Blackburn's Crossing Chapter 3: A Ball to Die for

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Vault Room:

"Speak for yourself!" says Jonathan dancing backward while stabbing forward and missing widely. A blow hit him as the Falkovnian came forward but Arissa's small shield provided the blow with only the shallowest cut. Jonathan while in close stabbed the man in the shoulder then kicked him backward. The Falkovnian shakes his coughing a bit of blood laughing in his native language and comes forward. First one parried by Arissa but the second one finds an opening only glancing off due to her quick shielding spell. He curses readying himself for the next assault blood pouring over the scattered papers on the desk he was fighting with his back to.
 
Yelcan’s smile freezes on his face as Isaiah appears at the top of the balcony and starts to speak. Then he feels the familiar tug of Hyde’s mind on his own and flashes of different images shoot across his vision, along with a feeling of urgency and fear. The images show a large skeletal creature staring in the window of the manor behind Isaiah, and a crowd of horned entities surrounding the building from the outside. The images cut out as a young man tries to approach Isaiah and falls to the ground limp, and Yelcan immediately grabs Peri’s hand and pulls her close so that he could whisper without attracting any attention. He had been watching Isaiah, just like the rest of the crowd, and did not see him move or speak to cast any kind of spell, meaning either that man had a brain aneurism at the worst time or there was an invisible foe up there as well. “Ok, we can’t panic but we have a crowd of horned beings surrounding the manor right now, as well as some enormous beast right outside that window behind Isaiah. Also I’m pretty sure there is a man who is invisible up on those stairs with them who just attacked that man. We’re going to have to quietly warn the others, and then find a way to try and get these people out of here.” Yelcan thinks furiously for a second as he looks around for any sign of his friends spotting Bernard and Kallisto mixed amongst the crowd. He gets another update from Hyde that the horned creatures were still surrounding them, but had not attacked. Keep updating me if anything changes Hyde, and stay up out of range. Be careful my friend.

Frustrated, Yelcan took a deep breath to calm his nerves and turned to Peri once more. “Okay, the people outside have not attacked, and we can’t risk provoking them while James and Leone are right there in front of that man. I’m going to need you to go and warn your brother, tell him everything I just told you and tell him to wait, we can’t risk endangering James or Leone any more than they already are.”

Afraid that she might be anxious with the new turn of events, he put his hands on either side of her face and looked into her eyes with a whatever comfort he could muster at that moment. “We can do this Peri, just be careful not to provoke that man, walk slowly and quietly through the crowd, ok? You can do this, and we will be alright.” And following some internal instinct he could not quite explain, Yelcan leaned in and kissed Peri firmly on the lips for a heartbeat, and without another word he turned and carefully made his way through the crowd to where he spotted Kallisto.

Careful not to startle her, as he was sure she was on edge already, he came up to her along her peripherals and then came in close to whisper to her. “This man apprears to have friends, Hyde tells me a band of horned creatures is encircling the manor, and some sort of monstrosity is right outside that window. Peri is warning Bernard right now, but also there is most likely an invisible foe up there with him as well, and we can’t put these people in danger by attacking this man yet. Let’s be patient and see what happens.”
 
Arissa smirks to herself. Not bad, Yorgi. Perhaps it was worth carrying an insufferable prick such as yourself for all this time. Arissa could feel the anger flow through her blade, and it guided her through a wicked upswing that made Arissa feel queasy to witness. She glanced over to Jonathan, seeing he was not faring nearly as well. “My power is yours!” Her words were laced with fey magic to help Jonathan stand against his foe.
 
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Falkovnian takes another blow realizing he was fighting a loosing battle. He attempts one last furry of blows, blood pouring from numerous wounds. He slashed high for the blow to be blocked, and then again from the side only to be blocked. He laughed seeing that Arissa had switched to non lethal. He shakes his head taking his blade to his neck and slicing falling to the ground. Jonathan feels the magic begin to seal his wounds but after another two failed attacks he comes up against the wall with no where to back up and a sword sticks through his stomach before being pulled out. He grit his teeth pushing the Falkovnian back with a slash from his knife. "I hope your doing better in there..." says Jonathan keeping the stilletto leveled defensively in front of him. The Falkovnian grins widely seeing Jonathan's weakening.
 
Arissa watches horrified as her opponent suddenly turns his blade against himself with a grin. She stares at the bleeding body for an instant before she hears Jonathan. She quickly broke off her gaze and ran to the doorway, attempting to slice at the next Falkovnian but still distracted by the horrific sight. “I am with you, Jonathan. We’ll avenge her together!”
 
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Jonathan smirks a bit pale as he feels another surge of energy and he uses the surge of energy to charge the small distance. He starts with thrust not at the obvious attack target of the body but the man's arm, and then grabbed it for a brief moment to bring his sword down slicing a nice wound down the man's arm. He slashes twice in retaliation but the blood leaking down from his hand makes the blows uncertain and slippery. Cursing seeing two verus one he turns and begins to run.
 
“Only a coward escapes their judgement through death.” Arissa swiped at the man’s hamstring as he tried to escape, staggering but not slowing him, and missed her follow up strike as he moved with an almost inhuman determination towards the window. She saw Jonathan grab the man with all of his might, desperately trying to keep him from escape, but it was a loosing battle against the Falkovnian’s iron will. He broke Jonathan’s grip Inch by inch, and finally pushed him away before Arissa slammed the pommel of her cutlass into the man’s temple, causing him to topple like a bag of potatoes. She wiped her brow, looking to Jonathan with a hint of a smile despite it all. “Well, that was not so bad, ja?”
 
Léone sighs happily, taking off her own mask and looking straight into James's eyes while he spoke. She didn't realize she could be a sap for romantic antics but here she was, barely able to muster words. After a few seconds of thought she finally manages to eke out words, just above the level of a whisper. "Oh, James... of course the answer is yes."

Just as she says that, her smile fades as the shadowy figure steps forward and reveals himself, his visage barely recognizable with his charred face and pulsating eye. "What... why are you here?" She glances between James and Isaiah, flinching at the sound of a body slumping to the floor behind her. "No... this can't be happening...!"

When Isaiah declares his intentions to end the Blackburns, she looks to James wide-eyed and panicked. "...What's going on...? How did he...?" Blinking back tears, she barely comprehends what's happening as he hands her the bag and tells her to get somewhere safe. She looks up to him with a whimper. "Please... you can't die on me. I refuse to let you." Deciding to trust him for the moment she begins to back off, clutching the bag closer in her arms and tightening her grip on the two rings on her hand. "Come on... you have to be strong. Get yourself together, dammit!"

Giving her head a quick shake, she stops in her tracks after just a few steps and glances back to Isaiah. Her gaze is distant, a mix of fear and sadness in her eyes as she barely musters a voice to address the necromancer. "... Why? What has he ever done to deserve this?" She shakily stands her ground and gulps, preparing for the worst. She couldn't bear to lose him, not today.
 
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Jonathan shakes his head, his limbs feeling.... well it felt like he had just fought three different people at once and still gotten his ass kicked. Limbs feeling heavy as logs he came up to the Falkovnian ripped out the band holding his unicorn hat together on his head and wrapped them tightly around the Falkovnian's hands behind his back. He then staggered back to the door way. "I think he wanted us to wait so I had an excuse if something is missing..." says Jonathan turning around. Jonathan staggered grabbing his head in pain barely catching himself on the desk before forcing himself back up. "Ezra's tits that hurt... I think I would prefer it if you spoke maybe verbally to me from now on Legba...."

He shakes his head looking at Arissa. "Don't... yeah don't tell Bernard I said that. I think it's against his religion or something," says Jonathan with a half smile, and then he grimaces as he walks over to the vault. He looks at it carefully and then over to the man cowering in the corner. "What did you do to this guy? He pissed himself.... poor Grimdosh... I don't think people know half the stuff he has to put up with."
 
Peri smiled up at Léone and James happy for them her hands clapped lightly bouncing a little on her feet. Looking to Yelcan briefly to see the happy smile on his face too before look back up to hear James ask his question of Léone.

The joy of the moment quickly lost her whole body tensed as Isaiah spoke in way of Léone. Mid step forward Yelcan grabbed her pulling her into his arms. She was trembling but it wasn’t fear her anxiety had kicked off.

As she was turned into him he would hear her whispering numbers fingers thudding into his chest in time to her count. It slowed as his soothing words calmed her a bit and he gave her a task. ‘Tell Bear about the horned men, tell bear.’ The new thought in her head the counting stopped.

Looking up at Yelcan with little choice as he held her face she did her best to nod in understanding. No time to sit in shock of Yelcan’s kiss though it flustered her and make her cheeks red. “Yelcan, be safe, and get my staff from Kallisto.”

Moving slowly to Bernard she wraps her arm around his, her hands wrapping around his fist. “Bear, Yelcan says horned men surround the ballroom and something big on two legs stands just outside looking into the second floor. He also said there might be something else on the steps seeing as Isaiah didn’t flinch and that poor boy dropped dead.”
 
Arissa looked over at Jonathan worriedly as he stumbled around. Gods, it is worse than I had thought... There is little point dwelling on it now. Arissa laughed grimly at his comment. “I am afraid I am done keeping secrets from Bernard, but I believe he would allow you this one, given the circumstances.”

She entered the room as her wings retracted behind her, grimacing at the two corpses laying on the ground. “I... I swear that was not me. I was in control this time... the man did that to himself.”

She shivered briefly recalling the sight, but then forced herself to focus. “We should search them for your mother’s weapon, ja? Perhaps our deals with the devil can at least lead to some closure on your part.” Arissa looked at the Darkonese scientist in disgust before smiling slightly to Jonathan. “I... I think I will let you frisk that one. Apologies for the mess, I believe that he could not handle the sight of me.”

Arissa went back out in the hallway to begin her search with the unconscious man, before moving on to the dead Falkovnians.
 
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Bernard shrugged as Peri warned him of the threat outside. He whispered, "I suppose I won't be getting that third dance after all. You look thirsty, grab a glass of water and keep quiet." Bernard grabbed his own glass of water, holding it in his hand but not taking a sip.

Once more Bernard found himself pushing to the limits of his senses. Watching Isaiah, he waited for his response to Leone.
 
Peri blinked at Bernard’s nonchalance but realized his reason for it she did as she was told floating to the nearest table grabbing a water which she had seen Van Richten pour. Returning to Bernard she slipped back in beside him.

“That man isn’t really Isaiah is he? His face, what happened he seemed resolved to his park of the swamp.” Peri frowned keeping close waiting to act.
 
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Ballroom:

Isaiah's gaze moves slightly up to Leone before grinning a toothy grin. "He knows what him and his family has done. They are the infectious plague upon this town that keeps it from blooming. The longer they live the more destruction they will wrought!" says Isaiah. Thomas at the front of the crowd rests a hand on his side sword before speaking. "The only plague in this town is your presence among us Isaiah. You were banished, do you know what that word means Isaiah?"

Isaiah's gaze filters to Thomas. "Ah the good sheriff is in attendance. The man who's incompetence couldn't unearth a town wide conspiracy," said Isaiah tsking at the end of his sentence and shaking his head as if scolding a child. "Very well, Isaiah you have me. Let's go outside or up to my study and settle this," says James trying to keep the situation from escalating, and stepping forward closer to Isaiah. Isaiah's glowing eye snaps back to James and it seems to almost intensify.

"Oh no, no, no, this deserves an audience. You won't snake your way out of this one Blackburn. Everyone will see you die, and when you are dead I will rip the truth from your cold dead lips, for the dead do not lie," says Isaiah. The old man Lord Balfour takes out a monocle cleaning it for a moment and then looking through it. His eyes go wide for a moment before he shouts to James.

"James step back!" James goes to quickly move back from whatever unseen force is in front of him, and he feels something cut through him, pain wracking through his body for a moment seeing a shifting figure, feeling the life drain from his limbs before. His hands clench as he falls to the ground but then he stands back up defiantly. "What trickery is this Isaiah, you'll use minions rather than fight me man to man?"

Lord Balfour speaks once more. "Are you out of your mind? Summoning a Reaper of all things? You are mad!" shouts Lord Balfour.
 
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"Thanks..." says Jonathan shaking his head as he checks the scienist for a moment and then grabs one of the swords from one of the Falkovnians. "Always better to be prepared." As he looks closely at the blade to see if it's whatever this adaptive weapon his mother made, before his attention is drawn to an empty space on the wall. "It's numbers..."
 
As James faulters Bernard frowns. He carefully grabs his amulet in one hand and whispers a prayer, "Ezra, Guardian in the Mist, my friends need your blessing now more than ever. Look after them." He then steps out of the crowd towards James and Leone, cup in hand.

"Uncle, you don't have to do this. You can still be family. I turned myself in to prevent this conflict, I tried to keep things from escalating. I don't want to lose anymore family, but if this is the path you choose then I truly am the last Hathoway. Please, stop this madness. I can make this right, but you have to trust me like I trusted you. Have a little faith." Bernard looked on Isaiah with a look of compassion and pleading. He took off his mask and cast it aside.
 
Ballroom:

"Step aside Bernard this isn't your fight, but if you intend to make it yours than I'll consider burning this book," says Isaiah producing a familiar book from his robes, and producing a large flame in his hands. "Now, as I said Bernard. Stand ASIDE!"
 
Arissa grunts in effort as she pushes over the unconscious Falkovnian to gain access to his pockets. I do not suppose you wish to help with this, ja? Arissa heard a cruel laugh in her head. Where’s the fun in that? Besides, I already took care of these bastards for ya. Best time I’ve had since getting trapped in this prissy head of yours, lass. Arissa sighed exasperatedly and checked the pockets of the man, finding little other than gold. She moved back into the room and quickly searched the two dead men, trying to avoid looking at the gruesome wounds that covered their body. On the man who had killed himself, Arissa found an envelope written on with thick, heavy lettering that she assumed was Falkovnian. Yorgi... it appears I may need you for your mind at some point... but that can wait.

Arissa looks over as Jonathan mentioned numbers, and stood up to move over and see what he was talking about. “Numbers? Are they notes from this man perhaps?” Arissa stops next to Jonathan, peering at the spot he was looking at. She looked back at him in concern. “Are you certain you were not struck on the head? That wall is the same dreary shade as the rest of the manor.”
 
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"Why? What's so important about mother's fairy tales?" Bernard took another step forward, toward the balcony. "She said she was done with that place." Bernard seems confused by the threat, Isaiah obviously thought there was some value to the book for Bernard to want to save it. "I don't want to fight. I just want to see my family stop shrinking." He nervously concentrates on Ezra's blessing for his friends, hoping that he'd done enough for them, that he could focus on saving Isaiah from this Darkness.
 
Peri steps forward, “Bear! That’s Momma’s book! She had it on the shelf at the house, he shouldn’t have it!” Looking to Isaiah she puts her hands together pleading. “Isaiah please don’t hurt my Mother!”
 
Being led towards Leoné and Bernard by Arissa, Ludwig follows along and gives a small greeting to the both of them. "Hello, nice to meet you all again. I hope you're all enjoying the party as well."

He sits down at the table, leaning a bit backwards as he grabs a glass of wine. At that moment James makes his announcement known. When he speaks about a woman who has stolen something from her, his hand goes towards his chest where the scissors are stowed away. As James continues and reveals it to be a mere lighthearted attempt at flattery and romance, Ludwig's hand slowly moves away from his chest and he lets out a small sigh of relief.

With Leoné stepping towards James, Ludwig gives the two of them a small gesture wishing them the best of luck. Though the moment is disturbed by the necromancer he'd seen before on the balcony. Under his mask Ludwig looks with a gaze of surprise, but also the faintest hint of enthousiasm. He feels slightly conflicted as Isaiah claims that he wants James killed, just as Ludwig is about to say something about this interruption one of the assumed guards falls lifeless onto the floor.

"Oh dear, that's quite the showstopper. I wonder how he did that.. Could I do that? Maybe.. it's better to listen this one out without fighting. See how this situation turns out by itself, surely they wouldn't need the meddling of an outsider." He leans back completely in his chair, fiddling his thumbs over one another and sitting with one leg crossed over the other as a grin is forced onto his lips.

Lifting his head up slightly, he looks straight at Isaiah's face, noting the scorch marks and violet eye. "Does it sting... you know, the charred half of your face? How did you burn it like that? Did the fire cause mutation in that odd eye? How's the vision in that one eye, is it completely blind or would you claim you'd have better vision than before?" He blurts out in rapid pace, eager to get some information before fighting ensues.
 
Léone freezes up for a moment as Isaiah looks to her, snapping to reality only as he turns to address Thomas. Glancing down at the bag thrust upon her, she slowly pulls out the gauntlet and fits it over her left hand, as her right hand still sparkled with her family rings - both of them, now. She gazed over her hands wistfully before shaking her head, exhaling. "Come on, he needs you more than ever right now. Be strong."

Steeling her resolve, she glances up slowly only to see James collapse in wracking pain, likely attacked by the thing that had outright killed the other young man. "James!" Without hesitation she runs back up behind James, fearing more for his life than her own. Grabbing his shoulder she focuses her magical reserves through the gauntlet and allows healing magic to flow into him. "Please, stay with me here...! You promised..."

She takes a deep breath then looks up defiantly to Isaiah, standing her ground behind her betrothed. The necromancer was clearly beyond reasoning, working with magics beyond all comprehension or sanity, but she refused to remove herself. "You want to get rid of the Blackburns? Then you'll have to go through me too."
 
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"No it's... writing the same numbers over and over. In blood," says Jonathan watches the wall with a bit of curiosity. Through Jonathan's eyes he watches as a bloodied hand writes on the wall once more with a trembling hand. He goes to the vault's mechanism and then back to the wall. Dmitri finally gathers his wits. "It's useless if you don't have the right code the traps will kill you," says Dmitri huddling in the corner.

Jonathan looks to him for a moment then back to the wall and begins to turn, five numbers he inputs before finally there is a shifting and turning heard from within the vault. "I think this is what he meant by free pass... I used to see... these kinds of things."
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Ballroom:

James felt the warmth surge into him, and looked thanked Leone for it. He felt much better as he looked to Isaiah. "Looks like you have our answers," says James. Isaiah's eyes narrow, "So be it. Die with the wretch " As he goes to set the book on fire, the window's around the Ballroom crash in and screams of fright are heard. A giant skeletal T-rex head pokes through the glass shattering most of the window behind Isaiah. A guest of wind almost instantly rips through the Ballroom due to the difference in air pressure. Suddenly, a bolt from the second story balcony fires out slamming into the upheld book and sending it flying from Isaiah's hand and he growls at this pulling black powder from his robes. James looks at the sword in his hand and immediately tosses it to someone who will use it better than him, Bernard. Chaos erupts as the large horned individuals start waiding into the crowd with their axes. Kallisto suddenly feels a heavy weight in her hand and a growl roars through her head, followed by a single mental phrase.

"Would you like to kill some evil today?"
 
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Arissa watches Jonathan as he began to work on the vault door, but suddenly hears a sound like a thousand mirrors shattering at once, followed by a chorus of screams from down below. She looks over to Jonathan, panicked. “Did you hear that?” She’s briefly conflicted before making her decision, frowning to Jonathan apologetically. “I am sorry... but I fear that my talents would be better served helping elsewhere... Good luck with the completion of the task. Stay safe, Jonathan. Keep an eye on these bastaards.”

Arissa quickly headed to the window the Falkovnian had attempted to escape through, throwing it open and looking out into the misty darkness. She hesitated briefly before stepping through the threshold, and rubbing her gloves together. I pray that these will work... She began to climb down the outter walls of the manner, but the enchantment of the gloves seemed to have difficulty discerning whether to enhance her climbing or her swimming in the heavy rainfall. The rough pads on the fingers slickened, and Arissa lost her grip, and plummeted towards the ground.
 
Ballroom:

Isaiah's hand begins to glow a darkened black as a circle starts to form beneath the group gathered in the center of the room. Reacting quickly Leone releases her own spell energy into the circle touching the ground. As her energy pours through the circle still forming it begins to consume itself and float up from the floor as inky black liquid that fades into nothing. Isaiah's glowing eye grows bright purple in anger as he sends draws a wicked looking black dagger from his robe into the hand that had once been holding the Grimm's Fairytales.
 
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