#Gharan Carlan

[twodragonsinatrenchcoat]

No one’s held their own soul in their hand before you’d have to be fucking crazy to do that who would ever- oh. well would you look at that

[twodragonswrites]

So I guess Obeo told you that Ubeo tried to kill Michael?

Gharan: ....Ubeo did what

/This plot will have to wait until the administrator has their laptop back and functioning. The Administrator wishes to communicate this part through drawings.

[twodragonsinatrenchcoat]

People to become immortal and rule the universe with.

The promised redesigns of some old characters of mine >:D

Gharan Carlan(Left) mainly got just a little update to her look, no changed colors or anything. Oswald Matthias(Right) got a full makeover :D

Old art and some character profiles for you below the cut <3

Name: Gharan Carlan Age: Roughly 300 years old Species: Human(?) Information: A human essence weaver who’s taken and pushed the skill to its absolute limits and further beyond that. Could probably rewrite the laws of the universe if she wanted to and who’s saying she hasn’t already? Has a generally cold aura and any display of emotion positive or otherwise is rare for her and doesn’t really believe in the sanctity of human life, most people are just tools to her. Loves Oswald, would kill anyone for him and he would do the same for her.

Name: Oswald Matthias Age: Around 1500 years old Species: Alien (Ishotaran) Information: The Ishotaran race is a race of conquerors, for Ishotaran royalty, it’s almost a right of passage to conquer a planet and convert it to Ishotaran values. Oswald was sent to Earth for this reason and decided he liked Earth as it is, but is still ruling over it, separate from his family’s empire. Hasn’t contacted his family since he got here and doesn’t plan to until he can take a ship to his home planet and take the throne of the ishotaran empire by force. Is head over heels in love with Gharan, and has been married to her for 100 years. Would(and could) destroy planets for her. Has a lot of different powerful abilities thanks to his heritage but i’m not gonna cover that here lol.

Old art time :D

Oswald:

Gharan:

Anyways that’s it lol. Ask questions about them if you like :D

[twodragonsinatrenchcoat]

mayhaps a Gharan? :0 big fan of her HJGKHLJ;

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes-

Something something:

Gharan: I ruined my manicure >:( Someone: Orio is choking a former test subject and cussing the new shapeshifter out Gharan: This isn't about them.

The blank figures are stand-ins for lab assistants/other goop bois and I'd love to render this someday tbh

[twodragonsinatrenchcoat]

Does "human essence weaver" just mean that Gharan is human and weaves essence or does she exclusively weave human essence? What is essence? Can i eat it or does it taste bad?

The first one! And a little of the second >:)

And as for what essences are- Allow me to launch into my world's 'magic' system that I am ever so fond of <3 (I feel I should clarify that for the next section I'm speaking in a sort of in universe sense dsfjdklf;)

Essences are essentially what everything in the world around us is made of. The average person can't see them, but they passively move and change constantly as people go about their daily lives. (So yes you can eat it, and technically you're always eating them. Because everything's made of them, though I don't imagine a concentrated knot of extracted essences would taste like much of anything depending on the essence)

"Essence weavers" are people who can see and actively and physically manipulate essences. They're called weavers because when they use their "Sight" to see essences, they usually appear as strands with different colors weaving in and making up everything.

(^ The above is not necessarily an accurate depiction, just an approximation)

There are many different types of strands in everything, though they can largely be split up into different elements like Earth, Water, Fire and Air, though there are a few types that stand out on their own for specific reasons. (Soul, Mana and Void are two big important ones. Void strands are exceptionally dangerous strands woven from literal nothing. Mana Strands are what allow non-weavers to manipulate essences through verbal incantations.)

All living things have a Soul strand within them. (Except for Gharan's shapeshifters but that's a whole other can of worms)

It's usually intertwined very tightly with everything else in its form, and removing it un-alives people very easily. Though only really competent weavers can do that easily.

...

ahem

All types of strands can be directly pulled from a source. Some sources are simple and you might only get one type of essence from them, others are more complex and you might get many different types of strands. Once pulled into the physical realm, they can be stored very easily and safely in glass, as for whatever reason, glass doesn't allow the essences to escape.

Anyways yea. Long story short, essences are basically everything. Some people can manipulate them verbally to cast spells and shit. And being able to weave them effectively can even allow someone to create and destroy life very easily

feel free to ask any questions if you need clarification! I'll admit, some of the details of this are very muddy sdfjkl;sd

[twodragonsinatrenchcoat]

I would lik e ,,,,,,,,,, to see Gharan again,,,,,,,,,,

Kind of a wack look to have while making a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich but I won't judge.

[twodragonswrites]

So how did Oswald get you to work for him?

Gharan: An incredible amount of persistence...As well as a very large offer of both Money and my current lab. He provides everything I need to do my work, and in return I do... "Things" as he would refer to it.

[twodragonswrites]

Gharan, what do you like to do when you're not doing any experiments?

Gharan: ...do more work.

[twodragonswrites]

3.1

Third story centers on Izora Carlan, Gharan’s niece. As well as one of Gharan’s experiments, Faro.

Enjoy <3

In the main city, Essence Weaving is largely unheard of aside from a few small instances And very few have seen it done in person. Izora Carlan-, a close personal assistant and niece of Gharan Carlan- The Royal Essence Weaver- had seen it done many times. But she didn’t like how her Aunt utilized her abilities.

The way Gharan uses essences is- by Izora’s count- one of the scariest ways for essences to be utilized, and Gharan’s lab is one of the scariest places Izora has to visit each day. Bottles on shelves, though they appear empty to most, to those from outside the city with weaving in their blood, they’re filled with strands of a variety of colors wound tight into glowing orbs. There are a few on Gharan’s desk beneath the shelves that contain the pale blue strands of souls. To the south of the room are cages, the size of them varies, but the largest scares Izora the most because there’s always some sort of shadow lurking in the background of it. Izora shivers a bit and turns her gaze from it.

In a few of the smaller cages are a variety of creatures, some halfway through the transition Gharan’s put them through, others completely done and ready to be taken care of. Whether they’re sold off, or destroyed for their raw resources. Izora checks a few of the notes left on the digital clip boards outside the cages, and grimaces upon seeing a flatline where the human- no, the creature’s heartbeat should be. She marks them for disposal and continues on to the next. Checking their vitals and their progress.

The sharp click of heels on the stone floor breaks her concentration and she turns and gives a small bow of respect.

“Izora, you’re here early.” Gharan Carlan;probably the scariest and most powerful woman on Earth, yawns and dons her lab coat. “So, how are our little beasties this morning?”

“Subject F-I18 seems to have stopped responding. They’ve flatlined.”

“Ah what a shame… Guess we’ll just have to move on.” Gharan continues to her desk, pulling out her binder full of notes and leaving Izora standing in front of the cages a tad bit shocked. It’s silent, before Gharan speaks up again.

“I’m not hearing any dragging.”

“I’m sorry?” Izora’s eyes widen a bit. Gharan scoffs and turns around in her chair.

“You’re almost as bad as your father- Do you see anyone else in here to take care of the corpse Izora? Take it out and get rid of it.”

“But can’t we-”

“The essences within that creature are thoroughly disrupted. We’re not going to be able to salvage anything. Just get rid of it before it stinks up the place.” She waves her hand and turns back around to her desk. Izora frowns and sets her notes down on an available surface and opens up the cage.

Wearing a cloak to hide her face, she drags the body out of the lab and down the halls of the basement prisons. She reaches the door to the outside and is greeted by the salty air outside. It’s cloudy, and the waves are crashing against the rocks below the manor. Izora sighs and maneuvers the body to the edge. Its inhuman features put her off a bit.

“Just get it over with…” She mumbles to herself and starts to push the body over the edge.

And then the thing grabs her ankle.

[twodragonswrites]

2.4

Enjoy <3

The main city is one of the few places that the people on Earth live in relative peace, so it’s become one of the busiest places as well. And by extension it’s audibly and visually noisy. Advertisements and signs on the side of buildings bring lights and sounds. In what’s generally known as “The Hub” of the city, a large screen sits on the side of the building belonging to the local news station, playing news and reports from all over the world. It’s not uncommon to see a few advertisements on it either. It’s here today that Orio has business. His car rolls up in front of the building, and he gets out. He is quickly spotted by fans and surrounded.

“Excuse me- I have to get through, sorry I’m running a tad bit late,” He does his best to squeeze past and escape into the building.

The inside is much quieter. The sounds of people answering phonecalls and conducting interviews can be heard. Orio lets out a brief relieved sigh before walking up to the front desk.

“Excuse me miss?” He addresses the secretary at the front desk in his kindest voice. She turns and smiles up at him, her name tag reads “Cherry”, a pretty accurate name as she has bright red hair that goes down her back.

“Oh Orio! You must be here to finally lets us interview you, huh?”

“Ah..No. I’m afraid I have other business. I need to speak with your boss...Or whoever it is that manages the reporter Miss Kira Errent?”

“Hmm…” She turns to her computer screen, quickly typing to look up some info before stopping. “Wait, you mean the intern?”

“...Intern? She’s an intern?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah she gets us coffee and does the Fluffy Friday reports. She’s currently on a paid internship with us to help with college- Wait why do you need to speak to her manager? What did she do?”

“She broke into my office...Several times. To try and get an interview with me.” There’s a clatter of some kind of tray on the ground that grabs their attention. There stands Kira, blonde hair pulled back in a pony tail, wearing her glasses, having just dropped a tray of coffee. Her face is beet red.

“Ah, Kira. We meet again. I would say it’s nice to see you but I did throw a broom to try and get you out of my home.”

“Mr. Orio I..Um…” She stutters, only just realizing that she had dropped what she had been carrying and starts to scoop up the tray and now empty cups, the coffee staining the carpet.

“Kira is that true?” They’ve drawn the attention of some of the other people in the room.

“Well uh…” She tosses the cups and tray. “I…” She scratches the back of her head and promptly runs out of the lobby, absconding to some other part of the building. Orio is surprised to say the least. He hadn’t been expecting that of all things.

“Well...I can definitely get you a meeting with her super or..send her a message or something. If you want me to, that is.” Orio holds up a hand and turns back to her.

“No no, I...I think that’s alright. Just..Forget this whole thing.”

“Are you sure?” Cherry raises an eyebrow. Orio chuckles a bit, turning to leave.

“I’ve had a pretty odd week. A nosy reporter..er- intern. Is the least of my troubles. Take care, Cherry.” He gives a small wave as he turns to exit the building.

“A-alright. See you, Orio.”

The ride back home is short, Orio makes his way back to his office swiftly, itching to get back to work and write down some of this new information. It’s not long before one of his cats interrupts him.

“Hm? Oh, I should get something to eat, huh.” The cat mrrps at him and gestures towards the front door.

“Huh?” He raises an eyebrow and looks that way, there’s a knock soon after. He gets the door.

Kira is on the other side of it, head tilted down, mouth pursed like she’s eaten a lemon. She’s still very red in the face and it looks like she’s been crying a bit.

“Oh, Miss Kira Errent. I almost didn’t recognize you because you knocked.” He smirks, but rather quickly realizes that humor is probably not the best for this situation. “Um...What’s up?”

“...I...Came to apologize. My actions these past few weeks haven’t been… Good.”

“...You’re fine. It’s not a big deal-”

“Well it was a big enough deal for you to embarrass me at work!” She very quickly chips her head upwards, staring him in the eyes. Orio takes a small step back.

“Eh-Embarass you? You broke into my house! You’re lucky I didn’t call the police on you!”

She bites her lip, looking away. “Maybe but you still...I could’ve lost my job.”

“Then why did you risk it if it’s so important to you?”

“...I want to be a reporter, an actual reporter. I thought...that if I was able to do something my boss hasn’t been able to do...that maybe I could speed up my progress in this line of work. I wanted-”

“Say no more. You’ve got ambitions...And while I don’t agree with breaking into my house...I can put in a good word for you...Do you have your questions ready?” He gives her a small smile and holds out his hand. She looks up at him, mouth agape, and then smiles, taking his hand.

“I always do!”

“Come on in then, Kira Errent.”

------

"So, my least favorite creation made himself human and you came to whine to me about it." Gharan looks up from her current project, a hellhound-like beast that needed a healthy amount of heat that was being supplied by the candles in the room. Izora stands to the side taking notes as per usual when Ubeo is here. The other assistants mill about, but it's not like Ubeo or Gharan ever paid the more expendable ones any mind.

"...I figured you would want to know." 

"The moment he left my grasp I stopped caring, Ubeo. I only look forwards, you know that."

"Even with the success he's had outside of your hands? Even with him betraying his purpose-"

"I see no evidence as to any betrayal. In fact, I think he made the right decision. You're the one who keeps holding onto the past, Ubeo. You may have my dna but you are the least similar to me of any of my creations. At least Orio has some drive to do something with himself. You're just static." The words hung in the room. Ubeo tightens his fists. If he were talking to anyone else they'd be dead for such words.

"I was not made to change, mother. I was made to serve you. And after your decision, him too eventually."

"So what? Things change all the time. You know I could make hundreds more just like you. Your little siblings are waiting patiently in their suspension. It would be easy to just pull one of them and set you to incubate for a few thousand years until you become less...clingy."

"...Clingy."

"Yes clingy. You hold onto things too hard. Your heart- if you had one- is too soft Ubeo." She waves her hand dismissively. Ubeo's cue to leave but he continues standing through the silence.

"Why don't you care." Gharan doesn't look up from her work.

"We were cast from the same pot. We're essentially the same." Gharan just sighs softly, continuing to ignore him. Izora and a few of the other assistants shuffle their feet.

"If I had done something similar you would have dismantled me on the spot. Why does he get special treatment?" Again, silence.

"Why?" Gharan sighs again and looks up.

"Because you're simply unremarkable Ubeo. You may both have come from the same pot and have the same programming, but Orio broke free of that and went beyond what I could ever dream to teach him. You are not the same. You are in fact, two different things entirely, he is exceptional and he got away from me, you are disposable and I'm tempted to dismantle you right now if you don't shut the hell up and let me work." A display of rage like this from the Royal Essence Weaver, was uncommon. A certain icy chill fell over the room and the candles are extinguished. Ubeo bites back any further comments or emotions and lowers his head.

"Now leave, before I do something you'll regret." Gharan waves her hand once more and returns to her work.

"Of course, mother. As you wish."

[twodragonswrites]

1.8

A Bit of Gharan and Michael bonding, Enjoy <3

With Oswald out of the house due to having a few meetings to attend in the city, Michael was feeling just a tad bit lonely. It wasn’t one of his tutoring days so he can’t go bother his etiquette tutor.

But he did have another option. And even though the thought terrified him and he could easily stay in his room and watch internet memes all day, he felt he should go visit Gharan. And maybe just maybe to try and get to know the scary woman.

Luckily for Michael- Today is a slow day down in the lab due to Izora visiting her father, and the overall lack of test subjects. Gharan is sitting at her desk, organizing her notes when Michael knocks on the doorframe.

“Uh...Knock knock?” She looks at him over her shoulder and he can almost see surprise in her eyes.

“What. Are you doing here?” Gharan begins to stand and Michael puts up his hands taking a step back.

“Oh-Sorry are you busy? I didn’t mean to disturb you-”

“That’s not what I asked.” She’s standing tall now, arms crossed and Michael can feel her scary aura wafting off of her.

“Um,” He straightens up, dropping his hands to his sides, “I just wanted to...visit you?”

“I find that highly unlikely.” She waves a hand, turning her head to the side but keeping her eyes on him.

“Well it’s true. I...Don’t have any tutoring today...Oswald’s gone…”

“...So I was your third choice. I see.” She frowns and then waves a hand at him, returning to her chair. “Whatever, do what you want.”

“So we can...Hang out?” She doesn’t respond. Continuing to sort through her notes. Michael gives a small sigh. “I’ll...Take that as a yes.” So he moves into the room and hops up onto the examination table, sitting and taking out his phone, playing some games. He keeps the sound off, not wanting to bug Gharan. They stay like this for hours, quiet and eventually, Gharan speaks up.

“You know, it’s getting later in the afternoon, you should get some lunch.”

“Huh?” Michael looks up, and then checks the time. “Oh, yeah, I guess so…” He hops down from the table. “Are you going to get anything to eat?”

“I will around dinner time.”

“...You sure you’re not hungry?”

“I’m a grown woman, I can handle my own eating habits, Michael. You meanwhile, are a 17 year old boy who grew up in a wildly unstable household. You’re still growing- probably.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gharan- of all things- lets out a small genuine laugh.

“I think you know what it means Michael.”

“Maybe? I don’t know. Whatever, I’m gonna go- Oh yeah- Do you mind if I come back tomorrow?”

“What?” From the sound of her voice, he surprised her. “Why in the world would you want to spend an afternoon in this dreary place?”

“I dunno. It was nice hanging out with you, even if we didn’t do anything. You didn’t try to kill me at least so that’s nice.”

“...That’s a pretty low bar to set Michael. But...Alright. If you wish to return tomorrow after your studies, you may.” Michael smiles, and turns. Gharan shakes her head as she hears Michael’s footsteps disappear. She almost smiles.

Michael continued to spend time in the lab when Gharan allowed him to for the rest of that week while Oswald was gone. They would talk from time to time, or Gharan might show him some essence magic. It was enjoyable for the both of them- and on the final day as Michael packs up his homework.

“So, I assume since Oswald’s returning from his business trip that our little ‘hangouts’ will cease?” Gharan asks. She’s watching him directly, not distracted by her work like she would normally be.

“Uhh...Well..Maybe not every day. But I’d still like to visit if that’s alright with you.” He smiles at her. She kind of smirks back.

“Well. Yes. It is. I wouldn’t have let you visit this week if I didn’t. Your company is….Bearable. At the least.” She looks away and Michael laughs a bit under his breath, he knows that that’s probably the highest praise he’s ever going to get from her at this point.

“Well then I’ll see you later, Gharan. I’m sure I’ll be back soon, I find you bearable too.” He hoists the small bag he brought with him onto his shoulder and heads for the door. Gharan can’t help but smile once he’s out of her view and sits at her desk.

“I see why Oswald likes that boy. He truly is like a ray of the sun.”

[twodragonswrites]

1.7

This one was actually posted for Halloween, which is also coincidentally Michael’s birthday. :)

Enjoy <3

“I never took you as the type to have children, Oswald.” The voice was surprising. Oswald hadn’t heard it in a long time, he jumps slightly, before turning to face the source. And there’s Orio, in a suit split black and white down the center and a black and white mask covering his face.

“And I never thought you’d come to one of my parties again.”

“Well, masquerades are one of the few functions I can attend without getting mobbed.”

“Ah right, you are quite popular nowadays aren’t you. Seems just yesterday your company was a startup.”

“Hm. True. I guess I do have you to thank.” Oswald turns and gives him a little grin.

“Is that so?”

“Perhaps.” Orio pointedly looks away from him and takes a sip of his drink. Oswald is a little irked to say the least but decides to brush it off.

“So...You’ve heard about Michael then?”

“Who hasn’t? He’s the talk of the city.” Oswald follows Orio’s gaze to Michael across the ballroom, laughing and talking to some other nobles his age. Michael himself wasn’t wearing a mask tonight. It was his birthday after all and his retainers had told him that his face should be seen tonight.

“He is...This isn’t the party he wanted exactly, my advisor said a costume ball might get out of hand. But he still deserved a proper celebration. He’s been working hard with his tutors.”

“Tutors? You’re raising him like a prince this late into his teens?” Orio raises an eyebrow.

“He deserves the best-”

“Are you forcing him to do this? Considering his background I wouldn’t be-”

“Of course not!” Oswald turns quickly to face Orio. “He chose to do it himself, I only offered this to him. He…” Oswald turns back to look at Michael, who’s still having a good time as far as Oswald can tell. He sighs. “I can’t be sure that he’s not going along with it out of some internal obligation, but I’m hoping he’s doing it because he wants to, not because he feels he has to.”

“....Ah. I see.” Orio looks to the right. “Well, I’ll take your word for it. He definitely looks happy.”

“Yeah...I want to do this right you know?" Oswald is pretty obviously anxious.

Orio takes a sip of his drink and shakes his head. He puts a hand on Oswald’s shoulder, attempting to calm him. “Oswald it’s gonna be alright. In terms of parenting...well, everyone knows already that he comes from a bad place. You can't do much worse than them.” He takes another sip and narrows his eyes, looking up at someone on one of the rafters what looks like some kind of silenced weapon pointed straight at Michael. He sets his drink down. “One moment.” And he leaps away from Oswald, practically flying up to deal with the aggressor. He doesn’t come back to Oswald straight away after taking care of the matter, instead dragging them off somewhere. Oswald sighs and shakes his head.

"Easy for you to say...You're not the one who actually has to do this." He sighs and sits down in a chair. "I just hope I'm doing this right…"

Meanwhile, in the hallway...

"Alright, who are you and what are you doing pointing a gun at Michael?" Orio pins the assassin he had caught moments ago up against the wall. He sneers at them, they merely stare back with a cold glare.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Of course I am. I'm just wondering why you would protect the Royal family."

"I owe Oswald my life, and more than that too. Now who. Are you." The assailant smirks and pulls down their mask. Her eyes are blue, and her hair is a nice brown. They remind Orio of Michael in a way.

"The traitor in there is my brother. And I'll have you know, I'm not the only one here tonight."

"What? There are more of you?"

"Of course there is. We Bayards run together." She suddenly swings forwards and headbutts him in the jaw, he's surprised and kind of staggers back, when he looks back up she's gone, taking off down the hall. He swears under his breath and takes off after her, he shouts something to the guards nearby about there being someone after Michael in the ballroom, but his mind is a blur right now.

The assailant reaches a window and jumps and crashes out of it. By the time Orio reaches the window and tries to spot her, she's gone. He slams his fist against the window sill and turns away as a cool autumn breeze blows in. He rubs his jaw and walks back towards the ballroom, in time to see the guards ushering Michael and Oswald out of the ballroom, guests inside not quite understanding what's happening. He swears he sees the assailant again somewhere in the crowd but he can't spot them again so he sighs and turns away.

"Well...that's a tragedy dodged tonight…"

"I didn't take you to be the kind to be worried about an assassination attempt on someone close to Oswald." The familiar voice rings in his ears and he turns to see Gharan. She's removed whatever mask she was wearing tonight and is smirking at him.

Orio removes his own and frowns.

"That was a long time ago."

"Of course. But scars still remain. Literally and figuratively. Whatever, enjoy the rest of your evening, Orio." She waves a hand at him and leaves before he can say much else. He swears to himself once more, and leaves the Matthias House.

Inside, Oswald and Michael are talking in Michael's room.

"So, did you have fun tonight?" Oswald leans against the wall near the door. Michael is sitting on the bed, working on undoing his tie.

"Mm, yeah I think so. Up until there was apparently a threat on my life."

"Yeah...that can be a bit of a downer."

"Yeah. But at least I met some new people. I can officially say I have 3 more friends." He smiles, Oswald smiles in turn.

"Yeah, friends are always a good thing, I'm glad you had fun." Silence falls between them. Both have something more they want to say, but it's not easy to vocalize it.

"Sleep well, Michael." Oswald finally says, "In the morning we can see about getting your gifts opened." He turns and starts to leave.

"Hey um...Dad?" Oswald stops and turns back to face Michael again, mouth agape. Michael's face is full of hope and anticipation, like he's waiting to see if Oswald's okay with him calling him that.

Oswald kind of smiles, the shock wearing off.

"Yeah, Michael?" Michael beams.

"Nothing I just...Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

[twodragonswrites]

1.5

Enjoy <3

Early mornings were nothing new to Michael at this point. Since coming to live officially in the Matthias House a month ago he had started getting up early to wander the house. He had gotten rather familiar with the layout by proxy.

This Early morning however, was different. Something stale hung in the air and he didn't like the feel of the house. It wasn't long before he found the cause. The Lady Gharan Carlan- Royal Scientist- was not in her basement lab where she and Michael had exchanged glances when he was captured. Instead, she was up in the main house- waiting outside Oswald's bedroom door.

She looks up and Michael stops in place. He feels a very literal chill go down his spine. The menacing and powerful aura she emits is something that everyone in the vicinity could feel, but Michael felt that if he backed away then that would ruin whatever little respect someone like her could have for him, so he stands his ground, leaning against the wall opposite to her and looking off to the side, but definitely keeping his eyes on her.

She remains emotionless and looks back down at the device she had been fiddling with prior. It looks like some kind of power box, but he really can't be sure because computers and technology aren't really his thing. Gharan continues to pay him no mind, or so he thinks before startling him with her speech.

"I imagine you have no purpose for being here besides staring at me. Did your mother not teach you to not stare? Or do you want me to move so you can interrupt perhaps the longest rest Oswald's had in his thousands of years since coming to power on this planet? Because I won't stop you, but it would be a mistake to rouse him." He didn't realize that she was addressing him at first, and barely has a moment to register what she said before responding.

"You...Um...you…"

She smirks, breathing out sharply as if she finds his stumbling amusing. "Well it's nice to know you're not a ghost. We've had some trouble with those here lately. And seeing you behind bars the other day...Well I had my suspicions."

"...You thought I was…"

"Orville. Yes. It's quite scary. Seeing someone you've killed before well...Alive." Her intonation definitely didn't capture that she had found his appearance disturbing or frightening at all.

"I-"

"Hey what's going on out here?" Oswald comes out of his room, rubbing his eyes under his glasses and then fixing them. He doesn't have his robot arm on, which is unusual, but otherwise he’s normal Oswald.

"Oh did we wake you Oswald? I'm terribly sorry." Again, no intonation from the mad scientist.

"Mmf, what time is it...also where's my arm."

"You sent it to maintenance late last night. I have the core right here. The shell should be up in an hour."

"Ah..thank you…" He yawns and leans on the doorway."So why are you here Michael? Keeping Grumpy Gharan company?"

"What? No I'm uh…" Michael's face reddens. He doesn't want to outright say that he had been sticking around to just watch Gharan because but he didn't have any excuses prepared.

"Oh he was waiting for you. You two have activities planned for today right? It's Thursday after all." Oswald's face flattens for a minute as if he's processing the info Gharan just gave him and then he smiles, perking up immediately.

"Oh yeah! I knew I was forgetting something. Let me get myself ready Michael and I'll meet you at the launch deck in an hour once I have my arm back. I have something absolutely amazing to show you today." He grins and turns around back into the room, closing the door. Michael lets out a sigh of relief. He rubs his arm.

"That was...stressful.." he mutters, and then looks at Gharan rather directly as she's finished messing with the core of Oswald's arm and pockets it. "How did you know Oswald and I were going to do stuff today?"

"Hm? Oh. Well, I know most people's daily schedules." She looks directly at his eyes and Michael's heart stops, they’re this soft yellow, but her stare just pierces his soul.

"...so you know…?"

"Everything about your schedule here at the castle and how you skip most of the lessons Oswald provides for you to go slack off elsewhere? Yes. It's rather ungrateful of you." Michael's face flushes and he looks down. He hadn't realized that someone was actually keeping tabs on him, he figured he had free reign. But he still felt his rage build slightly at her calling him out. He wasn't ungrateful, he just...didn't think it was important.

"I can't believe you're practically a prince in Oswald's eyes and you don't take that role seriously."

"A...prince?"

“Don’t think too much about it. Just know that if he asks me to- I will force you to play along.” She pushes off the wall, all the more threatening standing on her own and leaves down the hall with a final glance back at him. Michael looks down at his hands and sighs, continuing on his own walk. 

Maybe it was time he actually looked at his schedule.

[twodragonswrites]

3.3

Enjoy <3

Weeks went by of Izora keeping Faro a secret. Activities in the Matthias House continued as usual...and then Michael showed up.

She had heard about his encounter with Oswald, how he tried to kill him. But Oswald didn't finish his assailant off for whatever reason. Izora met Michael on her way to the lab one day. She was carrying her notes from the previous day and a few small devices to show Gharan.

"Ah! Oh, excuse me excuse me..” She scrambles to pick up her scattered items, the other is stunned for a second, but quickly rushes to help her.

    “No really I should be sorry,” He laughs slightly before handing their items back. “I ran into you. I’m uh…” Their eyes meet, and Izora's eyes run over Michael. She had imagined he had red hair, she of course had heard the attacks his predecessors made and what they looked like. But it was different seeing him and his blue eyes in person. There was something hurting behind those eyes. The coat he wore didn't fit him at all. It sort of hung over his frame. She suddenly realizes that this staring has gone on long enough.

    “Ah…?” She raises an eyebrow, leaning slightly back away from him.

    “Michael. My name is Michael.” He smiles, holding out a hand. She shakes her head in return.

    “Sorry, I’m..not really one for handshakes. Michael, hm? You’re the one they captured the other day, right? Nice to meet you, I’m Izora, but people usually just call me Izzy. I wish I could give you a better introduction but I really must be going. I’m needed downstairs. Goodbye.” And she continues past him quickly.

    “Yeah uh..nice to meet you too.” she hears him mumble as she leaves him behind. She shakes her head.

"Let's hope he doesn't throw a wrench in things for me. I can't let Faro get hurt because I'm distracted…" She descends the stairs to the prisons and the lab and after placing the devices at Gharan's desk and gets to her daily tasks, letting herself disappear into her work and forget the problems that are going on upstairs.

Faro meanwhile is still living in Izora's room, and having been here for weeks, he was beginning to get bored. And the less...human instincts in his brain that had been brought in by Gharan messing with his head were starting to shine through. Especially when Izora was gone.

He opens up a window, hoping to clear his head, because it'll be hours until Izora is back and he needs to keep himself sane. He sighs and leans on the sill, thoughts buzzing with information he can't quite decipher. 

He doesn't notice when someone suddenly appears in front of him.

"Ah, one of my sister's projects. What a sight you are." Faro jumps back, his heart skipping a beat and he falls to the ground. The person comes to rest in the window. They're an elf, and they look similar to Gharan with their yellow eyes. But their hair is dark, almost black, they smile down at Faro.

"No need to be alarmed, I'm not going to harm you. My name is Alister. The woman who did...that," He gestures to all of Faro, "To you. Is my sister."

"...Can you fix me?"

"Well...no. my sister puts locks on her creations. No one else can mess with them."

"...ah. well that's a shame."

"I do have a question. What're you doing in my Daughter's room?"

Faro blanks.

"...Your...Daughter?"

"Izora. Izora Carlan. My daughter."

"Izora...is your daughter."

"...yes."

"....Your daughter.."

"...I'm considering taking back my promise not to harm you."

"Ah, sorry it's just...You don't look much alike."

"She takes after her grandmother and her mother really. But still. It's not that hard to think about. Or is the void essence affecting your brain? Oh wait, it probably is. That stuff rots everything if the proper precautions aren't taken."

"Void essence?"

"We're not doing that again. Yes, void essence. The stuff that makes quite a bit of your being. You can't see it, I and others like me can. I'm not going to explain any more than that. Now. I actually have business to discuss with Izora, but I imagine you can take a message."

"...I'm not her secretary but okay."

"Good. I need Izora to come home. Our family has a rather urgent meeting with the Eastern kingdom, and as my second oldest daughter, they've requested her presence during the meeting."

"Wait...What about me?"

"You? Well...I suppose you could come along. It would definitely be safer for you at our estate but honestly with the hounds roaming the forest you wouldn't be able to get out much."

"Anything is better than being trapped in this room under the constant threat of being found out and killed." Alister shrugs.

"Alright. You're welcome to come with then. Just deliver my message to her. We'll gladly have you at the Carlan estate. Goodbye." And he warps out of vision, seemingly back to wherever he came from. Faro sighs and rolls forwards to sit cross-legged. He rubs his still human arm and continues his wait for Izora.