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The Multiverse » Arcs » A Haunted Song

Terun purchases a music box who is more than the eye beholds...

As written by: lostamongtrees, Butterfly Effect


28 pieces and 19 characters involved, written by 2 different authors.

5 places involved




So begins...

A Haunted Song


Hollowed GoodsSetting: Hollowed Goods


Terun Villion grinned as he grabbed at the parcel, carefully wrapped. He had spent a pretty penny on the new object of his favor. It was a trinket by some standards, but to Terun it was a call back to his past. The shop wouldn't even let it be opened lest it be cursed- which added to it's allure. The boy, regardless of his actual age, was still a boy. Curiosity coursed through his dead veins.

He hurried out of Hollowed Goods. When he got back home, he would get to hear the music box once and for all.

Castle Vankoryth Upper LevelSetting: Castle Vankoryth Upper Level


This was the best day ever.

Terun returned from The Piata with a grand purchase. He rushed up the stairs to his room, blasting past anyone and everyone, nothing but a black shadow. Slam! The boy flung himself on the bed. He furiously tore at the ribbon. Tissue stuffing flew into shreds!

The package fell away as Terun held the music box aloft. It was as beautiful, if not more, than it had been in Hollowed Goods. The silver gleamed in the eternal candle light of his room. He set it carefully down on the bed before him. Terun ran his cold and dead fingers across the edges of the box.

Then, he flipped it open. A haunting tune filled the room.
So happy was the vampire boy with his music box. The long dead witch Nerissa Ravencrest had been with the boy from the moment he set his hands on her music box. Nerissa invisible floats though the boy's room taking in the sights. "Castle Vankoryth... such a place for me to explore..." she thought. But first to have a little fun with the new owner of her box. With a quick wave of her hand the music box slammed shut...

Nerissa would wait until the boy went to check it out before with another wave opened it once again the creepy song starting up where it left off.
Terun's smile disappeared when the music box slammed shut. He didn't command it to shut. Why did it shut? He leaned in close, jumping back when it flew open and almost hit him in the face.

"Hey!" Terun frowned, realizing the temperature of the room had shifted. Colder. He peered into the box, but found it empty.
Nerissa let out a giggle "how do you like my music box?" She asked appearing by the door for only a moment before sliding right though it to the hall. "Find me if you can!" she said as she disappeared though the door.

Nerissa looked up and down the hall such a huge place... she could use a guide... if the boy vampire would play along.
Terunโ€™s jaw dropped. A ghost?! And what did she mean, her box? He had bought it fair and square! Terun scrambles to the edge of the bed, but by then she had slipped to the hall.

โ€œHey! Wait!โ€ Terun slipped into the shadows, melding with them and sliding himself in a whisper under and out the door. Where did she go?

The small vampire stepped from the shadows to stand in the center of the winding hall. The curtains were all drawn. There were also many doors - too many to start guessing, and some he knew to avoid. A scream came from somewhere distant in the castle. Terun shuddered, knowing of Akio and his lab.

โ€œHello?โ€
Nerissa was impressed in the boy's power. "Your magic is impressive..." she said from behind him. But if he turned he would see nothing but the hall.

"Tell me your name... and I shall tell you mine!" Nerissa said her voice sounding like she was flying in an orbit around the boy, which in fact she was.
"Terun!" The young vampire spun around, and then around again, unable to locate exactly where she was. Who was she, and what was she doing in his music box? He refused to accept that it perhaps belonged to someone else, especially since he spent money on it.

"Who are you?" He stood very still and closed his eyes, beginning to perceive time to be slower to him than it was before. He could sense that this little trick seemed to have absolutely no effect. He still could not locate the voice, and it wasn't moving any slower. This made him very curious. He didn't know ghosts could do that.

"What were you doing in my music box?"
"Terun...Hmm" Nerissa Mused as she came to a stop in front of Terun. Suddenly appearing in front of him she looked almost human for a moment before her form seemed to flicker.

Hovering slightly over the ground she gave a small curtsy as she said, "I am Nerissa the Witch of Ravencrest."

Nerissa looked to the door where her music box was. "Got a bit more then you paid for did you not?" Nerissa asked with a sly but sad smile.

"That box was my favorite item in life... When I...was... when I died my soul was bound to it..." Nerissa explained. "Where it goes... I go."

"But enough of gloom!" Nerissa said with a twirl. "I want to see my new surroundings! And you oh holder of my music box seem the perfect guide."
Terun slipped into the shadows, flickering invisible and back again as he was startled by her sudden appearance. She, too, flickered before him- but in a much more unsettling manner. He gave a small bow when she curtsied.

So she's stuck with the box, how sad! When Terun looked back from his room to Nerissa there was sorrow in his black eyes. He seemed to forget all about it being his box for the moment. The sadness didn't last for long, for Nerissa twirled and requested a tour, "Of course! "

The boy flashed a fanged grin and slipped back to his room, locking the door. It was lonely in Castle Vankoryth for him, and this lady would appear to be a new friend. He would hate for anyone to interfere. Terun turned and waved for Nerissa to follow him. He darted down the halls and around corners, past eerie paintings which sometimes seemed to be watching.

"Do you like to read?" Terun asked Nerissa, stopping in front of a set of grand double doors.
Nerissa was able to match Terun's speed with ease as he lead her down the hall. She was aware of the feeling of being watched and the scream from before she too had heard. While this boy seemed fine... What would the older Vampires think of her when they found out about her?

Terun's question broke her thought and she looked to the door. "I do quite love books... I had many before my death... Mostly spell books... powers... I lost when they burned them..."

A flash of anger crossed Nerissa's face but she quickly hid it behind a small smile. "Shall we?" She asked moving to float though the doors.

Castle Vankoryth LibrarySetting: Castle Vankoryth Library


With a giggle, Terun slipped through the shadows under the great library doors. The boy vampire flickered from shadow to shadow, not bothering to turn on any of the lamps or light fixtures. High above a chandelier burned too dim to cast enough light for most mortals to see. He liked it best that way.

"Neriiisssaaaaa," Terun called, gravitating toward a table piled high with books. It seems Akio purged the science section again.
Nerissa went right though the door into the dark room. She lost herself looking at shelf upon shelf of books much more then she had ever seen not even in her old coven...

Nerissa was broken from her thoughts when the boy yelled out her name.

"Shh! It's a library!" Nerissa play scolded putting a finger up to her lips.

But part of her worried about who else might hear them... and her face likely showed it as she turned to glance at the books. "I like the stories about magic and nature...gods and myths... and history... what about you?" she asked the boy as her eyes glaced around the shadows.
"I like history too, and nature especially!," Terun said quieter with another little giggle. Nerissa seemed suddenly uneasy and he wondered why, but didn't want to ask. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind and forgot it quickly as he reached the nature section. It was filled with giant books, most of which had many images and diagrams.


Terun pulled one off of an eye-level shelf. It flopped open on the carpeted floor with a dull thud, flipping open to a random page. He pointed to the creature on it, "I've never seen one of these, have you?"
This boy was full of energy. If she wasn't dead Nerissa would likely be wore out by now. She moved and hovered over the page. She studied the page for a moment and shook her head.

"I don't think i have ever seen one of those." Nerissa said.

Hovering higher in the room she looked around. "So any spell books in here?" she asked the boy.
"Spellbooks?" Terun wrinkled his nose. He knew they had plenty, but they were on higher shelves, and most of them were written to be very boring. There weren't as many pictures in them as he originally anticipated.

Terun snapped shut Creatures of the Cursed Wood and shadowflickered his way over to the right section and pointed. There was a lot of dust on those shelves- vampires had little use for spells, Terun always assumed.
Nerissa made her way to the spell books and using her telekinesis began to turn the pages. Mostly just formulas for potions of this and that. but soon she from one teaching now to cast a Lightning bolt.

Nerissa spoke some odd words and a zap of lightning shot from her ghostly fingers. A blue arch that landed inches from Terun's feet.

"Oh I'm so sorry it has been awhile... they burned my old books... and death drained many of the powers I once had...
Terun jumped as the blue arch connected with the ancient carpet right next to him! In the blink of an eye the child was gone, moments later poking his head out from the shadows of a bookcase a few down from Nerissa. He stared up at her in wonder-he had no idea that the books up there contained such power!

"Well," Terun said matter-of-fact as he allowed himself to fully emerge from where he was hiding, "You seem pretty strong to me..." An inquiry crossed the child vampire's mind, and he wasn't well socialized enough to keep from blurting his question out.

"Who is they?" Terun didn't think he'd like whoever it was very much. It didn't sound like they'd approve of his existence, either. He climbed up a ladder close to Narissa to thumb through titles on the higher shelves.
Nerissa's face darkened at the boy's blurted out question and the room turned cold as the memories flooded her mind....

Men in robes with so called holy relics hanging from their necks. Dragging her out of her home... tying her to a post and lighting a flame at her feet...

To Terun it would look as if Nerissa was just staring off into the shadows until she finally spoke.

"Witch Hunters... men claiming to do the work of some god..." she shook her head. "No one you need to worry about..." she said with a sigh her voice darkened as she added. "They aren't around anymore..."
The imagery Nerissa produced struck a chord in Terun. It felt familiar, and he wondered...

Suddenly a cacophany of chants filtered in through a high window, the light filtering through the stained glass growing dim. Uhoh. Something must have been going on outside the castle. There was a great scraping of stone as outside the gargoyles sprung defense systems into play. Terun looked from Nerissa, to the window, and back again. He shivered in the chill of the room.

"Gods," Terun scoffed. Zosimos thought he was a God, and look where he was now. If there was a god Terun doubted he would exist.
Nerissa noticed the light and sounds coming from somewhere outside. She raised a brow at Terun and floated towards the window to peek out as she asked. "Think we should check it out?"

Nerissia didn't wait for an answer but instead phased though the window. Turning invisible as she did so.
Terun clenched his teeth and raced down the ladder. It wasn't fair that she could go through walls like that! He flickered from the library as fast as he could, barreling through the castle to find his way outside.

Castle Vankoryth Entrance HallSetting: Castle Vankoryth Entrance Hall


 “ What's all going on? ”
Terun Veillon swept down the grand stairwell of Castle Vankoryth. His shadow skirted the banister and landed to form a dark pool at the bottom. He popped into existence, elbowing over a vase of dead roses, catching it just in time before it broke.

"What'ssss the rush?" Hissed a voice from the shadows by the kitchen. Terun shot Manik a glare. He didn't like the scruffy looking boy, and didn't like how he was older on both a human technicality as well as a vampyric one.

"Go away," Terun hissed back, turning for the door. He gave it a good try but the door wouldn't open. Terun pulled and pushed with all his might, but still the door would not open.

"We're under attack, you know," Manik said as he leaned up against the doorframe of the kitchen.

Terun whirled to glare at him, "I have to get outside."

Manik shrugged and slunk back into the kitchen. Terun tried the door one more time before his ears picked up bat chirpings from high above. The chatter he couldn't clearly decipher- the Forces Vankoryth liked to chirp in code - but it sounded like up there, there might be a way out. Terun rocketed back up the stairs, leaving Manik in the dust.

Castle Vankoryth Upper LevelSetting: Castle Vankoryth Upper Level


Terun ran up the stairs to the upper level, flitting through the maze of hallways until he came upon the metal staircase spiraling up to the bet-tery. It was half empty, many of the Forces Vankoryth dispatched to their posts across the Cursed Wood, from the borders to the Hollow. Some of them were sleeping, which eased Terun a little. How bad could it be? He grumbled about Manik being a drop-dead liar, folding into bat form and slipping out the window -
- and it almost closed on his tail!

Castle VankorythSetting: Castle Vankoryth


High above, an apparition had come through one of the stained glass windows which had been walled up by Chronus. One of the bats lingered behind here as well, instead of flurrying down to gossip with the others, or take off and away as the chanting subdued and the ceiling opened.

Speaking of a ceiling, Terun did not remember there being a great stone perimeter surrounding the castle grounds up to the treeline. Terun perched next to where Nerissa had come through. He unfolded into his more human form and settled on an eave. Below in the courtyard a scene played out in what looked like dust. There was a robed figure down there, and Ulrich watched the scene.

"That's Mr. Paternosta," Terun said to Nerissa, pointing at the blonde vampire asking the figures questions. Chronus was with him. Terun smiled- he had never seen the gargoyle animate before.

"I dunno who that is?" He pointed to the guests and shrugged. Chronus, sensing the presence of the young vampire, craned his head unnaturally to check on him. Safe, Chronus resumed his attention to the messengers and Ulrich. So far he knew to keep an eye out for white robed occultists, and any stranger self-affiliated with the Sabbat.
Nerissa looked down over the group as Terun told her who some of them where. she was silent and kept herself invisible. Finally she worked up a whispered question. "Friends of yours? Friends of Ghosts?"
Chronus began to bring the wall down as peace seemed to have been reached, yet the castle did not unseal. Chronus had his own protocol to follow. Ulrich glared at him, and then up at the vampire child above. He glared, spit, and waved Terun off.

Terun sighed.

"Yeah, friends. More like family," He stuck out a tongue at Ulrich, who wasn't looking.

"It gets real boring around here. We're having a dinner party soon but it's taking forever to plan. I wanna go back to the other city and see my old friends. Most of 'em were invited, but..."

Terun had never really missed anywhere, but he was missing Lutetia now.
cron