[center][b]Collab Between Lost, Skai, AnriuSB, and Godfather[/b][/center]

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"I dont like this Mathias, there`s a dark presence here...and light! The two sides working together? We have to leave!" Boreas exclaimed as Mathias hobbled into the entrance hall, sweeping away masses of cobwebs as he moved. "We're not going anywhere and thats final, you're supposed to be the `great devourer` why are you so scared?" He asked. Mathias loved to toy with his inner demon. "Im not scared you fool! Im just aware that neither you nor myself are strong enough to deal with large threats yet." Regardless of Boreas' warnings, Mathias loudly hammered his cane on the floor below, causing a loud echoing thud, announcing their arrival.

[b][i]'So Iktomi we are going to devour them right? That last conduit was hardly a meal, and I am famished.'[/i][/b] Archania's voice boomed within Iktomi's mind. [i]'No, they are not hostile. At the very least I wish to hear why they are here. If their reason is not satisfactory, and we can provoke them, then we will devour their souls. Not a moment sooner though.[/i] Due to his late night, which was only helped pittifully from his nap, Iktomi was in no mood to put up with his kage's antics, nor those of anyone else. As the clanging of an object striking the floor reached his ears, Iktomi manipulated the threads near the door, throwing them open. "Enter, and be quick about it. You are letting in a draft."

All had stopped for Samuel Baxter. His eyes were unmoving, focused only on the ground directly infront of the entranceway to Iktomi's lair. On the ground were strewn hundreds of black strings, more so than anywhere he had seen so far. [b]This is a place of death.. [/b] His kage mused, [b] I believe we will have fun here[/b].

Samuel adjusted his collar and stepped forward. 'Indeed,' he thought to himself briefly, 'I believe we shall.'

Samuel entered behind Mathias, closing the door lightly behind him.

"Mister Ascher I presume? My apologies for such an unexpected intrusion. Thank you for seeing us at such short notice. My name is Mathias Winters, and this is my associate. I've heard a great deal about you Mr Ascher. Do you know some call you an Emperor? As much of an honor as it is to meet you, I haven't come to bow to a new leader. I need information sir, I think you know the location of a very hard to find man. Are you aware of the location of Edward Vates?"

Arianna paused as she stepped into the room, looking up at the newcomers. She had managed to hear the name "Edward Vates" as she entered and furrowed her brows curiously. She lightly cleared her throat and shut the door behind her, looking the newcomers over. Neither of them seemed too threatening, but one could never tell. She didn't know if they had kages or not. Without interrupting too loudly, Arianna slowly moved to stand next to Iktomi's webby throne.

Sam tipped his hat to Iktomi as Mathias gestured to him, his eyes then wandered around the room, taking in the true nature of Iktomi's layer. To most it would have appeared as a simply web, but Sam saw much more. Each and every web in the building was attached to Iktomi's life string and whenever he manipulated one of them his life string and the web itself would merge. It was a complex puzzle that Sam could only begin to unwind. [b] This is extremely coincidental indeed. [/b] Sam's kage chuckled softly before continuing. [b] That unfortunate young lad has stumbled across a very good friend of mine.. So tragic this Iktomi had to throw his life away like that.. [/b]

Samuel shot a confused gaze at his kage, who simply remaind silent and shrugged in his direction. Samuel shook his head of the thought and raised his eyes, only to have them fall upon Arianna. For a moment he was taken aback. The sudden appearance of his hallucination almost caused him to faint. It was then that true surprise hit him. This woman was real. Samuel swallowed nervously; the resemblance was uncanny. This woman was almost an exact replica of his deceased sister.

"I am well aware of the titles that have been bestowed upon me by those who either fear or respect my authority. They are meaningless. I am simply a man protecting those that look to him for leadership. Much like yourself Mr. Winters, if my intel is to be trusted." Iktomi forced his aggression down, since his guests managed to not only prove they had a valid reason for coming, they also peaked his interest. "As a fellow business man I am sure you understand that information does not come without a price. I am aware of the location of Mr. Vates, what are you able to offer in return?"

"The real question, Mr. Ascher, is what do you want?" Mathias said with a smile. After a whole year of searching Vates was finally close at hand. "I can offer you many things. I can see an alliance between you and I. As your intel may tell you, I have a strong supply of tech and weaponry at my disposal. Now I can't tell you where I get them from, but I can supply you with reasonable armament in return for a simple location. Would that interest you?" 

Rather than answer immediately, Iktomi lifted his hand from the arm of his throne, causing three groups of webbing to rise in the air. With a twitch of his fingers the threads spun together to form three spears, which hovered idly in the air. "Weapons are of little concern to me, in my home I am more than adequetly armed. Those who follow me are equally equipped, however one can never have too much technology at their disposal. In exchange for Vates' location I want a shipment of the best you can offer, as well as an alliance. How does that sound Mr. Winters?" Iktomi's head tilted to the side, his dead eyes locked onto those of Mathias.

Samuel shook his head slowly, his focus had shifted to the conversation and he was not pleased with the spider's counter offer. He looked up to him and twirled his hat forward, performing a sort of bow in order to announce himself. "Do you preffer Emperor, or Iktomi?" He asked cheerfully.

Iktomi's eyes never shifted from Mathias as he responded. "I prefer neither from those who I do not know. If you are to address me it will be as Mr. Ascher, and only at the consent of Mr. Winters. He is the one that my business is with."

"Aah, my esteemed Mr. Ascher.. I do not believe you understand." Samuel's gaze darkened for a moment as he bit off the next part of his sentence, "any business with Mr. Winters, is also a business with myself." He straightened himself as he stepped forward twice. "Two things Mr. Ascher, two things; one, how much will you be losing when you give away this information? My associate seems to be getting the short end of this bargain, do you not agree?"

Arianna had been listening intently the whole time, her gaze switching between the three men as they spoke. When she felt the second man's gaze on her, she shifted uncomfortably. She caught a glimpse of what he was thinking as he looked shocked. [i]Sister.. Is that..? No, it can't be..'[/i] He thought. Arianna narrowed her eyes for a millisecond, wondering what he meant. It was a little awkward to resemble the sibling of a stranger. Especially when she heard it, while otherwise she wouldn't have.

As they continued to talk, Arianna became more interested. Why did he want to find Vates? Had Vates done something to him, or was he an old friend of this Mathias? She blinked in surprise as the second man, Baxter, seemed to try and take control of the situation. Curiously, Arianna looked up at Iktomi to see his reaction to Baxter's words.

Iktomi finally teared his eyes away from Mathias, locking them now upon the eyes of the man who dared to speak as if he knew what he was talking about. "You come onto my property without invitation seeking a favor, and you expect to get an even bargain? This is the very reason that this discussion is between Mr. Winters and myself. You do not have the knowledge to comprehend what is proper in a situation such as this. I stand to lose absolutely nothing from giving Mr. Winters the location of Edward Vates, however he clearly needs the information badly enough to approach me unnanounced. Therefore, I am the one in control of bargaining what its worth is. Further more with the second part of the agreement, that being the alliance between Mr. Winter and I, I am more than willing to aid him with whatever he needs, be it within my power to do so. From my perspective I am taking a great risk at trusting a man that I only know through intelligence operations, and from that I stand to lose quite a bit. Now why don't you silence yourself before I ask Mr. Winters to remove you from my presence." Throughout his little monologe Iktomi's voice never shifted from it's dead tone.

"Well put Mr. Ascher," continued Samuel. Even though the man showed no sign of it, the threat was clear. [b] What will you do now Mr. Baxter, you have been looked down upon. Is that not unacceptable? [/b] Samuel agreed entirely. This Iktomi had made a grave error in the eyes of Samuel Baxter. He would know what happened to those who direspected him. he would know..

Samuel chose instead to simply quiet himself. He smiled and nodded respectfully. "Thank you for the clarification."

"Gentlemen, we are amidst an apocalypse yes, but lets be civilised. Mr. Ascher, neither myself nor Mr. Baxter are to be underestimated. So you've got webs, nice, I'm sure that comes in handy when you want to knit something made from silk." He chuckled at his own joke, the sound reverberated into a loud bellow. "I respect you sir not for your clear power, but for your mind and leadership. I propose this; You get your tech, I get my intel, and, we set up a nice little trade route between our two estates, what do you say? Believe it or not there's still money to be made out here and power to be grabbed." He waited a while for a response, Mathias was not concerned however, an offer like the one he had just given very rarely presented itself. Turning to Sam, a look of disappointment crossed his face, he wondered if the man had any ability to shake the thoughts of rage and violence from his mind. He was trying to cover it up, but Mathias had known him for far to long, he knew when he was losing it.

Arianna blinked, listening to the two men completely ignore the fact that they were trapped within Iktomi's lair unless Iktomi let them go. She gave them some brownie points for standing up to Iktomi (she would do it, too, if the opportunity arrived), but thought them foolish. Even though it was a business arrangement, they clearly needed Iktomi's cooperation in order to gain anything. Pissing him off was a bad thing to do if you weren't as close to Iktomi as she was. Arianna glanced between Iktomi and the two men, wondering how he would react to their demands. She was definitely trying hard not to hear Iktomi's thoughts; she desperately wanted to, but respected him enough not to pry.

As his gaze landed upon Mathias once again, Iktomi's face remained a straight line for a moment before finally cracking into a sly grin. "I like you Mr. Winters, but make no mistake. I never underestimate anyone. That is the quickest way to an early grave. These webs are for more than decoration; ask any of the individuals who attempted to kill me. That is not a threat, mind you, it is a simple fact. The arrangement you propose is adequate enough, and having another comrade is always beneficial in the world we live in. You will find the information you seek with the woman that escorted you here. She is waiting for you outside." With the grin remaining upon his lips, Iktomi turned his head back to Mr. Baxter. "I will not apologize for the words that I said, for they hold true. Your head is in the right place, looking out for Mr. Winters' interests, however the manner in which you did so was flawed."

Samuel smiled softly, all evidence of anger had now vanished from him. Beneath his mask of content was a pool of hatred however, luckily for him, Samuel had mastered the art of 'coming off as pleased'. "No need Mr. Ascher. I was out of line. My memory is not at its best these days, so please find it in your heart to excuse any... discrepancies that may present themselves." As he did this he tipped his hat in respect to the man. Iktomi was quite skilled in many areas, but Samuel did not plan on letting his preparedness prevent him from exacting vengeance.

Samuel then turned to Mathias. "I believe it best if we left my dear friend. I will meet you outside. First I have some personal business with Mr. Ascher." Samuel was kindly hinting at him to leave them alone. His eyes said 'sorry, I will tell you later'.

"Yes I think you're right Samuel. Mr. Ascher, thank you so much for your time. I hope you manage to get some rest tonight at least." He nodded to his friend and started to turn, as he did so he noticed the girl once more. "Young lady, would you escort an old man out, my leg is a bit weak."

Arianna opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated. She glanced at Iktomi for encouragement, but noticed his expression. She swallowed lightly and nodded, smiling politely. "If it'll help," she said, moving towards him. For what she knew, this man seemed to have no other means than harming someone besides his words and his cane. She reached out, gently taking ahold of the arm opposite the side of the cane.

As they stepped through the door, out of sight and far enough to not be heard, Mathias looked Arianna in the eye. "Be careful young lady. I know you have a strong connection with Mr. Ascher. I dont know how you know him or why you are here, but please be careful. I think you know how dangerous he is...I think you know a lot of things...I think you even know what I think, what everyone thinks. Keep that in mind when Mr. Ascher thinks of me as an old man who has forgotten how to play the game...Take care Miss."

As he finished, Hali came around the corner, envelope in hand. Mathias said his goodbyes; one to the stone-cold killer, one to the dazed young lady. Walking away, he grasped the envelop tightly, Vates truely was within reach now.

Arianna had been about to defend Iktomi, but suddenly tensed and felt her heart stop when he hinted about her telepathy. She could feel Castiel shift uncomfortably within her. How did he know? Was it that easy to tell? As he walked away, Arianna watched him for a few moments, still trying to grasp what he had said. Had he threatened Iktomi in the last sentence he said? She could only feel a little claustrophobic from all of the confusion. There was one thing she knew, though. Iktomi was a dangerous man to mess with. Even though he had promised that he wouldn't hurt her, she wondered how long it would take until he would stop being so courteous. She hated to doubt him, but hadn't she known what she was going to be dealing with the moment she decided to stay with Iktomi? Arianna swallowed down her uncertainties and looked down at the ground, taking a deep breath. Perhaps she should go to the Golden Mercenaries after all...