Personal Quarters

Viper frowned upon feeling Esis begin shaking her. Granted it was understandable given the circumstances, but still. Viper wasn't the touchy-feely type, regardless, therefore she was quite grateful when Sevastyan came and took matters into his own hands. Literally.

"It's possible. However, I'd need to see the potion itself and identify it to see if that were the case. Then we'll figure it out from there..." she offered, awkwardly patting Esis on the shoulder, the tips of her fingers lightly brushing against Sevastyan's as she did so.

Horatio nodded, agreeing with Sevastyan.
"Let us hope." he murmured, his deep voice level. He had to be calm, despite his inner turmoil. Esis was a rather emotional unstable person and he needed to stay together for her if nothing else.

Esis released Viper, immediately apologizing. "Sorry..." she murmured, sniffing as tears ran down her cheeks.
"The wall swallowed the bomb... there is a bit of the potion in the air though."

Viper nodded, at the apology, conjuring a syringe like magical object to gather the polluted air particles. With a wave of her hand a miniature potions lab complete with a microscope, phials filled with various potions ingredients, and mini scanners. The Potions Mistress sat crosslegged on the ground in front of the mini-lab and injected the particles into a scanner, tilting the microscope over it so she could observe it.

A slight frown etched into it as the main components of the potion were rather difficult to identify. Mainly because it wasn't made of ingredients she was familiar with. It took a few moments and an ingredient here and there help clarify the sample until Viper could come up with what was, in her own opinion, a semi-decent answer. "It's a lethal cocktail, both wizarding and muggle substances, but moreso the latter." she shrugged, tilting her head to make eye contact with the other standing occupants of the room from her sitting position.

"The best answer I can give you is that one of the main components is Nitrous Oxide in it's most lethal form, able to rupture vessels in the lungs and collapse them. I'll have to send it to one of my old colleagues to learn more though..."

Viper rose from her sitting position and conjured a small, brewing cauldron, accompanied by a few additional phials. She dumped and scattered various ingredients into it before it glowed a bright green. With a wave of her hand, the potion was distributed into two syringes and three goblets for the other occupants in the room, which she leviatated them to. "Someone will need to inject Kiara and Professor Delanquar with potion to heal the damage. You all will have to drink the potion to help soothe the damage, however minimal, you accumulated by your exposure to the gas." she explained.

Leaning back against a nearby table, Viper crossed her arms over her chest and let out a soft, barely inaudible sigh of irritation, though one wouldn't notice if they didn't know Viper very well. Clearly she was annoyed at herself for being unable to identify all the components of the concoction. True, it was perfectly understandable and reasonable that she couldn't, considering most of it was of Muggle origin and use, but still. She was a perfectionist, after all.

The Russian nodded to Horatio's level comment, knowing only a part of what the man must be going through. He'd recently lost a loved one - for certain - and though it was a cousin and not someone a fair bit closer to his heart, it still caused Sevastyan to have a rather distressful day.

Realizing Esis calmed down, Sevastyan released the woman's shoulder but yet kept his hand on Amaranth until she stepped forward to deal with the samples of potion still clinging to the air.

"How did the vall svallow the bomb anyvay? Did anyvone cast a spell? The castle did not do this vith the first vone..." Sevastyan asked the others curiously.


Sevastyan watched Amaranth intently as she set to work, taking a few steps closer and partially kneeling a few feet away so as not to crowd her yet observe at a decent distance. He wasn't sure if the frown was just one she wore while working or if she was stumped. But yet... was it often a Potions Mistress became baffled by concoctions?

Muggle substances? That was different... No wonder she was having a hard time with it. He would have, too, being pure-blooded and not having delved too much into the Muggle world to begin with. Sevastyan nodded when her eyes briefly met his.

Gray eyes widened in surprise and concern at the clinical input Amaranth was able to provide. Though incomplete, Sevastyan found it impressive she was able to discern that much. However, he was instantly worried about those possibly and definitely were affected by the substance. Though it showed on his face the Russian wizard remained quite still and continued to observe his love at work doing what she did best.

Sevastyan had a feeling, before Amaranth even fully explained it, that the goblet of potion heading toward him was meant to be just in case. After all, he too had breathed in some of the fumes before identifying it as possibly dangerous. "Vot about you?" he asked his love in concern after taking a compliant sip. "Technically you vere also at least minimally exposed," Sevastyan pointed out. 'Even if you can't feel anything inherently wrong' hung the words he didn't feel necessary to blurt out in front of those assembled.


Noticing her sigh of irritation, Sevastyan stood from his crouched position and joined Amaranth at the table. He dutifully sipped at the remedy Viper brewed, noticing it did ease a tightness he hadn't realized had been in his chest. "I am sorry you voke up only to find me missing. If it vosn't a... situation that apparently reqvired my presence..." Sevastyan offered, assuming that was the reason for Viper's irritation. There was a very light undercurrent of moodiness due to the fact that he was clearly still tired.

Sevastyan had no idea that the reasonable cause for unknown variables in the potion was the real culprit behind Viper's irritation. It was indeed only natural given her upbringing, which was - like his - devoid of anything and everything muggle. Despite that, though, he was positive she did the best she could do. And that was really all he'd ever ask of her. He was nowhere near perfect, so how could he expect perfection of anyone else?

Horatio shook his head, "I did not do any spells." he assured Sevastyan. Esis shrugged.

"None that would swallow the bomb into the wall..." she muttered, yawning into her hand. A woman of rather sporadic emotions, she had already begun to wonder about her cognac again, at least for a moment before her eyes filled with tears again.

Taking Kiara's syringe from Viper, she carefully inserted the needle into the younger woman's arm. Releasing the liquid, she glanced up.

"Kiara is going to be alright?" she asked, taking her potion Viper handed to her and downing it quickly. She conjured a small dish and set it down for Kiara's kitten to lap out of. Pouring what was left of the potion into the dish, she sighed.

Horatio drank his potion carefully from the goblet and then held his hand out for the syringe.
"I'll take care of Eglantine..." he murmured, heading for the corridor. He only hoped the potion would work for her.

Only moments after Horatio left to administer the potion, the portrait of Merlin, which guarded Kiara's chambers, began to glow a faint blue.

Kiara slowly opened her eyes, the Potion Viper made helped but couldn't competely cure her problem as her lungs were in bad shape to begin with. It stopped her lungs from gettinhg any worse but the damage was done. It would that afew days for her lungs to heal again on there own.

Until then however it was going to be a long few days.

She still felt Eglantines presents all around her in the castel wall.

"Eglantine what have you done?" she thought.

Then she heard the conversation around her, and through her blurry vision she saw Horatio and he was leaving the hall.

Then she felt a magical pull from within the castel, Eglantine was doing something.

"Wait... Horatio" she whispered though it came out in a gasp.

"I'll be fine..." she replied softly to Sevastyan's question, her gaze focused on the puzzle she had solved as best as she could, yet not enough.

She nodded absentmindedly at Esis' question. "As well as one could be, I suppose. After all, her lungs weren't healthy to begin with and the fumes only aggravated them further.She can't get any worse though so she'll improve eventually, though. Not completely, but with a few days of rest she should be more or less back to her old self."

An eyebrow arched in response to the light moody undertone in Sevastyan's voice, wondering if he had caught unto her irritation and came to an incorrect conclusion. "Oh, it's nothing like that, love. If anything I'm glad you were able to assist in anyway, though I wish you had woken me as well... It's just..." she trailed off, shrugging with a sigh, her gaze drifting back from Sevastyan's eyes to the potion sample. "I'm a bloody Potions Mistress! This should be nothing for me to solve, and yet... I can't. At least, I can't offer an answer I'm 100 percent sure of. I have guesses, true, but it would be pointless, not to mention, dangerous for me to use them as assumptions!"

Eventually she managed to tear her gaze away and meet Sevastyan's once more, adding in a softer tone, barely a whisper. "My specialty is Genetics... I never bothered to learn any of the muggle substances and these days, well... It seems it's always what I don't know and had originally forsook that is of utmost importance..."

The wizard nodded, attempting to resist yawning upon seeing Esis do so. But alas, it was true: yawning, like laughter, was contagious. Sevastyan placed a hand over his mouth to make said yawn less noticeable. He almost made a comment when Horatio volunteered to see to Professor DeLanquar's dosing of the potion Amaranth had made. Almost. The Russian bit his tongue not only out of respect for Horatio's being rather taken with the transfiguration professor but also to keep from explaining what had happened between the Head of Gryffindor and him several minutes prior to his arrival here. While it seemed Excessum was being used more and more often of late, Sevastyan still couldn't help but keep what he knew about the wand a secret.

It was almost like the Elder Wand of legend, from what he knew about it. An extremely powerful wand that could turn people - and things - to ash... and possibly a prophecy item specifically belonging to the Rosier family. In a way, now that he thought about it, he was glad only that wand could perform that particular spell. What concerned him most was the potential of spells cast in anger. Not that he'd really seen how Professor DeLanquar dealt with anger aside from the incident in the corridor.


Sevastyan offered Viper a small smile, reassured that her irritation was not with him. However it had fallen as he took on a distinctly uncomfortable expression at her wish for him to have woken her as well. He can just imagine how that would've went... Sevastyan did not like the idea of Amaranth being set with the same countenance of fury he'd been witness to. Not even her seeing the look he'd been given appealed to the wizard. He tried to hide the discomfort of the topic as best he could.

His best chance for a change of topic came when Amaranth hesitated, seeming about to explain the reason why she seemed irritated. Perhaps she'd be too caught up in her own dilemma so as not to see the discomfort he'd felt. The wizard didn't want to give his love the wrong idea, but it was rather disconcerting to assume that one had nearly had a brush with death. So unnerving that even he had a hard time internalizing it. Yet, on the other hand, he knew Viper was by no means dim.

The wizard put aside his own musings to hear those belonging to the witch he loved. He nodded, agreeing with her point of view. In a field with anything even remotely related to medical matters, it was very dangerous to make assumptions. This he knew firsthand, though not as the medical practitioner. It was one reason he didn't trust healers.

As emerald met gray, Sevastyan couldn't help but sympathize with her. The dark arts were sometimes just as vexing when attempting to counteract them. "Amaranth..." he sighed, wishing he knew what words to say that would soothe her frustration with their current dilemma. The Russian draped an arm around his love, the hand of the other taking hers after making sure the goblet was completely drained of potion and setting said vessel aside. "You do vot you can. That is all anyvone can ask. No vone thinks anything less of you for it... not them -" Sevastyan paused and nodded in the direction of Esis, Horatio, and Kiara, "...and certainly not me." To hopefully emphasize that fact, Sevastyan gently rested his forehead against hers.

Horatio paused when he heard Kiara's weak voice, and turned back. He hated the idea of delaying, but Kiara was dear to him as well, and her asking him to stay but a moment could be significant. As he turned he saw the portrait glow slightly and although he was not certain that it was the reason for Kiara's calling to him, he approached it nonetheless.

Within it, Merlin was beginning to fade, much to his obvious horror, and darkness began to seep into the corners of the painting. A smoke and ash that reminded Horatio of something charred and ruined soon overcame Merlin and he disappeared. Replacing him a pale face appeared.

It was hauntingly beautiful, too pale and ghostly to be the face of a human, and yet it was faintly familiar. Deep grey eyes seemed to look into his soul as he turned away. Whatever was in the painting was dark, mysterious and cold.

"Ich bin der Tod" the voice whispered. Horatio swallowed, frightened by the appearance of the wraith-like woman if it truly was a woman. This was almost how he had always pictured a fallen angel... wrapped in darkness, with the light still appearing beautiful only to deceive.

"What the hell?" Esis all but shouted, gapping at the appearance. Unlike Horatio, she showed no fear and seemed almost angered by its appearance.
"Reminds me of my ex-..." she muttered. "Dark and creepy."

Kiara looked at the the portrait, confused, yet she could feel it. It felt like Excessum in all its glory.

She had no idea what was happening she for once wholly agreed with Esis's statement. What the Hell indeed.

Coughing she pushed her self into a standing position and used the wall for support.

Standing in front of the the now dark portrait, Kiara said the only thing she know for sure what it was. Only thing was she wasn't sure if Eglantine was controlling this or had Excessum managed to take over? A scary thought if the ever was one.

"Excessum?" she asked weakly.