”... oh?” Lalazrue lets out as she stands, moving the pup to another cushion of the couch, not once breaking eye contact with Caomhnóir as it’s moved.
The much taller woman strides forwards in a few easy steps towards Neilina, the silk and parchment composing what little there was of her outfit teasing in its clingy movements as she moved. Once close she holds out the palm of her hand to the Druidess.
Neilina pauses, taking a step away from Lalazrue as she ponders the Blight's request.
...is she really the one the Blight wanted the flower to be delivered to? I mean, there was also someone named Shivanii... oh, I wish their memory was better!
Lalazrue doesn’t pursue as the Druidess steps back, instead offering a kind smile. ”It’s okay, Neilina. I won’t bite. Unless you ask me to.”
...and the Blight came from that trapdoor...
"Oh, uh, it's..." Neilina clears her throat. "...it's that I just remembered something."
"They mentioned that 'she would be fine with waiting'." The druidess puts the crystal flower back in her pocket. "I'd like to explore this place a bit more, just to be certain I'm delivering this flower to the right person."
She walks back to Yelenn's side, Caomhnóir following suit. "By the way, that's a lovely little pup you've got with you."
Lalazrue blinks, then her fingers curl back into her palm as she slowly retracts her hand. ”Okay then. I am fine with waiting, especially for gifts. Though not with being teased. It makes me sad.” she says with a smile.
”And him? Thanks, but he’s not mine, I figured he was with one of you, that child from earlier?” she says as she moves back to the couch.
Oooookay. Quite angry. It's all in the eyes.
"Didn't mean to tease you, Ms. Lalazrue." Neilina shakes her head. "Dreadfully sorry. It's just that... well, this is a bit new to me."
Being honest with those I don't know.
”Meeting devils or giving gifts?” Lalazrue asks with a smirk as she goes back to one of her contracts.
"Six of one, half dozen of the other to be frank." Neilina nervously chuckles before looking at the husky pup.
She makes couple of short barking noises, crouching down so she's eye level.
Lalazrue keeps her smile at Neilina’s quirky repetition. ”Six and six are not so few though. Unless we’re talking about gifts.”
The pup lifts its gaze to look at the Druidess before switching its attention back to Caomhnóir.
Neilina tilts her head at the puppy. "Huh."
"Where did you find this little guy? He seems a mite... odd."
That much staring usually means an attempt to establish dominance is in progress. But he's too young for that. And he doesn't appear to be trained...
Yasmin shifts uncomfortably.
"Like I said, he came up here with the child so I thought he belonged with him, or one of them," she repeats while pointing inbetween Yasmin and Yelenn.
Neilina purses her lips and stands up. ”Guess I’ll have to ask him, then.”
”Well, um, thank you very much for your time, Ms. Lalazrue.” The green-haired druid turns to leave. ”I think there’s a greenhouse here that needs further exploration.”
"I'm sure we'll be seeing you around." Yelenn says to the contract devil, preparing for them to take their leave.
”Count on it,” Lalazrue happily tells Yelenn.
Once the girls regroup downstairs, Neilina notices the large pile of coats in front of the fireplace and wanders over.
"Feeling cozy, there?"
Xeros’ snout pokes out from the Lamae coat fort. ”Shhhhhh.”
"Oh. Sorry." Neilina whispers in reply.
"Is Wallace here?"
Neilina sees the pile shrug.
Neilina nods and turns back to Yasmin and Yelenn.
"So, uh... either of you want to explore under the greenhouse?"
"It's definitely something we've been meaning to look into. And from the sounds, if it, things might be safer with a few of us down there." Yelenn replies.
Neilina nods at Yelenn. "And... I have some explaining to do to the greenhouse's newest guest. Maybe a couple of names will jog their memory."
"Okay, let's head down there." Yelenn replies quietly.
Neilina nods. "Alright. Yasmin? What do you think?"
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"I'm for it!" says Yasmin, surprisingly turning cheerful. Perhaps at the thought of getting further away from the devil. "The more we know about this house and its grounds, the better. Let me get my bow!"
Retrieving her bow the trio set out from the relative safety of the manor for the greenhouse and what awaits within.
Opening the door the stairs greet them like it had before running down to what used to be a pool but may as well now be a giant flower pot with the amount of flowers now growing out of it. A noticeable void in the middle of the flora shows where the trapdoor would be.
"Who wants to do the honors?" says Yasmin, keeping her bow in hand as she gestures at the trapdoor area.
Neilina looks upon the beautiful flowers, feeling a pang of guilt and stepping forward. Caomhnóir follows suit, curiously sniffing at the air.
"Excuse me? Mr. Foliage? Would you be so kind as to let us by? Still lookin' for the right girl to give this crystal flower to."
The flowers do not respond to Neilina's plea.
Neilina takes a couple of tentative steps forward, moving into the foliage.
While she moves, she looks at the flowers and tries to remember anything important about them.
The foliage does not move across the water, save for the slightest of drifts as the waters are disturbed.
Taking a deep breath, Yelenn approaches the area of the trapdoor, shifting her vision into the magical spectrum as she does.
"Not seeing anything magical." the witchblade says quietly, as she lets her vision return to normal. Extending her magical grasp, she reaches out to the trapdoor, attempting to open it.
With little effort Yelenn’s magic is able to open the unlocked trapdoor. With no lock and no heft it most likely was meant solely to keep the humidity in this room stable, rather than keep anything out.
Or in.
Neilina takes a few steps into the flowers, the plants gently parting for her. "Alright, now please be very careful when going through these."
"Also, nice purple magic." She looks over at Yelenn. "Ya didn't tell me you followed the traditions of the Coldwind."
"Coldwind?" Yelenn asks glancing over at Neilina. "Most of the magic I know, I've studied from old tomes or manuscripts I've come across, along with some research I've done on my own....mostly combat magic, but some utilitarian like this."
"Oh." Neilina tilts her head at Yelenn. "...but I could see it just fine. Saw that kind of magic a lot back home--just figured it was the only magic that could do that."
She then looks back down the trapdoor hole. "...ooh, that looks like a bad drop."
"Caomhnóir? Think ya can make that?" She looks at her wolf. The wolf whines and backs away.
The druid sighs and gives her companion a pat on the head. "I guess this means we'll be separated for a bit."
Caomhnóir whines again and starts tugging on Neilina's sleeve. "No, I've gotta go down there. Don't ya worry none--I've got a couple of people ta keep me safe."
"But... I've got an idea." Neilina crouches in front of Caomhnóir. "You can stay here. If anything strange starts happening, you run back up to the house and start making a racket. Get Xeros' attention, at least. Okay, boy?" She scratches her wolf under his chin.
The wolf lets out a whimper, but nods once.
"Good boy." Neilina gives her wolf a hug before turning to the others. "Shall we?"
Smiling at the exchange between Neilina and Caomhnóir, Yelenn utters a brief incantation, conjuring up four glowing spheres of light (which look like will-o’-wisps) that cast a cold blue radiance down the hole. "Yep, I'll take the lead."
Commanding them down and ahead of them, the Witchblade takes the lead, climbing down the ladder, drawing her sword once she reaches the bottom to cover the other two women's descent.
The heat from the garden above follows Yelenn down into the dank and dark, thankfully she has experience with climbing soaked ladders and as such takes her time lest she ships.
At the bottom there lies a doorway on the other side of the ladder, the door already open revealed a smooth stone tunnel leading into the darkness.
"...wait. Shouldn't this lead us right to the cliffside?"