Realistic or Modern Mission 3

[DapperCat]

location: The Labyrinth
addresses/mentions: Fable Morzone Xemanorth
music: x

"F-fuck-" she hissed under her breath.

She had to collect herself. The tears were handled due to... wait. Due to what? She hadn't suppressed them purposely, did they perhaps only happen in the mental space He had created? She put the pistol back as she saw the now winged Kirill fly off, trying to steady her hands by rubbing her palms together.

Her tail swept behind her as her gaze in turn swept across everyone moving and shouting. The touchy demoness crawled to the wolfkin, the merfolk is muttering something inaudible under his breath and Jasper is giving the team-leaders an ear full.

She agreed with him on parts of it, other parts she had no clue what he was rambling about. Psychological torment? Her brows creased in contemplation. Then she shook her head. He had known the answer to her question, with an answer so specific it could not be guessed. And nobody was as capable as He was.

After convincing herself, she managed to capture a few more things around her.

"I'm so glad you're all alive."

The Demon turned to look at Theo, a black tail flicking to the side as she gave him a trembling thumbs-up and a shaking grin. Black veins visibly crackling under her bordeaux skin. She wanted to act like she had to once more, but the veins gave her pause. Her thumb up towards Theo lowered as she held her wrist with her other hand, pressing into the vein as pulsating light fluctuated through them.

That wasn't normal. But this wasn't the first time she'd been afflicted by something magical, and she knew very damn well she hadn't the slightest clue how to deal with such a condition. Normally He would take care of it, or she had to see some other professional.

"Kirill seems to have gone rogue..."

...Unfortunately the professionals currently with them were less than reliable. It was logical to protect the team first and foremost, but aside from him flying toward the group, there was no proof to indicate he'd gone 'rogue'. She pinched the bridge of her nose, still blissfully unaware of the tail flicking in irritation behind her, indicating her current emotions.

But these team-leaders, nor Smited, had any reason or right to earn her absolute obedience. Nor her unquestioning loyalty. And thus, through her persona, she could at least try and give suggestions she otherwise would not.

"Did nobody think t' maybe first call out t' the hulkin' guy there? Maybe? Boss?" she grinned easily, her trembling arms the only indication of her not being completely at ease. "Ya know. Before y'write someone off as being rogue. We could try that first and possibly save on some stress."

The woman then cleared her throat, opening her maw wide as she seemed to prepare and shout at the teammate- only to then realise she'd probably attract other things lurking in the process. Thus, instead, she grabbed one of her much beloved flasks, which had its metallic shine, and raised it above her head in one clutched hand.

She began to wave it around toward him, whilst motioning with the other to come to the group. The metal shone slightly as it swayed left and right. She looked ridiculous, but it was at least worth a shot before going into a defensive mode.

 

[Thatguynameded]

Brass herd a familiar voice, it told him he was alright. His mind was very scrambled at this point due to the new human mind he was working with. What felt forever was only seconds that took him to realize is was Sang. Brass was unsure if this was her or still the cursed spirit still. He decided to play along just in case it was actually his red demon friend. He herd her rustle through her sack and seemingly hand him something. He could only guess to what is was with the subtle sound of liquid sloshing around in a container. He reaches with both hands to grasp the container and in turn placed one of his hands over hers. He felt her claws and what felt like forever was also a mater of seconds. While trying to get a good grasp on the bottle he could feel shaking. He was unsure if it was him or her trembling but to sang it was obvious that Brass's hands where shaking uncontrollably. His body was still reacting to the pain but his body triggered something he dose not know about, a little thing called endorphins. To brass, he was feeling okay even if his whole body felt like it was torn into small specks of dirt at an intense and quick rate. To others though, brass is trembling like a lone cold wet dog in the middle of the night.

He drank the water as soon as he could but this time not almost drown in it like the previous bottle. This water...was different, it tasted different than his bottled ones. Brass was a little confused to why both waters tasted different but he didn't question it, he was thirsty. He felt a comforting pat on his back and it reminded him of the head scratches he happily received earlier. He had this strange feeling, in his mind and body. It felt like a single firecracker pop in his mind but it was a soothing feeling to think about head scratches again. His body had this strange sensation, like a cold wind ran up his body. Brass was unsure why he was feeling these things but he could only guess this is how humans feel.

"Do you still have your crystal?"

If brass had his canine ears still, they would instantly perk up. Why would Sang ask about his crystal, why would anyone ask him about it if the team was supposed to keep them close and hide them. Brass stands up quickly and faced Sang, his new human face showed the look of concern and doubt even with his eyes still closed. He gets closer to sang and with his human nose it was obvious he was trying to sniff her out. He wasn't sure how far away she was on account of his eyes being closed so he moved closer determined to truly see if this is Sang. He continued until he caught a scent with his human nose, maybe he still can track people by scent. She smelled like roses and some type of stone, most demons smell like this type of stone brass noticed. Taking in the smell, it felt like his head was being filled with the smell and the fire cracker feeling triggered again but rapidly and multiple times. This was definitely Sang and brass was feeling light headed now.

Anyone watching could see that brass was getting too close for comfort and was a pinky finger away from bumping noses. Brass pulls back with a relief look on his face. This was his friend he can trust, and he decided to open his eyes. Everything was blurry at first from keeping his eyes closed for so long but he could make out a figure in front of him. Once Brass's eyes focused his face turned red like sangs skin tone and he started to feel hot. Why did brass feel so hot, why dose it feel like his stomach is being twisted. Trying to act as normal as he could he stutters "y-ye-yes brass still has stone, we keep it a secret" He pats the pocket where his knife sheath is. Brass notices Don, everyone looks so different now, but also the same. Brass did not trust don as much, anyone could be influenced by the cursed spirit and he had to keep his stone a secret. He quickly turned and drank more of the water to cool down his hot face, but no mater how much water he would drink. It will never cure his shy and embarrassed face.

Then he finally noticed the barrier around them, it looked like fire. He started to get nervous but they did not look like normal flames which kept him from completely freaking out, it wasn't producing heat which helped a lot. It reminded him of his goal, to get out the box and avenge his Pack. Kill the mage, bury everyone, find out why the cursed one wants brass and his stone. Then brass can finally give up on the cursed human life. Everyone was ordered to met together around Brass and his 2 other teammates. Brass shook his body to get all these new feelings off of himself and began to munch on one of the many beef jerky sticks he has. They dont taste as good as he remembers, for the first time, meat was disappointing.

Fable Noble Scion Myriad

 

[Tarmagon]

Jasper's mouth twitched up into a sardonic smile at Elora's words, but then she just had to go and deliver her little ultimatum. His brows furrowed and several lines of runic symbols detached themselves from the wall protecting the group and flew unerringly towards Elora. They danced and fluttered in front of the team leader like a flock of angry birds, then darted down to swarm a small rock. There was a flat 'crack' and the runes rushed back to rejoin the protective barrier, leaving behind a small pile of crushed gravel where the rock had been.

"You may get to give me orders by your seniority level Agent Tamsen," Jasper said almost conversationally, "But calling me 'infected' is just a bit fucking hypocritical wouldn't you say, given your own condition. What I won't tolerate, and not one damned place in the SMITED charter does it tell me I have to, is being threatened by a supposed ally while on a mission. During my particular, what did you call it, oh yeah, mind fuck, I sacrificed this whole team just to complete the goddamned mission. I am resisting the pull of all of the offerings this team still has by focusing on the mission, and it's NOT FUCKING EASY. The whatever-it-is inside me wanted that rock to be your head, but I controlled it, barely. Now, you can either back the fuck off on the threats and let me concentrate on staying myself, or we can throw down, right here and now. I have no clue what I'm capable of right now, and I'd rather not find out, but I can't continue on this mission watching for threats from the inside and outside of the group at the same time."

Fable

 

[Noble Scion]

Sang quickly came to the realisation, given the evidence before her, that the Kiril with wings she had seen wasn't just an illusion, but actually some sort of transformed version of her.. Acquaintance. The affliction that had taken control of him seemed to also be affecting Jasper, who was frankly being a little frightening.

Thinking of Kirill, the sound of wings appeared to have faded, meaning that the lumbering oaf had either figured out how to fly silently, or had landed. The thought of silent flight elicited a cold-eyed frown from the demoness as she looked at the ground in thought, away from Brass, pondering the idea considering that Kirill had figured out flight almost immediately. Briefly considering telling the others of this thought, she decided against it. The leaders and her allies seemed to have their plates full after the trauma, or at least what she could only assume was trauma, they had been exposed to. That, and she didn't want to bring attention to herself. After all, it was only a matter of time until she was asked when her gem offering went.

Her fishfolk friend, Donald, still seemed to be relatively okay after the trial. Like herself, she supposed. "Mm..." was all she mumbled in response, not exactly sure herself how she was doing with how hectic everything was. She certainly didn't feel like she was being herself, yet physically she felt even better. Perhaps she was corrupted? Yet she didn't seem to show the same symptoms as Kirill or Jasper. "I'm... Holding up. Are you okay?" she said rather reluctantly, clearly not prepared to talk about it, yet trying her best to reassure her friend.

The strangely spoken voice of Brass broke through quietly amongst the chaos of agents roaring at eachother, speaking of his crystal and it not being eaten, his voice coming from remarkably close before she realised their face was mere centimetres away from her own. She jerked back a little in surprise. "Are you alright? You're a stronger person than me for keeping it." she whispered quietly back, noticing his gaze drifting to the wall of fire, yet maintaining her rather stiff silence.

Once they were done, she took her bottle back and placed it once again into her bag for possible later use.

Theo made an appearance, yet it took a moment for her to realise it was him and not some golem considering their entire body seemed to be made out of a metallic substance, the sight of which doing nothing but making her feel worse about how quickly she'd been to save herself from a similar fate. Hiding her face in her hands for a moment, she took a deep breath to try and calm herself as the memories of drowning rose up once more, alongside with the other things she'd witnessed, torturing her, even though she knew they were illusions, yet even now, she wasn't sure given that the trial had physical affects, based on what she could see from the others.

The yelling continued, her eyes following the speakers, filled with pain and pity, for herself, her allies, or both, would be something to be discerned later. The daughter of Reds willed herself to speak up, yet didn't feel like she had the right to anymore, given how she'd all but done her best to fail the mission but succumbing to something so simple as a change of colour. Yet it still felt like the right decision as she thought about it. Instead, mock scenarios of how she would explain this later floated through her mind, none of them being pleasant. At least, it seemed, she wasn't the only one that had failed, she thought grimly.

If anyone were to look Sang in the eye, they'd notice that more often than not she'd avert her gaze. Unusual, given their usual cold and passive-aggressive personality.
Fable Tarmagon Xemanorth Thatguynameded Myriad Morzone

 

[Xemanorth]

Kirill remained seated on the ledge he'd settled on. His elbow was perched on his knee and his fist was tucked under his chin as he stared down at the group with half-lidded eyes, growing bored much faster than he had initially anticipated, despite the visible differences certain member of his group had gone through. He turned one of his pointed ears toward the group, listening in on their conversation. He didn't particularly enjoy being accused of betraying the group, on the other hand if the group had turned against him, as he had figured, then trying to paint him as the enemy was certainly a sensible move on Elora's part.

It wasn't as if the situation was without its own silver lining however. "We should not stay here. Not with Kirill most likely hunting us." The half-demon scoffed before breaking into a short chuckle. "'Bout time I get treated with some respect around here.". Betrayed or no, playing the bad guy didn't seem like that bad a deal at the moment. There was chaos abound within the ranks. Jasper was flipping his lid, the team leaders weren't doing much better in his eyes, a few were exchanging hushed whisper about... something and lastly, someone was inviting him over, a notion he found himself contemplating, despite the situation at hand.

The half-demon tongued one of his tusks in idle contemplation as he proceeded to weigh his options. Oh well, worst case scenario if one of the team leaders insisted on becoming aggressive, he might just be able to deal with that dome somehow before winging to the air and dropping them off the nearest ledge he could find, that seemed like a solid bet of dealing with them. Frankly at this point, he had very little reservations about going ahead with such a plan, given their treatment of him so far. Having sorted that out, Kirill proceeded to push himself off the ledge he was perched on before gliding toward his destination.

His eventual arrival was worrisome to say the least as the half-demon, despite his considerable size covered a whole lot of ground in perfect silence, his presence only announced by a final flap of his wings which he used to slow his descent before finally landing. Shortly after, his silhouette approached the dome, Qerres specifically seeing as she was the one to invite him over in the first place. Though the flask she was waving around was tempting, something else caught his eye as he'd approached and that was Qerres' flicking tail, something the half-demon was quick to point out with an amused bout of laughter. "Nice tail!" He remarked shortly after, his golden gaze continued to flicker between the rest of the people who were still, as far as he saw it, trapped within the dome.

As he'd established earlier, he didn't foster much trust for the team leaders to begin with, and even less so now, and so his eyes remained open for any sudden movements on their part. After all, Elora was awfully quick to accuse just about anyone but herself in the situation at hand. "What do you want?" He asked Qerres, his eyes finally settling back onto hers now that he'd given the rest of the group a proper eyeballing. He stuffed his fists into his pockets and drew his leathery wings closer around his heavy, muscular form as he simply stood there, waiting for an answer.
( Fable , June Verles , @k o r o l , Noble Scion , Tarmagon , Thatguynameded , DapperCat , Morzone , Hanarei , Myriad )

 

[baddervibes]

Location: Reality (?)| Fable Hanarei
​

The moment Caddigan hears the bone break, feels it snap underneath his crazed grasp, is when he's finally thrust back into reality. The concrete walls of the basement and the bloodied floors of the club snap back to the caverns of Pandora. The figure of his father, his resentful stare and bare fangs, vanish as Caddigan is again surrounded by SMITED. The transition was sudden and unexpected: like someone flipping a switch in a dark room while you were fast asleep.

Caddy's head ached: his vision blurred and a ringing sound rattling in his ears. He could barely hear what was going on around him much less see it. Figures moved and brushed past him. He thinks he sees Elora hit someone. She's yelling and he can only make out certain words.
"Focus...Sang...Teigs...fuck...rogue...shitshow."
She strides up to Caddigan. He can see a flash of blonde hair and a stern gaze before his vision starts to blur again. He wants to say something but his mouth aches. He wants to move but his body is as stiff as the concrete walls the trial had left behind. Whatever bloodlust that ran through Caddigan's veins had vanished just as abruptly as the club and his father. Though if his frenzy was over, if his time was up, then Caddy wouldn't even be here to see the madness going on around him. He'd be on the ground, blacked out, rather left for dead or carried by that nice horse-woman. Perhaps, whatever the trial had given him, was not a frenzy at all. Though that wouldn't explain why his blood was still boiling and his heart still racing.

"Felicia" came Elora's voice again.
"Keep...Caddigan...secure."
Felicia? Caddigan's blurry eyes scanned the area. He silently cursed as his vision continued to go in and out of focus. There's something red, something big and hairy, there's someone keeping up a barrier, there's another something red...where's Felicia? Caddy turns to his smell, takes a deep breath in and searches for the esper's scent. Felicia smells magic-y, on account of what she is, but Caddy focuses on subtler notes. She has softer scents of something that Caddy could not determine if it was either good laundry detergent or dried lavender. There's also a little hint of freshly baked bread. Which could mean that either Felicia likes to eat bread or likes to bake it or both. Caddy didn't know. He'd have to ask her when he found her.

Suddenly his arm brushes up against someone. Caddy's vision is able to focus on a long sheet of black and slim pale fingers. He takes a deep breath and decides that, yes, this is most likely Felicia. Either that or the other two magicians had received a drastic makeover while they were trapped within their trials. The thought made Caddy smile as much as his mouth would let him.
"Spooky." He says, barely over a whisper, and his hand searches for hers. It finds it, clumsily but eventually, and manages to hold it tight.
"I can't see so good right now. So you gotta' be my rock until I'm all back. That okay?" Caddigan somehow slurs all these words together and keeps Felicia's hand close to his side unless she asks otherwise.

Caddigan stands in an uneasy silence. He wants to say something witty or reassuring, but can't find the right words or a good time. So he waits for further instruction with his mouth shut and his veins on fire.

 

[Fable]

Merged Group

Xemanorth Thatguynameded Noble Scion Tarmagon June Verles Hanarei Morzone DapperCat baddervibes Myriad
( Corrupted: Kirill, Theo, Caddigan, Jasper, Qerres. Stones Left: Brass, Felicia, Caddigan, Jasper, Theo, Elora. )

"It seems you've neglected to remember my words where I said it seems. Agent Tiegs believed him to be a threat enough to erect a barrier," Elora replied to Qerres with a bland expression as the woman began to wave around a flask like she was trying to lure in a dog who had run off with a treat.

Her attention snapped to Jasper who had seemingly lost his damn mind. He took her words and completely went off the rails and misunderstood to the point of a twisted point of view. With narrowed eyes she staked over to the magician and literally punched him with a solid right hook. She didn't care if that caused the barrier to falter, weaken, or drop. "You are the one who is the threat to your team Agent Tiegs. Center yourself! You're the only one feeding your mania at this point now, will you succumb to such a thing or will you wake up and look at the status of the team? You are you until you decide not to be. You are letting this damn place win over you."

Tristan grouped up with the others but he kept a wary eye on Jasper since for all he knew Jasper would fully snap and try and try and harm Elor for her punching him in the face. Elora would dispense tough love if needed and Jasper seemed ready to mentally snap. He left Brass to Sang for comfort, such a change was probably very unsettling. The others seemed stable enough, shaken by whatever they experienced and witnessed, but not as far gone as Jasper.

His focus changed to Kirill when the now winged half-demon landed on the other side of the barrier. As much as Qerres has her own point that Kirill may not have actually gone rogue they would have to remain wary of him and a few others. Caddigan had snapped out of the mental hold and while not exactly himself he wasn't trying to harm them either.

"No one tell anyone if you have a gem left on your person or not," Tristan called out, his voice still edge with nerves but more solid than when he first awoke to this chaos. "We are going to proceed towards our mission goal and reach Pandora. Unless you lot would rather stay here and and wait and see if someone else reaches her or what other fun things are probably coming our way."

"Wait." Elora interrupted, her brows furrowing even as she continued to stare down Jasper. "The broker. It said that beyond this door there were no entities that would kill us, not even the chambers connected to it."

"Oh there is no way that means we're safe," Tristan began to argue.

"The threats from this point are probably not of a physical nature."

"You'd be right about that!" A stranger's voice carried on an echo could be heard and a seemingly human woman stepped out from around a stone pillar in the distance carrying a rather large firearm. She called out a familiar greeting, one which Elora and Tristan had used when their two groups had met up to confirm their identity. The exchange was the same between this stranger and Tristan as the woman casually approached the team but maintain a safe distance, not crossing the thin stone 'bridge'. The woman introduced herself as Agent Vice.

"The bitch got creative it seems. You guys look fuckin' terrible," the woman commented as she looked them all over. "Quite a number starting to show signs of box corruption. I'd suggest the mentally fragile not proceed. Her tactic is pretty effective, make your own team your enemies."

"What happened to your team?" Tristan asked, still wary of the woman despite the greeting.

"Ran into a gorgon early on, half got petrified. Managed to make it through some other nasties until we got stuck in a scenario that seemed to come from a fuckin' Saw movie. Had to go through a series of rooms with a special little challenge. The people who failed, when we woke up, they were just staring out into space. Had to make a choice and we moved on only for our mental doubts and fears to hound us. Like some of you here, box corruption set in and the other two I was with attacked each other for their gems and I made the decision to keep pushing forward without them."

 

[DapperCat]

location: The Labyrinth
addresses/mentions: Fable Xemanorth Hanarei baddervibes Tarmagon
music: x

Qerres heard a flutter, or crackle, behind her. Then Jasper's voice turned to a shout. With a snap the woman turned to look over-shoulder, flask still hanging in the air as she witnessed the barking between him and Elora, before a punch was thrown.

She muttered a small 'yikes' under her breath. At first she'd agreed with Jasper, but the threat might've been a tad-bit far. And then Elora took it too far in turn. Oh brother. With a simple shake of her head she decided to not get in the middle of it.

It wasn't the first time she'd been in a ragtag bunch that just butted heads a lot. But usually they were mercenaries or volunteers to a cause. When her head whipped back to the thing she'd been focused on- suddenly the big oaf was there.

"Oh fuck on a stick--," she chortled, huffing a little breath out. Though her whole attitude played it off, her free hand had instinctively and stiffly pulled into a fist. "Y'scared me there."

She shook her fingers out as subtly as she could, putting the flask back into a pocket when Kirill said something.

"Nice tail!"

"Har har this is no time to make jokes about m'...butt..." Her brows scrunched together a little as she felt something tap against her lower leg. As a new part of her body, she was able to move it into her eyesight. "O-...kay then! Uh."

"Well. I guess it's just as weird as yer wings. I hate magic bullshit."

Her fingers reached out to her tail to feel its texture, as if to check if it was really there. But it didn't take long before her attention was once more tugged away. This time by Caddigan and Felicia. The former looked to be in bad shape. She felt bad for him, but he had Felicia to help.

It was up to her to perhaps help the big one in front of her. Her fingers kept shaking unbeknownst to her, leaving her tail now as she took her flask back out of her pocket to take a sip.

"Phew..." She gave Kirill an apologetic look. "I'd give ya some but.. well. Barrier-thing. That and.. well it's mine."

She joked, but it was the truth as well. "So yer a good boy right? Y'not gonna 'hunt us' or somethin' weird like that?" After stashing her flask away again, she made spooky wiggly fingers at the man.

"No one tell anyone if you have a gem left on your person or not," one of the leaders called out. Q nodded to him, only for the group to be interrupted by an odd arrival. She and the leaders did their weird little song and dance before they spoke normally.

She didn't really know what to say to them really. This whole thing had been a mess, her trust in the leaders had dwindled exponentially- especially towards Elora, and frankly? Even she needed to go to the base right now. Curl up in a blanket and hide from the world.

Her eyes darkened a little as she felt herself stare off into blank space. Everything that had just happened- was real right? She felt horrified at doubting Him, but she couldn't help it. The others said everyone had gone through some torment. And what she just had to experience all over again was pain that was barely buried in time.

 

[Xemanorth]

The half-demon simply stood there, watching Qerres as she took her sweet time noticing him before outing an amused snort at her reaction. "Poor thing, aren't demons supposed to be the ones scarin' people and not the other way around?" Kirill questioned, tilting his head over to one side as he quirked a questioning brow. "That too." The half-demon was quick to note as Qerres audibly figured that he was commenting on her posterior rather than the tail that was now present.

"Well. I guess it's just as weird as yer wings. I hate magic bullshit." Kirill shook his head. "Can't say I mind for once, flying feels pretty good." He replied, his gaze wandering to his leathery wings, which he proceeded to idly stretch out and flap as they became the subject of conversation. His gaze followed that of Qerres', briefly distracted by Caddy and Felicia's antics before settling back on the demon once more. He seemed to give some thought to the words that followed before answering.

The tusked maw of the half-breed parted, his tone shifting from casual and friendly to a far more serious and more to the point, accusatory one. "I just wanna get one of those gems to Pandora and get the hell out of here, it's the so-called leaders whose intents I'm questionin' right now. Don't trust 'em after they took mine off me without tellin' me, now they're goin' out of their way to cover things up further." He turned his attention to the new arrival, allowing the leaders to speak before adding to his previous point. "And I don't trust her appearin' out of nowhere none either. Much as they seem to like throwin' accusations around, they're doin' just about anythin' they can to act suspicious, feels like.".

Kirill shook his head and rolled his burly shoulders about before crossing his thick, muscular arms over his broad chest, the very image of foolhardy confidence as always. "Personally, I'd be willin' to overlook their suspicious behavior if they just handed me a gem, I mean it'd only makes sense considerin' how strong and durable I am, not to mention the fact that I'm able to fly now. It'd be in the mission's best interest, far as I'm concerned. Probably not goin' to happen. Though if it don't, it tells me everythin' I need to know 'bout whether or not they intend to make this thing a success or not.". With that, the half-demon had given the team leaders an ultimatum, one he figured to be a fair one, all things considered.

After all, had they informed him of taking his gem from him, then he would have had no reason to give the voice in his trial the time of day. As far as he saw it, this was the perfect opportunity to toss the ball in the leaders' court, to see where they really stood, either with him or against him, and by extension against the success of the mission.
( Fable , June Verles , @k o r o l , Noble Scion , Tarmagon , Thatguynameded , DapperCat , Morzone , Hanarei , Myriad )

 

[Thatguynameded]

"Are you alright? You're a stronger person than me for keeping it."

Brass chewed on his jerky watching the fire as her statement echoed in his mind. Was brass really alright? He couldn't help his pack, he couldn't kill the mage, he can barely keep himself from running away from the sight of fire. He was not strong he continued to think, he was only looking for a way to get out so he could investigate the remains of his slaughtered pack. Brass was not strong, he was selfish, he only needed what he needed to do to get out, as soon as possible. With his new mind he can now form more abstract ideas and was not afraid to lie to others now. Knowing the conversation probably ended with he did not immediately reply, he says to himself, "Brass is weak".

His focus broke when he herd yelling between members, as he turned his attention on the rest of the team, he watched as Jasper got the same treatment of Kirill earlier. One punch to the face, brass was now starting to question who he can trust at the moment. Brass noticed some of the team was changed, while others stayed the same. This made things complicated for him, the ones who changed are obviously the ones he cant trust but brass has also changed. He changed for the worse while it seems like kirill is stronger than before and Jasper was getting punched by a team leader. This connected them both to being bad in Brass's eye, but something might be wrong with the others who did not change. Inspecting everyone making eye contact with Sang made her look away quickly, Brass found this strange and assumed she had done something wrong. This logic led brass to think that the ones who didn't change did something bad for the mission, while the others who changed have turned bad or maybe is influenced by the cursed spirit.

Jasper, Kirill, Q, Theo, have changed and are 100% untrustworthy in brass's eyes. While the others are questionable, they seem much safer than the rest of the team. In reality brass cant trust anyone and now hes beginning to regret telling Sang he still has his stone. He quickly needs to think of a lie to tell everyone, what would brass do to keep the stone safe....then he remembered he wanted to eat the stone before the mission. Perfect, this seem like a thing beast brass would do, eat the stone to keep it safe and then throw it back up.

"No one tell anyone if you have a gem left on your person or not"

Brass is still going to tell others he ate his stone if questioned. The leaders started to argue with each other and brass decided to stay silent to everything unless directly spoken to. He doesn't want attention from the members who are obviously different and get his stone stolen from them. A new person suddenly appeared and it seemed like the leaders trusted this person enough to have a conversation. While brass is not corrupted, hes is very much paranoid and unlikely to trust anyone until he leaves the box. He stepped off slightly to the side to say out of the group but not far enough for anyone to think anything of it. His plan was to stay quiet and off to the side to avoid attention.

 

[Tarmagon]

Jasper didn't try to protect himself from Elora's blow, he just raised one hand to rub the spot she had struck as his head cocked to one side. He was aware of things happening around him, but his eyes remained fixed squarely on Elora as he rubbed his jaw. The wall of runes dimmed, the individual runes shrinking down from nearly a foot tall each to mere newsprint sized as they began to stream towards Jasper, settling onto his body, sinking through his clothing. Only Jasper's face remained free of the silver and charcoal colored runes by the time the barrier had completely dismantled itself and flowed onto his body. He examined one hand and arm, turning it this way and that to examine the runes. His brow furrowed, and the runes shifted on his skin, forming a pattern in the palm of his right hand. They began go glow a deep crimson, and an orange sized ball of flame appeared, hovering over Jasper's hand. He stared into it for a moment, then closed his fist around it, snuffing it out of existence. The runes faded back to silver and flowed away from his palm, back onto his wrist and arm.

"Thank you Agent Tamsen, for making your point in such an, emphatic manner," Jasper said. "I'm willing to wait until the mission is over before we continue our, discussions concerning my problems with your leadership style. Tristan, your instructions are well founded, but useless. I can feel the pull of the gems, and I am quite certain that anyone in a similar condition can. The only defense from this would be for everyone to be clustered together, so that I can't determine which person the pull is originating from."

As he spoke, the runes began to flow on Jasper's skin, forming discernible patterns. He looked down at one arm and nodded to himself before continuing.

"I would highly recommend that you not strike me again Agent Tamsen. If you do so, the force of your blow will be multiplied and doubled back on itself. The concentration required to maintain this spell should be enough to prevent me from dwelling on the Offerings I can sense around me. What I can no longer guarantee is a non-lethal response to a perceived or actual attack moving forward. Please bear that in mind."

Fable

 

[Morzone]

Fable DapperCat Myriad Hanarei Tarmagon Xemanorth baddervibes Noble Scion Thatguynameded
​

For all the shouting, fighting, threats, curses, and general chaos going on around him, Theo was in a pretty good mood. Somehow, it all seemed to be going pretty well. Of course his current definition of 'pretty well' was that they were all here alive and not in some kind of immense, incapacitating physical condition. It made him smile a little, just sort of enjoying how lively everyone seemed. Well, most everyone. Some of the group didn't seem to have come out of that chamber in the best condition. Some, like himself, seemed to have been changed physically, others didn't appear different, but clearly showed the signs of mental strain. Some even showed both, Kiril certainly was acting up, and Qerres' feebly thumbs up and pulsing arms did not reflect a stable frame of mind.

So that left the question: what now? that was actually an easy question for the moment, the first thing to do would be to collect and organize again. Elora had ordered Felicia to restrain Theo and caddigan, so that made his first move easy. Standing up, he walked slowly over to where Caddigan and Felicia were, making sure not to make any sudden movements. Caddigan seemed in a pretty bad shape, clutching on to Felicia's hand to keep himself steady. Theo wasn't sure where Elora was going to be drawing the line for acting in a 'threatening manner.' Would she think Caddigan holding onto Felicia like that dangerous, as though appearing to be weak to get past her defenses? Kirill, Jasper, and Theo himself had all gained apparent new abilities after all, logically caddigan would too, and it would be entirely possible that holding on tightly to someone's arm could put him in a strong position for an unknown attack. If Elora w as thinking along those lines, it wouldn't matter if that was really the case, there'd be a good chance she'd move against Caddigan.

Theo would have to make sure there wasn't going to be needless infighting so quickly. Once within reach, Theo grabbed hold of Caddigan's upper arm with firm, supportive grip. "Don't worry, you're alright for now. Just focus on getting your senses back in order." The mage spoke reassuringly to the Dhampir. Elora would surely be wary of two 'infected' supporting each other, but as long as caddigan appeared nonthreatening and Theo appeared focused on supporting him rather than on the others, they shouldn't come off as a danger.

That still left the question of who was a danger though. This new woman, Agent Vice as she called herself, was suspicious. Certainly her story seemed to add up with everything they knew so far, she'd even known the proper greeting for the leaders, but this box was capable of anything and he wouldn't put impersonation or mind control beyond it in the slightest. He'd keep an eye one her, as everyone else was likely to do.

What else did he have to go off of to tell who was dangerous? They were told not to reveal who had their seed after exiting their trial, that meant the results of the trial would decide who was trustworthy and who wasn't. While he'd been walking over toward Felicia and Caddigan, Theo had overheard Brass -who was a human now?- and Sanguine talking about their seeds. Brass claimed to still have it, but Sang's reply had been whispered to quietly for him to hear. Still, her body language was not one of someone who'd succeeded in keeping their seed. Or was that simply trauma from the trial? Theo's trial had forced him to face traumatizing situations clearly designed to make him as desperate as possible, while being offered a way out by giving up the seed. He had not taken that way out and in turn he'd cursed himself to a metal body, but kept his seed. Had it been that way for everyone? Choose between protecting the key to their mission or protecting themselves? If Brass did in fact have his seed that would make sense. Those who'd let themselves be changed by the trial were the ones who'd stayed faithful to the mission and protected their seed. In turn that meant those who appeared unchanged and stable were in fact the ones without their seed, who had betrayed the mission. Who was that? Theo himself, Kirill, Qerres, Brass, Caddigan, and Jasper all had physical changes to their bodies, everyone else appeared at least physically to be the same.

Were they dangerous? The new woman, Agent Vice, didn't appear to have major physical changes to her judging by Elora's and Tristan's lack of reaction. Her story would match up too, if she had been one of the traitor that attacked her team. It was easier to fool them with the truth than to make up a story after all. Jeez... he always hated trust-no-one situations. If all he had to go off of right now were his own experiences, then he'd just have to trust his gut and stay focused. The leaders, this new woman, nor any of the other unchanged agents could be trusted until Theo had more information. For now he'd fall in line and follow orders, but blindly following along forever would surely lead him into a trap. All he needed was a chance to reveal their true colors.

 

[Hanarei]

Felicia had been a bit woozy still when she was asked to keep Theo and Caddigan secure though she had managed to nod. She ventured towards the two, standing next to Caddigan. She would have to process things over time and get herself caught up on what was going on. Her eyes glanced down briefly looking over at her hand noticing it shaking confused as she clutched her fist, the shaking stopping. Just as she released her hand Caddigan grab her hand making her blink looking a little bit puzzled by it hearing his words.

"Ah... um... okay." She spoke seeming uncertain how to react being rather out of it and not use to really being used to talking to people to know how to respond. It seemed that while she had managed to get alright others weren't as lucky... though she wasn't sure if she was really as alright as she seemed to be. She couldn't help but glance over noticing a human like new person in part of the group. Was it... brass? She blinked a little puzzled uncertain if her eyes were deceiving her or if she had somehow mistaken him as being more... canine like before. Whatever the trial did it seemed to effect her fellow group members in different ways, whether good or bad.

Felicia watched as a new woman approached seemingly familiar with their team leaders. She kept quiet not really knowing her to comment much. What did make her react was the mentioning of having a gem. She blinked recalling the trial she had been in not even thinking much about it at the time. She kept still not making a noticeable reaction though only able to wonder just what might be going on that they couldn't reveal such information to their teammates. She turned looking as Theo approached to help support Caddigan. She didn't feel quite comfortable herself, while lacking the full knowledge of the situation she still could piece together enough.

"Are you alright Theo? Don't worry I am able to assist him myself. If you need help, I can levitating you if your... um... changes to your body make it difficult for you to move around." She spoke plainly only hesitating a bit struggling how to word things about Theo's obvious physical change in appearance. She didn't want to come off forceful though she was attempting to do the job she was given to keep them secure, expecting that likely meant watching over them herself. Whatever this corruption was if it did lead to others being willing to betray each other she was rather ill prepared for making such a judgement. She was far too socially inept to be able to read into a person's intentions very well.

"If you want I can levitate you as well, if we are just moving around regularly it shouldn't be too stressful on me." She spoke offering the Dhampir feeling it was only right to do so given she extended the offer to Theo.

Location: Reality, catching up poorly
Mentioned:
Fable Morzone baddervibes

 

[Myriad]

Morzone Fable DapperCat Xemanorth Tarmagon baddervibes Noble Scion

The mumble of a response from Sang does little to reassure Don, but when she actually speaks words aloud, he notes that it's a start. He wasn't sure of how others might've handled the tricks and mental violation, or even if others would have had similar situations, but every moment further just seems to prove it more and more. A more pressing question in his mind is if all of this was done by the location itself, or by a creature that they had yet to encounter? Even more worrying; would it happen again, and again, and again, until they are but additional numbers in Pandora's legion? The thought makes the fishman's scales itch in genuine fear. Gritting his teeth together and nodding once to Sang, he speaks in a more confident and settled voice, "I am as well as can be expected, truth be known. Currently, I find myself worrying more and more about the others, now that I know you are not in harm's way..." He admits to the pair, straightening up to gaze to those gathered. One after another, the situation seems to change and grow ever more serious and worrisome as each member of the group becomes clearer to Don; Kirill's change in form and newly gained ability to fly, Qerres' large tail and the constant twitching it shows... The changes in behavior from the others as well. Don dares not consider his own potential changes; is he thinking differently? Acting differently? Would he even be aware if he was? Will he just suddenly stop being himself, and reveal himself akin to an ambush predator onto the group?

Don wishes he didn't think so much.

"Well. I guess it's just as weird as yer wings. I hate magic bullshit."

Arms crossing, keeping his eyes locked onto the hostile interactions between Jasper and the One-Punch Woman that is Elora, he can't help but snort loudly at the half-breeds words, breaking his gaze on the conflict to nod in Kirill's direction. "I concur. All of this is... Wrong." He holds a strong tone of distaste, and even disgust, in what's happened thus far in this room, let alone in the previous rooms prior to now. His amusement is cut short, however, with Kirill's sound reasoning and logical manner. The fishman looks to the half-breed, giving a slight shake of his head, looking on edge still, gesturing to those gathered. "We were locked into our minds for some time. How long, I cannot guess, but long enough. Any single one of us may not be whom we look to be or claim to be. Even I might not be me. Near as I can tell, those who still have their stones are the only ones who can be assured to be themselves. Anyone else..."

His hand dips into his belt in a moment of worry, and then a heavy sinking feeling of dread; gone. His stone is gone.

"... Anyone else might be 'free game', unfortunately. Except for those who are now changed... But even then, could we be so certain that these changes are imperfect shape shifting attempts? The creatures down here can read our minds, sift through memories, and seem to delight in causing trickery rather then direct combat. This entire situation could be an attempt to throw us against one another as a shark would face a perceived rival." He adds, jaws clenching as his hand leaves his belt's compartment, cursing himself for a fool... And a coward. His father's words echo in his mind anew, and the images of his slain family lay before him once more with a single word repeating, over and over; failure.

He rubs furiously at his eyes, claws digging into his strong, now dirty scales as a result, grimacing at his darkening thoughts. No more. Focus. Here and now. "Your words ring true, Kirill; you are, currently, arguably the best suited to carrying a stone to safety. That is, however, the worry; it is so convenient and so perfect a chance to have such good fortune, down /here/ of all places, for you to be so perfect in this task. I have no doubts you mean every word you have spoken. I trust that. I do not trust that these... Alterations to many of us will be without cost or consequence. If your bodies are changed... Would any of us even realize if some of our minds were changed as a result?" He asks, wincing, the thought bugging him. He'd always thought of himself as having a strong mind, one capable of great mental fortitude. But, this, all of it? Has all but shattered that illusion.

The appearance of Agent Vice breaks the man free of his own thoughts, the man frowning ever so faintly in her direction. Try as he might, he can scarcely remember such an Agent... It wouldn't be impossible for her to get by them; they warned the squads of such a thing before they even entered this abyss. Even so... Her entire squad, gone? Compassion wells within Don, but no shortage of caution in opposite regard, staring hard at her. He looks to Agent Elora, calling out to her, eyes flinty. "Is there any method you would be aware of to confirm the identity of a SMITED Agent in times such as this?" He looks to the magic users of the group, calling to them after, grimacing as he, once more, feels his father's voice in his mind. "Are any of you aware of any magics that could purify the effects we have witnessed here? Any that could seal our minds from continued attack or influence?"

 

[Noble Scion]

Kirill made his return, to which Sang simply scowled after being the target of his attack. Her opinion of the half-demon hadn't been great to begin with and had only worsened through her time with him, and she was fairly certain he felt the same way, so the sooner they got out of the box, the better, before anything harmful occurred. Personally, she didn't fear a combat engagement with her allies considering how invigorated she felt, but mentally, all she wanted was to curl up in a ball and sleep for a year to forget about the day already. "Stay away from me." was all the princess of Reds said before shifting her mournful gaze around.

Qerres seemed fine, aside from the new addition of a tail like Sang's own, which made her cringe in horror and disgust at the idea of family, both of them being sisters and the memory of watching her father die before her, as she averted her gaze from the vicinity of the winged-Kirill once more. She choked involuntarily, holding back dry tears, before recomposing herself and taking a breath.

Caddigan seemed to be in a terrible way, barely conscious from what she could see, but Felicia seemed to have taken charge of them, whom also seemed mostly untouched like herself, and Sang herself already had Brass to deal with. Elora seemed to be trying to handle things in a terrible way, seemingly escalating the tension between those changed and unchanged, even going so far to attack. It made her wonder if Elora had maybe been pushed a little to far over the edge from the torture they'd each endured. Sanguine sighed and rubbed her closed eyes with her knuckles in exasperation, silently wishing that everyone would just shut up so the ones in critical condition, such as Caddigan, could maybe get a chance to heal, and that everything could be sorted out without half the party going haywire. Any other scenario and she might've tried taking control of the situation given their leaders, but she couldn't find the will to do anything other than kneel next to Brass.

Kirill mentioned gems and Sang gave him a cold glare. "Given you attacked me straight off the bat, I think they were right to deprive you of it. I'd trust you the least with one of those things." venom sliding across her tongue freely in annoyance as they imposed ultimatums on the already fragile group, practically begging to kick off a fight.

She regretted her previous words to the wolf-folk as her words seemed to have made Brass feel down-trodden. Unsure of what else to say, she simply continued awkwardly patting him on the back gently. She'd never had great people skills, and a traumatic experience hadn't exactly made her any better at it in the near-past.

The new metal-Theo was helping Caddigan, and seemed altogether fine, unlike Kirill and Tiegs, despite his physical change. Not particularly aggressive or.. Maniacal.

"Some things are better left un-said." Sang grumbled at her currently, for a lack of a better word, "corrupted" friend Tiegs for his rather harsh comment on his most murderous capabilities after the trial. The situation was tense enough with.. What everyone had experienced, and the building aggression between everyone was rather unsettling.

The appearance of a new person that her leaders were familiar with brought nothing but irritation to Sang. They were far too relaxed for the box and their entire team being killed, to the point of bluntness and foul language. Despite knowing the hidden greetings that presumably were known to the box already considering they knew everyone's fears. "I think it would be in our best interests to wait for Caddigan to heal, then to move on as quickly as possible. The sooner this is over the sooner this.. Distrustfulness can resolve. Until then, I think Agent Vice should stay in front so we can keep an eye on her and for gems to become a taboo subject for the sake of all our sanity, or what's left of it."

After her little suggestion, Sang stood up straight, composed, and moving towards the stone bridge before stopping, remaining several meters away from its edge in-case either the unreliable-looking stone decided to collapse, or someone decided to push her, and waited, her eyes peeled as she sternly looked around, focusing on the moment and distracting herself with standing guard. legs firm on the ground and arms crossed, yet quivering ever so slightly.
Xemanorth Thatguynameded Fable Tarmagon June Verles Hanarei Morzone DapperCat baddervibes Myriad

 

[Fable]

Merged Group

Xemanorth Thatguynameded Noble Scion Tarmagon June Verles Hanarei Morzone DapperCat baddervibes Myriad
( Corrupted: Kirill, Theo, Caddigan, Jasper, Qerres. Stones Left: Brass, Felicia, Caddigan, Jasper, Theo, Elora. )

Tristan frowned as Kirill very loudly made his complaints. Elora kept her focus on Jasper. It was these two who were the most concerning, the highest threat to the rest of the team with their erratic behavior. "Fine, you know what, if someone wants to give Kirill their gem, have at it," Tristan said darkly as he looked at the changed half-demon. "If someone wants to give up their gem to him when he's the one actually suspicious go for it. Ignore the warning signs, the physical change, the odd behavior. We clearly can't finish this mission without him."

"Tristan, you're not improving the situation," Elora coldly commented. "As far as you Teigs, I'll eagerly await for your remarks on me when the mission is finalized as we'll at least be out of this hell. We'll do as you suggest though and muddy the gem waters by grouping together. As far as punching you again, if you cannot understand it's purpose you can think of it what you will."

As Don commented on the fact that Kirill was too conveniently suited and that it presented the perfect situation to go wrong Elora finally turned away from Jasper and looked towards the aquatic man. "That is the observation that is the most logical. Between Jasper's comment about detecting the gems and desiring them it's an obvious point that handing a gem over to someone who is not seemingly themselves comes with the high risk of failure of the mission. How would you counter that perception exactly Kirill? The only thing that is certain is the equal distrust which is exactly perhaps what the box wants. You can either continue with the team or believe what the box wants." She didn't bring up Sang's own comments regarding Kirill's behavior towards her. Sang had said it well enough that he had interpreted his actions as an attack.

Elora glanced towards Felicia, Caddigan, and Theo. Caddigan was worse for wear. "As far as remaining here, I feel staying stagnant will only build more animosity. Agent Vice also shall not be joining us." This was directed towards Sang as she had suggested Agent Vice stay in front of their group.

Agent Vice smirked and gave a small nod, "Can't risk it." She rotated her shoulders a bit and lifted up one hand to give a small wave. "I already went through this mess with my own team, I don't want to endure another round. If you've come from that door then I know it's the wrong way and that's enough helpful information. Benediximus" With that Agent Vice turned and went a different route and down a path she did not emerge from - a small opening in the stone wall - and vanished from sight.

"It's too risky to permit someone to join our group," Tristan said as he crossed his arms. "As much as she knew the phrases and even if she is a SMITED agent, she'll have to proceed on her own as she has been. Just as we will proceed as we have been, despite the obvious internal conflict and other changes. We're going to group up as Jasper suggested and hope those of you who are afflicted with what Vice called 'box corruption' can resist the temptation of trying to obtain the gems of your team."

With that would begin the attempted process for the group to gather close enough for the essence of the gems to be more difficult to hone in one, but separate enough should someone get daring and try to attack someone or steal a gem they'd be able to intervene. It was clear there was a great division within the team and trusting was waning greatly after the trials they all experienced. Rebuilding that trust was something they didn't have time for and so all the could do was proceed and try to complete the mission so they could get out of the box.

As the team makes their way through the archway in the distance the floating castle they'd first seen was closer than before, much closer. It didn't make any sense spatially since it looked as though it would have taken much longer to reach their destination compared the the time it felt for them to have reached this point.

Before them, the only thing in their path in the direction of the floating castle, were stairs. Stairs upon stairs upon stairs with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Stairs that went in a manner of all direction; up down, left, right, vertical, horizontal, diagonal. Archways that went into unknown directions in various places. Up and up this madness went, all the way up to the castle which loomed over them.

"I really, fucking hate this place," Tristan sighed out as he looked at the stairs. "Any one have any ideas on how to cheat our way and finding the most direct path up?" he asked no one in particular. He was honestly ready for Kirill to make some stupid remark about how he could just fly up, only if he did try to prove that point he'd get a nice shocking surprise of a magical zap of gravity that would quite literally grab and slam him into the nearest stairway. Every attempt to fly upwards to the castle would result in him being slammed into the closest stairwell.

 

[DapperCat]

location: The Labyrinth
addresses/mentions: Fable Xemanorth Myriad Noble Scion
music:

"Poor thing, aren't demons supposed to be the ones scarin' people and not the other way around?"

Qerres pulled a face and huffed, presumably a little embarassed at the fact. "Yer a half-demon right? So stop bein' stupid."

She glanced at her tail once more, pulling on it a little only to find out it hurt. Her pants had ripped where the darned thing had come through, creating a cold draft that made her shiver just a little. There was no shame present for her bum-crack now showing partially though.

Kirill mentioned the gem that was taken from him and she couldn't help but rub her neck at that. She agreed the action was improper of the leaders. They should have taken one of their own gems, or at the -very- least told him when they had taken his. Others pitched in and though Qerres wasn't particularly eager to have a fight, she also did not enjoy an unfair situation. With a groan she answered the spewed words being thrown around her- except for Tristan, who was already addressed by his colleague.

"Elora, sir- ma'am. I dunno what this box has exactly done, but ya did take that gem. He didn't get false information, and I'd think you'd wanna clear the air on that to improve group morale- maybe. Ma'am."

She dipped her head, trying to remain respectful but fraying at the edges. What had happened to her when her Master showed up, then the annoying urge she felt to just rip into peoples' clothes to find the damned gems they had. To destroy them out of frustration? Keep them safe? Who knew.

She wasn't the safest one to keep them with either way, as mentally unstable as she was in a normal situation, let alone now.

"An' for th' love of whatever, Red-Red, for all y'know he wanted to fuckin' fuck ya brains out, not attack ya. I mean yer such a dream t' be around, who wouldn't want to?"

She chortled, playing the biting words off as if it was a mere joke. Even throwing in a little wink. But in truth she was also just sick of the blame-game that was going around. Though she did dislike the woman's tendency for explosive annoyance and anger, it wasn't all her fault. Q knew that.

The half-demon was an idiot, no doubt, and he was rash. His brain likely was the size of a pea. But so far he'd not shown genuine bad intent. Not to her watchful eye, at least. All of this bullshit was stupid, but it was mostly just unfair. She looked to Elora again.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, I just think personally th' move of taking his gem after distinctly sayin' we could not part with it under any circumstance, was wrong. But more-over, not tellin' him at all about it was worse."

She exhaled through her nostrils as she closed her eyes a moment, shutting out everyone around her as they began to walk. Letting them, perhaps, stew on what others and she herself had said.

At the Merfolk's question as they walked, she could not give more than a shrug. She had no clue when it came to magic, and mind-magic was the worst of them all. She honestly wasn't aware of the ability she'd gained to see through illusions.

But while Qerres was immensely weak to mind-magic, repressing urges was something she was extremely good at. Well, when it wasn't around alcohol or drugs, of course. So she did not act on the interest she had on the gems. Even if trust in the team-leaders had just about vanished and she wished to keep them 'safe'.

In the silence as they walked her mind played the murder in a continuous loop. The blood, the familiar scent, the emotions swirling in her heart. They weren't emotions of love anymore, she thought, but nonetheless they pulled on her from each direction.

She was only slapped into reality when her blurry vision caught endless flights of stairs.

Oh no.

Her arms still slightly trembling from the ordeal she'd went through, she clutched her hands into fists. Her tail hung limp behind her. She couldn't deal with this shit as well. One part of her wanted to give suggestions on better ways to go upwards to the leaders, but the other part of her just wanted to find a corner to sit in and die there.

The other part won. It caused her to just stand there silently with a bit of a distant look in her eyes, her smirk absently pressed to her lips as she waited for the leaders to give them a game plan. If there was one way she didn't wish to die, it was from a large height. But oh well, she thought. Oh well.

 

[baddervibes]

Location: This some fuckin' Harry Potter shit | Interactions: Hanarei Morzone
Mentions: Fable DapperCat Noble Scion Thatguynameded Tarmagon Myriad June Verles Xemanorth
​

"Thank you Spooky, I appreciate-" Caddy is surprised by the sudden feeling around his arm. His mind flashes back to the trial: of two men hoisting him up and dropping him into a pit of writhing bodies. Though as his senses catch up to his mind, a whiff of firecracker smoke and hot iron, Caddigan recognizes the presence as Theo and immediately relaxes. He hears him say something but doesn't quite make it all out: though the tone is reassuring and supportive.

Much of Felicia's dialogue was muddled by fellow agents interacting around them (that and a horrible ringing sound that the trial had left Caddy with). The dhampir, however, was able to hear the last sentence addressed to him.

"Levitate?" Caddy laughs at Felicia's offer, though it comes out more like an exasperated wheeze.
"That could be fun. We could tie a string around my foot and you two could drag me into Pandora's chambers like a balloon. 'Would love to see the look on that witch's face-" He starts to laugh at the thought, but feels the veins around his mouth pop and burn, and promptly stops.
"I appreciate the offer, Spooky, but I think I should stay grounded for now. Though maybe you can fly me like a kite after we leave this mess. It be a good laugh for everybody after all of...this."

Caddy takes the time to turn his head to both Felicia and Theo: giving them each a grateful smile despite the way the veins around his mouth pulsed painfully.
"And thank you...both of you. Sorry that I'm just taking up space right now. I should be back to my old self...soon." Caddy says this as confidently as he can: silently questioning the reality of his statement. He wondered how helpful his 'old self' would actually be and if it would ever fully return. He also wonders what this strange feeling is in the pit of his stomach: if it was hunger or something much worse.

---

As the group continued towards the floating castle, Caddy slowly regained control over his body again. His grip on Felicia's hand would soften over time and now he didn't have to lean so heavily into Theo's grasp. The ringing had reduced itself to a low hum and his eyes finally began to adjust to the Labyrinth that surrounds them. Despite a slight wobble in his step and the continuous pulse of the veins around his mouth, Caddigan felt pretty fucking fantastic.

As his senses were being regained, Caddy was surprised to find them somewhat heightened. It was as if he had actually started to enter a frenzy, but he was certain he had not taken any real blood. His eyes darted around the team: making sure there were no puncture marks where his teeth would have fit. His free hand reached down to his canteen and gave it a vigorous shake: relieved to find it still completely full. There was a strange feeling of hunger and want that Caddy had bubbling in the pit of his stomach, but it was no lust for blood. He wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't want to push himself into an unneeded panic. Everyone looked worse for wear anyway: tired and pissed and just a little afraid.

He keeps it to himself for now: making little jokes and small talk to pass the time.
"I was going to ask if the big muscle man was Brass, but the overwhelming smell of wet dog kind of answered my question."
"Did Qerres always have a tail? Or is that new? Oh, that's definitely new. Neither of you would happen to know how to fix a tear, would you?"
"Who was that agent who passed on through by the way? The one that looked like a Resident Evil NPC? I'm not so interested in her as I am her very large gun that I think could've been quite helpful against that minotaur a while back-"
This would continue for as long as Felicia and Theo would allow it: until they had reached the maze of stairs that now surrounded them.

Caddy doesn't respond to Tristan's request only because he wasn't even sure what to suggest in the first place. This seemed like a very magic-y thing. Caddy didn't know that much about magic-y stuff, but he'd try his best.
"You kids don't mind helping your grandad up the stairs, do you?" He jokes to the agents on either side of him, closing his eyes and opening up his senses. He wasn't particularly trying to find the right door, but signs of anyone who may have come before them. If he could pick up the scent of other agents then perhaps they could follow in their footsteps: whether if it would lead them to their destination or their doom was, for now, a mystery.

 

[Thatguynameded]

Brass continued to watch in silence as things began to somewhat cool down from the heated situation of people getting punched, distrust and pain surrounding everyone who woke up. All brass could do was pay attention to everyone and just listen, his hearing is not what it used to be but he could still make out what the team was saying. Brass grabbed his belongings and followed sang to the bridge, she had the right idea, to just move on from this shitty situation and take care of things when we are done. As the group moved on ahead brass decided to stick as close as possible to Sang, Felicia, Caddigan and Theo. While something seems off about Sang and Caddigan, and Theo obviously changed. Felicia seem the most trusting at the moment, she didn't seem to be affected mentally or physically in brass's eyes. Brass was also feeling really funny about something, just the way people look now, it made his face feel hot. Caddigan talked nonstop but brass was happy about it. At least he tried to lift up spirits, even if brass didn't understand half of what he said.

Any one have any ideas on how to cheat our way and finding the most direct path up

Brass had no clue what to do about these stairs, all brass could really muster up was "maybe no cheat, maybe take one step at time." Then he shrugged.
Something was really bothering brass and he couldn't put his finger on it, it was something only a human felt. Brass looked at every option, definitely not Sang, Kirill, Q, Tristan or Don because they aren't human. Jasper was out of the question due to his shift in personality and physical change. Caddaigan might talk to loudly about this, and Felicia seems too quiet. Theo seemed like the best person to ask, he was human before his change, his personality seems the same, the only thing brass is wary about is his physical form. Before brass could convince himself not to ask, he faces the trio for but is directly looking at Theo. Anyone wanting to listen could hear brass but can easily be tuned out.

"Brass has question, Why dose brass feel hot when looking at team." He adjust his pants awkwardly while still talking. "Like Brass needs to mate but brass has no mate and is not breeding season yet." Brass turns his head making it very obvious to Theo that he was looking at Sangs and Qs rear ends but averts his gaze to the male team members chests. Then looks at Elora and adjust his pants again. "Brass thinks Elora seems like perfect mate, Strong, in control, leader material....smells nice..will make strong pups and is perfect for hunting and den mother role."

Fable Noble Scion Tarmagon DapperCat Myriad Xemanorth (for those who eavesdrop/listening) baddervibes Hanarei Morzone (teach brass about the birds n the bees)

 

[Xemanorth]

"Yer a half-demon right? So stop bein' stupid."

"Never." came Kirill's short and to the point reply, his arms remained crossed over his chest as he stood proud, tall and straight as an arrow, well save for the eventual crook in said arrow as slowly but steadily the half-breed began leaning over in an attempt to behold Qerres's tail, or more likely what lay beyond. Nice. He then straightened himself back up to a full stand, only to end up repeating the slow leaning process time and time again, only snapped out of his state of hypnosis by the words that followed, or more accurately, the fact that he was absolutely baffled that anyone might opt to take his side.

"Elora, sir- ma'am. I dunno what this box has exactly done, but ya did take that gem. He didn't get false information, and I'd think you'd wanna clear the air on that to improve group morale- maybe. Ma'am."

"Not only that but you go outta your way to accuse ME of stealin' gems when you're the only one who's done it so far."

Kirill agreed, bobbing his head along with Qerres's statement, as well as the one that followed, though one had to question whether or not he was actually listening or simply nodding along, given the response that followed.

"An' for th' love of whatever, Red-Red, for all y'know he wanted to fuckin' fuck ya brains out, not attack ya. I mean yer such a dream t' be around, who wouldn't want to?"

"Yeah!"

"Ma'am, with all due respect, I just think personally th' move of taking his gem after distinctly sayin' we could not part with it under any circumstance, was wrong. But more-over, not tellin' him at all about it was worse."

"Feels t'me like you're just tryin' to blame the box for your own fuck-ups and throwin' me under the bus while you're at it!"

After the exchange between Qerres and the leaders, he gave the tailed demon a thumbs-up, clearly thinking that hers was a job well done, seeming to care very little for how his own involvement may have and probably would undermine the points that Qerres was trying to make.

As the group made their arrival into M.C Escher's wet dream, the half-demon's eyes quickly shot up into the sky and then down to the bottom, the mind-boggling structure made his head swim and his eyes sting, staring at the never-ending paradox clearly causing a great deal of pain for his small mind. Instead he opted to focus on something he could comprehend, and that was the aforementioned peach that Qerres' newfound tail had so kindly brought into view. Perhaps the Box wasn't all bad after all! His gaze was practically glued to the thing, occasionally flicking up to the swaying length of Qerres' tail when suddenly, something clicked...

The half-demon raised his index finger into the air and cast his gaze up along the stairwell once more as he proudly proclaimed. "I have an idea! Anyone got some rope? Can tie it to someone who we send scouting ahead, then we can follow that rope and map out which stairwell takes us where." The half-breed was clearly proud of the idea brought upon him by the two, scattered remaining brain cells yet remaining in his skull being brought together, the friction there-in conjuring up something truly glorious.

Bearing witness to this new side of Qerres had also awoken something within the half-demon, perhaps she wasn't all bad, despite her demonic nature and perhaps he ought to try and talk to her, once they were out of the box... over some drinks perhaps, or many, probably the latter.
( Fable , June Verles , @k o r o l , Noble Scion , Tarmagon , Thatguynameded , DapperCat , Morzone , Hanarei , Myriad )

 

[Noble Scion]

It was relieving to hear her thoughts taken on-board to simply leave the mysterious other leader behind due to the risk, yet it didn't put her much more at ease with her current teammates.

Her rather sullen mental state wasn't made any better by the aggravating sound of the drunkard that had somehow made it onto the team. After all the shit they'd all been through, yet still they stood tall throwing barbs at her, doing nothing but making Sang more irritable and going so far to take on the side of the half-blood that had almost gotten their side of the team killed and made what was quite clearly an attack on her, to her eyes. "Shut your inebriated mouth, booze-junkie, fitting that the morons of the group pair together." Was all she spat, tone angry, yet restrained. Her body was stiff, yet clearly breathing hard as she practically had to hold herself back from yelling back in rage.

She wanted this over with already, and was almost wishing the teams split up once more, preferably with the other demons in their party leaving down some dark corridor away from her. She'd been distracted from her guilt fairly quickly and was slowly patching up the emptiness with anger, as usual.

Her state wasn't helped by the response from the half-demon themselves seemingly using the entirety of its brain to select the wonderful response of 'Yeah!'. Sang merely raised her glasses and pressed her knuckles into her eyes gently, dissuading the settling fatigue from staying long.

Caddigan's chatter was grating on her ears, but it was a small price to pay considering the anguished expression they had. Whatever helped them deal with what they'd seen was fine enough for her to deal with if it meant they weren't going crazy.

Soon enough afterwards, Brass drifted away from her, and the whole group seemed to make their way to the base of a large staircase. The mention of a shortcut was brought into question, yet the demoness held no answers. "I suggest we get a move on." was all she said, yet made no move to begin the trek upwards into the unknown, deciding that they should all move together to prevent risks.

She could help but notice the discomfort of her wolf-friend when she peered backwards though, giving him a quizzical look in his strange shuffling and bashful gazes, before finding a much better target to look at in the somewhat pale looking Q. "Don't get cold feet and slip. One foot in the wrong place..." she said rather maliciously, an unnatural, uncomfortable smile on her normally stern face accompanied with cold, hard eyes, void of humour making her spite obvious.
Fable DapperCat Xemanorth Thatguynameded

 

[Morzone]

Fable DapperCat Myriad Hanarei Tarmagon Xemanorth baddervibes Noble Scion Thatguynameded
​

Thanks for the offer, Felicia, but I think I'll be fine. The weight difference is a kind of offsetting, but I'm getting the hang of it." Theo responded to her offer. It gave Theo an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. He quite liked Felicia, and had felt her to be quite trustworthy, but if his theory was correct she had given up her seed and the mission for her own desires. It really just didn't seem like the kind of thing she'd do. Perhaps she could be the one he'd test the theory on. It would be a relief to know his initial judgement of her hadn't been wrong.

Wonderful. More stairs. Theo gave the twisting steps in front of them a distasteful glare. Partially because of his previous experience with stairs in this box, but perhaps more-so because the upside-down stairs reminded him of the way the woman had taunted him from the ceiling of the previous chamber. Tristan said something about cheating their way up, but Theo gave it little thought. Nothing else in this box had allowed them to 'cheat' around obstacles and he hardly expected that to change now. Still, perhaps there was a way if discerning the correct path, or at least identify some wrong ones.

The mage began to follow the steps as best he could with his eyes, trying to identify dead ends or loops that would just circle them back again. His concentration was interrupted however, when Brass suddenly appeared and spoke to him.

"Brass has question, Why dose brass feel hot when looking at team. Like Brass needs to mate but brass has no mate and is not breeding season yet." He was adjusting his pants and kept glancing toward Q, Sang, and even Elora. "Brass thinks Elora seems like perfect mate, Strong, in control, leader material....smells nice..will make strong pups and is perfect for hunting and den mother role."

For a moment, All Theo could do was blink at him. Of all the things to suddenly happen, this had to be the absolute least expected development. Forget coming out of left field, this was out of the left atmosphere. What was he supposed to do? This had to be the worst kind of environment for this subject. Was it because of the transformation to being a human?

Theo took a deep breath and attempted to organize his thoughts. He was going to have to deal with this if he didn't want a whole lot of trouble to start with the rest of the group. Sang was already lashing out at those around her, and he didn't want to imagine what Elora would do if an 'afflicted' Brass suddenly started making sexual moves toward her. Theo could only hope similar problems weren't going to crop up in the other changed people, himself included.

"Ok, quick explanation is that Humans don't have a breeding/mating season. What you would normally feel during that time, we feel all the time. Because we feel it all the time we have to repress it, hold it back so we don't start causing trouble. We only indulge in it in certain circumstances, and even then we have to be careful. I can explain some of more in a moment, hold on."

Theo turned away from Brass for a moment to look toward Elroa and Tristan. If we're going to have to try and find our way through a maze of stairs, splitting up into smaller groups would be best, right? If we split up into group of 2-3 or something so we still have back up in case of enemies. As he spoke Theo kept a firm grip on Brass' shoulder, hoping to imply that if split up Brass should go with him. At the same time he loosened his grip on Caddigan, hoping to imply the opposite. Caddigan would have to stay around Felicia until he was better, and Theo didn't want Brass near any females until he could convince him not to act on any of the sexual impulses he was apparently feeling. This whole thing was a serious wrench in his plans for figuring out who was or wasn't trustworthy, but Brass' condition could cause a lot of havoc if not dealt with first.

 

[Tarmagon]

Jasper turned a rather clinical eye on the proceedings as the agents grouped up, listening to the words only peripherally as he concentrated on the spell covering his body. At least the required effort was distracting him from the lure of the Offerings, for now. He was glad the other entity, he wasn't going to assume that had really been an agent, no matter the countersigns, had gone on her way. He hadn't sensed an Offering, so she was of no use. When the Escher hell-scape came into view he listened as the various suggestions were made, snorting quietly.

"Speaking as someone who's seen both Labyrinth and the Harry Potter films," he said, "I rather doubt that would work. Flying is probably out as well. I'll give five to one that there's a magic barrier, or worse, magic gravity, associated with this entire fiasco. And I wouldn't be surprised if the damned things move around too. Brass, sorry to be blunt, but you should consider yourself constantly in rut as a human. It's annoying, but you learn to control it."

Jasper stepped close to a spot where three stairways touched down. He never actually been able to cast a Pathfinder spell due to the limitations of his magic, but the rules seemed to have changed. Why not try it?

"Let me try something," he said, his brow furrowed in thought. The runes on his body shifted into new patterns, several lines of script detaching from his body to form three glowing balls. "If this works, the one showing the shortest, at the moment, path to our destination will change to blue. Spells not perfect, doesn't know shit about danger or obstacles, just the shortest path. Better than nothing though."

A flick of his wrist sent the balls to hover near the three options closest to them. Now he just had to hope it worked.

"No idea if this'll work," he admitted as he waited. "No harm, no foul though."

Fable DapperCat Myriad Hanarei Morzone Xemanorth baddervibes Noble Scion Thatguynameded

 

[Fable]

Merged Group

Xemanorth Thatguynameded Noble Scion Tarmagon June Verles Hanarei Morzone DapperCat baddervibes Myriad
( Corrupted: Kirill, Theo, Caddigan, Jasper, Qerres. Stones Left: Brass, Felicia, Caddigan, Jasper, Theo, Elora. )

Elora's patience was growing thinner by the second but she did her best to keep that building frustration to herself. "You want to explain why his gem was removed from his person Qerres, be my guest and explain it to him for no matter what either myself or Tristan states will be taken as a truth or the action done for his benefit and health. I am not infallible, but your growing obsession on what you view as some betrayal is something you should perhaps ask yourself if it's something you or the box wants you to focus on. Like it or not, Jasper has made it clear some of you - the ones altered by the box - are inclined to desire the remaining gems. That coveting is dangerous; to your team and this mission."

"If you don't want me to blame the box for your transformation, then perhaps I should blame you then? I didn't change your form. I did not make you desire the gems of others. And your accusations are mutinous at their core. If you are going to endlessly obsess over your gem at least do everyone a favor and stew silently while we work to finish our mission."

Thankfully the other members of the team - Sang and Jasper - were clearly against Kirill's idea of tying a rope to someone and sending them alone to try and navigate the confusing stairways and arched portals. When Theo suggested the group split into smaller groups to work through the stair puzzle Tristan outright rejected the proposal. "As much as we're not all exactly getting along and don't care much for each other at this point, splitting up at this point is like one of those horror movie tropes. We need to stay close and move as a group. Let Jasper try his method and see if it works and we'll progress from there as best as we can."

Elora thankfully didn't touch on the comment Jasper made to Brass about the human desire to 'rut' constantly as a human. That was a topic of conversation she had no desire in joining into and Tristan was wise and didn't comment on it either as he permitted Jasper to cast his spell.

Caddigan's attempt to scent anything or anyone that had been present in the area came back with only the familiar scents of the team members around him, along with the scent of the blood coursing through their veins. The ones who were corrupted smelt awful though, as though something was horribly off about their blood which did not make them appetizing targets for any blood lust.

The orbs Jasper sent went off to explore the stairways, as they popped into one portal and out another at another point and continued to do this over and over again until they were all out of sight. This left the team sitting and waiting for a few minutes.

"How long should we wait?" Tristan asked as he looked to where the last orb had been before losing track of them all. "If they don't come back after a set period of time we are going to have to go in ourselves and hope we pick the right path."

One of the orbs - color changed to blue - appeared to return at the end of Tristan's comment, zipping in and out of portals and across stairs until halting at the original portal it had gone in through. "Well, glad that was answered," Tristan laughed. "Door number three it is then," he added as he hesitantly approached the arched portal and the orb went within first as a beacon for them to follow as it lead the team to the shortest path of the three orbs that had been sent, the other two orbs still not making an appearance.

Up and up they would go. Sometimes coming out of a portal upside down and hanging over a deadly empty space that should whatever magical gravity that held them let go they'd fall to their death. On and on it continued with the orb leading them through the correct portals at certain junctions. However the orb began to dim more and more over time as the magic of it began to wane. It lasted just long enough for them to go through one final portal which ushered them into some ruined courtyard of the looming castle.

There was nothing but silence to greet them here. No sounds of hidden monsters, no whispering voices, just complete unnerving silence. As much as they would be tensed and ready for enemies or any kind, none appeared even as they made their way closer to the castle itself until the were before a set of looming stone doors. Door which once the whole team was standing before opened with a loud grinding sound as it revealed a ruined stone castle interior beyond.

The castle was in a state of crumbling decay showing signs of immense age and wear. Still there was only silence and no sign of any enemies. It was enough to unsettle the team leaders at the oddity of a lack of threat as they made their way through the castle. "Strange she's not throwing anything at us this deep into her territory," Tristan whispered, not wanting to talk loudly if there was something lurking, stalking, or waiting for them.

Feet crunched on broken glass from windows that had broken who knew how long ago. Corridor after corridor it was the same until they reached a large set of ancient wood double doors and before them was a familiar figure; the Ambassador.

"Welcome Agents of SMITED. You have reached Queen Pandora's throne. As by the agreement neither myself nor the Queen may directly harm you. While you may feel inclined to attack, should any of you do so we are within bounds of the agreement to defend ourselves. Also, as much as you may also feel a need to be rude, please remember you are in Queen Pandora's domain and to try and have some decorum."

The doors behind the entity opened on their own and the Ambassador turned their back to the group before stepping into the throne room where a shadowed figure sat upon the ruling seat of power over this evil pocket dimension. Those who were corrupted within their trails would feel a strange pulse through them and the desire for the gems increased greatly, now they knew who exactly still had their gem and where. It would be so easy to take them.

Closer and closer to the throne was the team lead until the Ambassador halts and politely asks the team to stop at least fifteen feet away from the dias. There, sitting upon the throne with a neutral expression and half-rotting body was Pandora herself.

In a voice that was many but spoke the same words, her dark lips parted and she spoke, "How amusing."

 

[Hanarei]

Felicia blinked at the nickname Spooky though she didn't really do much else in response. The fact he was being a bit sarcastic hardly registered in her mind at first as he seemed to pass on the offer of her lifting him with her powers. She simply gave Caddigan a nod in response uncertain of a good response to give back. At the very least she questioned whether he was being serious or not... though was that much better then believing what he was saying was true?

Felicia heard Theo's response turning her head to give a light nod back. In some truth she did wish she could simply use her powers on the two to carry them around though she had to admit she already was feeling a bit... off. She seemed to of passed the test... at least it seemed to be that way, though there was something about it that lingered in her mind that she just couldn't quite put her finger on what it was that was really bothering her. Perhaps it was simple the fact she had seen Brass in it who was looking... strange? Perhaps that was really what it was that was just throwing her off a bit and less the thought about her mother. There didn't seem like there was much reason for the later to bother her after all... was there?

If on queue moving forward she heard Brass speak up looking over at him noticing he seemed to focusing the question towards Theo. She blinked as she heard him speak. Perhaps it was a bit of naivety on her part that what he was saying didn't even register in her mind. The silence following the question only made it feel a bit more awkward even for her before Theo spoke up. It was with Theo's response seemed to what make it really click in Felicia's mind what he was talking about. Her cheeks seemed to tint a light shade of red as if registering the thought and the embarrassment about such a topic though her expression other side remained rather neutral. It was rather... strange to hear it being said in such a way. She wasn't completely clueless on the topic though what she knew of it was purely from a sex ed side of the issue as if you might read it from the textbook. With Jasper's comment it only made her feel that much more oblivious to the odd lingo... and what exactly was it meant as a feeling you had as a human 'all the time'? DId she have that feeling but just didn't understand that was what it was?

With Jasper's orb returning, the group followed along. A sense of Fatigue was hitting at Felicia wandering up the steps her lack of stamina all but playing a part. The urge to levitate herself lingered in her mind though she figured it might be too risky to do so... not to mention she was in charge of watching over Theo and Caddigan. She hadn't even realized the Dhampir had lessened his grip on her likely in part due to the fact her own feet were aching a bit forced to walk up so many stairs manually. It was when they reached the courtyard and seemingly their end destination a sense of relief came over Felicia as she leaned over taking in a deep breath attempting to regain her stamina a bit taking advantage of the break even if short. Seeing the Ambassador she quickly picked up her head attempting to relax herself as to look more proper while still giving herself a chance to catch her breath.

Following into the throne room she couldn't help but glance around. The place seemed so strange to her as she ventured in. Her hand reached down resting briefly were she had her stone tucked away in one of her pockets before slipping down down to her side. She still wasn't sure just what it was all about though hopefully they might get an answer soon. She turned her head up looking curiously up to seethe Queen Pandora. She glanced upon her body seeing the half rotting body. She blinked uncertain what to make of it. It was likely something that might make some feel queasy seeing, though fortunately her demeanor and suppression of emotions made it easier to leave her unaffected with her expression remaining rather neutral. She kept quiet, not wanting to say something wrong that might cause the group trouble.

Location: The Throne room
Mentioned:
Fable Tarmagon Morzone Thatguynameded baddervibes