[IC] Essence of the World: The New Age [CLOSED]

[yoshua171]

Reates Saerne - The Vanishing Butterfly
Loom - The Academy
Midday

Smilin' at the boy's reaction and apology, the mage patted him on the shoulder, the butterfly vanishing as Ian blinked. "Oh don't worry 'bout it lad," as the teacher's hand gripped his shoulder slightly, Ian would feel a gradual influx of soothing, but electrical, energy. His bruises, which Reates could clearly see in his essence, mended themselves at a heightened rate, causing odd tingling sensations. Any cuts he had, including the one at his lip, would itch ever so slightly as they rapidly scabbed over, closed, and then healed. This all lasted roughly fifteen seconds and when it was over, Reates remove dhis hand from the student's shoulder and smiled at him, appearing pleased with his work.

However he then frowned slightly as he stared at an odd blemish in the essence of Ian's shoulder. The lad might find the man's intense stare rather disconcerting, and it didn't help that Abstractis decided to chime in again. 'Hurt shoulder, sleep deprived. You are in straits, this is for sure,'[I] the voice was at a more comfortable volume in his mind now, above a whisper, but not a yell. Nonetheless, the sound of the ballroom did not distract from it. It was as if it pierced through all noise and inputted its words directly into the brain.

His eyes drifting back over to Ian's face, Reates gestured for him to follow even as he turned and began strutting out of the crowd. He was fairly sure that he'd comply, after all, he had authority. He was a teacher, and he was quite a bit older than the lad.

If Ian followed, they'd find themselves further away from the hustle bustle and near one of the exits, where it was easier to converse without having to yell --though Reates had not yelled once during their conversation. He'd been using magic to direct the sound waves to Ian's ears. It meant that very few others would have been able to hear his words, and because of that Ian would look like he was talking to a man who wasn't saying a word.

Turning to Ian, had he followed, Reates beckoned him a bit closer before asking him a question. "You hurt your shoulder recently, laddie, didn'tcha? I betchu did. Looks right nasty. Terrible blemish. No physical damage I'm sure. It giving you any trouble, mmm?" His tone was one that demanded Ian answer. He also sounded rather incredulous, as if he knew that the doctors had told him that it had healed properly.

Meanwhile, a rather enigmatic looking fellow entered the ballroom from an entrance that led from the outside courtyard into the room. Reates noted this and, behind his back, snapped his fingers.

A small shock hit the crystalline kitty who had curled up in an attempt to block out the sound. Growling, the aberration rose and glanced across the room in Reates direction. [I]Ya see the man who just entered? Powerful lookin' fellow. I can smell the mage on 'im. Check it out, will ye? Reates heard the feline grumble in his mind, but made no attempt to acknowledge it aside from a wry smirk briefly crossing his lips before he turned his attention back to Ian.

Perhaps he had someone else interesting to attend to tonight.

---

Weaving between the dancing feet of the humans, Rystreim looked up at the tall figure. He was enigmatic looking and he did seem to have a heavy aura of essence, in and outside of him. Odd fellow, the cat concluded, moving towards him and, against its better nature, rubbed against his leg lightly. Perhaps the fellow was kind enough to reach down and stroke his fur a bit. it'd be an enjoyable reprieve from all the unpleasantness around him that was for sure.

Meanwhile, Abstractis invisibly fluttered around Ian, though the boy would not feel the air from their tiny wings, nor would he see them at all as they were perfectly translucent as well as mimicking the surrounding scenery. The butterfly found the kid's essence interesting and so one member of the swarm rested atop his shoulder, and made itself known. Its somewhat iridescent green and blue wings fanning gently and lightly brushing Ian's cheek. If the boy made any movement to swat at it, the butterfly would retreat far before the attack hit. Twas another test of sorts, Reates wanted to know how accustomed to strange things Ian was, and if he could handle new and bizarre situations.

A similar test was being conducted with the newcomer. Several members of Abstractis' swarm were hovering near the man that Reates had pinned a mage of some sort. They did not get close enough to alert the man, but merely drifted about roughly four or so yards away. They were as invisible as the majority which rested on Reates, and surrounded Ian making them essentially impossible to detect.

They had concluded that this day would be interesting. Granted, Reates almost never failed to deliver in that area, he was quite the eccentric after all.

The Abstractis swarm loved it.

Rystreim on the other hand merely endured it.

[Rtron]

Ashley

Ashley was fast, but even she couldn’t run from Kenan to Loom in a single day. When nighttime began to fall, she slowed down to a stop, looking for shelter. Olivia remained in her grasp, tenderly held to cause as little pain as possible. After all, she didn’t want to hurt the girl anymore than she already had. Luckily, there was a hopefully abandoned house off in the distance that would do nicely. Ashley’s swords were now resting on both sides of her hips, moved there as soon as they exited Kenan. It was very well to have as much time as she pleased to draw a sword and kill a hired thug of a petty crime lord. It was quite another to try that trick with whatever was powerful enough to be wandering the wastes. She wanted her swords within easy access, and she wanted them to be able to be drawn quickly and defensively. Adjusting her grip on Olivia slightly, in an attempt to make the girl more comfortable, Ashley sprinted off towards the house, reaching her destination in under a minute. The door was unlocked, something she’d have to fix. Walking inside, she was pleased to see that it was modestly furnished. There was a couch and a chair and she could even see a bed in a room across the hall. Granted it all looked old and slightly rotted, but it was still serviceable. It was better than the floor.

She sat Olivia down on the sofa and turned back towards the doorway, carefully listening in case the child made a break for it. She doubted that Olivia would, but one could never be too careful. Once again she used her webbing, spitting it back and forth across the door till it was buried beneath the sticky white strands. Every window in the house got the same treatment (thankfully there was only one door), and she carried a big and bulky cabinet in front of the doorway. There. That should alert me if someone tries to get in…or out. She thought, smiling slightly, before turning her attention to Olivia. “Now let’s see what you’ve done to your arm.” She spoke softly, gently. Being careful to make no sudden moves that might frighten the girl, Ashley slowly drew one sword and gently took the arm wrapped in her webbing. It fell apart with a precise slice of her blade, and Ashley gave the arm a quick examination. “Casting should be fine for it. Besides, I don’t trust any of the wood in this house to be a useful splint.” She quickly put web back over Olivia’s arm, and then let go, taking a few steps back before sitting cross legged in front of the girl. “I’m sorry you had to go through such a traumatic experience.”

[Themerlinhawk]

Ian- The Academy- Midday

After a few seconds of reprieve his body spasmed and he witnessed a vision of the horned demon from his hallucinations digging its claws into his chest, he heaved with pain and managed to hold down the last thing he’d eaten. As the Professor beckoned him he fought off the vision and the pain and followed Reates.

Ian followed the strange professor out of the press of people towards one of the exits. His fingers had tightened around Fidrieon without him noticing. He ignored the voices in his head, he’d long since become accustom to Koshmar attacking him with hallucinations and voices. The experience was bordering on surreal for him as Koshmar was clawing at his subconscious and this professor’s accent and syntax were eroding his conscious mind. As he stumbled out of the press of people he looked up and met the professors scrutinizing gaze. Barely processing the question he nodded “Angel tore it out this summer, they keep telling me it healed but It still bothers me” unthink he rolled the shoulder and massaged it with his right hand. Suddenly pain lanced through the shoulder and he just about went to his knees as Koshmar dug up the memory of the pain from his subconscious and shoved it to the front of his mind.

Opening his eyes he saw the butterfly on his shoulder and blinked, staring at it as it gently beat its wings. “Koshmar one day I’m going to kill you, I don’t know how you figured out how to fake the deck you bastard but I’m going to kill you” Ian dug in his pocket and pulled out the deck of cards again. He shuffled through it furiously and not finding what he expected he did it again. Ian was convinced he was dreaming. Maybe he’d collapsed in his apartment and everything up till now had been Koshmar leading him on. But the deck had 53 cards and two ace of spades’ in it which meant he should be awake. Finally Ian sunk to his knees and let the cards spill onto the floor in front of him. If he couldn’t tell dream from reality Koshmar could lead him to do all manner of things outside of his sleep period. Ian closed his eyes and tried to control the swell of panic in his chest. This couldn’t be happening. How had Koshmar faked the deck? Ian knelt on both kneels slack jawed eyes flickering across the scattered cards, how?

---

Lazarus- The Academy- Midday

Lazarus took in the press of people in the ballroom. Tracing lines and flurries of essence trailing from the people and their instruments. It was a riot that his sight took in but his mind filtered through it picking out relevant details and feeding them to his conscious where he classified them as: Interesting, noteworthy or inconsequential.

Lazarus rested his left hand on Esperacchius, it was a bad move as he wasn’t expecting the jolt of emotion it shot through him. The logical portion of him forced the memories into a contained portion of his mind preventing them from interrupting his thoughts.

Suddenly a rather furry feeling object brush against his leg. Immediately his sight filtered out everything related to essence and he looked down at the cat rubbing against his leg. Only it wasn’t a cat. Or was it? Lazarus reached down calmly and picked up the crystal cat. It was a truly fascinating construct. “dear friend you are interrupting my study of the environment. Lazarus quite calmly held the cat in his left arm against his chest while he stroked it gently like he would a normal cat.

To an outsider the exchange would have been truly strange. A young irishman in clothes that were two hundred years old holding a cat made of crystal studying the flow of people “Okay friend, who sent you to say hello?” He gently scratched the cat under its chin. Lazarus returned to sifting through the essence curling through the room. He caught note of some confluences of essence that weren’t attached to anything living he could see. “Hellu?” he turned the o into a u as he picked out a few of them about four yards out interspersed in the crowd. “wee little things” Lazarus’ brogue crept into his speech.

Humming The Night Paddy Murphy Died Lazarus gestured at one of the confluences. Using Enforce Will he gently pulled one of the butterflies to him. Dropping the essence sight and holding the cat in his left hand while he held the butterfly suspended above his hand. Lazarus couldn’t actually see the thing as it was still reflecting its surroundings. “Now then laddy what ‘re you? his you was long and he frowned as he heard himself talking. ‘Why the hell was he using his accent?’ Shaking his head he went back to peering at the air above his hand “Promise I won’t hurt tcya” He released the anomaly without harm and waited to see if it would manifest

Absent mindedly he scratched the cats head, there was some truly amazing alchemy that had gone into it. He’d never really researched manipulating living beings physiology as it always seemed like a messy task. The dead were always so much easier to clean up after and there were fewer moral questions. The rational part of his mind and the moral part of his mind grappled for a moment before deciding to call it a draw and they both backed down since he’d long since come to the conclusion that fussing with the dead was easier than hurting the living. Something black and slimy writhed beneath the surface of his conscious. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Oh hell no, both the moral and logical parts of his mind jumped on the black THING and beat the shit out of it letting it slide back into his subconscious. Blinking he put his hand on Esperacchius, it suffused him was a warm glow. He didn’t know if the memories or feelings would get to the cat as he hadn’t a clue if it was intelligent but he suspected it might be.

[Rtron]

Mary

She had spent the past few days in the apartment Lazarus had gotten, locked in her room, getting used to the two new voices inside of her head. The process of getting her instrument(what appeared to be a string of pure light) was a fairly quick one, at first at least. The Abyss hid itself in Mary’s Essence, avoiding the gaze of those who could read Essence. It wouldn’t do to get Mary killed just for being a vessel. So, the Abyss behaved while Mary was in the Academy and the two spirits of Mary’s instrument moved into the abode it had set up. As soon as she was in her room however, all hell broke loose. The Abyss tried to shove both of the spirits out of Mary’s body. It nearly worked except for the fact that it sent her into seizures and immediately sent her own spirit to where all the others were housed.

Two days earlier

Mary landed in the black sludge with a disgusting squelch, her shout of surprise and disgust indiscernible beneath the shouting and screaming of the two spirits. As Mary looked up and realized where she was, surprise and disgust turned to fear. It’s finally done it. She thought as she climbed to her feet. It’s found a way to draw me in whenever it wants and now it’s going to trap me here and kill me and take over my body and kill Lazarus and it’ll be all my fault and I should have never even gone to Lazarus and left when I had the chance- Her slightly hysterical inner babbling stopped when she saw that the Abyss wasn’t here for her at all. In fact, it looked like it didn’t even know she was there. The two spirits of her instrument were being pushed back by tendrils that looked to be made of the same sludge covering the room, and things appeared to be at a standstill, the two spirits pushing against the tentacles and not going any further towards the opening behind them. Mary had never seen an opening in the room, and she had visited it every time she fell asleep. Something was wrong. Before she could even consider what to do, the spirits were both sent back a step. Agony ripped through her, and she screamed, the sound louder than the noise already in the room.

Immediately, the Abyss stopped pushing against the spirits and looked at her, showing as much concern as it could, given that it appeared to be made out of the black sludge, only had an impossibly wide set of lipless, razor sharp, teeth and two pure white eyes for facial features. “Mary, are you okay? What are you-“ Before it could finish, one of the spirits interrupted him. “We tried to tell you, fool!” This came from, a man (for the voice was deep and booming and decidedly masculine) who glowed with a reddish light. Mary couldn’t make out any details, but she slowly came to realize that it wasn’t because of the distance. The man had no details, he was a featureless, black humanoid shape, with a glowing red outline. As Mary stared, he continued. “But you didn’t believe us! We’re bound tightly to her soul, as tight as you are! Remove us, and you may kill her! And that means you’re really lucky because if you weren’t as tightly bound I’d be-“

“What my brother means to say is that perhaps we should stop fighting before we hurt her any further.” This was interjected by the remaining spirit, a woman (for this voice was soft and lyrical and decidedly feminine) who was wearing tan robes. Only her mouth was visible beneath the hood, with a few black strands of her hair hanging down past her chin. Her skin was slightly darker than her robes, at least as far as Mary could tell, given that her mouth was the only visible skin. The robes covered all else. The Abyss glared suspiciously at the two of them, but the tendrils were sucked back into its body all the same. Cautiously, Mary spoke, still maintaining a good distance from the three of them. “C-can I go back now?” The Abyss glanced over at her. “No. We need to talk.” “I don’t want to talk. You’re a parasite that I don’t want, and that I find ignoring is much easier than dealing with. You’re a reminder that I’m a freak and that everyone I know and love is dead. You’re the source of all my problems. In fact, I’d rather you just die or leave or something! I don’t want you! Leave me alone!” At first her voice trembled. But as she went on anger began to take the place of fear. She didn’t know who or what had put the Abyss in her body, but she knew she didn’t want it inside of her. And since she couldn’t take out her anger at…well, everything that had happened to her, on the thing or person that had done this to her, the Abyss was the main target.

Luckily for Mary, the Abyss didn’t take offense to this most recent outburst. Sighing, it walked to the center of the room, where a chair and a table was created from the sludge as it sat down. “I understand you’re angry. Resentful. Scared. But I can’t hurt you without hurting myself, and I can’t leave at all. Whether we like it or not, we’re bound together. You can stay here and ignore me, or you can start accepting that I am a factor in your life, and that you can use my unique talents to your advantage.” Mary scowled at him, still clinging to her anger. “And what do you get out of it?” It shrugged, small streams of sludge coming off its shoulders. “I get to be acknowledged by my host, rather than ignored. I get to actually use my abilities, rather than occasionally getting them when you’re unfortunate enough to have someone die near you. And now that I have your attention, they will be useful in that endeavor.” It nodded towards the two spirits. “Before we go any further, I think introductions are in order.” Before Mary could say anything, the robed woman stepped forward. “I’m Mercy. My brother, the angry one, is Vengeance. We’re the spirits of your instrument. You call upon Vengeance for combat, killing your opponents, or finding them. You call upon me for binding, healing, and defending. Whenever you call upon Vengeance, the light string will turn red and war horns will sound. Whenever you call upon me, the light string will turn gold and bells will be heard.” Mercy paused, and Vengeance used this opportunity to speak. “Of course, what my sister has said isn’t all that we are used for, but it is the basics. You call on me to make those who have wronged you pay. You call on her to protect your allies and subdue those you don’t want to hurt.”

“And,” the Abyss added, “you can call upon me too. Though what exactly will happen to your instrument is unknown.” The siblings (Mary doubted they actually were, but didn’t mention it) both glanced at him but said nothing. “Did you understand all of that?” Mercy asked. Mary blinked once. Twice. “Kinda.” Mercy opened her mouth to speak but Vengeance overrode her. “You will learn with time, but for now, you need to decide what weapon we will turn into!” Mary’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Weapon?” “Yes! We can turn into the instrument you received, the string of light, and a ring for more subtle needs, and now you need to decide what weapon we will be when you decide to smite your enemies without our aid!” Vengeance’s voice boomed forward and Mary jumped a little at the exuberance and loudness of it. “And the weapon will hurt both Angels and Demons?” She asked. The last time she had tried to use human weapons on either of the two other races it ended badly. She could hear the bloodthirsty grin in his voice as he spoke. “Oh yes! It is quite efficient against all races! What would you prefer? A sword? An axe? Maybe a spear? How about a mace-?” Mary patiently waited while he went through a dozen more, and when he paused she took her chance. “A handgun.” Vengeance seemed to visibly deflate. “A handgun? You can’t rip into the flesh of your enemy with that! You can’t see the light leave their eyes, feel the resistance of their flesh give way, feel-“ “Vengeance. Enough.” Mercy spoke softly but firmly. “She has decided. We will abide by her decision.” He descended into grumbling, but agreed. Mercy turned back to Mary. “Now that that’s settled, let us see what we can teach you while we still have you….”

Present time, Academy, Midday.

Mary stood off to the side of the crowds and the ball room, nervously twisting the ring on her index finger. It appeared to be made of a red metal, with gold inlaid in twisting, seemingly random, patterns. The jewel in the center was a solid black. “Do I have to? I don’t know how to interact with anyone in this day and age…it’s been 200 years!”Mary muttered under her breath. Yes. You have to. It’ll be good for you to interact with someone besides Lazarus. That was Mercy. She didn’t sound like she was going to bend on the matter. “I interact with you!” Mary protested. We don’t count. Sighing Mary took a tentative step forward. She couldn’t do this. It had been two hundred years and then some since she had last interacted with anyone who didn’t occasionally go manically insane and pursue something with a single mindedness. “How do you begin a conversation? Oh hi, my name is Mary and I have three voices in my head! How many do you have?” Mary… “I’m going, I’m going.”

With that, Mary stepped into the crowd.

[Sundered Echo]

Ten years before the present day...

Location unknown.

Lucien was sitting in what had once been a small city square, the buildings long abandoned and gone to ruin with the merging of Heaven, Hell, and the Surface. She was coming, this much he knew. After all, you just don’t ignore the Essence of an ‘old friend’, and he was reasonably sure that she was in one of the buildings in front of him. Tracking her had taken him years, but he had found her. There was no way she could escape without him noticing, not that he expected her to try and run. He sat on the rubble of what had once been a statue, sharpening his sword, and waiting. Only she would see the tension in his body, the barely controlled fury. Not that there was anyone else to see it, but if there had been; only she would have noticed. The rhythmic and familiar sound of a weapon being prepared for battle did little to calm his fury. Rather, it enhanced it. He was still sharpening his sword when she came out.

“You know,” Lucien began eyes on his sword, “it’s interesting what beings will say if they think it will keep them alive for a little while longer. Very interesting. Sometimes it’s even true. I found Maximilian. You remember him, don’t you? Tall, red hair, typically wielded an axe? Well, after I killed his guards and beat him, I was getting ready to drive my sword through his heart and check another off my list of Cowards-to-be-killed when he babbled something about there being another member I didn’t know about. He babbled about how there was someone that I’d never expect who helped them on the project. My first inclination was to kill him, but I decided to listen. Who knew, maybe I actually had missed someone. He told me it was you. I killed him immediately afterwards.” Lucien stopped sharpening his blade and held it up to examine, still not looking at Cerria. “But, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. After all, you were always gone during the time the parasite was being created. And when my daughter started dying, you avoided me like the plague. Granted, I spent all my time with my daughter. But, what really made me believe Maximilian was the fact that days before the dragged her before a crowd and executed her in front of my eyes, you left. You ran..”

Lucien looked at Cerria now, and all of that friendship, camaraderie, and trust he once had in her had been turned to a burning hatred. If he could have killed with a look, the small city would have been reduced to nothing more than a radioactive crater. “Before I kill you,” Lucien continued with forced calm, “I just want to know one thing: why? I would have butchered an entire nation had you ordered it. I would have died for you in a heartbeat. I trusted you. She trusted you. And you let her die. You didn’t even have the courage to watch the results of you treachery, so you ran. You ran to your precious Surface, while they mocked her. Spat on her. Called her a traitor and a consort to Demons! Why?!” All semblance of calm had deteriorated by this point. The only reason why he wasn’t stabbing her right now was the fact that he needed to know. Needed a reason. Needed something to make sense of the betrayal.

Cerria stood facing her once erstwhile companion, her spear at rest, her body tense and her wings trembling ever so slightly. Unlike him, she had long since lost her armour. They had been best of friends, bonded in a way that only two warriors who had fought and bled together. She shared his sentiment - there was a time when she would gladly have laid down her life for him.

She wasn’t so sure now.

She remained silent as Lucien spoke. He wore a facade of calm initially, but as he went on Cerria could see the layers of self-discipline falling away, until all that remained were his raw emotions - the pain of her betrayal written across his features, the hatred he now felt for her almost tangible enough to cut the air. That hurt her perhaps more than any blade could, or would in the coming battle. She knew that nothing she could say would dissuade him now.

“Why?” She said, resignation strong in her tone. She was in the wrong and she knew it. However she may have changed in recent years, this still felt like a recount of her sins to a jury that had already decided her fate. She planted her spear into the ground and leant on it as she recounted her actions in that terrible time so long ago, her eyes distant as she recalled the past. “Because we were losing… And they manipulated me with the one thing they knew would work. They gave me hope.” She had fallen so completely for the story that the ones now calling themselves ‘the council’ had woven, even though she would never have approved had she known the truth. “They told me…” And her voice took on a tone of loathing and hatred as she recounted their words “They needed my knowledge of destruction and change to create something new. Something to save us all.” A bitter laugh escaped her then, how naive she had been back then. “I rushed to help them at the prospect of victory.”

With that, an edge of steel came to her voice and she stood straight once more, looking directly at Lucien. “I know you probably won’t believe me now, but I truly did not know that they were using a demon for their task, much less using your daughter to conduct the experiments. Had I known that at the beginning, I would have struck them all down where they stood. I didn’t find out about your daughter until it was too late. I wanted to at least put her out of her misery when I found out… But they would not let me close enough.” Even as she spoke she thought she sounded like a newly fledged girl trying to make her mistakes sound less terrible. She wouldn’t blame Lucien if he thought she was lying.

“As for why I ran? I was ashamed. I had just been party to the murder of an innocent, the daughter of one of the few still alive who cared about me as anything other than a weapon. I blamed - No, I still do blame myself for not seeing it earlier. Not intervening. And so I ran from my mistakes.” Anger was creeping into her voice, but directed against herself. She hated what she had done. “But here you are. All my sins have finally caught up with me, and the lost souls cry out for vengeance. We both know that there is only one way this can end.” Storm clouds were already gathering overhead, and in the distance wildfires spontaneously sprang into being, encircling the pair. Cerria did not yet sink into a combat stance, hoping against hope that Lucien might still have some forgiveness to offer before they fought, but she was ready to spring into action at a moments notice.

Lucien listened quietly while she delivered her excuses, ignoring the storm clouds gathering above, and the fires in the distance. Regardless of how this fight ended, they wouldn’t be a problem for him soon. Losing? He thought, We were getting annihilated and everyone knew it. Every day the Demons drew closer to Heaven’s Gate, and every day we lost more warriors. She volunteered for the same reasons you did. Victory appeared to be within reach. But she’s the one who paid for it. He didn’t care about her reasons for joining the Cowards in their projects. He didn’t care that she fell for their lies. He just wanted to hear why she ran when he needed her most. When his daughter needed her most. If her explanation was supposed to move him to forgiveness, or mercy, it didn’t. Shame was no excuse for what she did. Nothing would be a good enough reason for what she did to her.

After she was done speaking, he lifted his blade into a ready position. “Oh yes,” he sneered, “they stopped you. They stopped the most powerful Angel in Heaven from getting to one girl and her father. Truly, they must have fallen far from power when I finally got to them. Excuse me if I don’t believe that the Cowards were able to stop you.” He flared his wings, getting ready to attack. Already, signs of the Demonic parasite were in him. Black feathers where scattered throughout his wings, and his powers were limited. Not that he was good at anything besides combat. He wouldn’t beat her through anything more than Battle Angel skills. “The great Cerria! The Bane of Demons!” He mocked, practically spitting the words at her. “Driven to cowardice by the mere fact that she couldn’t face the consequences of her actions! She couldn’t watch as my daughter took the fall for her crimes!” He suddenly stopped, relaxing. His voice became soft. “Let me tell you what the consequences were.

“They drew me away first. To make things go smoothly. Before I could react they had chains on my wrists, and blades at my throat. Then they went for her. She was in constant pain as the parasite ate away at her, and they were not gentle. Her screams announced her coming minutes before we saw her. She called for her mother. She called for me. She even called for you. But her mother was dead, I was incapacitated, and you had run away. They threw her down the stairs, where she fell in a heap, sobbing in pain and fear and confusion. Then they began reading off her ‘crimes’. Guiding the Demon horde to Heaven’s gate. Leading fellow Angel warriors to their deaths. Consorting with Demons, to create vile half-breeds. Her wings, they claimed, had gone black because of her union with the enemy. And the punishment, they announced, was to be death. But they didn’t just simply execute her. Oh no. They cut her wings off first. And then, after she had screamed until she could scream no more, after she had looked to me to save her, and pleaded with me to make them stop, then they killed her.” He stared at Cerria, grief and guilt surfacing beyond the hate and rage for a moment. “You’re the lucky one.” And then it was gone. Hate and rage returned, and he gripped his blade tightly.

“You had your chance at redemption. And you chose to let her die. You chose to let her be blamed for Heaven’s fall. You chose to let her become the epitome of evil in Angel minds. Your shame does nothing to bring her back. Your shame changes nothing of what happened. Your death won’t either. But it’ll be a step in the right direction.”

With that, he drove forward with his wings, crossing the distance quickly, and stabbed with his sword at her chest. She would pay for her crimes, like the others had. And she would pay in blood.

It was as Cerria suspected. Lucien had no forgiveness for her. Nor should he have. When he raised his blade, she raised her spear and spread her wings. His taunts stung, insults to her martial pride, but they were nothing next to what he said next. The calm of one who has shed so many tears that they can no longer cry anymore came over him, making for an odd sight as he remained poised for battle. He described the death they gave to his daughter. The humiliation. It was a scene she had hoped to prevent, yet never witnessed. Even now, three millennia later, it cut to her very core. As the description continued, she felt a tear slide down her cheek. And then another. As if feeling sympathy for her pain, a gentle rain began to fall from the stormclouds far above. When his rage returned, she faltered from the edge in his voice alone, stepping back once. He was announcing the truth to her - that she was as much a coward as the ones they both despised. The words cut far deeper than the sword in his hands ever could. The blade would end her life, but the words made her desire the blade.

Yet however much her heart bled for who she was in the past, something fundamental in her had changed since then. Then, she may have cast down her arms and submitted to the killing blow. But now, she would not- could not simply lay down to die. Just as Lucien was changed, she could see the legacy of her work in his feathers, so had she. If its any consolation- a tiny voice said in the back of her mind you both died a long time ago. Then Lucien acted.

With that, a gust of wind filled her wings, pulling her back and upwards. She hung there in mid air with the continual gust filling her wings. A bolt of lightning struck the ground next to Luciens feet, thunder following immediately from far above. “She died because we failed!” She screamed, her words punctuated by another bolt of lightning striking nearby. “She died because you failed! I failed!” Another bolt of lightning, wind growing steadily more fierce in a whirlwind centered on her. “Because our race was flawed! Even in our desperation we failed!” A wild rage was beginning to overtake her, spurred on by the wrath of nature that was in turn worsened as her rage grew. She hated. Hated the Demons. Hated the Angels. Hated the humans. Hated fate for causing it all. But most of all, she hated herself.

The rain came down heavily, beating at Luciens armour. The wind encircling Cerria picked up speed drastically whipping up the dust and even picking up a few smaller stones, making controlled flight for anyone outside the eye a nightmare, even impossible with the water flying almost horizontally. The clouds above were extending down into a cone shape and the distant fires grew ever closer. Her foe had seen it all before, but never had she reveled in the potential destruction of it in his presence. No matter the ending of this battle, this land would be ravaged by its end.

He was unmoved by her tears. They were too late to offer anything. Too late to quench the fires of rage, to silence the howls for vengeance. The lightning bolt through Lucien off his course, sending him in a brief tumble through the air before he landed on his feet, body tingling as it repaired what was damaged in the blast. As soon as he felt the wind pick up, his wings pressed tightly against his back. They would send him flying throughout the air, completely at Cerria’s mercy if he didn’t. Despite the gravity of the situation, and the fact that he was trying to kill someone he had once considered his greatest friend in his long life, Lucien was grinning. It was bloodthirsty, fierce, and filled with joy. This was simple. This was free of emotions and philosophy and right and wrong. It was just two warriors, fighting until one fell. This was all he understood. And he would do what he understood to the best of his diminished abilities, until either he fell or she fell. Simple.

He began walking towards Cerria, using his sword to keep from being swept away by the wind. He had been in this situation many times and knew how to best approach it. Though, he had never thought he would be on the receiving end, trying to kill her. As he stumbled and was nearly swept away by the wind, Lucien briefly envied those Demons who had claws that they could dig into the ground. That would have made this situation easier. As it was, he kept pushing onwards, towards her screaming. The rage and hate in her voice sounded familiar to him. It was the same hate and anger he uses to sustain himself, to keep himself going until the last killer of his daughter had died by his hand.

As she spoke of how they were flawed, Lucien began to laugh. It was a bitter sound to hear. “And why do you think the Surface Angels were created?” He roared into the storm, trying not to be swept away. “Because our race was working? No! We were a failed project, so they were created! There are only four of us still alive! The remaining Cowards, you, and me! We’re dying out! And they’re taking our place! They’re the future of the Angels, not us! We’re just war ravaged relics, clinging to life for various reasons! I cling to it because vengeance demands it! The remaining Cowards cling to it because they’re afraid to lose their lives and their powers!” He kept walking forward, towards the blurred image of her, his blade digging deeply into the earth every time he moved. He allowed himself a smirk as he walked. So much for no philosophy.

“Why do you cling to life? Why do you go from town to town, destroying the humans?” Closer. He just needed to get a little bit closer.

Cerria's self-hate was only intensified as Lucien confirmed what she said. Part of her wanted ever so much to simply fall on his blade. The rest of her screamed in defiance as he questioned her purpose. "They have perfection within them! And yet they squander it! I simply remove the chaff from the wheat! The slag from the ore!" She didn't add that she had no idea what constituted success and the end of her self appointed task. It didn't matter anyway, she wasn't sure she even believed it anymore. She just reveled in the destruction now.

With a scream of pure hatred, she caused the rain to fall so heavily that it came down in sheets. Beating her wings hard to gain altitude, a hole appeared in the base of the hurricane and she flew up into it, closing the base after her and forcing it down to the ground even faster. The water was getting caught up in the walls of the hurricane now, most of it never even reaching the ground, and it took on the appearance of a dirty waterspout. From the cylinder of calm inside the hurricane, she began to exert her will on the ground, causing it to rumble and shake. In a short time it would begin to open up in great crevasses that would easily swallow a man whole. Demons had fought her with similar tactics to Luciens, and he would not prevail as long as they continued to fight the battles of old. If she had to dash him against every ruined building before piercing his skull with her spear, she would. Until then, she halted the lightning bolts and readied sheet lightning that would envelop the water filled hurricane the moment Lucien was caught in it, or set foot within.

As Lucien walked , step by brutal step, towards Cerria, listening to her scream at him about how the humans were perfect, he realized that she had finally lost it. She had always been on the edge of madness. Now she had fallen headfirst into to it, and there was no going back. Abruptly, what had started out as a vengeance slaying turned into a mercy killing. All of his hate, his rage, dissipated into pity. “What have they done to you?” He whispered into the howling wind, stopping his forward progress. Cerria wasn’t what she had been, all those years ago when Heaven had fallen and he had lost everything. She would have despised the creature she saw now. But the old Cerria was gone. In her place was this…thing. This creature of hate and anger. Briefly, Lucien chuckled. “Or rather, what have they done to us?” They were similar. Broken by the world around them, all they had left was hate. He had accepted this about himself long ago. But to see this done to a former comrade…someone who was once so proud…it hurt. It hurt enough that he even acknowledged that he cared, the second thing since his daughter died. But there was a difference between the two of them. He had a target. Cerria had no target. No goal. All she knew was destruction and hate. She would keep going, keep destroying, until something or someone killed her. As the rain fell harder Lucien stopped finally, realizing futility. He knew where this was going. So he backtracked. Forced his way as far out of the hurricane and away from the trap.

The earth was breaking. Cursing, Lucien spread his wings and took what limited flight he could. It was far from his usual control, but he had more than someone who hadn’t dealt with her winds and her powers would have. It wasn’t pretty, nor particularly stable, but it worked. Taking this moment, Lucien considered the problem. She wasn’t going to come out of the hurricane. Not when she held the power. So he’d have to go in. It only took a moment for an idea to appear, and then he thrust with his powerful wings. Up he went, slowly, erratically, but up nonetheless. Everything had a limit. A stopping point. She couldn’t have one all the way to the stars. And there would be a hole to slip through up there.

Keeping Luciens shining armoured figure in sight through the storm was difficult, Cerria may have been in an area of calm and free from the beating rain and howling winds, but those things did a great deal to obscure vision, even for an Archangel. But keep sight of him she did, tracking him by the shimmer of the armour that once gave her such pride, such hope. When she saw that he would not fall for her trap, she screamed in rage once more, weeping once more but now with hate. He was rising, slowly but surely, even as he was tossed about like a toy boat in a stormy ocean. She abandoned her control of the rains and the lightning, allowing them to strike as they would, and beating her own wings against the still air of the storms eye. Unimpeded by the storm force winds, she would rise much faster than him.

It still took several long minutes of hard flying, ascending through thinning air, before she rose above her perfect storm. From so high, it seemed serene, beautiful even, but all that did was stoke her rage yet more. She soared higher, making use of the precious moments before Lucien caught up with her to gain the height advantage. The moment his shining armour pierced the clouds, she would swoop down at him with wings folded, aiming to skewer his skull on her spear at as great a speed as she could.

As Lucien’s head broke the cloud cover, his body soon following, the only thing that saved him from being skewered through the skull by Cerria’s spear was his survival instinct and his reflexes, both honed by a lifetime (An original Angel’s lifetime) of war. He looked up and assessed the problem in half a second. His head jerked to the right, and his body began to follow, but he was too slow, the spear crashed into his shoulder driving them both back down through the cloud cover through the sheer velocity of Cerria’s descent and her mass. Instinctively, Lucien’s hand immediately shot up to grasp the shaft of the spear, keeping it in him. “You were always bad at precision strikes.” He said through gritted teeth. The damn spear hurt like hell. But he kept a firm grip on it. It was his only advantage right now. “But perhaps you don’t need precision with hurricanes and wildfires as weapons.” Without warning, his blade flashed upwards, trying to slice through the shaft of Cerria’s hands and force them to let go of the spear.

Meanwhile, the blood that had been gathering around the spear where it entered his body stopped dripping down his armor. It began to go up the shaft instead, creeping towards Cerria’s hands, and clinging to the shaft despite the wind and tumbling with a dogged determination. Now that he had her close, Lucien was planning on letting her get away as easily as she pleased. Any amount of pain would be worth it to end this fight quickly before things got any worse than they already were.

The moment Cerria felt the blade pierce Luciens flesh a wave of regret filled her. Had she just killed the only other being in all the realms that understood her?

No. The regret transformed into frustration quickly whens he realised she had missed her mark, worsened when Lucien taunted her through it all. As soon as she realised that her foe was alive and her weapon largely immobile, she spread her wings and willed an updraft to catch her as they plummeted through the roiling clouds. With no ground to provide leverage, it was the only way to wrench the weapon free.

The sudden, massive shock as the wind caught in her wings and decelerated her hurt a great deal, and it was all she could do to keep her wings unfurled and catching the wind. A lesser angel may have had them ripped clean off at such abuse, but Cerria's wings were among the strongest of any Angels, for they were tempered by regular flying in the hellish storms she summoned. Her hands did not fare so well however, and despite trying to grip the shaft of the weapon as hard as she could, she nonetheless felt it slipping away, the smooth metal haft made slick with the rain. She managed to hold on barely at the end of the weapon, though it remained stuck fast in Luciens flesh. This desperate manoeuvre had saved her hands however, as were her foe's blade was set to cut clean through both her arms, instead the tip merely gauged into one wrist. She let out a yelp of pain from the strike, and though it was already healing, it would not be nearly so fast as what Lucien could manage. It was a long time since her body had had to react to any severe injury. In all of this struggle, the pair had slowed in their descent, but the hurricane would not give up its hold on them, even while they were still so far up.

The sudden stop nearly jerked the spear out of his shoulder, but Lucien managed to pull it back in, clenching his teeth harder against the pain. At least they weren’t in a freefall anymore. In the tumbling wind, the point was inevitably moved about in his shoulder, and he could occasionally feel it grating against bone. This experience was made worse by the fact that every time the spear left an area, it immediately began to heal itself of the damage done, having new flesh ready to be rent when the spear came back. Upon hearing her yelp, Lucien bared his teeth into a blood thirsty grin. “What? Been a while since you’ve fought something that didn’t run from you screaming in terror? How long has it been since you’ve felt pain? Decades? Centuries?” He taunted, a condescending tone in his voice. He hadn’t done all the damage he desired, but at least he had marked her. His blood was climbing over his gauntleted hand, steadily growing closer to the barely holding on hands of his enemy. It would all be over soon. In the meantime, Lucien’s sword flashed forward again, seeking the hands of his enemy once more. His friend. His comrade. His commander.

Not for the first time, nor for the last, Lucien cursed the Cowards and their ‘plans’. He cursed the Demons and their war. If neither of them had done any of that, he wouldn’t be in this situation. He would be in Heaven, with his family. Just as quickly as he opened that door, that vision, he slammed it shut. There would be time for mourning what could have been later. Until the Cowards were dead, he couldn’t weaken himself. He couldn’t leave any room for regret or grief.

Cerria’s cry of pain turned back into a cry of rage as her friend taunted her. She furled her wings right as he struck out with the blade again and the controlled motion became wild as the pair started spinning through the air again. Once more, an otherwise limb severing strike simply cut across the bare flesh of her arms. This time she made no sound, gritting her teeth and pulling herself down the length of the spear with all her might before Lucien could recover. The last section was difficult as the spear was slick with his blood.

Using the spear as leverage, she deftly kicked off to spin around behind him, snaking her wings around his body in what might almost be considered a loving embrace if they weren’t pressing in with such force. While certainly not strong enough to crush him outright, she could at least hold his wings in place and restrict his movement while her arms wrapped around his unguarded throat and began to crush. “Just give in Lucien!” She half whispered, half shrieked in his ear. “Let me end your pain!”

As she moved down towards him she twisted and wrenched the spear, sending searing pain throughout his shoulder, briefly stopping paralyzing his movement. That was all the time she needed. Quick as the winds she had summoned she was behind him, her wings restricting his movement, her arms crushing his windpipe. Lucien forced his arm upwards, not to claw at the arms cinched around his throat but to grab the spear that was still in his shoulder. He turned it towards her voice in his ear, ignoring the panic that was pushing on the edge of his mind and the blackness that was pushing on the edge of his vision. One thought pulsed in his head. I can’t give in. Not yet. They’re still alive. She must be avenged. Then he pushed down with all of the strength he could bring to bear. The act brought as much of a scream as could be pushed through his crushed throat as possible and the spear tore through his shoulder and wing, heading towards the chest of his old friend on his back. The blackness was narrowing his vision, but he was still conscious. He could still control his blood. The blood freshly oozing from the entry wound raced towards Cerria’s arm. The blood on the spear, and oozing out of the exit wound, reached for the nearest clothing or skin of hers, seeking to burrow.

The blood on her hands didn’t need to wait for any of this. It simply burrowed into her palms, tearing muscles and nerves. There wasn’t enough of it to force her arms away from his throat, but there was enough to start tearing its way towards her brain, doing as much damage to everything and anything it could on the way.

Lucien himself now reached up with his free hand and grabbed at the arm around his throat, pulling on it with all the strength he could. He didn’t have long before unconsciousness claimed him and shortly after that, death. Still, that one thought pulsed through him though shortened as the lack of oxygen got to his brain. She must be avenged. It was all that kept him going, now and before. He feared that in this instance, it wouldn’t prove to be enough, and he would die at the hands of the shell of his former comrade. And wouldn’t that be poetic justice? The broken shell of a warrior slain by the broken shell of his commander.

Pain. Cerria’s breath left her as her own spear pierced her flesh, locking her in and Lucien thoroughly into their deadly embrace. If either of them was to escape, it would be at the cost of the others life. With the pain, Cerria’s rage did not increase. Rather, it began to subside. Her grip lessened ever so slightly around Luciens neck...

And then the real pain started. Luciens blood, now covering her hands and the front of her clothing, seemed to come to life, tearing and biting into her flesh like acid. She screamed from the pain, it was unbearable and blocked out everything else, creeping inexorably up her arms and through her chest. Her Angelic flesh tried to fight it, tried to heal as it went, but that simply ensured that there was fresh muscle and organ to rend and tear anew, for Lucien was bleeding ever more from the wounds inflicted by the length of metal that was Cerria’s weapon.

As the will that was maintaining the fierceness of the storm around them began to fail, so too did the unnatural storm. The winds slowed and the rain lessened to a lazy drizzle, though having been brought into existence they would not simply go away without express command. Cerria’s grip on Luciens throat was now more of an instinctual thing than intentional, and not as strong as the muscles in her arms were shredded and remade over and over.

All she could feel was pain, and the world tinted in red.

At first, Lucien’s pulling was ineffectual. The darkness began to close in more and more, and despite all of his centuries of training and warfare, he began to panic. The end was rearing its ugly head and he didn’t want to meet it. Not yet. Then her grip loosened slightly. Lucien began to pull harder. Then, around the same time she began screaming, her grip loosened enough for him to pry it away from his throat. He felt a twinge of guilt at all the pain he was causing her, just for a moment, before he began sucking in great gulps of air. For a moment, that’s all he cared about. Not the fact that they were rapidly falling down through a violent storm towards ground that was likely still shaking and moving, or the fact that she was still alive and screaming in his ear. All he cared about was getting oxygen into his lungs, painful breath by painful breath. So it took a few seconds before he was able to do more than just gasp for breath and wonder if they were about to hit the ground at any moment. When he finally did get enough air to push back the darkness encroaching on his vision, he gripped his sword tightly and decided to finish the fight, before the ground reached them. The least he could do for the shell of his captain was to give her a quick death.

So it was pity, not rage, which moved his hand. He reached up behind him, towards the screaming, with his free hand and grabbed her head and jerked it forward. Then he shoved his sword towards her skull.

Several long moments later, they hit the ground. They hit it hard. Most of the bones in Lucien’s body shattered, and he spent long, long minutes laying there while his blood returned to his body and his bones repaired themselves.

Cerria was helpless to stop Lucien when he gathered a handful of her hair in his armoured gauntlet and yanked her head forward hard. Her nose broke on his armour, but the pain from that was inconsequential next to the burning fire in her veins and flesh. Her eyes widened as she saw the sword point towards her, and the world seemed to slow.

Here at the end, there was no rage, no hate and no pain. It didn't matter what was right or wrong. She felt a sense of peace that she had forgotten she could feel and what remained of who she was rejoiced. With a final effort of will, she calmed the air around them and sent one last command to the skies.

Then the tip of the sword struck, and everything went dark.

Far above the broken forms of the two angels lying on the ground, the clouds carried out their last order. moving sedately under the light winds of the storms aftermath, they gathered together into a gargantuan facsimile of Cerria's face, looking down at Lucien's prone form. The lips stretched into a smile, the entire structure illuminated from behind by the sun. Their task complete, the clouds began to drift apart and fall back into their natural flow, bound no longer by any will, nor would they be touched by such a will ever again.

[Lucius Cypher]

Just Another Customer
Evening
Collab by Lucius and yoshua171

Feeling a vibration in his pocket, the businessman glanced downwards slightly before reaching in and extracting his phone, his motions slow and deliberate. Looking at the screen, Crow found his eyebrow raising as he saw an unfamiliar number. Nonetheless a second buzzing, a text message, notified him of the client's basic information.

Damon. Lesser Hellion. Safe House and Operation request. Shapeshifter. Possible identifier: Dark Matter. The last two points made Crow's eyes narrow slightly before he shook his head lightly and put the phone to his ear, answering it promptly. "Greetings, this is Crow, I presume I am speaking to Damon in regards to a request?" His tone was somewhere between boredom and a strict business-like manner. It might even give off the impression that Damon was interrupting something important --even though he wasn't.

"Yup. I hope you don't mind the intrusion, so I'll be brief. I'm going to need a safe location to protect myself and a few friends of mines from a man named Darius. I honestly don't know much else about him aside that he's not to be trifled with, and I'd rather not have to face him head on. But that's not all. If you are willing and able to provide the help, I would also like to ask if you could assist me in rescuing a person. He's not someone I know personally, however I've been requested to assist however I can. And in turn, I hope that you can help me as well. I cannot say I have much in terms of wealth, but if you know who I am, than you know what I am capable of. I will be indebted to you and will ensure to pay back on that debt as soon as this job is complete. This is all that I know about this job, and if you're willing to accept it, I shall meet you at a location called The Hog's Head. I should be there with one other. I'll be wearing the thigh-high socks."

And with that Damon hung up. He couldn't really stay on to talk, since he just pulled up to the Hog's Head. He transformed his body into a sultry woman in a minidress and wearing thighhigh socks. She walked into the tavern and looked around for Juan. Damon didn't see him, but he imagined that Juan would find him soon enough.

As he listened to the demon's response, Crow walked through an alley and disappeared into a shadow, the connection never faltering even as he emerged. A safehouse request in addition to an operation, he thought silently, seems this one's trying to pull off something dangerous. It might be risky, but Crow had the resources and as long as this demon was who they said they were he hardly minded dealing with him. Granted, he wouldn't be doing so himself, it wasn't his style--he disliked violence. Hopefully it wasn't something that would waste his men, for even if they were replaceable, it was annoying to recruit people. He'd avoid it if necessary, but it probably wouldn't be.

Nonetheless, realizing he might as well meet the man sooner than later, Crow noted the location down on a GPS, memorized it, and then called one of his men. Two minutes later a man in a car arrived and he stepped in.

The two drove towards the Hog's Head, a bar that Crow had never preferred. However, since it was frequented so often, he had made arrangements with the owner to install some rather hidden rooms in the back. He'd done this in a number of popular bars around the city. It was convenient for him really.

After only a five minute drive, the car stopped and Crow checked his watch before nodding to the driver. "Park at the end of the block and don't draw attention to yourself," he said with a bored, but serious air before he exited the vehicle. Shivering slightly at the evening air, he found a small smile growing on his face. The sun was gradually descending in the sky and it'd be night soon. Naturally, Crow enjoyed the night and so after he took a long draw of the air he turned back to his destination and entered the bar.

Finding it relatively busy as was usual, Crow glanced through the smoky atmosphere, noting the many customers who had just begun their night of drinking, despite it not being night yet. Paying them no mind, the businessman, who for some reason was barely noticed by the majority of the bar's inhabitants despite his snappy garb, made a beeline right for an attractive woman wearing thighhigh socks. She was sitting at a booth near the back, and casting glances about the bar every few minutes, as if she were waiting for someone.

Crow wondered if she was waiting for him or the friend who she had called this favor in for. Granted, this would likely end up in Crow's favor, despite it involving Darius. Not that Darius knew much of anything about Crow, in fact the former casino owner had probably never even heard of his name --he intended to keep it that way even after this. "Greetings madam," he stated as he gestured towards the seat, [B]"May I?" His manners were impeccably polite and even friendly. It usually served him well to treat his clients with such a manner, even if this one's name was actually male oriented and the individual was in fact a shapeshifting demon.

Even if his informants hadn't picked that much up, Crow would have known just by looking at her, except for the name of course. There were certain perks to being a nightwalker, perks he kept a secret from not only the majority of his organization, but the majority of his clientele as well. This one would be no different for to her he would feel and appear entirely human--it was just one aspect of his skill.

After ordering himself a drink Damon waited. He knew Juan wouldn't show up anytime soon, and from what little he knew about Crow, he'd likely find him first. At least, Damon thought he'd be talking to a sort of representative or some such. He never really expected to see the man himself. Damon only knew his face because, in the past, Damon had a run in with a guy who once had some business with Crow. Like Damon, he was also looking for a safe house, though Damon had to put him down during a robbery. The guy had gone nuts despite Crow's help, though he imagined that Crow wouldn't really mind Damon offing one of his clients in an unrelated act. And if not... Well Damon would just keep it to himself.

"Go right ahead, sir." Damon waved his hand towards the seat in front of him. His voice was sweet yet mature, with a bit of spice to it like a fine wine. It helped that this body belonged to a high-class call girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

More importantly, they both looked much classier than the current clients, who were "casual", to put it kindly. Perhaps overtly formal for their location, but as far as anyone would care they were just two fancy people out on a date. Unfortunately, Damon was not here for such pleasure. "And I presume you are Crow?" A server came by with a basket of biscuits and cheap wine. Damon didn't really have a taste for alcohol; he could drink it just fine, but didn't really care for quality. He took a few sips before he resumed speaking. "Unfortunately my friend is not here yet, so allow me to introduce myself formally. I am Damon. As you are no doubt aware, my business is with information, but I'm otherwise a free agent for anything within my skills. I'm here on behalf of my friend, who has yet to tell me exactly why he needs my skills, however he has asked for someone of your... Influence. Now I understand that your services cannot be given to just any lady who flutters her eyes at you, so I'm willing to negotiate the terms of our agreement. You know what I want, so what is it that you would like from me?'

"Yes, I am Crow," he said with a slight smile, nodding at appropriate times during the demon's introduction. Chuckling lightly as he mentioned his skills and his knowledge of such, "I am quite aware of your skills," he then leaned in slightly, a very small smile on his features before he spoke in a near whisper, "...Darkmatter." He then withdrew and continued, looking thoughtfully at Darkmatter's wine glass. "I believe I can help you and your...friend. I'll be calling one, or both of you in for favors here and there though as what you seem to be suggesting could get...quite expensive on my end." He smiled at the demon with a friendly look and extended his hand for her to shake. If she took it the deal would be sealed and at that point he would speak once more after withdrawing his hand, "When your friend is available we can discuss the details," he extracted a business card from the pocket of his suit vest and slid it across the table. "My contact information is on there, as well as the address where we will be meeting next time. That building will be the one you requested. Any specific requests for its contents?"

Damon reached out to shake Crow's hand to seal their deal. Though Damon couldn't speak on Juan's behalf, he'll make sure he's aware of what he's getting himself into. Damon took the card and absorbed it into his body, taking the information for later. "No, not really... Though I'll be sure to let my associate contact you as soon as possible. With any luck, you should have a call from him before the night's end. Thank you for assisting us, I promise you won't regret it in the slightest."

Crow nodded, smiling pleasantly before he rose and bowed his head respectfully. "Pleased to do business with you, we'll be in contact," the businessman half turned before stopping and glancing first at the bartender, who noted his look, and then back at Damon. "The drinks are on the house," he smiled graciously and then departed the building entirely, the door swinging shut gently behind him. Things were going well, and he already had some ideas as to who he might call in for this job...one of them was new.

Things would be getting interesting quickly, very interesting.

[Wind Wild]

Hazumi’s steps were light as she walked along the main hallway, occasionally stepping to the side or skipping in sync with the music she could vaguely hear from the Ballroom. She didn’t recognise the song until she was almost inside. ‘Love like this’ was what the children were settled on at the moment and the sea of instruments were barely containing themselves in a single rhythm, vocals and laughs and shouts all booming alongside each other in the sea of sound. A suitable choice, Hazumi decided with a chuckle, though she always mistook the lyrics and replaced ‘love’ with ‘life’.

The woman sung along and spun around happily as the chorus erupted. Another verse, another few dancing steps and she noticed an unfamiliar face right at the entrance. Quickly adjusting her walk back to normal, Hazumi ran a hand across her long hair and shook off the sparkles, remaining on her hand. Along with it she was shedding her silly and childlike demeanor, leaving a more mature and feminine one. She’d gotten rid of the essence flowers, blooming behind her heels and the butterflies around her in order to look much more modest, if still beautiful. The frost-like shimmer in her hair and on her skin remained, as that could never be contained.

“Master Lazarus,” she guessed, choosing to address him by his alias, guessing that he’d appreciate it better. “I am happy to see you have made it. I will make sure to alert the staff of your arrival and someone should be here to receive promptly. Please, make yourself at home.” She said with a curtsy and excused herself. Something had caught her eye and it wasn’t either of the creatures hanging around the man, nor the peculiar girl – Mary, who she had to engage with soon enough.

It was one of her students whose aura signaled distress. And not only. It wasn’t only his aura. The boy’s essence seemed weak in comparison to his Instrument’s. Something that shouldn’t be happening. With an ever-present smile, Hazumi approached said student and his companion.

“Master Saerne,” she gave the man a polite and friendly nod, “and Ian Snyder. I see you are experiencing a slight discomfort at the moment.” She smiled reassuringly, squatting down to Ian’s level and placing a hand on his. Perhaps it was an attempt to comfort him. Perhaps it was something else. “May I ask what’s going on?”

[Fallenreaper]

Juan and Damon in Hog’s Head, Evening

All Juan could think about was the fact he was very, very late meeting Damon at the bar. Mentally he cursed the effort it took when he stopped to cast that spell. Namely to disperse his essence trail and fool the creature into chasing a far too thin stray cat, the beast rather pissed at his treatment. In addition was the fact Juan had literally dowsed the small beast in a gross mixture of essences, similar to his own, and then set its tail on fire. The last thing he glimpsed was the hot tip of its tail vanished from sight down a soggy alley followed by the echoes of its yowls echoing back. He had to stop a slight, boyish snicker from escaping his lips.

His good mood had quickly evaporated when he spotted the bank’s digital clock’s time. Juan managed to catch the numbers, 5:30 pm, flashed by until it was replaced by the temperature and the bank’s name. Now he felt like some white, over-sized rabbit from a child’s bedtime story trying to get to his appointment. All he needed was a large waist watch and a petty coat and he had the part in the bag.

He tuned out his amusement, namely to lighten his mood, off when he turned the corner. Hog’s Head’s sign was flickering into his sight and immediately he picked up the pace. Water puddles splashed, leaping up to soak his pant ends in each step. Juan paused at the door to readjust his cooler and finally walked in. He ignored the stiffness in his body though he knew it was easily spotted, sliding into a bar seat while he determined what shape Damon was currently in.

Damon always liked free things, and free drinks were no different. He allowed himself to taste the various wines and brews on the tap, trying to dicern their differences. Luckidly Damon's body metabolized the alcohol in such a way that he wouldn't get "Drunk", though he still had to be careful how he drank it. He was all too tempted to simply spill the content of each cup onto his body and absorb it through his skin, which might be okay in his normal form, but not so much while in the guise of a modern Courtier. He had to act like a digified person and not simply gourge himself on the free food, not that he didn't mind. It was nice playing pretend sometimes.

As Damon tried vodka jello shots, he spotted a familiar face enter the bar. He seemed to have his hands full and a bit of a limp. Damon debated if he should go see this person; it would be obvious that his cover would be blown if he merely walked up to this stranger and introduced himself. So Damon had another idea. Leaving his table he walked over to the bar and called for the bartender. "Moloko Plus. Two please."

Juan blinked when he heard the woman order a Moloko Plus, his head already glanced to the right when he heard her heels clicking the floor and pause at the bar nearby. A slight smirk flirted along his mouth into a slight cheeky, playboy way. Smoothly he leaned toward her side and played cloy a bit, his voice full of velvet. "My, my, sweetness. That's some heavy stuff, don't even think I could handle two myself. Though the name certainly reminds me of a good book. I wonder if you've read it, it's called Clockwork Orange?"

If this woman was Damon, then it was likely going to be a positive answer. If not, he would've likely recieved a blank look and the gal would've moved on leaving him to ponder where the hell the demon currently was. Or rather whom. For several moments, Juan hung on the woman's next words which he hoped would save him some search time.

Damon smirked and played around with his drinking straw as Juan came over to flirt. Damon was certain it was Juan since he knew about his drink, but than again, perhaps he was simply an avid reader? Damon decided to play around a bit longer, just to test him. "Just something for a little... Razo horrorshow . Perhaps you would like a little peet?" Damon intentionally didn't answer Juan's question to see if he could keep up with the lingo. He knew it was Juan, but Damon wanted to play a little too. He took a sip of his Moloko Plus, letting a little spill off the corner of his lip. He could taste the cocktail of drugs in the milky beverage.

Juan chuckled. So, it was Damon, namely either testing or messing with him and as much as he wanted to continue this pleasant conversation, time was slipping away. It wouldn't be long before Darius's minion realize they were chasing the wrong tail. Then all hell would've broken loose and the damn beasts would be retracing their steps, catch his scent and come here. A bar wasn't on Juan's to do list and likely one he rather avoid.

He reached for the other milky colored drink, spiced with a little extra. His smirk never wavered while he pulled into a seat beside the demon's current shape. "Sounds rather lovely, dove. It seems you’re a rather oomny chelloveck indeed. Though I think it’s time we get to business. Namely before time slips away and this bar turns into a bitva shortly afterwards. I rather not be around, would you?"

With his free hand securing his bag and cooler, his other held the drink which he motioned for Damon to head away from the bar. Juan didn't like to have ears too close to hear about forecoming events. Namely if they were in need of favor with Darius. The fox's reach came in many forms, ways and never failed to screwed those who showed their ignorance to easily. Once Damon moved Juan would follow him until they reached a nice, out of the way table to speak freely.

Damon pouted that Juan was in such a hurry, but he supposed that they would have to bond over drinks later. Perhaps after they finish whatever it is he was called here for. When Juan motioned for Damon to follow he did so, but latching onto Juan's arm as though the two were a pair of lovers. This also allowed Damon to slip Crow's business card into Juan's pocket subtly, without anyone really noticing except Juan of course. Damon had a copy of what was on the card so he didn't need it anymore.

Damon and Juan soon found themselves at a private booth well out of the way of the common rabble in the Hog's Head. Wasn't exactly high class, but it was quiet and out of the way. Damon remained in his disguised form and still as sultry as before, however he understood that it was time for work, so he kept a professional stance as they sat. Quickly Damon filled Juan in with the deal he made with Crow, the price for Crow's assistance, and other information that otherwise couldn't be fortold by Crow's business card. "Now than, what exactly do you need me for? Surely not to simply find your a place to stay to cool your head. You could have done that yourself. Most people don't call me unless I... Could be polezny, you know."

Juan won't lie. He always enjoyed a pretty girl, or boy, on his arm and his insides warmed at the touch. His chest couldn't help puffing out a little higher as they approached an out of the way place and settled down. In minutes he was completely up date while his fingers fiddled around with the cooler, sat down on the table, his bag gently set aside in the booth end closest to the wall. Juan admited he was slight worried Damon so easily made the deal. Everything had strings attached and Crow, likely, wasn't any different then even Darius himself. After all, the former casino owner had similar beginnings before he rose into the ranks and demons, or angels, like that were usually the most dangerous.

However any farther brooding was scattered when Damon's curiosity, rightly so, kicked in. Juan blinked then sighed. "By the way, you know you're cute when you pout, sakar. And, yes, it's not just to cool my head. The main reason I need your help is to retrieve my rabbit before too much time has passed, namely since I've gotten rather attached to him. I've been watching and studying his little blood line for over two hundred years. All my blood, sweat,and literal essence has went into it and would hate for it to die because of something rather gloopy."

Juan took a swallow of his drink, the milk seemed to curdle in his throat before it glided downwards and he continued. "The thing up your alley, dear, is rather simple. You'll be helping me get my rabbit back by keeping Darius's less then understanding 'employees' off my back while I get him. Also playing chasso, something I think you'll enjoy very much. They aren't going to let me walk out of there with him and I'll be too busy lugging his ass out. Does that help?"

Damon thought about it. It was certainly a simple thing to do, but somehow Damon knew that things weren't going to be so simple. Any fool could cause a distraction, and Damon didn't exactly make a career with bodyguarding. However he owed Juan a favor, so he figured he could improvise. He'll just need to know a few more things. "Alright, just a few more questions. When is this going to go down, and where it is happening? And how exactly do you want me to deal with Darius' workers? I was thinking something rather.... Zammechat, savvy? A little light show here, some noise there. "

Juan nodded, rather relieved the shapeshifter wasn't going question the gravity or danger of this mission. Darius was among the few demons he didn't like the idea of messing with. Namely cause many often simply...vanished. Juan shook off his shudder and returned to the matter at hand, his posture relaxed again to the conversation. He leaned his torso into the table and slide his glass to the side.

"Bluntly. My rabbit is at Darius's place," Juan said, his hand slipped a napkin in his hand and held it there in the grip, the finger traced the table several times. "He's hidden in the guest house, in a secret room and the only way is into a mirror entrance. It requires a key puzzle to be solved, which if you don't know it, you'll set off more alarms then you can count.The sooner this happens, the better so likely tomorrow morning. I'll inform our 'little' friend about the details."

Juan released his grip on the napkin, letting it settle flat on the table, while he leaned back. A slight burnt smell lingered where his finger had been playing along the surface, leaving little...markings on the surface. His hand raised his glass to his lips and took a deep swallow, nearly drained it all, then clicked it back down. "As for Darius's workers. They aren't what they seem and considering I rather not draw attention to the fact I'm there, you can be as Zammechat as you like. Namely keep them from the guest house is important. It won't be easy dragging my rabbit out and he'll be nothing more then dead weight."

Damon smiled cheekidly as Juan explained the bare bones of the plan. Damon was to be the distraction while Juan went to save his rabbit. Simple enough, and better still that Damon can be as flashy as he needs to be. Which is to say, he can do that quite well. All he needs to do is reveal his name and he'll have the destraction he's looking for. "Excellent. I know what I'll need to do than. I'll just need to make a few more calls, drop off a message, and it should be ready by tommarow. Is there anything else you'd like, my Sladky?" Damon took a sip of his own drinking, picking up the napkin to wipe the corner of his cheek before problay absorbing it into his hand. Damon noticed a... Message when the napkin was absorbed into his body.

The message had two parts. The directions to Darius's mansion had been on the napkin and thus well absorbed into Damon where no other could easily gain it. Any proof Juan had been the one to reveal it was already gone. The table surface however had more personal and heartfelt warning burned into its wood:

Try not to get hurt or caught in a corner, dove. Followed by a heart shape blacked out beside it.

"Well, I think it's time for us to conclude our business then?" Juan asked, his tone seemed to hint to what most would assume led to a long, night of entertainment.

Damon merely smiled as he stood up from the table alongside Juan. He latched onto his arm and held his body close to his. "Oh definately. Why don't we go do a bit of, lubbilubbing?" Damon couldn't help but burst into small laughter saying that. Now he was just trying too hard. Still he tugged at Juan as he wanted to go show him where Crow set them up at.

"Now you're just being Hound and Horny, sakar. Still cute." Juan shook his head a bit, enjoying the flirting and pillow talk. "Been a while since I've had a little pol after all. We'll see what happens love."

With that they left the bar.

[Themerlinhawk]

Lazarus- The Academy- Midday

Lazarus dropped the cat. It was unintentional. He hoped the cat would forgive him, it really shouldn’t blame him. He was currently engaging in a battle for his sanity. The cat would understand, if it didn’t. Lazarus didn’t really care, he had bigger problems. In his curiosity he’d gone back to actively sorting through his perception of the Essence in the room and when Mistress Hazumi had addressed him by his Title he’d immediately whipped his head to see who the melodic voice belonged to and it was like getting hit by a freight train, a freight train traveling at speed approaching the sound barrier.

Lazarus was actually quite proud that he didn’t drop to his knees and hold his head. Or let his jaw drop and drool. Or start gibbering like a maniac. He managed to shut out his Essence sight, after the little glimpse he got of Hazumi through it, unprepared. It was like intimately knowing a force of nature. Lazarus blinked and shifted his sight back into the real world and felt like he got punched in the gut as he took in Hazumi for the first time. Gorgeous was a good word to describe her. It didn’t quite do justice but it was a good try. Lazarus fought with his own mind trying to get a handle on some very human responses and the experience he had just had viewing Hazumi is such a way. The image sent tremors through his psyche and he could feel it cracking. He managed to acknowledge her curtsy with a nod of his own as she departed. Finally he grabbed Esperacchius and forced Essence into the spells guarding his mind. They held the pieces of his mind in place while he sealed away the image of Hazumi through his essence sight deep in his subconscious.

With a shake of his head Lazarus looked around. Hazumi had departed to attend to something else. He was about to pull his Essence sight back into focus when he thought better of it. Better to absorb the image of Hazumi through the sight first and let his mind adjust to the information it had received without a filter. Lazarus was convinced that the human mind had very few limits but it was also like stretching. If you pushed it too quickly, it could tear and it took a very long time to heal and sometimes it never fully healed. Lazarus knew that all too well, and while his mind could take in far more than the average human he knew that there were things that could still damage it if he wasn’t very careful. That being said he had the strangest urge to follow Hazumi. He stood mulling it over. Maybe he could find a drink first.

The drink was easy to locate. Lazarus had found a chair too. Fancy that. He’d lost track of the cat and the other entities observing him, but he didn’t really care. Alternating between sipping from the scotch he was holding and trying to slowly and very carefully re expose himself to the image of Hazumi through his Essence sight. Like a person being exposed to early morning light he carefully scratched away at the barriers he had erected around the image. As he peeled back the barriers it was like a camera flash when you came out of a dark room. It hurt like hell for a few minutes as he let his mind adjust to it. The scotch helped, he suspected he’d also need a dose of some sort of pain killer after this too to quell the rising headache.

Normally he’d have waited till he was somewhere with less distractions and more booze but he was too intrigued by Hazumi to wait. A small part of Lazarus piped up and volunteered that perhaps he wasn’t use to be being caught off guard by anything and that forcing himself to come to terms with the image was his way of compensating for a moment of weakness. His ego quickly beat the thought into silence even if it did make Lazarus pensive.

After another scotch and about twenty minutes of work he’d assimilated about sixty percent of the image and figured that was enough for now. Maybe now it was time to see what else was going on around here. While Lazarus could certainly dance, play and sing it wasn’t really something he did in public. In fact come to think of it he hadn’t danced since Kathleen had died. With that he stood and started through the crowd singing under his breath so against the tune already in the air, the snatches of the tune that he sung were an irish tune called the Star of the County Down. It always made him think of Kathleen

[Fallenreaper]

Somewhere in Kenan, Evening

Ashley and Olivia

Olivia’s mind scrapped against the wall of sleep which had blanketed her, thickened from stress and exhaustion, while memories and soothing lies warped within her head. Slowly, she had tried to peel away the images and desire to just fade away, her effort fell short terribly. It wasn’t until they arrived, did she manage to stir. Her eyes were the first to move. They fluttered and edged open and propped her torso upright. Already, the darkness had started to creep where the sun’s last rays had started to sink below the dark horizon near the wastes of Loom. It took some time for her groggy eyes to adjust and tenderly, her head tilted about to absorb her surroundings and realize she wasn’t in her room. It wasn’t a dream. She had been kidnapped, now trapped within the musty one room house and with a mad woman no doubt currently busy securing the exits.

Her fingers flexed only to feel the stiff, sticky crust of her web cast stop it. Olivia’s eyes widened and jerked downwards, farther shocked at the engineered bandage. No…NO! She screamed insider her head, her face paler then before. This wasn’t happening. In moments, she would be screaming and her Uncle Darius would appear, his arms gathered her up shortly to sooth and wake her. Comforting her.

This is real, you know it is. A small, voice of cold reason and logic spread its icy finger into her panic. It numbed her and slapped her with the hard dose of reality.

Footsteps, Ashley’s, caused Olivia to jump while her head darted to face the source. Her body twisted about on the couch where she tensed, her eyes filled with fear watched as the strange woman reached for her casted arm. Olivia’s first impulse was to jerk it away. Followed by a protesting, frightening scream to get away from her. However her throat seemed to have sealed itself shut. Breath barely seemed able to escape her lungs let allow the thought of words, her mouth silently saw her arm lifted higher and gave a small whimper of pain at the jarring movements. Despite how gentle Ashley was, the muscles still disliked being moved too much. Instinctive Olivia pressed her back against the couch’s spongy surface as far back as she could, unable to put enough distance between the pair, letting Ashley thoughtfully look at it. She let out a small squeak when Ashley revealed her sword and made a deliberate, precise cut which caused the white material to wisp off revealing the slight bruising budding at her wrist, likely terribly twisted in her fall. She hissed in gritted pain when it was turned to reveal the ugly sprain.

Noting the injuries, Ashley made her comments then wrapped it back up. Once more the sticky thread wove around and around, the skin vanished from sight in seconds before it hardened. Olivia tried to flex her arm and found it impossible. After it was done, Olivia quickly pulled her arm from the woman’s grip and held it closely to her chest. Protective though it was pointless. She already knew Ashley had been given strict orders by the man, at least Olivia thought it was a man, in the memory acquired not to hurt her. Or let any harm come to her. Each review of the memory had given her a headache, a slight throbbing already started, which only eased when she ceased. She hadn’t been very lucky in seeking out clues or hints about this man who had kidnapped, even worse she got a nasty fearful sense about him. Something that frightened her beyond any reason. For several minutes she remained silent. Her eyes examined the woman’s words, the elegant and graceful figure now sat down cross legged on the creaking floor before her. Though her words seemed genuine, Olivia found it hard to trust someone who had tried to kidnap her.

The part of her that wanted answers breathed in deeply. A pitiful attempt to settle her worry and fear, its claws still sank ever deeper and threatened to control her voice. Stop it in its tracks. The evidence of its presence rattled her voice and poisoned the tone, the breath helped little in calming herself. “T-then why did you kidnap me? I want… I want to go home. B-back to my brother, back to Darius. What use am I to this Sir character , I’m just… just a kid.”

She knew her voice sounded pleading. A faint hope the woman’s heart, which seemed earnest in its remorse, would try to see reason and let her go. Olivia even intended to forget this happened and move on. She wanted to forget this, all of it. Slightly she edged away from Ashley, her good arm sank a bit into the rotted cushions, then reached to rest on the arm. The corner of her eyes flickered around, a skill she learned during Emmet’s lectures, to examine the room. Her eyes never pulled off the woman’s position though. On her first sweep, she could tell it was a one room house, with three windows and a single door. Webbing covered the windows in a thick layer as well as the door, though that had an additional enforcement of a cabinet. The thing large, wobbly and old, it looked ready to topple down on its front at any moment. Olivia wonder if she put some force in the right direction, would it crash down? Would it be enough to trap the woman while she tried to escape? Was there another way out?

The last question lingered a moment or two. Olivia’s hopes faded when she knew there was only one way to learn. It meant she would’ve had to tap into her magic and see a wall or something’s history. A slight hope glimmered inside her heart but her stomach twisted into knots, farther chewed up with anxiety.

Ashley gave a sad smile, though she approved of Olivia's scanning of the room. "I just want my old life back. Before Angels and Demons brought their war to the Surface. I want you to grow up in a safe environment free from Demons who use you to blackmail your brother, and rule over a section of Kenan with an iron fist. I want you to just be a little girl. But we can't always get what we want. I am bound to follow his orders, just as you are bound to Darius. Though if all goes well, you will be back in Darius's hands in a matter of days, or however long it takes him to deliver Mary." She paused, a slight confusion crossing her face. "But how did you know that I was sent here by Sir? I never mentioned who sent me, simply that I was under strict orders not to hurt you and to keep you safe." Periodically, Ashley checked the windows and the door to make sure nothing was breaking in while they were talking. A hand was never off of one of her swords.

Olivia's eyes tightened when there was mention of her Uncle and blackmailing her brother, confusion filled her expression. What was she talking about? For several moments she examined the woman's face, her body language, each time seeking any hope the woman's insanity included lies. Inside she wanted the words to be nothing more fabricated. Completely false and easy to shred into pieces. However a small, logical voice cried otherwise. Why would she lie? What gain or affect would it do to better this situation? Still...Olivia pushed down her unsettled emotions long enough to catch Ashley's expression match her own.

Dread filled Olivia when the woman recalled her prior outburst. All the color drained from her face in the moment and felt herself sink farther into the crouch, partly wanted to fade into it. For several minutes she just sat there in silence, though the fact would never disappear, then finally lowered her head to hid her fear. "Remember what I said about the past? I wasn't lying. It affects me more then it will anyone else..."

Ashley waited patiently, not saying anything when Oliva tried to out wait the fact and sink into the couch. Eventually, it came out. For a moment, Ashley had to think back to before Olivia called to the old man and she had to kill him. Then she blinked. Gently, she asked, "You meant that literally, didn't you? Does it have to do with what happened when you touched my necklace without your glove?" Ashley was legitimately concerned and worried about the girl. Despite the fact that she had kidnapped her, a protective bond had already formed. Past failures wouldn't be repeated. Almost unconsciously her free hand went up to the spider necklace. It was one of the few things left from her old life, when the world exploded and she realized just how little power humanity had.

Olivia’s eyes were fixed on her lap. She forced her mind to center on her hands, clasped together, which had edged to sit in front her. Already her legs hung over the protesting wood that creaked against her light weight to swing over the floor’s filthy floor. A tightness in her middle increased when she glimpsed the one covered by a sticky solution and quickly hid it under her other, the last glove remained. Though the woman seemed to spout sympathy Olivia had a hard time believing it was genuine. No one that good at heart would even think of kidnapping her or kill people, namely those innocent, in cold blood. It only showed how naive Olivia was to the shades of grey all around her despite her experience with the past not always hers.

All this time, she had been watching out of the side of her vision, still determining a way out, only to spot Ashley’s hand shift to her necklace. Instinctively Olivia flinched in reaction. Her head shot upright only to realize her foolishness, her eyes wide and heart pounded heavily in her chest until it threatened to give. Slowly she relaxed when it seemed the woman wasn’t going to touch her.

“Yes… It’s not always terrible, but I don’t understand it myself.” Olivia sighed, inwardly decidedly to admit what she had saw. It might distract the woman enough. Gently, and warily, she moved off the crouch careful not to touch it for fear what she might see in its history. She seriously doubted it had been long enough here to help her anyways.

“I only hurt whenever I touch an item with a violent history. It’s like the emotions fill me, take over and just…it’s hard to explain. When I touched your necklace, my first memory was when you…” Olivia felt her throat constrict and sour, her arms pulled close to hug herself, before she forced herself to continue. “K-killed Hank, someone I knew. I saw everything from your necklace’s point of view, from when you saw him… and right down to the moment his light left his eyes,” Her sour stomach seemed to worsen, her arms held closer while she inched around Ashley to walk past, slightly locked in her thoughts in her story. “The longer I held on to it, the more memories I can access but it's also more energy I use and it’s a heavy price. The last one, the one with Sir was the worst. I saw you two talking though I couldn’t see his face, then you shifted to see…”

She trailed off. It was hard to relive that image, which now so easily leapt up to her mind, the naked body filled with blood, wounds and only essence knew what else. The girl shivered to push it way as she reached out, unintentionally, to touch the cabinet with her gloveless hand. For most it would’ve been a harmless gesture but with Olivia, the innocence had long vanished.

Ashley winced as Oliva explained all that she had seen. Very clearly, the woman regretted exposing Olivia to such things, but it didn't change her duty. Orders were orders, and she owed Sir her loyalty, at the very least. She carefully watched her charge nonetheless. After all, she had seen the girl scanning the room. Chances weren't going to be taken. "Death is an unfortunate necessity in my...line of work. While I admit Sir is...brutal, and I apologize for what you saw, I give you my word that none of that will happen to you. You will simply be exchanged for Mary, and then you can go back to your brother, or Darius. Whichever is sent to pick you up. His experiments won't concern you or anyone else when word is given that Mary is on her way."

However, when Olivia reached for the cabinet, Ashley moved. Using her unnatural speed, Ashley was there in time to grab the girl, gently, by the wrist. "If just touching a necklace would bring up two memories, I think a cabinent will bring up quite a few. Let's not test that out, shall we?" She smiled, in a genuinely friendly manner.

Olivia knew what Ashley said was merely excusing her own actions. She felt the woman's eyes follow her yet she tried to ignore the sensation it left behind, the crawling of her skin and trembling. She had to be stronger then this. If she was going to make it out alive as she witnessed a blur of motion from her eyes corner, and in second Ashley was standing in front of her. Her head turned to see her wrist gripped in the woman's grasp.

For a moment, Olivia felt a slight fear bubble up. However, that small bubble was replaced by anger and she impulsively shouted back at the cause of her current predicament. "WHY DO YOU CARE?!? You kill people, murder them, without any remorse. How can you have a heart when your hands are stained with blood willing? I don't want to be here, let me go!"

With the strength spurred by her fit, Olivia jerked her hand away. It stung when her whole side smacked into the cabinet, clipping in her push away from Ashley. It shuddered from impact, its wood protested at her touch. It was an old piece and it took little to make it moan, however one of the legs had been weakened when it was moved. Quickly it started to topple over. Right on top of Ashley. It crashed with a deafening noise and rattled through the floor, all the way up into her body while Olivia's eyes widened in horror. She took a step back. Her hand pressed over her mouth in stun silence. What had she done? The question poured in her head, guilt followed. She just killed someone and now their blood was on her hands, her thin trembling hands.

"No..." came the soft plead then she turned on heel. Olivia knew she had to get out, her hand had been about to touch the wall when she paused. There had to be another way out then suffering another episode, anything besides that. Maybe she could pull away the threads or try to, a slightly better option in her head since they were newly crafted and appeared never to be reused. Slowly she tried to pull away the stickiness plastered to the nearest window, but it was very slow going.

[yoshua171]

A Weighty Dance of Wit
Loom(Locations differ) - Evening

By yoshua171 and Fallenreaper

They had arrived at the apartment. Juan was only mildly surprised to find its appearance wasn't beyond the average, his eyes absorbed everything the moment he entered the door and quickly adjusted to it. In fact the interior looked bland compared to the other places Juan had been. Instinctively his eyes continued to shift while he set his bags and the cooler down, their forms made a soft, distinctive thump on the wooden floor during his walk farther in. Juan was rather pleased that it at least had some character.The thought shortly passed, his body leaned over to snatch up his things then placed them on the counter in the kitchen before he turned to Damon.

"Well, could you be a dear and wait for me?" He pulled out a few items, namely from his satchel, the cooler placed to the side, then laid them out. A jar filled with liquid, a small tube, and other materials which seemed to be items meant for a bigger project. After he had ensured that they weren't going to be knocked down, Juan added. "I've got to do a little prepping before I finish up our business with our friend. Being paranoid and extra safe has been one of my best traits. No reason to change now. Meanwhile, you get cleaned up and meet me in the bedroom. This could be rather...stressful."

"You got it, hon." Damon smirked as he left Juan along to do his business. It was the same as usual, so Damon knew his part. As Juan went to prepare himself for what's to come, Damon began to strip off his outerware and step into the bathroom. Once he was alone, Damon returned to his true form, which was sufficently less easy on the eyes. His "face" turned dark and twisted into a plain black mass of some sort of sticky substance. The only notable detail would be a white mast that appeared somewhere where Damon's chest was at. He looked into the mirror, his expressionless vistage looking back at him. "Hmm..."

Damon changed back into the form of the human woman and washed the body. Not really necessary since he could always just create her form as clean as he'd need it, but he needed to do something while Juan was busy.

Juan shook his head, his eyes watched the female figure pad into the bathroom and close the door. One perk about a shapeshifter, they were never boring in the sack. Now to work. He started to take a bit of the waxy substance from the canister and rubbed it between his fingers, testing the thickness before he turned to the jar filled by clear fluid. Slowly he used one hand to pin the jar in his elbow then worked the lid off his palm heel. It came off rather easily. Then he poured a little into the lid itself and slid his waxed finger into the goop. The goop was a mixture of lighter fluide, lemon, and a few other things which made the stuff invisible when it was dabbed on almost any surface. However it lacked the able to seal and that was the wax's purpose.

First he stepped to the bedroom, the apartment was thankfully a one room one, then started to etch a complex symbol. When he was finished, he then stepped back to briefly admire his work. His next target was the door, followed by above the window frame as he wiped off the stuff onto a towel from the kitchen. They were barely visible. Only some creature with keen essence sight would've been able to see them, though it would've been hard due to the fact it sealed in essence and all that showed something was off was the absence of such. Which in Kenan wasn't something abnormal. It would just read as a dark cut out which was the size of the room and hid everything in it. Juan had already dealt with demons who could sniff out essence, something he hated, so it was little surprise that he wanted to avoid such circumstances happening again. In addition he didn't completely trust his host, the one Damon had chosen. He would have to ask the demon later about what Damon thought about this person, be him angel, demon, or human, much later.

Sighing in relief, he then picked out a bit of music to play in the background. While the seals trapped essence within, it didn't affect what was currently inside or prevent it from working in a normal manner and any little sound could give unwanted clues. Besides, he wanted to listen to something to sooth his experience with Darius's foxes.

Wasting no more time, Juan pulled out Damon's card then dialed the number. It was simple and easy, personally a method Juan rather deal with then in person. If he had discovered Damon had shook hands with the strange demon, Juan would've believed him stupid since sometimes unwanted effects could always happen with skin contact and usually in the other demon's favor. He waited until someone answered the phone. Leaning against the counter and listening to the mix of shower and music playing in surprising harmony.

His phone ringing, Crow glanced down at it and noted the number. He didn't know it, but it was often that clients had unfamiliar, or untraceable numbers. Sighing, Crow answered, "This is Crow and who might you be?" His tone was mildly friendly, but also questioning. He glanced out the window of the car, Crow noted the moon becoming apparent in the sky, even as the sun made its last display. He had always found sunsets to be rather pleasant, despite his true nature.

As he waited for his response, his ride made its way to his base of operations, which was one of three that he had set up in Loom. He would be meeting Falair there, with any luck. If this was Damon's partner that'd be all the better, though honestly it could've been any number of clients. After all, today had been a busy day.

"Hope it's not a bad time. I would've met you face to face, but Darius's little cronies made things rather difficult. I hope Damon behaved himself when he had to meet you in my stead." Juan's voice was calm and smoother then silk, which only added to his confidence. "So to get down to business, it seems we need to settle some terms and you need the details about where, when and how. Am I correct in assuming this?"

Juan leaned farther into the counter, his ears perked for a reply while he started to crouch down where the cooler was sitting. He had already started to open the door and placed the blood bags in, each he had carefully examined for any puncture wounds or leaks before he placed them into the bottom. All them were hidden from sight should someone become curious.

Listening intently, his eyes watching the display of the sun's setting, Crow nodded to himself, remaining silent till the end. After a moment, he replied, for it appeared he'd been right, this was Damon's colleague, though the fellow hadn't given him his name. "Not a bad time at all, and it's no problem," he said calmly, his tone friendly despite his eyes narrowing slightly as he noted Darius' involvement. "Yes, terms. First, I need to know exactly what this operation entails. Details are important, but start with the goal and the involved variables, if you will. We can work from there," there was the distinct sound of a businessman in his tone.

Crow had concluded that whomever Damon's partner was, he was intelligent. It would not suite him to play him a fool, in fact it was likely that the man might try and retaliate later if he tried something of that nature. Nonetheless, he could surely trick him, though it was unfortunate that he would be unable to shake his hand to finalize the agreement. At the thought he frowned slightly, but only for a moment remembering that Damon had done so.

This one would be...slightly more difficult, he figured. After all, if he could manipulate demons thrice his own age, and humans such as Ms. Kasio, then he was likely to succeed in this case as well. Nonetheless, he would remain wary and be sure to act with caution.

Juan smirked one of his flashy smiles. Without pausing, his hand placed the last blood bag into its storage place then moved onto the plasma. His shoulder pressed the phone closer to his ear, his head leaned harder into it in order to pin it firmly in place while he tried to finish his task quickly, but not sloppily. He heard a key word stressed, the one called terms, and the hairs on his neck and back rose in warning. Careful…his instincts whispered. His voice, on the other hand, showed nothing to betray his inner warnings. Instead he continued with flawless performance in his conversation. It was as if the stressing of the word hadn’t happened or didn’t faze him much about the cost he was likely to pay.

“Naturally, it would be rather rude of me not to. The main goal is simple: to retrieve someone. Currently he’s being held on one of the home estates and likely to be moved to another area tomorrow. I much rather retrieve him before the move. For two reasons. First he would be much harder to reach at the new destination and second, there’s a much greater chance he’ll bleed out before he reached it. I rather this man avoid death which is why I’ve decided it is best not to leave him where he is. In the long run, it would be rather…unpleasant.” His voice seemed to hold no concern for Emmet’s wellbeing but rather sounded as if the loss was more an annoyance then profitable, a trait he was sure the man on the phone’s other end would notice. “As for opposing variables, I’m afraid my recent...umm, let’s say actions might’ve made your job much harder. It’s rather safe to say it will be very well guarded by some powerful defenses, likely including Darius himself if it’s not planned right. I much rather not increase my current problems anymore then needed by taking on someone bigger then myself. Since Damon believes you can help, it likely means you’ve encountered such problems yourself and fully understand the importance of not increasing them. Then again, I sincerely apologize if I’m wrong.”

Guaging the man's response, the businessman in him once again cringed at the mention of Darius. The man was well known to him and he was typically against anything in relation to him. While he was not one to destroy the balance, he was not opposed to doing so either. It did not help that Darius' influence made him, bluntly put, a dangerous man to trifle with. Nonetheless, he knew if it came to such, he'd at least survive a scuffle.

He'd risk it, but only if these two kept their end of the bargain. A rescue operation. The victim is injured, and we're going into decidedly hostile territory. They'll need a healer, a distraction or sufficiently strong combatants to get them through. Stealth would be the best route to avoid outright conflict. Crow somehow doubted that it would be at all easy to sneak into one Darius' estates, quite the contrary actually.

Tapping the side of his head with a finger lightly, Crow spoke up after several long moments. Only his steady breathing breaking the silence while Juan waited.

"I can supply you with at least five men, two of which I already had in mind. One is both an effective combatant, and a skilled doctor, the other is...a man of unique talents. He's not one for magic, but his weapon and hand-to-hand combat experience is exceptional," Crow barely knew the extent of Rhett's skills, but nonetheless he stated the words as if they were facts.

There was no hesitance or unsureness in his tone. "Since this is Darius we are dealing with, it will cost you extra. The man is dangerous and unless you're willing to compensate for that, this will not be an even trade, which would be unfortunate," this time Crow made a point not to put any stress on his words. He sounded relaxed, as if, despite his words, he had no worries regarding the success of the operation. He was trying to throw Juan off, but with no evidence of him doing so.

He made a point not to say what the cost or payment need be, only that it would be high. The word compensation was key, for Crow knew that money was not always the best way to be paid. There was always information, service, and even exchange, in which the client gave him something valuable in return for his effort.

He was fairly sure that this individual would catch on as he seemed fairly savvy. His reactions were nothing like those of his associate, Damon, who had clearly been rather new to these things. This man knew not to give Crow much in regards to reactions, and to be specific in the details. Those two things told him a lot, perhaps more than his client would've liked. Nonetheless, he did not let on that he knew at all, instead remaining entirely casual.

Juan, in the back of his mind, had started to wonder what type of trouble Damon might've gotten himself into now, but wisely said nothing. During the pause, he half expected the other man to hang up after he had dropped Darius's name more then once. Such an action often helped weed out less than reliable sources when they realized their objective might end up getting them killed. Or worse, on Darius's shit list. Only the cocky and foolish, neither of which this man appeared to be from his tone or composure, would take this matter lightly or believed it was worth the risk. This man was certainly something else.

Too bad he wasn't completely confident about what that something else was exactly. Phone conversations might've been safer, but more difficult in guessing the sincerity through tone alone. Especially when that tone was as much like a poker face as his own was, ever steady and serious.

“I contacted Damon specifically for a distraction. If anything, he's very good at creating an ideal distraction, flashy as he puts it. Mainly mostly your men will need to ensure he stays alive should their boss decide to get involved and cover our tracks if needed. Darius will not let us simply take him.” Juan made his wording blunter then he intended though now it was too late to recover. Instead he continued on. “As for payment, I understand and know how dangerous Darius is. If he wasn’t, I would’ve done this on my own and never risked doing business with an unknown element. However, there’s two things I do require before sealing this arrangement. To gain a sense of the payment type and ensure the man rescued isn’t bound to repay the debt I’ve currently risked.”

Juan hoped it was rather clear and though he didn’t threaten it, he wasn’t against pressing his terms more clearly. Last thing he needed was future trouble brought on by carelessness.

"Perhaps I can spare an extra man to assist Damon. As to the compensation, I see no reason that the man would be fiscally indebted to me. Your request as such is thus noted, it is only you and your associate who will compensate me and my people," he, once again, was entirely relaxed. This man's terms were simple enough, though he had made a blunder already.

No defense was flawless after all.

"I presume the rest of the planning will be carried out on site. All that we need is a time and place to meet, yes? As to when, early morning, around sunrise. If they're moving him, then they are likely to begin releasing him from wherever he is held and he'll be vulnerable. With enough chaos we could distract long enough to retrieve him. Or we can try and get in at a guard shift change before the move." Crow shrugged, despite the fact that Juan was unable to see him. After a few moments, and the sound of Crow extracting a lighter and lighting a cigarette was heard over the line, he spoke. "So where are we meeting?"

When the man had finished and lit his cigarette, Juan’s hands were just finishing up the last of the plasma and other fluid then closed the door with a soft thud. Gradually, he began to rise. His hand had shifted the empty cooler to the cabinet and made his way back to the counter. His free hand gripped the phone while he absorbed Crow's attempt to add more to his growing debt. While Juan was once again creating additional goop- one handed- he had decided to correct Crow’s assumptions about his comment concerning adding another man first. Too many, and they would be harder to track down and ‘deal’ with individually later on. Namely if the need ever came for him to sever loose ends.

“I like to make myself clear on key things.” Juan slightly stressed the word. Whether the man would catch its meaning or not wasn’t Juan’s concern, after all he knew loopholes were easy to seek out when everything wasn’t stated completely. Though it was also a double edged sword which meant Juan had to watch himself, namely with the compensation details, noting the man had skipped that little thing altogether. That was a mistake which would need fixing.

“I think your original five men will do just fine. No more, no less. Guardshift idea is out and I aim to get him before they start to move him. Darius is too careful to allow him a chance to escape and his prison’s not originally designed to protect the man inside if it's moved too much. If we hit them while they are moving him then a fight which would likely happen because a few guards will be left behind. Any violent hit or wrong movement into it could end up killing the man inside defeating the whole purpose of my debt. No… He’ll be left alone while they prepare his transport, ideally the least risky time to move him both outside his prison and then the estate. In addition they won't realize we were there at all until they go to move him. As for complete details, I’ll give them to your men when they arrive here.”

As Juan rattled off an address, only about less than half an hour away, he naturally wasn’t giving the man everything he suspected would be waiting to greet them. Those details were going to be shared with the small group if they showed just before they came to the estate. In addition he wasn’t too keen on allowing their eyes pry on his makeshift workshop or current defenses just yet. He would have to sweet talk Damon into getting up earlier and driving to the location in order to prepare it for the others’ arrival. It wasn’t going to be easy. Including creating a transportable medical kit and pray Emmet wasn’t dead yet. He began writing with his finger coated in fresh goo on the fridge door while he added one other thing. “Also, it seems we got off track on compensation details. I aim to know exactly what to expect payment wise or what skills of mine you might need use of. Including if it ends up clashing in the future with Darius.”

His two laziest ideas discarded, Crow only made a small sound, indicating acceptance of the man's plan. When compensation was again brought up a smile crossed his face and he audibly chuckled. Crow was amused, "Something you ought to keep in mind is that I can hardly ascertain the cost of the endeavor until it succeeds. If it does not you will only need compensate me for the safehouse and a smaller additional amount for the time of my men and I."

The man was plainly trying to tie off any loose ends that he could, but he was not in luck. Crow knew others who had tried what he was doing, in a very similar manner. He'd seen it attempted by only several, but it was still enough that it actually amused him. The men and women who attempted such were almost always intelligent and detail oriented. The problem came up when they wanted him to assist with, or carry out, an operation. In such cases the cost depended on the success rate of the mission. He had to factor in the supplies, the time, the performance of his men, which could add to or detract from the price depending on their survival, usefulness, and efficiency during.

Juan had just finished sealing the fridge. He admired his work for a moment, remembering how he had forgotten before with the girl named Zi, then wiped his finger upon his pant leg to clean it. Despite his recollection at the little kitty's acting, it was clear she had sensed something about their apartment fridge and with what he scented in her little vial, he knew she could at least sense essence. To what degree or matter he hadn't quite figured it out. Time would help with that. He had little doubt she would try to track down Emmet, the two hard to keep separated for long and a fact Juan wasn't too keen on until the man healed up. Having the woman around would only make it take longer and complicate things again.

At the sound of the man's chuckle, Juan's neck hair stood erect. Propelled by caution and dislike, he listened closer to the words being uttered. They certainly weren't pleasant.

"When we succeed I will factor in all the relevant variables, and give you the results. However, if you like you may choose whether or not to compensate with funds, information, services, or a trade. You may choose more than one if it suits you and I will not lock you to your word till after the operation succeeds." While Crow was often devious during the construction of his deals, he shied away from making up reasons for his prices. He was straight forwards when it came to such, and while one could not necessarily call him trustworthy, he was at least consistent.

Juan felt his fingers tighten slightly harder over the phone, yet surprisingly it held up to the increasing pressure. He visibly didn't like the fact the man was the one who would determine the cost which meant he could easily overestimate and decide the very sum himself. Despite the choice of payment, it was unlikely this man would be satisfied with only funds, which while he had squirreled quite a fortune away, would likely fall short of any amount decided on. Services and information put him directly in Darius's conlict, a terrible place to be if he wasn't careful. The mention of trade bothered him most of all. Point blank, unless it was money, the man had literally fucked him when it came to payment plans. Didn't even buy him dinner first, what a pity.

Noting down the address, Crow took a long drag on his cigarette and blew it out, an amused look remaining in his eyes even as his lips evened out to a serious expression. "Any other concerns," he asked casually, a somewhat friendly tone in his voice. Despite having to deal with Darius, this would likely be profitable for him, he could tell. At the very least it would be interesting.

At the last words, Juan's hold on the cell loosened and let it relax in his hand. The little voice in the back of his mind had started to wonder just how important Emmet was in the grand scheme of things, namely in his own research. There was still Olivia yet she had failed to show any magic potential since he met and the notion he was so close seemed to choke into giving in. If he had succeeded, then the price mattered very little. Not when demons and angels would come crumbling down into ruin one day. Juan made a point to inhale deeply as he chose his next words very carefully. "Seeing as I've little choice, we'll play this your way. Currently if I have any farther concerns, I'll voice them as they come up. Not that it would matter."

Juan cleared his throat, then summed the established facts up. "To clarify and wrap things up: Your men will meet us at the mentioned address at just around sunrise, I'll fill them in on the details, we'll either succeed or fail and you will establish the sum cost. Then I'll end up paying it back in one or mixture of four ways, funds, informantion, services or...trade. I understand the first three perfectly clear, but the last seems a little hazy. Other then that, I believe it's a rather peachy offer from you."

The last bit was hinting towards sarcasm though not enough to be insulting.

Crow entirely ignored the sarcasm and made no comment in regards to his brief silence. He sensed apprehension, but he could've been entirely off. "Correct. As to the last, trade indicates you offer me one or more objects or persons of equal value to what I offerred you in regards to services. Typically objects, I am no slave trader, and the idea of using people is distasteful." He did not mention that it was also bad for the reputation.

He was being honest nonetheless, as he tended not to allow others to trade people as compensation for his services. It was something he very rarely allowed, the circumstances had to be particularly unique for such to occur.

Juan relaxed...a bit. His shoulders eased while he listened, absorbing the informantion and tried to peel away any hidden catches. Though he was pretty sure there was at least a few he hadn't quite picked up on yet. Otherwise, it seemed straight forward and acceptable compared to losing Emmet which would've set his research back very far. Almost started over as a matter of fact. It was something he hated more than anything else. "Very well then, as I said, I'll voice anymore when they come up. I believe this arrangement is concluded then."

Just before he hung up, he added one last thing. "I hope you don't regret your choice on your decision in doing this way later."

Most would take Juan's words as a threat, but his tone told otherwise. It was almost worried, seeming like something hidden had been missed, then he hung up. Slowly he padded to the bathroom where he wanted to join Damon and wash away the thoughts plaguing his mind, forgetting everything in the night's activities to happen.

Just for a little bit.

As Juan hung up, his last words lingering a moment, Crow smiled and chuckled to himself lightly. "I never have before," the driver glanced at him a moment from the corner of his eye before looking back at the road. This individual had something to offer, he knew that much, for the man had tread cautiously, each word and intonation picked with intention. Few did that, and those that did typically had something to lose, more often than not it was something greatly important to them.

It was unlikely that he would ever learn what that something was, but nonetheless the idea of such intrigued him.

Making no effort of looking to his driver, Crow ordered him to take side streets and speed up. He had business to attend to and arrangements to make. The gears were turning and the world had begun to move, he could sense the pace quickening.

The times were a changing, and he needed to be ahead of them.

Always ahead.

[Celaira]

Loom -- The Academy -- Morning
Mini-collab Fallen and Celaira

Aeris stood with her back against the door, her blue eyes wide with disbelief. The room was so... big. Compared to the hotel she'd been living out of for the past couple of days, this place was her own personal mansion. She scanned over the ornate furnishings with a blissful sigh. The soft glow coming from the light fixtures around the room created a certain sense of ambiance. It was almost like she was in a dream. A queen-size four poster canopy bed sat in the center of the room adorned by blue silk sheets, and a black comforter to make them pop. On the right side of the room, there was a row of bookshelves, and on the left, what seemed to be a wooden door. With a little bit of a heave, the Vampire pushed herself off the door to enter the room, and walked toward the door on the left of the room. When she opened it, she was greeted by marble. Lots of marble. The comparatively smaller room she now stood in was a bathroom. On one side, there was a rather large tub that looked reminiscent to a jacuzzi. On the other, there was a glass-paned door that, once opened, revealed a shower. At the back of the room sat a porcelein toliet beside a sink with an overhead mirror, and two cabinets beneath it. "Whoa.." Aeris muttered to herself as she slid out of the bathroom and shut the door.

After a few moments of looking around the room some more, and finding the books she required for her class piled up on a desk that she found in an alcove around the corner from the bathroom; Aeris sighed to herself turning to face the door she had entered through. With a sarcastic grin on her face, Little Kasio held her hand up to the wall beside the door, as there was a shadow cast upon it. Carefully she focused, using a fair amount of energy to make sure her destination was somewhat visible on the other side. Okay... Lisara... You can come on over. ...Please make sure you have everything. She reached her mind out to her familiar. Her bestfriend, hoping that the strain she was enduring wasn't obvious. A snort was the reply she got. Then the shadows began to ripple and warp as a 7ft tall flaming beast stepped free of the of the portal, three suitcases dangling from her closed jaws.

Weakly, Aeris smiled at the Hell hound, gratefully closing the portal and stumbling toward the bed. The room began to spin, and the lights dimmed. Her head was swimming. She really should have thought through transporting her stuff instead of just bringing it with her. She felt herself start to sink into the darkness, but the bed looked so far away...

The next thing she knew, there was nothing but blackness.

Dream

Aeris was running through an abandonded building, searching for something. Something important. Her breath was leaving her lungs quicker and quicker as she tried to leap up flights of stairs, pearing in every room she could see. She could feel herself try to call out, but her voice was soundless.

The more she searched, the farther away she felt she was getting from what she was looking for. The stairs seemed to become endless, and the rooms were only ever filled with dust. Mounds and mounds of dust. The creaking of the stairs began to sound like some derranged lullaby as she continued her trek.

After what seemed like hours, the doll heard a strange, yet familiar laughter. Her eyes darted around frantically, catching a glimpse of a black jacket. Without a second thought, Little Kasio darted toward the jacket, only to tumble forward and fall...

Late Afternoon/Early Evening

The vampire sat up suddenly, her irridescent blue eyes full of fear and confusion. Her breathing was ragged, and it took her a moment to realize where she was. Lisara lay curled around her in the floor at the end of the bed, the beast sleeping soundly. As she took in her surroundings, hre breathing began to calm, and she searched through her pockets, trying to find her phone. Once she found it, she began to search through her contact-list. "God dammit." She'd forgotten to give Mai her cellphone number, and he hadn't given her one either. With a haggard sigh, Aeris slid free from Lisara's warm fur, and made her way to the bathroom to take a shower.

After getting out of the shower, and drying off, Aeris started to rifle through her bags for something to wear. The towel wrapped tightly around her slender body catching any remaining droplets of water that fell from her hair or skin as she searched.


Darius listened to the dead silence where he had took solitude from the outside world. Mostly only darkness surrounded him, faint illuminating lights were scattered along the concrete floor and cast his orange fur in an eerie glow. He was sitting with one leg crossed casually over his other while his golden eyes stared at the sight before him. It was an upright coffin, made from black marble with silver and gold engravings, as several holes littered the cover. He knew it was sealed tightly, though there was no visible lock. His vision watched each of the tiny tube worm their way from the holes, some filled with red liquid while others poured in a yellowish one, continued their tasks undisturbed.

Something deeply stirred within the fox while his paw reached for the only other furnishing within the small room, a side table at his side. His paw closed about the sleek, normal cell phone then flipped on the touch screen. Darius quickly scrolled down the list of various names from known elements like Juan and Emmet, even Olivia, to less distinguishable ones. Finally his eyes paused on one he hadn’t seen in a long time: Ris.

Scattered bits of ancient history flickered within his mind. Hell, a little girl with brown hair and ember eyes which were now bright blue, followed by the rest of two hundred years skirted into focus as he sighed softly. His claw pressed the number followed by the call button. Then he rested it near his large ear to listen, half expected the comfort of her young voice to answer in a familiarity he enjoyed.

Aeris, having decided to wear knee-length black skirt, and a long-sleeve black shirt, tied her waist-length brown hair back into a ponytail. Just as she adjusted the tightness of the band that held her hair, her phone rang with a familiar ringtone. To her surprise, she picked up the phone to see a name that caused her to smile. Darius. The demon fox had been a friend to her even when she was still with Szayeis, and had somewhat been like a father to her.

As the vampire slid her finger across the screen to answer the call, she brought the phone up to her ear. "Darius? What a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?" Her soft, and melodic voice spoke, happiness evident in her tone. It had been a long while since he had actually called her, but she didn't mind. The fox was a prominant figure in her life, and even if they didn't interact constantly, as long as they did sometimes, she wouldn't mind.

While she awaited his answer, she moved around to the side of the bed, sitting down.

A slight smirk twitched on Darius’s muzzle easily at hearing Aeris, or as she sometimes preferred, Ris, answered the phone. It had been too long for his liking as even Olivia had commented on missing the young vampire. The moment his mind had skimmed over his adopted daughter, his mood quickly faded and blackened into anger. Slowly he closed his eyes. His mental restrains refined and tightened on his emotions while he kept his tone even. As much as he rather reminisced with young Aeris, now wasn’t the time. Besides, if the vampire had known he put off finding Olivia for a chit chat then she would likely rival him in his hatred, though more for him then the situation. The several seconds of no response was a key clue something serious was coming. Not a normal, average call checking up on her search or well-being.

“I wished this was a pleasant call, Aeris. I really do since it has been too long. However, I regret to say it is not. I need your assistance with an important task, are you up to it?” He asked, trying to keep the worry and frustration out of his tone. She didn’t provoke him, this creaturewho he had yet to know full. However, no matter what, he will pay.

Aeris listened to the silence on the other end of the line, and started to tense up. Before she could question him, Darius' voice perked up, and asked her a question. The doll nodded, "Of course Darius, whatever you need. What's happened?"

“Olivia’s been kidnapped.” Came Darius’s simple words, anything farther was halted to gage her reaction.

Aeris blinked, as she tried to process the fox's words. "I'm sorry... what?" She felt her blood starting to boil ever so slightly, and the blue in her eyes quickly flashed to purple.

“Aeris, I know I don’t need to repeat myself. You heard correctly. Olivia’s been kidnapped by someone, nameless currently, and requires me to retrieve someone of his. A woman, named Mary. According to him, she’s being housed within the Academy where they teach new musicians. This makes things complex and while I contact the Academy’s principle and a business connection, I’m hoping you’re close by. I have three weeks, however I had to end up locking up Emmet to prevent him from either getting himself or Olivia killed.” He breathed. His eyes still stared into the coffin as if he could see past the marble. A slight sorrow edged into his voice for a moment then faded while he continued to speak. “I had to bleed him Aeris. I didn’t want to but it was needed, can you understand that?”

The vampire listened as a look that could only be described as ice cold understanding took root on her features. She listened as Darius explained, and nodded silently. "Yes, Darius, I understand. It's for their protection, something you'll never have to explain to me. You'll be somewhat comforted to hear, hopefully, that I'm actually at the Academy. I'm to be a teacher here. So, that might make things easier for us." Aeris paused, waiting for the demon's response with a form of dread knotting itself in her stomach. Who had Olivia? And why did they need this Mary person? She didn't feel right giving someone who could be an innocent over to this person who, right now, was obviously malicious. However, to protect Olivia, she'd likely have done anything.

“It’s easier with you then Emmet, I’m afraid. As for your location, I’m rather pleased. Maybe you could do me a favor as well? Tell Hazumi and Lily I’ll be arriving between morning and early afternoon tomorrow and it’s about an urgent matter concerning one of their students. One thing this man never covered, a loop hole I intend to use to my benefit, was that he never said I was supposed to keep my muzzle shut.” Darius’s tone sounded slightly sly in its tone, filled with some hope. He decided to also inform his second daughter of anything he had discovered about her lost brother, Mairyell, though he had honestly hadn’t enough to collect the tidbit he’d gain together.

“I’m very grateful, young Aeris. As to show it, I have some information about your brother. Sadly, I’ve not sat down and collected it altogether from my sources so I can’t give you much at this time. However I can tell you the general information. He’s considered a rather righteous hunter and mercenary who’s power’s been rumored to be around warden class. Though exact measurement is impossible as normal with most creatures. Still trying to locate him, I’m afraid Aeris.”

Aeris smiled, as she would have had she been face to face with the fox. "Will do, Darius." When he started to mention her brother, Aeris' voice grew warmer in its melody. "Actually, I found him today. He had another matter to attend to, but we should be meeting up again soon. It might be a good idea for me to enlist him to help us. What do you think?"

"Spendid, it's fortunate someone is having some luck. Maybe having your brother around might help in the endeavor. Also, keep in mind the individual who took her has already murder the groundskeeper at her school, I supect right in front of her, and Hank. I don't have to tell you how important this is, he has already made it clear he will torture Olivia unless I deliver so let's hope Hazumi's willing to listen." Darius said, accepting Aeris's brother being brought into the fold though he wished it was otherwise. He trusted Aeris more, having known her better, and though she seemed to have steel confidence in him, Darius didn't. However he easily hid that fact from the young girl.

"I'll try to reason with her, I promise." The vampire looked around her room for a moment and sighed. "Darius, I'm going to go look for Hazumi now, I'll call you when and if anything develops from my talk with her. I'll also let her know you'll be here tomorrow. Good-bye, and be careful." With that, the girl hung up having heard the fox bid her farewell and good luck. Aeris clutched her phone tightly in her hands, an almost feral growl having left her lips as she rose to head out of her room. The first place she was going to check was the ballroom.

[yoshua171]

Mairyell - Sanguine
Loom - Evening

His wing carrying him from Solus' mansion towards the Academy, Mairyell considered the events that had happened today. Quite a few, he mused. He'd discovered some things he'd not have believed if anyone except Solus had been the source. Shaking his head as he swooped low and then soared high once more, enjoying the air flying past him. Then something odd happened, he felt something coming, but didn't smell anyone nearby. Landing on a building mere blocks away from the Academy, and thus his sister, Mairyell glanced around suspiciously.

Then it happened, something nostalgic, or perhaps annoyingly familiar.

A phone appeared. Feeling no malignant or harmful essence from it, Mairyell took hold and pressed it to his ear. Well, whomever this is went through some effort to get this to me, so might as well liste- his thought froze partway through as he heard the voice on the other end pipe up.

“My dear little vampire! I know it’s been a long time, too long in fact, since we’ve had contact, but at least I haven’t had to go get new help again!" His jaw locked, but he continued to listen, "Do you know how hard it is to find a werewolf and turn it into an ascended werewolf without killing it? I don’t think you do. Hans took me years to find, and then you just killed him as easy as you pleased." Hans, yeah he remembered that name, he'd been the first ascended demon he'd killed. It had been easy, almost too easy, to end his life. He'd been protecting someone...that was the day he'd lost Aeris and he remembered not wanting to lose anyone else. He'd clung to the idea of any companionship. It had been the day that he started to change. "Regardless, that’s all water under the bridge. I’ve been watching you these last two hundred years, when my experiments on Mary permitted me too that is, and I’m sooo pleased you’ve become a goody little two shoes defender of the weak. I have a request, a demand really, that should be right up your alley with the whole ‘defend those who cannot defend themselves’ thing."

He suppressed a growl, remembering Mary, the girl he'd been protecting. He'd only done part of the job...Solus had done the rest. "You see, I finally got Mary. Took me a little portal tweaking, but I got her. I got my research done in the two hundred years, etc. Then I lost her again, and I can’t get her again, because she’s gone to the Academy." Eyes widening slightly at the fact that the girl had survived for the last two hundred years, despite being both unable to fight, and a plain human with no magical talent, Mairyell looked at the Academy, but the voice continued. "You know, that new place where humans can actually become a threat to Angels and Demons without being turned into monsters like you! Anyways, so I grabbed another girl, named Olivia Matthews. She’s only about, hmm, twelve I think. And I’ll be forced to experiment on her, in a very painful and mind breaking fashion, unless I get Mary back. Mary isn’t quite finished, you see. I want to avoid the whole mess of experimenting on Olivia, and then sending the recordings of her screams and pleading and begging to you, so if you could kindly go grab Mary and then deliver her to Loom, calling me on this phone when you do so, that’d be great! I’ll even give Olivia back to her loved ones!”

Mairyell felt his breathing shorten somewhat and as the man hung up, he closed the phone, pushing it into his back pocket.

His eyes were crimson, but a smile was on his lips. "You know, it's funny how old acquaintances resurge. First I find out about Szayeis, and now good ol' Sir makes contact." He chuckled to himself, exhaling sharply, noticing a small amount of his blood exuding from his arm. Clenching his fist he reabsorbed it, he needed to talk to Aeris first. Then he could finally track the bastard down and fulfill his promise. It'd been a long time, but he hadn't forgotten.

Not a single word. Crouching, the vampire readied his wings and sprung back into the air, heading for the Academy to meet his sister. After that it'd be hunting time, and oh would it be interesting. He'd heard that Sir was a demonic lord, though with no land and few servants by comparison. Perhaps he'd contacted Solus as well, if so the man was an idiot. Hell, even if he'd just contacted him, he was obviously insane.

Mairyell had his scent. It had been 200 years, but Mairyell never forgot a scent...and he hadn't forgotten his promise.

He would kill Sir. The only real questions were when...and how.

---

Arriving at the Academy, Mairyell tracked Aeris' towards a portion that he figured were the dorms, or perhaps staff accommodations. He was about to knock when the door opened. Looking slightly surprised as Aeris practically walked into him, he instinctually took a half step back, with one foot, to brace himself. Seemed she'd been eager to see him, or maybe just too absentminded to have noticed his presence right outside her door. Nonetheless he decided to give her a hug.

Why not? They hadn't seen eachother since earlier that day, and before that 200 years ago. A hug felt nice.

Too bad he had other, less pleasant, matters to speak to her with....

Afterall, the wheels had begun to turn once more and the sped up...faster and faster.

Who knows what could happen.

[Celaira]

Unforeseen Consequences

Academy--Late Afternoon/Early Evening
Collab between: Fallen, Yoshua, and Celaira

After opening the door to her room, and stepping out, Aeris felt herself hit something relatively sturdy. Just as she was looking up to see what it was, arms wrapped around her, gently enveloping her in their warmth. She almost growled, until she realized that it was Mairyell. She'd been so focused on going to talk to Hazumi she hadn't even felt his presence. A moment passed before she finally hugged him back, her grip a little tighter than his. This was the second time today she'd lost someone important to her. However, this person wasn't dead, and if the vampire had anything to say about that would not happen.

"Mai..." She croaked out quietly, her arms tightening a little as she spoke. It was then she felt Lisara's mind perk at the smell of a similar essence to her own. The Hell hound was waking up, and clearly visible from the doorway.

Aeris? What's going on? The beast questioned inside her mind, unaware that she might be tapping into someone else's as well.

Nothing, Lisara, I'll be back. With that thought, Little Kasio grabbed her brother's hand and simultaneously shut the door to her dorm room, gently tugging him down the hallway. "We need to find Hazumi." She said simply, a tinge of anger obvious in her voice.

Feeling her cling somewhat and squeezing in response. Besides the clean scent of his sister, which he could not help but notice Mairyell's nose notified him of a nearby demon, the scent was coming from Aeris' room and internally an eyebrow raised. Then that very demon peaked through the crack in the door. It appeared to be some sort of utterly massive wolf or dog, and from the smell he guessed it was some breed of hellhound.

Soon after the hound showed its interest, Aeris disengaged and quickly shut the door in the demon's face. Mairyell made an effort not to react as if he'd seen the demon. It seemed like she didn't want him to know and while part of him really wanted to tease her about it, the rest of him was too kind and tremulous to really do it. Baby steps, he told himself, he could tease her later, as it seemed they had more important things to take care of.

Wait, why did they need to see Hazumi? Something clicked in his mind as he was dragged along by his younger sister. "Wait, why exactly?" he queried, following after her, but decreasing his pace so as to force her to do so as well. He raised an eyebrow, "What's got you in such a rush anyways?"

Perhaps she'd gotten the call too, and if so he had to ask why. She hadn't really known Sir...right?

It suddenly occurred to him that she could've been doing any manner of dubious things in the 200 years they'd been apart.

It bothered him. Especially since it probably meant he'd probably never gotten to scare off the first bloke to try his hand at wooing her. The thought caused him to curse fate silently. So many missed opportunities to make her feel awkward too...well, he could always start now, right?

Then again, it hardly seemed like the time for him to be trying to make his sister feel awkward.

Yeah, he'd have to hold off on that for maybe another few hours...or a week. It all depended on mood and circumstance really.

He again cursed fate at the annoying circumstances he currently found himself in.

It was troublesome because she had always been rather amusing to watch get embarassed, even though he'd only seen her in such a state several times. He recalled it being...cute? Yeah...that. Anyways, what was going on again, oh yeah I was waiting for her to explain why we're suddenly in a hurry.

They were halfway through the courtyard when her brother slowed down, forcing her to as well. When his voice perked up in question, Aeris came to a full stop, turning around to face him. Rage burned in her eyes, though not directed at him, and she couldn't help but growl as she opened her mouth to speak, purple starting to weave its way through her blue irises. "A girl that was like a little sister to me was kidnapped tonight. I plan to get her back. However, to do that, I need to talk to Hazumi. Apparently, the bastard that has her wants a girl named Mary. I don't know what her father has planned, but I doubt he'll let that girl get hurt either. Not while I'm involved." The vampire stared at Mairyell for a long few moments, waiting for his reply.

While she waited, her mind darted between Olivia, to Darius, to Mairyell, and finally came to rest on their past. She remembered being kidnapped, and wondered if this is how he felt when he had lost her. The question burned in her throat, but she dare not ask it. Thus, she simply stood their silently, listening to the various sounds going on in the courtyard.

As she explained, a frown formed on the vampire's face and his brow screwed up in thought as his mind snapped into focus, the stray ponderings vanishing altogether. How in the hell did she know about this? Surely Sir hadn't called her. Then who?

"Well, fancy that," he begun, letting out a long sigh, and then gritting the teeth on the right side of his jaw a bit. "Seems we got similar messages. I presume Olivia is the one you're referring to," he rubbed his hand over the center of his forehead and then back down over his eye, letting out an annoyed sigh. "Fucking figures..." he didn't clarify, but he was plainly very annoyed.

Meeting her rage filled eyes made him recall that terrible day again and so he strode up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll help, I'm involved anyways. Should've killed that bastard 200 years ago..." he then gestured before them, motioning for her to lead on.

The doll looked at her brother, and for the first time in 200 years, she resembled her old self somewhat. In the way that, her eyes held immense gratitude and love for her older sibling. "Thank you, Mai. Thank you so much." She spoke softly, the purple in her eyes receding for the moment. She would save up her rage for the pinnacle of it. After a moment, she began to lead the way, once more pulling him by the hand. Though, instead of walking in front of him, she matched his pace and strode side-by-side with him.

"How do you even know this guy, big brother?" She asked curiously, her head tilting the side as she looked at him, opening the door to the building that would lead them to the ballroom.

Nodding with a light smile, though not quite a weak one, Mairyell watched as she matched his pace, less in a hurry now. However, when her question hit his ears, he swallowed hard and his eyes did their best to look anywhere except at her. His jaw locked and set in place showing the tension in his nerves.

He, for a third time, was forced to remember that day. "That guy...or rather Sir, is the same one who killed Mary's father all those years ago. That's why she was alone and on the run through that alley when we found her--..." his eyes turned to Aeris, as he was interrupted.

"Wait, wait. Who are you talking about? I don't remember--" Her speech was interrupted by a flood of short memories, and she blinked in confusion. "--Wasn't that girl human? I don't understand, shouldn't she be dead?"

Mairyell's teeth gritted slightly, his head nodding. "Yeah...she was human," he stated, his eyes avoiding her face again. "However, um...well, sometime after your kidnapping," he took a sharp breath and exhaled slowly, notable anger disipating from his eyes as they briefly flashed red before shifting back to a calmer purple.

"...Caeldrin was taken by some cheeky bastard, after which two vampires showed up." The tension in his jaw only increased as his eyes hardened slightly. This particular part of his past was a harsh reminder of his weakness back then. His lack of temperance, something he'd worked on in excess ever since. He cleared his throat, his words strangled before he could speak them.

Aeris paused midstep, "Caeldrin was what?" She figured they weren't bonded anymore, but she wasn't sure. Last she knew, Cael was 200 years old already, did he die? What happened to him? It had been so long since she'd actually thought about the angel that she'd almost completely forgotten him. He wasn't that badm and definitely deserved to be remembered.

After a long moment of silence he spoke up again, "Let's just say they, and--...."

Aeris, seeing her brother utterly distressed, spoke up, "Bro, stop. You don't have to tell me. I'm sorry I asked."

He frowned in response, gritting his teeth slightly before sighing. "...all you need to know is they did something terrible to her. If not for Solus, she would have certainly died." His eyes then cast their gaze downwards, looking at the ground. He'd thought he was over this, but it seemed that even with her back safely at his side he couldn't quite forgive his powerlessness back then.

It made him curse his memory somewhat. If only he had forgotten. Then again, he'd have forgotten his time with her too...and that would've hurt even more than remembering. Or at least that's what he thought.

Aeris squeezed his hand gently leaning into him to show him she was there, and he could depend on her in a manner of speaking. She didn't like seeing him so disturbed, and she genuinely felt bad for bringing up such painful memories for him. Part of her wondered if it had truly been a good thing that she had found him. Another, more sensible part of her knew, however, that he needed to move past all those things in their entirety. Especially if he ever hoped to actually be able to digest what happened to her.

The doll guided her brother down the hall toward the ballroom, which was still very much alight with music. After a moment, Aeris blinked, and looked down at her left wrist, realizing she had forgotten something. "Oh my god, Mai. We may not need Hazumi. I need to call someone, but," After a short pause, she unclasped an obviously handmade bracelet from her wrist, that was hidden by her sleeve, and handed it to Mairyell. "This should have Olivia's Essence on it." With that, Aeris turned from her brother and pulled out her phone quickly calling Darius. "Come on... come on... Pick up."

Feeling her hand's warmth helped a bit and he finally looked at her, smiling gratefully, though the smile was a bit weak. "Thanks..." he muttered, squeezing back before letting go and continuing onwards.

As they entered the building once more, Mairyell heard, and felt, the overwhelming energy of their destination. With the music hitting his ears, Mairyell peered down the hall at the ballroom door and tilted his head slightly. There was a lot of essence in there. Luckily, Aeris stopped right before they entered, appearing to have realized something as she glanced at her wrist and unfastened something.

Before he could ask questions, she plopped the thing into his hand, which he raised so he could look over the thing. As she made a call a somewhat wicked smile spread across his lips. Sir was going to get it, and oh was he going to regret his decisions dearly.

Holding the bracelet up to his face, he took a long draw of its scent, his eyes closing as he did so. His teeth briefly became as sharp as knives before returning to their normal state--somehting of a reflex really. The scent was a bit aged, but not so much that it made any real difference. This brought a strange look into the vampire's eyes.

The look would reveal something to Aeris--if she was paying attention--it would reveal the hunter in him. The part of him that, two hundred years ago, he had rejected adamently. Now he embraced it, knowing its usefulness. "Hurry that up, I know where she is, and I intend to catch this bastard's lackies red fucking handed, if you catch my meaning," his eyes were alight with something akin to excitement and bloodlust.

Still, it was apparent that he was very much in control and would remain as such for a long time. Oh man was this going to be priceless. First they'd snatch victory right from Sir's arrogant, conceited grasp, and then he'd make sure to snatch away his pitiful excuse for a life as well.

He'd make it last though. Mary deserved that much, even if he hadn't ever liked her too much. No one deserved what she'd been through, just as Aeris and him hadn't deserved their lot in life.

Darius's cell vibrated as he was about to retire, his golden eyes snapping to the small item and brief confusion washed over his features. For a moment, he considered just leaving it, letting the voicemail record the message for the morning. However he brushed away that thought when he reached out his arm to answer it. He noted the name, adding more unease into his chest, when he flicked his claw and answered.

"Yes, Ris? What was Hazumi's word on the matter?" He assumed the reason was about the woman he had earlier discussed with her.

"Darius!" Aeris chirped excitedly into the phone. "I know a way to get to Olivia without having to involve anyone else," Little Kasio paused for a moment, looking at her brother's face in a mild bit of confusion before hastily continuing. "My brother actually showed up shortly after you called me the first time. We were on our way to talk to Hazumi, when I remembered, Mairyell can track anyone with the tiniest bit of their essence." She smiled as she continued. "And, I just so happen to always have the bracelet Olivia made for me on. He's already traced her scent. With your permission we could track her and have her back to you without Sir even knowing what hit him." After her splurge of excitment died down, the vampire listened for the fox's reply, still partly staring at her brother, with a goofy sort of admiring look on her face, excitement obvious in her voice and body language.

Darius listened in utter silence. Already, his mind was ticking in a fashion he was taught long ago, weighing the odds against both failure and success. Mostly it eliminated any farther need to call in anymore favors, including threatening to rip away his connection with the Academy which would've been more harmful to him in the end then done anyone any good. It was in his nature to keep balance unlike some of his kind. His time with Szayeis had given him enough chaos in his life, enough to last him for many in fact, and though he still worried, it had faded slightly with the passing time. Time to take a risk.

He inhaled then answered Ris, "Very well, but ensure Olivia's safety first above anything else. Please, Ris, if this doesn't work then I believe Olivia will pay the price. I have little doubt this man will hurt her and even I have my limits to what I can heal."

Naturally by heal, he was referring to himself. Bones, muscle and fur was easy. His heart, no matter how jaded and black it might've become over the last hundred years, wasn't.

Aeris listened calmly to the silence on the other end of the line, waiting for the yay or nay verdict. When he told her it would be okay, she nodded. "Darius, I swear to you, no one is going to touch Olivia as long as I'm there. Her safety is my number one priority. My brother can handle himself, so I don't have to worry about him, and I'll use the utmost caution when getting her. Nothing will happen to your daughter, and if, by some horrible chance it does... Well, I'll be going down with her." Aeris' voice was resolute in her words. Absolutely no one was going to hurt Olivia. She would rather die than see that happen.

"Thank you, Ris. Though it's best if you both aim to come back. I would hate to have to peel this man's hide back and lay it to dry in the sun. Leaving his still living corpse out in Hell's Wilds for the feral kitsune." Darius's tone was steady with an undertone of ice glistening in each syllable. It was rare his emotions, at least his darker ones, showed in his voice. "He will regret threatening my family..."

Having fully ascertained the quickest way to get to Olivia, Mairyell was looking out a window at the gradually falling sun. The clouds held light oranges and purples all ready. Then he heard it, causing his head to almost snap around. The phrase partially killed the fun, though not entirely...to his great relief. He was, nonetheless, giving her a somewhat worried look, though the predatory look remained obvious in his body language.

It seemed her family had expanded since they'd last seen each other, and he knew he would've said the same thing in regards to her--even if she would've hated and missed him for it. He couldn't entirely blame her, so after a moment he shook his head and turned away, trying to banish the thought of her death from his mind.

Simply put, he wouldn't allow it.

Aeris smiled warmly at Darius' response, "Don't worry. I always aim to come back, Darius. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst." She made a strange sort of purring noise in her throat, a sound meaning to comfort him. "I love her too, Darius. The man that did this will pay, but, you need to calm down. In this sort of situation, if you're not calm, you know what happens." The vampire paused for a moment, catching her brother's eyes. She reached toward him and squeezed his hand. "We're gonna get going. When we have her, we'll make sure she calls you. I'll talk to you soon Darius. I promise."

Darius's grip tightened...then released, his grip flexed back into a more lax hold. His ear caught the purr, a memory took a second to flick across his mind and he inhaled slowly. His eyes closed again realizing since his time on the surface, he had gotten less cold and far more emotional then he should've been. He almost chuckled to think how much he would've disappointed a few individuals to see him acting so...human. "The risk is too great Ris. I hope I don't regret it, the price is far too high for my tastes, not just Olivia but yours as well. Good luck and make a message out of the one who took her about messing with our loved ones..."

With that, he hung up allowing Aeris to accomplish her goal. However, it was unlikely he was going to get any sleep tonight as he settled back into the chair once more.

Aeris nodded, "If they manage to survive what I'm going to do to them, the only thing they'll be able to do is tell their master who not to fuck with." Once Darius hung up there was a familiar dull tone in her ear, signalling the call was gone. The vampire locked her phone and looked at her brother, her wings forming on her back slowly. "Lead the way, Mai. We've got a job to do." Her voice was cold, and her eyes... her eyes were even colder.

Hearing her last statement on the phone made him think, what had Szayeis done to her all those years ago. Part of him wondered, the other part dreaded the knowledge.

Nonetheless both halves knew one thing, he'd have to find out eventually.

Pushing the thoughts aside like he had the others, Mairyell nodded, patting her shoulder lightly, the warmth of her hand still warming his before they headed back out into the courtyard. He briefly glanced at her before he turned in the direction of Kenan and his crimson wings emerged from his back. He knew he didn't have to ask her if she was ready, he just needed to fly fast enough that she didn't pass him.

So he bent his knees, took a deep calming breath, his muscles coiling almost like springs as his bodily functions sped up, blood rushing, Brisn pumping, and then his wings rose up.

Boom! The sound of his wings slamming the air down into the ground was tremendous and the force of his legs and wings pushing him from the ground simultaneously left a rough dent in the courtyard. He had blasted almost twenty yards into the air with just the first thundering flap.

He intended to make record time to Kenan on this run. Hopefully it'd be the last one today, he'd been back and forth once already. Still, that hardly mattered, he was on the hunt now, and his eyes lit up--the red coming forth a bit more than normal.

As her brother took off, a small admiring whistle left her lips as she pushed herself off the ground in record speed using her levitation and small wings to catch up to her brother's breakneck pace. Glancing at him, she smiled. However, this smile was dark, and only lasted for an instant, almost like a ghost.

The things she would do to the person who had Olivia. Oh, this would be fun~.

Out of the corner of his eye he noted her smile, despite its brief nature, but with his mind in the hold of excitement and his body suffused with adrenaline it did not entirely register. Still, in his subconscious some warning flares went off, too bad they went unheeded.

Or perhaps it was for the best, regardless...the hunt was on.

[Lucius Cypher]

Noel Yang and Olivia Matthews / Evening / Commercial Hotel in Kenan

”Hu~”

It’s been about a month or so since Noel had contacted the academy. Finished with his “Deep Undercover” mission, he decided to drop a call to let them know that he’s active. He has taken a few jobs since than to hunt down renegades, though more often than not he simply “Neutralizes” them. That is to say, he doesn’t really kill them. He’s been able to work out deals with most of them to fake their own demises, or at least attempt to “Kill” them in such a way that it would be “near impossible” for them to survive, though he made the events in such a way that they do. As for why he did this? He wasn’t much of a killer. Not really much of a fighter either. But talking, he could do that. He talked to just about everyone that didn’t immediately try to put a blade into his chest. And as it turned out, everyone has something to say about their predicament. And Noel lent his ear, got their side of the story, and for better or for worse tried to work things out with them. For the most part it worked well… But in the long run, Noel wasn’t sure what his actions would do.

”Nnn…”

Noel was in Kenan. He was given a few leads about renegades hiding in the area, about as dangerous and dastardly as the reports usually were. While he wasn’t exactly expecting them to be woobies, Noel was of course going to try to approach them peacefully. The effects of Hibiki were usually useful in this regard, and throw in some illusion magic and he could at least pretend everything was okay. But Noel’s half-hearted search gave way to his true thoughts on the matter; this bored him. Or rather, it felt repetitive. The reason he kept talking to his targets was just for their company. Often he would try to get them to join him, however they’re so desperate to escape their past that all Noel can do is send them off before heading their separate ways. He wanted to do something to change that. To make some friends, people he could hang out with during jobs like this. Something to look forward to when he finished a job.

Walking around the empty streets, only the light tapping of his staff on the ground gave away his presence. He wasn’t sure where he was at exactly, and last he checked the only lead he had was that a renegade was taking residence up in one of the unoccupied houses in the neighborhood. Now which house that was, he’ll have to figure out through old trial and error. This was one of those boring tedious things that was easier to do with a friend, but Noel simply sucked it up and began to look for which houses seem abandoned.

His search quickly took an interesting turn when he heard something crash in the distance. The shattering of glass and wood told him it was some sort of display case, perhaps a cabinet. Sensing danger was afoot; Noel went to investigate the noise. He found a house that was eerily unkempt, but otherwise seemed normal. But upon closer examination, the windows were covered by what appeared to be thick spider webs. ”Alright, this is definitely the work of something.” Noel heard a muffled shouting and knew that he had to do something. Taking a few steps back he gripped his staff with both hands. First he’ll need to break through the glass panel, and then use his blade to cut the webbing. Hopefully he could get in before he’s too late. Bracing himself, Noel charged the window, stabbing his staff through the glass. It broke strait through the panel and even punctured the web. Pulling his staff back he knocked away the rest of the glass bits before dropping his staff to pull out his kukri. He began to hack away at the web, slowly but surely cutting it clear.

Olivia had trouble, naturally, removing the sticky webs. They cling to the glass and frame like hot, sticky cotton candy. The very type found under the bleacher seat when the park grounds and seemed to never let go without leaving plenty behind, the tearing and peeling only made hard with the use of only one arm. Her other was thickly casted, stiffened into a hard shell and almost impossible to move anything but her fingers. Olivia’s suspected any attempts would’ve likely left her stuck to the window rather than aid her task to freedom. Frustration seemed to send her heart into her throat where it sounded tried to throttle her, her breathing shallow made worse by her continual screaming.

“H-help me, s-s-someone, please! I’m trapped!” Her voice made pitiful cries, sobbing almost, between her words. Her throat had started to feel rather raw with the endless screams. The sounds seemed muffled and unable to reach the outside, leaving her hopelessly trapped.

Every few pauses she spied a glimpse back at the cabinet, expecting to see the woman rise and casually walk to her. Pull her back, then undo the pitiful progress she had made once more trapping her within the musty room. Olivia whimpered at the thought and redoubled her effort. She was jerking at a particularly thick thread when she heard the muffled sound of the glass breaking, the wedding pushed inward caused her to step back as the sounds of ripping came. It stressed to keep the unknown intruder out yet in the end, the blade had finally created a slit in the white barrier. Hope had built within Olivia’s chest, faint at first then stronger until it filled her very core, before a thought crossed her mind. What if the man or woman behind that thin veil was no better? A flicker of fear edged into her eyes when the webbing was finally pulled apart and revealed the intruder, a young man dressed in what she classed as a foreign fashion like some primal culture, (than again, her own generation’s fashion was pretty outrageous even for her) and black hair.

Unsure of his motives, Olivia edged forward while her fingers fiddled with her skirt edges in a pitiful attempt to calm her. She was clearly scared shitless as she struggled to pour strength into her tone, failing miserably. Then she spoke. “W-who are you? A-a-are you with her?”

She managed to point to the woman trapped under the cabinet, the frame cracked and glass scattered across the floor.

Noel hacked away at what was left of both the glass and the sticky substance behind it, seeing a frighten young woman beyond the window. Noel flashed a friendly smile at her as she, in a soft but certainly panicking tone, asked who he was and if he was with "Her". "Her", Noel presumed, being some person causing the girl distress. Noel guessed kidnapping, though perhaps it was just a surly mother. He didn't know, he just knew he had to get this girl somewhere safe that was not here. He looked in the direction that the girl was pointing to and saw the overturned cabinet, likely the source of the noise from before, and some figure underneath it. He really was going to need to get the full story later, but right now there were more immediate concerns.

"Noel Nightly, nice to meet you. I don't know about this 'her', but I do know that I need to get you out of there! Take my hand!" Noel extended his hand into the window for the girl to grab onto. He than noticed that her hand arm seemed to be wrapped up in a crude cast. Either she had a broken arm, or whatever that sticky substance was has also latched onto her arm. This told Noel that this was no mere kidnapping. Magic was at work here, and it may even have something to do with the renegade he's after. Sheathing his blade Noel extended his other arm into the window as well, to further assist in pulling the girl out to safety.

Slowly Olivia walked back to the window. Her shoes, put on by Ashley, crunched against the hard bits creating a crackling sound with each step until she stopped at the frame's edge.She swallowed her fear, slightly relieved this man wasn't with her kidnapper. When he introduced himself she seemed to find her own words. "O-Olivia Matthews. Please, my Uncle and brother will be worried. I need to let them know I'm alright and I think.. I think I might've killed her. "

The last bit came out into a slight sob, clearly upset at the thought. She continued to ramble unable to stop while he lifted her up and out, her free hand mindful of her skirt wary of the glass still crusted on the frame work she stepped on. "I don't know where I'm at anymore, nothing looks familiar or anything. I just want to get away from here."

She hissed slightly when he placed her down on her feet just outside the window, her body still hurt and throbbed from her earlier fall, as she seemed to breath easier once out. She was pretty sure there was bumps and bruises all over though while she took hold of Noel's sleeve, immediately regretting it as she forgotten her glove was gone. Her body stiffened and trembled, her fingers curled tighter against Noel's arm while her eyes took on a faint bluish white tint. For a long moment her breath seemed to have been held until finally Noel released her. Then she blinked, slightly surprised while she looked harder at him.

"Do you make it a habit to walk everywhere?" She blurted out.

Noel helped the girl to her feet. "Olivia Matthews huh? Well don't you worry, everything should be fine. Now, let's get out of here before things get too crazy." Noel held onto the girl as she stumbled. She was likely injured if the cast wasn't merely meant to impede her ability to escape. Once the girl was stable Noel let her stand on her own, though she shot a very strange question. "Yeah. I take the scenic route. Now let's go, I know of a place we could lay low." Picking up his staff Noel lead Olivia away from the house. He and Olivia went as fast as they could in short bursts until Noel took her to a fairly busy city area. It looked like a downtown ghetto, but all in all it was a fairly safe place, if low income.

Noel took Olivia into a dive bar called "Blue Balled". It looked clean enough, but the lack of patrons and general inactivities made it clear that this wasn't the most visited pub in the city. Which was good, because Noel figured Olivia needed to be somewhere where no one would look for her. Noel talked to the barkeep around taking up a private booth, which he only gave a meek grunt of acceptance. He seemed much to enamored about the news to really care that Noel just came in with a young girl with a cast around her arm.

The room that Noel and Olivia were in looked like some sort of karaoke booth, albeit without the karaoke machine, just a table and dim lighting. "Alright, we should be safe here for now. What can you tell me about that cast? Is your arm broken?"

Olivia held her arm close to her side, careful not to touch anything, her eyes wide like a frightened and unsure child. She kept her body close to the man out of fear she might lose him though the odds were pretty much impossible. While the man, Noel she recalled, talked to the barkeeper, a heavy set and dumpy looking man watching the small tv in the bar corner, she absorbed the rather crappy looking surroundings. It was very different from the Rabid Dog club she often spent her birthdays at as she bite her lip, wondering if this was the right thing to do. What would her brother do?

She almost smirked at the image that popped into her mind. Her brother's mouth turned into a worry, but mad expression while he scolded her then tugged her back to his apartment. It was unlikely she would be returning to Darius's mansion since neither seemed to look each other. She never really understood that but wisely didn't pry. One thing EZ hated was her questions about his job, lifestyle, and anything deeply personal. Including and specially Zi, he seemed to become rather defensive on. Her thoughts were broken when Noel moved toward the booth, her body gingerly and clumsily slid into a seat and across the plastic seating until she was facing Noel. He naturally started in with two important questions, one was about her cast then the other about her arm, namely if it was broken. She had kept her other hand squarely in her lap. Mainly to avoid contact with any items or their history. She hated her magic at times like this because it made her wish she was in a bubble, outside every thing despite how lonely it would be, but it wishing was pointless. She took a deep breath.

"I think it's some... sort of webbing? The woman, she told me her name was Ashley, had sprayed it on after I sprang my wrist trying to get away. She arrived at my school and mentioned she was under strict orders not to be harmed and kept safe, at least until I was traded for someone named Mary. I was...so scared."

Noel nodded his head at Olivia told him a bit of what happened. It was certainly a kidnapping, but also a hostage exchange? What has Noel gotten himself into? But instead of worrying, he merely smiled. Noel took a large, cloth wrapped object off his back and began to undo the knots holding the cloth together. "Alright Olivia, listen to me carefully. First what I need to do is heal your wrist." Noel unwrapped the cloth to reveal Hibiki, his Fragment. It had been quite some time since he had pulled it out, but it was still as perfect as the last time he used it. He put the instrument in his arms and began to play a mellow, slow tune that echoed softly off the rooms wall. Slowly Olivia would notice her wounds, fatigue, and any other physical weakness wear away.

As Noel continued to heal Olivia he continued to talk. "Once your wrist is healed, we'll need to get you out of that cast. I don't think my blade is enough to cut you out and and I'd rather not risk hurting you, so we'll need to find a clinic or somewhere that would have a cast cutting saw. But before we do that, I still have some more questions. Now I'll just ask them, and you can answer them in order, or at least the ones you want to answer." Noel's voice seemed oddly rejuvenating as his Heal Bell, as though it was not only assisting the healing process, but casting a charm onto Olivia. Completely unintentional.

Olivia looked at Noel with a slightly confused expression, her eyes never seen one of the Academy's musician's or them using their instruments before, while she absorbed his words about healing her. How was he going to do that with that thing? She thought, her wariness risen with the unexpected item's appearance. It seemed harmless enough to her yet, even Ashley looked normal if she didn't have the swords or killer glint that screamed crazy. She continued to eye Noel until he set the stringed instrument into his lap and played. It was a slow, gentle melody which quickly lite up Olivia's face. Her tension eased away, her back pushed farther into the seat as the music caused tingling and a pleasant sensation to sink into her spirit. For a moment, she wanted to just listen. Let the music drown her into its beautiful melody until Noel's voice broke the desire's spell and caused her head to snap up, her eyes fixed on him once again.

She nodded her head at his mention about a clinic, namely to get the cast off. "Right, but I don't know my way around here. I couldn't tell you where one is."

"What can you tell me about this Ashley or Mary person? Do you know anyone who would want to kidnap you specifically? Are you related to any powerful person who may have enemies? Demons? Crime bosses? Angels? And this school, what is it called and where is it at? How long have you been kidnapped and where is your home? Are you capable of magic, and if so, how long have you been using it? Did Ashley ever knock you out or put any sort of spells or tracking chips on you? You are wearing the same clothes that you have been since you've been taken, yes? And lastly, where should I take you to make sure you're in safe hands?"

"Slow down, Mr. Give me a moment, please, I'm still rather shaken up by being kidnapped." Olivia said, calmly, while she inhaled then rattled off the answers. "I've no idea who or where they came from, today is the first time I've heard of either name. Ashley seemed to bear no ill will toward me, rather seemed depressed about it, as she didn't hurt me. However she did kill Mr. Findly, our grounds keeper. Related, no, but I was adopted by Darius Cain and currently he helps to keep Kenan enforcement I think. I never really asked and now I wished I had. I was taken just after my school, Kenan’s Private Girl’s School, let out and I can’t tell you how long without knowing the time now. I live with Darius on…”

She gave the address, complete and accurate, as she took a breathe. Then paused at the magic question which she quickly passed over, preferring not to answer at all. “I was out cold after I stumbled over Hank, a guy who Darius often had escort me when my brother couldn’t, as for tracking chips or anything like that I don’t think so. She seemed very sure I didn’t leave so I doubt it. And yes, I’ve been in the same clothes since though I’ve lost my gloves. As for who, I rather go home or back to my brother’s apartment. He was supposed to pick me up and I’m worried.”

Her mouth felt rather dry now, her answers concluded, and her body continued to rest against the booth’s seat.

Noel merely nodded his head as he noted the questions she answered and the ones she didn't. He didn't know enough to tell if she was hiding something, so he had to keep distracting her with more questions. As he continued to play Hibiki and using Heal Bell, he also used his magic to read into her thoughts. "Hmm... Alright than. We'll need to take a car or buss. I want to put as much distance as I can between this Ashley woman and us. Also, you'll need a new change of clothes. Better safe than sorry. I'd imagine that Ashley has some magical abilities, and she may have a scrying spell onto you to be able to find you. I can't dispel any of it, but at least if we get rid of your clothes and get you into something new we can narrow down any possibilities of you being found. Do you have any phones or wallets? You can keep your cash, but just to be safe we should cut up any of your cards to ensure that no one can use those to find you later. Oh! You should try to call this Darius or your brother if you can as well. I think we can use the phone in this bar."

Olivia listened closely, at least as close as the magic influencing her would allow, her expression still fixed in a calm one. This wasn’t so bad. she mildly thought to herself, the most relaxed she had felt in a long time other than in Darius’s or her brother’s care. At the mention of changing her clothes, Olivia blinked and looked down at her current outfit. She did look a little ragged she realized with her skirt crumpled, scuffed up shoes, and slightly bloodied blouse from where she had fallen on Hank’s corpse. She shuddered at the memory and pushed it away, ridding herself of the icy creeping sensation edging over her spin.

Her question came out without meaning to, her voice rather upset and unsure of what Noel had intended to do about her currently outfit. “Are we heading to a Thrift store?”

Then she realized how that must’ve sounded, her mind inwardly cursed herself, while she simply moved on. Everyone, including Darius and Emmet, thought she had recent developed germ phobia because she had a hard time touching things skin to skin. Ironically no one seemed to have noticed it was only her hands which she was most wary of. Out of those she was connected to, Hank seemed to understand the most, namely because his daughter suffered from a heavy cause which made him ideal to care for Olivia. It was hard to believe he was dead. Her eyes lowered for a moment then remembered the other question that still needed an answer. She would deal with the matter of clothes later, being sure to be rather cautious with what she touched, while she popped off the answer to the money question.

“Anything like that, my cellphone, the emergency credit card and what little cash I had were within my bag. Which was left behind. I didn’t see it in the room, or likely the woman got rid of it or hid it somewhere.” Olivia sighed, feeling annoyed with herself for not looking harder. Then her head perked up, a warm smile crossed her face, at the thought of calling Darius or Emmet. The latter’s number sadly not memorized as it had changed several times over the last month or two. “I remember Darius’s number.”

During Noel's tirade he used his telepathy magic to read into Olivias mind. She had notably chosen not to answer him about her magic, and he wondered if it was because she didn't know what her abilities were, or she didn't want Noel to know. But she was hiding something, that much he knew. He only got in deep enough into her thoughts to know that her magic is based on physical contact, which may be why she asked that strange question. If he had to guess, she probably had some advance form of telepathy, mind reading, though it is so untempered that she could only get random thoughts. When she touched him she likely just saw Noel memories of walking, which would explain why she asked why he walks everywhere. When he had another chance, like when she's asleep, he'll look more into it. For now, time to leave.

"Come on, let's go take a call."

Olivia nodded in agreement. Her body turned sideways and walked on her knees out of the booth, its seat sticking to the caps with each inching step while she leaned her elbow against the table to keep her upright. It was a pleasant thought to realize she was still smiling even when Noel stopped playing his instrument, her body kept close by.

"Alright, thank you.”


While Noel lead her to the bar phone and her eyes roamed like a frighten mouse, partly scared Ashley would immediately enter or hope to see someone familiar. A faint hope her brother or Darius had finally tracked her down, eager to have her home safe and sound, was all she had left to cling to. To keep sane after feeling the mental roller coaster that was her magic being used far too many times then she wanted. It was little surprise that a demon had taken note of her curiosity then flashed a rather toothy, hungry smile. Her instinct took a step closer to Noel, her head jerked to the front, hoping the bar customer wouldn’t get any ideas. However her neck hairs still danced from the demon’s eyes watching her all the way to the phone.

Again, so use to having her gloves on at literally all times, Olivia reached out for the phone. She had been about to turn back to Noel when the contact sparked her magic. Her body tensed just before her knees gave out, likely hitting the floor and her head if she wasn’t caught. Fingers tightened about the phone in an iron grip, her eyes rolled into the back of her head while the girl’s body shook and twitched. Immediately the memory flowed into her. One of violence and bloodshed.

It was night within the bar, the customers all gone save for one. A man, his haggard appearance slumped over the bar counter with a bourbon shot within his grasp before he tilted it back for another long draft. His coat was in need of patching and mending from numerous tears like she had seen on various homeless while volunteering in the Kenan soup kitchens. The bar tender merely looked somber and bored. His hand continued to rhythmically rotate a glass within his thick mitts, his head so often turned to the door as if he was waiting on something or someone.

It wasn’t a long wait.

Two men, seemingly angels, waltz into the Blue Balled establishment. They, their figures hidden within brown, tidy trench coats and hats which shadowed the top of their faces, made their path casually toward the remaining bar customer. Like predators closing in on their ignorant prey. One slipped out a gun from his pocket, his arm raised and aimed at the drunk’s head back. His teeth twisted up into a grin while the other had passed over a wad of cash, likely a bribe to keep silent because the bar tender nodded then turned his back.

He only said a few low grumbled words. “About time. Just make sure you lot clean up the mess afterwards and it was a pleasure doing business with you.”

The angel nodded, his head twisted to his partner. His partner seemed rather ecstatic and pulled the trigger.

Olivia screamed. The gun shot still echoed with her mind, overshadowing everything else while her voice instantly crumbled into weeping sobs after the scene ended. Any strength she had left was melted away leaving her curled up into a fetal ball, her eyes soon stung with tears and fear. She hadn’t realized that somehow, some way the phone had been released from her grip.

She just kept whispering loud enough for Noel to hear. “They killed him… just killed him.”

Noel quietly close to Olivia, noting the sudden appearance of an obviously demonic patron. "Well, this certainly might get ugly..." He thought to himself. Still, just for Olivia, who was justifiably unnerved at the sight of strangers like the demon, Noel spoke in a soft tone. Something that didn't so much sound like words as the rustling of leaves. A layer of illusions over himself and Olivia, which those who would look towards the two would notice nothing particularly unusual. Just Noel walking with Olivia to the phone and having a chat with her "Brother". It was a good thing he did this preemptively, because the moment Olivia touched the phone she convulsed and collapsed. Noel caught Olivia before she hit the ground, though he also caught an earful of her scream. The illusion would mask this, though it certainly made Noel very worried about the girl's magic ability if something as simple as touching a phone would cause her to freak out like this. Noel took the phone out of her hand and put it back onto the receiver. He tried to help Olivia to her feet, making sure that he doesn't touch any bare skin.

Olivia spoke about some people killing some guy, and he wasn't really surprised. He'd imagine that this place had it's fair share of fights. That wasn't important right now. Noel would have to use Olivia's phone to call her brother, so for now it was time to leave the Blue Balled and get her changed out into something new. "Alright, alright, let's get you out of here. I know a thrift shop we can head towards. We'll get you into some new threads and call your brother. Can you stand?"

Olivia couldn't make herself stop shivering. It seemed the scene's brutality seeded deeper within her, chilling her to her very core where it left her a forbidden and silent witness to an unknown crime. Her eyes closed trying to force some of the tears back. She was so tired of this ability, it was impossible to live a normal life without her mind being jerked into fear because of a careless act. Her fingers reflex and ridged in their grip while she felt herself gently pulled to her feet. "I'm so tired of this stupid ability. I want it gone. I'm tired of seeing people died, crimes being committed, and much more. Worse of all, I hate seeing it from the weapon's point of view."

Her lungs seemed to freeze within her chest, forbidding her to breath, as she tried to steady herself. Her skin felt clammy and thick with sweat, even under her warm sweat she couldn't stop the cold which seeped inside her. Her eyes widened in fear when Noel mentioned the thrift shop. It was as if he was going to march her to her death, any remaining color drained from her flesh giving her a ghostly look. "Do we have to? I don't think I can stand wearing something that might belong to a murder... not another incident like the jewelry box."

Noel gave Olivia a strange look. Strange mostly because she was finally starting to talk about her power. Also she referenced a jewelry box, which is likely a story for another time. But from what she told him so far, and from what he knew, he could guess that her magic powers has something to do with reading the memories of objects. Certainly a powerful type of telepathy, though if he knew anything about telepathy he also knows that she likely can't control this power and it's doing hell on her psyche. "Alright, alright, I have another idea. We'll still need to head to the thrift shop, but I think can figure out something. I just need to get some materials and find you a safe place to stay for the night. Now let's get out of here. I don't like that demon any more than you do...."

Olivia nodded, her trembling slightly stopped for now.Again she stood upright and managed to stay steady on her feet, allowing Noel to lead her. She was careful not to touch him skin to skin for fear if her ability worked on people as well. In truth she never tried nor did she want to.

With Noel's magic still active, he turned him and Olivia invisible but left a illusion of them still at the phone as he ushered Olivia out of the bar and down the street. Not too far away was a dumpy thrift store, but instead of looking for clothing he was looking for thread and needles. It's been a while since he made a sweater, but hopefully his skills are still sharp. Not wanting to leave Olivia alone and potentially bring more harm to herself, Noel took Hibiki off his back and gently handed it towards her. "Would you mind holding onto this? It's a bit bulky. Wouldn't want to knock anything over."

Then they headed into a store, the thrift shop she assumed, Olivia watched him look for something. Her eyes narrowed until he passed back his instrument causing her take on an hesitate expression. The girl was partly afraid of what she would see when she touched it. Before she took a hold of it, she only had one question. "Is it safe? You didn't do something bad while wearing it did you?"

"Nah. I use it to heal people. Granted, that usually means I have to find people who are hurt... But I use it to heal people. And I'm rather successful too." Noel gave Olivia a reassuring smile before heading off to find some yarn.

If Noel was right, Olivia's magic would read the memories of Hibiki. Though it's a powerful fragment, Noel has had fond memories of it. Granted, he would bring it out to people in pain and suffering, but that was because with Hibiki, he can heal them. With it he was something of a miracle worker; his Heal Bell could cure the lame if he played a long song, and that's exactly what he'd do. The worse he'd ever done with Hibiki is use it too late to save someone.

Despite her concern, the man hadn't really done anything to earn her distrust. If anything he had helped her. Gently she reached out and took the instrument, holding it in the fashion one would hold a delicate treasure. The memory started the moment she held it.

There was a big fire. It started innocently enough with what looked to be a campfire, but as the view spread out one could see that the fire came from a blazing inferno. A huge building was engulfed in flame. It was too damaged to tell what it was once before, but from the bodies scattered around, most of the victims were elderly. There was no noise. No screaming, no sound of the fire raging, not even the noise from the instrument. The instrument moved closer and closer to the fire, until eventually the fragment was engulfed in flames. The fire made the area all to bright, either that or they get caught in a thick choking smoke. It seemed like they would die here as the view began to move back and forth, noticing that their entrance has been blocked off.

They continue to move forward. The instrument falls to the ground, but is picked up. Noel's face shows up. It's covered in burns and ash, and yet still had an beautiful, eerie look. He was smiling. Than, a tune played. Suddenly the mood all changed. There was running, and it seemed like the fire stopped hurting. Noel found a room with others, two old couple huddled together in a closet. The song continued to play even as Noel reached out to take hold of the two old people. Than there were running again. Even as the building around them collapsed, the music roared over the silence, and it seemed like everything just kept getting knocked out of the way. Noel and both the old people escape the burning building, and the scene changes. In the distance is the building, still burning, but starting to fall. A new song is being played, with all the acoustics. Turning around were a gathering of people, old and young, just huddled near each other. They were all suffering various wounds and injuries.

But as the song played, their wounds began to fade. Their burns shrank and shrank until they were no more. Some who suffered even the more grievous injuries like losing their hands soon began to grow new ones in their place. Everyone had a mixed look of surprise and delight. The song continues to play, but the scene fades out until the song finally stops. A light in the distance rises up, and dawn appears.

Olivia at first felt terrified, her eyes widened and watched the flames flicker about like a soundless movie. She thought it would consume her but internally knew better. Else the instrument would never had been within her hands. Olivia forced her breaths to inhale deeply and slowly, calming herself while the scene continued to play. She only felt at ease when the song floated into her ears, filling her mind with relaxation and soothing feelings. Naturally she latched onto it until finally it ended. The girl blinked away, feeling tired and exhausted, after Noel returned and taken back his instrument.

Looking like a girl who had spent all her time studying the night before, Olivia had to fight to keep upright while she gave Noel a small smile. "Did you really do that? Save those people?"

Though he kept his smile up, something in Noel's eyes darken when Olivia asked if he saved those people. He remembered saving a lot of people. He also remained those he didn't save. For Olivia's sake, he'd focus on the former. "I was there. I had to do something. Those people were... Powerless. Weak. And no one would stand up for them. But I was there. And I'm not powerless. I did everything I could to help them out. And as it turns out, people aren't as weak as they seem. All they needed was... Hope. All I did was show them that they shouldn't give up, and they didn't. So I guess I didn't really save those people. They did a good enough job themselves. I just patched them up afterwards. Now come on, let's find a place to crash for tonight."

Taking back Hibiki and wrapping it up, Noel had a large paper bag and a few other things with him. He led Olivia out of the thrift store and together the two walked towards the uptown area, which was much nicer than the dump they were at. They continued to walk into the city until they reached a fairly decent looking commercial hotel. Though he'd have to dip a little into his emergency funds, Noel rented himself and Olivia a room for the night. Nothing too fancy, but at least they had clean sheets and air conditioning. Noel settled down and began to take off his poncho, stripping down down just his shirt and pants. Looking over to Olivia, he was still concerned about the cast around her arm, but again, he'd have to deal with these things one at a time. "Whew. What a day. I hope you don't mind the simple suite, but this ought to take care of us for the night. If you want to shower or something, you can go first. There's some things I'd like to get started on."

Olivia had turned away, to allow the man to strip without seeming rude. When he mentioned something about a shower she tensed, instinctively, realizing in a odd way she never even used the showers at the girl's school out of fear of what memories she might catch. She shook her head and spoke. "No, right now I rather get some some sleep... if I can manage it. At least if I can get those images out of my head which isn't going to be easy."

As if summoned, her mind's eye saw the man's brains being blow out through his face. Bits of skull, tissue, and blood stained the counter leaving her clutching her midriff. She closed her eyes to push it away but the feelings it left still remained. In slight desperation she twisted on her heel to face Noel. "Ummmm... I hate to ask but got anything which could help me sleep? Suggestions, something?"

She looked at him with hope in her eyes, even they looked rather haunted by pasts not her own.

Noel put on a trademark smile and took Hibiki out. "I might know a little something. Make yourself comfortable. Let's see..." Noel closed his eyes and thought about what to play. Olivia laid down on the room's love seat, despite the presence of two beds. He guessed that she didn't want to know what happened on those beds. With a song in his mind, he began to strung the strings onto Hibiki just to get a flow. He also activated Heal Bell, even though Olivia should be physically well now. A bit of magic never hurt. He started a simple song, one that always helped him fall asleep. Indeed, around three minutes in and he had to really focus to make sure he didn't just lay back and sleep for the rest of the night.

Olivia eyes began to droop while her head mixed with imagine, neither of gore or violence, but of pleasant thoughts. Memories all her own, from Emmet's rough and playful pushes on the swings when she was four to Darius's mornings spent cooking breakfast. Her flesh warmed and tingled, thankful the loveseat hadn't had someone making out on them, while it seemed all her troubles floated away. If only she could be like this all the time. A part of her envied Noel's gift and only wished her own was just as amazing and though she knew it had its moment, it wasn't even close.

"Hhmmmm," she let out a slight hum then fell asleep.

After ten minutes or so of playing the same tune, Noel's eyes began to get heavy, but he resisted the call for sleep long enough for Olivia to fall asleep first. He debated if he should move her to a bed, but decided that she looked too at peace where she was for him to disturb her. He simply went into the room's closet, get out an extra blanket, and made sure that Olivia was properly covered. "Hu~" Once Olivia was dealt with, Noel took out a ball of yarn and some knitting needles. He'll need to make Olivia some new clothes.

[Fallenreaper]

Kenan at the Guesthouse on Darius’s estate, Midnight

Emmet

At first, Emmet felt nothing but pain. Sharp needles, thicker than they should’ve been, jabbed into his skin and sank beneath the flesh into the veins below. He impulsively screamed into the darkness, despite his mind acknowledging it was pointless, even when the blood had begun to be drawn from him. It was sloppy as he could tell when small trickles had started to trail down along his burning surface. His flesh flickered in disgust and alarm, fighting the strap that held him in place while Emmet wanted desperately to rip each needle from his arms, legs, and torso. He fought it naturally. He pressed his hand against the coffin. His fingers had just started to tingle and made an attempt to decay before the next sharp pain surged into his neck causing him to growl in anger.

Damn Darius, damn that son of a bitch!

Already the drugs started to pour in and his eyes, unable to see through the darkness, felt heavy. Fuck… he mentally spat, his struggles renewed again as his wrist was rubbed raw, now bleeding and chaffed from the friction settled in waves with each strain on his restrains. It felt worse then rope burn. His skin hot and painful with each tiny move, the burn settled within his fibers, becoming a part of him and refused to be ignored. Emmet’s teeth grounded slightly to bear through the ache in his limbs but didn’t stop. Sweat poured over his skin and sent him into a shivering mass while weakness started to creep into his head.

Moments passed into minutes, then hours while slowly, time no longer had the same meaning to him as it did before. His chest felt filled with sand whenever he inhaled, and his body seemed unable to hold up anymore while the numbness found its way in. For a time Emmet just dangled there. Left isolated and cold, sucked into the darkness surrounding him. Each sense-outside sight- sought some comfort to keep sanity as it usually did. Any tiny piece of evidence that he was still alive and not just consumed into death’s bony grip, his body forgotten and decomposing alive. Emmet thought it was rather bitter irony to die in this manner causing his lips to curl into a half ass smile, the trail of blood dried from his temple down to his chin crinkled and flaked during the gesture's movement. It wasn’t the only trail skirting the contours of his surface. Each place where the needles had pierced long ago crusted over, leaving his arms, torso and legs itching against the clothes he wore. Now his shirt seemed to stink of sweat and the copper stench made by his bleeding, mingling in and out of his floating focus. He idly wonder how long Darius would keep him contained this time but the question slipped through his mind’s grasp like smoke through fingers, the drugs kicking in to make him more weak. Emmet imaged the fox enjoyed this far too much, savoring each image of his suffering while the demon slept within in the master suit night after night.

Was Darius even looking for his sister?

The question scared him, even while he knew the answer, to dwell on as he continued to hang in the darkness. It didn’t help the pounding in his head refused to be ignored, making it seem like hammer had laid siege to his brain and would never leave. In a chance he could work his mind out of his current haze Emmet once again tried to work more feeling back into one wrist when he jerked it hard. The strap strained and seemed to protest, yet didn’t release. All it did was create a faint pain then nothing.

So much for that idea... Unable to consider anything else to do, his eyes drifted close though he never realize they were ever open.

He was back in that damn apartment.

Zi still silently biting her lip, her head nodded against his chest while her arms tightly wound about his waist. Nothing mattered outside their little space. Not the attack, the danger or the fact Juan was likely slaughtering the shooter on the opposite roof. Just she and he was all that was important for his mind. Why back to this memory? Regret and guilt seemed to pour into his heart while her head leaned against his heart, listening to his heartbeat ever quick and unsteady. Emmet knew deep inside he wanted to be with her. His head settled upon her head top, his nose inhaled her scent and let it take away the numbness in his body. Eyes didn’t dare to close for fear this memory would simply fade away like the fragile illusion it was.

Like back then, his phone buzzed. It demanded his attention with its infernal ring while he merely hugged tightly to Zi, his teeth gritted to ignore it. No… not this time, he growled at his instinct. However there was only way to stop it. Giving Zi a slight hug, he gently stepped back. Anger and regret filled his body language while his hand reached to retrieve the phone from his pocket then flipped it on. But unlike before, he merely flicked it off and threw it. It went a few feet. The black, sleek item made a sharp crack against the wall before it dropped, disappearing into a dirty clothes pile within the corner. The damn noise ceased and now the device was no longer important.

“Emmet?”

His eyes turned back to spy her confused, boarding on concern, expression at his abrupt action. Emmet merely smiled lightly. Then he stepped in to close the distance, his arms cupped about her face as he planted a passionate kiss on her lips. At first she froze, surprised by his suddenness, but slowly she began to thaw. Her body pressed against his, his breath stolen by her, and each emotion seemed to swirl an endless depth within his numb mind. In the heat of the moment, his kiss deepened. His desire shown in his advancement, strengthened with the return of her own affection, her enjoyment. His hormones seemed to seize control of his body. Gently, he cupped his hands under her legs and pulled to carry her about his waist. Lips still fixed in his kiss, he carried her towards the messy bed, gorging himself on her sweet taste. The moment he reached the edge he lowered himself to lay her upon the surface. Their bare skin seemed to twitch in static, flooding him with heat, causing Emmet to break away just to look up into Zi’s amazing eyes. It wasn’t hard to become lost within the color and shimmer. It was a light that he felt foolish for overlooking so easily. He ignored his foolish mental prattle then once more reach for her jawline, his kisses laced upon her neck leaving small, budding bruises, his mark, on her milky white skin.

During the dream’s blissful moments, his eyes still closed and rotating underneath the lids, Emmet quietly muttered one single word. “Zi…”

Darius

Darius lazily stirred the wine glass within his hand. The red swirled and danced within the cup’s transparent hold, around and around, staining each bout slightly redder. Like blood. His golden eyes darted to the meter his minions had set up, noting the numbered ounces to date had grown to half a pint already within the few hours. At this rate, it would be a pint then two by morning. Darius’s eyes paused and closed, his breath inhaled for a moment while he twisted to set his glass down. It made a heavy clink reflecting his rather sour mood. So much had happened this day, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was just the beginning and began to wonder where he stood in the thick of things. He had little doubt this series of events would bring about its changes, but in what way, Darius wasn’t able to predict exactly. He could only prepare and wait.

He rose upright and reached for the cellphone. His thumb flipped it on revealing a smiling image of Olivia and him as his other claw scratched the surface, flipping through to seek out Aeris’s number. He finally found it, his body settled backwards, then stared. It was nearly midnight noted by the clock’s display in the small corner. Olivia would’ve been upset with him for staying up so late and likely tried her hand at making him breakfast, though how with her slight germ phobic behave would surprise him. Darius felt his heart tighten at her memory. Quickly he dismissed the image, shutting it out, aided by the cell’s saver screen swallowed by the empty screen. Olivia’s current situation wasn’t the only one which had caused the fox concerns. His head moved from the phone to Emmet’s prison, his whiskers twitched in irritation at the problem this would end up becoming in the future. The boy was gaining power, like Juan had predicted, which made him a powerful asset for the hassle caused. However, Emmet had also grown bolder. Often Emmet was pushing his luck with Darius’s patience, questioning the fox’s strength even in front of subordinates, and over all challenging him in small, slight acts over the recent months. A reason Darius had tried to avoid using the boy lately. In the end, the effects were clearly shown in his overreaction with bashing Emmet’s face into the dirt. Anymore and the boy would’ve died.

Darius had to admit being a demon was rather annoying at time. Even if it did have some perks that outweighed the negativity like strength and a long life.

Now, after Aeris’s last mention, he found his mind gently ticking. Chances, options, and more rapidly ran though his mind though he hesitated slightly to call on them just yet. It wasn’t that he lacked faith in Aeris and her brother. Namely in making the culprit suffer and retrieving Olivia back safely, returning her home once more. No, rather it was an old habit he never bothered to break for it had its uses. Wheel within his mind deliberate, controlled step which brought him to just outside the coffin’s closed lid. Even if he couldn’t sleep he would end up wasting away to nothing sitting here in his own thoughts, his paw gently touched the coffin surface though he knew Emmet would neither sense it nor hear his farewell bid.

“Sleep well Emmet. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, but I doubt you would ever understand why it must.” He removed his paw and turned, uttering one last phrase as he moved out. His paw snatched up the phone on his exit. “I will not let her go so easily, as her brother, you can understand why.”

[Wind Wild]

The Academy
Night-time

Collab: Merlin Hawk, Yoshua, Wind Wild

Nodding and watching Ian massage his shoulder absentmindedly, Reates again noted the misaligned essence in that area. The doctors had done a marvelous job, but almost no one possessed the sight and while there was magitech which allowed a fairly accurate diagram of a body’s essence. Still, nothing was quite as good as the real thing and so he hardly blamed the fellows for missing what he now saw.

Then Ian crumpled to the floor, mere moments after Abstractis briefly revealed itself to him. A look of worry crossed his features and he began to kneel down to put a hand on the boy’s shoulder--intending to steady him. However, Hazumi beat him to it.

Shock colored Ian's features, No way in hell Koshmar could be doing this, something else was going on. Koshmar wouldn't dare use Mistress Hazumi's visage or try to replicate her. Hazumi's touch sent shivers down Ian's spine. This was the real deal for sure. He looked up into her golden eyes. "Mistress Hazumi, I'm so sorry I'm rather tired and Professor...." Ian trailed off as he tried to remember Reates’ name. "Master Saerne!" He finally managed to dig through his muddled memories. "He was just helping me with my arm and I got a little disoriented." Ian lied and his ears turned slightly pink. He didn't want Hazumi to think that he was unfit to be at the academy or incapable of controlling his instrument. "I'll be fine I just need some sleep," more lies but Ian couldn't help himself.

Deciding to kneel despite the elegant woman’s arrival, Reates tried to lock eyes with Ian, his concern evident. As Hazumi made contact and the boy responded to him. ”You’re far more tired than ya seem ta be lettin’ on, are ye certain you don’t want to find your bed an’ have a nap?”

Feeling somewhat responsible, at least for the boy’s confusion, Reates snapped his fingers once, then twice more after a brief pause. ”This is Abstractis,” around them fluttered literally hundreds of green, luminous butterflies. The majority of them rested on the walls and ceiling, with a good amount finding purchase over the surface of Reates’ body. He did not appear at all bothered by this, ”He’s a companion, ye might say,” he stated before snapping his fingers once more. The swarm faded into the background again, disappearing entirely after several brief moments.

Following this, Reates reached out for Ian’s hand, offering to help him up. ”Don’t tell the other students though, not a soul, aye?” The professor smirked and gave him a wink, intending it to be a secret between the two, something of an inside joke.

Meanwhile, a gentle smile fluttered across Hazumi’s lips as Ian spoke. Being referred to as “Mistress” was something she had grown accustomed to. Yet it never failed to touch her heart, and warm it from the inside. Every time she heard it it sounded special. Often she felt like she truly was appreciated as she should be. Other times she thought she was receiving appreciation she wasn’t worthy of.

And yet the boy’s words were misleading. She could see it. Did the students still not trust her, like the principal suggested? Did they perhaps even still fear her?

They had good reason to.

The thought stung. She wasn’t what she used to be back then. Yet, back then it had still been her. A more vicious her.

And part of that now lived in the boy. Her hand on his was soft and treacherous like the gentle brush of nettle-leaves. Soon enough he would feel the burning itch in his arm, realise that her eyes were not only staring at his, but through them. That her question wasn’t just a question – it was a demand.

What are you doing to my boy?

Master Saene had stepped in, averting the boy’s eyes towards him, distracted his attention… Still, Hazumi’s eyes never left the boy. However she wasn’t looking at him. She was looking at Koshmar. There was no softness in her gaze.

You forget where you stand.

As the gentle stinging sensation travelled up the boy’s arm, so did the being’s consciousness recede. Fade.

Know your place!

The stinging reached Ian’s insides and broke out like a dozen burning torches. It was engulfing every inch of him in a fierce embrace he never asked for.
Hazumi’s hand was squeezing Ian’s while Reates was holding his shoulder. To a bystander without the gift to see essence, it would appear like the perfect picture of companionship and care. To someone endowed with that gift, it might look like torture.

Still, when Hazumi’s hand left Ian’s, so too did the pain. A sudden lightness befell him like a weight lifted off his shoulder. Like an embedded collar removed, the lack of pain only confirmed the previous existence of such.

Ian forced a smile at Reates “I won’t tel-” He broke off as the pins and needles sensation changed to an acute burning sensation. You’ll have to excuse me Ian, It seems the good lady wants a word. And with that Koshmar was gone. Ian felt the weight of Fidrieon disappear at his side and for a moment he panicked. He rolled his shoulder and surprise crossed his face. A genuine smile stole onto his face “Thank you professor!”

Letting a gentle flow of essence from him sooth the boy’s nerves, Reates nodded, waiting out his pain before smiling slightly. He offered the boy a hand even as he himself rose to his feet, ”Not in the slightest, lad. ‘Tonly takes me, but a flick of the wrist and the twist of a cat’s whisker,” the amusement moved back into his eyes, which briefly glanced at Hazumi, his head nodding before his gaze returned to the boy.

She would hear Abstractis’ voice relay his full message, ’Gratefulness to you, Hazumi, our companion noticed a struggle, but could not ordain its origin in the ballroom’s din of essence.’ Ian would not hear Abstractis this time.

Meanwhile, the professor simply waited for Ian to take his hand and rise onto his feet again. The lad was able bodied and certainly able minded if he’d been resisting the influence of such a troublesome instrument for so long. He estimated it’d been almost 48 or so hours since the boy had slept properly, if not longer.

“My pleasure.” Hazumi thought at Abstractis. The creation never failed to amuse her, its essence so close to both beast and human that it was hard to tell where exactly it belonged. So in the end, she always treated it like it was treating her.

Her consciousness always operated on many more levels than one – it was never truly confined to the physical space her body occupied. Of course, the biggest part of it was here. But countless smaller shards of it spread over the entire world and monitored every movement of every individual. Currently, in a far corner of the world, a war was starting currently, even just in Loom, a dozen people were dying. But while she registered all that, not everything had the same weight in her mind. She loved the entire world; she loved all the beings in it with that motherly love only a parent could feel for their children and gods - to their creations. That was what she’d inherited from the Gatekeepers. But her love for everything was unlike theirs. It wasn’t unconditional and it wasn’t evenly distributed. Maybe if she were whole, it would have been. Or maybe then the cold and impartial nature of the Gates would have overpowered the emotions. She was a collage of feelings and the lack of such, all ruled by a human heart.

Strangers fighting, strangers dying, those were scratches on that heart that would sting and heal fast. People she knew, suffering, that was something else. And she knew it was wrong, and she never told anyone. But maybe it was more often than she thought, that her eyes revealed the truth she wouldn’t.

She felt guilty for what that piece of her was inflicting on a mere human boy that deserved better. And she felt ashamed in knowing that she had to return his nightmares to him, sooner or later.

“I’m sorry, Ian.” Hazumi spoke, her voice motherly once again, her smile genuine and apologetic. “I know it wasn’t pleasant. But you’ll be free of Fidrieon for a few days. It was having a bad influence on you so I had to remove it. Come take it back when you feel that you are ready.”

Ian looked at Hazumi with surprise. “I can handle….” his voice trailed off as he realized that he didn’t want to lie to her again. Even if it was only a thin one that no one believed. Feeling as though for once the storm inside had quieted he slid back onto both knees. “How did you know?” he’d heard she could see Essence but he’d always been too intimidated by Mistress Hazumi to ask. It was embarrassing to have his fragment taken but he felt an overriding sense of gratitude more than anything else.

Patting the boy’s now-healed shoulder, Hazumi stood and smoothed out the skirts of her dress. She advised Ian to have a hot bath and a day off lectures and thanked Reates for taking care of his shoulder. She bid the two men farewell and headed to one of the tables lined up at the two far ends of the ball room. There she found a pleasingly full glass of champagne and relaxed her back into the chair, taking a sip of the golden liquid.

Are you drinking this because you like it, or just because it looks good? Koshmar teased in her head.

You’re not going to be very pleasant company, are you? Hazumi asked and before he could answer, stole his consciousness, integrating it into her own. The voice was gone and the sound of music was the most important thing once again.

[Fallenreaper]

New Allies and the Bonds of Family
Collab: Yoshua171, Celaira, Fallenreaper, and Lucius Cypher

The Sky Above Kenan -- Evening

The thirty minute flight had been murder on Aeris' nerves. Though she was silent for the entire flight, her mind had been moving a thousand miles a minute. Was Olivia okay? She wasn't hurt right? Oh, the things she'd do to who ever had her if she was. It would not be a quick death, that was for sure. The vampire's blood boiled with a calm sort of fury. It had been 180 years since she'd been taught by Szayeis, but some lessons never fade. Such were his. The things he taught her, and the way she reacted to it were all still there, in the back of her mind. Purring like a kitten wanting to be played with. A dark part of her that she had spent the last almost 2 centuries on the surface trying to quell.

There was no sating this beast, however. Its hunger was endless. All she could do was put it to sleep, and even then, it stirred at any sign of anger from the doll. She wished she could put her focus to putting it back down, but her mind was elsewhere... Olivia was her top priority.

That didn't stop it, though. Only 10 minutes into the flight toward Kenan, she began hearing an all too familiar song being sung in her voice in the back of her head. She faught the urge to hum it.

Come on... You know you want to~ A more childlike version of her voice rang out inside her head. There were no changes to her demeanor on the outside, aside from the fact that the ghostly smile she had donned prior was there once again. When she realized this, she quickly shook her head, her face returning to its cold determination.

Aeris... Aeris~! C'mon~ sing with me! If she acknowledged the voice it would just get stronger, because of this, she opted to flood her thoughts with that of Olivia and Darius. Happy memories. Reasons why she wanted to save the girl. Reasons why she never wanted her to see this part of her. The part that she hid from everyone. Including Mairyell. No one was ready to see this. And she didn't think Mai would ever be.

The closer they got to Kenan, the more agitated the beast got. The more its hunger tried to take over her own. She wouldn't let that happen though. By now, her eyes were flickering between purple and blue, they needed to move faster. Just as she thought that, her brother increased his pace, causing her to have to focus in order to catch up. This inner struggle of hers could wait for another time. She had more important things to worry about.

Even as she made that declaration to herself, the darkness was stil there. Still waiting. Waiting for her to lose her grip. It would only take one time. One slip up, and her whole life would be in ruins.

As they reached Kenan, Mai seemed to stiffen a little. Then, he dove. Aeris quickly followed suit, finding that her brother had led her to a rather nice looking hotel. She looked at him curiously for a moment before entering it. Just as she opened the door, Olivia's scent hit her. Hard. She was definitely here. The scent was still fresh. Being in this close of proximity meant that Aeris could track her without her brother's lead. So, without waiting to see if he had followed her, Aeris moved through the building, following the scent until she came to a door that had both Olivia's scent and a stranger's on it.

A hiss left the doll's lips as she closed her eyes and focused. Using the shadows within the door's frame, Aeris hardened them into sharp petals that caused the door to crack and fall ajar due to the pressure. The shadows returned to normal as the vampire pushed the door open, and stood silently in the doorway, anger evident on her face.

While his sister entered the hotel, Mairyell hovered over the roof and then slipped over the edge, his wings holding him aloft effortlessly. He dropped to the floor and precise room that he knew Olivia was in. However, while they'd flown through Kenan to get here, the hunter had noticed something. Olivia's scent had two other scents mixed with it. One had a violent, tense, odor, it also reminded him of spiders for some reason. This scent had gone into the city further and trailed to a small shack. They'd flown over it a few minutes ago before heading to the hotel they were at now.

The second smell had entered the city, it was a sweeter scent, peaceful even. This had neared the shack, seemed to damage something--he had seen a broken window ont he building, and then fled apparently with Olivia in tow. The spidery scent had not moved from the building.

Something had happened before they arrived and he had surmised that whomever had Olivia now was not the same individual who had kidnapped her originally. However, who this new person was, he could not say. However, they reminded him of the Academy, not that he could peg exactly why.

His wings silent on the evening air, Mairyell hovered just outside the room's window, noting Aeris' essence moving inside it, as well as the essence of two others.

His eyes were closed, and in his mind he could clearly see several odd things going on. Magic was in use, he could feel and smell as much, and it was attempting to mask the source of Olivia's scent, as well as whomever she was with now. First he'd see how they'd react to one another, then he'd intrude.

Patience was key...especially when one was on a hunt.

But the room was empty. Or appeared to be. There were sure signs of Noel and Olivia being there. As well as magic. Noel's Poncho was hanging on the corner of his bed. His bags were also near his bed. Some webbing from Olivia's cast was put into a plastic bag and left in the trash. The blankets on the bed were frayed like someone just woke up. The windows were open. Aeris may have missed it, but hanging from the doorknob was a sign saying "Do not disturb". And from the bathroom came a feminine voice. "Noel? Is that you?"

Aeris, seeing no one in the room, growled in her throat, and walked further into the room. Slowly, she walked over to the bed that seemed to have items near it, and picked each thing up, one at a time. She didn't have to bring them close to her face in order to get the scent that clung to them. Slowly, she swivled her body around to get a whole view of the room, inhaling the air calmly. "Olivia...?" She questioned the silence quietly to herself. She could most definitely smell the girl as if she was still in the room, but her eyes found nothing of the girl she had helped raise and cared for for nearly all of her life. When she heard a feminine voice coming from the bathroom, asking about some Noel character, her eyes rolled involuntarily. That definitely wasn't Olivia. "Yeah, no." She spoke loud enough for whoever it was to hear through the door. The vampire was very clearly irritated, and it was getting worse and worse by the moment. "I swear if I have to call Darius and ask for hunting dogs..." She trailed off deliberately, her eyes analyzing the room over and over.

"Ah. You must be Aeris." Suddenly, Noel appeared on one of the beds. Something was certainly off about the man however, such as his voice matching the one that came from the bathroom and that he was knitting a white sweater. He was sitting casually and rather intently focusing on the sweater rather than Aeris. "Before we do anything hasty, yes, I am an illusion. I am also knitting a sweater for Olivia. If you'll hear me out, I will tell you who I am, what I've done with Olivia, and hopefully we can come to an understanding that I do not want to fight." Noel stopped sewing for just a moment to look at Aeris to see if she had any intention to actually speak with him.

The vampire gave the man who now sat before her a rather contemptous glare. When he'd revealed himself to be an illusion, she noticed something. This wasn't demon magic, which left two options that she could accurately pinpoint. Either, Olivia's kidnapper was Human, or there was a Musician nearby. This greatly irritated her for some reason. She wasn't sure whether he'd be honest about his origins or not. Agitation caused an exasperated look to cross her face, and she put her hand on her forehead. "Look. I'm not here to make a deal with anyone. I'm here to take Olivia home. I don't rightly care who you are, you're keeping me away from a member of my family." There was a veiled threat in her tone, though it was one you had to be searching for to find.

Noting the sounds from the room and the suddenly blatant essence source that had appeared therein, Mairyell's hand reached out and silently, undetected, his blood seeped through the seam of the window and unlocked it. He slid out the screen deftly before lightly pushing the window open and then ducking into it, his feet silence against the sill.

He was truly a hunter now, whereas 200 years ago he'd been like a pup still learning, now he had become a wolf--and he wasn't a beta either. "You're lying," he stated, sitting on the windowsill and grinning at the fellow on the bed. "By the way, it's pointless to hide from us, specifically me." He did not elaborate, as he'd decided to put the man further on edge, people were more likely to relent when they were scared.

Nonetheless he was not beyond being reasonable as this fellow either had a sneaky plan, or he intended to somehow talk his way out of the room--that wasn't happening, not on his watch.

"That," he nodded at his sister, "...is my sister, Aeris and I am Mairyell, otherwise known as Sanguine." The chimera rose to his feet, pushing off from the windowsill and lightly strolling through the room, careful to avoid making contact with Olivia, who he surely had to walk around at least once. "You have Olivia, but I don't think you kidnapped her. If you were the kidnapper, we'd be fighting right now, and you'd be dead...dead or in a lot of pain," he paused, seeming to admire a painting that hung on the wall by one of the beds, "...and I do mean a lot of it. Seriously, you would not believe the shit just I am capable of, let alone my sister over there. Who is probably struggling not to pin you down and scream in your face to tell her where the hell Olivia is."

His smile grew slightly and he glanced at Aeris, "It's a family thing."

"So here's the deal," he turned and regarded the man for a moment before he continued, "...you stop the tricks, or this gets real unpleasant real fast, and I assure you no one here would enjoy adding more trauma to the memory of the young girl who is in this room with us at the moment. Kapeesh?"

Noel simply let out a breath as a new figure arrived. "Ah. True sight. How easy it is for you to discern lies, but also how quick you are to jump to conclusions. But I get it. You're not here for talk. So I guess I'll keep this simple. For one, if you really can see through my illusions, then you shouldn't need to ask where Olivia is. Either that or you're so blinded by your need to find her, that you won't even notice when she's right under your nose." Noel returned to knitting the sweater as his illusions slowly began to fade, namely allowing Aeris to see that Olivia is asleep on the couch behind her. However Noel did keep another illusion active on Olivia, which will allow her to sleep peacefully despite the hostilities.

"And believe it or not, I actually found Olivia and saved her from her kidnappers. But that's what I want to talk to you both about. It's a simple matter of taking Olivia away from here, whisking her off to where you think is safe. But that won't solve the problem that she's a target for kidnapping, for one reason or another." Noel lifted up the sweater. Though he's only worked on it for a little bit, he's made a fair amount of progress. Now he just needed to make sleeves.

"If you wish to take her back home, I won't stop you. But that won't garuantee that whoever kidnapped her won't try again, and try harder next time either. However, I do know the last location of her kidnapper, and if you're willing, I can help put an end to this before it escalates into something much bigger, much worse, for you, your family, and anyone else unfortunate enough to just be around." Noel began to thread another spool of yarn onto his bobbing needles and started to make a pair of sleeves. "Whoever the people who kidnapped Olivia are, they are an enemy to your family. These aren't just some low lives looking to make a quick buck. They know Olivia's relationship to Darius. They were trying to exploit it, and I'm sure they'll continue to do so. And frankly, I think the girl's gone through enough for one lifetime. I'd like to do something to make things easier for her."

"What you do to the fucker that kidnapped Olivia is of no consequence to me. I plan on going after the big fish, who called her father, and threatened him, as well as had her kidnapped." She paused, watching the illusions fade, and made her way over to Olivia's sleeping form, her face almost immediately softening when she looked down at the girl. When she looked back up though, there was nothing but a cold rage. "I will put him so far in the ground that the Western Lord will ask what the fuck is going on."

Listening intently to Noel--though he only figured that was the man's name due to the illusionary question from the bathroom earlier. He'd not have heard it if he were human, but he wasn't and he was enjoying all the perks of his chimeric nature. When the man made a jab at his methods, he merely snickered, his mouth opening slightly to reveal his slightly sharp teeth. When the man'd finally finished, Mairyell glanced at Aeris, listening to her words, after which he rose a single finger in the air as if to say not so fast. "Ah, but the one who kidnapped her, who I already know the location of by the way," he looked at Noel, his eyes twinkling with amusement, "...can tell us how to find the perpetrator, who is surely a demon by the name of Sir--"

"Well, we could always have this guy bring whoever it is to Darius. I rather enjoy the way he works when it comes to getting information." Aeris grinned, a rather manic grin, reminiscent of something her brother would have seen coming directly from Szayeis himself. However, as quickly as it appeared, it was gone again, and her eyes were focused on Olivia with an intent smile.

He glanced at Aeris a moment, making sure she was done before continuing, "--Oh, and as to this true sight, I don't have it, though I could in a sense see where Olivia was. Doesn't mean my sister could, and I'm really only here because of her." With his response essentially over, Mairyell's eye twitched, he'd seen his sister's grin from the corner of his eye, but only for a moment. It was like a ghost...again, and it was tickling his nerves in an unpleasant manner (as weird as that sounds).

Sighing, Mairyell sat back down on the window sill and closed his eyes, visualizing the essence of what he now was certain to be Olivia's captor. It was a woman, though he couldn't tell her magic, he knew she was likely armed, and appeared to have some form of magic at her disposal. He noted a small amount of the woman's essence in the room and opened his eyes, getting up and walking across the small space.

When he reached the location of the cast shavings, he dug in, not caring that it was in the trash, and pulled it out, raising an eyebrow and looking it over. He turned it over in his hands, appearing like a tracker observing some sort of tell that an animal had left. What he was doing was similar, but also far more complex than that. He was noting the different forms of essence in the weave of the material, and allowing the direct source to give him a better idea of the individual who had created it.

To finish up, the vampire's hand briefly became clawed after which he easily cut a small portion of the silk from the shavings which he pocketed. He then discarded the rest into the trash, not caring what was done with it.

It was time to go. "Not that the bitc--I mean kidnapper stands any chance against all three of us, but I think it'd be best if we left now. Perhaps I'll visit that little shack before returning to the Academy."

Aeris watched her brother quietly from the corner of her eyes. He had a strange sort of predatory air about him that she'd never seen outside of some of the demons she'd killed for food. It was both strange and comforting to see Mairyell had embraced what he was. She smiled a little wider, until she noticed the webbing on Olivia's arm. Without saying anything to anyone, or even thinking about it, she drug one of her nails across it, cutting it open. As it fell away, the vampire gently ran her fingertips along Olivia's arm, checking for any breaks or fractures. When she felt none, she sighed softly, thankfully.

Noel simply shrugged at Mairyell's confidence in his ability. It would seem that Noel wouldn't be needed any longer. "It would seem that Olivia is in quite capable hands then. How... Unfortunate actually. I had hoped for some adventure, but I guess Olivia's heroes can handle any situation thrown at them." Noel finished the sweater. He had thought that they may need to hide out longer, and knowing Olivia's inability to handle inannimate objects with a history, he sought to make one that lacked much of a story. However, seeing that the entire problem was quickly resolved, Noel felt that he didn't need to put much more effort into "saving" Olivia. Still, he finished the sweater.

"Well than, I suppose our time together has come to an end. If you do not need or have much reason to keep me, I suppose this is where we part ways. If you'll allow me however, when Olivia wakes up give her this sweater dress. I figured that she'd like a change of attire after today, but if nothing else I hope this would serve as a nice reminder of our fairly short time together."

"I have a question, aside from the obvious, which is, what is your name?" Aeris spoke softly, looking up from Olivia to the man in the chair. "Are you a Musician perchance?" Her question was one of curiosity, though, if he was that was good news for her. It meant that she could send him to go get the kidnapper, and send him to Darius without any problem's on either's end. All she would have to do is make one simple phone call.

"Noel Nightly. And I suppose I am a musician. I do play music sometimes, but it's not really an occupation, more like a hobby." That was a half-truth. Noel perfered to keep his affiliations to the Academy a secret, even with other members of the Academy. So he's a Musician when it suits him, but otherwise he's just a wanderer. "That being said, I was here for a... Job on behalf of the academy. I guess I should get back to it." Noel absently wondered if Olivia's kidnapper really did have anything to do with the renagade he's hunting. Though he doubts it, he couldn't really just ignore it. For too long anyways.

"Ah, you are from the Academy? Good. As a teacher there, I have a favor to ask you." She paused, grinning. "Go with Mairyell and get the kidnapper. Take them to Darius. I'll be putting a call in for you momentarily if you agree. While you're doing that, I'll take Olivia to the Academy. Darius won't want her around for what he's gonna do to that person."

Noel internally sighed. On one hand, perhaps there was still something interesting to do. On the other hand, apparently Aeris was a teacher of the Academy. He really wanted to distance himself from it, but it seemed almost appropriate that they'd find him first. Well, it was about time he cleaned up these loose ends. With any luck, he'll snag himself a new hook to keep him busy for the next few months. "Alright. Last I remember, it was a woman named Ashley. I think she was crushed underneath a cabinet, but who knows. Just let me put on my clothes and I'll get ready to head out." One last thing that Noel did before he put his things away was cancel the illusion on Olivia. Noel was certain that she'd like to see her family's face again. At least her memories of them seemed to tell Noel that she'd like to see them.

Nodding in response to Noel, Aeris, for the second time that night pulled out her phone and dialed Darius' number, silently waiting for him to pick up.

A click came as a familiar voice answered. "Ris?"

"Darius! We found Olivia." Aeris paused, and looked up at Noel for a moment and then back down at the girl. "She's currently sleeping but seems unharmed. Apparently a Musician saved her."

Darius inhaled, relief clear in his breath while he then asked a question. It was obivious he wanted her home and even hear with this own ears her voice, just to sooth his nerves. "Thank Hell she's safe. When are you bringing her home?"

Aeris smiled at the relief in the fox's voice. "That's one of the two reasons I called you. The first was obviously to tell you that she was okay. The second was that the Musician and my brother have offered to bring the kidnapper to your doorstep for you to do with as you please." Aeris paused, stroking Olivia's hair. "If that's okay with you, then I'll take Olivia back to the Academy with me where she'll be safe until you've gotten the information you need. That way, one of us can be watching her at all times, and you'll know exactly where she is if you want to come check up on her."

There was a slight paused, Darius seemed to be absorbing Aeris's information then relied. "Very well, would you be so kind as to send me the Musician's name and an image of your brother. I need a more recent photo, despite his fame, I rather be sure the images I have are correct and I don't want my minions attacking them on sight. In addition, Ris, I suggest you avoid the northern area of midtown. About several of my foxes were killed in that area and seems someone's blaring out their essence like a damn beacon. They are keeping an eye on her, though it's likely she might cause trouble if left alone."

He sighed. "Also, where are you two?"

Listening intently to Darius' words of warning, Aeris nodded, "One moment." she spoke, turning to her brother. Taking the phone away from her ear she opened the camera. "Mai, smile!" Without much notice other than that, she took a picture of Mairyell and sent it in a text along with Noel's name to Darius and then put her phone back to her ear. "Mmm... We're in midtown, but I haven't noticed much disturbance in our area. Though..." The doll turned to look out the window and noticed that it had started raining relatively hard. "It did just start raining out of nowhere. I'm assuming it has something to do with that, yeah?"

Mairyell winced after the flash and then frowned, giving his sister an indignant look. "Dammit Aeris..." sighing he rolled his eyes and followed her gaze out the window. It smelled of angel...weather angel. "Hmph," closing his eyes, he tracked the scent mentally, maping out the area till he found its source. It was certainly a beacon, smelling it was a bit painful actually and he rubbed his nose, his eyes open again. "That's definitely the work of a weather angel..." he stated plainly.

He didn't mind accompanying Noel to Darius' place, he was actually somewhat intrigued to meet the man. He'd heard quite a bit about him over the years, and he wondered how the fox was in person. It would be interesting. Though, it did bother him that Aeris knew the guy...after all, most of the things he'd heard about Darius hadn't been good ones.

She'd be doing some explaining later, he thought to himself. Lots of explaining. That'd be fun, he thought sarcastically, knowing it'd likely be quite the obvious. He was beginning to think that his sister had changed more than he'd initially figured.

He didn't know how to feel about it, but he did know it made him uncomfortable. He didn't like being uncomfortable. A frown settled on his face and he began tapping his foot impatiently, wondering when she'd be done.

"Aeris..."Darius's voice became rather serious, "I don't want Olivia around there, I rather have her home then in danger's way. Weather angels are violent beings, namely any without alliances with the academy or I have little knowledge of. I'm going to be heading your-"

"Darius. Stop. I can get her out of here relatively quickly without getting deterred by the storm. I'll ask Mai and Noel to go before they go to get the kidnapper. Just tell me what you need them to do." Aeris interrupted the fox in a calm, but stern voice. Now was not the time to be putting himself at risk, especially because Olivia wouldn't forgive him for it.

"Very well, Ris." He said, lapsing back into his calmer tone, "First off, I need to know who it is and what she looks like. My foxes can only deliver so much at a time while keeping an eye on her. Mainly she seemed to be dangerously close to a key area I want closed off to the public, strictly for safety purposes. I need to learn if she was intending to gain access or knew anything about it. Another thing, somehow or some way, her beacon needs to be toned down. It's attracting far too many demons and unwanted attention. This will cause...greater problems in keeping the balance on my territory. If she seems aggressive then your brother and this," He paused to note the man's name, and continued," Noel Nightly, can decide how to deal with her in a manner suitable to them. I rather not have a massive loss of lives in a single night."

"And I'd rather not lose my brother. I'll ask them to go about it carefully." Thinking about it, she could have just volunteered Noel, and had her brother go after the kidnapper...

"From your brother's, the very Sanguine, reputation then I'm fairly confident he can handle it. However, my minions will be on stand by should they need assistance. The least they can do is provide a distraction for the pair to get away should the encounter become unpleasant. Before they approach the woman, one of them should enter the nearest alley and peer into the shadows. One of the foxes will appoach which Sanguine and Mr. Nightly merely need to touch its head for it to register their commands. Simple. If things get alarming then merely the word 'Distraction' will end up summoning at least ten to thirty foxes to attack the woman at once."

Aeris nodded gratefully, "Thank you, Darius. I'll let them know. I might have to have them write it down." She joked for a moment, and then returned to her serious demeanor. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Just keep an eye on Olivia, I'm doubtful her germophobic stage has lessened after this experience. Once I figure out how to handle Emmet and transport him to a new location, I'll arrive at the Academy to pick up Olivia. Likely bring her a change of clothes as well." Darius said, then added as a final thought while he waited for Aeris to hang up. "Thank you Ris..."

"Of course, Darius. See you soon." With that, Aeris hung up the phone and looked at Mairyell and Noel. "You have a stop to make before you go to get the kidnapper. There's a problem in the northern midtown area that Darius wants help with, and, in short, having him come down here would be a very bad idea." Aeris continued to explain the situation to the two, and waited for their replies.

While the prospect of facing off against a weather angel was indeed interesting, it was not the best idea when it came to business, and this was business. Mairyell only did things for free when innocent life was directly threatened and he gave a shit--he didn't give a shit right now. Then again, he hadn't really gotten to hunt, so this was as good a chance as any. Nonetheless, his frown did not vanish entirely, instead it merely turned to a serious expression. "Very well, we'll deal with the angel, or at least I will. Noel, if you're coming you can handle negotiations, I'm only half decent at that kind of thing, you seem to be much more skilled in that area. However, if things get grisly, you can bet that I'll cover you."

"Sorry for troubling you big brother..." Aeris spoke with genuine regret at putting her brother in danger. "Please, be careful..." There were three words she wanted to say, but couldn't get them out of her throat.

He shook his head, "No problem sis, he glanced at Noel then at the window, and then at the damaged door. He opted to use the door, but he paused a few feet from it, glancing back at Aeris and Olivia. "Hey, take care of yourselves," he met Aeris' eyes, and his own briefly turned bright blue before becoming purple again, "...your wings're carrying some precious cargo after all," he smiled lightly, then looked down and away before turning, the look in his eyes and the tone said far more than his words.

Aeris was just as precious, though he couldn't find it in him to say it any more bluntly than that. Not yet at least, there were too many gaps to leap, too many unexplained reactions...all that time apart had changed them both, he knew. He just hoped he was willing to face the way it'd changed his sister. "You comin' Noel?" he said, glancing at him briefly, his hand on the doorframe, and his body already outside of the room.

Dressed and ready to go, Noel looked towards the obviously inhuman creature. Neither demon nor angel as far as Noel could read, though all around unholy combination as far as he was concerned. The type that brings trouble with them. "Yeah, I'll follow you." Noel had one thing left to do before he left however. He drapped his handmade sweater over Olivia, and hopefully her sister would make sure to hold onto it as they left. Once that was done, Noel followed Mairyell out.

Watching the men leave the room, Aeris took a deep cleansing breath and walked over to one of the walls, placing her hand upon it. It took a moment, but a shadow portal opened into a swirling mass. With a heavy breath of nervousness, the vampire walked over to Olivia and picked up her sleeping form, careful to keep the sweater on her. "I hope this works..." She spoke softly, walking toward the portal cautiously. Once she stepped inside she heard the familar guttural laughter that always haunted her in this place, but instead of being afraid of it, she focused on Olivia, and getting them both out of there in one piece.

After a few minutes, another portal opened in a brickwall just outside Kenan's city limits. Tired though she was, Aeris called her wings, and took flight, heading straight to the Academy as fast as she could without jostling the girl, which was surprisingly fast.

[Celaira]

Shaky Reunion
Collab: Fallenreaper, and Celaira

The Sky Above Loom--Evening

Olivia felt the warmth fill her, soul and body, her eyes rolled under her closed eyelids. The sweater dress Noel made was an ideal cover, its history not yet made, as she nuzzled deeper into her caretaker’s protective arms. If any chill was present then it was unlikely Olivia would’ve felt it or anything at all while she dreamed.

Flashback--6 Months Ago--Olivia's Room At Darius' Estate

Tick…Tock…Tick…

Olivia’s eyes shifted lazily to the clock ticking in her room. It was one of those cartoon cat faces, its smile grinning at her while its eyes beat side to counting each second passing by, making her sigh to see barely a minute had gone by. She always felt this way whenever Emmet was supposed to pick her up and nothing ever seemed to change her anxiety over it. Her chin settled on her crossed arm while her gloved hand flicked the pencil up and down across the slanted work desk. For several ticks she followed the motion until she heard the sound of her door click open, her head jerked up to spot Aeris entering and smile. Like an infection, Olivia found herself returning the gesture with genuine feeling.

Present time

Aeris' wings beat against the air as she pushed herself forward. She needed to get to the Academy as fast as possible, or she ran the risk of falling right out of the sky.

Continuation of Flashback

Aeris watched Olivia with a soft amused smile. "Whatch'ya workin' on there Liv?" She asked walking into the room, her feet padding across the carpetted floor. For once, her hair was down, falling lazily about her back all the way down to her waist. The vampire's hands were nestled safely behind her back, hiding something from Olivia's view.

Olivia's eyebrow raised in question when she noted Aeris's hands were behind her. Her eyes shifted upward as if asking her question silently, including taking keen note of the facial expression or any give aways. Though she knew the chances were rather slim. Aeris, the one she saw to be a big sister and part time mother, seemed to have almost a better poker face then Uncle Darius himself. A fact which he, himself, found rather amusing.

Her mind was distracted when the question came. Seemingly realizing the face she had been making, her lip being bit and slightly sucked on, Olivia turned back to her homework. It was advance math filled with formulas and other calculations including various graphs. Not that she minded the difficulty in understanding them. "Just math homework. Darius decided to up the grade level when I mentioned how easy it was and boring. So far, it's been far from easy now."

Again she found herself tilting back in her chair, fully turning it toward Aeris. "You know... if I didn't know better, I would've thought you were hiding something there."

Aeris smirked at Olivia as she looked up at her in question. She watched the girl carefully, looking back at her calmly. When she answered her question about what she was doing with make homework, Aeris grimaced a bit. "I always hated math. S'not a fun thing to learn at all." She mock shuddered in horror at the subject and giggled.

When the younger girl mentioned she was hiding something behind her back, Aeris grinned. "Well, aren't you observant." As she spoke she pulled out a small wrapped package. Within the package Olivia would find a necklace that Aeris had a jeweler friend make for the girl as a birthday present. She had to give it to her early as she was leaving Kenan for a few months again to continue her search for her brother, Mairyell. The vampire smiled a little sadly as she held the box out to the girl in front of her. "This isn't the only reason I'm here, though, so open this after I've told you the stuff, all right?" Aeris' question was soft, and she paused waiting for confirmation.

Olivia’s curiosity naturally got the better of her, yet she couldn't shake the worry. It was a slight but strong gut feeling of worry and warning, seemingly to nudge at her mind's attention until she pushed it away. She paused a bit when her eyes noted her shirt had ridden up in her slumped over posture and quickly pulled down the pink tee with a black, glittery skull graced by a petite bow. In its mouth was a sucker stick and the words, Sweetheart, underneath in 'angelic' stylized letters. It was one of her favorites because her brother had picked it, a key reason why she had chosen to wear it in the first place. Alongside a paair of tight jeans that hugged her figure in an appealing, modern yet modest fashion. Like Aeris, Olivia realized, making her smirk wider.

Olivia playfully stuck her tongue out then added, " I enjoy the challenge of learning something new. Not many things are as complicated as math or at least anything I've found."

Gingerly she took hold of the box, her fingers nearly engulfed it in her grasp, and peeled off the lid. She pulled it underneath then began to removed the inner protection until something bright, crystal blue revealed itself. Immediately Olivia's eyes lite up. Then they fell and the memory of her last gift traced on the outer frindges of her mind. A pain in her heart, both regret and self hate, filled her core while she tenderly took a breath. Olivia braced herself enough to stroke the crystal heart and debated a little in letting her finger touch it bare handed then shook the idea away. Instead she praised its beauty, deciding ignorance was best.

"It's so pretty, Aeris. Where did you get? When did you get?" Olivia asked, both trying to fish the object's origins and delay it being put on her.

Aeris watched the girl as she opened the box calmly, carefully analyzing her reaction to the present. "First," she paused, "Darius told me to tell you that Emmet wouldn't be able to come get you today, though he didn't tell me why." She spoke softly as she broke the news to Olivia, and then walked to her side looking down at her. "I had it made for you. It was supposed to be a birthday present, but information on my brother came up last week so I called the friend that made and had him send it to me so I could give it to you in person before I had to leave." There was a look of regret on her face as she spoke. She felt horrible for missing Olivia's birthday, but if there was any chance of finding Mairyell, she had to take it.

Olivia thought her heart dropped out of her chest and splattered on the floor, leaving a mess of depression in its wake. She blinked. At first, she was slightly shocked at hearing the news about her brother and soon rather crushed at realizing that Aeris had gain news on her brother, now likely absent for her birthday coming up in a few days. Slowly Olivia's legs took her to the edge of her bed. Her body lowered down on top of the stuff animals, horses, tigers, foxes and more piled at the foot. Some fell to the floor but she didn't want to bother picking them up. Hands sat in her lap while her eyes locked with Aeris, eyes trying hard to understand and hide her emotions.

Her throat felt thick when she questioned the reasons, mainly her brother's. Aeris she could understand. If Emmet was missing then Olivia wouldn't want to be held back in finding him and would expect empathy, though it didn't stop it from hurting so much. "I don't understand, Aeris. He knows we only get everything other weekend and this it. I won't be able to see him until the one after the next. Are you sure you can't tell me anything?"

Aeris walked over to Olivia and sat beside her, sighing as she picked up the stuffed animals. Once the few that had fallen were back on the bed she pulled Olivia close and held her gently. "All Darius told me is that he had to work or something, that's really all I know sweetheart." The vampire gently squeezed the girl, resting her face in her hair and kissing her head. "I'm so sorry Olivia."

Olivia let Aeris hold her, her head rested upon the woman's shoulder while she let her words reach her ears. She had barely noted the stuffed toys were back in their place until she felt her sister pull her in close . "It's not fair, but I shouldn't be surprised. Everything's been going wrong this week."

She turned her head into Aeris, her eyes closed while she wanted to use the vampire to hide the anger she felt. It wasn't fair at all. First her magic had started recently and now this, what else could happen now? What else could get worse? Emmet was supposed to be there for her to tell him, even make it better, but now he wasn't. Gently she pulled away from Aeris to look at the woman. "Do you think this last lead will end up better then your last one?"

Olivia hoped the change in topic was enough to get her mind off her brother. The notion was painful, worsened now if she continued to linger on it.

Even as Olivia pulled away from her, Aeris stroked the girl's hair, hand resting atop her head. "I hope so, but apparently Mai's been moving around a lot more recently, making him hard to pin down. But, if all goes well, I might be able to introduce you to a new addition to your family, and a lost one to mine." Aeris' smile was hopeful, but her gut told her that this wouldn't be the right lead. She wouldn't find him this time either. In truth, the vampire was losing hope that she would ever be able to catch up to him.

"Do you wanna talk about your bad week, Liv? If you want, I can stay the night, I don't leave till tomorrow anyway."

"You'll find him," Olivia said, her forehead tingled where Aeris touched and seemed to lift her mood a little. She was only sad it won't stay that way for long, and pushed away her selfishness to focus on the matter. "It's complex. I'm not even sure where to start, but you really should get going. You never know, it might be the lead which will end up being your brother and with some luck, you both will be back in time for my birthday. I ask Darius to save you a piece of the three tier velvet raspberry cake if you stop by the Rabid Dog. We'll get the back rooms to ourself..."

Then she added hastily, looking sheepish at her forgettfulness. "With supervision of course."

Olivia glanced down at the item then back at Aeris, her eyes seemed to be struggling with something until finally she gave in. She pulled the chain out with her fingers then shifted the box aside, gesturing for her sister to take it. "However, before you leave will you put this on me?"

Aeris smiled softly at the girl kissing her forehead again. "Sure." As she spoke she gently lifted the chain from the box and rose from the bed to walk behind Olivia. The gem weighted itself against the top of her chest as Aeris fastened the claspe, smiling. "How do you like it?"

"The best gift I could ever recieve," Olivia said honestly while she admired it a bit, then considered something. "Aeris?"

"Mm?" The vampire murmured walking back to sit beside her. "What's up?"

"Good luck," Was all Olivia could manage to say.

Aeris smiled warmly and hugged the girl tightly. "If I don't see you on your birthday, Happy Birthday. I love you, Liv." Aeris kissed the top of her head again, and waved as she walked out of the room beginning her search for Mairyell once again.


Present Time--Heading To The Academy--Evening

The dream ended, her mind slowly came aware of the sensation of wind whipping around her cradled figure. Her face scrunched up in confusion, her memory inching to recall Noel and herself were supposed to be in a hotel when a thought hit her. Her body stiffened within Aeris’s grip while her eyes snapped open. Immediately the first thing she caught a glimpse of was the ground, namely several feet below her, made her heart leap into her throat. Instinctively her first impulse was to grip her captor and utter words which came into her mind.

“Holy shit! What the…” Olivia’s head snapped back to Aeris, pale and half expected her original captor’s face only to recognize it,”…Aeris?!”

Aeris, trying to focus on keeping herself steady, blinked as Olivia grabbed her and cursed. "Olivia... Did you just curse at me?" Her head tilted to the side a bit, and she glided upwards, dodging a flock of in coming birds.

Olivia ducked her head against Aeris, her hand tightly hugged the woman's neck, bracing against the fluttering birds who scattered in panic. She thought a few had brushed her with their feathers and bristled her skin, her body tried to curl farther away in fear Aeris might accidently drop her. It wasn't the height that scared her most but rather the drop. It won't take much and from this level, Olivia knew or at least had some idea of the pain she could suffer from it. Her lungs felt like they were about to die within her chest while she pleaded with Aeris.

"Yes.,,but please, put me down. Please, mainly on some solid ground." Her face was turned away in a hope to avoid looking downward, pretending that she wasn't dangling very high above it.

Aeris gently squeezed Olivia's tiny form, silently letting her know she wasn't going to drop her. The vampire looked down at the ground and saw the Academy in the distance. "Just a little further sweetie and then you can be on solid ground, and a bed." Looking at the girl, Aeris smiled warmly, but she was obviously tired as well. Her eyes were visibly duller, though outside of that, there were no signs of her exhaustion. If her brother had been there, though, he could have felt it. "Oh, by the way. I found Mairyell." Aeris spoke, rather out of the blue.

Olivia kept her eyes closer, her mind centered on her own anchor that she was safe. Though the sensation of air and movement didn't help to concrete that feeling very well within her heart. The thing was flipping and jumping within her chest, trying to choke her until it felt like it would jerk right out of her chest. That or her stomach was about to reveal what her last meal was, something Olivia didn't want. The sourness that had seeded at her throat back was quickly swallowed and forced down, though it only made her middle farther upset at her. It was likely she was turning a shade of green just from the thought.

Hoping to prevent her queasiness from growing, Olivia caught Aeris's attempts to sooth her and gave her a weak smile. "That's good. I told you would wone of these leads, but what happened to Noel? Is he alright?"

The vampire watched Olivia as she struggled with queasiness. Luckily for both of them they were almost there. The Academy was only a mile away now. So close. When Olivia questioned about Noel, Aeris nodded. "Noel should be fine, he's with Mai right now, they're doing Darius a favor. Hopefully we'll see them a little later today." As she finished her sentance and was already over the Academy's courtyard. "Liv. Hang on tight." Aeris spoke sternly as she leaned her body forward and divebombed toward the ground, stopping a few feet from it and letting ehr wings open to drop her safely to her feet where she was able to sit Olivia down on the grass.

Olivia felt Aeris nod as her face was pressed into the area between the shoulder and neck, her body still fighting the need to be sick. She wasn't sure much longer she could keep herself together and manage not to make a fool of herself in front of Aeris. Not that it was the first time. When Aeris mentioend something about her to hang on, her eyes opened long enough to do two things: first look at Aeris and second, more stupidity she'll admit to later, look down.

"Wait, what are you-Ahhhhh..." Olivia couldn't help the small cry from exiting her mouth while she muffled it against Aeris's shoulder. Insider her head, a number of curses roared but thankfully she was too busy trying not to scream in her gaurdian's ear to say them.

Her arms tightened instantly and her mind flooded her head with images of them diving to the ground, unable to reassure her that it won't happen. Her body was trembling before Olivia realized they had stopped moving, their halt an abrupt jerk that cut off her sound within her throat. She then felt her lower legs drop down onto something solid which seemed to prompt the girl to take three wobbly steps from Aeris then hunch over, her arms held on her knees just when she couldn't control her stomach anymore. Her stomach tossed up its contents in a wet, smelly liquid right on the nearest patch of grass. Twice. Once she was sure the last of it was gone, Olivia edged herself upright, her sleeve wiped away the drippings left behind. The taste was completely foul and lingered in her burning throat.

"Gross." She spoke softly, more to herself then Aeris.

She turned and gave a guilty, weaken smirk. Her way of apologizing for tossing up whatever she ate on the Academy's front yard it seemed like. She only hoped the landscapered wasn't going to track her down and insist she clean it up, her body shivered at the thought rattling too soon within her head. With careful steps she bagan to walk back to Aeris, now noting the vampire's current status and getting feeling Aeris might've pushed herself too far. Namely because of the dimness in Aeris's eyes Olivia had started to feel a bit alarmed, her pace increased until She could wrap her hands about her caregiver's shoulders.

"Aeris, do you know where your room is?" Olivia asked, her voice struggled to keep the panic out of it while her eyes flickered about. She was hoping there was someone around but any she had was quickly shattered when she realized they were alone. She felt a little stupid in hoping someone, anyone, against all odd might've been around as no one in their right mind would've been. "Just show me and I'll see if I can get someone to help."

Aeris silently watched as Olivia lost whatever it was she had eaten last all over the ground. She smiled a little, as she was so used to flying she didn't even think about what it would do to a normal person if they weren't in a plane. "Yes, Olivia, I know where my room is. I'll be fine, I just need some sleep." With that, she took the girl's hand and guided her inside, and all the way to her room.

As she opened the door, a familiar large black nose sniffed at the crack, and whining could be heard. When the door was fully open, the seven foot Hell hound, Lisara stood up with her tail wagging. Flames lapped at the air and then quickly dissepated as she saw Aeris' condition, as well as Olivia. The dog's face went from overjoyed to worried, her ears falling back against her skull.

When Aeris walked into the room, her world began to spin for the second time that day and she stumbled forward a bit. SHe couldn't keep up the strong act any longer it seemed. Fantastic. She thought to herself as she hobbled her way over to the large bed. She climbed on top of it, and as soon as her head it one of the four pillows, she was out.

If Olivia had walked into the room with Aeris, Lisara would have walked behind the girl and closed the door with her snout, nudging her gently toward the shower. Though she couldn't communicate with her like she could with Aeris, the hell hound was fully capable of fetching things that she thought the girl would need.

The surprises kept coming for Olivia, her body paused in following Aeris to reach down and pick up the fallen sweater dress, saving it from grass stains of hell. Her eyes caught glimpses of the building, which gave off a school like feeling to her, a lot like the private school Darius had enrolled her making her feel more comfortable since her run in with Ashley. A cold chill raced down her spine when she remembered the woman’s face and Olivia fought the need to hug herself. Thankfully, they seemed to be the only two roaming the hallways toward the wing where Aeris’s room laid, not another soul to interrupt them when they came to the room’s door. Something sniffled and clawed at the door, a black nose revealed when suddenly Olivia found her eyes traveling upward in awe.

Last thing she expected was seeing Lisara, the hellhound familiar, waiting for them at Aeris’s room. Most schools-at she assumed this was one- from her own experience didn’t allow pets, or companions as some of the girls called them, to live on campus and so it was naturally a small shock to see her here. At Lisara’s whine, Olivia turned to spot Aeris drag herself into the room and stumble. Olivia’s hands came out but fell short when Aeris seemed to inched herself on the bed, her arms wrapped about the pillows and was out.

Hesitantly, Olivia made her way while Lisara closed the door behind her. The soft click had made the girl jump and twist about, only to be nudged toward the shower with the sweater dress still folded in her arms. She knew she could resist but it was not likely the hellhound would allow it.

“Alright, I’m going.” Olivia said while she stopped at Aeris’s bedside, her hand reached for a blanket, which decorated the top and placed it over her sleeping form. “Thanks Aeris, sleep well.”

With those last thoughts, Olivia headed to shower.

[Themerlinhawk]

Loom-Evening- Academy Ballroom

Wind Wild & Themerlinhawk

Lazarus, Hazumi

Lazarus set down the empty scotch tumbler on the table Hazumi had picked up her glass from. Leaning forward he placed his hands on the tabletop distributing his weight and making a point of starring at the wall in order to prevent himself from accidentally exposing himself to Hazumi’s Essence again so soon. “That student looked like death warmed over. Mind if I ask what was wrong with him?” Considering he was three glasses in Lazarus had dropped his accent and was surprisingly sober. He’d cheated though by using the golem bracer to accelerate the rate at which his liver cleaned alcohol from his bloodstream.

He hadn’t turned towards her but the comment was clearly directed at her, he looked towards her out of the corner of his eye but didn’t bother to turn his head more than a fraction of an inch.

Hazumi’s eyebrows quietly arched at the man’s peculiar behaviour. She could easily tell what he was. She couldn’t tell what he could do. Still, she assumed he was talking to her and, given his newly acquired position as a teacher, she decided to give him the honest answer.

“His Instrument was giving him trouble. Our students are among the bravest people of this century but they’re playing with fire. If they’re not careful the Instruments’ essence will consume their own like fire consumes wood.” She explained with a serious tone and a melancholic gaze fixed on the champagne which slowly twirled in her hand. “Unfortunately you’ll see plenty of that happening in your time here, Master Lazarus, and we can only hope minimise the damage. Thus, were you to ever have any doubts about that happening to anyone - if you notice anything off about them, please contact me and I’ll examine them.”

Lazarus smiled and turned leaning on the table confident that looking at Hazumi wouldn’t hurt him. “I think we’ve all played with fire at some point, some more than others.” It was a purposefully open ended statement, he was interested to see how she took the statement. He chuckled mentally ‘playing with fire? careful there this one might burn you to a crisp. Looking at her almost broke you, are you really sure you want her to look at you?’.

“I’ll make sure I keep an eye on my students if you’ll do me a favor in return. Keep a close eye on Mary. I’m not sure who toyed with her but I was not happy to find out the thing in her is sentient.” Lazarus scrutinized her, this time physically instead of with his Essence sight. She was rather stunning even without knowing what was beneath the surface of her physical form.

“Mary, hm? That must be the name of your pupil. Yes, she’s quite an… unfortunate individual. But she’s in safe hands here.” Hazumi gave him a reassuring smile, pretending not to notice the admiration in his eyes. It flattered her, but it would be selfish to indulge. “I hope you know you can trust us. We’re no saints, but we are honest and our intentions are always good. We’re honoured to have you as a member of our staff, Master Lazarus. I hope you come to like this place and accept it as your home.” She put her glass out for a toast.

Grinning he picked up his glass and condensed the water in the air to fill the glass. It was a cheap trick but it was better than going for a fourth round. “Oh I have faith in you and the staff, which is why I decided to pack up and move here. You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t move in whole sale. Some of the things I brought are best left under my lock and key. As for Mary….well” He tapped her glass “Her life certainly took an interesting turn when she met me”

His demeanor was rather light right up until he put his hand on Esperacchius which jolted him with some rather surprising emotions. Why hadn’t he activated the wards on the cylinder to prevent that happening again? Hopefully he hadn’t let on his suprise too much. Drinking from the glass he wished that it was in fact scotch now.

Hazumi’s observed as the man’s glass filled with water seemingly out of the thin air. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity and childish glee even though she kept her expression mature. She always enjoyed observing magic and even though on many levels she felt ancient, in some she always felt young and innocent. When it came to magic, it was always like seeing it for the first time. Although the old Hazumi had never cared about anything that wasn’t practical and useful, the “reformed” one truly appreciated the beauty of this world.

She leaned back in the comfort of her chair but her eyes didn’t leave the man. In fact, they slowly travelled up - from his glass, to his chest where they stopped for a few moments before slowly moving towards his face. What she saw made her lips curl up. The man was beautiful, through and through. His essence was old and mature, reminding her of good wine, yet, in contrast, his physical features were fresh and ripe. She had no doubt that what he was wearing was his own flesh and bone and even with her abilities, she couldn’t make sense of how he’d died and returned back to this world in such a perfect shape. If she didn’t know any better, she’d assume that his fame was a fake one. He was truly fascinating to look at - not in the way that Solus Grim was, or even herself. In a much more perfect way.

Hazumi giggled softly and returned her gaze to the glass, realising how her starring would seem to the man. She had to start a conversation fast, before things got awkward, but she struggled to pick a subject. The questions she had all seemed excessively personal and whilst she wouldn’t normally think twice before embarrassing someone, with this man she was careful not to. Not because she thought he was easy to embarrass but because in his proximity she felt like a rag-doll stood next to a human. All patches and stitches and cheap stuffing. She shoved the dark thoughts to the side and instead enjoyed the humbling feeling of respect washing over her.

“You are a truly amazing man, aren’t you, Master Lazarus.”

Lazarus turned his head and scrutinized Hazumi's face. He’d felt some strange things from her, wonder, appreciation, and embarrassment. His skull was going to be unhappy with him in the morning. Skimming thoughts from Hazumi was like passing his hand through a blowtorch, mentally. Lazarus pursed his lips, he hadn’t meant to skim Hazumi’s thoughts but it had just sort of happened.

“That is a rather interesting question isn’t it? Because it sounds like a statement.” Lazarus flicked his wrist. It was another show of petty magic but he was too intrigued with Hazumi to bother grabbing a chair. The chair zipped across the space to rest in front of Hazumi. Lazarus sat. The chair had its back to Hazumi but Lazarus straddled it and rested his arms on the back of the chair and looked at her over the chair.

“You’ll have to forgive me. I feel like I should come clean with you. I unintentionally skimmed your emotions, may I ask what you were thinking? It was a very strange combination of emotions. If I’m prying please tell me, and again I apologize for intruding like that it happened before I was aware of what I was doing. It’s rather hard to shut off honestly.” He could almost hear Kathleen laughing at him Love, you’re acting like a school boy with a crush. Calm down. Lazarus could feel his ears start to turn pink, what a strange sensation he’d never once been embarrassed by the things he picked up from other people and now here he was apologizing for it?

Hazumi's eyebrows rose, giving him a stung and accusatory look at his admission. Apparently she didn’t appreciate being pried on half as much as she enjoyed prying herself. Even demigods could have double standards. Or should we say, especially demigods. Her smile only faltered for a second thought, before it grew again.

"And you can sense emotions. Who knew?" She paused considering how much to confess. Technically she had no reason to share anything, and knew that doing so could only cause her harm in the long run. On the other hand...

"I was just admiring your essence, Master Lazarus. It is remarkably intact for a person rumored to have died long ago. So is your body and, forgive me, but as a person with my abilities and knowledge, I can't help but be awed. Very few people escape the Void unharmed." A peculiar note twisted the word "void" as she spoke it, some sort of mild reverence.

Lazarus’ face went flat. It was like he’d dropped a mask in place. The transition was almost instant as a viscous part of his personality became very alert. “I’ve never tasted of the void Mistress Hazumi” ‘Don’t be a jackass’ came the part of him that recognized true appreciation in her voice and genuine curiosity. He let out a sigh and stared into the water in his glass “Sorry, typically when people bring up my...’capabilities’ its because they are trying to figure out a way to get rid of me. Even if they are my friend or acquaintance. After all it’s scary isn’t it? Well maybe not for YOU but…” He gave her a sheepish look.

Sitting back from the chair back he looked her in the eye. “Go ahead. Ask the question I know that you want to ask.” ‘What? are you actually going to tell her?’ he hushed the voice. At the very least he could explain a bit. After all he felt like a jackass for prying. Only fair that she get something in return for the intrusion. Lazarus tossed the water back and set the glass on the table next to them and looked right at Hazumi. If nothing else was to be said she was gorgeous, Kathleen forgive me.

Hazumi was looking back at him, gaze curious and bemused but not in a malicious way. More like that of a person having a truly interesting conversation. No hidden motives.

"It is scary, even to me. See, we are different, me and you." She leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table. "You were born, I was created. The difference? I can be destroyed, you can be killed. Pieces of me can live independent lives because of my nature, but were they to rejoin me, I would lose my identity as a single individual in turn for gaining power. ...as I'm sure you know." She threw him a bemused smirk, referring to her early history as the Essence. "Same would happen if I give myself out completely to the point where "Hazumi" is broken down to the basic components. Or if I surrender my consciousness willingly. Point is, I can be destroyed. You, you are different. In theory once killed your essence would just shatter, never to roam the world again, not in any form. In reality, you not only come back, you also maintain your own being and individuality. For someone like me, there is no way to not be awed at someone like you. How you did it is indeed a terribly compelling question but one I'd rather not delve into."

Lazarus raised an eyebrow at that. “Well I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t a first, never the less. I appreciate it.” He suddenly grinned at her “You know Mistress Hazumi I believe we’re going to get along rather well.” One of his flights of distraction caught him as the music shifted and he looked over his shoulder at the still rather full ballroom. “As for being created or born, I don’t think it really matters” he turned back with a fiercer spark in his eyes “Where you came from or how you came to be are rather irrelevant I’ve found. What really matters is what you choose to do with what you have. I let go of concern like ‘would it have been better if I’d been raised differently or not born a mage’ a long time ago because they don’t matter. I know what you are Hazumi and you know what I am; however I don’t yet know who you are and I suspect the same might be true for you in concern for me. And in the end if we’re ever killed or destroyed” His lips tugged up at the corners at the if “It doesn’t matter how or by whom; all that matters is what we leave behind.”

Lazarus stood and turned the chair around so he could sit facing Hazumi without the chair in between the two of them. “I gave up fear of the end and concern for the beginning a long time ago. Instead I have concern for who I am and what I’ll leave behind. There is a young girl out there tonight who If I am killed will be all on her own in a very scary world. I can’t leave her behind yet so while I don’t fear the void I’m not finished in this world yet. So. The real question is who are you Hazumi and what will you leave behind in the end?” Lazarus flashed her a genuine smile as he kicked off his boots and pulled his legs up on the chair sitting cross legged on it.

Hazumi’s smile twitched with uncertain amusement at the boyish gesture. “Aren’t you a bit old to put your feet on your chair?” She teased while she mulled over the words spoken earlier. The man was peculiar, that much was for sure. She’d heard those words many times before - in movies, among people… They had never applied to her. The fact that the first person to tell her her creation didn’t matter was also a person who knew full well who she was (and probably, who she had been) made her happy in a completely new way. It was the absolute opposite of how Lily Quarin was treating her. But there was a question posed there, not just recognition and she couldn’t spend the entire evening brisking in the warmth of the compliment, as much as she wanted to.

“What will I leave behind in the end? So far, mostly destruction and despair. Although it wasn’t entirely my doing, I largely contributed to the shaking of the balance in our worlds. I’m will atoning for that, and hopefully one day the good I’ve done will outweigh the bad.” She answered honestly. Peculiar, really peculiar. She didn’t remember being so open with anyone in at least a century. Yet here she was, revealing her hopes and regrets to a creature which, if turned against her, could become a very formidable enemy. Heh. Maybe it was arrogance, though. Maybe it was that part left of the old Hazumi that had no doubt she can take anything and anyone on. “I like your way of thinking, Master Lazarus. And I see adoption seems to be the way we both cope with our… eternity.” She chuckled, putting her glass out for another toast.

This time Lazarus opted for something way more dramatic. Not because he was too lazy to grab his glass off the table but because he wanted to see her reaction to it. He drew on the metal of the bracers lining his skeleton as it forced its way out of his skin. He didn’t need much, the metal had a massive amount of subatomic particles in it to begin with. He rearranged them into silicone dioxide and then strung the molecules together into the base of a glass before running more of it up the sides to produce a smooth perfect tumbler. The excess energy from taking apart the molecules he transferred to the electrum rod in his belt. It was the perfect receptacle for energy and essence. He then filled the glass by condensation again.

Hazumi’s reaction didn’t disappoint him as he saw the grin spread her lips, the glee in her eyes reminiscent of a child enjoying the magic tricks their parents had requested for her birthday. She really did like magic, huh?

“There comes a point in ones life when it becomes perfectly acceptable to wander barefoot and to put ones feet on ones charge” Lazarus treated her to a childish grin. “That point is when everyone else is younger than you and not foolish enough to question your judgement.” He held the glass out and cocked his head thinking for a moment “That, or everyone just assumes you’re crazy and doesn’t pay you much mind.”

“As for adoption I think it’s only natural, Eternity is an awful long time.” He sipped at the water. Was it just that he’d finally found someone relatable to talk to? Perhaps he should have backed out of this before getting so entangled. For some reason his subconscious decided to share another glimpse of Hazumi through his essence sight. It was like staring into the sun but only this time he could see some of the details.

“I would not say you’ve left behind destruction” The comment was sudden and from a very pensive place “I think in the throes of growth we all do things we probably aren’t happy about. Let me put it this way. If you hadn’t played your part I’d never have had the pleasure of your company” The words were out of his mouth before he realised the other implication ‘if you’d never played your part I might have lived a normal happy life with my wife.’ The thought made his mouth bitter and he fought back a scowl in response to it. It wasn’t her fault. And what he’d said was certainly true, besides. The past was the past and he’d long since told himself that while he’d carry Kathleen’s memory he would leave the bitterness behind. Nice job genius.

Hazumi nodded, but it was only a nod of respect, not agreement. It wasn’t that she blamed herself for her past actions, not really. Maybe she wasn’t human enough to know the full extent of responsibility. In the end, no matter how flattering, sometimes the only opinion that matters was your own. That’s not to say she didn’t appreciate the sentiment. This was turning into a very flattering evening for her. She had performed, been appreciated and admired, connected to a human being… If she wasn’t careful, she could get used to it. Yet a part of her didn’t want it to stop.

It wasn’t up to her to decide what to do next though. Something peculiar was going on - something much more grand than their little meeting was brewing in a place not too far away. And she couldn’t help but investigate.

“Master Lazarus, your company has made the evening twice as enjoyable as all our students ever did. I truly appreciate your company and will keep returning to what you said for many nights to come.” She smiled, getting to her feet. “Unfortunately something else requires my immediate attention and I must now leave you to your own devices. I trust you’ll enjoy the rest of your evening, as well as your time to rest in the room we have prepared for you.”

Lazarus raised an eyebrow at that “off to attend to the concerns of the world I see.” He had to suppress a flicker of annoyance at that. He’d been enjoying the conversation but clearly she had something pressing to attend to. Pulling on his shoes he stood as he returned the matter of the glass to his skeleton. Feeling rather bold all of a sudden he caught her hand and kissed the back of it. “Don’t be a stranger, you know where to find me” With that he smoothed his clothing and turned to survey the crowd. This was hardly his scene but it was probably time to call it a night. Might as well make use of the room the academy was providing him. He turned and looked over his shoulder at her. “If you ever need a hand with something too big for even you to handle, I have a knack for solving problems. It would be my pleasure to help.”

Hazumi didn't seem to react at first but one might notice her widened eyes... and the fact that her hand had frozen in mid-air, just where Lazarus had left it. Stiffly she nodded and forced her body out of its stupor and towards the door.