"Somethings Missing"

"Goddammit piece of shit!" Aiden's voice had carried across the field as he shouted and cursed aloud from having their ride break down at what was quite possibly the middle of nowhere. Why now!? Was their driver wanking off while also trying to keep them going in the right direction? He was ornery after having what had otherwise been a peaceful, uneventful trip with his Magi companion. After that incident, they had departed into the open, having very little to no reason to stay there for the moment. They needed to get to where they were headed and wasting time wasn't in the plan.

At first, Aiden thought that maybe they would get lucky and come across some place neat to camp out or another hotel out in the country for them to stay at. He was a trained survivor, but even he was nervous staying in these parts. The plains were open and any fire was highly visible which was why he always avoided it when he could. He had brought some food with them and kept his regular pack of supplies, but their surroundings didn't make for a lot of good options. After a short time of walking, Aiden opted to take them away from the roads for fear that this place could be teeming with unseen enemies. He didn't want to find himself at a crossroads in a place where squads of Hunters were watching.

He had to admit, his paranoia may be getting worse in this scenario. After they found their way past a clearing, they happened to be trudging up a hill when they came across what had looked from afar to be a lit motel. They hurried closer, eager to see what was at bay with Aiden reluctantly holding out hope in some for. That hope was immediately dashed as soon as he got a good look at the place from a good distance. Kaveri was unnerved and to be honest, so was he. The place screamed trouble, with people laughing and enjoying rather... salacious activities. The architecture was what would be expected of a place that was out in the middle of nowhere, but it surpassed even his expectations for how trashy and ominous any place could look.

The windows and door were cracked and seemed close to the point of falling apart. As they walked, Aiden found himself holding Kaveri with one of his arms around the Magi to comfort him in some form. This place had every nerve inside of him on high alert, almost expecting that something would come flying from out of nowhere and he would need to draw his knife and dodge. Halfway to the door, he had to kick away a pale, half-naked woman with sharpened fangs who uncharacteristically grabbed his pants legging from behind a trash can and silently threaten one of the men who tried to gesture at Kaveri. He glared at everyone; all of the people here seemed to radiate a vibe that was giving him a bad feeling.

"Neither do I, but we don't have a choice. The outside feels dangerous; it will be better for us to have a roof over our head for the night... but stay near me. Everyone here doesn't seem normal."

Opening the door, they were greeted by a man wielding a fork with his one hand, holding it up and pointing at Kaveri with an accusatory tone. He may have been content to tease him, but calling Kaveri a whore started up a host of feelings in him that seemingly came from beyond the pale. The most prominent of those which happened to be anger. He walked up and deftly grabbed the fork from the man's hand and pointed it back at him. "Don't. You. Dare. If you want our business, I suggest you change your tone or this fork is going to be lodged in your tongue real soon. My friend is not a whore and I'm not going to play your racist games with you." Aiden's tone went up in pitch before he turned the fork around and stabbed it into the wooden desk. "We would like to rent a single room. The BEST one you have."

The man, seemingly cooed by Aiden's tone, let his eyes fall on the ex-hunter in silent contemplation before picking up and drawing through a ledger he had nearby. As he went about the process, Aiden moved to keep Kaveri close while looking around the waiting room for any sign of trouble to come. He really did not like this place. Something was telling him that they may have been better off roughing it in the wilderness. His instincts were usually not wrong, but his tactical mind knew they had no choice in this. Staying the night was their only option.

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Note: XXXX

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Aiden couldn't help but agree with much of Kaveri's anger as they made their way to their room. He may crack jokes with the Magi, but the man was just plain arrogant. It was bastards like him that made him quit the hunters. "Yeah, they both need a few adjustments made to their skulls. (Sigh) I'll let you take the shower first, I'll figure out how this room works first and then I'll take mine."

Kaveri turned toward him at the last moment, twisting a disarming grin that suddenly made Aiden's heart stop. His eyes seemed to unfocus as he did his best to not blush, "It's nothing. I hate people like that who mock Magi just cause they're different. Makes my blood boil too much." On the inside of the room, it was genuinely nice, though Aiden was getting a bad feeling at the moment.

The wallpaper was gold & orange with a few age-old paintings hanging up on the wall. The furniture looked up-to-date though and if you just judged by first impressions, it seemed like he had been worried for naught. For the price of the room itself, they seemingly got a pretty good deal. Even the wooden floors were polished off and seemingly well-done in. Aiden walked in and began to just explore the chairs that were placed alongside the opposite wall. The whole place was a dump heap, but this room seemed like it would be passable.

There were just two windows on the left side of the room while the upper right corner held a small, homely little kitchen and their immediate right had the doorway that stretched out to a single bedroom with a shower. "Heh... This seems like it will do just fine. Maybe this will be much better than sleeping on the outside..."

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Note: And Aiden jinxes them...

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It was probably enough to exceed his expectations. Well... at least the man seemingly had given them a passable room despite being such a huge jerk from before and all the creeping things that were spoiling around outside. Seriously, he probably would be best to not think about it. The sense of something awry was already in his gut and it wasn't going to stop ringing. Aside from everything else being off, he had been careful from lowering his standards too far.

Once Kaveri disappeared into the shower room, Aiden went about making himself at home for the moment and exploring what he had to work with and hopefully it was nothing as creepy. The stove and electric were functional and the fridge even had a small amount of food left over that he was keen to inspect and make sure that it was still good. Overall, it seemed like a passable sortie to choose from, though Kaveri would probably opt that they go hungry for the night and he wouldn't blame the Magi. He would be more comfortable killing and butchering a deer in the wild than eating anything prepared in this place.

Aiden had no bags to unpack, but he got to work on inspecting the corners and crevices of the place. There wasn't much to it; a moderate suite with just a shower and a single bedroom. Small, but it would do for one night. Seeing as how they were surrounded by psychopaths outside, he decided it would be best to take some safety precautions. Aiden moved the lock on to keep the door shut and then used the shutters on the windows before discretely closing the curtains. He didn't want to know what maddening acts were going about outside.

Once that was taken care of, he took to relaxing on one of the chairs, listening to the water spigot relax and churn in the nearby room. He sighed, thinking it would be nice if he could just listen to this all night long. Like a soothing Sunday morning in a secluded place where the sun shone down brightly. Quite honestly, he would be happy for that. After so much pain and disruption in his daily life as of late, he would've been glad for a nice and normal day for a change. He stayed in that position for an unknown period of time, just kinda dazed and slowly dozing off.

Just as the ex-hunter was beginning to feel comfortable, he heard a feint knocking at the door. At first, he was bequeath to ignore it and just let them knock until they eventually ran away. Must be one of the mentally-challenged sycophants outside that were having a good time with their revelry so he was inclined to just shut him and Kaveri away for the night. Instead of slowly receding away though, the knocking grew stronger and stronger. Each knock seemed to grow in intensity until suddenly... it stopped.

And that was when the freaky stuff started happening. The electricity, the heat, and the running water... they were both suddenly kaput in a flash of blinding light. Just like that, the experienced veteran found himself sitting alone in a deep, dark room and the shower had also been shut off. All was deathly silent. Aiden's eyes dredged open for a moment, unmoving and slowly coming to terms with it before narrowing his eyes into a lethally aware gaze. So it seemed he had made a mistake in coming here. Something was here with them. Something that wasn't open to playing nice. Whatever it was, Aiden could almost feel a sense of bloodlust now bleeding through the door on the opposite side. Even before the inevitable voice spoke up, he had already begun to reach for his knife and a rusted pipe that he remembered had been leaned up against the corner by the past occupant for some reason. "Mister... your time is up."

The voice was feminine and sweet enough that it could've belonged to a girl not even a decade old, but it carried malice that belonged in a serial killer's tone. His eyes laced around in the dark, getting accustomed to scanning for any signs that something was about to occur. The knocking stopped abruptly, leaving him eclipsed without even the light from the moon to aid his vision.

He sat there, bearing his weapons, holding them close and readying himself for whatever was about to pop up. He was anticipating something, his eyes and reflexes tensed and focused with the intent to react at the first opportunity with what was most likely to be a knife stab or a slash away with the rusted pipe. The door seemed to shutter silently, making his muscles itch more and more and more until the silent pitch just abruptly stopped. Like a haunting piano soliloquy in just full stop.

Before he knew, a warped rope of greasy, slimy flesh lashed out past his legs and grabbed him by the wrists, binding and tying him down to the chair. The door hadn't opened. There had been no sound of entry. No seemingly apparent method of approach. He struggled wordlessly with all his might against the restraints, because he could now see in the dark. The girl that had been sitting down in the lobby room was walking steadily up to him, a poisonous gaze in her eyes as one of her hands brushed past Aiden's chin. "Mad Magi, Mad Magi."

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Note: "Mad Magi" - A Magi that has given up his/her sanity for the "Mad Enhancement" blessing given by Philip. Basically allows the Magi to enhance their skills and can potentially turn them into grotesque creatures, depending on the Magi's own nature.

In this case, the girl is a mad "Air Magi" that has the power to short-circuit electric appliances and also has a Mystical creature nature.

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Yeah, he probably deserved the sassy response that Kaveri typically gave out in situations like this. Honestly, he had been hoping this stay wouldn't turn to this, but again he guessed that his guard had been down. A moment after Kaveri stabbed whatever creature had managed to grab him, Aiden bucked enough to pull his knife out and quickly sever the tentacle on his right hand with one thorough swipe. Simultaneously, the buck gave him the momentum to drive his noggin forward and headbutt the Mad Magi straight forward. With Aiden's strength and greater body weight, the creature was sent sprawling away and having been stabbed by both of them, the creature underneath the chair also receded back underneath the chair.

Aiden rocked backwards as he did, driving the chair back so that it tipped over to reveal 4 large holes that had been pried in the wood and hidden by the upright chair. The light from the room below them shone brightly into the room, giving the two of them more visibility than they had before and Aiden and Kaveri were now free to move. Seemingly in a panic from having her body thrown across the floor, Aiden heard a scrambling noise that quickly receded away like it had never been there as he laid on the floor from the chair having fallen back and then quickly jumping back to his footing on one knee.

"Tch Great, Mad Magi. (Sigh)" That was honestly all he had to say, holding that Kaveri was probably going to be glaring daggers at him at this very moment from not having seen this coming. Just when he didn't feel like sleeping on the outside for a change, the very place they do come across is filled with vermin. Well, not like the two of them were completely unprepared for an eventful evening. Once he was back on his feet, Aiden decided they now needed to chase down whatever had restrained him to that chair and the girl who seemingly had a talent for slipping away in a mightily big hurry. "Kaveri, I'll leave that girl to you and I'll follow the tentacle missus to see if I can get anymore out of this. If you find her, blow a loud whistle or something and I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't get too far though... this place is..."

And just like that, all of the lights in the entire hotel flickered once and then flashed off, leaving both Aiden and Kaveri once again in total and complete darkness with nary a hint of their direction or orientation. "Well.. that won't help." The ex-hunter moved about, floudering about in his footing as he was quickly able to recall the layout of the room. The darkness was all-encompassing as it seemed to engulf every inch of the hotel, throwing off even Aiden's extended vision and senses. "Kaveri, hold still for just a moment..."

There was multiple things he was considering right now as he moved. Since the two assassins had failed, it seemed that plan B was to just blackout the entire place and then return to pick them off while they were unable to orient and compose themselves. There was still the hole in the floor, meaning if he wasn't careful than he could end up tripping and end up with leg dangling from the ceiling beneath. They had to keep their calm and stay together if they were going to stop them.

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Note: And Done

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At this point, Aiden really didn't appreciate the sassy jelly's clapping and icily-putted sarcasm. He had beaten himself up about it enough, considering he had always been more cautious than this and this was definitely a sore mark on his record. And the Magi was rubbing salt into the wound. In all honesty though, he himself could only find the way to launch a sour glare at Kaveri. What had he been thinking for this past few hours? He racked his brain and for some reason, he couldn't define it himself. Was he scared? Had he really been running away ever since being tortured? Well, that thought bit into his self-confidence if it hadn't been decimated enough already. It was an introspection maybe he hadn't done yet.

Still though, he felt pretty confident that he could handle a few crazed Magi. He'd dealt with those before and knew at the very least that Magi had very alike thought processes, even while under the influence of madness. He could survive... provided the Magi in his company could also follow along and not let them get caught by freaking CLAPPING! "I'm good! Just ready to get moving. We can't just leave this place. Something fishy is going on here... and if Mad Magi are involved, I'm at least intent on finding out what the hell is up. I'm even betting that clerk gave us this room so those two could off us while we slept."

When the dark suddenly settled in, Aiden had to adjust himself and his muscles tensed as the dark engulfed them, searching for the curtains or perhaps a flashlight, walking along until his feet accidentally kicked something lying about and immediately remembered the pipe he had picked up earlier. That would be something at the very least, but he would much rather see if he could find something that would give them some light.

Aiden moved around, searching for the something or anything while Kaveri talked. Seriously, he was also exasperated, but he doubted that they would be able to leave now. No way to see the stairs and climbing out the window would lead to sudden death. His conscious kept egging him on to go and find them, but after a moment of thought, he had to admit that Kaveri had points he needed to address, "I can see your frustration, but how do you propose we get out of here? Even if I find the window, we're not going to climb down it... unless.."

Kaveri was a Water Magi. They could just create a pillar of Ice and slowly descend down to the ground. That would work, considering trench warfare against these Magi in this home was practically death. He'd still rather have something with them before they go just in case. Aiden reached out with his senses of undeath, searching for dead bodies he could maybe manipulate. As it happens, there was maybe.... about 8-10 on this floor, hidden away in scattered parts that could definitely be put together. He had almost forgotten too... he didn't think he'd ever told Kaveri about the ability that Nevyne had given him. Perhaps now would have to be the time, considering the situation he had gotten them into. The bones would work to give him a weapon at the very least.

"Fine, alright than. As soon as I can maybe find a light or something, we can leave out the window. Just be ready so you can create a pillar of ice as we descend." He scattered about, bumping gently into a few bits of furniture with his metallic leg, stumbling on the ground for the pipe. Suddenly, Aiden heard a weird 'clang' sound that seemed to come from somewhere on the ground nearby. Kneeling down, he reached outward and without his sense of direction, grasped something, not metallic, but soft and squishy. At first, he thought it might have been a pillow on the sofa until he realized that it wasn't as heavy as the sofa as he groped it.

And just like that, his darkness problem was solved as Kaveri lit up like a miniature Christmas tree, much to his intrigued (and rather perverted) delight. The rotted pipe just so happened to be inches from the edge of Kaveri's feet too. That would maybe come in handy later on if they found a use for a pipe. While Kaveri was still able to light up the room, Aiden opened up the cabinets and managed to thankfully grab the last three things in the pantry: some lighter fluid, cigarettes, and a bit of soy sauce for whatever they may need that for. "What do you know (smirk) you really can be useful in times like these. I guess your butt is your.. ON switch. We can start heading out soon now if you're ready. There is something I should show you first though..."

Aiden reached out towards the dead bodies with a necromantic prong as he opened the door. The nearest skeleton happened to be in a storage closet that was literally only a few steps away and he quickly was able to put it together and make it walk. The rambling zombie came waltzing into the room, promptly leaving its arm and a couple more ribs to which Aiden fashioned a crude longsword as soon as his hand came into contact with the rotted sinew. "Alright than. As soon as you're ready, we can leave out the window."

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Note: XXXX

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"Sure it is. Either way though, glad that comes in handy at a time like this." Ahhh the wonders of teasing Kaveri at a time like this. It was a good thing the water was still running without electricity, most likely a perk to having the electric probably subverted manually magically.

Aiden chuckled heartily at Kaveri's reaction. The Jelly's face lit up from the familiar sense of fright he was used to, seeing a dead body shamble through the door for the first time at his own command. Well, he had been meaning to let him know for a while now, but no better time than being trapped in a broken-down motel that was filled with crazed Mad Magi. For the time being, he'll probably need to withhold answers too until they were safely away and wouldn't need to come here anymore. A ping at the back of his consciousness was sad to just get up and leave whatever was behind this situation to its own devices.

Mad Magi sprouted up rarely, but they were a pain to deal with if they had any extensive amount of magical skill. Their minds deteriorated over time and their behavior became ever more unpredictable. Their powers grew the more insane they were and that was quite a bit of a worry for Aiden who knew just exactly how much damage Mad Magi did when they rampaged. While the two he had seen didn't seem like they were in the latter stages of it, they were most certainly on the right track.

He and Kaveri could escape now and he could come back and find this place later to shut it down. They pried the window open and using the water Kaveri had extracted from the tap, created a frozen slide all the way down to the ground. Aiden looked at it, reaching down to pat his prosthetic leg. He could do it. It might not be as graceful as Kaveri could be on ice, but he certainly had worked hard enough to make it. "Shouldn't be a problem.", he replied.

Once Kaveri had finished and reached the bottom, Aiden moved to the front and steeled himself for the drop ahead. As he did so, Aiden heard a sudden clang burst out from behind him in the furthest darkness of the room. Even with so little visibility, he could make out the silhouettes of two small figures and the dripping of some type of liquid onto the ground. "Great... didn't expect you two would be back so soon."

His mind calculated quickly as they charged him, snarling like rabid beasts. It was too much of a disadvantage to fight them up in that small room. If he did so, it would take a while and he might not get out of it unscathed at the very least. With that in mind, he took a glance at the icy slide downwards and quickly launched himself vertically out the window as he did so. While Kaveri had the finesse and experience to ride the ice downwards, Aiden had no such luxury. He rode it haphazardly, speeding himself downwards on both legs as fast as he could go and holding the skeletal sword fast in his grip as the two female Mad Magi plowed out in pursuit.

They caught up to him quickly, waving 3 octopus like tentacles and stabbing at him as the slide took a downturn and Aiden readied his defense. One of the tentacles looked to pierce him in the abdomen and he parried it to the side before slashing out and cutting off the tentacle with the sharpened rib cage bone. Another came across and tried to wrap around him, but he twisted his body and managed just enough to slip through it before slashing at the arm of the female Magi. The three of them were locked in shaky combat as the slide came down to its final stretch.

All of this happening as they rode the ice down to the ground and Aiden had to jerk himself awkwardly to avoid being caught at angles that almost threatened to throw him off if he didn't manage to balance his frame out. The Magi screamed and one started to cast some type of spell on the way down before Aiden interrupted with swift thrust with his sword and cut her off just as they reached the bottom and Aiden jumped off and immediately ran backwards to get some distance. The two of them didn't manage to control their speed at all and came off the slide at full throttle with momentum to spare.

That was enough for Aiden as he had just enough timing with his blade and saw her coming straight at him and not even swerving to think of avoiding danger. Without even thinking, he reacted and bent his spine backwards just as the first Magi tried to hit him like a missile. He veered his body off to the side beneath the tentacles and the skeletal blade cleaved through the Magi's neck as she then flew straight into the dirt.

"Get the other one!" he yelled to his Magi companion as the second one too was just seconds behind on the slide and now sprouting wings as she soared down the slopes at them with her feet forming into bladed talons and claws.

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Note: XXXX

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Coming down the slide while managing his weight and timing both at the same time was more than a little tricky and as he reached the end, Kaveri was waiting to knock out the second Magi on the ramp with a nicely placed blow. It had the extra effect of sending the smaller Magi onto the ground, but it worked and sent the opponent flying overhead to taste the dirt of the ground. Just as Kaveri had managed to get back on his feet, Aiden was quick to also stab his blade through the Mad Magi's heart. He couldn't be too careful when it came to Mad Magi; he had learned that lesson well a long time ago.

With a sigh and a deep breath, he relaxed himself for a moment before heading over to the Jellyfish. "You alright? That was well done, though your form could have been a bit better. You need to not raise your elbow so much and correct your timing. Your reflexes also need a bit of work too." He placed a hand over and through Kaveri's hair to mess it up a little bit. Even if he didn't show it, he was happy that they had both made it out of that scuffle alive. Many Hunters he had known didn't live to fight Mad Magi more than once.

They had to leave though and act quickly. After a moment's reprieve, Aiden turned about and started to run while knowing Kaveri would tag behind him. They were in a small clearing on the side of the hotel that was flanked by darkness, but he was certain that they wouldn't be safe or comfortable until they were miles away from this place. Being outside was still a risk, but it was much more preferable to staying in a death trap. Being as it may, Aiden was also worried about what they would find in the surrounding countryside. Most Magi propagated in groups as well as clans; lone actors of Mad Magi were possible since they were utterly insane but not entirely impossible. It was even more worrisome to him if these Magi were members of the Rippers gang. At all costs, they had to avoid a tangle with them.

Aiden hurried himself to go as fast as his body could run, rushing off into the abyss of grasslands beyond and leaving the haunted mansion hotel far in their tracks. The clearing was empty and devoid of life, which at first gave him a slight sense of hope. Not that Aiden wasn't used to having his hopes dashed however. He had learned to take hope with a grain of salt when he got it. Not long after they had started running and were halfway across the blanket clearing, the motel lit up like a Christmas tree at their backs. It shined and sparkled blindingly as a chorus of violent humming thronged across the land.

The ruckus lasted just as long as Aiden could turn his gaze behind and see the multitudes of people emerge out of the ground. They had been docile before, mindless puppets staying in front as casualties of the trap, Aiden realized too late. Now the horde was staring straight at them and standing in a wide circle around the clearing and all holding hands like some kind of twisted children's game. He would have found it utterly amusing were it not for the fact that a new person was emerging out the front door that made Aiden cringe and face palm himself.

They could never catch a break could they? The man from behind the counter strutted like he had just caught too rats in his trap, smirking malevolently with a girlish-looking Magi at his side, but of whom was obviously preferring to remain androgynous. Though the face was feminine, the body was the equivalent of a young boy and he stood at a height that was equal to Aiden's own. "Don't think I'll let you leave here so easily without paying your tab. We went through a lot of trouble for you here; getting that train conductor to go off in a siesta was quite difficult to accomplish. I hope you have enough to pay for your stay here."

"It's really not so expensive. Here is the bill: a pizza with dead lady's fingers, 4 pairs of chopsticks, 3 racks of lamb, a serving of children's severed toenails, two cinderella shoes, and.. oh yeah.. ALL YOUR F****G LIFE. Arnie, would you care to do the honors of giving them their send-off present?" Once he snapped his fingers, Arnie's eyes lit up and began to glow with a crimson red light. Her/His body then seemed to expand and grow in size exponentially, blowing up like a hot air balloon and skin was now turning and bubbling. Everything grew until the boy/girl resembled what looked to be a gorilla that was about 10 feet tall. It had grotesquely human features and was one of the most hulking creatures he had ever see and covered with hair that had grown to encompass most its arms.

To make their day even shittier, the circle of deranged men and women began to enclose, cornering both Aiden and Kaveri. They stared the two of them down, grinning like fiends as Aiden felt his own sweat drop and now their chances of escaping this mess without a big fight had just gone up in smoke. This was about to get supremely bloody. The Gorilla-Magi stared dumbly before a second finger snap brought the beast to life. And it charged them, ramming and zigzagging forward at full speed like a train literally going out of control.

"Tch. Well shit." Aiden prepared himself for battle and readied his sword as the monstrous ape approached.

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Note: Ahh Mad Enhancement.

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