All My Friends Are Dead (Open)

((Oh she's just getting angry. Give it a few seconds. She'll start attempting to kill things.))

Bob wasn't sure on what to do. Sure, it would be nice to leave, but... It would be nice to see how things went but... To be completely honest I have no idea. Bob wasn't sorry he wasn't being any help. He was better at offensive and was actually rather afraid of the queen.

Astareal whirled around to see a cloud of smoke where the fireball had once been. Raising an eyebrow she shrugged and studied the nymph quietly. It would be best to find the weaknesses and to let someone else reveal them. Drawing her sword Astareal said a quick prayer and got into a fighting stance. Saraneth probably wouldn't work on the queen, but Astarael the bell would.... That was a chance she wasn't really willing to take. The final bell would send everyone into permanent Death and that wouldn't be a good thing.

Astareal's Dead spirits were waiting there, too. One was mainly for defense and the other would be able to attack...

Yrael stepped away from the water, preferring not to get wet. It was disgusting, water. So cold and... wet. The cat boy made a face and pivoted, looking toward Xander and the queen. The cat kept an eye on the Dead, not willing to take any chances.

The queen whirled around and put up a wall of fire around Xander, Astareal, and Yrael. She wasn't going to be defeated easily. She had a mission. Fire began to drip from the ceiling, something like rain. Smiling she sent a massive ball of fire toward the center of the ring, hoping to toast them all. The little boy couldn't put all of that out.

Astareal, seeing the wall of flame and the almost certain death, wrapped herself in one of the Dead spirits for protection. Yrael was allowed inside, too. Trapped in the little bubble Astareal did one of the worst things she could do; she removed Yrael's collar.

Free! I'm free! Yrael shifted into a blindingly white figure and got out of the shadow. His form was tall and it nearly reached the ceiling. Before killing off Astareal he figured he could at least take care of the queen before she was able to kill the Necromancer...

(( oh great now we have two evil people...great job Astareal. lol although i guess it could be three since Astareal isn't really that good either. Oh well, more fun. ^_^))

Xander had to come down as the fire raining down from the ceiling was making it to hard to fly without getting burned. He shifted in to a mouse and crawled in a hole to escape from the fire wall. Things weren't looking good, and bob was being no help at all. His anger flared up when he saw that Astareal had freed Yrael which seemed like a bad idea. His mouse nose twitching nervously as he tried to figure out what to do. This would be the perfect opportunity to excape........thats what all of this was about anyway. If however it ended here and now he would be able to leave without worrying that someone was going to drag him back. But he didn't trust anyone here and he didn't want to end up like the dead people and the cat boy.


In the end his decision was to run......through the small tunnel that was connected to the hole he had crawled in. Hopefully it would lead somewhere safe and far from this place.

(( just because it would anger the queen more. lol don't worry he won't actually leave...not yet. I'll probably just end up making the tunnel lead to another part of the ruined castle.))

((Yrael isn't really evil yet ))

Seeing Xander shift and leave the queen debated on leaving herself. If she did this it wouldn't really hurt anything, but it would stop her from getting her Necromancer. With this in mind she stopped the 'raining' fire and let the fire wall shrink and die. Studying the Necromancer she noticed an unfamiliar white shape that was ghosting toward her slowly and steadily. She had no idea what it was but had no doubts that it was not on her side. With this in mind she began to create a massive fire ball.

As Yrael slowly approached the queen he grinned internally and began to take the shape of a bear. He continued toward the queen, not fearing the fire. He would absorb it and grow stronger. The sorcerer was glad she didn't know this, pleased with how it would be. If the woman didn't have the brains enough to flee then it really wasn't his problem.

The protecting spirit left Astareal after the fire stopped, not being damaged at all. Staring toward Xander's 'master' she winced. Yrael was probably going to end up killing her sometime or another. Thinking about this she sighed and drew Saraneth once again. Ringing the bell loudly it echoed through the halls, the bell taking away all her fears. Yrael continued forth but her spirits snapped to attention. Replacing Saraneth she drew Kibeth and rang it happily, the spirits going back to Death. With her sword at the ready Astareal slowly approached the queen and Yrael's ghostly form, wondering how it all would end.

(( Oh thats really comforting. *sarcasm* I don't think the queen should die just yet though, otherwise what would we do for fun? ))

Xander followed the tunnel and found himself in what appeared to be an old library. Most of the shelves were empty and the few books that remained were damaged beyond recognition. He could faintly hear the fighting that was going on in another part of the castle between the queen and Astareal. Returning to human form he sat down on the ground thinking to himself. It frustrated him not being able to figure out something as simple as whether he should leave or not. He was always second guessing everything because he didn't want to do the wrong thing. But who could blame him, for a long time and even now the wrong thing meant a severe punishment. Angrily he turned in to a bull and charged into the book shelves over and over until they broke in to pieces. After ward he turned into a small bird and flew up to a window that was in the room. Deciding he would wait a little longer to see what happens but if things got bad he made bob promise to take over and get them out.

((She's not gunna die I has a plan And Bob probably would just make things worse XD Oh and the queen's name is gunna be Clarice.))

The queen sent the fireball straight toward the white figure. Upon hearing the bell her attention went to the Necromancer, wondering what the girl was doing. When she started approaching her, Clarice once again put up the wall of fire. The white figure walked through it and grew a few inches, while the girl stopped in the middle and sighed. It took a moment of thought to figure out what the white thing was doing, so Clarice decided to try and find a way to kill it other than scorching it to death. That just wasn't going to work.

Feeling the increase in power Yrael continued forward, shifting every few seconds into a different animal. This was just showing off. If he didn't kill the woman he would let her escape. Either way if Astareal was still trapped he could kill her off. Making it within a few feet from the queen Yrael stopped abruptly and smiled.

Astareal was angered when the wall of fire came back. This was a crock of crap. Why did she have to be surrounded by this stuff? Thinking for a moment she figured that it wouldn't hurt to sing a quiet song and see if she could bring peace. Her voice was beautiful, entrancing, and it couldn't hurt to try. Thinking for a moment she finally found a song and began to sing it, loud and proud. She didn't care if it didn't really correspond with the mood or the scenario, she liked it.

Xanders thoughts were interrupted by the sining. It was so beautiful,he decided to follow it. He came down from the window and turned back into a mouse to crawl back down the tunnel he came from. It was coming from the place he just was, the sining was from Astareal. Her voice was really pretty he didn't expected someone like her to have a voice like that. Xander stayed in the hole and just listened. Her voice putting him to sleep and for that moment everything was calm, nothing mattering anymore.

Yrael and Clarice both turned their attention to the Necromancer, wondering if she would sing more. She had a voice like an angel, even though she was quite the opposite.

The wall of fire died down and Astareal stood in the center, looking triumphant and joyous. Now she had their attention. Perhaps words would be the best way to go about this? Astareal began to play with her ring, prepared for anything Yrael might do. Looking the queen and Yrael she began to speak, occasionally moving her sword. "I assure you, no one needs to get hurt. If we could just calm down and go our separate ways it would be best. I mean, this is a silly matter. So what if I freed a slave. You can find another one. As for you, Yrael, you can come with me or stay as far away, I don't care. I just hope we can resolve this without bringing an end to someone's life."

Clarice listened to the girl talk, getting sick of her voice. If she wanted the Hybrid released she'd release him, as long as she got to keep the girl. Folding her arms across her chest she began to look annoyed, sighing. "Fine. As long as you are my new slave, I'll leave."

Yrael listened and moved blindingly fast toward Astareal, hovering over her and getting ready to attack. He knew her well enough to know she would fight back. For all he knew this was what the queen wanted, but he didn't care. Attacking the Necromancer he fell upon her, not going to stop until she was -hopefully- dead.

Astareal was a bit taken aback by the queen's words but, all the same, was still watching Yrael. As the cat attacked she yanked the ring off her finger and threw it at the white figure, the ring expanding midair and lassoing the creature. Fumbling with the bandolier she finally got a bell out and rang it loudly. Realizing what bell it was she began to grow sleepy. Falling to the ground a little white cat landed on top of her, sleeping peacefully. Sleep overcame Astareal as Ranna clinked to the ground, the sword landing at her side. Laying sprawled out on the floor she slept peacefully, Yrael doing the same.

Watching the cat attack the girl the queen observed the ring as it expanded, wrapping around the white figure and as the bell rang it turned into a cat. Upon hearing the bell the queen began to feel sleepy. Sitting on the ground she sighed and fell asleep heavily, curled up into a ball on the stairway.

((Ranna affects everything, Dead and alive.))

Xander woke up to the sound of a bell. He crawled out of the hole and returned to humen form. Things were oddly quiet, he looked around. The others appeared to be sleeping. He went over to Astreal and gently prodded her with his fingure trying to wake her up. Seeing the sword he thought about taking it and killing the queen but he figured he should ask first.

Astareal woke with a start, sitting up abruptly and rubbing her eyes. Before she said annything she looked around wildly, eyes finally finding Xander. Everything began filling back into her mind slowly at first, then faster and faster. She had rang Ranna, so everything was asleep. Looking to the cat in her lap she realized that it was still sleeping, and for some reason, Xander was awake. Binking furiously she looked again to the boy and smiled. "Oh, crap. Did you need something?" Astareal regained her wits and placed Ranna back in its pouch.

"I...nevermind. Are you ok, what happened?" Xander decided not to ask about the sword. He was more concerned about what had just happened. "why is everyone sleeping and how long does it last?" He forced himself to shut his mouth not wanting to continuously shoot off questions, especially since she just woke up.

Astareal was amazed at the way Xander seemed concerned. Wrinkling her brow she sighed and began to answer his questions. "I rang Ranna, she put us all to sleep. I have no idea how long they'll be out. Yrael potentially forever and the queen... perhaps ten or fifteen minutes at the least." Grabbing her sword Astareal drowsily shoved it back into her sheath, rubbing her eyes. She would be fully functioning in a few moments...

"in that case we should probably go. " Xander said taking her hand and going in the direction the queen came from where he thought the exit was. "thanks again for helping me." Xander paused for a moment and decided to ask one of the questions that was weighting on his mind the whole time. "why did you help me?" He asked turning around to look her in the eye. "The truth please." He needed to know why and if it was just to use him as he first thought or if it was something else.

((XD an eleven year old towing a twenty year old by the hand))

Astareal stood groggily, the cat falling off her skirt and onto the ground, still sound asleep. Following the boy quietly and without protest Astareal stared at the boy, wondering how she had gotten herself into this. As she was asked why she helped him, Astareal tried her best to answer truthfully. She really didn't know why, anyways, but... well, this was as good as it was going to get. "I helped you... I helped you because I took pity on you. You were brave enough to go into Death. To be honest, I don't know why I did it. Those are the best things I can think of that could be considered as reasons." Raising an eyebrow she stared at the boy, wondering whether or not she should pull away and resume walking or wait to see what he did.

(( ^_^ I thinks it's sweet))

Xander nodded silently. It was a good enough answer. He let go of her hand figuring that she would be ok to walk soon. Xander continued walking toward the exit but he walked slowly so that Astareal could keep up if she wanted to. When he reached the exit he turned around again. "So i guess this is good bye." He said smiling slightly.

Astareal followed the boy, not having the slightest idea of what to do. She was dazed and confused, wanting to go back to sleep. As the boy told her goodbye Astareal nodded, blinking furiously. Yrael would catch back up with her soon enough, but for now she had enough enemies. "I'll see you around, kid. Nice meetin' ya." Astareal said this in a very tired way, heading directly toward the woods. She could find a place to sleep outside tonight. Perhaps it would clear her mind.

Xander turned into a hawk and flew away. Hoping the queen would stay asleep forever, and that the lady would be ok. But hoping likely wouldn't help anything. It was only a matter of time he thought before the queen found him again. He also feared that she may even go after Astareal some day. Somehow this night didn't seem right at all. It was a relief to be free but it all just seemed to wrong.

(( and thats the end unless you want to do a monologue thing with the queen waking up to see everyone gone. ))