Jett looked back to Erik, and quickly noticed that the berserker side of him was quickly beginning to lose control. The ravenous sounds of bones breaking echoed across the ship as Vance's death was getting closer and closer to reality. If Erik killed Vance, Rocco would murder him where he stood, and his dreams would fade--his wish would go unanswered.

Quickly throwing his hand out in Erik's direction, the command seal on the back of Jett's hand became visible, "By the power of my command seal!" The crimson glow would blind anyone who happened to look at it, "I ORDER YOU TO WITHDRAW!"

Rocco didn't show any emotions. If Erik had killed Vance, then they all would have died. And it wasn't like Rocco wanted to live, with Vance existing. So he didn't care. On the other hand, Jett would probably have done what he was going to do no matter what, so Rocco didn't bother to be surprised at any situation.

Isabelle nodded in agreement before exchanging contact information with Alistair. "I hope your sources don't keep us waiting too long. The sooner we find Vance the better." The young woman tossed the concentrated fire into the air, letting it explode like a firework above the group. With two hands on her staff, she concluded, "I'll have Jack stay here with me. I've always enjoyed the beach. You two are free to leave at your own leisure if that is what you desire, but I won't be offended if you choose to stay."

OOC: Sorry for not posting, been down with sickness for the last few days.

The thick sludge of the beast's influence that was enveloping Erik's mind with it's blood lust was close to it's complete take over. Erik felt all his senses disappearing as he lost the controls to his own body, forcibly losing it to the monster within him. It was so hungry for fighting, so hungry for blood, so hungry for death. It could feel the blood within Vance's body pumping quicker and quicker as it tightened it's grip around the smaller mans body, his bones cracking loudly like weak wood. The first death on it's hands would finally come, it would be so tasty and deliciously cruel. Yes, it's close now, so cl-

Then it stopped. The feeling stopped. The grip on his mind was let go, as the beast was forced back into its hold. His strength waned a bit as his arms loosened their strength on Vance. His left lost it's grip and dropped to the side, while his right simply let go. He took deep breaths and stared heavily at his master.

Vance yelled out as Erik's hands constricted him. The sudden pain robbed him of speech, he could no longer negotiate with the behemoth. The mage prepared to deliver the kill order to Rocco telepathically.

Then, something unexpected happened.

Jett, utilizing the power of a command seal, forced the viking to release Vance. The suited man fell to the ground, writhing in pain. He beckoned his servant, "Ruh-Rocco! Bring the light... over here..." His vague instructions did not go unheard. Once Rocco came to Vance's aid with a flame, it would allow the mage to start healing. He groaned; it wouldn't be long before he was on his feet again.

Alistair watched the fireball explode extravagantly up in the air. Maybe the elements do have that small touch of beauty in them. I don't know. Never preferred their simplicity but perhaps that is where they shine, he thought to himself. Was my life just be complicating simple things? I search for convoluted answers to probably straightforward questions.

The gentleman had his phone out after placing Isabelle's contacts. He stepped a few more feet away from his fellow master, leaving prints of his feet onto the sand, to avoid any eavesdropping. With a few taps, he contacted the detective.

"Pleasant morning, friend," he said cheerily. "I must ask you to locate a master/servant pair: Vance and Rocco. Could you do that?"

A weakened Vance stood sluggishly, producing a groan. Healing himself at such a pace was exhausting, he'd need some time to recover mana.

The suited man grabbed hold of Rocco's shoulder, steadying himself as he addressed the other pair, "So... okay... that happened..." The mage panted. He combed his fingers through his blonde hair and stood upright.

"Alright, so, to avoid any tension, we'll talk about the elephant in the room..." He gestured to Jett, "Your servant just tried to kill me and, hey, under different circumstances, I'd be kinda pissed. But, I'm pretty happy that oxygen isn't a problem anymore, so I'll brush this off as a... slight hiccup in an otherwise fruitful business partnership." Vance exhaled sharply, clenching his teeth, "...And I'm totally NOT suppressing my rage right now and I WON'T take it out by torturing your parents until the excruciating pain makes them pass out. Wouldn't that suck? You don't have to worry, though. I'm absolutely, 100%, totally, super NOT doing that."

The future king of the world took a few steps into the darkness and created another light source in his palm, "Rocco and I are going over here... you and Erik go treasure hunt somewhere else. Oh, and, reminder: any funny business and your next family reunion will be you scraping your parents' brains off of my floor." He marched down the corridor, "Let's be quick about it! My to-do list just got longer!"

Jett stared Vance down. There was no sentiment between them, just a growing hatred that had become increasingly stronger as time went on. His comment regarding his parents caused him to grimace--he restrained himself from strangling him just as Erik had. He nneeded to bide his time, he couldn't kill Vance yet.

Turning swiftly, he started to wall down the corridor with another torch, making sure Erik stood just beside them. They were silent for a llong time, and eventually Jett cleared his throat, "Heh...well that was a rollercoaster, huh?"

He shrugged his shoulders, looking back andforth a bit as the smile left hhis face, "we won'tbe with hhim too much longer, don't worry," he said quietly--neither Rocco or Vance could hear them even If they tried, "we just hhave to bide our time until Ican talk to those knights"

Quote from ErrorBlender

Alistair watched the fireball explode extravagantly up in the air. Maybe the elements do have that small touch of beauty in them. I don't know. Never preferred their simplicity but perhaps that is where they shine, he thought to himself. Was my life just be complicating simple things? I search for convoluted answers to probably straightforward questions.

The gentleman had his phone out after placing Isabelle's contacts. He stepped a few more feet away from his fellow master, leaving prints of his feet onto the sand, to avoid any eavesdropping. With a few taps, he contacted the detective.

"Pleasant morning, friend," he said cheerily. "I must ask you to locate a master/servant pair: Vance and Rocco. Could you do that?"

As the detective answered, Alistair noted an intense amount of background noise. People talking excitedly. "I probably couldn't locate them myself... but I know a few guys who probably could." He shouted out for a bit, probably some names in a crowd. "Hold on for a bit, eh?"

After about five minutes of listening to indistinct talking, followed almost exclusively answered by excited squeals, Edward finally got back to Alistair with an answer. He could tell from the tone of his voice that the detective was grinning. "Alright, man. We can't tell you where Vance is just yet, but they'll be trying their damndest. Give me thirty minutes and I'll call you back. Hopefully with good news."

The man hung up.

Quote from Tsar Bomba

A weakened Vance stood sluggishly, producing a groan. Healing himself at such a pace was exhausting, he'd need some time to recover mana.

The suited man grabbed hold of Rocco's shoulder, steadying himself as he addressed the other pair, "So... okay... that happened..." The mage panted. He combed his fingers through his blonde hair and stood upright.

"Alright, so, to avoid any tension, we'll talk about the elephant in the room..." He gestured to Jett, "Your servant just tried to kill me and, hey, under different circumstances, I'd be kinda pissed. But, I'm pretty happy that oxygen isn't a problem anymore, so I'll brush this off as a... slight hiccup in an otherwise fruitful business partnership." Vance exhaled sharply, clenching his teeth, "...And I'm totally NOT suppressing my rage right now and I WON'T take it out by torturing your parents until the excruciating pain makes them pass out. Wouldn't that suck? You don't have to worry, though. I'm absolutely, 100%, totally, super NOT doing that."

The future king of the world took a few steps into the darkness and created another light source in his palm, "Rocco and I are going over here... you and Erik go treasure hunt somewhere else. Oh, and, reminder: any funny business and your next family reunion will be you scraping your parents' brains off of my floor." He marched down the corridor, "Let's be quick about it! My to-do list just got longer!"

Alone, it took Vance hours to navigate the humungous carrier. Each break left the betrayed man more tired and frustrated than the last, but he absolutely refused to leave this place without getting something out of it. Not after all that just happened.

Drenched with sweat and shaking with irritation, Vance found what he was looking for at last. An old chest, so cliché that it had to be full of pirates' treasure.

Vance opened up the crate to his victory, throwing out useless gold coins and old jewels as he laughed with glee. The real treasure was beneath it all, in the shape of an old cask of glowing blue liquid.

Drinking this cask will heal the user completely, in spirit, body and mind. It also fully restores their reserves of magical power. This works on Servants as well.

Quote from Boomerang

Jett stared Vance down. There was no sentiment between them, just a growing hatred that had become increasingly stronger as time went on. His comment regarding his parents caused him to grimace--he restrained himself from strangling him just as Erik had. He nneeded to bide his time, he couldn't kill Vance yet.

Turning swiftly, he started to wall down the corridor with another torch, making sure Erik stood just beside them. They were silent for a llong time, and eventually Jett cleared his throat, "Heh...well that was a rollercoaster, huh?"

He shrugged his shoulders, looking back andforth a bit as the smile left hhis face, "we won'tbe with hhim too much longer, don't worry," he said quietly--neither Rocco or Vance could hear them even If they tried, "we just hhave to bide our time until Ican talk to those knights"

***

"Violet. That was a good thing you did."

The two knights were huddled beneath a bridge, recovering both emotionally, and spiritually from severing their mental links with Vance and his Servant. Both knights had removed their helmets, but Blue sat in shadows too dark to reveal his face. "But you forgot an important thing." He continued. "How are Jett and the Berserker going to contact us?"

The lady knight, in contrast, was sitting in a sunbeam and enjoying the rare warmth of these chilly days. Her features shone with pride. "Don't you remember, silly? We know where he lives. We'll just show up!"

"I..." Blue coughed. "We don't even know if Jett wants us. After what we've done to him, and more than once."

"Trust me, big guy." Violet was looking at her reflection in her helmet, running hands through her pale white hair in an attempt to smooth it out. "I have a feeling that they would be very happy to have our help."
________________________

Night 4 is beginning now. It's at around this time that Vance is finally leaving the ship with his prize. Alistair knows where he is, and has ample time to meet him if he wishes.

Vance decided that Erik would go with his master while Rocco would go with him. He was hesitant, but after a few hours, they managed to find a chest. Inside was enough gold and riches to last a lifetime, but Vance threw it all away in favour of the cask of blue liquid at the bottom. They left immediately, and Rocco waited in the car for Erik. They'd now go to the Grail Manor, since the stronghold was essentially turned upside down and trashed.

Erik spoke not a word for a long time, his thoughts stuck in processing of what just happened. The beast had finally begun it's movements, it was tired of waiting for death, it was now coming out to get it. This could only spell bad news for the future, it meant that all the mushrooms Erik was taking was weakening the cage that held his monster, the effects finally taking its toll on his mind. This could never happen again! He would ensure with all his might he would not lose control until it was necessary.



Quickly, Erik entered the car and stepped on the gas to follow Vance. He gave no look to Rocco and didn't utter a word to his "partner", wasting no time to leave the place.

******

They arrive at the grail manor with rather slow speed as the car slowly went to a halt in front of the magnificent manor.

A strident noise broke the stillness of the air; the sportscar screeched to a halt.

The door, a candy-apple red, swung open, allowing for a man in a similarly colored suit to step out. Vance made his way up the steps of The Grail Manor. He took in a great inhale, "Boy, what a night..." After what had just transpired, the man was in a suspiciously good mood. With the group close behind, the mage entered the Manor dramatically, spreading his arms and yelling into the halls, "Geez, where can a guy deliver important information around here?"

Vance took a few steps forward, waiting to be approached.

Jett didn't do much looking around. After he got far enough into the hall, he simply rested against the wall and stared out of a gaping hole that had been in the ship. He watched the sun descend from its peak and down behind the mountaintops, all the while his green eyes getting darker as the light was sucked from the air. He thought about his plans, his next move. It was clear to him that Erik was beginning to lose control of himself, and would need some sort of decisive kill to fuel his blood lust. He would have to be just as careful about who he'd let Erik kill as well.

He glanced down at his hand, noticing the significant portion missing in the command seal at the back of his hand. Jett only had two more times he could inflict absolute control onto Erik; He would have to use the remainder of them very wisely if he valued his life and wish.

This meant that dealing with Vance sooner rather than later was an absolute necessity.

Then he heard a voice in the distance and cringed, curling his hand into a fist. He turned, motioning for Erik to follow as he escaped from the abandoned ship and into the cool night air. Reluctantly, he parted ways with Erik and got into the same car with Vance for another ride to the neutral zone. He was silent for the ride, stepping out in tune with Vance. He followed him into the Grail Manor with a sigh, "What exactly are you planning to get out of this?"

Alistair waited for the call and received the information from his informant. Quite the juicy secret it was, though how juicy, time could only tell.

It seems Vance and Jett are on the niceties earlier. They shared the same area with not so much of a fight occurring. Although it could be the same with us, I find it most intriguing, he confided to Dimitri. If they did strike an alliance then ours with Isabelle is fortunate enough. What do you make of it? I will tell Isabelle later unless you say otherwise.

The gentleman watched as the sun set and then moon rise behind them. It was a quiet day and to his disappointment a rather boring one.