The darkening of the world had been a welcome evolution as far as Alastor was concerned. He was a creature of shadow, a demon born of darkness and sin. This was his realm and he felt most comfortable and at home wandering the twilit days and the pitch black nights. If that weird firefly demon wanted to leave the world this way, well, he wouldn't exactly have many complaints. The howls of the dead in the middle of the night were a tad obnoxious and kept him from getting his full eight hours of sleep, but otherwise, he was quite enjoying this new world. His children glowed with such a magnificent light like living stars come to earth at all hours of the day, their beauty and brilliance amplified by the changes in the world. Why would he ever want to take that away from them? No, as far as Alastor cared, this was perfectly fine!

Wandering through the dim twilight of midday, Alastor meandered around the island that was supposed to become their new home. The loss of their rightful pack claim to the fleabag cur had been a blow to everyone in the family, but it didn't get the dire brute's spirits down. They would bounce back, and one day he would snuff out that bitch's flame for good. It did mean that at some point his family would need to leave the island. It was such a heartbreak; Manea loved the island, as did their children. The dark-furred behemoth sighed, stepping through firefly-laden woods, weaving between evergreens that seemed to glow with the fireflies, even during the day. Hmm, how queer, he thought while he watched the lazy bugs go floating by without a care in the world, glowing with their spectral blue-teal light.

A gentle breeze rippled through the trees, cold to the touch from the arctic weather. Thankfully, Alastor's fur was dense from a lifetime of living in caves and northern climates, so he felt nothing. He did, however, notice the voice in the wind. Red-tipped ears flicked to catch the sound, peering off in the direction the wind came from. Had he been hearing things? Were the voices in his head back again? They'd been silent since the day he found Manea—was today the day he descended back into madness? Another ripple of wind from a different direction, and again came a whispering voice, too faint to make out anything, but it did carry with it a certain smell... a scent that made Alastor's fur bristle. Butterscotch and rum.

Obsidian eyes shot in the direction of the wind, narrowed to deadly points as an anger and hurt the likes of which he hadn't felt before rose within him. Giant black paws turned to trudge through the snow after the scent. It was so very faint, but it was there. His nostrils flared, catching the smell again, and his gait picked up to a lope. How dare she—how fucking dare she! Lips curled back into a violent sneer as the dire wolf burst from the woods to find... nothing. Just the openness of the fields around the island's lake, its placid waters rippling in the twilight. Alastor's gaze scanned everywhere, looking for the bitch. If she was here, he was going to find her, and he was going to kill her. Growling under his breath, Alastor followed the scent to the edge of the lake, sniffing about to pinpoint where on earth she had gotten to and trying to figure out how she'd slipped onto the island undetected.

"Alastor Mendacium"

Manea had begun preparations for some traveling that she and her family—both by blood and chosen—would be doing sooner than she would have liked. She had intended on the island being their permanent home and she was certain that they would return here often, but with the ties of a pack claim pulled out from under her paws she decided she might as well make the best of it and do a bit of traveling and socializing. She was interested in seeing that saber toothed man that Alastor had spent a bit of time smoozing with at her challenge as well as Chimera and Venom. Even if she didn't yet have the pack she craved, she and her family could still get to know the wolves that they had found connections with a bit better. Maybe they might even meet some new blood along the way. Poe, Naráca, and Imperia still needed to find their soul mates after all and isolating themselves on this island without the draw of a pack to bring wolves to them just wouldn't do.

She was in the middle of folding up a few of the many furs they had collected, picking out her favorites so they could be loaded on a cart for travel, when she heard a voice whisper in her ear. It made her head pop up with surprise and she looked out of the cave they had been living in for a bit now. Their children had gone out to do a bit of exploring with Naráca so she wasn't expecting them back any time soon and she was fairly certain Imperia had gone out in hopes of finding some herbs to replenish what had been used to treat her wounds. As far as she knew she should be alone. The whispers reached her again and she frowned, abandoning her task to walk out into the twilight-lit world. She walked out to find a cluster of fireflies drifting on the chilly breeze down toward the lake, but otherwise there was no one there.

Manea was about to brush it off as just a trick of the wind when she heard the voice again, though louder and more clear. She couldn't quite make out what it was saying to her, but it immediately clicked in her mind who it belonged to and it made her hackles bristle. It was a voice she hadn't heard since the day that she had taken her sister's life and it made her uneasy. Ever since the incident with Saracyn by the lake she had been wary of the paranormal nature of these things and this certainly wasn't helping. The idea of continuing to be alone with the long dead voice of her sister in her ears didn't feel all that appealing so she left the cave behind to go in search of her husband, needing those ebony eyes to chase away her uneasiness. She found him by the edge of the lake as he came thundering out of the trees, raising a white marked brow at his expression and the way he looked ready to charge into battle. "What's going on, my demon?" she questioned as she approached him, still pointedly ignoring her sister's voice as she approached him. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Manea Mendacium"

No sooner had he begun his hunt for the phantom from his past, Manea appeared as if she had been summoned to the lake as well. She asked what what happening, but Alastor didn't respond immediately. He continued to sniff frantically about the rocky shore, searching for any traces Lurid might have left behind. He knew the Amarix princess was a wily one and a keen hunter, so he'd have to be better than she was to catch her. No matter—he always was better. "I thought I smelled an intruder skulking around the island," he explained, glancing up over the waters. Had she gone into the lake in an attempt to mask her scent. The wind rippled gently by again, and once more he caught the scent of his past lover. "There! Can you smell it?" He needed Manea to confirm that she could smell the natural feminine musk tinged with butterscotch and spiced rum so he knew he wasn't going insane.

"Aaaalaaastooor..."

Lurid's lyrical voice seemed to call to him over the wind, her duo-toned ringing like dulcet bells in the recesses of his brain. Alastor looked up sharply, focused obsidian eyes scouring the shore and surrounding forests for any trace of that blonde-furred bitch. "Do you hear something?" he asked his wife. He turned his ebony gaze to her beautiful face, raising a curious brow. It felt like he was being haunted, but if Lurid was indeed here, she would be a very dangerous threat to him and his family.

"Oh, Alleycat... Where aaaare yoooou...? You know you're mine..."

Alastor's black lips curled up into a vicious snarl revealing pearly white fangs. Anger pumped through his veins with every strong, steady beat of his heart. He felt no fear at the concept of being in the presence of wicked spirits, nor did he dread the notion of being haunted by demons. He'd lived his life in the darkest evils. This would be nothing strange to him. But he would not let any of it affect his family. Any entities, physical or paranormal, would have to step over his cold, lifeless body before he let them get within reach of his wife or children.

"Alastor Mendacium"

Manea watched Alastor hunting and sniffling around the shore curiously for a moment until he explained that he had scented an intruder on the island. She gave a little tilt of her head and was about to remind him that even though they had been living on the island there was no real claim to be had over it so others could come and go as they pleased, but then he asked if she could smell it and confused her more. She humored him and took a practiced sniff of the air, but what she found only chilled her blood more. She had been so ready to deny whatever it was that had spooked him so she could pull him back to the den and continue to shake off her own unease, but instead she smelled the familiar scent of her long lost sister and it made her expression drop. Her ears flicked back and she couldn't answer him, instead looking off toward where the scent was being carried on the breeze.

"Manea... Manea you could have stopped me... Saved me...! And now you've abandoned Nirvana... You promised to take care of her..."

Her sister's voice, at first indistinct and faint, suddenly sounded so much clearer in her ears and her hackles bristled as a cold wind brew from behind her. Watching Alastor's face, she saw the snarl pull onto his lips as he asked if she could hear anything and suddenly she realized that they weren't experiencing the same things. That wasn't the kind of reaction she would expect from him if he heard someone whispering about they could have been saved and speaking about her niece that had gone wayward from them several seasons ago. "I hear my sister's voice... The one that died giving birth to Nirvana," she told him quietly, looking at him uncertainly. Why would Kallisto be haunting her now?

"Manea Mendacium"

At his request, Manea sampled the scents on the air, but to his surprise a look of shock and dread crossed over her countenance. Alastor's brows pulled together while he scrutinized her reaction. Why would she be terrified by the smell of Lurid? She hadn't ever met his former lover, and although he'd told Manea the stories of his past affairs with her, he didn't think his wife the type to be afraid of other women from his past. He had been about to question her on it when she admitted that she heard her sister's voice, Nirvana's mother. That was when it dawned on him. He and Manea were having two radically different experiences at the same time.

"Nirvana's- But she's..." Alastor's words drifted off, the dark brute's eyes lighting up with understanding. Dead. Manea's sister was dead. So if he was hearing Lurid's voice right now, then that meant... The breeze swirled around the two wolves once more, carrying with it whispers and laughs of his long gone lover. Hackles raised and the fur on his neck standing on end, Alastor scanned the forest frantically. What he was searching for even the brute didn't know. Could ghosts be seen? Could they choose to manifest? Was he hoping to spot Lurid out amongst the water or the trees?

"It's Lurid. That's who I hear and smell." Large paws stomped across the rocky shore while Alastor stepped closer to the water, trying to drown out the whispers in his head. Black eyes peered down into his reflection—and there, standing right at his side, was Lurid. She smiled at him through the water, holographic eyes shimmering with lavenders and whites in the dim twilight, then leaned her head into his shoulder. Shockingly, Alastor felt the pressure on his shoulder, and he recoiled with a gasp, turning to face the empty space beside him. He looked back down into the water. Lurid remained where she was, just gazing up at him with a lovestruck smile and enamored eyes. It was then that Alastor realized the lone firefly hovering in the space where "Lurid" was occupying beside him. His mind made the connection in an instant.

Grinning like a madman, Alastor snickered, then he chuckled, then he laughed. He laughed and laughed until his sides hurt and his lungs were out of air. "Oh, you almost got me! Very clever! Very well done!" he said into the empty space, keeping his eyes on the Lurid reflection. "I wondered what you'd try next. Bravo! You really had me perplexed! But you can drop that disguise now; I know it's you." Lurid cocked her head. Then she grinned. It was a dark, sinister smile painted across the doppelgänger's face, those purple eyes shifting into glowing blue holes in the wolf's face. Ah, hello again, Firefly Fiend! We meet again! He'd known he'd encounter his demonic friend once more sooner or later. He just didn't expect him to appear so... sexy.

"Alastor Mendacium"

She watched as understanding settled over Alastor's features after she explained that it was Kallisto's voice she was hearing, but she didn't know why until he explained that he was hearing Lurid. She blinked with surprise at that, putting together the pieces of the puzzle for herself as well. So they each had their own demons haunting them it seemed. She hadn't really thought about her sister in quite a while, her attention and thoughts swept away by finding Alastor and building their family together, but she still thought of Nirvana quite often and hoped that her niece was doing well in the world on her own, but now as she heard the disembodied voice of her sister berating her for not keeping better track of the albino girl some guilt started to gnaw at her gut.

"You just wanted to be Matriarch... admit it... You saw your chance and you took it... You murdering bitch... Took my child, took my position in the family... Look at you now..."

Her hackles bristled again as she listened to her sister's degrading words and was nearly too caught up in it as she looked off toward the evergreens again to notice Alastor laughing manically as he looked down into the lake. She shook her head as if that would break the voice away from her ears and moved closer to Alastor, unknowingly standing on the opposite side of him from where he was seeing Lurid in the water. His words about trickery and disguises confused her even more and she tiredly glanced between his face and the surface of the lake. She didn't see anything there besides the reflection of the ever present fireflies around them, but Alastor clearly saw something and was speaking to whatever it was. It reminded her of Saracyn claiming to have seen something in the lake as well and a frown pulled across her lips. "What are you seeing? Who are you speaking to? Is it still Lurid?" But if he was seeing Lurid then who was Saracyn seeing?

"Manea Mendacium"

Alastor

Not-Lurid's eyes flash again, her face puling into a too wide grin, lips fading into open gashes on the side of her face, and her laugh echoes louder than any of the previous voices. A weight comes over you. Your palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. You feel very much like she is punishing you for daring to call her out.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

Manea

You lean into your mate's frame to seek out comfort and as you ask what it is he's seeing a voice tells you to stay back, it yells it in your ear, clearly trying to force you away from his side, you jump, startled.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

Alastor was still maintaining eye contact with the not-Lurid demon in the water, both grinning like psychopaths at one another from between the barrier of the water's surface. He felt Manea come closer to lean into his side, but he didn't look away from the creature in the water. His mate asked him what he was seeing and who he was speaking to, the dire brute shaking his head when she asked if it was Lurid. "No no no, turns out it's not Lurid at all, darling! It's a demon!" Or, well, he assumed the firefly thing was a demon. He wasn't really sure what else to call it. But it definitely wasn't Lurid, which was both a relief and a concern at the same time. It meant he didn't have to worry about a vengeful ex-lover coming to fuck up his life. It did also mean that he was about to experience some more paranormal shit.

As if on cue, the not-Lurid in the water's eyes flashed bright blue once more, her grin splitting wider and wider, as if the flesh of her cheeks was ripping apart to show every sharp tooth in her jaws. Alastor's brows raised, impressed by the display, and grinned back at the demon, flashing his own razor sharp teeth in reply. She started to laugh then, that maniacal, echoing laugh that grew louder and louder, far louder than the whispered voice on the wind that had drawn him here. Alastor began to laugh back, both monsters cackling at one another as dark memories and violent images flashed in his head. The faint metallic taste of blood lingered on his tongue while his brain ran through the memories of the day he'd killed every other suitor to win her over. Her scent filled his nose and her cries of passion filled his ears while memories of the night they'd shared in the cave began to replay.

That was when Alastor realized that the more memories the specter filled his head with, the more his body began to grow weaker. His paw pads felt clammy, his muscles felt weary, his legs trembled with the effort it took to remain standing. It was like the demon in the water was a succubus draining the life from him. And why did he suddenly have a craving for spaghetti?! Alastor's grin faltered, his jaws clenching hard as his breathing became heavier, like he were fighting against an unseen force. His paws clawed at the pebbly shore and a part of him felt like he was about to tumble forward into the water—right into her arms. He fought to remain strong, struggling against the pull the demon had on him. "Can't you see it?" he asked Manea through gritted teeth, unable to tear his gaze away from the sultry demon in the lake.

"Alastor Mendacium"

Before the words had even fully left her mouth as she asked Alastor what it was he was seeing and speaking to, a voice she didn't recognize screamed at her, filling her ears. Her hackles stood on end and she jumped from the sudden blast of noise filling her ears, taking a step back as she looked wide eyed around her as the last remnants of her logic attempted to insist that someone must be there if she was hearing them this clearly—except no one was. Unnerved and startled, she turned her gaze back toward Alastor again as he insisted that it was in fact not his former betrothed, but a demon. She wasn't sure if that was supposed to calm her concerns or not, but it certainly didn't help. A demon impersonating as Lurid... then was the voice she heard that sounded like her sister a demon as well? With the souls and after life of the Ancients to contend with she wouldn't have completely dismissed the possibility of the voice actually being that of her sister, but perhaps she could continue to believe that Kallisto had actually wanted the death she had asked for.

Pulling herself out of her own thoughts as the ringing faded from her ears, she noticed the manic grin on her husband's features—which wasn't all that unusual for him—begin to shift into an almost pained scowl, seeing the tension in his jaw as he suddenly started breathing heavier as if something was pressing down on him. She frowned and all her attention turned away from her own demons and musing to focus on Alastor, ignoring the voice in her head that tried to keep her from him. She went to his side, looking down into the water as he questioned whether she could see it or not and again, just like she had when Saracyn tried to show her something under the water's surface, she saw nothing. A snarl twitched at her lips and she looked to Alastor, lifting her paw to hook it around to his opposite cheek and turn his head toward her, forcing his gaze to break away from whatever was trying to draw him in, her claws pricking his skin if she had to in order to get his attention. Whatever this demon was it was affecting her husband and her son and for all she knew maybe it could affect her daughter and she wasn't going to just stand by and let it happen. "I can't, but our children can," she told him with a deep frown. "What is it? What can all of you see that I can't?"

"Manea Mendacium"

Firefly Shoppe- Alastor

A firefly draws your attention nearby to reveal a cloaked figure with a small wooden table in front of him. On the table lay three items, with their prices beside them. "Choose wisely, and only choose one," the figure says. "If you can afford it, that is." Perhaps he accepts cŕ̷̕y̵̍͊stals and mushrö̸́̀ō̴̉ms... or perhaps its worth bargaining for something greater...


Inventory:

• Grow Potion- 1 /
  This bottle is shaped like an upside down pear and within it swirls a sparkly gold liquid. The label shows a crudely drawn image of two wolves of vastly different sizes, with a green checkmark over the largest one.
  
• Go fast juice- 1 /
  The liquid in this bottle is thick and dark, and has something that looks surprisingly like muscle.
  
• Opaque Sack of Mushrooms/Crystals- 1 /
  Running out of event currency and not sure what else to spend it on? Gamble on this mysterious pouch and potentially find more mushrooms/crystals within it! Or perhaps something else!
  

It Continues for Manea...

Huh? It doesn't seem like anything happened... Well, maybe that's for the best...

Dark obsidian eyes never left the not-Lurid's glowing ones all the while, feeling hypnotized by her... it... whatever it was. The only thing that saved him was when Manea, beyond exasperated with his antics, hooked a leonine paw around his cheek and forcibly turned his head until his gaze was staring deeply into the rich pools of turquoise of his mate's eyes. He blinked a few times, feeling like a puppet that had just had its strings cut and its tethers broken. He sucked in a shallow breath, regaining his senses in a split second. He was freed. Manea explained that she couldn't see what he saw, but their children could. Alastor simply nodded his head dumbly. "I know," he said. He'd been there with Avacyn when she'd seen the firefly demon in the lake, and naturally he'd assumed Saracyn could see it too. They were both blessed with his mark, after all. Or cursed with it, depending on how you viewed the circumstance.

"I see..." Alastor started to explain when Manea asked what he was seeing. His words trailed off when a firefly drifted by his face, moving to land on a table just behind his mate on the banks of the lake. A familiar entity was standing behind it, a number of wares spread out on the table. Eyes widened and teeth flashed in a recognizing grin. "Him!" Slipping from Manea's grasp, Alastor strode proudly up to the entity behind the table, regarding him with a chipper smile that showed far too many teeth. "Hello again, you handsome devil! Got a makeover, hmm? Blue really is your color, you know!" The dire brute gave a low chuckle, then glanced over the wares on the table. "Hmmm, quite a selection you've got here! Let's see..."

Reaching out a big black paw, Alastor scooped up the sack, noting the price card beside it. He dropped a single glowing mushroom on the table. "Here you go! Oh, and now that I have the chance, I do want to thank you for last year. My children do look spectacular, don't you think so? It's very much appreciated!" Alastor smiled brightly at the entity and cocked his head to one side, waiting to hear any responses from the cryptid before deciding their business was concluded.

"Alastor Mendacium"

"You know?" she questioned with exasperation, letting her paw fall away from his cheek once he was fully looking at her and he seemed to blink as he was pulled away from whatever was entrancing him so. He knew their children could see some unknown... thing and he didn't bother to mention it? She stared at him incredulously, expecting some kind of answer or explanation from her husband. He did begin to say something, only to get distracted by a firefly that drifted between them, pulling his gaze away to something behind her. He exclaimed something about a "him" that he was seeing and trotted off away from her. "Alastor, I swear to the gods, if you don't-" she began as she turned to face him again, absolutely at her wits end about all of this, when her aqua gaze finally landed on whatever it was that her mate was speaking to as if they were old friends.

She stood there with her mouth agape, looking at the figure that had manifested seemingly out of no where, a cloaked figure that basically looked like a cloud of fireflies covered in a hood. He was indistinct to her and occasionally she'd blink and he'd disappear for a moment, but it was hard t deny that it was actually there, especially when Alastor was having a full conversation with the thing. Or perhaps she had fully lost her mind and she was just tumbling through a decent into madness along with her dear husband. Either way, she stood dumbfounded while he seemed to make some sort of deal with the thing and when he turned back toward her again all she could do was shake her head. "You're going to explain what all of this is and was and... just..." Manea sighed heavily with an exasperated shake of her head and turned back toward their den, more than ready to be done with this day.

"Manea Mendacium"

Firefly Shoppe- Alastor

The wolf's face flickered with recognition as he approached the figure, calling him handsome and saying blue was his color. A few of the fireflies around the figure's cheek area turned darker, almost purple, in response.

He offered to buy the sack of items and exchanged the currency. Before leaving, he thanked firefly for his children, saying they looked spectacular. The figure nodded, "All that glows is spectacular." he commented quietly before fading away, leaving Alastor with his new goods.


You gain:

• Opaque Sack of ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃s/̶̿͘c̶͌̕r̴̔̉y̷̅͋š̵̾tals- Running out of event currency and not sure what else to spend it on? Gamble on this mysterious pouch and potentially find more ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃s/̶̿͘c̶͌̕r̴̔̉y̷̅͋š̵̾tals within it! Or perhaps something else!
  

You lose:

• Currency (x1)- Used in Firefly's Shoppe, and perhaps elsewhere...
  
  

Alastor beamed brightly at the entity as it began to fade, agreeing that all that glows is spectacular. He wondered if the entity had seen what his marvelous children looked like thanks to the being's "curse". Waving a paw at the vanishing figure, Alastor bid the entity goodbye with a chipper "So long, my enigmatic fellow! See you next year!" With a happy sigh, Alastor turned to face Manea once more, clutching the opaque sack in his paws and all but ignoring the shocked look on his mate's face. "He's a lovely lad, he is! Glad to see he's doing well." Alastor cocked a curious brow when Manea explained how he was going to explain all of his to her before releasing a defeated sigh and began trudging back off towards the den.

"Wait!" he called after Manea, holding up the sack in his paws. "Don't you want to see what's inside?" Rolling his shoulders in an apathetic shrug, Alastor cut through the string keeping the sack closed with one sharp claw. He carefully peeled open the bag and peered inside, then laid the sack on the ground and carefully shimmied and shuffled it to empty the bag out on the grass, eager to see the contents of his mysterious grab bag.

"Alastor Mendacium"

Opaque Sack of ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃s/̶̿͘c̶͌̕r̴̔̉y̷̅͋š̵̾tals

Gems!

You open the sack and begin to pour out the contents. They just start coming and they don't stop coming. They fall and they hit the ground running rolling. By the end of it, you have a large pile of gems... wonder what those are for...?

You gain:

• Gems (x518)- Used OOC in the shops! Will go to your Gem Credits.