The Princess of Storms is having a ball tonight. She's painted clouds across the western sky.

[foryourown]

As the light fades, the collars on the cats visiting the barracks - and the collars on the wrists of those who chose to put them on - start to glow. The transition between the freezing, crumbling barracks and the opulence of a castle's interior is almost unnoticeable. One moment they're in the barracks. The next, they'll find themselves in large

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[notalighieri]

From one moment in the frozen barracks... to a luxurious castle interior the next. Dante's eyebrows raise up as he looks around the room from his position: hands behind his head, feet crossed at the ankles and lounging on the bed. Clearly an improvement, he decides, and swings his legs over the side of the bed. A small smile creeps onto his demeanour as he takes a quick look around.

So, this is the party is it? Looking promising! By the time he pulls open the door to the suite's central sitting room, he's got a grin on his face. This doesn't look like a henchman's cottage that's for sure. On the road to party with the big guns, that's more like it!

Stepping into the sitting room he exclaims, "This sure is empty for some kinda party!" Yeah where are the women at, for one? Oh wait, there's more doors...

Might just as well try the nearest and see what happens. Will it be more bedrooms... or a corridor; empty rooms or people?

[hisstupidheart]

Des happens to be walking into the sitting room around the same time as Dante's peeking into one of the doors. He has the agitated look of a cat with its fur on end and he keeps glancing around like he's expecting something to crawl out of the walls and eat their hearts. Fucking fairies. He didn't even want to go to the damn party, but it was the only way he was going to get straight answers and-

Oh. He's not the only one in this room. He'd be lying if he said he didn't stalk keep tabs on everyone in the barracks- enough that he knows them by some clever nickname. In this case, Dante's known by the oh-so-clever moniker 'that white-eyed guy.'

...He's the only white-haired guy in the barracks. It works.

"See anything you like?" He calls, before crossing the room to the fireplace. There's a fire. As a man, Des is inclined to poke it with sticks until he feels less frustrated with the world.

[notalighieri]

"I dunno man, it lacks somethin' doesn't it."

Dante closes the door and turns around to give the other man a look. So, there are other people around -that's a start. That white-haired guy gives Des a slight sceptical yet amused look and appears strangely accepting of their situation. Waking up in closed-off fancy castle suits and looking for a mysterious gala party is totes perfectly normal.

He throws up his hands in a shrug. "With this décor you'd expect something like... I dunno," He crosses his arms and looks ceiling-wise as if lost in thought. Clearly this is an important issue. Then, in a flash of realisation he snaps his fingers and points at Des, "Oh, I know! Belly dancers! ... Or, harem girls." He ponders this for another second and thinks aloud, "Sexy faeries? Aren't faeries supposed to be pretty an shit?"

Eh, whatever. Back to the other guy. "You here for the party too?"

[aheromade]

And behind door number three...

Leaf opens the door and steps into the sitting room, glancing around warily. "I suppose I ought to expect this place to keep surprising me, by now." He takes a moment to size the other two up -- he's seen them around, he thinks? But he hasn't actually talked to either of them before.

But then the fireplace catches his attention, and he moves around to stand in front of it. This castle's already going to be warmer than the barracks, he's sure, but until his body catches up with his mind, the fire is looking very good right now.

[hisstupidheart]

Des scoffs and pokes the fire with the poker with such ferocity, he might as well be stabbing the block of wood to death. "Sure, buddy. They're gorgeous and they wear miniskirts as they tapdance all over your free will and turn you into animals." Poke, poke, poke. "Some 'em even get off on that."

Cynical, thy name is Des.

He looks up when Lead joins him by the fire and looks from him to Dante and then back again. "Guess this is the part of the horror film where we all introduce ourselves, huh?

[notalighieri]

"Like women in general then." Dante retorts with a casual shrug and half a grin. If he's got any grasp on the reality of the situation he's not showing it. Or rather, he's completely ignoring it. Being cranky about how crap life is gets old and all.

Leaf enters and he places his hands on his hips as he looks at the new arrival. Great, a kid or something. Still no women. Maybe this Princess Of Storms is gathering a harem--hmm... No probably not. Still, interesting thought.

Introductions.

"Dante. Devil-hunter." He points at himself and keeps it short. "Horror film? Dude, lighten up." Des earns a laugh and a hand-wave -get outta here man! Suspicious luxurious castle with the potential of dying from having girls in miniskirts tap-dance on you, instead of dying from boredom in a frozen run-down wood shed -clearly at least one step in the right direction.

[aheromade]

Conversations about women. Oh joy. At least nobody seems to be expecting Leaf to contribute. (Although for a moment, he really misses Nanna.)

"Leaf." And if they're throwing professions in, well -- "...Prince of Lenster." Not that the kingdom means jack to anyone else in the room, and he knows it; it's delivered almost as an afterthought.

[hisstupidheart]

Another hunter. Of course. "We should start a Elk's Lodge," Des snorts in Dante's direction. "You're about the tenth person who hunts around here- and I don't mean deer. Name's Des. Desmond D. Descant. Paranormal Investigator." It makes him feel a little bit better, knowing there's a hunter nearby since he has no idea where Jo and Dean are right now, although that bit of relaxation changes when Leaf speaks up.

He turns to the younger man and regards him with a wary sort of look. "Prince of what? That one of those weird tiny European numbers?"

[notalighieri]

"A what lodge?" He wonders out loud while pacing and looking around the room. At the mention of hunters he breathes out a laugh. "Heh! So I've heard. Paranormal Investigator huh? What do you do, hunt ghosts? Man I hate ghosts..." He frowns at the thought. If you couldn't punch it, it wasn't satisfying to hunt. Thankfully ghosts tended to stay their distance due to his demonic heritage.

That aside, the kid is royalty? Well how about that. Dante looks amused as he studies some of the wall mosaics that appear to change. "A prince? Guess that makes someone who fits the new surroundings."

[aheromade]

European doesn't mean anything to Leaf, but he gives the best answer he can. "Lenster is on the northern edge of the Thracian Peninsula, in the Manster District. Though near as I can tell, just about no one here is familiar with those." He shrugs. "It...is small, I suppose, in comparison to other kingdoms on the continent, but size is hardly the only measure of influence."

Dante's comment, however, seems to catch him a bit off-guard, and he adds (a bit sheepishly) "I was raised in exile, actually, owing to an invasion when I was young. So I've little experience with anything this elegant." It's the truth -- but he was also raised with the manners expected of his station, if not the luxuries, and he's already straightening up a bit and collecting himself. Now that the initial surprise is wearing down, he has every intention of making the best impression he can on their hostess.

[hisstupidheart]

Des brushes aside the comment about Elk's lodges and moves on. "I ain't a Ghostbuster- I hunt everything. Monsters, mostly. And I solve cases caused by 'em, when I can't just go out and pop 'em." Namely when demons or fae are the causes. He could kill them both, but he's got friends on both sides and he'd like to keep them without bringing a war down on his head.

He stares blankly and exchanges a meaningful look at Dante that's supposed to translate as, Did you understand any of that? Not that geography was ever Des's best subject, but sure as hell doesn't sound like earth.

"Some fancy exile," Des scoffs, noting the way he's holding himself. "Aren't most exiled princes raised on, like, farms or something?"

[notalighieri]

Dante turns around to give Desmond a second appraising look, as if what he just said was cause enough to actually bother. Dante has met a whole slew of hunters and mercenaries in his time and few of them ever lived up to their boasting when the real things came to town. Des might be different -he cna't tell, but hey he sure can appreciate the guy's attitude.

"Cool. I jus' pop 'em." He smirks.

At the look regarding Leaf's country, Dante just looks as clueless as the other hunter and shrugs. Hell if I know, dude. The half-demon wasn't even sure he ever remembered taking geography. The prince's comment does strike a chord, however.

"Exile huh, that sucks." He knows the feeling. Sort of. "Still looking to fit this place better than most of us, I'd say!" He laughs at that and gives the room's décor a sceptical look. It's not that Dante doesn't like luxuries, but in honest -look at the guy! Even a two-star restaurant with any self respect would probably turn him away in his current state of dress.

[aheromade]

Desmond's comments are starting to grate Leaf's nerves a bit, but Finn did always teach him that sometimes you just had to suck it up and be polite even when you didn't feel like it. And there's really no such thing as too much practice at curbing one's tongue, he's sure, so he might as well take the opportunity. "A fishing village, in my case," he says evenly. "But good manners are universal."

Dante, on the other hand, strikes him as rough but pretty likable, and to him, he adds, "It seems like your talents would be much better suited for the forest, though. Honestly, I'd almost prefer to trade."