Jasmine arrived at the door of the temple from the gate she had opened. It had been hard to leave Juliet but she had to do this. In order for Juliet to see and learn about the real her she needs to get her wolf back.

Pressing the I in the door Jasmine entered the main hall of the Library Temple. She quickly walked down the hallway ignoring the beautiful tapestries and barely registering her name being registered.

Entering the library proper she froze. So. Many. Books. And Cheetah wanted to shred them all, bad kitty, no. Shaking off such thoughts she looked around for a way to talk to the God.

Just as she was about to give up she found a large plate on the floor with a glowing blue rune on it. Shrugging she stepped on it and soon found herself lifted up to the Occulus. Looking up she saw the map of the world and spent just a moment finding Juliet’s current location.

Looking back towards where a throne normally would be she instead saw an armchair? It looked comfortable at least. It was currently unoccupied but she hoped that would change soon.

"Umm I don't know if you can hear me but I'm a vampire shifter. I did have two animals I shifted into a Cheetah and a Maned Wolf. My Wolf was taken from me by witches as payment for transport to this realm. Is there any way to get her back?”

Feeling just a bit silly talking to what looked like an empty room she started to wander around while she waited for someone to come see her, hopefully this will go better than her visit to The Steward had gone. 

The high season of Ignius was often a very interesting time for anyone who came to visit Tar Eisalae. The main library was always filled with the nicest natural light, and the smell of Angela's gardens always wafted through the open arches of the Conservatory. But this was not what made visiting the temple so interesting. Nor was it the massive celestial pelted cat that was the manifestation of the Keeper's powers that was often seen lurking between shelves or napping on top of them. No, the oddest part of the hot season when magic was at its peak, was the massive lumbering black grizzly bear that came and went from the Occulus to other parts of the Temple Library. 

The period when both Canelux and Parvpora were full in the sky was a time known as Hebheka, the time of year when magic was at its strongest, and when werekind were the most active. The God of Magic and Knowledge was not an exception to the rule, though he had much more control. 

He heard the quiet prayer of his visitor in the Occulus while he was plodding around enjoying the smell of his wife's flowers, and with a soft growl he plodded back through the main library and up the crystal stairs to the Occulus. 

He didn't bother shifting as he walked up to the young woman who stood there waiting for him. He sniffed her and the air around her before he yawned and went and plopped down on the armchair throne, which groaned and squeaked under his weight. 

"Welcome, Jasmine, Vampire shifter," the voice echoed around the Occulus as the bear sat upon the chair, looking rather odd but comfortable and almost like he belonged there. "Lost a wolf, have we? I'd be quite interested to hear about these witches who took it in exchange for giving you passage here. I would also be interested to hear about what it was you sought to come here for before you made that particular deal. Maybe then I might be able to help you."

A bear. A friggin bear just talked to her and told her to explain herself. She didn't know why she was surprised and yet she was. Taking a moment to collect her thoughts she started to pace the room a habit she got from Cheetah.
 “I guess the first thing to know is I'm not from this realm originally. I'm from a place that for one doesn't have automatons like The Steward uses. Magic is rare. Shifters are more rare. Vampires are rarer still and vampire shifters are almost unheard of.”

She paused thinking bitterly of the deal that had been made. After a beat she continued. “I had been hunted for most of my life because of what I was even though my powers had been sealed and I had no idea what I was. It wasn't until around five years ago when my guardian was killed and the seal broke that my powers manifested for the first time in a rather spectacular fashion. I ended up killing five men and destroying what you would call a tavern.
Since then I have been trying to find out who I am and where I came from. Around a year ago I finally found a seer that told my about a secret sect of witches that could set me on the path to the answer's I sought. I finally found them in a cave in some mountains. I don't remember much of the ritual they performed just that they said as payment they would take that which was least needed. I do remember waking up in the sun here in this realm with a hole in myself. And no more clues about what to do next. Is my wolf gone forever? She may not mean much to those witches but she is still part of me.”

Jasmine finished speaking the most she had talked since coming here both hope and fear in her eyes as she looked at the large bear relaxing in the chair. A part of her wished she had dressed nicer but brown trousers, light tunic and green cloak was all she had. If the bear was offended she could always half shift see what it thought about that. 

The bear sat still and quiet except for the occasional squeak from his chair. When she had finished telling her tale, the bear grunted and looked uncomfortable. The great black muzzle began to recede while the hair on the head grew long and shiny. The bulk more or less stayed as paws gave way to bare hands and feet and fur receded to tanning skin. After a moment, the bear had completely vanished, leaving behind a bare-chested,  heavily muscled half elf with shining silver eyes, clad in baggy Sularian pants. His elvish features were slightly suppressed by the deep shadow of a beard on his face, but his slightly pointed ears were sticking out from his slightly from his rather mussed hair. He sat up from his chair, panting slightly before he stood up, hands moving to bind his hair back in a less messy ponytail. Once that was done he produced a shirt that he tossed on before he turned and regarded Jasmine. 

"They lied to you," was the first thing that came out of the now human God's lips. "Wherever this world you came from was, the witches lied to you. They did not have the power to actually take your wolf," he said simply. 

She watched the god change forms in fascination. Was that how she looked when she shifted? If so it was rather cool to watch everything change and move around. But why did he sound uncomfortable while shifting? Were his shifts painful while hers felt good? Strange.

When his shift was finished she found herself looking at a large, firm male chest completely devoid of hair. Where did all his fur go? Where did hers after a shift? She realized she was staring at a god’s chest in deep contemplation and blushed and looked away. Unfortunately there really wasn't anything else that caught her attention in the room.

Her other's were of no help. Vamp didn't care because he was male and not a vampire. Cheetah’s thoughts on it were “big ugly bear not food, not mate don't care.” Jasmine sometimes wished she could boil things down to the bare essentials. Instead she was stuck trying to look everywhere except the first bare male chest she had seen since her guardian died.

Thinking of that grizzled old man sobered her enough she was able to hear when the god told her the witches had lied about taking her Wolf. Why was she not surprised. Those witches had either lied or misled her about everything else why not lie about taking Wolfie?

“If they didn't take our Wolfie from us where is she? Is she again behind a seal? How do I get her back?”

She realized she had been walking towards the throne… armchair while she asked her questions and stopped flushing. At least he had a shirt on now. God's and goddesses but she missed Juliet.

Drae walked over to Jasmine, his eyes glowing and raised his hand to halt her questions. He waved a hand and a decanter appeared on his work table as well as two cups. He poured the liquid from the decanter into both cups before he took one and offered the other one to Jasmine. The liquid would become whatever she desired. He took a sip from his own cup and settled against his work table. 

"To answer your questions in order. She is with you, no not behind a seal, and with a little help," the Keeper replied. "And to answer your previous confused thoughts about my shifting, normally it is not uncomfortable for me to shift. However, this time of year is by far the most strenuous on lycanthropes. We have two moons that are quickly approaching their fullest. It's called Hebheka. All true lycanthropes feel their beasts strongest during Hebheka, and sometimes shifting back can be difficult because of the pull of both Parvpora and Canelux. You arrived here a little less than a year ago, which means you have not yet felt its affects. This is good, as we will be using the energy of the combined full moons to draw your wolf out again," he explained, slightly waving the hand that held his cup as he spoke. He took another drink. 

As he did so, one of the clergy members came in, carrying an infant baby girl. "Forgive me, Lord Drae. Your daughter has awoken from her nap, and Miss Iris is not available…"
"No trouble, hand her here," Drae said as he put his cup down and took the black haired baby girl from the clergy member who quickly left. Drae began bouncing Myrra lightly in his arms as she fussed softly and rubbed her eyes grumpily.