Y.Z. Act IV [PG-16]

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"You say you don't like standing out, but wouldn't removing them at this point make you... not stand out as much?" Reid interjected into the conversation with Dimitri. He glanced back at his own wings after considering the fact that the young man had none. It was strange that nobody had inquired about his wings yet, since one was black, the other white - which symbolized the unity of his plufael and negafael, just like the differing shades of green his eyes were. "So, by 'boarders' do you mean skyboarders? I've been a boarder since I was just a little kid. I find it more convenient than flying with wings."

"Hey! Daddy!" Rosalynne chimed in suddenly, her eyes shining brightly. "Can I get cool piercin-"

"No."

Ellianne sweatdropped. "No hesitation." Throughout the chatter, Ellianne had noticed something funny. Both Reid and Adela shared something in common with the boy and girl at the table with them. Reid and Dimitri had skyboarding, Adela and Natalija had... their general attitude, at least Adela used to be similar. She recalled how scary she found Adela back in the day. "Ah, I've been fine, thank you for asking!" She replied to the woman's inquiry with a gentle smile as she clasped her hands together cheerfully. "I've been very busy at my church, so busy that I haven't had much time to myself..." Her cheery voice sank slightly as her lack of free time came to light. "But, I've been visiting the doctor a lot lately - you see, he's been treating my blind eye - and it's starting to look like I might be able to see properly again in the near future!" Ah, that was right. Reid had forgotten, but Ellianne was blind in one eye, and she was even mute at one point. All from traumas caused by discrimination back before the formation of Flazure. "How about you guys? You have such cute kids! I'm totally jealous!" She deterred from her original topic idea. She was originally going to inquire about Lazarus, but figured later would be a better time to do it.

Something had been bugging Reid since lunch began. "Where did that girl, and Auricia go?"

"Oh, well, Lyrum insisted on going off to see the town for a little while, but when I told her it was too dangerous she ran off anyways! She's pretty strong, but also kind of absent minded as well, so I sent Auricia to tail her."

"Absent minded, huh? I bet they get along swimmingly!" Mistral giggled to Reid, whom ignored her thoroughly. Ellianne was one of his dear friends, he wouldn't make fun of her.

"Hey! Hey! Serge! Did you hear yet? Since we don't have enough room, I have to stay in your room tonight! We should make it cool! Like a sleepover!" Rosalynne got way too excited over little things. But she loved her brother a lot, so it was natural for her.

OOC: I'll do the other parts later. Shouldn't affect anyone here though, so feel free to move on.
 
OoC: HUrray for pointless luncheon chit-chat.

iC:

Dimitri fiddled with one of his earrings, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully, "... That's a good point. Well, I haven't had the chance to take them out since we came, and they look pretty normal where we were before this, so I guess I didn't think it was a problem. I'll take them out sometime after lunch." Dimitri shrugged, considering that removing earrings from his face probably wasn't the number one thing that everyone wanted to see while eating. Catching up, Dimitri gushed out excitedly, "I live for skyboarding! I've only been tricking out for a few years, but it's enough to get on the halfpipes and not make a complete fool of yourself. I think they're really convenient too, because… well, they're convenient." Which was just another way of saying, 'Well, I don't have wings. Oh well!'. Dimitri grinned at Rosalynne, feeling considerably better than he'd felt before now that it was less awkward. "Do you ride as a means of transportation, are you a trick boarder, or are you a racer?" Dimitri asked Reid.

"Well busy is better than bored!" Adela replied, "That's wonderful news Ellianne, hopefully you'll come see us once your eye is better?"

"What?" Serge looked down at Rosalynne at the news of having to share a room before looking up at his mother, who was busy chatting with Ellianne. Sure, he got along great with his little sister, considering the fact that they were… well, siblings. But still, it wasn't like Rosalynne was five anymore. Serge sighed, giving a lopsided smile to Rosalynne. She didn't even care, probably. "Alright, alright." Serge finally decided that there would be no helping it. Especially since she was so hyped for it. "This means I'm sleeping on the floor, doesn't it?" He laughed, knowing that this was the case without even having to ask. "Let's find something new to put in the garden out front."

Adela glanced over at Serge and Rosalynne before looking back at Ellianne, "We're doing well, but Reid is awfully busy. And like usual, he likes keeping secrets." Adela shrugged it off, "I've learned not to ask. Those two are both more like Reid than me though. Although Serge's attitude sometimes gets the better of him."

The boy in question pretended not to hear, engrossing himself in showing Rosalynne how to make a detailed castle out of the mashed potatoes.

"He likes to spend time with Levi, and I suspect that's where he picks up his bad tongue." Adela shook her head disapprovingly.

"Levi is awesome." Serge interjected, looking up from his half-finished castle before quickly escaping more confrontation with his mother upon the subject.

"He's a bad influence, and it's Mr. Jaquez to you, Serge, mind your manners." Adela replied without hesitation, before turning back to her conversation with Ellianne, "Anyway." Adela was about to ask whether Ellianne had anyone she was seeing, but remembered Ellianne's feelings for Reid all those years ago. As much as Adela felt Ellianne was not the kind of person to cling to those kinds of sentiments, the current Adela was not the kind of person who brought up those kinds of old memories. "So why is Auricia dressed up as a phoenix girl? Last I heard she'd gone to Telfin with… Oh… I can't remember his name. The Lieutenant. Why is she with you?" Adela asked, lacing her hands together and resting her chin on her fingers.
 
"And you saw the graveyard as a fitting place to go first… because?" Soren still wasn't particularly amused at the events unfolding before him. First he irrationally left his uncle's, then he had somehow been weasled into accompanying this Lyrum girl, only to have her lead him to the graveyard. It wasn't a safe trip, either, as looks were shot at them by the civilians wherever they went. A Phoenix anywhere outside of Flazure was a rare sight to see, and people seemed to be making the best of it. He had even gotten some looks from men himself, though he figured they weren't the same kind of looks, considering he was currently in the form of a young woman. Well, here they were, anyways. At least they got there in one piece, that was all that mattered. Though it was a weird place to request to go to first, especially considering how out of the way it was. Meredy's overly gigantic cemetary was positioned on the very edge of the city, where trees and other plants grew more commonly. The large, grassy fields which flowed below the entrance were coated with tombstones of varying size and shape, with a lone building off in the distance that appeared to be made of marble and in the shape of a large church. Apparently that building was their definition, as Lyrum took off towards it in a dash without even giving Soren a heads up. He attempted to chase after her, but the fact that Natalija didn't excercise actively kicked in like an overdose of Advil and he ran out of energy.

When he eventually caught up – and it took a long while – he found the Phoenix girl before a tombstone just outside the church-like building. She was knelt down, and obviously praying before the stone that read 'IN MEMORY OF CARN'S 8th PRINCESS, ROSALINE DIAN.' The one beside it belonged to the 7th princess, Juliet Dian, and both of them seemed to have had flowers lain at them recently. It was curious that one of Tealia's cemetary's housed Carn politicians. It was unlikely that the real bodies were there, but rather the stones were there as reminders. "Do you know about Princess Dian, Soren?" Lyrum questioned quietly as she rose from her praying position. Soren nodded. "You know how she tried to establish Flazure, right? Well, I'm grateful, but I also hate her for it at the same time." She... hated her? Why? She did a good thing, didn't she? The girl's face saddened. "Sure, without Flazure, I may not be standing here today, but because Flazure exists, I've been previously unable to leave it. It's like that for a lot of people. People still don't completely accept us, and since we're trapped and rarely seen, good things don't happen to those who try to leave. Because of Flazure, my people have basically been imprisoned..."

Soren supposed it made sense for the most part, but there was something that didn't fit. "You make it sound as if outer forces have been keeping Flazure's residents pinned inside, but you know that's not true. If the fact that the sight of Phoenix and Wyverns is rare, than the fact that they don't come out into the rest of the world often is the problem. You can't thrust the blame on Rosaline Dian for something your people are doing to themselves." It had been nagging him this whole time, but he felt as if he had once had a conversation along these lines with someone before. For the life of him, however, he couldn't remember when and with whom. Lyrum's eyes darted down to the ground at Soren's statement, and he suddenly felt pretty guilty. He hadn't considered the fact that he'd make her upset. Looking to right his wrong, he grabbed her hand and began dragging her away, the suddenness of it making her gasp and eventually follow willingly. "Hey, we're pretty close to a great restaurant! I bet you're hungry, so it'll be my treat!" He could hear the girl giggling behind him. "What?"

"Thanks."

"Huh?"

"Maybe you'll understand someday."

---

"But Serge! Who would live in a mashed potato castle?" Rosalynne, as nonsensical as ever, commented amidst the conversation with the adults about Serge and his visits to Levi. It made sense to Ellianne that they still kept contact with that man, considering he helped pay for Reid's surgery all those years ago. Also, the fact that Reid was still keeping secrets was no surprise, and he didn't seem to be denying it. He had once told her back in the day that if he had kids, there was no way he'd be like his own father. It was obvious he was nothing like his own father, considering the way he smiled when he watched his kids.

However, she was unpleasantly taken by surprise when Adela questioned Auricia's ordeal. She didn't think the skill would want her telling the story, but these were people they had known for a long time, after all. "Well, Auricia showed up at my place a few years ago. When I found her unconscious outside of my door, she was badly beaten, bruised, and cut, and she didn't reawaken for a few days later. While she recovered, her original body is badly scarred from the cuts she received. From what she told me, Telfin is a very Skill-centric place in which they don't accept outsiders. Considering what outsiders do to them, that's no surprise. Ashton had been living with her there for a while, but one day a horde of people came and took him away, while beating her badly as punishment for loving a human. Already wounded badly, and carrying a serum in her blood that prevented her wounds from healing as quickly as they should for a Skill, she attempted to travel to Flazure, but found herself engaged in more conflicts, in which she ended up even more beaten. She's recovered somewhat to this day, but she often zones out and I often find her crying..." This was a bit much for Reid to swallow. What had happened to Ashton exactly? From the sounds of things, Auricia didn't know either, but she had been through one hell of a lot. If this had been twenty years ago, before they became allies, Reid could have cared less about these people, but now...

---

"Miki." The girl stated firmly, not bothering to get up. She wasn't showing it, but she was in pain. Who was this guy, and why did looking at him make her head hurt. "What is your name, and what do you intend with me?" The chain was beginning to float around her again, ready to strike if this man intended her harm.
 
The study was everything Pethalamine had grown to expect from personal studies. Quiet, out of the way, just slightly cramped, maintained in a state of orderly chaos - though admittedly not nearly as bad as her own mother's. Heaving a sigh of deepest contentment, allowing her body to sink down into a vacant chair, a bundle of old newspaper clippings and articles clutched tightly to her chest. This, she found herself thinking as she inhaled the scent of the aging paper and ink, this was what bliss was all about.

The collection itself was already impressive, especially since she hadn't had the man pegged as a scholarly type to begin with. Articles, pictures, even genuine correspondence from the time of the skill crisis, the apostle incident, and even before that - Pethalamine's heart nearly skipped a beat - there was even material from the time prior to the crowning of the late Rosaline Dian. Despite his rather...non-scholarly appearance, their host must have had a considerable interest in Y.Z. history. Either that or, part of her mind rebelled, he must actually have been there and known the people involved.

As amazing a discovery as these things were for her, however, what really caught her attention was a solitary letter that had been wedged in between a pair of articles.

"It...can't be." Pethalamine froze in the middle of picking the letter up, her gaze nailed to the familiar loops and curves covering the paper's surface, "This...this handwriting is..."

She knew it was horribly bad manners and probably even outright illegal, but the scholar couldn't help letting her eyes travel across the lines of writing in front of them. 'Dear Reid,' the letter began, 'How are you these days? I haven't heard from you since when you two got married (congratulations again, by the way! I really wish I could have been there as a bridesmaid like we agreed on all those years ago) and I must admit I'm slightly worried. If there really is something bothering you, then please share. You are among friends here; there's no reason you should have to handle all of this on your own. Around here, we're doing fine. The adoption had a bit of a rocky start (you heard about this from Adela already, right? I'm a mother too now), but I really get the feeling that Pethalamine and Aertan are warming up to each other, even if they don't want to admit it. (it's funny how much those two are alike in some respects) We should really meet face-to-face again sometime, shouldn't we? I know we're all pretty tied up with managing our lives these days, but it would be good to get together again for old times' sake, and I would really want to introduce you to Pethalamine, especially after all the stories she has heard about you guys. So please, let's get in touch again sometime, okay? After all these years, I bet there is a lot of things we would have to talk about. Besides, I want to ask something too. (still working on my book, you know)

Love,
Faewyn'

For a moment, Pethalamine could do nothing but gape at the letter, all the bothersome little clues from the back of her mind finally falling into place. Reid Davies...that guy with the weirdly colored wings and eyes was...Reid Davies? The Reid Davies? The man who had been at the center of no less than three of this century's most remarkable historical events? The same person her mother had told all those incredible stories about? The person whose mere name could make Aertan snort loudly and change the subject? But wait, that would have made that household tyrant...Adela? One of Faewyn's old friends from her active adventuring days? But that would mean that she had just been signed up to kill someone very important to her mother's treasured friends, perhaps even someone directly precious to Faewyn herself. The scholar forced herself to release the letter in order to avoid crumpling it as her hand clenched into a fist.

"Damn you, Stahn..." she grit out, "Damn you..."

This ordeal has suddenly gotten a whole lot messier.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Tsk."

The woman's face pulled into a displeased frown that distorted her otherwise fairly attractive features, her eyes glaring daggers at the bracelet latched quite prominently to her arm, well outside of the range covered by her attire. It wouldn't budge, of course, and it wouldn't do to break it. She vaguely considered severing the arm and then reattaching after the pesky accessory was off, but decided against it. This was all supposed to be in secrecy, after all; apparently she would just have to make do for now.

"What a bother." she scoffed, her hair twisting and shaping to a twin braid matching that on the unconscious body on the ground, the strands slowly shifting from a dark gray to a pleasant, light brown. The outfit was flashy and horribly coordinated in color, probably owing to the young age of the body it was meant for, and no matter how carefully she mimicked the girl's appearance, she new that she'd never get comfortable in it. Better to just make this fast and get it over with.

Well, the targets had made it painfully easy to trail them at least. If the dolled up, dark-haired diva wouldn't have stood out enough on her own, the phoenix girl with her certainly would. Between the two of them, there was no shortage of conspicuous glances and sightings to follow. What she needed to do next, however, was a different matter.

"Kissy?"

The whiny, childish voice at the back of her head did little to improve the woman's mood, but she took it in stride.

"What?"

"Should we really be doing this? Deredere didn't say anything about-"

"That's only because he didn't think that far yet."

"But-"

"Look, Cheradine, just make sure nothing interrupts our reila's rest." the negafael interrupted impatiently, "Alderian will be thankful for this."

She could practically feel her benevolent twin's sceptical glance at the back of her neck, "...really?"

"Yes, really." the woman replied without missing a beat, "Promise."

"Weeell..." the plufael paused for a moment, but eventually gave in to her nature, "Alright! Leave it to me, Kissy! Deredere won't miss a blink!"

"Excellent."

With a moment's concentration, the woman banished all but the most politely neutral of expressions from her countenance, slipping in shortly behind her target duo as they made their way towards the restaurant.

Just one injury.

All she needed was one, sufficient injury on either of them and everything else would work out. She could just bide her time and wait.

...

...in this horrible body. Bleah.
 
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Adela blinked, taken slightly aback. Serge crinkled his nose, thinking hard on the dilemma at hand.

"The ants." He finally nodded solemly to Rosalynne's question, having obviously decided that the conversation had continued and there was no need for him to interject on the heavy subject the adults were discussing; nor did he need to bring Rosalynne's attention to it, "But that's only when you go out and have picnics and then leave it there for them. So you have to practice while you get the chance." Rosalynne was so ditzy sometimes, Serge thought, an amused grin spreading across his face as he pushed his spoon back down on his potatoes, crushing the castle back into a lumpy shape and taking a good chunk off of it, glancing at his father with a somewhat disappointed look. The last thing Serge wanted was for his dad to go off somewhere again, and if he knew his dad, he knew that this story was enough to send Reid Davies back into action. Or maybe he was already in action. Serge sighed, not a dejected one, but more of an "Oh-well-can't-help-it" sigh. He supposed that his dad wouldn't be his dad if he acted otherwise.

Dimitri stared at Ellianne, his chewing slowed after having tuned into her conversation since Reid had failed to answer his question. He had no idea what skill's were, but he decided that now wasn't the time to ask. Of course he'd heard of Telfin. He wasn't that out of touch. But he didn't know what its significance was.

Natalija eyed the silvery haired woman, a look of irritation apparent across Soren's features. She rolled her eyes, standing up, "Excuse me, but I need to fix Soren's appearance. Thank you for the meal." She said stiffly, before sweeping out of the door.

Dimitri slapped his forehead, "I'm sorry- I think she's naturally like that." At least she'd said thank you. That in itself was probably pushing it already though, Dimitri hung his head in embarrassment.

Ugh, everyone and everything. That house was seriously filled with too much angst for her own tastes. Natalija stormed through the streets of Tealia, opening a portal in her path and reappearing in front of a secluded country-styled manor somewhat compact for its decal. Kicking open the wooden fence, Natalija stormed across the cobblestone path and opened the door, knowing it was unlocked. He never kept the door locked. In fact, he was standing at the base of the stairs, eyebrows raised at Natalija with a slender calico cat in his arms.

"… Um." He spoke, not particularly caring that a seemingly complete stranger had just burst into his home, "Welcome?"

The calico mewed sweetly, and the bed-headed teenager blinked. "Oh." Silence enveloped the trio for the longest time before he finally spoke, "Stahn got to you already?"

"SO THIS IS YOUR FAULT?!?!!" Natalija shrieked, throwing a punch at her older brother, who turned his head out of the way. Natalija quickly regained her composure after having been evaded rather easily, running a hand through Soren's hair. "Nevermind that. I need to fix this body, and I need to borrow some of your clothes."

Jazz stared at Natalija. Again, silence. Natalija had learned patience with Jazz, who often took ages to put together a response. "What do you think Mimi?"

The cat yawned, leaping out of Jazz's arms and prancing into the living room. "… Well, I guess…" Jazz turned around, scaling the stairs again. Natalija listened carefully as she followed him, trying to find any traces of other life in the house. "Mom and Dad aren't home…" Jazz replied, watching Natalija out of the corner of his eye. Natalija glared at him, hating him for knowing why she was so guarded. Regardless, she relaxed, letting herself look around Jazz's room. His room was a maze, it's walls made of books and business related documents. Jazz somehow found his way to the back of the room, opening the door to his closet and reaching in, throwing out a random pair of pants and a shirt. Which, in Natalija's opinion, were not acceptable. Tracing Jazz's steps, she removed him from her path and found her desired garments herself. It was at a time like this that Natalija approved of Jazz's bad habit for buying clothes that were much too long for him. Soren, taller than Jazz, fit- somewhat, perfectly. A plain, slender cut black polo shirt, a pair of loose, stone-tumbled jeans, lightly torn up and down the left leg with a nice hole in the knee on the right leg was Natalija's main choices. The holes had black fabric stitched onto the insides of the jeans, so that the legs underneath couldn't be seen- something that had seriously peeved Natalija concerning Soren's original pants.

"… Do my shoes… even fit?"

"Kind of." Natalija replied without much interest as she laced together the deep brown leather hiking boots, "They're kind of big, but if I wear socks with them, it shouldn't be a problem." Tucking the jeans into the top of the mid-shin high shoes, Natalija scoured the closet and snatched up a square silver watch and a matching ring.

"… That's mine." Jazz sighed.

Natalija rolled her eyes, "And so is everything else I'm wearing? You don't need to state the obvious." After completing her new outfit, she held her arms out, "So, what do you think Jazz?"

"I think you should've just bought new clothes instead of swiping mine."

"As if I'd spend my money on that." Natalija replied arrogantly, stepping over a smaller stack of files, "I'm going to go pick out some clothes for tomorrow now."

"My closet… is that way." Jazz pointed in the opposite direction Natalija was headed.

Natalija stared at her brother for a moment, as if trying to decide whether he was serious or not. As soon as she decided he was, she scoffed, "It's not for this body. Right now, the guy who's supposed to be in this body is running around in mine, and I am not letting him wear just whatever he wants. He'd dress me up in the most disgusting combination ever. Did you see what I was wearing when I came in here? Yeah. Yeah. Thought so." Natalija slammed the door to Jazz's room shut behind her.

"… It was that bad…. Huh?" Jazz sighed, eyeing the pile of foreign clothes on the floor of his bedroom. Sometimes, he worried for his younger sister. She hadn't given a second thought to the fact that was changing in another person's body; somebody who might be a little shyer than she was. Oh well. Better she get over it faster than she stand there squealing and protesting over the fact that it was 'embarrassing' or 'indecent'. Jazz picked up one of the files that had been knocked out of place, ruffling through it's pages.

Well, whatever.


-----------------------


Guile sighed, turning around and putting his hands in his pockets, "That's some real gratitude you have." He muttered sarcastically, answering her questions nonetheless, "My name is Guile, and I assure you that I do not care about your lineage or race, if that's why you're so wary of me. My intentions are to bring you back to my home where you can have a proper rest and meal before I turn you out so that you can go and do whatever it is that you do." Eyeing the chains warily for a moment, this was about all the attention that Guile paid to them. He thus ignored them as he stepped over to Miki, putting his hands under her arms and hoisting her to her feet, "Now walk. I'm sure you wouldn't enjoy it if they found you, so don't waste your energy on attacking me, and don't waste my time by being hostile with me. Let's go."

He turned again, letting an expression of distaste cross his face when he turned away. It was more bitter than he'd expected, not being remembered. But that wasn't important. The completion of the mission was most important right now. Guile paused his train of thought on the subject for a second. Actually, he'd already completed his mission, now that she wasn't with Stahn anymore. But he wasn't about to leave her in the middle of nowhere.
 
OOC: Post from school, GO.

Ever since they had left the graveyard, Soren had been feeling uneasy. It wasn't his regular, 'oh my god I'm with a girl' uneasy either. That had been thrown to the fishes the second he became one himself. As he walked with Lyrum in tow, he made sure to stay cautious in case any kind of problem were to arise. He was travelling with a phoenix, after all, so the threat of an attack was likely… not to mention there was that thug they had dealt with earlier. Either way, something was up, not that it was easy to pinpoint what. The streets were relatively calm, but more often or not there were people on the side of the road preaching about it being the end of the world and encouraging people to take what they could when they had the chance. It was lucky that the people weren't listening, as if the citizens had taken on such a belief so soon, the town would turn to chaos. Though, they were probably stupidly thinking 'just because it happened to Alta, doesn't mean it won't happen here' despite the large tower sticking out of the ground. Soren's eyes wandered to that tower, and his mind did as well. What purpose did that large black tower – or was it a spire? – have? Why was it here? Where did it come from? There were just too many questions he had no choice but to ignore until their work for Stahn was done.

"Whaaat? I thought you were taking me to a nice restaurant?" Lyrum whined upon arriving at their destination. Soren sweatdropped. It had certainly been a nice spot the year before, but now… The smell of charcoal ran thick as the smoldered remains of a building stood amidst the other shops on the street. "Do people in Tealia really eat in such places?" Soren almost fell over. Was she for real?

"NO! It looks like someone burned it down… Well, that sucks…" He was more disheartened that he had lost a potential safe house until his bad vibe passed. Seeing no other choice, he decided to deter to a different location. "It's fine, I know a coffee shoppe we can go to just down the street! The food isn't as nice, but it's a really cute place!" Lyrum broke out in hysterical laughter. "…What!?"

"No… no… it's just… you sounded like such a girl just now…" Soren sweatdropped. Apparently his enthusiasm as a girl sounded quite feminine? Argh, whatever.

---

"Adela, did Faewyn and Aertan mention when they'd be stopping by?" Reid inquired his wife after Natalija had departed, partly to break the angsty mood that now floated in the room, aside from Rosalynne complaining about Serge ruining the castle that was meant for the ants. Chances were Pethalamine had stumbled onto something revolutionary for her by now, considering Reid kept anything and everything related to the old days down there, so she'd probably want to confront her parents sooner or later… or maybe even him. Then he reminded himself that he had previously been in a conversation with Dimitri, only to have the discussion with Ellianne – who now looked depressed in regards to telling Auricia's secret – lead him astray. "Oh, sorry Dimitri. I raced from a while, and I use it for transportation, but I never quite got into tricks. My old board is downstairs in the study if you wanted to look at it, but the model is probably obsolete at this point." He chuckled to himself. That old white board had been through a lot.

---

"No, I want to go to Tealia. I feel I need to go there, so I will leave you now." Miki shot down Guile's request, not particularly fond of the idea of listening to everything this fellow said. She had overheard, in the lab, that Stahn had sent those people from before to Meredy, and for some reason she felt rather drawn to them, albeit she had no clue why. She would not thank this man for saving her, because she could not yet grasp his intentions, nor did she have any intention of trying. Him, paired with this headache, they were all just obstacles now.
 
Guile turned around again. "... Tealia." He stated, as though trying to believe this absurd and seemingly pointless desire. Putting his hands into his pockets, he fingered the pack of cigarettes inside them. A gentlemanly smile crossed his features, a cool, unfeeling one that often ended up making people even warier than him than when he showed no emotion at all. "I see. Well then, please don't let me stop you. I trust you'll be able to find your way there without much trouble." Guile was beyond hiding the sarcasm at this point, steadily growing to hate this stranger. He couldn't blame her. He was sure she couldn't help it. Otherwise she would've corrected him when he'd introduced himself. But he still wanted to blame her for irritating him, for being so arrogant as to reject his generosity when she should've known that it was a rare thing. Shoving it out of his head, Guile extracted the smokes, turning the brand away from her as he slid one of the rolls of paper and nicotine out of the somewhat crushed packaging. "Good luck getting to Tealia." The end of his cigarette glowed with the flame from an ornate silver lighter while he tried to decide whether he should go directly back now, or spend some more time touring the Underneath.

Blowing out a stream of smoke, Guile examined the cigarette in his fingers. He felt calmer already. So, he'd been right all along. Objects were always more reliable than humans. Wow, depressing. Guile wiped his mind of any emotions he might have felt earlier, returning to his usual face before clamping the cigarette between his lips. He pulled a hand into the air and twitched his wrist to the side, bidding a silent goodbye to the stranger behind him that wasn't the Miki he'd wanted to see. Maybe he'd see her again when she remembered everything. Or maybe she wouldn't want to see him if she did remember. Guile lowered his hand. One thing was for sure.

It would be better if he just stopped thinking about all this in general.

----------------------

Adela was somewhat glad at Reid's interjection, having had not much to say. She certainly hadn't been expecting something like what Ellianne had said. She'd been expecting lighter circumstances, like, just getting out to see the world, or… something. "Ah, I'm not sure, but they'll probably be here soon? If Aertan is coming," Adela rolled her eyes at the name, though was somewhat embarrassed for having done so after the story, glancing apologetically at Ellianne before continuing, "They're probably not going to waste time, unless Aertan's done some serious upgrades with his personality." She sighed, almost surprised at how many of her old comrades she'd never really quite ended up liking much. "I don't think we have enough stuff for as many people staying here. I'm going on the assumption that Aertan will want to stay as far away from this house as much as he can manage, so he and Faewyn will probably find boarding elsewhere. And then Ellianne and company can stay in the guest room, though it might be a little tight- I apologize…" Adela looked pointedly at Dimitri, who sweatdropped, "And I guess you guys can stay in Rosalynne's room. We have couches downstairs and upstairs too, so that'll accommodate for three more people… How many people did you have again?"

"Ah, I think the only people who will insist on a bed is Natalija, Yuki, and Pethalamine, if even the last two. Well, Natalija might make Soren take a bed too, since he's in her body, but… three places is more than enough, I can sleep on the floor without a problem." Dimitri explained.

"Well then, I'll leave it to you guys to decide on that…" Adela shrugged, obviously deciding that her role in the matter was over, turning to her meal again and listening to Serge and Rosalynne's antics with slight amusement.
 
The woman who most definitely did not refer to herself as 'Kissy' paused for a moment to give the duo she had been tailing a quizzical glance. These two certainly had...eccentric tastes in locales. First a graveyard and now a run-down restaurant? What was the next stop? City morgue? She bit her lip in though, at this rate, she'd end up looking like a whackjob stalker for tailing them...was that their plan? Had these two actually...caught on? Did they know they were being followed?

"NO! It looks like someone burned it down… Well, that sucks…"

The negafael was fairly sure that this was one of those situations that the local manga-obsessors described as sweatdrop-worthy, but not being one of them, she kept her perspiration under control. Apparently they didn't, then. But even so, she couldn't keep this tailing up for long without it getting overly conspicuous to anyone less oblivious than these two. Besides, given their current track record there was no telling what kind of warzone the 'cute coffe shop' would be. No, this called for a more proactive response, even if it involved a bit of risk.

"Hey, s'cuse me!" she hated this act. She hated this body's voice - like an over-excited little bird, she couldn't help thinking - she hated the perky little sparrow wings, she hated the little mannerisms she had been forced to memorize to pull this act off, but she kept all of that carefully reined in as she offered a cheerful wave to the duo, "Yeah, girl with the cool wings and other girl! You two lovebirds are new around here, huh?" she tilted her head, "Sorry, couldn't help overhearing. Name's Ami. I work at a restaurant just a short walk away from here. We only just set up this week, so it would be great to have some new customers. Whaddaya' say, huh?" she beamed at the both of them with an impeccably world-loving expression. All she needed was one break; one lucky break.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saying that Pethalamine was too angry to think straight could not have been further from the truth. Yes, she was angry; angry enough to think with perfect clarity. Stahn wasn't the reason for this anger, though; not all of it, anyway. There was something else that had occurred to her as she sat there, calming her nerves with knowledge from days long passed, a move easily as low and manipulative as Stahn's. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. This room was full of history, personal history, history involving her mother to a considerable degree. What was the obvious conclusion for anyone who read through this information? That Reid Davies was a very important friend of Faewyn's. And what was in it for someone to convey this message? Convincing someone to whom Faewyn was very important that it was in their interest to see to the well being of Reid Davies.

The scholar's hand clenched and unclenched rapidly. Faewyn, her mother, had been so...open about everything in her letters, writing often and candidly about every up and down in raising her, of the old days and how she missed all her old friends. How happy she was that Reid had finally settled down. And this-this...Reid had taken all those feelings and coldly used them to his own advantage. There was no way he could claim ignorance about who she was; it was obvious that he knew, but rather than coming out clean and simply introducing himself as a friend of Faewyn's, he had chosen to let her find out for herself, to impress the full depth of the situation on her. Manipulation...if there was one thing worse than tension, loud noises, and people messing with her body, it was people messing with her emotions.

Pethalamine wasn't about to just charge into the dining room and start flinging accusations, however. No matter the crime, that just wasn't her. Instead, she stepped inside in full, chilly composure, pausing to look Reid square in the eye.

"Thank you very much for letting me look through your study, Mr.Davies." she said evenly, even managing a brief curtsy out of politeness, "Your collection was really...interesting. I can definitely see why Mr. Evalice regards you as a friend."

And that was all she really had to say on the matter, her countenance easing up by a number of notches as she turned to include Adela and the others into her little speech, "Oh, we haven't been properly introduced yet, have we?" the scholar continued in a pleasant tone, "My name is Pethalamine. Pethalamine Ayre." she bobbed another tiny curtsy, "A pleasure to meet you."
 
Adela was a bit surprised at the coldness with which the young girl addressed Reid. It was always in her book of natures law that people naturally felt that Reid was simply easier to get along with than anyone else in the world. Actually, that was probably the reason she'd even laid eyes on him in the first place, rather than turning her nose up to him like with every other guy she'd met before her mother had gone off and done the unthinkable. Well. Unthinkable at the time anyway. In fact, he was so agreeable, that she, who was still rather high strung about the smallest of things, had decided to leave the man be and let him harbor his secrets as he pleased. After all these years, she had certainly learned that if there was anyone she could not fully wrap in her ring of absolute dictatorship, it was Reid. Any remotely affectionate thought for him and how much she'd learned about his quirks quickly evaporated however, like a droplet of water in the hottest, driest desert ever to grace the planet. Her light expression grew scandalized as soon as she heard the word 'Evalice'. It had certainly been twenty years, but there was no way in all of good heaven and hell that she could ever forget that irritatingly contemptuous old geezer who really had a knack for making things worse and better at the same time.

Roosting on her growing disgust and rage for a moment, Adela listened to Pethalamine absentmindedly before flashing a dangerously sweet smile, "It's nice to meet you too sweetie, my name is Adela. Pethalamine, was it? I knew I recognized that name when I heard it. You'll have some visitors in just a moment, but I'm sorry I can't contain myself for the duration of a full-blown conversation about it." She quickly fixed her lethal stare at Reid, looking as venomous as she did when she'd seen him for the first time in five years as an officer of a militia squad based in Flazure. Standing up and clenching her fists, Adela stoutly attached them to her waist, taking a deep breath and letting it out. It didn't really help much, and Dimitri braced himself, now familiar with that expression from Natalija. Serge peered curiously at his mother. He'd always heard that she was a demon, but she'd never really been like that in front of him and Rosalynne. In fact, if she hadn't been consumed by the fact that one of Reid's grand secrets was being chummy with Stahn Evalice, she would've sent Serge and Rosalynne outside.

As it were: "Reid Davies, that young lady better not have just said Evalice!" Adela lectured, trying to keep her shrill voice under control. She knew what she'd heard though, and she wasn't about to give Reid a break to deny it, "And you know how I feel about that lousy excuse for a man! I will not have him anywhere near this household- or anyone else in this family!"

Serge's interested was officially piqued, but the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach was starting to become more important.

Adela, however, seemed to realize that she'd completely blown her top, and taking multiple calming lungfuls of air, she snapped curtly, "You leave your business with Stahn on the front doorstep! Don't you bring another piece of him past that threshold!" She pointed toward the front door, before giving a huff. Snatching up her plate, Adela stormed into the kitchen without waiting for Reid to explain himself. He always had a good reason, but to Adela, not even the world would be a good enough reason for Reid to bring anything reminiscent of that repulsive man anywhere near Serge and Rosalynne.

Serge himself would've preferred that the first time he saw his mother getting angry not be towards his father. It was certainly the most uncomfortable feeling he'd ever had, sitting there in the hanging tension after an argument- no matter how short- between his parents who had an otherwise very positive relationship. Finally, he snapped out of it and stood up. "Come on Rosalynne," He said, steering his younger sister out of her chair and out the door with him, as he glanced between his father and the swinging kitchen doors before letting the front door swing shut behind him, "We better let Mom cool off for awhile."

Dimitri, however, sat where he was, debating whether he should follow. He rubbed his arm, glancing at Pethalamine. He hadn't been expecting that. And, as far as he was concerned, he didn't see any reason for Pethalamine to expect it either. Unless that was another thing she'd read up on. He resisted the urge to ask Pethalamine if she wanted to roam around town. He didn't want to seem rude, as if he were avoiding the house. But he felt rude already, sitting there in the middle of a little feud that probably would've been better left private. Obviously, the lady of the house was similar to Natalija in terms of not quite caring what others thought, and not just their expressions and tendencies to leave behind very, very awkward situations.

"I.. think I'm going to go look at that skyboard, if you don't mind Mr. Davies." Dimitri said, getting to his feet as well as he looked over at Pethalamine, "You were just at the study, right? Mind showing me where it is…?"
 
Pethalamine was honestly surprised, though not necessarily in a bad way. She had assumed that Stahn's name wouldn't be taken well, and had been sure that Reid would catch the implication of her stressing his kinship with Stahn. What she had managed to trigger, however, was so much more than that. The moment she heard Adela's sugary sweet response, so much like her own, the scholar knew that she had unleashed the worst kind of trouble that Reid could have asked for. And sure enough, it didn't take long for Adela's fury to explode in all of its fiery glory, forcing Pethalamine to shield her ears as best she could without making it overly obvious that she was doing so and drawing the enraged housewife's anger to herself.

Fortunately for most concerned, Adeal's outburst was short but furious as she soon stormed demonstratively out of the kitchen, leaving an awkward field of silence in her wake. Fortunately for Pethalamine, however, Dimitri decided to provide an escape route this time around, asking her for directions to the study.

"Oh, of course." she replied, nodding curtly in goodbye towards Reid before turning back to the task at hand, "I think I even saw the skyboard you're talking about; just come with me."

And with that, she promptly ushered Dimitri along with her, out of the kitchen and towards space you could actually breathe in. The awkward silence stuck with her throughout the journey, however. What was she supposed to say about what had just happened, after all? 'Wow, didn't expect it would be that easy to screw him over'? She had meant to hurt Reid with her words and she wasn't sorry for it; even if the damage had been wider than intended it was still no more than he deserved.

"Well, there it is." she finally managed in lame comment, gesturing towards the worn, white object resting against a wall in a study, "Enjoy...I guess?"
 
The appearance of this girl was more than enough to incite further suspicions in the paranoid youth. The first sign was that she referred to them as 'lovebirds', since that wasn't a way you'd normally address two girls unless it was somewhat obvious they had a 'thing', which in Soren's mind was difficult to surmise given their current interactions. She introduced herself as 'Amy', and proceeded to invite them to a 'new restaurant' nearby. Again, that was odd, considering the section of town they were in wasn't at all a convenient place to set up any kind of shop. Something about this girl's aura felt off, and it was something he had sensed before in someone else. But who? That Phoenix girl that had been with Lyrum before, perhaps? Or was it maybe Miki? He bit Natalija's lip at the fact that he had reminded himself of Miki. Something about that girl was still gnawing at him. But what if this 'Amy' actually intended them harm? There's no way they'd stand a chance with Soren in Natalija's less than suitable body for his style, not to mention the body was still in the process of a recharge.

Lyrum looked to Soren before answering the girl's request. Unlike him, she had no suspicions whatsoever – natural for someone who hadn't been that exposed to the real world. For Soren, someone who had spent the last few years of his life on the street, however, he knew that suspicions were one of the main entities that would keep you alive. It was a dog eat dog world, and some dogs would do whatever they had to even if it meant dirtying their hands. This was why there was so much conflict in the world. This was why his uncle had to kill his own sister. In the end, his response was solidified as he took Lyrum's wrist and began to drag her away. The Phoenix girl didn't protest, but seemed a little confused. "I apologize, but I promised the owner of another shop I'd eat there tonight~" Soren chimed in a sweet tone that would probably make Natalija kill him if she ever heard him use it. It was an obvious lie, but hopefully it would shake this pursuer.

---

Somehow, someway, Reid couldn't help but feel that he had just ended up on the end of another misunderstanding. Clearly Pethalamine Ayre had just taken a stab at him, as well as set off his wife at the same time, but what the heck could he do about it? He had no choice but to follow the instructions sent to him by Stahn at this point, so he wasn't permitted to reveal the plan or acknowledge Pethalamine's name. The real problem was that Stahn was blackmailing him in the first place. That man was a living example of why constant experimentation with the human form was a mistake. He had ended up branching his personality into two separate beings. Stahn Evalice – the 'witch doctor' that had lost any interest in the feelings of anyone but himself, and Melody – his original form, a girl who became a monster as a result of Apostle and Skill testing who was much too different from Stahn.

Even so… what to do now? Ellianne was watching him as if she was expecting him to chase after Adela, but that probably wouldn't work. He had learned over time – and arguments aplenty as in most relationships – that she wouldn't listen unless he gave her a chance to calm down first. He sighed, and rose from the table. "Hey, Dimitri? Did you want to go for a ride? I need to clear my head!" He called, but was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of his portable phone. The 'cellphone' was really quite a wonder. You could call anyone, anywhere, so it was really convenient. As an independent officer of the police in town, he was often informed about cases in and about the city that were ongoing. He would, if he had time, take on any that suited his interests. What he heard over the phone just turned out to be one of those things.

"Murder in the CEO office of Sumeragi Co. Only suspect is a boy by the name of Yuki Sumeragi, next in line to the company."

"…You interested in checking out the prison if we go for a ride?" This was not going to be a good day.
 
Dimitri sighed, scratching the back of his head as he glanced at the skyboard in the room. It certainly was probably one of those glory gems that were out of production, but to the young skyboarder, it just looked like an old piece of the past that needed to be put in a museum or something. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Dimitri kept a safe distance from the object, shrugging as he mumbled, "I wasn't really interested in seeing it in the first place. I just didn't want to stick around for a fight." He looked around the study, half in awe at how much stuff there was in here, half in boredom of being surrounded by books. At an equal loss of words as the girl beside him, Dimitri fished for a subject, "Is something bothering you Pethalamine?" Hm. Not really the thing that Dimitri wanted to know right now, in all honesty. He'd had enough drama for one day. He liked his days boring and calm. But hey. Couldn't hurt to ask.

Especially since he didn't get an answer. Hearing Reid's proposal to go for a ride, Dimitri would've eagerly consented but for two things. One, he would be caught dead walking into a park with a guy Reid's age. Two, he didn't really think Reid was the type to go to skate parks anyway. But it was certainly a better idea than staying around here and doing nothing. He wanted to get out anyway. "Sure!" Dimitri called back, swiftly forgetting all about the two problems he'd thought up but seconds earlier. Reid's addition to the proposal intrigued Dimitri more than the first, in all honesty. He'd never been to a prison. Probably gotten close to getting into one against his will more than once, but he'd never actually stepped into one of those fancy establishments where they locked people up for whatever amount of time. "Sure!" He reiterated, adjusting his neon green goggles and glancing at the dinosaur in the corner again. Well, good luck to that thing. It didn't look as if it'd seen action in a long time. He gave a thumbs up to Pethalamine before leaving the study once more, retracing his steps back to the dining table. He wasn't interested in the things in the study, at all.

"Why're we stopping by a prison anyway?" Dimitri asked lightly, picking up his own skyboard, unfolding it and locking the latches in place.

---------------------

Levi was not one to stick around for an entire business day. As such, he had returned early as soon as lunch break was announced, leaving the rest of the business to… whoever was in charge when he wasn't around. Sitting on the edge of the fountain located smack in the middle of his front courtyard, the successful banker had a smirk playing across his lips as he observed his approaching guest through a pair of rimless sunglasses. He seemed highly amused, raised eyebrows disappearing into his rosy fringe.

"Y'know, I went fishing this morning. I was trying to catch some ladies, but lookie here!" Levi joked, "I reeled in a nerd, past his prime and in need of some serious fashion advice."

"Ha ha." Lazarus replied, handing his suitcase to a maid and tugging on his black sports jacket, as he situated himself in front of his junior, "You kill me every time Levi."

"Can I guess you're here because Alta being blown to smithereens has finally woken you up and let you take the first vacation from your boring job in ten years?"

"I suppose." Lazarus replied, shrugging. "I thought it might be a good idea to visit you for once." Lazarus leaned back, taking in the size of Levi's… house. "I see your taste in home living hasn't changed much."

"Hey." Levi shrugged, "This is just for the ladies and visitors. I personally prefer the junky flat downtown. But you get funny looks when you're walking through there dressed in a brand name suit, y'know what I mean?" Levi slapped his knees and got to his feet, heading towards the manor and striking up the main point that he'd been waiting to share with Lazarus since he'd caught wind that Lazarus was arriving. "I heard a particular silver haired wyvern lady is in town. A vacation isn't exactly relaxing if your name is Lazarus and Ellianne is in the same country."

Lazarus stopped in his tracks. "Why is Ellianne here?"

Levi shrugged again, "Hey, I didn't get any details. She arrived today, be glad I even know she's around. Now c'mon. That whack-o skill sent me a bottle of rum. I think it's poisoned, and you should tell me if it is. Because I'll be damned; it's a good year."

"Whack-o skill?" Lazarus asked, thankful for the change in subject.

"Yeah, the one with the red hair who liked to rip off his limbs and stuff."

"…Why'd he send you alcohol?"

"Okay, well it wasn't him who sent it to me, but it originally belonged to him. Or something." Levi shrugged. "Rasch sent it to me. It was a follow up gift for inviting him to the business party last month. He said he doesn't drink."

"Which is smart." Lazarus pointed out, prepared to start berating Levi about his drinking habits again.

"Which is stupid." Levi corrected, before Lazarus could continue.
 
Pethalamine nodded in understanding as Dimitri came clean about why he had asked to see the old pop culture relic, regretting her sheepish statement even more now than she did when she first said it out loud. She would have protested and said that she knew as much, but before she got the chance, Dimitri caught her off guard by asking if there was something bothering her.

The scholar hesitated for a moment, especially surprised as Dimitri was about the last person she had expected such a personal question from, and it was precisely this pocket of silence that Reid seized on to invite Dimitri along with him for...whatever it was skyboarders did together. The underneather was quick to oblige, leaving with a simple thumbs up.

"Right, don't let me keep you."

Pethalamine's parting words sounded rather pathetic even to her, though with a little luck Dimitri hadn't been paying attention to them anyway, dashing off like he did. She didn't even fully understand why she sounded so...disappointed. After all, it wasn't like she had felt any great urge to spill any emotional talk on Dimitri out of all people - Ophelia knew it would just go beyond his head anyway - nor had she ever felt any great urge to unburden any of the thoughts in her head on anyone, so why?

"Nonsense." she scoffed, turning back to exploring the stacks of articles in the hopes of finding something to help her whittle away the time and forget that she was stranded in a strange house surrounded by practical strangers, "I'm analyzing myself too much."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
​

Had the current act not entailed otherwise, Kisei would have wrinkled her nose in disdain. The phoenix girl had swallowed the story without a hitch, but her companion was surely one of the most paranoid creatures she had ever encountered. The excuse reeked of a fib, and the rest of the dissheveled girl's manner practically oozed emergency retreat. Something had triggered an entire row of warning flags in the back of that one's mind, but what? It couldn't had been her aura, she was sure. Tedious the suppression bracelet may have been, but it normalized her mahstion signature to an utterly mediocre level. It would have taken a trained expert to catch the tell-tale signs the suppression gave off, and though she was ready to put a number of labels on the dark-haired girl in front of her, that wasn't one of them. It must have been something she said then, but what? Lovebirds? The phoenix girl's behavior certainly bordered on flirty, unconventional though it was considering they were of the same gender, so that hadn't be too much of a stretch...right? And this particular body did belong to a worker at a recently established café so she hadn't needed to fake that at all. Well whatever the case, she had made this gambit, so she would play it to its end at least.

"Aww...come on!" she whined in the childish, high-pitched voice, "Can't I even tempt ya' with some discount vouchers?" she pulled out a handfull of the aforementioned paper slips and waggled them in front of her rapidly retreating prey like a rattle in front of a stubborn child, "50% off from one purchase for every first-time customer, only valid this week."
 
OOC: Short post from school, GO!

"Thanks for the offer but we'll pass." Soren couldn't help but feel threatened by this girl now. She was pushing for them to come to this café, but why? It could have sincerely been an invitation by a worker from a nearby restaurant, but with the feeling he was getting and the nearby aura, even she wasn't to be trusted. Lyrum just stayed quiet, believing that Soren genuinely had his reasons. What was it about this girl now that was bothering him? "Besides, if you're giving out 50% off vouchers, then I'm guessing your food isn't very good, or at least very healthy. To keep a figure we have to eat right." That… was probably the first indication that he was grabbing for straws, especially to Lyrum who knew his situation. Truth be told, Soren had yet to feed himself since waking up in Natalija's body, and the fact that the wound was still there and not completely healed just made him even hungry. When he began to think about food, the mentioned stomach suddenly growled, which made him bite Natalija's lip and spin around again, grabbing for Lyrum's wrist again and began to drag her away. Of course, nothing ever goes right for him, and it was unfortunate that the sudden turn he committed to grab the Phoenix girl tore open the lionus that was holding his stomach wound closed, and blood began to drip through the already torn shirt and onto the ground before him as he walked.

Lyrum was the first to stop at the sight of this. "Hey! Hey! You're bleeding!"

---

"Eh? Why?" Reid repeated the question Dimitri had asked as they met at the front door. He was slouched over in an attempt to tie his shoelaces in a rush before kicking a panel in the nearby wall that released a more modern skyboard. Come to think of it, he found it interesting that nobody had commented on his strange wings. One was white and angelic, while the other was black and demonic after all – yet he still rode a skyboard. "Well, it seems Yuki may have gone and killed his own Uncle…" That was some bad news right there. It sounded preposterous, but from what Stahn had sent him information-wise on the boy, it was a possibility. Heir to a company usurped by his uncle, his sister taken from him. The motivation was there, but they'd have to gather a bit of information before coming to any real conclusions. He really didn't need this on top of the Ailia thing.

He didn't need any of this.
 
"Hey now, that's pretty rude." Kisei continued on in her faux persona, pouting at Soren, "It's called a 'promotional campaign' you know, and-" she suddenly clasped her hand to her mouth, even as her inward self was grinning in triumph, "-you're bleeding!"

It really took quite a bit of the negafael's acting skill not to let her glee over the situation become audible as she rushed over to help support the bleeding girl. A long-term wound, a wound that could require medical attention at any given time; she could hardly have inflicted better herself, and this way she didn't have to create a messy scene either!

"This looks bad." she could say quite truthfully, not to say that she had actually given the wound a proper inspection, turning her attention to the phoenix girl, who was clearly the more impressionable of the two, "Come on; there's an Ophelian pilgrim sanctuary near here where they can heal this, no questions asked." she cast a meaningful look at Lyrum's wings, "Since I reckon' you don't want any of that 'phoenix did it' junk to deal with, yeah? Gimme' a hand here." with that, she promptly placed an arm behind Soren's back to keep him - well, her as far as she was concerned - steady, expecting the phoenix girl to do the same, "They can't charge ya' none either; goes against their ethos."
 
ooc: I should be doing my Chemistry lab right now. D:< But because I LOVE you guys:

ic: Dimitri blinked stupidly at Reid, feeling around his skyboard fruitlessly for the loop that would bind the straps of his skyboard tightly out of the way. He finally tore his gaze away, looking down with a frustrated grimace as he shoved the straps through the loop and sighed, "Hmm, the guy is pretty…." Dimitri faltered for lack of better word, "… Weird, I guess. But I wouldn't pin him as the kind to go frolicking off to kill his family members after making that big speech earlier." The orange-haired wonder shrugged, "But hey, it's not like we have anywhere better to go. Or at least, I don't." Dimitri yanked the door open and stepped out, rolling his shoulders and stretching. His back certainly felt better after being healed up. They'd already been light scabs by the time that one phoenix girl had tended to them, so he felt like a new person already. Or maybe it was the quiet whir of his skyboard starting up. Ah, what a lovely sound. It was hard for Dimitri not to throw himself across the skyboard and just savor the sense of normalcy it exuded. Finally. Something from life before… yesterday. Or the day before? Dimitri had long stopped counting. So much happened all at once, what with Stahn's intervention, that he had to really concentrate to remember the last time he saw his crummy flat.

And Dimitri, hopping onto his skyboard, was in no mood to concentrate on anything by the object he was standing on. He pushed his right toe down, spinning around before digging the board to a stop once again. Brakes were good, as expected. Dimitri put his hands down on the board, flipping his legs up into a handstand and bouncing the board. Balance- both his and the board, hadn't rusted either. He spun his legs back onto the board landing with a thump and putting a fist on his hip. Pulling out the gold hooked earrings in his right ear, he shoved them into his pocket, not wanting to risk the same problems as before if he ran into any difficulties. Which, he decided with a resigned sigh, was inevitable. At least Mr. Davies had had the foresight to pick a more modern skyboard. Albeit, one that was built more for speed than tricks, as should've been expected from a racer.

"Oh." Dimitri looked to his right, a portal of Dation forming as Soren- dressed in new clothes that screamed Natalija, emerged. "Welcome back."

"Hmph." Soren- Natalija, that is, stuck her nose into the air. "Whatever." She said in one smooth roll of her tongue, sticking up her hand, which was weighed down at the wrist by a black sling pack. "If you see Soren, tell him that I have some new clothes for him, and that he better blitz it back here if he knows what's good for him."

Dimitri raised his eyebrows, leaning his weight onto one leg. "Sure, but it would be faster if you just went to go find him. I don't think I'll run into him, unless he decided to visit the-"

Natalija gave Dimitri an incredulous look, matching Dimitri's pose mockingly. "Did I ask for the faster method?"

"Well, you didn't ask in the first-"

"Don't even try." Natalija replied quickly, interrupting Dimitri once again, "Don't. Even." She stalked into the house without another word.

Dimitri ran a hand through his hand, letting his bangs fall back over his right goggle lens before tilting his head back. He'd have his fill of apologizing for her before the day was done, for sure.
 
This probably wasn't the best time for the wound to act up, that was for sure. This girl, while it wasn't absolutely obvious, seemed a little too enthused in regards to directing them to the nearest sanctuary for some good old fashion healing. She practically jumped on the chance, which smelled of fish; rotting, decaying, horribly smelling fish. The comment she threw at Lyrum appeared to hit quite hard as well, as the girl piped down the second she brought up the possibility of the Phoenix being accused. Soren was anything but unfamiliar with the sanctuaries present on church grounds. His father was an ex-priest after all. After his mother had given birth to him, however, he had abandoned the church forever, yet the scholarly man liked to talk to his son about the holy grounds a lot. That was before he was removed from his home with a lousy excuse, however. The most important thing he had been told, however, was that he was not to set ground on any churches under any circumstances on accord with 'health issues'. But he was in Natalija's body now, right? So he wouldn't get sick or anything, most likely. Even with the restaurant girl supporting him, he swayed back and forth, the sudden blood loss zapping mostly any strength he had. Damn weak body, damn weak girl, damn Stahn.

"Fine, I'll go." Soren bit Natalija's lip as he stumbled forward, knowing opening a dation warp at this point was just reckless and most likely impossible. Speaking of that girl, she was going to be pissed that her clothes were getting further bloodstained, but oh well. He glanced back at the girl, just as suspicious as before. "But only if you drop the act." Blood loss was taking a toll on his vision now, as when he looked ahead his vision became clouded and blurred. He was leaning mostly on Lyrum, who hadn't spoken since 'Amy''s comment. "Then you can… lead the way."

---

Reid pondered for a moment. The boy raised a valid point in regards to the possible guilt of Yuki. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would kill his family, but… "In his speech earlier, he only specified a sibling, didn't he? His Uncle isn't even his direct family. Even so, we'll need a better understanding of the situation before jumping to conclusions. Apparently there was enough evidence to take him in as a likely suspect, so…" It was true. The authorities around here required at least some sort of evidence of one's presence at the crime scene at the time of the murder in order to arrest them. "On a slightly different note, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on all that's happened recently. Alta, that tower, Stahn. I want to know what you think." A lot had happened that had yet to be addressed by any sort of authorities. It was surprising that Meredy wasn't in an uproar, though with the presence of same of Carn's military, that was understandable. Other towns, however, probably weren't faring so well.

As if on cue to ruin his conversation as he brought his board to his side, Natalija appeared. She appeared… dressed ridiculously in Soren's body. He would have laughed himself silly if he didn't know she'd probably smack the crap out of him for it. She kind of reminded him of Adela when she was a lot younger – before they had kids. This girl probably needed to realize what she had before she could improve her personality at all. Maybe, over the course of their journey, she'd find that. His journey helped him find a lot, after all. Even to this day, he was living and learning. Living and learning all for his family. "I think there still food inside if you'd like some…" Reid offered, not expecting her to accept amidst it all, but figuring he should anyways. He just hoped she didn't go off to corrupt his daughter or worse, talk to his wife…
 
Dimitri laughed brightly at what he thought was the absurdity of Reid's question. He proceeded to ignore Natalija who swirled around, crossing her arms tightly across Soren's chest, and waited patiently for her sure-fire tirade to cease.

"Thank you for the offer." She said, more gently now that she could eat without restraint, and now that the offer wasn't like dangling a brownie in front of someone who had to stop themselves from reaching out for it. "But I'll have to decline. Bad habits die hard." She stated as-a-matter-of-factly, before shutting the door behind her.

Dimitri was still grinning when he raised an eyebrow at Reid. "Mr. Davies, I'm sure you can tell by my back that I'm not from this place- or any other place up here, so I don't know why you'd want my opinion. But I'll try to give you my honest outlook, if you'd like to listen: I couldn't tell you much about Alta other than the fact that I don't have a home anymore, and my favorite half-pipe is blown to smithereens. The tower I haven't given much thought for, other than wondering if there's anything even in the tower or if it's just one big mass of a building. And Mr. Evalice…" Dimitri trailed off, his expression growing more thoughtful than cheery. "I guess he's kinda… a weird guy. He hasn't done anything to me that I can't forgive though, so I don't particularly mind him. You know him too, right?"

ooc: Crappy post, but I don't know what else to put. :B
 
"Act?"

Kisei purposefully drew out her answer to the latest of Soren's rude comments as she started out the process of shepherding the boy's - or, as far as she was concerned, girl's - body towards the pilgrim sanctuary. Had she seen any serious intelligence behind this remark, she might actually have felt inclined to act on it, but as it was...it was just painfully obvious that the deluded little girl was grasping at straws, and she felt no particular inclination to offer one.

"Most people, would call this being a decent person. Ya' know, not feeling the need to blurt out every nasty remark that pops into your head? And not tossing accusations at someone who's just trying to be nice?" she propped the girl up against the sanctuary wall, rather more roughly than necessary though not enough so to cause serious damage, before turning to knock on the door, "You should really try it sometime."

Were it not for the sign and the depiction of the Ophelian cross above the door, the pilgrim sanctuary could quite easily have passed for nothing more than a healf-heartedly maintained warehouse-gone-appartement among many others in the area, which - if one wished to be meticulous about these things - it technically was. The worshippers had done their best to make the place look presentable, but the naked electric lights did little to bring warmth to the cold, gray walls of the sanctuary and only managed a half-hearted attempt at keeping the darkness at bay, the gloom doggedly lurking in every corner, like a swarm of cockroaches waiting for someone to flip the light switch off, but the place was - at the very least - sanitary. The priest who came to meet them was not a much cheerier sight, clad in a worn robe that looked very much like it had been fashioned out of a potato sack as he was.

"Good evening, sister." the brother in attendance duty half-yawned, squinting at the group through sleepy eyes, "How can the servants of Ophelia aid you in this late hour?"

Kisei rolled her eyes, discreetly nudging Soren - in all his bloodied glory - forward, "Take a guess, brother." she replied, "My friend here ran into some gang trouble and got herself cut in the scuffle. Odds are they were after the quiet lil' girl here."

The priest's eyes widened as she finally acknowledge both Soren's wound and Lyrum's wings, the man quickly performing some form of holy sign with his hand, "Ophelia's mercy." he mumbled, distraught, "...on my last ten minutes of watch. Come in, come in." he gestured towards both Soren and Lyrum at this point, "I shall lead you to the treatment chamber. Sister," she turned to Kisei, "Could you possibly so kind as to notify the healers? They are found in..."

"...the third room to the right." she grinned at the quizzical expression, winking, "We've had some orders to this place, brother. I'm on it." she then turned to briefly address Soren, "Well, there you go then miss conspiracy theorist. Right where I said you'd be, and I have yet to stab you in the back, sell you out to foreign spies, or try to slip a cup of poisoned coffee to you. Aren't ya lucky?"

Without allowing any chance of retort, she then headed out into the gloom of the main hall, soon vanishing from sight, while the attending priest turned to the situation at hand, licking his lips nervously.

"Umm...miss...phoenix?" he ventured, "Your continued aid in supporting the patient would be appreciated, so please...the treatment room is but a short distance away, but we should make haste."


OOC: So yeah, David, since I recon' you don't want to spend any extra posts on this, feel free to just fast forward the whole treatment thing however you like, and I'll jump in to wrap this up when Soren's recovering, 'kay? :3
 
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It was a shame. Soren didn't particularly have the willpower to retort at the moment as the pain from earlier in the day had taken Natalija's body hostage once again. Even with Lyrum supporting him, it was a struggle of unthinkable proportions to walk to the treatment room. He had been struggling to walk the entire time with the large change in weight and proportions from what he was used to, but now with the blood loss disorienting him, it was even worse and he had trouble keeping any form of footing. They eventually reached their destination - albeit Lyrum wondered if the attending priest had taken into consideration the patient's condition when he called the room only 'a short distance away'.

Soren was eventually shown to a bed and tended too, against his will of course. Though, he wasn't particularly in a state to go against any of the treatment he was receiving. The words that girl had used earlier left him troubled. Was the excuse about a gang fight necessary at all? She could have clearly mentioned that it was just a wound that had reopened. Not to mention this was a church, so they couldn't really deny someone in his state treatment. Whatever. The sooner they got out of that place, the better. Lyrum needed to be taken back soon, before anyone started to worry, at least.

---

"So you were found at the scene of the crime, holding the apparent murder weapon, which was YOUR chakram, covered in blood..." Reid was trying to grasp at words to explain what he had just learned. It was fortunate Yuki hadn't been placed on trial and found guilty already - there was sure as hell enough evidence to support such a thing. It was ridiculous, and it set back the plans for the next day immensely. Unfortunately, that didn't negate the task they had to participate in that coming time. Yuki said nothing in response to Reid's comments, in fact it didn't seem like he was listening at all. Was it shock, or guilt that had placed him in such a vow of absolute silence? Either way, there was probably no way of getting him out of the cell before the next day, if at all. With this in mind, the grown man left the holding cell to meet Dimitri in the waiting room.

The boy hadn't been permitted entrance, as Yuki was a murder suspect and Reid only held clearance for himself. "We should be heading back now. It's probably time I lay everything out on the table for my wife, after all." He managed a grin, not really wanted to tell Dimitri the bad news. "And... we probably won't see Yuki for a while..."
 
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