Welcome to Gaia! ::

Mephistophiles shrugged. "I am a devil," he admitted. "It's in all the glasses. If you'd tried it, you would have drunk it, too."

"I always drink the blood of my fallen enemies. It gives things such wonderful closure," Doktor Faust said. "And, of course, my dear sweet Helen needs it to keep our child alive..."

Faust VIII clapped his hands over his mouth.

"What do you expect?" Dokter Faust asked, tilting his wineglass disdainfully. "He was a bishop. Fat, overindulgent, disgusting. But, whatever keeps our unborn son healthy... it's so difficult for Helen to give life to a child, considering her circumstances."

"What is the meat, then?" Faust VIII asked hoarsely.

"His livestock," laughed Dokter Faust. "Honestly, Hans. Did you really think I'd slice him up and serve him to my guests?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Manta whimpered.

"What are you doing?" Manta whispered.

"I've not seen this before," Dokter Faust said, leaning forward with a hungry gleam in his eye.

"Teach me how," commanded Dokter Faust. "I drink their blood to shock and disturb my enemies and my critics... but if could take their powers, I could silence these people as well."

"I think shocking and disturbing is enough!" Manta said, looking disgusted and creeped out.

"How many months is Helen?" Faust asked quietly.

"She is seven months. I know that she does not look it... but she will deliver within the next month or two. If anything is wrong with the child, I'll fix it."

"What could be wrong?" Faust asked; his face was white.

"Quite a lot. His mother is dead, you know," Doktor Faust said, draining his wine glass.

Faust VIII stared at her in horror; the same thought seemed to have occurred to him. Doktor Faust merely regarded her with the same captivated interest he had used for most of the evening. He poured another glass of blood, filling it only halfway. Taking a steak knife, he slit his wrist and held it over the glass until it was filled the rest of the way. He held the glass to Helen's lips, tipping it until she drank.

Faust took the opportunity to scrawl a note to Netsubo. It was written in childish hiragana, but the message was grave. Don't reveal your blood power! If you do, there's no telling what he'll do...

"So... do you have a wife at home, Hans?" Doktor Faust asked, the casual comment clashing bizarrely with the fact that he was feeding a pregnant dead woman blood.

"Yes... I do..."

"Living, or dead?"

"Dead," admitted Faust. "Guess I can't really find anything wrong with you and Helen's relationship..."

((It looks really pretty! Is that new, or has it been around for awhile? I'm still waiting for Gaia to get the money I sent them for my superior form... crying ))

"Suit yourself," Doktor Faust said. Manta jumped up hastily and followed Netsubo.

"I really want to have children," Faust said when he was fairly sure they were out of earshot. "How do you make that work? How did Helen conceive?"

Doktor Faust raised his eyebrows. "Well, now... talk about being forward. That's a secret, but I have to admit you remind me a lot of myself, Hans. Perhaps I'll let you in on a few secrets... but I'll warn you, it's not pleasant."

"Compared to what I've tried, it's probably a walk in the park," Faust said. Mephistophiles gagged on the pork he was chowing down on.