♫♪ sinful melodies ♪

[Roxilicious]

A great shadow in the night, soaring high above the city, giving its riders the capability to see the awe-inspiring full breadth of Celestial City. Tiberius flew in silence, greatly reducing the already short distance between the market district and the Adamas District. Ah, the life of luxury, it was.

Tiberius landed in the immense courtyard of the Hawkings' great manor. He crushed a white-painted wooden table and its accompanying chairs in the process. Hadrian leaped off his demon brother's back, followed soon by Alessia.

"Such a good boy," the vampiric angel cooed, stroking Tiberius' head as he made a throaty sound of pleasure. "Wait here a moment!"

Her command was directly toward the semi-uncomfortable Tiberius in the semi-confined space as well as Cethin and Hadrian. In a few minutes, Alessia returned with a cow being lead out her massive, grand entryway by a rope around his neck. The cow fit just finely through the tall, wide doors.

At the sight of the cow, Tiberius began to salivate. His invisible eyes were shining happily as he knew this would be his treat. He watched with desire as his mistress lead the cow to its impending doom. "Just for you," he heard her say, but he wasn't really listening. Without waiting for her to remove the rope, Tiberius took the unknowing cow in his mouth by the back. It mooed helplessly and cried out in pain and fear, and the demon spread his wings wide and took off to the outskirts of the city where he typically resided.

"Now, let's go inside, shall we?" Alessia said to Cethin, inviting him into her house of grandeur. "Julian is in the family room as of current. He is eager to meet you."

The vampiress lead Cethin into her immense mansion, Hadrian leading the way. He took off immediately to his own room to sleep. The house itself looked bigger on the inside than it did from the outside, with high, towering ceilings and grand chandeliers illuminating the biggest of rooms.

The family room was very elegant, with scarlet-colored carpets and gold embellishments on the walls and fireplace. The walls were painted ivory, and the whole room was so bright one might assume it was still daylight out, if the tall, glass windows were not black with night. Julian Hawking sat in a scarlet velvet chair in one corner of the room with a book in his hand. A glass of Champagne was sitting on a table beside him. In another corner was a paid harpist playing a gold and silver harp. She strummed elegant music that could make one wonder how in the world Julian and Alessia Hawking could ever have such cold hearts.

"Julian," Alessia said as she entered the room. Her brother looked up from his book. He was wearing glasses, but he removed them when he saw his sister and her friend.

"Introducing Cethin Steele, mysterious wanderer of the world!"

The eldest Hawking son stood from his chair after placing the book on his side table. He grabbed his glass of sparkling wine, walked over to the ghost and vampire, and said, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance." He did not offer a handshake and instead looked at Cethin with mysteriously unreadable, green eyes.

[Holly]

"Cethin!" Chirped another voice. Gemini popped out of a hiding place, tail twitching anxiously. She knew this person; she had seen him before on several occassions. However, it wasn't just to see him, it was to see her older brother, Tran. That was the way she knew the ghost named Cethin. She was not certain her master knew Cethin, though, from the look on his face. Her purple eyes shined up at the undead being.

"Wanderer of the world!" Odion resumed the quoting of Alessia's words, tackling over Gemini and giggling like a child. His eyes also looked up to Cethin, tail twitching in accordance to Gemini twitching her tail. They both sensed Tran's aura floating around Cethin from them spending so much time together. Unlike many of their siblings, however, they did not mind having other varas on their territory.

"Same," Cethin replied to Julian simply, smiling slightly and not in his normal devious way. He didn't mind not giving a handshake. In fact, he found it quite refreshing to not have to worry about stealing anyone's soul. Alessia might have killed him if he did. And if Cethin actually feared anyone, it would have, no doubt, been her.

He glanced over to the Gemini twins and tried hard not to grimace. These guys could and would get annoying if you were around them too much. Cethin knew that very well and was warned about it every time Tran found it necessary to bring it up. "Sooo... Fancy place you got here, Hawkings," He commented casually, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

[Roxilicious]

"Do you desire any refreshments?" Julian asked, nodding his head in response to Cethin's awkward compliment. Without waiting for an answer nor hesitating, the demon called out, "Rika!" He used his amateur manipulation magic to have his called echo to every room in the grand house, including the courtyard, stables, and gardens, despite not actually being rooms. It was his traditional summoning of his dark elf slave.

"Ooh Cethin!" Alessia squealed excitedly. She grabbed his arm with both of her hands. This was the first time she'd acted like an eager little girl in front of him. "I – I mean we – must show you around! Julian and I inherited this house from our parents when they were – erm, died. When they died."

Julian shot his sister a look when she almost admitted to his parents' murder. Changing the topic just slightly, he added, "It's been in our family for generations. Our history claims it has been owned by the Hawkings since it was built, some two hundred years ago."

Alessia made a face and rolled her eyes. Cethin probably didn't care about the history of their magnificent estate. It was irrelevant. Then again, he probably did care much about what it looked like, but she wasn't thinking about that. She and Julian were going to help him out in the end, anyway, so the least he could do was endure a quick tour, right? The vampiress smiled to herself before composing her childish demeanor and lead him out of the family room, hooking her arm with his. "Let's go."

Julian followed not far behind, keeping a slower pace and patiently waiting for Rika's arrival. She'd catch up to them eventually. She'd better, or she'd be in for a terrible consequence.

[Sky]

Rika bolted up out of her sleeping place, her eyes alert as soon as she heard her name called. "I guess not all nights can be peaceful....." She sighed and stood up, her little frame covered by the simple purple dress she normally wears. She looked around, not really sure of where Julian would be at this time of the night but decided to check the family room.

Maybe he has a guest? She ran off to see if the family room was where her master was at. She yawned a little as she entered the room and just caught sight of him exiting the room. She ran lightly across the room, careful not to brush by anything that could break easily. She still remembered the last time she broke something by accident, the aftermath was not pretty for her.

She slowed a little as she approached, as always being a little cautious around Julian. She suppressed a yawn and walked up next to him. "You called Master Julian?" She looked up at him expectantly, seeing Cethin out of the corner of her eye. Who is that?

[Holly]

"Water is all," Cethin answered Julian, nodding back to him as well. Maybe Julian didn't know he was a ghost and did not require food or water. "Refreshments" were for him when he was alive, not now. Or he was just being polite. The Hawkings had the odd trait of treating him like he was an equal and didn't steal objects and souls for a living... Or for a dying? Either way, he wasn't the most trustworthy person or the person who received the most polite gestures.

It might have been a good thing Cethin was tangible at the moment or Alessia would have grabbed nothing but air. He raised an eyebrow as the angel stuttered over her parents dying. That was strange. That obviously screamed something other than just dying, but he wasn't too concerned. Nor did he exactly care, no offense to the Hawkings.

"Alright," He smiled at Alessia in his sly way, following her lead to explore her empire of a mansion. If Alessia weren't his best friend (excluding Zera and Tran), he would most definitely steal from the Hawkings mansion. The only thing he would be dreading would be their monster companions.

[Roxilicious]

"Fetch some water for our guest and a new glass of sparkling white wine for myself," Julian demanded, handing his near-empty glass down to the sickening slave girl. "We'll be in the west wing of the manor by the time you're done in the kitchen. Afterward, tend to Tiberius and Hadrian, and Visindi, as per the usual routine. Dismissed."

The demon Hawking then followed Cethin and his sister without another word, not even another glance, to Rika. Sure, he wasn't exactly nice to the young dark elf, but she certainly could've had worse. He wasn't much into beating, and the slave did have a fair-quality room inside their grand estate, though that was sort of inevitable considering the extravagance of their home.

"This is the main foyer of the Hawking estate," Alessia exclaimed proudly, bringing the two men to the main entrance from a door beside the right-center staircase. There were two staircases that curved around a magnificent gold fountain and led to a mezzanine that branched out into the upstairs.

"The west wing is the more social side of our home," she explained, leading Cethin to the opposite side of the foyer. "It houses the bar, our bedrooms, the archery yard, the enchanting room, the alchemy room, and the racquetball courts, aaand probably more that I'm forgetting."

"Alessia, I'm sure this man has more a more significant reason to visit our home than receiving one of your overexcited tours," Julian called out to his sister. It was almost as if he already knew of Cethin's promise. That was silly, of course, because Julian wasn't a mindreader. He just had a knack for guessing.

"Oh, fine," she sighed. "Cethin, if you would like to explain to my brother about your Santach dilemma, he's all ears. He's very experienced in the ways of the Santach. He once befriended Coracinus Rex in His realm, but I doubt He remembers my petty brother." Alessia giggled and looked at Julian mischievously.

[Holly]

"Well, let's start off with the basic facts," Cethin waved his hand and a little version of Faerym's Realm appeared in midair. "I have... a friend, we could call her. And for some unknown reason, she cannot leave the Melodious Sin. Well, not without some assisstance." The image changed to the group now outside the church. Emzara was just finishing explaining how Cethin wasn't all that bad and Elijah was asking questions.

"The girl with the stupid expression on her face is Emzara and my cousin... distantly," He explained. "She's also the only person who is able to get my friend out of the Santach Plane." His green eyes darkened a bit, "All I need is to gain the girl's definite trust and then bring her to that plane."

"But, he is uncapable of gaining trust. He's absolutely hopeless," Appearing through a portal, Camarin and Tran entered the Hawking household. Camarin laughed as Cethin glared at her statement, because they both knew it was true. Every ruin on her body was glowing it's usual light blue, but her eyes were oddly mischievous.

"And your brother is to blame as well," Tran added. "With him around, I predict that Emzara will stay with him rather than go anywhere with Cethin."

[Roxilicious]

Both Julian's and Alessia's expressions turned sour when they saw Elijah. Alessia, however, grew even more upset when she saw Emzara. This wasn't going to be easy, considering the vehement distaste she held for both people. What made it even more difficult was the guaranteed lack of trust either of the two held for anyone in the room.

"Perhaps Elijah could could accompany you...?" Julian suggested, though it wasn't a very serious one. He was thinking aloud. "Or there's a chance I could help in some way. Elijah hates Alessia much more than I, simply because she frequently irritates him. I haven't spoken to him in years, though. There's a chance I could assist you in gaining trust. It might be a long shot, but ..."

"Oh please, Julian, just look at you!" Alessia sneered, looking her brother up and down. "You have 'distrustful' written all over you! You look hideously suspicious, no matter how well-dressed and classy you make yourself. And the fact that Elijah knows of your past and your personality will ruin any chance of this working. It's not just a long shot; it's an impossibility."

Julian raised a skeptical eyebrow and gave his sister a dry glare.

She pondered for a moment. Her eyes lit up when an idea popped into her mind. "If, however, our brother has not spoken a word about you to Emzara, there's a chance you could isolate her from him and lure her into some sort of figurative trap, non?"

Alessia turned to face Cethin. Her brother continued to look at her.

"Do you absolutely need to accompany her to Faerym's Melodious Sin to help this girl escape, or could Julian potentially take your place? I mean, we could disguise you as someone and the foolish girl would never know the difference, right?"

Julian, too, looked at Cethin. His eyes were light with pleasure, hoping Alessia's idea would work.

[Holly]

xx

Alessia's plan spiked Cethin's interest because it had such a high chance of working. He was pretty sure that Emzara knew nothing of Julian, only of Alessia and Elijah. And even if he had "distrustful written all over him", Emzara was so oblivious of these facts that she wouldn't even think about it. And, thinking about it now, he really didn't need to accompany Emzara there. Zera would know what to do.

A smirk appeared as he replied, "No need for me to come with Em on her little trip to the Santach Planes. All you would have to do, Julian, is drop her off in the Melodious Sin and I could pick up Zera when she's ready." He was about to say something else when he noticed Tran gazing up at him with his signature 'are you stupid' look.

"What?" Cethin sighed, knowing something was coming.

"Your plan might be going well now, but you forgot that you first have to get her isolated. How are you going to take care of Elijah and the other one and their companions?" Tran questioned in a knowing voice. "One of them has a dragon and the other has two companions. You're going to have a hard time isolating Emzara unless you, oh, I don't know, kidnap her or kidnap them or something?" His tone grew more and more smug as he continued.

[The Santach]

"Child!" a nasty, hissy voice pierced the atmosphere in the welcoming foyer. It was like the voice of a witch, sounding nasty, old, and crooked.

A black, purple, and teal swirl of substance – something otherworldly, like ectoplasm or plasma – appeared around six feet off the ground and twirled around a slim figure straight to the ground. In its wake, Mandath, the Queen of Enigma. She took the form of a short girl with wavy, blonde locks and brown eyes, and she wore a red cloak.

"To gain, you must lose. Forget not the value of friendship; remember certain the benefits of betrayal. Irrational are thoughts of gold. Take silver and stain it with red. Numbers will increase, directly proportional to worth, and of course can you not dismiss a head on a silver platter?"

Her voice was snakelike and menacing, despite the illogical rhythm and syntax. She crossed her arms and rested most of her weight on her right leg. "Where do you go when you need assistance? It's simple: just pray, pray, pray!" This time, her words were clear. She made this evident by speaking slowly and condescendingly, as if the mortals before her were stupid. Which, in comparison to beings that had been around since the beginning of timespace, was a little bit true.

[Holly]

xx

Mandath, respectfully, was more on the annoying side. Cethin didn't have time for her riddles most of the time, but he listened because of how much power she wielded. And, of course, he hadn't exactly met her more than a couple times. Maybe on a trip through the planes.

"Waahhh!" Gemini formed back into one body and giggled. "Riddles! Riddles! I love riddles!" Her voice resonated with two different timbres, as if there were two voices talking at once. She flicked a look at her master, beaming, "She wants to assist in the plot! Please say yes!"

"And what would your approach be to this?" Cethin inquired curiously, relaxing just a little bit from the time Mandath had entered. "Whatever it is, it must be brilliant since you have offered to help, correct?"

[Roxilicious]

A pout found its way onto Alessia's pretty little face. What did Mandath mean? She hated being outsmarted; it frustrated her to eternity!

On the other hand, there was a goddess standing before her. She almost had trouble believing it, though she wasn't really understanding what was happening. The vampire girl was still more concerned with figuring out the riddle and proving her wit and intellect.

Alternatively, Julian was taken aback. One of the Santach, one of the very prestigious people he worshiped daily, stood in his house. Her presence alone was enough to increase the property value of his estate, if he were to sell to a fellow worshiper of the Santach. This was a rare blessing, a historical event for his family indeed. He couldn't let her leave.

"Listen to me, child, and hear my words," Mandath hissed, staring directly into Cethin's eyes. "I'm going to make a getaway and drop in on an old friend. Call upon Kairos in two hour's time, and on tomorrow's evening, pray for Erzes. We three shall help you to nurture the success of this plan. Do not underestimate our patronages and their seeming irrelevance and lack of connection. Nivema might be the Matron of Deceit, but we will show you the way without her. In two midnights, return to this foyer where we will all be waiting. Do not forget, lest you want your heads to be reused as eternal torches for my Labyrinth. For now, patience."

This was one of the few times Mandath was very clear about what she wanted. She wanted to be sure that Cethin and his friends were certain on what to do without getting lost in the instructions. The time and effort of the Santach weren't free, and she absolutely was not going to wait forever in her offer.

Her impatience showed as she disappeared in a cloud of smoke, which, when it dispersed, left a silver dagger where she once stood. Carved in the blade was her name, written by her hand, a priceless item of a goddess. It lacked any sort of enchantment, but it was divinely enhanced metal crafted by a deity.

Julian looked down at the dagger then to Cethin. He didn't seem to care about its uniqueness.

"Weather, emotions, and puzzles," he muttered, turning his gaze to the ground before him. "Are we going to churn up her emotions with a thunderstorm which strikes lightning in a coded message or something?"

Poor choice of words, of course. His mockery resulted in the seemingly omnipresent Mandath to rain shards of glass upon him for a brief moment, slicing his attire and even his skin.

"Agh!" he cried, holding up his hands. Another poor choice, for the glass sliced his palms without mercy.