[IC] [Mizos]The Tides of The Past[SanaChan][Take Two]

[SanaChan]

Mary closed her eyes when Rin started to talk about Mera, clenching her fists a bit as she brought up seeing Mera suffer all that time. She glanced over at her as she continued talking, flinching a little at the mention of Mera's tattoo. She put her hands to her face as her emotions started to bubble up and everything around them started shaking before there was a final burst of energy and she hit her knees, sobbing. All she had wanted was to do something to help her family, to end their suffering at the hands of that man. And if Alari really was gone, she wanted to make him pay for putting them in a situation that would cause that, that would not only take away a friend of hers, but to take away the person that had managed to unearth Mera's heart, to show her that it was okay to feel again. Why was it fair for that to be taken away again, because she knew when Mera found out, she would shut herself off again. All she wanted to get rid of the source of all their sadness. She hadn't thought about just how much sadness she would cause if that had been her final action,she couldn't see anything past her rage at the situation, even as Mera and Raina had been begging her to stop. Especially with Mera, all she could think was how she would look when she found out about Alari, how the life she had finally seen in her sisters eyes would vanish again. She bent down, putting her head against the rooftop as she cried, feeling a useless child all over again, watching idly as her siblings carried her away from danger.
Raina helped Mera up, the two getting over to Mary, and Mera gently pulled her close as Raina looked down to see what was going on below, "I think now is our best time to run," she looked at the others, "He's not dead, but he sure as hell isn't getting up for awhile," she said. True enough, the last moments of that pressure that Mary had put on the ones just below her hand caused their limbs to be broken and some other bones of the sort and the majority of them were unconscious.
Mera carefully helped Mary to remove the helm but Mary held up her hand, when Raina went to take it. The helm began to glow lightly and then disappeared, one of the rainbow flowers reappearing from the field that she had once given to Kaori, "Now he won't be able to find it again," She whispered, leaning against Mera who held her close, carefully stroking her hair. It was clear Mera was more worried about the damage done to her sister than the damage done to herself.
Raina sighed a bit, knowing that that was the main way the two of them were different, not the ability to use magic, "I'm going to go get Eryn and Kaori," she told them before starting back to the inn, figuring at the very least Eryn wouldn't leave, but she didn't know Kaori well enough to know if he was still there.
Hotaru walked over to Mera and Mary, offering her hand, "I can carry Mary," she offered, figuring Larel would prefer to help Mera since he had an aversion to Mary in general. Mera actually seemed a bit hesitant to let her go, looking down as Mary lightly toyed with the flower, not seeming to be paying any attention. She finally nodded and let Hotaru pick her up, putting her on her back. She looked over at Larel, relieved to see his wound had been healed from that swing- hitting organs or not, it almost hurt her as much it did them to have to watch them fight each other that way- and then she looked over to Rin, taking a deep breath, "Who are you really?" she asked, the exhaustion clear in her voice. She wanted some answers, "Of course don't mistake my asking that as not being grateful, because I am, but Alari was the only person I told of the reasons for that tattoo."
"I'd almost forgotten about that one," Mary mumbled, laying her head on Hotaru's shoulder, her eyes getting heavy, dropping the flower as she did.
"Which one are they talking about?" Hotaru raised a brow.
"One you haven't seen yet," Mera answered shortly before looking back at Rin, waiting for the answer to who she was, though she slowly managed to get back up off her feet, figuring they should get moving soon. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep moving, considering how weak she felt, how heavy each of her limbs were, but she had to try

[Mizos]

Rin fell on her bottom with a heavy sigh as Mary seemed to calm down, she lied on her back as relief flooded over her as she stopped using the helmet. She wasn't sure how he did this all the time but she wouldn't want to deal with it on a constant basis. She remained still even as Larel and Zenmaru made their way over to Mary along with Mera and the others. Rin was positive Kaori was still at the inn as Raina ran off, he wouldn't risk his own safety without some kind of bodyguard, that and he had no idea where Mary had gone since she teleported so he couldn't chase after her anyway. Raina's threat had also taken root and he didn't like the risk of angering her so there was a pretty good chance he hadn't moved.
Larel looked over at Rin for a moment but turned his attention away not really all that interested in what she was doing, when Hotaru spoke he let out a relieved sigh and nodded. He didn't want to be rude but he really didn't want to touch Mary, he was worried about her but he would flinch and shake if he even attempted it and that tended to offend sometimes.
His own fears aside he was happy to see everyone was okay but he didn't disagree with getting far away from here, that kind of pressure would have killed a lesser person and he didn't want to stick around to personally meet the guy at least not right now.
Larel walked over to Mera to help her in moving but when she spoke to Rin he stopped, honestly he wanted an answer to that question himself, Zenmaru on the other hand seemed rather uninterested but her attention had moved to Rin who closed her eyes upon hearing the question.
Rin rolled backwards doing a handstand before putting her feet down as she got back to her feet, Larel averted his gaze not wanting to see anything before Rin reached down and picked up her wooden sword placing it on her shoulder. She leaned her neck to the side causing it to crack before glancing back at the Mera over her shoulder.
"I just happened to be passing by," she said turning her attention forward again. "Just took a shot in the dark with that tattoo thing. It's a common thing right?"
"Bull," Larel said his eyes drooping a little.
Rin sighed and turned to fully face them, walking over she picked up the flower and put it in her kimono letting it stick out a little. Her mouth twitched a little as it didn't really suit her but she looked at Mera to answer her.
Larel was uncomfortable with this girl, her face seemed constantly blank and though she had a light voice there seemed to be no emotion behind it as she spoke.
"Perhaps it's best you not know who I am right now," Rin said.
"Well you do keep secrets like a certain someone I know," Zenmaru commented.
Rin's wooden sword hurled through the air and slammed into Zenmaru's skull causing her to stagger back in pain as she gripped her head, either by skill or luck Rin caught the sword as it flew back towards her.
"I'm pretty sure I told you to stay didn't I," Rin said tilting her head a pretty intense glare forming for a moment. "Alari may dislike violence but I'm more than willing to keep beating you until your own harlot mother doesn't recognize you. Don't open that mouth of yours again or I'll seal you back in Larel permanently."
The amount of anger in Zenmaru's eyes was extremely clear and darkness rolled off her in waves, Larel was actually glad her power was sealed right now as he could feel her hate from here.
"....watch your back fake," Zenmaru said before crossing her arms closing her eyes at the same time.
The blank expression promptly returned to the girl's face causing Larel to wonder if she had some kind of switch that activate her 'hate' somewhere, the amount of venom in her voice a moment ago was nonexistent as she spoke again.
"Sorry about that," Rin said looking at Mera. "I'd rather not tell you but if I don't hissy fit over there will so why don't we all get together, Kaori should hear it too to keep me from having to explain it twice."
Zenmaru clicked her tongue and vanished back into Larel's shadow, he let out a weak laugh before lowering his head.
"I have to deal with that later you know..." he mumbled.
"You have my condolences," Rin said averting her eyes.
"....I can't tell if your serious or not."
"My apologies sarcasm is hard for me." Rin said glancing back at him. "Would you like a hug, a pat on the head, I have some candy in my sleeve if it makes you feel better."
"...I preferred you when you were silent," Larel grumbled kneeling down with his back to Mera. "Let's just go If you can't move Mera-sama I'll carry you."
Larel was ready to speed off at a moment's notice if Mera accepted the invitation, Rin seemed to be waiting for them to move as she intended on following behind. A small yawn actually escaped from her and she rubbed her eyes with her free hand pushing up the glasses in the process.

[SanaChan]

"I hate to ask you to do such a thing, but if I were to try and walk on my own, I would only slow everyone down," Mera sighed a bit, rubbing her forehead, taking a deep breath.
"You're light enough that I could carry you easily, it's not like you'll slow him down any," Hotaru said simply, "Honestly, I don't understand how you're so damned light, it's really not fair," she huffed, shaking her head.
"Are you seriously getting upset about my weight?" Mera raised a brow at her, putting a hand on her hip.
"Yes, because it just shouldn't be possible for anyone to be that light," Hotaru muttered.
Mera rolled her eyes before continuing, point towards the inn, "It's that way. It would be faster for us to head to them and just exit that way than to have the backtrack and have us waiting here when one of those guys down there manages to get back up," She motioned to the road below.
Hotaru nodded, "Alright," she murmured, looking towards Larel and Rin, then started moving forward, "I'll go ahead and go that way," she decided, and started towards the inn. Mary was still out like a light, deadweight as she didn't so much as stir to the movement or the sounds around her, "I'm gonna get drooled on, aren't I?" she sighed a bit as she realized just how dead to the world Mary was, "Crazy kid."

Raina landed in the window sill, looking in to the room.
"Ah, sister, good news I hope?" Eryn looked up at her, standing up slowly, having sat down against the door.
"Yes. Some strange girl showed up and managed to talk some sense in to Mary, but we're running on borrowed time. Mary managed to disable the enemy for a short period of time, but she's unconscious now and Mera can hardly stand up, so we're going on foot and we need to go now," She opened the window further, pointing out before heading up on to roof, looking around to make sure none of the enemies had managed to escape Mary's wrath, "Quickly you two," she said to them, not seeing anyone, but she didn't want to be sitting ducks waiting on the two of them if that fact happened to change.
Eryn took a deep breath, "Well.... this was certainly not how I expected today to go. It's been a long time since I've had to run away," he mumbled before going to the window, "Can you handle the run, Kaori, or would you like me to carry you?" he asked him, "I might not look it but I'm actually kind of strong," He chuckled a bit, nodding.

[Mizos]

Larel smiled not really minding, he was content being able to help Mera but he kept such thoughts to himself and watched in silence as the two spoke to one another. He turned his head trying not to snicker at their conversation. He wouldn't have felt right laughing but it took an extreme amount of effort just to hold it in. He was aware Mera was pretty light, back when he carried Mera away from Thanos he was actually surprised how light she was, he didn't comment then due to the situation but he couldn't disagree.
He looked in the direction Mera pointed and nodded as Hotaru ran ahead with Mary, relief flooded him as Mary got further away and he seemed to calm down a little a small sigh escaping from him.
Rin watched Hotaru go and while her attention was elsewhere Larel's attention moved over to her, he stared for a bit too long and their eyes ended up meeting causing Rin to adjust her glasses.
"See something you like," Rin said arching a brow at him. "I'll start getting all embarrassed if you stare too much."
"Is that your sarcasm again?"
Rin remained silent which made Larel extremely uncomfortable and he decided to avert his gaze and not push the matter any further, in fact engaging in a conversation with her just seemed like a bad idea. He started to wonder if that was her intent but couldn't discern anything from her blank stare.
"Adorable," Rin mumbled closing her eyes before flexing her shoulder. "I'm going ahead."
Larel watched her go and waited until Mera was on before he followed after Hotaru wanting to catch up as soon as possible, he kept his attention forward not wanting to think too much at the moment.

Kaori had been playing with Jin in his original form when Raina came back, he was happy to see someone return at least and smiled hearing the news that Mary and Mera were okay even if they weren't in the best shape. Kaori stood up when she told them they needed to move, he was alright with running away from here and he mentally prepared himself for whatever they would encounter outside.
He looked over at Eryn when he spoke to him a small smile formed on his face and he puffed his chest out a bit proud of himself, he was going to be able to do the one thing he was good at.
"I'm actually quite proud of my ability to run," Kaori said. "However I won't turn down being carried, ah I'll only accept if it's like a princess any other way and I'd rather just walk."
Jin's let out a loud yip and changed it's form into Kaori, the transformation called Kaori to blink a little confused but Jin picked him up and tossed him over his shoulder.
"Ah wait a second Jin! Put me down this isn't the way at all!" Kaori whined struggling in his grip.
Jin nodded to Eryn before hopping outside and onto the roof next to Raina.
"Jin put me down right now," Kaori said looking over at him.
Jin ignored him and waited to move with Raina keeping his attention on the village.

[SanaChan]

Mera raised a brow as they arrived where the others were seeing Kaori.... over Kaori's shoulder, "Well that's interesting," she mumbled as Eryn joined them.
"The one doing the carrying is that little fox thing," Eryn explained though Raina had her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh about it.
"Where should we go?" Hotaru looked at them, "The next village would be obvious and even going back to the woods would be obvious too, but we'll have a better chance of hiding from them there," she said.
"There are more woods in that direction," Mera pointed one way, "I can't tell how far away anymore, but it's closer than the woods we came from," she said, looking around them.
"Then that's the way we're going. We can come up with a plan when we reach the safety of the trees," Raina said, turning, fixing her hood before taking off, heading in the direction that Mera had pointed.
"Right then," Eryn sighed a bit, looking back in the direction where his home had been, "I suppose it was time to move on anyways," he mumbled before turning and following after his sister.
"Hey, aren't we short a member?" Hotaru looked around, raising a brow. As much as Larel disliked Alari, he wasn't usually very far away, and she was sure she knew why.
"He must have found something else to entertain himself. I'm sure Mary contacted him too and he just didn't come, so let's go," Mera said simply, an edge to her voice.
Hotaru frowned a bit before turning and going after Raina and Eryn, getting by the tone of Mera's voice that waiting for Alari wasn't an option. She was glad to get away from here, hoping that maybe putting some distance between her and the person Mary had been attacking my decrease the strength Sybil seemed to currently have. Even dormant in the back of her mind, she had never felt Sybil quite like she did now, that she was another identity in her mind rather than just an unwelcome guest. She would have to stay on top of her thirst to try and keep her back, because it was definitely clear Sybil would do whatever she could to screw around with their minds, to try and break them and tear them apart just for the fun of it.
"I'm quite tired of this place," Mera pinched the bridge of her nose, "The faster we put it behind us, the better."

Thanos sat up in the alleyway, holding his head, "What the hell happened?" he grumbled, trying to figure out how he had gone from sitting by the entrance to the village, just relaxing to feeling like he'd gotten slammed by one of Mera's old hissy fits, when trees suddenly started thrashing about. He got up off the ground and balked as he saw the state of things. He hurried down one of the roads, looking around until he came across his father who was trying to get up.
Thanos looked around, gritting his teeth as he realized Mary must have had a moment and looked at the man on the ground in front of him, "Seems someone convinced her to spare you," he held up his hands, two walls of earth coming up on either side of him, "Good. Her hands shouldn't have to be the ones tainted by your blood," he clapped his hands together right as his father looked up at him, his eyes clearer than they had been since Mary was born, the demon having gone in to hibernating when Mary was trying to crush him, but Thanos wasn't going to take the chance of it coming back out. He didn't so much as flinch when the walls slammed together, blood splattering up to his feet.
Now he had to find where Mera and the others had gone before something else came after them. He started towards the outer rims of the village, trying to get a reading for any movement to see which way they had gone. However, his head was clouded, feeling like he'd stuck in a mud hole, and he couldn't get any bearings at all, "Damn," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "This is going to take awhile."

[Mizos]

Larel landed near everyone and froze when he saw two Kaori's, something about that rubbed him the wrong way. There wasn't a need for two Kaori's in this world, he could barely handle one. When Eryn explained who the other one was Larel nodded before looking over at Rin who walked up to the Kaori's as everyone else talked to each other.
At the mention of the woods Larel flinched and his eyebrow twitched at the idea of going into one, he took a breath to calm himself down as he wasn't going in alone and he had Mera so getting lost wouldn't happen....hopefully. He still worried about the youkai but he was keeping his darkness suppressed so none should show themselves, he hoped so at the very least.
He looked over at Eryn his eyebrows drawing down a little as he couldn't help but feel a little for him, Eryn was a strange man but he and Hotaru seemed to get along so he couldn't be all that bad. He was sure Eryn had memories here seeing as it was his home; Larel's attention went to Hotaru when she spoke and he closed his eyes knowing what she meant, his eye twitched at the idea but Mera's voice kept him from getting too lost in his own anger.
Larel decided not to make any comments on Alari, he wasn't sure where he was but he still owed him from his help earlier, the thought of it disgusted him but he needed to repay that favor, he might hold it over his head at one point and he didn't want to deal with that.
While Larel pushed his hate deep down inside Rin spoke to Jin and with a nod he lept off with Kaori following after the others, Rin looked back at Larel before speaking to him.
"Don't worry about your fear of forests," Rin said. "Let's go."
She turned her back to them and with a small scoff Larel jumped after everyone knowing Mera wanted to get away from this place, Rin watched them slowly get further away before glancing to her right.
"Sorry about all this Mera," she mumbled before jumping off the roof to catch up with everyone, her heart hurt from Mera's words but she made sure not to show it on her face. For the time being she had to accomplish her job.

[SanaChan]

Mera looked ahead as Larel started moving, glad he couldn't see her face. This was killing her. Where the hell did he go? She looked back over her shoulder towards the villages, 'You'd better show up... I'll never forgive you if you just left after all that mess you made me open myself up to,' she put a hand to her chest, clutching her kimono a bit, hating the assault of emotions that was being thrown on her. Something had happened to him, that much was obvious now, but she couldn't let Larel in on the fact she this conflicted over him not being there when they had all gathered. She looked back ahead, closing her eyes as she tried to calm herself down, to put all of it behind her. This was another reason she had never let anyone in like that. In the end, who can you really trust? she thought as she opened her eyes back up, putting her other hand back on Larel's shoulder, not wanting to get him off balance. She was doing her best to shut those emotions back off but Hotaru could have sworn when she glanced back, she saw her crying.
Hotaru looked back ahead as Raina and Eryn reached the edge of the woods, Raina going up in to the trees while Eryn began scouting for a reasonably unnoticeable spot for them to be able to set up some kind of camp. He found a nice boulder that jutted out at an angle from the ground, leaning against two large, thick bodied trees, "Here," He waved to the others, "We should be able to make a fire here without anyone from the village being able to see," he called before landing in the small space behind it.
Hotaru came up, gently setting Mary down against a rock, raising a brow as she saw Eryn putting little strips of paper around the area in a circle, "What are you doing?" she raised a brow at him, moving to grab some pieces that would make good firewood.
"It's not actual magic or anything, but I used to carry this scent on me when I was traveling and I found nothing ever bothered me in the woods while I had it," Eryn rubbed the back of his head, "Everything little bit counts, right?" he mumbled, clearly just trying to help in anyway he could.
Hotaru sighed, "I can guess why nothing comes up," she muttered, setting the sticks in a pile and it dawned on him that she could smell it and went to pick it up, "Leave it. It's fine," she waved it off, using a quick fireball to start the fire.
"Alright," Eryn murmured, standing near Mary, putting his hands behind his back to try and not get in anyone's way.
When Larel and Mera reached the group, she got down from his back, sitting next to her sister with a sigh, Raina landing on the boulder above them, "It's clear for a few miles around as far as I can tell," Raina said as she sat down, her legs dangling over the side.
"You should get some rest," Eryn told Mera, who smirked a little at the fact he was still trying to dote on her in a way, "But seriously, you had to be carried, and you only allow that at extremes, so you really should get some slee-"
"I will, Eryn, relax," Mera motioned for him to sit down, "We should be fine here for the night. There's no way any of them can recover from that overnight," she said as she leaned her head back against the stone, giving a heavier sigh than before.

[Mizos]

Larel glanced back at Rin as they traveled wondering how far she intended on following them, seeing she wasn't too far behind he turned his attention forward again not wanting to lose everyone. Once he reached the area and Mera went over to her sister Larel walked over and knelt down in front of the fire, he looked at everyone as they seemed to be getting comfortable for the night, Jin had set Kaori down by now and Larel watched as Kaori glared at Jin before he returned to his original form landing on Kaori's shoulder.
Larel walked over to the fire and knelt down before holding his hands towards it warming up a bit.
Rin landed a few feet behind him as he did so but he ignored her having enough to worry about in the forests. Rin walked over to Kaori and asked for the talisman's Alari had given him, when he handed him to her she walked over and put a few of them on the tree's, she seemed to only need three as she returned to the circle shortly after and crossed her arms going silent once more.
With a small yawn Larel shook his head finding exhaustion starting to creep up on him, today had been a long day and he was mentally and physically exhausted.
"By the way Hotaru if you start feeling strange in anyway please don't hesitate to say anything," Larel said looking over at her before his attention went to the silent girl behind him. "Rin."
Hearing her name Rin opened her eyes and looked at Larel who remained seated by the fire, he looked over his shoulder at her his eyes narrowing a bit.
"I'd like some answers since we have a moment to rest now," he said.
"Wouldn't you prefer it after everyone has rested a bit," Rin said stabbing her wooden sword into the ground.
"I'm not going to make anyone stay up, I said I wanted answers and I'm not going to sleep right now. I find it hard to sleep with strangers nearby anyway."
Rin looked over at Jin who hopped off Kaori's shoulder and ran over to her before climbing up her Kimono to her shoulder. Reaching up she removed Alari's glasses and taking out a handkerchief started cleaning them as she spoke.
"I'm his daughter," Rin said.
Larel and Kaori stared at Rin as she rubbed the back of her head a little embarrassed to be saying it, Kaori's jaw dropped and Larel's eye twitched.
"You’re...you’re his daughter...that's...how..." Larel said finding it difficult to form the words as his mind refused to accept
"Oh it seems I've confused you, I'm not his daughter but I am his daughter."
"...I don't...I don't get it," Kaori said. "Oji-san...isn't as innocent as I thought?"
"Who are you looking at?" Larel asked looking back at Kaori.
"I think I've caused some unnecessary confusion, Alari and I are not related by blood and he has not engaged in any activity that would cause him to have a daughter related by blood."
"Are we talking at all or just..." Kaori said leaning forward a bit.
"The specifics aren't important, let me try this again I'm a manifestation created by Alari from Alari," she said casually putting her glasses back on. "I'm the just in case if that helps you understand what I just said Kaori."
"....I...I'm still confused," Kaori said with a weak chuckle.
"....I'm a fake created by Alari to make sure the people he cares about remain unharmed from the influence of Zenmaru or anything else," Rin said. "He became aware that he was going to have to vanish for a certain period of time and didn't want to abandon anyone. My appearance is from someone within his memories; I could have easily ended up as Larel, Kaori, or anyone else. I just happened to take this form."
"I'd still like my question answered," Kaori said raising a finger.
Rin ignored the comment and Larel brought his hand to his chin still organizing what she said.
"...why would he need to vanish? Is he off gathering an army or something, killing innocent people, something else evil and unruly," Larel said.
"No he's dead," Rin said shrugging.
Kaori's whole body flinched and his eyes widened hearing the words, he closed his eyes as his body trembled and it took him a moment to regain his composure as he gripped his chest, Larel on the other hand seemed unaffected by the news.
"Ah excuse me I don't mean dead as in deceased, but just dead," Rin said correcting herself.
"...what does that even mean?" Larel asked shaking his head.
"He's dead but he also not dead."
"Okay...If he was his normal dead he'd be back by now, that annoying man never dies," Larel said shrugging.
"If he's killed by you," Rin said. "However in this case Alari's own actions took his life. Put simply he died by his own hand, he simply pushed himself too far and the effect caused him to perish. He wanted to avoid any complications that would arise from that information being known"
"Why would he push himself? He went and died because he did too much that would be his own fault then, he could have avoided it by being more careful."
Rin just stared at Larel causing him to arch a brow at her, she averted her eyes not wanting to explain that he was actually at fault for that but she knew Alari didn't want Larel to know that.
"Is...Oji-san coming back," Kaori asked finally finding the words.
“Yes but it’ll take longer than it normally does.”
“…I don’t understand, what’s taking so long?” Kaori asked.
"Jin," Rin said looking over at him. "I have Alari's memories it'll be easier to explain if I show them rather than try to explain it."
Jin hopped on Rin's head and similar to Kaori sent a blue fireball out creating the dome, Alari appeared in the center of it lying on his back and Rin started her explanation.
"When Alari dies by Larel's direct involvement in anyway he ends up here," Rin said pointing at the Alari.
The moment she did the landscape around Alari expanded into an endless red ocean, the one Alari saw each time he died, the illusion Alari stood up and looked around at the endless red landscape; Alari looked up at the red sky before he started walking forward on the water.
"While there he encounters two figures, one a young girl and the other and older woman. He believes these two to be Shinigami," Rin continued the cloaked figure rising from the water as she did.
Just as Rin said the cloaked person was shorter than Alari and seemed of a smaller build, looking at her reflection there was another cloaked figure but it was clear she was older, taller and had more of a figure that was easy to see even with their cloaked appearances.
"After a small ceremony Alari is returned to the realm of the living," Rin said as the scene faded. "It's the same every time, no change or alteration no matter how he dies. Thus Alari doesn't die like normal people do...unless he takes his own life. Alari knew that would probably be the case and knew it would take a moment for his return due to the circumstances."
"Wait," Kaori said holding his hand up. "If Oji-san knew he would just come back why didn't he just tell me that?"
"Kaori how do you think Alari knew he would come back even if he took his own life."
"Oh well that would be because he...took...his....own life..."
Kaori lowered his head as the realization hit him; that explained the look on Alari's face back then.
"It's a matter he's particularly ashamed of so I doubt he would openly speak about it. In his words,” Rin said changing her voice to Alari as she spoke the next part.
“In my youth I was a very troubled young man who made many mistakes, unfortunately that was one of them, personally I’d rather not mention the circumstances but I’ll admit the irony was not lost on me.”
Rin cleared her throat to get her voice back and spun her finger in a circle causing Jin to yip.
Alari appeared again surrounded in endless darkness, he looked around again but this time he looked at the bracelet on his right wrist before he started walking forward into the never-ending darkness.
"Since Alari died by his own hand he's right here now. He ends up in this vast darkness every time, thus he's dead but not dead. For each death this way it get's harder and harder to return. Realizing this he made me to not only explain this but keep you safe. It wasn't something he wanted and he did not do so to be a 'martyr' or anything. It was something that he decided to do in the short amount of time he had. I'd explain what led to it but... "
Rin trailed off and looked over at Larel who narrowed his eyes at her as he felt uncomfortable from the blank look she was giving him.
"So...Oji-san will be back," Kaori said still wanting a confirmation.
"Alari will return, he's abandoned too many people in his lifetime, he would prefer not to do it again. Besides he said so himself right, he always comes back when someone’s waiting for him, and he always says goodbye when he leaves.”
Jin jumped off her head and onto her shoulder before she adjusted her glasses with a nod.
“Well there’s all that and...."
Rin trailed off but she glanced over at Mera staring for a moment before she turned her attention back to Larel.
"You'll have to excuse me for my lack of interest in...well...everything you just said but since your in there you got anything else in his memories."
"Plenty," Rin said.
"Good why don't you show that too."
"......why?"
"That guy keeps secrets like it's an art, I'd like some answers to some questions."
"You won't find any of the answers you look for in my head, just memories."
"That's fine anything I can have on him for when he get's back is good enough for me, he literally knows everything about me but I don't know a thing about him. Anything is fine the more embarrassing it is the better."
Rin made a mental note that though he said he didn't care she noticed that 'when he get's back' and made sure that information would be passed to Alari when the time came.
"...I'm willing to show you that...but understand that Alari doesn't mind telling you these things himself, he's just restrained himself in doing so not wanting to bother you with his own memories. The only difference between us is I'm not bound by that restraint."
"Just hurry up and show it."
"Nah I don't feel like it," Rin said before sitting down on her knees. "I'm more than happy to answer questions as that’s also why I was created, but I'm tired and I've done my duty for the time being so I'm not digging in their anymore."
"You...but...the fox…" Larel tried to speak but Rin had already closed her eyes and seemed to be ignoring him, he turned his attention back to the fire and mumbled to himself deciding to let it go for the time being, he was too tired to pursue it.
Kaori on the other hand seemed to completely relax at the information, Rin opened one of her eyes before closing them again as Jin vanished into her kimono.

[SanaChan]

As Rin explained what was going on, Hotaru looked around, a little wary as she heard the trees groaning and she imaged that it was probably Mera's current mood that was causing it. Dead but not dead wasn't a very good explanation to her- not because it didn't make sense, but because it wasn't satisfactory, "Idiot," she muttered under her breath, watching the scene that Rin decided to share with them. She closed her eyes when she leaned her head back, decided she owed him a good chewing out for his poor choice in actions.
Hotaru sighed a bit when the trees got quite, sitting down as well, smirking a little bit as Rin decided to ignore Larel's request to look at the other memories of Alari, though at first she was confused as to why he wanted to know them. She laughed a little bit when he was basically looking for a way to make Alari feel embarrassed by something, "Careful," Hotaru smirked at him, "You might find things in there that you really didn't want to know about him," she said as she leaned back on her hands, stretching her legs out so her feet were semi-close to the fire, "If you guys want to get some rest, I can stay on a watch. I'm not exactly tired so I might as well put myself to use, right?" she smirked lightly.
Raina and Eryn had stayed quiet during the exchange though neither of them missed Mera's reaction to Rin's description of Alari's status.
'So she actually cares about him?'
'In ways I don't think even she really understands,' Eryn murmured, looking down at Mera and Mary, Mera seeming to have already fallen asleep from her stillness, 'I think she told him that lame story about the merchant once to keep him off her trail of why she didn't like him,' he gave a short laugh and Raina rolled her eyes.
'Goddess I hope he didn't believe it,' she shook her head. 'I don't know if she realizes how naive she makes herself seem in that story.'
'Well in the true story she really was naive, that's what the whole problem was.' Eryn said, looking at her, 'You were with her, you should remember that.'
'Of course I do, that's why I started training-'
"How rude," the two looked at Hotaru who raised a brow at them, "You're not even bothering to whisper while talking in your other language, the least you could do is share what you're talking about."
"My sister may like you, but I don't really care for you, so I don't see why I should have to tell you anything," Raina said simply
"I don't think Mera would appreciate us sharing this topic with everyone here," Eryn put his hand over Raina's mouth, "Matters of the heart and all that. Plus she's been trying to hide her feelings from you all, I think she should be allowed to share those feelings when she's ready, I'm just making observations," he waved it off.
"Hence why we weren't speaking in your language," Raina muttered and Hotaru's eye twitched a little at the level of disdain in her voice.
"What did I ever do to you? This is the first real time we've actually met."
"And I would prefer to keep it that way. Just because Mera likes to pick up strays doesn't mean I have to pet them."
"Raina," Eryn chided, "This isn't exactly the time to be making enemies with people who are on our side just because you don't want to be compared to Mera."
"Whatever," Raina muttered, turning away, watching out in to the woods.
Hotaru huffed, muttering something under her breath as she looked back to the flames, which were now a little hotter than they were before because of her agitation, so she pulled her feet back just a bit so as to not singe her shoes.
Eryn got down from the rock where he had been sitting before going over to Rin and bowing his head, "None of us have really said this yet, but thank you for your help," he murmured, "You helped my sister regain her sense and you've filled in the blanks about where our friend has gone, and you're helping us on his behalf now that you've mentioned it. I don't know about the others but at a time like this it's a blessing," he smiled lightly

[Mizos]

Larel kept his attention on the flames as Kaori found a comfortable spot to lay down in before closing his eyes, he was uncomfortable sleeping in the dirt and made a mental note to clean himself twice over once this was over, he admitted it wasn't the first time he had to do so but it was never comfortable. Larel glanced to his right surprised that Zenmaru was so quiet, after seeing all that he expected some kind of response from her, she was probably still angry at Rin which he could understand but he always worried whenever she was silent like this.
He looked at Hotaru as she spoke to him and he actually chuckled a little at it but he remained silent as he heard Eryn and Raina speaking to one another. Larel didn't understand what the conversation was about and Hotaru spoke to them about it which Larel almost did as he still wasn't fully comfortable around Raina. Hearing her and Hotaru get into it didn't help matters any but it seemed like Eryn handled it which Larel appreciated, he did however feel the heat of the fire grow and moved his hands away when it did.
Raina was Mera's family he understood that at the very least so he would be polite since they were closely involved with his master but that was the extent.
"I'll stay up with you for a bit Hotaru," Larel said. "I'm still trying to find some way to get information on him, I'll admit there are some questions I don't want answers too like the one Kaori asked but to see the expression on his face when I have something on him for once."
Larel actually grinned at the idea and held his hands out to the fire though he had moved away from it a bit.
"It wouldn't change anything," Rin said causing him to flinch.
He glanced back at her but she remained still her eyes still shut causing Larel to turned back around.
When Eryn spoke to her Rin opened her eyes and looked at him, her face was blank but there was a very slight twinkle of happiness in her eyes before she shut them once again.
"I can see why he wants to return," Rin said. "It's no problem I'm just doing what I was asked to do but I appreciate the thanks."
"Are you going to sleep by the way?" Larel asked glancing back at her. "Having you awake and behind me is uncomfortable..actually just having you behind me is uncomfortable."
Rin pointed at one of the talisman's her eyes still closed.
"I'm keeping those active so I'll be awake for bit," she said. "Most of the night more than likely."
"Do you really need to do that?"
"Alari did it," Rin responded. "It keeps...an unnecessary force from interrupting this quality time."
Larel didn't know what she meant by that and Rin wasn't about to mention it was there for Zenmaru, she went back to her silence and went still once more but it was clear she was still awake.

[SanaChan]

Eryn rubbed the back of his head at the conversation that occurred between Rin and Larel, sighing a bit at the fact it was about as friendly as Raina had been with Hotaru, "Practically tangible," He mumbled and walked over towards where his sisters were and sat down next to Mera, leaning his head back on the rock.
In the morning, he woke as heard the movement next to him. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes to find Mera standing up and walking away from the circle, out in to the woods. Hotaru woke as well, though she hadn't been all that asleep to start with. She started to stand to go with her, but Mera held up her hand, stopping her from following after. Hotaru blinked a bit, wondering where she could be getting off to that she wanted to go alone. She looked over at Eryn, but he just shrugged, not having any idea either. She stood up, dusting herself over as Eryn leaned over to check on Mary, who was still out cold, though neither were surprised by that fact. She put a hand to her head, feeling a dull throb as she was now fully awake and sighed, looking around, "Might need to take care of that," she mumbled before starting in a different direction that Mera had gone, figuring she would get upset if she thought she was following her. She moved quietly, not wanting to wake anyone else who was sleeping, glancing around the camp to see who all that was. She was glad they were in the woods as she hadn't had the chance to get her own cloak back from Eryn's home before she and Mera fled, so she needed the shadows to avoid getting some serious burns at this point.

Mera went out a ways before finding a place just to sit down away from everyone else, putting her head in her hands. She had to find someway to get all of her stress back under control, to put things back in to perspective as they had been before. She felt like a fool for having allowed herself to open up, for having fallen right in to the ploy of exploding her emotions. With him being currently not amongst their party, however, she was able to remove the cuffs herself by breaking them and casting them aside. She wouldn't continue to play this game everyone else seemed to find so amusing and no one had the right to try and force it on her. Things as they were at the time need a higher level of concentration than she could give if she was focused on something so childish, "Humans are the ones supposed to be fighting those stupid emotions, not us," she mumbled to herself before taking a deep breath, sitting further down on the floor and closing her eyes as she allowed herself to just focus on closing everything back off. It was much easier and much less painful just to not allow herself to feel at all.

Once Eryn was sure that Mary was still breathing, he went over to the fire, getting it going again before standing and stretching his arms over his head, "Better find some food," he tapped his chin, looking around, trying to listen for the sounds of any streams moving nearby, figuring at the very least fish would do. They were devising a plan of action and that simply wouldn't do on an empty stomach. Once he was set on a direction to go, he moved forwards, humming a little to himself, hoping to focus only on moving forward and not focusing on what it is he had just lost. Focusing on that would simply be too depressing.

[Mizos]

Larel's eyes twitched as Mera started moving and he slowly opened his eyes before sitting up, he rubbed his eyes and looked around only to see Hotaru move somewhere else, he looked at the fire and put his hands in front of it again as Kaori and Jin started waking up. Larel didn't say anything to them and looked behind him to see Rin lying on her back breathing softly. He shook his head and turned his attention forward missing Rin opening one eye and looking at him before closing it again.
"Good morning," Kaori said rubbing his eye. "It seems like everyone wandered off....and Mary-chan's still asleep though after all that's happened I can't really blame her."
"It's alright we'll just wait for them to come back," Larel said rubbing his hands together. "For the time being let's just keep an eye on her."
"Trying to conquer your fear," Rin said sitting at the end of the fire opposite Mary. "How courageous."
"I can deal with something like this...besides she's asleep," Larel said mumbling near the end.
Rin's body flinched as she swore she felt Zenmaru smile strange as that was to admit, she quickly looked at Larel's shadow only to see it had surrounded the talisman's, Rin's eyes widened before the talisman's were torn apart in one move.
The moment the talisman's went down beady red eyes peered out of the darkness before human shaped Youkai ran at the group from all sides.
"Youkai?!" Larel exclaimed standing up and drawing his sword. "Why are they attacking in broad daylight?!"
Rin stood up and turning slammed her wooden sword into one that leaped at Kaori, she made a motion with her hand seeing more advance.
"Stay down both of you," she said to Kaori and Jin. "This a forest their common in here Larel, you know that."
Larel turned and cut another Youkai only to kick another one away that got close, Rin grit her teeth as they seemed to come out of the shadows of the tree's, they must have been waiting since last night, she muttered to herself as she meant to expel them earlier. She was sure they could hold them off until the others returned, Kaori, Jin and Mary couldn't fight so they needed to be kept safe.
Rin went to move again but she froze as she felt something pierce her chest, she looked down to see Larel's darkness causing her eyes to widen.
"Larel!" Kaori exclaimed as the darkness retracted.
"It wasn't me!" Larel yelled back holding a Youkai off with his sword.
"Zenmaru..." Rin squeezed out before falling to her knees coughing up blood.
Seeing Rin fall the Youkai advanced all at once causing Kaori to cover his head, Larel tried to summon his darkness to respond to their numbers but he found it wasn't responding to him. He looked at his shadow to yell directly at Zenmaru but he froze when he noticed something fly out of it knocking a demon away from Kaori.
Larel's eyes widened as the figure seemed to continuously move around them knocking the Youkai back just as fast as they advanced, Rin put her hands over her chest and got to healing herself as the Youkai continued forward.
"Larel get down," Rin said.
Larel glanced back and glared at her but ducked at her request; he turned his attention forward to see a Youkai closing in on him slam into a tree, more Youkai sprinted forward from all directions but the moment they got within a certain range their bodies froze and they stared wide eyed at the group.
Rin removed her glass and folding them hurled them straight ahead, Larel glanced back as she did so only to see a hand catch the glasses in one motion before throwing them open. The figure put the glasses on their face and when they adjusted them the frozen Youkai fell to the ground unable to move their bodies.
Kaori stared at the figure with wide eyes as a wide smile found it's way onto his face.
"Oji-san!" he exclaimed.
Alari stood in the center of the camp a determined expression on his face as he stood feet shoulder width apart staring off into the distance. His clothes and hair fluttered in the wind as his eyes narrowed a little.
His clothing was in complete tatters, his kimono was nearly torn to sheds causing his bare chest to be almost completely exposed along with his back and arms, his Hakama were even torn in certain places. Blood ran down his face and arms though he seemed to be ignoring it and it almost covered his torso and arms completely, looking at it he was still bleeding even now.
"A...Alari," Larel said. "You-"
Alari held up a finger to Larel and holding his hand out snapped his fingers, as he did five Youkai fell from the tree's and hit the ground hard unable to move, seeing them Alari brought his feet together and relaxed a little.
"Are you alright," he said looking at Larel and Kaori.
"Oh...uh...yeah," Larel said.
"I'm alright too," Kaori said.
"Is everyone else alright?"
"They're okay OJi-san," Kaori said almost beaming.
Alari looked at him before his familiar small smile showed and he let out a relieved sigh.
"Good."
Alari looked over at Rin and he seemed to stare at her for a moment a sad look in his eyes but it vanished as fast as it came.
"Rin...mind retrieving my box," Alari said.
"Of course Alari," Rin said walking over to Larel's shadow
The Youkai looked up at Alari causing him to glance over his shoulder at a few of them, he smiled and they found they were able to move their bodies again.
"You know what'll happen if you stick around," Alari said. "Go on shoo shoo."
The Youkai quickly stood up and ran back into the shadows as Alari walked over and knelt down on his knees in front of the fire.
"It's beautiful outside today," Alari said smiling.
Rin reached into Larel's shadow and pulled out Alari's medicine box, Larel's eye twitched as she walked over to him and set it down before opening it up and digging inside.
Kaori blinked a few times as Rin made a cup of tea for Alari with the chamomile leaves, Alari held the cup over to Jin who blew his fire on it heating it up before yipping.
"Thank you Jin," Alari said as Rin closed the medicine box and took a seat next to him resting her hands on her knees.
"Uh...Oji-san...you're...you're still kinda...kinda bloody," Kaori said.
"I'm fixing it now Kaori, it's just taking a bit of time," Alari said. "I actually feel pretty good, anyway Rin please fill me in on everything that's happened, your form will fade soon,"
"Of course Alari, here's what transpired," Rin said before she started explaining the events of yesterday.
Larel stared at the two incredibly confused as to what just happened, Alari looked like he just came back from a losing war and he was now sipping chamomile tea like he wasn't half-dead which is what he looked like. Larel wanted to say something but no words came out, all he could do was sit down and sigh.

[SanaChan]

Hotaru came back about the time Rin started feeling Alari in on what had happened, blinking a bit, "I hurried back hearing all the commotion," she wiped her sleeve across her mouth before looking at Larel, "What happened?" she asked him, pointing at Alari next, "When did he get back?"
She had barely had the chance to catch something before catching the sounds of the skirmish. She wasn't necessarily in need of anything after the night before, but she wasn't going to take the chance of Sybil ever getting out because of her thirst again if she had any say in it. She hadn't been expecting to see Alari upon her return and his state of being wasn't very helpful for her, but she would be fine. She wasn't entirely surprised Mera wasn't back, she seemed like she was determined to do something when she left. She glanced up as Eryn came back in to the clearing, his clothes wet and his outer jacket was full of fish.
He dropped it when he spotted Alari and grinned, "Ah, thank goodness!" he put his hands together, then it dawned on him of his condition, "Is there anything I can do to help you? I might not be able to find herbs as fast as my sister but she beat it in to my head what kind help with pain and wounds," he smiled a bit.
Raina had been protecting Mary from the youkai, having been woken up by the commotion. She huffed now, sitting back down only to see Mary was awake as well, but her face was blank, her eyes as well, "Mary?" she raised a brow, putting her hand on her shoulder, but her sister didn't respond, ending closing her eyes and leaning back up against the rock. Raina's brow furrowed seeing her sister react that way, but there really wasn't much she could do about it. Mary had pushed herself to an extent that she'd never gone before and it would be touch and go as she tried to recover. Raina looked around, wishing Mera was there since she was so much better at figuring that stuff out. She ran her hand through her hair, looking at the guy in the middle. Based on everyone's reaction she had to guess that it was Alari, and she had to admit, his swift punishment to the youkai was impressive, but she was wondering what in the world he could possibly do that would have thawed the heart of her sister.
Mera felt the commotion and started to go back until she realized not only was it already under control, but there was someone else in the group. She scoffed a bit before turning and walking further out than before, not planning on going back and having that mix up of emotions in front of everyone else. She pulled her hood up on her cloak and went back to simply concentrating and trying to put all of them aside so she definitely wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. She wasn't going to let Alari worm his way in anymore, was going to let herself be affected so easily just because he was the first guy to actually treat her in a way she wanted to be treated. Things were not in a state where she could allow herself those concessions, not that she was entirely sure, she could handle Alari on a level of any closer of a relationship

[Mizos]

Larel stared at Alari in silence as Rin continued Alari nodding his head every now and then as she explained everything that happened, Alari rubbed his chin his expression darkening at certain parts only to light back up shortly after. Once he finished his tea Rin handed him another which Jin heated up as before yipping as he received thanks from Alari. Alari nodded and thanked Rin as she finished, Kaori seemed extremely happy to have Alari back and was rocking back and forth with a large smile on his face. Larel found he couldn't look at Kaori without the need to stab him and just closed his eyes.
Alari looked up at Hotaru as he saw her and remembered he was still bleeding but she seemed alright at the very least, when she spoke to Larel he just put his head in his hands not having any idea how to answer that question.
Alari noticed Raina and offered a kind smile to her before looking over at Eryn upon seeing his return, he waved to him holding his tea in one hand before tilting his head when he mentioned herbs. Alari held his arm up looking at the blood before waving his hand in front of his face.
"I'm quite alright Eryn but I appreciate the thought," Alari said. "I had a feeling this would happen so I prepared for it."
He handed his cup to Rin who took her sip herself before Alari put his hand over his heart, once he did his body was covered in a warm yellow glow, as the glow enveloped him his wounds closed, his clothing repaired itself and his blood dissipated before he returned to his normal looking self.
"...that's new," Larel said looking over at him.
"I borrowed Ki from the surrounding area, it's limited though and taking too much can harm the subject so I'll probably take the offer for the herbs next time," Alari said smiling. "I apologize for my tardiness by the way Zenmaru was pretty intent on not letting me return."
"Zenmaru was what?" Larel said glancing at his shadow then back at Alari who just took a sip of his tea. "Putting that aside for a moment how did you fix your clothing?"
"That's a secret," Alari said glancing over at him. "Don't worry about it."
"Oji-san aren't you going to ask about Mera-dono," Kaori said trying to brush the leaves off his kimono.
Alari stopped sipping his tea for a moment and rubbed the back of his head, he pointed in the direction Mera had gone.
"She went that way correct," Alari said before bringing his hand back to his cup. "Rin informed me of everything that's transpired. Thanks to her acting as the light in a dark forest I was able to return sooner."
"Joy..." Larel said averting his eyes.
Alari finished his tea and handed the cup to Rin before his attention went to Mary, he had noticed her eyes and his eyebrows furrowed at what it could mean before he stood up and brushed off his Hakama.
"I'll go see her," Alari said as he started walking.
"Hold on a second!" Larel yelled standing up. "Mera-sama went off on her own don't just go off and bother her."
"I'm afraid I can't not do that," Alari said stopping near Mary and looking back at Larel. "I mentioned already Rin filled me in on everything she saw, I don't say this to be condescending but I may be part of the cause of Mera's current discomfort. Contrary to what you might think Rin is just as observant as I am."
"Wait...discomfort what are you-"
"If that is indeed the case then I at the very least owe Mera some sort of apology. Though she may lash out, ignore, yell, or any other multitude of things once I find her. I may come back in worst shape then I was before, physically and emotionally."
"....and you're still going."
"Of course why wouldn't I?" Alari said tilting his head. "Besides something seems to be up with Mary which may have come from the effects of the helmet. Unless Eryn or..." Alari trailed off and looked at Raina before motioning to her. "This young lady here has the knowledge we may remain unsure of what happened until her return and I'm uncomfortable not knowing my friends current condition. From what Rin told me Mera screamed at Mary during the event about the effects the helmet could have on her, apparently having discussed it with her mother before thus Mera seems the best person to consult about it. She also has used an artifact herself which I expect would mean she'd need the knowledge of both it's benefits and disadvantages which she has if I'm not mistaken."
"Uh...that doesn't..." Larel said clearly losing what anger he had as it was replaced with confusion.
"Also Mera has a tendency to wander off on her own quite often, in some of these situations she did so due to her emotions, I'm sure you can recall the previous times she has done so."
"Uh....well that's true but..."
"I can think of multiple occasions when that's happened, would you prefer Mera be left alone with her emotions. After all that's transpired, seeing Mary get hurt, possibly my sudden departure, seeing her father again I doubt she's taking all of this casually, even more so as she's been trying to open up a bit more. Do you know what happens when someone is hit with emotions they don't want Larel?"
"I...that is... they...uh."
"They do multiple things but one of them is close them off and personally I'd rather not let that happen. After what I hoped was a wonderful night suddenly being exposed to all of this I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't want to open up again. Do you want that Larel, do you want your master to feel that way?"
Larel was utterly speechless as Alari adjusted his glasses seeming to get his point across.
"If you'll excuse me then," Alari said before looking at Hotaru.
"Sorry for the blood from earlier Hotaru, it's good to see you're alright as well. Keep an eye on Sybil and inform us if she tries anything, Larel of all people knows the feeling of someone whispering in his skull."
With a smile Alari walked into the forest after Mera humming a small song to himself and putting his hands in his sleeves as he did so.
"uh...are...are you alright Larel?" Kaori asked looking over at him.
"...I hate him...I really hate that man....that was below the belt. If I said no I would have seemed more evil then he is."
"Well he did bombard you but Oji-san's just worried about Mera-dono even if he won't openly just admit that. The fact he tried so hard to convince you only showed that."
"That's not helping Kaori," Larel said holding his head. "It's barely been what ten minutes and he's already off acting like a know it all."
"Oji-san's just like that, he always thinks of others before himself, personally I'd prefer it if he took some time off."
"Really not helping Kaori," Larel said ruffling his hair. "He's sadistic and evil, I'm not sure whether to chase after him or just stay here after all that."
Rin sipped her tea as that was probably Alari's intention in the first place, though she kept such information to herself. She knew at the very least Alari was still expecting her to keep an eye on everyone especially Mary.
"I suppose when it comes to Mera-dono he never takes time off though," Kaori said with a nod.
"You really want to die today don't you," Larel said glaring at him.
Kaori turned his head and played with Jin pretending he didn't hear the words Larel just said.
"...can we just...can we just eat or something..." Larel said sighing. "Alari popping out of my shadow just ruined my entire day already.

[SanaChan]

Hotaru didn't say anything while Alari sort of lectured Larel about why he needed to go speak to Mera and raised a brow when he directly addressed her, "You might want to be careful. She has man eating plants at her disposal," she warned him when he started in the direction of Mera before looking at Kaori and Larel when they spoke, smirking a bit as Larel was stuck on calling Alari evil, "She's going to hit him, I've got no doubt about that, if that makes you feel better," she chipped in as Eryn was setting up the fish by the fire.
"It was my first time having to fish this way in a long time so I apologize if they aren't exactly impressive in size," he said as Larel talked about eating, "We'll let you have the biggest one, how about that?" he smiled lightly.
"Why should he get-"
"Cause I caught the fish and I said so," Eryn said, cutting Raina's snipping comment off as he finished setting the fish around the flames.
"Since things are all clear, I can go catch some fowl as well to add to our bounty," Hotaru offered.
"Maybe if we're still here later, which I wouldn't suggest it," Raina muttered
"Well, let's not make plans to move until Mera returns. I feel she would get quite ill with us for rushing her along," Hotaru mumbled.
"I'm so glad everyone is so worried about Mera's feelings. God she's so needy, isn't she?" Raina muttered and Eryn rolled his eyes.
"You've always been forthcoming about your feelings, Raina," he muttered, "After what happened to the two of you, and with what happened with father, she stopped allowing herself to feel most-"
"How is that anyone else's responsibility?"
"They all care about her. They want to see her have her chance to be happy, so if you don't mind not being a cretha for like a day, that would be awesome," he muttered and Raina huffed, shaking her head, crossing her arms.
"There's no family issues here," Hotaru muttered sarcastically, raising a brow at them before looking at Larel, "Do you me to go get the fowl, I know your appetite tends to be a little more than most people know how to prepare for," she smirked a little bit

Mera had her hood pulled up and was curled up inside her cloak. She sensed Alari coming up and the giant fly trap emerged from the ground, snapping in his face, "I have no interest in currently speaking with you," she muttered, the anger she was trying to bury away still evident in her voice, "But I imagine that won't stop you regardless, will it? That ridiculous insistence of yours," She stood up, dusting herself off, "Are you going to try and explain away your actions because you can stow it if you do plan on that because there's no excuse for it. You didn't have to do what you did. We could have come up with some other plan, what you did was foolish," as much as she said she didn't want to talk and as long as she had been out there trying to close herself back off, seeing him there had it crashing forward, making her just about wanting to yell at him, to get it all out, "Did you do that on purpose? Have me trying so hard to expose myself to my own emotions, to let myself feel the things I had pushed away, only to make me feel a kind of pain second only to when something happens to my siblings? Why can't you be just a little more selfish about your own well being? We could have dealt with Sybil any number of ways that didn't require you to do what you did. Mary is in her current situation because of you, and yes, I am holding that against you, because my sister, as happy as she tries to be all the time, has never had friends outside of us and then you go and do that," the trees were groaned as Mera walked towards him, "Tell me one good reason I shouldn't at least smack the hell out of you for putting me through this," she jabbed a finger in to his chest, her hood still hiding her eyes though, hiding all the conflicting emotions that were coming out in her words.

[Mizos]

Larel admitted he did feel a little better at the idea of Alari getting hit by Mera, even more so if one of those man-eating plants got to him as well, in fact the idea was actually starting to make him feel happy. He looked over at Eryn when he spoke to him, he didn't really mind since food was food to him, but when he mentioned the biggest fist Larel's eyes slowly widened and for split second he couldn't contain his joy at the idea of eating the largest one, however he shook his head and cleared his throat realizing he was showing his emotions too much.
Hearing the argument happen between Eryn and Raina he glanced at Raina for a moment before ruffling his hair, he wondered if he should comment about this, family or not that was his master at the end of the day. He was actually torn and just decided not to comment at all especially about asking what exactly a Cretha was as it would probably only upset her further.
Larel looked up at Hotaru when she mentioned the fowl again his stomach growling in response, he let out a weak chuckle and held it.
"I would appreciate it, I'm sorry to ask you Hotaru but forests and me...don't get along."
"You mean how you get hopelessly lost because all the trees look the same," Rin said taking a sip of her tea.
"I didn't ask for your comment," Larel said glaring at her. "Kaori you've been silent which I'm not complaining about but it's strange for you."
"Hm," Kaori said looking up. "Oh sorry I was just thinking, that moment with Alari inspired a new piece, I should have painted him while he was like that personally."
"Please..please don't talk about your art," Larel said feeling a headache coming along.
"Silly boy of course I'll talk about it," Kaori said smiling. "Anyway Raina-san."
"San?" Larel said looking at him. "You can't add that to my name as a sign of respect."
"Oh Larel you'll always be my Ani-chan don't be jealous," Kaori said. "If it's any consent Raina-san I hope for your happiness as well."
"That's it you're dying," Larel said standing up and grabbing the hilt of his sword. "I told you about calling me that."
Rin held out a cup of chamomile tea to him causing him to stop, she glanced over at him and spoke in her normal mellow tone.
"Here you should at least have this from your mortal enemy out witting you," she said.
"You are the worst type of person and I don't want your sympathy," Larel said and Rin shrugged and pulled her hand back.
"I didn't say I didn't want the tea it's your sympathy I don't want," Larel said.
Rin held the tea back out to him and Larel started to reach towards it however he quickly retracted his hand, he looked at Kaori and motioned towards Rin.
"Hand that to me, I remember she's two thing I dislike greatly."
"Oh you mean women and Alari," Kaori said raising a finger. "Excluding Hotaru and Mera of course."
"Do I want to know how you know that but yes, now hurry up,"
Kaori stood up and took the cup from Rin before walking over to where Mary was and setting the cup a few feet in front of her.
"There you go," Kaori said motioning towards it with a bit more flair than necessary.
Larel's eye twitched but he stood up mumbling curses to himself and went to grab the cup, however once he got within three feet of the cup he froze, he was nearing the regular personal space of a person and he was mentally aware the cup had been placed right on the edge of that invisible barrier. It was impossible not to grab the cup without entering her personal space.
A bead of sweat poured down Larel's face and he took a few steps back before sitting back down by the fire.
"Didn't want tea anyway," he said sitting Indian style and letting out a small harrumph.
Kaori chuckled and grabbed the cup before handing it to him, though Larel snatched it out of his hand.
"It's adorable seeing you try so hard," Kaori said putting his hand over his mouth trying to contain his smile as he went back to his seat.
"Oh shut up," he said averting his eyes and sipping the tea.
Rin noticed that Larel's mind wasn't on Alari's anymore at the very least, she owed thanks to everyone for that but she decided to remain silent.

Alari took Hotaru's words to heart as he walked into the forest his mind returning to Haruka's village, the things were pretty huge when he saw them and he wondered if he was really going to be their dinner though he was prepared for that outcome. He realized he was getting in range of Mera when the flytrap snapped at his face causing him to lean back a little. When he heard a voice a weak smile formed on her face hearing her words, he kind of expected that response as well it was when she continued that his smile faded and he watched her in silence. Though he was glad she was yelling at him compared to just keeping it inside he didn't deny that it stung his heart to hear the words, especially because there was truth to them. His expression slowly changed his eyes drooping a bit in worry as she spoke of her own emotions and then of Mary. When the tree's groaned he kept his attention on Mera seeing the distance close between them. When she asked the question Alari closed his eyes for a moment but shook his head before opening them.
"I can't think of one reason why you shouldn't," Alari said. "I didn't come to make excuses for what I did, and I won't deny it was foolish of me either. I even tried to keep it to myself to spare anyone any discomfort but that was insensitive in itself and I didn't realize it until it was too late."
Alari stared at Mera not accustomed to such conversations but he needed to respond to her, he couldn't just stand here.
"I didn't want you to feel any pain Mera and I certainly didn't mean to harm Mary in anyway. You have every right to hold that against me and I'll accept responsibility for what I did, I'll even accept the consequences that have come from my actions. If I had been more careful none of this would have happened and I don't know what else I can do but apologize...but I know that won't change what's transpired. I wanted to protect everyone...but I pushed myself too far, I suppose it's Ironic since I spoke of avoiding such actions before all this. I caused my friend pain, I caused you pain and I made things more complicated then they needed to be, I'm ashamed of myself for that as that's what I wanted to avoid in the first place."
Alari moved his hands out of his sleeves and the pain of his actions showed in his eyes, he even found it difficult to look at Mera as he knew she was right about all of it.
"I'm sorry if this isn't satisfactory Mera...I've never had this kind of conversation with someone before so I'm not really sure what I can do, I still acted with the mindset that I'll just come back without truly considering the effect it would have on those around me and that was foolish. I won't ask for forgiveness in any form."
Alari closed his hands into fists as he found it getting harder to speak, his chest hurt and he was aware this was guilt he was feeling and there wasn't an outlet for it so all he could was endure it.
"I hate the idea of you being angry at me Mera but I believe I deserve it this time, for now can you return to the camp. Mary awoke but her eyes were blank and you understand more about the helm than anyone so I figured you may have an answer...I'm worried for Mary...and I felt I needed to see you after everything I did..at the very least apologize...so please head back. I know it's my fault it happened and it's a tad selfish to just ask you fix it...but It's hard to look at knowing my actions caused it. Please."

[SanaChan]

Hotaru laughed a little about the whole scene with the tea, turning and leaving as Kaori finally gave Larel his tea. She wasn't missing the fact she could somewhat hear Mera's conversation with Alari, but she made the effort not to listen, just going to try and find some fowl to deal with Larel's appetite.

Mera grit her teeth a bit as he started to respond, taking a deep slow breath, "And what the hell do you think I can do to fix it, Alari? If I could, do not think I would have done that first?" she threw her hands up, "I literally can do nothing for her. No herbs will fix what is wrong," she said sharply, throwing her hands on that direction before turning away and walking back the way she came a few steps, the tree closest to her started to lean away, "I hate this," she put her hands to her head, her voice breaking, before whirling around to him again, "Even with those stupid braces off, I am.... powerless to do anything," she put her arms out to show she had taken them off, "I couldn't prevent any of this.... I couldn't keep Thanos or Hotaru away from those monsters, I couldn't just face this when it started which lead to this situation where you..." her voice broke as she couldn't manage to say the words, "And now Mary is in her current state. I can't just fix it. Nothing will make this go away, I just wish I didn't have to feel this way about it. You went and put a crack in that wall I have tried so hard to keep up all these years, and now I can't stop feeling every level of it, and I don't want it," she put her hands to her head, gritting her teeth, "And I can't face any of them back there because I have to have a certain kind of strength to be in the same area because they expect it from me. Larel, goddess forbid he ever finds out that my whole world is falling apart right now because I have feelings for that I have been fighting all this time. If he doesn't hate me for it, I'll be surprised, and I've become attached to him and Hotaru and if something were to happen to them to drive them away from me..." she breathed out heavily, throwing her hands up again and pacing away.

"What do you want to beat this isn't something almighty Mera can fix?"
"If you can't figure out," Eryn ignored Raina, looking at Larel, "Raina here has issues with Mera. She dealt with people comparing the two of them growing up since they look alike, but Raina has no elemental connection like her, and so she's always spent her life trying to prove she's better than her and when people are super focused on Mera, it makes her annoyed," he said with a tone of pity which made Raina's eyes twitch, "However, there is a possibility Mary has to recover on her own. Mera does know more about the artifacts after studying them for a year, and after having Mother tell her what she knew about them," He looked at Raina at that and she looked off to the side, "But Mera can't even heal herself after using hers, so that could be another reason why she walked away because she's feeling frustrated about that," he suggested as Hotaru returned, toting two birds back. She quickly plucked the feathers out as she walked over to where Eryn was waiting next to the fire. She had it to him and he got them on the stick as well, setting them so they would cook.
"Both are for him?" Raina raised a brow.
"Yea, no one else asked me to catch them anything and trust me," Hotaru waved it off, "He'll need it either now or later," She said as she went and sat down near Larel, looking around, listening a bit to see if she could hear what was going on.

[Mizos]

Alari reached up and adjusted his glasses as he listened to Mera, she had a very good point she would have fixed this by now. In his own desperation he overlooked that and he suddenly regretted asking her about it, but listening to her he could hear her voice breaking, though he couldn't see it he was sure a pained expression was on her face right now. He even added to it thanks to his actions which only made him feel worse, but he watched her in silence before he watched her throw her hands up and start pacing away. Something clicked in Alari as he watched Mera's back, he found his body moving on it's own as he reached out and hugged Mera from behind, keeping a firm grip to try and keep her from moving any further away. He couldn't let Mera walk away, he didn't even have time to think of a reason why he did this it just...happened.
"Mera," Alari said gently moving his lips near where he assumed her ear was. "This may sound strange but you should accept those emotions. They show just how much you care about everyone, instead of walking away from them, instead of averting your eyes you should advance with them. Use them as your strength to keep pushing forward, the powerlessness you feel, the pain that must be gripping your heart you have every right to hate it. Because you hate those feelings you should...no need to confront them. Destroy the powerlessness you feel by acting, conquer the pain by doing everything possible to get rid of it's cause. Being strong all the time is exhausting Mera, having to smile through countless hardships, putting on a blank face in the midst of adversity, doing that all the time just hurts. Rin told me when you advanced towards Mary, you didn't do so without emotion, you yelled at her, begged her to stop what she was doing, Rin said it was because of that she was able to stop Mary, she saw the doubt show on Mary's face for a moment. Your emotion your love for Mary pushed you forward putting a crack in Mary's wall....Rin just opened a bit by reminding her of her own emotions."
Alari gripped Mera tighter, he couldn't let her go he didn't want to let her go he had to say this to her.
"I believe real strength is standing back up when you've been knocked down...time and time again. The others know that strength is in you Mera, it's a strength not everyone has, anyone can put on a fake smile and with enough willpower someone can blank the emotions on their face but to stand back up when a cruel world or cruel people knock you down...not everyone has the will to stand back up. I know Larel and Hotaru have seen it in you, and your family has too as well, even I've seen it Mera. I know Larel wouldn't leave you behind, you accepted the true him, you accepted the demon lurking in his body. That boy's traveled alone longer than any human should have too but you looked at him, even his darkest parts and still let him accompany you. Larel can't leave you behind because you are his master...and his friend. I know Hotaru feels the same, in her deepest despair, when she hid from the world you were the one that extended a hand towards her, you taught her how to use her fire magic, gave her a reason to move forward even if it was revenge it was something to keep her advancing until she could find more reason to keep going. You two must have many memories together, I doubt those two would abandon you Mera. I believe the same with Eryn and Raina as well and Mary too, you're dear to many people Mera and after everything you've been through after all the pain caused especially by me you've earned a moment of weakness. What's important is to let it out, cry, rage do what you need too and keep moving forward that's what matters and if for whatever reason you can't stand up on your own we'll be there to help you."
Alari moved his head and arms away before taking a few steps back lowering his arms to his sides as he spoke, a small smile on his face.
"You don't have to try and fix it alone, I suppose I should have said that in the first place. We're all in this together, we'll work together to do what we can even if it's just waiting for her to wake up. I'll be right there as well I'll even cry with you should the desire arise. I believe Mary will wake up, if her big sister Mera isn't there she might get worried, I gotta make sure I put on my biggest smile when she wakes up as I have to apologize to her as well. We keep moving forward because that's all we can do, the past can't be changed no matter how much we wish it so all we can do is keep advancing. We needn't forget the past...but we can't let it consume us. Let's head back Mera everyone's waiting for us...that and Larel will eventually lose his patience and come looking for us. He needs to protect his precious master after all."
Alari chuckled a little at the end but he raised his hand and extended it to Mera.

Larel listened to the two in silence bringing his hand to his chin before taking a sip of his tea, sad as it was to admit he kind of understood where Raina was coming from but only a little and he wasn't about to say that. Larel smirked hearing Mera knowledge on the artifacts, he'd expect no less from his master but even he understood that didn't mean she could just fix what was going on. He'd probably feel frustrated if something was right in his face and he didn't have the means to resolve it, in fact something was in his face and he couldn't get rid of it. His eyes landed on Rin who calmly sipped her tea listening to everyone in silence, every part of him wanted to make her leave but if she was really a part of Alari he knew what would happen if he tried.
Larel looked down at the birds his stomach growling again as his eyes twitched staring at them, the scent was starting to drive him a little crazy, he was beyond starving at this point it was hard to think and focus when something so succulent was right in front of him, granted it wasn't a boar or anything but it was meat and that was good enough. He had to wait for them to cook, he knew he had to wait but his eyes were locked on them and the look on his face actually made Kaori worry a little.
"Larel are you okay?" Kaori asked arching a brow again.
"He's going to switch," Rin said closing her eyes
"Huh?" Kaori questioned looking at her but he received his answer shortly after speaking.
"Aaaah I'm going to die of hunger if this keeps up," Larel said holding his stomach his eyes drooping a bit. "...please cook faster little bird."
"L-larel" Kaori said his eyes widening a little, even Jin yipped as Larel stared at the birds a small smile on his face.
"Rin..uh...what...what's..." Kaori said though Rin spoke knowing his question.
"Larel keeps a straight face as his normal self and cuts off his emotions to address the situation as need be, or at least tries too. Though he's opened up a bit he still keeps some emotions to himself, he's constantly keeping a hold of his darkness and mental state against Zenmaru so he rarely shows his other sides. I mean you'd need mental fortitude when someone whisperers in your head constantly to kill everything, I'm sure Zenmaru's told him to kill us at least twenty-six times."
"T-twenty six," Kaori said clearly not pleased at the number.
"Could be more but put simply he has to keep up an appearance outside and inside...when he's hungry however...he can't exactly keep the outside up. Zenmaru and Larel are two beings in the same body, in such a state their personalities mash together due to Larel's mental slip due to his body's natural needs. You start to get tired and faint without water for a long time right, imagine that but instead of feeling faint his personality mixes with the other existence in him. If Zenmaru was fully asleep or absent we'd just see Larel's other side but since Zenmaru's in there their existences clash. Don't misunderstand though Larel's in complete control still, he just get's a bit of Zenmaru's...eccentricity."
"I...I think I get it..." Kaori said tilting his head slightly
"People have many sides to them and we don't always show every piece of ourselves to everyone, not out of distrust mostly but just that it isn't necessary at times. Larel has shown many sides to Mera and Hotaru...this is just one of those sides mixed with Zenmaru's. Hotaru's seen it before, he's acted childish on the verge of hunger before right Hotaru?"
Rin looked over at Hotaru as she spoke as she was the only other person around that knew Larel the longest.
"When you first met him he acted strangely correct, the moment he was fed it seemed like he just...switched on a serious face."
"I'm not acting childish Rin-kun," Larel said looking over at her.
"Kun..." Rin said trailing off glancing at him.
"I'm just hungry is all, I mean they look delicious right? I can taste them already I can see my hunger being satiated in my mind's eye, ah it's so satisfying I wanna make it a reality."
"I'm scared," Kaori said scooting a little further away.
"By the way Na-chan," Larel said looking up at Raina. "You shouldn't be all mopey just cause Onee-chan is better than you in stuff."
"Onee-chan is Mera," Rin said clarifying as she had Jin warm up more tea.
"Instead of focusing on the stuff you're horrible at, you should look at what you're better at instead. I mean you're really really bad at elemental things right so that means you must have trained yourself in something else. I'd imagine Onee-chan wouldn't need to do that so that means you'd have the upper hand in that aspect, you should remember that, I kinda know the feeling myself. Well I killed the person that was 'better' than me but it was on the battlefield and another enemy ninja it's a long boring story of discovery, self-worth and all that. Oh I wouldn't advise killing Onee-chan though I'd have to kill you if that happened and I don't hate you so I'd feel bad. Don't like you either but I don't hate you. It's kinda like..neutral affection or something."
"It feels like that was an insulting compliment," Kaori said blinking a few times.
"Good observation," Rin said taking a sip.
"Anyway you seem to have some decent traits, you're not bad looking, nice figure, that temper of yours might attract some guys." Larel said continuing. "Not really my type though but I could see someone liking you. You have that whole 'i'm dependable but also a loner' thing going so that's nice and you can handle yourself. You're marriage material so yeah keep that in mind not getting any younger right? Ah that doesn't matter cause you don't age right...hmm..then you already have an advantage over so many people, I mean I saw this old lady once with all these wrinkles and all I could think was 'ah man I'll have wrinkles like that one day' but you won't, why aren't you smiling more I'd be beaming at news like that."
".......is that done yet?" Rin said looking at the birds.
Kaori was just holding his head at a complete loss at what to do or say right now, Larel meanwhile was humming to himself lost in his own little world as he waited for this fish.
"Ah right thanks Hotaru-chan, I appreciate the consideration immensely," Larel said still keeping his attention on the fire.

[SanaChan]

Mera gasped in surprised feeling his arms around her, but found herself holding on to him as he spoke to her, gritting her teeth a bit as she was still trying not to fall apart. Something about how close he was and the way he was talking to her was shaking her up even more, and it was a bit unnerving and it was all she could do to try and still herself as she found she started shaking. As irritating as he was about opening herself back up, to let the emotions be open to everyone, he was assuaging all the doubts and worries that had been eating away at her. When he stepped away, she clutched her chest, finding she felt a little hollow at the split second. Why? Why did she have to suddenly become so needy? But at a moment when she felt like everything she had built her foundations on, the things that had kept her strong over the years was now gone, having his arms around her had made her feel a little less like she was going to collapse. She looked back at him as he continued to speak, practically holding her breath to try and keep it back, but she was practically choking. She put her hand to her mouth before looking up at him, the tears dripping off her chin before she moved. She felt a little like a child at that moment, and it had been probably been since then that she had allowed herself a true moment to just fall apart knowing that no one here was going to truly hold it against her. Instead of taking Alari's hand, however, she had put her arms around him, hiding her face against his shoulder as she couldn't hold back the tears any more. All the pain, worry, anger, and sadness she had felt in the past few hours had been building, causing her agitation, and when he spoke to her that way, and told her it was truly okay to just let it go, her body and heart reacted before her mind had a say so in it. She had never gotten this close to a man willingly outside of her family, and she had most definitely never cried like this in front of anyone, aside from her Mother when she was younger. She couldn't even catch her breath long enough to apologize to him for acting so rashly, the tears just wouldn't stop coming.
Why did it have to be this insistent buffoon that had to be the one to take a liking to her? She could have gone on just fine without having to be this sentimental child that had to cry over being upset about something. At least, that's what she told herself, not that it did her any good as she still felt the literal pain in her chest at the idea of trying to stop her tears.
"S-sorry," She finally managed to choke out, "I-I just couldn't stop myself," She whispered and started to step back in case what she was doing was way too forward and something he couldn't handle. She tried to wipe off her cheeks, but since she was still kind of crying, it wasn't doing a whole lot of good.

Hotaru pinched the bridge of her nose hearing the change in Larel's voice right with that sense of dramatic flair she hadn't heard in awhile. She sighed a bit as Rin when she mentioned that she already was familiar with this, to which she nodded, groaning a bit as Larel started talking to Raina, whose face went completely blank. Hotaru grabbed one of the bird while he was talking and stuck her finger in the side while he basically dug himself a hole with Raina, "So, Larel, now that you've informed everyone of what your type is and have endangered us all from someone who could actually kill us in our sleep," She handed him the bird after she took her finger out, "Eat so you can't speak," she muttered. She was somewhat grateful for Rin being there to actual explain this behavior of his. It wasn't actually him being just dramatic. It had a long, drawn out explanation, though she wouldn't ever really keep that in mind whenever he would next start wailing about going to die of hunger when she was aware he wasn't that hungry.
"Uh oh," Eryn smirked, "Are you afraid you're too much like Raina and therefore not his type?" He taunted and Hotaru turned beat red in the face.
"Erynhil, shut up," she snapped, but he just moved, putting his arm around Hotaru's shoulder, putting his hand over her mouth.
"Hey, hey, Larel," he smiled at him as Hotaru was glaring daggers at him, "If my sister isn't your type, what exactly is your type?" He asked before blinking and looking at Hotaru, "You're biting my hand," he muttered, to which she growled, "You know, Mera's blood works differently than mine because of her connection to the earth. From what I've read," He didn't need to finish because whatever he was going to say hit Hotaru, whose face turned even brighter red than before, "Gypsy blood is an aphrodisiac for vampires," he nodded sagely as she amply let go of his hand, putting her own hands over her mouth and quickly scooting away from them, over to the very edge of the camp circle, "Anyways," he looked back towards Larel, "I'm still interested. I know you have a general fear of women outside of those you don't actually view as women- which I'm going to inform you never to tell them that because Mera and Hotaru would probably get very upset if you said that to their face, because strong willed or not, they are still women with very tender feelings- but surely there is something that you look for in a woman," he said, looking rather eager to hear Larel's answer since Hotaru was too busy wigging out to interrupt him.
Raina, who had been glaring daggers at Larel, was now trying not to die laughing at the look of general distress on Hotaru's face, which was still red as Mera's hair, "My god, you are pathetic aren't you?" Hotaru glared at her a bit but couldn't stop her from what she said next, "You like that poor sap don't you?"
"Shut up, what the hell is wrong with the two of you?" Hotaru hissed at her, not trusting her own voice to speak louder than that.
"We just find it amusing when people with limited amount of time can't accept what's in front of them," Raina shrugged, still watching her with a very amused look.
"Stop looking at me," Hotaru muttered, blushing still as she looked away from her, hoping this embarrassing nightmare would end soon. Hopefully Larel's usual bout of not grasping this kind of thing would remain true and she wouldn't actually have to be mortally embarrassed about this whole affair.

[Mizos]

Alari's eyes widened a little seeing Mera's emotions start to peek out a bit more and he wondered if he had upset her with what he said, he truly didn't want Mera to have to hold her feelings in but before he could say anything he felt her arms around him and his whole being seemed to turn crimson at her touch, now that he was thinking he was extremely conscious of how close Mera was...but he only smiled as he looked over at her. He couldn't imagine how long Mera had been holding her tears in and he found his own eyes start to tear up as he watched her, he wanted to hold her but she stepped away before he could muster up the courage. When she apologized he smiled and rubbed the side of his head, he didn't really mind it he was happy to see she wasn't holding it all in anymore.
Alari didn't say it but he had to face his own emotions just to come here, the moment he returned this creeping fear overwhelmed him and he wasn't sure what to do with it, he looked at Mera knowing she was the cause of it and was surprisingly content with that. She invoked so many emotions in him that at one time he wondered if it would be better to run away from those feelings, but he chose to face them head on and use them to move forward himself unsure of what would happen, the constant thought of his love being unrequited running through his head. Standing here now having seen Mera smile and laugh, her angry faces and the gentleness she showed to her siblings, all these sides of Mera he had seen merely by following those emotions, he wholeheartedly believed it was necessary to follow them even if one was afraid of them.
Though he knew this he still found it difficult to act on them willingly, but he would continued to try so he hoped Mera would do the same.
"Follow your heart huh," he thought to himself before taking a few steps forward.
Reaching forward he pulled Mera towards him and held her in his arms, he smiled though he was blushing from being so close to her.
"I don't really mind," he said. "You can cry on my shoulder whenever you feel you need too, just offer me the same should it ever happen. I can't promise I'll let go of you though so it's at your own risk."
Alari grinned at this, he wanted to support Mera he knew those were his own feelings if anything else.

Larel took the bird with a grin but rubbed his side that Hotaru poked pouting a little before he starting eating the bird, tears stung his eyes and he ended up wiping them a little as a wave of calmness rushed over him. He seemed to miss Raina's expression and most of the conversation as he was absorbed in his food, but as he reached for the second bird he heard Eryn speak and tilted his head slightly at the question. Kaori leaned forward actually curios of this himself and watched as Larel tapped his cheek with his finger looking for an answer, he raised a brow seeing Hotaru back away from Eryn after biting him. He did listen to Eryn taking his advice to heart though he was sure Alari had warned him of this before but he did rarely listen to him so there was a good chance he missed most of it.
He leaned back and forth as Raina spoke still trying to answer Eryn's question, he ruffled his hair before finally speaking finding some kind of answer in his head.
"I suppose it'd have to be someone I'm comfortable with, someone I can talk to, someone I can be around."
"So Hotaru," Kaori said.
"Yeah but I already love Hotaru so that doesn't count."
"He said it so casually," Kaori said grinning. "If that's the case you should be more lovey-dovey."
"Why would I do that, Hotaru's my friend of course I'm going to love her, there's no need for that."
"...he doesn't understand at all," Kaori said hanging his head.
"hmmmm ah wait a second," Larel said before pointing at Rin. "Hey Rin you understand my emotions right?"
"....I only know some of what Alari knows...so yes," she said looking at him.
"Fantastic explain then."
Rin took a sip of her tea and turned on her knees so she was facing them, if he requested it then she would explain.
"It'd be easier if I explain part of his aversion to women," Rin said. "Larel was in love once a long time ago, and as you might guess she was a strong willed woman but after a few unfortunate events they parted ways. He had an aversion to women before but after that it only got worse over time. It's believed the reason he can handle being around strong willed woman is partly thanks to her though only Alari knows if that's absolutely true. Moving on it's not an immediate aversion but more of a constant one, every waking moment every waking second his fear of them lingers but if my memory serves me correctly he had to clean one of his previous masters who was a woman correct."
"Oh yeah...I forgot all about that," Larel said nodding a few times.
"She wasn't strong-willed either so it's strange he could do such a thing yet it not effect him which lead to the belief Larel doesn't realize the cause of his aversion only that it's there."
"So it's all in his head..." Kaori said a little confused.
"No he does have an aversion he just doesn't understand why thus in certain situations he wouldn't understand why he's afraid only that he feels afraid. Right now he probably wants to be farther from Mary."
"Yep," Larel said grinning.
"He's probably glad Raina is on the other side as well,"
"Without a doubt, it's comforting knowing she's over there."
"Yet Hotaru's right next to him and he feels perfectly fine but he doesn't understand why that is. The basic explanation is she's strong willed, but I'd say Raina isn't exactly weak-willed either yet the aversion is still there."
"What's that have to do with his type," Kaori said.
"I'm getting to that, now knowing that let me explain that Larel can't distinguish between certain emotions."
"....huh?"
"An example would be that I have Alari's emotions, thus I feel a love for Kaori,"
Kaori's slowly seemed to lighten up at this and there was an immense amount of hope in his eyes.
"It's not amorous love though," Rin added which caused Kaori to hang his head.
"Larel doesn't understand these slight differences though, he can't distinguish between the love one has towards a friend, the love one has towards family, the love someone has towards well a lover."
"You just said he was in love though," Kaori said.
"True but he doesn't understand the feeling of love itself, honestly he has a hard time with hate as well. Hotaru is Larel's first real friend thus he doesn't fully understand how to act towards her or the emotions that accompany a bond like that, only what he's seen others do. It's actually quite fascinating in it's own way, I suppose if I were to put it simply he is completely oblivious to all emotions pertaining to love yet he understand that they're there. It's similar to knowing the answer to something but not being able to explain it."
Rin took a sip of her tea before she continued once more as there was one other factor.
"Also add that Zenmaru is in Larel so her emotions are mixed in there with his, even if he could understand and comprehend the different types of love, hate, or whatever other emotion one feels for another he has to deal with the possibility his emotions aren't his own at times either."
"...this is really really confusing," Kaori said crossing his arms.
"Indeed imagine feeling like that all the time, thus it's currently impossible for him to answer your question Eryn. He wouldn't know the observations that would stimulate a knowledge of what is his type his. I mean right now he could be madly in love with Hotaru and have absolutely no awareness of it. Not saying it's true but just as an example."
"So...does he feel nothing then....I mean if he doesn't understand it."
"No he cares for Hotaru and Mera that much is clear and he understands that, but he doesn't understand the depth of that particular care. He only knows the surface of his emotions. This is my friend, that is my master, I hate him, anything below that, the deeper feelings that inhabit all things, he can't understand them. Alari's objective is to fix that, so one day he may be able to answer that question Eryn."
Larel finished his food before his smile slowly faded, Kaori looked over at him as he lowered his head his bangs covering his eyes for a moment before his mouth twitched.
"Uh Larel..." Kaori said.
"Forget it."
"Huh."
"Forget everything you just heard," Larel said looking up at him his eyes narrowing as a dark expression covered his face. "All of it."
"I...I don't think I can do that."
"Then I'm going to beat you until you forget everything. Hold still or I might kill you," Larel said standing up and grabbing the hilt of his sword.
"Why do you need your sword?!" Kaori exclaimed.
"That's enough Larel," Rin said causing him to glare at her. "They were bound to find out anyway, besides you're the one who told me to explain."
"That didn't mean you could-"
Larel started to speak further but her blank stare seemed to win out causing him to sit back down his eyebrows still drawn down as irritation covered his face.
"That conversation never happened and since you're being so talkative why don't you tell me why Alari knows all this?" Larel said. "I mean you have no reason to refuse right, it's not like he wants to hide it remember. After everything you just explained you owe me something."
"That's true," Rin said before her eyes moved over to his.
Larel flinched looking into her eyes there was something there that made him want to look away, it felt like she was looking deep inside his very being and showing it to him through her gaze.
"Do you really want that though, what would you do if you knew the truth to why Alari knows so much about you. Do you believe it would settle some of the confusion in your heart. The truth may consume you Larel, how would it feel to have your entire world be torn apart by the secrets he holds, to realize everything may just be a fabrication crafted by the man you hate so fervently, to know that everything you believed was a lie, yourself, this world, your relationships, and that you're just a puppet on a string being guided to your inevitable destination."
A tinge of fear actual showed on Larel's face as he stared at Rin's empty expression, he couldn't even bring himself to think about it and she knew that. He felt his chest feel heavy before Rin took a sip of her tea.
"Just kidding of course," Rin said. "You shouldn't take everything everyone says seriously."
"I might believe you if you're facial expression changed," Larel said sighing.
"I was kidding Larel sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Alari just won't let me tell you, sorry.""