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Well, she had to admit, he was definitely a strange one. Didn't trust himself most days, huh? That wasn't something she really expected to hear, considering that she was thinking he had things pretty well under control, situational-wise. Honestly, it made her really curious to find out what drove him to these extents, but she wasn't going to voice these thoughts. Heh, it wasn't like he would answer them if she asked anyway -- who would?

If he had not taken Nina's offer, she was sure that she would be given no other choice than to just relinquish the information, in the hopes he would stay true to his words. At least he was a reasonable man, despite the tweaked outlook on life. Unfortunately for him, he was right on the nose about her choice in the order she was willing to give up the information; she was much more comfortable giving up her name than she was associating herself with the demon of Revenge. She seemed to know that it was the least useful amount of information as well, for she smirked when she stated, "I'm Nina." Her name wasn't all that special, and it wasn't as though this were a fairy tale about souls being stolen with the abandonment of a name -- or a title, which the Coyote didn't seem too fond of anyway.

She held out her hand, as if waiting for him to place the geode in it. Funny, it seemed this was the first time she didn't care to ask for a name back. Perhaps this was half out of fear of the request being used as payment instead of the stone, but it was mainly because she had grown rather fond of referring to the man as "Coyote."

There was no reason to dance around the subject, either. "Time to uphold your end of the bargain," she said flatly, though her face still displayed amusement. "I'm not going to run off with it, and it's not like I could anyway." She was much too short to open the door herself, to her chagrin, but she also wasn't about to lie about a promise; that would be too beneath her.

Whatever Nina was expecting Coyote to look like, the young man who stepped out of the shadows... wasn't it. Not that that was a bad thing, per se. This slight awkwardness didn't register on her face, though, which was still set in a firm glance. Her expression melted into a mild smile once she was given back the geode, though, despite the situation. "Thank you," she said lightly. This time, she wasn't going to drop the stone into her pocket; she was going to hold onto it in her taloned right hand for assurance, even if it was just for herself.

She fidgeted in place slightly at the comment, feeling that it seemed to be uncomfortable for the older spawn to say. In spite of herself, as well as the partially angry thoughts still whirling in her head, she felt obligated to say something appreciative. "If it makes you feel any better to know, I think it was more of a stalemate than me beating you," she replied, adding after a pause, "Cody." She wasn't expecting to get his name in return as well, and it made her grin.

Taking note of Cody's upheld promise, her tension seemed to uncoil a bit more. It wasn't everyday that she could run into someone that not only didn't lie about things, but knew how to play mind games with this guideline still intact. Respect... that was the word. She found the whole thing ironic.

Ignoring the sharp tone to his voice, Nina replied, "I am the child of the angel of Hope and the demon of Revenge." She hesitated slightly when she mentioned her demonic blood, the words coming a little slower and her tone dropping a mite in tone unintentionally. She didn't think their names mattered to mention, so she left that information out. Honestly, she didn't know what was so important about her genetics -- she was a spawn like any other kid from the facility, she just had an unlikely chance of having biological siblings -- but such was always her take on the subject. Without meaning to, her face twisted to display slight confusion and curiosity.

Cooler parents? That's right, she still hadn't gotten the specific demonic and angelic traits straight, and couldn't tell which were used in Cody's genetic code on glance alone. Suppose it didn't help that he had mentioned that one of his parents had "fallen," either. Seems there was a lot of that going on lately, and she didn't exactly have very much freedom when she was staying at the facility. Who in their right minds would let a toddler just wander around a place like that, anyway?

Before Nina had a chance to ask about Cody's parents, shying a little away from the way he studied her, the young man's temperament seemed to take a complete one-eighty. At first, she thought that he was just playing with her again, trying to confuse her. But no... there was no way he could make himself sounds that sincere about it. It was almost creepy, how he was suddenly acting so... nice. The obvious memory lapse that happened, apparent with the questions he asked, made her wonder if he was sleep-walking or something. Perhaps even drunk, if she knew the effects alcohol could have on a person in excessive amounts.

But no, his personality shifted back to normal. Her face was frozen in a crooked, bewildered expression as her grip on the geode tightened. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked after a pause, "Do you normally repeat things you've already said, or did you get hit on the head?" She wasn't trying to sound rude, and there was a hint of concern in her voice.

She also knew how it felt to be put on the spot, so tried to lessen that weight by answering his posed question with a bit of a wave. "I suppose I could wait out the storm here. I've got nothing better to do, and that's probably what Ephy's doing, too," she replied, almost nonchalantly.

Nina scratched at her own head absently at Cody's retort, confused yet not buying the answer. However, her eyes seemed to light up at the mention of ghosts, and she had to keep herself from bouncing excitedly. "Ghosts; you think?" she smiled. The place seemed like the sort of building one would run into and find ghosts occupying, but she wasn't really sure if Cody was just grabbing for an answer in the dark. Oh well; either way, the idea was tantalizing enough to keep her from scrutinizing the other's responses.

Interesting... seemed that the Coyote was speaking her language, so to speak. Who knew? Seemed he was right about there being more similarity between the two of them than she thought. For a fleeting second, she wondered if he really could see more about her than she thought, but the idea was quickly pushed to the side. She laughed, "Zombie-hunting, huh? Count me in!" No, she wasn't really interested in finding treasure as much, but was curious what kind of treasure could be found if they did bump into some. Not that she would really have any use for it other than a souvenir -- let Cody take it, as long as she got to take a peek.

"Statue?" she asked, interest piqued. You mean this place was like a mini maze, or a puzzle? That wasn't something she thought she'd run into when she stepped foot in here! Almost immediately, she began hoping that the statue really was blocking the entrance to a secret room or floor. But, just to be sure... "Are you sure there's a lower floor?" Of course, she didn't know this place well enough to know one way or another, but she hadn't seen any windows on the lower part of the building from the outside, which seemed to usually be visible on those with basements. Granted, if there really was something worth hiding, there certainly wouldn't be any indication of it!

Following suit to the statue, it was obvious that Nina was excited to find out what this building may hold. She shrugged comically, "Ghosts, skeletons, zombies... sure, why not? There's probably been stranger things around here. I've just never seen one in person before, is all; just on the TV." Noting silently to herself, she emphasized, On the TV on numerous occasions, as a matter of fact. There wasn't much that truly scared her, and she was curious to find out if something really would. She even went so far as to hope they would really run into a ghost or a zombie, though doubted it would happen.

It was already made clear that Nina had rather average night vision. So it wasn't until her feet shuffled along the floor, finding the ridges of a rune that had been carved into the stonework, that she noticed the room littered with varying degrees of them. Most of the runes had been drawn on, in numerous ways, so most of them were just barely identified if they were seen at all by the girl. Quite suddenly, the building seemed to take on a more mystical and mysterious air in Nina's mind, and her awe was only accentuated by the detail in the statues that adorned the rooms.

She dashed closer when the statue began to wobble with the pressure Cody had placed on it, ready to help move it if she was needed to or steady it if it leaned too much farther. She spotted the darkened opening in the wall, mainly because it was even darker than the surrounding shadows, and grinned toothily in response to Cody's query. "Naw, never doubted you. Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were talking about," she teased. "Need help moving the statue?" She may not have the complete amount of strength inherited from Vaelaeli, but she still had strength that was above-average -- plenty to aid with.

Nina tilted her head as she examined the statue more closely, tapping on it with a careful knock. Sure enough, she could tell the elaborate statue was, indeed, hollow. Weird... she mused, I would never have thought that something like this would be able to stand up to the trials of time so well. It was in pretty good shape, all things considered. She stepped to the side, closer to Cody, so that she could follow him easier inside once the obstacle was removed.

However, once she was instructed to, she backed up to steer clear of any splinters and broken planks of wood that may lunge at her, covering her eyes with her oversized arms to protect them from damage but not so much as to block her sight from the view. She couldn't help but feel awed by the way the other spawn could manipulate the wind the way he did, despite the touch of disappointment that she couldn't help break down the door.

What a way to get your frustration out! she grinned, pulling her arms back down to kick lightly at the larger pieces of wood that littered the floor. "Well, that looked like fun," the thoughts escaped her mouth, moving to glance inside the near-tunnel. Pursing her lips slightly as Cody let her go first, she asked, "Have a lighter or something?" She didn't exactly want to run into a stone wall, and silently she wished that her misty wings could glow like they seemed to in the sunlight. Not that they really had anything to set aflame that was safe.

With a defeated sigh, she started down the pitch-black hallway that held the stone stairs. Her steps came slow, careful not to catch the edge of one and tumble to the floor below; who knew how far down that was anyway? All the while, she thought that maybe keeping a conversation going would help keep them together, let each other know where the other was. "Any idea how far this place goes down?" she asked, voice bouncing off the cold walls and into the shadows, "I mean, you knew it was here. How did you know that much?" If he could sense that there was a buried floor of the building, could he also tell how far down it was from the main structure?

Nina made a scrutinizing face at Cody's comment about it being fun only because of the treasure, but she was still facing down the dark tunnel way at the time; it could hardly be seen if she was facing him, let alone now. She brushed past the comment, however; guess they just had different interests that pertained to this little excursion. Not that it really mattered -- they wouldn't be getting in each other's way, in that case. Mutual agreement? Could it be called that?

She hadn't really expected the older spawn to really have an answer for the darkness problems, otherwise she wouldn't have already been making her way down. She froze slightly, turning back to wait for what it was that Cody was scrounging around for. She was about to call back with a sarcastic, "Well, you could have told me that sooner!" but stopped herself. It was her fault that she didn't hesitate a little longer to wait for an answer to her own question, after all. Her foot slid off of a half-broken and rotted out plank, but her body had already been pressed against the stone wall and she hardly ended up faltering.

Having to blink a few times, although the flame was rather dim, Nina's eyes had already been adjusting to the murky filtering of the corridor. As she waited for her eyes to readjust, she snorted, "If we get out of here alive? I'm sure we'll be fine. If we run into any problems, I doubt there will really be anyone willing enough to go up against two demon-spawn, huh?" She grinned; though there was still very little she knew about her own capabilities, she still had the fog of childhood clouding her thinking, her thoughts responding to her with a simple, Death is what happens to other people; I haven't lived long enough.

It took a little while, but the bottom floor finally appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Nina couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief -- she was tired of batting various cobwebs and giant spiders out of her way. Now that they were at the bottom, they wouldn't have to worry about such trivial annoyances, as the ceiling was so far above them to accommodate the massive doors that stood on the opposite end of the room. She didn't even notice that her mouth was slightly hanging open, in awe as she traced the markings on the door with an outstretched hand, head straining to see how far up the door actually reached.

She began to take a more critical glance at the door once Cody asked if she could see any way to open it. First of all, she leaned on the door to make sure it was truly locked and not just stuck from years of disuse. "Uhh..." she mumbled as her eyes followed the area where the two doors met, noticing something, "There's no lock, so there wouldn't be a key." She scanned the room as the makeshift torch lit up each corner, and spotted the skeleton hovering over the lever just as soon as the flame light touched it. She inhaled sharply, an nearly-silent gasp escaping her mouth. She hadn't actually seen a corpse before, let alone the remains of one, and it scared her. For fear of her voice shaking, she pointed at it instead, to indicate a possible mode of opening the door.