Training Fields Open

"oh yes just focus on an object and will the crystal to change shape into that object once you visualize every detail in your head and create it!"

she sat down almost collapse like she needed to recover from eating it was like a high that really made her happy and calm she was always nicest after she had a full meal

"if youre worried Aphris dont be, you might never need to eat that much"

Simon looked down at his crystal and concentrated a long moment, the gem's sides smoothing out and firming again. It resisted only a moment longer before changing into a small orb, the pentacle still inside it.

"I did it," he breathed, amazed.

Aphris tried to think of what to change her crystal into, but nothing was coming to mind. She shifted in her seat a bit when she felt on of her daggers against her. That's it! She opened her hand with the crystal in the middle of her palm and closed her eyes as she focused on the crystal looking like her favorite dagger. She saw in her mind the little figure of the winged cat seeming to turn into a crystalline pile of goo, before starting to reform as a dagger. Some sweat started to appear on her forehead and she focused, but she kept her eyes closed until the image was finished changing in her mind. It took almost a full miniature, but when she opened her eyes and looked down, she had a small dark red crystalline dagger in her hand.

"Nice. It worked; although, that as harder then I thought. My head feel weird now," she added as she blinked a few times like she was trying to clear her head.

"that weirdness in your head is caused by altering reality, there is a consequence to altering reality, as you saw with my meal earlier his aura was tinted yellow, meaning he was a liar up to no good, these things influence our auras, as you can see"

she lifted her palm to show a crystaline rose surrounded by thorns, its hears was a very pale violet but the edges were black

"this is called imbalance youre crystals will be a little darker now, the only way to rid yourself of this imbalance is by giving it to someone else, or, by working it off, it takes about 100,000 blessings to remove one curse, although imbalance is not bad and neither are most curses, they can be a tell tell sign that you are practicing the demonic arts"

she closed her palm over her crystal rose and it vanished,

"you may want to feed Aphris, and Simon go chill out its been a hot after noon, the sun is almost at her apex and i am feeling much to vulnerable out in the open, lets go back to Reds, and get a drink"

On the edge of the butte, after piggybacking and climbing up, a duo of marionettes approached, glancing around with their porcelain eyes as they observed the area closely. The smaller of the two hopped forward and continued to search for something before turning to her taller partner.

"Well, shoot Pris! The boss ain't here! Wonder where he scampered off to.." She chuckled a bit, a mechanical titter behind her humanoid laugh.

The larger of the two ran a hand over her face, the other three resting on her hips. She leaned down and muttered, "Of course not, you took us in the wrong direction!"

The little bot huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, looking away from her partner. "I most certainly did not! I gots an impeccable sense of direction!"

"Then where is the bunker, Ophelia? This is nowhere near what we were looking for." The larger puppet bickered back, the two now in a petty argument.

Aphris nodded to Ivy; although, not looking forward to feeding again so soon. Maybe if she found someone who understood and cared for her she might not mind feeding as much, but right now she viewed it as something she had to do, and rarely as something she wanted to or enjoyed doing. At least she was in control of when it happened...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of tow voices. She glanced over and did not know the two that were there and was on edge. She stood, her tail lashing from side to side as she narrowed her eyes at them before softly saying so that only Simon and Ivy heard, "We have company."

Simon clasped his hands over his crystal, somehow feeling the gem needed protecting at all cost. He looked carefully and saw the guests. They seemed familiar but couldn't place where.

Ivy turned around and saw the coming guests and threw her hands up causing a gust of wind and a mini sand storm that blocked them from view

"Aphris change your form Simon you too, be hidden we dont know these people we dont need to advertise what we are"

She also waved her hand towards the doorway to make it appear as a rock formation it blended in perfectly

"lets just hope their friendly, i can smell oil and metal on them, probably Mannequins"

Simon looked at himself, realising he'd gone to his icy demon form without realising, and with a single blink, went back to looking human again. He slipped the gem into his pocket and pulled out his glasses, slipping them on to see the newcomers better.

"I swear I've seen them before somewhere," he whispered to his teacher and fellow student.

"What in tarnation!?" Ophelia ducked away as a sandstorm kicked up suddenly, halting the duo's forward progression. Priscilla made a move for her guns, but her tiny partner halted her. The two looked at each other, nodded, and Ophelia headed forward, dusting off her dress.

"Howdy, folks!" Ophelia called out, modulating her voice to come out louder to the people who hid away. "M'name is Ophelia! My big partner is Priscilla! Have any of y'all seen a young man in suspenders? He's our boss, an' we're lookin' for 'im!"

"well hello there"

Ivy said as she walked open armed to show she had no weapons

"we havent seen anyone else out here on the butte, but would you like to join us for a picnic?"

She turned sideways to show a picnic that suddenly had appeared while ivy had her back turned to Simon and Aphris, she looked back at the demons and winked

Simon couldn't resist the drinks Ivy whipped up and chilled it unconsciously before drinking.

During the cover of the sand, Aphris had willed her hat to hide her demon features. She appeared to be a female elf in dress of teals, blues, and other colors of spring. She even seemed to have a parasol open over her shoulder giving her shade from the sun. Her now chestnut colored eyes seemed to shine as she set down her tea cup and spoke with a soft and melodic voice*, "Well, my my my. It seems we have some visitors to our little gathering."






((*she sounds like a southern belle now))

"Picnic? Well shoot hun, we don't eat, but we'll gladly join ya!" Ophelia bounded closer to them as Priscilla walked closer, her four arms crossed over her chest.

"Well, we introduced ourselves...who are you all?" She asked, her amber eyes scanning the new people in front of them.

"OH! im Caliope and these are my children Rama and Mariposa"

Ivy pointed to Simon and Aphris

"sorry to be so rude, i ddint know anyone else came up to the Butte we thought it would be a lovely picnic spot"

she started to walk back to the group silently laughing inside

Mariposa? really? Aphris never let the smile on her face show her mental sigh at the fake name she was given.

"Well, since you ladies don't eat, I guess that mean more of this sweet cornbread for us," she replied with an genital smile as she grabbed a square of the yellow sweet bread.

How were they going to get back to Red's now?

Simon decided to play the mute child, nodding with courtesy to their guest but keeping a tight lip. He couldn't fake an accent to save his life and he was so too preoccupied to try. Since it seemed the food was real, a trick he thought would come in handy someday, the half demon decided to start eating, watching everyone carefully.

"well that must be difficult being marionettes, how does it feel to miss eating?"

it was a cheap blow but she hoped it would make the marionettes want to leave

"Huh? Don't really 'member much 'bout bein' human, suge. Bein' honest, I feel pretty great bein' all mechanical!" Ophelia smiled before Priscilla's face changed, noting the 'leader's' apprehension towards the two of them.

"After the first year, you get used to not having typical being's functions. Best part was not having to breathe to live." Her mechanical eyes were cold, locks of her hair being brushed away by one hand, the other three on her hips.

Aphris struggled to keep herself from glaring at the four armed one, and to keep her tail still; although, what she wanted to do was to glare at the thing and hiss loudly at it. Her hat may hide the fact she had a tail, but it was still there... and could still give her away if she was not careful. Just like the fact that she cast no shadow could as well in this sunlit butte. She was thank full of the parasol she panicked and summoned, but she was starting to feel hungry on more then one level from all the work she had done today. She had finished the corn bread she had grabbed and was looking to see if there was more food she could reach without coming out from under the shade of the parasol.

She glaceed over at Ivy out of the corner of her eye as she sipped at her tea. "I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up! I am getting tired quick!" she thought desperately, not knowing if the demoness could her the thoughts she was trying to send to her. Some how it just seemed to make sense that she could send a message to her, since she had been in Aphris' head.

"oh i see, that must be strange! but doesnt the ebb of time worry you? just being souls and all i know a time or two that mechanics have had to put a marionette down because over the course of time...the soul gets a bit wonky, cant have homicidal dolls walking about i suppose"

Ivy got a ping in the back of her head and knew Aphris was getting tired, the message rang quite clearly in her mind

"well we must be going it is quite sunny and i would hate for the radiation to ruin my skin, 3rd degree burns are no way to go back to a husband, ta dollies!"

and with that she turned to walk away kicking up another dust storm so that they might get back through the doorway

Simon, having noticed how Aphris was tiring, helped her back through the portal, where she turned immediately back to herself, the disguise melting away.

"Let me get you something to drink," he said, rushing over to get her a glass of water, his touch chilling it before he handed it back to her. "You did great back there Miss."

Aphris let Simon help her through the portal, feeling like she might pass out. She still had the parasol in her hand and wondered if she would feel better if she dispelled it, or if it was now a permanent item.

(moving back to tavern)