Noah clacked his teeth, "If I didn't poke my nose into places it shouldn't be you all would think I am some kind of doppelganger or possessed."

When everyone made it in Noah kept his eyes on Mistral rather than the blond. He mouthed the words 'Poisoned apple'. Even if Mist was a blur and it looked like he was staring off into space it was still better than having something stuck in his head.

When she was gone he inclined his head to Edgar. He had a bit of a chill, there was more necromantic power in the room than in all of the united states, even more than their fair share of the world at large. "Good to see you again Mr. Poe. Remind me to send you my notes on living with a specter, Mr. Wraith has been a firm companion when it comes to many matters."

He took a deep breath, "Sorry about this Nef, I wouldn't be pushing so hard if I did not have sound reason to suspect. Thank you for your trust."

Without opening her eyes and looking at him "And what is your reasoning?  To claim that my Goddess would do such foulness upon her subject?

"Before I was a mage I was a thief. I stole cars for the mob and a few minor gangs. Edgar here was one of the mages who decided if I was allowed in or not." He rubbed the back of his head. "The last time I saw someone act the way she did a friend of mine had his face cut off before he was tossed into a tank freezer. He died slow."

"I still remember how the butcher acted. They don't ask questions because they want to know something. They ask questions to find out how you'll act. Even our cohort cant hold his emotions like that."

"You're family, I'd rather be wrong than right here."

Nefertiti nodded her head with respect to his answer and laid there waiting for them to proceed with this test.

All the while her mind raced about things she didn't wish to be.

 Edgar raised an eyebrow and shook his head but he had smiled a bit. Noah was certain he'd enjoy notes regarding spectres.

 Meanwhile, Frank examined Nefertiti. He checked her pulse at the neck and wrist. He placed a thumb on her forehead and a finger on her lower jaw, then he placed two fingers over her heart. His eyes were sharp and they could tell that he was looking at things other than the physical.

 After his examination, Frank stood back and regarded Nefertiti and the group. "There's nothing here. All I see is a soul in a body. The tethers are screwed but that's on the body's side, not the souls. It's like her soul was removed and something artificial was put in, then the artificial soul was taken out and a real one put back in... so your friend here had an artificial soul at some point but now has a real one.

 It's Awakened, barely, but I think most of the problem in that regard is that the tethers are damaged. They'll heal in time... but, other than that, there's nothing wrong that I can see."

 Edgar wrinkled his mouth. That answer had clearly annoyed him and he shot a glance at Noah making it obvious.

"One moment" Noah pulled out his slate and started pulling up files. He was working quickly as to not burn more time.

"Maybe I am out of my mind."

 Noah's body twitched for a moment but then it was like nothing had happened.

When Frank was done and he started to speak she opened her eyes and listened with great care but she also noticed the one named Edgar "You disagree with his finding? she asked seeing that they were both going to be examining her sooner or later.

Noah nodded once he had gone through his programs. "Alright, the final line we are going to use dragon sight. Edgar, if you want to ride along I'll keep a record." William turned around and when he came around from the break in line of sight he was his full dragon self, with the ultra baggy pants. The cane he held had grown as well and maintained the star of mana.

He tossed out the four small perfected metal drones that held a field when he cast the attunement ritual for the cabal.

Once he was sure he had the field up he leaned in close. A large talon opened over her as he also looked at her pattern, each eye moving independently.

 Edgar shook his head. "More like annoyed at Noah for wasting my time."

 However, he looked once more with renewed interest as Noah came back as a dragon.

 Noah then began his inspection. He made similar moves as Frank and, another few minutes later, he was done.

Noah closed his talon and tilted his head. "It is a cold day in hell when the emperor is worried." He smiled at Nef, "Clean bill of health for traps, but I will ask you as a personal favor not to be alone in Talion's presence. There is an abberation in the connection that cant be nailed down."

"Now, I owe you two masters a bit of info to make this worth your time. I have a study on the creation of artificial souls, a study on living with Mr. Wraith a specter from the maelstrom, and a key to using the goblin ways to get to and from stygia."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:09, Sun 25 July 2021.

From nowhere came Mistral’s voice, soft-spoken as always but carrying through the morgue, “Merely testing the water before diving in, mon ami.  Bon travail on the security.”  It would be informative if anyone noticed her precise location, for it would require an exceptional feat of supernatural detection to pierce the potent occultation concealing her.  “Do not mind moi.  Only spying.”

 When Mistral responded, he raised an eyebrow at the spooky disembodied voice but seemed otherwise unperturbed. "Good to know it held up against someone this good at remaining unseen."

 Frank nodded once Noah was done with his investigation. "I'll be expecting the files this afternoon. Now, if there's nothing else, I'll be heading upstairs for some of Layla's tea. Are those two still out front playing bouncer? If they are, tell them Layla's tea is ready on your way out, if you don't mind."

 Edgar took a slight bow and began to take his leave (Frank's words had been meant for him as well). "I'll be looking forward to your contribution to the Moros' knowledge as always, Noah."

Noah inclined his head having given up three major studies. There wasn't much to say beyond, "Thank you for your time."

He turned to Nef, "Ally will have your gold bar waiting for you." There wasn't much need to say anything more.

"We should be good to go for other things that need be resolved. Sorry for the delay."

Nefertiti was pleased to hear that there was nothing wrong with her soul, given to her by her Goddess.  It brought so much joy to her inner being that she smiled and it was a sincere as an innocent child.

"I think you owe her a donation as well for putting such dough in her. she said to Noah.  Then giving him a nod for the acceptance of his lost to the bet.

"I do need to visit my people to start my promise in regaining the Faith of my Goddess and to honor her. looking to Noah then to Michael and Fate.

"Will we be transported out of here by our lovely Archmage?

Michael looked at Nef. “Fair warning. The city is going to be crawling with Hunters and anybody else that wanted to check out that light show from earlier.”

Nefertiti turned to Michael "How long has that been?  We traveled to the Land of the Dead and as Noah said time is different there.  We had to stop a few times to eat that delicious food that was offered. there was no missing the sarcasm in the word.

"It was survival food, I did what I did to protect Atlas, snacks had not been high on my list. It was three days according to your slates."

She had no idea what he gave them to her survival food was consisted of dried beef, dried fruits and of course stale bread.  Now she wanted to get out of this place and return her own Haven to check on things and to start taking action in building a Temple and gathering more Followers for her Goddess.

She also needed to take time in learning some Spells.  Now that she has regain her soul she is capable of casting spells but still she is unique and has to find out all the things she is fully capable of doing now.

Turning to Edgar "Would I be allowed to contact you some later date when I wish to learn the Arcana that you are so skilled with? she asked.

 Edgar half turned and raised an eyebrow. "You want to learn Death magic? Sure. Drop by sometime. Noah has my number."

 He tipped his hat and made his way out of the morgue. Once Frank had concluded business with someone, it was not wise to loiter. Most of the Moros believed that there were things other than the Created walking Frank's halls. It was mostly dismissed as superstition but no one was quite brave enough to test it.

“Archmage are you able to take us out of this place? she asked Hopi y not to reveal anything about there location of transport.   From there she had a fast exit to her Haven. Where she had plenty to think about and plenty to do.

The examinations of the master necromancers tracked with Mistral’s own observations of Nefertiti’s state, but it was difficult to draw conclusions without more information.  There was more to discuss and investigate, but not here.

There was a long pause, then Mistral's voice floated upon the air, "If we are finished here, let us make our departure.  Allons-y."  An indistinct figure shimmered at the threshold of the morgue and beckoned for them to leave the Crèche complex.  Should they manage to make it entirely out of the complex without incident, Mistral would reappear to lead them out of sight of the gates.  A derelict New York alleyway flickered and faded into mist as they were seamlessly relocated to the amethyst island with the sea stretching to every horizon.

Once they had arrived, Mistral turned to Nefertiti and said evenly, "I will thank you not to refer to moi by that title in mixed company, Reine.  Archmagi are vanishingly rare in this age, and I would prefer not to advertise myself as such as of yet."  Unless these Moros were far less gossipy than the average Awakened, reports of a supposed Archmage would likely travel quickly.  Now that they were back home and away from outside ears, Mistral turned to Noah and said, "It seems that all is in order with Reine Nefertiti's soul, at least on the surface.  I lack context for the suspicions regarding the parley with the Goddess, but I am curious what we expected to learn from this visit."

While the otherworldly blindfolded Archmage spirit spoke, there could be seen a rather more worldly Mistral hobbling resolutely around the island's perimeter, gaunt and garbed in ill-fitting athletic wear.

Nefertiti wasn’t sure why one with such title wouldn’t want it to be known. It was something to honor not to hide. What has this world become when one must hide their accomplishment.

She gave Mistral a nod of agreement. Then looked to Noah for his response.

Michael breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone. It was interesting to see the man that trained such an accomplished mage such as Noah. It made him wonder if any Hunters had gone up against a mage of that caliber. “Well that was fun. Glad to hear that Nefertiti’s soul is clean.”

Noah pulled his slate out and started playing the entire interaction from Noah's position as it was recorded through his eyes. There was a tiny cartoon dragon and grey in shadow watching the screen mystery science theater 3000 style. When the language switched over to Egyptian Subtitles kicked on and translated. There was a pause when Isis started to rage, a file got pulled up on her. There was a detail on the emotional psychology, details on the history of her. But highlighted was "Aggressive response to Talion's shadow magic. Knowledge of his 'new' casting form. ..." There followed an expanding tree of cause and effect. Differing known powers and effects that could have been stowed in Nef.

"Context and details. It's how I act so dumb but come out ok, it's all percentages and calculated risks. In effect, if she can trigger on something so fresh with our buddy, then they must have a thick history. One of rage, no idea why, and any god I've ever heard of, well they act and don't wait. Even Baulder has got it out to fight first and not talk or plan."