The sum total of the party's vista was a cramped and dank corridor, whose paving was splitting apart and feathered with moss and grime. In the cell furthest toward the end of the row sitting with his back to the side wall, Kaidan sighed heavily, and drummed his fingers against his knee.
'I'll bet you that floor's slippery.' From across the hall came a deep voice, one that, if the mood struck it, might be considered sultry; however, the mood had no inkling of striking, and as such the voice was veiled in supressed frustration at its owner's current predicament, who had initiated a conversation to fill his mind with something inane.
'How about we whistle a guard up here and see if we can get him to fall over?' the occupant of another cell suggested disinterestedly whilst fiddling with a lock of raven hair, 'Perhaps if he does we can steal his keys and get the flaming Hades out of here.'
'Am I supposed to be offended by that pun?'
'Shut up, Kaidan.' berated a fourth cell's occupant, her eyes glimmering with annoyance.
'Me? I'm not the one with the incredibly annoying voice.'
'Oh, so mature(!)'
'Both of you, dial it down!' ordered the fifth irritably, 'We'll get nowhere if we just sit here arguing with each other.' Back at the far end of the hall, one who was particular about voices scoffed.
'Like any other kind of sitting is going to get us out of here.'
'Well, sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves sure as heck isn't!' countered the inhabitant of the second cell, 'Why don't we try and think of a way out of here as a group?'
'Because I enjoy sulking!' Kaidan retorted petulantly, 'I'm good at it.'
'That much we already know…' Faith muttered.
'You're pretty good at getting us into trouble too, Kay, you must admit.' added Aden, 'How was it that you got us here, again?' Kaidan sighed exasperatedly.
'It's not my fault that lumpy thing turned out to be alive! I thought it was a gargoyle.'
'Gargoyles are alive, you idiot!'
'And they don't much like being sat on, either.' Vixen provided helpfully. Kaidan deadpanned.
'Gee, and I thought that was just because I looked like his grandmother.' Vixen rolled her eyes.
'I wasn't going to mention it, but now you've brought it up…' She trailed off at the untold suggestion. An insulted growl came from the first cell, shortly followed by a small wisp of smoke, which wafted into the cell across from it. Klaus waved the haze away from his face, then paused for a moment.
'Kade…' he began testily.
'What?' the addressed demon snapped indignantly.
'Are you on fire again?' Kaidan scowled, and pulled his hands into his lap like a child hiding the wrapper of a stolen sweet.
'I might be.' Klaus levered himself onto his knees, and shuffled towards the front of his cell.
'Try melting the bars.' The demon's metaphorical ears pricked up.
'What?'
'It might get us out of here. Give it a shot.' Klaus encouraged, shifting his weight to lean further forward. Across from him, the blood-haired boy sighed, manoeuvred onto his feet, and walked over to the bars.
Holding one steaming hand out in front of him, he pressed its palm to the wrought metalwork, and the contact made both the iron-like substance and his skin hiss loudly. Encircling the pole with his fingers, he felt the material begin to slacken in his hand, and he rotated his wrist slightly, and to his pleasant surprise, the metalwork moved with him, though it was still stiff. He let out a triumphant exclamation.
'Ha! Good call, Santa!' Still twisting the plastic metal bar with the heat of his hand, Kaidan beamed at the hybrid opposite him, who reciprocated the sentiment with polite applause, which was soon echoed by the others. After a while, though, the moment faded, and Kaidan's attention returned to the matter quite literally in hand.
'Umm… guys?' He looked at the others worriedly.
'Yeah?' responded Aden.
'…it's gone stiff again.'
'Oh, for the love of Pete…' Faith sighed, scooting back toward the wall of her cell and sighing pronouncedly.
'It's not a problem,' Klaus, ever the optimist, reassured the others, 'We just have to wind him up again, that's all.' Vixen cupped her chin in thought.
'You do have a point there. Kaidan?' she called down the hallway. The demon half-turned to his other friend.
'Yeah?'
'You suck.'
'What I do in my spare time has nothing to do with you.' he countered flatly. The metal remained unheated. Vixen sighed.
'Why does that not surprise me…?' she muttered.
'Oh, I don't know, maybe you have a natural gay-dar?' Kaidan suggested, unabashed. Down the hall, Aden almost choked on her own tongue, having tuned in at the wrong time.
'A what?!' she demanded. Vixen chuckled in good humour.
'A gay-dar.' She explained.
'It's only natural.' Kaidan added, throwing Aden an over-dramatized wink as he did so, trying not to snigger. Watching the proceedings with a mildly confused frown, Klaus felt the need to interrupt.
'That's nice, but we can get back to getting out of here, please?' Vixen laughed.
'Sure, if you can offend Mr De-Closeted over there.' Klaus sighed, and faced the burgundy-haired demon, who stifled his amusement and batted his eyelids at the brown-haired hybrid in front of him.
'Go ahead, Klaus. I've been thinking about you hurting me all day.' he flirted. The brunette rolled his chocolate eyes.
'Sure you have.'
'Oh, sure he has,' Faith piped up, 'He likes fantasising over what isn't his.' Kaidan's amusement dropped in an instant.
'I do not!'
'He so does.' Vixen encouraged, wising up to the game Faith had begun.
'Oi!'
'He's just desperate, that's all.' Faith served.
'I am not desperate!'
'Well, we all get lonely now and then…' Vixen returned with a strong forehand.
'So of course it follows suit that someone else's boyfriend is the first port of call.' Faith countered with a snappy stun-shot that skimmed the top of the net.
'HEY!'
'Well, I think-'
'You two can stop now.' Klaus cut in, and the ball dropped to the floor, and rolled embarrassedly off the pitch. The girls turned to face where Klaus was pointing, and saw that their effort was no longer required.
In amongst the heap of molten metal, Kaidan breathed fiercely, his shoulders heaving and emanating a small amount of steam. The daggers he glared at everyone present were barbed, with extendable blades hidden in their hilts.
'I…am not… desperate. Are we clear?' he hissed venomously, earning a nod from the others.
'Definitely.' Aden assured him, trying not to appear amused at how easily the young demon went from fun and games to offended bitterness.
'I take it your sincerity stems from you knowing that I'm your only way out of here?' The seething demon asked, his brow furrowed with aggression.
'It's not that, Kaidan; we do actually believe you.' Aden clarified gently from her cell. Kaidan scoffed.
'It's funny how you'll believe anything you're told when your life depends on it,' he chuckled shortly, 'Weakling half-breed scum.'
'Sawyer, you take that back!' Faith yelled, her eyes glazing over with a crimson tint. Stepping over the threshold of his cell and walking to hers, Kaidan crouched, and smirked with a kind of patronising sadism.
'Or what?' he asked, cocking his head, 'You'll leave me behind?' His voice had an eerie sing-song edge to it that made Faith's skin crawl. She fought back the urge to spit in that smug face. Seeing the visible effort she took, her boyfriend attempted to help.
'Fay, I'm pretty sure he's not himself right now. It must be that coming back to the Netherworld has made him more vulnerable to reverting to full-on demonic behaviour.'
'For his sake, that had better be true.' Faith warned threateningly. There was a creak from the edge of earshot, and all turned to face its cause.
'Oh, it is.' A black-haired boy with piercingly blue eyes confirmed, letting the thick gaol door swing to behind him.
'Everett?!' Vixen exclaimed, standing up in her cell, 'You'd better have a bloody good reason for leaving us to it.'
'Not bloody, fortunately,' Connor admitted, sending Vixen a chipper smile, 'Although I did spend a good while at the interrogative whim of the Overlord's right-hand demon, which wasn't as sunshine and rainbows-y as I'd hoped it would be.' The white-haired hybrid gave a disapproving scowl; before she could berate him, however, Kaidan stepped forward, eyeing the newcomer with spite.
'Well, if it isn't Just Connor,' he began, his lips curling into a snarling grin, 'Come back with your tail between your legs, have you?' Connor chuckled a little.
'Hardly, Kaidan. In fact, I'm feeling quite self-assured today.' The addressed demon hunkered over slightly.
'Self-assured enough to get in my way?' he asked, eyes narrowing.
'Oh, there's no need to rhyme with me,' Connor laughed accommodatingly, 'I'm only here to tell you the news.' Kaidan growled at the insubordination, and leered toward Connor, baring his teeth.
Aden interjected.
'What was the news?' she asked plainly. Connor turned to face her, and Kaidan froze in place, still growling under his breath.
'Well,' he began, crossing his arms behind his back in a mock-officious manner, 'D'you want the bad news or the good news?'
'Just tell us.' Vixen demanded irritably.
'Alright, alright…' Connor conceded, raising his hands in surrender, 'The good news is that the Overlord is willing to ask you what you're up to rather than just dismember you anyway, which is nice. The bad news, however, is that Awkward Annie's just as jilted as ever.'
'Annie?' Quiet up until now, Klaus cocked his head in questioning.
'Yeah, the big ugly one with lady issues.' Connor provided, gesturing the named demon's height by pointing to the ceiling.
'I thought all demons had lady issues.' Aden said, frowning slightly. Connor laughed.
'That much is true, but, uhh…' he trailed off, and nodded to the still-incensed demon standing before him, before continuing in a whisper, 'Don't tell Happy Face.' Kaidan tilted his head to one side slowly.
'Happy… face?'
'Yeah!' Connor provided cheerily, 'It's because of that sunny disposition of yours. Kinda cute, eh?' Kaidan blinked a few times, his expression utterly blank and nonplussed. After several moments, the blinking seemed to wipe away his unexplained anger from earlier.
'No.' he deadpanned. Connor chuckled.
'C'mon, you love it really.' Kaidan rolled his eyes.
'You're just jealous that I come up with better nicknames than you.'
'Whatever you say, Mr Happy Face.' Connor waved a hand dismissively.
'Don't call me that.'
'Okay, Mrs Happy Face.'
'Shut up!'
'Oh, come on, Miss-'
'Connor.' Vixen said flatly.
'Yeah?'
'That's annoying me now. Stop it.' Connor sighed in defeat.
'Oh, okay; if I have to.'
'Although,' Klaus began, 'we could still do with some angry demon prison-busting action to help us get out of here.' Connor turned to him, humour alighting in his eyes.
'You were using Kay to burn your way out?' he asked incredulously.
'Yeah,' Klaus confirmed, 'though it was more melting than burning. Why?' Connor supressed a chuckle.
'No wonder he was so pleased to see me!' Kaidan eyed him sternly, just begging him to continue. Connor did as was silently asked with a jovial expression, 'There's no need to rely on such an unpredictable source of freedom, guys.'
'And why would that be?' Vixen asked over-sweetly, her mild annoyance masked by sarcasm.
'Because,' Connor grinned, 'I have the keys.' Rummaging in his pocket, the young hybrid withdrew a set of thick wrought-iron keys, each sizeably larger than most a human would use.
'Where did you get those?' the now-redundant demon enquired, his curiosity genuine.
'Where d'you think, Happy Boy? They gave them to me.'
'I doubt that's because of your natural charm.' Vixen supposed bluntly. Connor snickered, and shook his head affably.
'No, not really. You've got to thank that Catherine person for the diplomacy;' he shrugged, 'how she manages to get on with them so well I'll never know.'
'It's called social skills, Connor. Perhaps you should look into it?' Vixen half-grinned.
'How did she help, anyway?' Aden asked, her eyes narrowing a little at the memory of the mysterious girl.
'Well, it appears that she is known here, and not in a bad way. If the Overlord thinks we pass muster, then the Keeper of the Records will talk to us.'
'All that from a name-drop, huh? This records person must be pretty fond of her.' The amber-eyed hybrid supposed, cupping her chin in one palm.
'Well, I get the impression it's more of a childhood friend thing than anything else,' Connor started, walking up to the bars of Vixen's cell, as hers was the closest, and trying each of the huge keys in the lock in turn, 'But I suppose we can ask him when it gets to that.' Once he found a key that fit, he turned it, and the lock clunked, dislodging the latch that held the door in place. Grinning with satisfaction, he gave the bars a gentle tug, and they swung away from the rest, leaving an opening through which the cell's occupant could leave. Vixen did so, nodding in wordless thanks to her fellow hybrid as she went.
Next, Connor moved to the adjacent cell, and the raven-haired girl within levered herself to her feet in anticipation. Walking out once the cell was open, she gestured to Connor for him to hand a key over, so that they could halve the time it took to free the others. He obliged, and soon Faith and Klaus stepped into the walkway, joining the others.
'So,' Kaidan reinstated the earlier discussion, 'do we go to see the Overlord now?' Connor chuckled.
'Somebody's eager for the off. You do realise this could be your death, right?' Kaidan considered his response for an instant.
'Yep.' Connor was a little taken aback.
'Doesn't the concept bother you?' Kaidan shrugged.
'I don't know. Ask me when it happens, and I'll tell you then.' The black-haired hybrid rolled his eyes.
'Anyway,' Aden steered them back to the matter in hand, 'do you plan to lead us to the guy, or do we have to get ourselves in some more trouble before we find our own way there?'
'Neither.' Connor stated, 'Instead, we will be escorted by a pair of the netherworld's finest.' He walked over to the heavyweight iron door through which he'd entered, and knocked on it, before calling, 'You can come in now, you two!'
The thick lump of metal swung in on its hinges, and past it entered two demons. One was roughly eight feet tall, with a burly musculature and flesh comprised of what looked like a grey-brown stone; at its broad shoulders was a smallish pair of bat-like wings, and above sat a head that would not have looked out of place on a dragon, with long fangs and a central horn at the end of its muzzle, as well as vertical slits for pupils. The other was of canine extraction, with a bushy red tail and short, dense dark blue coat, which faded to a light grey fur on its underside and at its feet, a long mane of a similar colour to its tail, and a large bladed horn between its red eyes, which was reminiscent of a scimitar. In short, both creatures were equipped with long claws and a scowl.
'You flatter yourself by acting so familiar with us, whelp.' The draconic one spoke, its voice deep and rumbling, and as gravelly as its appearance. The canine snarled its concurrence, and Connor raised a daring eyebrow.
'Now now, no need to act so high-and-mighty, I hardly referred to you as my brother from another mother, now did I?' The wolf-like demon stepped forward, growling.
'Learn your place.' To the surprise of most onlookers, the canine too had a working voice box, and its utterance had a hoarse quality, which was also somewhat in fitting with its physical orientation. Connor raised his hands in surrender.
'Alright, alright.'
Having thus far been captivated by the presence at last of two creatures he may take to call brethren, Kaidan, whilst he intended to speak, did not do so for some time and, although he'd opened his mouth and taken a step forwards in preparation, making everyone else stop and turn expectantly to him, he didn't register it. He took around a minute to gather his thoughts, and then he broke the silence.
'Hey guys, how's life?' Aden face-palmed, and Connor rolled his eyes. The draconic demon was a little nonplussed.
'Is that how the children say hello nowadays?' it queried. So far being the most adept at conversing with inhabitants of the underworld, Connor nodded.
'Yeah, he's a little confused; don't mind him.'
'Confused?' the demon blinked. Kaidan frowned indignantly.
'I am not confused, thank you!' The canine let out a guttural laugh, and paced around the boy.
'You are perfectly welcome to be confused, pup. Just don't expect us to explain it to you.' Kaidan grinned, and turned in a circle to maintain eye contact.
'No worries, I gotcha.' The rocky demon stared at him for a while, as if he were speaking a foreign language. Completing another lap, the canine returned to its place, and brought its tail round to his companion's shin in a reproachful slap.
'It means he understands, Malphas.' The tall one's expression cleared.
'Ah, I see.' From the middle-back of the group, a white eyebrow raised.
'You don't get out much, do you?'
'It is our culture to not neglect our duties, Miss. That means we do not expose ourselves to what you upworlders refer to as "culture".' the demon returned evenly, his face expressionless. Vixen snorted, displeased by the aloof reply.
'Don't you even get to go sightseeing? That sucks!' Kaidan remarked, slapping his hands to his sides in emphasis. Once more, Malphas' expression clouded over.
'…sucks?' The wolf-like demon rolled its eyes.
'Oh, for tyranny's sake, Malphas! Sometimes I wonder why I even get posted with you…' he trailed off, shaking his head in scorn. The burly demon turned to his companion and shrugged innocently.
'It's not my job to understand the upworlders, Lunari.' he protested. The canine was still not convinced.
'You hardly understand me most of the time…' he grumbled. In complaint of this berating comment, the stony one scrunched his face up, and appeared to be in some sort of discomfort.
'…did you just pout?' Klaus questioned, disbelieving. The wolf-like demon grimaced.
'I think he attempted to,' he faced the others, 'I apologise for my companion's behaviour. He knows little of the way you children work.'
'Children?' Vixen snorted, 'You two seem pretty immature to me.'
'That's just the gargoyle,' Lunari pulled his lips upwards into a snarling grin, 'I'm actually the most mature Hellhound this side of Hades.' Vixen deadpanned at him.
'Then we're in a lot of trouble.' Offended, the wolf-like demon narrowed his pupils to slits.
'Only if we elect for you to be so, Miss.' Something about his tone of voice sounded like a guarantee, and was indicative of regular utterance, as if threats were a common business-like procedure. This self-assuredness irked the opalescent-eyed hybrid. She opened her mouth to spit a retort, but was silenced by Connor moving forward to intervene.
'If at all possible, we intend to avoid trouble,' he said quickly, 'after all, we're only here for the Archives.'
'Well,' Lunari cocked his head to one side, 'you were rather heavily armed for an amateur historian, don't you think?' Undeterred, Connor flashed a confident grin.
'I wouldn't be so sure,' he shrugged, 'after all, the past can be an absolute killer.' The wolf-like demon snickered, and let out a raspy guffaw of laughter. After a few seconds, however, his amusement faltered, and his face fell completely emotionless as he fixed the black-haired hybrid with an intense, hollow stare.
'The same can be said of the present, boy.' Connor remained wordless, and his burgundy-haired companion scuffed his foot against the stone floor in nervousness.
'But… aren't you under orders?' he ventured cautiously. The canine snapped its eyes to his, and they narrowed.
'That we are, runt.' Hunkering lower to the floor, the beast stalked over to Kaidan in what must have been his trademark predatory manner, 'Besides, I'm sure Her Ladyship would prefer keep the pleasure of dissecting you and your impotent playmates all to herself.' This statement brought Connor out of his silence.
'Ladyship? I was told we would-'
'Pathetic homunculi like you should not get ideas above your station.' the gargoyle's gravelly interruption cut him off. 'The Overlord has more vital ways to spend his time than on trivial existences such as yours.' Connor, understandably put out, scowled at the massive creature.
'I thought successful rulers had time for all of their subjects.' he alleged defiantly.
'The homunculus has daring,' the canine remarked to his companion, 'but it is misinformed.'
'Indeed, Lunari.' The gargoyle crossed its arms in a surprisingly human gesture, 'It forgets that hybrids are not a concern of the netherworld, the same as their fates.' Connor glowered at the two demons, unconsciously clenching his hands into fists. Seeing his lack of composure, Kaidan attempted to intervene.
'If that were true, we wouldn't be here in the first place.' he supposed. The gargoyle turned to face him, his expression changing from passive aggression to mildly amused pity.
'Young one,' it began, 'do you not see that the only reason any of you are here is because of our concern for the younger generation?'
'Wha-?' Kaidan fumbled confusedly, scrunching his face in an effort to understand what had just been said. The gargoyle chuckled convivially.
'My boy, as insignificant as you may be, we do not intend to leave you in the charge of these pathetic crossbreeds. Besides,' he clamped a heavy hand on Kaidan's shoulder in what was presumably a comforting gesture, although it almost knocked the air from the young demon's chest, 'if they're here, we won't have any jurisdictional trouble, will we?' There was a kind of understated glee in the beast's crimson eyes, as if some cryptic in-joke had just been brought up. Assuming a reciprocation of sorts would be appropriate, Kaidan grinned, chuckling a little. Content with the act, Malphas straightened up again, and turned his back on the group, facing the door.
'I am glad that we have an understanding.' he averred to the boy behind him, 'Now, without further ado, we should hasten to the Central Court.'
The vast, thick doors of the Central Court swung open. The room was rectangular in shape, save the far corners, which were blunted at 45 degrees, giving the rear end of the hall the appearance of half an octagon. The squared end through which the group entered was situated under a vaulted ceiling, which was punctuated by wrought ironwork chandeliers, hanging from thick, gnarled chains until they were only a few dozen feet above head height. At the other end of the hall, the ceiling dropped, and instead of chandeliers was a recess in the back wall, which contained a storey-high statue of a broad, muscular figure, whose frame was sheltered within a massive suit of armour, to which was attached a flowing cloak of some kind. The carving echoed the light throughout its smoky black interior, as it was carved expertly from obsidian.
Back on ground level, the length of the room was divided by two rows of huge pillars, which were hewn roughly from some dense, slate-coloured rock. The walls were constructed from blocks of the same material, and the floor was one mass of polished black marble. Were it not for the fact that the room had the presence and majesty of some arcane cathedral, it may have felt a little oppressive to those who entered it.
In the wedge-shaped end of the Central Court a section of raised staging was positioned, and access to it was acquired by use of a small flight of wooden steps at its centre. Atop this platform was a trio of daises, the middle of the three being higher than the other two, which were on a level standing. The two outermost podiums were the situ of a pair of dark metal thrones, with backs shaped to look like a wing of a dragon, or similar flying reptile. The center throne was decked in pewter as well, and bore the shape of the beast's torso. The usual functional position of chair legs was occupied by the dragon's ribcage, and the seat was formed from a cavity removed from the creature, presumably from around the lungs upwards; however, the animal's forelegs were intact, and they served as armrests. As the dragon's shoulders narrowed into its neck, the top of its spine extended for a way, until it was cut off, not yet ending in the silhouette of its head. Instead, the head-height of the chair's occupant had been reached, so the space was left empty for them to fill with their own draconic countenance.
The aforementioned occupant of the throne was vacant, however, and Kaidan could not stop his eyes from being drawn to the space their absence left. No doubt the contours of the thing's shaping matched its commissioner's body perfectly, so that together the two really did look like some huge dragon, with its hind-parts burrowed into the floor. The thought occurred to him that, for this effect to work to its fullest extent, the one who sat in it must have been pretty imposing, as the height of the backrest alone was easily in excess of four feet, which was quite a lot larger than the length of the average torso. It was wide, too, and indentations were carved to make way for a pair of bulky shoulders, serving only to exacerbate the undeniable monstrous charisma of this figure, even in their absence. Kaidan shuddered as a chill passed over him, and shook his head, making an effort to snap out of it. Whilst one rather crucial person was not present, others were, and they demanded attention.
In a loose gaggle, he and his friends stood, about a third of the way into the hall. To his left were Aden, Vixen and Connor, who were exchanging comments – some of which were undoubtedly sarcastic – on the room's architecture with each other in hushed tones, and on his right were Klaus and Faith, who were wordless in their awe of the place. He turned completely to face them, and was greeted with the sight of their escorts, who glared at him in rebuke of his turning on the spot. Kaidan shrugged to the pair, and sidled up to them.
'So, guys, where's the head honcho?' The gargoyle observed him with scorn.
'Her Ladyship,' he enunciated with deliberate clarity, 'will see you in a moment.' Abated, though a little unimpressed, Kaidan's shoulders sagged, and he walked over to the others. As he approached, he overheard - at least, he assumed it was overhearing, seeing as it wasn't his conversation - the discussion of the room's décor.
'Still, I think it would be more practical if their main political stage was a little less oppressive.' Aden observed, surveying the almost dank colouration of the hall.
'Demons aren't practical,' Vixen returned level-headedly, 'they just shout a lot. Besides,' she waved her hand to a wall of gunmetal stone, 'if this was cream, or white, then it'd be too angelic to agree with their general decorum.' Beside her, Connor chuckled lightly.
'Sounds like you're an expert.' he grinned. Vixen turned to him, and flicked a lock of hair from her eye in nonchalance.
'It pretty obvious; demons want to be as unlike angels as possible in every way. It's understandable, seeing as they've hated each other's guts since day one.' The black-haired hybrid conceded, nodding slowly.
'Okay, I'll give you that one. Where angels are pompous, demons are belligerent.' he sighed, turning his gaze to the beams and arches that interlaced across the ceiling. Seeing this as an opportunity to make his presence known, Kaidan placed a hand on Connor's shoulder, and followed his gaze.
'This sure is one big room,' he observed, 'It makes me wonder how big this place actually is…'
'Too big.' Connor snorted in reply. The young demon snickered.
'You might actually be right on that score.'
At the far end of the hall, a side door, previously obscured by the massive columns, swung open, and through it strode a woman, almost elfin of frame, clad in a suit of lopsided armour that appeared to be made from a blued steel of sorts. An oversized pauldron rose until it was level with the top of her ear, and it fanned out in an array of metallic lames that appeared almost feather-like. The silvered fronds retracted as they descended down her arm, and gradually worked into a rerebrace, whose constituent plates appeared edged in a lacquer of some kind. The arm became a hand, and the intricate silver-blue gauntlet that clad it bounced shards of light into the eyes of the onlookers as the woman flexed her armour-clad left hand.
Paying seemingly no attention to her audience, she turned her back on them, and walked smoothly to the daises at the far end of the hall. With a practiced gait that gave the appearance of gliding up the small flight of steps, the woman strode over to the throne furthest to the right of the onlookers, and sat on it comfortably, allowing her head to rest against the folds of the dragon's wing, and those gathered in the hall an opportunity to look on her features, most for the first time.
She had large, open, ice-blue eyes that were set lightly in an ivory, finely-boned face, which angled in to a pointed chin. From her brow upwards, a hood-like helmet sat, its visor pushed up over her eyebrows, and obscuring her hairline. The woman wrinkled the bridge of her nose in derisory appraisal of those before her.
'You are the ones that were detained outside?' she asked, her voice clear and sharp, if slightly nasal. The burly gargoyle stepped forward, and bowed.
'They are, my Lady.' The addressed female half-nodded in acknowledgement.
'Thank you, Malphas. All of you, come closer.' She gestured to the group, and understandably cautiously, they edged forwards in a loose huddle. The collective mannerisms of the bunch brought a small chuckle from the woman, who now leant forward in her seat.
'I understand you are desirous of some information we hold in the Archives here.' His self-confidence taking centre stage, Connor nodded, and cleared his throat.
'We are. We're after tracing our lineages.' he explained simply. The woman raised a loosely-curled hand to her chin in contemplation.
'Judging by your lack of formal address, I assume you're hybrids.' Connor felt his skin bristle, and heard a small growl from Aden be cut off by Vixen behind him. He did his best to disregard the remark.
'We are, save one.' With this he stepped sideways, and beckoned for Kaidan to step forward, who did so, following the action with a small wave directed at the thrones at the back of the hall. The woman cocked her head.
'And what, pray tell, are you?' she asked, blinking with an almost insectoid curiosity. Kaidan put a hand to the back of his head, and scratched it nervously.
'I'm a demon.'
'A demon?' she parroted disbelievingly, 'I didn't know they came in extra-small…' The young demon frowned indignantly.
'I'm not short.' he returned.
'Not for a human, maybe,' the woman replied, gesturing to his height, 'but for one of us, that's quite pitiful.' Kaidan snorted, and folded his arms, offended, before Connor once more took the floor.
'Regardless, we'd like to see your records.'
'Oh, you would? Of course, we always acquiesce to hybrids' wishes here.' she responded sarcastically, narrowing her eyes.
'We were informed that our requests would be met.' Connor remained unabashed this time.
'Who by?' the armour-clad woman demanded.
'Haines, of Vindicta.' Connor replied. The female demon stalled, and lowered her voice near-instantaneously, much to her audience's surprise..
'I see… well, in that case, I am sure you would do no harm.' The black-haired hybrid, understandably a little put out by her reaction, furrowed his brows a little.
'Why does the mention of Haines make you so responsive?' In an instant the woman's demeanour re-hardened.
'You will watch your tongue, halfbreed.'
'Perhaps,' Connor returned, 'if you give me an answer.' Behind the conversers, Klaus dug an elbow into Faith's ribs.
'Is he insane?!' he whisper-yelled. Faith shrugged.
'I suppose he must be.' Vixen commented quietly, studying Connor's defiant posture carefully. Aden sent her a questioning look, and she waved it off with a nonchalant gesturing of her hand.
Meanwhile, at the dais, the armoured woman considered Connor's prompt for a few moments, before relinquishing and moving her hand from her chin to her metal-clad lap.
'Very well, I will answer you. We and this human-world organisation have a…' she thought for a moment, 'corporate understanding.' In his mind not quite getting the fullness of response he was hoping for, Connor opened his mouth to protest, but was silenced, 'That is all you need to know.'
'So, you'll let us see the records?' Connor pressed, his voice betraying budding enthusiasm.
'Yes. You will be escorted to the Archives directly.' At that the woman stood, and directed her attention towards a side-door, which was mostly hidden from the group by the rows of columns that bisected the hall. She gestured at the opening with her index and middle fingers, for whoever was behind it to come in.
A mass of velveteen navy fabric wafted into the room, and, rather precariously, a pair of black leather boots turned down at the knee shuffled underneath them. The frame supporting what was presumably a cloak of sorts was practically two-dimensional, with angular shoulders and a shallow ribcage, which tapered inwards, only to become obscured by the shapeless dark fabric. This article of clothing had a deep hood, which covered its wearer's head in its entirety. The figure brought a gloved hand across their chest, and knelt before the dais.
'My Lady.'
Kaidan froze as something eerily familiar stirred in his head. He knew that voice from somewhere, of that he was sure; there was something about its timbre that rang bells.
'Well, Marcus, I assume you know what you are to do.' At this remark the cloaked figure nodded and rose to his feet, running a hand across his scalp and sending his hood slumping back across his shoulders, revealing a shock of messy royal blue hair, through which the tracks of his fingers could be seen. The figure rolled his shoulders in some form of half-hearted stretch before turning to face the others.
'That I do,' Marcus appraised the small throng with eyes of blued silver, and flashed a toothy grin, 'this ought to be fun.'
It was at that point in which the cogs in Kaidan's head moved into life. He took a reflexive step back, and narrowed his eyes at the demon in front of him.
'You?! You were the one who scrambled my brain-case?' Kaidan asked incredulously. The near-skeletal boy smirked, and adjusted his elbow-length gloves. The others looked to each other in an exchange of glances, varying from concern to bewilderment, some not being aware of the events of some time ago.
'Yes. Does that surprise you?' Kaidan's mouth floundered for a few moments, and then found a coherent reply.
'Well, yeah. I mean… you do seem a little weaker in person.' The blue-haired lad laughed.
'Weak? Physically, perhaps; but why build up muscle when you can control someone else's?' Kaidan did have to admit, there was logic in his statement, but his approval was quickly blunted by the all-too-familiar tingling feeling at the base of his neck as the telepathic boy crept into his consciousness. Kaidan growled threateningly, and lowered himself over his haunches.
'Don't you dare…' The gawky young demon cocked his head in mock-sadness.
'Did you forget that we're friends now? I would never do that to you…' With that, he flicked his eyes to Kaidan's wrist, and sent a small impulse down his arm, making it fly upwards and back-hand him in the face. Kaidan grunted in annoyance, and used his available hand to hold his cheek, which was now heating with embarrassment. The mysterious boy chuckled.
'But that I will do. It's just so pleasing!' Before anyone could reply, the First Lady's resonant voice halted them in their tracks.
'Marcus, that's enough.' The aforementioned youth turned to her and bowed his head solemnly, and Kaidan felt him retreat from his mind, but not without leaving a calling card, in the form of a telepathic whisper.
'It's surprisingly fun playing in your head...' Kaidan narrowed his eyes at the mage, who flashed him a playful grin. The First Lady cleared her throat.
'Are you two quite done?' The two nodded quickly in slightly panicked unison.
'I'm not sure… it's so warm and cosy in here…' From behind the two boys, Vixen glared at Marcus.
'I do believe your superior is speaking to you, Marcus. It might be wise to pay attention.' Marcus deadpanned at the hybrid.
'How did you know I was-?'
'Call it a lucky guess.' Vixen cut him off sternly. Kaidan shrugged, and the blue-haired lad elected to take that as a piece of "leave well alone" advice. He turned back to the First Lady.
'If there is nothing else we can do for you, my Lady, then I shall escort these young ones to the Archives.' The metal-clad woman nodded, though waved for him to pause as he turned away.
'All I ask is that you do your duty to the best of your ability, Marcus.' She fixed him with an intent gaze, and a few seconds passed before Marcus conceded, nodding slightly. He turned away, and strode ahead of the group, gesturing to the wide doorway at the back of the hall through which they had entered.
'Ladies and gentlemen, if you would be so kind as to follow me.' Wordless, the collective followed him out through the thick wooden doors that swung open as if without the involvement of any hand whatsoever. As they passed through into the relatively dank corridor beyond, Marcus again made a flicking motion with his hand, and the vast doors swung closed with a creak, cutting the party off from the view of the hall behind them. Put a little ill-at-ease by this, Vixen attempted an indirect approach at learning more.
'So, how long have you been a telepath?' she piped up, stepping around her raven-haired friend to examine the boy's reaction more closely. Marcus fobbed her off with a half-hearted shrug.
'About as long as I've been breathing.' Vixen narrowed her eyes, as if limbering up to a challenge.
'I've heard that fully developed telepathics don't need to use their lungs to survive.' Marcus flashed her a small grin.
'As have I, though I've also heard that expending energy on something as trivial as artificial breathing when you have better things to spend it on is rather ineffectual.' The opalescent-eyed hybrid was not to be deterred.
'Ineffectual? So what is it that you do which has an impact on things round here?' she cocked her head slightly.
'Whatever I'm told.' the blue-haired boy returned even-temperedly. Vixen scoffed.
'Such as?' The gawky lad sighed, as if he were mildly pained by something, but exaggerated the portrayal of it for dramatic effect.
'What do you expect me to say?' he asked, casting his gaze across the gathered throng, 'That I participate in enhanced interrogations, or what?' at this remark, the young demon threw a wink at Kaidan, whose expression moved from neutrality to standoffishness in an instant.
'Perhaps.' Vixen fixed him with a spurning glare. Marcus was a little taken aback, like he had just realised he'd overstepped a boundary of some sort.
'I see. Well, in that case, I think it prudent to tell you that you should learn to follow orders and do what you're told regardless of what qualms some people may have about it. Keeping in line keeps you in favour hereabouts.' With that, he walked past the group and started down the corridor behind Faith and Klaus, who were bringing up the rear. As he passed by them, a pair of amber eyes flicked to follow his movements, and dialled in on his ease about the place.
'Keeping in line?' Aden asked, making the blue-haired demon stop in his tracks. He looked at her blankly for a few moments.
'Yes.' Immediately after he had spoken, he strode off down the corridor and turned a corner, disappearing from sight. Vixen glanced to her friend, who nodded in response, and the pair of them walked ahead, leading and encouraging the rest of the group to follow.
The Archives were a labyrinth of sorts, comprised of a plethora of stands and shelves arranged in what could, ultimately, only be described as purposeful mayhem. There appeared to be no sorting system whatsoever; scrolls sat by ancient clay tablets, and the vast majority of any documents the group could see were scrawled over in differing scripts, some of which didn't even look like they were functioning languages at all. In truth, it was not that far from a child's expectation of what a vast library may look like, save for the dusky, flickering lamplight and black peeling stucco that reminded the visitors that they were looking at a demon's idea of professional and practical décor. Like the hall from before, the Archives had a notably high ceiling, though whether or not it was vaulted could not be seen in the half-light, and likewise it could not be properly discerned where the room's sprawling, murky vastness ended.
Ahead of the hybrids, the pair of demons stood, one of whom was glaring daggers at the back of the other's head, who was utterly oblivious, instead sighing as if in recognition of an old friend.
'I really do get out too much…' he muttered to himself, and wiped a gloved finger through a layer of skin-thick dust on a nearby shelf, looking nearly as if he were about to inhale it, like a drug upon which he was dependent. Behind him, Kaidan clenched his jaws tightly shut, unsure of how to act around the demon responsible for his experiences that only felt a long time past until he was reminded of them, with a nonchalance that was unsettlingly similar to rubbing it in.
'Practice in here, do you?' he asked, trying – and failing – to sound indifferent as opposed to aggressive. The blue-haired demon turned back on his foot, and regarded Kaidan with an understated curiosity.
'Do you think I need practice?' he enquired, tilting his head to one side and maintaining a totally flat expression, in a way not all that dissimilar from a mannequin. Kaidan's skin crawled at the lad's prideful audacity to mock him so.
'Do I?' he snapped. Marcus bowed his head.
'Until instructed otherwise, I will respect your privacy; you have my word.' he assured gently, turning away once more. Put out at his apparent sincerity, Kaidan furrowed his brow in wariness.
'Why would you change your behaviour so quickly? Am I not what you were looking for after all?' he asked, all too aware of the fact that their escort may yet again change his tune at a moment's notice, as he had seen earlier to be quite possible with demon-kind.
'As of now, I have a different assignment,' the blue-haired lad explained around the point, deliberately keeping his tone mild so as not to rile anyone, 'one which does not involve reference to my earlier actions.' He did not turn to face the other demon, and instead found something interesting to scrutinise on the shelf he had touched a moment before. Still glaring at his back, Kaidan exhaled slowly through gritted teeth.
'What might that be?' he probed, practically flaunting the fact he had no trust in this newcomer whatsoever. At this the cloaked demon looked back over his shoulder at him, and forced a diminutive smile.
'Helping you.' he said plainly. Kaidan pondered this for a while.
'So… you're just following orders?' he supposed, a little calmer now.
'Of course. It would be treason for someone to take matters into their own hands.'
'Oh, a stickler for the rules, are we?' the young demon cocked his head. Marcus chuckled flatly.
'In a way.' he conceded, before starting off between the aisles of shelves.
The thickly-dusted shelves ran like pews along either side of the group, and they surveyed the room with wide eyes, glancing from one thick spine to another.
'Ooh!' Connor seized a book from the shelf upon reading its spine and cradled it in his hands with a certain reverence, 'Hey, guys, listen to this! "Hoc Libro est Inutilis".' He looked to Marcus, 'what does that mean?'
'"This book is worthless", but it makes it sound interesting enough to read, don't you think?' Connor was baffled for a moment.
'…Demon logic?'
'The very best!' Marcus grinned.
'So, you make up random titles that sound cool to give your library more credibility?' Vixen supposed, raising an eyebrow.
'We don't need improved credibility, Miss Chazona, but what we do need is shelf-fillers. There is nothing more infuriating than empty spaces, wouldn't you say?' The blue-haired demon remarked, eyes flickering with enthusiasm.
'Yeah. Sure.'
'After all,' the gawky cloaked figure began, the side of his mouth curling upwards near-imperceptibly, 'Empty spaces are what you're here to fix, no?' From behind Vixen, Klaus faced back from an aisle of shelves to narrow his eyes at his guide.
'I do hope that smirk wasn't meant to be visible.' he warned in low tones. Marcus cocked his head minutely, disc-like silver-blue eyes wide in his unabashed expression.
'I presumed that a little humour would lighten the mood of the situation,' he sighed, 'but, alas, it appears I judged my timing incorrectly.' He ran a bony hand through his hair, and started off between the aisles of shelves.
At the end of the avenue of books was a clearing of sorts, populated by a large free-standing wrought iron lamp and an ornately-carved dark wooden desk, presumably crafted from mahogany or an equivalent thereto. This desk bore a slight upward incline towards its far edge, giving it the appearance of something between a table and a lectern. Approaching it confidently, Marcus hefted a large, tattered book from a nearby shelf and gently lowered it onto the desk, lifting the front cover carefully, tucking the strands of fraying binding and leather under his fingers. Settling the book so that its spine laid flat to the desk to allow for easier browsing of its contents, he ushered the group over with a wave of his hand.
'I assume that this would be a good place to start.' he stated, not taking his gaze off the contents of the immense volume.
'What is that?' Faith piped up, shifting her weight onto one leg and folding her arms suspiciously.
'Is that what I think it is?' Vixen asked quietly, raising a brow. Marcus chuckled.
'You tell me, Miss Chazona.' Vixen rolled her eyes and strolled over to the book, leaning over to examine it.
'This isn't written in one language;' she muttered, brow furrowing, 'there are extracts here in Celestia's native tongue as well as the netherworld's, and even some human languages...' she scanned each leaf quickly, before flipping them over and scrutinising their successor.
'That's because this volume is an abridged record of the Insurrection, from all accounts.' At that instant Vixen's attention snapped from the book to Marcus, and she gaped at him, taken aback.
'You mean to say this has everything?' Aden asked, stepping forward to stand at her friend's side in an attempt to see the book for herself.
'As much as is feasible for one book.' Marcus answered flatly. 'However, more detail in regard to the cast of this veritable drama is available elsewhere.'
'Cast?' Vixen questioned, 'How do you mean?'
'You wished to trace your families, did you not?' the blue-haired demon smiled. Eyes widened across the group.
'Can we see them?' Faith chirped impatiently.
'Not them specifically,' Marcus chuckled, 'though there are some basic illustrations. We do keep biographies of all major lineages, though, and some minor ones.'
'So, we're covered?' The group's demon guide flicked his gaze across each of them in turn.
'Almost certainly.' Faces lit up in unison, and Marcus continued, 'So, shall we start chronologically?'
'Just start wherever it would make most sense to.' Klaus instructed, dead-pan.
'Very well...' The cloaked demon hunched over the vast book, and ran a gloved finger down the page, before coming to a stop over a particular line of text. 'Miss Ravenkey, we shall cover you first.'
'Me?' Aden asked confusedly, 'Why is that?'
'I assure you, favouritism has nothing to do with it. We start here merely because of your ancestor.' Amber eyes became inquisitive slits.
'Go on.'
'Of course. Your last name – Ravenkey – do you know how you came to acquire it?'
'No, only that my mother bore the name too.' Marcus nodded, and folded a hand under his chin.
'That seems legitimate.' he picked up the large book in his hands, and turned to an entry about two-thirds of the way through it, 'Records state that your ancestors inhabited the netherworld almost exclusively until a few hundred years ago, where presumably your demon ancestors met their angelic counterparts. Where your ancient roots lie are, however, far more interesting – most scholars agree that the term "Ravenkey" is not so much of a name, but a title. One that implies the exclusive access to "the Raven", or, more specifically, his powers.' Marcus removed his gaze from the book, and made eye contact with Aden, whose brow was furrowed in a rather confused attempt to filter and process the oncoming information. After a few seconds, she nodded.
'Okay, as you were.' Marcus nodded diminutively in return.
'Very well. The bearer of these powers is not known by his real name, only by how he was known in his era – as "The Great Raven" or "Raven King". He was a Greater Demon of immense endowment; his reputation brought fearful reverence from even the most steadfast of subjects. It is said that he initiated the study of the arcane in person, and that he and his descendants had the ability to control any force of creation for their own ends. Of course, since he was a scholar himself, these allegations are slightly biased, but we do know that he was very gifted indeed.'
A quietness fell temporarily as the collective waited for Aden to speak.
'So, I can be a badass?' she asked finally. Marcus grinned impishly.
'The demon half of you can.' Vixen huffed, and perched on the edge of the angled desk.
'This is the part when you tell each of us that our angel halves suck, isn't it?'
'Actually, the Nosferatu influence is remarkably less pronounced than is commonly believed.' Vixen frowned.
'I'm not sure this is the time for vampire puns.'
'If not now, then when?' Marcus enquired, raising an eyebrow.
'Never. Vampire puns suck.' Aden quipped. Marcus deflated a little, placing the massive book back down on the desk beside Vixen.
'Bettered by my own wordplay... I definitely get out too much.' he muttered, before standing up again, 'I think now would be a prudent time to retrieve your family records, Miss Ravenkey, so if you would excuse me...' Trailing off, Marcus left the group to their own devices, disappearing amongst the labyrinth of bookshelves and scroll racks in a waft of black fabric.
'Okay then,' Aden broke the awkward pause just before it settled, 'does anyone know why some ancient magic dude is the logical place to start?' From his position leaning against a bookshelf, Klaus chuckled gently.
'Judging by the expression on his face, he was just giving himself an excuse to indirectly brag about demons.'
'I guess we do have to take what we learn here with a pinch of salt – after all, it'd be weird if what we're told wasn't biased.' Aden replied thoughtfully.
'I think you'll find any source provides bias as well as information, Miss Ravenkey.' a familiar voice came from behind her, and her gaze was met with the sight of the returned velveteen-clad demon holding a small hardback and several scrolls to his chest securely.
'Oh, you're back. What did you find?' Marcus took this as a cue to proceed, and approached the table once more, depositing his inventory onto its surface, making sure to weight the papers in place with the book. He opened the volume, and gestured for Aden to look over.
'What we have here is a concise history of the origins of arcane study, which your ancestor developed near single-handedly. It is perhaps more for interest's sake than it is required information, but I presumed you would want to have a modicum of background context.' Aden nodded, and slipped the book off the table and into her hands. Cradling it, she soon lost herself to its contents. Seeing the opportunity to speak, Faith piped up, fixing her eyes on Marcus.
'If that's all, what about the rest of us?'
'I had not forgotten, Miss Pryke. In fact, I was rather waiting for such a segue. You see, some of your families are rather more accessible than others. That said, we do have some leads as to their current whereabouts.'
'Leads?' Faith questioned, 'You mean to say you've lost them?'
'Not as such,' Marcus evaded, 'it's more that we had little reason to keep tabs on them.'
'You exiled them, didn't you?' Klaus prompted flatly, throwing a stern glance Marcus' way from his position beside the bookself.
'Most enforced the banishment upon themselves, Mr Clarke. After all, it was very turbulent in the Court at the time, and-'
'I don't want to hear about your pathetic politics;' Klaus cut him off, 'What I do want to hear is whether or not we can find our families.' For a few moments, the blue-haired demon's expression clouded over, before he shook his head, and reinstated eye contact.
'I regret to say that not all lineages can be traced. It appears that your family in particular has disintegrated, and as such they no longer exist, at least in the netherworld.'
'What?!' the auburn-haired hybrid snapped, immediately standing up and glaring at Marcus.
'I do apologise, Mr Clarke.'
'Like heck you do,' Faith snarled, stalking over to the lanky demon, 'you've probably got heaps of records detailing everything about how you got them out of the way.' Marcus frowned.
'If we were covering something up, we would not keep records of it in the public archives. And before you ask, I would not be privy to their whereabouts.'
'Then what about our angel sides?' Vixen intervened diplomatically, 'Surely there's some trace of them; keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and all that.' Marcus' face brightened a little at the diversion.
'Indeed so, Miss Chazona. We have quite detailed accounts of many of Celestia's inhabitants.' he said shortly. Vixen bided her time for a few moments.
'...well?' Marcus gave her a rather smug grin.
'Indubitably, Miss Chazona. Shall I retrieve your family's records for you?' Before the rainbow-eyed hybrid could reply, Aden raised her hand in the air, seemingly reappearing out of her literary fugue.
'You're going to have to hold on that one.' she declared, 'First, I'm going to need directions.'
'How so?' the blue-haired demon asked, raising an eyebrow.
'It says here that there's an ancestral home of the Raven-kin – apparently that's another nickname of ours – that's in the... Per... hang on a second.' Aden stalled to examine her book carefully, before resuming, 'Pergrice Abyss. Wherever and whatever that is.'
'Ah, the Abyss.' Marcus took up the baton of conversation, and gesturing to an imaginary map in the air in front of him, 'that's a little west of Pergrice's mountain range. As the name suggests, it's rather remote.'
'Do you know how to get there?' Aden asked eagerly, her eyes flickering.
'Let me guess. You follow the dangerous bit, find some more treacherous areas, pass the road of no return and stay the night in the expanse of extreme pain.' Vixen deadpanned.
'Actually, the Expanse is far to the south. That said, you are right in your implication of multiple opportunities for death.' Marcus replied evenly. Aden rolled her eyes derisively.
'We're kinda used to that by now. Can we get there or not?' The black-clad demon folded his arms in consideration of Aden's remark.
'Hm... I don't see why not. Whilst you'd need an escort, the journey is not that long. I am sure something could be arranged.'
'Wait, really?' Aden probed, practically doing a double-take at the ease with which permission was seemingly acquired.
'He's just giving his superiors more chances to remove us from the picture.' Klaus remarked flatly.
'If you were to be removed, Mr Clarke, you would no longer be here.' Marcus returned, equally expressionless.
'Hmph.' Klaus scoffed, crossing his arms and glowering at the floor.
'So... can we go?' Aden prompted, her tone decidedly light and cheerful in regards to her usual attitude. She turned to Vixen, who nodded.
'It would make sense to do this as a group, rather than each of us splitting up and getting our butts kicked individually.' she conceded. She turned around, and went to ask for concurrence from those behind her, only to see their absence.
'Hang on... where did Connor and Kaidan go?'
Crepuscular lamplight danced across the thick vellum pages, and glossy ink stiffened the material where it sat on its face, causing rises and divots within it's surface. Making a faint crackling noise as he ran his finger over the ridges, Kaidan hummed to himself in thought.
'I think this is it, J.C.' Across the aisle, Connor turned away from his examination of the bookshelf to gaze curiously at the vicinity of the back of Kaidan's head.
'You do? Let me see.' He strode over, and peered over the burgundy-haired demon's shoulder. On the page in front of them was a stylised line drawing of an equine creature, with dusky blue shading adorning its flanks and a straggly mane that closely resembled black seaweed.
'Yeah, that's it.' Connor remarked, tapping the open book in conclusion, 'What does it say it is?' Kaidan held the book closer to his chest, and peered at the scrawled writing at the top of the page.
'I'm pretty sure it says "Kelpie". I think I've heard of that somewhere.' The black-haired hybrid nodded.
'Me too. It's a water spirit, right?' Kaidan scanned down the page for more information.
'Apparently it's a "shape-shifting aquatic equine that entices passers-by to attempt to ride it. When they do so, the Kelpie encases the rider's legs and walks them into their home body of water, waiting until they drown to release and eat them.".' he quoted, furrowing his brows slightly in confused realisation of what he was reading.
'So it wasn't friendly after all.' Connor huffed. Kaidan examined the page a little further, and broke out into snickers.
'Apparently the Kelpie chooses its prey based on the "assessed weakness of the creature", and their "lack of ability to defend themselves". No wonder it liked you so much, Connor.'
'Hey!' Connor reprimanded, 'I can defend myself! It's that dumb horse's fault for mistaking me for something its own size.' Kaidan looked up from the book and looked flatly at the hybrid.
'Metaphorically.'
'Yes, metaphorically.' Connor grumbled irritably, 'I'm not actually a huge stinking four-legged thing that looks like a reject from a Satanic pantomime.' Kaidan's eyes glinted as mischief came to him.
'Oh, you're not? It must be your cologne.' he smirked, and Connor let out a derisive growl in his direction.
'You're just feeling smug that you've actually found someone you're vaguely related to, aren't you?'
'Yep!' the young demon chirped, grinning broadly. Connor sighed long-sufferingly.
'We haven't even found any records of you yet, and you're already bouncing off the walls. Anybody would think you liked that librarian dude or something.' Shortly, Kaidan snapped out of his cheerful daze.
'What?!' he demanded abruptly. His hybrid companion laughed understatedly.
'Come on, you've been giving him the eyes ever since we got here. Besides, you two clearly have a history, don't you?' he catechized gently, enunciating each word with considered precision.
'History is what we are here for, Mr Everett.' from behind him, the black-clad demon had made his approach, followed closely by the rest of the group. Connor turned round quickly, alarmed.
'Ah, you guys. There you are. We were, uhh...'
'Just heading back.' Kaidan provided quickly. Vixen stepped forward, eyebrow raised in cynicism.
'Were you looking at the pretty pictures?' she mocked. Kaidan pointed at the black-haired hybrid in front of him.
'It was Just Connor's idea.'
'Just Connor?' Vixen questioned, eyes flickering with humoured glee, 'Are you sure you had nothing to do with it?' The demon shuffled backwards to a shelf and slipped the book he was holding between a pair of others.
'Definitely.' Vixen rolled her eyes and sighed lengthily.
'Whatever you say.' she remarked, feigning indifference.
'I hate to interrupt the jovialities, but weren't we heading somewhere?' Marcus prompted deliberately.
'We were?' Connor frowned. Beside Vixen, Aden grunted impatiently.
'We can explain on the way, just get moving!'
