Venis had been sitting there, alone in the dark, for some time. How much time she had no way of knowing. She hadn't worn a watch. But she was getting antsy. She wanted nothing more than to hunt down that which had captured her and held her captive. But she had no idea where to start looking.

In a very un-lady-like move, she lifted one leg and placed the heel of her foot on the dock in front of her. With one hand on a pole, she rose to stand on her feet again. She slipped her shoes back on and stood looking out over the water once again. If the being had been able to capture her, it had to have been close. But where?

No better place to start her search than down here at the docks. She couldn't feel anything around with a significant enough level of power. But, had she been able to feel it before, perhaps she would have seen it coming and she wouldn't have ended up trapped. So she began to walk along the docks, feeling around for anyone or anything she could find.

Venis was in one of her foulest of moods as she walked along the docks. The power she had called upon only a night before was still running through her system trying to take complete control. She, of course, was fighting against that. But she needed to find what she was looking for and fast. Before it was too late.

Barthalomew could be found in the cabin of his ship. A ship painted black with red letters reading 'The Devil's Wake'. He was just laying on a bed with black covers made for two, but there was no one else. There never had been, but he liked to have a bigger area to sleep. The walls in the cabin were painted red, like a crimson blood-red. A sigh as he looks toward the door, he wasn't expecting anyone. Venis happened upon a ship. Someone, or something, was on that ship. A glance to the side of the vessel revealed its name to be The Devil's Wake. "Irony at its best." Words spoken out loud, yet to herself. The Ironic part being that it was not a human she felt on that ship. It was something a little bigger and a little badder than any human could be. Venis was intrigued. So she lingered for a moment as she pondered boarding the vessel.

He finally pulled himself into a sitting position. Tonight it wasn't because he was worn out that he was being slow, he was just being lazy. He continued to watch the door as if expecting something to happen. It wasn't that he knew Venis was there, though if he would have been paying attention he would have heard her. It just felt like something would happen.

Venis walked over to the ramp. She rested her hand upon the ropes. Should she board a strange ship" It wasn't like she was taking her life into her hands if she did. But then again, what if the being upon this vessel was the one that had trapped her" What if it is so powerful that not only had she never felt it before it trapped her, but even this close to it, she didn't know that it was the one" Could a being that powerful kill a God of Rhy'Din" There was only one way to find out. A step was taken to rise up onto the platform. And after a brief pause, she continued across to the ship. Then she stepped down onto the deck. Her heels clicked loudly on the wood. At least it sounded loud to her.

Now he was paying more attention. His senses were tuning themselves high. As soon as she was at the ramp he knew. He just listened as she walked across. It was at least loud to him. He was powerful, but he had no intentions of trapping anyone. At this time though he was hiding his full power. It didn't do to scare people away. It was a habit from his last crew.

Venis stood there looking around for a moment. She knew she looked out of place on board a ship wearing an emerald hued strapless mini-dress and matching six inch heels. But she also knew that with her muscle tone being more masculine that most women's and her height being six foot two before the heels, six eight after, she was rather intimidating. And that was even before it was found out that she was a vampire and a Goddess who had been born a witch. So fear was not in Venis' vocabulary. Which meant that she didn't care if she looked out of place. Who was going to challenge her over something so trivial" Steps were taken forward to get a better view of things about the ship's deck. Despite not having full worries of having someone unknown aboard his ship he let the guard down just a bit so that the person could sense a huge wave of power, but that was only a small portion of it. Then the guard was back up and he seemed almost at human strength. He stands and waits, pulling his hood up to cast his face in shadows so deep that it was like nothing was there at all. Even the sharpest eyes could not pierce these shadows.

Venis stopped where she was and her back arched. Her head rolled back and her eyes closed. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. That was a whole lot of power that had just washed over her. She turned to watch in the direction that it had come from. The being that was aboard this ship had done that. And she was going to face it head on.

Eyes stayed on the door. That had been his warning to anyone who would have attacked. Though he much doubted that anyone would. He had been around here long enough that any burglars, cut-throats, or muggers were too scared to attempt it. Besides he didn't have many possessions.

Regardless of how long he had been about these waters, Venis did not frequent them often. In fact, it had been years since she had been down this way. The God's of Rhy'Din weren't in high demand these days. At least some of them weren't. Too many non-believers. Which meant Venis spent most of her time doing her own thing. So her hand ran over her thigh, over her dress, so she felt the hilt of the dagger sheathed there. If what was going to come through that door presented danger, Venis was ready for it. And the dagger would just be the warning wound. Well he hadn't been around long. Only 3 weeks in Rhy'Din and even less on this ship. He would wait for the person. In a way it gave him the advantage. He was on guard, yet at the same time completely calm. He didn't expect any trouble. No weapons were touched, but he could easily get one out, even if it did mean opening a dark portal.

It seemed that the being had stilled, or at least was not coming through the door. So dare she enter" If the being wasn't going to come out to her, she was going to go in to it. After all, how else would she find out if it had been the guilty party' Her heels clicked as she stepped to the door. She made no attempt to silence her movement or mask her approach. Long bony fingers rose to open the portal. The only thing that would prevent her from entering now was if this was a private residence or the door was somehow bespelled. If either of those were the case, she would need permission to enter.

Well luckily for her he hadn't felt like putting any sort of spells on the door. He never felt in danger. He could hear her just outside, now it was the most tense bit of waiting. It wouldn't be good to have to go through any more trouble, especially while he was still looking for a new crew. So he couldn't have anyone killed or it would give him a bad reputation in Rhy'Din.

And the door opened. Venis ducked down and stepped through the portal. But she never looked down. A person could meet their maker with that mistake. So she saw the cloaked being standing there. Once she had stepped through she stood erect again. She was taller than the being, by quite a bit in her heels. So she looked slightly downward as she spoke to the shadows of the hood of the cloak. "Greetings. Forgive me my trespass, but you are the first being I have come across this night." She would save her introductions until after the being spoke to her in return. No need to give away who she was from the word go. It takes away the element of surprise if she needed to defend herself against the being.

The woman steps through and he watches silently until she speaks. "Greetings to you as well Miss. No problems at all, I wasn't doing much anyway." He may have been shorter, but the power he had released hadn't been fake. If you paid enough attention and you could sense stuff like that, like the woman could, then you could still feel a slight residue of that power in the air.

And she could feel the residue of the power. She could taste it on the back of her tongue like honey. Part of her, and the extra stuff that was now within her, found it to be the sweetest of tastes. Something more to feed that growing darkness that she had called forth. Venis tilted her head to the side slightly. "You may call me Venis. And by what name to you go?" She always wanted to know to whom she was speaking.

"A pleasure to meet you then Venis." A pause. "I am Barthalomew The Destroyer." He still couldn't leave the title. He raises a hand to perhaps shake hers. It was a blood-red hand with black claw-like finger nails. The things those hands had done were so devastating, though in recent years it had dropped. He wasn't a normal arch demon after all.

"Well met Barthalomew." Her own hand raised and she gripped his hand and gave a slight shake with just enough grip. She could feel that he was holding back his power now. How much power she had no clue to, but it was there, boiling under the surface. "What brings you to these waters Barthalomew?" She knew the kind of beings that carried a title of The Destroyer. The stories she could swap with such a being. She herself had spent a long time tearing her way through a large portion of Earth once upon a time. She hadn't been born a Goddess after all. But that was another story for another time.

That was true enough. A quick pull away after the hand shake. "My ship before was attacked by a giant sea serpent. Not wanting to scare my crew I did not draw the power to take it out. Now that ship is gone and my crew is most likely dead. I was found on a board of my ship floating near the docks." He had no issues with telling how he had come here. His destroying days were over as well, at least for the most part.

And arch of her right brow brought a questioning glance from Venis. Not because she did not believe his tale. But because she was curious of something. "Why would you not draw the power to save your crew" Did you not think they would overlook such power upon realizing that they still drew breath thanks to you?" She would have used the power. But then again, she was The Goddess of Protection. "They already feared me. I would've lost all business and a crew. I cannot go back and change the past." For some reason it didn't fully matter to him. Sure he had friends in that crew, but either way they would be gone now, even if he wouldn't be here. Venis dipped her head to the side in an 'eh' gesture. Right now, she was not overflowing with caring for the lives of others. "True. What's done is done." Of course, there were those who could change the past. If they so chose to. "So you washed up here, on the shores of Rhy'Din" Not a bad place to wash up upon." Normally she would have added something to the effect of 'unless you're here to start trouble.' But she wasn't feeling that too much this night either. A shrug. "It seems so. So far it hasn't been too bad." Then a slight unseen smirk. "So do you always just walk into someone's room?" He was of course joking, even if he did barely know her. It was odd to be having a conversation with a random woman who showed up in his room. Not that his room was much to look at. Just the bed, a dresser, and some bookshelves filled with all sorts of books of different kinds, languages, and even runes. It might have been his room, but he didn't consider it his home, at least not yet. If he had, she wouldn't have been able to enter. The vampire couldn't have crossed the threshold without invitation. "I thought the door would have opened into a hall or something of the sort. I had not thought it would be a bed chamber. I can leave if you wish." The slightest hint of an arch to her eyebrow seemed to be challenging him to throw her out. Her posture had even changed. She had shifted her weight to one leg and her hand rose to rest upon the protruded hip. "Do you really want to test me on that?" He saw the challenge. He took down his hood. He was nothing special to look at. Blood-red skin. Completely white eyes. Straight hair the color of night down to his shoulders. So definitely nothing special. Venis chuckled, her shoulders moving forward and her chest inverting with the gesture. "The eyes take away from the effect. Cute though. The whole red and black might scare some. But not me darlin'. But to answer your question, no, no need to challenge you. It was just a natural reaction. I didn't even do it consciously." And she hadn't. She just always reacted that way. And more so lately with all that extra darkness she was carrying around in her. "The eyes weren't my choice." Though he could technically change them any time he wanted. "I see, well that would be a bad reaction." A small smile. "I know you felt the power earlier, and that was only a small portion. It was nothing." He wasn't trying to scare her, but he was telling her. A slight shrug with an even smaller tilt of the head. "The power only piqued my curiosity even more. It just made me come to you rather than wait for you to come to me, or just leave even." All true. She might have just left if he hadn't sent out that little taste of what he was capable of. "I see. Well it did start up this conversation. So I suppose I am glad that I sent out that small bit." He was telling the truth there too, he didn't have many to talk to. Venis leaned back against the wall and crossed her right ankle over her left. She then folded her arms across her abdomen. (She couldn't fold them across her chest) With her long crimson locks pinned against her back and shoulders, she hoped she didn't need to nod any time soon. "Very true. Do you suffer from a lack of company' I only ask because you didn't bespell the door." She had thought it would have had a spell on it now that she knew it opened into bed chambers and not a hall. "I do not have much company at all. And all the criminals will not attempt this place anymore." So really he felt no need. "I could if I wanted to, but there really isn't a point." He wondered how she would think it went to a hall, considering it was the top side of a ship. She had spent very little time on a ship. She was unfamiliar with the normal layout of one. She only had one or two with which to draw experience from. She usually chose other means of transport. "I can understand that. Scare away all the little boogie men have you?" As one of the things that went bump in the night, she found that amusing. And her amusement was evident by the grin upon her face. It wasn't that he could scare that was amusing, it was that he had already done so. The things that went bump in the night these days had a tendency to run on the wimpy side. With a few exceptions of course. "Of course." It was amusing to him just because it didn't take much to scare them. ?It's kind of sad; I now have no one to scare away." And at that he does frown. "It seems no fun will be coming my way for awhile." Venis chuckled and a smile remained upon her face that reached clear up to her eyes. A sparkle was there that had been missing for some time. "I am sure you can find something fun to do. There's more than just scaring little neophyte monsters to do around here." Though, she had to admit, scaring newbs was one of her favorite forms of entertainment. "I suppose there is." A sigh. "Until I get a crew though I'm pretty much out of work." He needed a crew to get work, but he hadn't managed to find one. "I suppose I'll just have to wait for that, even if it is a pain." There were pirates on the waters he could deal with. Both eyebrows rose as she blinked slowly. "I know where you can get a crew, at least a temporary one." She had hundreds of beings at her disposal, so to speak. She could think of any number of them who would like to set sail for a while. And there were several with special talents who would simply love to be helpful to a ship.

((TBC))

Now that Venis was off the ship, she needed to find something to eat. She started to feel around the area to see what kind of life was about. She felt the demonic presence she now knew to be Barthalomew. She dismissed that. She felt the fish in the waters, but they were of no use to her. There was an ....An ...

Venis made a slow turn in the direction from which she felt that presence. "So, I have an audience." Words spoken aloud, though quietly enough as to not announce the presence to any other who were around. Instead, she turned back around, not having laid actual sight upon the being, and returned to her walk.

Venis thought to herself how the presence of this being put a bit of a hinder on her feeding. Sure, she could sample a few entree's, but to simply pick one and drink it to the end ....No, not in front of her. She would have to make due for now.

Venis wasn't liking the effect that presence had on what was inside of her. She had called upon the extra power, and now it seemed that it was figuratively biting her in the butt with every turn. She's been called upon more for her regular duties lately than she was used to. And each time she was needed, it got harder and harder for her to control things.

The presence that was watching her made that fight even worse. But this was someone she felt comfortable in referring to as a friend. Of course, she wouldn't go as far as to list her on the short list of best friends, but still. So with that being the case, Venis had no choice but to fight against what was inside of her and growing exponentially with each passing moment.

Venis' eyebrow raised when she saw an apparent male rise from where she has sensed the other being. She had thought for sure that it had been one she knew. But then the being spoke, and Venis was no longer confused. She paused in her steps as she was being addressed. How much control did she still have?

Fighting within herself to keep Epiphany from sensing what was going on with her, Venis spoke in return. "Yes, quite a night indeed." She felt the need to add to the conversation. "I didn't kill him. Didn't bite him at all." Just for clarification. Perhaps she was overcompensating. But she had to hold back what was not supposed to be there to begin with.

After a moment of gritting her teeth Venis continued. "What brings you to this area of Rhy'Din Epiphany' I didn't know you strayed so far from the New Haven area." She knew that New Haven was quite a distance from this area, though still a part of Rhy'Din. And she thought it would be some time before anyone who was in that area would find her here.

Venis stood, a bit of a distance from Epiphany, and listened. Of course, she had to wait for the lady to stretch and get comfortable. "Travel can be good. As can work." Under normal circumstances, Venis loved both travel and her work. She was happy to see that Epiphany enjoyed such things as well.

Friend would have been an appropriate description. Venis considered Epiphany her friend. But her hesitation to get closer to Venis was warranted. Venis was most definitely not feeling herself at the moment. Epiphany might not want to get too close.

Venis noticed the gesture that Epiphany did. It was a nervous gesture. "I'm sorry that I'm making you uncomfortable Epiphany. I should go." Venis took a few steps to begin to walk away. But then she was asked a question. It caused a pause in her stride.

With her back to Epiphany she heard the question. She hung her head and ran a her long bony fingers of her left hand through her hair. That was her nervous gesture. "No, you're right. I'm not exactly out on a stroll." She turned to face Epiphany and found that she was having trouble looking her in the eyes. She couldn't lie to Epiphany. It was because of who, or what rather, Epiphany was. Not to mention what Venis was.

She looked up and away for a moment. She was trying to prevent a tear from falling. She looked back at Epiphany. She wasn't sure how to tell her. But she had been asked. "I screwed up Pip." Pip was not a word Venis used often, and with her voice barely above a whisper, she continued. "And I have to find what I'm looking for before I can fix it. All while trying my hardest to not let it take control." She probably wasn't making much sense, but she was trying to not cry.

Venis shook her head and hung it low again. "I didn't come here specifically. This is just where the portal opened up to when I left New Haven earlier." She wasn't sure how much to tell Epiphany, or even what. She looked over at a barrel and it scooted over to where she stood. She sat upon the barrel and crossed her left leg over her right.

She shook her head. "No, not looking for a ship." There was a sound of 'no, not quite that' in Venis' tone. Like Epiphany had guessed right that she was looking for something, but that wasn't it. But of course that had been made obvious by Venis saying she was looking for something. Pip just hadn't guessed what that something was.

Venis sort of nodded and tilted her head at Epiphany's next comments. "True. I don't exactly come down here to find people to hang out with. And if I needed information, I would have thought to bring some coin along with me." Unfortunately, information and new friends were not on her list of things to find. Even if she had happened to find a friend, though an old friend. But that was just happenstance that Epiphany was there too.

She looked up at Epiphany again. "I know you believe that light cannot exist without darkness. And I have always been so careful to keep a healthy balance within myself." That was because of everything that made Venis what she was. She normally had a very even balance of good and evil.

She had the decency to sound embarrassed as she continued. "But I sort of called on something I shouldn't have." There was a pause before her tone changed to sound more like a child trying to find any excuse to get out of trouble or to justify their actions. "I was trapped at the Keep, something was holding me hostage. There were deaths every time I tried to walk out. And Kyra's house collapsed ..." She definitely sounded like she was making excuses.

She wrung her hands together, twisting her rings and popping her knuckles. "I called upon an ancient power. A darkness that I knew was strong enough to help me. I needed the power boost to break the spell that had me trapped." What Venis didn't know was that when the spell broke, it wasn't because of her calling upon the darkness, nor was it because of her fight with Emilia. The spell broke because the demon, or whatever it wanted to call itself, had been cast out from this realm and was nearly dead.

Venis rubbed her forehead a few times. "Emilia and I, we got into a fight. Then the castle started to crumble. And Kahn showed up, Inion was there, Emilia, Eros ....Oh God's when Eros touched me." It was like she was suffering the harshness of remembering it all. Again she looked at Epiphany. "What should have cast it out of me, what should have over powered it ....It fed off our shared power. It grew stronger. Feeding off my natural darkness, and the power we all shared." Venis looked down again.

It was a couple of breaths before she spoke again. She looked back at Epiphany with unshed tears in her eyes. "It's trying to take over Pip." One of those tears fell. "I need to find the being that captured me and kill it before this darkness takes complete control and I can't come back from it." She had told the whole story. She wasn't sure it was the right call, but she felt the need to tell someone. Epiphany was the first person she had come across since leaving the Keep that she trusted. She didn't tell anyone when she fled the Keep. But she hadn't known how bad it had become at that time either.

Venis hung her head and listened to Epiphany. She nodded here and there, listening to her friend's sage advice. Some part of her knew that Epiphany would not be happy about what she had done. So she had been expecting the lecture. Maybe even the yelling. "You're right." Words whispered while Venis still hung her head like a child that had just been chastised.

So what exactly was it that Epiphany was right about' She was right about Venis having been the one to call upon the power. Venis had been the one who had brought this on herself. Venis was the one who hadn't thought about the consequences of taking in so much darkness in a time of distress. It was Venis' own fault that she was in this mess now. And for that, she had no right to cry about it.

It hadn't been this extra darkness that had trapped Venis within her Keep. But Venis was bound and determined to find out who or what it had been. That was a definite. And if Venis lost herself to the darkness along the way, that was her own fault. Venis had no choice but to find a way to rid herself of what she had inflicted upon herself while still trying to find the other.

She remained sitting upon the barrel as Epiphany walked away. Venis would have to make amends later for upsetting her so. She hated it when her friends were upset with her. But at the moment, it would make things worse if she tried. Because the voices in her head that stemmed from the added darkness were telling her to kill Epiphany for daring to speak to her in such a way. And there wasn't a snowballs chance in hell that Venis was going to listen to those voices.