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Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

Samara smiled widely as the spell finished, appearing pleased with the way it had gone off without a hitch. She reached out to tug on the kitten's tail via the ribbon, just once, before letting it go to look at Adelaide who still seemed confused about what had happened.

"Isn't it obvious?" She asked, acting as though she had been completely transparent with her intentions. Priscilla squawked happily, bringing herself down to flap in the air directly in front of the kitten. The cat turned towards the crow and the two seemed to look at each other knowingly, as more than two animals meeting for the first time. "I hope you have a name in mind. You just received your first familiar!"

"...like you and the crow?"

"Exactly! And her name is Priscilla, please, Isen, show some respect. I hope you'll be kinder to your new, furry friend." She chastised him, returning back to her regular spot behind the counter of her shop. She began to lean against it, as she had the first time, angling herself just right. This time, however, Isen didn't seem as entranced with her as he had been the first time. Had the luster worn off or had something else changed?

"Enough with the magic tricks." Isen spoke up, now, pushing the subject of the conversation into a different direction while Adelaide coddled and came to terms with her new familiar. "We have questions for you and we ne-"

"Questions about what happened in that basement, right? Or, perhaps you're missing your demon passenger? Oooh, or this is all about the precious moment you two shared last night? You know, I told her you were hopeless but...I'm beginning to see the potential." She mused, eyeing him carefully. He was still dressed up, a far cry from what he had been wearing when the two had first met, and she seemed as pleased with the outcome as Adelaide had been when he first changed. The implication of what she said was that she had been watching them the whole time, or perhaps predicting what was going to happen, including how close they had been at the motel room? Isen felt unnerved but didn't back down.

"You knew what was going on down there?"

"Knew? No." She responded, letting her chin wrest against her palm, elbow anchored down to the table. "I had my suspicions, sure, but never anything so certain. Not until last night when I saw the two of you waltz right in there. I, of course, did my best to speed things up a little with a magical pick-me-up but I was as shocked as you both were to see what the DSTF have been doing in secret. If I had known, I wouldn't have sent you both there. The existence of those...things, they jeopardize life for every Dissonant, witch and mage not only in this city but, eventually, all across the world. Believe me when I say I won't be taking this lightly." The normal, jovial tone of her voice had vanished when faced with Isen's question, but she seemed to snap back and forth between both moods with relative ease and she was back to herself just moments later as she looked back at Adelaide and her kitten to change the subject away from something that seemed to be touchy for her. "Aren't they just the cutest, Isen? Maybe once you get rid of that demon of yours, she can help you get one of your own, you could stand to have a little fun once in a while. Hmmmm, maybe a dog...or a turtle..."

"I don't want a pet, I want you to stop playing games with us."

A silence hung over the room. Isen was clearly beginning to lose his composure with Samara, a far cry from it had been like before when he appeared enamored with her.

"I see. You really do need to lighten up a little." She sighed, standing back up straight again. "Fiiiine. What else do you wish to know?"

Isen looked back at Adelaide as he prepared to present his next question. He knew she wasn't going to like it but it had to be said.

"...what do you know about removing a Catalyst?"
 
"You had me imprint off Priscilla?" Adelaide looked between the bird and Samara with a bit of awe, then turned her attention down to the kitten who seemed to look at her a lot more knowingly. It was almost unnerving, really. "A name? Huh.." She shifted the kitten into both hands and held it up to her face, wrinkling her nose when its scratchy tongue came out to lick at her.

"How about.. Ember?" The animal meowed in reply, which she took as a sign of agreement, and she shamelessly rubbed the animal against her cheek before letting it settle back in her arms again. "Ember it is. I guess that means I need to get you some food and other stuff." Could she just train it go outside, like a dog? That seemed reasonable since it had already been living outside anyway.

"Wait, what?" Adelaide's face turned bright red as Samara listed off the summed up version of how yesterday had gone, and she looked between the witch and Isen with a mixture of horror and embarrassment. Had the witch been spying on them? She really was powerful.

"Okay, so you can magically see around the city, that's not creepy at all. I do appreciate the gift you had Priscilla bring, it proved very useful." She did still have the device tucked away in her bag somewhere, too, which meant it could be used again when they next needed it. Not that any of that would matter until they'd figured out a proper attack route, and they couldn't very well go after the same facility they'd just vacated the night before. The fact that they hadn't been found was due only to the power of the ring, and when Isen turned to look at her and voiced his question, she shook her head fiercely.

"Isen, no! I got myself burned to be able to use this ring right!" She held up her finger, displaying the still red, irritated, but otherwise relatively healthy skin to him. "This thing saved us from.. Whatever could have happened if we didn't get out of that building! That's the only thing that got us back to the motel without being caught, and it's got so much power in it! No way in hell we're getting rid of it now, not when we know there's much bigger threats now!" What the hell was wrong with him?
 
Her reaction was expected and he bore the brunt of it as she voiced her displeasure with what he had suggested. He did, however, have a reasonable response that he hoped she would understand upon hearing.

"I'm not saying we remove it immediately, but we should be prepared to do so when the time is right. Besides...you're supposed to be separating me from Ignas too, remember? You're going to need to learn how to do this eventually either way." Had she forgotten their deal during their newfound intimacy?

"Hm, he does have a point. Neither of you can stay connected to your Catalyst forever, eventually you will need to learn to sever the ties that bind. It isn't a simple spell that I can teach you or imprint onto you, however, as disappointing as that may be for me to say."

"Then how can she do it?"

"Catalysts are objects imbued with dark magic. Your particular version, your sword, just happens to be bound with the spirit of a demon alongside that magic. Hers is a different case, it's just powerful magic that has a bit of a mind of it's own. The easiest way to do this isn't to separate you from your Catalyst but rather, to separate the magic from the Catalyst instead."

Feeling as though she needed a demonstration, Samara reached beneath the counter and pulled out two gemstones. One stone shimmered with a blue light while the other remained empty, simply reflecting the natural glow of the room without anything ethereal about it's color shading. Samara's fingers began to move back and forth, willing the magic energy out of the shimmering stone and transferring it to the other. Now, the original stone that housed the energy was dormant while the second took on the glow.

"The energy that makes up a Catalyst cannot be destroyed but it can be transferred to another. It's a difficult process, but with her ability to syphon magic, I believe she may one day be powerful enough to do so. If she can move the magic from her ring to another object..."

"...then the ring would no longer be the Catalyst and she could just remove it."

"Exactly!" Samara smiled, moving the magic back to the original gemstone again before letting them both lay idle on the counter top. "That's precisely how they were made to begin with, after all. Your case is going to be a little different because of the demon involved, I don't think he's going to willingly let you do any of that, but the basic idea is that if you can move the magic to another object, that object then becomes the Catalyst and your ring and sword become nothing more than gaudy accessories. As long as you don't directly touch the new Catalyst, you're home free. Just find somewhere nice and quiet to bury them so nobody else ever finds them again, deal?"

Isen looked back at Adelaide to see if she was still mad at him for bringing up the subject. They had learned valuable information from the question, he was satisfied with having asked it.
 
"Yes, I know I need to separate you two." She definitely needed the ring to be able to work any powerful magic like that, especially because she had no idea how she was going to separate them yet. "But we're not getting the ring off me yet, I'm not budging there. We need it. Even if she didn't enjoy some of the effects using its power had on her, they both needed it until they were done with their mission.

"Wait, to remove the magic from the catalyst?" That was a lot, lot, lot of magic to remove, especially when the sources were seemingly limitless. How could anyone remove that much power? Adelaide watched in fascination as Samara played with the magic in the stones she produced, so easily willing it from one to the other like it was a simple as breathing. Did that mean she could do something like that, too?

"Just put the magic into something else and then bury it so it never gets used again." That sounded simple enough, but she was well aware it wasn't going to be. Samara had said that one day she might be powerful enough to do it, not sometime soon. She wasn't a seasoned witch like Samara was, she was still learning how to cast spells again after spending so many years just trying to live a normal life. She had rarely used magic, without anyone to teach her properly she had used it as a last resort, and often on accident even then.

"It makes sense, yeah. I'm not getting rid of this ring until after I've taken Ignas away from you, though. I need the magic in it. It's dark enough for me to do all these new things, I spent so many years trying not to use magic so that they wouldn't find me." She turned her attention to Samara now.

"I'm exhausted, filthy, and I need clean clothes. Please tell me there's somewhere we can go around here."
 
Adelaide seemed to be on board, at least, with the idea of getting rid of the ring eventually. That was a good enough start, at least. The sooner they put an end to the DSTF, the sooner she would be able to free him from his curse and then, she could free herself as well.

"I don't think there's anywhere you two should be going to around these parts anymore." Samara interjected, looking at them, curiously. "You don't know, do you?"

"Know what...?"

"You're wanted. They released it earlier this morning. Your descriptions, your powers, everything. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole city is looking for you by now." It had been early morning when they were woken up, most of the people in the city were still just waking up and hadn't been filled in on the news yet. Now, however, Cresthaven's day was in full swing, which meant there were hundreds of watchful eyes in any given direction that could spot them and call them out. That wasn't a big deal for Isen but for Adelaide, it would be quite concerning, and if the DSTF decided to unleash one of those prototypes into the city...

"I have a proposition."

That voice. He was back.

"I propose the two of you never...and I mean, NEVER, think about doing what you just did to me again. How's that, for starters?"

Samara could see the strange look on both their faces. It didn't seem to correlate with the news she had given and then, upon heearing Isen answer back to the voice in his head, she understood.

"Oh, you're still in there. That's a shame. Are you back to normal now or are you going to act like a child once more?"

"A child? Really?"

"Yes, you acted like a child."

"The only reason that even happened was because you decided to swing me at that freaky orb! Yes, Isen, I am back to 'normal'. I just spent the whole night trying to reverse this damn spell and I'll have you know that I figured it out, so don't even bother trying it again, you hear me, witch? And as for you, oh you..." He seemed to be talking to Samara, even though she couldn't hear him. He began to ramble about the spell she had given to Adelaide, clearly upset about having been silenced, but Isen sort of drowned it out.

"I take it the demon has come back. Do they always bicker like this?" She asked Adelaide, sighing and shaking her head. "Aaaaanyways, as you can understand, there's nothing much I can do lest I risk unraveling my entire operation here and that would get who knows how many Dissonants killed but, I've seen your future. You'll find a way."

"That's it? We'll find a way?" Isen continued to show hostility towards Samara's actions and Ignas took note of that as well.

"Did you suddenly grow a back bone while I was gone? I like this side of you. Wait. Witch, what did you do to him?"
 
"Know what?" Adelaide spoke in unison with Isen and gave Samara a confused look. "Shit, seriously?" That just made the situation a million times worse. Even if she could blend in, Isen couldn't with the sword he was carrying around, so either way they were screwed. She wasn't going to dye her hair dark or cut it off, not when the chances of them being found anyway were high enough it would just be a waste.

"Oh, great, it's back." Adelaide sighed. Of course the spell would wear off now, but she wasn't about to waste time shutting him up with their current predicament. "You acted exactly like a child, Ignas. You can't even die and you were whining like a baby just because you felt a little gross." Honestly, what was wrong with the demon?

"Yes, they always bicker like that." She set the kitten down and rubbed at her temples, giving Isen an exasperated look before returning her attention to Samara. "It's incredibly annoying, honestly. I'll be glad to be rid of that demon someday." Perhaps equally as glad as Isen, honestly. "That's it? Just.. Seriously, just we'll find a way? Not even a hint in what direction to go to get out of town?" The witch could not be serious.

"None of your business, Ignas." So he hadn't been able to hear or see what they'd been doing while she had the spell enabled. "Just.. Shut up." She groaned, glancing down as Ember rubbed against her leg and mewled loudly as if making sure she hadn't been forgotten.

"Well, thanks, Samara. I guess we should get going, maybe we'll see each other again when this is all over." She gave the witch a mock salute and made sure she had everything gathered up, shuffling out of the store as Ember ran along after her. The cat seemed intent on getting outside first, and by the time Adelaide had gotten out and through the barrier of the illusion, she found the cat gnawing on the corner of a small cardboard box that had definitely not been there when they'd gone inside.

"What are you chewing on?" Great, she'd gotten a familiar that was probably going to chew on anything she could get her little teeth on. "Ember, stop chewing on that, that's disgu--" Adelaide jumped back at the same time the kitten did as the box began to sing and vibrate loudly, her eyes wide as she stared down at what was definitely a ringing phone inside the folded closed box.

"This has got to be some sort of trap." Ember seemed insistent on getting the box open, as if she knew something that Adelaide didn't, and after a heavy sigh Adelaide leaned down to pick up the box and open it. The phone inside was still ringing as she picked it up, swiping over the answer option before holding it to her ear.

"..Hello?"

"Hello, Adelaide. You don't have much time to get out of the area, so listen closely."

"You're that guy that let me go."

"That's correct. Now, I want you and your monster of a companion to put your hoods up and walk out of that alley, and then head away from the facility. I'll have a car to you shortly."

What the fuck was going on?
 
"I wish I could be more help but you know how these things are. If I tell you your future, it might not come true! But, rest assured, I have full faith that you will figure it out." Samara smiled, seeing them out. Priscilla squawked at Ember a couple of times before they parted with the cat dashing outside to be there before everybody else. Isen gave one last look back at the witch then stepped through the barrier as well. He was disappointed with her, he thought she would be more sympathetic to their cause. The magic, ironically enough, had definitely worn off, however, and he was no longer as impressed with Samara as he had been when they first met.

He sighed as he stepped back outside just in time to overhear Adelaide's confusion. He had never used nor owned one, but he recognized the chiming device as a cell phone, he had seen many people use them in their daily life, but why was there one here and how had the cat found it? He had been about to warn Adelaide about answering the thing but she had already brought it to her ear, beginning to converse with whoever was on the other side. Focusing his hearing, he could listen to the voice on the other side as clearly as Adelaide could. Was this an ally? They were in short supply of those during their time of need.

"Why is someone on the inside so intent on helping us?" Isen asked the obvious question.

"It's probably a trap. I wouldn't put it past them. They already know she's going to run, if they have somebody convince her that they're friends, they can just capture her later."

While it was a possibility, Isen also knew Ignas would have something negative to say, that was what he did. Even just having him back in his head seemed to be dulling his mood, biting at the normalcy he had displayed prior.

"I don't think that's the case. She mentioned that this guy had let her go when she had gotten captured the first time. They already had her, I don't think he would go through all this trouble just to recapture her later." She had mentioned it to him on the train and, again, while speaking to this mystery person on the phone. Perhaps she really did have an ally they could depend on. "It's not like we have much choice anyways. If we don't try something, we're going to have the entire city looking for us."

"So, instead, you want to risk working directly with a member of the DSTF on the off chance that he's the one person among them that isn't a total slime ball?"

Isen looked at Adelaide, meeting his gaze onto her face to see if she was considering trusting him. If she was then, by extension, he would as well since he had learned to trust in her judgement by this point. "Yeah..I do."

"We need to talk about whatever she did to you while I was gone. Fine. But it's her funeral if something goes wrong."
 
"Why do you want to help us?"

"I could care less about your friend, I want to help you, Adelaide, so we don't have time to sit and argue over it. You two are all over the news and if you don't get out of town, you're going to get caught, and I can't do anything for you then." He had a fair point, although she was still skeptical over the entire thing, and her face said as much even as she pulled her hood up over her hair.

"..What color car am I looking for?"

"Black, beat up, but the windows are tinted so it's safe."

"Fucking hell. Okay, Isen, I guess we're doing this." Checking that Ember was still somewhere around them, she glanced at Isen and cradled the phone against her ear before stepping out of the alley.

"I'll reach out after the driver has dropped you at your new destination. I think you'll find it much better than the rat's nest you were staying in before." The line went dead before she had a chance to reply, and after rolling her eyes in annoyance Adelaide stuffed the phone into her coat and started down the street.

"..I'm gonna guess that's our ride." The car that slowed down near the street was definitely banged up, and the tinted window on the driver's side cracked just enough for someone to look out, meet eyes with Adelaide, and indicate they should get into the back seat. "If I'm wrong and they try to kill us, you're free to do whatever you want to get us out of it, Ignas." She opened the back door hesitantly and slid inside, Ember hopping up and wriggling onto her lap once everything had gotten situated. Once Isen finally joined and got settled in beside her, the driver glanced in the rearview mirror, grunted in acknowledgment, and started off down the street again.
 
There was such a strange vibe about everything that was happening. He kept looking to Adelaide to back out, to change her mind, but she never did and so, he followed her to the banged up vehicle and even got himself inside. He had never been in a proper car before, only train, so it was an interesting feeling when it began moving and he was thankful that Ignas wasn't in the mood to prank him with motion sickness again.

The driver seemed sketchy too, acknowledging them with a grunt before focusing entirely on the road. The tint on the windows, at least, would keep them from garnering any unwanted attention, though now they had no real idea where this would even be taking them.

"Oh, I intend to."

"Your friend must be aware of the power we possess. He wouldn't be foolish enough to try something like that." Isen reasoned, though mostly, he just wanted an excuse to quell the bloodlust that Ignas had.

"Witch, do you sense anything off about this? Any magical signatures that I'm missing?"

The fact that Ignas couldn't pick up on anything near them was reassuring but Adelaide had an attunement for this too, he wouldn't feel truly at rest until she could confirm it. There had been another dark magic signature in the city yesterday, after all, they could never be too safe.
 
"Nothing that concerns me. The other dark signals I caught before definitely aren't anywhere near us, so we should be safe." She glanced toward the driver who was still silent, although he did catch her eyes in the mirror and shrug. Could the man not speak at all, or was he choosing to remain silent during their ride? The entire thing was so confusing that she hardly had the brain power to try and figure it out. Between waking up partway through the night, being woken up early, and not having much of a proper breakfast, she was far too tired for a complicated situation like this.

"How long is this drive going to be?" The driver held up two fingers but said nothing. "Okay, I doubt you mean two minutes.. Two hours?" A nod, and she sagged back against the seat with a groan. "Great, okay, two hours. Maybe I can get a little more sleep, since there's not really anything else to do." It wasn't like they could sit and talk about their plans with a total stranger around. They didn't even know where they were going, for god's sake!

"I think I'm going to close my eyes for a bit, and if we're in any danger of impending death, or whatever, you can just wake me up."
 
Knowing that the other dark signature was far away from them now brought him a bit of solace about leaving Cresthaven. At least that was one less thing they needed to worry about, especially given what was going on beneath the city already.

He had no reason to deny Adelaide the rest she desired and so, he nodded his head, confirming to her that he would wake her if required. He glanced over at her as her eyes closed, wondering if she was going to lean against him as she had on the bed, though he supposed given where they were and the fact that Ignas was back, she wouldn't want to do that here. Her familiar curled itself into her lap, happy to take a cat nap, leaving Isen alone with the demon and the ever silent driver.

"I still believe there to have been a Catalyst in that facility." Ignas mused, out loud. "Something had to have been providing them the energy they needed to oeprate those...machines." He sounded like a soldier with PTSD and all he had done was touch the damn thing.

"Baby." Isen taunted him, on purpose, knowing it would set him off. This time, however, Ignas did not reply with annoyance.

"I appear to be the only one concerned." He remarked. "I can sense the way you're looking at her, you know. I don't know what happened while I was gone but I'm certain that it couldn't have been anything good."

"Nothing happened. She fell asleep and we had some peace and quiet for a change."

"Right. Okay. Tell yourself what you want."

Isen sighed because he knew Ignas was right. Something bigger had happened between them. It was something unspoken but it clearly occurred and had changed the way they looked at each other, or at least the way that he looked at her. Without Ignas around to mess with his emotions, he had seen things clearly for the first time, unafflicted by his negativity and it was leading him to a startling conclusion; if the future Samara saw for them ended with him losing his life as was agreed upon, would either of them be okay with that decision?
 
"You're awfully whiny for a familiar, aren't you?" Ember cracked open an eye from her spot on Adelaide's lap and stared toward Isen in annoyance. Adelaide had fallen asleep rather quickly, one hand settled on the kitten's back and her head leaned back against the seat. Clearly the combination of everything had taken its toll on her, and she was not handling it well at the moment. Nothing a bit of sleep wouldn't fix, and the feline wasn't overly concerned about that, not when it had this obnoxious being to deal with. Just where was he, anyway? She couldn't see him anywhere, and she wasn't sure what a sword was to know where to look. This entire concept of being able to understand human things was a new experience for her, and she doubted that Isen could even hear her.

"How exactly is he looking at my mistress, anyway?" How did humans normally look at each other, and what was considered strange or normal? Scratch that, the man beside her mistress didn't smell very human either, but maybe that had to do with whatever this weird familiar he had was.
 
Isen had found himself rather bored with his current arrangement. The driver barely spoke, so he quickly gave up any attempt at making conversation. Adelaide was fast asleep, so she couldn't provide him any company; he was alone with Ignas and just Ignas. They moved in and out of arguments and bickering as Ignas refused to let Isen have any peace and quiet. He was full of complaints this morning, mostly due to events prior, ranging from what happened in the facility to having a spell cast that blocked him out of Isen's mind for an entire night. Isen was growing bored of the constant chatter but their ride was almost to it's end, he only needed to endure it a little while longer.

And they had been safe. There were no surprises, no hidden motives, the driver wasn't trying to kill them. It was nice for a change. They were far from imminent danger and, although he didn't know exactly where they were about to end up, it was so far so good for their get away.

"I did everything I could. You were the one who swung me at that damn orb."

"...are we still talking about this?"

"Yes! We're still talking about this."

"I wish we weren't."

"We could have talked it out last night but you let the witch cast her spell on me."

Isen laughed to himself, turning his head to let his gaze fall back onto the sleeping Adelaide beside him. She didn't appear to be having any more nightmares, which he was thankful for. He watched her for a few moments, tuning out Ignas' groaning.

"Isen. Are you listening to me? Isen! You owe me for what the two of you did. You owe m- what?"

Ignas suddenly stopped in the middle of his conversation. He had heard another voice. "Watch your tongue, witch." He quickly commented, thinking that the female voice her heard was Adelaide's. Isen's confusion made him second guess that, however, as he was still looking at Adelaide and she was nowhere near being awake.

"What are you talking about?" Isen asked.

"I heard a voice."

And then, he heard it again.

"There it was again. Did you not hear it?"

"...no? Are you sure you're not still messed up from the orb?"

Isen took a quick look around to see if the driver had been speaking but the only other being awake besides them was the cat who had stirred from it's sleep. Wait. Her familiar? He and Ignas came to the same conclusion in unison.

"Isen, I think the furball is talking to me...?"

"Hey, Adelaide..." Isen didn't want to wake her without a cause, but this seemed a good reason. "I think your cat is talking to Ignas..."
 
"Tell your human that if he wakes my mistress he may lose a finger or two." Ember hissed quietly at Isen and bristled, causing Adelaide to stir slightly but not wake from her nap.

"My name is not furball, mistress has named me Ember." Her tail swung back and forth as she stared at Isen disdainfully. For such a small animal, she had a lot of sass in her, probably partly because of still being so young combined with the sudden magic she'd been given. "Your human cannot hear me, and I cannot see you." She got out of Adelaide's lap carefully and slunk across the seat, climbing onto Isen's legs and stretching up to look for the source of the other voice.

"Where are you?"
 
"I'm right here, furball." Ignas responded, doubling down on the unwanted nickname.

Isen sort of froze in his seat as Ember moved from Adelaide's lap and onto his. She seemed to be looking at him, carefully, though he couldn't hear what she was saying or understand what she was thinking. It felt like more than just a curious cat, there was intent here. "Ignas. Ignas, what do I do?"

"How should I know? I'm still trying to figure out why I can hear it."

"Well, what's it saying?"

"Nothing interesting, it's a cat."

"Now is not the time to be rude to the magic cat." Isen mumbled, unsure what to do and how to treat the intruder that had clambered onto his lap.

"Fine, fine. Whatever cruel force that allowed the witch to hear me is likely extending to the furball as well, since it's her familiar. How intriguing."

"Adelaide. Now's the time to wake up." He needed help with this strange animal.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. She said she's going to bite your fingers off. I'd heal you, don't worry, but it would be messy..."

Isen lifted his hands upwards, towards the roof of the car, instinctively. "I'm being held hostage by a kitten. This is great. I'm really glad we're doing this, Ignas. Really glad."

"What do you want me to do about it? The only thing I can do is hear it talk!" Ignas bickered again.

"Okay. Enough." Isen reached down towards the cat, lifting it up by it's belly and dumping it back into Adelaide's lap. Magic rings, super drones, talking cats. There was a time when eh thought the weirdest thing in his life was the fact that he had a demon in his head but this was just getting ridiculous. This was Samara's fault, she made the cat into a familiar and now, Isen was babysitting it while Adelaide remained unaware!
 
"You can heal your human?" Ember stared at Isen in fascination as she listened to Ignas talk, but she still couldn't figure out exactly where the voice was coming from. She could hear it, feel the magic, but she didn't know exactly where the obnoxious familiar was!

"Do not touch me!" She hissed at Isen again and snapped at his hand, her fur standing up as her back arched high and she growled. "There you are." It had taken her some time to finally figure it out, but a quick trip back off of her mistress' lap and over Isen's legs took her to where the sword was, and she sniffed at it before hissing loudly. The consistent hissing caused the driver to glance back with a raised eyebrow before he went back to driving with a shake of his head.

"Why are you in that thing? You are not an animal, how are you supposed to help your master without a body?" That just seemed so silly, and Ember pawed at the weapon before she seemed satisfied enough to jump back over Isen and return to Adelaide's lap. "Just what kind of a familiar are you?"
 
Isen quickly let go when Ember hissed at him, wanting to keep his hands far away from the animal and letting it fall back down onto the seat between him and Adelaide. He watched as the cat seemed to hone in on the sword, sniffing at it before hissing again. The sound was terrifying, honestly, he hated it. "Get away from me." Ignas warned, though he couldn't quite hiss back in return.

"That's because I'm not a familiar. Do I seem to be anything like you?" The demon asked, sharply. Isen took this to mean that whatever Ember was saying seemed to imply that she thought Ignas himself was a familiar too, just like her. "I am a demon, show me some respect."

This wasn't going to go well. Isen half expected the cat to attack him to try and get to the source of the problem. He eyed it, very carefully, but it seemed happy enough to return to Adelaide's lap, perhaps it's interest having subsided now that it figured out the source of the voice.

"Can you just try and get along with her until we finish this drive, please?"

"That depends on whether or not the furball can stay on her side of the car."

Her side? Really?

"Are...are we really doing this right now?"

"We are. I didn't ask for that runt to tag along with us. If you have a problem, bring it up with the witch when you're done fawning over her."

"Fawning over her?"

"Oh, give it a rest. I'm in your head, remember? I know exactly what you're thinking, what you're feeling. Careful, flea bag, you've got competition."
 
"I don't owe you any respect, especially when you speak of my mistress that way." Ember huffed and settled down, resting her head on her paws and closing her eyes. "Demon or familiar, you're nothing more than a mouthy brat, you can't even do anything more than complain, can you? Stuck in a car whining like a baby, and you think I should show you respect?" Honestly, was the creature insane? Now that they'd interacted just a little bit, she had come to the conclusion that she wasn't fond of this demon, as he called himself, or the man that was housing him. Even if the human seemed innocent enough at the moment, he was housing a demon that clearly had ill will toward her mistress.

Now that she had made her stance on protecting Adelaide very clear, it was time for Ember to join her in a literal catnap as they moved toward their destination. She had no idea where they were going, but her mistress had seemed comfortable enough going to sleep with the man beside her, so he couldn't be all that bad, could he? Well, no matter, if an issue arose and she needed to protect Adelaide, then that's exactly what she would do.

The rest of the drive passed in silence until they pulled into what appeared to be a university town, the driver slowing down and checking the street signs as he navigated through the midday traffic. Ember yawned and opened her eyes, stretching up and rubbing against Adelaide's face to wake her from her nap, albeit receiving an unhappy groan from the previously sleeping woman.

"32B." Adelaide's head snapped toward the driver as he spoke for the first time since picking them up, and she stared at the set of silver keys he was holding back toward her. She took them slowly and looked around inquisitively, but he only pointed out the window to the apartment building he'd stopped in front of. He was giving them apartment keys?

"O..kay then." Gathering up everything and getting out of the car, Adelaide waited for Isen to get out and come around before she started toward the building. "I guess we're going into an apartment."
 
Isen could tell that Ignas was just getting more and more frustrated with the situation which made him wonder what exactly Ember had been saying and if Ignas had finally met his match. Finding amusement in that, he welcomed the way the car ride began to quiet back down as both the cat and the demon took to their respective sides and began to ignore each other's existence.

The place they pulled into was a little odd to Isen. It seemed small, tight-knit, rather quiet. There was a large, stone building near the center that appeared to be a school of some sorts, he could see students passing by across campus with books and backpacks as they drove by. Finally, they stopped up in front of an apartment building and the driver finally spoke, handing some keys to Adelaide and giving them their room number. Yet another apartment, their third in as many days. He got out of the car, watching as the cat leapt out as well, it's paws carrying it to walk near Adelaide's feet, matching her pace.

"This town reminds me of the one we met in. It's quiet, there doesn't appear to be any trouble here." Which made him wonder exactly why they were even her to begin with. He had questions for the person on the other end of that phone but no way to ask for it. "We may as well take a look around, just to be safe. Can you sense any dark magic here or are we in the clear?"
 
"I think it's a little bit bigger than that town, but I guess I see what you're saying." She nodded briefly and then looked around, feeling for anything of danger nearby. Once she was certain nothing seemed terribly amiss she shook her head, opening the main door to the building and ducking inside before looking around for the apartment she held keys for.

32B. That had to be on the third floor, and she groaned quietly but shifted her bags and started for the stairs. At least that meant it would take anyone longer to get up to them, but it also meant that it would take longer for them to get down to the street level.

"I'm pretty sure it's just a bunch of normal people. Maybe some criminals, but nothing we can't handle." Adelaide kept her voice down as she started up the stairs, shifting the bags and forcing herself up the shabbily carpeted walkway until they'd reached the second floor, and then rounded to another flight of stairs. They seemed to go on forever, but in truth her mind was just making it seem more dramatic because she was still waking up the rest of the way.

"32B.. Here we are." She huffed once they had finally reached the apartment in question, hesitating for only a brief moment before unlocking it and pushing the door open. "Huh, okay." She'd had just enough time to get inside and put her bags down before the phone began to ring, and as she shrugged off her coat she clumsily answered it.

"Is someone else supposed to be here?" No hello, no nice greeting, just the question she wanted to know. Ember had already begun sniffing curiously at the couch inside the living room, jumping up and investigating as Adelaide moved around on the phone.

"No, this is where you'll be staying for now. There's food in the fridge, a laundry card on the kitchen table. The machines are down the hall, so you'll have to carry them back and forth, but at least you can clean your clothes." Food, paid laundry? What the hell was going on? She gave Isen a perplexed look before putting the phone on speaker, setting it on the small coffee table in front of the couch as she went to investigate the kitchen. There was food in the fridge, and a card on the table in there, so that part was at least true and incredibly helpful.

"So why help us?"

"I already told you, I don't care about your friend. I'm helping you, Adelaide. You were right about some things, but there's only so much that I can do. There's a seminar at the college tonight with a special speaker. I want you to go. If your friend insists on going with you, don't let him bring the sword with." There was a brief, muffled conversation in the background before he clicked his tongue and returned to the line.

"Right, right, you'll need to try and look a bit different, since I'm not sure how widespread your description has gone. I'm terrible at women's clothing, but I took the liberty of having several outfits put in the bedroom for you to choose from, and there should be some makeup in the bathroom. I don't care what you do, just don't go.. Looking like you are now. We'll speak tomorrow."

"Well." She stared at the phone as the call ended, walking over to shut off the screen before she went to the task of getting things out of her bag in preparation for laundry. "I have no idea what that's all about, or who this special speaker is or why I need to go.. But I guess I'm going?"
 
Not only had they been led to a place that appeared to have no immediate threat to their safety, but they had been sat up with an apartment far beyond any of the accommodations they had experienced prior? Isen was still skeptical of this entire thing. It felt a little too good to be true. A stocked fridge, running water, a living space that wasn't tiny or mistreated? Adelaide seemed surprised, and likely very happy to have all of those basic human necessities available to her here while Isen remained on alert, just to make sure this still wasn't a trap.

The ringing of the phone in her pocket brought another conversation with their mysterious benefactor and Isen listened in again. Whoever was on the other line certainly didn't seem fond of him, that was for certain. They had never met, what could Isen have possible done to draw his ire? Perhaps it was his reputation or the fact that, to an outsider, he would seem like quite the threat for Adelaide to be traveling with and this person seemed to care about her, at least enough to go through all of this effort.

"I guess so." Isen replied, as puzzled as Adelaide was. "I will go as well." That would mean leaving Onigoshi behind, likely with Ember. While that wouldn't keep him from hearing Ignas in his head, he still hoped the cat would be fine with being so close to something she seemed to detest.

"You're going to leave me behind with that...animal?"

"You're still going to be with us at the actual seminar. Besides, are you really that afraid of a cat?"

"Speak for yourself. Remember back in the car?"

Isen groaned. Adelaide had been asleep for that, she didn't need to know how nervous he had been when her familiar had climbed onto his lap.

If they were going to do this, he probably needed to clean up a little bit too. It wasn't something he really cared about but they had already garnered unwanted attention, he couldn't stick out anymore, which is why he was being told not to bring the sword with him into a college, no doubt. "You're going to need to wash my clothes too." He told her so that she wouldn't forget. That left him with nothing else to wear aside from his coat, however, so that would be a dilemma they would need to fix. He doubted that whoever set this up had arranged any clothing for him the way they had for Adelaide.
 
What the hell were the two of them on about involving the cat? Ignas was afraid of Ember? Now that was.. Interesting. What had happened in the car when she'd been asleep? Adelaide gave Isen a curious look but didn't ask, gathering up a pile of clothing and sticking the laundry card in the back pocket of her pants.

"I guess I do. Don't you have any other clean.. Right, I took the last shirt, and you've worn all the pants." Damn it, that made this an entirely awkward situation, and she looked around thoughtfully. One option was to make him wait to disrobe until she'd gotten a first load washed and dried, but then that risked the chance that the clothes he was wearing now wouldn't be ready in time for the seminar tonight. The man on the phone had neglected to give her a specific time, and while it would be easy enough to figure it out by looking it up, that still meant she was operating on an unspecified amount of time.

"Fine, fine, just.. Go find a blanket or a bedsheet or something to wrap up if you have to take your clothes off. I'll put them in the first load so they'll be clean in time." She could handle a couple hours of that so long as he was wrapped up in something, right?
 
As awkward as it was going to be, he didn't really have a choice but to listen to what she had said and take her suggestion. He made his way towards the bed in the room and pulled the sheet away from where it had been neatly tucked, removing it from the mattress. He began to disrobe there, like he had the first time, but decided it best to instead relocate to the bathroom first before he did so.

Isen returned a few moments later with the sheet crudely wrapped around his body like a robe, his dirty clothes tucked underneath his arm, confirming that he was indeed bare underneath. He placed it down near the bed so she could take it when she went to do laundry then stood beside her, out of place. What else was he to do in that situation? He knew it was weird for her, for the both of them, but they had no other options.

"Control yourself, witch." Ignas snickered, likely drawing the ire of Ember for that comment. "You too, furball."
 
This wasn't weird at all. Adelaide waited patiently for him to do as instructed as she stood there with a pile of her own clothes, and once he returned it took everything in her not to burst out laughing. She couldn't even be embarrassed for the first moment, too busy holding back laughter at the sight of him wrapped up like that. It was ridiculous, but so long as it kept him properly covered, she could work with ridiculous.

"Shut up, Ignas." Adelaide rolled her eyes, turning slightly when she heard Ember hissing. Wait, could the cat actually hear Ignas, or just sense him? He wasn't a familiar like she was, so it didn't quite make sense for her to hear him, but nothing was making sense these days. "Demon, leave the cat alone before I silence you for another day." She was too far on edge to be dealing with his attitude, and her exasperated expression as she left the apartment said as much.

The laundry room was easy to find, surprisingly equipped with detergent, albeit a cheaper brand of it. Once everything was started she returned to the apartment, going inside and locking the door before grabbing the phone from the table.

"What the hell was the name of that school we passed by? I need to look up what time the seminar is and see how long we have. I'm not sure I want to look at the clothes he said he left for me, but he's right about needing to look different.." Great, just great.
 
"Do it. The more you cast that spell, the easier it will be for me to figure out how to counter it. You'd be doing me a favor." Ignas shot back, undeterred.

Isen turned on the television while Adelaide went to work. He saw several different news reports, as he scrolled through the channels, talking about them and calling them by name. There were descriptions, even information about things such as her ability to syphon magic and Isen's sword. It was unnerving to see all of their traits laid out for the public in such a neat fashion, wrapped up in a bundle to instill fear and to make the world worry about them. It was genius; they essential had every body on high alert and it was only a matter of time before someone spotted them and reported them to the DSTF. Luckily, with this being a college town, it was unlikely that many of them actually cared all that much right now, so they would be okay for a little while as long as they didn't do anything stupid...though a change of wardrobe definitely wouldn't hurt.

"Come to think of it, I didn't catch the name of this town at all." Isen remarked as she came back inside, Ember jumping down from the window sill to return to her side, brushing against Adelaide's leg. She had stayed on the far side of the room, as opposite from Isen and Ignas as could be, but Isen decided it best not to bother the feline. It seemed content being on it's own and it wasn't causing any immediate problems between her and Ignas, at least that Isen could overhear, so that was a positive as well.

Continuing to move through the options on the television in search of more information, he found the community channel and watched different slides of information scroll by until he saw one that mentioned the seminar tonight. "Oh, this seems interesting. It's about that seminar. Apparently, some big wig researcher is going to be there to give a presentation. Hm, Valestein University. I guess that answers that question."

What interest were they supposed to have in this? Whoever had sent them there seemed adamant on Adelaide witness whatever this seminar was about but none of it really made any further sense to Isen. They'd find out soon enough, however, but since he wouldn't be able to bring the sword, if things were to go wrong Adelaide would need to reveal her magic. He sighed, hoping it wouldn't come to this.

"Did you clean my clothing?" He questioned, bluntly, glancing down at the sheet still wrapped around him.
 
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