[Nexus] The Black Dragon's Den IX

[Artemis97]

"Zee!" Raril cries out in surprise, overjoyed to see his wife again. The wings were new, but that was alright. The dead half was... strange, but the gods knew Raril didn't care.

Almost immediately, the drow reaches to pull her down from the bartop and into his arms. Raril was crying now, too. He didn't care. He had his wife back. Nothing else mattered.

[Rebonack]

She feels at once hot and vibrant and alive-

-and room temperate and stiff-

-and the cloying chill of the grave.

It's very strange for her. No doubt very strange for Raril, too.

Given Zee's talents modifying this puppet to be more to her liking shouldn't be that hard. If only to make this less awkward for Raril. But there's a time and place for that and they are neither here nor now.

Raril throws his arms around her mid-ramble and the talking stops immediately. Movement stops. Breathing stops. Her whole world stops. Slowly, ever so slowly, she reaches to place her good arm around Raril and pulls him tight as tears well up in her good eye.

"I'm sorry I took so long..."

[Artemis97]

"No, don't be." Raril tells her. "It's not your fault. Someone hurt you. This is their fault. You did everything you could... I'm sorry I couldn't have been more help."

[Rebonack]

"I still have no idea who blew me up," Zee laughs somewhat lamely as she shoves a bit of hair out of her eye. "Honestly can't figure out who it could have been. All the people who hate me are either too flashy to do something like this in secret or don't have the resources."

She wrinkles her nose a bit in irritation. "If it had been about an hour earlier I wouldn't have been able to point the way to the last few crypts of the Old Ones and the Nexus would have been doomed..."

Dooooooomed!

"But... I guess it worked out alright," she frowns at herself. "All things considered..."

And then more hugging!

And then dawn!

AND THEN FWOOSH!

"EEP!"

Zee is consumed in a pyre of heatless flames and is utterly incinerated!

All that's left is a little glowing golden egg!

[Artemis97]

Raril yelps in alarm, but quickly realizes he's not on fire. Next he realizes his wife wasn't in his arms anymore. Instead he was holding a small golden egg. He's confused for a moment but then it clicks. "Phoenix. Right. She's part phoenix now." The drow steps out from behind the bar and heads to his office. There he builds a sort of makeshift nest on the couch in there. "Sleep well, my love." He whispers.

[Rebonack]

Not exactly part phoenix.

A bit closer to 'the phoenix was derived from her puppet'.

But 'part phoenix' works too.

The egg will sit there for roughly an hour or so as the sun rises higher into the sky. No doubt if Zee were conscious at the moment she would thank Raril for making this adorable little nest out of pillows for her. But she isn't and so we'll just have to wait unti-

*FWOOOOSH!*

Rise from the ashes!

Zee's back!

And she doesn't look undead in the least! Two glorious wings of purple and crimson, skin quite akin to flame in appearance. A small crest of peafowl-like feathers are sticking out of her hair atop her head. Along with that handkerchief she still hasn't bothered to remove.

"Ah... haha! That's going to take some getting use to!" she laughs whilst flicking the kerchief onto the couch. "Hopefully this whole 'daily reborn' thing doesn't incinerate clothing. Or it'll get expensive in a hurry."

Alive and undead both... Thankfully alive right now.

[Artemis97]

Raril grins at her. "I may have a solution for that." He fetches his fur coat from a peg on the wall and offers it to Zee. "It's fireproof, mostly. I'm sure we can enchant something else for you, later."

[Rebonack]

"Ah! This should do!" Zee replies with a nod as she tucks her wings tight and pulls the coat around herself. Though... undergarments of some kind might be a good idea too. The thing is somewhat breezy.

"Didn't you get this on that adventure in the volcano you told me about?" Zee asks as she begins pacing around the room, just touching and seeing and smelling things. On every circuit she'll stop at Raril to hug him again. Far too long since they had been close and she's probably not going to grow tired of contact for a loooong time.

"Tell me about it again!"

She just wants to be able to hear Raril's voice. To hear him speaking to her. Far far too long...

And all the while? In the back of her mind? Trying to come up with a plan to get one of her own Starspawn as a puppet rather than her sibling's. Because she knows that would please Raril. And right now there's nothing she would like better than to please Raril.

[Artemis97]

Raril can't take his eyes off of her as she circles the room, and is reluctant to let her go whenever they embrace. He felt like he was half in a dream. He couldn't believe she was back.

Chuckling, the bard had to oblige and quickly launched into the story about how he'd gotten the fur coat: by slaying a Naemian Lion. Things may have been a bit embellished from the truth, but that was just part of storytelling. He ends with telling Zee how he'd used the remaining scraps of fur to make stuffed lions for Lillith's twins. He was almost certain Victoria still had hers.

[Rebonack]

There's a good chance she's trying to get use to the feeling of moving around in gravity again. It has been some time since she's done that. And given the way time works out in the Far...

Well.

Let's just say that a few months is at once much longer and much shorter than what she experienced.

She'll laugh and make her usual silly commentary on the story as it's told. The content of the story honestly doesn't matter much to her. Just hearing Raril speak to her again is more than enough for her.

After the story is done she plops down on the couch and looks thoughtful!

Before grinning a wide and silly grin!

"I think I know how we can get one of my own Starspawn rather than this loaned body," she says. "But we're going to need some help. Someone who knows how to summon things from beyond the Veil. Because... heh... the rules say I'm not allowed to tell people how to summon me. Or do it myself. That's cheating."

She wrinkles her nose a bit.

"If I cheated that would just encourage everyone else to do it. And that would be terrible."

[Artemis97]

"Hmm... I remember that group of cultists who seemed to like you a lot." As excentric as they were, Raril never thought of them as particularly dangerous. They would probably have the knowledge they need, and would surely be willing to help.

[Rebonack]

"Correction," Zee replies, holding up one finger as she leans back to stare at the ceiling. "Group of cultists that really like the Aspect of Ragnnora that was used to create me."

So they like part of her?

Well, that's okay! She would just have to explain-

"They don't like me though. Since mother doesn't like me. It's... really complicated. There aren't that many people devoted to The Warden of the Veil, though. And those that are would probably destroy this body if I showed up in it."

A beat.

And then one of those silly, musical laughs of hers. "I put you through way to much weirdness, dear. You always seem to pick the strange ones. Half-dragons and were-lions and things with more dimensions than the universe is comfortable displaying at once."

[Artemis97]

"It's my lot in life, I guess." Raril smiles weakly and shrugs. "Alright, so not them. Do you think Lillith might be able to do it?"

[Rebonack]

Zee makes a bit of a face at the mention of Lillith.

Last time she saw the fiend she seemed a little... unstable. Getting her involved with Eldritch magic doesn't seem like a very good addition to the mix.

"Ah... well... She could probably learn. But I honestly wouldn't encourage anyone to get involved with sources of Eldritch power if they can avoid it. It would be best to find someone who already has experience, but isn't devoted to any particular member of my family."

Y'know.

Just to try to avoid complications as much as possible.

"See... I can't use any of our offspring as a puppet. Even if I could I wouldn't want to because that would destroy their personality," which would be terrible. "But I can make an actual clone-fragment thingy out in the Far and have someone summon it here to the material world."

She wrinkles her nose a bit. "The only downside is that they would be able to banish it again..."

[Artemis97]

Raril could think of a few easy solutions to that particular problem. Well, okay, just one. Murder.

"So we find someone we can know won't do that." Or someone suffciently intimidateable, or just weak willed would work well enough for the bard.

[Rebonack]

...Zee probably wouldn't approve of murdering someone who went out of their way to help her.

She's weird like that.

"There are a few people that might be willing to help out. I just recently closed a breach that the Lord of Dead Knowledge was going to use to come slithering into the MagCave recently."

Which would have been terrible.

"So I guess Magtok sort of owes me? I had been keeping an eye on one of his clones for a while now. He... uuh... well. He delved into realms of knowledge that aren't meant for mortal minds. If you know what I mean."

Gotta be careful what you read.

"The clone is a tad bit on the unstable side of things. But with the right prodding we might be able to get him to perform the ritual."

[Artemis97]

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Raril had stared into the abyss before, and it stared back. Quite maddening, really. "Magtok, though? I think we can trust him." If not, well, there were always more clones.

[Rebonack]

Zee giggles a bit before flashing her trademark ridiculous grin at her husband. "Thankfully the most powerful defense against things that are alien and hyper-natural is familiarity!"

She'll scoot toward Raril to put an arm around him.

"Not so mind-bending when you're around them all the time!"

Though it was really tough at first.

Watching Raril boggle at her was... kind of sad.

He still does! Sort of.

Though not nearly as bad as it was at first.

"For all his bluff and bluster Magtok isn't a terrible person. Ever since he's had to start playing the hero here in the Nexus I think he's really gotten a good feel for what really matters," she nods a few times in agreement wither herself. "We can trust him. And if not we can always try to find someone else."

A beat.

"Eerr... And I think it's worth saying that I can't recover from 'death' with these puppet bodies. If one dies I've got to get another. So... uuhh... you're going to need to remind me not to get too carried away with self-destructive heroy stuff."

[Artemis97]

"Not a problem!" Raril assures her. "Just... promise you'll listen to me, this time?"

[Rebonack]

"Right! Listening. That's a thing I can do," Zee replies, pounding one fist into her open hand in a determined and certain fashion!

The chances of Zee actually listening are honestly quite slim.

But she can try!

We'll see how it works out.

"Eerr... sorry I missed our last anniversary. Being dead made it really hard to attend," she comments out of the blue. "But I tried to make up for it by watching you really closely the whole day!"

A beat.

"Well... I watched you really closely most days. Being able to see you but unable to speak with you was terrible."

[Shadowcaller]

"Agreed." Yusa nodded towards Harnel. "Your risk is higher up front. But when we get out of this, your soul will be yours again, and you'll still have the same amount of power over yours truly. And you shall have your proof." She turned her attention towards Cessie. "I'd love to take your word for it that he's a decent person. Honestly, is it too much to ask for some sort of promise that it won't be used against me maliciously once this mission is over?"

"As far as I'm concerned, this is still an if I get back out. As it is, you weren't even able to get Zam out on your own, so there's no way you can even guarantee my safety. As it is, you're not getting any real assurances about your name either way, due to the structure of the deal and are just appearing ungrateful. Your name is your collateral, not the other way around." Harnel says with a scowl.

"So you can either take what we've offered for help or leave it, but I'm not going to play this game with you."

"Maybe we could discuss the exact terms of the usage of your name after we escaped this hell of yours Yusa. Can you both promise that you will at least will discuss it? Neither of us know what will change once we get down there after all so it might be too early to make any promises. Any promises should be made after we get out, which means you have to listen to Yusa, Harnel." She says, looking between the two.

[kitcatk8]

Well, that certainly did nothing to reassure her. What good would it be to hand herself over on a collar and leash to someone as unpleasant as Harnel even if Zam was free?

Well...then at least he'd be free.

Though...would Zam want this for her? Would he be grateful she'd done it in the face of such animosity or would he be outraged for the price she'd paid?

Knowing her half-dragon, it wasn't difficult for Yusa to imagine his amethyst eyes flashing with malice when he'd learned what she'd done.

Yusa scowled to match Harnel's and leaned over the table at him, snarling. "If you think I'm playing a game with you, clearly you haven't been paying attention." The demoness stood up. "I think, Cessie, that him listening to me is an unrealistic expectation. I won't waste any more of your time."

[Reinholdt]

"I have been paying attention." Harnel says, leaning right on in to get face to face with Yusa.

"So let's make things very clear. I'm willing to listen and I don't and never have given a flying flip about your name. But I'm the one who has to risk everything I am up front to try and help fix your mistake. So if you want to make me out to be the bad guy because of it, go. Leave. The door is right there." Harnel says, motioning his claw at it.

[Shadowcaller]

Cessie frowns, these two simple couldn't get along.

She turns to the demoness, "Yusa, I might not know much about your kin, but this situation reminds me of a god I know of who loved making deals and this situation reminds me of him. You are to a degree bound by these deals aren't you?" The dragon mage asks.

[Gullara]

The door swings open; Entering is a young man, probably not even twenty yet. He's fairly tall and skinny. His hair is short, straight, and dark brown. Oh, and he's a vampire. Pale skin, red eyes, fangs.

Valente moves over to the bar and slumps into a seat. He seems rather distant as he waves down a goblin for some Ichor Liquor.

[Lord Magtok]

"The kid's next two are on me. The price, I mean. Not the blood, I'm keeping my blood inside me. Oh, and I'll have a Devil Brew."

Oh hey, is that Magtok? Since when did he get here? Hell, since when did he even acknowledge that Valente exists? The vamp's never really done much to warrant our dastardly cyborg's attention before...has he? I mean, there's no way sleeping with Ilpholin counts, plenty of people do that and Magtok's never bought drinks for any of those unlucky bastard.

"Hey. How're things? Not too well, I'm guessing?"

[Gullara]

Valente snaps back into reality and looks at Magtok. He's surprised to see the cyborg here, let alone talking to him. "I don't really know. I suppose not, not that I really know why." His brow furrows a little. "And thanks. For the drinks."

[Lord Magtok]

"Trouble with Ms. Arachnida Horriblis and her fickle, unpredictable nature?"

Magtok gives the vampire a look of pity, almost certain that flew right by the poor fool's head, and then adds "Ilpholin, I mean," to clarify.

[Gullara]

"Don't talk about her like that." Valente says, instantly on the defensive. "Nothing's wrong with Ilpholin." Something about the way he says that makes it sound like he's trying to convince himself as much as Maggy.

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok rolls his eyes.

"Relax, me and Ilph are cool. If anything, she'd probably see it as a sort of quasi-backhanded compliment or something."

Magtok takes a moment to sip at his drink, before forging right on.

"Oh, and I never actually explicitly said there was anything wrong with her. I was just asking if there'd been trouble. Totally different. Whatever the issue is, I think it's something part of you doesn't want to admit to, and for a very good reason."

Magtok points a finger at the vampire, and tries to poke Valente right in the gut with it.

"Bury that reason. Bury your doubts, misgivings, uncertainties, all of it. There's been a lot of change lately, and there's probably going to be a lot more in the near future, too. Anyone caught floundering around all perplexed about it is just going to get in the way, and might even be trampled underfoot by the giant metaphorical steamroller that is change. She's under a whole new sort of stress, and stress just weirds people into things they're usually not, y'know? Best just to wait and see how things go. If she's still got a place for you that you're comfortable occupying, great. If not, at least you held out long enough to be sure, right?"

Magtok is, of course, definitely not trying to help Valente because he's wonderful and generous with advice like that. In fact, he's very much aware that his advice is probably the worst thing someone could tell the guy, but it doesn't bother our Maggy to say such things even a little, not the slightest bit. A vampire, even one as stupid as Valente, is a potent weapon when utilized correctly. Plus, this one doesn't seem to be quite as likely to snub authority and get murdered by Remnant like AMEN's other vampires usually do. He's got all the bloodsucking power of Rot (okay, maybe more like a fourth of the bloodsucking power of Rot), without being a huge liability most of the time! It'd just be a terrible shame to throw away a good soldier like that away just because Ilpholin hasn't been curtaining the smelly corpse as much as he'd like, wouldn't it?