Armine had been told at the bar she worked part-time, about an abandoned citadel not too far off from the town she lived in. It was said that a cult used to reside there, using its guise as a harem to do all sorts of things with their victims... but now, it was abandoned, due to a mysterious curse...

Armine thought it was all too strange and wildly spun by a drunken man one night to bear any validity... though it couldn't help her already-piqued interest.. just to satisfy both ends, she set out within the following days.

After what seemed like hours of on-foot travel; her legs getting sore, cantine of water threatening to run out, and overall the cold weather due to a miscalculation in the tempurature, Armine had finally made it to her destination. Right now, she was sitting on a rock a good amount of feet off from the citadel itself, and its front doors.

After a good while of resting her legs in spite of the cold, she slowly got up, and made her way to the front doors of the citadel. As she stood there, she took a few seconds to breathe on her fingers to warm them, before she reached out and began to push open one of the doors...

Demetrius took a glance up at the ceiling of his home with a barely-audible sigh. It felt like many many life-times ago when he had took up residence here. Maybe that was because it had been that long...

His dark eyes shot over to the door as he thought he heard something coming from there. Standing slowly, he crept towards the door, sticking to the shadows there. He wanted to see what had come before making himself known.

The girl who stood there was probably a good foot shorter than himself. Her blond hair and sea-green eyes made him smirk a little. Such an innocent-looking face, that one...

Stepping out of the shadows finally, he made himself known to her. "Hello, dear..." His silky-smooth voice hardly echoed in the worn old place. "Are you lost?" Purring the question, he stopped a few feet away from her.

Upon entering the building, Armine immediately noticed how dark the place was.. it would of been a no-brainer, considering that it might of been like that for as long as it was abandoned...

She began to take a look around the place, closing the door behind her, hoping to take in some sights of interest.. most hopefully, something that could clue her in on what could of caused whatever has behind this so-called 'curse'...

Just then, she began to hear footsteps, as she looked over towards the source of the noise. Noticing a man... maybe a little young to be a man... approaching her, she blinked a bit as he asked her.

"I'm not necessarily lost.." She began, clearing her throat a little to help her rather satin-like voice. "I just heard that this place was abandoned due to what they call a curse.. so I had come here to find out whether such a rumor was true or not..."

Eying the girl as she talked, Demetrius took in every detail of her. She was rather beautiful and her voice only helped it along. Maybe he could convince her to stay a while...

Demetrius nodded a little as she finished. "A curse, I see..." His lips twitched upward a bit in a grin. "Well, as you can see, not completely abandoned..." He purred quietly. "And what sort of girl likes to dwell and mess with such things as curses and abandoned citadels, hmm?" Demetrius had to restrain himself from pacing as he normally would. It was an old habit that wouldn't go away...

Armine nodded a bit as he told her that it wasn't completely abandoned. "I can see that..." She began. "But is there really such a thing as a curse, if you are here?" She looked at him a bit sternly, almost daring him to steer the conversation in order to avoid what she asked him.

She did had to admit though; he looked to be rather.. handsome, for a resident of the citadel.. that is, if he really did live here. Though all that was on her mind at the moment was confirming the rumors, before leaving and braving the cold weather all the way back to her home, where a warm dinner and cozy bath and fire would await her... Almost making her eager to leave this dreary place already.

With a little shrug he replied. "Well, what if there is. Why should that stop me from living here? For all you know I was the one who cast the curse upon the place..." He said, a challenging look in his eyes.

"But since you're here now, why not keep me company a while?" Demetrius narrowed his eyes a bit with a little grin. "You look like you could use a little rest, maybe something warm to drink..." He cocked his head to the side a bit. "But first I'm not sure if I caught your name... That was rather rude of me... I'm Demetrius, though you can call me Demetri if it's more comfortable." He stuck out his hand for her to shake.

Armine's widened a bit as he mentioned that he was the one who placed the curse on this place... what surprised her that he was so eager to spill the beans on this secret.. what surprised her more, though, was that he revealed himself as the culprit.

Regardless, Armine's look returned to being stern. "No thanks, I've already got a nice home to return to not that far away from here.. I should let you know that I am Armine, now, if you don't mind me asking a couple things.." She cleared her throat a little once more before she started.

"Exactly what is this curse that you placed here? And moreover... just what are you..?"

Demetrius watched her face closely. She caught on a bit too fast for him... "Maybe if you stick around you'll find out..." He said in answer to both questions. "If you're really so curious, maybe you'll even do it. Or, if you're just either a coward, or lying about why you're here, you'll just run along like the little child you are..."

As much as he wanted her to stay for him, he had to leave the other option open. The way he had said it though made it sound like a better idea to stay anyway. that was his intention of course...

She sighed a bit and crossed her arms, quirking one eyebrow. "It'd be better if I was told, so I wouldn't have to suffer.." She began. "That is, if this curse results in death, misery, something along the lines.." She sighed. "But if you insist and such things wouldn't happen to me, then I suppose I can take up on your offer..."

She just hoped that those back home wouldn't worry about how long she would be gone.. she did tell them she'd be away 'for a while', just not days, or even weeks, and if this curse did result in death...

even longer.

Demetrius laughed lightly, though the sound was a little eerie. "Of course not, darling... Why on earth would I do such a thing as that...?" He purred, steeping a little closer with his hand out in a friendly way. No matter what sort of lies he would have to tell her, he would keep her here somehow...

"So; what do you say to that warm drink, hmm?" He asked, giving her another little smile and a nod. "I think I've got some tea; what do you say to that?"

She sighed, as she took the hand he offered her. Almost immediately, she felt a chill down her spine on feeling how cold his hand was to the touch; almost colder than any amount of cold weather she's been through to get here.

"Ah.. yes.." She nodded, though oddly a bit more nervously. "That would be fine.."

She just hoped he wasn't lying... at least about the curse killing her.

Demetri took her hand, not being able to help how his grin spread a little at it. "Yes, that'll work, eh...?" Tucking her hand under his arm gently, he pulled her back to where the kitchen was.

It was perhaps even a little darker back here since it was more closed in and didn't have as many windows. Or, at least, not as many clean windows...

Letting go of her hand finally, he went to the fireplace and began to placidly place some fresh logs on.

"Yes..." She agreed, relunctantly though as she noticed his grin. As her hand was tucked under his arm, she couldn't help but shiver at the coldness of his body surround her hand, almost sucking whatever warmth it had from it.

She, albeit a bit relunctantly, followed Demetri into the kitchen, noticing how much dimmer it was compared the the room she entered the citadel in. Finally, her hand being free, she took a seat at a table as she gripped her cold hand.

As Demetri made the fire and fed it, he started to ask Armine some questions about herself. "So... Armine, is it...? Where do you live? Near here, I suppose?" He had the fire going in no time and was now putting a small kettle of water over it. Turning to face her, he wiped his hands on his pants as he cocked his head a little at her.

The fire helped to light up the room a little, but it was still a little dim. If he'd noticed it more he might have found some candles, but he wasn't bothered by the dark a whole lot.

Armine just watched him as he lit the fire until it was going properly. "I suppose you're right about that... I work at a general store, as well as a tavern in my part time, just so I can support my home." She nodded a little.

She noticed that the house was lighting up, but only a little, much to her discomfort. She could only sigh a bit at this.

Demetri nodded a bit, sitting down at the table across from her. "Don't be shy now..." He purred softly. "Tell me about yourself... Have any family? Hobbies? Pets? anything interesting?" Demetri's dark eyes watched her closely to see how she would react and respond.

His fingers absently drew circles on the wood table as he awaited her response. The water wouldn't be ready for a few minutes, so he would sit here for a while as he waited.

"Not really, aside from just my mom and dad, save for that they're in another town, I just live by myself otherwise. I only prefer to listen to rumors if that counts as a hobby. I don't really own a pet, unless you count one particular stray cat that follows me and stays at my house from time to time.."

Armine didn't seem to see herself as becoming less shy of him anytime soon, especially with his encouragement. She stared down at the table, fingers laced together as if keeping to herself, if and when possible.

Demetri nodded a little as he studied her closely. Living away from home... That was interesting for some reason.

He glanced over as the water started to boil finally. The kettle started whistling as he stood fluidly, walking over to the fire. He took the pot off and got some herbs and things out of the cabinets to add to it.

Once he had made the tea and poured it, he walked back over to the table with mugs in tow. "Here you go, my dear..." He said, watching her closely still. Putting one of the cups in front of her, he sat again with his.

Armine looked on as he went to get the kettle, fixing up the tea with herbs and the like before giving a mug of this tea to her. She couldn't help but feel a slight, eerie shiver run down her spine as he called her his 'dear', most primarily out of disgustment... though for one small second, it could of been something else.. though she quickly shook off such a though. "Thanks.." She said simply.

She blew on the tea a little so that it would cool down, shortly before taking a sip of it. Her eyes widened a bit as she noticed how wonderful it tasted.

Demetri's grin reappeared slightly at her apparent like for the tea. Settling back into his chair, he took a sip of the tea, watching her over the edge of the mug.

"So; let's get to know each other a little better..." They were going to spend some long quality time together eve if she didn't know that yet... "Tell me more about yourself, hmm? What sorts of things do you like to do? What sorts of things are your favorites...?" He shrugged a bit, trying to look friendly and casual. He couldn't quite tell if it was working or not...

Almost as if the tea worked like a spell or alcohol.. almost... Armine began to talk with Demitri about what she liked, namely wandering around places just outside the town's borders, looking at the scenery.. she even talked about some books that she liked, down to the simple things she deemed as her favorites.

The conversation went on in a long-winded manner, right until the mug was empty of tea, and by then, it was starting to become dusk.

(Felt like pulling a time skip.)

{{~*That's fine. It was starting to drag anyway... ^_^*~}}

Demetri listened politely to all she had to say, making appropriate nods and such as needed.

Once she had finally finished, it was starting to get dark out. It was now that he realized how dark it must seem in the room to her, so he stood, taking the mugs with him, to try to find a candle. He set the mugs on the counter (he would wash them later), and started to rummage around in the cabinets until he found what he was looking for.

It was a little dusty, but it would do...

He lit the candle in the fire and set it on the table.

"Better?" He asked with a little smile. The candle threw an eerie glow to his face, but it was the only other light he had really, though there were some torches in the basement. No point in lugging one of those big things up though...

By the time she had finished the conversation with him, she noticed that the room itself was getting darker, much to her dismay. She bit her lower lip as she watched Demetri (as possible) as he went to fetch something, noticing that it was a candle, before lighting it.

Armine nearly gave a sigh in relief at the change in lighting, right before she noticed the eerie look the candle gave to his face, thus making her hold back the sigh. "Yes.." She awnsered, nodding her head.

Giving her a little grin he nodded a bit. "That's good..." He breathed as he sat again. "So; it's getting a little dark. I suppose it would be best if you spent the night, hmm? It's either that or sleeping under a tree out in the dark forest. I wouldn't suggest that; it's very dangerous out there, you know..." He told her, his eyes never leaving her face.

"I've got extra bedrooms you can stay in, there's plenty of room here..." He added. Of course there was a lot of extra space; at a time there were a lot more people living here of course...

Armine could only nod agreeably at his offer. "I suppose I'll spend the night here, as you suggest." She got out of her seat, pushing the chair into the table as she did so, and waited for him to lead her to where she would be staying the night, at one of these 'extra rooms'.

"And here, I was hoping I would actually find out what this curse was.. moreover what you were before nightfall." She added with a slightly disappointed sigh.

(And now, the REAL fun will start... XD ...At least I hope so ^^; )