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First she was at a lake, and now she was at a island. It was a wonder where she would end up next. But for now Poke was more interested in the tower that made up the majority of this island. She craned her head to look up, impressed by it's sheer height.

It was easy to get inside since the massive doors were unlocked. But once inside she found there wasn't much else except a staircase that led upwards.

Oh, and a talking Gargoyle.

Poke stood there as it kept talking about keys and giving her some and other such stuff she became rather uninterested in. Thankfully the gargoyle above told him to shut up, and he eventually got to the point. He wanted some food. So with a shrug, the dragon walked into the kitchen and stopped just at the door.

She had been in this kitchen before. The tables and shelves made our of rock and earth, the old style cooker in the back. Wasn't this her parents kitchen?

It came as a shock, and she was immediately wary of going inside. But if she wanted some keys, she needed to give the gargoyle something to eat. So she spent the next few minutes using the cookier to roast some bacon. Because bacon was good.

Once she came back with a bacon sandwich, she handed it to the gargoyle, who in tern gave her they key.

Vaith couldn't even talk at the gargoyles. He stood there, coutning off minutes from an nonexistent clock, trying not to look at useless as he felt. Food? Vaith wanted food-- But gargoyles came first, apparently.

He didn't really pay mind to the kitchen at first-- and then realized it was just like his own. Damn, that was convenient. Sweets for the gargoyle, trading for a key~

Actually, it was more of a chips and dip combination.



"E-Er, hi.. misters!" Syaa piped up, seeing the gargoyles. Their conversation was mildly amusing, she would have laughed a little but she was too nervous to. She stood there, listening nervously to their conversation.

"O-Oh! Food-- yes! yes!" She ran off, scurrying off.

It was japanese tea cookies and tea~

Coming back down the stairs after drowning in the pool, Gwyn asked the gargoyle if he was hungry and willing to exchange another meal for another key. He agreed to the deal, as long as she did not make haggis again. Agreeing to this, this time she made him Cullen Skink with the same black tea as before. Hoping he liked fish soup, she took it to him. He looked over the meal, just to double check that it was not haggis again, before he tossed her the key. Heading back upstairs, Gwyn hoped she would not have to try to remember more recipes. She was not sure she had gotten this one right. Were you supposed to leave the bones in the fish when serving it?

Szczeosny's head was still spinning from the sheer amount of knowledge he'd come into possession of recently. Like a hundred mirror fragments through which his own mind was distorted to the point of being unrecognizable. And in each instance he had succeeded, because he had not been himself, because he had not been held back by the things that made him cower in fear, the people and the dangers that a horseman or a wendigo simply ignored. Or perhaps, in those twisted realities, he had no reason to fear.

Whether or not that was a bad thing remained to be seen.

But the King had not lied. This time, he had given back something important.

< Someone important, darling. And I think it's a very good thing. >

He couldn't really forget Irdlirvirisissong.

< Did you miss me? > she asked with a small giggle, as the gargoyles bickered above him.

Actually... I did, he thought back, and he wasn't lying. He'd been so used to someone else being there with him, that the time without seemed strangely quiet in retrospect. And somehow, he felt as though he had a little more insight into her species.

< Good, > she purred, like a contented cat.

He'd expected himself to feel... something, anything, but everything seemed oddly dull and flat. The more he remembered, the less he could bring himself to really care like he used to. Even as Song chirped away in his mind he had his fingers lightly curled around the dagger handles, wondering if maybe this was what he had wanted all along.

A door had appeared, covered in wear and tear, scuffing and scratches. He pushed through into a room where a fluorescent light flickered over a small corner kitchen. Recognition hit him like a wall. He was back in his old apartment. He hadn't been here since...

"Erm," he mumbled, bending down to look into his fridge. It was pretty barren. A lonely beer, a carton of milk, a jar of pickles, a few boxes of cheap takeout that had been thoroughly picked over. Light movements of each object told him the same thing over and over, printed in black ink: expired, expired, expired.

It felt like someone reaching to touch him on the shoulders, the invisible feeling of someone right behind him, watching his every move. Her voice was more curiosity than concern. < Szczeosny? Are you okay? >

"Huh? Oh - yeah." He plucked a single too-soggy cucumber from inside the jar between his fingers. His gaze appeared to be going through it to somewhere else. "Yeah I just... don't know what I'm supposed to do with this."

< Yech, > she made a sympathetic sound of disgust. < Just put it on a plate and be done with it, dear. We need to move on. >

He nodded. Soggy pickles and expired beer would have to do.

This place was really really creepy. It felt open and exposed and every gargoyle looking at him felt like a living breathing thing judging him.

Which turned out to be the case when one jumped to life and began rambling when he tried to go up the stairs. After some confusion and a lot of running off topic, Feng was told to make the gargoyle something to eat.

What did stone eat?

He stepped through the door and was momentarily blindsided by the familiarity of it all. Eveyrthing from the color of the cabinets to the smell of the room was just like home. He could remember this very kitchen from growing up, it was where his mom taught him to cook.

Trying to ignore the eery similarity, he went through what he had in stock and tried to decide what to make. He didn't really know what to feed a gargoyle, but he was pretty sure he couldn't go wrong with egg drop soup.

It was simple, it was familiar, and he was able to make it quickly. It was still piping hot when he handed a bowl to the gargoyle. He received the key to the sound of happy slurping.

In the end, all it really wanted was food and drink, wasn't it?

Marzena didn't even care about the bickering gargoyles. When he had made his intention clear, she immediately marched towards the kitchen.

She would make salad. Salad was easy enough, wasn't it. Besides, she was sure the gargoyle did not want to taste any of her cooking. She was terrible at that, as far as she could remember.

She put a teapot on boil and tossed whatever vegetables she could find into a bowl. And just a dash of dressing and--

"Here." She said, dumping the tray right in front of the gargoyle.

Thankfully enough, it gave her a key for her meager efforts.

Storming out from the infirmatry, Rei asked for another key from the 'pebbly' gargoyle. Agreed as long as he can bring him another serving, Rei again entered the kitchen...

SPECIAL RECIPE! WHATTHEHECKISINTHERE salad was completed!

He shoved the bowl full of items that one did not usually expect to find in a salad to the stone statue, and snatched the key offered.

He had a revenge to be extracted.

Experiencing a massive headache, from the rocks that fell on her head, Gwyn stomped back down the stairs and asked the gargoyle, "Are ye still hungry?"

Blinking, he replied that he was but that Gwyn had better not leave the bones in the fish this time. Staring at him for a moment she responded "Ah am making a bridie this time. Seeing his confusion, she added, "It's a meat pie." Meaning no bones. Going back to the kitchen she made a bridie and mint tea. She thought the two might complement each other. Taking them back to the gargoyle, he cautiously took a few bites, before handing her the key and digging in.