Back from the Dead [Arauchia]

[Jesse Fforde]

The woman reacted as one might have assumed to the news that she had been gone five years. If Jesse had returned from the realm to know that he had been missing for five years he, too, would have a similar reaction. But he could never imagine being lost for five years. He’d tried disappearing into the Shadow Realm in the past, but it had never stuck. Why? Someone inevitably came looking for him. Had no one gone looking for Arauchia?

Shan, the name rang a bell, though Jesse didn’t immediately realise why. The following name cleared it up and the pieces fell into place. Jesse stiffened, his whole demeanour morphing from relaxed and devil-may-care to alert, wary—sharp around the edges, ready to strike. He’d summoned this woman into his home, and now he had to somehow figure out how to get her the **** out and never let her back in again. That was his immediate reaction, though he forced himself to hear Arauchia out to the end.

Five years. How had he not heard of her? No one had mentioned her. He must have been drawn into Andras just after Arauchia’s disappearance. But then, he hadn’t started in Andras. He’d started in Tytonidae, and Andras had followed. Even thinking about either family or faction, now, left a bitter, sour taste in his mouth. It gathered on his tongue until he physically had to spit it out. The spittle glistened on the ground; it’d landed to the left of his feet. He at least had enough respect left not to spit at the woman in front of him.

”Families can be difficult. Some claim to be family but really they’re not. I’d agree—they’re not family, they’re a pit of vipers. I generally like vipers, but they’re not the good kind,” he said, remaining tensed. ”If you have any notion that you will return to that pit, despite your current anger, then I’ll gladly walk you to the door and say goodnight,” he said, tone sharp and curt. That he had inadvertently helped one of them… ****, from the way she talked she’d have been one of the first to try put a bullet through his skull when **** went down with him and Andras. She’d have followed like the sheep they were, grovelling at the feet of their leaders without bothering to try see anything from the other’s perspective. No, they’d thrown him to the curb and kicked him while he was down, all after he’d sought help. They’d given none, so what should they expect?

[Arauchia]

Adela watched closely as Jesse's demeanor changed completely at the mention of her heritage. Well this was awkward. Those of her blood seemed to be the sworn enemies of her would-be savior. Velveteen Docere was well liked in Chia's time, so to elicit this strong of a reaction at the mere mention of her name? That did not bode well for the blonde. She had been in Tytonidae at the time of her disappearing act, however she did not like how the whole stalking and slaughter of the Grigori patriarch had gone. It seemed like such a petty reason to go after someone. Her concern at the time was more with Senor Staus and the council due to her role as enforcement captain. What happened was something she would have to research. Perhaps Jesse would be willing to enlighten her, if Chia could perhaps convince him she wasn't a threat.

She assumed by the spitting and visceral hatred the sheer mention of a person, that Jesse was afraid she would gut or sell him out him if it was ordered of her. "Just because I hold family above all else does not mean I follow blindly. I've been known to disobey if it goes against my internal moral code." Adela explained as her posture became more relaxed in an attempt to show as well as say she was not a threat to this man. "And based on how your face got, tells me they strayed from the path." Adela managed as warm smile at this, one that reached to her eyes and made them sparkle as she responded to Jesse's query as to if she was going home.

"Nah chico. They left me for dead, they are dead to me now. I wish to start fresh and find my way." Adela craned her head in his direction with a playful smile. "Maybe the universe brought me to you so I could be free from my past. Who knows."

[Jesse Fforde]

Jesse pondered, still tense and appraising.

Perhaps she was right, though the Necromancer did not generally buy into the kind of hoodoo that would suggest she was dumped at his feet for a reason. Trust was a hard thing to come by, and Arauchia had a history with those he considered enemies. It was all well and good that she wanted a fresh start and a new path but what if she should run into someone from Tytonidae? They still lingered, and the city was smaller than it looked. When she told them who she was bunking with, when they told her untrue stories about Jesse, who would she trust? What future danger could he be bringing into his own home?

But, she was the one who’d said it – they’d left her for dead just as they’d tossed him to the curb. And who was he to refuse help to someone similarly treated? He sighed, and nodded more to himself than to anyone else.

”They either strayed from the path or the path changed course. Or the path was always leading to a destination they failed to tell the rest of us about,” he said with a shrug, then a light, bitter laugh. Enough with paths and destinations. He’d had enough of rituals, and now he had a mostly naked woman in Limbo. She would need clothes before Clover came home and jumped to wrong conclusions.

”Okay. Stay here. Make yourself at home. I’ll go get you some clothes. When I come back, we’ll try to reach an accord,” he said. Clover probably wouldn’t be happy with him for raiding her closet, but what else was he going to do? It wasn’t as if he kept random women’s clothes around. And nor was he so trusting as to welcome Arauchia into heart and home without discussing it, first. He wanted to get to know her, and in doing so he assumed he’d have to share bits about himself, too. Though he’d do so only if asked. He wandered off to the apartment he shared with Clover, ignorant of his own wounds – they’d soon heal – and quickly went about finding something he hoped would fit.

[Arauchia]

A small sigh of relief was given by Adela as it appeared Jesse would be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. It had only been a few moments of their acquaintance, but she sort of got a feel for the man already. His thorough interrogation of herself indicated to her that he likely just wanted to protect his brood from the threat he perceived in Tytonidae. She couldn't blame the man; even while she was alive those folks had a tendency into devolving into blood thirsty barbarians when the prospect of fighting cropped up. A soft smile appeared on her lips as he gave her instructions for the moment. She for one would graciously accept loaner clothing.

"Thank you, senor. I will behave." She called out behind him as he went to retrieve something for her to wear. After he had gone, Adela wandered around the place he called Limbo to sort f get a feel for it. It had all the amenities that you could want or need. But for right now, she was hungry and in no current state to go hunt for dinner yet. So she rifled around the kitchenette to find a blood bag. She was one that much preferred live food; the preservatives in the packaged things stolen from the blood bank just did not taste good to her. But pickers can't be choosers when the pit of your stomach is being eaten alive by the need to feed.

Bare feet trod along the wooden floor towards one of the beanbag. After flopping down, Adela bit into the blood pack and started sipping it much like one of those Capri Sun bags as she contemplated all the things she would need to get. New clothes, new digs, new weapons, new phone. Maybe this time she would be lucky to get an apartment above ground. As she finished the blood bag, she could feel herself starting to doze. A full belly and an exhausting ordeal left the woman tired. So she let her eyes close for awhile as she waited for her gracious host to return.

[Jesse Fforde]

At first Jesse pulled out a black dress, but then he mumbled to himself before putting it back. Clover didn’t often wear dresses; they were saved for special occasions. Sometimes not so special, sometimes she was just in the mood. But he wasn’t going to be the one to decide which of her dresses were special and which weren’t. Eventually he found a pair of track pants – tights? Something, anyway, that looked like it might fit regardless of whether the women were the same size or not, and a blouse that was plain enough as not to be missed. He hoped. He’d have to deal with the repercussions later. He already knew the point that he would argue; would Clover prefer that the woman wear Clover’s clothes, or that she walk around in nothing but a jacket that barely covered her assets?

When he returned five minutes later it was to discover that Arauchia had not taken his words lightly. Some people, when you tell them to make themselves at home, don’t in fact make themselves at home. They continue to awkwardly stand around until they could take cues from their hosts. Jesse learned that Arauchia was not awkward. When told to make herself at home… well, she’d rifle through a fridge and take the nearest comfortable seat.

Jesse pulled up an armchair and held the clothes out to the woman.

”You’re lucky you found something,” he said. Though Jesse did try to keep the kitchen well stocked with blood, his bloodline was scattered with vampires who could not control their thirst; he was burdened with the curse of a thirst that would never abate, as well as a frenzied reaction to blood. Many of the others had one or the other, some had both like he did. He often wondered whether they got it from him, or whether it was just a common thing in vampires all around.

”I don’t believe in the universe or that it has any plans. I’m guessing by ‘start fresh’ that means you don’t have anywhere to go? You don’t own any property that might still be there for you to go to…?” he asked.

[Arauchia]

A violet eye cracked open to look around as she heard the scrape of the chair on the hardwood floor. As her vision refocused, she saw Jesse sitting there with an armful of clothes held out to her. A smile appeared as she sat up and snagged the clothes. "Was either that or I would've snacked on the first thing with a pulse. The bag just means I'm less prone to make a scene when i go hunting." She could envision about how well that would've gone. Her luck would dictate the first being she found was a paladin or worse a cop. With how weak she was still, it was possible that the beating Adela would've taken from the hunters when they tracked her down would result in a trip back to the hell she just escaped. She'd drink preserved blood for days if it helped her avoid that fate.

She stood up from the chair and slipped the jacket off her frame, tossing it aside as she turned her back to the tattooed man with her. Adela wasn't modest, but he seemed to be bothered by her nakedness when he first gave her the jacket. So one leg at a time, she would pull the leggings on and up over her full hips. Her hand s reached to pull the unruly mass of blonde and black hair over her shoulder while she worked on sorting which way was forward on the tunic blouse. An enormous pair of tattooed feathered wings, reminiscent of an angel's, encompassing Adela's entire back from shoulders to hips came into view as the cloak of hair was brushed out of the way. One arm at a time she pit the blouse on, tugged it down, then turned to face him with a smile. Now that she was decent, they could perhaps reach an agreement without the man feeling uncomfortable.

As Jesse inquired about whether or not she had property, Adela couldn't help but laugh. Almost a little too loudly like one might do at a very funny joke. "I crashed couches at Dr. Staus' place when I wasn't sleeping in the sewers. Housing was only for the extremely wealthy when I was last awake. So no, I am homeless. And I had almost nothing in the bank account either, so i can't even purchase anything yet. " She sort of added on as it would likely be the next logical question. To her the agreement would be simple, but she didn't have much to offer than her blades and loyalty.

[Jesse Fforde]

There was an honour that ought to be found in marriage; the promise not to ogle other people, even when they were so freely naked and in sight. While trying to keep his eyes averted, Jesse thought about Clover, about what she would do. Would she ogle other men? Was it a bad thing that the answer Jesse found was yes? The sharp blue of the Necromancer’s gaze arched, admiring the ink spread across Arauchia’s shoulders. He didn’t pretend like he hadn’t been looking once she was dressed and had turned around.

Housing. Yes. Jesse had never really had a problem where housing was concerned. He’d been able to crash at Phoenix’s. And then there was tree, and Tytonidae. By the time he had been booted from Andras and he voluntarily left Tytonidea, he had a place of his own. A modest house, though he’d had a basement built underneath. And now he had this – a lair of epic proportions, in addition to a pub and a gym and a nature dome. Thinking back to where he had started from, Jesse realised he could be proud of what he had accrued.

”There are beds at Larch Court – there’s a fadeportal just over there, it’ll take you through,” he said, gesturing toward the shimmer in the air near the elevator. ”I’m happy for you to hang out there until you find your feet. The lair, this place – I can get you a tome but, and I’m sure you understand, I’d prefer to wait until I know you a little better. I can’t just be throwing my wholehearted trust around willy nilly,” he said, stretching out in his armchair. The jagged edges of his wounds tugged and stretched; the pain should have made him flinch, but instead he relished it. There was no fear in pain anymore, not when the fear of death was taken out of the equation. They’d heal soon, anyway.

”And scenes? They’re not so bad, so long as you clean up after yourself, and leave no witnesses,” he said with a smirk.

[Arauchia]

Adela had felt the man's gaze boring into her back as she finished changing. She assumed he had been looking at her ink as he had many pieces of art as well. "As I hunted down vampires who refused to adhere to the code by not cleaning up after themselves, I will never let myself get caught." She flashed Jesse a bright fanged smile in response to his suggestion that bloody messes were agreeable as long as it was taken care of. She settled back into her seat slowly, crossed her legs at the knees, and gave the man across from her an easy smile. "Everyone in the familia back in Spain has these." She added as a brief explanation as she settled into listen to what he was going to offer her.

To be honest, the offer was even better then she could've imagined. Her own room that wasn't a sewer. Maybe she might not lose her things so readily. Even manage to try to retrieve some of her belongings from Spain after all this time. But all of this would take money. Adela knew subsisting off contracts was no longer going to work. Maybe bounties weren't even a thing anymore. She would have to hop on the Net to sort all of this out, as well as read up on everything she had missed. However, Adela was determined to make the most of this chance.

"Not a problem, I completely understand your reluctance. It will sort of be a period for us feel each other out. " She responded to Jesse's stipulation that she would have to wait to have free access to the area in which she was now. That was no bother. "In time I hope to earn your trust." She added, sounding confident in her prospects. Her host did not mention where he procured the clothes from. Perhaps that indicated there was a larger family unit stationed here. People. Just the cure to feeling more at home again in this city that felt so foreign to her. Just another small incentive to try to earn her place.

[Jesse Fforde]

It struck Jesse, then, just how much Arauchia had missed. How much she would not know; how much her old job no longer really mattered—though there perhaps were other reasons to hunt vampires down for the same thing. Although it was incumbent upon him to move, to show Arauchia where the portal was that would take her through to her new, maybe temporary, home, he remained where he was. They were both seated, now, and properly dressed. It was time to talk.

”That stopped being a thing,” he started, testing the words on his tongue. ”For one, Tytonidae started to use their power as a group to hunt down vampires for their own whims. Because they felt like it, not because any code was broken. Hunting vampires became a sport to them; look at them the wrong way and you’d be dead for it,” he said with a shrug. He and his had been hunted more than once, and the crimes didn’t particularly befit the punishment as far as Jesse was concerned. But that was no longer an issue.

”That’s beside the point. The main thing you need to know is that there is no longer a Masquerade to uphold. Maybe you’ll want to hunt down vampires for leaving a mess because you want to keep the relationship between humans and vampires a steady one. At the moment, it’s… a bit shaky,” he said. The revelation of vampire-kind to humanity should have been something that affected Jesse Fforde more than it had, but by the time it had happened he was already bitter and jaded about most things. He was no longer passionate about keeping secrets, though with the secrets now blown wide open and circulating, there came a whole slew of new things to worry about. Scientists and hunters and researchers and top secret labs and… **** knows what else.

”The Crow is gone and in their place is someone called ‘The Administrator’. They like to keep us informed about bits and pieces and the good little vampires scurry to find out more. I’m still on the fence about whether or not they should be trusted…” he said. They, because who knew if the Administrator was a man or a woman? No one did. No one knew who it was.

[Arauchia]

Violet eyes grew wide as Jesse explained that the Masquerade had fallen and their presence was known to the population they lived among, and possibly the larger world. On the bright side she would be able to finally call home again and actually get her things shipped from Spain. Adela was certain that the family grew concerned she never came home from her last contract, but after they didn't find her they likely had marked as missing and presumed dead. On the downside, humans, like always would try to eradicate or micromanage what they didn't understand.

He spoke of the Crow, a concept she only had barely come to understand before she took her hiatus from this plane. She never had understood how a spirit could make a communication network, but it had been handy. But now it seemed to have fallen into someone's hands. Was the administrator like a mayor? Overlord? Fusion between omnipotent power that was like the crow? Her mind already was starting to make a small list of things to look up next time she logged into the network. But at least she had the context that everything else would likely fit in now.

"Merde. I'm terrible at public relations. Now we have to try to keep the peace between our food and us lest they hunt us down? Sounds like a recipe for a shitshow to me." A pause was given before Adela continued speaking. "Administrators to my experience are never good things. Reminds me of bureaucratic red tape." She made a playful wrinkle of her nose before laughing softly. "Sounds like I have a lot to relearn. Any other tips or cliffnotes you might offer?" Adela's lips turned into a bright smile, as she was somewhat excited by the challenges in adjusting to her new lifestyle.