Things had finally settled down after the incident within in the kitchens, mainly Uicle's pranks, as Pyx recovered from her burning mouth. Rathel easily convinced her to settle down and resume her seat beside Khan, the demon's gentle and passive nature making it a rather easy task.Meanwhile, Khan found the tip about burning out the taste worked...mostly. It dulled Lucilia's medicine's after taste to a much more tolerable level, allowing Khan to enjoy the candied nuts more. 
 
Every so often young Pyx seemed to look in Uicle's direction and thoughtfully think, highly possible she was considering ways to get even with the suit of armor who was a current teacher. Her appetite, namely for sweets, seemed to be on a legendary scale as she ate most of Khan's rather large porportion. Her teeth crunched and noisily enjoyed the nuts in a fashion that mildly amused him, glad she was enjoying herself. 
 
The Headmaster didn't mind though. His fingers slowly eating his own fill between the student's reaches and enjoyed the sweet's strong taste. Meanwhile his eyes fixed on Uicle. He knew the teacher wouldn't let his secret go, despite him silencing Rathel, which was why he had to consider a way out fast. It would only be a matter of time before Uicle told Lucilia, and then even to Ovak if he had to. Not that the Headmaster didn't suspect the Archmage hadn't an inkling of what already happened. Sometimes Ovak's ability to see events were down right accurate to a dangerous degree. 
 
When the plate emptied, Khan gripped his cane and rose. His head turned to Rathel with a gentle expression when he spoke. "Rathel, would you kindly escourt Pyx to her room? I think Uicle would like to have a chat with me." 
 
Rathel looked at Uicle then Khan before he started to to usher the small snow elf away. Something told the demon things were about to become rather hot in a moment. Several seconds passed while the sound of Rathel's and Pyx's footsteps slowly faded. Now it was just the pair of them left. 
 
"Well, I've got some paper work to still fill out. If you'll excuse me Uicle." Khan said then made to move past the teacher.          
 
"A very good try Khan, I must admit. But you don't seriously think I'm going to let you just walk away when I saw something related to Kudd buried in that temptation of yours, do you?" Uicle said dryly, still standing. "Don't try to run for it, I'll just close the door and I don't think your cane gives you the speed advantage here." He turned his rather large and bulky frame, being a steel golem currently, towards Khan. "What in the name of the God are you playing with Khan? You [i]know[/i] messing with anything related to Kudd is stupidly dangerous, and you [i]know[/i] that if it looks like you can turn it to your advantage, you probably can't! What is it that you have, or that he offered?"
 
"Uicle. I'm perfectly capable of dealing it with on my own, I've not exactly forgotten my last encounter with Kudd. I lucky enough not be killed!" Khan said, his voice low and warning. His fingers gripped his cane tighter then started to direct his path around Uicle, his detour wider due to the Steel Golem's girth, in order to push past to the door. 
 
"Now, buzz off." 
 
Uicle took a small step to cut off Khan's route. "You know, that sounds familiar 'I can take care of it by myself'." Uicle mused, rubbing the steel Golem's chin as he did so. "Where did I hear that before...oh yes! Right before I became indentured to the God of Evil, and numerous times while I served him to make people's lives miserable, and in some cases, end. And every time they said that, they never could. 'I can take care of the fire by myself' said one of my burn victims, 'I can fix this jam in the millstone' said another of my victims, he was a miller until they had to amputate the crushed ruin of his arms. Terrible thing really, he and his entire family ended up starving to death. 'I can take these bandits by myself' I said that right before a knife got shoved into my stomach about five times, and I had to sell my soul to Aarem just to keep living. Word of advice, just let yourself die. Much better in the long run." He looked down at Khan, utilizing the golems massive size. "My point is, its never as simple as it looks, especially with Kudd. You need help, or better yet, you need to get rid of whatever he gave you permanently. You are lucky to be alive, don't go give that life to Kudd."
 
Khan paused, his head glanced upward and into the Golem's face. He wasn't very happy at being stopped, but as he seized up the creature, it was clear he wasn't about to win any physical war with the Golem. If anything, the new form Uicle was in had much more advantages then himself. He sighed. He had heard all about Uicle's history, namely from Ovak, from the moment the master mage died to his punishment from Aarem. Though the archmage never told the reasons he wanted the ex-servant to begin teaching at the College. 
 
He leaned more heavily on his cane while he stayed standing. At the mention of life, Khan chuckled in a bitter tone, almost hollow. "Yes I am, but either way my life only lasts as far as my life span. Once its over, so is my soul. Or have you forgotten?" 
 
The Eysire raised his rune carved hand for Uicle to see clearly. "I know what price choices can have, Uicle. This... these runes will end up erasing my soul in the most painful way when I finally die. I will never be reborn. I will never get a chance to take another path through life or even live another. I will merely cease to exist, which I'm not sure if I should be terrified or not. Despite the heavy price, I don't regret what I did for my brother...merely that I was unable to help him." 
 
He moved forward a step. "Now, are we finished?"   
 
"Well congratulations Khan, you've discovered the secret of the afterlife!" Uicle threw his hands wide, "When you die, if you're reborn, you won't remember any of your past lives! I could have been one of Eania's greatest kings in my past lives, but I don't  remember any of them! You probably have a past life or two in you, but I somehow suspect you don't remember them either! Now would you kindly tell me what the difference between your soul ceasing to exist, and you not remembering anything about your past lives, thus making them null? And, believe me, I haven't forgotten that your soul is damned. Not when my own reminder never leaves my hand." He raised his staff, and shook it a little. "Aarem will get bored of this game one day, or maybe my luck will just end and the staff will break. Regardless, when it does happen, eternal torture at Aarem's hands. I must say, quite the fitting end." He shrugged, metal scraping against metal where it hadn't been fixed. "All I'm saying is that you need help. Tyrael if no one else. Preferably, you should destroy it so it doesn't hasten your end. I rather like having you around, believe it or not."
 
"Sarcasm will not help the matter, Uicle. It will make me wish you farewell much more and sooner." Khan sighed, a little tired of the Golem's understandable sacrasm and bitterness. He didn't want to impress or compare their histories and woes, even at the expense of being mocked at his childish reaction to hiding things. "No, there's no difference save the end will be painful and the souls will be cleansed. Doesn't make it any less meaningful in the end, Uicle. When people die, memories of them too are forgotten in exchange for the living but are they any less important when you can't remember them?" 
 
"You can't be that tired of my charming personality, otherwise you would have already killed me." If Uicle had had a mouth, he would have been smirking. As it was, however, simple tone of voice would have to do. "Regardless, moving on from comparing whose life has been more horrid and who will die more painfully, memories of the dead are useful to only three people. Their loved ones, their enemies, and Necromancers. So, yes. If you can't remember your past life, it is the exact same thing as never having lived it. If through some stroke of luck or laziness on Aarem's part, I do get reborn, perhaps some day my new body will be reading about Uicle the Servant of Aarem and thinking 'what a despicable excuse for life. How could anyone do that?' never knowing the irony of it all." He stood aside to let the headmaster pass. "All I'm saying Khan is that you can't shoulder this burdern by yourself. Not this time."   
 
"No, I can't say I am, but you're not the only person I enjoy mind you." Khan said but hadn't moved. Even when his way was clear, he hadn't budged and made his way into the doorway to leave this conversation behind him. His knuckles just whitened their grip on the top letting him lean heavily into the support. 
 
"Nor can I live with myself if those I share this burden with end up dying for my mistake. If things..." Khan swallowed, his words stumbled a bit and were forced out with a bitter taste, "If things turn for the worse, I need to know someone will stop me. Either by force or death. That is why I have to shoulder this burden alone Uicle. It's not because I want to be self-righteous or believe I can handle it alone but to ensure there are those around who will stop me. That won't be at risk being stopped in their tracks when the choice has to be made. It's more a selfish matter then anything." 
 
Uicle gave a sigh, or at least the best sigh a metal golem that was crushed in several different places could. "Or, and here's a crazy thought so feel free to mock me for it, we could just destroy whatever it is. Tell Kudd that we won't deal with his garbage, and move on with our lives. Or, what remains of them. We can beat the enemy without becoming the enemy Khan. Destroy it. Move on. Lead the College." Uicle paused, then seemed to scrutinize Khan. "When was the last time you had a midnight talk with Aramir or that monk girl?"
 
Khan shook his head at Uicle's suggestion. He knew it wasn't that easy and the fact Kudd had already contacted him once wasn't a positive piece of evidence that it was it going to be easy to destory the problem. Students, staff and guests all had suffered during the last feast and he felt the weight of the result heavy in his heart. He didn't want to repeat it again. 
 
The headmaster gestured for Uicle to follow him while he moved past and into the hallway, his cane clicked softly during his walk. "He wasn't even on the mortal plane and he still wrecked so much damage, I only shudder to think what would happen if he was here in person. He's strong Uicle when I last tried to dominate him, not even laying a scratch on him. I thought these Runes would've helped but I was wrong. Saying it much easier then going about it in the end." 
 
At mention of Aramir and Meirin, Khan nearly halted in place and gave the golem a stupidified expression at the surprising question. Instead his foot stumbled causing him to quickly catch himself before he fell on his face making him a rather humorous sight for a moment. "A while, actually. I think they still think of me as a headmaster, making them rather against breaking taboo when it comes to the traditional roles. I rather not force my company on them if they don't want. I would've thought you and the other teachers would've learned that by now." 
 
By this time, two students tried to approach Khan at the same time. The first was a blond haired man, around his late twenties, and pretty scholar by the look of his thin frame. He bumped elbows with a lithe, dark haired girl who often helped Samuel within the infirmary.   Both seemed to think his or her information was more important then the other's, elbowing and trying gain the head master's attention first. Their voices blended together causing Khan to cringe.  
 
Uicle sighed, but dropped the subject of Khan for the moment. Instead he focused on the fact he hadn't talked to either of the students. "Force your company on them? Khan, Aramir rarely sleeps. If ever. Meirin only slightly more. They wander the halls at night, and other than my charming company, they have you. They may occasionally talk to eachother, but they mainly talk to you, I find. The only reason you haven't seen them in a while is because you've been shut up in your room with that damn artifact of Kudd's."
 
Before Uicle could go on, two students walked up. They began babbling together at once, and while Khan cringed, Uicle took a more...direct approach. He slammed his metal palms together as hard as he could, his staff more than resistant enough, the resulting metallic shriek as his shoulders moved, and the loud bang of metal coming togeter was more than enough to silence the students, both recoiling back from the sound. "That's better. Now you," He pointed at the girl, "what's your problem?"
 
They stopped their conversation instantly at Uicle's interruption. Two sets of eyes settled on the metal golem, studying him, before he spoke making it clear who currently possess the hollowed creature. The girl blinked, realizing she was first, then began quickly began to speak. "Samuel sent me to notify Khan there was a new student within the infirmary. He wants to register with the College and become a student, yet... Sam said when he found him, he was sick and unstable at first. Though there's no wounds on him, there's plenty of blood and his clothes appear as they were in a fight. He requests someone be sent to pick him up and help him get to Lucilia for the needed paper work." 
 
Uicle then pointed to the male, who told his tale. "Another student arrived at the gates and was shown to an unused room as your own Khan is... well rather dangerous. He seems to be rather timid and an Orc. He also needs help registering as a student." 
 
Khan inwardly groaned at one of his least favorite tasks. Paperwork, it still owned his office desk and he looked to Uicle. "I'll take the Orc, if you'll take the wounded? Seems I need to get those plants under control in my office again."  
 
Uicle shrugged, causing another metallic shriek. "Right. Talk to the latest wounded person to stumble through our doors with no explanation what so ever. I wonder if I'll have to have Lucilia send a group of students after [i]this[/i] one too." He gestured to the girl, starting to move. "Lets go. We have to-"
 
He tried to move only to feel his leg get stuck. The tortured metal, naturally, gave away quite easily, and he fell down with a resounding crash only barely missing the girl. A stream of archaic curses exited from Uicle, and anyone who was from his time(before the whole, servant of Aarem thing) would have been impressed. As it was, both students just stared in confusion at him. "Khan. How would you feel if I had this nice young lady carry my staff for me too the nearest Golem?"
 
"Depends," Khan said, slightly worried at the effects of the curse as he had little knowledge of it, and continued. "Namely if the curse would hurt her and if you can stick to the staff or will you possess her?" 
 
"If I said I wouldn't possess her automatically, can she take the staff? And I don't [i]think[/i] the curse would hurt her. Not if Ren was nice. Aarem, alone, undoubtedly would have her hurt. Maybe even killed. In a very painful manner, most likely." Uicle ignored the fact that the girl had gone white and took a small step back.
 
Khan let out a small breath while he decided. "Hold on, there's another idea." 
 
[i]Zaad...
 
Yay, boss?
 
Take Uicle's staff. 
 
Alright---Wait, what?!?
 
You heard me clearly Zaad.  
 
I know what you said, but you can't be serious, The moment I take his staff, he'll go all poss...
 
Zaad, enough arguing. You're the only one I can be sure will deliver the staff without dying and if Uicle possesses you then he won't be out of a body quickly. Unless he pries, so don't argue with me. Either way you will do as you're told.
 
...Fine.[/i]
 
Shortly after Zaad's shadowy form appeared and formed just a short distance from the pair. His red eyes looked at Uicle with childish grudging, seemingly blaming him for his predictment and forced cooperation, while he approached to take the staff. His figure was nearly indestructible against almost anything. That and the fact he could easily recover would help Uicle to where he was going without too much delay, a reason Khan choose him. Though the demonomancer ensure not to show his discomfort at this alternative option. Should the teacher pry then so helped him, Zaad  would make Uicle suffer if he ended up back into the Inferno cause Aarem's cult reject couldn't mind his own damn business. Part of him hoped this wouldn't work when he reached for the staff.    
 
As soon as Zaad got a grip on the staff, and Uicle let go, the possession happened immediately. Uicle had no control over it. In an instant, after a brief bit of struggle with Zaad, the demon's eyes turned from red to green. [i]Hmm. This works on demons. I'm surprised, truly.[/i] Uicle commented, primarily to see who would all be listening. "Alright, time to go. Lead on lucky student who didn't get possessed!" He moved Zaad towards the direction the girl was going. "Lets see Aarem do his stupid little stone falling trick now." He muttered smugly, before rounding the corner.
 
Khan shook his head and spoke, showing he could read Uicle's mind through Zaad's link. "It might help these Runes aren't demonic in nature as well. So their influences can't clash as badly."   
 
As Uicle rounded the corner, Khan delivered one last...message to the teacher. [i]Might to avoid prying into Zaad's mind. I would hate to force you to find another body Uicle when I banish him to the inferno, though knowing Aarem, he might allow you hitching a ride with him there as well. I rather not discover the result either.[/i]