at two midnight's time...

[Holly]

He had followed every command of the goddess of clever riddles and crafty puzzles. Summoning each of the Santach wasn't exactly a complicated thing to do when instructed to at the proper times. And being around for so long allowed one to gave much needed information about how to do so. What was a hard thing for him to do, was summon a Hexadus, but that was laughable thing in and of itself. Even thinking about it made him smirk in the slightest.

The last part of the instructions was about to be fulfilled that night, though. The second midnight came and the ghost arrived at the Hawkings estate. It almost made him anxious, an odd thing for Cethin to feel. Was he scared? No, more like he was wondering how this was going to turn out. Zera was waiting for an escape, though, and he wasn't going to stop until she had it. And at the expense of Emzara? Well, that didn't matter at all.

Cethin didn't knock as he approached the door. They all knew what was going on tonight and he didn't believe they would mind him intruding. Without a second thought, he became intangible and merely passed through it. Tangibility was regained when he was inside, however. It wasn't necessary, but he never stayed untouchable for long. Death had never been enjoyable and part of him wished to be alive again, but sometimes it had it's perks.

Already waiting for him near the foyer were four varas: Tran, Gemini, Odin, and, surprisingly, Camarin. Tran and the twins were to be expected but seeing Camarin made the corners of his lips turn up into a cold smile. "Long time, no see, Cam," He nodded his head and the vara did the same, an expression on her face not seen by Emzara ever. Her eyes swirled with dark mischief.

"And why would I not be here? When Tran mentioned you had found a way to bring Zera here, I had to see for myself," Her calming, deeper voice was laced with a darkness that only few people were aware of. "And if this truly works, I want to be one of the first to greet my true owner here." At those words, Tran rolled his eyes and Camarin sent an icy glare his way.

[The Santach]

"Ah, Cethin," a voice emanated from the floor of the foyer. The entire floor. It was like an animate, breathing mass of life, speaking and thinking and hearing and feeling and knowing, yet it didn't move at all.

Erzes rose from a misty puddle that formed on the floor. He took his regular human form: a short man, perhaps 5'7" or so, around the age of 40 with well-defined muscles for his height, a square jaw, brilliant blue eyes, and long, golden, windswept locks that fell to his shoulders with two braids in them.

"So nice to meet with you this evening," he said.

Meanwhile, Kairos was sitting in the corner, very casually and patiently. She had chosen an armchair near a corner bookshelf, and she, too, was in her typical human form: tall, bold, powerful, with long, lean legs and perfectly silky, manageable, wavy hair the color of silver moonlight. Her face was narrow and beautiful, and she had eyes like the ocean: calm blue that changed into a dark, greyish storm when enraged.

The Queen of Weather stood upon Cethin's arrival and joined her fellow Selfish Prince. "Where is Mandath?"

"Here, Kairos," the goddess said, speed-walking through a doorway as she met with the others in her typical human form. The three had agreed on using their casual man disguises, the ones they used when blending in with the crowd as a nonchalant passerby. It was somewhat peculiar, the way three powerful deities could appear so... Ordinary.

"All right, Cethin, we're going to keep this short and sweet," Mandath said, looking the mortal in the eyes with a sharp, burgundy stare.

"The plan is actually quite simple, utilizing fear and intimidation to weaken our target such that she is vulnerable to giving her trust away far more easily than she should, and to ensure this plan works, we've called Erzes here to literally fuck her emotions," Mandath sneered and let out a maniacal laugh, absolutely loving the abuse of power that came with being a goddess. It was like a divine high. She could do almost anything she wanted to mortals, and sometimes they wouldn't even know it. Often, the Queen of Enigma wished she had the same kind of control as Erzes. The entire world would be in chaotic, insane despair.

"More specifically," Erzes said after a moment of silence due to Mandath relishing in her awesome power, "Kairos is going to lure her into a meteorological hell, so to speak. We will isolate Emzara, and that is when Kairos will rain fire, not literally, upon the girl. Whatever she wants. Thunder overhead is loud enough to scare the shit out of a girl, or lightning striking directly in front of her face. As she grows more fearful, I will manipulate her fear, transforming it into terror and a desperate need for protection and safety, something deeply rooted in the brains of every woman alive. She'll be begging any man to keep her safe in seconds once I've changed her, and she'll willingly trust virtually anyone. It will be a logical sequence as opposed to a more direct manner that lacks a catalyst. Does this suffice for you?"

[Holly]

The smirk that Cethin normally wore was ever-present as he listened to the selfish gods' plans. Perfect. Everything was absolutely perfect. And since it was devised by such a high power, there was no way that it could possibly go wrong. Added also to the fact that Emzara was already easily terrified and effortlessly trusting meant that this could probably go even faster.

He admired Mandath's willingness to abuse power without care for whomever. He just appreciated Ezres explaining further as to get the entire idea of the plan, as it was a brilliant plan indeed. "I believe that more than suffices," He agreed with the god of emotion. He certainly would not have been able to come up with such a plot, but that was possibly for the fact that he did not weild such power.

Emzara was going to be in for quite a shock, though, years earlier he had warned her that she couldn't trust anyone. Well, anyone but himself, but that had obviously been a lie. Now she was truly going to experience why this was so. There was no sympathy felt for the little soul stealer.

"What is to happen when she does trust anyone willingly? Will she follow one of you to the plane requested or will Cethin do as such?" Tran questioned, as he knew that Cethin was, in fact, thinking that, but he wouldn't question the idea of gods unless they were holy. The vara's voice, however, was respectful and judging of the plan.

[The Santach]

Before Kairos or Erzes could speak, Mandath responded quickly, "Perhaps it would be better if Cethin brought her to Faerym's Melodious Sin. It makes it easier for us to keep our cover without having to wipe her memory. That's the fun of being a Selfish Lord: making the mortals wonder if their encounters with us were just a dream or if they were real."

Erzes and Kairos exchanged a glance. They weren't used to directly interfering with the mortals of this world; rather, they'd sit from afar and do their dirty deeds. Kairos would often sit atop a thunderhead and rain fury upon an unsuspecting, fragile village, and Erzes would often take the form of an intangible mist and actually go inside his mortal target of choice, changing their feelings from inside their own minds without them suspecting a thing.

"When do you wish for this to take place, Cethin?" Erzes asked. "The mortal world makes me grow weary, and I wish to return to my Colored Chambers. We can either do this quick right now, or you can summon us individually when you feel the time is right."