I think I am here.

Blew them up. Max stared blankly ahead, at the memory Althea gave him of a tall man with a bored expression. And half of his body was metal. So, no obvious spikes, unless the entire metal half counted as one. But... blew them up. “Oh...” Max said, thinking. “So, he either knows his way around technology, or has someone to help him.”

“Now listen here, rustheads!” Lusk yelled, standing up, to get the attention of the council. The Keepers and the Diagramists. Both allies of the Ghostbloods. And yet they were arguing. And both were talented in their chosen specialties, so Lusk would need both of them to come out of this unharmed. Ah, the subtle art of diplomacy. “You all have been fighting like children,” Lusk said, looking to the old lady. “Even you, believe it or not. You all stand here, discussing about guilds and forgetting the underlying facts. So let me, Council Member and Representative of the storming Ghostbloods, say what I have to. The only reason you haven’t gotten more from us today is because we’ve had children representing instead of someone who actually knows what they’re rusting doing.” He cracked his knuckles. “To the Black Crusade, I sincerely don’t dislike you. In fact, I think our goals align more often than you’d think. But forget about that, the points you’re bringing up now are - frankly - disappointing,” he looked to Keleth. “And you, you are an ally, and a good one at that, and I know how you feel about the Keepers. But you’re wrong. “The Keepers are pacifists. That doesn’t mean that non-pacifists are bad, hell, I’ve killed more than my share of people and I’m not stopping any time soon. But the fact of the matter is that asking them to go against their values, go against the thing they’re founded on, or to take away their great guild status is not acceptable, by means. You know what? Storms, I’m not going to be polite, it’s downright criminal. “As they’ve said, they’ve lived with the Yetis. They’ve lived with every single one of the threats on their shadows-cursed mountains and while I hate the cold, you can’t deny that violence isn’t needed to survive they live in.” He looked to the Black Crusade member. “Maybe if you’d taken a hint on how to interact with Yetis peacefully from the Keepers you wouldn’t have gotten your own members killed.” He looked to the Diagramists. “I like your laws, but oppose the idea of a census, because the verdict is already clear as a Kandra, the Keepers are a great guild and will remain so,” he looked at the Black Crusade member. “And about your little ‘revenge’ mission, what in all hell were you thinking? The Yetis are an animal on Keeper territory, you can’t just walk in on somebody else’s land, I don’t care if those animals are causing issues, you take it with the nation who owns that land, you do not, and I repeat, do not waltz in on someone’s land, killing their animals and then have the gall to cry wolf when the government takes action? “Revenge is good. I’ve taken my share of revenge, too. And I completely agree, maybe if Fortress Eternal had taken a little bit more time to figure out how to interact with the Yetis they lived next to they wouldn’t have attacked, and even if they did attack, I can respect your revenge mission. I really do. But when you fail, when you are killed for doing an illegal activity, you don’t coming crying to us now. Your revenge was respectable, but not legal, and so government actions by the Keepers can not be condemned for your failure.” Lusk paused, his demeanour not enraged nor over-emotional, but perfectly intense. Just like when he’d been a young man all those years ago. The memory was nostalgic, to say the least. But then again, this had what caused him to climb the ranks to Council Member. To this. @Ark1002 @Grey Knight @Vargo Seldon

Wilhelm quickly entered the cellar with the rest of the people, receding from the Mists. He shut the door behind him, his back to it. His eyes rested on each person in here, like a predator. No, he wasn’t like that. Not anymore. Looking around, he found he was in some sort of drinking basement, and this, this was filled with the elusive drinks he’d heard was had over here. Drinks that could make a man woozy, it didn’t seem to be as good as the hot choc from Wilhelm’s homeland. Ah, that had been great, before Wilhelm had turned. He saw a small girl fear the mists and the larger man, the one with the blade, had calmed her. He saw the skinny lady observe the room around, just like him. He saw the noblewoman, and the appearance struck him. His people, they had once been rulers on the south continent of Scadrial. And look at them now. “As far as I see,” he said, raising a hand. “There is only one way out. Through the mists.” He shuddered. “Those who go first, will mostly be safe, I think.” In truth, he hoped the people who went first would be killed first by the Soverign, maybe then the god would be satisfied and leave Wilhelm alone.

Max nodded. He hadn’t used Sethramir in a while. And the armour? No, definitely not. He wouldn’t follow down that road again. He’d buried the rusted thing in the basement and he’d never went for it again. It just hung, continuous, on its stand. Like a ghoul, watching. “We should probably look into that,” Max said, channeling his inner Canton Head of Operations. “Hemalurgy is something I have some degree of control over. This Vesuvius, he’s either got no emotions or he’s got really twisted ones. That’ll be easy to manipulate.” “How exactly did he... take out all these children?” Max looked at Devaan slapping himself and would’ve chuckled if not for the current situation. Hellbent, like a kid. Max shook his head, looking back at the letters.

Nekorb seemed to believe the lie, interestingly enough. “Oh, yeah, I know the way, did you want to leave right now?”

Rob saw Shana and Ben leave, leaving a broken training dummy in their wake. Sighing, Rob walked to the dummy, picked it up easily. “We always break you,” he said quietly, using cohesion to stick any brine parts together, fixing it as if it was one dummy again. He fixed the other dummy, the one he had broken, too. He trudged upstairs, there seemed nothing to do in the sparring room.

“Got it sir,” Alask said, and looked at Nekorb, waving a bit with his good hand, the bandaged one hidden in his pocket.

Max looked at the letters with wide eyes, feeling a pit in his stomach. He was still a Ghostblood member, but truthfully he had been out of the loop for most events dealing with it. But this, children? He looked to Althea and she looked devastated. So he put a tight arm around her to comfort her, and hoped she wouldn’t mind the contact in front of Devaan. The cake sat in front of him, still, and Max used one spoon to scoop up some of his slice, an empty gesture. “This... Vesuvius,” Max asked, slowly. “Does he have Hemalurgy?” @Nohadon @Sorana

Alask laughed nervously in response, walking forward to the two people. He did. “Oh, hey Nekorb, and good morning, sir,” he said, nodding to Nekorb and the host. Lying. He could lie. “Don’t mind me, I was just walking to the bathroom when I accidentally entered the women’s bathroom,” he laughed a bit out of nervousness, disguising it as embarrassment. “But Lena here told me I was in the wrong place, so there’s that.” He looked to both of them, smiling. “How about you?” @xinoehp512 @Ark1002 This one didn’t seem to dismiss him as easily as the others. “Here. Around.” A small pile of dust moved as if blown by non-existent wind. He hovered and swirled around her like a ghost, speaking to her from all directions. “You can point your head in any direction, it won’t really matter.” @Silva

“What sort of cover story?” Alask whispered, then stepped outside. “There’s not many options for me entering the women’s bathroom with you.”

Alask nodded. “I’ll just keep my hand in my pocket,” he said, looking towards the faucet. “And if they ever wonder who did that, they sure won’t be checking the men,” he smiled and walked near the door. “But I agree. Flickering eyes, shadows, all of it sure could’ve been seen by more than us.” He gulped. “I guess we’ll just have to hope it wasn’t.”

“I like watching people too,” came a whisper, from thin air. The Haunt has found the other conversation to be getting boring, quickly. But now, here was someone who was interesting. He could take that, at least. “But maybe for a different reason than you.”

Alask thought about it for a second, then shook his head. “No, this seems too much like a guild to me, too much like a corporation instead of something I can feel a part of. It’ll probably follow into the trap most guilds do, to be honest.” He looked to her. “You?”

Max nodded, taking out a small chocolate cake from the fridge and carrying to the center of the dining table. He brought a knife as well, to cut it into slices with. “How’s... Hellbent?” Max asked Devaan. “You’ve got him permanently in your head, right, that must be terrible.”

“Thanks,” Alask said and scooped a little of it in his hand, slowly going over the burn and twitching when it touched. He applies a little too much, but it looked fine to him. Quickly he wrapped the bandage around his hand, squishing the mixture more against his palm. Nothing bad had happened. Alask smiled. When Lena came with him and Nekorb to the Forge, there would Sure Ben a lot of people who’d benefit from things like this. “Thank you,” he said again, looking around. “Lucky you were able to find the bathroom in such a large building. I was lost for sure.”

Alask looked at the pot, and then to her. And then back at the pot. He remembered how she said she wouldn’t kill him, at least and he slowly took the pot in his good hand. “So, do I just pour it on?” He asked, holding it above the burnt hand. It pulsed with pain every few seconds and Alask gasped every time it did.

Alask thought about Lena’s words, and showed her his damaged hand. On the palm there was a burn mark in the shape of a faucet, it was charred black but there was no blood. “It’s not a normal burn,” he mentioned. “It’ll heal in a couple hours.” He looked to the silver faucet, now black. “That won’t, though.”

Alask watched a small the transformation continued to recede. “It’s like calming an angry kid,” he said, seeing how Lena was still obviously worried. And one of her hands was by her side. Poison? He wouldn’t judge her for taking precautions. “I just need to - Ow!” He recoiled his hand sharply from a sink he had been leaning on. His open palm had somehow found the silver faucet. Now both were charred black with burns. Sparks danced in the air. Alask held the burned hand by the wrist. “Oh, yeah that - ah - hurts, but, as I said it’s like dealing with a - oh - a kid with anger issues.”

This has been brought up and discussed here: Relevant link.

Alask let himself be pulled, focusing on calming Shez. When they arrived he looked around, and realized they were in a bathroom, but not one he was used to. "Did you take me to the women's bathroom?" Alask laughed slightly and his eyes flickered green and red like broken Christmas lights. Finding the mirror he looked at himself and found he didn't look too unusual, only a few flickers of darkness here and there, and of course, the glowing eyes. Meanwhile, Shez growled, sending shocks down his spikes. "It's fine," he said to Lena. "It just takes a while, but I can calm him." Shez, you need to shut up and start behaving. "THEY BRO-" Broke the Rules? Yeah, but we can kill other firestarters later. Remember our deal? "But, they're right there.." Still, Shez. We'll kill more later. Hell, I'll let you kill five. "I'm just learning promises, but you promise?" I promise. "Grrrr, I agree. Just let me let out some anger." A hand of Alask's suddenly turned dark with tendrils streaming from it. It punched into a wall next to the mirror and made an imprint. After that, however slowly, the abnormalities began to subside.

Mist. Things were turning to Mist. “The Sovereign,” Wilhelm whispered, stepping towards where the logs had been, now just a cloud of mist. But, what would the Sovereign think of Wilhelm. A cannibal. Even if a recovering one, would he be disgusted? Wilhelm gasped. But he’d done it all to survive! He’d been forced to, by nature. But that was the first time. What of all the people he’d hunted, caught in his traps? He hadn’t been forced by anything to do that except for maybe his own twisted hunger. So, the Sovereign was trying to kill him. “I agree, the cellar sounds alright,” Wilhelm mumbled as he quickly stepped towards the rest of the group. Strength in numbers? It seemed the most risky tactic when you were being hunted. Either all of you died, or most of you survived. But it was far better odds than facing his god alone.

Alask hadn’t been listening to the current development of conversation. He was sweating, instead. “Fire-kindlers. Two of them.” Shez, you know I do- “We need to KILL THEM!” Alask’s body suddenly lurched forward against his will, forced to by Shez in his body. Alask gained a hold on a nearby table, forcing himself back in control, though he was twitching slightly as Shez tried to escape. “Things were easier without this Bond.” Yeah, you would kill whoever you want. “Because they broke the RULES!” Alask hugged himself with his arms, black smokelike tendrils appearing and dissapearing in a flash. He needed to get to someplace private. Now. —-*-— The Haunt swirled as the host approached them. “Your research sounds interesting,” he whispered into the host’s ear. “But I doubt you’d be able to match what has already been done.”

“Wait a second, what?” Abel looked back and forth between the terrorist and the security woman. “You realise he was trying to kill us, shot down a part of the station we’re standing on, and is literally a terrorist? And you like him enough to offer him a position?” It seemed even the terrorist was confused.