Chibi Roleplay

[Rojo]

((I am incompetant and can think of nothing interesting to make anyone do. You two keep having fun...))

[Seven]

Devon tugged on Shadow. "Let's go see if we can help...the non-evil dragon...person..." Devon said, not sure how to refer to the dragon, or what gender it was. He ran over to the two, nodding to Saika. "Thank you...I'll take him out of harm's way," he said to her.


Lief raised an eyebrow at Malevolos's new form, smirking just slightly. "I see she really must be quite the prize, if you're making this much fuss. Honestly, intimidation tactics? We already know that you're stronger, or do you need to put on that bat-suit of yours to perk your spirits? Considering the caliber of fighter you are, I'm surprised you've gone to such childish measures. Or perhaps all that blood rushing to your head has clouded your thinking?

In any case, Malevolos, your deal is ridiculous for a few obvious reasons. First off, if I wanted to flee the battle unscathed, I would not have bothered kidnapping the girl. You yourself are admitting that you'd be willing to pay a price for her, yet what you are suggesting is that we return to a scenario almost identical to the one from before I swept her away. Second, what about your word makes it so trustworthy? If I played into your hand, you might just end me for the hell of it. And there is still the matter of the others. If I ran, what would become of them? I just wanted to ask, what are you even hoping to achieve with this little skirmish? You wanted to prove your undeniable power to the little-red head, well, you've done that already. Stop making such a fuss.

"Which is why I'm proposing a new alternative. I knew from the beginning you wouldn't choose any of the first 3, but..." Lief smirks again, "I wanted to hear it from the dragon's mouth how he became attached to a human girl...

"Malevolos, you might be strong, but you are also outnumbered and at a loss of a..." he snickers again, "friend. I suggest we have a bit of a cease fire. I don't see why not, since as I recall, the original argument was between you and your human, and only broke into battle when her friend went to defend her. So how about you send your demon away, I return the girl, and we promise not to do battle for at least the next...24 hours? Can you manage that with your fiery temper?" the fox patronized him lightly, though he was pretty sure Molly would give into these terms. Of course, he didn't know about his prior relation with Saika. Had he, he might have realized this might not work.

"Oh, and if you're wondering, I wasn't so terrified of you trying to take my life. We fox...always have our back up plans," Lief ended with a grin.



Elsewhere~
Serena picked up the ball, holding it up to the dim light. It was white and perfectly ordinary looking. Just like a regular ball or toy. Still, something in the back of her head was telling her, 'You're missing the important point!" Something was telling her she knew what it was...

[Rojo]

Rojo opened an eye ever so slightly. He was blackened all over, though no longer burnt. He would've looked around to see where he was, but he still felt very weak. Something had given him strength, and he could feel lots of tiny little parasites screaming in anger as they surged around his body trying to fix all the damage.
"I feel like the inside of a dragon with a tummy bug..." he mumbled to himself, feeling self-pity at the fact no one had immediatly rushed to his side. Then the self-pity was washed away with wonder. Where was the dragon that had been battling the minotaur? He didn't want to move his head, so he simply fell...as...leeeeeeeeeep....

Shadow looked at Devon as he tugged at him. The Darkling nodded slowly and followed Devon. He was beginning to wonder where Rojo had gone to...

Far, far, far away, something sits invisibly on the bed behind Serena, staring at here with jubilant glee. Mortal = Joy.

[Asila]

((Ha ha, bat suit. *grins*))

Malevolos stared at Lief for a few long moments, his furious expression having iced over into that neutral expression that you sometimes see on the faces of marble statues. Only his eyes continued to blaze, but they had lost their fiery shine. They smoldered their usual bright red now, a subtle sign that his temper had begun to ebb. After all, as irritating as the fox was, he was right, and the dragon was not so great a fool that he couldn't acknowledge the wisdom in such words just because they were formed by an enemy mouth.

He straightened, lifting his head as his human form returned to it's normal dimensions. No point in continuing to try to intimidate someone who refused to be intimidated. "Those terms are acceptable." He managed to say, with only the slightest amount of stiffness accenting the words. He looked toward the demon, muttered a few words under his breath in the Demon Tongue, and the creature was pulled into a fissure in the ground that had just opened up beneath his feet and that immediately closed again. It was too bad the demon hadn't managed to tear Saika into pieces too small to recover, but it had caused her some damage and he'd just have to be happy with that for the time being. Today, he would cut his losses. There was always tomorrow.

"Now," He said, turning back to Lief. "I suggest you follow through with your side of the bargain, or I will be obliged to put this 'back-up plan' of yours to the test."

Saika sighed as she gazed down at the lifeless form of the human. For a moment it had seemed that he was coming back, but now...now he was still and his heart would not beat. As far as she knew, he was dead.

She turned away, toward the demon she had not yet managed to kill, just in time to see it disappear into a hellish abyss. Automatically she looked to Malevolos. Noting the hatred in his gaze as it settled upon her, she couldn't believe that she had ever cared for him. Especially when she felt loathing potent enough to rival his hatred swarm her own violet gaze.

When he turned back toward the fox, she moved over to the girl that she had flown here to protect. It seemed that there was no hope for the other one.

Asila simply continued to sing quietly to herself. She would have stopped by now, but the longer Serena was gone the stronger the anxiety she felt on her friends behalf became, and she was now trying to calm herself as well as comfort the cute little goblin. She hated not being able to do anything! Just sitting here, completely idle, while her friend might be in mortal danger went against every ideal she'd built up for herself over the years. But trying to fix things herself would probably only make the situation worse, so as hard as it was, she would just have to wait for her friend's recovery.

But at least she wouldn't wait alone. Not only did she have the goblin to guard, but Saika was beside her now, too. She looked up at the beautiful creature and smiled her thanks. Then both she and the dragon looked toward Malevolos and Lief to see what would happen.

[Seven]

(((OK! This is the "Meanwhile" for Serena while she is at Lief's Den. I'm going to post this before I post Lief bringing her back. I also caught out some or Rojo and mine's interesting OOC dialogue, like how we decided Lief and Tir are COMRADES, not friends comrades, as an example. Anyways, here it is! Afterwards, I'll post Lief/Dev/Nev/etc.))

Serena got the odd feeling that something was watching her. She turned her head slightly to see behind her, but nothing was there. Maybe it was just the strange paranoia that came with being in someone else's home. But it made her wonder more about the small ball. Yes, she did think she knew what it was. She grinned and decided to pocket the toy and be done with it.

The invisible being floated softly off the bed and around to watch the girl, it tapper her lightly on the shoulder then moved slightly back in case she tried to lash out. It chuckled slightly.

Serena jumped a little, abruptly turning around. But alas, nothing there. She felt really quite confused. Sometimes she felt like she was being watched, or that she heard something, but this felt distinctively different. How long had she been asleep? Perhaps it had been days, months even, the battle between Malevolos and the others long over. Had Malevolos lost? She felt slightly panicked. And if he did, was she now going to be Lief's servant. Maybe Lief was here right now, playing tricks on her! She thought she knew quite a bit about kitsune magic just from folklore she had read, but she didn't really remember anything about invisibility. Still, there was transformation--maybe he was just very small? She felt nervous all of a sudden, and crossed her arms automatically.

"Hello?" she called out. "Is there anyone here?" She smiled, one of her unusual reflexes. "I promise not to bite, and I'd love someone to talk to," she tried to add in a small joke to go with her smile.

The Invisible Being moved around to in front of Serena and changed his head into that of Sean Connery, also making it visible.
"Well, my dear, I'm shure I could give an intereshting chat!"
The head disappeared again, and an old man in a white tux appeared. He smiled rather wryly and rather conversationaly turned Serena's hair bright blue and made of staw.

Serena give a small eep, quickly covering her mouth with her hands, but her eyes still had the bewildered look. "Sean Connery?" she accidentally pipped out in a small voice.

Some how, when he changed forms into an old man, it calmed. 'A shaft shifter?' she wondered silently to herself. Maybe she wasn't in Lief's Den, maybe she was somewhere entirely different all together.
"Am I in Wonderland?" she asks quite spontaneously, but entirely serious. She looks confused when he changes her hair. 'Ok, so he can change me too...I guess that makes him more than just a shape shifter...' a discomforting thought. She touched her hair. "Can I ask why you did that? I'm chibi already, so I'm already an anime character! You didn't need to give me the blue hair*!" ((Gotta love homestar runner--or rather, the strong bad emails. * XD))

Tir shrugged.
"I like messing with people...and then killing them in horrible and brutal ways!" He trilled, seeming positively brimming with joy.
After he Wonderland comment, he materialised a pocket watch on his wrist, before examining it and making a face of extreme shock.

"By jove, I'm late!"
The watch turned into diamond ring, which the genie tossed over his shoulder casually. He had recently adopted a new method of obtaining joy ((Because I don't want to end up with you all hating me for burning all your characters)); he gave humans one wish. If the wish was something stupid such as making themselves a genie (who would do such a thing? Honestly) he would not except. But he wanted to talk with this girl a little more first...

"Oh it's really great to have a hobby," Serena said happily, before she realized what she was saying (or rather, what HIS hobby was). Her smile then began to shift to a nervous one. It looked like she started mentally whacking herself for supporting his murderous hobby.

She shift gears as he changed the subject to Wonderland. She figured the diamond tossing was a show, trying to prove to her that he found items of mortal wealth to be frivolous to him. He was obvious very powerful--he seemed to create things out of will. Her face became thoughtful. "Excuse me..." she escaped softly. "I don't mean to sound imprudent or rude...but may I attempt to guess what sort of being you are? I think I have an idea..."

The being clapped his hands together and cried with joy.
"Homicide is not a hobby, my dear, it is an art." A great look of passion passed his eyes, and he spoke in a french accent. He looked rather out of place as a chibi though.

When she asked of his species, he rolled his eyes.
"You're probably wondering about the wispy tail thing...no, we don't all have them, and no, we do not all endorse Walt Disney's views or ideals..."
Then a sort of smug grin passed his face
"I will, however, give you..." he paused for dramatic emphasis "one wish!"
Lightning flashed overhead, casting a macabre light across the rooom, dispite they were underground and there were no windows.

Serena started to grin, but stopped herself. It was amazing running into a REAL genie, but it also made her a little paranoid. She knew a little about djin's from Indian mythology, enough to know they weren't always good news. after all, he seemed pretty enthusiastic about killing people.

"A wish?" she sounded a little astounded. It just occurred to her that's what many genies do. But she fell silent again. "Excuse me...I don't mean to sound rude--I know that I'm only a weak mortal and you are a mighty and cosmic being--but I can't help but not trust something I'd be getting for free. After all, with the little knowledge I have, I heard about djin's tricking mortals into making a wish that would then backfire on them and destroy them painfully. And you did mention that you enjoy the art of homicide, and I can't help but feel that my feeble life is at stake right now. It is very kind of you to offer me a wish, but I don't think I can accept..." she said slowly, as if a little timid and afraid of what his response might be. Her eyes were now glued to the ground. "They say nothing is free after all...."

All through out her speech, he just grinned silently, apart from when she mentioned how she was only a lowly mortal and he a great genie to nod and mutter "true, true..." before going silent again.

When she finished, he shrugged.
"Fine, I guess you can live here forever if you wanted...and not be, how you say, Queen of le world."
He shrugged nonchalantly.
"Fine."

"Well, that can't be right. I mean, i didn't just end up here. I was kidnapped...more or less...by the kitsune Lief. Before I met you, I was pretty positive this was his den. This is his den, right?"

She blinks. "Are you trying to tempt me into wishing for something? Well, I don't think it would be the world, in any case, but thank you.

"But even if you don't grant me any wishes, would you like to know what I would wish for, if I were positive your methods of granting wishes were safe?" She smiles.

Tir smiled in a rather closed-cheshire cat way.
"Lief, if that's what you call him, does reside here when he's not off auditioning for webcomics or whatever he does lives here, I suppose you could say that...I offered him a wish once, but sadly, it wasn't a very amusing one, so I kept on asking him to try again until he told me to give him a strawberry ice cream, which I gave him, in four hundred tonnes, then forced him to eat it...ah, sweet memories..." his eyes took a glazed over look, and he seemed to fly away to a past he rememebered.

He smiled again as Serena asked him what she would wish for. Now, because she had resfused, the next time she said the words "I" and "Wish" in a piece of conversation, the next thing that made perfect sense would be her wish...but he wasn't going to tell her that...

"Please do, dear, please do..."

Serena giggles at this unorthodox view of the beautiful kitsune. Still, it was a good thing she refused her wish, as he proved that he would be making trouble with whatever she wished for. But she didn't think that voicing her wish might be the same as requesting[/] Tir to grant it.

"Well...it's a little silly...I used to have a lot of wishes, but little by little I began to realize I could make them a reality myself. The only one left...well....I'd wish for a pair of gloves that I could never lose and that I could take off and on as I wished, but whenever I'd wear these gloves and touched something and thought of a date or time period, I'd see that item or person's past...post-cognition via gloves, in other words."

Tir's grin only continued to grow throughout Serena's talk. When she finished, he raised a hand and clicked his fingers. Nothing appeared to have happened.
"There you go: Little By Little, you can now make gloves that will allow you to see into the past...unfortunately, this won't help much because there isn't a sowing machine in sight, and focus on the 'little by little' bit."
He lowered his hand and shrugged.
"So...do you have some foolish mortal plan to escape?"

Serena blinks, staring at Tir. "So...you sort of granted my wish anyways? ....And these gloves are going to come into my life despite what I do?" She pauses. "Then what's the point of trying to escape? after all, it was my wish."

Tir shook his head.
"Nope, you just now have the skill to make such a pair of gloves, very slowly. And I don't mean you'll work slowly, there'll be a slow-time barrier around you every time you try to make them."
The genie cast a look around the 'room.'
He put on old voice.
"Last time I was here, we was hidin' out durin' the Great Kihi War..."
((Play on "comrades" and since he jokes around so much, I can put that without you yelling at me with things like "THEY WEREN'T IN A WAR!" Because they could've...*Shifty eyes*))

"So you and Lief are friends?"

Serena blinks again. "But I never wished to for the ability to make these gloves, much less to make them slowly..." She thinks for a moment. "I'm a little confused though. So whenever I go to make the gloves, I might feel I'm working at a regular pace, but time around me will be moving slower than usual?"

"Maybe...we've had a..run in or two..." He absent-mindedly traced a finger in a line on his right leg. Then he turned to Serena again.
"Well, you should know we genies have ways of twisting things...and yes, time will slow down, but don't try and loophole it by carrying a sewing needle in your pocket, because it only works in an air tight magical field that surrounds you and the equipment, so everyone else will be going normal speed."

She blinks again. "But that means if I just never sew, it would be as though I never made the wish anyways! I'd nullify it--escape the wish-dom that you granted me! It wouldn't matter--I'm not tied to it!"

"Exactly!" Tir smiles "but now you've wasted your wish...the only way you're getting anything out of this genie is by summoning me, by which you do not know how..."
He picked at his fingernails casually, even though they were white and immaculate.

Serena sweatdrops. "Maybe I'll just start sewing then. Hopefully you'll get so tired of watching me move so slowly you'll leave." She grumbled something about having refused his wish anyways.

"How? I see nothing to sew with...of course, if you had wished for a sewing machine or something, the process would be decimally faster, but I guess you didn't..."
He was enjoying this. Rubbing it in her face that she had wasted the chance to have anything and had got gloves.

"Oh, but I do have a sewing machine! And all I wanted was the pair of gloves." She reaches into her book bag and pulls out a portable sewing machine. "I was at the beginning of this RP, except I then realized that is was Saturday and people would be having garage sales!" She smiles broadly. "So I quietly snuck out to do some shopping and bought myself this portable, since I already have a full size." She suddenly gets a little sad looking. "...Though no one seemed to notice I left..."

"Oh well--time to make me some post-cognition magic gloves!" She looks around, "borrowing" a piece of fabric from Lief's den and laying it across his desk.

"You're going to take days..." Tir warned her, watching Serena from a perch he had taken up on a bedpost (as he was now a sparrow, for some reason.)

"Well, I need a way to pass the time anyways. The way I figure it is that you won't be affected by your own spell, and I'm being held hostage by your comrade Lief. I don't know where anything of his is--like his food or a bathroom...nor can I get out. And I'm quite sure that those boys are still fighting each other. It might take days fot it to end. And no one is going to come for me until the fight is over anyhow. If I just waited for the days to pass on their own, I'd get hungry and I'd be a total wreck by the time they come to get me. But if I work on my gloves while I wait for the battle to finish, then I can have my gloves finished, and I can pass the time easily enough. So a few days of battle might pass for them, but I'll be just dandy."

Tir's smile flickered away for a moment, then returned almost immediatly.
"Ah, but since time will pass outside of it, when you get out you will have gotten as old as for how long you've been in there. For example, if you tried using it to slow time for a month, then when you stopped, you would suddenly be effected by all that hunger at once. Like I said; No loopholes."
He grinned.

"Then it's no longer a slow-magic effect, meaning that you're magic would be inherently flawed." She grins mischievously. "And I have to say, that's a little disappointing, considering you're a cosmic being." She continues to lay out her materials without hesitation. She continues speaking without any fear of him, "I mean, to begin with, it was a cheap shot not to just give me the gloves. After all, my wish was about receiving, not making what I wanted, and though I realize djin usually try to twist a wish to backfire, they don't grant wishes in that manner. Instead of twisting my wish to backfire, you just changed it entirely. Not that I mind, I'm a pretty good seamstress anyways, so it wouldn't have taken me too long to begin with. It'll only take a while because of your irrelevant little magic spell." Going from shy to assertive, it seems like she's a different person now.

She pauses for a second. "Oh, and by the way, when your 'comrade' Lief does come to get me, I'm going to defeat him. " She smiles darkly. "Very easily, too." She tsks, as if disappointed. "So many powerful beings....making so many mistakes."

Tir yawned throughout Serena's "little-miss-smart-arse" speech. When she had finished, he fluttered around and landed on her head.
"Firstly, my dear, I can bend the laws of magic and time and space, and can even mix the two together, so it doesn't matter if the slow-time field is possible or not, and secondly of all, I wouldn't complain about the wish, because you're very very lucky I gave you a wish and didn't kill you..."

He smiled a sparrow-y smile.
"Do tell...that was his wish, that I couldn't lay a hand on him...I would so take pleasure in seeing a lowly mortal do it...despite our relationship."

Serena grins. "I know why you're trying to convince me not to work on these gloves here and now. It's because this is the one area that I could actually finish them without feeling any of the time delay. Yes, I know, you're spell causes slow time, but let me ask you this. If you add one and subtract one, what do you get? Zero of course (except in strange upper level binary math classes...but that's not the point.)

I know that I'm in a Kitsune's den, and I know that kitsune make pocket realms, and I know...well....that in pocket realms, time flows unusually." She begins to cut the fabric of the red cloth. "A year in a pocket realm usually corresponds more or less to one day outside of the pocket realm, thus time is faster here. ((I read too much kitsune lore... )) You placed a spell on me so that whenever I work, time will move slower. -1 + 1 = 0. So if I work in his den, while your magic is on me, the time magic would be neutralized." She makes some rapid stitches, finishing most of the first glove. "Since you wanted me to suffer, you're trying to convince me to NOT do it here. But if I listen to you, and wait, I will suffer trying to make them outside of this realm, whereas if I do it here, it won't matter."

"And as for Lief, why would I tell you my strategy? You already betrayed me once for speaking to you casually, I will not be so foolish to do it again!" She turns back to her work, finishing up the first red glove.

Tir smiled.
"Oh, this is genie magic dear...we're far older than Kitsunes...watch..it'll begin to adapt. The field will adapt to whatever time stream your in. The twenty fifth layer of hell moves several times as fast than Earth, but the time field would adapt so if you started sewing there (For some bizarre reason) the field would adapt...look."
He gestured a feather to the sewing machine.
"Fine," he gave a chirp and ruffled his feathers in place of a shrug "but make sure I have a front row seat..."

She frowns. "That just means that I have to work faster, before the field is completely adapted." She continues with determination and fervor to complete the second glove.

"You won't make it..." The little sparrow says, and as he speaks, Serena's hands would begin to move very sloooooooowllllly.....

(( *blinks* I thought Tir had said that I wouldn't feel myself moving slowly, since it's just time around me that going slower.))

((Nope, but Tir would see it like that ;D We need to plan ahead our planning ahead XD))

((I guess so. Would the time difference that great? because I'm stubborn as hell and I'm going to make me 'dem gloves one way or another. Not so much because I need them, but because he was being a jerk!))

She ignores him, and continues to work dilligently.

((Depends. Tir could just be messing with her and keep reseting the time and erasing her memory so she could continue making it forever))

((Resetting time? If he reset her memory, the gloves would still be there right?


...that gives me an amazing idea! What if Tir let her finish the gloves, but then erased just part of her memory? The part where she met him and made the wish. That way, she'd have magic gloves, but no idea what they were, what they'd do, or how to use them! She'd just start accidentally seeing into the past, and it would freak her out...))

((I like the way you think...has Tir possessed you lately? That would be very very interesting...of course, it fits in with our Chibi's quest aswell, doesn't it?))

((*grins maliciously* Haven't I told you before? I have a very "versatile" personality. It's flexible.))


"There! I'm finished." She smiles happily, glad she hadn't listened to Tir. "Now you have to make them magic, like you promised!" She grinned from ear to ear.

Tir smiled.
"They're already magical...but sadly, that wasn't as entertaining to watch as I thought it would be...anyway, it's possible you are now hundreds of years in the future, but anyway, to make it more amusing..."
He taps her on the head with his beak, and her memories of making the wish and making the gloves and what they do are erased.

((What if they were in the future? We could do a fork thread, and even if you didn't like it, it could be like a spinoff...*Is weird for coming up with the phrase "Spinoff RP"* also, it could work because she could use the gloves to look at our characters in the RP (since they are now techinically in the past)))

((It seems like an interesting idea Rojo, except it'd be extremely depressing, and it wouldn't have that much opportunity for more rping. It would make for a good short story/monologue, but if Serena was just looking into the past with no else but Tir around (who'd she'd no longer remember anyways), it'd get no where fast. It seems more like an idea for a completely different rp--like, with all new characters. Serena would emerge from the Den with no memory of how she got into the future, only memories of the past and the ability to see the past. She'd then have to make new friends and readjust (after much depression) to her new life. Sadly, I don't think it'd work to well.

Plus, Tir is a liar in some form or another. For all we know, there might have never been a slow-magic curse to begin with!))

Serena's eyes faze out for a moment. Her memories being lost in the large void of the mind, far where she can never reach them. The magic makes her twitch, swoon, and then, from the sheer power of it all, collapse. She's fainted and fallen back asleep on Lief's bed, just like she was when she first arrived.

((I thought so...sounds fun though. Hehe, cyborg Malevolos...))

Tir flies up before she falls, and perches onto the dresser, and he himself falling asleep peacefully on the desk, now a large black tom cat.

Serena eventually wakes up, yawning and stretching. "When did I fall asleep again?" she wonders silently. "Kitsune den sure are mysterious places." She checks all of her possessions, to make sure she has everything on her, and realizes there are a pair of red gloves. 'That's odd...I swear I didn't have these before!' She puts them on, to test. 'They are nice though...and they fit me perfectly! Like they were made for me...'

The black tom cat raises one eye and peers at Serena, a grin warping its face in a somewhat...Demonish way.

((Tir erased only her memories of the wish and the gloves, but not Tir. I have a theory about memory removal...I'll tell you one day. Remind me.))

((why not just tell me now?))

Serena blinks. "This was you're doing, wasn't it Tir?" She looks frustrated, and rolls over in bed, facing away from him.

((*Sigh* Fine.
Most people see time in strips, meaning if you take away one strip, you take away a whole string of memories. I see memories as a fishtank, with memories like fishes (yeah, it's a Biiiiiiiiiig fishtank...), and you pluck out specific fish to take out specific memories, thus how she would remember Tir and not the wish or gloves.))

"Hmm? I don't remember telling you my name..."
He shrugged. Being a low life form such as a cat took up a lot of brain power to make such a lowly thing able to speak and perform human actions.

((Cool. I like it. Anyways, I don't think there is much more we can do. Maybe we should end this sub story and try to coherce Asila into finishing her post.))

[Seven]

~Moments earlier with Lief and Molly~

The faintest twitch, unnoticeable to all but perhaps something as tiny a fruit fly, passed over Lief's fine features. He wasn't really paying attention to Malevolos and whatever nonsense he was sure to spout out, because he had a new dilemma. He couldn't show it though--showing any sign of weakness and dear old Molly might catch on and become suspicious. But the human girl he had hidden away had touched something of his. Something very precious. Not only that, but she also removed it, stole it. He instantly began to regret sending the girl to his Den. In the midst of battle, it seemed like a good idea--kitsunes' dens are pocket dimensions, meaning she'd be safe from harm, but unable to leave. He didn't think that she'd been able to do anything that might effect him more than at worst a bit of cleaning up. ((You know how messy those wild humans are, after all, lol!))

He inwardly shook his head. There was no way she knew about what she had done. She was just a simple human girl. It was more likely that she got bored of being alone and picked it up to entertain herself. The chance that she knew what it was was indeed a one in a million chance. Still, he didn't want her playing with something so invaluable to him. He had to get her out of there soon. Part of him feared he'd give away his facade of everything being under his control to Malevolos, if he just brought her back. But to his inward (and great) relief, Malevolos seemed to have given in to his reasoning.

And what a relief it was! Part of him was dying to tell the feisty dragon that he had no intentions of keeping his mortal pet around, that in the few moments she spent in his den, she was already causing him headaches. But no need to say such a thing. After all, he just had to bring her back and take the item away from her. That should be simple enough, right?


On the outside, Lief just smiled a little, watching the demon sink away and Malevolos return to his anthropomorphic form. When he was done, he gave a silent nod, and began to gently sway his hands and a few tails, the purple smoke-fire appearing and uncoiling around him.

~Elsewhere~
Serena was just laying on Lief's bed, a cover on top of her head. She was being defiant, not wanting to look at Tir since she was angry at him. But as the moments passed, she began to wonder why she was angry at him...
Hadn't they just met? She felt angry, for some reason, but for the life of her, she didn't recall anything that would have made her upset....

She didn't get much more time to think about it though, as the purple smog began to consume her again. She got the shocked look of surprise, until she realized that she was just going back...

~Meanwhile~
Devon looked at his red-scarfed friend. He had no pulse. He was starting to become very worried. He had no heart beat. It couldn't be...his friend had died? No, that wasn't right! Chibis don't die! Especially not from a comical hammer-to-the-head-by-an-angry-girl/go-flying-into-the-stratosphere cliche!
"It looks like it's ending, Devon," Nevod said quite seriously, watching the negotiation between titans end.
"Yes, but Rojo--" Devon turned to look at Shadow. "Shadow, Rojo will be alright, right?" he asked in a sorrowful tone, not ready to believe his adventuring friend was gone.

....

Lief didn't notice the little drama taking place between the humans/undead. He just wanted to concentrate on bringing the girl back. Which he did with grace. The girl reappeared where she had vanished, the purple smog evaporating around her. She blinked, back at last. The only minor difference being that she's wearing red gloves. But nothing Lief noticed, he had other concerns.

"Here is your little mortal girl, unharmed as I promised." Lief indicated her as if she were some sort of prize Malevolos had won. Serena grinned broadly (perhaps a little stupidly), but clearly glad to be back. She began to run back when Lief suddenly held out his arm to block her way.

"Now, my dear girl, no one likes a thief," he said with a hint of irony, as he was well known as one, "And while I'm quite sure you took the object unintentionally, out of principle, I would like it back," he ended smoothly. Serena's innocent dumb grin began to disappear, and she instinctualy took 3 steps back. She looked a little frightened in a way.

"Now now, no need to be afraid. Your friend and I have worked it all out. You'll be fine, and you can go to him as soon as you return what you have taken. After all, I wouldn't be much of a fox if I let people just take things of mine," he said with deceiving charm.

Serena began to reach into her pocket where there was a small round buldge, and Lief began to grin. She held the little white ball in her dainty hands. "This?" she asked, and Lief nodded.

But Lief began to stop smiling so sweetly when he noticed Serena's innocent grin began to change into a malicious one.

"I don't know. I rather like it. I haven't had a toy in years. And what possible use could an ancient kitsune have for a mere child's toy anyways? And you did kidnap me. Don't you think it's the least I deserve for all that stress? A stress-toy? Maybe I can use it as a stress-ball..."

He frowned, stepping closer to her. "Listen here it's not--" he tried to make a grab for the ball, but Serena pulled it away again.

And then Lief froze. He knew he couldn't force it from her. But more importantly, he was no fool. He realized that the girl knew exactly what she was doing. It wasn't out of coincidence that she wanted this one thing of his. Especially considering all the other riches in his den that she might have taken out of greed. His eyes became as wide as saucers with terror. She took it on purpose. She knew. And he knew he was out of luck.

She continued to hold the ball to the back and above her, grinning. Motionless for all except her breathing.

And then, what would seem completely strange to the others, Lief silently bowed his head. The quiet and sad recognition that had lost and was powerless. With as much dignity as he could, he kneeled down, and then began to flatten himself to the ground. The sort of extreme bow a lowly peasant might give to an Emperor. ((The Eastern style of bowing...))

He did not raise his head to speak to her, but the quiet, yet audible murmur came out. "Please have mercy upon me, the lowly fox, for I am completely in your power and utterly powerless at your hand. Spare, dear girl, and I promise on my honor that I shall gladly repay your kindness."

Serena's grin broadened, like one of a mad (but pleased) scientist, who managed to discover something fascinating. "Amazing. It seems some old legends are true after all." She shifted her gaze from the crouching fox to the plain ball again. "I thought I recognized the object...and it seems fox will plead sincerely to get it back..."

Lief remained silent for a moment, but then said slowly, "Yes...it is priceless. I beg of you to return it."

[Rojo]

All along the while the drama played out, an invisible watcher looked on with glee at Lief's plight. She was a clever one...he liked her very much...and the Dragon man! He was one Tir would watch for many hours on end, watching his thoughts...most amusing, all his schemes.

The genie popped into existance, this time a brown-haired bespectacled man in a green kimono.
"Ah," his voice was smooth and soothing "what problems be there?"
He flashed his eyes at Lief.
"Lief, my buddy, old pal!" He looked at the Kitsune, at his flattened form. He looked at Serena, then Lief again, and his eyes widened in mock shock horror. He fell to his knees beside Lief, crying out,
"Say it ain't so, old buddy, pal 'o mine! Has this mortal tricked you into bowing to her whim? Have you been defeated?" His voice grew slightly malicious "The great Lief, Kitsune Trickster, the only being I cannot lay a hand on? You, beaten? By a mere mortal," he turned to Serena "no offense, lovie," he turned back to the defeated Kitsune "well, Lief, matey-o, you're stuffed, kaput, kablooey, blam, pack your bags, on your bike, me old mucker..."
He stood up and cast a fleeting glance to Serena again.
"This...girl who has reduced my brother in arms to mere grovelling...you shall be punished!" He shot a bolt of lightning, but it turned into a flower before it hit her. He shrugged "Or not, I mean, she is very clever and all...tricking you and all that guff..."
He grinned as he spotted Malevolos
"Malevolos Firestorm! One of my favourite little hellraisers...you're quite the spectacle, aren't you? Coming up with all those plans...alas," he put a hand to his forehead "you grew up alone, without a mother or father who cared for you..." he grinned nastily "I love tragic stories..."

~Meanwhile~

Rojo opened an eye. He blinked and opened the other eye. Then he punched Devon very hard on the nose.
"That's for not rushing to my aid..." he muttered, then in a louder voice "took you long egnough, didn't it Devs?" He rolled his eyes as if nothing had happened, as if moments before he hadn't been hurtling through the sky at hundreds of miles an hour.
The Undead man yawned. He had an itch, so he scratched it. This wasn't very significant.
"Well, what's been going on since I was SO RUDELY," he yelled in the direction he thought Serena might be "smashed into the atmosphere?"

~Also Meanwhile~

Paka got up slowly. Every part of him ached. Again.
"I'm a bloody elder god, things like this aren't supposed TO BLOODY HAPPEN TO ME!!" His face contorted into a vile shape, and the wind blew and the skies momentarily darkened. The mountains shook and the trees whispered. Then it all passed, and a skinny pale man with messy blonde hair stood in the middle of the road, away from everyone else.

~Also Meanwhile (again)~

Gurk yawned. It was a cute yawn, and he stretched his arms nicely, then poked Asila's cheek with a claw. Not very hard, just in a curious sort of way, to make sure she was solid. Then he giggled and snapped his beak playfully.

[Asila]

Malevolos was impressed despite himself when he saw how cleverly Serena handled Lief. He smiled darkly. How deliciously ironic it was that the very human Lief had tried to use against him now had the fox grovelling before her. And the implications were even more tantalizing...

Yet he didn't have long to hatch his plans (in regard to Lief and just how he could use this new development to manipulate in him) Because the djinn had just said something that he shouldn't have. Malevolos was very touchy about his past, and preferred to leave it forgotten. It angered him to here it used against him so callously by a powerful enemy. He stalked closer to Serena, interjecting himself between her and Tir. His movements were stiff with barely subdued violence, but, having lost his temper once, he was loathe to do so again. Yet keeping it was a struggle, and his features were already showing the strain. His features were more gaunt and his teeth pointed, his eyes flaming. Because his control was tattered, he was having trouble remaining in his human form.

When he spoke his every word was infused with hate, but his voice was strictly regulated, pointedly subdued. "Yet it is from the ashes of childhood ruin that true strength takes flight. Which makes you little more than a whimsical imbecile with a great deal of magic to toss around."

****

Asila had grown restless as she watched this display, as interesting as it was to watch her dark side fend for himself. But she wanted to be part of something. She disliked being on the outside looking in. She felt stuck in that role all too often. So she began to look around for something else to do.

Oddly enough her gaze landed on Paka, who just happened to be standing alone. And she had so much sympathy for people who stood alone, enough so that her sympathy over-rode her intense dislike for people who had injured her.

Just as she'd decided to make her way over to her ex-torturer, the little goblin in her arms stirred. She smiled at him. "Hey, buddy, you're up already?" She said cheerfully, playfully ruffling his ears with the hand attached to the arm she could spare. She thought for a moment, then set him down. She didn't want to bring the little goblin toward one of villains. She'd feel terrible if she did something characteristically stupid and he got hurt. "Try to stay out of trouble, all right?" She said kindly to the little creature, then turned and walked toward Paka.

"Hey, how ya doin' over there, Psycho?"She called with that confident cheerfulness that she could fake so easily. Yep, she was just great at making friends.

****

Saika's attention left Malevolos, who wasn't a threat just now to anyone who couldn't help themselves, and returned to the human who had stunned the demon she had fought only moments ago. Somehow he had lived, after all. Delighted, she soared over him, shifting into a human as she landed so that she could speak with him better. Now she was a cute little chibi just like everyone else, with luminous purple eyes, long, pale-silver hair, and dressed in a flowing, violet kimono that had the same habit of floating upon a nonexistent breeze as her hair did.

"I'm glad to see you survived, my friend. I thought you were lost for sure!" She smiled weakly. She had seldom had reason to do so over recent years, and so the effect wasn't as brilliant as she intended.

[Seven]

"GAh!" Devon's hands flew to his nose in pain. He blinked, a little teary-eyed. "Ok...I deserved that...." he murmured in defeat. "I think you broke my nose though..." He pulled out his handkerchief from his coat's inside pocket, bringing it to tidy up the blood that was now dripping. "How are you feeling? You missed quite a bit though. That girl that hit you was kidnapped by Lief. Lief used to her to negotiate with Malevolos, but when he returned her, it turns out she had some kind of blackmail on him as well....And now that person," he points to the djin," showed up....Not sure who he is though. He seems to know...everyone over there. "

Finally bringing his bloodied handkerchief down he turned to Rojo. "Shall we go over there to find out what's really going on?"

Serena blinked and turned her head when she heard Rojo pointedly yell about her. She grinned sheepishly and waved meekly. Oh boy, another person was going to hate her. And it wasn't exactly like she could clarify her good intentions with Molly standing over her shoulder looking so dark and brooding. Oh well, no time to complain---she had business to attend to.

That's when Tir reappeared.

Lief recognized Tir's voice instantly. It had been a long time since he had seen the genie (he assumed he grew bored of the fox, as he could do no harm to him), yet even so, Tir wasn't one Lief would forget anytime soon. Still bowed, he put on a weak, yet affectionate smile. "Yes, my dear comrade, it seems I've gotten myself into quite the mess this time...." he said with a little sigh in the back of his voice.
"It is amazing, is it not, how karma always offers divine retribution? If you forget for all but a second to humble yourself before it, like a good servant should, if for a second you let arrogance and pride for a job well done set in, it will cripple you, humble you, and show you how fleeting and transitory such notions are. Yes, I admit, I had forgotten how the small can overcome the large, despite my own contributions to such tales. Yes, memory is fleeting, but should I manage to sustain myself this time, I shall have to pay my respects to Krsna and The Lady..."

Serena didn't recognize him at first, but the way he approached all of them reminded her he could shift forms. Though she didn't feel angry this time...actually, oddly amused. She was tempted to tell him she had no intention of "doing in" Lief. Yes, this was her trick, a penance she had given Lief for kidnapping her, perhaps also to humble the proud being, but she couldn't actually even wish real harm upon him.

Then, Lief began to talk, and how humbled and sad he sounded invoked sympathy and sorrow in her. But she didn't have time to comment (Tir is indeed such a fast moving fellow), since he had already moved on to picking on Molly dearest. She listened to the two, and she couldn't help but notice more twangs of sympathy, this time for her dear old captor, Malevolos ((had to clarify, as I now realized she has two...)). She could tell he was bothered by these memories from the intonation of his voice. ((Really--too much depressing!!!)) She couldn't help it, as Malevolos was standing just in front of her, but she suddenly had the great urge to put her hand on his back or shoulder. A reassuring gesture. One that she ended up NOT resisting. She was no stranger to tragic childhoods herself, though she imagined hers must have been on a much smaller scale in comparison. She knew that a proud person like Malevolos would probably shun such pity and pull away in annoyance, but she couldn't help but look at him with sympathetic eyes.
And as her hand gently lay on his back, she couldn't help but think silently for just a second, "I wish I knew more about you---I'd like to see your childhood."

....Well, Tir might be amused, as he would feel the gloves magic coming into effect. Serena had unwittingly activated it.

[Rojo]

Tir's idiotic grin only grew and grew.
"I sense resentment, from all of you!" He clasped his hands together as someone might at a dinner party. Then his head changed into that of a very old and ridiclously wrinkled man "fuel your anger..." then his head returned to normal and he smiled. He had succeeded in recieving negative feelings from all three people in...45.7 seconds, was it? Damn, that must be a record for him! Then he laughed raucously as Serena touched Malevolos. He silented himself and supressed his laughter to a giggle. Oh, life was fun!

~In the mean of the while~

Paka looked up at Asila. His eye was twitching faintly and he kept on tensing and untensing what little muscles he had.
"Oh...hello..."
He twitched nervously.

~Also Mean of the while~

Rojo nodded at Saika and smiled wryly.
"How I survived," he said "is for me to know, and you to find out if you enlist the help of the worlds' six greatest detectives, or a local wizard."

He stood up and held out his arm for Devon, raising his hand and repairing Devon's nose with a quick piece of magic, making his hand glow blue for a moment. Then he grinned, closing his eyes and looking noble-esque.
"Shall we?" He said.

~Also also in the mean of the while~

Gurk the goblin sat in the dirt, playing happily, completley ignorant of everything going on around him.