Judas
Nero making love.
"'Ey Tedworth, you suppose we goin' the right way?" Sinclair, the large bluejay waved his wing around as he flapped his beak. "This place is awfully dark." The forest was pitch black. Crows flew over their heads. Unknown substances dropped from their tail ends. It's best they remain unknown.
"Oh, of course, Clair." Tedworth was a tiny mouse, half the size of the large bird, Sinclair. "We oughta head... This way!" His tail pointed to the north as he held a sizable map in his meager pink paws. The two walked down a dark path, their paws sinking into the damp dirt with each step. Sinclair would cautiously look around. Pairs of red eyes seemed to stand in the darkness, perching on trees, staring down at them. Of course, Tedworth would never notice.
"Oi Teddie, there's a shack over there! Best we get some sorta direction, eh?" His wing knudged against Tedworth, who was shaken and stirred by the bird's mighty blow. "Well, okay... But you're doing the talking, alright?" Tedworth adjusted his vest, and straightened the newsboy cap on his head. His pink nose wrinked and his skin shivered underneath his white fur. Night time was setting in.
The pair reached the subfluous shack. An eerie blue glowed from the shacked up windows, and strange flora sprouted from underneath the foundation. Mystical fungi were scattered around a welcome mat. "WeLcOm3" was written on it in an almost comedic fashion. If the font were to have a name, it would be called Comic Sans. A barrel used for garbage material sat next to the mat, full completely of trash. A raccoon dug through it, just as dirty as the barrel itself.
Sinclair shook nervously, hiding behind Tedworth, who approached the door cautiously. He reached his paw out and folded it into a fist, readying to knock on to the door. As he did this, a purple cat dropped down from the rafters above, holding on by his tail. A fat grin ran across his face, his teeth shining in the blue glow. "Well, well, well, what whiskered you to where?"
A confused look approached Tedworth's, and he raised an eyebrow. "Who whiskered what where? We need directions, and possibly a bed! It's like 5 in the morning!" To which the cat sang back, "It's not meow fault you're lost. If you need a place to catnap, it will cost you~."
Tedworth frowned, and pushed the cat out of the way. His tail slid across the rafter, making him move along like a shower curtain, and Tedworth knocked upon the door. "Sorry, I left my purrse at home. We don't have time to be catty with you!" To this Sinclair shouted "Stop with the cat puns!" And thus the door opened, the blue glow growing stronger.
And a cat-like man stood in front of them. His fur was a dark blue, his eyes a deep red, and his body was encased in a series of tattoos. The tattoos themselves glowed, and the cottage itself was covered in many different types of glowing magical fungi. A cauldron centered itself in the room, from which an oozing blue liquid was spilling out on to the wooden floor, of which itself was broken in many places. Nails stood out of the walls, and scrolls were hung around.
The cat and bird pair stared at the strange being. "What is it you two want? You've made a lot of racket ouf here! I can't concentrate on my work with all this noise out. What the hell do you want?" The two stared, then looked at each other, and back to the cat, who was slightly taller than Tedworth himself, still being shorter than Sinclair, though. All he had to his body was a tan leather loin cloth covering his nether regions.
"What is it! Spit it out! Augh you mortals annoy me so!"
Sinclair was the first to speak up. "An esper! Yer an esper! I read about these guys, they're rare in this world o' ours!" To this, the unself-proclaimed esper annoucned "No, I am not an esper! It's a mana! Mana! I am a mana! Gods below you two are dense."
Tedworth simply gawked at Sinclair in response to his astounding astatement. "An eidolon! How unique! Special! Wonderful! Fantastic!" The blue creature in front of them slapped his hand in to his face, then to Tedworth's. Then to Sinclair's. He simply muttered back to himself, "I feel like I'm in an Abbot & Costello routine." And with a raise of his voice, "It's MANA you donkey asses."
"Well, what's the difference? I mean, they're all magical and stuff." Tedworth twirled a finger around in the air. The blue creature scowled, "Yes, there, is, but plebian mortal nerdbots like yourselves could never understand. Come inside already, let us dispense with the 'pleasantries.' By the way, my name is Nyarpeto'quinhoashu. In your tongue, it's Nero."
The two followed him inside of the shack, and sat upon two pedantic stools. Nero himself walked to a stove. The stove's pipe traveled to the roof, and was very Victorian. Sinclair fidgeted with his suit, before removing his overcoat, placing it on a coat rack in the corner of the room. At least, it seemed like a coat rack. A twisted limb crawled up to Sinclair's wing, where his coat laid over, and grabbed it, pushing it on to itself before returning to its normal state. "Um, thanks." Sinclair said before turning around slowly, and walking back to his stool. Slowly.
"So, what brings you two gentleman to my humble abode?" Nero poured a thick, steamy green liquid into three tea cups and put them on a tray. "Looking for some black magicks to delve in? Or some scrolls to summon an esper with?" The tray stood up on its own, hopping on to the wooden floor and skipping to the trio of stools, each hop spilling a little more of the liquid each time. "Please, take some tea," Nero would say, "It will help relax you."
"Why thank you, good man." Tedworth took a sip, it was an exotic flavor. "What is this? It's quite sweet." Nero smiled at the boy, "Split Toad Tea. I made it myself! Just a little toad, some sage leaf, succulent chille-- Oh my." Sinclair had spit it up. And spit up some other things. "I don't think this is my cup of tea," he said. "I'll have to decline yer offer. Regardless, we are here because my companion here has lostened us. We're well lost. Do you know how to un-lost ourselves into Damakhen territory? It's a bit urgent, we've got us some jobs to do." Tedworth sipped some more tea, before placing the cup back on a plate. "Quite so, we're to be opening a bakery soon. We need a room for the night, and were hoping a fine man like you could help us out."
Nero simply grinned. "Oh, yes, that I can quite oblige - It gets a bit lonely out here, you know. I've not had a soul come or go in quite some time. You two make good company, despite your desperate denseness. Now, close your eyes, for I've a surprise." And with his he stood up from his stool, and brushed his paws against his loin cloth. With a chant of some foreign words and a movement of his paws as if he were conducting an orchestra, a large comfy bed appeared in the middle of the room, with lush red blankets and lovely violet pillows, fluffy as clouds.
The desperate duo were surprised at the feat of magick, for they had seen acts of magicks before but none so beautiful. Rose petals scattered the air around them as the shack began transforming itself into a cozy cottage. A gold wallpaper surrounded the room, and the wood floors instantly repaired themselves. As Nero busied himself with more of his own magicks, the purple cat once again appeared, dropping down in front of the heroes.
"Not everything is free nor purrfect, furiends. You'll soon pay the price for such acts of kindness. Hmm, maybe they aren't such acts of kindness at all? Oh well, 'tis not my purroblem." And to this he slinked away, his tail rolling up and lifting him on to the rafters once again, where he scampered away through a hole in the ceiling.