Tem closed her eyes and stretched out contentedly against June. "a bedhead is its own style," she grinned, snuggling closer to her bond. "This place is strange to wake up in. You can see how it turned into future Colsar, some of the streets are the same and the city layers are already coming into place... do you think we'll really be able to stop it from happening?"
The dwarves were still mining under the surface, singing a song that couldn't quite me made out from up here, but it was probably tamer than the ones they sang while drunk at night. Some of the children around the city were starting to pick up the lyrics.
Tem remembered her younger self. She'd always been outgoing and kamikaze at the best of times; it had been no accident she'd ended up in a feral vampire den, and it hadn't been the first time either. She hated relying on people, never accepting the help of a travelling partner, and she had hated staying in one place for more than a day. She remembered a time when she'd worn the same clothes for several days in a row. It was so strange to her now.
Tem closed her eyes and stretched out contentedly against June. "a bedhead is its own style," she grinned, snuggling closer to her bond. "This place is strange to wake up in. You can see how it turned into future Colsar, some of the streets are the same and the city layers are already coming into place... do you think we'll really be able to stop it from happening?"
The dwarves were still mining under the surface, singing a song that couldn't quite me made out from up here, but it was probably tamer than the ones they sang while drunk at night. Some of the children around the city were starting to pick up the lyrics.
Tem remembered her younger self. She'd always been outgoing and kamikaze at the best of times; it had been no accident she'd ended up in a feral vampire den, and it hadn't been the first time either. She hated relying on people, never accepting the help of a travelling partner, and she had hated staying in one place for more than a day. She remembered a time when she'd worn the same clothes for several days in a row. It was so strange to her now.
June couldn’t help but to chuckle at that “I’m not surprise, you really were trying to give me a new hairstyle.” She remarked playfully on her own hair after last night. Purring lowly she’d wrapped her hands around Tem’s waist, pulling her in closer as well, nuzzled into the crook of her neck. She hummed quietly, listening to Tem as she speaks, June had her eyes open briefly as she stared into the distant for a bit, reflecting on her own thoughts.
“We will...” She sighed, kissing into the vampire’s hair “We have to try, love..” June craned her neck bit to look down into Tem’s eyes, giving her an assured look before leaning in to give her a peck on her lips, then lay back again, she hold the vampire close to her, sighing again as she stared up at the ceiling. She could hear the songs that the dwarves were singing, just that they were muffled because they were being underground and that June and Tem were in a tavern’s room.
June look a bit wistful again, as she could hear the children on the streets picked up on the songs as well, she winced a bit, she had ended this... she had been tempted to end all of this. Subtly she leaned in closer to Tem, feeling a bit guilty as she recalled about everything Tem had said when she confronted her, didn’t realize that she was tightening her embrace on her bond. She lost control, when the humans tried to killed Tem before, and she had taken that anger on their entire race, along with the temptation for power by the Seer, driven by her loneliness as the Exorcist.
She was confused to met with her bond, the Exorcist wasn’t used to that, but slowly, it given into Tem as well, accepting her as a part of it, a part of June. They didn’t need to depend on each other, but they would surely crash and tumble without one another, June would. She couldn’t imagine a life without her bond anymore, they’ve comr this far, Tem had chosen to stay, after all this time, even after when she found out that June was some sort of ancient evil thing, she didn’t try to break off their connect and run away from the monster.
She chose June, the lynx found herself gazing down at her bond lovingly as she recalled the good memories of them together, their souls wil be bonded for eternity, until one of them seek to break it, but it would never be June. She purred softly, leaning into the vampire again, sighed in contentment, in this moment, it’d just be them, nothing else in the world mattered, for just a blissful moment.
June couldn’t help but to chuckle at that “I’m not surprise, you really were trying to give me a new hairstyle.” She remarked playfully on her own hair after last night. Purring lowly she’d wrapped her hands around Tem’s waist, pulling her in closer as well, nuzzled into the crook of her neck. She hummed quietly, listening to Tem as she speaks, June had her eyes open briefly as she stared into the distant for a bit, reflecting on her own thoughts.
“We will...” She sighed, kissing into the vampire’s hair “We have to try, love..” June craned her neck bit to look down into Tem’s eyes, giving her an assured look before leaning in to give her a peck on her lips, then lay back again, she hold the vampire close to her, sighing again as she stared up at the ceiling. She could hear the songs that the dwarves were singing, just that they were muffled because they were being underground and that June and Tem were in a tavern’s room.
June look a bit wistful again, as she could hear the children on the streets picked up on the songs as well, she winced a bit, she had ended this... she had been tempted to end all of this. Subtly she leaned in closer to Tem, feeling a bit guilty as she recalled about everything Tem had said when she confronted her, didn’t realize that she was tightening her embrace on her bond. She lost control, when the humans tried to killed Tem before, and she had taken that anger on their entire race, along with the temptation for power by the Seer, driven by her loneliness as the Exorcist.
She was confused to met with her bond, the Exorcist wasn’t used to that, but slowly, it given into Tem as well, accepting her as a part of it, a part of June. They didn’t need to depend on each other, but they would surely crash and tumble without one another, June would. She couldn’t imagine a life without her bond anymore, they’ve comr this far, Tem had chosen to stay, after all this time, even after when she found out that June was some sort of ancient evil thing, she didn’t try to break off their connect and run away from the monster.
She chose June, the lynx found herself gazing down at her bond lovingly as she recalled the good memories of them together, their souls wil be bonded for eternity, until one of them seek to break it, but it would never be June. She purred softly, leaning into the vampire again, sighed in contentment, in this moment, it’d just be them, nothing else in the world mattered, for just a blissful moment.
The younger Thalia continued to smile and kick her feet as Lucine and the boy near her talked. She brightened up when Lucine complimented her name. "Thanks! Your name is pretty too!" she returned, chuckling. She hid her worry for her brothers the best she could. Actually, she was only worried about one of her brothers. The other one... not so much. She was surprised no one had noticed her in the tavern yet and kicked her out. She was glad for that, though it might not last long.
Call smiled weakly at the girl who shared his sister's name - no - the girl who was his sister. He was confused, mainly because he never recalled ever living in Colsar. Perhaps he was too young to remember, however, he would've remembered some things. He was sure of it. Maybe he wasn't alive in this time period. Maybe, just maybe, his mother was still alive. That would be quite the trip, to see the mother he never got to see. His next thought met backlash from the rest of his mind, but it came regardless.
Maybe he could save his mother from death.
But that would mean he wouldn't exist.
And Lucine would never have met him.
He sighed quietly, looking at Lucine. He knew what she was trying to tell him, but it was hard to do what she asked of him. His entire family, at least, the ones who were alive and close to him, was living in Colsar, just after the Disaster, or so he thought. Fires were ravaging the land, the skies were red... he never remembered any of that. He thought about asking his sister - the one who came back in time with him - about what she remembered later. He reserved that thought and listened to Lucine as she whispered in his ear.
She was going to look after the kids, while he would talk more with Athus, being extra careful not to let anything chronically important slip. He supposed it would work, though, Lucine leaving the group might not be the best idea in the world. But still... she was wanting to protect the kids. She wanted to protect him; the younger him. He appreciated that. He was naturally worried about her, but he trusted her to protect herself. She was strong, and she could take care of herself, he knew that to be true. It had to be true.
He smiled and blushed a little as Lucine pecked his cheek. "I love you too," he whispered, kissing her cheek in return. "Please stay safe." He soon turned his attention back to Athus, letting go of Lucine's hand to allow her to go with Thalia, but not before giving it one more comforting squeeze. He soon saw two figures come into the tavern. The Whisper was there, and it was with June, just as it said it was. He found himself smiling as June and Tem reunited, feeling warmth in his chest. He liked seeing them together again, in better circumstances. He looked at the Whisper, wondering what conversation they might have had.
It better not have told her what it told me, was all he could think.
He soon looked back at Athus, noticing his discomfort near June. She was a Hunter, but something changed. He could feel it in his gut. He didn't know what it was, but something changed. He watched as Athus stood, stating that he wanted to leave. The dwarves didn't seem keen to let him do that. Call didn't know what to say at first. He had seen Athus' reaction to his Mark. He thought the Clans branded him. That was the opposite of the truth.
Athus... you branded me.
He couldn't say that. He didn't want to say that. Instead, he tapped Athus' shoulder, hoping to get his attention. "Hey," he said softly. The poor man looked like he'd rather be anywhere but here. "Are you alright? Do you wanna go outside or something? I can take you outside, if you want. I kind of want to talk to you about something. I won't put pressure on you or anything." He didn't think he would ever do this, but he did so nonetheless.
He gave the future Council member Athus a warm, friendly smile.
The younger Thalia cooed softly as Lucine and Call gave each other kisses, saying they loved each other. She loved seeing affection like that. It reminded her of what she thought her future might be like. She might find the love of her life. She had no idea what awaited her.
She didn't know that she would die twelve years later.
She certainly didn't know she would come back as a new species.
She nodded when Lucine asked her to show her where she lived. "Yeah, sure! We should probably go fast, though, before something happens," she answered, hopping off of her seat and landing on her feet. She brushed off her tunic before walking up to Lucine's seat and holding out her hand for the half-vampire to take.
She led Lucine out of the tavern, holding her hand in her smaller one. She failed to notice any of the other time-travelers who were there, including her older self, who didn't seem to notice her passing by either. She led her down the streets, humming one of the songs being sung by the dwarves. She looked up at Lucine as they walked while also focusing on heading in the right direction.
"How old are you?" she asked. "I'm nine years old. My first brother is eight, and my youngest brother is three. He can talk pretty well for a three year old. I like to think it's 'cause of me. I had to teach him. Pa didn't really care. He don't... he don't like him very much. Says he killed mum."
The Whisper was enjoying this.
It was trying to find the reason why. It discovered multiple reasons. For one thing, June was humorous. But there was something else too. In a way, they understood each other. They didn't care for that world in the future. There was no point in trying to save the entire world. They just wanted to care for a couple people; in June's case, only one. Tem. With the Whisper, it had been Call and Lucine. The boy always talked about wanting to be with Lucine, fighting for Lucine, staying alive for the girl. It supposed it wouldn't hurt to bring them together for the end. They didn't deserve to die alone.
It didn't even wonder why it had cared at the time.
The Whisper listened to everything June said, nodding a little. "Wonder what'll happen when we change the past," it remarked, whistling. It didn't say anything directly after its statement, though, and it went back to being silent, for the most part, anyway. It didn't mean what would happen to the Council. It already knew how that was going to go. No, it was talking about the group, Call and Lucine specifically. It recalled that they met because of the quest. Would they have met if the quest weren't given to them? Perhaps. They had visited Lough on the same day, and Call was planning to get there sooner or later, anyway. There was a chance they would've met regardless.
All of those memories, those hardships...
They were all in the past, surely.
No wait- they were all in the future, technically.
Ha ha.
The Whisper didn't see what it was doing to June by bringing up the roar, continuing to look forward, lowering itself to the ground to walk on its feet instead of hovering. It summoned its cane again, twirling it. The cane just gave it more flair, in its opinion. It listened to her, realizing that the roar was hers. It didn't know how to feel about that. It didn't have a right to be angry. She had lost someone, it was natural to feel anguish and despair, not to mention, anger towards the one, or ones, who had taken them away. The Whisper wanted the humans to burn and rot; June had actually made sure of that. Or at least, it thought she did. The Exorcist was her, after all, and she was the Exorcist. Or was she? Did the Exorcist exist in her anymore?
It thought about asking, but it decided not to.
It wasn't important now.
Was it?
The Whisper only nodded when June said it would be best of little to no knowledge on the Exorcist was known. It wished it didn't know that much about her. Then it wouldn't have felt obligated to tell Call who she really was. When June went on to talk about Callum, agreeing with the Whisper when it came to not understand how he could possibly feel that way, it nodded. "I would've expected some anger," it commented. "I mean, holding a grudge isn't exactly a good thing, but at the same time, you can't just instantly forgive people all the time. They might use you if that's the case. You never know."
It then paused, a dry chuckle of its own escaping. You wanna tell him, or should I? it wanted to ask, but it kept that in. Why? It was amusing. It was enjoying this. As June commented on its bond with Call, it laughed. It wasn't a sarcastic laugh or anything like that. It was a genuine laugh. Just thinking about... how that would go just amused it. "Basically, yeah," it replied, soon realizing what the world platonic meant, shrugging and looking at June. "I mean, I don't know if platonic is the right word, I mean, we don't cuddle or hold hands or anything like that," it added quickly, hearing another chuckle escape it.
It heard the singing getting louder as they went, listening to the lyrics. It decided it f**king loved these songs. Those lyrics; they may not be suitable for children, but for it, oh man, was it refreshing. It hadn't really heard a song before, so to have these songs be the first ones it had ever heard was something to behold, to say the least. It didn't need any slave songs or songs about hopelessness. These ones were definitely an upgrade. Well, technically, they came before the hopeless songs, so...
Geez, time travel was so confusing...
It listened as it was told that the Faction no longer existed. So that was something that changed... that was the first step. It told itself that this would be for the better. It didn't know much about the Faction, other than it was made up of non-humans and Call was scared out of his wits of them, or at least, he used to be, but it took that news as good. It looked over at her as she mentioned the purpose of the Night Spirit sending them all back in time. It shook its head and closed its eye, remaining silent.
It thought about the last thing June said before they had gotten closer to the tavern the group was in. I didn't get the chance to see those Council crawling at my feet when the Empire crumbled... shouldn't have ended the world so soon back then. It's not fun to do it when they don't have any knowledge about everything they have done anymore.
She had a point.
It continued walking with June, feeling amused that there were no guards there to stop them from entering, yet relieved at the same time. It ignored any stares it may have received from those they were passing by. Of course, questions would be raised by its appearance alone, but it just strode along, twirling its cane around, looking like it was just going about its day, nothing more, nothing less.
When they finally reached the tavern, it waved at Tem, returning June's look before she bounded over to the vampire, reuniting with her. It had completed the first task it gave itself. It felt rather proud. It just hoped that flying creature from earlier had listened to it and gotten herself inside the city. Perhaps it would encounter her later.
It looked around the place, seeing a child talking to Lucine. It looked confused; weren't children typically NOT supposed to be in taverns? Wasn't that typically not allowed? How did no one notice this kid? Even still, it watched as the child and Lucine left the smoky tavern. The smoke didn't bother it that much. It turned its gaze to Call, who was sitting at the bar, talking to another man. It considered interrupting them. It needed to talk to the boy. However, it decided to hang back. It looked between each face it saw in the tavern. Perhaps nobody would notice it. That would be a good thing, believe it or not. But nothing about a guy whose face was partially covered by a melting substance was unnoticeable, surely.
Thalia had nodded to Felicity as she once again apologized and said she would help the group. She was glad the werewolf had seemingly pulled herself together, however, she couldn't help but get the feeling that this wouldn't end so well. Hopefully she and the other stranger would put it all behind them to help the Callidora in this time period. Perhaps then she would live in the future. A lot of things would be changed in the future. She probably wouldn't get to meet these people in the first place. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have to die at the hands of another, selfish human.
She looked at the vampiric stranger, feeling pity. She wanted to help him. Sure, he had killed Callidora in the future. Heck, Lucine probably didn't even know about that... she would have to figure it out sometime. But that didn't mean this vampire was a goner. Wait a minute, wasn't he a vampiric dragon? Her heartbeat sensing skill kicked in, allowing her to properly identify the species of this stranger. Yeah, he was a vampire dragon. She hadn't ever heard of such a species. She noticed the eye on the blindfold glowing. What a strange little object. Then again, she had seen a lot of weird s**t in her entire lifetime... or deathtime. She was technically still dead.
She patted the red-haired man on the shoulder. "I'm sure you didn't mean to murder her," she tried to comfort, having a feeling that it wouldn't help anything. But she had to try. "We need all the help we can get. Let's focus on saving the world. The past is in the past... or the future, actually." She chuckled, attempting to joke. She felt stuck. She didn't know what to do. She thought she was good at comforting people. She had had to do it multiple times for Callum, whenever he had gained new bruises from Connor, or anyone else, really. He wasn't well liked.
"Come on," she told him. "You want to save Callidora? Let's all work to make that happen." She gave him a smile before slowly turning him back in the direction of the tavern. "Do you want a drink? It'd be on me, so don't worry about paying," she kindly offered to him. She hoped she still had her coins with her. She had worked hard to earn those coins. In a world where non-humans might as well be living underground, it was tough to earn any income when the species opposing said non-humans were in control of virtually everything.
Raven looked at Felicity and barked happily as she waved to her. She wagged her tail, looking as cute as ever. She bounded right up to the werewolf and jumped up numerous times, as if asking to be held, dancing around her and yapping.
The younger Thalia continued to smile and kick her feet as Lucine and the boy near her talked. She brightened up when Lucine complimented her name. "Thanks! Your name is pretty too!" she returned, chuckling. She hid her worry for her brothers the best she could. Actually, she was only worried about one of her brothers. The other one... not so much. She was surprised no one had noticed her in the tavern yet and kicked her out. She was glad for that, though it might not last long.
Call smiled weakly at the girl who shared his sister's name - no - the girl who was his sister. He was confused, mainly because he never recalled ever living in Colsar. Perhaps he was too young to remember, however, he would've remembered some things. He was sure of it. Maybe he wasn't alive in this time period. Maybe, just maybe, his mother was still alive. That would be quite the trip, to see the mother he never got to see. His next thought met backlash from the rest of his mind, but it came regardless.
Maybe he could save his mother from death.
But that would mean he wouldn't exist.
And Lucine would never have met him.
He sighed quietly, looking at Lucine. He knew what she was trying to tell him, but it was hard to do what she asked of him. His entire family, at least, the ones who were alive and close to him, was living in Colsar, just after the Disaster, or so he thought. Fires were ravaging the land, the skies were red... he never remembered any of that. He thought about asking his sister - the one who came back in time with him - about what she remembered later. He reserved that thought and listened to Lucine as she whispered in his ear.
She was going to look after the kids, while he would talk more with Athus, being extra careful not to let anything chronically important slip. He supposed it would work, though, Lucine leaving the group might not be the best idea in the world. But still... she was wanting to protect the kids. She wanted to protect him; the younger him. He appreciated that. He was naturally worried about her, but he trusted her to protect herself. She was strong, and she could take care of herself, he knew that to be true. It had to be true.
He smiled and blushed a little as Lucine pecked his cheek. "I love you too," he whispered, kissing her cheek in return. "Please stay safe." He soon turned his attention back to Athus, letting go of Lucine's hand to allow her to go with Thalia, but not before giving it one more comforting squeeze. He soon saw two figures come into the tavern. The Whisper was there, and it was with June, just as it said it was. He found himself smiling as June and Tem reunited, feeling warmth in his chest. He liked seeing them together again, in better circumstances. He looked at the Whisper, wondering what conversation they might have had.
It better not have told her what it told me, was all he could think.
He soon looked back at Athus, noticing his discomfort near June. She was a Hunter, but something changed. He could feel it in his gut. He didn't know what it was, but something changed. He watched as Athus stood, stating that he wanted to leave. The dwarves didn't seem keen to let him do that. Call didn't know what to say at first. He had seen Athus' reaction to his Mark. He thought the Clans branded him. That was the opposite of the truth.
Athus... you branded me.
He couldn't say that. He didn't want to say that. Instead, he tapped Athus' shoulder, hoping to get his attention. "Hey," he said softly. The poor man looked like he'd rather be anywhere but here. "Are you alright? Do you wanna go outside or something? I can take you outside, if you want. I kind of want to talk to you about something. I won't put pressure on you or anything." He didn't think he would ever do this, but he did so nonetheless.
He gave the future Council member Athus a warm, friendly smile.
The younger Thalia cooed softly as Lucine and Call gave each other kisses, saying they loved each other. She loved seeing affection like that. It reminded her of what she thought her future might be like. She might find the love of her life. She had no idea what awaited her.
She didn't know that she would die twelve years later.
She certainly didn't know she would come back as a new species.
She nodded when Lucine asked her to show her where she lived. "Yeah, sure! We should probably go fast, though, before something happens," she answered, hopping off of her seat and landing on her feet. She brushed off her tunic before walking up to Lucine's seat and holding out her hand for the half-vampire to take.
She led Lucine out of the tavern, holding her hand in her smaller one. She failed to notice any of the other time-travelers who were there, including her older self, who didn't seem to notice her passing by either. She led her down the streets, humming one of the songs being sung by the dwarves. She looked up at Lucine as they walked while also focusing on heading in the right direction.
"How old are you?" she asked. "I'm nine years old. My first brother is eight, and my youngest brother is three. He can talk pretty well for a three year old. I like to think it's 'cause of me. I had to teach him. Pa didn't really care. He don't... he don't like him very much. Says he killed mum."
The Whisper was enjoying this.
It was trying to find the reason why. It discovered multiple reasons. For one thing, June was humorous. But there was something else too. In a way, they understood each other. They didn't care for that world in the future. There was no point in trying to save the entire world. They just wanted to care for a couple people; in June's case, only one. Tem. With the Whisper, it had been Call and Lucine. The boy always talked about wanting to be with Lucine, fighting for Lucine, staying alive for the girl. It supposed it wouldn't hurt to bring them together for the end. They didn't deserve to die alone.
It didn't even wonder why it had cared at the time.
The Whisper listened to everything June said, nodding a little. "Wonder what'll happen when we change the past," it remarked, whistling. It didn't say anything directly after its statement, though, and it went back to being silent, for the most part, anyway. It didn't mean what would happen to the Council. It already knew how that was going to go. No, it was talking about the group, Call and Lucine specifically. It recalled that they met because of the quest. Would they have met if the quest weren't given to them? Perhaps. They had visited Lough on the same day, and Call was planning to get there sooner or later, anyway. There was a chance they would've met regardless.
All of those memories, those hardships...
They were all in the past, surely.
No wait- they were all in the future, technically.
Ha ha.
The Whisper didn't see what it was doing to June by bringing up the roar, continuing to look forward, lowering itself to the ground to walk on its feet instead of hovering. It summoned its cane again, twirling it. The cane just gave it more flair, in its opinion. It listened to her, realizing that the roar was hers. It didn't know how to feel about that. It didn't have a right to be angry. She had lost someone, it was natural to feel anguish and despair, not to mention, anger towards the one, or ones, who had taken them away. The Whisper wanted the humans to burn and rot; June had actually made sure of that. Or at least, it thought she did. The Exorcist was her, after all, and she was the Exorcist. Or was she? Did the Exorcist exist in her anymore?
It thought about asking, but it decided not to.
It wasn't important now.
Was it?
The Whisper only nodded when June said it would be best of little to no knowledge on the Exorcist was known. It wished it didn't know that much about her. Then it wouldn't have felt obligated to tell Call who she really was. When June went on to talk about Callum, agreeing with the Whisper when it came to not understand how he could possibly feel that way, it nodded. "I would've expected some anger," it commented. "I mean, holding a grudge isn't exactly a good thing, but at the same time, you can't just instantly forgive people all the time. They might use you if that's the case. You never know."
It then paused, a dry chuckle of its own escaping. You wanna tell him, or should I? it wanted to ask, but it kept that in. Why? It was amusing. It was enjoying this. As June commented on its bond with Call, it laughed. It wasn't a sarcastic laugh or anything like that. It was a genuine laugh. Just thinking about... how that would go just amused it. "Basically, yeah," it replied, soon realizing what the world platonic meant, shrugging and looking at June. "I mean, I don't know if platonic is the right word, I mean, we don't cuddle or hold hands or anything like that," it added quickly, hearing another chuckle escape it.
It heard the singing getting louder as they went, listening to the lyrics. It decided it f**king loved these songs. Those lyrics; they may not be suitable for children, but for it, oh man, was it refreshing. It hadn't really heard a song before, so to have these songs be the first ones it had ever heard was something to behold, to say the least. It didn't need any slave songs or songs about hopelessness. These ones were definitely an upgrade. Well, technically, they came before the hopeless songs, so...
Geez, time travel was so confusing...
It listened as it was told that the Faction no longer existed. So that was something that changed... that was the first step. It told itself that this would be for the better. It didn't know much about the Faction, other than it was made up of non-humans and Call was scared out of his wits of them, or at least, he used to be, but it took that news as good. It looked over at her as she mentioned the purpose of the Night Spirit sending them all back in time. It shook its head and closed its eye, remaining silent.
It thought about the last thing June said before they had gotten closer to the tavern the group was in. I didn't get the chance to see those Council crawling at my feet when the Empire crumbled... shouldn't have ended the world so soon back then. It's not fun to do it when they don't have any knowledge about everything they have done anymore.
She had a point.
It continued walking with June, feeling amused that there were no guards there to stop them from entering, yet relieved at the same time. It ignored any stares it may have received from those they were passing by. Of course, questions would be raised by its appearance alone, but it just strode along, twirling its cane around, looking like it was just going about its day, nothing more, nothing less.
When they finally reached the tavern, it waved at Tem, returning June's look before she bounded over to the vampire, reuniting with her. It had completed the first task it gave itself. It felt rather proud. It just hoped that flying creature from earlier had listened to it and gotten herself inside the city. Perhaps it would encounter her later.
It looked around the place, seeing a child talking to Lucine. It looked confused; weren't children typically NOT supposed to be in taverns? Wasn't that typically not allowed? How did no one notice this kid? Even still, it watched as the child and Lucine left the smoky tavern. The smoke didn't bother it that much. It turned its gaze to Call, who was sitting at the bar, talking to another man. It considered interrupting them. It needed to talk to the boy. However, it decided to hang back. It looked between each face it saw in the tavern. Perhaps nobody would notice it. That would be a good thing, believe it or not. But nothing about a guy whose face was partially covered by a melting substance was unnoticeable, surely.
Thalia had nodded to Felicity as she once again apologized and said she would help the group. She was glad the werewolf had seemingly pulled herself together, however, she couldn't help but get the feeling that this wouldn't end so well. Hopefully she and the other stranger would put it all behind them to help the Callidora in this time period. Perhaps then she would live in the future. A lot of things would be changed in the future. She probably wouldn't get to meet these people in the first place. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have to die at the hands of another, selfish human.
She looked at the vampiric stranger, feeling pity. She wanted to help him. Sure, he had killed Callidora in the future. Heck, Lucine probably didn't even know about that... she would have to figure it out sometime. But that didn't mean this vampire was a goner. Wait a minute, wasn't he a vampiric dragon? Her heartbeat sensing skill kicked in, allowing her to properly identify the species of this stranger. Yeah, he was a vampire dragon. She hadn't ever heard of such a species. She noticed the eye on the blindfold glowing. What a strange little object. Then again, she had seen a lot of weird s**t in her entire lifetime... or deathtime. She was technically still dead.
She patted the red-haired man on the shoulder. "I'm sure you didn't mean to murder her," she tried to comfort, having a feeling that it wouldn't help anything. But she had to try. "We need all the help we can get. Let's focus on saving the world. The past is in the past... or the future, actually." She chuckled, attempting to joke. She felt stuck. She didn't know what to do. She thought she was good at comforting people. She had had to do it multiple times for Callum, whenever he had gained new bruises from Connor, or anyone else, really. He wasn't well liked.
"Come on," she told him. "You want to save Callidora? Let's all work to make that happen." She gave him a smile before slowly turning him back in the direction of the tavern. "Do you want a drink? It'd be on me, so don't worry about paying," she kindly offered to him. She hoped she still had her coins with her. She had worked hard to earn those coins. In a world where non-humans might as well be living underground, it was tough to earn any income when the species opposing said non-humans were in control of virtually everything.
Raven looked at Felicity and barked happily as she waved to her. She wagged her tail, looking as cute as ever. She bounded right up to the werewolf and jumped up numerous times, as if asking to be held, dancing around her and yapping.
One of the more drunk regulars in the tavern slapped the Whisper on the back. "That's a nice scar you've got there. Which war were you in?"
"Forest fire, mayhaps? le's take a wager."
"Magic accident." One of them put in.
"Ever'one pu' in a coin, le's see who's right."
"Hit by a siege weapon."
"Born tha' way."
"Cursed?"
"C'mon, tell us! Got money on yeh now."
The attention of the tavern had swung from the bar to the stranger with the half-melted face, and Athus visibly relaxed. "If you want to ask about Trist, I don't know the names of the bodies we found. I just know the amount of survivors, I'm sorry if there's someone..."
He trailed off, looking away. "But we can talk, if you need to. I just don't have anything you'd find useful." He pushed away the glass. "Thol was right, you don't want to spend the night in the Wall. Gather your group and we'll head back, the sooner the better." While the attention is off me, he thought quietly.
He headed out of the tavern, waiting a while for Call to gather the group before heading towards the upper city. It was dark by now, and colder than it had been in the day. Athus walked quickly with his head down, trying not to draw too much attention to himself. "What is it you wanted to talk about...? No, wait, we can do that at home." He came to a stop at a small, narrow house, squeezed in between two others. It was shabby, and a half-hearted effort had been made to cover that up. He knocked quietly.
The door opened almost instantly and Hythen pulled him into a hug that could have snapped him in two. "Athus! I was about to come looking for you! Who are they?"
"They-"
"Come in!" Hythen interrupted him. "You look like you could use a meal." He was a little younger than Athus, with kind eyes, the kind of person you would feel comfortable opening up to. Athus hurried in past him, relieved to be hiding behind his more confident other. "They...?"
"Thol said they appeared in an alley somewhere."
"That's an odd entrance, most people use the front gate."
Athus couldn't help but smile at that, looking away to hide his amusement. He never smiled in the future. It changed his features completely, as though he was reflecting a little of Hythen's warmth.
Hythen was a little taller than him, and his skin was tan, unlike it had been as a wraith. His hair was dark and longer than Athus', and he tamed it much more easily than his husband. He had a ring on his finger, something noticeably absent in the future.
The kitchen was barely big enough to squeeze them all in. There were two rooms downstairs - the kitchen and the living room, and then the study and a bedroom upstairs, all squeezed in as though trying to make the most of space you could barely live in. It was obvious they weren't well-off.
Athus beckoned Call up to the tiny study so they were alone. "What did you want to talk about?"
One of the more drunk regulars in the tavern slapped the Whisper on the back. "That's a nice scar you've got there. Which war were you in?"
"Forest fire, mayhaps? le's take a wager."
"Magic accident." One of them put in.
"Ever'one pu' in a coin, le's see who's right."
"Hit by a siege weapon."
"Born tha' way."
"Cursed?"
"C'mon, tell us! Got money on yeh now."
The attention of the tavern had swung from the bar to the stranger with the half-melted face, and Athus visibly relaxed. "If you want to ask about Trist, I don't know the names of the bodies we found. I just know the amount of survivors, I'm sorry if there's someone..."
He trailed off, looking away. "But we can talk, if you need to. I just don't have anything you'd find useful." He pushed away the glass. "Thol was right, you don't want to spend the night in the Wall. Gather your group and we'll head back, the sooner the better." While the attention is off me, he thought quietly.
He headed out of the tavern, waiting a while for Call to gather the group before heading towards the upper city. It was dark by now, and colder than it had been in the day. Athus walked quickly with his head down, trying not to draw too much attention to himself. "What is it you wanted to talk about...? No, wait, we can do that at home." He came to a stop at a small, narrow house, squeezed in between two others. It was shabby, and a half-hearted effort had been made to cover that up. He knocked quietly.
The door opened almost instantly and Hythen pulled him into a hug that could have snapped him in two. "Athus! I was about to come looking for you! Who are they?"
"They-"
"Come in!" Hythen interrupted him. "You look like you could use a meal." He was a little younger than Athus, with kind eyes, the kind of person you would feel comfortable opening up to. Athus hurried in past him, relieved to be hiding behind his more confident other. "They...?"
"Thol said they appeared in an alley somewhere."
"That's an odd entrance, most people use the front gate."
Athus couldn't help but smile at that, looking away to hide his amusement. He never smiled in the future. It changed his features completely, as though he was reflecting a little of Hythen's warmth.
Hythen was a little taller than him, and his skin was tan, unlike it had been as a wraith. His hair was dark and longer than Athus', and he tamed it much more easily than his husband. He had a ring on his finger, something noticeably absent in the future.
The kitchen was barely big enough to squeeze them all in. There were two rooms downstairs - the kitchen and the living room, and then the study and a bedroom upstairs, all squeezed in as though trying to make the most of space you could barely live in. It was obvious they weren't well-off.
Athus beckoned Call up to the tiny study so they were alone. "What did you want to talk about?"
After trying and failing repeatedly to hand out fliers, Sam gave up, trashed the fliers and returned to the tavern. They ducked inside and moved to a relatively empty and quiet area. They sat down and closed their eyes, they weren't really tired thanks to their blood-loss induced nap, but a break from seeing things was welcome indeed. They could almost pretend that they weren't about to try to change the fate of the entire world.
After trying and failing repeatedly to hand out fliers, Sam gave up, trashed the fliers and returned to the tavern. They ducked inside and moved to a relatively empty and quiet area. They sat down and closed their eyes, they weren't really tired thanks to their blood-loss induced nap, but a break from seeing things was welcome indeed. They could almost pretend that they weren't about to try to change the fate of the entire world.
Lucine squeezed Callum’s hand, as though assuring him that she would stay safe, and released it, letting her arm fall to her side. She took Thalia’s hand with her other one, smiling at the girl and allowing her to lead her from the tavern. In her own speaking to Callum and Thalia, she failed to hear the other vampire’s apologies for the future murder of her sister.
Letting the girl lead her out into the streets, she noticed out of the corner of the eye the scene unfolding infront of the tavern, but chalked it up only to drunken shenanigans. Her main focus at the moment was making sure nothing bad happened between the younger Callum and his older brother. She listened to the young girl hum the songs of the dwarves, trying to keep a smile on her face, and appear unconcerned.
Lucine listened to the girl’s question, and then listened to her own answer, feeling sadness rise as she heard of how Callum was blamed for his mother’s death by his father. Lucine hadn’t been blamed by her father for what had happened, and she assumed she must be lucky. She thought back to her Callum, in the tavern talking to Athus. She hoped he would be okay- even though she knew he would. She hadn’t set a meeting place with him, which worried her, but she hoped he’d still be at the tavern when she returned.
“I’m 16,” Lucine answered the girl, smiling “Maybe about to turn 17, depending upon what day it is today. Your brother sounds smart, if he can talk well as a three year old.” She didn’t comment on the last part of the statement. Lucine didn’t feel it necessary to.
She stayed quiet, following the girl along, wanting to ask her things but not really knowing what to talk about. She remembered what she had been interested in at age nine- magical healing- but she doubted the girl was interested in using magic to snap someone’s bones back together. Lucine remembered herself in the woods surrounding her house, sitting over a bird with a broken wing that Callidora had knocked out of a tree with a stone, trying to use magic she didn’t have to heal the creature and crying when it didn’t work.
“Do you like birds?” She asked the girl, the topic of birds now having nestled itself in her mind. It was something to talk to the young girl about, at least.
Felicty chuckled a little as she lifted the small pup up into her arms, scratching behind her ears with one hand. She was enjoying this immensely, watching the little pup play around. It was distracting her from more somber thoughts that were eating away at the back of her mind, like a puppy chewing on a bone.
“Yer a cutie, girl,” She told the puppy, bouncing it slightly in her arms, laying her head back so she was lying down again in the middle of the street, waiting for some form of sleep to wash over her.
Lucine squeezed Callum’s hand, as though assuring him that she would stay safe, and released it, letting her arm fall to her side. She took Thalia’s hand with her other one, smiling at the girl and allowing her to lead her from the tavern. In her own speaking to Callum and Thalia, she failed to hear the other vampire’s apologies for the future murder of her sister.
Letting the girl lead her out into the streets, she noticed out of the corner of the eye the scene unfolding infront of the tavern, but chalked it up only to drunken shenanigans. Her main focus at the moment was making sure nothing bad happened between the younger Callum and his older brother. She listened to the young girl hum the songs of the dwarves, trying to keep a smile on her face, and appear unconcerned.
Lucine listened to the girl’s question, and then listened to her own answer, feeling sadness rise as she heard of how Callum was blamed for his mother’s death by his father. Lucine hadn’t been blamed by her father for what had happened, and she assumed she must be lucky. She thought back to her Callum, in the tavern talking to Athus. She hoped he would be okay- even though she knew he would. She hadn’t set a meeting place with him, which worried her, but she hoped he’d still be at the tavern when she returned.
“I’m 16,” Lucine answered the girl, smiling “Maybe about to turn 17, depending upon what day it is today. Your brother sounds smart, if he can talk well as a three year old.” She didn’t comment on the last part of the statement. Lucine didn’t feel it necessary to.
She stayed quiet, following the girl along, wanting to ask her things but not really knowing what to talk about. She remembered what she had been interested in at age nine- magical healing- but she doubted the girl was interested in using magic to snap someone’s bones back together. Lucine remembered herself in the woods surrounding her house, sitting over a bird with a broken wing that Callidora had knocked out of a tree with a stone, trying to use magic she didn’t have to heal the creature and crying when it didn’t work.
“Do you like birds?” She asked the girl, the topic of birds now having nestled itself in her mind. It was something to talk to the young girl about, at least.
Felicty chuckled a little as she lifted the small pup up into her arms, scratching behind her ears with one hand. She was enjoying this immensely, watching the little pup play around. It was distracting her from more somber thoughts that were eating away at the back of her mind, like a puppy chewing on a bone.
“Yer a cutie, girl,” She told the puppy, bouncing it slightly in her arms, laying her head back so she was lying down again in the middle of the street, waiting for some form of sleep to wash over her.
He flinched at the pat. Body contact wasn't something that happens often. Raphael supposed those words are meant to be comforting, but both he and the girl knows the pain is too deep. "Don't worry, i should stop anyways." That was true. He had too many glasses of beer. "Would you mind at least showing me who this mysterious planner is?"
He glanced at Felicity with the puppy, she looks so happy. .. . Perhaps she's not always the b***** she seems to be. Maybe she even once had a family and friends. No, she did have a friend, almost a family, who he took away from her. The thought pained him and he pushed it away.
He flinched at the pat. Body contact wasn't something that happens often. Raphael supposed those words are meant to be comforting, but both he and the girl knows the pain is too deep. "Don't worry, i should stop anyways." That was true. He had too many glasses of beer. "Would you mind at least showing me who this mysterious planner is?"
He glanced at Felicity with the puppy, she looks so happy. .. . Perhaps she's not always the b***** she seems to be. Maybe she even once had a family and friends. No, she did have a friend, almost a family, who he took away from her. The thought pained him and he pushed it away.
Young Thalia continued to lead Lucine through the streets, listening to her answer. "That's funny, I can't even remember what today is!" she replied, laughing. "Sixteen! That's really cool. Pa once said sixteen's the age of love. That was 'fore mum died. He married mum when he was sixteen, that's why he said it. I reckon you got a love too, that dark haired guy in the tavern. Kinda looks like my little brother, 'cept for the orange eye. The youngest one, not Connor. Pale as a ghost, hair as black as night."
She smiled. "He is smart," she mused, feeling the urge to skip. "Pa and Connor don't see it that way, though. Wish they did." She remained silent for almost the rest of their walk, until Lucine asked her if she liked birds. She grinned. "Yeah, birds are pretty," she answered, whistling like a bird would. "They hum pretty songs. But I don't hear 'em anymore. I used to, when I lived elsewhere. In a village, I reckon. We came here after the Disaster, to the Safe City. Thought we'd be okay here." She paused. "But I love snakes more," she added. It seemed strange, for a little girl like her to admire snakes. Then again, her family was strange, especially the youngest.
"Don't know why. They got that sneaky vibe 'bout 'em. They strike fast, too. I'm fast, so I'm like a snake. I like mambas the most. I saw a mamba once. It didn't bite me, it could've though. But it didn't. I think it liked me," she explained, smiling fondly.
They were soon approaching her quarters, which happened to be located near Athus' house, or rather, across from the side of it. It wasn't one of the houses next to Athus', but it was close by. She didn't go down the way Athus' house was that often. "We're here!" she proclaimed, scanning the house up and down before glancing up at the taller Lucine. The house was narrow, similar to Athus'. The younger Thalia tried her best to make it look nice, but Connor kept knocking things down to mess with her, so she just gave up one day and left it as it was.
Thalia led Lucine up to the door and reached to see if it was locked. To her surprise, it was unlocked, allowing her to push open the door. "That's strange," she remarked with a bit of a worried tone. "Door's not supposed to be unlocked." She let go of Lucine's hand and took a few steps forward, entering the house. "Hello?" she asked out loud, only to be greeted by silence. "Huh..." she murmured. She looked up worriedly at Lucine. They had a living room and a kitchen downstairs, as well as two bedrooms upstairs. Their father had a bedroom all to himself, while he made all of the kids share one. It didn't help that there were only two beds in a room shared by three children.
"Connor?" she asked, louder this time. No response. Well, actually, there was a response. She could hear crying upstairs. It was loud enough to just barely be heard. Alarmed, she ran up the stairs, not caring if Lucine followed or not. She heard the crying coming from the children's room and swung the door open, gasping.
A small child was in there, looking about three years of age. He was clutching his stomach with one hand, while rubbing his jaw with the other, his eyes firmly closed. He was leaning against the frame of one of the beds, his legs splayed out in front of him. He wore a grey renaissance shirt with a black cloth that resembled a scarf tied around his waist, which was loosened. He also wore slightly torn black pants and black leather shoes. He was pale, with fluffy black hair that appeared to be slightly wavy in the front. It looked slightly messier than usual. He had bruises all over his body, most of them hidden away by his clothing, though, a few were visible.
"Callum!" Thalia ran to the boy, kneeling by his side, panicking. The young Callum opened his eyes and looked over at her; his eyes were stormy grey, just as she said. There were many differences to notice. Both of his eyes were grey, his wrist wasn't branded, nor did he have a scar there, he didn't have a single tattoo on him whatsoever, he wasn't wearing a necklace of any kind, and most importantly, he didn't have a scar curling around his neck. He hadn't been nearly murdered until he was older, so it was to be expected. He did have a fresh bruise splotched on his jaw, a slight bloody dribble trailing down the corner of his mouth.
"Sis...?" he whispered weakly, trembling. Despite the pain, he hugged her tightly, crying into her shoulder. She held onto him, rubbing his back gently. "Shh... it'll be okay, Callum," she murmured comfortingly. She didn't even notice if Lucine had come into the room or not. Her focus was on her brother. Connor was nowhere to be seen.
"Ow... hurts... it... ow..."
"You're gonna be okay... you'll be alright, little bro..."
The Whisper nearly had the wind knocked out of it from the surprise slap on the back. It swung its gaze towards the one who had done so, assuming they were drunk as f**k. So it was being noticed, after all. Soon enough, pretty much everyone in the tavern had their attention directed at it, which made it feel strange. It hadn't received that much attention before. It remembered when it was insignificant in Call's mind, drowned out by the other voices, which held more dominion over the boy's thoughts than it. It mentally scowled. Those voices were dead now, and it was glad they were.
It looked between everyone, listening to their speculations as to how its face ended up the way it was. It repeated each one in its newly formed mind. War, forest fire, magic accident, siege weapon, retained since birth, and cursed with it... come on, you guys are killing me, it thought, chuckling. It had taken a form that it liked, and then all of a sudden, its face just melted. It didn't want a melted face. It had wanted both eyes, but for some reason, it wasn't allowed that pleasure. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn't get rid of the melted part of its face. It hadn't told Call that, of course.
"Heh... I'm flattered, guys," it told them all, chuckling, tapping the floor with its cane a couple times, leaning on it. "Alright, alright, I'll tell ya. I was born this way. Technically, I was created, not born, but I think that still counts." It flashed a grin at everyone, eyeing Call, who was now getting up and starting to talk to the other time travelers. What it was the boy was talking about, the Whisper didn't quite know. All it knew was that it was curious as to what drinking was like. It soon heard a familiar voice in its head as Call looked directly at it.
Hey Whisper. You enjoying all that attention over there?
The boy was smirking, clearly amused by what he was seeing. The Whisper glanced at him for a second, grinning at him, before looking at the rest of the drunken tavern.
You could say that. What'dya want? Have you come to drag me away?
Well, kind of. You see... Athus is going to take us all to his place...
That's great and all, but what do you need me for?
Well... I need you to go get June and Tem...
Awkward pause.
Why can't you do it yourself?
Well... er...
You don't want to face the embarrassment yourself, do you?
U-Um-! No! That's not it!
The Whisper chuckled quietly.
Yes it is.
...Okay, fine, it is...
So you want me to be the one to interrupt them?
I'm pretty sure June might be mad at me already... if you told her about what you told me.
That I did. Look, she deserved to know-
It's fine.
...You should be mad at me.
But I'm not. There are more important things to be focused on.
That's what I wanted to talk to you about... whatever. I'll talk you about that later. But right now... I mean... ugh, fine. I'll do it. You'll feel it if I'm socked in the face.
Will do.
Why aren't you worried at all?
I've felt worse pain.
...
Much, much worse pain.
They left it at that, ending the conversation. The Whisper grinned at everyone again. "I'd love to stay and hang out with you guys, but I gotta go take care of some important business," it told them, tipping its hat out before letting it hover above its head again. "I'll probably be back later, if my circle'll let me. I could use a pint." With that, it walked off, twirling its cane, making its way towards the room where June and Tem were. It tentatively knocked on the door, wincing a little on the inside. Hopefully June wouldn't attack it, considering what it did for her earlier. It hoped the same for Tem. She was more likely to pounce than June, it reckoned.
"Hey, it's me," it called, waiting on the other side of the door. "The Whisper. June, you know me, but anyways, we've gotta get going now, we're going to be staying somewhere else for the night. Someone's offered to give us all a place to stay, and it might be more comfortable than your current accommodation. Please do not hit me, I do not wish to invade your... privacy or anything. Come outside the tavern when you're ready, we'll meet you guys out there."
By the Last Shadow, this is so uncool.
With that thought, it turned and walked away from the door, going outside of the tavern, waiting for them to come out. It gave Call a small glare as it saw him. He would definitely feel it if the Whisper was attacked. It almost wanted to be attacked, just to make him wish he had done it himself. However, then he would've been attacked, and it would've felt the pain anyway. It frowned, unsure of how their bond even worked, or what else the bond meant for them.
Call went around, looking for the members of his group, telling them to follow him and Athus to Athus' house, where they would be allowed to stay for the night, perhaps even longer. He went to the masked stranger first, whom he thought he had noticed earlier, seeing that they were in an otherwise empty and quiet area. He wasn't used to the silence, which made a shiver travel down his spine.
"Hello," he greeted, offering a friendly smile. "Someone offered us, the time travelers, a place to stay for the night, so we have to go now." He kept his voice relatively quiet, knowing that someone could hear him and question what he just said. He nearly chuckled when he said "time travelers", trying to be a little more upbeat than usual. With that, he turned around and double-checked the tavern to make sure no one else in their group was in there. Wait a minute... June and Tem were in there still. But... he didn't want to... he didn't... er...
He immediately looked at the Whisper, who was drawing the attention of most of the tavern. It seemed to be enjoying it, grinning at everyone. A part of him really didn't want to pull it away from its fun, but at the same time...
After a lengthy mental conversation with the Whisper, Call hid a blush creeping up his cheeks, quickly exiting the tavern. Well, that was embarrassing. There, he found Felicity outside, along with Raven, who was in her arms, both of them looking very happy. He smiled. "Hey guys," he said, approaching the two. Raven looked at Call and barked joyfully, wagging her tail, enjoying the ear scratch she was receiving. Call chuckled quietly. It had been awhile since he had felt this happy. So much s**t had happened within the past two weeks, leaving little to no time for him to feel this way...
No, he had felt like this along the way.
All thanks to Lucine.
He thought about her again, feeling a little worried. He quickly reminded himself of his confidence in her, nodding subconsciously. She would stay safe. He was sure of it. "We're going to be staying elsewhere for the night. Athus - he's the one who's going to be accommodating us - told me to fetch the rest of our group. Just thought I'd let you know." He could tell something was bothering Felicity, but he was oblivious to it. He gave her a grin before moving on to Thalia and the stranger talking to Tem before they had gotten to the tavern. He saw that she was trying to comfort him; he frowned a little in concern, yet it quickly disappeared. He didn't need to upset anyone any further.
"Hey," he greeted, approaching them. Thalia smiled at her little brother. "Heya, bonehead," she replied amusingly. "What's up?"
He repeated what he had said to Felicity, Raven and Sam, saying that they were going to stay somewhere for the night, and for them to follow Athus. Thalia hid her dismay, for when she heard the name Athus, she fought the urge to clench her fists. She remembered when he came in the physician's room to take Callum away. She shoved the memory away.
"Alright then," she agreed, giving him a thumbs-up. "Sounds better than sleeping on the streets. Is everyone else on board?" Call nodded. "That's good to hear," she said, ruffling Call's hair a little. He chuckled, closing his eyes for a second before opening them again. He didn't like having only one eye to see out of, but he would have to get used to it. He was contemplating getting something to cover it up, like an eye-patch. He chuckled to himself. He would probably look ridiculous.
He gave a small wave to the stranger next to Thalia before following Athus to his house, seeing the Whisper coming out of the tavern as well, giving him a small glare. He smirked at the Whisper in return before focusing on following Athus. He nearly stumbled and fell at one point, due to his faulty vision, but he managed to correct himself before he could end up face-planting on the ground.
Thalia reminded herself not to make too much contact with the vampire dragon as he flinched from her touch. She nodded when he declined to get a drink. "Ah, that's okay," she replied, smiling. She looked at him as he asked her who the mysterious planner was. "Their name is Sam," she told him. "They have a plan to make sure the Council never comes to power. I'm sure you two can talk to each other when we get to our destination. I think they're mute, so I hope you understand sign language pretty well."'
But I think taking care of the Clans would help fix our problems.
She kept that thought to herself as she followed Call and Athus, looking at the man with uncertainty. He certainly seemed different, that much was true. He had his head down the entire time, remaining quiet, trying not to draw too much attention. She was confused by this whole time travel thing, but she supposed it would be confusing no matter what. In a way, she was excited to be doing this. It seemed fun to go back and relive your old life, but in a different way, and when you were still the same age. It sounded like quite the ride.
Call stopped when Athus came up to the door, watching the latter and Hythen interact with each other. He studied Hythen, realizing with slight shock that he was still alive. He could easily tell by his tan skin. Undead were typically pale. Huh... don't look so much like Hythen anymore, do I? he mentally joked, remembering his first impression of Hythen. That had been when he nearly bled out in a jail cell. Those were the good times... and by good times, he meant times he wished he could forget.
He nodded politely to Hythen as he entered the house, motioning for the others to come in as well. He felt odd, being a leader-type person, the one who was supposed to keep them all together. He supposed having to gather them all in the first place made him feel that way. Well, the Whisper had helped too, so did that make it a leader as well?
He was caught off guard as Athus smiled, feeling strangely heartbroken. He had never smiled like that when he saw him in the future. Seeing it made him feel terrible for him. No. He was going to keep Hythen alive. He would keep Eirach from killing him. He would keep the Last Shadow from cursing Athus.
He swore on that.
Even though he didn't know how long it would take-
He wanted Athus to remain happy.
He smiled gratefully at Hythen, taking a liking to him once again, noticing the ring on his finger. Wait... were him and Athus... engaged? Well, that just made him feel even happier, yet worse at the same time. The ring wasn't there before. He held back a sigh, glancing at Athus as he was beckoned to the study upstairs. "Thank you very much, kind sir," he said, bowing his head respectively before following Athus. Before he did, he sent the Whisper a message.
Whisper, can you go find Lucine?
I have a feeling I'm going to be the residential "find people" guy in this group.
Whisper-
Alright, I'll go find your girlfriend. She shouldn't have gone too far. Wait, wasn't she with a kid? Won't I, like, scare her or something?
Nah, I don't think so. Just please find her. You don't have to tell her to come back, not yet. Just tell her where we are.
Will do.
Call sighed in relief, entering the study with Athus. They were alone together. This reminded him of when he had gone in Athus' other study, back in the Halls. They were alone there as well, and there were books all over the place. He recalled his first question being about the books. That had been awkward. Afterwards, the Whisper made him stab himself, and it all went downhill.
He shivered a little, trying his best to hide it. He looked at Athus, trying to figure out how he was going to word this. What did he want to talk about? Maybe it would do some good to find out more about the world they were in. Yeah. That would work.
"So, here's the thing..." Call began, clearing his throat. "We... we did end up in that alley. I have no idea how we even got there to begin with, and, to be honest with you, I'm unfamiliar with this area. Do you... do you mind telling me what's going on out there, outside of the Safe City? What's been happening?...I hope I'm not making you too uncomfortable," he added, adjusting his scarf slightly. It had slipped just a little, making the scar on his neck visible for just a couple seconds before he covered it up again.
The Whisper huffed as it was told to look for Lucine. That would surely be easier said than done, or perhaps, it would be as easy as being said or done. It could find her, no problem. It just had to do a bit of flying around. After this, it would probably go back to the tavern to have a drink. It knew it was kind of a bad idea, but it was curious. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it.
The Whisper looked between everyone before leaving the house to search for Lucine, not saying a word as it left. It had its task, and it was going to fulfill it. It didn't realize that Lucine was fairly close by to Athus' house, being inside one just across from the side of it. However, as it passed the house she was in, it heard crying. It could say its senses were a bit sharper than Call's, but nonetheless, it heard the crying. Hmm... he won't mind if I check this out, surely, it thought, approaching the door. It hesitated, trying to decide whether or not to go in. It just stood there, tapping its cane on the ground quietly, attempting to come to a decision.
Young Thalia continued to lead Lucine through the streets, listening to her answer. "That's funny, I can't even remember what today is!" she replied, laughing. "Sixteen! That's really cool. Pa once said sixteen's the age of love. That was 'fore mum died. He married mum when he was sixteen, that's why he said it. I reckon you got a love too, that dark haired guy in the tavern. Kinda looks like my little brother, 'cept for the orange eye. The youngest one, not Connor. Pale as a ghost, hair as black as night."
She smiled. "He is smart," she mused, feeling the urge to skip. "Pa and Connor don't see it that way, though. Wish they did." She remained silent for almost the rest of their walk, until Lucine asked her if she liked birds. She grinned. "Yeah, birds are pretty," she answered, whistling like a bird would. "They hum pretty songs. But I don't hear 'em anymore. I used to, when I lived elsewhere. In a village, I reckon. We came here after the Disaster, to the Safe City. Thought we'd be okay here." She paused. "But I love snakes more," she added. It seemed strange, for a little girl like her to admire snakes. Then again, her family was strange, especially the youngest.
"Don't know why. They got that sneaky vibe 'bout 'em. They strike fast, too. I'm fast, so I'm like a snake. I like mambas the most. I saw a mamba once. It didn't bite me, it could've though. But it didn't. I think it liked me," she explained, smiling fondly.
They were soon approaching her quarters, which happened to be located near Athus' house, or rather, across from the side of it. It wasn't one of the houses next to Athus', but it was close by. She didn't go down the way Athus' house was that often. "We're here!" she proclaimed, scanning the house up and down before glancing up at the taller Lucine. The house was narrow, similar to Athus'. The younger Thalia tried her best to make it look nice, but Connor kept knocking things down to mess with her, so she just gave up one day and left it as it was.
Thalia led Lucine up to the door and reached to see if it was locked. To her surprise, it was unlocked, allowing her to push open the door. "That's strange," she remarked with a bit of a worried tone. "Door's not supposed to be unlocked." She let go of Lucine's hand and took a few steps forward, entering the house. "Hello?" she asked out loud, only to be greeted by silence. "Huh..." she murmured. She looked up worriedly at Lucine. They had a living room and a kitchen downstairs, as well as two bedrooms upstairs. Their father had a bedroom all to himself, while he made all of the kids share one. It didn't help that there were only two beds in a room shared by three children.
"Connor?" she asked, louder this time. No response. Well, actually, there was a response. She could hear crying upstairs. It was loud enough to just barely be heard. Alarmed, she ran up the stairs, not caring if Lucine followed or not. She heard the crying coming from the children's room and swung the door open, gasping.
A small child was in there, looking about three years of age. He was clutching his stomach with one hand, while rubbing his jaw with the other, his eyes firmly closed. He was leaning against the frame of one of the beds, his legs splayed out in front of him. He wore a grey renaissance shirt with a black cloth that resembled a scarf tied around his waist, which was loosened. He also wore slightly torn black pants and black leather shoes. He was pale, with fluffy black hair that appeared to be slightly wavy in the front. It looked slightly messier than usual. He had bruises all over his body, most of them hidden away by his clothing, though, a few were visible.
"Callum!" Thalia ran to the boy, kneeling by his side, panicking. The young Callum opened his eyes and looked over at her; his eyes were stormy grey, just as she said. There were many differences to notice. Both of his eyes were grey, his wrist wasn't branded, nor did he have a scar there, he didn't have a single tattoo on him whatsoever, he wasn't wearing a necklace of any kind, and most importantly, he didn't have a scar curling around his neck. He hadn't been nearly murdered until he was older, so it was to be expected. He did have a fresh bruise splotched on his jaw, a slight bloody dribble trailing down the corner of his mouth.
"Sis...?" he whispered weakly, trembling. Despite the pain, he hugged her tightly, crying into her shoulder. She held onto him, rubbing his back gently. "Shh... it'll be okay, Callum," she murmured comfortingly. She didn't even notice if Lucine had come into the room or not. Her focus was on her brother. Connor was nowhere to be seen.
"Ow... hurts... it... ow..."
"You're gonna be okay... you'll be alright, little bro..."
The Whisper nearly had the wind knocked out of it from the surprise slap on the back. It swung its gaze towards the one who had done so, assuming they were drunk as f**k. So it was being noticed, after all. Soon enough, pretty much everyone in the tavern had their attention directed at it, which made it feel strange. It hadn't received that much attention before. It remembered when it was insignificant in Call's mind, drowned out by the other voices, which held more dominion over the boy's thoughts than it. It mentally scowled. Those voices were dead now, and it was glad they were.
It looked between everyone, listening to their speculations as to how its face ended up the way it was. It repeated each one in its newly formed mind. War, forest fire, magic accident, siege weapon, retained since birth, and cursed with it... come on, you guys are killing me, it thought, chuckling. It had taken a form that it liked, and then all of a sudden, its face just melted. It didn't want a melted face. It had wanted both eyes, but for some reason, it wasn't allowed that pleasure. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn't get rid of the melted part of its face. It hadn't told Call that, of course.
"Heh... I'm flattered, guys," it told them all, chuckling, tapping the floor with its cane a couple times, leaning on it. "Alright, alright, I'll tell ya. I was born this way. Technically, I was created, not born, but I think that still counts." It flashed a grin at everyone, eyeing Call, who was now getting up and starting to talk to the other time travelers. What it was the boy was talking about, the Whisper didn't quite know. All it knew was that it was curious as to what drinking was like. It soon heard a familiar voice in its head as Call looked directly at it.
Hey Whisper. You enjoying all that attention over there?
The boy was smirking, clearly amused by what he was seeing. The Whisper glanced at him for a second, grinning at him, before looking at the rest of the drunken tavern.
You could say that. What'dya want? Have you come to drag me away?
Well, kind of. You see... Athus is going to take us all to his place...
That's great and all, but what do you need me for?
Well... I need you to go get June and Tem...
Awkward pause.
Why can't you do it yourself?
Well... er...
You don't want to face the embarrassment yourself, do you?
U-Um-! No! That's not it!
The Whisper chuckled quietly.
Yes it is.
...Okay, fine, it is...
So you want me to be the one to interrupt them?
I'm pretty sure June might be mad at me already... if you told her about what you told me.
That I did. Look, she deserved to know-
It's fine.
...You should be mad at me.
But I'm not. There are more important things to be focused on.
That's what I wanted to talk to you about... whatever. I'll talk you about that later. But right now... I mean... ugh, fine. I'll do it. You'll feel it if I'm socked in the face.
Will do.
Why aren't you worried at all?
I've felt worse pain.
...
Much, much worse pain.
They left it at that, ending the conversation. The Whisper grinned at everyone again. "I'd love to stay and hang out with you guys, but I gotta go take care of some important business," it told them, tipping its hat out before letting it hover above its head again. "I'll probably be back later, if my circle'll let me. I could use a pint." With that, it walked off, twirling its cane, making its way towards the room where June and Tem were. It tentatively knocked on the door, wincing a little on the inside. Hopefully June wouldn't attack it, considering what it did for her earlier. It hoped the same for Tem. She was more likely to pounce than June, it reckoned.
"Hey, it's me," it called, waiting on the other side of the door. "The Whisper. June, you know me, but anyways, we've gotta get going now, we're going to be staying somewhere else for the night. Someone's offered to give us all a place to stay, and it might be more comfortable than your current accommodation. Please do not hit me, I do not wish to invade your... privacy or anything. Come outside the tavern when you're ready, we'll meet you guys out there."
By the Last Shadow, this is so uncool.
With that thought, it turned and walked away from the door, going outside of the tavern, waiting for them to come out. It gave Call a small glare as it saw him. He would definitely feel it if the Whisper was attacked. It almost wanted to be attacked, just to make him wish he had done it himself. However, then he would've been attacked, and it would've felt the pain anyway. It frowned, unsure of how their bond even worked, or what else the bond meant for them.
Call went around, looking for the members of his group, telling them to follow him and Athus to Athus' house, where they would be allowed to stay for the night, perhaps even longer. He went to the masked stranger first, whom he thought he had noticed earlier, seeing that they were in an otherwise empty and quiet area. He wasn't used to the silence, which made a shiver travel down his spine.
"Hello," he greeted, offering a friendly smile. "Someone offered us, the time travelers, a place to stay for the night, so we have to go now." He kept his voice relatively quiet, knowing that someone could hear him and question what he just said. He nearly chuckled when he said "time travelers", trying to be a little more upbeat than usual. With that, he turned around and double-checked the tavern to make sure no one else in their group was in there. Wait a minute... June and Tem were in there still. But... he didn't want to... he didn't... er...
He immediately looked at the Whisper, who was drawing the attention of most of the tavern. It seemed to be enjoying it, grinning at everyone. A part of him really didn't want to pull it away from its fun, but at the same time...
After a lengthy mental conversation with the Whisper, Call hid a blush creeping up his cheeks, quickly exiting the tavern. Well, that was embarrassing. There, he found Felicity outside, along with Raven, who was in her arms, both of them looking very happy. He smiled. "Hey guys," he said, approaching the two. Raven looked at Call and barked joyfully, wagging her tail, enjoying the ear scratch she was receiving. Call chuckled quietly. It had been awhile since he had felt this happy. So much s**t had happened within the past two weeks, leaving little to no time for him to feel this way...
No, he had felt like this along the way.
All thanks to Lucine.
He thought about her again, feeling a little worried. He quickly reminded himself of his confidence in her, nodding subconsciously. She would stay safe. He was sure of it. "We're going to be staying elsewhere for the night. Athus - he's the one who's going to be accommodating us - told me to fetch the rest of our group. Just thought I'd let you know." He could tell something was bothering Felicity, but he was oblivious to it. He gave her a grin before moving on to Thalia and the stranger talking to Tem before they had gotten to the tavern. He saw that she was trying to comfort him; he frowned a little in concern, yet it quickly disappeared. He didn't need to upset anyone any further.
"Hey," he greeted, approaching them. Thalia smiled at her little brother. "Heya, bonehead," she replied amusingly. "What's up?"
He repeated what he had said to Felicity, Raven and Sam, saying that they were going to stay somewhere for the night, and for them to follow Athus. Thalia hid her dismay, for when she heard the name Athus, she fought the urge to clench her fists. She remembered when he came in the physician's room to take Callum away. She shoved the memory away.
"Alright then," she agreed, giving him a thumbs-up. "Sounds better than sleeping on the streets. Is everyone else on board?" Call nodded. "That's good to hear," she said, ruffling Call's hair a little. He chuckled, closing his eyes for a second before opening them again. He didn't like having only one eye to see out of, but he would have to get used to it. He was contemplating getting something to cover it up, like an eye-patch. He chuckled to himself. He would probably look ridiculous.
He gave a small wave to the stranger next to Thalia before following Athus to his house, seeing the Whisper coming out of the tavern as well, giving him a small glare. He smirked at the Whisper in return before focusing on following Athus. He nearly stumbled and fell at one point, due to his faulty vision, but he managed to correct himself before he could end up face-planting on the ground.
Thalia reminded herself not to make too much contact with the vampire dragon as he flinched from her touch. She nodded when he declined to get a drink. "Ah, that's okay," she replied, smiling. She looked at him as he asked her who the mysterious planner was. "Their name is Sam," she told him. "They have a plan to make sure the Council never comes to power. I'm sure you two can talk to each other when we get to our destination. I think they're mute, so I hope you understand sign language pretty well."'
But I think taking care of the Clans would help fix our problems.
She kept that thought to herself as she followed Call and Athus, looking at the man with uncertainty. He certainly seemed different, that much was true. He had his head down the entire time, remaining quiet, trying not to draw too much attention. She was confused by this whole time travel thing, but she supposed it would be confusing no matter what. In a way, she was excited to be doing this. It seemed fun to go back and relive your old life, but in a different way, and when you were still the same age. It sounded like quite the ride.
Call stopped when Athus came up to the door, watching the latter and Hythen interact with each other. He studied Hythen, realizing with slight shock that he was still alive. He could easily tell by his tan skin. Undead were typically pale. Huh... don't look so much like Hythen anymore, do I? he mentally joked, remembering his first impression of Hythen. That had been when he nearly bled out in a jail cell. Those were the good times... and by good times, he meant times he wished he could forget.
He nodded politely to Hythen as he entered the house, motioning for the others to come in as well. He felt odd, being a leader-type person, the one who was supposed to keep them all together. He supposed having to gather them all in the first place made him feel that way. Well, the Whisper had helped too, so did that make it a leader as well?
He was caught off guard as Athus smiled, feeling strangely heartbroken. He had never smiled like that when he saw him in the future. Seeing it made him feel terrible for him. No. He was going to keep Hythen alive. He would keep Eirach from killing him. He would keep the Last Shadow from cursing Athus.
He swore on that.
Even though he didn't know how long it would take-
He wanted Athus to remain happy.
He smiled gratefully at Hythen, taking a liking to him once again, noticing the ring on his finger. Wait... were him and Athus... engaged? Well, that just made him feel even happier, yet worse at the same time. The ring wasn't there before. He held back a sigh, glancing at Athus as he was beckoned to the study upstairs. "Thank you very much, kind sir," he said, bowing his head respectively before following Athus. Before he did, he sent the Whisper a message.
Whisper, can you go find Lucine?
I have a feeling I'm going to be the residential "find people" guy in this group.
Whisper-
Alright, I'll go find your girlfriend. She shouldn't have gone too far. Wait, wasn't she with a kid? Won't I, like, scare her or something?
Nah, I don't think so. Just please find her. You don't have to tell her to come back, not yet. Just tell her where we are.
Will do.
Call sighed in relief, entering the study with Athus. They were alone together. This reminded him of when he had gone in Athus' other study, back in the Halls. They were alone there as well, and there were books all over the place. He recalled his first question being about the books. That had been awkward. Afterwards, the Whisper made him stab himself, and it all went downhill.
He shivered a little, trying his best to hide it. He looked at Athus, trying to figure out how he was going to word this. What did he want to talk about? Maybe it would do some good to find out more about the world they were in. Yeah. That would work.
"So, here's the thing..." Call began, clearing his throat. "We... we did end up in that alley. I have no idea how we even got there to begin with, and, to be honest with you, I'm unfamiliar with this area. Do you... do you mind telling me what's going on out there, outside of the Safe City? What's been happening?...I hope I'm not making you too uncomfortable," he added, adjusting his scarf slightly. It had slipped just a little, making the scar on his neck visible for just a couple seconds before he covered it up again.
The Whisper huffed as it was told to look for Lucine. That would surely be easier said than done, or perhaps, it would be as easy as being said or done. It could find her, no problem. It just had to do a bit of flying around. After this, it would probably go back to the tavern to have a drink. It knew it was kind of a bad idea, but it was curious. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it.
The Whisper looked between everyone before leaving the house to search for Lucine, not saying a word as it left. It had its task, and it was going to fulfill it. It didn't realize that Lucine was fairly close by to Athus' house, being inside one just across from the side of it. However, as it passed the house she was in, it heard crying. It could say its senses were a bit sharper than Call's, but nonetheless, it heard the crying. Hmm... he won't mind if I check this out, surely, it thought, approaching the door. It hesitated, trying to decide whether or not to go in. It just stood there, tapping its cane on the ground quietly, attempting to come to a decision.
Lucine smiled a bit as she listened to the young girl go on about the age of 16, and the topic of love. Young Thalia was a talkative little thing, which Lucine found quite adorable. She was a bit nervous about what she would find when she made it to the house, but listening to the girl was making her feel slightly more at ease. She fought the urge to giggle a little when Thalia mentioned her “love”, stating he looked like her younger brother.
Lucine watched the girl. She was quiet for the most part, letting her do the talking, listening to her speak of birds, giving the girl a little whistle back after hearing her imitate a bird. Lucine couldn’t whistle very well, but it didn’t hurt to play along with the child. She was amused about her love for snakes, thinking it curious.
“A mamba, huh?” She asked, looking up for a second to think. She couldn’t say she had ever seen a snake before, but if she had, it would probably scare her away. “I’ve never seen a snake before,” She told the girl, looking back down to her “I think I would run the opposite direction if i happened to come across one, though. They scare me ever so slightly.”
She turned her attention to the homes around them as they neared the house of the young girl. The houses around them in the stone city were narrow, which intrigued Lucine. Obviously, this was so they could cram as many houses onto one street as possible, accommodating for more living quarters for refugees and others. It was a smart idea, at least in Lucine’s mind. Ideally this would lower the homeless population, however overcrowding could still become an issue, as there was still a limited amount of space. The girl was, of course, muttering all of this.
She snapped out of her thoughts as Thalia led her up to the door of a house, announcing that this was the one. Lucine looked up at it, slightly curious to see the home Callum spent a portion of his childhood in. As they approached the door, Thalia easily pushed it open, commenting how that was strange, it was supposed to be locked. This caused Lucine’s stomach to become a pit of worry and she rushed in after the girl, looking around.
She was looking around the house, however only looking to see if anything seemed as though it had been tampered with- by either a burglar or a rowdy little boy. She could hear the crying coming from upstairs, and immediately turned her attention to said stairs, before looking down at Thalia, seemingly at the same time Thalia looked up at her. She dropped Thalia’s hand and began to move towards the stairs, After the girl rushed past her, Lucine hiked up her skirt and ran upstairs as well, following Thalia to the children’s room.
She stopped in the doorway, taking in the scene before her. The boy- she assumed Callum, was lying there, holding his stomach and jaw, blood coming from the corner of her mouth. Her suspicions about his identity were confirmed when Thalia said his name, running towards him. Lucine rushed after her, leaning next to the child, letting him hug his sister. She looked immensely concerned, also looking behind her to see if she could catch a glimpse of the other boy. She would have to find him once she got Callum settled.
She needed to get a look at Callum so she could figure out if he was hurt badly, but she didn’t want to make Thalia move. She inched a little closer to the boy, hoping to draw his attention, and tore a piece of cloth from her sleeve to use to wipe the blood.
She looked to Thalia, taking a deep breath. She didn’t want to order the girl around, but she needed to know where Connor was. It would be troublesome if he had gotten out.
“Do you mind doing a favour for me?” She asked her, tilting her head, “Can you go look about for Connor? If you find him, you don’t have to try and bring him to me, I just need to know where he is. I’ll take care of Callum, don’t worry.” She didn’t expect the girl to move, and the situation was making her a bit uncomfortable.
Felicity looked up as the boy approached, informing her that they had found a place to stay for the night. She sighed loudly and pushed herself up, still keeping a hold of Raven. She grunted as she rose to her feet, looking down at the boy. This was the one who had been sitting with mini-Callidora, as Felicity was now considering the other half-vampire.
She looked to the others around her, still keeping a hold on Raven, though she would be willing to set down the pup if needed. She was curious about where mini-Callidora was, Felicity felt like she needed to talk to her, and make a better conversational attempt than she had earlier. She looked down at Call, wanting to ask him, but the words to do so just didn’t exist at the moment.
She followed the others, staggering along a little drunkenly, probably close to toppling over. Her head was pounding as she looked over the streets, continue to scratch Raven behind the ears.
Lucine smiled a bit as she listened to the young girl go on about the age of 16, and the topic of love. Young Thalia was a talkative little thing, which Lucine found quite adorable. She was a bit nervous about what she would find when she made it to the house, but listening to the girl was making her feel slightly more at ease. She fought the urge to giggle a little when Thalia mentioned her “love”, stating he looked like her younger brother.
Lucine watched the girl. She was quiet for the most part, letting her do the talking, listening to her speak of birds, giving the girl a little whistle back after hearing her imitate a bird. Lucine couldn’t whistle very well, but it didn’t hurt to play along with the child. She was amused about her love for snakes, thinking it curious.
“A mamba, huh?” She asked, looking up for a second to think. She couldn’t say she had ever seen a snake before, but if she had, it would probably scare her away. “I’ve never seen a snake before,” She told the girl, looking back down to her “I think I would run the opposite direction if i happened to come across one, though. They scare me ever so slightly.”
She turned her attention to the homes around them as they neared the house of the young girl. The houses around them in the stone city were narrow, which intrigued Lucine. Obviously, this was so they could cram as many houses onto one street as possible, accommodating for more living quarters for refugees and others. It was a smart idea, at least in Lucine’s mind. Ideally this would lower the homeless population, however overcrowding could still become an issue, as there was still a limited amount of space. The girl was, of course, muttering all of this.
She snapped out of her thoughts as Thalia led her up to the door of a house, announcing that this was the one. Lucine looked up at it, slightly curious to see the home Callum spent a portion of his childhood in. As they approached the door, Thalia easily pushed it open, commenting how that was strange, it was supposed to be locked. This caused Lucine’s stomach to become a pit of worry and she rushed in after the girl, looking around.
She was looking around the house, however only looking to see if anything seemed as though it had been tampered with- by either a burglar or a rowdy little boy. She could hear the crying coming from upstairs, and immediately turned her attention to said stairs, before looking down at Thalia, seemingly at the same time Thalia looked up at her. She dropped Thalia’s hand and began to move towards the stairs, After the girl rushed past her, Lucine hiked up her skirt and ran upstairs as well, following Thalia to the children’s room.
She stopped in the doorway, taking in the scene before her. The boy- she assumed Callum, was lying there, holding his stomach and jaw, blood coming from the corner of her mouth. Her suspicions about his identity were confirmed when Thalia said his name, running towards him. Lucine rushed after her, leaning next to the child, letting him hug his sister. She looked immensely concerned, also looking behind her to see if she could catch a glimpse of the other boy. She would have to find him once she got Callum settled.
She needed to get a look at Callum so she could figure out if he was hurt badly, but she didn’t want to make Thalia move. She inched a little closer to the boy, hoping to draw his attention, and tore a piece of cloth from her sleeve to use to wipe the blood.
She looked to Thalia, taking a deep breath. She didn’t want to order the girl around, but she needed to know where Connor was. It would be troublesome if he had gotten out.
“Do you mind doing a favour for me?” She asked her, tilting her head, “Can you go look about for Connor? If you find him, you don’t have to try and bring him to me, I just need to know where he is. I’ll take care of Callum, don’t worry.” She didn’t expect the girl to move, and the situation was making her a bit uncomfortable.
Felicity looked up as the boy approached, informing her that they had found a place to stay for the night. She sighed loudly and pushed herself up, still keeping a hold of Raven. She grunted as she rose to her feet, looking down at the boy. This was the one who had been sitting with mini-Callidora, as Felicity was now considering the other half-vampire.
She looked to the others around her, still keeping a hold on Raven, though she would be willing to set down the pup if needed. She was curious about where mini-Callidora was, Felicity felt like she needed to talk to her, and make a better conversational attempt than she had earlier. She looked down at Call, wanting to ask him, but the words to do so just didn’t exist at the moment.
She followed the others, staggering along a little drunkenly, probably close to toppling over. Her head was pounding as she looked over the streets, continue to scratch Raven behind the ears.
The young Thalia continued to hug her brother as he kept crying, tears spilling down his cheeks. She felt sad, not to mention, incredibly guilty. If she hadn't gone out in the first place, then she could've prevented this from happening. She already knew it was Connor without even having to second guess herself. She hated him sometimes. He was a bully to Callum, constantly talking down to him and beating him up whenever possible. When did she ever not dislike him? He was a more decent person before Callum was born, she knew that for certain. That was why she didn't absolutely hold him with hatred.
The much younger Callum continued to cry until he noticed someone trying to get his attention. He slowly looked up from Thalia's now wet shoulder to see an older girl there. She was pale with yellow eyes and a cloak on. He felt a little nervous as she wiped the blood off of his face using a piece of cloth. He didn't know who this girl was, yet she talked to his sister like she knew her. If she did know Thalia, and Thalia knew her, then it wouldn't be so nerve-racking to have the stranger around.
"Hi..." he said in a quiet voice, coughing. Thalia pat his back a few times before pulling away, still staying close to him. She had so many questions she wanted to ask him, however, she was caught off guard by Lucine's request. Go find Connor, she said. Well, it wasn't exactly said like that. It was a request, rather than an order. She was too used to orders. Their father ordered them around constantly, and Connor did the same thing to Callum. Thinking about it made her angry.
"Connor couldn'ta gone far," she replied, looking back at her little brother, who was still trying to calm down. She placed a hand on his shoulder, being gentle; he had a bruise on that shoulder. He had a couple on the other one too, but they were almost healed at this point. "Who...?" he managed to get out, sniffling. Thalia gave him a smile, looking up at Lucine again. "Callum, this is Lucine," she introduced, gesturing to the half-vampire. "She's really nice. Met her in the tavern today. She'll take care o' you while I'm gone, okay? I won't be out for long, promise."
The younger Callum looked between Thalia and Lucine for a moment. "Swear on Spirits?" he asked in a cute voice, yet he was whimpering at the same time. He was in a lot of pain, but not so much that it rendered him unable to talk. Thalia grinned and took both of his hands. "I swear on the Spirits," she told him. He smiled weakly. Carefully, Thalia stood, smiling gratefully at Lucine. "Take good care of 'im, yeah?" she said before taking her leave, heading down the stairs and outside.
Callum sighed, continuing to rub his jaw as he studied Lucine. "You have… pretty name, miss," he commented. “You… from here?" As he talked, a wave of pain flooded his stomach, eliciting a groan from him. Thalia was right, in that he did talk pretty well for a three year old. He still had quite a bit to learn, but that was normal.
The Whisper kept standing there, frustrated with its indecisiveness. It soon became distracted when a little girl opened the door to leave, only to jump back slightly when she saw it. She was startled, to say the least. She looked cute enough, with her braided pigtails and blue tunic. It suddenly felt soft towards the girl, trying to somehow look non-scary.
"Hi," it said simply, giving a small wave. The girl stared at its cane with interest before looking up at it, her face scrunching up with worry. "Are you okay?" she asked. The Whisper knew what she was talking about, but it pretended to look confused. "I don't know what you mean," it replied, sounding confused as well.
"Your face... is it okay?"
"Oh? Oh yeah, that... it's fine. I was born like this, nothin’ to worry about."
The girl nodded. "Sorry," she apologized, glancing away. The Whisper shook its head. "No need to apologize, little girl," it replied, crouching down to her level. She looked back at it, tilting her head slightly. "Listen, I have a question for ya. Do you know anyone named Lucine? Yellow eyes, got a black cloak on, half-vampire?" The girl had a look of recognition on her face before she replied. "Yeah, I know 'er," she answered, glancing back inside her house in the direction of the stairs. "She's up there with my little brother. He's hurt right now, so she's takin' care of 'im. Why’d you ask?"
The Whisper hesitated before answering. "A friend of mine is looking for her. You might've seen him in the tavern. Black hair, multi-colored eyes, you know," it explained. "Yeah, I saw 'im in there," she replied. "Well, I gotta look for someone, but feel free to come in if you'd like, as long as you don’t mess anythin' up or hurt anyone. What's your name, if you don’t mind me askin'?"
The Whisper gave the girl a grin. "Just call me Whisper," it said, tipping its hat out to her. She giggled as it put the hat back on its head. "And yours?" it followed up.
"I'm Thalia. I gotta go now, but it was nice to meet you, sir!"
With that, the child bounded over to the street where Athus' house was, skipping along. It watched her go for a brief moment, finding itself confused. Wasn't Thalia the name of Call's sister? Wasn't Thalia already here with them, not only much older but also an Undead? It was so confused… so very confused. Its thoughts caused it to become lost in its mind as it stood there in the doorway, staring into space, unmoving.
Raven remained in Felicity's arms as they moved about, barking enthusiastically once they reached Athus' house. She made a purring sound as Felicity continued to scratch her behind the ears. Her tail continued to wag while she looked around, excited by what she was seeing. Everything was practically new to her. She also felt relieved, too. The last time they were at a tavern, Call was taken from her, staying behind to fight the group's attacker. She was eternally grateful that this experience hadn't ended too badly. She just hoped it would stay that way, at least, for tonight, anyway.
The young Thalia continued to hug her brother as he kept crying, tears spilling down his cheeks. She felt sad, not to mention, incredibly guilty. If she hadn't gone out in the first place, then she could've prevented this from happening. She already knew it was Connor without even having to second guess herself. She hated him sometimes. He was a bully to Callum, constantly talking down to him and beating him up whenever possible. When did she ever not dislike him? He was a more decent person before Callum was born, she knew that for certain. That was why she didn't absolutely hold him with hatred.
The much younger Callum continued to cry until he noticed someone trying to get his attention. He slowly looked up from Thalia's now wet shoulder to see an older girl there. She was pale with yellow eyes and a cloak on. He felt a little nervous as she wiped the blood off of his face using a piece of cloth. He didn't know who this girl was, yet she talked to his sister like she knew her. If she did know Thalia, and Thalia knew her, then it wouldn't be so nerve-racking to have the stranger around.
"Hi..." he said in a quiet voice, coughing. Thalia pat his back a few times before pulling away, still staying close to him. She had so many questions she wanted to ask him, however, she was caught off guard by Lucine's request. Go find Connor, she said. Well, it wasn't exactly said like that. It was a request, rather than an order. She was too used to orders. Their father ordered them around constantly, and Connor did the same thing to Callum. Thinking about it made her angry.
"Connor couldn'ta gone far," she replied, looking back at her little brother, who was still trying to calm down. She placed a hand on his shoulder, being gentle; he had a bruise on that shoulder. He had a couple on the other one too, but they were almost healed at this point. "Who...?" he managed to get out, sniffling. Thalia gave him a smile, looking up at Lucine again. "Callum, this is Lucine," she introduced, gesturing to the half-vampire. "She's really nice. Met her in the tavern today. She'll take care o' you while I'm gone, okay? I won't be out for long, promise."
The younger Callum looked between Thalia and Lucine for a moment. "Swear on Spirits?" he asked in a cute voice, yet he was whimpering at the same time. He was in a lot of pain, but not so much that it rendered him unable to talk. Thalia grinned and took both of his hands. "I swear on the Spirits," she told him. He smiled weakly. Carefully, Thalia stood, smiling gratefully at Lucine. "Take good care of 'im, yeah?" she said before taking her leave, heading down the stairs and outside.
Callum sighed, continuing to rub his jaw as he studied Lucine. "You have… pretty name, miss," he commented. “You… from here?" As he talked, a wave of pain flooded his stomach, eliciting a groan from him. Thalia was right, in that he did talk pretty well for a three year old. He still had quite a bit to learn, but that was normal.
The Whisper kept standing there, frustrated with its indecisiveness. It soon became distracted when a little girl opened the door to leave, only to jump back slightly when she saw it. She was startled, to say the least. She looked cute enough, with her braided pigtails and blue tunic. It suddenly felt soft towards the girl, trying to somehow look non-scary.
"Hi," it said simply, giving a small wave. The girl stared at its cane with interest before looking up at it, her face scrunching up with worry. "Are you okay?" she asked. The Whisper knew what she was talking about, but it pretended to look confused. "I don't know what you mean," it replied, sounding confused as well.
"Your face... is it okay?"
"Oh? Oh yeah, that... it's fine. I was born like this, nothin’ to worry about."
The girl nodded. "Sorry," she apologized, glancing away. The Whisper shook its head. "No need to apologize, little girl," it replied, crouching down to her level. She looked back at it, tilting her head slightly. "Listen, I have a question for ya. Do you know anyone named Lucine? Yellow eyes, got a black cloak on, half-vampire?" The girl had a look of recognition on her face before she replied. "Yeah, I know 'er," she answered, glancing back inside her house in the direction of the stairs. "She's up there with my little brother. He's hurt right now, so she's takin' care of 'im. Why’d you ask?"
The Whisper hesitated before answering. "A friend of mine is looking for her. You might've seen him in the tavern. Black hair, multi-colored eyes, you know," it explained. "Yeah, I saw 'im in there," she replied. "Well, I gotta look for someone, but feel free to come in if you'd like, as long as you don’t mess anythin' up or hurt anyone. What's your name, if you don’t mind me askin'?"
The Whisper gave the girl a grin. "Just call me Whisper," it said, tipping its hat out to her. She giggled as it put the hat back on its head. "And yours?" it followed up.
"I'm Thalia. I gotta go now, but it was nice to meet you, sir!"
With that, the child bounded over to the street where Athus' house was, skipping along. It watched her go for a brief moment, finding itself confused. Wasn't Thalia the name of Call's sister? Wasn't Thalia already here with them, not only much older but also an Undead? It was so confused… so very confused. Its thoughts caused it to become lost in its mind as it stood there in the doorway, staring into space, unmoving.
Raven remained in Felicity's arms as they moved about, barking enthusiastically once they reached Athus' house. She made a purring sound as Felicity continued to scratch her behind the ears. Her tail continued to wag while she looked around, excited by what she was seeing. Everything was practically new to her. She also felt relieved, too. The last time they were at a tavern, Call was taken from her, staying behind to fight the group's attacker. She was eternally grateful that this experience hadn't ended too badly. She just hoped it would stay that way, at least, for tonight, anyway.