"GET OFF ME! LET ME GO!", Jinx screamed at the top of her lungs while attempting to pull herself free from the iron grip her mother had on her black T-shirt. However, no matter how much she tugged her mother's grip didn't loosen and she didn't get away: her mother worked with her hands for a dozen or so years, there was no way her hands were weak or her grip was going to lessen especially with how pissed off the woman was.

"No, we're going to find you father. I'm done with you. You're out of control and I am not going to deal with it any longer.", responded Ayame who was dressed in a fine silk looking kimono with her hair done in an elegant bun; the complete opposite of her daughter who was wearing a black T-shirt, dark blue shorts, and black shinobi sandals, and whose black hair was up in pig tails.

Jinx glared at the woman; coal black colored eyes only making her face look angrier. "LET ME GO! YOU CAN'T JUST THROW ME AWAY!"

"I'm not! I'm giving you to your father!", she yelled, still tugging her along the path that lead to where Naota lived. She kept tugging her daughter along who was doing everywhere she could to attempt to break free from her grasp - but nothing was working since her mother was far stronger than she. Her mother dragged her up to a particular door where she raised her free hand and beat on it with a closed fists: loudly.

Jinx was still attempting to tug away from her, even going so far as to brace the bottom of her right foot on the nearby wall and pull away: trying to use it as leverage to do so. "Lemme go!"

"Naota! OPEN THIS DOOR!", Ayame shouted, using her free hand to beat on it again; impatiently.

Word Count: 325

They say that sleep was the cousin of death. But if you asked Death about this, he would simply reply "Naw, I don't know fool." But this was a lie. You see, death knew sleep very well -- the awkward family reunions, the sleepovers and the queer games of truth or dare they would deny until the day they died. Death was not only Sleep's cousin, but his best friend, his confidant. Who else would death turn to when he began to question if he was gay or bi? Sleep had simply hugged death, and told him that no matter if he liked men or women, he still had a job to do. Everyone had a time to die, men and women. Death couldnt turn the afterlife into a sausage party just because he liked men; women deserved to die too! You know, or else there would be femminist 'Pro-death' activists. You know... the women who would DEMAND to die, because "god damnit it, they were living the same life as men and deserved equal rights!"

But what does this have to do with anything? Nothing really, except for the fact that Naota Uchiha was dreaming of killing someone....

There was no need to summon him. He could feel it as soon as it entered the city- it was nearly fucking identical to the energy signature as the night before. And given the fact that he'd allowed sicarius to venture off the to the playground that she'd created... he was pissed off. Nevermind the fact that he'd promoted her to the rank of Judgemaster that very morning, allowing her to manipulate the laws of Velo City almost to the same extent as him....

It seemed that someone had thier fucking panties in a wad. Someone out there felt some kind of what for having thier kin eaten like he was nothing more than a fucking piece of steak. No fucking matter. This shit would end today. From the moment Sicarius's had flashed violet, they were no longer just hers. No, the young male saw the world through his little sister's eyes, and saw the situation unfold as she did.

While he lacked the training and raw speed of his cousins, it would take him less than a second to arrive on the scene from the Tower of the Immortal, his own eyes flicking violet as that ominous aura howled around him. And with his arrive came the noise, that terrible sound. The sound of the world around them screaming, crying begging to be free of the terrible entity that stood upon it. He was shirtless to make way for the massive pair of black wings that were spread open behind.Above his head, partially hidden in the black air that stood up and fluttered in the harsh winds that emanated from his body was something queer, an oddity that he normally hid. Above the youn man's head was a flaming halo, and it seem the grow brighter with each passing second.

In his right hand he gripped something strange, something that he only brought out for passing judgement on those foolish enough to cross him, the Darkin Blade. From this blade, a strange energy crawled up the male's arm, and seemed to feed itself into his aura, causing the whirling maelstrom to grow even larger. The heaven's would quake, the sky growing darker as the malevolent energy that engulfed the young hybrid threatened to destroy all around him. Up above, the sky literally began to crack; malevolent energy leaking in from the realms of the dead, and beyond. The male was pretty sure he could hear laughter, the sound of his father cackling as the child grew stronger on the energy that he was finally tapping into.

Beneath their feet, the earth would shatter and split, yawning into deep chasms as tongues of flame darted up to lick the very air around them.. Even as far away as the shores of Edge, Makkura and Sunset would feel his rage, the seas begining to boil and surge. There was nothing to wonder; Nova Kane-King was pissed.

His free hand was lifted, seizing the tube slide that contained his sister from with air without a word, those violet eyes burning with fury and hatred as they stared down at Malkav jr.

Him.

He did it.

He attempted to harm the most precious thing to him.

He was not going to leave this place alive.

Did this man know that he was going to die? Fury was etched across the young male's face, even as that same face twisted into a smile so sinister... from within the mouth, fangs would elongate, showing proof to is heritage -- Sicarius was not the only half-breed in this place. Nova himself was of angelic and vampiric descent. Not that this would matter at this particular moment; while holding the Darkin Blade, one might as well consider him a Demonic Angel.

Before this man, Malav the Second, could open his mouth to begin to blaspheme and slander his sister, Nova's will went into effect. The world was begining to respond to Nova's subconsous mind, warping and twisting to his desires. Chains of demonic energy would materialize from the air, attempting to fasten themselves to Malkav's body; hooks digging deep into the mind, body and soul at odd angles, wrapping around the trinity and pulling taut to leave the male spread-eagled in the air. With the chains in place, next would come the begining of the male's pain. The process of having every power, every bit of immortality stripped from his being and absorbed by the chains. Blood would leak across the links before the chains drank it in; a terrible pain would fill Malkav's being, like he was being ripped apart. The vampire could struggle against the chains all he wanted if they captured him, but it would be for naught. They would not give an inche-- no, these chains were anchored into his very being, holding him captive as Nova raised the Darkin Blade, preparing to deliver the finishing strike.

With the blade pointed at the ground, Nova began to draw on the darkest parts of the Darkin Blade. As he did, the runes upon the blade began to glow, signifying the release of the blade's terrible power; a form of energy that was so deadly that without the proper control, Nova would easily destory everyone present.

Around them, the world screamed in agony - Mother Nature herself was crying. The entire heavenly host watched on in horror with silenced voices; unable to intervene lest they become sugject to Nova's anger and targets as well. Nova was about to release something upon the world that should have never see the light of day -- a weapon that was deemed forbidden for both sides to use in the war on each other. A weapon that was forgotten to them both, and yet here it was, imprisoned in a blade of hellish origin, being used by a vampiric angel to destory a vampire god.

The irony was titilating.

Above Malkav, the world would warp and twist, Nova's will guiding the energy; to shape the energy into that of a giant replica of the Darkin Blade, hovering less than a foot above Malkav's prone body.

There would be no words. There would be no gloating of vicotry. There would be no exchange of words, no warning. Nova had come here with the intention of commiting murder, and he would do it. There was no Salvation, there was no help coming.

Driving the Darkin Blade down into the ground would be enough; it would cause the blade of energy to be driven down into Malkav's chest, impaling him through. And with the piercing, there would be death. The energy would devour him, eat him alive and leave nothing behind. No mind, no body, no soul, no nothing. Anything that could be considered energy would be annihilated the moment the sword pierced through Malkav's chest, ending this vampire's entire existance.

There was nothing more to say, or to do. It was over.

"Naota! OPEN THIS DOOR!"

Oh god why was it at his door?! Fury was etched across his brow as the male struggled to get out of bed. His body was still sore from the last week of teaching Amaya Taijutsu. While the female was not particularly strong -yet-, she'd quickly learned to use Naota's own weight against him, flipping him onto his back multiple times. Naota really couldnt't complain, however. It was the cost of having to teach his younger sister taijutsu, something he was silling to do.

Sliding out of bed, the male searched around his apartment for something, that for the life of him, he couldn't remember what it was for a brief moment. Upon looking down, he realized that he was missing pants, something that was generally required when one had to answer the door. Not that he cared much; last time he'd answered the door without pants, he'd ended up bedding the young Sarutobi that had come to deliver a message. Hehe, that had been fun. Maybe he could get this one too-- wait, no. He had to stop thinking like that. One day, his dick was going to get him in trouble, and he'd end up with a kid, something he wasnt sure he was ready for.

Pulling on the pants, the male grunted. The person was still there, banging away at his door. Lips were parted, and a thunderous "Shut the hell up, I'm coming!" was released to echo within the appartment. While he wasn't angry yet, the voice was clear; he expected silence until he got to the door. With a quick glance at the clock to check the time, he growled and made his way to the door, yanking it open. "WHAT the fuck is your PROBLEM?!"

Blaze Release training:

The struggle between Ayame and Jinx continued as Jinx kept attempting to tug herself free. She couldn't blame whoever was on the other side - the person her mother was claiming was his father - from being annoyed at the way her mother was beating on his door. It was definitely earlier than she had wanted to be awake but that was how her mother had got her in the position she was in: she had grabbed her while she was too asleep to respond - a mistake she had already vowed she wasn't going to make again.

When Naota opened the door Jinx still had her foot up in the wall, using it as a means to attempt to tug away from her overly strong mother. "Lemme go!", she said again only to now have a hand clamped over her mouth to silence her. Jinx was half temped to bite her for that but resisted the urge as her coal black colored gaze shifted to the man in the door way - her father. Jinx took several seconds to take in the males appearance before returning to attempting to escape from her mother's grasp.

Ayame threw a glare towards Jinx and muttered "Stop it right this instant!" under her breath in a way she hoped would be threatening enough to make her daughter comply - it didn't. So, she turned her attention to Naota. "Still in bed at this hour? You're just like her.", she said with a nod towards Jinx. "Suppose that makes sense. Naota, not sure if you remember me or not. We slept together once about fifteen years ago. Unfortunately, once was enough: I got pregnant.. and had this little brat here."

Jinx kept struggling, forcing more of her weight into the pull. Her mother's grip suddenly slipped as Jinx broke free and she went flying backwards a foot or two to then land sprawled on her ass: staring up at the ceiling with an angry scowl on her face.

"DAMNIT JINX! KNOCK IT THE HELL OFF! THIS IS WHY I'M DOING THIS! YOU'RE OUT OF CONTROL!" Ayame shouted at her before turning her attention back to Naota. "Jinx is your daughter; I kept the information from you because I was hoping I'd be able to raise her in as much of a lady-like fashion as possible. But she's out of control, violent. She won't stop getting into fights, and she's defiant. I can't stand her anymore. She's your problem now!"

Jinx looked up at her mother, mouth opening slightly... she hadn't realized how much her mother didn't like up until that point. Sure, they fought, they fought a lot, but that was just what mothers and daughters did. But this? She was just naming all of her bad traits without speaking even once about the good things she had done: her grades, how she graduated so young, her success... her mother was focused souly on the negative and that hurt; so much so that it showed on her face.

Word Total: 516[841]

"Still in bed at this hour? You're just like her."

Oh? Well, fuck you too, Ayame.

"Suppose that makes sense. Naota, not sure if you remember me or not. We slept together once about fifteen years ago. Unfortunately, once was enough: I got pregnant.. and had this little brat here."

The elder snorted. Of course he remembered Ayame; the daughter of one of the more popular flower arrangers in the village when he was younger. Rumor back then was that she was also a bit of a bicycle, something which Naota confirmed. He'd first met her while picking up an arrangement for his mother from her father's shop. Ayame flirted with him mercilessly, and even got the male to agree to take her out a few times. Little did he know (or care, for he was justa horny teen himself) was that her whole game was to get her rocks off because she had a thing for shinobi, young or old. He was pretty sure that she'd been ridden more times than a rodeo horse, but  he didnt care at the time. Naota, given his own urges 'scratched her itch' a few times before she was off, patrolling for the next ninja.

Naota watched in annoyance as Jinx kept struggling, forcing more of her weight into the pull. Her mother's grip suddenly slipped as Jinx broke free and she went flying backwards a foot or two to then land sprawled on her ass: staring up at the ceiling with an angry scowl on her face. Given the child's face, he could see a bit of himself in her features. There was also the fact that she looked alot like her mother as well, something that wasnt't lost on Naota. Given her age, Ayame was still good loooking, despite a child. But, this was no way to treat any child, nevermind that the fact was her own, and possibly his.

"Jinx is your daughter; I kept the information from you because I was hoping I'd be able to raise her in as much of a lady-like fashion as possible. But she's out of control, violent. She won't stop getting into fights, and she's defiant. I can't stand her anymore. She's your probl--"

The male's eyes lit up for a sec, turning crimson as tomoe appeared within them- a clear indication that he was begining to tire of thier bickering. A hand was raised to cut Ayame off, the warning turned into a threat as those tomoe spun; mutating into a strange pattern -- a Mangekyo Sharingan. "Inside. Both of you. I'm not about to have this screaming match on my front porch." Stepping aside, the male growled, gesturing towards the living room. "My walls are sound proof for a reason." Around him, the air began to shimmer, heating up despite the early morning. It wasnt even nine am, and he was ready to burn shit.

Blaze Release Training:

To her mother's great disbelief Jinx got back to her feet and walked past Naota; going inside without a single argument, dirty look, or nasty comment muttered beneath her breath: in fact, outside of looking upset and angry over what her mother was saying and doing she would seem rather polite and respectful. Jinx had no reason not to respect Naota; though she was quite curious why he would sleep with a woman who was so bitchy all of the time. It didn't make any sense to her.

Ayame huffed as she watched Jinx go inside; she had been about to grab her encase the girl tried to run away but had indeed been very shocked to see Jinx comply without an argument. Her eyes narrowed angrily, thinking her daughter was just showing off to attempt to prove her wrong. "See, now you're just showing off you ungrateful brat and trying to make me look bad.", her mother hissed at her as she followed her inside.

Jinx ignored her mother's comment in favor of glancing around from where she stood: she was more than curious about this man her mother kept calling her father - it wouldn't surprise her if he was since they did have some similar traits.

"Are you even listening to me you little brat?", her mother said after realizing that Jinx wasn't going to respond to her. "You better respect me!" Ayame then turned to look towards Naota. "You see? This is why I'm done with her. I can't take this anymore. You either take her or she goes to the orphanage, or the streets. I'm done, I'm washing my hands of this mess. I should have given her up when I had the chance. I tried making her into a respectable little girl and instead she turned into an animal."

Right. Short fuse was short. There was a lot that Jinx could stand but there was a reason why she got into so many fights. A reason why she talked with her fists and not with her mouth. Her mother? Had just crossed a very thin line. Hands clenched into fists and began to shake while her face started to turn red: it was taking all of Jinx's strength to hold herself back from attacking her mother - she knew it wouldn't end well, and she didn't want in trouble. "Stop... It...", Jinx spoke through gritted teeth, about the only warning her mother was going to get.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do you ungrateful brat! Listen, there's nothing to talk about. Do with her what you want. If you don't want her then she can go live on her own somewhere."

Word Count: 463[1304]

Naota was silent as he closed the door behind Jinx and Ayame, ignoring -- for the most part-- Ayame's bitching.

"See, now you're just showing off you ungrateful brat and trying to make me look bad."

Ayame, she doesnt need to make you look bad. You do it to yourself, you stupid ****. The male's eye's narrowed as he crossed the room between the two women, snagged a glass off the bar and poured himself a small drink of vodka. Turning back, crimson eyes watched the scene before him like a spanish soap opera.

"Are you even listening to me you little brat?"

Gulp down the glass, refill slowly.

"You better respect me!"

Gulp down the glass, refill slowly. Steady yourself, kill the light trembling in your limbs. control the increasing body temperature.

"You see? This is why I'm done with her. I can't take this anymore. You either take her or she goes to the orphanage, or the streets. I'm done, I'm washing my hands of this mess. I should have given her up when I had the chance. I tried making her into a respectable little girl and instead she turned into an animal."

Screw the glass; roll it into a vodka filled marble, reach for the bottle; chug! If this child was indeed his, surely she would inherit his--

"Stop... It..." Ah, there it was. Naota almost smirked as he watched Jinx react to Ayame's ranting. Hands clenched into fists and began to shake while that adorable face started to turn red-- this had to be his kid. He could practicly see the rage forming around the child, a mini-susano'o of pent up rage, barely restrained by the fact that this was her mother.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do you ungrateful brat! Listen, there's nothing to talk about. Do with her what you want. If you don't want her then she can go live on her own somewhere."


Those red eyes locked onto Ayame, swirling round and round. "Perhaps if you didnt bitch so much, you'd have better results. That's all you appear to be good for these days, besides spreading your legs. Huh? Ayame, the mistress of bitching, that's what they should call you. Seriously, five ancient sages of bitchdom all gathered together one day on the peaks of Mount Bitch to proclaim your birth. And a hundred years later, when all the bitch stars had aligned, you were born and made everyone's life around you a living hell because you are such a bitch!" The Lion chuckled, taking another swig from the bottle. "Perhaps if you closed your legs and got off your back for a bit, you'd have a better view of the world. Have you considered WHY she is the way she is? Have you tried to figure out what makes her tick?"

Pointing a finger at Jinx, the male continued, the world around him shimmering as his skin began to smolder slightly. "If you showed her a bit of respect, perhaps you'd get a bit of respect in return, Ayame." As Ayame opened her mouth, Naota glared at her again, flames licking at the air as he spoke, causing the words to die off in her throat. "Don't even start. She might be a child, but she is still a person. And while you are in my house, you WILL respect her..." The eyes were then turned to Jinx, fixing her with the same burning glare. "... and you, will respect her. Am I clear?"

Blaze Release Training:

If Jinx wasn't so pissed off she could have rolled on the floor laughing at the look on her mother's face when Naota began to go off on her. Jinx had seen her mother pissed off before, hell she was the reason behind it the majority of the time, but this was far beyond pissed. This was in a whole new universe of pissed. In fact, it was distracting enough that Jinx was able to begin to calm down: slow process of course, and it likely wasn't going to happen the whole way, not with the situation, not until Ayame and her were away from each other.

Ayame huffed when Naota turned towards her and spoke of respecting Jinx, mumbling something or another under her breath about it being a very cold day in hell before that happened.

Jinx too thought it was impossible, but when Naota turned towards her and said the same thing to her about her respecting Ayame she frowned. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it to better think of her words so she didn't say something she would regret later, and then tried again. "I can't respect her. I can treat her politely, I can act civil towards her, but I can't respect her. For the first four years of my life she told me you were dead; died some heroes death. For the next six after that? She told me you knew about me but didn't want me, didn't care that you had a daughter, that the only reason I wasn't in an orphanage was because she pitied me. I only found out exactly who you were because I went looking: my mother couldn't hide things well enough from me. I worked my butt off in school, and worked in that flower shop of hers from the age of three without pay. Yes, I got into a lot of fights. I was angry. But I still got top grades, I still graduated when I was nine years old at the very top of my class. A graduation my own mother didn't go to because she was off with one of of the three boyfriends she had at the time. So no, I'm sorry. I mean no disrespect towards you, but I can't respect her: it's impossible.", as Jinx spoke her voice was soft, respectful; though the anger she felt towards her mother lined every syllable.

Ayame just stared at her, mouth open. Obviously the woman was beginning to feel a bit terrified at this point: she hadn't expected all of the 'dirty laundry' to air itself out so soon - or at least not while she was there. Ayame shot a very nasty glare towards Jinx and huffed. "I should have just given you up when you were born; left you in an orphanage to rot. I'm leaving. Jinx, your things will be on the porch.", with that Ayame turned, and made to leave.

Word Count: 506[1810]

"I can't respect her. I can treat her politely, I can act civil towards her, but I can't respect her. For the first four years of my life she told me you were dead; died some heroes death. For the next six after that? She told me you knew about me but didn't want me, didn't care that you had a daughter, that the only reason I wasn't in an orphanage was because she pitied me. I only found out exactly who you were because I went looking: my mother couldn't hide things well enough from me. I worked my butt off in school, and worked in that flower shop of hers from the age of three without pay. Yes, I got into a lot of fights. I was angry. But I still got top grades, I still graduated when I was nine years old at the very top of my class. A graduation my own mother didn't go to because she was off with one of of the three boyfriends she had at the time. So no, I'm sorry. I mean no disrespect towards you, but I can't respect her: it's impossible."

The longer he listened to Jinx speak, the angrier he became; not at her, but at Ayame. Why had she lied to Jinx? For what reason did she have to keep the child from the man whom she believed was her father? Why? It made his head hurt as he tried to reason it. In his hand, the bottle of vodka was shaking violently-- the liquid inside it was boiling. Setting the bottle on the counter and placed his head into hands for a moment, closing his eyes. As he did, something flashed through his mind.

A boot to the chest. Painful, it was, but it was not the worst thing to ever happen to him. No, the worst thing to happen to him was the hole in his chest, the one that went straight through his body. Large enough to for a heart to fit there...

The Elder removed himself from the wall without a sound. He'd deserved that; to some extent. He'd been keeping tabs on his child, despite the lockout; young neophytes were always open to suggestions, whispers from the web that told them to find a certain girl, and to watch her. But doing so was hard when there was a dead zone; the moment of crossing into Edge, connections were ceased until the trackers stepped out. Simplpy because he was not there, didnt mean he was not watching.


"Nether one of you are fit enough, or even have the right to be involved with either of them... So your family is now my family, and they'll remain here with me. I've been responsible for their well being since all of this madness started... so I might as well make it official."

What..? No, no no!

The rage was back, Madness seeping into the crevices of his own mind and tapping into the powers that had only begun to dream. He'd nearly lost Demitria before, but she'd been returned. And Alec wanted to take her away completely because he was 'unfit'? No...


The scene was glorious to behold. Chaos was in full effect, Madness reigned supreme. The sick snapping of the spine to make way for the extra ribs to grow, the elongating of the spine for the tail. Canines elongated to a terrifying length, filling his mouth to the point he could barely speak. His face broke, elongating into a muzzle to fit the lupine apapreance. The wall surrounding him exploded as the Malkavian released a primal roar, removing himself from the wreck. From his shoulder blades the wings would grow, leathery membranes stretched across bones as the enranged beast flew across the room and landed upon the desk. clothing was ripped to shreds as the body grew in size, the muscules braiding into thick chords of power beneath the skin. Guns and ammo were scattered about, papers flying about as clawed toes grouged into the wood. Those voilet eyes had gone gold; the beast was here.

Outside, the earth would tremble, the lighting strikes becoming more frequent as Chaos spilled off of his body. He was beyond controlling it; it had a will of its own at this point. The sky darkened even more, the downpours becoming torrential. Those eyes stared down at Alec in his desk, lips drawn back in a snarl.

"It is out of respect for the friendship we have that I do not rip you limb from limb, Alec Kane. You may call me unfit, unworthy of seeing my daughter and grandchild, but you will NOT, in this life nor the ANY, stop me from seeing them. I considered us all to be family, Kane. You think I was not watching her all this time? The Cobweb is MINE to do as I see fit. Any neo-phyte I can control, and have them watch her to be sure she is safe. I saw more than you think; the laws of your city create a lapse in the information that I get concerning her. But you know what? I was FINE with that. Never assume for a second that I didnt care. If there was a lapse in information, I knew it was because she was still here, under YOUR protection."

"So now, Alec... for you to tell me that I can never see my daughter or her child anymore... You will have to kill me. I will not stop, and you know this. You're going to have to kill me." The beast snorted. "And the best part about that? That wont even stop me. You and I both it; the cycle will begin again. Madness never dies; it is only reborn."

"I should have just given you up when you were born; left you in an orphanage to rot. I'm leaving. Jinx, your things will be on the porch."

As Ayame turned away to begin heading towards the door, Naota lifted his head, those crimson eyes swirling and rage brimming in them. Those eyes locked onto the door as Ayame made her way to it, the process began. The center of the Uchiha's pupil began to expand, opening intoa void that would allow his rage to manifest and spew forth into the material world. The entire wall that the door was cut into would burst into flame, much to the shock and suprise of Jinx and Ayame.

What happened? What had he done? The answer was simple Amateratsu, the divine black flames his clan was known for which were rumored to burn for seven days and seven nights. They would coat the wall those unquenchable flames, and yet not burn a single thing upon it.

Amateratsu:

"You're not leaving, Ayame. Not until you appoligize to Jinx." His rage was palpable as his flesh explodes into flame, giving him the appearance of a flaming demon. "Given everything you have done to this child, you should have been beaten long ago! How fucking dare you lie to her about me?! I do admit, there was a long time where I could not be reached, but never once... did you say a word to anyone who knew me that I had a child. And yet, you have the fucking audacity to lie to her, and tell her that I did not want her?! Even if she isnt my child, that is something you do not do with any child!" The male took a slow step towards Ayame, as she drew away from him. But there was no where to go; if she stepped backwards, she would be consumed by the flame sof Amateratsu-- if she stepped forward, she would have to face Rage Incarnate.

"You lying, decietful bitch. You deserve to be fucking burned for what you've done to this child. I have no reason to trust thats he is my child, and yet, given everything here, I'm willing to take her in just to get her away from YOU. She.. -- " His voice cut off, rage silencing him for a moment as he issued off a silent roar in Ayame's direction, causing the woman to jump in fear and the room to shake. If the flames didn't kill her, she would more than likely die of a heart attck at any moment.

When the male finally found his voice, he turned away from Ayame, turning his eyes to Jinx or else he would shove Ayame into the flames himself, or give her a bear hug until she stopped struggling....

"I don't blame you, child. I know how she can be... but this is not your fault. Had I known of you, I would have attempted to contact you, and be some semblance of a father for you." He paused for a moment, frowning slightly as he looked around. This was why he wore those prayer beads. When he got angry, shit tended to get set on fire. "You are more than welcome to stay here, if you'd like. I cannot turn you away, Father or not. Its inhuman. In reguards to her, I cannot force you to respect her as a human; she's already shown us that she is less than than. I will, however, tell you to respect for the fact that she did give birth to you. She was your way into this world, no matter how much you might hate it. That is something you cannoy deny. Beyond that, it is up to you. But I will say this: do not hate her. She is a creature to be pitied, and hatred is drinking poison while expecting the other person to die. Let it go, Jinx. Please"

Blaze Release Training:

Wow. Just wow. She had seen her mother get angry, she had seen her mother pissed off and livid. But that? That! she had never seen before. Her father's anger had apparently manifested itself in... black fire. The whole thing caused her to jump, startled, and take several steps back and away from it. Apparently he didn't appreciate what Jinx had told him: though not because he was angry at her but because he was angry at what her mother had done.

"You're not leaving, Ayame. Not until you apologize to Jinx. Given everything you have done to this child, you should have been beaten long ago! How **** dare you lie to her about me?! I do admit, there was a long time where I could not be reached, but never once... did you say a word to anyone who knew me that I had a child. And yet, you have the **** audacity to lie to her, and tell her that I did not want her?! Even if she isnt my child, that is something you do not do with any child! You lying, decietful bitch. You deserve to be **** burned for what you've done to this child. I have no reason to trust thats he is my child, and yet, given everything here, I'm willing to take her in just to get her away from YOU. She.. -- "

She listened to the words that her father spoke to Ayame, and watched as she ended up stuck between a rock and a hard place: either the flames of Amataratsu or a very pissed off Uchiha who looked to Jinx like he wanted to break her in half. Ayame looked like she was about to have a heart attack, but that was nothing to how hard Jinx's own heart was pounding: the secret was out, and shit had hit the fan.

Her coal black colored gaze snapped off of her mother and turned instantly onto her father when he turned her attention to her and began to speak. "I don't blame you, child. I know how she can be... but this is not your fault. Had I known of you, I would have attempted to contact you, and be some semblance of a father for you. You are more than welcome to stay here, if you'd like. I cannot turn you away, Father or not. Its inhuman. In regards to her, I cannot force you to respect her as a human; she's already shown us that she is less than than. I will, however, tell you to respect for the fact that she did give birth to you. She was your way into this world, no matter how much you might hate it. That is something you cannot deny. Beyond that, it is up to you. But I will say this: do not hate her. She is a creature to be pitied, and hatred is drinking poison while expecting the other person to die. Let it go, Jinx. Please."

Jinx stared at Naota for several very long seconds. She was... shocked? It was as close to a word as any that would describe how she was feeling. Naota would have wanted something to do with her if he knew she had existed - all of the lies that her mother had told her over the years were not true. Despite what this man had just seen of the mother and daughter, despite all of what Ayame had told him - most of which was one hundred percent true - he was still willing to allow her to stay. He was giving her a place to live. 

She folded her arms across her chest as she listened to her father going on to explain that while she may not respect Ayame as a human she should respect the fact that she was her ticket into this world: she was the one who gave birth to her. When Naota spoke of not hating her Jinx frowned: that was easier said than done. So much had gone on in the past years that gave her plenty of reasons to dislike the woman, hate her really. But, she knew ultimately that her father was right: she was someone who needed pitied. Pitied because she was the way she was and would never be able to change that. Hating her would only lead to bad things. So, in the end Jinx nodded and sighed. "Alright, I'll let it go... but she needs to keep herself away from me. I'll get my stuff and bring it here and never darken her doorstep again after that if that's what it takes..." It was as good as it was going to get: she was willing to let it go but she still wanted nothing to do with the woman. She was looking forward to a new chapter in her life; a fresh start.

Ayame was terrified, her heart pounding in her chest so hard it felt to her like it was going to burst. She raised her right hand and placed it on her chest as she stared between the two of them and then glanced back at the fire blocking her way. "I'm...--" She cleared her throat, trying again. "I'm sorry."

Jinx focused her coal black colored gaze onto her mother and stared at her for several long hard seconds before she sighed: forgiveness was a step in this letting it go process and she knew it. "I forgive you..."

Ayame then turned her attention towards Naota: it would be obvious even without her having to state it that she wanted to leave. She had apologized as Naota had demanded, though if she meant it or not she didn't say out loud. 

Jinx focused her attention back towards her father, curiosity bubbling up beneath the surface. Even if Jinx wasn't this mans child he was willing to take her in, but she still wanted to know. "I would still like to know if you really are my father... even if you said you'd take me in regardless. But, how can we tell?", she asked curiously.

Word Count: 1033[2843]

"Alright, I'll let it go... but she needs to keep herself away from me. I'll get my stuff and bring it here and never darken her doorstep again after that if that's what it takes..."

That would be easy enough; Ayame's shop was on the other side of town, away from Naota's apartment. It would simple to keep them from crosssing paths. With a blink from the Uchiha male, the black flames were vanquished, something that suprised even him. Perhaps his power was growing stronger? Either way... there was still things to do. Perhaps it was good that Ayame had shown up; with a glance at a nearby clock, the male noted that it was nearing 9 am. Amaya would be arriving soon. Naota had promised her more training that morning, but given the circumstances she might forgive him for not being ready to leave.

"I would still like to know if you really are my father... even if you said you'd take me in regardless. But, how can we tell?"

Red eyes reverted back to thier normal coal black, turning to face the child as she spoke. So, she was as curious as he was, eh? Wonderful. "Well, there's a few ways we can go about this. We can either wait for my sister to show up later, and have run a few tests on us. She's a medic, one of the best in the village, if not, THE best. Or, your mother can tell me how many Uchiha she slept with around the time we slept together, and I could try something drastic." As he spoke, the flames died from his skin, allowing the flesh to show once again. "So, what'll it be?" The point of the latter idea was very simple; if Ayame didn't whore herself out to all of Naota's cousins, perhaps Naota could induce the awakening Jinx's sharingan. If one awoke, she was indeed his child. If the trauma he caused was not enough, then they'd be forced to wait for Amaya anyway. But if Ayame had indeed been sleeping with other Uchiha... then they might be still forced to wait for Amaya...

"But for now, don't worry about it, Jinx. I don't expect you to call me 'Daddy' or anything like that, just mind what I tell you." He motioned to a couch by the wall for Ayame to sit in, and to a overstuffed chair for Jinx. He was much calmer now, offering a small smile to the child. "Have either of you eaten yet?"

Blaze Release Training:

Amaya had been well on her way to Naota's apartment when something just felt off: it was the sort of feeling she often got when something was wrong and a feeling she didn't ignore. Ignoring it only lead to horrible things. Frowning she figured perhaps entering through a window was best instead of using the door. Her brother would have known she was coming so she wasn't worried about knocking.

As she reached the outside of the window she let out a tiny bird-like whistle: it was a tune she used since she was a very little girl. It had been her own way of alerting her brother of her arrival: especially when he had been training. She had been too frail back then to risk injury and so it had been for the best because the sound was natural, and non-startling.

After the sound was let out she slipped in through one of her brother's windows and into the living room just in time to catch on to the conversation going on. Amaya blinked once, twice, a third time and then shot a nasty glare at Ayame: she hadn't liked her. All that beauty on the outside meant nothing when it came to her personality and Amaya had gotten to know that first hand back when they were younger. 

When Amaya turned her attention to the young girl in the room, however, the glare vanished and turned more calculating and curious. She was taking in the girls appearance: black hair, coal black eyes like her brothers, even her facial features were just like her brother. Still though, from what she had just heard, they wanted proof. It would be easy enough to give them exactly that so long as the bag she had left with her brother, one with more than enough supplies to let her know, was still there. She moved over to the couch, stepping around Ayame while wishing the woman would do something stupid and give her a reason to knock her on her pretty little ass. She grabbed up the purple colored bag and then moved to the middle of the floor - otherwise ignoring the tension in the room.

Amaya sat herself down in the middle of the floor and opened up the bag before beginning to pull out several things: including syringes, a small microscope with several seals on it, and various other objects like plastic slides. She set everything up with the skill that spoke of how long she had been doing this and then looked up towards her brother and who was possibly her niece. "I need blood from both of you, please... I can either take it through the syringe or you can cut yourself. I only need a drop or two."

She pointed to the slides she needed them to put the blood on and waited to see if they wanted her to draw it or if they were going to do it themselves: all while ignoring Ayame's presence and yet watching her all at the same time. She was calm, cool, and collected... she had witnessed too much weird shit to allow the idea of her brother having a daughter to freak her out.

Total: 508
Strength E - E1: 508 / 75
Remaining: 433
Strength E1 - E2: 433 / 150
Remaining: 283
Strength E2 - E3: 283 / 225
Remaining: 58
Strength E3 - D: 58 / 300

Ayame sat, but very reluctantly. She didn't want to be here any longer than she had to but she was also too damn scared at this point not to basically do what she was told. She refrained from glaring at Naota and Jinx when her sexual escapades were brought up. "No, you're the only Uchiha I had relations with at that time." It was the truth, from what she remembered anyway: it was ten years ago.

Jinx shook her head no to Naota's question about eating. "Nah, she dragged me straight out of bed.", she said with a yawn that she covered with her right hand. Before she could move to go sit in the comfortable looking chair someone was slipping through the window that caused her to blink. The woman had white hair and red eyes; and she recognized her quickly as Amaya Uchiha: she had patched her up on one or two occasions when she had lost a few of the fights she had got into. "I remember you! You fixed my nose when that kid broke it last year.", she said with a grin: Naota was right, Amaya was one hell of a medic - and given she was here apparently they were doing this the first way her father had mentioned.

She watched as Amaya skillfully and quickly did whatever she was doing and then spoke about needing a few drops of their blood and how either she could take it or they could do it themselves. Shrugging, Jinx brought her thumb up to her mouth and bit it with a sharpened tooth: she broke the skin and a droplet or two of blood swelled to the surface. She leaned forward and allowed several of the drops to drop onto the slide before she popped her thumb into her mouth; sucking hard enough to force it to clot while she plopped herself down into the chair her father had motioned her towards.

She continued to watch Amaya, ignoring Ayame the same as the albino Uchiha seemed to be doing. She didn't know if they should believe her or not on if Naota was the only one she slept with so she was relying on Amaya to provide the true answers.

Total Words: 377[3220]

Despite the talking going on, he heard the whistle clear as day; expierance told him that it was no bird outside his window, singing about what a lovely day it was. He wasnt suprised when a cracked window was pushed up, and his younger slipped in. It was always open for that very reason, protected by a very special seal that would only respond to her chakra. Not that she needed to know that...

Arms crossed his chest in a relaxed manner, watching quietly as Amaya shot Ayame a look that would have killed the woman if Amaya had used any chakra; clearly there was no love lost between those two. But suprised him was what came next: jinx mentioning that she knew Amaya, having been patched up no more than a year ago. Interesting.

But there was something building in the air as Amaya retrieved her emergency kit that she kept here. Tension, expectance. Now was the time that they would find out if Jinx was his daughter. It would help knowing, he reasoned. Perhaps it would be easier knowing if the child he'd just commited to taking into his home was actually his daughter. Not that it would change anything; he kept his promises -- Except that one-- when he made them. But even still, he wasnt sure how he should feel about it.

"I need blood from both of you, please... I can either take it through the syringe or you can cut yourself. I only need a drop or two."

A hand was lifted, lips parting to reveal the teeth that would soon pierce flesh. His reward was the spurt of blood that would well up; he would then cross the room, pressing the bloody print to the slide that his sister offered him. Afterwards, and a quick lick later, the wound was cleaned and sealing closed.

He had to do something. The suspense was killing him right now. Turning back to the kitchen, the male set to work, producing bowls and pans from various cabinets, as well as eggs from the fridge and bacon from the freezer. Cracking sounds were heard, followed soon  by the smell of fried eggs and bacon wafting through the air.

The male was quiet as he worked, focusing solely on the tast before him. This wasnt something he was used to doing; making  a home cooked meal, even for himself. He much prefered burgers to anything-- quick, fast, and usually very delicious...

Hm. He'd figured this was what she was gonna say. The solution was simple. "I.. could give you access to the cobweb once more, if you'd like." The smile returned to his face as he settled himself into a chair and began to scarf down the burger and fries in front of him. As he ate, his body worked itself into overclock, draining every last bit of engery from the food as it passed from his mouth to his stomach. And as the food was rapidly broken down, his body began to fill out, bringing the male back to his normal visage.

He was quiet as he ate, giving his sister plenty of time to think over his offer. The process would be relatively simple; an exchange of blood from him to her. There were few drawbacks to the process, ranging from her body outright rejecting the transfer and building an immunity to it, or, her body accepting what it once was, at least, in the sense of energy. Her DNA was different now, was it not?

It could be done, right? Nova reasoned that since he himself shared partial DNA with Demi, her's from Alec and his own from Alec's younger brother, Nevan, it was possible.

"The best of the worst case... you'll be sick for a bit as your body fights off what it precieves as an infection. But, that depends on your healing factor. Otherwise, you might just accept it, and intergrate it back into yourself, seeing as my blood is partially the same as Maxi's... as well as very similar to Alec's. Or, I could be completely wrong, and this will cause some kind of insane dimensional collapse that will send us all spiralling into the belly of a star going supernova. It all depends on who's watching and how much of a dick they feel like being."

The male snapped himself from the daydream to the smell of bacon begining to burn. Fuck, he had to focus. Quickly, the elder uchiha removed the bits of pork from the pan, and sat them onto a plate covered into a paper towel to drain. The fried eggs were divided equally onto plates; three each, effectively killing off the dozen he'd purchased the day before. Back into the fridge he dove, snagging a bottle of Orange Juice. Glasses were retrieved from the cabinets and set on the clear counter, the filled with the juice. It wasnt much, but at least he was attempting to be hospitable.

Balancing the plates and glasses on his arms was no easy feat, ninja or not. As he made his way into the ajoining dining room, he motioned for Ayame to pull the chair from the table, something she did with no complaints, thankfully. After setting the dishes in thier places along with the glaces of juice and a "Eat it all, Twiggy." to Amaya, Naota retrieved silverware and passed them around before settling into his own seat.

Blaze Release Training:

Amaya’s focus was deadly; it was the sort of focus she used when killing an opponent or tortured someone for information. It was the kind of focus that in itself was scary to witness; anyone not on her side would have likely been terrified. Even Ayame threw her an uneasy glance – obviously worried by how focused she was. Of course, Amaya wasn’t doing anything deadly of course: that was unless Naota planned on snapping Ayame in half if or when he found out that Jinx was indeed his own flesh and blood.

She was pouring herself over the slides; using the machine in the middle. It took longer than something in the hospital but the information would be the same that it produced. The only difference between the two was that the portable size machine she was using took slightly longer than the huge real deal. Of course, the hospital wouldn’t have been happy with her taking the actual larger machine, so she was making due.

The slides were popped into the machine and they began to be analyzed. Amaya was bent almost entirely over it in an attempt to ensure it was working properly until the smell of good food reached her nose and her head jerked up, gaze fixating on the plates being set down at the table. The machine would be fine running by itself for now and she could feel her stomach grumbling and even hear the soft sounds. She had gone from having absolutely no appetite and having to force herself to eat to being hungry almost all of the time. She figured it had something to do with the insane training she had been putting out and she wasn’t about to complain.

In one lithe movement she was up off of the floor, pushing her hair back over her shoulder as she walked over to the table and took a seat. At her brother’s comment she snorted softly and rolled her eyes. “For that comment I think I’ll leave one bite behind.”, she said with a playful grin. She picked a piece of bacon up off of her plate and brought it to her mouth, taking a bite of it. The food tasted delicious and soon she was scooping up a bite of eggs and eating that too: there’d be nothing left when she was done, even if she had said she would leave a bite left over just because of her brother’s comment.

She ate in silence, focusing on the food on her plate instead of any sort of conversation or uneasy silence that might be going on. Her mind was on the machine she could hear humming away and she knew any second now it would beep and offer up the information they were all waiting for – that her brother and Jinx were likely waiting for most of all. Amaya cleaned her plate while waiting for the machine to beep; not even leaving the last bite she had teased her brother about behind. She got up and brought her plate to the sink, rinsing it off just as the machine began to beep. She placed the plate into the sink and then turned around returning to the machine on the floor.

She sat herself down in front of it Indian style and pressed several buttons which caused a read-out to begin to print. She picked it up and looked it over; reading all of the medical coding on it for the answer they all wanted. Slowly a smile grew across her face and she looked to Naota and Jinx. “You are… the father.” She grinned fully. “Jinx is indeed your daughter. Sweet, I have a niece!”

Word Count: 614 + 58 = 672
Strength E3 – D: 672 / 300
Remaining: 372
Strength D – D1: 372 / 325
Remaining: 47
Strength D1 – D2: 47 / 400

Jinx got to her feet, rather reluctant to get out of the comfortably chair. But, she wasn’t about to turn down food; especially after her father went out of his way to cook for them. It was hard to focus on eating as she sat at the table given she was waiting impatiently for the results. She wanted to bombard Amaya with questions like ‘how long does it take?’ but restrained herself in favor of picking up her fork and taking a bite of the delicious eggs.

She even ignored the fact that Ayame sat next to her as she began to eat. Several bites in and she was wondering if she had done so just to annoy Jinx, but didn’t allow herself to dwell on the thought for long in case she ended up getting pissed off again. Some more eggs, a bite of some bacon, and more eggs. She was cleaning her plate pretty quickly, ignoring the nasty looks that Ayame kept throwing her because her left elbow was on the table while she ate.

She finished off the eggs first, having saved her favorite, the bacon, for last. Just as she was taking a bite of the last piece she heard the machine beep and watched as Amaya, who had been rinsing her plate off at the time, went and sat down in front of it. Amaya began to press several buttons and she watched, toes crossed beneath the table as she hoped the results said that Naota was indeed her father.

Ayame was likewise looking nervous; but more so because she wanted the results to say yes so she could finally leave and be done with the whole mess. When Amaya pronounced the Naota was indeed her father Jinx found herself grinning from ear to ear. She had a father: it had taken ten years to find out the complete truth but the truth was there regardless. Naota Uchiha was her father. Wait.. she was a Uchiha. That… was going to take some exploring and likely a lot of question asking of her father.

“Haha! Sweeet!”, she exclaimed in her excitement. There was going to be a lot of changes she was going to have to get used to, and there was a lot about her father she wanted to know. Hell, she would likely even start calling him dad or some variation eventually so long as he didn’t mind.

Word Count: 407[3627]

The male ate his food slowly, savoring the tast of each bite. While on the outside, he appeared calm and ready for whatever may happen, but on the inside, he was a bundle of confusion, thoughts and emotions.  What would he do if the child, Jinx, was truly his child? He had no problem taking care of her if she was his -- she was a direct result of his actions. If he hadn't slept with her mother... sheeh

But what if she wasnt his child? He was essentially inviting a stranger to live in his house with him -- an underage girl, at that. There was so much shit wrong with that picture if you didnt know the details. He would bet both testicles that Ayame would be calling the military police if Jinx wasnt his daughter, just to make him miserable. He wouldnt past her; she was pretty fucking vicious when she wanted to be, especially if she felt that you wronged her. He could almost garuntee it given that he's literally 'bitched' her out not that long ago.

There was nothing for him to do, nor say, so he kept his peace and ate his food in silence. The bacon vanished first, every bite giving the male the much needed strength to deal with the shitstorm that he figured was pending. Next, the eggs were scarfed down, followed quickly by the juice. All the while, he could hear the machine whine whirl, bump, bitch, piss and moan as it tried to decide if it wanted to say that Naota and Jinx were in fact related, or if Naota was making himself out to look like a pedophile.

As Amaya got up and began cleaning her plate, Naota could not help but wonder something else; why exactly had he agreed? Was it because he felt sorry for Jinx? Even if she was his daughter, his life was problematic enough; controlling his own anger and chakra. The stress of raising a child would probably just push him through the roof, and force him off the deep end faster than he was going already.

Or maybe he was just hoping for something, and excuse for him to remain stable; something that Jinx could possibly provide for him. Something that was a constant reminder for him to remain calm; motivation, so to speak. While Amaya herself was wonderful for this; she had her own life. She was not there with him constantly; a gentle reminder of what he needed to do. And so, when the machine beeped, the elder held his breath, awaiting the results. Time seem to stretch into an eternity as Amaya crossed the room, and began to poke and press buttons on the device until it yeilded the information that everyone was awating.

“You are… the father. Jinx is indeed your daughter. Sweet, I have a niece!”

Time ground itself to a halt, commited suicide, then preeded to drag its corpse in a circle as those words echo'd intp his ears, slit his eardrums with a rusty shiv, and proceeded to turn his brains into dinner. That was, until Jinx spoke next, confirming the statement.

“Haha! Sweeet!”

Cue the heavy breathing, the wide-eyed expression on his face as he looked between the women present, two on whom was flesh and blood, the other no more than a two dollar whole with some epic oral skills.

He had a daughter. And she was sitting no more than a few feet away, enjoying a breakfast that he'd cooked. It's kinda funny how your whole life changes with a few simple words. And his was no different... The Uchiha didnt know how to handle it, but he was willing to try. Reaching out, the male touseled Jinx's hair, offering her a sincere smile. "Welcome to the family, kiddo."

Blaze Release Training:

Amaya folded up the print out carefully; it was something worth saving due to the memories surrounding it. The family had just got a little bigger and Amaya didn’t mind in the slightest: having a niece could turn into wonderful thing and she looked forward to getting to know Jinx more – of course, that could wait until her older brother had the chance to do the same. Of course, that meant in some twisted way that Ayame was family too, but that wasn’t going to stop Amaya from using her as target practice if she pissed her off anymore: the woman was going to have to watch her mouth when it came to all of them, Jinx included, or else she was going to suffer.

With the paper folded up neatly she began to take the machine apart; it wasn’t needed anymore and there was no point in it continuing to take up space. Taking the thing apart didn’t take long at all and soon she was stuffing the pieces into the bag. When she was finished she got up in one lithe movement and returned to the side of the couch where it had been to begin with.

Afterwards she moved over to the chair that Ayame was still seated behind. Carefully Amaya lowered her hands onto the woman’s shoulders, giving a very threatening squeeze as she lowered her head down to her ear. “Now, I know you’re a smart person Ayame, but let me spell this out to you because I could cut the tension in this room with a knife when I showed up. If I find out that you are doing anything to try and cause Jinx harm I will make it my personal mission in life to torture you for the rest of yours… and only when you’ve truly broken will I allow you to die.”, the words were spoken softly but the underlying promise in them was still easy to pick up.

Ayame looked absolutely terrified: she knew Amaya wasn’t playing around – Amaya had a reputation for using her medical techniques for harm just as well as she used them to help. Most claimed Amaya got off on torturing others, and perhaps that was true… Ayame certainly thought so.

Word Count: 375 + 47 = 422
Strength D1 – D2: 422 / 400
Remaining: 22
Strength D2 – D3: 22 / 425

Jinx didn’t know what else to say; this was a situation she had never even allowed herself to dream of. She had a father, he was alive, he wanted something to do with her, and he was allowing her to move in with him. She wouldn’t have to deal with her mother anymore, she wouldn’t have to deal with her nit-picking, with her constantly telling her she wasn’t lady-like enough for her, that she wasn’t good enough. Something told her that Naota wasn’t that sort of person: especially with how pissed off he had gotten at Ayame when Jinx had told him what all she had said and done.

This truly was a turning point in Jinx’s life. A time of improving; a time of being able to blossom even more so than she had before all without having to worry about what her mother would think. So, for the moment all she could do was grin from ear to ear.

She watched Amaya begin to dismantle the machine which had given them her answers and then after she placed it into the bag she put it away. However, Amaya didn’t go and sit back down like Jinx had been expecting and instead she went over to Ayame and placed her hands on her shoulders. Jinx was half expecting to see her kill her but all Amaya did was lean in and say something softly into her ear; a threat, or rather a promise, of what would happen to Ayame if she did anything to harm Jinx or cause her any problems. A chill ran down Jinx’s own spine at the lethalness in Amaya’s voice – she had heard rumors of the demon medic and how deadly she was: how she got off on torturing other people. So, it was no surprise that Ayame had heard them too and looked suddenly as terrified as she did.

Given how scared Ayame was she figured now would be the best time to actually to get her things: before Ayame started feeling brave and asshole-ish again. So, she looked over to her father – that was going to take some getting used to – and grinned. “Where’s my room?”, she asked curiously. She wanted to see how big the room was so she could figure out how much she could bring over – it would let her know how many trips back and forth across the village she was going to have to make. She was excited to get a jump on her new life.

Word Count: 432[4059]

“Where’s my room?”

Oh god, she was asking for things. While what she was asking wasnt out of the ordinary for a girl of her age, it was going to take some time to get used to the fact that another living thing depended on him. Lifting a hand, he pointed down the hallway past the living room. "Second door on your left." While the room itself was appropriate, the elder Uchiha came to realize that it would be too small as Jinx became older; perhaps he aught to correct this sooner than later? It was something to do; he himself was getting slightly tired of the place he was living in. It was wonderfully fine for a single male, but one with a child? No.

Getting up from the table with his plate and glass, the male sighed happily to himself. Today seemed like it was going to turn out to be wonderful, despite the troubles. Placing the plate into the sink, he poured himself another glass of orange juice. Black eyes flickered between the terrified Ayame and the calm Amaya, a smile pressing at his lips. He could only imagine what Amaya had said to Ayame, but he was pretty sure it was a treat -- something similar to the ones Amaya had presented Ayame with ten years ago when Ayame had broken the male's heart. It had hurt like hell then, but watching his younger sister strike fear into the heart of the elder female had broken his depression, and made him giddy.

But, he couldnt help but wonder what Ayame was thinking right now. Being surrounded by people who didnt particularly care for her. Was she envious of Jinx, whom suddenly found family that she never knew she had? People who loved her instantly, despire the circumstances of her birth. Naota knew that on some level, Ayame did truly love Jinx; even if Ayame or Jinx was too stubborn to admit it themselves. Was it out of this love, the love of a mother for its offspring, that she decicded to bring her to him? Did she truly believe that the only someone who could handle Jinx was her own father? Despite what everyone else might say or act, Naota was flattered in some way. While Naota would wait and see if Jinx herself could figure it out, he'd speak to Ayame at some point about it. For now, he simply smiled, sipped his orange juice, and slipped off into daydream...

"... Brother.... Maximillian....? Is.. is that you?"

....Brown eyes quickly turned violet, locked onto the coffin the middle of the room. Brother? No one had called him that in years. Saif and Zevrath were both dead-- blessed spirits in the the heavely host. But they were the only ones whom called him brother. His younger sister was only waist high when he'd left home..


"Brother? Listen here... dunno what you're trying to pull, but me family is dead." He glanced up at Nova, who merely shook his head. "Where did this thing come from, Nova??

"Basement, down in the vaults. Dunno who the chick is though. She says she was locked in there for a slong as she can remember."

"Huh." Violet eyes surveyed the surface of the coffin again, head tipping.

"I kinda figured you'd know something about this. The runes are written in madness. There aren't alot of vampires out here that are your age, and even less that would know this stuff."

"Fair enough. Well then, lets have a look." A chair appeared on the floor, fashioned at just the right height to allow him to glance over the surface of the coffin. Even a pair of glaces appeared on his nose, just for show. Maxi could figure out a few things just by looking at this thing-- it wasnt as sophisticated as Nova thought-- just sloppily done. This wasnt the work of a master rune crafter; no, the terminology was too vague. There was mistakes everywhere in this thing. He was supprised that it could even hold a charge, let alone the person inside.

"What have you figured out about it so far?", he asked, peering at his son over the top of the glasses.

"Just that one of the words in the locking phrase is 'Open." Nova replied.

Maxi rolled his eyes and removed the glasses, pressing his face into a palm with a loud smacking sound. "No shit, sherlock."

"It's Seraphina... I'm not dead... they grabbed me on my sixteenth birthday, when I was going to make an offering... Shinkai Shigai was dying out.. they made this coffin... to feed off of my power and stuck me in that horrible room...." Came the voice again. The elder vampire paused for a brief moment. He truely didnt know what happened after he left home -- he hadn't looked back. His older brothers departed before he did, and when he'd met them later in life, neither had ever gone home either. Shrugging his shoulders, he went back to staring at the coffin; surely this was a coincidence?

"I called you Illian for the first three years of my life because I couldn't pronounce your name..."

I called you Illian for the first three years of my life

I called you Illian

Illian.

"Sera..?"

Suddenly, the the air became uncomfortable. There was thicknes to it, something that couldnt be identified, but surely felt. And with this thickness came the pressure.  Like the gravity had suddenly tripled, and nothing was the same. Even Nova had to back away from the sudden change in atmosphere; the area around his father was warping and changing, as arcs of black lightning danced over the Elder Vampire's skin. Fists pounded the wood, smashing the sound barrier and causing the tower to shake under the force.

"Open."

The word was as much of a mental command as it was verbal, spoken in every language simultaneously. In response, the coffin rattled in protest -- it had already proven that simply 'Open' was not the correct phrase to release the occupant. But something was wrong-- something was triggered. A sort of defense mechanism that caused it drawn upon the occupant even more so than before. Upon realizing what he'd done, Maxi grabbed the coffin and held it steady, screaming down at it in every language he knew. "I do not fucking care whom closed this coffin, nor what the fucking phrase this. In the name of madness, you will release my sister, or I will remove you-- Chaos help me -- I will remove you from esistance. Yes, you heard me correctly. I will displace you, you poor excuse for a shoe box, into a dimension of termites and let them feast upon your fucking flesh  until you are no more. And when they are done, I will respawn you, only to let them do it again. And it will never end. No, it will not. I will dedicate the rest of my fucking existance to watching you be devoured by termites, you fu--

With a wail and the sound of chains scrapping across wood, the sprang open, allowing light to pour into the small space...

What... the fuck.

There was just too much shit going on at once to be able to organize exacly what just fucking happened. But there was several things that he was sure of.

1.) The coffin was opened, and his father freaking out, tears streaming down his face as he damn near pulled the woman whom was trapped inside out, hugging her tightly. Nova thought the fucking power show was over, but apparently, it was only begining.

2.)Sicarius was having a meltdown. Full blown meltdown, and judging by her screaming, she wanted thier eldest sister Demi back. While Nova knew (roughly) where Demi was, he couldnt really figure out what Sicarius was getting at. If Sic wanted to see Demi so bad, they could always go on a day tri--... what the fuck was this? Why was Demi standing in front of them? Had Sic summoned her? And where was he--There was something wrong. His own eyes flashed violet, staring down Demi as she was manifested. There was something very wrong. The last time Nova had seen Demi, she'd been changed; she'd been a full blooded angel, courtesy of Amaranth, something that had been done in response to a series of unfortunate events. But this Demi felt so strange, yet familiar. There was still the divine presense that she had since her change, yet it was ... darker. Almost.. tainted... with vampirism?

3.) With the appearance of Demi came another creature, something even made Nova pause for a second. As his violet gaze fell upon this creature, he noticed something-- he reeked of Sic's energy signature. Was he a manifestation of hers? He had to be-- malkavian logic was the only thing that could explain his head, which was shaped like a pyramid.

4.) Jr Kane appeared, catching Sicarius as she fell. Nova remembered him during his stay on Sunset; the spitting image of his father. While they had never interacted much, he knew Jr was good people, someone to be trusted.

”I came here with some news of my own, and I guess i'm lucky to have ran into you, Maxi, cause you're probably gonna wanna hear this, but... someone mind filling me in on just what the hell is going on here?...”

Nova cleared his throat, raising a hand and stepping up. Maxi was still a bawling mess, holding Seraphina in a deathgrip still. Sic.. well, shit. Sic looked like she was out cold. 'Demi' looked confused as fuck, and he didnt blame her. Looks like he'd have to do it. He was the boss of this city, after all.

"I... think I got this one."

After taking a deep breath, Nova launched into the tale of the past three days. About how some vampire god named Malkav tried to kidnap Sicarius while she was at the playground, and Sicarius summoned Nova because she didnt feel safe. Nova had bound the leech with the laws of the city, and Sic stripped him of his godhood for herself. Nova spared Jr. the details of how he'd murdered and devoured the guy's soul and left the body to ash.

Nova then moved into the tale of yesterday, how someone with a very similar energy signature to Malkav, quite possibly his son or something, had once more attempted to not only kidnap, but kill Sicarius. Once more, Nova came to her rescue, this time completely annihilating the second vampire with his Darkin Blade. Concerned with the effects of the blade on himself, Nova had venturted into the vaults today to lock the blade away.

It was there in the vaults that he found the Coffin that Seraphina was locked in. After unsucessfully attempting to unlock it, Nova dragged the coffin up here and called his dad to help him unlock it.. and the rest.. well...well, Jr. could see it for himself.

"Basicly... you showed up just as everything ended, man."

Slowly, the male realized that he'd been holding the empty glass for a minute or two, staring off into empty space. Placing it into the sink, he nodded to Ayame. "You're free to leave whenever you wish. No one's keeping you hear any longer. But do keep in mind; I will call you soon so that we can have a chat." The male grinned, something toothy and strange.

Blaze Release Training:

Amaya stood back up from having been whispering in Ayame’s ear. She was sure the woman had gotten the point and hopefully it would stick around. Had she known personally about Jinx she would have made that threat a very long time ago, but as it was it was way over-due and more than deserving. She still didn’t know exactly what had caused the tension before her arrival, but at this point given the smile on her brother’s face and how happy he looked she wasn’t going to ask and ruin the moment. No, she would wait until later to get her explanation. For now, the threat would subside, at least until Amaya found out that Ayame had done something to make the threat into an actual promise. The woman had hurt her brother in the past as it was, which made Amaya have a sort of extreme dislike towards her, but if she found out that she did something to fuck with Jinx? Game on with Amaya as game-master.

Amaya turned her attention to Jinx as she asked about her bedroom and then mentioned getting her things. She was curious to find out more about the girl, just as she was sure her brother was. She glanced back over to Naota to see him staring off into space. An eyebrow rose with a smile. “Day dreaming?”, she asked softly.

Ayame took the first cue that she could leave and did so; not wanting to stay any longer than she had to. She was more than petrified at the moment over the thread that Amaya had given her, as well as Noata’s reactions earlier and the black flames to boot. No, she planned on behaving herself – at least for now. Especially since Naota had spoken of meeting later on for a chat: she wasn’t sure what he wanted to talk about but knew he would find her when he was ready. As far as Ayame went, she wasn’t heading home – she was instead heading to a friend’s house because she didn’t trust herself to be home alone with her daughter when Jinx went to pick up her things.

Amaya stared after her as she left for several seconds before turning her attention back to her brother. “Hmm.. given the situation that’s come up… do you want to post-pone our training for tomorrow? Give you a chance to help Jinx get settled in?” She didn’t mind putting it off, just as she didn’t mind doing the training today if that was what her brother wanted – she was simply giving him the option to bail out and go spend some time with his daughter since they had a little over ten years of catching up to do.

Word Count: 455 + 22 = 477
Strength D2 – D3: 477 / 425
Remaining: 52

When her father pointed down the hallway and informed her that her room was the second door on her left she took off, ignoring the fact that her Aunt Amaya was making her mother looked terrified enough to piss her pants. Nope, exploring of her new surroundings were in order and even though she was ten years old sometimes, or more than sometimes, she still had the curiosity of a child: now was one of those times.

She walked down the hallway and counted one and then two in her head as she looked at the doors to her left. She opened the door and stepped into what was going to be her room. She took a moment to just take it all in, the size of it was still larger compared to the room she had now, and that meant she would be able to take all of her personal belongings with her: a super bonus in her opinion. It would also give her more room to move around, not that she really needed it. Jinx was a child who liked to move, liked to be doing something, and the majority of the time that meant she was outside either training, practicing something, getting into trouble – which she no longer had reason to do since she was more than happy with her new situation, or otherwise doing something like exploring or swimming. So yeah, new room, more space: the happy child was happy.

The space was going to be even more well used given the furniture within it: the bed stood about six feet off of the ground with a ladder formed like a small set of stairs going up the side. The bed was the size of a twin and the bed frame itself was made out of a very sturdy looking dark wood. From what she could see from the ground her bedspread was white – an entire set likely from what she could see – and had the Uchiha clan symbol on it. The underneath side of the bed considered of half being a desk with a comfortable looking chair and the other side being a lounge looking chair that after closer inspection she realized folded out into another bed in case she had company or wanted someone to spend the night. There was a dresser that matched the wooden bed with more than enough drawer space and a large mirror that hung on the wall. A closet was off by the door as was another bookcase and a chair. There was also storage shelves of various sizes that helped to accent the room. Yes.. this was completely amazing.

“It’s perfect…”, she whispered softly as a grin spread across her face.

With a hop in her step she turned and skipped back out of her room, up the hallway, and back into the kitchen. She noticed that her mother had already left and her smile faded somewhat: she hoped she would be able to get her things without her mother verbally attacking her as soon as they were alone – it was something she didn’t want to deal with. “Hnn… I hope she leaves me alone when I go to get my things.”, Jinx mused out loud. Something was telling her it would likely be a good idea for her father or Aunt Amaya to perhaps come with her to help her get her things… just in case.

Word Count: 571[4630]

“Day dreaming?”

The male nodded to his sister, still smiling. She knew him too well; sometimes it was like she lived in his head. Not that he considered this to be a bad thing; having Amaya saved him from needing to explain himself to people, something he hated. His temper didnt allow him to deal with most people for more than a few moments at a time, and while he knew that Amaya's temper was not much better, he was eternally grateful that she still undertook the effort to mediate on his behalf.

“Hmm.. given the situation that’s come up… do you want to post-pone our training for tomorrow? Give you a chance to help Jinx get settled in?” Oh god, that was right; he had promised Amaya some more training today. The While he did indeed remember it now, he was grateful for her brining it up to him-- allowing him the choice of keeping to it, or allowing him time to connect with his daughter. He paused for a moment, very tempted to invite his daughter along with them for the training, but still. He owed her so much time...

"I think.. we will pick it up tommorow; you know. Let me get some time to settle Jinx in; get her stuff situated in her room..." It was going to be a long day, and while he was sure he would be able to handle both the training and helping Jinx move, he didnt want to overwhelm Jinx if he could help it. It was alot of shit to handle all at once, and he wasnt sure if she was up for the task. She was only ten, afterall.

He looked up as Jinx came back in, he nodded her. "You find the room alright, kiddo? Whenever you're ready, we can go and get your stuff from your mother's house. It will be quick; it'll only take one trip." He grinned; he  knew a few ninja that were good with fuinjutsu that would help them. A quick seal and scroll, and everthing would be bundled up perfectly for her to carry under one arm.

"What do ya say? Lemme know whenever you're ready."

Blaze Release Training:

Speed Training:

Amaya smiled and nodded; as important as this Taijutsu training was to her it was not nearly as important as giving her brother time with his daughter and Jinx time with her father. The two had a great deal of catching up to do and so she would leave them to it and give them a chance to bond. “I think I’ll head out to the hospital then, see if they need any help while I’m in a giving mood. If you need me for anything you know where to find me.”

Instead of using the door as anyone else likely would have she headed right back to the window she had slipped in through. She opened it and slipped back out before taking off across the roof tops and towards Konoha’s hospital. As she went she thought about how she planned on keeping an eye on Jinx’s mother for a while just to ensure that the woman didn’t plan on any revenge type scenarios in the future…

[Thread Exit]

Jinx was grinning from ear to ear: coal black eyes seeming to sparkle and gleam with her overabundance of happiness: this had to be the happiest day of her life no questions asked.  She nodded to her father’s question about her room while practically bouncing in place where she was standing. “My room is awesome! It’s much bigger than my old room!” Yes, her old room: it was a closet compared to the one she had now and the furniture was nowhere as nice as the furniture in her new room – very old and worn bed with a simple tiny dresser that didn’t even match that Ayame had bought at a garage sale.

She waved to Amaya when she spoke of heading to the hospital since her and Naota wouldn’t be training today. Normally she would have felt bad about interrupting someone else’s training but today she couldn’t bring herself to care very much: she was far too interested in getting to know her father who for a very long part of her life she thought was either dead or wanted nothing to do with her. She watched as Amaya crossed the living-room over to the window she had entered in through. Amaya opened the window and climbed out: apparently doors were not meant for walking through. Jinx smiled at her own thought; she had a feeling that her and Amaya were going to get along very well – Jinx liked using windows as entrance points, too.

She turned her attention back to Naota and smiled. “I’m ready to go get my stuff!”, she said excitedly. She was still worried that her mother, Ayame, might do something to cause damage to her things and so she wanted to get them as quickly as possible – before whatever Amaya had threatened her with wore off an her courage began to come back.

“I’ll race you there!”, she said suddenly, playfulness kicking in and a sly and playful grin spreading across her face. She took off out of the apartment; using the same method of exit as her Aunt Amaya had. She dived right through the window and out; landing on a crouch on the ground below after a front roll in the air. Laughing she took off at a run, bobbing and weaving her way through everyone as she made her way across the village and towards her old house. As she ran she began to daydream as the peacefulness of the running caused her mind and body to relax.

Earlier today he had woken up, even though he hadn't wanted to. He had woken up because of Himitsu's pain. He was a creature of magic, and through his magical contract with Himitsu, he was bound to her emotions and physical status. He felt all of it. It didn't physically hurt him per say, it was more of a unsettlingly uncomfortable headache that he had to experience. Her emotions held sway over him as well. He didn't need any more of the crushingly hopeless depression to deal with. He already had enough in his skull to deal with. At least Himitsu still had a will to survive, at least she wanted to wake up each day.

His desire to live had disappeared, vanishing with the other half of his soul. His late Hana, now dead for longer than he wanted to think, and with her his child had left the world as well. He was lonely and sad. No longer did he see how brightly green the grass grew in spring, how perfect the wind felt nor how sweet water tasted. To him? Everything was simply a shade of grey. Some things were simply a bit lighter than others, which gave his near monotone world a few shades to cope.

Currently Himitsu's emotions were punching him in the chest. She was remembering Satoshi; the most traumatic day of her life, her experience of losing someone close to her in a violent fashion. Re was forced via his magic contract to try to help her in anyway he could, thus his heightened emotional and mental connection with her. If he wasn't contracted to her? He would never think twice about just walking away from her.

He did find Himitsu to be an interesting human though. In the fourteen years he had been contracted to her he had watched her grow from a small innocent and kind hearted child, to a deathly focused trainee, to a cold blooded killer, to a wise leader then to a sickened dying woman. Yet even in the face of death she spat, hissing and fighting, clawing at death's cold hands and gouging out it's strangely comforting stare. Himitsu at times had little fits of insanity, fits of blood lust if you will, and during these bouts she cackled, calling herself a god. Somewhere deep inside of herself she had convinced herself that she was a divine being, and that her body was dying because it couldn't possibly contain her power any more. She was convinced that the sickness she had was some sort of purifying process.

Yes. Out of all the humans he had slain, out of all the humans that he had to interact with? She was fairly interesting. He had figured her out, but most of the time he couldn't jump to the same answers and strategies that she did. Her plans were a puzzle to him, and he thoroughly enjoyed puzzled.

Currently he was taking a walk through Edge City's park, or at least, one of the parks. He was trying to soothe the mental dishevelment that Himitsu's nostalgia had brought upon him. The park was nice, a few trees and remains of nature still standing between the black-tar-stone and hard foot-walk that the city's inhabitants had placed there. There was a clump of glass here, one over there... Cities like this depressed him even more though... He was creature that was harmonious with nature. Seeing nature cut down and smothered bothered him. Maybe it was just the fact that the earth felt more dead in the grey-stone black-tar-stone cities, maybe it was because he missed the connection he had with the earth's life force. He wasn't sure but he was lost in thought when he felt two energy sources.

He had never meet either being and thus kept his distance. He didn't think that he looked all that much imposing. He was in his humanoid form, dressed in his normal baggy pants and casual kimono top. The top was green with long sleeves, his pants were black. As for footwear, his was primarily barefoot, wearing black stirrup styled leg warmers that lacked heels and toes, only wrapping over the arch of his foot. On his hands he wore black finger and thumb-less gloves. The only thing that might be intimidating about his was that he stood at six foot six and was built like a tree. He had a strong and well muscled body. Sometimes that intimidated people, and he had learned that the hard way. It wouldn't be the first time someone called him 'big and scary looking'. Yes he did have extremely feral features, but he didn't understand why people called him frightening.

He felt one of the people's energy signatures fade as they left. Re had been walking about the entire time, and now that he didn't have to fear interrupting a conversation or something of another he could go sit on the bench and get some peace. Walking up to said bench he took a seat. There was a little red headed girl, her hair was the same crimson as the cape she sported. He sat there on the bench in silence, not intending to interrupt the younger girl in whatever she was doing.

Amaranth had gasped when the male's voice reached her ears; him speaking her own name and it sounding as if he were still on the bench behind the swing set. It was then, as she felt the new ability come alive in her that he had given her, just as all of rest of the things she could do felt like, that she realized who exactly that man had been. A small smile spread across her face, and then it grew, until she was almost grinning. That had been her great grandfather; Darkman himself. It explained the questions after all that he had asked her. She laughed out loud at how silly she felt that it had taken her that long to figure out.

Just as she was about to allow the chain to uncross from the way it was she noticed that a new male had seated himself on the bench. Amaranth lifted her feet up and off of the ground slightly, allowing the swing to untwist itself, causing her to spin in a circle several times until the swing came to a rest and simply swayed from side to side.

There were an awful lot of people showing up at the park today, and the darker it got the more people seemed to show up. She was beginning to think that maybe it was time to take off when she reached out one final time with her senses. It was almost immediate, like a little red light going off in her head, she knew humans... she dealt with them every single day. She knew how they smelled, how they thought. How they felt to her super sensitive senses. This man? Wasn't human. He might have looked it, but he wasn't.

She twisted the swing around again while using her hands to keep the chain from crossing and trapping her in the swing, allowing herself to remain facing the new arrival, brow furrowing slightly as her halo glowed brighter above her head. "What... are you?", she asked, her voice was serious as it was going to get, and a frown forming on her face.

He glanced at the girl as the swing untwisted itself. She spun around and around before just swinging gently from side to side. He felt her conscious brush against his for the briefest of seconds before retracting back quickly, her conscious a startled animal withdrawing in fear and surprise of the unknown.

Then, with a frown on her face, she asked him a very simple yet difficult question. "What are you?"

What was he? Well... He was first a dragon, then underneath that, he was a male, then a conscious higher life form, beneath that he was a source of life and under all of that he was a child of light, born from light's first child.

But... how do you define life? Who was to say that he wasn't in a dream, that this girl asking him what he was wasn't just a dream spirit, a figment of his imagination? Dreams and thoughts can feel 'real'... But... What was reality? Reality was only as one perceived it, and who's perception was correct? What was correct but a certain standard set by another person? What is a person? A person could be life, but they could be imaginary... What if this entire universe was just his dream? What if he was only thinking himself to be there? You could only know for certain that you truly existed if someone outside of you told you that you physically existed, but yet that person outside of you could just be some subconscious entity that you conjured up to trick yourself into the false existence, who was to say that the other person was real but another person who could be yet another figment... A lie conjured up to comfort the distorted mind.

"I am... That I am. I exist because I perceive it. But I believe you were more curious to what I am genetically. To answer that question, I am a dragon."

Amaranth blinked once, twice, and then a third time. A dragon... She had never met a dragon before. Though, he looked human at the moment. She figured that was nothing more than some sort of disguise. A way of keeping it a secret. A way of not scaring the holy hell out of everything and anything around. But, Amaranth wasn't scared; she'd seen Demitria's giant curse of a beast in action - that was scary, that ate you without caring who you were. This? This looked like a man who was resting from a walk. Nothing scary. Nothing dangerous.

But, that brought on another range of questions through her mind and her frown remained in place for the moment. "So... what is a dragon doing in a city like this? Do you live here?" She had always heard that dragons were huge, extremely so. So what was a dragon doing in a cramped city like this? Surely being trapped in his human form all the time couldn't be very comfortable, and she didn't see any building being large enough to house a dragon comfortably - except maybe Darkman Tower, and she was pretty sure she would have noticed a dragon living there by now.

She glanced up at the darkened sky, the streetlights were all on. She knew she should be going; should be heading home because it was only going to get darker, and possibly more dangerous the later she stayed out. But, she wanted her questions answered first.

He couldn't help but smile slightly at the girl. Why was he here? Because he was magically contracted to serve Himitsu. Himitsu couldn't fly, and he couldn't be so far away from her voluntarily to begin with. Folding his hands together, he rested his elbows on his lap. He blinked a slanted pine green eye at her.

"I'm here because I'm a guardian. There is no building here big enough for me to be comfortable as a dragon, we grow with age and I am rather old by the two-legged-no-horn's standards. To be honest, if I wasn't contracted I wouldn't be anywhere near the two-leg cities, using this form would become a scarce rarity to see. No... I do not live here."

He paused for a second, as if in thought, before looking at the girl. He had already noted her halo and how her energy felt. "You're an angel, as I can see, your energy feels pure, like light. So, the myth about angels dressing in all white and having blue eyes and white hair is false. I've never met an angel before, so forgive me if I sound like I'm stereotyping."

Niala had been walking along when the sound of voices reached her over sensitive ears. She didn't mean to listen in, she had enough thoughts going off in her head to worry about, she didn't need to know about anyone else's. But, one of those voices sounded young, very young. While the other sounded much older. That peeked her interest a bit; she had no idea what sort of child would be out in the middle of a park with it as dark as it was. It wasn't safe.

Niala pulled her hoodie tighter around her, hands sinking into her pockets even though she now wore black gloves over them. It wasn't that it was cold, she just knew parks were very busy places, and the last thing she wanted was to pick up on a thousand and one mental impressions because she accidentally brushed her hand up against something she shouldn't have.

She stepped off of the path, walking slowly over to the pair and sitting herself down on a swing nearby. She kicked lightly off of the ground, the pendant Alec Kane had given her glinting in the light of the nearby lamp post as it sways from her neck. Long blackish brown hair swayed in the wind as the swing began to move. She didn't say anything, not at first. Catching a bit more of the conversation. She knew Angels existed, had met one. She knew a manner of other creatures existed too, but a giant lizard? Odd.

".... A giant lizard in a city, that's a new one...."

She had muttered the words out loud, not that she had meant to of course. But, sometimes when you thought over something enough it just ended up coming out whether you meant for it to or not. She had a fair bit of height by this point, with her swinging, legs pumping in and out to get her higher.

Jinx snapped out of her day dreaming when she realized that her mother’s flower shop was in sight; the apartment she had shared with her above the large shop. She hadn’t really realized how close she was to the thing until she was right on top of it, nor had she been paying attention to where her father had gone. She skidded to a stop as she neared the building and blinked: she really needed to stop getting lost in her own head as much as she did.

She glanced around, sure her father was likely nearby, and walked over to the door that led to the top of the shop: she unlocked it and stepped inside, going up the steps and into the apartment itself…

---