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darling-dearest-emi · 15 days ago

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Those dreams of the future Odette had seen so many times were fading at their edges now, gaps and blurriness taking hold of something that had once held such clarity. And she truly fought herself, fought her thoughts to accept that with this healing he would be okay. She wouldn't be losing Finn, and on some level she knew that to be true, but it didn't take the fear away, or the color that this now gave her worst nightmares. And she realized then, perhaps more than she ever had, that she never wanted to lose him in any way. That even the possibility of that had shaken Odette to her very core, because a life without Finn would mean she was living incomplete ever after, torn away by fate and circumstance from her other half. She wanted every aspect of the future she'd dreamed with Finn. She needed that and more. Their little forever.

Odette's eyes opened with an instinctive sort of speed at the sound of Finn's sigh—revelling in the sound and sight of his deep breathing and the relative peace on his features. Even as the fae woman spoke Odette couldn't quite tear her eyes away from Finn. He was going to be okay, and that felt more tangible as she took him in. She needed that vision to remind her, to bring her back from a hazy potential future into all of the possibilities in this present.

Hayden’s hand at her back was all she needed to snap her back to the moment completely. She gave Gwaine and Ava's hands a tight squeeze in their mutual relief, a bit of laughter escaping her in her disbelief. And then she looked up at the fae woman--no, Cassie. The one she owed that forever to, that she owed her everything to. "Thank you, Cassie." Odette's voice cracked around the words, and even if it hadn't they still would sound so hollow to her own ears. No amount of thanks could ever be enough for this.

Bo had been keeping his eye on the situation with Finn, casting a glance whenever he could while still keeping the majority of his focus on shifting the rubble. It was almost hypnotizing to watch Cassie work—even from a distance the delicate beauty of her magic was a gift to witness. So he truly had to will himself only the briefest of updates on her efforts.

Eventually when he'd turned again, she had removed her hands, the healing done. Bo noted her expression, as well as the relief on the faces of his friends, and the rise and fall of Finn's chest, catching himself releasing his own sigh of relief. The Angel knew he was one to empathize with the loss of a sibling and that he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy, let alone these people that he truly did love like his own family.

Andromeda must have been keeping an eye out too because her speaking caught his attention then. "You should help them evacuate Finn. We have enough hands here now that everyone seems to be unearthed."

Bo nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder to give it a squeeze. "When they can spare you, you should come away too. I know they’d appreciate the support," he said, nodding in the direction of Gwaine in particular.

He approached the gathered group then, arriving not long after Hayden had. He brought his hand up to caress Cassie’s hair as he listened to the question. “I can help move him through the portal to the Institute if needed,” he offered, knowing that Gwaine and the girls would likely still be too shaken up to provide their aid in that way.

Calliope rolled her eyes a bit at his words. “Can’t be much more wild than what I’ve lived through with him,” she noted, nodding towards Mael again, but taking Wulfe’s offered hand. The funnel cakes offer brought a smile to her face though, adding in that familiar lightness to the seriousness of it all. “As if I could refuse,” she replied, stepping off into the dropdown of the hole with Wulfe and allowing his magic to take hold.

Ember’s brow furrowed then, more for a sadness than confusion. Of course she knew and understood Fliss’ hesitation over feeding off of her given the fact that she was essentially still a newborn. Even so, she was clearly in pain, and Ember trusted her implicitly. “But Fliss—“ She cut off, watching the way Fliss’ face changed and then fighting back a wince at her crying out. She darted forward then, just catching her girlfriend before she fully fell and slowly easing them both to the ground. Her right arm wrapped around Fliss’ shoulders, gently cradling the brunette against her chest. And she offered up her wrist again then. “You need to heal,” she repeated gently, pressing a kiss to Fliss’ forehead before resting her head atop the other woman’s. “I trust you.”

Emma moved out of the way for the fae man first, but then thought better and moved to where she was beside Killian. She cleaned off her hands on her dress before pulling her cousin into an embrace, trying to calm his nervous system if only a little bit. “It’s going to be okay Kils,” she coaxed. Of course, she knew it was too soon to tell. It was a cardinal rule in her profession not to make promises like that either, but with the efforts of a healer and a vampire, evidently, Emma had more faith than fear in this instance. And she held onto that for both her sake and Killian’s.

Ciaran took off in a sprint at the behest of the fae healer, weaving between the masses of injured people until he reached the rubble pile. The dust that was still swirling from the digging efforts made it a bit harder to see, but he did catch sight of someone he recognized. The vampire woman he’d danced with before. He adjusted his path, running straight to her instead and stopping short as she spoke to him. “My packmate needs healing—she’s lost too much blood,” he explained hurriedly before catching the woman’s hand in his, gently but with urgency. “I know it’s a lot to ask… but please.”

Aelin immediately gathered that the girl’s wounds were extensive, with her decrease in blood volume proving even further of an issue. It wasn’t that any of it was impossible to fix, but that without a certain amount of blood she wouldn’t be able to sustain herself even with the injuries being sorted. The green tendrils that wrapped around her head wove in and out of her skin there, mending burst blood vessels and veins first, then honing in on the torn flesh and swelling of her brain. He caught the girl whimpering at that, even through his focus, but pressed forward anyways, willing the wounds to mend, willing at least the accute pain to subside there.

What alarmed him more was the way she finally seemed to go limp in his hold, even with that bleeding now stilled. He allowed his magic to drift across her whole body then, catching the evident bleeding from her chest cavity and the injury in her arm too. And he held the pressure on each, mimicking a physical method to quell the spread.

Aelin could hear them approaching before he opened his eyes again, now looking up to see the shifter from before and a vampire woman beside him. “It won’t take much,” he began to explain to her. “But she needs vampire blood to stave off the progression of the injuries at least. If you’re willing.” His magic was still holding firm on the wounds, a temporary pause being all that he could manage on his own for the moment.

Adonis had taken to repeatedly rambling phrases along those lines, with Ophelia holding him in a gentle embrace and smoothing out his hair to no avail. Bash’s focus was largely taken up with the events occurring in the center of the rubble—the master vampires and their now verbal squabble. As such neither of the boys seemed to truly catch the nephilim girl’s request, or at least not quickly. By the time they had started to reach for their belts they both watched as one seemed to materialize in the air in front of the girl, along with Cedric. “Honestly brothers, you could do with respecting the girl’s requests, what with all of the effort she’s taking.” He knelt down as he spoke, laying the belt atop Nyla’s leg for now before bringing his own hands to press down in place of the girl’s so that she could fashion the tourniquet, knowing well enough the action from watching their mother work over the years. “I sent the twins to fetch Lavinia in case things take a worse turn,” he added rather calmly over his shoulder, ignoring the cursing Adonis seemed to be muttering under his breath. “But I’ll be surprised if they can manage it. She and Matilda seemed to be rather caught up in transporting people, so I fear they’ll likely be recruited for those efforts instead.”

“Do you think she needs a healer?” Ophelia asked, leaning her head around Cedric to direct her question to the nephilim. Even despite the chaos she still felt the need to compensate for her brothers’ aloof treatment of the stranger. “Our sister is one,” she explained. “That’s who he was speaking of.”

Clara was all too grateful for Casper’s joking, and for his touch. It eased her into remembering that they were far from in as dark of circumstances as they could have been. “I don’t think anything bad would happen to most people in a hospital, but leave it to you to be the exception to the rule,” Clara teased with a soft scowl, stepping just into the edge of the nearest portal now. She cast one last glance in the direction of the Stormtowers, noting them starting to move Finn. She breathed a small sigh of relief for her friends, knowing that meant Finn was stable. Clara turned her attention back to Casper, lightly tugging him further through the portal. “Now, come along and be a good patient for whoever is the sorry soul to be tasked with your care.”

Desmond caught the swift embrace from Thaddeus without complaint, finding himself fighting the instinctual urge to press a kiss to the shorter warlock’s hair, but then giving in to do it anyway. Complications and distance be damned, they both needed that sort of assurance. “I’m here,” he replied softly, rubbing Thaddy’s back even as he pulled away. Des could more than understand him getting so rattled, what with so many people he cared about still unaccounted for. “I know Thadd, and we will.” He meant it too. Particularly in Ivy’s case, as he couldn’t deny her safety coming across his mind in it all too. But what concerned Desmond the most in that moment was the way Thaddeus’ body couldn’t seem to stop in its shaking, its unstable wobbles that ultimately led to him slumping to the floor. Des followed suit, crouching down with the other warlock and taking his face ever so gently in his hands. “You are in no shape to find anyone right now. I’m taking you home.” And before Thaddeus could complain or hyperventilate any further, Des swept him up in his arms.

Joe held Nella with a gentle sort of ease even as she shifted her weight again, watching her carefully for any sudden changes or signs of her being worse off than she was. And thankfully that didn’t seem to be the case as he moved her towards the still intact seats nearby. He crouched just in front of her chair, resting his elbows on his knees in a rather casual fashion even despite everything. “Yeah, yeah, the girls are all good. They’re just helping dig pe—” He cut off midsentence, his ears catching an imperceptible sort of growl from Cora and looking back over his shoulder at the unfolding scene with their seethe-mates.

The growl was instinctual for Cora, really, even despite the lack of threat the fae seemed to pose. Because someone had done this to Zehra, and she was far from calm about it. And here was this outsider, so coolly speaking of the matter, and still holding her. The nerve of it. The sound caught the attention of her remaining seethe-mates, turning their focus to the man as he spoke, and to their unconscious maker in his arms.

Cora started towards the man as he moved away with Zehra, but felt her arm be caught instead. She turned to find Prue beside her, holding her back with an intentionally firm grip. “Let him go, Cora,” she said in a barely audible volume, though her gaze too remained transfixed on the semi stranger holding the master vampire.

Even with that warmth, that subconscious comfort in the enveloping greyness around Zehra, she was still fighting. This time running towards that presence, chasing the unintelligible voice that seemed to set her body alight with a gentle hum. Consciousness and blood flow reared uncertain heads in her wake, leaving her quite at the mercy of this state. But not so removed as to not associate her body being set down again, removed from its charcoal protector, with his gentle fingertips ghosting along her skin… his. Whose?

Zehra forced her eyes open, her lids fluttering to cope with the blurriness that occurred. But even despite it she caught sight of the retreating figure—so familiar even in the blindness of her subconscious, and even now without the certainty of his face. But she couldn’t be certain, what with the way her vision ebbed in and out of focus as she slowly moved to sit up on her elbows.

Joe had risen to his feet at the sight of the stranger holding Zehra, though he kept his hand on Nella’s shoulder to keep her from mirroring the action until the other man had left. All at once the seethe seemed to converge around their master as she seemed to slowly come to, now all too aware that they had quite the foes to consider, indeed, if Zehra had been seemingly brought down without a fight.

Neil and Mitchell moved to set Esmeralda and Sofia down on neighboring couches to Zehra, although none of the now gathered vampires dared to move again, with their focus being drawn over to the unfolding events beside them.

Emi felt entirely adrift even as the scene unfolded in front of her. It was all so terribly confusing—how could things go so desperately wrong in one night? But then she seemed to accept that it went far beyond this. Far beyond the three master vampires before her, far beyond what she would ever even likely know about it all.

Her gaze drifted to Sage and Erebus, their broken and betrayed expressions and the way they clung to each other. It exposed every crack in her battered heart, and the shared glance and extended hand from Sage shattered her completely. She started towards the pair unsuccessfully, forgetting the manner in which she was being held by Enzo, whose grip only seemed to tighten at her action. But then the clapping seemed to make the room freeze, make everyone stand to some form of attention at the sight of the approaching strangers.

And it made a great deal more sense then as the one of them spoke. Puppets. That’s what they were, these other vampires. Servants to Morpheus—a name Emi had heard too much and yet not nearly enough about. Because he was the focus of one of her greatest fears now, with the demand laid out plainly as if it didn’t mean the loss of two of those she held dearest in her heart.

It's not only Sage. It was Andre too. It was them all if they stood in the way… when they stood in the way. Because Emi could feel the tension in their forms too—Enzo holding her from harm, Luciana whose hand was now gripping her shoulder in solidarity and warning, and Nic who had risen to stand in between their gathered group and the outsiders before them. And even in that silent promise, that mutual agreement to protect against these threats, Emi couldn’t help the panic gripping her throat, choking back every scream and curse she might have loosed. Because they were too close to Sage. And even if now wouldn’t be the time they would move to take him or Andre again, they were here. They knew now. And that meant none of them were ever as safe as she’d blindly believed them to be. A silly girl, indeed.

As Ava extended her hand towards him, Alec was there not even a moment later. He gripped her hand tightly, easing her back against him if she needed support. Her body was trembling so hard. Alec felt tears of his own sliding down his cheeks. For Finn, for Lance and Max. It wasn’t fair not at all. But Cassie’s presence there soothed him. Because she was very strong. He gave her a grateful look as he held Ava tightly. Offering her as much support as he could.

~*~

Wulfe nudged Mael’s side with a sadistic little smirk. He was imaging poking holes into him with holy daggers and letting the blood sizzle as it seeped from the wounds.

It took him precisely as much time as he meant to, to come back to himself and eye his prodigy with an amused expression.

It pleased him immensely that she chose to stay with him. Rather than join her cousins. “Very well, grasshopper. I have much to teach you. Hope you are up for a wild ride.”

He grabbed Mael easily by the back of the shirt and offered Calli his other hand. “Side-quest? Ohhhh funnel cakes!”

With her hand secured in his, he stepped into the opening of the hole. Dropped Calli a wink as they pummeled down, but they never touched the ground.

~*~

Hayden was livid. The second floor, despite being practically in ruins was freaking empty. No bodies not anything. except blood and wooden bullets. It would need a proper sweep to gather clues.

But he had more important things to do. Like getting his people to safety. When he arrived back at Finn he looked hurt but not at death’s door thank the angel. Alec was there. Supporting Ava. Hayden put a hand on his sister’s back, letting her know he was there. Turning to the fae healer he asked: “is it safe to move him? We need to get him to the Institute.” Glancing at Gwaine, he gave him a little smile of reassurance. “The family will need some privacy.”

~*~

Shifters didn’t get exhausted easily. So it was natural for Adam to dig dig dig. Stopping to bellow a howl for his people. To vacate the premise just as quickly as they could.

Still. His need to lay eyes on Juliet, his mate threatened to take him over. But he was an Alpha. He had to place the health of the pack above everything else. Later, when they were alone, he could search her over for scratches or bruises. Counting each, to make sure those who hurt her were punished.

~*~

Remus beamed at Constance. She certainly stole the show in a very intriguing fashion. Morpheus would want to know about that.

He merely shrugged about losing the warlock. He wasn’t important. Nereus could certainly come back for revenge but Remus wouldn’t be offering him any assistance.

Turning to face Thalric, he raised a brow. “Did Laszlo succeed?”

“Negative. There were intercepted.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Must I do everything myself?”

Thalric offered him a sympathetic smile as he followed after Remus, dragging Nereus with him. Leaving Noctis at the rear, trying to brush the dust off his suit.

~*~

Bryce made his best effort to curl himself up against Harry’s chest. Ducking his face into his neck

His mouse was screaming in his head to run, seek shelter, disappear beneath the floorboards. All things he normally would have done

But in this moment, being curled against Harry. Being able to hear and feel the steadiness of his heart. It was a blanket of sorts. As long as he was touching Harry like this, he didn’t need to run… did he?

~*~

Thaddeus hadn’t realized how badly he needed to see Desmond. Until there he was. Thaddeus exhaled a shaky breath. “You stayed…”

Letting go of the wall, Thaddeus launched himself into Desmond’s arms. He wasn’t a hero. He wasn’t anything but a strung out hippie. But in that moment nothing mattered other than Desmond being here, physically. Not just in his head.

When he pulled back he could think just a little clearer. Running trembling fingers through his hair he took a few deep breaths. “We have to… we have to find them. Ivy, Zander, Jules…” everyone in his little family. But he was so exhausted. The idea of having to physically move his body was too much. He sank down to the floor, fighting to catch his breath.

~*~

Blaze screamed himself hoarse. But now only a series of pained whimpers escaped him. The coolness of the healing magic spread through him. Leaving him stiff and cold.

Before his teeth clenched too hard to make words, he started grounded out bits of thoughts. Though his voice was hoarse. “Vampires…. Find them… vampires…. Erebus… please.”

Eventually he gave up on even that. He lay completely still. Moving at all hurt. The gentle rise and fall of his chest was the only sign he was even alive.

~*~

Enzo’s vision was blurred with tears. But he didn’t know which of them he was crying for, just that he was.

He cradled Emi even closer, wanting to wrap himself completely around her to block her from anything else.

Sage wasn’t tracking at all. It felt like all of his life force was draining out in a pool around him. Erebus was there. Holding onto him tightly. At some point Sage grasped onto his hands, using them to try and cling to reality.

But then he thought… what good had realty ever been to him? He whined softly. Wanting something, anything to cool the anger and hate swirling in him. Because he wasn’t actually angry at all. Butchered more like. Skewered. All of those sort of things.

Maybe later he would worry about the flashing of images and sounds echoing in his head. But not right now. Right now he wanted them. His brothers and sisters. He released one of Erebus’ hands and extended it out towards where Emi and Enzo sat. He didn’t just want them though. He wanted all of them. All of his brothers and sisters. Because he loved them.

Andre bared his fangs at William. “This is no concern of yours! Or any of you!” His voice had lost its edge though. Now he just sounded tired.

Stefan was going to snap back at him, but the sound of a slow clapping drew nearer.

Andre stiffened even further.

Remus appeared first, being the one clapping. Thalric followed close after, still dragging Nereus along. Then finally Noctis joined, adjusting his cuff links. “That was quite the show!” Remus said. “I haven’t had such an enjoyable evening in a long time. It is bothersome that we lost Mael around somewhere. But I’m sure the master will see to that himself.”

Andre was first to move, shoving past Stefan and William. “You know damned well this has nothing to do with any of these people!” He snarled.

But Remus was not the one to engage him. It was Noctis. “Unfortunately it does, I’m afraid. You made them all targets by coming here. And well… hiding Sage out in plain sight like this. Are you really all that surprised?”

“Andre…” Stefan warned.

The two brothers shared eye contact for a moment. Bringing clarity to Stefan about what this all was. He pat William on the shoulder before joining Andre in front of the group. “Well… this is all truly fascinating. However, Andre has always had sanctuary here as does all his people. So then it would appear the one you should be dealing with is me.”

Noctis sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It needn’t come to all of that.” He replied, inclining his head to Remus who once again took center stage.

“The master only desires to have what stolen from him to be returned. As well as the one responsible. Give them both to us. And we will leave. No fuss, no bother.”

Stefan crossed his arms. “I would beg to differ on the fussing and bothering. You’ve made quite a mess here. I would inform about what that all means but it will remain quite clear once he’s got the time to deal with you. There is a reason my seethe has settled here in Chicago. That has nothing to do with the vampires. But as to your request… you can tell your master to go suck an egg. Because he’ll have to go through me first.”

#morpheus party fight

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darling-dearest-emi · 20 days ago

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Emilia fell silent as Enzo spoke, her needless breathing stilled. He continued to take her aback, even since they had finally gotten on the same page. On some level she felt guilty for quite how long it had taken her to accept her own feelings towards him, but that was particularly the case in moments like this. Because he loved her all along, and even at her very worst. "I like it when you're sensitive... just as I love you even when you're angry or out of your mind with me," she replied softly, although turning her head this time so that the words weren't muffled against his shirt.

"Do they not cause you distress?" She questioned, lifting her chin a tad to see his expression. "Do you not wonder about it all?" Emi sighed then, her head falling gently falling back against his chest. "That must be nice... to not think about it all so very much."

Emi grumbled audibly at his words, but not in any coherent or truly ill mannered fashion until he laughed. And all she could really manage was a soft scowl that almost immediately broke into a hazy drunken smile. "Silly girl or glorious beast... It's a wonder that I love you with that sort of opinion about me," she joked.

Emi pulled Enzo even closer to her as he deepened the kiss, their bodies molding together in that achingly perfect way. It didn't matter quite how many times she'd been held like this by Enzo over the years, how many kisses they'd shared--those since her confession held an endless well of depth by comparison, and each one seemed to feel like the first, setting her body aflame and leaving her wanting more, wanting their eternity.

"Huh..." He mused, really thinking about that. "Who says I don't like it? You are so cute when you do it. Your little nostrils flare up and you get this sort of fire in your eyes. I think that's the first time I realized how in love with you I was. When you yelled at me that very first time. Who knew I was such a sensitive ol chap."

He rubbed her back in soothing circles, nuzzling her hair as they stood there. A moment of affection something he would so easily die for more of. He'd been obsessing so much over death lately. It was sort of depressing. "Oh love..." He sighed. "No one likes secrets. But I am sorry they are causing you distress."

At her petulant whine he laughed, jostling her a bit as she lay against him. "What would you rather I call you then? My little rambunctious kitten? Sorry, love. But you aren't a kitten. You are a mink or some sort of glorious beast." Her pout made him laugh again and he brushed his lips over her forehead, cooing delicately to her as he hugged her. "Poor, poor love. The world really is such an unfair, terrible place."

Her laughter was the most beautiful sound to his ears. And that smile...so many of his sleepless nights had been lost to imagining that smile. As she ruffled his hair, he shook his head at her. The glitter going everywhere. It was going to take weeks to get it all out. But seeing the joy it brought to Emi's face made it worth it. One thousand times over.

When she kissed him, he cradled her face like she was the most precious thing in the world. And to Enzo she was. Always had been. None of that changed. Or could change. No matter what happened. As he deepened their kiss, all the noise in his head seemed to fade away. Because right now he held his world in his hands. And right now, everything was perfect.

#c: enzo

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darling-dearest-emi · 20 days ago

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Emi dried her tears, now properly smiling up at Stefan as they started to dance. "Is that not the purpose of most siblings?" She pondered. "Although I believe I've been the one of my sisters and I to cause the most issue or complaint, so perhaps I'm not the best one to relate to your folly."

"I think most who know me would describe me as crazed in some form or fashion, but I don't think I'd ever quite shake the notion of being a silly little girl either," Emi replied, looking away as if she was lost in the thought.

He sighed. "Yes. Well. I know my faults. I'm short tempered and old-fashioned. Don't keep up with the times. Women's rights or what have you. But my little brother? Never ceases to get under my skin every damn time. He's a squirmy little worm, but I guess I'm stuck with him at this point."

At her comment, he smiled a little self deprecatingly. "I'll tell you a secret. When it comes to supernatural politics. It's best to make them think you are batshit crazy. Gives them a false sense of security. Anyone that decides to poke their noses in will get some fireworks. At least its always worked in Wulfe's favor. Though I do wonder if he's secretly got little voodoo dolls of all of us and gets bored sometimes and plays. Like a Scooby Doo villain."

#c: stefan

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darling-dearest-emi · 20 days ago

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Emi sighed, shaking her head. "I personally don't think I could, but I won't try to dissuade you."

"Weeeeeelllll. I think they are yummy. For they are crunchy and taste good bathed in hickory smoked barbeque sauce."

#c: wulfe

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darling-dearest-emi · 20 days ago

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"Right answer," Emi replied, popping the cork from the Champagne bottle. "The last thing I need right now is judgement."

“See now that would require me to actually care,”

#c: erebus

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darling-dearest-emi · 21 days ago

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"Well, you did promise to dance with me earlier, so it's your fault for not just saying no," Emi teased, pulling gently by his hands in the direction of the dance floor.

@of-moonlight-and-flowers

#c: sage

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darling-dearest-emi · 22 days ago

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Odette was grateful that Gwaine did join her with Ava. The fear and pain in his eyes was enough to remind herself of why this would be rattling them more than anyone else. Their brother. Lancelot. And that nearly tore her in two. For them to be reliving their greatest tragedy... but it couldn't be that. It would be different. The glowing magic cascading over Finn's form was a reminder of just that. With each squeeze from Ava and Gwaine, Odette willed herself to be an anchor for them, to hold them steady while Finn was healed. She brought her hands together onto the center of her lap so that Ava and Gwaine could feel each other too, could know that they weren't alone, even if Odette couldn't compare to their grief.

She allowed her eyes to flutter shut when she noticed Alec coming over to comfort Ava all the further. Odette was willing herself to steady her breathing, to stop her tears from flowing for the sake of the siblings clinging to her. And the visions that played across her eyelids threatened to undo her all the more, memory and hope alike mingling into a picture of her love.

Odette meeting Finn on the day of his transfer, and the way her breath caught in her chest. The first time she'd ever convinced him to dance with her. Their confession and kiss. Telling Finn that she loved him. Walking down the aisle to him. Being married. Creating the family that she'd never quite been able to think possible for herself until she met him... Finn. Always Finn.

Calliope moved off of Mael then, her expression softening as she grounded herself again. It didn't help anyone to dwell in memory, least of all her. She looked up as Wulfe laughed, though his gaze seemed fixed on Mael's unconscious form for a moment. When he did meet her eyeline his eyes were still dancing with amusement, and a hint of something she couldn't quite identify.

His order felt more like a suggestion, or at least that's how Calli decided to take it. Because even if Wulfe could take care of himself and strike fear into the hearts of Morpheus' madmen, she wouldn't leave him alone to their potential retaliation as he took Mael. Not when she'd been the one to draw their attention to begin with. "They can handle themselves," she remarked of the others before nodding her head in Mael's direction. "Besides, I want to see his face when he realizes he's the one trapped for once."

Esmeralda couldn't help but smirk at Sofia's assessment of the strangers. She moved to retrieve her dagger from the hand it was still precariously lodged in, finding herself almost too quick in the action of sinking to her knees beside the man. And even as she gripped the hilt of the dagger and freed it, she was all too aware at the narrowing of her vision, and the way the blade seemed to swim in and out of focus. "What... is--" The words caught in her throat as the blood drained from her head, leaving her falling into a slump beside the stranger vampires.

Zehra didn't quite move to stand again, wary of the fact that either of her marks could rebound in a moment's time. She did move off of the man's bleeding torso though, kneeling beside him instead as she spared a glance towards Sofia at the sound of her stumbling. The way the younger vampire swayed with the effort to turn to Zehra made her eyes grow wide, moving to reach for Sofia, but finding the action to be more efforted than it ought to have been. She stumbled back onto her knees, watching Sofia faint as laughter rang out in her ears. Her head throbbed from this influence--this unseen manipulation that altered her vision and movement. But she fought to keep consciousness as Esmeralda fell beside her. Fought further still to tear her disobedient head towards the evident culprit of her condition.

The blonde warlock had fully focused in on her now, stalking forward in a way that only cemented her danger in the moment. Zehra's shoulders threatened for her to fall forward, but she slammed her hands down into the ground to catch herself, still managing to leave cracks in the flooring there in her weakened state. Her arms trembled with effort and anger as she fought to keep her unfocused gaze on the other woman. "Karışan fahişe," she hissed as the woman extended a hand to touch her. The force of the magic upon her made her breath catch, almost as if it brought her pain to fight it in this way. The last visual she had was of the blonde woman's eyes, the way they shifted from their amusement as she retracted her hand. And then Zehra succumbed to the blood loss, collapsing forward onto the ground.

Ember had been helping move an unearthed fae man over to the healers, settling him down near where she saw Cece aiding some of the less urgently wounded. But then she heard a familiar voice over her shoulder. She looked up and caught sight of Fliss, of her shaking and damaged hands and forearms as she gave an injured warlock over into the care of another. She found herself moving in her direction even before she'd quite realized what she was doing, and just as soon was in front of Fliss, her gaze worriedly moving between the burned away skin on Fliss' hands to the evident pain on her features. And just as unthinkingly offered up her wrist in the air between them, moving past any sort of greeting as Ember caught her attention. "You need to heal... right?"

Aelin had learned how best to tune out most things over the centuries, be it touch or hearing, as they would be most likely to interfere with the focus required for healing. The precision of locating and mending each burst blood vessel, reducing swelling in muscle and organ alike, weaving the tears in skin to reunite. The delicate green tendrils of his magic formed a crown over the shifter's head. And Aelin was careful to gage himself on how much magic he was expending, with the scope of how many wounded would need aid, and with the varied inherent healing abilities of those being unearthed. With that in mind and with the physical aspects of the head wound at the very least mend, Aelin focused on scanning the rest of the shifter's body, searching for any additional injuries, allowing the arcane hum to try to soothe some of the pain firing off in the nerve endings in its wake.

Emma watched in wonder as the warlock woman worked, at the shift of Rory's rib away from her lung and how it refilled now, evening out the rise and fall of the unconscious shifter's chest. But every now and then her gaze would shift to Killian, to the way he held Rory's hand in his own as they shook. And in that moment she was reminded all too much of herself in a different light. Clinging onto her fiance's hand and begging him to wake up, begging him to be okay as the sounds of approaching sirens filled her ears.

She shook herself out of the memory at the feeling of dampness on her hands, her eyes moving down to Rory's head where it rested on her lap, and the steadily growning stain of red that seeped through the makeshift bandage onto Emma's pale blue dress. "Ciaran!" She shouted, unable to stop herself.

Aelin's eyes opened at the urgency of the shifter woman's voice, the one who had yelled over about the collapsed lung. From his spot just beside he could see the hemmoraging of the redheaded girl. The shifter, Ciaran, started to move from beside him but Aelin caught his arm. "Get a vampire," he ordered, his voice steady but firm. The shifter nodded and rushed over to the rubble pile while Aelin placed his hands on the shoulders of the two boys that remained beside him, although he spoke to the injured one first. "Don't try to sit up, little one. I've stopped the bleeding, but you'll still be woozy for some time." He turned to the other one, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze before rushing to kneel beside the blonde shifter, coaxing her to move so that Aelin could mirror the hold she'd had on the younger girl, his hands cradling her head in his lap.

As he exhaled the hum began again, green light obscuring the redness in its wake.

Joe gently caught Nella by the elbows, allowing her forearms to rest atop his as she wobbled on the spot. But he couldn't help but join in on her laughter, at least in a moment's relief. "Are you sure?" He questioned, searching her over for any cuts or breaks that didn't seem to be mending themselves already. But then she answered the question for him, twisting to reveal the rod embedded in her back. Joe couldn't help but wince at the sight. He nodded in reply, moving to where he could hold Nella steady with one arm while the other quickly and evenly removed the offending piece of metal. He felt himself sigh in relief as the flesh there slowly seemed to knit itself back together. A little too slowly, but still healing at all. "Let's sit you down, yeah?"

Clara's expression faltered at his words, even in their humor, because it made her stomach drop. What was wrong? What had she missed? But then he pulled her back into his arms and she found herself letting out the smallest sigh of relief. "I'm sorry," she said softly, her words muffled where her head was tucked in the crook of Casper's neck.

At the sound of the warlock speaking out amongst the gathering wounded, she formed her plan of action, moving now to where she was at Casper's side, guiding him towards one of the portals nearer to them. "Off we pop then. And before you try to tell me no, I'm going with you whether you like it or not. You'll be lucky if I let you out of my sight for another moment."

Adonis was unaware of much that the nephilim girl was saying, alternating between helplessly rubbing away at his bloodstained sleeves, looking down at Nyla's frail form, and cursing at no-one in particular for the whole awful mess. At some point he'd been caught by the shoulder by two pairs of hands, forced from continuing his pacing as his eyes caught sight of his captors. Sebastian and Ophelia. Clearly they'd heard him. Clearly they'd come to his aid without question.

His brows furrowed, first in a near confusion, and then a wounded sound escaped his lips as he sank to his knees, muttering repeatedly about how it should have been him. Ophelia was the first to kneel beside him, coaxing him into leaning against her and being held. But Bash was there, his hand on Adonis' arm but his eyes cast off somewhere else entirely.

Constance's meddling was to be expected. Desmond's only relief was in her chosen victims. They wouldn't die this night, especially not with so many of their own people there to assure as much. But in his focus on the blood witch he'd not been looking to the wounded, to where Thaddeus had been. Had been. Because while the portals were now in place, their creator had vanished from the figures surrounding them. “Damn it, Thaddy,” Des hissed under his breath, skirting around the edges of the ballroom to try and find the other warlock.

It didn’t take long, really, maybe a couple of minutes before he saw the telltale figure of Thaddeus, walking along the wall in a similar fashion to the necromancer… although for the sake of propping himself upright. He overdid it. Of course he overdid it. Des wasn’t entirely sure he had the right to go up to Thaddeus like he did, but he found himself rushing over all the same, moving just in front of him to catch him midstep. “You need to get out of here, Thadd. You’re too weak right now,” he cautioned.

Neil had been rousing Aanya where the other vampire had thrown her, comforted in the fact that she was recovering from the feat of strength as normal. But his focus was elsewhere, scanning the room and its occupants for others in need of aid. And the fallen figured of Sofia, Esmeralda, and Zehra caught his sight. He growled under his breath, immediately starting towards them. Aanya had Tavvy and Delphine with her, and they would all understand.

He moved quickly, but having to skirt around the edges of things didn’t make the journey any easier. The three figures standing overtop of his kinfolk had seemingly roused two others, their focus and movements bringing them over to the center of the combat where the other master vampires seemed to be gathering.

He seized the opportunity, darting forward and reaching the site at the same time as Mitchell. But both of the vampires seemed to freeze as the additional player entered their midst—a fae man, who carefully lifted Zehra into his arms, barely casting them a glance as he moved over in the direction of the rubble pile.

Neil didn’t hesitate any longer, scooping Esmeralda up into his arms and moving alongside Mitchell after the fae in question.

The normal inky void of sleep did not unsettle Zehra, rather wrapping her in its blackened unawareness and silence in a comforting fashion. Only now she was caught in an endless red miasma, populated by laughter and screams. She tried to will herself out of that space, to open her eyes, but finding only a heavy weight upon her lids.

Until a warmth crept in, slowly spreading from around her shoulders and knees, to the right side of her body where it was cradled against a charcoal presence in the mist.

Cora and Nesryn seemed to be the first amongst the Eternity seethe to sense the figure approaching them. Even amidst the chaos around them, the elder vampires were more attuned to that sort of thing than most. Cora whipped her head around, catching sight of the fae man where he stood holding Zehra. Unconscious, blood covered, her dress in tatters. Cora's lip instinctively curled, though she knew better than to think the fae involved. Zehra wouldn’t have associated with him as she had these last few gatherings if he was a threat.

But still, he was there, unmoving and silent, so she maintained the same in her response.

Emi’s forehead came to rest against Enzo’s as he pulled her in closer to him, but her body remained stiff, tensely shaking as she muttered the repetitive phrases to herself. Even with his gentle kisses and pleading Emi’s eyes remained tightly shut, her careful mantra interspersed with choking breaths that got harder to manage even in their needlessness. She shook her head fiercely as Andre’s voice boomed in her ears, as Sage’s cries pierced through her chest. She moved her grip from Enzo’s wrists then, clamping her hands down over her ears. “Make it stop,” she whimpered. “Please make it stop.” She flinched with every shout from Andre and her sobs echoed each of Sage’s cries, because even in her fighting, even with the cover of her hands she couldn’t hope to block it out.

It was horrific for Luci to watch, her seethe was unfolding before her eyes, and Andre’s torrent of venom seemingly endless. Even at the sight of his gathered children, even at the ones breaking most before him.

She couldn’t bring herself to move, not even to the side of her sobbing sister, hovering instead just behind Nic, her hand desperately clinging to Thomas’ where he held her. Because that was the only thing reminding her that this was all achingly real.

Nic hadn’t noticed Damien, Luci, or Thomas as they’d joined him. His gaze was torn between the shattering couple in front of him, the figures of Sage and Erebus clinging to each other, of Stefan preparing to blow, and Andre. Looking at them all, dismissing them without a second thought. Earlier he’d spoken about them being the ones to leave him, and yet now he was dealing only the most final of blows, the most deliberate words of harm. And Nic couldn’t grasp a reason as to why.

Emi wasn’t able to hear Enzo anymore, much less heed his requests. Her world was crumbling around her even as she fought to hold up those last few pillars of her perception. Of the man who’d offered to turn a naive girl searching desperately for her twin, of him becoming a confidant, of their shared laughter and fond embrace, of the love that she held for him… And the monster he had willed himself to become.

“Then kill me!”

Emilia’s eyes shot open, wide and afraid, fighting Enzo’s grip with her full strength so that she could see him. Andre. Because even after it all, he was in her heart. Monster or man. Maker or family. Betrayer or protector. But hers all the same, open-armed and inviting death. An unspoken prayer rang in her thoughts, the words nearly identical to her plea before...

Please don’t do this.

Don’t leave me like this.

At the pained sound of Helenus' voice, Alec paled. "What? What is it?" He didn't wait for the answer though, just turned himself around. The sight before him made his blood run cold. Finn. His eyes darted between Gwaine, Odette and Ava. "Oh angel..." he choked.

As much as he wanted to stay with Helenus, he knew he couldn't. Someone was calling his name and he turned towards it. It was Jace. He looked fine. And Izzy. Jace had Izzy. They were both alive. He was dizzy with relief. Then guilt. Terrible guilt that his family was safe but not Ava's. He reached for Henenus' hand, giving it a squeeze.

"I love you..." He told him, his voice strong and even. Then he turned back towards his friends and went to them, pulling Helenus with him.

~*~

Remus watched Constance curiously. Watched as the two women seemed to just crumple under her attention. It was fascinating. Who would have thought a vampire could be so easily overcome. His lips tugged into an appreciative smile. Very interesting.

Thalric was a steady presence behind him. He was reiterating the communications happening through their mind link with the others. He was close enough to Remus he could say it outloud. "Laszlo, Faustus and Lorcan, at base. Mael, link extinguished. Noctis and Nereus, links extinguished."

"Well aware of that." Remus muttered as he observed his two brothers in their states of unconsciousness.

Constance returned to his side and he smiled at her. "Nicely done. I appreciate the favor." He nudged the woman closest to Noctis. "Who is she? I don't have any intel on this one."

Thalric moved over to where Nereus lay. The prone vampire was gasping and grunting in pain. Not unconscious but also not any use to Remus. Which was annoying.

There was a cracking sound as Noctis' neck began to repair it self. He shot up into a straight backed seat. His hand came up to work his jaw experimentally. The expression on his face was livid.

"Have a nice nap?" Remus asked with false sweetness.

"That right, bitch." Noctis said, still completely calm about it.

"That'll teach you to make nice." Remus offered as Thalric rejoined them, carrying Nereus by the back of his shirt. When he stopped by Remus he let the vampire hanging from his hand, fall to the floor.

Remus glanced around with a frown. "Where's the pyromancer?"

~*~

At first, the shock of being doused in liquid didn't phase Blaze. Once that wore off though, the pain started to sink in. He'd barely managed to block his face from the assault when he smelled burning flesh.

His arms, his legs, his neck, the entire front of his body lit up in skin blistering pain. It burned holes through his jeans and shirt. The acid slowly licking up his back. He hadn't even realized he'd fallen.

And once he started to scream, he couldn't stop. At first he writhed in pain. Rolling around in vain to try and stop the boiling. Fire had never taken him before. Was this what it felt like for those nephilim when he torched their Institute?

But then his skin started to tighten and seize. So he curled in on himself. Twice he felt himself being physically slid accross the floor. He didn't know by whom, or where he was being taken. Because all he could focus on was the pain. He continued to scream until he'd gone effectively hoarse.

He must have passed out at some point. Because the next thing he became aware of was being being pulled. The sound of a girls voice the only thing he heard. Then, the pain stopped. His skin started to cool. Which he didn't really understand, but it made him sob in relief. The steam billowing around him.

~*~

Bryce was in shock. He couldn't stop shaking, but he wasn't cold and he wasn't hot. He wasn't really in pain either. Which worried him, because surely he should have been. He could feel the blood oozing down his face. The steady thumping in his chest was the only thing he could actually hear.

He'd been through a lot of trauma in his young life. So the fact so much was happening all around him didn't really phase him much. His vision kept swimming in and out of focus.

Several things happened at once. Soothing voices and touching distracted him as the warmth of healing wrapped around his head. It was then that he noticed he was laying accross someone's lap. That someone was Harry. Harry was here? Bryce stared up at him in fascination. Because he couldn't remember having noticed the other shifter's presence. "It hurts..." He whimpered to the vision of Harry that faded in and out of focus.

~*~

Thaddeus made several portals in a matter of minutes. The sheer volume of it left him feeling spent and fatigued. But he'd done it, Ten evenly spaced portals all the way down the hall. Luckily, they all landed in the same place. Torben's hospital. Where they ended up after that? Not his problem.

Once there was a steady stream of people lining up to move through the portals, Thaddeus went in search of Desmond.

It was pretty dumb of him. What made him think Desmond was even still there? He had to look though. He'd never be able to live with himself if the necromancer had gotten hurt on his watch.

There was so much noise around him. His head was already starting to feel fuzzy. Portal creation took a lot of energy. The fact that he'd done so many, in such quick succession meant that he really needed to lay down. But Desmond's whereabouts was far more important than that shit. He continued to stumble along, keeping a steadying hand on the walls as he searched.

~*~

As soon as he'd gotten hands around Emi, Enzo's stamina ran out. But that didn't stop him from pulling her closer to him. As if he could shield her somehow.

He kept her face cradled in his hands as he whispered to her. The tears streaming down her face felt like a knife to his gut. Pressing his cheek against hers, he started to feel his own tears start to fall. Because her pain was his pain. Always had been.

"Shhh...." He cooed to her, pressing soft kisses to her cheeks. "Emi love...look at me...that's it...look at me." He gasped. His throat, it hurt. Healing had begun, he could feel it working. But it just wasn't fast enough to keep up with what was unfolding around them. He didn't think he could physically keep Emi safe. Which was such an awful thing to bear. That on top of the shit happening with Andre, Sage and Erebus. Enzo was cursing everything.

"Emilia..." He said softly, circling his thumbs on her cheeks. "I need you to look at me. Please....please look at me." He pleaded as their world came tumbling down.

Sage's whine felt like a physical blow. Despite everything Enzo knew. He couldn't stop that from happening. He couldn't keep up with the rate that Andre was going. He was self-destructing. And taking all of them with him.

~*~

Strong arms wrapped around Sage as he swayed back and forth. A series of pained whines and gasps escaping from his clenched teeth.

"Sage!" The sound of Andre's voice cut clear through the haze of his mind. His body went rigid. His body finally starting to give out on him due to the amount of damage he'd taken.

The path back to himself was violent. He could hear Andre in his head, over and over again. Words that didn't make any sense to him. Nothing made sense anymore. But also, in the midst of all of that, he could hear Erebus voice. Pleading. Whispering. It was such a stark difference to how he normally sounded. Sage didn't like it. Not at all.

Then he could hear sobbing. Enzo. Emi. Why were they crying? He needed to stop the crying. But somehow, during all of this, he too had started to cry. The tears rolled down his dirt and blood caked cheeks. They were hot and sticky. And then, suddenly he was back in his body. And the pain exploded. White and hot, threatening to render him unconscious. Which would be a relief at this point.

And again, Andre's voice entered his mind. Slowly it started to eat away at Sage. Penetrating every wall he'd built, and then knocking them down. It was like a curtain was slowly parting behind his eyes. What was beneath, was a stage. Flashes of images, voices, taunts, memories. Erebus. There with him. Calli. Andre. When he'd laid eyes on Andre that very first night, he'd thought him to be the most beautiful person in the world.

Once that curtain fell. All that was left was more pain. And a voice in his head. A familiar, pained voice. Sage cried out, clutching at the hands that held onto him. A renewed sense of urgency overtook him. His brother. His brother. Where was he? He had to find him. His struggles started anew.

"SAGE!" Andre barked. "That's enough."

With that, his body gave out completely, and he sagged into Erebus' arms.

~*~

Andre clenched his shaking fingers into fists at his sides. He couldn't let them see how this was affecting him. If they saw, they would know. Know he was a fraud. A fake. A nothing. Isn't that what Morpheus told him? Just a pretty face. Nothing going on upstairs.

As soon as Sage finally fell, the need to just sink down to the floor hit him full force. But no. Not yet. He couldn't give in to the nothingness just yet.

Stefan was there, shouting at him. Telling him to stop. But Andre couldn't. Not yet.

Andre's eyes fell on each one of his children. He memorized their faces. Every curve. Every blemish. Just everything. He'd need those images. Tucked away in the recesses of his mind. Because they were his. His loves. Every last one of them.

"Have you gone mad?" Stefan demanded, finally having had enough of his silence. He grabbed Andre by the shoulders and gave him a shake.

"Not mad, dear brother." Andre said with false sweetness. "I just finally know what's really important. Me."

Stefan snarled, fangs bared. "They are your children!" He hissed. "You made them, its your job to care for them!"

"Like you?" Andre asked with a cruel curl of this lip. "Because you're so happy? They are leeches. Always wanting more and more and more. Bleeding me dry. I have no more obligation to care for them."

His brother's anger hit him full force then. He screamed obscenities at Andre. Calling him all sorts of things. But the most painful one was a monster. Andre was a monster. And would be a monster for the rest of eternity.

"Then kill me!" Andre snarled back at him. "Kill me and be damned well done with it or shut your damned mouth."

Stefan reeled back, sinking into a crouch, preparing to strike.

Andre closed his eyes, opening his arms to welcome his brother's ire. But...nothing happened. When he blinked them back open, he was staring at William's back. He'd stepped in between them. And Andre's heart sank.

#morpheus party fight

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darling-dearest-emi · 23 days ago

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Everything seemed to echo around Odette as if she was sealed in glass--a cacophony of screams, fighting, panicked voices, Hayden's soft prayer, Ava talking to... Gwaine. She caught that much. Her eyes were still on Finn then, at the way his glasses had been bent and their lenses shattered. Her hand was still touching his face when she saw the other woman kneel next to him. A fae woman she recognized from her times on Bo's arm at these sorts of gatherings. When the woman met her gaze, Odette slowly retracted her hand from Finn, as if she knew exactly what came next even in so little as that glance. She was here to heal Finn, and she needed space to do so. Odette turned back, seeing the still stunned Gwaine just beside her and taking his hand in her free one. Because in that moment Ava and Gwaine were suffering in the way that only family could. And Odette could only imagine that pain, that worry. Hers felt selfish by comparison.

The glow of the fae's magic caught her attention once more, as she watched the delicate weaving of the light across the injuries that Finn had sustained. And it was beautiful, soothing as much as it could be in the face of such a tragic cause for its use.

Izzy had gotten caught up in the crowd for quite awhile, making her way to the rubble pile as the shifters seemed to be freeing some of their people. But her focus was instead in scanning the crowd, desperately searching for Alec and Jace. Her lip trembled a bit at the sight of Finn, of Ava and Gwaine watching their brother. And her mind drifted to Max... She shook her head, forbidding the thought to linger. That wouldn't be Finn's fate. It couldn't be.

When she caught sight of Jace's form, moving through the rubble but clearly looking about for Alec, she rushed right to him. "Where is he?"

As if on queue Alec had arrived alongside Magnus. Izzy nearly went to him until she noticed Helenus, freezing in place for the moment to watch their embrace. It was only when a man shouted just beside her that she snapped her attention back to the rubble pile.

Virgil shouting caught the attention of Lenore, Joe, and the nephilim closest to them. The four worked in tandem, with the vampires being the ones to shift the heaviest of the rubble. The shifting of the rocks from below didn't bring any halting to their movements.

After a moment Joe had finally shifted the last of the rock away to reveal a small gap where Nella and a fae man had seemingly been caught. "Nell!" Joe shouted, offering her a hand out and checking her over for any injuries she wouldn't be able to heal on her own.

Lenore and Virgil pulled the fae man free. He seemed relatively intact, though from the slowly healing cuts and the like on Nella it wasn't hard to guess that he'd been shielded.

Clara's attention had been glued to the unearthing efforts all this while. It would be too painful to turn and see Ava and Gwaine again. And she needed to do something. To be able to help someone. And then a familiar voice reached her ears. "Casper?!" She called out.

She whipped her head around in search of him, eventually catching sight of the fae being pulled out of the rubble after a vampire women. He was upright, he was alive. And that was enough to send Clara running over at a full sprint, nearly tackling him as she threw her arms around him in a hug. "Are you alright?" She pulled back almost as quickly though, unsure if he'd sustained any injuries that she might be adding to. Her trembling hands remained on his shoulders as she looked him over. He was covered in plaster dust and minor cuts and abrasions, and while none of his limbs seemed amiss, she couldn't account for anything internally. "You bloody hell better be alright, or else I'm going to be cross with you," she said with a flutter of relieved laughter and evidently impending tears.

Emma had only just called out to Ciaran when Killian fell to his knees beside her. And she was reminded of every frantic family member she'd ever had to contend with as she tried to rush a child into surgery. But this was all the worse, looking at the pain and panic in her cousin's eyes. "The stairs caved in. She and Bryce were underneath, and now--" She shook her head, forcing her focus back to Rory whose breathing was still sustained, although growing increasingly efforted.

But then the presence of the warlock woman caught Emma's attention. She'd seen her before... with Jonathan, if memory served. At the question she nodded, seeing as Ciaran was rather caught up with Bryce still. "Please." Emma shifted to where she was able to kneel at Rory's head, applying as firm of pressure on her head wound as she could reasonably justify. And she felt Killian shift with her, but her gaze was fixed on the warlock.

Bryce was so frail, which made the injury twice as concerning to Ciaran. That coupled with his lack of expertise in neurological trauma escalated the severity of it all, and the speed with which his hands worked to fasten the makeshift bandage around the head wound the younger shifter had sustained. Harry had only just arrived, flanked by a rather tall fae man. Ciaran's gaze fell on the man, a silent question behind his eyes.

"I can heal him. And the girl too," Aelin offered, having just tended to a rather minor laceration nearby. He'd seen Jonna stepping in to help the redheaded shifter, knowing her magic well enough to gather that she would sustain the girl's breathing in the meantime. And that meant that Aelin could tend to the boy first, given the larger amount of time that the girl's injuries would take to mend.

"By all means," the older shifter replied, inviting Aelin forward to kneel beside wounded boy.

Aelin brought his hands to rest just up under the base of the boy's skull where the injury had been sustained, his eyes closing now as he focused in on mending the bleeding, the internal trauma, the gash. Aelin's magic moved with a gentle hum that would catch in the shifter's ears, a green glow eminating from his hands.

Adonis flinched from the sudden touch to his shoulder, having missed the presence of the nephilim girl entirely. But then he snapped his focus back to the present as he moved her to the spot that the girl instructed him to. "What matter is it if I bloody know her?! She needs healing, not a chaperone!" He hissed, too shaken up to even bother with kindness. Of course, he knew that she was only trying to help, of course he should thank her for that. But right now he couldn't even focus on anything but the blood that coated his hands and sleeves as he pulled them away from Nyla's body. "HELP HER! HELP HER, DAMN IT!"

The last thing Desmond had wanted was to be caught up in the petty squabbles of vampires at the previous great party, but the current circumstance made those events pale in comparison. He was bearing witness to some scheme far greater than a familial squabble gone awry. And he found himself lingering, where he might have otherwise been in the wind, especially after noting Constance in the crowd earlier. Even if she hadn't approached him, she knew he was there. It was likely part of her motivation for attending at all... Pesky fucking mouthpiece.

Otherwise he might have helped. He wasn't heartless, regardless of the opinions of some. But instead he watched from the shadows, his gaze fixed on Thaddeus until he'd secured himself over by the wounded, constructing portals to presumably evacuate them.

And that only left one thing. Constance... He caught sight of her by the bar, speaking two strangers--the smaller of whom was clearly in a fit of rage at something, although neither seeming overly concerned at the unfolding events around them. They were involved with the attackers, surely. And that boasted an entirely different danger of its own--Constance had made friends.

Calliope held her gaze on Mael, on that achingly familiar loathing and rage in his eyes. She was vaguely aware of someone else arriving, gathering the innocents she'd protected and fleeing. But creeping across her body was that cold she dreaded in the dead of night, when her mind relived the horrors of her past at the hands of the vampire in her clutches. It made her hands tremble, made her focus waver. It was hard enough to maintain her hold on a vampire rather than a truly living being, not to mention the near three centuries since she'd forsaken herself to the use of this tainted magic. And now with her mind adrift in memory, it all allowed Mael the gap to sever her hold on his limbs.

She intook a sharp but shaky breath as she watched him regain each aspect of himself, the way he narrowed in on her, stalking slowly towards her like the predator he'd always proved himself to be. But she steeled her expression the closer he got, baring her fangs as he spoke.

Calli was preparing to strike him when the wind caught Mael's focus. Her gaze drifted down in turn, watching as the hand grabbed and flung Mael against the ceiling. She didn't have time to properly brace for it, although the larger pieces of plaster only really managed surface level cuts along her face and arms to begin with. She brushed the dust from her eyes, smudging it with the blood along her skin.

The sight of Wulfe was more than welcome. In truth his aid was only the half of it--what really caught her focus were the ways he imbued the fighting with his spirit. It set her at ease to remember that she was far away from the land of her memory, that she was the one with powerful allies for once. She couldn't help but laugh a bit, albeit dryly as Wulfe took the opportunity to correct her. "My first mistake," she granted, stepping up beside her maker and placing one of her heels atop Mael's chest and digging it in with an additional force, smirking at the resulting groan it caused. "I think he's incapable of pizzazz... More's the pity."

Her gaze shifted down to Mael as she spoke next. "You forgot one thing about me after all this time. I do not fear death." Calli moved then, in that immediate speed of a vampire, to where she was now crouched down beside Mael, one of her hands directly on his pulse point to hold him still until she chose to move him again and the other knotted in his hair and forcing his chin up to look directly at her. "Have another go," she began, echoing his earlier words, "but the end will still be the same." With that she freed the hold on his head, slamming it back against the floor with enough strength to illicit a sickening crack as Mael lost consciousness.

Zehra caught the smile from Sofia, although her expression remained almost deadly neutral despite a grateful glint in her eyes for the sake of her dear friend. The warlock was the least of her focus in the moment as she watched the trapped brute in Sofia's clutches continue to thrash about in rage. When he called her a cunt Zehra actually hissed, baring her fangs towards him. "Know your place, dog!"

Esmeralda continued to scan the room now that she'd released Emilia again. There was too much going on to even grasp it entirely. But she did look to the spot where she'd noticed the fireballs shortly before, wondering for a moment if Isak had gotten involved in the squabble. Only she was greeted instead with the sight of Sofia, a vampire she'd skewered, the presumable pyromancer she didn't recognize, and Zehra. The talking shish-kebab seemed to be generating some form of magic, which caught her immediate notice. At that she bolted for her friends, unsheathing the dagger she's fastened to her garter as she ran.

It was too late to shield the warlock, and Esmeralda could hear the sizzling of his flesh amidst the screams it caused. Acid? She didn't really stop to consider any of it, fighting against the sea of bodies around her to get through.

Zehra knelt down beside the warlock, not even wincing as the acid on burned through her dress to leave fleeting damage to her knees. She moved him to one side in a swift motion, trying at least to alleviate the damage of the acid that had pooled around him, but then she jumped to her feet again to bare her fangs at the stranger who continued to threaten Sofia. She was about to pounce on the man, but froze as a dagger suddenly whizzed through the air and lodged itself perfectly through the middle of the hand that had conjured the acid magic.

Esmeralda, clearly the owner of the offending dagger, emerged from the crowd, glaring at the stranger as she moved beside Sofia. "Dumb bitch, huh? I think you ought to look in a mirror," she growled.

Zehra used the moment of distraction to her advantage swinging her leg up to kick the vampire across the face, effectively releasing him off of the impaling metal shaft he'd been lodged on and knocking him to the ground. She was on him in another second, straddling him so that her knees bore down against his shoulders, pressing them further into the ground. At the same time mirroring the motion she had used on his comrade moments earlier to break his neck in a swift motion. She growled even at his limp form, "Be silent, foolish brute."

Emi whimpered as Sage spoke. He was that helpless that he was almost choking on the words. Erebus seemed to understand what Sage was asking even sooner than she had, but as soon as he gripped the jagged metal to move it she had the good sense to duck her head away, crying out at the same time that Sage screamed.

Only that wasn't the only sound that met her ears.

Nic caught Enzo as he regained his consciousness, trying his best to restrain the elder vampire from doing any further harm to himself. But then Enzo caught Nic's arm, with the repetitive and raspy request. "She's okay! Just stop, she's okay!" He pleaded, but knowing all too well that it wouldn't matter one bit. Nic's only upper hand in his fighting against the thrashing was the position they were in, as he practically pinned Enzo to the ground to keep him from charging head first into a true death. "Damn it, stop fighting!"

Nic turned his head to shout. "Emi! Emilia!" Whether it had been the fault of the chaoctic miasma of sound around them or her own lack of focus, Emi hadn't heard him. Hadn't heard the desperate and incoherent shouting of Enzo either.

But as Sage's scream rang out in the room and mingled with Enzo's strangled out screaming of her name, Emi's head whipped towards the pair with wide eyed fear. She repeated the motion in the direction of Sage, who was shakily coming to his feet. Erebus seemed to be helping him steady himself, locked in on the effort in a way that rendered her useless now. And it tore her apart, really, to admit that there were instances where she would be forced to choose... and that she would always choose Enzo.

She stumbled in her haste, but made it to Enzo's side in seconds, crashing to her knees beside him and gently catching his flailing arms in the same motion. "Shhhh, amore mio," she soothed, watching as the recognition of her presence and lack of harm stilled his raging torrent.

Sebastian wanted to rush to find his siblings, wanted to assure the welfare of his friends all the same. But he couldn't abandon Andre. Even in the brief observations of the exchange with the strange vampire who'd forced himself on Andre and the clear distress of the vampire girl who he'd left with Andre to begin with made him all too wary of the master vampire's state. And wasn't he off form to begin with? Hadn't that been some of the subject of their conversation before this descent into chaos?

Even now as Andre smiled back at him in that forlorn fashion, Bash found himself following along behind him. A silent promise to ensure him on his way to his family, if nothing else. Of course, that landed them in the seat of the pandemonium, with Andre striding up the rubble pile alongside his brother... Stefan Uccello, if memory served.

But another brother stole Bash's focus just as quickly, now within enough proximity to the gathering wounded to hear Adonis' incoherent yelling above the cacophony of the room. Bash cast one more glance to Andre's back before rushing to the side of his elder brother.

Emi had been so caught up in her attempts to soothe Enzo and begging him not to speak as he slowly recovered. It took Andre raising his voice for her to finally take his notice, but that made her eyes dart to meet his figure as he shouted at Sage. Sage...

Fully gone, bloodied and broken but fighting on without a care for himself. She watched the scene unfolding with horror, but was frozen in that fear, making no attempt to move. It was only when she'd caught Andre's words about not caring about Sage that Enzo forced her to look back at him, his hands cradling her head as he spoke. Repetitively coaxing her to tune out the cruelty of Andre's voice, to not believe it. But the whining from Sage swirled with the cold hearted flurry of tongue lashing in a way that Emi couldn't miss. She forced her eyes shut, clutching at Enzo's wrists as she began to sob, shaking her head. It didn't block any of it out, seeming to only amplify it and her misery in equal measure.

You are a disgrace. He doesn't mean it. You can't even die properly. It's not real. I don't care. Don't listen. I never cared. He doesn't mean it.

"It's not real... Don't listen... He doesn't mean it... He doesn't mean it... He doesn't," she repeated softly to herself between her sobs, trembling even in Enzo's hold from the chill of Andre's voice. It was too much. It was all far too much.

The crowd kept seeming to close in on itself. Screaming and running, dust in the air, falling debris from the rafters. Somehow in the midst of all that chaos, Alec heard Helenus' call to him. Loud and clear. He stopped following Magnus and turned, just as the fae reached him and he was enveloped in his arms.

Alec hadn't even realized he'd been trembling until then. Not from the carnage. He was a demon hunter afterall. That happened all the time. He could hear Hayden's shouts and then Magnus' booming voice. But then, it all faded away and he could hear Helenus' heart beat. Erratic but strong. He'd been just as scared as Alec had. For him.

He gave a great exhale, then gripped the other man tightly. First his elbows, then his arms, pulling him down and closer. "Oh thank the angel..." His voice cracked. Helenus was safe. He cupped the back of his neck and held him there, pressed against him.

But as much as Alec wanted to stay there, holding his love. They needed to keep moving, so he released Helenus so he could straighten. "I need...." He said as the actual panic started to set in. "Ava! Ava was running this way. I need to find Izzy...and Jace...and Ava." Then he grabbed Helenus' arm. "Cassie? Hektor? Is everyone okay?"

~*~

Once Hayden was absolutely certain Finn was being cared for, he placed a hand on Ava's back, whispering to her. Then did the same to Odette. A nephilim prayer. Asking the Angel to protect them. Then he set to helping the others.

Bodies upon bodies kept getting pulled from the rubble. And it wasn't only the shifters and the nephilim. Some vampires, some fae, humans. Everyone was effected. He felt a bump against him that nearly knocked him off his feet. it was Adam, communicating with him that he had this under control.

Hayden grabbed the first two nephilim he saw. "Upstairs. Now." He told them. And they took off.

~*~

Jay was trying to move forward to Bess, but Kenna had hold of his hand. Suddenly, in a whirl of motion, the vampire jerked backwards, releasing his hold on Bess. He didn't know where to focus, getting to Bess, protecting Kenna or finding out what happened. It was then he noticed a few more people had joined them. Another vampire, only she was engaging the one who attacked them. Then Robbie, Kenna's brother swooped in, grabbing Bess.

The urge to fight was so strong. But not letting anything happen to either of the important women in his life was so much more important. When Kenna's hand grabbed him it was instinctual, and so he ran.

~*~

"Witch!" Mael snarled when the one responsible for his current predicament became apparent. The Wizard's bitch, Calliope. He would certainly have to report that back to Remus. If she was here, Wulfe would certainly be close by.

Still...he closed his eyes, concentrating on the blood moving in his veins, traveling up and up and up until it met the warm glow of her power and snuffed it out. As he regained his footing, he cracked his neck to the left then the right. Taking time to stretch each finger and arm, then his legs. Making a show of it so she would know her little parlor trick wouldn't be enough to hold him.

He stepped away from the hole, rubbing his wrist idly. "Interesting." He said with a sneer. "Has the Wizard taught you nothing?" His eyes opened, a dark crimson glow showing through them. As he came to stand before her, spreading his arms. "You are welcome to have another go...but the end will still be the same. Your head...on a platter. Perhaps we will send an ear or a toe in a little box to your maker."

A rush of wind shot up through the hole he'd just stepped away from. Before he had the chance to wonder what that was, a hand appeared. It caught him around the ankle. There was another crack of magic in the air before Mael's feet left the ground and he was hurled up into the ceiling above. More plaster and dush raining down all over the floor and Calli.

At first, nothing else happened. Mael hit the ground with sickening thud. Seeing stars. And he knew...and it struck fear into him. The Wizard had arrived.

~*~

Wulfe rose up through the hole in the floor. It was a slow ascension, allowing him to assess the area before he hovered just above the ground. He floated another foot or so, landing lightly on his feet next to Mael's prone body.

When the vampire attempted to rise, Wulfe merely touched his shoulder with a finger, and his body violently flattened into the floor. But not quite enough to fall through. He grunted with the impact making Wulfe smile a toothy grin.

He swept an arm towards Calli. "Combat." He lectured. "Never underestimate the stupidity of your partner." Glancing down at the groaning Mael he tsked. "Next time, less stupid. More pizzazz." With that, he made jazz hands.

~*~

Magnus was busy barking orders when Torben appeared beside him. He turned towards his friend with a nod, "Yes yes, of course. All yours. Might find Thaddeus as well. He can open up more of them." He told him.

"Don't bother." The portal hopper said, appearing beside Magnus. "Already here."

Magnus dropped him a wink. "I love a man who always arrives on time."

Thaddeus gave him a sour look. "Says the guy who's always late."

"I am never late." Magnus replied with an errant sniff. "I always arrive precisely when I mean to."

Thaddeus just rolled his eyes, turning to Torben. "Where you want these things?" He asked, rolling up his sleeves as his hands began to glow.

~*~

Remus had just disentangled himself from Thalric when the blonde warlock from before appeared beside them. He shot the taller vampire a sour look, "We aren't leaving. Not yet."

Naturally, Thalric raised no objection, just side-eyed the woman, assessing her.

After taking a moment to adjust his clothing properly, Remus finally addressed her. "Well...I did say we were trying to behave. Not my fault your locals are so explosive. No manners."

Thalric's head shot up suddenly. Then his voice rang out in Remus' head. Mael down, Wizard sighted. Nereus down, unidentified pyromancer sighted with the Soldier's right hand. Noctis down, unidentified master vampire. broken neck. Laszlo and Faustus unresponsive. Lorcan...MIA.

"Are you FUCKING kidding me?" Remus snarled outloud.

Thalric's gaze remained steady on his.

"I have to do everything myself!" He continued to rage. Spinning around to the blonde woman he squinted at her. "Wait...aren't you Marcus' Blood Mage?" He'd read something about her in his research. "Your magic...calls blood?"

~*~

As the vampire crumpled to the floor, Blaze had a momentary panic attack. It was increasingly hard to figure out who was the actual enemy here. Especially because Erebus was gone and not engaging with anyone anymore.

He spared a glance back at the woman who assisted them in impaling the cursing vampire. She seemed nonplussed by the appearance of the...he lost track on how many vampires were surrounding him now.

Turning back he finally exhaled. "Hells bells." He exclaimed. Somehow he'd forgotten just how many seethes there were in Chicago. Making a show of counting them with a finger there were...four plus five if you counted Erebus who left the scene. The odds were not in his favor.

~*~

Nereus snapped at Sofia as she flicked him a second time in the ear. "Watch it you cunt!" He snarled uncharitably. Status. Came Remus' voice in his head.

You know damned well my status. He shot back. Are you coming or not?

I sent you Noctis. Remus replied. It's not my fault he got his neck snapped. That'll teach him to talk so much.

Your compassion astounds me. The other end of their conversation went silent and Nereus scowled. Sending a few rather scathing insults at his brother. He did get a response though, a wave of power that started to build in his bloodied hand. Making a fist, he grinned fiercely. "Fuck yeah!"

His power surge wouldn't do much against two strong vampires. The only water that could hurt them would be holy. However, he could certainly do damage on the warlock. "Hey sparky!" He taunted. "Wanna play with fire?"

The warlock turned towards him, and Nereus released the bubbling liquid from his open palm. He made a wide sweep of his arm turning the sphere into a wall of water before expanding it outward. When it hit the pyromancer it sizzled into his skin.

There was a shriek of pain as the water cascaded over him. He'd managed to cover his face with his arms but it still burned like a bitch. Remus' favored method of torture, acid. The warlock dropped to the ground, it was an interesting effect.

Nereus turned back to Sofia. "You gonna do something about that? Or you just gonna stand here like a dumb bitch."

~*~

There were voices, it felt like they were scraping around in Sage's head. No rhyme or reason to them. And only loud enough to distress him. Because with them being so loud he couldn't focus on anything else.

His blood was boiling. It flowed out of him like a torrent. First from the gaping hole in his middle. Then from the twin sets of fang marks on either side of his neck. His clotting couldn't keep up with the quickness he was losing it.

Two voices he was somehow able to understand were Erebus and Emi. They were both speaking to him but it only sounded like jumbled nonsense.

His second sense kicked in and he felt Laszlo stir. He wasn't dead. He wasn't even seriously hurt. Sage caught Erebus' hand. "Help me..." He gasped, "I need...I need..." He couldn't even form the words, but brought the other vampire's hand with his over the mass of metal protruding out of his body.

Faustus rose first from the ruins of the wall they'd been catapulted through. It took him only a second to hone in on the most dangerous of his opponents. Which was Stefan. He snarled and launched himself at the master vampire, but Sage didn't have the capacity to worry about them.

With Erebus' help, they removed the jagged piece of debris. It hurt just as much going out as it did going in, and Sage screamed. But there wasn't time to lick his wounds. By the time he got to his feet, he was panting. Whether from exertion, blood loss or mere strength of will, he didn't know.

Finish it. Morpheus' voice rang through his jumbled mind. He wasn't even able to block it. Or the incoming images being blasted at him. A house. A woman with two little boys. Those two little boys grew up into strapping young men. Until the night everything shattered.

Finish it. The voice came again and Sage trembled under the weight of it. All sense of reason started to slowly fade away as the voice became stronger and stronger. Strangling the life out of everything else. And as he staggered forward to meet Laszlo, Sage saw only red.

~*~

Enzo came to violently, clutching at his neck as he forced air into his lungs. It wasn't a necessity anymore, but old habits died hard. Especially in traumatic experiences. But he only really cared about one thing. Emi. He didn't know how he was still alive, but he was. That didn't matter though, only Emi did.

"E-Emilia..." He rasped, clutching onto Nic's arm. He struggled to sit up, repeating her name over and over again. "Emi..." When Nic tried to keep a hold of him, all he could do was thrash. Because if he was alive, that meant Emi did something. Which meant she was hurt, or being hurt.

He let out an enraged scream that ripped through his already crushed windpipe. Fighting, flailing, trying to communicate his need to find her but anything that came out of him was gibberish.

When he heard Sage scream, a new sense of urgency came over him and his fighting became more desperate. "EMI!!!"

~*~

Andre's steps were heavy as he moved through the carnage. The hall was unrecognizable now. The shouting and sobbing was still loud and clear, but it did little to put any sense of urgency in him. He hadn't known Bash was following him until he made it to the bottom of the second staircase.

As he gazed at him, he smiled a little. Oh he really wished he'd met him before now. The concern in the fae's eyes made Andre recoil a bit away from him. Because if he didn't deserve it now, he certainly wouldn't be deserving after this. "You may want to stay here." He murmured as he continued on, not really caring if he continued to follow or not.

By the time he arrived at the main event, Stefan had just snapped Faustus' neck and dropped him into pile of rubble. They met eyes for a moment and his brother scowled at him. "Nice of you to show up."

Andre just gave him a 100 watt smile that impressed even him. "I do hate to get dirty." He remarked, his eyes moving over Stefan. He looked dreadful. Covered in blood and grime. But then again, that was pretty typical of him. He never seemed to mind.

He caught sight of Lorcan and his smile faded. He'd been so hoping that Mael had moved on his own. That the rest of them had not arrived. Yet. Here they were.

"Sage!" He snapped. The snarling and grunting slowed. "Sage! That is enough. Stop!" His second order finally made it through and it stopped.

Sage stood, hunched. Blood dripping down from all sorts of places. His beautiful clothing ripped and stained. And his eyes...were dead on the inside. His lip curled as his met Andre's gaze.

"I said stop." Andre repeated. He didn't move. Didn't blink. Just stared down at him. His adopted child.

The voice that passed through Sage's lips was not his usual soft melody. "Not my maker." The nightmarish voice growled.

That made Andre smile a little. "No. But I am responsible for you. Are I not? Was I not the one that cut you down from your chains?"

Sage moved then, away from Laszlo, and everyone else. He moved stiffly, like he was in pain. But Andre couldn't bring himself to really look at him. When he finally made it to Andre he was shaking. Unable to even make a coherent noise. It marveled Andre that he was even upright at all.

"I said stop." Andre said. "Look at you. A mess. But you've always been a mess haven't you? Do you think I would have cared at all about you? I only stepped in because Erebus asked me too. And do you know why he would have done that, Sage? Think really hard."

But the creature that was Sage couldn't think. He was far too gone to understand anything happening right then. But that didn't sway Andre. He would remember this, he had to.

Andre was the one who closed the distance between them. "You are a disgrace. You can't even die properly. What does one have to do...Sage. Haven't I done enough? I don't care. I never cared. Look at them all." He said, gesturing around them.

Emi had moved and was with Enzo and Nic. Enzo was holding Emi's head between his hands, whispering something to her. But Andre didn't really care about that. The rest of his children were there as well. This would be final scene for them. They wouldn't be able to come along with him to the end of the show. It hurt to know that. Hurt to know that despite his best efforts, he couldn't keep them safe. He'd gone soft somehow. And it only made it worse. So much words. He longed for a time when silly things like emotions played no part in his world.

Sage stood, dripping and rocking back and forth. He was making sad whining sounds. It was cruel what Andre was doing. He knew it. But he couldn't stop. Not now,

"I needed a soldier. Not some sniveling little child. You are of no use to me like this. No use to anyone. What's the use of a weapon that has needs?"

That's when he heard wha Enzo was whispering to Emi. 'He doesn't mean it. It's not real. Don't listen. He doesn't mean it.'

It hurt, and Andre had to swallow the sob currently fighting to be released. But he just wouldn't do that. "Do you hear me? That goes for all of you. Every last one. I'm done. I don't want any of you showing up on my doorstep. I'm done. I've no more obligation to care for you. I-"

"Andre!" Stefan snapped tiredly. "Shut up. Just shut up." His older brother pleaded. Which was an odd thing for him. To plead like that. He wasn't looking at Andre, just at the faces surrounding them.

"You're going need to bigger place, brother mine." Andre said smugly. "If you intend on adopting them all. Stefan's Home for Wayward Vampires. Has a nice ring to it....doesn't it?"

Sage's legs finally gave out and he fell to his knees. In the midst of it all. Laszlo, Faustus and Lorcan had disappeared. Which, Andre expected.

A snarl from Stefan. "You are crossing the line."

"What line would line would that be?" Andre asked.

"The line of no return."

#morpheus party fight

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darling-dearest-emi · 24 days ago

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Emi didn't dare tear her eyes away from Andre, even as Enzo tried to soothe her. It was partly for sake of waiting to see what he might do to them, at least on a paranoid front, but greater still was her desperation to search his expression for any sign of the man she knew. And even the tone he took with Enzo... so detached as it had been on the night at the Velvet Room gala. It made her feel as if she was encased in ice, even with the warmth of Enzo's arms around her and him now hiding her against his chest.

The words from Stefan earlier played on repeat in her thoughts: Andre is not a monster... When it comes to the people he cares about he's not cruel... Andre doesn't like guilt... You, little one, are fighting for something you already have. Unconditional love. From all sides.

The tail end of Andre's words caught Emi's focus again just before Enzo moved to attack their maker. She tripped over herself with the suddenness of her being pushed, catching herself against one of the chairs beside her. She kicked off her offending heels as she spun around to take in the unfolding scene. Enzo had knocked Andre to the ground and the two were tossing each other about into the furniture of the room. Little miliseconds where there was space between the two.

Emi moved as quickly as she was able to, darting in between them at one of those instances, her trembling body the only thing blocking Andre from another blow from Enzo. She stood so that she was facing Andre, having caught and held Enzo's wrist against the small of her back, her grip not so tight as to truly restrain him, but to catch his focus. Her gaze stayed locked on Andre even as she addressed Enzo behind her. “Don’t do it.” She spoke softly, her voice still wavering. “It’s what he wants, Enzo… the anger, the lashing out. Don’t rise to it.”

She gently pulled Enzo closer to her--an attempt to ground him, and maybe even herself. Only when she felt his fingers interlace with hers did she actually speak to Andre. “You're a good liar... isn't that what you always say?" She began, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she gazed down at someone so familiar and yet a perfectly fashioned stranger. "If it suits you to play the villian and set yourself adrift in your self pity and guilt, by all means do as you see fit. But you don't get to make us fuel your efforts. That decision is yours alone, and the actions it takes to achieve it too." Emi bit her traitorous lower lip as it wobbled, aware of the pinching in her throat as she held back her tears. "You don’t get to be a martyr, Andre,” she warned softly, repeating her words from earlier, although the tone was rife with pain now. "And if you mean it--if you truly mean everything you said, then this should be exactly what you've always wanted."

Emi paused for the briefest of moments, as if she was attempting to freeze an image of Andre in her memory that would survive a potential eternity with never setting eyes on him again. And that thought threatened to break her in two. She pulled her hand away from Enzo's then, moving from her place in between the two men and making her exit into the main ballroom once more, her pace growing closer to a sprint with each step she took further from Andre. Further from her past. Further towards an ambiguous future. And only when she'd been enveloped by the crowd once more did she allow herself to cry.

Enzo was livid. He'd been watching over Emi, as he often did. Allowing her a certain amount of privacy. But at Andre's raised voice, and the way Emi recoiled away, he'd had enough.

He was there in an instant, catching Emi with gentle hands on her shoulders. The anger in him boiled. Because how dare Andre do anything to upset her like this. Pulling his love against him, he pressed his lips to her forehead, cradling her there. He whispered to her words of comfort as he turned defiant and angry eyes at his maker.

Andre simply raised an expectant brow at him, baiting him. A orchestrated attack so crafty he didn't even have to say a word.

A snarl rose up and out of Enzo's clenched teeth. "You go to far, maker." He growled.

"Maker...am I?" Andre said in a tone Enzo had never heard from him. "Yes. I am your maker, Enzo. You were nothing. A shell. Worn and brittle. Ready to fall to bits at even the lightly whisper of air." He said coldly, as he approached them slowly.

Enzo wanted to go after him, fangs exposed. But Emi wasn't in any shape to be left alone, not even for that. So he settled on a soundless snarl. He turned Emi away, keeping her head cradled against him, holding a hand over her ears, as if to somehow protect her from Andre's gift. His words.

But he continued on. "I gave you eternal life, didn't I? We were as one. You and I." Then his lip curled. "But you were never happy...were you?" He asked, in front of them now. "Not until her."

"Leave Emi out of it." Enzo growled, tightening his old on her.

"Well certainly." Andre said coldly. "Because it's always been about Emi. Hasn't it? You've no real sense if self, do you? Not even after everything I've done. You so willingly attached yourself to her. Living for her now. Completely."

Enzo grit his teeth, biting into his bottom lip so hard it drew blood. "You don't actually give a shit about me..."

"I never did." Andre agreed. "I've no need of you anymore. For any of you really. Just thorns in my side."

That was all it took. And Enzo saw red. He shoved Emi behind him. With a quick snap of his teeth he launched himself at Andre. Fangs at the ready, needing to hurt him. Cause some sort of pain to him. For Emi, for himself, for Sage, for all of them. Yet...Andre did nothing to protect himself.

#c: enzo #c: andre

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darling-dearest-emi · 24 days ago

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Emilia wobbled a bit with the force of Andre yanking his wrist free from her grasp, watching him warily now as his expression shifted. On some level she should have been used to Andre’s lashing out, but until recent months the weight of his ire had never landed on her directly. And that… well, it made her feel as though she would crumble entirely. Before for the sake of Enzo and Sage even more than herself. But now? Now he was severing every tie she’d shared with him. Threatening her life. Emi couldn’t find it in her to see sense in it, couldn’t quite cope with every ounce of contradiction in her drunken state. Never once had she been afraid of Andre, until now. And she found herself trembling from head to toe, wide eyed and crying under his cold gaze from her maker. She stumbled backwards a step, catching herself on something—no, someone there. “Enzo,” she whimpered softly, her voice catching even at that.

Then he found perfect clarity, which gave him a renewed sense of strength as he jerked out of Emilia's grasp. Knowing what he had to do, despite knowing how badly this would hurt both of them. "Prideful and stupid?" His lip curled. "The only stupid one here is you, Emilia. You, Enzo, all of you. We were never meant to be a family. You asked for help in finding your sister. I gave that to you. It was a transaction. Nothing more. One that I am calling due. You will suck it up and walk away. You will take the others with you. And you will never darken my doorway again, you foolish girl. You want a family...go where you were always meant to go. To Stefan." The words felt bitter and sickening to him. But the surge of power they brought him would assist in the next part of what he had to do. "If I ever have to see you again I may just take that life I gave you back. Do I make myself clear?"

#c: andre #c: enzo

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darling-dearest-emi · 25 days ago

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Nic still held Enzo in his arms, ready to run if they needed to go further, but aware of the stampede of panicked party guests that posed an altogether different obstacle. He'd stopped just off to the side of the rubble pile, with Esmeralda at his side. Their agreement was wordless in that moment. Both of them were on edge, poised in the way a first responder and a born fighter only could be.

Meanwhile Damien, seemingly unperturbed by the flurry of insults and blows Emi was landing on him, managed to drag Emilia off to the side of the rubble where Nic and Esmeralda had taken Enzo. He passed her off to Esmeralda, who immediately restrained the younger vampire. "Don't make this any more difficult than it needs to be Emilia," Esmeralda hissed, though she knew that wouldn't be heard given Emi's frantic looks between Sage and Enzo on the ground and her continued shouting.

Odette was so far out of focus. She hadn't quite been aware of Ava and Alec arriving, let alone Hayden until she felt herself being pulled away from the crumbling debris. For a second she fought his hold, out of her mind with fear and confusion, but settled as she saw Zehra in their place. She knew her by reputation, and knew even better than to question her good nature as she shifted the rubble off of Finn.

The second Hayden released her and Ava, Odette crashed to her knees beside Finn, one hand desperately clutching Ava's as the other cupped Finn's cheek. She could see Ava searching for a pulse and found herself holding her breath until the relief seemed to wash over the other woman. Odette sobbed again, all too aware of how utterly powerless she felt in the moment, because any comfort she might have felt in the knowledge of Finn being alive was hanging on by a tenuous thread as she watched the blood slowly spreading around him.

The Eternity Seethe all gathered on the heels of their Master, leaping into action to help unearth people from the rubble. Lenore wasn't surprised that Virgil had followed her into the fray, nor when he began to lift smaller rocks and plaster pieces to her side without a second thought. This was a matter for far more than just vampires.

Bo had been dancing with Cassie not long before the collapsing, so the pair reunited within a minute. He knew better than to ask Cassie to leave for her own safety as she was a healer and those caught under the debris would likely need her aid. So he tucked her arm in his, guiding their path through the panic to the rubble.

They arrived alongside Gwaine and Andromeda, taking in the scene before them with a collective horror. Bo left Cassie and Gwaine to see to an unconscious and gravely injured Finn who seemed to be the first one uncovered. He then ran forward with Andromeda to the rubble pile itself, both of them joining the throng of supernaturals digging through the rubble pile for any people trapped underneath.

The last thing Adonis had expected for his evening was to be caught in a word feud with Nyla, let alone one so all consumingly frustrating as to make him storm away from her entirely. But then the stairs caved in behind him, and, well, that made him freeze in his tracks. It made his anger vanish, and in its place came an overwhelming dread with panic hot on its heels. He turned around to where he'd left Nyla, desperately trying to see through the dust obscuring the scene. Surely she'd have left the spot too...

Only he couldn't see her at all, and that could only mean one thing. He clambered forward, having to contend with people rushing and shoving their own way in the opposite direction. They might be fleeing, but he only found himself running to something. Someone. Nyla.

The crowd of supernaturals at the rubble boasted their gifted strength, whereas he held only a desperation to the point of recklessness as he helped dig through the rubble, leaving his hands in bloodied shambles.

It took several minutes before they unearthed Nyla, but sure enough she had been caught in the collapse. Adonis took her limp body from the arms of some vampire woman alongside him, shaking desperately as he brought her to the slowly assembling gathering of healers.

Most of the older pack members were the type to jump into action on a near immediate basis, be it rounding up the cubs, evacuating the guests, or in the case of some, charging towards the collapse to lend their aid. Emma and Ciaran didn't shift, both remaining off to the side to help administer at least initial first aid to the wounded.

Jonathan, Rosamund, Daire, and Austin were some of the first to shift alongside Adam, diving into the effort to clear away the rubble. Scenting made it easier to do so in a targeted fashion. But the one scents that caught Jonathan's attention first were all too familiar. He focused on a particular area, and with the help of Rosamund eventually unearthed Rory and Bryce from the rubble there. Jonathan whined as pulled the younger shifters off to the side, catching the attention of Emma and Ciaran immediately. Ciaran took Bryce from Jonthan and Emma gently grabbed Rory from Rosamund, both of them moving the younger shifters to an empty space on the ground to assess the depth of their injuries.

Rory seemed to have taken the brunt of it, likely having shielded Bryce with her body as the rubble fell on top of them. Both of them had severe head lacerations and trauma. Emma ripped the base of her dress into a makeshift bandages, passing a swathe to Ciaran so they could remedially dress the wounds to Rory and Bryce's heads. It wouldn't be enough. They would need intervention beyond either of the doctors means in this environment.

As Emma finished fastening the cloth around Rory's head, she moved onto assessing the rest of her. Several broken bones, including a rib likely puncturing one of her lungs, judging by the uneven breath sounds Emma was able to pick up. "Ciaran! Her lung!" She called out.

With the first nephilim freed, Zehra cast a glance behind her to the still unfolding fight. Her children were already setting themselves upon the rubble, shoulder to shoulder with nephilim and shifters alike.

At the sight of Sofia in the midst of impaling a vampire Zehra moved to join her. Only hesitating as she took note of a second strange vampire speaking to a warlock--the pyromancer, evidently. Their words amidst the backdrop of the larger scale fight behind them and Sofia's trapped offender only deepened Zehra's anger and exhaustion with this sorry lot. She moved behind the distracted diplomat, one arm snaking around his torso and pulling him flush against her as the other came around to grip his head. And in one swift motion she broke his neck. It wouldn't kill him properly, of course, but it allowed him to be out of the scope of issue--of which there seemed to be so many at the moment. She freed the stranger's body from her grasp, allowing him to fall in a crumpled heap at her feet.

Esmeralda had given up on talking to Emi, even though Nic seemed to still be helplessly trying to reason with her. It was a pointless effort when the younger woman was in such a rage and panic. Esmeralda's gaze was locked on Sage as he was impaled upon the debris, the act making her wince as Emilia cried out all the further.

Stefan's immediate arrival and treatment of Sage's attackers finally made Esmeralda cave in, releasing her hold on Emi, who nearly tumbled to the floor upon the lack of tension pulling against her strength.

Emi rushed to Sage's side, joining Erebus there. But her focus was only on Sage, only on his face. Her voice cracked with return to a soft tone, but she spoke to him gently all the same. "Sage? Sage, je suis là... Sage, look at me. It's okay. You're here with us... Come back to me, mon cher," she quietly pleaded.

Calliope had made her way to one of the farther edges of the swarming crowd, not all that far from the bar. Her head was whipping around madly, trying and failing to catch sight of her Maker even in this corner where she'd last seen him. Scenting was even harder to do, what with the scope of conflicting blood permeating the air.

Amidst all of the running figures around her, she could see three maintaining a stillness by the bar. Thalric and Noctis to either side of Remus. She felt her hands instinctively clench into fists upon her recognition of the trio. They had yet to make note of her, clearly too caught up in each other and their own amusement as it--

The gunshots from off to her right made Calliope flinch, but it wasn't until she saw the way Thalric clutched Remus and Noctis made his exit that she quite put two and two together. Wooden bullets. From where?

Only then did her focus dare to leave the other vampires, catching sight of one of a blonde woman wielding the offending gun, still trained in the direction of the bar. Behind her stood two others. Calli concentrated to the best of her ability on their scents--a shifter, and two half faes. No less helpless than humans, and putting a bright red target on their backs.

She abandoned her mission to find Wulfe for the moment--because, truth be told, he had all the means to defend himself even if he wasn't the type to let on. Calli was still struggling through the crowd, particularly now that everyone seemed to be running towards multiple exits rather than any single one.

The shaking brought about by Mael jumping up through the floorboards momentarily set her off balance--costly seconds that she knew would mean harm to one or more of the three innocents the psychopath was about to descend on. And sure enough he'd managed to grab ahold of the blonde's wrist, breaking the bones there in an immediate and audible fashion.

She wasn't close enough to fight him before more damage was done--the fatal sort. And only then did Calli fully decide her next course of action. She would be breaking a centuries old promise to herself in doing so, and alerting Morpheus' mouthpieces to the persisting scope of her magic, but it was her only option. She halted in her tracks, steeling her gaze onto Mael, zeroing in on his jugular as her connection point. There. The movement of blood through his murderous limbs, flowing even in undeath. Her hands raked through the empty air in front of her, beckoning the current of his bloodstream towards her. Calli watched Mael's grip on the woman's broken arm slip away, as the invisible tether to his torso pulled him backwards into a heap on the ground, teetering on the edge of the the hole he'd created from below the floorboards. She flicked her wrist back in a sharp motion, causing Mael's head to bend backwards enough to catch her eyeline. And in a tone only vampires could hear did she then speak. "Miss me?"

Hayden was suddenly there between Ava and Odette just as Alec got there. “Get Magnus!” He ordered as he started to dig into the rubble. Not even caring that his hands were bleeding from the effort. He wasn’t strong enough for the larger pieces. But with Odette and Avalon’s sobs in his ears, he pushed on even harder. “FINN!” He screamed.

Zehra, Hayden remembered, the master of one of Chicago’s seethes, appeared. Once he realized what it is she wanted, he offered a nod and a “Please.” Knowing she heard him.

He caught both sobbing girls. He held both of them at his sides, covering their heads as the debris lifted. Once it was safe, he released them to tend to Finn.

Staying back he ordered the nephilim that started to gather there. “There are people in there!” He shouted at them. “Help Zehra dig them out!”

All of them listened save for one. Jace looked washed out. “Alec..” he said. It was drowned out by the noise, but Hayden knew anyway.

Hayden caught him by the shoulder. “He went to find Magnus.” He said into his ear. “Go!” Pushing Jace forward towards the mountain of rubble.

Several of the shifters appeared in animal form, attacking the mound. Pulling out bloodied bodies with their teeth. Hayden recognized one of them as Adam.

“WHERE THE HELL IS MAGNUS?” He yelled at no one in particular.

The crowd lingering around the disaster suddenly parted for Magnus as he strode purposefully through, Alec in tow. “Right here, Hayden. No need to shout.” Clapping his hands once, the hall burst into bright white light. All the furniture and decorations disappeared. “I need healers.” His voice boomed. “And find me every last vampire in the building. I don’t care who belongs to who. The rest of you…GET OUT!!”

All the doors slammed open and with them crowds of people.

~*~

Remus didn’t know anything was wrong until he was jerked off the bar and against Thalric’s chest. Trying to get free was useless.

Wood bullets. Noctis’ calm voice echoed in his head.

Remus pounded on Thalric’s chest. “No no no!” He screamed out loud.

MAEL! UPSTAIRS! BULLETS!

WHO HAS EYES he shouted at all of them.

Little busy. Came Laszlo’s lazy drawl.

Remus grit his teeth. He cast a side eye at Noctis who merely shrugged. Nereus is too it seems. Impaled by Erebus’ little friends.

An annoyed voice cut through. Some help would be nice.

Remus rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath about crybabies. He jerked his chin in that direction. You heard him. Go.

Noctis made a sweeping bow and disappeared into the chaos.

His lip curled. No respect. The lot of you.

~*~

Mael and Andre were trapped in a stare off. Neither willing to budge. That is until a shrill voice invaded his head. Ordering him to move on. What about the Courtier? He snarled.

Do you want to meet eternal death? Remus asked.

Mael cursed.

“What did he say?” Andre questioned.

His lip curled. “We will meet another day, it seems.” He purred. There was a crack as Mael jerked forward backing Andre back onto the couch he’d just gotten up from.

“Dog.” Andre spat, slapping him across the face.

Mael let the hit land. A familiar tingle rolling down his spine. Andre had always been like a drug to him. Before he could pull his hand back, Mael caught it.

Bracing himself against Mael’s chest, Andre’s glare was cold as ice.

“Until we meet again.” He promised, catching the other vampire around the waist and kissing him.

Andre let out a growl of indignation. He always had been feisty. “You’re going to pay for that.”

“I certainly hope so.” He replied, stealing one more kiss before disappearing.

~*~

The sight of Kenna at his arm stopped Jay in his tracks. He took a moment to assess her. She looked fine, he was going to ask just to be safe but then Bess also appeared. Effectively corralling him.

“Wait just a second!” He objected as Bess grabbed his gun from his holster instinctively, Jay’s arm circled Kenna’s waist, ready to pull her to safety as Bess fired.

There was a tense moment before Jay frowned at her. The floor gave a great shake that nearly knocked Jay off his feet. A dark shape shot up from below. Landing on the banister. The snarled fangs were the first thing that appeared and Jay had a split second to pull Bess back with him and Kenna.

The vampire swayed a bit, moaning softly. His eyes were cold and dark. Inhuman. None of the other local vampires looked like that. Then he scoffed in irritation. “Humans? That little brat spoiled my play time for two measly humans?” He barely even looked at Kenna. “And a mongrel.”

That pissed Jay off. “The fuck you say, bloodsucker?” His gun fired again, Bess continued to fire.

The vampire gave Jay a curious look before setting his attention on the bullets flying at him. It was far too easy for him to be just one step ahead of Bess. It was almost a dance. Until it wasn’t. He caught Bess’s arm, easily shattering the bone with a sickening crunch. And the gun clattered to the ground.

~*~

Nereus snarled and snapped at Sofia who was nearest to him. “Stupid bitch! I’ll kill you!”

Blaze was torn between making sure this vampire didn’t move and finding where Erebus ended up. Placing a hand on his hip, he considered the situation. He was about to ask Sofia to move so he could torch the bastard when someone cleared his throat behind him.

Whirling around he started to gather heat in his palm, but it snuffed out as the man spread his hands in a placating gesture.

“Pardon my intrusion.” He said to Blaze then tipped an imaginary hat to Sofia. “Ma’m.”

Blaze shot her a questioning look before turning his attention back to the vampire. “Um… yes?”

The vampire smiled. “Very good. Yes. You’ve got my brother there…impaled upon a stick. Would you mind terribly if I were to take him back?”

Nereus snarled again. “Stop that and help me you sadistic bastard!”

The other vampire didn’t even glance at him. “He has a rather terrible case of Tourette’s.”

That comment sent Nereus into another fit of cursing.

Blaze pressed his lips together in thought. “And if I told you no? He did just attack my boyfriend. That’s not okay.”

He shrugged. “Well I’d have to rip out your heart and drink your blood through straw.” He replied politely.

“Huh…” Blaze replied, tapping his bottom lip with a finger. “That’s awfully barbaric.”

The vampire considered that. “I suppose.”

“So about i just torch both of you instead?”

The grin that answered was eerily calm. “You can try.”

~*~

Sage’s body was moving, meeting Laszlo’s strikes blow for blow. But his mind was elsewhere. Trapped in a place he didn’t want to be.

Laszlo managed a kick that sent Sage skidding back several feet.

Laszlo you moron! Hurry up and finish it! Remus voice rang in his head.

“When I finally get him alone I’m going to roast him on a pike.” He snarled.

Sage managed to get back up but was blocked from Laszlo by Faustus. The other vampire leaned on Sage’s shoulder.

“You’ve got quite the little fan club here.” He mused.

Blinking rapidly, Sage was fighting to keep his coherency.

“Your little lap dog.” He said gesturing toward Erebus. “Princess Buttercup.” He added, nodding towards Emi who was cocooned against Damien. “Then the amazon over there about to maim Laszlo.”

At that remark, Laszlo caught sight of the girl beneath him. His lip curled, as he grabbed her up by the hair. “Our fight is not with you!” He snarled. Sending her flying into a mound of debris.

Faustus tapped Sage’s temple to get his attention. “Nor is our fight with any of them.” He added, gesturing towards Emi and Erebus. “Well, maybe teddybear maybe. He did help.”

Sage met Erebus’ eyes as if only now realizing he was there. He breathed in shakily, wanting to go to him. But then there was a great piercing pain as Laszlo skewered him on one of the rafters that fell off the ceiling.

Sage gasped out a scream, catching it as it pushed through his back and out his chest, somehow missing his vital organs.

Faustus winced then glared at his brother over Sage’s shoulder. “Well now you’ve covered him in blood. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Yum.” Laszlo replied before Sage was buried beneath the two of them in a feeding frenzy.

There was an incredible burst of energy, as Stefan appeared through then gloom. In only a moment more he had Laszlo and Faustus flung into the brick wall across from Sage. Now a crumpled mess on the ground.

As the dust of Stefan’s dust began to fade, Lorcan came into focus looking a little sheepish. “The soldier is here.”

#morpheus party fight

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darling-dearest-emi · 25 days ago

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Odette had looked up with a touch of confusion at the faint rumbling she could hear over the music and chatter in the hall, and even as she watched the spiderweb cracks splinter through the plaster she knew she had hesitated a second too long to pull herself and Finn out from under the stairs… Only she did move, as she was gently albeit forcefully pushed out of harm’s way, stumbling over her heeled shoes and catching herself against someone stranger in the crowd. And then the crash of rubble and the collapsing stairs entered her ears, making her whole body turn as cold as ice. She whipped her head around, just catching sight of Finn as a piece of the staircase structure knocked and pinned him to the ground. She screamed then, clambering forward again even despite the likelihood of the new opening above her not being quite sound. She had to get to him, to Finn. She was repeatedly crying out his name, and with no reply he’d clearly fallen unconscious. Her attention turned to the piece of stone that he was stuck underneath, trying desperately to get leverage to move it on her own and not quite managing to make it budge. “Help me, damn it! By the Angel someone help us,” she cried, never halting in her efforts.

—

The crash had caught Nic’s attention immediately as he instinctually scanned the ballroom for Luciana—but she’d left to find Thomas, and he knew that. And the sight of the two figures fighting in the rising swirls of plaster dust around the pile of rubble were clearly not his charge. But the figures that joined them were ones he recognized all too well, and that told him who one of the original two was. Sage. He ran forward, weaving through the crowd to reach his seethe siblings.

It took too long from his place across the room, with throngs of new foes joining the fray. He arrived just in time for Sage to free himself from Emi’s grasp, setting in on the offending vampire once more. And Nic charged in in tandem, grabbing Enzo and pulling him back from the warring vampires and flying fire balls.

—

Zehra had been talking to Arawn when the stairs collapsed in. And even from their place near the bar she could scent the blood of the vampires who had caused it. She sighed deeply, in that way that never could quite encapsulate her frustration and worry. “These damned fools,” she muttered before setting off to make her way through the crowd.

It took quite a while before she arrived at the edge of the fight, taking the moment to cast her eyes over the scene. Several nephilim seemed to be gathered around one end of the rubble, with one of their own trapped under a large chunk of stone that the four still standing could only manage to lift with their combined strength.

She darted forward to them, with the Head of the Institute being the first to notice her. “Let me help lift it. Two of you can get him out from underneath,” she explained before moving forward in between the trembling and crying girls, lifting the stone easily to where there was more than enough room for their comrade to be pulled away.

—

Emi spoke softly in French to Sage. Terms of endearment and soothing phrases, begging him to come back to her. Her head was tucked against his shoulder, with her tears continuing to fall all the while. And she wasn’t quite sure when it turned into her singing to him, but it had. Quietly and with a trembling tone as she recalled the lullabies of her youth, desperately trying to tune out the outside sound—the snarling, the screams, Erebus’ voice. Enzo’s shouting was the hardest to block out, as each word from him made her flinch.

But then he screamed, and she whipped her head up from its place against Sage, watching as Morpheus’ attack dog of a vampire set upon him. “LET HIM GO!”

She must have loosened her grip a bit in the process, as Sage easily tore her limbs from around him and caught the other vampire, leaving Enzo in a crumpled and unconscious state on the ground. But then she saw Nic grab him almost as quickly, with Esmeralda hot on his heels. They had Enzo and he would be safe in their hands.

But now there were warring vampires in front of her, and Sage was far from out of the woods. She had started towards him again but felt Erebus pull her backwards. He didn’t hold her though, passing her off into Damien’s arms. “Let me go! Vaffanculo!” She snapped, writing and squirming against his hold. “EREBUS!”

—

Calliope had run to the aid of the others alongside Damien and Esmeralda, although the latter had peeled off towards Nic in their tangle through the panicked crowd. It was only when they were up close that Calliope recognized the figures and faces around her. Nereus. Noctis. Laszlo. And the other merry murders likely lying in wait. She grabbed Damien’s arm just before she pulled away. “Go to them, I need to find Wulfe!”

And then she was ruthless in her movements. Elbowing and shoving her way through the crowd as she scanned for Wulfe or any faces of Morpheus’ lot that she could intercept.

Remus knew before the initial crash that Laszlo had done something really stupid. He huffed with irritation. He had been enjoying himself. Hoisting himself up on the bar, he surveyed the frenzy. He felt Thalric's hand close around his ankle but he ignored it. Easy big guy...His heart skipped a beat as he laid eyes on Laszlo and Sage appearing in the dust. Lips twitching a bit, he glanced down meeting Thalric's eyes. Things were just heating up. Nereus went in on his own accord, no surprise to anyone. Noctis appeared down by Thalric. He could feel the mental tug as Noctis requested a link with him. Remus allowed it.

Status? He inquired once he felt his brother enter his mindscape.

Laszo intercepted, currently engaged. Nereus moving in on the target's left side. Lorcan has eyes on the Soldier, he's moving to intercept. Mael has eyes on the Courtier, waiting for orders. No sign of the Wizard, but he is in the vicinity. Faustus is moving in on target's right side, apparently there is some interference.

Remus' lip twitched. That was not surprising in the slightest. As he laid eyes on the battle itself, he quickly made up his mind. He kept his mental link with Noctis, but then spread out to touch the minds of the other members of the seethe. Pushing his way in.

Mael, secure the Courtier, the Master wants him alive.

Nereus, disengage and move in to assist Laszlo.

Lorcan, let the Soldier pass. Let's watch the fireworks, standby

Faustus, disengage. Locate the Wizard, stat.

Thalric, Noctis...hold on tight boys, the show just got hot!

Once he got the affirmatives, he closed the links to allow his people to focus on their tasks. He and his two bodyguards settled in for the show.

~*~

It wasn't the sudden crash and shouting that startled Blaze. It was the fact that one moment Erebus was there beside him, and then the other he was not. The mayhem that came after was a mass of confusion. Blaze didn't have supernatural sight or hearing. So, as the dust began to rise, he had a difficult time finding Erebus in the fray.

The vampire was locked into a fight to the apparent death when he reached him. Though it was less swift and more flatout brawn. Erebus landed hit after hit, the other vampire deflecting and then pummeling the smaller vampire. Neither seemed to be getting the upperhand.

Blaze really had no clue who they were supposed to be fighting. There were vampires everywhere. But he could deduce that Erebus was fighting one of the bad guys at least. Worse than he was anyway. The odds weren't in his favor, fire magic was unpredictable.

Despite the overwhelming urge to simply light both of them on fire, Blaze saw his shot. He skidded into the rubble, taking hold of a splintering 2x4 and lit it up. The fire didn't burn him, but the vampire would be toast.

~*~

PYRO! BEHIND YOU! Remus' voice in his head came without warning. Nereus blocked an incoming blow from Erebus, while expertly ducking under the flaming torch that was aimed at his head. His grin was feral as Nereus laughed. "You brought a friend." He said to Erebus before doing an aerial backflip over the both of them, landing behind the warlock.

Wrong direction though. The warlock turned as well, dropping the wood and pulling his hand back. "Fuego, incinerate." He said in a voice only audible to vampiric ears.

Nereus barely had time to dance out of the way as a blast of wicked hot flame soared over his hand. Damn sparker threw a fireball at him! Nereus' lip curled. "Spicy little thing aren't you?"

The warlock pulled his extended arm back. "Not what you should be worried about." He said with a serene little smile, but fire dancing in his eyes. He stepped aside and Erebus came barreling back at him.

~*~

When the commotion happened, Alec had two...well three concerns. 1. Locate the disturbance. 2. Find his infuriating parabatai and intercept. 3. Make sure Helenus was secure. Honestly, Helenus had been his first concern, as he'd been out looking for the fae. But that didn't really matter now, did it?

People were screaming and running about. Which wasn't difficult to ignore. That was basic nephilim training. Isolate the threat. He knew there were other nephilim there. Somewhere. His sight rune started to burn on the side of his neck as his eyes slowly started to sharpen. Crumble staircase. People screaming. Blood everywhere. And ah yes...vampires. No surprise there. But the more concerning part was spotting Ava running towards the rubble. The world stopped around him. That was his focus. And he was off, running to his best friend's side, bow at the ready.

~*~

Being in the supernatural division of the Chicago PD, Jay was ready for things like this. Mostly. After his last encounter with the vampires he came to the party armed with wooden bullets. Honestly though, you had to be able to target one.

Luckily, he'd been on the second floor, so he was able to have a height advantage as he took aim. His gun moved with one vampire before jumping to the next, trying to follow each intended interaction. Which was increasingly hard to do as things heated up. Literally. There was a burst of flame followed by a heavy dark smokey cloud.

Jay cursed under his breath as his sight quickly became obstructed. What was the point in being halfblood when your half of the blood didn't include supernatural sight? He thought sourly. Sniping out. He quickly slid his gun into its holster at his back as he ran for the staircase on the other end of the floor.

~*~

Andre had been nursing his bruised ego when he noticed a figure lurking in the shadows near him. It took less than in instant to recognize him. Mael.

But he didn't have time to finish the thought about the implications of that. His head buzzed a bit. A familiarity from his time with Morpheus. The Master Vampire liked keeping mental links with his people. Easier to control them that way. He'd only managed it once on Andre. But Andre also wasn't at his best currently.

Hello, mi amore. Morpheus voice slid into his consciousness. I've finally found you. It was almost a purr. The sound of it made Andre feel sick.

It took a great deal of focus for Andre to be able to think coherently enough to send a message back. He only managed a simple ?.

The answer came as a laugh. It turned his insides to jelly. He loved that laugh. As much as he loved the man behind it, until he found out the truth.

Aw. The voice cooed. That's sweet. And very unlike you.

Andre had managed to get himself up off the couch and staggered a few steps. Mael suddenly appeared before him, a blurry image. "Sage..." He whispered, that was what he was trying to focus on. Finding Sage.

"He's been found." Mael answered coldly. "As have you, I'm afraid. Laszlo broke your compulsion quite easily."

"Move." Andre hissed, his vision finally seeming to clear. The fuzziness in his mind fading as Morpheus' laughter echoed in his head.

Mael's smile evened into a line. "All I ever wanted was for you to see me. Even now..." His voice was velvety smooth, though his lovely face contorted in anger. "WHY WONT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO ME!"

~*~

Enzo knew he was outmatched. Laszlo knew it too. He was torn between keeping up with him and worrying over Emi at the same time. The stupid girl was clinging to Sage. And by the vacant look on his brother's face, that was not a safe place for her to be. "EMI!" He shouted. "LEAVE HIM!"

The sounds of her tear-strained voice made him hot with anger. Not anger at Sage who was posing the danger. But at the entire situation. They'd all been schooled in what to do if this situation ever came to pass. He was too get Emi to safety. To not engage any of Morpheus' people. It was a death sentence. But here he was. Facing off with the Lieutenant. In absolutely no position to protect Emi. "STUPID GIRL! LEAVE HIM!"

Laszlo's voice reached him. "I am offended that your attention seems to be elsewhere. On the girl? Ah. I see."

That snapped Enzo back to the matter at hand. "Leave her be." He snarled, "She is not for you."

"Isn't she though?" He smirked. "Your whole seethe belongs to us. In one manner or another. Perhaps if you begged me, I'd let you live. Keep the girl even."

It sounded like something he ought to consider. Keep Emi safe. Damned be the rest of them. But it wasn't even really a choice. Emi would never forgive him for that. Abandoning their family. Which, he wasn't likely to do anyway. Enzo didn't play the game. That was Andre's job. Enzo just played the dutiful soldier. But oh...how he wanted to.

"Sorry, mate." He smirked. "I'm not that smart."

"Pity." Laszlo sighed, almost like it mattered to him. "I had always thought you were more than just a pretty face."

Then talking time was over and Enzo saw flashes of a life he'd never get to have. With Emi. With Andre and Sage. Erebus and Calli. Nic and Luciana. Damien and Esmerelda. His little family, his whole world. In that last moment, before everything went dark, he turned his eyes towards Emilia. His light. His love. She sobbed, holding tightly to Sage and singing some silly french song. Please let her death me swift.

~*~

KILL. MAIM. DESTROY. Those words echoed over and over again in Sage's mind. A cruel smile. A whisper. The scent of blood and other bodily fluids.

All he saw was blood. It was dripping from the ceiling. Coating the walls. Draped over his eyes. Covering his skin. Sticky and sweet smelling.

Laszlo's blood tart on his tongue.

Then, singing. A soft voice that seemed to waft through the carnage. He had no recollection of who the voice belonged to. Just that it was beautiful. That it was familiar. That it meant something.

Laszlo had someone by the throat. Crushing it in his fingers. The crack of bones. And in Sage's head, he could hear his brother chanting the same words he'd just heard in his own head.

KILL. MAIM. DESTROY.

But also, the voice. He could feel the hands then. Wrapped around him. Trembling. The tears soaking through his shirt. A strangled gasp came through his chapped lips. They hurt. Everything hurt.

A second voice joined the first. He did recognize that voice. Erebus. He could see the other vampire's face so vividly. His lips moving, as he spoke to him. A soft smile. The promise that Sage was safe. And he wanted that.

Things started to slowly come back into focus then. As he put a name to each of the voices in his head. Erebus. Andre. Damien. Nic. Callie. Esmerelda. Luciana. Emi. Oh Emi. She was crying. That's when he realized. The last voice was Enzo, as he screamed.

What have I done?

Mutant. Laszlo's voice invaded his head again. You belong to us.

It was too late then though. Sage caught hold of Emi's hands, not bothering to be gentle, this wasn't the time for it. As he shoved her away he moved forward. He slid under Enzo's legs, as he was held off the floor. With a great thrust, Sage's fist came up, catching Laszlo under the jaw.

The suddenness of it, caught the older vampire by surprise. And he dropped Enzo. And the fight raged on.

#morpheus party fight

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darling-dearest-emi · 25 days ago

Text

Rattled was an understatement for how the revelations from Andre had left Emilia feeling. It was a slowly all-consuming tidal wave of panic. Because anything could happen to any of them. Anything could happen to Sage. Sage.

She still couldn’t find him in the ballroom, in her increasingly unsteady searching through the crowd. Fear never made her steady to begin with, and the threatening vice of her own anxiousness was having to contend with the lingering effects of her drinking earlier in the evening. It left her clumsy, stumbling into some people rather than just brushing past. And the narrowing of her vision didn’t help.

She was descending into shambles, and was achingly aware of Enzo looming nearby, likely struggling to get to her just yet through the disgruntled party guests she’d left in her wake.

It was impossible to hear anything, to smell anything clearly. And Emi damned the part of her that ever let Sage out of her sight… but how could she have known?

But then the crash of the caving in stairs made her freeze, her head whipping towards the unfolding scene nearby. She scented the air, vampire blood… Sage’s blood. And someone who seemed to contend with his strength. And that awoke another fear in her entirely. That could only mean that it was beginning, that this was not happening by chance.

Emi ripped through the stunned crowd, throwing people to either side of her as she ran as fast as her stumbling feet could allow. Damned be reason, she would die for Sage if she had to. And that didn’t require even a second thought.

She could hear Enzo shouting just behind her as she reached the rubble of the collapsed staircase, could feel his hand on her shoulder. But he didn’t grab her to hold her back, simply pushing her behind him as he jumped on the offending vampire attacking Sage. Even as she stumbled at the interference, Emi regained her footing quickly, steeling herself as she charged forward into the fray, wrapping her arms around Sage’s abdomen and pulling him against her.

A memory...

Eventually the effects of all the alcohol Sage consumed started to fade. He left the upstairs bedroom he'd barricaded himself into to sleep it off. His intent was to to head back down the spiralling staircase when he noticed a man standing in his way. As he slowed to a stop he couldn't help but notice he looked awfully familiar. He just couldn't place him.

"Don't you look well and cared for." The man mused, in a falsely pleasant tone. He remained in place though, didn't move closer or further. Just stood there, assessing Sage with cold dark eyes.

It felt invasive and wrong to Sage. But he didn't know why. "Pardon?"

"Oh..." He laughed a bit. "You won't be pardoned. Not this time. You've posed quite a problem for our Master. He's very cross with you."

Sage opened his mouth to reply when a spike of cold jolted through him. It had been so unexpected he gasped nearly losing his footing. Master...Andre? No. Not Andre.

"Did you see him?" At the sound of the voice, Sage's head snapped up and they were face to face. "In your dream?"

"Do you know him?" Then the stranger was on his right.

"He knows you." Then at his left.

He moved so fast Sage could barely keep up with him. When he appeared behind him he said. "He knows you intimately."

Then back in front of him again. "You belong to him."

"Who are you?" Sage demanded, but he just disappeared into the air and started to disappear and reappear again. His voice a haunting melody. A melody that Sage was starting to remember. It played in his head. Climbing up into his throat. The cold spreading further into his limbs, making them stiff and heavy. Like invisible chains wrapping around them and pulling him down.

"You've always belonged to him." The voice whispered, so close now it could have been inside him.

Sage jerked to the side, but the other man was there waiting for him.

"Can't you feel it?" The man whispered. "Can't you hear him calling you?"

Letting out a strangled cry, Sage turned away. His eyes were fading in and out and he could barely see. At first he thought he was going to pass out. But it wasn't that.

Then, the voice changed. "Sage." It said. "Open your eyes."

Sage had heard that voice before. But he didn't know where. His head was starting to hurt. Vision still blurring. Scrambling back a step, his back hit something hard. Or someone, it seemed.

Two hands grabbed at him, covering his eyes so then it truly was black. "Open your eyes..." The voice repeated, clearer now. "OPEN THEM NOW!" It snarled.

The pain came suddenly. Blinding. Like his head was literally splitting into two pieces. A scream caught in his throat but didn't quite make it out. Flashes of images assaulted his mind. Colors, sounds, all sorts of things. Memories, perhaps? People, things, music. THAT was it. That song. It's eeries melody. Morpheus would play it.

Morpheus...

Sage did scream then. He whirled around, catching Laszlo's wrists and ripping them away from him. "Mutant!" He seethed through gritted teeth.

Laszlo's smile made Sage's blood boil. "Isn't that funny. If I'm the mutant...what does that make you?"

The taunt hung in the air as Sage growled. "Where is he?"

His old partner's eyes rolled up towards the ceiling, then back down to him. "He's everywhere..." He said with a laugh that turned the world cold.

That's when the panic gripped him tightly. If Laszlo was here, that meant... Ripping himself away from the other vampire, Sage made it down a few steps before Laszlo was in front of him.

"Leaving so soon?" He asked, almost put out. "Haven't you missed me?"

Sage cursed at him in French. "Where is he?" He demanded again, he needed to get to Andre. Morpheus was coming. He needed to protect him.

But then there was Laszlo again, in his head. All around him. "That's sweet. You would protect the very hand that poisons you?"

"Stop with your damned riddles!" Sage spat.

All he could see was Laszlo's smile. "My riddles...are your life."

Sage whirled around a third time and nearly fell down the staircase. Would have, if Laszlo hadn't been there to catch him. The hands that restrained him, were not comforting. They were dangerous.

"I'll see you on the other side..." He whispered, something sharp slicing across Sage's cheek.

Sage stood for a moment. Alone. Laszlo was gone. He raised a trembling hand to his face, over his cheek. When he brought his hand back all he could see was red. Bright red. Blood. Bubbling and hot. It suffocated him. Stole his breath and his voice. And then...everything went black."

The staircase shook and then collapsed, falling on the party from above. Two shadows appeared in the dust. There was a moment of silence, then a snarl. And both vampires attacked each other.

#morpheus party fight

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