A Neighborhood Affair

[kewefefe]

►═══════════════════════════════════════◄

►═══════════════════════════════════════◄

████████████████████████████████████████████████

”That’s alright Mary. I am sure you will figure it out at some point.” wink Dragon Claw happily moving away from Mary without a care in the world. It was as if the conversation he had shared with Mary had gone right over his head. He did not even seem phased by it as he looked at Claudia’s art.

The dragon frowned a bit at Claudia’s assessment before his frown moved up into a smirk. He crossed his arms over his chest as he shook his head. ”No need to worry about that little princess of darkness.” he said in a happy tone. ”My crew consists of only you and me at this particular moment. The strangest thing happened a dragon ate all of my other members.” he said with a snicker knowing all to well how that had taken place. ”So all you’ll have to really do is keep me alive and we’re golden.” he said invading the girl of solitude’s personal space. ”I am pointing at our adventure is what I am pointing at! Oh it’s there. You just have to believe it is there.” he said in a very serious tone.

”It depends on who you are asking. I mean if you were starving you would prefer a honeysuckle right? I mean a diamond isn’t going to feed you. Well, unless you are my cousin Draka. She eats diamonds and all sorts of gems.” he explained his index finger pressed against the side of his cheek as he thought of the woman. ”She says it is more satisfying than meat if you can believe that. She’s quite the little devil that one. I guess you could say she’s a different kind of pirate. She’s the seducing kind. Stealing away men’s hearts to get their gems.” he said shaking his head as he looked back at Claudia. ”Well it is either team or couple, your choice little princess of darkness.”

In the meantime, Enzo was doing his best to keep himself from laughing at Alexis’s reactions. It was not that Enzo wanted to drive the woman batty and into an early grave. It was just that it had been so long since he had seen such a fire in her eyes. It was as if seeing her upset reassured him that she had a beating pulse. ”That’s not very nice nor is it very ladylike.” he commented his head shaking back and forth at the other.

The teasing would have continued had Enzo lost sense of his son. ”He seems to get himself into a lot of trouble.” noted Enzo as he gave a sideways glance at Alexis. ”I believe he already has a hobby, but it is a rather controversial hobby.” he said as he took to his feet.

”You know Alexis. You could always just be honest and say you want to go cause you like me.” mocked Enzo starting the transformation before Alexis could argue his statement.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Duchess seemed to be completely taken in by the Griffon’s general authority on all manners. Her gaze said as much as she stared at the other with a doe-like expression. ”You will take me?” she repeated blinking at the suggestion. There was a pause before her lips formed into a gentle smile followed by a bashful blush. ”Well I did offer anything in my home.” she said causing Darius to deadpan at the girl’s willingness. She might have held Dina’s face, but she was nothing like the passionate future attorney. ”But I must gather a few things....if that is alright with you.” she said downright docile under the Griffon’s gaze.

Darius watched the interactions for a moment longer before looking back at the Red Rook. Why was he not surprised? Even in a world filled with creatures of all kinds, Franklin somehow attached himself as a fighter of monsters. That personality trait seemed to be a universal truth that Darius could see even with his mind as distorted as it was. ”I see.” said Darius deciding it was better to just go along with Franklin’s words than to argue them. Besides, he hardly had any time to think about the Red Rook with the Red Queen in his court. One pair of lifeless eyes slid to meet another pair of lifeless eyes.

This whole situation was a struggle for the man. The temptation to simply stay in this reality was strong. Certainly staying here would be easier than going back to the other world. Here he could express those hidden feelings he had been suppressing since he had first laid eyes on Lydia. He could not only express those thoughts freely but he could do so knowing he would be safe from judgmental glares, teases, or even rejection. Not to mention, he was certain that the Red Queen could formulate and craft whatever they needed. Yet, it was not real. Sure it felt real and there were aspects of it that drew on real emotions, but it was still just a imitation of the truth. He had to keep his mind sharp as he watched the Red Queen. ”It is not that I am not happy with this world or the idea of what this world could mean for u....” The word us was slow to leave the vampire’s lips as his head looked away. In fact it was so slow that it just stopped half way through its progression. It was so hard to muster up the courage to say the things that Enzo always seemed to say with such ease. Even Cassey as young and naive as she was seemed to excel in expressing these thoughts. Yet, Darius could not do it. No matter how hard he tried and how hard he focused, the words would get stuck in the back of his throat. He would look away in a bashful manner and distract his thoughts. ”What I mean to say,” he continued recovering as quickly as he could. ”is it is not good to be wrapped up in a singular reality. It is hard on the spirit.” he explained.

The man had a feeling he was going to be misunderstood. Yet even though he knew this was going to happen, it did not make it sting any less. If anything, the fact that he knew the possibility and was forced to endure it made the whole thing hurt even more than it might have had it come as a surprise. It was like he was anticipating the blow, but his anticipation was nothing compared to the actual swing. Just watching silver eyes grow sad caused the man’s heart to grow heavy. The Red Queen shoved his hand away causing Darius to take a step back. He had to keep strong. Luckily, the man had quite the poker face as he watched the girl. ”It is not about me choosing you or not choosing you.” Darius explained slowly. ”Is is a matter of keeping you alive.” he said his voice steady despite the feeling of fullness he felt in his chest. ”It does not have to be that way. It doesn’t have to be you versus her.” he attempted to explain.

”Both of you are equally one, neither is more Lydia than the other. You cannot survive without her, but she cannot survive without you.” he argued growing stiff at the Red Queens explanation. ”That is not your destiny. That is their destiny.” he explained in a slow manner. ”It does not matter how you came into this world. All that really matter is that you are here.” he tried to defend growing quiet under the Red Queen’s explanation of how the Fates worked.

At this point, Darius grew very still. He barely moved as he watched the woman speak. He was silently rolling over the idea in his mind listening to what she had to say. Verdandi? That was that she had called the power over the Present. Yet, even though she seemed certain that her only purpose was to hold that power and to be her uncle’s puppet, Darius could not see it. Maybe Darius was simpler than he had always thought. Perhaps, he and Abram could think alike when it came to aspects like this. Because right now the man just could not see Lydia the way the Red Queen saw herself. ”You know Red Queen, the minute you start thinking that everything is set in stone is the minute everything becomes set in stone.” he said his hands forming into fists at his sides as he thought about Enzo.

How many years had Enzo suffered because of those fates? How many years had Darius tried to get the man out and about only to hear him discuss his fate claiming that he was doomed for a bleak lifetime. Darius was tired of the fates and tired of what they claimed was going to happen. If things were really as set in stone as they were how could Alexis withstand being around Enzo? The future was not ice, it was an ever changing river. The only thing that was ice was the past. You could never change your past, but you could always redirect your future. But the only way you could do so was by changing your present thought. ”No.” said Darius firmly. ”Supposed to happen to her? The future is an ever changing reality. The only thing that can affect the future is what you do in the present.” he stated in a very direct tone.

This argument might have continued had the Red Hare not entered. Darius’s eyes widened as he stared at the girl. She was torn to pieces and looked as if she had struggled quite the beating. A portion of him wanted to move towards her and tend to her wounds, but that same portion knew the physiological damage that might inflict on the Red Queen. This was a delicate situation he found himself in and he had to map out each move like a well played chess game. The only thing Darius was certain about was his distaste for the Red King. Abram seemed to be an ever present thorn in his side. The idea that the man had inflicted harm to the Red Hare had Darius’s teeth clenching but his facial expression never moved. He looked like a wooden doll lifeless and still.

”Stop.” said Darius with authority as he lifted his hand up and held it out towards Abram. ”All of you just stop.” he said his hand dropping as he looked from the Red Hare to the Red Queen. ”I do not understand how both of you can misunderstand what I am trying to explain.” he said his voice soft. ”You cannot exist on your own neither of you can.” he said taking a step to the side so he was directly in the middle of both. ”You are both equally one another. To hide one away deep within your psyche is denying a portion of yourself. This denial can only last for so long before it damages the body.”

This time Darius moved his gaze towards the Red Queen. ”I do not know much about the fates true origin, but I know enough about my own lifetime. I have seen so many people get caught up in what their destiny is that they become what people said they would become.” he explained watching her as he spoke. ”Nothing is ever set in stone. You do not have to be this way nor do you have to hate her. You have a free will. You were given the capability to chose what you want.” he said his eyebrows frowning over his forehead. ”You are not simply a vessel or a puppet. You created this world from your own accord. Why settle on being just another pawn in this banshee war?” he inquired.

Slowly Darius looked back at the Red Hare. ”You have been forced to endure losing almost everything, but you were left with your desire to achieve.” he stated. ”Although you have the desire you will never truly aspire to what you desire until you understand this concept. Just like a business that relies on its employees you cannot go about doing things on your own. You need other people.” he urged her to understand. Usually, Darius was reluctant to speak but there he was trying to get both girls to understand.

”You are both very selfish trying to think you can do this all on your own.” he scolded not holding back as he watched the two. ”If you continue to argue like this and fight one another you are allowing all of those people who were against you to win.” he explained. ”How can you complete any goal when you are using so much of your mind to keep the other locked?” he asked.

”Instead the two of you should formulate a plan to share the body equally.” Darius began his business side taking over. ”No more keeping one locked up while the other gets all of the time she seeks.” he said his arms crossing. ”I think the two of you have wasted enough time thinking you can do this on your own.” he explained. ”And if you do not seriously considered what I have told you, you will stay locked up in this world alone. Because only when you two work together will you be able to get the freedom you both seek.”

████████████████████████████████████████████████

[kewefefe]

════════════════════════════════════════════
”First of all, it does not count as helping if you just toss the issue from one side of this little lake to another.” argued Dina. ”Secondly, I do not see a contract agreeing to your conditions. You saved my brother and his...friend...” she paused briefly looking at Wila before looking back at Graham. ”By your own free will. I requested it, but I never agreed to anything you suggested. There was not even so much as a verbal contract binding me to you.” said the woman her expression stiff as her eyes narrowed and she went into lawyer mode. ”As it stands, the only thing you hold over me is that I will defend you in court.” she said her head turning the opposite way of him twitching as the man moved closer and continued to speak. ”Careful Graham, sexual harassment violates our deal.” she said her hand flicking his off of her shoulders. ”In our initial verbal contract that took place over three months ago, you were given my services as a lawyer. However, in doing so you gave up your chances at an intimate relationship.” she said taking a step back from him. ”My request at that time was to share a bed with you, but you declined and a match was had. In accepting that match you gave up your rights. So if you sexual harass me one more time, that will be in direct violation of our agreement.” she said with her nose in the air.

Vidar felt as if he had just been hit by a truck. Everything was slow to register as he tried to ease himself out of the reality of being so intimate with Wila and back into the reality where he tried to escape this game. His hand moved over his facial features as he took in a large amount of air. He slowly let it release as he shut his eyes and opened them once again. ”Graham is right. It appears we got caught in this game.” he reluctantly admitted as he looked towards the other man. His face mimicked his sister’s expression as he shook his head. Slowly he looked at Wila before looking away once more as Graham cut her off.

”Here.” he said handing the other man his map. Usually Vidar might have been a bit more stingy with something so valuable but his mind was not in the right place. Right now he knew that his best option was to hand the responsibility off to someone else. ”She could be out. I believe if she were sucked in by the darkness we would still be able to see here. Then again, the Game Master did claim that this is only half of the map. Maybe she is in that unknown land?” he inquired pointing towards the half of the map that held a dark cloud overcast.

Noticing that his words were not helping ease the brother, he quickly came up with another solution. ”Nightingale is also missing. So at least she is not alone.” he said his eyes doing a double take when he noticed both Kitty and Zeke’s presences on the map. Almost immediately Vidar snatched the map away as his eyebrow twitched. ”What are they doing here? They could get hurt!” said about the only person in the world that could actually make Zeke and Kitty seem like vulnerable kids. Even Enzo seemed to know what Zeke was capable of, but Vidar had a sort of rose-colored glasses feel about him as his expression twisted and he became a concerned parent. ”We have to go find them.” he concluded deadpanning slightly at Wila’s high schooler comment. Vidar was not particularly fond of his real high school days so he doubted reliving that time of his life again would be any better. Besides, he had already gotten his fill of high school reliving back in Death’s world. ”Graham is right. It is better if you try not to get caught up in another game.” nodded Vidar. ”I am sure he got her out of here.” Vidar stated clearly feeling bad about his earlier comments. He gave Graham an understanding look causing Dina to roll her eyes. Having her brother bond with Graham was not on her list of things she wanted to see today. If anything she would have preferred a bit more of a fight from Vidar.

Why did every man Dina was related to have to like Graham? Couldn’t at least one of them put up more of a fight? Maybe it was because of her last series of relationships. Felix was a terrible first boyfriend. He was rude, a bully, and crude. Dog happened so quickly that it was hard for anyone to really get to know him. Besides, the only information Vidar had about Dog came from Zeke which was not the most reliable source but a source Vidar held great value to. Yet Graham seemed like quite the catch on the surface. He came from a successful family, was successful himself, and had proven on a number of occasions that he was willing to do whatever he could to protect Dina. His family home was after all the place Dina stayed after the events three months ago. Besides, Kitty adored Graham’s family. After that summer, she came back to the Lone Wolf’s Den talking up a storm about kelpie life this and that. Although Zeke was not entirely pleased with the situation, it did have a positive affect on Kitty. It was not healthy the way Kitty obsessed over Zeke and any form of positive distraction was good in Vidar’s eyes. All of those things still did not stop Dina from thinking that Graham had it too easy when it came to her brother and father’s approval. ”Tch, you talk too much.” argued Dina her ears falling flat on top of her head.

Finally Vidar seemed to noticed his sister’s ears. His lips parted to ask about them when Wila spoke to him. His head did a double take as he looked back at the human. ”Y...yes. If it is important I could make time.” he said looking away before she could see his expression. What could she want to discuss with him? Wila might not have been the deepest thinker, but maybe she had felt that spark he felt. Could she be confessing to him? What was Vidar thinking? He was acting like a twelve-year old girl trying to reason whether or not the boy in her gym class liked her. Shaking the thought, Vidar followed after Wila and the others.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Somehow seeing Fee and Nightingale made Cassey feel safe. Although she did not have the same personal relationship with Nightingale her sister held, she was still glad that he was a familiar face. Besides, it was not every day you could got spend time with a pop legend. Fee was different than Cassey had been expecting. The girl was always so confident and filled with such a stage presence that it was odd seeing her act so timid. But Cassey was never one to make another feel embarrassed as her hand stretched out and she smiled at the pop idol. ”It’s okay really!” said Cassey forcing a smile in the presence of the other girl. She puffed out her own cheeks as she began to pinch them to make a faint blush appear. ”See? I just need to do that old trick to get the blood going.” she teased. ”And I want to look pale!” she laughed to subside Fee’s worry. ”It will make me look like a vampire! And then Darius will see me and most certainly fight for my affection!” she said in a determined manner. ”The sicklier I look the better! It just adds to this vampire-esque look.” she said with that big smile she always wore.

Violet eyes slowly moved towards Ruarc as her expression shifted slightly. There was a look of distaste behind those violet eyes that quickly shifted back into a sunny outlook under Fee’s glances. ”Serafina is talented without any hidden magic.” stated Cassey looking at Fee with a smile.

Nightingale was not nearly as good as Cassey was at hiding her dislike of Ruarc. The incubus looked downright livid as he stared at the other man. ”I always thought your kind held a bit more class, but it seems like you are willing to latch onto any cheap trick you can find. Sorry I didn’t mean to stereotype you as the desperate kind..” countered Nightingale.

The Game Master was watching all of the back and forth between each person with interest. It was not until the genie spoke to him directly that his head turned. ”A lamp? What a strange request! Alright.” said the man as he pulled out a miniature reading lamp he seemed to have in his pocket. ”I give this to you. So that makes this your lamp.” he snickered his eyes sliding towards Future. ”Aw come now. You have to respect her for trying. Besides, I find it rather endearing.” he admitted fondly.

”Concubine?!” repeated Nightingale his whole face twisting as he looked at little Cassey pressed so closely to Future. ”How.....appalling.” he said his nose twisting up in disgust. ”You are not worthy of a fairy princess. You are hardly even worthy of a non-royal fairy or even my lot.” explained the man as he took a step forward.

”Careful there,” said the Game Master who was leaning against the wall spinning the genie’s lamp on his index finger. ”You have already killed one man for those fairy girls. I would hate to hear what your mother would say if you killed another one for them. She might love their brother, but she is as crude as the rest of us when it comes to a game.” he said causing Nightingale’s jaw to tighten. ”And Future, be patient. If you play with the girl now you will grow bored of her later. Why not just let her have a bit of freedom hm?” he eased as he took Cassey by the hand and pulled her away from the other fake Fate.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

There was a scene in front of those bleachers involving a violet haired female and a silver haired male. The mermaid shook and shook the other trying her hardest to get this Zeke to remember something he had never experienced. Kitty felt like something was off, but just wrote it off as Zeke playing with her mind again. This had to have been a punishment for her agreeing to the Game Master’s game. Her hands moved towards the other’s neck with the intention to just end it all there when she heard her Zeke’s voice. Off like a dart ran the girl towards the man she loved. ”Oh Zekey, it is not my fault you are always being so mean to me that I thought this was you playing hard to get again.” she pouted her hands playing with his shirt collar. While others might have grown fearful under scarlet gaze, Kitty idly ignored them. ”Leave me here?” she bellowed finally giving Zeke the proper attention. Her whole face twisted as she shook her head no clearly not liking the idea of being forced to endure a world where Zeke was in love with Lydia. ”You couldn’t leave me here! No! This place is dreadful! Who will make you cookies?” she asked growing desperate in her pleas.

Kitty might have continued like this or even commented on Abram’s dream comment had Wila’s voice not carried towards the area they were all at. ”What was that? That was Wila!” said Kitty jumping off of Zeke so fast that it nearly knocking them both to the ground. ”You’re alive! You’re alive!” chanted Kitty as she immediately retired the other’s female’s hug. ”We came here to save you and Vidar!” explained Kitty all smiles under Wila’s presence. Somehow having Wila around made it easier for Kitty to swallow Zeke’s less happy times.

”Are you alright?” asked Vidar his hand dropping on his adopted son’s shoulder. He did a quick look around of the boy before moving his hand. ”Heh, we have Graham to thank for that.” stated Vidar always one to give credit where credit was due. ”That kelpie saved my life and Wila’s. Had he not interfered when he had, we could have been lost to this game. For that, he has earned our loyalty. You can never forget when someone saves your life.” explained Vidar giving Zeke a lesson like he always did whenever the two were together.

The man might have continued had Wila not attached herself to the Lydia of this world. ”Wila.” he said in a calm voice. ”That is not the Lydia you think it is. Please let her go.” he said before his eyes narrowed as the Zeke of this world pushed Wila. He might have attacked had Wila not been shoved into his arms. Luckily Zeke moved in to snap at his double as Vidar steadied Wila. ”Are you okay?” he whispered.

”That is another violation of sexual harassment.” said Dina making a face at Graham and his suggestion. ”And what are you? Sixteen? I am not going to go behind some gym and make out with you.” she said pinching her nose at the ridiculousness of it all.

”Tch, can you all just stop? There is so much going on...and why the heck are you green!?” huffed the Kitty of this world as she stared at Graham. ”And what’s with your ears? And tail? Abram what is going on?” asked Kitty as she moved towards Abram. ”There is just so much going on....I’m frightened.” she said as she leaned her forehead against his chest causing the real Kitty to swiftly look at Zeke.

”You cannot get mad at me for that! I am waaaay over here! Look at me. I’m not anywhere near Abram nor am I all lovey-dovey with him.” explained Kitty despite the fact that there was a very faint blush on her cheeks.

”We really need to figure out a way out of here.” said Dina looking past Kitty and Zeke for the moment. It seemed as if she were able to just ignore their actions as her head tilted to the side. ”Hm, does anyone have any ideas?” she finally asked when she drew a blank on what to do.


════════════════════════════════════════════





.....If you drowned yourself in dreams, your dream will never come true.

[Lady March Hare]

If Juniper were to take a deep breath and forget that her brothers and a wolf that disturbed her in ways difficult to describe were right outside the door, the dark haired knight could almost believe that she was back in the Constantine home with her Lady Lydia. The redhead had a wistful desire to dress Juni up too, but never got her chance; Lydia was a real sucker for a young woman with a laser focus on her duty. There were any other differences between Lady Katherine and Lady Lydia, too, but they had one thing in common that made Juniper smile: they were quick to accept her without question. It was enough to make the fairy knight relax in a den of wolves. Well, not relax completely; Kitty was getting her wish and Juniper was in a dress, so it certainly wasn’t an average day with the Fates.

“…I suppose you know Morte better than anyone. If you say he is good, then he must be.” Juniper conceded slowly, since that was a particularly difficult concept for her to get her head around. But Kitty looked so doting and sincere with that little blush on her face, there was no helping but to believe her. It softened Juniper’s already gentle opinion of Kitty, and she couldn’t help the tiny smile that grew on her lips.

Gentleness gave way to a flustered, innocent effort to divine more about love from the fairy knight; her obvious awkwardness proved that she was new both to love and to deception, as she lacked skill with both. Lavender eyes widened and a healthy blush bloomed on Juniper’s face, her hands instantly dropping to fiddle with the hem of her dress. “Oh… I don’t know… I mean, no, it’s not me who has those feelings. It’s… it’s… it’s a friend of mine!” Juniper latched onto this smokescreen eagerly, not knowing that in the world of humans claiming you were asking something ‘for a friend’ was a clearer indication that you were speaking of yourself than if you admitted it outright. “Yes, she’s a friend, and I want to know how to help her. Because, you see, these caring feelings she has are for someone she shouldn’t have them for. He’s…. he’s wrong for her, and she knows it… but… it’s like she can’t help… feeling…”

Juniper had almost struggled through admitting aloud what she had been unable to up to that point, but Morte and Ryu burst in to interrupt any sort of progress. It was a good thing Juni’s protective instincts kicked in; otherwise she would have been mortified by what she had been about to say.

“I haven’t seen any evidence of that.” Morte answered his wife lazily, having no problem with calling Juniper’s capabilities as a knight into question right to her face. Crimson eyes locked on Kitty’s in open amusement, and Death laughed. “Proper? We’re married now, woman. If I wasn’t proper before the ceremony, I would have hoped you didn’t think I would be after it.”

“Push; sure.” Morte chuckled softly. “Well, that was when we were children; Ryu is a man now. He needs to stop allowing the fairy girl such freedom and lock her away in a cave already. If you remember, I had no problem with that part of our courtship.” Morte said, proud of something absolutely no one should ever be proud of. But he relented with a little smirk. “Heh. Affection isn’t in my nature. I should demand reward every time you wring some out of me.” Morte’s cockiness only faded when Kitty mentioned the blushing, making a face. “I didn’t blush. Death doesn’t blush.” Morte insisted before deciding this argument in a more intimate fashion.

“…what?” Jarrah stared at Orcus like he was speaking Greek; he might as well have been, since his observations about fairy politics flew right over his head. The dark haired fairy tightened his grip on his sword, his body going tense. “I guess so… that sounds like everything I’ve heard about Morte. B-But what about that Ryu?!” Jarrah didn’t need any further justification; in his heart and in his mind, his sister was in trouble and it was the job of the fairy knights to run to her rescue. He probably should have minded Orcus’ warnings, but it was difficult to do so when his mind was already made up and he was in defense mode.

Morte sighed heavily, looking away when Kitty corrected his statements about her cooking in indignation. If it wasn’t food made for him, he clearly didn’t care if it was destroyed. But there was a chance to talk about something that did concern him, and the white wolf smirked. “No, that’s mine; I’ll own that.”

Left alone in his battle, Jarrah narrowed his eyes at Kitty. He didn’t want to doubt Poplar’s lady, but he had to suspect her words as long as she was under the influence of Morte. “What do you mean? Where did she go?!” he demanded to know, but was distracted by Claire. He didn’t know if he could trust Claire, Morte, or Kitty… but of the three, only the little girl was coming close to giving him the answers he wanted. Not that he had much of a choice but to follow her.

Morte’s playful airs faded slightly and he sighed. “What are you talking about? You’re a great mother.” the white wolf said impatiently. Perhaps it went to show that he hadn’t had much of a mother figure in his own upbringing, but Mote couldn’t see anything about how Kitty had reacted that could be considered wrong. “What could you have done? It isn’t like you could have changed anything that happened, Kitten. The girl needs to grow up and learn to deal with her problems like an adult.” he said, speaking of the little girl with a solid nod. There wasn’t a naturally paternal bone in Morte’s body, obviously. He didn’t like it when she pulled away from him, but even the white wolf knew better than to push the issue when Kitty’s body language was reading such distress.

“Fine, fine… if you insist.” Morte sighed, taking his clothes from Kitty reluctantly. He watched his wife from the corner of his eye as he got dressed, dusting himself off as he moved to find her. “She’s with Orcus, remember? He won’t let her get into too much trouble.”

Poplar started badly when Kitty called his name; the fairy knight had been counting to ten and practicing this moment over and over again in his mind. He’d been determined to play it smooth, like the unflappable fairy knights of yore. Kitty would hesitate, but Poplar would be regal, calm, and obedient, and his diligence would make Lady Katherine completely forget his display earlier. Yup, that was how it was going to happen. Of course, practicing in your head is nothing compared to acting it out, as the blond knight quickly discovered. A blush darted across his cheeks and he ducked his head in a bow, trying not to stare at the woman. She was usually so warm and accepting of him… but the airs she had around him now were of wariness, and Poplar’s heart sank. What a miserable feeling, that of having both been found out and of having caused his Lady discomfort!

“Yes. Jarrah left with your children. Do not worry, Lady Katherine; Jarrah is a strong knight, and will do everything in his power to protect them.” Poplar answered her a bit shakily, unaware of the extent of what the three had gone off to do really was. If he hadn’t left Jarrah’s side, maybe he would be with his brother now, where he belonged… but there was no taking it back now. The gentle giant twitched as Kitty said his name, her tone making his stomach twist in anxiety. She knew, or at least she suspected… it was the last thing he’d ever wanted. The green eyed woman had brought him such happiness; he would have never wanted his feelings to cause her discomfort. The sudden appearance of intruders came as a welcome relief in comparison.

"Oh, yeah, sure; we end up in the wrong place, and somehow I’m supposed to believe that that isn’t your fault." Alexis growled, her eye twitching away. The dark haired she-wolf was standing pressed against Enzo’s form, her sapphire eyes narrowed on his profile accusingly. Pushing back from him, the she-wolf crossed her arms over her chest in a way that clearly said she was still mad at him for his teasing before they started on their journey.

“Milady, be careful.” Poplar said, loosing his personal discomfort in the fact of protecting Kitty. He moved to stand between her and the unidentified wolf, looking at the black ears atop Alexis’ head suspiciously. The airs between the two new arrivals were strange to him, but due to his background he couldn’t let his guard down around an unknown wolf; as a result, the fairy knight kept his hand firmly on the hilt of his sword.

"Yeah, yeah; so you found one fairy. Whoop-dee-freakin’-doo." Alexis huffed, a furry wolf ear twitching under Poplar’s piercing stare. "And you; what’s your problem? Keep staring at me like that, and I’ll come over there and kick your a**, since you clearly need something to keep you from getting bored!" she snapped at Poplar, looking more irritated when the resolute fairy knight didn’t take the bait and remained calm. "Uppity little…"

"Huh?" Alexis was honestly surprised by the cheerful voice calling her name, and shifted to look at Kitty with open curiosity. She knew Kitty, of course, but generally as ‘that dumb girl who likes a guy like Zeke’ more than anything. That wasn’t the sort of opinion that she really thought would get such a positive response out of the purple haired lass. The she-wolf was especially not expecting the hug. "Um…" she said, standing a bit stiff and looking down at Kitty like she thought there was something severely wrong with the mermaid.

“What’s all the noise?” Morte asked as he emerged from his room, tugging on his hooded black coat. The white wolf paused, his nose twitching at Enzo’s scent as his eyes found him out. “Well, well, well… look who it is.” the man chuckled as he stepped forward to meet his guests. “It’s not like you to just barge in here, Enzo. I thought you knew tha-” Morte stopped himself, cocking his head to the side as he studied Enzo. It was reflexive for him to react to the man like he would in his own time; the white wolf had been so obsessively wrapped up in rescuing Kitty that it felt like an age since he’d focused on anyone else, his parents included. An amused light entered his eyes, and a craft smile lit on Morte’s lips when Enzo called him ‘father’.

“So you know these people, milady?” Poplar asked guardedly. As much as he had grown to care about Kitty, he didn’t know much about her life before she came to Limbo.

“Oh, yes, she does. Very well.” Morte said lazily, wrapping an arm around Kitty and keeping her close to his side. “You see, fairy, these are my parents. However, Kitten, these are not the Enzo and Alexis of our time; we’re in the past, remember.” the white wolf said easily. Ever the opportunist, Morte sensed the chance to cause a lot of emotional turmoil, and he didn’t hesitate to take it. “I can explain. You just let me know where you’d like me to start.”

"Oh, what the hell!? Look, I don’t care how old you look, you’ll always be a smarmy little brat, Zeke." Alexis snapped, looking at him in irritation.

“Easy, mother; I’ll get to you in a minute.” Morte said, looking to Enzo.

"Who’s your mom?!? What the hell are you talking about, you little s**t?!"

“In your future, Enzo, I become Death. But even that is just a ruse, since I have always been Death.” Morte continued, ignoring Alexis’ outburst. He took a step closer to Enzo, his power billowing gently at the edges of his coat. “I look so much like your father, don’t I, Enzo? The resemblance is so strong, it’s uncanny, isn’t it? Would you like for me to explain why that is?” Morte asked with a chuckle. “That man you know as your father isn’t your father… he isn’t even real. He is my shadow, a stand in designed to keep you from questioning me. After all, you are the Moon, one of the most powerful forces in this realm… you could have caused quite a few problems for me. It was just easier to think that Death was your father, instead of you being the father of Death.”

"What… what kind of sick, twisted plan is that?!" Alexis demanded to know in irritation. "What sort of a monster are you? What’s your problem anyway..?!"

“You have a terrible habit of running your mouth, mother. If you could just clamp that thing down, you’d stay out of trouble.” Morte said as he turned his eyes to Alexis.

"And why the hell do you keep calling me your mother?!"

“Because you are my mother.” Morte answered her with cruel directness.

"What’s…? That’s…" Alexis stuttered, trying to figure out just what Morte could possibly mean. In her head the fact that she could have been Enzo’s wife wasn’t a possibility, so she was struggling to find her solution. There was only one logical alternative, and the brash she-wolf actually blushed and looked the other way stubbornly. "So, what? What are you saying, that in the future Enzo and I… well… what? We get married, or something?"

“No. What I’m saying is that you’re my mother.” Morte snickered. “I remember the moment I decided; I saw how desperate the two of you were for a child. I was having such fun killing each attempt off, watching your hopes rise and then be crushed when the child died in your womb. I came to know your secret fears, that there was something lacking about you as a woman, that your failure to carry a child to term would eventually hurt Enzo so much that he would abandon you for a woman who could. It was so appealing and, eventually, what made me choose the two of you as my parents.”

"Wha… Wha… What the hell?!? What are you talking about?!" Alexis snarled, taking a shaky step back from Morte. Her head was starting to pound at his words and the edges of her vision were starting to go black; Alexis felt like she could hear her heart pounding throughout her whole body. She didn’t understand this reaction; she felt this way before remembering something from her past, usually. It was painful, and frightening… but that couldn’t be what this was. "You’re lying! There’s no way that can be true because… because…" Alexis didn’t know what reason there could be, didn’t know why it was impossible; her intense denial was tied in with the deal Odin had made on her behalf long ago, and it was a sort of last defense before the shelter of her amnesia shattered.

“Ah, this is fun. We should get together like this more often.” Morte snickered, enjoying the growing panic in Alexis’ eyes before looking back to Enzo. “Oh, I’m sorry; I would have thought that you’d have told her the truth by now. Should I continue, and save you the trouble?”

“What is going on here…?” Poplar murmured, too confused to understand any of this.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



No matter what they were talking about, Ryu was always so smooth with his responses; it left a certain fairy knight continually off balance whenever she tried to challenge him. While this was an embarrassing admission for Juniper, it was probably what was helping her change her opinion of Ryu, even if she couldn’t admit it aloud yet; she was never able to settle on him as a villain when he was always turning her words around on her. Juniper was inexperienced when it came to dealing with men with amorous intentions and couldn’t hide her feelings; that blush bloomed on her face once more, and the normally graceful fairy girl actually tripped once more at Ryu’s words.

“I…! Well…!” Juniper stuttered, playing with the end of her braid. “O-Of course not! Um… well… maybe…” she admitted in a tiny whisper, looking away from Ryu. “I-It’s just… no one is as good as you make me sound. I don’t want you to see something about me you don’t like and start hating fairies again.” she stumbled to save herself, her face turning red. What was she doing?! Not even Juniper knew what she was trying to say to the wolf. She usually conducted herself with such strength and confidence, but something about Ryu was leaving her tongue-tied and flustered.

“Keeper of the night?” Juniper asked, glad for a change in conversation. But the dark haired girl snapped her head around to stare at Ryu with wide eyes before he could continue too much more. “Vidar? You mean Prince Vidar, the Winter Fairy? Prince Vidar raised Morte?!” the knight asked, seeming flabbergasted. “People speak of Prince Vidar with such reverence; he is supposed to be very powerful. Though my mother says that he is too stubborn to return to his rightful place in the fairy realm…” she continued thoughtfully. “I never would have guessed he would be linked to Morte…” Juniper murmured, falling silent at Ryu’s assessment of Morte. The girl rubbed her arm with a hand, unable to help feeling bad for Morte when Ryu put it like that.

“Maybe…” Juniper conceded softly, biting her bottom lip as she thought of Kitty’s bashful face as she spoke of Morte. “I… I guess not. That would be so hard…” she added, fidgeting at this line of thought. It went against all of the fears and ideals of the fairies, and she would be ostracized if she were to voice them to her fellow fairy knights. How could she allow Ryu to sway her thoughts so easily? Or was Morte really that easy to empathize with? Juniper didn’t know. Just like everything Ryu was involved in, it left her feeling conflicted.

“…for my people, all Death is is just someone there to take away life. He… he hates us.” Juniper said arduously. “I don’t know why… the elders say that it is because we are not under his usual jurisdiction. That Morte cannot kill fairies like he can any other… and… I don’t know if that’s true or not. Wolves seem to have no problem eating us, and there are some bad witches that turn us into magical weapons… but I don’t know if Morte has ever come for one of us on his own. He must not be able to; he has a clan of humans called the Harkers, and he gives them special powers to kill us. If he could kill us himself, I’d think he’d do it himself. If he didn’t hate us, would he really design so many different ways to destroy us?” the girl continued slowly. “My lady is a Harker, and more besides; she won’t tell me much about them. She worries it will just upset me. And maybe that’s right… I don’t know if I could ever forgive Morte if I knew the specifics of what he taught the Harkers.”

“…this is so confusing!” Juniper exclaimed, grabbing on to the skirt of her dress slightly. “Every time I talk to you, I end up getting confused, wolf. I thought I understood how the world worked, who was good and who was bad… but you get me all turned around. I don’t know what to think anymore.” the girl admitted. She was an honest little thing, even if not with her feelings for Ryu, and she just couldn’t help voicing this strange shift to the one who had inspired it. The petite fairy knight was in the mood to get answers for things, but she was doomed to miss her chance for some of the most important points.

“Hide and seek…?” Juniper repeated before her face turned bright red. “No! He’s not my secret boyfriend! He’s… he’s…! Ah… aha! He’s part of my secret mission! So you can’t tell anyone!” the girl finished triumphantly. Fortunately for her a distraction came, and the fairy knight was only too happy to shove her two companions in a bush.

Meanwhile, a tiny little homicidal maniac had found her way into Life’s sanctuary. She used her father’s portals, but she didn’t really need them; given enough time, the purple haired girl would have surely found an entrance to this place all on her own. After all, the people Claire were hunting were there, and Claire could never be kept away from those she hunted. However, the child was not prepared for how bright and cheerful everything was. The child in the polka dot dress took in the place with a sneer, her small face becoming drawn. This place drained on her with its stuffy life; it irritated her, but she could forge on. Unlike her brother, Claire had no real power to speak of, so though the sensation of life was by no means pleasant, it didn’t debilitate her. It was a shame, really.

"It’s gross." Claire agreed with her brother’s dislike for the world that they found themselves in.

“What are you kids talking about? This place is as close to the fairy realm as you can get; it’s beautiful!” Jarrah exclaimed, unable to help taking a deep breath of the crisp air. It was as if a weight had slid from his shoulders in coming to this place; fairies thrived in the presence of Life, and it showed in the extra little bounce in Jarrah’s step as he moved back to the children. “It’s- whoa!” he started, violet eyes widening as Orcus’ powers destroyed a tree. Knight though he was, it made his heart twinge a little to see. “You… killed it…” he murmured, stunned at the power that the boy held.

"Then we’ll just have to be fast." Claire answered her brother impatiently and ignored Jarrah completely. She truly did love Orcus, but the child lacked the empathy necessary to be completely concerned for him. Claire was focused on the hunt and didn’t pause; she could sense that her quarry was close.

“Hey, hold on…” Jarrah objected, his eyes on Orcus. He would admit it, even if only to himself: the white haired boy’s powers scared him. But there was such fragility to Orcus, and he seemed so suddenly drained, that Jarrah felt the sympathy that Claire could not. “Kid, maybe you should go back. You don’t look so good.” No sooner did these words pass Jarrah’s lips did the boy drop, and the fairy knight sprang his way instinctually.

"Orcus…?" Claire murmured, her steps slowing as she finally looked back.

A chuckle was carried the intruders’ way on the breeze; currently ignorant to their presence, the creator of this world moved forward, with a gentle smile on his face. Life held the tiny hand of his daughter gently, his hair pulled back from his face and a teasing light in his eyes. “Are you sure about that, kiddo? I think I saw him go the opposite way. Maybe we should check…” he chuckled. Playing games with Life took forever for this very reason; the blonde man was so enamored with the adorableness of his kids romping and playing that he often diverted them from concluding their childish games to keep the fun going on longer. Here in the magical nook he had created to safeguard his family, the man who now answered to Life felt free to allow things like this, to let children who had destruction hanging over them just play. So, though he should have been paying better attention, Life had let down his guard, and was surprised when his daughter tripped.

“Careful! You don’t want to… a boy?” Abram’s eyes fell on Orcus’ form and widened. “So it is..!” he murmured. Life moved closer and crouched by Orcus’ side, his expression growing even more concerned as the flowers wilted under the boy’s hand. The voice of the fairy knight that attended him invoked only a cursory glance from the man before he was back to studying the intruding child. Abram’s nose told him of the familiar scent, and as Orcus lifted his head he went still; Orcus looked so much like Zeke, and looking at him reminded Life of the friend he had once valued above all others. “Hold on, hold on… it’s okay. This kid isn’t a demon. His name is Orcus, and he’s a friend of mine.” Abram said easily, stepping forward to catch Orcus before he could fall a second time.

“Easy, kid… what are you doing here?” he murmured, jade eyes studying Orcus closely. “I designed this world to keep people out; and with a power like yours, just being here must be incredibly painful.” Abram added with a little wince. The powers of Life had been concentrated so strongly in this bright fortress on purpose; it was intended to keep an obsessed, grief-ridden Morte from finding his way in. After all, Morte always was a selfish man, and refused to acknowledge things that were his distancing themselves from him, friends or enemies alike. Abram had never intended –never dreamt—that the brunt of this safety belt would end up being born by a child. “You should leave, Orcus. Come; I’ll help you find a way o-”

Claire surged forward, finally distracted from her hunt by the tall man looming over her brother. The girl in the polka dotted dress made immediately for what she sensed was the c***k in Life’s armor here; Claire snagged one of Abram’s daughter’s arms and yanked her back hard from her Daddy. Claire hugged the child tightly against her with one arm and grabbed the little girl’s neck with the other. "Let my big brother go, or I’ll kill this kid and let the birds eat her." Claire threatened, staring unblinkingly over the child’s shoulder at her father.

“Man, this brings back memories…” Abram murmured, unable to help remembering how often he had heard Zeke make similar threats in their joined pasts. Orcus may have been his father’s mirror image, but Life truly only saw Death when he looked at Claire. “I’m not going to hurt Orcus, so let my daughter go. You’re scaring her.” he said calmly.

"No. I told you to do something, and you’d better do it. Or I’ll do more than just kill her; I’ll hurt her first." Claire promised, squeezing the child in irritation when she squirmed.

“You’re so much like Zeke it’s eerie.” Abram murmured, then quickly continued when he noticed that little observation seemed to infuriate Claire more than anything else. “I’m here to help. If he doesn’t leave this world, he’ll-”

“Hey! What are you doing?! Cut it out!” Jarrah finally got over his hesitation to hit children as he whacked Claire on the top of the head with his palm and pried her off of Abram’s daughter. The fairy knight had sheathed his sword and had a look of concentration on his face as he held the snarling Claire in the air, only barely avoiding her kicking legs and lashing arms. One eye closed, the fairy knight looked past her and only belatedly seemed to recognize Abram. “Ah! Lord Life, what are you doing here?!”

“…this is where I live.” Abram replied, unable to help being amused with the situation in general.

“Oh, right…” Jarrah said, remembering himself as he dropped to a knee and lowered his head respectfully. He placed Claire at his side, plopping a hand atop her purple head to force her into a little bow as well… Jarrah didn’t really have good instincts when it came to children, obviously. Infuriated, Claire continued to struggle, but Jarrah ignored her as he continued to address Abram respectfully. “I’m sorry to intrude upon you and your family, milord, but I’m looking for my sister. A wolf stole her and won’t give her back, so Morte’s children were helping me find her.”

"Ryu didn’t steal her! He was put under a spell by that fairy witch!" Claire spat hatefully, slapping Jarrah’s hand off of her at last and turning to give the knight a forceful kick in the leg.

“Ouch! Stop it! And stop calling Juni a witch!”

“Hold on, hold on; everyone just calm down…” Abram tried to calm that little confrontation before it got out of hand. “Let’s get the facts straight, okay? Juniper was taken by a wolf?” he asked. Abram knew he couldn’t always blow off accusations like this; after all, there was real strife between the wolves and the fairies in the fairy realm, and there was often violence between them. His own mortal heritage was largely unspoken of for this reason, and he acknowledged that it gave him a bit of a bias in the favor of the wolves. But Jarrah and Juniper were family, so Abram put all of that aside and concern first.

“Yes! It was Ryu, Morte’s attendant…” Jarrah said tightly.

“Ryu… ah, yeah! I remember… we’re good buddies too, he and I.” Abram said with a toothy smile, woefully ignorant to the fact that he never had been and never would be ‘good buddies’ with Ryu, who had disliked him from day one. Abram never was the sort to let something like that get in his way. “Wait… I heard something about that from Cassey. Her aunt Marguerite was worried sick because he’d been trying and trying to kidnap Juniper…” Abram said with a fondness in his tone that clearly showed he was remembering good time with Zeke as a kid again. Realizing, perhaps, that wasn’t quite appropriate, Life cleared his throat and shifted his focus to Orcus. “I will look in to what happened with Juni, but these children can’t stay here, Jarrah. It will kill them.” Abram said, sliding his free hand through the air to coax his power back from Orcus, forming a little bubble around him. It wouldn’t stop the discomfort, but it would keep the life forces from doing their worst on the boy’s body.

“Yes, milord………… um, well, I’m not exactly sure how we got here in the first place, so it would be hard to take them back.” Jarrah confessed.

"I’m not leaving without Ryu!" Claire growled, shooting Jarrah a look of loathing.

“Yes you are, you little liar…!” Jarrah replied hotly, apparently taking the fact that Claire had lied to get him to go along with her hunt personally, even if she was just a child.

“Okay, okay…” Abram cut them off with a sigh. The man shifted his gaze to his attending knight and smiled at him comfortingly. “I need you to take my daughter back to Cassey; with Maya and Marguerite visiting, I’m sure there will be something cute and girly happening that she’ll enjoy. Don’t worry, sweetheart; I’ll find Barty, and we’ll finish our game later, okay?” Abram assured her, kissing the girl on the top of her head before gently pushing her towards the knight.

“Now, for you two.” Life kept an arm on Orcus’ shoulder to steady the boy as he guided him forward. “Let’s go find Juniper, and we’ll get this all sorted out. Is that okay, sweetie?” he addressed Claire.

"My name isn’t sweetie! I’ll rip out your tongue for calling me that!"

“D-Did you just say my mother is here, Lord Abram..?” Jarrah stuttered, suddenly looking very nervous.

“Aw; kids.” Life chuckled. “Come on; in this place, it isn’t difficult to find intruders.”

Meanwhile, Juniper’s heart was racing, and not the way it usually did when Ryu was involved. This was adrenaline and nerves; the fairy knight had certainly faced more personally dangerous situations than the one she found herself in now, but never one more tenuous. Barty was alert to the surrounding knights, and Juniper was almost worried that Ryu would refuse to lay low with them around. She was relieved he went along with the plan, but Juni was still and honest little soul; she looked incredibly nervous as she turned to look at the knight that approached with unintentional doe eyes. Barty was much better at playing it cool than his older cousin, so she decided to follow his lead as closely as she could. Which was much easier said than done, with the knowledge that Ryu was hiding in a bush right nearby knocking around in her head.

“Oh…” Juniper was caught off guard by the knight’s strange stare and formal bow; she wasn’t used to such formalities among her fellow knights. Was she being mistaken for her royal cousins since she was disguised in Lady Katherine’s fine clothing? “Oh, yes…” the girl began, but twitched at the audible growl in the air. She took a step closer to Aster and spoke a bit loudly in response, hoping that her reaction could cover for Ryu’s. “Sir Aster; yes, of course! It’s so nice to see you again!” Juniper answered him with a tiny curtsy. She was so nervous that she wobbled a little, correcting herself with a little blush. She knew Aster, but only casually; in fact, this was now officially the longest conversation she’d ever had with him, and it was all a ruse. He wasn’t continuing on his way; was something wrong? Had he caught on that there was a wolf hiding in the bushes? Her stomach quickly sank as she anticipated harsh questioning; the track he took instead took her completely by surprise.

“E-Excuse me…?” Juniper stared at Aster with eyes wide, a steady blush growing on her cheeks. The girl was sheltered in many ways, and wasn’t used to receiving such sincere compliments in this way. Ryu complimented her aura, and attended to her closely, but until recently Juniper had been convinced that this was only done to get her to let down her guard enough for him to eat her. So the fairy girl was mystified when Aster took a knee and her hand. “Abandon the knighthood? Sir Aster, w-what are you…?” Juniper started, but went completely still at his proposal, her blush consuming her face. “M-Marriage?! Sir Aster… I…”

Whatever Juniper would have said would have done nothing to undo Ryu revealing himself, and revealing himself in a fury. Juniper started and turned to look at the wolf with lavender eyes wide; the golden eyed man was terrifying in that moment, but his words seemed so gentle, even if they were said harshly. “Respect for my…” Juniper started, then twitched as she remembered who she was talking to. “How can you say something like that, wolf?! You’ve done nothing but try to separate me from my post!” the tiny knight pointed out with a little pout. Juniper twisted to look at Aster and held up her hands to appease him. “Sir Aster, please don’t be afraid! This wolf is…” Juniper started, but twitched and turned back to Ryu with a heavy blush. “I…! I am not your woman!”

"Ryu!" Claire called out, deliriously happy when she laid eyes on her love again.

“Juni…” Jarrah breathed in relief as he laid eyes on his sister. Assured of her health and wellbeing for at least the moment, the knight drew his sword once more and turned his judgmental stare to the terrifying looking wolf looming over her. “I knew he dragged her off to eat her! Juni!”

“S-Stop it, wolf! You’re scaring him!” Juniper exclaimed. A part of her wondered why she wasn’t more afraid herself; Ryu was, after all, being extremely frightening, and she was without both armor and weapon. But something about his reaction didn’t leave room for her to fear for herself. “You can not kill Sir Aster. He hasn’t done anything to you!”

“Wow; this is a lot more action than I ever expected this sanctuary to see.” Life murmured as he stepped forward. “Everyone, stop. This is a peaceful place; there will be no violence here.” Abram said in a friendly way, but with an undercurrent of authority in his voice. Emerald eyes moved to Ryu and Life smiled, taking careful steps closer to the wolf. “That means you too, Ryu. I can’t show you any favoritism just because we’re old friends. Put the claws away, man.”

“Lord Abram…” Juniper squeaked, dropping him a curtsy.

“Juniper? Well, look at you! You look so grown up.” Life said, reaching to pat the girl on the head. His nose twitched and his smile faded slightly; Abram tilted his head slowly to the side as he studied Juniper. “That dress has Kit’s scent on it… and it’s pretty fresh, too…” he said slowly, puzzled at the fresh scent of the dead woman. This seemed suspicious; all things that involved Kitty were suspicious when Morte was involved. Sighing softly that Morte could be treading on his territory once again, Abram shook his suspicions off for now and directed his attention to the problem in front of him. “She doesn’t look kidnapped to me, Jarrah.”

“W-What…?!” Juniper made a face, but shook herself hard. This situation was rapidly spiraling out of control, and the girl didn’t want it to escalate any further. She decided to start with the ‘most reasonable’ and turned her eyes to Aster. Stepping closer to him, the girl reached to press her hands gently against his chest, a move that would have been casual between knights, but which in her current dress looked surprisingly intimate. “Sir Aster, I’m so sorry, but we have to leave. I promise there’s a good explanation for all of this, but now isn’t the time to go through it. I know that it will be hard to do, but I need you to return to the others; my brother and I will take responsibility for the people here.” Unlike Kitty, Juniper didn’t have the personal awareness to understand that her actions with another man could make Ryu jealous; she was sincerely trying to diffuse this situation, and was ignorant to the fact that she was probably doing the exact opposite.

“Right! So listen, Ryu, just..!” Jarrah began hotly.

But Claire had had enough; the little girl visibly growled as her crimson eyes scanned the scene. The look in Ryu’s eyes as he stared at Juniper made her blood boil again, and the child desperately tried to think of the best way to break the witch’s spell before Ryu made good on his threat to kill her. Her first instinct was, of course, violence; the girl in the polka dot dress sprang towards Barty and caught him from behind. Claire’s arms twined around his neck and she clung to his back like a little monkey, weighing him down.

"Ngh, hold still, or I’ll really hurt you!" Claire growled against Barty’s ear, crimson eyes murderous as she looked at Life. "I can smell you on this kid; I know he’s yours. So if you don’t do what I say, I swear to you, I’ll kill your son while you watch."

“Ah, there you are, Barty! I think you won our game.” Life spoke to his son with a little smile, but keeping his guarded gaze on Claire. The girl didn’t seem to have any special powers, but if she was as much like Zeke as he thought she was, she wouldn’t need them to do serious harm to his son. “But I think you already tried this trick... and I really don't appreciate people threatening my children.”

"Shut up and listen!" Claire snapped. "You are going to kill the fairy witch that has Ryu under her spell, or I’ll kill your son in her place."

“Hmm… I think you’re confused, little girl. I’m Life; I don’t kill people anymore.” Life said gently, glancing at Ryu and Juniper. “And as for Ryu, I don't think he's under any sort of spell. It might be difficult for you to understand, and I appreciate that you're worried for him, but there's no need to use violence to get your answers. That being said,” Life looked at Ryu pointedly. “Are you under a spell Juni cast on you, Ryu?”

“Of course he isn't! Lord Life..!” Juniper complained, blushing again. Like things weren't confusing with Ryu enough; now all of a sudden there were so many people around that she didn't want to see this interaction with for a variety of reasons.

[Lady March Hare]

"…………………no…………. no, it can’t be. It isn’t possible.” Aurelia said slowly, looking at the child being tortured in the memory before them with a little frown. There was no way the little banshee-human hybrid that had been such a thorn in their eyes could have a presence in these memories, which clearly took place centuries before her birth. And yet, when the child glanced towards the invisible observers, Aurelia could see it, that eerie resemblance. "Lydia… no, it can’t be. We’ve had her in our minds too much recently; we’re seeing resemblance where there is none.” the vampire insisted, but she doubted her own words.

“Ha! Ignorant girl; no matter what a man contributes to this mortal world and no matter how they choose to meet me, they all die the same way when you sever their souls from their bodies. There is no unique. There is no special. That is all an illusion, designed for fragile mortals who can’t handle the truth on their own.” Hades answered Aisa silkily.

Hades showed no delicacy with Aisa, openly laughing at her efforts to defend Discord. “You don’t say! And who tells such stories? It can’t be mortals; Discord has never done anything that would benefit mortals. He fails to get invited to one party, and what does he do? Introduces a golden apple to a particularly vain mortal, plants the idea of presenting it to the most beautiful goddess, and the next thing you know the mortals are embroiled in the Trojan War. And yet you tell me your kind tells grand tales of him… what fools these mortals be. I’ll have to remember to fix that.”

“Exactly. I bore easily; a plaything is probably just what I need to pass the time between slaughters.” Hades replied in a straightforward fashion made all the more terrifying by the fact that he wasn’t even slightly joking. A cruel smirk crossed his lips, and he shrugged slightly. “Well, if that’s how you feel… that child has lived long enough, I suppose.” he said dismissively, smirking when Aisa grabbed onto his cloak to drag his attention back to her. “Half? Why would I accept only half? I do not care about your obligations to Discord.” he continued, but stopped himself thoughtfully. Discord held no sway over souls; only Life and Death could divine the state of the soul, no matter how powerful the god. If he got Aisa to agree to surrender half of her soul to him, it would be simplicity itself to steal the other half of her soul at a later date. Actually, Hades rather liked the idea of Discord feeling comfortable in his hold over Aisa’s soul, only to have it stolen away easily. Hades almost chuckled at how amusing a plan that would be. In the end, the result could only be that this woman would be his and Discord would be humiliated, and all it would cost him is the security of one little mortal girl? All in all, it sounded like a deal completely to his favor.

“Deal.” Hades said, extending his hand towards the little unnamed girl. “This child, and her children, and their children, will not die by my hand.” he added, his power rising up to overwhelm the child. It pressed her back into the dirt with a pained gasp as his power sank through her small body, dragging the traditional mortality from her. That mortality was what made her human, and with the sudden absence of Death Life was free to make her more than mortal. Wide glazed eyes took on a violet sheen, and the cloth on her back parted to make way for tiny wings like a butterfly, flopping to lie on the ground to either side of the confused, panicked girl. “Of course, that will mean she is no longer mortal, but I’m sure she’ll find a way to adapt and make heirs. Strange creatures are either hated or loved, after all; as the first of her kind, she has a difficult road ahead. You’re smart to include a guardian in your deal.” he added, his power around the little girl expanding.

Hades had never created a living creature before; it was outside of his scope of interest, generally. He wanted to kill things, not create them; had he the time, the white haired god would have been morbidly curious to see what sort of creature Death could give life to. But he was busy, so he allowed the process to operate out of his subconscious to create an adult form, with wicked fangs and the possibility of claws, an affinity for darkness, and a bloodlust almost as developed as his own. In this deal two races were spawned with the creation of the first fairy and the first vampire to protect her.

“There; my part of our deal, clear to see… once we seal it, it will be permanent.” Hades said smoothly. “Hm… usually I seal deals by graphically ripping your soul out through your chest. But I’m feeling rather generous… hm. We’ll seal our deal with a kiss.”

Hades had never kissed anyone before; he’d honestly never had the desire to be around a woman long enough to kiss her, as his relationships with women usually lasted only long enough for him to swing his scythe. He didn’t care about love, or tenderness, or affection, or pleasure for the other party, so why would he? But if there was one thing Hades was, it was selfish; he had the impulse to kiss her, and he did so with all of the aggression and selfishness that was intrinsic to his nature. As a result, their first kiss was a terrible one… not that he wanted to hear it.

“You dare to critique a god..?” Hades growled, crimson eyes narrowing. “Of course not. Women are for killing, not kissing. And… why are you laughing?” he snapped, not understanding Aisa’s amusement. “Pure? Pure!? I’m not sure you know what that word means, girl.” Hades added, irritated… but then his expression smoothed into a small smirk as he felt his powers activating to play out the terms of their agreement. “Pure is something I’ve never been called… but let’s see how pure you think I am once this is all over.” he said with a grin. One day there would be a glimmer of humanity in this entity, but that was a day far in the future; Hades had not known pain, had not known loss, had not known love or sacrifice, and so he was completely unable to emphasize with the pain this deal put Aisa through. The red eyes man stood over her pained form with a little smirk on his lips, watching his powers work on her in interest.

“Hm.” Hades looked down at the small spirit that clung to him a bit critically, judging his work with an artisan’s eye. The man slowly smirked, a mischievous air behind his smile; it was clear that this came as no surprise to him. There was laughter in those horrible eyes as Hades looked to the white haired creature left behind from the deal. “You weren’t? What a shame; you should always know what to expect when making deals with gods.” Hades said smoothly, allowing the child-spirit to hide behind him. “Mortal or not, this creature is mine.” Hades added with pride. Slight movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and Hades looked at a strange red mist that seemed to slowly be curling in on itself. Like a tiny, dying cloud, this red mist seemed to have formed as a result of the split between the Past and the Future, created to fill the void between them… and yet it seemed to be sputtering back out of existence before his very eyes. It was something Hades might have investigated, had Vita’s words not proven so remarkably entertaining.

A wicked chuckle escaped Hades as he returned his attention to Vita. “Oh? The goddess of Fate? You don’t say! What a surprise!” Hades faked innocence, then chuckled again. “It’s your own fault. How does a goddess live life without knowing her true self? All it would have taken was a simple search of the soul; if it took someone like me just a glance to tell what you were, you should be ashamed of yourself for only figuring it out now. What sort of goddess is Fate if she is so easily tricked?” the man asked silkily, reaching back to stroke the little spirit’s hair.

“Try? I didn’t try; I succeeded.” Hades reminded Vita. “I keep my word, woman… and I can promise you, there’s always a way around the conditions of a deal without violating them. But please do wait, if you want. Wait, and watch, and spend your every moment thinking of me. It will amuse me.” the man snickered, downright condescending as he shrugged off Vita’s plans to make her other self hate him. “What do I care if she, or you, hates me? I can use hatred, and I don’t require my possessions to love me. But, again, whatever makes your time meaningful, woman.” Hades laughed as the two halves of Fate interacted, looking on in approval.

“What has happened here?”

Hades let his breath out slowly from between his teeth, his bravado fading slightly. He’d have known that voice anywhere; Life had found him. He turned to face the elder god with a noticeable scowl on his face. In general, he rather liked this god; he was strange, and had a way of disassociating himself with the godhood as if it had nothing to do with him. Knowing what he did of this golden haired deity’s rule, how could Hades help but respect him as a fellow ruler? True, he didn’t understand why he had surrendered ultimate power, and sure, he didn’t know why he spent his time frolicking with mortals, and true, he was often slated as Hades’ opposite… but the white haired god was on generally good terms with him. Usually. Right smack dab in the middle of stepping on his territory might not be one of those times.

"Taking too long? You gave us a two minute head start, maybe." the priest that accompanied Life complained, looking towards Discord in exasperation. Usually he was on his best manners with all gods that weren’t the one he served, but Discord was apparently trying him more than most.

“Enough, Briseus.” Life cut his priest off, making the green eyed human look at him in surprised. Life was a lot of things, but he was never short with anyone. The god didn’t glance towards his acolyte, keeping his gaze locked on Hades. Slowly his eyes traced around the clearing, taking in the newly formed vampire, the mutated fairy girl, the regal white haired entity named Vita, and, finally to the tiny spirit that clung to Hades in fear. “Hades… what have you done?”

“I’ve only enacted a deal on the behalf of a dying mortal. As you yourself agreed was my right to do upon assuming the throne of Tartaros, Phanes.” Hades said slowly.

“The creation of new life is not within your jurisdiction, Hades… and don’t call me that.” Life said, irritated. “You can’t just create life as a byproduct of a deal! There is a balance to this world, and by bringing life in to it in this way, you’ve thrown off that balance.”

“So what? Just create creatures as impressive as mine, and the world will be balanced again.” Hades said dismissively.

“You don’t understand; I can’t just…” Life began, but stopped himself with a palm to the face as Hades rounded on Discord with a snarl. Hades wasn’t listening, obviously, and had there been a wall nearby Life might have bonked his head against it a few times.

“Stay away from my things, Discord. The girl made a deal, and there’s nothing you can do to break it now.” Hades said cruelly. But he had been distracted and the warning came too late; Hades sucked on his teeth in irritation as the child’s spirit dissolved into butterflies and escaped. “Idiots! Look what you’ve done!” he spat, shooting both Discord and Vita a dirty look. Without another word he turned away from them, darkness surging forward to cover his form as he vanished in pursuit of his newly possessed spirit.

"What just happened? I am used to the actions of the gods being reckless beyond reason, but this is ridiculous." Briseus muttered as he looked around the suddenly empty clearing. A sigh escaped him; this was why he never played in the forest of the gods, and expected everyone else to do the same. Jade eyes landed on twitching wings of the newly formed fairy girl, and he went still at a strange sight. The red mist that had formed in the void between Past and Future had died away to a handful of wispy smoke. It seemed to have a sentience of it’s own, and Briseus stared at it with wide eyes as it stretched a finger-like tendril of it’s remaining essence towards the still hand of the little fairy girl. As the essence that would come to be known as the Present Force touched her, the power flared and was sucked into the fairy child’s small form. "Gah! What is… what has Hades created, Life? Did you see that? It…"

“We can’t worry about that; what’s done is done.” Life cut him off with a little sigh. “Briseus, we should hurry home. With things as they are, it would be best for you to be with your family.” he continued a bit tightly. The human stared at the god and felt a sense of unease wash over him; dipping his head in a quick nod, the priest twisted to move in the direction of his home. Life watched him go, then lifted his arm, twisting his wrist slowly as the butterflies danced around his palm. “I don’t know what your own fate is, little one. All I can do is set you on the path as safely as I can. Don’t worry, spirit… I know just the place to put you.” Life flexed his fingers and directed the butterflies away with a thought; he had a very specific idea in mind for this strange split goddess.

"Are these truly memories?” Aurelia asked as the memories faded in lieu of others, which seemed to take place some years later. "It almost seems like these are just retellings of Greek myths. They have some details wrong, though…” the woman murmured, teal tinted eyes narrowing as the scene unfolded on a music lesson that was going horribly wrong.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Life laughed as he failed for the tenth time to learn the chord Persephone was attempting to teach him. “You complain a lot, Persephone. Pan tried and failed to teach me the pipes for a century, and you didn’t hear him complain! …of course, that may be because of the nymphs he was forever chasing after, but who’s to say, really.” the god chuckled. A voice called out on the wind, and with a glance back towards the girl’s home Life saw her off with a wave and a smile, watching her leave fondly. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the tree above him, and the god laced his fingers together behind his head and rested his eyes with a sigh.

"That she does." Briseus answered his sister-in-law idly. The priest had his sleeves rolled up and was concentrating on dunking rolled silks in vibrant dyes, the selling of which would support his brother’s family. Tending the temples of the gods didn’t pay like it used to, after all… not that Life kept a temple. If he did, his priest would have at least had sacrifices to use on his behalf, but noooo… Briseus got stuck with the broke god. But his mind was on other things this day as the man dried his hands and glanced at Persephone’s mother.

"Ah… that’s…" Briseus wanted to speak words to ease the mother’s concerns, but Briseus himself didn’t completely understand the god’s involvement with Persephone. Life had been completely honest about what her existence mean as far as Briseus could tell, and had offset Hades’ cruelty with her birth. The girl was placed within his family so that she could be more easily guarded, even though the complete understanding of what fate awaited her was outside of the priest’s understanding. However, understanding or not, Briseus was there to guard Persephone, as was Life. But how could he explain something like that to her mother without frightening her unnecessarily? Simple: he couldn’t.

"Life doesn’t have the attention span to steal Persephone away. You know as well as I do he’d stop for a nap halfway through, and we’d easily be able to steal her back." Briseus answered with a straight face. But his expression softened as he studied his sister-in-law, and his head ducked in a small nod. "I promise, sister…" Briseus began, but was interrupted by the arrival of Persephone. Putting his fabrics out to dry, the priest observed the interactions between mother and daughter with a little smile. He liked to think that little Persephone had inherited his healthy skepticism of the god of Life, if nothing else. But her mother was giving him the eye, so the dark haired man sighed softly and focused on moving his silks back out into the sunshine.

"You worry too much." Briseus murmured as he returned to his sister’s side, drying his hands on a scrap of cloth. "Yes, she is. But you don’t have to worry about Life. I trust him." the priest paused, then sighed softly. He couldn’t help a tiny smile at her blush, and leaned to kiss her on the top of the head. Talking about his brother saddened him, even years after his loss; this was his silent way of showing support. Without another word he patted her on the shoulder and moved to follow belatedly after Persephone. Briseus started to see Life right outside his home, head tilted to the side as if he was listening to the changing wind, oddly alert. "Life, what’s..?"

“Persephone has left her home.” Life asked, though the grim tone in his voice seemed to show he didn’t guess to the answer.

"Yes…?" Briseus, in like form, answered in a question despite the fact that he was making a definitive statement.

“Damn.” Life offered no explanation and turned away; the acolyte shot his god a strange look, but followed after him without question.

Meanwhile, a darkness was growing in a flowered grove, a place no darkness belonged. The darkness took the form of a white haired man that slid silently behind Persephone, a wicked smile of victory twisting his lips. As her back thumped against his chest Hades let his hands drop to rest on her shoulders possessively.

“Who am I?” Hades repeated silkily, looming over Persephone. “I have had many names. Decay, Destruction, Death; Pluto, Hades, Tartarus… but you? You will call me master.”

There was no arguing with Hades when he was like this. Still grinning like a demon, the man grabbed tightly onto the girl’s arm, keeping her in a vise-like grip as the darkness swelled over them. It didn’t just consume, but dragged Persephone down, down, down… down into the darkness, where every spot of sunlight was extinguished. All was darkness as Hades descended with his prize, past fire rivers and pure, ancient rock, to his destination. The kingdom of Tartarus was vast, extending far beyond the eye could see in all directions; hewn from the black rock was a dark palace illuminated by ghostly white lights, unformed spirits of children lost before their birth and put to use by a cruel god. Like a moat about this central palace was a sea of tormented souls, ever twisted and forced into constant, perpetual motion by the River Styx. Soft wailing of spirits hung on the air, and the white light of the River Styx gave room enough for intruders to see on their one way trips to the Underworld.

It was at the entrance to this morbid castle that Hades brought Persephone, and he deposited her on the front steps with all the grace and compassion one would show to a sack of potatoes. The darkness settled and Hades tugged his cloak into position before looking to Persephone. His gaze was piercing, and he reached down to grab her chin, studying her further.

“…ahhh… so that’s why you were so hard to find. He’s hidden your soul under a spell of the Graces. How rude.” Hades muttered, grabbing Persephone by her arm and hauling her to her feet. “Welcome home, little spirit. I hope you didn’t pretend to love your mortal life, because you will never be going back to it again.”

With that, Hades unceremoniously drug Persephone into the castle, a cave-like apparatus with great decoration all hewn out of the surrounding rock. Nothing about the place was warm or welcoming; it was a cold, terrifying place for a cold, terrifying king. The doors closed behind them on some sort of silent order; only then did Hades release his prize and, holding his arms behind his back, circled her critically. “I'm glad to see you're still pretty... though that hideous mortality must be dealt with. I hate the taint it leaves in the air. But that's easily fixed. Hmm... once, they called you Aisa, the hidden goddess of Fate. What do you answer to now, woman?”

[Lady March Hare]

”You expect to run a whole ship with no crew?” Claudia asked flatly, her eyebrow twitching slightly at Dragon Claw’s downright cheerful confessions about his crew. “If you ever get another crew again, I’ll be surprised. With such a high mortality rate, I don’t think anyone will want to work for you.” she added. ”How am I supposed to keep you alive? Do I look like a caretaker to you?” the goth asked, obsidian eyes narrowing. Slowly, the she-wolf looked back in the direction Dragon Claw was pointing in… and then she scowled. ”You’re full of it. There’s nothing there, so stop that.”

”If I’m starving, I’d prefer meat.” Claudia said shortly. The she-wolf was more of a literal person, apparently. Her attention returned to Dragon Claw, and Claudia stared at him in an openly judgmental fashion as she waited for him to fall silent from shame. He didn’t; apparently, Dragon Claw did not know shame. ”…team, then. And don’t push your luck.” the woman said darkly.

“Well! Isn’t this exciting!” Mary exclaimed, clapping her hands together gently. The woman’s plain face lit up and she scurried away; she was back in a flash with her trusty camera in her hands. “It isn’t often that one of our pack members goes off to be a pirate. We have to capture the moment!” the blonde exclaimed, lifting her camera. “Smile!”

”Don’t distract him; this isn’t that big of a deal.” Claudia muttered, since she hated having her photograph taken. The goth turned, scooped the nearest painting up, and shoved it into Dragon Claw’s arms. ”Here, take all of the paintings you paid for. Put them in your ship.” she said, proving herself to be quite the bossy woman.

“It is a big deal.” Mary said a bit sadly. “Our pack has never been as divided as it is now. Some of our packmates have been missing for months… the last I heard of Dina, she was staying in Scotland somewhere, but I don’t know why or with whom she’s staying, or why we haven’t heard from her. And then there’s Abram, who no one has heard anything about in months… Crystal was crazy with worry that he’d gone rogue and joined the Lone Wolves like before, but Vidar assured me that wasn’t the case. And Lydia… after what happened, no one knows if she’s in trouble, or hurt, or… And then there’s Dio, who still hasn’t found the time to check in with us, and his children… oh, I don’t know what happened to his children…” Mary was worrying herself more and more as she spoke, and it showed on her face. “And now, even Vidar and Wila have run off; I hope they’re okay…”

"Awww… don’t worry, Mary; everyone’s okay, and no matter where we all are, we’re family. And family can always come back home to the people that love them!" Clyde –being strangely wise—chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Mary and snuggled her close.

“Tehe, you’re right.” Mary murmured with a little smile, looking at Claudia and Dragon Claw fondly. “And that’s true… Dragon Claw, I hope you always feel welcome to come back to us. Any friend of Claudia’s is a friend of the whole pack. You’re welcome here.”

”Friend is a strong word…” Claudia muttered, shoving more paintings into Dragon Claw’s arms.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



While the Griffon enjoyed an easy wooing of the Duchess that his real world equivalent would never achieve himself, the Red Queen was faced with the reality that her dream world could crumble around her. Things were not going the way she’d planned, and the red haired woman felt her heart twist bitterly inside her. She could create an entire world… but she couldn’t control Darius or his feelings even if he was trapped in a world of her making.

“Ha! …ha!” the Red Queen scoffed, ducking her head. In the face of Darius’ calm, the redhead was falling apart, her temper and heartbreak getting the best of her. “What’s the point of being alive if you’re living in a cage? What’s the point of being alive if you’re living without love?” she murmured, almost as if she was stuck pondering over philosophical questions. But there was a fire in those silver eyes as she shook her head so hard she almost hurt herself. “But I can’t afford to think that way. Because the day I do is the day I’ll be forced back into the darkness… and I’m never going back into the dark again! Yes, it does have to be this way! I’ve had to fight to exist up to this point, and if she had it her way I wouldn’t exist now.” the woman added bitterly. “I thought that you would understand that, Darius. I thought you would understand me.”

“It is the destiny of the people that freed me; I owe them everything. They love me, care for me, value me; it is only because of them that I exist. So their destiny is my destiny.” the Red Queen answered him, frustrated. Say what you will about Lydia’s ‘evil side’, but she was apparently a loyal little thing. Darius’ refusal to let go of the other side of Lydia made the Red Queen flinch as if his words had come as a physical blow. The woman’s hands were shaking, so she grabbed tightly onto her gown to try to stop it; she had to resort to rage to keep herself from dissolving into tears. The Red Hare and the Red King joined them, and the Red Queen used their arrival to give her strength once more.

“Stop..?” the Red King paused despite himself at Darius’ order, lifting an eyebrow as he watched the vampire position himself. “I don’t answer to you, outsider, unless my Queen tells me to. And, since she hasn’t, I have a mission to complete and a Hare to skin. Move, or I’ll go through you, honored guest.” he finished in a mocking tone.

“Wait… wait.” the Red Queen ordered, and the King paused. The redhead rose to her feet, hope rising in her features again. “So… you won’t put me back in the darkness?” she asked in a tiny voice, glancing at the Red King at his skeptical snort. He was just a manifestation of her own design, but the man that looked like Abram was standing in as her skepticism; she should listen to him… but she wanted so badly to hope. Despite her fractured spirit and often obvious mania, there was a childish innocence to the banshee when it came to her capacity for hope. Silver eyes lifted to stare at Darius’ face, and the Red Queen bit her bottom lip, her expression becoming tormented.

Let’s be honest: the Red Hare hadn’t been listening to a word Darius had said thus far. Already convinced that he was a fake designed to cause her harm, the battered redhead was doing her best to move around them to the doors. Once she was through those doors, she would start running again. With no goal in mind but escape, she knew she wouldn’t make it far, especially in her condition, but she was desperate to make that stab at freedom. So when Darius focused on her directly the Red Hare stumbled, grabbing on to her side painfully as she sagged against the wall, watching him with the wild wariness of a cornered animal. She just knew he was a fake… but he was drawing her in with that business talk. The Red Hare hesitated, but her defenses shot up again almost immediately.

For a long moment, there was silence.

“…maybe you’re right.” the Red Queen said softly.

“My Queen..?” the Red King murmured, confused as the Red Queen descended from her throne.

“I want to live. I want to be free.” the Red Queen continued, looking to Darius. “If I could do that, I could share my body with the fake. As long as our times in control are equal, I can accept that.” she said slowly. “My destiny, my loyalties to Uncle Ruarc… I don’t deny those, Darius. They still mean the world to me. But… perhaps… there is more to this world. More to me. I’ll never have a chance to explore that if I don’t agree to this. Besides… if I keep trying, maybe you’ll love me yet, Darius.” the redhead added with a sad smile. “But on one condition: the banshee comb that was being used to keep me in check; I want it destroyed. That thing is part of what made the darkness so painful for me; I want it gone. Darius, since you’re supervising this arrangement, I want you to promise me. Promise me you won’t let my other side use the comb on me… and we have a deal.” the Red Queen concluded.

“…you… you’ve got to be kidding me!” the Red Hare exclaimed. She took one step too many and her legs gave out as the pain from her injuries overwhelmed her; the Red Hare slid down the wall to sit at its base with a grimace. But she wasn’t letting pain distract her, and there was fire in her eyes as she looked up at the others from her place on the ground. “Share my body? I refuse! I refuse to give up more of my self than I already have!” the redhead said passionately. “I have been weak and compromised, and it’s done nothing but lost me the things I care about most! I don’t understand why, and I don’t understand who could be doing it, but it’s like someone is slowly taking me apart, and I won’t allow it!” she growled. “I lost my company, my job, my planned path in life, the respect of my mother, and then what? I loose my freedom; for three months I was in darkness, able to see nothing but the worst of what she was doing in my absence! And now…? And now…! Now I’m expected to agree to forfeit my body too? What’s next? My mind? My heart? My soul? What else will I be expected to let slip through my fingers?!”

“I refuse.” the Red Hare whispered, tasting blood in her mouth and wiping her hand against her lips in frustration. Her eyes found Darius’ eyes once more and her expression turned grim. “I refuse to consent to this trap. And maybe you’ll be successful, and keep at me until there’s nothing left. But at least I won’t go quietly; I’ll fight every last one of you until the very end.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.” the Red Queen said, narrowing her eyes at her bloody double. “I thought you liked making deals, even if you are just a fake. What could have possibly been so bad that you-?”

“The look on Miser’s face!” the Red Hare shouted to cut the Queen off, her voice breaking in a sob. The Queen froze, but the Hare ignored her, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks as she spoke. “The look on Miser’s face when I… you… I… stabbed him. When he let me stab him, because if he didn’t I’d have just hurt someone else…” the fight was temporarily lost in the Red Hare as the memories overwhelmed her; she drew her knees to her chest and hugged them close, clearly haunted by what she had done. “…and Wila was hugging me when she was stabbed. She’s been nothing but open and loving with me from the very beginning, and it got her stabbed.” the Red Hare swallowed hard, guilt twisting hard inside her chest. “Because of you… because I failed to keep my evil in check, the only two people who have ever loved me unconditionally could be dead. And for that… if they are… I will never forgive you.”

“Tch… none of that matters now.” the Red Queen muttered impatiently. “The past is the past; you have to let it go and focus on the present. I shouldn’t have to explain something like that to you, vessel.” she said. Silver eyes studied her long eared double and narrowed; her human side clearly still had no idea about her identity as the vessel for the Present force. That irritated her, how ignorant the Hare could be to the power that possessed her, but at least it gave her the advantage. Gathering her skirts, the Red Queen moved to stand before the Red Hare, crouching down to study her on her level. “Darius wants us to play nice, so we’ll play nice. I love him, and I’ll do anything to prove it.” the Red Queen said in a straightforward fashion, making the Red Hare stiffen. “As a show of good faith, I’ll even let you have the first chance to be in control of our body.”

“…this isn’t real… none of this is real…” the Red Hare whispered, hugging herself tightly and trying to block the Red Queen out. Her heart sank under a final, depressing thought: she couldn’t escape. Hopelessness washed through her as the Red Queen twined her arms around her, hugging her close.

“A deal’s a deal. So it’s time to get back to the real world.” the Red Queen finished, resting her forehead against the Red Hare’s forehead with a little smirk.

At the Red Queen’s words the castle around them seemed to dissolve away in petal-like flakes; the Red King lowered his head before he dissolved away along with the rest of the throne room. All of this expansive world and the alternate Wonderland versions of the people who had inhabited it were gone in a flash, leaving Darius and Lydia back where they had started: in Lucy’s office in Fellowship Pharmaceuticals. Concerned voices could be heard holding a discussion outside of the closed door, but otherwise all was quiet.

No longer captive in her chair as she had been when the illusion began, Lydia was sprawled out on the floor to the side of the chair, her hands freed and the handcuffs that had failed to hold her lying useless on the other side of the room. Lydia groaned softly, slow to stir from unconsciousness. Silver eyes cracked open… and instantly snapped shut again, her hands shooting up to cover her eyes. The banshee part of her had kept her word, and Lydia was in control of herself again, but this was an allowance that caused her pain. Lydia had been in completely darkness for months, and the bright illusion world had taken place only in her mind; now that she was able to see with her physical eyes at last, everything was too bright for her to handle. All of her senses seemed too vivid, and though she was deliriously happy to be free, the redhead was overwhelmed. A soft, frustrated whimper escaped her, and Lydia struggled to open her eyes and adjust them to the light, her hand dropping and grabbing blindly at the carpet below her, the chair against her, the empty space of open air, trying to learn more about where she found herself.

"Ah, it’s opening..!" Lucy exclaimed as the door handle turned. The redheaded woman pushed the door open with suspicion in her eyes, immediately scanning the room for the threat she feared she would find there. Nothing seemed extremely out of order, so after a wary look to her daughter’s limp form, Lucy edged towards Darius. "Darius, what happened? We’ve been trying to get in this room for ages, but it was sealed shut. You should see the damage that idiot Minotaur did to the door trying to get in to you…" she murmured, looking Darius over intently. "Are you okay? What happened in here?"

“A-Ah…” Lydia splayed a hand against the floor, struggling to push herself up. She knew Lucy’s voice and was conflicted; was this another world of fakes, another memory to torment her, or had her banshee side actually told the truth and set her free?

"She got out of her handcuffs… hold on, Darius; I’ll call Nixby, and we’ll get her secured again." Lucy said softly, not wanting to incite another burst of rage that Lydia had exhibited before her trip to illusionary Wonderland.

[Lady March Hare]

Graham didn’t mean to let his eyes glaze over; honest, he didn’t. But he couldn’t help it; Dina was speaking in the sort of legalese that distinctly reminded him of the do-gooder law enforcement types that were always trying to rain on his parade during his more rambunctious years. Yes, he understand such sentiments were for the better good, and, yes, he was still trying to make it on the straight and narrow himself… but that talk still struck him as extremely off-putting, no matter how much he might have deserved it.

“………………..so………. what I’m getting from all that, a chorí, is that all I have to do is sexually harass you, and you will take back your offer to be my lawyer. Once you’re no longer my lawyer, my chances of having an intimate relationship with you will be reinstated, and then you will throw yourself at me passionately, right?” Graham answered her slowly, a mischievous smirk growing on his lips. “Sounds like a win-win situation for me; a chorí. I accept. Come over here and let’s start with the harassment!”

"Caught in a game… that’s, like, so totally weird. It didn’t feel like a game…" Wila said with a little frown.

"That’s probably the point." Dog muttered as he looked away, embarrassed that they were still talking about this.

“Tch; I do not think I like this Game Master.” Graham said seriously, holding the map up to study it closely. That dark spot on the map troubled him; thinking of his frail little sister off in some unidentified area of this world didn’t sit well with him at all. “Aye… at least she’s not alone.” he conceded gruffly.

"Hurt? Uh, yeah, sure." Dog said, sitting and lifting his back paw to scratch his ear just to distract from how obvious his disbelief of that statement was. "Maybe this Game Master is drawing more people in, like he did with us… if that’s true, we have to put an end to this, before someone really does get hurt."

"Humph!" Wila openly pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "You’re just trying to get out of your super fun high school promise, Vidar; I, like, can totally see through that! Well, we’ll just have to do it, like, when we’re back to the real world! I mean, one way or another, we’re going to have super high school fun!" the short haired woman declared, stabbing a finger to the sky.

“Aye……………. I guess I have no choice but to… trust that Nightingale got her out safely.” Graham conceded once more, sighing at the admission. Trusting Nightingale with Fee; Graham never thought he’d see the day. To distract himself from the sibling bond that most Kelpies weren’t lucky enough to share, Graham turned his attention to Dina with a smile. “Maybe I do; you could occupy my mouth with something other than talking, if it bothers you. I won’t mind.” he said, tweaking one of her ears playfully.

"Pssssssh! Vidaaaaaaaaaaar! Everything I say is, like, totally important!" Wila countered with a solid nod, before she was distracted by their hunt for Zeke and Kitty.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



“Y-Y-You… you want t-to?” Fee repeated, looking at Cassey with wide eyes. “D-Darius? Is… is that your… your b-b-boy… your b-boyfriend..?” the shy girl asked with a little blush. The girl might have gone gigantic steps towards having her first bit of real girl talk ever, but the Hypnotist spoke up to undermine her confidence and the opportunity was cut short. But still Cassey’s comment made Fee turn red, and she stared at the fairy princess with glowing stars in her eyes.

“Oh, Nightingale; I’ve missed our talks.” Ruarc chuckled.

"Yes, my lamp!" Indira said, hope rising as she paused to bat her eyes at her master, suddenly sure this would work. Her expression fell into one of complete exasperation, however, as Game Master handed her his reading lamp. "Thank… you… Master…" she choked out, sounding like the ridiculousness of this situation was about to cause her to burst an artery.

“Tch…” Future narrowed his eyes at Nightingale, clearly more easily offended than Ruarc. The man’s rail thin body stiffened, and his whole expression darkened. “How can an incubus, scum that you are, even dare to say something like that to me?” he growled, but fell silent at the Game Master’s words. Though it was clear Future was a self-righteous thing and he didn’t think very highly of the Game Master, he couldn’t help respecting his opinion on things like this. “Feh! …well, maybe you’re right. I wouldn’t want her to wear out her usefulness too early.” he conceded with a little sneer.

“Please… p-please don’t scare C-Cassey.” Fee whispered, inching closer to Cassey again. “S-She and I could be… c-could be sis-sisters one d-day if Dina and b-big brother get ma-married, and….. a-and….. and a-a-a-a-a-a-a-as her b-b-b-b-b-big s-sister, I c-can’t let you s-scare h-her.”

“Hilarious!” Ruarc was truly enjoying Fee’s budding bravery.

“I’m going to do more than scare her.” Future said smugly, studying Cassey. “I already claimed you, bright eyes. You should count yourself as lucky; most of the rest of your race is going to be killed if they don’t serve any purpose. So you should start making nice, and start thinking of ways to stay interesting.” His attention moved to Nightingale and a sneer formed on his face. “Maybe you can ask for tips from the demon; I’m sure one of his kind would be only too eager to give you advice.”

“M-Mr. Nightingale i-isn’t a d-d-demon…!” Fee objected in a squeak.

“Oh, little Serafina, you have no idea!” Ruarc chuckled, shooting Nightingale a devious look.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



“You’re right, Kitten. I need you…….. to make me cookies.” Zeke said with a straight face. No matter his developing and maturing feelings for Kitty, cookies would always be his priority. At least until he developed the ability to speak of his feelings aloud. He surely would have reinforced this, but a horrible keening split the air and sent an anger vein throbbing away in his forehead instead.

"I am! And, like, you’re alive too!" Wila responded gleefully as the two women hugged. "Oh, wow, seriously? That’s like, sooooo funny! Because, like, we just came running over here to save the two of you!" the brunette giggled. "Vidar was super worried, just like a dad… it’s was soooooooooo cute! You guys are, like, the sweetest little family!"

“I’ll be fine, as long as that woman doesn’t call me Zekey again.” Zeke said darkly as he shot Wila a dirty look. But his expression relaxed as he was able to confirm that Vidar was okay; an eyebrow quirked, and crimson eyes moved to Graham a bit critically. “Who, him?” Zeke asked disdainfully. The white wolf didn’t exactly have the best opinion of Graham, a man who was at one point intended for Kitty and who had welcomed her into his family for a length of time away from Zeke. However, his loyalty to Vidar far exceeded even his blood thirst in a rare occasion or two, and this just so happened to be one of them. Zeke took one more glance at Vidar just to completely confirm that the violet eyed man was serious, then sighed softly. “I see. Well, then I guess there’s no choice but to keep him alive for now.”

“How generous.” Graham said with a small sweat drop. He might have commented on this further, but was distracted by Wila and Zeke… well, being Wila and Zeke.

"Whoaaaaa… owie." Wila complained, looking up at Vidar balefully. Honey brown eyes blinked, and she couldn’t help grinning at his concern. "Yup! I’m, like, okie dokie!" she assured him, tweaking his nose.

“Sixteen? Sixteen year olds are infants; don’t be disgusting.” Graham snickered. “A chorí, this tough front you put up is so cute. But if you want me, you can give in and admit it. You’re with friends; we won’t judge you. Honest.” Graham added cheerfully. The fake Kitty’s voice caught his attention and he looked her way a bit skeptically. “She’s a lot louder than all of the other people out to trick us in this world…”

“Whoa…” Abram stiffened a little, looking down at the Kitty that huddled against him with a little sweat drop. He knew she wasn’t real, and was still an active part of the Game Master’s game, but he couldn’t help feeling sympathetic for her. A hand lifted and he patted her head before easing her back from him. “Sorry, Kit. I’m really sorry… but once we win the game, you won’t be scared anymore. Trust me… okay?”

“Why you…” Zeke didn’t know who made him angrier in that little exchange: Kitty, or Abram. He snapped a hand up to grab the real Kitty’s chin, growling softly. “Oh yeah? Then what the hell are you blushing for?!”

“C’mon; focus, Zeke.” Abram cut him off, ignoring the pointed growl he got in return. This was a game he had to win for Cassey’s sake, and he was glad when Dina got to the point of the matter. “I don’t know. When I agreed to this game, the Game Master guy didn’t tell me how I’d know I’d won… I was hoping that when I realized it wasn’t real I’d win automatically and be out of it, but that obviously isn’t the case.”

"I, like, don’t get that at all… but we weren’t told anything before we got zapped in here either." Wila said. "Oh, hey! Maybe it will be like the last time we were all in high school, and we just kept doing things until we found the door out!"

“We can’t do that, stupid; we were in Oblivion before. That’s a whole world; this is just some weird banshee’s magic.” Zeke grumbled, not in his happy place by far.

“Forbidden magic, I’d guess.” Graham added, idly sweeping his hand against Dina’s upper back as he remembered the sight of her wings being shredded away.

“I’d open a portal… but I can’t seem to do it here.” Zeke admitted in irritation as he watched his double slowly draw Lydia’s double away, keeping a watchful eye on them all the while. “So you do it, Abram.”

“Huh? Me? Why me?”

“Aren’t you magic now?”

“No… what are you talking about?”

“You gave me the tail of a sushi, didn’t you?”

“Oh, that… I had a book to do that, remember?”

“Fine; where’s the book?”

“Lost it.”

“Ugh…”

"Heeeeeh… they’re cute." Wila giggled into her palm as she watched the two with amusement.

“…but… recently… I have been doing some strange magic all on my own…” Abram admitted slowly, looking down at his tanned hands. He had healed and more, and the power seemed almost second nature to him… but what was it, exactly? “I’ll try… what’s the worst that can happen?”

"Given your track record? Uh…" Dog looked skeptical; he just couldn’t help it.

“We’ll never know ‘til we try, right?” Abram said, concentrating on his hands. There had been a greenish glow when using this power in the past; how had he made that happen? The blonde concentrated, his focus intense for several long moments, but that got him nowhere. It wasn’t until he relaxed that the power seemed to grow within him; life couldn’t be forced, after all, but blossomed in spite of all odds. His hands glowed with a greenish golden light that surprised even Wila into silence; moving carefully, Abram allowed his power over life to flourish, causing the grass to grow wildly and the flowers even in this game world to bloom. The golden light expanded to become large enough to walk through, and pierced through the game to provide an exit. Slowly, Abram lowered his hand and studied his creation. “……………..I think it’s done.”

"You think..?"

“Only one way to find out.” Abram said with a wry smile, leading the way as he stepped through the portal.

On the other side of the glowing light, Fee held her hands up, squinting through the brightness in confusion. Her whole face lit up as the light faded and left the gamers behind; the slender Kelpie practically flew to Graham and hugged him tightly. “B-Big brother! Y-You’re okay! A-A-And Dina t-too…” Fee breathed, so relieved that she almost fell over and Graham had to steady her.

“Glad you made it out, Fee.” Graham comforted her, petting her hair. His strange eyes slowly –regretfully—sought out Nightingale, and the Kelpie sighed before continuing. “…thanks for getting Fee out of there. I… really appreciate it.”

"Woooooow… hey, it worked! Look, Vidar, we didn’t die!" Wila exclaimed, turning to look at Vidar with a wide smile.

“Vidar’s stronger than any portal. Of course he didn’t die. You, on the other hand… count it as a small miracle you made it through.” Zeke said briskly, having hauled Kitty over his shoulder for easy transport. Ignoring her objections like he always did, the white wolf scanned the room and narrowed his eyes on the banshees they had returned to, especially Ruarc. “Tch; you again…”

“Easy…” Abram murmured reflexively, shaking his hand until the glow faded entirely. Jade eyes sought out Cassey and his body relaxed slightly at seeing her safe; clearing his throat, Abram looked to the Game Master with a frown. “I got out of your game, and way before your time limit. I guess that means I won, doesn’t it?” he asked bluntly, wanting to take Cassey and go home already.

[kewefefe]

►═══════════════════════════════════════◄

►═══════════════════════════════════════◄

Dante’s whole expression twisted as he looked at Aurelia. If nothing else, the other vampire was a distraction. Maybe the woman was right? Perhaps they had placed too much thought on Lydia these past couple of days? Maybe they were just seeing her in all sorts of places because she had been running wild in all corners of their psyche? Yes. That had to be it! It had nothing to do with the fact that both Lydia and this small child had the same cheekbones, red hair, and lifeless eyes. No. It was all a mental issue. Dante had to force himself to believe this or else his sanity might just be in jeopardy. Unfortunately, the longer he stared at the child the harder it became to stay blissfully blind to the truth. ”Y…yes.” he said slowly making it painfully obvious that admitting such a thing was a struggle for him. ”Let’s just focus on the other half of this story.” he said his own lifeless eyes looking towards Aisa and Hades.

Plump pink lips formed into a delicate little frown at Hades’s answer. It looked as if Aisa had just eaten a particularly sour lemon as she stared up at the god of death. ”Do not mock me Hades.” stated the woman not enjoying how he had laughed at her attempts to defend her future husband. ”You should not be so quick to judge the mortal’s favoritism of Discord nor Discord’s actions when it comes to man. You are the one who is unnervingly childish when it comes to those who live in your realm. Yanking those poor souls back into that dark abyss. If I did not know any better, I would go as far as to say you are a rather lonely being.” said the woman speaking out in the face of death.

Aisa’s forehead wrinkled as the other openly agreed to boring easily and wanting to use her as something to pass the time. Did her life or soul really mean that little to him or any other god for that matter? No. Hades’s thought process had to have been the one that was faulty. No matter how he tried to corrupt her thoughts, Aisa could not see the way he saw. There was something within Aisa that caused her to feel as if every life held meaning to it redefining what the future could possibly hold. In fact, the more she listened to the god of death the more her heart ached with pity. She could not grasp that a god could be so caught up in his own self-righteousness that he could become so blind. Her expression said as much as her fingers delicately touched her chest and she looked down at the grass. A gentle breeze passed causing the young woman’s hair to fall over her face before she spoke. ”Hades, you see only the souls but forget the life and how each life affects the world around us.” she said her tone soft like a dove’s. ”Perhaps, you have spent to much time in the Underworld?” she suggested.


Hades was quick to keep the conversation going and once again seemed to have Aisa blushing under his bold words and suggestions. ”Hades you are about as charming as Hephaestus is handsome.” muttered Aisa. ”I swear to you on the River Styx that I will give you half of my soul in exchange for that child’s safety and protection. All I request is that a guardian will be placed to look after her and her children’s children. If a single one is hurt under your hand, our deal will be no more.” she offered now that she had his attention.



Once the words left her lips, Hades went to work crafting the two creatures to complete his half of the deal. The young woman’s gaze slid first to inspect the newly mutated creature. ”She is so beautiful.” she complimented surprised that Death could actually have part in making something so delicate. It was as if life itself was radiating from her tiny little body.

Aisa’s gaze continued moving until they stopped at Hades’s true creation. The next creature did not have quite the same reaction the fairy girl had held from Aisa. It was true that the man that was formed was handsome in his own regards; however, he loomed in a stance that was so intimidating it made it difficult to appreciate the aesthetic value he held.

”This cannot be right.” whispered an outraged Dante as he stared at his ancestor. The newly formed vampire looked so barbaric. It was like seeing a cave man as the creature of darkness leaned down towards the creature of light. ”This cannot be our creation story. To be created on a whim by Hades?” he continued to ask his expression appalled.

Aisa seemed to share that same appalled reaction as her eyes watched the vampire. She had gotten over the initial fear and was slowly mauling over his existence him. ”You created a monster.” she whispered somehow already able to see the damage such a thing could cause. With a beauty like that matched with a heart of black, Hades would have his fill of deaths. It was as if Hades was subconsciously keeping the balance of life and death. The young woman opened her lips to say something, but was interrupted by a kiss.

Once the kiss was over Aisa had only a few moments to react to the exchange. ”If the god kisses as boldly as you do.” she retorted back her fingers touching the edge of her lips. ”Then why would you kiss me if women are only for killing?” she asked a hint of laughter in her tone. She could not help herself. Somehow the thought of him being innocent in this regard was hard to grasp. All the gods seemed to run wild when it came to their love affairs yet Hades had done nothing of the sort. Aisa’s lips parted in a manner that made it look as if she had something else to say, but instead of speaking her body went limp as a result of the transformation at hand.

The child that result stared back up at Hades without the fear or the hesitation Aisa had held. The little spirit even leaned forward holding onto Hades as if he were the only person she could or would ever trust. ”I was naïve and you took advantage.” stated Vita her eyes narrowing at Hades’s pride. ”She is only temporarily yours! A god as selfish as you will grow bored soon enough and break your oath.”

Vita was so caught up in arguing with Hades that the red mist seemed to go unnoticed by the woman. ”Do not act ignorant Hades.” said the woman her expression growing even more irritated with each passing moment. Her eyes slowly slid down to look at the child who fidgeted and pressed her face deeper into Death’s cloak. ”And it is not that simple, Fate is a complicated deity. It is constantly changing unlike death.” said the woman with the violet gaze. ”Ashamed? The only one who should be ashamed is you for disregarding all decency for your own selfish gain.”

It was clear that Vita did not appreciate when someone beat her especially when that someone happened to be Hades. ”You claim you have no interest in love and at this very moment I believe you. However, there will come a time when you, Hades will learn to love something other than yourself. When that day comes, when I know that you are finally and truly happy, I will take that happiness away from you even if I have to make her suffer in the process.” threatened Vita before she looked back at Life.

”Two minutes too long.” claimed Discord his expression unimpressed. ”Your things? I have already placed claim on this girl.” said Discord as he yanked a hold of the spirit only to have her flutter out of sight. ”Idiot? Who are you calling an idiot? You are the one who is trying to steal my intended!” claimed the god irritation flashing across his face as he stormed away.

”It is hard to say.” claimed Dante who did not want these memories to be true. ”But the more I watch this, the more real it is beginning to feel.” he muttered watching as the scene morphed itself to yet another scenery.

”It is supposed to mean that you should know at least one chord by now!” claimed Persephone. The gods had blessed the child in both beauty and grace. Her movements were delicate as she crossed her arms. ”Well I don’t see any nymphs around here. All I do see is that your hands are positioned all wrong!” said the girl leaning forward so she could fix the god’s fingers. Persephone’s head turned as she heard the call. ”You keep practicing okay? We can continue this later.” said the spirit who had been blessed with the radiance of life itself. She grabbed onto the edge of her peplos pulling it up high enough to allow her to run faster.

Persephone’s mother was not convinced by her brother-in-law’s arguments. Demeter had already chased away a handful of men from her door all seeking Persephone’s hand, but Life was not as easily scared as those men had been. The god had direct access to her daughter causing the mother to grow nervous at all of the possibilities surrounding the god. ”It worries me how easily men fall for her though.” she said in a worried fashion. ”I suppose.” she said but her tone made it clear she was still not convinced.

Mother and daughter spoke for a moment longer before Persephone left leaving Demeter behind with Briseus. ”I suppose if you trust him.” she muttered trying to keep the blush on her face hidden.

In the meantime, Persephone had gotten sidetracked leading her to the flowered grove. She was so focused on the beauty of the place that it took her a moment to truly register the man who was standing behind her. ”M…master?” she inquired confused by the title he had given himself. Persephone opened her lips to speak, but before she could the man in question had already taken her by the arm. She felt her whole spirit jerk against her as she was forced to grab ahold of Hades. She felt dizzy, shaky, and nauseous all at once. What was going on? Why did her legs feel like lead? Why was it so difficult to breath? What was this sensation? It felt as if all of her life was being drained from her as her body leaned forward and pressed against Hades for support. Finally the god of death stopped and released her nearly knocking the wind out of her. ”Ah…” she said feeling a sharp pain jabbing up along her leg. Her fingers pressed against her knee trying to sooth the aching that formed at his dropping. She barely had time to register her surroundings before Hades yanked her up again literally dragging her towards the gates. When the god finally released her for a second time, the girl fell forward her legs giving out on her. Her hands pressed against the floor as her breathing intensified. The air was different than the surface air. It was thicker filled with despair and death.

Persephone’s heart was racing as she stared at the god of death. Why had he brought her here? More than that why was he circling around her as if at any moment he would strike her? He looked like a vulture increasing the girl’s anxiety with each passing movement. She was the dove waiting for the beast’s claws. What was she doing? She had to be strong and keep her body as straight as she could. Her hands pushed herself upwards as she stumbled a bit to stand straight. She could not falter under that demon’s gaze or else she would cause herself to become even more vulnerable than she already was.

The girl fidgeted only slightly under his watchful eye as she stumbled back away from him. This side step only resulted in her back making a soft thud as she bumped into one of the man’s statues. It left her with little room to escape as her hands gripped onto the edges of the piece of art. Her head looked down as she felt Death’s presence invading her personal space. She could actually feel his breath against the top of her head as the man hovered over her. Was he going to take her life? No. If his intension were to steal her life he would have done it already. Suddenly, the fear that her virtue might have been at stake crossed the girl’s mind. Her long eyelashes fell delicately against her sun kissed cheeks as she tried to form words. ”P…Persephone.” she said her cheeks burning with embarrassment as the man claimed she was still pretty only furthering her theory that his intensions for her were less than noble. ”Please, Hades I mean you no harm. Allow me to return to my mother. She will get lonely without me.” claimed the young woman her hand moving up to push against his chest.

The teenager stiffened further as her hand quickly withdrew from its place on the other. Soft chestnut ringlets fell over emerald eyes as they tried to hide that subtle blush. She even went as far as to place her hand over her face hiding her features. ”I…I think you have me mistaken with someone else.” she said slowly as her fingers dripping downwards to peak out at the man.

”Perhaps, I could help you search for this Aisa woman.” said Persephone finally aiming her hands towards the other. While extending her hand, she ended up touching the other’s exposed skin beneath his cloak. The movement was just hard enough to give her an escape. She was surprised that she was able to maneuver her way out from under his forward presence, but she was not nearly as surprised as what touching his bare skin had done to her whole body. It was like an electric shock sliding through her form. It was electrifying and a part of her was morbidly curious what touching him elsewhere would do to her.

Yet Persephone was no fool, she used Hades temporary confusion to back away from him. She moved as far as she was able to within that limited amount of time, but even she knew that he would be back to gather her once more. So the resourceful girl looked around trying to find something to use as a defense. Finally, she picked up one of the man’s chalices and held it upwards. ”S…stay away.” she threatened her feet delicately stepping backwards on each step. ”I…I have heard stories of you gods and your less than honorable pursuit of mortals.” she said taking a step back with every step her took forward. ”You are not allowed to take me as yours Hades!” she said her foot getting caught on the stairs causing her to fall backwards.

The girl slowly stared up as she looked at the god who once again held the advantage. She lifted the chalice hiding behind the object. She had to think this through. How could she escape? Her eyes slowly opened as she looked at the other. ”I….I am in love with the god of Life! I currently have his child within my womb!” lied the girl causing Dante to actually slap his hand over his face. The vampire watching knew that Hades was able to see into the soul at least he had been the last time they saw him.

”I…I do not want to damage the baby.” stated the little liar as she scooted herself up one of the stairs. Now Persephone’s mother had been reluctant to actually teach the young hidden goddess the mechanics of procreation. Persephone’s knowledge was lacking and only consisted of very minor details such as men wanting girls’ virtues and children living in the womb. This little tidbit was made painfully obvious as the girl continued to talk despite the fact that she really should have stopped. ”We…we held hands! An…and we were alone!” she described honestly thinking that this would be enough evidence to make her case valid. ”He placed his lips on my cheek!” said the teenager.

In the meantime, Persephone’s mother was beginning to grow worried. It was not like Persephone not to return home for this long. Demeter had sent her brother-in-law to seek out her daughter and yet neither had returned. The woman was pacing back and forth as she waited and waited. Finally she saw the figure of Briseus making his way towards her home. ”Finally.” she said in a breathless gasp as she headed to meet him half way.

The smile the woman had held on her lips slowly formed into a frown as she looked around Briseus trying to see her daughter’s smiling face. ”Where is she? Where is Persephone?” asked the woman as she grabbed the edge of Briseus’s arm to move him slightly just to see if she were behind him. ”What happened? Did….Did Life steal her?!” she asked panic rising in her voice.

[kewefefe]

════════════════════
One moment Kitty was talking to Poplar steadily making her way through what his reaction could have meant, the next moment the in laws had come in for a surprise visit. Enzo’s shoulders shrugged as he glanced back at Alexis. ”That is part of the adventure isn’t it?” he jeered in that easy going fashion both his secret wife and son lacked. ”Aw come on don’t tell me you are still mad about the teasing.” laughed Enzo taking a step towards the woman with the intent to continue where he had left off.

”It’s okay Poplar. It’s okay. These are friends.” explained Kitty excitement in her tone that was hard to ignore. Even at this age, the woman was still able to light up like a Christmas tree in the face of visitors. Unlike her husband who tended to scare off anyone who dared to enter his house, Kitty was a ray of sunshine smiling as she encouraged newcomers. ”No, no, no, Alexis Poplar is a friend.” Kitty tried to reassure right before she went in for a hug. Enzo seemed just as caught off guard as Alexis was. When had Kitty discovered that Alexis was Zeke’s mother? That did not seem like information Zeke would willingly share with the overly friendly mermaid. From what Enzo had witnessed, Zeke would do whatever he had to to keep the woman hidden away from anyone and everyone especially Zeke’s parents. The more Enzo looked at the mermaid, the more he was able to see subtle differences. She did look a bit aged maybe not in the physical sense, but something about her presence seemed to have matured.

Morte entered and Enzo stiffened. Usually, the gypsy would have had something to say in response to Morte, but Enzo could not bring himself to say anything. Instead he just stood there watching the man who resembled his father. Something was not adding up here. Why would his father have Kitty? No. This could not have been his father. This had to have been Zeke. But if it was Zeke what happened to the former Death? Had Zeke somehow killed Death himself? These were the questions swirling through the man’s mind as he stared at the other.

Kitty parted her lips to answer Poplar’s question only to have Morte answer it for her. The woman leaned against her husband as her arms hugged around his waist. ”The past?” repeated Kitty. ”So there is another you and another me somewhere floating about?” she asked with a sneaky little grin. ”Maybe I could pay a visit to my younger self and teach her a thing or do about seducing you?” she teased looking up as if he really were the only person in the room. ”Or maybe I could seduce your younger self to experience a blast from the past.” she said in a manner that was nothing like she had been when it was just Poplar and herself. ”I know for a fact that you had your fun. Which means I am entitled to have my fun.” she said suggestiveness written all over her words and body language.

The mermaid really was an entirely different person around her husband. He had the power to make the woman completely weak in the knees and as a result do things she might not have done had he not been there. It was as if all the shame she might have felt was washed away in his presence.

Enzo took a step towards Alexis his form standing in front of the woman’s. The man’s usual smile was hidden behind his discontent for the other man as he watched Morte’s cruelness be unleashed. What was Morte doing? No, that was not the right question. Enzo knew what Morte was doing. He even knew why he was doing it. Morte was a sadist and not even his own mother was free from this character flaw. No. What Enzo needed to know was the meaning of Morte’s words. ”Always…death?” repeated Enzo suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. How could he have been so blind to this? How could he have missed something so obvious? This was a dream wasn’t it? It had to have been a dream! ”That cannot be right.” whispered Enzo his eyebrows knitting together.

The man was so caught up in his own thoughts that it took him a moment to register everything Morte was saying to Alexis. ”Stop.” Enzo tried to say, but his throat was feeling surprisingly dry with each passing word Morte spoke. ”That is enough. You have had your fun.” Enzo said louder this time as he took a step between Morte and Alexis. ”Alexis, listen to me not him. The past is in the past remember?” asked Enzo growing desperate as he placed either of his hands against her shoulders. ”Look at me Alexis.” he said his index finger pressing gently against her chin forcing the woman to look back at him. ”Just focus on the here and now.” he urged his eyes glaring at Morte’s snickering form. ”Ignore him. Breathe Alexis. Breathe.”

”Zeke!” said Kitty ashamed of the man’s actions as she took a step around so she was now standing in front of the other. Lifting her hand, the woman actually slapped Death across the face. The action came as a surprise from the woman who had just been pressed so close to the man. ”Too far.” she said trembling as she continued to hold her hand up. The stinging on her hand was nothing compared to the stinging sensation in her heart. ”Those are your parents.” she pleaded tears on the very edge of her eyes. ”How would you feel if our children said such cruel things to us? What if Claire….came to hate me like that?” asked the woman her hand slowly moving back to her chest. ”Have you no heart?” she asked causing Enzo’s head to look back for a moment.

The gypsy would be a liar if he said there was not a small portion of him that was fearful for the woman’s life. Enzo knew enough about Death, no matter what his form might have been, to know that he did not take lightly to such things. ”I…I cannot believe you.” she said disappointment echoing in her tone. ”To think that you could….do something like that. Maybe I was wrong to even come here in the first place.” she said her eyebrows knitting together as her bangs fell over her eyes. ”How am I to trust you with my life if you hurt her?” she asked her hands fiddling with each other. ”I love her like my own mother. If you hurt her ever again, I don’t know if I could forgive you Zeke.” she admitted.

Enzo watched for a moment longer before turning his full attention back towards Alexis. ”Alexis, please listen. Anything that happened is in the past okay? You don’t have to hurt yourself trying to remember anything. Please.” he said as he moved some of her hair out of her face. ”However….if….if you really want to know something….I….I promise to tell you nothing but the truth.” said the man shaking a bit as he let the words leave his lips.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ryu laughed. It was not an obnoxiously loud laugh, but a subtle one that rang through the air. The laugh was masculine and held a certain attractiveness to its depths as he placed his hand against his stomach and cleaned off a fake tear. The wolf could not help himself. Juniper’s reactions to him were just so…foreign. Kitty and Zeke, neither of which were prudes when it came to their affection, had raised him and before that his former master had told the young Ryu grand tales of his skirt chasing days. Yet, there was Juniper fumbling her way through speaking to him. ”Juniper, you are a fairy the one thing I despise more than anything else in this world. I think if I can look past that, I can get over anything else you might be hiding.” he spoke back with a shrug of his shoulders.

Truth be told, the young man would have liked to have his adopted father’s confidence when it came to snatching up what he wanted. But something always held Ryu back from achieving this goal. It was his underlying fear that he would scare her off completely if he tried anything too forward. So the man settled of flirtatious undertones every chance he got. ”Yes,” said Ryu his expression turning with the shifting of conversation. ”I believe his real father’s name is…Enzo. The man with the orange moonlike eyes.” he told the other.

His head tilted a bit as Juniper began to describe Vidar. ”Yes, Vidar is probably one of the few people aside from Morte’s lady that Morte will actually listen to.” he explained before he went into more detail about Kitty and Morte’s relationship and Juniper began to explain how her people saw death.

”It is the opposite for my people. Death represented an escape from this hell on earth. Death would bring you that eternal peace and destroy your enemies.” explained Ryu his head glancing back at Juniper when she spoke about Morte being unable to kill fairies. ”I cannot speak on that subject.” he said his loyalty to Morte ever present. ”All I can say is that if every fairy were allowed to live, then no other creature could live. I mean from a strictly resource based analysis.” he explained his hand rubbing his chin as he spoke. ”Everyone hates death, but death is necessary for life.” he explained.

”Is it really such a bad thing to be confused?” inquired Ryu. ”Sometimes a healthy dose of confusion can allow us to seek our own set of truth.” he offered right before the two took a sharp turn landing the two in Life’s home.

”Yes, hide and seek. It is where one person hides and the other person…seeks!” offered Barty all smiles in the face of Juniper’s bright red face.

”I’m not your friend?” asked Ryu with a Cheshire Cat grin just because he knew that saying something like that would get Juniper to fumble all the more on her words. ”You wound me Juniper. I know we have our differences, but I thought for sure we were at least friends.” he said with fake innocence.

”Secret mission?” repeated Barty. ”Grandma Crystal says that there are no secrets in the Universe that eventually….erm something something peace and love something space and then I think she ended it with waffles?” he asked his eyebrows knitted together as he tried to remember what Crystal had told him. ”So I think the moral of the story is don’t have secrets or else you will be forced to eat waffles!”

”What if you like waffles?” asked Ryu his head tilting to the side.

”No one likes waffles. You just endure waffles.” claimed Barty his nose wrinkling as he thought of his mother’s failed dish. ”They are gummy and sticky.” he claimed.

”That does not sound right. Waffles are crisp on the outside, but soft on the inside. They are served with slices of strawberries and your choice of hand whisked cream. Granted, I am not a fan of very many sweet things but waffles are alright.” stated Ryu as he thought about Kitty’s cooking.

”Hm, I think we are talking about two different things.” replied Barty as he tried to picture what Ryu was describing.

In the meantime, Orcus was not in his happy place. The boy had been so content with staying at home spending the limited time with his mother yet here he was chasing after Ryu and that fairy girl. ”It feels so heavy here.” complained the boy desperately wishing he could return to the privacy of his own room. His vision was going in and out as his thoughts became foggy and his mind forced him to see memories that were long past.

”Orcus? What are you doing honey?” called a soft voice as the boy hid under his covers. He was trying his best not to be seen as a hand hovered over his head. ”Orcus are you hiding from me?” asked the boy’s mother as she finally pulled the blanket away to reveal the much younger Orcus. Pulling out a handkerchief from her pocket, Kitty began to clean off the boy’s face.

”I…I did it again Mother.” said Orcus trembling under Kitty’s gentle hand. ”I…I didn’t mean to honest! I….I killed them….all of them.” said the boy who must have been only six.

Kitty’s arms stretched around as she pulled the child into her embrace. ”Orcus, there is life and there is death. You cannot have one with out the other.” she said rocking the boy in her arms.

”I…I hate these powers mother! I j-…I just want them to go away! Please just take them away!” said the tormented youth.

”Orcus, your powers are what make you, you. They are special and not something you should give away so lightly.” she said as she let her hand brush some of the boy’s hair out of his face. ”People are going to reject you, but you are needed just as much as life is needed. Do not be so quick to throw away something so valuable. Now come, how about I make you some hot chocolate? Your father is off on a business trip so I can give you the extra spoon on coco. It will be our little secret.” she teased kissing the boy’s cheek before taking him along with her.

”Mother..” whispered the boy his hand reaching outwards as he tried to grab at the imaginary woman. Orcus let out a grunt as a child tripped over him causing his form to roll onto his back to try to avoid any more damage.

”A friend?” repeated the fairy knight his expression torn. On the one hand, the boy in question did look a lot like that demon Death and he was killing innocent flowers, on the other hand Abram had reassured him that this was a friend. Frowning the guard lowered his weapon. ”I see.” he said his voice filled with suspicion as he watched Orcus waiting for the boy to slip up at any moment.

”I am trying to find….my…mother.” grunted Orcus the hallucinations making it difficult for him to differentiate between fantasy and reality.

The daughter was watching curiously as her father dealt with the mysterious boy. She took one step forward only to freeze as another little girl grabbed her yanking her back. ”D…D…Daddy!” cried the child large tears already beginning to form in her eyes. It was clear that this little girl was not used to violence. She was a gentle creature who spent a majority of her time in the meadow playing with the flowers.

”Claire?” asked Orcus his eyes narrowing as he tried to focus on the here and now.

”You do have a lot of friends…” stated the guard in an unimpressed manner as he watched his king. Something about the king running around with wolves and demons had the man feeling anxious.

Orcus let out a deep gasp as he felt the air return to his lungs and his mind became more clear. ”We’re still in Life’s world.” he said glancing around. His chest still felt heavy, but at least now he was able to stand and communicate. The hallucinations were on a standstill as he held onto his head.

”Are you sure you will be alright?” asked the knight bending down as he lifted the sobbing little girl into his arms. He gave one last look at the group before he began to make his journey back towards his queen.

While Life made his way to find Juniper, Ryu was not in his happy place. Any time there was a man near Juniper Ryu instantly left his happy place and entered his foul mood place. This was made ten times worse at the other man’s proposal. How could Aster be so bold? What gave the man that right? ”That is different!” argued Ryu who was no longer in his hiding place. ”I placed claim on you long before you entered your post! Therefore, my claim outweighs your post!” he stubbornly. ”I am her mate! So just back off you flower gathering insect!”

”Mate? What a barbaric tone from a barbaric man! What chance do you think you have with this woman?” asked Aster trying to muster up all the bravery he had in the face of the wolf. Y, even with all of his bravery, he still managed to lose his composure in the face of the wolf’s fangs.

”Scaring him! Ha! If he wants to fight for your hand then he should be a man and fight for your hand!” argued Ryu his golden gaze becoming piercing with every passing word he spoke. ”Tch, you really want me to play nice don’t you?” he asked twitching a bit as he took a step back just to appease the woman. ”There I took a step back!” he said his eyes slow to look back at the new comers.

Ryu actually growled in the face of Abram. If there was one person he was not in the mood to see it was Life. Life and Ryu never really had gotten on civil terms at least not for the wolf. Abram was delirious when it came to the wolf’s dislike of the other. ”Tch, I am only doing this because it is what Juniper wants.” said Ryu forcing his claws back into hands.

The wolf’s expression only darkened further as he noticed Life moving close to Juniper. His protective instincts were on fire as he took in a deep breath and let it out. ”Stop talking about Morte’s lady like you are so damn familiar with her! You have a wife don’t you?” snapped Ryu towards Abram. He hated the way Kitty would act when she was around Abram. It was not technically cheating, but to Ryu it always felt like cheating. She would blush and become bashful like a school girl. ”Of course I didn’t kidnap her! We were just finding something for Morte’s maiden of the sea!” he argued once more seeing red in the face of how close Juniper was getting to Aster.

”It’s fine really.” Aster stumbled to say as his hand began to reach to touch Juniper. He paused when he noticed Ryu looming behind the woman.

”If you want to keep that arm, I suggest you keep it to yourself.” threatened the wolf causing the fairy to swallow.

Barty was idly watching the scene unfold when suddenly he found a little girl attached to his back. The boy’s mismatched eyes looked behind him for a moment before looking up at his dad. ”Oh hey Dad! Where is Lily? If you misplaced her again, mom is going to be upset.” he said as if Claire’s presence did not even faze him.

Blinking, the boy sidestep twisting around a bit as he pressed an index finger to the side of the little girl. The pressure was not hard, but it did hit a pressure point and had the added bonus of giving him his freedom. ”Is this a game?” he asked looking down at Claire. ”I am not much of a fighter.” he said rubbing the back of his neck. ”So I think you would win, that being the case maybe we could try another game?” he offered as he stretched his hand out to help her up. If it were an actual battle there was no doubt Barty could have held his own. The boy had gained all of his father’s natural ability for death but he had also inherited all of his father’s pacifism. So the boy’s killing capability would be held dormant.

”Tch, we should just head home. Juniper enough of this nonsense just get some of your things and come with us. I think the best place for you to stay is Morte’s house. Things are far too complicated here.” decided Ryu crossing his arms as he spoke.

════════════════════

[kewefefe]

►═══════════════════════════════════════◄

►═══════════════════════════════════════◄

████████████████████████████████████████████████

Darius was stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, he was slowly getting the Red Queen to listen to his words yet on the other hand he was stuck trying to explain to the Red Hare that they could be trusted. He was not sure when he became the equalizer in this situation, but there he was standing between the two mirror images. ”I do understand you.” Darius encouraged his eyes pleading with the Red Queen. ”I am saying these things not to trick or harm you, but because I want to help you. If I was merely here to save the Red Hare, I would have already left with her.” he admitted becoming surprisingly truthful in this world of dreams. There was a portion of Darius that wanted to regret his comments. He wanted to have an internal battle with himself where he grew upset at what he had spoken. Yet there was another portion of him that knew that this was the right choice. Besides, the words had left the man’s lips and now that they were said all he could really do was stand by and watch the ripple effect.

Shaking these thoughts from his mind, the man continued. ”They are not the only ones who care for you…both of you.” he said taking a step forward before taking two steps back. It was like an awkward dance that Darius was unfamiliar with. Every time he would get the steps down, he would lose focus and have to start all over again. It was frustrating and exhilarating all at once.

Ever since the first day Darius had met Abram there had been a budding dislike for the werewolf. The two were polar opposites in almost all regards. While Abram was a wolf, Darius was a vampire. While Abram was created from light and life, Darius was forged from the darkness through a mishap of a deal. Darius had been…pleasant….or at least as pleasant as he could be to Abram. He had been walking on pins and needles trying to keep his temper in check in the face of the man who so easily stole Lydia’s heart. All of the practice of keeping a straight face in even the most trying of manners was put to the test at the hand of the Red King. Darius felt something he never thought he would feel. He felt the flower of hate growing deep within him. His jaw tightened almost as tight as his fists. He wanted to hurt Abram for his actions. Shutting his eyes, the man counted to ten to force those bad thoughts to the back of his mind.

This was a delicate situation and he had to remind himself that this Abram was merely a copy of the true Abram. Even knowing this, Darius could not stop himself from reliving all of the pain Abram had caused Lydia. At first, Darius had told himself that Abram was nothing more than a fool of a man. Abram simply did not see what his actions did. But the more the actions piled the harder it became for Darius to believe this theory.

No. Abram had to know what he was doing. He had to see the blaze of desire in Lydia’s lifeless eyes. Abram could not have been that much of a fool. No, the wolf was dancing on her emotions all to satisfy his own hunger. This was a game to him wasn’t it? Perhaps this was all Abram’s way of punishing Darius for the feelings Cassey had for him? Abram was not a man nor a werewolf he was a creature of hell swirling about and laughing in Darius’s face.

Fangs extended as the intent to kill grew stronger and stronger. Had the Red Queen not spoke, Darius would have unleashed a demon’s wrath. Turning his head, the man pulled his fangs back and looked at the woman. ”We will try to figure out a way for the two of you to coexist.” he confirmed.

The Red King spoke and Darius’s eyes narrowed at the other. That face. Darius hated that face. He hated the curve of the other’s nose, his lips, and especially the other’s blonde hair. The more he looked at the Red King the more he felt this hatred. The world would have been a better place without Abram, Darius had decided. Would anyone really miss him? Sure, people would be sad at first, but slowly everyone would grow to find that the world was at peace without his chaos. Lydia would finally be free from the cage he kept around her heart. ”You can be free.” he said taking a step in front of the Red King.

Darius had to turn his back to the other man. Just looking at his face caused those thoughts to bounce back and forth in his mind. ”I only ask that you try to explore your present. Do not force yourself to stay on only one course. You can keep your loyalties but also satisfy yourself along the way.” he said his hand pressing against his heart as he bowed to the woman. ”I swear I will do whatever I can to keep that comb from touching your hair.” he promised.

The Red Hare spoke and Darius turned to look at her. Darius would be a liar if he said he could not sympathize with the girl. ”Lydia.” he said slowly. He could understand where both women were coming from. Both wanted to have a chance at life and both were headstrong and ready to battle anyone who dared to take that right from them. Darius’s lips parted once more to take his duty as the common sense when the Red Queen made her move.

There was a gasp of air as the vampire’s body jerked forward. Where was he? An office? Had he slipped through another chamber of that mazelike psyche? No. This place was familiar and held the heaviness of real life. Even the sun that peaked through the blinds burned against his exposed skin causing him to feel lethargic. The vampire looked around slowly taking in everything. This was Lucy’s office back at Fellowship Pharmaceuticals.

”Lucy?” he asked rubbing his head as he stood up and looked at the woman. ”What happened?” he repeated in a dazed manner. ”It is hard to explain.” he admitted trying to place all the pieces together.

Was that a dream? It was true that Darius had not been eating properly these last couple of months. He had been so concerned with Lydia that he had barely had time to fetch himself something to eat. Maybe the fatigue was finally getting to him? How many times had he secretly dreamed of that girl while she had gone missing? No. This dream was different. This dream felt…real. It had to have been real. His hands opened and closed as he trying to get the sensation of movement back into his fingers.

”Lydia.” he said slowly before his hand stretched outwards and he grabbed Lucy by the arm. ”No. She isn’t going to hurt anyone.” he said clearing his throat.

He had to compose himself if he wanted Lucy to take him seriously. The only thing Darius could rely on was Lucy’s history as a hunter. At least that might keep her from writing off everything he was about to say as insanity. ”Lydia…is not human.” he struggled to say deciding that he might as well start for the portion she knew. ”But it is not just a manner of her not being human.” he explained as he bent down towards Lydia. ”She needs to rest first and foremost.” he said pulling the keeper of the present into his arms. ”Where is your spare bedroom?” he asked waiting for Lucy to lead the way. Darius knew how much of a workaholic both mother and daughter could be and knew they must have held a secret room somewhere.

After placing Lydia on the bed, Darius looked back at Lucy. ”I think you should sit down.” he said his hand stretching to encourage the woman to sit down. ”The place I entered was like no place I have ever been before. It was real and yet not real. When I first arose, I thought to myself that it had to have been a dream, but that cannot be right. If it were merely a dream then how could I explain the dome she created earlier today?” asked the vampire as he leaned against the window seal.

Darius needed to eat. Now that he had Lydia back in a safe place, he was beginning to allow his body (even if it was subconsciously) to react to the damage he had inflicted on it. The adrenaline was running thin as the man let his fingers smooth through his hair. ”Within her mind, I was able to meet that other portion of herself. She referred to herself as the “Red Queen” She explained to me how she is the Present.” he said his eyes looking back at Lydia. ”She was created during the split of the Past and Future. Present is not really a being like Past and Future, but a characteristic I guess you could say. I understand that this is hard to believe, but the more I think about it the more this seems the only logical explanation.” he said pausing for a moment.

The man moved to sit as his body hunched over. His stomach was twisting and turning, but the man continued to explain what was going on. ”This Red Queen is completely dedicated to her uncle’s ideals. However, I do not think she is necessarily evil. I think that both hold a gray manner to their personalities. Neither is the absolute good while the other is the absolute evil.” he said his hands holding upwards as they moved like a scale.

”It only further explains the theory that they really are the Present. You see in the present things are never black and white. They are always gray.” explained Darius trying to understand his own theories as he relayed them to Lucy. ”I think the best thing we can do for now until they are stable, is to keep them away from their uncle or anyone else who will try to influence either girl one way or another.” he explained his hand pressing against his forehead. ”They must learn how to interact with one another before they attempt to interact with others….but I feel as though I must eat Lucy. Because the longer I stay here, the more tempting that pulsing vein on your neck looks. Please excuse me.” said Darius standing as he moved out of the room.

████████████████████████████████████████████████

[kewefefe]

════════════════════════════════════════════
”Well,” began Cassey her eyes looking the opposite way from the pop star. ”Technically, he is not my boyfriend at least not yet.” she explained her hands twiddling a bit in front of her as she spoke. ”But that’s just because I haven’t gotten past the initial phase of love!” she reassured the other. ”You see, I heard from my friend Becky that there are lots of types of guys. And some guys are known as the ‘Strong Silent Type’, this group of guys will act all mean and quiet towards you.” she advised the other girl. ”But that’s just because they have so much love in their heart that it causes their heart to beat really really fast. This overload of blood flows directly into their brain. All of this extra blood in their brain, it makes them forgetful and stuff. Basically, they forget how to be nice!” she explained causing Nightingale to turn his head towards Cassey.

”I don’t think I have ever heard love explained like that.” commented the Game Master.

”Since Darius is a vampire, he probably has even more blood just floating around in his brain. So it makes him forgetful!” said Cassey with confidence. ”All of this blood just makes him think he loves Lydia. It is all pretty logical when you think about it.” she said with confidence. ”My dad also said that girls can make boys blood run even faster! So that’s why you have to change yourself for the guy, so you are not overloading his body with all of this blood. Which is why it is up to me to keep changing myself until I find the right look to keep his blood stable.”

”That isn’t how that works.” muttered Nightingale deadpanning in the face of Cassey’s terrible advice. It was a good thing Graham was not there. He might have just fallen over as Cassey held onto Fee’s hands and explained to her how to get the man she loved.

”Fee, you should do this too! I mean do this if you have a love. Oh I haven’t even asked yet! Do you have a love?” Cassey asked curiously causing Nightingale to twitch even more under her words.

”Fee is fine just the way she is. She should not have to change for anyone.” Nightingale said his eyes narrowing back at the Game Master and Future.

”Exactly. It makes for a much more interesting life to wait these things out Future.” winked the Game Master as his eyes slowly looked back at the trembling Fee.

Now it was true that Cassey was scared what the future might hold when it came to this strange group of people. She was frightened that Abram might even lose this battle and she would be forced to live under Future’s thumb. Yet, the young woman was able to push these feelings aside in the presence of Dina’s engagement. If nothing else, thinking about something pleasant made the scary feeling subside. It was a defense mechanism Cassey was forced to learn all those years ago when the Lone Wolves had attacked her and her mother. ”D…Dina is engaged?!” asked Cassey her whole body moving about causing her hair to slap Future in the face. The girl’s hands moved against Fee’s shoulders as she looked at the other. ”Married? Married? As in husband and wife? As in they will have babies and things?” she asked happily causing Nightingale to slap his hand over his forehead.

”Wait, that means we will be sisters!” said Cassey wrapping her arms around Fee in a hug. ”This will be so wonderful!” she said blinking as Fee claimed that Nightingale was not a demon. ”Of course he isn’t! Nightingale is super-duper nice.”

”Tch.” muttered Nightingale.

”Marriage?” asked Ryu who had spent a majority of his time circling the dark orb that had absorbed Kitty and Zeke. ”That is a procreation ceremony right?” asked the boy who had not heard the marriage word until he spent time with Kitty and Zeke. Kitty seemed to drop the M word a lot followed with making children. So the logical boy associated marriage with nothing more than something to create more life. ”That Dina is going to have a child?” he inquired.

”Diny is pregnant?” asked Cassey.

”Why else would there be marriage? Morte’s lady talks about that M word all the time and finishes it with talk of children. You cannot be married unless new life is involved right?” asked the boy bluntly.

”That makes so much sense! But what about Dog? Dog was engaged to Dina before?” asked Cassey.

”Dog was probably trying to use Dina for her power as a fairy! I bet you he claimed that she was his attar with alternative motives to steal her power.” suggested the Game Master getting into the drama of the situation. ”Dina was heart broken sobbing over the debt Dog’s gambling addiction was causing her. When Graham came in and offered to pay off their debt but at a price.” explained the Game Master.

”A price?” asked Cassey.

”A price! Graham suggested to pay Dina for one night of passion. Dina said no, but Dog practically forced her into it.” said the Game Master causing Cassey’s hand to move over her mouth.

”Oh no!” said Cassey.

”Now Dina was about to go through with it and sleep with Graham, when Graham was overcome with a new emotion. He could not bring himself to sleep with her. So he handed her back the money and told her that she owed him nothing. Well, when Dina got back home she catches Dog with a pretty little unicorn.” said the excited Game Master.

”I don’t think this is right….” said Nightingale.

”Dina runs out, oh it was raining by the way,” said the Game Master pausing to add the fact that it was raining. ”Dina rams into Graham, they kiss under the moonlight and share a bed. Dina gets knocked up and her parents are all against it so Graham decides to make an honest woman at her.”

”What about Dog?” asked Cassey.

”Dog? Well, he still has that gambling addiction and wants to tear the two apart. So he sends his cousin to try to seduce you Cassey.” said the Game Master placing his hand on her shoulder. ”His cousin, Abram, knows that Future has been doing whatever he can to try to protect you. So naturally he uses his werewolf magic to mess with your memories. He makes you think you love Darius, but it is really Future who you love. Poor Future is struggling so very hard to deal with this situation.” explained the man causing Ryu’s eyebrows to frown.

”I never trusted that Abram guy. He is the one who is always after Morte’s lady.” said Ryu.

”Abram is a womanizer. Fee you should also look after yourself. He likes them innocent.” stated the Game Master nodding his head causing Cassey’s stomach to turn. With the way memories had been shifting and turning, the Game Master’s words did seem plausible. It was still just a lot to take in.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kitty actually held her breath when Zeke said that he needed her. Her mind was filled with all sorts of girlie thoughts all associated with how she would accept his affection. She would be bashful and claim that it was all a shock to her. No. She would act cool, nonchalant acting as if such news was so obvious it did not faze her. ”Oh Zekey, I…….w…what?” asked Kitty looking as if a truck had just hit her. ”C…cookies? Zekey….I…you….you are mean.” she said dramatically before turning her attention towards Wila.

”Really? He was?” asked Kitty smiling back at Wila. ”What do you mean by ”You guys”, you are part of this family too Wila!” said Kitty with enthusiasm. ”Oh, we also have this new little boy who is part of our family. His name is Ryu. I think you’ll really like him when you meet him!” she reassured the other woman.

”Yes, him.” said Vidar looking towards Graham as he watched Kitty jump onto Zeke’s back.

”Waaait, you are going to be nice to Graham? That’s wonderful!” said the mermaid her arms resting around Zeke’s neck. ”You know Graham’s family was always super duper nice to me. Graham would also scare off any man looking for trouble. You have nothing to worry about with him. I am like a sister to him. He doesn’t mess with people who are truly in love.” she said into Zeke’s ear. ”Besides, it looks like he is more interested in Dina.” she said directing Zeke’s attention to the two’s interactions. ”Hm, that’s a better fit for Vidar’s sister though I think. I mean wolves are great, but you cannot go wrong with us sea folk. We’re great lovers right Zekey?” asked Kitty moving off of Zeke to stand to the side of him.

”Not all of us are old perverted men like you.” argued Dina crossing her arms as she looked back at Graham. ”Besides if we are going by your standards if I am in my twenties, you are nothing more than a *****] she said her eyes scaling over towards the Kitty of this world before slowly looking back at the Zeke of her own world. ”I do not understand what she sees in him.” she whispered to herself as she watched the two’s interactions.

”B…blushing?” repeated Kitty blinking under Zeke’s touch as she stared back at the other. ”I am blushing at your presence Zeke. What else would I be blushing at? You know how your jealousy makes my heart flutter.” said the quick-witted girl. ”What do you think I am blushing at? Don’t tell me you actually think I could be attracted to any one else besides you? You are far too confident to have such doubts of my love. The only person you have to worry about is you.” she teased looking back at Abram as he cut the two off.

”Easy Zeke.” said Vidar as the boy called Wila stupid.

The world around the group spun as Abram tapped into that hidden ability of his. One moment they were in front of a high school, the next they were in the banshee’s home. ”You’re welcome.” stated Nightingale caught off guard by Graham’s appreciation. ”I apologize for not going back for the rest of you.” he muttered.

”Zeeekkkeeeeee putttt me down! I am a lady! It’s hard for me to cover myself when you carry me around like this!” whined Kitty as she placed her hand on her skirt trying her hardest to keep it from coming up. ”ZEKE!” she yelled as she noticed just what the two had landed on. ”Y…You broke it! You broke something even more valuable! You broke a rare chestnut sculpture of San Jose the Third! There are only three of those in the known world and you landed on it like the clumsy man you are.” cried Kitty slapping her hand against his shoulder. ”Oh please please please forgive us Ruarc!” begged Kitty looking at the other as she readjusted herself to look at him.

”Welcome back.” said Ryu looking from Zeke to Kitty.

”Hm, that was only the first portion of this game.” stated the Game Master leaning against the wall. ”Besides, not all of you were able to complete your tasks on time.” stated the banshee as he lifted up the wand.

The presence of the wand caused a spark of pain to shoot down Dina’s back. The former fairy let out a small cry as she fell forward. ”Th…that is mine.” whispered Dina her hand touching her back.

”D…Dina?” asked Cassey bending down to be near her sister.

”No. At least not currently. It could be yours if you were to win it during the second half of my game since I am such a generous man.” stated the Game Master. ”This is such a fleeting prize. I can already feel the presence of fall slipping from its edges and floating towards another being. Although, there is still a way for this magic to be given back to you. If you were to reattach its magic back to your body that is.” explained the man as he moved the object back and forth between his fingers. ”Anyways, the next portion of the game, involves teams. Each of the banshees standing before you will be a part of your team.” he said with a sly smirk.

”How do we know you won’t cheat?” asked Kitty looking from Zeke’s shoulder.

”If any of us cheat, you automatically win because none of you will lose.” said the Game Master. ”Cheating will not help us in the slightest.” he said as he lifted up a finger. ”Rurac’s team will be looking for the place where death arisen. My team will be looking for the place where death lives, and finally Future’s team will be looking for the place where death slumbers.” explained the Game Master. ”This is an elimination round. So the team that loses will lose their chance to win their prize.”

”What makes you think we would be willing to do this?” asked Nightingale.

”The prizes. You see. We have prize number one.” said the Game Master smoke swirling around Cassey yanking the girl towards Future. Cassey fell forward in front of the banshee. ”Remember? You need to save Cass-Cass before the time runs out?” he winked. ”Then we have prize number two.” He said causing Kitty’s body to disappear from Zeke’s back and appear behind Ruarc. ”And finally, we have little Fee. As a double bonus I will even toss in Dina.” he said shaking the wand back and forth causing Dina’s face to turn pale as she was transported behind the Game Master.

”So then, let’s see here. Who is going to be on what team? Well obviously Nightingale and Graham will be a team seeing as they both have a similar goal in mind.” said the Game Master tilting his head as he snapped his fingers causing Dina and Fee to disappear. ”The cousins can go after little Miss Cassey.” he said causing her to disappear. ”And finally, Zeke and Ryu shall look for the princess of the sea.” he said causing Kitty to disappear in a puff of smoke. ”You best not waste any more time.” he winked.

”What is this?” asked Vidar in an irritated fashion.

”I almost forgot about you two. Lydia is the person you are to find. If you find Lydia before the rest are able to locate their people well lets just say that you could save everyone.” winked the Game Master with a sly grin as he took a step towards the players of this game. ”Each banshee will be given clues as to where your princess is. Once you figure out one clue, we will give you the next. The only ones who get no clues are Vidar and Wila.” he said taking a step towards Graham and Nightingale. ”Shall we?” he asked with a smirk.


════════════════════════════════════════════





.....If you drowned yourself in dreams, your dream will never come true.

[Lady March Hare]

“I know the man who worried about life and it’s effects; he’s got it well under hand.” Hades assured Aisa with a smirk. “There’s no such thing as too much time in the Underworld, woman; after all, it is the eventuality that all of your pathetic kindred will inevitably embrace.” he added, easily able to dismiss both the girl’s words and the feelings behind them.

“I will hold you to that oath, woman.” Hades answered her with a cruel laugh in his eyes. His power swelled, and the result was unheard of: two new creatures born into a world supposedly at its creative limit. The white haired god looked carelessly on the newborn fairy before his eyes slid to Aisa. “Beautiful… does that mean you approve?” he questioned as the tiny, disoriented girl did her best to try to understand what had happened to her. A small hand reached out to touch her new guardian, unseeing eyes moving to the newly formed figure without being able to tell her anything about him.

"Impossible…” Aurelia breathed, her eyes wide as she stared at this first vampire. Her pride was pricked by Dante’s words and she bristled, appalled. "And created to serve fairies? To protect them!? There is no way, Dante. We vampire are an ancient, noble race; it is impossible that we were born to be servants!” the teal eyed woman snapped. Her words were harsh, but they were not directed at Dante; Aurelia spoke indignantly on behalf on all vampires and this indignation was directed at the situation at hand. "Impossible. This is clearly some sort of delusion, or the fantasy of a narcissistic mind.” Aurelia decided stubbornly. But understanding flashed over her pale features and she reached to gently grab on to the sleeve of Dante’s shirt, her expression suddenly serious. "But this may explain the strange hold that fairy royal has always held over Darius. I thought that he was just a kind heart, as we know him to be… but if this is the belief of the fairies for why vampires exist, maybe her motives for going after Darius aren’t as pure as I once believed.” Aurelia concluded grimly.

Aurelia had never liked the idea of Maya being friends with Darius. She wasn’t jealous, though it might have counted in her favor if she had been; she thought that Darius was wasting his time with such a useless ‘friend’, especially one that resulted in Enzo being added to the group. Darius was going to be king; he didn’t need to be associating himself with such rough and rude companions as Enzo, a notorious flirt and magical maverick, and Maya, an outspoken and ridiculous protestor of the destructive entity known as Odin. They had added no refinement to his company and, in Aurelia’s opinion, had done nothing to enrich his existence, as true friends always should. The woman who declared herself to be Darius’ fiancé honestly didn’t care about the company Darius took, even if it was of a romantic nature, as long as it was discrete. He could keep as many pets or lovers as he liked, for example, as long as they weren’t on display and he remembered his mission to marry her. But had anything about Darius’ friendship with Maya and Enzo been discrete? Of course not! Aurelia had known Darius since she could remember, but it was only when the vampire started hanging out with those two did she witness behaviors she didn’t believe a vampire king should entertain. And who was to blame for this change in Darius that had effected his whole development, and was probably to blame for his getting mixed up with riffraff like Lydia? Darius? No, of course not. The influences of Maya and Enzo were obviously to blame.

"The fairies may be more of a threat than we originally thought, Dante. If whoever created this fantasy shared it with the fairies, their end goal could include aiming for us to serve them, as this depicts.” Aurelia murmured, her eyes narrowing. "We did well to ally ourselves with the banshees; hopefully the banshees and the fairies will destroy one another. But I wonder… if the fairies could know of this story, would the banshees also…?”

“Do you think so? I think he’s rather fitting.” Hades spoke up, drawing Aurelia’s attention back to the scene before them. He, too, could anticipate the potential for death the vampire held, and was proud of his attempt of creation even now, before he’d had his own first taste of death. Satisfied, Hades sealed the deal with an aggressive kiss. There was no sentimentality behind that kiss; Hades didn’t know how to feel anything but wickedness, and he certainly didn’t know how to process tenderness or love. Not until several centuries had passed would anyone even assume Hades was capable of such emotions, and they wouldn’t be far from the truth. Crimson eyes narrowed as he watched Aisa’s movements like a hawk.

“I kissed you because I wanted to, obviously.” Hades said bluntly, seeing no need to elaborate on his reasons. Not that Aisa was in a state where she could appreciate his answer if he had, for the power of the deal had taken hold.

“Of course I took advantage. This is the real world… did you think I would take it easy on you, just because you showed up unprepared?” Hades asked Vita with a sneer. “Decency? What is that? What imaginary world do you live in?” he added in a chuckle. Arrogant and vain, Death didn’t take any of Vita’s grim promises seriously, and he made no effort to hide his disdain. These two might have gone back and forth in this manner until the end of days, but Life, Discord, and Briseus showed up to break things up.

“Fool; if you had truly laid claim to her, there would have been nothing anyone –even me—could have done to take her from you. I did take her from yours, so she was either never yours in the first place, or you failed to secure her. Either way, you loose.” Hades said with a cruel precision, this ancient ideal reflected in Zeke’s modern treatment of Kitty. But the white haired god didn’t stay arrogant for long; fate had its way, and time passed.

"…maybe.” Aurelia regretfully consented, just as unwilling to believe all of this as Dante was.

"Yes, she is a beautiful girl…" Briseus murmured with a small frown. This concerned him, but for different reasons than he would ever share with Demeter; knowing what he knew about Persephone’s secret origins, he worried that the girl might never be able to lead a normal life. There was something otherworldly about her even in her mortal shell, and that made him think that the girl could never achieve the peaceful normal life Briseus desperately wanted for her. But worrying about such things was not his job at the moment; at the moment, his job was to sooth the fears of Demeter. "I do." he assured her simply.

“Persephone…” Hades repeated, trying out the name. He openly laughed when she assured him she meant him no harm –as if she could ever hope to hurt him!—and smirked down at her quivering form as she continued. “No.” Hades refused her bluntly, looking down at the hand the girl laid on his chest with a lifted eyebrow. “Mistaken? No, I don’t think so. I can read souls, and yours is one I know well. I should, considering how long I’ve been forced to search for it.” he continued in irritation. The girl touched him and Hades paused, looking down at the offending hand curiously. Though he didn’t have the words for it like Persephone did, Hades too felt the spark that danced between them when they touched. It was a curious sensation that even a man as emotionally stunted as Hades was forced to take notice of. For a second the white haired god ignored both Persephone and her words, studying the place she had touched on his arm with a contemplative frown.

Irritation faded into actual amusement as he watched Persephone try to defend herself. “Not quite the spunk and spirit of before, but I can see flickers of it coming to life…” Hades mused as he strolled closer with every step of retreat that Persephone took. “‘Not allowed’? Too late.” he pointed out almost cheerfully as the girl fell.

“In love with Life?” Hades repeated skeptically, looking Persephone up and down. Dante was correct; his abilities with souls allowed him to easily see though the girl’s lie. “Is that so?” he said with a wicked grin as he approached her. “Alone together? You mean like we are now?” Hades questioned, reaching out to grab one of Persephone’s hands and holding it tightly in his own. “And the two of you held hands, like this?” Hades didn’t allow her time to answer him; he gave an aggressive yank on her arm and pulled Persephone both to her feet and against his chest. Pinning her in place against his body with one hand, he used the other to force her chin up. “And a kiss on the cheek…” Hades smirked and forced his lips against hers in a kiss.

This was only Hades’ second kiss, and he hadn’t learned many lessons from the first kiss… it had been a while, after all. He was still aggressive, still relentless, still less concerned with pleasure and more with conquest. But at least this time he’d at least seemed to figure out how it was supposed to work, and when their lips at last separated he lingered close to her in a way that could almost be seen as romantic if someone didn’t know him too well. Romantic, that is, until he opened his mouth; Hades’ true nature couldn’t be hidden for long, after all.

“If a kiss on the cheek got you pregnant, than a kiss like that must have made you doubly pregnant. That was easy.” Hades mocked her. “Of course, if we’re going to waste time telling lies, maybe I’d better just cut to the chase and teach you how to really get pregnant. I’m a very busy man, you see, and if you waste my time, I just might have to drown you in the River Styx.” he added casually, curiously sliding his hand down her arm. He knew the mechanics of this process but had never done it himself, and the white haired god was clearly curious enough to try it out.

“Ahem… excuse me, my lord.” a ghostly spirit spoke from the doorway, clearing his throat and lowering his head respectfully. He was dressed in torn armor, clearly the looser in an ancient skirmish. But he was obedient, so he had one of the better jobs in Hades’ kingdom. “I apologize for interrupting, but it’s time to torment the new arrivals.”

“Is it that late already?” Hades questioned, surprised. He dropped Persephone like a sack of potatoes once again, loosing interest in her as quickly as he had gained interest in the first place. “That is the one thing this kingdom needs: working sundials. Make that happen.”

“Er…. Y-yes, my lord.” the ghostly attendant glumly accepted his impossible task.

Hades grinned; this was turning out to be a good day. He had successfully stolen Persephone, and it was already time to introduce a batch of new spirits to the horrors of Tartarus; he was feeling pretty good about himself. Turning to his task, he waved an idle hand in Persephone’s direction. “You; take care of that. Her name is Persephone, and she will be staying here until the end of time. Watch her until I return… and put her in a room.”

“A… a room, my lord?”

“Yes, a room… women need rooms. To do… womanly things. Are you questioning me?” Hades said, irritated that he was having to explain himself.

“Of course not, my lord.” the attendant was quick to concede.

“Oh… and the accommodations are only for Persephone, not the thing she brought with her.” Hades added, looking at Persephone with narrowed eyes.

For a moment it seemed like Hades’ strange statement was to go unanswered, but then a soft golden glow rose on Persephone’s skin. The light pulled away and formed into the form of a woman, her body as transparent as the ghosts that inhabited this kingdom, differentiated only by a gentle golden glow. The woman was lovely and clearly a goddess with carefully coiffed brunette tresses and dark eyes; she bore a strong resemblance to a woman who in the future would be called Kira, albeit a human version. There was also a gentleness and kindness to this woman that was impossible for the arrogant Kira, but perhaps this woman’s resemblance to Kira explained why Abram could be so patient with the Cacus despite her violence and aggression in the future. The golden figure looked at the frightened Persephone with kindness and extended her arms to her soothingly.

“Greetings, Persephone. My name is Thalia, and I am-”

“A filthy spy.” Hades finished distastefully.

“A blessing from the Thalia, the Grace of Good Cheer.” Thalia continued, shooting Hades a disapproving look before reaching to cup Persephone’s face. “When you were just a baby, the God of Life brought you to me and asked for a blessing to be placed upon you. A blessing to hide you from the eyes of Hades, and to give you gentle council in times of fear.” she continued.

“You’re just a shade, not the real Grace Goddess. You’ll never last here. Two days, maybe three, and the blessing with wither and you’ll fade away.” Hades sneered.

“This is true. The blessing on you will fade; it was never designed to hold up to the full power of Hades’ home.” the blessing conceded with a warm smile. “But until that happens, I will be here for you, Persephone.”

“Heh… fine. A few days of wasting away… sounds like the perfect welcome to Hell.” Hades said. It irritated him that Life had managed to intrude in this issue, but he hadn’t expected that the other god would let him get away with his plans scott-free. If this was the limit to Life’s interference, Hades could handle it. Remembering his task, Hades gave Persephone one last look before turning and leaving the room.

“Yes… well… follow me.” the attendant said, turning and leading them through a pair of towering doors.

“Nothing but personality in this place…” Thalia murmured, wrapping an arm comfortingly around Persephone’s shoulders. “Come, dear; wherever he wants to put you, it must be quieter than here.”

The attendant didn’t speak as he led the two women through the winding halls of death’s palace, slowing only to open a set of doors for them. The room they had arrived in was stark and grim, all ornamentation crafted from the same obsidian that made up the castle itself. There was a bed that seemed like it was be surprisingly comfortable, and –another surprise—a graceful window seat with double window that opened up to a stunning view… at least, it would have been a stunning view anywhere else. Here, it was a view of the River Styx and the tormented souls captured within it; it wasn’t quite what people pictured when they thought of a scenic view.

“This room once belonged to Lord Hades himself.” the attendant reported. “He changed to another one when he realized that he wanted both a view of the River Styx and to be able to hear the screams of the damned.” he hesitated, and something suddenly became abundantly clear: no one had any idea of how to handle a woman living in Hades’ palace. Clearing his throat, the attendant bowed deeply, then stepped back out of the room and closed the doors behind him, leaving the woman and her blessing alone.

Back in the world of the living, Briseus felt his heart sink under the elation in Demeter’s voice. The priest and the god had both been out searching, but Persephone was nowhere to be found. They had been able to track her as far as the flower grove, but with no footprints leaving the area, they feared the worst. Life had gone one direction, Briseus the other, and after hours of searching he had been forced to return home without meeting his goal. Demeter approached him and Briseus reached to gently grab her hands in his own for reassurance.

“Hey, I’m right here…” Life said with a slight deadpan as he strode to stand beside Briseus. “I would never steal your daughter, ma’am… not when I could leave her here and come see her whenever I like, which would be a lot less work.”

"Not helping, Life." Briseus cut the god’s natural good humor off abruptly. "Demeter, Persephone left the trail to pick flowers. While she was there… someone joined here. We believe she was taken… but… not by Life." the priest hesitated, biting his bottom lip. What could he say? What couldn’t he say? He didn’t want to torment Demeter with the reality of what had happened, so how could he possibly explain?

“Persephone was taken by Hades, Lord of the Dead… and it is my fault that she is gone as much as Hades’.” Life spoke up, lowering his head to Demeter. “It is through my influence that your daughter, the one you love more than anything, came to be the object of Hades’ obsession. Her spirit was formed through the power of one of his deals, and I hid her away in a mortal form to keep her hidden from him. I was hoping that leaving her with you would allow her to live a happy, peaceful life, and would offset the difficulty of loosing your husband.” Life continued slowly. He was a mighty god despite his attitude, but he felt no hesitation in lowering his head to Demeter. He was genuine in the sentiments behind his words; even Aurelia could see that. “But now I see that leaving her with you might have been cruel. I never wanted you to face loosing both your husband and your daughter to Hades. And I should have anticipated that it was a possibility. So… Demeter… I am sorry.”

"…but it isn’t hopeless! You told me Persephone was still alive!" Briseus spoke up quickly.

“Yes; she lives.” Life conceded as he straightened. “But she has been taken to Hades’ kingdom. The blessing the Graces gave her is still on her… but it’s just magic; I don’t know how long it can be maintained. Without it, she won’t die… but she won’t have any barrier against Hades either.”

"Well… then… we can just go and take her back."

“Maybe.” Life murmured. “Maybe not. Life is pervasive; it can exist anywhere, even in the depths of Tartarus… but not even I can just stroll into that world whenever I please. And Briseus? Your soul would probably be lost the second you stepped below.”

"Then what should we do? We can’t just leave Persephone…"

“You can stay with Demeter. And I… I will do what I can.” Life assured the two with a ghost of a smile.

[Lady March Hare]

“Yes… a younger you, and a younger me.” Morte answered Kitty, but not with his usual sneer; the reminder made him reflect on the three months he had spent locked away with the younger version of Kitty. It was only now that he was able to see clearly how far off the deep end Kitty had driven him with her death, and how close he was to falling over the edge again. If his Kitty were to vanish, how much time would have to pass before he was back at it again, psychotic beyond even his very limited reason? Jolted from his thoughts, he glanced at Kitty from the corner of his eye, a smirk forced to his lips by her line of thought. He reached to grab her firmly by the cheeks, squeezing them gently as an anger vein throbbed in his forehead. “You aren’t allowed anywhere near that inferior me, Kitten. And all you deserve is to be locked in my room for a decade or two for even thinking about it.”

“L-Lady Katherine..!” Poplar couldn’t help staring at the brazen woman with wide eyes. It was a shattering disillusionment, seeing her throw herself at Morte, and though Poplar knew it wasn’t fair, he felt betrayed by the sight. These feelings didn’t make him feel good about himself; they made the generally benevolent Poplar feel like the lowest scum. He wished he could help himself, but it was difficult; young love always was. Swallowing hard, Poplar looked away with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. “Lady Katherine, please… you… you have company!” Poplar scrambled to point out.

“Oh, father… surely you aren’t in denial? That’s so cute. And so like you, too.” Morte snickered cruelly. “Well, if you want to hide from the truth, go ahead. I won’t stop you. I’m just trying to get in my good deed of the day by telling you the truth. You don’t have to accept it… it doesn’t affect me either way.” Good deed? Impossible; Morte knew exactly what he was doing and how deeply it could affect Enzo. Alexis, too, was up for a ‘good deed’, apparently; Morte was relentless as he turned his amusement on his mother.

"Haaaaaaaah…" Alexis was having trouble breathing properly; her chest felt constricted by sudden anxiety and her werewolf instincts seemed pumped up to high alert, where the slightest of stimulation could trigger them for the worst. The woman’s blue eyes were wide and her fingers grabbed at her hair as the pressure in her head built. The flood gates were giving way, and a sudden frantic memory took over her mind…

A bloodcurtling scream cut through the air and jolted Alexis from her sleep; the dark haired woman glanced around in exhausted disorientation. Her keen ears brought her the sounds of utter terror and chaos outside the walls of her home, and the door of her room slammed open with a suddenness that made her jump. An extremely tired dark haired woman rushed into the room with a tiny newborn swaddled in her arms, stress showing on her face. But Alexis didn’t see that; her eyes were on the tiny baby and she reached out for him longingly, her heart skipping a beat.

"My baby…" Alexis whispered as her mother approached, flanked by several other family and friends.

“Yes, yes, here he is, your baby.” Her mother said quickly, pressing tiny Zeke into Alexis’ arms. Alexis’ expression turned tender as she stared down at him, but she couldn’t enjoy this first meeting with her son; her mother was struggling to sit her up, desperation in her tone. “I’m so sorry, Alexis; you have to get up. We have to go. We have to go right now!”

"Why… what’s going on?" Alexis asked, wincing as she sat up. Her strength was gone, taxed during a difficult birth; she felt a sinking feeling at the weakness in her legs. "Mother…. I don’t think I can…"

“You must.” She answered her grimly, flinching at another horrific scream, this time right outside the bedroom window. “Come, now! The others are waiting… let’s get her out of here!”

Alexis started badly as Enzo grabbed her arms, staring up at him desperately. "The past… is the past…" she struggled to repeat, the fear ingrained in that memory spreading through her regardless. The she-wolf latched on to his words desperately, swallowing hard and leaning closer to envelope herself in his scent. Enzo was her anchor to sanity, the only thing that was keeping her from going Rogue; she struggled with everything she had to do as he said and breathe. Why was this so hard? What did that fragment of a memory hold that was so devastating?

Morte lifted an eyebrow at Kitty’s outburst, not looking overly impressed as his wife moved towards him. Nothing about his body language showed that he was expecting violent from Kitty, so he was caught completely off guard when she slapped him. It wasn’t enough to hurt him physically, but it was an emotional sting; the white wolf slowly lifted a hand to touch his cheek, staring at Kitty in open surprise. “What..?” Morte asked, almost fascinated by this outburst. But this was short-lived and crimson eyes narrowed in a clear show of oncoming cruelty that was so natural for him.

“Parents? What loyalty do I owe them? I let them live; that’s enough, isn’t it? Vidar is the only parent that means anything to me. You should know that by now, Kitten.” Morte said. “Our children never would. They aren’t capable of that sort of hate, not even little Claire.” he added rather casually. His lips pressed into a fine line and his eyes narrowed at her words. “Heart? You tell me, Kitten. You’d know that better than anyone else.” If it had been left at this, Morte might have been able to dismiss this whole conversation, but Kitty’s next words cut him like a knife.

“What?” he snarled, stepping closer to Kitty ominously. “…how can you sound so surprised? Don’t you know me any better than that, Kitten? Haven’t you even begun to guess how much blood, sweat, and tears led to your being here today? What sacrifices I made, what sacrifices Ryu made? And you can throw it all aside for that, just because she gave birth to me?” he spat, disgusted. “After all we’ve been through, you loose trust in me over this?!”

Alexis swallowed hard, her head swimming and her heart pounding as she stared up at Enzo. She was trembling no matter how hard she tried to stop it; it humiliated the proud she-wolf to appear so weak, but since she was baffled as to what was causing it, there was no way for her to stop it. It was an instinctive reaction to what she was on the brink of remembering, her body’s attempt to hold out under the strain.

"I’m scared." Alexis admitted in a tiny whisper. This was the equivalent of discovering the meaning of life; Alexis never confessed to being scared. Had it been anyone but Enzo, she wouldn’t have confessed even now, but it slipped from her lips like a reflex. She wanted to be honest with him, even if it was subconsciously. Alexis hugged on to him tightly, burying her face against his shoulder. "Enzo… do… do I want to know..?" she asked a bit hopelessly, her voice muffled by his shirt. "It’s going to drive me crazy, Enzo… I can feel it. Like my brain is about to break at any second" Alexis choked on her words, hating the way this made her feel. She wanted to fight it with her usual fire, but how could she fight something that was coming from inside her? There was only one way: to face it head on, to charge it blindly and shoulder the consequences as they came. "I’d rather hear the truth from you than have it ripped out of me piece by piece…" the woman concluded softly, coming to her decision grimly.

“Enough!” Poplar had had enough. He had endured many disorienting truths about Kitty on this trip, but one thing remained unchanged: she was his lady, and he was deeply devoted to her. The young knight drew his sword and swiftly moved to stand between Morte and Kitty, bright purple eyes focused. The giant of a fairy was a gentle spirit and rarely drew his sword on an opponent, but when he did, he did so with absolute commitment: there was no hesitation. “I will not allow you to keep saying terrible things about Lady Katherine. She is a good, wonderful person, who spoke of you nonstop in Limbo; she doesn’t deserve to be treated with such scorn.”

“Pah! Little fairy knight, you don’t know anything about my Kitten.” Morte snarled, lifting a hand as darkness formed around his palm. “What are you going to do for her? Kill Death? Don’t make me laugh. I can’t kill you myself, but I can torture you until you beg for the sweet release death gives. I’ve already been VERY generous with you; don’t push your luck.”

“You’ve wounded her honor; I won’t let you get away with it. You don’t deserve Lady Katherine.” Poplar responded sternly. He took a step forward, but faster than the blink of an eye Morte’s power rose up and slammed him down to the ground. The fairy knight cried out in pain and confusion, as the darkness that was Death burned like fire. Death couldn’t kill him, but it could drain him, make him feel sick; he had trained to endure the miasma of Death’s world, but coming into direct contact with Morte’s powers was almost more than he could bear.

“I’ve been too lenient. People get out of line when you’re too lenient with them.” Morte said darkly, his darkness extending to aggressively slam into Enzo and Alexis as well. The she-wolf was dragged from Enzo’s arms and the two of them were forced against the ground. A muted scream escaped Alexis’ lips, and the woman who’s eyes were slowly turning a golden hue writhed in fury as she tried to escape. Morte stared Kitty down and stepped closer to her, his fury tangible. “You are forever insisting I love only you, Kitten. I won’t be so rigid; you can love another. One other. I’ll even let you choose which one. Do you want Alexis? Or someone closer, someone more important… ah, I know. Claire. Choose, Kitten. Which do you want in your life?”

Morte knew he was being cruel, and he was unrepentant. Lashing out was still the only way Morte knew how to deal with pain, even though he had come quite a long way since his days as Hades. This was punishment for everything that had happened, everything that he was unable to deal with constructively. Was it the best way? Absolutely not. Unfortunately, cruelty was all that Morte knew.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



A healthy blush bloomed on Juniper’s cheeks, and though she couldn’t balance hating fairies and having a positive interest in herself, the fairy knight bit back the urge to question him on it further. Clearing her throat and trying to shake the ring of Ryu’s laugh from her ears, Juniper turned her attention to Morte’s origin with curiosity. “Enzo…” she repeated softly, frowning slightly. That name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it at the moment. Rich purple eyes moved back to Ryu attentively, and though nothing about this should have provoked admiration, his words did. “I see. Then it is true; Prince Vidar must be truly powerful to wield such power over Death. He must be an amazing man…” she murmured, astounded by the idea of a fairy holding any sort of power over Death, something that was such a strange issue for her people.

“That’s so sad.” Juniper said softly, looking down at the ground as they walked. “You think that way, even though that will take you away from all the people you love? It sounds so lonely… and what about the people who miss you? Won’t they be sad if you’re gone?” the girl asked, thinking about her own father and the void that had been present in her life in his absence, even though she could barely remember him. “And there are times when this world is… hard. But… well… it isn’t all like that. There’s so much beauty in even this world…”

“…but maybe you’re right.” the girl admitted in a small sigh. It made her sad to admit it; she didn’t want to live life in the way that Ryu described. “And maybe I’m just a hypocrite. After all, I’ve killed to save lives myself.” she admitted, looking down at her hands. Such thoughts were so confusing, and Juniper was already feeling her head spin from Ryu’s many observations, but there was no time to mull over whether or not her questioning of all she’d ever known was a good thing.

“W-What?!” Flustered Juniper looked at Ryu with wide eyes. Her emergence in Life’s world was doomed to be less than graceful, apparently, and the dark haired girl was alarmed to feel her heart skipping a beat at Ryu’s questions. It didn’t take someone with an advanced psychological degree to see that the faked innocence worked on Juniper at first blush; she twitched and crossed her arms over her chest the second she remembered herself, looking away. “O-Of course we aren’t friends, wolf! We are enemies, remember?”

“I…” Juniper wanted to argue with young Barty, but to be honest she had no idea what he said. She’d only met Crystal once, and she hadn’t understood her in person; hearing her interpreted through a child only increased the confusion. Scratching her head, Juniper watched the exchange between the two males like she was at a tennis match. “What are wahfuls? They are things to eat?” she questioned of a food that was completely foreign to her. She wasn’t really sure it was a food she wanted to find out more about either, with such mixed reviews.

“Your mother?” Life repeated, confused. If he was certain of one thing, it was that Kitty was not in this world of his. But as the seconds passed he became less concerned about the Fate slipping into his sanctuary and more concerned about the child of Zeke. Abram’s expression softened, and though there was much history between himself and Orcus’ parents he would have surely done everything he could to help. However, Claire was on the move, and the cry of his own child drew Life’s attention immediately. “It’s okay, Lily; don’t cry. No body’s going to hurt you, okay? This is just a big misunderstanding, and we’re going to figure it out, okay?” Life told her reassuringly, a warm smile on his face.

"If you don’t start taking this seriously, I’m going to start biting where I see a pulse." Claire threatened, bright red eyes drawn to Orcus when he spoke her name. Claire had a very strange way of showing her concern, but there was worry in those big red eyes even as she threatened Life’s daughter. She’d have made good on her threat with enthusiasm; fortunately, Jarrah showed up to rain on her parade.

“Yeah, I’m popular that way.” Life chuckled, crouching down before his daughter and cupping her cheek. Pausing to press soft kisses against her forehead, the doting dad was forced to relinquish his frightened child sooner than he would have liked; like it or not, Death’s children were in his sanctuary, and he needed to figure out how to get them out of there. In normal times he would have welcomed the company, but he couldn’t take chances when Morte was still stubbornly embroiled in the forbidden magic that could have destroyed everyone he loved. “Sure; I’ll be fine.” he promised him, not able to completely relax until the knight and his tiny charge were on their way.

“How is it different?!” Juniper demanded to know. She shouldn’t have questioned him and instead should have focused on concealing Ryu or getting him away from this world before Aster could call for reinforcements. But the teenager just couldn’t help it; how could Ryu object to Aster proposing to her and still speak to her the way he did? His clarification didn’t help her much. “But…! That’s…!” she blustered, struggling to argue with him… but how did one argue against logic like that? “Mate?! M-Mate?!”

“Nobody is going to be fighting for my hand!” Juniper insisted, her gaze steady behind her heavy blush. She had never been in a situation like this before and had no idea how to react. “Men fight for the hands of ladies, not knights. This is no fight, it’s just a….. a misunderstanding. That’s all.” she said slowly. Lavender eyes glanced up at Ryu from under her lashes, and she spoke as calmly as she could manage. “Yes… thank you.” the girl added softly, relieved at Ryu’s relative pacifism.

Life knew it was probably a bad idea, but he couldn’t help himself: he chuckled. “Ah, is that so? Well, that’s okay too, Ryu.” Life said with a playful grin. He turned his attention to Juniper with fondness he wasn’t able to help; Juniper reminded him of Cassey quite a bit, chasing after the knighthood as Cassey had once chased after Darius… it had always made him laugh. And then pout, because he had to remember that Cassey chased after Darius after all; even all these years later, he had his jealous wolf moments. Honestly, Life thought if Ryu barked at him, it would be about Juniper, so the blond was caught off guard by the ferocity in the golden eyed wolf’s words. He stared at him in confusion for a long moment before his face smoothed in understanding.

“…I think I know what this is about. Ryu, I have a long history with Kitty… she, Zeke, and I go further back than even you know. Kitty will always have a special place in my heart, because we’ve been through a lot together.” Life explained. “But this doesn’t mean that I’ll be breaking up your family. I love my wife very much; she’s my world. And Morte and Kitty are happy together in that special way of theirs. There’s nothing that could change that… and, even if there was, I hope you know that, no matter what, both of your parents will always love you, and nothing that happens could ever be your fault.” Abram said in that way of his that made it very difficult to tell whether or not he was being serious.

“Um… Lord Life…?” Jarrah asked with a small sweat drop. He never understood Life, and never more than right that second.

“Sorry, Ryu; I think there might have been a misunderstanding.” Life said, glancing at Jarrah. “Jarrah was worried that his sister was in trouble; that’s why we came to find you.” he tried to explain. “But you’re looking for something for Kit? What is it? Maybe we can help. If everyone’s working together, that will keep us from getting confused, right?”

“What!? I don’t want to work with Ryu..!”

“Easy, Jarrah…”

Juniper was bracing herself for argument or harsh words from Aster; the relief was obvious on her face when he assured her all was well. She smiled at her fellow knight, her expression turning confused as she watched Aster’s discomfort, oblivious to Ryu looming behind her. “Sir Aster…?” the girl questioned, but started at Ryu’s voice so close behind her. Cheeks puffed out in a pout, Juniper stepped closer to Ryu and spoke in a quiet huff. “What are you doing, wolf?! If you aren’t careful, Sir Aster could call for the other fairy knights, and they won’t be as nice as he is! Do you want to be attacked? I’m trying to keep you from being hurt, wolf… please, please behave. If you’re just looking to fight with a fairy, you and Jarrah can argue later. I promise!”

“Misplaced her? There’s no way I could do that!” Life insisted in an urgent tone that almost made him sound like a completely responsible… until he continued. “I learned my lesson last time, Barty; I know better now.”

"…stop ignoring me!" Claire snarled, furious at being ignored. But no matter how much the little girl’s temper flared, she was no match for Barty; crimson eyes went wide in shock and the girl in the polka dotted dress collapsed to the ground, clearly stunned at how easily a simple pressure point had been used against her. Here was clearly another warning sign: she had all of her father’s cruelty and bloodlust, but none of his perceived invulnerabilities. Claire was a delicate little thing despite the aggression, and one day it just might get her killed.

“Barty, be careful!” Life spoke up with a frown. “Remember what I told you? You have to be gentle with girls, even if they shake you. I’d have thought you’d have learned that from Uncle Enzo by now…”

"Both of you shut up!" Claire howled, glaring at Barty with true hatred in her bright eyes as she slapped away his hand. The little girl was an all-or-nothing kid; she didn’t like, she adored, and she didn’t dislike, she loathed. Truth be told, the little girl would loose a fight against Barty in all categories except tracking and meanness, but she was ready to go down fighting regardless. Struggling to her feet, the child stomped closer to Barty and grabbed a fist full of his shirt threateningly. "You dumb boy, you think this is some kind of a game?! I don’t have time for games with babies like you!"

“Just calm down, little one. I know you’re upset now, but as difficult as it may be to believe, you’re among friends.” Life tried to diffuse Claire’s rage.

"I’m among stupid people!" the child countered, stamping her foot as she channeled her inner Alexis. Red eyes moved to Ryu, her expression suddenly pleading. "Ryu, please, let’s just…!" Claire continued, but fell silent as the wolf spoke to Juni.

“Come with you…? Of course I’m going to come with you! My brothers and I are still on a mission; Morte must surrender the Books of Aednet! Remember?” Juniper said, a tiny blush rising in her cheeks. “But there’s no way I can stay with Morte… I am not his lady’s knight, wolf! I know you were listening when I explained that before!” the girl huffed.

“Ugh! How dare you go after Juni like this, in front of everyone! Back off, wolf!”

"Enough, everyone." Life said, starting to get quite the headache. "There’s no way anyone can be at peace like this. Seriously, relax; everything’s going to be fine."

“Gaaaaaaah, Lord Life! How can you say that? Don’t you see the way Ryu’s acting! He’s a crazy person! How can you relax with a crazy wolf running wild in your world?!” Jarrah objected, unable to help a frustrated flail with his sword that chopped a small limb off the nearest tree.

"Easily… but, well, maybe you’re right." Life conceded thoughtfully as he studied Ryu. The blond lifted his hand and a ropey cord of golden green light wrapped around Ryu’s wrist, then reached out across the few feet that separated him from Juni and wrapped around her wrist too. The light faded to leave behind a delicate looking cord tying the two of them together, though from the teasing grin that was suddenly apparent on Life’s face it was stronger than it looked. "There, I put Ryu on a leash. Does that make you feel better, Jarrah?"

“Ahh! No, it doesn’t make me feel better! What’d you tie him to Juni for?! She’s little; if he runs off, she’ll just be dragged behind him, flapping in the air like a kite!”

“Big brother!” Juniper complained, blushing as she tried to yank the cord off of her wrist.

"Sometimes I like to do things because I think it would be funny. And sometimes I like to do things because I feel like Cassey would think it’s cute. This is somewhere in the middle." Life confessed with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his head.

"Ryu!" Claire sounded extremely concerned as she moved to his side. "You’re trapped by that stupid fairy even more now… I should have known she’d-a used these dumb life world people to help her catch you!" the purple haired girl said, shooting Barty a dirty look. Somewhere along the way Claire had come to the conclusion that all of this was Barty’s fault, that he was conspiring against her, and that he was now her arch-nemesis. Playing it all easy going… Claire was not going to be fooled!

“Lord Life, this is ridiculous! It’s my sword arm; how am I supposed to fulfill my duties like this?” Juniper tried to reason with Life. This wasn’t the only reason that being bound to Ryu made her so nervous; she had a hard enough time with his advances as it was, and she couldn’t even pretend to hide away from him if they were attached like this.

"Aw, it’s just for a few hours; then the spell will fade and the chain will vanish. It’s just long enough to make Jarrah feel better." Life said with a wink while Jarrah’s soul nearly left his body at the realization that it was his complaints that had led to Juniper being forcibly close to Ryu. Chuckling to himself, Abram looked around at the group with a smile. "Well, since that’s all under control, I’d love to invite you all to my home for dinner. I mean, it’s not every day we have guests. I’m sure Cass would cook something really special. She likes to experiment with food, you know… she made something the other day that she said was lasagna, but it had a certain… well… let’s just say there was a surprise inside. It’s hard to explain; you probably just had to be there. But you should have seen how excited she was about her creation; it was so cute." Life continued, chuckling at the memory. "And while you did scare my baby girl pretty bad, I’m sure it’d be okay since you seem to get along so well with Barty…"

"Get along w-!" Claire sputtered, looking highly offended as she stabbed a finger in Barty’s direction. "I don’t get along with that little worm! You, Barty, are now my enemy! I’ll kill you and dance on your grave!" the innocent looking little girl snarled, every inch of her bristling with anger.

"You’ve got quite a bit of your grandma in you too, that’s for sure…" Life murmured at Claire’s outburst, unable to help picturing Alexis screeching at Enzo at that moment. Shaking himself, his smile faded slightly as he looked to Orcus. "Unfortunately, we should probably get you somewhere else as soon as possible, Orcus. I know being in this world must be hard for you." Life glanced at Aster and cleared his throat slightly; he knew ardent admiration in a young man’s eyes when he saw it. Juniper was inexperience and therefore didn’t know how to notice such things; hoping to keep the knight busy and distract from his Juniper/Ryu shipping, Life cleared his throat and approached him. "Sir Aster, this boy is in serious pain; we have to make it our priority to take care of him and get him home. I can count on you to look past who he looks like and help him as much as you can, right?"

[o.o.c.: Oh my god this reply is so bad; I'm so sorry. gonk ]

[Lady March Hare]

For the first time in months, Lydia was free… and it was funny, but she had been expecting the experience to be more enjoyable. But it was painful, and disorienting; Lydia’s consciousness had been away from her body for too long, and as much as the redhead wanted to spring back into action like she usually did, she found herself incapable of doing it. She had been a listless spirit, floating in the void; now back in her body, everything about her felt so heavy. The young woman could hear familiar voices, but at that point they seemed to be speaking too quickly for her to understand so soon after her return.

"I don’t know; you tell me." Lucy answered, laying a hand on Darius’ back to steady him. Her long time friend looked the worst for wear, and Lucy’s brow crumpled in concern; however, she understood his drive and didn’t point it out to him. Darius had put so much of himself into the search for Lydia, and seeing him like this made Lucy feel guilty. She should have never allowed him to become involved in this; the vampire had his own problems, after all, and he had to start thinking of himself. Putting her concerns aside with a mental note to go over them with Darius at another time, the woman turned her attention to her daughter. She paused as Darius grabbed her arm, looking at him in confusion.

"No? Darius, what are you talking about? You saw what she’s done…" Lucy started to question, but her concern bubbled up again as she stepped closer to Darius, studying him sternly. "Darius, you were in here too long with her by yourself… did she do something to you? Are you okay?" the woman questioned pointedly. Maybe her lecture couldn’t wait after all. "Darius, you have to pay more attention to your health. I told you Lydia seems to have some fixation on you, and with her acting as irrationally as she has been, I expect you to be more careful!" she scolded him sternly, nothing but skeptical about his conclusion that Lydia wasn’t going to hurt anyone. "I’d like to believe that too, Darius… but, even if I love her, I’m a realist."

Lucy was not prepared to back down with her dear friend’s health on the line, but his line of conversation caught her off guard. "No… she’s a halfa." Lucy murmured, cringing slightly as the term slipped from her lips. Halfa was a slayer term, a derogatory term for the child of a Slayer and a supernatural, regarded on the Harker compound as the lowest form of life, even below supernaturals themselves. When Lucy was growing up, she’d heard the term only when her superiors were talking about a halfas that had been killed, along with the parents that had spawned them. Lucy shook her head and pushed her auburn locks back from her eyes as she forced herself to focus on the here and now.

"What are you talking about, Darius?" Lucy asked, tensing when Darius stepped closer and crouched down to Lydia.

“Ngh…” Lydia winced as her slowly clearing vision allowed her to focus on Darius, feeling torn. In her Wonderland, Darius had agreed with that wicked part of her that she should surrender control over her body, something Lydia would refuse to do with every fiber of her being. But when the vampire reached out to pull her into his arms it was as if the world jolted back in to focus; for the first time in months Lydia was able to feel someone else’s touch, and it felt like a light cut though the darkness of fear and isolation. Lydia gulped hard; she knew she would be embarrassed about appearing so weak in front of Darius later, and she knew she would have to come to a complete understanding about what had happened in her illusionary world. But at that moment, it felt so good to be near him after so long; though she knew this too was an illusion, she felt safe in his arms. “Darius… sorry.” she whispered, hiding her face against his shoulder.

"Darius…" Lucy murmured, the suspicion slowly fading from her face. The woman mushroom sigh and turned to open up a small door behind her desk. "Geeze, Darius; you could at least pretend you haven’t guessed this place’s secrets." she sighed, moving up the small flight of stairs to the apartment on the floor above. "Come on, put her in here…" the woman said. This was clearly more than just a room; Lucy and Lydia both had lived in this apartment which, though nice, was clearly just another avenue for mother and daughter to both continue their obsessions with the business.

Lydia tensed as she was lowered on to the bed, almost grabbing Darius before he could escape. But the redhead stopped herself, flinching as fragments of the memories of the banshee flashed across her mind. The banshee had clung on to Darius; she couldn’t allow herself to do the same. Grimacing, Lydia tugged the blanket over her form and twisted on her side to hide her face, focusing on her breathing as she tried to give herself time to get herself back together.

"…okay…" Lucy said, slowly sinking to sit in the room’s one chair at Darius’ request, back to studying him suspiciously. The gray eyed woman was skeptical, but she respected Darius too much to ignore his words even with the things that had happened. She listened intently, a frown on her face. "The Present? What are you talking about, Darius?" Lucy absorbed his words like a sponge, unable to help being fascinated by the concept he had to share. "That seems so fantastic. I mean, I remember hearing fairy tales and legends about the three aspects of Fate, but I never thought they could be real entities. Even though the Harkers were pretty good at ferreting out the truth about things, I never heard them mention anything about this. It’s amazing." she murmured.

"Her uncle? Who do you mean?" Lucy asked, frowning. "…of course, Franklin’s family. The banshees…" she concluded on her own. The former Slayer wasn’t sure how she felt about that; she knew nothing of Franklin’s new family other than rumors, and felt that their involvement would surely only add fuel to Franklin’s crazy fire.

"Neither good nor evil…" Lucy repeated, remembering the viciousness that Lydia had shown her before her trip to Wonderland, a snarling disrespect and hatred of fairies so severe Lucy had actually been compelled to slap Lydia. If that aspect of Lydia’s personality wasn’t evil, then how could she explain that sort of reaction. "So she essentially has two personalities now… this has gotten so complicated, Darius. How do we fix her? She can’t stay like this, Dairus… you saw how out of control she was before. And she wanted to kill Maya…."

"That’s a good idea. She can stay here; no one can get to this apartment unless they come through my office and every floor that leads to it. Lydia will be safe here." she offered, already sighing at the enthusiasm Nixby would surely show at such a mission.

"Jeeze, you really know how to schmooze a girl, Darius." Lucy said dryly. "I know you’ve worn yourself ragged in this hunt for Lydia… if I was any one else, I’d offer you to drink your fill of my blood, because I am your friend and I care about you." the woman said as she stood with a grin. "Fortunately I’m the head of a pharmaceutical company that just so happens to deal in blood, so I don't have to do that. So don’t run off just yet, and I’ll take you to the blood storage floor." she called as she followed him.

For a long moment after their exit, Lydia laid silently still, allowing all that she had overheard to sink in fully. She had never been anything but a simple human, and in an alarmingly short time that self-perception had been shattered. First, Wila had appeared to shine light on her Slayer heritage, which Lydia had thought was pretty bad and probably the most unbelievable thing she had ever heard. Then there were the hazy memories becoming clearer with each minute she was conscious of her banshee heritage being unveiled to her. And now she was hearing Darius confirm what her own banshee side had heard from Ruarc, that she was some sort of vessel for the power of the Present. All she had wanted was to be a business dynamo, to grow the company she had been raised in to prosperity, to earn the respect of the woman who was her idol… you know, to live a normal life. But it seemed like that was impossible now. Her last coherent memories from before she fell into the void were of loosing Fellowship and earning her mother’s scorn, and her personal identity had gone straight to hell; what other conclusion could she come to, except that she was lost and floundering in a life she’d thought she’d had complete control over?

For any other young woman, this might have been the only conclusion one could draw… but this was Lydia, and if nothing else, the redhead had an indomitable spirit. Lydia sat up slowly, the blanket draped over her head like a veil and her body weak, but there was a steely glint in her eyes. “I am not going to lie back and let this happen to me.” the girl whispered. No company to run? She’d start her own and come up from the bottom; with her experience, she could do it. Tension between herself and her mother? Nothing earned respect like business; Lydia would win it back by force, if necessary. And the banshee side of her that had done so many questionable things? Well, Lydia had an answer for that too.

“There’s only one man who can help me.” the redhead murmured, shoving back the blanket and arduously getting to her feet. She was exhausted, but her legs held; her confidence given a little jump start by this, Lydia moved to the small closet and flung the door open. A heavenly light seemed to shine from the closet in Lydia’s eyes, and somewhere angels sang in a heavenly chorus as the door opened to reveal… business clothes. Sweet, sweet business clothes. How long had it been since Lydia was in professional attire? The redhead didn’t even want to think about it; it almost brought a tear to her eye to think about it. Rejuvenated even further, Lydia grimaced through the pain in her arm as she tugged her shirt off, eager to get back into the clothing she did all of her best conquering in.

Meanwhile, Lucy fought back a smile as she handed Darius a bag of chilled blood. "I’m sorry I can’t serve it to you warm; I don’t have the equipment for using this blood on hand here in the offices of the building. People rarely use the product in-house, after all." she pointed out. She had led Darius to one of several storage floors, and looked at her friend with a smile. "But with the condition you’re in, beggars can’t be choosers. Get your blood levels up, and then we’ll talk. Honestly, Darius, to push yourself to this point…" There was a knock on the door and Lucy blinked before moving to open it.

"Forgive me for the interruption, Madame President." Olivia, the long held personal secretary of the Fabian women spoke up. The elderly woman was still looking prim and proper in her tweed pantsuit, glasses shoved high on the bridge of her nose. There was, however, an uncharacteristic look of annoyance on her wrinkled face. The source of this agitation was obvious; she did have a wailing Harold by the ear, after all.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh stoooooooooooooooooooooooop iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit…!”

"This ghost has been haunting the lower floors for hours now, Madame. He’s making an absolute nuisance of himself, knocking over coffee cups and causing all of the fax machines to go berserk. We have been trying our best to make him leave, but he refuses." Olivia reported over the wailing. "And then Officer Nixby came to investigate the disturbance, and this ghost appears to have gotten scared, which made Officer Nixby become very loud about justice for misguided ghosts or something…"

“Darius! There you are!” Harold sniffed loudly, sliding out of Olivia’s grip and flinging himself towards his vampire friend. Everything about this ghost was horribly awkward and he had an air of uselessness about him that made Lucy’s eye twitch; ignoring this, Harold wrapped his arms and legs around Darius like a monkey and hugged on tightly. “Where have you been? You know I don’t like to be alone! People bully me when I’m alone! Like that old bag and there’s a really awful bull guy going around talking about kicking me ooooooout!”

"Friend of yours, Darius?" Lucy asked with a sweat drop, looking at Harold in open disapproval. "I knew you had a bad habit of attracting some very strange ghosts, but this is just…"

“Darius, my girlfriend’s missing too! Is that why you haven’t been home in so long, because you were out looking for my girlfriend?” Harold asked, ignoring everyone else to look up at Darius with sparkling stars in his eyes. Because every day was a good day to perv on Cassey, apparently, whether the girl was around to see it or not.

[Lady March Hare]

“Oh…” Fee murmured, looking at Cassey in fascination. The dark haired girl spoke of such an adult issue with such confidence, something that had Serafina becoming more and more convinced that Cassey was an expert on love with each passing second. Slender fingers lifted to press against Fee’s bottom lip, and the strange eyed girl studied Cassey like the girl was illuminated is heavenly light. “Y-You know so much about this, C-C-C-C-Ca…” her voice failed her, so she tried again. “I… I didn’t k… I d-didn’t know it was all s-s-s-so com-complicated.” There was so much science behind getting a guy to like a girl! Fee was so relieved she’d met Cassey; she would have never learned this sort of valuable information on her own!

“M-Me too?!” the Kelpie squeaked, looking at Cassey with eyes wide as the fairy grabbed onto her hands. Another squeak escaped her at Cassey’s pointed question, and Fee turned obsidian from head to toe, her slender body going rigid in embarrassment. Shy as Fee was, her embarrassment spoke volumes; it was, at that moment, so obvious that the girl liked someone. In fact, the only thing that kept her from looking at Nightingale in the most obvious way possible was that her embarrassment had literally frozen her in place, keeping her from even breathing.

“I…! I-I…!” Fee started to try to respond, but clammed up hard when Nightingale spoke. Golden eyes finally moved to him shyly, and Fee swallowed hard, unsure of how to take his words. Cassey said that a girl had to go through a lot of changes to make a guy like her; was he just saying that because she hadn’t been trying hard enough to get his attention? Fee jumped at her own thoughts, bringing her palms up to gently pat her cheeks; she hadn’t even considered letting any hint of her crush for Nightingale see the light, never mind telling him! What was she thinking? She needed a distraction!

“Um, well, t-that’s what D-D-D-Dina s-said…” Fee whispered in the face of Cassey’s enthusiasm. The fragile girl’s knees almost buckled under Cassey’s hands on her shoulders, and her color started to return to her regular green hue as she nodded hesitantly. “I-I think so… she… she said t-they were a-a-a-and I know G-Graham l-l-likes her a… likes her a lot, s-so…” she tripped over her words into silence, blushing softly as Cassey pulled her into a hug. “Y-Yes…”

“This is ridiculous…” Future growled, his eye twitching away at the slap in the face Cassey’s hair had given him.

“Y-Yes; Mr. Ni-Nightingale is very n-nice…” Fee whispered, hiding her face against Cassey.

“Hm?” Ruarc paused, looking at Ryu curiously at his question. The banshee wasn’t the most naturally child-friendly fellow, since he usually saw children only as useful things to groom into adults, but this child had an interesting line of thought that caught his interest. “Never heard it put like that before, but yes… I suppose it is.” he answered. The blue skinned man slowly grinned, a teasing light entering his eyes behind his swirled glasses.

"Wait, what? That isn’t right!" Indira spoke up in a huff. Her only goal was getting her lamp back from the Game Master and continuing her life of freedom and unrestrained gluttony, but she just couldn’t let this go on any longer. The genie planted her hands on her hips and stepped closer to Ryu with a shake of her head. "You don’t have to be pregnant to get married, and you don’t have to be married to get pregnant. Really, kids these days!" she exclaimed, as if they advise she had to give was exactly the sort of advice one should be giving children. "Just-!" Indira began, but cut herself off with a hard deadpan as the Game Master got in to telling the story in his own words.

“P-Poor D-D-Dina…” Fee whispered, as easily taken in by the Game Master’s story as Cassey was. “N-Night of…?” the repeated, then blushed at the idea of her brother in such an intense romance… did Fee know what it meant to sleep with somebody? Probably not, but the romance angle alone was enough to make her blush.

“Ah…” an understanding light returned to Future’s dark eyes, and the oily man smiled at Cassey. “Yes, my dear… though, there’s no pressure to remember the truth. I would never want you to be pressured.”

“Oh! U-Um, o-o-okay…” Fee stuttered at the Game Master’s warning, even though she wasn’t entirely sure she knew exactly who Abram really was.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



"Like, OMG, are you serious?" Wila asked before throwing her arms around Kitty for a snuggle. "That is, like, so TOTALLY sweet of you to say! OMG! I’m, like, totally going to cry!"

“Wait, what? Do I get a vote in this addition to the family?” Zeke demanded to know, shooting Wila a dirty look.

“Ryu? D’awwww, he sounds so adorable!” Wila answered in a baby talk voice, completely missing Zeke’s scorn.

“Tch…” Zeke muttered, his eyebrow twitching as Kitty cheerfully rattled off the things Graham had done for her; he didn’t like that at all. Crimson eyes moved to Graham and Dina and he snorted softly. “Yeah… he’s not exactly subtle.” he pointed out. The white wolf grunted slightly as Kitty clamored off of him and shifted to look at her, lifting an eyebrow at her statement. “Don’t get cocky, sushi.” Zeke replied with a smirk.

“No, no, no… twenties is completely different. Only a true pervert would compare a sixteen year old to one in their twenties. Really, a chorí, you continue to astound me with the depth of your perversion.” Graham said with a chuckle and a sad shake of his head. The Kelpie glanced over at the others, then leaned close to speak to Dina in a conspiratorial mutter. “Yeah, I know. Good thing you have me and don’t have to worry about things like that, isn’t it?”

“Humph…” Zeke muttered, but Kitty had so artfully explained away her reaction to Abram that he was unable to find even the bitterest of words to counter her with.

Abram’s power surged, and in a twinkling the group was out of the Game Master’s game. Graham, struggling through gratitude he thought he’d never find himself expressing, nodded and looked away from Nightingale. “It’s fine. We managed.”

Zeke scanned the banshee abode critically as the mermaid squirmed on his shoulder. “Whoops.” Zeke said in a way that proved he didn’t even give half a damn as he idly kicked at the dislodged head of the statue to send it rolling.

“That… was a priceless antique.” Ruarc sounded calm, but was strongly considering hypnotizing the both of them to exact his revenge.

“Sorry we left you, Ryu. Hope you weren’t too bored.” Zeke continued, turning to Ruarc with a growl.

“…what?” Abram said, looking at the Game Master in disbelief. “First portion of the game… you never said anything about there being more than one portion to this game!” the blond growled, all of his usual good humor gone. “What are you talking about?! We-!” Abram started to argue, but stopped himself to look to Dina sharply at her cry.

“Dina?!” Graham really wasn’t the naturally protective sort, but Dina’s yelp summoned him to her side in an instant. Glancing at Cassey as she joined him, Graham narrowed his eyes at the Game Master. “What did you do to her?!”

“Interesting… this sounds like an entertaining change of pace.” Ruarc commented, already mulling over his clue.

“There’s no way that..!” Abram began to object, but his body went rigid as Cassey was pulled towards Future. The change in Abram was immediate; the werewolf’s shoulder’s hunched forward slightly, and Abram’s eyes shifted from their usual green to a bright, ominous gold. “I did save her. You changed the rules of the game after the fact.” the blond growled. The usually easygoing Abram was absolutely livid, and it seemed to crackle as energy around him as his eyes stayed locked on the Game Master. The only one that seemed to approve of this change was Zeke; he glanced from the side of his eye at his old friend and smirked in approval. This was the Abram that Zeke had felt such camaraderie with. “Give. Her. Back. Now.”

“No chance.” Future said smugly, laying a hand possessively on Cassey’s shoulder.

“Kitten!” Zeke snapped when the girl’s weight vanished from his shoulder, eliciting a fierce snarl from the white wolf. Abram was no longer the only furious werewolf on the scene; as crimson eyes found Kitty’s form hidden by Ruarc. “Forget this. Let’s just kill them all, Abram.” Zeke growled, and Abram’s simmering silence certainly didn’t speak up to argue against that suggestion.

“Fee! Damnú air…” Graham joined the Unhappy Boys Club as his sister was whisked away behind a banshee, his fingers tightening into fists as Dina was stolen too. “Now, see here; those two girls don’t have time to be your prizes. So just hand them back and find someone else. Dina wil-” the Kelpie stopped himself with an anger vein throbbing in his forehead as Fee and Dina both vanished. “D'imigh sí mar a shlogfadh an talamh í…” he murmured, narrowing his eyes at the Game Master

"They all disappeared…" Dog said, inching closer to his snarling cousin to try and calm him down… or, at the very least, to try to dissuade him from falling prey to Zeke’s way of thinking.

"Ah! Vidar! They, like, disappeared!" Wila exclaimed, grabbing onto Vidar’s arm and shaking him a little. The Slayer looked at the Game Master curiously, tilting her head to the side. "Find Lyddie..? Oh! Hey! I want to do that anyway!" the brunette said brightly. But her lips immediately turned into a hard pout, and she planted her hands on her hips. "Heeeeeeeeeey! We don’t get a hint?! That’s sooooo not faaaaaaaaaair!" Wila wailed.

“Well! Then, if all of that is settled, I suppose we should all get going. This is so exciting; I think I feel the competitive spirit taking over even now.” Ruarc chuckled, sliding a small vial of ink from his pocked. With a mischievous smile on his lips, the Hypnotist traced out several strange black symbols that actually floated in the air before him. A blue tinged hand rose slowly and fingers splayed; the forbidden runes began to glow brightly in the air. “And here… we… go…!” Ruarc added brightly as all involved in the games vanished.

"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuh? Hey, hey, hey! Hey, Vidar, where did they go?" Wila exclaimed, looking around the empty room with a little sweat drop.

"That was the forbidden magic; he must have used it to transport them somewhere. Those foolish banshees; they shouldn’t so casually use that power. It will come around and bite them, mark my words!" Indira huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"AH! OMG, what are you still doing here?!"

"My master didn’t order me to follow him around. Besides, we genies just like to show up when somebody needs a wish." Indira explained, examining a fingernail. "But is that really what you should be worrying about? Weren’t you listening to the Game Master? Your friends have been set up for failure; the two of you are the only ones that can win this game for everyone."

"Huh? No, everyone’s playing this game…" Wila pointed out.

"Yes, but weren’t you listening? My master said it clearly: this game is an elimination round. No matter what, whoever is slowest to find their girl will loose her. But if you manage to find your Lydia, everyone wins." Indira explained impatiently.

"…oh my gosh! Then we have to find Lyddie! Where is she?"

"How should I know? Why are you asking me anyway?" Indira deadpanned.

"Well, your master is a banshee bad guy… shouldn’t you know this kind of stuff?"

"I just grant the wishes; just what do you think I am?!" Indira demanded to know, her eye twitching almost as badly as when she interacted with the Game Master.

"Oh man… Vidar… how are we going to find Lyddie?" Wila asked, looking at Vidar with eyes wide. "She’s been gone for ages… how are we supposed to find her now?"



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



“…where the hell are we?” Zeke’s voice echoed slightly, and the white haired wolf narrowed his eyes distastefully. It was dark, but his other senses told him that they were underground, in a tunnel carved from rock. Something about being in an underground structure hewn from the rock seemed surprisingly home-like, but Zeke couldn’t put a finger on how, exactly.

“The place death has arisen, of course. Pay attention.” Ruarc chuckled, finally removing his ridiculous swirling glasses. Slipping them into a pocket for later, the banshee felt out until he touched the nearest wall, relying on his memory to guide his hand. “But, to be more specific, we’re in one of the banshee bunkers, one we abandoned such a long time ago. We had to operate in utmost secrecy, you know; it was important for us to get our plans off the ground.”

“Tch.” Zeke reached out to pat Ryu softly on the head. “You okay, Ryu?” he asked, then returned to squinting through the dark at Ruarc, trying to figure out what the banshee was doing. “…where is Kitty?”

“How should I know? That’s part of the riddle, after all; we have to figure that out to win.” Ruarc said a bit smugly, finally finding what he was after: long black hooded cloaks. He swept one over his shoulders and handed one to both Zeke and Ryu, chuckling a bit at the latter. “Children aren’t allowed here, so it’ll be too big for you, little one… but it will have to do.”

“Again; where the hell is Kitty?!” Zeke snapped as he snatched his robe.

“You can rant and rave here… or you can put on the robe, we can go towards the source of the light,” Ruarc pointed down the hall towards distant torchlight, “And we can find the answer to the Game Master’s riddle.” Ruarc smirked, but didn’t wait for Zeke’s answer and turned to lead the way down the hall. Zeke was furious at his attitude, but as he could detect no hint of Kitty’s scent at that moment, he was left with no choice but to follow him.

The tunnel let out to a cavernous room filled with banshees in black robes; all had their faces hidden but two, and the figures that were there watching circled the two unrobed people in the center of the room. It was very ominous and the air was tense, so much so that none of the robed figures seemed to notice when Ruarc, Ryu, and Zeke joined them. Seemingly oblivious to the aura in the center of the circle was… Ruarc, albeit a younger Ruarc. He was swinging a pocket watch back in forth of the face of a very stubborn little redhead, who was sitting on a raised platform with arm crossed mulishly over her chest. Little Lydia was barely out of toddler stage, and her hair was done up in a ridiculously elaborate Victorian style, but otherwise the little girl in the business suit looked exactly like she had the last time she made her appearance. The child and the Hypnotist stared one another down unflinchingly… as hypnotism attempt 36 failed.

Older Ruarc cleared his throat slightly from the back of the room; he had a reason for bringing Zeke here, but maybe he shouldn’t have brought him to this exact second.

“…little angel, you should listen to adults when they tell you what to do. If an adult tells you that you are getting sleeping, then you are getting sleepy.” Ruarc said with a smile, an anger vein clearly throbbing in his forehead.

“You gwise are gowing to gow to jail.” child Lydia said, judging them intently even through her baby talk. “I was pwaying with Evangewine, and she made me pretty, as she was gowing to teach me to dance… you wuined eberything.”

“…I’m actually being lectured about disrupting a child’s social calendar…” Ruarc’s younger self mused, so far past frustrated that he was fascinated. But he twitched as one of the other robed figured moved forward in sudden impatience to press a hard point on the child; the little girl slumped into unconsciousness, and Ruarc stepped forward to catch her and lay her flat on the table. “Was that really necessary?” Ruarc muttered as he pushed her hair back, tugging the familiar black ink out and beginning to draw out the black runes on Lydia’s skin.

“Very necessary. We don’t have forever, you know. We have to get as many sessions as we can in before Death is born. The child has to be ready. We can’t afford to maintain your delicateness with her.” Future grumbled as he stepped back into rank, his face still hidden by his hood.

“This is a delicate procedure.” Ruarc’s younger self countered, his expression impassive as Lydia’s small body started to writhe under his hands in obvious pain. “The attar is archaic, barbaric… almost as ancient and primal as the forbidden magic itself. Implanting it into a person outside of nature is no easy process. If Death will be born as a werewolf, and if we want our child here to be untouchable as his attar, you’ll let me do my work my way.” he added, focusing on the runes sinking in to Lydia’s skin over her heart and ignoring the child’s soft whimper.

“What is this…?!” Zeke murmured, temporarily more confused than anything. He recognized Lydia, but something was different; it took the mention of the attar by Ruarc’s younger self to realize that the scent of the attar was absent; before he had any chance to react to this, the alluring scent of the attar sprang into being, emanating from the small child as the forbidden magic did it’s work.

“This is the day that I used the forbidden magic to make Lydia your attar, of course.” Ruarc said idly. Zeke stiffened, so the banshee continued carelessly in a soft murmur. “You see, by this point we had already kidnapped Lydia multiple times to prepare her. It’s really quite amazing; you wouldn’t think a tiny body could handle so much forbidden magic without rotting away. I suppose that’s the Present power at work. Anyway, Future had a premonition about you, and we decided we just had to do something to keep you from interrupting our plans. Fortunately you were born as a werewolf, so the attar was the easiest thing in the world to hold over you.”

“You mean YOU are the reason why Lydia is my attar?!” Zeke growled, turning to face Ruarc head-on.

“Of course; now, again, pay attention. It’s really delicate, high-level forbidden magic I’m doing here. It requires actually engraining some of your essence into Lydia’s very soul; it’s a complicated process. Really, you might never get a chance to see magic of this caliber again; you should witness it for posterity.”

“You tried to manipulate me?! Do you have any idea how much I hate the attar, how frustrating it has been to want to murder that woman for existing, but not being able to?!” Zeke snarled, furious.

“Very frustrating, I’m sure. But, again, that was the point.” Ruarc said smugly.

Things were going exactly to his plan. From the beginning, he had striven to control Death; it was an important aspect to the banshee domination he had planned. Kitty earning Zeke’s heart was not part of the plan; she had been an aggravation to him from the moment he discovered her, and Ruarc had thought long and hard about the best way to rid his banshee cause of the entity known as Kitty. And he had come to the only conclusion: he couldn’t kill Kitty… but getting Zeke to be responsible for her demise would kill two birds with one stone. So Ruarc had brought Zeke and Ryu to this moment, the moment Lydia was forged into Zeke’s future attar, because he was sure that a sight would infuriate Zeke into a frenzy. He would become murderous, he would loose sight of his goal in the game… and their team would loose. In general, Ruarc wasn’t one for loosing… but he was focused on the long-term goals. Accepting, invoking, even, his own loss would mean that their team would loose Kitty… and she would be lost because of Zeke’s temper. It was poetic, in a way, and like everything else eventually did in Ruarc’s world, the pieces in his plan were falling into place exactly as he planned.

Zeke would lash out at him; Ruarc was sure of this. It could cause a disturbance in this memory, sure. But it would waste time and they would loose because, true to form, Zeke’s rage was limiting him. And the end result would have Kitty out of the way, Lydia back as the unquestionable controller of Death, and all going according to Ruarc’s plans.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



The sun was so bright that, at first, Graham couldn’t see a thing. Where was he? He heard the familiar crashing of waves, could smell the familiar salty tang of the sea in the air. Graham lifted a hand to shield his eyes, squinting at the surroundings. To his surprise, he recognized them somewhat; he was in a small seaside town in the early 18th century, where technology was limited, myth and lore was part of daily life, and pirates ruled the seven seas.

“What is this?” Graham asked, confused as he scanned his old stomping grounds. “I thought we were looking for ‘the place death lives’… why are we in the golden age of pirates? And what does any of this have to do with Dina or Fee? Are they hidden in these memories somewhere?”

A pair of women in long dresses walked by quickly, stealing nervous glances at Graham as they passed. They discussed him under their breath as they passed, but they weren’t exactly discrete. “A green skinned man in strange clothes… I’ve heard of him! He’s a pirate!” “Shh! Keep your voice down! I know… he works for that horrible dragon, Captain Claw! He’s a monster!” “I heard that the two of them ate a whole of the Queen’s battalion and pillaged ten villages holding nothing but women and children! And that other man… I know I saw his face on a wanted posted! He’s on the crew too, I’m sure!”

“…rumors of our pirate prowess were greatly exaggerated. We weren’t nearly that bad.” Graham explained with a saintly nod. “Compared to other pirates of the time, Dragon Claw and I were saints.”

“Shush! I think they heard you!” “Oh, I know… I’m sorry! I just can’t stand this stress. First Davy Jones comes to town and sets up a shop, and now pirates…”

“Davy Jones?” Graham repeated with a frown. Turning towards the women, Graham reached out and grabbed one by the arm. The woman and her friend screeched, but Graham ignored him. “Davy Jones is in this town? Where?”

“H-He just opened a brewery! Near the pier… don’t hurt me!” the woman stuttered, yanking her arm free.

“Thanks…” Graham turned to his companions with a frown. “Death took the name Davy Jones in this time period. I heard rumors that he took to opening ale houses; it was a front, since drunken sailors would disappear from his bars and never be seen from again. The rumor said that he sold them to slave traders… but the truth is probably a lot darker than that.” the Kelpie said slowly, struggling to remember the details. To be honest, everything was a bit blurry… all Graham really remembered was all the wonderful gold he ‘earned’ during his life as a pirate. Trying to gloss over as much as he could, he glanced at Nightingale. “If the clue to getting Dina and Fee back has to do with Death, maybe we should start by finding him.”



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



With a suddenness that was alarming, Dog and Abram found themselves in a city, crammed down in a dirty alleyway. They were alone, but there was the sound of cars and horns in the air; it smelled of cigarette smoke so severely that even chronic smoker Dog sneezed. The black wolf couldn’t help it; unlike his cousin, he was in his wolf form, and his senses were much more heightened this way. The werewolf shook himself, green eyes passing impatiently over Future to Abram as the blond pushed himself to his feet. Abram was completely silent, and that was not a good sign; Dog knew his cousin well enough to know that at a glance. Those still-golden eyes were a pretty good clue too. Dog didn’t like it, but he couldn’t quite blame the blond; if someone vanished with Silvia the way the banshees had with Cassey, he too would have been on the brink of going Rogue. In fact, all things considered, he was impressed that Abram wasn’t ripping Future to pieces at that very second.

"Where are we?" Dog asked, lifting his snout to sniff the air.

“The place where death slumbers, of course.” Future answered self-importantly.

“And where the hell is that?” Abram snapped, eyes narrowing at Future.

“How am I supposed to know? I didn’t come up with these clues.” Future snapped back. “We won’t win anyway; I know the results of this game. The Game Master set this up, but he is too committed to his own games to cheat. But Ruarc is another matter entirely. He doesn’t care about rules, the game, or any of you; he only cares about coming out on top. If he doesn’t cheat, I’ll be impressed… but, seeing as this is his forbidden magic making us be here, I’m sure that won’t be the case.”

“Tch…” Abram dismissed Future impatiently, then looked to Dog. “We need to move; I can’t get a scent for anything here; how about you?”

"Nothing. We need to get out in the open." Dog answered, dark nose lowered to the ground as he sniffed about in concentration. He led the way towards the street, and Abram fell into close step behind him.

“What, are you thinking you can just storm off and leave me behind? You need me!” Future sneered at their backs… and then deadpanned hard when the cousins ignored him, turning on to the sidewalk. “HEY! Wait, already!” the furious banshee demanded as he stormed after them.

The world they were in was clearly not of their time; all of the men were wearing suits and hats, while the ladies were dressed in dainty dresses with caps and gloves. And it was clearly a time and place that supernaturals weren't very common; all of the humans around them moved back in alarm from the large black wolf that was sniffing about, shooting fearful, confused looks at both the beast and the strangely dressed blonde who they assumed was his master. Both ignored the general populace and the miffed banshee that followed after them; they were on a mission.



d'imigh sí mar a shlogfadh an talamh í: she vanished completely; damnú air: damn it

[kewefefe]

════════════════════
”You make it sound as though, it is only his responsibly for what happens to the living. We are all responsible for what happens to both the living and the dead.” argued Aisa her eyes still filled with the awe and wonder of her mortal existence. ”Just because they end in the Underworld there does not mean you have to make it a horrible existence for them.” commented the woman. It was clear the two were never going to see eye-to-eye on this debate, but it was equally clear that Aisa had no intension of dropping it.

”And I will hold you to yours Hades.” said the woman her eyes dancing across the newly crafted creation. There was a faint blush as Hades inquired if she approved. ”Are you truly asking my opinion Hades? Or mocking me?” she retorted back to the man her eyes watching the guardian as his eyebrows crunched over his forehead. It was clear he had a difficult time understanding the girl’s movements, but did his best to allow her to have access to him. ”Your creation…is missing something.” explained Aisa her eyes suddenly becoming sadden at the thought.

Dante’s jaw tightened a bit under Aurelia’s words. ”It is hard to say whether that Maya woman’s intensions were pure or not.” claimed the vampire who was trying to keep a steady head in the face of this new discovery. ”That is not to say I trust her by any means, but I do believe that if her intensions were to overthrow my brother she would have done it already.” he explained his hand moving over his chin and mouth. ”This revelation is quite unsettling, but I do not think the fairies are our biggest threat. They have already conquered death. Death cannot harm them, so why would they need to achieve any more than that? Death was completely ripped out of them; they are for lack of better words life’s creatures now. Therefore, they do not hold the same cruelty creatures avoiding death hold. Even us vampires are only mortals who do not require a special means to be killed.” he stated mostly to himself. ”The group who would benefit from this little memory would be the banshees. They would discover our secret and expose us.” he said his voice darkening at the thought of Ruarc’s face. ”No, I do not think they know of this yet. If they did, they would have surely found a way to use this to their advantage. They would have already captured that woman.” he said his gaze falling towards Aisa who was frowning back at Hades. ”And they would have found a way to hold a power over us. Even if they are banished fairies, they still share that same bloodline and it appears as though it is the bloodline that needs to be protected no matter how washed down it is. Ruarc does not seem like the kind to waste a golden opportunity. That being said, I believe that these memories should never go farther than you or I. Not even Darius must know this.”

”Kissed me because you wanted to?” repeated Aisa her fingers still pressed against sore lips. Hades was as blunt as he was bold. Aisa might have pressed the reasoning why but suddenly the power of the deal was taking her over causing her to fall over in pain. Words were exchanged between Hades and Vita before there was another shift in time leading the two vampires to the days of Persephone.

Persephone was not used to someone flat out telling her ‘no’. Usually, if there was discipline to be given, her mother would gently explain to her why she had to do what she did. It was never a stern no followed with nothing. The girl was used to an open household where everyone spoke freely as equals. Yet, Hades did not seem to be on the same mindset as the girl in question. He just stood there his decision final as the girl with the emerald eyes was forced to idly wait for an explanation that might never come. ”Just…no? B-but surely you must understand that I cannot just abandon my life.” she said her fingers withdrawing from him. ”You are trying to take me before my time.” she tried to explain. ”You can read souls? Maybe my soul just looks like someone else’s? I mean with so many souls floating about I am sure a couple of them look similar.” she suggested confused even more by each passing word. Why was he looking so hard for her soul? What had she done?

The teenager felt dizzy not only from the pressure of the Underworld, but also from the emotional pressure Hades was putting her through. She ultimately tripped and fell against the steps causing her to be even more vulnerable under his gaze. ”Yes, I am in love with Life!” she said her hands holding against the steps as her knees pressed against one another. She felt so bare under Hades’s eyes. It was as if he could see through her skin right into her most secret of thoughts.

Persephone was not expecting for Hades to turn her own words against her. ”That’s…different.” she said feeling that tingling again as Hades held her hand in his own. ”I…” she began blinking a bit as she was pulled upwards and forced against his chest.

The smell of death was strong and unlike her latest reincarnation who associated this smell with home, Persephone had not grown accustom to it yet. The smell quivered against her nostrils and made it hard for her to breath. She was used to the sun, the flowers, and even the rain. There was none of that here. This was a bare wasteland with no sign of true life. It was cold and depressing and the girl who played in the field of flowers was feeling the side effects of separation. The man’s hand forced her chin upwards so she had to look back at him.

What Hades did next caught the girl by complete surprise. The man actually leaned downwards and kissed her. Persephone had never been kissed before, but she had heard about kisses from some of the other girls in town. So what she did know was that kissing was that it was supposed to be magical and awe-inspiring. Hades, on the other hand, was aggressive and forward with his kiss. Still even with all of that aggression there was a very small spark of something behind that kiss. The very tip of it had the sudden nostalgic affect on the girl making her eyes slowly shut. More than just that, Persephone actually leaned forward against him in a natural manner that she did not quite understand herself. Her hand even pressed against his chest her fingers tugging against his cloak. For a brief moment, the two looked like actually lovers with Persephone awkwardly trying to mimic the god’s actions. Hades pulled back and Persephone fell forward against him. Her breathing was uneven as she tugged her hair behind her ears. Her face pressed against his chest for a moment in a failed attempt to hide her embarrassment. She felt so guilty about her actions. What would her mother think if she saw Persephone kissing a random boy? Especially a random boy who kissed her with such aggression? Even now the girl was acting ridiculously, her form pressed so closely against his. The very thought had her retracting backwards trying to keep her distance as best she could.

”W…What?” asked Persephone her eyes indicating that she thought he was serious. Her eyebrows crinkled over her forehead as she bit her bottom lip. Was that how the mechanics worked? Had he stolen her virtue? The kiss did make her feel strange and guilty at the same time. ”How to really get pregnant?” repeated Persephone blinking at the very idea. Her whole face turned red as she stared back at him. ”D…Drown me? Why would you bring me all the way down here just to drown me?” she asked pointedly.

The girl’s head turned as the ghostly spirit entered. ”Oof.” grunted Persephone her form falling hard against the cool pavement. ”How could you have sundials with no sun?” whispered the teen to herself as she moved to a standing position. ”Until the end of time?” repeated the girl taking a few steps closer to Hades. ”But I told my mother I would be back in time for supper. I cannot just miss an engagement on a whim! What kind of daughter would that make me?” inquired the girl but a part of her knew Hades was too focused on his current task to pay much mind to what she was saying.

”That….thing?” repeated the mortal girl. The girl jumped as she noticed Thalia. ”Life did this?” asked Persephone as a different blush entered her cheeks. It was not the same way she had blushed when Hades had grabbed her nor was it the same blush when Hades had embarrassed her. There was something innocent about this blush that made it obvious there was a crush blossoming in the young girl. She had never really thought of Life in the romantic sense before this moment. Yet finding out that Life had tried to take care of her caused the young girl’s heart to race. She was at the age of romance after all. Suddenly, the idea of Life kissing her the way Hades had entered in mind and the girl looked even more flustered. ”He really did that for me?” she asked with a tiny girlish smile at the idea.

The smile dropped under Hades’s irritated comments. She watched the god of the Underworld and waited for him to leave before turning to the Thalia. ”Is he always so cruel?” she asked in a whisper. ”He is very different from Life….Life was always so gentle.” she said thinking about the other god.

Persephone stiffened a bit as the three walked through the halls of Death’s palace. Everything felt so cold and distant. It was like she was walking through a winter forest. Finally, they came to the room that was to be hers. Her eyes instantly moved towards the window. She had had a window back at her mother’s home. Only the window there overlooked the garden Life had crafted for them. Her feet were hesitant as she took a step inside her eyes gazing out towards the River Styx. Almost instantly delicate fingers moved to hide her eyes from the sight of the tormented souls. ”I-“ began Persephone her fingers stretching to stop the attendant from leaving, but it was already too late. The man was gone leaving the girl alone with her blessing.

”Thalia, how long must I stay here?” asked Persephone as she slowly walked deeper into the room. There was nothing here. Nothing to see, nothing to do, all Hades had given her was a window and a bed.

She did not want to be here. She wanted to be back playing in the fields and teaching Life music. She wanted to see her uncle get upset after her and Life hid all of his checkers at various locations. She wanted to see hear her mother’s lectures and try not to laugh at Life’s expressions during said lectures. She would have given anything to return home.

The stolen daughter flinched at the sounds the Underworld had to offer. Hades might have held a difficult time hearing the cries, but Persephone felt as if they were amplified. She felt sick to her stomach as her hands pressed against her ears trying to block them out. She had to do something. Just being in this room listening to those noises was enough to drive anyone insane. Her feet pressed against the flooring as she slowly moved forward.

”I cannot just sit here.” she informed the blessing as she pushed her way through the door. The air was thick as it pushed against her face causing her hand to move over her eyes as they adjusted to the dark overcast. ”Thalia, is there any way to escape this place?” she asked looking at the blessing as she moved closer to the spirit. ”What about a garden? Surely, Hades must have a garden of some sort. Just a place where I can clear my thoughts.” she said jumping back as her foot nearly stepped on a skull that was placed there for what appeared to be decoration.

In the meantime, Demeter looked at Briseus. Her expression softened under his gaze and the touch of his hand. She knew that look and knew it only meant one thing. Something had happened to her daughter. ”Do not mock a frightened mother Life!” growled Demeter before her eyes looked back at Briseus. ”Ta…taken?” repeated the woman her expression becoming horrified as she dropped Briseus’s hands.

Her gaze moved towards Life as he spoke up to explain the situation. ”Hades? What would Hades want my daughter for?” she asked her knees becoming weak as she grabbed a hold of Briseus for support. ”I…” The woman was stunned by the other’s words. Her throat felt dry and it was difficult to speak.

”What do you mean barrier against Hades? Do….do you mean he intends to….to steal her virtue?” asked the mother her expression pale at the very idea. ”Hades is the cruelest of all the gods! Ho…how could my innocent Persephone be caught up with him?” she asked her head spinning. ”That is my only child Life, without her…please just bring her back.” she pleaded.

════════════════════