Kyriel sighed and, tucking her wings firmly against her back, drifted in after the others. She paused to offer Ian an apology, but barely got the chance to say anything before there was a sudden noise and Shylarah practically flew out of one of the other rooms. "It's alright," Kyriel assured her, quickly striding over to the other girl and peering into the next room. "I'm fairly certain it's nothing that can hurt you. Nothing that wants to hurt you," she added. Of course, she could be wrong - there were a lot of faint energies around, and some of them undoubtedly were malevolent. But something told her that whatever had spooked Shylarah wasn't one of those.

Cin froze in mid-perusal of the library when he heard the cup shatter in the other room. Giving up on the dusty books he quickly returned to the central living area wide-eyed. “Find him?” He asked no one in particular, but looked from face to face seeking confirmation. Met with blank, confused, and slightly irritated stairs he grinned sheepishly back at them. “OK well, I’muna check upstairs.” Jabbing his thumb over his shoulder he turned quickly and made a brisk escape up the staircase.

Something was confusing him, more so than usual. Cin’s impeccable sense of smell was detecting Jaxon all over the house, as it should, it was his house after all. But nowhere could Cin seem to pinpoint an exact location. It was like he was here, but invisible. How impossible would that sound to try and explain to the others… Nope, better just keep that little nugget to himself.

Besides some weird music playing in the master suit, the upstairs was eerily silent. Being locked out of the two guestrooms left only one last room to be rummaged through. Would Jaxon, a grown man, be hiding inside one of the cupboards? Probably not, but did it stop Cin from checking? Not at all. What if this Ian guy was really just some crazy-ass who liked to tie people up and stuff them into uncomfortably small spaces?

Kuro could hear the goings on from the outside and quickly darted in with the larger group. Safety in numbers, he told himself. That didn't mean he didn't have to talk to them... maybe. Kuro trotted in, nodding quickly to the purple-haired self-proclaimed caretaker. Something was going on and Ian didn't look like he was just going to spit it out. Kuro decided to follow the other cat male upstairs and check the other rooms. Two of the four upstairs were locked, and looked quite unused. He hummed to himself, tail swishing as his ears perked forward in interest. He shut one eye and squinted into the darkness of the room through its keyhole. Nothing there... So he moved to the next and was startled by a shadow that moved. He let out a yelp and fell back onto the floor.

((Guys, it's 's birthday!))

Without much luck finding anyone inside the cupboards, Cin let out a frustrated sigh. Things really weren’t adding up, and the more he thought about it the more suspicious of Ian he became. Jaxon missing, some random guy lurking around this empty house… Glancing down at the desk he was leaning on Cin had to do a double take. Hadn’t that piece of scrap paper been blank before? He didn’t have much time to analyze before a yelp caught his attention from the hall. Grabbing the paper he darted out of the room to find the quiet cat-boy who had followed them earlier on the floor outside one of the locked guestrooms.

“Hey you OK?” Stuffing the paper into his pocket he walked over and offered a furry clawed hand to help Kuro up. “I’m Cin by the way, don’t think I introduced myself earlier…” Bright orange eyes mimicked the smile that spread across his face. Sure it was possible that this mysteriously quiet individual had something to do with the disappearance. But so long as Cin kept his eye on him, his intuition told him the other guy was just as curious as the rest of them… Speaking of. “Maybe we should get back, being alone up here is giving me the creeps.”

"You sure?" Shylarah asked the angel, looking over her shoulder. "Then what going on? Is /something/ here, but you say not bad thing?" The girl relaxed a bit and lowered her blade, but didn't put it away just yet. Her ears twitched as a yelp and a thud came from upstairs. "Sounds like this not only strange thing," she added.

Kuro winced as he rubbed his hip. He glanced up when he heard a voice and footsteps he knew belonged to the man with the tail he saw earlier outside. "Thanks." He took the offered hand and stood with Cin's help. He swallowed and nodded to him, "Nice to meet you. I'm Kuro," he said. Not that he was part of this group truly, but he had overheard the man dressed as a pirate mention that it would be less of an intrusion for all of them to go in at once instead of each individual showing up at different times. "I saw something move in there," Kuro offered as an explanation to Cin, pointing at the door in front of them.

((And the others, but I think most of y'all have been pinged enough since your last posts))

Kyriel looked up toward the top of the stairs, a frown beginning to etch itself onto her features. "There are strange forces about, but... No, I do not believe anything is dangerous. Not yet. Whatever this is, it seems to seek only attention, not harm. Though, what kind of attention and why are a different matter entirely." It might be something other than it seemed, just something trying to scare them all; Kyriel couldn't be quite sure just yet. "You can stick with me if you want, though. There isn't much that could stand up to me," she said, smiling faintly at the other girl. The statement had no egotism behind it, though, only a quiet certainty and, more importantly, reassurance. Her duty, after all, was to protect people; she had to be strong enough to actually accomplish that.

A chill ran down Cin’s spine when Kuro explained about something moving inside the room. Despite his better judgment Cin pressed his eye to the keyhole. Nothing seemed to stir but Cin did not discount Kuro’s sighting. Removing his eye he then pressed his nose against the copper inlay. The smell inside the room was much the same as the rest of the house. “Well whatever it was, it’s gone now…” Pointy ears atop his head pressed back irritably. “I think Ian knows more than he is sharing.” Still clutching the now crumpled piece of paper he found in the office, Cin grinned over at Kuro and stated very matter-o-factly. “Don’t worry I’ll get it out of him.” Turning Cin stumbled and almost rolled down the stairs, managing to find his footing at the very last possible second. Back on the ground floor Cin waved the paper in the air for all to see, and did his best to explain how he came to find it.

Ian:

(ooc: Hey kids! Sorry for the delay. Halloween + NaNoWriMo + work crazy = Ki goes poof. Also... ugh. This section is so quote-heavy, I feel really awkward taking the speaking roles in it but it feels even more awkward to chop it up. I'm sorry. Also, those who found the other clues - please feel free to tell Ian on the way to the cellar and quote his responses?)

At the mention of the teacup, Ian rubbed his hands through his already messy hair.

[img align=left]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x416/kibu_subeta/violetleft.png[/img] Kai watched the others return, waiting in the entrance with Ian and holding Archer's hand. "What's going on, here?" he asked, looking askance of the scientist. Especially after Cin's story about the writing appearing out of nowhere on the page, Kai felt a chill run up his spine.

[img align=right]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x416/kibu_subeta/darkright.png[/img] "But how do you plan to do that?" Lucas asked. He'd mostly been following along, but the whole thing was starting to get a little spooky. He glanced at Kia and raised his eyebrows. Ghosts? It was Morostide and all, but...

[img align=left]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x416/kibu_subeta/violetleft.png[/img] "I think most of us would be more than willing to help you," Kai said, indicating the others with a nod of his head. "If anyone wants to duck out, I don't think anyone would judge you on that. This is all getting a little bit... well, scary," he said bluntly.

Ian made a face, going over to a barely-visible door that looked like a cupboard under the stairs. When he pulled it open, a dimly-lit staircase leading to the basement greeted them.

(( You do NaNo? Woohoo! What's your sn? I wanna writer buddy you!))

"Ghosts are real?" Shylarah asked, sounding skeptical. "Where I from, ghosts just stories. Dead is dead, no matter what orophim say." Still, she couldn't deny that there was /something/ in the house that she didn't have an explanation for. "Alright, I help." Her mind made up, she sheathed her sword and headed for the staircase. Her large eyes would quickly adjust to the gloom, but there were others around, so she summoned a magelight to help illuminate the area.

"Ghosts are absolutely real," Kyriel said. Her voice had a strange tone to it, though, as if perhaps there were some other reason for her to say that than just what was going on here. She'd taken everything Ian had said without question, though, and in fact her expression had, if anyone had bothered to look, seemed to indicate he was only confirming what she already suspected. "And if this one is just Jaxon, I don't think there's anything to be scared of." Not yet, at least, she thought, casting a brief glance back toward the rest of the house as she too headed down the stairs. Hopefully whatever else she thought she could sense in the area would leave them alone...

Kuro walked with Cin back downstairs to where the rest of the group was. He normally would hate scenes like this but from what Ian was saying, Jaxson Skelly was in trouble and needed help. "Something is upstairs," he said after some hesitation, "I saw something move in one of the guest rooms. The door was locked and from the looks of things in there, no one has been in that room for a very long time." He flinched a tad after speaking, just hoping no one here would disapprove of his presence. "By the way, hello, I'm Kuro. Sorry to intrude... er..." He trailed off and looked away, ears flat against his head.

Cin frowned as Ian vaguely explained what happened to Jaxon. To his credit the kid took the news pretty well. Certainly seemed to explain why the entire house smelled the way it did. Funny how from his own perspective things were sounding oddly familiar. Science being involved with traversing other worlds and such. Secretly Cin was jealous he didn’t get to go explore the ‘other side’. Sure he understood the secrecy part, and he wasn’t great with the whole punctuality thing. But if it meant keeping someone he cared about safe, and he got to visit a new place, oh how he would leap at the opportunity.

Cin nodded in agreement with Kyriel, and smirked at Kuro’s unnecessary apology. “We are all intruding and I am not sorry, Jax needs our help.” Not wanting to be left behind in the world’s most haunted mansion, Cin hastened to follow the group to the basement.

"I name Shylarah," the girl said to Kuro, smiling at him. She figured offering to shake his hand might not be welcome, seeing as he didn't seem fond of other people, so she just waved. There was an awful lot of basement, but eventually they caught up to Ian in a room that looked like something out of a mad scientist's lab. She considered that this might not be to far from the truth. She didn't know much about Ian, and he did seem to be a scientist.

(ooc: Hey guys. Real life is smacking me excessively hard in the face right now. might be taking over control of this thread for me: I'm not 100% sure yet on how I'm going to deal with everything and if I'll be able to keep up here or not. Re-evaluating things over the course of the day. If need be, I've sent Ches the whole of the plot so Ian and Jaxon will still have quotes to throw in play. Hopefully my dropping out won't be the case because I really enjoy playing with everyone, but I have to take care of my health and the addition of NaNo this month plays merry hell on my psyche. So. Yeah. That's all.)

(( Sorry for the delay! This is quite a wordy post. I hope no one minds how much of this I am going to be pushing along. ))

Past a large room full of boxes and other musty smelling oddities, the group found themselves in a smaller room that very much resembled Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory. At least that was the vibe Cin was getting. Skeptical to the last drop Cinder squinted around the room, and took a few deep breaths trying to sort out all the weird smells. At Ian’s suggestion they all took a step back and watched with a mixture of delight and horror as he activated the machine.

Whatever the machine may have accomplished it didn’t seem to reveal Jaxon whatsoever. Cinderrin was beginning to grow impatient. “Um so, now what, where is Jax?”

Cin scratched his head and scrunched up his nose trying to put the pieces together. His limited knowledge of portals was exactly that, limited. But why would it work once and then not a second time? Why was it taking Ian so damn long to try again anyhow… This entire ordeal was beginning to stink.

Rolling his eyes Cin let out a short huff. Ian was acting strange, why a man of science would fail to make sure everything was accurate before he attempted an experiment, Cin couldn’t seem to understand. Suddenly something clicked. Maybe this was more difficult for Ian than he was letting on. “So like, how do we fuel this bad boy? Toenail clippings? Bat wings? Little voodoo?” Cin wiggled his fingers menacingly and put on a broad grin, but his humor fell on deaf ears.

A chill ran down Cin’s spine. “Using the spirits… What are we supposed to do with them exactly?”

While someone pointed out the irony, Cin took a step back and fell unusually silent.

Back upstairs the group is met with a change of scenery. Some sort of slimy substance glistened over most of the doorways preventing access to a majority of the rooms. Cin’s nose wrinkled at the smell. Curiosity getting the better of him, he reached out toward one of the affected doorways.

Gritting his teeth Cin’s pointy ears pressed forward irritably. “Great, well how do we deal with this crap then, Mr. Science?”

Suddenly Cin felt bad for his behavior. Being misjudged was a common occurrence in his life, and here he was hypocritically judging someone else. Swallowing the lump in his throat all he could manage was a nod. Up until this point Cin had been very skeptical of Ian’s motivation, but underneath all the layers of secrecy Cin was beginning to see that Ian was genuinely upset about what had happened, and he was doing his best to rectify the situation. Still, the idea of killing what was already dead seemed more harmful than helpful, even if it was the only way to get Jaxon back. Cin was glad for the time to think it over.

Shylarah squeaked at the appearance of the dark spirits, her sword fairly leaping into her hand as she went into a fighting stance. But they didn't attack, instead rushing out of the room. Still, she kept her blade to hand when they went upstairs. She was going to use it to slice through the stuff blocking one of the doorways when Ian's words made her stop and take several steps back, eyes wide. Poison of a magical nature could be very dangerous for her kind, and she had no interest in risking it. The idea of banishing spirits didn't bother her as much as it did Cin. She had come from a place where dangerous spirits were expected, and if it wasn't a known type of good spirit, you always assumed it to be evil. "We come back," she promised the worried scientist, trying to reassure him. "We get Jaxon back, you not worry."

((Good luck with everything, man, I hope you can get it all sorted out soon.))

Kyriel, as usual, trailed along behind the others on the way down, giving herself the opportunity in the process to look around without holding anyone else up. She had barely entered the last room when the weak spirits rushed out of it, though, and when Ian started talking about using them for fuel, her expression flashed almost to one of alarm. She tried to keep herself together, but she was definitely one of the first back upstairs, away from all that insane machinery (and Ian) and back in a more open space. She barely registered the scientist's warning, or frankly anything else that was said. She was too busy trying to keep herself calm, at least outwardly.