What Now, Dammit?! [Melanthios Family Members]

[Sabata]

It was Friday night, and instead of spending his night the usual way, Zeran had decided to do something new. Rather than imbibing glass after glass of single malt scotch, making an excuse of it to see how drunk he could get and still throw knives properly, Zeran sat down in a bar, the lest crowded one he could find. Partly because he needed to get away from that place, partly because he had walked into his room several times to find his stock of booze burning. And he didn't want to talk to people.

Now Zeran was on his second glass of scotch, in spite of having been in that bar for awhile. Mostly because he was actually sipping. Mostly because the scotch at this particular bar was atrociously expensive.

No dart board around to try and justify anything. Just booze to drink. So that's what he'd do, then either pass out here or stumble back to his room, hoping Jena wasn't there again and wasn't going to lecture him about his numerous bad habits and how he was hurting himself and how she worried about him. Thinking of that made him take a substantially larger sip of his drink than he had been taking previously before going back to his normal rate.

He heard the bar door open and tensed up straight. A familiar feeling washed over him. That feeling Erebus was here, about to tell him something he didn't want to hear, then punish any bad behavior he'd had by buying a bunch of drinks then putting them on Zeran's tab.

Zeran sighed and swirled the liquid around his glass, waiting for what was to come next. Nothing good. Certainly nothing good. With his free hand, Zeran rubbed his temples, waiting for some combination of orders and a lecture about his behavior.

[Johnathan]

Binding chains absent and surrounded by a faint haze of darkness, Erebus drifted through the evening crowds like a specter. He traveled unnoticed by the civilian masses and payed no mind to those that would have bumped into him. When a large drunkard sprang from his seat, stuttering a response to a petty drunken argument, he backed straight into Erebus, and proceeded to pass straight through him. The Oblivion Shroud passed the wearer partially into the Fade, the limbo between the mortal plain and the blackness of the void. Although Erebus was present in the bar, he truly was closer to a specter than a human.

Erebus drifted easily towards Zeran. The young man, although a loose cannon and full of complaints at times, was very effective on the assignments he was sent. In the Melanthios family effectiveness was always regarded as priority number one, with familial piety being second. It was for this reason that Erebus did his best not to play the part of a broken record in scolding Zeran for his tendencies, though the young patriarch did hope that Zeran would be able to settle into an amiable routine at some point.

Setting irrelevant thoughts aside, Erebus stepped up behind Zeran, placed a hand on his shoulder, and leaned in to speak. "We have a job off world. Come, they are waiting." Turning towards the closest wall, Erebus made a B line for it. The shadows there deepened and spread, becoming a man sized portal of pure black. The patrons closest to it shivered as an uneasiness settled over them, but otherwise payed the portal no mind.

Without waiting, Erebus stepped through, entering the realm of the void. In truth, it would be safer for Zeran to have Erebus take hold of him directly when passing through the maw of Oblivion, but the young man's pride would have none of that. Instead, Erebus settled on leaving a stable path behind him as he moved, while forcing back the malevolent and insatiable hunger of the void with his will alone.

[Sabata]

Ugh. There went a perfectly pleasant, Friday night.

A job. Basically, boring busy work while the rest of the family actually did something. Great.

Great, now he had to finish off this scotch quickly. He downed the rest of the glass, then slapped some cash on the counter, shouting, "Keep the change!" to the bartender as he went to the portal.

Fine, he was probably going to get relegated to some menial task, then people would wonder he hated how Erebus ran things. Then he'd complain to Erika, Erika would complain to Veronika, and Veronika sit back, do fuck all about it and laugh.

Zeran pulled out a cigarette for a smoke as he stepped through the portal. "If they make me sit back and baby sit Erika again, I swear to god, Samar isn't going to hear the end of this." he muttered under his breath. The cigarette in his mouth further obfuscated the noise.

He ran through a checklist of supplies as he went through the tunnel. One always needed to make sure they were properly armed when going into one of these situations.

VSS? Check.

Python? Check.

Mateba? Check.

Tanto? Check.

Throwing Knives? Check.

Well, he was ready to roll. Not that he'd need any of it. Shit would go down and Zeran wouldn't be involved simply because he didn't have the Shadow Flash. "I could get more money and do more free lance at this rate . . ." He muttered again as he exited the passage Erebus had created.

Time to see how they wanted to waste his time this time.

[Johnathan]

When a master void manipulator passed through the Maw, distance and time meant very little. The space between one inlet and the next outlet where determined solely by the strength of the master's will. Erebus and Zeran walked for no more than a few seconds before passing through a faint undulation of light and passing back into existence. They emerged deep within an inhospitable mountain range. Waiting for them, Veronica sat on a small boulder with Eirika in her lap. The small blonde was happily tapping away on a tablet she held clutched in her other arm. When the two males appeared, Veronica nudged her, prompting her to look up and wave happily.

"Good afternoon brother. Hello Zeran!" Jumping up from Veronica's lap, Eirika ran over to her adopted cousin energetically. "Isn't this exciting? We all get to work together for a change." Veronica eyed Erebus with a questioning look.

"Isn't this case more suited to Remus and Isabella's specialty?" Folding his arms, Erebus nodded.

"Yes, however due to complications at the manor, the two of them are preoccupied with other duties. Consequently, for this assignment we'll have Eirika performing tactical assessment and strategy designation." Hearing that she was being allowed to play an active role, the small girl latched onto Zeran's hand and began bouncing excitedly. Erebus afforded her a brief smile before continuing. "We still have a few miles to the rendezvous point and will be moving the remaining distance on foot." Seeing the way Eirika was celebrating with Zeran, Erebus looked to him to confirm whether he would mind carrying her or not.

[Sabata]

"Hi, Eirika." Zeran replied to young girl. Great, Veronica was here too. His favorite person. His affect became completely deadpan.

Great, Veronica was here, Erebus was going to waste his time again, and Eirika would wonder why he was in a bad mood, the complain to Veronica who would just keep it to herself. The same. Freaking. Cycle.

"Right, I'm just going to ask if I actually brought my weapons for a reason this time." Zeran stated. He knew how this usually went.

Erebus rip things apart. Veronica also rip things apart. If Remus and Isabella were present, they get similar orders. Samar was usually assigned to protect the princess.

Zeran . . . sit here and babysit.

He liked Eirika, that was fine. It was just a bloody waste of his skill. They gave him training he never got to use.

They gave him training that eventually made him snap, and then completely wasted any effort they put into him. The feeling, to say the least, wasn't exactly great. Add in refusing to learn the Shadow Flash for strategic reasons, and you suddenly had everyone in the family gawking at you and wondering why you were even around. Thus you got guard duty.

Excitement veritably flooded off of Eirika as she spoke. Zeran couldn't muster the same kind of enthusiasm for the situation. "You get to do something. I'm happy for you. I get more time to sharpen my knives." Zeran inhaled as he got ready for whatever menial task he was about to be relegated too.

Nonetheless, he picked up Eirika then placed her on his back piggyback style. So far he was a bus.

[Johnathan]

Nodding to Zeran as Eirika linked her arms around his neck, Erebus pointed at Eirika and a runic seal took shape. It's purpose was to bind her inertia with Zeran as the reference point, making her immune to the effects of G-force from rapid acceleration and deceleration during high speed movement.

"Move out." Erebus commanded before flickering to a distant mountain and pausing to lead the way. Veronica huffed at the speed.

"Yes yes, sorry to keep you waiting." Dissolving into a cloud of smoke, she flew off as if carried by a strong wind.

Sensing Zeran's dissatisfaction, Eirika fidgeted for a moment before patting him on the head as he had once done for her. "Don't worry Zeran. Brother left me in charge this time so I'll make sure you can do something you're satisfied with." Squeezing him more tightly, she leaned forwards in an affectionate hug. "Just you wait and see, I promise."

[Sabata]

Of course Erebus and Veronica had to show off about it.

Why was he the one carrying Eirika again? 

Nonetheless, Eirika being in charge was something of a comfort. She new of the issue he usually had with assignments.

Zeran carefully targeted his trajectory and compressed his legs to spring for a jump. He flipped up his eyepatch to enhance how he scanned distances and then double checked everything.

Well, best make sure Eirika didn't fall off of him while they were jumping and getting to the next point. "Hold on tight, that rune won't do much for you if we get separated." Zeran reminded the girl, making sure to keep a tight grip on her.

Zeran's legs lengthened rapidly as he leaped from his position to one rocky surface, magnetizing his feet to the next rock. This process continued for a few minutes until he'd caught up with Erebus and Veronica. Not too much time lost. He'd moved quickly.

Well, now they were here. "Next position?" he asked. It would be nice to know. Hell, if they'd just give him some coordinates for their final destination he could get there himself. His eye and sniper rifle made him an excellent scout. Not that anyone ever bothered to make not of that. Well, he had a bit of alcohol in him, so he decided to pipe up. "You know, you could have me use that training I've had for a change and use my enhancements to scout ahead." He tried to make it sound like a polite suggestion. It still came across as a bitter and a bit harsh. Well, he'd tried.

[Johnathan]

Eirika hummed in confirmation as she tightened her grip around his neck and buried her face further into his back. When Zeran reached him, Erebus flickered ahead to the next mountain, crossing the distance in a single step. He looked back and projected his thoughts to their minds.

"We're approaching the rendezvous from a direction projected to be opposite of the enemy's advance. We'll learn more when we arrive but at the moment I can at least give you all a basic appraisal of the assignment." Erebus continued to move on ahead of the group as they drew near while informing them of the situation. "Mistress Agatha petitioned me to accept this assignment as a favor to her. In addition to payment from the client themselves, she will be in our debt. She's already agreed to cease tormenting Zeran as a term of acceptance and in general our quality of life at the academy should improve.

"The client himself is the elder of an ancient dragon clan that calls these mountains home. Due to a thus far undisclosed event, they have found themselves at odds with the republic that calls this planet home. We don't yet know how they will ask us to intervene so be ready for a number of possible scenarios."

[Sabata]

Great, Agatha. That stupid hypocrite of a bully.

They shouldn't need to do a job to stop her her bullshit. She should just stop her bullshit.

Regardless, Zeran strode up the next position.

It meant now they were looking for the old fart the job was for, then listening to orders from him. Whatever, he'd apparently have a better role in this job anyways.

Still it angered him. That fucking old bat could suddenly order them about and promise to improve things when she was making them shit in the first place. Overall it just boiled Zeran's blood and made him hate the old woman more.

"She's a stupid old bat, but fine whatever. If it'll get her head somewhere other than firmly planted somewhere in her large intestine, lets get this over with."

If only killing her was an option. Unfortunately, killing two Dragon avatars made people uneasy. Erebus killing a third might erupt in all out war. They were a stupid proud race where tyrants kept popping up and lording their superiority over people who couldn't fight back. And they were some of the most powerful beings in the universe.

But who said life was fair?

"Where's this Dragon anyways?" Zeran asked.

[Johnathan]

Veronica gave an undignified snort in response to Zeran's comment. "That's putting it mildly." She snarked. "Maybe if someone would let me return the sentiment with a bit of interest she'd realize what a hag she was being." Erebus fixed her with a look that spoke of how many times they had already had this conversation.

"Or it might simply make things worse. It's already been sometime since the Headmaster left to examine the wall and we've not received a single status report. Consequently there's no telling how long Mistress Agatha will be in charge for. The better option for now is to keep her in our debt and use that as leverage."

"Still no reason why we can't mount those talons we've got in a few places around the library." Veronica muttered while making no discernible effort to remain unheard.

Another few minutes of silence passed before Eirika perked up. Pointing ahead she called out to the group. "Oh wow, look at that!" Ahead of them was a broad mountain, appearing to be the remnants of a massive shield volcano. At the peak, a number of massive forms could be seen gliding effortlessly through the clouds.

"That's our destination." Erebus confirmed. "I'll go on ahead to inform them of our arrival. Wait at the perimeter of the peak and wait until we are called. My draconian etiquette is a bit rusty and it would be best not to unintentionally step on any toes." Veronica clapped a hand over her mouth and began to shake with silent laughter.

"A bit rusty?" She quipped as she fought back her mirth. "The last time you entered a coven-"

"Yes, I'm well aware Veronica, thank you." Erebus cut her off succinctly before vanishing in a flicker.

[Sabata]

"I thought restraint might be the best course of action for a change." Zeran replied to Veronika, before following it up with, "And shut up, Veronika. It's not like she makes a point of igniting booze in your room, if anyone should be giving her shit it's me."

Then Eirika pointed out the volcano ahead of them. It took him a few moments to realize what he was focusing on due to the size.

By the Ancients.

Well, suddenly the whole event got very ominous.

Then it became name Erebus' dragon etiquette wasn't quite up to snuff.

". . . Eirika, please tell me you have a contingency plan in case Erebus angers a horde of dragons." Zeran stated, very calmly. Well, it's not like he hadn't faced death before. Still, of the myriad of ways to killed by a dragon, none of them sounded particularly pleasant. He could almost feel his skin peeling back from the heat of the flames that could possibly ensue.

No time like this to a weapon's check then. Zeran calmly pulled out his weapons one by one and began cleaning them and making sure they were operating up to snuff. "Someone should have told me about this. I might have gotten a more powerful sniper rifle just for this occasion."[/color] he commented calmly. Even at rapid fire, he foresaw the 9mm bullets from his VSS doing very little against armored scales.

[Johnathan]

"Hmmm" Eirika hummed as she put a finger to her lips and thought about Zeran's question. Even when he sat down and started going over his weapons she stayed draped over his back, hanging on to him affectionately. "Well, I supposed if we managed to get in a fight with them, all we would have to do is stall until the other enemies arrived. They'd probably be pretty confused but I imagine they wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth." Veronica simply rubbed her hands together greedily.

"Oh there are so many interesting things to be made from dragony bits." Her face became contemplative. "Do you think we could convince Erebus to let us pull the old 'take the payment and double cross'?" Eirika looked at her doubtfully.

"What about our family's near pristine code of honor to our clients?" Veronica waved her concerns aside.

"That's only a problem if someone gets away and starts talking." Eirika gave her an indignant pout to which Veronica grinned and turned slightly away. "Only joking of course."

Eirika turned away with a 'hmph' before catching Zeran's comment about getting a better rifle. "O-oh?" She began tentatively as she squirmed around for a moment. Managing to free her tablet from where it was pinned between them, she leaned back and rested it against the base of his neck. "W-well, if you were to get a better one.... that is to say, if you could pick any one you wanted, what type would you pick." She fidgeted about nervously hoping he wouldn't realize where her line of questioning was leading. Zeran had always been very kind to her when she was stuck in bed at the estate. Now that she was able to take jobs of her own and had a large pool of disposable income, she wanted to give him something to pay back a portion of that kindness.

Erebus' projected voice cut into their musings. "We've received the all clear to move ahead and meet with our client, the Elder of the coven. Make your way to the central impression of the peak."

[Sabata]

Zeran slowly turned to face Veronika. "You want to directly take on dragons without Remus or Isabella around?" Zeran asked. He doubted even Erebus on his own could handle an entire Coven. It would take all of them. Especially Erebus and Isabella. "Besides, I'd rather not piss off Agatha more. She's almost literally burning my money." Zeran added on.

He gave up once the back and forth started. He simply rolled his eyes at Veronika and kept cleaning his weapons and getting everything ready. All his guns were fully loaded and operational. Zeran stood back up.

Finally satisfied with his weapons, he put them away, when Eirika asked her question. "Hm? The Desert Arms Tactical Stealth Recon Scout, probably. Covert model specifically. Lightweight, subtle frame. Can switch calibers easily." Zeran replied. He was surprised that Eirika had any interest in guns. She was probably just being polite since he was the only person in the family that really used firearms.

Once given the go ahead to approach the volcano, Zeran kept a snug grip on Eirika's legs and started charting a path there. It took around 10 minutes, which meant he was a tad late. He'd call it fashionably late and not bother with any angry dragon bullshit. He probably didn't have a crucial role anyways.

Zeran mentally prepared himself for mind-numbing amounts of arrogance and silly, arbitrary rules. He'd just let Erebus due all the talking then promptly disassociate with the group and the first sign of trouble and get Eirika out of there.

[Johnathan]

As the group made their way to the center of the volcano, Eirika continued to tap away at her tablet, seemingly working on something. Veronica opted to stay with Zeran, instead of moving on ahead this time. She occasionally shot glances over towards Eirika as she eyed the various dragons around them warily.

The dragons themselves, were as varied as they were awe inspiring. The large creature were the definition of power, with strong reptilian bodies flanked by two enormous wings. The talons at the end of their four powerful arms were at least of foot in length and sharp enough to shred the hard volcanic stone into gravel. Their scales, although similar, were each tinted slightly varying shades. One group had different hues of green, while another had earthy browns. Lingering near the edge of the volcano in the coolest locations they could find were a number of the creatures with blue tints to their natural armor, ranging from pale icy shades, to deep mysterious blues. Overhead, a number of the creatures swirled about in the skies. Though it might appear random at first glance, watching them for any length of time would reveal a careful pattern to their turns and dives. These dragons were sentinels, using their high vantage to keep and eye on the distant horizons.

As the group neared the center of the massive impression at the volcano's peak, the slope became sharper, leading down to a table of black stone that stretched for one hundred meters in all direction. It was here that Erebus could be seen, politely conversing with a brown dragon of immense size.

The massive and aged creature was a mountain surrounded by hills, when compared to the others of its brood. It's scales had almost no sharp edges. Instead they appeared rounded, and worn down by countless years of erosion. All together, it's skin gave the impression of a dried lake bed, a dusty tan color with various cracks running along it's earthy surface. As for it's voice, when the elder creature spoke, the very stone beneath their feet trembled with the deep bass tones.

"AH HA HA, do you know what happened next?" Erebus seemed somewhat out of his element when faced with the ancient creature's warm greeting and mirth. The elder dragon seemed to be a genial creature, expressing warm hospitality and an inviting nature. It was very different from all the other draconian specimens the young patriarch had encountered before. Not noticing or simply ignoring the human's trepidation, the massive creature continued.

"The spirit conjured a massive wave, drawing large portions of the ocean up into an enormous curtain of water." He rounded on the approaching group of Zeran, Eirika, and Veronica. "You think you've seen tsunamis before, well they were nothing compared to this monster!" Erebus glanced at them before drawing the attention back to himself.

"That must have been troublesome." He commented neutrally. The dragon turned back to him with a deep throaty chuckle that made their bones vibrate.

"Troublesome? It woulda been down right cataclysmic if I hadn'ta faced its kind before! Fortunately, I knew exactly what to do. Can ya guess what it were?" He lowered his head so that one massive reptilian eye could could regard Erebus directly. It seemed to glint with good humor and pride. Erebus allowed himself an amused smirk as he played along.

"While I would have methods of my own do deal with such a phenomenon, I'm afraid I'm not familiar enough with your talents to pose a guess." The dragon's eye crinkled shut in what was likely its equivalent of a smile.

"I dropped the blasted seafloor out beneath it!" With this exclamation, the ancient creature began to laugh. The force of it was immense and the volcano beneath them shuddered violently. "With a big empty space suddenly beneath it, the wave had nothin to support it no longer. The spirit wasn't strong 'nough to support it no longer and it crashed out of the bugger's control!" The dragon rounded back towards the newcomers as it exclaimed, "And that's how I took down a great water spirit in the middle of the ocean!"

Erebus approached them before gesturing to the titanic creature. "Allow me to introduce our employer, Denrakthur Geocrusher, elder dragon and patriarch of this coven."

[Sabata]

Avoid eye contact, avoid eye contact avoid eye contact. Zeran chanted mentally over and over as they passed through the dragons.

He did not want to run the risk of pissing anyone off, that would get hairy fast. And awful. And overall just rather unpleasant

I wonder if blinding them with a shock would have any defense. Zeran pondered. He needed to brush up on plans for dealing with dragons. There were plenty of large, strong, enemies he had contingency plans to take down. Dragons were not one of them.

Maybe I can apply those strategies to that hag, Agatha. Hagatha. Heh.

Finally, they reached their employer, and a string of obscenities flowed through Zeran's mind as he took in how old, and likely powerful he was. His physical size compared to his spawn didn't exactly help.

. . . that was until, he finally caught a hold of his attitude and diction. Sure he was loud and boisterous, and that was kind of annoying. At least he wouldn't be crushing any skulls over misplaced sneezes.

It then came that Erebus introduced their employer to them. "'Sup. Zeran. Firearms and knives specialist, as well as marksman." Zeran stated, giving a short introduction of himself to their employer. That about summed up his entire role in about the whole family. Besides that one guy who didn't use void abilities. Maybe he needed to take those up after all. Might get him a little more respect in terms of skills.

He didn't bother snarking about still being out of the loop about their enemy. He'd probably get an explanation very shortly once all the pleasantries were out of the way.