Above Ground: Chapel (Connected to Apse; leads to everywhere else above ground)

The chapel, for being in a state of disrepair, looks pretty good actually. It is the first room one will come upon when they enter. Some of the pews are in better condition then others, and the place where the priest gives his sermon could be in better shape... and have a full podium instead of three-quarters of one... but we aren't trying to win an interior decorating contest, here!

One of the pranksters of The Remnant claim that the pipe organ in the back... or rather front of the room is haunted, and said spirit gets particularly riled if one attempts to play the instrument.

... Do you dare?

Demyan slowly walked about the chapel, for nothing better to do than to get some relatively fresh air. Odd how he was trying to do that while walking through a musty ruin, wasn't it? As he attempted to clear his head, the sixteen-year-old contemplated the musical instrument before him: the pipe organ.

Which one of those jokers said the thing was haunted? he wondered with a slight laugh. The lad sidled up to the instrument, a look of curiosity dancing in his emerald eyes. Eyes so much like his mother's it was nearly startling. Or would be, for those that knew her before she died. Or 'went missing,' to hear Lara talk... Demyan mused bitterly.

Of course he'd love it to find out - definitively - that his mother was alive and well! But if that was the case, Demyan was stubbornly positive she would have looked for them. Lara's lack of faith in their mother irritated him to no end.

Returning his attention to the musical insturment, Demyan tried to remember precisely what had been said about this room and the alleged "ghost" or "ghosts" that haunt it. Personally, he doubted that they would be anything like the ghosts of Hogwarts which he'd only met once before the magical school was torn asunder by purgers.

Don't I have to play this thing in order for those ghosts to appear? It's supposed to make it angry, right? Well, let's just see if they were right about you, if you're really here... Demyan thought defiantly and just as impudently sat on the stool. He gave the room a furtive once-over and began to attempt to play... it looked like an overgrown piano. If that was the case, this should be a piece of cake! After all: his mother played the piano...

After quickly cracking his knuckles, Demyan began to play...


((Click here for song. KD, if you want, this can be where one of the Viper Family ghosts appears. Merci said it would be neat and was okay for them to appear. ^_^))

Deep inside the ancient organ of the chapel rested three ghosts: Malachite, Lucifer, and Maximus Viper. For quite some time the three lingered amongst the chapel, waiting for their hour of redemption to arrive. Many years prior, they once swore to someone that they would look after three children, the last of their kin, and despite a lifetime of lies, treachery, and deception they vowed to do all in their power to fulfill this oath.

Not solely because the children: Larissa, Demyan, and Ethelinda were all that was left of their clan, but also because it was the least they could do, their atonement for all they had done, their share of deeds that helped bring the children to their undeserved fate....

At the sound of the organ beginning to play, the youngest of the three ghosts Maximus Viper groaned. "Sweet Merlin, if it's that bloody kid butchering "Chopsticks" again, I swear... How the hell does someone **** up that song?" he trailed off, clutching at his head as though that would help against the vibrations of sound waves bouncing everywhere.

But the notes flowed together melodically to form a different song: one much more gracefully and correctly played.

But as the tune progressed, it was evident that it was anything but a butchered version of anything. In fact, it sounded amazing to the ghosts. Perfectly in key, no missed notes, the right pace...

"Phantom of the Opera..." Lucifer breathed out, as best as a ghost could.

Malachite nodded, listening intently. "I wonder..." Carefully, he poked his head out of the side of the organ so he could catch of a glimpse of the musician. He beamed in delight as he slipped back all the way into the organ. "It's him, it's the boy!" he exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" Lucifer asked with a tone of disbelief.

The smile faded instantly upon hearing Lucifer's tone. "I believe I would know the looks of my own great-grandson. He does look quite like Amaranth. Especially the eyes... Yes, the boy is one of us." He nodded with a proud smile, his gaze looking towards Demyan on the other side of the organ, still playing with a perfect cadence.

Maximus grinned in response as the last notes of the song faded into a closing. "What are we waiting for?" He asked as he stuck his head right through the keys so he was in-between the teen's hands, not thinking of the the likelihood that he could very well nearly give the kid a heart attack by appearing so suddenly.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? And who might you be, lad?" The smile grew into one resembling a wolf about the devour his prey. His father had been right, Demyan did have the Viper eyes. He even had the raven hair, just like the majority of the Viper clan. Albeit in the three ghost's case, life and time had altered the colorings to a lighter shade -grey- just a tad.

((LOL! I can so hear these guys conversing! And then "Barbas" pops out from the keys, rofl! It's great! xD))


Demyan was so concentrated on the music that he was barely aware that the rumors were true. After all, his eyes were on the keys, not the surrounding area. A weakness he had yet to train himself to avoid... for a purger could have easily crept up on him had they known the location of Morpheus Keep. It was one thing if he was on duty as sentinel... This was purely recreational.

As the last notes faded, a self-satisfied smirk crossed his face. Soooo not haunted now, are we? he thought with a laugh and turned his head this way and that to stretch the muscles in his neck.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? And who might you be, lad?"

Demyan jumped and looked in the direction of the ethereal voice... and found a face staring right back at him from between his hands. It was smiling wolfishly. As if, in the young man's opinion, it was about to attack him. The kid would have swore his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, if such a thing were possible.

"HOLY ****ING SH*T!" Demyan gasped and backed away from the instrument. Or tried to: he accidentally stepped on one of the organ's bass pedals and tripped backward over the stool he'd been sitting on. In his tumble, the teenager removed his wand from a pocket and aimed it in the direction of the organ.

"W-what the bloody hell?! I thought it was just a rumor!" Demyan panted, chest heaving as he eyed the ghost warily. It may have taken him off-guard, but he wasn't going to make the same mistake again.

Once he got over his shock over the-ghost-in-the-organ, his emerald eyes became guarded. "Who are you?" Demyan demanded from his place on the floor. One didn't need to be a master in magic to mimic his mother's dangerously icy tone of voice.

Though, admittedly, Demyan's version was slightly deeper than his mother's.

Maximus pretended to frown at the colorful language escaping the boy's, but the twitching of the corners of his mouth betrayed him. "Didn't anyone ever teach you to watch your language, boy?" he snickered as he moved out of the organ. "Perhaps you need to better your information sources. And regarding identities, I believe I asked you first..."

Lucifer and Maximus soon joined their brother and son, gliding through the organ as all three ghosts began circling Demyan, inspecting him.

At the teen's icy demand, all three ghosts raised an impressed brow. He knew that tone all to well, for the boy's Mother used the same tone, particularly when she was irritated.

"Look at that!" Maximus grinned proudly, gesturing to Demyan's mouth and the icyness that had escaped from it. "He's got it down right to the vocal tones!" The ghost hovered closer to his brother and father, nodding eagerly. "I like this one!"

Malachite raised an eyebrow at his younger son's enthusiasms, rolling his eyes before turning to Demyan. "Forgive him, lad. It has been quite sometime since he has been out of the organ. I am Malachite, this is my son Lucifer, and that hyperactive cretin is my younger son Maximus." He gestured to the other ghosts as he spoke. "And, you are?"

Demyan scowled at the ghost's obvious disapproval. Who was this guy? "Hey - how about I scare the living-dead crap outta you next time and then we'll see who should be talking about watching their language, huh?" he retorted in hot-headed defense. The teen was about to retort regarding information, but decided against it. After all, he was the idiot that didn't believe said alleged rumor... no need to give them the ammunition.

As two more ghosts appeared from the organ, Demyan got to his feet and allowed both wand and eyes to dart between the three. The boy was very much alone up here. What did these three ghosts want with him? He wasn't about to believe playing the organ would have angered them, if they were indeed angry to begin with. It still didn't look like a good situation to his eyes, as the ghosts circled him... Demyan was reminded forcibly of vultures about to swoop in for the kill.

"Look at that! He's got it down right to the vocal tones! I like this one!"

"What have I got?!" Demyan asked with the same voice of ice. It was only after saying this that he realized it had been something about his voice that triggered the ghost's ... was that pride? Why in Merlin's name would this ghost be proud of his voice? Or of the way he spoke?

"Forgive him, lad. It has been quite sometime since he has been out of the organ. I am Malachite, this is my son Lucifer, and that hyperactive cretin is my younger son Maximus."

Demyan spun around to address the other ghost that had spoken. His voice was deeper than the other one's. The teen quirked a brow in wary confusion. "All right... and why precisely are you here? Why's no one else mentioned you three aside from rumors?" Demyan pressed further. For all he knew, they could be ethereal spies for the purgers... if they had spectral informants, that is.

"The name's Demyan, by the way, if you're really that interested." the lad answered.

"Hey - how about I scare the living-dead crap outta you next time and then we'll see who should be talking about watching their language, huh?"

Maximus snickered. "Boy, if you were to find something to scare "outta" me other than ghost matter, I daresay I'd be even more proud of you."

His wolf-like grin widened upon the continuing frosty tone, although this time he was not alone. Malachite and even Lucifer had the corners of their mouth twitching.

"You're boldness, lad." Lucifer replied with a semi-pleased look about him. "Not many people would venture here and play the "haunted organ" and speak in that tone to the "Haunters"." Maximus and Malachite nodded in agreement.

"All right... and why precisely are you here? Why's no one else mentioned you three aside from rumors?"

"Because, everyone else butchered whatever the hell they played so out of the goodness of our hearts, wherever those little buggers may be, we opted to show mercy and leave them be so they may slaughter all the great Classics in peace." Maximus replied.

"Demyan, is it? Well, we are all in the same boat, so to speak. You need brains, and we need bodies." Malachite replied calmly.

Maximus leaned slightly towards his brother. "Did that sound as perverted to you as it did to me?" he asked Lucifer in a hushed tone and a quirked eyebrow.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "I knew I should have done all the talking..." he muttered under his breath.

Demyan didn't reply to Maximus' comment about 'ghost matter'. He didn't really want to know if that was code for something or not... their smiles hadn't set any better with him, either. What was so amusing about him?

"I've never put much store in ghost stories..." he replied, not quite sure what to make of the three spectral forms before him. His first year at Hogwarts, before the castle had been destroyed by purgers, had opened his eyes to the possibility of ghosts, but he hadn't really gotten used to the idea. Besides... wouldn't his parents have become ghosts? Why weren't they with him and his sisters like these three were here for ... some unknown reason?

The smallest of smiles, more like a smirk, graced Demyan's features at Maximus' comment about the others that attempted to play the organ. "Well, don't I feel special now..." Demyan remarked with a hint of sarcasm. "My mum taught me to play piano, so I guess I won't be doing much butchering..." His tone was still far from friendly, but he clearly though Maximus was funny. In a creepy, ghostly sort of way...

When Malachite spoke, Demyan turned to him and locked eyes with the ghost - or at least what passed for the spirit's 'eyes'. "I have brains..." he replied defensively. "And what do you mean by bodies?" Demyan added, clearly trying not to look exceedingly unnerved by the statement. Thoughts immediately turned to the safety of his sisters.

"Did that sound as perverted to you as it did to me?" Demyan had heard Maximus's comment to Lucifer.

"Yeah - it did, actually, Maxi... any of you keen on elaborating?" Demyan remarked with something far from amusement. Scared and highly on guard, yes, though the teen hid his fear behind a continued shield of vocal ice. Emerald eyes darted to each ghost in turn in an attempt to keep an eye on them all.


((roflmao - Maximus is a riot! xD))

"I've never put much store in ghost stories..."

Maximus shrugged. "Fair enough, I've never put much store in the living." He smirked, snickering lightly to himself.

"My mum taught me to play piano, so I guess I won't be doing much butchering..."

"That is good to know. After all, nothing wants to make a ghost kill himself once more than a cretin banging away on an instrument." Maximus stated, Lucifer and Malachite nodding in agreement.

Curiousity got the best of Malachite for a moment as he tentatively asked, "How did your Mother teach you how to play the piano?" He was genuinely wondering if Amaranth had stuck to tradition when it came to teaching music or if she had gone soft with her own children.

"I have brains...And what do you mean by bodies? Maxi... any of you keen on elaborating"

Malachite sighed while Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Yes, lad, you have brains. Most organisms worth any thought do. However, you have a child's brain. With Hogwarts annihilated, your education has suffered, especially with no fully qualified, specialized, experienced adult to guide you."

"Blood lines are being threatened, particularly all the refugees here. Is it not correct that you all wish to change it all, fight the present instead of cowering here forever?" Lucifer added in a challenging tone.

Maximus leaned towards Demyan. "If it's the latter, I'm not sharing the organ with you. Living with two other ghosts is hard enough..." he warned with a raise of his eyebrows.

Lucifer gritted his teeth together, his non-existant patience at negatives. "Hold your tongue, Maxi." he hissed at his younger brother. As if being stuck in between the living and dead wasn't torture enough, adding a pesky sibling who no longer feared you because they themselves were already dead was just Hell to Lucifer, who was used to having everyone and everything fear him.

Demyan quirked a brow at Maximus's similarly-worded comment, but once again didn't rise to it. It was fair enough, though surely the man was alive at one point or another? Perhaps he just wasn't a people person... which was fine. Demyan considered himself to be sort of the same way. He wasn't quite sure whether to laugh or scoff at the first part of the piano comment, though. Instead, the teenager selected a quiet 'hmm' that was technically a stifled 'ha'.

A raven brow quirked at Malachite as though this was the oddest question a ghost could have asked him. "I learned by ear... she'd play, or someone else would, and I'd listen. She wasn't overly strict like some instructors I've heard about," Demyan complied in answering, though his emerald eyes still shone with distrust. "What's it to you?" he demanded of Malachite flatly.

"Yes, lad, you have brains. Most organisms worth any thought do. However, you have a child's brain. With Hogwarts annihilated, your education has suffered, especially with no fully qualified, specialized, experienced adult to guide you."

Demyan looked rather miffed at Malachite's observations, regardless of how true they were. Compared to all that Tav, Val, Edwin, and knew it was a clear-cut fact that his magical education could be better. "Tavish McConn and Valerio Addams are doing the best they can..." Demyan defended his friend and ... what was Valerio - god-brother? However, the thought of knowing what these guys might know rather intrigued him, and a glimmer of that interest was allowed to show in his eyes.

"Blood lines are being threatened, particularly all the refugees here. Is it not correct that you all wish to change it all, fight the present instead of cowering here forever?"

Demyan stiffened in response to possibly being called a coward. If it was one thing he hated... aside from his father that is, that would be it. Raven brows shot downward in a scowl in an instant, though he hadn't had much chance for a verbal reply before Maximus spoke:

"If it's the latter, I'm not sharing the organ with you. Living with two other ghosts is hard enough..."

The teenager stood his ground when the ghost had leaned closer to him. "You don't have to worry about that, Maxi: we're far from cowards. We've a plan to go back to the past and stop all this bull**** from ever happening," he replied with a degree of ice-filled bravado. The ice was for being assumed a coward; the bravado simply teenage arrogance, with a dash of Russian pride in what his companions in The Remnant were attempting to accomplish.

As if remembering Lucifer had said something, Demyan set his green eyes on this wizard/ghost and said, "Maxi's got a point, Luci... I've grown up with two sisters and it is rather trying..." A snicker escaped the lad's lips both because he had just recalled a moment where he'd bugged the heck out of Lara (one of many, he might add), and secondly because he was well aware that the shortened version of the name 'Lucifer' sounded like a girl's name.

"I learned by ear... she'd play, or someone else would, and I'd listen. She wasn't overly strict like some instructors I've heard about... What's it to you?"

Malachite smiled softly. He wasn't suprised to hear that Amaranth seemed to have a bit more lenience with her children, or at least her son, from what he knew. The boy did seem quite fond of his mother... quite the opposite of the normal Viper children who loathed their ancestors.

"No reason. Mere curiousity..." He shrugged, casually examining his nails.

"Tavish McConn and Valerio Addams are doing the best they can..."

Lucifer scoffed. "The best they can? Well that's promising!" he exclaimed dryly. "Listen close and listen well, boy. These aren't just some mindless blokes out to get you. These are a highly trained and educated group who have got basic immunity from the Ministry on a golden platter. They've already managed to take out your parents: highly skilled, qualified and powerful witches and wizards in their own right. Not to mention educated.

What do you have right now? A few young adults who actually managed to snag a few years at Hogwarts? A textbook or two for formal clarification?" Lucifer snorted. "If you think you're all set with just that, you all must surely have a death wish."

"You don't have to worry about that, Maxi: we're far from cowards. We've a plan to go back to the past and stop all this bull**** from ever happening,"

Maximus opened his mouth to reply when his brother cut him off with a continuation of his lecture. For a guy who couldn't stand endless chatter and rants, he certainly was immune to his own voice!

Lucifer barked out a cadence of dry, hollow laughter, the echo of which seemed to intensify with the added ethereal touch and empty walls of the chapel. "Lovely. A group of uneducated children bouncing back in time to poke and prod blindly! Hmmph." he snorted at the arrogant tone. "The only likely outcome out of this 'mission' is one of you fools erasing your own birth out of a foolish, preventable mistake!"

Maximus nodded in comprehension of his brother's logic. "Thank Merlin I'm already dead by then, eh? No changing anything with me. I'm sound as a pound!"

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Indeed... How fortunate for us." He muttered sarcastically.

Malachite groaned inwardly at the turn the conversation had taken. He wanted to talk sense into the teen. Not harass and bombard him with a lecture... Seeing as how Demyan would most likely act negatively, he jumped at the chance to switch gears and hopefully salvage a bit of trust from the boy.

"Maxi's got a point, Luci... I've grown up with two sisters and it is rather trying..."

"Indeed? Well, that must have been difficult! I myself only had one sister but she was quite difficult nonetheless." Malachite smiled gently.

(( Wow, KD... Demyan just got an earful, didn't he? lmao))


Demyan was somewhat satisfied with the casual answer. There really wasn't much more this ghost could do to his mother... unless she was still alive somewhere as he'd hoped. Just because her tombstone was connected to his... father's... didn't mean she was buried there yet, did it? But then why did the music of the locket he kept stop sometime after she'd left him and his sisters? It was something he'd rather contemplate on his own rather than in front of these three...

The teenager snapped his eyes to Lucifer the moment he scoffed. The ghost thought that what he'd said was funny?! Demyan opened his mouth to once again defend his friends but was immediately cut off by what he perceived to be a very hostile rant:

"Listen close and listen well, boy. These aren't just some mindless blokes out to get you. These are a highly trained and educated group who have got basic immunity from the Ministry on a golden platter. They've already managed to take out your parents: highly skilled, qualified and powerful witches and wizards in their own right. Not to mention educated.

What do you have right now? A few young adults who actually managed to snag a few years at Hogwarts? A textbook or two for formal clarification?"

Demyan's hands shook not out of fright but out of anger. If it was one thing he didn't need from a ghost, it was a lecture. A lecture on staying alive. The comment about his parents stung; the snarl that appeared on the teen's lips seconds after it was said proved this conversation was not taking a good turn... The middle-child of the Kaminski kids opened his mouth to retort when he was once again cut off:

"If you think you're all set with just that, you all must surely have a death wish."

What did this spectral pain in the rear want from them, then, if not to get out there and fight?! Demyan felt the man must have had a strong case of Bipolar Disorder when he was alive...

The kid looked rather hopeful when Maximus appeared about to say something. Out of the trio of ghosts, Demyan thought he rather liked Maximus the best, followed by Malachite. When Lucifer cut his presently-favorite ghost off, the teen so wanted to tell 'Luci' just where he could shove this lecture as it continued with even more mockery:

"Lovely. A group of uneducated children bouncing back in time to poke and prod blindly! Hmmph." Demyan's brows furrowed deeper and a dark grayish-black seemed to overtake the emerald irises at the ghost's derisive snort... the grayish-black eyes of his snake animagus form...

"The only likely outcome out of this 'mission' is one of you fools erasing your own birth out of a foolish, preventable mistake!"

From the corner of his eye, Demyan noticed Maximus's nod of approval with the logic. 'None of what The Remanant were doing was really logical - it was survival! he thought with outrage.

The lad's severe glare was now directed at Maximus for his nonverbal agreement with Lucifer... what the hell did they want from him, then?! Demyan 'hmphed,' the air being exhaled through his nose instead of his mouth. The teen's lips were pressed about as close together as they would go, forming an extreme line that was little more than a slit of a mouth. Internally, though, Demyan could feel his jawbones reconstructing themselves... the change slowly overtaking...

Malachite's gentle smile was seen, but Demyan refused to acknowledge it. His angry eyes were set on Lucifer in a matter of moments after the eldest ghost had spoken. Several pieces of the remaining finery within the chapel were knocked from their pedestals and clattered or crashed to the floor. Demyan's magic was out of control, just as his temper was soon to be; it was only a matter of time before he would verbally burst. Even his pale-complexioned face reddened with the heat of a skyrocketing blood pressure, though Demyan felt no change in his body as his brain did not process anything above 'normal' temperature.

He had lost his parents...
He had lost his foster-parents......
And then he lost his bloody god-parents.........
That was way too many sets of parents for any child to bear losing!

And all this ghost had for him was a lecture on how foolish this mission was?! After its own questioning of whether or not they were going to 'cower here forever'?!! What did it expect of him and why?! What did the three of them expect? Complacency?! Resignation?! Oh, Hell no! Demyan Kaminski did not - would not - and could not resign himself or his sisters to this fate no matter the cost! If this ghost came all this way to tell him and the others to turn back, they were wasting their undead breath!

"VOT DO YOU VANT FROM US?!?!??!?!?!" Demyan screamed in Parseltongue, though the words, if translated back into English, would have had a distinctly foreign accent. It was the accent his father had possessed until his dying day, and something that did not occur in Demyan's speech very often but it was just as much a part of him as anything else. "You, who vould not have us cower but vould not have us fight! What do you know about the Hell we've been through?! That we still go through?! We don't give a **** about the ******* Ministry!"

With a loud *POP!* the boy turned into a snake... a large, black-scaled King Cobra but still a "baby" by the usual standards. It was coiled defensively, hood open to its furthest extent; head raised and poised as if it were about to attack. Though he wasn't sure if they'd understand a word he said, Demyan continued his own rant now that Lucifer had apparently finished. "We're doing what we can because we must - not because we want to rush off to our own deaths! You don't understand! None of us want to stand around and do nothing! Yes, fine - not all of us got a chance to get our years at Hogwarts in. IT'S NOT LIKE WE WILLINGLY DROPPED OUT!!!!!!!

"I don't know who you think you are, or what you want from me, but if all you're here for is to tell us what a big mistake we're making - and lecture us about mortality of all things - then you've just wasted a great deal of breath, or whatever it is you're using to speak! For all I care, you can take that lecture and shove it up your incorporeal ass!!!!!!!!" Demyan continued his furious tirade. At least now that he was in animal form, he couldn't shed the angry tears that had threatened to spill just moments before as a human. He'd likely do that later.

"So are you going to tell me what precisely it is you want or what?!" came a softer but no less frigid question from the teenage animagus's snake form.

Malachite sighed in resignation as Demyan's anger boiled over and it was apparent that a slow, gentle approach was out of the question, thanks to Lucifer, who was shot a stern glare by his father.

As discretely as possible, Lucifer inched ever so slightly towards his brother, subtly distancing himself from his father and Demyan, whom he was positive had inherited the Viper temper as well. A fact evident by the various objects left in the chapel crashing and shattering as they met the ground.

Maximus eyed the angered teen with a wary eye. He had noticed the reddened complexion, tightened features, and loss of control. One would have to be blind and deaf not to! Or incredibly dim. From the corner of his mouth he muttered to his brother. "Well done, Lucifer. One of the last Vipers in this world and you're about to kill him with rage. Honestly..." he shook his head disapprovingly.

As the dialogue spouting from the teen switched over to a new language, one all the ghosts could even consider their native language, three pairs of emerald eyes looked on the boy with keen, heightened interest.

"VOT DO YOU VANT FROM US?!?!??!?!?!" "You, who vould not have us cower but vould not have us fight! What do you know about the Hell we've been through?! That we still go through?! We don't give a **** about the ******* Ministry!"

Lucifer couldn't stop the slight smile of admiration covering his face as he witnessed his grandson shift into his animagus form: a King Cobra, Lucifer noted with affection, for that was his favorite child, Leviathon's form.

This time Lucifer opened his mouth to respond but was stopped by Maximus. "Give him a moment. You push him any further and he'll more than likely pop a blood vessel. And blood doesn't get off of stone quite easily." He added, with a quirky smile.

"We're doing what we can because we must - not because we want to rush off to our own deaths! You don't understand! None of us want to stand around and do nothing! Yes, fine - not all of us got a chance to get our years at Hogwarts in. IT'S NOT LIKE WE WILLINGLY DROPPED OUT!!!!!!!

"I don't know who you think you are, or what you want from me, but if all you're here for is to tell us what a big mistake we're making - and lecture us about mortality of all things - then you've just wasted a great deal of breath, or whatever it is you're using to speak! For all I care, you can take that lecture and shove it up your incorporeal ass!!!!!!!!"

Lucifer sighed and rolled his eyes, replying in parseltongue. "Yes, yes, it's all tragic, isn't it. Yes, we are all weeping our eyes out... I beg your pardon!" the ghost exclaimed, mortified at the vulgarity of Demyan's demand once he had heard the last sentence exclaimed. "How dare you!" he fumed indignantly.

"Indeed!" Maximus nodded in agreement. However, it was evident that the agreement wasn't quite sincere as he inclined towards Demyan a bit to mutter, also in parseltongue. "Honestly lad, the man is translucent. There's nothing getting in or out. If there was I'd sure as hell find a way to get that damn stick out of his-"

"Maximus!" Malachite barked out to quiet his younger son, more than slightly disturbed by the turn this conversation was starting to take. He was instantly relieved upon hearing the boy's final question.

"So are you going to tell me what precisely it is you want or what?!"

"Yes, of course. You see lad, we have a bit of a proposition for you." Malachite replied, cutting straight to the chase before his son's could interfere. "How would you feel about having mentors and tutors? Experienced and educated wizards training and teaching you the way you deserve to be taught? The way you need to be taught in order to rewrite history as you desire?" The oldest ghost inquired gently as to not seem as though he was badgering the teen, but firmly, to show he was wholly serious.

Demyan barely noticed the interactions between the ghosts. All he saw was red. Not even Maximus's witty mutterings to his brother brought him back from this ledge he metaphorically found himself on. He didn't notice their interest when he spoke parseltongue: it was just natural for him. It was a language he and his sister could use in front of Lynn when they didn't want her to understand something, as she still only had a passing knowledge.

However, the moment the snake's eyes took over Demyan noticed things quite a bit differently. The tension of his anger in the air, the 'taste' in the air that had changed with the ghosts present that he hadn't noticed as a human... not to mention that despite his choice of words Lucifer was actually smiling again.

.................... Was that.... affection.... Demyan saw? Admiration? Who was this Lucifer bloke anyway?!

Had the boy wanted to turn back into a human there would have been a very sour, very infuriated look on his face. Not to mention he would have been as red in the face as a beet. "I expect nothing from you, Luci - you could be doing flipping cartwheels and I really wouldn't give a damn!" Demyan stated with the iciest tone he could muster. However, at Lucifer's expression and sputterings regarding the demand, Demyan laughed. And laughed... Too bad it wasn't the happy, boyish variety of laugh. No: this was a cold laugh - the mirth valid yet nonexistent at the same time.

"You were the one that said I had boldness. And because you apparently need me for something... well, you can't really do more than talk can you? If you want my help, that is. I doubt the others here would be too benevolent if I turned up mysteriously missing," Demyan stated flatly, at first with ice, and then with a falsely pitying tone.

The serpent-teen quieted immediately upon noticing Maximus's move to speak, the onyx pools turning to regard the ghost. Demyan's hood closed slightly: an indication of a very small trust. Not full trust, mind you, but a lot more trust than he'd even consider giving Lucifer at the moment. Though 'Maxi's comment had been truncated by his father, a snake-y snicker of laughter - genuine laughter - escaped Demyan. He would explain later, perhaps, that it was just a figure of speech... though he had a feeling Maximus was well aware and just trying to lighten the tension of the situation.


"Yes, of course. You see lad, we have a bit of a proposition for you."


Demyan's cobra form lowered its hood the rest of the way out of confusion. In the blink of an eye, coiled snake became cross-legged sitting teenager. A good sign, though the emerald orbs were still wary. "Fine, I'll listen..." Demyan replied very quickly in parseltongue. Already, the color of his face was returning to its normal paleness.


"How would you feel about having mentors and tutors? Experienced and educated wizards training and teaching you the way you deserve to be taught? The way you need to be taught in order to rewrite history as you desire?"


The sixteen-year-old blinked with a slight surprise, as he'd initially pegged them - or at least Lucifer - as having a different motive altogether. Emerald orbs shifted between the floor and the three ghosts rather rapidly. It was as if he was trying to think and was expecting to be attacked at any moment. After what he'd said to Lucifer, Demyan wouldn't be surprised if that one ended up being the least cooperative. "Knowledge is power, they say," Demyan spoke in English this time, and there was approval in his tone.

"But what do you need from me, and what's the catch?" he boy asked shrewdly. Knowledge also had its price, Demyan knew... and the fact that their possibly-soon-to-be mentors were ethereal made that fact seem all the more true.

"I expect nothing from you, Luci - you could be doing flipping cartwheels and I really wouldn't give a damn!"

Lucifer glared at Demyan's comment and trailing laughter, irritated beyond levels of being mocked and ridiculed at. He dearly wished he was opaque so one of his hexes- any of them, for he was past pickyness by now- could be used to push the boy in the right direction. Preferably one where he learned to show respect and courtesy...

"You were the one that said I had boldness. And because you apparently need me for something... well, you can't really do more than talk can you? If you want my help, that is. I doubt the others here would be too benevolent if I turned up mysteriously missing,"

"We do not desire your assistance. We desire your cooperation so we may assist you. Our clan has been annihilated. Our secrets stand on a very thin line between survival and extinction. Magic practiced and perfected over several centuries are about to become naught but whispers in time. Magic that could tip the scale in this war. Unfortunetly, our forms leave us cursed to nothing more than observe and speak, rendering us in a state of uselessness. That is, uselessness without you and your companions.

You are young, graced with speed, agility, energy, not to mention motivation. Unfortunety, at this point in time you are nothing but shells: mindless canons able to shoot and shoot but with no aim, no guidance. You waste and exhaust yourselves by attacking blindly. Do you not see, you need guidance! One to direct you, one to instruct you.

It is all a lovely coincedence, is it not? We need students, and you need instructors. Hearken to what we say, practice what we instruct, and you will be one step closer to victory, and our spells, our legacy will live on." Malachite explained, standing tall and proud, watching Demyan closely to see if he had made any impression on the teen and smiling when the boy returned to his human form to listen.

"What say you, Demi?" Maximus asked with a quirk of his brow, smirking at the equally girly name he was able to create from the teen's name.

Demyan met the glare bestowed him with deliberate impudence, but because Lucifer said nothing he had nothing more to add.

The teenager focused his eyes on Malachite as he spoke, and was fairly surprised to find himself corrected. That part of the statement had been intended toward 'Luci' but apparently it also affected the older wizard. Demyan couldn't help it if Malachite was touchy... and the kid wasn't changing his ways now. But he was listening, which was an improvement. Mention of centuries-old magic certainly intrigued him... especially if, as the spirit assumed, it would help them win. Raven brows raised with genuine interest.

Said eyebrows lowered slightly, though, at the second reminder that they - meaning the Remnant - were little more than "mindless canons". However, Malachite's presentation was one of charismatic pride instead of an irate lecture. It set a lot better with Demyan, and it showed by his continued albeit somewhat thin patience. The metaphorical wheels of the lad's mind were turning, considering... weighing the possibilities. As much as he hated to admit it, some of the 'younger ones' as Tav and Val no doubt referred to those below the age of seventeen needed a bit more experience.

"What say you, Demi?"

The boy turned to Maximus upon hearing the other ghost speak, and set him with a peculiar countenance that was somewhere between mock disdain and mild comedy. Demyan even rolled his eyes, though it really didn't have much meaning behind it. "I think you have yourselves at least one student, Maxi," he said with a complete turnaround in demeanor: congeniality.

"But I can't speak for the others. We have a kind of democracy: we present a situation, debate, and come to a decision by vote or general consensus," he explained to the three. "Of course, if you've been here as long as you claim, you probably already know that."

"So... what's your next plan of action?" Demyan asked the three with genuine curiosity, but was still a bit wary. He had sisters... and Rossalyn... to look out for.

"I think you have yourselves at least one student, Maxi,"

"Excellent!" Maximus breathed out, demonstrating his feral grin once more as Malachite and Lucifer nodded their approval.

"It only takes one grain of rice to tip the scale." Malachite pointed out, inclining his head in Demyan's direction.

"But I can't speak for the others. We have a kind of democracy: we present a situation, debate, and come to a decision by vote or general consensus. Of course, if you've been here as long as you claim, you probably already know that."

Lucifer shrugged with a hint of indifference. "You've got the charm and cunning. Use it."

"So... what's your next plan of action?"

At that question, Lucifer rolled his eyes with irritation. "Well, if you get the others to join in we'll cook up a big huge feast and party long and hard, feasting and drinking to our hearts content." He exclaimed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Boy, we're translucet ghosts. You know what that means, right? Allow me to simplify it: We is dead. We no can touch. No touch no point, no power. Did you not listen at all to Malachite's speech?"

Malachite sighed. "Lucifer..." he muttered to his son in a warning tone before turning his attention back to the teen. "Our plan of action is in your hands, lad. Everything is."

The grin Maximus presented seemed contagious as Demyan attempted to mimic it. Whether or not he was aware of trying to attempt it was uncertain, but not likely. He had his own grin, and rather liked it. The teen nodded to Malachite, understanding the metaphor. He had heard it used before but couldn't remember from where.

Demyan glanced to Lucifer with a kind of 'you've got to be kidding me' kind of look. The cunning part he expected. But charm? Coming from another bloke? That was rather... creepy. "Thanks for the confidence... I think," he replied uncertainly, with a slight laugh. The kid immediately looked to Maximus, pointedly glanced to Lucifer, and then pulled a face that seemed to ask a question. However, the precise meaning of said inquiry was open to interpretation considering the lad didn't state it.

If ghosts could use Legilimency, then they surely would have picked up on Demyan's immediate thought of something along the lines of: 'I have a girlfriend... sorta...' An image of Rossalyn came to the teen's mind. He rather liked her, and perhaps as they got to know each other better she'd consent to the accolade he was already attributing to her.


"Well, if you get the others to join in we'll cook up a big huge feast and party long and hard, feasting and drinking to our hearts content. ... Boy, we're translucet ghosts. You know what that means, right? Allow me to simplify it: We is dead. We no can touch. No touch no point, no power. Did you not listen at all to Malachite's speech?"


Demyan immediately scowled at Lucifer's sarcasm. Not only was it entirely not funny, but it sounded like something his father would say. "Luci, as you've had no trouble in pointing out, I'm just a 'boy'. You know what that means, don't you? No advanced knowledge up here -" he hissed, pausing to point at his head as Malachite admonished Lucifer. "I listened to Mal, and I'm not stupid! I just want to know how I can help you to help us. Merlin's Y-fronts... did you wake up on the wrong side of the sarcophagus or what?!"

The teen sighed in an attempt to clear the anger from his voice. "What I had meant is how am I to furnish... bodies... for you three to inhabit? I know some magic, but..." the teenager paused, looking rather uncomfortable about the possibilities of what they would ask of him, and distinctly disgruntled at having to admit what he was about to in front of Lucifer. "...but I've never heard of a way to make ghosts physically tangible again. Hell, even a theory escapes me!

"So before you hop onto the criticism parade again, how about some pointers, hmm?" The first portion of his question-demand - about the 'criticism parade' - was directed to Lucifer, who thus far seemed to have the least amount of faith in The Remnant.

"Let my first pseudo-lesson with you three be learning how to restore you..."

Lucifer raised an eyebrow at the teen's attempt to mimick his younger brother's, in his opinion, rather unattractive grin. "Son of a Slytherine, It's like bloody looking into the future!" he whispered in a low, slightly disturbed tone to his father as he looked back and forth between Demyan and Maximus. Considering how their features were quite similar, it truly was as though one was witnessing a future in the making.

"I sincerely hope not... Please Circe, do not let that be this poor lad's fate..." Malachite muttered in response, eyeing his grinning ghost son rather critically.

"Which part? An imbecile living or imbecile ghost?" Lucifer asked with a hint of genuine curiousity.

Malachite opened his mouth to reply 'Imbecile Ghost' but took a moment to think about it more thoughtfully. "Both, really." he answered honestly, the corners of his mouth twitching in mild amusement, before they heard Demyan speak once more and turned their attention back to him.

"Thanks for the confidence... I think,"

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't a sign of confidence. It was a hopeful spoken outloud thought..." he snickered a bit. "What, did you think it was a compliment?"

"Luci, as you've had no trouble in pointing out, I'm just a 'boy'. You know what that means, don't you? No advanced knowledge up here. I listened to Mal, and I'm not stupid! I just want to know how I can help you to help us. Merlin's Y-fronts... did you wake up on the wrong side of the sarcophagus or what?!"

Seeing Lucifer's fierce, deadly glare, Maximus backed up a bit as inconspicuously as possible as though to distance himself from Demyan. Demyan may have the ability to run away, but Maximus surely didn't! Lucifer was already irked enough as it was for the snippy comments he had made, although Maximus personally found them quite funny. He didn't need the man who could very easily make the rest of eternity Hell to release all that anger, which Maximus had to admit he was bottling rather well, on a poor innocent ghost!

Therefore, said poor innocent ghost breathed an audible sigh of relief at Demyan's change in tone.

"What I had meant is how am I to furnish... bodies... for you three to inhabit? I know some magic, but I've never heard of a way to make ghosts physically tangible again. Hell, even a theory escapes me! So before you hop onto the criticism parade again, how about some pointers, hmm?"

Before Lucifer could say another word, Malachite butted in, bloacking off any possible, likely in fact, conflict that may arise. "No, no, lad. That is unecessary as of now. Time is of an essence, especially for you and your group, therefore we must take hold of it and use it to best benefit you. Your first few lessons shall be to help educate you and to be used in your favor." He hastily explained.

In all honesty the whole bit of restoring the ghost's into bodies was a hoax. A way to help ease in to their guardian roles. After all, ghosts seeking a bargain would be much more believable and acceptable than to even attempt to explain their true identities and the oath they all had made to the boy's great-grandmother.

Demyan chose to ignore the banter between the other two ghosts, for it was in trying to imagine what his face looked like in mimicking Maximus's grin that he realized they had a lot of the same features. 'Odd coincidence,' Demyan thought before averting his gaze to the pipe organ and wondering how the three of them, though translucent and incorporeal, managed to reside in there.

"It wasn't a sign of confidence. It was a hopeful spoken outloud thought..." "What, did you think it was a compliment?"

The teen considered, face schooled into neutrality for the time being, how to take that. Then he laughed... dare he say what he had just thought? Yes: he dared. "Well, with a word like 'charm' in there, I wasn't quite sure what you wanted me to think... but for the record: I'm straight as a board. Not to mention you're probably at least as old as my father!" Demyan roared with mirth. "And... I already have... a girlfriend..." he managed between laughs, though he wasn't sure if that was actually true. The lad really liked Rossalyn, but it wasn't like they could really go out on dates or anything with the purgers always watching.

Demyan barely noticed Maximus's sidling away from him. Because he'd just met the ghosts, it wouldn't have really mattered to him even though he rather liked Maximus's commentaries here and there. After all: every other adult assigned to watch over him had left his side, with the exception of the young adults that were his companions here at the Keep. It could have also been a part of the trio's hierarchy of sorts... who was he to say?

The lad bit his lip to restrain himself from laughing as Lucifer looked about ready to launch into another lecture, but straightened his expression when Malachite spoke:

"No, no, lad. That is unecessary as of now. Time is of an essence, especially for you and your group, therefore we must take hold of it and use it to best benefit you. Your first few lessons shall be to help educate you and to be used in your favor."

"Then I should probably get going... with fourteen, I think, people to rally. Are you... are you three always in that thing?" Demyan asked Malachite and jabbed a thumb in the direction of the pipe organ. He had no idea the whole 'get ghosts bodies' task was a cover story, and thus would surely be asking Tav... or maybe Edwin... or even Valerio... about it just in case.

"Well, with a word like 'charm' in there, I wasn't quite sure what you wanted me to think... but for the record: I'm straight as a board. Not to mention you're probably at least as old as my father!"

A look of absolute disgust, horror, and especially rage contorted Lucifer's features. Had there been any blood left in his translucent form, rest assured, this ghost's fury would have had his raging veins forcing blood into his face, morphing it into something more or less resembling a demonic cherry. Or better yet, something like this.

Maximus on the other hand, practically roared with laughter and for several minutes seemingly unable to control himself and in the end having to resort to hiding behind his father while he struggled to get a grip. Even Malachite had to use all of his notorious iron will to compose himself and fight the overwhelming urge to dissolve into laughter.

Lucifer glared fiercely at both, demonstrating a similar, albeit higher level of the glare Demyan had bestowed upon him earlier, before focusing it all on Demyan. "Do not flatter yourself, boy. Be ye assured, I would rather cut out all my vital organs, experience the Cruciatus over and over again, while walking back and forth from hell and beyond than ever consider. With you or any man, hell, even with a woman should she be anything less than a pureblood!" he gritted through clenched teeth and fists, before unleashing a colorful vocabulary in parseltongue. While Lucifer Viper was by no means an innocent man, breaking felonies before he left the nursery, he certainly did not condone incest!

"You know father, I wonder-" Maximus began through his laughter.

"No! No, you do not, my son. No wonderings, please." Malachite interjected, his mouth twitching furiously as his struggle to fight off the laughter. "I dare not have you speak less I lose all control..." he managed.

"And... I already have... a girlfriend..."

"Hmmph." Lucifer scoffed. "A blind, deaf, and mute one, I presume? no, no, scratch that. A blind, deaf, mute one I know." he replied with cold disgust, shaking his head.

"Then I should probably get going... with fourteen, I think, people to rally. Are you... are you three always in that thing?"

"No, boy. We play bingo on Tuesdays and Thursdays." Lucifer bit back with venemous sarcasm. "Of course we're always here! Where else can one go?"

Maximus rolled his eyes. "Nowhere with you. You're an embarassment to be in public with..." he muttered under his "breath".

Malachite nodding affirmatively. "Indeed lad. All the luck to you in your quest to 'rally' the other inhabitants."

"Especially since you evidently have neither charm and cunning..." Lucifer scoffed venemously.

Malachite "sighed" softly. Perhaps when they did start teaching Lucifer's duties would strictly be grading tests and homework...

On the back of his mind, Malachite wondered if Demyan would take the task of restoring the ghosts into temporary bodies literally. He knew it was possible, as it was a project Amaranth had worked on preveiously and was in her Potions Portfolio. Not necessarily a body persay, but a way to solidify their form so they could at least touch other objects. But still, it was a way... The question was, what became of the portfolio?

((The pic didn't show up for me, but looking at the link I know what you're getting at, rofl! xD))

Demyan didn't know whether to laugh or run, given Lucifer's expression. It was hilarious, to be sure, but was laughter and merriment really worth his own skin? The answer was clear: no way in Hell! The boy scooted backward several inches, ready to spring to his feet just in case. Maximus's laughter, however, forced thoughts of fleeing from his mind for the moment. Laughter was indeed contagious, and Demyan found himself laughing at his own jest in seconds. Emerald eyes sparkled with amusement to see that even 'Mal' was trying to keep it together. For a moment he thought the oldest of the three ghosts would be none too happy what with being Lucifer's father...

"Do not flatter yourself, boy. Be ye assured, I would rather cut out all my vital organs, experience the Cruciatus over and over again, while walking back and forth from hell and beyond than ever consider. With you or any man, hell, even with a woman should she be anything less than a pureblood!"

Demyan bit back a chuckle and had been about to say that he was a pureblood, with his paternal grandmother's side being considered halfblooded for some peculiar reason he didn't understand, but was cut off by a colorful string of parseltongue. A mischievous look with a trace flicker of fear overtook his face as he committed the words to memory. He'd have to use that sometime... How was Demyan to know he'd just insulted the orientation of his maternal grandfather?! It wasn't like they'd come out and stated precisely what clan they'd belonged to, after all. However, given the state of their conversation, Demyan would likely have said that what he had anyway even if he had known.

"Well, I suppose that's comforting..." Demyan couldn't help but snicker. "...if not for the fact I am pureblood, insofar as I know..." A quieter cadence of laughter left him.

"A blind, deaf, and mute one, I presume? no, no, scratch that. A blind, deaf, mute one I know."

That wiped the grin right off the kid's face. "Hardly, Luci. But I'm not going to waste my breath on enlightening you. Honestly, you're probably a bit more obstinate than my sister... or about the same... kinda hard to tell," Demyan replied, his voice also losing the warmth laughter had brought to it.

The teen couldn't help but feel that, according to Luci at least, his welcome had been long since worn out. The venomous sarcasm said it all. But Demyan merely rolled his eyes at the answer he got from the ghost. Unfortunately, he didn't realized he'd done so in time with Maximus until he heard the comment. That made the boy laugh. "I meant to you travel about this place other than staying in the organ... oi..." Demyan sighed in exasperation. "Is he always like that?" he asked 'Maxi' and 'Mal' with a slight grin on his face.

"Indeed lad. All the luck to you in your quest to 'rally' the other inhabitants."

"Especially since you evidently have neither charm and cunning..."

Demyan had offered Malachite a pleasant little smirk before his attention was forced back to 'Luci'. "You'll live, Luci... relatively speaking..." Demyan scoffed at the ghost's attempt to insult him. Then, the teen returned his attention to Malachite.

"Thank you, sir," Demyan replied as polite as can be in the hopes to shock Lucifer at the very least, and even offered a very slight bow. Whether or not he had surprised the other ghosts, he wasn't really sure and hadn't intended to. But that was Demyan Kaminski for you.

With a grin to Maximus and an uncertain glance to Lucifer, Demyan left the chapel in search of his companions...

"Well, I suppose that's comforting... if not for the fact I am pureblood, insofar as I know..."

Lucfier clenched his fists, struggling to control his emotions and fight the urge to smack the boy. Not that he could, of course. After all, he was a ghost so the most he could do was walk through Demyan a couple of times and agitate him with the cold, and that in Lucifer's not so humble opinion was hardly worth it. Plus the boy was half Russian so Lucifer didn't think a bit of a chill would make any difference to him.

"At least he's a pureblood... another addition to my list of reasons not to kill him..." Lucifer mused, shrugging at the boy's comment regarding stubborness. "It's not being stubborn. It's called being correct."

"I meant to you travel about this place other than staying in the organ... oi..."

"Normally." Malachite replied.

"Speak for yourselves. I happen to have a life of my own so I am not always here." Maximus replied.

Lucifer scoffed. "What, did you manage to find a portrait interested in a, shall we say, long distance, relationship?"

Maximus rolled his eyes. "Not all of us are as desperate as you, Lucifer..." he replied cooly.

Malachite sighed. "I'm here at the organ during the nights, lad. If no one else, so have no fear."

"Is he always like that?"

"Worse." Maximus confirmed with a nod, ignoring Lucifer's scowl and icy cold glare aimed directly at him.

"Have a good evening, lad." Malachite uttered, nodding farewell to Demyan. However, a keen observer would notice a slight hint of affection in the oldest ghost's statement. One that had been there since the beginning, but had become much more pronounced by the end of the conversation.

All three ghosts were pleasantly suprised by the courteous demonstration, though held their comments until the teen was out of earshot.

"Well, at least Amaranth had the decency to teach him the very basics of courtesy. I'll give her that much." Lucifer replied, offering his daughter an all too rare compliment.

Rossa walked into the chaple, she was curious to see these ghosts Demyan mentioned, he said they were in the organ.

She sat in the organ, she didn't dare try to play, as her talent ley with the Violin and singing or writing. Not a pipe organ...

She looked at the instrument in silence, it was a beautiful intrument, for that moment she wished she knew how to play.

"Hmm... I hope one dosen't need to play to make there presents known?" she asked in a quiet but curious voice.

Lucifer frowned as he heard a voice from outside the organ. "Damn, the kid works fast. He's already got a believer."

Malachite smiled softly. "Well, well, well. First a compliment to Amaranth and now Demyan. Aren't you in a good mood." the old ghost nodded approvingly.

"Must be a gas leak somewhere..." Maximus offered as an explanation to his brother's behavior, looking around them to emphasis.

Lucifer scowled while Malachite opted to ignore both, exiting the organ to face a young girl. "Yes?" he asked in a neutral tone.