The Muse

Beyond Nirvana - The God Eater Calamity

Sybil carefully eyed each of the items that were laid out before her, feeling rather overwhelmed with the choices she had. 'What was Cetia thinking...' She wondered, dragging her finger over a staff made out of some kind of foreign material. Many of the weapons she had never seen before or even heard of. Not only that, but she knew she would be practically useless wielding any of them. They would be better fitted to other members of their party. Instead, she gravitated to the elixirs, listening as Mitsuko explained what some of them were. Picking up the mana increasing elixir, Sybil tossed it into her satchel and hoped that her spells would need less prep time if she took the elixir. Unlike Cynthia, Sybil chose to wait to consume the liquid. She had no idea how long the effects would last, or if they would work at all, but she planned to save it for the "right" moment.

As another creature emerged from a fog filled portal, Sybil tensed and reached for the dagger strapped to her thigh. She paused as the man who stepped out of the portal introduced himself, slowly moving her hand away from her only sharp weapon. 'Just a late comer...' She thought, relaxing her body. "Welcome." She said softly, observing an aura of some sort hovering beside the man. Sybil had plenty of experiences with lingering ghosts and energies in her line of work, and so she had expected that the man had a tagalong loved one that only she was privy to seeing. However, the man began to speak to the aura. Clearly, he could see something else there that she was unable to with her own eyes besides the aura. She raised a brow, curious of who or what he was speaking to.

Deciding that she was satisfied with her elixir choice, Sybil began to follow the group out of the facility. Just as she was about to exit a chill ran up her spine and a soft voice called out like a whisper right in her ear. She paused, a hand on the door, and looked around at the rest of the group to see if they had heard the same voice that she did. Alas, it appeared that she was the only one. Similar to being able to see ghost-like entities, Sybil was use to other worldly beings reaching her plane of consciousness. Deciding she could not leave without checking it out, Sybil turned back into the facility and followed a thread of energy which led her to an iron door. Her heart pounded as she pushed the door open, her eyes quickly scanning the disheveled room. At first the room had been too dark to see much of anything, but soon green sparkling lights began to buzz and light up the room. Sybil approached slowly, unsure if she was walking into some sort of trap, but unable to fight the compelling feeling that she had to find what was calling after her. Picking up the object, Sybil moved it around in her hands and examined the captivating color. It reminded her of the fireflies of her home world. "You're coming with me." She whispered to the crystal, tucking it away inside her satchel. Sybil had no idea what this object was, but it felt important.

Quickly, Sybil left the facility to catch up with the rest of the group. She gasped, exiting just in time to see Mitsuko being slammed into the ground by some kind of creature with horns. There was no time to marvel at the uniqueness of this city, unfortunately. Feeling almost frozen in shock, Sybil watched as both Illistrianna and Cynthia jumped into action. Thank Cetia for them.

With shaking hands, Sybil removed the dagger from the inside of her thigh. It likely wouldn't do anything against this foe, but it wasn't actually intended for combat. With a rapid movement, Sybil sliced the dagger across the palm of her left hand and squeezed her hand into a fist. Blood gradually began to maneuver its way through her fingers and drip from the bottom of her fist. Dropping to the ground, Sybil began to write various symbols into the ground with her blood in the form of a circle, whispering an enchantment to herself. Suddenly, Sybil's eyes snapped forward and focused on Hachiman. "Blood of the heart, tear their secrets a part." Sybil finished her spell, her mismatched eyes looking almost as devoid of emotion as her Goddess Cetia's had looked.

The blood that dripped from her hand suddenly took on a dark crimson glow and began to flow upwards from the ground, defying gravity. With a burst, the red liquid shot towards Hachiman and splattered across the armor in a deliberate pattern. On the creatures armor, the blood focused on each joint where each piece was linked to the other - revealing weak points. "Aim for the joints!" Sybil yelled out to the other warriors, pointing to where her crimson glowing blood magic spread across Hachiman's armor.

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

__________________________________________


_{@The Muse & @LovelyComplex}
__________________________________________

8:30pm

“I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE YOU—” Estella was prancing away from Levi, with all the energy of a child on a sugar rush, before she found herself tripping and stumbling right into a bush. Rolling off the bush and onto the ground, Stella found herself starfished on the grass staring up at the sky. He held her phone, which now had many pictures of them as they tried all the rides. Her brother, Hector, had called interrogating her and she promised she wouldn’t drink too much and that she would switch off with him, three hours ago. Well, it seemed the one breaking promises was Estella Serrano. She knew Hector couldn’t leave the pet zoo until she was there so she made sure to avoid that area just so she could spend more time with Levi. “... what was I, ur, saying?” She slurred, not bothering to pick herself up off the floor. “Oh that’s right. I cannottttt fathom you on a dry spell. LIESSSSS. You’re Casanova. Casanova can get whoeverrrrrr he wants. Anyways, picky me uppppp.” She reached her hands out to the air, like a baby.

Levi burst into laughter as Stella tripped into a bush and rolled herself to the ground. “Get ahold of yourself, Serrano!” He teased, standing over her as she chimed on about the last time he had been intimate with someone. It had been so…… so…. SO long. Two entire months!! A travesty, really.

He chuckled and shook his head, “Casanova? I like the sound of that.” He looked at her hands as she reached for him, then looked to the grass that she laid on. “I think you've got the right idea, actually.” Instead of helping her up, he laid down next to her in the grass and looked up at the sky which was beginning to show colors of purple and orange across the clouds. They had been walking, drinking, and playing games for hours. Laying down felt right, they deserved a rest. Thank god his time with Stella had turned into something fun and not a soap opera.

Turning to his side to face Stella, he smirked, feeling the alcohol swirling around in his bloodstream and threatening to make him do something stupid. “You think I could get anyone, huh?” He mused, keeping eye contact with her. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Stella was hearing him but his words were molding into one another. The world was spinning. She heard him speak but she also heard her heartbeat through her eardrums. With vigor, she turned to her side, practically throwing herself. Not realizing he was that close to her, she bonked her head with his, forcing her to repel backward while using him for stability, latching onto him tightly. “Owieeee.”

The sudden pain in her head caused her to scrunch her nose and make a face. When the pain settled she found herself in his arms, her leg weaved with his like a delightful tapestry. Her big amber eyes deeply stared into his. The way Stella looked at people, it made them feel like they were the most important person to her. She knew how to make someone feel special just by being herself. Always giving them her undivided attention. Always loving them with all her heart. “I can totally get whoever I want,” she gently protested, misunderstanding what Levi meant. Sure, she never actually pursued anyone but if she did, she was certain they’d hold tight. She was a once-in-a-lifetime catch and she knew her worth. Whoever her future was, she knew she’d make them the happiest person alive but until then, she’d make her friends happy. That was something she chose to live by. She loved making people happy.

Levi winced as Stella smacked her head into his, mimicking the same scrunched up face that she did. “Ow.” He agreed, laughing at her clumsiness. Face to face with her, he admired her bright eyes and found himself lost in them for a moment, the alcohol seemingly making them sparkle more than they might usually. When she moved her leg over his Levi felt the excitement of anticipation rush through his body; something he hadn't felt in WAY too long. He hadn't expected it with Stella but…. here they were. Laying on the ground of the festival's grassy area, ignoring the people walking by, and forgetting what time it was.

He pulled her in closer as she spoke, his eyes looking to her lips and then back to her eyes. “You could get whoever you want.” He confirmed, his voice lower and sultry now as he whispered to her. Gently, he pushed a strand of her dark hair out of her eyes, his eyes gravitating to her lips again. Just as he was about to pull her in for a kiss, someone walking by yelled out, "GET A ROOM!"

With the abrupt interruption, the dream began to fade and the reality of the situation started to set in. Turning red, seeing how close she was about to kiss Nixie’s ex, and her old childhood friend, Estella’s heart sank and her lips began to quiver. She was in a public place and if her father heard of how she was behaving… she’d be dead. Her eyes began to water as panic rushed through her. All she wanted to do was make Levi feel bad for leaving but it turned into them having a genuine, good time. She was able to not think about the ranch and just be in the moment, with her friend.

Don’t cry. Don’t show him how weak you actually are.

Pushing back, unlatching herself from his hold, Estella struggled to get herself up, picking up her bag as she did so. “Forget this… forget me,” she choked. What the hell was she doing? She really was stupid and now she was starting to think Levi actually wanted her when she was just like every other girl to him. She wasn’t special. He had shown that to her the moment he left and never called. She wasn’t going to be like every girl that fell for his beguiling ways. She wasn’t this damsel that needed some boy to pick her up, especially Levi who didn’t give a damn about her. “I…” She gave him a glance over before running off not finishing what she was going to say. She was embarrassed and knew at the end of the day, this was her fault. How stupid could she be?

Levi sat up quickly as Stella wiggled out of his embrace and began speaking nonsense. He furrowed his brow, confused at her sudden switch up of emotion. Did he say something wrong? Did he read the vibes wrong? Normally he could read the body language of women so easily; how did he misread the situation? He mentally cursed alcohol.

“Stella, wait! I-” It was too late, Stella had already sprinted off and was lost within the crowd. He frowned, pulling out something from his front pocket. Her phone. “Damn it.” He mumbled as he put her phone back into his pocket, standing up and getting ready to chase after Stella.

“STELLLAAAAAAAAA!” Miguel called out as he looked around, going to his older sister’s favorite rides, games and stalls. “Mr. Jeff, have you seen my sister? She was supposed to come back to the pet zoo like hours ago. It’s not like her to just disappear like this.” The worker at the slingshot balloon stall shook his head, tired and ready for a nap. It’s been a long day.

“Well, thank you anyway, Mr. Jeff.” It wasn’t long before Miguel Serrano saw Levi. He happily waved, trying to hide his worry. Quickly, the youngest Serrano jogged to the older boy, and his boss at the cafe. “Levi! Sorry if I’m interrupting anything, have you seen Stel? She’s usually pretty good at keeping us updated in our group text but we hadn’t heard from her in hours. Hector told me that Nixie told him she was drinking. I’m actually really glad I found you because Mr. Mark at the basketball game told me she whooped your butt.” He scratched his head, not connecting the dots. He rambled on. “Cisco and I have been spending most of our time trying to find her, making sure she doesn’t go too crazy. You see, when Stella drinks… Well, she gets really silly. And I love my sister, with all my heart, but sometimes she lets the emotions take over her, like nerves, and she just drinks way more than she can handle. You know? The only time she really drinks is when she’s with Reya and that might be once a month if the girls decide to take a break from their jobs. Anyways, I’m getting off track… my sister. Have you seen her?”

Levi paused as he spotted Miguel, relieved to see someone sober to help him! “Hey kid.” He greeted, the dread slowly setting in as Miguel explained that the family had been looking for Stella all day and on top of that - Stella rarely ever drank! Internally he panicked, glancing back over to the crowd to see if he could see the girl in the sea of people. “Shit… we were drinking. That must've been why she ran off!" He thought out loud, looking over at Miguel. “We were having a good time, I thought, and then she just ran away!” He intentionally skipped over the part about being intertwined with each other in the grass only moments ago. “I'll help you find her. I still have her-”

"Mommy, the sky!!!! Look it. Look. So pretty. Right mommy? Mommy are you looking?"

"Yes honey, it's a beautiful sunset. I see it."

Levi paused as he heard a young child squeal over the colors painted in the sky. His heart immediately dropped, his eyes looking upwards to the sky. “SUNSET?!” He exclaimed, eyes wide. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! I'm gonna be late!” He said quickly in repetition, turning his body away from Miguel and looking over his shoulder. “I'm sorry Miguel, I gotta go!! Let me know when you find her, please!” Levi took off in a sprint towards the ferris wheel, forgetting to give Miguel his sister's phone. Nothing like panic and adrenaline to sober a person up.

“Wait Levi!” Miguel called out, visible sweat running down his forehead. This wasn’t good. Stella was drunk and somewhere at this festival or worse she tripped into a ditch and broke her leg. “It’s fine, this is fine… she’s okay, she’s going to be okay.” He repeated to himself, trying his best to not think of the worst case scenario.

He needed to call Tommy before Stella did something she’d regret. He didn’t know who else to call on. It wasn’t going to be his dad. He’d get so mad. She was supposed to be running the show today.

“It’s fiiiiiiiiine,” Miguel continued, trying to convince him. Nothing bad was going to happen. Stella knew how to take care of herself. She was the big sis after all. Shaking off the nerves, he turned the opposite direction to run back to the petting zoo.

This was not good. Not good at all.

Amongst the chaos, and in a sea of people, Estella searched for one person and one person only. Her best friend. Reya Parker.

She wanted to cry.

Adventure Awaits! - Prompt Voting CYOA (Always Open)

>"Are you Aika?"

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

Seeing the defeat and betrayal in Emily’s green eyes nearly broke Reya’s heart. "Em, I’m sor- AHH!" With zero warning, Reya was bulldozed over and sent flying face first towards the street. Luckily, in the nick of time, Reya was able to save her face by putting her arms out when she came in contact with the ground. Unluckily, her knees and hands did not come out unscathed. She winced in pain, feeling the burning sensation of her skin ripping against rock. Staying on the ground for a moment, Reya looked through her hands and stared at the black asphalt that dug into her palms and knees. "What the fuck?" She mumbled to herself, afraid to look up at the crowd who had just witnessed her tumble to the ground. 'I could just… roll… all the way home…' She pictured herself rolling up into a ball and leaving the fairgrounds like an armadillo. If only…

Sighing, she looked up and found Talie picking her up off the ground, asking her if she was okay. “I’m stellar." She said sarcastically with a laugh, standing up and dusting off her shorts. Looking at the makeup that Tallie offered to her, Reya raised a brow. This clearly wasn’t hers. Reya met eyes with Talie, realizing at that moment that Talie thought she was helping. 'She thinks Zack is a creep..' She thought, amused at the idea that Talie was trying to follow “girl code” and get her out of a situation with a weirdo. She chuckled a bit, "Some rescue effort there." She whispered to Talie and put the makeup into her pocket for safe keeping.

Her eyes then found someone that Reya had met more often than she would have liked due to her fathers habits; Thomas Fischer. Her heart sank at the sight of him. Thomas was nice enough, but seeing him brought visions of the past that Reya didn’t want to remember. "Hey Sheriff.” She greeted, taking a step back from Tommy and Talie. “Oh, don’t mind me.” Reya said, noticing the teddy bear that Tommy was offering to her and not wanting to interrupt any romantic moment that was supposed to be happening.

Examining her palms and picking out small rocks that were jammed into her skin, Reya listened to a speech that was taking place on the large platform stage near the center of the festival grounds. ‘Did she say… date auction?’ Reya shook her head at the idea and looked further down to her knees which were still seering in pain. She clicked her tongue as she saw her right knee now adorned with scratches and a small amount of blood building. Hopefully that wouldn’t scar. As she continued listening she began examining her clothes to see if anything had ripped or stained. Reya tensed as she heard Em yelling behind her about Madonna, forcing her to turn to see Zack had made his way over to the group. Lovely. Her cheeks still held the embarrassment from the last ten minutes and this was the cherry on top of the entire situation. "Uh… thanks?" She said in response to Zack complimenting her investigative “skills.” Today was going terribly.

Looking past the two siblings, Reya noticed a large semi-truck sitting in the middle of the fairgrounds just as Talie mentioned not wanting to miss out on the funnel cake. ‘So that was the horn I heard…’ She thought, having heard a horn blare through the crowd noise when she had been trying to leave Zack’s grip on her hips. Reading the “Reaves” name on the side of the truck, Reya rolled her eyes. Figures. That family would think they could just park anywhere they felt and make a grand entrance on top of it.

"Martha’s is here!" She exclaimed, noticing that the food truck was sitting on top of the trailer that the Reaves truck had pulled in. Nevermind the Reaves infuriating entitlement! They could do anything they wanted if it meant getting the funnel cake into the fairgrounds. Reya turned to Talie and grabbed her hand, "Let’s go!" She began pulling Talie in the direction of the food truck. Suddenly all Reya’s problems melted away. Who cared about her bloody knee, scratched up hands, the fact that Talie knocked her over into the ground or that Zack probably thought she was an idiot! She came for funnel cake today and she was going to get it!

As they reached the front of the truck, Reya took note of Taryn Reaves having a chat with Jewel Navarro. Both notorious figures around town. Nonetheless, Reya couldn’t deny how impressive the two of them were. Reya had always admired Taryn’s grit and skill with a truck the size of this behemoth. She didn’t know Jewel very well, but the festival she had put on wasn’t half bad.

Turning her attention back to the food truck, Reya pulled Talie into line with her and noted the handwritten sign taped onto the side of the truck. "Free?!" She grinned with excitement, glancing over at Talie. Maybe today was turning around after all. Her knee still hurt, but the funnel cake would surely fix it.

---

_{Interactions: @Zora@PrinceAlexus@Viciousmarrow
Mentions: @Pilatus@QueenBea}

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

For at least ten minutes Levi sat with his back against the picnic table that Tommy had left him at, sitting backwards on the bench so that he was crowd facing. Outwardly he looked calm and collected, per usual, but on the inside his mind spun with different scenarios on why his best friend would have left the conversation so abruptly. What did he say that had upset him so much that he had to flee? Had Tommy expected Levi to chase after him? Levi's eyes stared blankly ahead as he got stuck within his own mind, not truly seeing anything that was happening ahead of him.

Aah really do not want to talk about this with ya, Levi, aah’ll catch ya later.

Tommy's statement played on repeat in Levi's mind as he tried to pick apart each word and the tone behind it. The way Tommy gripped his shoulder and put on a smile that Levi could easily pinpoint as fake. Did Tommy really think Levi wouldn't notice? It had been awhile, but Levi had still memorized the mannerisms of his friend. It was like muscle memory returning again now that they were face to face. Levi knew Tommy and vice versa. At least Levi thought so. That's how it had always been.

“Yoohooooo! Levi!”

Levi snapped away from his thoughts at the sound of a melodic voice calling after him, his blue eyes darting over in the direction of that lovely sound. His eyebrows raised in surprise as his gaze settled on Estella Serrano, a bright shining light amidst the rain cloud he had felt since returning to Sanctuary. "Heeeyyy Stella." He matched her playful tone, straightening up in his seat and letting his eyes take in the vision of her in a bright blue dress that amplified her features stunningly.

“How’s it goingggg? Are you having funnnn?”

"I'm better now that you're here." Normally this sort of compliment was just something he said because it made women happy, but this time, he was actually telling the truth. Stella had been the first person who came to say hello to him when he moved back and her welcome had been heartwarming. He could still remember the excitement in her eyes when they saw each other again. Granted, this was not a fair comparison for Tommy and Phoenix - Stella's little brother Miguel worked at the cafe so she had been one of the very first to learn that Levi had returned.

Admittedly in high school Levi had not paid much attention to the Serrano girl due to the fact that she was a freshman when he was a senior, but eventually he came to know the entire Serrano family well. Once he had become close to the family it made it difficult for Levi to feel good about pursuing Stella without the stab of guilt every time he saw her father Javier Serrano. Out of respect Levi had rarely allowed himself to view Stella as a potential prospect, but there was no denying that she was beautiful. This fact was more evident to him when he had laid eyes on her again for the first time in years; Stella was no longer the kid he knew in high school. It made it incredibly difficult to be respectful.

Across the street, behind Stella, Levi suddenly noticed Phoenix at one of the carnival games with the doctor he had seen earlier this morning. His eyes looked beyond Stella for a few moments, watching the interaction between the two closely. His mind quickly moved on from Chris being Phoenix's potential boyfriend to now wondering if it was the doctor. 'She'll be skipping the ferris wheel for dream boat over there.' His mind advised, forcing him to peel his attention away before he let the unjustified jealousy bubble its way to the surface. If Phoenix was going to have fun, then so was he.

"You free?" He asked, standing up from the picnic table. "I could use some cheering up." He put on his best puppy-dog like pout, begging her to play with him. "Or how about I win you something instead?" He dropped the pout and smiled, looking around to long line of carnival game booths with a variety of different prizes out on display; most of them plushies. "You're my good luck charm, after all."

---

_{@LovelyComplex}

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

Unrelated to the ice cream currently held in her mouth, Ana felt a chill run down her back as the Russian man requested that the child did not touch him again. The statement was cold and devoid of emotion, something she had come to know as a serious warning. She glanced over at the red headed girl, feeling a wave of anxiety for the girls safety in that moment. The jovial nature of her aura dissipated as she thought about what she could do if the attack dog of a man tried to put his hands on the girl. A pink spoon to the eye? A kick in the groin? Definitely. She could buy them enough time to run if she had to.

A sense of relief followed as the girl stepped away from the man, seemingly obeying the request and no longer wanting to test the boundaries. Ana's grip on her tiny pink spoon loosened as her eyes moved back to the Russian man, watching as he began to wipe down his jacket. 'OCD?' She pondered, taking another bite of her ice cream and wondering if that was the true cause of his outburst and not just the fact that he wanted to beat up unruly children.

Ana raised a brow as the redhead made a complete 180 and instead of throwing more insults, she chose instead to flirt. Ana smiled, deciding not to respond, and simply watched the headstrong girl walk off into the crowd and nearly crash face first into another woman. Slowly Ana brought her eyes back to the Russian man, an amused smile on her lips once more. "I'm almost certain that girl has a concussion or something." She chuckled, only half joking. The girl was definitely odd to say the least, but then again, so was this man. Sanctuary was turning out to be a hub for odd people, herself included. "I should probably go check her for a head injury." She continued, getting another chuckle out of herself.

Deciding she was done with her ice cream, half eaten, Ana tossed it into a near by trash can. "I'm Ana, by the way." She turned toward the Russian man again, unsure if she should reach out her hand for a handshake. He clearly had an issue with touching people and she was sure she had already offended him with her offer of ice cream, so she decided against it. "What's your name?"

---

_@Zora

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

Reya's face lit up with a smile as Talie announced that she had won the little game and secured her prized amethyst geode, only briefly taking her mind off of Zack and the closeness in which he watched her. "Yay!" She exclaimed, feeling proud that her father's teachings had been valuable in some respect. Her excitement over the crystal, however, was short lived.

“Wow, see I told you you were good at everything~!”

Reya felt a jolt of electricity fire throughout her entire body as Zack's hand slid across her waist and pulled her in closer. She held her previous smile, completely frozen, but her face gradually colored itself the same shade as a ripe strawberry. Talie's request for ice cream went unnoticed by Reya; besides her scrambled thoughts, Reya could only hear the sound of her own heart trying to jump out of her chest. 'What is he doing?! Is he drunk?? He has to be. What?! What is going on. We've never been this close! AHHHH. Where is Stella?!'

Reya began to nervously giggle as Zack offered to bring ice cream back for Talie. "Yes! Ice Cream!" She confirmed, still feeling the lingering tingle of her nervous system alerting her to exactly where Zack's hand hung on to her hips. She laughed louder, awkwardly, as Zack pointed out how red her face was. "HaahhhaAHHAHAH" She side stepped out of Zack's arms and quickly spun herself around to face the rest of the crowd instead of Talie and Zack - a futile attempt to hide the redness of her face. "It's so hot out here. Are you guys hot? It's super hot. We should get ice cream, yeah. Like, right now." She began to walk away towards the nearest ice cream stand, not waiting for anyone's answer. 'What are YOU doing?! It's hot out here???? REALLY?' She cringed at herself. She was making a fool out of herself and she knew it. Reya was rarely so unhinged, but Zack's forwardness had been the last thing she expected and it had completely knocked her off balance.

"Oh." Reya paused in her step and blinked a few times as she came face to face with exactly who Zack was on the hunt for. Emily had been looking back and speaking to two blonde people whom Reya had never seen and in doing so had nearly run right into Reya's face. "Hey, Em." She greeted, feeling uncomfortable as she knew Emily would notice the tomato color of her skin as well. She turned back towards where she had left Zack and Talie, only a few feet away. "Zack!" She called, waving him over and then pointing directly at Emily. She knew she was most likely about to be on Emily's shit list, but... Reya had to make the sacrifice for the "greater good". It was either address what Reya's problem was with Zack over ice cream with him or throw Emily under the bus as soon as possible to distract him from the situation ever happening. Sorry, Emily. A sacrifice had to be made.

---

_{@Viciousmarrow@PrinceAlexus}

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

"Vhy do you kome if it is overrrvhelming?"

Anastasia was immediately taken aback by the mans thick Russian accent. Such an accent was the last thing she expected to hear in this podunk town. What was a man like himself doing here, exactly? He stuck out like a sore thumb, which is exactly the opposite of what she was trying to do. She pondered on his question for a moment, "I don't know." She simply stated, smiling back at him. Although the answer was simple, it felt nerve wracking to give such a succinct and unjustified answer. In the past she had felt the need to explain her answers for nearly everything. Everything had to be rock solid, no room for argument. "I don't know" wasn't a thing, but it was now, and it felt freeing. She was allowed not to have an answer for everything, she told herself.

Ana shrugged as he turned down her offer of ice cream, thinking it was his loss. She took another bite of her ice cream and looked ahead to the individuals who were playing corn hole. She had played before, but she was no good at it. Aim was not exactly in her wheelhouse, but she still had fun with it.

Ana's attention quickly shifted as she noticed a small redheaded woman slink her way behind the Russian man. Ana glanced over at the blonde man, wondering if this was a person he knew. The way the redheaded girl was acting was odd to say the least.

“Hey. Udders. Can you get lost? The cows are getting milked over there. Also the ice cream innuendo is super obvious and really weird. Please stop and get some help.” Ana's mouth dropped open at the sudden berating from the girl, truly shocked. She glanced down at her chest; were her "assets" really that noticeable in this dress?! So much for blending in.

She looked back up at the girl, then to the Russian, then back to the girl before she burst out in delightful laughter. It had been a very long time since someone had been as bold as that to speak to Ana in such a way. It was actually refreshing to have someone around who wasn't afraid that they would get whacked the moment they misstepped around her should her husband get wind of it.

"I like you." She giggled, pointing at the redheaded girl with her tiny pink spoon, completely unfazed by her comments. Ana had heard much worse. Her eyes moved to the Russian man again who was practically being crawled upon by the girl now. "You two know each other?" She questioned, assuming they must from the way they touched. Ana began to wonder if there was something sinister going on with this man - the redheaded girl looked very young in comparison to him.

---

_{@Zora@Viciousmarrow}

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

Reya quietly followed the USGS woman back into the crowd of people, looking the stranger up and down. She had never seen this girl in town before, but she was dressed a lot nicer than how Reya imagined a person working in geology would dress. Not only that, but the man at the booth had been sharply dressed as well. For some reason Reya had assumed that people working with dirt and rocks all day would dress more... boring. Then again, it was festival day. Maybe the geologists were just the most fashionable of the government branches.

Reya's speculation was interrupted as the brunette began speaking, mentioning that they had not expected to get any customers today. "Oh, I check out what you guys have every year. Can't beat a good rock." Reya laughed as they reached the booth, taking note that the woman's name was Talie. "My name is Reya, or Rey. It's nice to meet you, Talie. I run the Fox Hole just down the way." Reya looked down the street, pointing the direction of the tavern. "Come by for a drink sometime. I can put together a mean Old Fashion." She smiled and returned her gaze to the layout of rocks and crystals. "Or whatever else you like, really."

Her attention was then pulled toward the box filled with a variety of gold toned rocks. She raised a brow, inspecting it. "Why not." She decided to play along, picking up one of the rocks to investigate further. Then another which had a brighter sheen to it. She stared at the two for a moment, rubbing her thumb over top to see if the feel of them stood out to her. Truly, she had not idea what she was doing, but she decided to go with gut instinct on it. "I think-" Reya paused as she caught someone waving at her from the corner of her eye. She looked up to find the notorious Zachary Snypes headed directly for her. Oh god.

As the red-headed man leaned up against the booth, Reya's mind completely forgot all about the two golden rocks she held in her hands. Her glossed lips turned up into a smirk as Zack apologized for nearly running her over. "I'll try to find it in my heart to forgive you." She said playfully, being a little braver than she typically was around men. As Zack introduced himself to Talie, Reya could feel her heart flutter at the flash of his brilliant smile. Removing her gaze from him before she made a fool of herself, Reya suddenly remembered that her hands were full with rocks. She set down one of the rocks in front of Talie which had a brighter golden appearance and placed the other duller rock back into the box. Based on what she remembered from gold panning with her father when she was little - real gold shined brighter than fools gold did, no matter the lighting circumstances.

Reya looked up to Zack once again as he complimented her for being good at "everything" and then proceeded to compliment the way the two women looked. Brain go brrr....

Reya felt the heat immediately rise into her cheeks and any confidence she previously had to talk to him melted away. She laughed nervously and looked away, back to the rocks, in an attempt to avoid him seeing the pink in her cheeks. He was going to lay on the compliments and wanted their help?! She wasn't sure she'd be good at finding anything, but her heart wanted her to take the opportunity. "I can help." She replied, following her hearts desire for once instead. What was the harm? Except for embarrassing herself.... The logical side of her brain was always such a bummer.

Taking in a quiet deep breath to calm her flustered nervous system, Reya tapped the shiny golden rock in front of Talie and looked up to meet eyes with Talie - intentionally avoiding eye contact with Zack at this point. "I think the real gold is this one." She glanced over at the amethyst crystal geode that she had set her eyes on previously. "Do I win?" She smiled, looking back to Talie for confirmation. If she didn't win, she'd have to tell Zack that he owed her this crystal geode once they found his little sister. No way she would be that hard to spot, the Snypes siblings were never hard to find in a crowd. If not for their red hair, the loud voices would give them away every time.

---

_{@Viciousmarrow@PrinceAlexus}

~ Welcome to Sanctuary ~

With pleasure, Levi took a sparkling golden star sticker from one of the nearby officers and stuck it to the left side of his hoodie; proudly displaying his impressive victory against the dunk tank. Unfortunately this meant that he had to move aside for others to give it a shot, but he was happy enough to have won on the first try. He hadn't lost his athletic prowess yet! The only thing that seemed to sour the experience was Tommy himself. Levi hadn't missed Tommy's expressionless face when the two met eyes with each other. Similar to Phoenix, there was no heartfelt welcome home. This had stung even worse than the cold shoulder that Nixie had given him. The pain of it did assist in the power and strategic aim behind his softball throw, however.

"Hmph." Levi blew air through his nose in a half scoff, half inaudible laugh, as Tommy returned from the water and commented on not believing Levi would return to town. 'I should've stayed in California.' He thought, intrusively. Did he actually believe that? He wasn't sure. As Levi moved aside for the next person to take front and center stage, his brows raised at the comment of Levi being too cool for his friends after leaving. "Me?" He walked over to the side of the dunk tank, closer to Thomas but still separated by a metal fencing that kept people from getting too close to the tank. "I could say the same for you." He retorted before he was able to shut his mouth. For a millisecond it crossed Levi's mind to reenter the line for the dunk tank so he could sink Thomas into the water again. Normally Levi had a better hold on the words that left his mouth and didn't let emotion control him, but after two big ego hits it was hard not to let the sass out. He had fully expected a warm welcome from his friends and was met with coldness. 'Selfish.' His brain said again. Damned intrusive thoughts!

Collecting his emotion once more, Levi shoved it away and let a faint smile return to his face. Even though he had expected more from Thomas and Phoenix, that didn't mean they weren't still friends.... right? He wasn't the type to dwell on it, so he forced the doubt out of his mind for the time being. Grabbing his beer, Levi looked over at the next person in line - a small girl about the age of eleven who waited with giddy excitement. He took a sip and then looked back to Thomas, "When you're done protecting the citizens, let's grab a bite or something and catch up." He took a step back from the fence to leave, "Missed you, man." He looked back at the line up of people, not wanting to keep Thomas from his work for too much longer. "See you around, Batman."

Reentering the crowd, Levi found a nearby picnic table to post up and enjoy the rest of his beer while he people watched. Most of the town seemed to be out, as usual. He looked around to see if he could find any other faces he knew that he could talk with - surely there was SOMEONE who was happy he was back in town right? He took a larger gulp of his beer this time. Why was he so desperate to be wanted all the time? He needed another beer...

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_@Zora