[Center][b][i]Outside Castle Big-dog.[/i][/b][/Center] --- Nostalgia was a funny thing. Jay-Jay had not spent an awful lot of time at this particular castle before: maybe a night or two, and nor had she even spent a lot of time in the presence of the castle’s owners. Hell, she’d not even spent extensive time with the people inside the castle right now. One mission was all the time they’d shared: and even that mission had left a taste of useless-ness and ineptitude in Jay-Jay’s mouth. In the end, it had been less her contribution and more the demon inside that had been useful. Jay-Jay just ended up comatose a lot of the time…Or naked…Or both. Now though, Jay-Jay was different. She was god-damn useful, and she was determined to show everyone that. She thought back to the adventures with the first-born. She had looked up to so many of the people there: brave Max-the-dickhead, strange Nestor-the-strange, Daisy the delightful aspect of death. Veti and Siya and sexy Henry and sexy-but-taken Atticus and Hoyle and Baine…All of them were like heroes back then. She reminisced about her time with the individuals and how she had felt like some hanger-on. Now though, she’d spent a year of her life taking magical lessons from a real-life demigod and a super-powerful demon: all to become a mage that could level small cities with fire magic or summon items from the Aether or even make a magical cat! She had taken a god-damned level in badass, and when the message came in from the creepy skeleton lady: she had jumped at the chance to be a part of the world saving team again. Now, she stood in front of the imposing door of a castle that was probably older than her entire blood line or something, waiting for the courage required for knocking on the door. Invisible to all but the demon-touched, a tall woman of red colouring was beside her. Flames tickled against this impossibly tall demoness, covering her in the hottest modesty going. A crown of two horns curled atop her brow: giving the demoness an imperious look. The demonic Kata was pouting at her host. [i]’Knocking is important.’[/i] “Shutup, I know that.” Jay-Jay’s face was one of thin-lipped annoyance. She had the face of a concentrating individual: someone who might be recalling an important incantation or channelling an cataclysmic incantation. [i]’Then why haven’t you knocked?’[/i] “Because shutup. I’m waiting for the right moment.” Jay-Jay’s face reddened lightly under the scrutiny of her demonic guest. She had mostly gotten past being embarrassed by the being, but sometimes Kata knew how to get under her host’s skin. [i]’The right…moment?’[/i] “Yes!” The outburst was sudden, and even the demon looked a little shocked-if-not-amused. Jay-Jay didn’t often get flustered: more often being on the quirky, excitable spectrum than the nervous one: To think that the thought of meeting everyone was having such a profound effect on her… [i]’The…right…’[/i] Without waiting for Kata to even finish her statement, Jay-Jay reached up to the iron knocker on the door and slammed it up and down three times. She grumbled something about wishing she could leave the demon behind with Oro. [i]’As if either Oro or I could trust you on your own. You still have more than a few lessons with that bird: I sold my damn name to him for his tutelage.’[/i] It was true, and the demoness had made sure to remind Jay-Jay at every opportunity. Her smugness would have been perfectly tolerable, if not for the fact that Jay-Jay understood how right she was. Without the sacrifices made by her benevolent benefactor, Jay-Jay would still be suffering through an inferiority complex and the demon would have remained anonymous and bored. “So…Now we wait I guess…” Jay-Jay lasted a whole five seconds before boredom kicked in. There was no reason for Jay-Jay to be quickly answered, but in her strange little head-canon, the demon-host had expected trumpets and a fanfare and a rubber-duck. It seemed she’d have to wait…At least for the last one. Jay-Jay sparked a little ember at the end of her outstretched index finger, which she proceeded to dance between the digits of her hand, sending a lightshow around her fingers and serving as amusement while she waited for the inevitable visit from a certain animated duck. --- [Center][b][i]Oro’s ‘nest’-Three days earlier.[/i][/b][/center] --- Oro had never really agreed to Jay-Jay’s naming of his book-filled home, yet the ‘nest’ name was a joke that she constantly laughed at. After the seventh time, it seemed the Raven demi-god had gotten over the little giggles of the red-haired girl. Oro had proven to have the patience of a god when it came to Jay-Jay. Perhaps it was her latent potential, or perhaps it was just how juicy the morsel that Kata had provided the Muninn, but never once to Oro even threat to expel Jay-Jay from his tutelage. He clearly held the promise made to the demon as an important one. One day though, Oro had told Jay-Jay to up and pack her bags. Admittedly, the pyromage-iac had expected to be thrown out a long time past, but she hadn’t even been making terrible jokes that day! Oro had just started teaching Jay-Jay a bit of soul magic, too! Before Jay-Jay or Kata could make a major complaint with the Muninn’s sudden expulsion, he provided the pair with access to his answering machine: and the screechy voice that came on the other end. [i]’Hello Mrs Williams, this is Zoey, from the Boston branch of Atticus and Hoyle. I’ve had a request from Atticus to attempt to get hold of you and request you see him at the following address…’[/i] Slowly, and with a painful, teenage droll, Zoey reads out the address to one of Baine and Hoyle’s many castles. This one was not the British estate she remembered from last time. [i] ‘He says your services would be of assistance, should you wish to return from your requested leave of absence. Have a nice daaaaay.’[/i] The message had been more than enough for Jay-Jay. She couldn’t predict why Atticus had seen to asking for her again, but the promise of adventure was more than enough for Jay-Jay. Oro claimed the ‘opportunity to put teaching into practice was a valuable one’ although Jay-Jay suspected that Oro just sought a few weeks of peace from the Pyro-child. Without any other means of transport, except the Shade gates that Jay-Jay kept a healthy distance from now-a-days, the firebrand settled for human transport: which meant booking a flight. Throughout the entire thing, Jay-Jay could only settle on a number of small, unimportant details: like the idolised friends from before, or the temptation of glory and dreams of grandeur, or-and perhaps most important- the thought of man candy, like Atticus and Henry. --- [Center][b][i]Current day[/i][/b][/center] --- After thirty seconds of fire-dancing along fingers, and the humming of catchy songs, Jay-Jay was met with the sound of a creaking door. The lack of fan-fare might have been disappointing, as might the lack of a real welcoming party; however, the presence of Cornelius was enough to lift the fire-child’s spirit up high. He was an object of humour and dignity and, perhaps most important, an objective she strived to fix. “Hey Squeakers. Long-time no see! Are we saving the world again?” The dancing flame flickered down into Jay-Jay’s palm, and she crushed the embers in her palm without a flinch of the heat. She didn’t feel warm anymore. Not in a negative way, anyhow. Flame was just a pleasant thing for her now, the delightful warmth of fire wasn’t tempered with the painful burning. “Say, I don’t suppose you want to help me test out a couple spells, do ya? Oro said he thought of a way to put you in a different body, should yet ever get tired of…well…Duck-ness.” The glance she got from the rubber duck was awfully biting, considering the fact that Cornelius didn't have the capacity to change his facial expression very much. Despite the chilling look, Cornelius remained ever the symbol of professionalism: politely brushing off Jay-Jay's 'offer' and countering that with an offer to lead her to the majority of the group in the dining hall. The fire-child offered a smile. "That'd be swell, Corn-ee." The excitement for Jay-Jay was too high a level to contain with walking. She couldn't remain calm while walking, so instead the red-head skipped. It was an unusual act for a woman in the employ of legends like Baine and Hoyle to skip in merriment, like a small child, but Jay-Jay was at her core an unusual woman. It didn't matter to her if people thought her odd: never had, never would. It was when Cornelius finally led the demon-host to the parlor that Jay-Jay clammed up. Here it was, the culmination of a year's hard work and the chance to achieve some personal redemption and an opportunity to actually make friends of these people and...She knew she needed to say something, she was just standing in the doorway for a good 5 seconds, just...there. Frozen like a cat in headlights by the sight of the larger than life figures she once and still did, to an extent, idolize. [i]'Are you going to say something?'[/i] The demon was the first to speak, cheeky smile on her fire-y lips. The demoness seemed to ignore the rest of the room, including the Ice-bitch who could likely see her. On their last adventure, the demon had made paticular effort to keep out-of-body experiences to a minimum. This time, she wasn't going to be so discreet. If anyone had the eyes to see a demon, they'd see the unusual Ifrit in all her fire-wreathed glory.. "Shut your face, Kata! I'm waiting for the right m,,,oh,,,m..." Jay-Jay paused, the sudden realization that she was shouting at her demon in a rather unconstrained and quite loud manner dawning upon her and ruining the school of cool she'd been striving to attain. Her entrance was ruined: her very sanity likely in question! ...Oh well. "Um...Hi guys...hehe."