neutral_omens | (no subject)

Entry tags:

ellie,
sphinx

(no subject)

Time: January 19th, 2001
Status: Private - Sphix and Ellie
Setting: The cellar
Summary: The sphinx and Ellie meet

As the months passed and both Hera and the police remained absent, Sphix allowed herself to let her guard down and settle into living in the Manor. Somewhere in the course of early winter she started to regard the basement as her territory, and before the winter holidays had passed she had made it a habit to take a walk through the basement at dawn and at dusk. After all, what good was a territory if you weren’t going to defend it?

She was on one of her now routine morning walks when she heard a faint sound - a clock clicking open, most probably - and the barely audible squeaking of a seldom used door swinging open. The sphinx stopped mid-step, trying to recall what exactly was behind the corner. She had, after long weeks of trying, managed to pry open most of the doors in the cellar, but there were a few that stubbornly remained shut. And this way… this way was the water room, wasn’t it? She had heard wet, splashing sounds on the occasions she had stood behind the door, trying to force it to cooperate.

For a moment, the sphinx considered turning into her human form. She abandoned the idea quickly; she had no clothing with her, and walking around without anything on her did not, in most occasions, go over too well. She would just have to catch the intruder as she was, even if it meant losing the cover that looking like a human provided. She pressed her wings closer to her body and, tail twitching in annoyance, went to see who had trespassed her territory.

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“Backgammon?” the sphinx sat down, a look of dismay passing through her face and making way for an expression that was positively peeved.

“I do not play backgammon. Do these paws look like they could play backgammon?” Of course, as she had to admit to herself, she could easily turn into a shape better suited for the game, but that was entirely beside the point.

“No, I will not play backgammon”, Sphix continued, refusing to stop to consider her words. “And I will ask you riddles if I want to, and only if I want to, whether you are the world’s greatest guesser, or the worst guesser history has ever seen. And it is your lucky day, because I do not feel like asking you a riddle now. Even though you have trespassed my territory.”

“Instead, I’ll ask you a simple question.” The sphinx nodded towards the locked door behind the woman. “What is in that room?”

"Hmm, consider me suitably thankful then." Ellie hesitated. Sugarplum wasn't exactly common knowledge, but she wasn't exactly a secret either, as far as she knew. And Sphinxes, from what she remembered, weren't known for their gentle manner.

"That room contains a rare and dangerous beast, belonging to a powerful Duke of Hell," she exaggerated (to put it mildly.) "I wouldn't mess with it if I were you. It's safely contained as long as the door is kept locked." No need to clarify that Sugarplum's safety was probably more in question that the Sphinx's.

She crossed her arms, frowning. "So what'd you do, eat Adam? Last I remember, the Manor was his baby, basement included."

A rare and powerful beast? The sphinx wasn’t impressed. Her family had consisted entirely of rare and powerful beasts. Most of them had had a temper, though, so Sphix decided that it might be best the heed the woman’s advice. After all, the beast of a Duke of Hell might not consider her family.

Then again, the supposedly rare and powerful beast had not harmed the woman who was frowning - frowning! - at her. “The Thebans considered their hills theirs, too, until I arrived”, she pointed out. “So, who are you? A close friend of this Duke of Hell, to attain the respect of his beast?” She really hoped the woman wasn’t a mystical hero. The last thing she needed - well, after Hera and the police, actually - was some female version of Herakles.

Ellie's lips reversed themselves in a wicked arch of a smile. "I have my ways of persuasion. With the Duke, and with his pet. My name is Chantinelle. But my friends, such as they are, call me Ellie. And how do you prefer to be addressed?"

The sphinx narrowed her eyes. The woman was dodging her questions, wasn’t she? But she was doing so in such a clever way that the sphinx could never accuse her of not answering. She was smart, this Chantinelle.

“You may call me whatever you wish, Chantinelle”, Sphix said. “And names have power, so I‘m not telling you mine.” She shifted a bit, allowed her muscles to relax. Her expression changed, too, showing a flicker of amusement. “Of course, you have seen me and know what I am, so, with the right clues, figuring out my name shouldn‘t be all that difficult. Unless you really are as poor at riddles as you claim to be.”

So, she wanted to play after all. Ellie tilted her head slightly, speculative. "Very well then, for the moment, I suppose I'll address you as Sphinx and watch for whatever clues you see fit to drop." She shifted, leaning her hip against one of the storage boxes scattered around the basement. "So you've made the basement your lair. I would think someone would have mentioned such an important detail." She glanced around the poorly-lit cellar. "Seems a bit confining to me..."

“Sphinx. Oh, yes, you can call me that.” Sphix eyed the woman for a moment. “It so happens to be near my name, too. You are only one letter off.” Then she got up and stretched her legs. “And it can’t be my fault, now can it, if people fail to warn you about me. Some friends you have, not caring about your safety.” Of course, she had not met all that many people in the cellar, and, not wishing to cross Apollo, she had never harmed another Manor resident, but Chantinelle did not need to know.

“Confining, you think?” Sphix risked a glance around her. “Perhaps it is. And perhaps it is not. It reminds me of home, in any case. And, until I can leave safely, it is my home. You have something against that?”

"Did I say friends?" Ellie smiled sourly. There were still a few here she might choose to name as such, but they weren't likely to spend much time skulking around the cellar. "But I meant to offense. I can relate, in fact. Not too many places apart from the Manor are safe for me, either." That hadn't stopped her going out, of late, but she never rested easy outside its walls and Adam's cloak of protection.

Sphix tilted her head the way a puzzled bird would, looking at Chantinelle from the corner of her eye. “Not safe for you? Who’s after you, then? Not Hera, I guess… the police?”

"I wish," Ellie sighed. Hera, huh? Not quite Himself, but it sounds bad enough. "I've managed to land myself a prime spot on Lucifer's shit list." She probably shouldn't share that information so freely, but it was somehow comforting to know she and Belial weren't the only fugitives around this place, and fair was fair--the Sphinx had given the name of her pursuer. "Although the police would probably take issue with my profession, if they caught me at it."

Lucifer? First a Duke of Hell and now Lucifer. The sphinx narrowed her eyes. She was really starting to suspects that Chantinelle was not a mere mortal.

“I wonder what you did to anger him”, Sphix said aloud. “And the police is a real nuisance. They are always snooping into things that are none of their business. What I do or don’t do with those who fail to answer my riddles is my concern, not theirs.” She huffed. “But they just can’t keep to themselves, can they?”

"It's not difficult to do," Ellie said delicately. "Morningstar loves to keep his secrets, but he doesn't appreciate it when his minions keep theirs. As for the police, though, they're easily dealt with." Although perhaps more so in her case than the Sphinx's.

She remembered her mythology--or, well, history--well enough to recall what became of the Sphinx's unsuccessful riddling opponents, and was somewhat surprised that Adam had allowed the creature here. Humans tended to be squeamish about the consumption of human flesh. Ellie couldn't honestly say she was all that taken with the idea, either, but to each their own.

So. Chantinelle was a demon. That was a bit disappointing; the sphinx was fairly certain that attempting to eat a demon was a bad idea. Of course, she couldn’t have killed the woman in the first place, but that hardly made Sphix any happier.

“Well, since you are so smart, why don’t you tell me how to get rid of those overly curious police officers? Or, better yet, perhaps you could share your insight on what to do with intruders that can‘t be eaten.” Sphix took a cautious step forward. “Because that information might come in handy.”

"Officers of the law have desires like anyone else," Ellie said. "Discern what they are, and offer convincingly enough to fulfill them, and they'll be eating out of your hand. Er, paw." She looked the Sphinx up and down speculatively. "Although that might prove more challenging for one of your...stature. As for intruders, here in the Manor you could probably get rid of them by threatening to take the matter to Adam, if it disturbs you that much." She smiled. "Or you might try something really bizarre and unprecedented, like asking politely."

“My stature?” Sphix spit. “You think there is something wrong with me? Of course you think there is something wrong with me. You think I’m a stupid monster, just like the rest of them. But I can be other things, too.” Her fur wavered and melted, and soon her wings were gone, too. Now fully human, she shook her head and fixed her gaze on Chantinelle. “See?” she said, voice trembling. “See? I’m not just a monster, or something to be slain when the first hero happens by.” She made a face. “And I can hardly be polite. People would never be afraid of me if I started being polite.

Ellie's eyebrows shot up. "I didn't say there was anything wrong with you," she said, "I was merely implying that your other form is better suited to intimidation than seduction. But take it from me, sweetheart, you'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar." She smiled. "And you've definitely got the honey, if you don't mind my saying so. Shame not to use it."

The sphinx shivered. With her fur gone, the cellar air felt surprisingly cool. She resisted the urge to wrap her arms around her - it didn’t do to appear weak - and snorted.

“Where did you get the notion that I wanted to lure people to me? Do I look like a siren to you? They come to me when they need to pass, confused, afraid… I drink in their fear.” Admittedly, it had been easier in the old days when fear alone was enough to keep people from fighting her. Nowadays she had had to resort to stalking her prey more often than not, and sometimes a smile did help to get the victim away from the rest of the flock, but it didn’t change the fact that fear was what she wanted. Fear, and a battle of wits.

"No, you don't," Ellie conceded, eyeing the Sphinx's new form with interest, "and believe me, I know from sirens. But with the right outfit...you do know that most men are terrified of a strong woman, right?" She blinked. "Do you have any clothes? Is that why you never come upstairs?"

“Of course I have clothing”, Sphix said, but without the prior anger. “All of it just happens to be torn or dirty right now. And whether I get up or not really doesn’t concern you, now does it? But just so you don't have to assume anything,I tell you that yes, I do get up. On occasions. I suppose your not-at-all friends forgot to tell you about that, too.”

"No one's mentioned it," Ellie said, waving the matter away. "Would you like to borrow a couple of outfits? I can gimmick them your size until we can expand your wardrobe a bit. And there's a laundry here, if no one's told you." She had no idea why she was attempting to be friendly or (perish the thought) helpful to this strange person, except perhaps that it was bloody boring and lonely around here lately, and she wanted something to think about that had nothing to do with people who were missing, permanently or otherwise.

Sphix gave the demoness one last glare. Then she gave up. Having some extra clothing did sound appealing, in the same way new piles of bones did, and she was really starting to feel cold. She shivered again and, with a shrug, allowed her fur to grow back. It also caused her to have wings, as she had never been good at stopping the change mid-form.

When she was comfortable again, she nodded at Chantinelle. “Very well”, she said. “Outfits. Lead the way, and no tricks.”

Ellie paused--she'd more had in mind to bring the clothes down here, but she made it a point not to argue with large predatory creatures of legend. "Okay, c'mon then," and she led the way up to her room on the third floor.

Sphix followed the demoness, climbing up the stairs and occasionally skipping several steps at once just because she could. She did her best the memorize the route. It was always good to know where everyone, friend or foe, resided.

When they reached their destination, the sphinx took her human form again. “This would better not be a trap”, she muttered, more because she didn’t want to sound overly exited than because she actually thought it was. She had been living in the Manor for a while now, and so far, it had been decidedly trap free. “Because if it is a trap, you will pay. Dearly. Now, show me what you have got. And it would better not be blue.”

"Well, that rules out jeans," Ellie said, openign the door and going in. Her room was fairly small and rather spartan, apart from a few eclectic pieces of decor (gifts from admirers) and an amulet of twined black and white feathers hanging on the wall over the bed.

She did wear quite a bit of blue, as well as a disproportionate amount of black, and favored short skirts and skintight fits, but her wardrobe wasn't limited to any one color scheme or style. She opened her wardrobe and waved to the Sphinx invitingly to have a look as she walked to the chest of drawers and started rummaging. "Pick whatever you like. Don't worry if it doesn't look like it'll fit, we can adjust." She had her favorite outfits, of course, but given how often various pieces of clothing had got lost or destroyed in the course of her work over the centuries, she'd learned not to attach too much importance to clothes.

Sphix took a look into the wardrobe. She fingered the garments, scowled at some, pulled out others, and dismissed most of them. She wanted something elegant - what she though was elegant, anyway - and of the correct shade, too. She only wore clothing in her human shape, so she could afford to be picky.

The wardrobe couldn’t hold her whole attention, however. Chentinelle’s room was just as interesting, even though it did seem a bit bare.

“You don’t much like decorating, do you?” the sphinx said, but her attention was already drifting back towards the clothes. “And what’s with all this black?”