A pain in the Manus

Quelaag/Ciri "Reima?"

Reima looks up and sees his family staring down at him with cautious expressions, "Er, what're you guys doing here?"

Ciaran "Trying to prevent you from becoming another Manus, tell us, what just happened!"

The others nod and Reima sighs, "Well, Manus wanted me to start eating peoples souls, I said no and sucked him into my staff... Come to think of it, where is my staff?" he says will looking at his shadow in confusion.

He can't seem to find it and looks back at the group who're all now staring at the sky in fear and awe.

Geralt "I must be seeing things, looks to me that Reima's staff is flying..."

Reima looks up and spots the Staff of Manus floating above him, a single large eye at the base of the axe head. A rumbling voice comes from it, "I WILL DEVOUR YOU ALL!"

Geralt "Yeah, must be going crazy..." he says while picking his ear with a finger.

Ciaran "Manus!" she shouts in anger at the staff.

The eye flicks to her, "ARRTTTOORRRIIAASS, I WILL DEVOUR YOU A SECOND TIME!"

Reima frowns, "No you don't" he says and summons the staff back to his hand.

As the Staff of Manus is flying back to Reima it continues to speak, "G-GET OFF OF ME MORTAL! I WILL DEVOU-" It's cut off as Reima grabs it, suppressing Manus will on contact.

Reima "Hmm, I kinda don't wanna use this thing anymore..." he says while poking it in the now-closed eye.

Dusk "Is, Is it safe?" she asks.

Reima nods, "Should be, to be honest, I'm glad he's stuck in the staff and not my head. I feel refreshed!"

Ciri's about to walk up and comfort him but their previous argument along with Geralt's words prevent her from making the first move. Instead she's beaten by Quelaag who quickly scuttled over.

Quelaag "I'm glad your okay Reima." she says and hugs him.

Reima's gotten used to Quelaag's breasts smothering his face and just hugs her bac with a smile, "Yeah, yeah... Atleast the sentient weapon didn't come with a black robe and skull mask, that'd definitely be copyright."

Ciaran tilts her head to the side, "Copyright? What kind of sorcery is that?"

Reima shakes his head, "Don't worry, we should be immune to it." he says while depositing the Staff of Manus back into his shadow where it remains suppressed.

Risryn "Are you fine then Reima? Because I have news of our mission."

Reima nods, "Let's take this to the war room." he says as he opens a portal there, everyone except Sif going inside with Reima following. Apparently Sif wants to play with Eeuwigdurend, better known as the Everlasting Dragon.

The group get back to Kaer Morhen and Ciri instantly leaves to go somewhere else, while the rest stay to hear how Risryn's mission had went.

Reima "So, is the Eternal Fart leader dead?" he says as he falls into a chair next to the large table in the middle of the room.

Risryn nods, "Pierced his heart with my own blade, now all that's left is for Solaire to get back."

Reima nods, "Shouldn't be too long if they use the horses everyone lent them."

Risryn nods, "We provided an adequate distraction so we should be in the clear."

Geralt "Hmm, still hard to believe the Eternal Fire has spread so far. I'd have thought the non-humans would fight back against it."

Ciaran shakes her head, "They can't, religion is like a virus, it infects the hearts of minds of the people until it finally has enough numbers to oppress others. I've experienced it before during my numerous expeditions in Lordran, not to mention Gwyn's reign essentially embodying this philosophy."

Dusk "I agree with you partly Lord's blade, but I think religion can be for the betterment of men in general. See how Reah and Anastacia are operating."

Ciaran shakes her head, "I'm not sure how to feel about their actions, everytime I step outside I hear someone shouting "Jolly" at the top of their lungs."

Reima frowns and points at her, "Yo, that's not me... Solaire's completely at fault for that one, you give the masses one memorable line and they'll latch onto it like rabid dogs." he says as he winks at the camera. "Not that I'm complaining, I think it's far better than "Amen", or "Praise Allah" and whatever else people yell.

Quelaag "Those two have stolen my servants with that religion of theirs." she complains.

Geralt grunts, "Well, as long as it doesn't start calling for people to start being burned alive, I'm neutral to it. I've a couple of other things to do today, Reima, try and keep control of whatever that creature is." he says as he leaves.

With that, the others realise they'd been in the middle of something when Risryn had pulled them away. They all quickly leave, Quelaag looking the most reluctant to. Though a wave from Reima finally sends her away.

Risryn "Kaedwen's King Mensfeld will likely know we are responsible for the assassination. What plans do you have should they try and invade us?" she asks.

Reima shrugs, "I was just thinking of running into the middle of them and turning them all to ash... It's not like any weaponry they have could actually hurt me, and they've already killed or lost their magic users due to the Eternal Fire's presence."

Risryn nods, "I believe that would be an adequate way to solve the problem, if you're busy our Prospects would be enough to cut them down... Especially since they have no access to the magic that caused us issues in the last battle."

Reima "Go have a rest and some drinks. Not everyone could so easily assassinate someone within their own home. I've still got some stuff to do that'd been delayed due to my... Small problem."

"I WILL DEVOUR YOU!" shouts from his shadow which causes him to sigh.

Reima flicks a small red fireball into his shadow which seems to quieten the former god of darkness.

Risryn nods, "I will leave you to it then my lieg-"

Reima "Don't! Call me that..."

Risryn shakes her head, "Reima." she says as she leaves.