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Queen Honey Bubbles
426169
The room was simple, small, but well cared for. One corner housed a small kitchen, another a reading table, the third a worn bunk bed. In the centre there was a small table with four chairs.
After ushering Dad and Tiff to take a seat, Duncan busied himself with the process of making tea.
>"Thank you for inviting us for a cup, mister Kinsley."
>"Duncan, please. And you're quite welcome."
>"The island is simply breathtaking. And the castle itself is very impressive."
>"Well, we do what we can. Although I must say, it does get terribly drafty in the winter. We keep trying to modernize things a bit, but getting the council to agree on anything is... well, like herding cats. But I'd very much like to hear about your role in the recent events. The are some rather wild rumours flying around, and I would like a first hand account. Don't worry, I don't intend to record it for the histories, the official hearing will be later."
"All right... I guess it's a bit of a long story, and I'm not too sure about all the bits, but I'll try.
When Alexander was killed he apparently had some sort of a plan that prevented him from dying, and instead hid himself inside his skull. Anyway, mom hid the skull in a mausoleum not far from where we lived. I guess he started messing with my head years ago, at least according to Thomas. He... mind-controlled me to bring him a picture my brother made, then used it to make him drown himself. I guess he did it so I would go to him to learn necromancy. I'm not sure why he didn't just mind-control me like he did earlier-"
>"If I may interrupt, from what you told me it's likely he wouldn't have had the strength to do that continuously, but do go on."
"... I guess that makes sense, yeah. Anyway, he taught me a little bit of magic from some photocopies he had of some book or another."
>"Undoubtedly from his stolen Grimoire."
"What is that?"
>"The Grimoire of the City of the Dead, or as the old translation goes, the Book of the Dead. He stole it from the Black Rose vault when he betrayed our clan. It is believed by many to be destroyed now. It was never one of those books you'd want to read before bed anyway."
"Ok. Well, the second day he had me create a familiar"
Duncan's eyes widen a little at that.
"- even though I almost died that time."
>"What happened?"
"Well... I messed up the ritual. I rubbed out the wrong hook from the soul trap, and when I completed the sevenfold seal I... I guess I died. There was this thread I climbed up though, uhh, then the grim reaper almost cut the thread, but I guess grampa stopped him. Do you know what happened?"
>"Well... I can't say for sure as I wasn't there, but it sounds like the soul trap kept a part of your soul in place while the sevenfold seal kept pulling it in, with increasing tension. Once the seal was completed, it tore the soul off the trap, and the feedback might've been enough to actually wrench your soul from your body entirely. Tell me, what happened to the trap?"
"It exploded, burnt the cloth right off."
>"That's a likely explanation then. As for your rescue, I think Alexander just reminded the Reaper Man about the Compact. The Reaper Man cannot slay the living, and since you weren't actually dead, he couldn't touch you."
"... Ah. Well... I guess sometime after that I had a vision of the past. I saw my brother's death, and a strange symbol on his head. After I told Alexander about it, the next morning he called me up real early and told wild tales about us being hunted by the Rothwalds. That turned out to be a complete lie. Anyway we ran away with me, Alexander and his friend or servant or whatever, Jakov the wraith. We set a trap for the 'Rothwalds'. Something called the Labyrinth of Hak'keth"
>"Quite a feat for a novice, I must say."
"Yeah but it was really for my mom. Grampa made me panic and call my mom to warn her about the Rothwalds, but in reality I just lured her to the trap. Then Jakov tied me up and threw me in the basement. That's where Thomas found me. He...umm what's the word? Disint- no dispersed. Yeah he dispersed Jakov, freed me, and removed Alexander's mind-messing from my head. Once I realized that my mom was walking to a trap, I ran off to try and save her. I was too late though. Alexander had already taken over mom's body. He would've killed me if Thomas hadn't intervened. He saved my life, but he was badly wounded. He told me to run, so I ran. He sent some kind of zombies after me, but I managed to get to a phone, and dad here brought me home. One of the Rothwalds showed up at our house, looking for some items he thought Alexander might've left behind, but Thomas arrived, scaring him off. He was bleeding bad, and collapsed on our porch. He didn't last long after he gave me the amulet, just told me to go to the safe house in Adeleine. Umm. Are you all right?"
>"I'm sorry, go on."
"Well... We went to Adeleine, to his safe house. Well, there dad got arrested and I was.... well I wasn't really kidnapped, more like forcibly invited to visit the Rothwald that we'd met before. He told me that the Rothwald shadow hunters are going after Alexander, whatever that means. Someone took dad from the police though. Someone was interrogating him, not the police, we don't know who. Gareth happened by, looking for Thomas I guess. He rescued dad. After we were reunited both Martin, the Rothwald I mentioned, and Gareth offered me a place in their family. I picked the Kinsleys. Oh and we were attacked by Jakov. I managed to get Thomas' lance working, and drove Jakov off. Not before he managed to steal Gareth's amulet, though. The rest you know."
>"Ah. That's... Quite a tale. It certainly fits with most of the rumours going around. The little girl who could wield a radiant lance. The walking dead near Adeleine. Well I've made you speak for long enough. Is there something you wish to ask of me? Oh and how's the tea?"
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