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If he was not already sitting, leaning forward upon his bent knees with his head held in his hands Percy would have likely stumbled and fallen over at the unexpected speaking female voice alone -much less that even after a week he somehow recognized it. Anon?!? The thought barely had time to register, the owl-anthro barely having time for his head to jerk up with dark eyes wide behind his spectacles though his hands still supported his head as he looked to the hole of the tree before the dark winged angel shot through it. Percy had not even realized he was at the 'spirit's' tree, much less have any other ideas or expectations and gave a startled sound as he leaned away from the opening and nearly fell. AGAIN.

He stared dumbfounded at Anon's retreating figure a moment before scrambling to rise without really thinking about what he was doing. Percy's usually organized thoughts were jumbled, scattered. Flashes of the songs she sang, of his responses. Feelings of stupidity & guilt. The twins smiling -the wall exploding to crush & bury Fred. Imagined scenes of something similar happening to Anon... because he was too damn ruddy stubborn to go to her sooner...

Then new images of blood... fresh blood... glinting off of patches of pure white snow and dripping down frosted branches and blades of grass.

Percy did not notice he had been jogging when his breath caught at the realization that the blood was not his imagination but real. "Anon!" Panic, guilt, anxiety filled and broke his tired voice as he broke into a run -again without thought even as his wings furled to give him lift to go after her. The bookworm wizard neither felt nor heard the complaining of his sore muscles, tired body, or hungry belly. All he saw was the blood -Anon's blood- and her flying away from him.

Solstice is going to kill me. It was not the only thought, but it was the most coherent one within the usually brainy wizard's head. Notions of his sister's wrath along similar lines was also prominent, amid tossing through prospects of what to do. Stunning spells were right out -the last thing Percy wanted was for Anon to fall like a stone to the earth. --They had already done that. He did not have a cage and besides that would lead to that falling problem again. Dammit, I'm no good at this kind of thinking! Quick decisions and 'battle' planning were so not Percy's forte.

Thankfully his body was acting without thought -going after the girl. Though somehow Percy was oblivious to the pain and exhaustion his breath was coming out raged and wheezing. Panic and concern filled his dark eyes flavored with guilt and grief. Without thinking it... Percy Weasley was trying to catch her. Powerful owl wings flapped in the sky and the wizard turned and banked to grab her.

Some part of his addled brain marveled at the speed in which Anon kept ahead of him. Some part of his mind compared it to notes taken in Care of Magical Creatures pertaining to base instincts of fear and flight though those thoughts did not fully register as perhaps being significant in the here & now. Why would they? Percy knew of no reason for Anon to be afraid of him. He actually took her leaving the other week as her being angry with him -though he still had no understanding of why.

One thing they shared at this moment was a lack of intelligent thought. For once in his life Percy Weasley was focused on something so intently the fluttering of his reasoning mind barely could get a word in edgewise. Behind wire frames his dark eyes saw Anon pull from his reach though he did not realize he had been reaching and failing to reach her he felt something clench up tightly within his chest.

Then all at once that clenching, that knot, dropped like a lead rock into his stomach as the angel's name ripped from his dry throat when he saw her wings go limp... and her thin body start to fall. Quick! His thoughts snapped at him even as Percy started to pull his wings in and back in the beginnings of a dive. Think of how we angled to fall before! If she strikes the ground from this height...

Percy did not want to think about it. He angled and dove more to get underneath her dropping form. On another instinct his hand fought through the pressing air around him in his speed to reach for and withdraw his wand. An unspoken softening spell on the ground below. Tree branches would still likely snag them as they plummeted past but at least the impact with the ground would -hopefully- not kill them. Percy tried to reach his arms around her behind him, hoping his calculations were right to catch her. Hoping he could pull off their landing from before alone if he did catch her... Hoping... hoping...

The wizard braced himself for the impact of Anon's slight body, a random thought wondering how different it would feel as limp weight.

((by the way... I hate trying to come up with rp replies for waiting posts. *laughs*))

Seifer frowned, pausing only to snort in amusement flicking his eyes to see the new prince fussing with his ridiculous spiked bangs. Really... is the shrimp trying to look taller? *humpfh* Doesn't work. The information the Merge had shared with him did not bode well with the Gunblader, and it lowered his opinion of the princess. He had thought better of her, than for her to consider taking her own life. Seifer was not going to talk to the Merge about it now -they needed to keep tabs on Princess Maryline's safety while she was with the heir. Not listening in... but ready to should the princess open her thoughts to them. For now merely assuring those that cared for her that she was safe.

Blue eyes flicked to Zell and rolled, then were hidden as Seifer tossed his towel from his neck & pulled on his shirt. Right... like he could talk to Dincht about it. Not so soon to the problem, certainly. Not with everything else happening. They would need the fist-fighter at his best for dinner and the talks that were likely to be coming. Huffing softly Seifer shrugged into his coat.

Meanwhile Zell was trying not to be anxious while fixing his hair. Though it needed to be done, fussing this much over it was mostly just giving him something to do, something on which to focus. The energetic young man was not good at waiting, and waiting while his girl was off with another man in whom he did not trust was agonizing. Finishing his hair Zell grinned cockily, a fake expression if one knew him. It lit his eyes only from years of practice but not enough. Then Zell did the most typical 'Zell' act ever: hopping energetically to the spot in the room with the most space he began a series of kicks and punches as he 'shadow boxed' the time away.

Beneath his cowl Bill leaned against the wall beside the door on the side it would open with a book held within the folds of his cloak where he could read it between glances on the other two. They were so different, and yet in their focus their was a similarity. He could see their military training & marveled with respect at it. Seifer had Hyperion out and was stoically polishing the shining metal, his lips smirking and twitching slightly as if repressing a habit. Probably insulting Zell, from what I've heard of their past relationship and how the tala twins of them treat each other. That made the wizard wonder about whether it was Rune's influence that calmed Seifer down, for the one Seifer that was most aggressive and cruel was the talaye who had no calming influence -though even he calmed somewhat in the presence of one of the three Runes, and even a few other of the more caring females. Even so... it was not enough to get him off his 'brother' Zell's back. No one in their strange family bothered to keep track of how often those two had to be separated. Well... someone probably did, but Bill did not know about it.

With a silent sigh Bill pulled his thoughts back around, focusing on the here & now and spreading his large African dog ears to hear anything coming from the hall. Almost as good and not as noticeable as the twins' Extendable Ears, were these new ears of his. Bill slid his finger down the seam of his book to keep the pages open, and tried not to think of Fleur. Focus.