“So what was it you absolutely needed to tell me?” The familiar voice of her elder brother rang in her ears. Erik Eolas was sitting across the living room table, he was wearing a plain blue T-shirt, his black hair was messy and his similarly colored eyes were as unremarkable as always.

“Oh yeah,” Ana wiped away some crumbs off her from the pineapple upside-down cake she was currently enjoying. She had arrived at Erik's apartment just in time for Claire, one of Erik's maids, to finish baking the heavenly pastry. “Well, put simply Yuki’s coming here tomorrow and we need you to provide asylum.”

“Wait, wait, what?” the puppeteer looking completely bewildered at the statement, “Back up a bit, why do I have to hide her, actually why is she coming here in the first place?”

Ana swallowed another piece of the cake, “Hmmm, well, starting from the beginning, we got a job request from the US government...”

The world seemed to slow and mesh into itself, blending into a trippy mish-mash of colors. Just as suddenly the colors began to fade, then grow immensely darker, outlines began to appear, lines and curves moving across a canvas until one could make an outline of a cabin deep in the woods. Night had already fallen in fact it was probably close to midnight, the waning moon being the only source of eerie, weak moonlight.

Ana took a small scrap of cloth from her pocket. She brought the cloth up to her nose and breathed in... lime scented soap, salt from copious amounts of sweat, traces of spent gunpowder, and the faint traces of blood. The winged messenger returned the cloth and took a deep breath of the forest air... the earthen scent dominated the air, closely followed by the smell of ash, likely from the small fire from within the cabin, finally and most important was the coppery traces of blood, the exact same as the one from the cloth scrap. The girl smiled, "Target confirmed hiding inside the cabin."

"Alright, good job Ana," the familiar flat tone of Erik rose from behind her. Suddenly the smell of iron and oil stuffed the air, the sound of metal grinding on metal irritated the winged girl's ears quite a bit forcing her to cover said organs. After summoning that annoying puppet of his, Erik spoke again, "beginning target elimination."

Ana blinked, suddenly finding away from the dark forest now lying on a bed in some modest establishment, the walls were a dark peach and the sole fluorescent bulb lighting the room as shining into her eyes forcing them closed again. The memory of the last few hours seeping into her mind. The facility she's known all her life in flames, the scent of ash, blood and smoke choking the air. The screams of men piercing the air. The last thing she remembered was a pair of purple eyes, the man they belonged to reaching out to her.

"Oh you're awake," a new voice reached the fourteen year old Ana's ears. It belonged to a boy, around a year older than her if she had to guess, black hair adorned his head and black eyes as well. Aside from those there was nothing really remarkable to him.

"Who are you? Where's the man with purple eyes?" Ana spoke softly still rather bewildered by everything.

"I'm Erik Eolas, nice to meet ya," the boy replied with a smile, "Purple eyes? did you mean Joseph, well he's the only guy with purple eyes I know at the moment, so yeah, he's out talking with our leader and if everything goes right you'll be part of the family when he gets back."

"Family?" the word was both familiar and foreign to the young Ana, she'd heard it all the time from those guys in the facility yet she never knew what being in one was like, even with the many people she met while in that facility no one approached her in the way they described how a family does. "Does that mean you're my brother then?"

"Huh...well yeah I guess it does," the boy replied rather awkwardly.

"Big Brother Erik, my name's Ana," she replied with a smile.

Ana blinked, suddenly finding herself back next to a table in the dance hall...she blinked again, twice then thrice. a cold sweat ran down her neck as she realized someone was holding her hand. She traced the appendage up to that of Eric Kasaran, who had a difficult expression on his face. Wait, Big Brother mentioned something like this...Wait did this bastard just... without finishing the thought she wrested away from his slackened grip and began glaring daggers at the half-angel, "I hope that was worth it."

His mind settled comfortably back within its bounds, as he quickly retracted his hand. The nephilim couldn't wipe the expression from his face.

Family?

The word rattled uncomfortably through his mind, bouncing around many implications that Eric hadn't fully grasped. So then... did this mean...?

Ana's words suddenly snapped him back into consciousness. He went to lie, but quickly stopped himself. She already knew what he'd done. There wasn't much escaping that now.

"I had to be sure," he muttered, somewhat distantly. "I already felt traces, but I had to be sure..."

His voice faltered.

What did family mean? Did that imply a group? A biological unit? Were the two entirely alone? What was their agenda? What was their endgame? What the hell was she doing standing with a murderer?

That was, after all, what Erik was.

"Did you know?" he suddenly blurted out, harsher than he had originally intended. "Did you know that Erik was dangerous? Did you know he killed? And why the fuck did you just play along?"

"Pftt...of course I knew," Ana said sounding more contemptuous than she intended, "You don't spend a few weeks around him and not know he has the ability to slit throats so easily, hell that's true for most people, even you I bet."

"They don't hide much from me, I'm really thankful for that," Ana regained a more sincere tone for a second before reverting back to one of more controlled spite, "I know I'm surrounded by killers but they care for me like no one else has, than anyone ever will. So of course I'll help them even with their worst."

She took a deep breath, "You probably had a family once, you know the feeling of wanting to support them and keep them safe, even with all their faults. Well that's how I feel, being born from glass tube in some genetics lab I can't even claim a remote connection with even a single person! He's one of the first people to show me any kind of modicum of respect and appreciation."

"So you just blindly followed people who respected you?" He hissed, voice slipping into venomous territory. "That's not how a fucking family works!"

Ana turned, murder in her eyes, but Eric cut off any response with, "Respect is not the same thing as fucking care! Do they respect you as a person, or as a weapon? And how can you know with any fucking certainty? Family isn't just some close group of mercenaries, its a name given to a group who would sacrifice everything in the entire world to defend each other. How the hell do you know they feel the fucking..."

Eric stopped, his voice constricted. It had slowly faded into a silent husky whisper as he continued. Memories kept on coming up, faster than he could suppress them. Of Terminus wrestling him to the ground in a pool of mud, while the two laughed. Of awed villagers coming to help them, as their mother helped the others. Of Niramel...

The nephilim turned silently away, disdainful and painful emotions contorting his face.

"Hmph, like you know anything, what you saw was less than a quarter of the time I spent with him," she replied so softly she wondered if the half-angel heard it. The winged messenger turned away from the brooding nephilim. He seemed to be wrestling with some pretty bad memories, any retort she'd have would likely fly over his head, not that it was any of her business. Instead she headed for the food selection again still rather pissed, the arse only saw her most recent memory of him, the first time she was allowed to work with the puppeteer, and the first time they had met.

Did they respect her as a person? Ha, of course they did...in fact they do so too much. Ana had so many memories of times contracts had ended with her having not so much as a scratch while her partner was covered in deep lacerations, Hell Erik and the others would have her on the sidelines even if their targets were well within her combat capacity despite her physical fragility.

She turned towards him for a second before shaking her head, a clash of ideals was what this was, and neither of the two winged beings would back down. With what Ana knew of Eric's personality it'd likely come down to fisticuffs and the girl knew she'd go down quicker than a person could blink. She needed to cool her head and the nephilim likely did too, maybe she'd attempt to talk to him again...maybe. With that she picked up another plate and quickly began to fill it once again.

Eric had already cooled down. He'd cleared his brain of any anger, wiped it of any thoughts of his past, and settled quickly back into his own state.

His thoughts turned to his next steps. He needed names. Names and places. His mind worked at hurricane pace, rapidly piecing together everything she said. Their was a group. A highly motivated, possibly dangerous, and well-armed group, wandering the city. And Ana might be his only chance at figuring out what exactly they were doing and why.

He turned around, and noticed she was gone. She'd slipped off somewhere, leaving him alone at the table.

Oh no you don't. I'm nowhere near finished.

He quickly tracked her down to another food table, again stacking her plate with goodies. Eric pressed through the crowds, muffling his movements with the loud noises, and stood impassively behind her.

Ana turned around with a full plate of food, and almost jumped out of her skin.

"Names, places, and motives," Eric listed, impassively. "Who are you, what are you doing, and why?"

Sarah went to grab some food. She shot a glance at the couple already there but looked away quickly in an effort to ignore them. She supposed she understood but she still wasn't exactly happy with what Light had done. Anyways, Abbas provided a good enough distraction and especially since he asked about her life. Really when she thought about her life she didn't have a whole lot out of the ordinary but she went ahead and said what she could.

"I'm an only child. Both my parents are still alive and well. I don;t feel like telling you exactly where I live but I have to say we're not the richest family." She motioned to the old clothes she wore when she said that last part. "I was always pretty good with electronics, i'm currently studying in electronic design but I have a pretty decent job in the meantime which you already know about."

Abbas waved off the location part of her answer, "Wasn't asking for it. Though considering that you know where I live because of your job..." He glanced up, then shook his head, "Never mind don't worry about it."

Raising his free hand, the Immortal flexed all his fingers, a couple joints popping inside, "As for my family, I was the second oldest. My older brother Saul," he squeezed her hand, "That's short for Solomon, was more of a scholar than I was. I was obsessed with fighting for my tribe. After I left, my memories of him must have been the thing that spurred me to study the art of war."

He picked up a pair of crackers, some cheese and a small piece of ham, making a tiny sandwich. Lifting it up, he took a bite, then set the rest on his plate, looking down at Sarah once again. His golden eyes seemed to glow for a moment, perhaps a sign he was enjoying his time? He wouldn't know.

Quote from devi

Light put the cookie down, gently placing it back on the tray he had taken it from, and reached in his robe. Quickly, he took out what seemed a bit like a handkerchief, and handed it to Halle, having realized she was teary eyed. At the same time he noticed a concerned look on her face, and it worried him. Despite the fact that they were simply acquaintances at this point, he still felt a duty as Halle's dance partner to care for her wellbeing. He warmly asked her "What is it that's bothering you Halle? You seem unwell."

Halle couldn't help but laugh. There was something off in her head.
She reached for the hankerchief and crumpled it up in Light's hand.
She held Light's crumpled up hand.

"Nothing I can't handle," she smiled, mania dripping down her tattooed and twitching ink-plastered skull as she lied.
"Still with me? There's another song coming up," she cooed.

DJ Happy, having previously just been jamming to the current song, a remix of the Epic Sax Guy, glanced over and spotted Halle getting a bit frisky with Light. He grinned ever so slightly, then rolled over to his laptop, where the night's playlist sat waiting.

Cracking his knuckles, the red-head typed into his search bar and found the song he found most appropriate for the situation, clicked it, then sat back, letting the music pound through the speakers. The song "Something Just Like This" began to roar, and Happy bounced his head up and down, jamming to the beat.

((OOC: Little Fun Fact: I based Happy off myself, a bubbly, music loving dork. But whatever))

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, the fires in Light's eyes just got a bit brighter and stronger as Halle held his hand. Nothing overly dramatic but it certainly was noticeable, at least for Halle anyway. He spoke happily, sounding genuinely happy, quite unlike how he has been for most of the evening. "I would be honored to dance with you Halle."

As he spoke, he quickly dropped his handkerchief onto the ground, and grabbed his full hand onto Halle's with a gentle grip. Holding her softly, he started to pull her over onto the main dance floor, gently moving people out of the way as he walked. As would be expected people noticed and showed a mixed array of emotions. Some, specifically those who saw what Light did earlier, avoided the two, while others looked on in curiosity at the two giants. He moved them both to the center of the room, pulling Halle in front of her, spinning her as he did so, his own robes lifting gently up and floating downwards as he did so. The feeling he had earlier when he spoke to Halle was much more powerful, powerful enough for him not to be able to ignore it. Trying his best to keep his persona, he felt his heart beating strong and fast as he looked to his partner, echoing throughout his body and slamming through his chest. There was some sort of aura to her, something he had not properly seen until now. Perhaps he was crazy. Or perhaps, she was just beautiful. To Light at least, it was the latter

As the song started, Light looked to Halle, his eyes glowing a mellow blue light through the purple scarf on his head, and extended his hand to her. Strangely, the fires in his eyes got brighter and darker in sync to the song, glowing brightly at one beat and then becoming dim the next one.

"May I be honored to have this dance with you, Halle Mackinson?"

Abbas nodded, taking another bite of his mini-sandwich, chewing, and swallowing. "Of course. I may not have agreed with everything he said at first but after setting out and being gifted this undying body, I realized there was a certain charm and nobility to what he did."

The Immortal picked a grape and bit into it, the sweetness a nice difference from the saltiness of the ham. He glanced at Sarah's plate, then up at the young woman, and smiled, just taking in her simple beauty once again.

Quote from Cassandra

Clive stopped dancing a moment, watching Blair while clapping his hands (and tapping one foot) to the music. He stopped a moment to sign, *Perfect! I knew you hid an amazing dancer in there!*

He then returned to dancing, doing a couple twists, keeping time. *Wanna do a dance battle? I promise I'll go easy on you!*

Confusion went over his face, and he shook his head. *Hold on a minute...what am I signing? You don't battle your partner; that's ridiculous!*

'Oh be careful what you wish for, I can almost do a flip!' A playful grin slid across Blair, beginning to revolve around Clive as the music shifted. As the jazz faded out and something much slower began, a chuckle left her. 'But I don't know if it works with a slow song! Next fast one, you're on!'

As her rotation continued, the grin faded, picking up the tensed posture of the winged couple by the food. First Abbas was an inconsiderate ass, Loch locked into a measuring contest with Mr. L who himself was about to unleash hell and now... Seriously?

'You're not like the others,' She gazed softly at him before grabbing his hand and spinning around him, stopping where Eric and Ana would be in his view behind her, head staying still, but eyes indicating in their direction as she slid into a state of unease. 'What do you think?'

(OOC: Request for 'Currently Playing' to be added to main page, at least for real songs)

"Well being immortal I imagine leaves you with plenty of time. It's only natural that you pick up such a hobby." Cassady said assured with herself. If she had been gifted, or cursed depending on the perspective, she would try some new hobbies of her own. She wasn't sure studying the art of war would be quite her forte, probably something more along the lines of fashion, mechanics, or other interesting things she would never get to experience in her lifetime. But then again, you never know.

It hardly mattered however since she neither had desire nor capability to be immortal. Ms. Cassady would take her hopefully pleasant afterlife thank you very much. And as she refocused she brought some ham of to her own mouth. She relished the salty taste as she shewed it in her mouth. Come to think of it colony occupations would be something she would've considered studying as well.