Illyana heard everything that Lucien was saying, but it was as if her head was still underwater. She wanted to scream, to cry, to fling herself on the floor like a normal child of her age and have a tantrum...but she knew that she couldn't do that. She was too logical, too intelligent, had seen and felt too much to let this defeat her. She looked up at her house, glanced out around the lawn aimlessly, like she was in a fugue state and couldn't remember her name.

She heard Lucien's words, every bit of them, and that was when she saw the sign on her front yard. She couldn't see the front of it, but she knew what kind of omen it was.

Slowly, the girl nodded her consent to Lucien's suggestion. He was right, if her neighbors called the police and she was taken away from Lucien and Faolan, they might find out about her deformity. They might put the men in jail and take Aurel to an orphanage and after everything they had done to help her she did not want that to happen. This was best...

She looked up at Lucien as her eyes filled with tears, seemingly unaware that it was happening. [color=598527]"Okay,"[/color] She said quietly, her tone even but subdued. She turned from the man and slowly began trudging back to the bus, her eyes on the ground the whole way. 

Faolan shrugged at Aurel's question, listening at the same time to the speech that Lucien was giving the girl. [color=a36209]"Dunno..."[/color] he said under his breath, then added, [color=a36209]"But it looks that way."[/color] Though his tone was flat, there was anger and sadness swirling inside of him. He had to remain calm for everyone's sake. 

At Aurel's last question, he looked up at the boy and shook his head, [color=a36209]"I'm not sure. Don't worry too much though, Lucien and I will handle this. You try and just be there for her...if she'll let you."[/color] he said, turning away when he noticed the girl was heading back toward him. She kept her eyes on her feet as she walked slowly back down the drive and stepped up onto the bus. She didn't even glance at Faolan or Aurel as he poked his head out of the window. Before she entered fully though, she paused and looked back at the house as a tear from each eye rolled down her cheeks and splashed onto the stairs. It was like it was the last time she would see it. Having been there before himself, Faolan felt her hurt deeply. He watched her as she turned her back and went inside, then sighed again and made his way toward Lucien.