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The ceremony at the Cathedral was unremarkable, as far as procedures went. Well, except for the fact that all six of the current Scions were concentrated in one place, but--

And then it was all [i]seven.[/i] Axan stared like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. Sorrel Gran. Even if it had somehow been a case of same-name-itis, there was no way she'd forget that mop of bright red hair. After the surprise slackened off, a slow grin crept across her face, defying attempts to be a stoic, stone-faced emissary of the Goddess. What were the odds of that kid showing up again like this? One out of anyone in the world, and it ended up being Sorrel Gran.

Significantly buoyed by the news, she departed the cathedral--this time accompanied by Marque, at his insistence--and stepped into the waiting limousine. Putting her sword aside for the moment, she finally indulged in the long arm stretch that she'd started yearning for about ten minutes into the service, leaning backward to avoid bonking her hands into the limo's ceiling. Ahhhh. [i]Much[/i] better. She nudged Marque playfully with her elbow as she brought her arms down and the limo slowed to a halt, grasping the sword again. "[color=FC4900]Guess it's time I go make nice with li'l Yuli, hmm?[/color]"

As she stepped through the grand door of the Giles manor, letting the cold slough away, Axan cracked her neck a few times, grimacing in satisfaction. Despite what she'd said to Marque--she'd get a smile out of him yet!--she had a few different options that she was rather split between at the moment:

First, she could go antagonize her cousin as was the plan. The man was [i]obnoxiously[/i] obsessed with duty. If he'd shipped himself down to Juniperus and crammed himself into something that wasn't his military uniform, it was almost certain he wanted something out of her. To come back to Rodion, maybe. But whatever it was he wanted, she wasn't going to make it easy on him. Second, she could hunt down Sorrel! It had been a roundabout a decade since she'd seen him last, and the kiddo from back then seemed to have grown into a fine young man. 

But, she reminded herself as she felt the pinch in her stomach, she hadn't actually eaten today, so the first order of business was getting some food in her. She'd just need to be [i]really[/i] careful to avoid spilling anything; if she got sauce on her brand-new extremely fancy gown, she was going to just about detonate. She turned her head to Marque beside and a bit behind her, face the picture of serious sincerity. "[color=FC4900]You have a most important task to attend to, Templar of Fire.[/color]" Unable to fully hold her straight face, she cracked a grin. "[color=FC4900]First, get me something to drink at the bar. Anything's fine as long as it's at least 30%, preferably higher. And second,[/color]" her voice dropped a little lower, more gentle, "[color=FC4900]go have some fun or something. Eat some good food, have a drink. Relax![/color]" Without waiting for him to respond--almost certainly to refuse his second task--she made her way carefully to the buffet table, keeping an eye out for either of her two targets as she went and not finding them, perhaps because of the crowd. 

She was met instead by someone entirely unexpected beside her at the table: the new Shadow Scion Penne and her Templar. She gave her a playful bump in the side, picking up an empty plate and starting to load it with sauce-light foods like Rodion caviar and Rosarian sirloin steak, a bit of an endeavor in balance as she held her sword low to her side. "[color=FC4900]Penne, right? Think I only saw you at your accession ceremony. Axan Technically-Not-A-Real-Surname Sturke, Scion of Fire. If you've got any Scion-related problems give me a call, a'ight?[/color]" She turned to face the two and flashed a winning smile. "[color=FC4900]Good to [i]actually[/i] meet'cha![/color]"

[right][sub]Interacting with [@Raijinslayer], [@McMolly], and [@Asura][/sub][/right]