[RP] Witches of Aether

Alyss smiled slightly when Lily finally told her what her name was. The sad part was that Alyss was attempting to plan and calculate emotions. That was just how she thought. Yet, now she could stop using her True Name. It felt so odd to Alyss when she had to use it; she much preferred using real names. From the looks of things, Lily wanted to get as far away from her as possible. How could Alyss blame her? She was stuck in a room with a woman that she hardly knew who had a probable motive to kill her. If the tables were turned, Alyss would probably want to run away too.

After a while, Lily had finished patching her up… save for the shoulders. However, there wasn’t much to be done about them. Witches tended to heal faster than normal people, so Alyss knew that in a few hours she should be mostly fine. “Mostly” being the key word of her thoughts. Lily closed the kit and hid it away under her bed. For a girl that probably didn’t like Alyss much, she was far too nice to her. Alyss did her best to prop herself against the wall so she wouldn’t have to simply lie there anymore.

“So… what now? If you’re going to kill me, I’d prefer you did it now… I’ve had enough of all this.” She seemed tired; very tired. Alyss wasn’t sure how to respond; she wasn’t sure if she should respond. Would she even believe a world that came out of her mouth? Alyss looked at her and once more tried her best to sound friendly. “I am not going to kill you. There is no reason for that, as I said before. Besides, we are in a house full of electricity, I could have killed you as soon as grabbed that knife.”

It was a bluff of course. As weak as she was, the best she could have managed was a shock from her fingertips. Having the sense knocked out of her messed up her output a lot. “I know you probably do not believe me, but I really do not have any intention of killing you. Personally, I do not think I could kill an innocent person… Unless my life was in danger, of course; then it would be simply logical. However, I do not think you will try to harm me. After all, you had a perfectly good chance then, and you have patched my wounds now.”

Alyss scratched her head and then touched the eye patch on her right eye. She was slightly surprised that it was still there, but she was also relieved as she smiled at the touch of it. It was silly, but she was always upset when it was off. “Thank you for patching my wounds, by the way.”

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“Oh no, that’s fine,” Katyusha said as Rosaline placed her on the ground. “I don’t want to be a burden. Besides, I think I’m okay for the most part.” Once her feet hit the ground her vision shot back on. It caused her to flinch somewhat. She hoped that Rosaline couldn’t see it just as she also was trying her best to hide the fact that she could now see. She could simply imagine just how shocked she would be if she found out. Her “ability” was something she wouldn’t even tell her parents, much less Rosaline… no matter how nice she was.

“You said that y- N-never mind.” She wanted to ask Rosaline what she had meant by “once a mother”, but she was able to stop herself in time. What kind of question was that to ask anyone? “S-sorry…” Katyusha started trying to figure out where they were, but she couldn’t recognize anything. Of course, she didn’t exactly expect to. Instead, she just stuck close to Rosaline. If that woman ever came back, Katyusha expected that being next to Rosaline would be the safest place to be.
 
Lily gave a noncommittal “Hmm.” in reply, her tone indicating that she didn’t believe Alyss in the slightest…for why would she? The way this girl thought…she didn’t like it. She was just as hard to figure out as the Horned King, perhaps even more so. She had no emotion whatsoever; she only applied her own brand of logic to situa-tions, and it was…daunting. She was like some kind of robot, cold and calculating. She was an unfeeling monster. She had probably said that to get some sort of reaction out of Lily, to intimidate her into doing whatever she wanted. Having looked at her wounds, Lily doubted she’d even be able to stand for another hour at least…but what did she know? It was possible that this Alyss had orchestrated this entire outcome.

...was that it? Did she want Lily to fight in some insane war for her, because two witches would stand a better chance of winning? Lily felt as though a stone had lodged itself in her windpipe, and suddenly she had difficulty breathing as she began to panic. She’d never do something like that! But would she be able to help herself? If she asked Alyss outright, she’d just deny it all. That had been all she had done so far. She had only told Lily the truth once, and that had been for her own benefit. Lily should have killed her when she had the chance…or run away. Running would have been the better option…

“I’m not like you other witches. I’m not a monster.” Lily blurted out when Alyss had finished speaking, immediately regretting the words. Of course was just like the rest of them! Worse, because they had all willingly embraced what they had become. She was still fighting a losing battle, trying to pretend that she was human. If anything, she was the bigger liar, because she couldn’t admit what she was, not even to herself. But this witch was lying to her even now. Lily was horrified at the idea of killing an innocent, even to save her own life. What was so logical about doing something like that? This girl, she didn’t understand anything. Or perhaps she did, and she simply chose to ignore it, because she felt she was above it all. She certainly acted that way; treating Lily as though she was a stupid little girl who didn’t understand anything. Maybe she didn’t, but she knew enough. Witches – Alyss, the woman who had attacked her, Lily herself, all of them – deserved to die. That was all there was to it. “I just want to be left alone.” She said again, although she realised that this probably wasn’t going to happen.

Part of her felt bad for doubting Alyss, but it was a very small part. Lily had felt sorry for her, and she had been abused yet again. She had almost been killed by first a witch, then the Horned King, and now this complete stranger was giving her a lecture about logic. She couldn’t make sense of any of this.

“Forget it.” Lily said shortly, turning away, the slightest of flushes coming to her cheeks at having been thanked. Nobody ever thanked her for anything. Ironic, that the one person to do so was a monster without a shred of sincerity in her body. Her head throbbed painfully as a second memory – was that what these were? – flashed before her mind’s eye: Alyss, perhaps only slightly younger than she was now, yelling at someone…a work colleague? The rage emanating from the girl in her memory was so intense that Lily flinched away from her, only to find that her back was already against her bedroom wall. What had she gotten herself into here?

---

Rosaline noticed her flinch when she hit the ground. Typical teenager: they never wanted to look weak in front of anyone, they wanted to be strong and self-reliant, independent, and treated like what they imagined adults to be like. It was a sign that they were still, in every way asides from the physical, children. She decided not to call her out on it; all teenagers had their pride, after all, and being called out by a total stranger probably wouldn’t do much for her morale. Most adults were the same. There wasn’t that much of a difference between teenagers and self-styled adults, after all. It wasn’t until people got to their forties that they began to see life a little differently…this girl still had a way to go until she reached that point. Rosaline felt a small pang of nostalgia. She could still remember when she had been this girl’s age: young and naïve, studying and doing little else. Her own parents had had little cause to worry about her, for she had conformed to all their expectations…until she had stood before the Grey Priestess for the first time, anyway. Oh, how things had gone downhill from there…

Katyusha was about to ask her something, then broke off, offering a meek apology. “Something you wanted to know?” Rosaline asked, curious then about what she was going to say. The rain wasn’t about to let up, so they had nothing to do but talk in the meantime. Why had she suddenly come over all shy?
 
It wasn’t often that Alyss was on the opposite side of what appeared to be her own cold personality. Was this how others felt with they spoke to her? Suddenly, Alyss felt somewhat bad for the ones that tried to speak to her when she did nothing but shoot them down. Lily was now doing the same to her. It was clear from the way she was speaking she was not going to believe anything that Alyss had to say. She could have told her there was a giant bear behind her ready to kill her and she wouldn’t believe her.

Once again, she called Alyss a “monster”. It seemed to be her favorite choice of insult right next to “liar”. While Alyss started to feel a little annoyed, she didn’t want to blow up on the girl that just tended her wounds. The very least that Alyss could do was attempt to be courteous to her. However, Lily was making that very difficult. No matter what she did, no matter what she said, Lily was simply not going to listen to her.

Being left alone wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, it was very reasonable; Alyss knew the feeling far too well. Alyss watched as Lily suddenly flinched. Was she seeing what Alyss had seen earlier? Before, Alyss had seen Lily… perhaps now Lily was seeing Alyss? They were now sharing powers; it would make sense if they were now sharing memories as well. “You are… seeing things, are you not?” Alyss asked as she folded her arms against her chest.

She was just about to speak again when she realized something horrible. Her eye shot open as she gasped at the mere thought of it. If they were sharing memories, and Lily was starting to get them piece by piece… then it only made sense that Lily would eventually see what Alyss did when she got her powers. If Lily thought she was a monster now, she would go mad if she saw what Alyss did to her Mother. “Just… please, bear in mind: I had a reason for the things I did. I do not know if you have seen it yet… but I did have a reason.”

Lily was going to despise her and Alyss knew it. Hopefully she would understand that Alyss set herself free by doing what she did. Her Mother did awful things to her; she had to be stopped. Just like the Light Witch. Only, with her Mother, Alyss had won. There were many things Alyss wanted to say at that point, but she knew Lily wouldn’t believe her. All she could do now was sit back and rest as Lily was introduced to more of Alyss’ past and vice versa.

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“W-well, it’s… Nothing, really. Just forget I said anything,” Katyusha said. Rosaline may have been nice and calm, but there was no telling how anyone would react to a question like that. Not only that, it was rude and stupid of her to even think about. As she stood there, she couldn’t help but think of everything that happened to her today. What started off as a little trip around the block to explore and see things turned into a struggle to simply survive. She sighed at the thought of it. How could have things went so wrong?

For a second, she was about to lurch forward to touch the rain. Then she realized how odd that would look to Rosaline; a blind person being able to instantly know how far she had to go until she hit the rain would be odd. She hated lying to Rosaline… she really, really, did. However, she couldn’t have people knowing what she was. “Umm… do you mind if I touch the rain? I don’t get to feel it often.”
 
Listening to the woman's explanation for her knowledge, Richard couldn't help thinking something was off about her statement. Not wanting to cause a scene here he kept it to himself and kept up a facade so as not to bring suspicion onto himself too.

"It is good a Knight was there to save you, I just hope you continue to keep yourself safe on your own, there are greater threats out there than these"

Eying outside he noticed the rain was showing no signs of ceasing, when it was time for him to leave, he had best make sure it was a hasty return home, his armour wouldn't mix well with long term rainfall.

ooc: Poop post is poop :(
 
{OOC: Had to kick writer's block's ass. :hmph:}

[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]Jennyver admitted, she was taken by surprise when Poppy had stood up to plant a small kiss on her cheek. Looked like she had her ways of expressing gratitude, but it was clear that it was only a friendly gesture. What didn't seem clear to the Witch though was if the girl was born here or not – as Jennyver had lived in this block for almost two years now, yet never seen Poppy before until this day. She seemed like a well behaved girl though, so she wouldn't hold it against Poppy. [/FONT]


“[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]That way.” Poppy said, pointing in the direction where most of the markets were. A shop had just blown up from that direction, but it looked like it was safe to move that direction now, although it wouldn't surprise Jennyver if they closed that road sometime today. “Do you like coffee, Jenny? I like coffee.” Actually, Jennyver didn't drink coffee very often, but she did enjoy the various tastes of the kinds of roasts that were served. There was a Costa nearly everywhere in Covent Garden and the surrounding cities, and chances were that there was one down where Poppy was pointing.[/FONT]


“[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]I don't drink it very often. But yes, I am fond of coffee.” She replied. As Jennyver spoke, a slight drop of rain suddenly hit her cheek. Feeling the slight warmth of the water on her cheek in comparison to how cold her skin was, she looked up at the sky for a brief moment, seeing that it was about to rain. The weather anchor that worked at the nearby station was, once again, wrong about her prediction for today's weather. It was shocking that she hadn't been fired yet with all of the reports she had wrong. But the change of weather came so suddenly. It was scorching a moment ago. Jennyver didn't mind light rain, but she never knew just how light or heavy showers would get minutes after. [/FONT]


“[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]Do you live here, Jenny?” Was the next question that was asked. Bringing her attention back down to Poppy, Jennyver had just now noticed that nothing was worn underneath the dungarees that the girl had on. If a storm were to come and get too strong, she would highly risk getting a cold. [/FONT]


“[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]Yes, I do. That's my house right over there,” She pointed over at the white loft that they stood several yards away from. “In fact, if you'll excuse me, I should probably bring something with us on our way ...” After that, she had left Poppy at the mailbox before she walked quickly over to the porch in front of the door, eying the black umbrella that leaned on the wall underneath the overcast. Jennyver wondered maybe she had seen her parents before, but never Poppy herself. It didn't appear that she was new to the area. She grabbed the umbrella from the wall, not opening it yet, but held onto the curved handle as she walked back. Several more drops of rain had began to touch her skin as she walked back over to where Poppy stood. [/FONT]


“[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]Just in case the rain gets too heavy. But it's odd, the sky was clear a brief moment ago.” All of these unusual things occurring one after another. Either the weather woman was wrong again as usual, or there was more mystic nonsense happening. Holding the umbrella with one hand and grasping Poppy's hand again with the other. She glanced down at her as her body shifted to the direction the girl wanted to go. “Shall we roll on?” [/FONT]​
 
[OOC: Sorry I didn't post this yesterday, I was totally out of it. Going to push things along a little bit so we can get back into the swing of things. Sorry for the slight stagnation~]

“Let’s get coffee.” Poppy said, pleased that Jennyver was at least fond of it, even if she didn’t drink it very often: that explained why she was so oddly subdued, at any rate. Anyone who had had coffee in the morning wouldn’t be as quiet as she was. Poppy wondered then what she would be like once she was a little more energetic. She could always pump her full of adrenaline to find out, but that wouldn’t be quite as much fun. “Poppy will pay.” She said, with a finality that brooked no room for argument. In truth, she wouldn’t pay at all: she’d just convince whoever was in the shop to let them have it for free.

She shifted about impatiently whilst Jennyver dashed up to her house. It was a fairly unremarkable house, but it might be nice on the inside. Perhaps they'd come back to it tonight; the more she thought about it, the more curious she was. As Jennyver returned with an umbrella, Poppy's face fell slightly.

“Don’t you like rain, Jenny?” Poppy asked, a little upset at the thought, looking forlornly at the umbrella. Why didn’t people like rain? Rain was wonderful! Especially in this heat…Poppy couldn’t understand why people were so fond of the heat. Heat burned the skin, and it made it difficult to think clearly. For normal people, an-yway. As the Water Witch, Poppy was more or less immune to its effects; she just drew moisture from the air to keep herself cool. It had taken a lot of practice to get it right, but she had persevered with it. Her skin was waterproof as well, unless she didn’t want it to be…in this case, she allowed it to get wet, shivering in delight as the first few drops hit her skin before it started raining in earnest. Probably best not to reveal she was special, at least not yet, and Jenny might get a little curious if she didn’t get wet. Poppy felt the Sun’s power increase behind the clouds in response, the effect creating a rather unpleasant tingle in her body, and focused a little harder. The other witch was obviously trying to burn the clouds away, and that wasn’t very nice, was it? She obviously didn’t know who she was dealing with…but then, how could she, when the two had never met? Poppy needed to find her quickly and show her who was in charge, before she grew annoyed with her antics.

She took hold of Jennyver’s hand again possessively, half-leading, half-pulling her down the street, marching along as though she knew exactly where she was going, although in truth she only had a vague idea of what was around here; she didn’t come here that often. Things seemed to have quietened down a little bit, which meant that the witch had gone somewhere else; she was still trying to disperse the clouds, but the efforts were weaker, and not quite as frequent. She evidently wasn’t blowing things up anymore. Either way, that meant it would be quite difficult to find her now. Poppy pouted at the thought – she wanted to meet her! There was quite a lot of smoke about still, a mute testament to the destruction she had caused, and…was that a building she had knocked down? Poppy had to stand on tiptoe, but she could just about make it out in the distance. Something big had collapsed, at any rate. She must have been quite angry to do that. “Lots of fire around here.” She said then, half to Jennyver, half to herself. “I don’t like fire.”

After about five minutes, it was clear that the other witch had abandoned her efforts. Reluctantly, Poppy re-leased her hold on her clouds. It’d still rain for a little while – maybe fifteen or twenty minutes – but the skies would clear up again soon enough, although it’d hopefully be a little bit cooler now. If it started to get a bit humid, Poppy would just bring more rain, as humidity was much worse than heat. She was beginning to get a headache from keeping them there like that anyway; whoever this other witch was, she had put up quite a fight. Forcing changes in the weather like that – especially when it was this hot, and there weren’t many clouds about – was always quite difficult as well, even for one of Poppy’s talent. She’d need a little more power before she could freely control the weather. If this other witch could control the Sun, her powers would be ideal…if she’d stay still long enough for Poppy to find her.

As they turned a corner, Poppy spotted someone familiar: the old armoured lady who had been so nice to her earlier. She was taking cover under a canopy – she didn’t like the rain either? - with a girl who was perhaps slightly younger than Poppy with her.
“Hello again.” She said, smiling impishly up at the woman. But she was far more interested in the girl next to her, who seemed to be aware that she was there, but wasn’t meeting her eye. Was she blind? Oh, wasn’t that just adorable! She could have so much fun with a blind girl! She needed to get her away from this woman…although that shouldn’t prove too difficult a task. Poppy always got what she wanted, and she wanted this girl, now.

“Are you blind?” she asked her directly, taking hold of her outstretched hand and running her fingers over the palms. She wondered what sort of effect she could have on someone who was blind – the girl couldn’t see her, but she’d still have the same chemicals in her. It’d be an interesting experience for them both, once she got her away from the armoured lady.

---

“Alright…” Rosaline let the matter drop, careful to keep her tone casual, so as not to upset Katyusha. She wouldn’t push the girl if she didn’t want to ask, although if she was afraid she would upset Rosaline, she was sadly mistaken: Rosaline had been around for a very long time, she wouldn’t let words affect her anymore. Perhaps Katyusha was still nervous around her…she’d just need to show the girl that she could trust her. She was a little flighty, but she responded well to kindness. Rosaline would persevere with her; these things didn’t just happen, even if she had just saved her life. She could wait for Katyusha to open up and be comfortable around her.

“Go ahead.” She shook her head in slight dismay. What kind of life had this girl led, to ask for permission to do something so utter mundane, the kind of thing that anyone else would simply do? It was possible that this girl was just naturally nervous, but the way she said it…Rosaline privately promised herself that she would look into this girl’s background when she had the opportunity. There was something about all this that bothered her immensely. Was she kept in the house all the time? Why was she so afraid of her parents finding out she had gone outside without permission? She exhibited classic behaviour of someone who was being abused. If she asked Katyusha, she would probably panic, or just wildly deny everything, making it hard to tell whether or not she was really telling the truth, so she would have to work around her this time. If anything, she should be getting out more than a normal girl her age; staying in a house all day was extremely depressing. A Knight’s duty extended beyond the initial event, so Rosaline would need to make sure Katyusha was being properly looked after…it would give her an excuse to check in with her once in a while anyway. This girl clearly needed a friend, and she was becoming rather fond of her.

A familiar figure came from around the corner then, dragging a white-haired girl with her. She caught Rosaline’s eye, and gave her a heart-stopping little smile as she bounded up to her. “Hello again, Poppy.” Rosaline smiled, patting the girl on the head with a gloved hand. “What are you doing out here?” she would have frowned, because she could have sworn she told the girl to go home, but it was impossible to stay angry with one so young and innocent. The other girl should have known better, but it seemed she couldn’t bring herself to explain things to Poppy either. The life of someone so innocent must be filled with ignorant bliss. She wondered how Poppy would be when she reached her late teens/early twenties (how old was she, anyway? She was a little too tall to be twelve, but she couldn’t be much older, as she was barely grown) where all manner of physical stress and emotional hell tended to assail people. It was sad to think that the innocence of this girl would fade away with time.

“Getting coffee with Jenny.” The girl replied delightedly, looking back at the white-haired girl she had pointed out as her sister earlier. Rosaline gave her a small smile and a nod. She found it hard to believe these two were related – they looked absolutely nothing alike, for one – but nonetheless, why would this girl lie about any-thing? She didn’t seem to be capable of understanding what a lie was, anyway.
“I was actually on my way to get something to drink with Katyusha here.” She said then, indicating the blind girl who Poppy was now talking to, eyes alight with curiosity. “Would you object if we joined you? It’s been a bit of a rough morning, so it’d be nice to relax, even if only for fifteen minutes. My name is Rosaline, by the way.” She said then, extending a hand to the white-haired girl, remembering her manners.

She’d escort these girls to a shop of their choosing, and then she would take her leave. Katyusha would be bet-ter off with girls her own age, and Rosaline really needed to get back to work anyway; she needed to locate the other Witchslayer, Richard, so that they could formulate a strategy for countering these witch threats. She didn’t really have time to sit down and have lunch with girls young enough to be her grandchildren. The Light Witch, assuming she did return to this area, wouldn’t be looking for Katyusha anyway, and it would be harder to find her in a group.

---

Her tone filled Lily with trepidation, and she suddenly felt extremely guilty. What right did she have to look into the only human part of this girl that was left? But no, she hadn’t asked for this, and she would take it all back if she could.

…what if this went both ways? What if Alyss saw all those times Lily had been selfish? What would she think of her then, if she saw all that? The idea of someone knowing her so intimately – especially someone like Alyss – terrified Lily far more than death did. She would be helpless before this girl if she had all her secrets laid bare.

What if she saw—

As if sharing her thought process, Alyss shuddered then, and started babbling about having reasons for what she had done in her past; something Lily had not even seen yet. Her tone (so unlike her, or at least what Lily had seen of her thus far) filled her with fear. What had she done to get her so worried? Why did she even care about what Lily thought of her anyway? Why did Lily care about what Alyss thought of her in return? They were mortal enemies! They couldn’t bond in any way! Yet it was happening, and if Alyss was as worried about it as Lily, then she was probably equally as powerless to stop it…although Lily wanted nothing more than to blame her for all this.

“You’re…lonely, aren’t you?” Lily asked then, knowing instinctively that she wasn’t wrong, “Nobody understands…nobody cares…nobody can be trusted.” She shivered, hugging herself. They were more alike than she had first thought, and it upset her. They were totally opposite personalities, how could they be so similar? Were all witches like this? Miserable, pathetic shells of humans, desperately alone, all seeking a friend, just like Lily herself? If that was the case, why did they fight? The Horned King had never specifically said they had to fight, so why did they? How many fought, and how many just tried to get by, just like her?

To Lily, fighting was fighting, be it in self-defence or aggression. It was all wrong. Alyss had fought in aggression, then in self-defence, before she had been overwhelmed. She was everything Lily hated and feared, yet she felt an odd…kinship? Was that what it was? First security, now kinship. This made absolutely no sense whatsoever. The only thing the two shared was that they were both witches…and profoundly lonely. They just dealt with it in different ways. Alyss was…stronger than she was. Lily realised then that, perhaps what terrified her the most, was that if she had reacted differently to the events in her life, she could have become exactly like Alyss. They weren’t as different as she had first thought…
 
[FONT=&quot]Freya could only express annoyance when the knight gave a terse and curt response to the woman and made a hasty retreat from the store into the tempestuous rain. Did he just ignore her question – the very question asking for the actual confirmation of witches and the Order’s ultimate desire to see them hunted down like dogs? Perhaps this was protocol. He was not allowed to openly discuss such delicate matters to members of the public presumably, so his hasty retreat was probably out of unease. Still, Freya was paradoxically relieved that this imposing presence had abandoned the premises. Being in the wake of his presence was certainly a major risk, considering the fact that she was a witch and his profession was that of an Order soldier. They were enemies. If the knight had caught on, she would have found herself in nothing but mortal peril. She had no intention of dying. She had no intention of confrontation. She had no intention of tearing down this wall of normality now and to live as a fugitive. The very thought of the latter terrified her – no, everything terrified her. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He looked like an accomplished actor. Clad in that armour, its significance had to be more than it seemed. For as long as she had lived, the Order argued that the armour was nothing more than a symbolic tradition, essentially like a uniform that identified one’s occupation. Only recently had it occurred to Freya that there was something concealed from the public, something that the Order was not telling the populace, and hiding behind the opaque veil. If the eavesdropping woman at the adjacent table had anything to go by, that veil was growing more translucent by the day. Freya had nothing to ask her and instead, the fact that she was very well aware of the witches’ existence troubled her. Her own enthusiasm for the Order – or at least what her words appeared to project anyhow – coupled with this as well. If she too found out that Freya was indeed a witch, it would only be one step away from being forcibly hunted down and taken away by the sternest of the Order’s acolytes and swordsmen. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“I guess he was in a hurry,” Freya could only say after several moments of silence, in which she had enough time to hastily swallow the remains of her latte cup. The warm concoction slid down her throat, leaving behind the familiar and comfortable sensation. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Gazing outside, she could see that the rain had slightly subsided, or perhaps she was imagining it. Nothing would really surprise her anymore. She endured more than enough today than she could otherwise handle and she was certain that the entire city had as well. She could easily imagine the city’s lamentation manifesting as the heavy rain. Witches – harbingers of destruction, wasn’t that all they were? Messengers of wrath and chaos chosen by Satan himself, at least one of them had come down on [/FONT][FONT=&quot]London[/FONT][FONT=&quot] like the Anti-Christ himself and had done all this. Even if she had the strength to, she could never ever think about confronting any of her own kind. The thought actually terrified her – the very emotion that she had rarely experienced in the past. How strange it was that ever since her mother died, the emotion of terror was beginning to rear its head, keen to surface after years of suppression within her. All Freya could do was to avoid her own kind and attempt to maintain her normal life as much as possible. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]My own kind? Ha! They’re devils, employed by the devil, created for devilry. I’m not one of them. I’m still a human and I’m living as a human. No way would I want to meet any of the other witches. Humans and devils do not peacefully mingle with one another before the latter wishes to ignite the former into flames. The fact of the matter is this city isn’t safe anymore with a witch running around…[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It pained her to say it, but Freya was now seriously considering the possibility of abandoning [/FONT][FONT=&quot]London[/FONT][FONT=&quot] – her hometown, the bastion of so many fond memories, and the only place she had ever felt like she belonged in – and moving away, perhaps northwards. To have to leave this place and be even further away from her dear sisters pained her. She wanted nothing more than to be close to them again and to even embrace them once again as if she were the mother. Yet she could not stay here, not with a witch on the loose and the Order most concentrated here, their swords hungry for the witches’ blood. It did not need the eavesdropping woman here to tell her that. Her intuition had already suspected that, which was why she had always until now, sought to avoid members of the Order at all costs. At the moment, the thought of leaving the store crossed her mind.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“I guess I should get going as well,” Freya said to her, while absent-mindedly shaking and creasing the latte cup in her hands, “I think the rain has gone down a bit, but knowing my luck, it’ll probably pick up again in a moment. I just wish I can know what the heck is up with the weather. 27-[/FONT][FONT=&quot]8C[/FONT][FONT=&quot] cloudless sunny weather was all they said. Oh I don’t know…” as she stood, the rose on her hem top had fallen, causing her to hastily fumble around on the floor for it. The elusive thing regularly did that, it was a wonder why she bothered having it.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“I didn’t get your name by the way,” Freya was never too fond of remembering a face without a name, no matter how brief the meeting was, but she had a suspicion lurking in her that this would not be the first and last time they would meet. Why she had this suspicion she had no idea, but as the day was already eventful enough, anything could happen. “The name’s Freya,” she continued, “Hope uhh, we weren’t bothering you or anything. And uhh yeah, I’ll keep the witches in mind then!” this last line felt horribly feeble, but then again Freya was not exactly known for wonderfully-executed words to other people. As long as she left no trace of suspicion that there was more to her than met the eye, then that was all that mattered. She already slung her handbag over her shoulder and her rose clutched in her palm. To reattach it onto her top the way she wanted it now would be unnecessary hassle and for some reason, she decided that it would definitely be in her best interests to leave. Despite the eagerness in heading to the door now, she was anticipating for the woman’s name nonetheless.[/FONT]
 
Alyss pondered Lily’s question for a couple of minutes. Was she lonely? She already knew the answer to that. But what she really wanted to know was why Lily’s attitude had suddenly changed. Lily was cold before, and showed very little signs of changing her opinion on Alyss being a “monster”. Yet now, she was asking Alyss if she was lonely. Of course she was… Alyss was always lonely. Ever since her Father died she had been so.

From Lily’s speech, treating Alyss with the cold shoulder earlier wasn’t something limited to just her. Lily seemed to believe that everyone was a monster. Was she really that far from the truth? Alyss knew first hand that people didn’t care, they didn’t understand, and that no one could be trusted. However, for Alyss a few more stipulations were in order. She looked up at Lily with a forlorn look on her face. “You would be very correct about that.” Her voice matched the expression on her face. In all reality, it was the most emotion she had exhibited all day.

“However, I have gotten used to it. When my Father was alive, I had never really had friends. I did not mind though, my Father was all the company in the world. After his passing… w-well… in time you will see. Let us just say that I was no longer in good company in the hands of my Mother.” Alyss didn’t want to go into detail about that just yet. If Lily was seeing Alyss’ memories, she would eventually see all of the tortures her Mother had put her through… and she would eventually see what happened when Alyss could no longer take it.

She sighed deeply as she kept thinking about Lily’s question. “People are… confusing for me. I never know the right thing to say, I cannot seem to read them right, and I cannot ever express myself properly. At work, I get angry. They are unreliable, incompetent, and foolish. After a while of this… I simply got used to being lonely. It is illogical for me to want the company of others. However, that is how most emotions are: Illogical. Yet I still get angry sometimes, and I still get annoyed at times… I suppose if I can feel those things, then logically, I should be able to feel happy. Yet those times are very little and far few in between, I find. There is no sense looking for something that exists in such limited quantities when the outcome is so… insignificant.”

Most others would have looked at Alyss like some sort of robot. But to Alyss, that’s the way she saw everything. Other had black and white, good and bad, and things of that nature. Alyss had logical and illogical; rational and irrational. Emotions… happiness simply went on the illogical end of that spectrum. “I suppose my own happiness is irrelevant to the main objective; which is to simply survive; to live…” She turned her head so that Lily wouldn’t see a solitary tear stream down her face. Alyss hadn’t spoken to anyone like that in a long time.

She quickly changed the subject. “So… what have you seen so far? It appears that I do not see your memories as quickly as you see mine. I just fear when you see that you will be no longer willing to speak to me. Hopefully you see the events leading up to it, or otherwise…” She stopped talking. Alyss was quickly becoming paranoid about it. Lily wouldn’t enjoy what she saw, whether she saw the events leading up to it or not. “Perhaps you are right… maybe I am a monster.” She had rambled on like she hadn’t in a long time. It was odd for her… very odd.

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Rosaline allowed her to reach out and touch the rain. Katyusha smiled as she slowly edged towards the street. She was careful not to go out to far, and in all reality she could have just walked up like normal and touched it. Yet she knew it would simply appear odd if she did. Two girls walked up then, but Katyusha made sure not to look at them for too long. One of them was… odd. She could see that she was wearing what looked like overalls, and Rosaline seemed to know her as she called her “poppy”.

Two people with names of flowers in one day… Katyusha smiled a little bit at the coincidence.

As they talked, Katyusha went to go touch the rain. She could still hear them, but she wasn’t paying too much attention to them. The rain was too great for her to miss. Katyusha never got a chance to feel it often as she was always in the house. There would be times she would be out in the yard when it happened to start raining, but she never got to stay out there for too long before she was led inside by her Mother or Father. They weren’t being mean; they were simply far too protective of her.

Katyusha jumped as Poppy touched her. She could have seen her, but she was paying far too much attention to the rain. However, it was probably a good thing that she didn’t. She had to be sure that no one knew that she could see. That much was evident to her. “Are you blind?” She asked. Poppy then ran her fingers over her wet palms. “Y-yes, I am, actually.”

Suddenly, she felt funny… and she couldn’t concentrate like she once did. Her “vision” seemed to be flickering all of a sudden. She tried to get a grip on it, but found that it was quickly becoming a lost cost. Instead, she simply started to speak to Poppy. It was so odd… normally she would care more if her vision just cut out like that… but nothing seemed to matter much at the moment. All she wanted to do now was speak to Poppy.

“I am Katyusha… your name is Poppy, right? That is such a… pretty name,” she said. Her voice sounded as if she were almost in some sort of trance. Although it wasn’t normal for her… she didn’t question it. Not once did it cross her mind at all. She felt as if she could trust Poppy with her life. “And that person with you is ‘Jenny’, did you say? H-hello…”
 
“How does it feel?” Poppy asked curiously, tracing a circular pattern with her middle finger in the girl’s upturned palm. Although she was asking about being blind – imagine, not being able to see the flowers! Or the rain! She’d absolutely hate it – she was also quite curious to see how she reacted to the subtle alterations she was making to her hormone levels, so the question had two meanings, not that she would know that. But, judging from her quickened breathing and the stuttering as she introduced herself and complemented Poppy, it was working quite well. So, being blind didn’t really hinder anything…although prompting lust in her without arousing her natural suspicion might be a little difficult, since she couldn’t actually see Poppy, and lust tended to be based on physical appearance, at least initially. Just as well that she wasn’t really looking for that kind of playmate right now and, if she was, she would pick Jenny to play the role instead; she was much prettier.

Her grin broadened. This girl might be even more fun to play with though, since her imagination would do much of Poppy’s work for her. She relaxed her grip on the girl’s system; after the initial contact, she didn’t really need to do much, unless she wanted to cause a certain response immediately. After they had been given a taster, people were unwilling to let go of the good feelings she provoked in them, and so they kept close to her, in the hope that they’d continue to feel that way. Being around her was usually enough to keep people happy. If she needed to, she was confident she could get anyone to do anything she wanted, with the right amount of…persuasion. Certainly, the skill had never failed her in the past.

“Katyusha?” No, Poppy didn’t much like that name, either. It was too…hard to say. It felt like she was trying to chew around a particularly large mouthful of food when she said it. She definitely needed a nickname. As had been the case with Jennyver, it didn’t take her long to find the cutest variant:”Katty!” she laughed happily, kissing the girl on the cheek. Yes, that was much better.

---

Lily listened in silence, imagining how awkward it must be for Alyss not to receive any response to any of this. Normally, this would be the other way around, with Lily trying to pour her heart out, and her unfortunate listener just sitting there, wondering what they could possibly say, burdened by her troubles; troubles they had never really asked to know. But…she was unwilling to talk of her own parents, to share her own feelings on the matter. She couldn’t speak of her mother…she couldn’t forgive her, or forgive herself, for what had happened. Her father…well, after that incident, he had abandoned her. He saw what Lily was before Lily herself had: a tainted thing, a creature to be shunned, not even worthy of pity. In any case, if Alyss was seeing her memories as though they were her own, then she would see it all in time anyway. Lily shuddered at the thought. She couldn’t stand to see people looking at her like she was sub-human, or something to be pitied. She knew better than they did what was wrong with her, and that nothing could be done to change it. Seeing it every time she looked into someone else’s eyes…

Lily found that she couldn’t articulate her thoughts; she had never been very good at putting things into words. However, unlike Alyss, she said nothing at all. But she firmly believed that happiness should take priority over survival…what was the point in living if you could not find happiness? Without happiness, there was only despair, and nobody could live a life of despair. She must have some hope; regardless of what she thought, she couldn’t be incapable of feeling happiness, or given up searching for it. If she had, she would have given up and died long before now. She simply couldn’t recognise it for what it was, when she came across it. Just like Lily. Happiness was a feeling experienced only in hindsight, not in the moment, which she over-analysed and, thus, entirely missed the point: things were supposed to be enjoyed, and not considered and reconsidered until the only logical conclusion one could make was that it was all meaningless. Emotion - life itself, even - defied logic, and it defied words.

She wanted to say all of this, now, to make her understand, but could meet her words with nothing but silence, and felt a burning shame. Was she truly so useless that she could not even help a monster see what being human was? But then, Lily was no longer human either, was she? What would she know about it? She shouldn’t really be placing herself above Alyss when she herself was no different…she hated her, yes, but she hated herself, as well. She was being selfish…again. Suddenly, she realised how she must have come across to this girl, and felt extremely guilty. This was why she didn’t have any friends: she was far too self-centred, wrapped up in her own world, expecting people to conform to her expectations. When she realised this, she could never apologise for it, for how could she apologise for her own existence?

“Well…maybe you should try living in the moment. Some things aren’t supposed to be understood…like emotions.”

…what kind of a response was that? It sounded as though she was trying to force her own beliefs onto Alyss and, monster or no, she didn’t deserve that. “Never mind. Sorry.” Lily mumbled, hoping she’d just forget the whole thing. She was more than a little taken aback by her sudden (supposed) openness, as though she had to explain everything Lily saw, when in truth Lily understood what she saw perhaps better than Alyss did…after all, she tried to deny herself emotion, and was thus blind to them when she did experience them. Lily could see with astonishing clarity the happiness Alyss had experienced in her life. She had been lonely when reading, but there was joy to be found in the memory as well; the joy of escaping into another reality, or in learning something new. That private sense of accomplishment people had when they learned something new, that feeling of comprehension that then translated into satisfaction, which was a kind of happiness, or at least contentment. Happiness came in many forms, and the form people experienced was never the form that they necessarily wanted, and so it went unnoticed. But then, who was Lily to make a judgement like that? Just be-cause Alyss had a different way of seeing things, that automatically made her wrong and it made Lily right? She could be reading too much into things herself. Were emotions really that basic? Of course not.

That? What was she talking about? Lily shivered reflexively, once again unable to reply. She was already ap-palled at her displays of raw anger, even more so now that she could see the reasoning behind it. What else could she have done that would have her so nervous? It must have been something truly awful…Lily could not imagine what it may be, but if it truly was so terrible, she doubted that even seeing the circumstances that led up to it would change her views.

“You are.” She said it with an absolute certainty. “All witches are monsters. Which means…I’m one, too…”

It was the first time she had ever said it aloud, and she felt herself crying again. To say it aloud was to give it an undeniable finality. There was no going back now; Lily had well and truly cast herself away from humanity with that admission. She had given up. Perhaps she was not long for this world, now that she had realised the truth…for what did she have to live for now? She wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeves, trying to regain control to answer Alyss’ question. “N-not m-much. Particular moments…feelings…things.” She finished, some-what lamely. Alyss seemed to be under the impression she was seeing a lot more than she let on, and Lily was not exactly helping matters. For her part, Lily did not wish to know what Alyss had seen. She’d know what she saw by the look in her eyes. She knew the look, for it was one that everyone who discovered the truth gave her. Alyss would be no different…
 
[OOC: Last short post, I swear.]

Alyss listened to Lily’s words carefully. Living in the moment… she had never thought about that. There was not a single time in her life where Alyss wasn’t planning ahead. Everything she did was thought out and calculated. She never approached a single thing without some sort of plan. From simple human interactions to going about her daily things, she was always considering options and planning her next move. She had never once considered not doing these things.

However, Lily seemed apologetic after she had said it. Alyss didn’t believe she should have been. She had simply done what Alyss did often; speak her mind. It would be complete and total hypocrisy to get angry with Lily for saying that. Even as Lily confirmed that Alyss was indeed a monster in her eyes, Alyss wasn’t angry with her. Even if she had the same view about herself… Alyss didn’t truly believe that either of them were monsters. However, it was upsetting that there was nothing that Alyss could do to perhaps get the girl to change her mind.

Lily had started crying as she told Alyss that she hadn’t seen much. Of course, things probably wouldn’t stay that way for long. It was only a matter of time before Lily saw Alyss killing her Mother in cold blood. She stood up rather slowly and made her way over to Lily. Due to the wounds of her legs, she moved slowly and limped. Once she was beside her, she simply sat down. “There is no need to cry. I do not really believe either of us to be monsters. Sure we can do things that no one else should be able to, but if anything, that makes us… better.”

“Think of us as an improvement over the design flaw of normal humans,” once again, Alyss’ voice had grown slightly cold as she spoke. “While we do have the makings of destruction in us… it does not mean that we use our powers to destroy. I do not believe you have killed anyone, and I attacked that Witch to try and stop her from being destructive. We are what we make of ourselves, not what you believe our abilities to make us.”

She smiled at Lily hoping to cheer her up a bit. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small handkerchief and handed it to Lily. “Please, do not cry. There really is no reason to, everything will be fine, I promise.”

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That was quite an odd question for someone to ask. However, Katyusha didn’t mind at all. Poppy was so nice… and she was wonderful… of course it was okay for her to ask a question like that. “It’s okay… I guess. Sometimes it can be frustrating, but overall, I really don’t mind.” For some reason she felt oddly pleased that she had answered Poppy’s question. A nagging feeling at the back of her head kept telling her that something was very, very, wrong… but Katyusha ignored it. That was just her mind playing tricks on her.

Yet, she still couldn’t see. Her vision clicked off shortly after Poppy had touched her. Katyusha was no longer able to concentrate for some reason. Despite her feet being on the ground, she couldn’t see anything at all. It was just as if she were wearing shoes or if she was walking on carpet. Yet, Katyusha couldn’t bring herself to care much. At that moment she just wanted to be near Poppy who was so nice and wonderful. Once again the nagging feeling came back, but once again Katyusha simply pushed it aside.

“Katty is fine… I don’t mind,” she said. Her tone seemed almost dronish, yet full of wonder at Poppy. Normally, she would have hated having a nickname like that. Yet she didn’t care now. Katyusha turned around to face Rosaline, her eyes met nothing as usual. “Rosaline, some coffee would be nice, if you don’t mind. I am so thirsty… and I would like to get to know Poppy better, and Jenny. Poppy seems so… wonderful.”
 
{OOC: Inb4 Rosaline being called Rosy.}
​


“[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]I do, really. Walking while it is sprinkling is fine, but I hate risking getting sick if the rain starts to turn into a heavy storm.” As she was being dragged along by the energetic girl, Jennyver actually couldn't remember the last time she caught a cold. Not even that one time where she had to stand two hours in a rainstorm waiting for a friend, with no umbrella or poncho to keep her from getting drenched. It was something she'd rather not think about, as what was the main concern back during that time made her cringe. But now wasn't the time to think about that.[/FONT]
[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]Jennyver continued to follow Poppy through the streets full of cadavers. Not that she had much of a choice – as her wrist was tightly held onto by the smaller girl. Even though she had the complete right to object, she had no reason to. Besides, it was a good time to see what was really happening around this area. She remembered the explosion from not too far that was big enough to make her whole loft rattle, and she was sure that she was near the targeted place. Eventually, the main scene of destruction was seen, as her and Poppy continued to walk by. Everything was quiet, yet the atmosphere was very eerie. “Lots of fire around here... I don't like fire.” Poppy had said that as if she were lost in thought, yet it was like she took Jennyver's thoughts right out of her head and spoke them for herself. [/FONT]


[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]It would take quite a while for that shop to be repaired. It was the local pie shop, not very far from where the Witch lived as she technically did live right next to the shopping district of Covent Garden. But it wasn't just the shop that needed fixing, this whole road needed to be cleaned up. Various patches of ground were in flames, vehicles were demolished. Only this could be caused so quickly by the powers that the horned king described to her. She now accepted that there was more than likely a Witch within the vicinity. As she thought this, the rain had gotten just gradually harder, but it didn't feel like it would last very long.[/FONT]
[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]Eventually, they were near some of the shops that people would go to for breakfast or drinks. White eyes caught something in their corners and Jennyver glanced over to see that there were still people outside. Underneath one of the building's canopies, there was a woman, clad in armor, and a girl that looked a bit over Poppy's age, but younger than her own. They could have been regular citizens, taking cover from the rain and anymore possible danger that could happen, but Jennyver was corrected as Poppy suddenly greeted the older woman. [/FONT]


“[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]What are you doing out here?” The woman asked. It was nearly the same thing Jennyver asked when she saw Poppy by herself before. “Getting coffee with Jenny.” Was the only reply given. They must have met before Jennyver did, but what kind of woman was she anyway? To be dressed in such attire, it must have been dreadfully hot for her earlier. She smiled lightly as the woman's eyes redirected to meet hers.[/FONT]
“[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]I was actually on my way to get something to drink with Katyusha here.” She said then. White eyes then glanced over at the other girl. Her hair was a sleek black color, and she seemed to be paying attention to the voices around her, but at the same time, she did seem a little lost. Poppy surely seemed intrigued by her condition though . But come to think of it, she seemed intrigued by a lot of things, from what Jennyver learned about her so far. “Would you object if we joined you? It’s been a bit of a rough morning, so it’d be nice to relax, even if only for fifteen minutes. My name is Rosaline, by the way.” [/FONT]


“[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]And that person with you is ‘Jenny’, did you say? H-hello…” Katyusha was speaking to Poppy, yet greeted the Frost Witch at the same time. The girl sounded so dazed. [/FONT]A hand stretched out offering a greeting to her, and Jennyver brought hers out to meet it so they would shake properly. “We don't mind at all. And nice to meet you both, I'm Jennyver. Shorten it to your liking if you want to.”


“[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]Katyusha?” Poppy then spoke out. Just like with Jennyver's own name, there was a trace of confusion and disappointment in the way she sounded out the blind girl's name. “Katty!” Was the newer name given in Poppy's book. If an adult were to refer to everyone with aliases such as these, it would probably seem childish, if not annoying. But this did suit Poppy's personality, however old she could have been. That was the only thing she was unaware of. From the sound of Katyusha's response, she didn't mind being accompanied by two more people. Although she was giving just as much attention to Poppy as Poppy was to her, which seemed rather odd, even if she was blind. Bringing her attention back to Rosaline, she held her umbrella down against the concrete. [/FONT]


“[FONT=Century Gothic, sans-serif]There should be a costa near here. We head there for coffee if that's fine. Other than home, that seems to be the only safe option around currently with four in a crowd.” [/FONT]​

 
[OOC: Damnit! :hmph:
Also, Westminster Cathedral is secretely a hole for the Grey Order, because religious conspiracies are fun.]

So, she thought they were…better, than other people? How could Lily possibly be better than anyone else? She shook her head violently at the very thought. No, they were definitely worse. They had become less than human, and these abilities that had been laid on them, these curses, were just a mocking joke; powers that did not really belong to them, and turned them into monsters. Power always corrupted. Witch’s only capabilities were those of destruction, for their powers set them apart from the rest of humanity, but this was not a good thing. It made them outcasts of society; shunned and inferior, not revered and superior. They could never fit into society.

“You’re wrong.” She said quietly, trembling again. Her tone, more than anything else, frightened Lily: she genuinely believed the madness she was saying. No doubt for her the Horned King visiting her had been the happiest day of her life…

A sharp stab of pain in her head snapped Lily’s head back, as though she had been struck, and the scene in front of her blurred, then vanished, and she found that she sat in the corner of a different room. Directly in front of her was a charred corpse, light wisps of smoke still rising from it. Standing over the corpse was Alyss, a look of confusion, surprise, and – to Lily’s shock - unrestrained joy on her face. She said something then, although Lily could not hear what, due to the thunder of her heartbeat in her ears, and then turned and walked out of the room, leaving Lily along with the corpse. She had been reluctant to look upon it, but did so now. Although she had never seen the woman before she knew, instinctively, who it was: Alyss’ own mother. She recoiled in horror, just as a loud explosion rocked the house, and flames erupted in the room, blinding her.

Her eyes opened – when had she closed them? – and found she was now lying on the floor, a hand pressed hard to her eyes, as though seeking to gouge them out. She bolted upright, looking around wildly. Had that been another memory? As her gaze travelled over Alyss, then stopped at her eye, Lily flinched at what she saw there. That hadn’t been a figment of her imagination, it had actually happened. Alyss had killed, and she was willing to do so again. All that she had said up to this point had been a lie. The only true word to escape her mouth had been her true name, and she had revealed that only to get Lily to reveal hers, so she could acquire more power and thus continue her killing spree; she knew Lily would reveal her own in exchange, because that was the kind of person she was.

Lily had been right about her all along. Something snapped, and she suddenly found herself awash in emotions she had not felt in a very long time. Gone was the fear, in its place, something far more alien to her: anger. Lily was, for the first time in years, angry. She was angry enough to tear this creature limb-from-limb, to kill her, as she had killed her mother, as she would have killed that other witch, as she no doubt wanted to kill Lily now. The room darkened, and Lily knew it would be easy; she was still weak. She could summon creatures that would tear her to pieces in a matter of seconds. She had never felt more in control of her abilities; whether it was due to her anger or the part of Alyss’ powers she received, she didn’t know, and frankly did not care at this point. Yet still, in spite of everything, Lily knew that she would never be able to live with herself if she did it, for that would make her no better than the creature in front of her. She had a choice, did she? Then she would make the right choice.

“You think you have a choice, and you choose to kill people anyway?” Lily said then, her voice barely a whisper. She spoke of killing being a problem, and she went and did something like that? It was too much for her to think about, and she was determined that she was not going to listen to anything else Alyss said, “You think your powers make you superior, so you decide to show it by killing your own mother? I should have let the other witch kill you! Get away from me!”

Before Alyss could even respond, Lily was gone, letting the gathering shadows take her away. She didn’t want to hear any more of the girl’s lies. She had tricked her into sharing her name, although she hadn’t bargained on Lily seeing her memories. She had sought an ally in her war; Lily doubted very much now that it was the other witch who had started the conflict. Tried to stun her so she could talk? It was more likely Alyss had just tried a direct approach in acquiring the woman’s powers, which had failed, and the other witch had retaliated. Suddenly, Lily felt very sorry for her: she had likely been trying to get away in the taxi they were in, and she must have been just as scared as Lily had been. If she ever saw her again – which she prayed she didn’t – then she would have to apologise to her. She had chosen to help the wrong person, and now she was more powerful than she had been before, thanks to her idiocy.

She emerged in a street she did not recognise, stumbling out of an alleyway like someone drunk, the heavy rain – that was odd, it wasn’t supposed to rain today - washing away what was left of Alyss’ blood from where she had cleaned her wounds on her hands, and soaking through her dress to her skin in a matter of seconds. The street was almost entirely empty, save for a few people running back and forth under umbrellas, completely unmindful of the trembling, wretched girl at the side of the street. Unmindful of the weather, Lily sat down at the side of the road, legs pulled-up and head bowed, and began to cry, infrequently shuddering as the rain pelted her from above with castigating, freezing droplets.

What now? She couldn’t go back home, and had nowhere else she could stay. She had nothing other than her clothes, and powers that she couldn’t use, because to do so would only put lives in danger. She had abandoned Katyusha, and she couldn’t trust Alyss, because she was a killed who wanted nothing more than to use her for her own selfish reasons. It wouldn’t be long – maybe six hours – until it would be dark, and then the darkness would take her for its own, or someone would chance across her and rape her again. She could do nothing but sit and wait for her fate to claim her, whatever that may be.

---

"That'll be fine." Rosaline said, inwardly marvelling at how completely different these girls were. Poppy's companion, Jennyver, she was...cold. There was no other way to describe it. She had nerves of steel to be so calm in times like these; even Rosaline was panicking in some part. Although, that said, Rosaline knew precisely what was going on, and this girl didn't, so it wasn't surprising. She had never met a person - even a Witchslayer - who did not feel some slight trepidation when a witch started killing people...

A familiar sound assailed Rosaline’s ears then: the sound of rain hammering in futility against armour, and the soft clanking that always accompanied those wearing armour. Looking around for its source, she finally spotted him going in the opposite direction, turning a corner and vanishing down the road. That had to be him; Sir Richard, the other Witchslayer in London. She would recognise that armour anywhere, it was almost as distinc-tive as her own. At least she wouldn’t have to look for him.

She hesitated then. Could she really afford to leave these girls alone? But then, could she really afford to take them with her? Keeping them with her might be more dangerous than letting them go…the Light Witch must be far from here by now, she wouldn’t be looking for Katyusha, and if she did, then she’d have a problem finding her among all these people. She was still worried about her health, but she seemed alright, and Jenny would know what to do if she collapsed. She seemed to be quite taken with Poppy, so it wasn’t as though she were leaving her on her own. She’d be fine.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to go. We’ll have to have coffee together another time. But, please, be careful. The streets are especially dangerous at the moment.” She looked around nervously as the clanking sound grew fainter. She’d lose track of him if she stayed here too much longer, “Katyusha, stay with Poppy and Jennyver until you go home, and remember what I said about causing unnecessary worry. If any of you girls need me for anything, or you find--“ she hesitated, unsure of how to word this, “--you’re caught up in something… strange, go to Westminster Cathedral and ask for me. I’ll be with you within the hour.”

She really shouldn’t have told any of them that – the exact location of the Order was supposed to be kept se-cret to all but those who were inducted into the Order itself – but there was no helping it. The Order had a second, more public temple, yet it was within the Cathedral that their most prominent members gathered, and the Grey Priestess Herself resided. But then, who would these girls tell? It wasn’t as though any of them were witches…Poppy was too young, and Katyusha was blind. Jennyver seemed to have enough common sense, and no ill intent, so it was unlikely that she was a witch. It was risky, telling these girls to be careful without giving them an idea of what they were up against, but telling them that were psychotic monsters with the power to control the elements that looked exactly like girls around their own age would not only sound bizarre, it’d just make them panic. The existence of witches was revealed on a need-to-know basis, and these girls – especially Katyusha and Poppy – did not need to know.

“I’ll try to catch up with you all again soon. Take care.” Rosaline lifted a hand in farewell, then turned away and was off down the street at a jog, heading down the same street Richard had just gone down, picking up the pace when she was out of sight. She needed to catch up with him, so the two could plan precisely what they were going to do about all this…

---

“OK, Auntie Rosie.” Poppy said then, externally disappointed that she was leaving so soon, but inwardly de-lighted. She had been gnawing on the problem of how to get rid of her since they had met up again, but she had solved that for her, and she was literally handing Poppy her desired toy. “We’ll take good care of Katty.” She promised, still clutching the girl’s hand.

She hadn’t taken her “eyes” off Poppy since she had introduced herself, and she wondered if she had over-done things a little. She must be extra sensitive to Poppy’s general aura, and having her hormones messed with. Poor thing was all mixed up, and all she knew was that she loved it. Poppy’s smile broadened at the thought. She hadn’t even experienced a fraction of the levels of joy Poppy could provoke in someone. How would she react when Poppy’s full attention was on her? It would be interesting to see.

It wasn’t just that which bothered her, however – it was that unblinking stare, always fixed on Poppy. Poppy had the distinct feeling that she could actually see her. But she was blind, so that couldn’t be possible. It was likely that she was just looking at where she expected Poppy’s head to be based on the feeling of the girl’s hand in hers, and she was being slightly paranoid. She wondered if all blind people did that. As Katty was the only blind person she had ever found, Poppy couldn’t be sure. But she was definitely…special. Maybe not in the way Poppy was special, but there were other ways someone could be special.

She watched Rosaline hastily turn the corner and vanish from sight, and then looked at each of her newfound toys in turn. “Shall we go, then?” she asked happily, “I think it’s nearly stopped raining…for now.”
 
"It is good a Knight was there to save you, I just hope you continue to keep yourself safe on your own, there are greater threats out there than these"

Sophia had to suppress an urge to laugh out loud. If only Richard knew how hard that she had worked to 'keep herself safe'. Sophia looked down at her coffee...and saw that her hands were shaking slightly.

I've been hunted by your kind since I was 16 years old. My own mother is probably out there hunting me as well. The only family and friends I ever had rejected me in my time of greatest need...so the only choice I had was to fend for myself. Damn you and damn the Order for...

The sound of clanking snapped Sophia out of her reverie. She looked up to see Richard making a hasty exit. She sighed and took another sip of her coffee. It was so typical for the Order to spend little time in one place. After all...there were witches to kill, weren't there?

At any rate, it might be worthwhile to follow Richard and see what was going on. She had been away from London for quite a long time, after all. It would be in her best interests to know what had changed among the Order since then. Richard would be sure to eventually lead her to the Order's sanctuaries, to be sure.

[FONT=&quot]“I guess he was in a hurry.”[/FONT]

Sophia was so lost in herself that she had almost forgotten the girl. She turned her gaze to the girl and sized her up for a moment.

I don't know what to make of this one. She acts like she had no idea what's going on...and perhaps she doesn't. I've certainly played the innocent fool before, though. Hell, I was just doing it with Richard. Perhaps I'm not the only one acting innocent here.

The girl seemed to be right around the age at which Sophia herself had been visited in the night. Sophia felt an odd pang of remorse for the young girl mixed with annoyance for letting her mind wander with such wild speculation. There was absolutely no proof that this girl was anything more than she appeared, but...

She seems so...lost. Just like I was once.

[FONT=&quot]“I didn’t get your name by the way.”

[/FONT][FONT=&quot] “The name’s Freya. Hope uhh, we weren’t bothering you or anything. And uhh yeah, I’ll keep the witches in mind then!”[/FONT]

Sophia decided that she would make herself available if the girl needed help. She grabbed a pen and quickly scribbled her cell phone number onto a napkin. Her cell phone was completely secure, so she was unconcerned about anyone listening in. Sophia stood up and made to leave the shop, but stopped when she was standing right beside Freya. She spoke very softly, so that no one else could hear.

"You know, I spoke in haste earlier...not all witches are monsters. Some certainly are, but some..."

At this point Sophia looked right into Freya's eyes and spoke very deliberately. While she did so, she pressed the napkin into Freya's hand.

"...are not. You can call me Ironheart."

With the message hopefully delivered, Sophia made a hasty exit from the shop. She noticed the rain immediately, but didn't let that deter her. She needed to figure out which direction Richard had gone. She turned her head left and right, listening for his armor and trying to determine which way he had departed...

((OOC: Okay, I think that's enough of a setup for you, Marty. :gasp:))
 
[OOC: To stalk Sophia or to go conveniently run into the emotional thundercloud that is Lily? That is the question.]

[FONT=&quot]The rain had waned, but only by a little. It was still pouring incessantly, though more slowly. She hadn’t quite thought through this adequately enough. Would she just go home now and hopefully catch [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Georgia[/FONT][FONT=&quot], sit down and pour out her intentions to her, explaining that she suddenly desired moving away now? If she was, it still felt like a foolish time to leave the dryness and the inviting coolness of the Costa store and replacing it with the warm rain straight beyond the glass door several feet away from her. She had expected the woman to just provide her with her name and simply carry on sipping her beverage quietly and on her own like she intended to when she entered the store, but what she did instead was unexpected.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]At first it looked like she was trying to puncture a napkin against the glossy wooden table with something. Upon clearer examination, it turned out that she was simply attempting to scribble something hastily onto the napkin. The first thing that crossed Freya mind was the strange possibility that she was jotting down some notes about something – probably her? Did she seem that conspicuous to this well-informed woman that she had caught on to Freya’s suspicious nature – as well as her possible secret below the epidermis that she was anxious to maintain? Was this revelatory enough that it warranted writing down on a piece of napkin right here and right now? This was thankfully unfounded as the woman also stood up with the napkin in hand, before approaching her. What was written on the material was to her surprise, a series of numbers – a mobile phone number by the looks of it. Why was she offering this to her? All she asked was a name, there wasn’t exactly any reason why Freya would want her mobile number unless she was seeking to have a casual chat with her later. It did momentarily look like she was about to stroll straight past her and out the door into the rain, but she stopped just near her, close enough for Freya to be in earshot of her next few words that sounded no more than whispers against the clanking and the chattering of the customers and the rest of the store.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"You know,” she said, as her eyes stood fixated, glaring straight at her, “I spoke in haste earlier...not all witches are monsters. Some certainly are, but some..." no sooner had she paused did Freya feel something touch her hand. It was the napkin – softly pressed into the hand and with it, what Freya presumed was the woman’s own mobile number.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“…are not,” she continued, as if she was deliberately presenting herself to being enigmatic-like, “You can call be Ironheart.” And with Freya having finally been presented with her answer, Ironheart swiftly made for the door, imminently disappearing into the rain, leaving her standing alone by the doorway and in a state of wondrous thought. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Ironheart is definitely an alias. No young woman’s real name would be anything like that, though if there are, I’ll have to pity them, I suppose. Still, why the alias – why does she feel the need to conceal her actual name like that? It’s none of my business, but I am left curious now as to the actual reason for this. Is there something about her identity that she’s perhaps eager to hide within? [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Still, who was she to begin suspecting people like that over the mystery of aliases? Freya herself had done the same thing when she gave Ironheart her name. Freya was simply a name that she unofficially adopted at an earlier age, to avoid being picked on by classmates for the less conventional-sounding Zephyra. It partially originated from her late grandfather, a supposedly great man that she never knew or met. Grandpa Zephyrus, her parents would say when telling their daughter about this great man, named after the Greek God of the west wind, who championed the might of industrial labour and the righteousness of organised labour. While he was not as infamous as men who fought for the right of organised labour to be fairly treated and represented such as Arthur Scargill during the 1980s, he did stand up to Margaret Thatcher’s government, exhibiting what Freya’s father described as “heroic bravery in the face of insurmountable odds”. Shortly before Freya was born, he had died of cancer and tragically she never had a chance to meet the man. It was this very powerful impression and pride left on the family by what Grandpa Zephyrus’s actions had achieved or aimed to achieve that drove Freya’s parents to name their daughter after him. Hence, Zephyra was formed. She had always found a powerful emotional connection to the wind anyway, so it was the ideal name for her. Unfortunately it was an odd name, so the normality of Freya would compensate for that.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Oh goodness, I’ve been standing by the door for a minute now in cloud cookoo land![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Realising that she was looking a little odd standing stationery at the doorway like a misplaced sentinel that was blocking entry and exit into and from the store, she hastily made a rush through the door, only to be met by a combination of warm air and the slight coolness of falling rain. In terms of wind, there seemed hardly any. Freya had grown too comfortable to the air conditioning in the store, so to leave the premises and emerge outside – it was still a warm day despite the sudden and mysterious rain – was an odd sensation. She could see Ironheart in the distance, slowly wandering as if seeking to find someone (that was probably why she hastily left the store then?). Catching a glimpse of her again prompted Freya’s own suspicions about her to rise again, displacing the unimportant thoughts of the grandfather she had never met and the origins of her true name. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"You know, I spoke in haste earlier...not all witches are monsters. Some certainly are, but some...are not.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]There was a combination of wonder and horror now. On one hand, perhaps Ironheart was only assuring her that she needn’t be fearful of all the witches, but on the other hand, could she have somehow known that Freya had spent a good several minutes in the coffee store pondering over the witches, whether they were all monsters, and that Freya was adamantly contemplating the fact that she was not a monster, and therefore dissociated from them? Ironheart was strangely a very well-informed woman. The possibilities of her perhaps knowing who each of the witches were, even if it involved Freya herself nearly horrified her to the core. By meeting Ironheart, had Freya literally sealed her own fate now? Had Ironheart instead simply caught on to her act and surmised that a witch was sitting right near her? Was she looking for a high-ranking Order member now to confide this revelation with? Or was Freya simply just getting too paranoid for her own sake and grasping at straws? She did hand to her a napkin with her mobile phone number written on it, so on the other hand, the prospect of Ironheart shopping her to the Order seemed unlikely. Still, Freya’s own curiosity was getting the better of her. She was now even contemplating the idea of following the mysterious woman.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]No, I shouldn’t do that. No Freya, this just isn’t healthy. You can’t get this paranoid and curious that you’re bringing yourself to stalking somebody.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I should just head home already and probably find Georgia – anyone – anyone to have a heart to heart chat with. I can’t tell anyone why I’m really considering leaving this place, but I guess I can say that the horrific attacks today have convinced me that this city just isn’t safe anymore. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]There was one problem though. Freya’s own sense of direction was beginning to fail her. The street around her looked unfamiliar. She was certainly not a regular of that coffee store on this street, and it just so happened that she wasn’t entirely sure what the route back to her apartment was. Freya would normally stick to strict, familiar pre-planned routes when commuting around the city. Though she lived in [/FONT][FONT=&quot]London[/FONT][FONT=&quot], she was never an explorer and with the vastness of the city, even she was unfamiliar with most of the city’s streets. During the panic caused by the attacks and with Santander closed and half of Covent Garden cordoned off and filled with horrified locals, tradesmen, businessmen and emergency services, she had deviated from the paths somewhere. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]That is a good question. Where exactly am I? Was I that engrossed in thought about the attacks earlier and that desperate for a coffee shop that it didn’t even cross my mind before THAT I WAS WALKING INTO UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY?[/FONT]
 
As Crimson left the nasty stranger in the rain the most bizarre thing happened. Her umbrella literally burnt to nothing and the rain began to pour down onto her head and her shoulders. It was almost magic....suddenly the redhead felt a heavy weight in her gut. Forgetting for a moment that there was rain drizzling down her body and soaking her clothes. Did she really just experience what she thought she did??

The girl shook her head, trying to remove the thought of another witch from her mind, that was stupid, what were the odds of bumping into a witch. She laughed a little at her stupidness, she was always so paranoid, this was probably just one of those times. Maybe a little bolt of lightning hit the umbrella instead. In that case she was lucky to be alive. But the rain was starting to get a little cold now and she despised the rain with a passion. She was very near home, another 10 minutes walk and she'd be there, but running seemed like the best idea.

She began to run, looking a little silly, Crimson was not the best runner, she turned her head to see if any cars were coming from the other side of the road but as she turned her head back--

"Oof!!!" She stumbled backwards, she'd run into a man. "Oh my god, I am sorry!" She gasped. "I really didn't mean to, are you ok?" the man was quite young, maybe her age? He was quite good looking as well but Crimson never really paid attention to that kind of thing. She just hopped this stranger didn't decide to scream her head off like the last one.

"M-my umbrella it....it kind of burst... and I was running to get out of the rain and I just didn't see you there... heh...sorry..." Her story probably sounded really stupid, and she began to run her fingers through her red locks, nerves kicking in.
 
[OOC: Your call, Liv Liv. Steve, feel free to have Richard step in if you want to, I wasn't clear on whether or not you wanted him to be part of this.]

The armoured footsteps had stopped. Rosaline frowned. How could she have lost him? A man in full armour? How did anyone lose someone like that? She could have laughed, but she was too tired and irritated. When she caught up with him, there was going to be hell to pay. He couldn't be clueless about the mayhem that had been going on this morning, and he couldn't be arrogant enough to think that he would be able to handle it by himself. Right now, they needed each other's counsel. It wasn't helping that he was just vanishing into thin air...

The sound of footsteps from behind alerted her that she was being followed. Rosaline spun, half expecting to find that one of the girls had caught up with her; either that they’d forgotten something, or Poppy was reluctant to let her leave. A half-smile crossed her face. “I’m sorry, but I really do need to get back to wor-“

Her voice died in her throat as she saw the person standing before her, and what little colour was still in her face left it. She was older, more worn out, but it was definitely her. Sophia. After thirteen years without a trace of her daughter, she now simply stood before her as though they had never been apart, and she was simply catching up with her mother, having lagged behind her for something trivial.

But was that even her daughter? Or just a monster that filled her shell? Her daughter – her real daughter – would never have run away. They had been growing more distant as they had both grown older, and Rosaline knew that being the daughter of a Witchslayer couldn’t have been easy, but she had hoped that she had had a better relationship with her than that. She had been hurt and confused when her daughter had ran away on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, and had spent many hours wondering why she had. If she didn’t want to undergo the Seeker training, she could have just said…but Sophia had loved reading, and she had been genuinely excited at the prospect of becoming a part of the Order. If the Horned King had visited her daughter, surely she would have come to her mother first? They could have found a way around it; perhaps even the Grey Priestess herself could have helped exorcise the corruption within her, before it had taken her over. She had never had the opportunity to find out, and had long since given up her search; Rosaline was old, and she had learned how to cope with loss. Her daughter was as good as dead, and there was little she could do but accept it and move on with her life. Now, she had the chance to ask, yet none of her questions seemed particularly relevant. With all the witches running around…it was obvious what her daughter was doing here, and what had happened all those years ago.

“You.” was all she managed to say, the word filled with more emotion than even she could comprehend. For the second time in her life, Rosaline knew true internal conflict. The first time it had been on a personal level, and easily resolved, but this…this went beyond mere words. If she was a witch, then Rosaline was duty-bound to kill her. But could she really cut down her own daughter in cold blood? Even now, she felt the power of the Goddess waning, as her will slowly folded in on itself. She needed time to think…she couldn’t let her emotions rule her mind. She needed to determine what her purpose was in revealing herself now, and what she would have to do about it. Between her own personal feelings and her duty, her duty would come first, as it always had.

…but was it really going to be that easy?

“Why?” She tried again, some small part of her irritated by her sudden lack of speech. This was not as complicated as it should be: clearly, Rosaline had one of two choices. The first was to cut the woman in front of her down where she stood. The second was to take her in her arms, and tell her that all was forgiven. So why was it that all she could do was stand here, motionless? Her hand had not yet moved to her sword – odd, as it had not moved at all – but she could feel every nerve screaming against her iron control, her instincts screaming at her to draw her blade and prepare to defend herself. Yet she would do nothing…not until she was sure. She came, then, face-to-face with the truth: she still held onto some small, meagre hope that there was a perfectly rational explanation for all of this. That her daughter was still her daughter, and not some monster. Naive, foolish, dangerous even...but it was there nonetheless.

---

Emily continued down the street, the rain lightening with each step she took. If she tried now, she should be able to burn through the clouds…but the chances were that was what the other witch was waiting for. No, she’d let the rain disappear. She didn’t need to blow anyone up at the moment anyway; contrary to what the other witch had believed, Emily wasn’t that big on senseless killing. It was when people were being bloody minded fucking morons that she started to get irritable, and who didn’t get irritable when people started acting like that? Just because she actually did something about it didn’t make her evil. It just made her…honest.

She entered Costa, dripping and coughing, immediately attracting the attention of the few people who sat in the small shop. She swore under her breath. Now they’d all be staring at her as long as she was here, and there was little she could do about it. Fantastic. Ignoring them, she moved up to the counter, where a thoroughly bored-looking teenage girl lounged on the counter. Bitch didn’t realise how lucky she was to have a fucking job, and Emily felt a flash of irritation as she stood directly in front of her, towering over her.

“Get me a coffee. I don’t care what kind, as long as it’s hot.” She muttered, repressing another cough. Something hot would do her a world of good, and once her lungs had stopped trying to leap out of her throat, she could figure out her next move. A quick glance outside told her that the rain had almost stopped, prompting a small nod of satisfaction. Evidently the other witch had gotten bored, or she couldn’t keep the rain there indefinetely. When Emily found her, she’d teach the little bitch a lesson she’d not soon forget…
 
“Lily, w-“, she couldn’t even finish her sentence before Lily had up and vanished without a trace. Lily must have saw what Alyss wished she hadn’t seen. Of course Lily would panic upon seeing something like that. It was just a shame that Lily wasn’t able to see everything leading up to that event. Perhaps if Lily had saw that she wouldn’t have gotten so upset about it. Alyss sighed as she slowly stood up against the wall.

There was little doubt in her mind that Lily hated her. While Alyss didn’t feel the same way, she couldn’t help but be somewhat annoyed by the girls attitude. In Alyss’ mind she was confused, panicked, and very mistaken about quite a lot of things. And yet Alyss was connected to her whether she liked it or not. If they were sharing memories without any problems, she certainly hoped they didn’t share emotions. Because as it stood, Lily was one of them most irrational people she had even known.

Still, that was little reason to berate her. Just as Alyss started limping her way into the kitchen, her head started pounding a bit. “Oh no… not again…”, Alyss said. It was very similar to how her head felt when she had gotten Lily’s memory from before. Only this one felt as if it wasn’t such a happy one. She could see Lily crouched over someone’s body… it looked to be that of Lily’s own mother. From the looks of it, she was dead. Murder was a huge possibility, but Lily wouldn’t do something like that. She hated killing in all forms.

As Alyss looked past Lily crying over her mother, she saw a few men in the alleyway. They looked like modern day hooligans. Not a single one of them looked to be up to any sort of good. And the looks they were giving Lily… Suddenly, Alyss knew were this was going. The men walked up towards Lily slowly with evil intent in their eyes. Even though Alyss knew this was just a memory, she fired a bolt of electricity at them anyway. She didn’t want to see what was about to happen. This was horrible; something that should never be seen by anyone, much less done to anyone.

It was then that Alyss snapped back into place. Once again she stood in the middle of Lily’s kitchen… she was rather thankful for that. Suddenly, she now realized what Lily was the way she was. How could she possibly trust anyone after something like that? Alyss felt bad for the girl… but feeling bad for her wouldn’t erase the past. It wouldn’t make what happened to her any better, and it wouldn’t fix anything between them. In all possibility, of Lily ever found out about what she had just seen, she would never speak to her again.

In fact… she probably wouldn’t speak to her again now. There was even a chance that Lily and Alyss would never see each other again. Once again, Alyss sighed. If there was one thing that Alyss wanted to do it was to protect Lily. She was frightened and confused and had no control over her abilities. If the Light Witch found her… or a Knight, she was doomed. “Lily is going to have to accept my protection… no matter if she wants it or not.” However, standing in her kitchen wasn’t going to get her anywhere.

Yet, she had very little idea where she was. Not only that, her clothes were still ripped. While she could have taken clothes from Lily’s house, she didn’t feel right even thinking about it. She was simply going to have to deal with a few funny looks… or she could try using her newfound abilities. Surely it couldn’t be too difficult. She had no idea how she was supposed to go about using them. As she stood in the kitchen, she began drawing electricity from the building around her.

At least before she set off and while she was attempting to figure out how her new powers worked she could at the very least recharge. As she thought about possibilities she couldn’t help but think about what happened to Lily. It truly was awful… and it more than enough explained why Lily acted the way she did. After seeing the absolute worst in humanity and then seeing the absolute worst that Alyss had to offer, it wasn’t much of a wonder as to the reasoning of why Lily would run away.

While Alyss started charging, she sat down on a chair in the kitchen. She felt as if she could sleep there, but she knew that wouldn’t be a very good thing to do. I just really wish the holes in my clothes would sew themselves up… this was an expensive suit. Shortly after she said that, shadows flickered around her. It was very similar to how Lily had them flicker. However, this was much less… erratic. They danced around her closely until they covered her body. For a moment, her eye widened as she began to panic. The feeling around her was cold, dark, and gentle.

She didn’t know what was going on, and she didn’t know if she liked it too much. But just as quickly as they had begun, they dispersed. Alyss looked down at her suit and found that the holes that she wanted sewn up were gone. It was almost as if her clothes hadn’t been burned through at all. Not only that, her wounds felt a little better than before. She knew better than to believe them to be completely healed as she could still feel them ache when she moved even the slightest bit.

What made it all the more intriguing is that it felt as if the power wasn’t exactly coming from her. It was as if the shadows were simply there doing her a favor. Unlike her lightning powers it wasn’t exactly an extension of her own body as it was a quiet friend that walked along side of you. Alyss tilted her head in thought as she began to test what she could and couldn’t do. I want the fork on the kitchen counter. She thought. Almost as soon as she said that, the fork that rested on the kitchen counter now rested on the kitchen table.

Would I be correct in assuming this would not work in places with no shadows? There were so many questions she had… and the only person capable of answering them was gone and quite possibly didn’t know herself. Suddenly, she remembered that Lily was able to teleport them here… wherever here was. I want to go to my apartment.

There was nothing. The shadows didn’t flicker; they didn’t dance, there was simply nothing. I will not repeat myself a third time. Take me to my apartment. Once again, there was nothing. The Horned King did say that she would only have partial power. Perhaps she couldn’t use her abilities like Lily could. Without thinking, she willed the shadows to take her to the middle of the kitchen. In a blink of an eye and a small puff of what appeared to be black smoke, she was there.

For the next ten minutes she teleported around the kitchen and the living room. She didn’t enjoy invading Lily’s house, but she had to test. Teleporting only worked if she could see where she was going directly, and there had to be a shadow for her to be able to do it. It didn’t have to be a big shadow; from the looks of it the shadow could be cast by a sewing needle and it would still work. However, one thing was clear; she had to be able to see where she was going or she wouldn’t be able to do it at all.

Regardless, it was a very handy ability to have. Even though it had a clear restriction, she could still utilize it to her complete advantage. With that in mind and her clothes no longer ripped she knew she had to find the Light Witch. After all, now she had the upper hand, and if she didn’t find the Light Witch before she started up on her rampage again… things would not be good. And if she found Lily... Alyss didn’t want to think about that.

She left to the living room and opened the door. The rain had calmed down significantly, which was great because Alyss was fully charged now. Closing the door behind her she started walking down the street. There were a million things running through her mind. Every now and then she would be distracted by thinking about Lily, but she would quickly dismiss the thoughts. She couldn’t afford to be distracted. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if she would tell Lily what she saw. Even still, she didn’t even know if she would ever see her again.

All she knew is that even if Lily hated her, she wasn’t going to let anyone harm her. The poor girl had been through enough. As logical thinking as Alyss was, she wasn’t immune to emotions… she simply had problems showing them. She must have been walking for ages. Lost in her own mind she wasn’t paying much attention to where she was going. Alyss looked up to see a girl with dark brown hair with a large khaki trench bump into a man with glasses. While she didn’t think anything of it, she was close enough to hear the girl say something that sparked her interest.

“M-my umbrella it… it kind of burst…” That was all Alyss needed to hear. While she didn’t want to interrupt, and while she didn’t want to get involved, her umbrella bursting could be of some relation to the Light Witch. Extending her arm to the girl she tried to give her best friendly smile. “Your umbrella burst, did it? How odd…”

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

Katyusha was a little shocked that Rosaline had to leave so soon. However, she paid it very little mind. After all, she had Poppy with her, and for some reason Poppy was like the greatest thing since sliced bread to her. “Thank you, Jenny,” Katyusha said. She wished she could get a good look at the girl as she shook her hand, but her sight was still off. From the looks of it, it wasn’t coming back. Katyusha promptly melted like butter as Poppy said they would take good care of her.

Eventually, the nagging feeling in the back of her head started going away. It felt as if the longer Poppy held her hand the less and less the nagging got to her. “Oh, it’s stopped raining? That’s a shame, I don’t get to feel it often.” That was the first time she had ever appeared sad since she met Poppy. “I’m excited to be getting coffee with you though. I’ve never been to a coffee shop before.” She knew it was a little sad admitting it, but surely they could understand.

“You’ll have to lead me there, if you don’t mind…” But deep down in the back of her mind, she knew Poppy wouldn’t mind. Poppy was so great… so nice…
 
Sophia was so caught up in the search for Richard that she nearly bumped into someone without even looking at them.

“I’m sorry, but I really do need to get back to wor-“

Sophia made to ignore the woman and carry on...but the she bothered to take a good look at her. An odd feeling of nostalgia began to creep into her soul as Sophia took note of armor that she had not seen for thirteen years. She began to tell herself that this was completely absurd...that she was seeing things and the coffee was playing tricks on her and it was impossible for this woman to be...

After what seemed like an eternity, the woman turned around and Sophia stared into the eyes of the mother that she had not seen since she was sixteen. The shock was quite plain on Rosaline's face, but then again, Sophia was certain the shock was equally plain on hers. There certainly wasn't any point in hiding it.

I thought she might be here...but what are the chances of meeting any given person in a city as large as London? What are the chances of two Witchslayers being within 100 feet of each other outside of the Temple? What are the chances that I would just so happen to leave this shop at just the right time?

Probabilities whirled through Sophia's head...it was simply ludicrous. This could not be happening.

“You.”

In spite of herself, Sophia almost laughed out loud at such a simple statement. Rosaline always had a way with words, but her eloquence seemed to be failing her at this moment. Sophia opened her mouth to frame some sort of retort...but she found her own tongue to be jumbled. Sophia came to a startling realization: she was conflicted.

Ever since she had left the Temple at sixteen, Sophia had mentally prepared herself for this moment. She had believed that her mother had slowly begun to lose herself in her work...and that there would be no place for a Witch daughter in that pretty picture. Sophia thought that she was ready to scream and curse her mother, or maybe worse...but now, all that planning had failed her.

“Why?”

Something about this innocent question made Sophia's survival instincts kick in. She realized that she had to be more careful in dealing with Rosaline. Her mother surely knew that she was a Witch...and her job was to kill Witches. She began to wonder what sort of game her mother was up to...after all, what reason did she have to be upset?

It was me that was cast out, not you. You're still the celebrity.

Sophia decided to play this meeting out. She kept a keen eye on Rosaline's sword hand...if she made a move, Sophia was ready. She took a step backwards and quietly said two words.

"Hello, mum."
 
[OOC: I'll whip up something for Poppy and Emily tomorrow morning...so tired at the moment :gonk:]

Judging from the shock on her daughter’s face – part of Rosaline’s mind still whirled at the fact that it was her daughter standing in front of her – she hadn’t expected to meet her mother here, either. The thought hurt her quite deeply: had she returned to London for another reason? Had she truly cast away her only family like that? Why? What could Rosaline possibly have done to make her hate her so much? They had never really quarrelled. She had done everything she could to encourage Sophia, yet not apply the same sort of pressure on her that her own parents had. She had not been the perfect mother, but she had tried. Evidently, it hadn’t been good enough. The suspicion, the mistrust, in her daughters voice as she took a step away from her, as though Rosaline was about to cut her down where she stood, hurt her even more. What had she done to deserve this treatment?

“Thirteen years. You’ve been gone for thirteen years.” She said, slowly finding her tongue. She still wasn’t sure whether she should be angry, upset, or overjoyed. The three emotions warring within her, the best she could manage was a state of near-indifference…until the inevitable explosion. “What made you come back now? You can’t be unaware of what is going on here right now; it isn’t safe for anyone in London right now. Are you--“ she stopped herself, unable to finish that sentence. She couldn’t ask her own daughter that. For a minute at least, could she not simply take things at face value? Whilst Rosaline knew better than to hope that her daughter was still human, a small part of her rebelled against the inevitability of it. She couldn’t know either way, not until she had decide what she would do.

She was suddenly very tired. The weight of her years pressed down upon her, and Rosaline realised then that she was far too old, too weary, for all of this. Hunting witches, training the younger generation…all of it. She had long since earned her retirement…or a glorified death. She had had enough. So many years of battles…

“You shouldn’t have left like that.” Her tone, whilst not accusatory, betrayed her disappointment. “Was I really so bad of a mother that you couldn’t come to me with your problems? You hated me that much?” she shook her head, rubbing at her eyes with a gloved hand, armour rustling with the movement. She suddenly realised that, for all her years of thinking about this, she could not understand what had possessed her daughter to simply abandon her life – and her mother - like that. What if she wasn’t a witch after all? Was the flaw with Rosaline herself? She had tried her best to be a good mother to Sophia; ensuring that she was taken care of, and loved. Her duties had been demanding of her, particularly in those early years, and children tended to want independence at that age. But then, the elderly often forget that they were once children themselves. In truth, Rosaline had never known what her daughter wanted, and it had never occurred to her to ask. Such an absurd thing, really. It should not be this difficult…Rosaline wondered if it was this difficult for all families. But then, she had never really spoken to her own parents, and circumstances surrounding them weren’t exactly normal.

"I suppose you didn't plan on running into me during your stay here. Fair enough." Rosaline was recovering some of her composure, slowly but surely. She might not like it, but her daughter was an independant woman now, with the right to choose who she wanted in her life. If Rosaline wasn't among that number...well, she had lived with that for years. Much as it hurt, she could continue living with it. "I'll let you get on with your life, if that's what you want. But you know where to find me if you ever want to talk to me." she paused. Something, anything. An accusation, an apology, an explanation...she wasn't sure what she wanted from her daughter right now. This had all come so suddenly, and at such an awkward time...
 
“Thirteen years. You’ve been gone for thirteen years.”

Sophia sighed and crossed her arms. People always stated the obvious when they had nothing else to say. Both her mother and she knew exactly how long it had been since Sophia had left...and yet the statement of the amount of time she had been away was certainly necessary to this little drama. Besides...what else was there to say? Even Sophia had to admit to herself that words were failing her at this point.

“What made you come back now? You can’t be unaware of what is going on here right now; it isn’t safe for anyone in London right now. Are you--“

Sophia realized that she was still carrying the 50p coin that she had dropped earlier in the coffee shop.

Does she not realize the truth about me? Surely she must...the timing was more than coincidence, to be sure. I certainly didn't leave a note, but what else possibly could have motivated me? She must know. If she didn't...why did she not come looking for me? I was only sixteen...how was I supposed to know what to do?

As if she was reading Sophia's mind, Rosaline spoke again.

“You shouldn’t have left like that. Was I really so bad of a mother that you couldn’t come to me with your problems? You hated me that much?”

All children respond instinctively to the disappointment of their parents...and Sophia was no exception. A wave of emotion washed over her as Rosaline used the word 'hate'. Sophia had spent years traveling Europe, trying to understand the new life that had been thrust upon her. During that time she had certainly felt a wide range of emotions towards her mother. Anger, sadness, confusion...but hatred? It was an awfully strong word...and the disappointed tone her mother was taking did not make things easier. Sophia began to blink rapidly...surely some dust had just flown into her eyes.

"I suppose you didn't plan on running into me during your stay here. Fair enough. I'll let you get on with your life, if that's what you want. But you know where to find me if you ever want to talk to me."

"I never hated you."

The words came out unbidden but Sophia knew that they were the truth. She had done enough acting today for Richard and that girl Freya. For once in her life...she was tired of acting. Sophia opened her hand with the palm facing the sky. In her hand sat the 50p coin from the shop. It was a small effort to make the coin float at her mother's eye level.

"Look, mum. Look at what your daughter has become."

The words came tumbling out of Sophia as the coin began to lazily spin in the air.

"How could I have come to you with this? Who could I have come to? I became, in one moment, everything that I had grown to hate. That you had taught me to hate. You were so wrapped up in being a Witchslayer that I thought...I thought..."

The words began to catch in her throat. Sophia turned her gaze to the ground as a tear slid down her cheek. She stood in silence, visibly shaking as a result of the torrent of emotions within her.
 
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