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[Ironsmith]

[Uninvited]

Kitsuki's brow furrows. Does this girl have so few connections. "Oh, you have a sister. Yes you should definitely call her." She seizes on that. Maybe that's a family link that can help her get wherever she needs to be...

The rest doesn't really do anything to make the kitsune feel better. "...We can do that, but what is this about?" She questions first.

[Uninvited]

"She won't be able to help me much. It's her boss I'd really need to talk t- actually I could probably get ahold of him really easily, come to think of it." Siana mumbles, holding her chin as she thinks this out. "...I'll talk with him as soon as I can, then. And hopefully get something sorted out. Provided this all resolves well, at least."

"See, while Anastasia and I were out last night..." Siana pauses, trying to figure out how much she could communicate to Kitty right now without getting the little ones all riled up and finally settling on some rather basic information. "...Someone... threatened her. Gave her two days to turn herself in to the Riverside authorities and confess to a crime she didn't commit... or else." She winces at that last part, still incredibly uncomfortable about the vagueness of the threat and therefore the appropriateness of her response. "When I learned about it, I promised her I wasn't going to let the other person hurt her, and I've kept that promise so far." She flicks her thumb under the head of her cane and draws the sword in it just far enough for Kitty to see that it's there, but not enough to see the blood on it. "We're only a quarter of the way into that time, and while the person who delivered the threat is... probably not going to be able to carry it out, she's got a bit of a reputation for being a schemer and the threat itself is still active, in all likelihood. So... if it isn't any trouble for you, I'd like permission to stay at least until the end of the week. So that I know she's safe."

Siana fidgets with her cane as she waits for an answer, uneased by how much she had to leave out. She could only share so much now, granted, but every bit of information that went unsaid seemed crucial to understanding what was happening. Not spilling the whole story now seemed... dishonest.

The most she can do about that now is resolve to share all the details when it's just her, Kitty, and Obriane. For now, hopefully she's shared enough to get the urgency and importance of the matter across.

[Earl of Purple]

Bloodplunder House- Chopping Block

"If you're sure, but... I don't have any cultural taboos against not wearing a top." He smiles a little at Aikobaz' caution and blush after nearly touching his chest, but he does button it back up again. "You do look comfortable. You should also consider a sports bra, if you're going to wear Hope's stuff when chopping wood. The sleeves are short, and her arms are wide."

And then the subject changes, to Aigothurz' relief. Though the subject's not so pleasant, and he'll sit down and give it a think. Not because he can't answer, but he wants to answer correctly. "No, I don't find you repulsive. But... But you're too used to giving orders, not used enough to asking or getting told 'no', and... you should wake up in Diplomacy and actually pay attention to the lessons, rather than spending your time dreaming about the exams." Dreaming about the exams and finding out what questions will be asked and looking up the answers is an effective way of passing exams, but... not the best way to learn a subject, especially not a subject as social as diplomacy. "So you're not repulsive, but you give many people a bad first impression, serving to repel them with your attitude and desperation. You're pretty, and you're smart. You aren't repulsive. But you're not as important as you behave, and that puts everyone off."

[Ironsmith]

[Bloodplunder House - Chopping Block]

It might not be such a relief when Aigothurz gets a good look at Aikobaz's response; her face looks something like someone just shoved a week-old fish into her hands and told her she should pay extra for the flatworm along its belly. Aigothurz isn't likely to have seen her so offended since they first met at Trog's.

Nevertheless, she manages to bite back her tongue and deliver a calmer response than is instinctual. "...I may have chosen my words poorly." She says quietly. "I did not mean 'repulsive' as in 'ugly'. I know I am not that. I am the product of thirteen generations of earthly perfection on one side and the woman who could convince a prince to abandon them on the other. If there was ugliness anywhere in my blood, it was bred out long ago." She gives a proud little smirk for a moment before returning to her dour frown. "I meant 'repulsive' as in 'repels others'." She takes a seat next to him on the stump, somehow managing to make the action look graceful despite having maybe two square inches of space to work with. "...Which, it seems, is indeed the case. And while I appreciate the attempt to spare my feelings, such as it is, it is an honest answer I require more. So perhaps my choice of words was apt after all."

There's a little chk! sound as Aikobaz sucks her teeth, taking a moment to think before responding further. "...I'm afraid you're quite mistaken, about many things, in what you have said." She continues, rubbing her hands together. "I am, indeed, as important as I behave. Probably more, if I'm being honest; being away from Zenith has taken away some of the burdens of the crown, and I freely admit I have grown lax in my sojourn. The trouble is that nobody here seems to notice, or care. Zenith is far away from them. The Astral Empire may as well be a myth. The throne that awaits me in the crystal palace holds no sway here. They do not fear me as my own subjects did."

"...And well they should not." She says after a moment, rubbing her hands together. "I'm not a monster. But, for some reason, the people here, they look at me and they hear me and they just... assume the worst." She reaches up and takes the diadem off her head, closing her eyes. "Even those who are close to me, and whom I would think would be most inclined to view me affectionately, are not above accusing me of unseemly conduct. Cheating on our exams by looking up the answers, for example." She grips the headpiece between her hands and shakes her head quietly. "...I simply do not understand it. Our teachers always go on about the value of hard work, discipline, and service to others, and in that capacity I am unparalleled. I am busy every waking hour, between school and chores and general favor-currying. And when I am not working awake, I work through my sleep, in study." She grimaces. "I do not see any point in passing these classes illegitimately. Or in shortchanging any of you when extending my favor. I do well in school because I am very likely the greatest student it has ever seen, and for no lesser reason."

"And nobody can accept that. They look at me and think I must be a fraud." She frowns. "...I will not be petty about it and go on to whine about how much that hurts. But... I have only ever lived as a superior. And so far as any of them are concerned, I am their superior. Am I meant to deny the truth of that just because they wish to be petty and bothersome? Is that the way things are done around here?"

[Earl of Purple]

Bloodplunder House- Chopping Block

"I did not say it was cheating. If it was cheating they'd have ways to stop you. I did not think you were cheating; the technique you use is valid. The issue is I do not know what you are dreaming about, only that you are and the future is involved. The conclusion was wrong; I hope, however, you see how people reach it. Because people go by appearances, and your appearance, in class, is to turn up, fall asleep, and ace everything. Nobody else can see how hard you're working, nobody else, frankly, cares. Everyone is working hard, and nobody cares. Nobody's heard of the Astral Empire. Nobody's heard of the Whispering Sea, which I am destined to conquer. Nobody knew you then, so all they see is who you are now. And who you are now seems, on first meeting, to be an arrogant, snobbish, insufferable brat so used to getting her own way she doesn't even ask to be your friend- she just assumes you're going to let her walk all over you to get what she wants as she makes grandiose claims and boasts she can no longer back up and has no evidence to prove." Aigothurz frowns, upset at having offended Aikobaz.

"You are not the most important person that school has ever seen. Your Empire is vast, but you did not build it. You inherited it. And you lost it. Will you regain it? I think you will. Will it have any further impact on the Nexus? I doubt it- you're the only person, to my knowledge, to reach the Nexus from it. I, on the other hand? I do not have an empire. I do not have a vast armoury of magical artefacts, or armies of loyal followers. I have nothing but a prophecy and an heirloom. The prophecy states I will rebuild an empire that originally spanned a quarter of the world, and expand it. Will that have impact on the Nexus? It might. I know how to get there from here, and vice versa. I could invade the Nexus, or recruit here, or donate to the school and keep it going. I do not rub it in people's noses, I do not boast or make grandiose claims, and if I did I'd carry them out. If I said I could stand on the other side of the house, throw my axe and split the wood on the stump, that's a grandiose claim. I would not say that. I'd say Aikobaz, stand over the stump, lift a piece of wood. I will chop that wood with my axe from the other side of the house." Aigothurz stands up and will stride towards the gate, staring at Aikobaz to make sure she's picking up a piece of wood.

[Ironsmith]

[Bloodplunder House - Chopping Block]

"...Wait, you... that wasn't hypothetical?" Aikobaz asks, a note of concern in her voice. "You actually want me to... have you taken leave of your senses?!" She stares at him in disbelief, worriedly eying the log next to her. "How are you- you do know what happens if you miss, right?! I'm not going to do that!"

Aikobaz has dealt with far too many assassination attempts to be at all comfortable with a halfish-orc throwing his axe at her. Which, admittedly, would still be zero, but having someone actually try to kill her didn't help in the slightest.

"You do hear me over there, right? Aigothurz?" Aikobaz calls.

[Gullara]

[Uninvited]

Kitsuki looks increasingly disturbed as Siana offers her broken explanation; especially so when the sword is revealed. Her tails twitch back and forth uneasily. "I don't understand what this all means." She lets out a breath. Okay, she better follow the girl's request.

"Just follow me." She walks path Siana and into the living room. "Come on, princess. I need you to watch the babies for a few minutes."

Annie looks stricken. "But they're so loud." She complains.

"It's just a few minutes, okay?" Annie groans, but she'll get off the couch. The whole group goes upstairs and into the hall that goes deeper into the apartment. There's two doors, one of which still has some crying coming from it. Annie winces. Kitsuki points to the other door. "Wait in there." She and Annie slip into the first room.

Siana is left waiting in what's clearly the master bedroom. The main feature is a moderately large bed, hastily made and with a pile of laundry on it. The entire room is in mild disarray, including more cardboard boxes in the corner like she saw downstairs.

She'll only be waiting a few minutes before she comes in, and behind her is another woman. Based on her resemblance to the other children, this must be Obriane. Kitsuki has already filled her in on the situation and what she's been told so far.

Upstairs

Eliseo startles and whips his head toward the door. Was Annie really that much of a menace? Or did he finally go to far for Ana's parents to tolerate. But no, it's nothing like that.

The boy looks at the second Ana dumbfounded. "Uh..." He looks back at the other Ana perched on his lap, then back at the door again. "Why are there two of you?" Is the best he can muster.

[Arkhosia]

[Uninvited]

Upstairs

"It's - w-well-" Stasia fidgets, shifting in Eliseo's lap. "R-remember that... dream I mentioned? A-about the fey party?"
"Yeah, I kinda, uh... got volunteered into a magic trick. Now I - well, we're split into two people, I guess," Ana finishes with a shrug. "We haven't exactly had time to find a fix for it yet."
"I'm sorry, I just - I-I didn't want you to worry, and - a-and I wasn't sure how you'd react, and -" she swallows, curling her tail close around her waist and squeezing it in her hands. "Please don't be mad at me."

[Gullara]

[Uninvited]

Upstairs

Eliseo is still clearly recovering from this shock, but he still has the presence of mind to reassure Stasia. "I'm not mad." He says gently, as he puts his hands on her arms and gives them a squeeze. "But... it wasn't just a dream then? If it was a dream then-" He gestures between them. "Unless I'm dreaming too."

[Arkhosia]

[Uninvited]

Upstairs

Stasia relaxes a little and nods, the tension easing from her shoulders. "No, it wasn't," Ana confirms. She shifts from one foot to the other. "I still don't know how much of it actually happened, and - we haven't talked to Kitty about all of it. It... wasn't a very fun dream." Both of them shudder.

"I don't think you're dreaming though," Ana adds, tail picking up into a gentle wave. She grins. "I could pinch you, if you want."

[Gullara]

[Uninvited]

Upstairs

Eliseo laughs, but there's still this incredulous breathiness to it. "I'll pass. You're not stuck like this, are you? Not that I mind twice as much Ana, but it seems like it could be awkward." He tries to make light of it, but it's undercut a bit. He can't help but actually be worried about this, for obvious reasons.

[Arkhosia]

[Uninvited]

Upstairs

"Well, um, we kinda are right now," Stasia answers, "but like, I'm sure there's a way to fix it, right? Like, I-I mean, magic can do all sorts of wonderful stuff, a-and maybe HALO will have a really dashing mage that can reverse it." She offers their boyfriend a bright, optimistic smile that only feels a little for her own benefit.

"Yeah, hopefully, because I mean, I don't even know where I'm gonna sleep tonight, there's not that much room on the bed," Ana adds, which seems to spark a thought in Stasia. "And like, this isn't even a win for Kitty, since she gets an extra pair of hands, but now she also has to worry about fixing all of this."

"A-anyways, um- we should probably let you go somewhere comfortable," Stasia suggests, shuffling awkwardly off of Eliseo and attempting to lead him gently back into the room. Ana, for her part, blinks, glances down and remembers she never finished doing what she'd come over here for in the first place. "I, uh, should probably finish getting dressed."

[Earl of Purple]

Bloodplunder House- Chopping Block

"No, yes, no, I know, and if you keep still it'll be fine. I hear you!" Aigothurz answers the questions in order, continuing to move around the house until he's standing in the front garden and eyeing up the roof. "Are you holding the wood over the stump? If you don't trust me, stand it up and stay away from the stump! I know what I'm doing!" He'll wait for Aikobaz to confirm either way before kissing the blade of his hatchet and throwing it into the air. It'll soar over the bungalow, seeming to pause at the top of its arc and gleam sharply before it continues on its way down.

It will hit the centre of the stump and thwack in with a vicious-sounding chunk. If there was a piece of wood over the stump, it'll fall in two pieces. If Aikobaz was holding it, she will find herself in possession of two seperate pieces of wood. If she was being stupid and had done something like resting her leg across the stump, she has lost the limb- though at least the glow of her blood will prove the axe is magical.

[Ironsmith]

[Bloodplunder House - Chopping Block]

Oh, good. A way to let Aigothurz show off without putting her cranium in danger. She'll take it.

When the axe comes down, she'll be standing close to the bungalow itself, hugging herself and rubbing her arms to fend off the cold. She gives an appreciative little nod when she sees Aigothurz chop the log in two from the other side of the house, internally admitting that it's an impressive feat of skill, even if he had magical assistance. But when Aigothurz himself comes back around, she'll have a couple of salient questions for him.

Namely, "What was the point of doing that?"

[Earl of Purple]

Bloodplunder House- Chopping Block

"Twofold. Proving that when I say I can do something, I am not boasting. People do not like boasting. Secondly, to show off a little- I don't do that often, people dislike showoffs too. If you are going to make grandiose claims- and you do- it is best if you also demonstrate the ability to back them up, at least some of them. You wish to not repulse people? Stop trying to intimidate them and start approaching them as you'd approach family. Somebody who might not be on the same level as you are, but isn't insurmountably high that they cannot reach you." Trying to intimidate Bloodplunders rarely works very well. They don't scare easily, and don't react well to trying. Nana reacts with humour; many of her children would react with hostility.

Aigothurz also cheated a little, with his axe-throwing feat. He knows a technique that attracts the attention of animist spirits, and by making bold statements and following through he's convinced the spirits he can do what he says he can, so now when he makes a statement requiring feats of physical skill or might they help him along. He'd teach it to Aikobaz, if he thought it'd help. The problem is, it's primarily physical efforts they help him with, which isn't Aiko's focus, and if she says something and can't follow through with it, the same spirits that boost Aigothurz will start to hinder Aikobaz as they assume she can't do anything she says she can do.

[Shadowcaller]

[Spookysitting]

Eshe goes right to the cabinet she knows mom puts stuff in. She rattles at the doors. "I can't get in!"

Jaazha stands by the door, bouncing from foot to foot. This isn't good! Then she sees Leis running by. "Leis! Help us!" She calls her over.


Meanwhile the other three are being pursued!

...Slowly. This doesn't seem to slow the girls down, though. "It's following!" Orlane warns as they run through the living room. They'll scoot out the door at the north of the room. Maybe trying to circle way around and find their sisters is the plan???

[Spookysitting]

Leis stumbles back as the ghastly apparition before her rushes into the binding plane, only to breathe a sigh of relief. Okay, now that she has it contained, she can work on banishing it-

Bonk!

"Agh!" The tiefling seems to jump and wince at the same time at the strike, raising a hand to the spot and whirling to face the sudden attacker - and then realizes her jeans are way too breezy right now. She takes a step back, glancing in worry between the witchlike spirit and the sudden change in attire. Aw man, and she'd liked that top too!

"S-stay away!" The tiefling chucks another handful of salt at the second ghost and turns to book it, running towards where she last saw the kids. Hopefully the first ghost wouldn't be smart enough to just float through the top or bottom of the golden phalanx around it.

[Spookysitting]

The witch-like spirit quickly floats away from Leis while cackling up a storm until it gets salt thrown at it. It's unclear if it directly hit it but at least it shut it up for a moment.
Meanwhile, the first ghost seems more concerned about making spooky faces from inside its prison. Grabbing its face with its claws to contort it into increasingly bizarre grimaces.
Neither of them seems to be following her right away.

Meanwhile the third ghost in the top hat pursues the girls but appears to lose track of them as they run like maniacs through the apartment. If any of them stops to look behind them the last thing they will see of it is stopping and making a 'Hmph'-like sound.

[Uninvited]

Obriane was convinced that all Kitsunes had to be related in spirit somehow if not in blood. If only since the things Ana got involved in were exactly the sort of things she could see Kitty do in her teenage years. Except maybe sleep around a lot more rather than limiting herself to one boyfriend.

This sounded a lot more serious than what she had been doing with Eliseo however.

Not that she completely understood what had happened yet. Nor was she sure she wanted to trust the word of a complete stranger with it. Or at last her first reaction to seeing Siana. "I- hello there." Obriane says hesitantly, honestly not sure how to greet this stranger who was suddenly in their home. This morning had frankly been something of a disaster ever since Kitty had to pick Ana up in those strange clothes. "I think we should wait for Ana to be here before you tell us anything... if that's okay." She was fine with waiting for Ana to be ready. Since she didn't want to make Ana having to tell her all of this again.

[Keeper]

Bed Talk

Jaahlyn nods. "Yeah, there was this band made up of succubi members and they were getting in some car trouble..." She pauses as while that sentence was short there was a lot in it for Jim to accept all at once. "-one thing lead to another and I got hired with MERC to handle security at their show since some demon hunters might be planning to kill them."

Jaahlyn scratches the back of her head. "...so that's when the explosion happened and one of the band members actually ended up getting killed. However, I didn't want her to go to their version of hell so I stepped in to maybe give her a better afterlife-" A small sigh escapes her lips. "-and ended up turning her into an angel instead. Whose like, able to come here and join up with her band again?" The satyr shakes her head. "-yeah, I was confused too but apparently that's just how it works over there. But the person that murdered her in the first place is still around and there might be other demons coming after the band too? It's honestly a big mess and now it feels like its my duty to protect them but I don't know for how long I can..."

Bed Talk

"Well uh. I'm not going to pretend that all of that made sense to me. Nexus afterlives are weird." And that's a general statement. Jaahlyn's system is pretty weird but other places seem to work in equally weird but completely different ways.

"But I do know that you don't have to do everything yourself. If you don't think you can do this forever surely someone can help you? I'm not ah, really going to be good at stopping a serial killer but well. MERC has tons of people, right?"

[Halae]

[Mouchabière Residence]

Sophie closes her eyes and relaxes. As stressful as this has been, especially with the unexpected twins, feeling Trick's pregnant belly close to her fills her with warmth. Those are their children, finally on their way.

[Mouchabière Residence]

As the pair of them close their eyes, the air begins to twist. Trick needed a spherical ritual circle for this, and that wasn't available without a lot more work than she was willing to put in. So instead, she used spatial manipulation runes on her
study in order to create such a place. It made the runework far more complex, but that was an acceptable cost for someone of Trick's skill. Half the reason she'd wanted Sophie to close her eyes was so that when the space warped, it wouldn't give her a headache.

The second reason, however, happens when Trick touches her bony forehead to Sophie's, and her soul extends forward to, for lack of a better term, 'knock' on the door to Sophie's soul. She could force her way in, but why would you ever do that to a loved one?

[Gullara]

[Uninvited]

Upstairs

Eliseo chuckles as he gets up. He's totally fine being lead out of the bathroom. "I mean I imagine someone's gotta be able to help you out. Hopefully it's not too much trouble."

He gives Ana an up and down look. "Don't feel like you have to put a shirt on for my benefit." He glances between the two of them. "Okay I admit, it's a bit awkward to flirt when there's two of you." He rubs the back of his neck and chuckles again.

[Arkhosia]

[Uninvited]

Stasia blushes a little while Ana giggles. "Whaddaya mean? I thought you'd be able to handle two of us," she teases, flashing Eliseo a cheeky grin as she stretches her arms up above her and wiggles her shirt on. "I mean, like, you're so cool and suave, you should totally be able to flirt with two girls at once and be just fine."

"Besides, I mean - we're still the same person, just - y'know, two of them," Stasia points out as she takes a seat on the bed, then glances at her dresser and hesitates. She should change herself right now, especially if she's going to head to her lessons still after all of this - but Eliseo's here right now and he said she looked hot, which poses a bit of a dilemma.

[Thursday Violist]

[Bellamy House]

It's pretty unfortunate that there's not a stark bad-guy, that she can't just blame one of these three.
...
At least, in Harley's eyes. It would be easier if there were.

Harley's never had experience removing a processing alternate-identity fairy. As long as she's thinking of things that would be convenient, if she had experience with that it would be much easier. It's not like she can just grab a sword and cut away a fey.

Harley does agree with Reinholdt, as far as she's seen fey have always made sense as soon as she learned enough about them. But she is literally the one present who knows the least about Otherbriane. So maybe they are right in this specific situation.
She puts her thumb and two fingers on her forehead and leans against it. Yeah, Harley does still have one thing that she really wants to find out about the incident. She's pretty sure there was some kind of mind control involved, and Harley wants to know how it worked, since knowing how it worked is the best way to counter it. However....
Harley glances over at Rein and his weird way of sitting.
It pretty clearly wasn't a normal kind of mind-control. From what she could tell, Rein can't even recognize he was in an altered state of mind, and whenever he has thought back to Otherbriane, he just seems to remember how glorious she was.

But it doesn't seem like asking questions will help at all with that. As far as Harley supposes, only way she could tell is directly observing Otherbriane but she's also pretty sure she'd rather not that happen anyway.

Harley shakes her head.
"Right, no more questions about that," she says. She breathes out, closes her eyes again, and then adds, "Well, I guess there's still probably things to discuss about what this means going forward." Do they just move on like nothing happened? What's Rein going to do? What's going to be done regarding any future potential encounters with Otherbraine?

Suddenly, though, there's a loud noise out in the streets, not directly in front of the house but a few houses down. A boom, then a loud crack, and a screech.
Harley glances over at a window to see if she can see anything...and she can't, from here.

-----------------

Sirena waited. The little machine needed to finish scanning Manja, and she needs to wait for a decent time in the conversation.

She steadies her breathing, to make herself seem less noticeable. She pulls out a little switch, like a detonator, that'll send a signal to her machines out in the streets, and she sets a timer to trigger the metal robotic cockroach, so that it'll start making a hologram image of Manja in that child's chair.

The liongirl creeps up the stairs, holding herself against the wall as much as possible. When she spots the kids playing with blocks, she makes a playful 'shhhhhh' gesture at them in hopes that keeps them passive long enough to not disrupt anything.
And, with her other hand, she triggers the detonator, causing the noise out in the streets.

At once, she moves towards Manja, as low to the ground and as sneakily as possible. She places a finger to Manja's throat - hijacking Manja's shapeshifting, to disable her vocal cords and keep her from crying out - and snatches Harley and Rein's kid. The robo-roach activates its hologram, and Sirena tries to back up and back down the stairs as quick as she can without making a loud noise.

[Ironsmith]

Bloodplunder House- Chopping Block

"Twofold. Proving that when I say I can do something, I am not boasting. People do not like boasting. Secondly, to show off a little- I don't do that often, people dislike showoffs too. If you are going to make grandiose claims- and you do- it is best if you also demonstrate the ability to back them up, at least some of them. You wish to not repulse people? Stop trying to intimidate them and start approaching them as you'd approach family. Somebody who might not be on the same level as you are, but isn't insurmountably high that they cannot reach you." Trying to intimidate Bloodplunders rarely works very well. They don't scare easily, and don't react well to trying. Nana reacts with humour; many of her children would react with hostility.

Aigothurz also cheated a little, with his axe-throwing feat. He knows a technique that attracts the attention of animist spirits, and by making bold statements and following through he's convinced the spirits he can do what he says he can, so now when he makes a statement requiring feats of physical skill or might they help him along. He'd teach it to Aikobaz, if he thought it'd help. The problem is, it's primarily physical efforts they help him with, which isn't Aiko's focus, and if she says something and can't follow through with it, the same spirits that boost Aigothurz will start to hinder Aikobaz as they assume she can't do anything she says she can do.

[Bloodplunder House - Chopping Block]

"...And... suppose for a moment I'm not trying to intimidate them." Aikobaz continues, wresting Aigothurz's axe from the stump and returning it to him, her cheeks visibly flushed. "Suppose my intent is simply to impress upon them with whom they are dealing, and it so happens that said 'whom' is someone by whom they are intimidated? Am I to be dishonest about that? Pretend to be less than I am?" She asks, tilting her head quizzically. Despite her diction, and the fact that she's holding out an axe to him, there's no undertone of aggression in Aiko's voice; she's curious to hear how Aigothurz resolves that particular dilemma.

[Uninvited]

Kitsuki looks increasingly disturbed as Siana offers her broken explanation; especially so when the sword is revealed. Her tails twitch back and forth uneasily. "I don't understand what this all means." She lets out a breath. Okay, she better follow the girl's request.

"Just follow me." She walks path Siana and into the living room. "Come on, princess. I need you to watch the babies for a few minutes."

Annie looks stricken. "But they're so loud." She complains.

"It's just a few minutes, okay?" Annie groans, but she'll get off the couch. The whole group goes upstairs and into the hall that goes deeper into the apartment. There's two doors, one of which still has some crying coming from it. Annie winces. Kitsuki points to the other door. "Wait in there." She and Annie slip into the first room.

Siana is left waiting in what's clearly the master bedroom. The main feature is a moderately large bed, hastily made and with a pile of laundry on it. The entire room is in mild disarray, including more cardboard boxes in the corner like she saw downstairs.

She'll only be waiting a few minutes before she comes in, and behind her is another woman. Based on her resemblance to the other children, this must be Obriane. Kitsuki has already filled her in on the situation and what she's been told so far.

[Uninvited]

Obriane was convinced that all Kitsunes had to be related in spirit somehow if not in blood. If only since the things Ana got involved in were exactly the sort of things she could see Kitty do in her teenage years. Except maybe sleep around a lot more rather than limiting herself to one boyfriend.

This sounded a lot more serious than what she had been doing with Eliseo however.

Not that she completely understood what had happened yet. Nor was she sure she wanted to trust the word of a complete stranger with it. Or at last her first reaction to seeing Siana. "I- hello there." Obriane says hesitantly, honestly not sure how to greet this stranger who was suddenly in their home. This morning had frankly been something of a disaster ever since Kitty had to pick Ana up in those strange clothes. "I think we should wait for Ana to be here before you tell us anything... if that's okay." She was fine with waiting for Ana to be ready. Since she didn't want to make Ana having to tell her all of this again.

[Uninvited]

"...Yeah. Okay. We'll wait for them." Siana says with a nod, after a moment of thinking about it. Talking about this behind their backs wouldn't be such a great idea overall. It'd be better to just get them all in the same room, lay everything out, and work out what needs to be done from there. No secrets between the lot of them. Should make things... not simple, but at simple as they really can be, given the circumstances.

[Earl of Purple]

Bloodplunder House- Chopping Block

Aikobaz will struggle to pull the axe out of the stump; it will resist being pulled out for a moment before it lets go of the wood and lets Aikobaz lift it. The apparent weight of it also rapidly changes whilst Aiko's handling it, going from incredibly light to very heavy with very little warning in between. Aigothurz seems to have no issue with the hatchet once it's been passed over, though.

"Then you're going about it wrong. You're intimidating them when you should be impressing them. Power can be scary, but you don't want that kind of power. At the moment, you're treating people as though they are servants, to be cowed and ordered. You should be treating them as supplicants, people who want something from you it's in your power to give. This is not because they have the power or influence to supplicate you ordinarily; but because you are not in your ordinary position. What they want from you is friendship, or simply to get past you in the corridor, or maybe they just want you to leave you alone. Imagine you're in your throne room, the centre of your power, and they're approaching you for a favour. You see?" Of course, this relies upon Aikobaz having something resembling a functional court full of aristocrats, overseers, nobility, servants, and upper-class individuals with the right to spend time in her presence and some measure of authority within her empire.

[Morty]

[Mouchabière Residence]

Entering Sophie's soul will resemble opening your eyes to the light of day. Trick will suddenly find herself standing in the streets of a small French town. By all accounts it looks like the town Sophie said she grew up in, but Trick has of course never seen it.

If Trick looks to the horizon, however, instead of rolling hills and vineyards as she might expect, she'll see a roiling wall of golden clouds, crackling with bright lightning as the barely-contained power within them churns. Above the clouds is a sun in eclipse.

Her wife will be right next to her, wearing a form-fitting white robe that exposes her shoulders.

"I didn't know what entering my soul would be like... but I'm glad you get to see my hometown at least this way."

[Halae]

[Mouchabière Residence]

Trick, on the other hand, will be wearing her armor. A white and red leather thing with spikes made of bone jutting from the shoulders and the outside of the gauntlets on her forearms, the jagged slashes of leather across her body give it a dangerous aesthetic. Which is immediately undermined by Trick's smile and her reaching to take Sophie's hand in her own.

"Mindscapes are always a little odd, but this is a nice place. But this is the top layer - we need to seek out the exaltation part of your soul."

[Morty]

[Mouchabière Residence]

"I think those clouds are my Exaltation." Sophie sweeps her other arm around her as she takes Trick's hand. "I have a feeling we'll find what we're looking for near the edges. Where the town and the clouds come together."

[Halae]

[Mouchabière Residence]

"Then let's go," Trick says, intending to lead the way towards the edge of town. Wanting to get somewhere, especially in a mindscape like this, is often more a matter of will and purpose than of physically walking somewhere, but walking is still an important part of the mental action of travel.

[Morty]

[Mouchabière Residence]

The city indeed passes them by much more quickly than it should. They see streets, buildings and vague contours of people. Sophie's memories of home. They will eventually reach a hill on the edge of the town, where the landscape seems to blur.

The normal French city starts flaking away into a mosaic of different places, under the glowing shadow of the golden clouds. A chorus of voices reaches them and there are indistinct figures in the shadow, performing all sorts of actions.

[Halae]

[Mouchabière Residence]

And this is where Trick's spellwork comes in. Normally stepping into this sort of thing would be a chaotic, confusing morass of different memories and sensations assaulting your mind. Instead, Trick extends her hand and, with the use of the run sphere, starts organizing it into something resembling a coherent road they can travel down.

Visually, this should end up as a road of some sort appropriate to the exaltation and exalted in question, the memories portrayed along the edges of the road that can be reached into to experience them more fully.

[Morty]

[Mouchabière Residence]

The clouds part, revealing a small crack, which shines dim sunlight on the ground below. As if revealed by the sunlight, a cobbled road appears. It leads off into the distance and is lined by two armies, with their leaders facing each other from the opposite sides of the road.

When the two approach, the armies are revealed to be large hosts of human fighters, both on foot and mounted on horses, elephants and other beasts. The army to their left outnumbers the one to the right and at its head are several figures in obviously magical armor.

A severe man with glowing red eyes, a bright read beard and hair and wearing a suit of full plate in a deep, dark red, carrying a poleaxe of the same metal. Beside him a hooded figure wearing a long coat riveted with bone-white plates, in their hands a heavy staff. A woman in black mail armor, in her hands a shield and a javelin, her skin blue with greenish hues, her eyes like the deep ocean and her thick braided hair almost floating. And a beautiful, pale woman in a shimmering white silk tunic riveted with rainbow-gleaming metal, hefting a bow banded with the same rainbow-hued metal.

Facing them is a young man with light brown skin and his black hair in a topkot. He wears a breastplate over a robe strangely similar to the one Sophie is wearing and there's a sword at his side. On his forehead blazes the same Caste Mark Sophie has.

[Halae]

[Mouchabière Residence]

"So, an important thing here is that we aren't in much danger, but you'll be experiencing the memories as if you're the one undertaking them," Trick says to Sophie, "That might make a few of them... unpleasant. I get to be an observer, of course, but you're still the one that'll be dealing with these prior incarnations. When you're ready, just reach out and touch him, and we can start."

Trick could be the one to initiate the memory, but that seems rather rude when you can get the person whos actual mind it is to handle that.