[The Fine Eye] Auction Floor

Fashionably late, something she deemed, 'Elvira Time'. Though the rugged wings of her bat form could only carry her so fast, she tried her damndest to arrive on time. Something, clearly, that wasn't going to happen. Her mind would sway from concentration, lingering to the elation of her last meal, she could still feel the afterglow of her time spent with the rather unlucky man in the countryside. Though, she did finally manage to steer herself truly, stalking the hallways of the Fine Eye as she made her way towards the vague direction of her sister, divining where she was through magic.

Elvira side-stepped the coffin she barely saw coming, giving the children that lifted it a small smile, continuing faster towards the prize room.

"Maribel, what in the Overworld are your children carrying?" She kept glancing over her shoulder, toward the large casket.

The moving of the coffin hadn’t been missed by Grandma, her eyebrows quirking as the two small children walked away with the coffin. The arrival of Elvira was also of interest to the old woman, and judging by her appearance in comparison to Maribel's own…

But enough of that, she must keep focused on her conversation with this “Foxgloves”.

“A pleasure to meet you as well, Foxgloves. While I don’t necessarily have a thing for secrets specifically, there are few who are as hungry for knowledge as myself… It’d be nice if I’ve finally come across someone who has similar feelings to myself in that regard.”

Pausing to watch Foxgloves “little helpers” work, Grandma allowed her posture to loosen. Moving a half step closer to Foxgloves, she addressed him in a hushed voice.

“If it’s secrets you're after, perhaps we could come to some kind of arrangement. I take it this auction isn’t the only place you acquire them at, yes?” While her smile remained steady, something flickered in the old woman’s eyes.

Raphael gave Elvira the same intent once over that he'd given Maribel, though he was careful to keep his gaze respectful. Like he was appraising an art piece. Which in many ways he was.

He gave Elvira a disarmingly handsome smile, while his mind carefully filed away her information- information on both of them that was confirmed for him with her sudden and rather spectacular appearance.

He stooped to her and gently kissed Elvira's knuckles. "How fortunate my evening has become to have a drink with the loveliest sisters at the auction this evening." He mused as he slowly straightened, offering them both his arms yet again. "I wonder what I could have done to earn such a delight."

The child brought the goblin king and his posse to the auction floor, a grand room made of polished, intricately carved wooden beams and three floors of seating. He kept walking past it, to the back, past the prize room into one just beyond two heavy doors. Despite their largeness, the small boy had no problem pushing them open.

There, in the back, was a menagerie of creatures. A cacophony of wails, squawks, laughter, and weeping were all around them, along with a smell that could have knocked a man to the floor. Every kind of secretion- human and otherwise- assaulted their noses. Niko did not mind, his expression never-changing.

The door closed behind them.

"You may show us your wares now, sir."

Yukawa finally opened his eyes, wincing a little as he was swiftly reminded about the knot on his skull. It was amazing that he had even been able to close his eyes for a brief nap after the encounter with the monsters. There had been little he could do after having his hands clapped in irons and shoved into a cage. At any point he thought hands were on the bars, he was moving to the very center of his prison. He wasn't even sure when he had arrived at this... horrendous place.

But it was starting to hit him at how bad it was - there was so much noise and movements from other varying cages and crates, some creatures just heavily wrapped in chains and tied. When the young man sat up and looked around, it became overwhelming at how much was going on in this filthy room. He almost couldn't breathe with the stench hanging so heavy on the air. The irons on his arms before him made his limbs feel heavy but he was able to roll up to a position on his knees. Despite his limited hand movement, he found his once tidy traveling attire - the coat and kosode included - suffering damage from the fight as well as his pants. He couldn't imagine how dirty his hair looked, either - feeling several loose locks around his shoulders that escaped the band of his tail.

He peered around until he made out the pair that entered the room - recognizing one of the monsters on sight. It quickly became clear that he was in a rather dangerous position. What were they talking about? He began examining his small prison, looking for any weakness he might be able to exploit to escape though it was highly unlikely especially with his tools and weapons missing. But he couldn't sit and wait to see what would become of him.

"We will be the ones taking care of him," the child told the orc. "From here on out, he is our charge. Now tell me, Sir Throdhas, is there anything special about this human, or is he simply that? He is sure to catch a fine price regardless, as he is young and able, but not as much as anything with a little more value. Can he use magic? Can he fight? Is he a vessel of some sort?" he asked, scrutinizing the boy in the cage closely. He came rather close to the cage, his nose nearly touching the bars with blank, staring eyes.