Melody couldn't believe her eyes. There was nothing left bu his robes and a dagger...and the blood...it was everywhere.

"Was he always so dramatically expressive?" she asked with a glance to the still shocked assistant.

The red-haired elf shook her head. The Headmaster was never really known for being dramatic. The blood...it was everywhere... Gods of Life and Nature...was it his?

"Perhaps you better sit down, babes." Kairee waved a hand to a chair in the corner miraculously free of blood.

Yes...maybe she should...she always thought better when sitting...my Gods what happened? I thought he was safe....that he was protected...unless...

"You do know this...." indicating the scene of knife and blood, "...can just mean he's having a tantrum and needed to get away for a while. Such....drama....is often the result when people never learn how to relax. They let all their angst build up till they can't take it any more then "BOOM!" they explode. They're usually fine after they get over it."

Melody looked at the woman who just spoke the particularly insensitive words in horror.

In a softer voice she added, "I'm sure he'll be all right."

Melody couldn't help but think of The Headmaster and how he would have probably been the same way...such was the way of powerful w-wait just a moment. Why was Kairee here? How did she know? What did she know?

"Lady Kairee, I can't help but notice that you seem to know something that I do not."

Barely able to keep her anger under control, Melody responded.

"I meant specifically about this."

Not less than a foot away from the dagger, Kairee noticed the handle. It was comprised of small bones. Small humanoid bones. Elven and human mainly...finger bones. The jewel was a Cat's Eye gem. The blade was silver laced with hematite. There was no doubt. This was a mage slayer blade.

Melody, who steeled herself both to the horror of death around her and to Kairee's insensitivity to it all, took up some of the blood on the wall. She studied it a bit and her own magickal abilities became apparent. She was a druid.

"This is The Headmaster's blood."

The dagger was a recent purchase from a merchant of "questionable" wares in The Marketplace. It was purchased with the sole intent to kill Briarius Ravensheart. Due to the nature of the blade, it's difficult to get details. It seems that a vampire was involved as well. Extreme determination and sorrow are the only emotions which are identifiable. The dagger was ensorceled to enhance the weapons natural enchantments. It was magicked by a powerful wizard to kill a powerful wizard. ...and kill it did. It has extinguished one life in the last hour.

Fingers trailing along the dagger, hilt and blade, touching the blood, and scrying events.

Eyes opening, Kairee surveys the greater room, reaching out to ?view? the events surrounding the fight?.the start, the heat of the battle, the conclusion, and that which came after.

?Babes, collect what you can of Briarius? blood?.and tell me if you come across the blood of another. The Headmaster?s blood may be useful in finding him?..and if there is other?it can tell us even more.?

ooking upon the room for clues is hampered by all of The Headmaster's personal belongings which all radiate powerful auras. There were a set of throwing knives which radiated powerful conjuration magicks. An open book on the desk which radiated powerful illusion and necromancy magicks. An amulet which was laden with protective magicks and a few minor artifacts. From the looks of the room, it did now seem that there was an explosion of some sort that radiated roughly 5 feet above where the dagger lay on the ground. Papers were blown off the desk and lay scattered. Some were adhered to the wall by blood.

Taking her time,Kaire studies each ofthe times and reviews the open book to see just what Briarius was intent upon

The knives were all sheathed and good thing, as it seems that they had powerful magicks cast upon them that summoned a powerful elemental when the blade came in contact with blood. There were four in this set.

The book seemed to be a book on various spell, methods, and whatnot on how to prolong your life or even become a member of the undead to live forever. The pages that seemed to have the most blood on them outlined how to become a fell undead wizard known as a lich. There were several handwritten notes that, due to blood and other distortion, were difficult to make out. They did seem to be of The Headmaster's pen though as "Ravensheart", "Briarius", and "Kadorasil" were all there.

"The only true enemy I have ever known The Headmaster to have was Erique. Erique, however was a god. Erique was destroyed years ago."

Melody began to get apprehensive.

"You don't think he's come back? Do you?"

She calmed a bit.

"No, of course not... As for liches...I know the Headmaster was friendly with the Countess Beresford once, but she's a vampire. I don't think he knows any liches."

Melody looked at Cadence as she ate her sandwich. She couldn't even bear thinking about eating, but these folk around her had seen so much more in their lives.

"The Headmaster is dead. I came and found his office covered in his blood. Kairee appeared and has been so kind as to help in determining what happened."

?Gods have the annoying habit of not being dead when you think or expect them to be. Unlike other spawn of creation, gods are notoriously difficult to kill.? Kairee?s tone was very much like that of a lecturer explaining a basic principle to the class as a whole. Here eyes never left the book she was studying. ?In many cases, if not most, gods can?t be killed. They have to be unmade?..and it is normally only something they can do to themselves except in very rare occasions.?

?Hey, babes.? Kairee idly twirled the Mage-Slayer in her hand as Cadence drew close, ?Got any idea where Kardoasil is??Looking to Melody, ?Do you??

The Mage-Slayer vanished from her hand to one of her safe storages,? This is what we know,? Kairee closed the book and kept it in her hand, ?The dagger is enchanted and designed specifically to kill powerful mages, in this case there is a lingering impression that it was designed to kill Briarius specifically. However, that could be a post enchantment empathic attachment due to psychotic levels of hatred and focus The headmaster,? she continued as she stepped around the desk toward the epicenter of the violence, ?was set upon by a vampire. It is unclear as to what exactly happened. The various wards Briarius has set and interference from some of his items is causing significant interference when I scry the room.?

Melody would?ve felt Kairee?s casting as she had investigated; subtle yet immensely powerful. Unlike other mages, Kairee did not seem to need to use words or gestures to shape and express the Arcane.

?Now, as to what Briarius was up?? Kairee help up the tome, ?He was either investigating how he could transform himself into a Lich, to which some Necromancers aspire, or he was studying the process of Lichification in order to combat someone, who instead of dying when he, she, or it was supposed to die, re-manifested as a Lich. Why would Briarius want to become a lich? Not to get the ladies, to be sure and he is too fastidious to put up with the stench. So, it?s likely he would go that route because his death was imminent and or he needed to combat someone powerful with Death Magics. If, on the other hand, he was studying in order to better combat a lich, then he may have been interrupted. We have too paths before us. The first is to investigate the provience of the dagger. Find the local merchant who sold it and find out where he got in from and who he sold it to. This may lead us to whoever tried to kill him. The other path is to go to where Kardosil is or was. That is probably where Briarius is holded up?either to heal up and buy some time or to master himself during the traumatic transformation.? She then shrugged, "Or it's something else entirely."

...but I do remember The Headmaster saying that he had a way to get there if he needed it...maybe a portal or something. That would be at his residence."

"Well then," The book disappeared to the same location as the dagger, "let's go."

Kairee strides to the door, leaving the gore behind without second thought.

The disturbance was felt, even in another place so far away, beyond the closed portals that once connected the school with that world... clear on to the moon called Marta - Lyndra felt it keenly. It even disturbed the eggs developing within her dragon form, shifting them oddly. She knew instantly, something was wrong at the school.

Within minutes she was heading for the exit, shifting her form to humanoid.. a very pregnant looking half elf. The rest of her surrogate family gave her incredulous looks, but none had to ask where she was going. They all sensed it too and knew that to try and stop her would ensure a fight. Lyndra stepped through the portal she'd opened, moving through the streets of RhyDin for a short ways to the school.

She saw it right away.

The school no longer had ethereal pockets that people could wander to, but all areas could be accessed by the stellae (small pyramids Erique had left behind.)

She stepped onto the grounds but the confusion was overwhelming. Nothing was clear and frightfully annoying. She could tell, though that apparently more capable hands were on task with this. Was she really needed?

Then she was suddenly overwhelmed by something... something that needed her attention even more then here. The children seemed to be okay.. Nobody was hurt.. except whatever bad thing happened to Bri. It was hard to tell if he was really dead via a spiritual venue.

Unfortunately... she needed something from Bri's personal residence. The wards were too much to deal with even getting into the place. Apparently. She had no patients to mess with it. Perhaps it would be better protected there.

"Sorry.." she turned away... heading back for Exodii.

Lyndra saw the so called Constable try to sneak in behind her and set up a perimeter. She sighed and set to a spot they hadn't closed off yet. It would take them some time to do that and she had not been there that long. Twenty seconds tops. She was pregnant and in no mood to deal with them, not after what she'd just felt in Exodii. Of course, they would try to stop her.. fools.

"Miss! You can't leave. We're investiga...."

A draconic roar would shut that one up. She had no time for question. "I just got here and now I'm leaving. That is it. End of story. Deal with it."

If he argued, she wasn't listening.. she was gone, off the grounds and teleported away. There was something far more impending elsewhere, otherwise she might've stayed... either way, too late. she was gone.

Almost blinded by Sorcerer's Sight, Kairee sees that The Headmaster was no slouch in protecting this building.

It seems that the reason Briarius never really used any of his archmagick is that all of that energy was tied up here.

Every possible ward existed here...even some she did not recognize as common.
If any mage or other spell caster attempted to unweave some of the magick here, they would be set upon by no less than half a dozen spells aimed at completely disjoining and disrupting all magick used. Magick items would become useless, mages themselves would lose all ability to cast for over a day...it didn't look pretty. It would not harm the caster or item permanently, just incapacitate them long enough.
In addition, if more mundane methods of forced entry were used, the person doing the forcing would be struck by enchantments that would sap their strength until they were as weak as a literal kitten. Again, no permanent harm, just incapacitating.
There were enough of these enchantments to repel an army of people.
There were also the typical defenses that one would expect to find on any mage's abode.

However, it seemed that the wards and enchantments were created to allow passage of certain people.

Yes indeed, where was Cadence? She was with Waldo. No really, she was with Waldo, a student who was disturbed from some dragon roarishness. Cadence had apparently fallen behind where Kairee was after she had looked up to ask where they were going. The woman was gone? Cadence had wandered out into the hallways. The noise of a dragon roar brought her running to a nearby door, as well as a few handful of students. One of them was Waldo.

"What was that? It woke us up.... I think?" he looked out over the school grounds. "Wow, this place sure got dumpy. And who are you?"

"Uh... It sounded like a dragon, like was that Lyndra? Oh Miss Lyndra!" she could see the woman outside. "Something is wrong with her. Wow, she looks fat."

"That would be pregnant I think. I'm not a doctor but that looks like a pregnant belly." Waldo corrected. "Who are you?"

"Cadence..." and Cadence disappeared.

The boy blinked. "Cadence, the cleaning spider queen?" he paled. He'd heard rumors and stories about the cleaning woman who cultivated giant spiders in the attics... the kind of spiders that ate the students who dissed her. They said she got eaten by one of her own spiders. Nobody ever went up to the attics again.

By the time she appeared where Lyndra had been, Lyndra was gone. "Where did she go?"

"Beats the hell out of me. I don't even know where you came from" it was one of the perimeter setter uppers. "Damn mages... always popping in and out of everything." He went on his way...

Cadence shrugged and caught sight of Kairee with her hands on her hips, studying the magics on Bri's house. She watched Kairee wander around, apparently ... and headed that way. By the time she caught up with Kairee, there was someone standing there with his hands in his pockets, talking to Kairee and laughing.

"Oh, nice to see you again Lady Kairee. It's been ages since the last time."

Bob cared not one iota for the headmaster, no he was just here to see the living and perhaps an old friend too? As for the 'ages' part. When it came to these two one could assume that time meant very little to either of them. So ages could have meant anything from five minutes to five centuries. But one could never be sure about anything.

"Where is Cadence, I sensed her here too. Not sure why she would want to be at such a bloody mess of a scene..well I assume there is blood. I smell it..or is that me..I get confused sometimes about these things." He looked for Cadence then, but not too hard. If she was there she would surely find him. It always seemed to work that way.

It took her a moment to register who it was, and to react.

"Bob?!"

A beaming smile was instantly in place, spirits lifted through the roof, so to speak. She blinked and her form transported to him, little wings a flutter as she wrapped her arms round his neck and snuggle hugged him!

"Oh my gosh, I missed yous so much!! Where have you been? How have you been? I just got back myself. All that studying and I slept fo days when I came back just to wake up to this. Oh.. and the Headmaster sort of got killed!"

It was the first breath she took, pulling back to look at him a moment, realizing. "Oh, you know. Well of course you do."

Rolling her eyes at herself, grinning. "Silly me.. You know things. But anyway, Kairee been kind enough to help find out what happened to the Headmaster. I still think we should get Sha'uri here. She was..er.. is the Assistant Headmaster. Either way..."

Well, she didn't know for sure what it was since she herself had just gotten back and apparently Mistress Sha'uri had been gone as well. She wondered what was up with that, but oddly looked at Bob. Something smelled different about him, that wasn't normally about him. She sniffed at Bob, grinned. "New collogne?"

He just stood there, Alot happened in a short amount of time and he had to sort it all out just then. He was attacked by the Cadence, well not really an attack so much as a surprise hug around the neck. "Well hello to you too! It is me. Long time so see, eh?"

"I have been everywhere. Doing all kinds of things to all kinds of people." A blink then. "Yeah, we can just say that. I did see that the headmaster had been 'killed' although I am with Kairee in thinking the guy is just being a bit on the emo side. No body was found, who knows the headmaster guy could have just snapped and killed somebody else, and is running away?" Oh wouldn't that be a nice situation. "Too many voices in his head, couple spells short of a full book, yeah?" Sure it was bad to speak ill of the dead, but still find a blood filled room and lets see what you think.

"Shauri isn't needed here, Kai has everything under control here and if anybody can figure it out, it's her. Besides, if the Headmaster is dead, then the spot of assistant is kinda...null and void, as there is nothing to assist, right?" Well it made sense to him anyway. "New cologne, nah..just something I picked up from work."

Then he looked to Kairee with a sigh. "Not for sale. Well, that's no fun. I was kinda hoping to take over and create an army of young black mages to terrorize the people, oh well. Looks like I have to do it the hard way," He smiled then as he was kissed then, there was a tiny spark. "Always a thrill indeed. I just wanted everybody to know, it wasn't me."

"Enemies, you? No way. Well I suppose I could believe you would make a lot of enemies when you tell em that you actually didn't care about them." He looked her over then. "Yes I can see that many of them would have come from that, those hunchbacked old hag witches that live in swamps, well they never have any enemies!" He laughed. "Oh well, since he isn't dead, as you say, perhaps I should let you continue your investigation."

"Or you could let the dead stay that way, it increases my chances of taking over the school that much better!" He looked at Cadence again. "What do you think. Would I make a good headmaster?" Then there was a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. "Still need this." Hey, being psychic had its advantages sometimes.

"Don't worry, Bob... Kairee can have the glory of the investigation, I won't take that away. She is better suited to it right now anyway." her voice came from behind him. It was obvious there was no ill intent from her, for anything with her aura completely nuetral.

"I just need to see Bri's sword. I at least owe him that much... If there is no connection whatsoever to him with it, and I would know best because I made it, then he is most likely dead. And no, I didn't have anything to do with it either. Right, Bob? I think we can vouch for each other on that one."

Well, they had been together, that much wasn't a lie. She grinned. "Besides, I don't think he's dead either, which still makes me the Assistant Head Master here, well, for now."

She sent a wink to Cadence. "Hi hun."

As Chaos itself, Bob would note a couple of things. One, it was easier to be here. Previous trips to The Academy weren't necessarily difficult or uncomfortable...they just weren't easy and comfortable, but this trip was just fine. Two, something recently went awry. He could sense the entropy and chaos that just recently eroded away some order and caused a major accident.

Kairee would note that she actually was not on the "allow list" per se, in fact the "allow list" wasn't keyed to people alone. It was keyed to people in possession of an object. The only person present that seemed to match that key was Mistress Melody who stood quiet watching all of the events unfolding around her. She did not look happy at Bob, but it was to be expected. (She also looked particularly disgusted at Cadence and Kairee for just accepting the fact that Bob was being an <expletive deleted>.)

If she chose to further study the ward, she would note the key was primarily the Ravensheart Academy Staff pin, the people part came secondary. That secondary list contained all those present now, with the exception of Bob. However, Bob also knew that with the Headmaster gone and unable to consciously empower his magicks, Bob could just wipe them away as if they never existed.

Sha'uri would know that no one went to the Headmaster's residence unless they had their staff pin and were asked in by The Headmaster himself. She, who had not been back since the year started, didn't have her new pin. She also knew that in the absence of Briarius or Sha'uri, Melody had some pins for emergencies.

Cadence, also didn't get her new pin as she was gone or sleeping for most of her return.

Kairee turned a dazzling smile to Bob, ?Leaving so soon, Bobby? Doesn?t the ?Mystery of the Missing Headmaster? intrigue you at all? No sleuthing games for you? Not even with me?? something teasingly wicked gleamed in her eyes, ?If that's not enough to tempt you, then you must come to Beltane and dance with me to atone for this slight.? She leaned toward Chaos personified and whispered seductively, ?Imagine the confusion and consternation it will cause as we are seen dancing cheek to cheek?..not to mention jealous rage such a sight will induce.? A sly wink both mischievous and genuie, underscored by her temping soft, throaty chuckle.

Her emerald eyes shift to Sha?uri, ?Hey babes.? A neutral greeting for Briarius' "assistant headmaster" before Kairee?s attention shifted back to Melody, ?Babes, I feel underdressed. My outfit needs a little something to give it the right?..pizzazz. A current faculty pin will do. Not only is it stylish and a must have accessory this season but it would be so helpful in finding beloved Briarius.? Kairee?s smile blossomed with humor in response to Melody?s dubious look, ?Seriously, babes. The pin will save us so much trouble in entering. Don?t you want Briarius? Wards and protections to remain in place? I know I do.?

Melody pulled out a small pin case she kept on her. It contained 4 pins. One was for Cadence, one was for Sha'uri, and the other two were for when The Headmaster needed a pin quickly and didn't have one on him. She looked at Kairee and then at Sha'uri.

"I'm...pretty certain these will work. Sha'uri, now that you are here, it'd be your choice to decide who gets these pins, but I am fairly certain that The Headmaster wouldn't have wanted him here."

She stood there with her pin case.

Cadence's concept of jealousy was .. well... unthought of really. It was a term rarely in her brain. She wondered if it was fun to do that to make people that way, yet she didn't think it would be. Still, it was funny to her to think anyone would be jealous.. people loved Bob, Bob loved people.... he was always protecting someone or helping someone, or kicking their arse if they deserved it. Everybody got time with Bob at some point. Well, in her mind that's how it was. She totally didn't get it any other way.

Then to Cadence. "Looks like if you need a refill, you are in luck. I'm staying. Let what come whatever may..or something like that."

She giggled. "Silly! Let whatever may come.." blink. "Hey, that's my last name.. Maycom!"

She held out her mostly empty cup to him for a refill.

"Thank you Mr. Waiter. I'll take another cup please. Seriously, I agree, Bob. You should stay cause I know you'd just try to help. It would be rude to turn away help. You can have my pin, Bob... if it helps. Seriously, I am not as talented as the rest of you. I don't know what I can do to..."

Blink. She abruptly stopped talking and just looked around at everyone.

"Oh, wait, wait, wait! Did anyone ask the spiders what happened? I bet they were in the room too. The Headmaster was just talking to me the other day about that... how the replacement cleaners weren't getting the cobwebs off the architecture high up in the cielings and I know I haven't yet. I bet he's got 'em in there to! And I bet I can get them to talk."

She handed Bob her mug and hopped down.

"Okay, nobody go in there yet! Lemmi find a witness first!"
She sprinted two steps, opened a door that magically appeared stepped in and shut the door, which disappeared as it did so.

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

She was taking a shortcut, via her domain, back to the room where it all happened. The domain door appeared and opened, she stepped through and shut the door. Only two seconds went by since she left the others. She glanced up hoping to see some really big fat spider webs hanging in the cieling corners or something. The older they were, the more they were aware of things going on outside of their normal daily concerns. The details would be better that way. As soon as she spied some, she would be asking them all, one at a time, quesitons about what happend and probing their memory. The more spiders she found, the better a picture she could recreate. They all had their prospectives... So she didn't limit the search to just the cieling... she looked everywhere in the room.

Certainly enough, there was a momma spider who had just laid a bunch of eggs high in the Headmaster's Office.

"Who are you?! Are you here to kill my babies?!"

After Cadence convinced her that she was indeed not there to kill her eggs, she was only able to offer the following information.

"Yes, I saw this human. He came in quickly, which was unlike him. Normally he was very slow and deliberate. He took a thing from there...and split it in half. He looked intently at both halves. He also pulled pieces of both halves out. and looked at those as well. He then got another thing from within his coverings and pierced himself with it. All the while, he was talking. Energy came from the thing he pierced himself with and engulfed him. There was a loud and sudden noise and the human burst all over the place."

The pins were similar to the ones from a year previous, save for one thing, they did not like to be worn by the wicked. Some of the magickal identifiers were also different, but that was probably to rekey them to the wards around the Headmaster's Residence.


After being eyed suspiciously, she eyed Sha'uri suspiciously...something was off about her...

Broken from her thoughts by Kairee, Melody nodded and handed her 2 vials filled with a coagulating red liquid.

That coffee mug filled up before she was even gone. "Yes, go talk to the spiders, but conveniently I can foresee them not have been seeing anything of use. Spiders are usually pretty self absorbed creatures..."But she was gone, likely didn't hear a word of it. He sipped the coffee then, not bad.

His eyes moved to the others then, watching them work and talk about the issue at hand. And he wondered then, the lack of an answer from the melody creature was curious. Sure, it could have been a case of being ignored, but there was something more to it. Something weird. He liked it. As a sign of the terror he could still inspire in complete strangers just by a tone of voice, or a look alone, it was obvious he hadn't lost his touch, but he wouldn't over do it.

"Shauri If the blade is warded and still in place, there is no need to touch it, because obviously...nobody else had either with out breaking such protective circles. For if they had surely the person who would have replaced all the wards would have known the headmaster's magic down to the exact details. So if somebody did break in here, the wards, while impressive would be different then the originals. I am sure you have been here more then one time and know these protective spells well. So either nobody has been here, or the wards are changed."

It was common sense really. He had no idea of what they hoped to find in such a place other then a suicide note. If nobody had been here, then there would be evidence. If somebody, a competent killer was at work, there would be no clues at all, and everything would look as it was meant to look on any normal day, to the untrained eye.

He cracked his neck then. "If the there was a killer, there would be no way he could get in here, so everything should be as it was left the day of his disappearance. Does anybody see anything...off...with the wards. Or am I not the only one who has seen these for the first time?"

Cadence sucked in her breath as she could see the things in the spider's mind just as it had seen them.

"Oh my gosh! Oh no! he did it to himself! Thank yous so much Mrs spider."

She magicked in a few flies for them to catch for dinner. Then she spun round, back through her domain door... and was back with the others.

"Briarius was killed in the Headmasters' office with a Mageblade by a vampire." Kairee idly mentioned to Bob as if she were playing a murder mystery game. "The mystery isn't so much the murder, except for nagging details, but where Briarus fled to heal his wounds. This supposes that being as powerful as he is, all "necromantic-y", and still retaining a will to live no matter how emo he can get, that his essence is somewhere. Of course he could be dead-dead instead of mostly dead but we don't know that until we know it."

She shut the door after she stepped back through, catching this last bit of conversation.

"I dunno about that. It appears he did it to himself. I found a witness. Let me show you what she told me. It's a little wierd because of the way spiders see, but you can see what happened."

And so Cadence created an illusion so they could all see it just like she got it from the Spider. It played with the spider's narrative, just as it had told Cadence.

"Yes, I saw this human. He came in quickly, which was unlike him. Normally he was very slow and deliberate. He took a thing from there...and split it in half. He looked intently at both halves. He also pulled pieces of both halves out. and looked at those as well. He then got another thing from within his coverings and pierced himself with it. All the while, he was talking. Energy came from the thing he pierced himself with and engulfed him. There was a loud and sudden noise and the human burst all over the place."

Bri's blood splattered everywhere in a shower that faded to sparkles and the whole illusion vanished.

"I don't get it, why would he do this?"

She moved to Bob's side again, absentmindedly taking her cup to sip and then handing it back to him, as if it was his cup or something.

((I've deleted this post as it's a copy of the post below. Why it double posted is beyond me))

Sha'uri wasn't giving Melody the pins.

"Well isn't that just like you Kairee.... confusing Melody with issues that are irrelevent. Wow.. and you accuse me of waisting time. What goes on between Bri and Mel, well that's really none of your business. Besides, she has no clue what you are talking about, which doesn't surprise me. Bri was never one to show his feelings. But don't you think it's up to Bri to tell her, even if there is anything to tell? That's cruel...feeding someone's emotions like that..."

She shook her head and shifted her attention.

"As for the sword, Bob... I need it to determine things. It was never an issue if someone broke into the place, otherwise we wouldn't have a problem getting you in. And Cadence... the spider saw a human, not Bri. Bri was Elven. So the blood couldn't have been Bri's... unless.... unless it was his human self?"

She furrowed her brows then rubbed her forehead. Then a big fat sigh escaped. The pins seemed to find their way mysteriously into Cadence's pocket. And she... Sha'uri seemed to grow very weary and emotionally strained.

"Bob... either take me out of this farce or blast down the barriers and help me get my sword. I grow weary of this whole damn sharade. I want it done and overwith. Oh, and no... I wouldn't want to be the Headmaster... not at all."

Funny, while Bob thought she belonged here, Sha'uri felt totally the opposite. She never really belonged.

Kairee rolls her eyes dismissively at Sha'rui's inane rant.

"Kairee...stop. Sha'uri? Are you leaving the Academy? I mean, quitting."

"Stop what, babes?" Kairee asked with a arch of a perfect brow, "You've got to decide which is more important, dealing with her temper tantrum or finding Briarius. She's only here for one thing and that's the sword she's babbled about. In the meanwhile, if Briarius was struck down unprepared, then time is of the essence. Death can be very disorienting even for a mage of his caliber. He could lose himself and that could mean we may never get him back. Or his Essence could have been cut free of his fleshy anchor and imprisoned to be either enslaved or consumed depending on who arranged for the bloodsucker to strike him down. Either way, time is wasting. Choose. If need be, I will continue without you though I believe your connection and insight to him would be invaluable."

Woah. Bob hardly had time to react before the issues came up in the way they did. You know what else. Bob only realized two things out of the whole mess. One, that Shauri was about to go ballistic on everybody there, and two, Cadence was about to walk into a whole bunch of wards out of frustration!

"As much as I would like to watch somebody foolishly walk right into the house of the headmaster and get zapped, Cadence. I would request that you don't take any steps further in that direction. You could seriously be hurt. But if you really want to go that way, I won't stop you. I just ask you to think before you act. You will have to forgive Kairee for being how she is. It's my understanding that she really doesn't care about the headmaster, but is only curious to understand the why of the situation. Cadence, don't become so upset so quickly." He would say to her as she moved forward, but left everything to her.

Then he looked to Shauri. "Again. same thing. Despite the words of others. We must learn to let others say as they will. Take it with a smile and just say alright. As for destroying the barriers and waltzing on in there...well there is no telling what would be destroyed by some hidden trigger designed for just such an occasion. Like disarming a bomb, if you clip the wrong wire the whole place could just dissolve, along with everything inside of it. No, the issue is not barging in here because then that would ruin the whole game. Our minds must work on strategy and not simple reactions," He would continue. "If our emotions are attacked..use them as a strength, not as a weakness. If you still want to leave..just say the word...the choice is yours after all."

He shook his head. Negative energy could infect people so easily, just by him being there it was a test for people's resolve to remain who they were, and what they had the potential to become. Twisted versions of themselves, angry and emotional. Nothing short of chaotic.

"Kairee, I know you want to know how this is all going to play out. You do seem a bit connected to the guy though. Immoralities aside, perhaps it is best to leave the mystery alone? What if the the whole thing is indeed, a trap. The lack of a body only tells me that it is bait. Maybe you were the target all along. Typical methods wouldn't work for you, but what would work better then a mystery?....but by all means...begin undoing those wards. As you said. Too much time has been wasted already."

He finally looked to Melody, "The Assistant Headmaster would be unwilling to continue her position if that would be the case it all turns out badly. I would be more then willing to take her spot...or perhaps you would be up for the job. However all this turns out. I would prepare for the worst if I was you."

For Shauri, a portal..a choice to go elsewhere or stay it was hers. One would appear of black swirling liquid beside her. For Cadence, that cup of coffee would appear in her hand, but the hot liquid wouldn't spill and burn her. It was a reminder. For Kairee, nothing more then a step back so she could do her work, and have enough room to do it with.

Whatever they would choose, he couldn't wait to see what happened next.

Cadence?s outburst was met with a sudden laugh but before Kairee could answer, Bob chimed in with his thoughts. Her lips part to respond when Melody burst into tears.

Kairee took a deep sigh and glanced to Bob, ?I can well believe they are ?sisters,? Cluelessness seems to run in the family.? She observed with a smirk before turning back to Melody. ?Let?s get a few things straight before I leave.? Her tone is direct and strong, but without the level of vitriol in the hate speech spewed by Sha?uri and Cadence. Her eyes fixed on Melody?s; they shine with serious intent. Those using their Sorcerer?s Sight, might see a ripple of flame dance along the edge of her Aura but outwardly no fiery emotion is displayed. ?I came here to find Briarius. That has been my only motivation and the only thing I am doing. Don?t you dare accuse me of operating out of pride when I have ignored the insults and aspersions flung my way since Sha?uri?s arrival. Her unjustified hostility toward me seems to be her modus operandi. I have ignored her insulting ways not because of my pride but because I have put the search for Briarius first. I choose not to deal with her because of a promise I made to Briarius. Whatever her problems are, I could not care less. They are not my issue. She is nothing to me.? Her words do not contain an emotional undercurrent. They are spoken as if they are merely facts. ?As for you and Cadence, I have treated you both with respect. It is you and your ?sisters?,? a wave of her hand to indicate Sha?uri and Cadence, ?who would rather judge than ask; who would rather cast aspersions than coordinate activities; and who demand respect but will not act with respect. Quite honestly, Melody, you shock me more than the others do as I thought you have sense. When I suggested you have intimate knowledge, you and Sha?uri jump to the conclusion that I meant that you are his lover. Intimacy means a hell of a lot more than sex. It speaks to a deep emotional tie, which can be leveraged in searching for Briarius. You claim that you have served him for your entire existence. You probably know him better than anyone else does. Your connection to him on an emotional, and yes even on a metaphysical level, could be key in honing in on him as I perform an arcane search. As for the blood, I trust your arcane education included Magic 101, the Law of Similarity and the Principles of Consanguinity. In light of that, no other explanation should be required. As for sharing information, I told you and Cadence back in the office what happened in there and I clearly told Bobby and Sha?uri what I know happened. I know Briarius was struck down in his office with a Mageblade by a Vampire. Everything else is speculation. When I arrived I expected I would be searching for Briarius alone. I am perfectly willing to continue without assistance especially when those others who claim to wish to find him attack me and call everything I do into question. It could be more effective if your colleagues put aside their issues in order to work with me but don?t you even remotely claim I have been unwilling to work with you and them or that my interests are in something other than finding the headmaster. I am not the one withholding the key to his house. Nor am I the one seeking to have all the Wards removed putting at risk all of Briarius secrets and properties to looters that may come in afterward. I am also not someone who has clearly stated that their only interest is in obtaining one of Briarius? arcane items. Think on that before you throw accusations at me.?A brief pause but Kairee continued before anyone could say anything else, ?Once last thing, neither you nor your sisters know me and it?s evident you don?t understand me. You all need to keep your judgments to yourself and learn to ask questions when you are confused. I will overlook your slights because of the emotional burden you are under but as for the others?.? A dismissive wave, ?..though I expect nothing less from them, I afford them no such excuse. I will help you for Briarius? sake but I will not tolerate their nonsense. If you want my help, ask for it now. If you do not, I will follow my own path.?

((OOC Note: Kairee hasn't betrayed any emotion prior to this and even now, what she is feeling isn't on display....not even to another empath and psionic. She is very controlled. If your character is using magical or psionic means to dig deeper please let me know and we can discuss what they discover. If they are merely reading between the lines and inferring what they want to see... welll, that is on you. Your interpertation may not be correct and you may be reading into things that aren't there. When in doubt, please ask.))

Pained expression, she crossed her arms over her chest, closed her eyes and lifted her right hand to pinch her nose right between her eyes. There was definitely a headache brewing now, although whatever emotion and thought Sha'uri had was not open for anyone else to know except Bob. She had been covering them ever since her arrival. Sha'uri had not lost her temper, had not *Spewed* anything just yet, but it was clear that the normally sweet little Cadence just did.

"See... this is what I was afraid of." she muttered. "Cadence! Wait.."

She shook her head again as Kairee went into her little *speech* ... for the second time, or was that the third.... Sha'uri lost count.

And then Melody chimed in... and although she was understandably confused about some issues, Sha could see the woman was emotionally distraught. Had Sha'uri forgotten that this place was the only home that this model of Harmony had ever known? Sha furrowed her brow beginning to wonder if Bri had been trying to erase himself some way... to be rid of the memories that haunted and the holes in them that taunted him. Yes, she knew they did bother him greatly. That sword she was wanting had connected them. How could she not know?

By the time Bob was done with his speech, to which the only response to him was a surprised and curious lift of her delicate brow for his wink, and the thought transfer - Fine, just take the mirror down from Kairee's face please and show it to her..... she had moved to Melody. If only the woman knew what Sha was putting on the line...

"Melody... Do you really believe all I want is the sword for just the sake of a sword? Or that I would see the magical barriers broken down just to leave it open to the winds, and looters? Do you really believe I"m that irresponsible? You weren't listening to me... I said I needed it to try and locate him. I don't mean his body... but his soul. You know, it's possible it has jumped into a clone...or has been reincarnated to something new."

That much was possibly true.

"So if you think all I want is the sword, or to leave his things to looters.... Then you might just doom him to a fate he didn't deserve. And on top of that.. let me remind you of another so called Sister... Lyndra. How do you think she will feel when she finds out about all of this? I get the feeling she already knows about Bri.... But I believe she's having babies right now. Didn't you even wonder about her? She really is more your sister then I am. If Bri saw me as a daughter... what did he think of when he looked at her? The thing about that is that... she can really be that person. I wouldn't want to piss her off."

Why not explain? so she did to them all, Bob more then the rest.

"You see, Lyndra had been the Sharalis look alike - and almost was exactly - her. Sharalis was my mother and the wife to Briarius when he was half elven. Lyndra and Melody had been creations made by Erique - Bri's nemesis - in order to drive him crazy... which this whole school had been a trap for Bri. There were others created as well, but Melody and Lyndra stayed after I and Eversmart destroyed Erique. Who knows... maybe we didn't do the job well enough. Either way, I thought that might be useful to know."

"Do, what we do now is simple. We work together and find out what happened to the headmaster, we basically know what happened TO him, but the whole why of the issue is somewhat confused. We should find out why it happened to begin with, yes?"


"All we need to do is decide on a course of action. Kairee seems to know what she is doing here, Shauri seems to know what she wants to do as well, and Cadence doesn't care what anybody does, as long as they do it soon. She's frustrated, just like you Melody just like these two here. I would suggest we decide on what to do, and do it. The more time is wasted the harder it will be to discern what happened, and where ever your precious headmaster is right now, if he is alive every second counts. If his soul is wandering the afterlifes somewhere, it will be harder and harder to locate him the longer we delay here." He would say this to Melody, an honest answer to her question.

He used the word precious much in the same way he would have used the word toy, or a rope in a game of tug of war.

This is exactly what this whole thing was threatening to become, a game of personality. A game of who was strongest and more capable. Bob was just being the invisible persuader that was trying to keep it together. Things often became more interesting when opposing forces mixed together to create something weird.

"Right now I would suggest we get our issues hammered out and taken care of...Although I have this nagging sense that even everybody goes their separate ways, they will be forced together due to the clues they find and will need what the other found to make sense of everything." He shrugged. It was a good possibility.

Bob cared nothing for Gods, and any god named Enrique who could have been destroyed, was surely beneath his knowledge or concern. But he would only smile when it was mentioned, and when the fact showed up that he might have returned, he hoped this one did, any so called cosmic being could surely not be destroyed so easily. Bob knew just what it took to take care of these beings, but he kept that mostly secret. If it was responsible for this. Bob would have to laugh at the ungodly behavior he showed, sending a vampire to do his dirty work. Should have at least had the respect to his supposed arch enemy and do it himself. It couldn't have been a true God, the arrogance wasn't there, or the signs. He couldn't smell any traces of a cosmic being being here recently.


Then he looked to them all, took another step back. "So, what is it? Separation, or working together?" He didn't care really, just wanted to know how to proceed with the plan at hand.

"As for dooming him to a fate he didn't deserve, how come I get this feeling that he put this fate on himself and we are simply wasting our time bickering over this. There is always a plan B, I can take us all out for a nice dinner, we toast what ever it is we drink and just chill out, celebrate the guy's life and move on with our own. Don't you see what this is doing to you all. There does come a time when letting go is better then holding on to something that doesn't want to be held on to." Testing the waters, Bob, yeah. But he needed to know their level of commitment to the mission at hand. After a dinner and a nice evening out did seem like a good alternative to this whole mess.

"As for Lyndra and Melody being magical creations..."There was an evil flash of a smile then, only for a second would he reveal the villain within, but it was contained as he looked at the place once more, and saw all those wards, trailing off, changing the subject. "So...what do you Really want to do?"

Bob did have a point, and the more you would think about it, just how would a vampire sneak up on and defeat an Arch Mage in his own school where he should have been most protected? Who gains from this event the most. So many weird questions remained, but the fact remained. The only way a vampire could have gotten to the Mage in his own school, is if the vampire was allowed to do it, invited in no less?

Or maybe one of the students got tired of him, and gave a pin to the vampire. His eyes moved to Cadence slightly, then Melody, a slight wonder there. Wasn't Renna a teacher here once? She is as unpredictable as they come...but she would have done it herself, she likes to get her hands..and everything else bloody and there would have been a body...or pieces of one. Bob's mind was going through the details of the case that he knew so far, and what would make sense, and what made sense is that the Arch-Mage was either caught off guard, and that was unlikely. So either this was self inflicted, or..it was a setup for something bigger.

"Kairee..is there anything you know that you didn't share with us? or are we all on the same page?" He said with an actual warm tone, almost human this time. "Shauri, is there anything you know about this that we don't? You came here, and you have some kind of weird connection with the guy..maybe you felt something?"

"Oh, and maybe we should do an inventory of the Pins, see who has what..perhaps the killer still has the pin to get into the school, if there is a way to track them, it might be good to find one tainted with the negative energy that a violent crime usually taints such things with, it would be easy to detect you'd think being so soon after the crime...because you didn't find any pins at the scene of the crime, at least you didn't say you did..and these kinds of things always like to revisit at least once...it'd make sense for him to come back, right."

"So just how did the killer get in to the place to begin with. When I got in he knew it straight away, there was no surprise." He nodded. Bob wasn't sure how this could have happened. Even if the magic forced its way in, there would have been even less chance of being caught off guard. You can't exactly hide magically force your way through such defenses.

He just looked at them, but he was thinking, about evidence...about forensics. "Say, Kairee. Was there any blood on the blade? Are we sure that was the real weapon. I mean was it covered in blood like it should have been, or was it...set there. Where did you find it at."

He shook his head. "Well..never mind, one thing at a time first. So, are we working this out, or are we not gonna worry about this anymore and just...go have a nice dinner?"

He waited.

Kairee smirked at Sha?uri?s projected, unencrypted thought. The assistant headmaster can be so very dellusional....in her nasty, bitter, and jealous way. To each their own. It's not as if it matters.

?Well, what are you wasting time for??Kairee asked Shar?uri,?If you?re so certain that Briarius? sword will find him, then go fetch it. Cadence has the pins that grant you access to his home. Go, Go. Do, Do.? She made a ?shoo-ing? motion with her hands, ?I?ll wait out here for you.? Kairee then turned her attention to Melody, ?There, there, no need to fret. Sha?uri is here. She knows everything and is far more intimately engaged than anyone else in this effort. Noone is better at resolving these sort of situations. It?s all up to her. If she can?t do it, no one can.? Kairee?s smile is warm to Melody; her voice calming ?Now, turn that frown upside down. All will be well. You can trust Shu'ari.?

A wink to Melody before casting a sly, teasing smile to Bobby.

Her grin blossomed into a dazzling smile as she felt Verin?s arrival. ?Hey babes. We?re still playing the Mystery of the Missing Headmaster. Care to join in on the fun??

"I suppose I could offer some help," the elven lord replied with a small shrug of deceivingly slender shoulders. "But," Verin paused, "only if we go dancing afterword," he finished, tossing a wink Kairee's way.

"You do drive a hard bargin, babes." Kairee winked back at Verin, "I think we can work something out. However, we may not need your help. Sha'uri's on the case and she's got it handled."

"So, who all's gathered? You seem to know quite a bit of people, this another part of your fan club?" he asked dismissively, sweeping that piercing gaze of his, that so contrasted with his warm and lilting tone, over the gathered group once again.


"My fan club?" Kairee asked laughing, "Not likely...except for Bobby here.." she indicated the stoic and unemotional man, "..and he's only an adjunct member. This charmingly distraught girl is Melody, Briarius' assistant. The girl head-strongly storming to the front door is Cadence.. who she is or what she does, I'm not entirely sure. And of course, that strikingly heroic beauty is Sha'uri, Assistant Headmaster and Briarius' strong right arm. I would be on your best behavior, if I were you." A flash of a teasing smile, "But she really is a sweetheart, a little rough around the edges but with a heart of gold."

"But, love," Verin started with an absolutely offended look, "I'm always, on my best behavior, aren't I?" the elven mage asked with the faintest hint of a teasing grin creeping at the corners of his mouth.

"Of course.. except when you are being naughty but even then you do it the best way possible." she smirked

"I'll give you that....and that you are one of the best." a sultry wink of her own, "By the way, love the hair." Kairee referenced his new hair color and style.

"Do you now?" he asked with a sudden grin, first flicking aside random strands of said hair, before running a hand through it. "I felt a change was in order, black is so very dull and done for my tastes."

"So, was I a darkly dark baby then? It's been my hair color since birth, natural," he remarked with a quiet chuckle, shrugging softly.

The red-haired elf looked at the newcomer strangely. She didn't say anything.

"Prove that I was," he shot back with a smirk as he hopped a little at that poke.

"Later." Kairee smirked.

"So then, no leads yet, love? Or do you have an idea already?" he asked Kairee with an arched brow as he turned back to her.

"Theories are in the formative stages, babes. What we do know is that he was ambused in his office, stuck down with a mageblade by a vampire, which a spider did not see. He sort of exploded. "The mageblade appears in her hand as well as a vial of the collected blood, ?You?re a necromancer, babes. Can you confirm the blood on the blade is the same as the blood that is in the vial? I am confident it?s the same. Melody, you did confirm that the blood you collected is the headmaster?s, didn?t you? While we wait for Sha?uri to fetch the blade, we might as well test this.?

,?If you?re so certain that Briarius? sword will find him, then go fetch it. Cadence has the pins that grant you access to his home. Go, Go. Do, Do.? She made a ?shoo-ing? motion with her hands, ?I?ll wait out here for you.?

Sha'uri smirked. "Okay.. I'll play along.. just don't expect me to bark or lick your feet. That's some nasty toe jam between them monkey toes of yours. Eww... I'd fire your manicurist. Oh, and I've had my rabies shots so you don't have to worry about that when I bite. Just worry about the loss of limbs."

Was she serious? She didn't really look it though there was devilishness in her grin. She walked away slowly, and listened to some of the conversation Kairee was having with some guy that just popped in. Was now a good time to have social hour? She turned back around to investigate this arrival, waiting to see how the conversation would go.

"My fan club?" Kairee asked laughing, "Not likely...except for Bobby here.." she indicated the stoic and unemotional man, "..and he's only an adjunct member. This charmingly distraught girl is Melody, Briarius' assistant. The girl head-strongly storming to the front door is Cadence.. who she is or what she does, I'm not entirely sure. And of course, that strikingly heroic beauty is Sha'uri, Assistant Headmaster and Briarius' strong right arm. I would be on your best behavior, if I were you." A flash of a teasing smile, "But she really is a sweetheart, a little rough around the edges but with a heart of gold."

That delicate brow of hers quirked.
"Cadence is.. well... she kept the place clean actually. She was kind of an orphan that we sort of unofficially adopted."

"Verin Fahliell of Faerun," he introduced himself plainly, not bothering to add the extra titles courts often ask of.

She returned the nod in kind.

The red-haired elf looked at the newcomer strangely. She didn't say anything.

Noticing the woman's discomfort, she moved to put an arm around Melody's shoulders. Giving Melody a gentle hug, she gazed down at her and whispered."Someone should check out Bri's Lab... the inner lab, his private one. I'll assume you have access. If not, see if you can find a way in. If he had clone's set up, they might be there. Sound like a plan? well.. that is... after you test the blood or whatever. I could take it to a lab as well."

She turned her head to see what Cadence was up to.... "Cadence?"

Her eyes went wide as she saw Cadence go for it! She spun round and started to run that way.

((Ooops... had to edit this because a bunch of posts came up while I was writing this. Is there a race to see how many posts you can post before anybody else gets a response in? just checking cause I didn't get that memo. :razz: :cool: ))

Bob watched all of this, he had better things to do, nothing was being done. Saying nothing, he just melted back into the dark from where he came to begin with. Leaving them alone to do what ever it is they intended to do. Mortals were trivial, and this was beginning to get tedious. He was gone.

Cadence reached for the door handle as a definite feeling of unease started filling her. Foreboding really. Black energy crackled as she reached for the door, pricking her hand.

She could feel the energy. Feel that it would destroy and consume her if she made contact with the house.

Then a feeling of warmth emanated from her pocket, where the pins were. It washed over her and kept the prickling energy at bay. She hear in her mind, The Headmaster's voice.

"Mistress Cadence? You seem over prepared to enter, but no matter. Do come in and do as you will."

Cadence opened the door, went inside and the door closed behind her.

Sha'uri, the door literally closes in your face as you feel the overwhelming foreboding wash over you and the black energy prick at you.

The Headmaster's residence was simple yet grand like a museum. In the entry hall alone there were objects and souvenirs of several ages gone by.

Meanwhile outside when Verin works his magic, he finds that the blood does match up. In fact, the blood was now moving of it's own accord as if ensorceled. The blood on the blade "jumped" off of it and moved towards the Headmaster's residence. Now that the blood was off of the dagger, anyone with supernatural senses could see the blade's aura more clearly. Kairee, you can now see the powerful impression of a vampire was from the blood, not the blade. The blade was owned by family of knights who hunted witches and undead. The family eventually died off and the dagger passed to a traveling merchant after looters took what did could from the house. The merchant carried many dark wares and ended up in The Marketplace of RhyDin city when a very distraught and upset Briarius Ravensheart came upon it and purchased it. He seemingly tried to provoke someone, but failed. His mood became determination and he drove the dagger into his own heart as the final climactic element to a spell. The last emotion Briarius Ravensheart felt was surprise and confusion at something gone wrong.

Kairee arched a perfect brow as she studied the dagger's aura again sans ensorceled blood, "Well look at that. He really did kill himself. Huh." a pause as she pondered that, watching the blood spot slither away and then shruged, "When I first read the room and this blade, I felt interference and had thought it was the by-product of some of the other items and enchantments found in his office. I had taken the blade to study it in a more neutral environment." Kairee explained to Verin. She looked back to the house at the sound of the slammed door, "Tsk. I told her she needed a pin to enter." Kairee sighed, "Melody, be a dear and get pins from the other staff so we can borrow them and follow that blood spot? Thanks, babes." Once again an item appeared in her hand; it was a book, "I also withdrew this text so I can better study what Briarius was investigating. Lichification but he's made some notes in Angelic...." she opened the book to share the spell text and notations.

(Remember, Briarius, you owe me the Angelic translation. Kairee is fluent in Angelic)

Verin peeked over at the book in Kairee's hands, studying it briefly with an amused smirk. "My my...seems our headmaster was delving into some dark magics here, Lichdom, that's no easy task," he stated dismissively.

"These notes, Angelic yes? I'm not fluent in it, Celestial sure, but the Celestial of my realm and this one, are apparently different in some ways, care to translate for me, love?" he asked as he looked up from the notes and the text, to Kairee. While he may not have been able to read the book, some things were just obvious. Lichdom, and things pertaining to it, were just easy for the mage to pick out, after all, he'd studied the subject himself extensively with an old colleague.

She knew what was in her pocket and sent one of them back to Sha'uri. Then she pinned one onto herself and headed for the door to the Headmaster's private home. She was going to try and go right on in.... even if it killed her..... sOmebody needed to make the move. So she did.

As the door shut in her face, Sha'uri remembered the pin in her pocket that Cadence had sent back to her... after Sha'uri had sent them all to Cadence. She sure has a stubborn streak sometimes.

If she understood Melody correctly, then those were the only 4 pins geared to get into this part of the compex, which meant Sha'uri was the only other one geared to get in there... except maybe Melody herself. Something else she noticed... was the closer to the house she came the more she could feel the connection to the sword, and the more she felt calm, more stable and more like her old self. This was exceptionally apparent when the door actually opened and Cadence went through. Sha'uri knew she had to get there.

"Okay Bri... let me in." she whispered to the door. "It was only for you, but I think I need it too."

Putting the pin on, she, too, tried to open the door and go inside, all the while trying to focus on that other part of herself locked within....

As Kairee probed the depths of the dagger's aura, she saw that Briarius did enchant this dagger as per the instructions in one of the Angelic notes. It was then that a gasp was heard. The source was the current Advanced Nexial Philosophy Professor returning from a night of drinking. He was gasping at the blood stained pages that seemed to be animated and moving across the courtyard nearby towards the Headmaster's Residence.

As Sha'uri touched the door, it jolted her slightly and she heard in her mind the voice of the Headmaster.

"Mistress Sha'uri...something is wrong with you. Something wicked seems to have attached itself to your soul. I cannot let you pass without the escort of another member of the faculty."

It was just then that Sha'uri would notice Melody approaching the building upon the direction of Kairee. She was nervous as the foreboding washed over her.

((They are the pages you left behind in the Headmaster's Office))

((There were papers that were never collected in his office))

It seemed that the blood was trying to get to the Headmaster's Residence and because the paper was so light, it was dragging it along. Once Kairee held the pages, the blood freed itself and continued on it's trek.

These pages were the missing notes from the book. Upon reading all from start to finish you learn

Briarius came upon the Tome of Lallanthalas early in his life. It was protected by a dark cult of necromancers. The Tome was used for centuries by the cult as a means of ascending into lichdom. The archmage Lallanthalas being the only successful being to do so. Briarius defeated the cult and the lich and took possession of the book.

Briarius studied the tome to defeat liches, but was intrigued by some of the book's allusions to magicks.

Briarius learned how to use the ritual to become a lich and alter it so that a mage can give up a small piece of his essence to imbue it into a non-living object. The object and the caster became linked forever. The object gained a sort of sentience and was an extension of the caster.

Briarius created his first home, Castle Ravensheart, using this ritual. The castle was an extension of him.

An accident is referenced, but not explained.

In order to help protect the Academy, Briarius dragged this tome out again to imbue the Academy so that nothing would happen here without his knowledge.

Briarius then had a change of heart and wanted to undo the bond so that he could give up the Academy if "she required it".

He studied a counter to the original ritual which should have worked, but lacked any real amount of trial.

The counter involved Briarius killing his physical body and disrupt his soul. Both would reform within seconds so the conversion would be seamless. He would continue to be able to run the Academy, but wouldn't be bound to it.

The jolt stunned her emotionally more then physically. Sapphire flame lit within those Amethyst hues and her gaze narrowed looking at the door. She gave a ferral growl and in frustration she hit the door a few times. It was more for releasign frustration and not for breaking it down. She also gave the door a good kick.

"Frak me! Briarius! Damnit!" She swiftly turned to try and catch Melody's attention. "MELODY!!!.... I need you here! Seriously, Now."

And that's when she saw the blood coming at her, bouncing its way across the yard. Curious thing... she reached into her pocket and pulled out a stoppered vial. Why did she have that? She always carried oddball useful things in places people couldn't see. She was quick, too... moving with swift speed, she unstopped the bottle, scooped up some of the blood and quickly stoppered it in place. She put that back into her dimensional pocket for safe keeping. It wasn't going anywhere. Not yet, not until She let it free.

"Melody, you have to come with me..." she moved to the door once again. and waited for Mel to come round to her there.

The Headmaster's residence was simple yet grand like a museum. In the entry hall alone there were objects and souvenirs of several ages gone by.

She stepped in curiously gazing around as she moved slowly. The door shut tight and she jumped nervously to look back at it. That oddball sense of doom wasn't forgotten despite the warmth she'd felt. She never remembered this before and it felt... wrong to her somehow. She took a breath and jumped again as something jolted the door followed by pounding, kicking and a ferral growl. She heard Sha'uri screaming from the other side. She did what Cadence would do... moved to the door and listened a moment or two... then opened it up to hold open. She gave Sha'uri a shrug but motioned her in.

Cadence extended just her hand out to Sha'uri. "Aren't I faculty? I clean up after their arses.... I better be considered one. Come on, I'll help you in." and she would pull Sha in the moment her hand was there in hers.

Cadence would hear in her mind after pulling Sha'uri through.

"Mistress Maycom, Assistant Headmaster Sha'uri seems to be under the influence of some wickedness. Please be careful with her."

Melody, who followed after Sha'uri looked up as if she heard something.

"Headmaster?"

"Wickedness?" Cadence innocently asked as she let go of Sha and absentmindedly pushed the door shut with her other hand.

Shaking her head, she shrugged again and focused on helping her adopted sister.

"Come on, Sha'uri.. it's got to be around somewhere..." she wandered a few steps away checking out all those wonderful displays, looking for a sword. "What's it look like again?"

Just in Sha'uri's head

"Mistress Sha'uri, I am afraid I cannot do as you ask. My orders were given to me by the whole of The Headmaster with the specific instructions to not allow any wickedness onto the premises without a knowledgeable escort. I have informed Mistress Maycom and Mistress Hearthsglen. Is there something you seek? Perhaps I can guide you to it. Be wary of your senses here, They may fail you."

Just in Cadence's head at the same time

"Yes, make certain she is well. She may be under the influence of an infernal or abyssal entity. I do not wish any harm to come to her."

Cadence heard in her head

"Mistress Maycom, put simply something of wicked intent is within the Assistant Headmaster. The sword you seek is in the Hall of Weapons. The Hall is down the left corridor at the end. I assure you I know not what you are speaking of, I am not who you think I am, I am the part of him he left behind to guard this place."

As she approaches the Nexial Philosopher, Kairee studies his Aura to see just how much and what sort of "juice " he's got.

His reflexes seem a little slow but then again, he is drunk and it's to be expected.

























(( ::heehee:: ))

"First things first, babes. The Nexus is Chaos." Kairee corrected the Nexial Philosopher, "It is from Chaos that all things come....including our Ordered Reality." She sauntered alongside the fellow to the house, "Technically we are all part of the Nexus, but some of us are more intimate with that font of all things than others. Briarius has that feel about him but seriously, babes, he's not nearly as ......" a light lick of her ruby lips as she sought the right word, "....entwined...as I am." Kairee made a motion with the first two fingers of her right hand crossed. "Wait. What do you mean you've always wanted to go to his residence? You've never been there before? Do you have a staff pin?" she narrowed her gaze at him.

Cadence watched as Sha?uri pulled out the vial and turned it causing the blood to move in its own to the other end. She did what Sha said and it too did the same thing.

?oh, Sha?uri! That other headmaster um? doorbell guard person says your sword is down that hallway there.? Cadence pointed to the one on the left. ?It?s in the Hall of Weapons.?

That?s when she noticed the blood on the floor?. Dribbles and streaks of it slowly moving along the floor like blood red inch worms.

?Sha? Mel? eh?. Since when are inch worms red?? She watched them as they all seemed to be directly moving together in a specific direction. They went right past the hallway to the sword.

?They aren?t, Cadence?. That?s blood. I know what?s going on. I have my mother?s memories. Another Castle Ravensheart.?

She handed Melody the pin she had on. Sha?uri?s features were strained.

?He?s going to need all of his blood back. If they still have those two vials? Melody, they have to let them go. He?s trying to reform I believe. There?s a room I?m sure the blood will lead to. In the center is a pool?.?

Her eyes teared up. The strain was nearly too much.

?Go there. See if the door guard can help you any further. But I can?t go in the room. I can?t be there. And I think it would be best if I .. changed his gift. It wouldn?t be wise for it to be around as it is. I have to cut my connection to it. Tell Bri?tell him I?m sorry I won?t be back? and he shouldn?t try to find me. What I leave behind is all he should have of me. But tell him I love him. It?s why I have to do this. And I love the both of you?. Melody.. and Cadence. Now go. Make way for his blood to rejoin.?

Sha?uri left them there and followed where Cadence had told her, realizing that the door guard had probably told her. It wasn?t something Cadence would just make up. So she turned down the hallway to the left and ran that way, looking for the sword she had made for Bri.

"Come on.. where is it?"

The blood... the tears... what was Sha'uri doing? She wasn't sure she'd ever seen Sha'uri so emotionally strianed. The door guard's words came back to her. Something wicked he had said. Something struggled within Sha'uri. What was she going to do?

"I love yous too, Mistress Sha'uri." she whispered as she watched Sha'uri dart down the hall and to the left. Pretty blues began to tear up and one dribbled down her cheek.

Her very confused pretty blues looked to Melody. She was worried, very very worried. "Mistress Melody.. I really want to go follow Sha'uri. But I don't want to leave yous all alone. What should we do?"

Sha'uri quickly came into the Hall of Weapons, moved passed the bows, whips, chains and daggers.... and found herself within the area of swords.

"Norgham.." She whispered, sapphire flames danced within amethyst hues while she commanded. "Reveal yourself to me, your maker, Sha'uri..."

The mind of a Master Psionic is a powerful thing; both a maze and a trap for the unwary. For their own sanity and safety, their minds are tightly controlled and locked against intruders. However, there is benefit in providing an entry foyer where credentials may be presented.

~Knock, Knock~ Briarius? sentient house made itself known in her mental foyer.

~Who is it?~ her mind essentially queried.

~Lady Kairee, what a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe this honor?~

~Hey babes, I?m here for Briarius. Where is he?~

One of the principles of Enchantment 101 states that for a mage to grant sentience to an item, the mage must split off part of his essence and magically infuse that essence with the item in question through various enchantments. In such a way, homunculi, golems, and other ?sentient? items can be created. It is similar to binding/entrapping an entity into an object, such as a crystal prison or a chamber pot. Though it sounds simple enough, such magiks are the realm of powerful magi.

Kairee is not surprised that Briarius? house in both sentient and possessing the magics needed to emulate telepathy. She has long known that Briarius had enhanced the entire academy in such a way after the fiasco of the kidnapped students.

Given the nature of the house and the link it must share with the Headmaster, it was not beyond the realm of the probable that It would know Briarius? location, if he was anywhere ?on campus.? Asking never hurt.

~Also, can you flash me a mental map of the house, Sweet?ums, and the location of the others wandering about inside?~

Kairee heard

"Headmaster Ravensheart is mostly in the ritual room, and you should now see the map you requested."

A map appeared in Kairee's mind...some of it was blocked out of course, but it was there.


When the name of the long lost sword was said, the illusion surrounding it faded to reveal the sword Sha'uri crafted. The statue also lost it's illusion. It was worn and marked and parts were missing.

"Lady Ravensheart, what remains of Lord Ravensheart is in the ritual room."

It was then that everyone felt a pulse of energy...seemingly of a divine origin.

((it is))

Her hand instinctually fell away from the sword as the illusion was revealed. It had to have been an extremely potent illusion, for Sha was normally not affected by such things. Then again, Bri wasn't a normal mage either... and Sha'uri was not in her usually sane state of mind. Either way, her hand fell away from the sword and she took a step back gazing at it with wide hazel green hues.

"Wha'd'ya mean what's left 'o 'im?! Eh? What's happened? Where's Saggassee?"

No, that sword wasn't Bri's normal sword. In fact, she got an odd vibe from it but she was too distraught, and too insane, to think too much about it. All she knew was that something wasn't right with what she percieved as her husband. Oddly enough, she levitated the sword to float beside her instead of touching it.

"Maybe tha's gonna be needed. Gotta be why he put it 'ere, no?"

Shrugging, she hiked up her skirt above her ankles, almost to her knees, and in her high heels, with floating sword in tow, she ran as fast as a deer to the Ritual room, taking the shortest route she knew, or thought she knew. She knew her way around Castle Ravensheart...

Melody called back to Cadence "I don't know."

The pair reached the ritual room. A very large magickal circle was carved into the floor. the blood was flowing into the carving, filling the circle with the red liquid. About 4/5 of the circle was red at this time.
Floating above the circle was a ruby about the size of a fist. Black sparks of energy came from this gem.
On the other side of the room a blue "tear" in the air opened up and some beings were stepping out. A very handsome knight wearing azure platemail and wearing a royal blue cape. He was attended to by human knight carrying a box. The attending knight looked like The Headmaster, but was fully human. He looked tired and pensive. Accompanying the attending knight was a woman who clung to his arm.


Kairee, Verin, and Professer Var'kima were next to arrive.


For Sha'uri (D'Shara), things were similar, but not the same. Walls were where they shouldn't have been and doors were not where they should have been. However, as she began to get lost, she felt a presence.

The knight in the blue armor was a creator god, vastly powerful.

The attending knight (Briarius look alike) was a greater god.

The woman was an intermediate god.

From the mental messages from the house, to the sighting the of the figures in the room, Verin was silently making notes in his mind. Little annotations here and there that he'd use to document the whole thing later one.

"Well then," was all he said upon sighting the figures, hands tucked neatly into the pockets of his pants as he studied them, following Kairee and the Nexial Philosopher absently.

Kairee studied the circle and the various enchantments to gain a better understanding.

Psionically she pinged the radiating ruby, ~Knock, knock. Are you conscious...and mentally in one piece, Briarius?~

~Seems like you have godly gawkers, Briarius-babes.~ she informed him ~You really do keep questionable company. I suspect that when you destroyed yourself to destroy your ?link? to the academy, you forgot about your little safe house set up in that gem and this room. Such a convoluted plan, I?m surprised you just did it without testing or validating the spell first. Not very scholarly if you ask me.~ it wasn?t her intent to chide him but he did just do something without thinking it fully through, and she could not resist teasing him. ~Anyway, babes, how do we break you out of that Soulgem?~

And there she was... the very thing she said probably shouldn't be.. her and the sword in the room. Was it her fault? She was insane.. Infected by not just an abysmal entity, but the Abyss itself. In truth, it wasn't her fault, completely. Perhaps she should've known better then to try and help no matter how much she wanted to. She probably should've followed Bob's lead..... but she didn't. Stupid loyalty could be the real blame.

Sha'uri, looking like D'Shara, entered the room with the sword in tow floating harmlessly behind her. Her first reaction was to Kairee, actually, though probably not in the expected manner. Course, she wasn't looking like herself, and wasn't really herself in that moment. Her hazel greens lit up brightly, a smile forming showing off her dimples as she gave Kairee a warm but surprised greeting. Yes, D'Shara knew Kairee from the Inn... a very long time ago.

"Kairee?! Well, yar 'th last person I expected 't see 'ere. How are ye, Lass? Yer usually down at the Dragon keepin the countertops from flyin away, lockin 'em down wit' yer splendiferousness. Was there a fight? Is tha' what happened wit Bri? Must've been serious 't 'ave ye 'ere, Lass. But... why was I nae called?"

Her gaze went beyond Kairee to the one she was with- Varin. There was no recognition there for that one. Even when her gaze went beyond that to Cadence and Melody, there was still no recognition for them either. But when her hazel green hues met the glowing hazel greens of the woman hanging on the human looking Bri, it became abundantly clear to her - as to everyone- that she was looking at herself. Well it looked that way, that D'Shara was giving D'Shara narrowed evil glaring gazes and returning them back. ((Sha'uri = indigo; D'Shara = Olive))

"What the hell is goin on? Who 'th hell are ye and what mean ye to impersonate me?" Sha'uri did the only thing she knew to do instinctually... grabbed for her swords, her longswords. Even though it didnt appear she was wearing any, they appeared in her hands as if out of thin air.

"I could be askin ye 'th same!" The other stopped clinging to the human Bri and raised her hand, taking over the floating sword infront of Sha'uri and moved it as if she were there wielding it. It swiftly came in for a strike... "I got this Bri!" Famous last words, but they were spoken oh so confidently.

Sha'uri countered, blocking the blow with one and following with the other to disarm. It almost worked but the lesser goddess kept control and came back in for another attack, slicing Sha'uri along the jugular across the neck. Blood sprayed out towards the collected blood of Bri's. Wether or not it landed in there.... well it probably wouldn't be a good thing if it did.

"Is that the best ye kin do?"

Sha'uri put a hand briefly over her neck. A breath later and the wound closed though it was not fully healed. "Why don't you come down here to really try me.." Sha'uri spun round and knocked the sword a few feet away. Already her accent was subsiding, and her form was changing again.. to herself. She quickly wanted a fight and it didn't matter who else was around. Lust for battle was taking over quickly. ".... unless you're just that afraid."

D'Shara growled and lept into the air. Bri's gifted sword coming to her hand swiftly as she landed in front of Sha'uri. "Do yer worst, wench!"

"So be it. By your request." So Sha'uri did.

D'Shara was totally unprepared for the maelstrom of moves Sha'uri put on her. It was swiftly apparent that Sha'uri was a whirlwind killing machine. Not even Bri had seen her move like that, not even in practice.

D'Shara, regardless that she was a Lesser Goddess, had no chance of even a spell. Sha'uri was that much more versed in combat, and that good at it. The Abyssal energies weren't hurting her ability either. But they were affecting D'Shara considering the link from the sword gave Sha'uri a real advantage. Yes, D'Shara sprung the link, since Bri had technically not been on the other end of it..... and Sha'uri took full advantage of it the moment D'Shara put the sword into her own hand.

In about three blinks of an eye, merely five moves later... Sha'uri had debouled D'Shara and drove both her swords through D'Shara's heart.. and Bri's sword up through the throat and into the head. D'Shara's blood splattered everywhere. Whether or not it splattered into Bri's collected batch... ? Well, that probably wouldn't be a good thing either.

STill, the lesser goddess struggled with life in her. She would probably survive those wounds even though it looked pretty bleak. "how did ye.."

Sha'uri had an arm around D'Shara from the last move when she drove Bri's sword up through D'Shara's head. A low laugh sounded mixed with a slight growl as she tightened her grip. "That would be telling. You asked for it... you wanted my worst. Now you'll get it."

Insanity was a strange thing. Sha'uri was still looking at this part of her mother as something that had attacked her, that had tried to take over her place... Sha'uri began to drain her soul. D'Shara could feel what Sha'uri was about to do.

"Nae here...Last request... please nae here." D'Shara pleaded with fear, her voice thick with emotion. D'Shara would do anything to get this thing out of that room... to protect Bri... either of them.

Sha'uri nodded and D'Shara transported them out.....They materialized outside on the school grounds.

... and so Sha'uri did what she had done to the others - Devoured this part of her mother's soul. It didn't stop there. For in her desire to do her worst as her mother -- who had abandoned her so much -- was given Sha'uri's worst treatment, Sha'uri even devoured the soul linking them.

To devour a part of one's own soul .... could anyone say that had ever been done? Bri's sword had no connection to Sha'uri now, though the other properties would be in tact. Sha'uri yanked her longswords from D'Shara's corpse, leaving the Shadow of a sword in its place. There would be no resurrection for that body. This particular D'Shara was dead.

"You asked, I gave. Bri wanted links severed... he got it." she laughed. "Careful what you wish for!"

Her wild gaze darted, just now realizing what she had done. Her swords were swiftly put away and she grabbed her head as if in pain. One thing was clear... one can't really devour their own... and this side was fighting back. It also wasn't alone....

Sha'uri would learn that devouring part of a soul did not destroy it, but it was locked in her. It served to add to her chaotic thoughts... to her insanity. She checked over herself to make sure she didn't have one of those blasted pins on her, all the while spewing curses about it and talking to her other self and her mother, arguing about it.

"I don't have it. Don't tell me yer problems! I got 'nuff 'o me own! How could you! Bri needed you. How could you betray that? Oh can it sister! I didn't betray him! He doesn't need me. He's got oh so miss splintdefamous Kairee to get him back together! Aye well.. an there's his other half and the memory box and... Yep, yer right! Ye're nae needed! How's it feel 't be unwanted? Well, she could've been if she hadn't gotten infected. Eww, Sha, what did you go rolling in? It's icky!!! STop it! SHUT UP!!! Can it both of ya! How do I get myself in these things? I just wanted to help and look what happened... of all the stupid...."

The struggle for her would continue as she swiftly teleported off the grounds....

((I wanted to get this done with, got some things going on next few days and didn't want to slow you all down with things I wanted to do here, so I blasted ahead with those. They can still have an effect on things, but it's pretty open for how or not. It appears Sha'uri isn't needed for this with Bri here anyway... so I figure what's the point of keeping Sha here for it? I can bow out ... :cool: Have fun!))

((Also, adding link in back to Arctic Bedlam where I'll be posting more.. eh, soon.))

"That will be enough of that."

The blue knight spoke now. It was calm and reassuring to listen to him speak. He turned to the attending knight with the box.

"Briarius, long have I kept this aspect of you separated from your physical form because I had thought it was best if your divine spiritual self were not one with it, but I now see that as long as his physical form exists, I cannot keep him safe and happy. Back you go..."

With that, the sprayed blood of Sha'uri and D'Shara burned away and made way for the blue essence that the attending knight and his box turned into and fused with the blood, causing it to glow bright purple.

"Kairee, the choice is now yours. You possess vials of his blood, pour it out now and he will return to what he was, with the readdition of the memories I had kept from him for so long. Burn the blood and he will not be joined with the Academy any longer and it will fade into nothing. He will be from those bonds of responsibility, but he will be different. This was, after all, why he did what he did. He wanted to give up his most prized possession and show that he was not bound by responsibility for you. Whatever you choose, he will live and be happy, I will see to that. However, either he will be the Briarius you know or he will be different based on an image he crafted in his mind for you."

He stood there and waited.

Things felt very wrong... she watched people's reactions to just what happened and it was like.. wierd.

"Oh for Nana's sake. You mean the Headmaster was all split up and memoryless? that human isn't just looking a lot like him, you mean that IS a part of him? Well that'll not make a person's day. And you did this?"

Blinkblink. She stared at the Knight with her pretty blues getting angrier.

"No wonder he wasn't thinking straight and was all unhappy. That's just wrong! You put him back together, give him his memories and let him rethink his life with all of himself! Whatever he was doing before didn't come from the whole of him.... including the academy even though there were people who looked up to him for it. And I got my differences with Miss Kairee, but I don't hate her. And I don't think it's fair to her to put that decision on her... or fair to him or anyone that he wasn't completely himself. Look what's happened because of it. A woman probably just died today by someone that I never thought would see do what they just did... and you hardly bat an eye and clean up the blood as if it were just spilt milk. Oh yeah...there there it's okay... NOT! You.. You're the one who's wrong."

She shook her head again and wiped a few more freshly dropped tears from her cheeks. She pretty much felt she wasn't really needed here either and just felt like running away...

?Why??Kairee asked with an arch of a brow, ?Weren?t you listening?? she nearly smirked as she slightly jerked her head to Cadence. ?Look, babes,? she waved a hand, ?I don?t know who you are, who he is, and who she was,? Kairee pointed casually at each, ?and, quite frankly, I don?t care.? She walked around the circle towards the gods as she talked. Her eyes never left them, ?However, I do know that Briarius is a sentient individual and only he? she pointed to the ruby, ?can make decisions about his life. He is the one that will have to live with the ramifications of his choices.? A hard edge of anger tinged her voice, she stood before the blue knight Creator-God, eye to eye ?It is not for you or me or ?Junior? over here,? obviously meaning the attending knight, ?or anyone else to subjugate him to our will and desires. I don?t know what your purpose is but I have never sought to control or manipulate Briarius, regardless of what the uninformed believe. I will not start now. I will not choose.? Kairee reiterated, ?The action I take will only be based on what HE wants for HIMSELF.? She flashed the Creator-God a dazzling smile. Any anger that seeped into her voice and manner just seemed to disappear, ?Let?s ask him, why don?t we??

Kairee turned her back on the deities to face the ruby again.

~What is it that you want for yourself, Briarius?~ her mind caresses his as she asks.

... I'm confused."

"Join the club." softly muttered. "Babes," she addressed the ghostly Briarius, "Don't get distracted. Focus. What do you want for yourself? For your life?"

?Babes, it doesn?t matter what other people say. He?s made his choice and needs to live with the consequences. I just wish he would stop thinking he has to atone for everything. Guilt is such a killjoy.? She winked to the blue knight, "Well, come on, let's get this done."

"Yes, yes, alright then, it's about time we get this all over with anyways," Verin replied with a slightly dismissive air while searching his mind for the right spell.

"Alright, I'm ready," he said less than a second afterword, while he silently prepared the spell in question, for when the time came when he was to use it.

The little fae'ish thing wiped her tears as it seemed Kairee and her were actually on the same page. They both wanted Briarius to decide for himself as himself. It gave her some peace and helped her to stop those tears. She even smiled warmly to Kairee, giving a silent thanks.

As they began to hand out tasks and ready things, she blushed at the thought of seeing him naked and quickly volunteered. "I got the robe, Melody."

She conjured up a nice warm and silky black robe to wrap around him.. that would cover him more then adequetly. It looked like one she'd seem him wearing before. Then she handed it to Melody and whispered.

"Maybe you better do this part. I'd probably drop it in the water or something."

She was still blushing, and embarassed for doing so. So very innocent. Yet she backed out of the way and moved to give the others plenty of room to do their parts. She was too confused to be much of a help... so she stood well out of the way and closer to the door.

She couldnt' help it. Cadence was a clutz sometimes. As she was backing up towards the door, she was mesmerized by ghostly forms and the shattering gems... the strange thing done to Melody.... the forming elf and the... naked forming elf. A naked Headmaster. Blink.

Instinctually, Cadence spun round to give him privacy but in doing so misjudged the distance to the door and inadvertently smacked right into the closed double doors, nose first. She bounced off the door, hand going to her nose after the painful contact, slipped her footing and fell backward to the floor. It was probably the most ungraceful backwards summersault by a being with wings that anyone could imagine. Naturally, she was spewing and sputtering through the entire move. She ended up sitting on her bum facing the door.

With her hand over her nose, she remember hearing something about Kairee keeping the headmaster's attention on her and Vern needed to do his magic spell thing. She knew from experience that this was not a good time for her to be banging into doors and sputtering quiet profanities. The hand slipped down to cover her mouth as she turned a wide eyed pretty blue stare round to look behind her at the others. She uncovered her mouth momentarily to mouth the word *Sorry!* and revealed a bloody nose in the process, to which she was oblivious. She was more worried about being an interruption. No, embarassed that she was. In fact, she promptly crawled towards the door again just to make a quiet exit. She knew she wasn't being any help at all. She was going to go find a rock to crawl under for a while...

"Yes, stabilize and what not, I know, I know," with his ever dismissive attitude, the elven lord replied to the knight.

Verin had been preparing the spell since it had been brought up, drawing upon his reserves of energy, so as not to deplete his immediate stores. As such, by the time the knight had informed him to cast the spell, Verin was itching with the currents of arcane energy that lingered just beneath his fingertips.

A brief pause came before he acted though, this Briarius fellow could be trouble in the future, could prove to be a hinderance in one way or another. Maybe he should instead...No, he'd be fine.

Brushing the thought aside, Verin released that final barrier that held the spell in check, and cast his magics with the purpose, intent, and effect, to stabilize the magics that were already in action, just as asked.

Things were buzzing quietly until some realized there was a dead body outside of the Headmaster's house. The body of D'Shara was still laying there, sliced open, two puncture wounds to the heart and the Headmaster's sword still shoved up through her head. It was a gruesome sight. The children would naturally scream.........

The departing god was kind enough to shield the body with illusions so no children would see it and allow the staff to deal with it appropriately.

While the shielding came too late to keep them all from seeing the body.. it was in time to keep the next batch from gaining sight as some came to take a look at what the others said they'd seen. This group shrugged with confused expressions, though they looked at Cadence with some odd looks. What was she doing kneeling on the ground and crying?

After a few moments, it seemed they decided to go razz the others for seeing things. And when the first group came back to look, it seemed to satisfy them to blame Cadence for making some kind of an illusion to make them think they saw a dead body. Of course, Cadence didn't do anything wrong... yet it seemed in this place she was always blamed for it. She began to wonder about a few things....

"Nana always said... when life gives you nothing to eat but sour bitter limes, make some pie. I guess she figured that eventually someone's gonna eat it and realize that with a little sugar it's pretty damn good after all." She was trying to comfort herself after all that had happened.

"Mistress Cadence?" It was one of the staff members, a Mr Bixly who was the art teacher. He recognized her, and could see the body. "What happened? The Children thought it was an illusion, but I can see that's not so...."

"It's ... complicated. I can say that the headmaster was alive when I came out. Lady Kairee is helping him.. I guess." then she muttered.. "I sure couldn't."

"I'm sorry?" he inquired.

"Nothing... Hopefully, he'll be out soon. I'm not sure what to do about her. But.... she might not be as dead as she looks. Perhaps I should preserve the body."

"Do you want me to go in and find anyone?"

Cadence shook her head. "No.. they need to be undisturbed. It's why I came out here. I think I disturbed them."

Mr. Bixly furrowed his brows. "I find that hard to believe." Then he sat down on the ground next to her. "Okay. I'll wait with you then. Might as well talk to me instead of the...eh.. corpse. Mind if I ask what happened? I've got time."

Cadence smiled with gratitude. "Thank you for the company. I hate being alone when I'm not studying. It's a long story though..."

So Cadence began to tell him what she knew about what just happened...

He smiled at Verin. "Of course."

He then looked at Kairee. His eyes more serene than before. They burned with a fire, but were not so conflicted and tragic as they once were. His aura also reflected this.

"I will then bid you farewell. ...and I do apologize if my "pop-stand" troubles you so. I am rather fond of it."

Wait...was that an actual joke...?

"I have some cleanup to take care of and then I promise, some rest. You are free to check up on me if you wish."

He winked at Kairee.

"Melody, you're with me...if it is still your wish to be my assistant."

Melody, who had been taking all this in with a clear mind for the first time in a while, blinked her green eyes.

"Unless I am fired, you will need someone to make certain you are on schedule. However, I am asking for a promotion. i would like to be a warden for the natural preserve."

"I don't see how that's a promotion, and you have my permission. How's Acting Assistant Headmaster sound to you? I will need one until we can sort Sha'uri out. Speaking of..."

He snapped his fingers and D'Shara's corpse, the sword, and Cadence and Bixly were transported to another room. D'Shara was on a marble table, a funerary shroud covering her and her wounds cosmetically repaired. Her hands were folded across her chest and she held the sword. Cadence and Bixly were on a pew nearby. it appeared they were in a chapel of some sort.

Meanwhile back in the ritual room
"Kairee, Verin if there is anything I can do for you, please let me know."

He looked down at the ruby shards and collected them. They were formed into 6 teardrop shaped rubies by the intense magick that was just used.

"In fact, expect a gift from me soon. Melody, let's walk to my private chapel. Good day to you both."

He smiled and exited.

"Hmm...that it was," he shrugged, "As are most situations like this...they seldom involve some big bad guy all raging and what not, so they're less fun in the end."

"But, I know a way to get your mind off this anti-climatic end this little ordeal," with a conspiratorial wink fired off once again to the splendiferous red head.