Riverside

[Shadowcaller]

[Croquet with the Queen]

Nye shakes her head. "You didn't need to share anything, Siana. But nonetheless, I thank you for what you shared. Since no, I don't care for destruction or the loss or life but I simply felt that I needed to know more about the person behind it. Since there's a lot of internal conflict in you, isn't there? So much power but without the ability to properly control it..."

The fey queen pauses thoughtfully.

"Since you were willing to share this with me, let me share something with you too. Ana, the girl you've gotten so well along with, is learning to master her abilities too. To that end she have sought out someone that might be able to help you as well."

[Ironsmith]

[Croquet with the Queen]

"I'm going to stop you there." Siana frowns, holding up a hand. "While I do find her situation sympathetic and I can say I've been in her shoes before, our situations are not the same. She didn't have any awareness of what she was doing. She didn't have any way of stopping herself. She, in no uncertain terms, is blameless." Siana points to her chest. "I knew damn well what I was doing. I weighed my options and picked the wrong one. What happened was my fault and I won't be accepting any excuses, from her, you, myself, or anyone else." She straightens. "...I want to make that very clear. Do you understand?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Croquet with the Queen]

Nye smiles at Siana. "Child, child, child, while I'm not going to stop you from blaming yourself that game I held was meant to show that others perspectives are at least as important as your own. So while you might want to put your head under that guillotine there are some that would argue otherwise. There were certainly some that were convinced that Ana were more of a danger to society than she was a tribute to it, no? A little bird even told me that some guests were quite convinced of her guilt even outside the game. So what I'm saying is while you have your mind made up one way it doesn't prevent others from forming their own opinions. So while the Siana court would find you guilty the public court might not and that would make it even worse for you, wouldn't it?"

Her smiles turns sad for just a moment before she waves her hand dismissively. "Either way, it's not good manners to tell a queen what judgement she should make in her own court. But it doesn't even matter what I think as I'm not planning to judge you. You seem to be doing a fine job of that yourself anyway. Though if I were you I'd be more concerned about Ana than yourself right now."

[Morty]

[Into the Looking Glass - Kingly Audience]

"A curious proposal. And not without potential," the King admits. "I have made such deals with a number of others, like a bogeyman who is quite a proficient killer. But what would the price be here? Since both of us know such aid is not free."

[Ironsmith]

[Croquet with the Queen]

Siana opens her mouth to reply, to point out that she wasn't about to trust the judgment of anyone who told her to not feel any shame over things that are shameful or guilt over things that make her guilty; nobody here, not even the queen, got to decide what was right and wrong. They simply were and trying to deny that was the mark of a fool at best and a scoundrel at worst.

But, something else Nye's said is proving to be a much more urgent item of discussion than the merits of moral relativism.

"...What do you mean, they've found her guilty outside the game?" Siana grips her cane, her anger quite palpable even without any supernatural sense for it. "Who is it? Skye? That King in Rags person?" Those were the two obvious suspects; everyone else argued for Ana's proxy to be released, and she couldn't imagine anyone would change their mind if they figured out their hypothetical criminal turned out to be someone at the table. "Are they planning on doing something with that information?"

[Recaiden]

[Into the Looking Glass]

"Ah. Of course." White Pawn nods. "But excuse me for asking then, but what do you wish to talk to them about? Since Nye, I or one of my sisters might be needed to translate. Fusago do not speak in words they use visions which might not always be easy to understand. They also don't like being spoken to directly unless they deem it important."

"Worry not, pawn. Words were not going to be used in the first place. But if you say that they would not like to speak to anyone at this time, we may as well take our leave." Skye doesn't hide a disappointed look on her face, and turns on the spot.

[Reinholdt]

[Xar'cha Residence]

Three weeks later, Ilpholin will get the promised follow-up.

M hs lft thr houe
B aat grsvr in 20 mns

[Northside Graveyard]

Twenty minutes?!

Ilpholin considered Marianne unstable before, but this is just insane. Ugh, that angel is lucky Ilpholin's clothes shapeshift as well or this would be impossible.

The nymph forwards Jaahlyn the information as she almost literally runs out the door to hop on her hovercycle and get to the graveyard before Melody Hopskins gets there and off the bus.

*****

As Melody heads towards her own gravestone, she'll cross paths with an ancient crone. Wrinkled and warted, her age is partially obscured by the black veil she wears, coming down over her black hat. Black seems to be the entire theme with this woman, clearly here to mourn someone who has passed. Yet she struggles to reach her destination, gnarled hand gripping a cane that does not seem to be providing much, if any help. She could definitely use some assistance, but she appears to be completely alone in her trek up the path. It would have to be uphill, wouldn't it? She seems to be going in the same direction as Melody, so she must be visiting a nearby grave.

[Shadowcaller]

[Croquet with the Queen]

Siana opens her mouth to reply, to point out that she wasn't about to trust the judgment of anyone who told her to not feel any shame over things that are shameful or guilt over things that make her guilty; nobody here, not even the queen, got to decide what was right and wrong. They simply were and trying to deny that was the mark of a fool at best and a scoundrel at worst.

But, something else Nye's said is proving to be a much more urgent item of discussion than the merits of moral relativism.

"...What do you mean, they've found her guilty outside the game?" Siana grips her cane, her anger quite palpable even without any supernatural sense for it. "Who is it? Skye? That King in Rags person?" Those were the two obvious suspects; everyone else argued for Ana's proxy to be released, and she couldn't imagine anyone would change their mind if they figured out their hypothetical criminal turned out to be someone at the table. "Are they planning on doing something with that information?"

[Croquet with the Queen]

"I feel that's Ana's information to give so you would have to ask her. But considering what I've just told you I think you might be able to make your own conclusions there." Nye pulls the reins and gets down from her mount.
Then she suddenly continues speaking. "The guests I've invited here, you're all dangerous people. Some of you might not want to be but others very much do. If any of them is going after Ana-" Nye pauses for a moment as if considering or perhaps just to be dramatic.

"-well, there would be a bloody fight. People might die. Since she's no exception. Being fey, even so young, she possesses powers even unknown to herself."

[Into the Looking Glass]

The General's disappointed look seem to make White Pawn a tad nervous.

"-actually, I can grant you an audience with them right away, General." She gestures towards a door at the far end of the hall. "My lady even had a room made for just this occasion."

[Northside Graveyard]

There's the usual confirmation reply from Jaahlyn but there's an added note.

Hesperos: By the way, got a name: King in Rags. Might be the fey connected to what happened at the concert.

Not something Ilpholin need to reply to but Jaahlyn had said she'd share whatever information she found about the fey-presence she felt at the concert.

[Into the Looking Glass - Kingly Audience]

Nye pushes her hands together and grins. "Oh, that's the most wonderful thing. There's none." She then steps closer to the King, right in front of the headless corpse.

"See, you have no experience with dealing with the yokai, but I do and they're simple beings. While this one has formed a strange bond with the Ana girl they really just want one thing. To feed. To grow stronger. So if there would be a price here it would be this, make a murder happen. Doesn't matter who does it or who gets killed but the more public and anger inducing the better."

Then the fey queen gestures at the door which starts to glean open with a loud creak. "Since as I said, this was wasn't the only guest I invited."

What looks like a barely coherent tentacle of blood reaches through the opening to push the door open and on the other side a whole host of nightmares seem to have be waiting.

A hoard of centipedes made of human teeth crawl upon the floorboards.
A giant pulsating heart which is somehow using the black spikes that have pierced it countless times to walk with enters with unsteady steps. Leaving bright red blood wherever the spikes touch the floor. The same liquid blood which seems to have reached out to open the door.

Finally, there's seems to be a looming presence which stops just by the doorway. It's less of a shape and more of a mass, like an entire sea of grey nothingness just waiting to spill into the room to drown everything. Since the King in Rags does feel the salty scent one gets while near the ocean. Yet it's less the feeling of being near it and more like being on top of it. A vastness of space which contains nothing but more space. Space enough to drown anyone in nothingness. Yet here it was just outside the doorway, just outside the light. More of a concept than a being.

"You have to excuse the last one." Nye remarks as she gestures at whatever is out there. "They are... still developing."

[Ironsmith]

[Northside Graveyard]

Twenty minutes?!

Ilpholin considered Marianne unstable before, but this is just insane. Ugh, that angel is lucky Ilpholin's clothes shapeshift as well or this would be impossible.

The nymph forwards Jaahlyn the information as she almost literally runs out the door to hop on her hovercycle and get to the graveyard before Melody Hopskins gets there and off the bus.

*****

As Melody heads towards her own gravestone, she'll cross paths with an ancient crone. Wrinkled and warted, her age is partially obscured by the black veil she wears, coming down over her black hat. Black seems to be the entire theme with this woman, clearly here to mourn someone who has passed. Yet she struggles to reach her destination, gnarled hand gripping a cane that does not seem to be providing much, if any help. She could definitely use some assistance, but she appears to be completely alone in her trek up the path. It would have to be uphill, wouldn't it? She seems to be going in the same direction as Melody, so she must be visiting a nearby grave.

[Northside Graveyard]

Melody doesn't seem to notice her at first. The gravestone she's heading to has her full attention, which shouldn't surprise Ilpholin, given the context. Although she might have trouble recognizing the succubus at first; she's dressed in a baggy, slate-grey hoodie, jeans, and sneakers, with her hair tied up in a simple ponytail back behind her head. If Ilpholin hadn't seen her onstage, dancing around and singing about living la viva demoniaca, she might not have had any clue as to the woman's identity at all.

As it stands, she gets about halfway up the hill and stops at a grave there, kneeling in front of it and setting the plastic shopping bag she's carrying to the side, quietly staring at the inscription for a moment before bowing her head and letting out a little sigh. Her hand goes to the bag at her side, but before she opens it, she looks around and-

Oh hey there's someone here.

"Hey, lady, you okay? Need some help?" Melody offers, shouldering the bag and taking a few steps toward the old crone. If she gets an affirmative response, she'll offer her shoulder and start up the hill again, providing additional support.

[Croquet with the Queen]

"I feel that's Ana's information to give so you would have to ask her. But considering what I've just told you I think you might be able to make your own conclusions there." Nye pulls the reins and gets down from her mount.
Then she suddenly continues speaking. "The guests I've invited here, you're all dangerous people. Some of you might not want to be but others very much do. If any of them is going after Ana-" Nye pauses for a moment as if considering or perhaps just to be dramatic.

"-well, there would be a bloody fight. People might die. Since she's no exception. Being fey, even so young, she possesses powers even unknown to herself."

[Croquet with the Queen]

"Of course it would be bloody." Siana mutters, hopping down from her own mount. "Anyone going after Ana is going to have to get through me."

The girl she met a few hours ago.

"I'm not going to just stand by and let an innocent girl suffer for no good reason. Nor am I going to be turned aside by harsh words." The strigoi continues, leaning against her cane. "...But, fine. If you're not going to tell me, I'll just have to ask her myself." She points up at the "sky", where they came from. "...Would you mind terribly?" She asks, fairly certain there will be fey nonsense involved in getting back up.

Thankfully, this was a sufficient distraction to keep her from asking the last, real question on her mind; what the entertainer backstage meant when they said they "couldn't talk to the food".

[Shadowcaller]

[Croquet with the Queen==> Interrupting Ana]

"I feel its Ana's information to give. While I'm far too curious for my own good I don't think I should be sharing what I know without good reason." Nye remarks with a smile as she walks over to Siana once the knight gets off her mount. "But allow me then."
And so the fey reaches out to bop Siana's forehead with her finger with enough force to push her head backwards-

-as she suddenly find herself sitting in Ana's lap back in the looking glass hall.

Possibly causing quite the scene.

[Morty]

[Into the Looking Glass - Kingly Audience]

The King is somewhat impressed. He's a connoisseur of the monstrous and the horrific.

"So all these creatures would require is that I give them targets to kill. The more gruesome, the better. Striking fear and anger. Admittedly, I have preferred to be subtle thus far. But a message has to be sent and the time for being circumspect will soon be past."

[Ironsmith]

[Interrupting Ana]

The aforementioned strigoi is, of course, firmly nestled between "pissed off" and "wondering how in the world she got where she is now", probably not helped by the subsequent realization that she was apparently transported straight into Ana's lap (or possibly Stasia's, she can't tell immediately), still skirtless and with her twisted leg thrown onto the back of the chair for support.

An awkward position, both physically and socially.

"...Hi." Siana says after a moment of silence, doing her best to give the unfortunate girl a reassuring smile.

[Recaiden]

[Into the Looking Glass]

The General's disappointed look seem to make White Pawn a tad nervous.

"-actually, I can grant you an audience with them right away, General." She gestures towards a door at the far end of the hall. "My lady even had a room made for just this occasion."

Now, that's strange. What could the Pawn have to worry about?
Clearly any disappointment falls upon their hosts, not on the servants.

Still, Skye pauses and follows off to the indicated room.
"Oh, that's excellent news."

[Reinholdt]

[Northside Graveyard]

So Jaahlyn's already learned the name. Ilpholin takes note but doesn't reply. The King in Rags is losing the discretion of anonymity.

*****

"Oh?" The old woman doesn't appear to have heard her the first time, but seems to figure it out after a second. "Thank you dearie. I didn't know there was anyone left of your generation who cared about us old people." She says, half out of breath as she turns slowly in place. "But I'm already where I'm going."

Why, she seems to be here to visit the very grave next to Melody's! What a crazy, random happenstance. They're grave neighbors! The grave the old woman is standing before, withered claws clenching her cane, appears to be of a man who died when he was 76 - one Nomlas Mordecai. Engraved is the epitaph: “He always said his feet were killing him, but no one believed him.”

[Ironsmith]

[Northside Graveyard]

"It's no problem." Melody gives the old woman a little smile and a comforting pat on the back. She really shouldn't pry, but curiosity gets the better of her and she looks over at the grave the crone is here to visit.

"...Oh."

Melody frowns. "I, um... I'm so sorry, miss." She shakes her head. "That's... that's cruel of them, whoever picked that epitaph. Disrespectful." She sniffs. "I'm sure he meant a lot to you, but now people are going to come by and only see him as a damn punchline. I can't believe they did that to you, or to him."

...

She's not a very good liar. She can totally believe they did that to them. The grave right next to it is in a similar situation.

Melody Janine Hopskins
[22 years ago] - [Last year]
Devoted daughter to Vivian and Antoine
Loving sister to Edmond and Petra

[Arkhosia]

[Interrupting Ana]

The aforementioned strigoi is, of course, firmly nestled between "pissed off" and "wondering how in the world she got where she is now", probably not helped by the subsequent realization that she was apparently transported straight into Ana's lap (or possibly Stasia's, she can't tell immediately), still skirtless and with her twisted leg thrown onto the back of the chair for support.

An awkward position, both physically and socially.

"...Hi." Siana says after a moment of silence, doing her best to give the unfortunate girl a reassuring smile.

[Interrupting Ana]

The lap Siana lands into is, in fact, Stasia's. The girl's still slightly recovering from her earlier panic attack, leant over in her chair and arms wrapped close as Ana returns with a cup of tea. "It'll be okay, don't worry-" she seems to be saying before the strigoi suddenly poofs into existence, startling her as tea sloshes out onto the saucer.

Stasia's reaction, meanwhile, is more dramatic. She looks up, takes a moment to process the situation and jolts back with an "Ah!", her face going red. She hits the back of the chair with enough force to send it and the girl sat on her lap by proxy rocking back and forth - which not only seems to make the scarlet glow of her cheeks worse, but spreads a lesser tinge of it to Ana.

"Ohmigosh, S-s-s-Siana? W-w-where did you come from???" The shyer double stammers, bewildered, while her more energetic counterpart moves to brace or catch Siana should she seem about to fall.

[Murkus]

[Angelic Aftermath]

Tina is still hopping into her new clothes when she looks up at the other girls. "Oh, uh..." She flushes. "I'm flattered, seriously, Super flattered. Anika is my gal, and you're, uh... super hot. But I can't really... I can't be with anyone without being married to them. Part of Telly's curse. So, I..."

Tina doesn't know if she fully understands how the curse works. She wonders if she had one of her spouses here, if that would let her participate. Who knows? But that's not the case. She almost chokes at Anika's much simpler response. "Well, maybe it's my cue to go then."

[Ironsmith]

[Interrupting Ana]

The lap Siana lands into is, in fact, Stasia's. The girl's still slightly recovering from her earlier panic attack, leant over in her chair and arms wrapped close as Ana returns with a cup of tea. "It'll be okay, don't worry-" she seems to be saying before the strigoi suddenly poofs into existence, startling her as tea sloshes out onto the saucer.

Stasia's reaction, meanwhile, is more dramatic. She looks up, takes a moment to process the situation and jolts back with an "Ah!", her face going red. She hits the back of the chair with enough force to send it and the girl sat on her lap by proxy rocking back and forth - which not only seems to make the scarlet glow of her cheeks worse, but spreads a lesser tinge of it to Ana.

"Ohmigosh, S-s-s-Siana? W-w-where did you come from???" The shyer double stammers, bewildered, while her more energetic counterpart moves to brace or catch Siana should she seem about to fall.

[Interrupting Ana]

pak

Fortunately, Ana doesn't need to worry about Siana falling off the chair. The strigoi quickly corrects the balance problem with her cane, as she's so used to doing, in a slightly different context. "I just got back from talking with our host." She says bluntly, examining their situation in order to puzzle out the best way to resolve the tangle of limbs and chair they're dealing with. "We got where we were by falling through the floor. I guess this is how we get back."

Siana grabs ahold of her ankle and pulls her deformed leg away from Stasia's shoulder, giving her a little more room to wiggle around if she needs it. "Hey, listen." She adds in a hushed tone. "I don't trust Nye as far as I can long-jump, but... she said something to me while I was down there, and it's something I can confirm with you, at least." She takes a deep breath and pulls back, an audible crack popping from her hip as she repositions her leg over the side of the chair. "She said someone at this party was going after you because of the trial, and she implied you knew who it was, so I'm guessing they threatened you. Is that true?"

[Arkhosia]

[Interrupting Ana]

"O-oh, um, I-I see," Stasia astutely observes, taking advantage of Siana's shifting position on her lap to hurriedly cross her legs underneath the strigoi as if the action were of utmost importance. There's a wince at the sound of the teen's hip cracking, but its not a matter to think about when the words being spoken are much more pressing.

"W-wait, she-" The kumiho swallows. "Y-y-y-yes, she- um-" Her breathing seems to quicken. "I-I-Ilpholin, she - she knows." If it seems like Siana's about to get up, she'll reach forward and grab at her arm to stop her. "P-please, you can't - you can't tell anyone"

[Ironsmith]

[Interrupting Ana]

"Ilpholin?!" Siana asks incredulously. "That's not-"

Wow that's entirely too loud.

"That can't be right. Ilpholin was defending you less than an hour ago, why would she turn around and threaten you?" Besides, Ilpholin's one of the good guys, what could she stand to gain by threatening Ana and Stasia? Why would she do that? It just doesn't make any sense! None at all!

But...

There's no way Ana and Stasia can be wrong about that, is there?

"...Tell me everything." Siana whispers, scooting over to an adjacent, empty seat.

[Arkhosia]

[Interrupting Ana]

Ana and Stasia both cringe when Siana responds in shock, and the seated double swallows. "I-I-I-I don't know! M-m-maybe she didn't like how I defended the accused, o-o-or I didn't take responsibility enough??" She shivers, putting her head in her hands. "A-all I know is, s-s-she walked up to me after you vanished, t-told me I had two days to turn myself in o-or that she'd 'get involved', and left!"

Oh boy, Stasia's breathing is getting pretty quick and unsteady now. Seeing this, Ana moves to the girl's other side and puts a hand on her shoulder, trying to direct Stasia to look towards her. "L-look, it's okay, you're okay. Mom will know what to do, just - here, close your eyes and imagine a feather with me, okay?"

Ana reaches out to gently pry one of Stasia's hands from her head and lay it palm-together with her own, tilting their hands sideways to imitate a drifting feather as she attempts to lead her double in a breathing exercise. Stasia, however, seems too worked up to follow along. "I-I-I don't know what she means! I-Is she gonna tell the authorities? T-try and hunt me down?" her heart stops for a second. "Oh gods, w-w-w-what if she doxxes me? T-t-t-tells everyone who I am and what I've done??!!?"

[Ironsmith]

[Interrupting Ana]

"Stasia." Siana puts her hands on the other girl's, in an attempt to get her attention. "Look at me. In the eye."

If Stasia complies, she'll find herself looking into the (thankfully glamored-up) eyes of a very determined strigoi. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. Either of you." She says, giving Stasia's hands a gentle squeeze. "I'm sure there's some part of this we're not seeing. Maybe she's bluffing and hoping you'll make things better for yourself by confessing. Or maybe 'getting involved' for her is somehow a good thing."

If that isn't wishful thinking.

"I'll talk to her and see if I can find out what she's going to do. And from there, see if I can talk her down, if it turns out she really does want to hurt you. And if nothing else, I've got a wide open schedule for a while. If I can't do anything else for you, I'll be right there to make sure nobody lays a hand on you. Okay?"

[Arkhosia]

[Interrupting Ana]

Stasia's breathing steadies into a uniform if ragged rhythm as Siana reaches out and squeezes her hands, blinking away some errant tears and staring back into the other teenager's eyes for a good, long while. She nods and stutters a quiet, simple "okay," a fluttering sensation briefly blooming in her stomach. There's a fretful part of her that's still hesitant and unconvinced, but it's difficult for her to voice those concerns while experiencing her current swirl of emotions.

Ana, however, is having a somewhat less tumultuous inner life. "I-I'm not sure how well talking to her's gonna work," she suggests, fiddling with a ring on her finger as she turns to better speak with Siana in confidence. "She looked like, super serious, a-and I don't think Ilpholin's the kind of person who bluffs about stuff like that." The fox shivers. "Besides, like - what if you're wrong? I mean, what if she tries to hurt you for... interfering or something?"

[Ironsmith]

[Interrupting Ana]

Siana shakes her head. "Don't worry about that. She can't hurt me, not in any way that matters." To demonstrate the point, she lifts her left hand to her mouth, pops out her thumb, and bites down, hard, with a sound resembling a bag of chips being crushed underfoot. "See? Nothing." She says, holding up her now-four-fingered hand for the two of them to inspect.

Although that's probably not the most reassuring way to go about it.

"We don't know for sure how serious she is, right? I should talk to her if only to be certain before we do anything else. I've heard things about her; she can be a tricky one, when the mood strikes her. I wouldn't put a bluff or something past her." She gives Ana a small smile and a pat on the shoulder. "One way or another, it's all going to be okay."

[Arkhosia]

[Interrupting Ana]

Ana and Stasia both look fairly disquieted at that demonstration, a shiver running down Ana's spine as she pales and blinks in surprise. Stasia, meanwhile, looks very briefly about to be sick before swallowing nervously. "Just... be careful, okay?" Ana requests as the pair of foxes otherwise let the strigoi go.

[Ironsmith]

[Intercession with Ilpholin]

Siana gives Ana a little grin, bits of her thumb still caught between her teeth. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

And with that, she limps off to find Ilpholin and hopefully clear up this misunderstanding in short order.

[Meowmai]

[Fight or Flight]

He doesn't seem too suspicious, at least. He comes over and will proceed to wrap the ice pack amalgamation to her face. "Ehh, I think it'll hold for long enough at least. I wouldn't go for a run with it." He shrugs, then beckons her over to the video game area and pops down on the couch. There's not a lot of space there, so Atsede will have to sit right next to him.

"So what do we wanna play? Pretty sure this one's multiplayer and it's, like, a beat em up game. That's your style, yeah?" The game he's holding up features box art of two girls standing back to back, one with a bat and the other spiked knuckles. It's titled 'River City Girls'.

[Fight or Flight]

Atsede gently tests the integrity of the ice pack wrap with her hand. It seemed good enough. "I don't think I intend on running much right now, to be honest." After that punch, she was perfectly happy to just spend the rest of the afternoon sitting.

She sits down next to him, shuffling over to make as much space as she can manage on the small couch. "A beat em up game?" She chuckles. "Yeah why not, sounds great. Got some steam to work off." She didn't get to beat up Jayden as payback in real life so she should at least get to live vicariously through video game characters. She looks at the cover and grins. "I like these girls already."

[Reinholdt]

[Northside Graveyard]

"Hah!" The elderly woman gives a wry, dry laugh. "He picked it out himself, the damned fool." She taps the ground emphatically with her cane, as if talking to the dead man directly by knocking.

"Married fourty years to him and I couldn't talk sense into that man about this. At least he wasn't allowed to name the kids." She shakes her head. "Well at least he had his head on shoulders. Knew the value of good work. Took care of us. Not wasteful with his money like you kids these days."

The old woman turns to look closer at Melody. "Are you going to school young lady?"

[Angelic Aftermath]

Ilpholin puts her hand on Tina's shoulder to stare intensely into the angels eyes, speaking extremely seriously. "I swear by Lolth, I will kill Tellysandra for you. No one should suffer such a hellish fate." This was a travesty and a tragedy all rolled into one. A tragevesty.

[Intercession with Ilpholin]

Ilpholin appears to be calmly seated, though her gaze seems a little distant. Nevertheless it focuses upon Siana and returns to the situation at hand, the nymph silently neither beckoning nor dismissing the vampire.

[Ironsmith]

[Intercession with Ilpholin]

"Hello again, miss Xar'cha." Siana greets, limping up next to her, taking a moment to pull a chair into place so she can be properly seated through their discussion. "I need to have a word with you. Urgently so."

If Ilpholin gives no indication that she's not available for conversation, Siana will take a moment to compose her thoughts before continuing. She needs to be careful about this. She wasn't lying before when she said Ilpholin could be tricky, and it might just be harder to get a straight answer from her than it was from Nye. She'll have to be diplomatic, but firm, understanding to both parties and try her hardest to mete out an understanding between them.

That in mind, here goes.

"...What the bloody hell?" Siana demands, glancing between Ilpholin and Ana so there could be little doubt what she was referring to.


[Northside Graveyard]

"...Oh." Melody grimaces, cheeks turning a bit darker. "I, um... sorry. I might be projecting just a smidge."

Of course mister Mordecai picked out the epitaph himself. The graveyard keeper wouldn't let them erect a mocking tombstone like that if he didn't, right? People were more decent than that.

"...School? I, um..." Melody shakes her head slowly. "Used to be. University. I, um... something came up and I ended up dropping out. I haven't really had a chance to re-enroll. Too busy working... you know, making money to waste." She jokes, smiling slightly.

[Arkhosia]

[MERC Office]

Dispnig's reaction doesn't go unnoticed. Blanche turns towards him, catching it out of the corner of her eye, and raises an eyebrow. "I take it the name rings a bell?"