The girl watched without fear the earth elemental and even stepped a little bit further from her "protecting" spirits.

"Speak business, I'm open to such talk."

"We are searching for a soul that has been unwillingly torn out of her body. You have a one in three chance of having her. Do you?"

"I have no soul unwillingly torned out of her body..."

She smilled and continued:

"My father should have paid the ransom, but instead he sent a bunch of free spirits at my tail...Such a loser.''

Tu Shu Guan suspects a poor jest and attempts to peer deeper into her no-doubt blackened soul.

Medh smiles, and starts to look for a better position in case, nay hoping this turns into a fight.

Adsinistrati looked skeptical, "You're telling us that you used to be a mortal - and that now you've become a spirit?" She laughs slightly, "... if such a thing were possible, then Hell would overflow with mankinds nightmares."

Her forms shifts, taking on the same appearance of the little girl that stands before the group - the likeness is uncanny. ".. .alas, nothing but shadows and reflections.... It is in our nature to impersonate mortals, to tempt them, to drive them to passion... but we are spawned from nothingness - not their decaying flesh, nor their world of vice and sin." she continued, now using the girl's own child-like voice.

"You are no more mortal, than I." she says, with (perhaps undo) confidence. "... but, what intrigues me more, is why you would decieve us into believing otherwise...."

The girl is obviously amused by Adsinistrati disguise.

"Poor souls. You assume i was human from the start.''

"You called him your father, your intent to decieve was clear... but not unexpected - as it is still not. You and I have no father - other than the emotions that spawned us."

"And if you are not this mortal girl... we have no interest in you. We desire only to return this girl to her body, while it still lives - not to drag back whatever shadow escaped from her corpse, and still hovers around her scent. Her body of flesh, had a soul. Unwilling, or not, it was taken from that fleshy home, and purposefully hidden here. Someone even went through the trouble of leaving false trails behind it."

"That soul is what we are here to return. If it is not in your possession, you are useless to us."

"However, you have given us very little reason to believe that you are either capable or willing to tell us the truth."

"I like your energy, your feelings. You could do great things with a good teacher, but now is not the time for this. What do you have to offer in exchange for the truth. Surely, you have something that could interest me, or will you take me back to my "body" by force.''

She put a strange intonation in the word body as she said it, as if it was something unpleasant.

"We were told that the soul we seek is trapped in another body. Since you are obviously not trapped in any body - I do not believe you are the soul we seek." She smiled, "Therefore, I would no sooner drag you back there than I would go myself."

"As for the truth, if you believe you have something that would interest us - feel free to make us an offer. This spirit right here," she gestures to Tu Shu Guan, "... is fond of offering up his services to anyone claiming to be able to help him. As for myself, I am quite a bit more... 'selective' in my masters."

'Underlingz?' Rumbles Mr Twinkle 'Iz dat dem fingz dat metaz wearz under dere other fings dat metaz wearz?'

The girl smiled at the earth spirit comment.

"No, Tough One, it is pretty much like a student under the guidance of a mentor. I learned to live in a child's evergrowing body since before it was even born, I assure you I can help you live in the material plane."

So 'underling' and 'student' mean the same thing in your mind, spooky thing, or perhaps you are trying to BS me? Thought Mr Twinkle Best to leave the subject of who is the boss of whome off of the table until I know more

'Youze lived in a meta? Why wouldz you leavez? And whyz in der way dat wouldz make der metaz parentz come lookinz for you?

"I was exiled, just like you. Finding the magical energy necessary to keep me alive was getting harder and harder as my "father" realized I was attracting weird astral construct near me. He almost locked me up in a dungeon and i couldn't get what i needed to survive. I made this little "mise-en-scène" but instead of paying the ransom, he sent spirits to catch me. We could fight and this would end up nowhere for both of us. You could listen to me and profit from my experience.''