{"submission_id":"857518","keywords":[{"keyword_id":"743","keyword_name":"adventure","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"2920"},{"keyword_id":"6701","keyword_name":"changeling","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"3032"},{"keyword_id":"44319","keyword_name":"contemporary","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"101"},{"keyword_id":"10159","keyword_name":"cyclops","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"379"},{"keyword_id":"1979","keyword_name":"fae","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"307"},{"keyword_id":"11376","keyword_name":"faerie","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"284"},{"keyword_id":"2602","keyword_name":"fairy","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"2015"},{"keyword_id":"2193","keyword_name":"fantasy","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"11602"},{"keyword_id":"123","keyword_name":"female","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"519918"},{"keyword_id":"112296","keyword_name":"garuda","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"51"},{"keyword_id":"1440","keyword_name":"human","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"46907"},{"keyword_id":"191","keyword_name":"magic","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"11599"},{"keyword_id":"165","keyword_name":"male","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"639918"},{"keyword_id":"3313","keyword_name":"monkey","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"4908"},{"keyword_id":"250462","keyword_name":"superantural","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"1"}],"hidden":"f","scraps":"f","favorite":"f","favorites_count":"0","create_datetime":"2015-05-24 06:32:17.405113+02","create_datetime_usertime":"24 May 2015 06:32 CEST","last_file_update_datetime":"2015-05-24 06:28:25.026576+02","last_file_update_datetime_usertime":"24 May 2015 06:28 CEST","username":"Simoni","user_id":"279733","user_icon_file_name":"75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_large":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_medium":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_small":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","file_name":"1165741_Simoni_a_summer_blizzard.doc","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1165/1165741_Simoni_a_summer_blizzard.doc","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1165/1165741_Simoni_a_summer_blizzard.doc","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1165/1165741_Simoni_a_summer_blizzard.doc","files":[{"file_id":"1165741","file_name":"1165741_Simoni_a_summer_blizzard.doc","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1165/1165741_Simoni_a_summer_blizzard.doc","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1165/1165741_Simoni_a_summer_blizzard.doc","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1165/1165741_Simoni_a_summer_blizzard.doc","mimetype":"application/msword","submission_id":"857518","user_id":"279733","submission_file_order":"0","full_size_x":null,"full_size_y":null,"screen_size_x":null,"screen_size_y":null,"preview_size_x":null,"preview_size_y":null,"initial_file_md5":"7052a26e70be94a698cda09b312d6eae","full_file_md5":"7052a26e70be94a698cda09b312d6eae","large_file_md5":"","small_file_md5":"","thumbnail_md5":"","deleted":"f","create_datetime":"2015-05-24 06:28:25.026576+02","create_datetime_usertime":"24 May 2015 06:28 CEST"}],"pools":[],"description":"So, turns out our Texan Hexslinger is actually related to one of the True Fae, way way way back in her family anyways.\n\nGot a bit of a glimpse of Stephy's abilities at their fullest here too. As I said in the story, glamour is emotion and magic mixed into one. If he was actually in the snow rather than in one of Summer's freeholds its quite possible he could have frozen the entire place solid, but he had to expend a lot of his own power just overcoming the aura of Summer filling the place.\n\nEither way, Stephy has come a long way from the shy quiet boy he was when he was introduced in the series. Its funny how a character can evolve on their own like this really...\n\nNow all that's left is that other shoe to drop that Simoni mentioned... I wonder what it could be...\n\nDUN DUN DUUUUUUUUN!","description_bbcode_parsed":"So, turns out our Texan Hexslinger is actually related to one of the True Fae, way way way back in her family anyways.
Got a bit of a glimpse of Stephy's abilities at their fullest here too. As I said in the story, glamour is emotion and magic mixed into one. If he was actually in the snow rather than in one of Summer's freeholds its quite possible he could have frozen the entire place solid, but he had to expend a lot of his own power just overcoming the aura of Summer filling the place.
Either way, Stephy has come a long way from the shy quiet boy he was when he was introduced in the series. Its funny how a character can evolve on their own like this really...
Now all that's left is that other shoe to drop that Simoni mentioned... I wonder what it could be...
DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUN!","writing":"Its a warm day in England, close to summertime now. On the outskirts of a small village in the county of Dorset there's an old church, barely more than an ancient and moldering building that the old folks tell stories about. They say that the priest who used to live there way way back in the day when their own grandparents were small children went mad one day, began to perform pagan rituals and to talk to the fairies and spirits of the earth and land. Those old folk, who know such things, will warn their children to never go into the church after nightfall, because those who do vanish and, when they return, IF they return, they're not the people they once were. They have animalistic habits, or skin cold as ice, or are prone to odd habits or obsessions, or (some whisper) aren't really them at all but things made out of shadows and twigs and bits of stuff, made by the fair folk to hide their kidnapping from the victim's loved ones...\n\n... it would probably shock those people to find that the half-rotted and old confessional in the church had suddenly started to shake and tremble that evening, as childlike voices could be heard from within it...\n\n\"OW! Hey! Arja watch it! That's my ear!\"\n\n\"Stop squirming! STOP DAMMIT! I think the door rusted shut or something!\"\n\n\"Stupid... hang on, maybe if we all push at once...\"\n\nThe door protested, groaned, and finally with a loud crash the handle fell free from the ancient wood as a tall woman and several young boys and girls fell out of the narrow box onto the stones of the church. Simoni sat up first, wincing and rubbing her shoulder which had landed harshly on the stones. \"Owww... wish Sera would have warned us where the gateway would drop us off...\" she grumbles as Stephy sits up and adjusts his glasses, \"Yeah, mom loves her pranks...\" he sighs, \"Still, we're here. Lets find these Iron Spike jerks.\" he frowns, still fuming that Trixie had been snatched right from under his nose (though given that it was also from right under the noses of the entire Summer Court there wasn't much he could have done).\n\nSammi wiggles to get Drusilla off his back as he climbs up to his feet, dusting his clothes off, \"Lovely, deposited right into a dirty old church…\" he pouts a bit. On the way there he had changed into more 'official' clothing for the mission, an ice blue tunic that looked like it was made of lightly twinkling silk, with black pants that had the occasional flash of aurora borealis style rainbows as the light catches them. \"Alright, she said the entrance to the freehold was nearby.\" he nods. \n\nA Freehold was the name for fae homes and, in many cases, entire communities that hid among the mortal world rather than Arcadia. They were wide and varied in style, with no real 'rules' about them as a whole aside from what their leadership set.\n\nStephy nods, wearing a long snow-white gown that twinkled when the light hit it, looking like it was made literally from fresh fallen snow in wintertime. If he stood still enough you'd actually think he was standing in a snowdrift. \"Right. So the plan is we go in there, say 'give us back Trixie', and if they say no then I freeze the blood in their bodies, we take her back, and damn the consequences.\" he nods firmly.\n\nSimoni eyeballs him as she scoots closer to Arja, fingering her own armband. She'd known Stephy since they were toddlers, heck they'd almost grown up together right up until Arja decided she wanted a ginger playmate (funny how that turns out) and seeing her formerly meek and quiet cousin acting like this seemed to somewhat disturb her. In contrast to Sammi and Stephy's hedgespun outfits she was dressed in, well, normal clothing. A green teeshirt, blue denim shorts, and sandals, along with her sleevless long black coat with the wing pattern embroidered on the back.\n\nSammi rubs Stephy's back soothingly, \"Oooor, we negotiate with them and if things go sour from THERE we start freezing. This is delicate work Stephy, even rebel factions are part of the courts, the Summers may not like them but despite what the clown said if we just start making ice statutes grandma will be feeling the repercussions in some way.\" Arja just smirks a bit, rather liking this side of Stephy as she rubs Simoni's back, wearing a green shirt of her own and a pair of black shorts with sneakers, Dru following behind them, on the lookout for any traps or tricks, wearing a black shirt with jeans as her boots crunch through the fallen flora around them. \"Hm, gate should be right around here\" Sammi says, walking to the back of the church where it looks like the old priestly quarters were.\n\nStephy sighs at Sammi, taking a deep breath before nodding reluctantly. \"Yeah yeah, I know... I'm just worried.\" he grumbles. Their outfits definitely would stand out if they ran across any mundanes (there was always the possibility that a homeless squatter could be in the church or something), but fae clothing was disguised from mundane eyes. Even if a non-magic using human would see them they'd only see a boy in a blue shirt and black jogging shorts and a 'girl' in an elegant (but completely normal) white dress.\n\n\"So, if they do start something, will we need to help?\" asks Simoni, snuggling into Arja as the two follow behind Sammi and Stephy. She didn't like having to wear the strange magic-hiding bracelet as it meant being cut off from her own magic, even if it was only temporary... but at the same time she didn't want to risk Franklin finding out they were there. After all that had happened he was bound to be getting desperate, and he wouldn't pass up a chance to fight them head on, even with Drusilla and Alice there.\n\nSammi nods, \"I've never dealt with this group before but Summer Court is the most martial court we have, if they start something it may be legitimately dangerous.\" After a bit of searching Sammi turns to the others and grins, \"There we go!\" he says, walking into the dilapidated living quarters, pushing a rug aside, and revealing a shockingly clean looking trap door made of white wood, \"Ladies first?\" he teases Stephy, seeming much more calm than his brother about the situation.\n\nStephy frowns, ice forming on his fingernails. He and Sammi didn't have those wristbands on themselves, after all they were fae and it was highly unlikely that Franklin's men could tell one fairy from another. They had to keep the targets that he knew under the radar and that meant Simoni and Arja.\n\nAt the sight of Stephy's nails frosting over Simoni steps forward, \"How about Arja and I go first? A couple of currently powerless girls might give a better impression than the adoptive 'daughter' of a fae ice queen who appears to be hanging onto patience by his teeth.\" she says, giving a meaningful look to Sammi. It may be best to save the teasing until after the rescue operation is over...\n\nSammi nods, \"Fair enough…\" he replies as Arja opens the trap door, revealing a rather long, dark, drop with no ladder, \"Well, if you hear a crunch avenge me I guess.\" she shrugs before jumping in, the group hearing... nothing at all as she vanishes.\n\nSimoni glances down into it... then at Stephy and Sammi, then shrugs. \"Well, I've done dumber things.\" she shrugs, \"Allez-oop!\" she giggles, hopping into the shadowy opening as, one by one, the others follow her and Arja in.\n\nSammi nods, taking Stephy's hand and giving it a squeeze before hopping in too, Dru bringing up the rear (leading with a giant-kin, even a young one, was a pretty aggressive move after all...). When the group lands, their bodies gently hit against soft, warm, grass, slightly damp from what feels like fresh rain. The air was warm, not hot, but just enough warmness and humidity to make the ice fae uncomfortable. That was another reason Sammi hasn't had much contact with the summer fae, their domains were basically polar opposites. Sera's had nice cool breezes even at its warmest, but this hot air made members of the winter court uncomfortable, just as their own cold air made summer court members shiver... \"Alright,\" he nods, already wiping some sweat off his forehead, \"Already starting off fun\". In front of them was one path, a well maintained cobblestone road leading into a large forest. \"Gee, wonder where we go?\"\n\nSimoni doesn't seem to mind it but, well, after living in India this was practically mild. Stephy on the other hand was already muttering under his breath and sweating, though he was ignoring it as he immediately started off down the cobbled path, his ice-like shoes clicking along the stones as they left small frosty shoeprints that evaporated almost instantly in the summery warmth.\n\nArja giggles happily, \"Nice place.\" she grins before looking back at the fae, \"Oh, right, sorry guys…\" she mutters sheepishly. Sammi just huffs softly, pulling a small folding fan from his pocket, handing it over to Stephy before getting another for himself, \"Now when we get there be careful, Summer Fae are very into tradition, even the younger more rebellious types still believe in honoring the old rites and customs, just not as stuffy about it. When we get there Stephy and I will announce ourselves and introduce you guys as our guests, otherwise they'll think they're being invaded or something...\" he says as he walks, the sound of instruments coming down the road after a bit, string instruments and horns playing a rather upbeat tune.\n\nSimoni nods, \"Um, maybe you should do it...\" she whispers to Sammi as Stephy marches along the path towards the sound of the music. \"I don't think Stephy is in the right mindset to be diplomatic right now.\" she nods. Stephy does seem rather more... fae-ish for lack of a better term. His skin had gone much more pale than usual, his eyes were turning a frosty blue, and his hair was almost white. The changes had started the night they'd visited Unilop's shop, but seemed to have gone further along the longer he'd had to focus on Trixie's kidnapping. Simoni would even swear his ears were pointier now, like he'd started going from changeling to a fae himself out of sheer anger.\n\nSammi nods, \"Fair enough, I can handle intro-\" he pauses as a crossbow bolt from above embeds itself in the ground between cobblestones, the head of it looking like it was made of polished, shining, ruby.\n \"Oi!\" a thick cockney accent calls from the trees as the bolt seems to vanish in a small gout of flame from the head. \"Next one's goin right in the ol thick n' thin, who the 'ell are yas?\" it snarls. Sammi just sighs in response, already reaching out to put a hand on Stephy's shoulder to hold him back, \"Samuel D'orleans Montebank, heir of queen Sera of the throne of winter's fury. This is my brother... Stephy, same title don't make me repeat it again. You took his lover and we're here to negotiate.\"\n\nThere's a pause before a snicker comes from the trees above \"That's a brother isit?\"\n\nStephy gazes up icily into the tree branches as Simoni murmurs, \"Sometimes we wonder about that ourselves...\" before Stephy shakes Sammi's hand off and steps forward, \"Yes, it is, and I would very much like to see my lover who was taken, rather abruptly, into your care at a circus in Tokyo the past evening. Right. Now.\" he replies in the direction of the voice, his breath misting as it comes out and the cobbles icing over around his feet. \"Her name is Trixie. Where is she?\"\n\nThere's another pause before the voice speaks again \"Alright alright, no need to get all frosty.\" A shuffling comes from above the group before a girl looking...well a lot like Trixie actually, maybe a year or so younger, hops down, her long blonde hair and blue eyes standing out compared to her heavy accent. She's dressed in black leathers, on the back of her shirt was a symbol in red, what looked like a railroad spike being driven through a rose's stem. \"I'll take ya to em, mum's gotta give ya the ol butcher's before she lets ya in the 'ouse then ya can see Trixie, she's perfectly fine. We're not fuckin animals ya know.\"\n\nStephy frowns at her, though he does calm down upon seeing what could basically be described as 'Trixe, cockney version'. \"Oh, sure. Thats why you just snatched her away at the circus rather than, say, come up to the people she was with and tell them 'oi, we alls gonna take yer lass home ta meet me mum'.\" he retorts, folding his arms over his chest. He's still not happy, oh goodness he's not happy. A few small insects had buzzed too close to him and were now on the ground, flash frozen, because of how not happy he was.\n\nThe girl just shrugs, \"It ain't kidnappin if it's family.\" she replies matter-of-factly, leading the group down the path \"Besides, we do that and maybe ya say no, we been hearin you type have been causin a real bit of Barney Rubble around the isles thanks to your little feud with the Fullmoons. Which, hey, we're all for, but you're not exactly welcome sights here in a lot of places, folks just not wantin to get involved in a war like that.\" Dru just blinks softly as the girl speaks rapidly, \"She's talking english, right? I'm not losing my mind?\" she asks as Sammi just sighs softly, rubbing his head, \"Cockneys, Dru, imagine if hillbillies had their own mini-language as well.\" he explains as the changeling girl frowns, \"Oh yea, you got that French boy charm huh goldie?\"\n\nSimoni smirks a bit at that, unable to stop from letting out a bit of a giggle. She's able to understand the girl fairly well, but then she grew up with Harry Potter, Monty Python, and such so she's used to hearing that sort of accent. Still, Stephy looks about ready to 'build a snowman' out of the girl as he follows behind her. \"Oh sure. So why did you take her in the first place?\" he frowns, \"Just wanted her to come visit for a spot of tea?\" he sneers, his eyes flashing an icy blue.\n\nThe girl laughs softly \"Lil bit, always fun to meet that side of the family, ‘specially since so few of ‘em actually use their gifts anymore. We made a deal back when they first split that we wouldn' be 'convertin' any of them over to our side or the like, so the only way we really can meet ‘em is if they learn magic. But yea, we had a favor to ask her, hey you can help too now that you're all so eager to get Trix back.\" she teases, leading the group through the woods to what looks like a very large bunch of buildings, like someone had carved out a segment of Victorian age London and deposited it in the middle of a large field. Multiple large apartment buildings were packed together, there were even shops, obviously a pub put nice and prominent. It was a little slice of life from a past era, like many Fae territories, but more... modern... in a way. \"Oh, joy, you pine for the days when people were throwing shit in the streets and smog was covering your city...\" Sammi sneers, the girl frowning, \"Ah right, because ancient France was a real meetin’ of the minds eh\"\n\nSimoni sighs and nudges them both in the arm, \"Ever seen the Ganges? Calm down already. We've already got one fae an inch from making ice sculptures.\" she frowns at her and Sammi as Stephy marches along through the streets, nose in the air like some noblewoman who can't be bothered with all the commoners. It'd probably be amusing if he wasn't quite prepared to give someone a sudden and extreme case of frostbite if they made a joke about it right now.\n\nSammi huffs a bit, Arja just giggling softly, \"Yea compared to home this is pretty normal really…\" she teases, Dru frowning a bit at the tight spaces and such, but squeezing through as the group are led through a back alley to a rear door of a building, \"Mum's inside, try to keep the comments to a minimum yea, she's not as friendly as me with Winter types, especially snooty Frenchies.\" she teases, opening the door to reveal a massive factory floor, not active though. Currently the machines and work stations were pushed against the walls, exposing the large main floor for the set of tables and chairs spread around. A fairly sizable group of other fae, most of them blonde and blue eyed like Trixie, milling around, some drinking and playing cards, a few were talking in hushed tones over papers, some were even in the corner tuning up instruments to get ready to start playing again. From above, on the catwalk, a young woman walks slowly around, supervising people at work. She was wearing a white leather jacket with the same symbol the younger girl had, this time in gold, on the back, over a red blouse and black pants. Her hair was long and blonde, braided in a single rope that went down to her lower back, bouncing as she walks on her flat black boots. \"Guess that's 'mum'?\" Sammi asks, already walking to the stairs up as the girl nods.\n\nStephy follows right behind him, lips tight and eyes narrow as it seems it's taking every ounce of willpower to not just ice the place and be done with it, Simoni and the others following along behind him... a good ways behind him just incase. It pays to be out of what one might consider the blast radius if something does set Stephy off right now. \"So, um, why did you guys take Trixie anyways?\" she asks the girl in a low voice, trying not to be heard by the angry fae infront of her.\n\n\"Like I said.\" the girl whispers back, \"Needed a favor from her, and didn't want her sayin’ no.\" she replies cryptically, really not intending that to sound rather threatening as the group walks. The woman keeps her eyes on the factory floor as they walk closer, but as they do Sammi and Stephy start to feel the woman's true nature radiating from her. She was a true fae just like Sera, glamour almost shimmering around her as she moves, leaving faint afterimages in her wake. It was hard to judge exact 'levels', once someone was a true fae it was more an issue of 'them vs not them' than anything, but she certainly felt as powerful as Sera did... The woman holds a hand up to stop the group a few paces away. \"Fae only.\" she says calmly, the same cockney accent, but less rapid than the younger girl. \"Your girls can stay on the floor with the others, feel free to make yourselves at home.\"\n\nSimoni shrugs, but doesn't complain, rather eager to be back away from Stephy at the moment as she heads back down away from the woman. Stephy on the other hand meets her gaze head on, seeming to not really care if she's true fae, changeling, or a ren faire performer. She has Trixie, he wants Trixie, everything else is just details at the moment. Still, he does at least keep enough self-control to not shoot his mouth off, glancing at Sammi and nodding at his brother, letting him know that the introductions are up to him.\n\nSammi nods, bowing at the waist to the woman, \"Samuel D'Orleans Montebank, of lady Sera's court of winter's fury. My brother, Stephan D'Orleans Montebank.\" he pauses a bit at that, eyes glancing to his brother at that, they really hadn't decided what his proper name would be thanks to the whole fae adoption thing, but unlike outside this was a situation that called for more formal introductions than just 'Stephy'. \"You, or an agent acting in your employ, took my brother's lover from a summer court festival, we're here to formally request her back, or I'll be forced to invoke my rights as heir to my grandmother's throne and declare this a blood feud until her release. Despite my brother's anger I truly do not want to do that, it would be costly for both our families, and I believe we've all lost far too much to far greater woes to spill our blood over an issue of pride.\" Sammi... actually sounded fairly official here, for once the fae wasn't teasing or joking. Perhaps it was a bit of a bad omen, though, when even Sammi is taking a possible danger seriously.\n\nPerhaps it was, but either way it was a pretty apt thing to say with Stephy quite prepared to send the entire from the Victorian Age to the Ice Age if he didn't get her back. He bows politely... icily, chillingly, politely... when his brother introduces him, but doesn't smile or anything even remotely friendly otherwise.\n\nDown with the other changelings Simoni lets out a sigh of relief to be away from the scene upstairs. \"Jeez... I have -never- seen him like this, like, ever... I mean I knew he and Trixie were close but, sheesh... This is practically something I'd expect out of you if I got kidnapped...\" she says, nodding to Arja. \"I knew becoming Fae had changed him, but... wow.\" she shakes her head.\n\nThe woman just nods slightly, acknowledging their introduction, \"Alright then, that's out of the way.\" she says, eyes drifting over them, \"You winter types are so stiff and emotionless, did ya read that from a card, 'Samuel'?\" she sneers before settling her gaze on Stephy, \"Well is what he says true? Are you angry enough to start a war over this? Get people killed, deal with the repercussions, drive a wedge forever between our courts? Or was that just winter talk to sound more official?\"\n\nStephy tilts his head at that, \"Hm... let me put it this way. All my life I had to deal with myself and the people I cared about get hurt because I didn't think I had any power at all to stop them.\" he replies, remembering his father, when he was forced away from Alice, and the abuse he suffered as a child in general, \"Then, I met my brother Samuel and got adopted into his family. Now, I have the power to protect those I care for... and what I say is this...\" he replies, then suddenly the temperature in the factory drops by a good fourty degrees as his skin turns so white that it's almost translucent. Frost and snow swirl around him as his eyes turn pure glassy white as if they'd been replaced by twin balls of ice the catwalk suddenly caked in ice and snow as stormclouds form along the roof of the building, a sudden downpour of hail falling from them as Stephy lets go of all the anger, emotion, and glamour he'd been holding back all at once. When he speaks again his voice sounds totally inhuman, like a howling gale in a winter storm, \"YOU took someone from me. Someone who I hold dear above ALL others, and you WILL return her RIGHT NOW or I swear, as child of Lady Sera I will show you EXACTLY WHAT THE FURY OF WINTER MEANS!\" he replies, floating off the floor as snow and ice billow about him. \"NOW. RETURN HER TO ME OR I WILL FREEZE YOUR HEART WITHIN YOUR CHEST, BURY YOUR LANDS UNDER SNOW AND ICE, AND LEAVE THIS ENTIRE FREEHOLD A FROZEN WASTELAND!\" he snarls.\n\nMagic is fueled, in part, by emotions… but Glamour is more than just magic empowered by emotion, it IS emotion, and right now Stephy is a very angry fae. His lover was snatched right from under his nose by a group of renegade fae without so much as a ‘we’re just going to borrow her for a bit’, taken halfway across the world to a land right next door to Clan Fullmoon’s territory, and right now Stephy was livid with rage, pulling on the full force of his adopted heritage. Perhaps he could make good on his threats, or perhaps it was a bluff, but either way he was quite prepared to try to make good on such words...\n\nSomewhere over China, in an airplane owned by the Barjar family, Dawn suddenly shivers in her seat and glances at Nelen, \"I sense chaos and, for once, I'm glad I'm not there for it...\" she mrowls.\n\nThe woman remains calm in the face of Stephy's threat, though people on the floor do react, most reacting by running the hell away to a corner of the floor far from Stephy, some reaching down for their weapons just in case, but are quickly stopped by the woman raising a hand at them and motioning them to join the others, a small smirk breaking across her face, \"Well, one of them has emotions at least…\" she says softly, nodding down to the floor, \"Well? Go get Trix, this one's pretty serious and I'm fairly sure his brother will let him start freezing people soon!\" she snaps as Sammi nods in response, his eyes on his brother, \"Yeah… to be honest I've never seen him like this and it's kinda great.\" he comments in a bemused tone as the girl who brought them vanishes into a nearby door.\n\nStephy slowly lowers back down to the catwalk, though the ice and snow still swirl about him as he glares up at the woman, \"And, may I suggest that next time you want a 'favor' from one of my friends... you at least announce that you would like to speak to them BEFORE taking them away.\" he replies, his words coming out with a cloud of frost.\n\nDown below Simoni is clinging to Arja, half for warmth and half out of shock at the sudden outburst of both emotion and extreme cold. It had sounded very little like the Stephy she knew and everything like a powerful and extremely angry fae to her. \"... I think I peed a little...\" she whimpers, her eyes wide as she looks up towards the catwalk, \"Seriously... we need to get him to do that again next time Clan Fullmoon starts something...\"\n\nThe woman nods, \"Noted, I wouldn' have acted like this if it wasn't important though.\" she says, chuckling a bit as the girl comes back, leading Trixie to the stairs. Trixie had been dressed in the same black leathers the other girl was wearing, the same symbol on the back too as she smiles to Stephy, making her way over to him to give him a big hug \"My hero, hm?\" she coos softly, kissing him lightly, not seeming to mind the fact that he was still ice cold.\n\nAt the sight of her however the room warms very quickly, Stephy pulling Trixie into a hug as he blushes a bit, seeming to return to his usual self now that he knows Trixie is safe and well. He spends several long moments holding her, kissing, and so on, then turns back to the fae woman and says, \"Yeah yeah, important favor and all that... now, I need... hell, I demand to know exactly WHAT was so important that you had to snatch her from halfway across the damn planet.\" he says, another puff of frosty breath showing that, while he has calmed down and gone back to 'effeminate changeling' that the whole 'fury of winter' dealie could very easily return.\n\nThe woman sighs softly, making a hand motion as some of her subjects bring the group stools to sit on \"Every fae, changeling or not, has a story. Tell me about you two's and I'll explain what the favor is.\" She says in a soft tone \"Trust me, this is important, I need you to understand why this is so important.\"\n\nStephy frowns, still angry at the woman, but able to control his emotions now that Trixie is back... so he does as she asks, taking a seat and explaining how his life was back when he was still human, how he met Trixie when she saved him from his tormentors at school, how she basically became his sort of 'knight' in a way (well, if he's dressed like a princess, why not?), and then the meeting with Arja and the others and their life together after she helped him discover his powers and he helped her when she gained her own magic, and how she even came to rescue him when he got captured by a true fae (even if it turned out to not be that big a problem). \"... and ever since then I've been a part of Sammi's family.\" he says, holding Trixie's hand the whole time he was talking.\n\nShe nods softly, eyes drifting to Sammi, \"And you? What about the heir's story?\" \n\nSammi just frowns a bit at her question, \"I was born fae, mom's side. That was easy.\" he says, the woman shaking her head in response, gesturing for more, \"Come on, even us proper fae have stories. It must have been hard on your dad, right? It's one thing when your wife is a perfect little French fairy but when there's a kid, when the politics start playing... we don't belong in the mundane world, try as we might we just don't, especially our kids. How many times did you just blink out of your crib, or nearly freeze up a bully? How long before your mum decided it was best for you to stay in Arcadia for a while... And how long did that last?\"\n\nSammi tenses visibly at that, eyes narrowing as he glares at the fae woman, \"Alright, you made your point, very good, I spent my early years as a freak and an outcast. I was sent to my grandmother's domain where I was a political pawn, and even after I got out and was able to make a nice, if a bit transient, life for myself I got dragged back in because despite how much I hated every second of my past it's still my blood duty. You've solved the grand mystery of the same damn history most every mixed blood fae child has.\" he growls. This time it was Sammi's breath that came out in soft wisps of vapor, the first time he's actually lost composure in front of others.\n\n\"My point, my reluctant lord, is that identity is important, and family is important. Halfblood, changeling, or true, these things remain a constant in all of our lives, it's the way of things for our people.\" She continues in the same tone as before Sammi's outburst. \"Do you understand this, Stephy?\" she says, eyes moving back to the other boy.\n\nStephy glares right back at her, \"Yes. I do. Trixie may as well be family to me. Its why I came all the way to England and threatened your entire freehold to get her back.\" he replies, pulling Trixie close to him again. \"Now, I've asked twice and I will not ask again. Why was she brought here and what did you need her to do for you so badly that you couldn't even let me or any of her friends know that she'd been taken?\" he asks, with an edge to his voice that says if he doesn't get a response that Very Bad Things will happen.\n\nThe woman chuckles softly, \"Hold on hold on, I thought winter types were supposed to be patient.\" she says, \"Now let me tell you my story, and you'll understand the favor.\" she nods, moving her jacket off of her right side, revealing her arm as her blouse seems to have that sleeve torn off. All along it were deep gashes, scarred over and burned that looked like someone took some kind of super-heated blade to her... or a blade that would become super-heated with contact to a fae’s blood… She’d been attacked with iron in the past, and still bore the scars of it. \"I won't bore you with my entire life, that's much too long to get into, I'll talk about recent history. Trix told me that you're friendly with a hunter, a Roche? I know that family, good group, fitting you started to develop on your own at one of their knees. Not every hunter family is as noble, as you know well.\" she sighs, pausing a moment to nod at Stephy \"I got my scars about three centuries back, a hunter clan ambushed me with iron weapons on the orders of one of my rivals from Arcadia. They killed everyone who was with me... many of them were my own blood... and left me horribly scarred, and crippled in this arm.\" it became apparent as she says that that all her hand gestures before this were done with her left arm, the right, as it was now, just hung at her side...\n\n\"That's when I started the Iron Spike, when I saw that iron could cripple even a true fae like myself in the right hands. I turned my pain and anger and sorrow and I turned it on the oppressors in Arcadia, the true Fae who view this world as their toy, who enslave and brutalize fae and mortal alike. You can understand this feeling, can't you Stephy?\"\n\nStephy tilts his head, still keeping up his icy facade, but his expression had flickered when her arm was exposed... just for a moment. \"Mm... Not the exact same, but yeah. Fullmoon's goal isn't enslavement so much as genocide.\" he nods slowly, \"So, you needed Trixie to, what, strike out at one of the True Fae or the descendants of those who hunted your family?\" he asks, sounding a bit... well... unconvinced. \"Why exactly? You have your own private army here from what I saw. What difference would one huckster, skilled as she is, make?\"\n\nThe woman shakes her head at that, looking a bit sad that it seems her point was lost \"No, nothing like that. This is a larger problem... I admit, this wasn't my proudest moment, but aside from genuinely wanting to meet the American side of my family, Trixie was not part of my plan proper... I need you two, lords of winter, to help me... Tell me, in the short time you've known about the Iron Spike, what has been the general tone used about us?\" she asks.\n\nStephy blinks, slowly, then takes off his glasses and rubs at his eyes for a moment, \"... you... kidnapped her... because you wanted our help.\" he says, its hard to tell if he sounds angry or amused by this, \"Honestly? The general tone used about you was that you're a militia that wants to attack the true fae, same as any other militia really. The specific tone I’ve gotten from this is that you guys operate on the most BROKEN sense of logic I've ever seen, and I live with a Wonderlander!\" he replies, putting his glasses back on and staring at her, \"You need the help of myself and my brother... so in order to get our attention you, instead of... I don't know... telling me you're Trixie's relatives and you need help to which my reply would have been 'If Trixie's family needs help then I'm all for it', you kidnap her without telling me where she's gone, why she was taken, or who took her.\" he glares at her, \"You do realize I was quite prepared to start freezing your people to death if it meant I'd get her back, right?\"\n\nSammi sighs, leaning forward to rest his head in his hands as he winces, \"She's not as dumb as you're thinking…\" he mutters through his fingers, \"Winter and summer don't get along, and grandmother isn't exactly a friend of the summer court...\" he explains as she nods at that. \"Forgive me, Stephy, but I genuinely didn't think you would say yes until after Trix explained about you. I'm used to dealing with this one…\" she frowns, giving a nod to Sammi as he sighs again, louder. \"Great, thanks for that…\" he winces, apparently he did know this group after all...\n\nStephy glances in Sammi's direction and says icily, \"We are going to have a talk about this when it's all over brother dear...\" then turns his attention back to the fae woman, \"Alright then. You need my help, you're Trixie's relatives, and she's unhurt and safe. Start talking and I'll decide if I'm not still angry enough to play Snow Meiser.\" he says, raising an eyebrow at her.\n\nThe woman nods, \"It's as I've been explaining to this one the past few times we've met. My group is branded as some kinda terrorist sect in the court because our roots don't go as far back as some of the other 'crusader' orders, and we don't spend our time pretending somehow our version of killin folks is noble and grand because we dress up fancy when we do it. If, though, we had an advocate, especially one from a court that traditionally doesn't even like the normal Summer types let alone us radicals, like your grandmother for example, to speak on the fact that we're not some kinda mad bombers goin all Gert and Daisy on anyone who passes by...\" she nods. Sammi lets out an almost pained groan at her words however, \"Oh yea like kidnapping a mortal to use as bait for other fae nobles, one of whom was a minute away from causing a damn civil war! Nothing crazy about that no no noooo.\"\n\nThe woman frowns at him, \"If maybe you even brought this offer up to your grandmother before we'd be more inclined to consider that your new brother was the more open minded type!\" she snaps angrily, making Sammi sit up and retort, \"Do be sure to mention one of your first attacks on a true fae holding, that thing where you shoved a bunch of iron nails in a glass jar, apparently not aware that the iron would make the GLASS JAR too hot to hold, and nearly dropped your entire 'armory' over your own floors. Can you imagine the damage that would have done? You're not freedom fighters you're trying to bring our equivalent of nuclear weapons into Arcadia and you don't even know how they work!\" \n\nThe woman just huffs loudly, \"We're using the only weapons that have even a chance of hurting these things. For fuck's sake I'm as true as the next one and even I'm not completely sure how to fight them, but we can't just hole up in our castles and pray that things like their wild hunts become less common as they, I don't know, randomly decide to grow empathy for the lesser fae and mortals?\"\n\nThe two begin to argue at that, apparently this was indeed an old argument...\n\nStephy sighs and leans back in his chair, letting Sammi and the woman go at it. \"This is fae politics?\" he mutters, \"No wonder Sammi was in mortal terror of being dragged back to visit his grandmother.\" he sits up as he says that. \"Guys? Hey, um... you two? Hello?\" he frowns, then conjures up a baseball sized hunk of hail above each of their heads and lets gravity kick in, \"HEY!\" he yells, getting their attention finally. \"Question. Lets say you do manage to go charging into Arcadia and take down a true fae overlord...\" he says, \"Last I checked, when one of the true fae dies, another of their house simply takes not only their place, but whatever aspect of Arcadia they embody... basically becoming them. So, um, even if you do manage this... would it actually do anything?\" he asks her.\n\nThe woman sighs at that \"No, which is exactly WHY we need support of the court proper. The Summer Court has a lot of scholars in combating true fae, if we can combine our fighters with their knowledge maybe we CAN find a way. Right now none of them will work with a buncha’ radicals.\" she sighs softly, looking between the boys as she rubs her head. \"Has lady Sera's lands been hit by the hunt yet?\" she asks, Sammi shaking his head to answer. \"No... they hit one of her friends, though, lot of casualties...\" he looks down at that, sighing as the fae woman continues, \"They rode through our freehold about three months ago... killed a couple of my daughters, captured a lot more... we're refugees, Sam, I was burned by iron, the fae I've brought into my holding are folks who escaped their keepers without anywhere to go to... we're scared, is that what you wanted to hear? We're scared, and we're tired of losing, every day we're losing, and we pretend we're not with our parties and our games, but really we're just trying to make our last days more comfortable. A long time ago the lines were drawn, some of us, like your grandmother, stood with the lower fae, and much much more stood against them. All we want is to make this not a complete slaughter...\"\n\nSammi takes in a breath at that, leaning back and looking at the roof, \"You realize this won't exactly endear us with the summer leadership, grandmother has the clout to force your way to legitimacy but that will be it, save for you and yours we'll be burning the few bridges we have left with the leaders... of this court.\" he looks over to Stephy at that, as if looking for council from his brother.\n\nStephy shrugs, \"I don't suppose it could hurt to suggest it to her... but I don't know what good it'd do. I mean, you might be able to defeat one of the lords, maybe a couple... but I think if you did their reaction would be less 'oh dear these people mean business, perhaps we should be nicer to the mundanes and the changelings' and more 'those little ingrates threaten us? We'll show them!' and you'll get the hunt targeting you next.\" he replies, standing up. \"I'm willing to stare down one fae lord if it means saving my friend, but if you start attacking them with iron then they won't just stand for it. I may not know any of the other lords personally, but I know enough about them to know any insult is something they will reply to with violent force, especially an insult like that.\"\n\nSammi sighs a bit, \"We don't need them to be nice to us, we need them to understand we're not easy to beat. Through all our history the power dynamic has been pretty clear, true fae can do what they want to lesser fae because they don't have the power to stop them... I'm not saying I think it's a great idea but maybe if a couple of them got disfigured... no offence,\" he adds to the woman, \"… they'll figure out that we're not easy targets. When a fae is burned by iron its like they become... radioactive. They're ousted from their holdings and lose their titles. It's an ancient taboo, the lords think that those touched by iron are bound somehow to those who used it, like a hunter can just come traipsing through the hedge after quarry they've branded...\n\nStephy nods, \"Fair enough. Like I said though, we'll suggest it to Sera and see if we can't arrange something between you two so you can at least talk about it...\" he glances at Sammi, \"... Stop making that face, we're going to do this.\" he sighs, then looks back to her, \"But... well... just be sure you know what you're getting into. I mean, you guys took something that was dear to me...\" he grins wickedly, his appearance suddenly becoming much more menacing and icy as his eyes flash white again, \"... and I was all set to freeze you from the inside out...\" he sneers, then snaps back to normal, \"... and I'm not even a true fae, though... after today I'm beginning to wonder just how close I'm getting...\" he shrugs. \n\n\"For now, I think we can consider this matter closed. We'll get in contact with our grandmother and arrange a meeting but it'll be up to you to convince her to support you.\" he nods, \"Trixie, are you ready to go?\" he asks.\n\nTrixie nods, snugging Stephy again, \"They were very nice to me actually, we should come back another time when things are less.... ya know... angry…\" she replies, looking to Sammi who was still frowning a bit. The woman nods, smiling softly, \"Thank you, both of you, I'm sorry again for my trick but this means more than you know for you to give us this chance.\"\n\nStephy nods and heads downstairs with Sammi and Trixie in tow, Simoni letting out a small eep when he appears before relaxing as Trixie shows up. She figures if she's here then it's less likely that they're about to see him go Fimbulwinter on everything. The group finds their way back out to the mundane world as they head back towards the entrance to Arcadia. \"Well, that was interesting...\" mutters Stephy, \"Trixie, Sammi? Are any of them still watching us?\" he asks.\n\nSammi takes a sly peek back, shaking his head, \"Nah we're clear.\"\n\nStephy nods, \"Good. Thats good.\" he replies... right before his eyes roll back in their sockets and he collapses onto the floor, silvery blood trickling out of both his nostrils and ears. He’d used every ounce of glamour he’d been storing, putting all his rage behind it, and in a freehold held by Summer. It’s a wonder he hadn’t collapsed sooner really.\n\nSammi sighs, scooping Stephy up, \"Dumbass…\" he whispers, Trixie just smirking softly as she rubs his back, \"He makes a pretty good knight in shining armor too…\" she says softly, kissing his cheek.\n\nSimoni winces, \"More like a warrior princess Trixie, but still... Lets just get out of here. Nelen said he'd meet us at this Inn next town over.\" she nods as the group leaves the old church, the moon having already risen high up over the landscape. \"Still... could've gone worse. At least we didn't have to fight anything this time.\" she nods, \"Its weird, its kinda like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop now.\" she shrugs, deciding to let it go as they all wander off into the night.","writing_bbcode_parsed":"Its a warm day in England, close to summertime now. On the outskirts of a small village in the county of Dorset there's an old church, barely more than an ancient and moldering building that the old folks tell stories about. They say that the priest who used to live there way way back in the day when their own grandparents were small children went mad one day, began to perform pagan rituals and to talk to the fairies and spirits of the earth and land. Those old folk, who know such things, will warn their children to never go into the church after nightfall, because those who do vanish and, when they return, IF they return, they're not the people they once were. They have animalistic habits, or skin cold as ice, or are prone to odd habits or obsessions, or (some whisper) aren't really them at all but things made out of shadows and twigs and bits of stuff, made by the fair folk to hide their kidnapping from the victim's loved ones...
... it would probably shock those people to find that the half-rotted and old confessional in the church had suddenly started to shake and tremble that evening, as childlike voices could be heard from within it...
"OW! Hey! Arja watch it! That's my ear!"
"Stop squirming! STOP DAMMIT! I think the door rusted shut or something!"
"Stupid... hang on, maybe if we all push at once..."
The door protested, groaned, and finally with a loud crash the handle fell free from the ancient wood as a tall woman and several young boys and girls fell out of the narrow box onto the stones of the church. Simoni sat up first, wincing and rubbing her shoulder which had landed harshly on the stones. "Owww... wish Sera would have warned us where the gateway would drop us off..." she grumbles as Stephy sits up and adjusts his glasses, "Yeah, mom loves her pranks..." he sighs, "Still, we're here. Lets find these Iron Spike jerks." he frowns, still fuming that Trixie had been snatched right from under his nose (though given that it was also from right under the noses of the entire Summer Court there wasn't much he could have done).
Sammi wiggles to get Drusilla off his back as he climbs up to his feet, dusting his clothes off, "Lovely, deposited right into a dirty old church…" he pouts a bit. On the way there he had changed into more 'official' clothing for the mission, an ice blue tunic that looked like it was made of lightly twinkling silk, with black pants that had the occasional flash of aurora borealis style rainbows as the light catches them. "Alright, she said the entrance to the freehold was nearby." he nods.
A Freehold was the name for fae homes and, in many cases, entire communities that hid among the mortal world rather than Arcadia. They were wide and varied in style, with no real 'rules' about them as a whole aside from what their leadership set.
Stephy nods, wearing a long snow-white gown that twinkled when the light hit it, looking like it was made literally from fresh fallen snow in wintertime. If he stood still enough you'd actually think he was standing in a snowdrift. "Right. So the plan is we go in there, say 'give us back Trixie', and if they say no then I freeze the blood in their bodies, we take her back, and damn the consequences." he nods firmly.
Simoni eyeballs him as she scoots closer to Arja, fingering her own armband. She'd known Stephy since they were toddlers, heck they'd almost grown up together right up until Arja decided she wanted a ginger playmate (funny how that turns out) and seeing her formerly meek and quiet cousin acting like this seemed to somewhat disturb her. In contrast to Sammi and Stephy's hedgespun outfits she was dressed in, well, normal clothing. A green teeshirt, blue denim shorts, and sandals, along with her sleevless long black coat with the wing pattern embroidered on the back.
Sammi rubs Stephy's back soothingly, "Oooor, we negotiate with them and if things go sour from THERE we start freezing. This is delicate work Stephy, even rebel factions are part of the courts, the Summers may not like them but despite what the clown said if we just start making ice statutes grandma will be feeling the repercussions in some way." Arja just smirks a bit, rather liking this side of Stephy as she rubs Simoni's back, wearing a green shirt of her own and a pair of black shorts with sneakers, Dru following behind them, on the lookout for any traps or tricks, wearing a black shirt with jeans as her boots crunch through the fallen flora around them. "Hm, gate should be right around here" Sammi says, walking to the back of the church where it looks like the old priestly quarters were.
Stephy sighs at Sammi, taking a deep breath before nodding reluctantly. "Yeah yeah, I know... I'm just worried." he grumbles. Their outfits definitely would stand out if they ran across any mundanes (there was always the possibility that a homeless squatter could be in the church or something), but fae clothing was disguised from mundane eyes. Even if a non-magic using human would see them they'd only see a boy in a blue shirt and black jogging shorts and a 'girl' in an elegant (but completely normal) white dress.
"So, if they do start something, will we need to help?" asks Simoni, snuggling into Arja as the two follow behind Sammi and Stephy. She didn't like having to wear the strange magic-hiding bracelet as it meant being cut off from her own magic, even if it was only temporary... but at the same time she didn't want to risk Franklin finding out they were there. After all that had happened he was bound to be getting desperate, and he wouldn't pass up a chance to fight them head on, even with Drusilla and Alice there.
Sammi nods, "I've never dealt with this group before but Summer Court is the most martial court we have, if they start something it may be legitimately dangerous." After a bit of searching Sammi turns to the others and grins, "There we go!" he says, walking into the dilapidated living quarters, pushing a rug aside, and revealing a shockingly clean looking trap door made of white wood, "Ladies first?" he teases Stephy, seeming much more calm than his brother about the situation.
Stephy frowns, ice forming on his fingernails. He and Sammi didn't have those wristbands on themselves, after all they were fae and it was highly unlikely that Franklin's men could tell one fairy from another. They had to keep the targets that he knew under the radar and that meant Simoni and Arja.
At the sight of Stephy's nails frosting over Simoni steps forward, "How about Arja and I go first? A couple of currently powerless girls might give a better impression than the adoptive 'daughter' of a fae ice queen who appears to be hanging onto patience by his teeth." she says, giving a meaningful look to Sammi. It may be best to save the teasing until after the rescue operation is over...
Sammi nods, "Fair enough…" he replies as Arja opens the trap door, revealing a rather long, dark, drop with no ladder, "Well, if you hear a crunch avenge me I guess." she shrugs before jumping in, the group hearing... nothing at all as she vanishes.
Simoni glances down into it... then at Stephy and Sammi, then shrugs. "Well, I've done dumber things." she shrugs, "Allez-oop!" she giggles, hopping into the shadowy opening as, one by one, the others follow her and Arja in.
Sammi nods, taking Stephy's hand and giving it a squeeze before hopping in too, Dru bringing up the rear (leading with a giant-kin, even a young one, was a pretty aggressive move after all...). When the group lands, their bodies gently hit against soft, warm, grass, slightly damp from what feels like fresh rain. The air was warm, not hot, but just enough warmness and humidity to make the ice fae uncomfortable. That was another reason Sammi hasn't had much contact with the summer fae, their domains were basically polar opposites. Sera's had nice cool breezes even at its warmest, but this hot air made members of the winter court uncomfortable, just as their own cold air made summer court members shiver... "Alright," he nods, already wiping some sweat off his forehead, "Already starting off fun". In front of them was one path, a well maintained cobblestone road leading into a large forest. "Gee, wonder where we go?"
Simoni doesn't seem to mind it but, well, after living in India this was practically mild. Stephy on the other hand was already muttering under his breath and sweating, though he was ignoring it as he immediately started off down the cobbled path, his ice-like shoes clicking along the stones as they left small frosty shoeprints that evaporated almost instantly in the summery warmth.
Arja giggles happily, "Nice place." she grins before looking back at the fae, "Oh, right, sorry guys…" she mutters sheepishly. Sammi just huffs softly, pulling a small folding fan from his pocket, handing it over to Stephy before getting another for himself, "Now when we get there be careful, Summer Fae are very into tradition, even the younger more rebellious types still believe in honoring the old rites and customs, just not as stuffy about it. When we get there Stephy and I will announce ourselves and introduce you guys as our guests, otherwise they'll think they're being invaded or something..." he says as he walks, the sound of instruments coming down the road after a bit, string instruments and horns playing a rather upbeat tune.
Simoni nods, "Um, maybe you should do it..." she whispers to Sammi as Stephy marches along the path towards the sound of the music. "I don't think Stephy is in the right mindset to be diplomatic right now." she nods. Stephy does seem rather more... fae-ish for lack of a better term. His skin had gone much more pale than usual, his eyes were turning a frosty blue, and his hair was almost white. The changes had started the night they'd visited Unilop's shop, but seemed to have gone further along the longer he'd had to focus on Trixie's kidnapping. Simoni would even swear his ears were pointier now, like he'd started going from changeling to a fae himself out of sheer anger.
Sammi nods, "Fair enough, I can handle intro-" he pauses as a crossbow bolt from above embeds itself in the ground between cobblestones, the head of it looking like it was made of polished, shining, ruby.
"Oi!" a thick cockney accent calls from the trees as the bolt seems to vanish in a small gout of flame from the head. "Next one's goin right in the ol thick n' thin, who the 'ell are yas?" it snarls. Sammi just sighs in response, already reaching out to put a hand on Stephy's shoulder to hold him back, "Samuel D'orleans Montebank, heir of queen Sera of the throne of winter's fury. This is my brother... Stephy, same title don't make me repeat it again. You took his lover and we're here to negotiate."
There's a pause before a snicker comes from the trees above "That's a brother isit?"
Stephy gazes up icily into the tree branches as Simoni murmurs, "Sometimes we wonder about that ourselves..." before Stephy shakes Sammi's hand off and steps forward, "Yes, it is, and I would very much like to see my lover who was taken, rather abruptly, into your care at a circus in Tokyo the past evening. Right. Now." he replies in the direction of the voice, his breath misting as it comes out and the cobbles icing over around his feet. "Her name is Trixie. Where is she?"
There's another pause before the voice speaks again "Alright alright, no need to get all frosty." A shuffling comes from above the group before a girl looking...well a lot like Trixie actually, maybe a year or so younger, hops down, her long blonde hair and blue eyes standing out compared to her heavy accent. She's dressed in black leathers, on the back of her shirt was a symbol in red, what looked like a railroad spike being driven through a rose's stem. "I'll take ya to em, mum's gotta give ya the ol butcher's before she lets ya in the 'ouse then ya can see Trixie, she's perfectly fine. We're not fuckin animals ya know."
Stephy frowns at her, though he does calm down upon seeing what could basically be described as 'Trixe, cockney version'. "Oh, sure. Thats why you just snatched her away at the circus rather than, say, come up to the people she was with and tell them 'oi, we alls gonna take yer lass home ta meet me mum'." he retorts, folding his arms over his chest. He's still not happy, oh goodness he's not happy. A few small insects had buzzed too close to him and were now on the ground, flash frozen, because of how not happy he was.
The girl just shrugs, "It ain't kidnappin if it's family." she replies matter-of-factly, leading the group down the path "Besides, we do that and maybe ya say no, we been hearin you type have been causin a real bit of Barney Rubble around the isles thanks to your little feud with the Fullmoons. Which, hey, we're all for, but you're not exactly welcome sights here in a lot of places, folks just not wantin to get involved in a war like that." Dru just blinks softly as the girl speaks rapidly, "She's talking english, right? I'm not losing my mind?" she asks as Sammi just sighs softly, rubbing his head, "Cockneys, Dru, imagine if hillbillies had their own mini-language as well." he explains as the changeling girl frowns, "Oh yea, you got that French boy charm huh goldie?"
Simoni smirks a bit at that, unable to stop from letting out a bit of a giggle. She's able to understand the girl fairly well, but then she grew up with Harry Potter, Monty Python, and such so she's used to hearing that sort of accent. Still, Stephy looks about ready to 'build a snowman' out of the girl as he follows behind her. "Oh sure. So why did you take her in the first place?" he frowns, "Just wanted her to come visit for a spot of tea?" he sneers, his eyes flashing an icy blue.
The girl laughs softly "Lil bit, always fun to meet that side of the family, ‘specially since so few of ‘em actually use their gifts anymore. We made a deal back when they first split that we wouldn' be 'convertin' any of them over to our side or the like, so the only way we really can meet ‘em is if they learn magic. But yea, we had a favor to ask her, hey you can help too now that you're all so eager to get Trix back." she teases, leading the group through the woods to what looks like a very large bunch of buildings, like someone had carved out a segment of Victorian age London and deposited it in the middle of a large field. Multiple large apartment buildings were packed together, there were even shops, obviously a pub put nice and prominent. It was a little slice of life from a past era, like many Fae territories, but more... modern... in a way. "Oh, joy, you pine for the days when people were throwing shit in the streets and smog was covering your city..." Sammi sneers, the girl frowning, "Ah right, because ancient France was a real meetin’ of the minds eh"
Simoni sighs and nudges them both in the arm, "Ever seen the Ganges? Calm down already. We've already got one fae an inch from making ice sculptures." she frowns at her and Sammi as Stephy marches along through the streets, nose in the air like some noblewoman who can't be bothered with all the commoners. It'd probably be amusing if he wasn't quite prepared to give someone a sudden and extreme case of frostbite if they made a joke about it right now.
Sammi huffs a bit, Arja just giggling softly, "Yea compared to home this is pretty normal really…" she teases, Dru frowning a bit at the tight spaces and such, but squeezing through as the group are led through a back alley to a rear door of a building, "Mum's inside, try to keep the comments to a minimum yea, she's not as friendly as me with Winter types, especially snooty Frenchies." she teases, opening the door to reveal a massive factory floor, not active though. Currently the machines and work stations were pushed against the walls, exposing the large main floor for the set of tables and chairs spread around. A fairly sizable group of other fae, most of them blonde and blue eyed like Trixie, milling around, some drinking and playing cards, a few were talking in hushed tones over papers, some were even in the corner tuning up instruments to get ready to start playing again. From above, on the catwalk, a young woman walks slowly around, supervising people at work. She was wearing a white leather jacket with the same symbol the younger girl had, this time in gold, on the back, over a red blouse and black pants. Her hair was long and blonde, braided in a single rope that went down to her lower back, bouncing as she walks on her flat black boots. "Guess that's 'mum'?" Sammi asks, already walking to the stairs up as the girl nods.
Stephy follows right behind him, lips tight and eyes narrow as it seems it's taking every ounce of willpower to not just ice the place and be done with it, Simoni and the others following along behind him... a good ways behind him just incase. It pays to be out of what one might consider the blast radius if something does set Stephy off right now. "So, um, why did you guys take Trixie anyways?" she asks the girl in a low voice, trying not to be heard by the angry fae infront of her.
"Like I said." the girl whispers back, "Needed a favor from her, and didn't want her sayin’ no." she replies cryptically, really not intending that to sound rather threatening as the group walks. The woman keeps her eyes on the factory floor as they walk closer, but as they do Sammi and Stephy start to feel the woman's true nature radiating from her. She was a true fae just like Sera, glamour almost shimmering around her as she moves, leaving faint afterimages in her wake. It was hard to judge exact 'levels', once someone was a true fae it was more an issue of 'them vs not them' than anything, but she certainly felt as powerful as Sera did... The woman holds a hand up to stop the group a few paces away. "Fae only." she says calmly, the same cockney accent, but less rapid than the younger girl. "Your girls can stay on the floor with the others, feel free to make yourselves at home."
Simoni shrugs, but doesn't complain, rather eager to be back away from Stephy at the moment as she heads back down away from the woman. Stephy on the other hand meets her gaze head on, seeming to not really care if she's true fae, changeling, or a ren faire performer. She has Trixie, he wants Trixie, everything else is just details at the moment. Still, he does at least keep enough self-control to not shoot his mouth off, glancing at Sammi and nodding at his brother, letting him know that the introductions are up to him.
Sammi nods, bowing at the waist to the woman, "Samuel D'Orleans Montebank, of lady Sera's court of winter's fury. My brother, Stephan D'Orleans Montebank." he pauses a bit at that, eyes glancing to his brother at that, they really hadn't decided what his proper name would be thanks to the whole fae adoption thing, but unlike outside this was a situation that called for more formal introductions than just 'Stephy'. "You, or an agent acting in your employ, took my brother's lover from a summer court festival, we're here to formally request her back, or I'll be forced to invoke my rights as heir to my grandmother's throne and declare this a blood feud until her release. Despite my brother's anger I truly do not want to do that, it would be costly for both our families, and I believe we've all lost far too much to far greater woes to spill our blood over an issue of pride." Sammi... actually sounded fairly official here, for once the fae wasn't teasing or joking. Perhaps it was a bit of a bad omen, though, when even Sammi is taking a possible danger seriously.
Perhaps it was, but either way it was a pretty apt thing to say with Stephy quite prepared to send the entire from the Victorian Age to the Ice Age if he didn't get her back. He bows politely... icily, chillingly, politely... when his brother introduces him, but doesn't smile or anything even remotely friendly otherwise.
Down with the other changelings Simoni lets out a sigh of relief to be away from the scene upstairs. "Jeez... I have -never- seen him like this, like, ever... I mean I knew he and Trixie were close but, sheesh... This is practically something I'd expect out of you if I got kidnapped..." she says, nodding to Arja. "I knew becoming Fae had changed him, but... wow." she shakes her head.
The woman just nods slightly, acknowledging their introduction, "Alright then, that's out of the way." she says, eyes drifting over them, "You winter types are so stiff and emotionless, did ya read that from a card, 'Samuel'?" she sneers before settling her gaze on Stephy, "Well is what he says true? Are you angry enough to start a war over this? Get people killed, deal with the repercussions, drive a wedge forever between our courts? Or was that just winter talk to sound more official?"
Stephy tilts his head at that, "Hm... let me put it this way. All my life I had to deal with myself and the people I cared about get hurt because I didn't think I had any power at all to stop them." he replies, remembering his father, when he was forced away from Alice, and the abuse he suffered as a child in general, "Then, I met my brother Samuel and got adopted into his family. Now, I have the power to protect those I care for... and what I say is this..." he replies, then suddenly the temperature in the factory drops by a good fourty degrees as his skin turns so white that it's almost translucent. Frost and snow swirl around him as his eyes turn pure glassy white as if they'd been replaced by twin balls of ice the catwalk suddenly caked in ice and snow as stormclouds form along the roof of the building, a sudden downpour of hail falling from them as Stephy lets go of all the anger, emotion, and glamour he'd been holding back all at once. When he speaks again his voice sounds totally inhuman, like a howling gale in a winter storm, "YOU took someone from me. Someone who I hold dear above ALL others, and you WILL return her RIGHT NOW or I swear, as child of Lady Sera I will show you EXACTLY WHAT THE FURY OF WINTER MEANS!" he replies, floating off the floor as snow and ice billow about him. "NOW. RETURN HER TO ME OR I WILL FREEZE YOUR HEART WITHIN YOUR CHEST, BURY YOUR LANDS UNDER SNOW AND ICE, AND LEAVE THIS ENTIRE FREEHOLD A FROZEN WASTELAND!" he snarls.
Magic is fueled, in part, by emotions… but Glamour is more than just magic empowered by emotion, it IS emotion, and right now Stephy is a very angry fae. His lover was snatched right from under his nose by a group of renegade fae without so much as a ‘we’re just going to borrow her for a bit’, taken halfway across the world to a land right next door to Clan Fullmoon’s territory, and right now Stephy was livid with rage, pulling on the full force of his adopted heritage. Perhaps he could make good on his threats, or perhaps it was a bluff, but either way he was quite prepared to try to make good on such words...
Somewhere over China, in an airplane owned by the Barjar family, Dawn suddenly shivers in her seat and glances at Nelen, "I sense chaos and, for once, I'm glad I'm not there for it..." she mrowls.
The woman remains calm in the face of Stephy's threat, though people on the floor do react, most reacting by running the hell away to a corner of the floor far from Stephy, some reaching down for their weapons just in case, but are quickly stopped by the woman raising a hand at them and motioning them to join the others, a small smirk breaking across her face, "Well, one of them has emotions at least…" she says softly, nodding down to the floor, "Well? Go get Trix, this one's pretty serious and I'm fairly sure his brother will let him start freezing people soon!" she snaps as Sammi nods in response, his eyes on his brother, "Yeah… to be honest I've never seen him like this and it's kinda great." he comments in a bemused tone as the girl who brought them vanishes into a nearby door.
Stephy slowly lowers back down to the catwalk, though the ice and snow still swirl about him as he glares up at the woman, "And, may I suggest that next time you want a 'favor' from one of my friends... you at least announce that you would like to speak to them BEFORE taking them away." he replies, his words coming out with a cloud of frost.
Down below Simoni is clinging to Arja, half for warmth and half out of shock at the sudden outburst of both emotion and extreme cold. It had sounded very little like the Stephy she knew and everything like a powerful and extremely angry fae to her. "... I think I peed a little..." she whimpers, her eyes wide as she looks up towards the catwalk, "Seriously... we need to get him to do that again next time Clan Fullmoon starts something..."
The woman nods, "Noted, I wouldn' have acted like this if it wasn't important though." she says, chuckling a bit as the girl comes back, leading Trixie to the stairs. Trixie had been dressed in the same black leathers the other girl was wearing, the same symbol on the back too as she smiles to Stephy, making her way over to him to give him a big hug "My hero, hm?" she coos softly, kissing him lightly, not seeming to mind the fact that he was still ice cold.
At the sight of her however the room warms very quickly, Stephy pulling Trixie into a hug as he blushes a bit, seeming to return to his usual self now that he knows Trixie is safe and well. He spends several long moments holding her, kissing, and so on, then turns back to the fae woman and says, "Yeah yeah, important favor and all that... now, I need... hell, I demand to know exactly WHAT was so important that you had to snatch her from halfway across the damn planet." he says, another puff of frosty breath showing that, while he has calmed down and gone back to 'effeminate changeling' that the whole 'fury of winter' dealie could very easily return.
The woman sighs softly, making a hand motion as some of her subjects bring the group stools to sit on "Every fae, changeling or not, has a story. Tell me about you two's and I'll explain what the favor is." She says in a soft tone "Trust me, this is important, I need you to understand why this is so important."
Stephy frowns, still angry at the woman, but able to control his emotions now that Trixie is back... so he does as she asks, taking a seat and explaining how his life was back when he was still human, how he met Trixie when she saved him from his tormentors at school, how she basically became his sort of 'knight' in a way (well, if he's dressed like a princess, why not?), and then the meeting with Arja and the others and their life together after she helped him discover his powers and he helped her when she gained her own magic, and how she even came to rescue him when he got captured by a true fae (even if it turned out to not be that big a problem). "... and ever since then I've been a part of Sammi's family." he says, holding Trixie's hand the whole time he was talking.
She nods softly, eyes drifting to Sammi, "And you? What about the heir's story?"
Sammi just frowns a bit at her question, "I was born fae, mom's side. That was easy." he says, the woman shaking her head in response, gesturing for more, "Come on, even us proper fae have stories. It must have been hard on your dad, right? It's one thing when your wife is a perfect little French fairy but when there's a kid, when the politics start playing... we don't belong in the mundane world, try as we might we just don't, especially our kids. How many times did you just blink out of your crib, or nearly freeze up a bully? How long before your mum decided it was best for you to stay in Arcadia for a while... And how long did that last?"
Sammi tenses visibly at that, eyes narrowing as he glares at the fae woman, "Alright, you made your point, very good, I spent my early years as a freak and an outcast. I was sent to my grandmother's domain where I was a political pawn, and even after I got out and was able to make a nice, if a bit transient, life for myself I got dragged back in because despite how much I hated every second of my past it's still my blood duty. You've solved the grand mystery of the same damn history most every mixed blood fae child has." he growls. This time it was Sammi's breath that came out in soft wisps of vapor, the first time he's actually lost composure in front of others.
"My point, my reluctant lord, is that identity is important, and family is important. Halfblood, changeling, or true, these things remain a constant in all of our lives, it's the way of things for our people." She continues in the same tone as before Sammi's outburst. "Do you understand this, Stephy?" she says, eyes moving back to the other boy.
Stephy glares right back at her, "Yes. I do. Trixie may as well be family to me. Its why I came all the way to England and threatened your entire freehold to get her back." he replies, pulling Trixie close to him again. "Now, I've asked twice and I will not ask again. Why was she brought here and what did you need her to do for you so badly that you couldn't even let me or any of her friends know that she'd been taken?" he asks, with an edge to his voice that says if he doesn't get a response that Very Bad Things will happen.
The woman chuckles softly, "Hold on hold on, I thought winter types were supposed to be patient." she says, "Now let me tell you my story, and you'll understand the favor." she nods, moving her jacket off of her right side, revealing her arm as her blouse seems to have that sleeve torn off. All along it were deep gashes, scarred over and burned that looked like someone took some kind of super-heated blade to her... or a blade that would become super-heated with contact to a fae’s blood… She’d been attacked with iron in the past, and still bore the scars of it. "I won't bore you with my entire life, that's much too long to get into, I'll talk about recent history. Trix told me that you're friendly with a hunter, a Roche? I know that family, good group, fitting you started to develop on your own at one of their knees. Not every hunter family is as noble, as you know well." she sighs, pausing a moment to nod at Stephy "I got my scars about three centuries back, a hunter clan ambushed me with iron weapons on the orders of one of my rivals from Arcadia. They killed everyone who was with me... many of them were my own blood... and left me horribly scarred, and crippled in this arm." it became apparent as she says that that all her hand gestures before this were done with her left arm, the right, as it was now, just hung at her side...
"That's when I started the Iron Spike, when I saw that iron could cripple even a true fae like myself in the right hands. I turned my pain and anger and sorrow and I turned it on the oppressors in Arcadia, the true Fae who view this world as their toy, who enslave and brutalize fae and mortal alike. You can understand this feeling, can't you Stephy?"
Stephy tilts his head, still keeping up his icy facade, but his expression had flickered when her arm was exposed... just for a moment. "Mm... Not the exact same, but yeah. Fullmoon's goal isn't enslavement so much as genocide." he nods slowly, "So, you needed Trixie to, what, strike out at one of the True Fae or the descendants of those who hunted your family?" he asks, sounding a bit... well... unconvinced. "Why exactly? You have your own private army here from what I saw. What difference would one huckster, skilled as she is, make?"
The woman shakes her head at that, looking a bit sad that it seems her point was lost "No, nothing like that. This is a larger problem... I admit, this wasn't my proudest moment, but aside from genuinely wanting to meet the American side of my family, Trixie was not part of my plan proper... I need you two, lords of winter, to help me... Tell me, in the short time you've known about the Iron Spike, what has been the general tone used about us?" she asks.
Stephy blinks, slowly, then takes off his glasses and rubs at his eyes for a moment, "... you... kidnapped her... because you wanted our help." he says, its hard to tell if he sounds angry or amused by this, "Honestly? The general tone used about you was that you're a militia that wants to attack the true fae, same as any other militia really. The specific tone I’ve gotten from this is that you guys operate on the most BROKEN sense of logic I've ever seen, and I live with a Wonderlander!" he replies, putting his glasses back on and staring at her, "You need the help of myself and my brother... so in order to get our attention you, instead of... I don't know... telling me you're Trixie's relatives and you need help to which my reply would have been 'If Trixie's family needs help then I'm all for it', you kidnap her without telling me where she's gone, why she was taken, or who took her." he glares at her, "You do realize I was quite prepared to start freezing your people to death if it meant I'd get her back, right?"
Sammi sighs, leaning forward to rest his head in his hands as he winces, "She's not as dumb as you're thinking…" he mutters through his fingers, "Winter and summer don't get along, and grandmother isn't exactly a friend of the summer court..." he explains as she nods at that. "Forgive me, Stephy, but I genuinely didn't think you would say yes until after Trix explained about you. I'm used to dealing with this one…" she frowns, giving a nod to Sammi as he sighs again, louder. "Great, thanks for that…" he winces, apparently he did know this group after all...
Stephy glances in Sammi's direction and says icily, "We are going to have a talk about this when it's all over brother dear..." then turns his attention back to the fae woman, "Alright then. You need my help, you're Trixie's relatives, and she's unhurt and safe. Start talking and I'll decide if I'm not still angry enough to play Snow Meiser." he says, raising an eyebrow at her.
The woman nods, "It's as I've been explaining to this one the past few times we've met. My group is branded as some kinda terrorist sect in the court because our roots don't go as far back as some of the other 'crusader' orders, and we don't spend our time pretending somehow our version of killin folks is noble and grand because we dress up fancy when we do it. If, though, we had an advocate, especially one from a court that traditionally doesn't even like the normal Summer types let alone us radicals, like your grandmother for example, to speak on the fact that we're not some kinda mad bombers goin all Gert and Daisy on anyone who passes by..." she nods. Sammi lets out an almost pained groan at her words however, "Oh yea like kidnapping a mortal to use as bait for other fae nobles, one of whom was a minute away from causing a damn civil war! Nothing crazy about that no no noooo."
The woman frowns at him, "If maybe you even brought this offer up to your grandmother before we'd be more inclined to consider that your new brother was the more open minded type!" she snaps angrily, making Sammi sit up and retort, "Do be sure to mention one of your first attacks on a true fae holding, that thing where you shoved a bunch of iron nails in a glass jar, apparently not aware that the iron would make the GLASS JAR too hot to hold, and nearly dropped your entire 'armory' over your own floors. Can you imagine the damage that would have done? You're not freedom fighters you're trying to bring our equivalent of nuclear weapons into Arcadia and you don't even know how they work!"
The woman just huffs loudly, "We're using the only weapons that have even a chance of hurting these things. For fuck's sake I'm as true as the next one and even I'm not completely sure how to fight them, but we can't just hole up in our castles and pray that things like their wild hunts become less common as they, I don't know, randomly decide to grow empathy for the lesser fae and mortals?"
The two begin to argue at that, apparently this was indeed an old argument...
Stephy sighs and leans back in his chair, letting Sammi and the woman go at it. "This is fae politics?" he mutters, "No wonder Sammi was in mortal terror of being dragged back to visit his grandmother." he sits up as he says that. "Guys? Hey, um... you two? Hello?" he frowns, then conjures up a baseball sized hunk of hail above each of their heads and lets gravity kick in, "HEY!" he yells, getting their attention finally. "Question. Lets say you do manage to go charging into Arcadia and take down a true fae overlord..." he says, "Last I checked, when one of the true fae dies, another of their house simply takes not only their place, but whatever aspect of Arcadia they embody... basically becoming them. So, um, even if you do manage this... would it actually do anything?" he asks her.
The woman sighs at that "No, which is exactly WHY we need support of the court proper. The Summer Court has a lot of scholars in combating true fae, if we can combine our fighters with their knowledge maybe we CAN find a way. Right now none of them will work with a buncha’ radicals." she sighs softly, looking between the boys as she rubs her head. "Has lady Sera's lands been hit by the hunt yet?" she asks, Sammi shaking his head to answer. "No... they hit one of her friends, though, lot of casualties..." he looks down at that, sighing as the fae woman continues, "They rode through our freehold about three months ago... killed a couple of my daughters, captured a lot more... we're refugees, Sam, I was burned by iron, the fae I've brought into my holding are folks who escaped their keepers without anywhere to go to... we're scared, is that what you wanted to hear? We're scared, and we're tired of losing, every day we're losing, and we pretend we're not with our parties and our games, but really we're just trying to make our last days more comfortable. A long time ago the lines were drawn, some of us, like your grandmother, stood with the lower fae, and much much more stood against them. All we want is to make this not a complete slaughter..."
Sammi takes in a breath at that, leaning back and looking at the roof, "You realize this won't exactly endear us with the summer leadership, grandmother has the clout to force your way to legitimacy but that will be it, save for you and yours we'll be burning the few bridges we have left with the leaders... of this court." he looks over to Stephy at that, as if looking for council from his brother.
Stephy shrugs, "I don't suppose it could hurt to suggest it to her... but I don't know what good it'd do. I mean, you might be able to defeat one of the lords, maybe a couple... but I think if you did their reaction would be less 'oh dear these people mean business, perhaps we should be nicer to the mundanes and the changelings' and more 'those little ingrates threaten us? We'll show them!' and you'll get the hunt targeting you next." he replies, standing up. "I'm willing to stare down one fae lord if it means saving my friend, but if you start attacking them with iron then they won't just stand for it. I may not know any of the other lords personally, but I know enough about them to know any insult is something they will reply to with violent force, especially an insult like that."
Sammi sighs a bit, "We don't need them to be nice to us, we need them to understand we're not easy to beat. Through all our history the power dynamic has been pretty clear, true fae can do what they want to lesser fae because they don't have the power to stop them... I'm not saying I think it's a great idea but maybe if a couple of them got disfigured... no offence," he adds to the woman, "… they'll figure out that we're not easy targets. When a fae is burned by iron its like they become... radioactive. They're ousted from their holdings and lose their titles. It's an ancient taboo, the lords think that those touched by iron are bound somehow to those who used it, like a hunter can just come traipsing through the hedge after quarry they've branded...
Stephy nods, "Fair enough. Like I said though, we'll suggest it to Sera and see if we can't arrange something between you two so you can at least talk about it..." he glances at Sammi, "... Stop making that face, we're going to do this." he sighs, then looks back to her, "But... well... just be sure you know what you're getting into. I mean, you guys took something that was dear to me..." he grins wickedly, his appearance suddenly becoming much more menacing and icy as his eyes flash white again, "... and I was all set to freeze you from the inside out..." he sneers, then snaps back to normal, "... and I'm not even a true fae, though... after today I'm beginning to wonder just how close I'm getting..." he shrugs.
"For now, I think we can consider this matter closed. We'll get in contact with our grandmother and arrange a meeting but it'll be up to you to convince her to support you." he nods, "Trixie, are you ready to go?" he asks.
Trixie nods, snugging Stephy again, "They were very nice to me actually, we should come back another time when things are less.... ya know... angry…" she replies, looking to Sammi who was still frowning a bit. The woman nods, smiling softly, "Thank you, both of you, I'm sorry again for my trick but this means more than you know for you to give us this chance."
Stephy nods and heads downstairs with Sammi and Trixie in tow, Simoni letting out a small eep when he appears before relaxing as Trixie shows up. She figures if she's here then it's less likely that they're about to see him go Fimbulwinter on everything. The group finds their way back out to the mundane world as they head back towards the entrance to Arcadia. "Well, that was interesting..." mutters Stephy, "Trixie, Sammi? Are any of them still watching us?" he asks.
Sammi takes a sly peek back, shaking his head, "Nah we're clear."
Stephy nods, "Good. Thats good." he replies... right before his eyes roll back in their sockets and he collapses onto the floor, silvery blood trickling out of both his nostrils and ears. He’d used every ounce of glamour he’d been storing, putting all his rage behind it, and in a freehold held by Summer. It’s a wonder he hadn’t collapsed sooner really.
Sammi sighs, scooping Stephy up, "Dumbass…" he whispers, Trixie just smirking softly as she rubs his back, "He makes a pretty good knight in shining armor too…" she says softly, kissing his cheek.
Simoni winces, "More like a warrior princess Trixie, but still... Lets just get out of here. Nelen said he'd meet us at this Inn next town over." she nods as the group leaves the old church, the moon having already risen high up over the landscape. "Still... could've gone worse. At least we didn't have to fight anything this time." she nods, "Its weird, its kinda like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop now." she shrugs, deciding to let it go as they all wander off into the night.","pools_count":0,"title":"Part 1.25: A Blizzard in Summer","deleted":"f","public":"t","mimetype":"application/msword","pagecount":"1","rating_id":"1","rating_name":"Mature","ratings":[{"content_tag_id":"3","name":"Violence","description":"Mild violence","rating_id":"1"}],"submission_type_id":"12","type_name":"Writing - Document","guest_block":"f","friends_only":"f","comments_count":"0","views":"17","sales_description":null,"forsale":"f","digitalsales":"f","printsales":"f","digital_price":""}