Aya the Small

The Origin: A War Resumed (Arc One; Completed)

I: I have posted. And thus the crowd gave a hearty 'Huzzah'!

The Origin: A War Resumed (Arc One; Completed)

Thuraya Azize

Alright; so maybe things didn't go so well the first try, but that didn't stop her. If she was supposed to control this new power, she'd need more practice! And while the evening before, she had no luck with it. Perhaps with some rest she'd succeed.

She grabbed her hair, pulling it back into a high ponytail and made her way off the Lady of Demons' yard. Back to where she'd been told about the day before, where she'd gone and basically almost trapped herself.

* ~ - - - - - ~ - - - - - ~ *

The Evening Before... after many, many, MANY failed attempts:

Sword swung, the newly added yellow stone glimmered in the moonlight and as metal hit earth, she said her command, as instructed to make things easier to learn; "Shield me!" Needless to say; this didn't go too well. The earth came up around her quickly, but it was much too close. Tail curled in as to not get caught in the upward blast of rocks, and she let out a yelp as everything got even darker than it already had been from the eternal night here.

She hugged her body close to the blade and looked around. Completely sealed... "Alright.. Go away, or.. however I get rid of you." A hand reached up to feel the top of the tomb she'd created for herself and let out a soft whine. Nothing budged. "Come on! Go down! Shields down! Rocks begone!" nothing. "Oh... Oh come ON!! You've gotta be kidding me!" Arm moved back as far as it could in the cramped space and she let it go forward, punching at the rock wall in front of her. Dirt chipped from the side, a single pebble sized chunk fell to her feet and she just groaned. A little in pain for her hand, but mostly in annoyance.

She tested the ground with a foot gently, then a little more firmly before she knelt down and the digging began.

* ~ - - - - - ~ - - - - - ~ *

Today, she was hoping to not have to burrow her way out of a self-made prison, but if it came to that, at least she knew how firm the ground was here and how much effort, or how long it would take...

She grabbed the handle of her blade firmly and pulled it from her back, over her head. She looked around for a moment, and upon seeing the spiked tomb she'd made previously, brow furrowed, eyes focused, lips formed a small frown. "Alright, you wanna cooperate today?" About to find out, she swung the blade downward, vertically into the earth. "Destroy that shit!" What she wanted, of course, was a string of earthen spikes to go forward, or a tremor of some sort to destroy the 'shield' she'd made. But instead, she managed to get a pillar to come up underneath herself, flinging her forward. "Fuckballs!" Sword to the side, she landed on her knees and elbows; preventing a face-plant at least.

"Alright ya stupid gem!" tone was getting more annoyed. "Ya wanna play like that?!" sword in hand again she got to her feet and jabbed it at the small pillar; "Get the hell out!"

A blast from that had her flung backward this time, turning to avoid landing on her tail, she growled. A voice in her mind told her to calm down, relax and focus, and while it took her quite some time, she did so. Eyes closed, deep breaths. She stepped forward a few steps, up onto a larger rock, with her sword in hand, twirling the massive blade once before bringing it in front of herself in both hands, pointed toward the ground. "Destruction, or protection..." Voice now soft, emerald eyes opened, a blank look in them as they shifted toward the pillar. Blade lowered to the ground, and eyes shifted to the rocky tomb once more. "Or destruction of protection." voice hushed as she took another breath, and she rose the blade only slightly before lowering it quicker, tapping the tip to earth's surface. A small tremor formed from beneath her and she swung the blade out of the ground toward the stone, reducing it to an explosion of earth and rock.

The calmness left her and eyes widened. It was then, that she gave her panicked command; [color=coral]"Shield!" and again, she was in a rocky covering. All the way around her... a little bigger space inside, this time. "Alright... Lower... Go away.... Shields down! ... UGH!!" she knelt down then, to start burrowing her way out of the trap she'd made a second time, but this time, hands met with the solid stone she'd chosen as her perch to cast from. "You've... got... to... be... kidding... me..."

She sat down then, as hand met the side of her 'shield'. Sigh escaped from her and roughly, she scratched and rubbed away dirt. Slowly but surely... She dug.

The Origin: A War Resumed (Arc One; Completed)

Thuraya and Lady Renata

Halls after halls, doors to nothing interesting. Her direction was unknown at first, simply wandering through the Demons' home. She looked out windows as she passed them, to see basically the same scenery from all of them. Arms behind her head, legs kicking forward with each step, tail swinging slightly as she went. Her mind wandered thinking about nothing in particular. Thoughts brushed on what was to come, what had come to pass, and lingered a bit longer on Seryosa.

It was no mystery that she missed her home, and family that had chosen her. The one thing that surprised her was that she honestly missed the cold. At first, she'd hated it. For years she could barely tolerate the wind's chilled bite, but now that she was out of it... A sigh escaped her lips and eyes fell to the floor, watching her feet, rather than taking in the sights from windows and walls she'd been taking in previously. That's when her thoughts fell as well, onto what the Divine had said on their way to this place; "If she was wrong... I'll make her proud."

Something stopped her though. She looked down toward where the sound came from - a rumbling grumble of discontent from her stomach. That's when she knew where she needed to go. She needed food, and so her arms dropped, to cross over her abdomen as if it were in pain, and made way down the halls once more.

Since she had a destination in mind, her journey was no longer aimless. Halls that only had turns every so often suddenly began to turn every few steps, as if creating a shortcut to her destination. Soon enough, rather than repeatedly coming across nothing of interest, she was approaching a set of large and heavy double doors, both of which opened for her. Beyond happened to be just what she was looking for, even if it wasn't quite what she expected. Part of that had to do with the fact that Thuraya certainly wasn't used to clean and well organized kitchens, but there was something else about the kitchens that was just a little off...

The room was large and had plenty of appliances and tools to use for cooking, but that was to be expected at that point. No, what wasn't quite right was the smell that lingered in the room. Though very clearly constantly cleaned and used to cook the grandest of foods, beyond the leftover scents of everything from cakes baked long ago to vegetables cooked to perfection was an underlying metallic sort of scent. To the sheltered it might have been difficult to recognized, but to someone used to battle like Thuraya was it would be immediately clear that the smell was-

"My, my. It seems the Prince's group has a habit of getting hungry." These words came directly from Thuraya's left even as the Lady of Demons stepped past her into view, heading farther into the kitchen. There had been no signal of her presence before, not even the lightest of footsteps or the gentlest of breaths; for all it mattered, it was like Lady Renata had simply come into being in that very spot. Smiling over her shoulder, the Lady nodded gently off to her right, where rows upon rows of thin doors lined one wall. "Over there is the pantries, if you want something small and dry. If you want something heavier, like meat on the other hand, well..."

She jumped slightly at the sound of Karin's voice. Head quickly turned to where she appeared and eyes widened, tail curled slightly in a defensive way, but she very quickly relaxed, eyes shifting toward the pantries. "When you fight, it's important to not do so on an empty stomach." she noted.

The scorpionfolk hesitated, looking back toward the Lady of Demons before she took a couple steps at first, then made way over to the doors. The smell of the kitchens was a little heavy, and was honestly a little unsettling, yet comforting at the same time... She'd lived for battle, blood was not an uncommon scent to her, yet still she was scared of opening a door and getting coated in the stuff somehow. Cautiously, her hand opened a door, after a look through she decided that the latter option was much more appealing.

She closed the pantry door and turned back toward Lady Renata. "Meat sounds good, actually..." she replied.

The Lady of Demons' smile seemed to grow slightly then, before she gave a slight shrug. "Very well then, if you insist. These doors over here." Giving a sort of lazy beckoning gesture with her hand, Lady Renata stepped over to two doors that were set aside from the pantries. Unlike the rest of the doors that Thuraya had seen that day, these two were made of a heavy dark metal, one that gently reflected light. With another wave of her hand the doors opened, and immediately a deep chill set into the kitchen, a mist of ice crystals gently billowing from the doors to slowly continue to spread across the floor.

Quite unbothered by the extreme cold, which made the trip into the mountains seem quite warm in comparison and even put all but the most northern reaches of Gurata to shame, Lady Renata stepped into the frozen room. The walls and ceiling were coated with a thick and reflective ice, though the floor was completely bare and made of tile. Within, there were three sections, each with a clear divide in between. The one that was the front left corner of the large room was set with many things meant to be kept cold but weren't meat, everything from milk to various creams or substances like butter. In the front right corner there was plenty of meat, some ready to cook and some already prepared to serve; everything from pork to beef to chicken was set on the shelves and in containers, carefully labeled and separated. This was the corner that the Lady of Demons directed her hand to, saying, "What you might be interested would be over there. Take whatever you like."

The entire back half of the room was dedicated to the last section, and its contents would hopefully never be found in any other kitchen. The entire back wall was dedicated to shelves, and on these shelves were large cylinder glass containers. These containers were filled with deep red liquids, each type of blood clearly labeled along with details like dates and locations. In front of this wall of shelves and containers hung many large and covered forms from the ceilings in organized rows, each longer than they were wide, the material wrapped around them white, and there were more shelves to either side with containers...

There was no subtlety to be had for this section of the room. With the blood she consumed the Lady of Demons kept bodies, some hanging whole from the ceiling above and some already separated into various pieces, at various points along the spectrum of preparation as they were kept in containers just as the meat of cow, pig, chicken, and otherwise were kept just a few feet away.

Thuraya followed Karin into the cold room, looking around to the various choices she had. The cold was almost refreshing and comforting, but perhaps a bit too cold at first. She didn't mind after a moment of seeing the meats laid out for her to pick from. Her mind told her not to stare in the other direction, but couldn't help after peripheral caught sight. The red was honestly enticing to look at, but when she actually locked on, rather than seeing it from the corner of her eye, the emerald hues seemed to dull a bit and her face paled slightly. That's when her gaze moved around that area, reaction getting a little more intense.

She took a step back then, and before she knew it, she was reaching for a thick, uncooked steak from one of the containers and turned with it to quickly leave. Of course, something a little more prepared would've been better, considering how hungry she was, but she'd rather cook it herself than stand in that room any longer. "Th-this will do." she said quickly and quietly, ducking back through the door into the kitchen. She hadn't realized, but she'd been holding her breath as well, once out of sight, she released a heavy sigh, and took another deep breath through her nose. She wouldn't question it, and honestly she wasn't sure why she hadn't expected to see something like that. But suddenly she was almost preferring her fear of the pantries spewing blood on her over what she'd seen.

"My my, you really must be hungry. I'll have the servants prepare you larger portions during the served meals." The Lady of Demons was much too perceptive to miss the change that came over Thuraya, but to her credit she barely reacted to it. The smirk part of her smile grew a little, but thankfully (for Thuraya's sake) she didn't laugh at the reaction, simply turning to follow the warrior out. As soon as they were both clear of the doors they shut behind the two, and the change in the temperature of the room was instant; the freezing chill was gone, instead replaced by the cool that could be found throughout the mansion.

Of course, the Lady of Demons wasn't done with Thuraya yet. "You know how to cook on a stove top rather than a fire, yes? If not that's no problem, I'll simply have it prepared for you instead."

She looked at the steak in her hand and then to the stove. She nodded slightly in response, "Yes, I'll be fine to cook it myself."

She looked around only a moment in search of a pan and placed it on the stove, putting the steak in, making way to the pantry doors again, much less cautiously this time opening them, one after the other in search of spices, along with other cupboard doors being searched through until she found what she was after. She made way back to the stove, her hand reaching to turn it on and began putting what she'd gathered onto the steak. Assorted spices; black pepper, red pepper flakes, along with a clove of garlic and some chunks of onion that she quickly cut herself while the steak first started to give the sound of a satisfying sizzle. Adding them to the pan as well she had only to wait for now. She turned toward Karin again as it continued to cook, before looking for a fork.. a knife.. a spatula, anything.

"So, I'm guessing you've got business with me, not the kitchen, hm?"

"You could say that." The Lady of Demons seemed to be pleased by the smell of the steak, her standing nearby to watch Thuraya cook it, focused entirely on the meat rather than the woman cooking it. When the Guratan spoke however she looked up, giving a slight nod. "First, I have a question for you. Tell me, why do you think you lost to the brothers Maeneld during your fight with the two of them in Gurata?"

Thoughts of the "why" only ran through her mind for a moment. Jaw clenched slightly and she prodded at her steak a bit with the fork she'd found before mixing the onions a bit to fry along with the meat. "Simple, I wasn't strong enough. I'm still not, but I will be." her tone was flat, and completely serious, perhaps a bit of anger behind it. "If it comes to me spending no time for rest, I will do it. I will become stronger. Stronger than all of them. I let Seryosa down and it won't happen again."

"Your dedication to your Chief is certainly admirable. However, if you truly do think pushing yourself without rest is wise, you have much to learn. It might work to begin with, but in the long term you would only harm those you serve, not aid. Still, I understand why you feel such a way, which is why I want to help." For a moment the Lady of Demons stopped, eyes closing as she slowly inhaled, clearly savoring even the smell of the steak; however, that would be the last time, as apparently any cooking beyond that point was too much for her tastes. As she once more returned to speaking, her eyes opened once more. "You did well, considering you went against two Divineborn without any knowledge. Now, though, you know your next great opponent will be a Divineborn, which means you can prepare." Both hands went out then. "May I hold your blade for a moment?"

She knew the demon was right. But at this point she would do anything, which is likely why after flipping the steak she turned around and reached above her left shoulder to grab the handle of her sword. With a light tug, the clasp around it unclasped and she pulled the tip from it's sheath. She looked at it a moment herself, and then to the Lady's small frame. The blade was easily bigger than her(Hell, it appeared too big for Thuraya to even weild properly), but when she held it out, she placed it, edge toward herself, into Karin's hands.

"Not many people get to touch her, many less get to hold her. You're the first in years." If the small demon were to look closely, she would see the nicks in it's edge, especially toward the point at the end that had been repaired with an odd sort of expertise, but definitely not a master at forging. "So be careful." she turned back to the steak then, and pushed it around the pan a bit, piled the onions on top of it and began her search for a plate, next, while it finished cooking.

Carefully the Lady of Demons took the blade when it was presented to her, and despite her small (and almost frail) appearing form she held it with ease. Slowly she turned, holding the blade out in front of her, carefully looking it over and inspecting the various details along it, including its edge. After a moment she gave a nod, as if she confirmed something to herself, before carefully lowering the blade slightly, holding it out more in front of herself.

"Ah, I see. Yes, there was no way you could win with this weapon, not as you are."

As the small demon looked over her blade, Thuraya was reaching for a plate. Her eyes occasionally looking back to Karin to make sure her blade was still fine. She wasn't sure if she trusted the Lady, but if she could help, then it would have to start with trust on Thuraya's part... right?

Once plate was in-hand, she went back to the stove and stabbed the steak with the fork and lifted it out onto the plate, afterwards lifting the pan and tilting it a bit to gently get the onions out. While back home she wouldn't have had to mind so much, this pan looked pretty fancy, and didn't have any scrapes or scratches in it... Best not make any, she figured.

She found a knife in the same place she'd found the fork, and took it to seem polite, at the very least, and finally, with food, her mind was able to focus a little better. She stood at the counter, side toward Karin, and she cut the first piece of her steak off, one that was too large for one bite, but at least she'd tried... meat came to mouth and teeth ripped off a chunk of the cut portion. After savouring the flavour for a moment, she let Lady Renata's words sink in and process.

"So... How can I win then? I don't have powers like them, all I have is my strength, which clearly isn't enough."

"When it comes to your strength, you'll simply have to make yourself stronger still. It will certainly be a struggle, as you are already clearly very strong... for the average mortal. You must step beyond those bounds if you wish to survive. However, that won't do you any good now, so allow me to increase your chances of survival."

Suddenly, the Lady of Demons held the blade with one hand quite easily. With the other she suddenly drew her hand down as far along the edge as she could go, slicing so quickly that no blood was actually left behind on the edge, the cut opening afterwards. Holding the large wound above the blade calmly, several drops of blood began to fall, creating a thick (and somehow perfect circle). As the blood settled, she held her hand off to the side, the wound rapidly closing itself without leaving a mark behind.

A slight hiss filled the air then, along with a strong acrid smell. From the blood and blade a light amount of smoke began to rise as the blood began to bubble, boiling up as it began to eat through the blade. When the Lady had ran her hand down the edge of the blade quickly, Thuraya's own hand clenched into a fist as though she'd felt it as well, but simply continued to eat her steak, occasionally poking at the fried onions with her fork to eat those as well. It was the scent of burning that really caught her attention. Fork hit plate with a short clatter and her steps took her closer to the demon, "Woah, woah, no nonono!" she looked at the hole forming and reached for the blade to take it back.

Before Thuraya could touch the blade however, the Lady of Demons suddenly lashed out. Though the blade remained perfectly in place even as she moved, the Lady swung the blade with one hand easily, and struck Thuraya with the flat so had that it was enough to take the scorpionfolk woman off her feet, sending her crashing against the wall even as the Lady of Demons once more relaxed. By the time the hole (which was still a perfect circle) was complete, the blood had eaten itself away along with the metal.

She held her free hand out to the side, giving a slight shake, and suddenly her own shadow rose up to meet her hand, like a solid form. The shadow cradled a gem, rounded perfectly, that was a deep, glimmering sort of yellow. Placing it carefully into the hole, the Lady of Demons cut herself once again, this time her thumb, and on both sides of the blade she carefully applied the blood where the gem and metal met. Once more the heavy, burning scent filled the air, but this time nothing was destroyed; instead, the gem was fused into the blade.

Her thumb healed, she held the blade back out to its owner, calmly as if nothing had happened at all. "There. That will do."

Thuraya gave a soft hiss under her breath as she pulled herself away from the wall. A pain shot down her tail as she moved and the hiss faded into a slight groan. When she looked at her blade next, it had the gem in it. She took it back as it was handed to her and she looked over the once-was-hole and frowned. It was sturdy, didn't look like it'd come out. Arm stretched out to swing the blade, careful not to hit anything with it, the control was nice. It didn't throw off the balance and that was really what she was most worried about.

"Alright, so now my blade's been given the prettiest princess award, how will this help?"

The smirk on the Lady of Demons face seemed to grow a little. "That is a crystal that has been charged with power, courtesy of Resalia Narratio. I'm sure you'll meet her at some point. The power it is charged with is one that you have an affinity for; that of earth. By making contact with the ground with your blade, you will now be able to shift and move it; the longer you maintain contact, the more you will be able to do at once."

Eyes shifted from Karin to the blade, lingering on the gem as she brought the sword in closer. "I see..." was all she said at first, as she lifted it over her shoulder and placed the tip back into it's sheath hanging on her back, clasping the handle into it's own brace. "I'll have to try it out... But, I've never used any sort of power like this before, how does it work? I mean.. Me? Use any form of magic?" she laughed a little and shook her head, instead focusing on her steak again, taking another bite, knife all but forgotten as she stood with more than half a steak on the fork, tearing pieces away to eat, rather than cutting them off. "There's a reason normal people can't use magic, we just aren't meant to."

"With that attitude, you never will." The Lady of Demons gave the slightest of sniffs, before shrugging slowly. "It's a little more simple than you realize. After all, the crystal will do most of the work for you. It may take some getting used to, but all you will have to do is project your thoughts onto the gem, those thoughts being what you want to do with the earth; almost as if you are speaking to someone, though if you do so out loud then your enemy will hear it at the same time. Actually speaking might be easier, but I would work to move past that one day if I were you."

Chunk after chunk, torn off and eaten until the steak was gone, she listened to how the gem worked and nodded slightly at the end, but it was uncertain if it was a nod of understanding or just trying to swallow the last piece of steak that was clearly too big a bite for anyone.

"Alright. I'll practice. Anywhere good near-by that you wouldn't mind being torn up?"

Lady Renata gave a slight wave of her hand. "Just take it beyond the fence, in the space outside before the forest. That should be good enough."

"Alright.. I'll check it out, and uh... I guess, hope I can tear up some earth." she gave a nervous chuckle and shook her head before picking up all the onions on her plate at once and stuffing them into her mouth. She picked up the empty plate and looked around. Hesitating a moment, she walked over to the sink and put it in. She turned the water on for a moment to rinse it off and then turned back to Karin. She wasn't sure if she should wash the plate... or... just leave it..? She had servants who would do that, right? Or... whatever... This place was really clean...

Deciding to leave it rinsed, she awkwardly stretched and walked toward the door. "Uhhh, yup. Kay... I'll... Be outside then."

Watching her constantly with those shining red eyes, the Lady of Demons nodded even as she continued to smirk. "Have fun, Ms. Azize."

The Origin: A War Resumed (Arc One; Completed)

@The Darklight Project I liked it just now, to spite you. o3o
ALSO BECAUSE THERE IS NO "I'M CRYING PROFUSELY" BUTTON D;

The Origin: A War Resumed (Arc One; Completed)

You know, Dimitrius isn't technically a bard. xD He just enjoys music. He's actually a swordsman if I were to give him a proper "class" xD his "doot doots" aren't magical, just pleasant. =P
...
that said, he does look and act like your stereotypical bard I suppose. XD(though his colours are much more tamed, and his frills are usually just small at the end of his blouse's sleeves, or the occasional lacy cravat X3)

The Origin: A War Resumed (Arc One; Completed)

@RaijinslayerThey truly are the best kind of character~! <3

The Origin: A War Resumed (Arc One; Completed)

@PetiteAmbivertThought you might be one of those who's excited to see him!! XD

The Origin: A War Resumed (Arc One; Completed)

O: and yet another character of mine introduced! For those of you who know him, enjoy! For those who are just meeting him for the first time.... I hope you're ready for this man, and what's to come, with him. ._. Half the time I'm not even ready for him... xD

The Origin: A War Resumed (Arc One; Completed)

Thuraya Azize

One might see her as nosey, others perhaps finding her simply curious. But what she was, was definitely the former. Eyes watched Drosil the rest of the way to their destination, occasionally flicking over to Marco. Their conversation was one of interest. Apparently some sort of blood magic was being used by Marco? She hadn't heard all the details, but perhaps he was one to look out for as well. Drosil was also willing to help the young lad delve deeper into darkness with this stuff.

Lips curled down into a small frown. It was all she could do not to just run over, take the blade and place herself between Marco and Drosil, pushing the latter away, pulling the former into a bosom-filled embrace he wouldn't soon forget, telling him she'd make the bad man go away. Instead she just watched, waited. As Marco turned his attention instead, to Ambrosia, Thuraya let her own set on just Drosil for the remainder of their travels.

When they came up closer to the mansion, and it came into view, was the first time she let her attention leave him. He may have been interesting, but the moon was much more-so. Emerald eyes glistened in the crimson light, seemingly lost in it, until she felt the ground tremble slightly with a rumbling sound, then yelling. As the blur of a girl came out at them, Christopher dodged with a dive, others made their own ways out of her path, and Thuraya was no different. She stepped to the side, and put her tail downward to make sure the blur didn't run into it by accident somehow, and when she became visible, Thuraya showed a small smile.

In they went, and the first thing that came to the Scorpionfolk's attention was the soft sound of a violin. She didn't pay it much mind, but it was rather pleasant. She stopped with the others as Richard introduced the woman who they'd come to see. Her smile stayed, but did lessen some. Helle was cute, but she hadn't been expecting Karin to also be so... cute. As instructed, Thuraya took a seat. She was near the end away from Karin's location. She looked at the places set and then over toward the Lady of Demons herself, taking in the features for a moment. Eyes showed wisdom and words spoke intelligence. Of course, the Lady of Demons was... well... a demon, so clearly she could've been older than she looked and sounded. But she was... soooo cuuuute! but she knew so much... It didn't make sense!

Emerald eyes locked onto her then, harder than before and eventually her lips parted; ”Hey, how old are you?!”

Deeply red eyes turned to slowly look over to Thuraya. Very slowly, her eyebrow raised slightly before she quite calmly said, "Old enough."

Slightly tanned fingers tapped on the table as she looked a little disappointed with the response. ”Old enough for what though? Like... Old enough to play outside on your own or like... Old enough to know the history of the everything?”

Slowly the Lady of Demons brought her tea cup up once again, in order to take a sip before she said, "Both."

”Huh...” It was then that she actually noticed the food. It was a rare case when Thuraya didn't notice food as soon as it was there, if not before it was even close enough for most to smell. She looked at others' plates and frowned a bit but when she looked to her own she almost drooled. She sniffed it a bit, more like a dog than a human or scorpion, then took one longer inhale through her nose before she decided to take a bite of the meat before her.

---

The music Thuraya had heard upon entering the estate grew louder then, a door opened down a corridor and foot steps echoed closer to the dining room where they were all seated. Eventually, the violin's melody came to a stop, and in the doorway stood a tall, slender male. Cerulean eyes with long, dark brown hair tied back with a ribbon. He was garbed in a light salmon blouse under a vest with tie, pants that matched the vest's brown-auburn colour, with black shoes.

He stepped in and smiled widely, placing the bow of his violin into his right hand along with the violin itself, his left hand taking from under his right arm, a slender cane with a shining metallic top. Blue orbs scanned each person at the table before landing on the Lady herself.
”My, my, my! You didn't tell me we were having guests! Why, of course I could hear Lady Helle yelling the word from a mile away over my music, but I'd no idea how many~ And how important!”

His steps took him past each person, eyes resting for only a moment on each one as he made his way toward the head of the table. Smile widened as he leaned slightly, on Karin's seat and a caw sounded briefly before a crow came into view to drop a cup into the man's hand then perch upon his shoulder. ”Seri-Viva! Say hello to the guests!”
She cawed at first, then fixed her position on his shoulder. ”Hello!” slender hand reached up to pat her head and eyes shifted down to Karin as his own cup was filled with the same thick, red liquid that she'd added to her own. ”You know, some days I believe you might be ashamed of me! And that's why you don't ever invite me to your little social gatherings~!”

The Lady of Demons had remained quite silent on Dimitrius' entrance, just sitting where she was. She didn't even give him a single glance, eyes only focused upon her guests, as if he wasn't there. However, eventually she sighed, once more taking a sip of her own tea, but this one much larger that the previous ones as she nearly drained the cup.

"Richard is the only help I need at these gatherings."

”Oh, yes, yes I know he's all the help you need my lady~! But certainly you don't wish to intentionally exclude me from these things? Hmm? Do you~?”

"You still sleep inside, don't you?"

He pondered the reply a moment and nodded. ”Why, yes. Yes I do~! And it's quite kind of you to let me do so, might I add!” he turned toward the others again and gave a fairly low bow, holding for a moment as Seri hopped about on his shoulder to keep herself on it, and again as he stood back up straight, he took a sip from his cup and grinned even wider. ”Sir Dimitrius Alexander James Turner~ At your service! What a pleasure to meet all of you!” he took a single step away from Karin's seat then, keeping his grin, taking another sip. "So! How is everyone?!" he asked, a general disregard for how important the conversation they were having before his arrival may have been.

The Origin: A War Resumed (Arc One; Completed)

@Raijinslayer Well, Thuraya can't decide if she actually hates Drosil or not. :D PROGRESS!!