Corrine stared at Dyaus again for a moment before sighing. "You'd better not try to kill me, I swear I'll kick your ass." Sadly though, despite her attitude, Corrine had never been in a fight, and knew no self defense. The attitude was merely a mask to keep people away from her. Her small frame wasn't much help for looking very tough either.

"Well, don't just stand there, help me figure out how to get out of this place. There has to be a way," she said, looking around. In the next moment, the floors began to shake again, the Inn was certainly unhappy with her words. Corrine's golden hazel eyes looked past Dyaus as the floors appeared to be falling out. That had to be an illusion, right?

Without another moments hesitation, she shoved Dyaus into the room beside them, throwing them both through the door that immediately slammed behind them. Pitch darkness surrounded them entirely. What was this new place?

~~~*~~~*~~~

When Max kissed Izo again, he began his blubbering, "Like you? I uh- well, I mean...". Before he had the chance to put his foot in his mouth again, the floors began to shake. Above them, the bedroom's chandelier(sp?) shook. His serious expression returned as he grabbed her hand, "Come on, we have to get out of this room." Izo pulled Max into the hall, just as the floors appeared to be falling out. "Run!" he yelled, as he pulled Max away from the falling wood.

He could have cursed hismelf for not forseeing this. The Inn was always displeased when it's guests wanted to leave. It appeared that this would be no different then usual. Reaching out Dyaus caught Corrine's arm with a firm hold. Those floors coudl be tricky, leading down into deep dark holes that seemed endless from the surface. "Careful there, the Inn would kill to make sure we stay within it's depths." What he really meant was to be careful of her words, but he wasn't sure how the Inn would react. Having others there made this whole ordeal more bearable, but more dangerous at the same time. There was no telling how the Inn would react to how each person spoke and acted. Thinking of such things was going to give Dyaus the most horrible headache of his life.

-----------------------------------------

From one moment to the next circumstances changed so quickly that if Izo hadn't been there Max's demise would have been assured. As it was the silver haired man had saved her life more then once. It seemed like he was wracking up quite the count. Clutching his hand tightly the young woman ran for her life. He was the only lifeline for her, who had barely even begun her adventuring and had no experience with this kind of thing. Give her an ambush and Maxine could deal with it, but magic was something altogether different.

slowly the Inn began to calm down, the floorboards reappearing. By this time Max clutched Izo tightly with no intention of letting him go. "You just saved me again, guess you're stuck with me now." Laughing shakily, the orange haired woman looked up at Izo with thankfullness.

Squinting to see, Corrine found useless. This black was a black hole. She was actually relieved when Dyaus held onto her arm, she didn't feel so alone and unbalanced. Unfortunately, in pitch blackness like this, Corrine was useless. She could hardly stand up straight and keep her balance, much less focus.

She held her breath for a moment trying to gauge where the objects in the room where as she reached out to feel for a wall or something. When she found only air before her, Corrine frowned. This was just great. Now she was stuck in some sort of cellar dungeon with Mr. Split Personality and no way of knowing when he was his other self. "What are we supposed to do now? It's impossible to see," she said, stating the obvious.

~~~*~~~*~~~

Holding Max tightly as she clung to him, Izo looked down at her, almost confused. He didn't know what it was about this quirky girl, but something had him feeling very protective of her. He smiled faintly at her words, I wouldn't mind that, he thought to himself. "Well, if we can't outsmart this place, you may be regretting those words later," he said jokingly.

Shaking his head, Dyaus lifted a hand casually. Slowly a glowing orb of warm light began to materialize, giving the two some visibility. They could see now that the cellar they had ended up in was full of bizarre items, all placed on shelves. Some were familiar to the white haired man, striking a chord in his scattered memories. "I've never been down here before..." Still holding Corrine's arm, he made as if to move towards a beautifully carved staff. It called to the man, as if it belonged to him.

-----------------------------

Sticking out her tongue, the young woman then placed her head on Izo's shoulder. He was the strangest man she'd ever met. Usually her ways tended to intimidate them a little. "It's got something to do with that guy, no not just something ... Everything. The Inn put me under to show me something. It's half nice, but it's starting to go crazy." Max hoped she was making sense. The visions, dreams, had been so much to take in and very hard to believe. Under the circumstances though, there was nothing else she could do.

As her face lit with the warm light, Corrine's eyes remained on the orb for a moment. He could do that? That was amazing, and in this light, Dyaus didn't appear to be half bad of a guy. Looking around the room, she noted all of the strange items that lined the walls. Trinkets, jars, books, artifacts, etc... whatever this place was, it was packed with things she'd never seen before.

Sticking close to Dyaus for light, Corrine searched for something that might be helpful to them. Unfortunately, she didn't know what half of these things were, so her search proved useless as she ran her fingers over a few books, a little cloud of dust making her sneeze, before her hand landed on a very curious looking book. Casting a glance towards Dyaus as he studied a beautiful staff, Corrine pulled the book from the shelf, opening it in surprise.

The book held spells and other secrets of the Inn. Maybe this was the key to getting out of this place! The question now was, how would she tell anyone about it without the Inn trying to take it back or kill her? And better yet, would telling Dyaus about it be a smart move anyway? Closing the small book, she held it behind her back, trying to decide what to do next.

~~~*~~~*~~~

Huh? Izo looked down at Max again, questioningly. Maybe she hit her head too hard when she fell. Or maybe she just had an overactive imagination. But maybe, she was right. This place was intense, and crazy, in all of his crazy adventures, he'd never encountered something like this. "So if it has everything to do with Dyaus, maybe it's best we find him." He stopped to think a moment, "And the girl who was here before us, she can't very well be left alone in this madhouse."

Izo had no idea that Corrine was in fact, not alone, and that she might be in grave danger with the company she kept. If something wasn't done soon, they could all be in grave danger, and that was something Izo's instinct told him as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. This place gave him the creeps, and it wasn't somewhere he wanted to spend the rest of his life, weather Max was here or not.

Running his hands over the dark wood of the staff with it's intricate carvings, Dyaus felt a familiar energy wafting trough his hands. There was something wrong with this beautiful object. It pulsed darkly, giving Dyaus goosebumps. Without his wanting to, one of his hands tightened around the staff. Picking it up, a look of pure terrified horror crossed his face. "R-run," managed to say Dyaus as he felt himself entering another black out. This time though, he'd realized it.

Glancing at the young woman, the white haired man smirked. How sweet that his other self had been worried for her. Lashing out with the staff, he swiped at her legs to try and make her fall. "You have no idea how much trouble you're in do you?"

-----------------------

Glancing up at him, Max was sure he didn't know whether to believe her or think she was crazy. Instead of trying to prove herself to him, the young woman disentangled herself from his arms. Glancing around she noted that the floors were indeed again solid. There had to be a way out.... "Izo do you have any idea how we can find them?" Before they could leave everyone needed to be together. Of course at her words something strange happened, mirrors seemed to just out of the wall with images of different people flitting trough them. There was one showing Max and Izo where they stood, and somewhere in that mess of things was one which showed what was going on with Corrine and Dyaus.

"Wha?" Hearing Dyaus' words, Corrine looked over at him questioningly. Seeing the staff now pulsing with some sort of dark energy, she took a step back. "Damnit Dyaus..." she mumbled. If she ran, she wouldn't be able to see, but running in hope was better than standing there like an idiot. As she turned to run, she felt something hard smack into her ankle, causing her foot to slam into her other, sending her quickly to the floor. The book flew from her hand, sliding across the room as she landed hard on her stomach, the air leaving her lungs.

As Corrine deeply inhaled the musky cellar air again, her eyes fell on the book. That might be her only chance. Frowning over her shoulder at Dyaus' words, she moved quickly, grabbing the book and turning to face him as she opened it up, not having a clue where to begin. She was slowly backing away, hoping to buy time while she found something, anything that might help, to no avail, as she backed into the cellar wall. Closing the book, she held onto it tightly, prepared to use it as a blunt weapon, if nothing else.

~~~*~~~*~~~

Letting Max go when she moved away, Izo had hoped he hadn't somehow offended her. Before he could respond to her question a mess of mirrors appeared. Izo's eyes scanned them curiously. He saw an image of him and Max standing in the hall, and many of other people's untimely undoings. He shook his head, "This is awful... all those people..."

Next his eyes fell on a mirror that showed Dyaus and Corrine. "No..." he said in a low whisper. "No!" he yelled, throwing a nearby lamp into the mirror, shattering it. He stood there for a moment panting heavily before realizing his actions and sending a glance to Max, quickly turning away. "I'm sorry, Max. I have a bad temper sometimes. I just... can't believe this is happening. I feel like there's nothing I can do." He cursed himself for shattering the mirror, now they wouldn't know what happened.

"There has to be some sort of clue, or something in these mirrors." Izo's eyes scanned them again... "There!" he exclaimed, "Look, in that room there, it looks like some sort of central control room, like the Inn's mechanical, magical brain of sorts. We need to get there." He refrained from adding why they would want to try there, to be sure the Inn wouldn't freak out on them again.

Raising an eyebrow upon seeing the book, Dyaus moved forward with one hand outstretched as if to snatch it away. Alas it was too late for such a thing. Instead the man reached out to pass his free hand over the young woman's cheek. She was quite trapped, Dyaus knew it and wasn't about to let her escape. The white haired man found her beautiful, both his dark side and his normal self. It afforded Corrine some modicum of safety. "Tell me what is inside the book you hold so closely.."

He could turn her into a pet of sorts. Make her his, bind her to his will so she wanted to please him. Some remnant of him wanted to keep her safe and sound, completely herself. In this one thing the regular Dyaus won out. There would be no harmful spells, no mind control, no horrible harmful actions ... No, instead Dyaus cast a sleeping spell once he was satisfied with Corrine's answer.

-------------------------------

Letting out a startled gasp as Izo threw a lamp to shatter the mirror, Max then tried to calm down. He really did have a horrible temper, a frightening one. Even so, Max knew he would never harm her. So she moved forward to place a hand on his arm as the silver haired man scanned the mirrors for some kind of clue. "Don't worry about it, I've got a temper too. It's just really hard to get me angry." Right now she was rather terrified, but she wasn't going to show it.

Instead her eyes followed Izo's to land on the mirror. The window she saw made her eyes widen. It was so unique, there was no way it wasn't the one she'd noticed in her Inn induced dreams. It was at the very top of the building, where the attic was usually. "It's in the attic, we have a ways to go." Tugging at his arm, Max tried to lead Izo towards a staircase.

((By passing his hand over her cheek, I'm assuming he moved to put his hand on the wall beside her head. Otherwise, I'd assume he'd hit her, and Corrine would open all sorts of kick ass cans on him lol XD))

Trying to back up was useless now as Dyaus moved to put his arm above her shoulder, next to her head where she couldn't move. She pressed herself against the wall, clutching the book closely, confident that it would help. Maybe if she found the others, one of them would have some clue how to use it. Staring into his eyes as if to challenge him, Corrine would answer, then, her plan was to use her power to pass through the wall, leaving him here alone, and her safely somewhere else.

"It's a spell book, and I think some sort of instructions for getting out of this place," she frowned, "Maybe even a way to get rid of you," she snapped. And that was her cue to disappear. But unfortunately for Corrine, she still hadn't mastered the power. Before she could manage enough focus, Dyaus mumbled something, and before she even knew what happened, his face blurred and her legs felt like rubber. She reached out to him to keep herself from falling. What's happening to me? Everything went black.

~~~*~~~*~~~

Izo nodded at Max, she really was something else. He was glad not to have scared her, and appreciated her efforts to calm him. As he looked down at her, and felt her hand on his arm, the anger left his eyes and he smiled reassuringly. He couldn't shake the feeling though that something bad was happening, but of course it was, everything about this place was bad news.

When he felt Max tugging at his arm, he reminded himself that losing his temper would only end up hurting her, that he needed to try and keep his cool. "Well, lead the way then," he said with a smile, following her to the stairs that looked ten stories high. He would need to have his guard up at every second to protect Max, which was his every intention.

((Actually, he was just caressing her cheek because he likes the way she looks.))

Her eyes, if felt like the young woman had been staring straight into the strange amalgamated soul which was Dyaus, and yet not quite. The Dyaus who had been kind and good before, he was gone now. Instead the two pieces of the man, both Dyaus and the soul which had been within the staff, they were warring together and becoming one. So as Corrine collapsed, this new man was becoming himself.

Within him, he found a shard of caring for this young woman. Carefully lifting her, Dyaus regarded the book with a frown. Later, he would deal with that after the woman was safely in a room. Moving quickly trough the Inn, he found the perfect room. It was beside his own and richly decorated. Smiling to himself, he placed the young woman onto the bed after pulling back the covers. Placing the book she had placed upon her bedside, Dyaus then sat down upon a nearby chair to wait.

------------------------------

Smiling back at Izo, Max nodded and began running up the stairs. Everything was fine as her legs propelled the young woman up the first two levels of stairs. It was after this that things began to be more difficult. Max might have been determined to travel trough the world, but she hadn't yet the stamina to travel as far as she wished to. So the orange haired woman began to tire visibly.

At the same time the stairs themselves had been changing slowly. Sticky, it seemed like they were sticky. Some liquid substance had begun to film over the steps. Suddenly, just as Max was putting more effort into her steps, a stair disappeared. Yelping in surprise, she looked to Izo hurriedly. This just wasn't her lucky day.

((Aww, well that's sort of sweet. Lol))

Smiling as Max bounded up the stairs, Izo began to hurry after her. "Max, wait up!" he shouted. He didn't want to seem like the freak he was, so instead of sprinting past her with his super human speed, he lagged a little ways behind. When Max appeared to grow tried, Izo only smiled. Most humans had a hard time making it up one flight of stairs so quickly, she'd done quite well, but he was surprised to see that her feet seemed to be pulling up some sort of sticky stuff.

A look of confusion passed over him as he realized he too was fighting the stick. He needed to hurry and get to Max before something happened, the Inn was clearly trying to keep them from reaching the attic. Looking up the three or four stairs between them in time to see the stair disappear beneath Max's feet, Izo's eyes widened. "Max!" The adrenaline pumped him enough that when he moved his feet, it was almost as if there wasn't anything sticky trying to hold them to the floor.

As she began to fall, Izo grabbed onto her arm. She was now dangling over a black abyss. "Hold on Max," he said through grit teeth. Izo was halfway into the pit too, his legs keeping him on the stair case and his other hand holding tight to the railing. "Max, I can't hold on much longer, you're going to have to climb, or we'll both fall," he said with a worried tone.

~~~*~~~*~~~

Corrine was dreaming now. She saw a silhouette of a small family, a man, a woman and their daughter. In the next image, the daughter was being shoved away from the mother and father, into the hands of scientists with bottles of pills, knives, and a straight jacket. The girls face came in clear, it was Corrine, and she was running now, through heavy rain, and towards someone, a man. Clashing into him as he held his arms out for her, she looked up at him. It was Dyaus, and he was protecting her.

Corrine stirred a little as she lay on the bed where Dyaus had placed her. Her long wavy brown hair had dried by now and lay out around her on the bed. Her hands crossed over one another on her stomach, and she looked like something out of a modern day Snow White story. Slowly her golden hazel colored eyes began to open. Sensing the presence in the room, she turned her head to see Dyaus and frowned. Had he brought her here? Had he protected her after all, like in her dream? What did it all mean? "Which Dyaus are you?" she asked bluntly, unsure weather to believe his answer either way. Sitting up in the bed, she rubbed at her eyes. The sleep spell certainly had her feeling exhausted still.

Plummeting into the pure darkness was like free fall. One that Max knew wasn't going to end well for her. Then suddenly her arm jerked in it's socket, wrenching and causing enough pain to make her yelp out. She hadn't even noticed Izo moving to catch her, but the young woman was more grateful then she'd ever been before. Even the last two times the silver haired man had saved her. It was just a little embarrassing really, having to play damsel in distress to his knight in shining armor all the time.

A panicked expression crossed her face at the man's words. She didn't say anything, but instead swung up her free arm to grab hold of Izo. Somehow, trough struggles and with grunts of annoyance she managed to get her legs up onto the stairs. After that it was easy. Collapsing to the ground in exhaustion, the young woman looked at Izo with wonderment.

"Are you always playing hero like this, or is it just with me?" Chuckling a little, she was trying to hide just how afraid she'd been. Tugging at Izo's sleeve, the young woman tried to get him to lie down beside her. They both needed a rest, and to figure out how to get across that gap! "I really do wonder how we'll get to the attic now," mumbled Maxine.

--------------------------

She looked so peaceful lying as she did on the bed. And he didn't even know her name... Shaking the thought from his head, Dyaus picked up the book and began leafing trough it. There was so much information inside it, but none helped the man. He couldn't read it, at least not all of it. The book itself was keeping it's information from him.

Putting it aside, a small smile formed itself upon his face as the young woman opened her eyes. "Both, you could say the mixture's quite explosive." Reaching out the man tugged at her hair with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "I wonder if you can handle me, after all your bravado from earlier." The Inn seemed a little calmer now, though it still tested Izo and Max. It had almost become a trial area now, to test and perfect the abilities and bonds of each person within.

Max was trying to be funny, but Izo felt too worried about the situation to smile anymore. Shaking his head, he in fact did not, always play the hero. He didn't help people out, not ever. He didn't harm them, but only because he worked hard not too. There was just something about Max that he wanted to protect.

When she tugged at his sleeve he moved to lean on his arm where he could lean over her and look her in the eyes when he spoke. Brushing a piece of her curly hair away from her face, he spoke softly, "I want to protect you Max," he started, "I don't know what it is about you, but I can't seem to leave it alone. If something bad happened to you in this place, I'd never forgive myself."

~~~*~~~*~~~

Corrine slapped lazily at Dyaus' hand, still unsure what to think. He was a mixture of both of the personalities now? So, at any time, either personality could take over the other? She didn't know. It's not everyday someone gets trapped in a magical Inn with a psycho. But still, there was something about him that she wanted to trust, the good Dyaus maybe, that she knew was still in there somewhere.

Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed to face him, she tugged at her short skirt as she wondered how many peep shows she'd given in all the action. Either way, she didn't care, her mind was too focused on getting out of this place. But now her mind wondered about Dyaus and the dream she'd had. Staring at him curiously, she found herself growing more and more intrigued by him, which she knew could be a dangerous thing. "This Inn is like this because of you," she knew that much. "Why do you want to keep me here?" she asked curiously, another hint of challenge in her voice.

The young woman frowned as Izo shook his head. Was he denying what she had said? For some reason Max had a hard time believing that. Soon enough her thoughts were pushed aside as red crept up her cheeks. Brown eyes wide, shining with a tumult of emotions, the orange haired woman stared up at Izo.

His words sent Max's heart racing, though the independent young woman wasn't anywhere near admitting it. Then again, in this situation when the Inn was always pushing them into dangerous situations ... Maybe she would speak up. It was how she usually was anyway, so why stop now?

"I'd say I can take care of myself, but so far that hasn't been the case. Hopefully a situation comes around that I can actually deal with. Being the damsel in distress isn't my usual thing Izo." Impulsively, the young woman grabbed hold of Izo's hand to place it on her cheek. She didn't want to move, but knew they would have to soon.

------------------

"Yes it is because of me. My friends wanted to help me... To get rid of the darker side of myself, the one that happened because of that staff. Another soul, two souls.. Fighting constantly, weakening and ..." Shaking his head the white haired man clutched his hair with a pained expression. Nothing else that Corrine said penetrated his own troubled thoughts. The two souls were fighting even more now to see what they could save of themselves.

The original Dyaus had been fighting for too long. Without any support from an outside source he would lose more then anything else, leaving a person consumed with darkness and greed. He was tired of this life. The people he had known were dead and gone while he remained trapped in this spell which froze him in a period of time while the world advanced without him.

"And playing a hero isn't usually mine," he said as is hand was placed on her cheek. In the next moment, as if he couldn't stop himself, he leaned forward and kissed her again, softly this time, in case he found that she wanted him to stop, although he hoped she didn't. What had come over him? What was it about this girl that had him feeling so protective over a human being, and so, lustful?

For the moment, his mind left the dangers of the Inn and focused on Max's soft skin and sweet smell. Reaching up to cradle her head, his fingers wrapped into her hair and his kiss became more passionate as he suddenly imagined losing her in this hell of a place. He would never let that happen, independent Max or not, he was going to be sure she made it out of this place, and then, he would make her his.

~~~*~~~*~~~

Suddenly Corrine's demeanor changed, and she began to feel less angry at Dyaus, and more or less sorry for him. Still sitting on the bed, she leaned forward and placed her hand on his knee. "Don't worry Dyaus, I'm sure there's a way-" she needed to choose her words carefully as to not upset the Inn, "-to help you." For a moment, she felt dizzy again, but quickly shook it off. It seemed that the sleep spell was intended to keep her asleep for much longer than it had, and it was taking a toll on her mind and body.

Sighing as she looked towards the ground now, she wondered what to do next. Dyaus confused the hell out of her, but here she was, sharing a 'touching' moment with him. Was it truly possible to help him? Corrine wasn't sure, but something was compelling her to at least try. Frowning slightly, she appeared in deep thought, as she tried to plan her next move.


((Watch out Max! Lol Izo never likes people, but he's developing a little infatuation it looks like!))

Her brown eyes closed as Izo kissed her softly. Max hadn't exactly been expecting this, but she wanted to savor every moment. So what if they had barely just met? Under the circumstances letting emotions run free was warranted. This wasn't the first time Max had been kissed, certainly not, but ... There was just something there which had been missing from all those other times.

Wrapping her arms around Izo, the young woman let out a content sigh as the kiss changed into something fiercer. Soon enough though, Max's thoughts turned back to the dangerous situation they were in. Reluctantly, Max pulled back to look up at Izo with a grin. "Well that was unexpected! I'm not complaining though." Turning her head to look at the gap separating them from the attic, Max then crawled over carefully. "We still need to figure a way across this," stated the orange haired woman.

------------------

Looking up at the young woman's touch, Dyaus smiled slightly. At least now there was another person to talk to. Another person who would be able to see how he changed. Someone in the world was going to remember who he had once been. The thought brought comfort to Dyaus, more then anything Corrine could have said. The fear of being forgotten, it was something which had plagued the man for longer then he cared to admit or even think about.

"You never told me your name." He remembered the fact suddenly enough as Corrine looked to the floor. A name held power, not necessarily magical though. It was simply a word, a definition, everything a person was ... Sometimes it stemmed directly from their name, and their personalities were mixed in together with it to create a unique individual. It made Dyaus smile to think of what would happen when he was another. Would his name still fit him after that? The white haired man could only hope so.

She supposed telling him her name wouldn't hurt anything, they were after all trapped here together."I'm Corrine," she said as she stood, grabbing the book from the table beside him. "Does this look familiar to you?" she asked. "I think it might tell us how to get out of here, but I don't understand it." She stifled a yawn as she flipped through the pages, closing it when she made it to the back cover without anything looking familiar.

She was watching Dyaus now, wondering what he would say. Each time she looked at him, she found herself feeling intrigued, and... attracted. What could she say? She'd always been more attracted to dangerous men. Her hazel eyes met his as she hoped he'd have something useful to say about the book.

~~~*~~~*~~~

Smiling at her comment, Izo watched Max move cautiously towards the edge of the hole in the stairway. "Maybe we should go back down and search for another way up. This place seems like a fun house, constantly changing it's appearance. This can't be the only way to the attic." Standing, Izo moved to offer his hand to Max to help her up. "We also need to make ourselves aware of our surroundings in case Dyaus shows up. He's bad news, I can feel it."


((I was wondering if you had some idea how they would get out of the Inn, and if not, I have a few... Maybe they don't get out of the Inn, but they take away it's curse instead. Then when we're done with the RP, we can turn it into a regular group RP in the main RP forum and our characters will just have a lot of background with each other and be 'together' probably. OR, they never figure it out, give up and decide to make the best of it, letting it's magic turn the scenes into beautiful ball rooms for them, and even sceneries. Or that and then once Dyaus is no longer evil, the curse is lifted.

Also, I thought maybe somehow, Max is the only one who can read the book Corrine found. Maybe it was written by a witch and although Max doesn't have powers, her ancestors practiced witchery or something, so it runs in her blood. And maybe she even discovers that she does have some magic ability, or the ability to cast spells from the book or something. What are your thoughts?))

Taking hold of the book, Dyaus regarded it with a puzzled frown. Flipping the pages open, he noticed that it was still protecting itself. It was indeed familiar though. Before he had missed this because he'd been torn in two, and his memories had been locked away now though... "This belonged to a witch friend of mine. Probably a relative of hers would be able to read this. Unless we can draw one here though, this is of no use to us." Shaking his head at the probability of that happening, Dyaus then glanced up at Corrine with a smile.

-----------------

Taking Izo's offered hand, Max pulled herself up with a thoughtful frown. This really was a maze of a place! "Alright, back down it is!" And that was when it happened. The stairs pulled a very unreal move ... They turned into a slide. A delighted, and frightened , scream left Max as she plummeted down towards to bottom floor of the Inn. Strangely enough there was a huge pile of pillows waiting for her, and Izo too. The landing was a rather soft and fun one. Grinning like a kid, the brown eyed woman turned to Izo. Do you think we could do that again?" It had been amazing!

((I was thinking that Corrine would lift the curse on Dyaus, and the Inn would turn into a beneficial magical building. It might be fun to see how things turn out in a group RP. Though we'd have to tweak the Inn around to make sure that it wasn't too similar to RRI))

"Well," Corrine started as she took the book back, "Finders keepers," she said jokingly. Really, she did intend on keeping it with her. If there was even so much as a chance that the spells in this book could protect them from the Inn, she was going to try and figure them out. Corrine moved to the door, opening it to leave. Glancing over her shoulder, she suppressed her attitude for a moment to smile at Dyaus, "Well, are you coming or what? I think we should try to find the others."

~~~*~~~*~~~

When the stairs turned into a slide, Izo frowned, remaining serious. He reached out for Max, unsure of where the slide would lead, and concerned. But when the pillows appeared, he kept his hands to himself, allowing Max to enjoy the ride. When they reached the bottom, Izo laughed, not because he'd had fun, but because Max had. Her enthusiasm in itself made him a better person, he couldn't explain it.

Standing, he offered her his hand, "No," he said sternly, like a father might to a child. He wasn't into things like that, and they really needed to be finding a way out of this crazy Inn. One minute it was trying to kill them, and the next, it was playing with them. Taking her hand, he tugged her towards one of the many halls that lead away from the domed area.


((I figure by the time we get to that point that the RRI will be so old and no one new will have joined in so long, that it wouldn't really matter if it was similar at all. Besides, I really doubt Kry would mind, since it would be a part of our ongoing story. -shrugs- We'll cross that bridge when we get there!))

Dyaus stood quietly and moved to follow Corrine out of the room. Of course she was right, but he was afraid. It had been so peaceful with just the two of them, and now the other two were going to shatter that peace. A feeling of helplessness rippled trough Dyaus, only to be replaced by shock and surprise. The floor rumbled loudly beneath their feet, trembling with the force of the sound. Suddenly there was nothing holding them up. Somehow Dyaus managed to yell out a spell which would shield himself as well as Corrine from the debris and absorb the shock of the landing below. Moving quickly to try and find her, the white haired man just couldn't believe the fact that he wanted her to be well so badly.

---------------

Pouting a little, Max grabbed Izo's hand and dug her nails down into the soft flesh of his palm. They might not have been long or sharp, but it must still have hurt. Then there was a rumbling sound. Panicking, Max glanced all around until she heard something cracking up above. Looking up with horror she sighed. Instead of waiting for Izo to save her, again, she started running from the sound towards the stairs. It seemed like a good idea at the time, though really it wasn't. Lying in wait, the darkness of the Inn finally manifested itself into a true form. It roared and screamed, red nails wrecking the floor as it tried to catch the screaming girl in it's grasp. Somehow Max always managed to wiggle away just in time.

As the ground began to shake under their feet, Corrine looked down. "What the-", what was happening? The sounds that the Inn made were terrifying, as it seemed to creak and moan as if the entire place was going to come down, or warp. With a look of fear, Corrine turned towards Dyaus, taking a couple of steps before the floor disappeared from beneath their feet. Reaching out she grabbed hold of Dyaus in the last second as they began to fall, her stomach lurching into her throat as she caught her breath in time to scream.

~~~*~~~*~~~

"Ouch! Hey-," Izo started when Max dug her nails into his palm. Izo could endure a lot of pain, but he still felt that she was trying to hurt him a little. Pulling his hand away from her, he began to caress it with his other when the floors began to shake. He let out a small moan, "Not again..." and then, Max started to run away. "Max, wait, not that way!" he started, before taking a few steps in her direction. When the Inn took a form, Izo frowned, this was not good.

Running towards Max, Izo tackled her, just in time. Cradling her head as they fell so that she wouldn't get hurt. Allowing his body to move under hers to absorb all of the fall, they crashed to the ground. When he looked up, he saw what looked like two people, falling from many floors above, but who were they? Izo pushed off of the floor, careful not to knock Max onto it as he questioned helping the falling people, but he knew it was too late.

Pulling himself to Corrine, or the other way around, Dyaus put everything he had into the shield he'd created. He was afraid that it wouldn't be enough though, so he twisted around putting himself beneath the young woman. It was without a thought, an automatic movement. It seemed like they fell forever, then suddenly impact happened. Letting out a loud grunt, the white haired man let his eyes go to Corrine. "Corrine, are you alright?" He was surprised that the words even left his mouth.

-------------------

Just when she thought one of those red clawed limbs was going to crash down onto her, Izo saved her. Curling into him with a small sob, Max tried to regain her composure. Doing so after a couple deep breaths she stood to stand beside Izo, and that was when it happened. He seemed distracted, and the Inn's darkness was whipping with full force towards them. Making a split second decision, Max threw herself at Izo in an attempt to push him out of danger. Something ripped trough her back, sending pain trough the young woman causing her to yell out in pain.

Clinging tightly to Dyaus as they neared the ground, Corrine closed her eyes, preparing for a hard impact. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Whatever Dyaus had put around them, had saved their lives. Her head was on his chest as she began to cough from all the debris and dust floating around them, making it hard to see where exactly they had landed.

She was half on top of him, with one of her legs between his as she pushed herself onto her knees to look down at him. "I'm ok," she managed before coughing again. She wondered why he did that, positioned himself under her like that. It was almost as if he had been trying to protect her. Dyaus was one confusing man. But, she appreciated it. "Thank you," she said, "Are you ok?" she asked him.

~~~*~~~*~~~

Staring in disbelief as Dyaus and Corrine crashed to the ground, Izo wondered what had happened. He'd thought Dyaus had killed Corrine already. Then he felt Max shove into him with a yell as he turned around questioningly. "Max!" he yelled out when he saw her crumpled on the floor. He quickly knelt beside her, cradling her in his arms. "Max, what happened? Why did you do that? You're so stupid. You're not supposed to be the one saving me, it's supposed to be the other way around, now look what you've done, Max."

Izo was trying to keep the worry from his voice, but he was doing an awful job. And the only way to keep his tears at bay, was to insult her for her actions. He didn't know what exactly had happened, but he knew Max was in bad shape. He stroked her hair lightly, forgetting about the others entirely, as he only cared about Max's well being.

All he could do was look up and Corrine with the thought that she was so close ... And she wasn't running away or insulting him. Reaching up to pull her close, Dyaus hoped she'd let him. She helped balance him out, he wanted to be himself for her. Sure they'd just met, but did that really matter when everything they'd been trough so far had been so intense? "I'm perfectly alright, just a little sore and tired." Using that much magic had drained him, making the amber eyed Dyaus want to fall asleep where he was.

--------------

Stubborn as usual, Max didn't let any tears fall despite the fact that her back hurt like no tomorrow. She was relieved though when Io rushed to her side, to pull her into his arms. Curling into him like she had earlier, the young woman grinned ruefully when he started insulting her. It was kind of sweet, knowing that he was so very worried about her. Though the fact was, Maxine was worried too. She wanted to do something, just because she wanted to and because there was no telling what would happen next.

"Izo stop going on like that and kiss me! Or find me some help, cause I can't move right now." By the end of her sentence Max was in obvious pain, though there were no tears at yet. Everything was just hitting her at the same time, roiling like a wave up and down without any end in sight.

Without missing a beat, Izo pulled Max's face to his and kissed her. There was no way he was going to pass up an opportunity to kiss those velvety lips. Besides, he'd thought she'd been badly injured and it had scared him. The thought of losing her made him emotional, and all he wanted to do now was hold Max and be thankful that she was still here.

When he finally stopped kissing her, he pulled away and smiled. "I'm so glad you're ok, Max," he said as he pulled her into a hug. Standing he pulled her to her feet. "Can you walk?" If she couldn't he would gladly carry her, maybe piggy back style would get them farther. He glanced over his shoulder at Corrine and Dyaus. They probably should be checking on them now, though they seemed ok too.

~~~*~~~*~~~

Corrine was surprised when Dyaus pulled her to him. But she didn't struggle to move away, instead, she lay there for a moment, glad to be resting and even more glad to be held in someone's arms, although the would never admit it. When she finally pushed herself up, she moved to stand, offering Dyaus her hand to help him up.

Across the room, were Izo and Max. Izo she hadn't met yet, and she hadn't introduced herself to either of them. Max looked to be hurt, and she thought it might be a good idea to check on them. Besides, the plan was to find them anyway, and here they were. Almost as if the Inn had brought them together once more.