Taiustus Special: Justice and Regret (private)

[Karmie Gee]

❉ Sebastian's lips gently pressing against the Demoness' skin made her feel like she was home again. Not necessarily their actual home where paperworks were piled up and weapons as well as trophy pieces were mounted on almost every wall. No, all she needed was to be in the presence of her husband to feel the warmth within her ignite, the sheer contentment of simply being alive and living with someone worth dying for. Lilith couldn't help but allow the smallest of smiles tug at the side of lips before she made herself more comfortable in the bed next to the tired Russian. She absorbed the moment briefly, and then immediately went back to focus on more serious matters..

The Russian's story was indeed a captivating tale, and the Demoness' listened intently. She gritted her teeth whenever Kid was mentioned, especially at the part when Sebastian had decided to use the POSSE device on the Magician and left himself for dead with some all-powerful gargoyle. The way he described the creature was a bit hard to digest, completely aware of how much strength Sebastian had already obtained throughout the years. Stronger than Miguel and Asura? That almost sounds absurd.. But she did not question him. Lilith knew Sebastian's words held truth, and he was never one to exaggerate in situations such as these. As he continued to speak, she noticed his voice become softer, a lump in her throat instantly forming as she dreaded what he would reveal to her next. Her hand naturally grazed over his arm in attempt to comfort him, but as soon as he presented the necklace to her, her hand retracted to cup over her startled gasp. ”…These are mine. Pulled out. I was hug on hooks and.." The Russian explained, only to have the tears begin to well up in his wife's deep red eyes again. Lilith could only imagine the excruciating pain he had to go through. The torture was truly a gruesome scene, and she was speechless as the vague images flashed amongst her thoughts. She hesitated in taking the necklace from him as her fingertips trembled before grasping it in her hands, clenching onto the piece as she felt the hatred build up inside of her.

And then there were the tattoos.. "They burn Lilith, they burn so ******** bad! I just. I WANT THESE GODDAMN THINGS OFF!" Sebastian roared, immediately leading the Demoness to wrap her arms around him tightly. She tried to shush him, and remind him he was okay and safe now. She ran her fingers through his hair and held him as close to her as possible, her face resting on his neck and her lips kissing it tenderly every few seconds or so. "Sebastian?" Lilith said as she felt him quiver. "Sebastian, you're shaking." She teared away from him, his gaze hollow and blank. Both her hands cupped his face then as she stared directly at him. "Stop. Snap out of it.. Sebastian, it's over. You're okay now, you're safe now!"

”I-I just wanted to be with you... or dead. But you… Lilith, you are the only reason I didn’t give in, that I didn’t give up…" Sebastian spoke again, his words slightly muffled by his subtle whimpering. Lilith could only nod and repeatedly reply that everything was okay now. He kissed her, and she knew he was better then, at least for the time being. The Demoness then let out a long, deep sigh as she closed her eyes, processing every bit of information she had just received from her husband. She was immensely furious, which was nothing new, really. But above all things, what mattered to her the most was that Sebastian was alive and that he was back together with her. It didn't matter to her if he had to seek refuge from Dimitri. It didn't matter to her if he had to kill someone, or kill even a hundred God damn bastards just so he could survive. Sebastian was a good man, and everything he had done in his perilous journey was for everyone's best interest.

Lilith couldn't speak for quite a while, sitting up from the bed as she gazed down at her husband who was now calmly lying in bed. She gently traced the tattoos on his arm with her thumb, knowing that it stung him with each passing second. "First thing's first," she finally started, the boss-tone returning to her voice. "We find a way to reduce the pain of these awful things, be it temporarily or better yet, permanently. There is no ******** way I'm going to let you walk around feeling like your skin is on fire every damn minute." She rolled her eyes out of habit, hoping that Sebastian wouldn't argue his way out of whatever she had just said. He sometimes had a tendency to reassure her that he could take the pain, but in this case she highly doubted there was any room for debate. "Second," she continued, crawling on top of Sebastian and comfortably mounting herself on top his battered body. "I don't want to have anything, anything to do with "helping" or "saving" Kid Disaster again. Never again. As much as I love Rena, that pathetic sack of flesh isn't worth it, and he can rot in Hell for all I care. ********, that doesn't even sound remotely suitable as punishment for all the damage he's done.." Lilith rolled her eyes again, groaning in annoyance. She pointed a finger at him scoldingly before speaking again. "Ugh, just.. NO. Darling, he can dangle off the edge of a cliff and we will just sit there and watch him fall," she firmly stated, both literally and figuratively, keeping in mind the fact of how unfair it was that Sebastian had suffered more than Kid did still burrowed down deep into the spaces of Lilith's heart.

The Demoness then sighed again. "And lastly, we have to figure out how to clear your name out in this mess. I think that'd be our greatest challenge here.. The Elves are a tricky race.." She didn't have to add in the last bit, Sebastian already knew that. Lilith then folded her arms over Sebastian's chest, leaning on top of him carefully as to not hurt him in any way. As much as she did not want to ask, she had to.. "To what extent is Dimitri willing to help you? Because cases with the Elves are left out of the bureau's jurisdiction. All we do is comply with their rules. I have no control, not even a say in all of this."

Lilith grew silent then, realizing that she had completely gone way ahead of herself in her response. Instead of being in boss-mode, she should have been in wife-mode. Biting her lip, she gazed at his oddly colored irises and offered him a smile, genuinely glad to be in the same room as him again. "I'm sorry," she whispered, lightly pecking him on his nose. "I know you're exhausted. We can worry about all that tomorrow if you want.."


"Speaking"
Thinking



AsuraDeimos

Much luff to you for waiting, bby.





LOCATION ❉ RUSSIA
COMPANY ❉ SEBASTIAN
OOC ❉ FINALLY. Sorry for the long wait. Let the hype build up once again!

[AsuraDeimos]

Sebastian Taureanos
"Such Raw Sorrow... Can't Partake... Mine Would Flood Oceans... It'd Drown Me."

The Russian recounted what had happened, and, in a rare moment of weakness broke down. But trusty, Lilith, she had always been a sobering influence for him, and that being in the best of ways. From the fiery heights of rage, to the trembling depths of shock Lilith was always able to bring the Russian right back to copacetic, just as she did now. Her touch a calming balm as she traced the lines of the torturous tattoos. As he calmed, he smiled, soaking in the quiet moment with his soulmate. Then something happened that made Sebastian beyond overjoyed. He got to hear it again.

The Boss Voice

Lilith often adopted this tone of voice while dealing with things at the SAB as she dictated orders to her subordinates. After a few years as the head of the SAB she had started to bring it home with her, though that hadn't been a hard transition. She would vent about her day in this voice and even at times give Sebastian commands in this voice, though he would simply, smile and nod, braiding her hair, or acquiescing to whatever request she would give the Bear. Now she prescribed a list of quick and easy steps to fix their problem. As his wife told him that they needed to find a way to reduce the pain that the tattoos caused him, he did not resist. While normally, practically being a tank, he would resist, saying he could tolerate it, in this instance, he put up no fight, as the tattoos even then seared deep and painful. Simply nodding, Sebastian would go on to hear the second on her list with a characteristic eye roll, before the demoness mounted herself on the Bear in their go-to position for pillow talks, she lectured that they would never lift a finger to help Kid Disaster again. No argument there. Sebastian simply grinned, in his half-smile as she pointed a lecturing finger at his stubbled chin telling them how the two would proceed should the magician suddenly meet his end.

The third prescription on her list would make the Russian eat a slice of humble pie. How much could Dimitri help them? As Sebastian pondered the question, he would sigh and to himself admit that Dimitri was their biggest ally at the moment. "I... I suppose Dimitri is one of my greatest allies at the moment. He has much sway, though I do not know how much his influence spreads with the elves. Definitely more than you or I. I... I hate to ask for help from that s**t- eating pig... but we have no other options I suppose... " Finally, however, Lilith pecked Seb on the nose, saying that they could worry about all of that tomorrow. He grinned, having settled back into their familiar routine. All of the sudden, the Russian would roll, the demon onto her back his grin becoming predatory. " Da... tomorrow... these things, they can wait till tomorrow, but first. I will have my wife back..."

Sebastian's toothy grin widened as he leaned in, locking lips with the Demoness, his hands aggressive and sensual, touching and grabbing the lovely form that was his wife. The two would melt into one another, performing their marital duties to one another...

OOC: Mmf...

"Death Howls at the Gates... I Can't Greet You... Not Today."

[Mitzy-nyan]

The compliment in his words was not missed by Rena. Nor was it easy for her to take as a result. He had brought her gaze to his in an effort to get her to face his words. Perhaps it was the fact that she hadn’t been paid that sort of compliment in so long but she found her face flushing deeply. It really was flattering and that very fact crossed her thoughts briefly, but the Siren was torn. The larger part of her wasn’t ready to hear those words, especially considering that less than a day ago she had still been engaged and had briefly reunited with the one she had cared for most. While Rena could have taken the chance to accept the compliment and try to move forward, her words hinted at the conflict she felt as she glanced away. “Too soon. I’m sorry but such words are too soon to hear.” From that point on the atmosphere felt a little strained, at least on Rena’s part. All she could do though was retreat into the covers and get more rest. Anything more was just beyond her as her ribs still hurt with every breath despite the painkillers. “I think I need to get some more shut eye. But thank you again...for all that you’ve done so far.”


~The Next Morning~


When she opened her eyes again it was morning, though one couldn’t easily tell such a thing inside the cramped little safehouse that lacked so much as a window. Thanks to the aid she had gotten from Dimitri her condition seemed more stable after resting despite the fact that it still hurt for the Siren to breathe. It was just something she would have to deal with, lingering signs of what all she had sacrificed for Kid only to have been thrown aside. The rejection still hurt her, prompting a sigh as the inevitable all-too-familiar ache in her heart settled in. Unable to really stay still Rena would force herself to sit up after a moment, trying to push herself not to dwell on the heartache that seemed to linger with her. Luckily for her the twinge of pain was enough of a distraction as she silently moved about the container, mindful of the other occupant who she assumed was still asleep judging by the calm and steady breathing she could hear. With how sparse furnishings were there was little to do other than to head to the kitchen and prepare breakfast.

Getting out of bed was a struggle considering that she hadn’t expected Dimitri to be right there when she tried stepping out. As her bare foot met flesh she would quickly retract it, grateful she hadn’t put too much weight down yet. However it was a bit of trial and error involving a couple more not so subtle foot pokes before she found where to stand past him. All she could do was hope that he was the kind of person who could sleep through any form of natural disaster without waking to where a couple little nudges of a Siren foot would mean nothing. The slight shift of his breathing that caught her ears once she had finally stood up quickly shot down those hopes however. Not wanting to disturb him any further the baggy shirt and loose gym-short wearing female finally made her way to the small makeshift kitchen, trying to ignore the fact that her sudden new constant companion had even seen fit to change more than just her top before mending her injuries. Flipping the switch she would then lean down carefully to peer into the small fridge. As expected the rations were sparse though there was definitely enough to work with for an easy breakfast. Taking out several eggs and other ingredients she decided on omelettes. Everything was a slow process for her as she did this though considering the lingering injuries but Rena wasn’t going to let them drop her as easily as the day before. So as she continued preparing breakfast and began to actually cook it wasn’t really any surprise that she was no longer the only one awake...though the woman’s lack of finesse in actually getting out of bed might have had something more to do with that.

“Even if you tell me to lay back down sitting still is something that makes me uncomfortable. Just hear me out for a bit on this, please Dimitri.” Rena would only spare him a glance as she started the conversation first, quick to try and silence any objections to her being up and about despite his previous mention that she would spend the next couple of days resting. “Back when I was at Taiustus my first three months essentially were spent in a hospital bed mending thanks to a big mistake I’d made. Because of that I just don’t like doing nothing even now, though it did allow me to get closer to the others… Call it a complex of mine.” It was no lie there, ever since that day the Siren had found herself even more restless when it came to sitting back and letting things happen. After feeling so helpless Rena had decided that she never wanted to go back to that state again. Though the past several months made that increasingly difficult since all she could do was sit back as Sebastian did the tracking, relying on Lilith for some semblance of comfort and sanity. It was something though, how quickly things could change and throw one’s life into disarray as hers was now. Now was as good of a time as any to get it off her chest though as she continued to speak while cooking.

“You know, I came here to try to stand on my own and regain some sense of self I might have lost. To go back home and spend time with my father as I try to rebuild my heart and find a new path to walk. For the past seven or so months I sat aside waiting, wishing, worrying to death and hoping Kid would come back and that nothing was wrong. Relying on Sebastian and Lilith to do all of the heavy lifting while they convinced me to stand aside and remain back at Taiustus. Only for it all to end up with him calling it quits as I lie in a hospital bed mending from his wounds that I took upon myself with one of the few talents I have without so much as a single word and going who knows where after arguing with someone else despite saying he loved me minutes before.” There was a pause there as Rena felt her emotions rush back. The pain was still fresh as she did her best to avoid getting teary-eyed. Her voice started to noticeably waver as she finally voiced everything that she was feeling, just needing to get it off her chest even if it meant using poor Dimitri as an unwitting board for it all. As she continued she would start on the second omelette. “It’s really hard to sit here and feel like the last half year of my life was spent all for nothing. That it could all be thrown aside with me and abandoned so easily. And now to find out that I can’t even escape from it here where I wanted to run away from the situation and mend my wings because the trouble he’s in has branched out to find me in some effort to use me as bait despite the fact that he already threw me aside like trash. Plus it’s forced this mysterious stranger, you, who claims to be the much disliked cousin to a man I consider a brother to play guardian angel over me from said threat. Like no matter how hard I try I just can’t do anything right because it ends up with someone getting almost killed or thrust into a heap of trouble right along with me. Do you know how hard that is?”

By the time those words were said her form was shaking slightly as Rena had tried holding some composure though it was obviously futile the more she spoke. Setting down the spatula she’d been holding she turned from the breakfast to facing the man she was confiding in. “I...I can’t hold it in anymore. Not that I could to begin with but this is the first that I’ve really said of it now.” Tears that had built up and been held back began to spill. Despite all that she had cried before much of the pain had really been held back, unable to properly be dealt with until it had built up so much to where the Siren was an emotional mess. Months of stress and heartache culminating day after day to where it was unhealthy to not let it out. All she could do was use her bare arm to dab at the teardrops to stem the flow. “I want to be done crying about this ******** stupid stuff but I just can’t seem to. It just hurts…hurts like it hurts to breathe or even move right now. And it’s so damn frustrating because I don’t know what to do about it.” Rena wasn’t entirely sure if it had been her or him that closed the gap in those next moments, though chances were it was her in some search for comfort. All she knew at that moment were the overwhelming emotions that just finally needed release. Only then could she truly start to move on once it was off her chest. Wrapping her arms around Dimitri she would hug him a bit selfishly as she buried her face in the crook of his neck and let out all the feelings she needed to. After a short while though the scent of burning egg filled the room, calling attention back to the neglected breakfast attempt. In what was a sort of half-laugh, half-cry Rena could only comment on the most recent shortcoming of hers. “...And then the food is burning because I’m standing here crying like an idiot over what’s already said and done.”

"Speech." 'Thought.'

Middlecity - Safehouse
Dimitri
Hopeless.

[AsuraDeimos]

AsuraDeimos

"Put your hand down boy, Welcome to my Zoo. Put your hate inside."

The compliment that the Russian had paid her was, as he had expected, absorbed, but not accepted. This was no shock to the Russian but was, in fact, expected. Dimitri simply smirked and nodded adopting a strategy of silence. Not paying the Siren any more jagged compliments that would be salt in her spiritual wounds. She was still suffering from very, very deep, fresh wounds. Rena told Dimitri that she would be seeking rest for the evening. Dimitri himself would do the same after changing the dressing on the cuts and wounds he had sustained.

~~Now I lay me down to sleep~~

Dimitri's eyes snapped open, Defcon 1. The poke of a foot caused his breathing to hitch ready for a fight, but with each following foot poke, his paranoia would subside. It wasn't an attacking elf, no, but simply a sleepy, stumbling, siren crawling forth from the bed, stepping over Dimtiri. The woman made her way across the container to the fridge and inspected it, taking out eggs she would, a bit clumsily begin to work on their breakfast. Dimitri would marvel at how odd it was, having the woman here with him in the cargo container. As she began to cook he could smell the aroma of cooking eggs. Leaning up on one elbow, the Siren began to speak, even before the Russian opened his mouth. As she glanced over at him, he would nod, a signal to the woman that he would not interrupt her shpiel. As she spoke, Dimitri would thoughtfully absorb the story that she would tell. That she made a mistake at Taiustus, and spent three months mending due to that mistake, and ever since then, she was restless, easily growing stir crazy. Dimitri let out a slight groan as he stretched, the beating he had sustained the day before still making him weak.

Standing, Dimitri would listen pnesively to the Siren, the pain in her story was apparent, and Dimitri was interceding, the pain in her story also hurt Dimitri's heart. She poured her heart out to the man who, was for all intensive purposes, a Stranger. At some point in her digression he took a few steps forward, as did she. Meeting in the middle they embraced, and he held her. She held him. As she released all of the pent up tension and emotion into his shoulder, her simply held her, rubbing her shaking back and softly whispering how everything would be alright.

And then, the second omelette. The burning smell filled the room, and as Rena let out her laugh-cry, Dimitri couldn't help but laugh himself. He would squeeze her a bit more tightly, but was mindful of her weak constitution at the moment, the squeeze more gentle than rough.

"You know, tovarich, you said that he threw you out like trash... As you Americans say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. It is his loss." Dimitri spoke softly, trying his level best to comfort the Siren. He looked gently in their eyes. Leaning in his voice lowered in volume, not quite a whisper. His voice was deep and low as he spoke once more, his face nearing hers. "I do not know what to do either. But together, we will figure it out. I will be by your side, no matter what comes our way, Songbird. " The following silence was not an awkward one in Dimitri's opinion. The sincerity of the words was genuine. Then the omelette literally caught on fire. Dimitri bellowed hearty Russian laughter, as he released the Siren and taking the omelette off of the stove would allow the dish to quietly burn out. The ventilation system in the container was excellent, and thus the air remained clear as Dimitri turned to smile at Rena, saying, "I am not hungry, tovarich, please eat the omelette. " He would take the finished omelette, two bottles of water and some silverware, and set the table before returning to Rena, he arm gently snaking around the small of her back, he would gently guide her to the small table that had three seats around it. Pulling out her chair and seating her he too would sit across from her, smiling gently. Her form was adorable, beautiful. How could the Magician simply have thrown this to the side?

"Ешь, дорогой. (Eat, dear) Oh- I am sorry, please, eat. You need to eat in order to heal yourself. Please. So. Middlecity. Your father is here? You know... I could take you to see him... once things cool off, and we heal up, of course. He must be a deaf man, da? You should teach me sign language so we could speak. " He spoke slowly, comofortably. He knew these things almost certainly, though she had never told him. It would only make sense, given what information he had on her. For now, he hoped discussing her father would take her mind off of Kid, give her a mental reprieve.





"Might be black while white, I can still help you."

"Speaking"
"Speaking"

[Kawaii Butthole69]

xx✖ Oh, it hurts to be this good
xxx✖ You're holding on to your grudge
xxx✖ Oh, it hurts to always have be honest with the one that you love
xxx✖ Oh, so let it go

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ tab tab tab tab tab ❝AdelaideSanders❞




Since Kid had no qualms on the matter for he had no choice, Adelaide turned back to the other agent and sighed in satisfaction at the lack of an answer from the ex-magician. “All right, McGee, if you could, please tell Shepard that I’m taking in a stray to be trained for a bit, thank you.” With that, she freed Kid from the chained chair and lead him to the main headquarters which was a lot nicer and had more room to breathe than the cramped interrogation rooms that the two dueled in. Once in there, the two caught the eyes of many other agents that stared at them as they tried to get a good look at the fugitive that she had following after her. The many eyes as well as whispers coming from the others slightly irritated the agent, for she really wasn’t too keen on all of this attention. Adelaide on the other hand kept her eyes forward and avoided eye contact with any of them as she sped up her pace and walked towards the training room where their next order of business would be held. “Since you’ll be helping me on this case, and since you are technically still a fugitive, you will be collared and follow my commands. If you get way out of line or if you decide to try and kill me, you can bet that the footage of you and I will be shown to your dear Rena. Again, let me remind you, you are the dog, and I am your owner. Are we clear?” She waited for a nod of confirmation or anything from Kid to signify that he understood, but when he said nothing and just glared at her defiantly, she just rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t matter anyways. Even if you do try anything, the collar will instantly kill you.”

After the rather short orientation, the young woman opened a metal locker that held what seemed to be black, leather collars while she made sure to keep an eye on her new partner should he decide to do anything. On the device that she held, it had various numbers as well as a small lock on it that only the dog’s so called ‘owner,’ could take off with a specific password to prevent the wearer from taking it off themselves. As she presented her ID badge to the collar to make sure that it was linked to her, she nodded in Kid’s direction and ordered him to step forward so she could put it on for him. “How ironic.” Adelaide muttered under breath as she fastened the collar tight enough around the magician’s neck.

Kid seethed in silent rage at what had become of him. His hands were completely tied in this situation, too. He knew from her words that if he tried anything, his life would become even worse than it already had. If he was lucky, the elves would somehow manage to track him and give him the chance to escape...or at least, that’s what would happen if it weren’t for the collar stuck on his neck. If they found him, he’d probably just end up dead either way. It was such a shame that two former best friends could end up they way they had. Granted, the events of a few years past would be able to provide more than enough tension for things to end up the way they did.

With a forceful shove, Adelaide escorted the man into a bright, concrete parking garage. “Watch your head as you’re getting in. Last thing I want is a dent in my brand new car.” As if he had a choice. He didn’t even look at her as he entered the car, quietly lamenting his circumstances still. It took some time for them to get to a relatively close by city, with the bright lights and colors all around. Even then, it was the kind of place that you’d see in a crime noir film. In fact, it was a filthy place and Kid could practically smell the criminal activity. That’s what he thought, at least. It’d be strange for a CIA agent to live in a place like this. It was a bad section of town where the Magician would never go in general, but it also may have just been a bad section of the city and they were going to a better part. Kid had no idea. He didn’t even know where they were going, so he just sat silently, looking at the scenery.

It was obvious to the agent that her new partner did not like the city that they were in, and part of her didn’t blame him. Anyone who was new to Manhattan would think that this was the crime capital of the States just because of how gritty the place looked, but to someone who has lived and even worked here for a few good years as a CIA agent would know that there are much darker and seedier places. Regardless, they were just passing through this area anyways, so it’s not like they were going to dive right into the field to work. Adelaide had to strategize, gather data, get Kid acclimated and get him prepared for the case that the two were on, even though at this exact moment, they could be at each other’s throats in a matter of seconds due to what happened to them already. The tense feeling in the car could be felt by both of them, so much so that Adelaide was clutching the wheel of her car so hard that her knuckles were turning white, even though her facial expression remained neutral. For a brief second, her eyes drifted to Kid even though he was doing his best to pointedly ignore her. “Relax. Brooklyn isn’t as bad as you think,” Adelaide remarked as she made her turn and then after a few more miles eventually ended up on what seemed to be Fifth Avenue, which was where all of the museums, high end fashion stores as well as luxury apartments resided. Eventually she pulled into a parking garage which belonged to one of the luxury apartments and parked. Once out of the car, she went over to Kid’s side and knocked on the door. “Out.” Adelaide ordered as she waited for him to step out of the car.

Finally inside her apartment, Adelaide stepped into her home and waited for Kid to follow after her. As she did so, she realized that since she hadn’t been at home for a at least a couple of months, she left it as what it was the last time she saw it. “Here we are...” She muttered as she noticed a few wine bottles on the coffee table along with an empty wine glass, and then right next to those items were many brochures showing the sunny beaches of Hawaii as well as the many attractions that reside there. She had hoped that Kid didn’t notice as she walked across the living room towards a specific room that was in the back of her apartment that was hidden from plain view. “You’ll be staying here for the time being.” The agent ordered gruffly as she opened the door to reveal a plain white room with only one window to view the city skyline of Manhattan. “I haven’t gotten around to buying furniture for this room since I’ve been so busy as of late, but the bathroom is next door should you need it. I can arrange to get you something to sleep on as well.”

Silently, the ex-mage looked around. The place was kind of a mess, in his opinion...but he could think of worse places to sleep. Saying nothing, still not making eye contact, he moved to the exact middle of the room, sitting on the bare carpet with nothing to do but think and look out the window. Neither of those seemed particularly fun at the time, however. Considering that there was nothing good for him to think about. His options were of course his being hunted by elves, his current state of essentially being a slave to his former best friend...and Rena. Whom he’d abruptly walked out on while she was injured. The last one, he really didn’t want to think about. It had been seven months since they saw each other and that was what happened. It was his fault though and he knew that well, only hoping that her stubbornness could at least manage to keep her alive until he was able to protect her...but who knew when that would be.

The agent stood there and stared at the back of Kid’s head as he simply just walked into the middle of the bare room and sat on the floor as if that place specifically was designated for him. This whole situation was beyond odd, but she still had a mission to finish. Adelaide followed after her new partner and knelt down next to him to see if she could actually communicate with him at eye level, or else this was going to be a pain in the a** for both of them. “Look, I know all of this is just total bullshit right now, but you’re going to have to cooperate with me, okay Kid? Once all of this is over, you can settle this little beef you got with me later, okay?” With that, she gingerly reached out to him and gently grasped his chin and made him look at her right in the eye. It was weird that out of all the situations she imagined where she would run into the man before her again, never in her wildest dreams would she think that they’d be forced into each other like this. The past events that happened between them didn’t help their circumstances either. “We have to work together, do you understand?”

He scoffed at her words. What else would she possibly expect from him in such a situation? Well, at least the blank room beat a cell...if only barely. Kid had to resist the urge to strike her the moment he felt her skin, only stopping because of the collar around his neck, which he briefly tugged, making sure his “ally” got a good look at it. ”This isn’t working together.” With his dull tone, he was speaking matter-of-factly to Adelaide. On top of that he only spoke to her tersely, in hopes that she’d at least leave the room and him in peace...but somehow he didn’t expect that to happen. ”This is blackmail. We’re not friends.” With that he once again went silent, ignoring the woman’s presence and returning to looking out the window, unresponsive to anything she might say as he waited for her to tell him what he needed to know so the two could leave and get this stupid ultimatum over and done with.

“I never said we were friends.” Adelaide remarked as she got up from her spot and glared down at him, the grudge that she held for him still strong to this day. “I told you, you are a dog and I am your owner for however long this situation lasts. I am not here to make friends, and I could care less what emotional turmoil you are going through at the moment to make you such an a*****e.” The silent treatment that Kid was giving her made her blood boil. As much as she would like to try and figure out what was going through his mind, she wasn’t in the mood to deal with his attitude. Nonetheless, she still had a case to take care of, and so she had to ask the one person who knew a lot about the subject whether he wanted to or not. “The last murder has to be the one who’s trying to piggyback off of your kills just to pin you down to the rest. What about that Argo guy? Do you think he’d be behind this?” Adelaide asked as she walked around him in a circle while waiting for his response. It was a start at least. The only problem would be how to investigate the crime without attracting more attention than it more than likely already has from the Elven realm. Knowing those guys, they’re probably searching all through the million dimensions that existed just to find and capture Kid.

Still, the ex-mage didn’t reply. His body went still briefly at the mention of his arch-nemesis, Argo. That man was a big part of the reason Kid did his best to keep moving. The Ark-Knight was a master tracker, on top of many other skills. All of which would be bad for Kid if he were to be found in the middle of a populated city. That was something he couldn’t let happen, but he really had no choice in the matter, if only to protect Rena, hopefully. She must have felt so betrayed...and now, there was even less Kid would be able to do about it. Lilith wouldn’t exactly help him find her, if it came to it. Plus, he didn’t even know where either of the two women were. He was up the creek with a treacherous former friend and stuck at her mercy for who knew how long. However, it wasn’t like he’d be getting closer to finding either alone. It seemed he needed Adelaide as much as she needed him...well, that was an incorrect statement, for there was a time where the man was fully aware that the woman loved him. These were just unfortunate circumstances, really. Such was the pain of being afraid to lose your best friend...but it happened anyway. ”I bet you did this to me just to settle an old ******** grudge.”

At that last statement, she stood up from her spot slowly and glared at him. “Who, me?!” Adelaide asked as she kicked the back of Kid’s head with her heeled boot and brought him to the ground. She really hated the fact that he was bringing up such old wounds to the surface that she was practically seeing red at this point. As she ground her heel into his head, she tried her best to not think about what happened in the past with the magician. It was obvious to the both of them that she had feelings for him in the past, but the fact of him rejecting her and then adding more salt to the wound by soon after dating someone as well as the other fact that he blamed her for the death of one of their friends was just the tip of the iceberg, but that was not the reason nor the point as to why she dragged him here. “I’m not going to play your little game again, Disaster. If you’re trying to get a certain reaction from me just so you can escape, you can forget about it. You’ll die thanks either to the collar or me, so I think you should learn to know your place as soon as you can. You’re the dog. I’m the master. Don’t make me repeat myself again.”

Soon afterwards, she took her heel off of his face just to get a good look at his face to confirm as to whether or not he understood. When she saw that he still held a look of contempt towards her, she sighed and grabbed him by the front of his torn shirt so they both could see each other at eye level. “You are the only one who can infuriate me to the point that I am right now.” Adelaide said darkly as she punched him squarely in the jaw and pushed him against the wall only to then continue to bash his head into it. Once he was finally brought to his knees, she just stared at him as he struggled to get up. Immediately she cooled down when she saw that Kid wasn’t going to attack her any time soon. Sighing, the agent stretched her neck muscles and walked over him. “Now then, I need your help on this case because you are the only one who knows anything about Argo. Because of what happened, many innocent lives have been lost and I’m trying to do my best to stop him before anyone, human or elven or otherwise, gets hurt. Okay?”

Kid fell to the ground, wounded yet again. For a moment, he couldn’t even raise himself, he could only lay there as his blood seeped into the carpeting. Eventually, he managed to drag himself into an upright position, though he hung his head in pain. There was more to this than he thought, as innocent people were being endangered. Even now, that was something the Magician didn’t enjoy, especially since he knew that he’d put many elves in danger in the Capital city, allowing a necromancer to roam free in exchange for getting Kid back to Earth. His hair fell in his face as wiped the blood gushing from his nose. ”...I see.” Even with the situation, people needed help. A fact only enhanced by the knowledge that it was partially because of Kid. With that, he resigned himself to assisting, even if part of him still didn’t want to. “Argo isn’t a murderer.” He calmly stated to her. Keeping his eyes down. ”He’s an honorable knight, so he wouldn’t kill innocents...but he also won’t hesitate to cut down anything that gets in his way including innocents if need be...still, he and the other Ark-Knights could be investigating this already.” He still barely and rarely changed his tone, sounding tired...something that developed because he generally was. ”I’m assuming this person is killing elves if they’re piggybacking off of me like you say...this is probably more of an SAB situation. Is there anything else?”

Once again, the two finally made progress in working together it would seem. Not only that, but she was glad to find out that he was still willing to help the innocent despite his current situation, which signalled to the agent that not all hope was lost. However, when Kid finally opened up and explained that Argo wasn’t a murderer, it squashed all of the theories that Adelaide had in the first place. The agent sighed and sat down across from her partner as she tried to think of anything else that could help her case. “Okay… Well do you have any idea as to what kind of method the killer used? Do you have an idea of the time frame between murders? Anything that can help us get closer to figuring out who the killer is, I need it.” Adelaide requested as she ran her hand through her hair. Thankfully she remembered that she still had the photos from the crime scene file from earlier today in her pocket. As she took them out one by one, she laid them out onto the floor in front of the ex magician so he could take a look. “These are from today’s murders. Does anything pop out to you?” She asked, hoping that something stood out to him. As she waited for Kid to explain everything that he knew to her, she observed him and realized that he looked beyond tired thanks to not only her beating him senselessly over and over, but because of what he’s gone through in the past god knows how long.

”I don’t have anything.” He responded, observing the pictures laid out by Adelaide. Today’s murders?” He asked, shocked that so many had been killed. Upon further observation he quickly noticed a pattern, as well as the faces of the murdered elves. ”These are mostly Elven nobles. These wounds...some were done with magic and abilities, others with human weapons…” Taking hold of the pictures, he rearranged them into a different order, raising an eyebrow at yet another discovery while also recalling an important fact, quickly deciphering many things because of it. ”They’re being killed, or rather...assassinated in a simple way: alphabetical order by an old elven dialect. Not only that, but an organization of humans and supernaturals are likely the reason behind it, they attacked Lilith, Rena and myself very recently. I don’t know anything about them, though. The thing I can’t figure out is that the ones who aren’t nobles are relatives of nobles, possibly heirs, but there’s just no pattern I can figure out with them. They almost seem...random.”

A possible organization that’s assassinating elven nobles? That’s the last thing that the agent wanted to be involved with. “Okay… I’ll try to see if there’s any organization like that in the database when I can, but I don’t think there has been such an organized crime in a long time. Seeing as to how they’re killing not only nobles, but their heirs as well seems to be something of interest.” Adelaide tapped her chin in thought as she stared at the pictures that were rearranged by Kid. Something about the fact that the victims were killed in a specific alphabetic order just bothered the agent somehow. “Alphabetic order by an elven dialect… It kind of sounds like they’re going down a checklist of people to go through… Then again, like you said, there are a few randoms involved as well, like the heirs.” This was just beyond confusing. Right when she had everything where she wanted them, there was always something thrown into the mix to ruin it. “So are these in any way related to your crime, Disaster? Because I’m still trying to figure out how you got added into the mix now that I’ve looked at all of this… I understand that you had to murder Argo’s sister as well as the other elves that were tracking you because of self-defense, but why are all of these random killing sprees happening all of the sudden right after that?”

”I have no idea.” He responded thoughtfully. ”We’ll probably have to find one of these assassins and get it straight from them.” He ran through the nobles in his mind, fully remembering each one’s nest in the human world. If they could manage to find one, they would be able to stalk them until they were attacked. A clever, but simple trap. ”Next would be...in English, Haymir Shyr. So that’s…” Kid focused, trying to pinpoint the exact location as best he could based on the formula Elves used to find the place best suited for them in the human realm. ”Haymir is...cynical, but idealistic, so he’d be somewhere similar. His magic ranks are…” He continued mumbling to himself for a few moments, recalling every detail he could about the elf. These would help figure out what part, pinpointing it was a matter of his exact ranks of magic, which the ingenious ex-mage could mostly recall. ”160...87…? No...yes? 67...” After a few more moments of mumbling, he finally gave an answer to Adelaide. ”Ah, here we go. Do you have a world map?”

Adelaide raised an eyebrow when Kid suddenly asked for a map. She definitely was not sure what the hell he was talking about, but she wasn’t going to stop him from coming this far. “Yeah, I’ll go get one…” She said as she got up and went to her computer desk in the living room to pull the world map that was hanging above it off from the wall. When she came back, she knelt beside the ex-mage and held the map out for him to look at. “So, what exactly are we looking for?” The agent asked with a confused expression on her face. The numbers that Kid were going through in his mind sounded like a complete and totally different language to her, even though he was talking about magic ranks.

Kid traced his finger along it, only seconds later did he find what he was looking for. ”Here.” He placed a finger on the map, highlighting their next location. ”Salekhard, Russia. He’s somewhere there, but...” After finding the location, Kid came upon another large revelation. If they were already at Haymir Shir, they had made decent progress thus far, which meant that many of the elves had to be on Earth already. Kid pondered everything once more. His voice slightly shaken as he explained another detail. ”s**t…I think I know why. When I escaped from the elves...I released a high-security necromancer in exchange for transportation to Earth. This is only a theory, but he may be attacking the Capital.” The ex-mage swallowed hard, if that was the case, not that he cared, it was his fault these elves were being killed, but that thought snowballed into an even larger theory. ”If that is what happened, then the nobles, being the cowards they are, would have retreated to Earth for their safety, but someone would have had to alert that organization to this happening...yet another traitor to the elves besides me, probably. A smart one, too...these hideouts aren’t exactly common knowledge.” Kid sighed in disgust, not at himself, but at the person who would have been behind all of these issues and using Kid’s situation to their advantage. ”It’s politics. Someone is trying to clear their positions of power. I wouldn’t be surprised if these people were the heirs usurping, with the ones being killed refusing to follow this plan so that the next in line after could help, but then that leaves the question of why they would ally with humans and why other supernaturals would ally with them…”

“So we’ll have to go back to Russia then to look for this guy…” Adelaide sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. She wondered how Dimitri was doing since she had left without really seeing him, but when Kid said that all of this was more about political powers fighting against each other in the Elven world, she soon realized that this was definitely a lot bigger than she had originally expected. “Normally under these sort of circumstances where the supernatural have their own problems, the CIA would just let them settle it themselves, but since there’s been plenty of murders on human soil, my branch will have to step in to intervene. That’s where I come in… I’ll be going with you to Russia to look for this Haymir guy, wherever he is. Hopefully Dimitri’s okay, that way I can contact him and see if he could be of any help…” As the agent got up from her spot, she looked over at Kid and realized how beat up and malnourished he was. “I guess I can patch you up and then get you something to eat if you’re willing to do that.” With that, she left the room again to grab her first aid kit from the linen closet as well as a bottle of water and some snacks. “I have some fruits, nuts and carrots…” She muttered as she set down a plate in front of him, knowing that he’d at least eat the carrots for she remembered that they were his favorite snack. Once that was taken care of, she made quick work of patching Kid up, even though the silence between them was unbearably awkward. Without saying much, the agent knew that he was in a different place in his mind, and she didn’t want to interrupt it and get him agitated towards her.

After she examined Kid’s injuries to his head as well as his lip, she went to work by cleaning the wound on his lip by running some of the water from his water bottle on it to wash it clean. Afterwards, she got ice from the kitchen and wrapped it in a paper towel for him to hold there. “Hold it for a few minutes so I can take care of your head.” She ordered as she examined his head to make sure that there weren’t any severe blows thanks to her, which luckily there weren’t. Kid, however, didn’t even try to hold the ice. In fact, he simply moved back, leaning on the wall he was knocked into prior. His whole face went blank as he stared at the ground, not responding to anything the woman had offered. He hardly even moved, almost as if his entire body had gone into an open-eyed coma as he did nothing. The agent wasn’t sure on what else she could do to try and help him, for he was just lost in his own head. All she could do was tend to the superficial wounds on his head and then hold the ice for him on his lip for a few minutes before she could even apply ointment to it. “I thought you liked carrots…” She murmured as she stared at the untouched plate in front of him.


"SPEECH!"

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀


“Now we're throwing the fight
I just want to believe
I just want to believe
I just want to believe, in us”



Location: My apartment


I'm with: Disaster.


Thoughts: ❝...❞


Out of Cards: Woo, finally~

[Karmie Gee]

❉ Lilith awoke to the light snuffling of Sebastian who was still fast asleep next to her. He looked at peace, but it only lasted for brief moments as he would toss and turn uncomfortably in response to the burning sensation on his skin. His wife gently ran her fingers over his chest, attempting to alleviate the tension in any possible way that she could without hurting him further. She traced his body, grazing over his collarbone and up the side of his neck where her thumb felt his stubbles brush against them. Leaning down, she kissed Sebastian tenderly on the cheek before sitting up and stretching her arms out.

Carefully, Lilith picked out the tiny white feathers from off of her, as well as a piece of the bed sheeting still dangling from one of her horns. She chuckled, looking back at the bed and seeing the lovely little mess they made, but her pleasant moment was then so rudely interrupted by the rumbling of her stomach. "Damn, I haven't eaten anything since my flight.." she whispered to herself, wondering if Dimitri's accommodations included a breakfast buffet. Assuming that her husband was probably hungry as well, she crawled back into the sheets and buried her face into his shoulder. "Sebastian, wake up. Let's grab something to eat~" she said playfully, her mood elated and light as she suddenly hopped out of bed with the bed sheets wrapped around her. She tugged at them harder to further grab Sebastian's attention as she spun around the room in tippy toes.

The Russian's slumber was not sound. The continuous sting and burn of his tattoos wouldn't let him sleep soundly for long. Though the pain had faded to the back of his mind the night before. It had been rapturous, the night that he had shared with his wife. The relations that they had shared were fierce, and to the untrained observer, would appear more as a primal struggle than love making. The passion that the Russian had shared with his lovely Wife. It had resulted in the absolute decimation of the bed that hey had slept in. His best waifu awoke him and the cutest way. He honestly had to fight back a sudden surge of emotion. It was as if everything was in slow motion as she fluttered across the room, spinning in the bed sheets as she beckoned him to get something to eat with her.

He stood slowly, as down and chips of wood from the shattered bed frame slid off of his rippling muscles. He would yawn a very ursine yawn before smiling and standing. " Da, tovarich, let us eat!" Seb would grin, and rub his eyes, clearing them of sleep before poking his nose up into the air and sniffing. Being a were bear his sense of smell was by far his sharpest sense. A bear's sense of smell being seven times sharper than a blood hound. SEVEN TIMES SHARPER THAN A ******** BLOOD HOUND. So sniffing away he would pick up his beautiful wife in both arms, in her beautiful, cascading bed sheets gown and carry her off down the hall, BEAR a** naked.

He would walk and duck into a doorway, and there it was, a lavish kitchen, well stocked and equipped complete with blue tooth speakers. Apparently Dimitri like music when he attempted cooking. Sebastian would grin and set his beautiful demon down, and grin, " Alright, wifey Lilith, let us begin!!!" Whether on purpose or accidentally, he leaned against the wall and activated whatever device Dimitri had left that was connected to the speakers.

The song that started playing was most definitely upbeat, and set the perfect mood for the two who evidently needed to wind down for just a while longer. Rolling her eyes as she tried to contain her excitement behind a small smile, Lilith raised her brows and nodded her head at the Russian as she thought curiously about what type of music one who runs a mafia is into. I'm sure D picks up a lot of girls with this bit.. Regardless, it was at least something she could sway her hips to. "Hah! It's been way too long since we've been in the kitchen together! Let's hope Dimitri doesn't mind coming home to a huge mess!" Lilith laughed, opening the fridge and grabbing an entire carton of eggs. With Sebastian's voracious appetite, she knew that a dozen would suffice. Well, two dozens would be more like it. With a flick of her wrist, she flipped the switch of the stove and placed large frying pan on top of it. "You like it sunny side up, right?" she asked, sure that the answer was yes. It was by far the trickiest of breakfast preferences Lilith had to prepare, they always turned out all runny and messy when it came to her poor skills in cooking them. With already three eggs in the pan and the yolk of two leaking out, she scoffed and spoke again. [********' scrambled eggs it is then!"

Before the Demoness could start plating her dish, one of Dimitri's subordinates had entered the room. "Sorry to interrupt, Ms. Raine, but I have a message for you from your headquarters," the young woman said, cautiously handing over a neatly folded piece of paper to the horned female before quickly taking her leave. Curiously, Lilith held the sheet in her hands wondering what it was about. She was deeply hoping that it had nothing else worse to do with Sebastian and his current situation with elves. Maybe it was good news, like Kid's body accidentally getting sawed in half by Troupe Disaster!

Before opening the note, Lilith slightly lowered the music's volume and walked over next to Sebastian so that he, too, could have a look at it. Once she unfolded it, a sigh of relief was released through her thin crimson lips. "It's from Rena.. She's okay, sort of.." she said, mildly agitated once she got to the part about Kid leaving and basically dumping the Siren as he did so. I swear if I ever cross paths with that little-- The angry thoughts and ideas just came flooding in, at least up until the part where Rena mentioned that she had chosen to leave as well. "She's gone.." Lilith continued softly, sharply turning to face her husband before she piped up again. "I know Rena can take care of herself but.. I'm worried. I mean, she was a mess when Kid disappeared the first time. Imagine what she would be going through this time around.." The Demoness' protective instincts were starting to kick in, admittedly worried about the Siren's safety as well, considering that she had also been targeted by the men who had attacked them back at the warehouse. With a rather stressed groan, she knew that Sebastian could tell she had her mind made up as she concluded, "we should at least find a way to get in contact with her. Doesn't Dimitri have access to that kind of information around here? I'm pretty sure he does I mean--"


BEEP!! BEEP!! BEEP!!


The smoke from their lovely burning breakfast had apparently set off the fire alarm, trailing the couple off from their very important conversation. "God dammit!!" Lilith yelled, violently whacking the frying pan off of the stove and onto the floor. Those eggs had just definitely gone to waste..


[******** it. Let's order pizza."

"Speaking"
Thinking


AsuraDeimos





LOCATION ❉ DIMITRI'S PAD
COMPANY ❉ SEBASTIAN
OOC ❉ These eggs are on fiyaaaaah~

[AsuraDeimos]

Sebastian Taureanos
"Such Raw Sorrow... Can't Partake... Mine Would Flood Oceans... It'd Drown Me."

Sebastian grinned, following his wife into the fully stocked and prepared kitchen. Apparently Dimitri had had his people account for the Bear's rather voracious appetite. As Lilith began cooking she would ask her husband if he preferred his eggs Sunny Up, to which the Russian would delightedly reply, " Da, tovarich, Sunny up!" As he spoke, the large man grabbed bacon and would begin frying as much at one time as he could, hoping to crank out copious amounts of food, that way he and his wife would both have enough to satiate their hunger. Sebastian enjoyed this, the part of life where it was simply Lilith and he, breakfasting, loving, and living together in peace. It was almost enough to make the sad Russian forget about the tattoos, the pain, the elves and everything generally crashing down around them. It would not last, however, the peace that this morning brought.

One of Dimitri's assistants would enter, breaking their personal time. It was then that Lilith spoke to Sebastian, saying that Rena had gone, had disappeared. Sebastian had to repress the rising sense of panic that he felt welling up inside of him. Rena had disappeared, and this time was distraught upon leaving. He implicitly agreed with his wife. They needed to find Rena. Lilith spoke, talking of find Rena when Sebastian was readying his agreement when a loud, raucous beeping interrupted Lilith. Causing the Russian to bellow laughter as his wife erupted in foul language.

~~~

After eating three and a half-pizzas( his wife eating half of the fourth), the two of them sat, throwing out ideas of how to find Rena when a very distinctive beep fired off before a hologram of Dimitri appeared, greeting the two, " Sebastian, Lilith, this is a pre-recorded message that has been bounced over the world more than Seven Million times and through various levels of encryption. I am with Rena James. She is under my watchful eye and protection. The best thing you two can do is to defeat the elves. Strengthen yourselves and gather allies, and then take the fight to the elves. That is the quickest path to Rena. Good luck семья ( sem'ya, family)." With that, the beep sounded again, signalling the end of the message and the beginning of a very thick, uncomfortable, and painful silence.

"GODDDDDDDAMMMMNNNNNN YOOOOOOUUUUUU!!!" Sebastian bellowed, letting out an inhuman roar, screaming in anguish and hatred at the man that he so bitterly distrusted. Sebastian leaped off of the couch, and the couch opposite of it he kicked, sending it flying across the room, destroying the couch violently. Sebastian turned grabbing the stove that was integrated into the island and puuuuuulled, ripping it out of the floor, he turned and launched the island out of the window, shattering it and launching it into the pool, many stories below causing a huge splash. " YOU WORTHLESS CRETIN!!! IF YOU HARM HER I WILL MUTILATE YOUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!! GODDAMMMMMMIT!" Sebastian was slamming the floor with each scream, shattering the tile on the floor, cracks and creaking as Sebastian weakened the floor. Sebastian was left bereft of breath after his wife managed to calm him.

" Hh... hhh... hh... we must find her. Lily, t- hh... hh... take me to a place where her scent is. Using my ursine senses... hhh...hhh... I can find her. We can. We must."

"Death Howls at the Gates... I Can't Greet You... Not Today."

[Mitzy-nyan]

There was a certain measure of emotional relief to be found in the arms of Dimitri. A temporary relief maybe, but it did ever so slightly ease the burden that had settled on Rena’s heart over what was quite simply months of suffering. Even if she had been selfish in initiating the embrace he had almost naturally gone ahead to actually putting the effort in to console her instead of just being a stoic shoulder for her to vent her tears upon. For that alone she would be grateful to him for some time, especially with all the lengths he seemed to be going to in order to help her, even if it was just for the sake of Sebastian. It was more than the woman deserved, with what hell she had dragged others through selfishly on her quest to locate her beloved. The squeeze that the male would give her was gentle, reassuring even through the pain that was her sobbing like a child while her ribs were still fairly bruised. It brought her more peace than she had honestly had in months, outside of those brief moments she’d had with Kid in the SAB Headquarters. For most of those six or seven months, the not knowing was the hardest part to deal with, though the silent rejection stung quite a bit after devoting herself to Kid for so long. Months of waiting without any word other than Sebastian getting the occasional read on him could not make the pain any easier. And now there was just his ring dangling from her locket and her heart that had finally shattered.

Rena’s heart ached. Oh did it ache so, but a part of her still wanted to seek him out again, to help him somehow. However circumstances would probably prevent that as Siren now had her own hide to worry about first and foremost. It probably hadn’t been that difficult to tie her to the magician the more she thought about ‘why’ she was a target. She had assisted in shows, was close to becoming a part of the Troupe herself and the fact that he’d had a relationship had never been a secret. Hell, she’d never had any need to hide it so in reality it was likely pretty easy for them to have gleaned her existence from somewhere. The only thing that had probably kept them from finding her the moment he had gotten away was her taking up sanctuary in Taiustus as Sebastian did her dirty work. Now that she wasn’t there it likely was just a matter of time, regardless of Dimitri’s help. Not to mention the last thing she really wanted was to kill more pursuers or suffer any more injury. Though that would mean going with them since “Caran Rusk dumped me thanks to you ********” was probably not an excuse they were about to buy. Siren skills or not.

The pain, tears and embrace were not to linger however as the failed attempt of one omelette brought the Siren and her protector back to the present. Another reassuring squeeze would accompany laughter from the male, pulling her from her depression slightly, along with the smell of literally burning eggs. A part of Rena wanted to disagree with Dimitri’s words though she couldn’t find the right ones herself. It is true that it was Theo’s loss but...it still felt like a loss to her as well, the chasm in her heart ever-present. Years spent loving and living with someone weren’t easily thrown aside. At the least she wasn’t alone now, despite how hard she had tried to distance herself from others at a time when she needed a friend. Right then Dimitri was probably the closest thing she had to a friend, though ally was likely a better word. She just still couldn’t bear to ask any more of Lilith or Sebastian, so this would have to suffice. As he tended to the food the Siren would stand back, watching as he worked around the kitchen to fix her mess and relocate the one omelet that was alright to the small table.

Rena herself would only move as he urged her towards the table once it was set, insisting that she be the one to eat the sole survivor of her breakfast attempt. Normally her cooking was better than the morning’s effort but like 95% of the time she also wasn’t trying to cook while distracted emotionally. Taking a seat she would reach for her fork as he once more urged her, accidentally slipping briefly by reverting to his home language. Not that she really knew what he said. Even if Sebastian was like a brother to her she hadn’t really ever needed to learn that much of the language thanks to the man’s grasp of English, so any term of endearment was fully lost on Rena as she instead took a couple bites of the omelet, keen on recovering her health for her own good thanks to the previous day’s setbacks.

Eating silently, she would listen as Dimitri spoke some more, this time the subject turning to her father. “Yeah, my father’s here. My mother isn’t though, I don’t think she has for years. Dad said she’s a bit of a wandering spirit, but I think she has almost had to be with how long she’s been around.” The other comments would slide for a minute as she focused a bit more on the meal, lost in thought once more. This time it wasn’t over Kid though, it was about what to do next. Or, well, what she wanted to see happen regardless of whether he allowed it or not. Still, that proposal would wait just a moment. “But, yes, he’s deaf, hence why it took something bad enough to send me to Taiustus to get my skills under control. You don’t really need to learn signing though, he can read lips pretty well. Or are you trying to impress him for selfish reasons that are beyond my understanding?” The last bit was a tease on her part admittedly, and nothing she meant as being serious as she delivered it with a slight smirk before going back to the omelette. After all she’d just met the man and found no reason for him to really have to go that far to communicate with her father.

Finishing up the breakfast and water provided Rena would finally voice where her thoughts had been honestly. “I’d prefer to go there sooner over later in all truthfulness. It’s already been years since I’ve seen my father and he’s all the family I really know so I’d rather do it before they zero in on a place like this. A place as…quaint and cramped as this is, isn’t somewhere I honestly want to spend too many days on end in. Plus I’m pretty sure I told you already not too long ago that I hate sitting around doing nothing and can obviously walk... even if I do get winded like a granny right now after a couple minutes thanks to that smack in the ribs after they had already been broken before from mending Kid’s wounds.” Before continuing she would stare at him, scrutinizing any reaction as she tried to reason out any method to her madness. “All I would really need are new clothes and some hair dye...probably black. Even if I can’t get rid of the blue I can make it a much less obvious color than what I've always had here. I’m told it’s how mom always blended in and could use the change all things considered. Of course, if you say no, I can always just do it without your approval because I can’t let you have every say-so over my life. That’s when you enter kidnapping territory..” It was a defiant glimmer that lit her eyes at those words, though every one of them was true. While she might not necessarily go on that visit during the current day there was little preventing her from trying on the next after a bit more rest.

"Speech." 'Thought.'

Safe house
Dimitri
Your move, ‘kidnapper’

[Jetfury]

Can you tell from the look in our eyes?
We're going nowhere
We live our lives like we're ready to die

If he'd never seen Russia again, it would have been too soon. The ex-mage could never get over the gold in the area, especially now, when he actually had more to do there than a few magic shows. Unfortunately, that's just the way things were going. They couldn't get too much worse anyway. Now that they were in Salekhard, it'd probably be best to start looking around for Haymir. "Elves usually stay somewhere either densely populated...or completely devoid of life. Haymir always had a taste for the extravagant, so he's probably in the place with the highest density of people." There was a good chance that Haymir thought he would be safe, the number of dead nobles turning up said otherwise, however.

Adelaide pulled her jacket close to herself as the two started to move. “A taste for the extravagant? Should we start looking around in high end hotels or clubs in the city?” She asked out loud. That sounded extremely populated if anything, so it had to be a good start. “What else do you know about this Haymir character? Anything that I should be aware of before we ever meet him?” She knew that was asking a lot of questions, but the more information she could get, the more careful she could be when apprehending the person. If she could even get that far. “Lastly, once we encounter this guy, don’t kill him. We need to ask him some things,” She reminded the magician. The last thing she wanted was for anymore blood to be spilled on her time.

Kid pondered for a moment, trying to determine which would be better. ”I do know of one hotel he might be at, it’s the biggest one in the city.” The man had performed there, but he was in no mood to share that bit of information with Adelaide, of all people. The two started in the direction of it, with Kid saying nothing for quite some time before piping up again. ”You already know the magic capacity of elves. Well, Haymir specializes in both mind and healing magic. If he recognizes me, we may end up in a hall of illusions with seemingly no way out. Just keep moving until we find a stairway. What we see may change, but not what we feel.” On the bright side, that would mean they found the right place. ”...Here we are.”

As she let Kid lead the way to the hotel, she kept close and made sure to keep an eye out for anyone that looked suspicious. She didn’t particularly care at the fact that Kid wasn’t very much into having a conversation with her other than what their objective was, so she kept quiet as well until they found the place. "Noted. Remember that I’m a psychic myself and I should be okay for the most part… Hopefully." She replied as she opened the door. At first everything seemed normal. The lobby of the hotel itself seemed grand and the people that were mingling inside looked rather posh. However, when she stepped in, everything blurred together, and suddenly it changed into a nightclub, filled with dancers and loud music. A sudden contrast to the formal setting that was the hotel. "What the hell?!" Addy shouted over the music when she was suddenly shoved around thanks to the dancers, but she followed Kid’s advice and moved forward, keeping her eyes open to look for a stairway.

For Kid, however, the moment that they stepped in, he saw the same sights as his partner with one thing changed. The people were no longer people, they were creatures of some kind. He, unlike Adelaide, had no way to protect himself from what was happening without using magic, which was still not an option. The world around him faded in and out in a violent shade of red, the kind of shade that would be associated with pure rage. ”...I can’t see…” His words were growled as the world around him began spinning as well. It took everything he had not to vomit, knowing it would cause a disturbance in the reality of things. Keeping his head down with his eyes mostly shut, his only option was following.

It was the opposite of the old days, he thought to himself. The days where he would always be the one leading her around, before she was strong. Their time away had changed both of them more than he could have imagined...though the circumstances were far beyond anything he was able think up, for sure. ”Hurry up…” The people in the true lobby watched as the two continued into the building, though none of them said anything as it was surely just a couple of ravers returning to their room, right? In the hall, a woman approached the two. ”Are you okay?” She was speaking English to them, probably noting Adelaide’s American features.

Adelaide looked behind her shoulder to make sure that Kid was still behind her, however, when she noticed the disturbed look on his face, she soon came to the realization that he didn’t have the psychic power to give himself a small fraction of protection from whatever this illusion was doing to him. She paused for a second and grabbed onto the front of his shirt and brought his body towards her’s and quickly dragged him along with her, that way he wouldn’t be lost by himself. For a brief second, when their cheeks accidentally brushed together in the motion, she momentarily caught a glimpse of what Kid was truly seeing, causing her stomach to lurch. "We’re almost there..." She grunted, trying to keep from vomiting herself as she pointed to the staircase that he was speaking of earlier.

Down the hallway, Adelaide was so sure that they were going to reach the staircase, but right before they could step foot, a woman approached them and asked if they were all right in English. The psychic looked up at the woman and was about to say something, but when Kid’s hand brushed against her own, her vision fractured, and the woman turned that to of a demon. ’s**t, if Kid sees that, he’s obviously going to think that she’d attack us…’ Adelaide thought in her head as she immediately covered Kid’s eyes with her hands. "Y-yes! We are… Just heading back to our room upstairs. Excuse us!" She answered quickly as she ran as fast as she could with a blind Kid being dragged by her to the stairway. Once there, the visions changed, and she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

With the world returning to normal so suddenly, Kid became uneasy. ”s**t- we have to hurry.” The ex-mage began moving as fast as his body would allow up the stairs- to the penthouse at the top and when the two made it there, there was nothing but an elven corpse. ”That’s why it stopped so suddenly…” They had found Haymir, or at least they had found the corpse. They were only moments too late to stop the killer, it seemed. "Well, there goes that..." Somehow, it was no surprise to either of the two. What happened next, however…

An Elven style portal opened up on the opposite side of the room with a lone man walking through. He was tall and slender, with brown, slicked back hair stopping at his chin. He wore the elaborate white and gold garb of the Elven Ark-Knights. Quickly approaching the body, he kneeled by it, checking the vitals. ”I see…” He could tell that the body was fresh, killed within moments prior to his arrival. His head rose to look Kid in the eyes. ”Caran Rusk…you truly have become a monster above any.” In his right hand, a large golden blade formed, it’s sharpness beyond ready to feast on the enemy.

Right when things were starting to improve, of course things had to go a downward spiral. Adelaide cursed under breath when the lead that she was relying on had come to a dead end. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to try and think of what to do, for the next thing she knew, another elf appeared, and once he saw the dead body right in front of Kid, he automatically assumed it was his doing and brandished his weapon. "Wait a second! It wasn’t him who killed Haymir!" Adelaide said as she stepped in front of Kid. The last thing she needed was for the magician to be killed when he was the one that she needed for this whole investigation. Despite the fact that it was a rare thing for her to be interacting with an elf on this level, for most of the time they spoke in a government setting, she kept her ground. "I know this looks suspicious, but Caran is not the one responsible for this. He is working underneath me and I can assure you that we just wanted to speak to Haymir, but before we could get to him, we found him this way."

”...I see.” He bowed humbly to the Agent. ”My deepest apologies, then. Regardless...” The man rose back to his feet, pointing his blade at Kid yet again. ”This dog is responsible for the deaths of hundreds- possibly thousands of Elves. Including my own men, as well as...my younger sister.” Adelaide stepped forward and gave the man a concerned look. "I’m very sorry for your loss. But--" Before Adelaide could say anything, the magician had something to say. Kid’s mind went back to the necromancer he released when he first escaped the elves. ”Argo.” The face of Kid- Caran looked completely careless. He’d indirectly caused the deaths of many, but in his mind, they all deserved it for taking him away from those he cared about. They rallied to have him executed on charges that he had no way to stop. For now, none of it mattered, what mattered was toppling the entirety of the elven capital. ”You’d really draw your blade against an unarmed man? You know I can’t use my magic, all I have are these hands of mine. Why not don your armor? Why not call reinforcements? Or are you hoping for an honorable duel?” The look on his face grew wild. If he could kill Argo here and now, it’d severely weaken his elite knights. Argo, however, went along with what was said as his blade disappeared. ”A man such as you has no honor! Though I do. Reinforcements would only suit you, I’m no fool. My men will not be put in harm’s way to you.” Argo was a cut above the rest in terms of skill and tactics, no doubt he knew Kid would take the chance to kill as many reinforcements as he could before escaping. He couldn’t call on Rock, his ace, however. It would cause too much collateral damage. He took a stance, as a golden aura shone from his body. Kid only smirked, wild-eyed as he took a stance of his own. He could telling Argo was intentionally handicapping himself without his armor. The man’s honor only let the two fight on equal ground, something he’d longed for ever since the death of his sister.

"Hold on you two!" Adelaide barked as she stepped between them. "I will not allow you two to be at each other’s throats when this could be taken care of without any more bloodshed." The Agent turned to Argo and flashed her badge. "I’m sure you are somewhat aware of CIA, paranormal branch, for my men have interacted with the elves before. The government has made sure that the interactions between elves and humans has been nothing more than civilized. If you dare to decide to fight in this realm, right in front of me no less, then I will not hesitate in breaking the pact and will call for an immediate deportation for all elves that reside on Earth. An act that I’m sure you do not want to be responsible for." Adelaide hoped that with this, then it would deter Argo from only satiating Kid’s bloodlust. For a brief second, she glanced at Kid, who stood there ready to attack with a monstrous, feral grin on his face. When the two locked eyes for a second, she pursed her lips and shook her head. Now is not the time.

Almost immediately, the golden aura began to die down. The woman was right, and her threats not one to be called. Argo sighed, disappointed that he was right on the brink of taking revenge, only to be stopped by politics. Still, his revenge wasn’t worth the lives of innocent elves. He, unlike Caran, could truly put what was important before his own desires. ”Thank your handler. She has saved your life on this day.” Turning to Adelaide, he spoke again. ”The murders may seem random, barring the nobles, but in actuality there are three groups aiming to kill elves. If you need assistance, do not hesitate to contact us, we can have our knights arrive in seconds, however…when we’ve defeated our enemies, the elves have a right to Caran Rusk. For now, we will leave him be, though he is still to be tried for his crimes against our people. He is the source for many, many deaths and as the pact follows, he is to be punished on Elven soil. I will excuse myself, milady.” In another flash of golden light, Argo, along with the corpse, had disappeared.

"Thank you, Argo. I will keep all of this in mind. For the time being, Caran will be under my watch, and I will expect that none of your men touch him until all of this is over." Adelaide replied curtly as she nodded her head to the male elf before he disappeared in a flash of light. After he was gone, the Agent ran her hand through her hair as she tried to figure out what to do from here, but before she could even ponder that, she had to make sure that Kid was all right. As she turned to the magician, she raised her hands up to show that she wasn’t a threat, for she could see that adrenaline as well as the rage was still running through his body. “Kid come on… We have to keep moving. Argo has given us some information that we could really use right now for our investigation, so we have to be on our best behavior until the time is right.” She explained in a quiet voice. “For now, we have to recuperate and figure out what to do now that Haymir has been killed, so let’s just go and stay in a room here and try to put things together.” With that said, she calmly walked away and back into the lobby to rent a hotel room for the two to stay the night.







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SPOKEN ■
THOUGHT ■

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Traveling

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Rise from the dead you say?
Secrets don't sleep 'til they're took to the grave

[AsuraDeimos]

"Put your hand down boy, Welcome to my Zoo. Put your hate inside."

Dimitri listened to Rena as she spoke and ate. It did him well to see the Siren eating, hopefully is would help her recuperate from the wounds that had been re-aggravated. She spoke of her father, how he was indeed in the area and chided him for wishing to learn sign-language. The Russian himself chuckled and allowed a rare, sheepish grin to spread across his visage. " Do I wish to impress your father? Not particularly. Is it a useful skill that will likely bear fruit down the road at some point.

Rena finished her breakfast and piped up once more. She spoke of her wish to see her father soon. This was not a desire Dimitri had ever felt in his life. His own father had been a complete piece of s**t. He had worked closely with him to better himself, and learn how to survive in the Russian mob, but as far as liking or even caring for the man, he did not. For some other folks in the world, however, they seemed to care for their parental figures. Dimitri supposed he could understand that inclination in an abstract kind of way. In the way that one understands how a megalomaniac leader of the Russian mob can be so ruthless. You get the necessity, but have no true feeling of empathy towards it.

"Mm... You dare to mock my humble abode? Have you no manners, Songbird?" Allowing another chuckle to emerge from his lips, he listened as she said that she could go on her own. The truth was that she could not go on her own. "Kidnapping? You think I'm afraid of kidnapping? You witnessed me commit murder. You think abduction is a frightening thought to someone as evil and twisted as I? Pah... That said. I have an interest in visiting your father anyway. Come, we have some shopping to do. " He smiled, almost in a predatory manner. If she wanted to go out they would go out. The city was a large enough place to blend in.

Dimitri would shave the stubble from his face and take a quick shower. He would don a nice three piece suit with a deep purple tie. Strapping a Glock23 inside his waistband holster, and his ever trusty beam katana he would wrap a grey scarf around his neck and was ready to do the day's duties. Briefly glancing at the siren he would grin, today would be a lot of fun.

Stepping out of their temporary refuge he would breath in the urban air and reminisce of the countless other cities he had been in. The air seemed to be the same in almost all of them. The panel door that had slid down to allow the two to exit slid up behind them, leaving only the appearance of an unassuming cargo container in the middle of Middle City. He would, for the time being, hand the reins over to the siren "So, Songbird, where to first? Clothes, hair, your father? Everything is on me. The Siphon pays me quite well." Dimitri said, referencing his illicit computer program.





"Might be black while white, I can still help you."

"Speaking"
"Speaking"