{"submission_id":"986359","keywords":[{"keyword_id":"743","keyword_name":"adventure","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"2920"},{"keyword_id":"60","keyword_name":"cat","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"110727"},{"keyword_id":"3283","keyword_name":"cheshire","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"329"},{"keyword_id":"44319","keyword_name":"contemporary","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"101"},{"keyword_id":"1979","keyword_name":"fae","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"307"},{"keyword_id":"2602","keyword_name":"fairy","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"2015"},{"keyword_id":"2193","keyword_name":"fantasy","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"11602"},{"keyword_id":"123","keyword_name":"female","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"519949"},{"keyword_id":"112296","keyword_name":"garuda","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"51"},{"keyword_id":"679","keyword_name":"herm","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"28675"},{"keyword_id":"1440","keyword_name":"human","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"46908"},{"keyword_id":"165","keyword_name":"male","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"639953"},{"keyword_id":"3313","keyword_name":"monkey","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"4908"},{"keyword_id":"10129","keyword_name":"supernatural","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"375"}],"hidden":"t","scraps":"f","favorite":"f","favorites_count":"0","create_datetime":"2015-12-14 00:50:32.281204+01","create_datetime_usertime":"14 Dec 2015 00:50 CET","last_file_update_datetime":"2015-12-14 00:46:22.108734+01","last_file_update_datetime_usertime":"14 Dec 2015 00:46 CET","username":"Simoni","user_id":"279733","user_icon_file_name":"75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_large":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_medium":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_small":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","file_name":"1353639_Simoni_part_2.9_the_barons_task.doc","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1353/1353639_Simoni_part_2.9_the_barons_task.doc","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1353/1353639_Simoni_part_2.9_the_barons_task.doc","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1353/1353639_Simoni_part_2.9_the_barons_task.doc","files":[{"file_id":"1353639","file_name":"1353639_Simoni_part_2.9_the_barons_task.doc","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1353/1353639_Simoni_part_2.9_the_barons_task.doc","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1353/1353639_Simoni_part_2.9_the_barons_task.doc","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1353/1353639_Simoni_part_2.9_the_barons_task.doc","mimetype":"application/msword","submission_id":"986359","user_id":"279733","submission_file_order":"0","full_size_x":null,"full_size_y":null,"screen_size_x":null,"screen_size_y":null,"preview_size_x":null,"preview_size_y":null,"initial_file_md5":"2a121b0f2c41dea730a39fcb4f80530e","full_file_md5":"2a121b0f2c41dea730a39fcb4f80530e","large_file_md5":"","small_file_md5":"","thumbnail_md5":"","deleted":"f","create_datetime":"2015-12-14 00:46:22.108734+01","create_datetime_usertime":"14 Dec 2015 00:46 CET"}],"pools":[],"description":"Oh shit! :O\n\nThe loa aren't pleased with Aisha, seeing her as a coward who ran away, and now they're demanding she prove herself before she get their aid, forcing the group to stay in New Orleans to speed the process of her gaining the power of vodou.\n\nTo make matters worse, the manticore isn't content to wait for them to return either! Another family has fallen victim in India and the mundanes have caught wind that something is up, now the Indian military could enter the jungle to put down this 'new breed of jungle cat'. The clock is ticking and the team needs to get their asses in gear, but it seems even the loa don't know who or what is causing this trouble in New Orleans... will they be able to solve this mystery before the manticore strikes again?","description_bbcode_parsed":"Oh shit! :O

The loa aren't pleased with Aisha, seeing her as a coward who ran away, and now they're demanding she prove herself before she get their aid, forcing the group to stay in New Orleans to speed the process of her gaining the power of vodou.

To make matters worse, the manticore isn't content to wait for them to return either! Another family has fallen victim in India and the mundanes have caught wind that something is up, now the Indian military could enter the jungle to put down this 'new breed of jungle cat'. The clock is ticking and the team needs to get their asses in gear, but it seems even the loa don't know who or what is causing this trouble in New Orleans... will they be able to solve this mystery before the manticore strikes again?","writing":"Flames everywhere, the air stank of oil and smoke, steel and the coppery tang of blood. They'd gotten most of the village, the survivors making a stand near the shrine.\n\n[i]Forget this! Run! You're all I have left! Why are you still fighting them?![/i]\n\nOne of the survivors looks towards the voice, his left eye ruined from a gash across it that came from some large edged weapon, blood oozing down his cheek.\n\n[i]Where would we go if we did? They don't just want us, they want all of it.\n\nSomewhere! Anywhere! The land is big, there must be somewhere they can't find us!\n\nNo. We won't run. They took my children, half the women are gone. We stand, we defy them to the last.\n\nThey’ll kill you! They’ll cut you all down! RUN!\n\nMy woman is still among them, she is with child. If I have even a chance, I will save her from them.\n\nThere are other women! Run away! Survive! Raise new children and in time we can come back![/i]\n\nThe scarred man glares at the source of the voice through his one good eye.\n\n[i]Coward...[/i]\n\nA sound, the man's head snaps around, and in the doorway there's a bright light, brighter than the sun, burning everything! The people in front are already turning pearly white, their faces frozen... and...\n\n\"What the hell are you dreaming about?!\" calls a voice as he looks down into a pair of bright yellow eyes, then with a loud snort Nelen sits up in the train car, shaking his head. Simoni is watching him with concern on her face, \"Nelen? You were tossing and sweating in your sleep... are you alright?\" she asks as the warlock takes off his hat and wipes his forehead. \"Y-yeah, I think so. Man that was a hell of a dream... something about... some village... a battle... bright lights...\" he sighs, \"Eh, it’s gone.\" he shrugs.\n\nNelen sits up in the train car, shaking his head as he takes a deep breath. \"How far are we from New Orleans?\" he asks as Dawn yawns wide, the cheshire in her cat form, \" 'bout an hour.\" she replies, glancing around the cabin. Arja and Drusilla are in there with them, along with Dusk, sleeping on his back with all four paws wiggling in the air as he chases dream mice (a bit more literal for a cheshire). The others got their own train car again of course, they only came so big.\n\nDrusilla frowns softly, putting a hand on Nelen's hand next to him, \"You ok?\" she asks, looking worried as Arja yawns loudly, stretching her body out, \"Hope Aisha's finished her prep work and all. Hate to cut a family reunion short and all but the sooner she does her rituals the sooner we have a trump card on that manticore, and the sooner a major threat in India is removed.\"\n\nNelen nods, stuffing his hat back onto his head and giving Drusilla's hand a squeeze, \"Yeah, just a bad dream is all Drus.\" he replies, nodding to the cyclops as he sits up straighter in the seat. It's just before New Year's, the group having stayed long enough for the holiday. Nelen had gone back with Alice to check over the woods just in case any of his other uncles or cousins had decided to come back from the grave, but all was quiet in the park after that. No manifestations, no ghostly phenomina, nothing more interesting than a few deer cutting through the park in search of some food.\n\nAs he sits up Dawn watches him, her yellow eyes narrowing a bit, but she doesn't comment yet. That dream felt... odd to her, but even the Cheshire knows better than to cause trouble so soon after what had happened. Back in the other cabin Stephy was leaning into Trixie, toying around on the 3DS he'd gotten from his aunt, planning out a Pokemon team equal parts Ice and Fairy type (stick to what you know right?) with a fluffy white scarf draped around his neck and shoulders. He didn't need anything to keep warm in the snow, hell he preferred [i]not[/i] to keep warm, but it was a cute scarf.\n\nTrixie smirks lightly, kissing Stephy's head as he plays, wrapping an arm around him, still feeling a bit protective after all that, but really just happy at how much the boy she used to have to defend all the time grew. Sammi yawns in his seat across from them, at least this time on the train he stuck in the same car the whole time. \"Well, wouldn't be a holiday with us without some mental trauma.\" he giggles with a grin. \"You did good though, Stephy.\" he adds in a more serious tone. On their own seat Alice and Nessa were curled up on each other, the pair still sleeping through the ride. They had pulled a few all-nighters being sure a trace of Roger didn't follow them back to the house or the like, now happy to be going back to the relative normality of a voodoo ritual...\n\nStephy glances at the blind hunter and her companion, then nods, \"At least they didn't find anything. I didn't think they would though, I mean... nobody comes back from that.\" he shudders again, then shakes his head and goes back to his game, leaning back into Trixie. \"Hope Natasha didn't get too bored without us. I mean yeah New Orleans is a pretty big vampire town and all, but it still kinda sucks we had to leave her behind.\" he sighs.\n\nIn the next car over Simoni flops back into her seat, \"So, you guys think vodou will really work as our trump card against that manticore?\" she asks, \"What about, y'know, whoever its boss turns out to be?\" she adds, frowning. That had been bugging the team all through Christmas, though they made very sure not to bring it up when Catherine or Greg were listening in. Nelen and Simoni had no illusions as to what would happen if their mom got wind that they were planning to go up against a manticore of all things. There's tempting fate and then there's pulling down your pants and mooning it.\n\nArja sighs, shaking her head \"No clue there. I think this will beat the manticore, it was a good idea to use some stuff it's never seen... but anything strong enough to hold that leash isn't just old, it's extremely powerful, even if it also doesn't know what vodou is I'm sure it would have better safeguards against magic in general...\" she sighs again \"I just want to find out WHO it is, I guess when we kill the manticore they'll likely reveal themselves.\"\n\nNelen nods, \"Yeah...\" he replies as Simoni crosses her fingers and whispers 'nonagakingnonagakingpleasepleasenonagaking' under her breath. She knew one of its masters was some sort of serpent, but one was too many as far as the garuda was concerned. The group fell silent after that, Nelen taking out a couple textbooks on Indian lore his father had gotten him for Christmas (best to be prepared right?) and flipping through them as Simoni wraps herself and Arja up in the quilt that her mother had made (she made Stephy's scarf too, she was rather good with crafts like that). Dawn had almost gotten a catnip mouse for Christmas until the group managed to hide it from her and explain to Catherine what it did and why you never gave any to a Cheshire until, unfortunately, Dusk found it. Thankfully he was still little and the spiders went away relatively quickly as the mouse went straight into the bin.\n\nThe train chugs on for a while, everyone doing their own thing, before suddenly Dusk's eyes pop open, he flips up onto his paws, and his tail swishes around, \"Fish! I smell fish! Shrimp! Lobster!\" he grins widely as Nelen glances out the window, \"Yep, there's the station.\" he nods, packing away his books and stretching.\n\nArja giggles, bopping Dusk's head softly, \"Yes, be good and we'll buy you a nice big shrimp plate tonight.\" she grins as Drusilla chuckles, shaking her head, \"Whatever it is we'll beat it, we're strong together, and this thing needs to hide behind a big monster, we can handle it.\" she nods. \n\nIn the other compartment Sammi leans over, tossing a few ice chips at Alice, who jolts up awake quickly, near throwing Nessa off her as she does so. \"Little jerk…\" Nessa huffs as she stands, adjusting her clothes and fixing Alice's up as well, \"I assume that means we're pulling in at least?\" she asks as Sammi nods, \"Yeah, we're here. Hey if this Vodou stuff goes screwy, can you handle that?\" he asks in return.\n\n Nessa shrugs at that \"Apples and oranges really, we have similar concepts but if she pisses a Loa off or something not like I can hop in and make peace.\"\n\nStephy nods, \"Yeah, our best bet if she does is to probably pop open a hedge gate and run.\" he says, putting away his game and undoing his scarf, packing it away with the rest of his clothes. It was cute and he did rather like it, but the balmy seaside air of New Orleans was much warmer than the cold wintery hills of Kentucky. The train hisses to a stop and they all disembark, catching a couple cabs back down to the hotel as Nelen digs out his cell phone and dials Aisha's number. \".... hey. Yeah we just got back. How soon is the ceremony?\" he asks.\n\nAisha's voice comes through the speaker sounding rather calm. \"It's gonna start pretty soon actually, come on over and we can get going.\" she replies, taking in a little breath, the sounds of other voices around her.\n\n\"Right. We're gonna drop off our stuff at the hotel and get Natasha, then we'll be there.\" he replies into the phone, hanging up. After a short stop to do just that the cabs take them to the DeLane house, the group disembarking and heading up the path as Dawn appears on Nelen's shoulder. \"So, you think the voice in your head is gonna behave himself this time?\" she asks as Nelen frowns at her, \"Depends on who shows up.\" he replies, \"Kalfu used to be part of Lucifer and he recognized that, if its one of the others... well, we'll have to wait and see.\" he nods.\n\nAlice nods as she follows the group, \"Well it [i]should[/i] be Kalfu. He's the guy in charge of this stuff but honestly that's the problem with Loa… They're very unpredictable at times, and Aisha isn't the most traditional priestess, don't know who's gonna latch on to her.\" she says, huffing a bit, \"Should be ready for anything really.\"\n\nNelen nods as they near the tent where the ritual took place last time, some of the other members of Aisha's family noticing the addition of Trixie, Nessa, and Alice to their group (they'd originally stayed behind, but Nelen went to get them via the Wulfshead when it was decided they were going north for Christmas). Stephy makes a small noise of agreement at Alice, \"Yep. First sign of real trouble Sammi and I open a portal and we leg it.\" he replies. The fae may not interact with the loa very often, but the vodou spirits creeped out even some of the fair folk.\n\nTrixie seems pretty at ease in the crowd. Her family actually came from Louisiana originally, and while she was born and raised in Texas she had lots of family over here still, and spent many summers visiting them and such. Nessa and Alice seem pretty calm too, the pair having been to far more unfriendly rites than a family gathering turned voodoo ritual. Nessa even gets herself a beer before Aisha's mother comes from the tent, dressed in her white robe like she was before. \"We're ready.\" is all she says before the family starts filing in. Just like before the tent is packed, the people manning the whips and drums and gunpowder bowls take their places, the once rather tense silence of the tent being broken quickly by the rapid sounds and pungent smell of burning gunpowder. Aisha stands in the middle, wearing a long, thin, white robe of her own, her hair tied into a tight bun behind her head as a cage holding a young pig is brought out to her, the middle aged man who channeled Kalfu before handing her a long machete with a silent nod.\n\nThe chanting around the tent gets louder as Aisha does her work, a quick slash is all it takes before the animal goes limp under her, the blood flowing around the pole in the middle of the tent. \"Come to me, Kalfu!\" she says in a firm tone, taking in a deep breath, \"I petition you for entrance to your domain!\"\n\nThe man's body stiffens, his eyes roll back, and then he suddenly lurches forward as a rictus grin spreads across his face. He straightens up, shaking his head, and chuckles, \"Not tonight little lady...\" he says in a voice not his own, but not Kalfu's either. Its very nasal, with a different sort of danger behind it, a much more inevitable kind. \"Me 'n the others, we done had a little chit chat, and I'll be runnin' dis show tonight.\" he chuckles, the air suddenly smelling of wet dirt and a faint aroma of rotting meat. \"Hmm... hold dat thought though... ah!\" he flexes his hand and, in a space of sliced time a jet black top hat appears in his hand, the loa stuffing it onto his host's head. \"There, much better! I always feel fuckin’ naked without mah hat...\" he nods, still grinning, so wide that they can almost see all his teeth.\n\nThe room quiets down as the new voice comes, Aisha frowning as she sees the hat manifest. \"This is not your domain, baron…\" she replies in a firm tone, trying to keep her composure, \"I seek the one who holds the keys to the Loa, you and I have no business yet.\" Despite her tone her chest was heaving slowly, the room seeing to go ice cold even to the fae boys as everyone watches carefully. Contrary to the image many had of the cheery dancing skeleton man, the presence of Baron Samedi was an incredibly powerful figure, the head of the Guede, the Loa of the dead and fertility both, he who holds the powers of both life and death in his hands...As she focuses on him one of her relatives quickly slips out the back of the tent.\n\nThe Baron's host just grins, \"Oh but we do. I speak for Kalfu 'n the others tonight little girlie, and we gots this to say...\" he jabs a finger at her, \"[i]Why[/i] should we offer a cowardly little BITCH like you any power little miss New York? Ya'll ran off! Ya'll turned your back on us! As far as some of us are concerned, ya'll can jes deal with ya fuckin’ manticore on ya own!\" he nods. \"We know why ya'll suddenly wantin' our help girl, something big 'n nasty comes up and you come scurryin' back like a little kid who ran away from home but shit her knickers when she saw how big da world really was...\" he shakes his head, tsking, then leans down so his head is level with Aisha's, staring right into her eyes, \"Ya'll want our help, ya'll gotta earn it now. No fuckin’ petitions girl. You gotta do something for the loa [i]first[/i].\"\n\nAisha just frowns at the jabbing finger, taking in a breath, \"What is it you require, then, baron?\" she asks as her relative returns quickly, holding a small tray with a bottle of rum and an expensive looking cigar on it, silently offering it to the possessed man to try to keep the spirit placated.\n\nHe smirks at the offerings, snatching up the cigar and rum. He takes a long pull from the bottle, knocking the entire thing back in one go before tossing it over his shoulder, the bottle shattering against the ground. He sticks the cigar in his mouth and leans into the burning gunpowder, puffing on it a few times to get it lit, then leans back and takes a deep breath, the end of the stogie glowing cherry red for a moment before he exhales a cloud of smoke through his nostrils. \"Good ta see ya'll didn't forget everythin' girlie.\" he sneers, then frowns, \"Anyhoo, down to business... specifically, my business. Someone in Nawlens has been fuckin’ around in my domain.\" he replies gravely, \"I dunno who, either dis guy is a rogue honfur who knows his shit, or he got some allies of his own, either way he must have one hell of a pair of balls on 'im, or a [i]severe[/i] death wish.\" he nods, pacing slowly before Aisha, taking a moment to deliberately flick some ash off the end of his cigar and onto her hair. \n\n\"Point is, he's fuckin' with the dead of Nawlens, 'n I ain't gonna put up with dat shit.\" he replies, his voice angry, \"The dead be [i]my[/i] domain, now dis sonbitch thinks he can just waltz in and steal they souls 'n bodies for whatever bullshit he wants?\" he suddenly spins, staring down at Aisha, \"Here's ya'll task you cowardly little bitch! Find him! Rogue honfur, necromancer, sin eater, I don't give a [i]FUCK[/i] who or what dey are! Ya'll find 'em 'n ya'll stop 'em, loudly 'n messily 'n all over da goddamn place!\" he smirks, \"And ya'll gunna do it, 'cause it be my help ya'll be needin against that big ol’ pussy back in India. I'm the giver of life too, nobody enters my domain less I say dey damn good ‘n ready... I can protect ya'll from it's venom, even ones of ya'lls group who don't have...\" his eyes swivel around to Nelen and Nessa as he grins his rictus grin again, \"... other means.\"\n\nAisha frowns, rubbing the ash from her hair, but nods, she wasn't in a position to argue by any means. \"Alright…\" she nods \"Where has this guy been hitting? In case you didn't notice there's a lot of graveyards and such here.\" She says, eyes remaining locked on him as he circles her. Nessa just sighs softly, nodding as well, \"He's right, my magics can only protect me, Nelen's rider is only for him, the only other person we have who can stand up to it is Lara, all our actual fighters would be killed instantly.\" she whispers to the rest of the group.\n\n\nThe baron nods to Nessa, \"Taco Bell over dere gets it.\" he sneers, then snaps his fingers as a folded up and battered tourist map of New Orleans appears in his hand, the loa tossing it onto Aisha's lap. Inside it are several places circled in bright red paint. \"Dese graveyards be the most recent ones dat bodies be missin' from. Getcha ass out dere, find whoever be doing it, 'n [i]fuck[/i] dem [i]up[/i] good 'n [i]hard[/i].\" he grins, \"If ya'll wanna... go ahead 'n kill 'im. I know I'd like to have a few very loud 'n angry words with dis one meself...\" he pauses, glancing away from the group as he raises his eyebrow as he cocks his head, as if listening to a distant sound, \"... hm... I need to update dat map it seems...\" he snatches it back up and looks at it, then glances away, \"... well now, dis is new. That one ain't no graveyard...\" he smirks, circling a new building on it by flicking some ash from his cigar onto it and rubbing it in a circle around the location. \"Looks like ya'll better hurry. Our boy seems ta be gettin' more... experimental.\" he chuckles, the new marker showing a school building.\n\nAisha frowns, \"A school? That's not good…\" she mutters, nodding to the group, \"Come on!\" she calls before looking back to the loa, \"When I do this this, our business is done.\" she speaks in a firm tone before quickly moving to the exit.\n\nHe grins, \"Yeah, when ya'll do.\" he smirks, \"Better hurry girlie... its not just my fuckin’ patience ya'll gotta worry about.\" he looks at Nelen, \"Ya'll check th' news on dat fancy ass toy ya got Mister Wizard?\" he asks. Nelen blinks, then nods, \"... yeah.\" he replies as the Baron grins wider, \"Check it [i]lately[/i]?\" he asks as a sudden chill runs through the group, Nelen pulling out his smartphone and opening up an app, his eyes almost bulging out. \"They're WHAT?!\" he gapes, the Baron cackling at his expression, \"Haha! Tick tock tick tock! Better get ya'lls asses in gear boys 'n girls, or else dat big ol’ pussy get hungry again!\" he laughs, sucking down the last of the cigar and tossing it into the gunpowder where it goes up with a loud whoomph, then his eyes rolling back as he collapses to the ground, the loa returning to his own realm.\n\nAlice frowns at Nelen, \"What is it, can't exactly check my phone too…\" she asks as she and Nessa move with Aisha, \"Kids you stay back, we don't know what this is!\" Nessa warns before grabbing Nelen and yanking him along as well as she and Alice run after Aisha, already running out to her car, \"School's not far from here, should be there fast.\"\n\nSimoni watches them go as the rest of the DeLanes are already discussing what just happened, Nelen stumbling along as Dawn chases after, the girl pulling out her own phone and opening it up. \"Okay... news... Jaipur...\" she falls silent and stares, \"... 'Family found butchered in jungle, tracks hint at unknown breed of large cat... [i]possible military intervention[/i]!' They're going to send in mundane soldiers?!\" she reads aloud in a shocked voice. It makes sense, some big unknown type of animal causing lots of destruction, mankind's first reaction is to shoot first, shoot later, shoot some more, and send what's left to a zoologist in a bucket to see what the hell it was.\n\nIn the car Nelen's face is grim, the warlock reading the story to Aisha, Nessa, Alice, and Dawn, \"Local authorities argue that the military is not needed, but the relatives of those slain have been on social media demanding a full investigation into their relative's deaths. This reporter believes its only a matter of time before soldiers arrive and begin combing the jungle...\" he reads aloud, his eyes steadily growing redder before he shakes his head and punches the back of the passenger seat hard enough to dent it, \"GODSDAMN IDIOTS! Bring all the guns you want, you'll be walking into a slaughter!\" he snarls, breathing through gritted teeth as he tries to force himself to calm back down.\n\nAlice shakes her head as Aisha drives rapidly to the school, \"This is insane. At least in the old days we had a fucking system, something scary happens and you call the guy who has a griffon skull hanging over his fireplace…\" she sighs as she pulls her phone out, dialing in a number quickly, the numbers making distinct sounds as they're pressed. It was a bit out of date for her to have a flip phone in 2015, but at least with this way she could find the numbers in a hurry! \"Mom, yeah it's me.\" she says into the phone, Aisha nearly barreling through a stop sign on the way to the school. \"Yeah, I'm fine, but there's an emergency in India... Yeah, good you saw. No not that, it's a Manticore. Yeah, you and dad need to call whoever we know in the area, I don't care if they're in fucking China, get them down there before they start rolling jeeps into the jungle and feeding this thing. Just have them make a distraction, set something on fire, give them a mutant cat's corpse, something to placate people or focus the military attention out of this for a few more days...\" It was a pretty desperate plan but it was better than letting a bunch of people march into a killing field.\n\nBack at the tent Stephy looks pretty worked up too, \"Dammit... this is bad... really bad. One good picture on a smartphone...\" he winces, \"We're no good here. Winter fae can't help in a jungle.\" he shakes his head, thinking of asking Sera for help, but their soldiers would already be at a disadvantage just from the heat down there, the manticore would tear them apart. Simoni glances back towards where the car drove off towards, then back at Arja. \"Hey! Why are we just standing around?!\" she demands, stuffing her phone back away, \"Arja, c'mon!\" she nods, already changing as her knees pop around backwards and scales grow along her legs, feathers sprouting all up and down her arms.\n\nSammi nods, frowning. \"Yeah, we can't do much, our warriors are assassins, shadow fights, that stuff, put is in a hot jungle against a brute force like that and we'll get slaughtered as badly as the humans...\" he sighs as Arja nods, hopping onto Simoni's back, \"Let's move!\" she nods as, a couple miles away, Aisha's car comes speeding into the school parking lot.\n\nSimoni lets out a loud eagle-like cry and shoots up into the air like a bottle rocket as Nelen and the others climb out and see... \"Well, shit.\" he sighs as they see a wall of police cruisers and several firetrucks. He looks around, then glances at Dawn and nods, the cheshire turning transparent, then a floating pair of eyes, before vanishing completely, the grass along the outside of the building rustling as if shaken by an unseen breeze. The school is a pretty fancy one. Big brick wall all around with a metal gate out front, a fancy sign with the word 'est.' followed by a date some hundred or so years ago. This wasn't just some high school, this looks like the kind of building that local CEOs, TV stars, and other people for whom the words 'net worth' are commonly used would send their kids on a regular basis.\n\nAs Nelen runs interference with the cops ('We saw the lights and wanted to see what was going on officer. My hands? Industrial accident, I really don't like to talk about it...') Dawn makes her way unseen into the grounds, sniffing around as she sees the source of the chaos. One of the classrooms has it's windows all blown out, smoke still billowing out of the building. She sniffs, then her fur fluffs up, \"Oh shit, another one!?\" she mutters, turning and quickly running back to the group, ducking around the ankles of the firemen as, up in the night sky, what looks like a green bird is circling over the building.\n\nArja frowns as she sees all the lights, nodding for Simoni to set down a good bit away so they could run up as just normal looking curious kids. Aisha shakes her head, looking around the school grounds that she can get a glance at \"This is weird\" she mumbles to Nessa and Alice softly \"Why target one of the city's nicest schools? I mean, why go after a school at all if you're a corpse stealer, but especially this one, this place has cameras, cops, uniforms, everything to make anything out of place be instantly noticeable and dealt with...\"\n\nThere's a sudden pressure on Arja's shoulders as Dawn appears, smirking, \"Took you long enough. I expected you guys to be here five minutes ago.\" she whispers, just loud enough to be heard over the police sirens, \"C'mon, let’s go find Nelen and the others, I know what did this.\" she mrowls, her tail still fluffed up slightly.\n\nNelen looks up as he sees Arja and Simoni coming into view, his eye twitching irritably, \"Kids, next time I'm going to have Dawn translate the words 'stay back' into every language she can think of just to be sure you two get the message.\" he sighs, then ushers them away from the crowds and bends down, waving Nessa (and by extension Alice) and Aisha over, \"So, what did you find Dawn?\" he asks as the cat's ears flatten, \"Another wraith, it’s gotta be. Older one too.\" she replies, \"Whole place stinks of burned flesh, but I don't think anyone alive got caught in it, I think its just how the wraith manifested.\" she nods, \"Either way, it's hiding now. Might not have had as much power as it thought, or maybe it's saving it up for something.\" she replies as Nelen sighs, \"Great, and there's no way we're getting in there now... I mean that school has elite written all over it!\" he sighs, \"You'd need to be related to Bill Gates or some bigshot sports player or...\" he pauses, then raises an eyebrow at the two girls, \"... or a [i]politician[/i]...\" he mutters slowly.\n\nArja blinks a bit at that, looking around confused before seeing Nelen looking at them, \"What, us?\" she finally asks, jumping a bit, \"I dunno, I don't really go to school now, it'd be tough for me to play mundane school girl…\" she protests, the girl having been 'home schooled', as it were, educated in the temple her whole life. Aisha nods at that, \"Still, he's right, none of you other kids can really sneak in unless you want to add the stress of making up a whole new backstory and all. You two ARE a diplomats' kids, the only 'lie' there is you can't, ya know, throw fire at bullies or whatever.\"\n\nNelen nods, giving Arja a very meaningful look, \"Speaking of which, don't throw fire at bullies. Yes I know what Stephy did to that kids tongue, but that's harder to trace to him.\" he adds, then straightens up, \"Rajesh should be able to speed things up by offering to help them rebuild that classroom. Hell, he could even say he wants you two here because of what's going on in Jaipur.\" he nods as Simoni makes a face, several faces in quick succession in fact, \"Wait wait wait... don't I get any say in this? I mean charging down after some ghostly monster is one thing but...\" she glances back at the school like an escaped convict seeing Alcatraz Island, \"... Nelen... c'mon... can't we just break in or something?\" she whines.\n\nAisha shakes her head, \"This place has legit security, the parents that send their kids here do so wanting them safe from shit like paparazzi and stalkers and all, and trust me 'diplomats kids break into school where mysterious fire started' would be a real awkward thing to explain.\" she replies as Arja sighs, but nods, \"She's right, I don't think we have a choice really. The closest to 'VIP' we have for the mundane world our age is Sammi's magician career and even then dad's the only one who can pull strings to register us fast and all.\"\n\nSimoni looks at her brother, “But… Nelen, c’mon. I mean… we don’t have enough time to do this! We need to-“ she starts, getting cut off as Nelen smirks, “Oh no. You two wanted to help out so much you flew right over here. I [i]insist[/i]. Let us [i]grown ups[/i] handle investigating the graveyards. This is something that only [i]kids like you[/i] can do.” he nods, seeming to be enjoying this a bit too much. \n\nSimoni opens her mouth, closes it, then lets out a low whine, \"But... I...\" she sighs, \"Fine... dammit I thought I'd escaped...\" she sighs, looking back over her shoulder at the building. She'd faced down ghosts, monsters, demons, and more... but somehow she felt she'd rather go up against the manticore by herself than do something she thought she'd never have to do again... go to an American school.","writing_bbcode_parsed":"Flames everywhere, the air stank of oil and smoke, steel and the coppery tang of blood. They'd gotten most of the village, the survivors making a stand near the shrine.

Forget this! Run! You're all I have left! Why are you still fighting them?!

One of the survivors looks towards the voice, his left eye ruined from a gash across it that came from some large edged weapon, blood oozing down his cheek.

Where would we go if we did? They don't just want us, they want all of it.

Somewhere! Anywhere! The land is big, there must be somewhere they can't find us!

No. We won't run. They took my children, half the women are gone. We stand, we defy them to the last.

They’ll kill you! They’ll cut you all down! RUN!

My woman is still among them, she is with child. If I have even a chance, I will save her from them.

There are other women! Run away! Survive! Raise new children and in time we can come back!

The scarred man glares at the source of the voice through his one good eye.

Coward...

A sound, the man's head snaps around, and in the doorway there's a bright light, brighter than the sun, burning everything! The people in front are already turning pearly white, their faces frozen... and...

"What the hell are you dreaming about?!" calls a voice as he looks down into a pair of bright yellow eyes, then with a loud snort Nelen sits up in the train car, shaking his head. Simoni is watching him with concern on her face, "Nelen? You were tossing and sweating in your sleep... are you alright?" she asks as the warlock takes off his hat and wipes his forehead. "Y-yeah, I think so. Man that was a hell of a dream... something about... some village... a battle... bright lights..." he sighs, "Eh, it’s gone." he shrugs.

Nelen sits up in the train car, shaking his head as he takes a deep breath. "How far are we from New Orleans?" he asks as Dawn yawns wide, the cheshire in her cat form, " 'bout an hour." she replies, glancing around the cabin. Arja and Drusilla are in there with them, along with Dusk, sleeping on his back with all four paws wiggling in the air as he chases dream mice (a bit more literal for a cheshire). The others got their own train car again of course, they only came so big.

Drusilla frowns softly, putting a hand on Nelen's hand next to him, "You ok?" she asks, looking worried as Arja yawns loudly, stretching her body out, "Hope Aisha's finished her prep work and all. Hate to cut a family reunion short and all but the sooner she does her rituals the sooner we have a trump card on that manticore, and the sooner a major threat in India is removed."

Nelen nods, stuffing his hat back onto his head and giving Drusilla's hand a squeeze, "Yeah, just a bad dream is all Drus." he replies, nodding to the cyclops as he sits up straighter in the seat. It's just before New Year's, the group having stayed long enough for the holiday. Nelen had gone back with Alice to check over the woods just in case any of his other uncles or cousins had decided to come back from the grave, but all was quiet in the park after that. No manifestations, no ghostly phenomina, nothing more interesting than a few deer cutting through the park in search of some food.

As he sits up Dawn watches him, her yellow eyes narrowing a bit, but she doesn't comment yet. That dream felt... odd to her, but even the Cheshire knows better than to cause trouble so soon after what had happened. Back in the other cabin Stephy was leaning into Trixie, toying around on the 3DS he'd gotten from his aunt, planning out a Pokemon team equal parts Ice and Fairy type (stick to what you know right?) with a fluffy white scarf draped around his neck and shoulders. He didn't need anything to keep warm in the snow, hell he preferred not to keep warm, but it was a cute scarf.

Trixie smirks lightly, kissing Stephy's head as he plays, wrapping an arm around him, still feeling a bit protective after all that, but really just happy at how much the boy she used to have to defend all the time grew. Sammi yawns in his seat across from them, at least this time on the train he stuck in the same car the whole time. "Well, wouldn't be a holiday with us without some mental trauma." he giggles with a grin. "You did good though, Stephy." he adds in a more serious tone. On their own seat Alice and Nessa were curled up on each other, the pair still sleeping through the ride. They had pulled a few all-nighters being sure a trace of Roger didn't follow them back to the house or the like, now happy to be going back to the relative normality of a voodoo ritual...

Stephy glances at the blind hunter and her companion, then nods, "At least they didn't find anything. I didn't think they would though, I mean... nobody comes back from that." he shudders again, then shakes his head and goes back to his game, leaning back into Trixie. "Hope Natasha didn't get too bored without us. I mean yeah New Orleans is a pretty big vampire town and all, but it still kinda sucks we had to leave her behind." he sighs.

In the next car over Simoni flops back into her seat, "So, you guys think vodou will really work as our trump card against that manticore?" she asks, "What about, y'know, whoever its boss turns out to be?" she adds, frowning. That had been bugging the team all through Christmas, though they made very sure not to bring it up when Catherine or Greg were listening in. Nelen and Simoni had no illusions as to what would happen if their mom got wind that they were planning to go up against a manticore of all things. There's tempting fate and then there's pulling down your pants and mooning it.

Arja sighs, shaking her head "No clue there. I think this will beat the manticore, it was a good idea to use some stuff it's never seen... but anything strong enough to hold that leash isn't just old, it's extremely powerful, even if it also doesn't know what vodou is I'm sure it would have better safeguards against magic in general..." she sighs again "I just want to find out WHO it is, I guess when we kill the manticore they'll likely reveal themselves."

Nelen nods, "Yeah..." he replies as Simoni crosses her fingers and whispers 'nonagakingnonagakingpleasepleasenonagaking' under her breath. She knew one of its masters was some sort of serpent, but one was too many as far as the garuda was concerned. The group fell silent after that, Nelen taking out a couple textbooks on Indian lore his father had gotten him for Christmas (best to be prepared right?) and flipping through them as Simoni wraps herself and Arja up in the quilt that her mother had made (she made Stephy's scarf too, she was rather good with crafts like that). Dawn had almost gotten a catnip mouse for Christmas until the group managed to hide it from her and explain to Catherine what it did and why you never gave any to a Cheshire until, unfortunately, Dusk found it. Thankfully he was still little and the spiders went away relatively quickly as the mouse went straight into the bin.

The train chugs on for a while, everyone doing their own thing, before suddenly Dusk's eyes pop open, he flips up onto his paws, and his tail swishes around, "Fish! I smell fish! Shrimp! Lobster!" he grins widely as Nelen glances out the window, "Yep, there's the station." he nods, packing away his books and stretching.

Arja giggles, bopping Dusk's head softly, "Yes, be good and we'll buy you a nice big shrimp plate tonight." she grins as Drusilla chuckles, shaking her head, "Whatever it is we'll beat it, we're strong together, and this thing needs to hide behind a big monster, we can handle it." she nods.

In the other compartment Sammi leans over, tossing a few ice chips at Alice, who jolts up awake quickly, near throwing Nessa off her as she does so. "Little jerk…" Nessa huffs as she stands, adjusting her clothes and fixing Alice's up as well, "I assume that means we're pulling in at least?" she asks as Sammi nods, "Yeah, we're here. Hey if this Vodou stuff goes screwy, can you handle that?" he asks in return.

 Nessa shrugs at that "Apples and oranges really, we have similar concepts but if she pisses a Loa off or something not like I can hop in and make peace."

Stephy nods, "Yeah, our best bet if she does is to probably pop open a hedge gate and run." he says, putting away his game and undoing his scarf, packing it away with the rest of his clothes. It was cute and he did rather like it, but the balmy seaside air of New Orleans was much warmer than the cold wintery hills of Kentucky. The train hisses to a stop and they all disembark, catching a couple cabs back down to the hotel as Nelen digs out his cell phone and dials Aisha's number. ".... hey. Yeah we just got back. How soon is the ceremony?" he asks.

Aisha's voice comes through the speaker sounding rather calm. "It's gonna start pretty soon actually, come on over and we can get going." she replies, taking in a little breath, the sounds of other voices around her.

"Right. We're gonna drop off our stuff at the hotel and get Natasha, then we'll be there." he replies into the phone, hanging up. After a short stop to do just that the cabs take them to the DeLane house, the group disembarking and heading up the path as Dawn appears on Nelen's shoulder. "So, you think the voice in your head is gonna behave himself this time?" she asks as Nelen frowns at her, "Depends on who shows up." he replies, "Kalfu used to be part of Lucifer and he recognized that, if its one of the others... well, we'll have to wait and see." he nods.

Alice nods as she follows the group, "Well it should be Kalfu. He's the guy in charge of this stuff but honestly that's the problem with Loa… They're very unpredictable at times, and Aisha isn't the most traditional priestess, don't know who's gonna latch on to her." she says, huffing a bit, "Should be ready for anything really."

Nelen nods as they near the tent where the ritual took place last time, some of the other members of Aisha's family noticing the addition of Trixie, Nessa, and Alice to their group (they'd originally stayed behind, but Nelen went to get them via the Wulfshead when it was decided they were going north for Christmas). Stephy makes a small noise of agreement at Alice, "Yep. First sign of real trouble Sammi and I open a portal and we leg it." he replies. The fae may not interact with the loa very often, but the vodou spirits creeped out even some of the fair folk.

Trixie seems pretty at ease in the crowd. Her family actually came from Louisiana originally, and while she was born and raised in Texas she had lots of family over here still, and spent many summers visiting them and such. Nessa and Alice seem pretty calm too, the pair having been to far more unfriendly rites than a family gathering turned voodoo ritual. Nessa even gets herself a beer before Aisha's mother comes from the tent, dressed in her white robe like she was before. "We're ready." is all she says before the family starts filing in. Just like before the tent is packed, the people manning the whips and drums and gunpowder bowls take their places, the once rather tense silence of the tent being broken quickly by the rapid sounds and pungent smell of burning gunpowder. Aisha stands in the middle, wearing a long, thin, white robe of her own, her hair tied into a tight bun behind her head as a cage holding a young pig is brought out to her, the middle aged man who channeled Kalfu before handing her a long machete with a silent nod.

The chanting around the tent gets louder as Aisha does her work, a quick slash is all it takes before the animal goes limp under her, the blood flowing around the pole in the middle of the tent. "Come to me, Kalfu!" she says in a firm tone, taking in a deep breath, "I petition you for entrance to your domain!"

The man's body stiffens, his eyes roll back, and then he suddenly lurches forward as a rictus grin spreads across his face. He straightens up, shaking his head, and chuckles, "Not tonight little lady..." he says in a voice not his own, but not Kalfu's either. Its very nasal, with a different sort of danger behind it, a much more inevitable kind. "Me 'n the others, we done had a little chit chat, and I'll be runnin' dis show tonight." he chuckles, the air suddenly smelling of wet dirt and a faint aroma of rotting meat. "Hmm... hold dat thought though... ah!" he flexes his hand and, in a space of sliced time a jet black top hat appears in his hand, the loa stuffing it onto his host's head. "There, much better! I always feel fuckin’ naked without mah hat..." he nods, still grinning, so wide that they can almost see all his teeth.

The room quiets down as the new voice comes, Aisha frowning as she sees the hat manifest. "This is not your domain, baron…" she replies in a firm tone, trying to keep her composure, "I seek the one who holds the keys to the Loa, you and I have no business yet." Despite her tone her chest was heaving slowly, the room seeing to go ice cold even to the fae boys as everyone watches carefully. Contrary to the image many had of the cheery dancing skeleton man, the presence of Baron Samedi was an incredibly powerful figure, the head of the Guede, the Loa of the dead and fertility both, he who holds the powers of both life and death in his hands...As she focuses on him one of her relatives quickly slips out the back of the tent.

The Baron's host just grins, "Oh but we do. I speak for Kalfu 'n the others tonight little girlie, and we gots this to say..." he jabs a finger at her, "Why should we offer a cowardly little BITCH like you any power little miss New York? Ya'll ran off! Ya'll turned your back on us! As far as some of us are concerned, ya'll can jes deal with ya fuckin’ manticore on ya own!" he nods. "We know why ya'll suddenly wantin' our help girl, something big 'n nasty comes up and you come scurryin' back like a little kid who ran away from home but shit her knickers when she saw how big da world really was..." he shakes his head, tsking, then leans down so his head is level with Aisha's, staring right into her eyes, "Ya'll want our help, ya'll gotta earn it now. No fuckin’ petitions girl. You gotta do something for the loa first."

Aisha just frowns at the jabbing finger, taking in a breath, "What is it you require, then, baron?" she asks as her relative returns quickly, holding a small tray with a bottle of rum and an expensive looking cigar on it, silently offering it to the possessed man to try to keep the spirit placated.

He smirks at the offerings, snatching up the cigar and rum. He takes a long pull from the bottle, knocking the entire thing back in one go before tossing it over his shoulder, the bottle shattering against the ground. He sticks the cigar in his mouth and leans into the burning gunpowder, puffing on it a few times to get it lit, then leans back and takes a deep breath, the end of the stogie glowing cherry red for a moment before he exhales a cloud of smoke through his nostrils. "Good ta see ya'll didn't forget everythin' girlie." he sneers, then frowns, "Anyhoo, down to business... specifically, my business. Someone in Nawlens has been fuckin’ around in my domain." he replies gravely, "I dunno who, either dis guy is a rogue honfur who knows his shit, or he got some allies of his own, either way he must have one hell of a pair of balls on 'im, or a severe death wish." he nods, pacing slowly before Aisha, taking a moment to deliberately flick some ash off the end of his cigar and onto her hair.

"Point is, he's fuckin' with the dead of Nawlens, 'n I ain't gonna put up with dat shit." he replies, his voice angry, "The dead be my domain, now dis sonbitch thinks he can just waltz in and steal they souls 'n bodies for whatever bullshit he wants?" he suddenly spins, staring down at Aisha, "Here's ya'll task you cowardly little bitch! Find him! Rogue honfur, necromancer, sin eater, I don't give a FUCK who or what dey are! Ya'll find 'em 'n ya'll stop 'em, loudly 'n messily 'n all over da goddamn place!" he smirks, "And ya'll gunna do it, 'cause it be my help ya'll be needin against that big ol’ pussy back in India. I'm the giver of life too, nobody enters my domain less I say dey damn good ‘n ready... I can protect ya'll from it's venom, even ones of ya'lls group who don't have..." his eyes swivel around to Nelen and Nessa as he grins his rictus grin again, "... other means."

Aisha frowns, rubbing the ash from her hair, but nods, she wasn't in a position to argue by any means. "Alright…" she nods "Where has this guy been hitting? In case you didn't notice there's a lot of graveyards and such here." She says, eyes remaining locked on him as he circles her. Nessa just sighs softly, nodding as well, "He's right, my magics can only protect me, Nelen's rider is only for him, the only other person we have who can stand up to it is Lara, all our actual fighters would be killed instantly." she whispers to the rest of the group.


The baron nods to Nessa, "Taco Bell over dere gets it." he sneers, then snaps his fingers as a folded up and battered tourist map of New Orleans appears in his hand, the loa tossing it onto Aisha's lap. Inside it are several places circled in bright red paint. "Dese graveyards be the most recent ones dat bodies be missin' from. Getcha ass out dere, find whoever be doing it, 'n fuck dem up good 'n hard." he grins, "If ya'll wanna... go ahead 'n kill 'im. I know I'd like to have a few very loud 'n angry words with dis one meself..." he pauses, glancing away from the group as he raises his eyebrow as he cocks his head, as if listening to a distant sound, "... hm... I need to update dat map it seems..." he snatches it back up and looks at it, then glances away, "... well now, dis is new. That one ain't no graveyard..." he smirks, circling a new building on it by flicking some ash from his cigar onto it and rubbing it in a circle around the location. "Looks like ya'll better hurry. Our boy seems ta be gettin' more... experimental." he chuckles, the new marker showing a school building.

Aisha frowns, "A school? That's not good…" she mutters, nodding to the group, "Come on!" she calls before looking back to the loa, "When I do this this, our business is done." she speaks in a firm tone before quickly moving to the exit.

He grins, "Yeah, when ya'll do." he smirks, "Better hurry girlie... its not just my fuckin’ patience ya'll gotta worry about." he looks at Nelen, "Ya'll check th' news on dat fancy ass toy ya got Mister Wizard?" he asks. Nelen blinks, then nods, "... yeah." he replies as the Baron grins wider, "Check it lately?" he asks as a sudden chill runs through the group, Nelen pulling out his smartphone and opening up an app, his eyes almost bulging out. "They're WHAT?!" he gapes, the Baron cackling at his expression, "Haha! Tick tock tick tock! Better get ya'lls asses in gear boys 'n girls, or else dat big ol’ pussy get hungry again!" he laughs, sucking down the last of the cigar and tossing it into the gunpowder where it goes up with a loud whoomph, then his eyes rolling back as he collapses to the ground, the loa returning to his own realm.

Alice frowns at Nelen, "What is it, can't exactly check my phone too…" she asks as she and Nessa move with Aisha, "Kids you stay back, we don't know what this is!" Nessa warns before grabbing Nelen and yanking him along as well as she and Alice run after Aisha, already running out to her car, "School's not far from here, should be there fast."

Simoni watches them go as the rest of the DeLanes are already discussing what just happened, Nelen stumbling along as Dawn chases after, the girl pulling out her own phone and opening it up. "Okay... news... Jaipur..." she falls silent and stares, "... 'Family found butchered in jungle, tracks hint at unknown breed of large cat... possible military intervention!' They're going to send in mundane soldiers?!" she reads aloud in a shocked voice. It makes sense, some big unknown type of animal causing lots of destruction, mankind's first reaction is to shoot first, shoot later, shoot some more, and send what's left to a zoologist in a bucket to see what the hell it was.

In the car Nelen's face is grim, the warlock reading the story to Aisha, Nessa, Alice, and Dawn, "Local authorities argue that the military is not needed, but the relatives of those slain have been on social media demanding a full investigation into their relative's deaths. This reporter believes its only a matter of time before soldiers arrive and begin combing the jungle..." he reads aloud, his eyes steadily growing redder before he shakes his head and punches the back of the passenger seat hard enough to dent it, "GODSDAMN IDIOTS! Bring all the guns you want, you'll be walking into a slaughter!" he snarls, breathing through gritted teeth as he tries to force himself to calm back down.

Alice shakes her head as Aisha drives rapidly to the school, "This is insane. At least in the old days we had a fucking system, something scary happens and you call the guy who has a griffon skull hanging over his fireplace…" she sighs as she pulls her phone out, dialing in a number quickly, the numbers making distinct sounds as they're pressed. It was a bit out of date for her to have a flip phone in 2015, but at least with this way she could find the numbers in a hurry! "Mom, yeah it's me." she says into the phone, Aisha nearly barreling through a stop sign on the way to the school. "Yeah, I'm fine, but there's an emergency in India... Yeah, good you saw. No not that, it's a Manticore. Yeah, you and dad need to call whoever we know in the area, I don't care if they're in fucking China, get them down there before they start rolling jeeps into the jungle and feeding this thing. Just have them make a distraction, set something on fire, give them a mutant cat's corpse, something to placate people or focus the military attention out of this for a few more days..." It was a pretty desperate plan but it was better than letting a bunch of people march into a killing field.

Back at the tent Stephy looks pretty worked up too, "Dammit... this is bad... really bad. One good picture on a smartphone..." he winces, "We're no good here. Winter fae can't help in a jungle." he shakes his head, thinking of asking Sera for help, but their soldiers would already be at a disadvantage just from the heat down there, the manticore would tear them apart. Simoni glances back towards where the car drove off towards, then back at Arja. "Hey! Why are we just standing around?!" she demands, stuffing her phone back away, "Arja, c'mon!" she nods, already changing as her knees pop around backwards and scales grow along her legs, feathers sprouting all up and down her arms.

Sammi nods, frowning. "Yeah, we can't do much, our warriors are assassins, shadow fights, that stuff, put is in a hot jungle against a brute force like that and we'll get slaughtered as badly as the humans..." he sighs as Arja nods, hopping onto Simoni's back, "Let's move!" she nods as, a couple miles away, Aisha's car comes speeding into the school parking lot.

Simoni lets out a loud eagle-like cry and shoots up into the air like a bottle rocket as Nelen and the others climb out and see... "Well, shit." he sighs as they see a wall of police cruisers and several firetrucks. He looks around, then glances at Dawn and nods, the cheshire turning transparent, then a floating pair of eyes, before vanishing completely, the grass along the outside of the building rustling as if shaken by an unseen breeze. The school is a pretty fancy one. Big brick wall all around with a metal gate out front, a fancy sign with the word 'est.' followed by a date some hundred or so years ago. This wasn't just some high school, this looks like the kind of building that local CEOs, TV stars, and other people for whom the words 'net worth' are commonly used would send their kids on a regular basis.

As Nelen runs interference with the cops ('We saw the lights and wanted to see what was going on officer. My hands? Industrial accident, I really don't like to talk about it...') Dawn makes her way unseen into the grounds, sniffing around as she sees the source of the chaos. One of the classrooms has it's windows all blown out, smoke still billowing out of the building. She sniffs, then her fur fluffs up, "Oh shit, another one!?" she mutters, turning and quickly running back to the group, ducking around the ankles of the firemen as, up in the night sky, what looks like a green bird is circling over the building.

Arja frowns as she sees all the lights, nodding for Simoni to set down a good bit away so they could run up as just normal looking curious kids. Aisha shakes her head, looking around the school grounds that she can get a glance at "This is weird" she mumbles to Nessa and Alice softly "Why target one of the city's nicest schools? I mean, why go after a school at all if you're a corpse stealer, but especially this one, this place has cameras, cops, uniforms, everything to make anything out of place be instantly noticeable and dealt with..."

There's a sudden pressure on Arja's shoulders as Dawn appears, smirking, "Took you long enough. I expected you guys to be here five minutes ago." she whispers, just loud enough to be heard over the police sirens, "C'mon, let’s go find Nelen and the others, I know what did this." she mrowls, her tail still fluffed up slightly.

Nelen looks up as he sees Arja and Simoni coming into view, his eye twitching irritably, "Kids, next time I'm going to have Dawn translate the words 'stay back' into every language she can think of just to be sure you two get the message." he sighs, then ushers them away from the crowds and bends down, waving Nessa (and by extension Alice) and Aisha over, "So, what did you find Dawn?" he asks as the cat's ears flatten, "Another wraith, it’s gotta be. Older one too." she replies, "Whole place stinks of burned flesh, but I don't think anyone alive got caught in it, I think its just how the wraith manifested." she nods, "Either way, it's hiding now. Might not have had as much power as it thought, or maybe it's saving it up for something." she replies as Nelen sighs, "Great, and there's no way we're getting in there now... I mean that school has elite written all over it!" he sighs, "You'd need to be related to Bill Gates or some bigshot sports player or..." he pauses, then raises an eyebrow at the two girls, "... or a politician..." he mutters slowly.

Arja blinks a bit at that, looking around confused before seeing Nelen looking at them, "What, us?" she finally asks, jumping a bit, "I dunno, I don't really go to school now, it'd be tough for me to play mundane school girl…" she protests, the girl having been 'home schooled', as it were, educated in the temple her whole life. Aisha nods at that, "Still, he's right, none of you other kids can really sneak in unless you want to add the stress of making up a whole new backstory and all. You two ARE a diplomats' kids, the only 'lie' there is you can't, ya know, throw fire at bullies or whatever."

Nelen nods, giving Arja a very meaningful look, "Speaking of which, don't throw fire at bullies. Yes I know what Stephy did to that kids tongue, but that's harder to trace to him." he adds, then straightens up, "Rajesh should be able to speed things up by offering to help them rebuild that classroom. Hell, he could even say he wants you two here because of what's going on in Jaipur." he nods as Simoni makes a face, several faces in quick succession in fact, "Wait wait wait... don't I get any say in this? I mean charging down after some ghostly monster is one thing but..." she glances back at the school like an escaped convict seeing Alcatraz Island, "... Nelen... c'mon... can't we just break in or something?" she whines.

Aisha shakes her head, "This place has legit security, the parents that send their kids here do so wanting them safe from shit like paparazzi and stalkers and all, and trust me 'diplomats kids break into school where mysterious fire started' would be a real awkward thing to explain." she replies as Arja sighs, but nods, "She's right, I don't think we have a choice really. The closest to 'VIP' we have for the mundane world our age is Sammi's magician career and even then dad's the only one who can pull strings to register us fast and all."

Simoni looks at her brother, “But… Nelen, c’mon. I mean… we don’t have enough time to do this! We need to-“ she starts, getting cut off as Nelen smirks, “Oh no. You two wanted to help out so much you flew right over here. I insist. Let us grown ups handle investigating the graveyards. This is something that only kids like you can do.” he nods, seeming to be enjoying this a bit too much.

Simoni opens her mouth, closes it, then lets out a low whine, "But... I..." she sighs, "Fine... dammit I thought I'd escaped..." she sighs, looking back over her shoulder at the building. She'd faced down ghosts, monsters, demons, and more... but somehow she felt she'd rather go up against the manticore by herself than do something she thought she'd never have to do again... go to an American school.","pools_count":0,"title":"Part 2.9: The Baron's Task","deleted":"f","public":"t","mimetype":"application/msword","pagecount":"1","rating_id":"2","rating_name":"Adult","ratings":[{"content_tag_id":"5","name":"Strong Violence","description":"Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death","rating_id":"2"}],"submission_type_id":"12","type_name":"Writing - Document","guest_block":"t","friends_only":"f","comments_count":"0","views":"45","sales_description":null,"forsale":"f","digitalsales":"f","printsales":"f","digital_price":""}