just another lazy day

[Holly]

It was just one of those frigid days in Acerbus Umbra that made one want to do nothing but go back to bed and hope the cold weather would stop. With the sun not shining and the normal freezing temperature, most people in the castle didn’t feel like doing much outside. For four Verfall members, they were feeling the same way. Settled down by the fireplace in the main hall were Holly Skies, Renji Toshiro, Sakura Baigon, and Nuala Delmy, along with Holly’s companion, Flick. Per usual, Renji was up on his feet, unable to sit comfortably in the plush chairs that were set up by the fireplace.

“Renji, you should calm down,” Holly chuckled as he paced back and forth. “Why not share a story like we did when we were younger?” The Olisthir brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. A soft orange aura surrounded her hands as she used her fire manipulation magic to warm herself up.

“Yeah! Tell the one about the time you went to Deliciae and told people you were from Acerbus Umbra!” Nuala added, sitting in one of the chairs farther away from the fire.

“Right,” Renji laughed, remembering what had happened when he had done that. “The people freaked out and thought I was going to rob them or something. Someone ran and got a couple guards to ‘stop’ me. Thankfully, Sakura explained that I was not going to do anything but get some food.” He smiled at the other Guard Captain. She seemed about ready to doze off as she always did. Renji was obviously not surprised by it. Turning back to Holly, he questioned, “How about you tell us what Aria’s up to. I haven’t seen her in a couple of days.”

“Oh! I completely forgot to tell you guys, didn’t I?” Holly asked which Renji nodded to answer. The shapeshifter continued, “Aria’s went on a trip to Kokoro village. Apparently, there are some special herbs that she’s getting there. She said she’d be gone for a few weeks. I suppose I should tell Countess Roxanna...”

[Roxilicious]

"Tell Countess Roxanna what?"

Nova lifted her head. She was sitting very close to the raging fireplace, enjoying the warmth it provided in the cold world of southern Pertinax. King Falkor was approaching the group in his semiformal attire of a black shirt, a taupe undershirt, black pants, and black shoes. His brilliant, cerulean eyes were blazing half-orange, reflecting the fire at an angle. He had a stiff gait, surprisingly for such a gangling, tall man, and walked with his hands in his pocket.

The King stood in front of Renji, Nuala, Holly, and Sakura. He was followed protectively by his saber cat and dire wolf, the latter of whom approaching with much friendlier eyes. He sat next to Renji, his tail wagging slightly and a happy expression on his face.

Sabre, on the other hand, immediately sat down next to Falkor when he stopped moving. She held her head high like a royal statue, guarding her master with the smug sense and often misconception that her saber fangs were highly intimidating to others. Sure, that might be the case in other provinces, but certainly not in Verfall.

[Holly]

Holly jumped at the appearance of a new voice. It was visible and she was probably more embarrassed about it than she should have been thanks to who it was speaking. Earlier that day she almost had run into him... again. Thankfully, Renji was there to grab her arm before she had. She was beginning to think that she had a problem with running into people. And falling down stairs. And messing stuff up. And being clumsy in general.

In the presence of King Falkor, everyone seemed to become rigid besides Renji and Nova. Holly and Renji were on their feet, Holly bowing her head in respect and Renji saluting like he normally did. Sakura simply nodded her head while Nuala looked away and pretended like she wasn't there.

"I just need to tell her that Aria's going to be in Hegatzi for a while, so I'll be taking responsiblity for her while she is gone, King Falkor," The Olisthir explained quickly. "She said not to worry and it'll only be for three weeks tops." She stayed standing, not sure if she was supposed to sit down or not.

Renji knelt down after he was done showing his respect to his King and scratched Dire behind the ear, glad to see the dire wolf again.

[Roxilicious]

"Did you expect Countess Roxanna to tell me herself, or did you plan on taking that responsibility?" Falkor asked, clearly discontent with Holly's current choice of words. From where he stood, it sounded like she had only planned on telling Countess Roxanna, and he knew very well that his sister would share nothing with him, despite her responsibility to comply with the law.

Sabre looked at Holly with distaste. If she were capable of frowning, it would be very evident on her face about now. Her eyes weren't not rude; they did not show hostility. But the way they just stared at Holly with their intense, malachite stare could give one the creeps, especially with those battled-scarred fangs below that glinted in the flickering light of the fire.

Dire, on the other hand, wagged his tail happily. A growling grumble became apparent in his throat, but it was out of love, not dominance. He closed his eyes and outstretched his entire neck the way dogs do when receiving affection from a human.

Falkor looked at Holly, bearing a similar resemblance to Sabre's face. Both had intense eyes and intense stares that, while not all that angry did look very unamused.

[Holly]

Idiot! Great job! Holly scolded herself mentally, realizing how clueless she had been. Of course she should have told King Falkor first! Even if she was the Mystic of Pertinax and Roxanna was her Countess and her best friend, Falkor was her King and, therefore, he was higher and should have been told first. Great, I'm never going to get on his good side, am I? She thought pessimistically, something odd for the bright Olisthir.

Renji looked up from his petting Dire, glancing at Falkor and then Holly. He frowned slightly, then looked directly at his King and shook his head. Holly couldn't see him, though, as he was behind her. After that, he resumed stroking Dire's soft fur.

"I'm sorry, King Falkor," The Mystic apologized, meeting his cerulean gaze with a small bit of reluctance. "I wasn't thinking when I said I would tell Countess Roxanna. I should have said I would tell you too and I apologize immensely. I'll do whatever I can to make up for it, though. I promise!"

Her last two words were said with much more confidence and with a hint of a small smile, hoping King Falkor would lighten up just a tiny bit.

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[Sky]

The soft padding of feet could be heard coming from one of the many halls leading into the main hall. Maximum Sky stepped lightly into the hall, her companion Kenya padding lightly along behind. Max looked at the group and slowly made her way towards them, not really sure if they wold let her near the fire. When she got close enough to feel the heat she noticed that King Falkor was there and stopped. She bowed her head politely before sitting down, hoping that this wouldn't offend him.

She scratched Kenya behind the ears and smiled faintly. She had slept for the first time without nightmares, it was dreamless, which was not always how things were for her. The Kalahati pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. She was cold but she could bear it, it wasn't like she was in a tank top or anything. She glanced at each of the faces around her, reminding herself what each of their names were and making sure there were no new faces, which luckily there weren't.

[Roxilicious]

"Relax, Falkor," a sharp, disrespectful voice snapped. "She's my mystic; the information concerns me, not you. What if Verfall's capital were located elsewhere? Would you expect her to travel all the way from Acerbus Umbra to somewhere in Oriens or the Badlands?"

Countess Roxanna approached the group, Sol loyally following her... As well as Nazar Serkan, her personal bodyguard. The towering woman's arms were crossed, and she was wearing a skintight, leather suit of black adorned with multiple throwing knives, stilettos, and a few daggers. Her shiny, metal blades were concealed by a black, linen cloak, overtop of which were her quiver and bow. The hood was down.

Sabre looked back as her master's sister approached, growling involuntarily. The vampiress brought herself into the circle, holding her ground as she stopped to stand in front of Falkor. Her face was stern as she defended her mystic and best friend, crimson eyes meeting Falkor's otherworldly gaze. Even though she was two inches shorter than her brother, she didn't let size make her feel inferior.

After a few short more moments of her brother's silence, she snarled, "Well?"

Distant and apathetic as ever, Falkor brought himself to respond. "She may be your mystic but you are my countess, and I don't mean through citizenship. By default, Holly works for me. If Verfall's capital were in the other two counties, I'd still expect a letter."

Roxanna's face twisted with disgust. "You're only saying that! You don't truly care! You just want to be in power and you just want your underlings to know you're in power! You disgust me." The countess spat on the ground of her shared castle at Falkor's feet before glaring at him and turning her back to him and front to Holly.

"Don't worry about his totalitarian rule," she said reassuringly.

[Holly]

"I'm still sorry. I do see his point in me telling him. And I meant to tell you sooner that Aria was leaving for three weeks to go to Kokoro Village," Holly muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear, though. She smiled slightly to show that she was thankful for Roxanna defending her, but she didn't have to. Being a burden to Countess Roxanna always made her feel a little bad. "I... uh, will keep the totalitarian thing in mind. And will be wary of it," She chuckled lightly.

Hah, yeah right. No matter how many times he's mean to you or how many times Roxanna tells you what's wrong with him, you still like him and are never wary. You just stutter like an idiot, Nuala thought teasingly with good nature, knowing that Holly could easily read her thoughts and know what she meant. She chuckled when she noticed Holly send a glare at her. It wasn't like anyone else was going to hear her thoughts!

"Well, I'm going," Sakura spoke quietly, knowing that Nova didn't like Sol and she didn't want her griffin to be uncomfortable. She touched Nova's head and got up, walking away before someone gave them an order.

"You wanna come, Dire?" Renji asked, gesturing to where Sakura had left.

Nazar and Sol stayed silent, Nazar staying in the shadows and not wanting to speak and Sol standing at Roxanna's side like any good companion would. The odd dark aura that surrounded his feet was very evident in the light of the fireplace.

Kenya entered behind Max with a pretty happy face. However, that changed when she noticed Falkor and his companion, Sabre in the same room. She tried to ignore the giant feline and attempted to figure out what was going on.

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[Sky]

Max sat silently and listened to the two fighting. She looked back and forth between the two, not really understanding what was going on. Then it hit her, Holy wasn't the mystic yet, that was Aria, they were discussing something about her. She looked at Holly curiously, scratching Kenya behind the ears for a moment to calm herself. For some reason having the serval nearby always seemed to comfort her.

She wanted to ask Holly why Aria had left, but she knew that she had probably already explained it to everyone else and did not want to make her repeat herself. The Kalahati looked at Sabre curiously, wondering why she seemed so protective of Falkor yet Dire was calm, relaxed, and friendly. She then glanced at Kenya, wondering who she will be like as she aged. Max would ask Holly later why Aria had left, but right now she wanted to know how Falkor and Roxanna could live in the same castle.

She shifted silently to sitting cross legged and sighed. Why did Aria leave and why do King Falkor and Countess Roxanna fight so much. It doesn't make sense to me, they are brother and sister, right? Shouldn't they have some from of brother sister love that nothing can shatter?

[Roxilicious]

"Certainly," Dire responded cheerfully, his tail wagging slowly as he heaved himself off the ground to follow Renji and Sakura. He desperately wanted to get out of the way of Falkor and Roxanna.

Nova stood as well, giving Sol a nasty look as she walked away. Her eyes scanning the scene, she did give Kenya a friendly face before quickly following after her silent mistress.

"Totalitarian?" Falkor scoffed. "I'm the King of Verfall. Do you expect me to be submissive or do you want to have a king to takes charge, like all persons of authority are meant to do, including yourself?"

Roxanna was taken aback, looking at Falkor with a face that screamed she had been truly offended. "I do take charge! I just want you to know you're in my county right now, and I know you're the King –" she sneered these words maliciously, "– and you rule over the province in which my county resides, but I still have authority and I still execute my authority over my citizens!"

"They're my citizens, too, you know, as are you, so watch what you say before I banish you from this entire province, Countess Roxanna," he growled with narrowed eyes, boldly meeting the scarlet gaze of his vampiric sister. Then, without another word, he walked away, leaving his sister fuming and keeping his cool all the same. As he left, Sabre turned around and flashed a threating ol' bearing-of-the-fangs to Kenya, her eyes pooling with antagonization and threat.

What made the vampire mad was that Falkor was right. And she just couldn't win. No matter what she did, Roxanna would always be a countess under the rule of her brother. She had to deal with it during childhood, always being his underling, and it followed her to adulthood. It drove her absolutely mad.

[Holly]

"Poooooorr Holly," Renji smiled in an amused way as soon as they were out of earshot. The guard captain had his hands behind his head casually. He always found the bickering between Falkor and Roxanna a little funny, but he also knew that he shouldn't feel that way. The situation happened a lot and Holly seemed to be stuck in the middle of it a majority of those times. "I swear, Roxanna and Falkor are going to blow something up next time they get into a fight."

"You'd enjoy that, wouldn't you?" Sakura asked quietly, then sighed. "I think their fights are getting worse..."

"Maybe something's bugging them?" Renji looked down at Dire and raised an eyebrow. "Do you think there's something making Falkor on edge or annoying him, Dire? If anyone should know, it should be you or Sabre." The intellectual wolf should be able to give them some insight into what was going on through Falkor's mind. If not, Renji might have to find out for himself.

Aria left for some herbs in Kokoro Village, Holly simply answered Max's first question, hearing her thoughts easily and replying with auxilary magic. The second question made her frown. Falkor never wanted a sister, and no one protected Roxanna when she was beaten. I think she resents Falkor for not helping her and Falkor just... I'm not precisely sure, but I don't believe King Falkor and Countess Roxanna will have brother sister love like you think all siblings should...

"For Noctzar's sake, who kicked his ass out of bed this morning?" Nuala finally said out loud, hopping out of her seat and stretching. "I mean, seriously, he is a totalitarian, might as well embrace it," Sending a reassuring smirk towards the Countess of Acerbus Umbra, she added, "You're way better than him, Roxanna, don't you forget that."

Holly looked at Countess Roxanna too and smiled. However, she also knew that Falkor was right and, unfortunately, she didn't know how to make Roxanna happy after that little spat. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and suddenly she remembered something else that Aria had instructed her to do.

"Oh, shoot!" She fumbled with her pockets and fished out several vials with corks plugging the top of them. Blue liquid filled each one of them. She handed three to Roxanna, one to Nuala, one to Nazar and five to Max. "Aria said to take those. Something about word of disease going around and she wanted to make sure you guys were covered. I gave you three, Countess Roxanna for you, Sol, and Arkadios. Max, you have two, one for you and one for Kenya and then if you could possibly take the others to Renji, Sakura, and Nova, if you could please. I gotta go deliever these to the other people in the castle!" The hectic Olisthir spun around and began to run out of the main hall.

"Holly! You said we were going outside for battle training today!" Nuala yelled.

"This won't take long!!" The Mystic-in-Training called back over her shoulder. She couldn't believe she had forgotten about this! She had everyone in one room just a minute ago, but all she did was stand there! "Why am I so stupid toda--?" Turning the corner, she ran right into someone. She fell back, the rest of the vial spilling out of her pockets and onto the floor. She found herself looking at the back of someone wearing black and a small bit of taupe... And then a very large feline...

Oh, no...

[/size][/justify]

[Sky]

Max nearly jumped to her feet when she heard the extra voice in her head. It took a moment for her to realize it was Holly answering her questions and sighed. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for his sacrifice... She looked up at Holly and nodded to acknowledge that she had heard her explanations and then went back to petting Kenya.

She nodded and took the vials carefully. She opened one and gave the liquid to Kenya right there so she wouldn't forget to since she wasn't usually giving the serval anything that Holly gave her. The kalahati Jumped to her feet easily turned towards where Renji, Sakura, and Nova had gone. She found them quickly and headed towards them. "Ummm....excuse me. Renji, Sakura, Nova," she said politely and quietly, "Holly wants you to take these. She said that some kind of disease is going around." She held out the vials to them and then turned away when they had been taken from her hand

She then turned and walked back towards the fire, hoping to get a little closer this time to warm up. She opened her vial and drank it quickly, not really caring about the taste. She was used to bad tastes, the pain killers she had been given over the past year never tasted good.

"Hmm?" She picked up a vial that had rolled towards her and hit her boot. "Holly, you....." She looked up and started picking up each vial after she saw what had happened. She didn't see Falkor around the corner but from the way that Holly had reacted that was probably who she had ran into. He wouldn't do anything bad to Holly, would he? Please don't hurt her...

[Roxilicious]

Dire's eyes lightened with amusement. If he could smile, that's exactly what he'd be doing right now.

"No, nothing's bothering him whatsoever," he explained, thinking of his master. "He just really wishes Roxanna would see his logic, though they both have some things they need to work on. It's funny, how two siblings related by blood could hate each other so much, then look at Sabre and me. I consider us siblings, but we're two separate species and still, we certainly don't fight like the Nightingales. Such a pity, when you really think about it. They can't keep the past behind them."

Dire shook his head, hanging it low as he continued to walk with Renji, Sakura, and Nova. The wingless griffin agreed with a feeble sigh, truly tired of the way King Falkor and Countess Roxanna couldn't just ignore their childhood and put the good of the kingdom before them.

"They just can't come to grips with the fact that they're both wrong and they both need to apologize for their irrational, unnecessary behavior," she murmured boldly, mostly to herself though loud enough for the others to hear. "It won't be long before it impacts their decisions as king and countess."

Nova halted at Max's sudden return. Vials of blue liquid? Disease? That couldn't be good. She looked up at Sakura as her mistress took the two designated for her, knowing later she would pour the potion into a bowl for her to drink from.

---

Meanwhile, Countess Roxanna looked at Nuala suspiciously. It irritated her the way she seemed to be brown-nosing the Countess, but for some unusual reason, she held a certain respect for the vampiress. Perhaps it was a connection between two bloodsuckers, or perhaps it was her frivolous approach to besmirching the King's method of rule. Whatever the case, Roxanna found herself beginning to feel a bond growing between the two.

"I'm aware," she said simply in response to Nuala after a moment of thought.

She gratefully took the vials from Holly, placing two in a mysterious pouch on her skintight light armor hidden beneath her embracing cloak. The third she popped open herself and quickly downed the shot of disease-resistant, foul-tasting potion. It was bitter and unpleasant, enhancing her desire for warm, thick, metallic-tasting blood.

A frown on her face, she turned to Sol and said, "Let's go to my private quarters. I'll pour this into a bowl for you, unless you have some Sol-ish way of ingesting it yourself. In the latter case, I'll be bringing the other vial to Arkadios."

---

Falkor had been walking in the same direction Holly was running. He had a slow gait, and his loyal guard dog (as he commonly referred to his sabretoothed cat) kept up calmly with the slow pace. She was constantly looking around, observing the sights, the sounds, and the smells of everything around her. Unfortunately, her forward-facing ears didn't pick up on the frantic footsteps of a stressed mystical apprentice.

With his immense height, Falkor's leverage allowed him to only jump forward a bit, catching himself with his foot. He hardly moved, as Holly's little figure, even at a running speed, couldn't produce enough force to knock over the tall olisthir. He turned around, calming Sabre as she had reacted immediately.

The cat was snarling, her face directly in Holly's face. She was bearing her fangs, her ears back in hostility. At Falkor's touch to the back of her neck, she relaxed, still displeased. How dare she run into her noble King? Who did she think she was?

The King said nothing. He looked down at Holly with a vaguely quizzical expression, one eyebrow raised with skepticism. Sighing deeply, he leaned over and held out a hand to help her up, no sign of emotional disturbance in his secretive, cerulean eyes.

[/justify][/size]

[Holly]

"I wonder..." Renji had his 'I-really-have-a-good-idea-I-swear' look on as he halted for a moment and crossed his arms. He downed the liquid fast as he could and continued to think for a moment. "I wonder if it would change anything if Roxanna and Falkor switched brains! Yeah! Like, if they lived in the others shoes for a day, I wonder if they would change at all?!" He smiled, quite pleased with his plan.

"How do you propose to do that?" Sakura drank the liquid from the vial and then gave Nova a look that said 'it's probably nothing major'. She was very confident with that. Holly and Aria were ones to take care and be cautious of the littlest things when it came to health.

"I'm not exactly sure. Maybe Noctzar can pull that off?" He laughed, scratching the back of his head.

---

"Sol-ish?" Sol laughed lightly, easing up a bit since there was no more tension in the room. "I suppose I could possibly walk through it like a ghost and some how absorb the liquid in like a soul stealer would absorb a soul, but I don't think that would be as effective as ingesting it like I properly should." He wagged his tail like a dog.

Nazar stayed quiet in the shadow he had placed himself in. He was as quiet as ever as he simply drank the potion and listened to the conversation going on in the main hall.

Meanwhile, Nuala had taken the liberty to follow after Holly. After a few moments of walking, she came across Max picking up vials on the ground and then caught the sound of Sabre's growling. Heh, She chuckled internally and grabbed Max's wrist, pulling her back a little bit. She smiled slyly, holding up her index finger in a sign to be quiet.

---

Holly hesitantly took Falkor's hand and stood up, trying hard not to blush but she knew that she was blushing anyway. The Olisthir really hoped he couldn't feel her hand shaking as she carefully stood up, successfully getting up without stepping on any of the vials. She met his eyes in apology as her mouth didn't seem to work at the moment. She opened her mouth, but no words were coming out.

Well, not until she realized she was still holding on to his hand. Suddenly, words started to form as she whipped her hand away. "Sorry! I'm so sorry! I just. I forgot. Vials wanted me to -- I mean, Aria wanted me to give everyone a vial to prevent any disease and so I started running to give you three for you, Dire, and Sabre, but I ran into you. Oh, but wait, you already knew that because that just happened and," She scooped up three vials and held them out to him. By this time, her face was completely red and her eyes were swirling with embarrassment as she looked at the ground.

"Here. I'm extremely sorry, Falkor," She mumbled. "I mean, King Falkor."

[/size][/justify]

[Sky]

Max picked up vial after vial, carefully holding them in her left hand and picking them up with her right. She was curious as to what was going on around the corner but she didn't really care as long as she had something to keep herself occupied with something. The kalahati heard Nuala walk up behind her but paid no heed to her until she was suddenly grabbed and pulled back.

She winced in surprise and tried to catch the vials with her right hand but they clattered noisily on the floor. She pulled away from Nuala quickly and set to work gathering them up again. Max let her hair hide her reddening face in the embarrassment of the predicament. She didn't want to interrupt anything so had been very quiet while gathering up the vials.

She didn't even look up to see if anyone was coming towards her before she spoke, feeling as if the apology was necessary. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drop them...." she said shakily.

I can't believe I did that......