Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ebony stumbled back when the image of the plume snake struck her. Suddenly the memories of the day of her soul capture came flying before her eyes and the woman shuddered. They'd almost died that day. And now it seemed the reborn soul was even more powerful due to the influences of the smoke essence. You couldn't kill something that had no physical form.

As if to prove the Brit's mental point, she saw as Rivener tried to strike his poison tipped wings into the vapor that was her charge. She couldn't help flinching at the action and feeling something a kin to relief and possibly smugness when the stingers went right through their intended target. Of course she didn't want any harm to come to the scorpion, least of all from Cordelia, but...Cordelia was her main concern. Nothing would change that.

Looking up to Alex from her fallen position on the ground, the violet haired female quickly tried to process her question. What were Delia's weaknesses? Did she even have any? Ebony was drawing a blank until their most recent encounter with David and his Raevan popped in her head. "Prajna! Prajna did something to stop her when their were fighting, but I haven't a clue what!" 'Oh come on Ebony, THINK! There's got to be more you can give them...' "WAIT! It left Cordelia really cold!" Great, and how were they suppose to do that? Ebony had only heard of one Raevan that could conjure ice and he wasn't anywhere around.

Meanwhile, a series of hisses was given off by the great smoky snake at Rivener's feeble attempts at hindering it. It was obviously meant as laughter, a sure sign that the virus had overridden Delia's logic and reason. She was running on the instincts of a basilisk and her pray wouldn't escape her. Even when the Sigel rushed to enclose himself in the metal machine, she slithered after and loosened her concentrated form to drape casually about the vehicle. It wouldn't be long now, he was trapped and she would find a way in.

Rivener was backing against the seat, trying to press himself into the very back of the cushion in the passenger's side. He glared at the smoke encompassing the car, trying to will it to stay out there. Rivener felt so damned helpless, and it was one of the first times he'd ever felt anything like that. He could do nothing! It was so frustrating! Riv was usually the one doing the saving from things, not the one in distress!

Although if he could trust anyone to come to his rescue, it would have been Zul. The huge ice wave that suddenly surged towards the car had Rivener inhaling sharply in fear, eyes wide, but he kept trusting that Zul wouldn't hurt him. That much ice, though...

The stuff curled like a live thing around the threatening smoke, forming a huge spike right in front of the car. It solidified and for the longest time everyone just stood still, watching Zul float forward to put a hand on the icicle. Rivener blinked, eyes wide, and only remembered to breathe after a few moments of eerie quiet calm. Slowly the Sigel unlocked the door and exited the vehicle, shuddering from the cold. He left the door open and backed away from Zul and the trapped basilisk, frowning in concern. "Z-Zul?" he asked, wondering if the demon was alright. He'd saved Riv, and that was great, but was the frei alright too?

Aphismet had lifted both hands to cover his mouth after he'd taken one step forward in front of the women. That ice sped across the ground and crawled half an inch over Aphismet's boots, and the chef realized it didn't matter where he stood: he couldn't have stopped anything at all from harming Alex and Ebs if Zul had been facing THEM instead. He could only watch with wide eyes as the demon tried to call Ebony's raevan back from inside the icy prison.

"Holy hell," was all the chef could breathe, quiet.

Alex found herself genuinely frightened, her thoughts skirting dangerously close to Ebony's; what if they had been any closer? He had knowingly spared Rivener, but what about the rest of them? She slowly got to her feet, arms wrapped around herself with large eyes locked on her charge, a bit pale. She wasn't sure she was ready to approach Zul after that little...display, but with Ebony leading the charge in a whirlwind of purple, she couldn't let the woman risk harm from her charge.

Even so, her movements were very slow, her joints feeling as frozen as the ice beneath her boots. "Zul?" she ventured, eyes flicking beyond him to Rivener, who looked just about as put out as she did. "Are you okay?" The woman took Aphismet's arm for a moment, trying to get her bearings.

The demon looked towards the Scorpion and gave the Sigel a bright smile. "My Rivener is safe," he said in that same purring voice, blue eyes turning back to the icicle. "So will be--"

Ebony thrashing against the ice made Zul tilt his head, watching her for a moment. She hadn't struck the Frei to be a loud one, but he supposed panic could make monsters out of saints. He was dimly aware that he was rather calm despite everything that had happened, which felt far more familiar than the apathy and sense of lingering rage that still iced his veins. "Miss Shade," a dark brow lifted over a blue eye, "she'll be okay."

Zul looked back to the iced smoke and put both hands over the icicle. For a moment, nothing happened, and the demon's face flickered with the briefest hint of confusion. He wasn't absorbing the ice again? Not that it mattered. He had other means of thawing at his disposal! Soon, his hands were melting into the thick ice, the tip cracking as the side weakened and falling off. Chunks of the icy prison followed suit, cascading from the melting and breaking ice to add to what was on the ground.

One bone-framed wing extended over Ebony, deflecting a stray chunk of ice; with his facilities momentarily restored, he had enough wits about him to want to spare the humans now. With his arms nearly speared through the ice, the last of the frozen fortress fell, the base splitting and freeing the captive smoke, his warmed hands still reaching for her.

His words reached her ears, but their meaning was lost on the woman as she continued to beat away on that mini glacier. Zul, Rivener, Alex, Aphismet...they all faded into the background as she concentrated solely on getting her Raevan out. Her bare hands began to bleed from the sharpness of the shards, but Ebony wouldn't let up. Time wasn't on her side right now and she wouldn't lose another family member. Not like this. Not again.

She was forced to stop and step back though when the ice began to thaw and break. The Brit ground her teeth and raised her arms to shield herself. When grey eyes peeked out, they saw the demon was melting the ice away and using a wing to help keep the cold debris from hurting her. Ebony felt a small swell of gratitude towards Zul then, but it was marred a bit by the fact that he was the one who'd frozen Cordelia to begin with. Still, he'd only done it to stop the snake, so she was profusely torn between her emotions toward the fire-ice Frei at that moment. Ebony frowned and looked to the ice, "Cordelia..."

The Basilisk was all for drowning in the sleep that was dragging her down deeper into the abyss, although she had no real concept of what that would mean if she gave in completely. Yet while she was contemplating this odd struggle, something was beginning to break through the coldness. It caused her to stir, the warmth teasing her to wake. Why? Why couldn't they let her sleep? She was so tired after all.

A great crack sounded as a huge chunk of the encasing fell off, melting away. The smoke released in a puff, but it did disperse this time, leaving only the dark girl behind. Her half form slide to the ground in an exhausted and limp manner, but her black rune still glowed strong in defiance towards the cold still lingering about her form.

Ebony felt so much relief at the familiar sight of Cordelia that tears welled up and slide down her tanned cheeks. "Oh thank goodness! Thank you Zul! Thank you so much for bringing my girl back!" In her fit of joyous sobbing, the purple haired woman did something so out of character it was sure to get around the gossip pool the next day, but Ebony didn't care at that moment. She quickly hugged the Baphomet in a tight hug before dashing over to her charge.

Aphismet was startled to find the smoke cloud had not been smoke at all, but a rather smokey-colored Raevan instead! So this was the creature he and Ebony had fought? ...He'd expected she'd be more... green. Although the smokiness seemed to fit Ebony so well. What a lovely girl. As long as she wasn't trying to attack Rivener, that is.

Alex kissed Aphi's cheek, a rather surprising peck, and then moved to Ebony's side to offer her hoodie. Aphi took a few more steps towards both women, frowning as he noticed the blood on Ebs' hands. "Can you two move?" he asked softly, leaning down. "If we can get your Cordelia inside, the fire must be roaring by now. And we could sit and look at your hands. ...Well, Alex could. I'm no good at first aid." The chef smiled, wondering if there's anything else he would be able to do. Fetch blankets? Warm water?... It was mostly up to Ebony now. Aphi placed a hand on her back and smiled, doing all he could really do for sure: let her know that he was there and ready to help.

Rivener stopped pacing as Zul finally took notice of him again. Finally. The Scorpion bared his teeth, annoyed at how second-rate he felt. Zul had been much more worried about the damned smoke-thing, which was now a smoke-girl. How much did Zul like that girl anyway?! She was obviously more important to him than Riv was! What the hell did Riv mean to Zul anyway? The Demon had never once said he loved him back, and the ill-stricken Sigel was tired of waiting, dammit!

Zul approached with a purr, shedding the last pieces of ice and making himself comfortably warm before launching at Rivener. The Scorpion was intent on shoving Zul away at first, but hot lips on his shoulder near the neck made Riv moan instead. Hands he'd wrapped around Zul's arms, ready to push harshly, slipped instead to the demon's back and held him tightly. Returning the demanding affection with similar attention, Riv proceeded to mark his Zul the same way he himself was being marked.

Alright, that had appeased him for now. Enough not to attack Zul in frustration. Not enough to erase the slight completely from Riv's mind, though. He frowned as he hissed his questions into Zul's pointed ear. "Why did you pay so much attention to her? You're mine! MINE! I should be the one you look to first! ME!"

Alex looked momentarily embarrassed, eyes dropping as Ebony began to mention the infection. It took a few heartbeats for her to look back up towards Aphismet, her gaze slightly guarded, expecting reprimand. "Aphi, what you just saw - Laz was infected, when he attacked us. I didn't--damnit, I didn't think at all, when I came over, and...Zul, he's infected too. That means he infected Riv and Eiry..." Her resolve wavered and her attention dropped down to Cordelia, moving her hand from the Basilisk's hair to the mark, although she didn't touch it, simply ghosting her fingers over it. She could have been imagining things, but it felt warm to her.

"I don't think Kyou has found a cure yet," she finally said slowly and quietly, crestfallen. She felt like, somehow, this was her fault for not acting sooner when Lazarus had grabbed her so inappropriately. If she'd just seized him then, would they all have been spared this? "You might want to consider it. I'd...I'd suggest watching her for a day or two, make sure she recovers from this first, and then call. I'm watching Zul too." How many Raevans are infected due to my carelessness?

The woman exhaled, eyes scouring Cordelia's face for any discoloration or signs of distress. "I've never seen anything like this, in all my years, not in the wild or captivity." Alex hated admitting a lack of knowledge, even if Raevans weren't her field. "I'll call Kyou this weekend and see what he says. You should definitely call him, since you situation is somewhat more unique..." The Italian glanced side-long at the two humans. "I'm sorry."

The attention was nice, but the words...he did not like. "Because she attacked what's MINE!" The demon growled in return, and his voice was anything but his own. He didn't care who heard. The vision of Lazarus glaring at him over keeping Cordelia away from the Incubus flitted through his eyes, which narrowed further. "He wanted her and he can't have her," he hissed, bone wings snapping open and flapping with irritation, "and I stopped him, I stopped her, they can't touch what's mine-" The Basilisk was his! "-do you want me to stop you, Rivener, my Rivener?"

Zul's ego soared dangerously as his ranting became slightly disjointed, using his wings to gain some leverage and try to push the Sigel against the car, much as he'd been pushed against the wall some days before. The virus was returning with a vengeance, his eyes losing a little of their color as they roamed over Rivener's face in a way that was far too intimate and excited for what was happening. "No one will touch you but me," he breathed, the tone becoming darker still. "I know this. Do you want me to worry, my one?" He didn't say it, but the implications were dripping from his voice; did he want the demon to worry like the humans, to treat him like an incapable child? Zul trusted his own abilities. Why didn't Rivener?

The demon lifted his hands and grabbed the Scorpion's horns, his colorless eyes staring with a white fire into Rivener's red. "What do you want, my one? You have all - you have me. What more do you want?" There was venom in his words, a thread of anger that was not being very well maintained in that moment. Zul knew very well he was putting his hands in the fire, but in that moment, the demon was rearing his head and would not be looked down upon! His body temperature increased once again, the heat giving his hair life and sending his central horn into white-hot pulses.

Now that she wasn't freaking out about Cordelia's disappearance and possible death, Ebony could think more clearly and logically. She would have to call both Yuurei and the Naos to warn them of their Raevans exposure to the virus. Though it was far too late to spare them this kind of pain and worry, they at least deserved to know what was going on should their charges begin to act odd. And hopefully, by getting the word out they'd keep the rest of the Raevan population safe from infection.

Ebony nodded dejectedly towards the Italian, also discouraged by the news of the doctor not having found a cure just yet. Gently smoothing the Basilisk's dark hair, "I'll watch her then before I call. I know the Doc's got his hands full with just Lazarus right now. Maybe if I keep her cool enough, it'll keep her from lashing out again." It sounded good in theory, yet even Alex had just admitted to having never dealt with anything like this before. And the Raevans were all so very different. She just prayed this would pass soon for everyone's sake.

Smoke colored orbs fluttered open once the harshness of yelling and shouting reached her ears, pulling her from the darkness. Wearily, she looked towards the source of the fighting and wondered who that black and red Raevan was with Zul. What was going on? Why were they fighting? And why was she so cold? As if her arms were made of lead, Cordelia slowly lifted a hand to place on both human females near her, those questions burning quietly on her face.

The Brit was glancing over to the two half formed males fighting. She frowned also wondering similar things her Frei was when Aphi was suddenly there, yelling at Rivener to get in the car. And before she knew it they were off on their way, the violet head only having enough time to raise her hand in a farewell wave. She'd have to call him later as well, to thank him and apologize once more for her ward's outburst.

That's when she gasped light at the icy touch to her cheek, but then sighed. "Cordelia...don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. I promise." Turning back to Alex, "Thanks for coming out and helping. I'm sorry about everything that happened. If there's ever anything I can do, please let me know." Slowly, she began to stand, lifting Cordelia with her. She owed them so much now, but it was somehow different in feeling than when she'd owed David. She felt like she'd owe them for a lifetime and yet, that was absolutely, perfectly fine with her.