As uncomfortable as it was, the rag-tag team dispersed after their tea with the enemy. Or is he even the enemy anymore? It is hard to say; the situation is complicated to the point of absurdity. But … at least for Xander Lightfoot, he didn't have too much time to think on it. Instead, he was sent to see the castle doctor. There he was declared to only have a minor head injury. A poultice made from willow bark was applied to the injured spot and a clean bandage wrapped around his head to keep it in place. He was also given several strips of the bark to chew to help with his headache. On his way back to the tea room, Xander learned that Umeko had withdrawn to a nearby sitting room. The others had retired to bedrooms. And Vandringar … well, where he has gone is unknown. Since the sitting room was only a few steps down the hall, Xander couldn't help but stick his head in.

"Umeko?" the Lapi calls out quietly.

Another flash of lightning and Xander can make out a shadowy shape sitting on the sill before the large glass window. The same is definitely Umeko, but she is so motionless it almost seems more like a stature than the reptile Xander has come to know well. Her long sword has been drawn from her belt and the butt of it rests against the corner of the window frame. It stretches back to Umeko and there she rests with her chin upon its butt. "Are you feeling better?" she answers to the call.

"Err, a bit," Xander says, approaching cautiously. "Are you alright? I've never seen you use your sword like that before."

"As a chin rest?" Umeko asks with a hint of amusement in her voice. With lazy grace, she sits back and lifts her sword from the window frame and leans it against the wall. "I am fine. Just … thinking. A terrible habit."

"You always seem to treat your swords with a lot of respect is all," Xander explains, walking to the windowsill. "It surprised me. What are you thinking about?"

"The situation we're in. I am sorry for dragging you into this. I should have let you go home instead of hiring you as my adviser," the Kiriga explains. Her head cants slightly to the side and she looks out into the rainy night.

"Sorry?" Xander asks, sounding a bit shocked. "Am I not living up to your expectations, Umeko?"

Umeko shakes her head. "No, no, nothing like that," she says. "I know you are not a fighter and do not expect such from you. It just. It is." There's a sigh from the Kiriga as she finally says, "I don't like seeing you hurt."

"Well, we have that in common!" Xander says, smiling to show he's trying to be humorous. "But, I am a fire mage. I'd be doing something dangerous whether I was with you or not, and frankly I'm glad I've been with you, or you could have gotten hurt yourself!"

"Instead I've just been changed into a monster and had some teeth fall out," Umeko replies … though there is thankfully a hint of humor in her voice too. "I still feel like a monster in these lands, too. There is no one like me here in either appearance or culture."

"Well, that happens when you travel outside of the big cities," Xander notes. "Kiriga are still pretty rare outside of Jadai, I think. I saw some up on Caroban, of course, but they were there looking to hire."

"Mm. I would not be surprised if I knew them," Umeko notes the Kiriga reaches up and cuts a delicate line in the mist of her breath that has collected upon the cold glass. "I am sorry for yelling at you earlier," she says in a near whisper.

"Well, you were upset," Xander notes. "Apology accepted. How are you feeling now? Need warming up? Oh… and what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I am all right; the temperature in here is … tolerable. As for talking, well, just that mainly," Umeko explains, the Kiriga still looking out the window. "I am sorry I am not a very good … what is the term in your language … girlfriend?"

Xander's ears shoot up, making him wince slightly since it pulls on the bandage. "Girlfriend? You mean… " he starts to say, then pauses. "I'm not a very good boyfriend then, since I haven't really taken you out on a date yet! Or brought you flowers and xocholatl. Err. Can Kiriga eat xocholatl?"

"And I have taken you into a den where the Mistress of the Castle tears people apart and drinks their fluids," Umeko has to point out. She shifts a bit and pats the spot on the sill next to her, adding, "And of course we can."

"Oh good! Although I don't think I can get any here," Xander says. "And the Raveness isn't as scary as some women I've met. Err, not that I find you scary or anything!"

Umeko rolls her head so that she's back to looking at Xander. "Yes, you do," the Kiriga says simply. "I'm all fangs, claws, and other … pointy parts."

"Well, those make you more… exciting," Xander admits, with a grin. "But the way you play with me sometimes is a little scary, but in a good way."

"See, you enjoy scary," the Kiriga says … almost smugly, really. "Of course, it may not matter. I do not yet see how we are to escape this prison. If the only solution is the Lord of the castle, it is unlikely we will find anything about him here."

"Well, what I mean is … about his disappearance," Umeko clarifies.

"Oh, I'm sure there are other solutions," Xander notes. "There must be a way to use the stones to contain the Void, if that… Observer? Well, that bug thing had a way to do it, right?"

"Perhaps. I think the Raveness is effectively that 'bug thing' now, given both kill gruesomely," Umeko notes. "Did that hunter tell you much? Anything even small might be a clue."

"I didn't get a chance to really talk to her much about that," Xander says. "I got her tell me about Vandringar going with the Murder, and was busy trying to convince her to not go after Lilac the rest of the time."

"Well, that is a futile effort. Which ultimately means either she succeeds in killing Lilac, or we succeed in killing her," Umeko notes, "That is, if we ever escape this place."

"Maybe Gibson can get through to her," Xander notes. "And once we figure out what Lilac's connection to the Raveness is, we'll be closer to get out of here."

"Mm, perhaps," Umeko agrees, though without much conviction in her voice. "I still do not see how Lilac would have any association… " The Kiriga sits up, webbed ears perking, "Well, unless… I wonder."

"The Raveness thinks she does, and so does the tapestry," Xander notes. "So there's something… What?"

"Maybe Lilac found Lord Rook. Or rather, what happened to him. Perhaps that discovery alerted the Raveness and formed the connection," Umeko suggests.

"I thought something like that might have happened, since the curse is different for her, and she hadn't been here before," Xander says. "And you both had that dream. She may have been onto something with the idea of you two being the last vestiges of the Temple of Being. Touched by the orb's power and whatnot."

"She meant herself and the orb, not me," Umeko clarifies as she finally slips off the window sill. "I'm nothing of importance in this. Just a strange foreigner."

Xander shakes his head, and says, "The orb isn't here, so she meant you." Then he reaches out to brush the side of Umeko's mouth. "Your fangs came in after you'd been returned to your normal form. The power was still active in you for that to happen. There may still be some left inside you."

Umeko chuckles in that strange, hissing, way of hers. "Maybe I'll change back into that … thing," she jokes. Still, she can't help but press her tongue against those odd bulges in the roof of her mouth, causing a small trickle of yellowish fluid to drip down one fang. Her long tail curls lightly around Xander's leg. "Would you still find me attractive if I did?" she murmurs … those sharp teeth of hers lightly touching the Lapi's ear.

Xander jumps a little, as usual. "Well, if it was still you inside," he says, "then probably, yes."

"Part of me wishes I could have seen myself like that. It must have been very … odd," Umeko says.

"Well, the changing was a bit disturbing, but the form itself was… " Here the Lapi pauses to think of the proper term. "Majestic. And scary. Majestic and scary."

"You sound as if you liked it," Umeko comments and takes a moment to tap a claw tip against the Lapi's twitching nose.

"I… try to enjoy life," Xander admits, and rubs his nose. "You'd probably like seeing me change into a big blue Kiriga, I bet."

"I … would not complain. But such is unlikely," Umeko comments, the corners of her lips twitching in amusement. There the Kiriga drapes her arm lightly around the Lapi's shoulders. "Do you believe that Vandringar is trustworthy for the moment? I must admit I would … prefer to introduce him to Grey Cloud more so than ally with him."

"Trustworthy?" Xander asks, both eyebrows crawling up his scalp. "Whether he is worthy of trust or not, I'm not going to trust him to have our best interests at heart."

"Indeed," Umeko has to agree. "Where do you think we should begin investigating this? I was considering the library, in hopes that writing has preserved some of the memories our hosts have lost."

"I should take a closer look at that tapestry, and sweep the castle for more magical artifacts," Xander notes, scratching at the unbandaged side of his face. "And I'd like to inspect the barrier… or whatever it is… surrounding the Rookery. And also get a bath if possible. Dried swamp water is nearly as bad as the wet version."

"Do you wish me to bathe you?" Umeko offers, "Since you have helped me in the past. As for the tapestry, that is a good thought as well. In truth, I feel rather … useless here. I cannot fight due to the rules, I know not magic, I lack Lilac's abilities and I do not have a stone like Anisa. It feels as if my best ability is … well, if it came down to it, to buy you time as a sacrifice."

"Well, you can talk to the staff for me," Xander suggests. "I'm not entirely sure anybody here is still technically alive. We need to know if anyone has died of natural causes or if there have been any births since the Rookery was sealed off."

"My guess is there have been no births. They do not even know what the passage of time has been," Umeko says, "They are … somehow stuck, I believe. Non-existence."

"There is something we do need Vandringar for, I think," Xander says. "Or might… "

"Which is? And if you tell me you wish me to … flirt with him I will bite you," Umeko warns.

"Nothing like that!" Xander says, holding up his hands. "It's just… well… I don't know the whole story here, and should probably ask Anisa what she thinks… but it seems that Vandringar was missing for years or something inside the place where these orbs where created, right?"

"Did Anisa say she was where they were made? I thought it was just a related location," Umeko admits. "You think he knows more than he is saying, then?"

"Yes, he doesn't seem the type to come here without a plan," Xander says. "My concern is that if the Void orb has to exist within someone in order for us to leave, and that someone is very likely to be Lilac, then he probably knows how to remove it from her before she becomes completely hollowed out like the Raveness."

"Except there is a flaw in that plan. Lilac is already carrying something," Umeko feels compelled to point out. "I know they ordered us not to fight … but perhaps it is worth dying if I manage to break his neck before the Murder tears me apart… "

"That's right, Lilac is carrying the children of the Temple of Being," Xander notes. "Which is why I think she could carry the Void as well, if the two really are complementary and will cancel one another out for a time."

"Or me, if your suggestion that I may carry latent effects of the orb of being," Umeko adds and shakes her head. "I do not wish either of us to be like the Raveness."

"If I might suggest… well, hmm," Xander says, looking worried now. "We can't let on that Lilac is pregnant. But Vandringar already knows you were exposed to the orb's power. Maybe you could mention the fangs and venom to him, since he sure knew enough about the orb to get it to do all of that stuff before. You're a noble, highly placed in the Empire now, so… well, you'd be a good recruit for his secret order, wouldn't you?"

"You wish to see if he'll try to recruit me?" Umeko asks, her scaly brow arching high. "Xander Lightfoot, that is most disturbed. Also unlikely, given he thinks little of women from what I have heard."

"That attitude may not apply to reptilian women," Xander points out. "The point is that you are the only one of us who has a real chance of getting close to him and getting answers. How he reacts to learning about your mutation would be really telling too."

"So, should I try to arrange a private conversation with him then?" Umeko asks as she looks back towards the rain battered window. "And see what he knew or expected of the orb. Would he even believe that? I am not sure how I would mention things without sounding obviously … false."

"He won't trust you anyway, but like he says, it's all part of the 'game'," Xander notes. "You're a noble though, so he has to treat you as an equal. Plus… well, you wanted something to do anyway!"

"Will you defend my honor if he flirts with me?" Umeko asks Xander and even bats her eyes at him.

"Of course!" Xander says, puffing out his chest and pressing a fist to it. "So long as I can use fireballs, anyway. And if you do feel like you're succumbing to his charms… err… come get me and I'll snap you right out of it!"

"Besides, he probably assumes I'm with Anisa," the Lapi points out.

Umeko actually snorts a laugh. "Perhaps, perhaps," she finally manages to say. "Still these are good suggestions to pursue. Of course … something else to bear in mind… If I do have any residual effects from the orb, it could be possible that those necklaces they wear could affect me."

"Well… I don't see how they could," Xander notes, thoughtfully. "The orb would be able to affect you, and they could affect the orb… "

"And they can't affect the void orb currently, so … " Umeko says, then shakes her head, "Thoughts for another time." She tugs on Xander and walks towards the door, adding, "Now, come. Let's get you your bath."

"Yeah, we should look good for the feast!" Xander says, following along and wagging his little puff-tail.