ic Enchanted Species [IC]

[Gizmo]

"Ohmygoodness!" Kimber all but squealed in delight as the diminutive creature scampered over to her on unsteady paws. Kneeling down with her hands on her knees, the phantom floated a mere inch off of the floor. "What a cutie! Hi! Hello there!" As she beamed down at the cub, it reared back clumsily, lifting its front paws into the air and placing them atop Ghost Girl's insubstantial knees. To her surprise, the manticore kitten's tiny claws found purchase on the faux material of her ectoplasmic pants, allowing it to scramble up onto her lap. Sitting there, it tilted its head to one side, peering up with an expectant expression.

[Fox]

"Awwww." Wraith's tendril pulled back up into the rest of her as the little cub made its way out of its egg; she stretched out her body to descend to the floor as gently as possible, so as not to startle the newborn beast. "It is adorable - and very capable for a creature that has just hatched. I wonder if-"

She was cut off as it scrambled up into Kimber's lap. Kimber's immaterial lap. Wraith blinked a couple times, three black eyes trying to figure that out. "It...can touch her? It can touch you? Is that something that manticores can normally do?"

[trollthumper]

"I'm... honestly not sure," Nick said. "Fantastic beasts aren't really my department. Manticores are supposed to be perfect hunters - predatory, venomous, capable of consuming their prey whole and leaving no trace." He looked over the cub that was nestled in Kimber's lap; "cute" usually wasn't part of that list. "I'm just wondering what it's even doing here. And the basilisk, of course. I mean, I've heard of people with more money than sense keeping exotic pets, but not stuff this exotic. I'm sure --"

"-aaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

The scream was brief but fearful, like something that had been put on pause for quite a while. Nick ran out to find the apartment's owner bracing for balance against the couch, catching her breath. She looked up to see Nick watching after her, and fear quickly turned to fury. "Who are you, and what are you doing in my apartment?"

"Pest control," Nick said. "I think something of yours got out."

"I've got no idea what you're talking about, so if you could just --"

Nick waved his hand, and the shadows at the edge of the room lengthened. They disgorged the still unconscious basilisk back onto the carpet, the woman leaping back when it returned. With another wave, the shadows swallowed it back up.

"Try again. With feeling this time."

She shook her head. "God, that stupid basilisk. I don't suppose you could put it back? I've got a salon tonight, and..."

[Gizmo]

Kimber was uncharacteristically stunned into silence as the manticore padded about in a circle on her lap, wobbling slightly as it got a sense of its surroundings. Hesitatingly, she reached out and scratched the kitten behind its ears. With a pleased yowl the little creature leaned into her fingers, closing its eyes and opening its mouth to yawn, revealing three rows of developing teeth. Grinning with a small laugh that stuck in her throat, Ghost Girl scooped the kitten up in one arm so she could stand up in the air while she rubbed the opposite forearm across her eyes, sniffing quietly before floating out into the rest of the apartment after Nick.

The attitude of the apartment's owner made her pull a face, however. "Hey! It's not the basilisk's fault!" she interjected, glaring at the annoyed woman and not overly concerned what she might make of a translucent teenager hovering a foot off of the floor. "Maybe if you didn't have it locked up in some stupid mirror th-" The poltergeist was cut off as the manticore cradled in her arm chose that moment to bat its paw into the face.

[Fox]

Wraith's face - relatively featureless thought it might be - was the very picture of 'what the hell?', the decidedly human-like expression made all the more exaggerated by her rather distinct and expressive trinity of eyes. "It escaped and turned you to stone, and you would like us to put it back? I am not even certain why you would cage such a creature in a place like this; you clearly do not have respect for what it is capable of doing to you and the innocent people around you. Why do you have a basilisk here at all?"

[trollthumper]

"Okay, so I've got some buyers' remorse, all right?" said the woman. "But I got that thing as a centerpiece, and --" She finally noticed the manticore resting on Kimber's arm. "Is that my manticore? You mean it imprinted already? Damnit! Now I'm gonna have to go back for a memory charm and --"

Nick held his hand up. "I think it's made its choice."

"Yeah, well it's my money. I paid a lot for that thing, and --"

Nick waved his hand again, and the basilisk dropped out right at the woman's feet. She stepped back as several hundred pounds of unconscious snake rolled about on the carpet.

"I'd say you've already done enough stupid things for one lifetime," he said. "So why don't we start with the simple answers? Who are you, and why do you have a piece of serpentine royalty for a conversation starter?"

"Fine," the woman said. "Kristina DeVore. Of the New York DeVores. Not that my folks will ever let me forget it. 'Kristina, where's your talent?' 'Why aren't you focusing on your studies?' A bunch of dead languages and demon names. Who's got time for that?"

"Your family's full of practitioners?"

"We're one of the 'blessed lines,' as my creepy great-grandma keeps putting it. I think all those elixirs are starting to go to her head. I mean, it's great, but everyone wants you to show off with a glamour or a binding or a demon showing up to tea or something. It's annoying." She poked at the basilisk lying at her feet. "So I just decided to get this thing. Figured that'd keep 'em quiet at the next gather."

"Yeah. Stone has a tendency to keep its mouth shut."

"Not like that! God. If only that stupid cage did as advertised..."

[Gizmo]

Ghost Girl narrowed her eyes and jutted out her bottom lip in DeVores' direction with the sort of distaste for an individual only someone more naturally inclined to giving the benefit of the doubt and numerous second chances could really muster up. "I don't think I like you," she said slowly and deliberately and for a brief instant something in the eyes behind her domino mask was a little more obviously inhuman than usual. The manticore ceased batting about her face, yawned again and settled down in the crook of her arm, purring as its chitinous tail stretched out and came to rest behind her neck and across her shoulders like a scarf. "Hmph. Who would even sell you any kind of pet? Pretty sure they don't have weirdo mirror cages for basilisks in the Bay's winter catalogue."

[trollthumper]

Kristina glared at Ghost Girl, or rather at the manticore kitten atop her head. She scoffed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure the feeling's mutual," she said. "And I'm not going to tell you, and I couldn't even if I wanted to. The invite came with a geas --"

"All right, then," said Nick. "I guess I can just go in there, shatter your little labyrinth, and see how well you deal with the proper care of basilisks when they're awake --"

The color drained from Kristina's face for half a second, at least before being replaced with a brilliant shade of red. "God, would you let me finish?" she shouted. "Like I said, part of the transaction was a geas, an oath of secrecy. But for some reason - I think it was my grandpa and those damn 'bedtime story' sleep charms of his - I've always been able to get a little wiggle room on those."

"And..."

"And, I might not be able to tell you who he is, but I'm pretty sure I can tell you that you might want to look in my vanity in the master bedroom..."

Nick was off in a flash, tearing through the drawers of the chamber. "Oh, yeah, just rip through it, it's not like there's Hermes Enchante in there!" called Kristina's voice from the living room. He didn't really notice it - at least, that was what he told himself. He found the scarlet envelope in the upper drawer - a certificate of ownership, resting on top of a signed invitation.

"'Gregory Milliner,'" he said, reading from the card as he reentered the living room, "'purveyor of beasts of esoteric provenance and elusive chimera.' This is your guy?"

"Uh, hello? Geas?"

"Right. I don't suppose he keeps a timetable of events."

"I can't say anything about that. Buuuut, I know there's something fun planned at the oldest mansion in Kingston tonight."

[Fox]

Wraith blinked, listening as Nick read through the card.

The alien hummed for a moment. "We may want to investigate that. Kristina DeVore is irresponsible, but she cannot be the only one. If someone is selling dangerous beasts to people like her, we should talk to them. Or stop them, perhaps, if necessary? We can...." She looked over to Kimber, and her new friend; if she'd had a heart, it probably would have melted. "....we should perhaps take the manticore with us, or leave it somewhere that is safe from civilians and....what is the word...'socialites'."

[Gizmo]

Ghost Girl used two fingers on her free hand to point toward her eyes then toward DeVore, huffing as she floated across the room to peek over Nick's shoulder at the card, shifting her arm protectively around the cub. "I don't think she should be trusted with geese, either," she opined under her breath as she reread Milliner's job title a few times. "Anybody who would sell poor beasties to someone like her is probably a butt," the poltergeist continued in an uncharacteristic bout of harsh judgement. The manticore's tail twitched lazily as Kimber nodded decisively. "We've totally gotta shut them down!"

[trollthumper]

"Yeah, well, you didn't hear it from me, okay?" said Kristina.

"Your secret's safe with me," said Nick. "Now, any sort of pass card we'd need? Any description of what the festivities are like?"

"There was about an hour of mixing and mingling and hors d'oeuvres - but I can't promise that. It was my first time, and I think I heard someone say something about how he tries for something different each time. As for the pass, you've got the invitation. For all the magic that guy puts into his show, the card's pretty mundane. I'm sure a glamour would let you get in the door, even if it makes the thing look like it was written in crayon."

"You're sure?"

"Look, I don't know, okay? It was my first freaking time! But, yeah. I'm pretty sure. They weren't doing much checking at the door." Kristina shook her head. "God, I need to go find something else for tonight's party." She took off into her bedroom, leaving Nick, Kimber, Wraith, and the manticore cub alone.

"I'm guessing dwelling in one's shame isn't an option," Nick said. "All right, looks like we've got an appointment to keep. Are you two going to be okay staying out late on a school night?"

[Fox]

"We do not sleep," Wraith assured Nick; with Kristina out of the room she was taking the opportunity to inspect the manticore cub, torn between not wanting to disturb it and wanting to poke or pet it. "I do not believe staying late will be of great concern. The party may be more difficult, however - we have an invitation, and Ghost Girl can perhaps disguise herself?" - that last bit was directed at the heroine in question, as Wraith didn't want to assume too much - "- but I cannot, really. I do not believe metal creatures are...proper party attendees."

She paused for a moment, and blinked, wiggling a finger at the cub. "Unless that were the point," she corrected, glancing over her shoulder at Nick in a way necks really weren't designed to turn. "I do not know that I could disguise myself as an anonymous human, but if creatures like the basilisk or manticore are acceptable for this...you would say, 'crowd'?...I am fairly sure I could be a convincingly strange monster. Or I could simply sneak in - I do not know which is the better option."

[Gizmo]

Ghost Girl was glad Wraith had answered Nick's question before she'd had to; the phantom was having difficulty not looking vaguely guilty let alone skirting around the topic of the curfew they were technically breaking. Meanwhile, the manticore kitten opened one eye lazily as Wraith's finger brushed the whiskers protruding from his simian face. The single feline iris moved back and forth with the wagging bit of living metal, properly entranced as the newly hatched creature tried to decide whether he was looking at food or not. The three throws of teeth in his ajar mouth suggested that more things fell under the former category than the latter.

"Oh, sure, I'm gangbusters at disguises!" Kimber chimed in at Indira's implied question. For a brief moment the poltergeist seemed to blur out of focus as though just on the edge of any viewer's vision. When she became clear once again, she appeared as a properly opaque, living person, albeit still hovering a ways off of the ground. She appeared to have taken her normal human form but aged more fully into adulthood, perhaps her mid-twenties and dressed in a suitably chic evening gown. The intricate up-do her hair had arranged itself into was admittedly a little dated in its sensibilities, but the overall effect was convincing. It wasn't quite the form her teammate had seen her take on while distracting the cultists in the woods on one of their previous adventures; this was very much human while that transformation had been strangely otherworldly, but there were similarities.

The manticore took the display fairly well, though his attention was taken away from Wraith's finger as he readjusted himself as Ghost Girl's sleeves disappeared. "I can do specific people, too!" she added, blurring momentarily once again before appearing as a near duplicate of Nick himself in full skull-faced make-up but still wearing the same evening gown. "I haven't gotten to really use it to fool anybody on a for reals mission yet," she admitted, her voice unchanged despite the shapeshifting, "but I'm sure I can pull it off!"

[trollthumper]

"That's a fairly passable imitation," said Nick, letting the whole voice bit speak for itself. "As for Wraith... hmm... that's not a bad idea. An infant dragon would probably be a good idea - from what I hear, they're about humanoid size and mass, and the scales have a good metallic sheen to them. Plus, that'd be one hell of a status symbol at a gathering like that." He took a look at the two girls. "We've got a few hours to kill before the party. Should give me enough time to get some duds together."

----

Nick's tuxedo was just as weather-beaten as his normal outfit, looking like something someone had been buried in. He'd foregone the makeup for the evening, looking like normal old Eric LaCroix. He picked up Kimber and Indira at the pre-arranged meeting place, and the car took off for Kingston. "All right, plans. We are probably going to need one. First goal is tracking down the MC. Secondary goal is finding out where the creatures he's keeping are. Third goal is tracing the pipelines, if we can find any paper trail. Any ideas?"

[Fox]

"Locating the creatures and finding a paper trail rely on being able to slip away and investigate," Wraith noted. She was still working on her 'dragon', concentrating on an arm that had a dragon's head instead of a hand, its features shifting as she tried to adjust its design to her satisfaction, with occasional input from the other two heroes. "Assuming, that is, you mean a literal paper trail."

She tilted her head, the reptilian face on her arm tilting back at her. Her three eyes closed and disappeared, the blank silver orbs in the 'dragon''s face blinking open to jet black so that it - she - could regard itself as best it - she - could in the reflection of the car window and her now completely featureless head. "I am a little concerned by what sort of protection and defenses there are likely to be in areas like the...in where ever creatures may be kept," she pondered, her still-functional hand experimentally twisting into a lizard's claw. "Not perhaps to keep people out, but to be necessary for keeping things in."

[Gizmo]

"If they've got an electric fence or something I'll just do that 'on the fritz' thing Sharl hates so much," Ghost Girl assured her roommate from the backseat, where she's telekinetically arrayed a half dozen fashion magazines featuring outfits a little more current than her usual style. "Maybe I should be old? Nobody pays attention to old people!" the phantom mused aloud, taking on the appearance of a bespectacled elderly woman with a jutting chin. "Hrmm... then again, old people all know each other so that might give us away." Even as she said it, she was looking like herself again, only perhaps two or three years older than usual and wearing a tasteful but not too striking midnight blue dress. It was tough to reign in her natural exuberance, but she supposed there was a line to be walked between being stylish enough to fit in and standing out too much. The poltergeist briefly considered some additional changes to her features and build but that brought up way more self-consciousness than anyone without an actual body should have had, teenage girl or not.

[trollthumper]

Eric gave Kimber's new face a good look. "That's incredible," he said. "Should definitely help us pass. Features seem kind of similar... we can say we're brother and sister, and Wraith is our pet dragon." He looked from her to the manticore kitten curled up on the backseat. "Maybe we should throw in a hand bag for the cub just to complete the illusion..."

Soon, the three were pulling up the drive way. Eric had managed enough time to glamour together an invitation with a slight compulsion effect to it - the person at the gates, unless they were a magic user to such things, would see it as the kind of invitation you'd expect for an event like this. "We're the Winters," he said in his best new money inflection. "Kristina DeVore recommended the party to us." The guard nodded, and Eric pulled up to the front of the driveway. He stepped out with as much casual flair as he could, letting the other guests take in the sight of Wraith.

[Fox]

She kept close to the 'Winters', exuding as much fearless caution as she could - a wolf keeping a dark and dangerous eye out for its pack.

[Gizmo]

The manticore kitten removed the necessity for a handbag by scampering up Kimber's bare arm as the car stopped, draping himself about her shoulders like a particularly exotic ermine stole before yawning and closing his eyes again, apparently perfectly content to doze whatever the position. Remembering just in time to actually open the door of the car before getting out, the disguised phantom made a few last minute changes to her face to look a little more like a relation of the necromancer and moved to stand beside the car with her hands on her hips. The dead eyes of the phenomenally bored were actually fairly easy for her to emulate as she glanced about and tried to give the impression of waiting to be impressed.

[trollthumper]

The group drew a fair bit of attention leading up the walk. At first, Nick was afraid that the Winter lie might have been too much, and they may have blown their cover - at least until he realized all the whispering was directed towards Wraith, striding artfully ahead of Kimber and him.

"Where did they get that?"

"I hear there are markets out in the Caucausus where you can get anything that breathes."

"Won't Gregory be displeased. Here I thought he ran an exclusive game..."

The mansion was richly decorated inside, spotless red carpet over polished mahogany. The main hall had been turned into a reception area, with seats for guests, banquets tables, and a full band. The gathering couldn't have been more than thirty people, and from some of the accents Nick caught, it was clear that they'd come quite a ways. The air was thick with something besides the smell of haute cuisine and the gossip of the idle rich, however. Glamour.

"Nearly everyone here's a practitioner," he whispered to Kimber. "Some are probably small time, like Kristina, but odds are a good chunk are packing. And odds are they're gonna be displeased if we start a fuss. Discretion just got a hell of a lot more key."

[Fox]

It was a smaller gathering than Wraith had expected; she'd been hoping that there would be enough people to allow their little trio to slip away unnoticed. With less than two score, though, that would be harder than she'd have wanted. Ah, well.

Lacking the ability (and, if these people were anything like Kristina, the desire) to properly socialize, she settled for playing up her part, preening a bit at the attention but discouraging anyone but 'her' people from getting too close. She seriously doubted any of them knew much about aliens, but a partygoer figuring out that the 'dragon' was actually some sort of metal changeling would be more attention than they wanted at the moment.

[Gizmo]

"Discretion, right," Kimber confirmed, nodding quickly as she scanned the room, making sure to school her expression into perfect neutrality and stay close to her disguised roommate. The former lasted for all of roughly five seconds before her eyes lit up. "Ohmigoodness, look at all the rad dresses! That one, with all the ruffles and the..." She indicated the design element she found interesting with broad hand gestures that had the startled manitcore on her shoulders shifting its weight about nervously. "And the colours on that one and the-- I'm not really sure how that one's staying on. Probably magic right there, I bet. And they've got a band, do you think there'll be dancing? I haven't gone dancing in... well, I dunno, maybe I've never gone dancing!" The phantom's gushing praise threatened to give them away if only because of how long she was going without taking a breath.

[trollthumper]

"There might be dancing," Eric said, "but I imagine it'd come after the main business. A nice chance to wine, dine, dance, and show off whatever beasts you've bought for bottom dollar." He made his way over to the spread; he'd ended up skipping dinner as a result of all the hijinks, and took the opportunity to pile a plate high with croquettes and andouille sausage. He couldn't quite place some of the meats on the table, and began to wonder just how many of those beasts lived long enough to make it to auction.

"I imagine we have some time before the auction begins," Eric whispered when he made his way back. He offered a piece of sausage to the young manticore, after making sure that it was pork and not any sort of blood relation. "We can hobnob until then. Once it starts, I can make like I'm bidding while you go to 'powder your nose' and search --"

"Is that a Silenean?"

Eric dropped the topic as a woman who reminded him of his grandmother, only stretched on a rack, approached, smitten by Wraith. "Why, yes, she is," he said, adopting the accent of old money. "Good to see someone recognizes the breed."

"Oh, I'm something of a scholar of old tomes; you see them all the time in hagiographies. They say the breed's descended from the one St. George slew. If I could just get a closer look..."

[Fox]

Wraith hissed warningly, lifting her wings a bit to make herself look bigger and maneuvering her reptilian form to be just out of the woman's reach. She was careful to not be overtly threatening, of course - that would hardly do for a party! - but she at least tried to make it clear that her scaled silver hide was for looking, not for touching. If the majority of the people in the room were mages of some sort, she was fairly certain she didn't want any of them laying a hand on her....

[Gizmo]

"Uh, hello! Hands?" Kimber interjected, planting two fists on her hips and shooting the older woman an annoyed look. It didn't take any great alchemy to transform her usual upbeat tone to one of airheaded petulance but she did have to stop herself from steeping between the party guest and 'dragon'. If a mage getting too close to Wraith might have given them away, someone putting a hand right through her immaterial form certainly would! "Seriously, the first thing you do is bring up the time some jerk killed her great great whatever? Rude much?"