...
Though she was void of emotion, her body still had its limits. Copying the property of flames, even with her Zero flame, was exhausting. However, Manilla didn't quite know how to show that through her body language or facial expression, and so she stood there, watching Angelo.
"Mind, where shall we sleep?" she asked him, her voice in a tone that was as cold as ever, "Unless you would rather spend time with...this over here," she continued, gesturing towards the chaos that had exploded a few hours ago.
Truth be told, Manilla never actually slept. She simply lacked the ability to. Her body was tired, yes, but she could never sleep involuntarily. When she wanted to sleep, she simply forced herself to, but that was very rare, and she thought it felt different from what sleep usually was. Her sleep was more...empty, more dark. There wasn't anything there, and Manilla hated it.
Felix continued on with his 'play thing'. While there was work to be had with the book, Candice was still scheduled for another thirty minutes. He knew when he was going after the book, he knew that he was going to get it, so he made sure to allot an extra half hour of time in his day planner as a reward to himself. Of course, even if Candy was just technically his escort, it was apparent she enjoyed her time with him as much as he did. While he wanted a pretty little piece of eye candy and another person to do whatever he pleased, it was obvious Candy enjoyed the companionship. She wasn't just in it for the money or Felix's other 'assets'; when she showed him love, she did it unconditionally. He enjoyed the pampering and the praise and she was a people-pleaser. A perfect match only made more perfect by their shared hatred of magic.
However, had he been watching his security feed he would have noticed several unconscious guards dropping like flies as a blurry figure honed in on his office.
Back on the island, a lone soldier stepped out into the misty chaos, coming out of the prickly bushes that surrounded the castle. "Sorry Captain, I had some bad oyste-" The nameless trooper pulled up his rifle and aimed down the sights at the two magic users standing by a small crater. To their side was Tau's badly damaged sword. Surrounding him, piles of what he prayed were injured comrades. "Don't either of you move! I'll shoot" He shouted, knowing that the two were probably going to kick his ass if he fired a shot. "What happened here? Who are you two?" What worried him the most was he could no longer here the chopper overhead and his headset device was making a faint buzzing noise, indicating that communications were lost. For those in Alpha Foxtrot who survived, they were abandoned and at the mercy of the island and the two magic users before him.
In Russia, Marcus had finally noticed the cat was drinking its milk. Content with that, he turned his attention back to Dora and continued their conversation, mostly about how smooth the whiskey was and where he could find such a nice bottle. It was peaceful for only a minute before he heard a rummaging coming from the bar fridge. Looking over his shoulder he saw a darkened figure scavenging the fridge quite hastily. "Hey, you!" Marcus called out before setting down his drink and charging towards the intruder.
Angelo turned to the soldier threatening to fire. Angelo had no intention of hurting anyone else, especially a lone soldier without his comrades. He could see the anxiety radiating off of him from being alone against the two Soulless. He sighed, turning to him while jerking his head to move some of his fringe from out of the way of his eye. "We're two Soulless with no intention of harming you. Your fellow soldiers have been long gone, sorry to say. Just go home." Angelo had advised. He felt it wasn't fair to just attack one soldier on his lonesome. He felt bad that his fellow soldiers just left him as well. Though, he did attack the remaining ones so it was partially his fault. But he would've guessed that there would be some tunneling underground bus that could have picked him up from the castle and let him get a clear getaway. Or something like that.
The soldier kept his aim focused at Angelo's head, and though his arms were shaking he would still have a clear shot. However, the mercy of the Soulless "...whatever that is..." made him feel confused, but strangely at ease. "Si-I mean, scum," he cleared his throat, "I have orders that once the book was retrieved, to kill any and all remaining survivors. And, even if you didn't kill me, I have no means of returning home. There were only..." The soldier trailed off, "I'm saying too much. Please, don't come any closer. Just, get on your knees and put your hands behind your head. I will-I will figure out what to do with you later." He started approaching Angelo cautiously, ever so slightly shuffling his feet, keeping his scope trained on the man's head. "Please don't make me shoot you...please don't kill me..." He chanted in his mind.
Angelo sighed. He heard the clanking of the shaking gun and the uneasiness of the soldiers voice. If he didn't do as ordered he'd probably shoot. He was wondering what was holding him back. He stood up from the crater he was sitting over and got back on his knees, hands behind his head. He kept quiet while looking to the soil waiting for his next order. "I have a question." He started. "Why are you people so bent on being against Magic? I understand what happened was a major calamity five years ago. But other than that all we Soulless and other Magi did was protect the world from total annihilation. You obviously don't want to shoot and you don't want me to go on my offensive. I can read that off you from how shaken up you are. Don't take this as I want to know your plans, I could care less for them. I just want to know what you humans have against magic?"
The soldier paused for a moment and opened his mouth to speak only to have no words come out. Instead he quietly set down his fire arm and took a seat about an arms length away from Angelo. He took off his helmet and let his shaved head breath in the cool misty air. "Personally," He spoke started lowly, "I have nothing against your folk. My cousin was a student at a magic school in England, she could manipulate fire and heatwaves. It was kind of neat, made me kind of wish I was born that way. But..." he gestured to his uniform, "here I am. A soldier for anti-magic technological squadron." There was a brief moment of silence before he spoke up again, "I'm sorry. Not just for the threat earlier, but for all of this. I never wanted any of part of the technology front. You know what I wanted to be when I was a kid? I wanted to be a paramedic. I wanted to save lives, help those in need, but instead I'm killing them. I only joined the military because of my old man. He kind of forced me into it. I tried to make the best of it, maybe make it to field medic but nope, I was 'too good with a gun' they said." The soldier sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling. I haven't answered your question. What do we as humans have against magic? In my opinion, I think it's because people fear what they don't understand. And when people are afraid, what do they do? They become angry and sometimes violent. Gay marriage, the building of a Mosque, the underlying racism that still exists throughout the world. It's all fear. It's all because people are too selfish and in their own little utopias to actually try and understand what's going on around them. He pinched the bridge of his nose and huffed. "There's something big coming mister...mister...I'm sorry I didn't catch your name. I'm Michael Saunders." He extended a handshake toward Angelo.
Angelo grinned. It felt nice to not fight his foe. Rather see why is this person his foe. Fighting people sent after him made him wonder why they chose to do this. Half the time he felt like he was beating down innocent people just told to do something from a higher form of hierarchy. But hearing this soldiers story left an impact on him. Was it right to ignite his fists in the face of his enemies? There was obviously more to these men, and probably later on women. He saw a hand extended out to him, he chuckled while standing upright to meet the soldiers height. "Angelo De'Tezra. I hail from G- I mean, Italy." He kept his grin while firmly shaking the mans hand. But his grin disappeared when he heard him mention something big. His eyebrows fell into a frown in worry. "I would ask what this "big" thing is... But I feel you have some sort of shock collar on. But whatever it is, we can't let it tamper with the integrity of Magic. That's a Worldwide issue rather than continental here in Japan. I just hope the rest of them come to some sense like you."
She watched Angelo converse with a strange man, who seemed hostile at first, but his facial expression had significantly softened. Manilla could never understand why Angelo did these things, after all, he could knock the man out easily. However, she was not in a position to oppose Angelo, so Manilla stayed silent.
At the mention of something big, Manilla's gaze was directed towards Angelo, whose expression was somewhat worried. She didn't know what was coming either, of course, but when the time came, all she had to do was keep thinking logically. After all, logic was a great- if not the greatest weapon.
Jacen continued to make his way down the hall, eventually coming to an L-bend.
He used his camera to survey the area around the corner. Two guards on either side of the door to Felix's office.
So there are competent goons in this place...could have fooled me.He searched around for something that would allow him to get the drop on the two guards while they stood at the door. They would easily see a gas grenade, and he doubted that he'd be able take one out without alerting the other even with his handgun skills. He pulled two tabs from his vest and knocked on the wall. He hid in a dark corner, sure that the enemy wouldn't see him and waited.
"The hell was that?" Guard 1 turned to his partner before readying his SMG.
"I don't know, but check it out...I'll watch the door. It's probably nothing...but the boss said he didn't want to be disturbed."
"Right."The first guard made his way down the hall, as Jacen still had his camera peeking out just enough to allow him a view of what's going on. Perfect...just a little bit more.He pulled his camera back and readied the two tabs by sticking them together.
The guard walked forward and was in front of Jacen, yet still unaware of his presence. He looked around and aimed his weapon at nothing in particular, eventually accepting that it was nothing to worry about. He turned around and Jacen took his opportunity. He tossed the tab and it affixed to the back of the guard's head, without alerting him. The guard walked back to his post and once he was sure he was out of range, Jacen opened his camera again.
Gotta time this just right... He softly whistled and watched the guards perk up in reaction, and as expected they moved closer together and blocked the door.
Perfect. Jacen tapped the panel on his wearable and the tab placed on Guard 1 released a large cloud of grey gas that enveloped both heads. "Agh, someone's her-"
The two guards dropped unconscious and Jacen moved from the shadows with his pistol ready. He pulled the ID card from the guard's body and swiped it at the door. It blinked green with a message stating access granted, and Jacen slowly opened the door.
"Nice to meet you Angelo." Michael spoke softly, before noticing the other man's expression change. "Unfortunately, I can't say much but..." He hesitated momentarily, "my boss has something planned. Though he didn't give us any real details, he simply said that it could put an end to all magic for good. Children, woman, anyone with a lick of magical talent will be dead. You and your friends are going to need a lot of help. Money is one of the most powerful things in the world, and my boss has plenty to spare." He scanned the horizon, before sighing, "Anyway, again I'm sorry about everything. You guys aren't so bad. I'm sure we've only chose to look at the bad guys of magic and never the good ones like you. Um..." Michael rubbed the back of his head, "Do you mind helping me find a way out of here? I'm not much for swimming."
Felix was just about finished up when the mechanical lock disengaged on the door, "I told you, no interruptions!" He hurriedly put his shirt back on before noticing someone at the door who most definitely was not one of his staff. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we have met. If I might be so rude, who the hell are you and what are you doing in my office?" He looked up at his monitors displaying security footage and noticed the plethora of incapacitated guards. His face pulled into a grime frown, "Remind me to fire those guys." Felix mumbled to no one in particular.
Jacen aimed his gun at Felix and switched the laser beam to visible mode, setting the illuminated dot right on his heart.
"I'm Mr. Eirsith. You might want to call your goons back to base. Now keep those hands where I can see them."
Angelo nodded, hearing what he knew of Felix's plan horrified Angelo. For him to commit an entire genocide was beyond him. Only Darkness himself has attempted such an unholy act. His eyelids fell, looking down to the ground before shooting back up to Michael. "You count us Magicians and Soulless short. There's a power beyond the planet Earth I can call upon. Same as a few allies of mine. Whatever he has planned, let him. He won't see the end of it. I'm not letting people die for the glorification of one man's empire." Angelo looked over the shores surrounding the edges of Castle Aurora. He did remember there was a bridge nearby he could use. If he could, he'd fly him out of here. But it's hard flying with one hand and it wouldn't prove to be the most satisfying trip for Michael... "A bridge connects what used to be of this place back with the mainland. It's down that way." Angelo pointed to the west of his position. "Though it is late and this place is pretty dark with it's vacancy... Tread carefully. Even if you hold a rifle and armor."
Michael smiled at Angelo and put his helmet back on. "Thank you, I appreciate your kindness, I won't forget it." He picked up his rifle and activated the cloaking device on his suit, only his trail of footprints were visible as he wandered off towards the bridge in hopes of making it home soon.
'TAP-TAP-TAP'
He hadn't realized it earlier, but before him was some sort of magic user. What made it strange though was that instead of some sort of spell cast in his direction, it was a cocked and readied handgun. "You're not like the others, are you?" Felix said raising his hands slowly, stopping them at about chest level as he walked cautiously towards Jacen. "You use a gun and not your magic. Why is that?" He looked over at the book still laying on his desk, "You're not after that are you?"
Jacen squared his stance and narrowed his eyes at Felix while moving his gun towards his head.
He knows...but he's still somewhat in the dark.
"I don't know about any others, or a book...and I don't need my magic for this. The police don't investigate bullets in skulls anymore. I'm just here because you know the basics about me...but I'm going to ask you some questions now, and you're going to answer them."
Jacen slowly lowered his gun while giving Felix a nod to step back, giving the notion that he could still shoot him if he tried anything funny.
"What's this business about a Tormod Industries product I own? Answer truthfully and I promise, no harm will come to you."
Felix nodded back at Jacen and started stepping back towards his desk, slowly seating himself in his chair and placing his hands gingerly onto the hardwood. "Mr. Eirsith, have a seat, please." He pulled from a drawer a box of cigars and nudged them towards his direction, "Cigar?" Without waiting for a response he lit one up himself. "The police may not investigate a bullet into the skull of a peas-I mean pedestrian, but the multimillionaire tycoon of one of the world's largest and most popular industries? I think there would be more than a handful of FBI agents, forensic analysts, crime scene investigators, and of course police officers to find the shooter." He took a puff of his cigar and smirked, "You really should one, they are Arturo Fuentes." Gesturing once more to the box on the desk he noticed the unchanging look on Jacen's face. He hummed, "Anyway, the truth of the matter is, I don't know if you own a T.F.I. product. But chances are, you do. We manufacture anything you can think of. Cars, computers, entertainment systems..." Felix raised his eyebrows and stared at the still readied firearm, "...guns. However, I do of course have the technology to trace back phone calls, even those made through VOIP programs. It's really not that difficult. Had I really wanted to, I could have had armed guards at your door. But I figured that would have been a waste of my time. Still, I'm rather impressed you made it through security undetected and managed to knockout my guards. You seem to know quite a bit about covert ops and of course technology. Bravo. Now, are there any more questions? I'm free for some publicity 'shots' if need be." He gave a cocky grin, "And I do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to come visit me."
Jacen relaxed slightly, but still kept himself alert.
He chuckled a bit and decided to accept Felix's hospitality and take a cigar.
"Heh...I'm not much of a tobacco smoker, but I'll take one for the road. What's a man without a cigar every now and then right?"
He offered a gentlemanly nod to him, still keeping his handgun at the ready.
Jacen looked at the book that was on the desk...it meant something to Felix, seeing as it was the first thing he looked at...but what? He'd have to find out later...the guards would be up soon and he needed to head back home just to keep things on the level.He knows where I live, obviously...but if this is his security...I'm not worried. It's not necessarily a bad thing either...I could use this to find out about this book of his, and maybe make some cash from this asshole too.
Jacen took a whiff of the cigar Felix had presented him..."Very nice...you have great taste, there's no doubt. But I remember how you said the police would investigate a bullet...it's a good thing I'm not using bullets then, isn't it?"
Jacen smirked as he fired a dart into Felix's head and pulled a business card from his pocket. He tossed it on the desk and walked towards the door.
"Keep in touch...you cocky bastard."
Volitaire curved his lip while raising an eyebrow. If he needed an actual soul to be healed then what would his poor attempts at medical treatments do? It also made him wonder how much punishment his body could take before finally falling, albeit Enzo has taken a lot of punishment and still kept going strong. The Soulless were still foreign to him even though he was with Enzo all of his life. Thinking over Enzo's condition more he began to consider just removing the bullets from Enzo's body and allowing himself to heal. The man has proved ignorance to physical pain many times before, he should be fine. Volitaire had hoped. Yawning, he moved from his seat to stand up and stretch. He was starting to feel that weight of his own body from not keeping up with his rest. The past few days hasn't been the most relaxing and now that he was finally somewhere he knew was safe he could probably sleep like a bear. He stretched to the point you could hear some joints pop and him grunt in relief. After loosening up his body he had another brief yawn, his eyes partially open at this point. He was ready to catch some sleep. He picked his carton of orange juice from off the medical bay floor and waved at everyone while exiting the bay. "I'm going to sleep... Goodnight everyone." Volitaire left out turning to the left of the hall, he had his own room in the underground bunker from when he last stayed. It was once a spare room for storage but he took a bed from the barracks and a old dresser of Artizle's and moved it in there. The room was a boring iron gray with just the bed and dresser but it was more than enough. When he found his old room he pulled the door open with the squeak of old metal ringing as he swung it open and closed it behind him, leaving it cracked but barely. The door was difficult to open when closed cause of the aged metal. He undressed, taking his shoes and jacket off. All that was left was his long sleeved black shirt and jeans with socks. He sat in bed laying down slowly to try and get comfortable. He quickly fell asleep silently, his head pressed deep into his pillow.
Watching the soldier escape into the darkness of the night while cloaking himself from view also gave Angelo a warm feeling. He'd felt he'd be safe being unseen and going home instead of back to wherever it was he came... He loathed the thought of who he may have worked for. His only idea was the hulking brute with the oversized blade. His once calmed face balled up again; who were these people? Why were they bent on eradicating Magi? What's their purpose? All these questions and more buzzed around in Angelo's noggin. His thick, wavy hair fell over his peach colored face hiding the current reflection of his thoughts through his face. His train of thought trailed back over to the soldiers one warning: "He didn't give us any real details, he simply said that it could put an end to all magic for good. Children, woman, anyone with a lick of magical talent will be dead. You and your friends are going to need a lot of help. Money is one of the most powerful things in the world, and my boss has plenty to spare." He gritted his teeth, the carnage of a business mogul was one thing, but of this caliber was simply unforgivable. The pure meaning of the word. He turned and walked over to Manilla, his swept lock of hair covering his right eye. He walked passed her and sat over on the edge of the Castle island passed all the fallen soldiers. He was bugged by what he does know and what could happen if he doesn't meet up to the expectations of Sky and his Guardian. Angelo's tendencies to over worry was getting the better of him this night. Most likely he wasn't going to sleep.
The figure was busy looting the kitchen, but was interrupted when Marcus had shouted. Hastily, the figure jumped back onto the kitchen table, the cloak flowing just behind it. "Stay back!" It's voice was high pitched, and troubled.
Volitaire's statement reminded Enzo that he also needed to sleep. The pain was still there, but it had calmed down after a while. "I'll hit it too." He said just after he left. He assumed Volitaire had showed Faye the room she would stay in, so he laid down on the bed he was sitting on.
It didn't take long for his eyes to shut closed. His glove had transformed back into it's ring form, and the text was revealed on his skin. Soon, he fell into a deep sleep.
During his sleep through the night, he had a flashback of himself 5 years ago.
Spoiler
"GAAH!" Enzo shouted as he rose from his bed sweating. He could have almost felt the ground he smacked into in the dream he just had. He looked around, and found Argo pacing back and forth in the room. His shoulder had been patched up, and he was looking better. Enzo's pain was too, subdued somehow. He looked at the time. 11:50AM It was early, but it was hard to tell because they were underground. Luckily they had a clock in the room.
"Oh great, you're up." Argo perked up and rushed over to him as if he were about to beg for something. "Yeah, i'm up.. I'm up." Enzo ran his hand across his face, and saw the text still on his skin. It had grown up to his elbow. Tch.." He made a clicking sound and stood up out of bed. "Listen, Enzo -Or Sky, whatever - I need to come clean with you, alright, buddy ol' pal?" The way Argo spoke seemed like he was troubled with something urgent, so Enzo paid more attention to him than usual. He could lend an ear. Instead of replying, he nodded slowly. "The book, yeah? W-well, it-it-it wasn't wait you thought it was." Enzo raised an eyebrow at the Italian man. "What is it, then?"" "A weapon. Of sorts! It's a book that's kind of similar to what Aurora was. It's different, okay?"
Argo took a deep breath. The next time he spoke, his tone was calmed, some what. "It.. basically makes a non-magic user.. magical. You get me? And powerful, too." "W-...What? What did you want something like that for?!" He spoke in more of a surprised tone than an angry one. He had a feeling Argo was fishy, but he didn't expect him to grab a destructive book. "Doesn't matter now. Someone else has it, and if they open it..." Argo's voice trailed off, trying to hold in the sense of panic he had. It was obvious what he wanted the 'big bad magic guys' to do.
Rowing the small embarkation he acquired in a fisherman's village a continent across, Acies was hoping to finally end his half decade of journeying by finally finding the place his parents had sent him off to: Sorcerer's school for magicians. What was the reason he had headed in the wrong direction? Mayhaps he simply had a bad sense of direction. Perhaps he was even less prone to paying attention than his parents thought... Though this would have been impossible considering the type of memory he had been blessed with. No, he must've left with an awry compass, there is no other sensible explanation for what occurred.
Over the course of the last five years he had freed a country from an oppressive government - through a completely accidental process which involved falling into a cave and retrieving an ancient lost treasure - and crossed the near entirety of the world. The most recent events of his adventure involved demolishing an entire building and retrieving a kidnapped old man in exchange for information on the location of the school.
His arms sore, his stomach empty, his wallet slowly slimming down, he was looking forward to finally making it to the academy. With what little energy he had left, he would get the boat to shore, throw the paddles in, get up and observe the majestic... ruins of the academy.
"Oh... fuck me." He would let out, with as much expression as one could presume from the half-dead man that he was before falling face first to the ground, his chin digging into the damp sand below him, his head would slowly tilt to the left as he drifted in and out of consciousness, slowly allowing himself to fade into the darkness of a much needed sleep.
A powerful presence not too far away from Enzo and the others lurked about, just above their little 'secret' hideout. Well, it would have been secret, if she hadn't known exactly where it was, and how far down it was. She found her way down, hiding herself from other people's vision entirely. She was invisible, not a soul could see her. As she made her way down, she encountered a couple new people. A familiar, yet deeper voice spoke to the new person, and she grinned underneath her invisible mask. Deciding to explore, she stumbled upon a sleeping Volitaire, his hair a bit longer than she remembered, but he still looked mostly the same. He looked like a dork when he was sleeping. He found a girl, who was certainly cute, and almost looked familiar, but she couldn't recall where she had seen her. She chose to not dwell on it too much. Moving back to the awake Enzo and the stranger, she sat down next to him on his bed, still completely invisible. She hadn't made a sound the entire time, and she wasn't planning on making a sound either. She listened to their conversation, seeing that they were in a serious bind. She couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Jeez, 5 years and all you've done is get yourself into more trouble? For shame, Enzo." Of course, her voice has changed in 5 years. She didn't sound the same at all, and she kept herself hidden for a spooky effect. She wanted to scare him as much as possible, and this was the perfect way to do it.
"HOLY BALLS!" "WHO- WHERE?!" Both Argo and Enzo darted away from the bed. Enzo tumbled a little when his blanket got caught on his leg, but he got to the other side of the room. His heart was racing fast, and his eyes scanned the room for whoever just spoke. "Who's there?!" When he spoke, he sounded serious.
"Ooooo!! A ghost is haunting you! Ooooo.." She began laughing, and revealed herself. She gave the stranger a nod, and her friend a salute. "Nice to see you again, boss," she said with a wink. "My, seems puberty was good to you. Me too. Ah- My apologies, do you even recognize me?" She took some of her hair and put it over her forehead, pretending to have bangs again. "Still nothing? Well, how about this?" She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a ring, putting it on her hand and sticking it out to Enzo, letting a few flames spark up.
Enzo stood on his guard, with Argo just behind him. The voice sounded jokingly, but Enzo wasn't. Then, a woman appeared in front of him. "Nice to see you again, boss." Enzo's eyes opened as much as they could. His pupils shrank and he froze. Argo walked up beside him and looked straight at Enzo with a raised eyebrow. "A friend of yours?" He asked. Enzo didn't answer. His expression softened and his eyes shook. Suddenly, the next thing anyone knew, he was hugging Silver. Behind her back, a tear went down his face.
"Silver..."
She could tell from the knitting of his eyebrows and the gestures that he made that Angelo was indeed, worried. Manilla's eyes silently followed the male to where he sat down, staring blankly as the worried expression continued.
She took a few steps, a small crunching sound on the ground from her shoes disturbing the eerie quiet atmosphere that had been going on, and made her way towards Angelo.
"Do not worry," she spoke, her voice toneless, "It will be okay, Mind. Relax; the head of the famiglia should not brood so deeply over things such as this- instead, take confidence in the fact that you will be able to get through it."
With that awkward sort of 'pep talk' over, Manilla plopped her head onto Angelo's shoulder, "I am tired."
The dream ending shrieks of Enzo and Argo had forced Volitaire from out of his rest. Now grumpy and confused he groggily stood up from his bed slightly sliding a bit form wearing socks on the smooth surfaced floor. His feet tapped the cold floor quietly as he made his way to the metal door. With some applied force the metal hinges squeaked and the edges of the door pushed against the floor scuffing up the smooth surface below it. The lights of the hallway shined upon his pupils, causing them to dialate from attempting to adjust to the light. He soon heard another female voice down the hallway; in the direction of the medical bay. This one wasn't too familiar but from what he heard she seemed to have known to Enzo was and was quite comfortable where she was. The medical bay door was open and Volitaire had walked in front of it catching a view of Enzo's arms wrapped around the female he had heard from down the hall. He raised an eyebrow walking into the bay turning his head to face the two as he walked next to him. A gleal of reflected light had struck Volitaire's eye once again. He looked down to the source of the reflection and noticed the Ring of Mist. His heart jumping Volitaire had gasped at the realization of who he had found. "Silver..? That you?"
Silver chuckled lightly and hugged Enzo back, patting the back of his head gently. "Still such a softy.. I missed you, Enzo." She glanced around the room, her eyes resting on the stranger who was with Enzo. She eyed him suspiciously, about to say something when another familiar face walked into the room. She looked to Volitaire and smiled, nodding. "Hiya Voli. Long time no see, eh?" She reached out her arm to him, offering for him to join the hug she and Enzo had going on.
Manilla's words helped eased his surfaced tension and worries. As blankly stated as they were they still held meaning. A grin came over his face as he turned over to her; almost ready to thank her. Before he could even open his mouth to speak she was on his shoulder, tired-eye'd and lowering in tone. His cheeks flushed with his eyes widening and stomach fluttering. Manilla had never been this close to him before. Of course it would feel better if emotion was behind it but this could settle for some warm embrace. He moved his body over letting Manilla fall onto his chest while in his arms. "Then go to sleep... I'm not tired at all yet." He said with a nervous chuckle.
"A group hug..? I'm not a child, Silver. I'm just fine. Though, it has been a while. Why the sudden appearance?" "He snorted when he noticed Enzo was still latched around Silver. It was rare to catch him in his softer moments which waas always quite comical to Volitaire. Sighing he decided to cave in and give Silver a quick hug before letting her go and sitting on one of the beds. He turned to Argo who looked both distressed and confused. Volitaire had narrowed his glare to the man, "Something troubling you, Argo?" He asked.
His arms wrapped around her, and Manilla glanced back up at the other male, eyes scanning his expression, which was significantly more relaxed than it had been moments before.
"I cannot sleep," she replied, "I have simply lost the ability to, Mind."
Her reddish brown eyes blinked once, and her petite arms reached out to poke at his cheek, "You look 'tired' too," she said, "Can you sleep?"
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