Yoon's human ears perked curiously when Mason said he knew how much she despised vegetables. And when he brought up her plate, her shoulders sunk with guilt and she released a small, embarrassed chuckle. "....I-I try to scatter it evenly o-on my plate s-so it looks like I a-ate some..." She admitted. There were only a few times she was able to escape from eating vegetables before her mother would scold her and sit on a chair near her until she finished every last one on her plate. "B-But I-I like potatoes... th-they're so versatile..." She slowly was coming out of her shell the more of a chance she got to talk about food, especially her favorite ones. "...th-there's French fries... w-waffle French fries... a-and potato chips... or hashbrowns... a-and baked potatoes... or those potatoes th-they cut into tiny fancy squares and roast them." She licked her lips at the thought, remembering she had yet to eat any breakfast. But it was when Mason mentioned a big burger that her full attention went to him, even going as far as making eye contact to listen to his description attentively. Considering cheeseburgers were her second favorite food, she was intrigued. She hadn't had a burger in so long. In fact, she hadn't eaten out in so long either. She missed working at the mall because with every break she took, she was able to explore the food court and its many options. "...I-I like... I-I like cheeseburgers." She brought up shyly, her knees still pressed against her chest. "Th-they're good... a-and they have vegetables in them, too." However, she remembered her mom told her those didn't count when it was loaded with mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.

“That is true. A good burger needs a good amount of lettuce and tomatoes for it to be a complete burger” Mason added inquisitively. He was honestly amazed at Yoons desire for food, especially with her height and how Kyung had tried her best to slim her down with all of the training that she had planned and while it worked to an extent, perhaps cause of the many times Yoon would ditch training, it looked to only make her look less round then when they first met. But Mason never dared to mention her weight. Instead he nodded his head at how much Yoon knew about food and asked, “Have you ever tried cooking before? You sound like you have a real talent for types of food. Perhaps you could try doing something there to help focus. Perhaps try making all sorts of crazy stuff that would really blow your mind with flavor and skill”

Yoon shook her head at Mason's comment. She was embarrassed to admit what she said next, which was pretty ironic. "...I-I don't really like cooking... I-I just like the part after that... you know, the eating part." She knew how to cook the basics, along with some of her mother's recipes on certain Korean foods. But she was heavily reliant on pre-packaged meals, frozen food, and her favorite: ramen. It was so easy to boil water and let the soup cook. She would throw in her own twist with green onions, and egg, and sometimes frozen dumplings. "C-Cooking takes too long... And e-eating takes so little... And then doing the dishes a-after that takes even l-longer." Yoon giggled. But her giggle turned to a reminiscing sigh as she remembered her encounter with Clark, which was the one time doing dishes didn't seem so boring. "I like... I like my m-mom's cooking." She brought up. "D-Do you like Korean food?" All the tenants of the mansion had extensive knowledge of Korean food considering it was served almost every day.

“I guess I gotta, don’t I?” Mason said with a bit of humor that he tried not to make as obvious by laughing awkwardly. But he would give an honest answer immediately after, “I think the Korean food your mom makes is pretty good. But life is all about new experiences and food is all that with the experiences. You can have Mexican food one day, Italian, Japanese. Like let’s take noodles for example. Sure, a Korean beef bowl is delicious. But some times you may want spaghetti, or mei fun, or even just simple Mac and cheese. Koreans good but food is the easiest way to experience so much life has to offer. I think your foodie skills are commendable in a way. You keep it simple. Nothing too complicated. I can see why things outside of that simple style can get to you. And I mean simple in a good way” he felt he had to defend. “Simples a bit plain. I guess what I mean is… you’re an easy person to relate to, Yoon. It’s really nice to know that someone like you can have their own B.S. like the rest of us. Makes us feel less like we’re just a bunch of crazy lunatics and that everyone, even just normal people like you, deals with crap. Maybe it’s some bad days, or some depression. And other times… magic shit. So I guess what I’m saying is… well… your pretty cool how you are”
And as Mason sat there he gave a groan in disappointment, “was that a pun? That was a pun! Ugh! If you wanna kill me now, you have my permission”

Yoon couldn't help but reveal another sweet yet quiet chuckle of hers. "I-I don't want to kill you, d-don't worry." She cleared his joke up. "I-I like your noodles example... There's this Chinese restaurant called Fortune Crackers that I sometimes crave, they h-have really good Mei Fun that I u-used to eat all the time with..." She blinked with a puzzled frown. "With... my m-mom and brother." She reluctantly finished her previous line, but then added on to his point. "B-But you're right, t-the next day I'll be craving fettuccine. A-And then the next day, ramen, s-since I love it so much." She agreed with his analogy. And upon hearing his compliment, her cheeks naturally gained a tinge of pink. She had never been called relatable or cool in a single sentence before. "I-I'm... I'm not a 'cool' expert, but I think you're pretty c-cool too, even if you like carrots..." Yoon said, gaining the courage to release a lame and cliche joke of hers.

Raven was stiff at first when Sammy's arms first wrapped around her from behind, but gradually relaxed against her when she heard voice, giggling briefly as Sammy's breath tickled her ears. Her questions made her smirk, especially the last one. And as she felt her lips brush over her neck, and even further to her shoulder, she let out a soft sigh. Instead of giving an answer though, she raised one of her hands and placed finger to Sammy's kissing lips, bringing them to a halt. She turned her head to look at her.
"Shower," she said simply as she looked back at her with a sly, eerily fangy grin. She pulled away from Sammy's hold and continued on her way. But not before adding just for Sammy, "Don't think about me two much while your in there."

~

Edgar wrapped him arm arm around her and hugged her against himself for the elf's comfort. "You may not have the magic to heal like other elves, but I think you more than make up for it in one way or another. And while it would be great if you could fix my eyes, I think you've done much more than that in the last couple of days for me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though your can't exactly heal in the magic sense, that doesn't mean you haven't done so in other ways." He kissed the top of her head. "And who knows, once I get my sight back, we could crack open a few books together and find something that could help us both."

Galiah smiled with a bit of comfort and joy as she heard the words leave Edgar's mouth. Even if she wasn't a proper elf that could use magic in the intended way, it was nice to hear from someone that she was still doing some worth despite that. She would place another kiss onto Edgar's face and hold onto his hands. "Thank you, Edgar, my beloved."
With a smile, she would finally step into the hot shower, leading Edgar in as well by the hands, making sure he wouldn't trip on the water while doing so.

"Sheesh, never took you for a tease" Sammy said with a bit of a smirk on her face, her hands resting on her hips as she had to keep her hands off Raven after such a move. She shook her head and made her way to her room finally, giving one last glance to Raven as she was heading off down the stairs. She couldn't help but look over her body, amazed at just how much the girl had changed in ways that even surprised Sammy; She also couldn't help but glance down at her legs. "Damn, I can't wait to hit that" she said to herself, giving one last smirk before she would close the door and start to strip herself out of her training clothes and finally make her way for the shower. She would toss her shirt onto the floor, followed by her shorts both being lazily tossed around the room and stepped into the bathroom

"Hey, don't go dissing carrots" Mason said in defense of his favorite vegetable, but he would give a laugh regardless, glad that he was able to help Yoon out in some way as he remained outside. As he would feel the cold around him, he would turn his attention back to Yoon and ask, "Do you feel like you can head back inside now? I think the magic of yours is dying down a little bit"
Mason wasn't sure if it really was dying down or if his body had just gotten numb to the cold and he hadn't noticed, but he was at least hoping that it did in some regard so that he could return inside with Yoon and try to get things worked out.

The click of Raven's door as it closed was all that was needed before she started dancing around like a teenager. What WAS that?! She felt her lips, her face. She could still feel the jitters at her fingertips and at the middle of her forehead, taking in the feeling in whole. She didn't know what it was, but it was like flipping a light switch on, and then BOOM! She had done exactly what she had envisioned. And the look on Sammy's face, it had been gratifying. Not only that, but she could hear it. The magnificent sound that she had only heard in spurts on her best days.

"Ack! Counting on you! Ack! Counting on you!"

Raven came to a stop for a moment to look over at Jeff after the white and yellow, fluffy feathered cockatoo had repeated the phrase that it had been saying for the last couple of weeks. She wasn't sure if it was something that it had picked up from Sammy or heard from one of the others, and it only seemed to say it when she was around. After a little research, she found that they sometimes had small phrases to associate with feeding time, and so that's what she had chalked it up to.
But there was that nagging feeling again that made some of her excitement from the brief thrill with Sammy disappeared. "At least I know someone other than Sammy is," she awkward lol joked with the bird. But she felt like it could understand her in some strange well. There was a strumming song of youth that she could hear coming from bird that had an eery familiarity to it. She walked over to it's cage and opened it, allowing the bird to flutter from its perch and put onto her shoulder. She still thought it was the coolest thing ever.
But as the bird spoke again and she looked over to it with a slightly annoyed glance, their eyes met. And it happened again.

Her brain began to be loaded with images that moved rapidly. Her mind immediately caught up, and it was immediately able to figure out that what she saw were memories and all the emotions that came with them. However during this, there were two things that made themselves clear through the simple instincts of the bird. The first was the fact that she saw herself back when her woody brown hair was longer, and it surprised her. It was much different than looking on the mirror. But there was also this feeling of sincereness that was like what she felt when she was with her brother. It all flashed before her eyes. And then she noticed what she was wearing as she spoke to herself. And as she heard the voice that spoke back, her heart sank. It was settling in fast. She immediately tries to call for Sammy, but to no avail as she seen her walking with herself towards the arcade room, both of them oblivious to the horror that would occur minutes later into the day.
She saw herself talking to Mason, the voice of Leon telling him about how she could sing, but never did so in front of other people.
And with another flicker, she saw him rushing to the door where Mason was already knocking. She could hear Sammy close by, her words barely comprehensible from the perspective that she witnesses things from. She tried to beg for him to get away from the door, for them all to run. To go. But like every time she had dreamed the hellish dreams about that day, it would all be in heart sinking vanity. It happened without warning. Without anything to keep the cap on the bottle.

RrrrRRRNG—click.
Again, she found herself somewhere else. But this time, her vision was one that reminded her terribly of the experience with the mantibat in the sense that it didn't seem human. She could feel herself swinging back and forth, her wings fluttering everso lightly. There was the sound of light snoring, and it took her a moment to realize where she was. But as she saw a pair of glowing eyes appear suddenly, she felt a feeling of fear so strong that it overtook the memory, and she was forced back into reality, stumbling onto the floor as Jeff went into a sporadic fly around the room, it's feathers fluttering wildly.
Raven jumped in fright as Jeff flew back into his cage with so much force that it swung violently while spinning clockwise some, the cage door clattering open and close. Her heart pounded in her chest hard, and in the next instance she was to her feet with her back against the wall, her teary eyes wide with shock as stared at the cockatoo. And her mind screamed to her that something was definitely not right.
The next thing she knew, she was hurrying towards the stairs. However when she got there, she stopped, her eyes immediately moving to where Sangeon had been laying on the floor. Her mind kept telling her that something wasn't right.
A minute later she found herself outside, breathing heavily out of anxiety as she now stood in the front yard on the disheveled ground where it all had happened.

~

Edgar cringed slightly when the hot water first hit his skin, and he came to a sudden halt at its sting. But as the wet heat settled in, he joined Galiah the rest of the way in with a long sigh. His damaged eyes seemed to try to close as he did so, a bit of peace coming to his face.

Sammy was fully unaware of what was happening outside just a few feet beyond the room. She was still at a loss at hiw Raven had taken charge. It was almost exciting to witness and even more so to be victim. But as she sat there in the shower, laughing to herself, she wondered just what else Raven had planned, wondering what she was planning next.

Mason would continue his best to try and comfort Yoon, but his attention would briefly brought away when he heard the sound of heavy breathing. He turned away from Yoon to glance at the front yard and just a few feet away, Raven was there on the floor, hyperventilating. He knew that it was tough enough to crack the ice cold exterior of Yoon but Raven, he had his grievances with her in the past, ones he was not remotely proud of. But he glanced at Yoon with a worried expression before he would rush over to her as well. “Raven” he would call out while approaching at a brisk walk. “What’s wrong?”
He wasn’t sure what had happened? If Yoon was the least problematic person who had it the best, Raven was the complete opposite. He knew he didn’t know her like Sammy did and he knew that anything could upset her. He had to choose his next words carefully. He would look back at Yoon with a bit of hesitancy before returning his attention to Raven

Galiah giggled as she would look up at Edgar, her hands sliding all across his body as the showers water would fall down onto his body, her hands sliding excitedly as she looked up at him with a smile that was a combination of desire and joy. She rested her hands against him as she would look up, and speak about his figure once more. “You know you look almost like Baoul, The Blind Warrior. He was always a favorite of mine from my grandfathers stories. But he didn’t have your talent. He was also killed by a troll and his several teeth were made to craft the stars, which I assume humans cannot do,”

Raven was bewildered, and as Mason approached her he would notice that she seemed to be searching for something. When she heard his voice her entire body stiffened for a second, but she didn't turn to face him until she realized that his heavy footsteps were getting closer. "What?" Was all she could say at first, as if she were dumbfounded that he had even asked her anything at all. "What—no—nothing," she stammered out. "Completely fine, sunshine. Sunny day. What's wrong with you, man?" She retorted. But it was obvious that she was trying to keep herself from freaking out. "Coming out of nowhere and all of that like a...like a person that came out of nowhere and all that!"

~

Edgar's eyes opened upon feeling Galiah's soft hands against him, but when he opened his eyes to look at her, her found nothing that he could see still. He had started to frown some just as Galiah had started to speak, but in its place came a puzzled look that quickly became a mildly disturbed one. "While that's.. appreciated, Galiah," he began, "The last thing I would want to think about while in a shower is someone having their teeth smashed out. And no...humans definitely can't do that."

“Raven!” Mason would have to raise his voice a bit in order to get her attention. He knew Raven and he knew that her way of showing panic was to both stammer a series of words in a flurry of confusion and embarrassment and also try to play it off like it was nothing at all. And with the way she was behaving, Mason could see that it was something bad. When he would lower his voice, he spoke calmly and clearly. “Raven we’re keepers and I know that you can just see things no one else can. Or at least sense them in some way. You can tell me what it is. Whatever it is, it’s probably important. If not for our benefit, then at least to just get it out there so you’re not keeping it all in your head and making you worry. Just breathe, focus, and tell me what happened one at a time, okay?”

“I would assume” Galiah said with a smile, but her smile faded as she would still look at his eyes, seeing that even despite all of the work that Mason had put into studying he was still only able to heal people temporarily. If any serious wounds were to come to people, she knew it would be bad. She let out a sigh and she held herself against Edgar, letting out a sigh as she spoke, “I hope that someone comes back and can heal your wounds Edgar. I wish to gaze upon your eyes with my own”

"Me? Tell you? I don't have to tell you ANYTHING okay?!" Raven snapped at him, already in a defensive mode. "I just came out here to get some air, not get interrogated! What? You with the bad guys now?" She said, glaring at him. "Y-you're the one outside with a freaking robe on in like 50 degree weather so why don't you mind your stimkin' business!" She walked passed him quickly, but stopped and turned around suddenly after a couple of steps. "A-and your yobe looks comfortable and that color looks good on you?" She said it as it were meant to be an insult, but it was only because of the storm of emotions that brewed within her. She stood there for a moment awkwardly, for just a brief second before continuing on her escape to somewhere else. But unknowingly, her subconscious led her just around the house where she had been as her time as a mantibat.

~

Edgar let out a sigh, and was silent for a long couple of seconds as his arms wrapped around her and held her close in comfort. Both for her, and himself. "You will. All we have to do is get Jackie back here, at the very least. But until then, I think I can manage." He hoped that he could. "We'll figure everything out from there."

Mason blinked in confusion at the sudden outburst of frustration that had boiled up within her. But what followed after made him wish it were that simple. When she would add a compliment to her comment before walking off, it only made Mason more confused. He didn’t understand any of it. And he had been around Raven long enough to know that if he didn’t understand, it was time to worry. He followed after her as she was going around back. “Raven” he spoke up as he followed in a brisk pace. “Where are you going?”

“You’re right. When Jackie returns, we’ll… we’ll figure stuff out” Galiah said as she wrapped her arms around his naked body. But her words would start to trail off as she spoke. “Jackie… Jackie…”
And in that moment, she would pull herself back, almost throwing Edgar back if it hadn’t been for Galiah catching his arms and pulling him back. “Oh goodness, Jackie. W-what’s she going to think if she saw this? Will she be upset? Angry? Disappointed? I don’t know, oh no”

"I don't know!" Raven exclaimed. But her mind was so sure that she in fact did, even if she herself didn't. "There's something...just..something!" She tried to make sense of it all. But as she was rounding the large manor and noticed Mason was following her, something caught her eye just as she was making a detour from her original destination to give Mason the hint to leave her alone. Her own hurried walking slowly came to a stop as her gaze came upon the incantation circle for the tracking spell that had been, unknown to her, made by Edgar and Galiah.
And though it a bit of grass had grown over it from the past weeks, she could still see it clearly as if it were fresh. I've seen this before.., her mind bugged her.

~

"Oh shit—" Had been all Edgar had been able to get out when he almost slipped, only for Galiah to catch his arms. "Galiah what the hell!?" But as the elf began to speak her concerns about Jackline and what she would think, he caught his breath. And Galiah's words settled in. "I... can't imagine her being happy exactly—But at the same time, she made a choice to lose someone good," he quickly added.

“R-Right” Galiah said as she looked up at Edgar. “It’s not as if I betrayed her love. She was the one who em chose to end things, and she was the one who… did other such things. It is kit my fault as to why At has happened”
And as Galiah stood there with a stern lip, she would break her composure and ask softly. “Um, Edgar. If it isn’t my fault and it was ended on Jackie’s own terms, then why is it that I still feel a sense of guilt?”

Mason watched as Raven had broken out into a more brisk pace, implying to him that she wanted nothing to do with the larger man. “Goddammit” Mason cursed under his breathe as he watched Raven walk off. He knew that he had to call Sammy as soon as she saw her walking off without any certainty on where she was going

Sammy had stepped out of the shower, putting on a loose sweater that hung from her right shoulder with her undershirt strap exposed and some black leggings on, wearing tan boots,, her hair now in a lazy ponytail over her shoulder. As she was adjusting her usual hat onto her head, she would hear her phone buzzing from the text message, one that blasted an old 8 bit tune to emphasize it was Mason. Sammy was expecting some usual joke of his or just checking up on her but when she would see the message, her heart immediately sank.
“Sam, it’s Raven. She’s freaking out behind the manor”
It was all Sammy needed to break out into a full sprint out of her room. She knew it was crazy to worry so much, but she knew that Raven was unstable with her magic, and she knew that anything could happen. And if anything did… Sammy leapt from the top of the stairs and landed into the entry hall with grace and accuracy as she bursted through the front doors and hurried to where they were

As they stood under the shower, Edgar was quiet, a sigh coming from him as he thought. Truthfully, he felt guilty himself, especially after everything that Jackie had done to help him. However, as he had said, she had made her choice to push away something great, something for someone else to see value in. She had left her, and hadn't been back around since. Not only that, but the supposed pregnancy only gave him more of a reason now to question if she had even been loyal to the elf in the first place, though this was more out of his own selfish reasons.
"Because you actually loved her and I... don't know if I can say the same for her, Galiah. I can't say. But, I do know that you're a wonderful woman who deserves to be loved. You shouldn't feel guilty about that."

~

By the time Mason had pulled out his phone and texted Sammy, Raven had ventured closer to the pattern that had been engraved into the ground, the memories of it flickering in her mind as she tried to concentrate on the feeling in the center for head forehead. What she remembered was blurry at first, but she pushed through it. And the more she pushed, the more she found herself remembering entire conversations vividly, though some of it was foggy from when she had been corrupted.
But what she could remember was hearing Kyung-ha bursting into her apartment asking about Yoon's whereabouts and how she had left some tea or something outside, a small detail that was blurry but didn't matter as much.
"She was with you, was she not?" She mumbled the words softly to herself, her eyes closed tightly as she could practically hear the voice as she said it. Yet the face that she tried to put with it blurred heavily, and the name was left cliffhanging off of the tip of her tongue. She remembered that they needed something of Yoon's. Everyone had been trying to find her for some reason. Yeah...yeah, I remember this— And it was because of her frighteningly vivid memory that she noticed there was something wrong with it.

By the time Sammy would get around to the back, she would find that Raven was sitting down cross legged with an intense gaze towards the circle. However, she wasn't just sitting cross legged. The way she sat was in a pose that Sammy wouldn't recognize. But the Keepers that were present however, would immediately recognize it. However who exactly they were taught it by would be lost to them.

Galiah looked up at Edgar with a look of genuine surprise, her ears perming up when she would hear his kind and honest words leaves his lips. He couldn’t see it but the elf would gift him with yet another smile from how pleasant he was, his honesty, his affection towards the elf. And Galiah would return that by hugging Edgar tightly, pressing her head against his chest to hear his heartbeat as she spoke. “Edgar, you give me that feel of being loved. I can never thank you enough. My beloved human.”

Mason was stunned at just what he was witnessing before him. The sight of Raven in a pose that was familiar, the very one from their vision during their training with… someone. It made Mason realize just what was happening, even if the sound of rushing footsteps brought him out of it. Sammy would come barreling down the yard as quickly as she could, made easier thanks to the training. As she was about to call out to Raven, she would see Mason shush her, finger to his lips to immediately stop her from screaming. She would slow down at the sight, seeing that there was nothing immensely terrible happening. At least not yet. She would look to Raven, seeing her sitting there cross legged. Then back to Mason. “Mason!” Sammy whisper shouted to emphasize her confusion and frustration. “What the fuck is happening”
“Call it corny” Mason whispered back. “But I think magic is happening.”

Despite being a distance away, Yoon with her infrared abilities could feel the warmth within the vicinity grow stronger and challenge her cold with the more people that approached and accumulated around Raven. The greatest source of heat, however, came from Raven with her sporadic and anxious self that consequently warmed her blood. She could feel Sammy's body temperature increase the more she worried about Raven. That, and given she had recently exited a shower, her temperature was rising. Earlier she could even sense the heightened warmth of two individuals performing some... strenuous activity that encouraged her to build a greater distance from the source.

When Mason went to aid the other Keeper, Yoon kept herself hidden behind the trunk of the tree to avoid confrontation after what they had all witnessed what she did to her little brother. The thought of it made the frozen layer on the trunk behind her crack. There was already too many people at one place for her liking, which encouraged her to seek shelter elsewhere. Her hands instinctively went to hide themselves into the pockets of her hoodie, only to realize she wasn't wearing her usual hoodie anymore. It was just her tank top and baggy joggers. And because she wasn't fond of her shoulders showing, or any part of herself for that matter, it was enough to try and sneak herself inside the building––especially now that the majority of the tenants were outside now.

As Yoon would walk into the halls of the mansion, it was a complete contrast to what it was earlier. It was quiet, no one was in the halls at all, and the place was practically empty aside from the three other residents of the house. Leonard had been sitting outside of the room that Kyung had brought Sangeon into to help warm him up from the cold temperature, his eyes looking over his disposable phone for any messages from the other agents, his eyes only briefly raising to look at Yoon as she would enter the manor like a fidgeting rodent before he would return his eyes to his phone. But as his eyes moved across his phone looking for information, he would speak up to Yoon, "You really are just hopeless, are you?

Edgar had started to smile when Galiah hugged him. It was a little too tight, but not enough for him to complain about it or anything. In fact, it felt nice to be hugged in such a way, because he honestly couldn't remember the last time that he had. But there was something about what Galiah had said that sounded extremely familiar to him.

My beloved human.

It wasn't what she said exactly, but how she phrased it that almost reminded him of someone. But just as quickly as it was there, it was gone. But it didn't stop him from holding the elf any closer when she had thanked him, nor did it stop him from saying to her, "Don't mention it. I'll love you in all the ways that I can, Galiah."

But what hit him next was something that took him completely by surprise, though it didn't effect him and Galiah as much because of their further distance from those who were closer outside.

~

Mason would be slightly off, but otherwise spot on in what he told Sammy. Because right before his eyes, he would be able to see something taking shape around Raven. At first it would seem like the air around her was like a mirage.

Breathe. Happy place. Figure it out. I got this. Raven took in a breath that was shaky at the beginning, but steadied as she inhaled calmly. She teetered slightly, but was able to straighten herself after a while. She began to close her eyes, and as she was greeted by the darkness of her eyelids, she exhaled. Upon her next inhale, she could see small spots that seemed to fall in front of her like glittering snow that would give off vibrations on their way down.
It was faint at first, but she could see the vibrations for split seconds, some of them like straggly string that reminded her of a balloon's. But there were the other ones that when they appeared were more connected to something that were like big discs that were larger than her hands. There were so many colors to the sounds that some of them produced. She was in awe, and her expression said it all. And as she would dare to to grab one, the airy outline of aura that hugged around her slowed.

And Raven could see it all, feel it in the center of her forehead as she reached out and grabbed the one that she felt a quieter hum from instead. Her hands rose physically to grasp onto and carefully sat down on the scratcher, a gleefully familiar feeling coming over her. And as her hands moved, the electricity followed, shaping into headphones as her hands went through the motion of putting on a pair. She rested her hands down in front of her, and her DJing equipment appeared. But it wasn't the one she had in the club, no. But her very first turntable.

These things, even Sammy could see as their shape transferred from her mind and into in an astral-like form that was in a constant state of subtle vibrating that, when anyone within 5 meters heard it on the surface of their heads, and would feel it in their bodies, down to their core and across their skin. It sounded as if they could feel soft whispers from the world. The thoughts of so many people that went and came throughout life, including some of the people within the household that were in range. It felt like falling. Falling fast, and crashing hard, but getting back up. It felt like crying on a shit day, but smiling by the end of it thanks to a special someone. Anyone that could be held close. It felt like a small smack on the knuckles out of tough love, but a heartfelt hug when it was needed. It felt like trying. Fighting against the odds, with a fear of losing.
It was a peck on the cheek. A kiss to the lips.
It was all wrapped into a song that strummed and hummed, aching with the feeling that something was missing. It laughed in pain, but sobbed softly with joy. The sensations could have easily overwhelmed anyone, yet it was only a fraction of what went on inside of Raven's head.

Her aura's tranquil nature suddenly snaked into purple electricity that ran across her body from head to toe in random intervals, all of it running to her forehead and the tips of her fingers. What was a subtle vibration became a sudden quake of bass that was on the verge of shaking the area around her when she slid her fingers across the top of the disc.
The moment she did, pieces of her aura spun into an exclamation marks above her head. It was like a quiet, quiet singing laughter and a snort that was being muffled behind a thick wall of blur in her mind where she could just barely make out anything. That's when she started to notice that that wasn't the only wall like it that was there. And the more she attempted to get passed them, the more her head pulsated at her temples. Her aura wavered as it zapped and sparked around her body until her eyes suddenly popped open, and her distant gaze went to the magic circle for the tracking spell. She could feel vaguely how Edgar had made it, and thanks to her memory of seeing it before, it was sort of easy to get how it worked.

And those who witnessed would be able to see the way Raven's aura crackled in a manner that fought to keep itself stable until finally, she breathed outwards slowly like the meditation videos she had been watching had taught her. Her turnable dissipated into her aura along with the headphones of energy around her ears, and suddenly, it dispersed and brought a silence with it that slowly returned to the noises of the outside.

Galiah would smile to Edgar at his words, hearing them bringing a sense of comfort to her as she heard them. But as she was about to say something, she would feel a sudden magic energy take hold. The wave of magic energy was enough to make her almost lose her balance and have to hold her body against Edgar's again to keep balance. She wasn't sure what it was, and she could barely feel it from where they were. She looked up at Edgar with confusion in her face and asked with as much confusion in her voice. "Was... was that what love with a human feels like?"

Mason and Sammy watched in awe as before their very eyes, a headphone and a turntable had appeared in front of Raven out of thin air. But it was when the very sound started playing did it truly start to hit them. They could feel everything, every ounce of emotion that Raven was playing with her music. It was joyous, it was sad, it was endearing, and it was overwhelming/ Mason's jaw was agape at the very sight, while Sammy watched in awe, her eyes wide as she could feel it in her very core. It was enough to move her to tears from the sheer sight of it all. And just as quickly as it had come, it was gone like that. And as the noise had settled around them, the faint sounds of birds chirping around them and faint sounds of traffic just beyond the gates of the manor, Sammy would break the silence with a loud cheer.
"Holy shit!" Sammy shouted, jumping into the air with joy. "Mason, did you see that shit!?"
"I... uh, yeah" Mason said, unsure of what to even say
"That was so fucking sick! She had the whole DJ thing and the headphones, and she was did... Well I don't know but it was so fucking cool, and I just- Wow, Raven"
Sammy would hurry over to her as she would hurry over to her and pat her shoulder in excitement. "Raven, how did you do that? That was awesome. What even was that kind of magic? Like, musicalicity or something? That was badass!"

Yoon came to a halt upon realizing someone was waiting outside her room. She was frozen in her steps because of that, and also because of the after wave of emotions that reached her from outside and almost drew her in. It made her wonder why it felt so familiar. But Leonard’s harsh words broke those whispers immediately. “I-I guess I am...” She replied to him submissively. Her plan had been to grab her hoodie, a plate of food, and be on her way until she was sure she was calm enough to return. The problem, however, was that her clothes were in the same room she shared with her mom and brother. “I… I can’t be here right now…” She whispered. “C-Can you distract my mom? I.. need something from i-inside…” She glanced at the door where her family was on the other side, doing her best to regulate the indoor temperatures.

Leonard stopped in the middle of lighting a cigarette at Yoons request, hearing just how scared she was of what would happen if she walked into the room. He looked at her before he put his cigarette away and stated coldly. “Yeah… I can distract her”
The emphasis he put on the ‘can’ part told Yoon all she needed to know that he could but he wouldn’t. He leaned against the door and crossed his arms before looking at her. “I’d understand if your magic had still been causing issues but it looks to me whatever the big guy told you seemed to at least calm you down a bit. At least enough to not blast a freezing storm at me. Glad to see the big guy trusts you enough. But I wanna trust you, and right now, I can’t. My job was to subdue people like you, most of the time with force. Hated it but I had to do it. But the difference is you don’t want to hurt people. You don’t like hurting others. That’s why I want to trust you, not just cause you’re Kyungs kid. But unless you go in there and face the music, you’re not gonna have a reason to control your magic. You’re not gonna have a point to. But if you go in, you’ll be so damn scared you might piss yourself. But at least you’ll have a reason to control your magic. So no, in theory, I can’t distract her”
As Leonard let out a sigh, he would add. “Even if I wanted to, Kyung can turn a person into a human book. Reads them easily. She’s good at that. Learned investigation from the best after all”

Yoon’s frown deepened the further he insinuated he would not be helping her distract her mother—even if it was possible without getting caught, that is. But she did listen to his every word and hung on to a few of them in the back of her mind. “She’s… she’s not going to u-understand.” How could she expect her human mother to understand the extent and nature of her powers when she barely understood them herself? “I-I know if I go inside w-we’re going to fight and I-I’m going to lose control again…” She warned. “M-My mom doesn’t believe in mistakes. She w-wont care if I explain m-myself, she won’t care if it’s related to my emotions b-because sh-she doesn’t believe in that—she doesn’t believe in all that e-emotional well-being stuff—“ She stammered nervously. “She… she just isn’t able to see what I see, s-she can’t understand me or w-what I am—“

Leonard looked at Yoon as she struggled to make sense of all that was happening between her and her mother, the panic that she felt, the sadness that was slowly building up inside of her and the fear of losing control once again. Leonard knew that it was more than any of that, but he was also able to tell that Yoon was a person who was more unwell then anyone else, someone who had spent their entire life just hiding rather than being out. With a sigh, Leonard turned to the door and knocked on it as he looked at Yoon, as if telling her to go and hide with his gaze.

Raven cringed, a mildly shuddering ache running through her head the moment she started to open her eyes. She could feel the aching heat running through the bridge of her nose until—pkkht
She felt a pop, and a splurt of blood sprayed from her nostrils, and shockingly, it looked as if it steamed, if only slightly. Her eyes fluttered, and she kept herself steady by trying to keep herself calm instead of panicking as her mind swam through a brief gaze until she felt Sammy's hand on her shoulder. She hadn't even heard her voice as the rest of the tunes had started to fade from her head.
She turned around, an expression of surprise on her face. "Sammy? Wh-when'd you get out here?" She asked, wobbling with stiffness as she stood up, rubbing at her head.

~

"....Something..like that.." Edgar's attention had been taken fully by the sudden outburst of energy that they had felt, and the sudden shock of it was still wearing off. He wasn't sure, but for a brief moment, he had sworn that he had seen a flash of some kind through the darkness of his vision. Not only just that, but unlike the others, he was able to sense something very... different about it. As if it were magic, but somehow...changed. "—Wait, you felt that too?"

“Well of course I can” Galiah replied with a nod, her tone making it seem like it was the most simple and understandable thing in the world. She would keep her hands against him as she continued, “elves are very in tune with magic. I believe it’s like one of those metallic rods that conduct electricity or so Mason has described it. We can sense any form of magic, if only a very basic level of sensory. Just that it is magic and that there is a source”
But as Galiah would look up at Edgar she would ask with a bit of hesitance. “Was the magic… one we should be worried about?”

Sammys immediate joy was met with shock when the blood would shoot from her nose, Mason giving the same kind of surprise and worry. As Sammy would see it, as well as Raven turning to her, she would hold her close with both arms now wrapped around her in case she would fall again. She tried her best not to panic. After all everyone else had their fair share of blood and overloading when their magic was unleashed so suddenly. At least Sammy tried not to panic in the moment.
“I heard you might be in trouble and got here in five seconds” Sammy said, trying to smile to keep the worry hidden. “Sheesh Raven, making me worry like that, and then pulling something like that off. And on top of… earlier” she kept their brief moment of desire between them as she glanced at Mason before continuing. “Your just full of surprises Rave”
“Shit, Raven” Mason hurried over, crouching down so that he was at her level. “You good? Do you need help?”
“Bro didn’t you drain yourself already” Sammy joked, with a hint of concern after seeing how drowsy Mason looked after using most of his energy for Sangeon
“So what?” Mason interjected. “She could have gotten aneurysm from it or something.”
“Doubt it. Raven ain’t so weak that an aneurysm is gonna do her in. Girls a survivor”

"Not so much as be worried about..or at least not specifically that—I don't know. It felt... different. Not like what I've felt before from Yoon or Mason's magic, or even Jackie's. But...I think that was Raven," And when it came to her, it was hard to tell whether it was a good thing or a bad thing or somehow both or neither of it was even possible.

~

Raven's brow began to furrow further and further while Sammy and Mason exchanged words about her, which irritated her slightly but not enough for what was on her mind to be overcame in any sense of the fashion. In fact, Mason asking her if she was okay only made it even more of a focus. And as Sammy was hyping her up to be the survivor that she believed she kind of was, but kind of wasn't, she spoke with a clarity and anxiousness within her voice of what she confidently knew. "No, I'm not good," she said, her lightly shaking hands clenching into fists as she felt a tinge of anger. "Someone's... someone's been inside of my head." She didn't say "I Think", or even say it in any way that would have suggested doubt otherwise.

“Well then…” Galiah spoke with a tone of concern in her voice. “If that is the case…”
Edgar would wait as the silence from Galiah was one that was almost deafening within the shower. It was something that would slowly build up within the room until Galiah would finally respond. Just not with words. Her hand would reach down and grasp his length once more l, pressing against him as she spoke, “if it is not a threat then it is not a concern. I am to protect the Keepers and tend to them. And you do need some tending I believe. I assume that is what humans describe as the Speech of the Filth, or as described by Sammy, The Dirty Talk”

Sammy and Mason both immediately went silent when they heard the frustration from Raven, unsure of what to make of any of it, but with how upset Raven clearly was it was a clear sign that Raven was taking it seriously. But the only word that could come from Sammy was a simple flabbergasted, “How?”
But Mason spoke up. “Sammy… I think it has something to do with… what happened a few days ago”
“What do you mean” Sammy replied, but she had a sneaking suspicion that she knew, that it was something that had been on everyone’s minds.
Mason looked at Raven and asked, “Raven do you think… this happened back after the dinner party with Jackie? Right after she went missing? After… whatever happened with Theo?”
Sammy kept everything to herself, at least for the time being. She was slowly putting things together. As best as she could when her own mind was warped and her memories were taken. But she had the sense that something was up. And if it was as she had suspected with someone having been inside Ravens mind, having seen all that Raven wanted to keep buried, it was enough to bring about a silent but slowly rising anger inside of Sammy, her face was composed, but her fist had clenched tightly within her pockets

"I don't know—" Raven had started with a growl when Sammy had asked her how something like her memories being messed with was possible. And as Mason would bring up the incident from days ago between her and the mantibat, she was almost physically relieved that someone was almost on the same page as her.
And when he asked her about when she thought that it all had happened exactly, she nodded at first. But then her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to think harder. "I...I don't know. It's like there's these..these walls in my head that're like..in the way," she said, speaking with her hands as she tried to explain it. "It's like...it's like knowing a song, right — but when you actually try to sing the song you still get some of the words wrong. But then you find out that those lyrics are from Wikipedia, a-and Wikipedia hasaneditfeaturethatletspeoplechangeinform­ati­on—­&qu­ot; She spoke faster the more she tried to put it in a way that would make sense.

~

"Then your assumption was right," Edgar replied, and Galiah would feel how his length would start to twitch a little before stiffening into a sturdy and healthy erection full of vigor. "Because it definitely worked." His hands slid down her back and to her hips. "And I do agree. I am in severe need of your...tending," he added, speaking into her ear in a voice that was low against the sound of water falling around them, but clear e

Galiah giggles as she would hear his words echo inside her ears, twitching with excitement as his hands slid down her hips that swayed with excitement as her hands rested on his shaft, sliding it up and down in her loose grip. Her eyes would look back up at Edgar with a wanting gaze, biting her lip to silence her soft moan as she would slowly tighten the grip around his throbbing length, her hips swaying from side to side in a lusting dance.

“No, no, I get what you mean, Raven” Mason spoke up a bit, his hands raised to try and get her to slow down and try to calm her nerves, with what little he could do at the current moment. He would look to Sammy, who only glanced at him. Mason knew that what would happen next could cause her to blow up in a fit of anger. Mason looked to Raven and spoke, “Okay let’s think about this. Jackie was here and now she’s gone. So I think she must have had something, and probably for good reason” Mason added quickly. “And I’m sure… she had a good reason to-“
“If she did I’m gonna fucking kill her” Sammy interrupted, much to the shock of Mason. “Sammy!” He spoke up
“She has no business in her memories. No fucking business” Sammy retorted, the frustration now starting to boil over clear as day.
“Listen” Mason cut in to try and calm her nerves. “Think about it. Jackie was here but also gone but also here after she left but also gone. Remember the supposed walls. I think it’s… more than that. I think it’s… something else Sammy. Or someone else”
Sammy was immediately silent at what he said. She had suspicions, that it was so strange how everyone just had their own thoughts on Jackie being at so many places at once. Surely she wasn’t that skilled that she could clone herself. As she would look to Raven, she asked, trying to gather her composure for Ravens sake, “What do you think”

"I...I think..." Raven was hesitant first. But as her eyes opened, she got it out. "I don't think it's Jackie. Because...because she promised thatshewouldn'tagain—" If she was hesitant before, then she was definitely hesitant now. Her reasoning sounded naive and almost childlike, yet there was a seriousness to it that was unmistakable. She gulped. "A-and whatever it is, I..I think the bat thing...i-it could sense it, or something about it. I-I can feel it in me...a part of me, and whatever's been in my head, it doesn't feel like I like it. It's WAY the opposite." As she spoke about it, there was this sense of deep-rooted despise that lingered in her voice, and for a moment, her eyes had become awfully familiar to mantibat's when it became agitated or threatened. And for a moment, just briefly, that anger had over taken her. "I think I'm ready for people to stop. Fucking. With my head!" Her voice cracked as she growled out the words out of frustration, but also because her head had started to hurt even more. Strands of hair had rose up from her head while she rubbed at her temples.


~

Edgar's breath would ease down Galiah neck as he leaned down into her some, enjoying the sensation of the soft and now wet hands that stroked at his shaft. His forehead rested against hers, and his lips only grazed hers as his hips started to push into and pull away from her stroking hands. He held back a breathy moan, a sigh of pleasure easing from his nostrils.

Galiah let his head reat against hers as she would continue to stroke at his ever growing length, moaning as she would almost feel his pleasure hitting her the same way it was filling him. But as his head rested against hers, he would almost lose his balance again as Galiah would lower her head without giving a warning, falling to her knees in front of him as she spoke up. “I’ve never done a thing like this before, but I’ve been told it is very exciting. If so please let me know”
Once again, Galiah would act before speaking and would take his entire length into her mouth and slide it down into her mouth with ease, the tip striking the back of her throat before she would pull her head back down to the beginning, her lips pressing at his tip before taking it all back in with a faint muffled moan

Mason was about ready to step back as he would see the frustration start to build up within Raven. He didn’t know what was going to happen, but he knew he wouldn’t want to be here when it did. But while he was prepared to back off, Sammy did the opposite. She stepped passed Mason and walked over to Raven, pulling her into a hug of some sort of comfort in an attempt to try and ease her anger, not wanting things to get worse. “Hey Rave” Sammy spoke. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out, okay. Just please, don’t let your anger take over. We gotta stay calm so we can figure things out. I know, rich coming from me… but I get mad cause I’m always worried something’s gonna come and take you away from me and that thought fucking scares me. We’ll figure out what’s up, and then we’ll get them to stop fucking with your head… okay?”
As Mason stood there, a bit on edge about it, Sammy would lift her head from Raven and look at him. “Mason go and speak to Theo, okay. Try and get some stuff figured out here. And hurry. The sooner the better”
“Uh…. Y-yeah” Mason said as he picked himself up in a hurry and started walking quickly into one direction. “You’re gonna be fine, Rave. You’ve always beaten this magic crap. You can do it again” he hoped his words of encouragement would do some good as he hurried off into the yard, his calls for Theo clear as Sammy remained there with Raven, holding her close

Yoon's eyes widened some in surprise when she realized that Leonard actually agreed to helping her. She was ready to give up and just skip her hoodie entirely, maybe even going as far as sneaking into Sammy's room to borrow an oversized shirt if she had any. It took her a minute to actually process his decision, one in which she was extremely grateful for. She gave the smallest of bows along with a trembling, but grateful smile. "Th-Thank you..." She whispered, scurrying off to hide behind the large curtains of the corner windows. Considering her small size and natural invisibility, she blended in perfectly.

Meanwhile, the response behind the room's door was delayed. Leonard would have to wait an extra minute before the wooden door would finally unlock and open, revealing the mother who was in the same outfit from earlier. The only difference now was pieces of her hair had fallen out of its perfect bun from the constant running around she was doing to aid her son. "Why you knocking on my door, eh?" Her questions were direct and straight to the point. Her pants were lightly drenched with water from tending to her son in making sure he was actually bathing properly and wasn't experiencing any aftermath of pain. It had taken her a while to even try to get Sangeon to eat something with the many questions he asked.

“What do you mean why?” Leonard said in his defense, arms crossed over his chest as he did his best to focus his full attention on Kyung and not glance over at the curtain that Yoon had chosen to hide behind. “I’m concerned about the kid. Any decent human being would be. It’s what separates us from the freaks that are after us. Yes that includes you Miss Immortal”
As he would grimace slightly at the attempt of a joke to try and lighten things, he would shake his head before asking, “Is Sang okay? Like… is there any help I can offer him? He’s a good kid and… hate to see him suffering with that kind of shit. But he seems tough. Was more worried about his sister than him. Guess he gets that toughness from you, huh?”

"No I tell you no more use of stupid nicknames, ehh???" She shook her head at his teasing from calling her Miss Immortal. Based off the way her eyes observed him, Leonard could tell Kyung-ha was analyzing every move of his body language––from his crossing of arms to even his sudden spur of questions. "How you going to help, hm? Fuel his delusions of magic world with dumb movies?" Her right brow raised. "Only thing kids seem to be getting from me is bad luck." She corrected. And at the mentioning of Yoon, her brows knitted lightly. "If she had arrived a second later Sangeon would be dead. She no deserve pity to be worried for when she not the victim of the situation."

“Oh come on” Leonard spoke, his arms now falling to his side with an exasperated expression all over his face and body at what he was hearing. “You can’t think that she’s a bit messed up over witnessing that. The girl almost watched her brother die. That’s not something anyone can just easily deal with regardless on if they’re not in any physical pain”
Leonard gave a shake of his head and turned to Kyung, “besides it’s not delusional if the magic is very much real. Would have thought you of all people would understand that they couldn’t possibly hide all of this forever. It was bound to happen regardless, with the giant bat, the constant secret doors, random creatures coming and going, the elf that keeps speaking in riddles and nonsense.”
But as he looked at Kyung, he shook his head and threw his hands up in the air, “you know what, forget it. I know there’s no changing your mind. You’re as stubborn as the day we met. It’s a miracle that anyone could stand talking to you for a solid minute”
He would turn his back to her, his feet tapping on the ground in a bit of stress before he would turn his head to her and reply, “but that stubbornness has kept you alive for this long. Hell even with what’s going on with you, you’re still kicking” he avoided bringing up the cancer directly. “I guess your stubbornness is some good. Some.”

Kyung-ha scoffed at the way she was spoken to, deciding to step out the room and closing the door to emphasize her point without wandering ears listening. "I no care if she's mEsSed uP–-she need to put her big girl pants on and instead stop messing up––" Kyung-ha quickly cut in. "She skip training this morning on purpose! No tell me where she go, no keep me updated, no even tell me she took Sangeon!" She snapped. "I had been training her to control her magic, I teach her to be able to reverse ice into water and instead of putting that to use in helpful situations she put it to use with Sangeon's life on the line!" Kyung-ha revealed, having to take the responsibility of a magic teacher with none around or anyone to seek aid from. "She is adult and she is Keeper whether she likes it or not–––no time for screwing around or being messed up! You think Droven going to feel bad and snuggle up and wipe her tears when she cries, mm?? Give little tissue to her? You think he sniffles to sob story? Care about her fweeelings??? You think any Constable going to pause they're shooting to give kiss-kiss on a booboo on her knees?! Ask permission to shoot before shooting? Wait for her to bounce back before ripping her apart? Hmmm????? It is not stubbornness, it is reality."

"You think I don't know that?" Leonard spoke up as he stepped closer to Kyung-ha, his own height towering over the Korean but far from having the same stern tone or the anger boiling over, but he was the only one that spoke back whenever he was present. "Of all the people, you should know that I know that. When it comes down to a fight, it's going to be you or them. When you have them by the ropes, you don't let them have time for a last word, or anything. You have them down, you pull the trigger without a second thought. There's no room in this business for pleasantries and no room for humanity. It's kill or be killed in this line of work"
But as he said that, he dared take a step closer, staring Kyung-Ha in the eyes as he added, "But sadly, that's what separates us from these kids. We're killers, we've spent our whole lives living by that belief. They have not. You think that when the time comes to kill, they'll just be ready cause you put them through training. When the time comes when that Samantha girl as to be the one to pull the trigger on an agent to defend the others here, how ready will she be? She may say she's ready, but is she really? What's gonna stop her from hesitating and giving her target enough time to retaliate because she doesn't have the ability to kill? Or the Keepers. Even if the Droven or whatever, is coming for them, even when they know they will want to kill, what's stopping their conscience from taking over and stopping them in their tracks? Same goes for your kid. Doesn't matter if what the world is going to do, she is still not ready for what kind of fucked up stuff we've had to deal with again and again and again. Is that reality, Kyung? That we need to be cold and paranoid every day in order to survive? Or have we just been soaked in blood for too long to not realize we're the fucked up ones?"
Leonard would eventually break his gaze from Kyung to pace around the hall with his hands brushing through his hair, giving a frustrated groan at what he was even saying. It was all just utter madness. He knew that Kyung's passed was a total mystery, one she would never, ever tell anyone. But whatever it was, it had to be something that made her view on the world so cynical, even despite coming out better than most. Even still, he wasn't sure what he could say to this woman that would have any effect. She was just too wrathful, too cautious. And yet somehow she had something that separated her from the other cold and heartless killers in their line of work. His feet tapped against the wall to try and calm his nerves before he would finally turn to Kyung and add, his tone changing to a softer one to try and ease his stress. "Regardless, even despite all your... reality" He added air quotes, "In any other time, you'd never allow a magic user to go near your child. You'd have done everything in your power to ensure they were never touched by magic, and yet you let Mason help. And to an extent, it helped. You have some trust toward these Keepers, your daughter as well. There must be something to her magic if she was the first one to unlock that kind of potential"

Kyung-ha had unconsciously started to follow Leonard away from the door in attempt to knock some sense into him. "I did! I sacrifice everything I had to make sure no stupid magic people touch my children! And guess what happened next?! One of them became them! So I have no other choice but to trust barely competent boy to heal my son. You know why barely competent? Because no teachers here to teach them in first place!" She exclaimed. "Everyone just happily in vacations here, no care in the world to improve or master skills. No thought or care of being persecuted and wanted by dangerous people. No care that there are people out there putting their lives on line for them. No care about keeping house nice and tidy. No even care about their own well-being, I see people eat chips for dinner! No, no, no care––only care to watch movies, only care about what to eat, only care about what new room to have sex in, only care about themselves! Everyone so concerned and reliant on Jackline that they forget when they are in the face of danger she will not be there to hold their hands while they walk through fire! So no––" She stated firmly, "It IS necessary to be cold and paranoid at all times for survival. Especially NOW more than ever when we have evidence of outside magic tampering with our memories!" Kyung-ha emphasized. "They are adults, NOT KIDS. Including YOON. She is the big sister and her one job being that is to protect her brother. What you think Sangeon going to believe if he only sees Yoon moping around, eh? He's going to mimic her and be just as vulnerable. What you think those stupid stories and movies you let him indulge in going to do, hm?? Now he thinks Yoon is superhero with ice powers and her only responsibility in the world is to build snowmen and ice castles!"

Leonard had already started walking down the hall with his head shaking in total frustration at what he was hearing. The countless series of things that were not going by her own rules, her own methods of teaching that he has seen trying to be pushed onto others, reasons that he has seen only works on a few of them, and really only one, only one with their own reason for being pushed to the limit. Leonard had already made his way into the kitchen once again to pour himself a mug of black coffee, all while barely listening to Kyung-ha as she continued to give him an earful, even taking a sip with his eyes barely on her as she was continuing her constant barrage of nagging and complaining. As soon as she had finished, he would lower the mug down and then finally speak up, "So there's lots of screaming from bats attacking the two girls on top of whatever the fuck is wrong with the introvert, the guy who lives outside gets his eyes blown out while the elf just keeps parading around juice, you got... that thing, and everyone is paranoid about death without any defense... Yeah, compared to our regular shit, this is a vacation for us."
He was almost tempted to joke at how sadly true that statement was, but he le tit go and continued on. "So you say incompetent magic boy. You're not wrong, whatever the hell these supposed protectors are doing, they're doing a shittier job than anyone. For gods sake, the weird elf that wanders around talking to the fucking books is doing a better job. That's sad. That's really worrying. And yet he still helped Sangeon. And you still let him. The Kyung I knew would have taken his hand and bent it in fifty other directions. The cold, serious, no shits given Kyung that I knew back in the days of.... you know where. But then when things come to worst, you let him help your kid. And he did. He saved his life. And you were there crying when he did it. And your trust proved right. You say incompetent, but he was able to at least do that much without a teacher. He got there on his own. Not perfection, but enough to save his life. That doesn't sound like barely competent. That sounds like pretty goddamn competent to manage a life or death situation on the fly from just practicing every day"
Leonard would lift the mug to his lips again for another sip, substituting it for a cigarette as he would continue after a gulp. "People learn differently. Maybe there's a reason Yoon got her magic one way and why this... method of yours isn't working. Like education. People learn from different reasons. Hell, with how stubbro- My mistake, how real you are, you still learned to trust a magic user, a thing you have actively despised for so long. Say what you want, but something has changed in you. Even if you try to hide it behind all that anger and seriousness. Something, I don't know what. But it's there"

"How you dare walk away from me?" Kyung-ha exclaimed as she saw Leonard head to the kitchen and so casually sip from his mug of coffee, which almost tempted her to just launch the cup across the room out of spite. "That is all chid's play and only the beginning for what is going to come. They are going to wish to relive those events than face what the future holds... And if Mason is surely that competent thanks to absent teacher then I'm sure he can fix boy's eyes if he put enough effort and trust in himself. But like everyone else in this mansion, they lack organization and confidence. I open up classes for self-defense and attacks. What happen, hm? No regular attendance, most students absent and still sleeping. Care to spend extra two minutes in bed than two minutes learning how to protect themselves and wield firearm. Big guy Mason has great potential for attack, big enough body to snap others in half, and what he do, hm? No attend any classes, instead snapping people in half he snapping KitKats and book spines, pshh––" She fell silent for a second because she too wanted something to drink from all the talking she was doing, which led her to quickly retrieve a cup of water and take a sip before continuing. "You wanna go baby them, Leonard? Be their new teacher? Go ahead. Go change their diapers, handfeed them, and give little back rubs too. No forget to cut butter peanut sandwiches into little stars and cut off edges."

"Please" Leonard said, almost on the verge of laughing at the audacity of Kyung assuming he should care for the kids. "I care for one and that's by shooting at them. I did my part with Sangeon and he at least had his stuff all figured out without the extra baggage"
But as she would continue to give her piece on all the things going on, he would just let her continue to ramble on in her usual bickering, even now nothing having changed in their conversation. As he would set the coffee mug down, he just shook his head, "Whatever. We both know that we're stubborn as all hell to change our each others minds. No point in trying to argue it like an old married couple. We have bigger things right now then deciding how and why to break in these new kids and seeing as we're still arguing about it tell me we haven't found a good answer. And really, I'd prefer it if my last days weren't spent arguing."
As he would pour himself a second cup, he would speak with his back to her, "So I'll just ask the same question I started with. How is Sangeon doing?"

Even in Sammy's arms and hearing her words, Raven breathed heavily. Only this time the roots of it were more than just anxiousness.The anger that had started swelling within her made a small vein appear near the center of her forehead and only caused her head to ache further. And as she watched as Mason went on his way to find the mantibat, she eyed him for a second before her gaze went to the ground.

You’ve always beaten this magic crap. You can do it again..

Mason's encouraging words rang through her head briefly, and though she didn't believe he actually meant it the words locked somewhere on her mind where she kept the things she appreciated. But she could feel it, the guilt. For some reason, it calmed her down a little. She was quiet at first. "He's not going to find it," she mumbled once Mason was out of range.

~

Edgar almost felt another jump of alert from his chest when Galiah felt as if she had disappeared from him. His hands had gone up immediately to balance himself against the shower walls. "Where'd you go now?"
When he heard her voice from further down, it threw him off at first, and he paused for a second as his mind wondered if his perception had really been thrown off that much by his lack of sight.
But all of it started to melt at the suddenness of the pleasure, and he let out a surprised moan. "Oh my god—" His erection jolted hard with excitement as it was pulled into her throat, and as she started, he leaned back against the shower wall and let the elf bring him the joys of bliss.

Galiahs hands rested upon Edgar's thighs as her mouth moved up and down his long girthy length, taking it slowly into her mouth at first with a constant motion, before she would slowly and surely pick up the pace, the tip of his length hitting at the back of her throat with each time she would move it in again, her tongue running against the bottom of his shaft for extra pleasure as she would look up at him, continuing to use her lips, tongue and mouth to pleasure him as she would slowly increase the pace almost to an unbelieveable level

Sammy looked down at Raven as she held her in her arms, her hands brushing at her hair to comfort her. Sammy lifted Raven's eyes to look at her, holding her close to her with her loving embrace. "He.... might not, but I'm sure he'll find out something. Even something small will help. And if whatever it is comes back to mess with your head again, you can count on me to fuck it up, Rave. They won't get into your head, I promise."
She pulled Raven in closer, her breathing heard with a faint shake as she was doing her best to keep her composure despite the constant frustration, and the anger that was inside Sammy as well. The idea of someone going through Ravens thoughts, thoughts she never wanted anyone to see, that she couldn't trust anyone to know, it made her that much angrier. She did her best to keep her anger bottled for the time being. She knew that Raven's worries were far more important. She kept her hands on her and brushed at her hand with her hand slowly as she spoke, "Whatever happens, we'll just do what we've always done, Raven. We'll get through it. You and me. Like I told you earlier, I'll always be by your side"

Mason ran through the open yard, passing by the other things from outside, the plant named Samantha II, Edgar's RV that Galiah had been in for much longer than he anticipated, and yet he could still not find Theo. He started to panic a little, not wanting to go back empty handed. He called out "Theo! Theo, where are you buddy?!"
But when that didn't work, he tried to rely on an old fashioned trick, one that he knew would always work, "Hey, if you come out now, I'll give you more left overs. Lot of lamb left over!"

"No Sammy, you don't get it," Raven said, and she still didn't look at first. Her feet shifted beneath her out of nervousness, but also out of her desire to not be anywhere near the mantibat at all. "There is no "might" or "might not"," she said, pulling away from her arms some to look at her. "He won't find it. Not...not here." Her voice became smaller near the end of her words, but they were certain. She turned away from Sammy as she felt more blood starting to ooze down her nose and into a drop down her lip. She tried to wipe at it with her forearm, only for it to smear. She let out trembling breath as her head gave another ache.

She could hear Mason calling Thuyeous, attempting to sway the beast to him with the promise of lamb. She cringed some, yes, because of the mild migraine that started settling in, but also because of the fact that she knew that, unknown to anyone in the household, she had eaten it all while she had been on the manor's roof. In fact, the mentioning of the lamb almost made her perk her head, but not for the reason that one would have thought.

~

With the way the elf's tongue slid around his shaft and flick at his tip, and how she would throat him so pleasantly, Edgar couldn't believe that it was the elf's first time indulging in the act. Each time the head of his shaft would rub against the back of her throat, he had to stifle his voice. And as her pace began to increase, his hands slid into her hair and grabbed onto handfuls. His upper back remained against the wall, and he positioned himself to thrust softly against her bobbing head.

Sammy looked to Raven, wondering what the hell was even going on, what she even meant by not finding it. And as she would turn away from her to try and hide the blood coming from her nose, not to mention seeing the faint shakes from her as they could hear Mason trying to bribe the bat with lamb, Sammy was slowly starting to make her own assumptions in her mind. As Raven had turned away, Sammy would walk to Raven and turn her around, looking her in the eyes as she would see the blood smeared on her face. With a sigh, Sammy spoke under her breathe, "Ugh, fuck me, I really like this sweater"
She lifted the sleeve of her sweater to wipe away the blood from Raven's nose, her other hand gently resting on her cheek until she was sure all the blood was gone. Once it was, Sammy gave an absurd assumption. "Hey Raven, this is a really dumb question, but... did Theo become like... part of you in some way?"

Galiah moaned in faint surprise as she would feel Edgar grab onto her hair and start to thrust into her. It was something that she was reminded of with her time with Jackie, that rougher kind of affection, that kind that had her tied up and gagged and made into a slave of love and desire. And though she didn't want to admit it, she loved it so much. She allowed Edgar to thrust into her throat, taking it into the back of her mouth with pleasure as if he was thrusting into any other hole, and she did so with gusto, moving her tongue around his still stiff erection. And as he got rougher with his thrusts, her own hands would lean down and start start to slide her fingers into her entrance in excitement, her two fingers sliding into her wet insides

"...sorry," Raven mumbled quietly when Sammy decided to mess up her seater because of her. Her jaw tightened at the question, and at first she only stared at Sammy. The look on her eyes would tell her that it was something a little more than just becoming a part of her. A lot more. "I-I didn't mean to, Sam. B-but...but it was...it was live or die. Be eaten or eat an-and—" She gulped, knowing that it was only so long before someone would notice. Only so long that she would be able to keep it in, and keep it hidden. "I...I think I...brought in something from it." She ate something from it, deprived it. Absorbed something that was deeply rooted into the creature, snatching it out and into herself.

~

Edgar could feel the pleasure jumping higher and higher up his length with each thrust, with each time that Galiah took it back in deep down her throat. The constriction that it provided left him craving more. He moaned out loud, unable to hold it at back as his thrusts became a little rougher in the pursuit of his lust for the pleasure that he was being provided with.

Sammy looked to Raven as she was going to panic once again, and as she saw it, she was unsure of what to even say. hat her question wasn't far from incorrect. And as Raven looked like she was on the verge of another panic attack, Sammy would pull Raven into another hug, holding her tighter again and spoke to her in a comforting tone, "Raven, whatever happens, you're still you, okay? I have been with you through some of the most fucked up stuff, so you don't gotta apologize to me about what happened between you and the bat or whatever. You're still Raven La Roux, okay? You're still my girl. Whatever it is, we'll figure it out"
How? That word bounced around in Sammy's mind. How are we going to figure this out? How can anyone figure this out. But Sammy knew that they'd have to find a way. She would pull back to look Raven in the eyes, lifting her chin up so their eyes would meet and she would do her best to gift her with a smile. "Whatever it is, we'll get it worked out. Together, okay? Cause whatever changes, you're still the girl I fell in love with. No amount of magic or bats or whatever the fuck is gonna change that."

Galiah would let out a faint choke as she would feel his long length get pushed into her throat. And though she was certain that he could scare him with such a sound, the way that he continued to thrust into her mouth and keep thrusting only proved that she didn't have to hold back. She took the hole of his length and slid it down into her throat further, taking his length down to the very base and letting it thrust deep down her throat with utter excitement, her fingers now sliding in and out of her entrance harder and faster with desire.

"I no arguing with you, I simply just proving you wrong." Kyung-ha corrected his statement before taking another sip of water. But at the question regarding the well-being of her son, she cleared her throat. "He is recovering well, he is strong. He is Park, after all." She justified. But as she spoke with Leonard, both of them could feel the temperature of the home slowly begin to drop.

Meanwhile...

"S-Sangeon, really, I cannot take you with me." Yoon emphasized, her plan of sneaking into the room and sneaking back out failing once she realized her little brother wasn't asleep like she expected. "I don't feel well and I cannot risk hurting y-you again." She was rummaging through her closet in search for a hoodie while the little boy clung onto the sides of her shirt, tugging at it lightly so she would pay attention to him.

"Do it again, do it again!" He insisted, even though he was still tired and weak.. "I-I won't tell mom, I promise!" Sangeon pleaded. He was so entranced by the small sample of her powers that Yoon displayed earlier, albeit it being linked to the reason he had drowned in the first place. But he was disappointed to see his sister sweep him off his feet and instead tuck him back into bed, being careful to not keep too much contact with him in case she accidentally hurt him. "N-Nuna, here can you turn my hot chocolate into a slushy??" He stubbornly held up his warm mug that Kyung-ha had prepared him to regain a proper internal temperature. He wanted cold chocolate milk instead of what his mother had served him.

"I-I cannot right now––" Yoon stammered, setting down his Hulk-themed mug with trembling hands on his nightstand. "Please rest up––"

"C-Can you just try it???" Sangeon picked up the mug again. "Pleeeeeeeasseeee, please please please––" This time, however, the boy took the mug and eagerly shoved it into her hands.

"––No, Sangeon!" Yoon's patience grew too thin and she unintentionally slammed the mug on the nightstand, the frost from her hands transmitting onto the dish until it was completely covered and loudly shattered upon its pressure. Yoon gasped, taking a step back as her horrified eyes watched the brown liquid spill all over the desk, some of it splattering on the nice white sheets and the rest spreading on the floor.

FUCK/. Was all she could think of. Kyung-ha was definitely going to kill her. And at the thought of it, the Keeper felt uneasy, which was seen through the paleness of her face and the air surrounding them beginning to get chilly.