Strangers in the darkness

<div align=center> That perhaps was a more simplistic point of view, one that the Jellies could identify with, Apex predator? Here that was them, not this large shark man, if he used that mentality to justify their own extinction then they too should adjust their tactics, here they were the Apex predators, using lesser beings to serve their needs, to nourish them, to host their young.

"Victims? Sacrifices, here we are the predators and these creatures are lesser beings, stand away or serve as nourishment for us"

But with the threat made the blue tint faded from the womans eyes and she looked up to Lelei, for a moment like a deer in the spotlights before scrambling for the door and out into the warehouse, it was time for her to check out as well! But the warehouse was quickly filling with bodies, close to a dozen, most of them fresh off the boat had begun to fill the walkway as they scrambled for the entrance, whatever else had come about from their conversation the Jellies seemed to be releasing their captives, but nowhere in the press of bodies was any trace of Lily or Ria.

They were more valuable as hostages, but perhaps these creatures were making a show of faith for Lelei? Perhaps they were showing they would negotiate, even despite their threats.

What would likely take Lelei by surprise would be the diversity of the captives, not all were visibly mistakable for humans, rushing past Lelei would be a Naga, a Harpy, anything that the jellies had been able to snag, new arrivals to the island that had been alone, been easy to isolate, the jellies it seemed enjoyed preying on the stragglers of society.

But after the stampede of women passing by Lelei the warehouse fell into a much more eerie silence, even the buzzing from the pool on the ground floor had stopped and if Lelei looked down he would see that the blue light had faded from it, there was no sign of the Jellies below, but a knocking sounded ahead of Lelei, at the end of the walkway, if he continued to search the rooms he would find more supplies, but no more prisoners, the sound of boots against the metal railing would soon reach Lelei though.

There was one room at the end of the walkway, it was larger than the others, and it was from there that the sound of boots echoed, finally the door opened and a man strode from the open doorway.

He was easily six feet, by no way was he as large as Lelei, but he held himself with a cultured elegance that seemed out of place in this warehouse. He was built powerfully, but his muscles were hidden behind a carefully tailored suit, a black jacket and trousers with a white shirt, a bow tie resting around his neck, not some clip on faux monstrosity, but a properly tied bow tie. He even leaned slightly on a simple cane, topped with a clear crystal, and of all things a top hat rested upon his shaved head!

A single eye was a brilliant, luminous blue and the other was a normal, human hazel. He studied Lelei with both eyes, critical and trying to make sure that he was not in any immediate danger, a slight sneer spread across his lips but even that was quickly replaced by a more placid, more calm expression.

"Well I suppose you must be our third interloper of the evening? Welcome to the Breeding pools, I am Vance Desrosiers, I suppose you won't be leaving without the previous two? If you stand down I will return them to you, despite the fact that my allies will be most disappointed"

If Lelei was willing to talk with him the man would be willing to converse, even though his thick french accent was rather difficult to understand at times, but if Lelei attempted to rush Vance the 'gentleman' would lift his cane, striking at Lelei to try and redirect any physical force launched in his direction, Vance was a flexible man and even if Lelei took a swing at him Vance would simply bend backwards or forwards, lifting his cane to try and force Lelei to continue the swing, attempting to keep him off balance.

But if Lelei was willing to wait and study his opponent he would get a much better impression of Vance, the man projected confidence, it was in his stance and in his eyes, even the eerie, luminous blue one. The way he studied Lelei right back, attempting to suss out every possible way to combat the potential threat.</div>

<div align=center>"I have no intention of debating ethics or morality with a shark, I am willing to release your friends if you leave immediately, I also have no intention of putting my hands behind my back"

He smiled, or he exposed his teeth, which were of course perfectly straight and white, as he looked to Lelei, keeping his confident position, even as the shark man drew closer, his eyes tracked the powerful creature, but his grip on his cane never changed, he was prepared to fight if he had to but for the time being at least he was trying to tell Lelei to leave.

"Now that we have been discovered we will have to move, so leave, I will release your friends and then we shall move on and you will never see us again, it is that simple, in addition you and your friends all are trespassing on private property, asking the owner of this property to put his hands behind his back while illegally trespassing is rather ridiculous"

He would laugh if Lelei pointed out that he too was performing illegal activities on his property, truth be told he didn't care that Lelei was trespassing, he was still confident that he would be fine if it came to a confrontation, he was after all the last line of defense until the shark man met whoever his 'allies' were.

For the moment he would wait, but if Lelei did not immediately retreat, if he was unwilling to at least consider leaving then Vance would whistle, a sharp, piercing sound and he would be joined by a pair of powerfully built masculine figures, two powerful figures that would doubtless remind Lelei of body builders would stand behind him, one on either side that emerged from that last room as well, unlike Vance however these were not completely human, a blue, jellyfish like creature was sitting atop their shoulders, completely engulfing their heads, both stood with arms folded before powerful chests, and although Lelei could vaguely make out the shape of human heads within the translucent bodies of the jellies he would not be able to tell which direction they were looking in, although no doubt they were looking at him.

A third figure emerged from the room after the pair of powerful males, a lithe, feline figure with a dyed, brilliant pink tail, a tight fitting pair of pink trousers and a hot pink tube top as well. Even without the face Lelei would be able to identify Ria, her head however was encased like the males.

"Ria, that is this girls name, a thief and hired by the Architect along with Naamah, the succubus and student of Starlight academy and yourself, Lelei, to investigate our warehouse, now everything she knows my Allies know, the location of the Architects offices are a part of the information we possess, as is the information that you work with the police, your very presence here would let us off on any criminal charges you thought to bring against us, after all any information gained through illicit means cannot be submitted in court, in fact we could likely file a lawsuit against you for trespassing, invasion of privacy, and even though you don't care about the lives of non human intelligent beings a court of human law likely will"

A logical argument? Perhaps, perhaps not, but regardless Ria being paraded out in front of Lelei, the fact that the same thing had likely happened to Lily, whos real name had just been presented to the shark man, was likely going to grate against him. The fact that Ria was standing behind the trio of powerful men, patiently, quietly, not talking, not joking, was almost certainly disquieting as well, if these creatures could control humans and humanoids so easily... Then what could they do if they acquired Lelei!?</div>

<div align=center>At first the gentleman that was Vance simply seemed amused as the giant shark man approached, jabbing him in the chest with a finger, oddly enough Lelei would notice a slight amount of give behind the mans muscles, as though they were made of air or liquid instead of hard, well trained muscle. But the moment that Lelei chose to resort to true violence, slamming him against the wall Vance lost all semblance of amusement.

There was a look in both of the gentlemans eyes, a cold look, as though he were looking down on some sort of animal, or some excrement that he had stepped his finely polished loafers into. Vance released the grip on his cane, allowing it to fall to the floor and reached up for one of Lelei's hands, a stinging sensation would follow, a sense of dryness spreading at the contact, if Lelei did not release Vance he would begin to lose moisture through the contact.

Whatever Vance was he was no normal human, the luminous blue eye would likely have been the first clue, but if there was nothing else that set this man apart from the populace, his ability to drain liquids was eerily similar to the ability of the Jellies that had been in the pool below.

"I fully intend to carry out my promises, I am a gentleman of my word you foolish brute, you however are something I cannot trust, you resort to violence instead of civilised discussion. You have no code sir, I promised that if you left immediately I would return both girls to you intact and unharmed Lelei, you still have not left so they are my hostages, I have presented Ria to show you that she at least is still alive and unharmed, if somewhat more domesticated than before.

Once you have left the Thanik engulfing her head will release her and she will be herself again, I keep Naamah concealed so that you will not be tempted to try and kill me to rescue both girls, after all, if they are both here then what is to stop you simply killing me and running away with them?"

Whether Lelei chose to release him or not at the touch of Vances hand the gentleman would lay his terms out once more, this was his protection, this was his way of ensuring cooperation from Lelei, whether he was bluffing or not was something the shark man would have to determine on his own.

"As it stands, if you harm me Naamah will suffer for your actions, if you kill me her life will be forfeit, this is as simple as it can be so that you understand, leave, and both girls will be returned to you, fight and the best you will get is Ria with her Thanik still on her head, choose now"

If he were released Vane would hook the toe of his right foot under his fallen cane flipping it up and into the air so he could catch it before straightening his outfit, brushing away the creases that Lelei had made, whatever amusement Vance had initially derived from his meeting with Lelei had apparently worn off, now it was down to business, leave or your friends will be killed? Would he really carry through on his threats?

"Remember, an act of good faith was already made to you by my allies, the host mothers were released, so you know they are creatures of their word, besides, I have left you no choice."

For the time being it seemed to be a stalemate, if Lelei fought he would put Ria and Naamah in trouble, if he retreated to set them free this horrible man and his 'allies' could get away and do this all over again! Was there any option left for Lelei that could see the girls freed and Vance captured or neutralised? It would take some creative thinking on Lelei's behalf, but there was perhaps one option left, the option given to him by the Architect.

However much Vance knew of their reason for being here it seemed he had not yet discovered the resonators that Ria had swiped, if he could at least get Ria back he could trap Vance and his friends inside the warehouse with the Architects powers!</div>

<div align=center>"As you wish"

Back to civility, back to politeness Vance gestured towards the door to indicate that Lelei should precede him, but whether the shark man chose to go first, to follow him or to walk beside him it made no difference, Vance and Ria would make their way past the opened doors that had been left ajar in the wake of the mass evacuation of this warehouse of horrors.

Both the well built men that Lelei would likely have thought were intended to be Vances bodyguards remained behind, the gentleman seemed rather confident in himself and for apparently good reason with what he had done to Lelei at just a touch, in an actual fight there was little doubt that Lelei was superior physically... maybe, but Vances ability could dry Lelei out with each touch of skin on skin.

As the little group descended to the ground floor Lelei would again be presented with the pool that had previously glowed with a bright, luminous blue light, similar in fact to the blue light that shone from Vances illuminated eye, but where the Jellie before had been leaping into the air, churning the water with displays of energy and vigour, now there was no light, now there was no display and if Lelei examined the pool even a little bit closer he would find that it was because there were no longer any jelly creatures inside it!

It made sense really, they had to be able to get in and out of the pool somehow, if they weren't placed there by hand that meant they had to be able to swim in and out of the holding pool. Sensing danger they must have left, but that would make poor Lelei's victory all the more hollow, if indeed the Jelly creatures had left the warehouse then all he was going to be able to catch was Vance and anything that remained behind.

Naamah however remained conspicuously absent, until that was they arrived at the door to the warehouse, Vance tapped his cane on the floor with the attitude of an emperor or king, looking imperiously at the wall beside the door and a small section of that wall rotated, even though Lelei knew there was nothing on the other side but the outside world for just a moment he would have a quick glance through into another room, was this entire warehouse one of the Architects creations? Or did Vance simply have command of similar abilities?

The demoness was shackled to the segment of wall but thankfully her head was free of Jelly creature, she was not trapped or controlled like Ria, she was simply physically restrained, the demonesses hands were shackled above her head but other than the restraints she showed no outward sign of ill treatment.

"Lelei hun, sorry I got caught"

Vance would produce a key from his professional looking jacket, offering it to the shark man and gesturing to Naamahs restraints, explaining that he could use it to unlock the demonesses shackles. But he would still point out the jelly creature on Ria's head, if Lelei tried anything funny before he had left the creature on Ria would still be able to cause her serious injury if not death.

Once the shark man sought to unlock Naamah however Vance would grin and tap his cane against the floor once more, a small hole opening up beneath him and closing once he had passed through it, if Lelei attempted to grab him that cane would come up like a sword, wielded with surprising strength and skill the gentleman would strike at Lelei's wrist, hand or arm, whatever he could reach to deflect the shark mans assault long enough for him to escape.

The moment he had vanished however the blue jelly that surrounded Ria's head would detach from her, falling to the ground and fading slowly, it had freed her, just as Vance had promised, but now it was dying.

It seemed as though Vance truly was a Bond villain of some sort, dangerous ideals, in love with the sound of his own voice, and an escape hatch in case things got seriously concerning! Had he truly managed to get away though?

The moment Ria's head was freed she would offer a small, weak smile to Lelei, swaying slightly on her feet before pulling the rods from her belt and throwing them to him.

"Go gettim fish"</div>