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Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

"She thinks you're wearing a costume, and honestly, it's better that way. Better than thinking you're a Dissonant, I guess. I don't really care what people think as long as it doesn't interfere with what we're doing." She shrugged. "People are weird everywhere, you're just not used to being around them." If he couldn't even handle going around people without headphones now, how was he going to handle the rest of their journey?

"You might want to add some cream or sugar into the coffee." The waitress was back momentarily with two cups and the pot of coffee, filling them partway and placing two menus on the table.

"Y'all ready to order, or you need a minute?" Adelaide looked at Isen and then back to the woman, dumping sugar into her coffee and reaching for the little cup of cream.

"A minute, please." The waitress nodded and shuffled back off as Adelaide poured the cream into her coffee, stirring it up and looking to Isen expectantly. "Are you going to dare to try it plain, or do you want to try mine first and see how you like it?"
 
"You're not weird." Isen grumbled. "Well, for the most part." He quickly added to correct himself. If she didn't know better, she might have even noticed the slightest smirk curl his lips upwards, just for a moment, before evening back out as though it were never there.

Glancing down at the steaming mug, he put his hand around it as though it wouldn't bother him, it wasn't like he could feel the heat anyways. She had mentioned cream or sugar and, not really knowing what he was doing, he began to pour sugar into it. Perhaps a little too much. He started to mimic her actions, stirring it as well, following her every move. "Is this okay?" He asked, not realizing how much he had put in and how that was going to taste when he actually took a drink from it.

He could feel that sense of hunger returning to him, knowing that meant he was now free to taste it, as Ignas had said he would be. He lifted it up to his face and took a sip. His reaction immediately told the tale; he did not enjoy that . Sure, he had probably ruined it himself with his careless administration of sugar, but it caused his face to crinkle, providing great amusement for the waitress who was waiting nearby to take their order.

"The demon was right. It's disgusting." He remarked, clearly saying the word demon within ear range of a human who wouldn't know better. Upon realizing this, he tried to cover. She thought he was in a costume, after all. "The demon from the show. On the television. My favorite." He mumbled, not at all sounding wholehearted about anything he had said.

His social ineptitude had to have it's charms, surely.
 
"Oh boy." This was going either be really good, or really bad, judging by the amount of sugar he was dumping into the cup. Even she didn't put that much sugar into her coffee. "Yeah, you.. That was.." Adelaide was at a loss for words as she tried to convey her dismay and amusement at the same time. The look on his face had been absolutely priceless, had she still owned a phone she would have snapped a picture of it.

"You put way too much sugar in it, that's why it's disgusting." Adelaide rolled her eyes. "It's okay, you don't have to cover up the fact that you call my sister a demon," The waitress quirked a brow as she stepped back.

"Y'all got that kind of in law situation, huh? Go ahead and look at the menu, I'll come back in a couple minutes to see if y'all know what you want. And I'll bring some water for your boyfriend, darlin'." It took everything she had for Adelaide not to laugh until the woman was out of earshot, and only then did she burst into laughter and slap a hand over her mouth.

"Sorry, sorry, just.. The look on your face, I wish you could have seen it. We need to get you some food to cover up that taste. We can just split a meal if you want, since I'm sure you don't want to end up sick since you're not used to eating." She drug a finger down the laminated menu, pursing her lips and looking at the different options. It had everything from the basic eggs and toast, to pancakes, to a myriad of other things including breakfast skillets that seemed good enough to split.

"Should I just pick something, or do you want to?"
 
Isen noticed Adelaide's laughter and the peculiar conversation. He wanted to be amused too but he didn't quite understand the conversation. He did pick up the fact that this waitress seemed to think they were dating and Adelaide, for some reason, didn't correct it. Was it just easier to let her think that?

"I don't know if I would have liked it even without the extra sugar." Isen admitted, shaking his head. "But I suppose that didn't help matters."

"Do you want me to take away your taste again so you can finish the bean stuff?" Ignas asked with evil intent. Isen seemed to pick up on it.

"No. I feel like you would try to trick me into actually tasting it again."

"You're learning. I don't like it."

Isen's eyes dropped down to the menu, watching Adelaide's finger move across it's lamination while she tried to figure out what she wanted to order. "You can pick something. You know much better than I do. Just, please, no more beans."
 
"As amusing as that would be.. Yeah, don't trust him." Adelaide's lips quirked in a smile as she scanned the menu again. "No, no more beans. We'll just get the breakfast skillet and split it. It's got all sorts of things like eggs, meat, some peppers and onions.. Think we'll skip the mushrooms, though." Her face scrunched up in a disgusted scowl.

"Never could stand mushrooms, so we'll just go without that." She realized after a moment that she was rambling and stopped, pushing the menu away and then stacking the other one on top of it with a sigh. "Sorry, I know none of this really makes sense. I've never been around someone who doesn't have to eat, or sleep, or any of those things. I don't really know how to act." She shrugged, looking around and flagging the waitress down before she could embarrass herself any more. Why did it matter how she acted.

"We're ready! We'll get this, minus the mushrooms," She pointed to the intended dish and then handed the menus over while the waitress put a glass of water in front of Isen.

"This should help wash the taste down. Coffee ain't for everyone, darlin'. I'll go put your order in and get it started." She was gone as soon as Adelaide had a chance to thank her, bustling off with the menus in the direction of the kitchen.

"If you don't like it, that's fine, but don't start making comments about the demon, again," she lowered her voice and chuckled. "We're already getting enough looks, although I'm pretty sure the women are looking at you like the employee at the hotel did."
 
"You don't need to apologize. It's...odd for me too." From the other direction, of course, he was now interacting with somebody who needed all of those things that he didn't and furthermore, she was pushing him to try them once more. Drinks, food, sensations and feelings otherwise left forgotten, all were slowly coming back into his life and it definitely wasn't what he expected he would be doing just a few days prior to her arrival. "Just act as you normally act. I'm the exception here, not you, it should be up to me to adjust."

Isen understood the value of water, at least, that much he had not been dulled to over time. When the glass had been sat down in front of him, he lifted it up to tank a drink, surprised that he could still feel the cool liquid at the back of his throat, washing away some of the bitterness that had lingered.

"I won't make any more comments about him. You must understand how strange it is to have somebody who can even relate to what I'm talking about." He, somehow, seemed to forget how unnatural his life was when he was with her. Being able to share these things with her, to talk about it with her, made him feel normal. Maybe that was one of the things that worried him most and gave an opportunity for Ignas to have wrenched the idea of leaving her last night into his mind.

"You mean they also want to show me to a room at a hotel?" He asked, curiously. "Or they like how I look?" He remembered the awkward moment that question had created the last time he posed it and worried about whether or not it would embarrass her again. Was it the 'costume', as it had been called earlier, or something else? "I don't wish to draw unwanted attention to us, we have had enough of that already."
 
"I'm sure they'd love to show you to any room they could get you to." God, he really was oblivious. It was going to be a long journey for the two of them for multiple reasons now. "Yes, Isen," She gave him an exasperated look, "They like the way you look. A lot of people like the way you look. Tall, brooding man. Then you got the unnatural eyes, girls are a sucker for that sort of thing, or at least the ones that don't assume you're a Dissonant." She shrugged.

"It's a tricky line to walk in this day and age, but apparently you walk it well." Adelaide glanced at him, looking him over slowly before nodding her head. "You carry a sword. There's always going to be attention drawn to us." She shrugged off her coat and started to tend to her hair, weaving it back into its typical braid as she looked between Isen and the few customers strewn about the place.

"Once we figure out where we're going later, we should find somewhere to hide our bags so we're not lugging them around all the time. I know the weight is nothing for you, but even if it didn't bother me, having them swinging around or hindering us is a bad idea." If only she could survive with just the clothes on her back, like Isen. Things would be so much simpler.

"Just.. Annoying this is all happening in winter. It makes everything ten times harder."
 
Was that a compliment? It felt as though it was.

He hadn't really made much of an effort to tidy himself up. He wasn't exactly trying to dress to impress or anything, but perhaps he had underestimated how much people liked that rugged look that he naturally seemed to have. His eyes were unnatural, she was right about that. Now, he wondered if she thought the same, just as he had before, but he knew better than to ask that question once again and make things awkward again.

"If I could leave it somewhere else, I would. Maybe you can figure out a spell that could conceal it?" He suggested, not really knowing how casting spells or magic really worked on that level.

"Yes, great idea. Let us find her a cauldron and a tome. All the things a witch needs to cast a spell."

"I don't know where we would find a cauldron. Should we ask the kitchen?"

"No, you idiot. I was...ugh, nevermind."

Isen watched as Adelaide so easily wounded her hair into a braid. He couldn't even fathom how she managed to do something that seemed so complicated, so quickly, and without appearing as though it took much concentration or effort at all. "You're quite good at that." He told her, complimenting the apparent display of skill. He could carve through a hundred soldiers without breaking a sweat but had no idea how to create anything like she had. "We had a hotel room we could have kept your things in had we not fled from it. Maybe we just find another and do the same?" What was another illegal act to add to their list, after all?

The waitress began to swing by again, placing down the food Adelaide had ordered. Isen seemed immediately interested in the aroma, appearing as though he had never eaten a bite in his life. His reaction drew a look of either confusion or concern, from the waitress, he couldn't really tell which emotion was more prevalent. When she had wandered away, he had already picked up a fork to steal a bite of his own but he waited, like a child, for her to say he could before he did so. It was hers, after all.
 
"Ask the-- Oh for the love of God." She was really going to need to teach Isen how to understand sarcasm, or it was going to continue to cause problems. "Good at.. Braiding?" She finished up and tied it off with a confused look. "Thanks, I guess? It's just the easiest way to keep it from getting caught on things." He ha a point though, maybe they could just find another room and stash their things there. That would require paying, though, and unless she learned a spell to replicate money out of thin air, she needed to choose carefully how and when to use what she had.

"Yeah, we can see about getting a room, or at least somewhere we can sneak into to keep our things for a bit." She stopped talking as the waitress reappeared with the food, holding back a laugh at the way Isen was acting. Clearly he could smell it, and clearly he was very interested in it. The look on the waitress' face made the situation even more amusing, and it was only when she walked away again that Adelaide finally laughed.

"Go ahead, it's okay. You don't need to wait for me, as long as you don't eat it all." She made sure to put emphasis on the last part of the sentence, knowing better than to give him free reign after the incident with the burger. If she allowed him to just go to town on the food, she'd never get more than two bites in! "Just try to leave me like.. Half of it. Maybe a little less than half. But somewhere around there." This was going to be an interesting experiment. The burger, the coffee, those had been small experiments. This was something else entirely, and she dug into the food with a muffled laugh and set to watching Isen's reaction.
 
With permission granted, he had dug in before she had gotten a chance to do so. She had laid ground rules, rules he was willing to try and follow but if he really enjoyed what he was about to have, all bets were off. The first bite came quickly and then, a second, equally as fast. By the time he had taken a third, he had already expressed his joy by the look on his face. It was nothing like the over-sugared coffee and perhaps not as tasty as the burger, though in a different way, but it was more then enough to erase the bitter taste in his mouth and satisfy his new found feeling of hunger. Unfortunately, Isen soon encountered the other side of being able to taste food; he had eaten what he a little too quickly, so he needed to slow himself down. He could already feel his stomach starting to reject anymore and he had barely eaten any at all.

His first proper meal in however many years, while delicious, was at odds with his stomach which was clearly not used to anything of the sort.

Enjoyment soon turned to distaste and he let his fork rest down against the table.

"Did you seriously just make yourself sick that quickly?"

Isen didn't respond, he didn't want to admit it. Stubborn to a fault and in over his head, like usual.

"No more food for you. In fact, here. Before you throw up."

With the magic restored to him, the uneasiness in his stomach quickly subsided, leaving him feeling as he normally did. "Oh, that's better." He grumbled, looking down at the plate. "It was good. Much better than the bean stuff." He told Adelaide, not wanting her to think that he didn't enjoy it or appreciate her kindness in allowing him to eat first. He just needed to learn to pace himself better. He was always so eager to jump in, it had come back to bite him this time.

Isen turned his head, looking out through the window of the café. On the other side of the street, he saw a man walking only to stop in the center of the side walk. He seemed to be fiddling with something at his wrist, appearing to be in a bit of distress. Isen tried to hone his hearing to focus in on something other than the noise of the city and he was able to overhear the man talking to himself. He seemed worried, desperately trying to make whatever 'it' work, whatever 'it' actually was.

"Come on...come on. Not here. Not now. Come ON."

The distraction would have been obvious to Adelaide, who would no doubt be intrigued by what had caught Isen's attention. As the unseen object around his wrist continued to fail, so too did the magic it was offering to this person and slowly, his true features became revealed. He quickly pulled his hood up over his head to try and hide the fact that his face was covered in fur. "A lycan?" Isen asked to both Adelaide and Ignas. "But how? He just looked like a normal human."

"It has to be some sort of magic, that's how. Witch, can you feel anything out of the ordinary?"

With his true nature revealed, this man was suddenly finding himself surrounded by people on the sidewalk. They seemed not to be fearful of what he truly was but rather amused by it. They were poking fun at him, Isen could hear their voices forming a cacophony of taunts. The man pulled his hood down farther over his head but there was no escaping the circle that had formed around him. Was he going to attack them? It didn't seem likely. It would have been a terrible idea but it made Isen wonder, is this what always happened in this city? Is that why there weren't any Dissonants around? Showing their face meant prejudice and ridicule; had they resorted to magic to hide themselves from the public?
 
On the bright side, he definitely liked it. On the down side, he'd eaten much too fast and as a result not gotten to eat very much. While that did mean more food for her, Adelaide had picked that meal with the specific intent of sharing it, and now she was at a bit of a loss on how to proceed. Ignas taunting Isen wasn't helping matters any, and for a second she felt as though she was caught mediating between two children.

"Yeah, you can't... Can't eat that fast, Isen." Adelaide shook her head, poking at her food and trying, very unsuccessfully, to stifle a laugh. "It's okay, I'm not mad or anything. I'll still eat." She busied herself scarfing down the food now that she didn't have to fight for it, realizing in that moment just how hungry she truly was. Even the snack, and then the fries from the previous night hadn't been enough to fill her up, and her stomach was violently demanding she eat every single bite she could.

"'at?" She made the mistake of trying to question Isen while she was eating and promptly swallowed the bite, turning to follow his line of vision as she shoved another bite in her mouth. He wasn't jumping out of his seat over whatever it was, but it had definitely caught his attention, which meant she needed to eat fast.

"..the hell?" The changing appearance of the person outside caused her to pause momentarily before she returned to eating, already seeing where their morning was about to go. "Shut up, demon, I'm trying to eat and watch at the same time. Unlike you two, I need this to survive." Damn it, all she'd wanted to do was eat her breakfast in peace, and now it was seeming like there wasn't even enough time to get a box for the leftovers!

"Oh, for fuck's sake. You're gonna owe me a good meal before this is all over." She muttered to herself, digging into her bag and tossing some crumpled up bills on the table to cover the food before shoving one last bite in her mouth and standing. "Yeah, it feels weird. That's a lot of magic there, and I suppose we should probably do something." The look on her face made it clear she was very displeased, but she also wasn't going to just let someone be cruelly picked on just for existing.

"Too fuckin' early for this, Isen, too early for this." Adelaide tugged her coat on and pulled the hood up, grabbing her bags and slinking out of the diner and onto the street toward the source of all the noise. There wasn't any way for her to really get in and out without drawing attention to herself, but at the very least having her hood up would help a little bit, since she was currently barging her way across the street and into the circle of people.

"You people need to get a life, honestly," She spoke with an exasperated tone as she pushed her way through people without care, ducking and weaving until her hand finally found purchase on the coat of the Lycan trying to hide his face. "You and I, however, need to talk. Demon!" She called out to Ignas and Isen, purposely leaving her companion's name out of the equation as she looked around for the duo.

"Come get me out of here, yeah?"
 
Adelaide wasn't one to stick around and wait for things to solve themselves. As annoyed as she seemed to be by the interruption, Isen knew she was only a couple of moments away from barging straight outside to confront the source of the conflict and he was unsurprised when, seconds later, she did just that, breaking away from the cafe and out onto the Cresthaven streets.

"So reckless. Are you sure you're not going to change your mind about working with her?"

Isen was overwhelmed momentarily by all of the noise from outside. He hadn't thought to take the headphones with him, leaving them behind in the booth. He couldn't hide forever, he needed to get a hold on this. It took him a couple of tries before he finally managed to focus, doing so as he heard Adelaide call out for their aid. Luckily, due to it still being relatively early, there wasn't a ton of traffic, so he didn't need to worry about any of the vehicles nearly hitting him like last time he tried to cross the street. He pushed his way through the circle, standing in front of Adelaide and the Dissonant she had come to the aid of. His hand fell down to his waist, curling around the handle of his sword.

He wasn't about to cut anybody down. He still had control of himself, after all, but it was meant more to be a scare tactic. Someone of his stature threatening to pull a weapon should have been more than enough to disperse the crowd and, upon realizing this, that seemed to be exactly what happened. He could hear them bickering, calling them freaks, sympathizers, but they began to return to their regular course of action, leaving the trio on the side walk.

"Are you alright?" He asked, turning and pointing that question not just to Adelaide but also to the wolf they had spared.

"A sword? Who...W-why did you...? You're not like them, are you...? A human would never...wait, did she say d-demon?"

"It's...complicated." Isen replied, not exactly wanting to explain the truth of his nature. "But what of you? We saw what happened. Was that magic?"

He held up his wrist, showing the bracelet that he had been wearing. It pressed in against his hairy wrist, it appeared to be malfunctioning. Isen could sense the magic but not in the same way Adelaide could. He nodded towards it, hoping she'd take the hint and investigate it herself directly. What was it and where did it come from? He had questions but they were best left quiet until Adelaide had finished. "Please, I don't want any trouble. I just want to be left alone. I'm thankful your help, really, but I need to get this fixed before they tell the DSTF..."
 
"I'm fine, I'm fine, just upset I didn't get to finish my food. That was good food, Isen!" Adelaide complained as she watched the crowd dissipate in the wake of his arrival, scattered comments about the three of them as they skittered away from Isen's sword. Well, so much for not making a scene, but it definitely could have been worse. She really, really needed to start thinking things through, didn't she? Then again, she did have Isen to back her up.. So as long as he was there to rescue her from her antics, it would be fine!

"Hey, I'm human.. Kind of. Technically." She muttered under her breath as she inspected the watch, already running her fingers over it by the time Isen started hinting at her. "Oh, this is good work. This is very intricate, very technical too. I haven't seen work this good in.. Since.." She faltered, her hand dropping from the watch for a moment before she grabbed at it again.

"Let's see what we can do here.." She started tinkering with the device, but most of her concentration was on feeling and shaping the magic drifting around inside of it. It had been skillfully made before the malfunction and she struggled with it, focusing intently for a good minute before she could hear some sort of click and it began to work again.

"Yes! I still got it!" She took a step back with a proud grin as she watched the magic, quite literally, work, although the grin disappeared the moment it crapped out again and she gave a frustrated growl. "God damn it! Who--I want to meet who made that. That magic seems.. Very familiar," If this was someone in her family that had escaped the DSTF, then she needed to find them immediately. "Take us to them, please."
 
Isen let Adelaide do her thing, standing back as she tried to manipulate the magic inside of the device. It seemed to work, momentarily, causing the guise to return, changing the lycan's appearance to that of a human. It was incredibly convincing, even up this close. The illusion, or the magic, was powerful enough that he wouldn't have been able to tell the difference at first glance, especially had he not already been aware that some sort of deception had been happening. The device, however, began to fail a second time, dropping the ruse and returning their new friend to his real appearance, fur and claws and all.

"What? You're like her. You're just like her." He stammered, having watched Adelaide use magic herself. "I-I can't. She promised me not to tell anybody. If I do, she'll never help me again. Please, you gotta believe me. I have a life, I have friends, I need this thing to work again or else I'll lose everything."

Isen's interest seemed to be peaked when the wolf directed his "like her" towards Adelaide. He took initiative in the conversation, likely to her surprise.

"We understand."

"We do?"

Isen nodded his head in affirmation, though the lycan wouldn't be able to hear that voice.

"Go and get it fixed and be safe while you do. I'm sorry you need to deal with this sort of prejudice. We will do what we can to change that but for now, you need to stay safe."

"T-thank you. Really. You don't know how much this means to me." The lycan pulled his hood back down and quickly took a turn around the corner, disappearing from sight.

"Isen, what are you doing?" Asked Ignas, though he suspected a similar question would come from Adelaide as well.

"He's scared. He wasn't going to tell us anything. But now...we can follow him directly to the source. He isn't going anywhere looking like that until he gets that device repaired. I think we should take a look and see what we're dealing with here. If there's somebody powerful enough to use magic like that to conceal Dissonants, they may be an ally against the DSTF as well." It was sound, logical thinking from him for once and he looked towards Adelaide for approval of the idea, his hearing already honed to listen to the direction of the Dissonant's steps. It was still overwhelmingly loud but having something, one thing in particular, to focus on helped him drown out most of the commotion into background noise behind the drumming of the wolf's hurried foot steps.
 
"Just like her?" Adelaide echoed the words in shock. It had to be a family member of hers if he was saying that! Who could have possibly survived to be slinking around helping Dissonants? And why hadn't they come to find her? The latter was the part that stung, the curiosity of wondering who had effectively abandoned her in this world despite surviving the initial massacre of their family.

"We do?" Adelaide's head snapped toward Isen at his words. He was telling the Lycan to run away without giving them information? The treacherous bastard. "What the hell is the matter with you, Isen?" She grumbled at him even as she listened to his explanation, shrugging her shoulders before nodding.

"Fine, fine. You'd better not lose him, though. If someone from my family is still alive and we lose track of them.." She trailed off and shook her head. "Let's just go. I already lost the rest of my breakfast, I won't lose this too." She stuffed her hands into her coat and shuffled through the snow, peering over at Isen periodically to see which direction he was going and that she was following correctly. He was correct in his assessment, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about the situation they'd found themselves in.

"We can't lose them, Isen."
 
He expected Adelaide would be annoyed with him but he thought his choice of action was correct. The only thing they were accomplishing was scaring that poor wolf more than he already had been, at least this way, they could get what they wanted without causing any more trouble. Besides, hanging around and talking to a Dissonant in broad daylight in the middle of a city that hated them was a mistake anyways. At least now, they would be on the move before any of the people from before decided they wanted to call authorities or anything about a runaway Dissonant and a man carrying a sword.

"We won't." He reassured her, leading the way. There was a confidence about the way he moved now that he was focused again. Without his senses being overwhelmed, he was no longer stumbling around. Having something to truly focus on was helping tremendously, he hoped that when they arrived at their destination, he would have learned properly how to keep the remainder of the white noise out of his head.

He took a sudden turn into an alley, practically dragging Adelaide with him. He tugged her into cover behind a dumpster and the two watched as the wolf from before stepped out of a brick wall as though it weren't actually there at all. He looked around, brought his hand down to his wrist and reactivated the device, cloaking him. This time, the cloaking didn't falter or fail and, instead, the illusion remained constant and he walked out through the other end of the alley and back onto the street.

"A false wall? Interesting."

"It seems so." Isen stood back up, out of cover, walking a couple of steps forward towards the concealed entryway, his hand returning to his side, ready to draw Onigoshi at a moment's notice should danger arise. "Shall we?"
 
Adelaide made a noise when he yanked her around the corner, turning to glare at him for a moment as they hid behind the dumpster. Of all places.. Oh, whatever. She watched with interest as the wolf came out and reactivated the device, wherever he'd gotten had fixed it in no time at all. A false wall, though, that wasn't something she had expected.

"Let's go." She was already brushing past Isen toward the wall, slipping past the illusion and letting her hand drag along the wall to keep her balance. Just walking past the magic was a huge change, she could feel it draping over her skin, sliding over her like a silk curtain before she'd reappeared on the other side and come to a halt. The world before her had changed drastically. It wasn't that they'd been transported to another world or anything, but what had once been a brick wall was now a store front, ancient looking but sturdy nonetheless.

"Holy hell.." The amount of magic coming from inside the building was enough to make her stagger for a moment before she steadied herself, looking around before she grasped the door handle and twisted it to step inside.

"Hello?" She could hear the whooshing of skirts as a woman bustled into view, and for a long moment they both stared at each other in confusion. "You're not a Lancaster... Who the hell are you?"
 
On the other side of the wall was something entirely different than what Isen had expected. Gone was the city and instead, it felt like he had stepped through a portal to a whole different place. It appeared to be a store front but not a typical type of bazaar. The objects strewn around the room appeared to be magical, he could confirm it by the way Adelaide reacted and also the noise of intrigue Ignas made within his head. Was this some sort of pawn shop?

The sound foot steps and the noise of a skirt moving with each step drew their attention elsewhere. Isen prepared for the worst but loosened his grip when he saw the person who had walked out from behind the counter. It was a woman, but he could tell she was far from a regular human. There was an energy resonating from her and an ethereal quality about her beauty. She had long, pale hair that seemed to shimmer as it rested over her shoulders, drawing attention to an ornate necklace hanging around her neck. It plunged down into the neckline of her dress where she shamelessly displayed an impressive amount of cleavage, her skin porcelain and white. A pair of piercing golden eyes surveyed them, taking them in, perhaps sensing their own source of magic. A smirk curled over her lips as she heard Adelaide address her, not at all intimidated.

"I could ask the same of you. The three of you, that is."

Had she been able to sense Ignas that easily? Could she hear him too?

Though he had casted a weary glance in Adelaide's direction when this woman revealed herself, now it didn't appear as though Isen could look away. He was surveying her to see if she would be a threat but also seemed, in a way, captivated.

"You may call me Samara. Although I am no Lancaster, I suspect that you may be." Her gaze seemed to lock to Adelaide's, sharp and attentive, ignoring the way Isen's eyes seemed to do the same in reverse. "Yes, there's no mistaking it. How interesting." She had been leaning forward, slightly, only to stand up straight, her lips creating a smile and a small laugh. "We have company, Priscilla, don't be shy."

The sound of a raven cawing seemed to get closer as, from a back room, flew a small, jet-black bird which perched itself on the branch of a large, potted plant that appeared fluorescent. It tilted it's head and made another small sound, looking directly at the two of them.

"You both reek of dark magic. You're carrying it with you so liberally, just out in the open like that. These are troubling times, you really should be more careful; a little more selective with which shop you walk into." She laughed again, shaking her head. "Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm delighted to have your company but from one witch to another, this city is far from kind to folk like us. But, you knew that already, that's why you're here, is it not?"

"Witch? It's a witch! See, I told you!"

"And who's this?" She continued, finally pulling her gaze away from Adelaide and onto Isen. She took a step closer to him, seemingly taking him in, eyeing the sword at his hip. "Ah, you're the one with the passenger. Strong...yet, I sense such sadness. Is he your escort? Or perhaps..." She trailed off, devilishly.

"Well, cut to the chase. I don't have all day and neither do you. What do you require?"
 
Good lord, Isen, have a little shame.

He'd never looked at her like that, what was so special about this witch? Was it the amount of cleavage she had displayed to anyone who would look, or was it that her magic was more appealing? It was a bit insulting, really, and it was only when Adelaide realized she was feeling some form of jealous that she snapped out of it with a huff. They didn't have time for childish emotions like jealousy, and there was no reason for her to be jealous of another woman! Who cared if Isen seemed to like the way that she looked?

"No, you're not a Lancaster." Adelaide spoke in a defeated tone before clearing her throat, shuffling between feet and scowling. Her disappointment could be put to rest, she had been a fool to think any of her family might still be alive. This woman, however, seemed to at least recognize the name and find it intriguing, so perhaps she had known some of Adelaide's family?

"Witch?" She tilted her head in confusion. Was the woman calling her a witch, too? Is that what she was? "He's with me." She didn't like the way that Samara was eyeballing Isen, but they also didn't have time for some ridiculous display of territory from anyone involved.

"You made a watch that hid what that Lycan was, the one that just left." Her attention strayed between Samara and the bird, which seemed to be far more intelligent than a normal bird would be, the way it was eyeing them was a bit unnerving. "As far as I knew, only my family could control and manipulate magic like that. How are you doing it? Did you know one of them, did they teach you secrets, or is this something else entirely?"
 
"Hm, I see. I can tell that you're disappointed by what you've found here." Samara responded, sensing the the defeated tone in Adelaide's voice when she confirmed that the woman standing before her was not part of her family. "You're searching for your family, aren't you?"

Samara allowed Adelaide to ask all of her questions before giving a reply. Priscilla made a squawking noise, protectively, as if to tell Adelaide to stop asking so many questions. Samara simply shook her head, letting her hand come down onto the raven's back, stroking across it's feathers soothingly. "Priscilla, please. It's alright."

Isen still hadn't looked away. It was like he was in a trance. Ignas had noticed too and began trying to get his attention. "Uh, Isen? Hello?"

"What?" He finally answered, talking out loud, prompting Samara to look back at him.

"The demon speaks to you, doesn't he? Such an interesting connection the two of you share. No, the three of you. I have many questions of my own but first, allow me to answer those that you have posed." She walked back around to the other side of the counter and leaned forward, resting her elbows against it. Leaning, her face rested against her palm, her chest pushed forward by the flat surface she was pressing into. She seemed nonchalant about this, as though it were just another day at the shop and not an existential crisis like Adelaide probably went through upon thinking she had found someone from her family.

"I am not a part of your family, that much is certain. However, the relationship between my people and yours is...well, was, rather complicated. I wouldn't exactly say our families were allies, quite the opposite in fact, but that was ages ago. Lest we let the sins of our ancestors get in the way, I see no reason why you and I should follow a similar path."

Priscilla squawked again, moving to pitch a top the witch's shoulder instead, showing great trust between the two as Samara didn't so much as flinch.

"I believe we may be living a similar life. Like you, I believe myself to be the final member of my family and, also like you, I struggled with knowing their legacy. I'm sure you know what your family has done and the blood that has been spilled in the past. My people were far from innocent themselves, I spent quite some time trying to decide how I wanted to make up for that. And, I suppose, this is what I settled on."

"Helping Dissonants?" Isen asked, curiously.

"More or less. This city...this world, it has not been kind to others. Those who know magic became weapons, those who were different became scapegoats. There's an entire organization out there hell bent on snuffing out an entire species of life. In the old days, they would have called it genocide. Today, they pass it off as protection. It isn't right, is it?"

Isen was getting the sense that this was someone they could call an ally. He looked over at Adelaide to see if she seemed to be getting the same vibe.

"So, I do my part. I help them live normal lives. Do you have any idea how many Dissonants you've passed in the streets that have been concealed by my magic? Living normal lives, right underneath the noses of those who would try to take it from them? I refused to become a cog in their death machine and, I suppose, in a way this is how I make it up to this world for all the damage done by my ancestors."

"It seems the two of you are not the only ones who consider yourselves cursed."

"I've answered your questions, now, you answer mine. Who are you? And why do you possess such power?"
 
"Doesn't matter." Adelaide muttered the answer under her breath. She should have known better. She did find it interesting how the witch and bird seemed to communicate with each other, they clearly had some sort of bond she didn't understand. Why did she have to lean over the counter like that, though? It was enough to make Adelaide look down self consciously as she unzipped her coat to cool down, realizing that in comparison, Samara had a much more appealing figure than she did, and she was clearly not afraid to show it.

Then there was the fact that she clearly knew of Ignas' existence. She hadn't spoken directly to him to insinuate she could actually hear him, but she knew that he existed and that alone was astounding. The fact that Samara spoke of her "people" as though they were a separate entity from the families that had originally harnessed dark magic was intriguing, and Adelaide found she was having trouble wrapping her mind around it. So was Samara part of one of the other three families, or something else entirely? Her eyes alone spoke of something inhuman, and the more she spoke the more Adelaide believed it to be true.

"...So you're not even human, then." Adelaide had given up on holding all of her things and set them down on the ground, careful not to jostle anything decorating the store as she continued to look around. "Me?" Her attention snapped back to Samara as she tilted her head.

"You already know I'm a Lancaster, so what do you mean?" It took a moment for things to click, and then she looked down at the ring on her finger and winced. "Ah, this thing, right?" She held her hand up and wiggled the finger bearing the ring. "Dark magic. It won't come off." She shrugged.

"I don't know much more than you do, lady--Samara. I was perfectly happy hiding away until just a few days ago when the DSTF found me and ransacked my place, killed my friends, and sent me on the run looking for this big bastard," She jerked a thumb toward Isen. "My name is Adelaide Lancaster, and apparently I'm the last of my family. I was hoping to find more, when the wolf said I was just like you, but I wasn't expecting to find a genuine witch."
 
"A witch?" She asked, faking as though she were offended before laughing. She leaned back, reaching underneath the counter and retrieving a long, black witch's hat straight from a costume store. She popped it onto her head, smirking wide. "I prefer the term 'mage', but I do like to have a little fun with the whole thing. It's ridiculous, isn't it?" She tilted the brim of the hat, something so simple yet, when performed by her, had a certain charm. She was charismatic, stunningly so, everything she did, she did with confidence and an otherworldly sense of presence.

Isen heard Ignas chuckle in his head and he rolled his eyes.

"And my name is Isen Hiyori." He began, offering his introduction when Adelaide was finished. "The demon with us is named Ignas. He resides within this sword."

"So, you both have Catalysts?" She asked, returning back to leaning tantalizingly over the front of the counter, the hat still on her head and somehow having not disturbed a single hair on her head. "Right. Sorry, from the start. Catalysts are objects made from dark magic, with dark magic, capable of generating...you guessed it, dark magic. Think of them like big, powerful batteries. They create vast amounts of powerful magic and then, as they use it up, they make more. It's rare to see two in such close proximity without a reaction...that being an explosion, spontaneous combustion. You know, bad things?" She continued naming things but now, she looked rather confused. How had these two come so far, and come into possession of such power, yet had so little knowledge of what they actually could do?

"The last surviving member of the Lancaster clan and a man carrying around a demon sword. Quite the odd pair and yet, it feels as though the two of you have become a perfect match. Let me guess, he's gruff and hard on the exterior but really he's just a softie deep underneath? And you, you try your hardest to seem tough and unbreakable but you're constantly on the verge of a breakdown? And both of you, so weighed down by your past that it's a miracle you can even keep your head above water." The raven squawked and Samara laughed again. "You're right, Priscilla! Two peas in a pod."

Isen looked over at Adelaide as the mage read them both so easily. Was she telling the truth? He couldn't necessarily argue it, Ignas often remarked on how soft Isen had become since he came into contact with his traveling partner.

"There's more here, isn't there? Between the two of you. Not friendship..." She trailed off, a mischievious look in her eye. She made it seem as though she was insinuating something else, just to see if she could make them squirm, before quickly changing gears towards her true topic. "...you're in pain, aren't you, Isen? The demon in your head, in that sword, you want release. I know what her family is capable of, the way they can manipulate magic, push and pull it in any direction on a whim. If I was a betting lady, which I most definitely am since it's rather easy to rig the odds in your favor when you can do what we girls can do, I'd guess that she sought you out for your unearthly power and, in return, she's going to use hers to free you from that demon sword."

Again, she seemed to read them perfectly. It was almost as if she knew them, like she had read the script. It was uncanny and a little unnerving. How was it even possible? And she spoke of it so casually, already convinced that she was correct. What was she, really?
 
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A witch, she was definitely a witch. That or at least something similar enough, because humans didn't have eyes like hers, and she definitely wasn't a demon. Adelaide's eyes fell back to the ring on her finger when the witch gave it a proper name, and she fidgeted with it before looking back up and listening intently. There would normally be an explosion or something like that, just from being so close together? Was that part of why they had been contained a specific way in the last vault? There was so much information to process, so many things to think about that she could never form a question before there was something else to absorb.

"I can keep my head above water just fine, thank you very much." She nearly snapped the words, holding onto her restraint by just a bit in order to keep their visit civil. It was hard to tell if this was Samara's normal attitude, or if she was purposely going out of her way to tease the two of them. At any rate, it was very trying, and Adelaide wasn't sure how long she could put up with it.

"We're friends, Samara. You don't need to poke fun at us." Was reading them really so easy, or was this part of the gift she seemed to have? Adelaide would bet it on the latter and her face said as much as she rolled her eyes, looking between her companion and the witch with her bird.

"I get it. You can play with magic, hide Dissonants, and have some sort of uncanny ability to read people and situations. A true witch, indeed," She gestured to the hat on Samara's head and received an amused look in return. "And it's clear that neither of us want to hurt any of the Dissonants as long as they don't hurt us first," She got a nod of approval, "Can you help us hide ourselves to sneak into places, then, or just make a Dissonant look like a human? I'm willing to bet there are all sorts of fun things you can do. Where did you learn from, if you're the only one left of your family? Or is this one of those deals where you're ancient but look young and beautiful regardless?"
 
Samara was picking up a hint of hostility towards her, noting that she seemed to have struck a nerve with how on point her analysis of the pair, particularly Adelaide, seemed to be. She wasn't offended by it, she took it in stride. This was what she did, she dug and she poked and prodded. She tested her limits early so she knew just how far she could push somebody before it became unladylike to continue. Clearly, there was a lot of emotional baggage here, she needed to ease up a little. She wasn't trying to make any enemies, after all, she was just having a little bit of fun, albeit at the expense of Isen and Adelaide.

Nodding her head along with Adelaide's assessment of the situation in return, Samara heard another barrage of questions being sent into her direction and she listened carefully, her head tilting gently to one side, causing her long hair to unfurl from her shoulder and dangle freely. She seemed to be interested in Adelaide, checking the braid in her hair. Samara lifted her free hand up and began to play with it, her fingers moving and twirling. As she did, her hair began to move on it's own, braiding itself to mirror her look. She tossed it over her shoulder bashfully and when her hair rebounded back the other way, the braid was gone as though it never existed in the first place. With the hair whipping towards it, Priscilla made a loud noise and fluttered away to avoid contact, returning to it's perch over looking the shop while Samara giggled at her familiar's reaction. A casual display of magical control. She was showing off, at this point.

"I know all sorts of tricks and spells. It sort of comes along with the job description, you know?" She smiled, reaching for her hat now, taking it off of her head. She lifted it up into the air and made it appear as though she were going to pull something from it, like one of those cheesy magician tricks where they would make a bunny appear from their had. Instead, however, she made it float in place, rotating slowly until it moved across the distance between the two of them and sat at eye level with Adelaide. With a rise of her finger, the hat swooped upwards and landed on top of Adelaide's head like a crown.

Ignas laughed. A real, honest laugh, upon seeing this, adding a remark of his own. "I like this witch more than the old one. Can we travel with her instead?"

Samara seemed to be having an equal amount of fun messing with Adelaide, prodding at her temper. "I'm not ancient by any means. No, I'm not all that older than you, if I had to take a guess...just had the right teacher, I suppose." There was another devilish smirk and glint in her eye as she spoke that. She was hiding something, on purpose, but it didn't seem important to the conversation regardless. "You are right, however. I do have the ability to read people, situations, even the future in some cases. It was a talent of my family much like your family's ability to syphon and draw magic from outside sources. We all have our party tricks, am I right?"

Isen had found himself enamored by Samara's actions, yet again. He found the control she had over her magic, so precise and perfect, fascinating. He also found himself wondering, however, if Adelaide was capable of doing the same had she received the same training. She was already so strong, what could she do with that level of control?

"I'm not from one of those big, fancy families, if that's what you're thinking. Mine was smaller. In fact, I don't think they ever took them seriously. From what I've read, they didn't believe them to be strong enough. 'Foretellers of a doomed future without the resolve to change it', or some nonsense like that. Turns out that when you can see what's coming before it actually happens, there's a lot you can do to prepare for that. When that war started, my family already knew and since nobody wanted to listen to them, they made themselves scarce pretty quickly. Cowards, the lot of them, but if not for that, yours truly wouldn't be standing here today. Hm, you can thank them for that later because I'm about to change your entire life, Ms. Lancaster."

Samara began to walk around the desk, closer towards Isen and Adelaide now, standing directly in front of them. She smelt of flowers, likely ingredients she had used or stored somewhere in the store, but it fit her perfectly. "I like you, Adelaide. You're fun to mess with but I can tell you've got a good heart. I will teach you two spells, whatever you want, as well as a third, on the house, but that's one of my choosing." She said, looking over at Isen with a grin before settling back on Adelaide's face. "So, let's hear it. All that power and no idea how to use it, hm? Let's get you on the road to becoming a real witch."
 
Now the witch was going to change part of her appearance to match Adelaide? What kind of fresh torment was this? She seemed well aware of the impact she was having on Isen, and now she was going to mimic Adelaide's look? Had she not just as swiftly undone the braid, perhaps the blonde would have had a lot more to say, but she found herself preoccupied watching the look on Isen's face. Honestly, was anything this witch did not astounding in his eyes? He was like a child watching a simple match trick, unable to look away, and it was starting to get on her nerves more and more. Moreso, because there was a high chance that Samara was doing it just so aggravate her in the first place. She had made certain insinuations about the relationship between her and Isen, was this her way of testing it?

"No, Ignas, you can't trade me in for the newer model." Adelaide made no move to remove the hat from atop her head. If anything, she patted at it with an amused look, ready to bask in the image Ignas had been labeling her as for some time anyway. If he wanted to continue calling her a witch, she wasn't going to turn away the hat that had literally landed on top of her head.

"Yes, yes, miracle teacher. Act secretive all you want." She rolled her eyes, thoroughly frustrated by the turn of events but trying to keep her composure. Losing her cool would provide no benefit to the situation, despite the fact that Samara seemed dead set on making her do just that. "I suppose you could call them party tricks." She agreed reluctantly.

"You want me to thank you?" She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest with a curious look. "Two, huh?" There were so many things she needed to learn, so how was she supposed to narrow it down to just two spells? "No pressure or anything.." Adelaide began pacing around the store, inspecting things halfheartedly as she tried to think. She jolted to a stop as one came to her, and she spun around and pointed a finger toward Isen.

"Can you teach me a spell that will make it so Isen and I don't have to hear that idiotic demon when we need a break?"
 
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