[Dazadi]

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The muted sound of their arrival would probably alert Xanth's guardian, that blasted black beast that called himself a cat, so Daz immediately swallowed them with shadow. The panther could probably still sniff them out but he'd be at a disadvantage if he couldn't see them, assuming he decided to attack them. He had the last time Daz came here uninvited, but she'd also brought Kade with her back then and her intention had been to steal. Who knew how the panther normally reacted?

Daz wouldn't put it past Xanth to have him act out of the ordinary, anyway, and she glanced skyward as strange visions of black goo dripping from the ceiling filled her mind.

Snorting at her own imagination, Daz stepped smoothly and silently away from Kiril. If they were going to get zapped, then she didn't want to be standing too close to him.

Pointing towards the throne, Daz grinned. Keeping their conversation telepathic to avoid detection as much as possible, even though Xanth could probably eavesdrop, she whispered to Kiril, “That looks as good a place as any to have some cake!”

[Kiril]

Upon their arrival in the temple, Kiril felt a dark cloak swarm around him. For an instant he thought that Xanth had initiated an attack already, but then Dazadi continued walking as if nothing was wrong.

Realizing that this was just a cloak, the demon poked the shadow curiously and wondered if it would really hide them from the beasties that Xanth had in her temple. He followed quietly, though not as silently as Daz. Whereas Daz had been trained in stealth and assassination, Kiril was only trained in battle, and so found this sneaking around business quite a novelty—not that he’d ever tell. As she pointed toward the throne, Kiril smirked when he realized what Daz was thinking.

He chuckled in his mind and returned a telepathic whisper: “I’m sure it’ll look classy.” He walked toward the throne, assuming that the anyeli would follow. With his hands, Kiril swiped a chunk of cake off the plate before handing the rest toward Dazadi. They were short on time, so Kiril quickly reached out to smear a happy-face onto the backrest of the throne.

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[Xanth]

Xanth had asked Midnight and the imps to ambush the duo while she, Faroah, and more imps stationed themselves at various stages along the main corridor to lie in wait. There were other traps, as well; harmless pranks but that would prove more of a nuisance than the usual traps laid out for real invaders but that would hinder the Aides' 'attack'.

Of course, that meant the throne room was unguarded, and she had deliberately asked Midnight to leave his post. At best, Dazadi and Kiril would think the temple empty and that they had free reign to do as they pleased. If nothing else, there would be some confusion and perhaps they would even second-guess themselves a little.

She did not leave the place entirely unattended, however, and was watching the pair's entry on a small makeshift screen on the nearest wall. She was currently in the form of an irridescent purpe weevil so she could not frown nor laugh as she was tempted, but her antennae twitched as Kiril slopped cake on to her throne. When he was done, she turned the smiley face into a glare.

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[Dazadi]

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Seeing Kiril's work turn upside down all by itself would have been seriously creepy if Daz didn't know exactly who the culprit was. The glare was ferocious enough to make small children cry, but who did Xanth think she was dealing with, amateurs? Hah! Daz could teach Purple Head a thing or two in the glare department, that was for sure.

She still chanced a glance around the throne room, peering into the shadows beneath the farthest archways in case Xanth was sneakily watching them from there. No purple eyes - and no green eyes, either, so clearly something was afoot. Daz had always gotten the impression that Midnight only ever left the throne room under direct orders, so his absence was more alarming than his presence would have been.

“Hope you saved some of that to smear on Xanth's face, Kiki.” Chuckling menacingly to herself, Daz reached over to swipe some of the smushed-up cake, hopping dramatically from one foot to the other across the marble floor in search of a new target. Flicking cake in any old direction seemed wasteful, but it was hard to know what else to muss. Hard to detect a goddess's traps, too.

Spotting the wide ornate doors that led out of the throne room into the rest of the palace-temple, Daz shot a wicked, dark grin at Kiril and, holding up her cake like a trophy, burst through into the hallway.

[Kiril]

The happy-face barely had a chance before its features melted into that of a grotesque glower. The glare that would have made a normal person run away in fear, but Kiril wasn't surprised. He’d thought that Xanth would be following their every move anyway. As Dazadi glanced around fruitlessly for signs of Xanth, Kiril stared at the cake smears that were no longer his work of art. He had to do something to make it his again.

“You…” he said to the frown, “are one ugly dude.”

Daz muttered something about Xanth's face and then (god forbid) skipped her way out of the throne room. Quickly, Kiril dabbed a moustache over the frowny-face before following the anyeli, plate of cake still in hand.

They weren't really causing trouble, havoc, or any kind of mischief if Xanth was allowing them to. Nevertheless, he was content to mess up the place and see how much the goddess would let them do before the traps went off. As his co-worker made it to the wide doors and shot a triumphant grin at him, Kiril smirked and hastened his pace to catch up with her.

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[Xanth]

The second Dazadi opened the throne room doors into the main corridor, she set off one of the traps. This one was essentially harmless, designed to capture and immobilise until Xanth could spare the time to deal with the intruders, rather than to harm them.

The vines that grew along the marble walls and pillars in the throne room snapped out, tendrils tearing out from interior to grab at the two Aides. They were fast and came from all directions; filled with purpose, their goal was to wrap around the Aides, trapping their arms against their bodies and fixing their feet to the ground.

Xanth did nothing further to Kiril's artwork, instead merely giggling to herself. Their intent could be seen as malicious but Xanth knew better. Besides, she had not pitted her wits against anyone of late. This was the most fun she had had in a long time.

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[Dazadi]

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Even though Daz had been expecting a trap of some sort, not knowing where and when made it difficult to prepare. Still, when the first vine shot out, she managed to dodge it by snapping her torso to the left so the vine whizzed straight past her. She might have called out a warning to Kiril but not only would it have been less fun if she'd helped the demon, she didn't really think he needed it and it was a testament to whatever respect she had for him - his skill, at least - that she left him to his own defence.

Not that she was the type to defend others in the first place.

“Ooh,” she snorted as she side-stepped a vine while simultaneously ducking another. “Man-eating vines. I'm sooooo scared.”

She'd expected more creativity from Xanth, but she supposed to most people self-moving plants weren't the norm. Then again, Daz had dealt with all kinds of monsters, including tepua and other varieties man-eating plants, so this wasn't much of a blip on her radar, really, even as she was forced to leap back out of the reach of a cluster of vines that were almost successful in grabbing her.

Unless the vines made her drop her cake. Then she was going to be censored.

[Kiril]

Vines snaked across the walls of the hall, and as Kiril and Dazadi stepped into the space, the plants leapt simultaneously toward the two Aides. As the first vine nearly touched Kiril, the demon reflexively threw out a shield that burnt the first branch into a crisp. This wasn't the first time that he'd fought against an element, so he ducked and weaved out of the grasps of the vines just as quickly, though perhaps not as gracefully, as Dazadi.

Back in the day on a battlefield, he would have simply eradicated all of the vines with fire. But these vines were in Xanth's, and as much as Kiril wanted to cause havoc, he wouldn’t ever burn things in the temple. Besides, if Kaia ever found out that he'd killed plants unnecessarily, she'd kill him.

“Woohoo!” he laughed as he and Daz ran through what seemed to be an obstacle course of leafy webs. He continued running and eluded two more vines as they twisted up from the ground and leapt toward him. As they skidded around the corner, Kiril hollered “door!” and scrambled past the aforementioned wood and into the next hallway, room, or wherever they were about to enter.

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[Xanth]

The room they entered was pitch black, artificially so. Light should be streaming from the gardens through the large stained-glass windows to flicker and play over the pale lilac marble and the elegantly carved luxurious chaise longue that took centre stage overlooking the spectacular vista. Instead, there was nothing, not even a glimmer.

The doors slammed shut behind them. In the darkness, Midnight lay waiting, his shoulders already hunched ready to pounce. He could not see any better than Dazadi or Kiril, but he could hear and smell them. His body, also black as night, moved stealthily - but not completely silently - down from the chaise longue onto the glossy marble as he prepared to lunge.

Away in her makeshift nest, the Xanth-weevil scuttled onto a windowsill, her antennae wiggling as images of the pitch dark room followed her to the next batch of vines.

Midnight pounced.

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[Dazadi]

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“Ah, crap.”

Even Dazadi, as a Skotadi, couldn't see in the dark, certainly not at this level. Which, when she thought about it, didn't really make sense. As Lord and Master of darkness, it stood to reason they'd have some form of night vision, right?

But now was probably not the best time to think about that kind of stuff. She was pretty sure something was in here with them. She could hear breathing - her own and Kiril's for sure, but there was something else, something that was just on the periphery of her hearing - but even without that, a room in this temple didn't get this dark without help and what was the point of a dark room if not to hide something?

“Hey, Sparky, light this joi - ” nt, like Kiril would need telling, except whatever was in there with them chose that moment to attack. Her only warning - beyond the darkness - was the hair prickling at the back of her neck, and then the air current shifted against the attacker's movement. Daz shot sideways, not quite sure if it was headed her way or Kiril's, and cursed viciously as her hand was knocked by the heavy body - spattering leftover cake in an arc behind her. “Crap!”

[Kiril]

Upon their entrance into the new room, the doors slammed shut behind them and Kiril was instantly aware of the pitch-black darkness in the room. That struck him as odd, because from what he remembered, every room within Xanth's Temple was always somewhat lit. This could only mean that the vines were gone and that Xanth had another plan for them. He lifted his hand experimentally to test if he could see it. Of course not, so he summoned a bright blue ball of fire that blossomed in his right hand.

Something menacing hurtled toward him and he narrowly avoided it with a side-step. “Holy--” He whirled to see a large black cat disappear into the dark again. It could only be Midnight. Squinting into the darkness, Kiril forced more energy into his flame until the fire burst into full flame. As the fire grew larger and brighter, he willed the it away from his hand and high into the air. It split into multiple floating fires that dispersed into various areas of the room. With the room now brightly illuminated, Kiril could see both Daz and the panther very clearly.

Kiril couldn't possibly fend off Xanth's pet with fire, so he thought quickly for an alternative. The wicked thought occurred to him, and Kiril grinned as he readied his stance for the next attack. If the panther bowled into him again, Kiril would drop him off in the next town and then return to the temple.

His nose was starting to itch.

((OOC: He is allergic to cats.))

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[NPC]

((Midnight the Great Black Cat played by Emma))

Being able to see in the dark, if only slightly better than his prey, gave Midnight a distinct advantage that he used very well. Xanth may be enjoying their shenanigans, but as Portal Guardian (and self-assigned overall Temple Guardian), it was Midnight's job to protect his home from even the slightest threat - and that included cheesecake. There was no telling what kind of damage this pair could do with even a small amount, so removing the cake from their sticky fingers was his first priority.

That in mind, he'd pounced, large paws flying with the full intent of knocking the female to the floor and swiping the cake she held away from her. If he'd known the mess they'd already caused in his beloved Xanth's throne room, he would have set to with his claws out instead of taking the soft approach, and not stopped until he was satisfied they wouldn't be making a mess here ever again. Yes, when it came to protecting his home and carrying out his duty, Midnight was deadly serious.

However, the woman evaded his attack, though he was glad to see her lose that nasty mess they called cheesecake. Having her make the mess here was much better than some of the other rooms in the temple.

Yowling as he turned to launch himself at the Zanaryn this time, he flinched away as the room lit up, his eyes taking a moment to adjust. Instead of attacking, he stalked slowly around them, his body low to the ground and his steps cautious and silent as he eyed them for an opening.

[Dazadi]

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Dazadi was disappointed that she'd lost her cake. It wasn't like she'd meant to eat it, but it wasn't like she could just 'port out and get more either. While they could 'port out easily enough, the temple was somehow blocked so the only place they could 'port in to was the Throne Room, which made getting back here - since she didn't know where "here" was - difficult.

But if Purple Head thought killing her cake was going to stop her from redecorating, she was sorely mistaken.

“Nice,” Daz complimented as Kiril's fireworks lit up the room, immediately locating the black panther as it circled them. Unaware what Kiril was plotting, and that he couldn't know how Birdbrain had peeved Xanth so much she'd blocked access to her home, Daz stealthily side-stepped closer to the demon. Assuming he'd go along with it, she threw shadow around them both, using his fireballs to keep Midnight lit but her cloak to obscure them from the cat's view. With his cat eyes, even he shouldn't be able to penetrate the cloak completely, which should give them a bit of freedom.

But what to do now? While they could claim self-defence if Midnight attacked, it probably wasn't the best idea to go after him themselves. “How long can you keep that fire burning, and how far away can you be from it before it collapses?” Maybe they could trap Midnight in this room long enough to skedaddle, and keep him here long enough to lose their trail or at least give them a big enough head start.

[Kiril]

His throat was feeling ticklish, so he coughed, and the fires flickered.

It seemed as if they were doing some sort of dance as the panther circled around them and Daz side-stepped away from it. As the anyeli edged closer to Kiril, the demon once again felt something chilly descend over him. Zanaryans only had control over the elements, so the Anyeli's reign over darkness was foreign to him. Like before, he glanced at Daz to confirm that this was her cloak before poking at the cloak curiously. “Nice,” he grinned cheekily back at Daz. Realizing that it would be silly to shine light on their shadow cloak, he redirected the fires closer to Midnight. The fireballs hovered many feet above the panther's crouched form and barely lit the area around Daz and Kiril.

Hearing Daz's voice in his head, Kiril warily watched the panther as he replied, “I can keep it for a while, as long as there's air to burn. And I can move very far from it. Why?”

((GM note: If Daz starts running for the door, Kiril will follow & keep the fire between them and Midnight. Just so you know, 'cause battle posts always happen so fast. ))

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[Dazadi]

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[d=black]((OOC:[/d] GM of Midnight with permission.[d=black]))[/d]

“Because,” Daz responded telepathically as she watched Midnight continue his stalking pattern. “We need to ditch this guy.” She wasn't afraid of it or Xanth's reaction if they harmed her pet, but she knew from past experience that the overgrown cat was more trouble in a fight than she wanted just then. “I'm thinking fire trap, lock him in here while we go have fun.”

Midnight still hadn't attacked, which made her think he was only stalling them. He was acting like he was looking for an opening, pacing back and forth, but even though she'd cloaked them and neither of them turned their backs on him, it didn't make sense that he hadn't acted yet. Daz didn't like being "handled" or manipulated, so she wanted out of this room ASAP.

“On "go",” Daz plotted, barely pausing to give Kiril time to prepare. “Go!”

At this, Dazadi dashed for the doors, kicking them wide open and using her grip on the handle of one to drag her around so she could slam them shut behind Kiril. Even though it was the demon's fire that would keep Midnight in the room, it didn't hurt to have the doors as a barricade too.

[Kiril]

Hearing Daz's voice echo in his mind, Kiril turned thoughtfully toward the panther and watched as it paced across the floor. Even though they had the cloak on, the panther still seemed to know their location, and was pacing around them. Kiril sniffed and fought the temptation to rub his itchy eyes. Curse the cat fur.

Readying for Daz's oh-so-brilliant plan, Kiril envisioned a line on the floor.

Daz yelled the cue, and in one swift motion, Kiril slashed his hand in front of him, causing the floating orbs of fire to land on the ground between them and Midnight. Almost instantly, the fire raged taller and wider as Kiril turned his back on the panther and dashed after Dazadi. The door slammed shut behind him. Even though it was through the door, Kiril could feel the fire burning in the room they'd just left. It would stay there for a few minutes until he got tired of maintaining it, or was distracted.

Happy to be back in the bright halls, he smirked crookedly at Daz. “That was fun. But where's the party?”

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[Xanth]

[d=purple]((OOC:[/d] You can set each character to have a different skin so there's less chance of posting on the wrong account. [d=purple]))[/d]

So. The pair had defeated the first of the traps and thought they had bested Midnight. They may even have done so had Xanth asked him to attack. The panther was proud but even he could not stand against two Aides, though Xanth was relieved to see them reluctant to harm him.

Still, she had expected them to be slower and she did not want them in the main corridor, so close to her own position, just yet. And so, her antennae twitching as she transformed, Xanth teleported the pair to another room.

Xanth had built this room on a whim some centuries ago. Brightly lit by some unseen means, it would be a clockmaker's dream. Copper, bronze and even gold cogs turned constantly in a complicated mechanism that had been the Tanakheimein version of a Rubik's cube when Xanth was a child, and she had meant to duplicate the game. With no visible exits, it was a brilliant tool for teaching young Tanakheim, who could not yet teleport, logic and reasoning skills, and it would serve to keep Dazadi and Kiril occupied at least for a short time.

Xanth would gain no small amount of satisfaction from watching the pair attempt to reason their way out.

[d=purple]((OOC:[/d] I'll let you go first since it's no fun if I tell you right away how to get out and I'm not sure how to post Daz otherwise. [d=purple]))[/d]

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[Kiril]

Xanth-portation was completely different than the teleporting that Kiril knew. It was instantaneous, and didn't even have a flourish of clouds. It was not as stylish as Kiril's. But that wasn't what he was thinking about. Kiril blinked with surprise as the room he was in melted away to form another one...that moved. He instantly shifted into defensive position, half expecting the cogs and walls to move inward.

The room was very bright and gleamed from all corners. When he realized that nothing was happening, Kiril straightened and walked toward one panel of spinning gears. He glanced behind at Dazadi, wondering if she was just as confused about this as he was. When he thought of getting caught in a trap, he thought it would require fighting his way through. However, this one was all about brains over brawn. “Purple-lady, you have no taste in fun,” he muttered.

In the background, mechanisms clicked and whirred.

With a sigh of resignation, Kiril scanned over the panel. He placed a hand on the center of a gear that was spinning quickly but not connected to anything. Pulling it off, he thoughtfully eyed the gap between a moving, large gear and a static, medium-sized one. After he fit the smaller gear between the other two, he stood back as all three began to spin. Xanth couldn't possibly give them easy mode, so Kiril immediately moved to find another loose gear.

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[Dazadi]

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[d=black]((OOC:[/d] Eek, when did this turn into a battle of wits? We can wrap this up quickly if you're really not having fun? [d=black]))[/d]

Dazadi was getting censored. They were meant to be causing mischief, maybe even damage, but so far they'd been thwarted at every turn. She'd known it wouldn't be easy, of course. She'd hit the jackpot when she and Kade raided the temple's library in search of the Book of Days, knowing Xanth was away. In retrospect, it probably should have been tougher to get in, especially since Kade wasn't even in his own body at the time, let alone as strong as an Aide.

But even knowing that, Xanth was taking the censored. She could easily have kept them out altogether but had apparently chosen to play with them instead, like they were toys!

And now? “Where the hell...? What the hell?” It was like being inside a clocktower, except with way more gears and cogs than a clock had a right to need. All Daz could do was look around, not quite sure if the look on her face was one of awe or annoyance.

“Purple-lady, you have no taste in fun.”

“You got that right,” Daz agreed quickly, still trying to figure out what the hell the machine even did. Still trying to locate a door, too, but apparently they'd been stuffed into a box with no way out. Well, Daz had had enough of this. If Xanth wanted to push pawns around, she could go get herself a chess board. They could teleport out because at this stage Daz didn't want to get back to where they were, she just wanted to go home and sulk.

But first, she was going to have some fun.

“Hey, catch!” Grumpy face in full force, Daz ripped out the nearest cog and threw it frisbee style in Kiril's direction.

[Kiril]

((OOC: I thought this was a witty trial? You did say rubiks cube. If I got it all wrong, I'm sorry.
I'm having fun, but Kiril doesn't think there's enough action. ))

There didn't seem to be any exits visible, so Kiril supposed that it was covered by the gears. If they put everything in place, maybe the gears would crank one of the walls open. However, a quick glance at the panel full of extraneous-looking cogs made Kiril narrow his eyes with impatience. It was as if the room had been designed for a deca-thousand year old being.

With barely a warning, Daz shouted and whirled a gear toward Kiril. “What the hell?” he yelled as he turned and ducked from the cog. The cog ricochet'd off of some other gears with a clang, and clattered to the floor. Daz had apparently came to the same conclusion as Kiril, because she had lost all trace of humor.

Well, there was only one way to resolve such confrontation. Raising an eyebrow at Daz, he grinned lop-sidedly and backed toward the wall. “If that's how you want to play...” In one swift motion, he wrenched a gear off of the wall and threw it at the anyeli. Another cog followed in rapid succession, and another, and another...He knew full well that she'd be able to dodge them, so he kept pulling cogs off the wall as ammunition. “Take that! Hahaha!” This would be a wonderful snowball fight of sorts. Except it was with jagged shiny things...

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