Aureliano looked into Sakiko's eyes during their conversation and realized he was not paying as much attention as he usually does. He came back to his senses when Sakiko said noticed the baby was gone. He looked around and the baby was nowhere to be found. "No, no, no, he has to be close. Aureliano! Where are you?!" He called out, standing up. He looks at the birdbath, he looks at the ravishing plants, he looks at the shrubs. Nada, nothing.

"Help me find him, Sakiko. He is just a baby, he can't be that far.....I think." He told the mage. He can not afford to lose the baby. If he does, Melqi's death would have been in vain.

Sakiko clenched her teeth, feeling stupid. She had been so distracted by their conversation that she did not detect Aureliano's leave. The mage bit her lips as she explained,

"No mean to scare to you, Aureliano, but this garden is also magical, like the house. It doesn't have any ends to it. Beyond the herbs, in the forest, it goes on...and on.... he can be anywhere. If he was near the plants, I would be able to feel his aura. But he's not. That makes me assume that he's..."

Her eyes drifted to the looming forest, her face becoming even paler than it was.

"....in the forest."

She turned to Aureliano,

"At least we can try. But it'll be pretty hard finding our way back. It's like a maze in there."

Aureliano did not give it a second thought. "I can't leave without him, Sakiko."

The Hylian was afraid he might not see the infant again. He had promised Melquiades that he would take care of him, and now he was lost in an enchanted forest. "Don't worry Sakiko, we'll find him and get back. I should have been paying attention."

He lookec around and memorized his surroundings, then he reached down and grabbed Sakiko's hand and helped her up. "You know this place better than I do, do you have any idea where to start?"

Sakiko, despite the grave situation, was pleasantly surprised that Aureliano had taken her hand. However, she reluctantly withdrew it and dug into her robe. After fishing around for something for some time, the mage took out a ball of yarn. She explained as she tied it around the birdbath,

"This way we won't get lost when we make our way into the forest. That is where we must start..."

She tied the yard securely, tying the knot three times. The mage hesitated, but managed to grab Aureliano's hand loosely, and stood in front of the edge of the forest.

"One thing I must say before we go. I have never been in there, but I heard it from Masakazu. There's other things other than getting lost. Like...attacking plants, shall I say?"

She smiled at the thought, not truly believing what Masa had told her. Sakiko walked closer, and said,

"I'm afraid for Aureliano III. The faster we go in there the better."

"Attacking plants?" Aureliano asked, tightning his grip around Sakiko's hand. "Don't worry, I know fire and I have my falcata," Aureliano said, putting his empty hand to his hilt. He knew that attacking plants or not, nothing was going to stop him from finding Aureliano III.

He looked around again, and kept in mind the shape of the fountain and color of the yarn. If higher intelligence was involved, they could easily be lost and never find their way out. For all he knew, there could be mages in the forest with the ability to distort their eyesight, or make them hallucinate. Melquiades had done so more than once just to get a quick laugh, but to Aureliano, it was a terrifying experience.

"Agreed, let's go now. You lead the way, I have never even been in your backyard before." He took out his sword in a quick movement, just in case something needed to meet a stabbity death.

Sakiko shivered. She certainly did not think of any living mammals, or even people taking shelter in the forest. It was possible...but creepy... The mage shook off the thought and walked towards the forest. The darkness immediately engulfed the two adventurers, and only a faint, dim light was visible. Sakiko rubbed her fingers together, and formed a small, wobbly light. It illuminated the giant trees eerily, casting off lean, dark shadows.

The Hylian stepped closer, albeit hesitently. She whispered,

"I don't know where we should start. Aureliano could be anywh-"

Her sentence was interrupted by a sudden trembling of the ground. The trees shook angrily, its leaves fluttering to the ground. The whole world seemed to morph into a shapeless object, and everything began to blur. Sakiko gripped her yarn, so afraid and so panicked that she could not make a sound.

Aureliano looked on forward to see if he could spot Aureliano, but only saw shadows cast by Sakiko's light. He hoped they would find the infant quickly and return quickly, but he realized that was not the case, considering that the ground began to tremble and everything began to shift and blur. He did not know how to react. He remembered Melqi's magic starting off similar like this, trembling, but with explosions instead of blurring, since he was better in offensive magic.

Aureliano tried to close his eyes and shake it off, only to open them and realize the distortion of his environment continued. He then proceded to lightly slice his finger with his sword, to see if he experienced pain, or bled normal colors. Sometimes Melqi forgot to add something to his hallucination spell and Aureliano would bleed different colors, or had an absence of pain. He could not tell, he felt a bit confused by the deformed and blurred surroundings.

OoC: So, does he bleed normally?

Ooc: Yes, he bleeds normally - it's just the surroundings that's weird.

IC: Sakiko thought her mind would go insane when suddenly, abruptly, everything stopped.

Silence.

The mage fell to her knees, her breathing irregular. Automatically, she looked to her hands, hoping that her yarn would still be there. It was. Its red, woven thread was suspending in the air, still tied to the birdbath. The Hylian sighed, and noticed Aureliano's cut. Pretending she wasn't influenced at all, she muttered,

"Don't worry, Aureliano, you needn't get depressed - it was just an earthquake or something. I suppose it's pretty normal, considering we're in a magical forest."

Suddenly, a small voice, shrill and high, pierced the air.

Who dares to enter my domain?

Sakiko snorted, annoyed at the obvious cliche phrase. She murmured,

"And whose domain is this?"

Don't try to fool me, mage. I know who you are. And your companion. I know who he is too.

A chill went down Sakiko's back, and she yelled,

"Then who am I?!"

Only a ringing silence answered her question. Nothing more.

Aureliano suddenly came to his senses, and heard Sakiko trying to play off her fear. He had a hunch that something was wrong, and the hunch proved to be correct when a voice boomed through the forest. It was high and shrilly, similar to that of a whiny little kid, and it seemed to know him and Sakiko. "This is your domain?" he asked. "I am looking for a baby, can you help me find him? When we find him, we will leave as soon as possible. If you refuse, then I guess I'll have to use my sword to convince you," he explained to the voice in a matter-of-fact tone. He had no intention to deal with what sounded like a little brat, since those eating plants Sakiko mentioned could be savoring Aureliano III by now.

"I don't hear it anymore. What should we do know?"

A laugh echoed throughout the gloomy forest. The shrill voice screamed at Aureliano,

A baby? I have seen no baby - you, there, so foolish and conceited. You can not beat me. I am invincible.

Sakiko swung her staff across her arm, preparing for a fight. This was going to get messy - she could feel it. The mage yelled,

"As you're so cowardly to appear, I suppose we can just ignore you and cross your so called domain."

She turned to Aureliano, and said loudly, intending for the voice to hear as well,

"Let's go, Aurel, we have nothing to fear. This is just a trick."

Don't you dare!

The voice sounded panicked, ending its sentence with a small gasp. Sakiko grinned menacingly, and muttered,

"Not so tough now, huh?"

Why, you little br-

A rustling was heard in a tree, casting off a bit of light. With a small thump, the mage saw a little figure land on the dark ground. Sakiko jumped, tense. The small figure slowly picks itself up from the ground, and stands up - it is very short, and hunched over. It quickly stepped towards the two adventurers and grinned. Its teeth were jagged and sharp, and its eyes were sharp, pale blue. It almost looked like an imp, but Sakiko was unsure. The 'thing' shrilled,

Scared ya, didn't I?

The Hylian bared her teeth, her eyes set in a deep scowl.

"Not a bit, brat. Now what are you?"

Aureliano simply stared at what he considered an abomination. The thing with sharp teeth and a a shrilly voice was now in front of them, actually exposing itself in person. It was an ugly thing, being short, having blue eyes, and sharp teeth. It looked like something the Goddesses were experimenting with, and eventually gave up hope from his perspective.

Aureliano simply held his sword tightly in his right hand, poised in case it decided to attack. His empty hand was held up, palm facing the imp-thing, in case he needed to cast Fire. "Where is Aureliano?" he asked it, deciding that he would no hesitate to kill it if it began to play around.

The 'thing' danced around wildly, flailing its short arms around. It was actually a 'he.' He was neon green, with red, dirty streaks on his tough hide. He screamed,

My name is Kei! But that is of no business to you. As a matter of fact, I have seen a small creature around here. But why should I tell you? What do I have to respect of you? To fear?

Kei laughed, his sharp teeth glistening in Sakiko's faint light. He screeched,

I have a plan. Watch.

He reached into his pockets, as he was wearing ragged shorts. Quickly, the creature drew out two glass bottles. He shook them, and black liquid flowed inside. Kei explained,

You may wonder what I am, exactly. Let me explain. I am a creature who was meant to be an imp, but for some strange reason, I came out differently. Shunned and desolate, I took shelter in this magical forest. Let me tell you, i am not the only strange creature here. The godesses took pity on me, and gave me these two gifts. See? One of these is a magical potion, that can help you survive here, resist the constant magics that can trap you in this forest forever. I've been saving it, just in case I wanted to get out of here. Another, is...a deadly poison, killing you painfully, slowly, but surely. So what say you? Choose one.

Sakiko eyed the two nervously, and asked,

"Just choose one?"

Kei grinned maliciously, his eyes wide with excitement.

Yes. But whatever you choose, you must drink.

The mage shivered, and turned to Aurel. She stepped towards him, and whispered,

"Shall we play along, or shall we just attack him?"

Kei couldn't hear what Sakiko was whispering, but he couldn't care less. He grinned, and jumped, doing his savage dance once again. He sang with a whiny voice,

What say you? What say you? Die or live?

"Lets kill him," Aureliano simply said. He did not enjoy the fact that a little imp was trying to negotiate with him. It would be much simpler to kill the wretched thing and take its vials. He could be a burden later on, or could even double-cross them. Aureliano did not enjoy choosing between the vials, but he knew that eventually he might have to.

Aureliano brandished his falcata made out of Toledo steel, and swung in the direction of the imp with a clean and simple swing, hoping that his blow would make contact with his oponent.

ooc: stats are way too complicated for my simple mind. Thus, I'm taking the well-beat and much used way - but I might do it wrong...?

IC:Kei screamed in anger, and jumped quickly out of the way. His eyes were burning blue as he shrieked,

Treacherous fool! Damn all your descendents to come!

The demented imp then began to swing his arms about, his long and sharp claws exposed. Kei bared his jagged teeth, able to shred any flesh into pieces. The creature shoved the potions back into his bag, and eyed the two adventurers angrily. The imp jumped, its eyes sparkling with lust for blood. His mind calculated that Aureliano was already ready for battle, but the mage was less prepared. Thus, his landing was on Sakiko, his rough hide making contact with Sakiko's pale one.

Kei dug his claws deep into the mage's arm, creating a deep gash. Sakiko exclaimed in pain and surprise, and was about to shove the creature away. However, there was no need for that. Kei jumped away, to his original spot. He taunted,

Ha, beat that! Beat that!

Aureliano became angered by the imp, who chose to attack the least prepared adventurer: Sakiko. He whipped out his regular deku sword which was hidden under his cloak, in case he wanted to fight with two swords, and charged at the imp. All Aureliano wanted to do was find Aurelaino III and go home, but this burden needed to die first.

He swung once reaching the imp, using his momentum to add to his power. His falcata in his right hand glimmered, while his deku sword on his left hand stayed dull, both heading toward the creature's ugly skull. [Dual Wield] (just in case)