duskshine749

Silvermoon Pier Alliance: SPA.

Ophelia nearly killed Morthos with her news about being pregnant. He chocked slightly before coughing and hitting his chest to get the pancakes down his throat. Roxas clearly wasn't happy about this, and given Jax's lack of a reaction he would guess that she already knew. Roxas walked out, claiming he needed air. Morthos just took a drink and said hesitantly, "um, congratulations?" He wasn't exactly sure how to react, luckily he didn't have to, as Fear and one other person came in, and Morthos gave a silent thank you to whatever gods may have been listening.

"Ophelia could you go grab Roxas so we can go over battle plans? Also so I don't have to do introductions twice?" Morthos also noticed someone who should be there was missing so he asked Fear, "where's my uncle?"

Fear looked as annoyed as Morthos was, "he often shows up to breakfast late, if at all."

Morthos just rolled his eyes, "well whatever, not like he'd be coming with us anyways." Ophelia and Roxas were back so now Morthos could do proper introductions. "Okay, so you all Fear already, next to him is Yamraiha, head of magical studies, she taught me a lot of what I know about magic."

"Pleased to meet you all, just call me Yam," Yam was a human woman but with dyed blue hair as opposed to a normal colour. She also had very nice, er, posture, ya we'll go with that.

"Well now that we're all here, Fear, what can you tell us about this demon?" Morthos was eating once again, he wasn't one to lose his appetite for anything.

"Well, we don't have much to go on. The cave is in the mountain range to the north of here. All our teams have called for tactical retreat, citing the demon horde at the entrance as the issue."

"We also know there's powerful magic at work," Yam chimed in, having some food of her own. "My scrying spells don't work so we know the demon also has magic protecting it from being found."

Morthos didn't like the sound of this, "I hate be go in without a plan, but it sounds like we might just have to do that, anyone else have any input?"

Silvermoon Pier Alliance: SPA.

Morthos awoke and noticed Jax was gone, he could hear some soft voices outside the door so he figured she must be talking with Ophelia and working out what happened yesterday. He got up and cleaned himself off before heading to the door to see how the others were doing. Right before he opened the door he heard Jax say something about a pregnancy test, that certainly was something. He wouldn't ask though, that wasn't any of his business. He opened the door and was informed that they had made up, "hey, that's great," Morthos said with a smile, he was glad the team could still work together.

Roxas joined them and Morthos gave him a small nod, "well, if we're all ready I'm sure breakfast is ready in the main hall. No doubt word has gotten out that I've returned, and if Aunty Em is still around she knows I enjoy my breakfast." Morthos gestured for the others to follow as he made his way back down the stairs and towards the dining hall.

In the daylight you could see the manor much better. The walls were an off-white colour with portraits everywhere. Lots of them were of tiefling ancestors from long ago, but there were a couple of relatives Morthos knew, and a few of him in ridiculous outfits. "Ugh, I forgot this one existed. Before you ask it's traditional clothing from ancient Bael Turath and is only used in ceremony. Remind me to see if I can have that one burned when this is all over."

They made it to the dining hall but before Morthos could open the doors someone from inside opened them and gave him a big hug, "Aunty Em, it's good to see you too, but I need to breath," Morthos' words were getting more strained as he spoke but the woman put him down and he took a big breath.

"Oh I know, I'm just so happy you're back. I mostly just oversee the kitchen now but when Fear told me you were back I knew I had to be the one who made the meals." Aunty Em was a large human woman with curly red hair, pale skin, and lots of freckles. "Oh and these must be your friends!" She proceeded to give everyone else a hug also, whether they wanted one or not, "you all just call me Aunty Em like Morthos does, now come, eat, the food is fresh and you're the first ones. Everyone else will be here soon."

She ushered everyone in, and the dining hall, like all the other rooms in the house, was huge. The ceiling was enchanted to look like it wasn't even there, right now it was showing clear blue skies. The perimeter of the room had tables with every breakfast food you could think of on it, and staff ready to grab whatever it was you wanted. The center of the room had a table set for quite a few people, Morthos took and seat and his friends did the same. The wait staff was a mix of humans and tieflings as everything tended to be in his town. "Well, dig in, we have to wait for everyone else to get here before we can discuss things anyways." Morthos flagged down a waiter and got some pancakes and bacon to start.

Silvermoon Pier Alliance: SPA.

Morthos just sighed as Jax stormed off then Ophelia apologized, "don't worry about it. I understand wanting to keep some things private but as soon as it can affect the rest of us it becomes all of our problem. But whatever, it's out there now, I'm over it. You two get some rest, you can share a room or sleep separately, I'm not your dad. I'm gonna talk with Jax real quick, see you in the morning."

Morthos knocked on Jax's door and cracked it open a little, "knock knock, you better be decent because I'm coming in." He gave her a couple of seconds to cover up if she happened to be changing before coming in and closing the door behind him. "Do you wanna talk about what happened? I know you'd much rather punch Roxas in his dumb face but I don't think that would help things too much."

Jax was just putting on her Captain Gizmo pajama's when she heard Morthos enter. She remained silent, knowing he would come in which he did a few seconds later. She turned to look at him pulling up her copper coloured hair in a bun, "It would make me feel better though." She clenched her fist pulling out her robot slippers from her bag and let out a grumpled snarl, "THEY JUST MAKE ME SO MAD! I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU AREN'T AS MAD AS I AM RIGHT NOW! THEY LIED TO YOU TO!"

Morthos sat on the bed and sighed, "I just don't have it in me to be that angry at people. Yes they lied but they're also our friends and they had their reasons." Morthos looked around the room, it was quite large, probably leaving one to imagine how big the main bedrooms must be if these were just the rooms meant for guests. "There's also the fact that if I lost control of my emotions I might burn down my whole estate, but ya know, that's not really the point." Morthos said that part in a jokey way, but there was also a serious undercurrent to what he was saying, like maybe he was speaking from experience.

Jax watched him sit on the bed and she placed her hands on her hip, exhausted and frustrated that no one was at her level, "You think I'm overreacting don't you! You all do!" She turned away from him, "How are we supposed to fight as a team if we are hiding things from each other? If we aren't much of a challenge for her then why aren't we doing anything to fight her!" She started yelling again, not able to calm down, "IF THEY DON'T THINK I AM STRONG ENOUGH TO PROTECT THEM OR TO TRUST ME WITH THAT INFORMATION THEN WHY THE HELL ARE WE IN A TEAM!"

Morthos got up and walked over to Jax, putting his hands on her shoulders and running them partway down her arms, "I don't think you're overreacting, it's perfectly valid to be angry. I've been angry at so many people in my life that I've gotten over it." He pulled her close to him in a backwards hug, hoping it would help calm her down, "after today I'm sure there won't be any more secrets like this kept from the group. Starting right now, I'll tell you a secret, it's nothing huge. You know my uncle, the one who is apparently in charge and also gave you those demonology books? Not a big fan of the guy, not too happy he's in charge." Morthos' skin started to heat up as he thought of his uncle sitting on the throne, not so hot that it would hurt Jax, but she would definitely notice. "If he does anything to harm my people...." Morthos didn't even finish the thought, the threat was there.

Jax was slightly startled when Morthos came up behind her, but she immediately started to calm down when he pulled her close. She closed her eyes, bringing up her hands to touch his arms. She leaned into him enjoying the comfort and warmth that she wasn't used to getting recently. She also felt selfish knowing that through all this drama, the person who was probably feeling the most anger was Morthos. She listened to him speak about his uncle, and felt his body heat change. She sighed turning around to hug him properly, her face resting on his shoulder, "We won't let him. I don't know why you aren't a fan of your uncle but nothing is going to happen to your mom. I promise...No one else may believe this, but we can be quite fearsome if we put our minds to it." She hugged him tighter, enjoying the closeness between them that they haven't had since he started dating Melony. At the thought of her she hugged him tighter almost possessively before she pulled away sighing, "I am sorry for being so selfish. I will try to put my pride aside for the mean time. We obviously have larger issues to deal with."

Morthos was glad Jax had calmed down, it felt nice hugging her, he was a bit sad when they stopped. "We can talk with the others all you want once we get my mom back safe and sound," his voice cracked at the end of his sentence and tears were welling up in his eyes. "Damn it, I didn't want you to see this. I'm just worried about my mom," he wiped his eyes off with his sleeve, "could I stay with you tonight? Would that be horribly inappropriate? I just don't wanna be in my room tonight, alone with my thoughts." What was he doing asking to stay with Jax? He had a girlfriend, although it wasn't like they'd be doing anything, it was literally just he didn't want to feel alone, that's fine, right?

Jax knew what her answer should be. It was always no. It had to be no, so she didn't understand why she blurted out, "Yes. Of course you can." She took his hand and pulled him down onto the bed with her, grabbing a few blankets to cover them. She pulled him down beside her, reaching out to wipe away his tears as she lay beside him unsure if he wanted her to snuggle up to him or not. She just waited letting him do with her whatever he needed.

Morthos was glad Jax had said yes, they lied in the quite large bed and as he got comfy he just lightly placed an arm over her. Nothing too intimate, it was just so that he knew someone else was there with him. "Thank you Jax, good night," Morthos mumbled as he drifted off to sleep.

Silvermoon Pier Alliance: SPA.

Morthos wasn't paying too much attention to any conversation, he was too worried about everything. Worried about his mother being gone, worried about his uncle being in charge now. But one bit did catch his notice, Jax accusing Roxas of shooting Ophelia. Morthos quickly moved himself between the two of them before Jax could go over there and rip Roxas' head off.

"I'm not moving Jax. You're not going to fight Roxas and you're especially not going to fight him inside my house and destroy the place." He turned his head to look at Roxas, "you're not getting off scot free either. You shot Ophelia, I know you care about her so you obviously didn't do it for no reason. You've also been acting kind of weird for a while now. We're a team, we can't be hiding things like this from each other, so spill." Morthos never really thought of himself as the leader type, ironic considering he was meant to rule over this small kingdom one day. But in this moment he needed to make sure his friends didn't kill each other, turns out his training to be a Lord came in handy for something.

[ C R A W L ]

@Mae I could have swore both rooms were scavenged already, I'll have both scavenge if they can

[ C R A W L ]

Both my characters are done for the round

[ C R A W L ]

Overload
>Tim doesn't want to take an unexpected dip so he carefully moves to B14 and that's it

Broken Seals
>Fear moves to B13, careful not to get burned as he does so

[ C R A W L ]

@Mae I'll pass, don't wanna be front line

[ C R A W L ]

>Tim moves up to B6 and allows someone more agile or knowledgeable to try their hand at the machine before he does

Silvermoon Pier Alliance: SPA.

"You know, I'm starting to think you just have a thing for devilishly handsome men," Morthos teased Jax as Fear answered Ophelia's question.

"Well it's nice to meet you all, and yes, we have been having some trouble lately." The town was mostly quiet owing to the fact it was around midnight, but the sound of guards around the perimeter could be heard if you listened for it. "For some time now we've been ravaged by an archdemon and his brood. We recently discovered his location, a cave not too far east of here. Lady Rieta thought she would be able to dispatch the demon, and I urged her to wait for us to get a team together, but the other morning she was just gone."

Morthos could tell Fear was taking this personally since he was head of military and also head of his mother's security. "Uncle Fear, the guards said something about the lord never leaving the manor. Who's running things if my mom isn't here?"

"Ah yes, that would be your uncle Damakos," Morthos could tell from his voice that he was not happy with this outcome.

"I see," Morthos didn't like it much either. His uncle had been eyeing the throne his whole life. He was the younger twin brother of Rieta, so she was always destined for the throne, not him.

"Here we are, Xerxes Manor," Fear announced as they came up on Morthos' childhood home. The place was huge, he had told Jax he didn't live in a castle but that was mostly on a technicality as the manor was about as big as what someone would expect of a castle. It was clearly an old building but it had been upkept very well over the years. "Morthos you know where the rooms are, rest for tonight and tomorrow we can begin making plans to save your mother."

Morthos wanted to argue but he could feel the night catching up with him, "fair enough, good night uncle Fear, this way guys." They entered in to the grand hall which was dimly lit so it was hard to make out any real details, but Morthos knew this manor inside and out. They started up the stairs to their right and towards the guest rooms.