Krystina's house

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

"Tsk." Just like when they woke, Sheik and Watari flipped their knives back into their hiding places only with the black and white haired male rubbing the back of his head. "Owie. It's a force of habit." "Somehow I'm not surprised Maso responded with the term 'owie'. I did think Sheik would say something other than tsk though," Lucian snickered lightly while briefly turning his head towards Adramalech and Runealis. He used to feel so close to him and yet now there was a huge gap in things he could never truly understand like Runealis did. He supposed it was a good thing he found someone who could though, especially an old friend of his. He probably had years of pent up emotions and rants he hadn't gotten into detail with him about. It'd be different now that they had his secret out in the open, but he didn't want there to be any serious changes in their friendship because of it. They might not be as close as Adra was to him, but they had their own connection that Adra wouldn't be able to really understand.

"Told you so," Hagen smiled cheerfully while watching the little boy reaching for Skylar's braids. It was adorable watching his interest in things. When he caught a slight blur from behind Sky, his expression became stern and he lightly tapped the little boy's hand with his finger. "No. We don't call creatures from other lands to satisfy our interests in things. Good boy. Sorry. I think he's interested in your wings and braids. You should notice spots in the room getting blurry if he starts opening portals unless he does it behind you. I got attacked by some serpentine-bird hybrid thing 'cause of him opening up a portal behind me. Thank you for the defense, Truth. You've changed since last we met. Stronger magic perhaps? Oh and this is my son. Looks like a lil' angel, acts like a lil' hellian. I swear you get bothered more often when you retire from the Brotherhood than when you work with 'em."

"Alright. I figured I'd make something for everyone to eat shortly anyways so waking up the ladies and any gent asleep was already in my schedule. Ninja assassins too with the exception of Trevor. Besides that, it wasn't just fighting but nearly tap dancing on Death's doorstep several times. I've yet to see if Koail's blood will end up jump-starting Stina's heart and returning her to how she was though. I'm sure you remember that demonic little elf-turned-vampire always wearing that leather dog collar with the metal spikes that had the obsession for music and the reputation for killing off vampire hunters with relative ease," Runealis sighed lightly while going over the events that'd been going on within such a short time. Carefully placing Lianna near Rissa, the assassin stretched only to slouch slightly beside Adramalech. "I'm probably going through hunger withdrawals and feeling exhausted after expending as much energy fighting, cooking, swapping injuries, stitching together injuries, sealing away my hearing so as to pretend to not be who I really am and losing as much blood as I have in such a short amount of time. Hopefully we'll get to rest and recover fully before any other enemies decide to show up. Then again, with the energy pouring off Hagen and his kid, we might be fine even if they did; knock on wood. From what I can see and hear from over here, the kid is already doing what takes years of practice to do like it's nothing. It reminds me of what the Sareila's still remaining in the Brotherhood told me the Silent Shadow Clan said about Shayde and yet the only difference is that while the child emits the aura Shayde did, you can't really sense it unless you're really focused in on it specifically. It's curious, but if Ephraim's real self said the shadows told us not to question it, I suppose we should try figuring it out ourselves. I heard him speaking with you, Adra, even over the shower." Flashing a mischievous smile, the Romanian started up a light tapping of his foot on the floor and humming along with the beat his foot. "Any requests on food from you? I've gotten better at cooking since I tried giving you food poisoning. Sheik actually prefers my cooking over other people's cooking albeit he still claims there's one person who can cook better than me. Unfortunately, he won't tell me his name so I can see if he speaks truth."

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

Blinking when she heard her name, truth refocused on those around her. "hm? oh.. yeah.. i've gotten stronger magic...." she nodded, sighing softly. "Sorry... i'm kinda... spacing out lately..." she sighed, leaning on the wall behind her uncle and cousin.

"it's fine. he cant get to my wings while they're in their tattoo form." he smiled, the feathers disappearing as his coat flattened against his back. "he's quite the curious little thing." he chuckled, not seeming to mind as Hagen's son pulled on his braids.

"yeah sure. i'll give it another shot. how's some tigers eye soup sound?" he grinned, scratching his shoulders as his gaze drifted to Skylar and the kid. "y'know... his powers are strikingly similar to someone i know...." he chuckled, putting the cigarette in his lips again. "if he weren't just a baby, i'd test my theory."

Rolling into Maso's side, Krystina shook with loud wet coughs, her hands tight on his shirt even after they had ended. "i-i... hate... this...." she panted, resting her head on his chest.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

"Makes sense. It's dark magic you've gotten hold of, if my senses are picking it up right that is, so be careful with it. Even the smallest of spells in that area causes some serious side effects. Example; the shadow dragon I've used on Shayde several times can kill it's user if they lack the energy to use it. It can also backfire and having it backfire hurts like a bxtch. I still have a scar from it. The blood magic I can't help you with, but the dark magic away from that I can since it's something I was taught. My best advice to give, in my personal opinion, would be transferring it to your sister. Dark magic like that is best in the hands of dark magic users and you're more like Time in being a light magic user than Karma in being a dark magic user. Should you keep it, it's going to do more harm to you than it will help. I'd rather seal it away personally than let your sister have it, but I'm not strong enough to do that. I can transfer it, but it'd take about four or five ancient sorcerers or ten of Adramalech to seal it away," Hagen responded to Truth as if it made sense to him on why she was so spacey. Giving the baby a silent warning to keep his abilities from going haywire, he gently ruffled Sky's hair whilst giving him a nod at his little boy being curious before padding over to Truth's side. He'd let Sky be free to wander with the baby if he so wished. He didn't want to keep him held captive in the same place. "Can you tell what's pulling you out of focus? Do you know when this started happening?"

As Hagen was speaking with Truth, the baby continued playing with the braids for a few minutes before his fiery reddish-bluish-purple eyes flashed a deep red around the irises and a spider crawled up his hand. Once at a certain spot, it jumped onto Sky's shoulder and began trying to find a way into the older male's shirt so as to look at the wings. "Wings, birdie, wings! We want to see the wings," the spider hissed irritably as the infant began spinning the beads in his tiny fingers.

"Give him a few years," Runealis teased playfully before nodding slightly in response to making his requested food choice. At catching Trevor's movement to try taking Adra's cigarette from him, his body moved on it's own. The result of such an action from Trevor ended up with Runealis pinning him to the floor with a knife to his throat. Not only was Trevor surprised by the fast movement, but Runealis hadn't seemed to notice himself moving. "S-sorry... Adra, we'll just head into the kitchen since Trevor is disapproving of your smoking habit." Releasing Trevor and returning his knife to his lower back, the Romanian started for the kitchen while shoving the expressions of shock from Trevor, Sheik, Watari and Lucian to the back of his mind. It'd definitely be different acting like himself when they were so used to him being so vulnerable, but he couldn't change things as they were now. They knew the truth and it was only a matter of time before the Brotherhood found out.

At feeling Krystina's movements, especially the coughs, Watari gently hugged her close as he wasn't sure what else to do. "I hate it too, Stina. I wish I could make you feel better," he murmured gently. "Hades, can you make one of your herbal teas for her?" Seeing him nod before vanishing out the door, he gently kissed the female on top of the head.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

"Since I absorbed a wraith into my body...." She mumbled, holding her head. "C-can you not move so fast....? You're making me dizzy...."

"no wings. But here." He smiled, holding up one of the grey feathers that had fallen off his wings.

"Alright, but only if you take it easy on the unknowing, speedy." Adra chuckled softly as he followed rune to the kitchen, lighting a new cigarette while he walked.

Curling into him, Krystina gave a small sigh and glanced around. "Kana? Get off my foot, you butt." She grumbled and shook her foot, smiling as her friend jumped awake from the movement underneath her. "Morning, sunshine."

"Morning, sicky." Kana nodded, rubbing her eyes with a yawn.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

"I didn't move that fast. Deception, over here by your sister please," Hagen sighed lightly. When Deception opened her mouth to argue, he just shot her a dark glare and she grumpily moved over to where she was copying Truth's stance beside her. "Alrighty then. I'm transferring that dark energy from you, Truth, to your sister, Deception. It's not your area of expertise and this is the harm absorbing such a strong powered wraith into your body does. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction to which you will have to pay the consequences for. Considering the strength of the wraith I'm picking up on out of you, this transfer is gonna hurt like a motherfxcker for me. I suggest you two prep yourself for some electric shocks."

"Careful with it, Hagen. The bxtch she absorbed could try taking control over your body," Trevor mumbled lightly while rubbing his shoulder as if it hurt. He had not expected such a violent reaction from Runealis, but he couldn't blame him either. He'd been through a lot in his lifetime so everything nowadays was just a reflex he'd developed over time that was now showing itself now that he was back to being who he really was. "Will do. Here we go." Setting Deception's hand in Truth's hand then taking up both girls' free hands into his own, he let out a deep breath before several dark blue and red sparks started dancing around their arms.

Growing far more interested in the feather than the beads, the baby took the feather into his tiny hands so as to examine it. "We still want the wings, birdie. Why won't you show us the wings?" the spider asked curiously while remaining on Skylar's shoulder. Maybe if it bit him he'd show them the wings?

"I didn't mean to do it... I just kind of reacted without thinking about it. This is why I dreaded ever bringing up my real identity to them. Now that all my senses are open, I'm going to be reacting to like everything. Trevor already had that look of 'no wonder he was labelled a legendary assassin'. Ugh. Even if I wanted to just be normal, I couldn't ever be. Once you're marked way up here, people expect things without really expecting them," Runealis muttered once Adramalech and him reached the kitchen. Giving a soft sigh, he got started on dinner for the entire household. He also got started on mixing together some herbs while boiling some water for Krystina's tea. So much to do and so little energy he had of what he could tell. "Other than being older and more involved with other people, do I seem any different from how I used to be, Adra? Like, I dunno... Do I radiate some kind of depression to you?"

"Morning, Kana. I think Sheik is a little grumpy considering he hasn't said much since he woke up. And Hades is back to cooking so I hope you ladies have an appetite. Hopefully his herbal teas can help you feel a little better too, Krystina," Maso hummed lightly while briefly glancing at Sheik watching Hagen, his brother and his nieces by each other. Of course his blonde haired cousin was probably lost in thought, but you never knew with him until he started talking again.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

shaking her head, truth pulled her hand away. "n-no, wait." she frowned, biting her lip. "there's gotta be a different way... it takes a lot of will power to hold this stuff in, and its not that i don't think deception can't do it, but i don't want her to have to when i already am."

"Because they're sensitive." Sky mumbled, walking around the couch a few times.

Turning to look at Sheik, Kana gave a small pout and leaned in, kissing his cheek. "You alright?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I hope so, too..." Krystina nodded, pulling her feet up close as she curled into a ball next to Maso.

"I think that look was more one of 'holy sh!t' than anything. You were moving so fast, it was hard to see." he chuckled softly, cutting up a few vegetables for the soup. Hearing Rune speak again, he turned slightly to look at him again. "Depression? Um... sometimes... " he shrugged, pouring the vegetables into a bowl. "but it's more of a flickering thing, like a candle. not as though you're completely overtaken with it."

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

Letting out a heavy sigh while Deception gave a brief shriek, Hagen shook his hand slightly only to shoot a brief glare at Truth. "There isn't really much option, kiddo, unless you have a magical dagger that absorbs liches and wraiths into it and even then, you'll be absorbed into it. I'm pretty sure Time would rather the wraith be put into himself and be absorbed with it than to let either of you carry it, but there are rules to magic and that wraith knows this. It's already going to put up a fight 'cause it's going to want to remain in your body since you're more liable of breaking than she is much less me. If this wraith remains in you, it's going to overtake you and shatter the entity that is you. Light and dark do not mix. It's like oil and water. While it will take a lot of willpower for her to hold it in, it'll be less strenuous on her than it is for you since she is a dark magic user. She still has to learn how to use it, but she won't need an exorcism if she has it in her like you will. Reconnect or I'm gonna connect my fist to your head. That was an unnecessary pain your sister and I just went through 'cause you broke the chain," the older male retorted sharply while grabbing the girls' hands again. Deception held her hand out for Truth to take again.

"Wow. I only met you once when you were itty bitty and you already seem to know me. Don't start making me paranoid, Hagen, and don't threaten my baby girls," Trevor snickered lightly while noting the slight rolling of the younger male's eyes. "He's right, Truth, minus the type of magic I'm strong in. I'm technically in the neutral zone of magic, but whatever. You're like Maso, Sheik and I in using more light magic than Sheila in using dark magic."

"That's a terrible excuse... You're just like daddy in saying no to just about everything," the spider grumbled as the infant snuggled into Sky's chest. "Do you sing, birdie? We like listening to birds singing. It's very peaceful. We also like nature. Do you like nature's peaceful sir... Seren... Serenity? I think that's what daddy said it was..."

"It was between the lines, but yeah. There was definitely a lot of the Oh Shxt factor in his eyes," Runealis snickered lightly while briefly glancing at the crow demon. Having noticed the same thought to glance at the other had passed Adramalech's mind as his own, he gave a soft chuckle before shifting his gaze back to what he was doing. Finishing the tea up, he poured it into a cup and started back for the living room. He only paused for a moment to give the demon a side-hug before disappearing from the kitchen. Once he'd given Watari the tea, he returned to the kitchen. "I'm shocked to hear you say I moved faster than the eye could see. As for the depression comment, well, I thought it was just me. I can't really tell much about the real me anymore. I'm so used to being fake people that I've lost track of most things that are real. I must've really lost track of myself if I can't really tell I'm giving off hints of depression when I'm being myself. Ne. That's terrible."

"Hm? Oh. Yeah... Thinking is all. Sorry," Sheik responded after having felt Kana kissing him on the cheek. He then flashed a light smile before kissing her on the forehead. Watari shook his head slightly at Sheik's repeated response of Truth's response to being spoken to. They were definitely family. Holding the tea cup for Krystina, he gently tapped her arm. "Here ya go, Stina."

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

"s-sorry..." Truth mumbled, putting her hand back in her sister's as her teeth dug into her lip.

"i like it." he nodded, a smile on his face as he sat down in a corner. "as for singing, i can, but i don't know any songs good for babies.."

"thinking about what?" she asked softly, rubbing her thumb across his hand.

Sitting up some, Krystina gave a tiny nod and took the tea from him, sipping carefully.

"don't worry about it too much, that'll just make things worse." Adra shrugged as he set down the knife to give rune a small noogie. "and remember, you can talk to me." he murmured for what seemed like the umpteenth time today.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

"You're going to bite your lip off so stop chewing on it. Time, do something with your daughter. I feel like I have more than one kid," Hagen sighed tiredly as the sparks started up again. After a couple of silent breaths with his eyes closed, he felt himself detach from what was considered the conscious world and entered a void of supreme darkness. Within that darkness, he found himself in front of the twins only with Truth having shackles and a chain of light hooked between her wrist and Mara's wrist. Never met a female wraith before. Alrighty. You two gotta split like the Red Sea. Wraith lady, c'mere. I know you're not enjoying being stuck attached to Truth. I'd be beating my head against the wall if I got stuck to her or her sister.

"Quit biting your lips. You girls and your lip biting. You're going to end up with no lips whatsoever. Ooh. I've never seen a spirit jump that smooth and he's still sitting up. I couldn't even remain sitting up when I did spirit jumps," Trevor muttered before poking Hagen in the side with a pencil. It was pretty amusing how he could remain so focused in on the task at hand that he couldn't feel himself being poked.

"Cool. Then just sing something, anything, if you don't feel like telling me about y'all. I've never met y'all after all so this is a new experience for me," the spider responded while settling itself into a more comfortable position. The baby then briefly covered his face as if he were feeling shy.

"Right, right. I think you're the one that hasn't grown up since I was a kid what with your noogies. I really missed you, Adra, and I'm glad I can still come to you for advice and complain about things they don't know about. Best part is I wouldn't have to continuously talk your ear off just to get it all out," Runealis laughed while slipping out of the demon's grasp and rubbing the top of his head. It was like so long ago only with air conditioners, heaters, cars and stoves. "I'm really glad you haven't changed over the years..."

"Hades' secret identity, Hagen's change in such a short amount of time, my brother's childishness... A lot of things really," Sheik answered while scratching the opposite cheek. Leaning over slightly, he kissed Kana on the cheek before flashing a light smile.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

"Remind me to ask him to show me how he does that.... i always fall over...." Truth mumbled, glancing to her twin for a moment. could she hear them? could she hear Hagen and Mara talking?
Oh no, not me. i'd rather be beating her. Mara hissed, trying to send a wave of dark energy out, only for Truth's soul to once again bubble up around her and block it.

"um.... alright...." Skylar nodded, smiling as he sang the first song that came to mind, which was still stuck on Shayde. "Catch me as I fall. Say you're here and it's all over now. Speaking to the atmosphere. No one's here and I fall into myself. This truth drives me. Into madness. I know I can stop the pain. If I will it all away."

"wanna talk about it instead of just keeping it to yourself?" she hummed, her cheeks slightly red from him kissing her cheek.

"glad to help." he grinned, only to chuckle. "so.... wanna cook our food the old way?" he smirked, an eyebrow raising as one of his hands lit on fire.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

"I think we both may have to ask him how he does it," Trevor murmured lightly while continuing to poke Hagen's side. The kid could even keep his balance and focus with this distraction. It was amazing to see such commitment to his work. "He's still the same jerk! How dare he insinuate we're irritating?!" Deception hissed irritably, wanting to cross her arms over her chest instead of keeping in contact with the male.

Children, the lot of 'em... Alrighty then. I thought I'd try it the easy way, but you're obviously not going to listen to me. Instead of being a bxtch about it, just follow directions and split like I told you to, Hagen sighed lightly before stepping closer to Mara and snapping a hand up around her throat. As he removed it, a set of dark red shackles appeared around his and Mara's necks attaching them to each other like how the light shackles around Mara's and Truth's wrists were. He then set his middle finger against the light shackles between the two women. This is always the highlight of my day; transferring wraiths around between people... Look, she-wraith, I really do have better things to do than moving you around and your darkness doesn't intimidate me. It's strong, I'll give you that, just not intimidating. Truth, I'm going to sever your bonds with her now so don't be surprised if the air gets lighter around you. Also, tell your father to stop poking me as it is very irritating much like wraiths and liches... And draegloths. Can't forget them things... Either way, once I separate her from you, you can separate from your sister and me. Just remember to make her hold both of my hands as you separate. Do not, and I can't stress that enough, separate from the circle without attaching both of our hands together.

"We like your singing voice, birdie. It's not all gruff and sad sounding like daddy's voice. We think daddy misses mommy kind of like you miss your shadow. The only difference between the two is daddy talks to her in his sleep and how she can't come back, but your sadness of your shadow being gone shows signs he can return... Why can your shadow come back, but mommy can't come back and help make daddy cheerful again?" the spider asked curiously when Skylar's singing came to an end. Mixed in with that curiosity, however, was a hint of anger that seemed to say things as they were was unfair. Of course, with that hint of anger came another slightly blurry spot on the wall where another portal was opening.

"Whoo! Back to the way it used to be, most definitely," Runealis cheered perhaps a little too enthusiastically. Having noticed he'd gotten a little childish over such a thing, he briefly cleared his throat and nodded while ignoring the heat rising into his face and making it a light shade of pink. "I mean, yeah. It's been a while since I cooked over an open flame in the original way of cooking, but I can do it, with your help of course. Let's do this!"

"If you'd like to talk about what's running through my head, then sure. My first topic; if Hades is actually Runealis and we now know about it, the Brotherhood is sure to catch on. This will probably send them after him once they do figure it out which means he may not be around much longer. Then there's the whole factor of -," Sheik paused briefly as Runealis' enthusiasm for something the crow demon said to him got him to grow a bit louder than he'd intended to where Lucian, Trevor and Watari glanced towards the door. "That... You'd think he was a girl that just got proposed to by the love of his life the way that sounded. I still have my doubts about Adramalech, but he feels he can trust him with his life. He's unaffected by the flow of time and I'm not sure why not to mention the fact that the most any of us knows about him is stories meant to inspire ninja assassins to better themselves and hearsay. I know I shouldn't doubt his trustworthiness now after he's spent so much time with us and I know Lulu won't just drop his trust in him 'cause they're so close, but I do. I've begun doubting my decision on making him one of my bodyguards and I... I just feel like he's become a stranger instead of a stronger ally. I worry about the danger his real self, his real history will drag up..."

"Is the tea helping any?" Watari asked Krystina gently while brushing his fingers through her hair, his leg pinning Lucian to the space in front of him. He could understand Sheik's fears as he felt them too, but he knew of how all of this unsettled the lycan now fidgeting with his shirt as well. Lucian had been the closest to who they thought was Hayden Sareila and even he hadn't known about this true identity thing so that had him shaken. After Adramalech's appearance and apparent closeness to the other since the assassin was young, Lucian was biting back his nerves to remain the same calm and cheerful guy he was. He was probably even trying to convince himself that Adra had a bond with Rune he'd never be able to understand, but he had a similar bond with Rune Adra would never understand. It wasn't really doing any good for the group, but he expected them to have their worries and fears. He just didn't expect Sheik to be shaken so much by the revealing of his true identity much less Lucian to be rattled so much by an old friend of the infamous assassin. It made him wonder how well-founded their group was to begin with. And what about Shayde? He had that whole prince of the dark realm thing going on. How often would he be all psychotic? Would he even return in this lifetime with Ephraim? How would Trevor handle Ephraim just disappearing for the rest of his lifespan? There were so many questions that had no real answers.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

"I can sort of see his point.... The two of us can be quite the handful." Truth smiled at her sister, briefly glancing towards wear Hagen's spirit was and nodding and waiting for the connection to be severed.
Once she felt Mara's presence split from her own, she turned to Deception "But now he's done with me and needs you to hold both of his hands so here." She smiled, pulling her twin's hand over to Hagen's other hand before she let go. Walking over and sitting by by Lucian, she set her head on his shoulder. "Mind of I curl up here for a bit?" She yawned softly, her eyes half closed.

Biting his lip, Skylar shook his head. "To be honest, I'm only hoping he'll come back soon... But if what Adramalech said is true, I don't think it'll happen...." He sighed, glancing to the side. "And your dad said no portals didn't he?"

"I think maybe you need to give him a bit more trust then that. After all, he probably could have left you on his own at any time, yet he chose to stay. Even if he didn't tell you the truth about who he was, he's still your friend, isn't he?" she asked softly, thinking her words over carefully.

"then let's get cooking." Adra grinned, the flame on his hand settling to a small ember.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

"That isn't funny, Truth, nor is it true. People just don't understand us. I should remove my hands from his just to intentionally hurt him," Deception grumbled while watching Hagen's calm expression across from her. This was really weird in her opinion and she still had no idea what over half of the things Hagen and Shadowheart had been talking about when they spent time with her. It was just one giant headache! "He better be right about all of this or I'm gonna beat him within an inch of his life." Seeing his eyebrow twitch slightly, she couldn't help but to start giggling. At least she was giggling until she saw the skin on his neck growing paler and more grey in color. Did wraiths do that to even strong dark magic users or was it because he was simply human? Trevor was a Sheikah and Karma, well, she was some other foreign entity so it was apparent the twins weren't exactly human.

Shattering the shackles made of light, Hagen began feeling what Truth had been holding back yet only seemed to twitch slightly. He wasn't going to let this she-wraith win even if it was a lot of strain on his body for having to hold onto her so as to switch which of the twins held onto her. See, Miss She-Wraith? The whole family is like a bunch of toddlers only they have a lot of skill behind that facade. Alrighty. Now that Truth's gone, it looks like you're stuck with two dark users, he breathed out a little shakily before tugging on the chain to get Mara to follow him over to where Deception's spirit sat with her arms crossed over her chest. The physical realm and spiritual realm could really make some people go insane. Here we are. I suggest you two start learning how to get along 'cause you're going to be stuck together for the rest of your lives or we find another wraith or lich to attach you to so we can just kill ya both. And now we just attach you two together, separate us from each other and I can get out of the spiritual realm. Yay me. Snatching Deception's hand away from her chest by the wrist and grabbing Mara's wrist, a set of deep red shackles began forming up beneath his hands while a chain link began running down from those shackles until they were attached to each other. As it took a bit more time to attach to each other, he could feel his own breathing becoming restricted from the anger and hate just seeping off of Mara and into him from the chain attaching him to her. Once it was attached to the women, he snapped the chain between himself and Mara without any warning making Deception wince slightly at the sudden change. Once the air settled between them, she was still as she always had been; defiantly irritable. Sinking back into his own body, Hagen's eyes opened back up and the sparks ceased completely. "Have fun, she-wraith bxtch," he coughed out while removing his hands. Well that was an unexpected coughing fit he was gonna have for a couple days as Mara's magic wore off. Laying on his back on the floor, he just held up a thumbs up while trying to get himself to stop coughing. Sure, laying on his back wasn't the best way of doing this, but he wanted to partly separate from Deception and rest a little bit after jumping between the realms. Laying on his stomach wasn't even a thought as it was uncomfortable for him. At seeing how Deception hadn't really changed from this attachment between Mara and her, Trevor smiled lightly and patted Hagen on the chest as his sign of telling him he'd done a good job before hugging Deception as unwilling as she was to accepting his affection. He'd've done the same thing to Truth, but she was already curled up next to Lucian.

"That still means there's a chance he'll be able to come back though. Perhaps not today, perhaps not even tomorrow, but he can still come back. No future is set in stone as there are many paths in life. The only things set in stone is life, death and rebirth. All things live, all things die and all things are reborn. How we live our lives, however, is our choice," the spider snorted in response while beginning to act like it was cleaning it's multiple eyes. "We don't understand though, birdie... The things we bring out don't want to hurt anyone. The lizard-birdie was just seeing if daddy was alright for us, but daddy didn't let it get too close. He worries us just as we tend to worry him. He works so hard to protect us, but puts his own injuries and health on the backburner. Can you ask him to take better care of himself for us? We can entertain ourselves when he needs his sleep."

"G-go on ahead. Just know I'll be waking you up to eat when Hades is done cooking," Lucian responded while briefly pushing Watari's leg off to the side of him so he could slightly shift to a more comfortable position. His arm gently embraced Truth at his side before setting his lips lightly against her forehead in a soft kiss as he stopped his fidgeting altogether.

Runealis nodded slightly before getting started on heating up a pot full of some salty water. Leaving it hanging over the crow demon's hand with some twine, he started peeling some potatoes with a knife, cutting them up and dropping it into the pot. "I'm gonna make some mashed potatoes with the soup too, 'kay? It might take a little longer for all of it to cook, but it's actually pretty good and soups and mashed potatoes will also help Krystina feel better. Sheik thought I was just following along with superstitions when he got sick, but he did get better quicker than he expected when I made him eat it. I mean, why else do people eat soups and mashed potatoes when they're sick?" he hummed rather cheerfully while briefly stirring the potato chunks in the pot. Homemade mashed potatoes were pretty fun to make in his opinion and they tasted better than processed foods, the other males having already agreed with him on that some time ago.

"I'd like to, Kana, I really would like to give him - them - the benefit of a doubt. I just can't. I was fine with him before even though I never really saw anything about him like I usually do about people. He was a friend, an ally and someone I trusted with my very life and I still want to see him that way, but I just... I just don't know why this little lie is bugging me like it is. Maybe it's the whole story of how he went AWOL on the Brotherhood centuries ago or something, but I'm not seeing him as just the happy-go-lucky and mischievous Hades anymore. He's become a stranger in the way I see him now. He took Trevor down without even blinking for Trevor not wanting him to smoke around Truth and Deception. That look in his eyes just isn't all friendly like it used to be," Sheik responded as he let out a tired sigh. It wasn't the same to him and he couldn't understand why it was bugging him this much. "He has a darker air about him, a dangerous air that scares the living hell outta me. I'm more terrified of what he could do than I was when Shadowheart went all super psycho on us. In fact, I'd say he literally wasn't even taking that situation seriously. I can't figure him out. He's nice, sweet and playful, but he's darker, more dangerous and confusing. I want to say he's still our friend, but I just can't tell. He still seems like a friend with how he smiles at us and how he acts, but he somehow feels... It feels like he's afraid of making attachments. I can understand why he would too. He's existed in this world for centuries and yet everyone he knew has already died with the exception of Adra. Everywhere he turns, there are new faces and you can just feel it from him now that we know; he's trying not to let it hug him, but he's in a world that's always changing while he remains the same... It's a lonely existence. Maybe these uncertainties are his and I'm just picking up on it."

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

happy almost new years! ^-^

"sounds....good..." Truth nodded, smiling softly as she slipped into a deep sleep.

"i'll talk to him about it." sky chuckled, a smile on his face as he walked back towards the others. "hey, trevor? can you take the little guy for a bit? My arms are getting stiff."

"perhaps..." she nodded, biting her lip. "but... maybe you should give him a chance? like you did for me?" she mumbled, tapping her fingers on her leg slightly.

"because they can hold a lot of flavors and apparently spice can help make one feel better?" Adra grinned, pulling up a chair so he could sit while playing campfire.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

Happy Almost New Years!

"Give him here. What's with the spider?" Trevor responded while carefully picking up the infant and lightly bouncing him in his arms. The spider, however, remained on Sky's shoulder simply watching what went on around it.

"Don't know. They keep showing up around my son though so I'm a little concerned about them and yet part of me thinks he's bringing them out. One of them things even spun a web spelling out the word sick. It's creepy when they just stare at ya," Hagen wheezed slightly while remaining sprawled out on the floor. His only motion was that of his hand blocking the path of Deception's foot towards his babymaker. "Stop it, Deception. We are a pretty fruity bunch and he has a right to have an opinion of us. Gomen ne, Hagen." "'S'all good. I'll be gettin' up in a minute anyways. Just some of the side effects of bein' a human ninja assassin capable of exorcisms include the drainage of energy, the expectancy of wraiths and whatnot trying to kill ya and some people thinkin' you're causing more problems. I also expected some hostility from your daughters, brother and your brother's group. I was hired by Sheila for a time to kill them after all. I'm lucky I'm still here much less that I have a kid now."

"Thanks, birdie. If we hear anything about the prince and his guard from the shadows, we'll let you know as a return gift. Just don't be surprised if other people say they can't hear us or if they do, it's very light and muffled," the spider hissed softly before shutting it's many eyes as if going to sleep on the winged male's shoulder.

"I think it's talking... The spider, that is. It's faint, but it sounds like a naga or sometimes a child talking every once in a while. I can't be sure seeing as the voice comes and goes like some bad reception, but it's what I've been hearing and some of the things I've heard coincides with the things Sky's been saying. That's my guess," Lucian murmured lightly while trying not to disturb Truth now sleeping against him. "Has the spider been around for as long as the voices have been going on, Sky? I'm guessing you're hearing it better than I am after all since you were conversing with the voices."

Giving the demon a soft chuckle as his response, the assassin continued on with making the food over the 'campfire' without all of the soft 'oops' mutterings coming from him like when he was younger. "That's true. At least this time I'm cooking for you, you're not asking what I said oops about too. That was a pretty stressful question for me when I was younger 'cause it was a constant reminder that I wasn't just cooking for me and I had to make sure not to undercook or overcook something when in the end, I ended up undercooking several things and tried poisoning you with such terrible cooking. I was terrible at a lot of things and yet you never tried getting rid of me... Why was that? Did I amuse you with all of my mistakes or was it just the intrigue from our first encounter that made it to where I could find you with relative ease when I needed to vent?" he hummed still in that cheerful manner of his, his smile never fading.

"I'll try. You were a special case," Sheik smiled lightly as he slid his hand over Kana's and gently brushed his lips over hers. Shifting his gaze back over to where Trevor, Skylar and Hagen were, however, his smile faded slightly. "Hagen's aura weirds me out too. My first encounter with him was just before the downfall of his clan and he had an aura that radiated a sadness and just a beaten air to him. After Shayde came along and he showed back up, it remained sad but it also had a lot of hate to it. Now that he's back, he's just become cheerful, calm, fatherly like Trevor and yet still somewhat sad. Trevor said having a family of your own and having kids changes a person, but I didn't think it'd make it this major change in someone. Trevor didn't change this much when his kids were born. After he'd been left by his whole family, yes, but not when he was creating his own little family. It just seems weird. That's not even bringing up the fact that his son is practically invisible aura-wise..."