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Not too happy with the development of the door being gone, Amon checked his cell – no reception of course, not like he had expected otherwise. Once Twilight Designs was involved, events usually took a turn towards the … weird. He caught Nephrite's hopeful glance at his cell, but shook his head and flicked it closed. “No games now. You were the one who wanted to come here,” he said somewhat accusingly.

Offering his arm to his little princess once more, they headed deeper inside, following the corridor which seemed to be leading ever downwards in a slight curve, like a spiral. Nothing too scary yet, but there was something about the chanting that gave him the creeps.

Seriously, he was hating this place already, but what with the door gone, there seemed to be no choice but to press on. Finally the corridor seemed to have come to an end, opening into a wide hall lit by braziers and candles. The floor was covered with an intricate mosaic of arcane symbols, the walls draped with dark purple velvet and embroidered banners. Amon could only begin to wonder how it all fit underneath the small house, when his train of thought was interrupted by catching a small movement from the corner of his eye.

Something fell down? Neph had noticed it too, suspiciously eying the ceiling for pigeons or the like. She did not like bird poo on her pretty dresses!

Over there! Her curiosity was stronger as her fear, so she finally let go of her bonded's arm which she had been holding onto in a death grip, ever since their encounter with the 'ghost'. She floated towards the small object, occasionally glancing left and right to admire the embroidery, the mosaic, the braziers … Everything was so pretty here!

Her attention focused back onto the object which had seemingly dropped from the ceiling. Small and round, glistening with moisture, and … Ewwww! She declared. It's an eye!

“What.” Amon said flatly.

An eye. Look! Nephrite picked it up to show it to her guardian. For her often diva-like behavior it was surprising how unfazed she was by 'icky' stuff at times. Had to come from hanging out much of her free time in a certain Chinese 'pharmacy'.

It was indeed an eyeball, staring blindly at him. The iris of a strange, indefinable color that was hard to match, yet incredibly familiar. He saw it in whenever he looked into a mirror, after all. “Nephrite.” Amon whispered tonelessly, one hand reaching to touch upon his eyepatch. “Drop that please.”

It looks just like yours. Nephrite needlessly stated the obvious, turning the eyeball this way and that to give it a closer look. Was it her, or had it just wobbled in her hand, ever so slightly? The pupil didn't seem wholly black, and – like through a window – she thought could see something move inside. Like … worms. Or maggots. Or … While she was still wondering about it, the eyeball split open, small wiggly appendages spilling forth from it.

Or tentacles.

Neph dropped the eyeball, smart enough to realize this couldn't mean anything good and to hide behind her guardian once more. He had a sword, after all. What is that? she mind-whispered.

“I'm not intending to find out,” Amon muttered, turning on his heels. What ever it was, it was growing, and growing fast. But it was too late, the moment he reached the door (was it even the one they'd come through?) and turned the knob, one of the sleek black appendages wrapped around his right leg. The impact on the floor was hard enough to knock the air from his lungs, and he gasped, a myriad of stars seeming to dance in front of his eye.

Amon! Nephrite cried with horror as she witnessed her guardian being pulled from his feet. Instinctively she reached for his arm, holding onto it with both small hands of hers, but it did nothing to save him – she was merely pulled along as if she was weightless. Which she technically was.

“Let go, little idiot!” Amon snapped, trying to dig his fingernails into the floor as he was dragged across it mercilessly.

Noooooo! Nephrite howled desperately. Letting go of Amon would mean he'd get eaten by this … this whatever it was, and she'd be all alone. Alone in a way only a shadow fiend who'd lost their bonded could be. That thought horrified her more than anything else, and she held onto Amon's arm with all the strength she had.

There were more tentacles, wrapping around hers and her bonded's bodies, covering the walls, the floor, the ceiling-

And then everything went black.

Where are we? Nephrite mind-whispered fearfully. The tentacles were gone, so much was for certain. How had it been able to hold onto her anyway?

“No idea.” Amon whispered back. At the very least, this didn't feel they were like inside some tentacle monster's stomach. No, he was quite certain what he felt underneath his palm was stone.

A cold gust of wind, and the torches flickered back to life, lighting a narrow corridor leading downwards in a slight curve.

“The ******** …”

The ominous chanting ceased briefly as Reyna stepped through the door just as Amon reached for the handle. She chuckled as she paused there in the door frame with one hand on her hip. Wasn't Neph adorable as a little princess!

"Aha... this must belong to you," she said as she reached to place Amon's hat back upon his head with a smirk upon her face. "Glad ya made it to the party," she told him in earnest.

She reached out for one of his hands and placed a piece of candy in his palm. "Here's the rules of the game," she purred in explanation, "Collect two more candies from my Shadow, Mystic, and also from Hawk to escape the house. Turn them in later at Twilight Designs for a prize."

She reached up and planted a kiss on Amon's cheek with a quiet laugh before taking off at a run at a speed neither human nor Shadow could possibly keep up with.

'Yes,' Mystic spoke up from just behind where Neph was floating with a bemused look upon his face, 'This is indeed a game. It would seem you're almost through with this part of the house, too.'

He reached for her hand gently and pressed a small piece of candy to her palm. His head tilted to the side and he gazed over at her with his oddly mismatched eyes. 'I do not believe we have met formally, princess,' he told her, voice warm with amusement, 'I'm Mystic.'

He drifted away and faded almost entirely into the darkness before speaking up again, 'You just have to find Hawk's Eye now.'

Then he disappeared entirely.

Nephrite tugged at his hand once more. We should leave, she insisted. They might be coming after us?

Amon nodded. The only way out, it seemed, was to find Mystic and Hawk (he hadn't realized Nephrite had already met Mystic, and she had kinda forgotten to tell him by now), the sooner the better. “Stay with me,” he ordered, as if he expected the little fiend to do anything else, and turned the knob of the next door. He had no idea what to expect – it had been over a decade since he'd been brought to the Order's headquarters, and back then, he had been heavily drugged. The Blessed Child, the Special Child, spoiled Little Princeling – he'd had no idea what they'd had in store for him until they had carved his eye out to replace it with … that thing.

One thing still bugged Nephrite. That woman … she inquired hesitantly, who was she?

“The crazy b***h with the eyeball?”

Nephrite nodded, not entirely sure she actually wanted to know. She didn't receive a reply anyway, not yet at least.

The next room, essentially, seemed to be just the same as the last, only … at a different time? It had the same layout, and there was the altar, the shackles warped and broken, as if they'd been submitted from intense heat. The massive stone table, the walls, everything was blackened with soot and grime. There were little piles of ash on the ground; roughly the shape of human bodies, and of the fancy embroidered banners that had covered the walls, only burned rags remained.

Was … there a fire? Nephrite inquired. She'd accidentally set her room on fire once, experimenting with incense. It had been a very scary thing to happen, and even though it hadn't made her stop playing with fire, it certainly caused her to treat it with a lot more respect and care.

“I don't remember,” Amon admitted. Those dreams he still kept having, they always ended with that … thing being brought closer to his face, and then everything blanked out. But, yes. There was the scent of smoke and ash, the heat of fire. Maybe. “Lets go. There's nothing here.”

“Not interested,” he snapped immediately, fingers clenching around the blue piece of candy as if to crush it. To be forced to come face to face with his past so unexpectedly had been bad enough already – but to voluntarily explore his memories any further? Hell, no. The only thing he wanted, was for anything occult, magic, or supernatural to stay the ******** out of his life. Which obviously wasn't going to happen, considering Neph's presence.

“The last candy?” he realized a bit belatedly, which was when Neph presented her purple piece to him, her gray eyes sparkling with mirth. “Just when did you …?”

Back in the room with the bad people. I tried to show you, but you didn't notice.

“Oh.” At least that meant they got out of here quicker than he'd thought they would. That was a relief.

We go now?

“Yeah. I'm not staying in here one moment longer than necessary. Besides, it can't be that late yet, we may still make it to Kay's party and have some serious fun.”

But … Neph reached out, and upon touching her guardian, he could clearly sense her strong disappointment. Except for Mystic and Hawk, we didn't meet anyone yet … She had so been looking forward to meet others of her kind!

Amon hesitated, scratching the back of his head. Truth was, he wasn't overly fond of having been burdened with raising the little one, lest alone her feeding of him – energy emotions and all, if he had gotten that detail right. But he cared for her, and if he had to raise her, he at least wanted to do it right. He knew what being lonely felt like …

Besides, she was starting to make those big teary puppy dog eyes at him.

“I'll think about it. But first I need to get out for some fresh air. And a smoke. I really need a cigarette now.”

The area in Neph's face where her nose ought to have been – were she a human – crinkled slightly. Demanding for fresh air and a smoke at the same time was something mutually exclusive in her opinion. She said nothing, though, as her guardian seemed really stressed. And smoking helped him relax, she knew that. It was working a little like incense, she figured.

'We' might make it to Kaylee's party? she inquired, hooking into Amon's arm once more as they stepped outside. I thought it was for grown-ups only?

“Well …” Amon fished for his pack of cigarettes. “You were acting pretty grown-up today, so I think it might be alright.” This place … it had just been like his worst nightmares. But in those, no one ever appeared to simply take him by his hand and tell him to 'go away from the bad people'. If only his dreams were like that …

“Where is that ******** lighter?” He muttered, rummaging through the pockets of his coat, his vest, his pants, and then the coat again. “Neph?”

Not this time~! She replied, still radiating incredible satisfaction at having been called 'grown-up'. Maybe you dropped it? Inside?

“I seriously. Hope. Not.”