Raven was in the midst of finishing his own touch ups. Plenty of painting symbols along arms and face. Religious regalia that has to be respected. He is wearing teachers tweed grey suit underneath but he truly was becoming more hooded Celtic dark with his layers. This him has the short cut hair in modern style; smart phones are always around for photo look.
She was 'ready', looking like she always does for formal court or family elder meetings. A simple laced black dress and all the extra coverings. It matter not for what sides of her family that they are dressing for. She seems ageless with this mask, gloved hands and plenty of her runic language was painted over bandaging wraps. The mask seal was exactly for her title - Outsider.
Bringing to what they red hands are exactly, outsiders whom meddle with souls that are the integral core tome primaries. A society of cursed humans with knowledge of the afterlife. A tool factor when manipulating the soul laws of space times. Once those close relatives became members; they walked away human world norms. Proactively aiding God followers and supernatural phenomenon. Shielding unknowing sides. There are plenty of family members that Eliza never met as a result; including this beach side manor owner.
"Would the lady like to have a newspaper?" Her unamused slowed scowl soften on the sigil prompt, clearly of AI to the contorls the Dark web is active. It would mean she also carries a hold on the unknown items trade and meat market for god eaters.
She nods while this paper pulls from crystal into flexible sheets. Reads as any Undertaker realm paper does, but there are plenty of demon advertisements and often uncensored heretical articles.
'Lost souls within the ice now thaws'.
She reads to a point and soon flips pages to the market pages. She slows in having accessed a double page spread of heretic cultures. She skims what cults are at the rise among demon followers. Closely into the market values that have been on decline as god eaters are making suppliers afraid to pass crossings. There was even a linked request from sigils guild counter jobs. She flicks over pages around to the death realms gossip. It's nothing scandalous.
"What are you reading and how?" Raven lowering at her shoulder. Waved between her face and the 'paper'. She is unfazed as she isn't using human sight to read it.
"You don't want to know. This stuff will make your brain hurt." She puts the paper back to the sigil panel, "You made a mistake on that left arm there." She pointed out, "Unless you intend it. Sure that you do blood harvesting." She stopped there with any further information.
He looked at his arm blankly, not seeing it. She wafted for him to move closer, he steps up to her reach and then she corrected it with a stick of likely hand made makeup or bought liner. Even then with this corrected, she smirks and he looks at a loss for why she bothered. Checking the reflection out of the mark as it faded from his sight again. He back at staring at her deeply. She sits calm and patient.
"You must get along with a lot of the broken minded Enders." He careful contorls his tone and held back some negative feelings.
"It tends to be the broken that notice things." She leans back to a bored expression. She felt the sigil panel prompt some ranking request made by someone in this manor. She makes adjustments to be pacifist. It has a pane left open of ranks to be cautious speaking around. As these individuals are talking topics of gods, clothus and some side hassle over cursed items. She isnt surprised by the amount of red hands actively registered to her watching view.
"Mistress, your mail was blocked." She tilted hearing this nightmare in kneeling near her. She wafted them and it sinks away hidden. Raven stares at the nightmares direction for a prolonging time. He goes to almost ask something but he convinced himself to wait on those questions. She can hear his mind at plague of thoughts.
"You are more worried then me." She voiced, "I had stopped questioning the universe after a few to many deaths." He is still stood at her reach, she able to shadow poke his regalia to a more darker taste, imposing a more neutral faction, "German." She noted herself more. He had been keeping a deep watch of her actions and words.
Once he felt comfortable, he lowered at her eye level and began removing the mask layers. She had to make him pause so she could just reach to the end point. Removing her entire face off. There only a vacant empty space that should be a face. He isn't so scare or surprised. She waved her hand and all these mask faces floats around them, she posed in offering. He looks at each. He took a while but found the one. He holds it with shock, indeed a corpse face. He reached over with a shiver, glasps into hug of deep inner sorrow. She pets his shoulder as he felt morning a loss.
She sinks away the spare faces and gentle with taking that mask, wears it. She adjusted her whole body as this was an older mid aged life. She does her own make up again from scratch. She marked hidden on her right cheek with a mark of dead among the living. It faded from veil veiw. He clings all the more closer with her, likely that he felt safer with her current face then her others. Proving that face had a history of being his gaurdian.
Wheeling her from the side room back to the main living area. Plenty are already eating their burger king or are mulling over possibilities. The court boards, papers and references files in box stacks along wall.
"Dont bother. They are blind to such worlds." She spoke to her little things of shadows. They wanted to fuss in announce her presence - as a crown monarch of nightmare should be respected.
"What of the undertakers that came here for you?"
"They will know." It sinks with understanding her order. She brought out the tome, brushed all the names that mattered and closed it. The collective of people turned silent. Raven eyes everyone in all sorts of angles, especially how the dream creatures cling about. He noticed how all these creatures flinch of her. Several bad ones flee fast from proximity.
"Has it been interesting life this far?" She makes small talk to her Loki, but more exactly was her talk to Death, "How are you and the family? I loose track of the overall general news." Lifting the half bird part reptile of spotted cow patterns. Loki indeed is Death by his reactions and overall hold of himself.
"Its amusing to watch yours sometimes." He was indeed sarcastic with her, A tell that this particular lot has made him mad or meddled with death's personal life in a unfavoured way.
"Tell me about it." She agrees with lifting him to her lap, showing she would rather be deaths side then this lot too, "Flaws are in all families as there is no such things as perfect families. Not unless you changed your definitions or alter your perspective of comparing. Even then, there isn't any use to compare each other."
Death had no further adds to such words. Rather he lowered his head solemnly. He had then make an angled tilt of posturing his grief. She can taste it. She adjusted hold in comforting poor Death, regardless of whatever happened. This only made his grief harder, likely it is a first time for this soul to be bent about in such deep rooting emotions. Even with years of being the shepherd, seen many passes and deaths recorded. He is a soul being that feels. It may not be the same as a human.
"This pain can change into many things. It's up to you to become strong and carry it or let it crumble you from the inside. You can temporary forget but it will come back somewhere in sometime. You can drown in this grief and loose sight of what is around you." She softly pulled into a prayer, "But you understand better then anyone else." She finds that her words rung deeply over death like it was exactly what he needed. Sure he was grieving, but how he felt about his greif has suddenly changed. He nested comfortable on her lap. She holds him with warmth.
"What sort of Latin was that meant to be?" Hissed among those of the living room. They are hit in the side for speaking English, thus telling her this guy was the not German American. His clothes, a mage associate and from the tome side of Lawyer Pippen.
"For some of us, it has been a long time coming. A struggle each step to come back. For others it's been blood, sweat and fear. Here we are. Back to our tome of origin. By some miracle." This speaker is using a mage spell to speak in universal tongue. She even hears them using the terms wrong to make a point across. She makes a snort that was slightly to loud and turned heads.
"Sorry, bitte weiter. " She managed German enough. The speaker huffed.
"Broken and imperfect as it is. Laws have changed as has history. The gods have forsaken us. In some way, our existence hasn't changed for the nomadic ones we did crossing tomes. Only that the rules enacted over us that makes the difference." Plenty make interesting expressions; disappointment, happiness and there a little connected bit of concern. All but Eliza. She watched the pane of names the list shuffling. A blank vacant express on her mock human face, no flicker of acknowledgement to such speech.
"Ich habe eine Sorge darüber, wer auch immer das Mädchen ist ." Plenty looking her way. Concerned about who I am? Amusing.
"Leana?" Joseph trembles in cold, as if he felt the floor give way. Her mother knew she was here but there a sharp denying that this is her girl.
"Ich war. " Leana Eliza replies smoothly, she posed several postures of greeting. She stated her typical trades laws and particular sharp on her articulated words for soul laws. She soften down with her hands back to easing Loki and a gentle pat of Raven.
"She isn't a member, she isn't our concern. This was someone of blood family that took a different path. She here under my condition." Raven speaking to all and breaking any potential issues, "She can quiet easily disappear but I know you will regert it." The many folks hung about made gestures of not caring about this in squabbling. Easing Raven with leaning on her. She can feel how his shadow hugs her tightly in fear of her being just a dream.
"Du denkst, ich bin ein süßer Traum, auf den du hoffen kannst, oder fürchtest du dich so sehr, dass du mich auch nach dem Tod herumkriechen musst?" she voiced and he holds her tightly, she smiled warm and repeated again, "You think I am some sweet dream to hope for or do you fear being alone so much that even after death you need me creeping around?" The collective hearing her speak both German and English fluently has even the main speaker sitting down.
"I need an unbiased source that is crazy enough to book check." Raven voiced further at others while replying to her, "And you fit the crazy I need."
"Omens would be most displeased of you borrowing me over him." She huffed, "You sure you want to piss off him?" Raven doesn't further his point for now.
She has this time to finally have a better look around. Mostly because Raven was easing off from blocking her senses. She had human sight enough to know who was among the living. She inspect all the charms and knew from their souls who was from where. She knew which tome they belong to.
"How dare you wear my daughter's face!" Unable to hold back grievance.
"It was a fair price to trade." Death at her lap retorted, "You can't cheat me."
Leana sighed of how history catches up, plenty of sudden greif among themselves in how the price of coming back to life had been paid by swapping among themselves. That all trades have always been with consent. Even Eliza herself knew she swapped plenty times. She felt most of her human lifetime was likely in a hospital for some unexpected injury or near death coma.
"I shall take back my mail now." She shadow slips her hand down, pulled her stack from their hidden pockets. She lifted it. She browsers at peace while the louder and more chaotically arguments escalated. She was licking one her letters as method of reading since it was from one those abnormal smell message passers. She smelled the envelope too.
"Ein interessanter Bericht . " She concluded with this smelly mail, "Their souls have travelled together safely." She informed death, "There is a very dangerous passage of crossing to evade the afterlife that is too toxic for spirits passing. As per always the law of universal concept prevail. When there is a will, there is always a way. I suspect that crossing the gates of hell is just the easy part. I guess that some clothus bypass which cause this is also the saving grace. But it means handling Clothus." Death bite her hand this point and she doesn't even flinch about it, "they had to cross away from that tome or be face in being altered. The tome of that human world has allowed solidify of spirit beings. It be a matter of time for syc changed beings to walk among humans. But in the meantime for evolution to catch up, she choose wisely to make it over to anothers. You be even happier to know I have access to them still. That they are still under my property protections."
"You do not own souls of others." Hissed Stepfather and has been likely overhearing her talk to death for a while. He only chooses to hiss at her about this.
"I know the rules." She replies serious, "You misunderstood and ignorant." At least Death has let her go, "I protect those I watch. I watch those names because I promised to. I watch the ones that made those requests too." She reclines to sitting comfortably, "I am my only choice."
Death in this vessel tilts of how just those few words had flickered everyone's fate of death to alter. He tilts of her being that factor, but she softly posed about how Raven was. Death leans looking at Raven, having lingered a little to long. She softly sent away the reptile bird to better things then be at range.
"The greater schemes of the powerful has at a decline, not one over the other. So there has been a force keeping all at check. This force will soon wane and erupt with many more gates and monsters. It is already established that there is a direct correlation of magic users to gates and density of towns determine the size. The only down side is not knowing what opens on the other side of gates. There no pattern. There been a gates connecting other continental areas but not of the same hemisphere. There been some gates directly to god realms; mostly of fake corpses and mimics." The magic using speaker is back to topic and they all are focused, but her.
Her mind was adrift about this room of so called elders and members of red hands. In personal experience of pretending to be normal in a public place among normal blindfold humans. This room is occupied by plenty with a defect that allows them their gifts. My aunt isn't here but it's clear she should be among us as someone that feels. That guy that owns this beach house is eye ball less in both eyes, spiritually speaking. My brother is death cursed, his becoming skeletal spirit shape. The grandfather I looked up to with respectful neutral terms is has plenty of demon bindings, one eye owned by a sin title. He made a deal with a sin title or is becoming a host of one. A distant cousin across directly from me is a clothus alter, his shadow skin is texturing like poorly woven potatoe sack. He would suit being a scarecrow nightmare member. My great uncle over at their left is full clothus convert with humam soul in contorl. The nervous human that has to be his son, clothus cursed. Dude made a bad hand deal, I think I know that tradesman from such a curse.
"Eliza." Raven voiced in getting her attention.
"Hmm?" She looked over at him at her side.
"What's your current face?" He asked. She thinks deeply of why he asks about this face. She adjusted with crossing her arms to think deeply for what face is the current active lives. It so happens to be face that the lawyer guy knows; being a school runaway?
"Could you change to that?" Raven asked and she removed her current face. Plenty jolted away and she pulls her skin over to shrink. She is back to adult teenager. Although she hasn't aged much different and really the gap between her and Raven was practically non-existent.
"Our share ownership over the school was out won with the Seers and Darkwoods combined. Even then, the recent activities of participating students has brought the national boards attention. We have no current students, which weakens our voice to the national education board." The deep stab glare at her but plenty huffed with moving on.
"There no trusting that demon headmaster as his name is owned to the Darkwoods. Nothing human connection wise makes any point for us to keep stakes. The gate to the undertakers there is useless, as that's a collapsed kingdom. We barely luck to have taken Mr Ravenswood and his association of mages. The only neat price paid off from being connected to the fallen Saint Augustus ground. A death trap for all when the fey tree died."
"Is there any contacts made to have a seedling to regrow that tree?" Plenty posture several merchant exchanges, which she took note. She of course motioned her own merchant commission. None pay attention of her or her price. She wafted down that she wasn't interested for any full commitment and she denied any back trades anyone might try pull here. But turly they didn't include her.
"A shame." There isn't context to the vocal comment, she didnt see who said it. She adjusted back to bored and pondering these people existence. Eyeing what curses them, marks along their tome access and the active soul tells she dream reads. From the fortune creatures to dream walkers.
"Eliza, what can I do for exchange for black sand and that seedling they were bothered about?" Raven openly spoke in English. Anchoring to her interest back to their collective topic.
"I would have to negotiate with the trees about planting an off shoot of the orginal." She replies warm toned and with a causal American accent, "Sand for you. I happily hand over whatever, depending on the project. Be it talking to one them many gods or summoning. If you plan on handing to these youths, we have to dial down to market amounts by the grim orders law. I could also ask death what his confirmation is." She looking him right on the face, "I totally need a grocery shop trip. A better idea would be Whitards in the UK. They have all sorts of fancy tea." She tilted, "I could get one my folks on that actually." She thinks over the sending a shadow or nightmare, "Second thoughts." She huffed, "Oh!" She pats his arm, "I could make trade with the trees for tea too."
"Eliza." He holds her hand, "Does the trees in question eat people?"
"More like use them like bait for the better fertiliser. I am not different with using clothus the same way." He stares at her a prolong while. He wobbles a little to ask some words. He soon just for now let's this pass, back forward at watching the debate of red hands. He lowered in thinking and softly clothus taps on her hand asking for a exact amount. She may raise a brow unsure but with the spare hand. She shadow lifted a sealed jar.
"Its a bit stronger then you intent." She puts it to his hands only, "A spoon measurement is all you need." He looked shattered by the sheer quantities of quality, handing off like it's nothing, "oh, and." She pats and soon a made tea light candle, "Its a protype. No market yet." Slips the sand away with putting the candle, "I can make them accurately cast to recipient of your intended contact. There is some untested factors and some potential issues I am still thinking about. There are a sort of mechant secert to how it works."
He stares how she took away the sand and with deeply at the replacing candle. He felt how hefty the tea light is. It's abnormalities. He attempted using mage magic to light it. She laughed at him. He finds it not lighting.
"Its anti-magic. One the down sides or maybe a use for such a strange tea light." She lifted a small match stick paper booklet, "You aren't thinking about who your trying to feel." He takes the booklet with looking how it's from some typical road side motel. Ran by dulce Abuela de las arenas del refugio.
"Well since you say that are tea buddies." Raven putting the tea light and match book back to her. She tucked away the tea light and reached down picking her Loki back from hiding, "Why do you have that?"
"These bunch of confused mortals wish for a conversation. I doubt they realize how stupid they are." She holds her Moo reptile softly in care, "Not really worth the snack bite with the tea." She soon provided three cups, thermos of surprise tea and a plate of questionable material presented as biscuits, "I was experimenting with ingredients and hoped they came out tasty." The wing with a little claw fingers takes a cup and slides a biscuit on the saucer. Death softly measures things by eye and smells everything. Slowly a dot of a tongue laps some tea. He nested more comfortable with more tea. Nods impressed. Jaw breaks with throwing the biscuit whole to mouth. Scarfing the treat a while. Polished the last drop of his tea in the cup. Only then was there a septal purr. This vessel neaten up his appearance and made himself visible to all. Being a floating bone structure of a reptile bird.
"Per always, I dislike this forced way you accomplish handling souls. But what should I expect from mortals?" Deaths causal commenting sets plenty to ease knowing his the real deal, as if they all met him with these manners before, "Who is trading what exchange of life? Since it's what you tend to price for." He scans them all but up with Eliza, "You wouldn't happen to know what they want with bring corpses back for?"
Eliza refills death cup softly, and sips her own. On being sure, she made Raven drink his. He downed the whole cup. She smiles glad in refilling Ravens cup too. Easing back with death looking to her from her table front.
"The society of the red hands are unique souls that carry a lot of luggage. Plenty of them have fixed aspects of many a tome. You're guess is as good as mine for what the they scheme." She softly puts the flask down, "Given the way one book is half and half. The other book is toxic material... there must be some neutralising toxicity at game. Or uniting the two books as one. It's isn't the only time to connect tomes." Death reached with a new biscuit and thinks her answer over, "The souls are so lovely on both books. There isn't anyone screaming or at a point of total soul melt down." Death coughed his biscuit a little.
"The enders have united but there isn't one connected to the human world of monsters." Raven found his voice stolen a second, as the ender title makes commentary.
"You are funny." She snorts, "Of course I made a trades agreement to settle truce with that ender." She sips her own tea with enjoying it.
"So you have access to the other worlds soul index?" Joseph hissed and she makes sure which tome he belongs with. Her shadow doing the page flicking. She finds his not in either book of her access. But with a little tracking in Ravens shadow pocket, this Joseph is a invited crossing through Ravens promise. Plenty of the society is. She stops snooping Ravens pocket with that answered.
"One my descendants is the index keeper, a vault dweller as many humans are of that tome." Eliza voiced, "Humanity is still active in that world. You have those that refused vault dwelling or were exiled that take chances." She tilted hearing them hating her input and so she straighten, "The gods are a differing matter. Those true titles left that universe. The ruin by clothus that replaced gods. A lovely slave market with health standards." They arent caring about her word. So she back to sipping her tea. Feeling ignored.
"Leana died a freak car incident. Impaled by a road sign when the cars stopped working." Her mother sneers, "Her soul soon after snatched by demons."
"Or like summoned to court." Eliza huffed, "all that blood." She recalls the fencing lined of her wolves, lycanthropy hybirds and nightmare corpses. Many material wasted value in how they died and improperly handled. How she was dismissed charge for being her nature. It was only just softly briefly that the corner of her mouth creaked a little fragile, being a not human imperfection of her persevered image. Death coos with another biscuit being chewed down. She fixed herself by hand wiping her mouth.
"Eliza will be under Ravenswood. Given she useless to us now. Crippled little lady with no voice." She stopped drinking her tea that.
"Have I been speaking with the wrong voice method?" She asked both Death and Raven. Death was honest, postured that it was them making excuses. Raven displeased by the red hands disrespectful notions that matter. There seems also the underlying relief that Eliza is given to him without a fight. Those he thought that should have object didn't budge a word. Rather instead it was more the total strangers of the red hand seeing from outside perspective that scowl of the whole event. Those red hands that didn't know. As for the undertakers around here, they are just shadow spies of kingdoms with stakes with this society. Her authority as the nightmares crown could over rule their interference but she has already motion that she is neutral.
"Transfer her life energy to spread among us." The request made to death.
"I can't. She the one soul of your bloodline that you all rely on." Death flattened them all with those words and ate the next biscuit, "These biscuits are amazing but I suspect it is due to this vessel. Not my own taste." Wafted the cookie at her.
"I am glad you enjoy them. It wasn't easy to make them edible. Or gather the after realm ingredients to substitute human world ones." Death stares about the biscuits deeply, "Those walking years put to use." He munched away regardless.
"Lady Noctrum..." one the undertaker agents having courage, "A request has been posted about missing within the tower you be going to. You arent going to disappear too?"
"That doesn't depend on me. That is whatever fate has planned. She always strings the broken lost things my way." Eliza openly staring to the undertakers, "I will also need to trade with the neighbours anyway. I don't want them moved off to unstable grounds because of me." She back to tea cup refilling and smile about empty the plate is. Death has put this vessel into a food coma, sleeping on her lap. Plenty loud snoring and strange way head is buried on her. She hugs softly not waking but to carry this body to her closer. Enjoying this level of trust and love from a creature. Soothed when things are snapping at her heels.
"Its not the vessel we trust."
"Funny, because this is indeed Death in a borrowed body." She sweetly tuts, "It can't be helped when the god eater ate this fragment of death. But even death himself cringed to his ideals and converted this god eater as his vessel. Loki doesn't normally bother eating or holding souls in his stomach." She distracted by how deeply sleeping in peace this vessel becomes in her hands. How trusted it feels in her hands. She even felt that this was a privileged honour. She leans with sharing this feeling to Raven and although he frowns confused. He did smirk that she was happy, in spite of those around her. Turly her own world and no cares for these people.
"Mistress the mail is urgent." Reminding her of some bother among the nightmares. She smells reads mail as its the not written ones. Tree mail. The spirit is currently using a human monument as fort. Literally using an old spainsh fort of the Saint Augustine area, Fort Matanzas National Monument. Using a gate slip that hidden in the town cemetery as the pass between for its lower men, it being a lord over proxys. What part of this mail is urgent? Definitely not name checking if its died or if they going to keep among. Ah, black mail. The shadow of damned have my answer. 'They invaded territory once owned by a Spanish curse. Clashing war that is affecting humans to the point of death.' So it's problem I can fix. She sinks this mail through her skin, imprinting a trust mark for the lord tree proxy.
It relaxed plenty of this nightmares seeing she will be involved with a solution. From the humans among here, although she isn't one of them and has not baring to their wishes. Everyone can tell there was something just around the corner with whatever she stands for and they were in her sight. Unsure if that it be any worth benefits are the equal value of tangling with her or the mages that Ravenswood has clientele. Mages to these lot are a unknown and unstable factor.