Welcome to Gaia! ::

“I’m going out for a bit, are you sure you don’t want to come?” Adrian asked as he pulled his coat on. It wasn’t quite spring yet, so it was best to be prepared. If anything, he could always leave it in the car.

“You’re just going to the grocery store right?” the snake asked as she looked away from her hand held game device long enough to peer over at him from the living room couch. The elder man nodded. Quickly losing interest, Cordelia went back to her game. “No thanks, I’m good.”

The man shrugged, having known it would be pointless trying to convince her. Human food wasn’t really on top of the Raevan’s priorities, though he did wish she’d at least start to take an interest. After all, he assumed one day she’d have to feed on something other than smoke, right? “Okay, but if you need anything just call or text. All right?”

“Yeah yeah, I heard ya-oh crap I used the wrong spell!”

Sighing, Adrian shook his head with a tiny smile as he walked out, locking the door behind him.

Once she heard the car pull out and the garage door close, Cordelia let out her own sigh of relief. Adrian liked shopping at the grocery store on the far end of town and thus would be gone awhile. Snuggling down deeper into the blanket she was wrapped in, the Frei continued her game. As much as she loved her grandfather, he was starting to become much of the doting parent Ebby had been, of which completely urked the Basilisk. Ebony was Ebony and Adrian was Adrian. She had a feeling he didn’t know what to do with himself anymore. Since moving in, Adrian hadn’t had to do much of anything expect be another source of reason or the fun grandpa. Ebony had almost always taken care of everything. Though she may not seem like it to others, she was every bit the dedicated mother/housewife type. And without her, Adrian was suddenly the parent again, something he hadn’t been in a very long time.

Delia frowned. Not like she was making it any easier though. She just couldn’t talk about her missing guardian without somewhat losing her cool. She knew he wanted to very badly, but it was something she just couldn’t do for any real extended period of time. On the one hand, she was deeply worried about what had happened to her woman, but on the other…she was still rather upset at her for what had happened before the Frei’s incident and then for completely abandoning not only her, but Adrian as well.

Her phone buzzed to life on the coffee table and Cordelia paused her game so she could see who it was. Her metal eyes widened. It was Seth.

‘You live in Gambino right?’ he texted.

Quickly, the snake answered back, ‘Yeah, why?’

‘Cause I’m about to ditch Evan since he’s being a brat.’

She laughed. Evan was always pestering any number of his older brothers at any given time, so their typical responses weren’t a surprise. But it was funny and rare that Seth would complain about him to her.

‘Would it be all right if I came over?’

A light rose color slowly crept onto the dark girl’s face. Wait, what? Seth coming over to her house? Now?! Floundering for a bit before making a most serious face, Cordelia responded. ‘Uh yeah, sure. Here’s the address...’

‘Cool. Thanks. See you soon.’

Having completely forgotten her current game, Cordelia buried her face into a nearby pillow. Oh my god! What was she doing inviting Seth over like that as if it were no big deal? It was a HUGE deal! Gasping, the Raevan leapt from her spot and flitted about quickly. She had to make sure everything was decent before he got there!




“Sooo it’s both a fish and a fox?” Seth asked gently tapping two fingers on the glass of the Shade’s custom made aquarium that housed their pet foxfish, Poseidon.

“Yeah…” Cordelia huffed a bit. She really didn’t like the animal all that much since she couldn’t really do anything with it for the mere fact that it was a purely aquatic creature. And it was painfully obvious time and time again, that water and her don’t mix. So honestly, she wished they could talk about something else other than that damn water pup. “He’s a Chimera. The Lab makes him and some other similar creatures as well. I think I saw an octopus cat thing once.”

“Trippy.” The singer said before straightening and focusing on Cordelia then. “The Lab’s the place you were born right?”

Delia visibly stiffened. Was it weird to talk about this? After all, most humans, even demi-humans like him were usually born in some sort of hospital right? Not some lab in a tank, like a science experiment. The Raevan frowned.

Judging by her looks and her inability to say anything on the matter, Seth decided it wasn’t worth talking about anymore and thus moved the conversation onto something else. “Say, weren’t you going to show me that new fighting game you were all but raving about the other day? I bet I can beat you in three seconds flat.”

The girl snapped out of her sudden funk, eyes ablaze with determination. Giving a smug look, “Oh you do, do you? You’re on songbird!”




“What?! Ugh! Nooo!” Seth exclaimed, dropping his controller. He laid his head up to rest it against the end of Cordelia’s bed and sighed in utter defeat. “I can’t believe you beat me twenty times in a row!”

The Basilisk grinned from ear to ear; unable to hide her pride and even gave her controller a little blow like some highly skilled sharpshooter. “I warned you. I’ve had nothing but time to practice this game since I got it. Besides you were the one who kept saying best out of whatever the whole time.”

Cordelia’s phone went off just then and she quickly checked to see who it was. Giving Seth a look, she quickly typed a reply back before asking, “So you really did ditch Evan huh?”

Putting his arms behind his head, the boy shrugged as he looked up at her ceiling. “Well yeah. I told you he was being a brat.”

Another message arrived in her phone’s inbox. “Did you turn your phone off?”

“I was pissed and didn’t want to hear s**t from him.”

While she was trying to type a new response, another message alert popped up. And then another. And yet another! Cordelia’s eyes widened at her sudden popularity and tried to answer them as quickly as possible. Frustrated, “Well could you turn it back on? Cause apparently now I got Cameron and Gideon on here complaining cause Evan’s causing them all sorts of grief.”

Seth closed his eyes as a deep frown creased his brow. Yes Evan was being a brat and yes he was pissed about what happened, but if he was truly honest with himself, he only really wanted an excuse to come see Cordelia without his brothers around. Before he met the Raevan, he was usually content with it being just the four of them, but now…since getting to know her; Seth couldn’t get his mind off Cordelia. It was like a whole new world had been opened to him. She was strong, caring, insightful and just great to be around in general. She intrigued him like no other girl before had.

Someone must have had enough of the back and forth as Cordelia’s phone lit up with an incoming call. It was Gideon, the eldest of Seth’s brothers.

And all he wanted to do was have one ******** thing in this world he didn’t have to share with his brothers! Before the smoke Frei could hit accept, her phone was snatched right out of her hands. Seth answered it, but only hissed a quick ‘******** off’ before shutting the phone off completely. He sighed and slumped against her shoulder, emotionally drained from the ordeal. Handing the phone back. “Sorry about my brothers. Can we do something else? Watch a movie or something?”

Blinking blankly as she took the phone back and set it aside, “Uh, yeah, sure.” Cordelia used her controller to switch from gaming to movies. “What do you want to watch?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Okay…” Scrolling through the lists, Delia gave a sidelong glance towards the gorgon boy. It was rare for Seth to lose his cool, but it was even more rare for him to be this close to the Basilisk. They were touching, actually touching! She could feel a blush start to rise in her cheeks and so she quickly looked away, picking a movie at random and hitting play.

They sat like that for a while as the movie played, some horrible CGI remake of a remake. Seth hadn’t really moved from his stance of leaning against her shoulder, in fact he made himself more comfortable without thinking, resting his head some. This only made Cordelia feel even more uncomfortable than she had! Well maybe uncomfortable was a bad choice in words, but she was definitely more self-conscious about it than anything else.

Seth couldn’t help relaxing, knowing his brothers couldn’t interrupt them finally. She always smelled of smoke with earthy undertones, something about how she was formed? He didn’t care, she smelled delightful, intoxicating even. The half-gorgon couldn’t help drinking it in. Before he knew it, Seth was breathing her name, “Cordelia…”

She turned in response to her name, a lump stuck in her throat as those golden eyes bore into her. She’d never seen him look at her in such a way, with such intensity. Gulping, Cordelia answered slowly. “Seth?”

As if taking that as an invitation, the singer slid in and kissed her tenderly on the lips. He took a moment to savor the taste. Gaia help him, her lips were velvet soft.

Cordelia on the other hand was completely short-circuiting. Did he…did Seth just kiss her?! How?! Why?! Should she kiss him back? Say thank you? Ugh, she was completely unprepared for any of this!

The Raevan’s confusion didn’t last long though as Seth came back for a second, longer kiss. It completely took her breath away, the Frei panting to fill her lungs and hopefully keep her heart from jumping out of her chest. “Cordelia…” she heard him say again, and she thought she might die just then. Who knew her simple name could be carried with such longing? “Seth…”

If he was in control before, he most definitely wasn’t now. Seth kissed her again, hungrily, passionately. He never wanted to stop kissing her. He wanted to know her like no one else ever had before, he wanted her to know him. The gorgon licked her neck and felt as it sent a shiver up her half-formed spine. He smiled as he heard no protest to it and thought maybe it was okay to go further. Alternating between kissing her neck and mouth, Seth unbuttoned his shirt and placed her hands on his bare chest. He shivered from their initial coldness, but soon the ice melted and they were left with only the heat.

Cordelia’s head was spinning with so many new sensations and feelings. When he positioned her hands upon him, she was embarrassed at first, but couldn’t help allowing her fingers to trace every bit of his slightly toned chest. And the warmth…ah she couldn’t help allowing that to add to her enjoyment as she finally started kissing him back. Something had been awoken in the Basilisk, a need she never knew she possessed.

Seth was just about to test how much further he could go, his hands sliding from her back to her front when…”Cordelia! Come down please and help me with the groceries!”

Suddenly reality had all but crashed down upon them as the voice of Adrian filtered through their hormone-induced haze. Freaking out, Cordelia zoomed about, trying to figure out who she was and where she was before she threw the door to her bedroom wide open and dashed down the stairs. “Coming!”

The musician just sat there with his face in his hand, completely mortified. He’d let things go way too far and now he was paying the price for that. Sighing, Seth buttoned his shirt back up. Well, it wasn’t like they were in any kind of real trouble. She didn’t have any lower limbs after all. Not like he could…as quickly as the thought came he shook his head to dismiss it. This was bad. Very bad.

As the song came to a resounding end, the crowd went wild with applause and screaming. From the shadows of the backstage, Cordelia couldn’t help getting swept up in it as well as she took her fingers to her lips and gave a loud, shrill whistle. Her silver eyes shone bright with excitement and pride. This had to be the Medusa Brothers best performance to date. If they kept it up, who knows where they would be within a years time. They might even be able to get scouted soon!

Once the crowd had died down and began dispersing, Cordelia floated out onto the stage to help the guys start packing up. “Guys, that was absolutely amazing! You really gave it your all tonight!”

Grinning from ear to ear and puffing out his chest, Evan couldn’t help absorbing any and all praise directed towards him like it was his only source of sustenance. “Ah come on Cordie. You know I always bring my ‘A’ game. Otherwise what would all my adoring lady fans think?”

Jabbing Evan in the side with his drumstick to get him working again, Cameron couldn’t help but poke fun as well. “You have fans? I think you need your ears checked little bro. All I could hear were a ton of girls crying out for Seth over there.” The drummer motioned at their other brother who was quickly and quietly packing up his own guitar. Cameron sighed, “How do you do it bro?”

Clearly annoyed, Seth asked, “Do what?”

“Keep all those ladies from literally throwing themselves at you after every song?”

Seth merely glared at Cameron then and the elder brother replied with a laugh, “Never mind, I think I can guess how.”

“If you all are quite done, I’ll pull the van around.” Gideon said rather matter-of-fact as he walked by then with his bass strapped to his back while carrying a rather heavy looking amp, “Cordelia, do you mind getting that other amp for me?”

“Sure, no problem Gideon.” She replied as she floated over to grab it.

“It’s okay, I got it.” Seth said, reaching for it, but stopped when his hand accidently knocked into the Raevan’s chilly one.

Delia’s hand stopped too as they touched, the two locking eyes for a moment before the Frei blushed and looked away. Quickly grabbing the amp and flashing a big, cheery smile, “I-it’s okay. I’m here to help after all.”

The boy’s eyes narrowed, looking more reptilian than normal before he straightened up and adjusted his guitar bag. Not looking directly at her, Seth coldly replied, “Whatever.” Before walking off after Gideon.

The snake was left there floating awkwardly. What the hell was that all about? Just when Delia thought they were finally on the same page, Seth decided to skip chapters again. Looking rather dejected, the Frei floated after the two demi-gorgons.



“CORDIE!” Evan whined as he clung to the smoky girl, his cheek pressed to hers, practically rubbing it into her face. “Tell me the truth! Girls think I’m handsome right? RIGHT?!”

Cordelia couldn’t help but make an uncomfortable looking face as she tried to gently pry Evan off her. “Yes yes, they do. You are very handsome. All girls want to date you and all guys want to be you.” She sighed as Evan clung even harder and blubbered on about not believing her and whatnot. She knew coming out to the bar with the guys afterwards was a mistake. The other three had all managed to slip away after tricking their little brother into a drinking game and now all she was left with was a pathetic mess. Sober Evan she could handle no problems, drunken Evan? Not so much.

Suddenly the boy held her at arms length with the palest looking face she’d ever seen. “I…don’t feel so good…” And as quick as possible, Evan was dashing for the men’s room.

Delia sighed with relief, but did feel bad for the youngest Medusa brother. He never could hold his liquor well. The Basilisk on the other hand…”Don’t want to let this go to waste I suppose,” she said before grabbing Evan’s half-finished drink and downing it all in one shot. Cordelia had recently discovered that she had a pretty high tolerance for alcohol. “Whoo!” she exclaimed as she finished the glass. She had never been one for wanting to try human foods and drinks before, but after much complaining from the guys about her not ever truly joining in on the celebrating, she finally gave in and found it surprisingly enjoyable. She really liked the strong stuff because it burned going down and made her feel really warm inside for a long time afterwards.

While she was enjoying her mini-buzz and the fact that Evan wasn’t emoting all over her anymore, Cameron showed back up and plopped down next to her. “Sorry for sticking you with the dweeb Delia. He’s an awful drunk, but at least he’s easier to manage once he’s passed out from exhaustion.”

“You three are really horrible to him, you know that right?”

Raising a brow as he took a swig from his own drink, “And you don’t think it’s justified even a little?”

The Frei made a contemplative face and sighed. “Okay, I hear ya. He does sort of ask for it.”

Cameron gave a laugh as he casually wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “That a girl!” Putting the drink down, the drummer pulled out his cigarettes and proceeded to light one up. “You want one?”

“Uhh…I dunno…” Delia said, not really sure if she should. Her guardians had always been opposed to the smoking of cigarettes, calling them disgusting. Weirdly enough, they seemed okay with cigars and pipes for some reason, not that either one really smoked. Was it a British thing perhaps?

“Ah come on Dells. You feed on smoke right? What’s the harm in you getting your meal in a more direct manner, huh?”

He did have a point. She’d been feeding off his and other people’s second hand smoke for a while now and nothing bad seemed to have happened to her because of it. Giving a smile, “Okay, give me one of those bad boys.”

“All right, now it’s a party.” The drummer replied as he lit one for her with the tip of his own cigarette and passed it to her. “What do you think?”

Cordelia took a couple puffs and closed her eyes, allowing the smoke to slide down her throat and settle in her rune. It seemed to react well and gave off a brighter glow, pleased with the meal. “It’s different, much more concentrated and more filling. I like it.”

They sat there a while longer in silence, watching the bar crowd as Cordelia fed and Cameron drank and smoked. He was lighting up his second cigarette when he finally asked, “So what’s up with you and Seth? You two have been acting strange ever since he went to visit you in Gambino.”

Taken completely by surprise, the Basilisk choked on her meal and began coughing furiously. Once she’d finally gotten a hold of herself, “W-what are you talking about Cam? T-there’s nothing going on.” And that was pretty much the truth since Seth was the one acting weird towards her, thus nothing was progressing.

He might have believed her if she hadn’t been taken off guard so easily and was covering it up pretty badly. Good thing he’d waited to ask or he might never had gotten anywhere with his interrogating. Cameron sighed with disappointment etched across his face, “Seth’s moodier than ever these days and won’t tell us squat, so I was hoping you’d at least be honest with us.”

The dark Frei fidgeted a little. It was a bit embarrassing to tell Cameron that she and Seth practically had a make-out session that day. But he was worried about his little brother, so it wasn’t wrong right? Delia shook her head. No, she thought about how she would have felt if Seth had decided to tell someone else about their little moment in great detail. She would have been furious. But maybe it was okay to tell a little bit, if not to just help ease the drummer’s own concerns. “He kissed me.”

Mouth gapping in shock, Cameron nearly lost his cigarette. “s**t," he said before fixing it more securely between his lips. ‘So he kissed her huh? Didn’t think the little punk had it in him.’ Seth had always been popular with the girls and was known to try one out every now and then, but his relationships never really lasted long since no girl could ever hold his interest. Though when Cordelia came along, things had changed a bit for his brother. He spent lots of time chatting with her, so much so that Cameron and the others had a hard time breaking in when they wanted to contribute to the conversation. And when she wasn’t around, they caught Seth talking about her casually like it was only natural that he bring her up as often as possible. Though if any of them brought up the smoke Raevan themselves, Seth would sometimes give them the death glare as if they didn’t deserve to say even her name. The singer seemed to treasure her more than any of the other girls he’d ever pursued in the past and thus had decided to take things slow this time around. Cameron was happy the little brat had finally made a move because it was getting old, but he also couldn’t help feeling a little irritated as well. If things were mutual between them, then why the ******** was Seth suddenly acting like a total s**t? “And?”

The snake frowned, if he thought she was going to give him anymore details than that, he was sorely mistaken. “And what?”

“Did you kiss him back?”

A blush crept upon her cold cheeks then, “Of course I did! But not like any of that matters if he’s going to act like this now.” Cordelia seemed more depressed now as she thought about how the gorgon was avoiding her currently. What had she done wrong?

Cameron sat back with his arms behind his head. The plot certainly was thickening. What the hell was his bone headed brother thinking? He finally makes a move on the girl he’s obsessed with, of whom reciprocates, and then withdraws completely? The boy sneered as he searched the bar for him. Maybe he ought to kick his sorry a** for Delia.

Sighing, Cordelia made to leave. “Look, it’s getting late. I’m sure my granddad’s about ready to give me a call any minute now, so I should just head on home. Congrats on a great show again.” Covering up her feelings of rejection and depression, the Raevan flashed Cameron the biggest smile she could muster then. “I’m sure the next one’s bound to be epic!”

Before he could even think, the drummer was on his feet and stopping her by the wrist. “Cordelia.”

Slight confusion painted her face as she looked between her held wrist and his face. “Uh, yeah? Was there something else?”

Something…something about her resolve to save face and force a smile for others even when she was feeling miserable…it was something irresistible about the girl who smelled always of smoke. Pulling her closer into him, Cameron stared straight down into her metal grey eyes and said with the utmost of seriousness, “Forget him.”

“W-What?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing from him! Forget Seth? Oh wait, she got it. Giving a nervous laugh, Delia tried to push the demi-gorgon away. “Cam, you’re drunk…”

Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. At that moment, Cameron could care less as he tightened his hold on her and kept her from leaving. “You’re too good for him. He’ll only hurt you in the end. I’ve seen it happen a million times before. You’re not the first and you won’t be the last.”

“Cam…” she said quietly, but Cordelia was starting to get angry now. What right did he have to say these kinds of things to her?

The steeling of her eyes and the beginnings of a hiss upon his name then only made him want to continue. He took her chin gently in his hand and said lowly, “I wouldn’t hurt you. I’d protect you.” And it was then Cameron came in slowly for a kiss.

What did he mean he’d protect her? What was he saying now right out of the blue? As the drummer came in closer, the snake’s eyes widened at understanding. “Stop! C-cameron!”

Just when she’d about had it and was going to shove him away, a fist came out of nowhere and knocked Cameron down hard. Gasping, “Cameron!”

Seth towered over his older brother then, breathing hard with his fists still clenched tight as if he were going to hit the other again. Golden eyes reptilian and crazed, the singer hissed loud in parseltongue, “WHAT THE ******** DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!”

Cameron sneered as he rubbed his throbbing jaw and hissed back, “More than you! You kiss her and then make her doubt herself and where she stands with you?! You’re pathetic!”

Something snapped in Seth as his arm drew back for another punch, but stopped when Cordelia coiled herself around it. “No! Stop! Please!”

“Let go Cordelia.” Seth spat, fangs ready for blood.

“You can’t do this! He’s your brother!”

“He tried to kiss you!”

“So what if he did?! You did the same thing and no one punched you!”

“That’s different!”

“How is it different?!”

Seth bit his tongue. He had no come back for that, nor did he have an answer for her. Or at least not one he wanted to tell her. He was a little confused about what it was he actually felt for Cordelia. He really enjoyed her company and thought she was beautiful, but…her lack of a lower half had kept creeping back into his thoughts no matter how many times he tried to push it away or try to think that it wasn’t important. Apparently it was important to him, more important than he ever thought possible.

“What’s going on here?” Gideon asked with a frown. He had just shown up supporting a rather ill looking Evan.

Still pretty drunk, Evan squinted his eyes down towards Cameron. “What happened to your face?”

Shoving the other angrily out of his way as he got up, “Cameron!”

“Whatever! I’m out of here!” And the drummer was off before anyone could stop him.

The four left behind just stood around dumbfounded, not sure what to say to one another as they avoided eye contact. Cordelia hated silences like this, but she couldn’t find the words to stop it. Luckily, Evan hadn’t fully registered what was going on and drunkenly whined, “Are we there yet?”

Utterly confused, Gideon asked, “Where?”

With a hiccup and a blank face, Evan replied, “Duuuhhh home.”

Yes, all could agree it was long overdue for them to call it a night.

Bzzzzzztttt. Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzzzztttt.

The cell phone vibrated wildly across the desk before a hand slammed down on it to stop its crazed actions. Groaning heavily, Cordelia pushed the thick tech book she’d been studying off her head, how it managed to get there in the first place was a total mystery. The snake gave a tremendous yawn as she stretched and scratched the back of her raven colored hair of which was sporting a hefty bed head look. Bloodshot and heavily groggy, Cordelia’s silver eyes looked around disoriented. From the looks of things she was in her bedroom, but she couldn’t remember what day nor knew what time it was since her curtains had been drawn securely closed, plunging the room into relative darkness. Seemingly put out, the Raevan listlessly looked towards the thing that had woken her to begin with, her phone.

A quick swipe of her thumb revealed the time to be ten fifteen in the morning. Another groan issued forth from the Basilisk then as she slumped down onto her desk’s cool surface. Head facing the window again, the girl could now make out the tell tale signs of sunshine peeking out from the sides of the curtains. Just looking at those tiny tidbits of daylight were enough to make Delia flinch with discomfort. Her eyes were aching already from the dryness of not enough sleep and too much reading, adding such a strong degree of light now would surely be painful. That wasn’t something Cordelia was looking forward to just then.

Rubbing her face with one hand to perhaps coax her eyes to hydrate themselves once more, Delia used the other to find out who was messaging her. It was slow going and thus when the phone came to life again, the Frei couldn’t help but be somewhat startled, nearly dropping the thing. Answering hastily, Cordelia couldn’t hide her grumpiness and barked, “What?!”

“You finally answer and that’s your greeting?” a male voice growled back.

Metallic eyes went wide as she looked at her phone again and saw Cameron’s name in big bold letters. s**t, she wished she’d looked first before answering! It wasn’t like she hated Cameron, it was just things had gotten rather weird between them since the last time she’d seen him and as such she’d really been trying to maintain a good distance between herself and the Medusa Brothers. Luckily, work on the tech café was keeping Adrian and herself pretty busy as of late. Though she hadn’t completely ignored them, a simple text here and there, just enough to show that she was still alive. Course that was only with three of the four brothers, radio silence was still on going between Seth and her, showing no signs of either side breaking it anytime soon. And why should she give in? Seth was clearly in the wrong and needed to apologize as well as explain his actions.

“…Delia…Cordelia…CORDELIA! ARE YOU EVEN THERE?!”

The sound of the drummer’s voice had finally broken through to her and she quickly pushed the phone back up against her ear, “Yeah, sorry, I’m here. What’s up?” Cordelia tried her best to play it off as nonchalantly as possible.

Clearly annoyed, “I should be asking you that! It’s been weeks since any of us have seen you. We keep asking if you want to come out, but you always answer with some vague message about having other plans.” Cameron paused a moment to catch his breathe and think before continuing with a sigh. “Look, last time…I know things got a little weird between us, all of us. But we miss you.”

Delia was silent for a long moment before proceeding forward with her query, “All of you?”

Now it was Cameron’s turn to be silent. It was obvious he understood where she was getting at with that kind of question. This seemed to get the Basilisk’s attention as she sat up straighter now, ear pressing hard against the receiver in hopes of not missing anything the drummer said next. “Seth…misses you in his own way…”

“What the ******** that mean?!” she couldn’t help blurting out her anger. “If he truly missed me, he’d get off whatever high horse he was on and contact me himself!”

The demi-gorgon sighed again, “You’re not wrong…”

“Of course I’m not! Things were going fine until he got some weird stick up his butt and then decided to slug you! Or did you forget about that?”

Cameron was silent for a moment or two once again before he answered, “I was kind of asking for it. If he hadn’t done it, you probably would have.” Giving an awkward kind of laugh, “You look like you got a mean right hook after all.”

All Cordelia could do with that statement was sigh and roll her eyes, pondering whether she should just make up an excuse to hang up. Before she could though, the drummer got serious again. “We’re honestly worried about him Delia. Before it seemed like all he ever talked about was you, but now…he won’t say anything. We’ve tried mentioning you in idle conversation in front of him, but he won’t bite. Pretends like he wasn’t listening or just leaves the room. Plus…”

The Basilisk frowned when Cameron trailed off, “Plus what?”

Taking a breath, the drummer continued. “He goes off on his own a lot more lately and either comes back completely wasted or we get a call from someone telling us to come pick his drunk a** up.”

On one hand, she wanted to be concerned, but on the other, she just found it hard to give a damn. The latter came through more as she frustratingly scratched her tussled hair, “I don’t see how Seth's drinking habits are my fault Cameron. He’s a big boy and can make his own stupid decisions.”

“You’re not going to even try to give him a call or anything, are you?”

The snake snorted, “Coming from the guy who told me to forget about him.”

“Okay fine, you know what, yes! Yes, I said and did some s**t that night that I probably shouldn’t have.” The gorgon was sounding more heated as he spoke then. “But I’m not really sorry either since I really do have feelings for you.”

That last part made Delia blush. She figured he’d just keep playing the ‘it was the alcohol’ card forever. Never did she think he would own up to any of what he said that night. Though she enjoyed his company a lot, Cordelia had been so focused on Seth for so long now that Cameron’s words now sort of made her feel a bit uncomfortable. Even though she was completely not talking to the singer, the idea of talking to someone else behind his back that clearly had a thing for her, well…it sort of felt like cheating.

It wasn’t long after this idea that the snake shook her head fiercely. Why should she feel like this anyway?! It wasn’t like her and Seth were actually dating or anything. Though…she had hoped. A saddened frown creased her brows as she responded, “I’m sorry Cam, I-“

The other interrupted her before she could completely speak her mind. “Hey, hey! Look, I-I know, okay? Just…I’d like you to at least keep it in the back of your mind. For, you know, future reference. Meantime, I really think you should try and be the bigger person here and give Seth a call. Better yet, maybe go see him?”

Cordelia rocked back and forth in her desk chair, eyes closed as she truly struggled with the demi-gorgon’s request. “I’ll…think about it, okay?”

“That’s all I’m asking.”

God, it was like she could hear his big a** grin through the phone, which of course made her feel like she had lost somehow. “Yeah, okay, well I gotta finish studying. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Studying?” Cameron asked as if he didn’t believe her.

“Yes, really complex algorithms and mind numbing coding that needs my brain’s full attention to even understand half the time okay. So I’ll talk to you later. Bye.” Before the drummer could even try and question her more on the subject, Cordelia hung up. It was only a second before a text message popped onto her phone and the Basilisk sighed. He was persistent; she’d give him that.

Cordelia looked at her cell phone and sighed heavily. Three o’clock in the goddamn morning and she was standing outside a bar in Durem. It was one of the bars she use to frequent often with the Medusa Brothers after their shows and thus had gotten to know the staff pretty well. So well apparently that they had her number on file and decided to text her about coming to get Seth who was passed out drunk when none of his own siblings could apparently be bothered to do so. Scratching her head in frustration, the basilisk thought, ‘God I’m hopeless. Granddad’s gonna freak if he finds I’m missing at this hour…’

Upon entering, Delia’s silver eyes wearily swept the room and stopped on the all too familiar form of Seth, slumped unconscious at the bar. Rolling her eyes and sighing again, the Raevan floated over and greeted the bartender there, “Hey Ron. Sorry it took me awhile to get out here. Busses aren’t exactly running at these hours.”

Looking somewhat relieved, Ron replied, “Hey Delia, thanks for coming. I’m sorry I had to bother you with something like this, but Gideon and the rest aren’t answering any of my calls or texts.” The man gave his own sigh and shrugged, “I guess they’ve just gotten sick and tired of all this bullshit. Can’t blame them though, I’m getting pretty sick of it myself. Honestly, might have to ban him from the place for awhile, you know?”

Nodding in understanding, she jerked a thumb at Seth, “Is he…you know, okay to walk?”

“I stopped giving him actual alcohol hours ago, so he should be fine with a little help.”

That was all she needed to hear before she was flicking Seth square in the forehead. “Wake up.”

The singer jerked up and was rubbing where she’d hit him, swaying his head about as he tried to get his bearings. It was then his dull, drunk eyes brightened ever so slight and the man gave the cheesiest of grins. Words somewhat slurred, “Cordelia! Hey look everyone! Cordelia’s here! Ron, let’s get the little lady a drink!”

Delia’s nose wrinkled as the demi-gorgon pulled her in close with one arm, his breath reeking so much of alcohol she thought she may heave. Yet, she forced herself to not think about it and used said arm to pull him into a standing position. “Sorry mate, bar’s closed and you’re going home. So say bye-bye to all the nice people cause we’re leaving now.”

Seth made a loud, child-like sound of complaint, but otherwise did as he was told. Starting towards the exit, albeit with somewhat of a wobble in those skinny legs, the singer made a big production of leaving. “Sorry guys, you heard the lady, party time’s over. But don’t worry your little heads, I’ll be back tomorrow for more fun!”

“No, you won’t.” Cordelia frowned as she shoved him out the door, already exasperated. Normally, the gorgon was more reserved and mostly quiet. She’d never before seen him get this drunk that he lost all his inhibitions.

In fact, it was only mere minutes before Seth was draping himself about her and nuzzling her neck. With a low murmur, “Mmm, you smell nice. Where we going?”

She couldn’t suppress a shiver as it traveled down her half-formed spine, but did manage to steel her mind against his advances, reminding herself that he was completely wasted. Sighing, Cordelia untangled herself from Seth and floated faster in front of him. “I’m taking you home so you can sober up, and then maybe I’ll give all your brothers black eyes for making me come out here at this godforsaken hour.”

When the other didn’t reply, the Frei grew concerned, thinking maybe he’d collapsed behind her or something. Turning around, Cordelia was taken by surprise as Seth pulled her into a deep kiss. Panting, Delia tried to pull away. “Seth!” He didn’t let her get any further and went quickly in for another kiss. The world around them started spinning and then began to melt away as desire overtook the Basilisk’s senses and she found herself kissing him back just as eagerly. A part of her was still trying to remind herself that this wasn’t the time for all this, that they had problems that needed to be addressed and yet, the snake just couldn’t help herself.

She hadn’t realized he’d pulled them into a nearby alley until she felt the cold pressure of a building pressing into her backside as Seth continued to lavish her with kisses. “Delia…I missed you so much…”

“I missed you too, Seth…” Cordelia couldn’t help saying back, getting completely caught up in the moment as she kissed him again and again. She was getting so worked up; the Frei thought she might accidentally burst into smoke at any moment.

At first the gorgon had simply been content with kissing her, breathing in that delicious earthy scent he hadn’t had the pleasure of smelling in so long. But the longer he did that, the more he wanted. Eventually his movements became more aggressive, desperate even. It was then Cordelia realized he was clawing at her shirt, his hands looking for an easy entrance.

“Seth…we should…” the girl began, trying to will her mind to come back into focus. When the singer’s hands finally grew frustrated, Seth literally ripped the first layer she was wearing completely off, the thin hooded shirt falling to the ground. The action shocked Cordelia, a small ball of anxiety starting to grow in her chest. Senses finally coming back to her, the snake started to push the other away. “We should stop, this isn’t the place…”

“When is it ever the place?” he hissed, a bit of anger in his tone, not allowing her to leave him just yet. Seth pushed through her protesting arms and kissed her again; trying to coax her back to the submissive state she’d been in just moments prior. “I want you,” he purred. He could feel Cordelia’s protest waning, as if stuck in indecision. This was it, his chance! No one to stop or interrupt them, finally!

“I want you so bad Delia, I can’t take it anymore!” Though faint, in the silence of the night, the sound of a zipper was unmistakable.

At the sound, Cordelia’s silver eyes went wide. One would think she didn’t have anything to be concerned with given her current status as a Raevan, yet her body was not the problem, it was her mental and emotional states. He was drunk and this had gone to a point she was not yet ready for. Struggling against him, “Seth, that’s enough. No, I said stop it!” Finally she managed to shove him completely away. Arms entwined around her, as if trying to protect herself. “It’s time we got you back home.”

Before she could get far, Seth yanked her down by her trailing ribbon and pinned her to the ground. Though the smoky girl yelped in surprise and in pain, the singer ignored it, his focus on one thing. “It’s enough, when I say it’s enough.” If he thought he was being charming, he was obviously still too drunk to realize how terrifying that sounded at that exact moment.

His kisses that had just previously felt divine had suddenly turned sinister and made Cordelia’s skin crawl. Had Seth always harbored this kind of persona, tucked cleverly behind his mask of disinterest? Someone could argue it was the alcohol, others would argue it only brought out what was already there. Either way, Cordelia did not like this. It brought back early memories and feelings, the likes of which she had thought she’d completely forgotten, but apparently had not. At the time, she had been too new to understand what was happening, but Cordelia knew better now.

“Get off me!” she hissed as she tried forcing him off her once again. For a Frei, Delia was strong, but Seth was a full-grown man and a demi-human at that! The fact that she could even make him budge somewhat was impressive, but not enough as gravity was also against her at this moment.

Seth gave a condescending sort of smile then as if her efforts were adorable. “Don’t act like you don’t want this.” His golden eyes bore into hers deeply, threatening to engulf her silver ones. Leaning closer into her, the gorgon licked his lips and whispered, “After all, there’s no escape.”

Cordelia felt a tiny gasp leave her as she felt her arms stop moving. Confused, she tried to move them, but was only able to twitch her fingers. Trying to move at all was a tremendous strain on the Raevan, as if all her muscles had thousands of invisible ropes tying them down.

“See? No escape. Not that you want to right?” he chuckled as he resumed his kissing of her, like he was trying to console her or something before he became rough again and did as he pleased.

Delia’s body shook so hard now from her anger and from her trying so hard to get her muscles to do something more than twitch. Tears of frustration were coming forth now, but stopped when a smoky strand of her hair wisped up into her view. Her eyes went wide as an epiphany struck her then. Physically she was at a disadvantage, but she had the ability to turn that around! Cordelia tried to fuel her anger into power and use it to allow her corporeal form to melt into smoke. It was difficult at first, her movements jerky as she tried to break free.

“What are you...?” Seth was a little too late in picking up on what she was doing before her whole body burst into smoke right before him. Utterly surprised, the singer fell back and coughed. “Cor-delia?” There was a low hiss as the cloud of smoke rolled and began moving tighter around him. Seth gulped, “Cordelia…?”

“You just used your gorgon ability on me, didn’t you?” The Basilisk’s voice rolled from one of his ears to the other. “Didn’t you?!”

“I…I…I…” Seth was suddenly very, very nervous, his head jerking around, not knowing where she really was as she seemed to be everywhere at that moment. “I’m sorry! I just, I thought…”

Cordelia’s anger grew again as her smoky form morphed into that of a giant snake, reminiscent of her former life as a basilisk. “Whatever you were thinking was wrong!” she roared. “Get out of my sight before I give you a true taste of my own power!”

Seth did not comply as his eyes rolled back into his head and he toppled over. The singer had fainted, though she wasn’t sure whether it was from her basilisk form or from not knowing what she meant by her “true power.” Slowly reforming to her normal state, Cordelia sighed, somewhat relieved at not having her bluff called out. Yet…the snake looked at the demi-gorgon passed out with narrowed eyes. Honestly, she should just leave him and let what happen happens, but damn if she didn’t have a bit of dignity in her.

Shivering from the cold and the over use of her smoke ability, Cordelia found it only fair that she take Seth’s jacket as some sort of minor compensation for all the s**t he put her through tonight. Suffice to say, he would not be getting it back. Sighing in content as the warmth filled her, Delia soon gave another sigh of discontent as she heaved Seth’s sorry a** up and dragged him home.




Cordelia was not gentle at all when she threw Seth onto his bed. Though she hadn’t meant to hurt him, she did wince some when his skull bumped the headboard. She let out a breath of relief when she realized he was still, thankfully, unconscious. ‘Big ole bump on the noggin’s the least the b*****d deserves…’ she thought as she removed everything from his jacket pockets and tossed them onto the bed next to him. Oh yes, she was indeed taking that coat; she didn’t want to be freezing all the way home after all. And she most certainly didn’t want to give Seth any real reasons for coming to collect it.

With a sigh, the snake floated out of the room and shut the door behind her. She was just wondering then if any of his brothers were actually home when a nearby door opened and out popped Cameron with nothing on but a pair of ratty old sweats. The sudden sight made her blush. She hadn’t been expecting to see him then nor half dressed.

Gold eyes widening, Cameron sidestepped to avoid bumping into her. “Delia! W-what are you doing here?” From the sound of his voice alone, it was obvious he was most certainly not expecting to bump into anyone at this late hour, let alone the Raevan. Suspiciously, the gorgon closed the door to his room slight and made sure to put himself between it and Cordelia.

Eyebrow raised, Cordelia huffed. “Dropping Seth off since none of you all could be bothered to get him. Seriously, if you’re home, answer your damn phone. He’s your brother after all.”

Cameron nodded furiously. “Right right! Sorry, I thought one of the others would have gotten him. Thanks for the help, I know it’s probably not easy for you right now.” His smile was not it’s usual easygoing nature; it was stiff and nervous seeming.

The evening's earlier events played back in her mind bitterly and she replied, “You have no idea…” It was then that a noise in Cameron’s room had caught her ear, the likes of which had made the drummer stand stiffer than he already was.

Cordelia was just about to open her mouth to ask him something when another voice, female, interrupted from the other side of the door. “Cam?” it whined, “What’s taking you so long? Come back to bed.”

At first the basilisk was a bit surprised, but quickly it turned to anger as she narrowed her eyes dangerously at Cameron. She’d given him the benefit of a doubt, thinking up a million excuses for why he’d not gone to pick up Seth. Cordelia had even thought that his bizarre actions now were just the product of his surprise at finding the girl he had a crush on being suddenly there in the middle of the night. The scenario they found themselves in now had never crossed her mind. Yet, with the night she was having, she shouldn’t be surprised. They were brothers after all and their similarities were showing so bad now, that it was almost comical. “You have got to be kidding me…”

Hastily, Cameron shut the door completely, the girl on the other side giving a dissatisfied sound, but doing nothing else. “Cordelia! I can explain-“

He was suddenly cut off as Cordelia’s fist made contact with his face and he fell into the wall. He’d been right; the Frei did have a mean right hook. Tears threatening to fall “Don’t. Don’t follow me. Or call or text me or anything! I’m done with the Medusa Brothers!”

“Cordelia!” he shouted from his position on the ground, cradling his injured face. But she didn’t answer as she fled. She’d made up her mind. These boys with their little games weren’t worth her time or energy. But that still didn’t mean it hurt any less.



Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot by the time she’d gotten home, a product of her crying and then trying to force herself not to cry several times. Cordelia hated the way she was feeling then. Even though she never wanted to see or speak to any of them ever again, there was still a part of her that ached for them, for Seth. She clutched at the material around her arms. It didn’t help that she’d taken his jacket. It only helped to further burn the memories of that night into her brain. More tears threatened her raw eyes, yet she pushed them away quickly as she floated up to the front door.

The snake’s hand was just reaching for the door’s handle when it swiftly swung open and Cordelia froze. Adrian stood there with a jacket half on and his cell phone to his ear. It was obvious he’d just woken, his normally slicked back hair suffering horribly from bed head and his clothing not quite as coordinated as it normally was, most likely put on in a rush.

A deep frown graced his aged face as he hung up his phone and stuffed it into his pocket. Delia gulped, “Granddad-“

“We can discuss your punishment in the car.” He said, cutting her off rather coldly as he finished putting on his jacket and locking the door behind him. Adrian did not wait for Cordelia and simply stepped past her towards the car.

A little stunned, the Raevan blinked slowly for a moment before shaking her head and floating quickly after the human. “Wait, what? Where are we going?” It was still super early in the morning and she was confused as to what would have him driving at this hour.

Adrian looked over the car at her with a face that was every bit his fifty something years, “The hospital called. They found Ebony.” And with that, the British man slid into the driver’s seat and started the car.

If she’d had feet, Delia would have felt like the world had just crumbled away beneath them. Ebony, her actual guardian of whom had been missing for months, had finally been found. The news, although good, left the snake feeling numb and dumbfounded. If it was the hospital calling, did that mean Ebony was hurt or…? She didn’t ask and just quietly got into the car. Cordelia could feel the makings of a headache and rubbed at her face. Today was shaping up to be one of those shitty days.