See No Evil

One wouldn't expect a house in a pocket dimension to be so lush.

The house felt more like an Indian palace than the headquarters of a keeper. Tapestries covered the walls that weren't already occupied by towering bookshelves; vast rugs that appeared Persian covered the floors; priceless treasures sat on pedestals in bedrooms. Most of them Senos knew had been snagged from human ruins or museums, which he always felt was vaguely amusing. Stealing from the humans even as the keepers helped them. Everything had a price, after all.

Senos sat on top of one bookshelf in his wing of the house, his legs curled up under his and his tail dangling over the side. He held the book one-handed, his claws fumbling with the pages. He'd already read this one before. He'd read every single book in his wing of the house because there was nothing else to do when he wasn't training.

Senos slapped the book down, leaping down off the bookshelf several meters and landing lightly on his feet. He grabbed his tail and threw it up over his shoulder so it didn't drag on the floor and paced around the hall, spinning lazily and looking up at the ceiling. He never saw Vulkar do anything. If this was what being a keeper meant he was screwed.

Senos sighed, spreading his arms and spinning faster, his tail falling off his shoulder and whipping around his legs. He dropped his arms, staring straight up. Bored. So bored.

He could always try sneaking into the other wings of the house, the ones he wasn't supposed to go. He slowly grinned, considering it. Better than rereading the same books. He took off like a shot, his body low to the ground as he ran and his tail whipping behind him.

It seemed like an eternity since Madrigal had actually gotten to lounge about Vulkar's palace rather than be shuffled quickly out the door on some assuredly ridiculous and pointless mission.
Unfortunately, this time she hadn't come to lounge about. If she had Vulkar would have assuredly ushered her out the door. No, she was here on business. Hunter business. And Vulkar knew, which was why he had set her up in the garden with Ihra, with delicious delicacies from around the world. The best of which, Lyra's pastries, were mostly gone. Ihra, nude, with the perfect spherical breasts of the karma sutra, sat behind her- fiddling with her hair and stroking her head, humming one of her chimera lullabies.
Madrigal felt guilty, of course, but as much as she would love to spend the day here, laying peacefully in Ihra's lap- her cool scales soft against her cheek, her quick and calming hands brushing through her hair- her purpose there could not be forgotten.
"Ihra?" She spoke up, and the snake woman's eyes opened, like two gleaming emeralds, set in gold.
"Yes, sweet girl?" She replied, her voice cool and soothing- it sounded like home, like safety.
"I-" The woman's eyes closed again.
"Ah, yes, sweet girl. I know. Why did I bother to ask?"
"I'm sorry.."
"Don't be," Came her reply. " I shall love and welcome you no matter what foolish and dangerous things you decide to do with your life, and he may deny it all he wants, so will Vulkar." Her eyes opened again, and a smile was now on her face. "Now go to him, sweet girl. He is stubborn, but do not be discouraged."
A smile crawled onto Madrigal's face, and she sprung up and planted a kiss on Ihra's forehead before dashing off in the direction of Vulkar's workshop.

Ihra's tail lay, long and large, throughout the halls of the house, like a never ending vine- waiting to catch those who dare sneak through the lair of the death dealer.

Senos slowed as he strolled through the halls, silent on his catlike paws, this time his tail wrapped around hugging his chest. The thing got in the way so much it almost wasn't worth having. Almost.

He paused. Peeking around the corner ahead he could see the long coils of a naga's tail. Ihra, he thought her name was. He rarely saw her, rarely talked to her, but he knew she was a close associate of Vulkar's. He wasn't sure she'd like to see him running around.

Senos rounded the corner, silent. Her tail stretched out ahead of him, impossibly long, and Senos grinned. He could get through this hall without touching her, he'd bet. Make the next turn and be on his merry way.

Senos grabbed his tail, holding it tight as he took off, running up the side of the wall lightly a few steps before he leaped over the first coil of her tail and entered the living gauntlet.

Ihra's tail squirmed and writhed- moving as she moved. She was devouring a bowl of cherries, left out in the garden, as she lay on her front.


Madrigal knocked on the door of Vulkar's workshop. She knew he was in there, he always was.

After a pause, she heard the ancient, powerful voice of the death dealer.

"Come in, Madrigal." Of course he knew it was her. No one else would have the gall to march up and knock on his door- except Ihra- but she would just slither in without knocking.

She entered the dark, claustrophobic room- riddled with demonic remains, ancient texts, and priceless artifacts. Behind the desk sat the man she had come to see- though most would hardly call him a man. He possesses the legs and haunches of a lion, the golden fur trailing up to a little below his stomach, his tail swishing rhythmically from side to side. He had the torso- and some of the arms- of a man. His hands were a mixture of a lions claws, and a mans hands- and were now working meticulously on the bones of some poor creature. His head was that of a crocodile, skin transitioning to scales at the midpoint of his shoulders. The horns of a bull adorned his already fearsome head, upon his snout, rested a pair of specially made classes, that looked forged in bronze.

"You wished to speak to me?" He asked, voice as old and filled with fire and brimstone as a mountain forge. He was an ancient creature; one who had existed long before her time.

"I'm here to talk about....my becoming a hunter."

His working stopped for a moment, yet his eyes did not look up at her. "......no. I've told you."

Madrigal felt her courage and purpose swell inside her. "And that I respect-!"

"Obviously not or you would not be asking me.."

"-but I have come to an age that if I want to be a hunter I can be one- with our without your help." Her words were clipped, she obviously did not want to say then, nor did Vulkar want to hear them- as all his working stopped and he looked at her. He sighed, closing his eyes and removing his glasses. He stood, ten feet of muscle and power, of magic and wisdom and ancient arts- looked down at her. It might have intimidated her as a girl, but it did not anymore. He seemed to realize that.

He looked her in her eyes, and she saw a sense of.....sorrow? From Vulkar?

"You realize if you do this you will-"

"I know the risks. And I know my life expectancy." She was on edge, she knew he wouldn't let her go without a fight.....yet surprisingly, he did.

"....very well." He finally said.

Madrigal blinked.

"You are to stay here while I make....arrangements." He brushed past her. "Ihra will come and get you later. Do not leave this house."

And just like that he was gone.

No anger, no joy, just gone.

The coils of her tail dwarfed Senos - which suited him just fine as he darted about between them. He leaped over one and changed his course as the next coil ahead started to rise, landing to the side and nearly falling over backwards in his attempts to avoid touching her. He slid under instead, taking off at a sprint for the wall and using it to help him jump off over another coil.

He grinned as he made it to the intersecting hall, landing free of the gauntlet. He straightened, shaking out his legs as he considered his next move. The only place in the house he'd been unable to explore at all was the far wing - was that the one with the human girl? He was aware Vulkar had sort of adopted a human, but he'd never seen her or heard much talk of her. It was about time he fixed that.

Madrigal had returned to her wing, not bothering to put away her weapons. It was a rule in Vulkar's house that she was to be armed at all times- seeing as how all the chimera in the house knew how to defend themselves with merely their beastial bodies. Vulkar didn't seem to care that she, too could defend herself unarmed. Not that she minded.

She had draped herself over a rather exotic couch and was now reading a book that was propped against her pelvis, fiddling with a small knife in her free hand, flipping it idly through her fingers.

Senos sneaked into the forbidden wing of the house - it wasn't like there were many other residents around to stop him. He had to wonder why he'd never done this before.

Still, it was possible the human was in town, so to speak, so Senos stopped along the wall, looking up and finding the nearest bookcase. He got a running start and ran up the side, leaping to reach the top and crawl his way up. He crouched on top of the bookcase, ducking his head so his horns didn't scrape against the ceiling.

He traveled along the high places, leaping from bookcase to bookcase when he could, only touching the ground when he had to. Really, this part of the house wasn't all that different from his own. All the same, really, and it was starting to look like the human wasn't around.

Not long after the thought crossed his mind did he look down the hall and see a splash of blue. Senos frowned, bringing one claw up to his chin. Silently he made his way to the next perch over, another bookshelf, and looked down to observe what was apparently the human girl.

Her hair was a bright blue color, that he noticed right away. She wore a black, form fitting top that cut off a few inches short of the top of her black jeans. Boots and a leather weapons belt finished the outfit. She was reading (what else was there to do?) and flipping a knife in her hand, over and over.

Senos pulled back, thinking. If she noticed him she'd probably say something to Vulkar - not a good plan. So either he went back or looked for a way to go around her.

Madrigal stopped, her knife freezing in her hand. Someone was in the room.

Were they? She hadn't heard anything. But still- she felt a prescence.

Then again, she couldn't hear Ihra whenever she entered the room. It was an unfair advantage among the chimera.

She flipped the page and continued twirling her knife, keeping a keen eye and ear out for whoever her 'guest' might be.

Senos glanced around him - the bookcase, the couch below and a long stretch of nothing ahead of it. Nothing he could land on at least. At the other end of the room was a bed, much like his own in his sleeping chamber.

Still, what would be the point of trying to skirt her? She was probably the most interesting thing in the whole bloody wing. He peeked his head over the end of the bookcase, his horns first showing followed by his eyes and spines, looking down at her with some curiosity. He'd never seen a human with blue hair, maybe it was an uncommon thing?

He pulled back, nearly banging his horns against the ceiling. He grimaced. Yes, the sooner he was gone the less likely he'd have to face Vulkar's wrath...

He turned around, moving along on all fours as he gauged the distance to a shelf back behind him, and leaped.

His tail snagged on a hair thin wire, that small tiny pull set off a trap rigged to her ceiling.

From one of the tapestries on the ceiling swung a hammer, which crashed into an ornate vase before smashing into the chimeras side.

Madrigal looked up- surprise registering on her face though her mouth remained tightly shut. She dropped the book but kept the small knife wrapped in her hand, she started to rise to try and catch the lizard-like chimera- if he was a threat she could handle that later.

The jump would have been perfect - had not the hammer come swinging out of nowhere to catch him.

Senos tried to will himself to change direction midair, but he could only watch helplessly as his doom came swinging toward him, hitting him hard in the chest and sending him pinwheeling back towards the human. He flipped in midair, reading to land on his feet, but saw the human rising - to catch him?

He yelped a curse in some other language, spinning in midair again to avoid hitting her in the face with his tail, and ended up slamming into her back-first. They tumbled over, and Senos was off her in an instant, instinctively flipping over and landing on all fours.

He was so screwed. Senos took off at a sprint around her.

As Madrigal rose to catch the man- she ended up with his tail- and by unfortunate extension, his ass, in her face. They toppled back over the couch, and before she knew it he was off her. She jack knifed to her feet and reached after him.
"Hey-!" But she didn't reach him before Ihra did.
Her long, large, sleek tail coiled around him before either of them could blink. She sat on her tail, high in the ear, and pulled him up to her eye level. Her gentle, kind face was gone- and she now snarled, her eyes snake like, her fangs visible.

"And what have we here? A little sneaky lizard?" She hissed, her gaze baring viciously into him.

Senos yelped as Ihra grabbed him, her tail coiling just a little too tight around his chest as she pulled him into the air. So screwed.

He squired and gave her a nervous smile that quickly faded. "Ah, well, yes, but this lizard just wants to get out of your way and cause no trouble, so..."

Why was he even trying. "I don't suppose I can go...?" he said, cringing as her tail tightened around him.

"Ihra who is-" Madrigal started.

"And what is this?" Came the voice of Vulkar, and Madrigal looked over to him, opening her mouth. " I went looking for you in your wing, Senos. Which, if you need reminding, is quite a ways a away from here." He walked up to the two, cold, reptilian eyes staring at him. "Release him, Ihra." He said softly, to which the naga obeyed. Before he could right himself Vulkar had grabbed the boy by the arm and began to drag him off. "Ihra, she does not leave this wing." He said curtly as he walked off. Ihra nodded, her demeanor having since softened, she took Madrigal gently by the shoulders and guided her back into her room as she watched as the lizard boy was dragged off.

Senos fell, landing, as always, on his feet; but he lost his balance as Vulkar grabbed him, dragging him off down the hall. Had it been Vulkar who booby-trapped her bloody wing...?

"So, why were you looking for me sir?" He asked as he was dragged along, trying to change the subject and hopefully distract him from his imminent doom.

Vulkar's claws dug into his skin, if it hadn't been for the scales, he would have been bleeding. A hissing noise came from his mouth, the kind a wild crocodile would make when agitated.

After a while he spoke. "......I was considering you for a position as a keeper." He said finally. "For all your trouble you've been coming along in your training."


"Ihra, who was that lizard boy..?" Madrigal asked, legs and arms crossed, reclining on her couch as the naga played with her hair.

"He is Vulkar's student, Senos. Quite the little snake, from what he tells me." She said softly, a smile on her face.

"Snake?" Madrigal raised an eyebrow with smirk, looking back at her.

Ihra sighed, "That's right- that is far too kind for someone who broke into a ladies chambers..."

"Naked, no less." Madrigal said lightly with a chuckle.

"WHAT?!" Instantly she sprand up, fangs out. "Sweet girl, I shall kill him! If you wish me to, I will!"

Madrigal jolted back, but laughed. "Calm down, calm down! Deep breaths!"

Senos cringed as he didnt say a word. Yeah. He wasnt going to be free for the next week -

"I- what?" he said, trying to stop in his tracks only to get dragged back along. "...You're sure?" he said, genuinely surprised. Sure he was bored here, but he always trusted that Vulkar would tell him when he was ready - and he'd given no sign until now.

"Was, Senos- was." Vulkar clarified. "That incident back there is making me rethink my decision." Soon they were in his 'office'. It served as a meeting/ training room for the two of them. He released the boy and took a seat behind his desk.
"Now I'm going to need some very good reasons to continue to put you on as a keeper."

Senos blinked as he let him go and awkwardly played with his head spines. What was he supposed to say? He wasn't sure how much he wanted to be a keeper, let alone how qualified he was.

Senos opened his mouth, then sighed. "I... I don't really have any," he said. "You already know what I can do. I was only there because I was curious." He cringed. "I wasnt spying on her..." And that just sounded like he was trying to deny it. "Um. Yeah. If this means I have to keep training then it's your decision to make."

A clicking came from the corner of the room. Pitch, a vile, beastly creature. He laughed, gliding over and perching himself on the ornate desk.

"Ooh? Ooh? Is someone in t r o u b l e again?" He giggled. "But why are you wasting such a promising deal, monger? So wasteful, so stupid, so unlike you! I cause trouble and I'm thrown out! He causes trouble he's sent to bed without desert!"

"The trouble he causes is mostly harmless. Mostly." Came his response.

"Oh pish!" Came his response. "I've peeped on the girl plenty of times, once won't kill him!"

"If that were true, Pitch, Ihra would have had you as an afternoon snack before you could click that beak of yours." He replied calmly.

The beast shuddered at the mention of the naga. "My point is, dealer, would you be willing to trust someone....unknown with this? Someone not trained by you? Someone who doesn't know the importance of this.....unsung mission?" The beast coaxed, and Vulkar sighed.

He looked at the lizard boy. "You know what it means to be a keeper, don't you? I know you do not see me leave this place often, but sometimes there are important things to do, other than field work. But be assured, most keepers are not like me. Most spend their days caked in blood, dirt, instilled with the primal senses of fear that have eluded the populace of our kind for generations. You will lose people, you most likely will die, and there will be pain, greater than any tithe you will have faced before." He stretched himself forward, arm across his desk, pulling he sleeve of his shirt up to reveal horrific vice marks. Self inflicted pain, one could sense the misery oozing from them, imagine the crippling pain they caused. "You will do this job without the pay or compensation....or glory you deserve. Do you accept this?"

Senos' eyes darted to the side as Pitch flew in. He grimaced, not looking at him and instead focusing on Vulkar. Pitch gave him the creeps.

He was silent as he spoke. He knew well what it meant to take this job. He hadn't when he first arrived for training, but then, he'd never had much of a choice in the matter.

To be honest, it scared him. To have some human pulling on his magic in that way, to have responsibility over such a fragile thing. Humans were smart, he'd give them that, but however clever they were they weren't like his kind. There was a reason a hunters life expectancy was so low and a keepers so much higher.

Senos wasn't a fool. He wasn't sure he could handle that responsibility. But... there was only one way to find out. "I do," he said.

Vulkar looked blankly at his trainee before looking at Pitch.

"Go tell Ihra to prepare our.......hunter." He said, a somewhat defeated tone in his voice.

Pitch flapped his wings gleefully atop the desk. "Oh I cannot wait to see the look on her face!" He giggled, taking to the air and flying off.

Vulkar sat back down heavily in his chair, closing his eyes. "Niaja do not make me regret my choice.....Viaska!" From the doors at the side of the room came the tall, scrawny mixture of man, crane and deer, his antlers almost scraping the cieling.

"Yes, sir?" Came the airy response.

"Make preparations for the bonding." Came Vulkar's reply, fearsome head in his clawed hand.

The tall beast bowed, and exited the room as if on a cloud.

Now? This was happening right now?

Senos was brought down to the meditation room - he was familiar with the place, its where he practiced his magic. The place had always felt a bit claustrophobic to him - it was lit only by these bizarre lanterns that gave off a green gas, and the floors and ceilings were covered in dark tapestries. He kind of hated the place. He always wondered how the dark atmosphere was supposed to help someone relax and meditate, because all it ever did was put him on edge.

Vulkar had made him get dressed too, which he hated. His family wasn't like the naga, they did practice the custom, but he always hated it - nothing felt right. Pants over fur was too hot and chafed on his tail; robes, like the gold formal ones he wore now, solved the heat problem but meant his tail was stuck poking out near the floor and trailing behind him. He couldn't do anything with it.

He paced in the dim light, trying not to look nervous and failing. He didn't even know there was a prospective hunter here - or maybe things were taking so long because Vulkar was out finding one right now?

Viaska was currently setting the stones for the ritual. They didn't serve any purpose outside of tradition, some thought, but still he arranged them around a basin filled with a dark, rusty liquid that appeared to glow under the light of the lanterns.

He looked up at Senos from behind his glasses as he kneeled on the floor. "You know, you are going to pace a hole in the floor." He said lightly, a faint smile on his white, feathery features.



"Oh Ihra deaaaar~!" Pitch sang, but before he could see her, he was coiled tightly in her tail, raised to meet her snarling face.

"What do you want, pest?" She demanded. Pitch giggled nervously.

"Vulkar wanted you to prepare our little hunter for the bonding ritual." Pitch clicked his beak as he spoke. Ihra and Madrigal looked at each other in shock, then back to Pitch.

"But- so soon? He's already found a keeper?" Madrigal asked.

"Oooh? But isn't that what you wanted?" Pitch tested.

"Yes but how....he found one so quickly?" Did he want to quickly shove her off on someone after disobeying him- that didn't seem like him. He wasn't that bitter. Ihra dropped the creature, holding Madrigal by her shoulders.

"Well...I'm sure he has his reasons.....let us go." Despite trying to be cheerful, her tone was as reluctant as her movements.

Entering the meditation room, Madrigal had to squint to see the two people inside - Viaska and....the lizard boy from earlier. Ihra's grip on her tightened to an almost painful vice grip. The naga looked at Viaska, to which he looked back and shrugged.

Senos looked up as Viaska spoke, whipping his tail back and forth against the floor. "Good," he muttered. "Might let some light into this place."

He kept his pacing, his back to the door when it did finally open. Senos turned, looking nervously behind him... to see the human girl.

His tail nearly shot straight up in shock, but as he felt the robe rising with it he stopped, letting it drop hard to the ground. His eyes darted up to Ihra, taking in the look she gave Viaska as well as his response. This girl... she was Vulkar's daughter. Not in blood but in heart. And he wanted her to be Senos' first charge?

It was clear the others were just as doubtful as Senos was now. Vulkar was smart, but... was this really a good idea? Senos turned away and swallowed hard. The things that would happen to him if she died...