[Shieba]

(A note to all readers: There will be a descriptive sex scene in this RP. I asked Baal about this and she was cool with it, but still - if you are either bothered by sex scenes in general or by sex scenes between two partners with a very huge age difference (in this case 68 and 31), read carefully. There will be another warning in the RP at the start of the scene, but no spoiler tags.)



(Bentner and Morwena, both in human form)

The rays of the sun that fell onto the polished tiles of the entrance hall as the door opened were a dark orange; cast by the setting sun and waning quickly now. The Breeding Facility had long closed for the day and both staff and those coming to create a family had long gone home. All lights were off and it would only be a matter of minutes until night would fall and everything would turn completely dark. The somewhat eerie silence, however, was disturbed by the loud noise of high heels on the granite floor as Morwena entered the building, ignoring the slighty burned smell of the lock she had just broken open with her magic.

"How very...quaint." She looked around. The entrance hall had a large desk in the middle, with wide stairs leading to the upper level behind it. To the left and right of the huge room, two hallways with sign above the doors led deeper into the building. "Rather spacious, too, though I guess that was to be expected from what is pretty much an official brothel." She closed her eyes and concentrated her magic senses, trying to pick up the faintest trace of spells lingering about, but there was nothing besides the familiar aura of Bentner, who was right now locking the door again behind them with a sealing spell, shutting the light out again. "I can sense nothing, dear. Neither spells in effect nor any that have been cast over the course of the last day."

[Shieba]

"Of course you can't, woman." Bentner waved his hand and two balls of fire appeared, painting the hall in an orange glow again. "If the magic of this place would work everywhere in this building, we probably wouldn't be the only ones breaking into it, seeing how rare these rooms seem to be. Since I see no burglars fornicating here, it is pretty obvious that it's not that easy."

Morwena recoiled a bit from Bentner's cold voice, being very adept at detecting the hints of annoyance running through it, and bowed. "Of course, dear. I apologize for being so stupid. Let me see if I can find anything." She went up to the front desk. The drawers were locked as well, but a quick discharge of magical energy into the metal took care of them just fine. The first only had huge amounts of folders and loose papers inside and Morwena quickly cast her own fireball spell to allow her to read. Neither she nor Bentner had been in Evelon a lot so far and the language of this world was still rather unknown to her, but she had tried her best to learn as much as she could. It was still slow going, since she could hardly make any sense of most of the words, but finally, she sighed. "These all just seem to be lists of names and results. Nothing looks even remotely like a spell." She stuffed the papers back into the drawer, not even caring to sort them again and opened the next one. "Oh! Here they are!"

Bentner came closer to get a better look at the keys that Morwena took out and placed on the front desk for better inspection. They were of two different colors and sizes, the tags reading 'Lucain' and 'Paragon' alike. "No magic in them, either, or at least I can't feel it." Morwena handed him one.

[Shieba]

"Hm, indeed." The key looked like most keys from their own world did, too, and the metal wasn't even any kind of material that was channeling magic well. "It makes most sense to put the spells on the rooms, in any case." He nodded towards the direction of the hallway to the left, not being able to read the sign above it fully, but recognizing the names of the two species again. "It was unlikely that the keys were responsible anyway. As far as we know, those cat-like creatures, Kuhnas, do not receive keys. However, just in case, we should avoid breaking the locks of those rooms with magic. It wouldn't do to accidently destroy what we have come for."

"You are right as always, dear." Morwena took keys of both kinds and examined the tags. On the back of each was a number written. "Let's see...they most likely always give out the rooms with the low numbers first, so we can assume that the ones with the lowest numbers have been recently returned and were in use, so we should find remnants of magic there. Two rooms each, dear?"

"Indeed." Bentner waited until Morwena had sorted through the keys and then took the two Lucain ones she offered to him before taking two Paragon ones herself. "After you."

[Shieba]

"Of course." Morwena quickly shoved the remaining keys back into the drawer and then made her way over to the door, again making quick work of the lock. The hallway behind it was quite spacious as well, with curtains at the windows, pictures on the walls and a carpet in the middle of the floor. "Hm. Not sterile enough for a hospital specialized on delivering babies, but also too sterile to create any sort of romantic mood. The creatures of this world are not to be envied." She stopped when the first doors came into view. "Ah, Paragon rooms to the right, Lucain rooms to the left. Shall we split up or stay together, dear?"

"There is no danger here. I will take a look at the Lucain rooms. Contact me if you find anything interesting." Bentner checked the tags on his keys and then simply walked on, searching for the correct doors.

"As you wish, dear!" Morwena quickly did the same and found the first matching door almost right away. She quickly unlocked it and stepped inside, creating another fireball to see more. The room was large and resembled the hallway quite a bit – white walls, but with bright and beautiful paintings here and there, as well as plants and a soft carpet for the floor. There was a huge bed in the middle of the room, definitely bigger than any bed that Morwena had ever seen, but then again, Paragon were rather huge creatures to begin with. There also were other furniture; a table with chairs, though they were made for humans only, a wardrobe and a cupboard and, behind another door, a small bathroom, though also too small for a grown Paragon.

And not the faintest trace of magic anywhere.

[Shieba]

Morwena frowned and walked to the window, pushing the curtains aside and looking for anything hidden – a sealing spell, a magic rune, anything, but there was absolutely nothing suspicious anywhere. After checking for life auras and sensing none, she opened the window and looked at the outside walls, but those were devoid of any magical symbols, too. With a sigh, she returned into the room, rubbing her arms. Night had completely fallen by now and it was cold. While Bentner was, as usual, wearing one of his long, brown robes, Morwena had chosen the shortest and most revealing dress she had for today. Granted, it wasn't what she was usually wearing during burglary, but normally, Bentner also wasn't accompanying her. And since she was forbidden to flirt during work, dressing nicely was all she could do – especially when visiting such a place.

Frustrated, Morwena checked the rest of the walls, but then had to leave empty-handed and went to find her second room. Besides a few different pictures, it was completely identical with the first one, including the lack of magic. For a minute, she pondered what to do, but in the end, she could only hope that her beloved had had more luck or that she was simply inept.

Hurrying towards a light that fell out of an open door, she looked inside the room and found Bentner sitting at the table. He had spoken a veiling spell to block any light from shining through the window and turned the lamps in the room on. Morwena had to blink for a second until her eyes adjusted to the brightness. Then she saw that the Lucain rooms obviously were the same as the Paragon rooms, only a size smaller and with a smaller bed. "Dear, I am afraid I couldn't detect any magic. Maybe it is my fault and I deserve to be punished, though."

[Shieba]

Bentner shook his head and beckoned her to sit. "There is no spell here, either. I also checked the locks of the other rooms – none of them had contact with any kind of ethereal power lately. Yet we know that this building was open and in use today. What is it that we are overlooking?"

Morwena closed the door behind her and sat down on the bed, waiting for Bentner to continue. He looked at her. "There are four species in Evelon that use this facility. One of them are these rabbits, but we know that they need an injection to be able to reproduce. Also, there are potions tied to this place for the other species; to get offspring of a certain gender or for enabling homosexual partners to be able to get children together. But these potions obviously change something genetically and don't help us. There remains a sole fact: Kuhnas, Paragon and Lucain can't get offspring by having sex outside of these rooms, but if in here, they get pregnant for sure, which is why these rooms are in such high demand. There is no explanation but the one of magic possible."

Morwena's mind was racing. Bentner only ever recapped things if he was actually allowing her time to think. A dumb answer would clearly displease him, so she had to think quickly now. "The fact that we are hunting for such a strange spell to research it shows again that the magic in this world is far different from ours. We cannot completely rule out that it fades much faster than our own. If that isn't the case, the only possibility I can think of is that the keys are given out as a ruse and the spell is directly spoken onto the customers of this place, but even then, we should be able to find traces." She frowned. How in all worlds did this place work?

[Shieba]

Bentner thought about her words for a few seconds, making Morwena almost tremble with anticipation. Then, he slowly nodded and she silently breathed a sigh of relief. However, he still looked at her expectantly. "And now tell me why your theory is most likely correct", he demanded.

"Ah..." In the end, even after graduating, she would always remain his student and he would continue to quiz her like that sometimes, no matter if she was the second best mage of the kingdom of Pandovia or not and she would always be happy to answer him and hopefully do well to please him and show him that she was worth of being kept around. The truth was, though, that she had no idea what he had noticed that she hadn't – her theory had only seemed logical, based on the sole facts of how magic worked. And if she admitted not knowing the answer, he would be unhappy with her. The thought made her feel nauseous. She didn't want to displease him – she wanted to make him happy, always! Hopefully, punishing her would please him again. "I...I don't know, dear", she therefore admitted. "I apologize for being stupid and happily await my punishment."

"Indeed." Bentner narrowed his eyes. "As soon as we are back home, you will sleep for one night in the kitchen. Hopefully, you will use the lack of sleep you will get there to remember the basics of research and how to observe things as a professional mage."

"Yes, dear." Morwena bowed her head, glad for her fate. "I'm very sorry for failing and displeasing you! Please educate me!"

[Shieba]

Bentner gave her a look that clearly spoke about how annoyed he was about the fact that he had to hold a lecture now. "I went back and checked the room you had left open while you were in your second one. It looked very much like this one here. As you have noticed, the bed – given the purpose of these rooms the most important piece of furniture – was picked in a size that would even match Paragon in their natural form. Yet from what I have researched, they usually use nests they build for sleeping and taking care of their eggs. Also, the remaining furniture of the room were all made for humans and it is the same for this room here, only that the size difference between a Lucain and a human is not as noticeable. As we have learned from research, most beings of Evelon can change their appearance to a human form and it is clear that this place was created to accommodate this change. Yet it still caters to those unable to change or not willing to as well."

"Ah!" Morwena finally caught on and immediately felt even more stupid. "And since we know that sometimes the pairings here get arranged by the breeders and the customers do not know each other beforehand, it is highly likely that some change forms in these very rooms, to match their partner's abilities and preferences! And still we do not feel any trace of magic, not even of the one we actually know about!"

"Correct." Bentner sighed. "This will make our research much harder. It also means that the spells of this world might not be compatible with our magic at all, meaning all of our work and attempts to gain more power might be in vain. If this is the case, this world is completely useless to us. Seeing as that Fellox, Haephnes, didn't say anything when we came here in the first place, this is most likely the case."

[Shieba]

"Haephnes...she is allied with the Creator, is she not?" Morwena had wondered before what was going on here and why there was a connection between their world and Evelon, but it obviously had something to do with the Creator Herself. From what they had seen, Haephnes had invited the king and his friends to this world specifically, which was why those weaklings came to Evelon sometimes. However, the prospect of learning about new magic had, in the end, caused Bentner to decide to take his chances to upset the Creator Herself and so they had went as well. No one had noticed, at least not visibly – there was little doubt that the golden Fellox knew, though.

"She is. We need to be careful, which is why we also need to use the portal between the worlds as little as possible and stay away from the Chateau as much as we can. Because of that, we will, of course, not return home today, either, but remain in this world until we have figured this mystery out." Bentner sighed. "How bothersome. I'm too old for these things, really."

"You're not that old, dear!" Morwena protested automatically. "And I am so very happy and honored to have you with me today!" It was quite wonderful indeed; normally, she and Bentner only met for breakfast and dinner – and, if she was lucky, for the evening if she was allowed to spend some time in his bed – since they worked on their magical research for the rest of the day, spreading out to get more work done. But here, in Evelon, away from their fortress, there were no libraries and magical items that kept them apart and so, Bentner was with her almost all day long. Morwena had had trouble all day long to not beam with happiness because of being so close to him for so many hours. "Shall we seek an Inn for rest of the night, then?"

[Shieba]

"Of course not, silly woman." Bentner took off his hat. "We already sealed this place up for the night and I'd rather sleep somewhere where I know that no stranger who might attack us will rest in the next room. We will leave before the sun rises and then you will return when this place has opened up again and they had the chance to investigate the damage you did to their locks."

"Understood, dear!" Morwena stood up and took her keys again. She was a bit afraid that Bentner might be unhappy about her breaking the locks and therefore them needing to wait even longer now until they could finish this ordeal and get back home, but since he didn't say anything, she hoped that he wasn't all too upset. "I'll go to sleep right away, then." At least this place had bathrooms so that she could shower in the morning. The idea of wearing her clothes for two days straight and having no hair brush at hand wasn't sitting well with her, though, but one didn't exactly carry a wardrobe with them for criminal activities. The huge beds in the Paragon rooms had looked at least pretty comfortable and luckily also like someone had changed the sheets for the next day already. She didn't want to sleep on anything that some weird shape-shifting dragons had soiled, after all. "I wish you a good night, dear. Please call me if you need me for anything."

Bentner sighed. "You are horribly dumb today, woman. Where do you think you are going? There is very obviously no heater whatsoever in this room and you know how easily I freeze in my age. You will remain here and sleep by my side to provide me with warmth."