{"submission_id":"859813","keywords":[{"keyword_id":"743","keyword_name":"adventure","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"2920"},{"keyword_id":"60","keyword_name":"cat","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"110719"},{"keyword_id":"3283","keyword_name":"cheshire","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"329"},{"keyword_id":"44319","keyword_name":"contemporary","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"101"},{"keyword_id":"1539","keyword_name":"divine","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"153"},{"keyword_id":"21","keyword_name":"dragon","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"80976"},{"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":"1536","keyword_name":"god","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"1853"},{"keyword_id":"4286","keyword_name":"goddess","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"1224"},{"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":"10129","keyword_name":"supernatural","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"375"},{"keyword_id":"7273","keyword_name":"undead","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"1022"}],"hidden":"f","scraps":"f","favorite":"f","favorites_count":"1","create_datetime":"2015-05-28 02:49:23.732713+02","create_datetime_usertime":"28 May 2015 02:49 CEST","last_file_update_datetime":"2015-05-28 02:41:32.831586+02","last_file_update_datetime_usertime":"28 May 2015 02:41 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":"1169099_Simoni_dreamings_and_dragons.doc","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1169/1169099_Simoni_dreamings_and_dragons.doc","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1169/1169099_Simoni_dreamings_and_dragons.doc","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1169/1169099_Simoni_dreamings_and_dragons.doc","files":[{"file_id":"1169099","file_name":"1169099_Simoni_dreamings_and_dragons.doc","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1169/1169099_Simoni_dreamings_and_dragons.doc","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1169/1169099_Simoni_dreamings_and_dragons.doc","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1169/1169099_Simoni_dreamings_and_dragons.doc","mimetype":"application/msword","submission_id":"859813","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":"8d97f249a5490839b63bda0918249f47","full_file_md5":"8d97f249a5490839b63bda0918249f47","large_file_md5":"","small_file_md5":"","thumbnail_md5":"","deleted":"f","create_datetime":"2015-05-28 02:41:32.831586+02","create_datetime_usertime":"28 May 2015 02:41 CEST"}],"pools":[],"description":"Y'know those stories about a 'chosen one'?\n\nThe stories where the hero doesn't save the world through their own skills, or their own merits, or anything and they're only able to pull it off because the gods [i]chose[/i] them for it?\n\nGood god I hate those. :D\n\nI was kinda tossing this idea around for a while, but I decided to use it today. Simoni found out the truth about Eliza's prophecy. It didn't [i]have[/i] to be Arja and Simoni who defeated Franklin, they just had the best success rate out of the other options, and Morrigan's reasons for wanting to dethrone him were entirely selfish. Franklin had stolen her Clan and she wanted it back.\n\nMorrigan's personality, at least in my head, is less like a divine figure and more like a rebellious teenage tomboy who wants everything her way. She's a goddess, she's spoiled, she's used to being praised and worshipped... and it shocked her just to have Simoni snapping at her and forcing her to face the real reasons behind her actions right up to Simoni reallizing that, in fact, she had completely put her past identity of Stephanie Fullmoon behind her and thus Morrigan had no power over her.\n\nThis was kind of a half and half story. The bit with the dragon siblings and the Iron Spike was my writing partner's idea, while the stuff with Morrigan was me. Made for a good story too, Simoni going nuts and almost killing the dragon before realizing that she's doing it because of an outside influence and stopping herself just in time.\n\nThat's a big deal too. Dragons are stupidly powerful in any form. Somewhat below beings like Mammon, but above ones like Sera. If Simoni didn't have Morrigan's divine booster protecting her she really would have been killed there.\n\n... makes me wonder what'll happen to her now that she doesn't anymore. I doubt Morrigan would give it back just because Simoni asked nicely.\n\nWell, thats a story for another day.","description_bbcode_parsed":"<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'>Y&#039;know those stories about a &#039;chosen one&#039;?<br /><br />The stories where the hero doesn&#039;t save the world through their own skills, or their own merits, or anything and they&#039;re only able to pull it off because the gods <em>chose</em> them for it?<br /><br />Good god I hate those. :D<br /><br />I was kinda tossing this idea around for a while, but I decided to use it today. Simoni found out the truth about Eliza&#039;s prophecy. It didn&#039;t <em>have</em> to be Arja and Simoni who defeated Franklin, they just had the best success rate out of the other options, and Morrigan&#039;s reasons for wanting to dethrone him were entirely selfish. Franklin had stolen her Clan and she wanted it back.<br /><br />Morrigan&#039;s personality, at least in my head, is less like a divine figure and more like a rebellious teenage tomboy who wants everything her way. She&#039;s a goddess, she&#039;s spoiled, she&#039;s used to being praised and worshipped... and it shocked her just to have Simoni snapping at her and forcing her to face the real reasons behind her actions right up to Simoni reallizing that, in fact, she had completely put her past identity of Stephanie Fullmoon behind her and thus Morrigan had no power over her.<br /><br />This was kind of a half and half story. The bit with the dragon siblings and the Iron Spike was my writing partner&#039;s idea, while the stuff with Morrigan was me. Made for a good story too, Simoni going nuts and almost killing the dragon before realizing that she&#039;s doing it because of an outside influence and stopping herself just in time.<br /><br />That&#039;s a big deal too. Dragons are stupidly powerful in any form. Somewhat below beings like Mammon, but above ones like Sera. If Simoni didn&#039;t have Morrigan&#039;s divine booster protecting her she really would have been killed there.<br /><br />... makes me wonder what&#039;ll happen to her now that she doesn&#039;t anymore. I doubt Morrigan would give it back just because Simoni asked nicely.<br /><br />Well, thats a story for another day.</span>","writing":"The train ride from London to Dorset County is a pretty long one. Peaceful, but long, and by halfway through Dusk had gotten restless. He'd already been over most of the train that he could get away with until Simoni managed to lure him back with promises of fish and give him the pinch long enough to get her point across about what they would be telling his mother and big sister if he didn't watch it. Eventually he just took up a spot on the window and watched the countryside go past, the kitten finally flopping onto his back, throwing up his paws, and yelling, \"BORED! Bored bored bored! Why is it so boooooooring?!\" he yowls, flailing all of his legs in the air as he fusses.\n\nSimoni puts down the manga she was reading and rolls her eyes at the kitten, \"Well sorry, its not like we planned on you stowing away with us Dusk...\" she says in a slightly irritated tone, \"I mean, we didn't think we'd need to bring stuff to entertain a hyperactive magical kitten.\"\n\nSammi smirks softly at him, \"Yeah, see what happens when you just invite yourself along? You get stuck doing whatever boring thing we're doing.\" he teases as the train moves along, entering the Dorset area. \"Should be fun at least when we get there, it is a fae freehold, you could have some entertainment there at least\" he giggles as he looks out. As they pull in, though, both he and Stephy feel a very... strange feeling. A chill runs down both of their spines (not the normal kind!) as the train comes to a stop. \"Huh...\" Sammi murmurs, wiggling a bit, \"That's... not normal.\"\n\nStephy shudders, then looks at his brother with a worried expression, \"Sammi... what's going on?\" he asks.\n\nSimoni tilts her head, looking outside. To her it seems perfectly normal but, well, she's not a fairy. \"Guys?\" she asks in confusion as Dusk sits up, flicking his ears as he gazes out the train window. \n\n\"Feels weird here...\" he mewls, his ears folding as his tail fluffs out.\n\nSammi shakes his head, \"Not sure, let's be careful though.\" he suggests as he walks out of the train, looking around slowly before heading along to the outskirts of town where the church entrance sat. \"It's not the hunt…\" he confirms, wanting to help that fear out at least, \"If it was we'd be having migraines and nosebleeds and shit...\"\n\nSimoni nods as she follows along behind him, Stephy, and Trixie with Arja and Lara bringing up the rear, Dusk sitting on her shoulder as his head keeps turning in all directions, his eyes wide and his back arched. \"Yeah... um... that's not necessarily good Sammi...\" replies Stephy, \"I mean, that's like saying 'something bad is going on, but the world hasn't exploded yet'.\" he nods. He doesn't know what this is, he's never felt anything like it... but there's two things he can tell about it. Its fae in origin, and its not good.\n\nSammi nods to him, \"Just saying, if it was the hunt I'd be telling us to run now and not come back for like, a month, this could just be something odd.\" he explains, walking into the church slowly. It seemed fine from the outside, still the same old and poorly maintained building as it was last time they were there, the hidden trap door in the priest quarters still in place\n\nStephy shrugs, \"I hope its just odd...\" he mutters as he looks down the trapdoor to the freehold of the Iron Spike, then shrugs and jumps in as the others follow behind. After a brief trip through the nothingness between worlds, rather similar to the sensation that they get when they head to the Nightside from London, he lands gracefully on his feet and dusts himself off... then yelps and almost falls over as Dusk lands on his head, the cat's claws pricking against his scalp.\n\nThe freehold looks pretty much the same as it did last time, a little chunk of Victorian England carved out of nowhere, though as the group approaches they'd realize that the smog was different than it was last time, this was smoke! One of the tall apartment buildings in the city's skyline had seemed to caught fire a while ago, now burnt out, yet still smoking faintly, causing the whole freehold to be covered in a thin layer of rather strange smelling smoke. It was... smokey, of course, but there was an undertone of a sharp metal smell.\n\nStephy whimpers at the sight as Dusk lets out a low mrowl, their eyes drawn to the burnt out structure as the group tightens up. \"Um, maybe they were trying a new weapon and it fouled up or something?\" suggests Simoni. \n\nStephy nods to her, \"Yeah, maybe...\" he mutters, though the smell was wrong for a fae freehold.\n\nAs the group goes into the area further they still see plenty of Trixie's family around, looking unharmed, at least, but quite nervous as they go about their jobs on the street. The music is still in the air, but it's slower, the rapid harping and guitars replaced by low, almost vibrating, horn notes that seem to echo in the streets... \"What the hell happened?\" Trixie frowns.\n\nStephy shrugs his shoulders, \"No idea... we should find your aunt.\" he nods, feeling worried himself. Sera was supposed to be negotiating with the Iron Spike... was she here? Did she get caught up in whatever happened? The group retraces their steps that her cousin had shown them when they first came, Stephy keeping ready to summon his ice as Simoni whistled softly under her breath. The notes seemed especially upsetting to Dusk, the kitten covering his ears and letting out a low mewling noise when they began to hear them.\n\nAs the group moves they see the girl from before, Trixie's cousin who 'greeted' them before with her crossbows, the girl no longer in her black leathers, instead wearing a white lace backed shirt with black pants, no sign of the Iron Spike on her this time. \"Oi, Trix!\" she calls when she sees the girl, quickly moving over to the group, \"What’re you guys doin’ ‘ere den? Were yas invited?\"\n\nStephy blinks in confusion, \"Invited? What do you mean? Where's your mom?\" he asks, looking around the streets, \"And what the heck happened here?\" he adds, noting how different the whole place felt now. He had a sinking feeling that a 'change in management' may have occurred at the workshop where the Iron Spike made their base.\n\nThe girl looks between them, raising her eyebrow \"You lot didn't ‘ear? Mum's fine an’ all but... yea, kinda under a new banner as it were…\" she explains, sighing softly before nodding to the group to follow \"C’mmon, I'll show yez.\" she says, walking down the street to the factory like before. To be honest aside from the smoke and the one burned building the place seemed… well, fairly good. \n\nStores were still open, people were going about their lives, the only difference was there was no trace of the Iron Spike as a movement left, no black leather clad guards walking the streets or banners with their impaled rose. Instead, when they arrive at the factory, they're greeted by a large flag hanging over the door, shinning emerald green that seems to have the actual gemstones woven into it with a bright red outline of a dragon's head on it, surrounded by a ring of smaller golden thread stitched coins. \"Oh fuck me sideways…\" Sammi mumbles as he sees the flag.\n\nStephy looks at his brother, then back at the dragon's head, \"... that's bad isn't it?\" he asks him as Simoni looks up at the dragon, a sense of foreboding washing over her as she sees the symbol and the coins around it. Something was definitely wrong here, if anything Dusk's reaction was a good indicator as the kitten hissed up at the banner, his fur arching as he pawed at Simoni's shoulder.\n\nSammi shakes his head, \"It's a fucking dragon... it's never GOOD but I don't recognize the banner so I can't say if this is BAD or not.\" he replies as the group is led in. The factory is pretty much the same. It was still mainly a meeting hall more than a proper factory, the same higher ranking members of the freehold were milling around, they were even still gambling and drinking and such. The only main difference on the floor was the band, their guitars and drums replaced with an assortment of shiny gold looking horns. From above Trixie's aunt was still watching over the place, though to her side was a new figure, a young man with short bright red hair and blue eyes, dressed in a dark purple shirt with the red dragon's head and gold coins on the back. When he moves his hand to the rail the group can see its nails are replaced with incredibly long, sharp, claw like ones. Both he and Trixie's aunt were still giving off a great deal of power around them, but it was obvious this wasn't where the chill was coming from.\n\nStephy shivers reflexively. The claws gave a hint as to what he might be, as did the red hair, but he wasn't sure yet. Still... he whispered to the fae girl, \"Did... um... did my mother show up yet?\" he asks. He had a hunch about the chill and he really really really hoped he was wrong.\n\nThe girl nods \"Yea, don't worry, she's fine. She came, saw th’... new management, talked wid ‘em ah bit, an’ left. Ah guess dey wanted th’ deal altered now dat deys ‘ere an’ she had ta consider it.\" She sighs \"Look ah know dis ain't 'zactly 'appy times but... dey ain't th' bad kinda dragon at least. Dey're still feckin’ dragons o' course but don't worry, yer mum, me mum, alla us 'ere, we're… safe… for th’ most part. Not like dey is havin’ random fae barbecues or somethin at least.\" \n\nTrixie sighs, nodding in relief at that, \"Well alright, that makes me want to shoot that guy less.\" she replies, eyes going up the redhead and her aunt.\n\nStephy nods softly, glad about that at least. If something had happened to Sera then he wouldn't have held back, dragon or not, but still... a dragon. They were rare, even for Arcadia. Power and arrogance that would give even the haughtiest fae lord pause. Simoni was sticking close to Arja now, Dusk's yellow eyes pinned to the crimson-haired man as his tail swished behind him, every bit of fur standing on end. \"So... um... what happened?\" she asks.\n\nThe girl sighs at that softly, \"Honestly ain’t sure. They just showed up ah bit ago. That's Kirzar, ‘e's the second in command ta ‘is sister, Alyzya. They came in wid ah little group o’ dragon-kin an’ their families and said that our freehold was on their land. Mom and Alyzya argued, Kirzar torched a building, and Alyzya agreed that since apparently dey’ve been gone fer ages it wasn't fair ta blame us fer 'stealin' their land, so she just decided that because th’ land was hers ta begin wid she'd just be in charge an’ we'd get ta keep doing what we do. Like ah said it's not as bad as it could be. We pay taxes, obviously dragon-kin get special treatment, but it's not like dey is forcing us inta mines or raping our women or summtin’. Just, ya know... we’s not exactly fans o’ being under somebody’s thumb, even if it's not as bad as it could be...\"\n\nStephy frowns, \"Not yet they're not...\" he mutters. Dragons weren't the types to make nice deals. If they did something like this it was because they were waiting for an excuse to demand more. Sure Kizar would just help 'direct and guide the freehold to a better way of doing things' at first, but give it a few years and it'd be maidens chained to rocks.\n\nThe girl nods, \"Yea dat's the problem dat is. Dragons ain't exactly th’ kinda guys wot do things out o’ kindness, we's doin good now ‘cause we keep da money flowing, if somefin’ changes dat den we may start seeing problems... an’ I's worried ‘ow a lot of people is gunna react when dat ‘appens.\" Dragons, proper dragons like the siblings, were incredibly powerful and thankfully even in their age very rare. They easily were rivals of true fae in power, many fae believing that they were actually the first inhabitants of Arcadia. Dragon-kin were their version of Changelings, but unlike True Fae there was a more familiar connotation to it. Abduction and such was common still, but dragons didn't torture their kin like the others, they shaped them into 'part of the line' and from there many dragon-kin could actually expect fairly good lives as long as their ideals matched their 'creator' and they didn't cause problems.\n\nAs the group talks, Kirzar's eyes drift down to them, chuckling softly, \"Are ye gonna introduce your guests, Thursday?\" he calls down, a rather friendly sounding heavy Scottish accent coming from his mouth as he reveals the rows of fangs within. \n\nTrixie's cousin stiffens a bit as he speaks but turns quickly to face him \"Sorry ‘bout dat boss, just greetin’ me cousin is all!\" she calls back, nodding to Trixie.\n\nThe dragon nods, taking a deep breath as he does so. \"A magician…\" he says, smiling, \"So she's part o’ that other branch? Nice to see you get along…\" he replies calmly, motioning to the stairs, \"Please, join us up here, all of ye.\"\n\nSimoni shudders at the sight of his fangs, though Stephy manages to keep calm. He's not really looking at Kirzar though, he's looking at Thursday's mother, wondering just how she felt about this change as they all head upstairs. Dusk scoots further behind Simoni's neck, his fur still fluffed up as he stares at the dragon as Stephy raises an eyebrow. He can still feel that chill... he's just not sure where its coming from or why. Still, he lets Sammi handle the introductions. He knows more about this sort of politicking and, well, its a bloody dragon! He definitely doesn't want to risk insulting something that can torch a building by coughing in it's general direction.\n\nSammi nods, keeping his eyes on the male dragon as he walks up. Trixie's aunt seems plenty secure, unharmed and, aside from the slight frown she wears as he pulls a small box of thin cigarillos from his pocket, doesn't seem like she's in any distress. \"Ah.” he nods in recognition as the fae boys get closer, \"Sera's brood? Yes I've heard o’ ye! Your mother spoke highly of ye, or grandmother, whatever it is. Dragons are hardly one to judge about family trees being a bit bendy.\" he grins, holding the box to the group, \"Care for a smoke?\" he asks, Sammi nodding and taking one, making a quick glance to the group to say 'take one, even if you don't smoke it'. Dragons aren't known for sharing, when one offers you something it's very rude to refuse, even if you have no desire for it, just the act of accepting their offer is enough to acknowledge it.\n\n\"Yes, I'm Samuel d'Orleans Montebank, my brother, Stephen...\" he's cut off by a light laugh from the dragon.\n\n\"Sammi and Stephy, please. I appreciate the attempt at dignity but this isn't court, no need for formality.\" replies Kirzar. Sammi just nods, introducing the rest of the group in their more casual names.\n\n\"So,\" the dragon continues, \"What brings two fae of winter, some form of strange divinity, forgive me dear I'm not well versed past Russia, that's me sister's territory, a Fullmoon wearing an Indian suit, a prodigal faeblood, a walking corpse, and a wonderland creature to our lovely little abode?\"\n\nStephy and the others take them, though he and Simoni just pocket their's. Simoni's eyes widen at the dragon's words as well. It was a very rare creature that could actually tell she used to be from Clan Fullmoon. The transformation she went through in the Nightside went right down to her DNA after all. This just hinted at how strong the creature was in front of them.\n\n\"Well...\" replies Stephy, \"We were here to meet with the leader of the Iron Spike and my mother, Sera, while they negotiated a treaty between their two houses. We were unaware that the Freehold had been reclaimed however. May I ask why your people chose now to make their claim on it?\" he asks, Simoni frowning a bit behind him. She's got a really bad feeling about that one...\n\nHe nods, \"Ah yes, that deal. Terribly sorry for causing a hitch in it but, you know how it is, you show up and there's already plans in place, you have to make sure your interests are protected. Your mother seemed very understanding though, she said she's return in a few days with an answer if you'd like to stay with us. As for why, well, frankly we only recently returned to the realm of the living! My sister and I have been... well I don't know what we've been. Dead, technically, but also not dead... regardless, one of yours,\" he nods to Simoni, \"… got me with a damn Mundane Blade, apparently he got me sister too. No idea how, but only recently we were freed from that, and, well you can figure out the rest of the story there I assume.\" He then smiles, taking Trixie's Aunt's scarred hand and bending down to kiss it, making the woman frown again as he does, \"I must say aside from an initial disagreement this band of fae have been very accommodating, a real testament to the kinder nature of your lot that threw in with the underclass. Of course, you can imagine this alone puts you on good terms with most dragons.\" Selfish and greedy, sure, but dragons at the very least did have a strong sense of family. By default all but the most truly evil of them were against the non-rebel true fae. They may not be explicitly on the changelings' side, but at least that was one venue to forge alliances for them.\n\nSimoni tries hard not to, but she can't hide a wince as Nelen's words following the battle at Castle Fullmoon come back to her...\n\n'... what else got out?'\n\nDragons. Thats what. DragonS. Plural. If this was any indication then Nelen had a damn good reason to be worried about the fallout from the blade's destruction.\n\nStephy nods at Kirzar's words, doing a better job of hiding his reaction to their involvement in the dragon's freedom than his cousin, as he glances at Trixie's aunt again. \"Alright then, what about the Iron Spike? Has just the banner changed or are things more different than just a new logo?\" he asks tenatively, ready to jump back out of claw range if necessary as he twirls the cigarillo in his fingers.\n\nThe man shrugs lightly, \"That's more my sister's call. To be honest, from my perspective, a little of both. She supports killing the true fae but, well, the whole 'we must crush all who dominate others' kinda rhetoric obviously tends to make our kind cagey. Luckily, your fair fae here was willing to negotiate. As far as I know those negotiations are still ongoing but I'm sure we'll find a reasonable solution…\" he grins, looking up as a loud roar echos through the freehold, almost enough to shake the sturdy factory walls... \"Speaking of, me sister is back from patrol. I do appreciate the chat but I assume you lot are here to find answers and stand with your friends here, aye? Then you'll need to talk to her directly, I can bring you to the lair if you like.\"\n\nSimoni frowns at the dragon. The arrogant tone, the confidence that nothing could stand against him, the sheer bloody mindedness that everything would go the way he wanted it to because he could just kill anyone who said otherwise... this man reminded her of Franklin. \"Yeah, we probably should.\" she nods.\n\nStephy glances at her, then back at Kirzar. \"Yes, lets. I should probably know who my mother is negotiating with.\" he replies to the dragon. If nothing else he would at least know who to watch out for should things go sour (even if a gigantic flying lizard is hard to miss).\n\nHe nods, \"Lovely, care to join us, Aythia?\" He asks, Trixie's aunt shaking her head. \n\n\"I'm good ‘ere, t’anks,  be nice ta spend a couple o’ hours not choking on smoke.\" she replies icily, making the dragon laugh softly. \n\n\"Sorry, it is a nasty habit isn't it?\" he chuckles as he walks to the stairs, motioning the group to follow, \"Lucky for you guys Alyzya seems to be in a good mood, probably found a patrol of hobgoblins or something to play with…\" he chuckles.\n\nShe may be but Simoni wasn't, the garuda trying hard to stay calm, but everything about that dragon reminded her of her grandfather and made her feel sick. It didn't help that the freehold really did feel, well, wrong with him in charge. Everything looked normal on the outside, but it was clear that the only reason that Aythia and the other fae had agreed to Kirzar and Alyzya's terms was because the other option was 'get incinerated by dragon fire'. She hated the Mundane Blade and what it caused her and her friends to go through... but at the same time it was clearly used for a good reason in the past.\n\nThe group is led through the streets, further into town as a large university looking building becomes visible. It seems in good condition, clean and well maintained, but the large dome at the top has been broken, obviously to allow flight in and out. \"She's right in here.\" he says as he opens the front door, \"She may be changing still, it takes us a little bit to get from form to form.\"\n\nInside the massive receiving room was well decorated and clean, art from ages past, statues, even weapons put on display, obviously from the dragon's own hoard, a way of displaying a fraction of wealth without leaving their whole collection easily stolen. Sammi does find his eyes drifting to some of the paintings, \"I gotta say they have good taste at least…\" he comments, eyes going over what looks like a large desert landscape painting. Arja nods as she runs a finger over the gold and ruby sheath that holds a very large greatsword within it. \"Yea, I mean, at least they know how to put a show on\" she offers as the group is led to a rear door.\n\nThey only get a glimpse, but it's all they need. A massive pale green lizard tail slithering away, the flash of a yellow wing big enough to knock an airplane over, and the smell of that same metallic smoke. Bones crunch and crack, muscles pop and strain, the transformation process between dragon and normal fae isn't exactly elegant, but soon enough the door opens fully to reveal a tall, stark naked, young woman, looking to be in her late teens. Her hair is long, straight, and black, her skin is almost as white as Natasha's, and her eyes are bright blue, the only similarity she had to her brother. \"Ah\" she says, her voice was accented as well, but this was a thick Russian one. \"These are the guests I smelled.\"\n\nSimoni watches her closely as she appears, Stephy nodding politely to her as, again, he lets his brother introduce them. Depending on how long ago these dragons were imprisoned it was probably more proper to let the 'man' do the introductions. Dusk was hiding in the hood of Simoni's jacket right now, two yellow eyes peering over her shoulder at the dragonic siblings.\n\nSimoni felt more certain in her assumption now that she'd had a glimpse of the dragon's true form. Even an entire freehold wouldn't be able to fight something like that, hell an entire mundane country's army would have a hell of a time without resorting to the nuclear option... and then she gets a sudden chill down her spine. What if these things could enter the Mundane World? What if they did?! Keeping the supernatural secret had been rule one for people like her for centuries and all of that secrecy would be dust in the wind if one of these two flew over a mundane city. She had to do SOMETHING!\n\nSammi nods, giving the more formal introductions to the sister since they were in her home, the woman nodding slowly as she walks to a nearby dresser, pulling out a long white silk robe and putting it on as Sammi speaks. \"Very well spoken.\" she says at the end, nodding, \"I am Alyzya, devourer of magic, daughter of Valgurthriz the world eater. Forgive me for not being as friendly as my brother. He is the, how do you say, face of the operation. So, I assume you are here to speak on behalf of the Iron Spike, you agree that it is wrong of us to make our home here again?\" As she speaks the group can see others moving around. Dragon-kin. Men, women, children, all milling around the lair. It wasn't as big a 'brood' as most dragons their age would have, those could often fill entire nation-states, but it was nearly the population of this small freehold. There was about an even divide between red and black hair, obviously indicating who sired who.\n\n\"Well, I am not a tyrant, I'm willing to listen.\" she says as she takes a seat on a large wooden throne lined in gold silk. The room around them had its share of opulent display, but this clearly wasn't the 'treasure room' either, that is likely a heavily guarded secret for the pair.\n\nSimoni's eye was twitching now, the woman making her even more upset than her brother did. She felt an odd sort of burning sensation in her head, a desire to stop this somehow, even if the odds were so stacked against her that even Trixie couldn't cheat her way out of it. Before Sammi or Stephy can say anything she steps forward, reaching into a messenger bag she was carrying over her shoulder. \"I've got a reason for you to go. How about because you two owe us?\" she asks, pulling out the twisted and burned hilt of the Mundane Blade.\n\nThey had brought it to show to Sera when they arrived, figuring the fae queen would like to see the proof that one of their most feared weapons was no more (it'd definitely impress the Iron Spike too). \"See this? This was the hilt of your former prison. Arja and I destroyed it a month ago in Ireland, freeing everything trapped inside. You two, with all your power, couldn't stand up to it... but we smashed the sword to pieces.\" she nods firmly.\n\nThe woman raises her brow at that, looking the hilt over, \"I see…\" she says calmly, though her face shows she's obviously impressed, \"I won't deny we owe you for that, but I would ask, what would you ask of us? Are we to displace our families from their ancestral homes? This was our holding in the past, and when my brother and I were slain our children were left to wander. Now we return with the authority to reclaim their homeland.\"\n\nSimoni hesitates for a moment, then thinks to the sights she saw in the Freehold and steels herself. \"Well what about the Iron Spike?\" she demands, \"Are they supposed to give up on their lives and their plans just because you two come flying out of the past and say 'do what we say or else we'll turn you into charcoal'?\" she shoots back. \"You've been gone from here for centuries, which means that the sword was in the hands of someone other than it's last wielder when you two were trapped inside it.\" she steps forward, winds whipping around her legs as she stares down the dragoness. \"What did you do to get their attention? Why did it's wielder come after you two?\" she demands.\n\nAlyzya's face remains calm, but now her eyes are locked on Simoni's, as if daring her to use that wind to attack her as she speaks. \"Our father was a cruel creature. This is something neither of us deny, he crushed many under his claw, and he met his end as he deserved. Do you know how dragons become greater, little Fullmoon?\" she asks calmly, remaining seated though her fingers dig angrily into the seat's armrests. \"We devour our own. My father ate five of my siblings, only I and my brother survived his hunger, and in return we feasted on him. We ended his madness, and became great in our own right. When I attempted to explain this to the hunter that came for me, showing him my holding was a smaller, non-imperial, holding, he did not care. He said the blood of my father was enough to condemn me, my brother met a similar fate. Tell me, little Fullmoon, shall I judge you on the standards of your fathers? Do you think you would find mercy if I did?\"\n\nSimoni frowns, \"So what? You think it's enough to force everyone else in line by saying 'well I'm bad but my father was worse'? The last wielder of this sword was my grandfather and he spent the last several months of his life doing his very best to kill me. That doesn't mean I should take over Clan Fullmoon just because I defeated him!\" she retorts. \"This is NOT your land anymore! It belongs to Aythia and the Iron Spike!\"\n\nShe lets a growl out at that, \"This land was nothing when we found it, it was death and swamps under control of a cruel fae. We overthrew him, and caused life to bloom, and now we're told this land is not ours? Where shall we go, then? How long shall we wander hoping another lord takes pity on us, how many of my children must die hungry and cold to properly atone for my cruel sin of wanting my home back?\" At that Kirzar steps forward, clearing his throat, \"Sister, perhaps it would not be the worst to negotiate... As you said we do owe these people our freedom.\"\n\n\"No!\" she snarls angrily, smoke coming from her mouth in faint wisps as she stands. \"Our children have suffered for generations as nomads, and these outsiders demand we forsake their birthright because we were murdered by THIS ONE'S ancestor? How much more does this clan feel entitled to? Shall I peel my hide off for them to make a suit of armor from as well? Tear my fangs out for their weapons?\" Her eyes flash at that, pupils going wide and bloodshot as she stares at Simoni, \"I've had enough of being taken from by this clan and their friends!\" With that a gout of fire comes spewing out of her mouth, bright blue flame that seemed to shimmer as it flies at Simoni.\n\nStephy yelps and jumps backwards as Dusk scrambles out of her hood and teleports to safety, Simoni's eyes widening as the part of her brain marked 'survival instincts' suddenly catches up with her... and then in the back of her mind she hears a faint voice with a familiar Irish accent whisper 'Well said kid'.\n\nA huge gale sweeps through the building and smashes into the oncoming torrent of dragon fire, sending embers in all directions as a figure shoots up from the flames, riding the thermals created by the clashing wind and flame. Simoni has transformed, becoming her garuda self again but... something is different. Her eyes aren't just green anymore, but look like large emerald orbs, and the last inch of her hair is a bright crimson, like the feathers that she had back at Castle Fullmoon. Mixed in with the winds howling around her are a few streaks of gold.\n\nIt takes more than just wind to stop a dragon's breath...\n\nAlyzya lets out an angry roar as her flames are knocked away, Sammi grabbing his brother and yanking him away from the area nearly hard enough to break the boy's arm. The other dragon-kin are running to avoid the fire as well, many having to take cover to avoid getting burned. Trixie also dives out of the way as Arja lets out an angry roar, charging at the woman as her claws come out. Iron wasn't a weakness for dragons like it was fae, but it did certainly help get through their thick armor, even in their altered from they had an incredibly strength and constitution to them, the woman raising her arm to stop the attack, only to get a set of iron claws digging int her arm.\n\n\"Sister that's enough!\" her brother calls angrily, \"These outsiders broke the blade that kept us, something no other dragon could do! Not only do we owe them for such an act, they clearly have power we do not possess! Stop this before you get your entire brood killed!\"\n\nSimoni hovers in the air, wind swirling around her to form barely visible spears forged from the air itself as she aims them at Alyzya and her brother... and then something twitches in her mind and she shakes her head, letting out a sudden shriek as they launch, smashing into the walls all around the dragon's throne, then the walls behind them, and then out through the back of the building and several others before finally dissipating as Simoni lands back on the ground, shaking her head as she fluffs her wings, blinking and looking around in an almost confused way as she tries to figure out what on earth just happened.\n\nIt definitely got their attention though. There was a lot more than just wind in those spears. It seems that she didn't use all of the borrowed power when they destroyed the Mundane Blade... something was still there.\n\nThe woman growls softly, bit lets out a low sigh, shaking Arja off her arm, the wounds quickly healing back over, \"Very well, we'll leave…\" she says in a softer tone, adjusting her robe, \"I'd rather lose my home than my life, at least I can lead my children still...\"\n\nSimoni hesitates for a moment, apparently having not realized the changes in her appearance as she nods, \"Right, good.\" she replies, \"Just because this used to be your home centuries ago doesn't give you the right to stomp in and force everyone who lives here now to do what you tell them to.\" she says, trying to sound confident, though there's a small hint of uncertainty in her voice. She remembers coming in here feeling angry, she remembers shooting her mouth off at the dragoness... but she didn't want to actually try to kill her. Just stop her from forcing the Iron Spike to follow her.\n\nOn some level she knows if those spears had actually hit their mark the throne and its occupant would have been torn to pieces, a thought that she finds rather disturbing even with how much she disliked the dragon's methods.\n\n\"Yes…\" she frowns as she waves her hand, signaling her brood to get ready to leave, \"As you said, there's nothing worse than forcing people to obey you under threat of death.\" she replies, eyes narrowing on Simoni before turning her back on the group, ushering the dragonkin out, her brother following behind her with his own.\n\nStephy emerges from behind one of the walls holding Dusk in his arms after the dragons leave, then walks up to Simoni, looking her over with a stunned look on his face. \"Where the hell did THAT come from?!\" he asks as Simoni blinks slowly. \n\n\"I... I don't know... I mean... I just saw what they were doing to Aythia and the others and I just saw red. Did I... almost kill her?\" she asks, shaking a bit.\n\nSammi just sighs softly, shaking his head a bit as he turns to walk out as well, \"Someone should tell Aythia the dragons are gone…\" he nods, making his way out of the university as Arja moves over to Simoni. \n\n\"Are you ok?\" she asks, sounding deeply concerned for her.\n\nSimoni nods, looking down at herself and looking surprised at the red in her hair, \"I think so...\" she replies, shaking her head a bit as her emerald orbs look over Arja, \"Did I really just stare down, threaten, and yell at a dragon?\" she asks, giggling the kind of giggle one might make after narrowly missing being hit by a runaway semi-truck.\n\nArja nods, \"Yeah, you were pretty badass there…\" she says, smiling a bit, rubbing the girl's back softly.\n\nSimoni blushes, \"Suicidal is more accurate. I dunno why I did any of that Arja! I just... everything they were doing, the whole 'you're going to do what we say or else' mentality... it was just so much like how Franklin was controlling Clan Fullmoon...\" she shudders as her feathers molt, the girl changing back into her human form. She blinks her eyes as they take on their normal appearance, then leans into her. \"I really hope thats the worst that came out of the Mundane Blade though. I mean, seriously. Dragons...\"\n\nSammi actually stops on his way out at that, looking back, \"Do you really think you solved the problem here?! Like, is that what we're doing now, we're deciding that 'do what I say or else' is ok when we do it and whatever happens happens? Do you realize how many dragonkin, from their perspective, just saw a group of outsiders storm into their house, demand them return to, spoiler alert, a shitty life of wandering the hedge, and then when their mother challenged them one of them nearly killed the entire room?!\" he yells, his face reddening.\n\nSimoni winces, \"Sammi... I'm not even sure if that was me saying it.\" she replies, looking a bit scared now. \"Its like something in my head was urging me on that whole time...\" she shivers at the thought. \"I just, ugh.\" she shakes her head, \"Forget it, its done. I'm not happy with this, but it's done and Aythia has the Freehold back.\" she nods, \"I need to lie down...\"\n\nSammi nods angrily, \"Yes, it's easy for you guys to forget it, but this is MY home we're in, and now there's a dragon who knows our mother's home who has a chip on her shoulder! You guys go back to India, I'll catch up, I need to go home and hope that the revenge she's planning comes from an envoy demanding tribute and not a dragon burning my home down. They're kinda into eye for an eye stuff in that culture.\" he snaps at them, then turns, moving his hand and forming a portal to Sera's realm and stepping through.\n\nStephy looks between it and Simoni, then lets Dusk pad over to her before saying, \"Um... I'll catch up with you guys...\" and following his brother through to Sera's realm.\n\nSimoni sinks down onto the floor, trembling as she wraps her arms around her legs. \"Arja, what the heck just happened? What did I DO?\" she moans, holding her forehead, \"Did I really just cause that? Is Sera in trouble now because of something I did?\" she shudders, \"Did I really just threaten an entire family like that and almost kill their leader?\"\n\nArja sighs softly, sitting down next to the girl and pulling her into a hug, \"Sera can pull through. Sammi's just upset, the dragons want land, if they declare war on another lord then they'll never get any. I'm not gonna pretend there probably won't be ANY reprisals but no, she's not in mortal danger.\" she sighs again, giving Simoni a squeeze, \"You weren't in control, he knows that, he's just scared and... well you know how fae are...\"\n\nSimoni nods at her, clinging to Arja. \"I just... It was almost like someone else was in my head with me! I...\" she pauses, \"Nelen. Nelen will know what just happened. He's got someone else in his head all the time!\" she nods firmly, taking out her phone and almost cursing as she remembers that the Freehold is technically outside the Mundane World, so no cell reception.\n\nArja nods, \"He said he'd meet us when we got back to India anyway, how about we head home and Nelen can give you a good once over?\" she asks.\n\nLara noding at that, \"Yea, I can help that...\" she then pauses as she sees their faces, \"Not like, medical, I have rituals and junk to see if you have a hitchhiker or something.\"\n\nSimoni nods, taking several deep breaths as Dusk paws at her leg. \"Yeah, yeah lets do that...\" she replies, looking like she's about an inch from a panic attack as Dusk looks up at her. \n\n\"Hey. Heeeeeeeeeeeeey.\" he mewls, \"Hey. Maybe it was that lady you were dreamin' about.\" he suggests. \n\nArja raises her brow at the Cheshire kitten, \"The lady she was dreaming about?\"\n\nDusk shrugs, \"Well, I like to watch your dreams when ya sleep... an' she keeps dreamin' about this red haired human lady.\" he nods, \"They just talk in the dreams, kinda boring, but its all she's been dreamin' about.\" he adds, looking at Arja. \"Your dreams are lots more fun. Really weird though... why do you wanna tie her up so much?\" he asks. \n\nArja just pats Dusk's head, \"I'll tell you when you're older. Simoni do you remember these dreams? What do you talk about?\"\n\nSimoni closes her eyes, then shakes her head, \"No... nothing. I had no idea that I was having those!\" she frowns, \"Wait... If I'm having dreams about this then that means that the Sammi, Stephy, and the cats can go in them!\" she nods, then frowns again, \"... but... does this mean that I've still got some of Morrigan's power in me? Is she actually making me do stuff like that?!\" she winces. For Arja it wouldn't be a problem, hell she might not even notice if Hanuman was encouraging certain things with her... but Morrigan was a war goddess and Simoni... well, Simoni wasn't the warrior type unless there was a very good reason for it.\n\n... usually anyways...\n\nThe garuda lets out a loud groan and cups her head in her hands, \"Dammit... It has to be her. The first time we met her she took on Vritra bare-handed... Of course she'd think the simplest way to fix this problem would be to slay a dragon...\" she sighs.\n\nArja nods, \"Yeah, that makes sense…\" she sighs, “I'm sure she thinks she's trying to help but... we don't always need a war goddess, Hanuman was a warrior but also a scholar so he balances me out at times but yeah, Irish goddess of war, not big into forgiveness and mercy... Maybe we could, ya know, ask Sammi or his family for help checking the dream out?\"\n\nSimoni whimpers, \"Yeah, if Sammi even wants to help me after that...\" she replies. She wouldn't blame the fae boy for being angry with her after what had just happened. Kirzar seemed to be fairly pragmatic, though still arrogant, but after what she almost did to Alyzya... \"Dammit, I don't want some god version of Merihim in my head!\" she yells, smacking her temples in frustration, then wincing, \"... ow...\"\n\nArja nods, rubbing the girl's back, \"I'm sure he will.\" she smiles, pulling Simoni up, \"Come on, let's get Trixie's aunt to open us a gate, I'm sure she knows Sera's realm after they've met.\"\n\nSimoni shakes her head, \"I dunno... I'm not sure I can face him after that. I mean, he was really upset.\" she whimpers, glancing away. \"We could always get Dawn to talk to Morrigan. I mean she could probably do some good, right?\" she asks... then her expression falters and she replies, \"Yeah... couldn't even convince myself of that. Knowing her she'd probably just get Morrigan to make my head explode or something...\" she chuckles nervously.\n\nArja shakes her head, hugging Simoni, \"Come on, gotta deal with this sometime, I'm sure Stephy is already telling Sammi he needs to calm down. He knows you weren't fully in control, we all saw it, he's just upset.\"\n\nSimoni nods, \"Y-yeah...\" she replies, then glances down and sees the hilt of the mundane blade. She'd dropped it when she transformed to escape the dragon fire. Simoni picks it up and lets out a long sigh, \"This thing is broken and powerless and it's still screwing up our lives...\" she frowns, tucking it into her bag as she follows Arja out of the university.\n\nArja smiles, \"Hey that's the fun of being a hero, if it was easy we'd never have to do anything to begin with.\" she smirks, pulling Simoni close as they walk. Trixie had gone ahead to tell her aunt when Sammi left, the factory already seeming to be celebrating the dragons' leaving...\n\nSimoni cheers up a bit at that, at least happy to see that they had managed some good. She leans into Arja as they walk along, noticing that several of the fae are already tearing down the dragon's banner and putting the impaled rose of the Iron Spike back up. \"Well, at least they're happy...\" she nods.\n\nArja smiles, \"The dragons needed to go, that was never a question, you did good, even if we have to do a little mop up after, still good.\" \n\nSimoni's eye twitches, picturing a melted winter fae kingdom, \"I wish you'd hadn't put it that way Arja...\" she replies as they see Aythia ahead of them, already joining in the celebrations. \n\nArja winces, \"Yea... woops, my bad…\" she replies sheepishly as they get closer. \n\nAythia is talking with Trixie and grins happily as she sees the group, \"Dere’s da woman o’ th’ hour!\" she smiles to Simoni, \"Nicely handled dear. Trixie told me bout wot happened, th’ freehold owes yes ah debt.\"\n\nSimoni blushes a bit, \"Yeah, sorry if I wound up doing more harm than good though... The dragons weren't happy to get chased out.\" she replies nervously, still having a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that she literally stared down a dragon less than an hour ago.\n\nShe nods, \"Aye, dragons got big egos, bruising one don’t end well too often. Still, regardless o’ how, yez helped us, don't let dat get lost in th’ troubles.\"\n\nSimoni nods, secretly hoping that she never finds out that it was technically their fault the dragons were there to begin with, \"Yeah, I just hope that Sera doesn't wind up with them retaliating against her... speaking of which, I don't suppose you could get us transport to her domain? We, um, kinda need her help with something.\" she nods.\n\nShe nods, \"I can arrange dat sure.\" she grins, whistling to one of the fae currently downing beers in celebration, \"Oi Yesterday, get yer arse over ‘ere!\" she calls.\n\nThe man laughs loudly as he walks over, \"Ya rang ma'am?\" he asks.\n\n\"Get th’ carriage ready, dese girls need ta get ta lady Sera's domain, quick like.\" she nods, the man saluting offhandedly as he walks off. \"Should be ready nice n’ quick, we calls ‘im Yesterday ‘cause despite ‘im being ah no good drunk whenever ‘e has ta work ‘e finishes it yesterday.\" she winks playfully, rubbing Trixie's head, \"Mind if we keep me girl ‘ere while yez run off? We never did get ta catch up…\"\n\nSimoni nods, \"Yeah, go ahead. I'm sure Stephy won't mind this time...\" she replies, remembering his first visit and thinking that they've all been acting pretty nuts lately really. Maybe they should take a proper vacation to the beach or something. There was only a small chance that a kraken or something would attack...\n\nArja smirks, \"Yea, should be fine, I think he has his hands full with his brother anyway.\" she replies, bringing Simoni and Lara out to the street where the man was already setting up a rather large motored carriage for them.\n\nSimoni climbs into the back with Arja and Lara, letting Dusk sit on her lap as she leans into the monkey girl. \"I really hope they can do something... I mean, I'm grateful for Morrigan's help with the Mundane Blade and all... but I'm not a warrior!\" she sighs, \"Not... well... not like she is anyways. I can fight if I need to fight, but I don't go looking for this sort of stuff...\"\n\nArja nods, \"No it's understandable. There are many kinds of warriors. You're a defensive warrior, you protect others.\" she nods as the car begins to drive, entering the forest quickly, \"She's an aggressive warrior, no mercy, no talking, just war. That can help with guys like Franklin but there are many shades between black and white in this world, and shooting first and sorting later will just make things worse.\"\n\nAfter just a minute of driving the forest opens back up, revealing the cool breeze and wide farmlands of Sera's domain, \"Bleh…\" the driver complains from his seat, \"Bloody freezin’, ‘ow do dese types live...\"\n\nSimoni shivers and snuggles into Arja, glancing out the window, \"I'm with him.\" she mutters, even Dusk shivering and fluffing out his fur a bit at the sudden chilly breeze. \"I just hope Sammi isn't really angry with me...\" she murmurs.\n\nSimoni got an answer fairly soon, after a bit the car is stopped by a pair of Sera's guards, tall, lithe, rather androgynous figures in sky blue chain-mail, one holding a shield with her symbol on it and a sword, the other with a long spear seemingly made of sharp ice. \"Uh... I don't think we're supposed to let you through\" the spear holding guard comments in a soft French accent. \"He said 'and keep the damn bird out'....\" he adds sounding rather unsure as the other guard sighs.\n\n\"Let them through already, the lord was just having another tantrum, you know how he gets...\" he replies in an annoyed tone. It seems that this isn't the first time 'Lord Sammi' had lost his temper like this.\n\nThe spear holding guard just sighs and nods, stepping aside, \"But I'm telling him it was you if he asks who let them through...\"\n\nArja winces a bit at that \"Uh, joke about cold reception goes here?\"\n\nSimoni doesn't respond to that, just leaning into Arja and looking miserable. As the group disembarks they can hear Stephy's voice echoing through Sera's castle.\n\n\"Sammi will you listen to me already?! I'm telling you that something is wrong here! Simoni just stared down and almost killed a dragon, a DRAGON! I've known her since we were toddlers, there's NO way she'd do something that crazy on her own! Something IS wrong!\" he yells at what is presumably his brother, the boy sounding rather worked up. Its quite possible they've been arguing since they got back.\n\n\"Alright, we agree, it was very odd for her to do that…\" Sammi's voice comes in response, \"It doesn't change that a lack of control over WHATEVER that was could have caused a damn war between us and a dragon. In case it's not super clear we're not a holding that's ready for war. We work in shadows, dragons tend to burn shadows! Excuse me for being afraid for my family!\" there's a softer voice after that. Soft, maternal, belonging to Lady Sera. She's obviously acting as a mediator between the brothers at this point. \"And he's worried about his family, so put the bow down and come join us and we can talk about this like adults, not screaming children...\" she says calmly, acting as the voice of reason.\n\nSimoni winces at the yelling as they draw closer, Dusk sniffing around at the castle. He seems to like it better than the Iron Spike's freehold at least.\n\n\"I'm not saying that we don't have a problem here Sammi, but I know her and I know that something weird is going on...\" sighs Stephy as he looks up, feeling an odd tickle in the back of his mind. \"... well, looks like we employ some guards with brains at least. They're right outside the door.\" he smirks.\n\nSammi sighs, but doesn't really offer an argument, \"Well let them in... I will admit trying to bar her from the holding was a BIT much…\" he pouts.\n\nStephy smirks at his brother. \"Remember Sammi dear, if it wasn't for Simoni's suggestion to Arja to 'kidnap' me way back when I met them I wouldn't have gone to Texas, we never would have met, and you wouldn't have the pleasure of my company... and probably still be dodging hobgoblin brigades whenever mom wants you to pop over for tea. So lets give her the benefit of the doubt here.\" he nods as their maid opens the door for the group.\n\nSimoni walks in alongside Arja, looking away from them and biting her lip softly as Dusk sits on her shoulder. \"Um...\" she mutters, not sure what she really could say. 'If your castle gets melted into the worlds biggest ice cream puddle by an angry dragon I'm really really sorry in advance' probably wouldn't cut it.\n\nSammi was still frowning a bit, but he nods to Simoni, \"Alright, I shouldn't have blown up at you like that…\" he grudgingly admits, Sera nodding approvingly at him, \"I'm upset, but I should have spoken to you in private when you weren't coming off of whatever... that... was.\" well at least he knew it wasn't Simoni doing it.\n\nStephy nods and pats his brother on the shoulder, then turns to Simoni, \"Seriously though, what the heck was that? I mean you just stared down a dragon, by yourself, and almost killed it. Even by our group’s standards that was NOT normal...\" he asks, sounding rather concerned.\n\nSimoni blushes, \"W-well... we talked after you guys left and... we, um... that is...\" she stammers as Dusk suddenly pipes up.\n\n\"The lady in her head made her do it!\" he nods, grinning a very Cheshire grin.\n\nBack in India, Dawn sits up and wipes away a tear as Nelen looks over at her. \"Whats up?\" he asks. \n\nDawn replies, \"I dunno... I'm just suddenly so proud of my baby brother...\" she sniffs.\n\nSammi raises his brow at the kitten, \"Lady in your head? So did you lose it or is the cat fucking with us?\" he asks, sounding unconvinced.\n\nSimoni sighs at Dusk, then takes a deep breath, \"Y'know that power boost Arja and I got at Castle Fullmoon, that whole temporary literal 'god mode' thing that let us destroy the Mundane Blade?\" she asks. They do remember, hell it'd be hard to forget seeing that. Even Sera was aware when it happened, the sudden burst of divine energy rippling all the way to Arcadia, the Nightside, the Underworld, and beyond. \"Well... apparently some bit of it is still in there. Thats why my wind was able to actually stop her fire instead of, y'know, me just winding up a pile of ashes.\" she nods, \"But... we think that whatever bits of her power is left also has some of her personality attached to it or something, and thats what made me act like that... also Dusk says I apparently talk to her in my dreams.\" she gestures to the cheshire who nods in reply.\n\n\"Boring dreams though, monkey girl's are still more fun.\" he grins, then looks at Arja, \"Whats a 'flogger'?\"\n\nSera raises her brow, \"Interesting, that could be possible, gods can leave shards of themselves behind in chosen followers.\" she nods.\n\nSammi sighs softly, \"Alright so it was her controlling you... that does make sense...\" he replies, Arja leaning over to flick the cat's head as he speaks.\n\nSimoni blushes, \"I dunno if she was outright controlling me... more just, I dunno, influencing me. I mean, I really was angry at them and I really did want them to leave the Iron Spike alone... but...\" she shakes her head, \"I yelled at and stared down a DRAGON!\" she yells, \"No matter how angry I am I should be [i]DEAD[/i] after that! I knew it, like some part of my head kept going 'what the hell are you doing' but... I couldn't stop...\"\n\nSammi nods at the panicked garuda, \"And let me guess, you have no memory of her in your dreams or voice in your mind, just her will influencing you, so you need fae magic to see if we can draw her out and evict her?\"\n\nSimoni nods, \"Y-yeah, or at least just get her to stop making me do things like that.\" she replies, looking away as she blushes deeper. \"I mean... I'd understand if you don't want to help me after that...\" she mutters, Dusk looking at her, then at Sammi and tilting his head.\n\nSammi sighs, shaking his head, \"I'm upset, and if that dragon hurts even one fae in this freehold I'll hold you to blame... but you are my friend, and you weren't yourself. I'm petty, but I'm not cruel, of course I'll help you with this.\"\n\nShe smiles softly at him, \"Thanks Sammi...\" she whispers, her eyes tearing up a bit as Stephy frowns at his brother.\n\n\"You'll hold her to blame?\" he huffs, \"And you wonder why people think winter fae have hearts of ice...\" he rolls his eyes.\n\nSammi huffs to Stephy, \"Oh so first I'm cold hearted but now you need help?\" he sneers, \"Maybe we're too cold to help guide you through…\" he says before his grandmother reaches over to pinch his cheek harshly.\n\n\"That's enough now Samuel, we do not hold such things over friends, we save that for our enemies.\" she scolds, nodding to Stephy, \"We will need to put her to sleep, the divide between our realm and the dream realm is much thinner here so it will be easy to pass between them when she's out.\"\n\nSimoni nods to that as Stephy takes her hand, \"Alright, she can use my bed then. No point in having her pass out on the floor.\" he nods, guiding Simoni out of the room and down to his quarters in the castle. They're definitely Stephy's alright. Girlier than a My Little Pony marathon with lots of icy blue and white. He guides her over to his bed and waits for her to lay down and get comfy, Dusk curling up next to her.\n\nSammi nods as he follows, \"Stick close with me when we're in, Stephy, dreams can be very chaotic even when they're calm, don't wanna get lost.\" he says as Sera joins them a bit later, holding a small cup of tea, \"Here, this will help you, I'll stand vigil over you to be sure everything is fine, Sammi is adept at dream magic, he can guide Stephy through and the two of them will handle this.\"\n\nStephy nods to his brother, \"I know Sammi. This is how I got to Arcadia the first time, remember?\" he smirks, though he does give his hand a squeeze as Simoni drinks the tea Sera offered, then lays back as her eyelids begin to droop. She wonders idly if this is some special ritual tea or if she's just been given the Arcadian equivalent to a roofie, then her eyes slip shut.\n\nShe opens them a moment later, blinking as she looks around what appears to be Castle Fullmoon... but as it would have been hundreds of years ago when the Clan was still known as 'Those Who Hunt On The Full Moon' (in gaelic). Originally, Clan Fullmoon had hunted werewolves exclusively with the aid of their patron goddess, giving her fealty in exchange for her granting their men enhanced strength and stamina and their women the ability to use magic. Over time the name had been shortened down to just 'Fullmoon' as the other was too much of a mouthfull (and hard to say in Gaelic without unhinging your jaw by accident).\n\nShe starts to walk along the castle halls, her footsteps clicking off the stones as torches burn brightly in their braziers above her until, finally, she comes to the throne room of the castle. Seated in the room, wearing a pair of torn up jeans, black high tops, and a green teeshirt that reads 'Kiss my ass, its Irish', is Morrigan, Maven of War and Queen of Ravens. \"What? No thank you for helping you deal with that dragon?\" she smirks.\n\nBack in Arcadia, Sammi puts a hand on Simoni's head softly, holding Stephy's hand as well as he whispers in the fae tongue, the boys soon showing up in the castle as well, hidden above the scene in an alcove. Sammi brings a finger up to his mouth to Stephy, wanting to watch this play out at first.\n\nSimoni blinks a few times, then glares at her as her memories of their conversations start to come back. \"You... DO YOU HAVE [i]ANY IDEA[/i] WHAT YOU DID?!\" she yells at the goddess, the crimson haired woman smirking at her. \n\n\"Saved a freehold, scared the scales off a wyrm? Not bad for a Wednesday.\" she replies as Simoni throws up her arms at her.\n\n\"We could have talked it out! We could have negotiated for them to leave! If they retaliate and attack Sera's lands in Arcadia [i]it's going to be my fault[/i]!\" she snaps at Morrigan.\n\nMorrigan frowns, \"Well it wouldn't be an issue if you hadn’t shaken off my influence and made those spears miss. One good shot with my divine power and that dragon would have gone the way of Smaug but noooooooooo...\" she frowns, \"Look, I let you be clever when clever will work.\" she nods, sitting up in the throne. \"This was a dragon. Get that? [i]Draaaaaaaaaagon[/i]. Dragons don't 'negotiate', they talk until someone stops amusing them and then they have a lovely little barbecue.\"\n\nSammi sighs a bit softly, whispering, \"Alright I'll stop being hard on her…\" obviously seeing that Simoni had zero control over what happened until the attack stopped. Stephy nods and pats his brother's shoulder as the two continue.\n\n\"You... you did notice that her brother seemed open to negotiation, right?!\" demands Simoni, \"He was trying to talk her down even after she shot flames at me! He understood that we were the ones who freed him, even if it was unintentional!\" she shouts at her as Morrigan sighs and shakes her head, looking like a teacher trying to deal with a slow student.\n\n\"Yeah yeah, dragons always say shit like that right up until they get hungry or notice you have something they want in their hoard or just get bored and want to burn some buildings to watch the little humans run around screaming '[i]oh please please mister dragon please don't burn our homes down[/i]'.\" she retorts, \"Thats why I sent your great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great granddad Cillian Fullmoon to sort them out and told him, under no circumstances, was he to negotiate.\" she nods firmly, then pauses, \"... might've missed a couple 'greats' in there. It was a while ago...\"\n\nSammi nods, \"Alright, now's the time to get involved\" he says, hopping down from the alcove and motioning Stephy to follow him. He lands infront of the young girl and the ancient goddess, looking towards the latter, \"You realize, with all due respect, then this entire thing was your fault, right? The only reason this conflict rose up was because her great however many grandpa wouldn't listen to them and locked them away. I understand that there were ages when bloody handed gods are needed, but we are long past them now.\"\n\nMorrigan stands up when Sammi and Stephy emerge, blinking at them before looking over at Stephy, \"Oh hey, another one of the witch-boys right?\" she asks, \"Last one of you was your great great uncle Senan. I knew we were due for one soon.\" she smirks, then looks at Sammi, \"As for you, did those dragons tell you just how many villages their dad torched, how many maidens he demanded be sacrificed to him, and so on? Sure they weren't gonna do it at first, but he said the same damn thing when he took control from HIS father and look how that turned out!\" she nods, putting her hands on her hips. \"Yeah, miss clever pants here worked out how to get us out to your side of things without having to have anyone die for her, but clever will only get you so far with one of those big scaly bastards.\" she smirks, smacking her fist into the palm of her other hand, \"Sometimes you just gotta break a few teeth.\"\n\nSammi frowns, \"And how many fae lords has your clan killed under the same logic? Should I be watching my back in case a Fullmoon remembers a relative of mine who had a taste for freezing virgins or the like? Do all of us supernaturals get brands based on our lineage or just those of us from Arcadia? Simoni is very dear friends with a vampire, I'm sure she has a heavy sin count if you count her sire's lines.\"\n\nMorrigan shrugs, \"Clan Fullmoon is a hunter clan kid. Thats how we work. Look, I told my boys to stop using the sword right after they dealt with those two dragons. Not my fault that it got stolen after that and that jackass Franklin was the one who found it... he always was a rebellious little shit.\" she frowns, \"Besides, we had rules. No fighting anything that wasn't an immediate threat to family, allies, and so on and that wasn’t capable of fighting back. Franklin's little open season on everything under the damn sun was not how we worked. Those dragons had already set their sights on several of the mundane communities that their father had missed. Should I have waited for him to torch them before I told my boys 'go get momma a pair of dragonskin boots'?\"\n\n\"Does working on presumption of future guilt make you any better?\" he frowns in response, \"I'm not going to pretend dragons are altruistic and selfless but there are ways to handle them beyond killing, my people make deals with them that they do honor. They're greedy and selfish, but they have honor and nobility, if one makes a pact of peace it is followed unless the other party betrays it. If you felt local areas were in danger, you could have at least gotten a feel for the dragons, figured out if they could be dealt with. I'm not asking for some grand trial for every dead monster killed by a Fullmoon, I'm asking you to acknowledge that god or not, you were shortsighted in your anger!\"\n\nSimoni nods, moving next to Sammi, \"He's right! We could have figured out something, you were telling me the first night after Castle Fullmoon how clever I was to get you here like that... why couldn't I be clever enough to talk a dragon into co-operating then?!\" she frowns at her.\n\nMorrigan folds her arms and huffs in an annoyed way, \"That was different! You needed to work out how to get me and Hanny to your side so you could win that fight at all!\" she retorts. \n\nSimoni stomps her foot in frustration, \"YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE! There were probably tons of ways we could have negotiated it out or talked them down or...\" she pauses, then raises her eyebrow at Morrigan.\n\nThe goddess tilts her head, \"What?\" she asks as Simoni gives her a suspicious look. \n\n\"The first time Arja and I met you we saw you fighting a gigantic serpent barehanded... the second time you show up you gave Aisha a sword so she could [i]fight[/i] and kill Carman...\" she says, stepping forward as the goddess frowns at her. \"The third time it was so Arja and I could [i]fight[/i] Franklin...\" she nods.\n\nMorrigan raises her eyebrow, then replies, \"Yeah? So what?\"\n\nSimoni smirks knowingly, \"This wasn't about whether or not we could negotiate... you wanted to hijack my body so you could [i]fight a dragon[/i]!\" she nods, pointing a finger accusingly at her.\n\nSammi frowns, actually clenching his jaw a bit, \"Is that true? Did you invade my friend's mind, put my family in danger, and risk the lives of a bunch of fae that as of then's greatest crime was being selfish, JUST SO YOU COULD FIGHT A DRAGON?!\" he demands. The temperate around Sammi, both in the dream and the real world, plummets at that, the boy not seeming to care that he was talking to a goddess as it seems all this drama came from someone really wanting a dragon kill under her belt.\n\nMorrigan looks away, \"Humph, thats nuts...\" she replies dismissively.\n\nSimoni shakes her head, \"The hell it is! There were plenty of times when I was in there that I could have talked them into leaving or finding a new place to live or at least letting the Iron Spike go back to operating on their own, but I got so angry at them I couldn't think straight... [i]because you were making me stay angry at them[/i]!\" she shouts so loudly that Morrigan actually has to take a step backwards.\n\n\"Hey, look. Those dragons would have caused some shit even-\" she starts as Simoni cuts her off.\n\n\"NO! Don't start that again! You had no idea what they'd do, you... you were just bored and wanted a fight with something big and powerful! You're worse than Dusk! If he gets bored I can at least give him a tummy rub or something!\" she growls angrily. \"Did you even really care that Franklin was using the Mundane Blade on all those innocents or did you just get pissy because he took over your Clan and you wanted it back?!\" she demands. \n\nSammi raises his brow at that, legitimately looking interested in the answer, \"Well, that's an interesting question…\" he mutters.\n\nMorrigan looks honestly unnerved by her questioning, the goddess seeming to lose her composure, \"Thats not... I mean he was [i]way[/i] out of line... he... look, does it even [i]matter[/i]?\" she stammers as Simoni glares at her, the young girl's expression even making Morrigan herself step back a bit.\n\n\"YES! YES IT DOES!\" she shouts, \"Franklin almost killed me! He sent assassins after us constantly! He and Clan Fullmoon killed dozens of Arja's relatives and almost got Akul killed! HE USED THE MUNDANE BLADE TO CUT IRAVATI'S MAGIC OUT OF HER! [i]YES IT MATTERS A LOT![/i]\" she screams, the girl looking downright furious.\n\nMorrigan frowns, looking away, and sighs, \"Guh, if I knew you'd be like this I'd have never sent Eliza that damn vision in the first place.\" she grumbles as Simoni blinks slowly.\n\n\"... what.\" she asks, her voice suddenly sounding flat.\n\nSammi blinks, taking a step back, \"This... may end badly... but I kinda have to know. Did any of this even have to happen at all?\" he asks.\n\nMorrigan lets out a long exhasperated sigh, \"Well... [i]technically[/i]... if you really want to get right down to it... there [i]were[/i] other ways that the Mundane Blade could have been destroyed and Franklin dethroned... but this was the one most likely to work...\" she replies as Simoni gapes at her.\n\n\"All this... all that I went through... the assassins, the battles, [i]Inishmor blowing up[/i]... ITS ALL JUST BECAUSE I HAD THE BEST ODDS?!\" she shrieks. \n\nMorrigan doesn't look at her, but mutters, \"Ugh... you're worse than Hanuman was... this is why we broke up, he always had to bring this sort of crap into it. Could never just enjoy a good fight...\" she grumbles.\n\nSammi sighs, rubbing his head, \"Not everyone is ready and eager for a warrior's death. This plan... and I'm not going to pretend blowing that blade up wasn't an objective good... but this plan left a lot of bodies behind, bodies in its wake that didn't have to be.\" he then chuckles softly, shaking his head, \"You thought Hanuman reacted badly, you better hope Arja never hears this. She'll spend the rest of her life trying to find how to kill a goddess...\" he then blinks and pauses, \"That... that wasn't the endgame here was it? Like, tell me the main point was at least destroying the blade...\"\n\nSimoni frowns, \"Oh I think it was Sammi... at least from Hanuman's point of view.\" she glares at Morrigan, \"Arja doesn't have one of these does she? Dusk may not have understood what Arja was dreaming about, but I'm pretty damn sure [i]he[/i] wasn't in them.\" she growls.\n\nMorrigan glares at her, \"If you [i]must[/i] know, no. Hanuman said it '[i]wasn't honorable[/i]' to leave a backdoor into his heir's mind so he could pop in and talk to her in her dreams and such. His presence completely left her the minute the Arcane Blade broke.\" she frowns. \"He said you two got rid of Franklin and avenged his people and beyond that you two should be able to choose your own destiny yadda yadda [i]whatever[/i]...\" she rolls her eyes.\n\nSammi nods, \"And on the other hand you think despite all she's done and how far she's come, Simoni doesn't have the capability or knowledge to make her own path, so she needs you to hijack her from time to time to be sure she does things the right way, which is the way you like, right?\"\n\nSimoni laughs sarcastically, \"Oh I think she does, I think she KNOWS I do... but she doesn't want to lose such a fun toy, DO YOU?\" she demands as Morrigan glares right back at her.\n\n\"You [i]ungrateful little[/i] [b]mortal[/b]! If it wasn't for me Ireland would still be a warren of man eating werew-\" she begins as Simoni cuts her off again.\n\n\"NO! Stop right there Morrigan and answer me one question, one tiny question right now...\" she smirks wickedly, \"Whats my name?\" she asks.\n\nMorrigan blinks in confusion, then says, \"Stepha-\" but gets cut off again. \n\n\"[b]BZZT[/b]! WRONG! I haven't gone by that name in over a year now, I stopped thinking of myself as that ages ago.\" she nods, grinning. \"Nelen told me how the whole 'true name' dealie works. Its not whats written down on the birth certificate that matters, its who the person considers themselves above all else. I am [i]not[/i] Stephanie Fullmoon anymore, I haven't been for a while now... [i]I'm Simoni Barjar[/i].\" she nods firmly, \"And you know what that means?\" she grins, Morrigan looking worried now.\n\nSammi smiles softly, patting Simoni's back, \"You got this just fine it seems…\" he says, pausing a bit, \"Sorry for before... I shoulda known you were better than that.\" he adds, turning to collect his brother \"Come on, she doesn't need us after all.\"\n\nSimoni smirks and pats Sammi, \"Hey, I'd be upset too... but anyways...\" she turns back to Morrigan, \"First, it means we need a change of scenery.\" she grins, snapping her fingers as the dreamscape suddenly jolts. Castle Fullmoon fades away, being replaced by Hanuman's Temple as a wave of balmy jungle air gusts over them. \"Second, it means that you're NOT my patron goddess anymore.\" she smirks, jabbing a finger at Morrigan. \"This isn't your territory...\" she gestures to the temple around them, \"... and [i]this[/i] isn't your territory either!\" she points to her head as Morrigan glares at her, looking furious, \"So take your little divine Trojan Virus or whatever and GET OUT! I am [i]EVICTING[/i] you!\" she snarls.\n\nMorrigan narrows her eyes at her, a black raven suddenly shooting out of Simoni's forehead and landing on the goddess's shoulder, \"Hmph... you really are too damn clever kid. You sure you want me gone? Today you could have killed a dragon, what if something worse than that shows up?\" she asks as Simoni glares right back.\n\n\"I don't need your help anymore. I've got Arja, and Sammi, and Stephy, and all my other friends. Now GET. OUT.\" she glares as Morrigan rolls her eyes at her.\n\n\"Soooo much worse than Hanuman...\" she grumbles, her body splitting apart into an entire murder of crows as they all fly out of the temple.\n\nBack in Arcadia Simoni's eyelids flicker, then she sits up and rubs the sleep dust out of them, having a nice peaceful moment before she suddenly remembers what just happened. Apparently Morrigan was making her forget her dreams and this time, out of respect for having the spine to stand up to her or just as a final middle finger to the girl, she'd left the memories intact. \"... ugh...\" she sighs, rubbing her forehead.\n\nArja smiles when Simoni wakes, squeezing the girl's hand, \"Hey, how'd it go?\" she asks, Sammi waking himself and Stephy up as well.\n\nSimoni stares straight ahead, takes a deep breath, and then replies, \"I want to start screaming... and I'm not sure when, [i]or if[/i], I'm going to stop.\" she says in a deadpan voice, \"Morrigan is gone, I found out the real reasons for everything, and I mean [i]everything[/i], and I want to hurt something very badly because of it...\"\n\nSera just chuckles, \"Well, we have training dummies out back for the guards if you'd like.\" she suggests, petting Simoni's cheek softly.\n\nSimoni nods, getting up and walking to the window, \"Not for long you don’t...\" she frowns, changing forms and jumping off the windowsill, gliding down to the training yard. A few minutes later there's several loud thudding sounds as the training dummies, one by one, are hit by the kind of gale force winds that leave entire houses upside down after a tornado.\n\nDusk hops up to the window to watch, his tail wagging excitedly, as Stephy yawns, then frowns, \"Jeez... I knew the gods liked to screw with mortals but... [i]damn[/i]... she could give some of the higher fae lessons.\"\n\nSammi nods, \"I was genuinely worried something crazy would happen, I'm glad she at least respected Simoni's wishes…” he says with a little huff, \"Grandmother, can you have the staff make a nice feast for us, and send word for the Iron Spike to come join us for a garden party? I think all of us here need an actual vacation, and you and Trixie's aunt need to finalize your deal now that the dragon situation is gone.\"\n\nStephy nods, \"Yeah... and, probably make some good spicy dishes for Simoni. She'll be needing some comfort food...\" he says as he watches her going at it from the window, a training dummy clearing the castle towers in five separate pieces before it crashes back down to the ground.\n","writing_bbcode_parsed":"<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'>The train ride from London to Dorset County is a pretty long one. Peaceful, but long, and by halfway through Dusk had gotten restless. He&#039;d already been over most of the train that he could get away with until Simoni managed to lure him back with promises of fish and give him the pinch long enough to get her point across about what they would be telling his mother and big sister if he didn&#039;t watch it. Eventually he just took up a spot on the window and watched the countryside go past, the kitten finally flopping onto his back, throwing up his paws, and yelling, &quot;BORED! Bored bored bored! Why is it so boooooooring?!&quot; he yowls, flailing all of his legs in the air as he fusses.<br /><br />Simoni puts down the manga she was reading and rolls her eyes at the kitten, &quot;Well sorry, its not like we planned on you stowing away with us Dusk...&quot; she says in a slightly irritated tone, &quot;I mean, we didn&#039;t think we&#039;d need to bring stuff to entertain a hyperactive magical kitten.&quot;<br /><br />Sammi smirks softly at him, &quot;Yeah, see what happens when you just invite yourself along? You get stuck doing whatever boring thing we&#039;re doing.&quot; he teases as the train moves along, entering the Dorset area. &quot;Should be fun at least when we get there, it is a fae freehold, you could have some entertainment there at least&quot; he giggles as he looks out. As they pull in, though, both he and Stephy feel a very... strange feeling. A chill runs down both of their spines (not the normal kind!) as the train comes to a stop. &quot;Huh...&quot; Sammi murmurs, wiggling a bit, &quot;That&#039;s... not normal.&quot;<br /><br />Stephy shudders, then looks at his brother with a worried expression, &quot;Sammi... what&#039;s going on?&quot; he asks.<br /><br />Simoni tilts her head, looking outside. To her it seems perfectly normal but, well, she&#039;s not a fairy. &quot;Guys?&quot; she asks in confusion as Dusk sits up, flicking his ears as he gazes out the train window. <br /><br />&quot;Feels weird here...&quot; he mewls, his ears folding as his tail fluffs out.<br /><br />Sammi shakes his head, &quot;Not sure, let&#039;s be careful though.&quot; he suggests as he walks out of the train, looking around slowly before heading along to the outskirts of town where the church entrance sat. &quot;It&#039;s not the hunt&hellip;&quot; he confirms, wanting to help that fear out at least, &quot;If it was we&#039;d be having migraines and nosebleeds and shit...&quot;<br /><br />Simoni nods as she follows along behind him, Stephy, and Trixie with Arja and Lara bringing up the rear, Dusk sitting on her shoulder as his head keeps turning in all directions, his eyes wide and his back arched. &quot;Yeah... um... that&#039;s not necessarily good Sammi...&quot; replies Stephy, &quot;I mean, that&#039;s like saying &#039;something bad is going on, but the world hasn&#039;t exploded yet&#039;.&quot; he nods. He doesn&#039;t know what this is, he&#039;s never felt anything like it... but there&#039;s two things he can tell about it. Its fae in origin, and its not good.<br /><br />Sammi nods to him, &quot;Just saying, if it was the hunt I&#039;d be telling us to run now and not come back for like, a month, this could just be something odd.&quot; he explains, walking into the church slowly. It seemed fine from the outside, still the same old and poorly maintained building as it was last time they were there, the hidden trap door in the priest quarters still in place<br /><br />Stephy shrugs, &quot;I hope its just odd...&quot; he mutters as he looks down the trapdoor to the freehold of the Iron Spike, then shrugs and jumps in as the others follow behind. After a brief trip through the nothingness between worlds, rather similar to the sensation that they get when they head to the Nightside from London, he lands gracefully on his feet and dusts himself off... then yelps and almost falls over as Dusk lands on his head, the cat&#039;s claws pricking against his scalp.<br /><br />The freehold looks pretty much the same as it did last time, a little chunk of Victorian England carved out of nowhere, though as the group approaches they&#039;d realize that the smog was different than it was last time, this was smoke! One of the tall apartment buildings in the city&#039;s skyline had seemed to caught fire a while ago, now burnt out, yet still smoking faintly, causing the whole freehold to be covered in a thin layer of rather strange smelling smoke. It was... smokey, of course, but there was an undertone of a sharp metal smell.<br /><br />Stephy whimpers at the sight as Dusk lets out a low mrowl, their eyes drawn to the burnt out structure as the group tightens up. &quot;Um, maybe they were trying a new weapon and it fouled up or something?&quot; suggests Simoni. <br /><br />Stephy nods to her, &quot;Yeah, maybe...&quot; he mutters, though the smell was wrong for a fae freehold.<br /><br />As the group goes into the area further they still see plenty of Trixie&#039;s family around, looking unharmed, at least, but quite nervous as they go about their jobs on the street. The music is still in the air, but it&#039;s slower, the rapid harping and guitars replaced by low, almost vibrating, horn notes that seem to echo in the streets... &quot;What the hell happened?&quot; Trixie frowns.<br /><br />Stephy shrugs his shoulders, &quot;No idea... we should find your aunt.&quot; he nods, feeling worried himself. Sera was supposed to be negotiating with the Iron Spike... was she here? Did she get caught up in whatever happened? The group retraces their steps that her cousin had shown them when they first came, Stephy keeping ready to summon his ice as Simoni whistled softly under her breath. The notes seemed especially upsetting to Dusk, the kitten covering his ears and letting out a low mewling noise when they began to hear them.<br /><br />As the group moves they see the girl from before, Trixie&#039;s cousin who &#039;greeted&#039; them before with her crossbows, the girl no longer in her black leathers, instead wearing a white lace backed shirt with black pants, no sign of the Iron Spike on her this time. &quot;Oi, Trix!&quot; she calls when she sees the girl, quickly moving over to the group, &quot;What&rsquo;re you guys doin&rsquo; &lsquo;ere den? Were yas invited?&quot;<br /><br />Stephy blinks in confusion, &quot;Invited? What do you mean? Where&#039;s your mom?&quot; he asks, looking around the streets, &quot;And what the heck happened here?&quot; he adds, noting how different the whole place felt now. He had a sinking feeling that a &#039;change in management&#039; may have occurred at the workshop where the Iron Spike made their base.<br /><br />The girl looks between them, raising her eyebrow &quot;You lot didn&#039;t &lsquo;ear? Mum&#039;s fine an&rsquo; all but... yea, kinda under a new banner as it were&hellip;&quot; she explains, sighing softly before nodding to the group to follow &quot;C&rsquo;mmon, I&#039;ll show yez.&quot; she says, walking down the street to the factory like before. To be honest aside from the smoke and the one burned building the place seemed&hellip; well, fairly good. <br /><br />Stores were still open, people were going about their lives, the only difference was there was no trace of the Iron Spike as a movement left, no black leather clad guards walking the streets or banners with their impaled rose. Instead, when they arrive at the factory, they&#039;re greeted by a large flag hanging over the door, shinning emerald green that seems to have the actual gemstones woven into it with a bright red outline of a dragon&#039;s head on it, surrounded by a ring of smaller golden thread stitched coins. &quot;Oh fuck me sideways&hellip;&quot; Sammi mumbles as he sees the flag.<br /><br />Stephy looks at his brother, then back at the dragon&#039;s head, &quot;... that&#039;s bad isn&#039;t it?&quot; he asks him as Simoni looks up at the dragon, a sense of foreboding washing over her as she sees the symbol and the coins around it. Something was definitely wrong here, if anything Dusk&#039;s reaction was a good indicator as the kitten hissed up at the banner, his fur arching as he pawed at Simoni&#039;s shoulder.<br /><br />Sammi shakes his head, &quot;It&#039;s a fucking dragon... it&#039;s never GOOD but I don&#039;t recognize the banner so I can&#039;t say if this is BAD or not.&quot; he replies as the group is led in. The factory is pretty much the same. It was still mainly a meeting hall more than a proper factory, the same higher ranking members of the freehold were milling around, they were even still gambling and drinking and such. The only main difference on the floor was the band, their guitars and drums replaced with an assortment of shiny gold looking horns. From above Trixie&#039;s aunt was still watching over the place, though to her side was a new figure, a young man with short bright red hair and blue eyes, dressed in a dark purple shirt with the red dragon&#039;s head and gold coins on the back. When he moves his hand to the rail the group can see its nails are replaced with incredibly long, sharp, claw like ones. Both he and Trixie&#039;s aunt were still giving off a great deal of power around them, but it was obvious this wasn&#039;t where the chill was coming from.<br /><br />Stephy shivers reflexively. The claws gave a hint as to what he might be, as did the red hair, but he wasn&#039;t sure yet. Still... he whispered to the fae girl, &quot;Did... um... did my mother show up yet?&quot; he asks. He had a hunch about the chill and he really really really hoped he was wrong.<br /><br />The girl nods &quot;Yea, don&#039;t worry, she&#039;s fine. She came, saw th&rsquo;... new management, talked wid &lsquo;em ah bit, an&rsquo; left. Ah guess dey wanted th&rsquo; deal altered now dat deys &lsquo;ere an&rsquo; she had ta consider it.&quot; She sighs &quot;Look ah know dis ain&#039;t &#039;zactly &#039;appy times but... dey ain&#039;t th&#039; bad kinda dragon at least. Dey&#039;re still feckin&rsquo; dragons o&#039; course but don&#039;t worry, yer mum, me mum, alla us &#039;ere, we&#039;re&hellip; safe&hellip; for th&rsquo; most part. Not like dey is havin&rsquo; random fae barbecues or somethin at least.&quot; <br /><br />Trixie sighs, nodding in relief at that, &quot;Well alright, that makes me want to shoot that guy less.&quot; she replies, eyes going up the redhead and her aunt.<br /><br />Stephy nods softly, glad about that at least. If something had happened to Sera then he wouldn&#039;t have held back, dragon or not, but still... a dragon. They were rare, even for Arcadia. Power and arrogance that would give even the haughtiest fae lord pause. Simoni was sticking close to Arja now, Dusk&#039;s yellow eyes pinned to the crimson-haired man as his tail swished behind him, every bit of fur standing on end. &quot;So... um... what happened?&quot; she asks.<br /><br />The girl sighs at that softly, &quot;Honestly ain&rsquo;t sure. They just showed up ah bit ago. That&#039;s Kirzar, &lsquo;e&#039;s the second in command ta &lsquo;is sister, Alyzya. They came in wid ah little group o&rsquo; dragon-kin an&rsquo; their families and said that our freehold was on their land. Mom and Alyzya argued, Kirzar torched a building, and Alyzya agreed that since apparently dey&rsquo;ve been gone fer ages it wasn&#039;t fair ta blame us fer &#039;stealin&#039; their land, so she just decided that because th&rsquo; land was hers ta begin wid she&#039;d just be in charge an&rsquo; we&#039;d get ta keep doing what we do. Like ah said it&#039;s not as bad as it could be. We pay taxes, obviously dragon-kin get special treatment, but it&#039;s not like dey is forcing us inta mines or raping our women or summtin&rsquo;. Just, ya know... we&rsquo;s not exactly fans o&rsquo; being under somebody&rsquo;s thumb, even if it&#039;s not as bad as it could be...&quot;<br /><br />Stephy frowns, &quot;Not yet they&#039;re not...&quot; he mutters. Dragons weren&#039;t the types to make nice deals. If they did something like this it was because they were waiting for an excuse to demand more. Sure Kizar would just help &#039;direct and guide the freehold to a better way of doing things&#039; at first, but give it a few years and it&#039;d be maidens chained to rocks.<br /><br />The girl nods, &quot;Yea dat&#039;s the problem dat is. Dragons ain&#039;t exactly th&rsquo; kinda guys wot do things out o&rsquo; kindness, we&#039;s doin good now &lsquo;cause we keep da money flowing, if somefin&rsquo; changes dat den we may start seeing problems... an&rsquo; I&#039;s worried &lsquo;ow a lot of people is gunna react when dat &lsquo;appens.&quot; Dragons, proper dragons like the siblings, were incredibly powerful and thankfully even in their age very rare. They easily were rivals of true fae in power, many fae believing that they were actually the first inhabitants of Arcadia. Dragon-kin were their version of Changelings, but unlike True Fae there was a more familiar connotation to it. Abduction and such was common still, but dragons didn&#039;t torture their kin like the others, they shaped them into &#039;part of the line&#039; and from there many dragon-kin could actually expect fairly good lives as long as their ideals matched their &#039;creator&#039; and they didn&#039;t cause problems.<br /><br />As the group talks, Kirzar&#039;s eyes drift down to them, chuckling softly, &quot;Are ye gonna introduce your guests, Thursday?&quot; he calls down, a rather friendly sounding heavy Scottish accent coming from his mouth as he reveals the rows of fangs within. <br /><br />Trixie&#039;s cousin stiffens a bit as he speaks but turns quickly to face him &quot;Sorry &lsquo;bout dat boss, just greetin&rsquo; me cousin is all!&quot; she calls back, nodding to Trixie.<br /><br />The dragon nods, taking a deep breath as he does so. &quot;A magician&hellip;&quot; he says, smiling, &quot;So she&#039;s part o&rsquo; that other branch? Nice to see you get along&hellip;&quot; he replies calmly, motioning to the stairs, &quot;Please, join us up here, all of ye.&quot;<br /><br />Simoni shudders at the sight of his fangs, though Stephy manages to keep calm. He&#039;s not really looking at Kirzar though, he&#039;s looking at Thursday&#039;s mother, wondering just how she felt about this change as they all head upstairs. Dusk scoots further behind Simoni&#039;s neck, his fur still fluffed up as he stares at the dragon as Stephy raises an eyebrow. He can still feel that chill... he&#039;s just not sure where its coming from or why. Still, he lets Sammi handle the introductions. He knows more about this sort of politicking and, well, its a bloody dragon! He definitely doesn&#039;t want to risk insulting something that can torch a building by coughing in it&#039;s general direction.<br /><br />Sammi nods, keeping his eyes on the male dragon as he walks up. Trixie&#039;s aunt seems plenty secure, unharmed and, aside from the slight frown she wears as he pulls a small box of thin cigarillos from his pocket, doesn&#039;t seem like she&#039;s in any distress. &quot;Ah.&rdquo; he nods in recognition as the fae boys get closer, &quot;Sera&#039;s brood? Yes I&#039;ve heard o&rsquo; ye! Your mother spoke highly of ye, or grandmother, whatever it is. Dragons are hardly one to judge about family trees being a bit bendy.&quot; he grins, holding the box to the group, &quot;Care for a smoke?&quot; he asks, Sammi nodding and taking one, making a quick glance to the group to say &#039;take one, even if you don&#039;t smoke it&#039;. Dragons aren&#039;t known for sharing, when one offers you something it&#039;s very rude to refuse, even if you have no desire for it, just the act of accepting their offer is enough to acknowledge it.<br /><br />&quot;Yes, I&#039;m Samuel d&#039;Orleans Montebank, my brother, Stephen...&quot; he&#039;s cut off by a light laugh from the dragon.<br /><br />&quot;Sammi and Stephy, please. I appreciate the attempt at dignity but this isn&#039;t court, no need for formality.&quot; replies Kirzar. Sammi just nods, introducing the rest of the group in their more casual names.<br /><br />&quot;So,&quot; the dragon continues, &quot;What brings two fae of winter, some form of strange divinity, forgive me dear I&#039;m not well versed past Russia, that&#039;s me sister&#039;s territory, a Fullmoon wearing an Indian suit, a prodigal faeblood, a walking corpse, and a wonderland creature to our lovely little abode?&quot;<br /><br />Stephy and the others take them, though he and Simoni just pocket their&#039;s. Simoni&#039;s eyes widen at the dragon&#039;s words as well. It was a very rare creature that could actually tell she used to be from Clan Fullmoon. The transformation she went through in the Nightside went right down to her DNA after all. This just hinted at how strong the creature was in front of them.<br /><br />&quot;Well...&quot; replies Stephy, &quot;We were here to meet with the leader of the Iron Spike and my mother, Sera, while they negotiated a treaty between their two houses. We were unaware that the Freehold had been reclaimed however. May I ask why your people chose now to make their claim on it?&quot; he asks, Simoni frowning a bit behind him. She&#039;s got a really bad feeling about that one...<br /><br />He nods, &quot;Ah yes, that deal. Terribly sorry for causing a hitch in it but, you know how it is, you show up and there&#039;s already plans in place, you have to make sure your interests are protected. Your mother seemed very understanding though, she said she&#039;s return in a few days with an answer if you&#039;d like to stay with us. As for why, well, frankly we only recently returned to the realm of the living! My sister and I have been... well I don&#039;t know what we&#039;ve been. Dead, technically, but also not dead... regardless, one of yours,&quot; he nods to Simoni, &quot;&hellip; got me with a damn Mundane Blade, apparently he got me sister too. No idea how, but only recently we were freed from that, and, well you can figure out the rest of the story there I assume.&quot; He then smiles, taking Trixie&#039;s Aunt&#039;s scarred hand and bending down to kiss it, making the woman frown again as he does, &quot;I must say aside from an initial disagreement this band of fae have been very accommodating, a real testament to the kinder nature of your lot that threw in with the underclass. Of course, you can imagine this alone puts you on good terms with most dragons.&quot; Selfish and greedy, sure, but dragons at the very least did have a strong sense of family. By default all but the most truly evil of them were against the non-rebel true fae. They may not be explicitly on the changelings&#039; side, but at least that was one venue to forge alliances for them.<br /><br />Simoni tries hard not to, but she can&#039;t hide a wince as Nelen&#039;s words following the battle at Castle Fullmoon come back to her...<br /><br />&#039;... what else got out?&#039;<br /><br />Dragons. Thats what. DragonS. Plural. If this was any indication then Nelen had a damn good reason to be worried about the fallout from the blade&#039;s destruction.<br /><br />Stephy nods at Kirzar&#039;s words, doing a better job of hiding his reaction to their involvement in the dragon&#039;s freedom than his cousin, as he glances at Trixie&#039;s aunt again. &quot;Alright then, what about the Iron Spike? Has just the banner changed or are things more different than just a new logo?&quot; he asks tenatively, ready to jump back out of claw range if necessary as he twirls the cigarillo in his fingers.<br /><br />The man shrugs lightly, &quot;That&#039;s more my sister&#039;s call. To be honest, from my perspective, a little of both. She supports killing the true fae but, well, the whole &#039;we must crush all who dominate others&#039; kinda rhetoric obviously tends to make our kind cagey. Luckily, your fair fae here was willing to negotiate. As far as I know those negotiations are still ongoing but I&#039;m sure we&#039;ll find a reasonable solution&hellip;&quot; he grins, looking up as a loud roar echos through the freehold, almost enough to shake the sturdy factory walls... &quot;Speaking of, me sister is back from patrol. I do appreciate the chat but I assume you lot are here to find answers and stand with your friends here, aye? Then you&#039;ll need to talk to her directly, I can bring you to the lair if you like.&quot;<br /><br />Simoni frowns at the dragon. The arrogant tone, the confidence that nothing could stand against him, the sheer bloody mindedness that everything would go the way he wanted it to because he could just kill anyone who said otherwise... this man reminded her of Franklin. &quot;Yeah, we probably should.&quot; she nods.<br /><br />Stephy glances at her, then back at Kirzar. &quot;Yes, lets. I should probably know who my mother is negotiating with.&quot; he replies to the dragon. If nothing else he would at least know who to watch out for should things go sour (even if a gigantic flying lizard is hard to miss).<br /><br />He nods, &quot;Lovely, care to join us, Aythia?&quot; He asks, Trixie&#039;s aunt shaking her head. <br /><br />&quot;I&#039;m good &lsquo;ere, t&rsquo;anks,&nbsp;&nbsp;be nice ta spend a couple o&rsquo; hours not choking on smoke.&quot; she replies icily, making the dragon laugh softly. <br /><br />&quot;Sorry, it is a nasty habit isn&#039;t it?&quot; he chuckles as he walks to the stairs, motioning the group to follow, &quot;Lucky for you guys Alyzya seems to be in a good mood, probably found a patrol of hobgoblins or something to play with&hellip;&quot; he chuckles.<br /><br />She may be but Simoni wasn&#039;t, the garuda trying hard to stay calm, but everything about that dragon reminded her of her grandfather and made her feel sick. It didn&#039;t help that the freehold really did feel, well, wrong with him in charge. Everything looked normal on the outside, but it was clear that the only reason that Aythia and the other fae had agreed to Kirzar and Alyzya&#039;s terms was because the other option was &#039;get incinerated by dragon fire&#039;. She hated the Mundane Blade and what it caused her and her friends to go through... but at the same time it was clearly used for a good reason in the past.<br /><br />The group is led through the streets, further into town as a large university looking building becomes visible. It seems in good condition, clean and well maintained, but the large dome at the top has been broken, obviously to allow flight in and out. &quot;She&#039;s right in here.&quot; he says as he opens the front door, &quot;She may be changing still, it takes us a little bit to get from form to form.&quot;<br /><br />Inside the massive receiving room was well decorated and clean, art from ages past, statues, even weapons put on display, obviously from the dragon&#039;s own hoard, a way of displaying a fraction of wealth without leaving their whole collection easily stolen. Sammi does find his eyes drifting to some of the paintings, &quot;I gotta say they have good taste at least&hellip;&quot; he comments, eyes going over what looks like a large desert landscape painting. Arja nods as she runs a finger over the gold and ruby sheath that holds a very large greatsword within it. &quot;Yea, I mean, at least they know how to put a show on&quot; she offers as the group is led to a rear door.<br /><br />They only get a glimpse, but it&#039;s all they need. A massive pale green lizard tail slithering away, the flash of a yellow wing big enough to knock an airplane over, and the smell of that same metallic smoke. Bones crunch and crack, muscles pop and strain, the transformation process between dragon and normal fae isn&#039;t exactly elegant, but soon enough the door opens fully to reveal a tall, stark naked, young woman, looking to be in her late teens. Her hair is long, straight, and black, her skin is almost as white as Natasha&#039;s, and her eyes are bright blue, the only similarity she had to her brother. &quot;Ah&quot; she says, her voice was accented as well, but this was a thick Russian one. &quot;These are the guests I smelled.&quot;<br /><br />Simoni watches her closely as she appears, Stephy nodding politely to her as, again, he lets his brother introduce them. Depending on how long ago these dragons were imprisoned it was probably more proper to let the &#039;man&#039; do the introductions. Dusk was hiding in the hood of Simoni&#039;s jacket right now, two yellow eyes peering over her shoulder at the dragonic siblings.<br /><br />Simoni felt more certain in her assumption now that she&#039;d had a glimpse of the dragon&#039;s true form. Even an entire freehold wouldn&#039;t be able to fight something like that, hell an entire mundane country&#039;s army would have a hell of a time without resorting to the nuclear option... and then she gets a sudden chill down her spine. What if these things could enter the Mundane World? What if they did?! Keeping the supernatural secret had been rule one for people like her for centuries and all of that secrecy would be dust in the wind if one of these two flew over a mundane city. She had to do SOMETHING!<br /><br />Sammi nods, giving the more formal introductions to the sister since they were in her home, the woman nodding slowly as she walks to a nearby dresser, pulling out a long white silk robe and putting it on as Sammi speaks. &quot;Very well spoken.&quot; she says at the end, nodding, &quot;I am Alyzya, devourer of magic, daughter of Valgurthriz the world eater. Forgive me for not being as friendly as my brother. He is the, how do you say, face of the operation. So, I assume you are here to speak on behalf of the Iron Spike, you agree that it is wrong of us to make our home here again?&quot; As she speaks the group can see others moving around. Dragon-kin. Men, women, children, all milling around the lair. It wasn&#039;t as big a &#039;brood&#039; as most dragons their age would have, those could often fill entire nation-states, but it was nearly the population of this small freehold. There was about an even divide between red and black hair, obviously indicating who sired who.<br /><br />&quot;Well, I am not a tyrant, I&#039;m willing to listen.&quot; she says as she takes a seat on a large wooden throne lined in gold silk. The room around them had its share of opulent display, but this clearly wasn&#039;t the &#039;treasure room&#039; either, that is likely a heavily guarded secret for the pair.<br /><br />Simoni&#039;s eye was twitching now, the woman making her even more upset than her brother did. She felt an odd sort of burning sensation in her head, a desire to stop this somehow, even if the odds were so stacked against her that even Trixie couldn&#039;t cheat her way out of it. Before Sammi or Stephy can say anything she steps forward, reaching into a messenger bag she was carrying over her shoulder. &quot;I&#039;ve got a reason for you to go. How about because you two owe us?&quot; she asks, pulling out the twisted and burned hilt of the Mundane Blade.<br /><br />They had brought it to show to Sera when they arrived, figuring the fae queen would like to see the proof that one of their most feared weapons was no more (it&#039;d definitely impress the Iron Spike too). &quot;See this? This was the hilt of your former prison. Arja and I destroyed it a month ago in Ireland, freeing everything trapped inside. You two, with all your power, couldn&#039;t stand up to it... but we smashed the sword to pieces.&quot; she nods firmly.<br /><br />The woman raises her brow at that, looking the hilt over, &quot;I see&hellip;&quot; she says calmly, though her face shows she&#039;s obviously impressed, &quot;I won&#039;t deny we owe you for that, but I would ask, what would you ask of us? Are we to displace our families from their ancestral homes? This was our holding in the past, and when my brother and I were slain our children were left to wander. Now we return with the authority to reclaim their homeland.&quot;<br /><br />Simoni hesitates for a moment, then thinks to the sights she saw in the Freehold and steels herself. &quot;Well what about the Iron Spike?&quot; she demands, &quot;Are they supposed to give up on their lives and their plans just because you two come flying out of the past and say &#039;do what we say or else we&#039;ll turn you into charcoal&#039;?&quot; she shoots back. &quot;You&#039;ve been gone from here for centuries, which means that the sword was in the hands of someone other than it&#039;s last wielder when you two were trapped inside it.&quot; she steps forward, winds whipping around her legs as she stares down the dragoness. &quot;What did you do to get their attention? Why did it&#039;s wielder come after you two?&quot; she demands.<br /><br />Alyzya&#039;s face remains calm, but now her eyes are locked on Simoni&#039;s, as if daring her to use that wind to attack her as she speaks. &quot;Our father was a cruel creature. This is something neither of us deny, he crushed many under his claw, and he met his end as he deserved. Do you know how dragons become greater, little Fullmoon?&quot; she asks calmly, remaining seated though her fingers dig angrily into the seat&#039;s armrests. &quot;We devour our own. My father ate five of my siblings, only I and my brother survived his hunger, and in return we feasted on him. We ended his madness, and became great in our own right. When I attempted to explain this to the hunter that came for me, showing him my holding was a smaller, non-imperial, holding, he did not care. He said the blood of my father was enough to condemn me, my brother met a similar fate. Tell me, little Fullmoon, shall I judge you on the standards of your fathers? Do you think you would find mercy if I did?&quot;<br /><br />Simoni frowns, &quot;So what? You think it&#039;s enough to force everyone else in line by saying &#039;well I&#039;m bad but my father was worse&#039;? The last wielder of this sword was my grandfather and he spent the last several months of his life doing his very best to kill me. That doesn&#039;t mean I should take over Clan Fullmoon just because I defeated him!&quot; she retorts. &quot;This is NOT your land anymore! It belongs to Aythia and the Iron Spike!&quot;<br /><br />She lets a growl out at that, &quot;This land was nothing when we found it, it was death and swamps under control of a cruel fae. We overthrew him, and caused life to bloom, and now we&#039;re told this land is not ours? Where shall we go, then? How long shall we wander hoping another lord takes pity on us, how many of my children must die hungry and cold to properly atone for my cruel sin of wanting my home back?&quot; At that Kirzar steps forward, clearing his throat, &quot;Sister, perhaps it would not be the worst to negotiate... As you said we do owe these people our freedom.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;No!&quot; she snarls angrily, smoke coming from her mouth in faint wisps as she stands. &quot;Our children have suffered for generations as nomads, and these outsiders demand we forsake their birthright because we were murdered by THIS ONE&#039;S ancestor? How much more does this clan feel entitled to? Shall I peel my hide off for them to make a suit of armor from as well? Tear my fangs out for their weapons?&quot; Her eyes flash at that, pupils going wide and bloodshot as she stares at Simoni, &quot;I&#039;ve had enough of being taken from by this clan and their friends!&quot; With that a gout of fire comes spewing out of her mouth, bright blue flame that seemed to shimmer as it flies at Simoni.<br /><br />Stephy yelps and jumps backwards as Dusk scrambles out of her hood and teleports to safety, Simoni&#039;s eyes widening as the part of her brain marked &#039;survival instincts&#039; suddenly catches up with her... and then in the back of her mind she hears a faint voice with a familiar Irish accent whisper &#039;Well said kid&#039;.<br /><br />A huge gale sweeps through the building and smashes into the oncoming torrent of dragon fire, sending embers in all directions as a figure shoots up from the flames, riding the thermals created by the clashing wind and flame. Simoni has transformed, becoming her garuda self again but... something is different. Her eyes aren&#039;t just green anymore, but look like large emerald orbs, and the last inch of her hair is a bright crimson, like the feathers that she had back at Castle Fullmoon. Mixed in with the winds howling around her are a few streaks of gold.<br /><br />It takes more than just wind to stop a dragon&#039;s breath...<br /><br />Alyzya lets out an angry roar as her flames are knocked away, Sammi grabbing his brother and yanking him away from the area nearly hard enough to break the boy&#039;s arm. The other dragon-kin are running to avoid the fire as well, many having to take cover to avoid getting burned. Trixie also dives out of the way as Arja lets out an angry roar, charging at the woman as her claws come out. Iron wasn&#039;t a weakness for dragons like it was fae, but it did certainly help get through their thick armor, even in their altered from they had an incredibly strength and constitution to them, the woman raising her arm to stop the attack, only to get a set of iron claws digging int her arm.<br /><br />&quot;Sister that&#039;s enough!&quot; her brother calls angrily, &quot;These outsiders broke the blade that kept us, something no other dragon could do! Not only do we owe them for such an act, they clearly have power we do not possess! Stop this before you get your entire brood killed!&quot;<br /><br />Simoni hovers in the air, wind swirling around her to form barely visible spears forged from the air itself as she aims them at Alyzya and her brother... and then something twitches in her mind and she shakes her head, letting out a sudden shriek as they launch, smashing into the walls all around the dragon&#039;s throne, then the walls behind them, and then out through the back of the building and several others before finally dissipating as Simoni lands back on the ground, shaking her head as she fluffs her wings, blinking and looking around in an almost confused way as she tries to figure out what on earth just happened.<br /><br />It definitely got their attention though. There was a lot more than just wind in those spears. It seems that she didn&#039;t use all of the borrowed power when they destroyed the Mundane Blade... something was still there.<br /><br />The woman growls softly, bit lets out a low sigh, shaking Arja off her arm, the wounds quickly healing back over, &quot;Very well, we&#039;ll leave&hellip;&quot; she says in a softer tone, adjusting her robe, &quot;I&#039;d rather lose my home than my life, at least I can lead my children still...&quot;<br /><br />Simoni hesitates for a moment, apparently having not realized the changes in her appearance as she nods, &quot;Right, good.&quot; she replies, &quot;Just because this used to be your home centuries ago doesn&#039;t give you the right to stomp in and force everyone who lives here now to do what you tell them to.&quot; she says, trying to sound confident, though there&#039;s a small hint of uncertainty in her voice. She remembers coming in here feeling angry, she remembers shooting her mouth off at the dragoness... but she didn&#039;t want to actually try to kill her. Just stop her from forcing the Iron Spike to follow her.<br /><br />On some level she knows if those spears had actually hit their mark the throne and its occupant would have been torn to pieces, a thought that she finds rather disturbing even with how much she disliked the dragon&#039;s methods.<br /><br />&quot;Yes&hellip;&quot; she frowns as she waves her hand, signaling her brood to get ready to leave, &quot;As you said, there&#039;s nothing worse than forcing people to obey you under threat of death.&quot; she replies, eyes narrowing on Simoni before turning her back on the group, ushering the dragonkin out, her brother following behind her with his own.<br /><br />Stephy emerges from behind one of the walls holding Dusk in his arms after the dragons leave, then walks up to Simoni, looking her over with a stunned look on his face. &quot;Where the hell did THAT come from?!&quot; he asks as Simoni blinks slowly. <br /><br />&quot;I... I don&#039;t know... I mean... I just saw what they were doing to Aythia and the others and I just saw red. Did I... almost kill her?&quot; she asks, shaking a bit.<br /><br />Sammi just sighs softly, shaking his head a bit as he turns to walk out as well, &quot;Someone should tell Aythia the dragons are gone&hellip;&quot; he nods, making his way out of the university as Arja moves over to Simoni. <br /><br />&quot;Are you ok?&quot; she asks, sounding deeply concerned for her.<br /><br />Simoni nods, looking down at herself and looking surprised at the red in her hair, &quot;I think so...&quot; she replies, shaking her head a bit as her emerald orbs look over Arja, &quot;Did I really just stare down, threaten, and yell at a dragon?&quot; she asks, giggling the kind of giggle one might make after narrowly missing being hit by a runaway semi-truck.<br /><br />Arja nods, &quot;Yeah, you were pretty badass there&hellip;&quot; she says, smiling a bit, rubbing the girl&#039;s back softly.<br /><br />Simoni blushes, &quot;Suicidal is more accurate. I dunno why I did any of that Arja! I just... everything they were doing, the whole &#039;you&#039;re going to do what we say or else&#039; mentality... it was just so much like how Franklin was controlling Clan Fullmoon...&quot; she shudders as her feathers molt, the girl changing back into her human form. She blinks her eyes as they take on their normal appearance, then leans into her. &quot;I really hope thats the worst that came out of the Mundane Blade though. I mean, seriously. Dragons...&quot;<br /><br />Sammi actually stops on his way out at that, looking back, &quot;Do you really think you solved the problem here?! Like, is that what we&#039;re doing now, we&#039;re deciding that &#039;do what I say or else&#039; is ok when we do it and whatever happens happens? Do you realize how many dragonkin, from their perspective, just saw a group of outsiders storm into their house, demand them return to, spoiler alert, a shitty life of wandering the hedge, and then when their mother challenged them one of them nearly killed the entire room?!&quot; he yells, his face reddening.<br /><br />Simoni winces, &quot;Sammi... I&#039;m not even sure if that was me saying it.&quot; she replies, looking a bit scared now. &quot;Its like something in my head was urging me on that whole time...&quot; she shivers at the thought. &quot;I just, ugh.&quot; she shakes her head, &quot;Forget it, its done. I&#039;m not happy with this, but it&#039;s done and Aythia has the Freehold back.&quot; she nods, &quot;I need to lie down...&quot;<br /><br />Sammi nods angrily, &quot;Yes, it&#039;s easy for you guys to forget it, but this is MY home we&#039;re in, and now there&#039;s a dragon who knows our mother&#039;s home who has a chip on her shoulder! You guys go back to India, I&#039;ll catch up, I need to go home and hope that the revenge she&#039;s planning comes from an envoy demanding tribute and not a dragon burning my home down. They&#039;re kinda into eye for an eye stuff in that culture.&quot; he snaps at them, then turns, moving his hand and forming a portal to Sera&#039;s realm and stepping through.<br /><br />Stephy looks between it and Simoni, then lets Dusk pad over to her before saying, &quot;Um... I&#039;ll catch up with you guys...&quot; and following his brother through to Sera&#039;s realm.<br /><br />Simoni sinks down onto the floor, trembling as she wraps her arms around her legs. &quot;Arja, what the heck just happened? What did I DO?&quot; she moans, holding her forehead, &quot;Did I really just cause that? Is Sera in trouble now because of something I did?&quot; she shudders, &quot;Did I really just threaten an entire family like that and almost kill their leader?&quot;<br /><br />Arja sighs softly, sitting down next to the girl and pulling her into a hug, &quot;Sera can pull through. Sammi&#039;s just upset, the dragons want land, if they declare war on another lord then they&#039;ll never get any. I&#039;m not gonna pretend there probably won&#039;t be ANY reprisals but no, she&#039;s not in mortal danger.&quot; she sighs again, giving Simoni a squeeze, &quot;You weren&#039;t in control, he knows that, he&#039;s just scared and... well you know how fae are...&quot;<br /><br />Simoni nods at her, clinging to Arja. &quot;I just... It was almost like someone else was in my head with me! I...&quot; she pauses, &quot;Nelen. Nelen will know what just happened. He&#039;s got someone else in his head all the time!&quot; she nods firmly, taking out her phone and almost cursing as she remembers that the Freehold is technically outside the Mundane World, so no cell reception.<br /><br />Arja nods, &quot;He said he&#039;d meet us when we got back to India anyway, how about we head home and Nelen can give you a good once over?&quot; she asks.<br /><br />Lara noding at that, &quot;Yea, I can help that...&quot; she then pauses as she sees their faces, &quot;Not like, medical, I have rituals and junk to see if you have a hitchhiker or something.&quot;<br /><br />Simoni nods, taking several deep breaths as Dusk paws at her leg. &quot;Yeah, yeah lets do that...&quot; she replies, looking like she&#039;s about an inch from a panic attack as Dusk looks up at her. <br /><br />&quot;Hey. Heeeeeeeeeeeeey.&quot; he mewls, &quot;Hey. Maybe it was that lady you were dreamin&#039; about.&quot; he suggests. <br /><br />Arja raises her brow at the Cheshire kitten, &quot;The lady she was dreaming about?&quot;<br /><br />Dusk shrugs, &quot;Well, I like to watch your dreams when ya sleep... an&#039; she keeps dreamin&#039; about this red haired human lady.&quot; he nods, &quot;They just talk in the dreams, kinda boring, but its all she&#039;s been dreamin&#039; about.&quot; he adds, looking at Arja. &quot;Your dreams are lots more fun. Really weird though... why do you wanna tie her up so much?&quot; he asks. <br /><br />Arja just pats Dusk&#039;s head, &quot;I&#039;ll tell you when you&#039;re older. Simoni do you remember these dreams? What do you talk about?&quot;<br /><br />Simoni closes her eyes, then shakes her head, &quot;No... nothing. I had no idea that I was having those!&quot; she frowns, &quot;Wait... If I&#039;m having dreams about this then that means that the Sammi, Stephy, and the cats can go in them!&quot; she nods, then frowns again, &quot;... but... does this mean that I&#039;ve still got some of Morrigan&#039;s power in me? Is she actually making me do stuff like that?!&quot; she winces. For Arja it wouldn&#039;t be a problem, hell she might not even notice if Hanuman was encouraging certain things with her... but Morrigan was a war goddess and Simoni... well, Simoni wasn&#039;t the warrior type unless there was a very good reason for it.<br /><br />... usually anyways...<br /><br />The garuda lets out a loud groan and cups her head in her hands, &quot;Dammit... It has to be her. The first time we met her she took on Vritra bare-handed... Of course she&#039;d think the simplest way to fix this problem would be to slay a dragon...&quot; she sighs.<br /><br />Arja nods, &quot;Yeah, that makes sense&hellip;&quot; she sighs, &ldquo;I&#039;m sure she thinks she&#039;s trying to help but... we don&#039;t always need a war goddess, Hanuman was a warrior but also a scholar so he balances me out at times but yeah, Irish goddess of war, not big into forgiveness and mercy... Maybe we could, ya know, ask Sammi or his family for help checking the dream out?&quot;<br /><br />Simoni whimpers, &quot;Yeah, if Sammi even wants to help me after that...&quot; she replies. She wouldn&#039;t blame the fae boy for being angry with her after what had just happened. Kirzar seemed to be fairly pragmatic, though still arrogant, but after what she almost did to Alyzya... &quot;Dammit, I don&#039;t want some god version of Merihim in my head!&quot; she yells, smacking her temples in frustration, then wincing, &quot;... ow...&quot;<br /><br />Arja nods, rubbing the girl&#039;s back, &quot;I&#039;m sure he will.&quot; she smiles, pulling Simoni up, &quot;Come on, let&#039;s get Trixie&#039;s aunt to open us a gate, I&#039;m sure she knows Sera&#039;s realm after they&#039;ve met.&quot;<br /><br />Simoni shakes her head, &quot;I dunno... I&#039;m not sure I can face him after that. I mean, he was really upset.&quot; she whimpers, glancing away. &quot;We could always get Dawn to talk to Morrigan. I mean she could probably do some good, right?&quot; she asks... then her expression falters and she replies, &quot;Yeah... couldn&#039;t even convince myself of that. Knowing her she&#039;d probably just get Morrigan to make my head explode or something...&quot; she chuckles nervously.<br /><br />Arja shakes her head, hugging Simoni, &quot;Come on, gotta deal with this sometime, I&#039;m sure Stephy is already telling Sammi he needs to calm down. He knows you weren&#039;t fully in control, we all saw it, he&#039;s just upset.&quot;<br /><br />Simoni nods, &quot;Y-yeah...&quot; she replies, then glances down and sees the hilt of the mundane blade. She&#039;d dropped it when she transformed to escape the dragon fire. Simoni picks it up and lets out a long sigh, &quot;This thing is broken and powerless and it&#039;s still screwing up our lives...&quot; she frowns, tucking it into her bag as she follows Arja out of the university.<br /><br />Arja smiles, &quot;Hey that&#039;s the fun of being a hero, if it was easy we&#039;d never have to do anything to begin with.&quot; she smirks, pulling Simoni close as they walk. Trixie had gone ahead to tell her aunt when Sammi left, the factory already seeming to be celebrating the dragons&#039; leaving...<br /><br />Simoni cheers up a bit at that, at least happy to see that they had managed some good. She leans into Arja as they walk along, noticing that several of the fae are already tearing down the dragon&#039;s banner and putting the impaled rose of the Iron Spike back up. &quot;Well, at least they&#039;re happy...&quot; she nods.<br /><br />Arja smiles, &quot;The dragons needed to go, that was never a question, you did good, even if we have to do a little mop up after, still good.&quot; <br /><br />Simoni&#039;s eye twitches, picturing a melted winter fae kingdom, &quot;I wish you&#039;d hadn&#039;t put it that way Arja...&quot; she replies as they see Aythia ahead of them, already joining in the celebrations. <br /><br />Arja winces, &quot;Yea... woops, my bad&hellip;&quot; she replies sheepishly as they get closer. <br /><br />Aythia is talking with Trixie and grins happily as she sees the group, &quot;Dere&rsquo;s da woman o&rsquo; th&rsquo; hour!&quot; she smiles to Simoni, &quot;Nicely handled dear. Trixie told me bout wot happened, th&rsquo; freehold owes yes ah debt.&quot;<br /><br />Simoni blushes a bit, &quot;Yeah, sorry if I wound up doing more harm than good though... The dragons weren&#039;t happy to get chased out.&quot; she replies nervously, still having a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that she literally stared down a dragon less than an hour ago.<br /><br />She nods, &quot;Aye, dragons got big egos, bruising one don&rsquo;t end well too often. Still, regardless o&rsquo; how, yez helped us, don&#039;t let dat get lost in th&rsquo; troubles.&quot;<br /><br />Simoni nods, secretly hoping that she never finds out that it was technically their fault the dragons were there to begin with, &quot;Yeah, I just hope that Sera doesn&#039;t wind up with them retaliating against her... speaking of which, I don&#039;t suppose you could get us transport to her domain? We, um, kinda need her help with something.&quot; she nods.<br /><br />She nods, &quot;I can arrange dat sure.&quot; she grins, whistling to one of the fae currently downing beers in celebration, &quot;Oi Yesterday, get yer arse over &lsquo;ere!&quot; she calls.<br /><br />The man laughs loudly as he walks over, &quot;Ya rang ma&#039;am?&quot; he asks.<br /><br />&quot;Get th&rsquo; carriage ready, dese girls need ta get ta lady Sera&#039;s domain, quick like.&quot; she nods, the man saluting offhandedly as he walks off. &quot;Should be ready nice n&rsquo; quick, we calls &lsquo;im Yesterday &lsquo;cause despite &lsquo;im being ah no good drunk whenever &lsquo;e has ta work &lsquo;e finishes it yesterday.&quot; she winks playfully, rubbing Trixie&#039;s head, &quot;Mind if we keep me girl &lsquo;ere while yez run off? We never did get ta catch up&hellip;&quot;<br /><br />Simoni nods, &quot;Yeah, go ahead. I&#039;m sure Stephy won&#039;t mind this time...&quot; she replies, remembering his first visit and thinking that they&#039;ve all been acting pretty nuts lately really. Maybe they should take a proper vacation to the beach or something. There was only a small chance that a kraken or something would attack...<br /><br />Arja smirks, &quot;Yea, should be fine, I think he has his hands full with his brother anyway.&quot; she replies, bringing Simoni and Lara out to the street where the man was already setting up a rather large motored carriage for them.<br /><br />Simoni climbs into the back with Arja and Lara, letting Dusk sit on her lap as she leans into the monkey girl. &quot;I really hope they can do something... I mean, I&#039;m grateful for Morrigan&#039;s help with the Mundane Blade and all... but I&#039;m not a warrior!&quot; she sighs, &quot;Not... well... not like she is anyways. I can fight if I need to fight, but I don&#039;t go looking for this sort of stuff...&quot;<br /><br />Arja nods, &quot;No it&#039;s understandable. There are many kinds of warriors. You&#039;re a defensive warrior, you protect others.&quot; she nods as the car begins to drive, entering the forest quickly, &quot;She&#039;s an aggressive warrior, no mercy, no talking, just war. That can help with guys like Franklin but there are many shades between black and white in this world, and shooting first and sorting later will just make things worse.&quot;<br /><br />After just a minute of driving the forest opens back up, revealing the cool breeze and wide farmlands of Sera&#039;s domain, &quot;Bleh&hellip;&quot; the driver complains from his seat, &quot;Bloody freezin&rsquo;, &lsquo;ow do dese types live...&quot;<br /><br />Simoni shivers and snuggles into Arja, glancing out the window, &quot;I&#039;m with him.&quot; she mutters, even Dusk shivering and fluffing out his fur a bit at the sudden chilly breeze. &quot;I just hope Sammi isn&#039;t really angry with me...&quot; she murmurs.<br /><br />Simoni got an answer fairly soon, after a bit the car is stopped by a pair of Sera&#039;s guards, tall, lithe, rather androgynous figures in sky blue chain-mail, one holding a shield with her symbol on it and a sword, the other with a long spear seemingly made of sharp ice. &quot;Uh... I don&#039;t think we&#039;re supposed to let you through&quot; the spear holding guard comments in a soft French accent. &quot;He said &#039;and keep the damn bird out&#039;....&quot; he adds sounding rather unsure as the other guard sighs.<br /><br />&quot;Let them through already, the lord was just having another tantrum, you know how he gets...&quot; he replies in an annoyed tone. It seems that this isn&#039;t the first time &#039;Lord Sammi&#039; had lost his temper like this.<br /><br />The spear holding guard just sighs and nods, stepping aside, &quot;But I&#039;m telling him it was you if he asks who let them through...&quot;<br /><br />Arja winces a bit at that &quot;Uh, joke about cold reception goes here?&quot;<br /><br />Simoni doesn&#039;t respond to that, just leaning into Arja and looking miserable. As the group disembarks they can hear Stephy&#039;s voice echoing through Sera&#039;s castle.<br /><br />&quot;Sammi will you listen to me already?! I&#039;m telling you that something is wrong here! Simoni just stared down and almost killed a dragon, a DRAGON! I&#039;ve known her since we were toddlers, there&#039;s NO way she&#039;d do something that crazy on her own! Something IS wrong!&quot; he yells at what is presumably his brother, the boy sounding rather worked up. Its quite possible they&#039;ve been arguing since they got back.<br /><br />&quot;Alright, we agree, it was very odd for her to do that&hellip;&quot; Sammi&#039;s voice comes in response, &quot;It doesn&#039;t change that a lack of control over WHATEVER that was could have caused a damn war between us and a dragon. In case it&#039;s not super clear we&#039;re not a holding that&#039;s ready for war. We work in shadows, dragons tend to burn shadows! Excuse me for being afraid for my family!&quot; there&#039;s a softer voice after that. Soft, maternal, belonging to Lady Sera. She&#039;s obviously acting as a mediator between the brothers at this point. &quot;And he&#039;s worried about his family, so put the bow down and come join us and we can talk about this like adults, not screaming children...&quot; she says calmly, acting as the voice of reason.<br /><br />Simoni winces at the yelling as they draw closer, Dusk sniffing around at the castle. He seems to like it better than the Iron Spike&#039;s freehold at least.<br /><br />&quot;I&#039;m not saying that we don&#039;t have a problem here Sammi, but I know her and I know that something weird is going on...&quot; sighs Stephy as he looks up, feeling an odd tickle in the back of his mind. &quot;... well, looks like we employ some guards with brains at least. They&#039;re right outside the door.&quot; he smirks.<br /><br />Sammi sighs, but doesn&#039;t really offer an argument, &quot;Well let them in... I will admit trying to bar her from the holding was a BIT much&hellip;&quot; he pouts.<br /><br />Stephy smirks at his brother. &quot;Remember Sammi dear, if it wasn&#039;t for Simoni&#039;s suggestion to Arja to &#039;kidnap&#039; me way back when I met them I wouldn&#039;t have gone to Texas, we never would have met, and you wouldn&#039;t have the pleasure of my company... and probably still be dodging hobgoblin brigades whenever mom wants you to pop over for tea. So lets give her the benefit of the doubt here.&quot; he nods as their maid opens the door for the group.<br /><br />Simoni walks in alongside Arja, looking away from them and biting her lip softly as Dusk sits on her shoulder. &quot;Um...&quot; she mutters, not sure what she really could say. &#039;If your castle gets melted into the worlds biggest ice cream puddle by an angry dragon I&#039;m really really sorry in advance&#039; probably wouldn&#039;t cut it.<br /><br />Sammi was still frowning a bit, but he nods to Simoni, &quot;Alright, I shouldn&#039;t have blown up at you like that&hellip;&quot; he grudgingly admits, Sera nodding approvingly at him, &quot;I&#039;m upset, but I should have spoken to you in private when you weren&#039;t coming off of whatever... that... was.&quot; well at least he knew it wasn&#039;t Simoni doing it.<br /><br />Stephy nods and pats his brother on the shoulder, then turns to Simoni, &quot;Seriously though, what the heck was that? I mean you just stared down a dragon, by yourself, and almost killed it. Even by our group&rsquo;s standards that was NOT normal...&quot; he asks, sounding rather concerned.<br /><br />Simoni blushes, &quot;W-well... we talked after you guys left and... we, um... that is...&quot; she stammers as Dusk suddenly pipes up.<br /><br />&quot;The lady in her head made her do it!&quot; he nods, grinning a very Cheshire grin.<br /><br />Back in India, Dawn sits up and wipes away a tear as Nelen looks over at her. &quot;Whats up?&quot; he asks. <br /><br />Dawn replies, &quot;I dunno... I&#039;m just suddenly so proud of my baby brother...&quot; she sniffs.<br /><br />Sammi raises his brow at the kitten, &quot;Lady in your head? So did you lose it or is the cat fucking with us?&quot; he asks, sounding unconvinced.<br /><br />Simoni sighs at Dusk, then takes a deep breath, &quot;Y&#039;know that power boost Arja and I got at Castle Fullmoon, that whole temporary literal &#039;god mode&#039; thing that let us destroy the Mundane Blade?&quot; she asks. They do remember, hell it&#039;d be hard to forget seeing that. Even Sera was aware when it happened, the sudden burst of divine energy rippling all the way to Arcadia, the Nightside, the Underworld, and beyond. &quot;Well... apparently some bit of it is still in there. Thats why my wind was able to actually stop her fire instead of, y&#039;know, me just winding up a pile of ashes.&quot; she nods, &quot;But... we think that whatever bits of her power is left also has some of her personality attached to it or something, and thats what made me act like that... also Dusk says I apparently talk to her in my dreams.&quot; she gestures to the cheshire who nods in reply.<br /><br />&quot;Boring dreams though, monkey girl&#039;s are still more fun.&quot; he grins, then looks at Arja, &quot;Whats a &#039;flogger&#039;?&quot;<br /><br />Sera raises her brow, &quot;Interesting, that could be possible, gods can leave shards of themselves behind in chosen followers.&quot; she nods.<br /><br />Sammi sighs softly, &quot;Alright so it was her controlling you... that does make sense...&quot; he replies, Arja leaning over to flick the cat&#039;s head as he speaks.<br /><br />Simoni blushes, &quot;I dunno if she was outright controlling me... more just, I dunno, influencing me. I mean, I really was angry at them and I really did want them to leave the Iron Spike alone... but...&quot; she shakes her head, &quot;I yelled at and stared down a DRAGON!&quot; she yells, &quot;No matter how angry I am I should be <em>DEAD</em> after that! I knew it, like some part of my head kept going &#039;what the hell are you doing&#039; but... I couldn&#039;t stop...&quot;<br /><br />Sammi nods at the panicked garuda, &quot;And let me guess, you have no memory of her in your dreams or voice in your mind, just her will influencing you, so you need fae magic to see if we can draw her out and evict her?&quot;<br /><br />Simoni nods, &quot;Y-yeah, or at least just get her to stop making me do things like that.&quot; she replies, looking away as she blushes deeper. &quot;I mean... I&#039;d understand if you don&#039;t want to help me after that...&quot; she mutters, Dusk looking at her, then at Sammi and tilting his head.<br /><br />Sammi sighs, shaking his head, &quot;I&#039;m upset, and if that dragon hurts even one fae in this freehold I&#039;ll hold you to blame... but you are my friend, and you weren&#039;t yourself. I&#039;m petty, but I&#039;m not cruel, of course I&#039;ll help you with this.&quot;<br /><br />She smiles softly at him, &quot;Thanks Sammi...&quot; she whispers, her eyes tearing up a bit as Stephy frowns at his brother.<br /><br />&quot;You&#039;ll hold her to blame?&quot; he huffs, &quot;And you wonder why people think winter fae have hearts of ice...&quot; he rolls his eyes.<br /><br />Sammi huffs to Stephy, &quot;Oh so first I&#039;m cold hearted but now you need help?&quot; he sneers, &quot;Maybe we&#039;re too cold to help guide you through&hellip;&quot; he says before his grandmother reaches over to pinch his cheek harshly.<br /><br />&quot;That&#039;s enough now Samuel, we do not hold such things over friends, we save that for our enemies.&quot; she scolds, nodding to Stephy, &quot;We will need to put her to sleep, the divide between our realm and the dream realm is much thinner here so it will be easy to pass between them when she&#039;s out.&quot;<br /><br />Simoni nods to that as Stephy takes her hand, &quot;Alright, she can use my bed then. No point in having her pass out on the floor.&quot; he nods, guiding Simoni out of the room and down to his quarters in the castle. They&#039;re definitely Stephy&#039;s alright. Girlier than a My Little Pony marathon with lots of icy blue and white. He guides her over to his bed and waits for her to lay down and get comfy, Dusk curling up next to her.<br /><br />Sammi nods as he follows, &quot;Stick close with me when we&#039;re in, Stephy, dreams can be very chaotic even when they&#039;re calm, don&#039;t wanna get lost.&quot; he says as Sera joins them a bit later, holding a small cup of tea, &quot;Here, this will help you, I&#039;ll stand vigil over you to be sure everything is fine, Sammi is adept at dream magic, he can guide Stephy through and the two of them will handle this.&quot;<br /><br />Stephy nods to his brother, &quot;I know Sammi. This is how I got to Arcadia the first time, remember?&quot; he smirks, though he does give his hand a squeeze as Simoni drinks the tea Sera offered, then lays back as her eyelids begin to droop. She wonders idly if this is some special ritual tea or if she&#039;s just been given the Arcadian equivalent to a roofie, then her eyes slip shut.<br /><br />She opens them a moment later, blinking as she looks around what appears to be Castle Fullmoon... but as it would have been hundreds of years ago when the Clan was still known as &#039;Those Who Hunt On The Full Moon&#039; (in gaelic). Originally, Clan Fullmoon had hunted werewolves exclusively with the aid of their patron goddess, giving her fealty in exchange for her granting their men enhanced strength and stamina and their women the ability to use magic. Over time the name had been shortened down to just &#039;Fullmoon&#039; as the other was too much of a mouthfull (and hard to say in Gaelic without unhinging your jaw by accident).<br /><br />She starts to walk along the castle halls, her footsteps clicking off the stones as torches burn brightly in their braziers above her until, finally, she comes to the throne room of the castle. Seated in the room, wearing a pair of torn up jeans, black high tops, and a green teeshirt that reads &#039;Kiss my ass, its Irish&#039;, is Morrigan, Maven of War and Queen of Ravens. &quot;What? No thank you for helping you deal with that dragon?&quot; she smirks.<br /><br />Back in Arcadia, Sammi puts a hand on Simoni&#039;s head softly, holding Stephy&#039;s hand as well as he whispers in the fae tongue, the boys soon showing up in the castle as well, hidden above the scene in an alcove. Sammi brings a finger up to his mouth to Stephy, wanting to watch this play out at first.<br /><br />Simoni blinks a few times, then glares at her as her memories of their conversations start to come back. &quot;You... DO YOU HAVE <em>ANY IDEA</em> WHAT YOU DID?!&quot; she yells at the goddess, the crimson haired woman smirking at her. <br /><br />&quot;Saved a freehold, scared the scales off a wyrm? Not bad for a Wednesday.&quot; she replies as Simoni throws up her arms at her.<br /><br />&quot;We could have talked it out! We could have negotiated for them to leave! If they retaliate and attack Sera&#039;s lands in Arcadia <em>it&#039;s going to be my fault</em>!&quot; she snaps at Morrigan.<br /><br />Morrigan frowns, &quot;Well it wouldn&#039;t be an issue if you hadn&rsquo;t shaken off my influence and made those spears miss. One good shot with my divine power and that dragon would have gone the way of Smaug but noooooooooo...&quot; she frowns, &quot;Look, I let you be clever when clever will work.&quot; she nods, sitting up in the throne. &quot;This was a dragon. Get that? <em>Draaaaaaaaaagon</em>. Dragons don&#039;t &#039;negotiate&#039;, they talk until someone stops amusing them and then they have a lovely little barbecue.&quot;<br /><br />Sammi sighs a bit softly, whispering, &quot;Alright I&#039;ll stop being hard on her&hellip;&quot; obviously seeing that Simoni had zero control over what happened until the attack stopped. Stephy nods and pats his brother&#039;s shoulder as the two continue.<br /><br />&quot;You... you did notice that her brother seemed open to negotiation, right?!&quot; demands Simoni, &quot;He was trying to talk her down even after she shot flames at me! He understood that we were the ones who freed him, even if it was unintentional!&quot; she shouts at her as Morrigan sighs and shakes her head, looking like a teacher trying to deal with a slow student.<br /><br />&quot;Yeah yeah, dragons always say shit like that right up until they get hungry or notice you have something they want in their hoard or just get bored and want to burn some buildings to watch the little humans run around screaming &#039;<em>oh please please mister dragon please don&#039;t burn our homes down</em>&#039;.&quot; she retorts, &quot;Thats why I sent your great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great granddad Cillian Fullmoon to sort them out and told him, under no circumstances, was he to negotiate.&quot; she nods firmly, then pauses, &quot;... might&#039;ve missed a couple &#039;greats&#039; in there. It was a while ago...&quot;<br /><br />Sammi nods, &quot;Alright, now&#039;s the time to get involved&quot; he says, hopping down from the alcove and motioning Stephy to follow him. He lands infront of the young girl and the ancient goddess, looking towards the latter, &quot;You realize, with all due respect, then this entire thing was your fault, right? The only reason this conflict rose up was because her great however many grandpa wouldn&#039;t listen to them and locked them away. I understand that there were ages when bloody handed gods are needed, but we are long past them now.&quot;<br /><br />Morrigan stands up when Sammi and Stephy emerge, blinking at them before looking over at Stephy, &quot;Oh hey, another one of the witch-boys right?&quot; she asks, &quot;Last one of you was your great great uncle Senan. I knew we were due for one soon.&quot; she smirks, then looks at Sammi, &quot;As for you, did those dragons tell you just how many villages their dad torched, how many maidens he demanded be sacrificed to him, and so on? Sure they weren&#039;t gonna do it at first, but he said the same damn thing when he took control from HIS father and look how that turned out!&quot; she nods, putting her hands on her hips. &quot;Yeah, miss clever pants here worked out how to get us out to your side of things without having to have anyone die for her, but clever will only get you so far with one of those big scaly bastards.&quot; she smirks, smacking her fist into the palm of her other hand, &quot;Sometimes you just gotta break a few teeth.&quot;<br /><br />Sammi frowns, &quot;And how many fae lords has your clan killed under the same logic? Should I be watching my back in case a Fullmoon remembers a relative of mine who had a taste for freezing virgins or the like? Do all of us supernaturals get brands based on our lineage or just those of us from Arcadia? Simoni is very dear friends with a vampire, I&#039;m sure she has a heavy sin count if you count her sire&#039;s lines.&quot;<br /><br />Morrigan shrugs, &quot;Clan Fullmoon is a hunter clan kid. Thats how we work. Look, I told my boys to stop using the sword right after they dealt with those two dragons. Not my fault that it got stolen after that and that jackass Franklin was the one who found it... he always was a rebellious little shit.&quot; she frowns, &quot;Besides, we had rules. No fighting anything that wasn&#039;t an immediate threat to family, allies, and so on and that wasn&rsquo;t capable of fighting back. Franklin&#039;s little open season on everything under the damn sun was not how we worked. Those dragons had already set their sights on several of the mundane communities that their father had missed. Should I have waited for him to torch them before I told my boys &#039;go get momma a pair of dragonskin boots&#039;?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Does working on presumption of future guilt make you any better?&quot; he frowns in response, &quot;I&#039;m not going to pretend dragons are altruistic and selfless but there are ways to handle them beyond killing, my people make deals with them that they do honor. They&#039;re greedy and selfish, but they have honor and nobility, if one makes a pact of peace it is followed unless the other party betrays it. If you felt local areas were in danger, you could have at least gotten a feel for the dragons, figured out if they could be dealt with. I&#039;m not asking for some grand trial for every dead monster killed by a Fullmoon, I&#039;m asking you to acknowledge that god or not, you were shortsighted in your anger!&quot;<br /><br />Simoni nods, moving next to Sammi, &quot;He&#039;s right! We could have figured out something, you were telling me the first night after Castle Fullmoon how clever I was to get you here like that... why couldn&#039;t I be clever enough to talk a dragon into co-operating then?!&quot; she frowns at her.<br /><br />Morrigan folds her arms and huffs in an annoyed way, &quot;That was different! You needed to work out how to get me and Hanny to your side so you could win that fight at all!&quot; she retorts. <br /><br />Simoni stomps her foot in frustration, &quot;YOU&#039;RE IMPOSSIBLE! There were probably tons of ways we could have negotiated it out or talked them down or...&quot; she pauses, then raises her eyebrow at Morrigan.<br /><br />The goddess tilts her head, &quot;What?&quot; she asks as Simoni gives her a suspicious look. <br /><br />&quot;The first time Arja and I met you we saw you fighting a gigantic serpent barehanded... the second time you show up you gave Aisha a sword so she could <em>fight</em> and kill Carman...&quot; she says, stepping forward as the goddess frowns at her. &quot;The third time it was so Arja and I could <em>fight</em> Franklin...&quot; she nods.<br /><br />Morrigan raises her eyebrow, then replies, &quot;Yeah? So what?&quot;<br /><br />Simoni smirks knowingly, &quot;This wasn&#039;t about whether or not we could negotiate... you wanted to hijack my body so you could <em>fight a dragon</em>!&quot; she nods, pointing a finger accusingly at her.<br /><br />Sammi frowns, actually clenching his jaw a bit, &quot;Is that true? Did you invade my friend&#039;s mind, put my family in danger, and risk the lives of a bunch of fae that as of then&#039;s greatest crime was being selfish, JUST SO YOU COULD FIGHT A DRAGON?!&quot; he demands. The temperate around Sammi, both in the dream and the real world, plummets at that, the boy not seeming to care that he was talking to a goddess as it seems all this drama came from someone really wanting a dragon kill under her belt.<br /><br />Morrigan looks away, &quot;Humph, thats nuts...&quot; she replies dismissively.<br /><br />Simoni shakes her head, &quot;The hell it is! There were plenty of times when I was in there that I could have talked them into leaving or finding a new place to live or at least letting the Iron Spike go back to operating on their own, but I got so angry at them I couldn&#039;t think straight... <em>because you were making me stay angry at them</em>!&quot; she shouts so loudly that Morrigan actually has to take a step backwards.<br /><br />&quot;Hey, look. Those dragons would have caused some shit even-&quot; she starts as Simoni cuts her off.<br /><br />&quot;NO! Don&#039;t start that again! You had no idea what they&#039;d do, you... you were just bored and wanted a fight with something big and powerful! You&#039;re worse than Dusk! If he gets bored I can at least give him a tummy rub or something!&quot; she growls angrily. &quot;Did you even really care that Franklin was using the Mundane Blade on all those innocents or did you just get pissy because he took over your Clan and you wanted it back?!&quot; she demands. <br /><br />Sammi raises his brow at that, legitimately looking interested in the answer, &quot;Well, that&#039;s an interesting question&hellip;&quot; he mutters.<br /><br />Morrigan looks honestly unnerved by her questioning, the goddess seeming to lose her composure, &quot;Thats not... I mean he was <em>way</em> out of line... he... look, does it even <em>matter</em>?&quot; she stammers as Simoni glares at her, the young girl&#039;s expression even making Morrigan herself step back a bit.<br /><br />&quot;YES! YES IT DOES!&quot; she shouts, &quot;Franklin almost killed me! He sent assassins after us constantly! He and Clan Fullmoon killed dozens of Arja&#039;s relatives and almost got Akul killed! HE USED THE MUNDANE BLADE TO CUT IRAVATI&#039;S MAGIC OUT OF HER! <em>YES IT MATTERS A LOT!</em>&quot; she screams, the girl looking downright furious.<br /><br />Morrigan frowns, looking away, and sighs, &quot;Guh, if I knew you&#039;d be like this I&#039;d have never sent Eliza that damn vision in the first place.&quot; she grumbles as Simoni blinks slowly.<br /><br />&quot;... what.&quot; she asks, her voice suddenly sounding flat.<br /><br />Sammi blinks, taking a step back, &quot;This... may end badly... but I kinda have to know. Did any of this even have to happen at all?&quot; he asks.<br /><br />Morrigan lets out a long exhasperated sigh, &quot;Well... <em>technically</em>... if you really want to get right down to it... there <em>were</em> other ways that the Mundane Blade could have been destroyed and Franklin dethroned... but this was the one most likely to work...&quot; she replies as Simoni gapes at her.<br /><br />&quot;All this... all that I went through... the assassins, the battles, <em>Inishmor blowing up</em>... ITS ALL JUST BECAUSE I HAD THE BEST ODDS?!&quot; she shrieks. <br /><br />Morrigan doesn&#039;t look at her, but mutters, &quot;Ugh... you&#039;re worse than Hanuman was... this is why we broke up, he always had to bring this sort of crap into it. Could never just enjoy a good fight...&quot; she grumbles.<br /><br />Sammi sighs, rubbing his head, &quot;Not everyone is ready and eager for a warrior&#039;s death. This plan... and I&#039;m not going to pretend blowing that blade up wasn&#039;t an objective good... but this plan left a lot of bodies behind, bodies in its wake that didn&#039;t have to be.&quot; he then chuckles softly, shaking his head, &quot;You thought Hanuman reacted badly, you better hope Arja never hears this. She&#039;ll spend the rest of her life trying to find how to kill a goddess...&quot; he then blinks and pauses, &quot;That... that wasn&#039;t the endgame here was it? Like, tell me the main point was at least destroying the blade...&quot;<br /><br />Simoni frowns, &quot;Oh I think it was Sammi... at least from Hanuman&#039;s point of view.&quot; she glares at Morrigan, &quot;Arja doesn&#039;t have one of these does she? Dusk may not have understood what Arja was dreaming about, but I&#039;m pretty damn sure <em>he</em> wasn&#039;t in them.&quot; she growls.<br /><br />Morrigan glares at her, &quot;If you <em>must</em> know, no. Hanuman said it &#039;<em>wasn&#039;t honorable</em>&#039; to leave a backdoor into his heir&#039;s mind so he could pop in and talk to her in her dreams and such. His presence completely left her the minute the Arcane Blade broke.&quot; she frowns. &quot;He said you two got rid of Franklin and avenged his people and beyond that you two should be able to choose your own destiny yadda yadda <em>whatever</em>...&quot; she rolls her eyes.<br /><br />Sammi nods, &quot;And on the other hand you think despite all she&#039;s done and how far she&#039;s come, Simoni doesn&#039;t have the capability or knowledge to make her own path, so she needs you to hijack her from time to time to be sure she does things the right way, which is the way you like, right?&quot;<br /><br />Simoni laughs sarcastically, &quot;Oh I think she does, I think she KNOWS I do... but she doesn&#039;t want to lose such a fun toy, DO YOU?&quot; she demands as Morrigan glares right back at her.<br /><br />&quot;You <em>ungrateful little</em> <strong>mortal</strong>! If it wasn&#039;t for me Ireland would still be a warren of man eating werew-&quot; she begins as Simoni cuts her off again.<br /><br />&quot;NO! Stop right there Morrigan and answer me one question, one tiny question right now...&quot; she smirks wickedly, &quot;Whats my name?&quot; she asks.<br /><br />Morrigan blinks in confusion, then says, &quot;Stepha-&quot; but gets cut off again. <br /><br />&quot;<strong>BZZT</strong>! WRONG! I haven&#039;t gone by that name in over a year now, I stopped thinking of myself as that ages ago.&quot; she nods, grinning. &quot;Nelen told me how the whole &#039;true name&#039; dealie works. Its not whats written down on the birth certificate that matters, its who the person considers themselves above all else. I am <em>not</em> Stephanie Fullmoon anymore, I haven&#039;t been for a while now... <em>I&#039;m Simoni Barjar</em>.&quot; she nods firmly, &quot;And you know what that means?&quot; she grins, Morrigan looking worried now.<br /><br />Sammi smiles softly, patting Simoni&#039;s back, &quot;You got this just fine it seems&hellip;&quot; he says, pausing a bit, &quot;Sorry for before... I shoulda known you were better than that.&quot; he adds, turning to collect his brother &quot;Come on, she doesn&#039;t need us after all.&quot;<br /><br />Simoni smirks and pats Sammi, &quot;Hey, I&#039;d be upset too... but anyways...&quot; she turns back to Morrigan, &quot;First, it means we need a change of scenery.&quot; she grins, snapping her fingers as the dreamscape suddenly jolts. Castle Fullmoon fades away, being replaced by Hanuman&#039;s Temple as a wave of balmy jungle air gusts over them. &quot;Second, it means that you&#039;re NOT my patron goddess anymore.&quot; she smirks, jabbing a finger at Morrigan. &quot;This isn&#039;t your territory...&quot; she gestures to the temple around them, &quot;... and <em>this</em> isn&#039;t your territory either!&quot; she points to her head as Morrigan glares at her, looking furious, &quot;So take your little divine Trojan Virus or whatever and GET OUT! I am <em>EVICTING</em> you!&quot; she snarls.<br /><br />Morrigan narrows her eyes at her, a black raven suddenly shooting out of Simoni&#039;s forehead and landing on the goddess&#039;s shoulder, &quot;Hmph... you really are too damn clever kid. You sure you want me gone? Today you could have killed a dragon, what if something worse than that shows up?&quot; she asks as Simoni glares right back.<br /><br />&quot;I don&#039;t need your help anymore. I&#039;ve got Arja, and Sammi, and Stephy, and all my other friends. Now GET. OUT.&quot; she glares as Morrigan rolls her eyes at her.<br /><br />&quot;Soooo much worse than Hanuman...&quot; she grumbles, her body splitting apart into an entire murder of crows as they all fly out of the temple.<br /><br />Back in Arcadia Simoni&#039;s eyelids flicker, then she sits up and rubs the sleep dust out of them, having a nice peaceful moment before she suddenly remembers what just happened. Apparently Morrigan was making her forget her dreams and this time, out of respect for having the spine to stand up to her or just as a final middle finger to the girl, she&#039;d left the memories intact. &quot;... ugh...&quot; she sighs, rubbing her forehead.<br /><br />Arja smiles when Simoni wakes, squeezing the girl&#039;s hand, &quot;Hey, how&#039;d it go?&quot; she asks, Sammi waking himself and Stephy up as well.<br /><br />Simoni stares straight ahead, takes a deep breath, and then replies, &quot;I want to start screaming... and I&#039;m not sure when, <em>or if</em>, I&#039;m going to stop.&quot; she says in a deadpan voice, &quot;Morrigan is gone, I found out the real reasons for everything, and I mean <em>everything</em>, and I want to hurt something very badly because of it...&quot;<br /><br />Sera just chuckles, &quot;Well, we have training dummies out back for the guards if you&#039;d like.&quot; she suggests, petting Simoni&#039;s cheek softly.<br /><br />Simoni nods, getting up and walking to the window, &quot;Not for long you don&rsquo;t...&quot; she frowns, changing forms and jumping off the windowsill, gliding down to the training yard. A few minutes later there&#039;s several loud thudding sounds as the training dummies, one by one, are hit by the kind of gale force winds that leave entire houses upside down after a tornado.<br /><br />Dusk hops up to the window to watch, his tail wagging excitedly, as Stephy yawns, then frowns, &quot;Jeez... I knew the gods liked to screw with mortals but... <em>damn</em>... she could give some of the higher fae lessons.&quot;<br /><br />Sammi nods, &quot;I was genuinely worried something crazy would happen, I&#039;m glad she at least respected Simoni&#039;s wishes&hellip;&rdquo; he says with a little huff, &quot;Grandmother, can you have the staff make a nice feast for us, and send word for the Iron Spike to come join us for a garden party? I think all of us here need an actual vacation, and you and Trixie&#039;s aunt need to finalize your deal now that the dragon situation is gone.&quot;<br /><br />Stephy nods, &quot;Yeah... and, probably make some good spicy dishes for Simoni. She&#039;ll be needing some comfort food...&quot; he says as he watches her going at it from the window, a training dummy clearing the castle towers in five separate pieces before it crashes back down to the ground.<br /></span>","pools_count":0,"title":"Part 2.3: Dreamings and Dragons","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":"33","sales_description":null,"forsale":"f","digitalsales":"f","printsales":"f","digital_price":""}