The Mortal Instruments

​

Titania curled up in her chair, drawing her legs up underneath her like she had as a little girl. She pulled the bowl of water towards her, waving her finges over it. "Yorick." She spoke to him quietly, giving him the details of what had happened. "Very well." He responded, stroking his beard. Titania frowned; she could sense the old man was holding something back. It must be wearing off. "I think it would be best if you came to New York yourself. After all, a Nephilim has not been turned for centuries." She purred, her finger stroking above the surface of the water, as if to caress his cheek.

He nodded slowly, his brow furrowed. "I should come to New York to handle this myself." Titania smiled, but it dropped a little at his next sentence. "I'll bring Luce to help Corvo." While she knew the girl was capable, that was the problem. The spells that worked on most minds, weren't always successful. Corvo and Luce were two of the more strong willed victims, and hadn't yet succumbed.

"If you think it best." She murmured before waving her hand over the water to try to scry another. Even after a thousand years, her mother remained hidden from her. Tonight was no different. She raised her hand and threw the bowl on the ground, the shattering noise echoing through the chamber.

This caused the Seelie Knights to enter. She looked up before pushing her hair back behind her pointed ear. "Find me Cinead Coldspring." The Knights bowed as one and left again, leaving her to her solitude. She sighed as a plant drifted from the ceiling, brushing against her cheek with a feather light touch. She rubbed her fingers along the powdery ferns that covered the thing, the dust lingering on her fingers. "They could become a nuisance." She murmured. "Perhaps I'll rid myself of them soon."

​

Clarity remained in the room as Rhett left her and went to Brianne. She didn't intrude on their conversation, only remained in case Brianne..had an urge. Violence and rage were part of the Change that was coming, and while werewolf venom couldn't affect her, she wanted to protect those it would, and could affect. Shadowhunters took counter measures, she knew, but there was always a chance. As long as she had been alive, she hadn't recalled of hearing of such a thing.

Perhaps it was spreading through Brianne so quickly because of the angelic blood in her veins. After all, angels and demons always seemed to be pushed and pulled together and away from each other. Maybe that same need/hate relationship made her Change come upon her as fast as it did. She swallowed past the ache in her throat, seeing the pain Rhett was in, the pain Brianne was in, and feeling the hurt that she did because three of the closest people to her were in a miserable situation. And there was not a damn thing any one of them could do.

​

Alarick only made it halfway to the safe house, letting go of Nick, before turning and slamming his fist into the wall of a nearby...he checked the sign. Library. It was a library. It didn't hurt nearly enough, so he did it again, a muffled yell trying to escape past his teeth, which were mashed together. "Goddamn you to hell. FUCK!" He let out the anger and rage, punching the wall again, cracking a knuckle and causing the others to bleed. "What the fuck do you think?" He growled in response to Sien, wanting to strangle the warlock for the stupid question.

But it wasn't Sien he really wanted to hurt. Sien had been his friend a long time. Anger gave way to pain, and Alarick abruptly walked down the nearest alleyway, throwing up a Barrier and Silencing Rune behind him. "Go to the safe house without me. I'll be right behind you." He told Nick and Sien before backing up into the shadows.

​

Morrigan watched Ash work before returning to her own designs. Well, her copied markings of Ash's designs. "No one knows why she left the court. Or those that do don't talk about it." Morrigan murmured, focusing on the intricate lines. "She's simply a legend, one of the few fey that managed to walk among the humans and be revered for it. Her kindness is paramount to her story, but I can't imagine actually meeting her. It would be like..." She paused, trying to think of the mundane equivalent. "Meeting Jesus, I suppose. And she probably knew the human who went by that name." The fairy sighed.

"She must have so much knowledge, the stories she could tell." Then the conversation changed back to the topic of a vacation, only in a different form. "Can you retire without having an occupation?" She teased, glancing up only to have her cheek marked by the warlock. She stopped, blinking for a moment as her mind struggled to comprehend a playful gesture coming from Ash. Leaning down, she gently turned his face towards hers, leaning in....before poking him with her finger, right between the eyes.

"Careful that you start something you can't finish." She warned, before setting the paper down. "I think it's almost done." She turned back to Masque. "Are you ready?" There was no question in her mind that the warlock was accompanying them; he was. "Are you coming with?" She asked the until now silent Valister, raising an eyebrow.

​

"What am I supposed to do?" Brianne's voice rasped out, gritty with tears that had already been shed, and those that hadn't. She felt such pain in her chest, it was as though she were being torn in two. And she knew this had nothing to do with the Change, at least not yet. "Tell me, Rhett." Her voice cracked, and she swallowed, feeling the tears spill out over her cheeks. "This is taking everything from me." She had dropped to a whisper, unable to manage anything more. Holding out her hand, the blackened veins only an inch from her hand, she could only stare at it for a moment before the salty liquid blurred her vision, and she dropped the limb.

"One of my best friends tried to save my life, and ended up destroying it. As a Shadowhunter, I came from a good family. I had a good position. As a werewolf, I'll have nothing, no one but those that stay with me.." her eyes flicked from Rhett to Clarity. The ifrit looked as though her heart was breaking.
"I won't be able to hold my stele, something granted me more then ten years ago, passed through my mother's family for generations. My Seraphim blade..." she bit her lip, refusing to break down just yet.

"And you come here. Telling me you're sorry." She could feel herself quietly shattering into pieces tinier then dust, but refused to let it show. Not yet. "And the fucked up part is that I feel bad for you. You did this to me, and I want to make you feel better." The tears were rolling out once more, flowing free and fast.

"What am I supposed to do?"

 

​

Sien could do nothing but stand there and watch as Alarick punched the side of a library out of clear frustration, as well as directed some of that anger at him. The words hurt, but Sien knew not to take them to heart. Alarick clearly wasn't being himself right now and and lashing out that he did would not only be out of character for him, but wouldn't help out the situation at all. Instead Sien stood his ground and replied with. "I think that there is something wrong with you, that much was pretty damn clear when you left the Institute, but what I don't know is what's wrong. Hence why I asked." Sien replied. Unfortunately the warlock wasn't given any direct answer, instead the nephilim walked his way down an alley and placed up to runes behind him. Hearing his friends words, Sien sighed. There wasn't much that they could do if he wasn't going to let them help. "Come on, let's go." He said to Nick, heading in the direction of the safe house.

While Valister had indeed been silent up until Morrigan had actively spoke to him, he was observing all that was going one before him. Part of him was unsure about the portal, it was a small part, but a part of him nonetheless. In all the yers that he's been alive, the main method of travel he used were either walking on his own two legs or flying through the air and nowadays he only did that on night were the sky was covered in clouds. "Yes I am, is it almost time to be off?"

​

"Yeah, I meant here in the institute." Creed clarified, after she answered the question. So despite her being here for only a few hours, things had taken a couple of turns here and lead to well, the so called Inquisitor be after her now. He would asked just what exactly she did, but that had already been explained when Rhett was still out here so there was no need to ask again. Creed stood there for a bit, trying to think of something else to say when he decided he might as well introduce himself. "I'm Creed, by the way."

 

Doctor Bishop glared at the man but did not comment "Next question, you'll like this one. What is your connection to the shadowhunter Roxanne?" the doctor asked. From what they knew, this demon had quite an obsession over the girl, it would be interesting to see how it originated.

Nick stayed quiet as Alarick had his mental breakdown. He shook his head as Sien spoke "You're not helping" Nick hissed quietly at Sien, his face an expression of irritation, he was staring at Sien quizzically, he really doesn't understand "Alarick doesn't care why you asked. Just go on. I'll catch up soon" he left the warlock and followed Alarick into the alley. He easily passed the barrier and slowly approached the other shadowhunter. For a moment he didn't say anything, what could he say? "Are you alright?" well clearly he wasn't so that was a useless question. "Do you want to talk about it?" He eventually asked. Harmless, open-ended question. Could go either way. He hoped Alarick did want to talk though, just so he could understand what was troubling his friend.

Masque blinked, and looked down at what he was wearing. T-shirt and jeans. Wasn't exactly the most appropriate garb for the desert. He didn't even have any weapons, but he doubted he'd be allowed to get them "If you think I won't slow you down too much..."

 

Aethel handed Felicia the liverwurst. "Oh I think he knows I'm here, there's very few people who would want to be brought into contact with Cyrus in that manner." Aethel said, he had noticed that Sien, Alarick and Nick had left. "Fair enough" Was all he said about her plans. He went after them as quickly as he possibly could, following at a distance, given the direction they had taken he figured the might be headed for the safehouse. He figured the Institute was in safe hands with the manpower currently placed there, plus he wouldn't be of much use there. He recalled a mention of a trip somewhere? Was this it? Well at first he had said he wouldn't join them, but after the fight with Cyrus... No, he might as well go along with them, if Cyrus stuck around then the experienced hands would be divided between the two groups, not a bad idea. And it would give him some time to think, he hadn't at all expected it to turn out this way, then again nothing ever went according to plan... he thought back of Prague, that was a plan that went fubar rather quickly. While he was reminiscing about times long gone, Alarick and Nick had slipped away. What the? Where had they gone? No matter, he had heard some stories about Alarick, he would handle himself perfectly fine in the field, he decided to close the gap with Sien and walked next to him "Come on, we should just keep on going, they'll catch up." Aethel said as he urged Warlock along. "The name is Aethelrick, Aethel for short, what's yours?"

 

​

Alarick leaned against the wall of the alleyway, before sliding down, one shaking hand pressed to his face. It was too much, all too much. The Inquisitor, Brianne almost being captured, Aethelrick showing up and causing the entire past with Hendrick to explode in his face, Brianne being turned...How could one person handle all of this? That was beside the Seelie Queen apparently becoming Enemy Number One, Roxanne's disappearance, and Yorick's eventual interference. On top of all of that, he was losing his sister, his twin, the other half of him.

He heard Nick's voice, and took a deep, shuddering breath, struggling to pull himself together in front of the man. It wasn't fair, though to treat his friends as he had, his comrades, and not expect them to want to know the truth. And they would know soon enough, one way or another. He raised his face from his hand, eyes red rimmed and cheeks damp, voice husky; "There was an accident at the werewolf den. The counter measures weren't enough. Brianne got infected." He had seen her hand. He knew there was no hope.

"Everything I've ever done has been to protect her. To give her a life worth living. And it's all been for nothing." His voice quavered, but the words needed to be said. "I've always been there to protect her, and the one time I wasn't...it's all been for nothing." He bowed his head, shoulders shaking, completing the picture of utter defeat. I've failed her.

​

Morrigan shook her head, smiling gently at Masque. "If I can make it, you'll do fine." She said, though she left out that he had been the reason she had been weaker. Although Ash's antidotes should have taken care of that. Turning to the warlock, her gaze softened further, as she reached out to gently twine her fingers with his, squeezing before letting go. "Perhaps we'll bring new meaning to the word." She whispered softly, tucking her hair behind her ear and staring out the window. It would be dawn soon. None of them had gotten any sleep, but being none of them were mundanes, they didn't need rest as much. Certainly at some point, but not right now. She was sure the two Shadowhunters accompanying them would demand a break at some point. They would work it out.

It would be fine. At least, that was what she told herself.

​

Brianne felt Rhett touch her, but she barely acknowledged the connection. Her mind moved sluggishly, as though she had just woken from a long rest. "I'm staying here." She said quietly, staring at the floor. "I'm staying here until Alarick and Nick get back, until Roxanne decides to return, and Aethelrick and Hendrick come. I'll leave when everyone else is back home, and not a moment before."

She pulled her hand from his grasp, shivering as a slight chill ran through her before getting to her feet. "I'm staying." She repeated, glancing at him and then away. It wasn't smart to push away the only sense of hope she had of surviving this, but she couldn't help the pain or fear she felt, the prick of betrayal and guilt for feeling that way. The only thing she could help were her actions, and while it would be easier to walk away, she was still bound by her honor to protect the Institute and the other Shadowhunters until she could no longer hold a seraphim blade.

Which at this point, was only a matter of hours.

 

​

Paragon sat in his office, his armour gone. He watched the various screens in front of him with interest. Slowly, he leaned forward closer to the mic, and entered a command onto the computer. There was a beep, and then the sound of a phone ringing, as Paragon tried to get through the to the phone of the werewolf named Rhett.

Doctor Bishop listened to the story with interest and growing disgust "You are truly a horrible person, but I don't know what else I expected from a demon. It makes me sick to be the son of one of your kind" he shook his head with repulsion. "Black Knight, escort the demon to the arena. I think we will begin" the doctor commanded, and the nephilim opened the back entrance to guide the demon out along a corridor. Meanwhile, the Doctor moved to another cell, within which lurked a hulking mass of fur and claws. There was more muscle beneath that matted black fur than there had been before, and he seemed larger. Doctor Bishop knocked on the window of the cell "Oh Grayson? Could you please transform yourself into a more appropriate form for conversation? I don't want to come in there and do it myself" the doctor asked. He smiled, the experiments had worked. Grayson had more demon in him now, he was faster, stronger, better.

Nick thought he was ready for anything, but when Alarick told him about Brianne his eyes widened and his hands went to his mouth. She's a werewolf?! She got infected?! By Rhett?! No wonder he wanted to kill him... he couldn't quite wrap his head around the idea of Brianne, his mentor since he'd joined the shadowhunters, and his friend, being a werewolf, and evidently neither could Alarick. Without warning, he began to cry. A combination of his own shock and Alarick's grief. Taking a deep breath, his heart pounding in his chest, he knelt beside the other shadowhunter. What could he say? "She's still Brianne, she's still your little sister. No matter what she is, all that matters is who she is. And so far you've done a great job of protecting that" Nick said, trying to be calm for his sake "You don't have to blame yourself for everything. There's nothing any of us could do" As he said this he began to lose his composure and choked on the last words, holidng back sobs.

 

​

Clarity frowned when Rhett shut his phone off and put it away. Clearly the werewolf didn't think it important, but the ifrit always made a point of answering her own device, if only to see who the hell it was and how the fuck they got her number. Then again, Rhett wasn't an attractive ifrit with enough knowledge to make a library. Maybe a small library. She turned away as Rhett tried to reason with Brianne, knowing it would do little good. The Nephilim had always been stubborn, and she would continue to be until her dying day. Becoming a werewolf wouldn't change that. What Rhett didn't see, what she couldn't make him see, was that Brianne understood everything he said, and knew it. But she was clinging to the one thing that had never betrayed her, the one idea that she had always talked about and adored. And it wasn't Clarity's place to make him see.

​

Alarick reached up and grabbed the back of Nick's neck, pulling him closer. He guided Nick's forehead to rest on his own shoulder, refusing to look up. He rested there with his friend, letting them both release their grief within their sphere of silence and solitude. They remained there for thirty minutes, until at last, Alarick felt a little more in control. He stood, composing himself for a moment before clasping Nick's shoulder.

"Thank you." he murmured, before using his stele to erase the runes and step forward. Sien must have gone ahead, and so Alarick followed the same path, Nick in tow as they made their way to the safe house. "We're here." He murmured, stepping inside and shutting the door.

​

Brianne averted her eyes from Rhett, though she didn't pull his hand from hers. "I'm staying. And if you force me to leave somehow, then I promise you, there will not be enough apologies in the world for me to forgive you." She murmured, her voice empty. "I'm not leaving my home. Not yet." Her voice had taken on a pleading tone. If Rhett did indeed decide to force her, there would be little she could do. The virus was weakening her body, breaking down the angelic components of her blood and twisting them into their own, demonic origins.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed as the fever began to build, and her eyes a little dazed, but she retained her mind, for now. "I can only forgive so many transgressions." She finished, before letting her head bow. "And I can't let go. Not yet." A single tear slipped down her cheek, spotting the couch before she pressed her hand to her head, the ache in her skull growing more quickly then the fever.

​

Grayson snarled, but acquiesced the doctor's request, and lifted himself from the ground, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "I knew you must have missed my voice, Doc." He responded, his voice low, and filled with anything but humor. "So what's the topic today? The weather? Current events? I'm afraid I won't be good at either. How about...the things I'm going to do when I get out of here? That sounds nice. Oh yeah, I've got some plans." He walked, naked towards the cell door, a feral grin on his face. "With these upgrades? New York won't stand a chance."

~​

In the Safe House, the eight strangers gathered. Representing nearly every race of the Shadow world, they waited for the portal to open as the warlock placed the finishing touches on the gateway. The oval shape rose from the ground, allowing even the tallest of them to walk through without having to bend. It showed nothing but darkness, giving no hint as to what was on the other side. One by one, each of the strangers walked through, guided only by a (small in some cases) sense of trust, and their own desires.

Ash and Morrigan are the first, followed by Masque. Valister, Sien and Aethelrick follow, leaving Nick and Alarick to bring up the rear. As they step into a small jungle, seemingly thrown up in the middle of the desert, the portal slowly shrinks back into the ground, disappearing behind them, and leaving them to their fate.​

 

Aethelrick waltzed through New York back to the safe house where he found Ash, Morrigan, Masque and Valister, he figured Cyrus was still there as well, but he didn't go to check on him, given what happened last time when he did. With the portal in place, the warlock and fae went through first with a second warlock in tow, then Valister went through and then Sien, Aethel followed through himself ending up in a jungle that appeared out of nowhere. After him Alarick and Nick passed through and the portal disappeared again. He did a quick headcount, all 8 of them were there in front of a ninth person who was looking at a pocket watch.

Shadi had received his orders from the Queen, given a time and place as to where they would arrive, he looked at his pocket watch mentally counting down as the clockhand for seconds slowly ticked away... three... two... one... Exactly at the time that she had told told him the portal opened and the first two people arrived, exactly on time as always. He still found it mind boggling, even after all these years, that she could tell him the exact time and place of such things. When the portal closed Shadi put the pocket watch away and spoke up "Welcome to Somalia, it is good to see you all arrived safely. She knew you were coming here, if you would follow me, I shall lead you to her." The Ifrit said, his pair of grey eyes surveying the people before him, the pair of ossicones rising up between his black hairs, like mountain peaks above the clouds, they must have plenty of questions for him.

Aethelrick didn't know what to say to the bloke who was receiving them here in Somalia, wait the person they decided to come look for knew they would arrive exactly here and now? Well **** that was impressive, unless he was bullshiting them. I mean it wasn't too great a leap to think someone could see events before they occured in a world where portals existed and demons invaded this world. But that would require tremendous amounts of power wouldn't it? He wondered if he had made a mistake coming here, someone wielding much power was not to be triffled with...

 

​

Paragon sighed. That was rude. If he wanted he could have just teleported into the room but he was more tactful than that. He called up one of the other people in the room, an ifrit by the name of Clarity.

"I would punch you, but Bishop wants you unharmed" Black knight responded calmly, and said nothing else as she guided him into a large room

"Ah yes, your upgrades. Would you like to test them out?" The door at the back of the cell opened. A werewolf walked in wearing a white coat and carrying some clothes "Would you like something to wear? Your old clothes are too small now"

 

"Shut up!" Corvo barked, getting to his feet in a flash. He glared at her angrily. "Just be quiet! I need time to think!" He paced around the room, trying to get his thoughts clear. His mind was racing now, his eyes flickering from side to side. He approached the windows and drew them shut. He turned around, his coat sweeping around his legs. His hands curled into fists and the Inquisitor paced again. He put his head in his hands. trying to make sense of everything, trying to come up with a plan. Trying to come up with a way out. What was he supposed to do? He had to deal with Roxanne. He had to deal with Brianne. He had to deal with the Seelie Queen, who had Yorick on her side. Brianne was becoming something other than a Nephilim - A werewolf or a vampire most likely. That meant that she was outside of their jurisdiction. But what was he supposed to do at that point? He didn't have much time, but he didn't have his weapons. He didn't have everything that he needed to deal with all of this! He slammed his fist into the wall.
"What the hell is this? Is this some sort of joke?" He spat. He looked up at the ceiling. "Hear that Yorick? Titania? Is this supposed to be some kind of joke? Are you f*cking with me?" He crossed the room and sat on the bed again, hard, and knocked the box for his Contender off the bed. He reached down and picked it up, then threw it in the suitcase. He unclenched and clenched his fists rapidly and looked up at Roxanne.
"I don't even know what to do with you. I really don't. You're meant to be helpful!" He looked away, then put his head in his hands and tried to clear his head. He needed something salient, he needed something useful. He needed a plan. He needed an idea. Roxanne, Roxanne, what to do with Roxanne!? Something clicked and he looked at her. "Go. We'll meet up again soon. I'll text you. Just, get out of my room. Make sure you're there when I call for you. It'll be important." He gestured her to get out of the room. ​

 

​

Clarity blinked as her phone rang. She looked up at Rhett, a frown on her face, and then down at her phone, which was now in her hand, before sliding her finger across the cracked screen, and holding it up to her ear. "Hello?" She asked quietly, one arm wrapped around her still healing ribs. "How did you get this number?"

​

Alarick gazed at the jungle, distinctly aware of how far they were from New York. And Brianne. He glared at Ash though, attention taken away from the magnificent jungle for a moment. He glanced at Nick, before turning back to Ash. His reply, though was cut off by Morrigan.

​

Morrigan looked up the giant forest with amazement, and no shortage of reverence. She didn't quite hear Ash's words, but the tone of voice indicated it wasn't as nice as he could have been. She felt his hand on her own, and twined her fingers around him, giving him an admonishing look before turning to look at the others, Alarick most of all. "What Ash meant to say, is that it would be best if I speak to her first. No doubt, from what I've been told, she will want to talk to everyone, but since I am of her kind, and she saw me Seeing her..." she turned back to look at the jungle as some birds flew over head. "It would be best to not startle the Mother of Fairies."

She didn't let Ash lead her, but walked along side him, noticing with gratitude that Alarick followed. Hopefully her words had gotten through to the Shadowhunter. He looked most upset when he had arrived, but Morrigan knew it was her place not to ask what was wrong. She looked for Masque, smiling when she found him. "Come on." She motioned with her other hand. "I'm sure there will be lots of things to sketch inside the forest."

​

The werewolf sighed, then took the clothes, pulling them on quickly. "I suppose, don't want everyone to be jealous of what I got." He winked at the werewolf. "Can look, but you can't touch." His muscles twitched, a slight side effect, but perhaps getting into a fight would fix the urge. It certainly didn't seem like a bad idea. "So, Doc. What's the plan then?"

 

"Hello Clarity" Paragon greeted in a deep, electronically altered voice "I have a message for Brianne Lightwood. Tell her it's Paragon" Paragon didn't have any cameras inside the institude unfortunately, but a CCTV camera across the street was currenlty fixated on the building. The other screens showed Alarick's safehouse, empty now, and an apartment building in uptown New York, outside of which stood some of his agents

White Queen and Black Rook stood outside the building with slight trepidation
"You must let me do the talking" White queen requested. She was a vampire, and one of Augur's greatest agents. Black Rook simply grunted in affirmation. He was a werewolf, and did most of the muscle work. She rang the buzzer "Greetings Hestia Sunspoke, I represent Paragon and... oh... you're not Hestia? Terribly sorry" White Queen blushed and cut off the connection
"You pressed the wrong button" Black Rook commented
"Shut up" she muttered before pressing the right button "Hello? Is this Hestia Sunspoke? High Warlock?"

White Rook raised his eyebrow and smirked at Grayson's comments "We're going to be pitting you up against a foe of equal measure. Only rule is you cannot kill him" Doctor Bishop warned. The werewolf held up a circular thing that looked like a collar "Put that on. We'll make sure you don't kill him if you do lose control"
​

Nick listened quietly and smiled at Alarick from time to time, comforting. He felt somehow special that he was the only other one trusted with the secret, and tragic, information that Alarick had told him. This Shadi fellow was odd, but was clearly just another servant of Gaia. He felt a negative attitude coming off Ash and wondered what could have caused that. Maybe he was just this bossy and uptight all the time. He didn't mind, Alarick had seemed that way at first after all. Morrigan was very nice and seemed too trusting of all these strangers.
"I think it would be difficult to startle the Mother of Fairies" Nick chuckled. Suddenly, Nick's phone vibrated. Who could it be? Who could possibly text him at this time? It was from an unknown number, but Nick knew who it was as soon as he saw the message.

Keep an eye on the Fairy. We need her.
​

The message deleted itself soon after. Nick stared at nothing for a while. That was troubling. Oh well. For the greater good.

Masque beamed at Morrigan, though it was hidden by his mask, and followed her. The jungle was incredible, a surreal landscape, it didn't belong in the desert. "It's beautiful... I didn't think something like this could exist..." he stated with wonder. Suddenly he turned to the new warlock hesitantly "You have horns. Have you been able to hide them? I've had... trouble in that regard" he asked with trepidation.

 

​

When Felicia asked how he was involved in all this, he briefly scratched the back of his head. "Well it's not really much compared to occupying this place nor pissing off the Inquisitor, but because I know Brianne I'm being targeted." It was a pretty stupid reason to be dragged into all the mess to be honest, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He clearly didn't have too much of a say in all this.

​

Sien paid Nick no mind. He could care less if Alarick cared why he said what he said, what he wanted to know was what was ailing his friend so that he could do something to help. He didn't really expect Nick to understand how he worked, not many people did. Thus another reason why he generally distanced himself from other people. So there was no problem with him going off on ahead towards the safe house. That was when a man named Aethelrick appeared next to him, further urging him to head towards the safe house. "Sien." He simply said.

~One walk to the safehouse later~

Once everyone who was going had arrived at the safehouse, the portal had been formed. Staring into the darkness, he waited til after Masque and Valister had gone in before heading in himself.

Upon stepping out of the other side of the portal, Valister took a look around at the vast jungle that surrounded them. A place like this was fitting for Lady Gaia. Valister didn't have much to ask the Ifrit who had appeared to be their guide,so he simply remained silent as he waited.