Re: ((Follow the Braid everyone)) The Arival pt 2

[Epiphany]

"Kinda against the rules. Light and Dark mixing like that. I can see why he was upset. So um.. yeah, I think maybe you were tired. You know, after healing you should eat something light. At least have something to drink." Was it apparent that she was trying to avoid the question about what she was?

"Since we have to enter the kitchen anyway it might be a good idea to get something. As for your question..." Epiphany picked at her shirt as they walked. "I am. Though while in Human form I have faults and other qualities of a normal human. Some things bother me easily and creatures of the Dark are usually drawn to me, or I to them Kinda like how you can spot an enemy."

"I don't publicized what I am, a few of my closest friends don't even know, so I would appreciate it if you don't tell people." There have been those who told her that she should not hide what she was but she did, and she had her reasons.

[Guest]

Tasha nodded and smiled at the mention of food. She had been eating through a straw for a while now. "I could eat." She listened as they entered the kitchen. "Yea, the son-in-law was a Palladin. Go figure." She headed for the cooling unit to see if there were maybe some sandwich fixins inside. "Want something?"

Tasha stopped and turned around. "Why would you hide such a thing? I mean it's cool, I can keep a secret. But you know our trio of Deities probably already know, right? They would never tell either, but still. That just seems so cool, why hide it?" She blushed again realizing she was prying. Always the currious kitty. "You don't have to tell me why." As she turned back around to look for something to eat.

[Epiphany]

There should be sandwich fixings in there somewhere. She herself had a sandwich one time before.

"Mmm no thank you." Epiphany hadn't eaten since she came back to the Inn and met the group outside. She did eat - though some would swear she didn't - she just did not eat a lot and often paid for it in the end. She leaned against the counter as she continued to speak.

"I guess it's cool. I know they know it, the ones downstairs. It's not something I can keep from everyone. For the longest time I thought that I was human. Only special. I wanted to be human since everyone else was.. everything else. All I wanted to be was an ordinary human girl. I never wanted this, but when I had a choice to be rid of it, I couldn't do that either."

She frowned at the thought. "Besides...I get enough demons, devils, fallen angels.. vampires attracting my attention anyway. Many of them wanting ill. 'Kill the messenger of Light!" She failed her arms about and even growled a bit before she laughed. "I don't need the entire army of Hell coming out of the woodworks. I'd rather stay like this. The deeper I go to my true form, the less of me I am and the more a servant I become and I won't have my free will."

[Guest]

Tasha listened as she pulled some things from the cooling unit. There was some slces of ham, some slices of cheese, yellow mustard, and bread. She began to make her sandwich while Epiphany explained her reasons for keeping her secret. When Tasha saw her flailing her arms and making that sound she laughed out loud. It was so funny the way she did it.

She put her sandwich together and put the things back in the cooling unit. She grabbed a cloth from the sink to clean up her crumbs. "Ok, so you want to hide what you are to continue to be your own being, not a servant of God? I can understand that. And trust me when I say this, I know from Demons." She shook her head at the memories of some of the Demons she's met. "But ya know, a lot of them have one thing in common. Their bark is worse than their bite." She chuckled and took a bite out of her sandwich.

Once she swallowed she spoke again. "As far as the Army of Hell, met some of them before. Nasty bunch they are. But I say, keep your free will, remain true to what you believe, never become anyones servant, and you'll be happier for it." She searched the cooling unit again and found a can of Dr. Pepper, well several of them. So she grabbed one up.

"Oh, and don't worry about anyone wanting to 'Kill the messenger of the light', all hellions and demons and monsters answer to their Gods as well, and well, three of those God's just happen to be staying here." She chuckled and grabbed up her sandwich and soda then moved her head towards the door that would take them back downstairs. She figured they would have more privacy from anyone who could have been at the bar or near the kitchen if they were no longer in the kitchen.

[Epiphany]

Epiphany had a second thought about food as Tasha started towards the steps. Manny was downstairs and, though he did have breakfast, that was a long time ago and he might be hungry now.

"I've met a couple that were true to their bite." To the fridge she got out an apple and an orange. Then, so Tasha wouldn't think she was getting food for herself after turning her down she said. "These are for Manny. One of them was the one who gave me those chains. Very vicious he was, but he could never harm me, and I him. He kept the others from me as well."

Following her down the steps. "I could never simply kill someone, dark or not. They all deserve a chance. That's why I try to stay me."

Was Manny still in the basement?

[Guest]

Tasha was headed down the stairs with her. "I agree, everyone deserves a chance, bad cannot exist without good, right?" She half chuckled. "Try convincing a Lych of that though." She had done just that, tried to convince Onyx that there had to be some spark of good in him somewhere.

[Guest]

Manny had written down the instructions Venis gave him so he wouldn't forget anything. He was reading the list to himself to make sure he had written it all down. A glance to the sleeping vampire and then he headed for the stairs.

As he looked up to begin his accent he saw Epiphany and Tasha returning. "Ahh, hello ladies. You both seem to be in higher spirits." He stepped to the side to allow them to finnish comming down and not hinder thier path.

[Epiphany]

Some people didn't want to listen. That's what she was going to tell Tasha about the Lynch comment. That was before they started down the steps and saw Manny.

Epiphany skipped a step or two, that golden pocket watch bouncing at her side. Manny seemed to leaving and she didn't want to stall if he had to go somewhere. "Hi Manny. I thought you might have been hungry." She held up the apple and orange. "Can't remember if you've had anything since breakfast. If you don't want them that's fine."

It wouldn't bother her if he didn't accept - most guys wanted actual food instead of fruit. Though she did get them for him, even smiled as she offered them.

[Guest]

Manny smiled and gave her a half bow. "M'Lady, you spoil me. I am simply addicted to fruit. I always try to eat fruit with every meal, and no, I had not eaten since breakfast. I thank you greatly. This will give me something to snack on while I run about doing what I need to do."

He smiled and took the offered fruit with an innocent kiss upon her cheek. "You are very sweet dear child." He was going to have to find a way to return the favor. Perhaps he could pen some stories for her later, she had mentioned that she loved stories and loved to read.

He waited for Tasha to finnish comming down the steps. "I shall see you all in a bit then." And up the stairs he went, taking a large bite out of the apple.

[Guest]

Tasha walked over to the chair she had previously occupied and sat down once again, this time swinging her left leg over her right. She chukled after taking a swallow of her soda. "Well, Epiphany, it seems you have made a friend for life. He really does love fruit, I would have warned you, but it was more fun to see your reaction to his joy."

She looked to Venis, who by all apperances was oblivious to her surroundings, but Tasha knew better. Venis knew who had come and gone without even looking up from her spell writting. "Sorry we took so long V, it was my fault." She undraped the chains from over her arm and stretched to reach over and put them on the bed.

She ate another bite of sandwich knowing that she would be answering questions within moments. She washed her food down with another swig from her soda can. She smiled as Epiphany found a place to sit. She thought that maybe if she asked a question first then she could avoid answering the questions Venis was about to ask.

"So, what do we do now? Are we waiting for Seleen and Dre? You know I don't like that you have to do this right? I mean, it's too dangerous. What happens if by some fluke, you do mannage to get past Kahn, Gawain and Dre? You know that everyone that will be waiting for you to come through that door will be waiting to kill you, right?" That should keep her busy for a second, maybe even distract her enough to not ask questions of Tasha.

[Guest]

"Diversionary tactics are not your forte' furgirl. I know that you were the reason for it taking so long, not that I was worried about how long it was taking." She looked up then. "So what was it that triggered so much pain?" She looked to Epiphany and smiled in aknowledgment of her presence. "Thank you for loaning me the chains."

She went back to her spell writting, she almost had the last one perfect. They had to be perfect because one wrong word, one missed translation, and the damage could be fatal. "Yes, we are waiting on Seleen and Dre. I know that you do not want me to do this, and I thank you for your concern and worry. I seriously doubt that I can get past all three, but if I do I know that death awaits me on the other side of that door."

She looked up again as she dipped her quill. "I have complete faith in my husband, my son, and my best friend to keep me from ..." A half chuckle at the pun to come. "Death's door. You know your mixtures and ingredients, I have gone over it with you. It's going to hurt like hell, but it's going to work. Now quit stalling and explain to me what happened upstairs."

[Epiphany]

Manny's reaction came as a shock. She had hoped that he would like the fruit, it was the kiss on the cheek that was unexpected. Epiphany hugged very few people - kissed even less, even if it was in a friendly way. Yes, she was surprised.

A wave to him has he vanished up the stairs before she sat, once again, on the bottom step. "You're welcome Venis. I hope they work for you." As to what happened upstairs. "Tasha passed out while looking at something."

[Guest]

Tasha thought to herself 'Oh my goodness, she's tattling on me.' But she would never say it outloud. Her intending it as a joke might not be as obvious to others as it would be to her. "It was the piano Venis." She lowered her head in shame as her cheeks turned crimson once again.

She looked up once she felt the rush of heat passing. She looked to Gawain and Kahn, they seemed to be just sitting there like a couple of guys hanging out. She would find no help there. Epiphany didn't know the background of the matter, so there went that back up. So it was just her and Venis on this subject. But she hoped that Epiphany's curriosity would get the best of her and she would ask questions somewhere in the conversation and take some of the heat off of her. Plus, there was always the hope that Kahn or Gawain would chime in on the conversation that was about to take place as well.

[Guest]

Venis let out a small sigh, so it was begining already. She penned the last few words of the spell and then put her things down turning her full attention to Tasha for the moment. "I'm sorry to hear that furgirl. Are you alright, physicaly I mean. I don't feel physical pain from you because of the emotional and psycological pain you're in at the moment."

She gave a slight cough because there was a tickle in her throat. She reached up to the table and picked up her goblet of bloodwine, took a sip and placed it back upon the table. Then she began to speak to Tasha again. "I know that the memories are painfull, but you have to work through the pain to get past it. And I know you love that song, I even know why. But please, for the sake of my sanity, could you try to think of something else. You have to remember that because I kept our mental link open 24/7 while we were gone, I heard that song every time it played in your head."

Venis loved the song too, she even loved hearing him sing it. After all, he was her friend. But it had gotten to the point that she wasn't even looking forward to going home to her rose garden. "So, which memory was it, Onyx and Schala issues again? Oh no, those came as you were trying to clear the others from your mind, because that was when your pain changed. So what were the others? The night he played that song, again?"

Venis knew how her friends mind worked, after all, she had been within it for years with no break. She had to do something to keep Tasha sain. She was loosing her control a lot faster than Venis was. And everynight when she went to sleep it was that song over and over and over, all night long. But it was what Tasha had to do to survive the situation mentaly.

[Epiphany]

"If it's a memory that caused her to pass out then there's no use in having her recite it again so soon." For her part, Epiphany was spinning the gold pocket watch; watching the light reflect off of the surface.

"You told her to think of something else, then you asked her which memory it was. She just got healed and is enjoying not being in captivity. At least give her a little time to come around." It really wasn't her conversation to get into but it seemed to her that the piano brought back a powerful memory to Tasha. Sometimes a person was never ready to talk about those.

[Guest]

((Sorry about the delays, been a busy couple of days.))

Tasha understood where both women were comming from. She sighed before she spoke again. "As far as the song, I'm sorry. Someone else put a differentsong in my head and I'll stop thinking about the one that's there." She shook her head slightly. "And yes, it started with the song, and yes I tried to use the Schala and Onyx thing to get it out of my head. But it was just a little too much for me at the moment."

She looked over at Epiphany and smiled seeing her playing with the pocket watch. "And Epiphany is right, I just don't want to talk about it right now. I want to put it out of my mind and concintrate on other things. So I'm going to start getting things together so when Manny brings me the bowl I can get the stuff mixed. Is that ok with everyone?" She wasn't trying to be rude, she just really wanted a distraction and didn't want to talk about why she fainted.

[Guest]

She was sitting, well floating more like it, on the floor between where Kahn and Gawian were sitting. Kahn to her right and Gawain to her left. She leaned back a little bit and put her right arm up on Kahn's leg, leaning her head against her arm. She raised her left arm up and winced as she used a pocket of air around it to keep it from making contact as she rested her left arm on Gawain's leg.

From that possition she found herself even more comfortable and better able to talk with everyone in the room. She could have taken a chair, but she always sat on the floor when spell writting out of habbit and was too comfortable to get up.

Anything she would have said to Epiphany would have come across as rude, and by no means was she trying to be rude to her about the situation. So she chose to only respond to what Tasha was saying, although it was for both laides ears. "I wish I could help with the song. But the songs that have been playing in my head would make things worse for you. You know how I am when I am in the possition I am in now."

She looked to Epiphany as well and she too smiled, it was rather cute the way she was paying with her watch like she was trying to pretend to not be paying much attention. "I wasn't going to ask you to go into detail about anything, I was just kind of hopng for a little clarification so that I knew how better to help you if and when you needed me to. If I know which memories trigger which reactions then I know better how to help. But if and when you want me to help, you know you only have to ask. I'm sorry if I sounded pushy. That was not my intent." There she was appologising again, She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

She continued to sit there in her current possition, finding it most comfortable. Her scars were starting to itch again though, which meant they were getting dry again. But she wasn't going to say anything about it. She knew they would be gone soon enough. No need to get nakked again and have someone rub her down with lotion.

[Epiphany]

"I didn't mean to intrude on what you two have." Epiphany couldn't find the exact word she was looking for. Sometimes she can off at the mouth in giving her opinions about things.

A lot of opinions about a lot of things - especially lately. Looking up from the pocket watch she saw how Venis was positioned between Gawain and Kahn. In a way it was funny. Not funny ha-ha, but funny interesting. Gave her the impression of a woman sitting on a throne, her personal guards at their positions. Put her in mind of a story.

Realizing that she had been starting to stare, Epiphany looked back to the pocket watch and kept her eyes there. It was one of those old style pocket watches, locket style, from the Victorian age, and it didn't tick.

"Are you all set Venis?"

[Guest]

Venis closed her eyes for a moment of relaxation and meditation, yes meditation. But she still knew to speak when spoken to. "You were not intruding dear, you had an oppinion and you voiced it. You will never be silenced from doing so from any of us."

She felt Epiphany staring and it made her smile. She was always so comfortable around her friends and family that sometimes she got lost in the comfort. She felt Kahns finger begin to twirl one of the curls in her hair. She figured he was doing so absently and smiled even more.

When asked if she was ready she almost hated to answer. "We await only three things. Manny returning with the bowl for Tasha, Seleen to return, and Dre to return. Then we will be good to go. I am so sorry that we are keeping you. I am most appriciateive of all your help though." Eyes still closed and ever so relaxed. Although she was still feeling quite high from the blood. It was invigorating.

[Guest]

Tasha had moved to the floor as well. She was going through her medical bag pulling out things that she needed. She also had a second bag beside her. That bag contained things they had picked up at a market on their way because they were things that she didn't usualy carry with her.

She had heard the exchange between Venis and Epiphany and smiled. She liked that they were getting along so well. She didn't want to bother Venis but she had to ask a question. "Venis, three cloves of garlic or four?" She turned her head to look towards Venis for the answer.

Venis held up four fingers. "Ok." She ate the last bite of her sandwich and pulled four cloves of garlic from the bag of things from the market. She set them into a stone bowl, and with another stone she began to crush them up. She removed the skins that had broken free and placed them back into the bag. The smell was attrocious. She had never before wished so badly for Dre to come along with some wind to clear the smell from the air.

Once she had the garlic ground into a paste she got out a measureing spoon and added two tablespoons of licorice extract. She mixed it with the garlic paste. She added some scoops of various powders from her medical bag. The smell of the paste was begining to change. It was quite a releif. And that was all she could do until she got the bowl from Manny.

[Epiphany]

Seleen and Dre. She had met them both and knew that they were currently out of the Inn. That wasn't a worry, they would be back soon enough.

"It's no bother being here. After this is done you all probably won't see me for a while anyway." pausing to frown for a moment. "I feel the need to be away." There she was spinning the pocket watch once more. "Not for too long of course, I have things to do here. But for a little bit of time. "

Time for her to go and collect herself from everything that has happened so far, and what will happen.

[Guest]

Venis kind of frowned, well, half frowned. "Well, I am indebted to you for this. If you need anything, pocket money, a vehicle for travel, anything. Please do not hesitate to ask. And know that we will miss you and wish you God's speed for a safe and joyous trip as well as a speedy return."

She meant it to, after all Epiphany wasn't the first to say she wanted to kill the vampire, she had heard it plenty of times. No need to hold it against her. And besides, it wasn't everyday that one of Epiphany's kind wanted to help her rather than hunt her.

[Guest]

Manny came bouncing down the stairs joyfully singing, of all things, Zippidy Do Da. He carried a large metal bowl in one hand and a tray of food in the other. The tray consisted of some sandwiches and fruit and a big steak. "I tried to cover all the bases, I didn't know who would be hungry save for the vampires."

He set the tray of food down and handed Tasha the bowl. "Venis, the men are all eating and awake and getting ready. There are two Rangers who will be headed down here after they have eaten to take Angel to her room. Come on babies." He patted his hand to the side of his leg. All four animals looked up at him.

"The men are all armed and Seleen's gun is fully loaded. Now I will take these guys out to play in the garden. Am I forgetting anything? Oh yea, as much as you hate this stuff, I grabbed up a couple bottles, just to be on the safe side." He handed one bottle to Epiphany and one to Tasha. They contained holy water.

He motioned for the animals to follow him and he headed for the stairs again, grabbing the last two orange slices from his orange off the tray. "Be back in a few ... Zippidy Do Da, Zippidy A. My oh my what a wonderful day. Plenty of sunshine ..." And he was up the stairs and gone again.

[Guest]

Tasha was scraping the paste into the bowl so she could add the rest of the ingredients when she started humming. "Hmmhmhmhmhmmm Hmmmhmhm, hmhmhmhmhmmhmmhm." She stopped and shook her head. "Oh yea, I had that one coming. Open mouth and insert foot, yes?"

She went back to making the paste for Venis. She added a cup of extra virgin olive oil, some ground bay leaves and about 14 other powders and liquids and began mixing them all together in the large bowl.

[Guest]

Venis giggled. "Yep, you asked for it kido." She thought it was rather funny. But she wouldn't after a few hours. She hoped that Tasha would find another song after a bit.

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