T - Vyn, Lucca, Callypso - Complete

[Nathalia]

The air in the dungeon became horribly cold and it stings the lungs as it’s inhaled. As Mephit makes to turn around, something grabs her neck.
Her Heart abilities have no effect and any “flesh wounds” she may try to inflict seem to be healed instantly.
Her body is pinned by invisible ropes and she is flung to the ground with incredibly ferocity. ”Hello, beautiful...” A voice hisses in her ear. ”The beauty of Odom be on you...aye, his great grace and love be with you always...” A series of hot kisses and a long tongue drape across her neck, long claws digging into her back and pulling.
When her face is yanked back far enough, she is able to see the monster crouched over her. Long, face eerily long, the muzzle tapered to a near point, though the face resembles a Wolf, claws long and razor sharp. It is almost entirely black, a small splash of white on its chest over its Queens marking...a Heart. Its twin tails twitch over the floor, knocking various instruments across the floor with a clatter.
It sinks its teeth deep into her scruff and mounts her, her energy sapping slowly as she begins to pass out.
When she awakes again, she will feel, bubbling in the back of her mind, the insatiable grips of complete insanity. Over the course of five days, she will succumb to the madness, causing her to behave like a feral monster...with all of her abilities intact.... Once a day, she will have up to 2 hours of sanity.

(Your goal is to make it to the Capital and find Arkady and Farran...though they are not on dangerous tickets, so be creative with them...she will be unleashed on people shortly after that...feel free to treat civilians and anyone who wants to offer up any disposable SD to you as. You. Wish.)

[Vyn]

Mephit had been engrossed in one of her lab journals when, to her shock and discomfort, the air turned frigid and all of her fur rose to a stiff bristle. Before she could turn to discover the source she was assaulted and, despite all of her physical and magical protest, thrown to the floor in intangible ropes. Despite the painful futility of the moment, Mephitisia resisted her attack until unconsciousness took her.

The incident left a heavy toll upon her psyche from the moment she woke up, but it easily went unnoticed as she holed herself up in the dungeons. Her tree blackening had left her withdrawn and paranoid as it was, no one had thought twice of the Doe missing for a couple days.

Over the following days, however, Mephit felt her psyche crumble further and further beyond repair. Her prisoners kept randomly dying and all looked at her with an unspeakable terror. Their looks made Mephit's skin crawl.

On the third day she left the dungeons on a whim and found herself traveling toward the Capital in the dead of night. Several times along the trip she 'lost sight of herself' and woke in an unusual place but on the final day she came to standing over a freshly fallen corpse on some random country lane but she was too far gone to contemplate the absence of her sanity just then. A grin quirked over her muzzle, long fangs poking through, and she stepped over the corpse toward the city.

[Lucca]

"Arkady," he introduced himself quietly, and turned to look down the street.

...which was the only way he saw the strange, odd-looking figure suddenly walking towards them from the outskirts of the city. His eyes widened, and...

And blinked. Hey, it was someone else! Maybe they could help them? He looked back at Farran. That certainly was too big a sillhoette to be one of his siblings, but perhaps it was the Feline's friend? He tilted his head curiously, and then looked back out into the fog, watching the approaching figure. As far as the little Coyote knew, he had nothing more to fear from the new arrival than he did from Farran himself.

He raised a paw in salutation to the newcomer, tail wagging just a bit. He didn't feel so utterly alone anymore! The city didn't seem quite as empty and cold, and the voices were far from his mind right now. And yay, the newcomer looked happy, too! He glanced at Farran, though, hoping he would be the one to do the talking...Ark wasn't so great at small talk. Or even larger talk.

[Callypso]

Arkady, he repeated, nodding absently to himself. He hoped they would be able to locate his family quickly. He had business to attend to. Of course, it might be a long-shot trying to find this Rogers fellow on a strange night like tonight, but he couldn’t let it go. Fate and suchlike was a bit cheesy, but he just felt like if he stayed out long enough, he'd figure everything out. And he would! He would stay out as long as he dared, the urge to find his father’s murdered coursing through his veins, as if it were its own special type of adrenaline. But first he'd have to figure out where Arkady's family was, which could, actually, take awhile...

Farran was considering which direction they should try first when he noticed Arkady’s gaze turn toward the edge of the city square. A large, dark shape loomed out of the darkness. His ears initially flattened against his skull; it was strange to meet another Card out when the streets seemed so deserted. As the creature made its way out of the dark the feline let out a quiet sigh of relief. Even in this gloom he could tell that it was some sort of biped, even if they were too far away to see clearly at the moment. Arkady waved pleasantly, which further relaxed the Villa. Perhaps it was someone the Solandrian knew and he could… no. The canine was looking to him as though expecting something. Of course it wasn’t going to be that easy. The kid was just being friendly. Oh, well…

Hello? Um, excuse me? Would you mind giving us some help? We’re looking for some friends. Have you seen… he paused and looked over at Arkady, realizing he didn’t know if the boy’s family was purebred or what.

Uh, hey, Arkady, do you happen to have a description of your family handy?

[Vyn]

Why am I here?

Mephit couldn't be sure how long she'd been wandering the streets since her mind returned to her, but in all her wandering she found relatively little of... anything. People drifted by occasionally but mostly they were crammed into bars. She assumed the ones that wandered the streets were heading to the same place. But why?

Nothing made sense, and the nagging paranoia gnawed at her thoughts. Told her that everything was wrong, but everything was always wrong since her tree blackened.

Suddenly, voices. They seemed louder than the general murmur, perhaps directed at her? The dark doe's ears swiveled back toward the sound, the taunt skin stretching and stinging with the motion, and a low hiss grated from her lips. Slowly she turned, fixing a cold stare upon the two. Other than the blue of her eyes, Mephit was a swatch of darkness broken only by the taunt, dead branches of her tree. Every moment was a stinging reminder of her missing secret.

The dark doe was quiet as the cat spoke, her gaze slowly falling onto the Solandrian canine. Arkady, hm? The name rung a bell and, his appearance was almost familiar... Her gaze scanned over the boy and fell suddenly upon his chest. King of Spades? She tensed momentarily as the weapon hissed in the back of her mind, but she bid the blade to lay still. This was a child of The Court, they would do it no harm. The weapon surrendered and once again her head space fell silent. It wasn't like her to be so quiet, but Mephit had other problems right now.

"You're from the Court of Hearts, aren't you boy?" Though Mephit very rarely strayed from her dungeons, especially after she lost her secret, it was part of her position as one of Xiven's Kings to at least know of the individuals within the Court. She couldn't promise to know them by name, but she gave them the benefit of vague acknowledgment. Or something like that.

[Lucca]

Arkady was relieved when Farran did, indeed, take the burden of starting the conversation off of his shoulders. He thought the bit of hesitancy in the Feline's voice didn't exactly make the best first impression, but he couldn't honestly fault him for it, as he himself would undoubtedly have made even more of a fool of himself. Arkady liked to never open his mouth if he had to, but this generally wasn't the case, especially when he found himself alone...well, without family, that is.

Speaking of which...he blinked up at the Deer as she came closer, tail wagging fast in a friendly way tinged with a bit of nervous energy. His wagging stilled when she gave him an odd look, because he had no idea why, but then...he blinked. She...recognized him? "Yes," he said, and peered at her a bit more closely. Well, she was clearly a Heart, and a good Rank. But he thought he knew most of the nobles, having been raised in the Court all his life. He'd been taught all their names and titles, at least, so as to recognize and respect them properly if he ran into them--especially important for a Black-Suit growing up among the Hearts. This must be one that didn't attend Court much.

He racked his brain. Dark...Deer with Snake fangs..."...Your Highness Mephista?" Yes! That must be who she was. She worked in the basement questioning prisoners of the Court. His tail began wagging again. "Have you seen my brother?"

[Callypso]

Well, that could have gone a bit better. Farran was tempted to smack himself in the forehead, but then he’d look even dumber in front of the kid and whoever this stranger was. Beside, he was still on edge from the eerie vibe the entire city seemed to be giving off. It was just not right. Hopefully the stranger would be able to point them in the right direction.

Oh! Farran was saved further attempts at conversation when the biped spoke, directing their comment at Arkady. Awesome! Maybe he would be able to get on with his mission sooner rather than later! He looked to the canine for confirmation and noticed the Solandrian wagging his tail with a fervor that hadn’t been there before. And he knew the stranger’s name! Hallelujah! It wasn’t as though he didn’t like the boy, he just didn’t have time to play nursemaid all night.

The Villa started, realizing a second later what the oddly fanged deer had just said. Woah. This kid had to be important if he was from the Court of Hearts. He would never have guessed, considering the dark suit splashed across the canine’s chest, but red parentage wasn’t a guarantee of red children. Must be hard for him. Regardless, if Arkady belonged to the Hearts’ Court, then he had better find the boy’s family, or it might be on Farran’s head. Great. More pressure.

Farran sat up straight, waiting to be addressed. He had been sorely tempted to ask Her Highness if she might escort Arkady back to the Court, but he was raised better than that. You didn’t ask anything of a serving courtier. Suggest, maybe, but he would have to wait until she spoke with him first. He may have been a Nine of Diamonds, but the Heart Court was rumored to be vicious, and the last thing he needed was to anger the dark-furred woman…

[Vyn]

Something was slipping. "Yes. Though it's Mephitisia, or just Mephit." Had she seen his brother? She shook her head slightly. "The streets have been very quiet, very empty... Not like the Capital at all, though... I've noticed some people gathering around the bars around here."

The doe glanced over her shoulder, brows furrowing. Why was she out in the City? Why wasn't she back in her dungeon? The familiar tingling of paranoia never went away, of something forgotten that sat forever just out of reach... Her confusion could mean nothing, right? It was just a side affect of losing her secret, whatever... it may have been... That's all.

The reassurances did nothing. She was only grasping for straws.

Her attention drew back to the child, away from the streets and her own thoughts, and slowly she found herself smiling as if she'd suddenly remembered something. The expression around her long fangs was oddly disconcerting, though nothing else of the moment would stand out as odd.

"Now that I think of it, I believe I saw a little Solandrian about your height heading toward a tavern just back the way I came." Her gaze drifted to Farran now, her expression mildly concerned. "Would you come along? I have business to attend and if I'm wrong I really won't be able to afford the time spent ensuring he gets home. You'll be repaid for your efforts for bringing Her Highness's son home, of course."

[Lucca]

Arkady looked apologetic. Oops. Though she did have a rather...long name. Why couldn't it be a bit simpler? Most of his and his siblings names were pretty simple, pretty short. Easy to remember. He slumped, just a bit, as Mephit shook her head slightly. Yes...yes, he'd noticed that everyone was gathering in the bars...he just hadn't been able to join them, with being so obviously underage.

He was about to bid her a good day and be on his way when she spoke again...what? Really? His tail started wagging again, faster. This was good news! And she was even going to come along. A titled King would be able to get him into a tavern, no matter what age he was or wasn't! He shook himself, displacing the whispers that were still tickling his ears, and looked expectantly at Farran. Oh, he hoped the Feline would come, too. There was safety in numbers, after all. The little pup was too distracted, or perhaps just too naive, to notice the odd edge to the Deer's smile.

[Callypso]

Farran smiled and gave a gracious bow.

Of course, my lady, I would be honored to assist you in your endeavors. I would be glad to see Arkady home.

Dammit. That was the last thing he wanted. He wanted to have some time to ask around before it became too much later, not get further away from the City by going to the Hearts’ Court! Though he had to admit to himself that the pickings were slim – he’d have to hang outside of bars or wheedle his way in if actually wanted to talk to anyone. He wasn’t about to say “no” to a ranked Court official, either, even it wasn’t someone of his suit. Dammit, this just wasn’t his night. When he became fully upright again he gave the Solandrian a quick grin to reassure the boy.

The feline furrowed his eyebrows a bit as Her Highness gestured back toward where she had come. That was… weird. It didn’t look like there was much along that path besides the cobbled street and some shrubs. Well, it was rather dark, so maybe the tavern was on the very edge of town? Arkady’s brother might have thought the Spade had wandered off toward the edge of town and was looking for him there, right? Still… the smile the biped was giving was a little bit creepy, but he supposed that if his mouth were encumbered by gigantic fangs, his smile would be a little off-putting as well.

Farran mentally brushed his fears away. What had he to worry about, anyway? Fat chance the titled King of Hearts had malicious intent, and beside, Arkady clearly knew the woman. The sooner they got going, the better. If Mephit had seen the Solandrian, then Farran was all that closer to finishing his end of the bargain and getting back to business. He just hoped she hadn’t been mistaken.

After you, my lady.