Cɧaηce Iηη: Hadeᵴ Ƀraηcɧ {(Now Open)}

[Rohrchi]

Ԑthan had opened the doors for her like a gentleman. But the next thing she had felt was a hard shove to the small of her back. "Hey!" she shouted angrily as she stumbled into the bar. Her surprised response almost drowned out Akheron's greeting. When Ark's brain finally caught up with the welcome, she turned and thanked him.

The next moment she was looking around a place that must have had a fantastic interior designer. It had all the right amounts of lighting and decorations peppering the walls. Even the color scheme suited her with shades of beige lightly mixing with colors throughout the room. Suddenly, she was much less angry at Ԑthan.

After a moment she crossed to the bar and sat down at a stool. She wasn't really paying attention to anyone else because she was too busy waiting for Ԑthan to follow her inside.

[Teh Futon of Doomage]

When Ԑthan entered the tavern he was laughing riotously. "You should have seen your face! It was absolutely priceless!" Having already been in the bar, Ԑthan didn't stop to look around and ignored Akheron. Instead, he plopped down on the stool next to her and leaned in close to tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear.

His face was close enough to hers that a less composed woman might have blushed or expected a kiss. A heartbeat later his head popped up to look at his sister, "Hey, sis, get us some alcohol?"

[Green Dreams]

Lethe was positive that her brother didn't know how adept he was at diffusing situations. Especially since he did it on accident as much as on purpose. He had interrupting anything she had been thinking of saying to Blaise. However, she still responded to Blaise before meeting Ԑthan's demand just to annoy him. "If you were working here then you wouldn't be able to watch me have fun," she replied lightly.

Then she flounced down the bar, making her hair sway back and forth over her butt as she went. She stopped in front of her brother and his female guest and about swallowed her tongue. Lethe sincerely hoped the girl didn't recognize her or else there could be a whole mess of trouble. Clearing her throat, Lethe glared at her brother "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific dear."

[Pyro Jess]

"O..oh that..that's true I...I didn't think of that." he mumbled as he lowered his head in disappointment, there went that idea. Hearing all the comotion Blaise turned his head and watched as Ethan and Ark came in and sat down. Tilting his head he stared at the two though he mainly was looking at Ark. He wasn't sure if it was her or not it had been so long he had to make sure. Standing up from his seat he began to walk towards her. "Ark? Is...is that you? If so why are you here?"

[Rohrchi]

Ark completely ignored Ԑthan; she was used to his antics. While he was trying to flirt with her, she looking around and figuring out where everything that interested her was. When a bartender approached she smiled, "Sorry about his lacks of manners. I know he's your brother, but I still feel bad. Um.. can I get a Kahlua and chocolate milk please?" Ԑthan would never let her get away with drinking something that wasn't alcoholic.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice. Unlike herself, Blaise was immediately recognizable. "Blaise! Hey!" She stood to give him a hug. "You remember last time we talked and told you my vamp buddies had assigned me a partner? Well, this is him. And this is his sister's place. What're you doing here?"

[Teh Futon of Doomage]

Ԑthan wanted to pout, but that would be counterproductive. She never responded to his advances and was often downright frigid towards him in front of others. It hurt even more to see her expect a hug from some lava demon.

Trying to ignore them, he turned to his sister and leered nastily at her, "Oh, come on, I thought you knew me better than that. As many shots of whiskey as it'll take to get me drunk. One at a time though; no need to keep count."

[Green Dreams]

Lethe was considerably relieved when Ark showed not even the slightest sign of recognizing her, which meant "Rachel" could be safely buried. It also meant the girl wouldn't recall her blatant flirting and staring. "Oh, no apology necessary. I actually feel bad for you, having to deal with him so often lately." As she spoke, she bustled about the bar getting their drinks ready and setting them on the counter.

Once done, she turned back to Blaise, "Don't worry Blaise, we can play some other time." Subconsciously, Lethe made the word play seductive. Had she realized the way the word rolled off her tongue and her hips tilted slightly without her permission, she would have been vaguely miffed.

[Pyro Jess]

A bright smile grew across his face when Ark responded to him and gave him a hug, it was her. "Yay I was right, I do remember and it's so nice to see you again." He paused frowning as he had caught her question. "Mas..Master isn't to happy with me at the moment....so he sent me away from Haven to walk here on foot. Th..that wasn't fun considering it rained a bit and I got lost." he explained just as he heard Lethe. His blush came back with vengeance and a shiver ran up his spine. He was getting extremely nervous all over again and had no idea how to respond to her.

[Rohrchi]

Lethe's comment and it's delivery made Ark look at her in mild surprise. She wouldn't have expected Blaise to become intimately involved with someone like the siblings.

Ark wasn't really used to sitting around and doing nothing these days. She was always either working or with some of Ԑthan's friends and acquaintances. To put her hands to use, she picked up her glass of Kahlua and took small sips when she wasn't talking. "Michael occasionally had a tendency to anger easily, so there's not much point in asking what made him upset. But why here?"

[Teh Futon of Doomage]

It was one thing for Ark to apologize for him - she was sweet and well-intentioned. Lethe was nothing of the sort and her apology to Ark made Ԑthan see red. He had a sudden urge to resort back to his childhood days when he would prank her.

He took comfort only in the fact that he was quite sure his sister had just done something she hadn't intended on doing. And, for Lethe, not managing to be completely in control was a very big problem. Ԑthan drained his shot quickly to hide a smirk, then looked expectantly at Lethe for another one.

[Pyro Jess]

Blaise shivered again though this time of fear rather than nervousness Master was ruthless when he was angry. "I was sent here by random to be honest, Master just wanted me to be a certain distance away from Haven." Pausing Blaise's eyes started to water up and he started to get sniffly. "Ma...Master was so angry at me Ark. Even when I..I suggested that I b..be tortured for my punishment he lashed out saying that that wasn't good enough, an..and h..he b..b..banished me from my home!" At this point Blaise had broken down and tears poured down his face as he cried. He didn't know which was worse, the fact that he had done more than disappoint his master or that he couldn't see his home ever again at least for what he knew.

[Green Dreams]

Lethe didn't even notice the looks the others gave her. She did, however, notice Blaise's blush and shiver. She was slightly confused by his reaction.

The other conversation rather annoyed her. Both Ark and Blaise were talking about Michael who Lethe considered a rival of sorts. Though they were in different fields and had completely different bosses, they still competed in a similar field.

Instead, she focused on her obnoxious brother and his silent demand.

[The Mad Prince Seeu]

S E E U

xxxMany must perish,
xxxxxxxxxxxxso few may live forever.

But no one should live forever,xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
if even one man must die.xxxxxxxxx

Somewhere within that acre of meadow spread wild before the inn Seeu emerged, stumbling as he fell through a wrinkle in time. Grass was crushed under knees and splayed fingers as he stared down at it, scent of the earth thick and cold as it tickled his nose with green blades. The striped wool scarf did little to dull the chill of autumn, but as he rose to his feet to survey his surroundings, the prickle of goosebumps under layers of scholarly uniform were no longer due to the cold.

The trees ahead were beautiful. Crowned with gold, red, and mahogany their boughs beckoned in the breeze, rustling one hundred yards away at the end of a winding path littered with vibrant dead leaves like breadcrumbs leading to a mystical castle in the wood. They were old trees, tall trees, wise, fat trees-- surely one of them had to be it. Seeu's legs carried him of their own accord to the garden, curiosity piqued by the shadow of a building hidden within. Someone owned those trees. Perhaps that someone would know where to find the one he was searching for.

Minutes later he was in the thick of a stately garden, color rioting about his feet as he shuffled through a sea of fallen leaves. But he didn't go for the door of the inn. Instead, he inspected each of the trunks, working his way methodically through the garden to stroke and touch and examine each tree as a scientist probes his experiments, gently, with affectionate fascination.

Finally, when all had been searched, he sighed. Lashes shaded blue as it glazed vacant at the ground, body slowly sinking into the knot of roots at the base of a large oak. Leaves fell all around him like rain in slow motion, sticking to the thicket of hair tied back in a high ponytail, brushing along the rise of his cheekbone like a comforting caress.

"It's not here," he answered the wind. The back of his head met the bark hard, air sucked through grit teeth. "I've looked everywhere for it, but I'm beginning to wonder if it's nothing more than a myth."


L O C A T I O N // Under an oak tree in the garden before the inn. S T A T U S // Disappointed.

[Rohrchi]

"I didn't know that Michael was interested in torture to begin with. Well.. except psychological torture," her smile as she said this was almost a grimace. "In fact, I think that for someone like you, banishment is right up his alley. You depend on a home to protect you from water. I'm more surprised that he didn't order you not to find a place until he forgave you."

Throughout her conversation with Blaise, Ark had also been watching Ԑthan and Lethe. It was a new skill she had learned while navigating demon parties with Ԑthan. She always needed to be aware of what others were doing even when she was distracted. It could mean life or death in some situations.

{I'm not ignoring you, I just don't have a realistic way to acknowledge you.}

[The Mad Prince Seeu]

((That's fine. I'll find a way to jump in, no worries. ))