Shattered Soul (kuro_bara x Alenaeon)

London is a bustling metropolis, one of the largest and most advanced cities across the globe. The city is filled with towering buildings, airships, and all manner of wondrous sights. A constant fog of steam blankets the thickest parts of the city and the lower you go the worse it gets. The rich live high above the steam in garden penthouse suites while the lower classes scrounge for the scraps at the bottom.

Recently a new form of "clean" energy has become popular, spreading like wildfire through the polluted city. Dirigible swept into the city, an unknown company with their brilliant new source of energy and began snapping up the brightest and best in the city as well as any youth with inquisitive open minds. Which is how Elizabeth came to be in their employment.

Elizabeth graduated at the top of her class from the School of Advanced Technology. She had shown great promise in alternative energy and a recruiter from Dirigible approached the day of her graduation. She very quickly showed her prowess working with the Ghost Stone that produced the new, clean energy and she moved through the ranks quickly. After participating in an expedition to the mountains to search for more sources of the stone Elizabeth made her very first discovery. A beautiful onyx gem that completely fascinated her.

She began to do a series of experiments on the unique stone, hoping that she would discover a similar form of energy to the Ghost Stone. Her research led her to a discovery even more amazing that the benefits of the Ghost Stone. Every bit of data she collected pointed her in a bizarre direction, that the stone held the properties of a sentient being. A dormant one, but still. Her conclusion is that it was some sort of storage device, similar to the device used in the robots through out the city. After several months of tests she accidentally discovered a way to siphon off a bit of the energy within the stone in the form of a purplish black liquid. The scientist in her couldn't resist, not wanting to waste the small amount on an animal test she recklessly injected the fluid into her own body. At the time she had no idea who drastically her life would change with that one simple act.

***

Elizabeth braced herself against the wooden vanity in her small room. Her head felt stuffed full of cotton almost as if she had an illness coming on. Looking at her reflection made her jump in surprise. Her skin was pale, sweating, though she felt incredibly cold. In contract her eyes appeared to be glowing with some inner light. Her reflection made her think of the stories about ghouls her father used to scare her about. Shaking her head, she tried to shake the cobweb feeling from her mind. It felt as though something was pressing against her mind, trying to force its way in.

Her eyes drifted down her arm to the spot where she had injected the onyx fluid. The puncture mark was red and inflamed, dark lines extended outwards from it. The lines, she realized with a nauseous feeling, were her veins. Dragging her heavy body to the rumpled bed, she collapsed onto it moments before darkness rolled over her. Her last thought was a vague one about regretting her reckless decision...

Remwald panted heavily as he appeared within the tomb where his phylactery had been located. He was nothing but a walking pile of bones, the light behind his eyes even had been dulled, his bones were heavily cracked, his skull was missing fragments. He growled as he looked around the tomb, opening graves, smashing the bodies and generally desecrating the place. "It isn't here?! Where is it?!"

He takes a deep breath, and then goes through the possibilities. Evidently these people have found a way to affect it, not enough to completely remove his soul but they have influenced it. Magical influences must be getting stronger, but for the moment, he needed a disguise, sadly he doubted that the traditional robes of a summoner would avoid drawing attention. He cracked the door open, peering out, noting that it was daytime, he'd need to wait before he could move.

As time passed, he sat on the ground of the tomb and meditated. It wasn't a very important grave, and that was the point. It shouldn't have drawn attention. Somehow it had. As soon as he noticed darkness had overtaken the city, he sneaked out of the tomb, leaving for a factory which seemed to be radiating strongly with magic from it's smokestacks.

On the inside, the conveyor belt produced simple parts for ovens, with a few workers lazily making sure nothing stood out, or reaching in to fix an out of place gear. Remwald hid behind the machinery, moving quickly, and heading to one of the producers. Using his fingers, he peeled the metal back and grabbed a ghost stone, stealing the energy from the material to fuel his magic.

His bones fused back together, new material formed to replace that over his skull, and his eyes were set aglow with a malevolent gaze. He cracked his neck and stood up straighter. "Remwald Librod is back! And ready to kill!" He dashed to a worker, his sharpened claw going through the man's neck, a piece of metal thrown towards another. The other two workers in the room dashed for the exits, but he ran after them, tackling one before he threw his hand at the other, aiming for the heart.

He sighed happily and headed for the tomb, resting for the night under a grave, with the light hidden giving him the appearance of a normal corpse.

Very, very slowly Elizabeth began to wake. Light from outside was pressing painfully against her eye lids. With a groan she cracked one eye and looked blearily at the clock on the wall. The time indicated it was almost supper time...her sleep fogged brain tried to understand the situation. It couldn't possibly be supper time, she hadn't returned home from the lab until after dark. Sitting bolt up, panic overriding sense, she scrambled to check the date on the auto-calendar beneath the clock. The sudden movement made her stomach lurch violently, so she forced herself to lay back on the bed and take deep, calming breaths.

A whole day had passed since she had injected the fluid into her body. Other then feeling like she had the worst hangover of her entire life, she felt relatively well. Her face scrunched in concentration. She felt a strange pressure, like a small headache, behind her eyes. Chalking it up as after affects of the experiment she slid of the bed and staggered into the bathroom to shower. The lab would be wondering what happened to her. Elizabeth decided the best option was to get cleaned up, head to the lab and make some notes about the reaction and promptly return home for more rest.

After a long, hot shower. She through on a plain black dress and her favourite long coat before heading out into the dim, foggy streets of London. People were standing on the corners whispering behind their hands about the most recent bit of gossip. She caught the word factory, murder...massacre. Fear crept up her spine and she picked up the pace, heading towards the Dirigible labs. The pressure behind her eyes grew stronger with each step and an overwhelming sense of need washed over her. A need to be complete. Stopping mid stride, a man ran into her and muttered a curse before storming away. What a bizarre feeling... She thought to herself, her green eyes wide.

Elizabeth focused on the feeling and realized with a jolt of surprise, the feeling pointed her in a specific direction. Taking a few steps away from the direction made the pain worsen. Taking steps towards it made the pain lessen. A part of her rational mind told her to ignore it, that she would be foolish to go wandering off because of an unexplainable feeling. Eventually curiosity won out over preservation and she abandoned her trek to the labs to go find the source of her strange feeling.

How odd, he felt like he was being tugged towards something heading for his tomb. No, he couldn't face whatever it was that had found his phylactery. He dashed for the door, cracking it open slightly. This was less then optimal, but he had to do it. He bolted out the cracked door, sprinting to a nearby building. He dug in to climb up, and dash across the roof. A few people had noticed him in this endeavor, quite possibly Elizabeth but his intent was to get away.

Remwald leaped across the roof attempting to hit another. He missed, sliding down the wall. A cracked rib, dulled fingers, and a very annoyed attitude was all that he had gained. He skulked out of the side street he had fallen into, dashing from shadow to shadow. He made it a few blocks away before he decided that he needed a disguise. He grabbed a ragged hobo off of the streets, his clothing patchwork and torn but it was heavy enough that it would cover almost all of his body and make it harder to identify him at a glance. Hastily putting the clothes on, he burns the energy from the dead man's soul. He hated to do that, damning someone to ceasing to exist but desperate times called for desperate measures. Skin started to form over his bones, the facial skin flapping slightly as there was no muscle beneath it, but that was all he could afford to do.

He decided that he needed to obtain a base of operations, that required money, money required theft. He spent the night stealing from individuals that happened to come across the slums he had wandered into into, moving slowly away from the pull he had felt, stealing money and technology to help build up the consistency of his body.

Elizabeth stamped a foot in frustration and pushed her wavy, dark hair away from her face. It was nearing 2am and no matter how hard she tracked the annoying pull in her mind, it continually evaded her. The closest she had managed to get was when she had neared a decrepit looking old building. Something had burst through the door and disappeared into the shadows of the tall buildings nearby.

She had a wicked migraine pounding inside her skull and all she wanted to do was sleep but instead she doggedly pursued whatever it was. Pulling a folded bill from her coat pocket she approached one of the many vendors that sold food and drink through the night. London was a city constantly in motion. The factories and machines in the city always needed to be running and maintained so folks were always out and about at all hours of the night and day. Purchasing the darkest, bitterest coffee she could stand, she wandered over to a bench and slid onto it with a grateful sigh. Sipping the steaming liquid she closed her eyes and let it warm her up.

Early morning (or late night however you looked at it) had a peculiar and eerie feel to it. No matter the time of year it always seemed to instill a chill in the body but that could just be the weariness weighing her down. The air was still and quiet and despite the odd figure trudging their way to or from work the night seemed strangely calm. As she pondered what to do next and odd sensation stole over her. Her eyes snapped open, with a surge of fear she realized her headache was completely gone and that could only mean one thing.

He fought as hard as he could, he tried his best but in the end he couldn't constantly avoid her. He had managed to pick off a few devices and a bit of money, but it was far from enough. His body had much more consistency though, now he could reasonably pass for a human on close inspection.

He approached the unknown woman, yes, this was the one. It had to be, she was one of the few. He flexed his hands a bit as he approached her, cautiously and calmly lest she be much more of a powerful magic user then he had expected. "You have stolen something valuable from me. I demand it back woman, or else there will be consequences."

He placed his hands in the pockets of the rags, it was a largely empty threat, but it was all that he had at the moment, hoping she knew what he was talking about. His eyes staring her down with barely hidden murderous intent.

Elizabeth stared at the approaching man warily. Like a cat facing a large dog, almost. She very slowly rose to her feet to look at him. He appeared to be the average bedraggled citizen of Lower London but she knew with absolute certainty that he was not human. Why she knew this, Elizabeth couldn't even begin to fathom. "I don't know what you are talking about." Elizabeth answered, her voice was surprisingly soft with a musical lilt to it.

Her emerald eyes were reflecting the dim light of the street lamps, though she did not realize it. It made her look even more cat like in the early morning mist. With her headache gone she could more clearly assess the situation. Running over events since the time she injected the serum she could come to only one conclusion. He must be looking for the black stone... She thought to herself, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. For some reason she had the distinct impression that he was the very thing she had been stalking all night. "Why did you run from me?" She inquired, trying to change the topic abruptly.

He frowns, he hadn't a clue how powerful she was. Only that she had part of his soul, obliterating her would be bad. Thinly veiled threats may work. "Yes, well, I assume you have heard of my work in the factory by now, I would hate for such a fate to befall you. As for running, a matter of practicality, now give me. My. Soul! I am not fond of petty mortals stealing that which they hold absolutely no right too!"

He stamped his foot as if to accentuate his point. His gaze hardened on her when a wicked idea came to him. He smiled menacingly as he let his magically created face slowly fade away revealing his skull, complete with the piercing red pin pricks. "I don't know why you thought it proper to anger me but now is certainly not the time!"

Elizabeth let out a cry of surprise when his face changed into a grotesque skull with glowing eyes. Stumbling back she tripped over the bench and landed roughly on her bottom, her back pressed against the cold slats of the metal bench. "What are you?!" She shouted, instinctively drawing away from him. "Stay away from me!" Her logical mind fled in the face of fear and all she could think about was getting away from him.

Sliding down the length of the bench she jumped to her feet and turned to flee. Part of her mind resisted the action and even as she put one foot forward the rest of her body locked in place. Her mouth dropped open in surprise. She found she could easily move towards him but not away from him more then a few feet. "What did you do me?" She whispered glaring at the creature before her.

"Why, I have done absolutely nothing. It has all been your own natural reaction. Thief! Perhaps you should not meddle in the affairs of those more powerful then you if there is a next time. Now, you will answer my questions and I may deem it necessary to answer yours. Human." He said the word with more disdain then the average man would for a child molester. He calmly sat down on the park bench and waited for her to react, his eyes focusing on her intently.

He leaned back into the bench as he relaxed, enjoying the feeling he had known so well. Control, complete and utter control. Manipulating humans was so easy, and why wouldn't he do it? They shunned him for years, scorned him, all because of what he was. All because he had no control of it, so it was enjoyable to torment them back. He would kill this woman, she had stolen from him, but he needed to prevent any further damage to his soul so he would tolerate her pathetic presence for the moment.

He turned his head to face her, waiting for a response, calmly meditating internally to help speed up the regaining of his mana. He would never be as powerful as he once was, that much was sure, curse that damnable demon but he could at least see how far he got before he reached his new limits.

Elizabeth's mind raced, trying desperately to puzzle out what in the name of God he was talking about. "I you are talking about that stupid black rock you can have it." She stated a touch venomously. "I don't have it with me though, its at my lab." She added crossing her arms and taking a defensive posture. "I don't see what's so special about..." She muttered almost to herself. "The serum I made it from it caused me nothing but problems." Elizabeth said glaring at him, she rather abruptly decided it must be his fault that she was feeling so strangely. The onyx stone probably contained some sort of hallucinogen, that explained all the strange things she was seeing.

She walked forwards and jabbed him in the chest with a finger. "And who do you think you are calling me a thief! I didn't steal anything, I discovered a unique stone and decided to study it." She was on a rant now, her hair bristling with anger. "I don't think you are powerful at all I think you are just some intoxicated homeless man and I am clearly loosing my find because of that injection. I am going home and going to sleep and you will disappear in the morning." This was all said very rapidly and in an increasingly louder tone until at the end she was almost shouting into his face. Turning on her heel and ignoring the resistance with all her might she started walking towards her apartment. "Good day sir." She called storming away.

It didn't take long before the ache returned behind her eyes. Gripping her head she took a few more steps before she had to stop and catch her breath. For some reason her brief exposure to him and increased the desire to seek him out, and as a result increased her bodies response to NOT being near him. The pain was so severe her vision seemed to dim and her skull felt like it might crack open at the slightest touch. Groaning she braced herself against a wall and fought to remain standing.

To say he was enraged would be an understatement. No one talked down to him like that and got away, least not a petty little pathetic mortal who doesn't even understand the basics of a magical item yet managed to somehow steal his goddamn soul! He would be fuming had he been a cartoon character. His rage burned so deeply that he wanted, no needed to be rid of her, to teach her a lesson regardless of the fact that she had stolen his soul. She had the arrogance to imply that stealing his soul had caused her problems. Oh, it would, it would but now those problems would be intensified tenfold!

He stormed off, stomping into an abandoned building. He went around grabbing scrap and securing the windows with it, trying to pile it to look like it just happened to be there, yet still sturdy enough to withstand a good blow. He replaced his human disguise and rested for the night, well day. He felt like a vampire right about now, how fitting as it was, he didn't like it but he meditated and slept.

When nightfall hit again, he headed for her direction. He tried to stay slow to not draw attention but every now and again he lost his cool and would flatout run, then be forced to hide down an alley or sidestreet to lose attention or pursuers. His rage had cooled slightly but his pride was still wounded, he wouldn't, he couldn't tolerate such an insult from a nobody.

Elizabeth had managed to make it back to her apartment, barely. Upon returning she promptly collapsed into bed and squeezed her eyes shut trying to block out the feel of the horrific being. No matter what she did she could always sense him, and worse she realized she could sense his mood and it was not a happy one. Eventually he must of rested for the day because finally she was given a brief reprieve from his rage. Almost immediately afterwards she feel into a fitful sleep full of nightmares about being buried alive.

As the sun began to disappear, Elizabeth started awake with a scream. Clapping her hands over her mouth she sat on her bed panting and desperately trying to get her emotions under control. She wondered, briefly if he could feel her emotions. With an annoyed tsk, she rose to her feet. "He would probably love to feel how afraid I am..." She told herself. After a quick shower and a change of clothing, Elizabeth decided her best course of action was to retrieve the stone.

It seemed to be very important to him and she figured having it in her possession may just be the key to protecting herself. As she headed for the lab to gather up the onyx gem stone, she did not immediately notice his presence closing in on her. It wasn't until the sun was fully set and she was standing on the steps to the lab that the feeling of him rushing towards her hit. Scrambling into the building she made a mad dash for her lab, she was supremely thankful there was no one around past supper time here.

Bursting into her office she slammed the door behind her and threw the bolt. Elizabeth suspected that it would do little to slow him down but it made her feel better. Running into her personal work room, she spotted the black stone sitting on the work table where she had left it. The stone was now glowing with an inner, pulsing fire, a response to its masters presence. The sight of it made her stomach twist. Grabbing the stone seconds before he arrived, she held it to her chest protectively and backed up against the opposite wall.

He felt like a predator, stalking after it's prey. Of course, he also felt there was the possibility that he would be the prey and the predator was merely letting the prey lead itself into a trap. He pushed those thoughts aside as he caught sight of her. She must have seen him because she dashed like her life depended on it into the building. It must be trapped he thought, that was why she clung so dearly to it. This was where he would find his phylactery.

He calmly strode in the building as if he belonged there, because he did. He belonged where ever he damned well wanted to go and he was going to make that VERY clear. He glanced at the doors and offices in the building. Well it wasn't trapped so far, in fact it seemed to be a perfectly safe research facility from what he could observe. Well then what was the point?! Information was a tool to be held over others to manipulate and use them, not protecting meant that others would steal it.

He stood at her door. Trying the knob at first, then he put on a calm face. His rage was now cold and calculating, and still based off of the fact that his pride had been and still is wounded. He fully accepted the possibility she might cease offending him and apologize, which then he would be forced to not immediately kill her. Unpleasant as the idea was, he needed to get to his phylactery, without dying. He knocked on the door and said with as neutral of a tone as he could muster. "Miss, I vould like to kome in and have a discussion vith jo. Jo are perfectly fine although we will need to clarify a few things. Please kome unlock ze door."

When the doorknob rattled Elizabeth jumped with a small yelp. Seconds later he spoke in a peculiar accent, imploring her very politely to open the door. Grabbing a paper weight off the desk she threw it as hard as she could at the door. It hit the wood with a loud thump, chipping the heavy oak in the process. "Go away!" She shouted, her voice a tad strained. "Leave me alone...or I'll break this thing!" She yelled looking down at the glowing stone. It was an empty threat, for some reason she knew with certainty that if she destroyed the stone she would die as well as the creature on the other side of the door.

Fear crept up her spine and tears welled up in her eyes. Never in a million years had she expected to be hunted down by a demon for a simple experiment. Sliding down the wall into a sitting position, Elizabeth drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She braced her forehead against her knees and squeezed her eyes shut desperately wishing this nightmare would end. No matter how many times she told herself he couldn't possibly be real, the sensation of being connected to him told her the reality. She could lie to herself but she could not deny the knowledge the connection afforded her. If she had not ignored it at the start she may have been better able to understand her situation but her terror had suppressed an rational ability to deal with the situation. At the moment she was nothing more then a very scared, young scientist.

"Now ma'am, I will ask jo again. To let me in. You have bested me for now, so I am offering a truce. Vhy? Because I have more important matters to attend to then some mortal who accidentally stole part of mien soul. Now, please let me in to the room before I get angry and go after jor soul." He smiles slightly behind the door, he COULD always address her later. He was missing his precious weapons at the moment, and the fight that he had left unfinished! Besides, maybe she wasn't that bad. No, that thought had to be pressed out of his mind. His eyes scanned the hallway and doorway, looking for weaknesses, looking for anyone who might come along and ruin all of this.

He waited patiently for her reaction. Acting like a monster in this situation isn't appropriate, he was Remwald Librod, civilized gentleman, scholar, and business associate! Yet his instincts told him otherwise, that he needed to maim, kill and destroy, to take over this pathetic plane and rule it as if it was his own. What am I? He thought to himself, he felt very lost and confused at the present moment. He knew he had lost his direction, and he tried to think of his past but it was all so very cloudy. He leaned against a wall, barely paying attention to his surroundings.

Something in his tone of voice made her sit up and listen. While she could still sense his anger there was another feeling hidden beneath it. Elizabeth could feel the vulnerability in his voice. Looking down at the stone and its pulsing light a second thought dawned her. The need she had been sensing had not been her own at all but his. In a way, he was as scared as she was. By fleeing and taking this stone she had caused him a great deal of frustration and stress.

Pushing herself slowly to her feet and wiping her face, she walked over to the door. Swallowing the lump of fear that he may tear her apart when she opened it, she turned the lock and pulled the door open. Much to her surprise he was not hovering over the door at all but leaning against the wall beside it. Peeking her head out she look at him, truly looked at him. He was approximately the same height has her and had a weary cast to his posture. Taking a full step into the hallway she faced him, looking both guilty and frightened at the same time.

"Here." She murmured shoving the stone towards him. "I...I'm sorry for causing you trouble." She added her eyes downcast and her voice soft.

He holds it like a man would hold his baby, cradling it to him and protective of it. He looked at her for a moment before sighing to no one. He knew what she did with it. It explained everything in a way, yet it was terrible and dreadful. He still had the unfortunate feeling of murder and rampage, but that was quelled, especially by her humility. He wasn't sure who or what he was, but he figured that he should at least be polite. He stepped past her, still cradling the phylactery and headed into her lab, he motioned for her to follow.

Assuming she did, he would look around for a place to sit, then decide that this needed to be discussed standing up. "I do not know how, or why, but you have managed to implant my soul within yourself. I am a lich, an immortal entity bound to the phylactery within my hands. I ..." He sat there for a moment, visibly fighting himself, things were still difficult, so very difficult but he had to try. He knew there were people who would have been disappointed had they saw him now, but he didn't quite know why. "I must apologize for my actions, of course there is the problem of our souls being bound. I don't understand this world, that is why I placed my phylactery here. I was wrong in it's safekeeping. At the moment, you need to die!" He closed his eyes, again fighting himself for control. "At the moment, we need to figure out how to address this. Do you have any questions?"

Elizabeth followed him into the lab and leaned against the workbench. His presence still made her uneasy, or perhaps that was the internal conflict she sensed in him. When he explained what he was her train of thought faltered and completely derailed. "You're a Lich." She repeated staring blankly at him. "A Lich from another world." Her mind raced to keep up with the things he was telling her. "And I have a piece...or your soul inside me." She pressed her hands against her stomach turning a trifle green.

She jumped in surprise when he called for her death and inched a bit further away along the table. "You...you can't exist. The things you are saying are myths and legends. Stories made up by crazy writers." Elizabeth said, it was a feeble attempt to force the world back to her reality, one without monsters and souls. She liked her lips nervously, hoping he could keep hold of the tentative control he seemed to have over his rage. "What exactly do we need to figure out?" She asked in a hesitant voice, not entirely sure she wanted to know.

Even as her mind rejected the possibility of his existence and fear made her shiver; the scientist in her began creeping up on her. Already dozens of questions were forming up in her mind. How the phylactery worked, how one removed their soul, how he traveled worlds, how he changed his appearance and many, many more. Before she realized it she had stepped away from the bench and grabbed a note pad and was furiously scribbling notes in a form of short hand only she could read.

"Oh, how I do so hate worlds like your own. I do exist, will exist and have existed. Your precious science can verify this. At the moment though we need to figure out what to do with the part of my soul contained within you. The options are near infinite. I assume you want me to list some. With some difficulty, we could remove it and replace it in the phylactery, each of us never bothering the other again. Place a part of your soul in my phylactery, binding you to me as I am to you to prevent betrayal. Leave it alone and I make you sure you don't do anything stupid." He went through the options for himself as much as he was for her. He leaned against the table looking her down, she wasn't that bad for a mortal. Was she? She had her ups, and was certainly not what he would qualify as ugly.

He backed away slightly and listened for her reaction. Again, he was saying things he didn't know if he believed. Of course, this felt like it was coming from somewhere else, but he knew he couldn't allow himself to like this mortal. She was a tool, nothing more. That was how he would treat her, correct? He couldn't decide. He focused on the counter top, trying to clear his mind at the moment.

Elizabeth had only been partially listening to him list the options he had in mind. Waving a hand idly she muttered. "Yes sure, whatever works best." All the while jotting down an extensive list of notes. Mid scribble she froze and spun around, something he had said stuck in her mind, an experiment already beginning to take form. "You said you could remove a piece of my soul? For reassurance?" She inquired, peering intently at him over a pair of glasses that she certainly had not been wearing five minutes ago. "And what would that do to me?" She asked tapping a pen thoughtfully against her lips.

Elizabeth pulled a hair elastic from her pocket and pulled her thick, wavy hair up away from her face. Her thoughts were all leading her to one conclusion. She needed to experience the opposite of what she had done, she had put a bit of his soul into her and now she felt a burning desire to know what it felt like going the other way. She couldn't help but hope he could feel her thoughts and emotions as strongly as she had felt his. "When can we start? What do you need to complete it?" She pelted him with questions, still jotting notes and making sketches in the note book.

The change in her personality was astounding. Only moments ago she had been a frightened young woman, now she was confident, unconcerned and almost demanding. She did not know it but these were all typical traits to mages through out the various worlds. Always hungering for new knowledge and testing the boundaries of reality. It was the very same thing she was doing but she simply called is science instead of magic.

"Time, mana. The power sources for those devices all around the town. Do you have a secure home in which I can have a room to myself? As for magic, the explanation is long, ranty and makes your science pale in comparison. This world is weak in it's connection to magic, but strong enough I can weave. I may be able to teach you, given enough time but I doubt it's value." He sighs and leans against the counter. As was the usual for the old Remwald, before all of this started, he had a mix of feelings. Confusion, simmering anger, lust?, relaxation, happiness.

He taps his left thumb against each finger on his left hand, thinking to himself. "I hope you do not have an objection to blood though. I will need it from myself and you. As for the results, well the connection that we are presently... affected by... would likely grow stronger. Normally this is something I would only think of doing for a lover but the situation is dire and unusual. We must hurry though lest he find me." He looks up and smiles at her. "Of course, we will need to resolve how you desire my appearance."

Elizabeth tilted her head quizzically to one side, much of what he said went flying over her head except for the part regarding the power source. "You mean the Ghost Stone." She said, pulling out a large sealed container from under the bench. After prying off the top she revealed a large collection of the stone, glowing softly within. "I work for Dirigible, they are the only provider of the stone." She explained, sealing the box again. She caught a bit of the swirl of emotion from him and raised an eyebrow at him though she remained silent on the topic.

Instead she said, "Yes I have a small apartment...it is only one room though. London is pretty strapped for space." She shrugged, it didn't particularly bother her to share her home though he may object to the lack of privacy. His question about blood threw her off a bit. Not that it was a problem, as a scientist she often did tests using blood. In fact she had several vials of her blood before and after the serum was injected. Walking over to a large glass fronted fridge she pulled out two small vials of blood. "Will this do?" She inquired.

Just when she thought he was done with the strange questions he threw one more at her. She stared at him, her mouth slightly open in surprise. "What...do you mean how I desire your appearance?" She asked warily.

He nods. "I am a lich. Who made my flesh disappear before you. If I am going to be forced to associate with you, I would rather you find my appearance at the very least tolerable. Would you rather me look like a person or in my more 'natural' form?" He pauses, admiring the stones. That would work, oh that would work. Sure, the afterlife was already not happy with him, but with such power he needn't care about it. At least for now.

He looks up to her then the blood. "That... will partially do. I will need fresh samples, directly at one point but that will serve my needs for the preparation. I only ask that you do not disturb my work lest the consequences are potentially dire for the both of us." He grins as he approaches her, he attempts to take one of her free hands and kiss the back of it. "As we have not had a proper introduction, I am the illustrious Remwald Librod, master necromancer."

The look Elizabeth gave him was oddly contemplative, her eyes were narrowed in deep thought. She was clearly trying to picture different faces on him. Finally she shook her head. "Whatever you are happiest with is fine with me." She stated moving onto the next topic with the speed of racing train. "Must you really take fresh blood?" She inquired, a pained expression on her face. "I do really hate taking blood samples."

She felt as if she were looking up at him as he approached, it was a bizarre feeling considering she could almost look him straight in the eye. Staring in confusion, she watched as he gently took one of her hands and kissed the back of it. The sensation made her hand tingle and she knew she probably blushed just slightly. No one was that polite in London anymore. After his introduction she stood very still and very quite for several long seconds. Eventually her lip twitched and a musical laugh bubbled up out of her throat. Covering her mouth apologetically, she wiped away a tear of laughter. "I am sorry..." She gasped between giggles. "Necromancer?" The word renewed her fit of laughter. She finally calmed down and held out her hand for him to shake with a bright, charming smile. Her shoulders still shook with suppressed mirth. "My name is Elizabeth MacInnis." She introduced herself. "I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance, even it is quite an odd one." Elizabeth teased with an impish smile.

Her laughter had broken down the wall of fear and wariness of him. In her mind he was just another person and better yet he was more eccentric then she was.