Fiery Snakes o' Doom [Ability Thread - Finished]

[The Jenn]

Serafino knocked on the door to his uncle's suite, and then knocked harder when he got no response. It was late evening, well after dinner had come and gone, and he hadn't shown up for the meal. Earlier in the day, he mentioned a spell he'd been working on for several months, an enhancement spell of some kind, and had urged his nephew to drop by later on.

Now being later, he rolled his eyes and knocked once more before opening the door himself and going in. Bernard never heard anything if he was in his study; the room had been soundproofed long ago to prevent the sounds of his work from reaching the rest of the palace. Sometimes he decided to work later hours than he normally did, so the noise barrier was much appreciated. Sometimes his research involved things that never shut up.

He looked around briefly to make sure no one was in the main room and then walked over to the thick wooden door of the study, knocking. Anyone in the room would hear the sound thanks to another enchantment. After an incident long before Fino took the throne where his mother tried for three days to reach the man in the middle of a test, it had been put in place as a safety measure against the tempers of impatient monarchs. It still worked in much that capacity even now.

[Nathalia]

Bernard smiled at the sound of the first knock, looking up from his book and carefully replacing it on the shelf. Snickering quietly, he made his way into the other room in an attempt to look as though he had been busy. Really, Serafino did sometimes make himself a bit too much fun to play with.

As it was, he needed to set a few things up anyway, he wasn't daft...the King knew why his nephew was visiting.



The older Highlander tucked his ponytail back over his shoulder as he moved a few jars out of their cupboards, leaving the door ajar, knowing that the small gesture would invite Serafino to come straight through once he had opened the first out of impatience.

Bernard gazed over a few objects on his desk, knowing full well what power this would grant his nephew...and hoping that it would be put to an appropriate use...he really would rather not have another incident like that of the King of Spades befall them...unfortunate. Uncontrollable anger fell that way. Occurrences such as those made him wonder why he loved his nephew...and he hated himself for it.

Hearing the soft click of the first door being pushed open, he turned with a ready smile on his face, arms full with two jars, three snake skins, and a thick book.

"Ah, Serafino! I hadn't heard you, come in, let's get started, shall we?"

[The Jenn]

After knocking, Fino realized that the door was already partially ajar and pushed it fully open, stepping into the study. He was greeted by his uncle's voice and the sight of the man loaded down with spell components. The book was expected, but...jars and skins? Snake skins? He felt curious despite himself.

Ever since he was a young winged snakeling, he had loved coming and inflicting his presence upon Bernard while the man worked his magic. Even though he was 'only' a King, he could do things that Fino would never be able to do, not in a lifetime. Being born a human King, and an intelligent one to boot, had opened so many doors for him early on and given him the opportunity to start practicing magic early.

"Yes...we can get started. Can I help you with anything?" He made to take the jars from his uncle's arms, unburdening him so he could do whatever else needed doing. When it came to his own spells, Fino had taken the time and energy to master them. Any kind of magical research and study, however, left him in the dust. He just couldn't figure out how to make new spells. Very few could. That's why magical trainers and researchers were so highly prized.

[Nathalia]

Bernard allowed his nephew to take the jars from him...he knew that refusal would result in a huffy attempt from Serafino to take them anyway...probably followed by broken glass and puddles of sulfur and other liquids...not what he wanted right then.

"I was just about to come looking for you, actually. Just place the jars over on the table for now, we won't need them for another twenty minutes or so..." He lay the snake skins delicately over one arm and flipped through pages of the book with his free hand. The book had once been full of blank parchment, it was now covered in so many scrawling designs that it looked liable to spill information to the ground.

Bernard had been perfecting this spell, at the expense of a few Banders and Mome Raths, for a few months. He finally felt that it was perfected and had told his nephew about bits of it, waiting to see what he would think of the idea once it was fully formed.

"This should only take about a half hour, I won't eat up too much of your time. First, I'd appreciate it if you could follow me into the back room."

He moved through an arched opening in the wall into a larger room, mostly open with a newly drawn chalk circle on the floor, myriads of spiraling designs and scripts around it.

The ceiling in here was high, a few thin tinted windows lining the walls, their glass reinforced by magic.

"Now, if you'll just stand in the center of the circle there, I'll work on laying out the rest of this nonsense."

He smiled, and began to gather the jars together.

[The Jenn]

Fino nodded and placed the jars where they needed to be, half of his attention on the book in his uncle's arms. He had watched some of those pages be filled, sitting silently to the side, and hardly daring to breathe when the quill scratched most vigorously over the page. Sound disturbed Bernard's concentration like nothing else, which he had been reminded of many times over throughout the course of his visits. Eventually he had called on some of his snake-like patience, which he didn't often use, and learned how to sit still enough to satisfy the man.

"Half an hour isn't too much," he agreed mildly, feeling himself slip into a more passive role as he followed Bernard through the arch. In these rooms, he wasn't the master and he knew it. Even if he wanted to fiddle with some of the ingredients, they would probably either burn him or get all over his clothes or do something else nasty. He had no clue what most of them were for, only that his uncle somehow made it all work after he'd spent a while agonizing over the process.

He stepped into the center of the circle, picking up his skirts and being careful not to smudge the lines. They were hand-drawn and had probably taken forever to get 'just so'. Besides, he didn't want his dress getting chalky.

And so the waiting began. His fingers began to tap against his thigh as he stood, watching Bernard pick up first one and then another item. The snake skins intrigued him, he had to admit. "So...would you mind explaining what exactly this is going to do? I know you said something about summoning and fire, but you didn't go into much detail earlier."

[Nathalia]

Bernard grinned, hiking his eyebrows upward at his nephew, obviously pleased with himself.

"What am I going to do? My dear boy, I'm going to help you summon your very own fire demons!" He reached down and picked up the snake skins, moving over to Serafino so that he could lay one on each shoulder, and one on his nephew's head. "I figured you would want them to come to life in a...suitable form, I figured snakes would suffice seeing as our gardener seems to be in a bit of a mood with them as it is...their skins weren't too hard to come by."

He reaches for one of the jars and unscrews the lid, revealing a fine, white powder. He scoops his hand in and pulls s some out, sprinkling it around his nephew and still smiling.

"Believe it or not, I've found a use for Checkmate, and here I thought it was no more good than the people who inhale it. I'll be handing you a spellsheet in a few moments, we'll recite the lines together a few times, then I'll light these candles and we'll go from there."

He looked slightly out of breath, flushed and excited as he spread the powdered drug around the Queen in a circle and then grabbed a second jar from the table. This one was filled halfway with a dark blue liquid, Bernard dipped a finger in and made four small points around the circle; North, South, East, West.

Finally he turned and handed Serafino a sheet of paper, carefully enunciating each term with the Queen until he was sure that Sreafino had it right.

"All right then!" Bernard whispered, his words rushed and slurred as he ran to light the candles. "Give it a go!"

[The Jenn]

"You know me well enough to be aware there'd be no problem," Fino agreed with a snort, one hand coming up to caress the smooth, flat skin against his shoulder. It felt dry, almost but not quite like leathery parchment, and still held a slight luster even in death. Soon enough they would house living beings again, though certainly not their original inhabitants, nor even creatures normally bound to the ethereal plane.

The thought intrigued him quite a bit. Summons were a strength of his; for some reason, reaching into another plane and imposing his will on other creatures came almost naturally when the power and presence was properly directed, which took the touch of a skilled trainer. Marie had been his natural-given gift, friend since forever and summoned from who-knew-where. Bernard still hadn't quite figured that one out and wouldn't be able to until they got a stronger sense of 'her', if that were ever to happen. It wasn't completely unheard of, to coax a spark of being out of summoned weaponry.

Watching his uncle spread the highly addictive powder around him in a circle and talk quickly, his words coming out faster and more sloppily than he would otherwise allow, the Queen stayed silent but smiling. He loved watching Bernard work, and wouldn't interrupt the man's empassioned speeches and explanations during moments like these for anything.

Only when he had to learn and quickly memorize the words did he say anything, wrapping his tongue around the twisting syllables and trusting his short-term memory to see him through. He nodded at the eager encouragement, somewhat hard to understand in their speed but very easy to interpret, and waited until the light of the candles bathed them both to begin.

His eyes remained half-open as he spoke the complicated but thankfully short passage. He went slowly, wanting easy syllable to have the weight it deserved. While the significance of that ritual was unknown to him, his uncle had ensured him numerous times in the past of the importance ceremony and atmosphere had in proceedings such as these.

[Nathalia]

With bright flashes of light the skins resting on him jolted into the air, each one bursting into flame simultaneously as they arose, swirling through the air above Serafino's head, all keening in soft echoy voices.

Bernard watched, eyes wide and a delighted smile crawling across his face as he watched the circling, writhing serpents of flame. One began to duck and roll as he watched, spinning and flaunting its fluid movements as it danced through the air, delighting in the freedom it suddenly possessed.

"Amazing! Look at them, so much more real than I could have imagined...look at the personality in this one!"

The King shouted excitedly, jabbing a finger in the direction of the twirling snake of fire.

As Bernard continued to exclaim over the summoned spirits, there was a small crackle of electricity, audible to the Queen as the smallest of the summoned serpents keened again quietly.

In his hand...Marie slowly appeared...unsummoned...and twitched.

[The Jenn]

Fino watched, eyes going wide in delight, as the previously lifeless skins burst into flame and began their dance above and around him. He could see differences, the one snake smaller and burning with tips of yellow, whereas the twisting form burned blue at the tips and the largest, thickest of the three burned with red tips. All three of them had brilliantly orange bodies, glowing with heat and vitality, clearly serpentine despite their otherworldly appearance.

"So they possessed the skins?" he asked with an honest grin, watching their antics and feeling somehow... attached. Summons were very much his forte. He heard a crackling noise, mixed in with the quiet keening of the serpents, and he reached out his left hand to brush curiously against one of the burning creatures. He felt no blistering heat, only a gentle warmth, and his grin toned itself down to a smile. How extraordinary. He wondered if they already had names. Being demons, one could never tell unless they were told.

He felt a slow weight pressing against his right hand, familiar despite the unexpected appearance. He blinked and looked down, just in time to see his weapon twitch. He blinked again. "Ah, uncle. A quick question. Was your spell perhaps designed to affect other summons attached to my mind?"

[Nathalia]

"Yes! Yes, they possessed the skins and now just look at them!"

Bernard was practically dancing on the spot. They had done it! And just look at how delighted they appeared to be with their new master, frolicking all about his nephew like kittens...it couldn't have gone better.

He almost didn't catch his nephews' question, he was too distracted.

"Hmm? No, of course not. It shouldn't..."

He stared at the weapon that had appeared in his nephew's hand, curious now that the words had finally sunk in.

"You...you didn't call for it?"

He asked, bemused...he had heard of weapons appearing when they wanted to before...they were worrisome stories...

"Tell me, are you getting any...senses from it, Fino?"