The remainder of the morning is spend rather quietly. Alptraum finds some breakfast in the castle kitchen. Instead of making small talk with the staff this time, too, he ends up eating by himself at a table in the corner. With breakfast out of the way, Alptraum heads back to his room to talk with Kaira for a bit, and if time permits, get in more practice with the shadow. But … first thing's first, the talk with Kaira. He fingers the soul dagger lightly in his hand and looks to the chitin sheath that's actually part of his right arm. "Now that I feel the chitin … I wonder what this will feel like, or even do … " the Eeee muses. Then with a small shrug, he slowly inserts the blade into the back of his right forearm.

There's a chilling feeling this time, as if cold water had been injected into Alptraum's arm. A hazy image forms over the orb, which solidifies into Kaira's head as usual. "Hmmm," the dragon goes. "Something is different. You aren't drunk are you?" she asks.

"What do you feel is different?" Alptraum asks, "And no, I'm not drunk… "

"It's just… different," Kaira says. "Not too weird though. What's up? Miss me?"

"Well, I started lessons with Melusine last night. Her first act was … to complete the union between the Shadow and me. She did so, by, uh, killing me. Sort of. She stabbed me in the heart," Alptraum explains and pulls down his shirt so the white scar shows. "And forcing me to complete the union to save my life … and of course I missed you!"

Kaira just stares at Alptraum for a moment in silence. "You let her kill you on the first lesson? Didn't your mother ever warn you about fast women?" the dragon chides.

"Well, she didn't tell me that's what she was going to do! She just … did it," Alptraum notes as he releases his shirt and lets it go back up. "Afterward, she told me she wouldn't have let me die, even if I hadn't completed it. After that, it was … practice. Being completely unified with the shadow is … interesting. When I shifted to the Barsunala illusion, the shadow's power tried to physically change me to match the image."

"You need to be careful about that then, unless you keep the power reserves deliberately low," Kaira warns. "Did you learn anything actually useful?"

"How to 'ken' as she called it.  Basically, how to learn how something is exactly made. She also warned me to never ken another person; as it is too dangerous for a mortal. In addition, I did practice on keeping the shadow from doing things so I don't inadvertently alter myself. I planned on doing some practice with the shadow today by doing experimental, temporary, changes to my right hand to recognize how it feels and be able to stop it. She seemed to think that was safe enough … or at least didn't tell me not to do it when I mentioned it," Alptraum answers.

"Did she ken you?" Kaira asks, her eyes narrowing a bit.

"Yes. Reason being so she could repair me if I was damaged," Alptraum answers, "Why?"

"Hussy," Kaira mutters. "Just remember, Alptraum, I found you first! I have dibs! Don't let her… fondle you just because she's bigger."

"Woah, wait, are you jealous? She didn't hit on me or make any advances, if that's what you're worrying about," Alptraum tells Kaira quickly, though looks rather confused about it. "And I have to say, her kenning me was … really, really, strange."

Kaira turns her glare on Alptraum now after that comment. "You still like me better though, right? I'm your Number One Dragon!"

"Of course I still like you better! I've known you longer and you've done nothing but help me. Well, other than the occasional insults. I'm just saying we had a productive lesson and she seems okay. She didn't even ask anything of me. No requests, nothing to pay her back," Alptraum says.

"Okay, now I'm really worried," Kaira says. "She's up to something. Shadows are evil, selfish monsters that never do anything that doesn't benefit them somehow."

"Well, she's helping me right now and hasn't asked for anything, so I'm not complaining. Besides, what could I give her anyway? She's much more powerful than me," Alptraum points out.

"Yeah, and so am I… well, so I was when we started," Kaira points out. "She wants something from you, I'm sure of it. You haven't been getting any evil urges since this 'integration' have you? I mean… more evil than usual for you."

"Evil urges? Like what? Other than wanting to practice and better my control, I haven't had any urges to do anything I wouldn't normally do," Alptraum comments. "Besides, she has the Countess, you know."

"We'll see," Kaira mutters. She then… contorts. There's a look of strain, and a hand pops up next to her head and sort of wiggles out, until the arm is visible. And in this fashion, the dragon pulls herself up out of the orb, until she's stretched out on Alptraum's arm now. "That's better! Now, I'm sure you want to hear all about the progress I've made bringing order back to the dagger, right?"

"Yes, I do … because I may need the inner world to help me with another problem … which I'll explain later. You first," Alptraum says with a toothy grin and leans back on his bed.

"It's still a mess," Kaira reports. "I had a great alliance going between the ogres and boggans to round up some of the escaped nasties, but it fell apart because some snarky elf just had to ask them what they were getting out of it, anyway. Next chance we get, the elves all go! I don't care if we have to make another kaiju to do it, either." The dragon looks… frustrated.

"Kaiju? And hmmm … maybe I should step in and help calm things down. They might listen to me, right?" Alptraum asks. "Or at least if I looked impressive enough, maybe."

"You know… another big monster thing," Kaira says, waving a hand. At the offer to help out, she smiles at Alptraum, and says, "Well, I could use a hand here and there. And you might be a bit more useful with your infusing of fae-essence. You're probably half faerie now anyway."

"I'm not really sure what I am. Melusine said my right hand was shadow flesh now, but the rest of me was still physical. Also, that I still retained some of my magic resistance, but that should fade over time if I continue to practice with the Shadow powers. So … what can I do for you? I've never been quite sure how to help you, outside of being able to release some trapped when the opportunity arises," Alptraum says and smiles back.

"You can crack heads, right?" Kaira asks. "Maybe stick some troublemakers into a jar. I just have to make the jar first. That threat alone should get the djinns in line."

"Ah, yes, I can beat things up," Alptraum has to admit. "How does being half-faerie help with that?"

"Eh, you'd get a little more respect," Kaira says. "Being half fae and half Shadow gives you some clout with the monsters at least. I'm too cute, and they don't take me seriously anymore."

"I'm cute too!" Alptraum comments, "Unless I deliberately try to make myself ugly or scary. Anyway, I'll certainly do what I can. You can contact me when you need help, right? Or do I need to check in with you now and then?"

"You should check in, it'll be easier," Kaira notes. "I don't know what you're up to out here, so wouldn't want to interrupt. Now, what can I do for you?" she asks, and smiles.

"Well … there's a mage here that's semi-possessed by a rather evil spirit of a Highwayman. I was thinking that to protect her physically … would it be possible to draw them both into the spirit dagger and deal with him in there. I do not want to have a battle out where where she could be physically injured. That's problem number one," Alptraum explains.

"Semi-possessed?" Kaira asks. "Well … hmmm. The way spirits work in your world, yes, you could draw them both in. But if you couldn't separate them here, the backlash would be nasty coming back out. Is she in good health, able to handle a little shock?"

"She's possessed by the means of a cursed necklace," Alptraum explains, "And her health isn't great. She's been fighting him for three years. And actually, if we could occupy him long enough to remove the necklace … well, wouldn't have possession anymore. The trick is making sure he doesn't realize it's being removed."

"Oooo, an object too?" Kaira asks, looking uncertain. "Have you touched her already?"

"Briefly, yes. Why?" Alptraum asks. "She wouldn't let me touch her long. I could feel a coldness."

"Because your Barsunala link generally causes an instant exorcism when you touch a possessed body," Kaira points out. "That object the spirit is bound to is the problem. It acts like a body for him."

"Right. And she won't let me touch that. Mainly because he tends to take over and kill anyone who threatens the necklace," Alptraum mutters.

The dragon rolls onto her back, lounging improbably on Alptraum's arm, and taps her claws on her stomach in thought. "Tricky… tricky… " she mutters. "Oh! Hah, your lesson with Mel just gave me a thought! You can kill the mage, right? I mean, not really kill her, but… well, wait, that may not work either. The whole bringing 'em back from the edge of death thing has to be done quickly… "

"Melusine could do it, probably. I doubt I have the ability or power to save someone from death with the Shadow right now. But … the Barsunala can also keep someone from completely dying too, hmm," Alptraum muses, "Which gets me back to practicing with the shadow so I have some decent control over it."

Tap tap tap go the tiny claws on tiny scales. "You know what Mel told you about kenning another person?" Kaira asks.

"That I shouldn't do it. It's too dangerous for a mortal. Also, that it can become addictive," Alptraum says, "What about it?"

"Wellllll," Kaira says, looking upside-down at Alptraum. "If you could ken the mage first, you'd have a much easier time of separating out her from the spirit. Then you could keep her alive with the Light without feeding the invader, and snuff both spirits at once. Her's will come back if she survives."

"Except, that's supposed to be extremely dangerous to do," Alptraum says with a small frown. "She made a definite point about not kenning another person, just animals. What are the complete risks to me if I do ken her?"

"Well… err… you might have to marry her or something," Kaira says, shrugging. "I mean, it's the most intimate thing you can possibly do. It makes sex seem like… hmm… spitting on one another, or something. My analogies aren't the greatest, I admit. But I suppose you could lose yourself a bit, if she had the stronger personality. And being a mage, and resisting possession for years… uh… I'd bet on her."

"Heh. Okay. I could ask Melusine to ken her, perhaps," Alptraum comments thoughtfully. Sighing, he says, "There has to be a way to do this safely. Or at least relatively safely. When did my life become this complicated?"

"Don't count on Mel to be able to fix your friend," Kaira notes. "This is spirit stuff, and she doesn't really have a handle on that. What's this mage's name, anyway, and how do you know her?"

"Er, I think her name is Annika. But she goes by Frogmilker. She was examining me to determine how far my body had been altered by all I've been through," Alptraum explains with a small shrug.

Kaira looks at Alptraum in silence for a moment, once again. "Okay… want to give me any details on that? And… frog milk?"

"Details on what? My examination?" Alptraum asks, "Not much to say. Originally she said the shadow contamination was confined to my right hand … but after what Melusine got me to do, I bet it's not confined anymore. She detected that part of you also contaminated me a bit … and of course, the Barsunala. As for frog milk … your guess is as good as mine. All I can tell you is, it tastes nasty," Alptraum says, "As did the blood from my right hand. Bitter. Lilith said it reminded her of licking Vorg." Then thinking of something to test, he sits up. Carefully, he pricks the palm of his left hand so he can get a look at his blood (and taste it).

It looks like normal, red blood, and tastes… well, bloody. "That is… wait, what do you mean I'm contaminating you? Couldn't you find a nicer way to say that?"

"You're part of me, then. Is that better?" Alptraum offers Kaira.

"Basically, when Frogmilker sampled the blood from the upper part of my right arm, it indicated you. The reaction was a blue scaled thing was formed. She uses frogs that react and change into what they're exposed to," Alptraum adds for further explanation.

"I've gotten under your skin then?" Kaira asks, grinning innocently. "Want me to try and access your Shadow stuff, now that… now that it's everywhere in you?"

"If you want to try. Would you also like to observe me trying to use it in some sort of small experiment?" Alptraum asks.

"Sure, it would help if I could monitor how you use it," Kaira admits, and climbs up to perch on Alptraum's shoulder. "What are you gonna try to do? Shadow-puppets?"

"I'm not sure. I was thinking of doing a minor, and very temporary, reshape of my right hand, since as Shadow Flesh, it should be easier to work with according to Melusine," Alptraum explains, "But I'm open to suggestions too. Lilith has kept joking about how it would be useful to have a small mouth on my palm, for example. Or, I was considering how it might look if I made it look more like a dragon's claw temporarily. I've seen enough dragons that I could probably manage it. But … if that's too dangerous or complicated … tell me now."

"Hmmm," Kaira murmurs, thinking. "Well, growing an eye in your palm would probably be too tricky at this stage. How about tentacles? Tentacles are easy: no bones!"

"Heh. Possible, I suppose," Alptraum agrees, "That's less complicated than growing scales again?"

"Scales? Well, no, probably not," the dragon admits. "But if you're gonna try that, why not grow your fur back out?"

"Because I like scales?" Alptraum says with a grin, "One of my best friends is scaly, you know. As I said, I was thinking just temporary things."

Kaira… preens a bit at the compliment. "Okay then, go for scales! After all, you don't have an earring to represent me, so scales will do nicely… "

"And you mentioned tentacles … , I'm not quite sure where I would put those," Alptraum notes. "Okay, so, scales. This is just a temporary thing, of course, to practice using the shadow's shaping ability. How far on my right arm should I try to reshape the fur and skin to scales? All the way to my elbow? Or just the underside of my arm, where the chitin isn't?"

"Better stick to the underside," Kaira says. "That area has already been reshaped, and should be easiest to work with."

"All right. Tell me what you feel within me when I do this," Alptraum says and rolls his hand over so the lightly furred underside of his mutated hand is exposed. Remembering the odd, crawling, sensation from the shadow last time it tried to alter him … he at least think she knows what this will feel like. Like when he was shielded by shadow, Alptraum tries to extend the liquid-like shadow from the gauntlet to cover the underside as well as his palm and fingers.

"Hehe, that's a neat trick," Kaira says, as the shadow-glove spreads out.

"It feels pretty strange," Alptraum comments as the oozy sensation coats his hand. In his mind, he tries to visualize black scales … larger near the back of his forearm, where the chitin ends, then progressively getting smaller until it reaches his wrist. As for his palm and fingers … he things on how Kaira's palms look when she's in her more humanoid form. With the mental image set in his mind … he tries to gently tickle the shadow into slowly making the change … and pays very much attention to how it feels and if anything starts to feel wrong.

It itches, especially when he can feel the skin fold and dimple. It also feels very different from fur. Something must be happening under the black shadow covering, that's for sure.

"Itchy," Alptraum murmurs, "What can you feel from the shadow?" He can't help but try and nudge the blackness aside a bit so he can take a peek at what is happening underneath quickly.

The covering crawls back, and shiny black scales appear. "It doesn't feel like anything, really, but… I can tell what's happening. Could just be because it's the right hand, too. I'm 'closer' to that, obviously," the dragon says.

Alptraum lets the shadow ooze back over and he continues the shift, taking it slow and easy. He's assuming that when the itching and the like stops … the shifting should be done. "You must think I'm strange … to be willingly changing my body as practice … even if as a temporary change," he murmurs absently, his mind mainly on the image he's holding in his head.

"No, strange is this pop singer who… well, you wouldn't get the references," Kaira notes. "And it probably isn't any worse than getting a tattoo or a bone through your nose. Could be fun at parties once you get the hang of it… "

"Okay, that's true," Alptraum has to admit. He tries to feel with the shadow on the affected flesh underneath, testing it for 'completeness' then retracts the oily substance back into the chitinous growth on his arm He holds up his right hand for inspection by both Kaira and himself.

"Pretty, but could use some color," Kaira comments on the scales. "Hey, let me try to fix that?" she asks.

Alptraum runs his thumb over the scales and his palm curiously, noting the slightly muted feeling caused by the hard covering. He glances over to Kaira and looks at her for a moment. "All right, go ahead. I trust you," he says.

Kaira crawls back down the arm… and licks at the scales. There's that chilled sense flowing through from the dagger again, and the scales flare blue for a moment after each lick.

Alptraum draws in a hissing breath when the chill ripples through his hand. "Trying to make them blue?" he asks as he holds his arm completely still for her.

Kaira stops licking, and looks back up at Alptraum. "No, actually that was just to distract you while I made your hair blond," she admits.

"What?" Alptraum inquires and tries to look at his hair now. "I like it white," he complains.

Right now, it just looks white with golden highlights. "Well, it was a challenge, since it's, you know, dead." Kaira admits, as the hair color returns back to white. "But I did manage this!" she says. There's a blue smiley face drawn into Alptraum's palm now, made by turning individual scales blue. It even 'winks' by switching the color on and off in some of the scales, but it isn't very quick.

"It would be faster if you knew how to make chromatophores," Kaira notes. "Maybe you can ken an octopus sometime. You've got octopi on Sinai, don't you? Or squids? Gotta have squids. Alien worlds always have squids of some sort… "

Alptraum can't help but laugh and shake his head. "If you made my hair blond, Mave would just think she's gaining more control over me," he comments, amused. "Now, as for the smiley face, uh. That's just silly. But no more so than Lilith wanting me to put a mouth there," he adds and traces a line along his palm as if to indicate a slit. He then lifts his arm up so he can look at Kaira, "Well we probably do have something like what you want … I'll see what I can do sometime on that. Gah, I'm going to be changing regularly, I can see it now. The gypsy in me likes to decorate."

"Just don't run your battery down too much," Kaira notes. "I need that power to manifest like this, after all. And the more solid I am, the more you can pet me. Petting a dragon is very soothing you know, and you always seem a bit stressed out."

"Well, I'll be sure to recharge it after much use too, of course. Now, as for petting … I could come into the dagger and do more than just pet you," Alptraum offers with a toothy grin, "Just to prove that I do still like you."

"And speaking of Mave, you should practice with her too," the dragon adds. "You can probably store normal magical energy too. Oh, that's right! I'm not a blob!" This cheers up the dragon for some reason.

"Practice with Mave? I'm still certain she's up to something, but I haven't figured out what yet. One thought is she's going to try to get me to sire children with her," Alptraum muses. "And oh, your comment there, uh, just made me wonder. You called Melusine the Mother of the Dark Brood. How exactly do Shadow Dragons reproduce?"

"Same way most things do," Kaira notes. "Why are you curious?" she then asks, a bit sharply.

"Paranoia," Alptraum admits honestly, "I'm the only other shadow being around, even if I'm only half or less. You said she might be up to something and I suddenly thought that maybe she was thinking of me as a possible person to help 'grow' the Shadow Dragon line. But … heh, that's silly. She's given no such indication, or even much concern of me other than what she was teaching."

"Mmm-hmmm," Kaira mumbles. "Well, Shadow dragons are still physical beings… sort of. They can be hurt by weapons, and be killed. It's just hard to tell when they're hurt. Oh… have you tried to see if you've become allergic to iron?"

"No, I haven't," Alptraum admits, then remembers something else and lifts his shirt up to show the scar. "Can you tell me why this spot on me is warmer? It makes me think of that heart crystal that bobs around inside of her. Is it sort of symbolic to that?"

"Would being allergic to iron be a significant indicator of anything?" he adds after a moment of thought.

Kaira crawls over to Alptraum's left shoulder, and noses at the scar. "It's a scar. May just be warmer because of more blood vessels after healing. Let me try something." The dragon fades a bit, and then sticks her head into Alptraum's chest.

"Geh! I wish both of you would warn me before you did that," Alptraum mutters when Kaira's head goes into his chest. "At least you didn't hurt, I guess. Her claw sure did."

The head pops back out, and Kaira says, "I didn't need to do it that way, but it helped. Yeah, she did a number on you. I guess your own Shadow did the repairs, but… might have her look at it and smooth the edges a bit. Some scarring on your ribs, tiny fractures that weren't taken care of, and some leftover… goo… sticking to things. Nothing that looks bad, mind you."

"Er, leftover goo? What sort of goo?" Alptraum asks and starts scratching at his chest. "Is she trying to turn me into something and left behind helpers?"

"You know… goo," Kaira says. "Probably blood from when you were stabbed that didn't get flushed out."

"Oh. Okay. I had a horrible mental image of her acting like a horrib!" Alptraum says and lets out a sigh of relief, "Those are insects that leave their young in a host. Yeah, I'm a little paranoid." To calm himself, he, well, pets the dragon.

Kaira purrs, being solid again. "Well, I didn't see anything wiggling that… shouldn't be wiggling," she says.

Alptraum holds up and wiggles his scaled hand, then decides that the scales are pretty. "Kaira … thank you for looking out for me," he says, "I mean that. I really don't do enough for you. If you would like it … I can try to come in more often and help, ah, reduce your stress."

"When you have time, and are bored, sure," Kaira says. "And you can let me out more often too, if you have the power to spare. Just tell people I'm your… personal god. It's Draco County, they'll believe that."

"Bah, not just when I'm bored, I … heh," Alptraum says, grinning taking a moment to check the glow level of the orb on the back of his right hand. "How about I take some time right now to come in and give you a spa treatment. I recently went to one of those and it was actually a lot of fun. I'll be your personal worshiper, o' personal god."

"Spa treatment?" Kaira asks, looking thoughtful. "Yes, I'd like that. Perhaps that will be the key to getting these other wild spirits under control as well. Hmmm… "

"For you, I promise to be a full service spa, too," Alptraum says with a rather impish grin. "Taking lessons from Mave has side benefits, after all… "