they cannot destroy you

It's taken a lifetime to lose my way

All the wasted time on my hands turns to sand

Belial was visibly deflated when there was little reaction in the ways of intimidation. Zuriel rolled her eyes, while he glanced downward, mildly ashamed. He was something else, but apparently fearsome and terrifying wasn’t one of those things. On a more mulish air, he launched off the ground, taking flight, hovering back over the icy walkways and snowy paths, rather than give or grant Kiada any more attention; quite taken with the notion of pouting within the air.

While the unicorn received her just rewards for not being foolish or ridiculous, the Sword listened to the brief assessment of Hotaru. Another small smile tucked its way across his lips, glancing downward at the rime below, stepping along its boundaries and threshold as if he’d done so all his life, then raising his head, staring out over the world and horizon. Maybe everything could come together for a time – minute and small, generous in the ways it had been in the past (fleeting – to take and grab hold of it and never let go). “I am glad.” For those filaments and moments they could cherish, rather than everything so damning and harsh. “Was she going to come here?” Or would he have to wander through portals and find her again?

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

heroine, a grin made for war and eyes flecked with ash

“Ah, sensitive too huh?” She comments as she watches the deer take flight, while Kiada continues to rub her fingers along Zuriel’s face, rubbing wherever the unicorn prefers – huffing a quiet laugh in response to the sudden shift of the deer. It grows a bit somber, however, at the mention of Hotaru when her gaze flickers back toward him.

He peers out over the path they take to the citadel, and Kiada nods in response. She’s glad too, all things considered, that Hotaru was safe and found, even if it seemed unlikely to remain that way. As for the rest of it? For her coming here? She bobs her head lightly. “She says she plans to. I told her I’d let you know, but she does plan on visiting.” She offers with a soft smile that turns perhaps a bit childish.

“I plan on introducing her to Chuy one of these days.” There’s an almost teenage exasperated sigh with this, knowing the kind of dramatics that Hotaru and Deimos could get up to with a family dinner like before with her lover, but she doesn’t delve into it any further.

striding, powerful, into the arms of death

perhaps she will be the one you follow into battle

KIADA

It's taken a lifetime to lose my way

All the wasted time on my hands turns to sand

A very loud huff, breath, and billow echoed from the deer now hovering above, if not a slight sneer over fangs, at Kiada’s comment. Zuriel and Deimos snorted simultaneously. But while the unicorn also adhered to the Harpy’s scratches and ministrations, the Sword watched some complexity pass through her features, uncertain over the somber interludes.

And it seemed to dissipate anyway, on the glimmer of other things. Visits from the Valkyrie was a pleasant thing to look forward to, another bright aspect on the aftermath of everything else; pieces of yesteryear that weren’t already so cracked, so broken, so infernally damned. They would always be missing some of their number, and a sting nestled in his chest for the loss of Rexanna once more, but the rest of them had one another. So he nodded at the implication, eyes adjusting again to the Citadel rising out of the horizon, a blackened exterior ensuring home was closing in.

But the exasperated sigh that followed on the sentiments of more familial introductions made him laugh. It was loud and booming, enough to make Belial drift a little more downwards, exuberant and chaotic. A Cheshire, childish grin enveloped over his mouth, made his cheeks dimple underneath the stubble and beard. Mischief and every damned eave of it coiled under his predilections, and he could put more of his juvenile machinations to the test. “You better prepare him.” Deimos wasn’t certain Chulane would be able to handle Hotaru; and certainly not the Sword and Valkyrie together. "Maybe we could tell him embarrassing stories of your youth."

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

heroine, a grin made for war and eyes flecked with ash

The laughter is nice, echoing around the snowy ground that they walk beside and through to get back to the Citadel. She can see it on the horizon, the tops of the homes finally coming into view, along with the palace settled within all of it. Her attention flickers back to Deimos, though, with a bit of annoyance and amusement at his comment, huffing out a sigh of exasperation as she trudges further, perhaps a bit faster to get ahead of him as if she didn’t want to hear it – purely playfully of course.

“Gods no.” She chimes with a bubbling laugh, turning to face him and walk backwards, keeping Zuriel nearby to continue to run her hands along the unicorn with soft scratches and pets. Her head turning toward the unicorn with a wicked grin. “Zuri, maybe you could be my payback, huh?” She half whispers to the unicorn, pretty sure she won’t understand it, before she’s huffing yet another laugh. “For what it’s worth, I think Chuy might know most of them already.” She doesn’t know if her lover does or not, but she feigns all the confidence in the world for it.

striding, powerful, into the arms of death

perhaps she will be the one you follow into battle

KIADA

It's taken a lifetime to lose my way

All the wasted time on my hands turns to sand

Familiarity strung along in the juvenile mayhem; the Cheshire grin still there, still aloft, along his mouth. Another exuberant laugh caused a few ningos nearby to take flight, with Belial in meticulous pursuit, while Kiada began to irritated airs and exasperated pretenses. He’d prefer these moments, hold them high and aloft over the damning, treacherous ones, where the wakes didn’t hurt and the feelings weren’t crushed. No tired bones. No exhausted lines. No haunted figments – just wandering souls chuckling their way to the Citadel, paying heed to yesteryears of mountains and ice.

If Zuriel indicated anything, it was only a light snort. Her loyalties had been solidified long before, and she’d give no other manifestation. Perhaps the slightest tilt of her head in mock confusion.

The Sword’s mischief remained supreme and wild, even if the Harpy strived to get away. His strides increased, long limbs chiseling their way through the snow, digging into its ramparts with little resistance. He consumed the distance and expanse quickly, coming to a pace beside her again, eyes narrowing in specious, furtive degrees, shifting slightly to goad and gauge a reaction. “Some could bear repeating.” And then a shrug of his shoulders, as if the next suggestion wasn’t beneath his prowess, methods, or motives. “Besides, we could always make others up.”

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

heroine, a grin made for war and eyes flecked with ash

It was always great to see Deimos smile, to see it linger and remain among everything else. So she clings to it, even as she teases and walks backward, focused on Zuriel as the walk continues – feeling numbly the warm air the snort from the unicorn cascades across her deadened nerved skin. Her attention lifts to him as he increases his pace to catch up to her, dark brows rising in mock surprise. “You wouldn’t dare!” She chimes with feigned terror, amusement, ending with a snicker as she turns her attention back to Zuriel to give her one last pat on the cheek before she turns to face the Citadel again.

It rises up on them quickly, the entrance within reach now, and Kiada casts a glance to the sky in search for Chulane – awaiting to see whether he’d be within the walls or high above waiting for her return. “You’ll have to come up with some good ones, you know.” She offers, sneaking an elbow out to jut into his side, even if it misses the mark given the furs he wears and the muscles that thicken beneath it.

striding, powerful, into the arms of death

perhaps she will be the one you follow into battle

KIADA

It's taken a lifetime to lose my way

All the wasted time on my hands turns to sand

While Belial followed and stalked the ningos, who descended upon a small knoll of snow yards away, Deimos continued with his juvenile tendencies. An unfurling of the boyish qualities, rather than the impassive, stoic, reticent demeanor, and perhaps, if they were so fortunate, the latter could remain longer than a few isolated minutes. Relaxed into the walk with the only ambition contrived into returning home, he could lean into the indulgent, childish dominion, the Cheshire grin still alive and well. His gaze not so haunted, sharp, or depressed – just content in the idle mischief. “You know we would.” An arch of his brow flickered and followed, before she elbowed him – feeling almost nothing in between furs and muscle.

“Sounds like a challenge.” The snicker deepened and the laughter rang out once more, as he noted the deer launching for the birds out of the corner of his eye, and Zuriel ambling closer to the blackened outskirts. A few more glances from Kiada, towards the skies, seemed to correspond to an urgency of returning to Chulane, who was likely just as desperate for the end of that ridiculous volley into the Grounds. The Sword had enough for now; Kiada was safe and sound and home. “Best go see him then,” he acknowledged with a nod, ignoring the image of the deer flying by with wings in his mouth; intending to part ways beneath the aperture of the Citadel.

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

heroine, a grin made for war and eyes flecked with ash

“Ugh.” She groans, though the smile gives away her thoughts on the matter as she casts her gaze over toward Deimos with a small shrug. She still can’t help the huff of laughter that leaves her when Deimos mentions that it sounds like a challenge, one that she’s sure he’d take entirely to heart and get Hotaru in on it with merely a look. Regardless, she shakes her head toward him, before the citadel is upon them and she’s scanning the sky.

He tells her to go and see him and she flashes the Sword a brilliant fanged grin – one that looked much like Rexanna’s in that moment – before she’s dancing over toward him to give him an easily tight hug. “Thank you. Dinner soon?” She asks as she departs, finding the notion entirely useless for her but one that would be good for them all to get together again. And from there, she turns back toward the Citadel, activating that upgrade of hers to enhance her speed.

And then she departs into the Citadel’s icy, snow covered walls.

- Fin <33333

striding, powerful, into the arms of death

perhaps she will be the one you follow into battle

KIADA