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Take Heed - Frasier Curse

(Roleplay with NealeMFrasier, DanielWFrasier, Rob Frasier, Hannah Frasier, Ellyn Frasier, HazelnutSS, Sarina Maree, Octavia and Ellyn's Ghost)

The night was a restless one for them all. Neale woke sometime during the wee hours of the morning to find Ellyn gone. After waking Daniel and Rob they set out in search of the little one. She wasn't difficult to find, wandering down the path of one of the three gardens surrounding the Keep. When Neale lifted her into his arms she pointed down the path but said nothing, returning to sleep on Neale's shoulder. They made the trek back to the Keep but none of the three of them could find sleep again. Finally, as sunlight began to filter through grimy windows, they ate a small, quick breakfast. Neale told the others of Ellyn's sleepwalking and the three brothers resolved to search that particular path for clues to where the curse might be buried.

He pretty much helped wherever he could but let the family know where they wanted him. Being this was a family matter he stayed more in the background.. the grunt. His main concern was to see to Hannah at all times.

There was little else for her to do but remain at the Keep and wait for word of what their search brought.

So with Hannah and Ellyn well taken care of Neale, Daniel and Rob ventured once more to that path where Ellyn had been found the night before.  The sun's light brought the barren garden into full view.  The dried, dead vines dangled from over the walls, the pathway which appeared once to be lined with marble stepping stones now crunched beneath their boots from the weather scattered stone.  Neale attempted to find where he had come across Ellyn, but his concern for her had been so great at the time, he hadn't paid attention to what else was around him.  "Does anything look familiar?"  It all seemed so different without the half-moon to guide them once again.

She was doing some investigation of her own, Octavia was not here yet but she suspected she would be soon enough. She was soon trailing after the brothers...afterall...she had her own personal interest in them even without Octavia's command...vested interest of her own.

It's not long after the brothers leave that she and Hannah are discussing how badly they need to bathe. "There's a pond not far away, I saw it on the way in. We can make quick work of it." She felt contaminated by the filth and darkness of the place.

That stormy brooding quality was laced to those dark green eyes....he walked in silence next to his brothers with ever a watchful eye. Marble and stone alike crunched with dried frozen grass....sure could wake the dead if any such were around. Hazel was here so it was not a wayward thought.  "A whole lot messier in the daylight....really run down."

Offhandedly Neale responded to Daniel's comment. "A shame."  But for the most part he kept looking behind him, then to the path ahead in that attempt to find the exact spot Ellyn had indicated.

She was soon to float off in a different direction as something did so lure her in her own investigations.

"Nae, it was difficult to make much out last night. Perhaps Hazel will come across something."

"I will stand watch while you bathe, but be forewarned Sarina if Hannah should need me... I will not hesitate to come."

"Of course." That's a given. She helps Hannah gather up what they'll need so they can be off.

"Hazel, aye."  But even as the words slipped free, he stepped from the path and to the side, a frown pulled into view.  He lowered to a knee to trace his finger along that small foot print...Ellyn's footprint.  At least they were headed in the right direction.

He caught that ethereal blue trail that Hazel seemed to leave in her wake before that Frasier gaze was on his brother Rob with a nod. He branched out looking for any clues....haphazard stones crumbled were moved aside and even the dust of the earth shoved with a boot. Still, he stayed within eye and earshot of his brothers.

"You can watch Ellyn play while you're standing watch." Planting a kiss on Lan's cheek and taking the toddler's hand to lead her off.

He allowed them to pass before him and took up the rear to find a spot where he could stand guard and still give them privacy... mostly for Sarina's sake. "I shall unless you want to let her bathe with you?" He actually smiled down upon the young one... growing rather fond of her.

He feels helpless, not entirely sure what they're looking for. His frustration is apparent in the way he kicks at things and whacks at hanging branches with his sword.

He finally called over to Neale as a broken statue was tossed aside...still finding nothing. "Do you have any idea what we're looking for?"

Too many years had passed, decades upon decades to cover any traces of where the witch may have hidden her curse.  "A grain of sand on the shoreline."  He muttered beneath his breath for to him, that's what it felt like they searched for.  One particular grain...amongst the miles of sandy beach. 

"Might be too cold for her." Glancing over her shoulder "but we'll see if she likes the water." And the three are down the path to the pond with their little charge.

"This is hopeless." Muttering under his breath as he tilts a large rock back to look beneath it.

His arm raised beneath a veil of heavy vines.  A dip of his upper body had him beneath and the veil dropped once more behind him.  Only his boots from the knees down could be seen behind the thick, lifeless tangle of strands.  He had heard Rob and could very well agree with him.  But he wouldn't. They had to have hope.  To thwart the witch, to break the curse ... they had to.  He went through Ellyn's song again in his head, the story his father had shared with him as a boy...jerking aside dead branches and bending to snatch away a century's covering of dead debris from the earth. At least, as long as Hannah wore that bracelet, she was safe.  It just came down to ending this once and for all.

Ellyn refuses to dip anything but her toes in the water which brings laughter from both women. Once undressed they step carefully into the water. With Sarina and Ellyn there and Lan not far, she removed the bracelet and now happily scrubs the previous day's travel from herself.

"Hopeless, hopeless," but he keeps looking for anything a little off.

She was behaving herself...something was already changing in her as her focus was not on pleasure but actually helping ones she was ordered to harm if anything. She had a new goal that might just salvage her ethereal soul if she knew.

He could hear the laughter even if he could not see them. His ear in tuned for every little noise that if certain ones were heard he'd be there faster than a jackrabbit....his hand already resting in the hilt of his sword unconsciously. His sight becoming secondary for now.

He had taken up muttering and mussing himself....he hated this....this not knowing and feeling helpless. He drove back the thought as brambles were now hacked aside and more stones unturned...looking for anything....anything at all that might be a clue.

Between keeping an eye on Ellyn and helping Hannah to soap her hair, she has plenty enough to do, laughing here and there at Ellyn's squeals of delight and splashing.

From the tower the wind seemed to pick up, swirling the cobwebs along the corridors into a frantic rhythm.  The dust covered floors along the halls were swept free of layers of dust as if it cleared a specific path.  A soft moan with the progress as that breeze swept out the door and rushed toward the group gathered at the water. What brown leaves still clung desperately to the near naked limbs trembled against the force, those on the ground caught up in a
mini-whirlwind of motion, twirling now in that upsweep.  Onward toward the water, spinning and drawing the lighter objects up into the funnel.

For a moment his gaze so lifted... bright Kearney blues moving skyward as the wind seemed to pick up...was a storm coming? He was 'itching' all of a sudden...stirred feeling like he needed to take action but nothing was noted to call him into action...yet.

Even with the dried out vines and creepy looking trees that surround the pond, to feel clean after a night in that castle is like heaven. "Look at that, Ellyn, we'll have to change your dress when we get back, you've nearly soaked yourself!" Laughing before dunking her head beneath the water.

Ruffling the clothing which lay to the side, a tiny stocking lifted and shot aside...then a strand of gold, lifted and spun in the hold of wind, the funnel lifting higher, the swirl of leaves and bracelet.  Then like a breath sucked in and blown out abruptly, the wind pushed toward the women and just before contact, retreated just as quickly toward the keep...taking with it the means to the Frasier woman's lifeline.

"Damn" Came rather abruptly before he called out in warning to the women. "Storm's a brewing, better hurry it up!"

-c-

She felt the disturbance and hedged the storm now, leading her back towards where the women bathed. Darkless depths went over Lan in appreciation as she passed but she kept well out of the way of Octavia's workings for now.. wishing more not to be noticed by her yet.

The sudden wind is alarming to her for more than one reason. It gives her a sense of deep foreboding, setting her nerves on edge and the sight of that funnel of leaves does little more than add to this. When the wind nearly reaches them in the water, she rushes from it. "Time to get out, Hannah. Now."

From the tower the witch watched, a smile upon lips so unused to the gesture, her hands uplifted to direct the winds at her beck and call...stretched outward as she awaited the delivery of that which she sought.

She knew what was up... when she noted the glint of gold. That ethereal gaze narrowed but there was nothing she could do to stop it, better warn the men. In her own swirl of bluish light she was gone and soon circling around Neale on the other side of the keep. *Octavia..* mingled with his thoughts like a voice to them all.. reaching out to the brothers. *Forewarned, she has stolen Hannah's bracelet back... hurry.*

The wind did not alarm her at first the way it did the others, not until she hears the edge in Sarina's voice she does as she's told, dressing as quickly as she can, awkward as it is.

"Hazel, please!" He growled with impatience.  If she could not help them, she needed to leave them be.

Throwing her clothes on rather haphazardly she helps Hannah finish and takes Ellyn's hand, realizing only then that the little girl has begun to cry.

Such a pathetic pout as he tried to brush her aside. *I am here to help you now... my lot is cast, there is no turning back.*

And that's when the first pain hits. Crying out sharply her knees nearly buckle from beneath her.

He had been squatted next to a statue devoid of all appendages, just the chest remained but Hazel's words had him to his feet immediately. "What!"

"She what?!" Straightening quickly from his crouch. "Where has she taken  it to?" Demanding the information from Hazel.

He didn't need to press by her, simply and almost passed right through her as he darted toward that blanket of dead vines and crashed through with the throw of an arm to clear his path.  He was asking no further questions, it was to Hannah he raced now.

The cry of pain of his beloved's voice had him running through the now settled crunch of debris. "Hannah??"

Then she realizes the absence of the bracelet and dropping to her knees, begins to search for it.

"Foolish, foolish mortals." She chortled to herself as she allowed the twirling air to hold the bracelet.  She knew better than to touch it.  Knew the power it held.  She just stood by the window now, eyes narrowed on the scene below. 

She was soon to swirl around Rob.. her voice becoming more clear "To her keep I would imagine in a swirl of a dusted storm... hurry.. no time for questions. Hannah cries out in pain, you need to find the bracelet again or better...the cursed item to destroy. Seek the child.."

She's quickly at Hannah's side, panic filling her as she, too, realizes the bracelet is gone. A search, she is certain, will not help them and she's anxious to get Hannah back to the Keep.

"The bracelet!" Is what Lan hears when he comes upon the scene. "It's lost."

"It's gone." Urging Hannah to her feet. "We need to get back to the Keep, now."

He's not far behind Neale, racing behind him as though his arse were on fire.

"Let me get you inside Hannah, Sarina.. I will return and look for the bracelet."

Neale skidded to a halt when he saw Hannah on the ground.  Turning to look back to the keep then back to the women and Lan.  "Ellyn" He gasped...he could feel Rob near, the man would probably plow him over with that quick stop.  "Ellyn."  He called, hoping to keep the concern from his voice so not to frighten the small child.

She's about to protest when another pain, raw and fiery, slices through her back and stomach, forcing her to cry out again.

He was right with Neale...his own searching done in the light of the crisis.

Neale tensed all the more with Hannah's cry and stood still no longer, though he didn't run, there was purpose in his stride as he came up to his niece.  He dropped to both knees before her, a nod up to Lan as he passed and a worried glance given to Hannah. Then back to Ellyn his gaze dropped.  "We need to find your Auntie's bracelet, Ellyn.  You know this, aye?" 

Ellyn is already frightened but not by Hannah's cries. Tears stream down her little cheeks.

He was all but carrying Hannah back as he called out to Neale. "The bracelet is missing down by the pond."

She nods to Lan and hurries after him, instinctively aware that this would be a birth like none she'd ever seen before.

He stopped short and was soon helping Lan, taking Hannah's other side to get her into the keep.

His hands rested lightly on her slender shoulders and it took all he had not to grip her tightly with his fear.

Sniffling, Ellyn nods and wipes her nose with the back of her hand.

He watches Lan and Danny with Hannah and opts to remain with Neale for now, his heart beating like a bass drum as he watches them lead his sister off.

Neale nodded to, rubbing his thumb along her cheek to wipe away a tear. "and we must all be strong for her, aye?  You know that as well.  Now...this one who you speak with...is she here now?" He needed answers but couldn't bombard he wee lass with the majority of the questions which nearly choked him to slow down with her.

With Dan's help they were able to get Hannah back inside and to a couch that had been cleared off the night past, settling her there. "Sarina, anything you need for me to do?" He felt like his brain had just become numb, was Hannah in labor or just a fluke of nature?

"I need water from the pond brought here and boiled. Fetch my bag, I've clean linens in there." The usually quiet woman sounds rather severe as she barks the orders to the two men.

Octavia heard the woman's cry which brought a feigned pout to her lips...another Frasier wench to suffer the consequences of a Duke's denial...Neale should feel so at fault for his sister's death.  Poor man...poor, deluded man...to think he could best Octavia. Had they not all  tried? Over the centuries past?  Had they not all tried and failed?  This feeble bunch of Frasiers would be no different.

"Dan, go back and help your brothers, I will come and get you all if needed. Be assured I will do everything in my power, in my love for Hannah to keep her safe with Sarina's help."

Ellyn shakes her head, sniffling again. "I don't see her. There's someone else here." This said in toddler-ese.

Once Hannah was settled he was like a cat on a hot tin roof again. Thankful for Lan's words he nodded but leaned in to give his sister a kiss on the cheek. "All will be well, we will take care of things to keep you safe." He was gone then like a streak of lightning back out to his brothers.

Hannah has managed some measure of control  over her pain for the moment, gritting her teeth until her jaw aches and tears roll down her cheeks.

"Someone else?"  Once again Neale turned at the waist to shoot a glare toward the keep.  Neale knew who this "someone" was.  So much for help there.  He looked back to Ellyn with a smile...forced...but a smile all the same.  "Ellyn, my wee angel...do you remember where you woke last night? When I came to bring you back inside?"

He was gone then, first to get that bag. That brought back and left on the couch near Hannah where he too kissed her, but to her lips it went in a flash and then gone as he searched first for a big pot without holes to hold the water. That found in the pantry he was gone out the side door back down to the pond to fill it.

Soon she's kneeling before Hannah to have a look at things, reaching out to touch Hannah's brow with her healing warmth and taking that pain upon herself...her system seems to absorb things faster and allow her to heal in this empathic manner.

She had skirted around, just out of Octavia's reach. She had honed that much without her notice and now it was coming in handy...still...she knew she would have to face Octavia herself before all was said and done. She was back now near Neale and the brothers...waiting on the child. *I can help if we get near enough to this item...I know Octavia's feel...ethereal dust if I get near it.*

She held her hand above the spinning pocket of air, pointing a finger downward as if to stir the current.  "Spin, spin, spin...spin away the life...spin away the breath...building up of pain, of fear, of the ever looming presence of death...spin...spin."

Ellyn nods and points in the direction of that garden path. "Was lookin' for the big, empty circle."

Hurry up, Ellyn, hurry, he's thinking but his gaze appears infinitely patient as he listens to Neale try to get some kind of information from her.

The pain lessens but her fear does not. "The babe is coming," Stating the obvious in a breathless panic.

With Ellyn's statement, he pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her salty, tear streaked cheek then, with her close, he stood, taking her with him as he started back toward the garden.  "Hazel, we'll get you close...you show us where."  From there, he'd leave it to Rob, Daniel and Ellyn...Hazel would take him...to Octavia. 

He lugged the heavy pot of water in and set it to warm near the fire which still burned low. A wary glance given his wife and Sarina before he was over to them again. "Anything else?" He needed to keep busy or go crazy right now...worry was ingrained in his features now.

"Not yet, not yet." There's still some time before the birth itself. She pulls her hand away from Hannah only to find it covered in blood. Suppressing her gasp, she watches as blood begins to stain the cloth covered couch where Hannah lies. Only a trickle, for now.

With her words he dropped to his knees by her side, taking up her hand in his. "All will be fine Hannah..." It had to be for he would not allow himself to think otherwise.

And little Ellyn, held close in her uncle's arms, points the way.

Trying not to alert Lan, she wipes the blood from her hand and placing both upon Hannah's abdomen, attempts to put a stop to even that small flow of blood.

He grabbed up anything that might work as a shovel as they passed all the various debris lying around...determined now he followed his brothers and Ellyn that had them near but retracing their steps.

He's a need for word of Hannah sent sharp pains shooting through his stomach, but he continued on, following that tiny digit pointed in direction.  "You shall have a cousin soon, Angel..."  But would she still have an Auntie...his mind raced with should haves and need tos.  A prayer lifted to any deity he could think of, ever even heard of.

"Aye," she whispers, clearly uncertain of that herself, gasping as another pain hits.

She stayed close alright...feather's weight in the wind she was all but attached to Neale's side which made it easier for her to follow.

"It's happening fast." Leaving Hannah long enough to remove the water from it's boiling at the hearth.
 
-tbc-

(Roleplay with NealeMFrasier, DanielWFrasier, Rob Frasier, Hannah Frasier, Ellyn Frasier, HazelnutSS, Sarina Maree, Octavia and Ellyn's Ghost)

He no longer feels so hopeless with Ellyn guiding their way but fear and panic nearly consume him.

He refused to think other than what was right before him...Hannah knew he cared...knew they all cared and loved her. So now his focus was on just one thing...find
that cursed item.

"Empty, empty!" She shouts suddenly, pointing at a gathering of hanging vines that appear far too thick.

With each of Hannah's contractions, she fights to keep the blood flow to a minimum. She can feel the curse working against her and knows she fights a losing battle but it doesn't keep her from trying.

Thick enough to be a wall unto itself.  "Perfect, Ellyn."  His head jerked toward Daniel then toward the vines for him to clear the way for them. Following that, he lowered Ellyn to the ground, once more coming to her level upon one knee to speak with her.  "I want you to stay with your uncles, Ellyn, once we find the exact spot.  Will you do that for me?"

Ellyn nods, her tears dried and an anxious look upon her face. "I stay."

She left Neale's side and moved right through the seemingly wall...swirling around now in that light of ethereal blue that was hers that sent out tendrils of this light...searching. What was hidden was wishing to remain so... as it drew more energy from her in the process...using all she was now.

At Neale's nod to Dan, he steps forward with his brother to hack away at those vines in strong, frantic strokes of his blade.

He was ashen by now as one couldn't tell who was holding the other's hand more in a grip.. as if his grip could keep her here. "Sarina..." Whispered in a panic he was doing his best to keep at bay. Her name the question.

Neale rested his palm to the top of her head and offered her an encouraging wink, then stood again as Daniel cleared the way.  His gaze found the cold stone of keep wall though and followed it up, up toward the crumbling towers above them.

She gives Lan the most hopeful smile she can but even that is weak. "She's hanging on," whispered. It's the best she can do.

One tendril reached out and near frosted even if she was near as cold, it was colder than her as she was now moving fast towards a far corner where scraggly bushes were. They would notice they had been recently disturbed. "Here... dig here!" She was pointing.

She hears nothing, too lost in her own agony at this point to be aware of anything more than Lan's hand.

"Okay, Ellyn...it's your turn to stand post right here where you are."  And that's all he said as he lifted his hand off his young charge and followed his brothers through the growth to where Hazel glowed. 

The ground that Hazel points to is recently disturbed. The witch has been digging here herself recently.

As if he even needed to say it, but he did anyway.  Such was his anxiety. "Find it and destroy it!"  Up came his hand and he jabbed a finger toward Hazel.  "You, come with me...lead me to Octavia."

He had that pick...more like a broken shovel as he rushed where Hazel was indicated and started digging. It was rough going for the ground was still heard, but determination did have one with an energy and strength not of the norm.

Ellyn nods to her uncle's order and remains where she is, nibbling at her lower lip.

Above, in the tower, Octavia canted her head side to side as she watched that bracelet swirl.  Such a lovely and hypnotic sight... could make a woman near ecstatic with ecstasy.

Pick pulled from the strap on his back, he's soon joining Daniel in digging at the appointed spot.

Seeing Dan and Rob take over she was to Neale's side again, pointed up to that East tower....where the wicked witch resided. "There...she is there now.. but beware in getting there, she will probably set traps. I will help."

Deceased Ellyn watched in silence while Hannah suffered as she had.  Her hands pressed flat to the fullness of her skirt.  Unless the men could find that which she had shown to her namesake, all would be lost.  ~You are a Frasier, Lass...hold firm...hold on.~ She floated toward Hannah and traced a touch along her fevered brow.  ~You are so loved.~

"Follow me...we have a chance as she has become too comfortable in her gifts and thinks she cannot be thwarted now, all powerful. Such can be used to our advantage." Neale would have to move fast as she was back through that wall, leaving the brother's to dig. In through a hidden side door of the keep she floated, forgetting Neale could not move through doors like she could, but the lock was long rusted away.

"Go." Was all he said and he would follow as best he could.

It seems as though those words are heard, somehow. Squeezing Lan's hand to let him know she's still with him.

Neale kicked the weakened bolt free from the hinges, then jerked the heavy wood aside to follow. The darkness of the interior had his gaze narrowing to see but he simply followed that blue glow which led the way.

The sharp edge of the broken shovel did hit something at this point.....about a foot underground. "Rob...I think we got something here."

Deceased Ellyn so fluently she turned, an appreciative gaze lingering on Sarina, so talented, so giving was that one. Great rewards awaited her on the other side.  But her gaze moved on toward the darkened corridors which led upward.  Octavia now. To think it was to be there and Ellyn stood to the side, watching as she had so many long years ago as Octavia worked her magic.  "Having fun, Octavia?"

"Aye," Dropping to his knees. "Let's se if we can get this out."

Inside with Hannah, the flow of blood and pain decreases. For the time being, her healing powers have managed to delay the inevitable...and still the babe has not yet descended.

"You can't leave me... I love you too much Hannah. Think of our first time together outside the tavern.. alone." So whispered in encouragement as he had to have her hold on. The time.. that got her in this predicament he realized as he winced.

Turning her head to the side she gives Lan a gentle and loving smile. She can't make promises like that, not now, she only squeezes his hand in answer.

The dust kicked up all around them...centuries of long ago and ancestral Frasiers had walked these very halls and stairs.. she was floating up a set of stairs now set off from an alcove that would have gone unnoticed. She knew of them from Sean.

The witch spun, nearly loosing the spell she spun with that question, knowing instinctively who had joined her. "Ellyn...come to watch yet another generation fall?  Do you not tire of such heartbreak?  And yet you send them to their doom yet again. tsk, tsk."  The dark haired woman shook her head as if in disbelief that it continued still.

He was down on his knees with Rob, digging it the rest of the way with his bare hands to free it from its imprisonment in the ground. Cuts did start to bleed from his fingers but he didn't even notice the bite or sting. "Get something to pry it open... a pocketknife?"

Neale had to be more careful, a wrong step along those weakened stairs could plummet him to his death.  Squinting through the darkness he chose his path with care, glancing up frequently to mark Hazel's direction.

With those words he digs into his pocket and hands Danny a small dagger, sitting back on his heels to watch.

She paused in the long hall, so high up now in the Frasier keep of the East tower as she pointed to a closed door at the end of it. "There.. Octavia is there now."

"Yet you, yourself, Octavia have been digging in the garden I see.  Not planting surely...more like searching for something? Did you fear they'd succeed afterall?"  Ellyn's gaze shifted to the spinning bracelet...the need to snatch it from the witch's hold so great...and yet, she knew she could not.

-c-

He pried the unwilling edges open until it finally flipped up and out of the way, nearly hitting Rob in the process as it came loose finally unexpectedly.

He had just come around the corner of the hallway as Hazel spoke, drawing in a deep breath as he tried the latch, only to find it locked against him.

When the lid is pried from the box Danny and Rob find several small bundles of thick canvas folded and pinned together. Written in blood on the outside of each bundle is the name of each first born male Frasier for generations. But what do they contain inside?

She could feel the box open as she disappeared from Neale's side to aid the brothers now.

Octavia had started to respond, but her hand shot up to her side, and a gasp of surprise slipped free.  They had found it!  Her other hand lifted and she spoke in a language long dead...hastening the labor of the woman below.  The last of it lost with the sound of an attempt to enter.

His green eyes widen as he spies a canvas with Neale's name upon it.

He set the box down in front of Rob as he gave him a wary look. "You can do the honors."

Deceased Ellyn too spun to face the door.  ~The Frasier! Neale!  Neale...come!~

She was back now with Dan and Rob..."To the fire it needs to burn to dispel the curse... hurry, Octavia will try to take your sister in revenge."

And from below Hannah suddenly screams, excruciating sharp pains slicing through her body. Pale, beads of perspiration upon her brow, she's drawn quickly to the brink of unconsciousness.

A few steps back and he brought his foot pounding to the barrier which separated him from the witch within.  Three times he made that unrelenting contact until the
door at last crashed open and to the wall behind.  What he saw within nearly brought him to his knees in disbelief.  Never again would he ever doubt stories of the unexplainable.

Her screams deafened more than just his ears.. they were piercing his heart and slicing it apart. "Sarina... do something." His voice octaves higher did carry.

He unpins the canvas with Neale's name upon to find something so simple, he might laugh were the situation not so perilous for there sits nothing more than a lock of Neale's dark hair. With Hazel's command he drops it back inside the box and jumps to his feet with it under his arm. "Grab Ellyn, let's go!" And with that he runs as fast as his legs will carry him to the Keep.

The witch appeared calm...she could hear the screams of the dying woman below. "And so yet another Frasier bastard shall be brought into this world...motherless."

~Your Grace...pay her no heed! The bracelet!~ Ellyn swept her arm around to point to the trinket swirling in the witch's spell.

Strong arms swept down and up with Ellyn in them as he nodded hearing Hazel and Rob and they were now set into a fast pace back to the keep. "The hearth.....has a fire in it still." He tucked Ellyn into his chest as with the fast pace he took all the scratches of branches and scrapes of stone as they rushed through.

She's reached a point of exhaustion herself, most of her energy drained in the effort to keep both mother and child alive. She can do nothing to ease Hannah's pain. The woman has lost so much blood that if things keep up as they have, she will die. It's the baby that's her concern now. "The babe is coming," another whisper and all she can say to Lan, she needs all her energy to concentrate.

Neale walked with long strides past the both of them, headed straight for that very thing.

"The bracelet will do you no good. For she is beyond it's assistance. You, Fraiser, will be responsible for yet another babe to raise.  Did you know that it was conceived out of wedlock?  A bastard conceived?  How very improper..."
 
Once she saw the boys taking the box to be burned that depthless gaze lifted to the East tower, her own showdown about to begin. Octavia would not be expecting her and well distracted to even notice as she was well on her way back to linger just outside the door... waiting.

Neale shot his hand into the swirling cylinder of air, only to feel the shock of electricity jolt his entire body, throwing him backwards toward the stone wall.  His back hit hard and knocked the air from his lungs.

Nothing much could happen to Hazel, she was already dead as she mustered up into the biggest whirlwind of blue haze and barreled down on Octavia's hand bearing that bracelet with an upwards lift "Catch!"

With the adrenaline pumping through his system, he could run for a long time at the pace he sets but he only needs to reach the Keep. Soon the doors are in sight and he once reached, he kicks one open, racing inside without sparing a glance at Lan or his sister. Right to the fire he goes and with a great heave, that box is tossed upon the flames.

It was repeating...she would not have it!  Octavia had brought this back to Ellyn's home...she would see it finished here.  As the other spirit shot passed, Ellyn lifted her hand, palm out toward Octavia.  "You shall find your eternity knowing this...it...is over!"

He didn't think he was breathing anymore but encouraging words were spoken to Hannah.. to keep her with them, he was down to pleading and begging at this point.

She's lost consciousness and it's a mercy that she has.

Neale fought through the spasms that the jolt had created, seeing that blue blur streak through the room then the bracelet shoot free from the electrical current of protection.  His hand pressed behind him and pushed him forward to catch it.  He cared little for the three within now, all would depend on him getting this bracelet back to Hannah.  He stumbled for the door, clutching that bracelet close to his chest.

He was right behind Rob, a little slower for his charge in keeping her safe and soon set her to a chair before coming up alongside Rob....watching the box burn in the fire. "Do you think it will work? Was Hazel right?" Or were they just crazy taking the word of a succubus?

Without the mother's strength to push, it's up to her to free the babe. Directing Lan to push down upon Hannah's stomach, she does her best to try to guide the baby through the birth canal.

He kept her hand in his as he rested his head by hers, pale were his features now as tears actually showed.. he couldn't stand her dying, he couldn't stand it at all. He did push as Sarina wanted but it was becoming a living nightmare.

"Where are you going, Your Grace?"  The door slammed shut before him, glowing red along the frame to hold where the broken hinges failed. "And you! Insignificant spirit! You had no power against me from the first...you hold none now!"  But there she may be wrong, for all at once, searing heat scorched over her causing her to shriek in alarm, the glow fading from the doorway for that moment of surprise as the curse was burned away from her grasp.

"It has to work." That's all there is to it. He watches with no small amount of satisfaction as the box slowly burns away and the small bundles that gave the curse its power, with it.

"Hannah...Sprite!" He was around and moving towards the group, as if calling her back.

Hannah's blood has soaked the couch and in places, drips to the floor, Sarina, too, is covered in it. "Stay with me, Hannah."

Ellyn sucked in a quick breath of surprise herself, summoning up all her energy to shove Neale toward the door without even the need to touch.  "Now!"

Is it that burning box or Neale's call? Something reaches her. She groans just before her eyes flutter open again.

He was already on his way, jerking that barrier from his path and skip, hopping his way down that dangerous path once more.  No glow from Hazel to guide him, just a wing and a prayer.

As the last of the box disintegrates in the flames he turns to look upon his sister and the sight of the blood coupled with her pallor sends him stumbling backward.

She put herself now between Octavia and Neale as that wicked little smile played. "You no longer hold any power over me... I've come to realize you never really did." And that was the truth of it.. Octavia had brainwashed her into believing she had, it was all it took, belief was a very powerful weapon.

Around the corner he came, hand gripping the doorframe to swing around into the room.  Not even a pause as he rushed to Hannah's side, falling to skid on his knees there beside her and lifting her limp hand into his.  Fingers frantic with fear fumbled to wrap the bracelet back where it belonged. Holding it tight against her skin until the heat of the gold grew so that he jerked his hand away, her hand dropping with a thud by her side. "Sprite, Lass...come on now..."

"Defiant now, Hazel?  You...who could not even hold a man when a spell was offered?"  Octavia would have laughed if she was not fighting the pain of the fire which consumed her.

Ellyn's eyes narrowed as she watched and listened, then she looked to the cold and unused hearth directly behind the witch.  Up came her hand again and a flick of wrist started the fire blazing there one last time.  ~Hazel...~ All which was sent from one spirit to the next.

"That's the crux Octavia... your spells don't really work, do they? You have no heart, at least I had loved even if it was not returned."

"Yes!" She doesn't know what it is but something has broken, she can feel it. Taking a deep breath she uses the last of her reserves to breathe new life into the mother, to replenish lost blood and in that moment the baby crowns.

Both Lan and Neale can feel the warmth of Sarina's healing coupling with the power of that bracelet. Color floods her face once again, flushed and hot. Again she has the strength to reach for Lan's hand as she tries to focus on what's happening. It's not long before she does and the natural urge to bear down has her doing just that.

Octavia hissed toward the ungrateful wretch of a ghost.  "You have loved...but you have lost.  Bear that in mind through your eternal grief."  Long, slender arms wrapped around her middle and she doubled over.  Even so, she kept her head up to watch the other two.
  
Without hesitation she barreled into Octavia... this time taking her with her into that fire for she had to latch on... a sacrifice to the Frasier brothers for the wrong she had done.

That's all it takes. In another second, Lan and Hannah's baby slips into the world. The Keep seems to fall silent in that eternal moment before the infant lets out his first cry, wailing like a banshee.

A wailed "Aaaaiyeee!" as Hazel clamps upon her, knocking her from her feet and backwards into the flames.  Soot and ashes, flames and sparks should have spewed from the depths, but as it was, only the engulfing heat consumed the both of them.

There was no wail from Hazel... for she was set free.

Ellyn dropped to her knees there upon there upon the floor, watching the writhing fight that Octavia put up, witnessing Hazel's sacrifice.  Her head bowed, and for once in so many years, her emotions were released in a single tear before she too...at last, was enveloped in a brilliant light, her head lifting toward the source.  As she faded from view her words carried through the halls to her kin below as they always had.  ~Be at peace...you are loved.~ And Ellyn crossed over to join her beloved.

"Praise God... and by all that's holy above.. thank you! " His hand squeezed Hannah's as life was rejuvenated into his own features.. her life.. his life.

Her laughter, weak though it is, joins in the baby's cry. "Let me see, let me see..."

"A boy, you have a boy." Wiping the babe's face, wrapping him warmly and handing him over to his father for she's beyond exhausted herself at this point and likely to pass out with the infant in her arms. That would not do.

Neale actually dropped to his backside there on the floor, his head dipping back with the message received from somewhere else...and the sound of the baby's cry, the baby's mother, his sister's voice. His eyes closed tight in relief.

With a tired smile she perceives the blessing from Ellyn on some level and watches her husband take their child in his arms.

He took his son up into his arms as he held him for Hannah to see... and her brothers. He couldn't find his voice nor words to voice his feelings at the moment, he was too overwhelmed.

His hands were trembling as he pushed up from his seat, turning to look for wee Ellyn. His knuckles stroked along Hannah's arm her skin chilled from the room but from that alone.

With a look to Dan he sinks to the floor there in front of the fire, smiling and shaking his head at the same time.

Wee Ellyn has come to stand beside Neale, pointing and clapping her little hands with delight. "Baby!"
  
He had heard it too and somehow he felt Hazel gone, her link to him had been the strongest. Sadness and happiness was felt there as were the words of his ancestor taken to heart. All was righted.

His other hand cupped against the back of the child's head protectively.  "Aye, Ellyn...and your new cousin."

"He's beautiful." Tears fill her eyes, eyes that look from face to face before settling on her husband and child again. Reaching for him, naturally wanting to hold him herself.

He smiled toward the proud father, caring not at the moment that which Octavia had thrown at him in hatred.  They were all still alive...and a new life had been given for the loss of their father.  "That he is, a handsome lad." And from the power of those tiny lungs, a strong one.

With the afterbirth taken care of, Sarina collapses back on the end of that couch, watching the scene before her tiredly and whispering silent prayers of thanks to the gods.

He eased their son into her arms as the little one let out a wail that filled the whole keep, as if to say a new day had dawned for the Frasier clan.
 
-tbc-

Into the all consuming flames they went, Hazel and Octavia.....that held the heat of hell itself....it was more than a mere fire that burned in that hearth. Octavia's wail rung in her ears but Hazel never fell into the real fire of hell. Spiraling downwards they were torn apart and Hazel was yanked like a great magnet pulling her into what appeared to be a cool dark corridor.

For a moment she was stunned but then the array of stars appeared to form a swirling mist that grew brighter and brighter. A calmness and peace filled her of the likes she had never known.. healing her very Soul.

There were no wings, nor halo, for Hazel....but there was redemption and a tiny corner of heaven....that left her immensely happy as if she had become some noble. Her path wasn't done even if she was on the other side of life...for she would be offered opportunities to continue in this new light in her ongoing growth.

A touch upon her shoulder had her looking up into a smile she once remembered but this time it was for her and her alone. "Sean..."

-e-

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