Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

"Lovely, so we'll have to actually go out and look at the damn building for the name, won't we?" Well, she would at any rate, there was no way she was going to let him leave the building wearing nothing but a sheet. That was one way to get unwanted attention, and as funny as the mental image was, it wasn't really worth it.

"Wait, what?" That made things a lot easier, and she peered at the television before plopping down on the couch where Ember immediately jumped into her lap. "He wants me to go see some researcher? I wonder what they're going to be talking about that's so important." Valestein University. "Okay, so the seminar is at.. Six? That gives us time to do clothes and get something to eat, get settled in for a bit."

His question caught her off guard and she froze, turning slowly to give him an incredulous look before she shook her head. Did he think she could just clean them in an instant with a spell? Even if that had been the case, wouldn't she have come back with the clothes, rather than leave him in the sheet he was using?

"...They have to sit in the washer for a bit, and then I have to put them in the dryer after that. It will probably take about an hour for them to be completely done. How--How did you wash yours before, or did you just throw them out and steal more whenever they got too bloody?"
 
So, that meant she hadn't washed it?

Maybe he was over eager to get out of that sheet. It had only been a couple of minutes, at best, but he didn't completely understand human normalcies anymore, he thought it was possible for her to have finished up so quickly! With that not being the case, he was resigned to remaining scarcely wrapped in that thin fabric, awkwardly standing in front of the television and thus, in front of Adelaide as well.

"Pretty much, yeah." He responded, shrugging his shoulders. "It was simpler that way."

"Time spent washing clothing was time wasted. He needed to spend every waking moment agonizing about how miserable his poor, immortal life was." Ignas taunted, of course having to add his comment into the conversation even though it wasn't asked for nor welcomed.

"..." Isen didn't have a response for that. It was, unfortunately, rather true. But, he didn't seem to be lamenting all that much lately.

He looked back towards Adelaide. "Do what you need to do, I will keep myself occupied. Just, take the cat with you. I don't think it likes me, or Ignas, very much."

"Good riddance. Tell her the feeling's mutual."

"Stop antagonizing the magic cat." Isen felt ridiculous saying that and even worse, it wasn't the first time he had to give that warning!
 
"It's simpler, but it's also a huge waste." Not that he had really needed to care about that, but considering how many years she'd saved every penny she could just to survive, the thought was abhorrent. Now, not so much, but she was living in a time where she was on the run and limited on what she could do. Just having the convenience of a laundry room was going to help them quite a bit, so at the very least they were going to get that out of the situation.

"I can't say that I blame it very much for not like Ignas." Adelaide snickered. "Is he scared of such a tiny little animal though, really? Oh, I'm not going to take her anywhere. Now you know how we feel not being able to get away from you. I hope you choke on it, demon." This was too good to be true.

"Is he seriously trying to get you to talk to the cat for him, Isen?"
 
"I think so?" He asked, shaking his head. "I mean, I don't even know if it can understand me either. You're able to hear her though, right?" He asked, wanting to confirm just how similar their situations actually were. At least his "partnership" with Ignas had it's benefits, he wasn't all too sure what exactly a familiar could even do for her. Priscilla would retrieve things for Samara whenever she asked but other than that, he had never seen anything out of the ordinary from the crow and all Ember had done so far was nap on Adelaide's lap and paw at his sword like it was a scratching post.

"I am not scared. There is nothing it can do to me or Isen." Ignas interjected with an argument of his own in response. "I simply do not like it's company and I much preferred it when it was only the three of us."

"That's the nicest thing I think he's ever said to you or about you, you know." That was a fact which, unfortunately, was very true. "Guess that means you're finally growing on him."

"Absolutely not. Do not put words in my mouth, Isen."

Isen smirked at the exchange, glancing back over into Adelaide's direction. "I do wonder, however, what the purpose of giving you Ember was in the first place." Samara probably only did it simply because she saw Adelaide with a cat and thought it would be something fun to do, but with her ability to see into the future, there was every chance she had a hidden motive behind her often-times peculiar actions. He may as well voice his question, then, if only to satisfy his own curiosity. "What is it that the two of you can do, anyways?"
 
"She hasn't said anything to me." Had the cat spoken to her yet? Adelaide didn't think she had heard it speak, but she hadn't even been bonded to it for a full day yet. Isen was right though, that was almost a compliment coming from Ignas. The demon had never been shy about his dislike for her, the closest he had ever been to complimenting her was when he'd twisted his words because he wanted something from her. The ring, namely, but there were never any speeches full of praise for her.

"I might be growing on him, if only because he doesn't like my cat." That just make it even funnier, and she burst into laughter so loudly that it spooked Ember off of her lap. "Oops, that was my fault sweetheart, I'm sorry." She made no effort to go after the feline scurrying away though, only shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to Isen.

"Well, how am I supposed to know? I haven't had her for that long, and I slept on the way over here. I'm guessing she's supposed to be able to help me do things like how Priscilla did stuff for Samara. I wonder if I can teach her to sneak into buildings and unlock doors for us.." That could be a useful skill, and Ember was definitely still small enough it was possible.

"One thing at a time, Isen. Right now," She hauled herself off of the couch reluctantly and started toward the bedroom, "I need to go and see what these outfits are so I can figure out if any of them are even going to fit." She shook her head on the way into the bedroom, opening and closing the dresser before opening the closet and freezing.

"Why the fuck are there dresses in here?"
 
It had been a short amount of time, she likely needed more to figure out exactly how this worked. If they hadn't been forced out of Cresthaven, Samara could have helped her with that, but it was no longer an option and Adelaide would need to figure it out to herself. Still, he found it interesting how Ignas could hear Ember but Adelaide couldn't. Maybe that skill hadn't been developed yet or it had something to do with the fact that both of them were beings born of magic.

Regardless, he decided to take her word on it and let the subject pass them by.

She disappeared into the bedroom portion of the apartment to check out her outfits while he remained, still wrapped in a bed sheet, impatiently awaiting their laundry to be finished. Such a mundane problem would have been out of the question just a short week ago and now, this was the situation he found himself in and he didn't even seem to mind it all that much. It was nice not to be in mortal danger constantly, or to have his mind in constant peril, even Ignas seemed to be giving him a bit of a break lately on the self loathing though he was quick to point out how close Isen was becoming to Adelaide at any chance that he got.

"You look ridiculous, you know." Ignas told him as Isen glanced down at the bed sheet again.

"I feel ridiculous, but it shouldn't be for much longer."

"Your faith in her is troublesome."

"And your lack of faith in her is as well. Hasn't she done enough by now to prove herself to you? She isn't our enemy."

"She may not be our enemy now but there's no telling what may happen in the future. You've heard of her family, what they've done."

"And what we've done has been just as bad. I'm just saying, you should lighten up on her a bit. It would make this whole thing a lot easier if the two of you were on the same page." They were both very powerful alone, if they were united, there was no telling how strong they might become, but it still seemed a pipe dream.

"She aims to separate us."

"And that was my decision. Besides, I don't really know what I want to do after all of this is over, anymore."

"...intriguing. I will consider your request, Isen."

Well, that was a start.

Sighing, Isen stood up and walked towards the bedroom door to end the conversation and also seek out some respite from his 'ridiculous' outfit. "...hey, do you think you can check on the laundry?" He asked, still tugging at the sheet, not knocking when he walked in, unknowing of what state of undress or stage of trying on her new outfit she may have been in.
 
Adelaide was in too much shock over the clothing in the closet to pay attention to the conversation in the living room. Her shriek hadn't seemed worrisome enough to summon Ember, but it seemed to have summoned Isen. No, he only wanted to inquire on the laundry, and she turned away from the closet with an irritated look.

"Isen. It's been like.. Ten minutes, if that. The washer is going to take close to thirty, and then I still have to switch it to the dryer, which is going to take another thirty or forty minutes. I'll check it in a bit. Right now, I need to deal with this," She gestured to the open closet that housed a handful of casual dresses, blouses, skirts, and a couple of pairs of pants that could be paired with any dressier shirt she might choose.

"I can't remember the last time that I wore a dress, and I'm supposed to wear one to some stupid seminar? I swear, whatever they talk about had better be good." At least one of the dresses was black and a decent length, she could probably manage that one without wanting to bang her head into a wall repeatedly. Still, a dress? She plucked it from the hanger and looked at it disdainfully, shaking her head with a curse and tossing it on the bed before leaning down to take off her boots.

"I guess I should at least see if it fits. You might want to go into the other room, since you seemed so alarmed the last time I stripped around you."
 
Isen realized he probably should have knocked but it was a little too late for that. Luckily, however, he hadn't walked in on her in any compromising situations, so no real harm was done. Hearing her say that it would take at least another thirty minutes, plus more, disheartened him but it didn't seem as though he had much of a choice other than to wait. "Oh, alright. This is just weird. Maybe I should listen to you and stop throwing out clothing when I'm done with it." A valuable life lesson was taught to him, clearly.

"You've conquered worse than a dress. I'm sure you'll be able to figure this out too." Leave it to him to compare choosing a dress to fighting against the DSTF, but it wasn't as though he had a ton of social experiences in the past to draw upon for reference. "That one isn't bad. I like it." He told her, referring to thee one she had pulled. His fashion taste wasn't to be trusted, but at least he liked the color. It probably wouldn't matter much for her decision, but at least he offered a little bit of insight, as limited as it may have been.

Her point was taken, very clearly, when she sat down and told him to leave the room. He nodded, quickly departing back towards the exit of the bedroom to give her privacy and to spare himself another awkward bout of embarrassment. "I look forward to seeing what you've chosen." He wasn't just trying to be polite, he meant that. He had never seen her dress up properly before, he was curious how it would turn out. Apparently, his attempts at doing so had been favorable, given the reactions it had gleaned in the past. Would she be able to elicit a similar reaction? As long as it didn't draw any attention from people related to the DSTF, he was interested to see what the outcome would be.

Until then, he relocated himself in front of the television. He had a long thirty minutes to kill.
 
"I never said I couldn't figure it out." She groaned, although the sound almost immediately turned to laughter as her words seemed to register with him and sent him out of the room. At least she was being courteous enough to avoid making him feel awkward. Considering the reaction he'd had just seeing her without a top on, what kind would he have if she stripped completely down to her underwear to change?

Ten minutes passed and she was ready to claw her own face off. The dress fit well enough, rather well in fact, but she felt so awkward wearing something that was both form fitting and feminine at the same time. Her casual clothes had been exchanged for the black number that fell just below her knees, and she readjusted the long sleeves and neckline before turning every way she could to inspect it in the mirror.

Modest, check.
Comfortable, enough she could manage it, so check.

"I look like I'm going to a funeral." She went into the living room with an annoyed expression, planting one hand on her hip and smoothing back her braid with the other. "You think it'll be good enough if we have to move without warning?"
 
Isen occupied himself with whatever he could find on the television. He settled on a rerun of a sports game from the night prior and he tried, with little success, to understand the rules of the game that was being played. It made very little sense to him but Ignas seemed to enjoy the violence when the players would collide with one another, so it kept them busy while Adelaide continued to fuss over her outfit.

He heard her approaching before she crested the doorway and had already turned his head to welcome her back into the room. He had prepared to ask her about the laundry again, just in case she had forgotten, but that thought was sidetracked when he saw her in the dress. It was one thing to have seen it pulled off of the rack but it was another entirely to see it actually being worn by her. Up until now, everything had been casual because that was what made the most sense. It was practical, tight clothing would have been a hinderance in a fight. Now, however, she looked completely different! It was like another person had stepped out of the bedroom and Isen was floored by the difference.

"Pick your jaw off the floor, idiot." Ignas groaned.

"I...yeah, I think it looks grea-is great. It's great." He corrected himself. Had he stumbled over his words? He had never done that before.

His eyes had to be averted, forcing them back to the television to avoid an awkward stare, though he found football far less pleasing to the eye and thus struggled to keep his gaze directed elsewhere. Not only was she all dressed up, he was completely under-dressed, it only served to make him feel more out of place wrapped in a bed sheet. But when he finally got his outfit back, the one she had chosen for him and had worked so well on him in the past, they would be quite the matching pair for the seminar they were to attend.

"Once a witch, always a witch. A dress won't change that. Besides, the color fits. All you need now is that hat..."
 
"You think it fits okay? Well, that's good. I don't want to be stuck in something that doesn't fit right if anything goes wrong." Wait, had he stumbled over his words? Adelaide gave him a puzzled look and smoothed out the dress before rolling her eyes at Ignas' commentary.

"I actually do have the hat in one of the bags, but I'm not going to wear it to a seminar, that's just silly." She didn't seem particularly upset by his comments, though, and she wandered into the kitchen in search of something to eat. Actually having options was a very nice change, and she spent far too much time pondering between them all before she actually sat down and ate.

It was almost like having a home of her own again, someone sitting on the couch while she did laundry and moved around eating and checking on various parts of the apartment. The only difference was that the person sitting on her couch wasn't normally naked aside from a sheet, but she managed to mostly refrain from staring at him as long as she stayed on the opposite side of the couch.

It wasn't nearly as bad once the laundry had finished and she'd returned his clothing, but now she had to face the fact that it looked as though they'd dressed up for a date together. As if seeing him in that outfit wasn't distracting enough, it truly looked as though they were preparing to go out for a nice dinner or dancing, and she had to clear her head as they prepared to go to the seminar. Well, at least it would be a good distraction from him.

"Ready?"
 
Even though she had walked into a different room, Isen remained in the same state of confusion as he watched her. He needed to shake this unwanted feeling, so he walked over towards the apartment window and peered outside instead. He could see students walking back and forth, some studying on a bench, others trying to distract themselves from their studies. In the front yard of a building nearby, he watched a couple of students working to string lights around a large, fir tree, as decoration. It was a distraction, but not a good enough one, and he soon found his thoughts drifting back towards Adelaide so he went to check in on her and sat back down onto the couch while she ate.

Finally, she slipped off to gather their laundry and he was finally able to change, disappearing into the bathroom to do so. When he stepped back out, he felt much more comfortable wearing something more than just a sheet, and now he matched her a little bit better too.

"As amusing as it is to watch the two of you play house, isn't it time we get going for this seminar?" Ignas interjected and Isen nodded.

"Yeah, I think so."

Adelaide asked if they were ready and he nodded his head, setting Onigoshi down against the couch since he wasn't permitted to bring it with him. The two of them looked great together, admittedly, dressed properly as though they weren't two fugitives on the run. Isen's hair was still a bit of a mess, so he looked to her for help with that, they didn't need to stick out, after all.

"Alright, let's find out why they sent us here."
 
"Your hair's a wreck, Isen." She completely ignored Ignas' comment as she stretched up to run her fingers through Isen's hair, smoothing it into place and stepping back to judge her work. "Good enough." She had chosen to wear her own down and out of the braid to escape the description that had been passed around for the two of them, and it was already driving her nuts. It seemed they both had to suffer just a bit to go and see this seminar.

"Be nice to my cat while I'm gone, Ignas, or I'll make sure we don't hear you for a week this time." She made an idle threat on the way toward the door, but truthfully she was nervous about going out in public dressed as she was, and there was something off about the entire situation that put her on edge. Whatever was awaiting them at the seminar was going to change her life, she had a feeling about it.

"Alright, let's go." She reluctantly stuffed the keys and phone in her coat pocket, locking up the apartment as they left and heading toward the building that the seminar was being held in. There seemed to be a lot of students filtering their way into the building as they approached, and once they'd gotten inside Adelaide looked at the large auditorium in awe. It was so huge.

"Holy shit. This person must be important if they're holding it in such a big room. Where do you want to sit?"
 
With his hair shifted back into place, he thanked her with a nod and folllowed her out of their apartment. He didn't like leaving the sword behind but he had done so once already without any major problems, he was sure they would be okay. How dangerous could a university be anyways?

The university building itself was rather large, stretching out in all directions. It was full of different rooms ranging from classes to libraries to places for practical studies. The largest singular room, however, had to be the auditorium. There were signs leading them inwards towards it, advertising the seminar, and the large, circular room seemed overwhelming in size even to Isen. It was almost like the hanger they had been in underground, it seemed like it would never end. There were countless seats and a sizable stage near the front of the chamber where a single podium resided with a mic and a pull down screen behind it likely for whatever the presentation was set to be.

There were already people there and not just students, either. There were other adults, people who had likely come from outside of the university's network to see whoever this guest speaker was. Isen wanted to sit off to the side, near the back, so as not to draw any attention to themselves but most of those seats were taken already so they needed to go a little closer to the front.

"Not a lot of options." He told her, shrugging and pointing out two open seats on the right hand side. "This is a lot of commotion for a seminar. What exactly are we about to see?"
 
"I didn't expect there to be so many people here already, we even showed up a few minutes early." Clearly whatever this seminar was about had roused a lot of attention from the community. "If I had known it would be this packed I would have come earlier so you didn't have to sit so close." What had happened to her headphones, anyway? She'd left them behind somewhere, but she couldn't remember where, but Isen had been dealing.. Relatively well with everything. The seminar would surely be the test of how well he could handle noise without them, but if this was going to be like any lectures she'd seen in the past, the room would be quiet except for during the appropriate time to ask questions, and everything else would be the speaker going on about the topic.

"Well, I guess that's where we're sitting." She sighed unhappily and made her way over to some of the empty seats, settling down awkwardly and smoothing out her dress. Oh, it was going to drive her insane having to remember that she wasn't wearing pants, and even though it was very modest in length, she still had to remember not to let it get caught or fold up. And women wore these for fun?

"Looks like they've already got everything set up and they're just waiting for her. Wait," Adelaide paused, squinting at the sign on the stage and tilting her head. "Does that say her last name is Van Dyne? Isn't that the name of the person Samara wanted us to.. Y'know?"
 
Though the auditorium was full of sound and noises, Isen didn't seem to be bothered too much by the cacophony. He had adjusted fairly well after the initial shock of the city and this little town was much smaller than the hustle and bustle of Cresthaven, so it hadn't caused him too much difficulty. It helped that he had gotten a full night of peace and quiet before they had to switch towns, and moreso that Ignas had remained quiet, possibly due to the fact that his body, the sword, was back at the apartment with Ember who he seemed to detest so strongly.

"Huh?" He asked as she told him to wait, pointing out the last name of the guest speaker. It was Van Dyne. That sounded familiar. "Oh, yeah, you're right. Do you think she meant this woman?" Samara rarely did things by chance. If she could see the future, it was possible she foresaw them coming to this moment but what did she really expect? For them to just walk up onto the stage and kill her? They needed more information, they still had no idea what this seminar was even supposed to be about to begin with.

A man had walked out onto the stage, standing in front of the podium. His appearance caused the crowd to quiet down.

"I would like to welcome each and every one of you to Valestein University tonight. It is my honor, and my privilege, to introduce to you our guest speaker for tonight's seminar. She is, without a doubt, one of the brightest minds active in any scientific community. The work she has done, both practical and in research, has been invaluable not only to us but to the DSTF and their efforts in helping protect the public. She is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom, a treasure trove of arcane know-how and an expert in things many of you have never heard about. Tonight will be revelatory! Tonight will be incredible. Tonight will change all of our lives. Ladies and gentleman...students, staff and visitors from abroad, please give a warm welcome to our speaker, the incomparable Ms. Lorelei Van Dyne."
 
"It's possible." Had Samara said if it was a man or woman? She couldn't remember for certain, but for some reason a woman didn't seem right. "If I had to guess, probably someone related to this speaker." It wasn't that she was unwilling to kill someone just because they were a woman, but if she had to murder the speaker after sitting through an entire seminar, well, that was going to be annoying.

"Good lord, they're really hyping her up. She can't seriously be all that." The egos on the people in that organization were insane, Adelaide was already rolling her eyes and feeling the urge to vacate her seat had it not been deemed important to attend.

"Oh, that's weird." She settled back down in the seat and frowned, smoothing out her dress again and propping her chin in one hand. "I haven't heard the name Lorelei in a long time, I didn't realize people that old were still around." She sighed, watching the finely dressed woman click her way across the stage in a pair of heels that probably cost more than what Adelaide had made in a month at her old job. Just that fact made her want to leave, the sheer feel of this woman put her on edge.

"Thank you for the warm welcome, ladies and gentleman. It's a pleasure to be here." The woman spoke as the applause died down, fixing the microphone to adjust it to her height as she smiled. When she smiled, something about the way it changed her face made Adelaide sit up a little straighter in her seat. "As I'm sure many of you have heard, we're looking for applicants to join some of our programs, especially in the science and technology divisions, so I'm here today to explain a bit about what we do, and show you some of the things we hope to accomplish."

"Anything about her strike you as odd, Isen?"
 
Isen listened to the woman as she began to speak. There was a pleasant cadence in her voice. She seemed comfortable in front of large crowds, talking with confidence. It was clear that this wasn't the first time she had done this, but the audience seemed captivated by her, meaning that for most of them, this was their first encounter with her. She was an older lady, but not too old, despite the age one would expect with a name like hers. There was an elegance about her all the same and this seemed a role she was born for.

And then, she started talking about the DSTF. Was this a recruitment seminar? Why had they been urged to go see such a thing?

"Not her in particular but definitely the situation. Look around us, everybody is enthralled. It's a little strange."

Nobody was speaking, their eyes were all glued onto her. He couldn't hear a single sound other than their whispers, it was dead silent, a transfixion between audience and speaker.

"This is bullshit..." Isen heard somebody say, but it was faint. It was coming from near the other side of the room, he wouldn't have heard it if not for his enhanced hearing.

"Tell me about it. Just more propaganda." Came a second voice.

"Other side of the room, a couple of rows down. Everybody seems unnaturally focused except for them and, well...us. Something very strange is going on here."

"Some sort of spell, perhaps?" Came Ignas' voice. "I can't sense any magic, though. Witch?"
 
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"What are you talking about? They're just being polite by being quiet, why does--" Adelaide stopped talking abruptly when she actually looked at the crowd. They were being suspiciously quiet, aside from a specific few that were muttering unhappily to themselves.

"Isen, that's a werewolf." There was no fur sprouting from one of the men speaking out against the speaker, but the feeling of his magic was very distinct and all too similar to the one they'd met before stumbling into Samara's shop. "I can't tell what the other one is, but they're not human, that's for sure." Which somehow kept them from being sucked into the trance the rest of the room had fallen victim to. So what was keeping her safe? A glance down at her hand reminded her of the ring, and she rubbed at it self consciously before regaining her composure. Best to blend in with the crowd, after all.

"It's definitely some sort of spell. I don't know how you can't sense it, Ignas. You must still be all out of sorts. Just shut up and listen." The woman was still going on about the organization and its need for new recruits as if it was a chance to get into Heaven, and it took all of Adelaide's restraint to stop from rolling her eyes. So what was the big deal, someone was using a spell to hypnotize people into listening and hope they got some good recruits out of it all? Why was that so important that they needed to attend the seminar?

"I don't understand what he wanted us to see here. It's a terrible way to get employees and it's definitely cheating by hypnotizing people.. But I don't understand what the big deal is."
 
Deciding the best thing to do would be to at least look as though they were under the spell as well, Isen now kept his eyes forward upon Lorelei while he listened to Adelaide speak. Even when he spoke in return, he kept his eyes straight forward so as not to rouse suspicion. "And they're concealing who they are? Perhaps they're from Cresthaven?" Which meant Samara may have had a hand in hiding them as well. They couldn't seem to get away from her influence.

"There is nothing wrong with me. I just can't sense it."

"Does that mean it's a different kind of magic?"

"Possibly. That would also mean that it would be very dangerous."

Ignas was a being of dark magic. If he thought this spell to be dangerous, it probably was. Luckily, they seemed unaffected thus far.

Lorelei continued to speak to the enthralled crowd and Isen could continue to overhear the werewolf and his friend talking quietly, making snide comments about the presentation. Her voice seemed to trail off, her eyes narrowing in the direction of the noise. How had she even heard what Isen had heard? The werewolf stopped talking, nervously, noticing the attention they had drawn.

"And if you were ever in doubt of our need for such capable individuals, look no further than here, tonight. There are Dissonants among you, blending in as if they were humans and you were all none the wiser."

The werewolf began to growl, reaching down to his wrist. Now that he was revealed, he began to pull at the band he was wearing. His friend tried to reach out to stop him but he knocked his hand away. When it was removed, he instantly transformed back into his natural state, growling. The crowd seated around him did not flee in terror, however, they simply watched them and tired to block him in, putting themselves between the dangerous Dissonant and someone they had just met.

"Let them through. It's all right." Lorelei told them and they listened, on cue, parting. This took the wolf off guard for a moment but it narrowed it's glare towards Lorelei, baring it's fangs. His friend, realizing that the cat was out of the bag, removed his own band, transforming as well to join his friend in the hostility. Adelaide was right, this wasn't another lycan but instead, they appeared to be a vampiric being of some sort, though it was harder to distinguish them without any noticeable physical features aside from the fangs.

"We should think this through. This feels like a trap. Hey, wait!" The vampire called out to the wolf who, angered, had already begun to lunge forward, sprinting towards the stage.

It leapt with all of it's might, clearing the rise of the front stage directly towards Lorelei. She seemed unshaken by the sudden appearance and approach, simply raising her hand. As she did, it seemed as though the werewolf had been stopped in mid air. It lost it's velocity and crumpled down to the stage. Growling as it tried to force it's way back up to it's feet, it fell back down as Lorelei continued to pull all of it's will to fight out of it's body.

"What is she doing to him...?" Isen asked.

"Witch...is she doing what I think she's doing?"
 
"Either that or Samara's been traveling to extend her help to other cities. I don't know." Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong, but Adelaide couldn't put her finger on it just yet. Instead she watched with a flat expression as Lorelei seemed to focus in on the wolf muttering to himself, and her hands clenched tightly in her lap to stop from jumping to her feet when the wolf transformed before the entire audience. This was not good.

"A vampire?" Now that she hadn't expected, and she watched him follow after the werewolf in what appeared to be an attack on Lorelei herself. Could they really just sit there and allow two Dissonants to attack a woman, regardless of whether or not she had some magic around her? If they actually succeeded in injuring her, or god forbid murdering her on the stage, could she live with that and how it would affect everyone watching?

"Isen, we can't--" She stopped speaking abruptly, watching in a mixture of horror and fascination at the scene playing out before them. Everything seemed to fade to a distant hum as the color drained from her face, her hands clenching the bottom of her dress so tightly that her knuckles turned white as she struggled to breathe. That was impossible. She barely heard either question from both beings, her eyes focused solely on the frighteningly calm woman on the stage that was stealing the magic from the men that had attacked her. No wonder the name had seemed so familiar.

"Yes." She finally forced the word out with great effort, forcing her hands to relax slightly as she sat there rigidly in the seat. It seemed the wolf and vampire had given up entirely now that they'd been reduced to trembling lumps on the ground, and Adelaide watched as what appeared to be security detail appeared only long enough to whisk them away so that Lorelei could return to her speech with a grand smile.
 
Isen probably could have made it to the stage in time had he acted as soon as the Dissonant had transformed. He was under no spell, there was no reason why he had to watch but yet, he didn't move a muscle. He was confused, watching what was happening, as the wolf seemed to crumple onto himself on the stage floor, howling in blood-curdling pain. Still, he stayed in place, pulling the pieces together to form a picture that made more sense. Adelaide seemed to have already determined it.

The vampire tried to reach his friend but he too suffered the same fate, falling near-lifeless beside his friend while a group of security stormed into the place, pulling them off the stage and into containment without batting an eye, as though they had never been there. The audience looked on, as enthralled as ever, their eyes following Lorelei as she walked back to the podium to begin speaking again.

"My apologies for the interruption. I'm sure we can all just move forward and forget any of this ever happened, right?"

Isen could hear members of the audience mumbling their agreement, their heads nodding. It was like the entire room had turned into zombies. He nudged Adelaide's shoulder and started to nod his head as well, they needed to fit in, after all. This woman was clearly very dangerous and his sword was nowhere nearby.

"She's like you..." Isen spoke the obvious, beneath his breath, his voice barely a whisper.

"Unbelievable. She's so powerful, she was able to pull their mana outside of their bodies." Even Ignas seemed shocked by what had happened. "Are you capable of such a thing as well, witch?"

"That doesn't matter right now. Adelaide, do you think it's possible that Lorelei is..." He didn't want to finish that sentence.
 
"Yes." It was hard to form proper sentences when she was staring at a family member she had thought long dead. Not only that, but she was working for the organization that had slaughtered the rest of her family, so how had her grandmother survived? Surely they had captured her, brainwashed her over the years and coerced her into working for them. Why else would her only remaining kin be working that deeply into the organization and be married to one of the bigger names?

"Let's just finish up and get the hell out of here." Her posture remained stiff for the remainder of the seminar, her hands either balled into fists or gripping at her clothing in an attempt to keep herself calm. In reality her heart was nearly beating out of her chest, thundering against her ribcage so hard she swore the entire room could hear it. It was absolute hell having to sit there and nod along, pretend that none of what she'd seen had bothered her and that she didn't know exactly who Lorelei truly was. By the time the seminar came to an end some time later she nearly bolted from her seat, just barely managing to walk down toward the stage calmly even as she kept a death grip on the coat draped over her arm. Isen was probably going to scold her for going straight down like that, but she had to know. For the first time in a decade she had a glimpse of her old life, a hope for answers on what had happened to her family.

"Ms. Van Dyne!" Now that she'd reached the stage and gotten close enough to truly see Lorelei, there was no doubt in her mind. This was her grandmother, this was the woman she had thought died a decade ago with the rest of her family. She'd seen her mother's corpse, had seen the drag marks and pools of blood around and outside the house, but they'd never actually found Lorelei's body. Now she knew why, but at the same time she had no clue. Why was she only just now resurfacing with the organization? How long had she been working for them, how long had it taken them to brainwash her into doing their dirty work for them? She had to know, needed to as badly as she needed to breathe, and then she could find a way to break it and bring her grandmother back to her.

"Yes, how can I help you?" Lorelei smiled pleasantly as she turned to Adelaide, looking her up and down briefly before she gathered her paperwork off the podium and dismissed the security detail beside her. "Did you enjoy the seminar, young lady?" Adelaide nodded with what she hoped was an eager expression, but the motion felt hollow and her chest felt tight.

"I did, I thought it was absolutely fascinating how you managed to stop that attack without anyone getting hurt!" Was it just her imagination, or had Lorelei just glanced towards Adelaide's hand? By the time she even thought to question it they were looking at each other's faces again, and she swallowed what felt like a giant lump in her throat. "I don't think I've ever heard your name before, have you only recently started doing speeches, or was I just never in the right place at the right time? I'd definitely have come if I knew there were ones like this!"

"Well, I'm actually doing another one just before lunch tomorrow, so you're welcome to come back and see me again. We always encourage those interested in our work, or in employment with us, to come and learn everything that we can. Are you.. Looking to work in this field?"

"Oh, totally." Cringe. "I want to do my part to try to make the world a safer place, and I want to learn everything I can about the best way to do that." One of the security team came over and tapped Lorelei on the shoulder before whispering something, and she sighed before nodding and giving Adelaide an apologetic look.

"I do hope to see you tomorrow, perhaps we can talk again then." Adelaide watched her be escorted off by the man, her eyes fixed on Lorelei's back before she let out a shaky breath and turned away to find Isen. That had been.. Hard.
 
The remainder of the seminar was an awkward affair for them both. It was extremely difficult to listen to her preach the praises of the DSTF knowing what they did, pretending to be enthralled by some twisted spell when in reality, they couldn't be more disgusted with what they had seen or what they were hearing. If this woman was really a relative of Adelaide, she was a far cry from the girl Isen had come to know. Even Ignas could agree that, for all the faults he found in Adelaide, she was nothing like the person on stage and that was for the better. Only a monster would willingly work with the DSTF knowing what they did to witches and mages and all other Dissonants and as a member of her family, Adelaide would now need to live with knowing that someone close to her had not only faked their death but was alive and working with her enemy the entire time. An enemy that had destroyed her life and her family, no less.

At least now they knew why they were sent here, why that scanner picked her up in the facility. It didn't make things any less confusing, but at least they had answers to two of the thousand questions they were faced with.

"We should go. She may have noticed. Adelaide, did you...hey, wait!" Isen called out to her as she practically sprinted from her seat. They were supposed to lay low, this was the exact opposite of that.

"This should be interesting." Ignas snickered as he observed what was happening with amusement.

Isen was fast but he couldn't exactly use his full speed, that would be a give away. By the time he reached her side, she was already engaged with Lorelei, speaking to her and he awkwardly filed in at her side, joining the conversation properly just around the time that she asked Adelaide if she was interested in working for the DSTF.

"Well, you're better at lying than I am, at least." He commented, feeling the tension alleviate as Lorelei walked away.

"That was very foolish of you, witch. The...furball is concerned."

"It was, but I understand. None of this could have been easy."

He understood why the person on the other end of the phone had wanted them to see this but he couldn't help but question their motive. What did they have to gain by bringing this hurt on to her? At best, it had a chance of sending her into a spiral and at worst, it would mean she might have second thoughts on taking down the DSTF. There was no positive here, in Isen's eyes, aside from the simple knowledge that everything she thought to be true about what happened to her family might have been a fabrication.

"You're going back tomorrow, aren't you?" He knew her. She would be there which meant he could be there too but this time, he wasn't going to come unarmed.
 
"Of course I am!" She hadn't meant to snap at him and looked taken aback, stepping away and then shaking her head. "Yes, I'm coming back tomorrow. I have to know why my fucking grandmother is working with them. They must have brainwashed her when they took her." She shook her head again and put her coat on, shoving her arms angrily through the sleeves before situating it with a huff.

"It's just.. Not right." Adelaide barely glanced at Isen as she started off slowly towards the exit, her brain ping ponging off of a million different possibilities on what had happened, and what would happen. All of them led to the same end result though, she was going to come back tomorrow for the next seminar, and she was going to get information from Lorelei one way or the other.

"Let's just go back."
 
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