T - Harps, Lucca

[Lucca]

Colin blinked, a frown threatening the edges of his beak despite the grin that seemed almost permanently affixed there. A small congratulations was -all- the Corvie was going to give him? Was he not worthy of more? Had he not just risen not only in Rank, but in status? Had he not just fought for the well being of his Court? The only thing that kept him from losing his temper at the mix was the fact that he'd just saved his Tove's life, and for that, Colin was immeasurably grateful. He was going to be well rewarded, of course, once all this little bother of nightmarish magic was over and done with.

Now that he was -the- Queen, Colin expected it would get dealt with in very short order. And he doubted any more reanimated corpses were going to bother him or his associates. Not after seeing the way the one Dania had brought back cringed from him! Ha! But wait...shouldn't dead things NOT be near Cards with open wounds. He opened his beak to command the undead to leave Faust alone when he was distracted by the...by what?

Why, the Cards that were apparently in the basement. In his Court, and without his permission! Judging by what they'd seen so far, there was little chance they were servants and courtiers. It was far more liekly they were intruders...perhaps even the ones that caused this whole mess. "Don't worry," Colin announced to the room at large, without looking behind him. "This whole nasty business is about to finally be over." So saying, he activated his Spade speed and rushed out of the room, making his way for the stairs as quickly as possible.

On the way to the basement he could see just what it was that was suddenly in the main hall, as well.

Basic Magical Ability: He can run up to 30mph in sprints and 20mph for up to an hour in extended runs.

[Harpsdesire]

Joel came back in just in time to hear Colin give a rather confused Dania the reassurance that their trouble would be over shortly, then sprint from the room with a burst of Spade swiftness. Dania, who was holding Faust's hand rather tenderly as she waited for the taxidermied queen to gather it's 'thoughts', such as they were, sighed. "We had better at least leave a note for Faust in case he wakes up and finds we're all gone. Could you go after Colin while I find a pen or something?" With her bound leg, there was no chance of Dania keeping up with the cardinal, anyhow.

Joel opened his mouth to refuse, then nodded hesitantly. "I guess so." As much as he didn't like the idea of leaving her alone with Faust and the creepy ex-queen, Dania was the boss, and with the amount of blood he lost, Faust would probably not regain consciousness for some time. "Meet me downstairs?" It was Dania's turn to nod, and Joel took off swiftly down the hall. His speed spell was slightly less powerful than Colin's at a sprint, but winding hallways and multiple staircases don't exactly provide an easy run, so the corvie was able to at least get within sight of Colin before he hit the main hall. "Right behind you, Your Majesty!" He alerted the Queen to his arrival, doing his best to speak cheerfully and respectfully, no matter how bothered he was by the idea of Donnie's death... and Colin's reaction to it. No, don't think of that. Right now, only running matters... Joel thought of running, the uneven tap-pad-tap-pad of unmatched feet on marble floor, and he felt a little better.

Upstairs, Dania scribbled a quick note on palace stationary she found in the bedside table. As she set down the pen and was about to rise and head downstairs in Colin's wake, a thought came to her. Faust knew something about what was going on, something that could be useful to know, something that could be crucial. She, now that she was a queen, had a way of extracting that information, perhaps even if the subject of her spell couldn't completely remember it themselves.... The memories were there, certainly, Faust just couldn't access them right now.

She made a soft sound into the quiet bedroom, almost a moan as she realized the pain that she would be putting the already-suffering card through. Yet... he was unconscious, his slumber no doubt deepened by the medicine Joel had used to dull the pain of surgery. He would scarcely feel the information leave, and any pain would surely be less than what he was already feeling... She wouldn't dream of doing such a thing when he was awake to feel the violation of his mind, memories snatched away-- but now, sleeping... would he even know?

Dania felt guilty, burningly so, but this might be her only chance to learn what Faust so desperately wanted to convey to the Queen of Spades. Colin was apparently the queen now, and she could help the man reach his goal... That couldn't be so terribly bad of her, could it?

"I'm so, so, sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you, somehow." Dania clenched her teeth and stroked Faust's brow affectionately. Then she cast the spell, focusing to learn anything he knew about the unusual things that had recently been happening in the realms. By the time he woke, hopefully the stolen memories would be seeping back right along with all the other things Faust couldn't currently remember.

Queen's Ability: Once a week, she is able to cause an incredible agony in another Card ranked King or lower as she sucks the knowledge from them.
She will steal all knowledge on a particular subject directly out of their minds, stealing it for herself.
This causes the victim intense pain and they are aware of the knowledge they are losing as it leaves them, making it feel as though their minds have been picked and giving them a slight paranoia that they will carry for the rest of their lives.

[Lucca]

Colin hadn't run like this for so long in a while, and it was a bit exhilarating. His feet fairly flew down the steps and along the corridors, despite the fact that his wings were tucked quite tightly to his sides. He couldn't quite help the manic grin on his beak as the adrenaline rush combined with the very heady feeling of power to form a dangerous overconfidence cocktail. Colin felt that, whatever he may find down there, he could handle it. He was The Queen of Spades, after all. What could possibly touch him in his own Court?

A voice from behind him made him blink, and then he realized that it was Joel. Ah, the lad had probably come to his senses and realized that he owed the Queen a proper greeting! "Thank you, Joel!" he chirped back, barely out of breath. "But now is hardly the time." He was getting close to the main hall. The Cardinal cut off his ability, motioning for Joel to do the same, and paused near a stone wall. "I think there's someone here," he whispered to Joel, glancing at him. Carefully, he peeked around the wall.

[Nathalia]

((Down below in the main hall, a man is seated in a throne-like chair reserved for visiting royalty.

He appears to be a Wolf, mostly black with a small splash of white. Handsomely robed in a red cloak and with an...admirable set of teeth...he has his legs crossed at the ankles and is otherwise sitting rigidly in the chair.
Staring straight ahead.
"Evening, your Majesty." A deep voice rumbled, the creature not averting its gaze, or moving...at all.
"I've been expecting you."

-------------------------------------

The corpse slunk over to Dania, its head twitching with what might be the faintest hint of shame when she admonished it for trying to touch Faust.
When Colin sprinted from the room, it seemed to take fright, letting out a yowl that rose in pitch to a shriek before spasming desperately and then racing off after Colin and Joel.
It skids past them along the landing, its voice long lost after its initial cry and its speed carries it away from them, along the wall and to another staircase, racing it down, down, down...

It turns a corner, races by another, avoiding the main hall until it stops by a half-open door...staring down it into the blackness, it begins to weave about the doorway, hesitant.
Before sliding down it into the half-light.

---------------------------------------------------

Faust twitched when Dania laid a paw on his forehead.
A few seconds after the spell started, his eyes snapped open!
Rolling back in his head until only the whites showed, he shrieked in agony and writhed, unable to actually move from the spot, but also unable to stop the contortionist movements sent through his body like lightning.
"Aaaaugh! OhGodno, no, no, please! I can't, I can-"
He babbled, talons sinking into the bed and his body seized frenziedly, and blood seeped from the wound onto Dania's hands.

Her mind became singularly focused after seeing the blood, all emotion wiped away as her own vision and awareness of her body blacked out.
A small spot of light in the distance faded in, flickered, and focused.

Images began to swarm her mind, fading out, overlapping one another, white noise surrounding her.
At the simple idea that she would like them to order themselves and answer the questions of why Faust was here and why they shouldn't go outside, things began to fall into place.
Something before her eyes flickered.
And then exploded into being.



It shuddered and flickered without sound, clear as day, but foggy around the edges.
A hale, sound, and determined looking Faust, a thick chain attached to a marble cat's head hanging from his wrist, nods astutely to what appears to be a Torque Police officer, a Canine, before heading off to the edges of Torquehelm, a sword buckled at his waist.

The image spasms, flickers, and shifts.
A moving image, flickering, depicts Faust's point of view, only assailable by the fact that his hands are visible, moving branches carefully aside as he stares before him.



Before the image can be clearly viewed, it changes, scenery flying past as the world is shaken.










Everything goes black.
A faded, drunken, hazy world appears, broken and fading in and out, hurting Dania's eyes.



This vision passes foggily through what might have been a building structure.
Then fades to nothing again.

Light flickers.
Blackness closes again.






Dania comes back to herself, all emotion and feeling rushing back as Faust's body falls back on the bed, trembling, unconscious, and bleeding.))



~Nathalia

[Harpsdesire]

Joel was surprised by how utterly cheerful the cardinel seemed. Even if he wasn't thrilled by Colin's callous response to Donnie's passing, he had to admit that there was something distinctly comforting about Colin's newly powerful aura. It was as if the bird knew that everything would turn out fine, and how to make that happen as soon as possible. Dispite himself, Joel felt his mood lifting a little as he silently peered around the wall. There was a wolf there. A wolf with noble bearing and unreasonably large teeth... Hopefully Colin had some idea how to deal with this unexpected development.


As she stood beside Faust’s bed, Dania just had time to regret using the ability with every fiber of her being before all emotion ceased and the sight of the screaming, twitching avian was replaced by dim, confused images.

The scenes were dark, would have been frightening if she had been able to feel such a thing. They flashed by in a jumble, cleared, then faded into hazy confusion once again.

When next she was able to see the room, to feel, Dania found herself weeping, Faust’s hand in her trembling paw. ”I’m sorry, oh suits I’m sorry!” She sobbed, gently touching the broken chain that hung from his wrist. On top of everything else, the poor man’s binding had been broken. She could have kicked herself for just assuming that the metal bracelet and short chain were all that had bound him: a lenient token hindrance for a half-realm. It was no wonder he was confused—the fear, the physical and mental damage of surgery could only be intensified by the broken binding.

He had undergone unimaginable things, pain and terror that she could only imagine. Once, not long ago, he had been so strong, so brave! Now to be reduced to this, and then further hurt by her probing--!

She should have known that she was unfit to have that kind of power. She had no right to steal those memories from him without fully knowing what it would cost her subject... her victim.

The rat felt she could no longer look at the man, at the suffering that she had been the cause of. She stroked his hand, dabbed away the blood from his newly stitched wounds, tried to sooth him in a voice broken by shame. She could only pray, and she wasn’t even sure to whom, that when he woke he’d have no memory of what had happened—of what she had done! Burning with guilt she turned away from him, standing abruptly.

Even though her eyes still blurred with tears and her breath came in ragged gasps, it wasn’t long before Dania had accomplished at least a little apology for her unintended cruelty… Attached to his binding there hung the pull chain that once turned on a lamp, and at the bottom of that dangled a cut-glass doorknob where once a carved marble head bound him with its weight. She hoped, at least, that an object of similar size and heft would feel comforting. As much as a binding could be torment, to be bereft of one against you will—that was more than the mind and spirit of most Torquehelms could bear.

When she could think of nothing else to do for him, Dania curled next to Faust on the large four-poster bed to wash away her guilt with tears as a mid-ranger would with blood.

[Lucca]

Upon seeing someone sitting on a throne...the throne that, by all right, was now HIS...Colin frowned lightly, threw all caution the wind, and walked out into the open in front of the Wolf. Odd how he was just...sitting there like that, unmoving. Colin forced a polite smile to his face and looked up at the Wolf, bringing all his training to bear for this important moment of confrontation. If it came down to an actual fight, even with his new abilities, Colin probably couldn't take him. At the moment, though, he was so confident in ALL of his abilities that this didn't even cross his mind. He still felt so powerful he could take on the world, let alone one creepy little Wolf. So he had sharp teeth? Pah. So did Banders, and they were easily subdued if you knew the right tricks.

Still, fighting was such a nasty business...he much preferred to solve problems by talking. "Good evening," he returned the greeting, puffing out his chest so his Rank was clearly visible. "Who, might I ask, are you, sir? And what is your business with my Court?" Though the words were polite, as was his smile, Colin's eyes glittered with warning, and he put a subtle emphasis on the possessive.

[Nathalia]

((The Wolf flicked his eyes toward the Queen and gave a very small tilt of the head in greeting.



"I appreciate your concerns...your Majesty." He murmured, uncrossing his legs and standing up, he was rather tall, thick arms speaking of hidden depths of wiry muscle. "I had not expected to be greeted by yourself, where, may I inquire, is Queen Donalda?"
His tail flicked lightly as he watched the man before him, chest puffed out and a glint to his eyes that was almost mad...
Not what he had expected at all.
"You know, I have a friend who may like you. I should introduce the two of you sometime"

His eyes flick over the Corvie with disinterest, and he then proceeds to ignore him.
"You may indeed ask who I am, your Majesty." He gives the Cardinal a sweeping bow, something, maybe magic, catching the ends of the cloak and giving it a flourish.
"If I may ask, who you are, in turn."
He extends a hand to shake.
"High Priest Zacharias, of the Fjords. Pleasure to meet you, I'm sure."

----------------------

Faust and the Tove remain completely dormant, and don't look likely to wake up any time soon.
Dania hears the faint sounds from downstairs...combined with the utter silence on her floor...save for Faust's breathing.
She did leave him a note...maybe if she locks the door to keep anything else out...she could go and see if Colin and poor Joel need any help.

Her presence may be called for.))


~Nathalia

[Harpsdesire]

Joel followed Colin with some trepidation: that was one intimidating queen, and somehow even a child was able to sense his power. There was a sort of restrained fury in the curve of his muscles, something volatile that might not mix well with Colin's burgeoning confidence.

When he was ignored by the wolf it was almost a relief to him. Any implied slight was disregarded by the boy. He would rather remain out of scrutiny if it meant staying away from the big biped's sharp teeth. That didn't mean he shared the dark-furred Queen's disinterest, however. He was actually rather fascinated, having never seen someone from the Fjords before. In fact, he wasn't entirely sure that was what he was seeing until the man introduced himself as such. He looked on curiously, a little warily, as the queens talked.

Upstairs, Dania hiccuped and sighed, wringing her paws as she fought to control herself. Faust wasn't responding to her voice or touch, but seemed to sleep so quietly that she had begun to believe that it was a deep, restorative sleep rather than a result of her tampering. Maybe he would be ok? Arpeggio also looked peaceful. Colin would be pleased to hear the news, and she was somewhat alarmed now as she recalled how hastily he and Joel had departed. Perhaps she had best get down to the main hall and look for them?

Her head was pounding from weeping, and she'd left a pathetic soggy spot where her face had been buried on the bed. She sighed again, deeply disturbed still by what she had learned and how she had done it. She splashed water on her tear-stained face in a half-hearted attempt to make herself presentable. At least her fine, silky fur dried quickly and didn't require brushing to return to it's usual appearance. She wasn't sure she could handle telling Joel and Colin the whole story just yet without breaking down again.

Still, it was urgent to at least give Colin the essentials of what she had learned. She left the room with a last glance at the silent avian and locked the door behind her, taking the key. She padded down to the main hallway, walking toward Colin as he stood in the middle of the room. Then she saw Zacharias.

She stopped in her tracks, about to curtsy (such as she could on three legs), then belatedly remembered that she too was a queen. The end result was sort of an awkward little bob, respectful enough but rather graceless. "Y-your majesty." She managed, sounding startled. The rat's voice sounded thick in the aftermath of tears, but she cleared her throat discreetly and looked at Colin for an explanation. Her mummified queen seemed to have vanished as mysteriously as the man appeared, and she thought for a moment how much she would miss the poor, confused thing...

Then she feared that she might be going mad.

((Bad post is bad, Harps is distracted and sleepy.))

[Lucca]

Colin watched the man's tall form, corded with thick muscle, stand very lazily. If he was intimidated at all by the fact that the Wolf Biped had several feet on him, he didn't show it. Instead, a polite smile continued to stretch his beak. "Queen Donalda encountered an unfortunate accident," Colin said, voice finally dipping a very slight bit into the concern such a statement merited. Though the smile never left his beak, and the concern was actually put on for the Wolf's sake. "She's not dead," of this he was actually reasonably certain, "But she is no longer fit to rule in this Court." He hoped the Wolf didn't press for further detail, because he didn't have any, except that the Queen was away in the Lakes.

Something prodded at the back of his mind then, a memory from earlier in this whole mess...a detail he'd practically forgotten about. Colin staunchly ignored the feeling. He didn't have time right now, not until he knew who this stranger was and what business he had with his Court. The bow that came next tickled him a bit, helping to feed his generous ego, since the man in front of him was obviously important. "I am His Majesty Colin, the Queen of the Court of Spades," he said, again putting subtle emphasis on his title. He fluttered a bit in the air, briefly, to take the Wolf's hand in his claw and shake, a motion that might have looked silly, but long hours of practice allowed Colin to perform the gesture quite smoothly.

The landing was smooth as well, for which Colin would have been grateful had he been in any sort of state to acknowledge his faults. He was distantly aware of Dania coming in, eyes looking suspiciously red. A flicker of worry went across him, but confidence pushed it back. He smiled at Dania, trying to tell her with his eyes NOT to mention Faust. "This is High Priest Zehcarias," he said, for Dania's benefit. "And this," he added, with a sweeping motion to Dania, "is Dania, an expert on literature and library science." It wasn't a lie, but it was a bit more impressive than the full truth, especially with her new Rank.

The Fjords, though...Colin didn't know much about them. But he had heard that the Realm's coloring was normally that of half black and half white. This man had so little white on him...it must have been a rare mutation. He waited for the man to answer the second half of his question, hoping he wasn't forced to repeat himself.

[Nathalia]

((Dania's approach elicited little Response from the Wolf, he bowed his head in their directions and smiled.
"Ah, dear Lady, you seem to have mistaken me for better than I am."
He swept the cloak back, revealing his rank.
"Highness is good enough for me. We shall leave the title of 'Majesty' to the Queen of Spades, here."

His eyes traveled over the Rat's body and his lip curled in what could have been either an odd smile with all of those teeth...or perhaps a sneer...
"Ah, but another Majesty we have in you, I see..."
He murmured, gesturing to the vibrant red 'Q' on the Rat's chest.
His eyes then lingered on her body, before moving back to Colin.
"As to why it is I have paid you a visit, why; I must say that I found interest in the Court of Spades, my dear Mother was one...besides, I've been paying little visits all about the land recently and this seemed a good place to drop in."

His gaze wandered Colin's face again, then flicked back to Dania.
"Interesting that the Court seems to be so...empty...however. I had hoped for more welcome. Servants, even."
He took his seat again and examined a claw nonchalantly.