OH FRICK
I WAS EVIDENTLY NOT PRESENT BECAUSE I JUST GOT HOME HEEEECCCCKKKKKKK I'M SO SORRY
I,,,, will be more active and will reply during the week this time cus I'm off college this week aaaaaaaah,,,,,

Hey King! I guessed you must be busy. XD No worries.

AAAAAAH
I gotta read up oof,,

I kinda forgot exactly what the dog squad are doing... but I know Morty and Wendigo are having a conversation right now. And I gotta reply to Aggron's last post, so I'll just do that now.

(Also off-topic but it's suddenly gotten very cold over here, like... overnight.)

(Aggron)

Armin hurried down the tunnel, coming across the draugrs as they tried to figure out which crosspath Ana and Sargon had taken. 'Let me go ahead,' he muttered. 'I can find them by scent. You follow.' He then glanced around, quickly identified the correct tunnel, and began to run down it.

Ivy brought up the rear of the group, slightly out of breath.

--------

Deeper underground, Ana and Sargon were charging down another dark tunnel. Then, nearing the end of it, they suddenly halted. The tunnel didn't go anywhere - it was a dead end. Ana looked horrified, but Sargon's expression was completely calm.

'Do not worry, Ana,' he said. 'Remember, both of us are in league with Dark Brink. I am confident that if the worst comes to the worst, he will save us. In the meantime, let's just see what will happen.'

He turned to face the tunnel entrance, and waited for Armin and the draugrs to appear.

(Quick note for everybody: I'm going to have Sargon surrender and be taken back to Sovereign as a prisoner, and then probably try to escape later because he's annoying like that.)

(Yeah!! It's gotten way colder, it was /snowing/ this morning!!!!)

(You live in England too, right? I'm guessing you must live further north than me. We hardly ever get snow here.)

(Yeah, I'm up in the north east ;w;
It wasn't enough to lay cus I think it was raining during the night--)

(I'd probably rather live in the north than down here in the southwest. XD I like cold weather.
We did get a ton of snow last winter, though. It was the first snow here in five years.)

(I think I have to go, so I'll check back in whenever I can!)

{The draugrs acknowledged Armin's request and followed. Behind them, walking with Ivy, was Dianne, sword drawn. Magnus cut to the front of the group, with Armin.}

'These tunnels go on a long way, I think,' Armin muttered as he saw Magnus come up alongside him. 'Their scent is pretty faint. They could be miles away by now... But we'll find them.'

They came to another crosspaths, and Armin paused to determine which tunnel Sargon had chosen.

{Magnus stops and peers down the tunnels.}
"Take your time, pal. They won't escape this time."

After a moment, Armin nodded decisively and set off down one of the tunnels. This one had a gentle incline that indicated the tunnel burrowing deeper underground. As they moved further away from the surface, it got steadily darker, so that even Armin had difficulty seeing the path ahead.

'I can't see a thing,' Ivy hissed. 'Why didn't we bring any lights?'

Meanwhile, Sargon was standing very still in the dead-end tunnel, listening to the sounds of the group moving closer. He knew it wouldn't be long before they were found. Behind him, Ana whimpered quietly.

{Magnus turned to look at Ivy.}
Magnus: "We Draugrs can see just fine. "
Dianne: I can see well enough. Just follow the draugrs. Any light might give away our position."

Ivy bit her lip uneasily at the prospect of running into darkness, but didn't argue. Up ahead, Armin was walking with his sword drawn.

'They're close now,' he said in a low voice. 'I smell them. Both of them.'

Just then, Frederick appeared at the rear of the group and began to follow them without comment. It seemed that he'd waited outside to talk to Viridi about something, and had only now caught up.

{Dianne turned to look at Fred, but said nothing. She was completely focused on finding Sargon. Upon hearing Armin say they were close, both her and Magnus drew their weapons, getting ready to fight.}

A few minutes and several more dark tunnels later, the group burst into the tunnel where Sargon and Ana were waiting. Ana's eyes glowed in the shadows, making her position clearly visible even to the members of the group who couldn't see in the dark.

'There!' Armin snarled, and immediately began moving towards them, raising his sword.

'We surrender,' said Sargon, very simply. Taking a step forwards, he dropped his sword and stake on the floor, and put his hands in the air. 'Take us back to your city and do with us what you will. We will not fight you.' Behind him, Ana's jaw dropped. Armin paused where he was standing.

'I'm not believing a single word you say,' he growled. 'I know that if we take you back, you'll find some way to sneak out from under us later. You're nothing but vermin.' He took another step forwards, clearly ready to deliver a fatal sword blow to the other vampire.

{Dianne made no effort to stop Armin. Instead, she approached Ana.}
"What of you? Do you surrender?"
{ Magnus followed behind with the draugrs, making sure they would not escape. }

Ana looked around wildly. 'I... I... I will surrender! I won't leave my master!' she said, in a high-pitched voice full of terror. She edged closer to Sargon, who ignored her, his whole focus on Armin.

'KIlling me here will gain you nothing,' he said calmly. 'It will not reverse anything I have done.'

Armin kept advancing on him, until the tip of his sword was just an inch away from the other vampire's neck.

'...No,' he said after a moment of silence. His voice was shaking slightly. 'But it will stop you from ruining anyone else's life.'

Ivy was standing very still among the draugrs, unable to see much, but clearly able to hear the words being spoken as the two vampires faced each other down.

{Dianne glared at Ana during the entire exchange. Snapping her fingers, a draugr hands her a stone slab and a knife. She begins to carve something into the stone, not taking her eyes off of Ana.}
Dianne: "I know I said to take them prisoner if they surrendered, but if you wish to kill him, Armin, I will not stop you. I would consider it recompense for robbing you of your family's presence, while they lived."

( @Radiant Strategically speaking, Dianne would not allow Ana to keep her dragon body due to safety concerns. That's why she's making that soul trap. However, if it's important that she have a dragon's body later, maybe we should work something out here, or possibly have Brink put her in one once they get to the city, perhaps he's even powerful enough to give her a complete resurrection.)

(Alright! I'll probably just figure something out with her later. I have a lot of half-formed plans for future stuff right now. We'll just see what happens.)

'Wh-what are you doing?' Ana hissed, not at all comfortable with the way Dianne was staring at her. She bared her fangs, trying to appear more threatening.

'So you're going to go back on your word?' said Sargon, addressing Dianne but keeping his gaze on Armin. 'You promised to spare our lives if we surrendered to you, but you're happy to let him kill us anyway?'

'It's no more than you deserve!' Armin snapped. Just then, Ivy walked over, standing just behind him.

'Just wait,' she murmured. 'You're not thinking straight right now - you might regret killing him like this. Wait until we get back and then you can decide exactly how he should pay for what he's done. We can kill him in front of everyone. We can make him suffer. Stabbing him to death in a dark cave isn't going to bring you any satisfaction.'

Armin hadn't reacted to her approach, but was clearly listening to her. After a long, tense pause, he let his sword drop to his side and turned away. 'I'll wait,' he muttered. 'But if you let him escape before we can finish him, Dianne, I'll kill you as well.'

(Ok, cool. I'll have Dianne reply to each person in order, just to avoid confusion.)

{Dianne just kept glaring at Ana as she finished the trap.}
"You honestly didn't think I'd let you keep that rotting, disgusting form, did you? It's too much of a hassle for my allies to handle. I'm just going to put you in something more manageable."
{With that, she casts the stone slab under Ana and utters words in an unknown language. All at once, Ana's soul was ripped from her form and bound to the stone. In this state, she could not move or use magic, but could still speak and perceive her surroundings. In response to Sargon's words, Dianne doesn't even turn to look at him. She just calmly walks over to the trap and picks it up}
"I never promised you that. I just thought it would be better for your victims to be able to face you before you died. See the face of the lunatic who robbed them of so much, before sending him off to hell."
{After that, Dianne just stood to the side, focused on Ana's trapped soul, until Armin spoke to her. She turned to look at him with the most hateful look she could express.}
"Was that a threat, Armin? Who the hell do you think you are, to threaten your ally like that?"

'How dare you?' Ana exclaimed, once trapped inside the stone. 'I'll find a way to get a new body!'

Armin had been walking away, but whirled around again when Dianne spoke. 'Don't even start,' he growled, his red eyes gleaming with suppressed fury. 'I've lost /everything/ to this piece of filth. You've lost /nothing/ to him. I've spent over 200 years wanting to see him dead, and I won't let him slide out of our grasp now.'

At that moment, Ivy hastily stepped between them. 'He doesn't mean what he said,' she hissed, tugging on Armin's sleeve in an attempt to drag him away. 'You know he'd never really kill an ally.'

While all of this was going on, Sargon stood by quietly, watching with vague interest.

(I always forget that Frederick exists. Poor guy. XD)

{Dianne levels a finger at Armin, ignoring Ana.} "We will discuss this later. We have things to deal with now."
{She then turns to a draugr, who hands her two knives and approaches Sargon. Circling him she asks him a few questions.}
"I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, but if you make any attempt to escape, I will kill you, and any who try to help you. You've already caused the deaths of everyone under you, are you satisfied with the outcome of your little cabal?"

(lol XD)

'Stop talking to me like you're my mother,' Armin retorted, before he gave in to Ivy's tugging and allowed her to pull him out of the tunnel. Once they were a dozen feet from the rest of the group, Ivy started muttering furiously.

'Are you crazy?! Are you /trying/ to start a fight? You can't just say something like that to Dianne, for god's sake!'

Armin looked down at her. 'I seem to remember you defending me fifteen seconds ago.'

'Only because I didn't want that cave to turn into a freaking warzone!' Ivy hissed. 'So don't do that again! Next time I /won't/ do anything.'

Sargon was quiet while Dianne spoke. Then he said, 'Satisfied? Of course not. I never accomplished what I originally set out to do.'

{Dianne stopped for a second, baffled by Armin's words.}
"Mother? The f@ck? Whatever. What exactly was your goal again? Mass genocide of the human race, right?"
{Dianne stopped behind Sargon, looking down at him.}

'Not mass genocide,' Sargon replied, turning to face Dianne. 'My intention was to turn as much of the human population as possible into vampires. I'm aware that I killed most of Shacklestone City's population, but that was necessary for the next stage of my plan.'

{Dianne takes a step closer.}
"And what was that next step, exactly? Your assault on the Sovereign?"

'Of course. I planned to take control of Sovereign - the largest city in Vallis - and from there, I could send out patrols of my army to turn people into vampires. It would be a long process, but I estimated that I'd have most of the country's human population converted within a decade.'

{Dianne's expression shifted from anger to disbelief. Shaking her head, she takes a step back}
"You're completely insane. There is so much wrong with what you just said, how could you even think that would work? How did you even convince anyone to follow you?"

Sargon just shrugged. 'Perhaps others agreed with what I thought. Or maybe they were simply so tired of the human prejudice and hatred that they were willing to try anything to save themselves. That's why /I/ was willing to try it.'

Dianne: "I see. Desperation. Well, I hope you're happy. Because of you, you, Armin, and Frederick are likely the last remaining vampires in the region. Your plan didn't just fail, it completely backfired, and accelerated the very thing you fought to stop. You defeated yourself."

'Yes,' he replied, not even denying it. 'I did. I only hope that one day somebody else will be able to accomplish what I failed at doing.'

In the stone, Ana was being surprisingly quiet, perhaps out of shock at what her boss was saying.

{Dianne's expression returned to one of hatred.}
"No. Your delusions are dead. and anyone who attempts to repeat this will fail. Do you know who asked me to intervene against your plans? Do you know why?"

'You don't know that!' Ana screeched suddenly. 'You can't know what might happen in the future!'

Sargon just looked at Dianne, waiting for her to continue.

"Shut it!" {Dianne yells at Ana.}
"You probably think it was Jerry. Well, he did ask, but he was just a messenger. Tell me, have you ever heard of an Akhetian Royal Ultra? I doubt it. To keep things simple, let's just say, they're basically demigods. One named Lucci, to whom I owe far more than you could ever comprehend, sent me. He's clairvoyant, so he likely saw what the future held if you had succeeded. Must have been fairly terrible if he actually intervened."

Ana instantly fell silent.

Sargon had never heard of the Akhetians, but answered as if he had. 'If this Lucci is a demigod with enough power to see the possible future, then why not stop me himself? Why send you, and a group of other people who were at risk of losing their lives fighting against me?'

"Because it is not his place."
{Dianne states coldly.}
"He cares for this world, but he understands that a direct intervention would be crossing the line. After all, if he did stop you himself, this would have all ended the very night you attacked Shacklestone. He's damn near unstoppable. It would not be right for him to flaunt such power. It would be unfair, even if it was to stop someone a twisted and broken as you."

Suddenly, Frederick spoke up before anyone else could.

'It 'wouldn't be right' for him to use his power to save thousands of people?' he repeated, sounding incredulous. 'Surely he could have made an exception in this case. Unfair? Sargon and his army were clearly in the wrong.'

Sargon eyed Frederick, then turned his attention back to Dianne. 'Then I'm sure he is very relieved that you /did/ succeed in ruining my plans.'

{Dianne turns to Fred.} "What's a few thousand to a few million?
Historically, he tends to only personally intervene when there's a potentially world ending event. If Sargon won, life would still continue. For less devastating events like this, he'll typically pick someone to serve as a proxy of sorts. I was just unlucky enough to get picked." {She then turns back to Sargon.} "Perhaps, but it's not over yet. That's enough chitchat. Get moving."

Sargon nodded and began to walk out of the tunnel. Frederick moved in behind him, watching him carefully.

From the soul trap stone, Ana was muttering mutinously, but not quite loud enough for anyone to hear what she was saying.

{As Sargon walked, Magnus stepped in front of him.}
Magnus: "Wait, Sargon, there's one last thing we need to do. "
{From behind, Dianne stabs her two knives into Sargon's shoulders, getting between his arms and the ball joints. This is to prevent him from using his arms against them.}
Dianne: "Try to take those out, and we'll kill you. Keep moving."

Sargon grunted in pain and threw a look of annoyance at Dianne, but then turned and continued walking without comment. If he /did/ decide to attack anyone, he didn't think this would stop him, given that he could summon and throw weapons with his magic.

As they entered the next tunnel, Armin and Ivy came into view. They had apparently been skulking in the shadows, listening to the conversation but not getting involved. Armin began to walk alongside Dianne.

'Sorry,' he said in a low voice. 'I lost my temper when I saw him. I wasn't really trying to threaten you.'

"It's alright."
{She said calmly.}
"I've lost my temper with worse consequences. How can I judge you?"

'I suppose so. Anyway...' Armin cast a thoughtful look towards Sargon. 'So we finally have him. I'm sure everyone back home will be pleased when they find out.'

Ivy came over, attempting to walk as far away from Sargon as she could get. 'Are you sure he can't attack us or anything?' she whispered, addressing Frederick since Dianne and Armin were in conversation.

'I'm sure,' Fred replied. 'But I won't feel completely safe until we've got him locked up in Sovereign.'

Dianne: " Yes. Jerry will be thrilled. He was always a strong supporter of the justice system. His family, I think, might get a little too happy, if you know what I mean.."

'Yes, I'm sure they--' Armin began, before he was drowned out by a massive roar that echoed from outside the cave, making the ground tremble slightly.

'...That was the chieftain,' said Frederick. 'I think he might be getting impatient. We should probably hurry up and get out of here.'

{Dianne looked up at the roar.}"Ugh...I hate primitive tribes." {She mutters. Hurrying out, the group stops outside the entrance. Dianne looks around for Viridi.}

As the group walked out of the cave, Viridi flew down from above the mountain and landed in front of them. 'Were you successful?' he asked, his gaze travelling over Sargon. 'I thought you said that you were searching for two people.'

Sargon didn't seem intimidated by the chieftain, not even reacting when several smaller dragons turned up to join Viridi.

"Right here."
{Dianne shows Viridi the soul trap.}
"The other one was the draugr of a harlot, raised by some talentless hacks."

Ana shrieked with rage from within the stone. 'Just you wait! As soon as I have a body again, I'll /personally/ make you pay for all the times you've insulted me!'

Armin yawned. 'Considering what happened the last time you messed with her, Ana, I don't think there's any chance of that.'

'The same goes for you, bloodsucker!' Ana snarled. 'I'll tear you both apart!'

Viridi was watching this exchange with a mildly bewildered expression on his face. At last, he cleared his throat and said, 'If you have nothing more to do here, then please return to your city. I feel uneasy when outsiders walk in our territory for too long. I am thankful for the respect you have shown us, however.'

"Thank you, great chief."
{Dianne says while bowing.}
"We will be on our way. Although, I must say, before we go. If a very specific ghost cat decides to screw with us and whisk these two right back here, well, we may be back. Hopefully, though, that won't happen."

'I will offer you safe passage should that happen,' Viridi replied. 'I know about the two Brinks.'

It was getting close to evening, the sun already on its way towards the western horizon.

"Thank you again, Great Chief Viridi. You are both wise and fair."
{After bowing once more, Dianne turns to her group.} "Alright, we're shipping out! Get your things and get on." {She then shifts and waits for everyone to get on. Magnus takes Sargon and orders him to get on Titan. All the draugrs get into Titan and Sarah and the Old Man decide to take a jab at Sargon before getting on Titan.}
Old Man: "How does it feel knowing you're responsible for the horrific deaths of your own people?"
Sarah: "I'm glad Dianne slaughtered you lot. Sh!tsuckers like you are a disease. You need to be cured. One stake at a time."

'So you hate vampires?' Sargon responded, directing his emotionless stare at Sarah, while completely ignoring what the Old Man had just said. 'Hmm, I wonder why you're working on the side of Armin and - what was his name - Frederick, then?'

Viridi and a few of his dragons stood nearby to oversee the group's departure. After a final glance towards Sargon, Armin leapt up onto Dianne's back, followed by Ivy.

'I'm so glad to be getting out of here, Ivy muttered. 'Sovereign seems like home compared to these cold mountains.'

{Sarah didn't respond. instead, she got onto Titan with Sargon. With everyone on, Dianne and Titan take off, back for the city.}

Unlike in most of their flight trips, nobody spoke much (except for Ivy who was muttering to herself as she often seemed to do). Armin was staring straight ahead at the distant city, entirely focused on getting back before Sargon somehow managed to escape.

(Going to leave this until Saturday to continue.)

(Okie Dokie. I might miss the first half, but I'll definitely be here for the second.)

(Actually, our plans just got changed and I'm going to be busy on Saturday evening, so I won't be able to do an RP then.)

(Alrighty then. What should we do in the meantime?)

(We'll continue in this room until I post a new one, which will probably be next Saturday.)

(Alrighty then. )

{After a sufficiently long flight, Dianne and Titan touched down.}
Dianne: "People of Sovereign, behold your tormentor!"
{Magnus proceeded to drag Sargon off of Titan and put him on his knees in the courtyard.}

There weren't a lot of people around at that moment, but several soldiers, guards and a couple of citizens warily approached the centre of the courtyard.

'You actually caught him?!' one person exclaimed. 'You mean all the horrible stuff is finally going to be over?!'

Just then, there was a loud crash as Wendigo flew down and landed in the courtyard too. He was seething with rage at the sight of Sargon. 'Let me kill him!' he roared. 'I've always wanted to do this!'

"Patience, Wendigo." {Dianne says while holding up her hand. }
"First, the people will decide, trial, or execution. Bring him."
{Dianne begins to walk towards the palace dungeons with Magnus dragging Sargon along.}
(So, since the general's seemingly dead, and the king ran away, to whom will this captured be reported to?"

(Hmm, that's a problem. XD I'll say that they appointed a new general after the old one died.)

Wendigo followed them along, snarling at Sargon, until they walked into the castle and he realised he was too big to follow. Looking disgruntled, the hydra curled up outside the castle doors and watched them walk away.

Everyone else followed. 'Does this place have a dungeon that even a non-human can't get out of?' Ivy whispered.

Sargon, meanwhile, was keeping quiet and allowing Magnus to push him forwards. He knew that struggling would most likely result in someone killing him on the spot.

{Dianne shifted to fit through the door, but before entering, she spoke to Titan, causing him to deploy six centaurs, the Abomination of Limbs and Teeth, and a standard draugr. Following her, she enters.}
Dianne: "He won't be getting out of here, unless he doesn't mind leaving in pieces."
(Lol Dianne thinks she's got 'im, but she doesn't know he can teleport.)

(Haha yep, I'm just imagining how angry she'll be if she comes back later and he's gone. X))

'I wouldn't mind if he tried to escape and ended up in pieces,' Armin remarked. 'Though, that would deny us the satisfaction of killing him personally.'

Sargon said nothing. He eyed the pack of undead creatures as if trying to figure out their weaknesses, then looked away and paid them no further attention.

(It won't be pretty. XD)

{Dianne leads Sargon into the dungeon, with Magnus following closely behind. Once they get down there, Dianne and the draugrs enter the cell with Sargon.}
Dianne: "Before we get started, I just want to know; Brink. Are you working for him, or is he working for you?"

Sargon looked up at Dianne. 'What makes you think it's either of those? I am not working for Brink, nor is he employed to me. We had an agreement, that's all.'

{Dianne cracks the knuckles in her right hand, seemingly a little frustrated at Sargon's answer.}
Dianne: "Don't bullsh!t me, Sargon. We both know Brink doesn't work like that."
{Directing her hand towards Sargon, three centaurs and the Abomination approach. Two centaurs approach from the sides while one centaur gets behind him and the Abomination approaches from the front.}
"Do you have his mark or not?"

Sargon eyed her without fear. 'Yes, of course. Everybody who makes a deal with Brink gains his mark, as a symbol of the agreement. Anastasia did as well, before she was killed and her form replaced.'

{Dianne gives a half grin of cruel amusement.}
"You f'ing idiot."
{She mutters.}
"It's not a 'mark of your deal', it's a brand. Your ass belongs to him now. Which means, he'll probably be coming to save you so you can continue serving him as a pawn."
{Immediately after saying this, the draugrs grab Sargon. two centaurs grabbed his arms, one got him in a headlock, and the Abomination grabbed his torso, keeping him on his knees. The other set of draugrs bring in a dummy and perform the same maneuver on the dummy.}
"Listen close, Sargon. Back where I come from, this maneuver is called the Living Shackles. If you try anything, or if Brink so much as shows a whisker in here..."
{With a snap of her fingers, the other draugrs tear the dummy's arms and head off, while the one holds the dummy in place.}
"Get the picture?"

Sargon stared at the dummy, or what was left of it, and then slowly lifted his gaze to Dianne. 'You realise that I have no control over whether or not Brink decides to come here?' he said coolly, ignoring the assortment of draugrs holding him down on the floor.

{Dianne crosses her arms and shifts her stance. }
"Yes, I realize that, but if Brink shows up , he will likely free you, and we'd rather have you killed than freed."

'Unfair. But I suppose I understand why you feel that way. Might I ask what you're going to do with Ana?'

{Dianne takes out the stone and looks it over.}
"She will face trial as well. However, because she cannot die a second time, I'll likely just send her to Oblivion, to suffer for all of time."

Sargon narrowed his eyes, but didn't argue. 'Fine. When will we face trial?'

(I actually don't know. XD Any suggestions?)

(Hm, how about the next day? That'll give us time to chill out and do some things with other characters. It's close to nighttime now anyway.)

(Ok, let's do that. )

{Dianne took a moment to think. She figured if Sargon was going to try something, it would be right before the trial. She knew it would likely be held the next day, so she decided to try to get him to drop his guard, until it was too late.}
"Can't say for sure. It might take a few days to organize. But you should be happy about that. It buys you a few extra days to live. So, sit back, relax, and come to the terrible realization that you're a failure on all possible levels."

Sargon didn't think it would take that long to organise a trial, but he had already decided not to trust everything Dianne said a long time ago. 'Very well.'

'A few days?' Armin grumbled from outside the cell. 'That just gives him more opportunity to sneak off somehow.'

{Dianne turns to look at Armin.}
"Relax, Armin ."
{She says lightly.}
"If he so much as sneezes the wrong way, he'll have to navigate out without a head or arms. And besides..."
{She tauntingly waves Ana in his face.}
"I doubt he'd want to leave without his 'escort', would you, old man?"

(His as in Sargon)

'Hmm... I guess so,' said Armin, a little doubtfully. He still wasn't convinced that Sargon wouldn't try something. The old vampire seemed far too calm about his own capture and imprisonment.

Sargon didn't rise to the bait, merely eyeing the soul trap stone without expression. Ana, meanwhile, growled in protest. 'How dare you call me that? And let him go this instant, or... or... I'll find a way to kill you!'

{Dianne chuckles.}
"Oh, give it a rest Ana. You're powerless."
{Puting Ana away, Dianne starts to walk out of the cell.}
"Let's go back, Armin. There's nothing left to do here."

Armin threw a sneering glare over his shoulder at Sargon as he walked away. 'Thank god, now we can finally relax, knowing we've got him.'

Ivy fell into step beside Armin and Dianne. 'Are you /really/ going to let those draugrs kill him if Brink shows up?' she asked.

"Yes."
{She replies simply.}
"What would you rather have? A Sargon freed by Brink and hungry for revenge, or a Sargon without a head or arms? I don't know about you two, but I'd prefer the latter."

'I guess I agree with that,' said Armin dryly. 'I'd rather he was dead than out of our grasp, even if it means I can't kill him personally.'

Ivy shivered. 'You guys talk about killing people way too much. Anyway, what are we going to do now? Go up and tell Jerry and the others what we've done?'

{Dianne snorts}
"And what would /you/ have us talk about? Couples you 'ship'? The latest fashions? Boring. Besides, this is far more relevant to the situation. Yes, I suppose we ought to let them know of our success."

'At least I have FUN things to talk about!' Ivy exclaimed. 'I'd rather discuss fashion and boys than... all the different things you can do with corpses... or whatever it is YOU enjoy talking about.'

Armin yawned. 'Personally, I don't think either of you are great at conversation, but that's just my opinion.'

{Dianne just laughs. It seems she was trolling Ivy just for her reaction.} "Hey, I can talk about 'fun' things, too. I'm just reeeaaaaly not into relationships. At all."

Ivy scowled. 'Of course not. You're not interested in anything except dead things and creepy magic.'

Frederick eyed the pair in a slightly exasperated manner, then decided to hurry on ahead.

(I forgot Fred existed again.)

{At that, Magnus butts in.} "Hey, gals. What are we talking about?"
Dianne: "Oh, just Ivy's interests. And the fact that they're boring."
Magnus: "Well, at least she has interests. I've been hanging out with you for a long time, and the only thing I know about you is that you like to sing on occasion and that you used to like dancing. How is that exciting?"
Dianne: "But, those are actually hobbies. Ivy just likes to fantasize about others and hopes to find her own 'Prince Charming'. And you know my opinion on fairy tales."

'I have plenty of hobbies,' Ivy complained. She then tried to think of something. 'Uhmmm... I read books! And watch movies. Sometimes.'

Dianne: "Oh, really? I like to read in my spare time as well."
Magnus: "So do I. What genre do you like, Ivy?"

'Oh, I read lots of romance, of course,' said Ivy, with a grin. 'But I also read horror and sci-fi, sometimes. There aren't many genres I DON'T like.'

Magnus: "Hm. I like fantasy/adventure. Reminds me of home."
Dianne: "I find scifi interesting. Although, some of the stuff the write as fiction, has actually happened before. "

'I haven't read any good books lately,' said Ivy thoughtfully. 'With everything that's happened, there hasn't been time... But now we've captured Sargon, I'm going to see if this city has a good library. I want to pick up reading again.'

'I don't read much,' said Armin. 'It's never been a hobby that interested me.'

{Dianne looked at Armin like she wanted to say something rude, but held her tongue.}
Dianne: "That sounds nice, Ivy, maybe I'll come along."

Ivy opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated and gave Dianne a suspicious glance. 'You're being very friendly all of a sudden. Are you up to something?' Armin didn't seem to have noticed the look Dianne gave him.

{Dianne raised an eyebrow at Ivy.}
"Up to something? What do you mean?"

'Considering how rude you normally are, maybe you're just pretending to be nice,' Ivy replied. 'I mean, five minutes ago you were insulting my interests, and now you want to come hang out with me? I don't trust you.'

{Dianne just shrugs.} "I suppose you have a point. Well, Magnus told me I should try to be nicer to everyone. Guess I'm not used to it."

'Hmph.' Ivy looked away and continued walking. 'Well, I'm sure you'll get better at it,' she said lightly.

They had reached the door to the hospital rooms by then. Armin stepped aside to let everyone else enter first. Frederick was nowhere to be seen; he must have already gone inside.

{When the group entered, Jerry was in there as well as Steve and Eliza.}
Jerry: "Ah, you're back. Good news, I hope."
Dianne: "Yes. We captured Sargon and Ana-"
Jerry: "And killed them, right?"
Dianne: "...Erm, not exactly..."
Jerry: "What do you mean."
Dianne: "Well, we captured him and brought him back here for trial."
Jerry: "Trial? Huh. I honestly thought you'd just kill him."

'I was thinking that too,' said Armin, going to sit in a chair next to Eliza. 'But Dianne and Ivy thought it was better to bring him back.'

'I thought it was better to let everyone else see him killed,' said Ivy delicately. 'Much more satisfying than just decapitating him in a cave, right?'

Jerry: "Eh, I suppose so. But, it would have been safer to kill him. But, while we have him in captivity, I'd like to talk to him."
{Jerry get up, painfully, leaning on a cane.}

'What about?' Armin questioned. 'We already talked to him. He didn't say a lot. And he doesn't react if you goad him, which is a disappointment.'

Jerry: "I have a few questions for him. We actually have never met face to face."

'Hmm, alright,' said Armin. 'Don't expect to get much information out of him, though.' He stayed sitting where he was, clearly having no intention of going with Jerry to talk to his enemy again.

Old Man: "I'll go with him. Just to keep an eye on him."
{With that, the two depart. Dianne stands up and walks out as well. While she doesn't say anything, it is her intention to find something to eat.}

'Good luck!' Armin called after Jerry and his father as they left. In the silence that followed, Frederick also stood up and headed out the door.

'I'd better go and tell Wendigo everything,' he said wearily. 'Before he tears the castle down trying to get at Sargon.'

Ivy gazed at the doorway, her expression thoughtful.

{With slow and painful progress, Jerry and his father made their way down to the dungeons. Pulling up a chair, Jerry sits in front of Sargon's cell, and looks at him. Jerry doesn't say anything right away.}

Sargon looked at Jerry for a long moment, clearly recognising him, but not remembering where he'd seen him before. Then he said slowly, 'Jeremiah Garvey. I don't think we've ever met.'

Frederick stepped out of the castle doors and into the dim evening light. Peering around, it didn't take him long to locate Wendigo - the hydra was sitting impatiently at the edge of the courtyard, his tail wrapped around himself, and all three heads glaring down aggressively.

'Is he locked up?' Wendigo growled, without preamble. 'Why didn't you kill him already?'

Frederick shook his head tiredly and walked over, sitting down on the hydra's enormous tail. He then told him, as quickly as possible, everything that had happened since he and the others had set out for the western mountains.

Wendigo was quiet for a moment. Then he barked out a rough laugh. 'So you guys thought it'd be a good idea to bring him back here and give him a trial? That's just giving him more opportunities to escape! Idiots.'

'Not all of us were in agreement,' said Frederick. 'Ivy thought it was better for the citizens to get the satisfaction of seeing their tormentor killed. Personally, I think it would have been safer to kill him in the cave. The longer we keep him alive, the longer he's got to think up escape plans.'

{Jerry nods.}
"Yeah, this is the first time, despite being adversaries. I honestly just came down here to see you. Heh, you don't look like the lunatic type. Just old. I see Dianne got you in Living Shackles. "

'Lunatic? Why would I?' said Sargon calmly, ignoring the last part of Jerry's statement. 'I might have been rash with some of my decisions in the past, but I am far from insane.'

Jerry: "No, no, you're a complete loon. How could you possibly think any of this was a good idea? The hell was your plan anyway?"

'I have already explained myself to Dianne; I see no reason to explain it again to you,' said Sargon coolly. 'Suffice to say, I was desperate and did what I believed to be the only thing possible to help my species. I knew there was only a small chance of success from the beginning.'

{Jerry rubs his head.}
"Huh, guess I gotta talk to her then...Wait, help your species? Help them with what? Vampires don't need help."

'Of course they do. Vampires are mercilessly hunted down by humans and other races, simply because we are considered untrustworthy. Your own family is proof of that. They are nothing but prejudiced murderers who hate us without good reason.'

{Jerry lifts his hand in a gesture of 'wait'.}
"Hold on, that's not true. They only showed up because you slaughtered a ton of people. If you were right, and we hated your species unconditionally, both Armin and Fred would be in there with you."