Judas' ears folded back irritatedly. "I tried. I even took complete control for a time. But.." he paused and sneered; looking away only briefly. "The boy's mind was far stronger than I originally anticipated. I had to offer him to merge. His lust for power proved useful. But, over time, I will slowly gain more control." he smirked with chuckle and looked back to Kirelav. "The ironic thing is, he wont even notice..." a more serious gaze appeared as he fully turned towards the mouse again. "Which is what I need you to do to Vincent."

Tilting his head, Kirelav gave Judas an interested look. "Oh? You mean merge with Vincent? Why I don't think he'd let me." he teased with a grin. "But wouldn't your little friend want his father...well..." Kirelav rose a brow, expecting Judas to realize his inquiry.

By the looks of Judas and Zael together, Zael was a little more...demanding of what he wanted. It might get in the way with their little "scheme".

Judas gave a humored grunt before replying. "The funny thing about merging is one can have a major influence upon the other. I can prevent Vincent's execution simply by influence. If anything, postpone it long enough until I can change his mind completely."

The cat's eyes close briefly and tilted his head. "My time is shortening so listen well." he said before opening his eyes and looking back to Kirelav. "You know you have more influence upon Vincent than he would admit. He may not agree to merge with you if you ask, but keep reminding him how hard this life is without you. With every heartbreak or trial, make him think there is no other way..." He grunted, his breaths stressed. "Faholgal and the Eye of Michael are at war... The Swords of Chaos is now strong enough to influence both of them. Once this war is over, and both powers are left in ruins, all that will be left will be us... I need you to stand at my side... Brother. Let us take this world and not allow our 'hosts' to take advantage of us. We shall be in control of not only the father and son, but of the world."

Kirelav's brows rose as he saw the strain in Judas' eyes. "B-Brother?" he asked worriedly. He had been the only decent person to talk to in so many years. But...seeing the way Judas struggled for control even while merged with Zael seemed...One didn't have complete control over the other. Kirelav, personally, liked to watch things happen. Vincent was good at that. In all their time together, they had formed this sort of "truce" among each other (especially now).

And with that truce and seeing for himself how it was like to struggle over one mind, Kirelav hadn't been very honest with his Brother. Vincent had been here the whole time, quiet, but there. Vincent would have known if he had been pushed aside and...when the time came where Kirelav was forced to give the body back, would be punished by having no control for a long time. That didn't serve him very well in the long run, especially with Judas' initial plan.

Judas may have merged to gain more control over the host, but he was only interested in staying alive. That was priority...for both of them.

Judas' head lowered and closed his eyes tightly. A strained look was on his face as his fists clenched in front of him. Another short moment passed before the cat raised his head again quickly with widened eyes. The blue returning around the iris with the red. Deep breaths were taken as Zael looked around in anger. "What happened? What did I say?!" More heavy, enraged breaths were taken.

Zael wanted to be enraged. He was pushed out and out of control! But... apart of him felt calm. He felt anger, but as moments went by, he began to calm down as if the other part of him was wordlessly convincing him to not be angry. everything is under control..

Kirelav kept his gaze on Judas until Zael returned, who had quickly became flustered at the thought of blacking out. He shrugged before sitting back down on the bench, acting as though something had ended.

"I'm not sure. You didn't look very well, just standing there." Kirelav lied, glancing towards Zael. He supposed it didn't hurt to lie about the little encounter.

Zael closed his eyes again and took a deep breath to try and calm himself. "...I'll return in the morning." he said as he straightened his shirt and jacket and wiping some dust off of himself. "Maybe by then you will you be willing to tell me what I need to know. And Maybe I'll keep you alive." Zael said before turning around toward the cell's gate, stopping with his hand on the bar. "...a little longer." After finishing, Zael opened the gate and closed it behind himself.

-------

Aeth was peering through that print of the Swords of Chaos outside to the left of it on a hill, well hidden from any patrols, shadowed by the woods. From here he could see any path in and out, a couple of doors with small torches at the side of the manor. Et cetera. What mattered most were the guards and how to avoid them. Aeth saw the rhino guards at the front of the mansion as Loki had said...the backdoor was easier anyway.

He turned the print, showing where, presumably, where the dungeon was in the basement. That would prove to be rather difficult...best to do that last. First came his revenge. Loki had informed they had explosives in here. That wouldn't be hard to find. For his head, his finely tailored travel wear and taking Vincent away? Aeth couldn't help but smirk as he plotted.

-------

The guards were rather easy pickings as Aeth maneuvered his way about. So far it had been...terribly simple. They were guarding something that may leave the mansion, not the other way around. It was also a refined skill of his of lurking amongst the shadows. No one looked at shadows. Aeth almost felt sorry whenever he snatched an unsuspecting soldier and hid him somewhere secluded. His garments weren't necessarily...entirely black. If in the light, one would find that it looked like a very deep green. As opposed to popular thought, this shade made it easier to vanish. Even if someone were to look at a shadow, of course a deeper shade of black may seem quite suspicious, but this color was unsuspecting, blended well in the background. It was a great help outdoors.

He was digressing.

Aeth slipped around a corner, treading without a sound down a few stairs before he spotted a locked storage door. An easy twist of his lock picks and he soon found himself among a great collection of fine artillery and fire powder. Aeth smiled under his black mask as he went along with his plan, which included some well placed explosives. He wished that whoever hit him over the head at the cabin would be stuck in a room when these go off. That was icing on a cake.

As he gathered a few portable explosives into his pouch, Aeth took a loose bag of powder and trailed a little line from one barrel to the next. After that was finished, he made his way out, having taken another bag and trailed that from the main mound and created a larger mound near the stairs. The dungeon was only three doors away and down the stairs, to the left on the second door. He assumed there were at least four guards there. Well, Aeth reasoned that any man would leave his post after finding a quarter of the mansion gone. A rather rude disturbance at this late an hour.

Aeth struck a light and flicked it towards the mound from the door. Making sure the large mound lit up, the sizzling of the fuse running along the line, Aeth had already gone up to the rafts in the ceiling and three doors down. As he waited, a huge explosion shook the mansion.

There was a great mass of confusion below from where Aeth was perched. Servants were running away in fright while soldiers from all over the mansion were yelling rather hoarsely at one another as a blaze began to reach out and into the hall. A large cloud of black smoke began to emit out, the ones nearest the flame stepping away quickly as the fire was loosing control. Under the door from where he was, soldiers from downstairs were running out in a panic. There were three of them. As they ran away from the door to help douse the fire, Aeth had nimbly gone through the door and down the stairs.

He stayed close to the wall of the stairwell, torches lighting the way. Aeth quickly found his way to the dungeon, the door open, indicating that someone had left. He pressed close to the stone, peering inside and spotted a large bull standing stoically at the gate of a cell. Inside he saw Vincent.

With a little frown, Aeth decided his strategy, seeing as how this man wasn't one to be dealt with physically. He heard another explosion, this time a few pebbles from the ceiling fell onto the ground. Not much time left. Perhaps he would have to be physical.

Aeth took two steps away from the door before he began to call out in a brasher voice than normal. "Sir!! We need you upstairs quickly!"

Soon he heard a rather low and disgruntled response, "I will not leave my post! You know that!"

The nerve of this man. Fortunately, another rumble shook the mansion, adding dramatic effect, "Surely we could use your strength to help ol' Connors get out!" he cried with some urgency.

To his delight, Aeth heard large footsteps taken towards the door. He reached for a small explosive and lit it quickly. By the time Riddick stepped through the door and towards him, Aeth smirked under the mask.

"Catch."

The fuse nearly gone, Aeth tossed the little ball towards Riddick. And like many daft men who weren't very cunning when it came to observations, tried to reach for it until it was too late. Covering his face, Aeth glared through the explosion that came with it and a cry from the minotaur. The poor bastard landed on his back, right hand tense and burnt, knocked out for a few minutes. Aeth waved through the smoke, searching the man's belt for keys before he had a chance to move. Finding the ring, he quickly considered whether he should finish the man off or not. No...it would take too long.

Leaving Riddick there, Aeth went inside the dungeon, finding Vincent struggling with his manacles having been startled by the explosions. Aeth stood for a moment, placing a hand on his hip as the other pulled his mask down a bit, revealing a smirk to the mouse. What he saw was Vincent's eyes round in shock.

"I must say, Vincent. I do enjoy seeing you in those cuffs." Aeth grinned playfully, making Vincent snort dismissively.

"I hardly think now's the time for that." he mumbled back.

"It seems not." Aeth looked down to the ring of keys, flipping through each with a little frown as he stepped up to the cell door.

"I saw him use the bronze one...no...yes that one." Vincent helped, watching as Aeth slipped the key in the cell and swung it open smoothly. Taking the keys, Aeth began to find the key for the lock of the cuffs. Granted it was a smaller fit, it took a few tries before settling on the right one. Finished with the one on Vincent's right hand, the mouse suddenly tensed.

"Watch out!!" He cried. Behind, Riddick charged towards them, mainly Aeth with horns down. The dog leapt to the side while Vincent grabbed the keys, moving to the left as the minotaur charged nearer to them. Unable to see where he was headed, Riddick slammed against the wall in front of where the bench was. Taking that moment to unlock his other cuff, both Vincent and Aeth darted out of the cell by the time the bull began turning his head towards them. Once outside, the two pushed the cell door to lock in place just as Riddick butted his head against the steel bars, causing them to bump back slightly. They nearly averted his long horns.

Aeth pulled up his mask as he backed away from the cell, tilting his head to the raged bull slamming himself against his cage. "Suppose he finds those keys and gets out?"

The dog turned his head as he heard a clinking noise, finding Vincent twirling the keyring with a finger, smirking.

"Well done."

Vincent tossed the keyring to the farthest end of the dungeon before he followed Aeth out the door. As they were climbing the stairs, the mansion ruptured once more, the floor underneath them shaking them off balance.

"What's going on?" Vincent asked.

"Assuming my traps have worked, I suggest we run very quickly and we don't look back." Aeth explained. Vincent didn't need to be told again.

When they reached the main floor, people were seen dashing back and forth with a thick cloud of smoke hiding who from who. Some were even on the floor, crawling in attempts to get air. Aeth took off his mask and quickly fixed it over Vincent's face to help him breathe. They only had once chance and that side door Aeth was looking at earlier was their exit.

Remembering the structure of the mansion, Aeth covered his maw with one hand and took hold of Vincent's hand with the other. Through the coughs, swears and screams of the people still inside, Aeth maneuvered them through the black fog to their escape after a few turns and a long dash.

Reaching the door, Aeth pushed Vincent out first before he felt for the explosives he had taken before and lit them all at once. He threw the five little bombs into the exit they had taken and shut the door behind him quickly. The two of them ran in the shadows towards the hill, the bombs setting off through the door so no one could follow them.

------

From a lookout farther from the one Aeth had used, they sat watching the mansion from afar ablaze in the night, smoke rising out of three locations of it like a triangle. The night was filled with shouts as the town bustled to save the mansion.

"You know that was my home before." Vincent commented after a few deep breaths of air. His white fur was soot covered, looking gray even in the darkness.

Aeth smiled, patting his sleeve of dust as he watched the fire as though it were some form of entertainment. "Really? I would have never guessed." he replied with a smile.

"Please...you knew."

"Haha. Well, take this as your welcome back. We have a wonderful light show for it!"

Vincent grinned, rubbing his forehead. "Looks like it. Seems things are going to be very different."

"Is that not always the case?" Aeth asked, picking himself up and began to walk away. Vincent quickly followed.

"That's true. Look at us." he said, coming to walk side by side with Aeth. The dog glanced at him for a moment before a smile crossed his lips, moving a hand to pat the mouse's shoulder. Vincent looked down with a smaller smile, trying to find words.

"Really. Thank you. I don't know what would have--"

"Think nothing of it, Vincent." Aeth said patiently, like a parent who had to repeat things hundreds of times.

"...I really thought you were a goner back at the cabin..."

They walked in silence for a while before Vincent turned his head to Aeth.

"You know...couldn't they follow our scent?"

"Oh, heavens no! You believe I don't think of such things? They'll lose us by Yonell."

Granted Yonell was not a brisk walk away where Aeth had horses prepared for their return.