Allies and ... other allies.

[Rhaine]

After a stressfull time in G'fenvass she needed a time alone. She wandered through the portal to Twilight Isle - in soft silent steps, black in dress, black in mind. Kicking a goblin into bringing her a cup of fragrant black drink she seemed to like so much, Rhaine sat down on the sand and closed her eyes.

"Good evening. No heels or black dress this evening, I see," the fairy was there, she liked it or not. Topaz seemed mainly concerned about elegant clothing for Yule - something Rhaine could hardly advise about. Incredibly elegant and totally comfortable - that was a compromise she could hardly deal with. Especially with so many other things on her mind.

Amaris was nowhere to be found. Obviously the child was in Errtu's hands, and well hidden. Mentioning of the child brought a memory to Topaz's face. The fairy spoke of a feline woman that became a newcomer to the Isle. The lass claimed that Artemus sent her with a message, but Topaz couldn't figure what the message was. There were no new data...

Why would Errtu allow someone to see Artemus, and who would that be? If the darkmage wished to torture the shifter, the choice was obvious - a woman that had some kind of a relationship with Art. Fairy's words confirmed vampiress' suspicions. The girl managed to develop some emotional attachment to Art - something he asked her not to do.

This rang so familiar. So redundant. She remembered how Artemus told her about a tigress girl he helped, and how upset he sounded when he informed Rhaine that young tigress had become emotionally attached to him. Another wheel turn. Rhaine laughed silently.

"What a type... Well, isn't that a sign that we'll manage to smack down this Errtu..."

"At least she was telling the truth as she knows it," the fairy was probably thinking the laugh was due to insufficiency of information...

Her laughter was partly a hysteria. The pain of waiting for the inevitable to happen, was getting out.

"Precisely. We've now no reason to doubt. Simple, straightforward, naive, mortal, fragile... I should have never hoped for the wheel turns to end. Purely emotional attachment, you said... Gods, I wish I could get drunk"

"Those are extremely kind words. That woman means trouble. That was even more obvious than her speaking the truth."

"She may mean trouble... but if the emotional attachment is strong enough, it's good. If we don't find Amaris, we can use this girl."

Yes, I will walk over anyone's corpse to free you, shifter...

[Rhaine]

"Do you think it's remotely possible that he sent her over to find us because we can't locate Amaris?" Topaz asked. Rhaine frowned slightly. That was a possibility she was thinking about.

"Perhaps Art knows where Errtu keeps the kid, and knows we can't reach her," she mused aloud. Next thing the fairy said, burned her.

"It'll be a one sided emotional attachment," Topaz seemed sure...

"One-sided? Oh, Topaz, it won't be. It will change as soon as Art is out of danger. That has happened before, and will happen again..."

But it wasn't time for dwelling on pain. The new information was essential. According to Topaz, the cat-woman had a half fae sister and Errtu was acting like he was violently allergic to fairy dust. That vampiress found quite possible. Fae magic by nature belonged to Light in the Spectrum... Perhaps the allergy isn't that violent, but anything can be used. Former Commander of the Legion learned the lessons...

The portal's field shivered. "Speak of the... there she is," the fairy spoke quietly.

The feline girl seemed embarrassed slightly - and a good, healthy contrast. I felt old... old, cold and cynical. What would power, creativity, magic mean - when it's not worth a moment of being with someone precious?! What would immortality mean when compared to endearing, sweet fraility of mortal flesh and soul? What would artifical flawless design of my physical body mean against natural beauty?

But I have pride... at least pride to go on. I grinned to myself. It was another wheel turn - a punishment for a Bound too bold to accept the fate of my kin. She is a mortal, and akin to felines... mortal, beautiful, fertile. Ideal woman for the shifter. Yet another one of the flock. Do I have a chance now? none. So... it would be as it has been before. Finish your work, Bound, Rhaine G'iarre Lerdann. Finish your work, and step away.

I never allowed any of these thoughts to slither through the mask I wear. An asmodean priest of my rank must have the necessary skill, and I'm not the worst among the priests my Lord has.

"Well, fits the pattern," Rhaine spoke quietly. She raised her voice a bit, and a slight smile appeared on her lips. "Good evening. So I guess you are the lass that was looking for Topaz and for me."

[Rhaine]

The girl's manners were quite normal for RhyDin. She walks up to them, grabbing a chair, spinning it around to straddle it backwards.
"Yeah. The jackass let me talk to Art and he told me to find you. You must be..."

Obviously she meant an official introduction. After this, Rhaine tried to get any additional information out of the girl - everything could bear a precious hint.

"Do you remember precisely the text of the message? As detailed as you can?" she asked, looking at Kitty.

"Briefly. Art mentioned a woman who had recently admitted feelings for him. I'm assuming it was you, since I know Topaz is with someone."

"As if it makes any difference," vampiress muttered, but the momentary blush on her cheeks was obvious.

"He said to find you, because he knew you were up to something to free him. I could see him.. in that cage."

"Yea, I've feelings for Art too..." the fairy grineed. "The kind that make me want to throttle him for letting this mess happen."

This has lighted up the vamp's laughter. Definitely Artemus needed a slight bashing.


"My place in his life is disposable. Always has been. And yes, I'd like to smack him a good one too," Kitty nodded at Topaz in agreement.

"I can remove my presence from his life, Kitty. It won't be easy for me, but I've done that once, and will do that again," it took all of iron resolve asmodean Knights were famous for. Now...

"Why?" the feline girl was obviously confused "Oh! Wait.. neither of you know about Helstons," she considered it important for some reasons. What could it be - some inbreeding family clan forbidden to mate outsiders?

"I definitely do not know of the Helstons, and would appreciate the information," vampiress was ideally calm now.

"Most of the Helstons are of the inccubus or succubus variety. I may not be either, but I certainly fit in with the family in certain ways. Soooo... yeah. Not a big emotional thing. He will always be a dear dear friend to me. And seeing him locked up broke my heart. But otherwise.. it was just sex."

Who cares. Rhaine smiled to herself. Smiled with sad knowledge. It's "insignificant" now, but it will develop. The curse of Bound will work uninterrupted, as ever.

"A dear, dear friend. Do you think that fits into the system?"

[Rhaine]

"I've a feeling I know why Arty told Kitty to find us. If we use Art as center of coordinates, Kitty would fit the three-fold system. Not an extreme case, but a fitting case."

"Can't say I like it, but Art probably is the expert on the subject," Topaz seemed hardly happy to hear this. But was there any choice? Rhaine looked at the feline girl. She had little idea about magic, perhaps only the dueling type that won't be able to light a candle without matches. But it's Art's choice, she reminded herself. Did magic make you any happier? Did the ascension from a mere adept of life magic to the heights of skill turn you into more than yourself? Never... For so many it had taken away the human soul - she remembered those that dissolved, turned into mindless slaves of Trance. Was it worth doing?

"I only wonder why it's Art that invents problems, and us that try to solve them," Rhaine spoke with a hint of sarcasm. The question needed no answers. She knew well enough - why. The sparkling, impatient, power-hungry person Artemus was - it had to create trouble.

"Because he's a damn man," Kitty seemed to have her own answer. She pointed at the table "I swear.. as soon as he's fixed and we're sure he's nice and healthy and hunky dory again? I'm beating his ass."

"Okay, you're third in the line," Rhaine smiled in response. "Fine, second... I can wait."

"I'm good with that," Kitty gave her human thumbs-up gesture. "I'll even have my sister heal him after each beating so we have fresh starts."

"I can deal with the healing, I'm already used to having Arty as a patient"

Using mentioning of patients and healing, Topaz asked about Sylus, the wolf shifter. Rhaine reported whatever scarce information she had about Sy's amnesia. The werewolf seemed to dislike vampires immensely - enough to keep her from checking his health.

Kitty spoke about the incident with pixie that led her to think about Errtu having an allergy to fae magic. The evidence seemed quite good. However, there was no way Rhaine could rely on a single factor in the case of eliminating obstacle like Errtu.

Do your duty, Bound. The darkmage causing havoc in RhyDin may lead to formation of a strong centralized government. You should not allow this. The intermediary base needs to remain neutral and diverse. Democratic government the dhoine are planning, fits - while Errtu or Divine Light do not.

And Artemus? What of Artemus? A side effect, a reward for a job well done. You are disposable for him - he should be disposable for you. Strengthen your resolve, Bound.

The plan emerged easily, it became a logical consequence of facts given. The book could lure the darkmage into the trap. Temple of Asmodeus will not allow outsider to use magic without explicit permission from the High Priestess. Pixie dust will keep Errtu trapped, as well as warding of the Temple.

There was no hatred. Nothing but clarity. For a second, Rhaine closed her eyes. She knew what she needed to do... Her memory browsed through the images of fae faces in the Heart throne room, through the ancient tomes of asmodean library, through endless data sequences... They had no right to fail. Especially while bringing in fae allies - useful tools in this situation.