Xibalba

[Aiden]

Serana

"How dreadful." Her well-manicured nails brushed against Joseph's skin. Her words flowed like honey into his ear. "Is there anything I can do to help, dear?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Joseph

Joseph's finger went back to pressing under his lip as he thought about it. "Well, I need more materials. This raid was alright but it only had a few interesting things. Whatever books you have on specimens I haven't seen yet would be good, and I'd want samples from the rest of your minions for more experimentation. There's a lot here that doesn't exist in my world anymore."

[Aiden]

Serana

"Is that all? I have the knowledge of many worlds' creatures to share with you in that case." She tapped his chest and hummed in amusement. "I can provide this for you, of course. It shall take some time but, I suppose you have learned a patience superior to that of the humans in your experiences, yes?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Ezekiel

NEXUS TIME    4:15 AM

COntinued from Great Dojo

"And what am I, chopped liver?"

Tap...tap...tap...

Grey sterile halls, the smell of formuline... ahhh, this brought him back to so long ago. Always count on friends to grow the most interesting fruit... all ripe to bite into. It would be nice if they left some for him then.

"Plagues, unknown creatures, and happiness? Hooo boy, sounds like that's trouble stirring in the air." A shadow followed a heavily clothed silhouette. Knightly, in a sense, but going from its waltz to its figure, it looked more like a carefree traveler's. A familiar gait, careless with every sway of his hip. Almost playful too, like a cat, or a chipper bird plucking at worms.

Until the light showed his visage.

And with that, it returns home. And yet something looked different about him. Wrong. Like pieces of a puzzle were melding together now, and whatever came out from it was whole... abhorrent... not in a physical sense but rather in the sense that he should not even be there.

Old.

And smiling at the two like the same old friend.

"Not that I'd care... but if it's you two, I want in."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Joseph

Nexus Time 4:15 AM

He took a moment to place the face walking up to them, vaguely remembering having seen it before. Then Joseph snapped his fingers as he finally recognized the figure. "Oh, you're the older Zeke! You seem more put together now. I was wondering if stuffing more things into you before would have changed you, but you seem more streamlined than before. I would have taken notes if I was around."

[Aiden]

Serana

The lich turned her attention from Joseph, to her other servant's rather bombastic entrance. An elegant eyebrow lifted in curiosity at the differences evident in him, and then she tilted her head as Joseph elaborated.

"What precisely did the two of you get up to?" She began to circle around them as they stood closer together, her heels clicking and clacking against the hard floor. "I go off to negotiate,and the next thing I know all manner of initiative has been taken without attempts to keep me informed. Why, it's almost enough to leave a woman concerned."

Then, a scowl. "And since when is your name Zeke, creature?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

Wide eyes were soon met with a hand cutting motion over his neck as he grimaced, staring right at Joseph uncomfortably. He glanced back, tried to take a step in that direction, but before he could...

Oh no.

He shifted, trying to squirm away from the clacking. But he was surrounded. Be it by the sound... or her glare. It was like being under s microscope. A searing microscope with a death beam attached to it.

"I've held onto that name for a few years, but I've only made it truly mine... a few hours ago? Hrm, let's see. I think before then it was..." He put a finger to his chin and thought a little. "Anastasia? I think that was it. Or maybe Rosette? Elizabeth? Jacob? Colan? Samuel? Give me a break, I couldn't possibly remember them all. Haha..."

Silence. Deathly. Just play it cool, play it cool boy...

"I like keeping you guessing." He put his hands up, shrugged in surrender, and grinned cheekily.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Joseph

"I don't know what he did." Joseph shrugged his shoulders with a look of total carelessness on his face. The man already looked like he was in enough trouble so tossing the rest at his feet just seemed to make sense. "I just had an expedition for some resources that he helped with. Though he did look different before."

[Aiden]

Serana

"I do not guess, Zeke." The way her smooth, aristocratic voice spoke his name made it sound like an insult compared to the impersonal manner she referred to him before. "You will explain everything that has transpired in my absence, and the potential implications to my current plan." The necromancer pressed a cruelly manicured fingernail into the creature's back.

"As soon as I finish elaborating upon it, of course. Your punishment will depend how well you acquit yourself in its execution."

And then, looking past Zeke, Serana turned her attention back to Joseph. "How much time would it require you to return function to the freshly dead?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Joseph

He reached over to another slab where a man's body laid, his throat recently slit by an experiment. The wound closed almost immediately before the man twitched and shook back to life. His blood rushed through his body in an instant and he rose, a bit confused. Then an insectoid stinger inserted itself into his head. "About that fast, more or less."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

He blinked at her unamused reaction and... gasped.

"I'm hurt, really. Must you scorn me for so little? I come bearing gifts and good news, and you bare your claws at me. I come to offer aid in your endeavors, and you throw curses at my feet. I hope you're up to the task Joseph, cause I fear there's no fixing my broken heart."

He crossed his arms. There was a surprisingly hurt feeling to his voice... if only a little. Like he wasn't actually angry at all, but merely shocked that she was upset in the first place. But more than anything, the look he gave Serana was hollow and devoid of feeling. Only avarice.

"While you were speaking with that wretched chief, I offered her entire district on your platter. While you rest, my jewels are hard at work to unlock a source of energy so vast you will never have to search for mere salvage ever again. And I've come bearing not one, but three artifacts that will prove invaluable to your cause, without mentioning information and a map so you may plan your future assaults. Do not scorn me, darling, tonight is a night to rejoice."

He bowed politely and presented two orbs containing samples, which rolled down Joseph's feet. "I would have brought them here, but I was interrupted by a scoundrel before I could finish the job. Oh well."

[Aiden]

Serana

"Excellent," she said with a nod toward Joseph's display of expertise. "Then the impact shall be quite immediate, and more helpful to my designs."

Now, what was it that her first servant from this world was complaining about? Serana lifted an eyebrow in bemusement at his theatrics. "I would have thought you'd be looking forward to my inevitable cruelty. Or was that amusing streak of masochism when we first met nothing but a deceptive show?"

She scoffed. "Shall I pat you upon the head for a job well done that I knew not of? Don't make me laugh. Show me what you have, and I may reconsider punishing you for deceiving me."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

His brow raised up and he shook his head, raising his hands like a helpless lamb trying to hold her evil away.

"Oh no no, my bad there. Please, punish me as much as you please, or pat me till your hands get sore. Its not like I care either way. It's just... weird." And with that, a hand reached for his hip while the other rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

"I just thought you'd be jumping in joy seeing how damn great our ventures have gone."

...

"Ahem, anyway, I would have totally told you, but it's not like I planned for anything. Besides, do I look smart enough to pull one under anyone? When you see a door opening, you gotta just take it, force it open and grab the opportunity." He paced back and forth a bit, twitching as if he felt the ever-present shiver down his spine. Or perhaps it was something more.

And suddenly, he turned around with a big smile and walked towards Serana. Two large hands pressed down on Serena's shoulders. HIs black voids within his eyes practically glimmered like a kid. He looked like he was so happy he'd break into song.

"So I'm grateful. When she gnawed on that reptile... well, my heart skipped a beat!"

[Aiden]

Serana

Were she anything living, Serana may well have tensed up at the sudden contact. Instead she remained cool and collected as only one whose heart was still could be. "Ah, then the flesh of the beast was a trap. Good work. That is the manner of trap we shall lay for the people of this city."

She pushed Zeke back, slowly, with a fingertip against his chest. "I want you to cause some damage to the other 'districts' further down this waterway, end some lives but leave the bodies... relatively intact."

Then the lich looked back to Joseph. "You, then, will bring the victims back, and my heralds will present us as a divine force. Worship and compliance will follow swiftly, and my other plans will be able to progress."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

He stared eyes wide gaping at her. "Huh? You've got a sick sense of humor if you expect me to be halfhearted about this..."

He slammed his fist shut and grinned like a monster, a smoldering shadow of heat and pressure cracked the floor under him as he stared riiiight into Serana.

"Fine then! Since you like giving me the difficult jobs so much, I'll leave just enough fruit for you to bleed dry. But don't expect this work to come cheaply. I too yearn to sink my teeth into something right now."

Yes. Today was such a good day, he even got to visit the little playhouse mother built up for herself... and got to meet so many interesting toys to chew on. The road of paradise was just a few steps away, this too must be the will of the world! Ah, yeess... his eyes were practically swirling with all sorts of emotions he hadn't truly experienced in too long.

"So let's just shove ourself hilt deep in this rotten world, break it and build the ladder already. The ladder... that will drag us towards our dream. I want to witness your paradise firsthand."

This must be what love is.