A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

[Pervy]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Spoiler

SPF (Super Phoenix Fey)
Dream house

"Oh the sight is just dreamy..could be a bit more on fire though." Fey mused, hooking her legs onto a table-leg, pretty much finishing her curry quickly, observing but not partaking in the playful bantering while there were overseasoned nommings to be had.

"Huh.. wait,.. did you just.. Well thats just inconvenient!" Fey mused, peeking out of a window quite curiously. "I mean, imagine you coming home after a long workday and finding out your home has gone for a stroll!" Fey observed the moving house fascinatedly, almost forgetting her curry, despite her criticisms she seemed to be quite curious about their new transportation.. "That said, its nothing fiery but all these magic tricks sure are neat once in a while.." She mused. The phoenix was happy letting Korrie do the cleaning duties, quickly slurping up the remaining currie and purring a bit when guided into Ayas lap, looking up at her cutely, beginning to murr and relax after a few moments when petted.

"Nyaah." The poenix made as the petting intensified, not quite sure what content noises a bird might make, but quickly relaxing in the sensation, even presenting her belly and nuzzling slightly up to Aya. She was inwardly a little suprised no lewd advances followed, but didn't seem to mind the change of pace, her fiery feathers puffing up impressively as she was petted more throughtly, peeking to the twins. "Fortune telling! Say fortune telling." She enthused, peeking up at the cards.

 

[MortalitasBorealis]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

With equal parts confusion and anticipation, the pet wyvern and the twins quickly held onto their food and utensils, braced for something to happen. Already expecting something of that nature considering Aya’s advice, the three kept eyes on the window to see everything on the outside lower in altitude. A quick check once they were certain the house was stable confirmed that the house had grown legs rather than started flying.

“Whhooaahh… This is so cool!”
“…Y’know, I was mostly joking about the vehicle idea.”
“Anything that’ll keep us from being attacked again is fine to me. Plus, we can pick up the pace and still enjoy the view like this. We’re not here on a leisure trip afterall…”

The three remarked respectively, staying to watch the house start to move before returning to their meals, finishing up very quickly. Korrie was happy to help with the cleaning up when asked, while the twins stayed with Aya and Fey. “No complaints about the walking house from me, impressive as always~” The albino grinned while Kuroi did her best to be discreet while watching the pet phoenix get pampered, triangular ears twitching every so often. “A card game? What’ll it be, strip poker?” Shiroi smirked teasingly, though Aya’s next suggestion caught her curiosity, as well as the wink which’s meaning she didn’t quite understand yet. The enthusiastic urging from the fiery birdy only cemented her decision further. “Hmm, might be a bit too early to get lewd again, so sure, I’m up for some fortune telling. Doesn’t that usually involve tarots and not normal playing cards though?”

Meanwhile, Korrie was pleasantly surprised to find that the plates were self-cleaning, and worked to put the plates away with even more gusto from the decrease in workload. “Korrie feels just fine, thanks~ Hmm? Korrie doesn’t mind last night, it was great! Maybe it could’ve been prepared better, but Korrie thinks it was a spur of the moment thing, hindsight's 20/20 and no one’s perfect.” The pet wyvern remarked happily, submissive and easily contented dragon-puppy that she is. It helps that she’s started to consider ‘sex to the point of passing out’ to be the norm for her now. “Were we too loud last night though? You sound grumpy.” She also noted while putting away the plate as asked, unsure why else the zoog would feel annoyed by Aya playing with them. By this point she knows the little critter cares about them as more than just an indentured servant, but he almost sounds like an irate parent right now.

 

[Lunaraia]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

As the twins chose to have their fortune told, Aya gave a vry grin and lifted the cards you vertically, strangely enough their underside was a pure and unbroken teal, the then tarted to move her arm left leaving one od the cards hovering in place and she continued to do so until the entire deck of cards were hovering in the air in front of the twins.

"Pick a card, any card, but do not show anyone the face of the card you chose yet" Aya instructed as she waited for the twins to pick a card, then looked down at Fey "Why don't you pick one as well?" she asked with even as she gave Fey's cheek a loving little pinch.

When all three had picked their cards the remaining deck would start to fly in circles around Aya before it stacked itself neatly back in her hand "Alright, Kuroi why don't we go with you first show everyone your card" Up until now the card had been the complete teal background, but as Kuroi revealed it to everyone it would change to show a kitten sitting at a crossroads with a small backpack beside it and a happy smile, to it's left the fork went into a pitch black forest, to the right fork turned into a bright sunlight covered path disappearing into the light, however the picture was upside down.

"Oh, the Traveling Cat, and upside down at that, you will have to choose between two paths in the future, both exclusive and both life altering not only for you, but someone close to you as well, let us hope that your choice is one you can live with the consequences of, yes?" Aya would pet Kuroi on her cat-eared head as she spoke, the witch having a pretty good guess as to what choice lay before the girl.

She then turned to Shiroi "Alright your turn, kiddo" the card revealed a picture of a white hare resting on top of a hill at sunset, the picture showed the Hare staring out over an endless vista of grassy hills "Well that makes sense, the resting hare at sunset, right side up" she gave Shiroi a grin "You will be much more physically active in your future, though you will be affected by the choices of another, forcing a similar choice for yourself, though don't be too hasty with deciding, haste makes waste as you know"

Finally Aya turned to Fey, "Alright Fey let's see what you go-" the moment Fey revealed her card Aya would freeze, Fey's card depicted a Phoenix burning brightly in the middle of a blizzard, an unusual depiction, to say the least, this card, just like Shiroi's was upside down. "The upside down Lost Firebird, that's a tricky one to say the least, Fey take another card so that I might see more clearly exactly what is going on here" As Fey did Korrie and Erfek would have finished up the cleaning and would probably be watching the entire exchange, Erfek for one seemed rather surprised as well.

As Fey drew her 2nd card it would show a candle burning in the dark, right side up, "This... makes no sense at all, alright let's see if I can make sense of all of this" Aya took a deep breath "There is something precious to you that has been lost, but you will discover this lost something when you are as lost as it is, allowing a miracle to happen, sorry for the vagueness but this is not a common card to get at all" Aya seemed genuinely frustrated at the duo of cards, giving them an accusatory glance, as if they had somehow betrayed her.

Erfek leaned in to Korrie and whispered "There is another, more sinister interpretation of that one, but I hope that Aya got the right of it, the Lost Firebird is always a stressful card to get when you try to read someones fortune as it's basically depict trials and loss, requiring a third or maybe even forth card to make sense, in the case the Ever-Burning Candle, right side up is unanimously a positive thing, so I would give Aya a 90% accuracy on the last reading" Erfek nodded sagely, as if to convince itself, Aya still had her cards so it was possible that Korrie could have her fortune told as well, though she would have to hurry as Aya seemed a bit shell shocked to pull that reading of all things.

((sorry for the delay, GF grabbed Divinity: Original Sin 2 on the PC for me and I kinda lost track of time ))

 

[Pervy]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Spoiler

SPF (Super Phoenix Fey)
Dream house

"I'l pick the fiery one! Booo whys there no fiery card.." Fey opted to cheat and try to grab VXI on purpose, because it was fiery, mieeping at the pinch. She aaaa'hd at the flying around of cards, fighting an urge to set them on fire to make the display even prettier.

"Well I don't think this would fly in an ordinary casino.. heh. fly.. get it? Get it? Not even a fire pun!" She mused, then observed the rest of the fortune telling, fires crossed 'something fiery, something fiery.. she hoped'

"Oooh. I like the fire bird thingie! Thats nice. dun like the ice. thats not nice." She pondered, looking at Aya, shrugging, taking another one witout complaints. "Hmnn fire in the dark, fire in the ice.. I dun get it. That said, I like the cards. All fiery! Yay! Well, lost my mistress, and.. not.. that bad at getting lost, just watch me without a map...so.." Fey grinned, seeming happy, though, if Aya didn't look, even without hearing what Erfek said, she tried to secretly snatch a third card, out of curiosity. "So right side up is good, right side down is more badish, what if a cards sideways?" She mused, ignoring the physical dimensions of the card, fluttering up her feathers.. it seems, thanks to each of her cards having fire in them she was not all too concerned.. exspecially the fire-phoenix.. she wanted to be a full fledged phoenix taken human form after all, not just in her dreams, considering the brainwshing she'd been affected by.

 

[MortalitasBorealis]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

The twins watched in amusement and curiosity as the strange cards were laid out before them. “I don’t think there’s much to show right now.” Shiroi remarked with a smirk while she and her sister each picked a card, doing as told anyway and holding the cards close so no one else could look at them.

At Aya’s request, Kuroi was the first to set her card down, eyes widening slightly as the teal changed to an actual image, not one she expected neither. She had to resist the urge to “D’awwww” out loud, and her sibling snickered at the very obvious imagery. “A little kitten card for the neko? What a coincidence~” She teased, though it was her turn to have to resist d’aww-ing out loud while she watched her kitty-eared sister get petted, the catgirl blushing while she leaned in a little closer, ears twitching and tail swishing happily. Still, what the choice will be was pretty clear to both of them, or so they thought anyway. Who knows, the fates might surprise them, though ‘life-altering choice’ is kind of a vague prophecy. Said choice affecting someone close to her is also a given, Shiroi will stay with her sibling no matter what afterall.

This was only further reaffirmed when Shiroi showed her own card, raising an eyebrow at the hare depicted. Is this some kind of foreshadowing? The albino never considered herself the bunny type, though she’s never actually tried to liken herself to some kind of animal anyway. Or it could just be a representation of ‘physically active’. Now that they’re on the subject though, it really does deserve some thought. At this rate, she’s almost certain her sibling will decide to become a pet on her own volition, and even if she doesn’t entirely agree with that, she’s not about to stop her sister. What of herself though? Can she stay without becoming a pet herself? She might trust Christine and those around her, but someone still needs to remain free to watch the watchers. Well, what’s important is that she stays with her sibling and continues protecting her, whatever the means or costs…

Absorbed in her own thoughts, the albino almost missed Fey’s unveiling of her own card, another super fitting image containing a phoenix, though the surrounding ice has some interesting implications. Aya’s strange reaction to them confirms that, though for now the meaning remains as frustratingly vague for the twins as it is for Aya.

Meanwhile, having finished with the clean up, Korrie was around to see Fey’s fortune told as well, peering curiously at the cards. Erfek’s whispers made her jolt a little in surprise, and she listened with a little bit of worry for her sister pet, though there was something else that gnawed at her. “…You sure are knowledgeable about fortune-telling.” She mumbled back, not remarking out loud how Erfek seems to be acting a bit strange. The way he’s talking has changed, plus how he’s caring about them like he’s personally invested in their wellbeing… There’s something familiar about it, but she can’t put her finger on it. No point dwelling on that though, there’s another curiosity that’d be less awkward to sate. “Umm, can Korrie try drawing a card as well?” She’d ask, and if given the go ahead, picks a card for herself, waiting for Aya to reveal its contents to her.

 

[Lunaraia]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Aya petted Fey some more "If yo put it sideways it won't manifest a picture, it's either going to be right side up or upside down sideways doesn't produce anything" Aya explained with a gentle chuckle, though she flinched a bit as Korrie talked, not having noticed them getting closer, the cards that the others had drawn dissolved into smoke and re-materialized together with the others, the cards then started to move about again, shuffling themselves in such a fashion that Korrie could not see where the old ones had been in the layout, then they stopped and hovered in front of Korrie.

Once she picked one she would find the teal glow dissolve to show a moonlit vale, with the center piece being an unusually pale moon, as if the moon was made of silver or platinum rather than just rock, the picture was right side up. "The Vale of the Pale Moon, this could be good or bad depending on the follow-up cards, I can't just predict with this one alone please pull another card"

Meanwhile Fey tried to snatch another card she would indeed succeed in doing so, but she would be disappointed to find the same Lost Firebird card she had drawn earlier, seems like there was no way to get more information out of her fortune that way, the second would once again be the candle, if she drew a third card, however she would have more luck, pulling out a black rose that were dripping blood, as if it was bleeding, this one too was upside down, whether she showed this card to Aya or not was up to her, though for now Aya were busy trying to puzzle out the conundrum that was Korrie's fortune.

The second card that Korrie drew was showing a dragon with beautiful iridescent wings sleeping on a rock and bathed in moonlight, hovering around it's sleeping form were several winged lights, pixies by the looks of things, the picture were right side up once again "The Sleeping Fairy dragon, also right side up, I am getting a clearer picture now, please Korrie a third if you will"

As Korrie pulled her third card Aya would turn her attention to Fey and notice her third card, "The upside-down Blood Rose, dammit, Fey why can't you pull the easy ones, that card puts my entire prediction from before out of whack, pull another card while I try to make sense out of Korrie's three for now" she gave Fey a reassuring pat before pausing, "Actually, both of you keep drawing until you have five cards, that's the maximum, this seems to have gotten very complicated" she kept her attention to Fay as she pulled her fourth card, it showed a strange yellow symbol that had Erfek react with an exceedingly angry hiss even as the Zoog unconsciously stepped back "The Yellow Sign! Right side up at that" if it's reaction was anything to go by that was not good news no matter which way you pulled it though Fey's fifth draw gave the zoog pause "Say Ms Aya, I am just a peddler so I am not really that good at this stuff, only saw the traveling fortune tellers do this thing back home, but isn't that card one of the rarest to ever pull?" Aya too were looking at Fey's fifth card curiously "The Elder Sign, it only has one meaning, be it upside down or right side up it always means the same thing, safety, success and prosperity, I... have never seen it in this kind of context though, give me a moment to see what Korrie pulls before I try to make sense of all of this" Aya rubbed her temples as she turned back to see Korries three remaining pulls.

The first card Korrie had pulled depicted a knight in shining armor resting on a rock inside a glade , with sunlight reflecting oh his plate, in the knights hand was a beautiful sword that gleamed in the sunlight, the knight was upside down "The upside down Questing knight... and here..." The fourth card showed a frigid winter landscape in the middle of the day that strangely enough had a swarm of beautiful white butterflies flying over it this one was again, right side up "The Winter Butterflies, right side up and the last..." The final card was another Elder Sign "This is unheard of, two elder signs in one session? getting a single Elder Sign in a decade is rare getting two in a single session I ca-" Aya's sentence was cut off by the two cards that the twins had pulled earlier suddenly materialized themselves and started to fly around, followed by the 10 cards that Korrie and Fey had pulled.

They started to spin around Aya in ever increasing speeds, creating a grading whirring sound as they went, Aya herself suddenly went rigid, her eyes wide, pupils mere pin-pricks as she stared into nothing "ehT nogarD dna eht xineohP llahs nioj htiw eht naicigaM dna eht ,feihT rieht yenruoj ssorca eht snevaeh llahs dael meht ot eht tobbA erehw yeht lliw ecaf eht sgniK lairT ot mialc ,aecanaP eht lanrefnI enO llahs wohs ytlayol ot eht eurt rieh dna eht srethguaD gnisselB lliw ees meht ylefas yawa sa eht yrarbiL ecno niaga lliw ohce htiw eht elttab fo eht tneicnA senO" Ayas voice was strangely distorted, as if multiple people were speaking all at once, the cards suddenly stopped dead and fell to the floor, their picture sides now just a blank white, even as Aya collapsed on the floor unconscious.

 

[Pervy]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Spoiler

SPF (Super Phoenix Fey)
Dream house

"Bah, cheating magical wish cards." Fey was now determined to cheat the magical card system out of principle, happily snatching herself two more cars, pondering.. as the third card had nothing to do with fire. She scratched the back of her head thoughtfully. "Hmnn..." She tried her fortune-telling inspiration whilest Korrie got her fortune read, staring at the card a moment before subtly slipping it back, musing: "Beware of bleeding plants. Yeah." That was propably the meaning. "Ooh yay. More cards! I hope I get more firey-stuff!" She truly had a one-track mind, unlike her cards it seemed.

"Hey Korrie, I'ma trade you a bloody rose for your fairy dragon?" She tried. "Oh, hey, isn't that fifth one the thing we scribbled?" She tipped her chin, mieeping a bit as the cards animated. "Hey my nice fire cards! Is that supposed to happen? Did we draw too many? I only drew five. Uhmnn.. should I burn the mean cards?" She threatened, until the cards tumbled to the ground. "I dunno what this means but am totally gonna avoid those bleeding flowers now." She determined, looking at Aya, hesitating. "I.. don't think this is part of it. Quick, someone wave a chili pepper under her nose, always pumps me up!" She suggested, not a first aid expert, looking about a bit uncertainly, puffing up her wings. "I've seen this in a movie, who wants to do the first aid kissing with her?"

 

[MortalitasBorealis]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Once the cards were reshuffled, the wyvern girl gingerly picked a card and revealed it when asked to, watching in awe as the card showed its true colors. “Whaaat, no dragons? That’s got to be some mistake.” Shiroi jokingly complained while she and her sibling observed the card as well. That was, until the second card was drawn. “Ah, there it is~” Both twins chuckled, and even Korrie herself couldn’t stifle a smirk while also admiring the beauty of the fairy dragon. “Korrie thinks she prefers the pretty dragon to bleeding flowers.” The wyvern politely declined the trade. Maybe she could shift her scales to become iridescent as well in the dream world, though that might take a lot of effort to maintain…

“I’d have to agree, dragons are usually better than flowers~ But geez, you two are getting all the complex fortunes, I dunno if I should feel jealous or not.”
“I don’t think a complicated fate is necessarily better, sister.”
“True, true~”

Then it was Fey’s turn to draw again, and the imagery brought some unease to the table. Anything depicting blood is usually not a sign of sunshine and rainbows afterall. The sense of foreboding only grew while the two pets drew more cards, and spiked upon Fey’s fourth. “Yellow sign… D-Does that mean what Korrie thinks it means?” “Considering where we’re going, it probably does.” The wyvern and the albino muttered respectively, especially spooked after Erfek’s response to it. It would seem a confrontation with a hostile elder god might be waiting for them… Though once again, the next card turned the atmosphere once more. The three breathed a collective sigh of relief. “Phew, maybe there’s nothing to worry about then…” The wyvern remarked. The card must be rare because safety and success is almost never guaranteed, for it to show up now means a truly powerful presence is watching over them, protecting them from ruin even in the face of a major eldritch god. If that’s not reassuring she doesn’t know what is. Welp, time for her cards again.

A knight, and butterflies amidst a winter landscape. While she doesn’t know the meaning of her cards yet, they have looked peaceful so far and look like good omens. And then… A collective widening of eyes. The elder sign again, which just proves her theory further. If the twins had kept drawing the full set too they’d probably have reached the same outcome. This fortune reading would’ve given Korrie a HUGE confidence boost… if it wasn’t for her handler suddenly getting possessed by otherworldly forces.

“I was about to say I’ve got a really bad feeling about this…” Shiroi grumbled while all three of them quickly stepped back from the vortex of cards. “Let’s not be hasty with the fire, Aya’s still there afterall…” Her sister quickly tried to dissuade the phoenix from using her usual approach to problems. Much as they wanted to help Aya, they got the sense that interrupting now will not help matters, if not make things worse. All they could do was wait for the possession to pass, and that it did, their handler eventually finishing her alien chant and falling unconscious once more. Korrie was the first to rush to her side, while the twins approached a little more cautiously.

“What… What was that? That language felt familiar, but I couldn’t understand a word…”

“That was reverse-speak, I could tell that much. Unfortunately I was kind of occupied by the whole ‘demonic possession’ thing to decipher it, if I could even do that. So much for an innocent fortune telling…” Shiroi shook her head, watching the worried pet wyvern fret over her unconscious handler. “Now what? Should we move her back to the bed and just wait?”

Meanwhile, Korrie was genuinely considering mouth-to-mouth, but decided against it. “Korrie thinks CPR might not apply for this… But smelling salts might help. Erfek? Do you have anything that can help?”

 

[Lunaraia]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Erfek looked at the whole thing with a rather shell-shocked expression "Precognition huh... that's convenient..." though it snapped out of it once Korrie addressed it "Wha? oh right, smelling salts, just give me a moment to find it here..." Erfek disappeared into it's bedroom and returned with a small vial that it carefully opened under Aya's nose, the result was an horrendously sharp scent filling the entire room and would make pretty much everyone there flinch, before Erfek threw the cork back on.

It did the trick, however as Aya started to stir "Fey, be a good pet and warm some water to make some tea, she's probably going to need it hte Zoog pointed over to the stove where a kettle was sitting, clearly wanting to take advantage of Fey's ability to make fire to warm the water to the boiling point as fast as possible.

With that done the Zoog directed the twins to help Aya over to one of the kitchen chairs while it disappeared into the bedroom and grabbed some herbal mix for the tea.

Once Fey arrived with the tea Aya would give her a grateful pat on the head "Thanks..." her voice was cracked and her eyes visibly bloodshot, the experience had clearly taken a lot out of her. "So what exactly happened, one moment I were telling fortunes, the next I wake up on the floor" the question was directed at no one in particular, but Erfek would interrupt anyone starting to answer "Just focus on your tea right now, Lady Aya, we will explain once you are better" as Aya was more focused on her tea, which apparently had a rather refreshing blend to it.

Even so that did not stop her from dragging Korrie to her side so she could stroke her tummy as she drank, even tickling it a wee bit. While Aya were getting back to her old self and having her fun with Korrie, Erfek dragged the others a bit away "Well that's a rather inconvenient and convenient precognition Lady Aya just gave us, I don't suppose any of you managed to puzzle out what was said?" once everyone had answered Erkef would then recite the words, only this time how they were supposed to be spoken; "The Dragon and the Phoenix shall join with the Magician and the Thief, their journey across the heavens shall lead them to the Abbot where they will face the Kings Trial to claim Panacea, the Infernal One shall show loyalty to the true heir and the Daughters Blessing will see them safely away as the Library once again will echo with the battle of the Ancient Ones" there was a pause as Erfek clearly expected some kind of reaction from the words, as the Zoog spoke it fished out a chili pepper to make sure Fey paid attention, the Zoog apparently knowing how Fey operated by now, and once she had proved she had Erfek would toss the pepper at her so she could gobble it up.

 

[Pervy]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Spoiler

SPF (Super Phoenix Fey)
Dream house

"Ceepee arrr. Thats what the kissing was called.. if you aren't gonna do it, I'ma feel free.. salts? Aww come on, party poopers.." Fey sulked at her companions briefly, before chuckling at Erfek. At leas the revival was sucessful, so she didn't mind much. "I want to be very clear that I am more than a useful kettle-heater. I am the flames eternal, I am the infernto that rages at uh.. hold on, heating kettle whilest thinking of better words." She nodded, scuttling off to the kitchen, where she did just that. (though, the kettle would have a warning glow of hot metal and the water be -really- hot as Fey delivered it, if she was sent away to dillute it she'd do so, presenting a drinkable mixture of hot water and fresh cold water, slightly dilluted tea.

She did purr at the patting on her head, smiling a cheerful: "Fey is bestest kettle-heater!" In opposition to her earlier statement. "Uhm.. are you alright?" Fey mieeped a bit when Erfek handled the talking and dragged her and the twins off a little.

"Oh oh, I puzzled it together!" Fey enthused.. "She said.. ehT nogarD dna eht xineo Xineah.. xina something, something, fo eht teinana senO!" She nodded. "Whos this Eht Nogard guy?" She pondered, then looked at Erfrek. "Ooh neat, you speak precognitese. What abbot? Is he Eht Nogard? Also, silly Erfek, its pronounced 'pan-cake'." She nodded. "Hmnn.. not gonna lie, one of the few sweets I can eat.. a delicous pancake with chilly toplings.. hmnn....." Fey seemed distracted for a moment. The Zoog was wise, for the pepper brought Feys attention back to the complicated part of the prophecy. "I dunnno about the rest. I'm not a true heir to anything in particular. I think Korrie might be the infernal one and you two the daughters, Let's face it, Korrie seems nice, but you know what they say about all too soft nice people beneath the surface." Fey nodded. "Anyway, battle with the ancient ones propably means stuff like 'hey, this is not over, theres gonna be lotsa more tentacle folks and things that cause headaches if you think about them in your immediate future. .. I kinda like tentacles though. Whatever helps Fey learn be proper good phoenix slave, yay!" She cheered, seeming, as usual, unconcerned about things.

She then looked thoughtful for a moment.. "Also, why did the precognithing beat up Aya so badly, is that normal? If so she should stop doing those..." She said, hinting at some genuine concern beneath the fiery, and soon Chilli-suckling surface. The twins likely had never seen one suckle on such a fruit like a candy-cane before.

 

[MortalitasBorealis]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

The surprisingly strong scent of the salts caused Korrie and the twins to wince and cover their noses, not expecting its power to reach so far, but the important thing was that it worked, and while Korrie breathed an internal sigh of relief, the two apprentices quickly helped the waking Aya towards a chair, seating her down and making sure she doesn’t fall off. “Korrie thinks the water might be a bit too hot…” The wyvern commented uncertainly while eyeing Fey’s glowing kettle.

While it was a load off their shoulders that Aya is awake again, her condition is still plenty for them to worry about, and Korrie made sure to stay close by her side in case she needs anything, including the company of a doting pet. She was about to start explaining what had happened too before Erfek interrupted her. Yes, maybe she should let her handler just rest for a moment… Though said handler appears to still be feeling playful even in her strained state, the pet wyvern hugging Aya contentedly while receiving belly rubs and giggling from the tickles.

Meanwhile, the others got to work trying to decipher the precognition under the zoog’s guidance. “I’m pretty sure that was reverse-speak but I wouldn’t be able to decipher it just from hearing it, even assuming I wasn’t more concerned with Aya being possessed by the heart of the cards.” Shiroi shook her head, as did her sister, and Korrie agreed with a quick “Same here.” while still enjoying Aya’s attention. Fortunately, Erfek was there to un-reverse the prophecy for them. The trio let Fey try her hand at deciphering the contents first, mildly surprised by her ability to reverse-speak as well even if she can’t understand it, and quite disturbed by the concept of pancakes with CHILI toppings. Spicy pancakes, that’s borderline heresy…

“Hmm, maybe I’ll have a go at the prophecy too. The dragon and phoenix are obvious, and the magician and thief must be me and sis.”

“Even the prophecy called me a thief…” Kuroi muttered half to herself, not sure if she should be feeling embarrassed or not.

“Maybe it’s just Aya’s first impression of you, don’t worry about it sis. So, next part… We’ll journey to the Abbot… wherever that is, and face a trial for the Panacea, which I’m guessing is the key to the library? And then the last part… what was it again?”

“The Infernal One shall show loyalty to the true heir, and the daughter’s blessing will see them safely away as the Library once again will echo with the battle of the Ancient Ones. Also Korrie really doesn’t think she can ever be called ‘Infernal’, maybe it’s you, Fey?” The wyvern chimed in, blushing a little from embarrassment. She doesn’t really have a vicious side like that, does she?

“Actually, considering we’ve all been referred to before, I don’t think the Infernal One is any one of us.” Shiroi continued, “Though who then…”

“…They’re all Ancient Ones.” Both Korrie and Shiroi turned towards the ravenette who’s been thinking silently for a while. “The Infernal One is the Lord of the First Flame, the true heir is Christine, the daughter is Lady Pale Moon, and the King in Yellow will do battle with them in the Library while we’re whisked away to safety. Christine’s patron deity might be part of that fight too. At least, that’s my guess…” And just like that, Kuroi’s air of analytical confidence crumbled back to her usual shy uncertainty.

“Huh, I didn’t even think of that. Well, Erfek? Did we get it right?” The albino asked, while Korrie continued keeping Aya company and Kuroi eyed the chili-sucking phoenix, having to wince and cover her mouth for a bit as she involuntarily imagined the taste.

 

[Lunaraia]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Aya silently watched the exchange between the girls and Erfek, chuckling silently as she took the kettle without any complaint and filled up a cup of super-heated water and added some herbs to it, and started to laugh as Fey mistook Panacea for pancakes "Wha? Pancakes? young lady I will have you know that Panacea is not a snack like pancakes, but the most potent cure-all in existence in fact it is so potent that if you take too much of it it will cure you of all that ails you, including your mortal coil" to put emphasis the meaning of that, Erfek drew it's palm across it's neck, in short, too much and you would die.


Meanwhile Aya seemed to have recovered somewhat as she put her super-heated tea down, half the cup was empty and joined in on the conversation. "To answer your question about my health, Fey, Precognition is strenuous to the body because your mind gets flung forwards in the time line when it happens, as for stopping to do it, that's... easier said than done as such visions are not voluntary, though luckily they are... rare" she moved closer and had Erfek repeat the words she had spoken once more. Eyeing each of the others to gauge their reactions.

"Well most of the people in that precognition are pretty clear, The Dragon is Korrie, The Phoenix is you Fey..." Aya gave both some loving pats as she spoke "The Thief and Magician are you two girls, the Daughter, well you two girls met her when we arrived here" she gave a playful smirk at Kuroi as she petted her as well to cheer her up from being called a thief.

"That leaves The Infernal One, the Abbot and the Heir, though I have a sinking feeling about who the Abbot is and this Trial we will face" Erfek shuddered, the idea clearly not sitting well with the Zoog at all "The Abbot can only be one individual, the Abbot of Leng, one of The King in Yellows avatars, a really nasty piece of work and a dangerous individual at the best of days, he is also one of the guardians of the Library" Erfeks reaction was predicable as the Zoog shrank away from Aya at the mention of The King in Yellow "Of all the people to try that collar on..." the Zoog whispered to itself though the others could clearly hear it due to how close it was to them.

"The Heir, that one has me stumped, that could be a multitude of individuals, I guess we will see, as for the Infernal One, well that one is actually rather easy" Aya smirked and looked at the girls with a mischievous grin, she clearly knew who that was but had decided to let the girls try to figure it out on their own, Aya herself knew that, by process of elimination it shouldn't be that hard since there were only two individuals left in the room whom Aya hadn't pinged as a member of the precognition already, she picked up her cup of scalding hot tea and downed it in one gulp "Care to take a guess before I tell you?" she said finally, waiting for the girls to make up their minds.

 

[Pervy]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Spoiler

SPF (Super Phoenix Fey)
Dream house

"Hmnn lord of the first flame.. I think I heard that somewhere in a video-game." Fey pondered. "If we meet someone like that we gotta roll around a lot I think."

"Hey, no need to be touchy about it, Erfek, it's ok if you can't handle your pancakes, we'll be happy to eat a few." Fey nodded, in her usual oblivious way. Fey looked over to Aya somewhat concerned, pondering. "Isn't there some sorta pill you can take? I guess it was like an allergy.. you know? You did some future predicting and it triggered your precognitition!" She nodded. "No more card-reading for you for a week! Dr.Phoenix says so." She nodded.

"Feyline Feyling, phd in Themodynamics!" She patted her chest. "What are you looking at me for, I went to college whilest pretending to be human... admittedly, I failed some boring stuff, but I got an A in basic physics prior. Did you know that the heat in a given system is constant, energy can only be transformed, not destroyed, that means to make a fire you gotta have stuff to burn, wooo!" She cheered, seeming to be her usual self, unconcerned about prophecies, purring under the patting and slightly rubbing herself to Ayas hand.

"So we gotta beat up this abbot to get the magical pancake that'll cure our owner? Easy enough.. err.. is he burnable?" She tilted her head at Aya.

"Easy way to find a heir! Any of you had one of your... wait,.. what about my grandma.. I hope she's ok.. Aya, do we have a dream-phone in here, worrying about my nana now..." Fey did try her best at least.

"Infernal? Well, it's not fire. Can I heat someone else tea, that was suprisingly fun." Fey flexed.

 

[MortalitasBorealis]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

“Korrie agrees, Aya should put off any fortune telling for now. Or channeling large amounts of power in general.” The wyvern agreed with her sister pet, their handler has been having a really rough time lately, using the death curse, the Hound’s attack, now this, all this strain cannot be good for her...

While Kuroi was too polite for that, both Korrie and Shiroi gave Fey amused glances when she mentioned having a PhD, though the ravenette joined in the other two’s shock when it turns out there’s credence to the claim. Maybe. Best to just let it go. That didn’t stop the wyvern from feeling particularly inadequate though, looking away awkwardly, considering her own history with education.

The twins and the pet wyvern listened patiently while the prophecy was explained, Kuroi blushing quite a bit while she was petted, though she didn’t try to get away and her ears twitched with hidden delight.

“Close but no cigar, huh…” The white-haired sibling mumbled. Too bad she didn’t know the terms ‘Abbot’ and ‘Panacea’, though it was sort of close. If anything, that means they’re even closer to their goal than she thought, as the Panacea isn’t the key but the prize itself.

“Maybe you’ll learn not to attack random passersby next time~” Korrie smirked a little when she heard the zoog bemoan his ill choices. Then again, she’s only here because Mistress decided to enslave her on a chance encounter, though that wasn’t exactly an ‘attack’ and she did want it too… The pet wyvern blushed faintly from the memory, reminiscing on her fateful meeting; it felt like years ago, though it really hasn’t been long at all, despite how much she’s changed already. To think her world would change so much because she ran into a naughty and powerful woman who wanted a cute dragon pet… She may have used up her entire life’s luck on that one moment.

Meanwhile, the twins had their own blast from the past, thanks to Fey’s mention of family. They never did consider whether the phoenix has family, knowing her true nature as a fire elemental they always assumed she sort of… poofed into being. Adoptive parents maybe? …Or maybe someone along the line found a fire elemental hot in more ways than one. At least it sounds like the phoenix is close to her family, which is more than can be said of the twins. A faint aura of gloom emanated from the siblings for a moment, though they tried to hide it.

The question of the Infernal One’s identity snapped the three out of their thoughts though. Aya seems confident that they know who that is, but Kuroi’s guess was wrong. There aren’t many others they know of who haven’t been mentioned already, though the wyvern figured a repeat under a different title isn’t impossible. Still, knowing her handler, the answer isn’t as anti-climatic as that.

…Wait.

Korrie’s eyes widened, but it was the ravenette who made the guess first again, despite having the same look of disbelief. “The Infernal One… can’t be you, can it?” Kuroi asked Aya hesitantly, as if she doubted her own answer. There was no one else she could think of though…

 

[Lunaraia]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Aya dragged Fey in for a supportive hug "I am sure your grandmother is fine Fey dear, remember also that time goes differently here and back in the waking world it's still night time, so if we went back and you called her now she would probably become rather grumpy" she gave Fey a reassuring peck on the cheek before she returned her attention to the question at hand, looking over at the wide eyed twins with a knowing grin.

Due to how Aya held Fey she would not be able to see what happened next, namely that a spade tipped tail rose over Aya's shoulder and gave a wave at the Twins and Korrie before disappearing again "Lets's just say girls, that the fun yesterday, it was more for my benefit than yours, I needed to recharge my batteries, as it were and I didn't want any of you to feel left out" the tail dissolved into nothing while the girls, except Fey, could see it, making it obvious how they had not noticed, shape shifting, bet picker-upper in the world for me really, and since i had excess to burn I recovered pretty quickly now too, in fact I feel just fine again now and then some, though I will try to avoid any more precognition for now, it's hard enough to try and puzzle out the meaning of this one without having to deal with a second one.

As she spoke the angle of the house suddenly shifted for a moment "Looks like the Walking Hut has reached some steep hills" noted the Zoog as it hopped over to the window sill to get a good look at the area around them, "Hmm were down from the mountainous areas and down in some hilly terrain now, shouldn't be too much longer until we reach Ulthar" Aya furred her brows "That... should not be possible we are still several hours away I got a good look around us earlier and we should not be down from mountainous region for another hour or two" she looked out the window with an obviously confused expression, but true enough they were now clearly in a more lowland like terrain.

"That's impossible unless..." her words died in her mouth and she just shook her head "I will just chuck it up to getting a little help from some higher power, because I can't figure out how else to explain it, unless the ground itself shifted underneath the entire campsite we rested at yesterday while we had ou- oh..." Aya became quiet, though her expression was a mix between horror, amusement and wonder, as if she had stumbled upon a plausible, if unlikely answer whose implications she was not quite sure she liked.

 

[Pervy]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Spoiler

SPF (Super Phoenix Fey)
Dream house

"Whats up Korrie?" Randomly attentive, Fey picked up on Korrie looking away. "Oh, right, you were home-schooled and home-dragonized, right?" She tipped her chin, recalling.

"Oh.. better not call her then. Should totally do that though, last contact was likely Christine leaving a note at my place.. hrmn.. " Fey pondered into the hug. "Then we went to that island with the nice vulcano.." She pondered, her memory an array of 'where were the coolest fires I saw'.

"I dun get it." Fey admitted at Ayas explanation, missing out on fiendish tails. "You weren't out that long." Fey informed at Ayas time-dillation. "Oh I know what happened!" Fey beamed, stuck between wanting to peer out of the window, but also being comfortable in the hug. "Obviously the preocgnition was triggered by an influx of magic-stuff, which also caused a temporal distortion of .... gnnn.. fire and stuff!" Fey tried to sound smart too. Crossing her arms for a moment, she had a few flames hopping over from her left to her right arm, distracting herself from the awkward moment of .. not actually knowing. If anyone watched the flames, they'd take up a two-legged shape and begin a slightly lewd dance, inspired by the CoCo.

 

[MortalitasBorealis]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

“N-Not exactly, but close enough…” The wyvern girl quickly muttered, wanting to move off the topic. She hadn’t cared at the time, but the fact the ditzy fire-lover has a degree while she dropped out to play video games for a living is more embarrassing than being seen naked and collared in public!

Aya may be satisfied to see the twins’ and Korrie’s jaws drop when she revealed her true nature, Shiroi shaking her head a little in exasperation at herself for not realizing it earlier. Aya being a local of the land of dreams with exceptional magical ability, serving under a cult of carnal delights… Her being a succubus feels so obvious in hindsight.

Before the three of them could say anything, the sudden shift in angle caused them to stagger and have to regain their balance. With Aya having shifted her embrace to the phoenix, Korrie was free to join the zoog in poking her head out the window to check, followed by Shiroi as well. “Wow, really? I know we’re going faster with the house but I didn’t expect us to be this fast.” The albino remarked offhandedly, admiring the view of the hilly region, until Aya’s own confusion caught her attention, moving aside to let their succubus guide take a look.

“Umm, are you saying our house got picked up by cosmic powers and moved last night while we were… occupied?” Korrie asked uncertainly, as she herself couldn’t come up with any other possibility. Of course, that would imply that the eldritch powers were potentially peeping in on them last night, bringing a blush to her face, though really just the thought of elder gods acting like horny teenagers was kind of funny.

Kuroi too, considering the possibility, got a little shifty-eyed as her face was tinted red. “While that does raise some interesting implications, maybe Fey’s right and it happened during your precognition? I feel like one of the gods must’ve had something to do with that, they could’ve pushed us along while they were at it. Either way, this means we’re closer to our goal, yes? As long as it helps, maybe it’s best we just not think about it too hard.” She suggested, eyes drawn by movement towards the dancing fire on the phoenix. She ought to come up with some fancy tricks for herself too…

 

[Lunaraia]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Aya remained silent for a few moments longer as she debated whether her hunch was correct or not "I am sorry to burst your bubbles dears, but no eldritch intervention I am afraid, the simplest explanation is much more mundane I fear, the house stepped into someones dream and then used that to shortcut by taking advantage of the dreams ability to distort time/space, it's a common technique used when traveling, though the chance of finding a Dream is, as mentioned, a rather difficult task, so while it's a commonly used technique it's also one you do not plan for but one that just happens" she looked out of the window again where in the distance she could see the river running past Ulthar even as the hills were starting to flatten out.

"It's like a sail ship suddenly getting a good gust of wind into it's sails on an otherwise calm day allowing it to make port hours earlier than intended" the Zoog explained to the girls as it gave Fey another pepper for managing to keep her attention on the conversation at hand, a reward as it were.

Aya herself returned and upon seeing the flames grave a wry grin as she put her arms around Fey and gave her head a lowing rub "If I didn't know better Fay I would say you wanted more lewd action" she said, half in jest even as she gave her a small kiss on the cheek, before she turned her attention to them all "As for the precognition I am both happy and a bit tense, as the precognition says we will make it out safely from this trial, but it says nothing on whether we will succeed in the trial or not, keep that in mind" she looked at the girls in turn, before Erfek hopped over to between Korrie and the twins holding a set of scrolls, that depicted a grand building as well as a a sickly thing and withered figure in a yellow robe "There is a slight twig in the works too as the "Abbot" makes it's home in a giant mountain complex that would dwarf buildings in the waking world, just finding our way through the place will be a challenge, here take a look" as it unfurled a particular scroll showing the Abbots abode in great detail during a sunny day, which the Zoog was quick to inform everyone was even rarer in those parts than it was in the hillside and they should not expect that to be the case when they arrived, the Zoog laid the parchment out for all to see better.

Spoiler

"The complex might not seem that big here, but to put things in perspective for you, those spires are skyscrapers, though only the "Abbot" will be there, I would have preferred the Library rather than the Monastery, but if that's where we will wind up then I guess it's best to prepare" The Zoog did not seem very energetic as it explained the change in course the precognition Aya had given had given them, The Zoog also laid down the parchment showing the abbot so that everyone could get a good look at him as well, while giving an unconscious shudder.

Spoiler

Aya looked at the picture for a moment "Indeed, this "Abbot" as I said in the precognition can only be the High Priest Not to be Described, which suggests a confrontation with one of The Kings Avatars, this isn't immediately a bad thing, The King in Yellow and Mistress' Mistress has a rather placid relationship all things considered, with them being cousins and all that, however that does not mean we can lower our guard, their mindsets are not like our own and so this tolerance might not extend to us" the message was clear, don't lower your guard around it for an instant.

 

[Pervy]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

Spoiler

SPF (Super Phoenix Fey)
Dream house

".. that would have been my next guess." Fey lied to Ayas explanation, aquiering her next pepper and seeming quite fond of the Zoog that kept her well fed. She peered up to Aya, chuckling. "Wha? Oh, I'm just in a good mood despite all the stuff happening. I can totally molest Korrie and or Erfek a bit if you want some entertainment though." She nodded, suckling on the pepper like a candycane.

"Well obviously doesn't say anything about us succeeding because that ones obvious! Super sucessful special operations team.. team.." Fey flexed optimistically, nuzzling to Ayas affections before peeking at the map, Erfeks attention-keeping efforts seeming to work well, though suddenly she hesitated and pondered.. ".. we don't have a team name!
Hrmnn Aya, Fey, Korrie, Erfek Shiroi and Kuroi.. Team. Afkesk.. Kefkas.. Kefkas! Team Kefkas. We are lucky we met Erfek earlier, else this would be super hard." She nodded sagely. "Also means Korries is the leader. Kuroi could be too but she not around that long. Dragon-seniority. Yey!" Fey patted Korries shoulder encouragingly as she was fine naming herself third, after all she had technical seniority over everyone but Aya on team Kefkas and in her mind, she had met Christine as little girl already, so had super-senority!

"Spikey house!" She enthused accurately. "Isn't it boring to be all alone at such a big place?" She pondered, looking at the picture of the abbot whilest suckling her pepper. "Very yellow. Very random? Hmnn.. shouldn't wear anything blue or purple. Thats the opposing colors of yellows after all. Oh, and we could bring him some never before seen sorta pancake to appease him? Or something to read to pass the time.. some board-games? So what else do we know about this abbot? Whats his general attitude towards fire-stuff?" Fey inquired curiously, relaxing for the moment, her flames floating over her skin in playful waves, though it didn't take too long for her to finish one pepper and cast a hopeful-curious glance over at Erfrek, then after a moment of letting the others respond adding: "Are we there yet?"

 

[MortalitasBorealis]

Re: A study in the eldritch (Lunaraia;Pervy;MortalitasBorealis)

“Oh, a dream bubble, huh…” Korrie echoed with a little disappointment, until she realized that walking through someone’s dream really isn’t much less interesting than eldritch intervention. “Now Korrie wishes she could’ve looked outside when that happened.”

“Think the dreamer was surprised by a house walking by or did they take it in stride?” Shiroi wondered aloud with a small grin. She was no stranger to dreams afterall, having been confined to a hospital bed for a long time, and she started remembering her dreams pretty well after her eldritch contract. Sometimes she’d stay lucid and aware, and other times she would’ve been completely absorbed in the hallucinations of the mind, finding the world natural no matter how nonsensical it became. It’d be interesting to meet a dreamer of either kind, just to see how they’d react.

“More lewds already? At this rate no amount of vitality fruits will keep me alive…” The albino jokingly grumbled. Speaking of jokes, despite Fey clearly kidding around (she IS kidding around, right?), Kuroi couldn’t stop her brain from imagining the phoenix making true on her offer to molest the zoog, if even for just the briefest of seconds, and couldn’t stop herself from making a squicked out noise (and the suitable expression) before trying to physically shake the images out of her skull.

Noticing that (and the zoog’s potential distress), the pet wyvern chuckled and raised her hand. “Umm, if anyone’s going to be molested, then Korrie volunteers as tribute?” She said a little hesitantly, wondering if her sister pet would take her up on that offer. She was doing it just to help distract the overly imaginative ravenette and the team mascot, but she wouldn’t mind a little skinship~ …Man, she really has turned into a slutty little pet. Oh well~

“A team name?” Glad for a distraction, the ravenette asked and started thinking on it herself. Obviously they didn’t NEED a team name to go by, but she had to admit a name for their adventuring party could be cool. Her sister and the wyvern seemed to share that opinion, but before they could come up with something, Fey came up with hers. The three just stared at the phoenix blankly for a moment, before Korrie and Shiroi promptly burst into fits of restrained giggles. “Umm, you probably wouldn’t get the reference, Fey, but I don’t think we should name ourselves after a demonic clown god.” Kuroi remarked as well, not outright laughing but smiling amusedly nonetheless.

Other team names could come later though, as Aya and Erfek brought them back on track with photos of their destination and the being they shall face. The image of the Monastery got a few “Oooh….”s out of them, the spires and grand scale giving the place an ominous yet majestic appearance. The abbot himself triggered some shivers instead, creepy enough just from looks alone, but knowing the context made it a lot worse.

“I don’t think anyone would lower their guard around that… guy even if he’s known far and wide as the nicest guy around, but thanks for the heads up.” Shiroi commented, grimacing just looking at a picture of the being. Just leave it to the pet phoenix to brighten her spirits though, bringing a humored smile back to her face. “I don’t think he’d take very kindly to fire, sorry to burst your bubble. Who knows though, maybe if things don’t go well you could try ‘convincing’ him to change his mind on that.”

“Korrie would rather things not come down to that…” The pet wyvern added, though knowing the prophecy, hostile confrontation might be inevitable…