowing an eerie red as a smile crept across her lips, "oh but Arivos, what would have been the fun in that?" Her voice was no longer her own. It was new, foreign, and almost demonic in nature. Verinnia pulled on Fox's arm, causing her to turn and look into Verinnia's eyes. "Fox?" she whispered, hoping to the gods that she was just in a mood. Her lips parted from her creepy smile, revealing her teeth, which had elongated and sharpened. "Yes, sweetie?" she asked eerily, her appearance completely returning to normal and a dazed look coming over her face. Shaking her head, she turned away again and looked to Aaron. "So what is it that you do, as a reaver?"

"Well, our job is to lay waste to whatever the Queen wills us to although I sometimes forget to listen to orders..." Aaron said as he pointed towards Verinnia while yawning. "Oh, and we can consume souls and become exponentially powerful, or so the Queen believes, but that is not entirely true. Yes we can devour souls, but it does not make us stronger, but merely makes us more mortal, so we may lay in two dimensions at once, giving us the illusion of greater strength." He stood up once more, it seems he was beginning to act slightly nervous the longer they stayed in the same space. "Although....Verinnia here already lies in two dimensions, thanks to Astaroth, but then again....perhaps us reavers actually lie in three dimensions...thanks to our Death Arcana....., what do you think, Alice?" He asked suddenly while looking towards Fox although obviously talking into her.

"Well," Alice's voice came without using Fox's mouth this go around, "By all technicalities...the reavers then do exist in three dimensions, but...what of Akiko?" She asked in both fright and interest.

"He's just in two dimensions, why-" He began to as before Verinnia kicked in. "He's been collecting the princes of hell...he just needs Satan to complete his quad of demons. He seems so much more powerful than before...,but I feel like...he's weaker still..." The knowledge of Akiko seemed to take Aaron aback as he thought on the subject for a moment. "Well...he would still lie in the second dimension, and as to why he may seem weaker would be, because that he cannot control all of them by himself, but if he needed to he should be able to. It does not make sense if he was holding back his power...unless... Arivos, Fox, how did he act towards the both of you?" He asked as he held a finger up to silence Verinnia who was being ignored once more.