princess

Avalia

Time:Evening
Location: Outskirts in the trees not far from Roshmi Hall
Interactions:@Alivefalling@Dezuel
BGM:Music

Knelt down on the tree branch, Risa was as frozen and in shock of the world as one might be as they awaited their executioner. His ax would drag against the ground audibly as he approached from behind, ready to remove the head of the person in question in one sweep as the victim knelt in the dirt for all to see. Risa had never seen an execution, but at this moment, she understood what it must have felt like to kneel there, waiting for one's impending doom...

Her wide eyes were fixated downward at nothing in particular, her violet eyes lackluster and no different than that of a corpse's eyes who had been left open. She swallowed hard and painfully as she gripped the skirt of her gown with clammy hands as finally, a thought broke through her still mind:

I want some water.

It felt as if Risa had knelt there for hours and it almost felt like she had been floating the whole time. She had lost awareness of her limbs and for a moment nothing mattered. It was a sort of peace she wished she could stay in forever. There had only been a few moments in reality that had passed before someone had grabbed her after she had fallen to her knees. The minute she felt the touch of another, the panic set in.

Dionaea.

She saw Dionaea's facing when she had smiled back at her as they had run through the forest. Then she saw the young blonde girl as she kicked her legs in the river, her face reflected back in the water. She saw her face as she danced with a boy. As Dionaea studied in school. As she teased Kyran. Faces upon faces tumbled through her mind, the images getting more and more rapid in tune with her racing heart. Then she finally saw Dionaea, bloodied and lifeless. In that very moment, the reality of someone grabbing her set in and she wailed immediately, kicking backward at her attacker.

"No! Leave me go!" Risa wailed, "Please! She needs me!" She wrestled to get free, hysterically crying and beating at his arms with her fists with as much strength as she could muster, even if that wasn't a lot. If Dionaea was nearby, she could still heal her. He had to give her a chance. If she was captured or killed now, Dionaea would be hopeless. She was just hurt and if Risa could just get to her...

Then Elthrael's voice set in, though it was quite some time after he had first spoken:

"Time to fly!"

"Elthrael..."She drew off in realization, her voice still choked up as she glanced down and looked for Kyran but he was nowhere to be seen. Before, she had truly lost her trust for the moth fairy, but now she was so torn and desperate she just wanted to convince him to help her find Dionaea and Kyran. She thought she saw the dark form of something running through the woods, but it was much too big to be him. Overwhelming panic and despair filled her as she realized the people she depended on all of her life were not here in this moment. Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded, "Elthrael, please my friends need help."

Avalia

Time: Late Afternoon
Location: Roshmi Hall
Interactions:@Potter@Tae

Malachi had just pulled out a chair at the table Corvina had been seated at for Kenia to sit in when a forest background took over the wall behind them. The young fairy girl stood in the middle of the projection and started nervously speaking. She took a different route with her speech than he had suggested to her yesterday and he stressfully rubbed his temples as she spoke. It did improve as she went on. Her youth was her obvious flaw but somehow the humbleness and honesty of her words, as well as her raw emotions, carried better than whatever logical words he had advised her. She even seemed to empathize with the dark elves in her plea for peace, letting them know that fighting them wasn't what she wanted but it was what she would stand for if they would not agree. There was something brilliant about innocence and earnest. He was a bit ashamed he had forgotten the power of those things.

Little did the fairy girl know, he had set up about ten orbs all across Roshmi City. Thousands of demi-humans were perhaps crowding around them to watch. If things went the way he wanted them to, the entire city would soon be in an uproar if Risa's words were as powerful as he believed them to be. Risa probably would have objected that it would have endangered many lives to involve all of Roshmi. He feared the girl was perhaps too idealistic and trying to save too many lives in order to really push through a war. She seemed to really think that perhaps simply speaking to everyone the way she was now could convince them, but it was going to take more than that to convince the dark elves to stop what they were doing.

Then came the display of a dead blonde fairy. He quickly covered Corvina's eyes with his hands. This could not be Risa's doing. She got in the way of him killing a disgusting mosquito yesterday when they had first met. Malachi had seen a lot of horrible sights in his day so he was, fortunately, able to stomach the view enough to analyze it more than the others would be able to. The weapon of choice for the fairy's death seemed to be vines. This was certainly the work of another fairy. For something like that to be suddenly hijacked with a gruesome display prepared in advance, it had to have all been long premeditated. This meant that someone knew of their plan and have somehow been listening in yesterday despite their careful efforts, or Risa was somehow insane enough to think that was a great idea to end her speech with, though he doubted that final theory.

None of it mattered as it was clear things were escalating. The annoying light elf governor had been first to react, calling for guards and whatever else to probably make him feel like he was doing something useful. Then someone he had not been paying much attention to suddenly spoke up, proclaiming his allegiance to 'Princess Millinia' and starting a chain reaction. Indubitably, things were going the way he wanted but that also meant things were going to get a lot more dangerous. He turned to the women, "Kenia, Corvina, we have to get out of here now."

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time:Morning
Location:Ember Grove Diner
Interactions:@13org@Ithradine

Ylva's statement perked Millie's interest and she tilted her head her way. "Oh that's terrible Ylva. What happened last night? Did your store get robbed or something?" She asked her sympathetically. She had been so entranced in the drama with Marius yesterday that she had neglected to pay attention to anything else happening in Ember Grove. Maybe she could do something to help Ylva get a new job. It was a pity that she had the luck of getting a job so soon after coming to Ember Grove only to lose out on it. Her magic was not there to be wasted, after all.

Millie had also paid attention to her other new acquaintance as he spoke. The man here seemed to carry a warm and friendly demeanor. Even though she tried to see good in others, there was always a painful skepticism deep inside her that sometimes some people were too good to be true. Any time she encountered kind folk such as him, she found a small part of her wondering how much of it was real. They always seemed genuine enough. Perhaps it took one to know one.

Anyhow, the waiter came over to take their orders and Millie ordered her blueberry pancakes and some tea. There was something about the way the guy ordered coffee that reinforced her earlier minor suspicion. She reminded herself yet again she was overthinking just as she had with Marius. Millie pretended not to notice. She was surprised when he turned to her specifically and introduced himself as Luke.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Luke, and you too, Ylva. I have lived in Ember Grove all my life so if there's anything either of you need, I'd be happy to help. There's so many charming little places we have here. Ylva, maybe I could help you get a new job and if you need one too, Luke I can try to help. "

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time: Morning
Location:On the road from OH HQ
Interactions:@Potter@FunnyGuy@MasterDucky

Angel glanced his way as he smirked, watching as he lowered the music. Oh wow Sean. What a power move. She thought with heavy sarcasm. His next words made her roll her eyes but thankfully the sunglasses hid that. The truth was it would be a hell of a lot easier to get away with lying to someone like Sean if he could not see in her eyes. She hoped he could have imagined it anyway. "Do you hear yourself, asshole?"Angel snapped at him, not really spending much time at all thinking on her response. "I don't need to tell you shit."

Maybe the music wasn't his thing but she wasn't sure why going in her car and driving somewhere made her a wannabe rebel of sorts. It pissed her off to no end that he had chased after her to assume what she was doing and what she wanted to portray herself as. She could not care less if people thought she was a rebel or a coward. Angel knew who she was and that was that. She put her life on the line protecting and fighting for humanity yesterday only to come back to the HQ and be scolded like a runaway dog. Clearly Sean was no different since he did not bother to treat her as an equal. She was willing to throw him the small bone that perhaps Colonel Trotter positioned him as some official babysitter for all the freaky experiments. No way was she playing that game.

"Try thinking for yourself for a change then ask me again, and maybe I'll tell you all about my rebellious intention to get breakfast."

Angel moved to put the car into drive immediately only to be interrupted by Remy's voice. To her left, Remy's head hung over the top of the window, her hair falling in the view of Sean. Pizza was hanging out of her mouth that soon found its way into Angel's lap, startling her more than she'd like to admit. She picked it up off her pants and set it aside with a smile. Most people would have probably tried to stop Remy from riding off on her skateboard alone but Angel trusted Remy could handle herself more than most of the other hunters.

She watched her ride off for a moment, her smile fading as the prior situation settled back into her mind. Angel sighed, without glancing at Sean but speaking to him once more, "I'm done here." She had been about to ask him if they were done but Angel decided that her opinion was more than enough.

Avalia

Time:Evening
Location: Outskirts in the trees not far from Roshmi Hall
Interactions:@Tae@FunnyGuy@Helo@baraquiel@13org@Eviledd1984@Dezuel@dreamingflowers@Alivefalling@Potter@hide on mana

High in the trees and completely out of sight, the pink-haired fairy stood on the thick branch of a willow tree, facing a black sphere orb that was a bit above her and centered in regards to her position. It lit up her face in the darkness of the night as the crickets chirped around her as a translucent hologram of a mirror image of herself digitized in front of the orb. She swallowed hard as she stared into her own eyes and at the background of foliage behind her, her hands trembling despite their grip of her skirt. They were not too far at all out from the Roshmi Hall, but Kyran and Risa were enough into the outskirts to not get noticed. The same projection that stared back at Risa was also projected on the large windows translucently, stretching across the entire wall for all of the ball to see. The music would slow as confusion over the crowd of attendees, hushed whispers as everyone recognized the well-dressed fairy from earlier.

Hours and hours the previous day she had spent trying to write down the words to say at this moment, but it had seemed ingenuine. She had never really given a speech before despite who she was. Risa had decided there was no right way to plan it. “I am Risa Millinia. I am…”Risa began, drawing off nervously.

She could tell them how she was technically a princess, tell them how great her family was, and how educated she was growing up. That would perhaps be the better tactic in order to convince them she was worthy of being followed. She thought of Cadence and how he had treated her as an esteemed individual. It could be that just being a royal descendant was enough in a world where many still longed for the old ruling system. Her mother and father would have told her it was all in her blood if they were here at this moment.

Flashes of Dionaea’s home and her dead family members flashed through her mind, as well as Dionaea’s sickened, pale face. Memories of Jean Luc even surfaced. She sighed, fighting the urge to avert her eyes as she looked directly into the orb. “I am the reason the crops are dying here in Roshmi. The dark elves are after me for the fact that I had a hand in bringing you humans here... I-I don’t think I could ever say how truly sorry I am for that hand." Risa felt her voice choke up with guilt but kept a sturdy tone, “Humans, this is my promise to you. I will do whatever it is in my power to get you home and safe. This is not a war you asked for. Anyone else with bloodied palms should also treat them with this respect. Putting another race in danger in chasing our hope makes us as evil as the dark elves. Force no one against their will. Choose better. “

She had an urge to kick herself after that last sentence. Was she really going to call out the dark elves here and now? Though her heart began to race, something in her gut told her to keep going. She had not shook hands with this darker part of herself in many years. Risa was never one to call others out as evil or place judgments.

The truth was she was no hero nor was she fit to be a queen. That had been her brother. He would have been much more suited for this role and would have been someone worth fighting for. She could not bring herself to instill as much hope as she might have been able to before all this. Risa was a girl as lost as any of the humans. She did not know what else to do other than to be honest and hope they’d see something in that.

Nonetheless, there was a fire in her that could not be doused and she could not stop herself from continuing, her emotions leaking into her voice, “Dark elves, I call you evil for good reason. You have become the very evil that you encountered long ago when you were outcast. You spread pain and terror, and though not many have stood up to you and lived to tell the tale, all of Avalia knows of your evil! If you stopped blindly falling the biddings of a mad lich, you would realize you have become nothing more than his slaves. You’ve taken my brother, my first love, my home, and I know I’m not the only one! I know deep down you all know that none of us have deserved the pain you’ve inflicted. “

“Think about a different world where the past was no longer fueling our future. We could make a new future where you all do not have to be outcast into the freezing north ever again. You could live alongside everyone else. I know my people are not the ones who put you in your grief but I am willing to admit my ancestors sure did not stand for you. I’m sure many of us would be willing to change that and stand for you if you stand with us. We could have a world where we have leaders who represent our species again and not led by those who cannot understand our cultures and way of life.” Risa thought of the dark elf she had encountered. She was sure he was the one who had set Roshmi after her and was pulling a lot of strings even now. What was he thinking of her words now?

“But if you stand against Avalia, we will stand against you. “ Risa was not even sure how many would even stand with her, but for this to work, she had to believe it would. “ I implore anyone and everyone to fight with us. There are humans who are willing to fight for us and many more Avalians who have had enough. There are more of us than there are of them and if it takes a war to have a world we’re proud to introduce children in, then I say so be it. I came in this dress tonight to let you all know I’m not afraid. You will not threaten me into hiding and I will proudly show who I am and what I represent. My grandparents spread kindness and hope through the River Kingdom. If they are my heritage, nothing you say will make me ever hide who I am.”

The mirror image of the impassioned, teary-eyed fairy that stared back at her suddenly switched off. A new image switched on. It was at first hard to make out the image but it was clear a silhouette hung from a tree branch in a similar setting as to Risa’s background. Blonde locks of hair stained with red trickled down from a bent down head and torn fairy wings drooped with gravity Vines kept the body up and swinging gently with the breeze in an almost eerily serene way. Light began to better showcase the view both to Risa and the crowd at Roshmi Hall as Dionaea Sycamore’s hanging body was displayed for all to see. The display got worse with more attention to detail with vines crawling up her legs lacerating the skin where they had moved and gruesomely protruded through her flesh in multiple areas of her torso. Her face was the worst of all with the barbed vines piercing through where her eyes used to lie, wrapping around the skull creating a crown of thorns and causing blood to pour through the sockets down her face and from her mouth, a mass of tendril-like vines flowed out bearing Clematis blooms. A deep red ichor of blood-drenched the fairy’s once white attire. It was a work of madness displaying the lifeless corpse.

Risa screamed as she threw the orb and then unbuckled.

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time:Morning
Location:Ember Grove Diner
Interactions:@13org@Ithradine@Tae

"Oh t-thank you." Millie told the girl as she handed her the coin. She had such an interesting accent that she had never heard before. She straightened back up on her feet with Ylva's help as she spoke. "My name is Emelie but you can just call me Millie. " Ylva continued to talk about her sandwich, asking Millie about her interest in it.

Millie giggled nervously, feeling a bit embarrassed. It had been weird at her to be staring at Ylva's food the way she did. Perhaps she had just been too hungry. "It does look good but I came here deadset on some pancakes. I am thinking of getting the blueberry ones." Maybe it was good her coins fell; now she had an excuse to talk to the wonderful girl.

A cheerful voice joined and Emelie glanced up as an older gentleman joined, handing her the coins. She thanked him as he offered to sit together. Emelie knew it was nice to give older folk company and immediately smiled at him, "Sure. All three of us can sit. It's always nice to eat a meal together with others." She excitedly took out her phone and texted Marius. She would sit down at Ylva's table as long as Ylva had not protested the idea. Millie quickly put her phone down as to not be rude.

(◕‿◕✿) Good morning my lovely Marius! I hope you are well and had a great breakfast. I am at the diner getting pancakes and I actually think I'm making some friends.

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time:Morning
Location:Ember Grove Diner
Mentions:@13org

Marius had left Millie with a question that had haunted her in her sleep that night a bit.

"...Since you’d been casting a spell on me for so long I think it’s only fair that if I need a spell cast at some point you’d do it for me with no questions asked. Not saying I need something like that right now or anything, but if I ever do. What do you say? Does that sound fair to you?”

Millie had, of course, insisted she'd do anything he ever wanted whenever wherever at that moment but that night the idea had marinated in her mind and cursed her with a nightmare or two. What would he want her to do exactly? He was a vampire inside a mafia after all. Millie had done him so wrong and she was ashamed, not just of her actions but for even doubting him. Marius was the man she loved. The least she could do was dedicate all to him and do whatever he asked.

She had been up late with her thoughts, having quite the internal battle. Millie ended up sleeping in later than usual this morning. Marius had been missing from his spot in the bed and the spot lacked his warmth, so it was clear he had woken up early. It did not take long to figure out he was not home and probably had to get affairs in order after being out of commission for so long. She had simply shot him a text checking on him and then prepared herself for the day. Being a bit on the groggy side, she decided that she'd go get breakfast today instead of putting the effort into prepping it herself.

It was not long before Millie approached the Ember Grove diner. Dressed in a long, floral dress with a red cardigan over it, she moved through the alleyway, coming up from behind the diner to get around to the entrance when a gun clicked audibly in her ear. She glanced in the direction of the noise to see a masked fellow in black staring at her.

"Cough up the cash, lady."He ordered, gesturing to her purse with his other hand.

Millie's eyes widened and she stared with fear. She could use a spell on him easily, however, the more she considered the situation, the more she found it very tragic. It was very sad that he had to resort to such an action. She was sure he needed the money more than her. Millie rummaged through her purse and took out a fifty dollar bill and handed it to him with a nervous smile. He raised a brow but took off running with it. She tried to awkwardly wave to him but his back had already been turned. She hoped she'd have enough to get some pancakes still.

Bells tingled as Millie entered the diner finally. She was seated and given a menu, to which she opened with passionate delight. Movement out of the corner of her eye made her eyes divert from the selection of wonderful pancakes and towards a waiter passing over to the table across from her. There was a young woman across from her receiving a nice big sandwich. It looked so good. Millie licked her lips, hiding the action behind the menu as she stared at it. She firmly reminded herself she was here for pancakes and returned her eyes to the menu only momentarily before she found herself looking over once more as the waiter left. The girl did not look too much older than Millie and she was cool looking. She wondered if they could be friends.

But people did not just start talking at diners? Or did they? Millie needed to get out of her comfort zone but at the same bothering this woman while she ate a sandwich was childish. A distressed expression overtook her face and she found herself getting anxious about the difficult decision to talk to the woman or not and began to rummage through her purse again. Millie did not want the woman to see her freaking out so she needed to look down at something. She did have to count the money she had after all. Clumsily, she dropped the purse with her shaking hands and change fell all over the floor, loudly jingling and disturbing the others in the diner.

"Sorry.. Sorry..."Millie softly apologized, climbing on the floor to hurriedly begin collecting all her change.

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time: Morning
Location:On the road from OH HQ
Interactions:@Potter@FunnyGuy
Playing on the car radio: Overly edgy music

Angel glanced at Shay briefly in the mirror as she drove down the road. Was she going to keep saying stuff the whole time? The girl had one too many comments and Angel was unmotivated to address them. Talking to people sometimes felt like too much work. Still, the one comment about them both being escapees made her think. She wondered if it was possible that escaping was an often thing nowadays. It hadn't seemed to be the case when she was there. Escaping had been near impossible and most of the captive had been devoid of hope. They were both evidence that it did happen, but just how often? The idea of others escaping and not wanting to go back and fight pissed her off. On top of that, having to think about what she went through made it all the worse. She gripped the wheel and turned on the radio, switching quickly until the music was loud and obnoxious enough for her. Whether or not Shay liked it was not of huge concern.

The angry ranting that commenced in her mind, following the previous thoughts, was soon interrupted by Shay's compliment to her car. Normally, she would have probably bullied someone for making such a stupid comment but she knew when Shay said it, she meant it. As far as Angel remembered, anything beat cold concrete. "Yeah. Don't drool on it." She grumbled in reply.

Angel groaned loudly as her phone started to ring. "Oh fuck off." She snapped. Her tension was almost tangible. She took out her phone a bit aggressively and glanced at the name. "Seriously?" Angel muttered and began to adjust her mirror. There was his Sean in the Sean Mobile, off to the rescue unnecessarily. Granted, she was supposed to report to training at this time and as were most hunters during the day time. Angel knew she was in for getting her ear chewed off later but she hadn't expected instant pursuit. Knowing Sean, he'd follow her all day. She began to slow down, pulling to the side of the road as she ordered Shay, "Do that invisible thing. "

She answered the phone finally as she put the car in park, stating simply, "yep,", and hanging up. Angel grabbed her sunglasses and put them on before leaning back in the seat. She didn't bother to lower the music.

Avalia

Malachi and Kenia

Malachi bowed to Elsea and moved away from her. They both had spoken about the port town the previous day so there was no need to discuss further. It was announced that the paired dances were over and he sighed in relief. He was quite finished talking to others for the moment. He had been hoping to chat with someone new and spread the word. Though he now could wander around and quickly try to find more allies, his heart was pointing him elsewhere.

He never thought that he’d ever crave to dance with a woman again but the idea of dancing with Kenia had not left him all night. His heart started to beat faster. Would she even want to dance with him? Malachi started to glance around the ballroom until he caught sight of her and began awkwardly moving through the crowd, pushing shoulders. Yelps of surprise reached his ears dimly but he was too fixated on her to care. The pessimist in him figured there was a good chance they’d all probably die tonight and he was not going to die without getting to dance with her at a ball. Being a bit of a traditional man, Malachi valued sentimental things like that.

“Kenia…” It was possible his voice would startle her as he approached her, but he had come to her in such a rush it had not crossed his mind. Gently, he took her hand and kissed her palm.

Kenia had bid Ilan farewell and made her way to the refreshments table as she was in need of a drink. Both dances had been rather enjoyable and she’d actually accomplished something, but she’d be lying if she said her mind wasn’t elsewhere. While she knew that they had a job to do, she also wanted to try and have some relaxing fun at this ball too.

As if reading her mind, she heard Malachi say her name from behind her which made her jump a little at first. She turned to look at him and felt her cheeks turn a little red as he kissed her hand, but she couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. It was a relief to see him and she felt some butterflies in her stomach as if she were some foolish young girl experiencing a crush for the first time.

”Malachi…” She breathed out almost in a sigh of relief of seeing him finally. She then realized she may appear a bit silly and needed to remedy that. ”I’m so relieved to see you, I was beginning to worry that one of your dance partners was going to steal your heart.” She said playfully with a smirk. Her flirtatious comments had seemed to increase a bit since the night at the bar, but she still hadn’t really spoken to him on what happened that night and still wasn’t entirely sure if their emotions were genuine then or if it had just been the alcohol talking.

“Tchh… What heart?”Malachi asked a bit playfully with a slight smile. He took her hands and pulled her out on to the floor, spinning her around under one hand delicately, “We need to find Corvina. Keep an eye out for her. “ For a moment, what was presented in front of him was swapped for an older image of a brown-haired elven woman with a big smile. He blinked rapidly as things went back to Kenia. After all these years, Cara… I still remember your face. Malachi thought and smiled faintly. He could imagine how happy she’d be that his stubborn ass was letting himself care about people again. It had been a thought that ached in the back of his mind that Cara always said she never wanted him to be alone yet he had strived for it for so long without knowing what else he could do.

Because as much as Cara longed to be with him forever, she was now gone. No person was promised to stay. Tomorrow was not even promised to yourself.

Kenia and Corvina were not promised.

Malachi out of everyone should have no problem after all the loss he faced understanding and internalizing such ideas but his flaw was that he never truly could. Malachi tightened his grip on Kenia a little. He wanted to promise her protection, but he could never do such a thing. The world was cruel in that way.

He drew off and looked at her again. He found himself smiling a little again. He had her now and he could promise that at least. “So. What kind of people did you end up dancing with?”

“Maybe I was imagining the heartbeat I felt when we were pressed up against each other the other night,” Kenia said with a giggle and wink as he pulled her out onto the dance floor. It was strange, but being there in his arms and dancing seemed to help wash away her concerns she had going into the night. She did nod when he told her to keep an eye out for Corvina, though, as she knew it was important to make sure she was safe as well. It was hard, though, to keep an eye out for her as her mind wanted her to just stay focused on Malachi and living in the moment.

She felt his grip tighten a little and she gave him a small, funny look as she wondered what he was thinking about. As soon as he smiled at her again, though, she smiled back. “Well, my first dance was with an interesting character. He was sweet enough, but he seemed to be constantly looking around for someone or something which I found a tiny bit suspicious. My second dance, however, was with a delightful little fawn who…” She trailed off as something caught her eye briefly and she glanced over Malachi’s shoulder to see what it was, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She continued scanning the crowd for a moment with a troubled look on her face, just having a gut feeling something wasn’t entirely right.

Malachi’s cheeks flushed at her first statement, “Err.. Well… I…Oh dear.” He had not expected her to be so forward and could not stop himself from blushing at her words. It was highly attractive. He cleared his throat awkwardly to try to cover up that he had no idea how to reply to that in the heat of the moment. So she did still like him. That night had been as real to her as it was to him. He finally smiled.

Kenia started to detail her dancing partners only to draw off. His eyes immediately widened as he followed her gaze,“What? What?!?”

Kenia shook her head as she looked back to Malachi and smiled. “Sorry I thought I saw something, but it must have been my eyes playing tricks on me.”
She said with a small laugh, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was a bit off. She opened her mouth to speak again, but then she saw it. She saw Airdan dancing with Cora and she stiffened. Her heart began to pound and she began to tremble. “Airdan…” She managed to squeak out as she watched the two part ways and he made eye contact with her, smirking, before making his way through the crowd.

Malachi noticed she had taken interest in Corvina and the man she was dancing with. He watched them a moment and watched him smirk and gave him a fierce, threatening glare. Malachi was not the most intimidating elf in the room whatsoever but when he glared, he glared. He turned to Kenia and began to rub her back gently as he felt her tremble. He seemed familiar. It only took a few moments for Malachi to realize that elf had a stark resemblance to the man in her family painting they had been looking at just a few days ago. She did not seem happy to see him whatsoever. Anger filled Malachi as he wondered what had gone on to make Kenia react this way. He protectively pulled her closer to make her feel safer, thinking about moving her away from the scene but then the question dawned on him.

What was he doing with Corvina?

He looked at Kenia, speaking urgently, “ Let’s go get Corvina.”

Kenia was frozen in place for a good long moment up until Malachi pulled her closer. She took a shuddering breath before she tore her gaze away from where Airdan once was. She then glanced up to Malachi as he spoke and nodded. She leaned further into him, gripping onto him tightly as she worked on calming herself. She definitely hadn’t been expecting to see him here and the fact that he was definitely had rattled her. She now just wanted to make sure Corvina was okay.

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time:Morning
Location: OH HQ
Interactions:@Potter

The girl had lost her entire family as well. Angel glanced over her shoulder at the HQ while Shay had paused, getting deep into thought for a moment. If they knew Shay was here and took her under their wing... Her gaze slithered back over to her as she started bringing up the location. The story sounded understandable, but it was too convenient. This wasn't the first time Angel alluded to what information she wanted from her. Shay would have probably coughed up this information at the art gallery to prevent getting stuck in this situation. This was something that had been thought into and careful wording had been devised. Shay did not seem to give too many hints of lying so Angel was sure there was truth to it and it had been calculated to be this way. Cunning are we? Two can play this game. Sorry, Shay. We might be too alike for you to get away with this one. However, this was just a strong hunch. Angel knew she would need something better to corner the girl. She delved back into her mind, racking her brain for something good to say. Shay's voice drew her from her thoughts.

”And that’s great news about the magic. You guys don’t miss anything, do you?”

The word "magic" may as well have been in neon lights, being sung by a choir. Angel clapped her hands and turned to her. "Oh, yes, Shay. I sure don't miss a thing." Angel mused with a wicked grin, not caring to withhold sass from leaking into her tone. "Magic,Shay. You can do some weird crap and lead us there, couldn't you? You've been there before after all so it should be a piece of cake! " Angel said it all slowly to enunciate each statement almost mockingly, looking her in the eyes now. She patted her shoulder. "Oh we're gonna be great friends." Afterwards stating so, she immediately climbed over into the front seat. "But first let's get you far away from here." There was a certain amount of haste to her actions as she began starting up the car. "Breakfast?"