The air inside the Rastis estate seemed to be weighed down, an eerie silence filled the halls and even the servants that roamed the halls were nowhere to be seen. The small group found themselves walking through the halls in silence. They had never been shown exactly where the dining hall was and yet they found their way there. The smell of food may have lured in the hunter known as Cyrus or perhaps it was a different force, a strand of fate that guided the prophesied ones closer and closer together.
They found themselves in front of a large door, Celene found herself almost frozen in front of the door. Her mind raced, should she run? Was such a thing even possible even more? Caught within the jackal's maw dread started to overwhelm her. She was free and yet she felt the chains on her again, her wrists bound together, her ankles bolted to the ground, her freedom seemed like an illusion. She wasn't bound and yet she felt trapped all the same. Her face darkened and her body began to shake until a shock ran through her entire body. Her body jumped and jolted as her head swung up to see Cyrus with a grin on his face as he laughed.
"Really!? Where do you get off shocking me at a time like this!" She shouted as grabbed Cyrus and shook him.
He only laughed as he got grabbed, he held his hands up in surrender as he was grabbed by the Djinn. "Apologies apologies, you looked like you needed a little push."
"A shock is not a push you little-"
"Haha! My friends you are here!" Nadir's voice rang out from behind them as he approached and slapped Cyrus in the back. The force of the sudden slap sent Cyrus into the large door getting mushed against it for a second
As she was cut off by such a voice Celene let out a heavy sigh. "God I can't even be nervous in peace around you idiots." She let out a soft chuckle before she opened up the door and stepped inside.
As the group stepped inside the dining room a long table was laid out before them. Along it were plates and baskets filled with fruit and large meats. At the head of the table was the patriarch of the Rastis family. To the seats next to him one was Metia, a small growl came from her as Celene and the others stepped into the room. But seated on the other side of him a slender hooded figure, a large black cloak draped over their entire body and their face was covered by a white mask adorned with a set of eyes and a large smile that spread from edge to edge on the mask. Seated at the next two seats were Tyet and the same Jackal that had confronted Celene back in the garden.
"Oh she actually showed up, I thought she would've tried to run. Too bad, I would've liked a hunt." He smirked and licked his lips
"Silence brother Axel, saying such things will scare our guests." Tyet respond, a grin on her face as he took a sip from a glass that had been set in front of him.
"A hunt at this time of night would be rather interesting though dearest brother!" Nadir commented with a laugh as he approached the table and plopped himself down in a seat.
His arrival was met with sighs and grumbles from his siblings. He seemed to pay them no mind as he grabbed a glass and poured himself what seemed to be wine. He threw back his first glass back without hesitation. "Come my friends! Enjoy a drink and eat." He'd usher the rest over.
With a little chuckle Cyrus and the rest found themselves seats with each other. As they sat down Henry flapped his wings, rising off the ground he placed himself in Cyrus's lap his head peeked over the table as he looked around at the jackals. As he did a smirk grew on Metia's face.
"Oh how nice you brought a dish of your own, hand it over and we can cook em up good." She declared with a grin on her face
As he heard the insinuation of Henry being a meal Cyrus's brow furrowed and a shocking gaze was shot across the table as he looked at Metia. "Oh Henry isn't a meal. Although I do understand why you'd be intimidated by him. With you not seeming to be the brightest and all seeing a smarter creature must infuriate you." He teased with a small chuckle.
Metia snarled and her claws dug into the table as she listened to Cyrus. "Oh is that right?"
Yeah I think it is."
The two shot glares at each other from across the table. Cyrus grew annoyed with the female jackal and her antics, a few sparks surged off his body as sand started to swirl around Metia. As the two looked ready to change the dinner into a bloodbath Sarah cleared her throat in a rather loud manner. The tension broke slightly as Metia scoffed and rolled her eyes her arms crossing as she leaned back in her seat.
"As lovely as this dinner is, I see there's another guest here. Would you like to introduce us." Sarah cheeped out as she gestured towards the masked and hooded figure that was sat next to the father of the jackals.
Being addressed the figure's head lifted up as they looked towards Sarah. "Oh, excuse my lack of manners. I am but a humble clergyman under the care of Har'shem here." They motioned towards Nadir's father as they bowed their head. Their monotone voice gently roamed through the room as they spoke to the table.
As she heard them Sarah's eyes lit up. She couldn't believe a boon such as this had presented itself. The Rastis had an in house clergyman, such a thing would only be done if they were religious. If that was the case this was the excuse she needed to get Nadir to travel with them. She practically shot out of her chair as her hands slammed onto the table and she looked at the figure.
"A clergyman! That means you worship the Twelve Gods of Celestia! You can help me then! I am an angel sent by Emmy the-"
"Do not get ahead of yourself little lamb. I do not conform to such doctrines." The clergyman raised from their seat and extended their cloak to the side. As they did a sigil on the cloak revealed itself, embroidered onto the left arm of the cloak was a black and purple jester's hat with a smile underneath it. "I worship a different being, one that adheres to different rules."
As they presented themselves Sarah's face darkened, what could they have possibly been talking about. Sarah didn't need to question herself and yet what else could one worship in this world. She knew of sects that specifically worshiped one of the twelve gods, ones that worshiped a select amount, but one that worshiped none that was unheard of. It could even be viewed as sacrilegious to many. As an angel she got shivers, as that symbol was shown off to her it shook her to her core. It wasn't merely blasphemy it was something else, it radiated a sense of insecurity, of uncertainty of wrongness. As she looked towards them her gaze settled on their mask and her eyes widened, she had seen that same mask in Celene's hideout. It wasn't a common style in either region why was such a thing in two places? If a clergyman wore it surely it had significance. There were too many questions and the halo above her head shuddered the longer she thought about it.
As her thoughts swirled around in her head the clergyman began to speak again. "But there's more pressing matters than me. There's a Djinn among us is there not." they spoke, their mask's gaze eerily turned to lock onto Celene.
"There is, what of it." Celene responded, she had steeled herself since she entered this dining room. She wasn't going to let herself be paralyzed by fear anymore. A hardened gaze was returned to the masked clergyman.
"Ah I mean no harm. It is simply wonderful that you have appeared before us. Isn't that right Har'shem." Their tilted gaze turned to Har'shem and it seemed like even the mask on their face grew larger.
A low grumble escaped the large Jackal's lips, his sharp gaze locked onto Celene. "I'm not wasting anymore of my time. The rest of you can leave but she won't be going anywhere." Har'shem would announce.
The Rastis siblings smirked as their father announced that Celene was not allowed to leave. As they did Nadir stood out of his seat. "Father! We do not have the right to confine her here!" He'd retaliate.
As he heard him speak Har'shem's face contorted into a scowl. "Shut up you damn parasite! You have no right to go against me! The life you took is worth one hundred times more than the one you have! I should've ripped you out of your mother's womb and killed you before you were ever born." He shouted as he shot up from the table, plates and silverware being flung off the table as he stormed towards Nadir. "I tolerate you only because she told me not to kill you, but if your mother had seen how much of a failure you are she would've regretted giving birth to you." He spoke with certainty, his voice plagued with decades of resentment. As he stood in front of Nadir his hand grabbed Nadir's snout, his claws dug into him as he held it up. "So you're gonna be quiet and not say another word while I fix what you broke." He let go of his maw and started to walk back towards his seat.
"I am not a mistake!" Nadir declared as he stood tall, blood dripped down his face from where his father's claws had dug into him.
As he heard him speak Har'shem's head whipped back towards him, as if the gravity in the room had increased a dense aura started to fill the room. He looked back over his shoulder towards the parasite he had to call a son. A growl rumbled out from him and through the entire room.
"Did I just hear you speak?" He questioned
"Indeed you did father! I shall not listen to this order! I have only heard stories of my mother but surely she would not-"
As he spoke suddenly a chain made of sand would clang through the air and wrap around his throat. Sand materialized in the air and bound his arms and legs as Tyet calmly raised from his seat. "Do not speak of our mother. I've painstakingly planned and planned for years to bring her back. I will not have you ruining this like you do everything else!" Tyet snarled out as his voice finally raised for the first time and the chains that held Nadir flung him into the wall behind him and bound him to it.
As Nadir got thrown into the wall a loud boom echoed through the Rastis estate, the dust billowed out from the cratered wall. As he watched Cyrus rose from his seat, he couldn't stand around and watch such a thing any longer. "I don't have any siblings of my own but I doubt this is a simple sibling discourse. We're leaving and with whoever we please." He declared.
As he spoke and declared he turned to grab Celene's hand but before he could Metia lunged across the table, her clawed hand grabbed the side of his head and slammed him down into the table compeltly shattering it as she ran him through it.
"Damn that felt good. Fucking human getting all high and-"
As Metia spoke a bolt of thunder formed in the ceiling and struck down on top of her, her fur tingled as the electricity sparked through the air and within a hair's breath she let go of Cyrus's hair and jumped back before the strike bore down on her head. The strike erupted when it hit Cyrus, he stood up from the ruined table his body coursed with the residual electricity of the bolt that had landed on him, his eyes sparked and surged with the lightning that imbued his body a small smirk on his face as his gaze locked onto Metia.
"Aww is the puppy scared of a little shock?