[center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtKixBdRBmE][img]https://i.imgur.com/u5HkQ6Z.png[/img][/url]

[color=fff79a][i]I'm sure there's a reason for all of this. I won't leave until I find out what that reason is.[/i][/color]
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[color=f7941d][h3]MIKEY'S COW[/h3][/color][/b][/center]

A bitter wind blew, causing Izzy to clutch her jacket closer as dead leaves scattered about her feet. It was still early in autumn, but it was already chilly in the morning and evenings. If nothing else, the leaves changing colors were pretty to look at. Izzy sat on a bench in one of the few parks in town. This one was different from the one she had met Cerasus near, but was probably about the same age. Something about an "ecological revitalization" project in the nineties, she was sure she had heard her parents talk about at one point. This one had been abandoned too, of course, but at a far more recent date, and so was in generally better repair. White Ash Park, or something like that, was far larger as well, with a hiking trail that Izzy enjoyed. Allegedly it was a grove that had grown in a dried-up lakebed, and a river still ran through it. It was because of the river that Izzy had not been to the park since [i]then[/i], but it was good to be back.

But why today of all days? It was the 24th of September, a Sunday, around nine in the morning. And here she was freezing her butt on a metal bench in an empty park. What Izzy was currently telling herself was that she wanted to get a good hike in before the weather turned too cold again, but that was mostly a lie. She had fought with her brothers this morning, and desperately needed to be out of the house. It was her father's birthday, and they had dragged her out of bed to partake in some inane thing that the two of them had planned. Izzy barely remembered what it was, in her groggy state, but she wanted no part in it, and all three of them had a rather loud and raucous fight. Eventually she had simply had enough, and took off on her bike to wherever she could hide out for the day. And it had led her here.

Izzy was starting to regret the decision. After the initial nostalgia had worn off, being in this park was just making her feel more bitter. Was she already feeling guilty about running out on her father's birthday? Hell no, it was the two demons' faults, stirring up all of that crap she didn't want a part of. Why hadn't she wanted a part of it? She just [i]didn't[/i], okay? Was that not enough anymore. Izzy was getting angry again just thinking about it. She'd make it up to her dad later when she felt like going home, but for now here she sat.

However, Izzy's brooding was broken by an unexpected voice, "Oh, is that Izzy over there?"

Glancing up, she saw Holden, strolling over with his hands in his pockets. He looked almost debonair, with a navy blazer buttoned over a red sweater and cream-colored slacks. Izzy knew how he lived, so she couldn't help but think that his clothes were the nicest things he owned. The furthest fringes of his black hair fluttered slightly in the wind, and his dark eyes narrowed with mischief as he smiled at Izzy.

"I thought at first that the circus was in town, but it's just you." He said, still walking closer.

In the week since his curse had been lifted, he and Izzy had talked a good bit. The gate had opened, so to speak, in the castle walls that he surrounded himself with. What was inside was... interesting, to say the least. The sort of cruel edge to him when he had been defensive and shut out seemed to be an inherent part of his personality, in a way, as he seemed fond of friendly bouts of insults and other forms of intellectual sparring.

"Oh, don't make that face. You know I'm only joking. I'll start to think your sense of humor is lacking."