Dancing Fox In XII: Dance If You Want To

[Morty]

"Easy for someone like you to say," Adir says, sounding a little frustrated. He watches his beer sweat once it's put down, a dark and earthy brew. "You never needed the blood to fight the kinds of things VIGIL has to fight. We both know that. Goddammit, Wendy, I can lift six tons of steel and glass and I'm still not sure I could take you."

"I'll take a handout if it means I don't have to be weak any more. Now I don't have to hide behind any body, or hope Cessie or some magic hoo-ha comes to my rescue. You can say I'm hiding behind the Empress, if you want, but she's just a means."

Wenomir is silent and doesn't seem to have an answer to this. He takes a drink of his beer.

"Point taken. You did what you had to do. I remember what it was like not to match up. I just took a different path. But I'm not supposed to denigrate the paths of others anymore."

[Murkus]

"Yeah? How come?" Adir laughs. "Look, it's no big deal. And it's not like it's solved all my problems either." Not by a long shot, no.

The stag twists off his cap and takes a fast pull from the too-small bottle. "So how have you been, anyway?"

[Morty]

"I've sought enlightenment," Wenomir says. "The Answer to the Riddle of Steel. I found it. And when I did, I realized there's no one answer. I've got mine and I carry it. But others have theirs." He shrugs. "As for how I've been... well, ups and downs. Vigil is finally in a state where I don't need to worry about it all the time, but it leaves me with more time for... well, personal worries."

[Mee]

Devero first takes another sip of his ale in agreement with Cherie's words before an odd look begins to consume his face from Naku and Mist's conversation.

"Cats tend to have good hearing so I guess they'd be beneficial," he assumes despite the appearance of someone with cat ears being slightly odd.

With Devero's transformation abilities came his power to shift his face in order to mask his emotions, or identity. He easily notices Naku's behaviour which he finds slightly odd, and somewhat alarming, but he remains calm and this time downs a chug of his ale.

"You alright, Naku?" he asks casually while noticing a drop of his blood on his arm that escaped his sight while he was in the restroom which he licks off.

Well, as it's been a few days, I'ma just go ahead.


Naku sighs slightly, and downs the last of her drink, before sliding the empty glass back across to Mist. "So he finally found me. I'm probably going to need something actually alcoholic here in a bit." She warns Mist, before turning her chair around, and facing the door.

"I'm fine." She answers Devero, before sighing and shaking her head. "For probably another minute.
Whatever you do; don't believe anything he says."

Over the course of Naku talking, and the next near full minute, something can start to be felt; probably whatever Naku noticed. It's one of those things that's just kind of typical in the Nexus; an aura powerful enough that it can be felt from a ways off. This one, though, just feels . . . dark. Like if darkness had a flavor; a smell; a tangible brush against the skin; and a taste. Almost sweet, but in a cloying, almost unpleasant way. This feeling grows fairly quickly, presumably as its owner closes in.

Naku just sits, smile gone, and eyes hard as she stares at the door.
Much as she said, once the minute was up, the door opened. On the outside of the door was the same man that had come by a while ago and asked Mist questions about Naku. He's still around 7 feet tall, and almost painfully stereotypically Vampire. Raven black hair, very pale skin, red eyes, holds himself with a poise and dignity befitting legends, but is dressed in a very nice, very modern sort of business suit.
He steps into the inn, his footfalls silent as he nearly drifts lazily through the air.
"Saki~"
Naku's teeth grit slightly.
"You are a difficult girl to find! Have you been avoiding me?" He asks, tone and expression both hurt.
". . . you murdered 13 million people."
"For you though~"
"Why are you here?"
"To see you! Can't a father see his daughter now and again?"
"No. No you cannot. Dad. Go away."

[Devixer]

Cherie smiles and shakes her head as she feels the most tangible darkness this side of the Void approach the quaint little Inn. No rest for the weary, she supposed.

She places her still partially full wineglass back on the counter and turned on her stool, to watch this extremely undead vampire speak with Naku. It isn't until Naku tells him to go away that Cherie makes her presence known, with a light cough.

"You heard the good lady, sir. Be on your way."

[Deathkeeper]

Mist shrugs, and saunters over, putting himself in front of Naku.

"Sir, you're upsetting my guests. Also, this place counts as holy ground if I want it to. So kindly do me the service of leaving so I don't have to throw you out myself." he says, holding out a hand in an innocent gesture that just happens to involve raising a finger with a ring given to him by a goddess in love. A more powerful symbol he couldn't ask for.

[Murkus]

"I've sought enlightenment," Wenomir says. "The Answer to the Riddle of Steel. I found it. And when I did, I realized there's no one answer. I've got mine and I carry it. But others have theirs." He shrugs. "As for how I've been... well, ups and downs. Vigil is finally in a state where I don't need to worry about it all the time, but it leaves me with more time for... well, personal worries."

"So... what's the answer?" Adir only has a faint understanding of what the Riddle is, but he's sure Wenomir's answer is as good as any. "Personally I would be glad not to have to babysit any more. But it doesn't sound like you're too happy."

[Morty]

"I can tell you what my answer is," Wenomir says. "My answer was not bowing down to what others told me to do. They said I was a peasant and I should know my place, but I refused. They said I was a fool for trusting in my sword, but I did. They told me to deck myself out in technology or magic, but I didn't. And here I am. Still standing. A seeker of the Riddle has to find their own road less travelled. It's theirs, but it has to be difficult." He takes a drink. "As for not babysitting, well, it leaves me with time for introspection, which is bad for me right now."

[Mee]

Cherie smiles and shakes her head as she feels the most tangible darkness this side of the Void approach the quaint little Inn. No rest for the weary, she supposed.

She places her still partially full wineglass back on the counter and turned on her stool, to watch this extremely undead vampire speak with Naku. It isn't until Naku tells him to go away that Cherie makes her presence known, with a light cough.

"You heard the good lady, sir. Be on your way."

Mist shrugs, and saunters over, putting himself in front of Naku.

"Sir, you're upsetting my guests. Also, this place counts as holy ground if I want it to. So kindly do me the service of leaving so I don't have to throw you out myself." he says, holding out a hand in an innocent gesture that just happens to involve raising a finger with a ring given to him by a goddess in love. A more powerful symbol he couldn't ask for.

The vampire just shakes his head, sighs once, and says "Fine." Before vanishing; never to be seen again.

[Murkus]

"I can tell you what my answer is," Wenomir says. "My answer was not bowing down to what others told me to do. They said I was a peasant and I should know my place, but I refused. They said I was a fool for trusting in my sword, but I did. They told me to deck myself out in technology or magic, but I didn't. And here I am. Still standing. A seeker of the Riddle has to find their own road less travelled. It's theirs, but it has to be difficult." He takes a drink. "As for not babysitting, well, it leaves me with time for introspection, which is bad for me right now."

"Damn, that went from empowered back to depressed so fast, man," Adir scratches at some stubble on his jawline. Even that hair has a whitish tinge. "If you wanna tell me about it, you can. I guess... I can kinda guess what it's about. Or we can just drink." He smirks. "Though no promises I won't bitch to you about stuff. Gods, things haven't been fun lately."

[Morty]

"I feel like I've complained to people a lot lately," Wenomir says. "So how about you start and I provide either support or sympathetic outrage?"

[Murkus]

"Okay," Adir agrees, swallowing another mouthful of beer and then leaning his head back to think. He stares up at the ceiling for a moment. "Um."

"It was a little while before I went to see the Empress. You remember us talking about the... kami... thing. This spirit inhabiting Sakura. Now, I actually got to talk to the kami a little bit, thanks to a medium we got in touch with," Adir says, sounding tense. "The thing was crazy. It was practically in love with me, and the kids. It thought it was Sakura. I haven't been that freaked out in a long time, man."

"We figure out that it's been... nudging Sakura to do things. Making her lean toward having more kids. It might have even planted the idea in the first place," Adir looks a little sick as he looks down at the bar, eyes a little too wide. "And it's been nudging me, through her. Which means... God... I haven't said this out loud to anybody. It's so much less... hard... in my head..." The stag rubs his hand hard over his eyes, his nose, rubbing at his mouth. "It means this thing was making us have sex. Or pushing us to it. Maybe since right after Laela. Maybe since before? Hell, I don't know."

"Now as gross as that sounds, as weird as it should have been, we try to go on like normal. Because thinking about it makes things tough. And supposedly the kami is a part of what makes the woman I love the way she is, like that makes it better," Adir rolls his jaw. "But then a couple of weeks ago... Sakura comes out of the woods with this gonzo story about a strange magic woman she met. And she says that she fixed it. That there is no more kami, that it's like a real part of her now. They're one... thing."

"So I lost it. I wasn't okay with it, and I told her so, and I told her she should have talked to me..." Adir looks at Wenomir. "Y'know, I still don't even know if this was something else the kami pushed her to do? Isn't that crazy?"

"I end up making her cry, and after Sakura goes to talk with Cessie, we meet up again. Then..." The stag shakes his head. "****, I guess it was weak, or it was something, but I tried to forgive her. At least a little. We talked to Ambrosia, got the whole thing confirmed, that something had actually squished Sakura and the inhabiting spirit together. Like a ball of dough. There was some stupid stuff after that... I had a fight with Cessie, and I was a real ass about it. I just wanted to get away from that whole day, the whole situation."

"Now the more and more I think about it, the angrier it makes me. I'm so pissed off, all the time, and I think people might start to notice. I have all these crappy thoughts, like 'is she my wife', and 'who is she'. Would we have the kids if it weren't for the spirit? Did I get pulled in? Am I in love with Sakura, or this thing? I-I..." Adir looks a little dewy eyed. He hadn't expected to get so wordy about this, or so upset. "She still acts like Sakura. She is. But she isn't. Otherwise the whole thing with the Kami wouldn't have a point. And I remember this beautiful, crazy, magical girl I met when I was a kid... and I think what she'd be like if it weren't for the kami, and if it weren't for that woman in the woods..."

Adir slams his fist on the bar, hard enough to deform the wood. "Gods, it just makes me wanna kill somebody!" Adir says, utterly without drama, the utterance positively glacial with fury. "Sorry. I'm sorry. This turned into so much more than I wanted it to. You shouldn't have to listen to this."

[Morty]

Wenomir sets his beer down on the counter, processing Adir's long recount. He blinks, and the scars of his face shift slightly. His friend's anger seems to infect him.

"That's... what? I can't believe this. Didn't this spirit possess Sakura pretty recently, though? Like, once you already had three kids? Wasn't there some magic involved? I don't remember." He shakes his head. "But either way, the parasite should have been removed, not... bound up with Sakura even more. Who the hell does that without asking for permission? Probably some god, or other. Those creeps think they can get away with anything."

[Murkus]

"We think it was before, but it's not like we have a timeline," Adir says, looking at his beer and turning it slowly between his hands. "I wanted to remove it. But was willing to look into alternatives. It's just..." The stag clarifies, "Whoever this magical creep was, she got permission. Sakura gave it to her. Sakura wanted this, and... didn't care enough to ask me."

[Morty]

Wenomir doesn't know what to say to that, at first.

"That's... why? Why would she do that? That spirit brought you nothing but trouble."

[Lazorath]

Devero calmly drinks his ale, ignoring the arrival and departure of Naku's father, but during the entire conversation he uses his peripheral vision to maintain his focus on him just in case the interaction develops into a violent altercation.

Once he leaves Devero looks to the others, but chooses not to question what just happened since it's a personal matter.

Despite this, her fathers' aura leaves Devero unsettled, and ready to transform since it was his usual response when he'd felt threatened on the battelfield, but since he's not fighting, and is still recovering he instead takes one last chug of his ale then sets it down.

"I doubt that'll be the last time you see him," he states whilst trying to follow Naku's advice, and disregard his words, but her reaction towards him only left Devero with more questions.

[Murkus]

Wenomir doesn't know what to say to that, at first.

"That's... why? Why would she do that? That spirit brought you nothing but trouble."

"I have to assume the spirit didn't have enough power over her to make her do it," says Adir, looking defeated, though he also looks like he's trying to accept it. "She wanted to be whole and sound. It got her the kids, so maybe as far as Sakura's concerned that makes it a good thing to have around. Or maybe she just wanted it to be over. I don't know."

"All I do know is she wants things to go back to normal as quick as they can, like before we knew about the kami, and I can't do that. Even for her." Adir's eyes narrow to dark slits as he stares holes in the grain of the counter. "But she made this... irreconcilable situation. I shouldn't have to make concessions here, right? I shouldn't have to be the one to make this right. But what do I do?"

[Morty]

"That's... a question I've asked myself, you know," Wenomir says, with a humourless chuckle. "People blow things up, figuratively or literally, and suddenly it's our job to do something about it. And we get grief about it if we falter or protest." He shakes his head. "Besides, it's funny how it's always us mortals who have to tread lightly and make concessions when spirits and such are involved. As if they were better than us. I don't know what to tell you, though. If the spirit is inseparable from Sakura even with her consent, it means a perfect stalemate."

[Murkus]

"There's gotta be someplace without all these gods and spirits. These things live halfway between this world and that, but they get all the power over this one. There's gotta be some world they can't touch," Adir leans back and looks a the ceiling. After a long minute, he says, "I bet it's a nice world."

"But yeah. Anyway. Even if she wanted it out, it can't come out. Like a permanent stain," Adir shakes his head and drinks. "******* Gods, I need something to take my mind off all this. I can't stop thinking."

[Morty]

"Maybe it falls to us to keep them in line," Wenomir muses. "Have we been letting them have their way too long? They're not untouchable and maybe they could stand to be reminded of that. But I have no ideas in the short term. Getting drunk tends to only postpone thinking about it. In addition to other problems."

[Murkus]

"Maybe," says Adir. He looks at his drink and thinks for a minute, then picks it up, raising the bottle toward Wenomir. "To killing some gods," he says. Provided they clink, he'll drink.

"Drunk by itself tends not to solve anything in my experience, yeah. Maybe we should drink and find somebody to hit," the stag suggests. "Got anybody on Vigil's ass-beating list?"

"If we need to really look, I can be pretty good at finding people. Always was the best tracker in my litter."

[Reinholdt]

One humanoid fey Reinholdt arrives. It's been a while since he's been out drinking. Well drinking at a place you're theoretically supposed to be drinking at any rate. He still finds it a little strange that they need to build entire buildings dedicated to drinking rather than just taking the opportunity wherever and whenever. The strangely handsome fellow with alien pink eyes that lack pupils takes a look around before grabbing a seat. There's some people he recognizes and some people he doesn't. And he certainly never expected to see that person here. Well it's a small multi-universal crossroads after all.

[Morty]

"Maybe," says Adir. He looks at his drink and thinks for a minute, then picks it up, raising the bottle toward Wenomir. "To killing some gods," he says. Provided they clink, he'll drink.

"Drunk by itself tends not to solve anything in my experience, yeah. Maybe we should drink and find somebody to hit," the stag suggests. "Got anybody on Vigil's ass-beating list?"

"If we need to really look, I can be pretty good at finding people. Always was the best tracker in my litter."

"Apart from the demons, which I'd really rather forget about for a while..." Wenomir trails off. "We could go around and look for some small-time crooks and would-be supervillains, then give them the great misfortune of having encountered two high-profile ass-kickers instead of the police. Or... yes, I know. There's a group called KABAL that picked a fight with us for some reason. Some sort of organized crime ring. And their boss might be behind that ridiculous TV show about us, so beating them to a pulp would be doubly satisfying."

[Devixer]

The vampire just shakes his head, sighs once, and says "Fine." Before vanishing; never to be seen again.

Devero calmly drinks his ale, ignoring the arrival and departure of Naku's father, but during the entire conversation he uses his peripheral vision to maintain his focus on him just in case the interaction develops into a violent altercation.

Once he leaves Devero looks to the others, but chooses not to question what just happened since it's a personal matter.

Despite this, her fathers' aura leaves Devero unsettled, and ready to transform since it was his usual response when he'd felt threatened on the battelfield, but since he's not fighting, and is still recovering he instead takes one last chug of his ale then sets it down.

"I doubt that'll be the last time you see him," he states whilst trying to follow Naku's advice, and disregard his words, but her reaction towards him only left Devero with more questions.

((My apologies, I missed Lazorath's post.))

Cherie empties her wine glass and looks back at the door. "He certainly seems like a charming fellow," she says, without even a hint of sincerity.

[Murkus]

"You people and your acronyms," says Adir, smirking as he holds his drink. When the VIGIL TV show is mentioned, he says, "Aw, man, my kids love that show! Could we at least let them keep making it for a little?"

Adir grins, and probably cracks up whenever he sees Wenomir's reaction. "But seriously, where are these idiots at? Do we know?"

[Morty]

"Oh, Riddle. Them, too? I can't escape people who watch this crap." Wenomir rests his forehead on the bartop. He seems genuinely distressed and angry over the show's existence. "The show isn't made anymore, but they're making a documentary for people who remember it. Anyway, we fought KABAL in Skyside. Not sure if they're in Inside, too." He pauses. "And I don't think this is an acronym. Just... a name."

[Murkus]

"So where do you think we should start lookin'?" Adir asks. He decides they can get right past the bit about the Watchforce show... for now.

[Morty]

"The seedier places of Inside, I guess," Wenomir says. "I've heard about some new group appearing, peddling drugs and whatnot. Could be them." He pauses. "Though maybe I should pack a sword..."

[Mee]

Devero calmly drinks his ale, ignoring the arrival and departure of Naku's father, but during the entire conversation he uses his peripheral vision to maintain his focus on him just in case the interaction develops into a violent altercation.

Once he leaves Devero looks to the others, but chooses not to question what just happened since it's a personal matter.

Despite this, her fathers' aura leaves Devero unsettled, and ready to transform since it was his usual response when he'd felt threatened on the battelfield, but since he's not fighting, and is still recovering he instead takes one last chug of his ale then sets it down.

"I doubt that'll be the last time you see him," he states whilst trying to follow Naku's advice, and disregard his words, but her reaction towards him only left Devero with more questions.

"Oh, I very much believe you're right." Naku agrees with a bit of a sigh. She was going to have to kill him someday. Ugh. "You look . . . like you've got questions?" Naku asks, eyebrow raising curiously.

((My apologies, I missed Lazorath's post.))

Cherie empties her wine glass and looks back at the door. "He certainly seems like a charming fellow," she says, without even a hint of sincerity.

"Oh. The best."

Then she turns to Mist. "Could I, ah, get something stronger than just milk, please?"

She also offers a little wave to Reinholdt.

((Alsooooo new thread soon?))

[Lazorath]

((My apologies, I missed Lazorath's post.))

Cherie empties her wine glass and looks back at the door. "He certainly seems like a charming fellow," she says, without even a hint of sincerity.

(It's alright ))

"Oh, I very much believe you're right." Naku agrees with a bit of a sigh. She was going to have to kill him someday. Ugh. "You look . . . like you've got questions?" Naku asks, eyebrow raising curiously.
"Oh. The best."

Then she turns to Mist. "Could I, ah, get something stronger than just milk, please?"

((Alsooooo new thread soon?))

"Why did he call you Saki?" Devero asks, "and why would he feel the need to murder thirteen million people for you?"

((I'm up for a new thread))