An Exploratory Venture

[notcharming]

It's only a matter of a few months to determine that Arkady is not in his domain. What's odd is that it should have taken him a shorter amount of time than that, but there seems to be conflicting information on whether or not Arkady is dead, which is unusual at best and somewhat alarming at worst.

It doesn't seem like he ever made it to the Underworld (no one possesses the power to escape once fully there), but it's possible that he stopped along the way there and turned back. That alone isn't all that unusual. Plenty of people destined for his realm were in comas, or had near-death experiences. There were stops along the way, metaphorically speaking, before the point of no return. But what's odd about Arkady is that there's debate in what Ereuvir can sense on where he belongs.

It's not enough that he would normally do something like this, take this kind of time, but Ashley's description of his brother has him intrigued as does the bits and pieces of their story he's picked up, and how angry Ashley had seemed about Arkady being alive when he had told him. Or perhaps just disappointed? He wasn't entirely sure.

Ashley has been... complex to deal with, but immensely satisfying, and he can't help but keep wondering about the entire story, the other half. And so, he started trying to track Arkady through the world of the living.

It doesn't work, of course. He has no powers above, even with someone who perhaps needs to be below. But eventually, he's not sure why, he has the idea to hone in on Ashley's remains, which he is innately and easily able to do... and when he discovers that they're in separate places, it's almost a foregone conclusion that he would track them down.

Which brings him here. The door of a manor and an ostensibly human, ostensibly modern sort of look for himself. He doesn't have a "plan", really, but he doesn't intend to be particularly subtle, either, beyond his current appearance, which is an expensive, tailored suit in a deep shade of blue, almost black, every bit of him screaming businessman or possibly noble, despite the fact that he's unaccompanied and rather casually just knocking on the door.

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[raventonmagick]

The mansion always felt so lonely these days. Arkady's parents had died years ago, the servants had all moved on, and Arkady hand't even had Ashley to return home to. It was just him, all alone, and the ghosts of the past. The mansion was too big for just one man, and many of the rooms fell into disrepair, covered in layers of dust. Arkady is close to just abandoning the estate, and going to live in some dark corner. It's not the same without his beloved.

Arkady had arranged everything for Ashley's funeral and burial upon returning to New Orleans, with one little request: he was to keep Ashley's skull.

The skull is currently sitting in Arkady's lap, his spidery hands trailing along the smooth cranium, and across sharp cheekbones. How he used to stroke Ashley's face and hair like this, when he was alive.

The knock at the door is unexpected. Arkady sets Ashley inside his box for now, and goes to see who it is. It's nobody he recognizes, but it's obviously somebody important. There's a strange quality to him, but Arkady can't quite place his finger on it.

"If you're here to take the mansion, go ahead. Just give me a day to pack my things."

[notcharming]

He doesn't have a plan.

But sometimes, it seems, you don't meed one. Although he can't track Arkady's soul, he recognizes it here in the sense that the man standing in front of him has put one foot in the grave and stepped out and it's rare enough that he's fairly certain. And then Arkady leaves the perfect opening and so he steps right into it.

"No, Arkady, I'm not here for the mansion," Ereuvir does a certain amount of tamping down his aura when he moves through the mortal realms, but he releases all of that now. He's not certain that Arkady will understand what he's sensing, but he's hoping he'll instinctivly understand enough. "I'm here for you."

He's not really trying to be cruel, but he's deliberately trying to be a bit misunderstood. He is here for Arkady, after all. Just... not in the way his sudden magical air and words might suggest. He's intensely curious what the reaction will be.

[raventonmagick]

Arkady's thin eyebrows raise when his senses pick up an unusual aura. He can sense that there's something very not human about this stranger. Something more than human. Something otherworldly.

He stands aside, allowing the stranger inside the house. He feels that it would be a mistake to insult such a man.

"Here for me? Whatever could someone as powerful as you want with someone like me?" This is either going to end poorly for him, or very well.

[notcharming]

Or both.

"Hm, not powerful enough, apparently," his smile is more genuine than it likely appears as he steps inside, "You've eluded me once already. And you've left something important behind." Those two things aren't actually connected, as far as Ereuvir knows, but he's not certain. "This interests me, and I had to come see you for myself."

He looks around the room and at Arkady himself,

"I have to admit, this is not what I was expecting." There's no judgement whatsoever in his tone, it's simply a statement of fact.

[raventonmagick]

The stranger's words are cryptic, but they do paint a picture. Arkady hasn't escaped many things, except the touch of a vampire and death. This man doesn't seem like a vampire. He has stepped into death's realm, and pulled himself out, waking up on a morgue before he could be processed.

Is that why Arkady has a hard time reading him? Is the reading he's getting off the stranger one of death?

"My family is not what it used to be. I'm the last of my line, and I saw no reason to hire new help." Arkady walks over so that he's in front of the stranger. "Who are you, really? Who sent you?"

[notcharming]

"No interest in trying to leave a legacy, to pass yourself down into history as a form of immortality?" again, his tone does not give away what he thinks of either such a thing or Arkady not being interested in it.

"Who are you, really?" he says in return, and he shrugs slightly, dismissing the rhetorical question himself, "My name is Ereuvir. I am the ruler of the Underworld, where the wicked go to be punished for their sins in life," he knows that this often makes the religious jump to the Devil, but Arkady doesn't strike him as the sort. "Nobody sent me. There are few creatures in the entire cosmos who could force me to do their bidding if I did not choose to."

"As I said. You came to my attention and I was curious. I still am. You're a man who cheated death. I suppose I should be more offended, but mostly I'm intrigued. It is not something often accomplished."

[raventonmagick]

"Heh. My immortality would have been in the form of books I had written, or possibly breakthroughs in physiology. If I were to have children, my brother would have murdered them out of jealousy." His words are oddly casual, as if child murder were on the same level as drinking all the wine. But he doesn't doubt Ashley really would do such a thing, out of jealousy for both the spawn and whatever woman Arkady would have to sleep with to make it happen.

Arkady blinks when the stranger introduces himself properly. The pieces click into place. Why Arkady got such an unusual reading off him, sensing that he's not human or even a mortal, and why he has an air of death and divinity about him.

"So, Hades himself steps into my parlor. I suppose I should feel honored by such a visit. I cheated death, yes. It wasn't easy, I assure you, nor was it very pleasant. But all for naught, for I returned home to find someone I cared deeply for had, shall we say, gone into your realm."

[notcharming]

He is starting, very suddenly, to put the pieces here together, all at once-- namely what it was that Arkady was doing, while he was not returning for Ashley.

And some things, perhaps, that Ashley has omitted.

Still, the picture is incomplete, there are things he still does not fully understand and wishes to.

"Jealousy of you producing off-spring? It seems an odd thing for a brother to be jealous of. Was he unable to have children?" he cannot imagine Ashley would have wanted any, but then, perhaps there is something he has missed. "An honor or not remains to be seen," he comments, off-handedly. "It's curious you don't seem frightened, though. Most people are.

He does blink as Arkady finishes the thought, can't help the surprise that shows on his face. Both brothers, now, have so casually presumed the other would be going to Hell. He can't help but smile to that, "I would think most people would content themselves knowing that their loved ones had avoided eternal suffering. Just how wicked was this dear one of yours?" It's teasing, but he is, once again, intensely curious about the answer, here, curious to hear about what he presumes is Ashley from someone else.

[raventonmagick]

Arkady shrugs. "I would think that he could, but we never bothered to check. We never needed to." Arkady had promised Ashley that he'd never get married, and Ashley had also had no desire for marriage. They had belonged to each other, and no spouse would get in the way of that.

"Personally, I was hoping that Ashley would return as a ghost. I certainly wouldn't think he'd end up in the fields of Elysium." Ereuvir gave off the impression not of a Christian devil, but of something out of the Greek or Roman pantheon. He certainly looked like a Greek statue come to life. "Ashley was very wicked indeed. So am I. Ashley was the beauty of our family, and he wasn't above using it to his advantage."

The way Arkady speaks of Ashley being beautiful, it's not just an offhand comment or observation. There's a certain wistfulness in his voice when speaking of his brother.

[notcharming]

We never needed to.

There's something about that. There's something about the way Arkady talks about Ashley that seems desperately at odds with the way Ashley has presented things. Ashley has seemed bitter and certainly seems jealous enough of Ereuvir's time that he can imagine him killing someone for someone else's attention easily, the earlier phrasing hardly making an impact at all. But Ashley's also been ready and easy to bed, easy to speak of devotion, and Arkady... is less so. He wonders about what their relationship really is, but also he knows that death changes people-- knowing that your story, such as it was, was over and this was what was beyond... it was enough to make someone make different decisions, certainly.

Still... something doesn't fully sit right and it makes him feel more like an interloper than either a curious deity or an interested lover.

"There are different kinds of beauty," he says, simply, to part of the first, though he can't help the way his lips twist at the word wicked, "A ghost, though?" he raises an eyebrow slightly, "You speak of him with so fond a tone, but you wish him trapped in half-death and call him wicked. An odd brother." There's no judgement, though. He had said much the same to Ashley.

He is fairly certain, now, what he wants to do, but there's one more matter to attend to, along with the answers and reactions to what he has already said,

"Did you know he was dead, when you chose to rise from the grave?" it's the first question he's asked that's seemed more than idle curiosity, a bit sharper.

[raventonmagick]

"Our relationship was not one that is typical of brothers. Let's just say, if any of our family friends knew what we got up to when we were alone, it would have caused quite the scandal." Arkady was better at keeping secrets than Ashley, but they had managed to hide the nature of their relationship.

"I didn't know he was dead, no. I rushed home from Paris once I came back, and found his body myself. I had promised I would return home to him, and show him everything I had learned in my time abroad."

[notcharming]

Several things click into place all at once, both about Ashley's attitude and the nature of their relationship. He's had suspicions for a while, but it's a fairly big leap to make, and he didn't wish to make it uninformed,

"I presume you're not speaking of necromancy?" he lets his lips curve up into a wicked little smile, his tone teasing but without any kind of condemnation. He's not the sort to condemn (men condemn themselves, not him) but even if he were, this is not a sin he would be able to be anything but a hypocrite if he turned his nose up at.

The mystery solved, or at least enough of it solved to make reasonable sense, Ereuvir finds that he's a lot more interested in Arkady properly than in the overall story, now. He lets the grin mellow a bit, his posture ease,

"But here I am, interrogating you in your own entryway. Perhaps I should be a bit more honest with you. I don't typically drag souls screaming into my domain, but you already belong there. I had thought to correct the error. But now, I find myself more intrigued by how it was done and how you learned to do it than feeling a need to undo it," his smile edges a bit more sinister, "Though perhaps by the end of the evening, you will come with me willingly." He shrugs drops that tone for a more jovial one again,

"Do you have anywhere more hospitable where we might discuss things further? I apologize for making you play host on such short notice."

[raventonmagick]

"I only learned a enough necromancy to bring myself back, and I might have been able to bring my brother back with what I knew. But you won't see me summon any hoards of the undead, trust me." Even though Ereuvir isn't condemning him, he still feels the need to make that clear. Any corpses that pass through his door are for experiments and dissection, nothing more. Oh, how he and Ashley used to learn with cadavers.

He can tell that Ereuvir is hiding something from him. If he truly is the lord of the underworld, then he must know what became of Ashley after his death.

"Of course. We may retreat into my sitting room, if you like, and I can serve us wine." Waving his hand, Arkady leads his guest towards the hallway, stopping to take the box containing Ashley's skull along. The sitting room is just down the hall. The room in question has several couches and easy chairs, and a large fireplace that's still cold. Against the wall is a wine cabinet.

Arkady sets the box down on the coffee table while he goes to fetch something to drink.

[notcharming]

"Hiding" is a bit unfair. They simply haven't gotten to that point in the conversation yet. Besides, he did say he thought Arkady might come with him willingly before the end of the evening. It stands to reason that there's an offer to be made here, whether or not Ereuvir knows anything in particular about Ashley and it's not a hard guess as to what the offer is. He does chuckle as they walk, waving away Arkady's protests,

"No no, it was a joke in response to your family not liking what you and your brother were getting up to behind closed doors. I can already tell you understand death magic. It is complicated and... extracts it's own prices. If you were to raise an army, it would be little concern of mine. They all return to the dust in the end." He settles himself on one of the couches, as comfortable seeming as though he were in his own house. The lack of a fire is curious, but goes uncommented for a moment, aside from a general observation,

"This seems a cold house to live in all by oneself. Do you not often get visitors?" He's also very much aware of what's in the box, if only because it's how he got here in the first place, but he's not ready to play a hand on that yet.

[raventonmagick]

Arkady can only phantom one reason as to why he would come willingly with this angel of death. He would give anything if he could see Ashley again, let alone have him back. The memories that linger within the skull can only do so much to sate his loneliness.

"Not anymore. I have no remaining family, and any friends I had stopped coming when they saw what I had become."

Arkady comes back over with two glasses of wine, setting one down in front of his guest first, before sitting on a chair closest to the couch Ereuvir chose.

[notcharming]

"What you'd become?" Ereuvir seems genuinely confused for a moment, but he realizes what Arkady must mean by that a moment later. It should be obvious, of course, but he is a death god. There is nothing about Arkady's appearance that he finds disturbing. "Ah. It seems... lonely. Not a particularly good prize, for being one of the few people to cheat death. Thank you," he adds, for the wine, picking the glass up, though he maintains the good manners to let his host drink first.

"Do you intend to attempt to raise your brother, then?" Ereuvir is genuinely interested. "Surely you know that it won't work. Once someone has fully crossed over into my domain, there is no way to leave save at my pleasure, and even so, once someone is dead, there is little I can do to reanimate them here My power only flows one direction and there is little way to turn back the tides. Or perhaps you think yourself more powerful than a god?" it's not a dangerous question, he's still just making conversation, interested.

[raventonmagick]

Arkady came back to New Orleans a changed man. He'd seen things, done things, and come back from the grave. Ashley's death also changed him. Before, any creepiness from him might have been subtle, and only obvious once you got to know him. Now he creeps others out all the time.

"The thought may have crossed my mind. Losing him was like losing a part of my soul. We completed each other, and I would give anything if I could speak to him again, and hold him in my arms."

Arkady takes a sip of his wine, before putting down the glass and reaching for the box. He strokes the top of the box lovingly, spidery hands trailing along the top.

[notcharming]

Ereuvir's eyebrows raise slightly at that, but it's more playful than a real surprise,

"Anything?" the tone is almost purred, a bit too intent for the rest of the conversation. It is, in some ways, what he's been waiting for, and the anticipation of it colors his voice. "Would you truly?" He doesn't actually doubt Arkady's devotion, he more just wants to hear him say it, wants to see what he looks like when he fully realizes what Ereuvir is offering. He takes a sip of his wine, lets his lips curl back into a grin,

"And if I said that I knew where he was, that such a thing was possible? Would you walk straight into the Underworld, knowing that you might be tortured there alive? The only people who leave the Underworld after they set foot on it's soil do so at my pleasure. Your magic will not help you there." For someone else, that might sound sinister and perhaps it does a bit here as well, but the tone settles more firmly into seduction rather than an attempt to frighten.

[raventonmagick]

Arkady looks up at Ereuvier, still stroking the box idly. "You're offering to take me to Ashley? You'd give me the chance to see him again." There's no doubt in his mind that Ashley is in Ereuvier's domain, carried across the river Styx. Ereuvir all but confirmed it.

"Yes. I would give anything to see Ashley again. Even if it means having my soul torn apart." Arkady has no wish to die, or suffer, but his devotion to Ashley will always win out. "Do you intend to spirit me away in your black chariot and offer me a sweet pomegranate?"

He certainly sounds tempted. The chance to be reunited with Ashley, as well as see the land of the dead for himself, it's well worth any sacrifice he must make.

[notcharming]

"I'm usually only so poetic when I'm in my official duties, but if you would like such a thing, I'm sure it can be arranged," it likely sounds overly formal to Arkady, but really, it's Ereuvir telling a joke, and one that he's pleasantly amused by. "I like seeing the honesty in people's souls," he says, which seems curiously... sweet, in a way, perhaps, until he continues, "My domain takes care of the suffering part mostly without me and, even when I do get involved in the soul-tearing business, it's to inspire the cruel of the world to face the truth of themselves, to be forced to share in that truth with another who can bear witness to whatever the depravity is within them. You will not be allowed to keep illusions about yourself," his lips curl, "whether you think you have any or not."

He takes another sip of his wine, almost idly, though truthfully, he loves things like this, this moment, getting to spin things out for someone and see their reaction, what makes them tick.

"As you may have guessed, I am familiar with your brother already. I will take you to him, if you chose to come. He is... interesting, a creature prone to excess and wanton decadence," his opinions of this are varied, but none of them show in his tone, which is neutral, "I find myself curious what you are a creature of."

[raventonmagick]

"That certainly sounds like my brother. He's always been a hedonistic creature, and he had a certain talent for getting others wrapped around his finger." Including Arkady, not that he would ever admit it. Nor would Arkady ever admit that he's arrogant, with a hedonist streak of his own.

"I'm not afraid," Arkady leans in, placing the box back on the table. Why keep stroking that skull if he's going to be reunited with Ashley anyway. "I'm confident that I can handle whatever trials you may throw at me." He meant it too. Arkady figured that he knew himself well enough that having any illusions tossed away wouldn't bother him.

"Is he still beautiful?"

[notcharming]

"Hm. As in life, in death, I suppose," is all he says about Ashley's ability to wrap people around his fingers. Though in Ereuvir's case, Ashley still hasn't wholly understood that his power is very different with Ereuvir than with most people, as most of the things that mortals cared about were beyond him. "And you should be afraid, but if you are not, then I will not attempt to frighten you, certainly. It's more interesting to me, that you would not be." Ereuvir is curious what this reunion will be like, curious if learning that Ashley and he are lovers will phase him. He can't help but chuckle softly at the question, shake his head slightly, though it's not a denial,

"If I said no, that his death had scarred him beyond recognition, would you no longer wish to go?" he is genuinely curious about this as well, and there's no censure there.

[raventonmagick]

Arkady has to pause at the answer, giving it serious thought. On one hand, if he refuses the offer, then he'll never get to see Ashley again and he'll always be left wondering what would have happened, but he'll always remember Ashley as the beautiful specimen he was when Arkady left. If he goes down into the Underworld and sees that Ashley's no longer beautiful, then he'll at least get the chance to speak to him, but Arkady's image of Ashley will forever be ruined if he truly has lost his beauty.

There's also the chance that Ereuvir is toying with him, and Ashley is indeed still beautiful.

"Yes. I would still wish to go."

[notcharming]

Ereuvir isn't concerned about it for himself, but the pause makes him consider Ashley again. He seemed to thrive on such an idea, but Ereuvir wonders if it's not a bit of a curse, to be so exquisite on the outside that it becomes what defines you to other people, to the point where even someone who cares more about you than about their own life has to pause for a moment to decide if they want to see you if your beauty has dimmed.

"I ask because I am... not a good judge of such things," Ereuvir admits, "there is much that I think is beautiful that I have been told alarms people. A life well lived can show as exquisitely on a person's face or in a person's scars as it can be expressed in perfect form and function. You clawed your way out of Hell and that has leant you beauty, as has the desperate sort of look you get whenever your touch that box," he gestures, the first time he's even so much as looked at it, "Your brother seems lovely enough to me, still. But I do not know how you will find him."

[raventonmagick]

Arkady is hardly one to talk, as he used to be quite handsome, and Ashley made it no secret that he admired Arkady's good looks. But he's confident that Ashley will still recognize his brother, because their love ran deep.

Fingers touch his cheekbone, and his sunken in cheek. He's never been told he's beautiful like this. He certainly got compliments on his looks before his death, but never after. Dark eyes glance down at the box, then back to Ereuvir.

"That's all I have left of him."

Arkady turns the box so it's facing his guest and opens it to show the polished white skull that belonged to Ashley. He's obviously taken good care of it.