Steel Sky (Adelle/Mind Flayer)

[Guan Yu]

"Now that I think about it... I remembered something that might be a good fit. If you want it, that is. And I do need to check it out anyway if that thing is still in good shape." Ragvald would come to remember something specific, and would follow it up with telling Adelle to follow him. Amela would split off from them at that point, staying behind at the main hall. They would travel a few corridors, a couple of faceless shadows of vampires again slinking in the shadows of the castle, on whatever business they might have been doing. Eventually, past one of the doors, they would reach a large kitchen area with no other people around. "Anton is away... maybe some errand. But we are not here for him. It's behind that door." he would point them towards another door, the sound of something getting hit audible as they got towards it.

Past the other door, an equally large storage area was found, neatly split in the middle with the other side somewhat messy with the remains of many meat processing sessions and the current stock hanging neatly organized in hooks. Some of the carcasses looked familiar, while others were a bit more hard to tell what they had been before. Thankfully none of them seemed humanoid. The other side of the room was far more clean and organized, having all the other stuff a kitchen needed to make varied meals. Veggies, flour, spices, all that stuff. "Olivia! Are you busy?" Ragvald would call towards the meat side, and a deathly slender figure would emerge between two of the carcasses, carrying a large blocky cleaver and a big butcher knife in her hands. Easily identifiable as an undead, she was a patchwork of parts making a young lady, eerily naked aside from some rubber gloves and a black butcher's apron that covered just barely enough. While the rest of her was messy, she had oddly nice red and white hair that looked nothing like someone working in these conditions should have. But nothing else caught more attention in her than the fact that she had a black-bladed sword punched through her head, the thing almost pushed in to the hilt. "No... my Lord... what is it..." she would greet them, her voice chipper but oddly choppy like a malfunctioning radio. Ragvald would ask for his sword back, and she would look at the weapon in her head. "Aaah... I guess I have... borrowed... it for... a good... while now... haven't I..."

"This is a blade that I've had in my collection for ages. It doesn't work for us undead like it would for a living person, so I used to just stash it away until Olivia here wanted something to practise swinging swords with. My magical analysis suggests it can eat the blood of living targets and transfer it to the wielder, turning it into stamina and healing wounds. It's cutting power is also far greater than a simple sword's. Would you like it?"

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Sure, I'm down for it," Adelle replied with a small shrug, being up for "testing" the item in question since she was there and whatnot.

Adelle would follow him along, glancing over at the vampires in the shadows, and idly wondering if any of them might be considering sneaking over and nibbling on her neck a bit. "Say Ragvald, just curious about something. By chance, if bitten by a vampire, does that turn the one that's bitten into a vampire themselves? Or perhaps a thrall? Or what?" Adelle asked curiously as they walked, using his name, with no title now, and feeling more comfortable with it at this point.

After they neared the door he was apparently leading her to, and she heard the thumping of... something, she got a little concerned, especially when they went in and saw various dead creatures, though when she saw that it was clearly the kitchens, she calmed back down immediately. The girl, Olivia, that Ragvald called over to surprised Adelle. She was clearly a zombie of some sort, and that was made more obvious by the sword sticking through her head. When he explained what the sword did, and then proceeded to offer it to her, Adelle's eyes widened. "O-Oh wow... truly? I've got a small wakizashi, but not a full on sword. Wow... this is pretty cool. It won't like... you know, turn me into an infernal blooded harpy or something, will it?" Adelle stammered out, stunned that he would offer such a powerfully magical sword to her like this.

"I mean... if you don't mind parting with it, I'd be glad to have a nice blade like that to take with me. Having something like that would go a long way towards helping me when dealing with those fleshy dungeons too, since there's a Lot of weird creepy creatures in them that want nothing more than to... well, let's just say do lewd and uncouth things to a lady like myself," Adelle would go on to say in a somewhat less astounded manner. "I'll cherish it, Ragvald. Thank you," she would add as an afterthought, bowing deeply to show her thanks.

 

[Guan Yu]

"Just feeding on someone doesn't do it. It needs some additional steps. And yes it does, though only high power vampires like myself and a few others here can force the target into thrallhood."

"Something like that sword doesn't do anything for most of my people or myself, as it's draining power doesn't work when the wielder is undead. In our hands, it is merely a very sharp blade. So why not give it away, you can surely benefit from it far more than most of us." Ragvald would point out his reasoning for wanting to give the weapon away. "You can... keep... my charm too... take care... of him..." Olivia would poke at the small zombie teddy that was hanging from the pommel of the sword to bring it to Adelle's attention before getting down on one knee in front of her. "Here... take it..." she would say as she turned her head to the side, letting the busty girl have a better angle to retrieve her new weapon.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Ah I see. I was mostly just curious is all," Adelle told him as they walked.

"Wel, if you're sure," Adelle said to Ragvald before she turned to Olivia and smiled. "And don't worry, I'll take good care of him. Now let's... hmm... let's not tug too hard. Um... let's see... set the side of your head right there, like... so... and... n-ngh..." Adelle would then say to Olivia as she gently pressed her left hand against the side of Olivia's head and pushed it down against the table, angling so she could still pull on the sword properly, and trying to slowly pull it in a more smooth manner, rather than just jerking it free and risking pulling the girl's head out... or open.

 

[Guan Yu]

With enough caution applied, the act of retrieving the sword was easy enough, even when the flesh on Olivia's head was grown around it. The tugs on the blade would cause some unpleasant-looking twists of expression to appear on the zombie's face, but once the thing was partially out she could maintain her previous one again. "Don't feel... bad... you did n... ot hurt me... I am... almost unable to... to feel any... pain..." Olivia would offer her word that she was not suffering in the process, as gruesome as it looked. "Even if my... head... came off... I'd just... put it back..."

The whole thing took only a minute, and now Adelle had a new blade to bring into battles. It was not quite a full-sized knightly sword, even as it was in the style, being closer to the Roman gladius in lenght. It would need some cleaning though as it had scraps of Olivia's flesh and possibly brain matter stuck on it. "Oh, right... I... have this too..." the zombie would speak as she stood up, offering the scabbard for the blade after retrieving it from the inside of her apron. Why she had it there but still stored the weapon in her own head was one of those mysteries most could not comprehend.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Yeah, but it's still kinda... you know, icky to see it," Adelle told Olivia as she finally got the sword free, and taking it to clean it thoroughly on a nearby rag so that she didn't fling blood and gore everywhere.

When Olivia offered the sheath for the thing, Adelle graciously took it before sheathing it. "All I can say is just... wow, really. I need to definitely practice with it," Adelle would say after a few moments of admiring the thing.

"Ragvald, if there's anything else you might want or need of me, just let me know please. If I can expect awesome things like this for payment, well, consider me most Definitely intrigued," Adelle would tell the vampire lord as she stood there, before offering a hand to Olivia to help her stand back up.

 

[Guan Yu]

"It's merely supply and demand at work. My supply and demand is just not the usual stuff. I try to find things for my outside workers to do, but I have no stable line of work, so I'm not able to provide work all the time."

Olivia would get back to her feet with Adelle's aid, immediately stumbling to the side as she hit one of the carcasses with her upper body. Grabbing onto it, she would hold on, having clear issues with balance as her feet wobbled. "Must've... messed something... up there... that's how... it... goes... I guess..." she would lament her condition, leaning her big cleaver on the ground to further stabilize. "It'll be... fine in... a... mo... ment... just need a bit... of time to let... my body... fix itself..." the zombie would further explain, her completely naked backside turned to the two as she peeked over her shoulder when talking and doing her best to keep her shaky legs from giving out. Something in her nonchalant manner of speaking about it suggested that this zombie had gone through all kinds of bodily harm and still living her unlife like it was nothing.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle reached out on instinct to catch Olivia when she stumbled. "Well I did kind of pull out some of your brain matter with that there. So um... here let's get you sat down, so you don't fall over," Adelle said, going into help mode as she reached out to pull a nearby stool or chair if there was one, over, where she'd guide Olivia to sit down, not really thinking about the fact Olivia was a zombie or anything.

 

[Guan Yu]

"Take your time Olivia, you have done well here, I can clearly see it. Let that brain recover, the meat can wait for a while." Ragvald would speak up too as Olivia was given a nearby stool to set herself down on, the situation looking a whole lot less lewd now that she was sitting down. Setting up her cleaver again, she would lean against it with both hands and just rest her head on them. The lord would step in as she did, his hand coming in to pat and brush her head like a loving father to their child. "Even when... you know that... I don't... tire... ever... you still care... thanks... my lord..."

"Think nothing of it. Go do what you want to when you can walk again, clean yourself up and look nice for while. Even if you are a zombie, you should look pretty now and then." "O... kay... I'll do... just that..."

Having dealt with his worker, the vampire would turn back to Adelle. "Did you still have something for me or do you want to go on your own from here? I can direct you to some other place of interest if you want."

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle was glad that Olivia seemed to be relatively okay after what had happened, and after she saw the exchange between Olivia and Ragvald, Adelle smiled as she looked to the vampire lord. "Well, I can't think of anything right off at the moment. But that being said, if you don't have anything else for me, then I'd be happy to hear this other place of interest you had in mind," Adelle replied, looking intrigued at what he apparently had in mind.

 

[Guan Yu]

"The corridor you went before, the one where you met Sharron and Nina. On the other end of that corridor is my archive, containing most of the items and knowledge I have gathered in my time. If seeing that interests you, go there. You can also meet my archiver there, she is an oddball to say the least, but I'm sure you can get along. And if she becomes too much, just leave if you start getting bad feelings from her."

 

[Mind Flayer]

"I'll definitely go and have a look. I'm always glad to learn new things. Could I trouble you to make sure that this is put with my things, for when I leave? I don't really know where they're all at, to be honest," Adelle replied and would go back down said corridor, after Ragvald would see to it that her new sword was taken to be placed with the rest of her belongings.

Once she was at the archives, Adelle would look around curiously. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Adelle called out into the archive room

 

[Guan Yu]

"Sure, once someone gets your belongings from the special cell, I'll have them add this." Ragvald would take the sword back for now.

The area beyond the door was another huge room, far more filled with things compared to the main hall. Shelves filled with books were lined up on multiple rows at the other side like a library, while the other was glass cases with all sorts of strange and unusual items on display. There was a second floor above, and the same theme was applied there too on a smaller scale, only single rows of things on both sides. Again, it was fairly dimly lit, but there were magical lanterns evenly distributed to make it safe and mostly visible. It was quiet, and while there was no reply to her call, she coud hear a few low sounds that almost sounded like books being moved from a shelf that were coming from the upper floor.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Thank you, Ragvald. I truly appreciate it," Adelle told him, flashing him a bright smile, that he likely didn't see too often, before she went to the library area.

Once inside, she didn't mind how dimly lit it was, as she was used to traveling in dim areas. She made her way upstairs to the second floor where she heard the sounds coming from, curious if that was where the archiver likely was, likely sorting through some books from the sounds of it. "Helo~oo," Adelle would call out again as she went upstairs.

 

[Guan Yu]

The book moving sounds would continue in the silent archive room as Adelle got up the stairs at the other end and took the turn towards the upper library side of it. Once there, she could see the presumed archiver taking books out and moving them to a different spot on the same unit. There were a few unit's worth of distance between them, and at that point the archiver became aware of her presence. Even from a distance, the two of them could be made up to be about equal height, unless the archiver took off her boots, which had fairly tall platforms. The clothing she wore amounted to a corset dress with a bell skirt, arm warmers and a fur-trimmed jacket on top, all of these in dark purple and black patterns. A few strings of black liquid would occasionally fall from the hem of her skirt and the sleeves of the jacket, the stuff evaporating as soon as it hit the floor. As she turned her upper body to check what was happening, a black and spiky slime creature about the size of a tennis ball could be spotted on her shoulder as well. Her hair was split in the middle with one side black and the other white, and with the dim lighting of the area her eyes stood out, gleaming yellow and piercing in nature. Then the smile came, the one that Adelle had seen with Taio many times, usually before something reckless and crazy was about to happen.

 

[Mind Flayer]

As she approached and saw the girl that was working in there, Adelle couldn't help but feel a vibe that she often got from Taio. A sort of... half crazed look, that strangely felt a little comforting in an odd sort of way. "Um... hello there, miss. I'm Adelle. Lord Ragvald's guest. And he directed me to here, his archives, so that I could... I assume speak to you about what books I could read, and whatnot, to learn more about this place," Adelle said to the girl in her normal cheerful tone.

 

[Guan Yu]

The book in the archiver's hand would go back to the shelf, and she would turn and start approaching, the smile staying on her face as she did. "You... want to read the books? And just what exactly are you, a human, looking for, hmm?" she would start talking finally, eventually reaching Adelle and parking herself face-to-face so close their boobs would touch, unless the busty girl would back off. Regardless, she would tilt hear head as she waited for the answer.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Well, anything that would help me out some. Fighting techniques, magics if I could learn those, and just general knowledge. My mother always used to say that knowledge was the greatest weapon of all," Adelle replied with her smile, before extending her hand. "I'm Adelle by the way," she'd introduce herself after a few moments, not backing off at all, and almost enjoying their boobies touching like they were, or at least not seeming to care much.

 

[Guan Yu]

"Hmmmm..." the girl would think about Adelle's words, her left leg suddenly coming up and pushing itself down on her shoulder. It wasn't a kick so it didn't hurt really, but there was weight being applied with the heel, so she did shift the busty girl a bit with a subtle application of force to separate them as far as the leg would allow without dropping off the shoulder. "Should we let her, hmmm? Read the books? Or maybe mess with her a bit, hmmm? What do you think, Vanta?" she would speak as her eyes shifted to the black blob creature, which would make odd, barely audible burble-noises back at her. "Huh... you really think so? But it would be just a little..." she would ask again, a full discussion starting between the two of them with Adelle just kinda standing there looking down the archiver's skirt, the heel of her platforms firmly planted on the shoulder still.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle stood there and didn't move when the shoulder pushed down. She budged slightly, but regained her footing after a second or two, where she stared quite openly up the girl's skirt without a hint of shame. While the girl was having her conversation with the little black blob thing on her shoulder, Adelle got a mischievous bit go through her, as she reached up with her left hand, and once up under the girl's skirt, she tickled the inside of her thighs, not too far from her crotch. "Tickle tickle," Adelle would say as she goosed the girl.