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Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

Isen was surprised when Adelaide turned to point at him, hearing that the first spell she wished to learn was a way to silence Ignas?

"What? Absolutely not! Isen, say something!"

"Interesting. You could have anything that you want and you decide on a spell that would give you and him a little peace and quiet, dare I say a little privacy, hm?" She asked, smirking proudly as she deduced the situation. "Are you okay with that, mister gruff and handsome? Or would you rather a little alone time with somebody else instead?" The hint of her voice was suggestive, she was testing him, pushing her hair aside again as to direct his attention elsewhere.

Isen stared back at her, curiously, unaware of the obvious flirtation. "Why would I want to be alone with the demon? I've had my fill of that already."

"Oh." Samara laughed to herself, leaning into Adelaide's direction. "You poor thing. I had my suspicions but now I know for sure; he's hopeless." Standing back up straight, she snapped her fingers and Priscilla returned to her side, carrying a note pad in it's talons and a pen in it's beak. Samara picked both up and turned open the pad, beginning to scribble in cursive across the blank page. "I can't guarantee this spell will always work, your not-so-friendly passenger is a being of dark magic, after all, but it should take him a while to crack this one. Say those words and presto, silence, you will have."

Ripping the page, she offered it to Adelaide with her palm open for her to take. "And what will you choose for number two?"
 
"He's.. Yeah." Adelaide shook her head with an exasperated sigh. "He doesn't get a lot of things, and that demon doesn't help." Was the bird the witch's.. Familiar? Was that a real thing? Her entire view on magic had been turned upside down, she didn't remember her family ever talking about actual witches, and if they had, she'd been too young to remember.

"Honestly.. I'm willing to try just about anything sometimes, since I can't physically throttle him." She muttered under her breath, taking the paper and tucking it carefully into her bag before straightening back out. "A second one? Uh.." Something to hide them would be very beneficial, but even if she could hide them, that didn't help with anything else, and there were so many spells she needed to learn, so many types of magic..

"Is there some way I could memorize spells just by looking at them? Like a photographic memory that once I saw it or used it, I would always remember how to do it?"
 
"I was just starting to like her and now she's doing this? Ridiculous! I knew I hated witches."

"You have to admit, you can be a little much sometimes, Ignas. We need to make arrangements with you in order to get any quiet and you like to throw tantrums like a child."

"I am NOT like a child. I am a demon. Do you know how many people I've killed? Do you realize how powerful I am?"

Isen laughed as Ignas practically proved him right, immediately, then and there.

"Why are you laughing? Do something!"

Samara likely overheard half of the conversation but she was more fixated on the question Adelaide had asked than the back and forth banter between Isen and Ignas. "I mean, sure, if you're an expert in the arcane like myself. You are far too new to the arts, you barely know how to cast a single spell. To master such a craft would take years upon years! Decades even! And to think that you believe yourself to be..."

The squawking of Priscilla interrupted Samara in mid sentence, causing the mage to look towards her familiar, thoughtfully. "...actually, you may be on to something. Hm."

Moving back around the counter, she began to pull out some books that were hidden from view. She opened one of them across the counter top, brushing away the dust that came out when she pulled one of the heavy covers open. This book, or rather this tome, seemed ancient, far predating anything else in the shop. She thumbed through the pages, which seemed as though they were ready to crumble into dust at any moment, until she found the page she was looking for. The language scrawled in black ink wasn't English, it appeared runic, Isen couldn't make out anything from it but Ignas seemed to be able to understand it.

"Sooo, this might be a bad idea but I'm always down for being bad. Care to entertain me, Adelaide?" Samara asked, her trademark smirk returning in the face of certain, magical danger.

"You have all the power in the world at your finger tips. It's in your blood, after all. Your family, your legacy, it's steeped in the damn stuff. You just need to learn how to access it, how to control it...and you have just the thing." Samara pointed towards the ring and Priscilla made a chirping sound in agreement. "There's a chance that if we do this, the magic in that ring will just kill you but...you've come this far, and I am an expert in the arcane, after all..."

Isen knew better than to stand by and watch this happen or let Adelaide put herself at risk, which he was certain she actually would do. Messing with dark magic was one thing, and having her carry that ring so freely was bad enough, but to actually invoke it's magic in a way that could kill her? He wasn't going to let that happen.

He stood forward, between Adelaide and Samara.

"Oh, there he is. So protective, so gallant. So...you do care after all." She practically swooned, over dramatically. "Calm down, hot head, you too, demon pup. This won't hurt her. Probably."
 
"I can learn!" Adelaide retorted stubbornly and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't have time to spend decades mastering the arcane, she would be long dead by then! She would find a way, she would manage to learn the necessary things for their mutual goal. "Onto something? What? What are you talking about?" Adelaide looked between the duo of witch and familiar and then to Isen, looking somewhere between concerned and curious at the same time.

"Why are we getting out the old really witchy looking books?" She felt a sense of trepidation for a moment before it was overcome with more curiosity, and she edged closer and closer to the counter Samara had set the book down on.

"Something bad?" She paused and frowned. "It could.. Kill me?" She looked down at the ring and then took a deep breath, contemplating her choices before she realized Isen had stood between her and the other woman.

"Isen, what are you doing? Move. Isen, move!" She stepped around him with a scowl, rubbing at the ring and then eyeing the blade at his side. "You have a talking demon sword you want to get rid of, right? Pretty much everything we already do is a risk to my life, why does one more thing matter? Can you imagine all the things I could do if I had the power to remember spells so easily? No more fumbling around for whatever magic I can take, no more fucking up because I don't know what to do with it. This could be good for me, for us! Whatever it is, I'm willing to do it, and that's that."
 
"You've seen exactly what messing with dark magic has done to me and to my life and you still want to risk everything?" He asked her, steadfast in his position. "I want to get rid of Ignas but that doesn't happen if you get yourself killed here before we ever finish your mission." It was the truth, though he was concealing the fact that he had other motives for wanting to protect her, keeping it beneath the guise of their agreement.

But she was stubborn. Unless he physically stopped her, she was going to do what she wanted, and even then it was pretty obvious that her power was equal to his if not greater had she a reason to control it. It would be an asset, but what good was an asset if she never got to use it because her life was forfeited in the process?

"Oh, relax. I'll take real good care of her. Don't you trust me?" Samara asked, fluttering her eyes in Isen's direction.

"No. I don't. I don't know you."

"Ouch, socold. It's alright, I'm not offended, you have your reasons to be guarded. It seems like a certain someone may have found a way past that and now, you're worried about her. I get it! Trust me, I do. But if it's what a girl wants, well, it's what a girl wants. Move aside, Mr. Knight-in-shining-armor, we have work to do."

"Adelaide..."

"For once, I agree with Isen. Do not risk damaging my ring." Ignas chimed in, though he seemed more concerned with the state of the Catalyst in question rather than what might happen to Adelaide if something went wrong.

Samara continued running her finger along the writing on the page, reading over the details lined in the runic font. "Arcane Imprinting is a very difficult skill to master, like I said, but it may not be impossible. You have one thing that most mages do not; that ring. It has an endless amount of magic and knowledge within it and I believe by forming a proper link between you and the Calalyst, similar to that between Isen and his sword, you may be able to draw upon that magic to strengthen your body and your abilities. With such a boost in power, theoretically...you should be able to use your ability to draw magic from other sources more freely and then, imprint the spells that you are stealing into the make up of your magic. When you pull magic from another source, you're temporarily making it yours. That includes elements and spells. What my incantation will do is allow you to remember them, to keep them like memories. You might not always remember them but they'll be there when you need them to be...but this takes a great amount of practice and magic. You don't have time to put in the practice but the magic, you have an abundance of that literally at your finger tips so, long story short...we link you with that ring of yours to strengthen your magic and then, when you draw from outside sources, your body will remember the feel of the spells you're stealing and allow you to replicate it."

Samara lifted her hand upwards and began moving her fingers. Small webs of light began to weave between her digits as if she were forming shapes from them. It would have been beautiful had Isen not been so unnerved and worried about this whole process. "Magic is all about feel, you know? Flow. Letting the energy pass through you, redirecting it into whatever shape or form you require it to become. If this works, you won't just feel the magic, you will remember it. You will no longer be a conduit but a conductor, willing magic into spells you never dreamed of performing as easily as you breathe fresh air or blink your eyes." Seeming to have perfected the make up of the spell, she gave one last look towards Adelaide alongside a warning. "...and this might hurt a little."

The energy began to move from her fingers to Adelaide, wrapping around the ring that tightly squeezed her finger. It started to spark, as though it were resisting, the ring itself lighting up as it had the first time she worn it in response. Adelaide would feel it begin to shake and burn, as though it were trying to burrow it's way down to the bone, searing in rejection of Samara's magic. She furrowed her brow, adopting a sense of focus, casting aside her jovial and playful attitude for something more serious. It was as though she had become someone else, her eyes flickering with an ethereal glow. "Come on, don't be stubborn..." She whispered as she worked.

Isen couldn't intervene. He just had to watch. He had to witness the pain she was going through and hope that it would be worth it, that she would survive it. He felt powerless, something he rarely felt, and it reminded him of watching his sister die. Again. That painful memory causing his head to ache in discomfort and his heart to pound with regret.
 
"You not wanting me to do it just gives me another reason to do it, Ignas." Adelaide scoffed at Ignas and his commentary. Of course he only cared about the ring. Her having proper control over it would irk him plenty, but if the first spell she had been gifted was any good, she could simply silence the demon when he got to be too obnoxious. Oh, the beauty of silence was truly astounding.

"Stealing spells?" This sounded even better than what she had initially asked. Her thought had been to keep a permanent memory of spells she'd read, but being able to extract them from magic she randomly stole would be even more beneficial. "And all you have to do is link me to the ring and hope it doesn't kill me. No pressure or anything." Best case scenario, she had something as strong as Ignas, or perhaps even stronger, at her disposal, worst case scenario was that it killed her.

"Do it." She nodded and braced herself, watching Samara's every movement intently and focusing on the magic she could feel concentrating between the two of them. As if the magic all around the store wasn't enough to overload anyone, this was something being directly focused at her, at the ring on her finger. She had expected it to be uncomfortable, even dizzying, but she hadn't expected it to hurt like that.

"Conductor.. Yeah." She focused on letting the magic work with Samara's even as the sweat beaded at her brow. She focused on the sound of the witch's voice, the way that the sheer force of everything came rushing at it as the magic inside the ring seemed to rebel initially. It wasn't enough for her to shut off the feeling of the burning on her finger as she winced, clenching her teeth together and exhaling unsteadily through her nose as she worked through the pain. It was just a little bit of pain, just a little bit of burnt flesh that she could treat later, and it would all be worth it if she could just power through.

"Come on.. You stupid ring. You wanted a host, didn't you? So cooperate and you can leech off me just as much as I intend to leech off you!" Although the jewelry wasn't sentient like Ignas, it still seemed to react at her words as it pulsed and burned into her flesh hot enough for her to curse profusely a bite back a noise of pain. It pulsed and burned before the heat began to slowly recede, and Adelaide's eyes focused on the strands of magic between it and Samara as the metal seemed to cool and settle on her finger, seemingly appeased before it sent an immense rush of magic through her entire body.

"Holy shit." It was enough to make her stagger back a bit with a gasp before she clutched at her hand, panting quietly and looking between it and Samara with wide eyes. "I feel.. I've never felt anything like that before." It almost felt as if the ring was humming against her skin and she'd been hit with a wave of euphoria, just like when she'd first acquired it.

"I was right, Isen. It likes me."
 
"Almost....almost...." Samara continued as she focused intensely on the spell she was weaving. The ring continued to react negatively to the energy but it's resistance was beginning to wane. Either it had lost the will to fight any longer or Samara's magic had took it's hold. The metallic object, still gripping tightly to Adelaide's finger, began to slow it's movement and cool it's temperature until it rested against her burnt flesh. Instead of trying to dig in to her finger, however, it seemed to sit happily there, perhaps having finally accepted it's host. Priscilla squawked in approval upon seeing the ritual complete without any major catastrophe. Isen too felt relief, though not entirely. He needed to know more about this current situation before he could feel happy about it, if he could ever feel happy at all with the risk that had been taken.

"Hey, it actually worked. I wasn't sure there for a moment but, hmm. I'm somehow even better than I thought! See, I told you, demon boy, nothing to worry about!" Samara chimed in, happily, her focused expression and disposition having disappeared as quickly as it had arrived alongside the glow in her eyes. "How's it feel?" She asked, leaning over the counter towards Adelaide.

For Adelaide, it must have been a whole new feeling, a sensation unlike anything she had ever felt. The symbiotic bond formed between her and the ring was intoxicating her body with a flow of magic so potent and yet volatile that it must have felt as though every inch of her could burst into flame at any moment. But it never did. She was in control now, of everything. It wasn't like Isen and Ignas, where Ignas could turn the magic he was supplying on and off on a whim. No, in this case, Adelaide had taken the reins completely and the ring now seemed strangely willing to comply to it's new wielder.

"What do you mean?" He asked as she remarked about the ring saying that it liked her. Something about the way she said it, or rather the intention behind it, made a terrible feeling brim at the back of his mind.

"She actually did it. I can feel it, they're in sync with each other. I don't believe it..."

"Now for the moment of truth." Samara curled her palm, producing a flame out of nothing. It burned back and forth, wavering in the gentle breeze passing through the shop. "Think fast." She smirked, sending the flame in Adelaide's direction to see how she would respond, if she could steal the spell and perform Arcane Imprinting.

Even though he was aware this was a test, Isen instinctively found himself moving towards Adelaide to try and ward off the flame.
 
"It feels.. Amazing." For the moment, Adelaide had forgotten completely about her injured hand. The burnt flesh was a distant feeling, and all she could focus on now was the magic rushing through her veins so easily. "I feel like I could do just about anything right now." Before, the ring had just been there, a presence, a storage of endless power that she could pull from if she needed to, something that could apparently allow her to teleport. Now if she could just remember how to do that once.. She would forever know how to do it. One step at a time, though, for now she needed to adjust to the feeling that had taken over her entire body.

"Do what now--Hey!" Her hands came up instinctively as she saw the fire coming toward her, shielding her face as she felt the first bit of heat licking at her skin. What was it with this witch and fire? First the ring had burned her, now she'd thrown fire right at her and it was going to catch her clothes on fire. "Wait.. What just happened?" She could still feel the heat of the flame against her palm, but it hadn't moved any further and it wasn't singing her flesh like the ring had done.

"Holy shit." She whispered in awe as she lowered her hands, seeing the flame dancing on her palm just like it had on Samara's a minute prior. "I caught it?" She stared at it for several second before beginning to laugh, waving her other hand over the flame and seeing that it did her no harm. "I just caught fire, that's insane! Did you see that, Isen?" She turned to him with a grin, proudly displaying the flame that was still dancing around in her hand.

"It doesn't burn me!" She closed her hand and snuffed out the flame, peering between her fingers to assure herself it was truly out before she concentrated and opened her hand again. There was nothing at first, just a warm spot where the flame had once been, but after a second a new, equally bright flame popped up and made her laugh in delight. "I did it!"
 
Isen had nearly reached Adelaide but he stopped himself after he witnessed what had happened. Not only would he have failed to reach her in time regardless with how fast the fire had been, he watched as it wrapped around her palm and then began to dance in her hand. It wasn't burning her, it was flickering as peaceful as a flame could be. She seemed unphased by the heat or from any pain it should have caused her, distress replaced with a proud grin. Had she actually done it?

Watching the flame disappear then reappear underneath her own volition, Isen had his question answered and confirmed as she was able to replicate the fire, something she would have had no idea how to do just moments prior. Glancing over at Samara, he saw she had a similar look of satisfaction on her face, like she had finished a job well done. Priscilla flew from it's perch and did a lap around Adelaide in celebration before pitching itself on the brim of the witch's hat that still rested on her head.

"She's a witch alright." Ignas remarked, though it sounded as though even part of him was impressed and not entirely mocking her this time. The hat, the familiar hanging out on her head, a fire ball in her palm; she certainly looked the part now more than ever.

He should have been happier for her. It's not like he wasn't, he just knew that the price you paid when you messed with magic so dark and powerful was often high and he feared for what might happen when the ring decided it wanted to take it's power back. Still, he didn't want to ruin her enjoyment, she had done something incredible, after all. So, he smiled with her, for her, and encouraged Adelaide's new ability as best he could. "That's...incredible." He told her, not sounding entirely convincing, but trying his best to put his worries aside.

Samara seemed to pick up on that hint of hesitation and took the lead in the conversation to steer it away from where it could have possible wound up heading. "Welcome to the club, Ms. Lancaster. You can keep the hat, it's my treat." She giggled, nodding her head. "The raven stays with me, unfortunately. But perhaps you'll get one of your own some day." Samara lifted her hand upwards, her finger outstretched and Priscilla responded in turn, immediately, fluttering back towards the witch to stand on the outstretched digit. "With this ability, you should have more than what you need to complete your journey. I know you're planning on going after the DSTF, precognition and all, remember? I feel sorry for them. I truly do. The two of you, together, in control of all of that power...they don't stand a chance." She smirked, proudly, like she was looking upon her star pupil who had just aced an exam. "If you wouldn't mind doing me a favor while you're off saving the world? Find the man they call Van Dyne, he's one of their generals. When you do, kindly stop his heart for me, will you?" There was a sinister intent behind Samara's otherwise sweet voice, her smile returning eerily afterwards. Clearly she and this Van Dyne weren't exactly on the best terms but what kind of connection could she possibly have with a general from the DSTF?

"Oh! I almost forgot. I promised you a third spell. I feel like the previous spell may have been more than enough, but a promise is a promise." Samara reached her hand out towards Adelaide. "Give me your hand, please." She requested, waiting until it was presented. Her fingers began to move, creating another magical weaving which pressed directly into Adelaide's skin. Samara was imprinting some sort of spell onto Adelaide without telling her exactly what it was that she was doing. "This is my gift to you. Well, to the both of you." She giggled, glancing between Isen and Adelaide in a manner that could only be described as concerning. She leaned in, even closer, so that she could whisper directly to Adelaide. Isen's enhanced hearing allowed him to listen in as she spoke to Adelaide and only Adelaide. "When your hearts become one, so too will your burdens. Though it may be painful, it is necessary to understanding each other and facing your inner demons, no pun intended, of course!" Noticing that Isen was probably listening, the next time Samara spoke, she did so not in English but in runic, like the language written in the tome she had brought out.

Adelaide had no prior knowledge of what this language meant but yet, the words were as clear to her as anything she could have ever heard before. "Allow him to see your past. Allow yourself to see his. Only then may you truly heal." Pulling away, she went back to speaking English, shifting effortlessly between both languages. "Our magic is extremely useful for healing wounds of the body but woefully inefficient when it comes to curing ailments of the mind and heart."

"Now, if we're done here, I could really use a cat nap. I feel drained from all of the fun and games! Thank you for stopping by, it was nice meeting you both and I truly hope that we get to see each other once again. You have a long way to go but with what you have learned today, I believe you both to be capable of making an honest, actual change in this world. Good luck, and farewell, Adelaide, Isen, demon."

Samara turned her back, her hips swaying gracefully as she disappeared into the back room, Priscilla flapping it's wings behind to join her out of sight. The wall behind them, which had been concealed as bricks from the outside, parted to grant them exit and Isen, looking wearily into Adelaide's direction, took the initiative to step outside first.
 
"I won't even yell at you for saying it this time, Ignas. I must really look like one." She had a ball of fire, a witch's hat, and for whatever reason the bird was perched on it as well. "It feels incredible." So why did it seem like Isen didn't really feel how he tried to sound? She hadn't done anything wrong, had she? Sure, she had taken a great risk in trusting a complete stranger, she had risked her life by making a bond with a ring of dark magic that Isen definitely wanted off of her, but she hadn't hurt anyone in the process, aside from her poor finger a bit.

"I can? Brilliant, now I can use it to torment Ignas whenever he calls me a witch. You've saved me the trouble of hunting one down somewhere and spending more money." She gave no argument when Priscilla flew away from the hat, merely straightened it out on her head and shrugged. "Me, get a familiar? That would be.." She paused and made a thoughtful face. "Interesting, I guess. I didn't even know they were real, I'm not sure what I would do with one." She wasn't particularly a huge fan of birds, but maybe a familiar could be useful. Were they all birds, and what did they even do other than fetch you things you needed?

"Van Dyne." Adelaide's attention was brought back to the current moment as Samara made her request, and she nodded her head firmly in response. "I'll make sure it's done." The sudden change in her demeanor took Adelaide by surprise but she agreed nonetheless, after all, she had no sympathy for anyone inside that organization. The only person she would have even considered sparing would be the man that helped her to escape the last facility, and she doubted they would ever meet again.

"Uh.. Okay." She hesitated for a moment and then extended her hand to the other witch. She'd followed through on everything else so far, there didn't seem to be a reason to distrust her now of all times. She'd given Adelaide control over the magic inside of the ring, allowed her to coexist with it rather than simply store the power, what could possibly go wrong now?

"Wait, what?" When their hearts became one? Did Samara know something that they didn't? She had mentioned being able to see the future, and the more that she said, the more it felt like she was insinuating that Adelaide and Isen would have more of a future together than either of them intended. Was that even possible? "I.. I don't understand, but okay." It hadn't even registered that Samara had switched to another language, the words had been easily understood and left Adelaide confused as the women parted the Samara announced she was in need of a nap. What a strange way to end such a random meeting.

"Goodbye, Samara, Priscilla." She gave a half wave and followed after Isen, shaking her head as she slipped her coat back on and got resituated for the weather outside. "That was.. Something else." She stuffed her hands back in her pocket, wincing at the sting from where the ring had burned her before she sighed.

"Is this the part where you're going to chastise me for all of that?"
 
When Isen and Adelaide had both left her shop, Samara doubled back around. As she peered out towards the exit, she turned her head towards Priscilla, still perched on her shoulder. "I know. I should have told them. What good is a gift like mine if I don't use it? Some things aren't meant to be said out loud, Priscilla. Yes...yes...I suppose you're right." Samara sighed.

"Foretellers of a doomed future without the resolve to change it." She repeated what she had read of her family, a hint of sadness in her voice but, not to let it linger, she changed her tune again. "I guess I haven't grown up as much as I thought. Hm, I wonder when we'll meet next, Adelaide Lancaster..."

~~~

"No." Isen responded to her question. What good would it have done other than cause an argument? What happened had already happened, there was nothing left to do but move forward and make the best of this new gift she had been given. Isen still didn't completely trust Samara, but whatever the witch had done to Adelaide seemed to have worked and hadn't hurt her. She seemed to be an ally, as peculiar as she was. That was good enough, for now. "Are you well? That must have been a lot for you to go through." He asked, jumping past getting mad at her over what happened and instead showing concern. He was far from happy but when was he ever?

"Now that you have this...gift, we may as well put it to good use. There has to be some sort of facility for the DSTF, we just need to find it. It's still a little too noisy here for me to try and find anything with my hearing, is there anything you can do?"

"Witch, you should try to see if you can sense any other sources of dark magic in this city. If there's a DSTF facility, there's probably a vault and if there's a vault..."

"We're not taking anymore rings. Or objects, or Catalysts, whatever they're called. But we can't let them remain in their hands either. I'm with Ignas on this one. If you can sense them, it will lead us right to them and then we can do something to ensure they never use dark magic to hurt anybody else again."
 
"My finger hurts where it got burned, and I'm tired, but that's about it." She hadn't realized how draining all of it had been until they'd left the shop, and she tugged her newly acquired hat off to stuff in one of the bags. "I'll take care of it later, since unfortunately I don't have any magical healing powers like you do." She shrugged, glancing over at him as Ignas piped up about the dark objects. Of course he would be quick to put her new abilities to use.

"I took the hat off, demon, not a witch anymore." Adelaide chuckled quietly and looked around, musing silently as she deliberated her choices. She wasn't in any huge hurry to rush off after what she had just endured with Samara, but it wasn't as if waiting would do them any good, so off to the next facility they went.. As soon as they could find it.

"We could just ask where the nearest office is, you know, I'm sure most of the people in this city know, or we could even find it on a map." She rolled her eyes, nudging at Isen as they left the alley and ventured back to the street. "I'm not agreeing to not taking anything, since we need to get the stuff away from them, but at the very least I won't start jamming random rings on my fingers." Even if the one she currently had on was a vessel of unlimited power.. She couldn't risk having anything else stuck on her that she couldn't control. She still had to learn things now that she was in tune with the current ring, and she found that once she actually concentrated, she could distinctly feel the different types of magic around them.

"That's.. Not right." She paused on the sidewalk, brow furrowing as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "There are two places that I can feel it. They must have some of their men out on patrol or something, it's only a little bit, but I didn't expect that." She opened her eyes and shook her head, taking another deep breath and nodding. "We just keep walking this way, I think. We can look for a cheap little motel or something along the way. Even a gym will work, honestly, they have lockers and showers."
 
The idea of asking for the office wasn't a bad one, but it would be drawing attention to themselves, more so than they already had. They were walking around with two Catalysts in open daylight, after all. "I think it's best if we try to find it ourselves. I feel as though we would have a better chance of succeeding if the DSTF remains in the dark about us being here." They were, technically, wanted by them, after all, even though their names and likeness hadn't been reported to the public after the incident at the first facility.

Isen stopped up as Adelaide mentioned something not feeling right. Had she sensed something that he couldn't? "Two sources of magic?"

Cresthaven was massive, it wouldn't have been out of the question for there to be multiple places where the DSTF may have presence but it was still a little concerning. Still, at least she had only sensed two sources around them and now, they were aware of both, giving them a chance to plan ahead just in case.

"Alright, lead the way." Deferring to her judgment, Isen's eyes dropped down to her wrist and across the length of her ring finger, eyeing the metal band that remained tightly wound into her skin. It felt different than it used to. Before, he could feel it's magic, a constantly dreadful reminder of the poor decision she had made to take it but now, he hardly felt it at all. It was as though the magic in the ring had been pacified, it no longer hungered or leeched from her like a parasite. It seemed that Adelaide and the ring were, truly, in sync and that whatever Samara had done had been successful even beyond just granting Adelaide her new ability to copy magic. Perhaps he had no reason to be concerned any longer...or maybe, that synchronization was reason enough.

"I have a question for the witch." Ignas spoke up, suddenly. It was unlike him to be so formal or to even ask such a thing. Normally he would just rudely state whatever he had in mind and that would be it. Isen began to walk with Adelaide again, moving towards the direction she had noted, but he paid close attention to the following conversation while he did. "This power of yours. If you are capable of imprinting any type of magic..."

"Does that mean you can copy the magic inside of Onigoshi as well?" Isen asked, finishing the thought before Ignas could. Now, he was curious. "You said that you can't heal yourself but what if with his help, you could?"

"Your countless resurrections are not something that can be copied. I don't believe she would be able to steal the gift of eternal life, you live because I bring you back. Your immunity is not a spell, it is because of the bond we share. It's the same as the bond between her and that ring....but it stands to reason that perhaps she would be able to steal my magic herself to heal her wounds, to deprive herself of things like hunger, pain. I only ask this because it is quite annoying to have to stop all of the time for her human body to rest and recover and eat disgusting food."
 
"How kind of you to announce it beforehand." Adelaide's voice dripped with sarcasm as she continued walking, although she did glance toward the weapon with minor curiosity. This attitude was very unlike Ignas, so either he was up to something big, or he was a bit out of sorts after the encounter with Samara.

"What the hell are you on about?" She hadn't even stopped to think of siphoning power from him again, and yet the demon was offering up the information almost as if he cared. Ah, there it was, his annoyance with her being human and the things that she needed.

"No, Ignas. I'm a human, and you'll just have to deal with that. I'm not giving up my humanity just so you can get some sort of connection with the ring." She shrugged. "Besides, I like food. It's the money part that's the issue, but I have no problem sneaking around stealing things or skimping out on hotel fees if that's what I have to do." She shrugged again and continued walking.

"Besides, you do realize if I never needed to eat, or rest, we'd get through everything ten times quicker and then you'd be separated from Isen even sooner. Have you suddenly had a change of heart? Or do demons not have hearts to begin with?"
 
"I have no concern over my partnership with Isen. Like I told you before, there is nothing you can do to sever the link between us. I will not allow it." Ignas fired back with a huff, but it was clear he had been caught in the act. He would've done anything to have a chance to sink his magic into that ring and Adelaide had called his bluff. "You both need me. That has not and will not change."

Isen admired Adelaide's desire to remain human even when tempted with the same power that he had been granted. She would no longer need to feel pain, to feel hunger, sickness. Yet, she strived to remain as she was, untainted by the dark magic in the ring that she had become bound with. She reminded him of his own wish to stay connected to his human side, something which had become increasingly more difficult in the years past until she had arrived.

Everyone kept telling him that he was going soft but he didn't see it that way. He was just becoming true to himself once again. She was grounding him, pulling him out of the black clutch the demon had on his heart and mind, piece by piece. In the end, Isen knew not whether Ignas was correct or simply blowing smoke about whether or not Adelaide would actually be able to separate them, but he was hopeful. And even if she couldn't, at least he didn't feel like he hated himself or what he had become anymore.

"This curse is exactly that. A curse. You can speak of it as though it were something otherwise but it will never change the way I feel. Losing the ability to feel pain or hunger or all of the things that I used to know has only robbed me of what it meant to be human."

"Was that not the whole point? When will you accept the fact that I saved you? When will you thank me for all I've done?"

"You stole from me what I valued most. I will never accept or thank you for that."

Isen stopped walking, suddenly, reaching out his arm in front of Adelaide to hold her steady as well. In the near distance, he could hear something loud and clear; the sound of a noisy crowd forming. They seemed riled up about something, there were so many voices in varying levels of volume and they sounded angry.

In front of them, across the street, stood a large building with a dome-shaped roof. It seemed a technological marvel, much like the city, with state of the art security systems and a sleek, futuristic finish to the outside of the building. The group of people formed at the entrance were all talking, out of sync, shouting and yelling at a man who was standing at the top of a silver staircase.

"I understand your concerns." His voice spoke out, louder, needing to drown out the sound. "The DTSF is doing everything within its power to keep Cresthaven safe from all Dissonants, including those who believe they can live a normal life among us. I know that these are trying times and the news that broke this morning may be unnerving to some of you but I promise you, we will locate all of the Dissonants remaining in this city and prosecute them properly for their actions."

"My family isn't safe! We saw a wolf on the street this morning, clear as day!" One voice yelled.

"Cresthaven is supposed to be a safe place. The DTSF can't do their jobs!" Another added.

"I think the city may be on to Samara's little operation." Isen told Adelaide, interpreting what he had heard. It seemed as though the people of the city were becoming aware that there were Dissonants living amongst them in secrecy.

"You think thats bad? I saw a man walking the streets this morning carrying a sword! A sword! A weapon! My children were with me. Is that what you call safety?"

The man in front of the crowd seemed to be getting overwhelmed with all of the commotion and was ready to call this makeshift conference to an end. A pair of guards descended the staircase to stand at his side and he addressed the crowd once more. "I am but a speaker for the DTSF but I have heard all of your concerns loud and clear. I will assure each and every one of them reach the appropriate channels and we will increase guard presence around the city to ensure public safety. For now, I ask that you all return to your daily lives. If we show the Dissonants that we fear them, they will believe themselves to have power over us. We are stronger than that. We are united. We are Cresthaven."

Turning, he began to walk back up the stairs towards the building in the distance. The worried crowd continued to yell at him a little longer but, upon seeing that he had no intention of returning, they bickered and then dispersed.

"A speaker for the DTSF? I feel like I've seen that man somewhere before." Isen began to rack his brain and remembered seeing that man's face on the television in their hotel room. "The news report about the attack on the facility. He was in it. He must be some sort of public figurehead, which would mean the building he just walked into belongs to the DSTF."

"Witch, is this the source of the magic that you felt?"
 
"Whatever you say, demon, whatever you say." She'd caught him and called him out on his antics, and Ignas was clearly displeased with that. No matter, who cared if the demon was unhappy with her? That seemed to be the case more often than not, and now she had a spell she could use to silence him if he got too obnoxious. Unfortunately, that would need to wait until after they'd raided the current facility and cleaned out whatever dark objects they could get their hands on. They did still need him for that.

"Now what's going on?" Adelaide came to a halt as Isen stopped her, squinting in an attempt to better see what was going on. When that didn't work she took a slight step forward, although she kept close to Isen all the same and simply observed the scene. There was no reason to run front and center, there were far too many people and he was right, they didn't need to be drawing more attention to themselves.

"..Of course, the wolf." She should have known the news would spread fast. If someone hadn't snapped a picture and spread it around already, she would be very surprised. Sometime technology was more of a curse than a blessing, and situations like that always made it an interesting balance of both. "You think?" She rolled her eyes at Isen's observation, stiffening up when they brought up him next. She really should have asked for some sort of cloaking spell, or something related to illusions that could make it so people couldn't see the damn sword. That would be one of the next things she tried to learn, when she had the opportunity to research anything spell related.

"That's the same guy?" She'd been too busy looking around to connect the dots, and even now she kept herself close to Isen's side, all but pressed against him where the sword lay in an attempt to hide it a bit. "I do feel magic, yes, but the direction is.. Weird." She made a face. "I think it's down. Either way, we need to find somewhere to leave our stuff, I'm not lugging all of this around and fighting at the same time.

"I'm just gonna go ask someone, you stay put, otherwise they're going to start screaming about the man with the sword again." Adelaide had already wandered off, surveying the crowd and trying to determine who would best suit her need. She settled on an elderly couple and approached them with a sheepish expression, holding her hands up to show they were empty before voicing her question.

"I'm so sorry to bother you, but I was hoping you could maybe direct me to some sort of cheap motel, or something? I came to check in on some family of mine, and since it seems like there's some safety issues going on, I'd rather get to one quickly and be off the streets. It was an unexpected trip so I didn't have time to research, and then I lost my phone.." Most of the story was technically true in one way or another, and whether it was the fact that she was rambling nervously and appeared genuinely worried, or the fact that she wasn't very large, and looked like she could easily be lost in a crowd, but the couple took a moment and described a couple motels, giving her directions before they hurried off on their own.

"There's a small one about three blocks that way!" She pointed toward a side street with a smile as she bounded back over to Isen. "You know, once I can figure out how to make it so people can't see the damn sword.. Things will be so much easier."
 
Isen watched as she walked off to have a conversation with an elderly couple. He could hear it from where he was standing, even without needing to follow her. She was doing an admirable job of selling the story.

"Isen, about the witch..."

"She's finding us a place to stay again."

"Not her, the other witch.

"Oh. What about her?"

"She claimed that her family has the ability of precognition, to see the future. She performed that ritual on Adelaide and made it sound as though there would be dangers but wouldn't she already know the outcome? I believe there may have been more to what she was saying than she was letting on, she seemed a little too willing to give such a powerful spell to a stranger, don't you think?"

"You're not wrong about that but they're both mages with a long lineage. From what Samara said, she was also the last of her family. If they were to have reasons to bond quickly, those would be it."

"You were too busy staring at her to pick up on anything. I'm telling you, there's more than meets the eye to that witch."

"I thought you said you liked her."

"I do. The fact that she may be hiding a secret like that makes her all the more intriguing to me. I want us to go back to see her before we leave this city."

Adelaide begun walking back towards Isen and he let the conversation die. "You're the one with the magic. I'm sure you'll figure something out eventually." At least now they had some place to rest when all this was said and done, going back to the previous hotel was definitely out of the question. "We'll drop your things off and then, we'll try to find a way inside but it isn't going to be easy. I sense a very heavy guard presence, plus there appear to be security systems in place. This won't be easy." He had barely snuck into the previous facility and that was only because he was by himself and could move as quickly as he needed to. He would need to rely on Adelaide and her new power more than ever if they were to be successful but this was a great test of just how in control she now was.
 
"Things are never easy." Adelaide shrugged, tucking her hands back into her pockets as they walked. She really needed to dig her gloves out, but at least the snow had let up since her initial meeting with Isen, and it wasn't storming inside this city, it was much clearer, even though the snow still covered every bit of ground she could see. "I wonder if the system will recognize me again.. I still need to figure out why it did that." She looked at Isen from the corner of her eye as they walked, fidgeting with the inside of her pocket before she forced herself to speak again.

"You were staring at Samara an awful lot. Was she that nice to look at?" Sure, Samara had said he was hopeless, and he had clearly missed her flirtatious innuendo toward him, but he had stared at her a lot. "I mean, I know she's better at magic than I am, but for a second there I thought she had actually put a spell on you, because your eyes were glued to her."
 
Isen was taken back by the question and uncertain how to respond to it properly. His silence was likely more condemning than any ill-fated answer he could have given and he knew that, he was aware he needed to say something, anything. "She was...unique." He replied, choosing his words carefully. "I've never met anybody like her before. There was something so otherwordly about her. I don't know how to explain it but I'm sure you felt it too."

"Maybe she did put a spell on him. If only you could share thoughts with him like I can..."

"She did not put a spell on me." Isen defended himself, quickly. "Or at least, I don't think she did..."

"She didn't. Just admit you thought she was attractive and move on, you're just making it worse."

"I mean, sure, she was beautiful but that wasn't what I meant." He had an uphill battle to try and fight here and he didn't really have the words to fight it properly. "She may be better at magic than you are right now but because of the spell she gave to you, I don't know how much longer that will be true. Besides, I thought that witch's hat looked great on you." He complimented, hoping to smooth things over, with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Yeah. Maybe if she kept the hat, you'd pay attention to her the way you did to Samara, right?" Ignas continued to egg Isen on and he groaned in response.

"Give it a rest, demon. I will not hesitate to bury you in the snow and leave you there until morning."
 
"Yeah, yeah, otherworldly." He wasn't wrong, though, her eyes alone had been enough to show her as something other than human. "Yeah, I felt it, but I wasn't eyeballing her like a dog with a bone." Ah, hell, she was getting more defensive than she needed to. She didn't need to get defensive at all, actually, but there she was doing it like an idiot. Maybe Samara had put a spell on her without her realizing, to make her act so insanely out of character over someone she hardly knew. They did know a fair bit about each other's darker pasts though, so there was that to compensate for the small amount of time they'd actually known each other.

"She was beautiful." For someone as clueless and hopeless as he seemed to be in regards to human things.. He'd not hesitated to spit those words out. "The hat.." She sighed and shook her head, continuing down the side street and praying they were close to the motel if only to momentarily escape the awkwardness. "I did keep the hat, you idiotic demon, it's just in my bag. I'm not going to prance down the street with it on, it would only blow away in the wind, anyway!" Oh, she was just about ready to silence him. All they had to do was get through the day and the facility, and she could shut him up for the entire night!

"Oh, there it is, thank god. This place looks.." She paused and grimaced as the dingy little motel came into view, run down and half occupied by either some miracle, or sheer desperation of limited finances. "Cheap. It looks very cheap. And not one smart mouthed comment about my humans needs, Ignas, or I swear I'll use that spell right now before we've even gotten inside the motel!"
 
"I don't understand why you're getting so angry with me. He's the one who made a fool of himself." Ignas grumbled as Adelaide became annoyed with his taunting. That was what he wanted, anyways, so he seemed to be enjoying himself greatly upon discovering how touchy this topic was for her.

"I did not make a fool of myself. She was more interested in Adelaide, anyways."

As they pulled up to the front door of the motel, even Isen could tell that it was a far cry from the one that he stayed in before, and even that hadn't been the most luxurious of places. It seemed cheap, a little rundown. "Are you sure this is the place?" He asked her, out of concern not for his own comfort but for Adelaide's. Could she even properly rest in a place like this?

"Do it. Use the spell. See how well you fair without me."

"That won't be necessary. We're going to need all hands on deck, even the most annoying ones...Adelaide, do you require me to speak to the worker again? It seemed to have worked last time."
 
"It'll be fine." She'd managed to survive the last room they'd been in overnight, and she had a walking, talking furnace she could pin down beneath the sheets again if she needed to warm up. Wait, no, that sounded so incredibly wrong. "It's a motel, it's probably dirt cheap, so that's good enough for me. It's not like anything here can kill you." She chose to ignore Ignas now, as they entered the front door, glancing over at Isen and shaking her head.

"I don't think we'll have the same luck this time around." Not if her assessment of the male clerk was anywhere near correct. From the lack of uniform to the way he was clicking away on his phone behind the counter, she doubted he cared about much of anything outside of the meager paycheck that he probably collected there. "I'll just shell out the money, and deal with it later. Need to figure out if there are spells to just make money, or if I need to do some sort of illusion or.. Or.. Whatever." She huffed as they reached the counter, standing there for several seconds before she reached out and set her hand down on the little bell atop the counter.

"We need a room." Adelaide bit back a smirk at the way the clerk jumped and nearly dropped his phone, fumbling and catching it before setting it on the counter with a weary sigh.

"One or two beds?"

"One's fine." It wasn't like she hadn't already shared one with Isen before, and there wasn't any reason to pay for an extra bed he wouldn't use without her demand. "Just one, whatever's available." The clerk grunted and shifted off his stool, moving around to snatch a dinged up key off a cork board and thrust it toward them.

"Check out is at 8am sharp, so be here with the key then." He went back to clicking away on his phone without even offering up what the price might be, and Adelaide stepped back with a look of disgust before shrugging at Isen.

"Guess that works." She checked the number on the key before shuffling off down the hallway, reaching the room and seeing that the door opened without even needing the key. "That's... Well, I guess it's a good thing you don't need to sleep, and have super hearing, cause if we're staying here tonight.." She sighed and stepped inside to dump her bags, sitting on the edge of the bed and groaning.

"We need a plan before we do this shit."
 
Isen wasn't exactly sure how he had managed to charm them into a free room last time but he was at least willing to try and do it again if she had wanted him to. Adelaide, however, dismissed the idea and decided to handle things the old fashioned way. With the state of the place, it probably wasn't that expensive anyways, they couldn't be making much money. If anything, they were probably one of their only customers.

The door to their room opened rather easily, he had hardly even seen Adelaide enter the key. That was when he realized that it probably wasn't locked to begin with and likely wasn't going to anyways. Isen hardly expected they'd have much company but with a place as run down as this, who really knew what type of patrons or interest it might drum up, so it was a good thing he would be with Adelaide to keep her safe. Not that she needed it. She was capable. But yet, the protective thought crossed his mind regardless.

"Are you sure your things are going to be safe here while we're gone?" He asked, noting the state of the door and the unkept nature of their dingy little motel room.

"The plan is to find the source of the magic and take it with us." Ignas interjected. Isen immediately shot that down.

"No. If we take it, it's only to get it far away from them. Maybe we could bring it back to Samara or something."

"Oh, you would like an excuse to see her again, wouldn't you."

"It's not like we have many allies or friends." Isen responded, in turn, expecting the push back before he had even finished the sentence. "We need to use what we have available to us, including her."

"It doesn't matter. You're not getting anywhere near that place anyways. You're both drenched in dark magic, anyone worth a damn in that place will notice right away. They probably have security systems dedicated solely to this sort of thing and going in without me, or without the ring, would be suicide."

"Wait, what if we could?"

"Did you not just hear what I said?"

"I heard you but it gave me a better idea. She isn't getting that ring off any time soon but I can leave you outside, with her, and then I can go in myself. I can take a look around, see if I can figure out a way to get you both in safely."

"You are the last person who should be walking in to a place like that. Look at you! Besides, the dark magic is inside of your body, idiot. They're still going to pick up on it and even if they didn't, you'd need to change your appearance completely. You're on their hit list after what happened last time."

Isen looked towards Adelaide, curiously. "Well, what if she could do something about that? If Samara can make Dissonants look like humans..."
 
"No idea, hope so. Doubt many people will be visiting this place anyway." Adelaide muttered under her breath with a look of disgust. Beggars couldn't be choosers, but still, the condition of the place was.. Less than ideal.

"Isen, what the hell are you talking about?" Honestly, he wasn't that dumb, was he? She completely ignored the commentary about Samara once she caught wind of what else he was saying, and she shook her head with a frown. Obviously, going in by himself wouldn't kill him thanks to Ignas, but it woul make things a lot more difficult, and then it would leave her to drag the demon to his body so he could recover and then cut down their enemies. It all seemed like too much work, and far too dangerous.

"I hate to agree with the demon, but he's right." She grimaced in clear distaste of the situation, and the way that Isen was looking at her made her suddenly feel self conscious. Why was he staring at her like that? She couldn't replicate Samara's spell that had been used on the Lycan since she had been in contact with it before being gifted the ability to imprint on magic.

"I can't give you some magic watch to make you look like a fancy businessman or whoever they'd let walk through the doors there. I guess we could try to clean you up a bit, but even then I doubt any of your clothes in the bag are business attire..." Nor could she afford to buy him a high end outfit, but perhaps they could steal one..

"We can go to the store and get you one, though. Means you'll probably have to give up the clothes you're wearing now, or maybe I could buy something small so we have a bag to stuff them in after I get you in proper clothes.." Well, either way, they needed to go to the store and sneak out with some new things, so that at least solved that problem.

"You'll have to wear sunglasses when you go into the facility though, if you want to fool them. I can give you a makeover with clothes, and brush your hair out, but I can't change the color of your eyes that easily."
 
"A make over?" Ignas asked, barely keeping himself together. The thought must have been incredibly humorous to him and for good reason. "You may as well put a dress and corset on him as well and call it a day."

"You're not planning on doing that, right?" He asked Adelaide for clarification, a sudden look of worry coming across his features before she further explained what she had in mind.

"I only need to be in there long enough to find a way to sneak you in as well. And it's not like there's any real danger, this is one of those times where not being able to die is a good thing."

"Don't you mean all of the time? If you're willing to risk this, why even bother? We could just go in head first and kill every single last one of them before they even knew what hit them. That's what will happen if you get caught anyways, isn't it?"

"...the second we do that, we'd have the entire DSTF breathing down our necks and, unless you forgot, even though I can't die, Adelaide doesn't have that luxury. She's powerful, more so now than before, but she's not invincible and you've seen what they do with mages and people who can use magic. They already got their hands on her once, I will not allow it to happen a second time." There was a hint of protectiveness behind that sentiment as he glanced over at her again with determination.

"Ah, I see. That's what this whole thing is about, isn't it? You don't want her going in there because you don't want her to get captured again. How chivalrous. I guess you just have a thing for witches, huh?"

"...this is the only way that makes sense. Let's go find what we need."
 
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