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Zoe Peña

Then I discovered that being related is no guarantee of love!

0 · 1,229 views · located in Greythorne

a character in “greythorne”, as played by phosphene

Description

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"Seeker, where are you going, and what do you expect to find when you get there?"
Seeker, where are you going, and what do you expect to find when you get there?-Marty Rubin

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i d e n t i t y
xxxxx|| Name || Zoe Alondra Peña
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xxxxx|| Nicknames || n/a
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xxxxx|| Gender || cisfemale
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xxxxx|| Age || 22
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xxxxx|| Birthday || July 15
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xxxxx|| Sexuality || Demisexual
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xxxxx|| Hometown || Flagstaff, Arizona
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xxxxx|| Ethnicity || Puerto Rican
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a p p e a r a n c e

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xxxxx|| Height || 5'4
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xxxxx|| Weight || 115
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xxxxx|| Hair Color || brown
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xxxxx|| Eye Color || dark brown
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xxxxx|| Identifying Features || an impossibly cute smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks
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xxxxx|| Description || Zoe has been described as dainty, she has been described as cute, occasionally she's been told she's beautiful. She has deep, expressive eyes, an enchanting smile, and the posture of someone in love with live. She keeps her curly hair relatively short, and while she does have bangs, occasionally wears them slicked or pinned back into the rest of her hair, if her desired look calls for it. She has the straightened teeth and unscarred skin of someone with a charmed childhood, and she wouldn't deny that to be true. She tends to dress in a comfortable, but current, fashion. Sundresses, relaxed jeans, and graphic tees are some of her favorite things to wear. She doesn't typically wear much in the way of accessories; she'll occasionally throw on a bracelet or add a flower to her hair, but she doesn't quite feel herself with too much "bling." Zoe doesn't wear much makeup, typically sticking to eye shadow if she even goes beyond some mascara. Foundation just covers her freckles, and she loves them, so why would she want to cover them up?
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p e r s o n a l i t y

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Zoe’s always been called a dreamer; she has a certain way she views the world, and occasionally behaves as if all her thoughts are true, or else tries to work to make them true. She’s the type to get an idea in her head, and either immediately run with it, or be unable to move on until she’s completely convinced it’s a bad idea in the first place. She tries not to let her constant daydreaming and ideation get in the way of her life, but she often can’t help herself, and gets lost in thoughts, ideas, and potential futures.

She’s been very sheltered, though. She grew up in a large, but very tight-knit, community of witches, and hasn’t ever really seen the world through a different lens. She hasn’t had much contact with anyone but witches and humans, and while she doesn’t live at home anymore, she’s never strayed far from her parents. She approaches many situations with an almost naive assurance that she understands how to go about it, often to find that she’s way out of element.

She can be very cautious in new situations, mostly because she tends to be insecure about her abilities if she’s not experienced, even if-deep down-she knows she can do it. She’s very much the type that instinctively wants to give up if she’s not immediately good at something, though she’s trying to improve and not expect so much from herself. Self love is something she tends to lack, and she’s so hard on herself, even if she knows she shouldn’t be.

Zoe tends to be really stubborn occasionally. Not in all situations, but when she digs her heels in, she digs her heels in. She’s the type to fight tooth and nail even when she knows she’s wrong, just because she can’t stand to admit she isn’t right. She loves nothing more than to be right, and for others to admit it.

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f l a v o r

xxxxx|| Likes || Zoe loves playing piano; it’s one of the most calming things a person can do, if you ask her. She’s always loved summer most, she loves most everything about it. She loves animals, but especially birds. She has quite the sweet tooth, and loves all desserts, though ice cream is her favorite. She likes to drink tea, though she prefers it cold, and loves nail polish; she has what amounts to a collection of different polishes by now, and if you find her without painted nails, something is probably wrong.
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xxxxx|| Dislikes || Zoe hates being challenged in any way; while she likes projects and activities that challenge her, people are a different story. She’s always hated the cold, and she blames it on being born and raised in the desert. She hates wearing sweaters, as she generally finds them uncomfortable, and she also can’t stand to wear tight clothing. She never got a taste for coffee, and hates being alone for much longer than a day.
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xxxxx|| Fears || the dark, being sick.
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xxxxx|| Secrets || Zoe doesn't have a lot of secrets; the only one she really holds is that she left home in secret to find Greythorne.xx
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w i t c h

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xxxxx|| Water || Plenty of witches have control over an element; it’s not uncommon, and control over water is a common ability for witches. A lot of witches have powers that are linked to their emotions, and while that is the case, to an extent, for Zoe; she never had trouble getting her emotions and powers to work together. Strong flares of emotion don’t make her powers go out of control, but they can be used to help her. Bursts of anger or fear might help her to move water more quickly, while happiness may make it easier to tap into her abilities. It may be that she is so well practiced, but Zoe really does have excellent control over most every aspect of her abilities. Silver can cause burns if exposed for long enough (though, luckily, she’s not the type that will be burned instantly on contact-though it does always hurt), and Zoe has found that her powers tend to ebb and flow like the tide, sometimes stronger than others, but never not there.
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xxxxx|| Talents || Piano, bilingual, swimming, cooking
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xxxxx|| Strengths || Zoe is loyal to people she cares about, sometimes to a fault. She’s willing to stand behind her family and friends even when she thinks they’re wrong (she can tell them that in private). She tries to be helpful, always pointing out solutions when she sees them, or ways someone can improve. Zoe tends to be fairly self-sufficient, both in life and work. She doesn’t need to be told what to do or when to do it, instead she just does what she can see needs to be done.
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xxxxx|| Weaknesses || Zoe gets frustrated easily, and that often turns to tears. In fact, she cries basically any time she feels a particularly strong emotion. She doesn’t have much faith in herself, and often gives up on things, before she really has the chance to see if she’s going to succeed, so that she doesn’t fail.

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h i s t o r y

Zoe’s parents never talked a lot about life before she started school, and, originally, that never bothered her. She knew they didn’t get married until she was almost five, but in her mind that was normal. She grew up with two parents that loved and supported her, who made sure she had the resources she needed to control her powers when they began to manifest in early childhood, and who were invested in her education. They sheltered her from the outside world a little too much, but they always meant well, she thought. She knew they loved her, but she always felt as though she was missing something. When she was a kid, she decided to fill that void by learning to play piano, as a teenager, she filled her time with studying, friends, and more milkshakes than was probably healthy.

But she still never quite felt right. As she grew, she felt more disconnected from her community, and from herself. Whatever it was that she was missing made her feel like she didn’t belong there, even though it should have felt like the best place in the world for her to be.

Zoe has always known about her half-brother; at first she was very upset that she didn’t get to meet him, but her father assured her that it was just because his mother hated her mother. For a long time, she even believed it. Until after the attack on Greythorne. Her father offering her brother to come live with them caused a big fight between her parents, mostly her mother being angry about her father making an offer he wouldn’t actually honor. She began to wonder if her father was actually the problem.

It was stupid, really; leaving the safety of the coven to go to a town that had so recently suffered an attack. It became an even stupider idea after the second attack. By all accounts, Zoey should have stayed in Arizona, where she was already helping teach young witches how to control their powers, and offering piano lessons to some of the older children. She was making her own way in the community, and her place in it was important enough that she could sustain herself. But, at some point, she began to equate those feelings of something missing with having a sibling she’d never even met. Logically, she knew it wasn’t going to change anything, but she had this idea in her mind of finding him; that they would be friends, and be close, and they would stick together when things were rough, and they would be there for one another no matter what.

She knew her parents would talk her out of it if she told them, so she didn’t. She just packed some bags, and she left. She wasn’t entirely sure how to find Greythorne (asking too many questions would probably just give her away), but she was sure she could get there. It couldn’t be that difficult.


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writer: nonconformingrole - fc: Tashi Rodriguez - hex code: #6E9ECF


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So begins...

Zoe Peña's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
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phoenix woods
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outfit : herex|xhex: #c4a7be
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alex garcia
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outfit : herex|xhex: #3a0a4d
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zoe peña
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outfit : herex|xhex: #6E9ECF
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Greythorne hadn’t been the easiest town to find, especially since Zoe had set out without much direction. That had been- in a word, frustrating, and Zoe had thought more than once that she may be better off just giving up and heading back home. But she’d ignored so many phone calls and followed so many leads, and she just couldn’t give up. She knew, of course, that finding the town was only the beginning, and that finding her brother would likely be a whole other beast. She didn’t have an address for him, or even a phone number. The foolishness of the whole thing really only struck her once she’d already gone through all the trouble and found the town, and at that point she’d gone that far, may as well finish what she’d started.

It took a bit of asking around (people, it seems, weren’t apt to trust just any strange person who, appearance wise, was just some random human that had wandered into the town), and then hardly anyone seemed to know who she was talking about. Zoe’s father had always painted her half-brother out to be some sort of troublemaker, and she had assumed more people would know of him, based solely on that.

Eventually, someone sent her to an address, and the woman that answered the door started laughing at her, which was not the response Zoe expected. Zoe didn’t even get a chance to explain who she was or why she was there before the older woman jotted down another address on a slip of paper and handed it to her, wishing her luck- though what for, Zoe wasn’t sue, and at that point she was getting more confused by the second. It took some directions, but it didn’t take long to walk to the new address she’d been given. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she knocked on the door, “Okay, Zoe,” She whispered to herself, “This has to be it.” She didn’t know what she was going to do if this wasn’t it, but she just felt like it had to be. She wasn’t sure she could handle much more disappointment in one day.

It wasn’t long before the door opened, and a blond man stood before her, and the smile almost instantly vanished from Zoe’s face. “Umm,” She started, not even sure where to start. “I’m sorry,” She looked down at the paper in her hand, eyebrows knit together in confusion, “I must have the wrong address again…” Suddenly all the frustration and disappointment she’d been feeling began to build up like rainwater in her chest, and it wasn’t long before her eyes were welling with tears she couldn’t fight back.

Phoenix had known something was up from the moment Neden and Markus left without Coco. It couldn’t have been an accident, they’d all known that Markus would have probably killed someone to protect that dog. He wouldn’t have left her behind. Not unless he had to. Coco stayed with them that night… and then every night after. Hearing Markus was dead was a shock that Phoenix was still trying to come to terms with. It was an unpleasant reminder of the aftermath of the attacks, that this still wasn’t over. It might never be.

Rosie had called another town meeting to try and boost spirits. Phoenix had already decided he wasn’t going. The last one hadn’t gone so well, and it wasn’t what he needed right now. Instead, he had texted Jaiden to come over later, and told her to bring Violet or Neden if they wanted to come. They all needed the distraction. He was cooking dinner in a bid to distract himself when he heard the knock on the door. Frowning, he glanced back at Alex with a shrug. Neither of them were expecting anyone, because Jaiden would just let herself in. He wasn’t sure who he was expecting to see on the other side, but the girl standing there wasn’t it. He had never seen her before, and his guard was instantly up. And then she took one look at him and started apologising. As she said she had to have the wrong house, Phoenix could see her eyes start to fill up with tears.

“Hey, uh, it’s okay. It happens to the best of us, right? Um… who are you looking for? I know pretty much everyone in town, I can let you know where they live,” he said awkwardly.

Zoe started wiping the tears from her eyes before they even started falling, but she wasn’t quite fast enough. She mentally berated herself for crying in front of a complete stranger; this was embarrassing, and childish, and her father would be disappointed in her if he saw her being so foolish. “Oh, god, sorry. I’m sorry,” She took a deep breath, as if to calm herself; not that it did much good. She didn’t know this guy, and here he was, offering to help her. She didn’t know if it was because he was a good person, or because she was literally standing on his doorstep crying. Either way, she knew she had put him in an awkward position.

She shook her head, “I’m looking for Alejandro Garcia,” She paused, studying the man’s face for a moment before adding,“Though I’m beginning to wonder if he even exists,” Her tone was full of sarcasm; a symptom of the goose chase she felt she’d been sent on. Then, maybe because she felt awkward, she started rambling on, “Thank you so much, for offering to help, and for being kind, and not making fun of me for crying… I’ve had a very frustrating day.”

He waited for a few seconds as she regained her composure, starting to wish he’d told Alex to open the door instead. She took a deep breath and said who she was looking for. Phoenix frowned. There wasn’t an Alejand- oh. It had taken him a while to recognise the name, because he hadn’t heard it in years, and every time he had, it had usually been accompanied with a string of middle names as Abuela yelled at them to stop doing whatever dumb thing they were doing at the time. He smirked. “It’s fine, you got sent to the right place, it’s just… You’ll see. Come in. I’m Phoenix, by the way,” he said. “Alex, there’s someone here to see you!” He called. He wondered who this strange woman was, who he’d never seen in town before, and who still called Alex by his full name. He led her back into the kitchen. “I’ll make some tea!”

Zoe smiled when Phoenix said she was in the right place, after all. She had to admit, she was thrilled, and suddenly more nervous than before. It was going to be okay, though, she reminded herself. Everything would be fine. “I’m Zoe. Thank you so much, again. I-” She cut herself off, shaking her head, “You have no idea how exciting this is.” Phoenix said he was going to make some tea, and it struck Zoe that he was, perhaps, the most inviting person she’d met so far in this town. The place was nice and cozy, and perhaps more cluttered than she’d expected.

Then, who she assumed to be, her brother walked in the room, talking the whole way, “Phoenix’s who’s-” He paused briefly when his eyes landed on her, and he shot Phoenix a look that Zoe couldn’t read, before saying, “Hi…” His tone was slow, cautious. Of course it was, he hadn’t been expecting her, and they’d never met.

Zoe resisted the urge to rush to him, instead she grinned and said, “It’s so great to meet you! You are Alejandro, right?” She shot a sideways glance to Phoenix, “Oh, sorry, do you prefer-”
“Alex.” He interrupted. His voice sounded cold. This already wasn’t going well.

“Right, sorry. I didn’t-” She looked down at her feet, trying to keep her composure, then she put a smile back on her face and continued, “I’m Zoe.” The blank look on Alex’s face told her that meant nothing to him, “Zo-Zoe Peña?” From the look on his face, she wasn’t sure she was ringing any bells there, either.

Alex looked at Phoenix, trying to ask with his eyes who the hell this woman was, and why she was there. Partially because he had no idea what was going on, and partially for confirmation that both of them were equally unaware. “It’s… Nice to meet you, Zoe, but why are you here?”

He saw Zoe’s face fall, as if this wasn’t going according to some sort of plan. “I… I just wanted to meet you. I thought that-”

“Wait,” Alex interrupted, now with more questions and no answers, “I don’t understand.”

“It’s me, Zoe. Your sister. I know we’ve-”

“I don’t have a sister.” Alex interrupted, having lost patience for the conversation.

“Well, actually, you do. I exist, last time I checked.” Alex didn’t find her attempt at humor funny, and after a short (and uncomfortable) pause, she continued, “Did Dad never talk to you about me? Or even tell you?”

“We don’t talk much.” It was a simple statement of fact, there was no acquisition-or even emotion-in the statement.

“Oh…” Zoe shot a pleading look at Phoenix, as if asking him for help. Alex felt a little sorry for her, but then she kept on talking, “I thought you would’ve known. He told me a little about you.”

Alex nodded, and now he was looking to Phoenix for help. This was an… Uncomfortable moment. “I’m sure it’s just… He’s not exactly the greatest, so.” He cleared his throat, “Anyway, it was nice to meet you.” He smiled at her, hoping she would get the not-so-subtle hint that he wanted her to leave.

Zoe’s mind was reeling. She’d only just arrived, and now he wanted her to leave? “Hold on,” There was a bit of desperation, maybe bordering on anger, in her voice. “I thought we could at least get to know each other a little. I’ve spent so long imagining what it might be like to have you in my life and-”

Alex held up a finger, as if to silently ask Zoe to stop talking, and she did, “That’s great and all, but I’m just not that interested.” So many things had happened in the past months, and Alex was still adjusting to many of the changes. He didn’t think he could really handle anything else thrust into his life.

Zoe looked upset, not angry, though. Mostly, she looked like her hopes and dreams were coming crashing down around her. “I came all this way and-”

“Well, I didn’t ask you to!” Alex was yelling, now, having fully lost his temper.

Things escalated rather quickly, and Phoenix wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. Alex’s questioning looks were met with ones of equal confusion from Phoenix, and then shock as Zoe announced she was Alex’s sister. Zoe shot Phoenix a look to help, but he really didn’t know what he could do or say. But Alex clearly wasn’t happy about it, and honestly, Phoenix couldn’t totally blame him. It was… one hell of surprise, that was for sure. But when tempers started to flare, Phoenix calmly stepped in and handed Zoe a cup of tea, before handing one to Alex and wrapping his arm around Alex’s waist to comfort him.

“Shouting at each other isn’t going to fix any of this,” he said calmly, aware that somebody needed to keep a level head before things went wrong.“Zoe, it’s lovely to meet you. But… you’ve got to understand that we had… literally no idea you existed. So… it is a bit of a shock. But,” he said, glancing at Alex, his expression gentle. Alex’s reaction had perhaps been a little harsh, but Phoenix didn’t blame him either. It was just the image of Zoe’s reaction when she thought she’d come all this way for nothing that was sticking in his head. “Let’s not act too rashly either, okay? Stay for dinner, I cooked loads.” He’d intended on giving some of it to Jaiden and the others, but there would still be plenty for them. “Until then, how about we show you around town and see if any of the B&B’s have a room?” He said. There was barely enough room for just him and Alex in the apartment, let alone a third person. And even if there was, Phoenix wasn’t sure he would have let her stay anyway. She didn’t have any real proof she was Alex’s sister, even if Phoenix could start to see certain resemblances the longer he looked.

Normally, Alex would’ve leaned into Phoenix, let himself be comforted, and just let the situation over. He was, however, more than a little upset. A part of him wanted to tell Phoenix to stop being nice, but as Phoenix spoke Alex stared over at Zoe, as if studying her. She was clutching her cup as if it were the only thing keeping her alive, and staring down into the tea instead of looking at either of them. Alex pretty quickly realized he wasn’t fully angry with her. He wasn’t happy about her being there, but she probably didn’t deserve to be yelled at.

Zoe spoke up first, looking over at Phoenix with a small smile, “Thank you,” There was an uncomfortable pause as she slowly looked from Phoenix to Alex, “I didn’t know how to contact you before I came,” She explained, slowly, “If I would have asked Dad, he would’ve just tried to talk me out of it, and I couldn’t seem to find you online.” She sighed, “With the attacks, I wanted to find you, and… I guess I was worried that if I waited it would be too late.” She set her cup down on the counter and said, “I have some pictures, if that helps.” Before rifling around in her bag for a moment, pulling out a few pictures. Family pictures; Zoe at various ages, with her parents. She looked a little like her dad, which was pretty obvious when you looked at the two of them together. She decided to hand them to Phoenix. He seemed calmer. “Maybe I should’ve led with that. I thought it might make things worse.”

“It probably would’ve.” Alex at least sounded calmer, now. He leaned into Phoenix a little, taking one of the pictures and flipping it over to look at the date scrawled across the back. That was his father in the picture, sure enough. He didn’t recognise the handwriting on the back, but it was probably Zoe’s mother’s.

“I know you didn’t grow up with him around,” Zoe said, quickly, “I’m not trying to rub it in that I did, I just didn’t-”

“No,” Alex interrupted, “I get it.” He nodded, “If this goes wrong, it’s not my fault. I will not take responsibility.”

Zoe smiled at him, “Okay, fair enough.”

Zoe was the first to break the silence by thanking Phoenix and explaining that she hadn’t known how to contact Alex. Greythorne was pretty closed off to the world, so it made sense. It sounded like Zoe had really put in a lot of effort to try and find him. When Zoe said she was afraid she would be too late after the attacks, Phoenix found himself glancing away for the first time, tracing the pattern on his mug with his fingers. She’d known about the attacks, had known about the danger, and she’d still come. This… this was clearly important to her. He was startled out of the thoughts as Zoe handed the photos to him. He started to flick through them, smiling a little as he felt Alex finally leaning into him. Alex took one of the photos, and Phoenix silently handed the rest of them to him. They were his to look at, not Phoenix’s. Things seemed to have calmed down, and Alex seemed a little more receptive to it. After a few minutes of looking through the photos, he straightened up a little. “Well then. Shall we go for that walk, show you around town?” He asked, looking between them.

If Alex were being completely honest, he still wasn’t sure how he felt about it all. There were a lot of mixed emotions, and he would have prefered to be able to process them before meeting Zoe, if that was what he chose to do, but he had to admit that he understood it a little better now. When Phoenix asked if they were ready to go walk around town, Zoe opened her mouth to answer, but quickly closed it and looked at Alex. He nodded, “If you’re ready.”

Zoe smiled, nodded, and said, “Yes, I would love that.”

As they started to get their coats on, Zoe complained about how cold it was, which made Alex laugh because, “Did you expect it to be warm in Canada during winter? Zoe had to admit that she hadn’t known what to expect, but before long they were out the door, and showing Zoe what little sights Greythorne boasted: which was mostly where the stores were, or what a building was, or used to be. Admittedly-based on the sights alone-Greythorne wasn’t the most interesting town, but Zoe seemed happy, all the same. Phoenix smirked at Alex's comment as he bent down to put Coco on the leash, glad to see things were already improving. He took Alex's hand with his free hand as they walked, smiling at him.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Zoe Peña Character Portrait: Travis Graveson
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

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KAYLESSA VALVEN
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outfit xxxxxxx hex; #FF4500
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xxx If I'm a bad person, you don't like me
xxx Well, I guess I'll make my own way
xxx It's a circle, a mean cycle
xxx Sometimes I wanna fuckin' scream or run away,
xxxI can't excite you anymore

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The couple days after Christmas was great ad people seemed to get more relaxed and joyful, but it didn't last long. Rosie had come to Kaylessa’s house in the early afternoon, in the middle of her and Hayden messing around, Kaylessa was talking about how she could turn the entire living room into a blanket fort with all the blankets she had stored away and Hayden seemed a little skeptical. When she answered the door she could tell something was wrong by the facial expression and how Rosie stood, she was someone who was mostly bright, but right now she just seemed dark and sad. The news that she delivered Kay never expected to hear/. Markus was dead.

Rosie had told Kay and Hayden about another town hall meeting being scheduled for the coming week, but Kaylessa didn’t want to go. The days after hearing the news about Markus hit her hard and not going out as much. She let Hayden stay with her since he arrived in Greythorne, telling him that her door was always open, but they didn’t do much besides Hayden trying to cheer her up. Kay was thankful to have hime there for her, no one else really was, but she didn’t blame them. Most people were taking the news of Markus’ death badly as well. The only person she really talked to besides Hayden was Zada for a little bit, but it was more so Kay venting about Alex and Phoenix and Zada giving her some advice.

The town hall meeting finally arrived and Hayden had asked Kaylessa if she was sure she didn’t want to go, talking about how she should go out and get some air and sunlight. He was right, but Kaylessa didn’t want to go to the meeting so she just told him she was going to go for a walk near the woods, reconnect with nature and herself. Kay told him to make himself at home while she was gone or to get food, that he didn't need to wait for her.

While Kaylessa was walking she was dragging her feet through the snow as she tried to collect her thoughts, not sure how to handle all this going on. She was surprised when she heard a hiss like sound and quickly figuring out it was someone in the bushes trying to get her attention. The woman silently called her over and handed her a note in an envelope saying to give it to whoever was incharge of their town. Kay looked down at the envelope and when she looked up the woman was gone. Kaylessa was curious about the note and quickly opened it and read it over, it contained something just as shocking as learning Markus’ death, but much more complicated

Kay ran through town, trying to get to the town hall meeting, wanting to talk to someone about this, if it was true or just a scare tactic. By the time she opened the door, she spotted Rosie on stage, and realised she needs to know about this and dodged through the crown and handed her the opened envelope saying it was important

When Rosie read the letter Kay was confused why she didn’t tell the truth, but was quickly met with a familiar face she saw often in school telling her to be quiet and would talk to her later about it. Kay listened as Neden spoke about updates to the patrols and other things to similar to the safety of the town. As the meeting ended though she lost sight of Rosie and Kay just sighed and walked out and through the town heading back home, hoping a little bit Hayden had waited for her.

During her Kaylessa greeted people that said hello to her with a flash of a smile, not really saying much. As she rounded a corner she saw two people walking a familiar dog but with an unfamiliar third person. Alex and Phoenix. As Kay stared at them from a distance, seeing them hold hands, she thought back to the things Zada had talked to her about and how she felt, and what Alex and Phoenix did to make her feel that way.

“Hey!” Kaylessa shouted as she walked towards the group, no smile on her face, but just a serious tone. She finally stopped in front of them. “We need to talk.” She spouted at Phoenix.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Zoe Peña Character Portrait: Hayden Byrne
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0000P H O E N I X 0 W O O D S 000000000000000000|00000000000000000 K A Y L E S S A 0 V A L V E N
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#c4a7be 0 | 0 #FF4500

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phoenix 0 | 0 kay







Phoenix flinched a little as someone yelled at them, his grip on Alex’s hand tightening for a fraction of a second. Then he looked and realised that it was just Kay. But her usual smile was gone, and she seemed… almost angry. Phoenix had never seen Kay properly angry before. And it… seemed to be directed at him. He glanced at Alex, before remembering Zoe was there. He forced a smile and handed Coco’s lead to Alex. “I’ll be right back, okay? You two play nice,” he said. He walked a short way away before turning to look at Kay. “Is… everything okay?”

Kay heard Alex say hello but ignored him as she just waited for Phoenix, and then followed him until he stopped and turned back to her, asking if everything was okay. “No.” She said short, pausing for a second. “Why did you kiss Alex? And now why are you two, you know, a thing!?” Her voice raised a little, as she scowled.

He knew the minute she spoke that he was right about her being annoyed with him. His stomach plummeted as she asked why he’d kissed Alex. “Kay I- I’m sorry, okay? I just… that night in the graveyard, I wasn’t thinking straight, I didn’t mean to rub it in your face, okay, but we were- I was scared.” He’d tried not to think about it since, because the guilt was too much. But now he had to come to terms with it.

Kaylessa eyes squinted as Phoenix gave excuses, about how he didn’t mean to rub it in her face. “I told you, I told you everything and how I felt!” Kay shouted and gave him a light push. “Why did you just let me tell you everything? Make me look dumb and stupid, I felt pathetic.” Kaylessa paused for a second.

Phoenix didn’t fight back, let Kay push him. He probably deserved it. Why hadn’t he stopped her from telling him all that? He hadn’t needed to know, he hadn’t wanted to know but he’d just let her because he couldn’t say no. He should have said something, but he didn’t. And now he’d probably just ruined their friendship forever.

“Kay, I never meant to hurt you, okay? When you were telling me this, I didn’t think there was a chance in hell that he felt the same way. And I tried to tell you that Aex was like that with everybody,” he said, dropping his voice so that only Kay would be able to hear him. “I don’t know what you want me to do, or say, but I’m sorry.”

Kaylessa scoffed when he said he didn’t want to hurt her. “You didn’t hurt me, what hurt was when I fell out of the tree and couldn't swim. You weren’t there for me then just like you weren’t there for me when I confessed how I felt.” She stared at Phoenix, as her mind went back to the attack, and how Travis saved her from drowning, the same guy being accused of being a spy. “You know what I want? I want you to not be with him, I want you to feel what I felt when I saw you kiss, when I saw you holding each other at the christmas party.”

Phoenix just stared at Kay at her response. This… this wasn’t her. Part of him wanted to reach out to her, wanted to find out what was wrong. But he was also so hurt by what she was saying. The newcomer from the Christmas party, Hayden, appeared, almost from nowhere to take her arm, obviously trying to calm her down. But Phoenix was too angry, too hurt to even acknowledge him. “Kay. I died that night. I’m sorry you got hurt, but I couldn’t be there, because I had just bled out in a graveyard. I told you that Alex was that way with everyone, and you didn’t listen. I’m not saying I didn’t make any mistakes, but this is not all my fault. You have your role in it.”

“Kay, come on. We should go,” Hayden said, pulling on Kay’s arm, trying to get her to leave with him.

As Phoenix talked, Kay noticed Hayden was there but just focused on the man in front of her. “Yeah, you died, but the second you were alive you kissed him. And you know it wasn’t just because you weren’t thinking. If I had healed you, would you have kissed me?” Kay kept speaking as Hayden held onto her arm. “First you destroyed the flower crown I gave him, and then pretended to care about it and fixed it. You pretended to listen to how I felt, pretended to be my friend... “

Some tears started to form under Kay’s eyes as she spoke. Hayden turned her towards him and into a hug, trying to calm her down. “Just take me home, please.” She said to Hayden, muffled into his shoulder.

Phoenix just froze, his anger dissipating. Even through all this, he’d still thought of Kay as a friend. And he’d ruined that. Just like he’d ruined everything else. As Hayden pulled her into a hug, Phoenix took a step back, and glanced at Alex and Zoe. With a chill down his back, he realised that Neden was also there now, and that they’d all seen- and probably heard the whole thing. They were going to hate him too. Everyone was going to hate him for hurting Kay. And could he blame them?

“I’m sorry-” He stammered out, before turning and heading back towards the apartment, needing to be anywhere but there right then.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
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A L E X GARCIA
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outfitx|x#3a0a4d
xxxi ain't happy, i'm feeling glad
xxxi got sunshine in a bag
xxxi'm useless but not for long
xxxthe future is coming on

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xxx
Alex let Zoe and Phoenix do most of the talking as they walked through town. He was tired. The nightmares and visions had started again the night Markus died. If he’d been less upset about them, he might have found some poetic beauty in it. Instead, he was just annoyed. He heard someone shouting, felt Phoenix’s grip on his hand tighten, and shot his head to the source of the yelling. It was just Kay. He was halfway through the process of relief when he realized that something was wrong. “Hi, Kay,” There was clearly more he wanted to say, but between Kay ignoring him, and Phoenix handing Coco off to him, the words never left his tongue.

As Kay and Phoenix began to argue, Alex looked over to Zoe. This probably wasn’t the welcome into town that she’d envisioned. When she quietly asked what was going on, all Alex could do was shrug, “I honestly have no idea.” A part of Alex wanted to take Zoe and pull her away from it; this wasn’t any of her business, and it honestly felt like it wasn’t any of his, but something about what he was hearing was connecting dots in his mind Honestly, Neden just about running him over was a welcome distraction.

Neden rambled on for a short while, only really stopping long enough to get Zoe’s name. Alex smiled when they picked Coco up, some familiarity would do the little dog good. She’d been, understandably, upset since Markus died (well, since he left her with Alex and Phoenix, to be exact). She was adjusting, but Alex knew that her whole world had been turned upside down. She missed Markus, and there wasn’t anything Alex could do about that. “We were just showing Zoe around town when we… Ran into Kay.”

Normally he would’ve said more, but Phoenix and Kay were getting pretty intense, and Alex desperately wanted to say something, to try to break it up, but he didn’t even know what was going on. He would probably make things worse, and he didn’t want to leave Zoe there with Neden to watch everything go down. He wasn’t the fondest of her, but she honestly looked like she was witnessing something traumatic. Maybe she was. Thankfully, the argument seemed to end shortly after Hayden stepped in, but then Phoenix just turned and left. Shit. Alex looked to Neden, then Zoe, “Phoenix!” He called out, to no avail.

It became pretty apparent that Neden was going to go after Phoenix, so Alex took Coco back and looked at Zoe, “So, I know we asked you to join us for dinner, but that isn’t happening.” The thought that Alex owed her nothing, and didn’t have to do anything to help her crossed his mind, but that would only serve to upset Phoenix, and Phoenix didn’t need any more reasons to be upset. As badly as he wanted to go after Phoenix and try to make everything better, Alex knew he had some other business to attend to. “Here,” He handed Coco off to Zoe, who was still standing there like she had no idea what was going on. He sent a quick text to Jaiden, explaining that they needed to take a rain check on dinner, if she was still planning on coming, and he started once again down the sidewalk, not bothering to check if Zoe was following behind.

They didn’t talk as they walked, they didn’t talk when Alex bought Zoe something to eat, and they didn’t talk when Alex found her a room to get checked into. Alex almost left for home without saying a word, but he finally spoke up just before he left, “I don’t know how the next few days are going to go. Phoenix is… Upset. Obviously.” Alex paused, trying to decide how much information to share, “He’s not really used to people sticking around when things get rough, and even I don’t have the best track record of being there for him. So,” He sighed, “I’m trying to do better. I definitely don’t deserve him, but I’m trying to.” He shrugged, “I guess… Listen, I’ll talk to you, I guess you deserve that much after the shit show you went through today. But I have to put Phoenix first. I don't know how much he's going to need-or want-me around, but...” He shook his head. He had some thoughts to add, but Zoe didn't need to know, "Anyway, I'll come to you." With that, he left Zoe for the night, and went to carry Coco home.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Zoe Peña Character Portrait: Hayden Byrne
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Z O E PEÑA
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outfitx|x#6E9ECF
xxxsomething is familiar
xxxlike a dream I can reach but not quite hold
xxxi can sense you there
xxxlike a friend I've always known

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xx
The whole thing may have been foolish, but now that she was here, Zoe was really starting to enjoy herself. She wasn’t sure she had expected to find Alex in some sort of relationship, but Phoenix seemed to be genuinely wonderful, and definitely had a cooler head on his shoulders. Then a woman’s voice yelled out at them. She heard Alex try to greet her, and Phoenix walked a short way away. Not far enough. She half expected Alex to talk to her, walk away farther with her, try to distract her, something. Zoe didn’t know Alex well, but judging by his face, the things they were hearing was news to him, too. Still, she leaned in and whispered, “Ale-Alex. What’s this about?” Only to hear that he didn’t know, either.

She had halfway been hoping that asking about it would remind him that she was there, and that he’d do something. She felt like she was listening to something very personal that she had no right to know, and it was more than a little uncomfortable. She was having some first day in town.

Eventually, someone else appeared-having almost run right into Alex, clearly not paying attention to where they were going. They just started talking, and introduced themself. “Oh, I’m Zoe,” She replied, when asked for her name. She thought about clarifying who she was even farther, but between the argument happening behind them, and Neden welcoming her to town and then picking up her brother’s dog, she had no idea what to do.

“I died that night.” Zoe wasn’t really listening to the argument at that point; she’d been trying to tune it out, but something about that comment hit her ears, and a look of horror crossed her face. She didn’t know a lot about Alex, but she did know that he was a necromancer. Their father had told her as much when she asked why he lived in Canada, so far away from the rest of him. She’d always been under the impression that necromancy was a dangerous and shameful thing, and now she had some strange ideas running through her mind, and she couldn’t help but wonder what Alex had done. She tried not to be too obvious about it when Alex turned to look at her, but she felt like her thoughts were painted across her forehead.

After that, it wasn’t long before things ended and Alex was handing Coco to her. Zoe didn’t mind holding the dog- she was soft and cute and very clearly getting tired of walking. At first, she’d just assumed he was planning on going after Phoenix, but he started sending text messages, and then turned and started walking the opposite direction Phoenix had gone. Honestly, Zoe was planning on standing there until she’d figured out what to do, but then she realized that she had his dog. “Hey, wait!” She hurried to walk beside him, and one look at his face told her not to try to talk to him, so she didn’t.

Zoe quickly learned that the good thing about living in a town populated with a variety of magical beings was that there was always something open. Alex went to buy her something to eat, and when Zoe started to stop him, trying to explain that he didn’t have to do that, he just shot her a look that pretty effectively communicated his desire that she just shut up. So she wound up letting him buy her some dinner, and, since she had Coco, he even carried the takeout bag for her. He was using his phone quite a bit as he walked her through the town, and when they came upon a bed and breakfast with plenty of open rooms, she realized why. She didn’t remind him that all of her things were back at his place. The plan had been to find her a place to stay and bring her back there after dinner, but they’d had to adjust the plan. At this point, she figured she would swing by in the morning to pick it all up on her way out of town. This had gone so badly that she was willing to admit it was a terrible idea to have come in the first place.

Then Alex finally spoke to her, and though she didn’t really know Phoenix and Alex, the words just about broke her heart. They’d lived very different lives than she had, and she was only just realizing it. She wanted to thank Alex for being willing to give her a chance. She wanted to tell him that she didn’t think he was all that bad, and she was sure Phoenix didn’t think he was too good for him. But she didn’t. Instead, she just said, “Okay.” And watched him walk away.

Then she closed her door, sat down, and ate her dinner. She had a lot to reflect on, and a lot to think about.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
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ROSIE THOMPSON
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outfit : herex|xhex: #cc0460
xxxwhen you act like this
xxxwhen you get so into yourself
xxxi lose track of common goals
xxxand letting go so i can be all alone
Rosie was been relieved and delighted when Jaiden had taken her up on her offer. Jaiden was spending much more time around Rosie’s, which was making Travis’ absence a little less difficult. The town knew by now, and people had started regarding her with a degree of suspicion. But it had only lasted a day or two until they’d realised she was deathly serious in her warning that if he was found within town limits, he was to be captured and taken to whoever was leading the patrols at the time. A vampire by the name of Evelyn had stepped up to help with the patrols following Markus’ death. A young vampire by all standards, even younger than Rosie herself, but she’d quickly proved herself. And she’d promised Rosie she would only kill him if really necessary. He’d left town after three days. She’d been reassured of that by the spriggans, who seemed to be of the opinion they were much better off without them and that she could do better anyway. Rosie had thanked them for their information and had left it at that.

Training Jaiden had been a welcome distraction. She was trying to keep it as broad as she can, teaching self defense as well as offensive techniques. She’d been taking it slow with the magic, partially because Jaiden was still unsure, and partially because Rosie herself was unsure of how to best train and advise on it. But she was seeing progress. It was small, but it was there, and that was something.

She’d all but stopped giving her classes assignments and tests. Partially so she’d have less to do herself, but also because she could tell they were scared and stressed enough without her piling work on top of it. More than once, her class had gotten derailed as they talked about what was happening. She let it happen, knowing that talking about what was happening was important.

Seeing how scared her students were had prompted Rosie to do some thinking. People were feeling scared all over town, holding their breaths, waiting for something to happen. People needed hope, needed a sign, needed support. There were families who had lost a loved one or who were trying to help a loved one heal. So Rosie had approached Phoenix with an idea, and he’d organized the whole thing in a week. A brunch in his cafe, donation only. All of the money raised would be going to the families that needed it. She had no idea if they’d even make that much, but it was also something to get people out, to get people interacting again.

She woke up a little earlier than usual, showered and got ready. She’d volunteered her services to Phoenix to help keep things running smoothly for the morning, but she’d also accepted the leadership role she seemed to have been handed, and she knew it was important for people to see her there. She found herself ready a little earlier than needed, and decided to make herself some breakfast, figuring that she was going to the cafe to help, not get brunch herself.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
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Z A D A min ALBAHR
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outfitx|x#78b0ad
xxxdon't do love, don't do friends
xxxi'm only after success
xxxdon't need a relationship
xxxi'll never soften my grip

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xx
Since she’d come to town, Zada and Triss had settled into a comfortable routine. That is to say, they mostly left one another alone, aside from occasional conversation, and sitting together in comfortable silence as they both engaged in their own activities. Triss came and went as she pleased, and they both enjoyed one another’s company if, and when, they desired. They’d consumed plenty of wine, and had many conversations along the way. Zada had enjoyed getting to know Trasstana, even if just a little, and her heart was glad to no longer be so alone. Just having someone nearby, whether she be one of Zada’s sisters or not, made her feel more like Greythorne was where she was meant to be. Would she have had the chance to have met Trisstana anywhere else? Or even someone like her? Like either of them? Zada wasn’t sure. She tended to believe that, no, she wouldn’t have.

She’d received an invitation to the brunch, and knew that between Rosie setting things up, and Phoenix hosting and making it happen, of course she would go. It would help the town, it would (hopefully) help boost spirits, and she would get something delicious to eat that she didn’t have to make herself. She’d mentioned it to Trisstana, but wasn’t sure if she was going to be coming along, too. Still, she spent some time getting ready; she spent the same amount of effort on her appearance every day, whether she was going to the post office or to a meeting where she would potentially encounter the entire town. Hair, makeup, touch up her nails if needed. Zada liked to be the picture of perfection, as tedious as that may be.

Once she was all ready, she went in search of Triss. She knocked on the door of her guest room, waiting for permission to enter the room. She didn’t quite smile when Triss opened the door, but her eyes indicated that she maybe would have, if she was more comfortable with it. “I was getting ready to leave for the cafe soon,” She explained, glossing over pleasantries and getting right to the point, “I was wondering if you wanted to come.” She tilted her head slightly to the side, as if in thought, “If you think you may stay for a while, it would be a good opportunity to meet a few people.” She shrugged, “Some of the people in this town are actually okay.”









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A L E X GARCIA
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outfitx|x#3a0a4d
xxxi hear the voices from the closet
xxxasking me haunting questions
xxxare you happy?
xxxdo you want it that bad?

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xxx
Guilt started to form in the pit of Alex’s stomach. He tried to keep it from showing on his face, but Phoenix had known him for so long, he could read him like a book. He hadn’t intended to be gone for that long, and he could understand why Phoenix had been worried. There weren’t a lot of good reasons Alex would go out by himself at two in the morning. He took a slow sip of his coffee, and sighed, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.” Sometimes he forgot that the things he did affected others, that people noticed when he came and went and would worry. He’d never been too concerned about worrying Abuela; she understood necromancy and the things that came with it, and was never overly concerned with his comings and goings, so long as she felt like he was (at least mostly) staying safe, and off the drugs. She told him once that her father used to do the same thing to keep the spirits at bay, and that the hope of not having to do the same is why she came to Greythorne in the first place. Alex knew he disappointed her often. He didn’t want to disappoint Phoenix. Didn’t want to hurt him again.

A part of him thought that this was the best time to tell Phoenix, and then he thought about the upcoming brunch, how much work Phoenix had put into it, and how much was still to be done, and he didn’t want to add any additional stress. He was also afraid that Phoenix would be upset; would realize what a hopeless waste of time Alex was. He couldn’t lie to Phoenix, he would see right through it, so he decided to just tell a very condensed version of the truth. “I had the dream again. It bothered me more than usual so I took a walk to try to clear my head and understand it.” All true so far, “Time got away from me, and I had a little accident in the woods,” He held up a hand to stop Phoenix from freaking out before he started, “I’m okay, not badly hurt or anything. I’m fine.” He nodded, more to himself than anything, and looked down into his cup of coffee, “Everything is fine.” He realized a bit too late that he was overselling the fact that he was fine, and he was likely just making Phoenix worry even more, and mentally kicked himself for it. He really wasn’t helping his case.

He was going to tell Phoenix. Later. For sure. At least, that was what he told himself. But as he looked at Phoenix, briefly studying the lines of his face, he knew, somehow, that he wouldn’t. Couldn’t. Maybe he wasn’t cut out for a relationship, he was already keeping secrets. Already worrying Phoenix, was probably going to disappoint him beyond repair. He decided to change the subject. “How are you feeling about the brunch… Thing?” He hoped that would be enough to get Phoenix’s mind off of him, but there was no way of knowing. Personally, Alex wouldn’t have agreed to do it, but that was why Phoenix was the one everyone loved.








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Z O E PEÑA
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outfitx|x#6E9ECF
xxxsomething is familiar
xxxlike a dream I can reach but not quite hold
xxxi can sense you there
xxxlike a friend I've always known

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xx
Zoe didn’t know why she’d believed that Alex would actually keep his word and have a real conversation with her. He hadn’t so much as checked in on her since she’d checked into the bed and breakfast in town, and she was starting to lose her patience with him. She’d heard more from Phoenix (who, by all accounts, was wonderful; just not the person she’d crossed a continent to meet), and she didn’t mind that, but it was disappointing. She knew not to expect too much, and could admit that she was disappointing herself by expecting Alex to want to be her brother and have a relationship with her, but something inside her wasn’t willing to give it up and let go. Maybe it was that she was really on her own for the first time in her life, or that she just genuinely liked the town, but every time she decided she would just give up and leave, something in the back of her head would tell her to just give it more time. One more day. So she stayed, “one more day” at a time.

Phoenix had told her, kind of off hand, about the brunch, and Zoe was honestly really excited at the concept. As it was, she just sat around waiting on Alex to stop being a total ass to her, explored the town a little, and used up a generous amount of her data package watching youtube videos on her phone, so she welcomed the idea of something to actually do. She also thought that, maybe, she could get Alex to sit and talk to her, even if only for a few minutes. Of course, she didn’t know for sure that he would be there, but she assumed he would be. He lived right above the cafe, after all, and Phoenix seemed to be leading up the whole thing, or at least making it possible, so she couldn’t think of a reason for Alex not to be there.

There was a little bit of time before the brunch started, and Zoe didn’t quite feel comfortable showing up early. The last time she’d come by when Alex wasn’t expecting her, she’d gotten yelled at, and she wanted to avoid that if she possibly could. But she was dressed and ready, and feeling a little antsy. She didn’t want to just sit around, so she decided to take a little walk; go the long way, enjoy the sunshine. She hated how cold it was in Greythorne, but she had to admit that it was a nice town. It was cute, the people were (generally) friendly, even if they did seem a little suspicious of outsiders right now. Zoe understood it, though. Still, the fresh air was nice, and she loved looking at the scenery. This was nothing like the desert she had grown up in, and she was happy to be experiencing it.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Zoe Peña Character Portrait: Hayden Byrne
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PHOENIX WOODS
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outfit : herex|xhex: #c4a7be
xxxhey, i promise you will be fine
xxxgot the universe on your side
xxxwhen you're out in space
xxxdon't be afraid, no.
Being in the cafe was starting to calm him down, if only because he was distracted. Or maybe it was just a shift in his energy. Moving from being worried about Alex to being worried about the morning. It felt like that was just how his life was now, moving from worrying about one thing to another to another unto the end of time. He'd always been a worrier, but the attacks had only worsened that. Some days, he almost felt normal, others, it felt like it was going to consume him.

But there was to much to do today to let it engulf him. Rosie's cheerful call as she let herself in was just a reminder of that. She was dressed in her usual bright colours, with her usual grin. "Hey, Phoenix! Wow, something smells amazing, you've done a great job so far!" She called brightly.
"Thanks, Rosie. And thanks for agreeing to help out too, hopefully we're going to need that extra pair of hands," he said. She just laughed and raised an eyebrow.
"Trust me, Phoenix, I think we're going to have a good turn out."

She wasn't wrong. When he opened, it seemed to be even a little busier than normal, and people seemed... well, excited. There was more energy in the place than he'd seen in a while, and it felt almost surreal. It was infectious, and he found himself getting wrapped up in it all. It was exactly the distraction he needed, because he forgot about everything that had happened that morning.

And then he looked up and saw Kay and Hayden coming in, and he felt the flash of guilt and hurt all over again. He hadn't spoken to Kay since that night, but it seemed that she hadn't wanted to speak to him either. He shot them both a smile but made himself look busy making another pot of coffee, praying someone else would go deal with them.






ROSIE THOMPSON
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outfit : herex|xhex: #cc0460
xxxdon't make me laugh, i'll choke
xxxjust let me cry a little bit longer
xxxi ain't gonna smile if i don't want to
xxxhey man we all can't be like you
Rosie wasn't entirely sure what she was even going to do at the brunch. But it didn't take Phoenix long to set her to work, getting tables set and menus out and the final finishing touches on decoration. And then when they opened, she rolled up her sleeves and started waiting tables and generally getting talking to people. Phoenix almost looked surprised at the amount of people that showed up, but Rosie wasn't. From what she'd seen, people were desperate for a sign of hope, a return to normality, and that was exactly what this was to them.

People got chatting, got excited, and she could almost see Phoenix beginning to relax as the atmosphere picked up. She turned around as she heard a familiar voice and smiled at Kay and Hayden.

"Hey, you guys managed to make it! And perfect timing before it gets too busy too!" She gushed, giving them both a hug. "And you're both looking lovely, that dress is adorable, Kay! Come on, let's get you guys a good spot," she said, leading them both over to a free table and handing them a menu.

"So, just letting you guys know, prices are lowered just for today but we're going to have collection points around if you want to help raise money for the families of victims of the attack. Enjoy, everything on the menu is fantastic and I would strongly recommend all of it," She said with a grin. "Let me know if you guys need anything!" She called as she left them to it. She turned back around to the door and spotted a newcomer. There was a moment where she looked almost familiar, but then the moment passed and Rosie was pretty sure she'd never seen this woman before, and instinctively, Rosie's guard went up. But she went over to the woman with a smile. "Hey, can I help you with anything?" She asked brightly.





HAYDEN BYRNE
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outfit : herex|xhex: #005555
xxxsee, i'm just trying to find my place
xxxbut it might not be here where i feel safe
xxxwe all learn to make mistakes
xxxand run from them
The walk to the cafe was nice and relaxing as they chatted and joked. It was only when they got to the cafe and Kay's face fell, before she explained that it was Phoenix's cafe. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, Kay. But, listen, it'll probably be fine. And if nothing else, we'll get some good food and have a nice time, yeah?" He said with a smile. She agreed to come in and they were greeted by Rosie, who hugged them both. They chatted for a moment, before she led them over to a table and explained things to them, before departing with her usual smile.

"Hey so... I know you're still upset, but... maybe you should talk to Phoenix. And... maybe apologise. I know he hurt you but you upset him too. And now might be a good time to do it. It doesn't have to be a big heartfelt conversation, he's busy, but.. I think you should say something. I can come with you if you want?" He said gently, keeping his voice low. "You guys were friends before, you can be friends again. Don't let this ruin your friendships."

He'd been doing his best to look after Kay, but he felt like nobody would really be able to move on until they acknowledged it and made an active attempt to leave it in the past. He'd known that Kay was hurt, and he couldn't blame her, but her behaviour that night hadn't been perfect either and he felt like she knew that too. And he knew everyone wanted to just leave it behind and move on.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Zoe Peña Character Portrait: Hayden Byrne
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PHOENIX WOODS
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outfit : herex|xhex: #c4a7be
xxxhey, i promise you will be fine
xxxgot the universe on your side
xxxwhen you're out in space
xxxdon't be afraid, no.
Phoenix hadn't seen anywhere as full as this or as relaxed as this in weeks, and it felt good to see. Almost all of the tables were full at this point, and there was only one spot left at the counter. He'd hoped people would come out for it, but he hadn't imagined this many would. People were picking back up a little bit of hope, and that was something. He was startled out of his thoughts, however, when somebody appeared beside him and pulled on his shirt. He instinctively jumped away from them. "Jesus fuck-" He cut himself off as he saw it was only Kay, and exhaled heavily, running a hand down his face. He'd been jumpier since the second attack, easily startled by sudden movements out of the corner of his eye.

"No, no, you're fine. I just didn't see you guys come up," he said. He was about to ask them if everything was okay with their food and everything when Kay said she wanted to talk about what had happened. He averted his gaze away from them, not quite able to look Kay in the face. He didn't want to relive that night, he didn't want to relive the night in the graveyard, he just wanted to leave it all in the past. But he couldn't say that to Kay.

He was so caught up in the feeling of not wanting to go back there, in not wanting to think about it, that he just shrugged at her apology. "Really, Kay, it's... it's fine, we all messed up." But she didn't listen to that. Instead, she apologised again and hugged him. Her behaviour that night had been uncharacteristic, and it was nice to see that she was acknowledging that. Phoenix hugged her back, shooting a smile at Hayden, who just smiled and shrugged. Evidently the elf had already had a good influence despite being a newcomer to the town. "Right. You guys better get back to your seats before someone takes them on you, and let me know if there's any issues, okay?" He said. While doing another scan of the cafe, he spotted Rosie talking to a familiar face by the door. He made his way down to them.

"Zoe? Hey, it's awesome to see you! Come on, I've got a spot up here by the counter for you!" He said. He was aware that Zoe's last memory of him hadn't exactly been the best, and Alex had changed the subject every time Phoenix had brought her up, so he was determined to chat to her for at least a few minutes.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
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0000Neden0Isimir 00000000000000000|000000000000000000000| Violet0 Marsden

Fallen Angel | Outfit x|xhex: #a39d9d 0000000000000000000000000000000Revenant | Outfit | xxhex:#2b2a2a

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The following days had been a blur for both of them, as well as everyone else. Things had been leading up to the brunch and fundraiser at the cafe, and everyone had been looking forward to it. Well, mostly everyone. Neden would have passed on it, if it hadn’t been for Phoenix and being at his own cafe, Neden knew they couldn’t say no. But it was Phoenix, and after they had been through, they knew they had to. The morning had been a slow one. An almost painfully slow morning. Neden rolled out of bed, and haphazardly dressed thselves in an outfit of clothing they just threw together, not caring if things entirely matched or not. Tying their hair up in a pony-tail and put a black beanie on, Neden glanced in the broken reflection of the mirror once more and sighed. Maybe all of this was a big mistake coming here, to Greythorn in the first place. They were shaken out of their thoughts when their phone buzzed in their pants’ pocket, bringing them back to earth. It was a short message from Violet.

Meet me at the cafe, it’s important. Come early, we need to talk.

Was all that the message read. Neden quirked an eyebrow in response. They didn’t know what or why Violet needed to talk to them about, they hadn’t really talked to anyone in the past few days. Deciding to be a hermit and just give themselves time, to just...Think. Think of everything that lead up to this, and it was something they hadn’t wanted to think about, yet here they were. Greythorn had become their home in the short amount of time that they had first arrived, and nothing was going to change that. At least that’s what they wanted to think. Neden sent a quick text back to Violet in response as they shoved a few things into their pockets, and quickly left for the cafe with an ever growing pit in their stomach.

Alright, will be there soon. Just leaving now. Cya in a bit.

---

The walk to the cafe had been a long one. It wasn’t that they lived far away from the town, it just seemed to go on for miles. Being in their head tended to do that. Neden didn’t know what Violet wanted to talk about, or if it was even really important, or if Violet was just trying to throw them off track. Seeing the small cafe in the distance, Neden tried to cheer up. They didn’t want anyone to see them so distressed, even if their overall appearance may have portrayed otherwise. Neden watched as a few familiar and unfamiliar faces walked in through the main door of the caffe as they grew closer to the building, but stopped as they were a few yards away from the entrance. Maybe they should just turn back and leave now, go back home and just not go. Act like something important came up, but something in the back of their head told them they had to, and that they really didn’t have much of a choice in this. Stepping into the cafe, and seeing familiar faces, who seemed to be in a better mood caused a small smile to crease their lips, but only for a moment. Neden gave Phoenix a small smile and nod of their head as they passed by him and Zoe who were in a small conversation by the front end of the building, not wanting to disturb them now.

Looking around for anyone else they may have recognized, they saw Rosie who was talking to a few different people, giving her a small nod and smile before passing on to the back part of the cafe. Looking around silently, Neden spotted a familiar figure off in the back corner, in a small booth by herself. Taking a deep breath they slowly strolled over and weaved through the dozens of people that flocked to the event. Neden gave a small smile as they neared the table, “This seat taken?” they said with a small, but obviously fake chuckle. Violet simply looked up at them with what seemed to be like dead eyes. “Sit.” she said simply to the Angel. Neden nodded and slipped into the booth, looking across at Violet with a quizzical look. “Everything okay? You haven’t really texted me in a while, nevermind not much before so...I started to worry-” Neden started, but was cut off as Violet shot them a look, one Neden had never seen from her before. It wasn’t one of anger or anything like that. It seemed like one of sadness. As if she had been crying prior to coming here. “Vio...I mean it. If something happened, you can tell me.” Neden said softly, giving her a small and genuine smile. Violet simply shook her head for a moment as she looked down. The two sat in silence for a moment before Violet looked back up at Neden, breaking the silence after what seemed like an eternity. “While I was away, again...I talked with someone. Someone that knows...Things and...Neden...I know. About...Everything.” she said softly, making sure that they kept their conversation low and between the two of them. Thankfully the music playing was helping to drown out most of what they were saying.

Neden was taken a back by the sudden exclamation by Violet. They weren’t expecting this, whatever it was. A genuine look of confusion overcame them as their brows furrowed. Leaning forward to be closer to Violet as they sat across the table from one another, “Sorry, but what? What are you talking about, Vio? You know what? And who did you talk to, nevermind where you went.” Neden said softly. Genuine concern and worry was now forming in their stomach, the more Violet spoke. “I know, Neden...About everything. Maybe not everything, but I know more about you than I did before. I know what you are, and what you’ve done.” Violet said, as her face began to slowly turn redder as tears began to slowly fall from her eyes. Wiping her tears away, she began to talk again before Neden could speak. “And don’t try bullshitting me, alright? I’ve seen the things that you’ve done...I just want to know why. How long did you think you could keep this charade up, Neden? Which, I know isn’t even your actual name.” tears burned behind her eyes as she looked at Neden, which only caused a small pit to form in her stomach. Having to look away from Neden, as even looking at them now became too much. Neden listened silently as Violet spoke, the words hit them like a brick wall to the chest. Neden felt like they couldn’t breathe, like all the oxygen in their lungs had been ripped out violently. Left gasping for air, as they just sat there motionless. Neden tried to think of what to say, anything. Anything at all, but their mind just went blank. For the first time in years, everything was just blank. Neden had no words to say, nothing to even try to say to her. Everything came out left field, leaving them in so much confusion. But worry soon overcame like waves in the ocean.

Neden struggled for a moment to regain the ability to speak as they felt their heart stop for a moment. Shaking their head for a moment as they looked back up at the girl that sat across from them. Neden wanted to just get up and give Violet a hug, apologize for everything. Explain that it wasn’t true, that it was all a lie. But feeling the emotions radiate off of her was so palpable, and real. Violet wasn’t lying, she was telling the truth. She knew, somehow she knew. She knew it all, and Neden didn’t know what to do. Biting their lip for a moment, Neden finally gathered the words to say as they could feel their own eyes beginning to burn, “Violet, I swear...Whoever told you those things...I’m sorry. I want to say that those were lies but...I can’t. I just don’t know what to say to you, I can’t say it’s all a lie and didn’t happen...Even though I wish it was, and never did happen. But I’m not that person anymore. I’m not.” Neden said with a look of sadness that overcame their entire face, leading up to their eyes as they looked around. “It’s all just really, really fucking complicated and a long story it’s just...I don’t know what to tell you or do...I’m sorry, Vio…” they said as they finally made eye contact with Violet, who simply looked up at them in return.

What came next, Neden wasn’t expecting and their heart sank at the words that came next from Violet. “I don’t want to hear that you’re sorry. I just want to know why. Why you lied for so long...You have to tell them. Everyone, Neden. Not just me. They all deserve to know.” Neden felt their heart skip more than just one beat. “Wh...What? Violet, I can’t. I can’t tell them. You’ll know what they’ll do. No one will-” “You tell them, or I will, Neden. That’s your choice. They know and find out by you, where you can explain everything. Or I’ll tell them. What one would you prefer?” Violet asked as she crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at the angel that sat across from her. Neden swallowed hard for a moment, looking down and away as thoughts rushed through their mind. Coming here was a mistake, and they knew it. They should have left, but Violet would have told them all anyway. And no one would have been able to trust Neden again. They would have been viewed and seen as a traitor, that simply left before they could have been caught.

Neden exhaled sharply, looking up at Violet as they gave her a small glance, “Fine...I’ll tell them.” Neden slowly removed themselves from the booth. Looking about, they saw that everyone was still scattered across the building, and there was no way that they were going to make it a public display. Neden took out their phone, and after a few moments, multiple texts had been sent to those that needed to know, telling them they needed to talk in the backroom and that it couldn’t wait. Neden simply gave Violet one more look, one of sorrow and regret, before they turned and excused themselves to one of the backrooms, where they would await the others to arrive. A massive pit formed in Neden’s stomach as they stepped into the extra room in the back. It was small, but big enough for more than a dozen or so people to stand in. Neden felt a sudden urge and ran into the bathroom, and emptied whatever the contents in their stomach was. Everything felt like such a nightmare, that everything was out of touch and reality. Like this was some sort of dream or nightmare that had come to life. None of this was supposed to happen, and now they were forced to face one of their fears. Looking in the small mirror for a moment, Neden simply shook their head and exited the bathroom and returning to the backroom once more.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven
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T R I S S GLASSER
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A L E X GARCIA
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Alex had never considered himself to be a particularly annoying person, but plenty of people seemed to think he was. Zada’s companion was… Interesting. Yeah, that was one way to put it. Alex didn’t know her, but if she was anything like Zada- personality wise- he wasn’t sure Greythorne could handle that.

He was almost visibly relieved when Jaiden arrived, as if she’d saved him from the conversation he’d initiated. He shrugged, “I’m not gonna stand outside and talk to you like I’m your secret boyfriend you’re ashamed to be seen with.” He rolled his eyes when she called him a buffoon, letting out an over-exaggerated fake laugh. Time to officially remove himself from this conversation. Apparently every woman in town thought he was an annoying idiot. Upon opening the door, he saw a few things. For starters, it was really busy. That was good. Zoe was already there, which he didn’t really care about, and the last thing he noticed was that Kay was starting to walk in Phoenix’s direction.

He didn’t know for sure what the outcome of that would be, but the last time Kay and Phoenix had talked, it didn’t end well. He turned to Jaiden, “Think you can find us a place to sit? I want to check up on Phoenix real quick. He’s been acting weird this morning. Probably just nerves, but… You know. I’ll just be a minute, I promise.” He ignored Zoe when she tried to wave at him, and started heading for the counter, but the situation seemed to resolve itself quickly enough, with Kay giving Phoenix a hug, so he decided to go find Jaiden, instead.

Triss quickly found a table and was about to slide in after setting her coat down, when she saw spotted Alex walking off, and deciding she would act now. “Hey, I’ll be back. But don’t wait for me if stuff, or whatever is supposed to happen here or whatever gets started.” She said grabbedas she walked away and weaved through the crowd, bumping into a few people who gave her a confused stare from not recognizing her, grabbing a quick drink as she walked.

It didn't take Trisstana long to get to Alex, stopping infront of him, causing the two to bump into each other and the drink she was carrying to spill on her. Alex quickly started to apologize to her before she could say anything. “Oh! It’s fine, my fault it happened. Oh, its you. Alex right?” She questioned as she set down her cup. “Well since we both caused this, mind helping me clean up?” Triss asked, grabbing Alex’s hand and giving him a light smile.

Alex must not have been paying attention to where he was going, because he ran right into someone. “Shit, I am so sorry,” He spoke up quickly, but she was brushing the whole thing off before he could really say anything else. It clicked, then, that this was Zada’s friend. A little bit of fear churned in his stomach at that thought. He was dead.

Then she grabbed his hand, and a small smile spread across his lips, “Oh.” He wasn’t quite sure if what he was feeling was relief or… Something else. He found his eyes looking over her, just to assess the situation. When he realized he was staring, he forced himself to bring his gaze back to her face. “Yeah, you’re… Wet.” Shit, no, that was stupid. “I mean, yeah.” He paused and licked his lips, “I would love to help you.”

Trisstana let out a small giggle and had to keep herself from smirking when he made the comment about her being wet, and smiled when he offered to help her. It had been awhile since she dragged another mythical person, so wasn’t exactly sure what type of effect she would have, but was glad it looked like it was working. “Really? Thank you, should probably get away from the others, don’t want to be in their way right?” She asked, seeing him nod. Triss held onto his hand as she led him away.

Zada talked about how annoying he was, and from Triss’ first interaction with him, she could see why and wouldn’t feel bad about this. Though, he was a moderately handsome young man. As they left the main room and ended up down a hallway she started to get a little excited and antsy, it’s been awhile since she lured a prey away from it’s pack, but she still flourished in the rush it would give her. Trisstana had to concentrate on her claws not protruding out as she got more excited, not wanting to scare him off just yet.

It made sense to go get out of the way, find somewhere else to go. Alex wasn’t sure where they were heading, but in that moment he would have followed her just about anywhere. It wasn’t the first time he’d felt that way about a woman, though a more rational thought may have reminded him of a few reasons he absolutely should change his mind. That rationality never came. All he could think about was the woman leading him, how her hands were soft, and she smelled like lavender and the coffee on her shirt, and how nicely she filled out said shirt.

A thought struck him, then, and it seemed like something he should follow up on. “Hey, uh…” His voice trailed off as he stared blankly in front of him. As she pulled her shirt over her head, that suddenly became the only thing his brain could process. Alex couldn’t seem to decide where to look, but his didn’t seem to want to settle on her’s, or even in the perimeter of her face.

As the two of them got outside, Triss leaked around that no one was really around and turned down the alleyway, going around some boxes stacked that would block the view. When she stopped and looked back at Alex, he started to say something and she could feel him starting to break focus. “I need you to hold this if we’re gonna clean it handsome.” She said quickly as she pulled her shirt over her head and flipped her hair out of her face. Left just wearing her simple lacey black bra.

Triss smiled as she saw his eyes looking over her body, handing over the stained shirt. The cold weather didn’t bother her as the rush from the hunt and her own pheromones were keeping her warm. When Alex looked down at the shirt she smirked and licked her lips as her claws started to extend out and fangs revealed themselves around her smirk. It has been awhile since she did this on land and usually acting out in the waters, but it wouldn’t be too difficult.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
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Z A D A min ALBAHR
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outfitx|x#78b0ad
xxxdon't do love, don't do friends
xxxi'm only after success
xxxdon't need a relationship
xxxi'll never soften my grip

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Zada’s face softened when Jaiden approached; she’d always liked Jaiden, and didn’t mind seeing her. “He always bothers me,” Zada said, completely seriously, “I don’t know why he bothers trying to talk to me in the first place.” She couldn’t say she wasn’t relieved when he went inside, and when Triss suggested that they get a table too, Zada nodded. It was busy, which was great for the victims of the recent attacks, but not so great for finding a table. “That might be a difficult task,” She mused out loud as she looked around the room.

“Phoenix,” Zada said while they walked into the building, “Just opened the cafe not long ago.” She smiled a little, “He’s a good person.” She waved at Rosie as they walked past, reminding herself that she’d have to say hello properly when she looked less busy.

In a stroke of luck, they found an empty spot, but before they sat down Triss said she had something to do, and then she vanished in among the crowd. Sitting alone was exactly what Zada wanted. She sighed as she sat down at the table, drumming her nails along the top in a staccato beat. She wasn’t entirely sure why she found this so upsetting, other than that she had wanted to spend a little time with Trisstana; talk to her, enjoy her company. Maybe that was silly, but she had said she thought she would like to stay a while, and Zada had thought that that meant Triss enjoyed spending him with her. Of course, that was probably just wishful thinking.

After a few moments, she decided to go say hello to Phoenix. She didn’t want to keep him, but she did want to say hello, maybe commend him for doing such a great job at putting the event together. With all the stress and fear the town had been experiencing this was exactly the sort of thing they all needed, and Rosie and Phoenix had made it come together perfectly. She approached with a neutral, but soft, expression on her face. It was well-practiced, and she thought it looked pleasant enough. Maybe not friendly, but it worked for her. She never got around to saying hello.

“-out the back, I think, with a woman with yellow hair,” Zada didn’t stick around to hear how that ended.

This could be bad. If someone went missing, at this point, the people in town would notice. Tensions were already high after Travis was revealed as a spy, and there weren’t very many people in town that suspicion could be pointed at. Zada liked Trisstana, she wanted her to stick around, and she didn’t want the people in town to hate her. It was hard to gain trust in these towns, especially after they’d been attacked. Maybe, if nobody had gotten hurt yet, they could just brush the whole thing off as some sort of misunderstanding. Hopefully.

When Zada reached the alley, she took a brief second to assess the scene laid out in front of her. Under other circumstances, she might have found this amusing. But not now. She hurried forward, "Okay, that's enough." She shot Trisstana a glance that could have been interpreted as anger, but hopefully she would understand that Zada really just wanted her to stop for her own sake. Really, she couldn't blame Triss for going after Alex. It was just the wrong time, wrong place, and the wrong person to choose for this.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
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Z O E PEÑA
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outfitx|x#6E9ECF
xxxsomething is familiar
xxxlike a dream I can reach but not quite hold
xxxi can sense you there
xxxlike a friend I've always known

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Zoe had enjoyed a quick walk through Greythorne, but was standing in front of Phoenix’s cafe before she knew it. She was kind of excited to see Phoenix at work, and hopefully catch Alex in a better mood. She wondered, briefly, what she would do if he didn’t come, but quickly told herself that even if she didn’t talk to him, it would be fine. She did want to get a chance to talk to Alex, though. Greythorne was a nice town, but it was freezing, and she didn’t want to stay forever.

The sight of people happily chatting and enjoying food was a welcome sight to Zoe; the town had seemed to be overwhelmed and dejected since she’d arrived, and now she was feeling like she was getting a glimpse into what the people were really like, what the town was really like. She thought that if the town was always like this, it would be just about the most wonderful place to live. Almost as if on cue, a pretty woman came to ask Zoe if she needed any help. Zoe wasn’t sure what to say, did she need help?

“Thank you, I uh,” She looked around, trying to see if she could spot out Phoenix. He looked busy, so she turned back to the woman with a smile, “How does this work, I-” Then Alex was walking through the doors. She knew he saw her, there was no way he didn’t, but when she waved at him, he completely ignored her. Zoe frowned, “You know Alex Garcia, right? Is he always such a jerk?”

It wasn’t much longer, though, before Phoenix walked over. Zoe grinned, Phoenix had been nothing but kind to her from the moment she stood crying on his doorstep. “Thank you. This is amazing!” She caught a glimpse of Alex as they headed to the counter, and something about it seemed weird, but she told herself it wasn’t really any of her business. Besides, she was probably just overthinking it. It wasn’t long before someone came to talk to Phoenix. Zoe didn’t know her, but she was asking about Alex. When it became apparent that no one knew where he was Zoe sighed, “Well,” She paused, suddenly realizing that she was- once again- about to be a bystander to some sort of drama.

“I’m pretty sure I just saw him heading out the back, I think, with a woman with yellow hair,” The look on Phoenix’s face told Zoe that she probably should have spoken up a minute ago, “I am so sorry, I guess I thought you knew, or…” She didn’t finish the thought, panic was setting in on her face, tears welling up in her eyes. This was too much for her.

Maybe she should forget about getting to know Alex and just go home. He really wasn't turning out to be the kind of person she thought he might be.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
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Jaiden Price
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Witch | outfit : herex|xhex: #800000
xxxYou move, and I don't really know what to say
xxxToo soon, am I supposed to feel this way?
xxxReach out but I don't wanna get in your way
xxxToo little, too late, I know that's what you're gonna say
Jaiden simply stood there, awkwardly as the three of the others exchanged words back and worth, mainly all pointed at Alex. She rolled her eyes at his comment of him being her boyfriend that she's ashamed to be seen with. "In your dreams, Alex." she rattled off quickly, before catching up to him as he started to make his way to the cafe. Jaiden shot both Zada and the other woman a small look, mainly one of saying sorry as the two of them stepped into the establishment. Looking up at Alex when he asked if she could find them a place to sit, "Okay, sure. But only if you tell me why you wanted to talk to me, Alex?" she questioned, but she could tell he wasn't paying any attention to her as he seemingly wandered off after ignoring another girl that waved at him from across the room as she stood next to Pheonix. Thinking nothing of it, she simply shook her head and went to go find a spot to sit as she waited for Alex.

Finally finding a spot that was off and to the side, she sat down at the small table and waited, taking out her phone in the meantime. Occasionally looking up and around at others as the place seemed to buzz to life. It had been months since she was last year, the grand opening of this place was...Something she preferred to not think about. In fact, she almost didn't consider even coming here as even thinking of it had hurt a bit. But she was here for Phoenix, as well as not wanting to be bothered by Alex and his threats. Jaiden peered over to the back part of the place, and saw Violet and Neden talking. She couldn't tell what they were saying due to the music and how far they were, but it seemed to be something she shouldn't get involved with, and chose to stay where she was.

Jaiden waited for a few for minutes for Alex to come back, but after what seemed like too much, she slowly got to her feet and looked around. Hoping to find him herself, but she couldn't see him in the crowd at all. Turning to the entrance, she still saw Phoenix talking to the girl from before. Sighing, she slowly weaved her way through the crowd and over to Phoenix. "Hey, Nix. Do you have any idea where Alex went? I got him and me a seat, since he wanted to talk to me about something, but he never came back. I haven't seen him, and I didn't know if you saw him or anything." she asked, giving the girl that stood next to him a small smile. Jaiden hadn't seen this woman around town before, and unlike the usual unease she got around strangers, she didn't feel anything negative coming from her, easing up a little. She was taken off guard when the girl said she had seen him going outside the back door with some other female with yellow hair. A pit formed in her stomach as she could tell that even Phoenix didn't know what was going on, watching as he apologized and quickly left. Leaving Jaiden with the unknown woman, who after Jaiden turned to apologize, she noticed the girl started to tear up. Giving a small sigh, Jaiden didn't know what to do. She was going to track down Alex herself, but now being left with someone who looked like she was going to cry any moment didn't sit well with her.

Sure, Jaiden had no prior engagement to this woman, nor did she have any reason to stay around and comfort her. But something in her told Jaiden to stay, she clearly needed someone to talk to and possibly distract her from fully breaking down into tears. A feeling Jaiden knew all too well. She was a lot like this unknown female, scared, uncertain and was most likely in a town that she didn't exactly know anyone. Nevermind getting wrapped up in some drama she had no right to be forced into. Finally giving the girl once more a proper look over, Jaiden extended one of her hands as she introduced herself, "Hey uh, I don't think I introduced myself properly yet. My name's Jaiden, I'm good friends with Phoenix and I guess you could say Alex. Who is currently the one missing. He tends to do this bullshit from time to time, disappearing for no reason, I'm sure he'll be fine." she said with a soft chuckle. Looking back up, she gave a small smile as she spoke up again, "Anyway, you look like you could use someone to talk to, as well as a drink. I'm not exactly the best company but, if you want someone to just sit down with and just, I dunno. Talk, I don't have any prior engagements right now anyway, so I'm all ears is what I'm trying to say, I guess." she said with a smile.






Violet Marsden
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Revenant | outfit : herex|xhex: #2b2a2a
xxxI'm so fuckin' sorry, I'm so fuckin' sorry
xxxI've been playing somebody and it's helping nobody
xxxAnd her lipstick arithmetic didn't stick
xxxAnd now I'm sick, throwing fits
Violet gave Neden one more look as the Angel stood up and excused themselves, leaving for one of the backrooms. She sighed softly, rubbing her face with her hands as she felt everything finally hit her at once. It was so much all at once, her brain slowly processing everything. Silently, she laid her head back on the backpart of the booth as she tried to recompose herself after the whole conversation with Neden had taken a rather large toll on her. Something had caught her attention while she had been talking to Neden a few minutes earlier, it looked like Alex and some unknown woman slowly made their way to the back exit and left. Normally, she would have left it alone and wouldn't give it a second thought. But something just didn't sit right with her about the whole thing.

Ever since coming back from, whatever that place was, things seemed off to her. Yes, certain things were all too obvious and stood out easier than others, but then there were certain things that just didn't add up. Mainly pertaining to Alex, she tried not to notice, but over time it became too evident that something wasn't right. The first time things seemed off, were the night at the first meeting after the first attack. Where she chased after Alex. Something in the back of her head was telling her to go check up on him, make sure that he was okay. She didn't know what it was, or why, but it only popped up more after that. During the second attack, the night when he was in the graveyard, something didn't sit right with her at all. She wanted to go and see what was going on, it was like something from some unseen force always gave her a sense like something was wrong with Alex. Something she hadn't thought back on about until now.

With a small sigh, Violet slowly got to her feet, and as she did so she saw Phoenix and Zada quickly rush past and out the same way she saw Alex and that woman leave earlier. That was all she needed, and she was quickly out the door behind them herself. Violet didn't know what to expect, but the scene that was before her caught her off guard to say the least. All she saw was the same woman that she saw before, half-dressed, with Alex holding her shirt. It wasn't a good look, not at all. Especially for Alex. All she knew was that she heard a loud slap and then Phoenix was cussing out Alex as tears began to stream down his face. Violet had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing, but the more she looked on. The more she knew something wasn't right. The energy she was getting off of Alex wasn't right. None of this was. Alex wasn't this typed of person. Sure, he was a massive pervert, anyone knew that. But this wasn't the normal Alex.

Violet passed by Phoenix and Zada, making her way towards Alex. Without a word, another loud slap was heard as Violet slapped him hard across the face with the back of her hand as she looked up at him. "Snap the fuck out of it, you dumbass!" she exclaimed. Looking at the expression on Alex's face, she could tell that something still wasn't adding up, it was like he was under some trance. Looking back at Phoenix she gave him a small shake of her head, "I can't believe I'm saying this but...I don't think he did this willingly. I mean, just look at him! The dumbass doesn't even look like himself." Violet turned and looked at the other two, giving Zada a small shake of her head, telling her to not do anything, same thing for Phoenix. "I can't explain it but, Alex didn't do anything, even if it looks like he did. Alex may be an absolute piece of shit, but he wouldn't do anything like this to anyone, nevermind he wouldn't hurt you like this, Phoenix." Violet said softly as she gave him a sad look. Finally turning to the woman with the yellow hair, "You, the one with the freaking claws...Or whatever the hell those are-" Violet started, as she pointed at Triss, taking in note of the protrusions from the woman's finger tips that were visible. "I get it, no one likes Alex. He is an immense piece of shit, but really? That's a bit low...And that's coming from me." Violet said with a small huff, slowly standing in front of Alex as she pushed him back towards the building, "Anything to say for yourself, Goldie Locks?"





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Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Violet Marsden
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Z O E PEÑA
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outfitx|x#6E9ECF
xxxsomething is familiar
xxxlike a dream I can reach but not quite hold
xxxi can sense you there
xxxlike a friend I've always known

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Two things quickly happened: Phoenix rushed away, which Zoe completely understood, and the woman who had asked about Alex in the first place was introducing herself. Zoe shook her hand and returned Jaiden’s smile with one of her own. Soft, and maybe a little forced, but it was there. “I’m Zoe,” She sighed, “I’m actually in town visiting,” She paused, not currently sure she wanted to be associated with Alex at the moment, “Family.” She felt a little guilty about the omission, but told herself that it really wasn’t that big of a deal. Alex didn’t seem to give a shit about her, anyway. Something inside told her that he didn’t have a reason to care, and something else argued that she shouldn’t care about him either, then. She decided to change the subject quickly, maybe say something nice about Jaiden. “I, uh, I really like your jacket. It’s nice.” It very clearly wasn’t really Zoe’s style, and she was mostly just saying it to be nice, but she did think it looked good on Jaiden.

As they sat down, Zoe gave Jaiden an awkward smile, “Thank you, I’ve been alone a lot since I got to town.” She paused as she realized how pathetic that sounded, and quickly moved on, “Is it always so exciting here?” By exciting, she did mean filled with drama. She knew small communities came with their drama (she lived in one, herself), but it seemed that things got weird when you got assorted magical beings together. Maybe living with nothing but other witches wasn’t such a bad thing. “I’m from a coven in Arizona, and this is… Very different than what I’m used to.”

Zoe did feel a little better, having something to distract her from the stupid drama her half-brother seemed to be proficient in causing, but she still felt almost on the verge of tears. Somehow, though she knew it didn’t make sense, she felt almost responsible. Alex and Phoenix had seemed so happy and comfortable with one another when she’d arrived, but ever since then fights and drama and weirdness erupted every time she saw them. Logically, she knew that these things would almost certainly happen with or without her presence, but that didn’t stop her from feeling like a bad omen.

As they talked, Zoe kind of studied Jaiden. She didn’t want to be weird, and she tried to be subtle, but Zoe liked to watch people’s faces while they talked. She felt like it helped her get to know them, and sometimes she felt like it gave her some insight into what kind of a person they were. Zoe thought Jaiden was incredibly kind, or else she wouldn’t have offered to sit and talk to someone she didn’t know. If Zoe stayed in town very long, maybe they could be friends.

Sipping the tea Phoenix made helped to calm Zoe’s mind a little. This was still a stressful situation, but not being right in the middle of it was nice.





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A L E X GARCIA
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outfitx|x#3a0a4d
xxxi'm guessing that i've grown horns
xxxi guess i'm human no more
xxxi can tell i've rotted in your brain

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xxx
Zada’s voice distracted Alex a little. He hadn’t expected her, and for a moment he almost realized that something was wrong, and then Phoenix slapped him. For a moment, he didn’t quite realize what had happened; he brought a hand up to his face, a mixture of pain and confusion on his face. He figured it out pretty quickly, though, when he heard Phoenix’s words. It was hard to piece together what was happening, though. He felt half asleep, like this was just some bizzare dream he hadn’t quite woken up from. He was piecing it all together, though, head clearing as people were yelling. It was about when he realized that the woman standing in front of him was shirtless and that the memories he had in his head hadn’t been some sort of middle school fever dream when Violet found it necessary to hit him, too.

At first, he wanted to be annoyed, but then he realized that she was defending him. Wait, Phoenix was crying. He realized what this must look like, how incriminating it seemed to be, but that didn’t stop him from being upset about it. Besides, what was he supposed to say, ‘this isn’t what it looks like, Phoenix! She grabbed my hand and suddenly the fact that she had boobs and was paying attention to me overrode all my common sense’? Yeah, that was a great defense. Might have worked in middle school. He realized he was still holding her shirt, but between not wanting to make things worse with Phoenix, and the strange sense of fear he was beginning to feel, he didn’t want to try to give it back. In fact, he didn’t even want to look in her direction.

In truth, Alex wasn’t sure what had happened. Well, he knew what had happened- he remembered it- he wasn’t sure why it happened. Normally, he wouldn’t even think of doing something like this. Not now, when he had Phoenix. A few months ago, maybe, but even then probably not out in the open. “Phoenix,” He wanted to talk to Phoenix, try to make it better somehow, “please, I would never, I-” He stopped himself there, realizing that anything he could say would probably just come off as empty words.

He’d been so distressed about Phoenix, that Alex hadn’t even really noticed the claws. Suddenly, a sort of fear started to gnaw at his stomach. He thought he understood what was happening, then, and he felt like he was going to be sick. Violet’s words really didn’t make him feel better, either. He knew he hadn’t been the nicest to her in the past, and that she didn’t like him much, but he really didn’t feel like calling him a piece of shit was necessary. He found himself almost wringing the shirt in his hands, as if that would help. It wasn’t comforting, in fact he wanted to be rid of it, but aside from Violet beginning pushing him back inside he almost felt glued in place. No wonder people kept trying to kill him, he was an easy target.

He heard Zada say everything was just a misunderstanding, with that came an unspoken promise that nothing like this would happen again. If that would make all of this end, at this point, Alex was willing to accept it.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Violet Marsden Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
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A L E X GARCIA
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outfitx|x#3a0a4d
xxxi hear the voices from the closet
xxxasking me haunting questions
xxxare you happy?
xxxdo you want it that bad?

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xxx
The apology was weak, but Alex accepted it with a slight nod. He didn’t need genuine remorse, he just needed her not to do it again. Just wanted to be safe. As she walked past, he held her shirt out to her, “Here,” But she just waved it off and went inside. What the hell was he going to do with this shirt? He didn’t want it.

Then Phoenix started to apologize. Everything in Alex wanted to tell him that he should be sorry. That there were plenty of things he should have done before assuming the worst. That he was upset and hurt by this lack of trust. That he could have died, and that he felt betrayed, violated, and scared. Instead, he smiled at Phoenix. “It’s fine, I understand. You had no way of knowing what was happening.” Alex hadn’t been able to lie to Phoenix since they were kids; they knew each other too well, Phoenix saw right through him most of the time. But they didn’t have time to really talk about that, Phoenix needed to get inside, and Alex just wanted to get out of the alley. It was starting to feel like a death sentence. He turned to Violet. She’d defended him, and called him an asshole. He didn’t say anything, but maybe he didn’t have to. He was thankful enough, even though he didn’t appreciate her hitting him.

There was a text from Neden, and Alex just didn’t feel like dealing with it. “Fill me in later?” He called after Phoenix. He knew he would. Knew Phoenix would understand that Alex didn’t want to be there. He still needed to talk to Jaiden. Still wanted to talk to her. It would be something else to think about.

He threw the shirt away on his way to find her.

He spotted Jaiden sitting with Zoe, of all people. Interesting. He walked over to the table and smiled, “Hey, Zoe. Thanks for keeping Jai company for me.”

Zoe looked stunned, “Oh, um,” Alex saw the look on her face when she looked at him. She didn’t have to say it, he understood what she was thinking. What did you do?

He turned to Jaiden, “Mind if we talk outside? I could use a smoke.” He looked back at Zoe, “Later.” He waited a moment to make sure Jaiden was coming, and then started walking to the door, pulling out his pack of cigarettes before he even reached the door, “What do you think of Zoe? I find her a little annoying, personally, but maybe that just comes with the territory.”

Once they were out the door, Alex walked a little ways away. “Thanks for coming to talk to me, Jaiden.” He held a cigarette up to her, “Can I get a light?” He laughed a little at Jaiden’s snark, but she did it. He figured he needed to actually talk to her before she decided to pummel him. “I wanted to say sorry.”

He sighed, “After, you know, I was so focused on myself that I didn’t even think about anyone else.” He shrugged, “I don’t even think I ever thanked you for saving my life. And don’t act like you didn’t, because you did.” He looked down at the ground, kicked a pebble to the street, and added, “I didn’t wanna face you, I guess.” He looked at Jaiden and shook his head, “I didn’t realize how much… I felt so guilty, about everything, I was so sure you would hate me.”

Alex looked up at the sky, blinked several times, his voice was faltering a little. It was still so fresh, it hadn’t been that long. He still had nightmares about it, “You know, when Phoenix,” He stopped to swallow the lump forming in his throat, “If things went differently, I don’t know what I would’ve done. So, I’m sorry, Jaiden.”

He paused, but only for a moment, before he moved on to asking about Jaiden. “How are you holding up after Markus? I know that, you know, after the first attack I felt like it wasn’t fair. There were plenty of people that deserved to live on more than me. So, if you ever feel like you need to talk about that sort of thing, I get it.”

He didn’t really expect Jaiden to want to talk to him, not at that moment. After a moment where neither of them said anything, Alex cleared his throat, “Hey, Jai? You think I can crash at your place tonight? I can sleep on the couch, it’s no big deal.” He shrugged, “Just, you know, think it might be nice.” It wasn’t so much that he didn’t want to be around Phoenix, he just felt like he needed some space to air out the pain he was feeling. He didn’t want it to turn to anger, he didn’t want to lash out again. Everything would be fine, he just needed to think.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
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phoenix woods
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i know the world's a broken bonexxx outfit | #c4a7be xxx but melt your headaches, call it home


Phoenix hadn’t known what to expect from this. The way his day was going, he hadn’t been expecting anything all that good. It took a few minutes to try and process what Neden was actually saying. It was only when they rolled up their sleeve to show the tattoo that everything fell into place, and it felt like the floor was about to go from under Phoenix. He’d seen that tattoo once before. The night in the graveyard, on the neck of the hunter that had attacked him. The memory made him feel sick, and he was shocked when he stood up and discovered his legs could still hold him. He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t say anything. He managed to make it to the kitchen, where his legs finally crumpled and he almost fell onto one of the stools he had by the counter.

This couldn’t be happening. This had to be some horrific dream, a nightmare that he could wake up from, no matter how vivid it felt now. But he could feel the sting of nails embedded in his palm as he clenched his hands into fists. The scar on his side, on his shoulder, they seemed to be burning with the memory. He knew that Neden had said it had been years ago, knew how sorry they had seemed, but he couldn’t shake the fact that they had been one of them, that at some point they had hated people like them enough to kill them. It was starting to feel like everything he had, every good relationship was falling apart, and it was all so far beyond his control and he couldn’t change a goddamn thing. He wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to yell, but his body wouldn’t move, wouldn’t react. He was frozen in his hunched position, just wanting to try and shield himself from anything else that could happen, anything else that could go wrong.

He didn’t know how long he’d been there before he heard a soft, familiar voice. It wasn’t the one he wanted to hear, though. “Phoenix, you need to go home. I can handle things here for you if you want,” Rosie said. “But you can’t work like this.”
“No, I can… I’ll be fine, just give me a few minutes.”
“Phoenix, you’ve been here for half an hour already. Go home. I’ll look after things here. You okay going home by yourself?”
“I- yeah. Call me if anything goes wrong or if- if you need to check anything or-”
“I will, alright? Just go home, if I see Alex, I’ll tell him you’ve gone home, you weren’t feeling well.”

The mention of Alex made Phoenix’s stomach tighten. But he shakily got to his feet, feeling the tension in his muscles from sitting in one position for so long. He left out the back door and made his way back to the apartment. He just kicked off his shoes and lay on the bed, staring into space. He had no idea how he was supposed to process any of this, how he was supposed to deal with it. His phone buzzed and it felt like it took all of his energy just to roll over and look at his phone. His stomach twisted again as he saw Alex’s name pop up on the phone. He was staying with Jaiden for the night.

Phoenix had ruined everything again.

At some point, he managed to drag himself up and get something to eat. It tasted like nothing, felt like it was just a routine, just something his body demanded he do even if he didn’t want to. He fell asleep shortly after going back to bed, still in his clothes, just wrapped in a blanket. It wasn’t a restful sleep. It was nightmare after nightmare after nightmare. He was in another attack, running to try and get to Rosie, to Zoe, to Jaiden, to Alex, and every time, he was too late. Alex turning into a demon. Everything, everyone Phoenix touched turning to sand. He kept waking up and kept falling asleep, could never stay awake no matter how bad the nightmare was.

He only woke up properly when he heard the door to the apartment shut. He went to check the time on his phone, but realised he’d forgotten to plug it in the night before and it had died.

The silence at first was heavy. Phoenix had no idea where to start. I’m sorry. I missed you even though it was only for a night. I’m so scared and I don’t know what to do. I should have trusted you. I didn’t sleep as well without you, He started with telling him about Neden.

Over the next few weeks, things started to get back to normal. They talked about it after Alex had forced Phoenix to shower, change his clothes and have coffee, and Phoenix had made breakfast for them both. But Phoenix wasn’t able to let it go. He still found himself getting stuck on how easy it had been for him to give into believing Alex was cheating on him, how easy he’d given in to his own insecurity. Even that morning, when Alex had disappeared for a few hours, the possibility had crossed his mind, if only for a second before he’d denied it. They hadn’t talked about that morning, but it still weighed on Phoenix’s mind. There was something… different now, something unspoken, and Phoenix didn’t want to ask. Because now it was Phoenix who kept waking up in the middle of the night, haunted by nightmares. They’d been there before, they’d been there since the first attack, worse since the second. But now it seemed like Alex slept the whole night unless Phoenix’s nightmares were bad enough to wake Alex up too. And Phoenix had no idea what that meant.

A day or two after everything, Rosie had swung by with letters from them both from Neden. Phoenix had opened his. It was a mess of scrawling writing, of sentences written and scribbled out until they were illegible. But the main message was there. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. He hadn't thrown away the letter, had kept it wedged between two books on his bookshelf. Somewhere safe, where he could find it if he wanted, but also where he wouldn't have to stare at it every single day.

The morning was the first warm day in weeks. It was the first day things felt like spring again. The sunny weather made Phoenix stupidly happy. He hated winter anyway, and now he associated too many bad things with snow on the ground. The market was open for the first time in the season. The familiar sights and smells made Phoenix feel at peace, even just briefly.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
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Z O E PEÑA
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if i am to feel sure of anything,
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zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzi must learn to feel sure of me.
xx
Zoe had seriously considered leaving, in the days that passed. In fact, she’d packed all her stuff back up, coming to terms with the fact that coming to Greythorne at all had been foolish; then Alex came by the bed and breakfast to take her to lunch. She didn’t know if he was just (finally) keeping his promise to her, or if Phoenix had talked him into it, but she decided not to ask. She didn’t really feel like she learned anything about him (sure, she learned things about him, but she didn’t feel any closer to understanding him). Zoe felt like she was getting to know Phoenix better than Alex, and honestly she was okay with that. Phoenix was so nice to her. He seemed sweet, and kind, and she had a hard time believing that he would put up with an irredeemable asshole. Learned they’d known each other basically their entire lives explained a few things.

It took a little deliberating to decide to text Jaiden, but after deciding to stay a little while longer, Zoe did. It was a little awkward at first, but new friendships often are. They talked about a lot of different things. Art, movies, music, Jaiden’s pets (Alex apparently loved her cats. Zoe wasn’t sure she believed that, at first, but then she remembered the way he spoiled Coco, and she decided that it probably made sense.). Zoe decided that she liked Jaiden pretty quickly, she figured they could be friends. Zoe knew she needed a friend if she was staying in town, and she got the impression that Jaiden needed a friend, too.

Zoe wasn’t sure why, but every week she stayed, Greythorne started feeling like more of a welcome place. People had seemed slightly wary about her, at first, but as she sought out conversations and got to know people, things got easier. Maybe people’s emotions were healing, or maybe the fact that she had family in town made it easier. Either way, she was starting to feel at home in Greythorne. Every week she considered heading home, and every week something made her stay. She was ignoring calls from her parents; she’d taken them, at first, but all they did was tell her to come home. They didn’t understand why she was still in Greythorne, or even why she’d gone in the first place. If she was being honest, she didn’t know why she stayed, either, except for the fact that Greythorne felt like an absolutely incredible place to be. The people, once you got past their (honestly understandable) wariness, were amazing. Back home, everyone was too busy competing to be the best to really care about each other. This felt more like a place to be called home, more like a community. Zoe was a little jealous that Alex got to call Greythorne home, because he definitely took it for granted.

Zoe didn’t know how long she was going to be staying in Greythone, but if she was going to be staying more long-term, she would need a more… Permanent living situation. She'd exhausted most of her savings staying in town, and she needed to decide if she was going to stay, and if so, what she was going to do. She decided to take a walk through town to see if it helped to make up her mind. She needed more shampoo, anyway. It was finally warming up (still a little cold for her likes, but she attributed that to growing up in the desert), and she figured that the flowers and trees would start to bloom, soon. She thought that she’d like to see that.





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A L E X GARCIA
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i want to be a better person,
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zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzi don't want to be afraid anymore.
xx
Alex hadn’t wanted to hurt Phoenix; he’d known it was a rough day, and he just needed a little space. He knew that anxiety and hurt so easily turned to anger when he was pushed, and he’d told himself that he never wanted to yell at Phoenix again. He’d felt so much guilt after their last argument, and he couldn’t stand the thought that he almost didn’t get to make things better.

But when he came home, Phoenix was in such a sorry state. The guilt set in quickly, and there was a lot that Alex wanted to say. I’m sorry I ran away. I’m not mad at you, I was just scared. I missed you. My back hurts and Jaiden’s cats tried to sleep on my face all night. But in the end he just listened to Phoenix tell him about Neden. That came as a shock, and Alex was upset with himself for not being there, if not just for Phoenix. After that, they tried to settle into their normal routine. Eventually, things settled into an almost-normal rhythm.

Alex had meant to tell Phoenix all about Eshirtia, and about the pact he’d made, but after everything that happened Alex didn’t want to add anything else to the pile of things to worry about. It was easy enough to keep under wraps, she didn’t ask much of him in those weeks, and the wound (and when it finally healed, the scar) was easy enough to hide; Alex hadn’t worn short sleeves since he was fifteen, he hardly even wore them around the house when it was cold. Eventually, he knew, Phoenix would see. He should probably show him, himself. It was ugly and crude, took up half of his forearm, and Alex knew it would never particularly fade. It, and his pact in general, just wasn’t the kind of thing he could hide forever. He wasn’t sure he wanted to keep it much of a secret, anyway. He needed to tell him, but he didn’t know how. So he didn’t. The longer he waited, the worse he knew it would be when it came out, and the more he felt like he couldn’t say anything.

Instead Alex told Phoenix all the little things he’d spent years not mentioning. He started small, with things like, “You know, I’ve always liked that shirt on you.” And built up to telling Phoenix about the way his eyes lit up when he smiled, how he really did like his hair like that, and that he’d missed him while he was gone. It had been hard, at first, to break the habits that Alex had created for himself, but once he started it sometimes felt like the words just tumbled out of his mouth unbidden

He was sleeping better, too. For the first time in years his dreams weren’t disruptive; the spirits weren’t sending him random visions of baseless death and destruction. They seemed to be filtered, easier to deal with. Phoenix was still having nightmares, though, and Alex wished he could take them. He’d dealt with them constantly for years, he could handle more of them. The only thing he could do was comfort him, and be there. Try to reassure Phoenix where he could, that everything was going to be okay. They were going to be okay.

Neden’s letter was not particularly well-received. Alex didn’t want it, he didn’t want to read it, or see it. He was angry. Hurt. He didn’t understand it. He felt betrayed and lied to. He stashed the letter in the bottom of a drawer in case he ever decided to read it, but opening it was out of the question. He wanted to stay angry for a time, to be bitter. The Branded had caused too much death, too much suffering; first Travis, and now Neden had been in their ranks. Alex felt like a rug had been pulled out from under him if even angels could want him dead. He supposed it made some sense, though, demonic as he was. What Alex couldn’t understand was how anyone could see someone like Phoenix, or Kay, or- hell- Aurora, and decide they deserved to die. Maybe that’s why hunters avoided getting to know any of them. Maybe they would kill them, anyway. Alex didn’t know which answer he preferred.

Things seemed to be going back to normal in town: it had been months since the last attack, the weather was warming up. It seemed like everything might be okay, again. Alex still couldn’t help looking over his shoulder, tensing up whenever someone bumped into him, but there was some hope.

Alex didn’t particularly care about the market, but Phoenix was excited to go, and his happiness was infectious. Alex would have gladly followed him anywhere to see him happy like that.





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Z A D A min ALBAHR
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there are no bargains between lions and men,
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zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzi will kill you and eat you raw.
xx
Things slowly went back to normal after Neden’s admission. Zada and Triss spent a lot of time together, sitting nearby when the other would soak in the tub, enjoying one another’s company. Just the simple act of existing nearby someone who understood and didn’t shrink back at the fangs and the claws was something Zada was glad for. It took a few days for Zada to really feel ready to talk about Neden with Triss, after Rosie had delivered the letter that Zada burned without opening.

Later, when Triss told Zada of her own history with hunters, Zada couldn’t help but feel the other woman’s pain. Zada had never been held captive by hunters before, but she had been held captive and mistreated by a man, so she had some sort of understanding. Zada had taken Trisstana’s hands into hers, and swore that if she had any say in it, no one would hurt her ever again. Zada felt closer to Triss, after that. Slowly, she shared more pieces of her own history. From her childhood in the Meditarranian Sea, to her time with the various men that she killed and stole from. They fostered a comforting familiarity with one another, deeper than before.

Zada’s fondness for Triss only grew as the snow melted, and while a part of her knew exactly what to call it, another part of her didn’t think she would ever feel affection blooming in her heart again. But she trusted Triss, despite how she felt she should never trust another soul, she trusted her, enjoyed her time spent with her. They bonded over glasses of wine and cups of coffee, shared stories and long baths. Zada thought that Trisstana was certainly someone special, and she was glad that she’d stayed in town. Stayed with her.

It was finally warm outside, and though the cold didn’t particularly bother Zada, she was glad because that meant that the ice was melting. The snow had been gone for a while, but the lake always thawed out last. Sure, you could swim around through the chunks of ice, but it was hardly enjoyable, especially if you were to swim with someone else. They’d been checking, periodically, on the state of the lake. Zada almost couldn’t wait to get into the water, but she hadn’t grown up swimming in icy waters, and sometimes it made her feel nervous, like she may get trapped beneath the ice, or hurt somehow. She just wasn’t used to it, yet.

They were headed to the lake; walking side-by-side, mostly quietly, though occasionally one of them would remark about something. They didn’t always talk about much when they walked, but sometimes Zada would point out the birds building nests in the trees, or how she needed to buy some more flowers for her gardener to plant, or how much shorter the walk seemed to be with company. She never realized how long it had taken before, until she had someone to pass the time with. "Hopefully," Zada mused, both to herself, and aloud to Triss, "There won't be much ice left. I would love a nice swim after being stuck in a bathtub all winter."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Violet Marsden Character Portrait: Zoe Peña Character Portrait: Hayden Byrne
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Witch // Attire // Hex: #800000

Don't count me out, Just cause I'm down
Boy I've been down before
Fate has a way of playing games
And I've been keeping score


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The days that passed by after Alex had stayed the night at Jaiden's were, long to say the very least. The moment Alex left her home, everything seemed to come crashing down around her. Jaiden was told about what the meeting that Neden hadn't wanted everyone to come to, was about. Jaiden knew there was a reason that she ignored the message and didn't go, and it was when she was told by one of the others that it all made sense why she felt that way. Neden had betrayed them all. Lied to them the entire time. Lied about who they were, nevermind what they were. Jaiden didn't care that they were an angel, or whatever they were. It was the fact that they were part of the Branded. The same group that not only attacked them twice by this time, but had killed so many they cared about, including Aurora. There was no forgiving that. Sure, Neden may have left however long ago, but Jaiden didn't care. At one point or another, they were responsible for the hunting, torturing, and slaughter of who knows how many of those that were like them.

When Jaiden received the letter that was left for her from Neden, she took it, barely read it as some was scribbled out and re-written entirely, all she saw were the words, Jai, I'm sorry, and watched as the letter quickly caught fire and burned to nothing but ash and dust in her hands. She didn't care. Didn't care if they claimed to have changed. Neden had been responsible for so many deaths and pain, and she wasn't going to forgive them for that.

The weeks that passed by after that were long and tiresome. Jaiden spent more time learning and controlling her powers and abilities, spending more time with more witches that helped her harness her powers better, learned to control her temperament, which was something that unsurprisingly helped her control her connection to fire. She too practiced with knives and swords, as well as simply her fists as she practiced with the patrols as no one was really left in charge of it as Neden left. Jaiden wasn't leader material, and she simply gave someone else the position and helped with the sidelines of things. Helping when and where she could, if she was able.

Everything seemed to finally go back to being as normal as it could as the weather began to become warmer, somewhat. The sun was out more, something that Jaiden could appreciate. She spent more time with the others when she could, occasionally checking on Phoenix and Alex, making sure they were okay. But for the most part she was by herself, or was helping Zoe around town as she was still new to the town, and didn't really know anyone. She got to know Zoe more, some of her interests and likes, what life was like in Arizona, etc. It was nice being able to connect with someone again, and it didn't hurt that they had some things in common.

Things passed by and was slowly getting better when she found herself walking around town with some of the other witches when a few familiar figures appeared before her. Spriggans. The ones that had spent a lot of time with Neden, if she recalled correctly. "What's up, fellas?" she asked with a small smile. She had nothing against them, and if anything, in the past few weeks she grew closer to the tree-folk as they seemed to be rather lonely in the few weeks since Neden left. She didn't understand what they were trying to say, but one of the other witches, who was also a pyrokinetic like her, explained that there was something she had to see. Something was left in the woods for her, but it was told to bring others with her, as she would need company as Hunters had been seen. The Spriggan didn't explain who told her, or why. Just that it was best to go and see for herself. Jaiden was on edge, but was all too curious for what was there for her to see. Four of the witches agree to go with her for safety reasons, bigger groups were safer than being on her own. The walk into the woods wasn't as long as she expected, the small group talking amongst themselves as they made their way into the woods. Walking past a few large trees, Jaiden stopped in her footsteps, as an all too familiar figure was hunched over by a tree. Clearly tied up and still unconscious. Jaiden slowly made her way over to the unconscious woman, crouching down infront of the woman, Jaiden picked her head up as she grabbed the woman by the back of the head, making sure to hold tightly.

The woman left out a soft groan as she was slowly coming to, blinking in the morning sunlight as she cursed under her breath. "The fuck do you want from me, hu-" and stopped, as she looked up at Jaiden. Those same, big brown eyes. Once were filled with fear and pain, were now filled with anger and hatred. A smile spread across the Hunter's face as she looked at Jaiden with a sickening grin, the same grin she had on her face that day of the first attack. "Well hello." she said with a tone of innocence. Jaiden rolled her eyes, trying to contain herself as she looked down at the woman. "I have so many questions for you...But not now. It can wait. But first-" Jaiden said as she made a quick strike with the side of her fist against the woman's temple, knocking her unconscious yet again. "Bring her with us. I have questions for her, but it's not safe here. Let's go." Jaiden's tone was one not many people had heard before, one of anger and even resentment. The witches made sure that the Hunter wasn't going anywhere, as one of the Spriggans appeared next to them, and helped carry the Hunter back to town with the small group of witches.

The walk back didn't take very long as they were on edge and guard, as there was obviously more Hunters to be around somewhere. Alerting everyone as they made their way deeper into the main part of town, they had to know. They needed to. Everyone needed to have a fighting chance and be ready. Jaiden almost walked into someone as she turned around, stopping just mere inches before she entirely walked into them. "Oh shit, I am so sorry-" Jaiden began to say, before seeing that it was Zoe. A smile crossed her face as she looked at her. In the few weeks that passed, the two of them had gotten rather close, and Jaiden was rather fond of her, even if she didn't want to admit it. "Oh hey, Zo." Jaiden said with a smile, and started to walk with her, but first turned back to the group she was with prior, "Take her to the town hall and keep her there. I'll meet up with you all shortly. I promise. Be safe, everyone." Jaiden turned back to Zoe, her smile faltering for a moment as she remembered that was slowly turning to shit now, "Uhm...Zoe? I would like to continue talking to you and everything but...Hunters have been seen again in the woods and, the others need to know. This...This isn't a good sign. What I'm trying to say is, we need to be careful now. You can either stay with me and the others, or be safe and hide. Okay?"








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Revenant // Attire // Hex: #422c63

They tried to tell me I was lost in the forest
Like a cub with no mother when I actually was where I wanted
Bite off the venomous head, Follow the chemical scent
Look for the hole in the fence, Take everything you demand


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The days that passed by after Violet had last seen Neden went by slowly. She stayed by herself, and stayed at her grandmother's home, but stayed somewhere she wouldn't be seen. She just needed time to comprehend everything, and process what actually happened. It was only when it was two days later that Violet heard what happened, Neden packed up everything and left town, leaving letters for some people. Violet understood why she didn't receive one, she had been one of the last people to speak to them, or even see them before Neden left. They said everything they could have, it was enough for Violet. She didn't blame the angel for anything as she slowly processed it all. Unlike some of the others, like Phoenix and Zada, she wasn't angry anymore. She was just sad. But not for the reasons people may have thought.

Violet didn't know what it was, but whenever she was around Neden, she felt something. She didn't understand what it was, or what those feelings were, but she understood Neden. There was just something there between those two. They weren't exactly close, but as time had gone on, they were very close, and Violet felt like she could have told them anything. In fact, the day before she confronted them, she was going to ask Neden if they knew what she was. To help at least help her understand everything about her, and what she became. But seeing how everything happened, everything was ruined and just too much. It was two days after that they were going to speak and talk to Neden, about everything. Get a clearer picture about everything about them. Possibly see if she could have done more. But when she arrived at the small home in the woods, the door was locked. And no one was there. There wasn't any sign of Neden having been there in days. Which caused a pit to form in her stomach. Did Neden leave town? Because of what she started?

It was only when it was confirmed later, by Rosie that Neden was indeed gone, and left letters for some. She didn't know what was worse, the fact that Neden had left without a word, without saying goodbye to anyone that she knew of, or that it had been her fault. None of it sat well with her, and Violet made sure that she only kept to herself. She needed time to rethink things, but the more she was by herself and stayed away from everyone, she found the mark on her arm starting to turn into a burning sensation. It didn't normally feel like her arm was on fire, but the longer she stayed away, the worse it had gotten. It was only then, that she had enough. She needed to know what she was, and she only knew of one person in town that would have known, or even had a sliver of knowledge that could lead her in the right direction. It was only when she was asking around town if anyone had any knowledge of the darker things, mainly pertaining to ghosts. She spent hours and even days asking, only when she was told that Maria, an old necromancer would know better than anyone. She immediately knew what that meant, and who that was. She rolled her eyes, she didn't want to have to speak to him to know if his grandmother would know.

So Violet skipped the middle man, and found herself at the doorstep of Maria Garcia's home. She knocked on the door, and after a bit of waiting, the door opened to reveal a stern, but friendly face, that seemed to light of when she saw Violet. She was quickly let in and was offered some tea on instinct, but Abuela quickly apologized, which Violet merely chuckled at and said it was okay. The two sat down in the living room, and eventually, the old woman asked why was she really here. The room remained silent for a moment before she explained everything. First asking how extensive was her knowledge of the undead was. This only resulted in a loud laugh from the old witch, who merely shook her head before she calmed down and began to answer her question. With a bit of snark that Violet always appreciated. She explained that she knew most things, if not all, but why was she asking? Violet then went on to explain the real reason why she was there, along with the strange mark on her arm. Going into detail about everything that had happened since the first attack. The weird ghostly world where she was with Alex, and where the two got separated during the first attack, and ever since then things had been weird. With how she was now, and how she was scared. So scared. Specifically going into detail that, Violet wasn't even sure of how much time she had left, as every day that passed by, the mark on her arm only grew more painful in nature.

The old witch sadly gave Violet a look that Violet had been sadly anticipating. Abuela wasn't entirely sure about everything, all that she knew, was that Violet was considered to be a Revenant. Which was someone that had passed on, and by different various ways, came back as something else. Something, less than human, but not entirely undead. But made sure to give Violet a warning, that whatever happened for this to happen to her, wasn't good and if anything it was a bad omen. She was given some old books that may have had some more information on what she may have been, or possibly any connections she could make of her own if she really was curious. Violet thanked her, and after a short few more words Violet left with more questions than she originally had, but may have had some answers due to the books she obtained from Abuela.

Violet wasn't sure how many days had gone by, or how much time she spent going over the books, but all she knew was that she had been at the town's library for far too long. She had gone through all of the books by this time, and had spent countless hours writing down notes and looking at other books that had anything to do with Revenants or the undead. She had learned a few things that she didn't know, or was even told about by the one she made the deal with in the first place. When she thought back on about it, she hadn't seen him in weeks, nevermind even felt something that made her go back and talk to him. For the first time in months, she felt relieved. Maybe the deal had been broken off on his end? But that wouldn't have explained anything. As some of the things she learned was, if a Necromancer makes a deal with an unfortunate soul, then whoever was under their contract would either revert back to how they were before, or cease to exist entirely. Neither of those were the case. But she too learned something else, something that had taken far longer to read about. It was very vague, and even to a point, forbidden. As it was considered too dangerous to even pull off, nevermind even consider. But, there was a possible way for one to break the deal, via soul transference with a vulnerable and unsuspecting host. But it was far too risky of something to even attempt, nevermind something Violet would ever consider.

With no real leads, or anything as helpful as she would have liked. She returned the books back to Abuela. Thanking her for the help, as some of it was helpful, but most of it was pointless ramblings. The next few weeks that passed by, Violet spent with some of the others, trying to help the town go back to how it was. But things never sat right. Even as the weather began to become warmer and the sun was starting to come out from the clouds more, things didn't feel right with her. Like something foreboding was hanging over this town, and Violet didn't like it. But as she aimlessly walked around the town, she saw a small forming group of people begin to crowd around a figure dressed in black, with plenty of weapons on their person. She didn't know who this figure was, but if she wanted to make sure that nothing bad happened, or any misunderstandings were avoided, she found herself quickly jogging over to the group to investigate what was going on.







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Fallen-Angel // Attire // Hex: #a39d9d

Fast as you can, And run for your life
Run for your life, Don't show your face
They'll lock the cage, If you're an easy mark
I made a plan, Of sweet revenge
I want to take it too far


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The morning air was crisp and cold as the wind blew passed the trees and into the town of Greythorne. The sun had risen and was castly a golden glow over the town through the trees as wild life began to chirp and whistle amongst the woods. Everything was as peaceful as ever in the past few weeks. Nothing seemed a miss. Not until there was the sound of a twig snapping, and what followed was a rubble of foot steps as multiple figures darted through the woods, making their way towards the town. Animals ducked back into their holes in the earth, or their nests in the trees as the Hunters encroached the end of the treeline to the tiny town. "Fucking freaks." one of them muttered as they hid along the backside of an old and fallen log.

"You know the drill, we get in there...And we light them up with everything we got. We've been too nice in the past." said a female voice, who was clearly the leader amongst the small group of Hunters. Two of her men gave all too large of smiles as they seemed all too giddy. All fell silent as they waited for their mark to reak havoc on the town, and without any warning, one of the Hunters was torn away from the others and pulled up into the treeline. Disappearing from sight. The remaining Hunters withdrew their weapons, backs against each other as they continued to circle around, looking for whoever had made a move against them. "I thought we took care of that one-" one of the Hunters began to speak, but was silenced as the woman raised her hand. The woods fell silent again as they waited for a sign of anything to attack or give chase to. Before they had any warning, one of the Hunters reached for their shoulder as they felt something land on it from above. Feeling it to be something warm, liquidy, and fresh. The Hunter looked down at their hand to see a dark, maroon-colored liquid was coated over their fingers, slowly looking up as he let out a gasp. The sudden action caused the two other Hunters to turn and look upwards, into the trees, both gasped, covering their mouths as nausea overtook them. Up in the trees, was a form hanging upside down with a freshly slit throat as blood emptied out of the gaping wound. Whatever had done that to the Hunter had been swift and it one motion, as the wound wasn't from a claw or even possibly an accident.

With two of the Hunters distracted, one of the Hunters fell to the ground, going lifeless as two arrows found themselves lodged into the Hunter's body. One in the head, and the other square in the chest. "What the fuck is going on?" one of the Hunter's called out, clearly frightened. One of the older ones looked at the Hunter that yelled, grabbing him by the throat, "Don't wimp on us now, Matthew. Or so help me, I will feed you to those freaks myse-" the older Hunter was cut off, as a throwing knife had found itself lodged into the back of his throat, spirting blood out of his mouth as the Hunter fell to the ground in a puddle of his own blood. Three Hunters down, two to go.

The female Hunter grabbed the younger one, who's name was apparently Matthew and pulled him to his feet. "Looks like it's just me and you kid. Now let's go." she said as she turned, grabbing their weapons as they began to run. The two Hunters didn't look back as the sound of running footsteps was slowly closing in on them. The Hunters stopped in their footsteps as a large, cloaked figure landed in front of them with impossible speed. The dirt and leaves around their feet scattered away from the figure's feet due to the sheer force behind their landing. "What do you want from us, huh? We're just trying to get back home." the woman attempted to a plea, trying to gain a sense of sympathy from the unknown figure. From which, the figure only let out a low chuckle as they slowly rose to their feet, unsheathing two large Seraph Blades from the placement on their back. Dark green eyes peered out from under the black hood as the figure stared down the Hunters. An emotionless face stared back at them. "This...This isn't your home." the figure said softly. The female Hunter let out a chuckle, silently unsheathing a knife from her cloak as she continued to stare down the figure, "But it soon will be-" she managed to say, before the figure lunged forwards, tackling the female Hunter down to the ground, and onto her back, getting in two good punches, before looking up to see the younger Hunter begin to make a run for it through the woods.

The cloaked figure reached into their cloak, quickly retrieving something from their pocket, and with ease and precision, tossed what looked like metal wire that wrapped itself around the Hunter's legs. Causing him to fall to the ground. As the figure began to make its way back to the female Hunter, another Hunter who was hidden from behind a tree went for a surprise slash with their own knife. But as the Hunter did so, a twig snapped, causing the cloaked figure to twirl around and with immense strength caused one of the Seraph blades to pierce their abdomen all the way through, bringing the Hunter all the way to the hilt of the blade, before removing the weapon from the Hunter's body and watched as it collapsed to the ground. Unmoving.

Slowly turning, the cloaked figure looked back at the female Hunter who began to speak up again, "We're going to burn down your town, freak and when we do-" she began, but the figure only picked her up with ease, using one of their hands to reveal a large burn scar that ran along the Hunter's forearm. "You're coming with me." the figure said, and quickly brought both of their heads together, knocking the woman Hunter unconscious. Dropping the body to the ground, the figure slowly made their way to the young Hunter, who looked on in fear at them. Kneeling down, they retrieved a small pocket knife, "Matthew, was it? Do one thing for me? Get the fuck out of here, go back to your leaders, and tell them that they fucked up this time. And that, is a very deadly and stupid thing to do." the figure finished, and with a quick flash, the wire was cut from around the Hunter's legs, and watched as he ran like his life depended on it as he ran out of sight.

A small exasperated sigh escaped the figure lips as they turned back around to see the female Hunter was still unconscious on the ground. Making their way back over, a small groan escaped their lips as they picked up the woman and walked over to a large tree, placing her down and quickly tied her hands behind her back, keeping her kept snuggly against it. This Hunter wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Slowly rising to their feet, the hooded figure touched their side, a small gasp of pain escaped their lips. They didn't have time for this. Turning, they made their way towards the small town that stood just outside of the woods.

A few figures rushed out and looked at the cloaked figure that slowly walked through the streets. One wearily stepped forward, a Spriggan by the name of Percy stopped the cloaked figure with a hand to their chest. Urging them to turn back, they weren't welcomed. Slowly, the figure removed the hood. Revealing dark hair that was held closely and neatly to the back of the person's head by a short ponytail, pale skin and dark green eyes greeted the Spriggan with a friendly, but rather annoying smile that they had seen many times before. "It's not safe, the woods aren't anyway. I took out some of them in the woods. One got away, and there's one more. She's tied up to a tree, will be out for another hour or so. Let Jaiden know she has a gift in the woods, she's going to need company." the individual said, two of the spriggans Spriggans quickly took off in the direction of where Jaiden was last seen, knowing full well that someone else needed to know that they were back in town.

A familiar face was in the group, looking at the figure, "I thought you were gone forever...The others, they need to know you're back. Percy, tell Rosie and the others." she looked up at the figure with a smile, "It's good to see you back here, Neden...I uh...I am so-" the angel gave her a small smile and embraced her in a tight hug before Violet could finish her sentence, "It's good to see you too, Vio...But now isn't the time. I don't know how much time we all have but, Greythorne isn't safe." Neden said with a tone of exasperation as they backed away, before holding their side as they did so. The shorter woman gave a nod as their eyes locked onto each other, a small smile appeared across both of their faces, but soon disappeared as Neden began to hobble along. "We need to go...Now. This can wait, warning others can't. We need to find the others, and let them know before it's too late." Neden made mention to the wound at their side, their tone was urgent and serious, a tone that didn't come from them very often. Something had changed about Neden in the past few weeks since they had left, and Neden hadn't planned on talking about it, not now. Important matters lied ahead, and they weren't going to make the same mistake again. Violet gave Neden a small nod and quickly ran off in the opposite direction, she needed to warn others so they had some possibility of a fighting chance against the Hunters. Warning whoever she could as she ran through the town.


What people hadn't known, was that Neden had been back in town for two days prior to now. They made sure to keep an all too low profile, only come out when they really needed to. They weren't sure how people would be of their reappearance back in town. The only people that had seen Neden since they came back were Kaylessa and Hayden. One of which, was ironically the last person Neden had seen before they left all those weeks ago. Their conversation was short and to the point. Asking if Neden was still the same, and if it was true that they had been a Hunter. Neden confirmed it, but ensured that they weren't that way anymore. Part of Neden was happy that Kaylessa had forgiven them, but another part of them still hadn't sat right with them. Neden had hurt people like everyone here, even killed and tortured some for the 'better of humanity'. It was a lie, brainwashed to believe that they were the worst the world had to offer. While, if anything, it was humans. But now, Neden was back and this time they were going to make sure they did what they could, but first, they needed to find the others, and warn them before it was too late.

With a small hobble as they held their side, they would need to tend the wound when they actually had the time. Which, wasn't now, they made their way through the town's streets. Not much had changed in Greythorne in the amount of time that they had been gone, which was roughly over a month or two, things were still the same. Still the same, peaceful town it had ever been. Something they appreciated. The walk back to the small house that was once their home ever since Markus-They brushed the thought out of their mind, was a rather quick walk. Slowly they stepped through the trees and bushes, stopping as they saw two figures approach the small home. Neden peered through the brush, trying to see who it was. A small sigh escaped their lips as they only saw that it was Hayden and Kaylessa. A small smile creased their lips as they slowly walked out from the cover of the brush that was previously hiding them. "Hayden? Kay? What're you doing here? It's not safe to be here." Neden spoke with a hushed voice. "I've already taken care of a few Hunters in the other end of the woods...I may have been patrolling the woods out of habit and came across a few. I don't know how many there are but...I have a feeling this isn't just a small scouting party." the angel looked around before walking closer to the two, handing Hayden a rather large dagger, with the same strange runes that covered their own blades that were strapped to their back, next to their bow.

The blade was oddly light compared to its appearance, which one may think was heavy and sluggish. "I am going to want that back by the way, elf boy. But for now, I hope you know how to use one. Let's get going, we're already behind on time." Neden said as they motioned to Hayden and Kaylessa to follow them, "So what's the update?" the angel asked as the three began to make their way back into town

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
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phoenix woods
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i know the world's a broken bonexxx outfit | #c4a7be xxx but melt your headaches, call it home


The local grocery store was good, but it didn’t compare to the market. The fact that it only ran two days a week was a constant shame to Phoenix. Everything he used in the cafe came direct from most of these suppliers anyway, but that didn’t beat the feeling of being able to pick things yourself and haggle for them. He needed to try and shake up the menu for the warmer weather anyway, which meant he wanted to stock up on fresh ingredients. Which meant that he spent a significant amount of money buying every single fruit his usual supplier had.

In return for Alex's patience- and god, he’d really had a lot of it over the past few weeks- Phoenix bought extra strawberries and gave them to him as they searched over the more miscellaneous stands, the ones that had odd little trinkets. To Phoenix, a lot of the stuff looked like junk, but Alex liked it. And when the weather was this wonderful and the town this alive, everywhere just felt a little better, a little nicer. It was easy to spend time out and about here. With everyone around, with the friendly chatter and laughter of the market, things were starting to feel safe now.

All that was shattered at the first scream. They all knew what that sound meant now, especially as it was joined by another, and another. The first body hit the ground. They had never attacked during the day before. Things had been so quiet for so long, people had gotten complacent. And that meant that nobody was on their guard.

This all felt a little too familiar to Phoenix. Except now, Alex was beside him, his hand already clutched in Phoenix’s. The panic and the fear was almost suffocating, rooting Phoenix’s feet to the ground as his side and his shoulder began to burn, almost simultaneously again. He knew he needed to run, that they needed to get away as quickly as possible, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t even seem to formulate a coherent thought other than no, this can’t be happening again, this can’t be happening, I can’t do this, I can’t lose him, I’m scared, I don’t want to die-

And then he snapped out of it. Freezing up was what had made everything go wrong in the first attack, and he refused to let that happen again. Things were only starting to fall into place again and he wasn’t giving up on that. Alex had spent so long trying to build Phoenix up again and Phoenix refused to let him down by freezing up. He refused to let any piece of shit hunters ruin the first good relationship he’d had in years. They'd ruined his life enough, and he'd be damned if he let them ruin it any more.

He tightened his grip on Alex’s hand and pulled him in the direction of home. He wasn’t a fighter, neither of them were. And he was stubborn, not an idiot, so he wasn’t going to waste his time fighting if he didn't have to. And he wasn't planning on giving Alex much of a chance to object either.






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rosie thompson
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can't let this moment endxxx outfit | #cc0460 xxx you set off a dream in me


Rosie was about halfway in to town when she heard the screaming. The attack had already started. Swearing silently under her breath, she broke into a run, emerging into chaos in the town. She scanned the scene in front of her trying to figure out where to start, what needed to be done first. Familiar faces were beginning to put up a fight, the ones who had defended the town before. A hunter appeared behind Rosie, but she swung around just in time, ducking under his swinging knife and tackling him to the ground. He rolled and tried to pin her, but she just shot him a sharp-toothed grin. "What the fuck-" The hunter started, and his momentary shock gave Rosie a chance to wriggle some freedom. "Listen to me-" She ordered, the command laced with siren song. He froze, his attention entirely on her. "Tell me where you're targeting. Tell me your plan," she ordered. "Town and woods. Two waves in an attempt to overwhelm you. Weapons that are a combination of iron and silver. Daylight to weaken the night-dwellers," he said, his voice a flat monotone. "Right. Go fight your friends. Only the humans, if you as much as touch a Greythorne resident, you are to turn yourself in and not move or object until I get there," she ordered. The man stood up, his movements almost robotic, and retrieved his dagger. Rosie stood up and brushed herself down. A familiar blue-haired woman stood a few hundred feet away.

"Evelyn! Go to the woods, there's going to be hunters there as well as in town. Tell the spriggans, the dryads, the druids, anyone who prefers to fight there, then come back and find me!" She called. The vampire nodded, punched a hunter in the throat before running him through with his own sword, before turning and running towards the woods. Rosie retrieved the sword from the fallen hunter and steeled herself for a fight, spreading her wings in a snap.

As she leaped into the air, she could see a familiar spriggan waving at her, trying to catch her attention. Spriggans rarely came into town of their own accord, Percy had to be here for something. It took her a few moments to understand him, mostly due to his excitement, but they got there in the end. "Neden and Travis have left my house? They're in the woods?" She asked, and the spriggan nodded. Rosie exhaled, knowing this was a split second decision. How much did she trust them in this scenario. "Right. Thanks for letting me know, Percy. Just... go help them. But keep an eye on them. If either of them starts acting suspicious, I want to know about it right away, understood?" The spriggan nodded and disappeared. She sighed, running a hand through her hair. Right now, she had to trust Neden. And if that meant trusting Travis again... well, they needed every ally they could get.