Agrylax glanced over a bit, judging if he liked her hair at that half-length or not. Not really, but if he changed it now, then they would know of his involvement. It was best to just avoid that issue for the moment. "So what has happened with you since you left with your friend? I know your poor waking self probably doesn't remember much. She may or may not remember more as she accepts this truth of you." Agrylax smirked a bit, turning his head a bit towards where that golden eye told him his favoured pray was stalking. Who else did he refer to but Icer? One of her ears twitched; then she slid through the gates. Oh, Agrylax wouldn't act?not here. Not now.

"Those fools honestly believe that confining me to the insides of those walls will keep me at bay. Pity their apparent short-term memory and amnesia, so to speak?one person slipping away undetected couldn't have been easier!" The woman stood, showing what she did wear to her Master. One hand reached out to give a single caress to his cheek then. "I believe you have a payment to collect?" Reiko started to lean forward, offering her neck at the very least.

That was when the dragoness rumbled. She was getting closer. Agrylax had always preferred cats to dogs. Keeping to the petting, he didn't do anything else, despite her provided treatment to him. His gaze ran along her slowly. "That's quite the cute outfit, little pet. Though I think your brother wouldn't really like you wearing it. Of course he'd probably be angry you were here at all." Her offered neck was noted, but he wasn't going to do anything yet. "Oh, the payment. Yes. We will have to discuss that later. It's not so simple as a little bite. It seems we are being stalked by a dragon, though?"

"Feck the haters. They don't matter any." Agrylax laughed at the response about the haters. She seemed a bit on the disappointed side about the payment having to wait, which amused him as well. Reiko really did seem to like playing the part of the pet. It rather showed with how it came forward, even during the day. This side of her had much enjoyed her neck being within his jaws and desired a reprisal, but now it would have to wait. They were indeed being stalked by one of Reiko's sisters, Icer. "Shall I take care of her, Master?" The purr, which only pause whenever she spoke started up again. Her mouth opened to show a little bit of a grin. Look at all of those pearly whites, neatly-lined in her mouth on both sides?they did more than bite and chew food. How photogenic she was!

Agrylax patted the slab next to him so that Reiko could sit beside him for now. "Oh? How are you going to take care of her? Probably better you than me, anyways. I tend to deal with dragons in a rather fatal way."

Before doing anything more, the woman accepted the silent offer and seated herself just beside the Drow. Crossing her legs, one over the other, preceded the raising of her right hand about halfway. The palm was face-up, but look! Another accessory adorned her wrists. One white bracelet on each wrist for the armour of the White Cat was accompanied by a black lace and satin wristlet on each one. "Let's play a little game," Reiko said, her head tilting to her left as she spoke with the creepiest version of a child's voice ever. Above the palm-up right hand, a pink azalean energy ball began to take form. It was tainted with a black shade as it grew in size. "To catch, or to simply?I don't know?decorate?"

As she settled in next to him some more, he started to wrap his large tail around her some with a grin. "You are having quite a bit of fun with this. That's good to know. It would be a pity if you were suffering because of this." He didn't think she was, though. Some part of her seemed to want to let go. "Hm?so why do you have to pick one of the other? Catch her and decorate her. I'm curious to see what you'd think of when it came to painting her scales." Icer rumbling again with her nostrils twitching only fed into the chaos of now, and Reiko's purrs became louder.

*Those who participated are welcome to post their reactions from their character's point of view!

Clad in black heels riding to the shins was a woman who dressed like she was heading out for an evening date in the city. No longer dressed like a member of the dark arts cheerleading squad, Reiko silently approached the Inn's main entrance in the darkness of the night. Her eyes were half-lidded with physical signs of exhaustion that she wasn't exactly feeling. Rather, she was ignoring them. She silently walked up the few stairs to the door and entered the Inn, standing for just a moment to stare around the common room.

At the same time, Icer landed on the roof with a light thump. Her talons click-clacked upon ancient floorboards, nostrils flaring a bit as she eyed Reiko. Behind the bar, Murelle quickly took up her dishcloth to wipe down the bar. She gave a wave to Reiko with her free hand. "Hello!"

As she then decided to cross over to the bar, Reiko seemed to not notice the chairs that her right hand turned in an opposite direction. She paused between Toby and whomever sat to her right, standing still as she tilted her head a bit to one side. "Some beer?draft," she told Murelle, who was a little surprised by this.

"Howdy there," Toby greeted Reiko.

"Okay, coming up," the bartender said just as Xenograg greeted Reiko politely and sipped his tea. Murelle grabbed a mug and tapped ale into it. She then set it in front of Reiko.

There was no shift to the expression on Reiko's face as she turned somewhat to the left to face Toby and Xenograg. "Yeah, hi," was her half-hearted greeting to them both. Reiko then turned back to the bar and, upon receiving her mug of requested drink, grabbed it swiftly and turned again to walk towards the side door leading to the porch. She took a few sips as she walked, and bigger gulps were taken. With about half of the ale remaining, the woman tossed the half-filled mug over her shoulder. "I've had better," she remarked, wasting no time in moving a table obstructing her pathway to the door aside. She neared the door and moved to open it so that she could head outside to the porch.

Murelle blinked with total surprise at Reiko; Icer rumbled as she eyed her sister. Xenograg glanced after Reiko as well; Toby glanced at Murelle, and then Xenograg. "Well, that was different?"

"Quite." Xenograg sighed. "Children?" he said in the same moment that David nearly ran headlong into Reiko, eyeridges raising, whilst Icer gave another shake of a foreclaw. She was trying to get the dried paint off and snorted before slipping towards Toby. Murelle debated if she should retrieve the cast-off mug or not as Toby mused quietly.

As the door to the porch opened, Reiko stepped through it. Then?SLAM! Her hands were in front of her as the door slammed behind her. There seemed to be no signs of any reaction coming from her as she stood on the porch. She didn?t care about anybody watching as she looked towards the swing. Then her eyes slid shut, and she exhaled. "Fools," she muttered. Reiko wasn't about to head inside to retrieve the beer that she had pitched behind her shoulder?not yet, anyways. She wouldn?t have to anyways, since Murelle eventually picked up the mug whilst watching.

"Does the Academy teach self-defence?" Xenograg asked.

Once Murelle was back behind the bar, she answered, "No." She would, however, talk to Gwyn about taking self-defence lessons from the man since he offered.

It started out as your typical night at the inn. The usual suspects were already there when she arrived for her shift as a tender. It was a fairly quiet group so Murelle had little trouble keeping track of the patrons.

Then things got interesting.

Reiko joined the little crowd, Murelle greets her but notices there was something wrong and Murelle couldn?t put her finger on it, but something was different. Reiko approached the bar she moving table and chair out of her way. The chairs upturned and scattered as they fell.
Reiko never acted that way before.

When Reiko reaches the bar she orders a beer. She never drinks ale or at least not when Murelle was around her. Slowly takes a mug from the shelf and taps it, setting in front of Reiko.

Reiko takes the mug without any expression on her face turns and heads for door. Suddenly the mug is thrown over her shoulder. It lands with a thud spilling the ale as it rolls under the nearby table.

Murelle watches this with some concern. With care she goes through the break in the bar to retrieve the discarded mug. Reiko was out on the porch by now slamming the door with some force that made the windows shake and a picture on the wall fell, breaking the glass.

Now something was up.

Now Murelle heard small stones were hitting the window, Murelle jumps when the window breaks with a splintering crash. Murelle mutters to herself, ?This has to stop before she really hurts someone.? Back behind the bar, Murelle grabs up a broom and turns to clean up the broken glass. All of a sudden bottles that lined up on the top shelf bottles blew up. Alcohol rained down as the shards of glass flew on Murelle and those who were at the bar.

?Reiko? Murelle yells ?Stop it!? It seemed her reign of behavior stopped. Or at least it will be. Murelle, very slowly draws her blaster hoping she wouldn?t have to use it. It is set to ?stun?. Maybe it will be enough to stop the rampage.

Now it seems Reiko has spent her energy, Murelle glares at Reiko as she cleans up the mess. Cutting her thumb. She was assisted by Daved pick up the glass in the aftermath of* Hurricane Reiko*

?So much for a quiet night.? Murelle mutters to herself. Toby chuckles. Murelle didn?t find this funny at all.

?Murelle, you smell like a mixed drink.?

?Thanks a lot.?

* To avoid confusion, Toby, Xenograg, and the others are inside (group one); David Harada and Reiko are on the porch (group two).

In saying this, the one who knew more about what was going on with Reiko than anybody else, Andu, almost silently slipped in through the door from the Back Alley. He paused a couple of steps in to take a look around the Inn's common room at the havoc there. Seeing him, Murelle waved to him before she resumed carefully cleaning up spilled booze and broken pieces of the bottles. Meanwhile, Xenograg had been sitting very quietly and listening, sipping his tea.

"Damnit?got cut," Murelle muttered. She found a towel and used it to stop the bleeding until somebody handed her a Band-Aid. Dark looks were aimed in Reiko's direction as she put said Band-Aid on her finger.

Toby sipped his water with a glance at Xeno. "Quite a mess," he pointed out. Andu sighed at the havoc and limped around the bar towards his usual space along the patron side.

"What the heck happened here?" he asked.

With a nod to the minotaur, Toby pointed to the porch with the answer: "Our dear friend is having a day. She doesn't seem quite herself." Those who have been at the Inn for any amount of time prior to this, as well as those who were outside on the porch with the woman in question, would agree, whether they knew Reiko well enough or not. That included Erin, who started to say something before stopping. She shot a double-take to David after deciding to head back inside with a sigh, where the cleanup process continued with those tending to minor cuts.

Icer nodded to Andu with her wings still unfurled, the latter blinking and shaking his head. "I dearly hope you aren't talking about Reiko. As she is supposed to be under house arrest at the Falcones."

"Nope. She's playing Plinko with pebbles instead." Toby gestured to the broken bottles behind the bar. "She's on strike two," he added cheerfully, "you may want to tell her that when she's herself again. She'll know what it means."

"I followed her to the cemetery, Andu," Icer added.

Andu cursed loudly and solidly. "Dang it! The Falcones were supposed to make sure she didn't get loose until we got the spell on her broken!"

"Spell? You have to tell me that story when things settle down."

"The kittens were terrified of her," Icer told the small group still inside. Her observation was followed by Daved's scowl and bitter remark about Andu keeping Reiko under control as if it was his job. After giving Toby the brief rundown of what had happened to the woman two nights ago, Andu snapped at Daved to shut up and listen for a change. The latter wasn't known for listening very well and had a tendency of flying off the handle twice as fast as Reiko did, like now. "She called him master," Icer said with a snout wriggle as Andu finally shut Daved up.

"Why wait for strike three?" Xenograg asked Toby.

Toby tilted his head. "No more rocks have come in the windows, so maybe she's easing up," he said, a wry smile at the other, "because that's the rules I set back when she was my student. Strike three means the gloves come off."

"Understood," Xenograg said, sipping his tea.

Reiko shook her head at David, trying to think. "I'm screwed. Screwed. Screwed. Screwed. I don't think a phone call is going to help matters any, and I'm pretty sure I screwed up my chances of ever being Toby's student again. I'm going to end up losing everything that I love and cherish!" Reiko freaked out. "I can't?"

Soon, Icer slinked towards the door herself to peek out just as a blast shield for the back bar was considered. "Reiko." David?s voice came down, quietly authoritative, like he may have used on one of his siblings. "That will only happen if you don't try and do something about it. You need to go back to the Estate. Do you want me to try and contact Bond for you after we call Anya?"

Reiko crouched down, sitting on the ground next to the stairs of the porch. She looked down, clasping her hands on her lap, and looking at her hands. "He's likely watching my nephews and nieces tonight?I can't pull him away from that. He's probably livid with me now anyways?and I don't know about Anya. She'll probably want to not even see my face right now." She was starting to shut down mentally.

He then thought of something else. "Andu, are you here?" he called back towards the bar, pitching his voice that way without turning his hazel eyes from Reiko, his phone still in hand. He bounced his voice off of the nearest car window like a good little musical actor. There was a quiet moment. David glanced back at the door, mouthing, "Help me" to Andu as he stood there, before crouching himself down in front of Reiko. His elbows rested on his knees with his phone loosely grasped in both hands. "Now you're just being fatalistic," he told her, "Reiko, you know people want to help you. You gotta help us, too. Meaning you know running off now when you're mostly in control is not the right thing to do. You need to go where you can get help."

The woman's head was still dipped down. She sighed very softly. "Just?I don't know," she said, "what can I even know now? My head isn't right, that much is obvious. Is anything even right at this point? I don't even know what's going to happen."

With a sigh, Andu stepped all the way out onto the porch. David pointed him out to Reiko because he knew she respected the minotaur more than she did him, more a father figure than David, the friend. "Reiko? Why are you not at the Estate?" Andu asked.

"She doesn't remember," David spoke up.

The woman looked up at Andu. "I don't know." She lowered her head again. "I shouldn't have even been able to leave to begin with?"

"You snuck out while I was resting," Icer said from the doorway.

David remained on the woman's level, easing back just enough by shifting his weight to one leg and bent ankle, where Andu could get past him if need be. "That is correct. The first thing you need to do is step inside, and apologise for your actions. Then decide, am I going to lock you in a cell? Or are you going to go back to the Estate and have them lock you in one?" David jerked a look up at Andu, surprised, his hazel eyes widening.

"Do whatever you want?" The woman shifted so that she was laying down on her side. "?I don't care." The woman sighed softly at this. She really didn't care right now. "Everybody's just going to yell at me anyways."

"She escaped once?" Icer purred to David just as Murelle slid her blaster back into place beneath her shirt. It wouldn't be used?tonight.

Another nod was given to both Xenograg and to Toby. "I understand." She looked around at the bar and the common room?and the window. A pained expression formed on her face at the sight of the window. "I don't have my wallet on me. How much do I owe Panther and the Inn to cover the repairs?" Reiko asked. A lock of her hair caught her glimpse with a scowl. "And can I borrow some scissors?"

"It'll fix itself." Toby shook his head. "Don't worry about it." Farewells were given to Xenograg all around as he too departed for the night, and Icer was soon slinking to Reiko's side. The woman had looked away for a moment. Then she looked up and turned to face Icer, offering a gentle hug to the dragoness. She was nuzzled in return by a purring dragoness.

That was when she spotted the dried-up paint. "Paint war, Icer?" Reiko asked. "And could someone please get me some scissors? I have to get rid of this Miracle-Grow trainwreck of my hair. Now."

"At the cemetery," Icer said quietly.

"What?do you mean?" was asked of her dragoness sister. Reiko released Icer from her hug and took a step backwards.

"Siddown." Toby gestured Reiko to a barstool.

She blinked in surprise. "What?are you going to do to me?" Reiko asked cautiously. She started to hug herself with the slow steps she took towards the gestured barstool. What she had seen before, she could not unsee. One look at the bar in front of her caused her eyes to squeeze shut. "Please don't hurt me," was her automatic plea when she sat.

The man drew something from behind him. It was some kind of knockoff Swiss Army deal, which flicked out a small pair of scissors. "Only if you twitch. I'm cutting that bit short, since I can see it better'n you." He slowly worked at snipping the unruly lock of hair shorter. Icer peeked over at Andu, who had taken a seat in a booth with his braced leg propped up on a table in front of him, but she kept to Reiko's side.

Reiko gave a hesitant nod at what Toby said as he snipped away the extra hair. It had been up by her ears, perhaps an inch lower, before the sudden growth had happened. Her eyes opened, and she watched Toby cautiously. "Am I in trouble with you, Toby?" she asked warily.

"Not if you keep still," he answered, "if you don't, you're going to be in trouble with your hairstylist."

"I style my own hair," she said quietly. Pink azalean eyes continued to watch cautiously as she made sure to stay completely still. "I promise I'll stay still." Reiko was still hugging herself, only not as tightly as time. Now she was trying to focus on the sound and feel of her own breathing, searching for that rhythm and locking onto it.

Nearby, Erin and David were getting acquainted. Sort of. "I have?a question," she said.

David had reached across his chest to grasp his backpack strap as he'd offered his right hand to her, now twitching it back up properly. "I may have an answer."

Erin slipped hers into his, giving it a gentle shake, then retracting in hopes of not making it look weird. "I heard Reiko mention she had a boyfriend named?something?you act like hers?are you two?dating..?"

"Wh?oh, god. Don't let Reiko overhear that. No. No." David smiled, eyes lidding a touch as he shook his head. "No, I was just?trying to calm her down. Bond is her boyfriend. I've only met him once or twice."

"There." One final snip, and Reiko's hair was back to what it had been once before. "Check the bar mirror, see what you think."

Turning to look at the mirror behind the bar, Reiko said, "You told me that I'll kill myself, end up getting killed, or worse. What does this qualify as?" She paused to study her haircut and raised a hand to touch it tenderly. "I like it." Reiko turned on the stool to face Toby once more.

"I can't authoritatively judge hairstyles or fashion. I wouldn't say it's worse, though."

"Thank you. I was asking about my actions of tonight, though." Reiko had a one-track mind in some moments. Now was one of those moments.

"That depends. Why'd you do it?" Toby asked evenly just as Erin apologised for her error and asked if David was Reiko's brother. David smiled again at that before shaking his head. That was another no, although he did have a terrible habit of acting like everyone's big brother. Being the oldest of ten might have something to do with that.

Finally, Reiko's arms came down from her chest. Her hands stopped gripping her upper arms as the self-hugging came to an end. She blinked for a moment, in deep thought. "I don't know what you're referring to. Why did I do what?" Reiko queried. No, she wasn't playing dumb. "I'm not acting out against Bond, if that's what you mean. I love him too much to do such a thing. I?" Her hands came up to cover her face ashamedly, and she felt one of Icer's wings unfurling to wrap around her shoulder.

A different approach was needed. "Why'd you act like you did tonight?" Toby asked evenly. "That wasn't you. You don't talk like that, and you don't do things like that. Not with me sitting in here, you know perfectly well I'd come after you for it. So, why?"

"I?" She started to rack through her mind, searching her memories for signs of anything she can recall. Unfortunately, she could only remember the most disturbing scene she had come to her senses for, and she couldn't hold back the tears. "?I don't know! I can't remember anything! It's like I can't even control my own movements when I knew what was happening at the other place, and then I suddenly found myself here instead of at the Estate!" Her hands came down as she raised her head. "I don't know what I said or what I did when I got here, only that a window broke somehow, and I'm in trouble!"

"Well, to refresh your memory?you were came in, ordered an ale, drank a bit of it, tossed it over your shoulder and told Murelle you'd had better, then went outside. Proceeded to throw rocks through the window, breaking it, and then multiple bottles behind the bar. A couple people got some cuts, but thankfully nothing serious. Murelle smells like a mixed drink now, though," Toby explained, "made it to strike two." That was said meaningfully. "You were apparently nasty to a few people?" David and Daved were the ones he was thinking of. "?and then all of a sudden, you quit."

Suddenly, "I need a trash can..!" she blurted. Reiko stood and hurried away, running for the trash can that was usually behind the bar. It was near the kitchen; she started to?well, details weren't necessary at this point. Just that she was thoroughly disgusted, and Icer was looking away as Reiko emptied her stomach. She hadn't seen the one who had cast the spell on Reiko, but she had heard the sound of his voice.

Toby took his time getting an extra bottle of water from the cooler, which would be sitting on the bar top for Reiko upon her return as a silent offer. Andu tried not to wince as he started to explain. "The first I knew something wasn't right was when Reiko showed up at the Katz kittens' birthday party not acting herself, and playing with a small ball of pink energy, tainted by black. She was scaring the kits, which is not something she would normally do, so we insisted she leave. The next I knew about her, was when Gaia summoned me to the cemetery where she ? Reiko ? was screaming as if she was taking a fast tour of the worst layers of Hell and puking her guts out." Sort of like what she was doing now, only it had been far worse just two days ago. "In the cemetery, once she pulled herself together, she was cozzing up to this sort of Drow-Dragon hybrid that was treating her like a pet?and her hair was quite a bit longer than it had been less than a couple hours earlier."

He shrugged and turned to lean back against the bar with a sigh, his explanation finished.

"So?this was a magic spell?" Toby queried.

"I believe so, Toby," was the minotaur's given answer with a shrug, "I can only go with what clues and knowledge I have."

"Ugh?" With a final cough, Reiko straightened herself. She turned to reach for a napkin, one that was used quite appropriately and then tossed into the trash. Water was certainly welcoming right now, and she was only as glad as she could muster to retrieve it from Toby. "?thanks, Toby." What a mess tonight had turned out to be. She returned to the patron side of the bar and sat between Toby, Icer, and whoever else was near her once more.

Unfortunately, Toby still had nothing to offer on magic. His talents lied in a completely different direction. Both Andu and Icer understood, especially Icer. "It would explain how she did nae know. I've been controlled before," she offered.

In between alternate conversations was then said, "So the question now is: what to do about it."

"Can we just agree?that the spell, and the screwed-up sorcerer who cast it, have got to go? Now?" Reiko interjected. "Enough of this. I can't live like this, not remembering whatever has been happening to me. Enough of this bull. It's nonsense. This isn't how I want to spend the rest of my life."

"Yeah, I would say they have to go." The agreement of Toby.

The woman sighed. "I just don't know how?sorcery is less of a skill to me than it is to you." In comparison to Toby's extremely limited ability of magic, Reiko felt that hers was even less. Even though it wasn't, spells aside. "Please tell me willpower will get rid of it?or we at least find the name of this shyte and look for the way to ditch that sucker."

"You may have to bind him," Icer spoke up from next to Reiko, but Andu shook his head. He didn?t bind; he smashes, and as rarely as possible. "I tried."

"It's my opinion that willpower, and mental discipline, are a cornerstone of most forms of resistance. Whether you do magic or not," Toby added, "as it happens, you've already had some training on that, which it might be good to return to."

"You mean with the leaf." For some reason, that was the only thing she had on her person, and it was hiding inside of her right boot. "Hey?how did this get into my boot?" Reiko asked, pulling it out. She raised the greatly-treasured leaf for Toby and the others to see. "I'd never carry this in my boot. This?is bizarre." Icer peeked at the leaf. Then she stretched out a taloned fore-paw for the leaf. "Toby should know where this came from." Though she wouldn't divulge that herself. It was harmless in its entirety, though. She waited to see if Toby would eye the leaf that Reiko held in her hand and remember it as well. "I had just finished my afternoon session?"

"I know where you got it," he told Reiko, "though why it was in your boot, I'm not sure." He was looking at her again as he spoke. Since the leaf was safe in her boot and not in a bad condition, she tucked the leaf away in the same boot where she had pulled it from to begin with. Reiko then lowered her head onto the scarred wooden bar top after she took a long sip of her water. "I don't know much about magic. But what I do know is that whether you are talking about magic or the mind, willpower and discipline are key to resisting outside influences. So that's where you should start. Build the wall back up."

"How?" she asked Toby simply. "How do I build it back up?" What she wasn't saying was how afraid she was of it coming down again.

A purring Icer responded with, "Concentrate."

"Everything I've shown you."

"Starting from the very beginning?" Reiko's forehead touched the bar, her arms now dangling down between her.

"Best place to start, is the beginning." Icer nudged Reiko with her snout. "It's not perfect. But it's a solid foundation on which to armour your mind against outside attack. That's the whole reason I started you on those exercises, why I made you do them every night. The stronger your discipline, the more you armour your mind against outside influence." Reiko's right hand reached out to pet Icer reassuringly whilst listening to Toby speak. She ran her other hand through her newly-cut hair. She really liked how it had come out, and she had Toby to thank for it. "Willpower is the second half of that equation, but that's in you. I can't teach you that." As she gave the dragoness those pettings, she thought for a moment.

Then she realised that she hasn't been hearing anything odd, let alone feeling anything outright odd, for quite awhile now. "That?I mean, this is?interesting," she stated. Lifting her head was on time to see Ebon once more. "I'm not hearing, and don't feel, anything?weird anymore." She offered a meek wave to the Governor, feeling a little better now than she had when he had first greeted her.

"You're welcome," was all Toby said, before following it with, "it won't last forever, maybe the rest of tonight. Enjoy it?make use of it."

"Temporary, huh." Don't look a gift horse in its mouth. Reiko knew better than to do just that, her eyes silently expressing gratitude to Toby for?whatever he had apparently done to be welcoming her for. "I need to figure out how to get somewhere for the night, you guys. If I was somehow able to slip past security and Anya's magic-laced technology, then I might not be entirely safe."

Toby turned to Andu. "Any ideas?"

"Not really. I've never had to worry about others trying to control my mind, only my own control of my emotions. I do think we need to find her a real mage," Andu said.

"How about where she can crash for the night?"

"Gaia always has space, but her movement would have to be restricted, as I have far too many younglings running around right now to risk her getting loose while under that spell."

"Then don't send me back to Gaia with all of the young ones afoot," Reiko said simply. She wasn't trying to be rude to Andu. "Anywhere that doesn't have children to worry about my unintentionally harming through the effects of the spell?you know how I feel about children being harmed in my way?ugh." The woman shook her head at the thought, quickly batting away a coming flashback. "Somewhere?"

"There is a lair nearby?" came from Icer.

"Could always get a room here," came from Toby.

"That is all I have to offer, Reiko. A luxury suite you would be locked into, and couldn't get out of by any means," came from Andu.

"Too many decisions?" Reiko moved her hands to the top of her head as she tried to think of which place would be best for her. Either way, she couldn't stay at the Palazzo Estate right now. She felt incredibly bad and even guiltier about not returning there for the time being, and she hoped that someone could explain the reasoning behind it. Reiko felt that she couldn't take that risk, or anymore risks, anymore. Not after all of this, so after the discussions and her thinking, her immediate decision was, "All right, you two?start proving your cases before I start flipping coins and add a tent on Toby's property as a third possibility." Only because she's seen those drones?and she hated them.

"Shinies," Icer said with a nod to Andu. He glanced over at the sniffing Icer, as she had seen and been given a square slice of pizza in a bowl. "You said he was part-dragon," she purred, "we like shinies."

He blinked at Icer and chuckled. "Shinies, I have. I did. Drow, dragon hybrid from the looks of him."

"He should like shinies, too." Being a dragon herself, Icer knew well.

Yet Ebon blinked. "A Drow Dragonkin?" he asked.

"It's Rhy'din, Gov, it's Rhy'din," Nicole said. She grinned and headed for the kitchen door. With a wave, she slipped away.

Meanwhile, Andu nodded. "Drow white hair. One Drow red eye, the other a slit yellow draconic thing. Dragon wings, dragon tail, with purple scales. But the rest of the body and features were classic Drow." It was thus far the closest thing to an accurate description of Agrylax that could be provided.

"Huh, I think I might have seen that guy before somewhere," Izumi mused, "I can't really remember, though." Whether many actually remembered where the hybrid had been seen before or not, they had indeed met him at least once before: the Glen.

"I have shinies?" Icer repeated whilst a glowering Reiko muttered her would-be promise of ending the Drow in gruesome terms. It was bad enough that she already had nightmares and flashbacks; more weren't necessary.

"Are you suggesting we try to set a trap for him, sis?" Andu asked Icer.

She nodded her horned head, saying, "Lots of shinies."

"That might work. I don't know how strong his dragon part is. But if we tossed in a couple fancy books with apparent magical natures?" The rest of Andu's words went unfinished, training off. Icer slipped over to her broken couch, burying her snout beneath a cushion. Pink azalean eyes followed Icer towards the broken down couch. A few gems and gold pieces slipped out from beneath the cushion, causing the woman to drop her scowl and blink as the dragoness returned to Andu and Reiko with a large emerald between her jaws.

"An emerald..? Icer, how many shinies do you keep over there?" Reiko asked.

Andu grinned down at Icer wryly. "I think we may want to wait for daylight to set a trap. Less chance of someone with Drow in them lurking about and seeing us setting it," he said. It earned him a rumble from the dragoness and a nod of agreement from Reiko

"It was night when I was ambushed?it was really dark at the place that I came to in a few times. Ah?Drows don't like any form of light. They also?" Reiko studied her reflection in the mirror behind the bar. "?feck. He bit me." Poor Reiko!

Andu reached down with his hand for her to drop the emerald in his hand if she wanted to. "Don't talk with your mouth full, Sis," he reminded her. Another rumble came from Icer in response. Her shiny! With a chuckle, Andu rolled his eyes. "You will get it back. Or you can just hang onto it, but you might find it easier to be understood if it weren't in your mouth." Finally, Icer relinquished the shiny emerald to Andu's hand. He accepted it whilst telling her, "I'll just hang onto it til' we set the trap, and then add my own to the bait. And you can have them all when we are done. How does that sound?"

Icer was soon nudging her sister towards the couch. "More shinies?" she asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

Andu nodded to Icer. "Yes, Icer. More shinies," he answered.

"Huh?" Reiko blinked. "More shinies," she said to Icer. The woman nodded encouragingly. She basically thought of reflecting the shinies from the sunlight in the Drow's direction?and hopefully seeing him burn. "You need to know where he's usually found, right?" Icer continued to nudge Reiko towards her couch, and the now-confused woman asked, "You want me to come with you to your couch, Icer?" The woman looked in Andu's direction. "Well?I don't see why not. But, why?" Reiko stood anyways and started towards the broken couch.

Once there, Reiko watched the dragoness for a few moments. Icer carefully unwove the wards enough so that she could lift a cushion. Inside, the saggy, broken couch was full of shinies and statues, gems, gold, and oils. Reiko looked. Holy crap, was that a lot of stuff inside of that couch. "Wow?Icer, that's the richest couch cushion discovery I've ever seen in my life," Reiko said as Icer eased the cushion down and reset the wards.

And, what was Andu doing? Had the minotaur spaced out or dozed off? Nope. The minotaur was awake and aware, just leaning back against the bar.

The woman, however, was still surprised. "I think a few of those shinies should be enough to take care of him, Sis," Reiko said. She turned back towards the bar, where she walked over to rejoin Andu. Icer nodded and slipped onto her couch and shut her eyes. She was soon slumbering. "What do you think is going to happen to me, Big Brother?" Reiko asked the minotaur.

"Nothing's going to happen to you, Reiko. We'll get it all sorted out," Izumi declared. She sounded serenely confident as ever, sitting up from where she'd slumped against the bar.

When Reiko reclaimed the stool she had sat on earlier, she lowered her head onto the bar top and sighed sadly. "Among other things?filthy." She didn't even want to look at alcohol anymore, after what had transpired. "Does everybody know?how sorry I am?" Reiko asked. She turned so that her forehead came to rest on her folded arms. "For all of the?the trouble that happened. You have no idea how filthy I feel from this?from what I saw myself doing when I first came to earlier."

"We know, Reiko. Now you just need to decide where you will be spending the night, preferably before all of the stress and activity catch up to you," Andu said. It might be a little late for that. She was already starting to yawn.

"Gaia," came from her mouth. Reiko yawned again. "Can you?can you please tell Ma Tante and Bond?and the Falcones? Please?" Reiko asked. She was already starting to slide her eyes shut where she sat. "Tell Bond?I love him."

"I will, Reiko," Andu said, "you want a lift to that suite I mentioned earlier?"

The tired woman nodded. "Please."

"Night, Reiko. Try to lighten up on yourself and get some relaxation," Izumi wished.

Lighten up? She would consider that. "You don?t know the half of it, Izumi-chan." With that and Andu wishing the glum woman sweet dreams and restful sleep, he snapped his fingers, and Reiko disappeared in a silent and harmless explosion of silvery firefly sparkles. She might find the suite also occupied by some plushies upon arrival.