A Totally Reputable Salvage Run [Private]

[elfgurl1234]

Seth felt humbled at the reminder of Elti's Contract invitation, but the last part confused him a bit. [But, the kekesmaphai didn't really offer it to me. Reira made the suggestion and asked Lord Twilight to get the stone.] Unless Reira herself was the the person in question, but somehow he didn't quite think so. And he seriously doubted that Shimy would get the kekesmaphai of all people to be his tu-- ... Shimy. Inhuman Shimy. The woman with a deathtrap of a mind the expanse of an ocean. Probably the most manipulative woman he knew and hell bent on overthrowing the Empire, Shimy. Oh. My. God.

The cheetah felt his brain break.

[AnimeEyeshime]

[You know, I was wondering how long it would take one of you to realize it,] Elti said conversationally, appearing to inspect her fingernails very closely.

Eli had wondered what the hell the cheetah was going on about earlier when he felt a surge of surprise-shock-ruefulness-skeptical across his shields, but he was willing to brush it off the first time. Maybe Seth had recognized one of the statues, who knew. But when an anvil of shock dropped against his shields, sending the kuppy visibly faltering, that was quite enough! "Seth, what the--" Eli stopped, taking in the blankness of the cheetah's expression. "Are you okay?"

Dacj peeked out of an alcove. "What's up?"

The kuppy was searching Seth closely, and his eyes widened as he realized the one thing he hadn't managed to pick up on earlier--Seth was using magic. Which meant... [What happened?! Were you reading someone?] What surprising was left, really, in the minds assembled? He already knew about Dacj's infatuation...

[elfgurl1234]

The kuppy's spoken words went unheard, but somehow his mind was able to catch the thoughts that Eli sent his way. [No. No reading,] he replied, mental voice strangely calm. [Just... chatting.] Remembering vaguely that Dacj and Sorcha were also present, the cheetah Hyte answered aloud, "I'm fine. Excuse me for a moment," before heading back out the way they came. He needed time to process this.

Hoooooow how wait why why why why?? Of all bloody people-- seriously! Shimy-- Phoenekeia-- The First to-- WHAT?!? The worst part was, as much as he wanted to deny it, it all made perfect sense. The pieces had been there all along, just never arranged in the right order. No, what the ****, seriously? The manipulative b***h was the 'good guy' behind it all? Well, yeah, wanting to get rid of Nevreso had never been a bad thing, but the way she went about-- whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy??? And now, between the training and the powerstone (and probably several things before then), he owed her big time. Vhmqo2a'whmr;hua;pwirjs@*Y$*)&%$@ ****! Life was so unfair.

[AnimeEyeshime]

[It's my fault, Eli,] Elti said quickly. [I told him something he wasn't expecting, that's all. It shocked him a bit.]

[What on earth did you tell him?] Eli asked, shaking his head. Well, with a reaction like that, maybe he was better off not knowing... And Seth was still seething with shock-anger-desperation--Eli was actively trying to block him out now, but Seth's strongest emotions were always quite difficult to. It was a right pain, in times like this...

[It's not really important,] Elti said dismissively. And it really wasn't; though Seth's reaction did amuse her. Eli had all the same pieces, really, he could figure it out on his own as well.

[Lord of the Deep]

"Well that was a bit odd" Sorcha remarked dryly "So the Ti'ama's dead body is radiating enough magic to coat the entire room? Is it safe? I'msure Eli doesn't want to find him self mutating tentacles from exposure to unstable magic~" Sorcha quipped though it was a real concern with out some one like Na-kun able to absorb the radiation. Though it was something good to know Sorcha was sure Na-kun could find some use for an elder god corpse.

[AnimeEyeshime]

"That is not funny Sorcha--" Eli began heatedly, but he broke off when Elti raised a hand. Clearly she meant to speak further on it.

"It is a passive reaction. Only those who invoke magesight will see the magic; it will not have any effect on the rest." Elti paused, cocking her head to one side, and appearing to look intently at the ceiling. "Though it would be best, I think, not to use magic on the environs while we are down here." It would be quite amplified if they were unlucky. "Especially as we move towards the place of holy."

Dacj focused on the Ti'ama suddenly. "Place of holy?" she echoed.

"The innermost sanctum of the shrine. The deepest one can get to the Ti'ama..." Elti met the kraken's gaze. [Yes, I think it is the same,] she added mentally. She could rarely read Dacj strongly, but the girl's mind was full of a place beneath the earth, with glyphs and carving and a large domed roof...

[Lord of the Deep]

Sorcha grinned happily "Wow a begin form of magical radiation that strong is pretty rare Na-kun will definitely be interested in it~" if nothing else it would be a good meal, though Sorcha rather thought that Nageya could find a better use for it then simply draining the magic. "And it wasn't really a joke Eli~ tentacles are one of the most common mutations caused by exposure to unstable magic" Sorcha teased it was true though with the vast number of different affects 'most common' didn't mean that much.

[AnimeEyeshime]

The Ti'ama looked gently stern as she eyed Sorcha. "It is something that is not well known, and I would prefer the information stay close--you may not mean any harm, child, but your guardian..." The kekesmaphai trusted him...to a point. "There is great magic here. It would be very dangerous in the wrong hands."

Eli made a face at Sorcha's continued teasing. Dacj just looked wry. "Even I don't need more than twelve limbs," she said, shaking her head. "Shall we continue? Once Seth gets back of course."

[Lord of the Deep]

Sorcha's face lit up like a child that had been told it as Christmas in July, anything described as dangerous in the wrong hand had to be good, Sorcha almost wished she could use magic so she could play with things herself. "Your a bit silly Elti I'm far more likely to be the wrong hands type then Nageya~ He's actually responsible and thinks out the consequences of his actions and such~" Sorcha said happily then looked over Dacj "Well you already have tentacles more of them don't seem quite random enough for a mutation. Eli would definitely get tentacles though the universe would demand it."

[AnimeEyeshime]

Elti did not look pleased at Sorcha's reply, and Dacj really didn't want to get stuck mediating between the two. The kraken hadn't the slightest idea why Elti was insisting on...well, whatever she was actually trying to say. But Dacj did know that if Elti was bothering to be stern about it, it was probably important. "Perhaps you should be a little more 'responsible' too, Sorcha," she said wryly. It was bad enough imagining her girlfriend doing all sorts of crazy things--Sorcha didn't have to point out the fact that she was incredibly reckless to boot. (The kraken completely ignored that the same actually applied to her as well)

Eli was pointedly ignoring the fact that Sorcha was probably right--the universe hated him that much.

Elti saw it most prudent to call Seth back. [We are preparing to move forward now, so if you would like to return...?]

[elfgurl1234]

Oh God, the powerstone. This is a piece of Shimy!!! bSOVNU TgqpuA! That... that is so wrong and weird on so many levels. The cheetah Hyte was left on his own for about a minute or so before Elti finally called him back. [A-Ah, right. Coming.] Ok, calm down. Just... don't think about it. ... Ugh. Taking a brief moment to recompose himself in the dark, the cheetah Hyte padded back into the lit hallway where the others were. "So, are we continuing on then?" he asked curiously, as if he hadn't already just been told as much by Elti. [I don't suppose I've missed anything, have I?] Sheesh, his brain still hurt thinking about it all. Stop. Thinking.

[Lord of the Deep]

Sorcha's gaze slid from Elti to Eli and when she answered Dacj it was clear she was being somewhat evasive "Thats ... difficult" Sorcha wouldn't mind talking about it to Dacj but hell if she was letting the others know.
As Seth rejoined them Sorcha asked him with genuine concern "You alright? But yes if your okay I suppose we should be heading on"

[elfgurl1234]

"I'm fine," Seth replied. "Ready to go whenever you guys are." It was a good thing he could pull a good poker face when he needed to, though he doubted Eli was having as good of a time with things. It was times like this when the kuppy being sensitive to his emotions became decidedly not handy. Actually, pretty much any situation in which Eli could sense him was an inopportune time, so scratch that thought. .... Shimy, powerstone, Ti'ama, whyyy?? So not right. He very nearly began fingering the stone beneath his shirt again, but caught himself this time around and merely adjusted the charm Sorcha had given him earlier instead.

[AnimeEyeshime]

Dacj's curiosity was sparked at Sorcha's evasive reply, and more so by the fact there seemed to be something more there. Was there an actual reason for her recklessness?

Eli didn't know why Seth continued to be a little emotional storm, but since even Elti didn't want to explain things to him...there was very little he could actually do.

Elti beckoned them all forward, towards the end of the hall, where there was another stone door. As Eli stepped forward to use the same procedure as he'd done before, Dacj glanced over to one of the last statues--a serious looking girl with hair tied back in a tail, two tendrils framing her marble face. The kraken drifted over to the niche as if drawn there, and glanced over the objects held within. A comb with three flowers across the spine, a carved wooden toy animal that appeared to be some kind of equine or bovine, and a perfectly preserved sky blue scarf...that seemed to be dipped in dried blood on the edges. "That's...morbid," she said aloud, eyes wide.

Eli was distracted from the stone door sliding open, and looked over at the statue as well. "That's...Eurus!" he said, in the lightest of growls as he rushed over to read the plinth for confirmation. His brow furrowed. "Except it says 'Zephyr'..."

Dacj circled around back out in front, trying to give Eli a proper distance for his own comfort. "Maybe...twins? Does that happen? The name of the Contractor's office doesn't change so...what else could it be?" They looked to Elti.

"Twins," she said, raising her hand to her mouth to cover her smile. "Triplets, actually, if I remember correctly. Their brother Aeleon was the first Emperor of Neo-Sovreem." Dacj just looked puzzled.

"Eurus was one of the Contractors who crashed my first date with Kamiko," he explained, gratified to finally have the mystery of the woman solved--sort of. Zephyr was the one who was part of Reeni's Praetorate, so Eurus...ah, had been the Phoenix! It was sort of making sense now.

[elfgurl1234]

Seth was drawn out of his thoughts by Dacj's remark concerning the statue, followed by Eli's aggressive reaction toward it. Eurus? Why did he feel like he had heard that name once before...? He listened to the brief conversation that followed, and Elti's explanation helped clear up the confusion about the different names, and Eli's last remark cleared Seth's own confusion. He had forgotten all about the incident that transpired on Eli's first date. For some reason he had never really asked the details of what had happened then... Perhaps sometime later. "Are all three of the triplets Contractors then?" he asked, voicing the question aloud this time. "Or only the two?"