[center][h1][color=turquoise]Priest[/color], [color=bc8dbf]Jinx[/color], [color=gray]Blaque[/color][/h1]
[hr][color=f9ad81]Safe Haven[/color] - Collaboration with [@King Tai] and [@Necrophage][hr][/center]
[hider=For your viewing pleasure]
	The moment Blaque had entered, Jinx smiled in greeting and nodded in response to answer a few of his questions. As Priest began speaking with Vendetta's leader, Jinx's gaze fell upon the wooden chest in Blaque's hands, sending a jolt down her spine. In a flash, the girl jumped up from her seat, causing the wooden bar stool to clunk down onto the hard floor. [color=bc8dbf]"I-- I can't believe--!"[/color] the girl stammered out as she stared at the box, a wave of exhaustion washing over her, causing her to grab at the bar for support. No doubt that she would be feeling a bit light-headed, as traces of the paralytic still coursed within her blood. All at once, a flood of emotion swept across her face, as her troubled mind eased with the sight of the small chest. [color=bc8dbf]"You... You actually found him!"[/color]

	[color=turquoise]"Him?"[/color] Priest commented. [color=turquoise]"What, was Weber holding your hamster for hostage?"[/color] He looked at the chest with a gaze of disbelief. Why would Weber need to keep an old locked chest for a little girl in place of simply destroying her old belongings? Priest offered Jinx a hand back to the stool. [color=turquoise]"Not so fast there. Let me help you out."[/color]

	Seeing the excitement Jinx displayed upon noticing the box Blaque carried, the man in shades looked down at the box, a little curious as to what he actually found. With Priest helping her up, Blaque examined the box for a moment. It didn't feel like an animal was kept in it. So what the hell was in there? [color=gray]"I knew there was something interesting about this box, but I wondered why Caretaker had it and what it's purpose was."[/color]

	Jinx eased down onto the stool and placed a hand to her head, letting her vision clear as she calmed down. With a furrowed brow, Jinx shot a glance to Priest. [color=bc8dbf]"I didn't really think he'd be okay... I thought they had sold him off, or somehow killed him,"[/color] Jinx glanced again toward Blaque. [color=bc8dbf]"I suppose now is as good a time to tell you... I have, eh, a friend in that box. It's kind of hard to explain,"[/color] Jinx rubbed her temple gently as she tried to piece together a way to say what was on her mind. [color=bc8dbf]"He's, eh, kind of spooky,"[/color] Jinx snickered softly, and continued. [color=bc8dbf]"I guess it'd be easier to just show you, instead of stammering my way through it,"[/color] Jinx nodded to the box, hoping Blaque would try and open it.

	From what she said, Blaque wondered aloud, [color=gray]"You make it sound as if there's some sort of spirit in this box?"[/color] He said, trying to open the box for a moment, but with no luck. He could just try and break the box but...

	Priest turned back to Blaque. [color=turquoise]"Bring it over here, it looks like no problem. We can open it right on the counter. I just hope whatever's in it is as lively as our girl here."[/color] He passed her a doubtful frown. [color=turquoise]"For your sake."[/color]

	Hearing Priest ask Blaque to bring the box over to the counter to open it, Blaque brought it over [color=gray]"This box is sealed tight though; unless you know what to do to get it open, I'm leaving it for you to do so,"[/color] Standing in front of the box with his arms folded. [color=gray]"Jinx, does your friend have a name?"[/color] He asked.

	[color=bc8dbf]"Y-- yeah..."[/color] the girl muttered, locking her fingers together in anticipation. [color=bc8dbf]"His name is Pohl,"[/color] Jinx smiled softly, glancing back and forth from the wooden box to Priest, awaiting eagerly for the magical man to remove whatever seal was placed upon the chest.

	The man in question looked over the box without touching. It was simple, a little beaten even. If this was stowed in the doctor's lab, it may have been he didn't even know what it was either. The latch wasn't even closed and locked into place. Priest gave the top of the box a gentle tug, to no avail. He tried a little harder and it didn't do any good. He looked at Blaque and grimaced. [color=turquoise]"I take it you already tried that?"[/color] Priest shrugged and looked at the various designs on the box. [color=turquoise]"Well, whoever closed this box wasn't relying on glue or iron to keep it that way."[/color] He looked more closely on the set of symbols that peaked the box. [color=turquoise]"I feel as if I've seen this before. It appears to be Chinese characters but I cannot be sure of whether or not they trapped it."[/color] Priest picked the box up and held it snug under his arm. [color=turquoise]"Will you help the girl, Blaque? We need to take this upstairs. No point sullying our front room."[/color] He hauled it upstairs to his room and placed it in the middle of the floor.

	Waiting and watching, Blaque witnessed Priest pretty much do what Blaque already did as the bald crime fighter kept his arms cross giving Priest the look of 'no shit, Sherlock' expression on his face. Being asked to help Jinx, Blaque immediately walked over to her [color=gray]"Come on, I got you..."[/color] having her support her weight onto him. Helping her up the stairs, Blaque spoke for a moment [color=gray]"How did you a Pohl meet? What can he do?"[/color] he asked her.

	[color=bc8dbf]"I guess..."[/color] Jinx began, pausing to adjust herself as they approached the top of the steps, [color=bc8dbf]"He tells me that he's always been around, ya know? I mean, just kind of lingering, really. Then, he finally showed up..."[/color] her voice trailed off, an obvious pain in her eyes. [color=bc8dbf]"Well, there was this one night, something happened, and he appeared and, eh, took me in his arms, and he's been following me around ever since."[/color] Jinx snickered a bit under her breath, though it did little to mask the pain in her voice as she fumbled through her explanation.

	Clearing her throat, Jinx smiled up at the bald man, and continued. [color=bc8dbf]"But, eh, he's great! He doesn't really do much, except talk about all this weird history stuff, though sometimes he'll help me out in a fight, if I really need him. But, he's nice! And you don't really gotta worry about him getting in the way or anything,"[/color] Jinx giggled again at her last comment. [color=bc8dbf]"You probably think he's, like, a ghost or something. But he isn't - not really. He does a lot of business with ghouls and spooks and all that, but I don't think he was ever alive enough to die, ya know?"[/color] she glanced up at Blaque, a childish grin spread across her lips.

	Blaque looked at her with the responses she made as if she wasn't making any sense but he took in the information regardless [color=gray]"You make it sound as if he took your virginity that night you two met,"[/color] he said with a serious but curious expression on his face. Seeing the pain she was obviously felt, he was going to ask if she needed to stop but he figured if she needed anything, she'll just say so.

	As Blaque spoke, Jinx's eyes widened in surprise. [color=bc8dbf]"N-- no!! Oh, gosh no, that would be [i]way[/i] too weird!"[/color] Jinx felt her face redden, and tried her best to gather up her thoughts. [color=bc8dbf]"No, it-- it was, like, eh, he grabbed me, with his whole body-- he, um, absorbed me, I guess?"[/color] Jinx glanced up at Blaque's face for a brief moment, before fixing her gaze upon the floorboards. [color=bc8dbf]"I know it probably doesn't make sense, but, he grabbed me with his entire body, and then I was transported into this other realm,"[/color] Jinx took a deep breath before carefully looking back into the man's face. [color=bc8dbf]"Um, Mr. Blaque,"[/color] she eased her way through each word, [color=bc8dbf]"what do you know about... Purgatory?"[/color]

	After explaining what happened, Blaque still felt that what she was saying sounded like a spirit being raped her but he shrugged it off. In the end, sounds like Pohl took her as a new host or vessel and possessed her. She claimed he was friendly and he was going to believe her for the moment. Blaque usually don't deal with spirits. They were at the top of the stairs now and Blaque thought about her next question. [color=gray]"Hmm... Never really thought much about it... Just knowing it's either a state or place where sinners try and atone for their sins before going to heaven... As some people say or believe,"[/color] he said.

	Jinx stood for a moment with Blaque at the top of the stairs, collecting her thoughts before she spoke. [color=bc8dbf]"Well, that's where Pohl took me,"[/color] she stopped for a moment, glanced about, then continued. [color=bc8dbf]"Purgatory isn't as weird as people think, ya know. It isn't this dark, spooky, twisting hallway of jail cells or anything like that. Its more like the real world, 'cept everything is colored all black and white,"[/color] finally the girl stopped, and nodded to Priest's room. [color=bc8dbf]"I think if your magician can open up the box, Pohl would probably be better at telling you all this stuff than I would,"[/color] Jinx took a deep breath, and turned toward the doorway, determined to walk the rest of the way on her own.

[hr]	Priest's room was pretty empty. There was a comfy chair, a single bed and a foldable desk with a laptop on it. It was after all not his actual home but served as a place to stay during missions. [color=turquoise]"Find a spot while I work."[/color] He advised as he moved the furniture clear from the middle of the room and began drawing a circle on the ground with chalk from his pocket. [color=turquoise]"Don't go getting any strange ideas now. I just prefer not being questioned so I'll explain before anyone gets the wiser."[/color] Priest finished his circle, a simple thing with several small characters in four spots that could be considered corners. [color=turquoise]"This will hold whatever magic or entities comes out. I don't particularly like the idea of exploding or sporting extra limbs before bed."[/color] He went over to his laptop and opened it up, quickly surfing onto the net. [color=turquoise]"Welcome to the magic of tomorrow. No longer does one need to have a vast library when you can just put it on a computer![/color] A Russian mail-order bride popped up in advertisement, covering the screen. Priest scooted uncomfortably in the way of Jinx's view and arduously closed everything but what he was looking for. [color=turquoise]"Yeah.. magic of tomorrow.."[/color] He mumbled, [i]if you can sort through all the filth[/i].

	[color=turquoise]"Aha! Gotcha."[/color] He announced enthusiastically before spinning the laptop to face them. It was a flat picture of the same set of symbols etched into the top of the chest. Priest looked at them over an awkward silence with that same silly grin. [color=turquoise]"It's kanji! They're Chinese characters adopted by Japan. So what we have here is onmyo magic."[/color] He let his smile slowly slip with the sudden realization. [color=turquoise]"Unfortunately I don't know how onmyo magic works, only that they apparently used it to fight and seal away demons and spirits.. The good news is that we've confirmed that this Pohl of yours, Jinx, -- is not a hamster..."[/color]

	[color=bc8dbf]"I coulda told you [i]that[/i],"[/color] the girl scoffed, before pondering over what else Priest had said. Staring at the wooden box for a moment, Jinx let out a sigh, then let her disappointment come forth. [color=bc8dbf]"So, what you're saying is, you don't know how to open it?"[/color] the pale-skinned teen let her brow furrow, a tinge of sadness layered on top of her voice.

	Priest suddenly postured up, looking his usual arrogant self. [color=turquoise]"Now don't you go thinking I have no plan."[/color] Despite his lapse of knowledge in this area someone had just dangled a mystery in this magic man's face that needed to be solve. [color=turquoise]"Most sealing magic has one thing in common. A physical manifestation with a magical background. In other words, the symbol with magic willed into it. Damaging the symbol could weaken the magic. I have a hunch these kanji were supposed to keep something inside rather than keep an outside presence from entering. That may have been an alteration or afterthought."[/color] Priest paused his rant to produce a pocket knife, offering it to Jinx. [color=turquoise]"It's your box, just make the kanji illegible and the seal should burst."[/color]

	Jinx sat for a moment beside Priest, reaching out to grab at the small blade, and, grasping up the box, stood upright, letting Blaque's long black coat droop to her feet. Staring down at the wooden chest, Jinx took a deep breath as the knife hung idly in her other hand, then with light feet stepped into the circle in the middle of the room. Priest extended a hand to the circle as the girl entered it, willing his own sealing circle to close. There was an audible pop in the room as the shimmer of magic circled to the seal. It looked like the wall of a soapy bubble. Priest smiled at Jinx. [color=turquoise]"Just in case."[/color]

	Jinx turned her head at the sound of the pop, scowling a bit as she faintly saw the magic shield surround the strange Priest, but quickly refocused her attention upon the case that held her companion. Gingerly, the girl adjusted the small pocket knife in her hand to be aimed down toward the symbols upon the aged wood, and began etching away. As the first kanji character began to turn more into a mess of scratch marks, she felt a strange pulse coming from the wooden chest, almost similar to a heartbeat, but arrhythmic. Another character was scraped away, and the box shook a bit in her grasp, along with a faint whistling that seemed to emit from the latch. With each character that was removed, the shaking became more violent, and the sounds that escaped from the box grew louder and increasingly shrill, until it had thrashed from her hands and crashed onto the floor, emitting a great [i]BANG[/i]!

	Jinx dropped to her knees and caught the box beneath her arm, struggling as she dug away at the last of the kanji. At this point, there was a screeching and low rumble that filled the room, and the girl had to put her entire weight upon the container to keep it from lunging out of the circle. Finally, in a burst of light, Jinx was thrown from the circle across the room, a great thundering [i]CLAP[/i] escaping into the hall and filling the whole of Safe Haven, the box's latch burst off and the lid of the chest swung open. A booming roar, almost demonic in tone, shouted out from the small, blackened space that filled the box, casting a great shadow into the light that had been bouncing off of the walls.

	Finally, as the echo died and the brightness dimmed, there within the circle stood a darkened figure, which seemed to absorb the light from around it, holding no true form and growing and shrinking again and again. Finally, from the darkness of the form, what seemed to be a long, thick brown stick appeared, and was lifted to the top of the figure, the tip sparking an ember-glow, smoke escaping from both ends. The shade began taking shape and filling with color, until what appeared to be a man stood before them all in the center of the circle, tall and thin, with gray skin and a dark brown suit. His face was young though sunken, and most notable were the two dark, beady holes that filled the spaces where eyes would have been.

	[color=bf8040]"[i]Ailis[/i],"[/color] the spirit's voice was gentle and distinguished, and surprisingly clear, though there was still a strange tone to it that made it sound not quite human. Jinx jumped to her feet and ran over, embracing the spirit which seemed to tower above her. Seemingly surprised, it lowered one hand onto the girl's head and let out a sigh, shifting its gaze to the two men in the room. [color=bf8040]"And these are...?"[/color] Sounding quizzical, the spirit, who could only be Pohl, lifted his free hand to his lips and removed the cigar, breathing out a large cloud of blackish-gray smoke into the air, which seemed to disappear as it lifted above his head.

	The girl pulled away from the spirit and nodded to each figure as she spoke. [color=bc8dbf]"Pohl, this is Blaque, the man who saved me from the orphanage, and Priest, the man who figured out how to get you out of that box,"[/color] rubbing the tears away that had pooled around her eyes, Jinx stood silently smiling as the spirit began, [color=bf8040]"Gentlemen, I thank both of you immensely for the services you've done for myself and for my little Jinx,"[/color] gazing back toward the girl, he muttered quietly to himself, [color=bf8040]"orphanage?"[/color], then continued. [color=bf8040]"There's no way I know which could express my gratitude in a proper manner, but know that I am deeply indebted to both of you, and if ever you would need me, I shall be waiting."[/color] The spirit bowed low, and as he rose, replaced the cigar upon his lips.

	[color=bf8040]"I imagine you both have many questions, but come, I would assume after the show I had put on, there would be a few other souls in this establishment who would be aware of our presence. Shall we go to meet them?"[/color] The spirit glanced down toward the circle around his feet, and frowned. [color=bf8040]"Though, I suppose I wouldn't be going anywhere so long as I am bound here. Ah, escape one prison, only to fall in another. Pity,"[/color] fixing a grin upon his lips, Pohl let his gaze fall upon Priest. [color=bf8040]"I can understand your precaution, though I figure it would be safe to say that I cannot harm you, unless Jinx would will it,"[/color] the spirit glanced down toward the girl, then looked back toward the sorcerer. [color=bf8040]"Would I be asking too much of you to allow me leave of this seal?"[/color]

	Priest was on edge the whole time, at one point his hand even drifted to the inside of his coat to do what one might imagine would be done when threatened. Of course drawing a gun on a ghost didn't seem like a very reasonable thing. Reasonable? It was a ghost. Most people would be driven to panic just to witness this spectacle. He finally relaxed a little but wasn't about to let his guard down.  [color=turquoise]"Letting an unknown element like you walk free in this place during such a time seems like a bad idea."[/color] He mused, pacing around the circle. Priest pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He peered down at the sobbing girl and grimaced. With a shake of the head he finally approached the circle.  [color=turquoise]"This goes against my better judgement."[/color] Using his shoe he scuffed the chalk and broke the circle. The shield shimmered and fell to the floor like a fine mist.  [color=turquoise]"You're lucky I have a soft spot for orphans." [/color] He glared at the spirit.  [color=turquoise]"Just don't forget I have no reason to trust you and I know how you wound up in there so don't make me exercise that power."[/color] He grumbled and walked out of the room.

	[color=bf8040]"A gentle tone just isn't what it used to be, it seems,"[/color] Pohl smirked as he turned his gaze toward the opening in the circle, gracefully lifting one leg across where the chalk used to connect, placed his foot down gingerly, and followed through with the rest of his body, stretching his arms as he stood outside of where the seal was. Looking to Blaque, Pohl nodded in thanks, then followed Jinx out of the room and down the stairs, toward the main bar beneath them.
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