T - Harps, Lucca

[Vyn]

"You're welcome." She replied kindly to Dania, returning the smile before glancing back after the corpse. "I figured it would put everyone to ease." Especially if this silenced her horrifying keening.

Nadja blinked briefly in surprise before flashing Horatio a bright smile when he pulled a chair out for her. She was far more accustomed to pulling chairs out for nobles than the other way around that she barely knew what to do with herself. Though she did quickly hop into the chair that was offered to her and settled quite discretely at the table.

She filled her own cup with tea, taking much relief in the warm beverage and sweet snacks as she listened to Heike and Colin converse. So many horrible things had happened since they'd went out to locate Fleur and it would seem the Cards were no better off. Had the whole world gone mad? Were they all in grave danger, even now? Her gaze flicked to the unconscious Selkie and then to the dead queen before forcing herself to focus on the sweet things before her.

Would things ever go back to normal?

[Nathalia]

((Once its arm was back in place, the bone seemed to snap together!
The corpse stopped her horrible constant noise at once, moved the arm a little and pulled its lips back to give Nadja an awful grin.
"Yes, a party. I invited your best friend. Of course, he couldn't come because you murdered him." The creature muttered in Nadja's ear, before nuzzling her cheek and weaving back out into the main room.

Faust budged his chair up with a small wince when Dania came back in, hoping she would sit with him. He wasn't worthy enough to converse with either Colin or this...this monster-Rabbit, he was sure.
Instead, he turned to the Penguin.
Another Torque! Granted, Faust was a mix, but being mainly Torque gave him that love of the Realm, he grew up in Torquehelm.
"I- Ah, hello, sir? My name is Faust...might I, uh, have yours?" He asked, extending a hand and giving the man a small smile. He felt horribly light headed and wished more than anything that he could have an excuse to simply slip upstairs and away.
This group frightened and intimidated him...and he was painfully aware that his mind wasn't quite working the way it ought to yet...
"I'm sorry if I'm a little...off. I was attacked earlier, maybe by the thing that hurt his...ah...Lordship's daughter?" He didn't know, it had just occurred to him.
The monster had been fairly awful-
Oh.

He hadn't wanted the attention of either noble...but he hadn't exactly lowered his voice.
Had Dania sat next to him, he would grope for her hand, eyes widening in a mild panic as he tried to stay calm and act like nothing had happened.
Maybe they wouldn't have heard.))




~Nathalia

[Lucca]

"...Oh." There was really not a lot he could say to that. It was horrible. Colin hoped that no one else in the Palace had suffered such a fate, and he made a mental note to check on the two sleeping nobles as soon as he got a chance. He took a few anxious sips of tea, not fully able to hide his grimace from the taste, but it could be passed off as just a response to the conversation, which was definitely upsetting.

He swallowed with an audible gulp as Heike put forth what honestly sounded like a conspiracy theory. Normally, Colin would have dismissed it out of hand, just based on how few Cards even knew about the Rabbits. But this was far from a normal day. "I suppose that's possible, though I don't like to think of anyone powerful enough to orchestrate all this. Though..." His look darkened a bit. "I know of one likely suspect." And he was no longer in the Palace. Suits!

Of course, he didn't get the idea Zach could have done all this on his own. There were still pieces missing. He reached for a cookie, and then...he heard Faust, and froze. He turned toward the part-Avian, and forced a smile on his beak that was as gentle and charming as most Diamonds could muster. "Faust? Have you remembered something that might help us?" He knew the man was a bit intimidated by him, and so he was careful to hide his excitement. This could be it! The answer, finally, that let them solve this mess. Arpeggio shifted restlessly, sensing Colin's repressed emotion.

[Kari Muffin]

Horatio gave Faust the best smile he could. "I'm Horatio. I wish we could have met under better circumstances. I'm a little awkward around high ranked people sometimes." He offered the man a stubby appendage in return. He seemed rather nice, though a little weird. Then again everything was just a lot weird. Actually Faust was kind of normal compared to most of the people in the room.

He opened his beak to reply that it was fine, and he understood when the man seemed to slip. Oh. Oh dear. This poor man had been attacked by a monster and now... the Queen of Spades was focusing on him. "It's fine," he said weakly.

He'd stare at his own plate silently. Maybe he'd start to feel less awkward.

---

Heike sipped his tea, trying to sooth is sudden burst of anxiety. His sister wasn't safe. They needed to leave. They just needed to leave.

And then the bird-dog spoke. The surprise of his title being used cause Heike to drop his teacup in his lap. He let out a sharp gasp. At least the tea towel was there, right? He picked up the sopping towel and put it on the table,

Smooth. So much for composure.

"A monster?" he asked quietly. "Do share."

[Harpsdesire]

”Nice to meet you.” Dania noticed how uncomfortable Horatio looked. Had she done something wrong? He seemed almost intimidated by her. She didn't usually inspire that sort of reaction. Awkward, maybe, but she surely wasn't scary! A thought struck her suddenly and she looked into her teacup self-consciously. Maybe it was her newly-raised rank? The rat smiled cordially at Horatio and internally cursed her Torquehelm nature. She was unsatisfied as a Seven, and so far it seemed her new Noble rank wasn't producing any more happiness.

What was bringing a strange sense of comfort was Faust's hand pressing into her paw under the table as the man spoke. The comfort was appreciated-- the conversation between Heike and Colin was quite horrific. Nadja was rather a joy to be around, as well. ”I know I feel better.” She told the helpful rabbit. Her soft smile hopefully conveyed that she was grateful for Nadja's kindness and surprisingly calming presence. If she kept her gaze away from the rankless fur of her chest, the leveret was exactly like any other sweet-tempered person. It was hard to think of Nadja as a monster at all.

The topic of discussion only changed for the worse as Faust spoke up. His hand tightened around hers and she saw his eye widen in fear as the attention of Colin and Heike was drawn to his voice. Unable to think of a way to diffuse the situation or anything to say to calm him, Dania just stroked her fingers over his hand slowly. ”You remember now?” She asked gently, glancing into his frightened face with slight concern. Maybe he was already getting back the memories she had stolen from him. She knew it could take up to a day for them to fully return, and she hoped for his sake that the return was not too swift and shocking. He seemed to be nearing the end of his emotional energy, just a nudge away from full-blown panic.

Joel's ears pricked forward, then laid back in horror as Colin and Heike spoke. ”That's not scientifically possible. Cards and rabbit are different species, I'm almost certain. We should be genetically incompatible!” When the focus moved to Faust, Joel also turned a bit in his seat to look at the Canine/Bird. This was sure to be interesting if the man was beginning to remember what had happened. He did seem a little clearer than before.

Which reminded him of something... that other, even more confused version of Faust! That guy wasn't in the court anymore, Colin had said. So was the scary King who had given Joel such creepy feelings still around? As much as he was curious to hear about the monsters, the idea of them all sitting around talking and leaving Zacharias to potentially wander the palace unattended didn't sit well with him. Pushing back his untouched teacup, he rose and moved to whisper to Colin, "If it's okay with your, Your Majesty, I think I might go check on our other guests..."

Unless Colin objected, the boy would excuse himself and hurry off to make sure Zacharias was safely contained.

((Sorry if the order of things is messed up, I've rewritten this about three times but I'm just too tired to be coherent, sorry guys... *dies a little*))

[Lucca]

At the whispered not-question from Joel, Colin turned to him, a frown on his beak. He put a wing on the boy's shoulder to forestall him while he thought over what to say. Was Joel trying to remove himself from this situation? If so, Colin wasn't sure he had the right to deny him that. Also, he genuinely wanted to help, it seemed, and Colin could really use the help.

On the other hand...there was no other guests to check up on. Zacharias was gone. Vanished. And he hadn't told the others because...he hadn't yet had the chance to. And he also wasn't sure what worried him more: the Wolf here or the Wolf out going to his next Court target. Finally, he whispered back, "I'm afraid our friend Zacharias has left the palace, but if you could check his room for anything...odd..." Because how could he have left so -quickly-? It had to have been magic. Otherwise they would have heard him leaving by the front. Right?

And there was no doubt left in the Cardinal's mind that the Wolf was somewhat responsible for this mess.

[Vyn]

Nadja was terribly silent at the table, focused on her tea and the cookie she was dipping in it. The conversation seemed far away and she only managed to catch vague snippets -- monsters, conspiracies, death. It was all horrible, better to be far away, but instead of thinking of happier things that might soothe her soul, she found her mind replaying the words the feline had spoken to her in the kitchen over and over again.

Had she murdered someone? That terrible grin followed by that brief nuzzle had chilled her soul right to the core. It all seemed out of place but, honestly, it made her want to break down and cry. Instead she'd put on a kind smile, so well practiced from a lifetime as a Leveret, and had set to her tea.

Yet the memory of it wouldn't leave her be. Had putting the arm back on been wrong? Was the dead cat going to punish her? Was it going to attack Heike? He was her only true friend. Leverets and Does and, once upon a time, even Jacks would always come and go, but Heike was her constant. If he died she'd be lost and, worse, it'd be all her fault.

Tears burned hot against the back of her eyes but never actually spilled over, though her cup did rattle horribly against the saucer the next time she tried to pick it up with her pathetically trembling paws. She blushed horribly, forcing herself to be steady and shoved it to her lips for a deep sip.

From the corner of her eye she noted Joel had got up to leave and was quietly relieved. Maybe they hadn't noticed her trembling? She certainly hoped so.

[Nathalia]

((Faust's mouth went dry and he squeezed Dania's hand back...perhaps a bit too hard as he gave Colin's overly friendly manner a bug-eyed stare of horror that was also for the Rabbit who had just shattered his cup of tea.
He stared at the nobles and very nearly lost his nerve, a hiss of air escaping him as he stared straight through the pair of them for a few seconds before whispering.
"There was...a man...not rightverytalllonglongarms." The words spilled out and he whined for a second at the Rabbits expression, forcing himself to let go of Dania's hand in case he hurt her.
"Wrong, all wrong, whole thing was wrong, legs were Human, neck was wrong. It found me and did...this? This. Don'tknowhyanddon'twantto."
He'd jammed his hands onto he wood of the table n front of him as he spoke to resist the urge to grasp for the Rat next to him again, or even worse, for the stranger Torque on the other side, Horatio.
"Changed shape, it could change shape. Turned into a Rabbit before I could even begin to sit up, laugheditlikedtolaughwhenitlookedlike...that." Still staring at nothing, he panted, staring at the far wall, his eyes blank as he quite obviously re-lived the experience, eyes bugging, entire body quaking as the back of his head began to bleed again, his ears pinning back so far with distress that the wound re-opened.

The corpse wandered over behind Dania, keeping very quiet until Faust began to twitch.
She then wove about, mimicking some of his movements in an incredibly correct fashion.
When he stopped speaking, she addressed the silence.
"You've euthanized your faithful companion. Well done." She quipped, reaching out to touch the blood trickling down the back of his scalp and whispering. "Are you still there?"
Faust made no reply.

Upstairs, Joel found the door to the quarters the Wolf had been directed to unlocked, though the bathroom it was connected to had the remains of a recently used bath in it, the Wolf's fur covered the tub and some of the soap was still wet.
The bed looked to be disturbed, as did the dresser on the far wall...nothing else looks to have been touched, though.
Not that that means anything...))



~Nathalia

[Kari Muffin]

Horatio watched things unfold with wide eyed terror. The Torquehelm mix seemed to be breaking down. The penguin scooted down in his chair a bit as he continued to explain what happened to him. He didn't look good, he didn't look good at all, and he was talking about horrible things that couldn't possibly happen.

But there were two rabbits sitting at the table with them.

The man was suddenly twitching and bleeding. Horatio let out a squawk of horror when the Cat seemed to come from nowhere and touched the bleeding man. "Oh dear god! Where did the Corvie go?" He said as he flopped out of his chair in a panic, hitting the floor with an unhappy thud and clank. "He's bleeding! He needs a doctor!"

Stating the obvious wasn't going to help. Suits, he was useless wasn't he?

He could try and get the Corvie, but he had no idea where the Corvie was. Which meant all he could do was flail awkwardly and try to stay out of the way. The penguin mentally swore.

He could try to use the new spell that the foot gave him. He glanced down at it for a long moment. Well. It was... worth a shot?

Rabbits Foot: This terribly grisly appendage gives the person first to touch it, Horatio, the incredible ability to predict things that will happen about himself (within a mile) 5 minutes into the future, once a week...that could make for a good detective, H.
That foot shouldn't leave his possession, though...something awful could happen.


---

Heike tried to ignore the fact that he had broken a tea cup and the fact that hot tea had seeped through the towel and was burning his lap a little bit. His eyes remained focused on the Dog-Bird as he spoke.

His eyes continued to widen as far as they possibly could as he continued. What he was saying was impossible. But one hundred impossible things seemed to have happened today, so a monster turning into a Jack and killing his daughter didn't seem to be that far fetched.

And the man stopped talking.

His fur stood on end as he stared, the undead Queen breaking the silence. Wait. Had they killed the boy by making him relive the terror? By the White Rabbit. This was... this wasn't happening.

The Jack pushed himself out of his chair, standing to his full height. The Torquehelm flightless bird was saying something about the Corvie. He looked to the Bird-Dog, his eyes still entirely too wide with terror and disbelief. He turned to Colin. "What. If the monster. Is still. HERE?"

[Harpsdesire]

Dania let out a tiny squeak of surprise and mild pain as Faust clutched desperately at her paw. She knew what he had seen, had seen it too, but his words and the inflection of terror still had a chilling effect on her. She felt the fur along her back prickle and rise at the sound of his voice, filled with terror.

As Faust panted and shivered, his hands pressing into the table in a way that looked painful, Dania whimpered in sympathy. She activated her small ability without really thinking about it, then rubbed the half-villa's upper back lightly with silky paws. She murmured to him, although actual words were slow to form-- she, like everyone else at the table, seemed to share in his horror.

Hearing about the creature in his own words was almost worse than seeing for herself. Plus it changed into a rabbit? That was somehow even more dreadful. Maybe it could change into... anything... The second copy of Faust came to mind, and a violent shiver wracked her body.

Because that apparently wasn't creepy enough, the Sorgaire corpse-queen appeared suddenly to touch Faust and make a cryptically disturbing statement. Quite unnerved, Dania told the creature, ”Be careful, I'm sure that hurts him...” She noticed with some horror that a little of his blood had trickled down to land on her own paw. Oh suits...

At least she had a clean towel at hand. In an attempt to reassure Horatio, Faust, and herself, she said weakly, ”He hurt his head earlier, it's just reopened a little. Not that I'm a doctor but... I'm sure Joel will be back soon.” She certainly hoped so. Dania dabbed carefully at the little trickle of blood with her tea towel as she spoke, trying not to think too much about it.

At Heike's ominous question, her voice trailed off to a breathy little gasp. She hadn't considered that, after what Colin had said about the false Faust leaving the court. That was... a truly frightening thought.

In fact, Joel was not heading back down, even though Zacharias had indeed vanished. Colin had told him to check for anything odd, and that was what he was determined to do. Starting in the back corner of the bathroom and working his way back toward the door, Joel was doing what might be called 'tossing the palce', if he had been doing it any less neatly.

It was partly his desire to obey the directions of his Queen (for amidst all the action, he had mostly forgotten how he felt about Colin's reaction to Donnie's presumed demise), and partly the sanctioned opportunity to be nosy and satisfy his endless curiosity that drove him. In the bathroom, the cabinets and shelves were stocked with many single-use size bottles of assorted lotions, powders, bath salts and soaps, most labeled clearly but a sat few unmarked in fancy glass bottles. There were stacks of towels, too, and he riffled through them before moving on. A few robes got their pockets checked, and he peeked into the little wicker wastebasket, which held only a scrap or two of paper. Nothing seemed blatantly out of the ordinary at first... He took a second look to be sure. Maybe in the main room?

The bedchamber itself was decorated in the typical silver and forest green shades, all the furniture finely carved of dark heavy wood. It looked mostly untouched, although the bed was rumpled slightly, and a drawer of the far dresser was slightly ajar. Those would be his first targets.

He stripped the sheets off the bed hastily and shook them out (less work for the maids, right?), then opened all four deep dresser drawers to peer inside.

((Sorry to have Joel do a lot in one post, but I'm going to be busy tomorrow and I want to keep things moving...))

Ribbon Ability: The fur on her paws can now become utterly, silky soft at will. It takes no concentration and she can change it back to her normal texture whenever she desires. If she goes to touch another SD, the other will find themselves being calmed slightly, even if they were horrendously angry, though not completely. They will also have a very hard time telling her to stop touching them with those silky paws.