Welcome to Gaia! ::

Voudoun inhaled deeply as she stepped into the underground lab. "Blood, plenty of it, cold steel, chemicals, but most importantly, fear." She snapped her fingers, and the trailing lights exploded outward in a silent wave. Within seconds, one was hovering over each occupied cage, and the sounds within the steel confines quickly died away as she began to draw on their deepest fears.

After several minutes, the lights began to slowly burn out, one by one, until only one remained. That lone trailing light floated through the air, much like an insect gorged on too much food, to land in the beholder's outstretched hand. She clapped her over hand over it, then slowly drew her fingers apart, a shiny pin appearing in it's place. With her grotesque, scarecrow smile, she stuck it into the heart on her chest.

"Ahh, much, much better. My thanks, good sir, for a meal most enjoyed." She chuckled as she began to walk around the lab, inspecting it slowly. "Difficult not to just suck them dry for all they were worth, but they will recover within a day or two." She glanced over her shoulder at the patchwork faenix with that smile. "After all, I wouldn't want to deprive a scientist of such zeal into the mysteries of life the minds of his subjects."

As she completed her circuit, she frowned at the lone letter hanging on the wall. "Terra? Mm... the demon, Terra, perhaps?"

Voudoun chuckled in amusement. "Met her? No, even in my more... 'feral' states, I know well enough to stay away from demons. A beholder must be either very powerful, very brave, or more often than not, very stupid to try and feed on a demon's fear."

The beholder walked over and leafed through one of the journals on the table. "Hmm... 'Designations of emotional responses and the theoretical placements of origin'... If I may, I would move 'impulse control' more towards the front, and the 'fear center', as you so deliciously call it, more towards the center and underside of the brain." She looked up with a wicked, skin-tingling grin. "That is, for most faes, anyways. Some have rather... 'peculiar' set-ups in how their brains are."

She dipped her head, but continued to watch Wandel from just under her eyebrows as she pretended to continue reading the journal. Mmm... fascinating creature, she surprised herself thinking, and one not repulsed by the monstrous creature I am.

She looked up again and smiled. "Question, dear heart, have you heard of the faelon, Lysergia? She might be able to help you with your studies, at least, in regards to procuring plant-derived, mind-altering chemicals, anyways."

Voudoun chuckled as the Eye hovered in front of the cage with the captive faefox. "Tsk, it should know better, she needs time to recover. Sadistic little viewer." The beholder back to find Wandel standing next to her, and she found herself smiling down at the slightly smaller faenix. "A fair grasp, yes. I can help you with your studies, Heir Wandel. I can show you some of the knowledge my kind have gleaned over generations with your subjects here."

That grotesque smile again. "That is, as long as you don't mind losing a few in the process." The beholder tapped the journal, her finger brushing up against his. "This area here, we think may control memories, particular those memories that seem to be... what is the saying? Passed through ancestors, yes?" She trailed her finger lightly over his, and perhaps sensing what it's mistress was up to, the Eye floated up and turned around, watching them. Voudoun's smile slowly turned into a blood-chilling grin as she nodded ever so slightly in it's direction.

Voudoun grinned back. It has been sometime, the thought crossed her mind, even longer since it was with someone who wasn't terrified out of their mind... The beholder tucked that thought away, though she found she enjoyed what it slowly stirred within. "A shame, it has been sometime since I have worked in a laboratory, and truly never one as... 'grand' as this one!" She chuckled as she encompassed the massive lab with a sweep of her arm. "I was a scientist of sorts. Well, what passes for a scientist within my kind. I was... what do you call them? We studied the other races, though for entirely different reasons than they would study each other."

The look in her eye said plenty what that reason was, as did the tongue slowly passing over leathery lips. "It was actually my studies that were the... 'cause' of what I have become." The beholder held her arm up, showing the stitched-together, canvas-like skin under the harsh lighting.

Voudoun chuckled as she teased her fingers along the underside of his arm. "Yes, anthropologist, that is the name. There are some... fascinating fears and history behind them out there."

The beholder took a step towards him, closing the gap slightly. She could smell the various chemicals that had seeped their harsh scents into his feathers and skin over the years, could still feel the fear that ebbed through the air from the cages. "You flatter me, heir Wandel." She smiled. "Perhaps... you must be hungry, I would think, after hauling your subject around all day. Might I have the honor of preparing a meal, tonight?"

Her eyes twinkled with promised mischief. "Unless of course, you've already conquered that pesky little thing called hunger?" There would be plenty of time for what she was planning.

Voudoun grinned as she teased a finger down his spine slowly, then placed her hand on the small of his back. "Then come, my friend. Let us see what you have, and I will prepare a meal that will have you appreciating such... petty annoyances." She chuckled as they started up the stairs, her Eye following a few yards behind. "Though my kind has little need for eating, since we feed on fear, I developed a fascination for physical foods. Some of them are quite tasty."

She smiled down at Wandel. "Though, nothing ever quite fully equals fresh, unadulterated terror. I think the equal would be a fine, crisp wine, yes?" Her tail lashed slowly from side to side, occasionally teasing across the back of his legs.

She couldn't help but smile to herself as she brushed her tail through his fingers, a delicious shiver working it's way up her spine. How long had it been since anyone had managed to make her feel anything? Since being turned into a living voodoo, that is. "Somethings will never change among scientist, no matter the species." Voudoun chuckled, "The need to feed was a great annoyance to me also. Despite what I was studying, inopportune... timing, could ruin days, or weeks of study."

The beholder grinned as she moved slightly closer, her arm brushing up against his as they walked. "It's hard to study natural fear and terror when the locals think they're being haunted by a daemon that's attacking their people."

((*taking bets on her just throwing Wandel on the nearest clear surface and giving him a reason to sing 'Hallelujah'* <.<;; ))