Lol, k

(Aggron) Hello.

Yeet. So, more random interactions today? I'm cool with that. Just wait till Ivy sees what Dianne's doing when she walks in."

I JUST GOT HOME I THOUGHT I WAS HELLA LATE
I MEAN I'M LATE ANYWAYS BUT Y'KNOW
ALSO SORRY FOR FLAKING OUT LAST WEEK I KINDA FORGOT I HAD A MASSIVE PROJECT DUE IN ON FRIDAY JUST GONE SO I GOT PRE T TY BUSY,,,,,,,,,

anyways
uh
hi

Ohh, I'm curious now...

And yep, we'll just be doing whatever we like. Nothing big is going to happen probably until the next morning.

HELLO KING AND WHY DO YOU ALWAYS COME IN HERE SCREAMING IN ALL CAPS I'M GONNA GO DEAF

You're not late anyway, since I was busy writing a story and forgot to post this for an hour. XD

@King no sweat. I have final projects this coming week as well.

I ALWAYS SCREAM
I'm sorry I'll use my inside text size

I think I have replies to do? I'll get started with them.

Yes.

Wendigo lowered his head in a slow nod. 'Yeah. Look after yourselves. I'll keep guard for tonight.'

Ivy was already out of earshot, having skipped away along the street quite fast. Reaching the front of the palace, she glanced around nervously - seeing nobody except a few guards - before letting herself in through the front doors.

oof yeah i definitely do---

Crowley was quiet for a while, walking along with a thoughtful expression, clearly having no destination in mind. Before long, they had wandered into one of the richer neighbourhoods of the city. Large houses stood on either side of the street, all abandoned by their owners when the city had evacuated. Crowley stood in the middle of the street, smirking greedily as he took in the sights.

{When Ivy enters, the first thing she's met with is the smell of cigarette smoke. There, in the common area, was Dianne, smoking and reading a book. She was no longer wearing armor. Instead, she was dressed comfortably in a long blue dress and jacket. The book she was reading was written in some foreign language Ivy couldn't recognize. Looking up, Dianne nods towards Ivy before turning back to her book.}

{Vitis chuckles, rubbing his hands together.} "Looks like prime hunting grounds to me. Who ya going to rob first?"

Ivy paused in the doorway, staring. Then she shrugged and stepped into the room, curiosity obviously getting the better of her. 'What is that?' she asked, looking towards the unfamiliar book.

'Hmm...' Crowley let his gaze wander up and down the street. 'Let's check out this one.' He walked over to a house that resembled a mansion. It had three floors, and a yellow sports car was parked outside, seemingly left behind by its fleeing owners.

{Dianne turned the page and kept reading as she spoke.}
"The title literally translates to 'Binding Souls to Frames vs Ethereal Possession: A Primer in Advanced Conjuration'. You probably wouldn't like it. It's basically a two millennia old research paper on a dead magic."

Mortikai didn't seem to be in that bad of a shape overall, scars, bruises and minor wounds littering his body. He'd removed his hat, coat and bowtie, leaving himself looking quite plain. The most of his pain was from the pulsing in his head, but other than that he was fine.

Ango watches him curiously, eyes narrowed. She could recall vague memories of her childhood, and while the fuzzy images of her father looked like Mortikai she refused to call him such. The image she had of her dad, he was a good man who ran away to protect them, not some scum-of-the-earth henchman of a powerful evil spirit. Shifting in her seat, she eventually speaks up.
"Why? Why are you here? Why do you care all of a sudden?"

Morty blinks in surprise, having not expected anything from her at all.
"Well...I remembered. I still am, attempting to remember everything. Not only was I forced away from you and your mother, but I simply couldn't return. I'm...sure you're aware of my connections."

"Of course. Everyone knows about you. You're part of an urban legend that people tell their kids to keep them on the straight and narrow."
Ango sinks into her hoodie a little, glaring at him from across the room.

Ivy wrinkled up her nose. 'Yes, I probably wouldn't like it. If it has anything to do with those horrible zombie things you make.' She then noticed for the first time that Dianne had a cigarette, and her expression turned even more distasteful. //God, is everyone around here a smoking addict?!//

{Steve just continues to work quietly, not wanting to interrupt.}

(Sorry, was busy, back now. )

{Dianne sighs before responding.} "Ivy, there's more to it than making disgusting creatures, as you put it. Yes, that's an important cornerstone, but it has more uses than that. For example, back in the city, Brink would have killed you had I not saved you with Conjuration. "

(No problem, and welcome back.)

Ivy rolled her eyes. 'Well, I'm not saying it isn't useful,' she said. 'I'm sure we'd ALL be dead by now if it wasn't for your magic. I just don't really like that kind of thing, personally. It creeps me out.'

(I'm probably gonna go soon, it's getting late here.)

"Of course not." {Dianne says simply.} "This isn't for the faint of heart or those with strict morals. I don't blame you for disliking it. I simply ask you don't judge me for it."

Ivy shrugged. 'I think when I first met you, I probably hated you for it. But it's different now. You've always used it to help us, not against us, so I don't have a problem with you. Even if I don't like the magic itself.'

(Going to head off for now, see you all!)

Ok, bye!

"I appreciate the honesty, Ivy. This stuff takes a while to get used to. But, in the beginning...Using it didn't always let me sleep so well...But that's a story for another time."
{Dianne looks up at Ivy.}
"When this is all over, what do you plan on doing?"

{Vitis eyes the sports car.} "Reckon the keys for that are inside?"

Ivy looked surprised by the question, and took a moment to answer. 'Well... I've always lived in Shacklestone, and that was destroyed, so... I might just stay here in Sovereign. It's a nice place. I'm sure I can find things to do here.'

Crowley followed his gaze. 'I dunno. Go and find out. Meanwhile, I'm gonna try and get into this house.' Leaving Vitis, he hurried up to the front door. It was locked, of course.

//I bet the windows are just as easy to break as the ones in that other place.// He picked up a rock off the ground, and threw it at the window. The glass broke, setting off the house alarm as it did so, creating a high-pitched noise that echoed along the empty street.

{Dianne nods.} "Alright. I'm sure the city has a refugee program you can sign up with. After all, they can't just leave the survivors out in the cold with nothing."

{At this, Vitis facepalms.} "You bloody idiot. Of course it'll have an alarm, it's the frickin' rich district! Dumb-as.s!"

Crowley bristled. 'Hey, shut it. Stop acting like you know everything.' He looked around, searching for the alarm. 'If I can just find the damn thing, I could destroy it or something...'

'Hmm, probably...' said Ivy thoughtfully. She then looked up at Dianne, eyes narrowed. 'What about /you?'/ Are you going to stay here after everything's done?'

"Nope." {She said simply.} "As soon as everything's said and done, I'm going back to my ruined house to collect my things, then I'm getting the f@ck out of dodge. This city has never been kind to my people, and no one's ever liked necromancers, historically speaking. So, the fact that there are two Hydras sitting right outside their royal palace probably isn't helping my case."

{Vitis yells over the alarm.} "Well, you better find it fast, before the whole damn army shows up, thinking we're that old man's goons!"

Crowley grinned. 'Don't worry so much. Live a little!' He continued searching. 'Oh hey, it's up there!' He pointed to an alarm device fixed to the outside wall, quite high up. 'I can't reach it though, how about you?'

'So, where ARE you going to go?' Ivy asked. 'If Shacklestone's destroyed and you don't think you can stay here? Are you going to leave the country or something?'

{Vitis rolls his eyes. Taking out a knife, he throws it at the box, hitting it and shorting it out.} "How am I supposed to 'live a little', if I die at the hands of guards?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do."{Dianne says simply. She turns to the next page before continuing.} "In the meantime, I'll stay at a secure location while I scope out potential new homes in other countries. Wherever I end up, it can't be much worse than here."

'You don't let them kill you, obviously! Damn, seems like I have to explain /everything/ to you.' With the alarm disabled, Crowley wasted no time in climbing through the broken window. Just as he did so, a distant voice echoed from up the road. A patrol of six soldiers had just turned onto the street Crowley and Vitis were on, clearly having come to investigate the noise.

Ivy sat down on a nearby chair, her expression thoughtful. 'So,' she said slowly, 'you're really just going to leave? Just like that? And we'll never see you again?'

{Cursing softly, Vitis clambers into the window after Crowley.}
"Crowley, there are guards on their way! We need to split before they catch on to us!"

"Yes. Soon, my part in all this will be over. And when it is, you won't need me anymore, so I'll leave. Whether or not you see me again will be up to fate. Although, I doubt you will. I intend to put a lot of distance between me and Vallis."
{She then touches the shell locket hanging around her neck, seemingly without noticing.}
"It's better this way. Wherever I go, death is sure to follow..."

'It'll be fine!' said Crowley, grinning. 'I'm gonna ambush and kill them. You can hide in here if you want.' With that, he shifted into his dragon form and stood behind the broken window, waiting for the guards to come closer.

Ivy was quiet for a minute. Then she said, 'What do you mean by that? You've helped us out so much. I'm sure the others would be happy to have you around. Even the Sovereign people must be able to see that you're not some kind of evil psycho. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't LIKE you, but I don't see you as a bad person.'

{Vitis pulls out knives and hides as well.} "I hope you're fast. Cause is you're not, this is about to get way harder."

*if

"Yes, I 'helped'. I helped decimate Sargon's entire army, directly by hand and indirectly by having my curse stolen from me and used against him."
{She sighs.}
"Don't you get it, Ivy? The world has seen what I can do. Yeah, I'm sure the Sovereign would /love/ to have an ages old necromancer with a long history of violence living down the street."

{She says sarcastically.}
"Look, this isn't the first time I've had to use my abilities to get rid of an undesirable. And so far every time, it's gotten me nothing but trouble in the days to follow. Either people want me dead because they're afraid of what I can do, or they want to use me for their own agendas. Believe me, no one here wants me to stay for any 'nice' reason."

'You don't know that things will be the same this time,' Ivy argued. 'When was the last time you did something like this? I bet it was, like, centuries ago. Maybe these people will be better.'

'I'm REALLY fast,' Crowley bragged. 'Way faster than you.'

Just then, the patrol walked past the house. They stopped in front of it, peering suspiciously at the broken window and alarm, clearly not noticing the two thieves. At that very moment, Crowley leapt towards them with an ear-splitting shriek of challenge. He threw himself into the midst of the patrol, striking out with his talons with lightning speed. One soldier slumped to the ground, his body ripped open and entrails hanging out. The remaining soldiers all scrambled backwards and aimed their guns at Crowley.

{Dianne gives a mirthless smile.}
"Such optimism. That's cute. But, look around you. Do you see any non human residents in this city? There's a reason Sargon didn't start here, and that's because our kind have no presence in the Sovereign. Clearly, this city and its inhabitants don't want non humans, and by extension, me. And before you say, 'why not Riverside', I doubt they'd be happy with the mess I've made over there. So tell me, knowing all of this, what other options do I have?"

{Sighing, Vitis stands, takes out a soldier with a thrown knife, and ducks for cover, looking to divide their fire.}

Ivy shrugged. 'I don't know! Maybe you're right. But even if you go to another country, that doesn't mean you need to completely cut ties with everyone here.'

The soldiers opened fire in the same moment Vitis threw his knife. Though there were only four of them now, they didn't seem worried that two of their party were dying on the ground.

Crowley dived sideways, and then took off into the air. His quick movements alllowed him to dodge most of the bullets, except for one that shot through his left wing. The rest of the soldiers' fire was aimed in Vitis's direction, but none hit.

{Dianne raises an eyebrow.} "Why do you care what I do? Why does it matter to you if I disappear from your lives entirely ? It's not like you're very fond of me anyway."

{Vitis stays behind cover.} "Damn, now what? I'm going to have to be smart about this..."

{The sounds of the gunshots reverberate about the area, attracting some unwanted attention. Hearing the commotion, a few centaurs and Titan begin to approach.}

'I'm not,' said Ivy bluntly. 'But it seems strange to just disappear off the face of the earth and abandon all your allies and friends. You helped save us all - wouldn't you WANT to stay in contact somehow?'

Crowley flew about fifty feet into the air, circled around once, and then sprung to attack. He teleported behind the group of soldiers and swiftly killed two of them with claw slashes, severely wounding a third. The last soldier paled and began to run away. 'Don't kill me! I have a family! Kill them instead!' he shouted, pointing at the draugrs.

Crowley turned to eye the newcomers, grinning. Blood dripped from his claws and wings, soaking the ground around him. 'WHO WANTS TO BE DEAD MEAT?!' he screeched.

{For the first time, Dianne put her book down.} "But, are you? Are any of you really my friends? From what I understand, Armin, Fred, and Wendigo only tolerate me because I'm their best shot at revenge, I have the sneaking suspicion that Jerry's family is going to make an attempt on my life as soon as this is over, and you're just coming along for the ride."

{As the soldier ran, Vitis stood up and tagged him in the back with a knife. The centaurs, thinking Crowley was one of Sargon's charge at him, looking to tear him apart.}
Centaur: "The only dead meat here, is you."

'I'm sure Jerry's family won't try to kill you,' argued Ivy. 'They'd probably all be dead if it wasn't for you! I know they don't trust non-humans... but... they seem like decent people. They wouldn't try to kill you after everything you've done for them. And Jerry himself seems to respect you a lot. And as for Armin... well, he'd probably like you more if you didn't insult him all the time.'

Crowley let out a high-pitched cackle. 'Oh yeah? You're ALREADY meat! ROTTING meat!' With another laugh, he teleported on top of the first centaur's back, and began to tear it it with his claws.

{Dianne sighs at this.} "Ivy, not all of Jerry's family are happy to have me around, his father included. When we went to the city the first time to try to retrieve the curse, he actually struck me. He claimed, he was proving a point, but he was clearly trying to establish some sort of 'dominance'. He's lucky I didn't kill him there. Yes, Jerry's the closest thing I have to a living friend, but...It's probably better if I distance myself...As for Armin, what's done is done..."

{The centaur began to shriek as Crowley attacked it, but the other centaurs were quick to drag Crowley of their compatriot and start tearing into him as well. Vitis was trying to help by throwing knives, but they mostly ignored him.}

'Geez, you're pessimistic, aren't you?' Ivy muttered. Then she said more loudly, 'Look, it's your choice. I'm not going to try and convince you. If you think it's better to just leave, then fine. I won't stop you. But are you going to tell everyone else?'

Crowley teleported away from the centaurs before they could do more than slight damage. Panting, he landed beside Vitis. 'Thanks Vitis, you're being super helpful,' he said sarcastically.

{Picking her book back up, she continues.}
"If you lived the life I have, you would find it hard to be optimistic as well. Yes, I'll let them know. For the ones who were actually kind to me, I owe them that much. Even though you claim that you won't argue with me, you don't sound satisfied with my decision."

{Vitis just frowns at Crowley.}
"Hey, I'm trying, but these guys just don't...well, die!"
{Vitis kept flinging knives, but the centaurs just shrugged them off. Once again, the centaurs charged the pair. From behind, Crowley and Vitis hear a crash and feel the earth shake. Titan had landed behind them.}
Titan: "So, despite the annihilation of your army, you persist? Fools! You should have run far in your defeat!"

Crowley once again teleported a short distance away, so that he could get a look at Titan without being attacked by the centaurs. ''Anhiliation of... wait, what?' he repeated, staring up the hydra. 'What army? I don't have an army! I do my dirty work alone, dumbass!'

Ivy rolled her eyes. 'I might not be /satisfied/ with it, but that doesn't mean I'm going to argue with you. I have better things to do than argue with people all night.'

{When Crowley teleported, it left the centaurs without a target. That is, except for Vitis. Realizing this, he yelps and runs for the buildings. While it was true that Crowley and Vitis weren't Sargon's, Titan wasn't having any of it.}
Titan: "Liar! You attacked the soldiers, only Sargon's goons would do that! You must die!"
{Seeing that there was no way he was going to outrun the centaurs, Vitis turned to fight. Shifting, he clashed with the centaurs, roaring with furiosity.}

{Dianne nodded as she went back to her book.}
"Good. I think we can both agree that it would be a waste of our time. Believe me, I know what-"
{She stops abruptly, a peculiar expression creeping across her face.}
Dianne: "...Son of a b!tch!"
{At that moment, she jumps out of her chair and bolts for her quarters. It seems that Vitis had succeeded in dispatching a centaur, and she felt its soul return.}

Crowley glanced briefly at Vitis as he shifted, then turned his attention away from them and teleported directly on top of Titan's middle head. Snarling, he began to rip at the hydra's eyes with his front claws, while clinging onto the unstable perch with his talons.

Ivy jumped. 'What?' she demanded. 'What's going on?' She began to follow Dianne, albeit cautiously.

{Titan didn't react much to the loss of his eyes, as he really didn't need them to see. The two flanking heads shot out and clamped down on Crowley's wings. They then began to pull, with the intention of pulling them off. Vitis was having a rough time with the centaurs. Yes, he was bigger, but the centaurs were ferocious, clawing away at him with every opportunity. }

{Dianne didn't slow. Instead, she began to explain from the other side of her door.}
"I just lost a centaur. I felt it. Some of Sargon's people are still alive in the city! They can't be allowed to attempt a rescue! Go round up everyone and get out there!"

'OK, OK, hold on a minute - how do you KNOW it's Sargon's people?' Ivy said, while starting to back away from the door. 'It could be anything.'

Crowley would have lost his wings, if not for his teleportation, which he used to escape from Titan's hold and reappear in the air fifty feet above him. He hovered there, grinning down at the hydra and watching Vitis's battle out of the corner of his eye.

{Dianne responds, impatience clear in her voice.}
"Ivy, what other faction out there would attack the centaurs?"

{Titan looks up at Crowley, snarling. Knowing that he could never catch such a small and nimble target, he instead turns his attention to Vitis, who managed to kill another centaur by twisting it in half, but had the majority of them clawing at his underside. He clearly wasn't winning.}

'Geez, I don't know! Maybe someone in the city panicked and attacked them because they look too scary. You know the people here don't trust non-humans.' Ivy started to walk out, however, intending to find the others and warn them.

Crowley watched Vitis for a while longer, before finally intervening. 'HEY, SNAKE BOY!' he yelled loud enough to be heard over the chaos. 'If you get away from them and shift back, I can save you!'

(Will reply tomorrow)

(Saturday)

(Alrighty.)