je suis en here
uhh
sorry I haven't done replies a lot
I've been busy with school and such since I have Big Bad Exams on now :'))))))))))
my replies might be slow too aaa

(King) Hey, that's fine! School is evil and I can understand why you've been a little inactive. Take your time. X)

I'm not sure how much we're gonna be doing today. Draco should be here sometime later, hopefully.

sargones butte

Draco no
Sargon's butt doesn't belong here

I thought that said Sargon's baguette

I would rather it was Sargon's baguette than his butt.

When Sargon's plans to take over the country fail he moves to France and becomes a baker

That's assuming he's not dead by then--

(Fun fact I actually had the idea of Mortikai being fluent in French because he spent one of his regeneration periods in France)

Is
Is that
f o r e s h a d o w i n g - -

That's cool! Morty speaking French suits him perfectly, in my onion.

AND YES MAYBE IT'S FORESHADOWING
MAYBE I'M DARK BRINK

"in my onion"

please don't get in onions radiant

onions are opinions
you can have strong onions
and sometimes they make people cry

And opinions have layers

alsO RADIANT IS NOW DARK BRINK CONFIRMED

does that make Draco Light Brink

People can summon me to gain evil powers.

> You need 100 dead bodies to continue!

t i m e t o m u r d e r :))))))))

> Trades soul for 100 bodies
> Sells to Dark Brink
> Gains cool powers
> Beats school bullies but is forever owned by Dark Brink

(Raco) IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW
We skipped forwards to morning a while ago, so we have to do Sheldon/Tochi/Grandparents waking up or something
At the hotel

okieee
who is raco

Oh yeah
We need to move the dog squad

Yes, the dog squad too.

Wotsits are nice

Tochi awoke slowly and gazed around the room. Sheldon was on the other side of the small room, in another bed. There were two doors in the room - one leading into Henry and Caroline's room, and the other leading to a bathroom. There was a large window on another wall with pale yellow curtains.

aaaa ye what's next with the doggo squad

Sheldon had slept better that night than he had in a week. Maybe it was because the hotel was so far away from Shacklestone and the horrors there; maybe he was simply so exhausted by then that he fell into a dead sleep without a second thought. Either way, he woke up that morning feeling oddly relaxed.

'Hmm...?' He knew he wasn't alone in the room. Rolling over, he caught sight of Tochi in the other bed. 'Oh, you're awake already,' he mumbled sleepily.

(I'll write a thing for the doggos since they were left in the dust sorta oof)

Toby races through the alleyways, pausing every so often to make sure Jed was still following. His speed quickens as he sees Ango and Emilia waiting at the end, barking happily at them.

Ango gasps softly, grinning behind her mask as she kneels to greet them.
"Toby! Jed! You guys are okay!"

Keenan looks around, aimlessly looking through the alleys, then stops as he hears distant barking. He grins at Thorn.
"That'll be them. Come on!"

(King - Hey, is Mia around or does she only come out at night? I could have Ana or someone run into her if you like.)

Jed barked joyfully and licked Ango's knee. Then he shifted into a human. "Are both of you OK?" he asked, nodding in the direction of Ango's mum.

"Finally!" Thorn darted towards the sound of borking. "Time to get back with the squad!"

i forgot the mum name uh-
emilia or something?

"Good morning." Tochi sat up and reached under the bed to get her slippers. She put them on her feet and went to open the curtains. She wanted to see the city in daylight. "Did you sleep well, Sheld?"

'Mhm... Very well,' said Sheldon. He climbed out of bed with a contented yawn and gazed around the comfortable hotel room. He hadn't seen it properly last night, and he privately thought that if it wasn't a hotel, he would happily live here. 'It's nice sleeping someplace where there aren't armies of monsters.'

Mortikai slowly stirs as sunlight fills the room of the house he had crashed in, taking a moment to relish the fact he wasn't in any pain. Sighing hard, he sits himself up and slowly brings himself to his feet, wincing at the pain in his gut and chest from the fight the night before. At least it wasn't bleeding anymore. The shifter looks around, finding his way to the kitchen, grumbling as he realises all the food had already been ransacked from the place. Settling for a bottle of unlabeled alcohol as his breakfast (he needed it, and at this point he'd built up a bit of an immunity), he shuffles out of the house and in the general direction he knew Pythia's temple lay. After taking a swig from the bottle, he decides that it's some sort of cider. Hopefully.

(But what if it's not cider--
What then--)

"It's definitely a comfort," Tochi agreed with a short laugh. She opened the curtains and light spilled into the room. The city, while not looking as beautiful as it did the other night, still appeared quite impressive.

Henry and Caroline had showed no sign of being awake yet.

@Draco
(Yeah it's Emilia)

Ango jumps a little when Jed shifts, having not expected it.
"Jeez, you nearly gave me a heart attack! Kinda forgot that you're a guy too, hah."
She says this in a more light-hearted manner, not wanting to offend him in any way.
Toby continues to jump up and lick at Ango even as she stands up.

It takes a few moments for Emilia to register any of them, a smile appearing on her face.
"Oh, hello dear! Don't worry about me, I'm just fine. Where are your other two little friends? I suppose you'll all be heading off to school now, so early in the morning. You'd best be off before your step-father gets up, you know how he is in the morning."
She doesn't seem to fully remember the situation at hand, or her mind had blended the past with the present. Either way, she wasn't completely with it.

Ango's mood saddens slightly, taking her mum's hand.
"It's...it's the holidays mum, you said you'd take us out of the city for the day! Remember how we checked with Rus-...with, uh, dad the other day?"

Blinking, she slowly nods.
"Ah, yes. Silly me. As soon as your friends get here we'll leave."

(Every time I write something with Emilia I get really sad :')))

( @Radiant
Then he'll continue drinking it anyway, he'll get drunker quicker probably if it's something else)

'Um, this place has a restaurant, right?' said Sheldon. 'Maybe we should go and get something to eat...' He suddenly realised he was still wearing pyjamas, and fumbled around for his usual clothes. 'Just a second...' He hurried into the bathroom to get changed.

(I love all of the sad family stuff in this story.)

(You can just expect every time I have to write something sad I'll just be in the corner sobbing for ten years afterwards)

(Nooooooooo)

Tochi stayed in the bedroom to change, floppoing off her slippers.

She also closed the window, so she wouldn't be spied on.

all this sad family stuff then just tochi wondering if people would see her naked

Hello! I'm back! (Terminator theme plays.)

(Pfft Tochi
there are worse problems to have)

(Tochi and Sheldon are not here to be meaningful.)

(Hi Aggron!)

(I'd be more worried about Sheldon coming out of the bathroom early than people seeing me through a probably two-storey hotel window.)

( @Radiant So, I replied on the previous one a while before this one started. I don't think you saw those yet. @King Have Morty show up at Pythia's temple whenever you're ready.)

Armin shifted back to human form, landed in front of Eliza, and drew his sword, facing the staggering, half-dead monstrosities. 'Magnus!' he called out. 'I don't think these ones can be saved. We might have to finish them.'

'Umm, and how exactly do you plan on carrying all this junk through the city?' Ivy inquired with a raise of her eyebrows, but she did as she was told, dragging up a box from somewhere and throwing as many weapons as she could into it.

{Magnus looks over the edge, laughs, then jumps down.} "There's no threat here, people. Watch, I'll show you. Hey, Bufo! Quit scaring the poor girl!" {At this, the one in the front stopped advancing.} "Armin, these are infected draugrs! Remember when Dianne raised them to save your asses yesterday? Well, it looks like they accidentally picked up the curse as they were aimlessly wandering."

"That's how." {Just then, the rest of Jerry's family pulled up in cars.} "We're going to load them up and take 'em back."

'Oh, really? I didn't notice.' Armin watched the draugrs, but didn't get any closer to them. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Eliza was still there.

'Well, that makes more sense, I suppose.' Ivy filled the box and dragged it outside with some difficulty, hauling it into the back of one car.

(I forgot Sheldon.)

Several minutes later, Sheldon emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed, averting his gaze carefully just in case Tochi hadn't finished yet.

Jed looked sadly between Ango and Emilia. Their interaction was almost heartbreaking to see.

"I'm... sorry, Ango," he murmured, quietly enough so only she could hear. "You and your family have really been though too much."

(sorry that took so long whoa-)

Tochi was just finishing pulling up her skirt when he entered, and in a second she was all ready.

"Should we wake them up?" she asked, referring to her grandparents.

(i just wrote "should we them wake up" and nearly didn't realise)

{Magnus turns to the horde of shambling zombies.} "Alright, y'all had your fun. Dianne'll be here in a minute, so y'all stay where you are." {At this, about half of them stop. the other half keeps on shambling.} "Hey! what did I just say?" {It's at this moment when one of them speaks, and it becomes clear that half these zombies really are half-dead monstrosities, not draugrs.}
Infected: "My loyalty.....is to...Sargon....not....you...."
Magnus: "Well.....how 'bout that..."

Sheldon decided it was safe to look in Tochi's direction. 'Uhm... How about you - knock on their door or something, and I'll go downstairs and check out the restaurant?' he suggested. 'As soon as they're awake, you can come down too.'

Armin gave a grim smile. 'Well, that seems like a good enough excuse.' With that, he leapt into the horde of infected and cut down three of Sargon's loyals with a few quick sword slashes, leaping away again before any of them could touch him. He took a few steps back and surveyed the horde, thinking of how best to get in and kill the others.

{Magnus just chuckles.} "Why risk yourself, Armin?" {With a whistle, the draugrs among them turn on the infected, tearing them asunder in a horrifically brutal fashion.} "See? Simple fix."

'...Well, I guess that's one way to handle things,' remarked Armin, watching the carnage with something like a mixture of amusement and disgust.

{Jerry's family begins to pull all kinds of weapons out of the basement. Crossbows, rifles, handguns, grenades, even an old fashioned crank operated gatling gun.}
Jerry: "Hey, Ivy, come here for a minute."

@Draco

She sighs softly, then looks up at him.
"It's okay. You get used to it after a while."
Toby whines softly, leaning against her leg for comfort.

Finally, Keenan spots the rest of the squad at the end of the alleyway, grinning.
"Hey, guys! You're okay!"

{As she watched, Eliza was starting to look a little white. From around the corner came the Old Man, huffing and puffing. Clearly, he had tried to keep up during the chase, but failed miserably. Not far behind was Dianne.}
Old Man: "What...huff...happened?"

Ivy had been about to drag another box into the car, and stopped, going back to Jerry impatiently. 'What?' she said.

'Magnus is re-enacting a scene from a horror movie,' said Armin casually when he saw the others approaching. 'Just normal everyday things.'

waaaluigiiii

...uh i think imma go
i keep making obvious typing errors i think i need sleep-

{Dianne walked past them all to recall the curse, the Old Man catches his breath, and Eliza just kinda stands there.}
Magnus: "Hey, it might not be pretty, but it got the job done, didn't it?"
Eliza: ".....I don't think his leg....was supposed to bend that way..."

{Jerry presents Ivy with a revolver pistol, holster, and a lever action rifle.} "Here, these are yours now. The revolver's a 32. and the rifle's a 22. caliber. Take good care of them."

Armin looked at Eliza, then back at the horde, most of which were now lying dead in various states of mutiliation.

'...Hmm... Probably not,' he replied. 'Are you alright?' he added, realising he probably should've asked this before.

)Farewell Draco(

Ivy stared at the guns for a moment, then grinned wickedly and accepted them both. 'Thank you! I'm sure I'll find a /very/ good use for them someday...' She smiled creepily, envisioning herself blasting werewolves, then walked off to help pack the boxes into the car.

{Eliza doesn't answer right away.} ".....I think so...."
{The Old Man walks up to her and looks her over.}
"Sweetie, are you sure you're ok? You're white as a sheet."
Dianne: "If she can't handle it, take her back. We can't afford any delays."

'Hey,' said Armin, giving Dianne a sharp look. 'You don't need to be insensitive. I'm just as disgusted by all of this as she is. Just because YOU spend most of your time playing with dead bodies, it doesn't mean all of us are OK with it.'

(Hey, I need to head off for now. See you all tomorrow (or whenever)!)

{Dianne gives Armin a withering look.} "I'm sorry, but did you forget we're against the clock here? By the time night falls, all the curse except for what Oliver has must be recalled. That way, no one else can keep it going. I don't care if you don't approve of any of this. All that matters is that we get this done."

(By-bye!)

'It's only morning,' said Armin. 'We have ages until nightfall.' He looked around, noticing that all of the infected minions were dead now, leaving only Dianne's draugrs. 'So, where do we head next?'

"We need to go back to the Orphanage." {She says while walking back.} "Because Eliza ran off, I wasn't able to finish in there. Let's go." {But before she left, she yelled out to her draugrs in her native tounge, causing all of them but Magnus to scatter in all directions.}

{As Ivy went back to work, so did Jerry. With everyone working together, it didn't take long to empty out the basement.}

Ivy threw the last box into the car with a grunt. 'Well, that's all done! Finally.'

Before anyone could do anything else, there came the sound of feathery, flapping wings from above them. Quick as a flash, Crowley swooped down out of nowhere, stole Jerry's hat from off his head, and then flew back up to the top of the building, cackling with mad laughter.

Armin nodded and followed her, resting his sword on his shoulder as he walked. He didn't say anything, but stole one or two concerned glances at Eliza to see if she was doing alright. Though he'd been annoyed with Dianne for her lack of tact, he couldn't help but feel that maybe she was right; maybe Eliza wasn't cut out for this kind of job.

{Jerry ducked out of instinct when Crowley took his hat. Turning around, he yells up at Crowley.} "Hey! Sargon promised us you wouldn't be here! Now give me back my hat and get lost!

{Eliza was walking slowly with the Old Man. The two were talking, but too low to hear, and Eliza seemed to be rather upset. It didn't take long for the group to reach the orphanage.}
Dianne: "Alright. I'm going back in. Stay here, unless you //like// the nightmares.
Old Man: "Alright, but I'm taking Eliza back while you're in there. She says she's had enough zombies and guts for one day."
Dianne: "Fine. Go. This one might take a while anyway."

Armin glanced between Eliza, the Old Man, and Dianne. 'I'll stay outside the building. I'm not going into that hellhole with you, but I can warn you if anything unexpected shows up.'

'Who's this Sargon? Is he the guy who killed all the humans?' asked Crowley, as he perched on the roof of the office, holding the stolen hat in his claws. 'D'you think I WORK for him or something? Well, I don't, and he can't make me do anything!'

"Uh-huh." {Dianne acknowledges before re-entering the building. The Old Man takes leaves with Eliza, leaving Armin alone with Magnus, who has a suspiciously mischievous look on his face.} "Well, that was a dramatic twenty minutes. But how about now we...express our love for Sargon, eh? Eh?" {Magnus says while holding a phone.}

Jerry: "Uh, yeah. Yeah, he is. You don't work for him? Well that explains why you're here...Look, pal, that's my favorite hat. Just give it back to me, alright? What are you even trying to do?"

'Why not?' said Armin with a chuckle. 'Let's see how good an actor you are. He'll probably just hang up on you, you know.'

'Annoy you! What else?' cackled Crowley. 'I don't have anything to do and I'm bored. I COULD just kill you, but sometimes it's more fun to just mess with people.'

(Whoops, I just realised that I broke Crowley's shapeshifting ability by having him wake up earlier as a human, and then show up now as a dragon. I'll just say that he was a dragon when he woke up.)

{Magnus clears his throat, flips open the phone, dials the number, and waits for Sargon to pick up. On Sargon's end, he'll just see an unknown number that's different from Dianne's.}

Jerry: "Hey, it's not my problem if you have no life. Give me back my hat before I shoot you off the roof and take it back!"

Sargon was pacing up and down his office, thinking of how he was going to transport his people to the Old Kingdom, when the phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it. 'Who is this?' He'd been sure that nobody knew his number besides Dianne.

Crowley sneered down at him. 'Yeah, I'd like to see you try that. I'm fast enough to dodge bullets, if I try hard enough.' However, perhaps he didn't want to risk getting shot at, for his dropped the hat over the edge of the roof to land in front of Jerry. 'Dunno why you care about this piece of old crap so much.'

"It's me, master." {Magnus starts in Ana's voice.} "A lot has happened over the past days, and...well, there's something I need to confess to you before this body decays away. "

{Jerry stoops down and picks up his hat.} "A winged rat like yourself wouldn't understand."

'Ana?' Sargon hadn't expected this; he hadn't even known that his right-hand owned a phone of any sort. He was also a bit concerned about how she knew his number. 'What is it you need to tell me?'

'Winged RAT? Haven't you got eyes in your head?' Crowley exclaimed. 'I'm clearly a CROWDRAGON! A cool, awesome, deadly crowdragon with sleek blue feathers and huuuuuge claws. And I could still decide to kill you if I wanted.'

{Jerry waves his hand in an exasperated and dismissal fashion.} "Whatever. You had a chance two nights ago when we met in the street. If you'll excuse us, we have work to do."

"Well, all of these events have made me realize that...nothing is forever. One day, you're a beautiful dark witch, and the next thing you know,...(sob)...y-you're a hideous Zombie!" {After a few moments of sobbing, Magnus continues.} "So, before this body crumbles beneath me, and I lose my voice forever, I have to tell you...I //love// you! "

'Sure you do.' Crowley grinned down at him in a slightly creepy way. 'Maybe I ought to follow you. You might be up to something interesting.'

There was a long silence. Then Sargon replied in a slightly weary voice, 'Ana, I already know this. I have known for years, even if you never said it. And you do not need to worry about decaying. If the body you have fails, my necromancers could move your mind into a new form. There is no need for any 'last confessions'.'

Armin rolled his eyes at this. 'Typical of him to not even care when Ana tells him she loves him.'

{At this, Aunt Sarah steps in. } "Beat it, birdbrain! We don't need you hanging off of us like a ball and chain."

{Magnus grins evilly, giving Sargon a moment of silence.} "So....Do you not have feelings for me?" {Magnus says, making it sound like Ana's about to cry. }

'Oh, yeah? What are you gonna do to stop me?' Crowley made a rude gesture with his claws and stuck his tongue out at her.

There was a barely-audible sigh from the other end of the phone line. 'Ana, I value you greatly. You are my most loyal follower, and I would probably not be here if it weren't for you. As such, I DO care about you. But I do not return your feelings of... 'love', if that is what you're asking.'

Sarah: "Why don't you come down here and I'll show you!"

{There is silence, followed by uncontrollable sobbing and wailing.} "I //knew// it! You don't love me! My life has no meaning! Whaaaaa!"

'No way, lady. If you're so tough, then you show me how you're gonna stop me,' said Crowley, not coming down from the roof. 'Otherwise I'm just gonna fly above you for the rest of the day.'

'Ana, your life has more than enough meaning,' said Sargon, in a tone that suggested his patience was wearing thin. 'I still wish for you to be my right-hand. Find somebody else to love - somebody who is able to return it.'

{Narrowing her eyes at Crowley, Sarah gets her rifle off her back and aims it right at Crowley.} "Move, bird. Get lost."

"YOU DON'T GET IT!!" {Magnus shrieks in typical Ana fashion.} "I CAN'T LOVE ANYONE ELSE! I'm a walking corpse now, and //no one// will ever love me now! I wasted my life chasing you, I have killed for you, I \\DIED// for you! I feel so stupid....Why didn't I see it sooner!?"

Crowley squinted suspiciously at the rifle, as though trying to decide whether it was real or not. Then, without a word, he vanished with sight.

'Ha! He's gone!' said Ivy smugly.

Once Magnus started ranting in Ana's voice, Armin walked away a few steps so Sargon wouldn't hear him laughing on the other end of the line. He gave Magnus a thumbs-up, grinning.

Sargon was silent for a minute, clearly trying to think of a suitable response to this. 'You are not stupid, Ana. Perhaps it was my fault for not addressing your... feelings sooner. After all, I knew about them. Maybe I should have said something years ago, to save you the disappointment. But it's done now. There is no use in being upset.'

"No use? NO USE?! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?! DO MY FEELINGS MEAN NOTHING TO YOU? I have been in love with you for //years// and you expect me to get over my feelings in a MOMENT? Wahahahaha!" {Magnus might be making crying noises, but he looks like he's laughing.} "I can't do this anymore! I'm going to fly straight into the nearest volcano and end it all! Good bye, cruel world! Wahaaaaaa!"

{Sarah lowers her rifle, smirking a little.} "Wise choice, rat."
Jerry: "Ok, now that that's over with, we should rendezvous with Dianne and the others."

'Yep! Let's go!' said Ivy. //I wonder what the others are doing now? ...Picking apart rotting bodies, I expect,// she thought with a grimace.

'Ana, there aren't even any volcanoes in this country,' said Sargon wearily. 'And stop being so ridiculous.' He was about to say something else, but at that moment the phone connection died. He thought about calling her back, then decided to go and search for her instead. //She can't be far away. I will talk to her in person.//

Armin had been listening closely. 'Ha! That was great! I can just imagine Ana having a tantrum like that if he rejected her feelings... That's probably why she's never told him...'

{Just as Jerry's group was leaving, the Old Man and Eliza shows up.}
Jerry: "What are you twomdoing back?
Old Man: "Eliza wants to stay with the convoy. The infected got to be a little too much for her."

{As soon as the phone cut off, Magnus starts howling with laughter.} "Ahahaha! Oh, man, that was good. In fact, I might just upload it to that interwebs stuff you young people use." {Magnus holds up a recording device. He had been recording the whole thing. From behind them, however, Dianne speaks up, leaning against the doorway. Apparently, she had been there for a good time, listening.} "Well, sounds like you two had fun."

Ivy sneered a little. 'Pff, some monster hunter you are if you can't even handle this stuff. /I/ would have been fine!' she said boastfully.

Armin turned to see Dianne standing there. 'One has to find ways to pass the time when one has nothing important to do,' he said. He turned back to watch Magnus. 'I just wish I could see what happens when he goes to find the real Ana.'

{Uncle Steven slaps Ivy's arm with the back of his hand to get her attention, then shakes his head while mouthing "No", in order to get her to knock it off. At the same time, the Old Man passes Eliza off to Grandpa Joe.}
Grandpa Joe: "That's ok, sweetie. Necromancy and magic diseases ain't what we're used to. You just stay here with me an' yer dad, and we'll guard the cars while Dianne does her stuff, ok?"

Magnus: "If only! But, they're all at the tower, and we can't go there. Ah, well, I guess we'll have to wait until we get the angry phone call from Sargon."
{At this, Dianne facepalms.}
Dianne: "For the record, when Sargon asks, I'm throwing you both under the bus."

Ivy shot Uncle Steven a silent death glare. but kept her mouth shut. //Whatever. I can still THINK what I want, even if I can't say it.//

Armin shrugged uncaringly. 'Oh well. It's not like this is the first time I've ever annoyed him... Although, I wasn't the one who actually called him, so I'll be pointing the blame at you,' he added to Magnus.

@Aggron
After wandering for a good while and drinking half the bottle of miscellaneous alcohol, Mortikai finds himself at the door to Pythia's temple. He felt a certain unease, though that would probably be due to the fact he was the right hand of a malevolent spirit about to tresspass on a benevolent god's turf. Apprehensively, he knocks on the door. At this early hour, he didn't expect a quick answer.

{Eliza nods mournfully, opens a car door, and sits. Sarah then addresses everyone.} "Alright, let's get a move on. We've got to make sure that this curse gets recalled."

{Now, Magnus shrugs uncaringly.} "Ah, well, it doesn't matter. I'm dead, so what do I have to lose? If Sargon somehow kills me, I'll just come right back, and if I kill Sargon, well, mission accomplished. Then we can all bust out that bottle of Akhetian Ale you've been aging for a few hundred years and get completely wasted, eh, Dianne?" {At this, Dianne blinks a few times and hisses something at Magnus in an indiscernible language. Clearly, that was something she didn't want anyone to know.}

{After Mortikai knocked, a tired sounding voice rang out.} "Coming....." {After about thirty seconds, a very tired looking Pythia opens the door.} "What's the ma-....Oh. It's /you/. What do you want?" {As soon as Pythia recognized Morty, she narrowed her eyes at him.}

Ivy rolled her eyes. 'Yes, let's get a move on. I'm very interested to see what you plan to do about this Illusionist person come nightfall.'

Armin gave a laugh. 'Sounds like a plan, Magnus. As soon as Sargon is dead and out of our hair, we'll have a party. I'll help organise it. It'll be great. I haven't been to a party in years.' He grinned at Dianne's intelligible statement and shot her a brief amused look.

@Aggron
"Look, I know you're probably the last person you wanted to see, but me being here isn't so I can "spread the evil" or whatever you think I do. I'm hurt and Dark Brink won't do anything to help. Says he's...saving power for something."
He leans against the doorframe with one arm, his face scrunching up slightly as he tries to focus on making his speech sound as sober as possible.

(Morty, get off the alcohol.)

{Magnus just laughs and Dianne just scowls at the both of them.}
Dianne: "Whatever. Let's just finish this first. We need to backtrack a little to get to the next area." {Dianne starts walking, expecting them both to follow.}

{Jerry's group starts to move in the direction of the orphanage, looking to meet up with Dianne.}

{Pythia screws up her face when she sniffs the air.} "Have you been drinking?" {Sighing, she continues.} "The Goddess says we cannot pick sides or refuse those in need. How I wish I could refuse you. Come in." {Pythia steps aside, allowing Morty to enter.}

Armin fell into step a little behind Dianne. 'Hey, I think I can smell the others,' he said casually after walking for a short distance. 'They might be coming to find us.'

"Yes, I can smell them too." {Dianne replies. Not long after, the groups meet.}
Jerry: "Alright, we're all done over there."
Dianne: "Good. Now, about Oliver."
Jerry: "I think our safest bet would be to find him while it's day, so he can't hide."
Dianne: "Agreed. But first, we need to recall the remaining curse."
Jerry: "Alright, lead the way."
{With that, the group begins to move again, following Dianne.}

@Aggron
He grins slightly, holding up the half-empty bottle.
"A quick fix for pain, mental and physical. I'll ditch it if you're against it."
He places the bottle on the floor outside before taking his hat off to step inside.
"Thank you, by the way. I suppose I should take my coat off too, so you could have a better look at me. I don't think being a chew toy for a giant snake has done wonders for me, hah..."

@Radiant
(You can take the alcohol from the man, but you can't take the man from the alcohol--)

'How long is this curse-recalling thing going to take?' yawned Ivy, bored that she hadn't gotten to do anything except walk around and unpack Jerry's basement. 'And how are you going to FIND him, anyway? You don't have a clue where he is.'

{Pythia just sighs.} "Go into the third room on the right. I'll be right there. Do not enter the rooms sealed by the wards. There are infected in there. If you contract that, I will not be able to save you. "

Jerry: "Recalling the curse might take a little while. This city is pretty big. As for Oliver, we have an idea where he might be."
{Just then, Dianne stops at an apartment building with some dead infected in the front.}
Dianne: "Stay here. I'll be back shortly."

Armin watched her go, then gave a small sigh and sat down on a bit of half-broken stone wall. 'Sometimes I can't help feeling that nobody has any purpose when she's around. I mean, why are we actually here? She can do everything herself.'

'Mmhm,' agreed Ivy grumpily. Then she looked annoyed with herself. 'Ugh, I don't even LIKE you, and I'm agreeing with you.'

Magnus: "Welcome to my life. T-T"
Jerry: "Well, we have our run of the city. What do you want to do?"

( @Radiant and @King So, After this, Dianne's going to go over to Pythia's and probably run right into Morty. After that, we can either skip to when the rest of the curse is gone and the hunt for Oliver is on, or, we could do some other shenanigans. I had an idea. What would DB and Sargon do if Liza and Nate, those other two Brink traitors, caught the curse? Sargon needs to be the one to kill them to get awesome powers, but the curse threatens to do that instead, and setting up that big circle might take too long. What'chall think we should do? Timeskip or shenanigans?)

(I'm OK with either, as long as the timeskip isn't too big. But it might be fun to do some random stuff with other characters while Dianne recalls the rest of the curse.
Hmm, if the two traitors caught the curse, and Sargon isn't able to kill them, I think he would try to call Brink and tell him. Brink might decide to kill them personally or have someone else do it, if he sees that Sargon can't.)

Armin shrugged slightly. 'There isn't really anything I want to do here,' he said. 'At least, nothing that doesn't involve attacking Sargon's people and breaking the truce. It'd be nice to talk to Frederick, seeing as we haven't heard anything from him since yesterday afternoon, but he'll be with Sargon's troops, and they're ordered to stay away from us.'

(The timeskip would only be like two hours out of the day, so not big at all. I'd love to do some random stuff, but what and with who? I think it would be funny if the doggo squad or Mia ran into some infected. XD But, that might turn depressing if Emilia thinks the infected dude is like, the milk man, or something and catches the curse. : ( Maybe Crowley can show up again? He doesn't seem like the type to give up just 'cause someone pointed a rifle at him.)

Magnus: "Hey, does Fred have a phone? Could we prank call him too?"
Jerry: "....I'm afraid to ask..."

(Yeah, and the dog squad is probably out of business for the moment since Draco isn't here except on Saturdays. Let's do something with Crowley. I was actually thinking of having him come back, anyway. XD)

'I have no idea, and besides, we're not prank calling my son,' said Armin firmly. 'He probably has enough things to worry about.'

'I thought you could use telepathy,' Ivy said. 'Can't you talk to him that way?'

'Maybe, but we're a bit too far away. I'd need to fly closer to their base if I wanted to try.'

Magnus: "Awwww, c'mon! It'll be funny! I'll pretend to be Sargon and I'll make him do embarrassing things! Ahahahah!"
Jerry: "Yup, definitely not asking..."

(Ok, bring him back when ready. That crazy birdo is bound to make things interesting.)

@Aggron
""Infected"?"
He echoes, sounding confused. He pauses a moment to look at her.
"What, is there some kind of illness going around?"

(Thank you for not choosing the depressing option XD
But yeah! I could yeet Mia in Crowley's direction and we could have fun squad 2.0 since Morty and Thorn left Crowley last time.)

{Pythia just looks at Morty disbelievingly.} "What? Are you blind, deaf, and noseless??! How could you miss the full-blown epidemic happening right outside?! What, did you think those people shambling around outside with black veins and red stuff oozing out of their eyeballs just had a bad case of pink eye?"

'No,' said Armin. 'Besides, he'd probably guess it's not really Sargon. The one with Ana was more believable.'

Ivy glanced between the two of them. 'What have you two been doing?' she said suspiciously. 'Actually, never mind, I don't want to know either.'

Just as she finished speaking, there was a loud, bird-like screech from somewhere above them. It seemed that Crowley had teleported into the sky above them. He flew down and landed on the roof of the building Dianne had just entered.

'Hi again!' he said, grinning down at them all.

(King - Mia could run into Crowley while he's annoying the others, maybe. XD)

{When Crowley appears, there's a collective groan from the group.} "Sarah: "You again? What is it now?"

'I'm here to have fun, of course! What, did you think I'd run away like a coward just 'cause you pointed a gun at me?' Crowley gave a short, cackling laugh. 'Maybe if you tell me what you're up to, I won't bother you.' His tone of voice did not inspire confidence.

@Aggron
Mortikai looked hurt for a moment, then his expression changes into one of anger.
"Well, I could smell the death in the air, but I thought it was just all the dead humans that have been lying about for a week or so. And as it turns out, I've been too busy getting stabbed up by two guys with a thing for knives and finding out that my master's been keeping important information from me."
He sounds bitter, turning and walking to the room Pythia had told him to go into, finding somewhere to put his hat and coat. He debates on taking his shirt off too, but decided that only removing his tie for now would do. Now that he had been moving around a bit moreb Morty could feel the pain of his wounds creeping back up on him.

(Oof yes robot gal shall appear soon--)

Sarah: "Go away, bird. We're not telling you squat."
{At that moment, Dianne walks out of the building. Looking up, she spots Crowley.}
Dianne: "Bird! So, you've survived? How disappointing..."

{Pythia just crosses her arms and walks to get her supplies.}"Your master wouldn't have anything to do with this outbreak, would he? After all, he does feed off of misery and negative emotions."

'Hey, it's you! I fought you once, it was pretty cool. Wanna go again?' Crowley grinned, narrowing his eyes at Dianne. 'Looks like you don't have a dozen zombies to hide behind this time...'

Magnus: "She doesn't need 'em to beat you."
Dianne: "If you wish to die, then go ahead and try again."
Jerry: "Hey, hey, hey, no. We don't have time for this. Dianne, we need you to recall this thing. If you get killed, or too hurt to on, we'll have a serious problem. Leave the bird-guy alone, and let's get going."

'Hey!' said Crowley again, sounding aggravated this time. 'Why can't anyone remember my name? It's CROWLEY. Crow-Lee. Got it? Stop calling me stupid nicknames.' He didn't seem aware that he'd probably never told any of them his real name until now.

@Aggron
He thinks for a few moments.
"I know his powers and limits. Something like this isn't his style, infection and rot. He's more...darkness swallowing everything up, as if that wasn't clear just from himself already."
He shrugs, wanting to cross his arms but would rather avoid more pain.
"I mean, it's not like there isn't a powerful necromancer in this city or anything. I would've thought she would have been first on your suspect list."

(he's callin u out dianne wut u gonna do)

Magnus: "Actually, you've never told us your name until now.
Dianne: "And I don't give a damn about what your name is."
Jerry: "And we really don't know you, like, at all. How were we supposed to know?"

{Pythia enters the room with her supplies, frowning.} "I'm already aware that it originated from Dianne. However, she didn't unleash it. That was done by someone who stole it from her. So, I ask again, does your master have anything to do with this?"

Crowley frowned as he considered this. A moment later, his usual toothy grin fell back into place. 'Eh, I don't care anymore.' He glanced at each member of the group in turn. 'There's a lot more of you than there was before. You must be doing something REALLY big. Has it got something to do with this weird disease going around?'

Dianne: "Mind your own damn business, Crowley. "
Jerry: "But yes, we're trying to get rid of it. "

@Aggron
"If he does, he hasn't told me. There's...a lot of things he hasn't told me as of late."
Mortikai glares at the floor, a half angry half sad look in his eyes that he quickly blinks away.
"None of our current proxies would have been able to steal such a power, but I feel that someone new has been inducted. Of course, I know nothing about it other than the fact that a summoning circle was used. I haven't had the time to question about it, but I'd likely get an answer as straight as that curled grin of his."

{Pythia sighs, putting her supplies down.} "Of course he would. That foul rodent would never give an honest answer. Take off your shirt, I need to assess your injuries."

'Niiiice,' Crowley replied, ignoring Dianne's rudeness. 'I guess I won't try to kill you, then. 'Cause if this disease spreads everywhere, I might get infected too. But that doesn't mean I can't mess with you.'

He leapt off the roof and flew straight at Dianne, front claws outstretched to stab. He wasn't really making a serious effort to attack her - he mostly just wanted to see how she'd react.

{Dianne doesn't move.} "Magnus." {Quick as a flash, Magnus tackles Crowley out of the air, stabbing him between the ribs with a small blade.} "Shouldn't have done that Birdo."

Crowley yelped when Magnus intercepted his leap, and instinctively rolled sideways so that the draugr's blade only gave him a shallow stab wound. He scrambled away from Magnus, panting a little. 'Still hiding behind your bodyguards, huh?' he said, grinning nastily up at Dianne. 'Too scared to fight anyone by yourself?'

'She killed Sargon's right-hand minion by herself,' said Armin. 'Although, Ana was pretty stupid, so I'm not sure if she counts.'

{Dianne looks down on Crowley, both figuratively and literally.}
"The only reason you haven't fallen to my hand, is because you are worth neither the time nor the effort to kill."

'Oooh. Big words,' said Crowley mockingly. He turned his gaze onto the rest of the group, wincing a little from his new wound but trying not to show it. 'Are you the ones who told the Sargon guy to back off? It's been reeeeally quiet everywhere today. I've barely seen anyone.'

'How can he go from trying to kill us one second to making friendly conversation the next?!' muttered Ivy.

{Dianne just rolls her eyes and walks away.}"I don't have time for this. We still have work to do."

'Yeah, suuure, you walk away like a big coward,' said Crowley. 'But I'm gonna come too. I've got nothing else to do today.' With that, he folds his wings and begins padding after Dianne.

'This is so stupid,' muttered Ivy.

'Shut up,' said Armin wearily.

'Like, really, REALLY stupid.'

'Why don't you shoot him then?'

'Because if I miss, then he'll probably turn around and kill me! He's a lunatic!'

Jerry: "....wut?"
Sarah: "Hey! Who said you could come along?"
Dianne: "Fly away, birdy. I'm in no mood for games."

'Just let him come,' said Armin shortly. 'We don't have time to stand around arguing with him. We need to get to the rest of the curse.'

Ivy scoffed disbelievingly. 'Well, I'm going to be ready to shoot him if he tries anything,' she said, and pulled out her revolver to emphasise this.

'Killjoys,' Crowley muttered.

@Aggron
Simply nodding, Mortikai fumbles with his shirt buttons for a moment before taking it off, cringing slightly at the numerous wounds, bruises, and scars of various ages covering his body.
"Hm, a little worse that I thought. Probably got broken ribs too, that Vitis guy did bite down pretty hard..."

{Dianne just sighs audibly.} "Fine. The next place we need to go is Pythia's temple, Some of the afflicted likely sought refuge there."

{Pythia just makes a face at all the wounds} "Well, you must not be popular...Vitis, eh? What did you do to piss him off? {She says as she begins to asses the damage.}

@Aggron
"Nothing. His pal Crowley wanted to kill me for saving someone that might be important to me from his murderous claws."
Morty gently pokes the stab wound to his abdomen, immediately sucking in air through his teeth at the sudden jolt of pain that came from doing so.
"Ow, yep, that hurts. Definitely. And besides, they were the ones pissing me off, calling me disgusting names, as if I'd stoop so low. I might be the right hand of an evil spirit but I would never go round getting friendly with kids..."
He growls the last sentence quietly, his face twisting into a scowl.

{Pythia raises an eyebrow as she works, feeling his ribs for fractures.} "Friendly with kids? I don't know, Mortikai, he might have a point. Your master does seem to specifically target children to be apart of his group. Hmm. Ok. you have a stab wound, obviously, a few broken ribs, some rather large bruises, and, judging by the state of some of these scars, an early onset of scurvy. Not a fruit guy, I take it?"

Crowley grinned triumphantly as he followed. 'I've been there before. I know exactly where it is. I kinda want to kill that Pythia woman, she's annoying.'

Ivy face-palmed behind Crowley's back.

{Dianne glares back at Crowley.} "Lay one finger on her, and I will break every bone in your body"

'Awww, is she your FRIEND?' said Crowley mockingly, while keeping a few feet away from Dianne just in case she lunged at him. 'That's so cute, I didn't even know you HAD any friends.'

{Dianne just glares at Crowley.} "My life is none of your concern."
{The group begins to get very close to the temple now.}

'Gee, try not to be TOO polite. You might choke,' said the crowdragon sarcastically.

Armin rolled his eyes. 'Well, looks like we're here at last. How many infected do you think are in there, Dianne?' he said, mostly in an attempt to force the arguing pair's attention away from each other.

{Dianne Glares one last time at Crowley before answering Armin.} "More than last time. Stay here." {With that, she goes and knocks on the door.}

Armin stayed outside yet again, leaning against a wall of the temple and folding his arms. Ivy scowled before sitting down on a pile of rubble nearby.

'You can't tell ME where to go!' Crowley scoffed. However, he didn't follow Dianne, mostly because he had a feeling she might try to kill him and he didn't know how powerful she was yet.

(I like how Dianne has done nothing but glare at Crowley for the last three posts. XD)

@Aggron
"I'm Victorian, all we ever ate was fruit, it seemed. Though as of late, I don't really find the time to eat."
He shrugs slightly, tracing over a few as if he was remembering how he got them.
"Too busy doing evil things."
He says this with a humorous note to his voice, managing a slight smile. Upon hearing the knock, he looks up, an inquisitive expression on his face.
"Expecting anyone?"

(Yes I legit looked up Victorian diets for Morty's reply XD
Gotta get them accuracies--)

{Pythia just frowns.} "Brink might own your soul, but you still need to take care of your body." {Pythia looks up at the knock.} "Yes, actually. Come in, the door's open!" {After a few seconds, Dianne appeared in the doorway.}
Dianne: "I see you have more infected."
Pythia: "Yes. If you could help them, I'd appreciate it."
{Dianne looks Morty over with an undertone of disgust in her eyes.}
Dianne: "Of course. Mr. Catnip over there doesn't have it though, does he?"
Pythia: "No. He just got roughed up by a couple hooligans. I've got him handled."

(King - GOTTA BE ACCURATE
That sounds like the kind of thing I'd do as well. XD)

At that moment, Crowley came slinking into the room behind Dianne. He was grinning evilly when he entered, but his expression immediately changed to shock, and then to outrage, when he spotted Morty standing there. 'Oh hey look, it's the traitor friend,' he said. 'Did you come here to heal yourself? Did Vitis go a little too rough on the poor little kitty-cat?' he taunted.

(Imma reply at the new one, and after @King does.)