The Queen, Sand and Moon

[Krisztinya Valkai]

"Krisztinya Valkai"


Before the name left her lips the Primogen could smell Oona approaching. It wasn't through any conscious activity, it was just part of who she was. She was facing the open sand, and Oona was at her back across the bed, unable to see the perverse smile creeping over her hauntingly beautiful features.

"Well the gods of this realm do have a sense of humour, do they not Vampire…"

She blinked twice, slowly as Oona leveled the barb at her, not allowing her behavior to show anything but a passive, unyeilding annoyance with the situaiton. She turned, standing from her seated position, to face the woman. When she saw the state of disarray that she was in the smile perked into a condescending smirk. "Why if it isn't my dear friend, Oona... It seems they do have a sense of humor here, else they wouldn't have brought you about with naught but your nightgown. I never figured you for the exhibitionist type, Oona. I must say I'm surprised."

"Is this realm your doing? Or are you as lost as I am?"

Krisztinya considered momentarily lying, fabricating a story to keep herself on the top of this situation, but quickly realized that that's where she was anyway, as always. Her sense of others was just as skewed as her penchant for torture. "I am never ~lost~, my dear. Losing your way is only possible if you ~have~ a way, which I do not... or, rather... EVERY way is MY way, so no. I'm not lost. Do I know where we are? Niet. Though I can see how you might attribute this kind of thing to my hand... magnificent as it is."

She leveled her gaze on the beautiful woman from across the bed, her arms still crossed at her chest in a manner that indicated her boredom with the waiting around. At least this realm provided her an opportunity for food, if needs be. The thought of sucking Oona dry and desecrating her body brought another dark smile to the Primogen's features.


"I have no doubt you can feel the perverse, dark, insidious nature of this world, I would image you'd be right at home…"

She began to chuckle, a deep resonating sound rich with the ethereal nature of voices without souls. Her eyes widened slightly in amusement and her smile split to show her teeth, though not revealing her elongated incisors. She had become adept at hiding that fact, and it was second nature by now. "I feel no hostility here, and yes... the darkness is alive here more than it was wherever we came from. It's tangible, tasty and alive. A pity you can't see past your simple "good/evil" outlook, or you might recognize the beauty in such haunting darkness. But Oona, what in the nine hells are you doing here... with me? I wouldn't have expected it to be YOU to welcome me here..."

She remained standing, peering through the snapping curtains, allowing the red moonlight to halo around her. She could get used to this place.

[The Demon Auditor]

(Sorry for the delay... I'm still adjusting to a salary man's life. Though...this did come out quite nicely, I think. )

*ODK gave a start as Mori suddenly ran up to him. Instinctively he clapped both hands over his groin and turned slightly sideways.* HOLD, Temptress!

*Unfortunately, Mori was the dedicated type. The type who would still plant her lips on his even after being told to stop in her tracks. He couldn't help it that he lost his gum somewhere beyond her pearly gates. Engaged with finding the sticky, sweet, sandy elastomer again, he failed to realize his lips were no nowhere near hers anymore, as she rattled off several questions in rapid fire.*

~What the hell b’goin on? How long ye been here? Is it cause of ye I’m here? Whatcha do now?~

ODK blinked lazily, his lips still moving slowly. He stopped though as he saw Mori standing there with her arms folded. Frigid was too generous a term. He looked around, and for a moment was relieved to see no-one else was watching. Oona had mysteriously disappeared, but he could still sense her presence somewhere. No doubt giving the two lovebirds a bit of time alone?

~Well??~

Err...uh... *Ol' ODK was in a bind, y'see, so he thought of a story, and he thought it up quick!* Once upon a time there was a sandy place with a red moon, see... And, uh, this place...had, a, uh...a terrible curse! Yeah! And...this curse....it was terrible! So terrible, it made people appear in this place on a red four-poster bed. Then ODK arrived, and later Mori, and when Mori asked him where they were, he said:

Err...uh... *Ol' ODK was in a bind, y'see, so he thought of a story, and he thought it up quick!* Once upon a time there was a sandy place with a red moon, see... And, uh, this place...had, a, uh...a terrible curse! Yeah! And...this curse....it was terrible! So terrible, it made people appear in this place on a red four-poster bed. Then ODK arrived, and later Mori, and when Mori asked him where they were, he said:

Err...uh... *Ol' ODK was in a bind, y'see, so he thought of a story, and he thought it up quick!* Once upon a time there was a sandy place with a.........

*ODK blinked quietly at Mori.* Hey, there's a line of sand behind you and a giant spider headed this way.

*Ol' ODK thought he fooled her. Crafty little devil he was! But something was on the air. A scent. No, several scents. Panties, boots...and DEMON. If Mori wasn’t already preoccupied with smiting him, he would leap into her arms and squeeze her tight as if in the throes of pleasure. His lips would tremble against her earlobe as his voice lifted only slightly above a whisper.* My dear...I’m feelin’ a smidge tingly today...an’ I don’t rightly know what’s wrong wit’ me, or this place...But I do know, we are most certainly not alone...

*Even before he finished his sentence, he could feel another energy entering the realm. It was like a server alert broadcasting in his mind when a new member joined. This one smelled of something much darker and more sinister than any mere demon. Mori would need to fight him off if she wanted to retain any sort of decorum in this strange land.*

[Shizuku Tonderui]

Carthax never expected it, the sudden punch in the face, or the fact that the ground was trying to swallow him up. No he really didn't see any of that coming, and all the taint and strong words in the world probably couldn't have helped him. He was surprised really, to say the least that was. As the sand fully engulfed him, and the wolrd went dark, he suspected it would be the end. Well then.

Then, there was something. A cool breeze over his face. With a sudden jolt he sat up, eyes surverying the room that he was in. He had not expected such a thing, and was glad he was alive. The real question to come was if he was back home or not. No. This placed looked nothing like his Black Citadel. Slowly getting to his feet he headed to the window, looking outside at it.

"Being a King here would not be a wise choice. Too much confusion." He thought to himself, turning on his heel to walk away towards the large stone door. He left the...bedroom to enter the hallway, his eyes ever watchful for anything amiss. Well, the winged man in the next room definantly was off. His hand slowly crept up to one of the daggers on his chest and he gripped the hilt.

"Greetings strangers." Was all that he could think about as the words passed his lips. He was a stranger here as well, and honestly didn't like it that way. He wished someone would tell him what in the nine hells was going on. He figured if anything he could just infect the land with the filfth and taint that lingered inside of him. A second, last option if anything.

[Mair Debryn]

Of course it’s that easy…

-Mair started, assuring herself completely that it was exactly that simple. She would go home. She did not want to hear anyone, the kindly spider included, tell her otherwise. So she wouldn’t. Still, something in its/her blue eyes and sympathy-seeped tone had a cold, sick feeling creeping up Mair’s spine. With intense regret, the demoness watched as the blue smoke rose and dissipated where the gargoyle had been. This whole situation was too much. Way too damn much. The anger softened for the moment, she inched a little closer, aware that this change in position and dropping of her guard could mean her death. Curiosity, after all, had killed the cat. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to think it might kill her. Relief and dread warred within her as the spider spoke again.-

He’s not? What’s his name? I didn’t catch it in our…brief…meeting. Wait, how do you kn…Oh, nevermind. What does it matter now? Others, huh? Can these others help me get home? Cute. Real cute. Go to bed Demon: Maker of Dreams, wake up Dorothy, complete with Spider-Toto. No offense…

-Mair paused in her rant session to accept the unexpected and kind, if not freaky, gift retrieved from “Toto’s” secret cubby. An enormous boot-weaving spider. She had now seen everything. Pasting on what she hoped was a grateful smile, she slipped them on. She had said anything and it had to be better than crossing the desert barefoot. Though they did absolutely nothing to cover the rest of her, it was a start. Mair’s smile finally reached her eyes and warmed considerably.-

Why, ruby slippers. I should have seen that coming. Thank you. I won’t ask how you knew. I will ask what I can call you? Aside from Toto, that is…And it’s off to Oz we go…

-Resigned for the moment, Mair hurried after her newest companion. It could be worse. No houses had been dropped on her and aside from crows and one gargoyle, nothing remotely similar to a monkey had flown by. Yet.-

[Moridanu]

*Gulping slightly, Moridanu rolled her emerald eyes and glanced up at the big red moon above her as she accidentally swallowed the cinnamon gum that ODK had lost in her mouth before she rattled off her hundred and one questions.

Standing there with her arms folded against her ample chest, Moridanu did not look amused as ODK resorted to his candour and sarcastic humour that she usually adored. Now however was not the time for silly riddles and she started to tap one foot slightly against the sand beneath her feet as she waited for him to begin making sense. The word “spider” reached her ears and she blinked as she glanced behind her quickly.

Before she had time to react to the thought of a spider approaching her however, ODK was practically on top of her, nuzzling her ear and commenting on how strange he was feeling.

~No shit..~ she murmured as she tried to detangle herself from his arms and lips.

~What has gotten into ye? Not that I’m complaining, but ye aint usually known for your random displays of public affection..~

[The Demon Auditor]

*ODK gave a shiver as Mori forced him away. He grinned wildly at her, though, the corner of his left eye twitching slightly.* My senses are wide open suddenly.... It's like this rush of energy! Naturally, my first reaction is to expend it, and since I've been told to limit my use of magic, I went for the first physical exertion I could think of. Of course, though... *He glanced to the approaching spider and de-...well, it was shaped like a woman, he'd of course play along with that.* ...I do suppose we should tone it down a bit, heh. I'll behave.... *He grinned, hands behind his back and his fingers crossed.* ...promise!

[Catrux]

A voice behind him spoke, he snapped around, it was not the voice of the moon. He turned to see a man, a body to which the voice belonged. He was pleased to have a body to associate the voice with after having been mocked by the moon.

The only reply Sehkem gave was "Hello, are you as tormented and confused by this place as I am?" He noticed the man's hand upon the hilt of a blade. Realizing he was holding his scythes he put them away as a form of peace offering.

"Maybe together we can find out why we are here. What say you?" Even though Sehkem spoke these words he couldnt help but feel he was once again being tormented by this place, he thought the man was just an illusion the relm had created. For now he was content to go along with it.

[Shizuku Tonderui]

"Tormented? Let's see...I was just ready to kill my father, I was having a nice bloody nap, and then woke up in this place, beset by a tree creature, beaten up by him, and sucked into sand. So yeah, I'd say I'm prettye tormented and confused by the bloody place." Carthax said as he slowly let go of his weapons. Well, the thing seemed...alive and sentient, and not very...dangerous looking. "All I want is to figure out where I am and why I'm here...They call me Carthax." He stopped with just his first name. He still remembered what happened when he called himself a king after all, and he really didn't want that to happen again.

"Who and eh, if you don't mind me asking, are you? Your not an...angel are you?" He asked as his hand went back up to the blade. He wasn't favoured by angels, and really, he didn't feel up to going against one. This almost seemed like another cruel and tormented joke against him.

"If you are...well eh, Yeah. It's all good." He said nodding. He figured, if he needed to, he'd head to the nearest window and go for a nice little jump. Better than going against an Angel while in a strange world anyways.

[Catrux]

Sehkem watched as the man slowly let down his weapons. The man called himself Carthax.

"I am Sehkem, and no I do not believe I am an Angel. I dont know what I am for sure, but I think I am a Vinyakin. It is a long and complicated story, just be sure I am no Angel." He noticed the man's uneasiness about Angels, which he may not have intended to but he showed his alignment as well. If a fight must happen later, I know what to use. He is evil, otherwise he would not fear Angels so.

Sehkem glanced around then walked back into his room and ripped down the Tapestry of the winged creatures. He then returned to Carthax and displayed the tapestry, while reciting the words that were written in his room.

[Shizuku Tonderui]

"I...see..." Though Carthax was still very wary of the fellow, he deemed it in his best interest not to get on his bad side. If it looked like an Angel after all....He shook the thought from his mind. No, the man had said Vinyakin, which to Carthax was a very foreign word. He ran it through his hand, trying to understand it, but just...couldn't. It probably wasn't important anyways.

"So ah...I think I failed. The slight pounding sensation in my face might agree with me. Last time I ever let my guard down right after a bloody fight." Carthax declared to Sehkem, who was honestly a total stranger, but Carthax could really just care less about that. Right now Sehkem was the only...ally Carthax had.

"I really despise this place. It's unnatural. Well...Where I come from is unnatural as well at point, Gods and Golems, Avatars of old and the like, but still, at least it has rhyme and reason to it. This place looks as if Fenrin tossed it together one day." He shivered at the name as he spoke the offhand comment. Fenrin in his world was the God of Chaos, and sometimes the world could be very confusing if Fenrin dipped his hands into the affairs of men more than once.

"So anyways Sehkem, what in the nine hells should we do now?"

[Catrux]

"I'm not so sure you failed because I was told I succeded...unless this place is pairing one winner with one loser. This place is not one I would wish to stay in for long."

Sehkem started to think of what to do next. He was drawing blanks, he looked to his ravens to see if they for once could reach an agreement. After looking at them for a few moments he shook his head, "You two can never agree, you are never any help in these matters."

He turned back to Carthax and said "The only thing I can think of doing is explore this place. It appears to be a palace of some sort, maybe the master of this keep knows why we are here. What do you think."

Sehkem was a little unsure of this man but the feeling he got from him suggested not to start a fight. For the moment he thought it best to try and make Carthax an ally, after all two were better than one....most of the time.

[Oona Ondessa]

"I wouldn't have expected it to be YOU to welcome me here..."

Oona sighed deeply, she moved around the bed and sat next to Krisztinya, as much as they hated each other and probably would Oona knew Krisztinya wouldn't attack her.

"I don’t doubt its beauty, it's the world itself I find disconcerting… it's shattered torn and broken… I fear it won't hold up long enough for us to return home"

She said honestly, her jewellery glinted in the red light. Oona stood up suddenly and moved around to face the Primogen

"Plus I'm unsure if that moon will always stay in the air… what will become of you when the sun rises?"

Oona said with a brow raised, she couldn't help but silently pray to the goddess that the sun does rise and destroy Krisztinya, at least her land would be free, what would happen to the Abyss? Maybe weaken it enough to be destroyed, if that was at all possible… But to dwell on such 'what ifs' were foolish, especially seeing as they both found themselves in an unholy realm. Wind began to pick up; sending sand whirling through the air, Oona pressed her hand against her eyes trying to shield herself from the sudden stinging sandstorm that roared around the pair.

The World dropped and twisted, tore and shattered into a million pieces, the harsh song of the desert and the blood moon could be heard rising over the torrents of sand and wind and suddenly the world gave one more silent heave and Oona and Krisztinya were standing in magnificent hall. The Floor was tiled in black and white checkers and the brick walls were blood red, the ceiling raised amazing high, a mosaic of tiles and paintings were plastered over the ceiling depicting a beautiful land with green grasses, trees and flowers. In the centre of the ceiling was a brilliant shinning sun made from thousands of differently coloured tiles. In the distance two brick staircases could be seen winding down into the hall through thick stone doors.

Oona snapped her head towards the stone staircases in the distance.

"Someone approached. Ready yourself…"

Oona hissed suddenly to Krisztinya, her teeth baring in anger.


"None taken love"

The Spider said softly to Mair, nodded her head knowingly

"Though I must admit I don’t have the slightest clue what you're talking about…"

As The Spider and Mair approached Moridanu and the ODK the Spider waved and put out her spiny hands for each of them to shake

"Hello dears, I'm the Spider"

She said softly
"I can sense were being summoned, tally ho then"

She said with a kind smile, she clicked her back two feet together and the world shifted and lurched, the sand in front of the Spider separated until a red stair case could be seen leading into the darkness.

"Follow me dears, your perfectly safe, trust me. Have we all met each other?"

She said looking over her shoulder as she descended down the staircase. It went on for several moments, growing chilly then warm until they would reach a stone door, upon opening the door they would be lead down another staircase into a great hall where Oona and Krisztinya were waiting.

The Moon once again called out mockingly, spoken only to Carthrax and Sehkem.

"Follow the path, all will be revealed"

She hissed dangerously, once again the unnatural wind began to blow, blowing against the men and pointing them South down the hallway, along the hallway was similar tapestries on one side the tapestries depicted men and woman with powerful wings, black and white and grey, with foreign words all over them, on the other side a the tapestries depicted swamps with black muck and castles sitting in the tar and swamps, with horrible creatures rising up against the muck, the sky displayed the hands of gods reaching down to grab hold of the black castles. At the end of the hallway was a huge stone door; on the other side was a magnificent hall where the others had been summoned too. [/i]

[Shizuku Tonderui]

"You know Sehkem..." Carthax started after he heard the moon hiss dangerously at them. "I think when I return home...if I do, I'm going to blot out the moon." He finished triumphantly, casting a glare towards the crimson orb that hung in the sky.

"And pray to Terrin that he protects me." He said before following the wind down the south hallway, his arms behind his back as he walked, eyes always aware of the tapestries. He stopped though, when he reached a castle that sat on the tar and swamps, where creatures rose from the muck.

"Now this...This is bloody art. Reminds me quite nicely of home. Of course, my castle is much large and spectacular, as well, my minions are quite the beauties." He said, aloud and really not to Sehkem but to himself, reassuring himself that what he was doing back home was definantly the right thing.

"Though...This whole hand thing is disturbing...Colours represent our Gods...and I see no black hand. If this is some...accurate prediction of sorts, then in the final battle Terrin will...abandon me. Hmph. Just like him to run in the middle of a pinnacle point." His hand though at the same time reached out to stroke the delicate tapestry, running his hands along them fondly. Then he stopped at one spot...one particular swampy area. A single dead tree, and beside it a figure.

"This is....This is very familiar." He said as he squinted, running his hand over the tree and figure. He couldn't make out much detail of it, but this scene before him, it scared him. He feared what he was seeing.

"No, this is just all coincedences. Sehkem and these angel tapestries, me and this...swampy castle tapestries. No, it won't end like this, I was garunteed it would end with...his death." With a turn of his heel he was off again, heading down the hallway towards the huge stone door, which he amply pushed open out of his way into the magnificent hall.

"Well then...I just keep going to different places here."

[Krisztinya Valkai]

Oona moved around the bed to take a seat next to her and she slowly turned her head to acknowledge her presence. It was true, Krisztinya wouldn't attack Oona, not yet. In the spirit of Machiavelli, the Primogen believed that everyone needed an Arch Enemy or three, and that seperated those individuals from the rest of the rabble. An Arch Enemy was one to banter with, one whose destruction and pain you enjoy with every small infraction, one who you would save just to kill yourself. And Oona had slipped very nicely into that role in this new land of Morthika. Whether she would live up to her former Arch Enemies remained to be seen, but it was a start.

Kris's emerald gaze slowly fell on Oona with an unwavering deadpan tint. "I don’t doubt its beauty, it's the world itself I find disconcerting… it's shattered torn and broken… I fear it won't hold up long enough for us to return home" Kris blinked slowly twice. "My dear, if this world were to suddenly become extinct, should it destroy itself or cease to exist, ~I~ have no worries. I can't say the same for you. When the light of this world snuffs out only the pure darkness will remain." She felt the corners of her lips tug up into a smile of calm amusement. She didn't have to say any more, the implication was enough. She had the distinct feeling that this world would not let her leave while it had her here, and the Abyss was twisted enough to encourage this little trip into some mad artist's painting come to life. But when the magic of this world died, exhausted itself, it would be the darkness that would be her dark road home.

"Plus I'm unsure if that moon will always stay in the air… what will become of you when the sun rises?"

She followed Oona as she moved before her. The woman was beautiful, it was true, and the red light bouncing off of her jewelry and tattooed skin was alluring. Her eyes didn't jump to the sky in panic, they didn't blink furiously as if she hadn't thought of that. Instead she blinked again, slowly allowing her sooty lashes to feather against her pronounced cheekbones of alabaster. "You've been reading too many horror stories, Oona. Well, maybe not enough. All of those stories have that climactic moment when the sun rises and the evil creature of the night is slowly burned by the pure rays of the sun." She paused and felt the rumbling of dark laughter brewing in her chest. "Oona, I would love nothing more than if that moon stayed put. It's glorious, ominous. But if it doesn't... If a sun takes its place.... " She stopped, her eyes swirling with the fisure cracks of ink as the wind came to life around them. She didn't bother finishing the sentence as the shadow cloak cocooned around her, that Abyssmal shadows weaving into a hooded cloak to protect her from the elements. Those elements included the sun, and that was what Oona was about to find out... but why ruin a potentially thrilling surprise later?

The world shifted suddenly and dramatically and as they came to a rest standing in a great hall, the light bounced off of her eyes within the voluminous hood of the cloak, appearing nothing but twin mirrors that cast no reflection. She appreciated the drama of the change, but instantly missed the abrasive sand and moon. Her gaze lifted to the walls, finding the tiles in the ceiling a lovely representation of the sun. She never loved the sun, even when she was mortal. But it was well made. It was clear they were in a palace of some sort. An Estate of someone worth speaking to. The color of the brick brought that flicker of a smile to her lips again.

As Oona tensed at the sound of someone approaching, she merely crossed her arms at her chest, long elegant fingers taking their time to curl over her biceps. The Hood of the cloak melted back into the rest of the cloak, leaving her long blonde hair to tumble over her shoulders again from the twin silver and onyxed sharpened hair pins holding back some of her hair. Her eyes shifted from the grandiose decor to the stairs, she didn't hop around, she didn't have to "ready herself" as Oona put it. She appeared rather annoyingly calm and unaffected by the whole situation. She glanced at Oona as she clearly was expecting something horrible to come through those doors and down the stairs. Krisztinya couldn't help but be enticed at the opportunity.

"So paranoid... That show of hostility will immediately put whoever that is in a nasty way, darling... when we get back you need to take a vacation." She grinned slightly as the tendrils from her angled sleeves slithered along her wrist to inch and curl along her hands. "I could keep a room open for you at BriarWood. We'd both enjoy that..." There was a hint of a dark threat there, but none that Oona wasn't already aware of. Arch Enemies could joke about things like that, you know. Rather than standing there waiting for a fight, or an attack, Krisztinya stood elegantly, regally. It was her nature, as a countess, an heiress to land, weath and a millenial year old name, to treat every place she was in as her own. It wasn't something that could be taught, it was just in her bones. As she watched the door open, she imagined that whoever it was might make the same assumption that Oona did. Her shadow cloak moved and slithered over her taut muscles, it was an odd enough sight that it might have belonged here. The faintest flicker of a smirk touched her pert crimson lips as her eyes locked on that staircase.

[Moridanu]

*Moridanu rolled her eyes as ODK tried to explain his sudden horniness.

~So this place is one large battery boost for ye hmm? A giant Viagra?~ she laughed. ~You aren’t the only one, its effecting me too… I feel strange, like.. m’magick would be off..~ she shrugged and then turned around quickly as she heard the sound of shifting sands of someone approaching. A giant spider approached them, and Moridanu could not help but shudder despite the fact that another creature that appeared to be a human woman seemed to be walking with the giant spider and looked to be completely safe.

Unable to be rude, Moridanu politely shook the offered spiny hands and nodded softly as the spider introduced itself as .. the spider. The fact that it seemed to think they should know who it was immediately, unnerved Moridanu slightly but the gentle smile and the spiders words did settle her jangled nerves, if only briefly. It seemed that this spider knew exactly what was going on around here, and Moridanu planned to ask the Spider some questions, similar to the ones she had just asked ODK a few moments before. Before she had the chance however, the Spider told them to follow her and assured her they were all quite safe as the Spider led them down a red staircase that had suddenly appeared in the hole created by the shifting sand. Looking back at the woman that had accompanied the Spider, Moridanu shook her head as the Spider asked if they all knew each other.

Tossing a glance over to ODK, Moridanu raised a slender amber brow and then offered the woman a slight smile.

~No I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure… the name be Moridanu Darkflame..~ she offered by way of introduction and reached back to find ODK’s hand. Once she did, she interlaced her fingers with his and tugged on his hand slightly as she followed the Spider and began the descent down the mysterious staircase. Although she did not know if this Spider was indeed the ally it appeared to be, Moridanu figured anything would be better than this strange shifting sand and blood red moon. Glancing up at the moon, Moridanu’s brow furrowed slightly as the moon slowly disappeared from view as she descended further into the darkness below. *